"And you have no records on him...? Alright, thank you, ma'am. Bye."
Shadow hung up the phone and scratched another useless resource for information from his list of possible contacts on the red-head echidna lying on his bed. He drooped his head down and raked his hands through his hair to figure out his next step. His lovely white cat mewed and tapped at a tuff of red hair that decided to pop out like an alfalfa plant. He put it in his head to get a new apartment, a new scratch post, and new toys for his baby girl. While he was at it, he'd just get a new everything: new bed, new clothes, new sex life. Speaking of sex life, the red echidna on his bed was pretty for a guy. He had the pleasure of seeing the bar code from Rouge's Reconstruction Company on the echidna's neck when he checked for bruises. That meant that either he was escaping from his own fate as a pleasure model, which was a legitimate cause of the crash, or this creature was brought back to life and just freaked out and ran. It didn't matter. The fact remained he was Rouge's property. He was an enemy. He lost too much because of Rouge. He wasn't losing everything a second time.
His cat decided to cuddle near his nose as she purred for attention and brought him out of depressing images from the past when he and Rouge used to be in love and inseparable. Those days were gone now. They've been gone for years. There was no need in moping about it. Besides, there was a man in his house, sleeping on his bed, and he was dead tired. His little desktop area wasn't going to work out as a makeshift bed. He only had one other option: sleep next to the echidna. Ha! Shadow wasn't about to risk that and have nightmares for the rest of his life. He had enough of those to last him until he lost his sanity or died. His other option was taking his cat out for a walk in the middle of the night, but that would have horrible consequences and he really didn't feel like doing that.
Hearing the cat mew and scratch at the door, Shadow smirked and let the cat decide his fate. She wanted to go for a walk, so he proceeded to get ready for one. He pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a light jacket then grabbed his key card and wallet to pick up some late-night snacks or a cup of coffee. While he was out, he may keep searching for leads to the echidna's background history. Maybe he was a supermodel or actor in another life and his wife wanted him back. That was reasonable. He pulled on his sneakers before he went to the door and reached for a gun. His apartment was not in the safest of places being that the rent was dirt cheap and located in the middle of Metal City where you could see the traffic outside of your window. He opened the door for an instant, waiting for it to go all the way up, but was surprised to see that someone was waiting for him to come out and he was carrying a large gun.
In front of him was a man dressed in velvet panther pants and red suspenders with black boots. His gun had a scope feature, so even he was a bad shot he could still mortally wound Shadow. He was also wearing a peculiar hat that matched his door exactly, color and all! The man snickered, proud of his scheme, and was trembling as if he had Parkinson's disease.
"Ha!" He declared, shifting from one foot to the other in rapid speed. "Gimme the cash..."
"Hm, been here long?" Shadow asked, staring at the gun and identifying its features.
"Yeah," the man answered then quickly changed it, realizing he was blowing his own cover, "no. Now c'mon, gimme the cash!"
"That a Z-140?" Shadow started, picking out bits and details of the gun's signature features. He read about this gun. It was one of the latest models in futuristic technology and short-range sniper rifle lines. Shadow continued to describe the weapon, impressed that someone as fidgety as the thief before had the money to buy this gun, and said, "Deviated titanium, charge-assault model?"
The man looked down at it for a second and changed from a proud man to a nervous one. How was someone able to tell what kind of gun he was using and not flinch or budge a muscle out of pure fear? He then looked back to Shadow and answered, "Yeah, yeah."
"Good thing for me it's not loaded."
The man chuckled like Shadow was a fool and questioned, "What d'ye mean it's not loaded?"
"Well, uh, you have to..." Shadow replied, pointing at the shiny part of the gun, "you have to push the little yellow button there to load it."
The man switched glances from the gun to Shadow about three times then started laughing with a squeak in his voice. He snorted a few times, reaching for the button very slowly as if in doubt and fear that the gun would explode. Shadow wanted to laugh at the man so badly but he held back and offered some assistance, though it was very sarcastic.
He said, "You want me to - ?" The man jumped when Shadow reached over to hit the button for him then aimed the gun at Shadow's forehead as a threat. Shadow held up his hands playfully and said, "Okay..." When they both heard the gun click to load itself, he congratulated the man and said, "There you go."
The man stomped proudly and smirked when he demanded, "Gimme the cash!"
Within seconds, Shadow held up his own loaded gun and had it to the man's nose with a steady finger on the trigger and a glare that could've killed him. He then proceeded to use a neighboring voice though it was a threatening tone to say, "That is a very dangerous gun. I think you better let me hang on to this one, huh?" Shadow took the Z-140 assault model and pushed a button, showcasing several models of different guns that he kept in his house. Seeing that Shadow meant some serious business, the man let Shadow take the gun to spare his own life instead. "You don't mind, do you?"
