Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Project Shadow: a Sonic Movie/underground AU prequel ❯ The next day ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Shadow woke up with a groan. He laid on his cot, staring up at the ceiling, as he tried to make sense of the day’s earlier events (he wasn’t sure what time it was or if a day had passed).

 He remembered Gerald and another scientist talking about a side effect that they thought they had managed as they tried to finish up a serum to counteract the effects. 

 Someone eventually injected Shadow with what he assumed was sedatives as he started feeling drowsy moments later.

 “I hope they have it managed before they give it to Maria.” Shadow thought.

 “Ah, you’re awake now.” Gerald said. “You slept for nearly a day.”

 Shadow turned his head to face Gerald. 

 “Sit up, we need to talk.” Gerald said, sitting down. He placed the book he was reading onto his desk.

 Shadow slowly sat up. He furrowed his brow as he noticed his feet could touch the floor while he sat on the cot, something he definitely wasn’t able to do earlier.

 Gerald noticed Shadow’s reaction. “That’s what we have to talk about.”

 “What happened?” Shadow asked. He froze for a moment. “Wait. What happened to my voice?”

 “You know how I told you about the serum we gave you to cure you of NIDS?” Gerald asked.

 Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Yeah….”

 “Well, we gave it to you when you were a baby.” Gerald replied. “It aged you to about four years old in about a month as well as completely cured you of your condition, so we gave you a serum two days ago to counteract the rapid aging or so we thought.”

 “What happened?” Shadow asked.

 “It aged you about eleven years in less than a day.” Gerald replied. “One of the lab assistants gave you the wrong serum. I made sure you got the right one this time.”

 “So it’ll stop me from aging too quickly?” Shadow asked. 

 “Yes, it actually slowed down the process significantly.” Gerald replied. “Eventually, you will age, but you’re going to physically be like this for… maybe a few decades. It’s hard to say.”

 “That’s a relief, I guess.” Shadow said. “But can you reverse it? Get me back to my actual age?”

 “No, I’m sorry it’s not reversible.” Gerald replied. 

 “I doubt you’re actually sorry.” Shadow thought.

 “Good news is that you’ll still live a full life and you’re still pretty young.” Gerald said. “So it’s not like you’re going to miss out on your youth.”

 Shadow nodded tersely. “Like that makes it better.” He thought.

 Gerald handed Shadow a book. “Here, I don’t know a whole lot about Mobian development, but this should help explain where you’re at now.” He said. “I’ll bring your breakfast shortly.”

 Shadow flipped through the book as Gerald left the room and shut the door behind him. “He only bothers to learn what will benefit his project.” He muttered. 

 Shadow hated being the test subject, but at the same time he wanted to see Maria cured. It seemed the only way she could be cured was to find out if he could be cured and there weren’t any negative side effects. 

 “Better me than her.” Shadow thought.

*

 Maria hadn’t seen Shadow since the day before and she couldn’t get a chance to talk to Gerald as he was busy.

 She hoped they hadn’t taken Shadow away yet.

 Maria took slow, even breaths to calm herself and avoid a coughing fit as she made her way to Shadow’s room. She unlocked the door with her access card, then opened the door.

 As soon as she stepped inside, she noticed an older hedgehog that looked similar to Shadow. 

 The hedgehog flinched, staring wide eyed at her. “Maria?” 

 “Oh, you must be Shadow’s dad or big brother.” Maria said, walking over to the hedgehog. “Where’s Shadow? Is he still asleep?”

 The hedgehog sighed. “I’m Shadow.”

 Maria laughed, but noticed the hedgehog was giving her a blank stare and stopped laughing. “You can’t be Shadow.” She replied. “He’s a little boy.”

 The hedgehog sat down. “I am Shadow, ask Gerald when you see him.”

 Maria sat down beside Shadow. “Then what happened to you?”

 “A side effect to the NIDS cure.” Shadow replied. “I think they tranquillized me while they were trying to counteract the effects, but I woke up like this.”

 Maria gasped softly. “It aged you?”

 Shadow nodded. “Biologically speaking, I’m fifteen now.”

 Maria sadly shook her head. “That’s way too fast.” She replied. “You didn’t really get to enjoy being a kid and now you’re nearly grown.”

 “The good thing is that they’ve figured it out and stopped it.” Shadow said. “I’ll age slower now, much slower. I’ll still look like this when you’re in your forties.”

