Yeah, I haven't put anything up on here in like a year. Haha. (shamed) As I am in a rush right now, I'll just say that this was made for a Christmas contest thing where the story was basically supposed to have no happy ending. So of course, I make something weird. (Yay) Kind of a huge contrast to the last Christmas story I put up here.
I will make something better. :(
Reviews are nice, but remember, don't be stupid. :D
Sonic and others not mine.
"I...I was feeling nice today."
Cold and wet, Sonic stood up on his thin and shaking legs. Quills slicked back from the snow, lips turning as blue as his body. There were eyes everywhere, searching through every crevice, probing into hidden secrets. Honestly, he had not even known her that well, but there was that annoying 'click' in the back of his mind, soft and hopeful. He would do anything to turn it right off.
Lights, sounds, and a hit between the shoulder blades. He was falling down in the hole again, and had already passed out before he could reach the ground.
"Everything was nice for once... Why did you have to mess it up?"
Christmas, that wonderful time of the year. It was when the cold snowflakes started to appear, depending on your location, and the buzzing of people's voices can be heard as they rushed around the malls in a frantic rush hour. It was also when you were greeted with that tooth-decaying sweetness of love toward one's fellow man, family togetherness and blah blah blah.
Sonic just wanted his presents, and he wanted them now. Why did she have to torture him so?
"Can't I at least have a peek?" Spoken with a pitiful yet cute whine. He even put on a pair of puppy eyes to sweeten the deal.
"Nope!" The girl had a cruel heart, Sonic concluded.
Cream was laughing, her ears bouncing with the movement. Brown eyes were warm as she held up the small yet delightfully decorated box. Sonic poked his present with the tip of his finger, green eyes lighting up with curiosity.
"Not even a hint?"
The tiny rabbit shook her head. "It's only a week 'till Christmas, Mr. Sonic! You can wait a bit." She could not stop giggling, finding the famous hero's actions and pleading far too humorous.
The cobalt hedgehog tapped his foot irritably on the snow-covered pavement. "But I don't wannaaaa."
The young girl smiled in what could be called an innocent yet devious way. She was already running down the crowded streets of the city, shouting out a farewell as she rushed home for dinner.
She had the best eyes, for they were something Sonic could only smile at with genuine sincerity. They were the kind of eyes that helped washed things away, eternally and completely with their purity.
It was all so nice for a change...and now it's gone to Hell.
There was only the black suffocating blanket. He clawed at his throat for air, choking, gasping. His lungs were straining and he had the horrible thought of floundering underwater, completely helpless. A nightmare come true? It was hard for him to think of anything simple at the moment.
Air. Suddenly reaching inside his body. It was the treasure after months of searching, and finally he could break the surface and let the hands move away from an already bleeding neck. It stung, and the white gloves were stained. He didn't know how desperate he was.
"You have to learn how to breathe."
Just a thin waft of air against his face, warm and moist. But it was anything but comforting. Sonic scrambled back, body still shaking. It was so terribly cold, and his reflexes were sluggish to an excessively annoying rate. A shape of blackest ebony shifted against the darkness and soon enough there were hands on him, grabbing his wrists and twisting them back in expertise.
But Sonic only winced at what felt like a nagging soreness, the kind you feel throughout the day in irritability but not enough to ruin the performance of your routines. Somehow the nerves were already too dimmed down to register what should have been horrible pain in his mind.
Eyes focused on his own, too shrouded to know what lies under.
"So then why were you there in the first place?"
A pent up rage was leaking out through the cracks and the once-praised hero was tossed against the walls. Sonic only lashed out against the perpetrator, the sole of his sneaker colliding with chest, curses spewing from all sides.
He was getting sick of this crap already. A perfectly peaceful night shattered by the crunching of shoes against dead grass.
"Just tell me what you want already. I'm too tired for this now..."
The hooks were in place.
One must be wary of walking alone through the streets, especially at such a late hour. But Cream must have started picking up some of the stalwart confidence of the blue hedgehog. Their times spent together were much more frequent as of late, and the upcoming holidays only served to excite her youthful self. She was clutching the gaudy present close to her chest. The girl had left her home quickly, leaving behind a mother before the parent could get ready to depart. Yet Cream wanted to get to the party quickly, and Sonic had promised her that he would meet with the young rabbit at an intersection between the drug store and the coffee shop.