The man backed up slowly until his back met the wall and said, "Oh, take it. I don't need it."
Shadow smirked then chuckled lightly when he saw the man in full view. He really did look ridiculous. He returned to the death-defining tone he previously used but had more of a playful neighbor in his voice. He complimented, "That's a very nice hat."
"You like it?" the man asked, pointing to it, and then did a little dance when Shadow left and locked the door behind him with a wink and a nonchalant wave.
"You might wanna leave soon. I hear the illegal vegetation cops are coming in for their nightly rounds. Cool?"
"Cool! Thank you, man. You beautiful man, you know? I hook you up with a n-nice girl!" the man promised, running off down the hall.
Shadow had finally decided to try to search for Silver Couverture, the priest the redhead echidna had bitched about before he went unconscious for the night. So long as the guy was out of his life and his bed, he could sleep and go about his business in peace...for the most part. He found Silver's address in the phonebook, typed in the address on his cellphone's GPS, and then drove off. That was why he was standing in front of Silver's door anyway. He went over the process in his head as he stared at the door with the echidna in his arms and just wanted to sleep for an hour in his broken down cab that he give back to Omega for an overhaul. That was going to suck balls. Shadow sighed, brought the echidna closer to his body, and then knocked on the door. The echidna apparently thought Shadow was a big, black pillow since he cuddled closer to his neck.
Thumping flooded his ears from the other side of the door, making him avert his gazes to the metallic, shiny barrier between him and freedom from this redhead. The television sounded and then faded away. A sewing machine then cued a noise and faded away to silence completely. Before Shadow could knock on the door again, the door flew open and Silver stood before Shadow in a red open button-up shirt and black pants. Shadow wasn't much of a church-goer, but it's not hard to figure out that priests were hardly ever attractive. Silver was a time bomb! Usually, the term would be bombshell, but Silver wasn't a woman.
"Yes?" Silver greeted with an arch of his eyebrow signaling his curiosity for this new situation.
"Hi," Shadow greeted, nodding a bit. The echidna was slipping out of his arms, so Shadow hopped to keep the red creature within balance. He continued, "I'm looking for a priest."
"Ah, weddings are held downstairs," Silver said, reaching for a bowl and placing a single white flower in the echidna's hair. "Congratulations, my son."
"Uck," Shadow scoffed, kicking the door open wider before Silver could close it on him. He then informed him, "He's not my man-bride! He's my fucking fare! He was looking for a priest named Silver Couverture. Phonebook said he lived here."
"Yes, that's me," Silver said, looking at the echidna. It was possible that this echidna was in association with him through Shade, but the chances of that were slim and he didn't seem to be someone he had crossed paths with in his more reckless years. Silver looked back at the frustrated hedgehog holding the echidna and shook his head repeatedly to reassure him, "I don't know who he is."
"No one knows who he is!" Shadow sighed. "He's got no file, no ID, nothing. He's got a tattoo on this arm here."
"Ta-t-tattoo?" Silver questioned to try to understand his situation. He had never seen this echidna before, the hedgehog holding the echidna knew nothing of the echidna, this echidna had no form of identification so he may as well not exist, but this same echidna sought him out. Why? Silver weighed his options and walked toward the echidna to look at the arm Shadow had alluded to by adjusting the echidna so his arm was loose enough for him to see it without disturbing the sleeping illegal immigrant. The tattoo had seven gems in a circle surrounding a glyph that was very familiar to Silver; in fact, it was the symbol of... "T-th-the e-e-eighth element..."
After those words reached Shadow's ears, he watched as the priest fainted and collapsed onto the floor. Shadow rolled his eyes and then looked around for a couch to put the echidna on. Luckily, one was right behind him, so he positioned the echidna comfortably onto the plush cushions and watched as the creature shifted then relaxed. Shadow rubbed his face with a tired hand then whispered to himself, "Never a dull moment in my life. First, some redhead divebombs on my cab; then, cops are shooting at me - I get that it's my fault; then, I'm being mugged by a crazy junkie with a weird hat; now, the albino the redhead inexplicably knows is on the floor. All this just to know at the end of the day, Omega's gonna kill me."
Shadow knelt down on the floor next to the silver-furred hedgehog and shoveled his arm underneath his shoulder blades. He at first tapped the male gently so he wouldn't mess up his pretty face, but he grew impatient and instead reeled his hand back and...
SMACK!
The albino woke with a start and a yelp. He touched his reddened cheek and looked into Shadow's red eyes wildly. Shadow calmly said, "Had a nice dream, Albi?" His pet name for Silver.
