Chapter 4: Today Isn't 'Back In The Day' Anymore
"Hey Shadow! I've brought someone you need to kill over!" I shouted to the seemingly empty house, my voice bouncing off of shiny and dark hardwood floors and bright white ceilings.
"What?!" Sonic exclaimed and attempted to barrel through me and out the door. I grabbed his arms and forced them behind his back as I turned him to face the hallway.
"Trust me." I whispered in his ear as he turned his head to glare at me through wild eyes. "Trust me." I repeated even softer, pressing my head to his temple gently. With one last defeated glare, he stopped resisting and I released my hold on him.
"Oh really?" Shadow's voice meandered through the hall darkly to settle around our ears. Sonic's laid back nervously, while mine remained relaxed. "Well, I'll just grab my knife." His voice was threatening enough to make Sonic shiver and cast pleading looks back at me.
"It'll be okay. I promise." I muttered, taking his hand and pulling him behind me so that I stood between him and Shadow whenever he came in. Just before I released his hand, he squeezed mine gently. I turned my head slightly and smiled at him, then let go. Abruptly, Shadow strode into the hallway with a steak knife held at his side. He froze to the spot when he saw Sonic peering around my waist at him.
"You weren't kidding." Shadow muttered at me, eyes narrowing. He criticized the knife he held and then scowled at Sonic. "Shoulda brought a gun or something." He tossed the knife over his shoulder carelessly. It flipped through the air to stick deep in the hardwood floor.
Shadow. I warned briefly in my head, but I added a devilish smirk to the thought.
I should have known the instant you two walked through the door. We haven't had anyone friendly come here. He scolded himself lightly, but grinned in his head back. Feeling more reassured about his hospitability, I relaxed even more, noting in the back of my mind that one of the straps on my dress slipped a little down my shoulder.
"Well Sonic, it's certainly been a long time, eh?" Shadow approached us with a friendly demeanor and open smile.
"Sure, Shadow." Sonic quivered like a plucked harp string, ready to bolt the instant I tensed up.
"Now, is that any way to greet a best friend?" Shadow teased and stepped forward.
"Best friend?" Sonic cocked his head at Shadow. He had been forever referring to Shadow as his best friend, much to Shadow's dismay, but finally Shadow was accepting his role as BFF and Sonic didn't know what to make of it. Shadow neatly skirted around me to embrace Sonic. Sonic froze like ice.
"Shadow, stop. I think you've scared him enough for one day." I laughed heartily. Shadow let Sonic go, who sprinted behind me again, leaving Shadow pinned against the door.
"Who's up for a little gaming action while we catch up?" Shadow asked openly. He stepped around me again and strode off to the living room where he had come from.
"What in the world is wrong with him?" Sonic asked nervously.
"He's… glad to see you, I suppose." I shrugged.
You're lying to him. I'm glad to see you happy.
Shut it.
Yes ma'am!
Shadow, we've been separated for a long time… I'm not even sure he still likes me like that.
Didn't he tell you that he would love you no matter the distance?
Yeah, but I think we've got some bridges to rebuild.
Fine with me. Just don't take too long. Your lonesome walks mess with my psyche.
Hey!
Abruptly, beachy music began floating delicately from the speakers mounted in various places around the house. The lofty air it brought sank in deep with my soul, despite what the very first line of the song said.
"Well you done done me in your bed." What are you getting on at? I snarled at Shadow.
Perhaps I put on the wrong song then… Shadow said innocently.
Ya think?!
What would have been appropriate?
"Crush", "Summertime", "Pocketful of Sunshine". Anything without a reference in the first line.
It's only one little reference. Besides, it's the only real beachy song we have. The rest is rock… for the most part.
We NEVER even got that far between us!
You know you were close.
How would you know? I wanted to wait until we could get married on Earth and he said he'd wait as long as I wanted him to.
Earth is gone, you know.
Wrong. This is Earth now. But, that's beside the point. I told you that he and I have to take our time. This separation just makes me more cautious. I don't know what he's feeling for me now.
He still loves you like he did the night the world ended. Do you love him like that?
There's no question there and you know it. I love him more than my own life. What's telling you that he still loves me, anyway? Your recently acquired skill for sensing emotion?
