Shadow: Dark Horizon

Act One: Hole In The Earth

Part One: Broken Dreams

Detailed Summery: Shadow is tormented by the dreams of his beloved Maria but they turn out to be a sign. Soon, disaster strikes Sunlight City, a productive and vital metropolis for the world and also where GUN HQ is located. Little does Shadow know that what has saved him countless times is now against him and everyone else for that matter. Soon, Sonic and Co. are caught up in all of this mess after learning that Earth itself is in danger of the Deadly new threat...

A/N: Hello people of ! This is my absolute first Fanfiction ever and have been working on it since December of last year. I plan to make this a full-blown Fanfiction and my goal is to make it have over 100k+ words and contain an Epic Plot. Well, I'm done babbling here. Enjoy the story!
WARNING: THIS STORY IS DARK, AND WILL CONTAIN COUPLES IN THE FUTURE!
DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO SEGA! (Except Mine!)

Ark Colony

"Shadow...Shadow... C'mon Shadow, rise and shine!" Maria said with a bright smile on her face.

An exhausted Shadow opened his eyes to find himself in his room with Maria sitting right beside him.

"Good morning to you too..." He yawned. "Well, I didn't want to leave you with an empty stomach! I made some breakfast for you in the kitchen!" Maria exclaimed as her eyes gleamed with joy.

Shadow couldn't help but smile at her expression. Her smile, no matter what, always brightened his day.

"Thank you, as always Maria!" Shadow said as he leaned up. "I'll be waiting for you in the kitchen okay?" Maria asked right as she headed out of the doorway.

"Sure thing!" Shadow called back.

As she exited out the door, Shadow got himself out of his drowsy state. He cracked his neck and stretched, then proceeded to look around in his room. It was small but fit to his size perfectly. It was colored with metallic and blue-ish gray colors. Not exactly eye catching, but it really didn't matter to the ebony hedgehog. He looked outside his window and viewed the endless realm of outer space. The Earth slowly spun, not looking any different from what Shadow had seen. He always had wondered what it was like on Earth. They experienced light and dark phases. What was it called again? Oh yeah, "Day" and "Night".

"Alright, enough pondering. I'm ready for some breakfast." The hedgehog thought as he headed for the doorway.

As he walked out, he saw one of Gerald's assistants.

"Hey Shadow." The man said as he walked by.

"Good morning Ron." Shadow replied while heading toward the kitchen.

As he veered closer to the kitchen, he could smell the sweet
scent of pancakes and syrup. "I'm not one that really looks forward to meals, but this is an exception!" He thought as he smelled the delicious food.

As he walked in the kitchen, he noticed nobody but Maria was present in the area. She was preparing his plate while
humming a melodic tune. What was it called... music? Yeah that's it, music! Maria had let him listen to some of her records that Gerald had given to her. It was different to Shadow but he actually started to enjoy it.

"There you are!" Maria said to shadow as she walked over to a table. "I know pancakes are your favorite so I made some!" She smiled as she handed them to Shadow.

"Oh, don't mind if I do!" Shadow responded happily as he accepted the plate of pancakes. "You didn't have to make me breakfast though, Maria! You already do so much for me!" Shadow thanked Maria.

"Oh Shadow, you know I could never do too much for you! After all, you ARE the reason for why I might be cured you know!" Maria replied with a thankful expression.

"I can't argue there!" Shadow laughed as he sat down.

Maria walked back inside the cooking area and made herself a plate. In a few seconds, she came back and sat in front of Shadow on the other side of the table.

"So what do you plan on doing today?" Maria asked as she grabbed a bottle of syrup.

"The doctor said he wanted to run some tests on me. I think he's made a breakthrough in finding your cure!" Shadow replied as he took a bight of the fluffy pancake.

"Really? That's great news!" Maria replied with a rather hopeful expression.

"I know. It's great to know that you'll be sick no longer. Maybe we'll get to visit Earth too! It'd be so great!" Shadow said back as he imagined being on Earth.

"Definitely!" Maria said with an illuminating smile.

Shadow couldn't help but smile back. Life will be so much better. It makes me eager just to know that the time is near. Shadow thought.

After finishing a mountain of pancakes, Shadow pushed his plate away and gently rested his hands on his stomach.

"Phew. I don't think I want to see another pancake for a while!" He said jokingly.

"I'm glad you enjoyed them! You better make sure you get enough exercise to burn those calories though!" Maria noted to Shadow.

"Yeah, after a nap. Ha." Shadow said which caused Maria and him to bust out into laughter.

After Shadow noticed that Maria was finished, he decided to lend a helping hand to her.

"May I take your plate, miss?" Shadow asked in a gentlemen-like tone. Playing along, Maria responded back. "Of course good sir!" This caused them to yet again, bust out into more laughter.

"Hey Maria, don't worry about the kitchen, I'll clean it up for you." Shadow assured Maria with a soft tone.

