Disclaimer: Shadow the Hedgehog and all related characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog games, shows, movies and etc. belong to Sega, the Sonic Team and all other affiliates.
Note to all readers: The horizontal line in-between paragraphs indicate a period of time that has passed. Just so you know, so you don't get confused. :)
Chapter 2
Shadow was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk next to the motorcycle, tossing his chaos emerald over and over in his right hand. The people walking by were staring at him but he acted as if he was alone. It was as if nothing could break his concentration.
"They're all insane." he thought. "Voices? In their heads? I don't think so." Shadow stood up and his eyes penetrated everything that moved. "But didn't I hear something last night..?" For a moment he was in a trance and then as he came to he slapped himself. "Stupid, of course not! Shadow doesn't have any problems. Shadow only worries about himself. I don't help others for charity!" The hedgehog got onto his motorcycle almost hesitantingly and turned the key. The engine boomed and he began to drive off.
Instead of heading back to his enormous house, Shadow decided to take a trip to the local diner to grab a cup of coffee. He was tired, after all, because of his lack of sleep from the previous night. Once he arrived he walked straight in and sat at the counter. A waitress came up to him and greeted him kindly.
"What can I get for you, Sir?" she asked. Shadow looked at her nametag and saw the name..Maria.
"Maria?" Shadow whispered.
"Pardon?" said the waitress. "Is there anything I can get for you?" Shadow shook his head.
"Coffee. Black." he replied. As the waitress left Shadow laid his head on the counter. "You're losing it." he thought. The girl came back with a pot of coffee and a mug.
"Just made fresh, Sir." said the waitress as she poured the hot liquid into the mug. "Anything else for you?"
"No." Shadow answered. He grabbed the warm mug and put it up to his nose. He smelled the coffee and a chill went down his back. Taking a sip, he closed his eyes and saw not a picture of Maria, but of Amy in his mind. "What the hell? Nothing is going to happen to her! Get out of my head, Amy Rose!" Angrily, he slammed the mug onto the counter, set down a few dollars and stormed out of the diner.
Shadow grabbed his bike and he was off quicker than the speed of light. He raced through the city and out to the forest, from the small creek in the outskirts to the deer thicket that was next to his house. Once he reached his home he pushed the button on the garage opener and pulled into the giant expanse.
Almost predator-like, he stalked into his house and turned right to walk down the long hallway towards the room with his huge stone fireplace. Taking a long match from the mantle, he scored the surface of the match on the stone and threw it onto the wood. The fireplace blazed to life and the wood crackled as it burned.
He laid himself onto the big, chocolate brown suede couch in front of the fireplace and put his hands behind his head. He crossed his legs as he peered at the grandfather clock on the far wall. It was only 12:16 PM. He grunted and stared at the ceiling.
"Stupid animals." he said aloud. "They are just kids with wild imaginations." Shadow started to relax from head to toe almost instantly. His eyes began to get droopy and soon he fell into a light sleep.
Shadow awoke to the sound of the grandfather clock striking 9 o'clock PM. Opening his eyes he stretched his arms and legs and sat upright on the couch. The flames in the fireplace had died down to mere embers and the room was dark. A flash of lightning struck outside and lit the room for a second. The pitter-patter of the rain was the only thing that broke the echoing silence.
Thunder rolled as Shadow walked down the hallway and into his kitchen. He turned on the light and looked around. His stomach growled with hunger so he grabbed bread and some lunch meat from the fridge. He put the sandwich together and took a small bite. He finished the sandwich and put everything back where it was supposed to be. Suddenly, the lights shut off with the crack of thunder.
"Ugh, damnit!" he murmured. "Guess I'll have to go out to the fuse box." He seized a flashlight from the drawer next to the sink and meandered to the back door. Lightning flashed around his house as he opened the door. Clicking on the flashlight he walked around to the side of the house and opened the grey box mounted on the stucco. The box was filled with green, red and blue fuses and wires. Shadow located the wire labeled ELECTRICITY: LIGHTING and replaced the blown fuse with a new one that was in a pouch taped on the door of the box.
As soon as he finished Shadow pushed a small lever up and his house lit up instantly. Content with his result he closed the small door and walked back around to the back door. Just before he turned the knob, a voice came from behind him.
"Shadow?" said the light voice. He turned around to see Amy, standing straight up and soaked with water, facing him.
"What the hell, Amy?" Shadow exclaimed over the thunder. "What are you doing here? How did you find my house?"
"I had a bad dream, and I needed to find you." she answered. The rain started to come down harder and the ground became water logged. Shadow angrily walked towards her and shined the flashlight in her face.
"A bad dream?" he questioned. "So you're saying that you walked almost 30 miles to my house in the fucking rain because you had a bad dream!? You're absolutely insane!" He seared her innocent eyes with his and a frown overcame his face. Amy put her face into her wet hands and began to sob. Surprised by her reaction, Shadow relunctantly reached out to her.
"Ok, I didn't mean that." he said. He put his arms around her and gave her a friendly hug. Amy screamed at him as she pushed him away.
