Chapter Four: Blu e nero Chimica
The sun slowly cracked over the horizon, and with that, spilt its yolk of light over the rolling fields. Shadow remained completely silent through their trip to Sonic's cabin. He really, really hated being questioned. It took all he had not to back hand the questioner and state that it was none of his goddamn business, alas if he was to remain unseen, he would have to comply. He'd like to get around here with limited people knowing who he was, his name, or that he even existed. "That reminds me…why did I even tell him my real name?! Shadow you stupid, stupid-"
"Shadow."
The said hedgehog was brought from his thoughts as the cobalt furred spoke. He gestured to a door, "We're here."
Shadow nodded in response. "I just zoned out sorry." Sonic smiled. "It's fine. Now you stay here while I get some clothes that may fit." Then he disappeared into the room.
The black furred hedgehog sighed and leaned against the train, putting a hand to his chest. He'd get cleaned up and then when no one's looking, disappear away into the forest. The last thing he needed is to be around people who didn't live under a rock like those who live around here, let alone joining a famous circus.
Garnet eyes rested onto the busy field, it was still the early morning however circus folk hustled around, packing various objects and such onto the train. Most of what he had seen set up the previous day had been packed away and the field almost looked as empty as it did before. Shadow's eyes carefully followed the bodies of the people as they walked, only now noticing that they glanced back every so often, and some others eyes lingered on his frame. Shadow's body tensed.
He suddenly felt it, the many eyes of the circus folk that glued themselves to his frame. Some of them were whispering and snickering to themselves, others stared at him plainly, one even waved at him. Shadow felt his stomach turn.
"So-so many eyes…" The ebon almost felt his stomach try to jump out of his throat at the thought. He needed to leave. Now. He looked down at his clothes, still sticky and slobber-coated. He could break a run for it in this, could he? Go home and clean it himself. Wait, home…. He wasn't automatically apart of their stupid fucking circus just because that idiot Ring Master said! Shadows ears pinned back and he growled. "I'm leaving, I can clean and dress myself when I get home-"
"Hey."
Shadow's thoughts were interrupted yet again.
His red eyes glared up at the imposing stranger, ears still pinned back and face forming a snarl. "Yes, are you talking to me?" He replied, his voice sounding sickly sweet, a hit of danger in his tone.
Across from him stood a bright scarlet echidna, his eyes seemed permanently narrowed, and his lilac irises small and agitated, his lips too formed a scowl. He wore a white blouse, with plain brown pants, however these simple clothing complemented his muscles that seemed to mould his body; they weren't toned but not bulgy, either. The echidna's most prominent feature, however, happened to be his colossal fists which had two quills sticking out from the knuckles, and his actual hands were bandaged with white cloth, a bit dirtied and bloodied though. Shadow couldn't help but stare.
"Who are you, what are you doing here? The circus ended last night." The echidna growled back, cracking his fists as a warning.
Shadow wasn't even the slightest bit intimidated. "None of your business. Leave me alone."
The echidna went to retaliate but a black slender hand stopped him. "Lay off it Knuckles." The person said, winking at Shadow. "Don't worry about him, he's just a wittle grumpy." The other was an armadillo with the same colour scheme as the ebon one, unlike his companion, he had a slender frame and more cheery appearance, he seemed a lot more humble than the other as well.
Shadow's eyes flicked up to the two of them again, his eyes glaring still, he grunts. "I wasn't worried in the first place." He turned up his nose and folded his arms tightly around his chest.
"Hey Shads I found this white shirt and brown pants will they do-" Sonic stepped out of his cart with a smile, then laid eyes on the two circus folk before the ebon furred. "Mighty, Knuckles, hey." He spoke, still smiling, stepping down with the clothes tightly tucked under his arm. "I see you've met Shadow."
Shadow silently glared at Sonic for speaking his name, before returning his gaze to the two in front of him. "Why is he here?" The scarlet one asked in agitation, pointing to the black and red hedgehog leaning on the train.