"Who are you?" the hedgehog questioned, not remembering when he had last seen Shadow but feeling as though he was familiar.
"I brought the dude, remember? The redhead?" Shadow said, nodding to the echidna quietly resting on Silver's sofa. Silver jumped to his feet and ran to the echidna's side with an incredulous look on his face. Shadow took the liberty of scanning the shared apartment and decided to diffuse the tension in the room by speaking with a calm voice, "He just dropped in on me. Started speaking this bizarre language."
"It's not bizarre!" Silver corrected with a snap in his voice. Shadow turned to him with an amused glare. He hadn't met many men who were brave enough to talk back to him with exception to the druggie, but that man was a druggie. Silver continued to explain, "It's the divine language, the ancient language."
"Of course it is," Shadow said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Spoken throughout the universe before time was time!" Silver then elaborated. "A select few know of this."
"And I am one of the many unselected who wouldn't know that."
"Yes," Silver answered but immediately corrected himself, "no! That's not what I meant! I just woke up from an epiphany. No need to be like that, you know?"
"Sorry, sorry," Shadow said resignedly, throwing his hands up in defense.
Silver looked into the echidna's face and was in awe. Such a youthful, beautiful face! He then quickly looked at what the creature was wearing and made it a mental note to change his clothes. That's what made Espio such a valued student of astrological theory. He took a deep breath, chuckled a little, and smiled brightly. The eighth element was here! In his apartment, lying on his couch, and looking so innocent of any crime! The world would be safe once again! He whispered, "It's a miracle."
"It's a miracle he's not dead," Shadow remarked, looking at the priest.
"Yes," Silver agreed, nodding, "we haven't a moment to lose. Wake him up, b-b-b-bu-bu-but gently please because this man is the world's most prized possession. He is perfect."
With that, Silver ran to the back of the apartment, leaving Shadow and the echidna alone once again. Shadow looked at the echidna's face, watching him peacefully snooze and began to grow jealous of the luxury. He wished desperately that he could sleep that long and that well. Not once did the beast wake since he was found unconscious in the back of his cab. He scoffed, looked out of the window, and then knelt down at the echidna's side. He said, "Perfect... Tch, doesn't excuse you from causing enough collateral damage to make politicians cry. I hope you can help me out with that, Mr. Perfect. It'd be nice payback since you're so important."
The echidna didn't respond, of course. As Shadow looked into the echidna's face, he began to remember the times when Rouge would sleep soundly like he did. Some nights when he came home, she would be dressed in no more than a transparent robe and fantastic lingerie. He would tease her awake sometimes and just hold her in his arms as they slept soundly together. Other times, they would be rather aggressive and be lost in the throes of their own passion for each other. The echidna wasn't a chick, though, so it didn't apply here. He just had a pretty face was all, but when he looked at it he was reminded of Rouge. That made him unconsciously caress the echidna's as though his ex-wife was lying there. The more Shadow watched over him, the more he remembered all the times he wished he could go back to that life when he was in love with someone and their union was perfect. The echidna's eyes were rapidly moving behind his eyelids, but he was beginning to stir a little. Shadow moved some of his messy dreadlocks from his face until he remembered that he was supposed to wake the red creature.
He whispered gently, seeing only his past, white-furred lover dressed in something sexy, "Hey, wake up."
Blinded by the desire to go back to the man he used to be for her, he leaned over and pressed his lips against the echidna's very sweetly. The echidna was waking slowly. When his eyes opened, he saw Shadow's eyes slowly closing and felt that he couldn't breath for some reason. The feeling of someone's lips against his own startled him greatly, but something in his mind was telling him to react. The denial and the command was becoming too much for the echidna and he reached for something anything to push the hedgehog away from him. When he touched the cold metal of the gun, he felt the hedgehog's lips remove themselves and instead kiss the side of his mouth. It felt cold and like Shadow was doing this out of...sadness. He remembered vividly about the escape from the cops with the hedgehog, but he didn't understand why he was sad. He then began to think that maybe he was making him sad, and that offended him because he looked up to Shadow. Crushed because he was attracted to Shadow, at first, the echidna snatched the gun and pointed it deep into the hedgehog's temple.
Shadow took a swift intake of breath and groaned from the realization of what he just did. He had every right to be shot dead and didn't fight the echidna on it. He merely backed away, raising his hands up, and said, "You're right, you're right. I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have done that. It was wrong to kiss you, but he said to wake you up gently - "
"Hajan fedruid so bansecceuh!" the echidna growled, rising from his position with the gun shaking in his hand. He didn't want to kill the hedgehog. He just...well, what's the best to say he was confused? The red creature pushed Shadow away from him and shouted, "So bansecceuh!"