Yup.
Besides, Sally's apparently arranged a marriage for him already… between him and Amy.
That's bull! According to whom?
The pink madness herself. Sonic and I are going to Mobius to figure it out.
When?
Dunno. Whenever Sonic gets antsy.
Maybe that'll help with your relationship problems.
Shadow, shut up before I bite your tongue off.
You should try that on Sonic.
SHADOW!!
Well, I wouldn't bite his tongue OFF per say. Maybe give it a little nibble.
QUIT IT!!
Halfway ready to kill Shadow, I strode into the living room with a silent growl pulling at my lips. Sonic tailed me nervously, peeking over my shoulder.
"Sonic, I think Shadow's done with his show of affection for a long time." I said through gritted teeth. Sonic gave me a reproachful glance before walking around me and plopping down on a yellow beanbag chair. Shadow, seated in the neighboring red beanbag chair, was thoroughly absorbed in the current BR match going on within our new Halo 3 game. Though the headset was on and connected to the wireless Xbox controller he held in his hands, he wasn't saying anything and was practically drooling as he depressed various buttons at high speeds. "I'm going to change." I huffed and pivoted on my heel to face the hallway. Waiting for a response, I impatiently tapped my foot on the floor. "And I reiterate, I'm going to change." I said testily.
"You get on that, Swift." Shadow flicked his mic off to speak to me. Muttering mild curses, I stomped off to my room and slammed the door, nearly snapping it off of its hinges.
Sonic
"That was a little mean, Shadow." I remarked regretfully, watching Swift's exit with unhappy discomfort.
"Get over it." Shadow growled, probably listening to Swift's angry rebukes in his head.
"Just stating a fact." I said innocently. He paused the game and turned around to face me.
"I may be your friend, but if you piss me off, I'll kill you." He stated calmly, but the threatening air was almost tangible. "That also includes the current thing you and Swift have." This time, his voice turned darkly protective.
"I don't need any reinforcement on that, Shadow." I replied fiercely. "I just think we need a little time to rebuild, that's all." I added more somberly. His face transformed from a hostile leer to a more hesitant frown as he analyzed my sincerity. I couldn't be more true with how I felt about the girl to him. Seeming satisfied with my answer, Shadow unpaused the game and continued to play.
A few minutes later, I heard the water turn on in the bathroom.
"Guess Swift decided to take a shower." I noted for lack of conversation.
"To cool down. She's a little pissed at me." Shadow winced slightly. Suddenly, a box at the bottom of the screen popped up reading 'Twin-Tailed Fiend has logged on'.
"Is that who I think it is?" I stared disbelievingly at the screen.
It can't be Tails!
"If you're thinking Tails, then yes." Shadow grinned and tossed me another controller. "Let's invite him in."
"Yeah." I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen Tails since 10 months ago when Old Earth was turned into a nuclear wasteland. I slipped the headset on and logged in while Shadow set up the match. "Now?"
"One more second, I have to let him in." Shadow sent an invite to Tails to play on 'Avalanche' with us. Tails accepted and brought a guest with him. "You there, Tails?" Shadow asked into his microphone.
"Yeah, Shadow. Who's your guest?" Shadow smirked as I gaped numbly at Tails's voice.
"Oh, just someone I picked off the street. The name's Sonic." Tails's breathing froze on the other end.
"H-hey, Tails." I stuttered, wondering if Tails had kept the promise he made the day the world died.
"SONIC!! I can't believe it's you!" Tails shouted excitedly into his mic.
"Yeah, me either, Tails… Me either." I grinned brightly at Shadow, who just smiled and chuckled to himself.
"So who's your guest?" Shadow broke up the greetings.
"Well… You know how we thought we were the only Mobians that survived that thing?" Tails said nervously.
"Yeah." I looked away from the screen as I spoke, images from a world away reappearing in my head while my smile disappeared.
"Turns out Eggman went to the other World Gate in Central City before coming to the Station Square one. He used that technique he used during the ARK attack-" Shadow huffed, growled, and turned from the TV.
"Shadow's still a little sensitive about it. I assume he finally has that part of his memory back." I said on Shadow's behalf.