Sonic shrugged. "I dunno really. Signore just picked him outta the crowed apparently and adopted him." He stood beside Shadow with a smile, "We're off to see him about it now, well after we clean ourselves…" The cobalt hedgehog sighed and looked at himself. "Sticky… Shadow hold these." He handed him the clothes.
The armadillo by the name of Mighty who was now slightly paled finally spoke up, "Sonic ah, I heard what happened but…there's so much blood…" His cornflour eyes quickly dusted over Sonic's figure, gagging a little, he placed his hand over his mouth.
Sonic look up with a questioning look before shrugging it off. "Yeah, I'm thinking Scourge took it too far again." He chuckled. "It's funny because it really doesn't hurt and there are no wounds over my body..."
Mighty gasped a little. Shadow looked away, feeling a large lump take place in his throat. "Why do I feel so guilty?" He sincerely didn't know why. He wasn't responsible for Scourges death was he? The hedgehog had obviously brought it on himself…
The armadillo looked worriedly at the hedgehog and his voice quivered a bit. "Sonic you have no idea..."
Sonic paled in the face at Mighty's tone and looked at him with a hint of warning in his voice. "What happened? Tell me, now."
"Sonic, you killed Scourge last night…"
-*I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.*-
-*Mark Twain*-
Mephiles' coat was eccentric, to say the least. The silk was kind to his fur, not to mention the bright mahogany complemented his fur colour greatly. However keeping it in top condition was a challenge, as most of his performances involved fire, smoke and sometimes even bullets which was quite a hazard to the quality of the suit. He had to get it fitted and mended every week to keep it as stunning as it could possibly be.
His seamstress and cleaner, Vanilla kindly sat across on a rocking chair, hand sewing the holes in his coat as the male sat on a wooden chair. He was fiddling with a long key, having one end in his mouth and occasionally pulling it out. He was desperate for a cigar; however Vanilla had made it clear several times that there was to be no smoking in her cart. She had a young child, by the name of Cream, how had practically grown up in the circus. The two shared a room and the infant was training to become a tight-rope walker, with her mentor, the current tight-rope walker, Amy-Rose.
The maize coloured rabbit across from sighed, putting down the coat onto her lap and looking up at him with big, chocolate eyes, "If you're that desperate for that disease-ridden stick of tobacco," The rabbit said in disgust, "Then have one in the doorway, with the door open, blow the smoke outside." She pushed her reading glasses up her nose and returned to her sewing, muttering under her breath.
Mephiles smiled and muttered a small, "Thank you." He moved towards the door, taking a cigar out of his pocket and quickly opening the door, his movements seemed rushed as he struck the match and lit up the cigar. He put it to his lips and inhaled deeply before blowing out the smoke through the door.
His eyes scanned the area, looking over the field at the sight of people packing up and hustling around. A small smile graced his pale lips when his acidic green placed themselves on the small black form that stood next the cabin carts, leaning against the train. The hedgehog was beautiful, he truly was. Mephiles' smile grew larger as the hedgehog took off his vest, and gave it the cobalt hedgehog, and his vision was correct as a large tuff of snow white fur appeared through his blouse. He brought the cigar to his lips and blew the smoke out the door again, his grin slowly growing larger.
"What are you smiling about?" Vanilla asked her eyes still glued to her work. "Has someone died out there? Or are you just happy you got your tobacco?"
The hedgehog smiled, eyes still never leaving the boy. "Vanilla how were you with your late husband?"
The rabbit looked up from her work, Mephiles knew this was a delicate subject as Vanilla was in fact a widow but he needed to know. "Jonquil was a nice, hard worker. It was unfortunate he had that incident, but we couldn't do anything about it…"
Mephiles blew a soft puff of smoke out the door, his eyes returning to scan for the black hedgehog again, only to find him gone. Vanilla moved onto a sop story about how Jonquils death occurred while he was in the Scotland Yard, and how she came to the circus, a tale he had heard a million times. Her words fell on deaf ears as the owner of those ears looked around to try and find his love, to no avail apparently.