Shadow backed away slowly, seeing that the echidna is frightened by these new surroundings. He was just having the time of his life, wasn't he? He broke the tension in the air by saying, "I thought you might remember me from the cab. 'Member? Boom? Big bada boom?"
"Boom?" the echidna said, remembering that part of the conversation in the cab.
"Yeah, boom. Big bada boom from the cab. Look," Shadow said, taking out his business card. "I drive a cab. This is me, Shadow Letzte. Shadow. You understand?"
Shadow held out the card and waited for the echidna to let his guard down for a second to take the plastic thing from him. That way he might be able to get the gun. Unfortunately, the echidna wasn't that stupid and merely tilted his head a little before straightening up and no longer shaking out of fear. He glared at the hedgehog and stood his ground until he felt it was okay to drop his guard. Shadow provoked the echidna some more by flinching his wrist to attract his attention to the card.
He said, "Here. Here, take it. Go ahead. You can call me when you learn how to speak English - preferably the good kind." The echidna kept the gun held at firing range and slowly walked towards the item. He snatched it and backed away quickly just in case the hedgehog tried anything, ruining Shadow's plans altogether. Shadow then spoke on, "And you, what is your name? You. Shadow..."
"Knuckles uv dra lmyh uv Ghilgmac, bnudaldun uv Yhkam Ecmyht," the echidna answered rapidly, trying his absolute hardest to understand the hedgehog's language.
"Good. That..." Shadow trailed off, not knowing what to say. That was a really long name! He then said, "That whole thing's your name, huh? Do you have a shorter name?"
The echidna began to tremble again. Clearly, the hedgehog was trying to make amends, but he couldn't understand the language. He tried to understand Shadow's gestures instead. He wanted him to just shorten his name it looked like. Perhaps they shared something in common, after all. Neither one of them could understand the other's language. As he looked at Shadow's gestures and calm demeanor and face, the echidna began to feel lost without him and trembled some more at the thought. He struggled to piece the gestures together and finally said, "Knuckles..."
"Knuckles..." Shadow repeated, making the echidna lower the gun a little. His voice... was smooth... when he said his name. The commands coming from his brain would not leave him alone now. His body was beginning to react to the voice and caused him to shake some more. What was happening to him? Shadow then whispered in concern, "Hey, um, Knuckles. It's okay. You're safe now. Don't shake so much."
In that instant, Knuckles lowered the gun some more and whispered, "Sh-Sh-Sha...dow... Shadow."
"Yeah, I'm here, Knuckles," Shadow said very gently, pointing to himself and then to the echidna. "See? Shadow, Knuckles. Knuckles, Shadow."
The echidna lowered the gun some more and smiled a little. That was his savior's name then? Shadow. It suited him. The dark fur, mysterious red eyes, calming voice... Definitely seductive and addictive like a shadow. Thumping from the back of the apartment frightened Knuckles immensely as he pointed the gun in the direction of the noise. Silver and Espio came running out in their eighth element robes, and Silver had in his possession a single item that made the echidna sigh in relief: the temple's golden key.
"Father, are you sure he's the supreme being?" Espio whispered, hiding behind Silver. The chameleon looked over the priest's shoulder to see Shadow standing near the window, watching them, and blushed a bit. He thought his mentor was hot, but this dark-furred hedgehog could turn a few heads. He's built, too? The chameleon looked down to the floor for his improper thoughts and turned back to the echidna. That didn't do much because the echidna looked just as attractive as the other guy.
"Absolutely sure," Silver said, standing straight up and smiling warmly.
"Old friends," Shadow offered, breaking the silence of the room. He walked toward Knuckles to get his gun back, but the echidna decided to keep the gun within his reach. Shadow sighed then said, "You're right. Hey, do you think you can ask him to give me my gun back, please?"
"What's your name?" Silver asked, walking towards the dark hedgehog.
"Shadow Letzte."
"Well, thank you, Mr. Letzte," Silver interjected, snatching Shadow away from Knuckles' view and the gun's radius of fire, and forcefully walking him to the door. "Thank you so much, and thank you for being so kind, but now the young man needs some rest because he's been on a long trip."
"Yeah, I know. I was there when he landed," Shadow commented, quietly. He heard the door closing behind him and then remembered something the echidna said that he wanted to know the meaning of. He stopped Silver from closing the door all the way and said, "Oh, wait, wait! Father, he said something to me earlier and I don't underst - well, I didn't understand any of it. What does hajan fedruid so bansecceuh mean?"
Silver looked at Shadow, impressed by his ability to remember a foreign language and be able to spit it back out exactly, and translated it calmly, "Never without my permission."
"That's what I thought," Shadow said, nodding and leaving the apartment.