Space Colony ARK, 50 years ago

Maria and Gerald enter an experimental room where Shadow is held. Maria eagerly runs inside, wanting to meet her new friend, while Gerald approaches a computer and inputs the command to stop Shadow's stasis.

"Can we wake him up now? Can I meet him?" she asked.

Gerald smiles at her and nods.

"I believe so, yes. It is time to awaken the ultimate lifeform. Welcome to the world - Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow's eyes awaken.

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Back to the present day in the Space Colony ARK, Shadow and Gwen has arrived on the ARK, standing in the dark, desolate room he was created. Gwen frowns in sympathy.

"Is this...?"

"Yeah." he said.

Gwen looks around the place before asking him.

"What was it like here? You know, growing up in the ARK?"

This made him smile a bit.

"After I was born, Maria would show me stars outside, something so beautiful that I had ever seen. We would spend time together gazing down upon the Earth from the ARK's control room, wondering what the planet was like and wishing to visit it..." he explained, chuckling a bit. "We even take classes together to learn about Earth. But I don't... pay attention much."

This shocked Gwen as she started to put two and two together before snickering.

"Wait. Are you... a slacker? You don't pay attention to class? Not even do your homework?"

Shadow's silence gave her an answer as she laughed.

"Wow! Shadow the Slacker Hedgehog, who falls behind school and doesn't finish homework! Oh hoo, man!!"

"Well you see... I had done my homework and I was going to hand it in, but, I was down on the lower decks of the Ark and... the Biolizzard ate my homework." he tried to deny that he's not a slacker and is very smart.

"Pfft! Now that's a good excuse." she playfully rolled her eyes, not believing him.

Shadow glances away, feeling embarrassed. Gwen sees that and playfully bumps into him, making him playfully glare at her.

"So... what do you think you'll do for now on? You know, on Earth?"

This made Shadow think deeply for a moment before facing her.

"Before all of this, I told Maria the one thing that's been on my mind lately."

"Really? What is it?"

"That night in the Ark, something showed me something in my dream. A vision." he said, surprising her. "It showed me a person. I don't know why, but I feel drawn to them whom I realized was a hedgehog."

For some reason, Gwen had a feeling who he is talking about as she listened.

"When I woke up and told Maria about it, she asked me what they look like as she got started on the drawing. I told her every detail about it. And when she's done, she showed me a picture... of you."

This left Gwen stunned at the unexpected moment as she pointed to herself.

"M-Me??"

"Yes. The vision showed me of you." he said with a fond smile. "Maria would tease me about it, saying that this could be my... future girlfriend. But she was very eager to meet you and positive that you're real. I question her of how would she know that you are real. She told me this, that the best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."

Gwen couldn't help but smile at Maria's wise advice.

"Well... your vision came true. I'm glad it happened between us. Even if our meeting wasn't that good for a start." she said, recalling her first meet and fight with Shadow.

"Hmph." Shadow hummed with a hint of chuckle. "Well, I don't regret ever meeting you... As to answer your question, I was thinking of... having a life. To get a fresh start without working with the GUN or anything."

"That's good to hear."

"But also to... have someone by my side... like you..." he continued, whispering the last part.

This made Gwen blush at this, hearing that last part.

"O-Oh...! I..."

Suddenly, their moment was cut off and they hear a sound on Shadow's comm link, and listens.

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The day in Meadow, Rouge is in attendance of Sonic's birthday party, but has turned her attention away from the party to communicate with Shadow.

"Shadow? This is Rouge. Do you copy? Is Gwen with you?" she asked.

"Shadow here. I copy." Shadow replied.

"I'm here as well, Rouge." Gwen added.

"Are you two still aboard the ARK?" Rouge asked though on-comm.

"Yes, we arrived at the space colony an hour ago." he said.

"Well, you're missing the birthday party! I hope you're planning on being here. And Gwen, you gotta be here as well. Sonic's been missing you and was wondering where you are." Rouge said. "Especially Kirby. He wouldn't stop pouting, which I find it cute."

"I already told you. G.U.N. detected an unusual bio-signature aboard the ARK. I'm not leaving until I eliminate any possible threat." Shadow stated.

"He's right. Something is not right. My ruby wouldn't be acting up in the first place and I can't ignore it." Gwen said. "Tell Sonic and Kirby that I'll be there as fast as I can."

"There's free food." Rouge suggested. "And don't worry, I'll tell them."

Shadow gives a dismissive grunt and hangs up. They later notices a mysterious aura distorting the halls of the ARK. Scowling, Shadow activates his Air Shoes while Gwen activates her rocket roller skating shoes and skates to find the aura getting stronger.

