It has been many months after the terrible winter events… the cold blizzard, the icy thunder and what was more saddening… the death of Miles 'Tails' Prower. But it wasn't really his own fault, nor that of Shadow the Hedgehog, since the revenge the fox wanted so badly for the girl he loved, Cosmo, he let his death get the best of him… he is still very much missed by his friends and it was a rare surprise that Shadow decided to watch over Tails' rose for him… yet only a few questions still remain…
Will answers follow…?
It was the middle of April and in the small house, fancied up by a certain batgirl; she had invited Shadow as her roommate as he had nothing else better to do then live with her. Normally, they'd be out looking for Chaos Emeralds or awaiting missions but today, they didn't feel like pretty much doing anything, since they seemed to be pondering about the sudden pass-away by Tails. Well, mostly Shadow, since he still felt rather bad for it and couldn't seem to get anything of it off his mind, which probably explained why he went to Rouge since she was willing enough to at least listen to him and his problems.
"It's been such a long time…" Rouge sighed, breaking the silence that had been lingering an awful lot around here, "Can't blame them for missing that fox boy, he was part of the team after all."
Shadow took his time to answer almost slowly, "…and so was the plant girl."
"Cosmo, right." Rouge placed her hands behind her head, lying down back on her bed. Shadow lay down opposite of her on the other side as she continued, "Well, we did hear around at that time that she was forced working for the enemy, I guess we both made the mistake."
"Mostly I did," the black hedgehog frowned, "I tried to kill her and he did get in the way… I just didn't realize it would have such effect on him that time."
"Can't always take back what you've said and done," She looked at him with her bright blue eyes, "Everyone makes mistakes Shadow… do try and remember that…"
"Remember…" Shadow then went into a rare thinking expression as he did in fact remember the last, very last, time with Tails in the hospital as he quietly repeated, "…you'd have to look into my memories for that…now wouldn't you?"
"Huh?" Did Rouge hear her friend just right? She watched him sit up slowly.
"There was someone else out there that night," Shadow continued, mainly to himself now, "When me and Tails had battled to the bloody death, no offence to him, someone else got involved… which explained why I wasn't the one who died out there…"
"Shadow?" Rouge sat up, completely unaware what the hedgehog was talking to himself about...
"If that's the only way, then so be it." He got up, his hands behind his back as he looked down in deep thought, "It could be risky and who knows what effects it will cost but it seems the only way… at least it'll be some help."
Rouge was now really confused, "What on earth are you talking about, Shadow?"
The hedgehog paused, "…nothing. Don't worry about it." He walked out of the room, "I'll be back…"
She watched as the door closed after him. Was her friend starting to lose his mind? She hoped not.
Later, by himself, Shadow pressed a few buttons near a door and it opened to reveal an elevator which he entered into and typed in his destination and it slowly went down. He frowned as he was a little disturbed by the music but it stopped as he reached the area he wanted to go; a laboratory with its chemicals and such, even a dusty book cupboard with books that looked like they haven't been used for years. Shadow sighed, this was of course a really old lab of Doctor Eggman and when he left it, he and Rouge took it for themselves though they never really used it… until right about now for his sudden purpose.
He first glanced at the familiar pink rose nearby on a shelf, and sighed again, "Good morning to you too." He then grabbed a small watering can, "You're lucky I'm doing something for the sake of it." As he sprinkled fresh water onto the flower for its breakfast drink, he went back to pondering, "I know he still has those books around here…"
The flower seemed to tilt its head to one side.
The hedgehog frowned, "Look it's nothing bad this time, alright?" He went over to the bookshelf and glanced at the titles, "Let's see… " He then smirked as he found the one he was looking for; The DNA of Miles 'Tails' Prower, a large bright orange book as he reached for it, "The Doctor may not be so smart to the looks but with DNA writing going on, you'd think he'd know better then this but at least it comes with good use."
