Ahead of Schedule

Lord Black Doom was impatient with this pretentious little project, to say the least. He began to regret agreeing to aide Professor Gerald Robotnik in Project Shadow in the first place. Gods damn his generosity, he often cursed.

He was often pestered by Gerald's giddy voice day after day, only to hear that things were doing well and that the hedgehog's vitals were beautifully on track. Black Doom was pleased to hear of the progress, but the constant, relentless messages irritated him. Yet recently, something changed abruptly.

Gerald was normally religious about his teleconferences regarding the process of Project Shadow; yet within that past week, Black Doom received nothing. No notifications, no messages, and certainly no recordings of any sort. Even if the project failed, Gerald would have told him immediately, though it would have been hesitant. The alien gave pints of blood for the hedgehog to live, so it would be natural for Black Doom to feel anger if it failed. Gerald may have been human, but he wasn't stupid enough to overlook the alien overlord's violent tendencies.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was relatively concerned. He waited for days on end for any word, but received nothing. Black Doom finally decided to pay a visit himself to find exactly what was occupying the scientist so much.

Despite his dread, he ventured aboard the ARK via teleportation. He hated the place, honestly; it was entirely manmade, cold, and unattractive, not to mention incredibly maze-like. It wasn't to say that his own home, the Black Comet, was perfectly navigable, but at least he didn't need a map to find his way around there. By this time, however, he knew where he needed to be: the main lab. At some times, Gerald would lead him to his office, but those were the extents of his familiarity of the ARK. He was satisfied with such narrow familiarity.

Upon arrival, Black Doom was greeted with a much different atmosphere than the other visits he had made. The lights, what little were struggling to keep on, were dim and dreary. They hummed and buzzed. A few sparks shot out from the ceiling, pieces of light bulbs following and shattering on the ground. The alien watched them fall, but quickly returned his attention to the rest of the room.

The entire place was a mess, to say the least. Torn, crumpled papers were scattered about the floor; scraps of metal and shards of glass lay everywhere. Unidentifiable substances had been spilled on the counters and ground; Black Doom was sure to stay clear of those, just to be safe. Perhaps the most shocking element to this place was the scent. It was salty and slightly metallic. It was blood—human blood—and it was everywhere.

Alone and taken aback, the alien drifted around the room, searching for any evidence of what could have caused such catastrophe. Come to think of it, he realized, he hadn't heard the usual chattering from behind the steel walls when he arrived. There was no movement, no life. Did they flee? What sort of emergency could have caused every single life form aboard the ARK to disappear without a word?

Once the words "life form" entered his head, his heart skipped a beat. Shadow—where was Shadow?!

The hedgehog was to awaken from his "sleep" days ago; the capsule that contained him was behind the next door. If these humans did flee from something, surely they wouldn't have left such a valuable prize behind for whatever was threatening them. He didn't care how strong Shadow was; he knew Shadow wouldn't understand the power that was within his veins until years of training and meditating.

He rushed to the door, only to find that the regular means of entry had been rendered completely useless. Sparks trickled from the smashed keypad, wires exposed and shredded. The keypad's door was uncannily concave, spattered with dried, dark blood.

Someone perished, the alien thought. Any human that was thrown against such a heavy steel door and left such a large mark would have never survived. Someone did his job for him, but it was much earlier than he planned. But how was he to advance? The only way in was to manually make an entrance.

His large claws gripped the broken door and he heaved it to the side, grunting and cursing. Black Doom overcame the door's weight, but it groaned on the way, making a sickening metallic noise that sent dull aches through Black Doom's skull. He slipped through the opening, leaving one desolate room for another. Upon entering the lab, a power cell crashed to the ground, causing the already dimmed lights to flicker. It caught Black Doom's attention, but he wasn't thrown off by the noise or sight. Instead, he was too focused on Shadow's capsule.