"Anyway, he used that to take over all of the screens in the area to order a mandatory evacuation through the gate. He set it to explode after my friend here set off the timed bomb." Tails explained.
"That still doesn't answer my question." Shadow growled.
"This is my little bro, Pyro." Tails said with little to no emotion.
Little… brother?
"You have a… little brother?" I nearly passed out.
How could he have a little brother when he's my little bro?
I couldn't make any sense of my surroundings. Shock enveloped me as I sat helplessly and at its whim. I couldn't get it through my head. Just then, the water turned off in the background. A few seconds after that, Swift walked out of her room in her usual black shorts and dark blue hoodie. Almost certainly, she was probably wearing her trademark v-neck gray Under Armour Heat Gear shirt beneath the hoodie. As she approached, my thoughts became clearer and more intelligible. Stepping around me to share my beanbag chair, she pulled the headset off of me gently and held the microphone to her mouth.
"What's going on? Tails? Pyro?" Her voice shook me out of it.
"We'll show you." For the first time, I heard Pyro's voice, much higher pitched than Tails's to no surprise.
"Nice pic." Shadow remarked as an image from Tails's Xbox camera popped up on screen. I instantly recognized Tails, though I had to assume that Tails's little brother was the smaller red two-tailed fox. Pyro had streaks of bright orange racing up both arms like Swift's charcoal and Shadow's ruby streaks and a white muzzle, chest, while the tips of his tails were the same orange as his arms.
"H-he looks almost exactly like you." I remarked hesitantly, still feeling mixed emotions about this new being as Swift handed the headset back to me.
"I know, right? We did DNA testing and stuff in LA, but we never really needed to. I knew from the instant he walked through the door." I imagined Tails grinning on the other end. Glancing back up at the picture, I noticed a long scar stretching the length of Pyro's body on his right side.
"Hey Sonic, why don't we leave Shadow to his Xbox?" Swift nudged me softly, probably picking up on my odd attitude.
"Y-yeah, sure." I stood up and began to walk for the back porch. Swift cast a reproachful glance at Shadow, then stepped outside. I looked back for a split second as Shadow teamed up with Tails and Pyro to search for a match to play in, and then followed Swift.
"So, where're we going?" I asked, grabbing my left foot and folding it behind me, then releasing it and doing the same with the other foot.
"For a walk." Swift, without stretching at all, began to walk down the stairs to the private boardwalk that led out to the beach. I ceased stretching instantly and allowed her to lead on the narrow wooden walkway, gazing appreciatively as I walked out to either side at the odd green wall of hedge on my left and the thick vegetation to my right, consisting of twisted and dying pine trees, hardy and green short palm varieties, and bushes bearing very prickly looking spurs. Within a few seconds, the vegetation cut off and, no longer hindered by barriers, the roar of the ocean crashing on the cream-colored sand ripped into our eardrums. Hopping down three steps, Swift and I stepped onto the soft sand and began walking to the east.
"So, Pyro's a little like Tails, huh?" I prodded, searching for conversation as I took my place on her right, placing her between the ocean and me.
"A little? They couldn't be more alike! The only defined difference is that Pyro tinkers around with more explosive things than Tails." Swift explained.
"You think he'll like me?" I asked nervously after a few seconds of silence.
"Pyro? There's no doubt in my mind. He loves Tails and anything that Tails loves. Therefore, Pyro will adore you." Swift thought aloud.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
More silence, other than the swishing of the sand displaced by our feet and the ocean throwing itself against the ground. The afternoon had shifted to evening; the sun was getting lower in the sky and the few families that were out on the island in the first place were packing it up for the night, while hardcore fishermen were digging stands for their poles into the sand and setting up their beach chairs. The decreasing light tinted the water sort of teal, while the flat-bottomed clouds dyed a grayish color.
"Hey Sonic?" Swift called my attention to her.
"Mmmm?"
"Do you think Amy was being serious?"
"Isn't she always? I mean, no matter what, she's riding me about marriage and kids, in spite of the fact that we never even went out for a single date."
"True."
"My turn again." I laughed. This little walk was turning into a questionnaire.
"Shoot."
"What really happened the last night?"
