Special Three: Maria Reborn/Shadow VS. the Yagyu Lord

**Maria Reborn** and **Shadow VS the Yagyu Lord** is the third two part special of Sonic X: Heroes Forever.

## Maria Reborn Characters

* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Shadow the Hedgehog
* Sally Acorn
* Sonia the Hedgehog
* Maria Robotnik
* Knuckles the Echidna (Does not speak)
* Julie-Su (Does not speak)
* Amy Rose (Does not speak)
* Cream the Rabbit (Does not speak)
* Rouge the Bat (Does not speak)
* Payback Fox (Does not speak)
* Manic the Hedgehog (Does not speak)
* Miles "Tails" Prower (Does not speak)
* Antoine D'Coolette (Does not speak)
* Bunnie D'Coolette (Does not speak)
* Mighty the Armadillo (Does not speak)
* Ray the Flying Squirrel (Does not speak)
* Silver the Hedgehog (Does not speak)
* Blaze the Cat (Does not speak)
* Marine the Raccoon (Does not speak)
* Rotor Walrus (Does not speak)
* Elias Acorn (Does not speak)
* Cheese the Chao (Does not speak)
* Archimedes the Fire Ant (Does not speak),
* Jules Hedgehog (Does not speak)
* Queen Aleena Hedgehog/Bernadette Hedgehog (Does not speak)
* Sir Charles Hedgehog (Does not speak)
* Venice the Mink
* Aurora (Mentioned)
* Hope Kintobor
* Abraham Tower
* Geraldo Robotnik (Mentioned)
* Ivo Kintobor (Mentioned)
* Christopher Thorndyke
* Chuck Thorndyke
* Nelson Thorndyke
* Lindsey Thorndyke
* Mr. Tanaka
* Ella
* Topaz
* Colin Kintobor (Mentioned)
* Snively Robotnik (Mentioned)

## Plot of Maria Reborn

The first part of the special begins when Shadow has arrived after travelling back in time to minutes after Maria's death. He senses the presence of her soul and manages to catch it in a Power Ring, sadly saying she'd been taken at the prime of life. He catches sight of a duplicate of himself and gets an idea: he breaks a capsule of one of them open and places it on an examination table, gently holding the ring to the duplicate as both begin to glow. The duplicate turns yellow and gains a blue outfit. The hedgehog stirs a bit and Maria wakes up in her new form, Shadow crying tears of joy. Maria is a bit confused, as she thought she was shot dead. Shadow confirms she was, but, he also explains she's in a new body. Maria reacts in surprise that she a Mobian now, but, quickly comes to terms with it and Shadow explains he used one of his duplicates to revive her and that he's from the future. Shadow also reveals that Maria can go to Earth now, like she always wanted. With that, Shadow and Maria hop into a capsule to bury Maria's old Overlander body and mark it with a cross, marking the end of Maria's old life and the beginning of a new one. Shadow also tells Maria that Mobians have made it to Earth in his future, though he doesn't know how or why. Maria is ecstatic about the prospect of meeting other Mobians and as Shadow is ready to warp himself and Maria to the present, she asks where his left wrist Inhibitor Ring went, to which Shadow replies it's probably still floating around in orbit. Shadow then snaps his fingers and the two transport back to the present.

Back on Earth in the present, everyone was disembarking the shuttle and they see Shadow and Maria make an entrance in a bright light, much to everyone's (except Venice's) shock. Sonic greets Shadow warmly despite the surprise and Sally asks who's with him, to which Shadow introduces the whole group to Maria. Sonia comments on her beauty and is surprised she's saying that about a Robotnik family member, to which she suddenly remembers Hope and apologizes. Abraham is surprised at this turn of events, but, is very happy all the same and hugs her. Maria's a bit taken aback as she doesn't recognize Abraham right away, until she sees his eyes and she becomes happy with this revelation, also revealing her new body healed her of her disease: Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which is a disease which made her immune system frail and she got any sickness that went around. Manic asked where Maria's new body came from and Shadow admits it was from his many duplicates, one for every Ability Type, (including three new ones foreign to Chris that Hope had forgotten to bring up) Elemental affinity and Balance combination. Topaz asks which ability type Maria got when she was put into her new body and Shadow explains he chose the Healer-Type to fit with her gentle personality. Abraham appreciated the reunion, but, admits he must tend to the corruption within G.U.N. and it's here Maria realizes that she was 50 years in the future from the time where she died and was reborn. Shadow is as clueless to the current time as Maria is, but, Abraham is able to fill in Maria on the Cold War that her father was often worried about ending. Hope also tells Maria she's her first-cousin-once-removed and she has another one, Colin Jr. Kintobor (she doesn't mention Snively by that name), both of them being the children of Colin, who is Maria's cousin. Maria remembers that her uncle Ivo's last name was Robotnik and was confused about the change, but, Hope admits it's a long story.