It was empty, void of the green liquid that kept him asleep, and it was smashed. The glass had drawn blood from someone—another victim, perhaps—and it was splattered across it. Upon closer inspection, it was darker than the other bloodstains he saw previously. Was it Shadow's blood? Those vile humans must have claimed his life behind his back. Rage flared and roared deep within him. He lusted to find whoever was responsible for this and wring their neck—

Then, some odd, strange sensation rose from the place. He could feel ragged, irregular vital signs. Could it be—was someone dwelling here still?

The alien's three eyes scanned the entire room almost eagerly. If it was a human clinging to life, his revenge could be taken out; indeed, he had children at home waiting for dinner. He only hoped this being wasn't the girl who followed Gerald around so religiously; she would, no doubt, cry out for mercy or plead for help. That high-pitched voice of hers was irritating to begin with...

Suddenly he was aware of small movements in the shadows. He drifted slowly and cautiously to the source, ready to attack if necessary.

Instead, a pale green light whipped out from the blackness, nearly hitting the alien if it wasn't for Black Doom's piqued reflexes. He brought up a hand, illuminating the area with fuchsia. Then, the Black Arms leader beheld the figure of a half-frightened, half-hostile black hedgehog. His three eyes widened. It was Shadow.

He was covered in blood, but he had minimal wounds. His quills were ragged and tousled, yet his figure looked surprisingly healthy. The alien drifted closer, and the hedgehog got to his feet, assuming a battle stance. Almost simultaneously, they spoke.

"Shadow?"

"Who are you?! What business do you have here?!"

Black Doom knew Shadow wasn't about to wait too long for an answer. He furrowed his brow and cleared his throat.

"My name is Black Doom, Shadow. I'm your second creator—your biological father, if you will." It was a disgustingly brief description of himself, but it was all Shadow needed to know. Unfortunately, it wasn't what he wanted to hear; the hedgehog's aura flared with the same pale green as before.

"My second creator?!" As soon as Shadow processed the idea, he lunged at the alien angrily. "You wanted me to be this way, too...!"

Though confused, Black Doom caught the hedgehog's small hands effortlessly, most likely overwhelming the mammal with his significantly large claws. Shadow growled and grunted, straining to overcome his adversary with all his might. Finally, the warlord shoved him back against the wall, letting him fly back. Shadow stumbled, but glared up at his father.

"What are you talking about, Shadow?" Black Doom asked. Shadow took his genuine confusion as poor mockery. His temper flared.

"I don't want to be your experiment!" Shadow cried, fists flaring with emerald. Green sparks flew from his hands and, though they were harmless, they were a clear warning to Black Doom. His emotions remained level, however; he had seen his share of temper tantrums. This one was more delicate, but not as severe as some he had seen.

"Shadow, calm yourself," Black Doom said. "I don't want to harm you—I don't wish to make an experiment out of you."

"Then why have you affiliated yourself with those scientists?!" Shadow demanded. Oh gods, Black Doom thought. What an unbelievably simple question with an unbelievably complicated answer! If only he knew where to start. Luckily, Shadow continued. "What do you want of me, then?!"

The Black Arms leader blinked, both thankful that the first question could be avoided and irked that he had been backed into a corner with the second. His true intentions with Shadow involved an invasion of Earth in the future, using him as a secret weapon of sorts. Speaking of that would no doubt send Shadow into a spiraling rage. Clearly he had objections to being born as a pawn of someone in any way. He wanted a life—a meaningful and happy life. Black Doom took his original intentions for Shadow and warped them into something what Earthlings called a "white lie."

"...I want an heir—a son."

Indeed, he found it dangerous to lie to Shadow in this state of mind, but he couldn't quite label that answer as a complete lie. When considering the fact that Shadow was capable of such power at his early age, it seemed ludicrous not to take him in as at least a bodyguard of sorts. But because Shadow was his flesh and blood, he was his son. He was an heir.

Lo and behold, the green ceased. Black Doom had appealed to his softer side. Shadow seemed taken aback at the answer, for it wasn't selfish or greedy; it was quite the opposite.