"There!" he shouted.

"I see it!" she shouted back.

Together, they skate off in pursuit of the signature.

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https://youtu.be/0nYPF-ZCZsM

They're now sliding down out of the ARK as they chase after the signature.

"Finally! We've got you now. I won't let you get away!" Shadow declared.

"Let's do this quick!" Gwen urged.

The two boost their shoes to speed up as they went through the obstacles along with destroying robots that are in their way that were somehow active. This made Gwen wonder how are the robots alive when the ARK has been abandoned for years. Shadow uses Chaos Control to freeze time and to help them go fast and go through obstacles without getting hurt.

"Let's do this!"

As they head through the tunnel bridge that was activated for them, an alarm was heard as the room turned red.

"Uh, Shadow?" Gwen asked, pointing to the cannon as it shoot out a giant missile towards them.

"Get ready!!" he shouted.

She nodded and Shadow quickly uses Chaos Control and the two speedily punched or kicked at the missile with their powerful strength until it was broken into pieces before kicking it away. As soon as the missile is destroyed, they made it up into the ARK as they fall down into the lasers, which they went through every gap without touching it and made it down safely before speeding up. They went through another obstacles as they easily pass them and when they speed through the hallway, the room began to darken and the One Eye Alien Creature came into view.

"Hahaha..." a familiar dark deep voice chuckled through the one-eyed creature.

Shadow immediately recognizes it and glares.

"You!"

"Black Doom!" Gwen growled in venomous, having a small flashback when Black Doom tortured her and mind-controlled her to destroy Shadow.

Suddenly, the ground and the world around them started to shake and turn and form into another world around them. Shadow and Gwen struggled to keep up until they fell down in the air. They noticed the world around them is red and dark and everything is out of place. Shadow grabbed Gwen's hand to keep her close to him as the two landed on the road slide.

"Where are we...? What is this place?" Shadow wondered.

"I... don't know. Wherever we are, we need to stay focused." Gwen said, not liking this place.

The two continued forward through the weird warped Radical Highway while going through the obstacles. Black Doom as a one eye alien taunted them.

"We meet again, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

"Black Doom... But you were dead!" Gwen growled.

"Foolish, little hedgehog lady. The Black Arms always find a way."

"This is your doing?! How?!" Shadow growled angrily.

"You will find out soon enough, Shadow!" Black Doom laughed before vanishing and going further into the warped Radical Highway.

This angered Shadow and Gwen before the two boost forward through hoards of enemies to try and catch up with Black Doom.

"Get back here!" Shadow shouted.

"Hahahahaha! The promised time will arrive once more." Black Doom laughed.

"The promised time?? What are you talking about?!" Gwen questioned, summoning her whip.

"No! That's not gonna happen, Black Doom!" Shadow shouted. "I stopped you once, I shall do it once more!"

"You cannot deny your fate, Shadow."

Black Doom summoned out a force field and called in the Black Arms. Shadow and Gwen nodded to each other before they took them all out. Gwen wrapped the two Black Arms with her whip before spinning them and kicking them away while Shadow spin dashes them away. Shadow didn't hesitate to charge at Black Doom as soon as the force field is down and attacked him. When he hit Black Doom, a strange object that look like a symbol came out of him and it flew towards Shadow and disappeared inside him.

"We shall meet again, Shadow."

Black Doom then vanished and the world around them was back to normal. Shadow and Gwen stood there to where Black Doom was.

"So what we were tracking... was him! I won't let him escape again! This time! I'll make sure he gets what he deserves!"

Shadow clenches his fists, gritting his teeth. Gwen notices and grabs his hand to calm him down.

"I know you're angry. But don't let him get to you. We can still stop him."

He looks at her and nods.

"You're right. Thanks. Let's get a move on."

The two then made it to the end of the hallway as Shadow and Gwen enters the research lab and notices the Fake Emerald. Recognizing it with a grunt, he approaches its pedestal and obtains it.

"The fake Chaos Emerald Tails made to foil the doctor's plans..." Shadow said, taking out the real yellow Chaos Emerald for comparison. "Hmph. Even I have a hard time distinguishing between the two of them."

"Smart fox." Gwen smiled proudly at Tails' another genius invention.

Shadow puts both Emeralds away when suddenly a burst of violet energy appears outside the ARK. He tries to protect himself and Gwen from the light as it grows stronger. The energy is a Time Hole through which the Time Eater emerges. It generates a massive shock-wave of time energy towards the ARK

In Meadow day, at the same time, the Time Eater is attacking on Sonic's birthday party, dragging in some Chao, Kirby, Team Chaotix, Rouge, Knuckles, and Amy through Time Holes.