"Are you telling me you don't-."
"No. I just… I'm not sure I fully understand. I go over it five thousand and a half times every day, but I'm not sure I-."
"I'll show you." Swift said slowly, taking my hand and pulling us to a stop.
--
"Westopolis has fallen to Phoenix." Knuckles said in an emotionless voice. He'd said so many things like that, he had built a shield to block out unnecessary feelings that might get in the way of his job. His job of keeping an ear on GUN's communications was starting to become as unnecessary as his feelings, however. We all knew it was going to be over in a matter of hours. The order in which the cities were lost didn't matter anymore. The only thing left with any meaning was the other hedgehog I held onto.
"By fallen, do you mean-?" That black and blue hedgehog I was holding asked.
"Demolished, destroyed, obliterated, take your pick." Knuckles spat, cracking a bit. Swift anguished, shrugging me away and pacing to the edge of the Blue Typhoon's landing pad.
"E-T-A?" I asked Tails.
"Ten minutes. We'll be at Angel Island soon." Tails reassured me.
"Remember, it's losing altitude because the Master Emerald's dying too." Knuckles said for the thousandth time.
"Got it." Tails acknowledged, knowing better than to bring this fact to Knuckles's attention during this time of crisis.
"Anything on those warplanes?" Shadow hovered over Rouge in anticipation of a last stand, fully willing and ready to crack some skulls and go down trying.
"They're breaking off. They know where we're going." Rouge said despairingly. I couldn't take listening to it anymore. I followed Swift out to the runway, stopping at her left.
"Is it really over? So soon?" She asked no one in particular.
"No. Not for you and Shadow, at least." I looked out over the water with an antsy glare.
"You know good and well I'm going out the instant you or Shadow does. After destroying everything first, of course." She grimaced, almost as if she knew how everything was going to play out.
Which wouldn't surprise me at all. I thought meagerly.
They knew what we were doing, where we were going. And quite frankly, they probably didn't care because they knew they were going to win.
"Where's Egghead now?" Knuckles grumbled, desperate to pick at something.
"I don't have a read on him at all. Either he's cloaking or we've got an Egg Down." Rouge tapped on the radar screen. With Swift zoned out on the sky in front of us, I looked down at the metal panels, and then ran upstairs and into the carrier.
"Shadow, it's time." Tails nodded to the black and red hedgehog. Shadow blinked at him, and then ran back down beside Swift.
"Good luck, Sonic." Amy said quietly.
"Thanks, Ames. I'll need it." I dashed out the door and back to Swift's side. "You ready?" I asked her.
"As I'll ever be." She turned her head to me and gave me a smirk, one of her special gleams in her caramel irises.
"Shadow?"
"Shut it and let's get on with it." He snarled, kicking at the floor.
"Vindictive." Swift grinned, showing her rather large canines, or rather, fangs, earning an extra growl from Shadow.
"Alright then, in five, four, three… two… one." I grinned like a madman.
"My god, just GO!" Shadow shouted, leaping off of the landing deck of the Blue Typhoon without any hesitation. Swift and I watched him fall, straight down to the coast of the slowly descending Angel Island, breaking his own fall with a burst of Chaos.
--
"Were you okay with what Amy said?" I pulled my hand away from Swift's and put it on my hip.
"Yeah, I suppose. It's not like she walked up to you and starting making out with you or something." Swift shrugged, flipping a stray quill over her shoulder.
"Good point." I grabbed her hand again.
--
"Now the only question is, Sonic… Are you ready?" Swift smirked deviously at me.
"Bring it." I growled, stepping up onto her Jet Shoes. With one last two-fingered salute at the cockpit from each of us, we launched ourselves off of the deck and careened down to the island, Swift stopping our fall with a little boost from her Jet Shoes.
"So, all seven are here, right?" Shadow asked as I stepped off of Swift's shoes, returning to looking over her head by a mere inch rather than several.
"They should be. Remember, we gotta grab Knuckles's Master Emerald too." I replied, cracking my knuckles.
"Split up?" Shadow suggested.
"Slice 'n dice." I grinned mischievously.
"Shake 'n bake!" Shadow facepalmed himself. "Idiot." He added.