"Why do you ask?" Was the rabbits words after her story had ended, she finished the seam and held the coat, beckoning the slightly younger male to her. Mephiles came away from the door and stood up on a pedestal; he put on his coat and allowed Vanilla to fiddle with the tassels and gold trimming on the coat.
"Are you aware of what happened last night?" The violet hedgehog asked, silently debating with himself whether the middle-aged rabbit was worth his trust on the subject. The rabbit nodded in response. "The boy and Sonic? Yes, Cream and Amy told me. It was quite spontaneous of you to pick someone out from the crowd like that. Hold still."
Mephiles held as still as he could, trying his best not to fidget. He didn't necessarily reply to what she had said, just looked at her in an expecting way. Vanilla stopped and looked up at him through her rounded square spectacles. "You're not asking for romantic advice are you?" A smirk appeared on her face when Mephiles merely grunted. She stood up straight and hit him on the arm mockingly. "You young buck, you!" She exclaimed with a giggle in her tone, "Going after ebon boys are we?"
"Shut up," Mephiles scowled, looking down on her with venomous eyes. The rabbit in turn chuckled and walked over to her sewing box. "Oh it's just cute to think that big bad Mephiles the Magnificent has a boy-crush." She giggled.
"It is not a 'boy-crush' I have a mutual interest in the boy and I wish for him to advance in the circus. Whether or whether not he happens to grow close to me is completely irrelevant." He stated rather harshly, stepping down from the pedestal and dusting off the sure.
The rabbit began to pack up her sewing kit, looking over at Mephiles every so often. "So what have you done to keep this boy with us? Knowing your silver tongue it wouldn't be just Scourges' death that swayed him."
The violet hedgehog smirked. "I chained him up and threw him in with Sonic."
Vanilla let out a stifled breath. "Sometimes you hold a candle to the devil, you do." She chuckled uneasily. She looked as if she was going to speak something else but she was interrupted by the door slamming open.
"Charbonneau you better have a good fucking explanation for this."
-*When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear.*-
-*Mark Twain*-
"K-k-killed? Sc-Scourge?" Sonic whimpered, looking pale and awe-stricken.
Mighty nodded. "Yes, that's his blood all over you."
Sonic felt himself feel faint, his legs shivering before giving way, allowing his body mass to crash to the ground, only being barely caught by the hedgehog beside him. "Holy-! You're really heavy!" the ebon one breathed out in stifle breaths as Shadow tried to lower Sonic to the ground carefully.
"Gee. Thanks." The cobalt hedgehog chuckled; feeling his head softly hid the calm grass below. Shadow had replied rather harshly, followed by Knuckles then Mighty as they all began to ague, while Sonic sat back, blankly.
"Did the werehog really kill Scourge? I didn't think he was capable for such a thing. Sure, if he was threatened, or in danger, but he was always so docile towards him, even when he was punished…something must've been getting hurt or harassed for him to act that way…"
"Sonic, Sonic! Are you okay?!" The ebon hedgehog waved his hand frantically in front of a pair of emerald eyes' vision.
"…Or someone."
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just kinda passed out." Sonic smiled sheepishly as he sat up.
Shadow sighed in relief and stood up, nodding off the other two males. "Sonic and I have business to attend to, if you don't mind, we'll be leaving."
The ebon dusted himself off before offering out a hand to Sonic. "Showers then?" He asked. Sonic nodded and took his hand. He felt a spark, quick, nothing much, but startling enough to make Sonic pull his hand back. Shadow looked at him questioningly.
Sonic chuckled awkwardly and dusted his hand on his chest. "Heh, static electricity," He griped onto Shadow's offering hand again and the spark returned, and the longer he held on the stronger it got. The moment he stood up he quickly wiped it on his chest again. He had no way to explain it, and that he didn't like, but he really didn't want to get into it right now.