At the Thorndyke Mansion, now been restored, Nelson, Lindsey, and Chuck all scold Chris for the danger he put himself in and that he won't be going on adventures with the Mobians and Hope for a week. He accepts this punishment and Hope comes in telling him that he can still interact with her and the Mobians at home for the week and Chris admits he wouldn't want to go adventuring for a while anyway. Hope says she wants to discuss the other ability types after dinner, to which Chris agrees.

After dinner, Hope calls the humans of the Thorndyke Mansion into the entertainment room and starts to talk about the other three ability types. The Healer-Types are much rarer than even the Variable-Types and able to cure any disease or injuries even without known cures. They are often concerned for the well being of others. The Stealth-Types are skilled with slipping into places, gathering information and sabotage, they are also very secretive. The Elemental-Types have the ability to manipulate one or two elements in nature, often referred to as psychic powers. Sometimes they have gemstones or glowing bodies or lines when their powers are used. The elements vary from Mobian to Mobian, and there are many Affinities: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, Darkness, Lightning, Metal, Sound, Mind, Energy, and even Legendary Affinities like Aether, Nether, Time, and Space, as well as many combinations which would take Hope too long to list them. Chris thanks her for the lesson anyway as part one of the special ends.

## Shadow VS the Yagyu Lord Characters

* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Shadow the Hedgehog
* Rouge the Bat
* Payback Fox
* Espio the Chameleon
* Charmy Bee
* Vector the Crocodile
* Liza the Chameleon (First appearance)
* Saffron Bee
* Knuckles the Echidna
* Julie-Su
* Amy Rose
* Cream the Rabbit
* Manic the Hedgehog
* Sonia the Hedgehog
* Miles "Tails" Prower
* Antoine D'Coolette
* Sally Acorn
* Bunnie D'Coolette
* Maria Robotnik (Mentioned)
* Fiona Fox (Mentioned)
* Mighty the Armadillo (Does not speak)
* Ray the Flying Squirrel (Does not speak)
* Brandon Mutt
* Cheese the Chao
* Ferrell (Mentioned)
* Ruby the Bat (First physical appearance)
* Yagyu Lord (First appearance)
* Yagyu Clan Members (First appearance)
* Archimedes the Fire Ant
* Chomps (First physical appearance)
* Abraham Tower
* Jerome Wise
* Captain Westwood
* Howard Watcher
* Topaz

## Plot of Shadow VS the Yagyu Lord

One week later, Abraham is making a public announcement regarding Sonic and Shadow, telling the crowd Sonic is innocent and Shadow is the one who had caused the trouble, also showing that they are vastly different from one another. Abraham also explains that both Sonic and Shadow had risked their lives to save the Earth from the Space Colony ARK drop. After a modest bow from the black-and-red blur, Jerome Wise tries to get the crowd to believe that the hedgehogs were conspiring together to get everyone to believe they were the good guys. This results in him being taken by security and Jerome demanding that his father will hear this as he's the governor of Maryland. Shadow questions what was going on, to which Sonic replies Jerome's an idiot and his stupidity stops him every time. Abraham drops the charges of Sonic and Shadow and has Captain Westwood and Howard Watcher discharged and put under arrest. They try to protest, but, it's not helping their cases, especially when Abraham rolls the footage of their wrong doings. Abraham concludes the meeting by saying G.U.N. will repair the damage without it's robots.

Meanwhile, Rouge, Topaz, and Payback are all watching from afar, all relieved that the tyrants are gone from G.U.N., however, Rouge is still solemn as she reveals her mother is still in danger, threatened to be killed by the Yagyu Lord unless she steals jewels for him. Rouge also admits she has to do this alone and Topaz hopes Rouge doesn't land in more trouble.

That night, Rouge slips onto Angel Island, snatching the fake Master Emerald from the Chaotix and Chomps, all of whom are fast asleep. She notes the Yagyu Lord doesn't know the size of the real deal and decides to use that to her advantage. The next morning, the Chaotix all wake up and Charmy admits he thought he heard something last night. Espio admitted he didn't hear anything and the group hear a female voice. It turns out the female voice in question is a female chameleon named Liza, who the group had met before, and Espio immediately loses control of his color-changing scales. Trying to ignore him, Liza reveals the photo of Rouge she had taken last night. Knuckles is quick to try and find her to attack her, but, Julie-Su and Vector try to get him to back down as Rouge did help them save the world, but, Knuckles still believes Rouge is lying. Espio finally snaps out of his stunned state and tells the group to talk to Rouge when they find her to understand her motivations.