Her little shoes clicked against the icy pavement, snowflakes in a flurry from her dash. The jacket she wore was puffy to ward off the chill, though she still wore her orange dress underneath which now had green and red lining the hem that would glitter in the light. She saw the signpost only a few feet away from her in the brisk night. Her eyes were bright with hope, she would see Sonic very soon, and then laugh again like she always did when she was with him. A warm feeling, that was all she knew.
Cream stood at the proposed meeting place for quite a number of minutes. 5, 10, 15… Vanilla would be tearing her fur out at the concept of her lost child. Yet the daughter's brown eyes still shone, not even feeling the chilling air against her bundled up jacket. 20, 25, 30… She leaned against the metal signpost, pulling down her crimson hat to cover up most of her long ears as a strong gust of wind blew at her face. Soon he would be here, because good things come to those who wait. The minutes were getting longer, and she didn't even feel herself shivering. But she knew that the crescent moon appeared colder to her tonight, hanging over her head, the sun's reflected light on its crater-filled surface empty and bare.
A bang tore right through the dream and brought her back to the reality of the streets.
Sonic finally noticed the hooks latched onto the high ceiling. Rusted and gritty was their unflattering appearance. He grimaced, facing his gaze away from the metal things. This was the strangest of places he had ended up at, and he could only question at his opponent's intentions. His body was still quivering because the cold was getting worse. He could barely feel his toes at the moment. Just proved how he needed new shoes.
"So why don't you tell me why you're here? Or do I have to ask again for the billionth time?"
Such a low and empty laugh. Devoid of any mirth, cruel or sincere. Shadow could feel himself dying, albeit slow. It was as emotionless as he for no fire ever burned in the crimson irises lately. Because he was over it now. Nothing left to worry over, the soul at peace and the memories locked away, the past forgotten. He only had eyes for the road ahead, and saw what it held. Things were better for him now, despite what so many had argued over. Once you're dead, you never have to feel anything at all. It was really not that difficult to comprehend. But he knew he should not expect much from the inferior creatures.
"I'm only here to show you what I know." Just a statement and nothing more.
There was a quizzical look on the blue one's face, obviously mocking. Shadow never made sense to him anyway, no matter what state of mind he was in. Sonic dismissed the fact that he was trapped in the abandoned warehouse with nary a door to freedom. Now he just found it all amusing at Shadow's high and mighty attitude complete with a blank stare.
"And what the heck do I need to know from you?"
Narrowed slits of red, the same color that was once on the pavement before his feet.
"It's already been a year, and you're still not over it yet."
The sharp bang was too clear. It was the sound the marked the beginning and the end, and all she did was stand aside, a lonely witness in the snow.
There was a flurry of two bodies moving in great speed, their strikes exchanged in rapid succession. Cream only kept hugging her present, confused to a point of fear. She could feel the heavy thud through her feet from the ground. The young chameleon -Espio, was it? It was hard for her to recall- groaned from the pain in his sides. The yellow eyes burned, but were immediately covered by the lids as his nerves screamed aloud in protest. He rolled over on the cold snow, body unable to respond the way he wanted.
She didn't run away, even as she eyed the winner of the short-lived battle stroll over to his opponent. He was cold, like a statue that was suddenly granted the ability to move. There was knowledge in every step, prediction in all his gestures. The stain of conflicts were erased from the eyes, the body set free and flowing instead of tense and unaware. A perfect creature with no more trivial worries to plague his flawless stature.
"Mr. Shadow…?"
He only barely turned to her in acknowledgement, the weapon held effortlessly in his hand.
Sonic was frozen, the clenched fists making his unresolved emotions all the more apparent. And always Shadow just stood there with not even a sarcastic smile. Nothing at all, yet everything spoke of great calmness so few would ever achieve.
Clicks in his head, a laugh suddenly cut off, and the hero is left alone again. It's not his fault, even if the stars in the sky glare at him in accusation.
"Why would you of all people bring that up?" Strained, halting. All the more rage that threatened to spill over onto the ground in a burst of flames.
Shadow still would not show any pity or remorse or even a goddamn haughty expression. Absolutely nothing. He might as well be dead. But then again, Sonic always questioned the existence of the living ghost, surviving on the outskirts of the trudging masses.