Sonic looked over to Mighty and Knuckles. "You two go pack up, no sense wasting your time here." Mighty nodded in response but Knuckles grunted. The two left and Sonic and Shadow were on their own again. Shadow was looking off into the distance again, over the horizon. He did that a lot, from what Sonic had gathered, his mind and his eyes, strayed off, always tending to look off to the wide open fields.
Sonic's eyes dusted over Shadow's figure for a few moments. He looked well dressed, not poor but not rich either. Sonic would've guessed he was a servant boy at a manor, from his clothing alone, his attitude challenged that however. "Maybe he was different around his master?" Sonic thought to himself. "Maybe he cared for him deeply, and now that he's separated from him, it's made him cold." A small perverse smirk graced his lips. "What I'd give to be his Master… Oh mi piacerebbe fare tante cose per lui... Come è bello che avesse mai guardare sotto di me... che fosse così vergine tenuta oh!"
Sonic's thoughts eventually drifted into Italian, as his English vocabulary was too innocent to describe the things he was thinking. The hedgehog snapped out of it, only now realising what he had just thought up. He shook his head. "No. No. No. Where did that come from? I refused to think such degrading things about Shadow…Ma la sua verginità- NO. Che cosa circa- No. I cannot."
He heard a quite growl from his dark companion, "Damn. One of my buttons fell off, and the seam is split!"
Sonics eyes opened to see a rather annoyed hedgehog with his crimson vest in his hand, the side of it split, and an emerald button clasped tightly in his palm. He heard Shadow's voice again on his ears, but he wasn't listening. His eyes strayed to his button-up blouse, to which small tuffs of long white fur bled through. Sonic was somewhat curious and approached him.
"Sonic, Sonic what are you doing?" Shadow said as Sonic stepped closer, looking up to him with confused and annoyed eyes. The cobalt hedgehog looked down on him, a goofy grin on his face as Shadow shrunk down.
"What's this~" He asked lyrically, dipping a finger under his collar and pulling it down to show a large tuff of snow white fur.
Shadow blushed madly and tried to knock away Sonic's hand, pulling up his shirt. "Fur. What else? Now back off."
Sonic chuckled pulled the shirt down with both hands, two buttons popping off at the force. Shadow's tuff was exposed fully and Sonic ran a hand through it. "Wow~ It's so soft~!" Sonic was about to bury his muzzle into the patch of fluff when a hand slapped him across the face.
Sonic immediately came back to his senses.
He back away, pulling back his hands and his head lowered. "Sorry, I kind of got a head of myself. Sorry, really." His ears flattened against his head and his arms hugged tightly against his body.
Shadow dusted himself off and glared at Sonic, folding his arms over his chest and turning around. "Fine. Just don't let it happen again." He hissed.
"I'll be sure of it." The blue hedgehog sighed, before perking up to his usual self. "Alright. The showers are this way c'mon!"
He grabbed Shadow's hand, ignoring the sparks before racing off.
-*Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.*-
-*H. Jackson Brown, Jr.*-
The showers weren't too far from Sonic's cart.
Shadow had no idea why he had decide to run at such speeds.
Sonic stopped quite suddenly, making his companion smack into the back of him, but he didn't seem to care. "Here." He said overly cheerfully, opening the door and stepping inside. He turned around and offered out Shadow his hand. "Need a hand?"
Shadow shook his head, knocking away Sonics hand as he stepped up. He looked over to the other male who shrugged the ebon's rejections off and shut the door before he walked inside, looking over his shoulder briefly. "Take off your shoes and put them by the door." He pointed to a small box, with the words "Shoes" written over it crudely in English.
Shadow nodded and pulled off his loafers, placing them into the basket. He took off his socks and looked them oddly. He was about to ask Sonic were to put them when he was suddenly smacked in the face with a pair of shorts.
"Oh! Sorry! Bad aim." A sheepish sounding Sonic called. The shorts were pulled from Shadow's vision and a certain blue hedgehog with a diffident facial expression was in front of him. Completely. Naked.