"Look, guys. Let's just get it over with, so we can argue about this later, 'kay?" Swift stepped between us, hands outstretched.
"Fine." The both of us agreed. Suddenly, static erupted from each of our pockets. All three of us pulled out earpieces at the same time and put them in.
"You don't have time to be arguing!" Tails shouted into our ears, causing each of us to cringe. "Those freakin' F-22s are coming back around!" He exclaimed angrily, his statement making each of us stare at each other in shock. "Get a move on!"
"You heard the pilot!" Swift shouted, sprinting off along the coast away from Shadow and I. We quickly nodded at each other, then shot off, Shadow to the mountains, me to the jungle.
--
"I was blind, you know." I cut in.
"That's why Shadow and I knew to take three each, at least." She laughed.
"Skip all this. There's no point in watching me struggle." I huffed, looking away from her.
"Hey! You did a great job and you know it." She said encouragingly.
"Just get on with it." I shrugged her away, while grabbing her hand again.
--
The Blue Typhoon was shot down before our eyes as Angel Island crashed to the rising ocean. Luckily, Tails had managed to organize them all into two escape pods, which was no small feat. Those pods slammed into the coast twenty miles from the top of the mountain where Shadow, Swift, and I stood. Each of the seven Chaos Emeralds rotated lazily around the three of us, while the Master Emerald sat behind us, glowing green in anticipation of its guardian's return. Meanwhile, the same F-22s that shot down the Blue Typhoon circled us like vultures.
"They've found us." I huffed disappointedly.
"We knew that from the get-go." Shadow sneered at me, invoking a low growl from me.
"Quit it." Swift snarled. We instantly ceased fighting with each other. As we waited for the others to meet up with us, one helicopter flew down and hovered a few feet in front of us.
"Evacuations are finished." A lone GUN official leaned from the open passenger area of the helicopter.
"How many?" Shadow asked darkly.
"There's no telling how many casualties at this point." The agent responded forebodingly.
--
"Did he really say it like that?" I asked.
"Yeah, and if I remember right, he refused to speak to either of us. He would only talk to Shads, which probably wasn't all that pleasant either." She frowned as she recalled the information.
"They still couldn't drop it all, even as the world was falling apart." I shook my head as I too remembered.
"Sad, isn't it?" Swift smiled sadly at me. "I'm skipping through this."
--
"The bombs?" I prodded.
"They're doing more damage than the enemy thought they would. They've lost hundreds, but they're still too strong."
"Why are you referring to The Phoenix as 'they'?" Swift growled.
"SSHH!! Don't say that!"
"What? Are they the new Voldemort? A new Taboo?" She hissed, sizzling like eggs on a hot blacktop.
"Yes. There have been direct orders among us not to say their name." The agent said back in an orderly manner, not looking directly at either of us.
"That's bull." She huffed under her breath, pacing off away from the helicopter to cool down.
"So, what about the radiation levels?" I asked edgily.
"Here's a map of their intensity and the log in for updates. Don't expect it to work for too long, they'll probably melt within the hour." The agent told Shadow, passing him a sheet of paper and a handheld computer. Shadow merely nodded as the officer pulled himself back into the helicopter. It took off and left us to defend what was left of the planet on our own.
"That's it!" Swift exclaimed. "He came over here for that?!"
"I guess." Shadow said blandly, not helping the situation at all as he entered the password on the computer.
"Let's just see if they helped us out." I sighed as I peeked over Shadow's shoulder at the screen. Swift took a deep breath, then walked back over to check out the information.
"Okay, so the weakest levels of nuclear radiation are in the middle." Shadow stated.
"It's almost like a path… Like, it's leading into a trap." Swift rubbed her nose in thought.
"It is; the highest levels are about forty miles through that path." I noted, pointing at the screen with my finger. "Where can we go from there?"
"Up… above the clouds. It hasn't been that long since they first started firing, so we still have time before it reaches the upper atmosphere." Shadow suggested eagerly.
"Yeah." Swift agreed absently.
"Sounds like a plan." I muttered.
"Good. We'll just wait for the right time." Shadow flicked the miniature computer off and put it aside, sitting down in the dirt patiently. Swift and I, however, paced nervously in a circle around him.
