The Chaos Emeralds.
It is a thing of immeasurable power. It grants joy to the suffering, victory to those on the verge of defeat, life to the dead...shining like a star in the hands of it's wielder, it possesses the power to turn one's thoughts into reality. It makes the impossible possible. Men honor it and worship what it can do. People believe it to be a gift from God.
Yet what is required to make it...
Is the work of the Devil.
Episode Nine:
Truth Comes With A Price!
真実は代償が伴う!
"I hate paperwork." Shadow muttered as he looked down at his desk, frowning as he folded his hands in his lap. "Wouldn't it be such a wonderful thing if it all just...blew away?" He asked Rouge as she stood nearby, hands on her considerably sensual-looking hips.
"Yes, do us all a favor." Rouge admitted.
"By the way, speaking of things I'd like to see blown away, what's our resident Blue Blur up to?" Shadow wanted to know.
Indeed, what?
"So you're sure that's what he looked like?" Mighty wanted to know, raising an invisible eyebrow as he looked the picture over. Sonic nodded eagerly as he stood by Tails, with a proud-looking Knuckles standing behind them, basking in his humility.
Think about that for a while.
"Yeah, pretty much. But after he conked me over the head, I can't remember anything else that happened in there." Sonic told the armadillo. "...but the eyes."
"Huh?"
"There was...something in their eyes. Some...symbol..."
He could remember...oh yes...
"The way their eyes had glowed so brightly, and the pattern of the irises...it was made up of a two numbers repeating over and over. Ones and zeroes, I'm sure of it!" Sonic whispered, eyes narrowing.
"Hmm. Guardians who were only souls attached to robotic dolls...you being referred to as a "sacrifice"...beings with strange eyes...a Metallurgic circle hidden in a laboratory...and to top it all off, Big saying that Chaos Emeralds were used in the Shanazaran Campaign..." Mighty whispered, frowning darkly as he pulled his sunglasses down slightly. "...I do NOT like the sound of this. This whole thing reeks like some government conspiracy in one of those old 90's movies from back when people thought the Internet could take away your entire life."
"There's too many mysteries here, and the lab's been turned into rubble...what are we supposed to do? We stumble on this huge conspiracy only to have every lead we have turn into a dead end." Knuckles remarked.
"...UUUUUGH." There was a collective moaning and groaning from the foursome as they stood in Mighty's office, with Jet listening on the outside of the door, holding one finger up to his beak and going "Shhhh" at Wave, who tensely stood nearby.
"Sounds like they're talking about something reaaaaally dangerous."
"Well I'm not sure I wanna listen." Wave admitted, holding up a pair of earmuffs and covering the spot where her ears would have been. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that Dr. Eggman himself walked up to them from the other end of the hall.
"Excuse me. Would Sonic the Hedgehog be in this room at the moment?" He asked politely, tapping Wave's shoulder.
She shrieked and jumped a few feet in the air as Jet nervously stepped to the side, allowing Dr. Eggman entrance to the room the others were in. Jet then held his hands up at Wave, who was clinging tightly to a light fixture. "Come on...let go. I'll catch you!"
"I'll try looking at the lists of criminals on record we have." Mighty told Sonic and Tails. "We MIGHT get something. Knux, can you check to see who was workin' under Big ol' buddy ol' pal?" He wanted to know.
"Absolutely! Shouldn't be that-" Knuckles began.
It was then that the man himself entered and everybody immediately snapped into a salute. "DR. EGGMAN!" Knuckles gasped. "Your Supreme Excellent Autocratic Self, sir!"
"Ah, relax, relax. As you were. I came to drop off a fruit basket!" Dr. Eggman said cheerily, holding up a "Easter-Egg" style basket with various fruit loaded into it and a bright pink ribbon on the top. There was a card inside that read "I'm Sorry You're Sad" written in crayon with a cheerful-looking smiley face at the front. "You like grapes? I like grapes. Grapes are fun."
"...uhhh...yeah. Grapes are fun." Sonic remarked, nervously feeling the need to step FAR away from Dr. Eggman.