A large blush coated the ebony hedgehog's face when he saw the other, his eyes desperately trying not to travel down wards, blushing harder at the mere thought of what was concealed under that layer of skin…All it took was just a small slip or just a sight and-
Shadow refused to let his mind go any further. He was almost thankful when Sonic's voice hit his ears.
"Aw, you're vest is broken. Here, give it to me and I'll put it somewhere safe so Vanilla can fix it." Before Shadow could say anything, Sonic took the vest from his hands and walked over to a small area where it seemed no water could get through and placed it on a seat. He nodded over to Shadow and gestured for him to come over.
Shadow clutched the clean clothes tightly to his chest and got up, walking uneasily on his bare feet and placed the clean clothes beside his vest. Sonic smiled at him and pointed to the white shirt and brown pants, "They're yours. I'm not entirely sure whether they'll fit you around the gut, though. You're a lot thinner than I am."
Shadow nodded before lifting up his socks. "Dirty clothes?"
Sonic pointed to a small basket, "In there." He said as he chucked in his pants in. Shadow placed his socks in before looking over to Sonic with a heavy blush.
"What?" He asked, still mindlessly staring at the other male.
Shadow blushed more so and covered his body with his hands. "OH!" Sonic said rather loudly, "You don't like being watched undress, I understand, I'll go and get started. I'll be waiting for ya though." He winked before walking off.
Shadow's mind certainly wanted to take Sonic's words a completely different way, but Shadow shook it off. He took the ends of the fabric in his hands and slowly began to un-button his shirt; he carefully slid it over his back quills before taking it all the way off and placing it in the basket.
Garnet eyes travelled curiously around the room. It was fairly bright in colour, a pale blue and white. Small shower heads decorate the room, about 2 meters away from one another, there was a total of 6 in the room. Long white wooden boards made as seats to put your dry clothes and bags, set up in a small area cut off from the main one used as a change room, Shadow assumed.
His ears flicked at the noise of running water and his travelling eyes eventually laid upon the blue form who was rinsing himself in the stream. A blush reformed on Shadow's face, but his eyes refused to move from their spot. Sonic was a rather handsome hedgehog, he had a solid figure with extremely toned muscles, his legs especially. The way the water ran down them, Shadow couldn't help but let a small purr escape his throat at the sight of it.
His blush darkened once he realised what he had just did and lowered his head, his ears flattened against his head. He nervously dropped his pants, kicking them off before putting them into the basket along with the other items.
The ebony hedgehog swallowed. He was now, completely naked, in front of Sonic. He slowly shuffled over to the furthest nozzle and started up the water. He yelped when the cold liquid crashed down upon his pelt. Shadow jumped back; his quills puffed up and hardened.
"Yeah they trickly, let me show you." Sonic suddenly appeared beside him, his fur wet and sticking to his skin, Shadow found himself staring at the soaked body against his will. He cobalt hedgehog reached out and adjusted the handles, so the steam was warm and slow.
"Why are you looking you shouldn't be looking Shadow STOP." Shadow thought quickly as his eyes went up and down Sonic's figure, unable to tear themselves away.
"Alright it should be fine no-" Sonic's eyes connected with Shadows for a second and the garnet irises shot up to join emerald ones. Shadow's blush darkened as he knew had been caught ogling the other, and his ears and tail began to sag, his body slowly shrinking down.
Sonic however took it rather well. He smiled and chuckled. "Like what you see Shads?" The said hedgehog stood there in silence, looking like a child who had been caught red-handed stealing a cookie that had been meant for after dinner. Sonic merely shook his head and walked off, going back under his own stream, the red slowly trickling off of him and turning the water a pink-brown colour as it ran down the drain.
Shadow swallowed again, he moved under the stream sheepishly and began to wash his fur, his mind drifting off as he did so. "Shadow you need to get a hold of yourself. You're not going to be here for long so stop making friendships with people and staring at the kind-but-kinda-weird-and-kinda-attractive naked wet guy. You're going back home, back to the cottage and you will continue to hide there and continue to sell the books. You cannot under any circumstances get attached to anyone. Go talk to Mephiles, get this sorted out, than leave. That's it, done, dusted. Over."