--
"We were all having weird mood swings, huh?" I chuckled, watching Swift's cheeks turn light pink.
"I guess so." She rubbed the back of her head anxiously. "The atmosphere sure was strange."
"God, we were so stupid! We wasted so much time and-." I stopped myself as Swift's eyes widened in shock at my outburst.
"Finish it." She whispered, analyzing me.
"I could have lost you." I completed, grabbing her hand before she could respond.
--
Abruptly, Eggman's ship, The Egg Carrier 3, smashed into the mountainside, causing a minor rockslide. But, we really didn't care all that much, the rocks were only hitting the ascending ocean. And besides, now we had backup. However, the F-22s fired missiles at the Egg Carrier as soon as the dust cleared. Despite my usual quick reactions, I turned much too late to do anything about it. Yet, Swift was already on it.
"Doctor!" She shouted the instant the missiles erupted from their shafts. Before either Shadow or I could grab her, she raced down the mountain and jumped onto the Egg Carrier. Then, Swift threw her arms out wide. "Shields up!" She ordered. Eggman complied, pushing his shield to it's maximum. Suddenly, I saw what she was doing and pulled Shadow down the mountain with me as I made a mad dash towards the shield. Just as I threw myself and Shadow inside, Swift unleashed a torrent of Chaos, which molded itself under her will to form the shape of the shield and reinforce it from below.
"Brilliant idea, Swift!" Eggman called from a loudspeaker on the outside of his ship.
"Was that really necessary?" Shadow asked rhetorically, pushing himself off the ground and dusting off bits of nonexistent dirt from his shoulders and stomach. I merely glowered at him in return, then refocused on Swift, who was struggling with upholding the shield as Eggman's main one shattered above her's. Shadow, sensing her falling, seized control of the Chaos she had conjured and released her from it.
"What?" She breathed as the weight lifted from her. "Shadow, no!" Swift gasped as she slid down the side of the Egg Carrier 3.
"I've got this!" He resisted, twisting away from her as she lunged at him.
"Launch it at them!" I shouted as the plane dropped a bomb. Shadow and Swift both looked up with dazed expressions on their faces. Then, they both grimaced at me and swept their hands in an arch at the same time. The shield flew directly through the bomb, causing it to explode in mid-air, creating a rather beautiful plume of flame stain amidst the cyanide blue sky. Afterwards, it connected brilliantly with the plane that had launched it and two others, engulfing them in a less pretty explosion. The oncoming group erupted in cheers as they arrived to the flare.
However seconds later, the other plane swooped low and launched several more missiles, eliminating our time to react.
"NO! Get out of the way!" Swift screamed as Shadow and I froze in place. She threw herself at us, pushing us roughly out of the way and taking our places. As she righted herself and held her hands out openly, I shouted as I tried to stand. But, I was too late. I closed my eyes as the missiles hit Swift head on, enveloping her in a bright white light. Shadow and I screamed her name in desperation as we stumbled blindly to the spot where she had disappeared into the light.
Suddenly, the light receded, leaving the remaining two of us rubbing our eyes and blinking rapidly to find Swift with, it seemed, thousands of crimson threads slicing across her body. She rose slowly, closing one eye against the pain as she pushed herself up.
"You need to rest." I placed my hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back to the ground.
"No." She growled, shrugging me away, but I persisted, pushing her down a little more forcefully. Finally, Swift ceased her resistance with a defeated huff, folding her arms over her chest. When I looked up, Shadow's eyes stared blankly ahead.
"Shadow? Yo, dude! You in there?" I waved my hand in front of his face to grab his attention, in vain. As if grabbed by a mechanical force, he began to walk up the mountain without looking back. Swift's ears pricked up and she began shifting uneasily, contemplating whether she should fight me over standing again. "What's up with him?"
"Remember when I said he was vindictive on the Blue Typhoon?" Her face contorted in pain as she realized the unexpected consequences of taking the blows meant for Shadow and I, as well as the potential extent of those consequences.
"Oh God." I breathed.
"Exactly."
--
"Overly protective, overly protective, overly protective!" I chanted irritably.