"...You're...lying..." he muttered, ears falling. He seemed to be convincing himself of the fact to ward off future disappointment, the alien noted, and it almost hurt to see Shadow that way. He was quick to answer.

"Of course not, Shadow." Black Doom said, folding his hands. "I only wish to make you happy, and by doing so, I will be likewise."

"You're not some kind of monster coming to take me away, are you?" Shadow asked quietly, his disposition that of a small, worried child. The alien grinned on the inside; he had been called a "monster" and a "devil" all his life. The irony was painful.

"No, I'm here to help you. I swear it."

The black blur, as he would later be known, stood his ground, but his face pleaded for a sort of help. Shadow wanted the help that Black Doom had to offer, and though the leader himself wanted to scold Shadow for being so trusting of a complete stranger, he couldn't blame him. He hadn't seen a benevolent in gods-knew-how-long, Black Doom reminded himself. Shadow looked old enough to know better, but he didn't. He was young.

Shadow turned his back to Black Doom, hugging his chilled arms. "I need to think. I'm sorry."

Upon doing so, Black Doom barely saw strange appendages hanging from Shadow's back. He blinked, reaching out to the strange objects and feeling them, trying to identify what they were. Shadow felt it, and he glanced over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

The alien identified the objects as various wires and tubes, no doubt from the capsule that kept Shadow in suspended animation. They were torn and irregular; Shadow must have denied the scientists the chance to remove them properly. It was pitiful.

"You have wires attached to you," Black Doom explained, letting one slip from his hand. He made eye contact with the young hedgehog. "Will you allow me to assist you?"

He did.
_____________________________________________________________

Black Doom tossed another wire to the side, adding to the small pile of similar items next to him and Shadow. The hedgehog had told his story thoroughly, sparing no detail and releasing pent-up anger along the way, but both Shadow and Black Doom were more than satisfied the black hedgehog was sharing. He woke up earlier than expected, and, finding himself in a tight, confined space, he panicked. Shadow was able to get out, luckily, but quickly realized why he was there. His demanding questions confirmed his suspicions. He was an experiment against his will; so he eliminated everyone aboard the ARK.

"You killed everyone?" Black Doom asked, trying to hide the joy in his voice. "You killed Gerald?"

Shadow smirked smugly. "Of course I did. They deserved it, and so did he—treating me like some object...some experiment..."

"I must say, Shadow, it was wise to act as you did," Black Doom said. "Those people you killed were selfish. What you did was something I like to call 'purification', and you are very admirable for having done so."

The smirk faded. It gladdened Shadow that he was being praised for his deeds, but he remembered something he did that wasn't so admirable. He hoped he could leave it a secret for the time being.

"How long have you been like this?" his father asked. Something in the back of Black Doom's mind jokingly suggested for him to wish Shadow a belated birthday. Childish. Being around this hedgehog was already causing "damage" to his mind. He noticed a change of tone in Shadow's voice suddenly, and it was enough to draw his attention away from his mental distress.

"I don't know. It's been a very long, long time." Shadow replied in a dark, quiet tone. He truly hadn't understood the concept of time yet, and the memories of being alone for an indefinite amount of time worried him, but his mind still lingered on his gruesome deed.

"You look relatively well, though," Black Doom said as he disconnected another wire from Shadow's back. The hedgehog winced in response, both out of pain and in realization. He would have to talk about it...

"I...I doubt that," Shadow muttered, "I've been sick a couple of times."

"Sick?"

Shadow nodded once, hanging his head in something that seemed like shame. He hated himself. "I got sick after I ate something..."

Black Doom found it interesting that Shadow had fallen ill after eating; perhaps his stomach was more Black Arms than hedgehog. "Do you remember what it was?"

Shadow lowered his head. He certainly remembered; the blood, the ripping, the tearing. It took several moments to push the words out of his throat.

"A human. One of those scientists..."