Shadow growled to himself when he turned off the water and stepped out, already seeing Sonic was dried and dressed looking refreshed and not coated in blood of his college. He sported a rich green short-sleeved blouse, a brown leather vest, brown pants and a red ascot, a pair of brown leather loafers were in his hands as he slid his left shoe onto his foot. The ebon grabbed and towel from the rack and began to dry himself, being careful on his quills. He finished up and threw the towel into the basket before moving over to where his clothes were.
He looked over to Sonic and froze. He found emerald eyes scanning his body; much like garnet had done to the emerald's owner's body beforehand. A blush crept onto Shadow's face for the hundredth time that day, and he bit his lip. He let out a small, almost inaudible choke when a small red tongue darted out of the blue one's mouth and licked over his lips, to which Shadow turned fully to face Sonic and scoffed.
Emerald eyes shot up to meet garnet, shooting the other a quizzical look. "Oh yeah." He finally said, after a short period of silence. "You don't like to be looked at when you're getting changed. Gotcha. I'll wait outside." Sonic stretched and stood up, opening the train door and stepping outside, but not bothering to close it.
Shadow rolled his eyes but began to put on his clothes, his ears twitching at the sound of Sonic's voice.
"So ah," The cobalt one began, "What actually happened last night? I know I killed Scourge but I'm usually pretty docile in that form."
Shadow let out a grunt of disbelief. "Could've fooled me." Garnet eyes rolled before starting from the top. "I came to circus because my manager had basically forced me to go, he said he wanted me to take the weekend off but I think he just wanted me to find some new books from the new market the circus brought along. I couldn't get any because I couldn't manage my way through the crowd, so I was forced to view Mephiles' pre-show performance where we had a heated stare down at the end. When everyone had left I heard the beast- well, yours I guess, roars in pain so I immediately tracked down the source. As it turns out, Scourge was whipping you for no reason so I decided to do something about it which only succeeded in getting hit-on. I was only saved by your ruckus, and you were saved from serious punishment by Mephiles. After the show I stole the keys to your cage from Scourge's tent then unlocked your cage. Scourge caught me before I could let you free, and well, I got groped and hit-on some more, then you got out and killed him."
Sonic only let out a few scoffs. "W-wow, you, you…Shadow I'm flattered you'd do something like that for me…" He truly sound flattered, Shadow had no real idea why. "So what happened after that? I mean, I woke up spooning you so…"
Shadow growled and blushed at the recollection. "Shut up I was getting there. I hid and then Mephiles and the two acrobats- the cat and the hedgehog came in and out you back in the cage, talked about a new beast tamer. The hedgehog dropped the keys right in front of me and Mephiles found me. It's all a bit of a blur, but I got picked up, cuffed and thrown in with you. Mephiles told me he wanted me to be the new beast tamer and if I made one night with you I'd be worthy."
Shadow finished up, he had put on his shoes and jumped out of the cart, he looked to his companion, who stood there silent, and stiff. To be honest, Shadow was slightly afraid. "Sonic…?"
A hostile growl came from the cobalt one. "Who does Charbonneau think he is? Throwing you in there like that!" Sonic's hands tensed into fists and he grabbed Shadow's hand, pulling him away. "Come on Shadow. We're going to have a little talk with Charbonneau."
-*You fall for who the chemistry is with.*-
-*Vanessa Paradis*-
"Sonic really you don't need to do this-"
"Oh yes I do. You don't understand. I could've hurt you, really bad."
Shadow tried to calm the raging Sonic but to no avail, the grip on his hand was deathly tight, and no matter how hard Shadow tried to stop them Sonic just kept pushing on. His words made no affect either, Sonic kept on retorting the same thing; Shadow had given up by the time they had reached the door.
