Chaos: Ergh, I feel ill… so no harsh comments, my head hurts, okay?
Max Fuchs – Oo-er… keep him away from me! (sweatdrop)
Celestial the Hedgird – Ah, thanks! Considering I wrote this months ago, that's quite a compliment…
Kirbs – You really hate Amy, don't you? (laugh) Now would I ever kill anyone? … Don't answer that.
k0m0d0 – Yes, several people have remarked on a lack of originality for the plot. But hey, I wrote it ages - almost a year, now! – ago, and I figure everybody needs a story something like this. Plot development and all that. (grin) Besides, the endings is fairly different.
ShadowedEchidna – Why wouldn't I? I love violence! It's the mother of the perpetual ANGST which I love so much! (laugh)
lady-of-destruction-aria – Thanks! I like your name (no guesses why, heh) and I'm glad you like the story so much!
Shadw – Mmm, you may be disappointed then. In one of the cases, anyway. Not giving away any secrets! (smile)
scgirl92 – Ah, thanks! (grin)
Animefangirl – Oh, I do a lot of 'kill him! … Or not. NOW kill him! … Or not.' It's keeps people reading. (nodnod)
Hieilover – You mean Splat or Maternity? Thanks, anyway! I like when people read lots of my stories.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sonic awoke to find himself sitting against a tree, Knuckles holding an ungloved hand against his hot forehead. When the echidna saw him staring, he withdrew his hand and held out a familiar plant.
"Eat." He commanded, and then strode away, out of sight. Sonic picked up the plant resignedly, and began chewing the leaves, ignoring the bitter taste and trying to work out what had happened.
He remembered telling Knuckles everything, and then going to the stream, and then hearing Knuckles' yell, and going, and the soldiers…and then everything was a haze of pain and fury. It was that drug again, he thought with a groan.
He slowly remembered what happened, and then leaned his head back against the trunk, so that he was staring up into the cloudless sky. A few minutes later a quiet voice spoke beside his ear, "Ok now?"
Sonic swallowed with difficulty and replied, "I think so. I'm so sorry, Red..." Knuckles sighed, ignoring the nickname for once, and replied,
"I know, I know...we're near the GUN island now, I think."
"New Island?" Sonic said in surprise, voice still hoarse from the screaming, "Why're we going there?" Knuckles looked sideways at Sonic, still staring at the sky, and said,
"Why do you think GUN put that poison in you?"
He let a minute for it to sink in, and then stood. "Come on, let's go find them." He walked off without looking back, and Sonic followed silently.
"Sir, Angel Island appears to have stopped close by the west side of the base. What should we do?" Officer Avery asked, staring out of the window at the motionless floating island and fiddling with the phone cord.
"Hmm...I suppose the hedgehog killed the echidna and the Master Emerald stopped moving the island. Shame; I would have liked to run tests on that animal. Well, send up a squad to retrieve the Master Emerald."
"Aye, sir." Avery hung up the phone and rapped out orders over the intercom. It was a shame he was not looking to the security videos, as he would have seen an odd blue and red blur go speeding across the screens and vault over the high wire fence.
Sonic hit the ground with a jarring thump which knocked Knuckles' breath away. Almost as suddenly, he shot away and through the open base door, down several corners, and then sideways into a room.
Knuckles looked around, panting, and was thankful to find the room empty; it was some kind of weapons storage. He rolled out of Sonic's arms and staggered up, still gasping.
When he finally got his breath back, he swallowed, and said, "Never, ever, carry me again." Sonic grinned with a hint of his former cheerfulness and replied,
"Too fast for you, Red?"
"Don't call me that." Knuckles responded automatically as he scanned the room for security cameras. He found none and peered into the corridor. Empty. He pulled the door shut and turned back to the hedgehog, to find him staring at an electronic map.
He was frowning and flattening one ear, a sure sign of confusion, and when Knuckles approached he saw why. The map was a scrawling maze of lines, often criss-crossing over, with thousands of different symbols.
"Hmm..." Sonic muttered, for once at a loss for words. Knuckles' commanding instinct took over and he said briskly,
"Right. Take the best suited weapons in here, we'll split up and go around checking all the rooms. And set the guns to stun." He gave Sonic a sideways look. The hedgehog stuck his nose in the air with an offended look, but said nothing and crossed to the other side of the room, poring over the lasers.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Knuckles sidled along the corridor wall to the door, then hopped in front of it quickly. The motion sensor blipped and the door slid up smoothly, reminding him of the doors on ARK. He looked inside, hefting the laser gun.
