Changed Seasons Chapter 7

(Shadow's POV)
Pain
That was all I could feel at this point, as I squatted behind one of the dumpsters of Station Square waiting for a moment when the huge spherical robot that was after me would be distracted, and I could attack.
It had been a regular Saturday; I was running around Westopolis trying to find something to do. I had gone to the park for some peace and quiet, and then I had gone on one of my weekly runs. This week it had been to some mountain peaks I had heard of from a couple of Mobians. They had been talking about seeing this amazing lake that had been completely untouched by civilization. It sounded like a good place to just chill. Fortunately it had been just as the group had described it, the water was a crystal clear blue teaming with life, and surrounding it was a field of wild flowers stretching out for several long miles. In the distance you could see the mighty peaks of surrounding mountains, which from the distance had the color of a majestic blue. It seemed a place of the many fairy tales that Maria had told me about when I was younger; it had the air of complete innocence, and magic. For at least an hour, I had sat leaning against a boulder watching the clouds pass by over head, and then I began to feel restless. I had stood up taking a glance at the beauty of the field, before running off, letting my surrounding blur pass me as I gained speed. I was just in the middle of station square when I thought I heard a scream. I skidded to a halt and looked around trying to identify the noise, when the ground started rumbling. The right in front of me, a humongous spherical robot with four legs and a small flat head rose from the ground.
Its head focused on me for a second then it attacked, using its razor sharp claw like hands to grab me. I dodged its two arms as they came for me, and then quickly sent two Chaos Spears careening into its hull, but if anything all it left was a burn mark.
I scowled at the monster as it brought up its two front arms and rotating the hands in buzz saws. I jumped up at least a story high and spin dashed straight into its head. It started to fall back from the force, but as I uncurled my self out of the spin dash, one of its arms came down, crushing me into the ground. I winced at the excruciating pain in my not fully healed rib cage, then ignoring the pain; I pushed the arm off of me, and then held it, pulling the arm, and spun it around the square, crashing it into one of the buildings.
Then I hit it with several Chaos spears. This time, they actually made a big dent in the robots hull, but that wasn't enough. It started to stand up, and while I was distracted by the main body, I didn't notice one of its arms grip onto my right leg with its razor sharp claws until it was too late. It crashed me into one of the third floors of a near by building, leaving a hole in one of the walls. The people inside the office where I had landed ran from their cubicles panicking. At least they got to safety; the robot then grabbed me by the torso, and threw me in the air, then started kicking me like some sort of soccer ball. As I went up for the third time, I went into a spin dash, and crashed into its hull, this time I broke through the main shell exposing the inside wires. I landed on the ground as it fell back, but immediately felt a pain right through my leg. This wasn't working, I had to buy myself time to come up with a way to beat this monstrosity. I ran to an alley way and crouched behind a dumpster. 'This robot's shell is just too strong for my regular attacks' I thought as I glanced from behind the dumpster. The robot was searching for me, and would find me in a few more moments. I looked around; there was nobody around to get hurt by my next idea. I took a deep breath standing up, then too off my rings. Immediately I felt my power threaten to overwhelm me. I slowly opened my eyes seeing that everything seemed to go by so slowly, which usually resulted from this sudden rush of power. Finally the robot seemed to see me, but it was too late for him. I jumped up next to his head, and letting all my pent up aggression and anger rush forward, and feeling chaos energy flowing through my body, released it all in my deadly, signature move; "CHAOS, BLAST!!!"
Everything in the immediate radius was blown to dusk. One minute the robot was standing there, and then next moment there was nothing but a crater of burn ash.
I feel to my feet still in pain, and picked up my rings. As I put them on, I felt a little more energized, but only a little. I needed help. Holding my bleeding right arm, I limped away, pain dazing my thoughts. Who could I go to for help, at this time, the sky was already darkening. Amy; she was the closest person to where I was at the moment. I took out my Green Chaos emerald and summoned the energy I needed, to chaos control right outside the house of Amy Rose. With the last of my strength I limped to her doorstep, and knocked on the door. She opened the door and the last I saw was her shocked face as I croaked the last few words; "Amy… please…help." before my vision darkened.
(End of POV)