"It's not all his fault; it's the way he was designed." Swift shrugged indifferently.
"I've never met anyone so willing to die for another person!" I exclaimed without thinking, receiving a shocked expression from Swift. "Well, other than…" I paused, wondering if I should have continued.
--
"SHADOW!" Swift howled as she burst up the cliff a mere millisecond after me. Those two milliseconds however, were enough to give Shadow the time he needed. We skidded to a stop just as the cliffside was washed in golden light. "Crap." She hissed, watching as Shadow took off in a burst of gold and red.
"Did he just go Super?" I said numbly.
"Yeah."
"Crap."
"You're telling me."
"We can only pray…" I muttered. We stood at the edge of the cliff and observed as Shadow flew into the horizon through the path of low radiation, armed with vengeance, pride, and an array of Chaos attacks.
--
"Freak." Swift stubbed her toe on a stump, breaking her concentration. I snickered softly and she glared at me, just like old times
--
As Eggman stumbled up to the top of the mountain, the ocean finally stopped rising, leaving only around one hundred feet of sheer drop-off between our group and the ocean. The blue sky was becoming more like Swift's fur with each second as the sun descended rapidly, bringing a close to doomsday… severing our spinal cords without too much suffering.
"Did you manage to get it?" Tails asked Eggman.
"Yes. Bocoe, Decoe, and Bokkun are transporting the parts for the World Gate here now." He replied.
"Please tell me you didn't bring the whole thing." I groaned as Bocoe threw a piece of metal down that was at least ten feet bigger than me.
"No, only the necessary." He said curtly.
"Ya'll better hurry up on that. We won't have another way to get out if they launch another nuke at the icecaps." Swift said ominously from her perch at the very edge of the cliff.
"She's right. Just get to work." Rouge urged them on hurriedly. Without another word, Eggman and his robots set to work on the machine.
Shadow hit the water faster than any of us thought we would. In fact, they managed to hit him with a nuke faster than any of us expected them to.
"He's down!" Tails announced, though we had seen enough. Swift dove from the cliff the instant Tails spoke.
"SWIFT NO!" I shouted, leaping over the edge and sliding down the cliffside rather than launching myself into the water. I quickly glanced around when I reached the water's edge, finding the sun meager inch from the ocean. It was larger than normal and tinted the ravaged sky an orange shade. When five P-5s, large but agile versions of the P-1, a wolf-like robot with metal jaws, and with bowed legs and modified skates for water, appeared on the surface of the water as five black dots, I hesitated no longer, knowing that Swift wouldn't know what hit her.
"Sonic!" Knuckles yelled from above me. I looked up irately. "Catch!" He tossed my jet adapters for my Soap Shoes down.
"Thanks." I yelled back, catching them and sliding them on before dashing onto the water just as Swift hit the surface running. Because she took off so fast, she had no time to react before a P-5 clamped its titanium jaws on her left thigh, ripping the muscle with a horrifying tearing sound. Swift careened into the water with a muted scream as her body immediately started repairing the damage with her energy. She was back up again by the time I got there. With a howl in rage, I threw myself into a Spin Dash and crashed through the P-5 that had wounded her, obliterating it easier than I had ever destroyed one before, slashing my back open as I ripped my way through Igniting a ball of Chaos, Swift rocketed at two P-5s and blasted the ball at them, incapacitating them as well. With the last two, I jumped on one's back and held on for dear life as it bucked while I undid its central circuitry. Swift, however, had more trouble with the Alpha. I noticed she was having problems struggling with the machine's jaws, so I launched myself at the beast. Though I knocked it over, Swift wasn't prepared for the shift and lost her grip on the jaws, and the P-5 snapped them shut on her right side. It threw her as it fell, tearing her flesh like a piece of paper from a notebook. She was flung so far, Swift slammed into the cliff where she had started and slid into the ocean, sinking like a rock. Roaring in fury, I flung myself at the Alpha and shattered it, then rushed desperately back to Swift. Without thinking twice, I took a deep breath and dove, grabbing her hand within a few feet and pulling her back into the realm of the remotely living. When her head broke the surface, she gasped and blubbered as I pulled her. As I pushed myself onto the new bank, I got a look at the gaping wounds.