The alien's heart sank. No, that was quite the opposite; Shadow's stomach was more hedgehog than Black Arms. He hoped he wasn't vegetarian; the Black Arms thrived off of meat of any sort. Though Black Doom himself was indifferent to vegetables, he expected every meal of his to contain flesh of some sort. However, all things aside, he was proud of Shadow for trying human at such an early age.

"Do you feel well now?" Black Doom asked, tugging at a larger tube. It didn't give much, unfortunately; he left it alone and went for a smaller one that came off without much of a hassle. Shadow grunted, clenching his fists.

"Yes, just...a little hungry," Shadow said. Truth be told, he was surprised Black Doom wasn't shrieking and punishing Shadow for having done something so disgusting. Little did he know that the Black Arms, the very race Black Doom ruled, thought humans to be a delicacy. (Black Doom, however, thought them to be a little bit on the salty side.)

Black Doom hummed a thoughtful note, as if to acknowledge the statement but also to notify that there was nothing he could do about it. The two fell into silence as Black Doom continued to gently disconnect as many tubes as he could from Shadow's black spines. He fell into thought; multitasking was, of course, one of his specialties.

His master scheme was accelerating at a most rapid rate; needless to say, he wasn't expecting these events to come so early. He wasn't discouraged, though; Shadow already had the proper hatred toward the humans. It would not be difficult in the least bit to further educate him of their other atrocities, or even set him loose on the battlefield in fifty years. Commencing the attacks now would be too hasty, he decided. As eager as he was to test Shadow out, the hedgehog needed the adequate training, among other requirements for combat.

The alien realized the remaining wires and tubes attached to Shadow could not be pried off easily. Surgery, he groaned. Just another complication—another added event for his busy schedule. It would put Shadow's training off for at least a week, or until he could recuperate himself from the anesthetics and wounds. All in all, he couldn't continue; not here, at least. The ARK may have had the proper means, but he was unfamiliar with human medicine. It would be dangerous for him to do anything further to Shadow here.

Black Doom set his hand lightly on Shadow's back, drawing it back after a few moments. The hedgehog's ears perked, and he turned his head.

"Are you finished? Are they out?"

"I can't remove three the way they are, I'm afraid," Black Doom said, trailing off a bit. He needed to choose his words carefully. "You see, Shadow, if I try to pull them out, I would no doubt cause you inexplicable pain and blood loss."

Shadow's eyes were alarmed. They warped Black Doom's emotions, and damn him for that, he cursed. He actually began to feel like a loving, caring father around this little rat. He sighed. "It would be best if I removed them surgically back at the Comet."

"'The Comet'? What do you mean?" Shadow asked, his voice shaking.

"My home is a comet," Black Doom replied quickly, not wishing to delay his proposal any further. "It's completely habitable and quite…homey, if I may say. But I digress; the important thing is I can't heal you here. I need to take you with me if you wish to rid yourself of those tubes on your back."

Shadow waited.

"Do you see, though, how beneficial this is? If you come back with me, you can live with me like you've always wanted while being healthy. You wouldn't need to worry about what to eat, where to sleep, or gods forbid, if you were safe or not." Black Doom folded his hands, silently praying in the back of his head that this was convincing enough. "Your brothers will love you, Shadow. You have many..."

The thought of a family tugged at the corners of Shadow's mouth. It was a dream come true. The alien warlord closed his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Will you come with me, Shadow?" Black Doom asked, extending his hand to the ebony hedgehog, still struggling to bear the stinging from his back. His two crimson eyes were glued to his father's hand in wonder. He could hardly comprehend the words. The alien continued. "Will you come home, my prince?"

Shadow blinked, staring deep into Black Doom's eyes, reading any and every emotion that may have been hidden beneath the blank façade. Being called a prince, though, was enough to send his heart leaping. It meant welcoming and desire...a true home! Before he could think anything more of it, he placed his own hand in his new lord's.

"Y-yes...! Yes, I will."

His father's eyes smiled, and without a moment's waste, they vanished in a warm light.