Chapter Four: Submission
By
LordHelen
Sonic concentrated, sure that she was alone and they had given up testing for the moment. She concentrated on touching the small orb inside herself, that tiny ball of energy that could swell and transform her from Sonic to the Light Wanderer. She wasn't sure it existed after all the stress and pain she'd been under.
But it was there. As soon as she found it she felt it grow and suddenly she was warm. Sonic sighed and pulled herself back to the present, shaking her head to clear it. She wouldn't even remember why she wouldn't transform and blow the, all up.
"Sonic?" a cool voice asked. Sonic looked up and saw the blond doctor, the one with the clipboard. Now he didn't have a clipboard, and instead of a white doctor robe he wore a red shirt and blue jeans. "Sonic Hedgehog, right?"
"Who are you?" Sonic skipped the manners, deciding to treat him as the enemy. Until she knew what was happening, everyone she met was the enemy.
"My name is Alan. I am a doctor here." Alan sat a few feet away, smiling. Sonic scooted back two feet.
"I figured."
"Well, I assumed that." Alan laughed a bit, trying to get her to ease up and trust him, probably. "Sonic, it occurs to me you might not know why you're here."
"Actually, I do." Sonic said, straining to remember that day she was captured. It must have been weeks ago if she really couldn't remember that well. "You want me to transform?"
"Yes. Well, may I ask why you won't transform? Are you incapable?" Alan's brow furrowed, like he didn't like that idea.
"You know, not one person has asked me anything so far. No one has explained a thing. They just throw pain and shrieking sounds and trolls at me…"
"Simulations of trolls, actually. Not really simulations, more like a chip. We put a chip in your brain to do different things. We made you believe there was a troll, and that shrieking sound was a malfunction. Sorry." Alan looked sincere.
"Thank you invading my brain." Sonic spat, a growl building in her throat.
"So who's Shadow?" Alan said hastily. His question caught her off guard. She frowned, staring at him in confusion. "You talked a bit in your sleep. Only a little. You said Shadow."
"Oh, well…Shadow is…He's kinda my…" Sonic failed for words. Her cheeks flamed bright red under the fur. "Shadow is my friend."
"Oh." Alan said. He understood she didn't want to talk about it. "So do you think you will transform? Please?"
"What?" Sonic asked. Then she came back to the present, Shadow forgotten. "I can't. I don't know what you will do to me."
Shadow focused on her furry chest. It always moved just slightly before the attack. HE saw the sign and immediately brought his staff up. There was a hard clank and she gave some vicious comment. His ears were trained to deflect those sounds, though. While she wasted breath, he swooped his staff down and around. Tina fell.
"Good job, Shadow. Saline'll be her soon, so put all that away. And don't give me that look, Saline won't teach you a thing you don't want to know. No one's babysitting you like a parent. You didn't have to learn what I taught, did you?"
"You didn't make me." Shadow allowed. But he did need to learn what she taught him. If he didn't then how could he save Sonic? Shadow placed his staff on the rack, next to the sword, axe, spear and dagger she had given him. He put his padded training armour in a neat row and assembled it in the sun. Then he turned to meet this 'Saline'.
Saline had long, reddish brown ears. Her oval face was also red, her black eyes shiny and innocent. She was dressed in a long, purple dress. Her sleeves trailed to the grassy ground.
"Hello, Shadow." Saline said in a clear, bell tone voice. "It is nice to meet you. Would you sit?" Saline sat gracefully and Shadow stumbled to follow suit. He was much less graceful.
"Saline?"
"Yes. Tina tells me you do not like magics?" Salina waited for an answer.
"No, I don't. I've seen people…go crazy because of it." Shadow closed his eyes, remembering Marianna's wild eyes.
"You are accustomed to dark magic. But obviously you don't know about the others. Light, for instance," Salina cupped her hands as if holding water and blew. White butterflies flew out, shimmering at first until the light disappeared and left brilliant monarchs behind. "Light is the magic of life. Purity and love opens the gateway to Light. Blue magic is endurance, defense. I can tell you would learn Blue magic quickly."
"Wow." Shadow watched one of the monarchs fly over and rest on his finger.
"And Red magic is the magic of auras and minds. Auras are the signals your soul gives off. The mind part simply means someone with Red magic could detect how strong your mind is. Say someone with Dark magic corrupted you. This would make your brain waves more…staticy, thought it would not affect your aura at all."
"Light, Blue, Red…" Shadow counted on his fingers. He grudgingly added one more. "Dark."
"Yes, and five more. Orange, Green, Brown, Pink and Purple. All different colors represent different things. Pink is control of body, Orange control of mind as opposed to sensing the mind. Brown is the magic of earth, and Green is the magic of air! Purple, my favorite, is the magic of souls."
"What about energy?" Shadow recalled the word Tina had used.
"Energy is an extension of Red magic. Energy is feeling your own aura-much harder than feeling others-and using it. You can force your aura into tangible energy attacks. It is much more effective than most physical attacks, but it does not require hardly any skill at magic. Moist people do not bother to learn it. They believe it is weak because it does not involve much magic."