"Holy-." I dragged her back to shore, cradled her, and carried her back to base camp, leaving a crimson trail in our wake. Shadow reappeared in a flurry of gold and ruby at the edge, more enraged than before, but realizing that he wasn't helping matters as I glowered at him. His crimson eyes were ablaze with fury, but he powered down and returned the Emeralds to the air around us, returning to his usual charcoal and scarlet fur color.
"I'm fine, Sonic." Swift murmured from my arms, gritting her teeth as she tried to squirm out of my grasp. The large wounds were healing fast, but she wouldn't be able to walk into the World Gate unassisted.
"Can't I just hold you here for a minute?" I pleaded with her to make it seem less like aiding.
"I suppose." She sighed and stopped.
"Finished." Eggman called.
Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were already through by the time we walked up to the new Gate.
"Go on through, Doctor." Shadow offered.
"No, you first."
"But then… who's going to destroy the gate?" Swift asked, epiphany coming across her.
"I am." Eggman said.
"What?" I felt my jaw drop, but Swift quickly pushed it back up.
"I'm tired of being the bad guy, the loser villain. If you can't beat them, join them." He gave us a weary smile that made him look eighty rather than forty.
"You're making no sense." I said disbelievingly.
"I'm a better hero than villain. I refuse to be your enemy anymore, Sonic." He said clearly. "What don't you get?"
"You're sacrificing yourself for… me?"
"Well, I have to admit, if you didn't have Shadow and Swift with you, I'd be pretty hard pressed to let myself take your place." A smirk took over. I felt Swift hiccup.
"You're kidding."
"Not at all."
"I'll thoroughly miss doing battle with you, Eggy." I nodded at him.
"As will I with you, dear enemy."
"Doctor… I knew you weren't bad to the core. You are the Professor's grandson." Swift said solemnly.
"Pleasure to be of service." Shadow said shortly, stepping into the portal and leaving Swift and I with Eggman.
"Go on. You have thirty seconds." Eggman urged. With one last grin at the three robots and the would-be tyrant gone good, I stepped through the portal with Swift in my arms.
--
Overcome with a sense of nostalgia, I snuffled and wiped my nose, releasing Swift's hand.
"I don't understand one thing." Swift had a puzzled look on her face.
"What?"
"Why did you dive after me when you knew I would resurface within a couple of minutes?" She questioned, caramel irises glinting as the sun's golden-orange color refracted off of them while it hovered over the ocean's surface. We looked up at it for a split second, taking in the double image the water's now calm glassy surface created.
"I… er… You… I didn't know that!" I exclaimed. She seemed disappointed by my answer. "Besides… people do crazy things when they're in love." I smirked deviously. My timing was impeccable because the instant I said the words that would make or break me, the world ignited in an explosion of color and light, framing the two of us in a canvas painted by someone who was watching out for me upstairs, caused by the sun finally touching down on the water. Emotions that had faded into faith between us from the ten months of separation burst onto the canvas, it seemed, in a mass of burning desire upon which the both of us acted.
Swift
"God, I hope you mean that." I swallowed Sonic in a tight hug as some outside force lit our passion on fire.
"Why wouldn't I?" His muffled reply came seconds later. I didn't answer his question for fear he might stumble upon a realization. "So you still do like me." He remarked.
"Of course… 'like' doesn't fully cover it. And you?"
"You're my addiction and I've been going into withdrawal for too long." Sonic grinned.
"Slow go."
"Agreed. So, does that mean we're starting over? 'Cause this reminds me a lot of that night a couple years ago…"
"You mean at Static." The rather exciting night at the club back on Mobius when Sonic and I had met absolutely by chance, drawn together by a particular song…
Some minutes had passed before I became fully aware of my surroundings again. Sonic and I had released each other and sat in the warm sand to watch the sun set beneath a wall of water, but twilight was quick in falling in behind the dazzling sunset.
"Let's head back." Sonic stood and restlessly surveyed the landscape as he offered me his hand.
"Okay, Sonic." I chuckled lightly and took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet and begin the long walk back to the beach house.
A/N: -twitch, twitch- 22 pages... -twitch-