He took down the book and placed it on an old desk, slowly flipping through the pages, "I know it's got to be in here somewhere, I've studied a lot with Professor Gerald to learn how to do experiments… if the Doctor knew to get every part of Sonic and his friends, then… yes." His finger stopped at the spot he wanted about Tails, "…the ingredients for his… memories…"
Rouge had the whole time been sitting in her room, starting to grow a little impatient, "What is he doing anyway?" She got up, hoping he wasn't doing anything to harm himself in the cause of it.
"To add to his happy moments, along with the Plant girl of course…" He slowly added in bright blue liquid to his glass, watching it mix with the water, turning it a bright color. "And as for moments of… anger…" He reached for a green liquid and as it was added, the colored water bubbled before settling into a bright crimson shade. Shadow then grabbed the next ingredient, a vial of yellow chemical, "For his moments of courage and bravery… one of them being against me…" This time, as it got added into the mixture, it let off a cloud of steam, like most chemicals did in Halloween horror movies.
"Shadow?" Rouge strolled down the hallway as she glanced outside, it was sunny and no clouds in the sky… except for a small black cloud, that suddenly grew larger as the sky quickly blackened.
"But, wait…" the bat didn't understand, today was supposed to be all sunny… then she remembered what Shadow was saying, what he really meant, "Oh god no…" with that, she ran downstairs.
He also noticed the growing storm outside and held up the glass, as it glowed a really bright blue, to the window as a really strong breeze came in, almost chilling the hedgehog but he stood ground, "The blast of wind to give answers we need!"
The rose bent slightly due to the strong weather wind.
Shadow growled as he held it up high, "One thunderbolt!" Lightning struck the glass and now the mixture bubbled, "…to mix it well…" He held the glass now to his face, seeing his reflection. He hesitated, after doing this, he knew there'd be no turning back on his word but he wanted to know… he had to… holding the glass a little closer, he glared in determination, such as one has never seen…
"Alright," he spoke non-blinking into the now-intoxicated chemical that he created, "…get ready to bond the hard way, Miles 'Tails' Prower…"
Without a moment's pause, he slowly and cautiously raised the drink to his lips and, almost shaken, began to sip down the chemical liquid. No sooner had the mixture finished pouring itself down his throat, Shadow paused for a moment. What will happen now? He suddenly didn't feel so good, maybe the chemical was a big mistake and… suddenly the glass dropped from his hand and smashed onto the floor, as Shadow felt a sharp pain in his chest, grasping it and breathing rather hard and fast now, falling to his knees. His vision began to blur and twist here and there; shifting into many shapes and figures, some mainly featuring a familiar young two-tailed fox. He finally noticed what was going on; he was seeing Tails' memories! But it was happening way too fast for him as the pain past from his chest now to his head, making him cry out in suffer as he began to hear voices, including…
"What have I done…?" Cosmo's voice then screamed, "He's hurt!"
Shadow watched his hands as they flashed back and forth from his own hands to that of Tails, as more lightning flashed around him and thunder crashed. He wasn't going to turn into the fox boy, was he? He only wanted his memories for a purpose, not his whole body! His vision began to settle as it changed slowly to black… Shadow felt himself go completely numb as the voices died down; only one remained for a brief second… Tails…
"Leave her alone… if you don't, you'll be sorry!"
"SHADOW!" Rouge charged out of the elevator and stopped at the sight before her, as she cringed in shock. Shadow looked like he had fainted in a heap, the broken pieces of glass and the little last drops of the blue chemical slightly lingered before vanishing into smoke. She wasted little time before rushing to her friend's side, first listening to his chest. Heart was still beating but it seemed way past its normal rate of beating, this sounded more like the footsteps of someone running inside his body. She glanced at his face, seeing it full of exhaustion, fear and perhaps even sorrow. It seemed he might've regretted his task already but too late…
"Shadow…?" Rouge gently smacked his face, but got no reaction from him, except for getting sweat on her gloved hand. He must've himself to do something, but what…? She noticed the still-open book, with a picture of Tails… the DNA book, one of them… and then with a glance at the rose, that seemed to be wilting in sadness, she put two and two together… then glanced fearfully at Shadow, feeling scared for him…
"Shadow… what have you done?"