The blast of time energy engulfs the ARK and Shadow and Gwen with it.

"What's happening?!" Gwen shouted with worry, covering her eyes from the light.

"I don't know! Stay close to me!" Shadow shouted back.

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Before they knew it, Shadow and Gwen awakens in the White Space, noticing only a few desolate buildings. They turn to their left to notice Omega, who activates and stands up. They then glance to their left and notice the ARK has been teleported to White Space before finally looking up and seeing an ominous moon surrounded by rings that have closed eyes on them, steeling their resolve.

"Ow... Sonic? Tails?"

A small feminine voice called out, catching Shadow and Gwen's attention as they turn to see... Classic Gwen. She is a short hedgehog that goes up to Gwen's stomach. She has no eye color and it's only black, short quills, and short black hair with a hint of blue dye. She wears a red and black shirt and shoes, and short black gloves. She also has little rockets attached to her shoes and wields a short katana that's attached to her hip.

Classic Gwen rubbed her eyes and turned and gasped to see them. Gwen was surprised at this as the two pointed at each other.

"You're me!!" Gwen/Classic Gwen exclaimed in unison.

Shadow was confused on what's going on, but couldn't help but find that mini-version of Gwen cute. Classic Gwen jumped up to take a closer look at the tall version of Gwen then to Shadow before landing back on the ground.

"Who are you?? Why do you look like me? Who's that next to you?" she asked frantically.

"Let's... start off slowly. I am Gwen. Gwen the Hedgehog, sister of Sonic. And that's Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog. And you're... mini-Gwen?" Gwen introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you both. And well, I am Gwen, but I guess you can call me that." Classic Gwen said. "Have you seen my Tails and Sonic? We were having an adventure when suddenly... everything is all white and I'm now right here. What's going on?"

"We don't know where your Tails and Sonic are. As for your other question, we're just as confused as you are. We have no idea where we are, but... we'll figure this out."

"I see." Classic Gwen nodded before gasping to see Gwen's ice sword as she looked at her back where the sword is. "Whoa! Where did you get that cool sword? What does it do? Also, how did you get so tall? And I love your outfit! It looks great!" she started zooming around Gwen with her little rocket roller skates to go fast before looking at Shadow. "Also, is this Shadow your boyfriend?? He's good-looking! Do we have a house? Oh! Do we also have pets??"

This caused Gwen and Shadow to blush in shock at those questions from Classic Gwen. Shadow coughed into his fist to clear off the blush on his face, which it's not working. Gwen waved her hands.

"N-No, Shadow is n-not my boyfriend."

"Yet..." Shadow quietly muttered to himself.

"He's my friend. And as for the sword, it's kinda a long story. For my height, I'm born this way? But I like your sword. And yes, we have a house and I have a cute alien pet who's currently with my friends." Gwen said, referring to Kirby.

"Wow! Thank you! You are so cool! You and I are amazing!" Classic Gwen gasped in awe, making Gwen smile.

"Yeah, we are."

Suddenly, Shadow restores color to the Space Colony ARK, and a token Shadow has obtained leaves his possession and flies towards the moon. In response, one of the rings pulsates with magenta energy before the eye on it awakens. Seeing that made Gwen concerned about it as they faced the ARK.

"I'm guessing we go back to the Ark?" Gwen asked.

"What's the ARK?" Classic Gwen wondered, looking at the Space Colony ARK.

"It's... where Shadow was born." she slowly explained, not wanting to get into the sad part.

"Ohh! Really? What's it like?"

But Shadow didn't say anything after Classic Gwen asked him a question. He begins to have a flashback of the death of Maria as he remembered her last words to him.

"Never let yourself be consumed by anger or resentment. You could easily end up all alone. So just as you did for me, give everyone on that planet a chance to live happily. That way, even when I'm gone... And if you ever find that future girlfriend of yours... protect her and give her your love. Tell her... it was nice to meet you from me..."

"Open it, Maria!" his past self begged her to let him out of the capsule.

"Hey, Shadow." Past Maria placed a hand against the glass where his hand is, giving him a farewell smile. "Thank you so much for being born. I love you."

Those were her last words before dying as he was shot out of the ARK. Back to the present, Shadow shook his head and glanced at Gwen, who's busy talking to Classic Gwen. He will make sure Gwen doesn't get the same fate as Maria. He lost his dear friend, he will not lose the love of his life either. He will protect her as he promised to Maria.