"I want to learn energy!" Shadow decided, forgetting he would have to learn magic in order to do so. Even if he remembered, he wouldn't object to learning Red or Blue magic. He was beginning to see a whole world of magic, not all of it bad.
"I would love to teach you." Saline agreed, smiling kindly. "Your first lesson on magic starts now."
Sonic lounged on the poufy armchair happily, drinking some fizzy apple drink and eating a whole plate of chili dogs. Once Alan had swore they only wanted to test her Light Wanderer form and call upon her as a secret weapon if needed she had agreed to transform. Now she was treated as a guest in a kind, rich woman's house rather than a hostage.
Alan had gone to approve tests with Dr. Samantha Genes and ordered some blond to get Sonic whatever she wanted. Sonic was enjoying this privilege, amazed at how fast th blond responded. Most people took longer to get chili dogs. Sonic ran out of chili dogs and groaned.
"Would you like something, miss?" Blondie asked politely. Sonic held up the plate and before she could ask for more chili dogs the girl and plate was gone. Sonic shrugged and drained her glass.
"Thank you." Sonic said when the girl gave her a new plate of chili dogs. Blondie was already out of sight. Almost like a vampire. Sonic finished her dogs and stretched her legs. Deciding to sleep rather than continually gorge herself on chili dogs, Sonic deposited her cup and plate on the floor and curled into a ball. She wasn't worried about the tests. Those were the Light Wanderer's problem, not hers. Not anymore, at least.
Shadow tried to concentrate on being oblivious. He tried to block the birds' calls and the wind's whisper. He honestly did try. But it didn't work.
"That's not good enough, Shadow. I'm sorry, but you'll have to do better. Red magic is mostly meditation at the beginning, and you seem to lack this talent. You are rather skilled, I promise! But you'll just have to try a bit harder." Saline said in a small voice.
"I'm trying." Shadow answered, voice tight. Saline, despite her apologies, was pressuring him. He tried to rush, but Saline sniffed out rushing in a second and told him to take his time. Shadow was becoming impatient, wanting to hurry through Red magic to energy.
"I know, I know. Just don't rush. I want you to try, not rush. Sometimes they mean the same thing, but with magic…Shadow, if you rush, magic can kill you. Believe me, I know." Saline added bitterly.
"So do I." Shadow winced, remembering watching Sonic and Hogura fight. It had been like a dream. He had been tortured to near insanity, and he wasn't sure if his memories were right. He recalled Hogura getting impatient and summoning a big ball of magical energy. He was unable to control it in the end and Sonic tricked him into his death.
Shadow sighed, closing his eyes again. He tried to sense rather than hear, feel rather than see. It was hard; his senses did not want to cooperate. He exhaled slowly, opening his eyes. He saw the formations of a yellowish glow around Saline. This did not particularly excite him; it had been the same each time. But then it was suddenly bright and clear, a dull yellow around Saline. Saline's aura
Shadow remembered the more pure the aura the more pure the person. So Saline had some kind of a past. Shadow wondered briefly if it had anything to do with her comment about knowing how magic could cause death, but then the impact hit. His mind was under an almost solid strain. He had to work his mind to such stages as this, but he had somehow jumped here. His mind could explode if he didn't get out. He tried to backtrack, but he was stuck in an agonizing death.
Suddenly it was gone. The strain on his mind, Saline's aura, the hyperawareness. He was just Shadow again. Saline was staring at him, her hand raised. He realized she had been the one to save him. She shook her head, her look disapproving.
"Don't rush, Shadow. If I didn't know that spell, you would be dead right now. Magic can be absolutely wonderful, but it is always dangerous."
"I know." Shadow sighed, realizing he was lying down after that moment of pain. He sat up.
"Do you?" Saline asked, shaking her head. "Do you honestly understand the extent of the danger? Some magic can rip your body apart. The Elements can flood your body with so much power that you burn up and die. That spell you just rushed through would not only explode your mind but your whole head and spinal cord. Magic is dangerous. Please don't rush."
"I won't, not ever again." Shadow promised. Saline examined his expression minutely, trying to decide if he meant. She seemed satisfied.
"Very well. We'll try a few more times and call it quits for today. As I understand, Tina wants to teach you hand-to-hand."
"You mean she wants to punch my face without getting in trouble." Shadow replied. Saline laughed, then made him focus.
Sonic knew every doctor in the building was watching her. She could not see them, but she felt them. Sonic focused, nudging the ball of energy deep inside her. After being dormant for so long, it flared up viciously. It flew through her body faster than before, her fur glowing brighter than ever.
"I am ready." Sonic called, smiling as her voice echoed as though a thousand people spoke. They had her in a training room. She was to get through the highest course as quickly as she could.
First was an obstacle course. Sonic floated to the ground and ran it. She had never gone this fast! Everything seemed to slow down around her. Sonic jumped over the spikes and spears that jutted out in her path. She ducked under poles and flew up walls. She finished the whole obstacle course in what seemed like seconds.