 Maria sighed. “I’m sorry, Shadow.” 

 Shadow pulled his knees to his chest. “It’s fine.”

 Maria shook her head. “No, it’s not.” She replied. “You were robbed of having a normal childhood. Now, you’re forced to grow up much faster than normal and have to deal with a ton of changes you don’t understand happening at once.”

 Shadow blinked slowly.

 “That’s not right, Shadow.” Maria said. She hugged Shadow, quietly stroking his spines.

 The communication system on his bedside table chimed.

 “I have to check in for training.” Shadow said. “I’ll see you later, Maria.”

 Shadow got up and left the room.

 Maria exhaled slowly. “I need to have a few words with Grandfather.” She said, getting up.

*

 Shadow made his way to the simulator.

 Gerald stepped into the room. “Come with me for a minute.” He said, walking Shadow to the nearby medical bay.

 Commander Walters was waiting on them.

 Shadow sat on the table. “What now?”

 Commander Walters sighed. “So he’s a moody teenager now?”

 “Hopefully, that can be broken.” Gerald said. He handed Shadow a pair of fingerless gauntlets and shoes (both almost solid black except for red stitching), both of which had silver rings around them.

 Shadow looked over the items. 

 “Maria designed their appearance.” Gerald explained. “She said these were your favorite colors.”

 “She listens better than most people.” Shadow replied.

 “Anyway, the shoes’ mechanics are of my own design.” Gerald said. “They’re air shoes. Once they adjust to your brainwaves, you’ll be able to use them without much thought as if they were a part of you.”

 “Interesting.” Shadow replied.

 “The inhibitor rings will keep your power from getting out of control.” Gerald said.

 Shadow raised an eyebrow. “You mean out of your control, don’t you?”

 “Do you like those outbursts and subsequent weak spells?” Gerald questioned.

 “No.” Shadow replied.

 “Well, that’s what the rings are for.” Gerald said. 

 Shadow put the gauntlets and air shoes on. 

 Gerald then snapped a collar around Shadow’s neck.

 Shadow immediately tried to pull it off, only to receive a quick and painful shock.

 “Disobey and you get a disciplinary shock.” Gerald said. “That shock wasn’t a test. Don’t take it off again.”

 Shadow narrowed his eyes.

 “There’s another thing.” Gerald said. “Either you sit still for your identification tattoo or get shocked, then put under anesthesia.”

 Shadow sighed. “Get it over with.”

 Gerald gave Shadow an ear plug before he got to work on tattooing Shadow’s ear.

 Shadow flinched, but otherwise sat still just to avoid being put under where he’d be unable to fight back. “As soon as I think of a way to do it, this ship will be a mound of debris with only two survivors.” He thought.

 

 *

 Maria found Gerald in his study. “Grandfather? I saw Shadow about an hour ago.”

 “So you know.” Gerald replied. “It wasn’t intentional.”

 “How do you think he feels?” Maria asked. “One day, he’s a toddler and the next day he’s a teenager. He has to be stressed out from this. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but don’t you care how this affects him?”

 “You know this is the only way to research a cure for you.” Gerald said. “He would’ve died without the treatment anyway. He’ll still be young for a long while.”

 “But he’s being used as a lab rat.” Maria replied.

 “He is a rodent.” Gerald said. “It’s unethical to test on a human.”

 “He still has feelings and he’s not an earth animal anyway.” Maria replied. “Even if he was an earth hedgehog, that is still cruel. It’s not fair for him to be robbed of his childhood. How is that gonna affect him in the long run?”

 “What’s the difference?” Gerald asked. “He’s not ever leaving GUN’s program. He won’t be allowed to socialize with any other Mobians unless they want more to use as weapons. Even then, he won’t be around them much unless GUN allows it for some reason.”

 “That’s horrible.” Maria replied.

 “His own kind didn’t want him, Maria.” Gerald said. “He’s better off here than he is on his home planet.”

 Maria blinked back tears. “But he’s still worthy of being loved.”

 “I told you not to get attached to him.” Gerald scolded. “He’s not ours, he’s a lab rat and a dangerous one at that. You haven’t seen what that thing is capable of.”

 “Maybe he’s angry because everyone treats him like he’s a monster.” Maria replied. “He didn’t have a name until I named him.”

 “Go watch him in his hand to hand combat training later.” Gerald said. “Maybe you’ll finally realize what he really is.”

 “Yes, Grandfather.” Maria replied.