The room was large and white, and full of machines. There were several scientists standing around, attention firmly fixed on a large tank in the centre of the room. Knuckles stepped inside, forgetting caution in an attempt to see.
It was full of an orange liquid...though it seemed almost luminous. It was a second later that Knuckles realised electricity was coursing through it steadily, lighting up the room. Several scientists were scribbling on notepads, blocking his view of the tank.
Silently he sidled to one side, and then suddenly a scientist moved and his view of the tank was clear. He gasped loudly, but thankfully the humans did not notice. Shadow was suspended inside the tank, twitching limply, eyes screwed up in pain.
A great many tubes were attached to his body, keeping him in place, but even as Knuckles watched he managed to raise both hands on to the glass, mouth open in a soundless cry of agony.
When Knuckles managed to get over his shock, the scientists had turned off the electricity. Shadow immediately drooped and half-opened his eyes, trying to curl up protectively. The tubes swayed in the liquid, keeping him upright, and he shed tears of pain into the liquid, where they hung like tiny air bubbles.
Knuckles noticed that there were many other 'bubbles' floating in the tank, and wondered just how long this had been going on. Rage filled him, cold and unforgiving.
The scientists finished scribbling, and one remarked, "His tolerance is quite amazing...turn up the voltage again, Spencer." The scientist, 'Spencer', pulled on a handle, pulling it further into dark red.
A small label next to the dial read 'life threatening'. Next to it was a heart monitor, showing very fast heartbeats, bleeping almost continually.
"Hands up, all of you!" Knuckles cried as another human prepared to start the electricity. The scientists spun round, and quickly raised their hands into the air at sight of the laser.
"You people make me sick!" Knuckles spat, not noticing one human pressing a button under the desk. Then he opened fire, knowing the gun was set to stun. But the scientists didn't know that; they ran around in terror, trying to evade the gunfire. But Knuckles was a good aim, and in a matter of seconds the men lay around the floor, unconscious. He ran to the tank and raised one fist carefully.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Shadow's world was dark and pain-filled. He loathed the wires and the scientists beyond, but for now he was helpless. All he could think of was what he would do to them, and Sonic, when he got free; that was all that kept him going.
For now the electricity had stopped, but at any minute it would begin again, ten times worse. He had no idea how long it had gone on for; it seemed like forever. Suddenly the liquid around him shuddered as a deafening boom shook the tank and his head throbbed painfully.
He struggled to look up, a tube digging uncomfortably into the back of his head just where Sonic had hit him. Then another boom sounded, sending a second wave of pain through his head, pounding behind his eyes.
What was this new torture!
Suddenly the next boom came, and with it a crunch. Then a much louder crunch, and suddenly he was falling forward, liquid of the tank surging away and carrying him with it.
His legs hit the floor with a jarring thump, sending a wave of agony through his already-bruised skin. He bit back a scream, determined not to show any more weakness in front of these monsters. The tank must have emptied, but the wires were holding him in place, swaying almost comically, his legs dragging along the floor.
He coughed weakly, eyes still screwed shut. Someone was moving at his side, and then a sharp pain shot through his arm.
He swallowed a whimper, and tried desperately to snap at the person, wires pulling him back. A stern voice buffeted his ears, "Hold still, Shadow. I'm getting these tubes off." Several more needle-like pains ripped at his side as more tubes were pulled away.
He winced unconsciously, and slowly opened his eyes, vision blurry after long contact with the liquid. He blinked rapidly, and then tried to look up. A large hand fell across his vision, to his forehead, and another spear of pain ripped into him.
He shut his eyes, preferring the darkness. It seemed like an eternity later that he dropped to the ground on his side, finally free. He opened his eyes again, blinking away the glaring colours and trying to work out what he was looking at. Someone gently placed an arm underneath him, lifting him up.
He tried to speak, then retched and vomited out a large quantity of the orange liquid. He took a shuddering breath, and coughed violently. Finally he managed to speak, and croaked out, "Just kill me."
