VIII: Black


Cryptic Castle was as obvious as its name. The maroon sky and black clouds that washed over anybody unlucky enough to be nearby, gave off an unsettling feeling. The outside of the estate was dark and uninviting, and he couldn't walk more than five steps without being greeted by a disgusting member of Black Doom's army. Shadow rolled his eyes, completely unimpressed by the minimal threat that were the weird looking aliens. He scoffed loudly turning around to leave until he spotted a familiar shade of pink in the distance swinging around what looked to be a hammer? A hammer, of course. He stopped to consider his options, he was really only here for a Chaos emerald and he could leave it at that, but of course his curiousity got the best of him wondering why the hell she would be here too.

"Amy?" He questioned, skating over to get a better look at what he was dealing with. The pink hedgehog swung her infamous Piko Piko hammer as if her life depended on it, until her eyes met Shadow's and she came to an abrupt halt.

"Oh Shadow, I'm so glad you're here!"

He threw a smirk in her direction as he blasted a series of Chaos spears at the creatures behind her, and she turned around in shock that she let herself get distracted.

"What are you doing here? What business do you even have in a place like this?" He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, and the girl smiled nervously. She rubbed an arm and leaned against her hammer tiredly.

"Well…I was hanging out with Cream until Cheese got spooked by something and flew away. Naturally, she followed, and so did I until it led me here. I was about to head in to go get her, but I got ambushed by these creepy things and I kind of lost her."

Shadow faced-palmed, then looked at her blankly. "So the rabbit and her Chao are in there by themselves? With no assistance, surrounded by weird alien life forms who have no other agenda than to kill whatever they see?"

The female hedgehog's eyes widened in fear and she covered her mouth with a gloved hand. "Oh my goodness Shadow, we have to help her!"

"We? Last time I checked this was your problem. I don't have to do anything." He closed his eyes and huffed, turning to walk away until he heard a sniff come from the pink menace next to him. Great. Waterworks.

His first mistake was making eye contact with a teary-eyed Amy.

"Shadow, she's just a little girl. She must be so scared and lonely, I'm going in regardless but I just figured two is better than one especially in a situation like this and-"

His second mistake was giving in for the sake of shutting her up.

"Fine."

Amy wiped away a tear falling mid-cheek and she gave the black and red hedgehog a double-take. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said fine. I won't say it again, so take my answer as it is or kiss your assistance goodbye." He muttered, unamused by the situation he had gotten himself into.

The girl felt a small smile slowly make its way onto her features and she shook away the sad thoughts from before. He took the lead and opened up the large wooden door leading into the ominous palace. Fireballs flew past their heads in multiple directions and there were creatures around every crevice. The air around them was hot, yet Amy shivered in fear and she jogged to catch up with the male hedgehog.

"What are you doing over here anyways, Shadow?" she asked curiously, her hands clasped behind her back and her eyes glued on him as he stared ahead into the abyss.

"If you must know, since it's clearly your business, there are things here that I need to take care of."

"Like what kind of things?"

His blood red eyes met hers and he couldn't contain the effort to not roll them and in turn she flicked him on the arm- hard, causing him to turn his attention to the spot she had just touched.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"You don't have to be such a jerk, Shadow! I was only asking to make conversation."

He paused for a moment, ready to retort with a snarky comment until he heard something in the distance. They had gone far into the castle, but he wondered if they had gone nearly far enough to encounter the bunny. She was about to continue ranting until their eyes met and he sent her a warning look that quieted her within seconds. His ear twitched and he walked in front of her, trying to follow the sounds of whimpers amidst the crackles of fire and imminent destruction.

"Please help me!"

It was a child-like voice and it came from the rocks directly in front of them. The formation was only a couple steps away to dig through and recover her…but that seemed almost too easy. Something wasn't right. Shadow's eyes darted back and forth as the area around them silenced, but the warning signs in his head grew louder.

"Cream, we're coming! We're right here!" Amy shouted, as she began running toward the pile of rubble. She was quickly stopped as Shadow grabbed her roughly by the wrist and yanked her back.

"Ouch Shadow, what was that-"

In the spot of the step she had almost taken, a bubbling black acidic puddle appeared, and he could hear her emit a quiet gasp behind him. The hedgehog grit his teeth at the booby-trapped pathway they had been led to, and tried to devise a plan to get around it in a timely manner. He hated traps and he hated being tricked, so his patience here was now wearing thin. Shadow threw Chaos spears at the rocks where he had heard the high-pitched voice, and to prove his suspicions correct; there was no Cream.

"I'm tired of these games, Doom. Give me the rabbit and I'll come face you myself. Just like how you wanted it. Leave the child out of it." He spoke out loud to what seemed like just the empty air, and Amy looked at the back of his head uneasily.

"Shadow, you don't have to-"

"Quiet Amy."

"I can help-"

"I said quiet Amy. There are reasons behind all of my decisions and I wouldn't be fulfilling them if I did nothing at all. I have promises to uphold."

She nodded quietly then watched him step forward, a little further into the danger zone. They heard a deep laugh echo around them and she froze unsure of what to do. She was worried for Shadow, and worried for her best friend who was somewhere in this awful place. Although she knew that the Ultimate Lifeform in front of her could handle almost anything, she couldn't bear the thought of him risking his life for something she asked him to do.

They turned their attention to the sound of destruction, and to their shock, down came the bricks of one of the walls that lined the castle. Behind the wall, shivered a small rabbit and Amy couldn't help herself as she ran past the dark hedgehog.

"Cream are you okay?!"

She knelt down and gathered the smaller girl and her chao into a tight hug.

"We're okay now, Miss Amy! Thank you so much!" The little one cried into the fabric of her red dress, and the pink hedgehog made eye contact with Shadow in hopes that he would understand her silent thank you. He did, much to her relief, and gave her a swift nod in return.

"I see you have a soft spot after all, Shadow the Hedgehog. Who knew?" The malevolent voice returned eerily, and the black and red colored figure grew angry at the invisible threat.

"Leave them out of it. We'll deal with this one on one. Amy, take Cream and get out of here."

The bubblegum girl looked at him in shock, almost in disbelief that he would ask her to do such a thing. "But Shadow-"

"Amy, go now. I won't ask you again."

She gulped and blinked a tear as she grabbed Cream's hand and pulled her away from the debris. She took one last glance at him before running off and her heart ached, silently praying it wouldn't be the last time she saw her friend. She shook off the bad thoughts and didn't dare look back as she let tears fall for leaving behind someone who, no matter how rough their start had begun, had always been- for the most part- kind and respectful to her. She was grateful for him.

The only thing she could do now was hope he would be okay, and pull through like the hero she always knew that he truly was.


A/N: You guessed it- this is heavily inspired by Shadow the Hedgehog. I just changed a couple of things here and there, hope you don't mind. I'm pretty proud of this one. Sorry it's been a while, life has gotten a little rough and working on this is a nice escape. Thank you for the reviews, thank you for the support. I'll try and get in one (or two) more before I go on vacation in a week! Also thank you Linz2! See you next time guys XO!