Author's Note: Hello, there, welcome to the fic! If you have seen, or heard, of the movie "I Am Legend", this is a parody of that movie. Basically, I watched that movie and thought 'Wouldn't it be interesting to put the Sonic characters in this setting but with a slight twist?' If you have seen the movie, you can already guess some of the roles these characters are playing (specifically Sonic and Shadow). Also, this entire story's narrative is in the perspective of Shadow. There will be a point when it will switch to another character's or third point of view, but it'll be easy to tell. Please enjoy!
Sky proudly presents:
Deadly Virus
Chapter One – Beginning of a Nightmare
"Good morning and welcome to Channel 2 News. I'm Scarlet Garcia, here with an important breakthrough," her smiled faded into a serious tone, "The world of medicine has seen its share of miracle cures. From the polio vaccine to the heart transplants, but all past achievements may pale in comparison to the work of Doctor Aletta Baxter," the news anchor smiled again as she turned to her guest, "Thank you so much for joining us this morning."
Aletta smiled, " Not at all."
"So Dr. Baxter," Scarlet spoke, placing her full attention on her, "This…well…give it to me in a nutshell."
"Well the premise is quite simple," Aletta sat up, "Um…take something designed by nature and reprogram it to make it work for the body rather than against it.
" So…you're talking about a virus, right?"
Aletta nodded, "Essentially, yes. In this case, the measles virus...which has been engineered at a genetic level to be helpful rather than harmful."
"I'm afraid I don't follow." Scarlet said, puzzled.
"Um…well…I find the best way to describe it is…umm…if you can imagine your body as a highway and you picture the virus as a very fast car being driven by a very bad man, imagine the damage that car could cause," Aletta shifts her seat a little as she continued to explain, "But then, if you replace that man with a cop, the picture changes. And that's essentially what we've done.
Scarlet placed her glasses on, glancing down on the papers in front of her," If I'm looking at these numbers correctly, you've had 10, 009 clinical trials in humans so far—"
"That is correct," Aletta interrupted, "And those 10,009 patients are cancer-free."
Scarlet too off her glasses, placing them down on the desk in front of her, "So…you really have actually cured cancer?"
Aletta simply smiled, "Yes…yes we have."
Three years later….
Life used to be so much easier before the outbreak, back then when viruses were seen as a mere joke. But now…now I only see is emptiness. Deserted streets of silence, moss and other parts of nature than managed to grow into the cracks and crevices of crumbling buildings, and tunnels filled to the brim with water—possibly a mix of sewage as well.
This place used to be filled with so much joy and laughter. Humans and Mobians would walk side by side, enjoying the everyday life of the hustle and bustle in the city. But now, I beg to hear a crowd of noise once again…this silence, it's unbearable and makes you feel so isolated amongst the rest of the world.
"Come on Shads, hurry up! We're wasting daylight!"
Maybe it's luck or some strange miracle, but I'm thankful I'm not alone in this silence. Amy…Tails…Knuckles…Silver…Blaze…Rouge and Sonic…if we never found each other that night, I would truly be alone in this world of silence. But our other friends…if I was just only a second faster—
"You think with all this roaming around, we would find some food around here by now," The echidna grumbled, "At least those diseased monsters don't need to eat much…lucky bastards…"
A cure that was meant to be the key to new developments ended up being a curse that claimed so many lives. I've seen tragedies in my 50 years since being on the ark, but I've never seen anything so vile and destructive that it cut short the happiness of almost everyone it touched. I would like to say we were fortunate, but even the tiniest scratch can turn any of my friends into the very demons that hide in the shadows. As for me, I cannot turn with a scratch or even a bite. For some reason, my curse of immortality keeps me from becoming that boogeyman in the dark. I don't know if I should be thankful for this blessing, or seethe in anger for this curse. What good am I, if everyone around me becomes a monster?
A silver hedgehog floats back with some canned food and goods in his telekinetic grip, "There was a big supply of food inside of some storage unit in a grocery store three blocks from here. Most of it looked pretty fresh."
"Let's make sure to mark the spot," the kitsune spoke, "It'll be our go-to spot until the food spoils."
I glanced up, noticing the sky was already turning into a mix of orange and blue, "Well, we should turn back. The sun's setting and last thing we need is to hang out around here after dusk."
"Pfft…stupid creatures…" the blue blur muttered, "I ain't afraid of them one bit! I like to see them try to put their claws on me."
"Oh, and what makes you think they won't catch you?" the lavender cat asked.
"Hello, fastest thing alive doesn't ring a bell to you?" the hedgehog grinned, "I'll be running circles around those bozos."
'What am I going to do with him?' I thought, shaking my head.
"Come on, we shouldn't be dawdling around," the bat spoke, "Let's head back to the base."
The GUN was ones I wouldn't dare trust…not even after I joined them and helped them with their missions, but I should be thankful that their base was still intact. The soldiers went out into battle to combat the infected, but they were easily ambushed and outnumbered. Lucky for us, their base was the safest and only place we could reside in without any worry from those creatures or anything else that would dare try to come in. It was the only thing that protected us during the restless nights…it was the only thing that made us survive day by day.
The pink hedgehog glanced back into the sunset behind her with a solemn look, "Do…do you think there are any survivors out there?"
"If there were any, they would've shown up by now," the bat sighed, "I know how hard it was to lose our friends, but there wasn't much we could do."
"There has to be something we could do…anything!" the pink hedgehog exclaimed, "Wh-What about the Chaos Emeralds? They could…"
"Amy…you saw what happened when we tried…" the echidna spoke sadly, "The energy only mutated the virus more...it was only making things worse…
"Besides, Shadow is working hard enough as it is to find a cure that the body won't reject," the blue blur grinned, "Isn't that right Shadow?..Shadow?"