Back at the Thorndyke Mansion, the Knothole Freedom Fighters are watching the news about a jewel robbery the previous night and they don't know who did it. Amy suspects it's Rouge or Fiona and Cream hopes they can get the jewels back, but, Manic is deep in thought. Sonia's confused and Manic points out that the thieves didn't leave any clues. Tails realizes that it would be hard for anyone to find clues and Manic brings up the Yagyu Clan, a clan of bats who terrorized and plundered the Dragon Kingdom for 50 years. Amy wonders if Rouge is descended from them, to which Manic replies that she seems to come from Mercian-Northameran descent rather than Yurashian descent. Antoine's confused, but, Manic admits that the Yagyu Clan was famous for covering their tracks when it comes to theft, according to Ferrell. Sally asks if they were responsible and Manic replies it's possible and Sonic says they'll look into it.

Meanwhile, Liza slips into an old warehouse to find Rouge talking to the Yagyu Lord, offering him gems she had stolen for him. He decides she should go and steal again, much to her shock as it's becoming too risky. The Yagyu Lord then threatens to kill Rouge's mother, revealed to be called Ruby, who begs her not to do it. Rouge decides to do it anyway to save her mum. Liza slips out undetected, shocked and horrified by the state of affairs she had witnessed.

Sonic and the Chaotix are all discussing what to do to get the jewels back and Manic suggests leaving fake gems on platforms rigged with flares that will go off if the gems are touched, never mind stolen. Sonic suggests keeping an eye out for them in teams and going along with Manic's idea and they don't know Shadow's watching secretly. Just then, Liza arrives in the room, causing Espio to get flustered again. Ignoring that, Liza shows them what's going on with Rouge. She gets Hope to use her DigiTab to play the video she recorded on the camera in her glove on her flash drive and Knuckles is stunned to see Rouge was telling the truth the whole time, admitting he was *not* looking forward to the next week ahead of him. Archimedes says he'll find a chicken suit for him to wear once all is said and done. Shadow makes himself known to the group and asks Liza where the meeting took place, to which she replies Silky Heights. Shadow is off in an instant and Sonic, Sally, Vector, Charmy, Espio, Tails, Knuckles, Bunnie, Antoine, Mighty, Ray, Sonia, and Manic all decide to rush after him while Saffron decides not to go as she's not much of a fighter. Shadow is reluctant to accept the help, but, decides to anyway when Sally insists now is not the time for playful banter.

Soon, the group gets to the warehouse and Sonic tells the main Chaotix trio to use their Team Blast to lure the clan out, to which they agree and launch into Chaotix Recital. The disastrous music number draws the clan out and they rush off to protect their lord. Shadow rushes inside while the others battle the Clan outside.

The Yagyu Lord is surprised to see Shadow inside the building and the two immediately start to battle, the Yagyu Lord tries to throw shurikens at Shadow, only for the black blur to effortlessly dodge them. He also lands a blow to Shadow, but, he doesn't flinch at all and tosses the Yagyu Lord like a ragdoll. When the Yagyu Lord tries to escape, Shadow Chaos Spears him until he's on the ground, crushing the Yagyu Lord's hand with his foot, demanding he should step down. Unfortunately, this goes poorly and Shadow beats the Yagyu Lord up again. This causes the clan to become frozen with shock. Rouge happens to arrive shortly after this is said and done and Shadow tells her that the Yagyu Lord would harass her no longer. Chaos Energy radiates from Shadow's hand and Rouge rushes over to him, telling him to stop. Both she and Sonic manage to get Shadow to not kill the Yagyu Lord as it will upset Maria to know he killed somebody, even if he was a terrible being. Shadow calms down and Vector, Charmy, and Espio all offer to take the Yagyu Lord and the Clan away and turn them into the cops. Shadow agrees and shortly after, he and Rouge manage to free Ruby, who is very grateful for what the group had done. Knuckles then comes over to speak to Rouge privately. Rouge says her jewel stealing days are over now her mother's okay and Knuckles then telling her he's sorry for doubting her, and he'll be wearing a chicken suit on Angel Island for a week. Rouge smirks playfully and wishes him luck.

Knuckles is in a chicken suit a little later, wondering why he said he would dress up in it and suddenly, Chomps starts chasing him all around the island, thinking he's an actual chicken as the second part of the special ends.

## Trivia

* This was the special that TobyandMavisforever2 was the most excited about since MrBLUERANGERHERO had announced it.
* This is the first special where Team Dimension doesn't deal with any leaks.
* It's also the first one to primarily feature the same character in both specials, this one being Shadow.
* This is the first special where both parts don't take place at the same time as each other.