"Really? Thanks Shadow!" She gratefully replied as she bent down and gave him a hug.

After the two broke apart, Maria started to depart. "Shadow, I'm going to take a shower, so by the time I'm finished you should be done cleaning." She told Shadow while walking out of the area.

"Okay. See you then!" Shadow responded as he hopped onto a chair and grabbed a pan and started scrubbing it. As she left, Shadow began to get lost in his thoughts.

She's so caring, loving, joyful, I could go on! His thoughts loomed inside his head as he rinsed the pan. What an amazing friend. Could she be...? Nah. Impossible. It would be odd for things to be like that! She'd probably be looked down upon by her kind and I couldn't cause her that kind of pain. He thought. Eh, we'll see what happens. We do have many years of our life left anyway... Shadow thought, but then halted. No, not 'we', 'her'. I'm just ageless... He sadly thought.

Would he have to watch her die while he just lives on until the end of time? It would be horrible, and Shadow couldn't even bear the thought of it.

Stop thinking about those things! Focus on today! You might save her life. His thoughts raged. The doctor had a scheduled test for him at twelve o' clock, so he would have to head over to the lab in about two hours.

As he finished washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen, he started walking out of the door. BAM! Maria walked right into him and they both fell down.

"Oh no, are you okay Shadow? I'm sorry, I didn't even see you..." Maria apologized.

"Hehe, it's okay Maria. I'm not hurt, but you're making me laugh!" Shadow said as he rolled on the floor, laughing. Maria soon broke out into laughter too.

"Here, let me help you up." Shadow said as he extended his hand to Maria. As her hand met his, he firmly grasped it and gently pulled her up.

"Thank you Shadow! It's good to know that you've incorporated some of the manners I've taught you!" Maria thanked as she smiled, with her sapphire blue eyes gleaming.

"It's always good to know that I help you too you know!" Shadow said as he smiled.

As they walked out into the hallway, Shadow suddenly heard a peculiar noise. It was tedious at first, but then it grew. It was like a metallic scratching noise, but it was different.

"Maria, do you hear that?" He asked as his eyes darted around the hallway.

"I do, it's kind of odd isn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Shadow replied in wonder.

When Shadow went to answer he was cut off as the lights suddenly blew out. POOM!

"Ahhh! What... What was that Shadow?" Maria jumped and clung on to Shadow, hugging him.

"I... don't know, but this is really weird. Should we go find your grandfather?" Shadow asked as he squinted down the now dark hallway.

"Y...Yeah..." Maria said softly as she clung tighter to him. It was unbelievable how scared she was. Shadow was soon worried because of it also.

"Alright, let's get some light in here." He whispered as he summoned a small ball of bright red and white energy in his hand.

It illuminated the room, producing red glares from the metallic hallway. Shadow picked Maria up and started down the hallway in search of Gerald's Lab. After about five minutes of walking, He started hearing the 'noise' again, except this time it was louder.

"Cover your ears Maria." Shadow calmly instructed Maria.

"Okay..." She replied as she pressed her palms against her ears.

The sound was now on the verge of annoying Shadow, and he wanted it to stop, now. Shadow turned his attention to the window as he was walking. It gave off a little bit of light, but not enough in order to see clearly. As he turned away, he heard a crash and directs his attention to the window. A metallic rock had broken it! Maria was losing oxygen! "Come on Maria!" He yelled as he started sprinting toward the nearest emergency marked room.

As he entered an office, he quickly closed the door and searched for a button. He then set Maria down in a chair nearby.

"C'mon, where is it?" Shadow yelled as he searched through compartments and bookcases.

"Where's what Shadow?" Maria asked and then noticed she was unable to take in much oxygen.

"It's to seal all other rooms from Space exposure and to aerate some oxygen in them... there it is!" He answered back, and bashed the button with his fist.

"Emergency Air Sealing commencing." An automated voice played throughout the intercom of the ship.

As the doors sealed up, Shadow noticed that Maria's breathing was back to normal.

"You okay Maria?" He nervously asked her.

"Mmmhmm..." Maria nodded as she replied quietly.

"Alright then, it's time to find your grandfather! Come on, let's go!" Shadow stated and then picked up Maria with a firm grip.

As he slowly made his way down the other hallways with a jog, he finally arrived at the doctor's lab.

"Please tell me he's here…" Shadow thought to himself.

He carefully sat Maria down on a couch and looked around. After a few minutes of desperate searching, Shadow came back, empty handed.

"Nothing?" Maria asked as she leaned up with a small twinge of hope in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but not a thing..." Shadow replied back as he walked over to the couch.

He slowly sat down next to Maria's side. "I think we should stay here and take some shelter for now. I'll try and contact your grandfather in the meantime." Shadow told her with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"O-Okay..." Maria stuttered as she replied back.