Next, Sonic blew up a few dummies that tried to shoot her. The bullets rebounded off her fur like it was steel. After that she had only to show skill with a gun. That was a bit harder, but when she found the trigger all she did was shoot in random directions. Low grade on that. All in all, she got a 90% out of a possible 100%.
"Great job!" Alan said, running in. "Sonic, you were amazing! All you have to do is help us track down someone else and you'll be free until we need your help again. I'm serious, you were excellent! We don't need another test!"
"Great." Sonic said dully. She wanted to go home right then, not wait until after she tracked some other dangerous person. Her power slipped back inside her, leaving her voice and fur normal. "But right now I want chili dogs and a nap."
"Anything you want!" Alan exclaimed, leading Sonic out of the training room. Sonic was greeted by every doctor in the building, as she had known she'd be. Blondie gave her a plate of chili dogs and showed her to a bedroom, disappearing eerily again. Sonic sighed and lay down on the pillows, wishing she was back at school with Shadow and all her other friends.
Rouge was probably very worried, and knowing Cream the rabbit would be hysterical. Blaze would be almost all on her own with the paper and Silver's dorm room had been imploded. Yet all Sonic was worried about was if Rouge and Knuckles had made up. Sonic really hoped they had. The world could use a love symbol now, when everything seemed to be going worse and worse. Everyone needed some hope.
Tina punched Shadow in the nose, knocking him backwards. He stumbled and fell, clutching his nose as it bled. He had spent all afternoon accepting painful wounds like this new one from Tina. Saline tried to be encouraging, but it didn't often work. In fact, he had yet to get in a decent blow.
"Come on Shadow, you can do better than that!" Tina taunted. Shadow stood, moving into the guard position she had taught him. He was getting tired of her punching him. As soon as the sun set, Tina said that she would let him eat dinner. That had to be two hours away, at least. Tina had also said if he knocked her down than he was done for the day. Probably even longer away.
"Watch out!" Saline shouted. Shadow jumped away from Tina's foot just before it hit his gut.
"NO FAIR!" Tina yelled, scowling in Saline's direction before she turned to Shadow. She bared her teeth in a threatening way and lunged at him. Shadow jumped out of the way again, only to lunge away a second later. Tina kept him dodging rather than attacking so he couldn't knock her down.
Tina caught his arm, about to throw him over her hip. Shadow twisted to try and get out of her grip, but Tina gasped and was gone. He realized he had twisterd her behind him and turned. She was five feet away on the ground.
"Good job Shadow!" Saline called. Shadow watched Tina get up, worried she might be more than mad. She could be furious.
"Wow, Shadow. I didn't teach you that." Tina frowned slightly, but then smiled and laughed. "That was good. But it won't be so easy next time!"
"I'm not counting on it." Shadow answered, knowing she'd probably come at him with a lot more now that he had knocked her down.
"Not tomorrow, though. Shadow needs to concentrate on Red magic." Saline interrupted. "He hasn't gotten it down yet."
"Uh…Sure. Okay. Not tomorrow. You can run away, but eventually I will GET YOU!" Tina promised, turning to run into her house.
"Drama queen." Saline muttered, shaking her head. She started to follow, but then turned to stare at Shadow. She had an odd look on her face, an expression Shadow couldn't understand. It was absolutely unfathomable. "Are you coming?"
"I'll practice a bit more. I don't want her to-" Shadow raised his voice so Tina could hear-"GET ME!" Tina laughed from her house. "I'll be in eventually."
"Sure." Saline stared at him before turning and jogging to the house. When she got there Shadow heard a large bang and Tina yelping. "GET HIM? YOU'RE GOING TO MOTIVATE HIM BY THREATENING TO GET HIM?"
Shadow laughed, shaking his head. He lowered himself into the attack position and tried to remember how he had thrown Tina. It had just happened-he didn't think about doing a thing. One moment he was struggling to get free, the next Tina was sprawled on the ground.
Sonic picked at the hem of her 'professional' jacket nervously. Alan had insisted she wear a suit to the meeting. It was basically an explanation of how awesome she was and who she was going to be tracking. So far it had been boring, and Sonic was absolutely dying in the suspense.
She didn't want to seem like an impatient child, but she waiting for the name. She wanted to know who she needed to find, and she couldn't wait hardly another moment. She distracted herself by studying the captain guy.
He had dark brown hair and creamy skin. He was a human. Sonic lived in a relatively animal part of Mobius. Everyone knew there were humans, but no one had seen them. Some people spun tales about antennas and twenty fingers, but so far every human Sonic had met looked relatively normal-like a mutated hedgehog without fur.
"They're going to name who you're tracking." Alan hissed in her ear. "Pay attention!"
"The dangerous student that is currently unlocated is named Shadow Hedgehog Lightman." The man read. Sonic started at hearing Shadow's last name. "Objective; kill him."