I glanced down and noticed a cloth so delicate and soft with a light blue sheen—if only she was here with me…if only I could hug her once again…Maria…
- Flashback -
She glanced around, seeing so many people desperately begging and clawing their way to get onto the boat, but soldiers were shoving them back, threatening to shoot if the crowd continued to get aggressive. She soon looked in front of her and saw the visible look of concern on the black hedgehog's face as they approached the helicopter that landed a few feet in front of them.
"Shadow, what's going on?" Maria asked worriedly.
"There's no time to explain," Shadow quickly spoke, gently helping her onto the copter, "Right now, you need to get to safet—"
"M-Me?! No Shadow, I-I can't be alone again!" Maria said, gripping on his hands, "Y-You have to come with me, you can't—"
"I can't come…you know my job is to help these people," Shadow sighed, "I can't abandon them…not like this."
She stared at his crimson eyes, seeing sadness yet determination in them. She knew that no matter what she said, there was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise.
"Please tell me that everything will be okay…that you will be okay." Maria sobbed.
He smiled a little, staring into her sky blue eyes, "Everything will be okay, I promise. Now please, hurry."
Maria gave one last hug as the helicopter started to take off, "I love you Shadow."
"I love you t—"
Screams of pure terror erupted from the crowds behind him as a restless mass barreled its way through the crowds, latching onto and consuming any nearby pedestrian that stood in their way. Soldiers panicked as they fired at all directions, fighting back all they could before they too were swallowed by the darkness. The black hedgehog's eyes widen as one of the masses leaped up into the sky and landed onto each helicopter that dared to try to make its escape. Maria screamed out in fear as one of them managed to grab onto her leg, hissing at her as the helicopter started to spin out of control.
"G-Get off of me! Get off!" Maria screamed.
He skated over as quickly as he could, grabbing the emerald hidden within his quills. But before he got the chance to mutter a single word, one final scream utter from her as flames of red and yellow engulfed the helicopter. The hedgehog dropped onto his knees, watching the burning debris fall down below as he screamed out her name.
"MARIA!"
- Flashback ends -
50 years of living with regret since the day GUN took her life…50 years of being isolated and alone…50 goddamn years later it took for me to find a stasis Mobian body the professor secretly stashed away for Maria incase his work of finding a cure for her illness did not succeed…and the chance I got to be with her once again, fate decides to strip her away from me with yet another disease I can't cure! Am I meant to never have a happy ending?! Is my purpose to only live through grief and despair?! Why…why dammit?!
"Yo Shadow!" the blue blur shouted into my ear, "Earth to Shadow, do you copy?!"
I blinked, snapping away from my thoughts as I glanced over at the hedgehog, slightly rubbing my ear in irritation, "Sorry…did I zone out again?"
"Yeah you did," the hedgehog sighed, "We're already at the base."
I looked up, seeing everyone already inside. I sighed, making my way in, with the blue annoyance rushing in behind me, before turning around and bolting the door shut.
"Shads, are you okay?" the blue blur asked in concern, "You looked like you were in pain."
"It's nothing, I'm fine," I spoke, "You should join the others. I'm sure they're also locking up as well."
The hedgehog folded his arms and huffed, "Just because we are all living under the same room, doesn't mean you can treat me like a damn kid!"
"Maybe I treat you like one because you continue to act that way," I growled, "Now I'll say it again. I'm fine, so mind your own busi—"
When I turned around, I was instantly alarmed at the pale look on the blue blur's face. His ears were perked and alert, his body shivering as if a blizzard brushed its way into the base, and his eyes widen and darting around in sheer terror. He backed into the corner; wrapping his arms around himself and hugging his knees close as he muttered endlessly. If any civilian were to pass by and saw him in this state, they would swear he wasn't the same brave and cocky hero they knew. No, when he's acting this fragile and frightened, everyone knew what it meant.
"Is everything locked?" I asked, "And Tails, make sure the traps are secure and locked to activate!"
"Everything is secure and I'm turning on the traps now!" the kitsune shouted from another room.
With the last window locked and the traps activated, everyone huddled into the bathroom, getting themselves situated, holding close any weapon they could find incase those blasted demons somehow made their way in. Rouge wrapped her wings around Amy and Tails, keeping them close for safety while Blaze, Silver and Knuckles guarded the main door. As the minutes ticked by, all that anyone could hear was complete and utter silence…a silence so stark that a few seconds, I would check my pulse to make sure I wasn't dead.
"M-Maybe we are lucky this night?" the telekinetic hedgehog spoke nervously, "I mean, maybe they chose somewhere else to hunt?"
"Even so, it shouldn't be this quiet…" the echidna muttered.
Just before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a loud crash rammed at the side of the building, nearly giving anyone a heart attack who didn't have one already. Everyone clung to each other, trying to keep each other calm, but beside me, a blue hedgehog was already in a worse panic than he was previously. Without hesitation, I reached over, grabbed the hedgehog and pulled him into the dusty tub before gently cradling him into my arms like a mother would do for her crying child.
"Th-the noise…i-it's won't stop!" the blue blur sobbed, "It won't g-go away!"
"It'll be okay," I said softly, gently petting his head, "Just close your eyes and rest. The noise will be over soon, I promise."
I listened to him sob for a few more minutes before his body stopped shivering and became light. I looked down and smiled a little upon his sleeping form—his chest slowly rose up and down as he slightly curled into my chest. I sighed and made sure my gun was close to my side as I laid my head on the rim of the tub, staring at the ceiling, listening to the restlessness that continued to utter throughout the night…
To be continued! Please be kind and review. I'm interesting to hear about what you think so far on the story's plot, style, idea...
Oh! Before I forget, this is NOT a Sonadow story. It's a simple close friendship nothing more. :)