(Normal POV
Amy couldn't help the feeling of shock as she opened the door to find Shadow completely covered in blood and scratches, and she almost panicked when she heard his say in such a weak voice; "Amy…please…help" before he completely lost all consciousness. She caught him recovering quickly, and brought him to her couch. He would need to be cleaned up first to make sure she didn't miss anything. She took his skates, which she noticed were cracked up and broken, as well as his gloves and rings, then carried him up to her bathroom. She set him in the tub, and using the shower hose, sprayed him down with the warm water. Then when all the blood had been cleared away, she dried him up with a towel and carried him to her guest room. The walls were a gray color, with a black bookshelf, cabinet, and desk, with a silver computer, and silver lamps. The windows had gray blinds and black curtains attached to a silver curtain rod, and completing it was a bed with black sheets and comforter. She laid him on the bed and went downstairs for her first aid kit. She then went back to examine her guest. He had a long deep cut on his leg, and one across his chest, then she noticed with almost annoyance, his rib cage, which were already damaged were in even worse state than before. She sighed as she tightly bandaged his rib cage, and then applied Neosporin to his wounds. Other than his broken rib cage, and the deep cuts on his leg and chest, and the minor wounds, he was okay. When she finished she packed her stuff up couldn't help smiling at his sleeping form; the sight was adorable. He was curled up in a little ball with a peaceful look on his face. She patted his head affectionately. 'I hope he's going to be okay' she thought. 'I wonder what happened to him.
She went downstairs to put her first aid kit up, and then went to her living room to turn off her lights. Before she left she saw Shadow's gloves and skates were she had left them, and put them on the desk next to where he was silently sleeping.
She went to her room right as the telephone rung.
"Hello"
"Hi, Amy its Rouge, do you know where Shadow is, I just heard that he was last seen fighting a huge robot in station square, and we cant seem to find him."
"Yeah, he's here, looked pretty banged up too"
"Oh, good, how's he doing?"
"He's fine, asleep at the moment."
"Good, at least he's okay. Anyway, sorry to bother you, see you at the party next week."
"Nah, its okay, see you later."
She hung up the phone yawning, and went to bed.

The next morning Amy woke up at ten in the after noon, and stretched. Then after getting ready to start the day went down the hall to see if he was awake. She found him just as she had left him. She went to the kitchen and started making a breakfast of pancakes, cinnamon take-aparts, with scrambled eggs, and bacon. She had just come through the door when Shadow had woken up. It took him a moment to take in his surroundings.
"So you're finally awake, I made you breakfast." She said smiling brightly, as she brought him his tray.
"Huh, oh, thanks. What happened?" He said, evidentially still confused.
"I was going to ask you the same thing. Rouge called and said you were fighting a robot at station square though"
"Oh yeah, that's what happened" He said as it all came flooding back. He finished eating then said "thank you for breakfast, it was good"
"Your welcome" She said brightly taking his tray. "Are you feeling better?" She asked when she came back.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for all your help. Umm, I had better go, and stop intruding on your hospitality. Where are my skates?" He asked trying to shake the dazed feeling he had out of his head.
"Umm, I'm sorry to tell you this, but they're sort of broken" She said cautiously awaiting his reaction.
He groaned as a cold feeling filled his stomach. "How badly"
"See for yourself" She said handing him his pair of skates.
He started in horror for a second at them. They were utterly useless to him now. 'That's just great' he thought. Now how was he supposed to do anything now? With out his skates, he was no faster than Amy. How was he supposed to compete with Sonic now?
He grimaced at that last thought, and Amy took it as a sign that he was angry.
"Are you mad at me?" She said quietly.
"What? No, of course not, you helped me as much as you could, and I'm thankful for that. No, I'm mad at that stupid fat-so, Eggman, for freaking sending his damned robot at me."
"Oh" she said, as her spirit lifted. "I think I have a pair of shoes you could borrow."
"Really, Thanks" He said, as she went to her closet and took down a box of shoes. They fit perfectly. "Thank you for all of your help, Amy. I'll return the shoes as soon as I can."
He said before he left.

