Hi there! AHeartForStories here with the last chapter of 'Mother'!

I would like to thank 'TheVideoGamer', 'Krispina The Derp', 'SunLove', 'LiveOnShadow' and 'lilysash97' for reviewing on this story I really appreciated it! You guys kept me motivated to keep writing this story! ^^

And I would like to thank 'Krispina The Derp' for giving me a name I could used for Shadow's mother. I'm bad with names and I really had no idea what could fit her, so I'm really grateful for your suggestion. ^^

Mother: Chapter 15 - Epilogue

Writing down numbers and incoherent words, Gerald kept himself busy in this dark cell. There seemed to be no end to the writings he had been scribbling on the wall. None of the sentences seemed to make any sense and none of the several formulas seemed to match up.

Common sense had been gone for a long time now. Ever since his granddaughter had passed away nine years ago during the raid, the famous scientist quickly felt himself slipping into madness. He lost the little bit of sanity he still had left. His last hold on reality was gone.

Forever.

"They will pay."

He had been muttering these words ever since that day. Days on end, non-stop.

The sound of the pencil scraping on the wall ended. Gerald stood up and took a step back. He took a good look at all he had written down on the wall. With years off writing and calculating, the wall was now covered with a mess of words and numbers.

To any other normal person, this would be impossible to make sense off, but Gerald could easily keep track of the numerous equations and sentences.

If he was a mobian, his ears would've perked upon hearing the footsteps walking down the hallway leading to his cell.

If it wasn't for the anger he felt, he would've smirked.

Everything was going according to plan.

The door to his cell opened, revealing two G.U.N soldiers.

"Professor Robotnik, the Commander has ordered us to take you along with us. It's time for you to get back to work." Older one of the two soldiers said.

The said professor followed them out of the prison cell and down the hallway without any complaint. They were taking him right where he needed to be, so why should he?

It didn't take them long to arrive. Once they were out of the prison part of G.U.N's underground base, they only needed to go down a hallway or two before arriving at their destination.

When the door opened, a bland room with only a desk and a computer was revealed. Gerald was quickly pushed inside, but he barely paid the harsh gesture any mind. He had gotten used to it by now. The door closed behind him, but he knew they were still there, guarding the entrance in case the elderly man would try something suspicious.

The man seated himself at the computer and began to type the away. This was what his days looked like for the past nine years. Either he would be forced to work for G.U.N on all sorts of projects for their benefits and sometimes he would be stuck in his cell for days on end.

But he knew all of that was going to change today.

He was going to make sure of that.

A security camera was watching his every move. Registrating everything he did, but it couldn't tell what was going on on the computer monitor. Gerald took advantage of that fact.

With just a few buttons on the keyboard, he hacked into the security system and gave himself access to the camera of one of the many cells that held experiments of every sort and size.

Now he had access to the whole system, but his attention was fixated on only one experiment.

Gerald hmpfed at the sight. The room was dark, so there was barely anything to see, but it didn't take the man long to find what he had been looking for. Or rather, who he had been looking for.

The man took his attention off of the sigh of his experiment and logged into G.U.N's system. Now that he had hacked into the system a few days ago, he had admittance to everything in this building. Gerald became excited with the amount of power the possibilities his hacking skills gave him.

Out of nowhere, the lights and security suddenly turned off.

The man smirked as he heard the startled jumps of the soldiers right outside the door. The two men foolishly left their position at the door, thinking there was a greater threat they needed to help take care off.

The professor stood up from the chair and walked right out the door. The hallway in front of him was completely empty. The other soldiers and guards apparently had the same idea and went to check if something was the matter.

This was too easy.

Gerald swiftly made his way down the corridor. He traveled through several corridors and stairwells before he came to a stop in front of one of the many rooms in the lowest level of the Guardians Units of Nations' base.

This was the level where the many experiments were being held against their will.

Gerald was only interested in one of them.

After the password was typed into the numeric keypad, the automatic door opened, revealing a pitch black room. Not that he minded, he didn't need to see in order to know who was here.

"Gerald?" A quiet voice asked, having heard the familiar man's name being called from his mother before.

An ebony fur covered being sat huddled in the corner. The boy looked no older than fifteen-years-old. He was thin, practically just skin and bones. His fur was messed up and sweaty and even had a few spots of blood on it from one of the most recent torturous experiments.

Upon recognising the man that stood in the doorway, Shadow smiled. Knowing that he was still alive, the ebony hedgehog had been hoping to see him again. With the terrible situation he was in, he wanted nothing more than to be with someone he knew.

Shadow gathered the little bit of strength he still had after another one of his 'sessions' and reached for his creator. A happy and reliefed smile was on his muzzle. Gerald was practically his own grandfather. This was the only person left who could provide him some warmth, comfort and an escape from this horrible place.

"They need to pay." Was the only answer Shadow received.

That little bit of life his eyes still held faded away.

The only person he had left in this cruel world had turned his back on him aswell.

Shadow looked down, not knowing how to respond.

"Shadow, listen carefully to me." The elderly man said.

The boy could still hear his mother's voice telling him the exact same thing the last time he had seen her alive. But while her voice held love and worry, this man's voice only held disdain and anger.

"These people need to pay for what they have done to Maria. And I need to your help doing so." Professor Robotnik said.

Shadow didn't take his eyes off of the floor. His 'grandfather' didn't even utter a word about his mother, didn't even ask if he was okay. All that left his mouth was a request to fill his lust for revenge.

The boy was tired and didn't want to fight back anymore.

All he did was nod and agree to this insane plan for revenge.

the darkness of this old prison cell was both familiar and strange to him. It both frightened and comforted him. But Shadow wasn't here for either of these things.

Now, fifty years after the ARK's shutdown, the now adult hedgehog was only here for one reason.

He wanted an answer to a question that had been bugging him for years now.

What happened to his mother?

He knew she had passed away. With a weak physique like hers, there was no way she could've survived that gun shot. And certainly not without any medical help.

"Did you find what you're looking for?" A fellow G.U.N agent asked as he watched the hedgehog read every word and number that was scribbled down on the walls. The young man was a temporary replacement for his partner Rouge while she was recovering at home after a mission had failed.

Shadow had been granted special permission from the G.U.N Commander to go and search for a piece of information he was so desperate to know.

It didn't take him long to find yeah.

"Yes, I have." The ebony hedgehog simply answered as his eyes were glued to a row of numbers that were scribbled into the middle of the wall opposite to the door.

Shadow turned around and left the cell, planning on never facing it ever again.

It only took him an hour to find the location Gerald's co-ordinates lead to with the help of a certain smart kitsune.

The numbers had lead him to a place not to far from the base. G.U.N's headquarters were a bit isolated from civilization for safety precautions and a forest was closeby.

As he walked, a sudden tune started to play in his head. The song was comforting and made his heart skip a beat as he loved listening to it.

It was his mother's lullaby.

He couldn't help himself and hummed along with it.

Shadow came to a stop at his destination. His hands suddenly started to tremble as he held a small bouquet.

In front of him stood a large healthy tree. At the roots was a stack of stones neatly placed in a pattern.

"Hey mom, it's been a while, but I finally found you." Shadow said as he went to his knees and read the words that were carved into the tree's base, words that were carved by their creator when he still held that little bit of sanity.

'Cure Robotnik.'