"You bastard! I can't believe you have the nerve to say that about-!"
"She waited for you, didn't she?'
Squeezing of the air pipe, the hooks swaying so very slightly from their chains.
"You're arrogant yet guilty. For the first time you keep looking back, and you have no idea how pointless that is."
A river of red flowing from the eyes, but it was only the doppleganger staring straight at him, hesitations swept away.
"Why must I be blamed for your mistakes?"
He couldn't take it anymore.
The hero reached for the neck.
"...Mr. Shadow?"
Cream was taken in by the oddly empty eyes, knowing fully well of the wounded Espio on the street. The girl was aware of the fact that she should have ran for help, for common sense dictates that this should be done when confronted with a figure holding a weapon. Yet something kept her rooted to the area amidst the falling snow.
Shadow was neither threatening nor welcoming. He only looked at her as part of the landscape, cold as the environment. Perhaps it was a warning, accompanied by the shrieking wind, but the rabbit was compelled to stay.
"Why did you do this?"
She clutched at her present fiercely lest the wind would carry it away on its strong gusts. She could almost imagine the rapid patter of running shoes.
"He didn't get it." Clear-cut and straight through, Shadow did not wait for silence. He searched the skies, the snow covering the stars overhead. "Do you know where I am now?"
The rabbit shook her head, the road she was treading on hazy.
"I'm home."
The eyes came down to Earth, meeting with a pair of hazelnut brown as a welcome. "But you'll never get to find your own that is way up high in the clouds, because everything around here will stand in your way."
Never shifting, words flowing so systematically with zero passion in them.
"Ten years from now, you'll never be the same. Your home will always be unreachable to you, for you will lose yourself all too early on the way."
Cream suddenly felt saddened. What did he mean? Why was he telling her all of this? ...Where was Sonic? She missed his smile, but the pattering of sneakers faded from her memory to be replaced by cold silence.
"But...I don't want to change."
Shadow showed nothing, flipping the object in his hand methodically.
"There's only one way to stop time."
Sonic let it all loose. He delivered every attack he could think of, bruises delving into tears in the skin, sprains becoming shatters, and blood spattering against his fur. But all he could see was Shadow forever looking straight at him through the beatings. No defense, letting himself be used as a punching bag. He lived in the clouds.
Yet each strike brought Sonic no true satisfaction. Every hit just made him angrier, hateful, and he wanted to see the other erased from existence once and for all. No more magic tricks of coming back from the dead. No more red eyes and dark upturned quills. Just a body that would stay in the ground like the useless creation he was.
"After what you did, you have the nerve to bring it up!" A punch across the cheek, slamming into walls. The hooks were rattling from their places, but he no longer cared. "You're only an evil, coldhearted bastard! You don't know everything! So don't act like it! Just get the hell-!"
Bang.
There was fire shooting through his left leg. Sonic screamed and fell on his side. In a lame attempt, he tried to staunch the bleeding with his shaking hands. Crimson stained the cotton white of his gloves even more, warm and revolting as his heart thumped against his rib cage. A bullet should not have hindered him so, but it had struck a vital nerve area, just enough so that his leg felt too numb to be able to even run. Vulnerability was a horrible feeling.
Shadow remained standing, gun still pointed down at the hedgehog, completely void, as blank as the clean walls of a perfect home. Sonic could not find any words, the pretty color of life being lost shoving back again to that hidden place. He shook his head, yet unable to pull away.
"Stop running away."
He found himself unable to breathe. Espio was beside him, trying to heave himself up on his feet, though his ribs still ached. He tried to explain about Shadow's recent activities, something about a wave of random attacks all throughout the city and elsewhere. But who would care to hear such a common story?
The hedgehog kept staring at the young rabbit, her eyes half-closed, revealing their frozen colors of brown, all that was left. A bang to the side it was reported. She never screamed, even when Shadow pointed the barrel of the gun at her, whispering unintelligible words. His present was still locked tightly in her hands, yet the box had been torn apart from the blast of lead, letting free the object that had been so hidden discreetly from Sonic's eyes. It was shaped like a star, the jewel fixed on a thin strand for a necklace. It was a bauble one could get at a small store as a child's toy, but it still must have cost the young girl a bit of her pocket money.
He never meant for it to happen, yet here she was, lying on the ground.