Sonic had basically pulled the door of its rails as he opened it, growling upon entrance. "Charbonneau you better have a good fucking explanation for this."He hissed, pulling the both of them in, hands still connected.
Shadow's eyes connected with a rather shocked looking Mephiles and a cream and coffee coloured rabbit on the other side of the room.
"Amalberti, that's no way speak, let alone enter in Vanilla's home. Show some respect." The violet hedgehog said calmly, stoking down his jacket and keeping up his gentlemanly appearance.
"You can't speak of respect you devil! You put this poor, helpless boy in with a raging beast! He could've been killed or seriously hurt! What the HELL were you thinking?!" The blue hedgehog growled, lifting his arm up to show the black and red hedgehog off.
Shadow watched the middle-aged rabbit approach him with interest, and peridot eyes lit up at the sight. The ebon growled and pinned back his ears, hissing to his blue companion, "Easy…"
Mephiles turned his attention back to the other hedgehog, narrowing his eyes. "He is your new tamer. We did the same with Scourge and you know that."
Sonic growled. "Scourge wanted to be the tamer. Shadow did not! CONSENT, Mephiles! You never could wrap your head around that word!" The blue hedgehog pulled Shadow closer, almost protectively from the other, his ears pinned back growling.
Mephiles stepped closer to Shadow, he too wishing to possess the hedgehog, however he show not nearly as much aggression when it came down to it. "I know perfectly well what the meaning of consent is. I'm sure young…Shadow, would like to join the most famous circus in all of Europe as one of the star performers-"
Shadow ripped his hand from Sonic's, growling deeply, stepping away from the two hedgehogs. This stunned both of them. They eyes tore from the heated death glare they were sharing and looked to the small black and red hedgehog they were fighting over.
Shadow pinned his ears back and growled. He was going to make this short and sweet. "Look, you two. I am an ADULT and I can make my own decisions. I am not POOR or HELPLESS nor do I wish for fame and money. All I want to do is return HOME! To MY cottage! I don't want to join ANY stupid circus! SO LEAVE ME BE!"
Both hedgehogs looked a bit startled. Sonic stumbled back a bit, reverting from his enraged from back to the calm and collected hedgehog he was. Mephiles was the first to react however, and walked forward, cupping his cheek.
"You're lost and confused my poor child. Come and I will make it clear." He said in a loving tone, coated in sugar. Shadow had almost fallen for the Magician's trick, his eyes, his words and his touches almost hypnotic, but he slapped the hand away.
"I. Am. Not. Poor. I am not lost. I am fine on my own! I can fend for myself." Shadow growled.
Mephiles let out a taunting chuckle. "You can fend for yourself?" His tone made Shadow shrink and cower. "Why don't we impose a deal then? I always love a good gamble."
Before Shadow could respond, Sonic pulled the older male back and glared at him. "He doesn't want your stupid deal, Mephiles! He wants to be let free!"
"Sonic!" Shadow snapped. "I have my own voice I can tell him!" Shadow growled and turned back to the taller magician. "What are your terms?"
Mephiles let out another taunting chuckle and licked his lips. "Ah, you prove yourself worthy on the playing field against me. If you win, I'll let you go and even give you some winner's earnings; if I win, you stay here and become the new beast tamer, and my aide." Mephiles offered out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Sonic growled he pinned his ears back and looked to the ebon. "Don't take it, Shadow. He plays dirty."
Shadow thought it over for a few minutes. It should be a piece of cake. He had training in sword fighting, gun fire and hand to hand combat, going off against some lanky magician would be child's play. Shadow grinned and took Mephiles hand. "Deal."
A/N: WO~ Sorry this was late. This chapter is pretty lamely written I know. But it's 12 o'clock and my BETA reader isn't around and I want to upload this and get it over with. So sorry if I made any mistakes.
Have fun with this massively long chapter.
Btw the chapter name translates into "Blue and Black Chemistry."
So yeah. Hope you enjoyed. Review, please.