"Shadow!" she exclaimed. Shadow looked into her eyes and saw the angry fire burning within them. She continued to yell at him. "You're stupid, Shadow the Hedgehog! You're supposed to save me! You are supposed to choose me over everything else! I'm supposed to be important to you!" Amy stepped towards him and attempted to swing her hand to his face but Shadow caught her arm.
"What are you babbling about Amy Rose?" Shadow cried out over another boom of thunder. Amy screamed to the sky and looked back at Shadow. He could see something in her, through her eyes. An evil smirk smoothed itself across her face and she pulled her hand back. With a snap of her finger her hammer appeared in her right hand.
"Calm down, Amy. What the hell is your problem? What did I do?" He quickly dodged a swing of the giant hammer and moved to her side. "Hey! Stop! You are a fool if you think you can hurt me Amy Rose!"
"Maybe I can't hurt you physically, Shadow." she mumbled as she grabbed the handle of the hammer in both hands. "But ultimately I will be the key to your fate." Shadow couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Amy, just stop! You're mad!" Shadow stepped back and stood alert with clenched fists. "Don't make me fight back. I don't want to hurt you." With that, Amy leaped into the air and landed behind Shadow. Before he could turn around, she fiercely swung her hammer and hit him in the head. Shadow fell to the ground and the flashlight rolled out of his hand. Amy walked over to him and with another finger snap the hammer disappeared. Shadow attempted to keep his eyes open but failed.
Amy giggled. "So Shadow the Hedgehog does have a weak spot whether he wants to admit it or not." The voice coming from the body changed. It was still a woman's voice, but deeper, almost sinister sounding. "You'll see, Shadow. You'll see." Amy's figure walked away, leaving Shadow's unconscious body lying on the ground with the heavy rain still beating down on his fur.
The next morning Shadow awoke in the same spot that he was left in the night before. It was still cloudy but the rain was barely a sprinkle. Shivering and wet, he sat up and lifted his hand to his head. It thumped with pain. He slowly stood up and saw the flashlight a few feet away from him.
"Did that really happen?" thought Shadow as he picked up the flashlight. He stumbled to his house and stepped inside. He first walked to the kitchen, got himself a ziploc bag and filled it with ice to put on the back of his head. Then he grabbed his home phone and dialed Sonic's home number. It rang three times until Shadow heard Sonic's voice over the phone.
"Hello?" Sonic asked.
"It's me." Shadow answered.
"Wow, you never call me."
"I realize that." said Shadow annoyed. "I had a question for you."
"And what is that?"
"Did you ever find Amy after we met at the park?"
"Yeah. She was at the information kiosk across the street from the phone booth next to your motorcycle." Silence followed Sonic's reply. "Shadow? What's wrong?"
"What did you tell her!?" Shadow asked.
"I told her what I told you." replied Sonic. "And when I asked her how she was getting home she told me not to worry about it and that Cream was going to pick her up. I asked her if she was sure and she said she was positive."
"And you left her there?"
"Well, I didn't think anything of it."
"Wow, Sonic. For having a girl chase after you for so long you sure don't know much about the gender."
"Shadow, why are you worried so much about it? What happened?" There was another moment of silence and Shadow finally spoke again.
"Amy, or someone that looks a lot like her, showed up at my house last night and about killed me."
"What do you mean?"
"My electricity went out last night because of that storm so I went out to switch the fuses. On my way back to the back door I saw Amy standing there. When I asked her why she came and how she found my house she answered me saying that she had a bad dream." Sonic didn't say anything so Shadow continued. "I guess I said something that made her mad and she hammered the shit out of my head."
"Well what the hell, Shadow!?" yelled Sonic.
"What!?" Shadow yelled back.
"Why'd you have to provoke her?"
"I didn't do anything!" Shadow exclaimed. "If you think I'd waste my time with some girl you're sadly mistaken. And I'm not in the mood to argue with you. It'll just give me more of a headache."
"Ok, so what happened after?" asked Sonic. "Where did she go?"
"She knocked me out, stupid." Shadow answered. "However, I don't think it was Amy. I'm not close to her or anything but right after she hit me in the head I could hear her voice faintly. It wasn't Amy's voice."
"So..now you believe me." Sonic said slyly.
"No." said Shadow. "I never said I did. But whether it was Amy or not..I..I need you to call Cream and make sure Amy got home."
"Why do you all of a sudden care about Amy?"
"Hello!? Were you not listening to the story I just told you? She knocked me the fuck out!"
"Alright, alright." said Sonic. "Let me call Cream and see if she went to get Amy yesterday. Then I'll call you back, ok?"
"Ok. Just hurry up." said Shadow. He hung up the phone before Sonic could say anything more and with the phone still in his hand he walked up the stone stairs to his room and into his bathroom. He set the phone on the small table next to the bathtub and drew hot water from the faucet. Once the bathtub was filled he set the ice pack on the counter, took off his gloves and shoes and laid himself in the warm water.
"I really hope Amy is at home." thought the hedgehog. "That couldn't have been her. She would never hurt me. I mean..she told me she was my friend." Shadow's mind raced about all of the possibilities that this situation could lead to. "What if what she said was true? Am I going to have to choose between her and something else? Just call me, Sonic. Call me and tell me that she's at home."