Click. Click. Click.
It was happening again. The sound of tiny heels on the sidewalk, and the fleeting image of a skirt picked up slightly by the winter wind. Burning cold, the only heat from the running red water flowing from below. The gun seemed to have vanished from Shadow's hand and all he did was stare down, too still to be real.
Sonic felt the star lying against his chest. He clutched at it, the edges digging inside his hand. He wore it every day, even if it felt to be a weight that would eventually drag him down. Shadow would continue with his gaze, strangely knowing how the end of the tale would play out. A repeated story told in different words, maybe with different meanings.
"It's already been a year."
Click. Click. Click.
Sonic heaved up to his knees, holding onto that star, that bright shining star. He had not known her so well, yet his heart felt cut all the same. They were just in the beginning of what would have been a long chain of great memories and he suddenly realized that perhaps that was why it was so hard. Green eyes blazed, but Shadow turned his back on him, as if suddenly bored with the situation, fading away into the shade.
"I think it's time she came out."
He would look up at the sky often, much more since then. The panoramic view stretched out above his head, and he would feel small and insignificant in that large tapestry still in the works. He felt entranced all the same, despite the frigid cold. Her gift shone like its inspirers from up above, hanging from his neck in its own light
Yet Sonic found it hard to relax, even as the snow fell around so gently. It was Christmas again, though he would rather stay out in the cold than be greeted by artificial lights. This part of the city was always so very quiet at night with no lamps to tarnish the view. It was the best place for the hedgehog to just sit down and think while still in the city. Although the damn clicking in his mind would not go away. It got louder with the months and it always made him run faster than he would intend to.
He looked up at the stars, trying to pinpoint the brightest one. Even with the sound in his head, it was nice...for a change.
Until a pair of red walked up to him, and the stars dimmed their light. "Why are you here, away from everyone?"
The stars were disappearing, and Sonic was lost in a pool of black.
"Everything was nice for once...Why did you have to mess it up?"
There were eyes everywhere, reflecting off the walls and the hooks that once held up hunks of meat from the abandoned shop. Everything was so bare, devoid of even a mouse occupying the cold abode. But she was there, hands clasped before her, eyes as bright as the stars.
"You liked my present?"
Sonic could have dismissed it all as a dream. He only knew her for so short a time, despite the countless days of strolling through the streets, gathering up the flowers she had loved deeply. A chain broken only to find her on the ground, stabs and screams renting through him. He held the star, finding the young girl's eyes in the shining facets. There was only that smile, but it was cold because the shell of warmth was long gone by now.
"Yes...I love it. I keep it close to me everyday..."
She nodded, face so soft and full of light that was dimmed because of the barriers.
"I'm home now, just like Mr. Shadow promised." Her smile was all he had left, and it was the last thing before the fog took over. "I just wish I got to see you, Sonic, just for one second." The formality was dropped and she was no more.
Wrenching through his chest were sharp needles of the air. He twitched, eyes hollow, gazing at the spot where the girl once was, the image of her smile with sorrow underlying its features. Sonic wanted to break down, so he gripped the star jewel tightly, ignoring Shadow in the background. His palms bled, and he kept whispering. Something that could not be changed, insignificant against that huge space, the candles blown out by the winds. He wanted to run through the rift, change the clock's hands, but the clouds were just too far out of his reach.
"I...I was feeling nice today."
He felt the coming time, when that clock would strike and the people would cheer. He though he could start over, but he kept looking back, staying in those same ten minutes for much too long. Now it was impossible.
Shadow only shook his head, gazing from a thousand miles, oblivious to the feelings of loss he once knew. "There's nothing more you can do." He could point the dark barrel at his chest, but the star will remain. Sonic didn't know that.
"Why now?"
A shrug of black shadows, and what should have been a bang was only silence that was more deafening than screams. Sonic was confused and tried to look through. The walls were still clean.
The church bells rang, 12 clangs precisely. Everywhere else was changing, except for one little place inside an empty building, where time stands still forever. The Ultimate Life-Form kept on feeling nothing, just another 365 days more to kill until next time. Sonic was trapped inside, and he could no longer see the star, even though it still lay in his hand.
A breath from the living dead. "And a Happy New Year." Then he simply went away.
Sonic would never find home for the clouds were too far away.