Amy then went to clean up when she found Shadow's old skates still in the guest room then as she picked them up got an idea.
(A week later)
Shadow walked down the streets of Westopolis in a bad mood. He had already returned Amy's shoes, and was wearing black boots and a dark crimson colored jacket. He looked up at the sky which was a blanket of dark gray clouds leaving the entire tri-state area with not a ray of sunshine. He shivered as a blast of cold air hit him, and then sighed. Now that he didn't have his skates, he felt glum. Now he couldn't take his runs around the world, and escape the dreary atmosphere of the city. Another thing was the idea of everyone celebrating Christmas Eve all around him, but leaving him by himself in the cold streets of the city. He growled in annoyance as he stepped into a slushy puddle. Even though it hadn't snowed at all, it was so cold outside that the puddles were beginning to freeze but the passing of cars kept on getting in the way of the freezing process leaving them in a state of slushy water. With a sigh Shadow continued his walking and had just entered the park.

Amy was jogging home down the streets of Westopolis wearing her short red Christmas dress. It was long sleeved with white fur at the end of the sleeves, and the bottom and at the top of the dress, which showed the top of her arms, and a black belt at the waist. She was also wearing matching boots, and a Santa hat. The Christmas party had just ended at eleven it had been a huge success. Almost everyone was there. They had a lot of fun conversating, and playing games like charades, they had also exchanged gifts. It had been a lot of fun, but she still felt a twinge of sadness at the thought that Shadow hadn't attended. Then her heart gave a sudden start when she saw, as if on cue, Shadow sitting on one of the benches at the park deep in thought. As she walked down the path he stood up as he saw her coming.
"Amy, what are you doing here?"
"Hello Shadow, I just came to give you this" She said smiling as she held out a beautifully rapped present.
Shadow was shocked. Usually nobody even bothered to remember him.
"Really, what…what is it?" He said still trying to recover from his shock.
"Open it and find out silly" She said laughing warmly.
He slowly opened the lid and was astonished when he found his skates, only this time they looked brand new as if they had never be used before. Then more shock was added, as Amy, smiling warmly, put a dark green scarf around his neck. He could feel the extra warmth immediately.
"I got Tails to help me fix them." She said cheerfully "They're suppose to help you go faster, but don't tell Sonic that." She said jokingly. Then it was her turn to be completely shocked as Shadow flashed the most heart warming smile.
"Amy…Thank you."
She returned the smile, as she felt her spirit taking off completely. Then she chuckled as a snowflake floated down right to the tip of Shadow's nose. They looked around at the marvelous sight as it began to snow surrounding them in a white moonlit glow.
Amy smiled around then her gaze found Shadow's watching the sight with his smile still playing at his lips.
"Hey, it's getting cold out, want to come over for some hot chocolate?"
"I don't want to impose; you've done so much for me already"
"Nonsense, it's no trouble at all" then before he could say anything else, she grabbed his hand pulling him along.

It was passed twelve 'o' clock. Shadow put down his second mug of hot chocolate feeling warm and sleepy. Amy had taken the opportunity to ask him a few questions, trying not to be too nosey.
"So, you haven't celebrated Christmas in almost 60 years!?" She said shocked.
"Well, yes, but I was asleep in an ice cube for 50, so it's not entirely my fault." He said shrugging.
"So what was it like celebrating Christmas in space?"
He almost chuckled at the question.
"Its pretty much like celebrating it here I guess. The only complication was, the Professor and Maria liked natural trees better, so it was a challenge getting it to the ark and back with out killing it."
"Hmm" She thought this over. When her mug was empty she went to the kitchen for more hot chocolate, but when she came back, Shadow was fast asleep, curled up in a little ball again. The only thing that was different from the last time was, this time he was smiling. Smiling she took the cups to the kitchen sink, got him a blanket, and kissed him on the forehead before going to bed.
"Merry Christmas, Shadow the hedgehog"