Shadow rose up from the couch and starting searching for a communication device. His eyes searched the whole scene and he didn't see a thing. He looked at the intercom system near the center of the lab. Maybe he could use that to get a hold of Gerald! Of course! Right? Shadow quickly made his way over to the intercom. He searched for the white button that enabled him to speak through it.

There you are... He thought.

As he pressed the white button, a few sparks shot out from the wiring that connected it.

"Just my luck." He mumbled to himself.

He directed his attention to the frayed wires that were near the intercom controller. He knew he wasn't a technology guy, but he could tell something was wrong.

The wires were nearly severed from the controller! He took a closer look at it and thought to himself. After a couple of minutes, he thought of an idea that actually made sense.

"Why not use my own power?" He questioned himself.

He generated a green energy ball in his left hand and steadily placed it on the wire. The light's that indicated the power the flashed on and the intercom system was up and running.

"Bingo. Not too bad Shadow." He complimented his self.

"Way to go Shadow!" Maria called as she directed a warm smile toward him.

Shadow felt his cheeks grow a little warm, but ignored his reaction and focused on the present events.

With his right hand, he pounded the white button with his fist. A holographic screen came up with a set of options.

"All" Shadow commanded toward the screen.

Then an automated voice answered him back, "Record message now."

Shadow cleared his throat, "Doctor! What's going on? Maria and I have been taking some shelter in your lab! Where are you at? We can't find you!" Shadow desperately asked as he yelled into the microphone.

After Waiting for a few minutes, he began to hear a small static noise from the speaker. Was he calling? Not even close...

The speakers then abruptly exploded with an ear piercing screech!

"Maria!" Shadow cried out as he rushed over to her. He put his hands against her hands that were covering her ears.

The high pitched waves were now getting to him, and his vision was fading out a little bit.

"My head!" Shadow exclaimed as he clutched his quills.

"No, Shadow!" Maria yelled out to him.

Shadow couldn't hear her, but he had trained himself to read her lips. Maria was practically on the verge of tears just watching Shadow in such pain. Then the unthinkable happened... it stopped. As Shadow exposed his ears once more, he breathed a sigh of relief. Glad that's over...

"No... No it's not!" He heard a dark metallic voice echo throughout the lab. Shadow's fur raised.

"Maria, we need to move now!" Shadow said with a very worried look on his face. Maria sheepishly nodded and Shadow walked over to her and picked her up.

"Ah ah ah, Shadow. Where do you think you're going?" He heard the voice again, and feared for Maria.

After uttering those cursed words, a metallic mass burst through the wall. It knocked Shadow all the way back to the other side of the room while Maria was left stranded on another.

"S-Shadow!" Maria screamed as she bolted toward Shadow, away from the enigmatic figure.

"You think you can resist me? Foolish human, you will learn from the errors of your ways!" The haunting voice continued.

The dark gray figure had an oddly shaped outer body, colored with many gradients that glowed in the dark. A large horn protruded through the top of the beings head. He wasn't joking and while the creature was in mid-lunge, Shadow cried out,

"Chaos Shield!" A green and red shield surrounded Maria's body as the figure went to slash at her. The contact with the blade created a huge puff of smoke throughout the room.

As the smoke cleared, Shadow's heart stopped. The world started to move in slow motion as tears welded up in his eyes. The image terrified him to no end. A bloodied Maria had been impaled from the side... she was losing blood fast.

"MARIA!" Shadow yelled with a haunting scream that would've blown the windows of the entire ARK Colony.

"You think that little thing you call a shield will protect her? Bah, for the 'ultimate life-form' I would of expected better!" The dark figure cruelly laughed at the scarred Shadow.

"S...S-Shadow...!" Maria cried out with a fountain of tears streaming from her dying eyes. "I...I love yo-" Maria was cut off as a mass wave of black clouded shadows emerged from the ground. They violently grabbed Maria and started to pull her down into Darkness.

"N-No!" Shadow yelled as he ran over to her.

He grabbed her now-cold arm and tried to keep her up. The shadows proved to be too strong for shadow though, and they pulled her down into what seemed like an abyss. Maria faintly smiled a smile that reflected sadness and grief.

"Goodbye, Shadow... the Hedgehog..." Maria faintly said as she was taken from this life.

Shadow's emotions were a mix of rage and sorrow. His eyes glowed with intense rage.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Shadow bellowed as he collided with the unknown enemy. His vision blurred, changing from white, to red, to black. Nothing but sorrow…

A/N: Ouch, that's gotta be painful! (Emotionally). So as you can see already by Part One, this story is gonna be darker than the night sky. (Similes FTW!)
P.S. This Nightmare that Shadow experiences is based on a memory that He and Maria shared on the ARK. However, the events that lead up to Maria being brutally killed DID NOT happen and is merely a part of Shadow's dream. Also, what does this dream (Or better yet, Nightmare) that Shadow had even mean? Stay tuned for Part Two! :D Thank you guys for reading the first part of my story! I really appreciate it! Catch You Guys Later!