"I understand you've been doing some...research." Dr. Eggman remarked, stroking his moustache. Everybody in the room immediately blanched, eyes widening, their mouths opening slightly.
"Uhhhh..." Sonic began to sweat like mad. He would have pulled at his collar if he wore one.
"To think...the Chaos Emeralds..." Dr. Eggman growled, looking threateningly down upon Sonic, who gulped nervously.
And then he began to chuckle, and then to laugh out loud, making the others blink in absolute surprise. What on Earth?
"Just kidding! Don't be so defensive. I know there's some unrest among the ranks. Something should be done about it and I trust you to get it done. You know..." He tapped the goggles ato his head. "I've done some investigation of my own. Those who researched the Chaos Emeralds all went MISSING." He informed them all, raising an eyebrow up high as his voice became solemn. "They disappeared some days before the 5th Laboratory was destroyed. It appears as if the enemy is always one step ahead of us. Even with my own considerable intellect put to use..."
He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know the enemy's size, their objectives, what they can do..."
"In other words, we'd best step correct or we'll get our asses handed to us. Uh, sir." Mighty commented.
"Word." Dr. Eggman said, making a hand gesture rather like a sideways peace sign. "Mighty, Knuckles, Sonic, Tails. I need you to keep quite about this. Absolutely quiet. There's nobody in this government you can trust. NOBODY. However..." He rubbed his chin and grinned at them. "When the time comes...I will have quite a lot of work for you to do. So make sure you're ready."
"Yes, sir!" All of them remarked, shouting.
"Siiiir! Siiiiir! Your grand high autocratic siiiiir!" A voice called out.
"Ohhh not AGAIN." Dr. Eggman moaned, going to the window and opening it up. He turned his head, noticing the surprised looks on all their faces. "Oh. You see, I slipped out of work this morning. My pesky subordinates won't go away. They always want me to do everything just because I'm the Autocrat. So UNFAIR, don't you think?" He asked them.
"...yes! Yes, absolutely." Tails finally managed to get out as Dr. Eggman tried to go through the window, only to find his gluteus maximus was...well, stuck.
"An ass-sist, please?" He inquired.
Mighty sighed and he and Knuckles gave the "good doctor" a push, and he was out the window and running off in no time. Sonic sighed. "We have a weiiiiird ruler."
"Hey guys!" Amy announced as she stepped inside the room and beamed broadly at them all. "I got those train tickets you asked for!" She said, holding up two tickets in the air for Sonic and Tails.
"Already on the move? Never can stay in one place, huh?" Knuckles commented, looking Sonic over.
Sonic waved his hand in the air dismissively. "What did you expect? It's the call of the open road and we were born to answer it." He told them all.
"We've decided we want to go and visit our teacher at Angel Island's capital! It's where our teacher lives. It's not that far off, either." Sonic explained.
"...she's gonna kill us." Tails gulped nervously, shaking like a leaf before them all, nervously wringing his white-gloved hands. "She's gonna turn me into a RUG!"
"Don't go pussying out on me!" Sonic insisted, grabbing ahold of Tails and shaking him. "You're scared? We're ALL scared! You'd have to be CRAZY not to be scared! I personally think she'll mount my head on the wall! But we've gotta be brave!"
"We gotta be brave." Tails insisted to himself. "We gotta be brave...we gotta be brave..."
"You gotta be out of your freakin' minds. You're THAT scared of your old teach?" Mighty commented.
"Wait...where IS Angel Island?" Amy wanted to know.
Miles reached into the belt around his waist and took out a small, key-pad-like object. He pressed a button and a large map unfolded on the spot, displaying the entire continent. "See? It's far south of Central City." Sonic told her, pointing down at Angel Island.
"...wait...this city that's located on Angel Island...OOOOOHHH!" Her eyes went wide. "Westside City, the Holy Land itself!"
"Holy...Land?" Mighty blinked a few times. "Fill me in, I ain't no Metallurgist."
"You'll never find a more blessed hamlet of altruists and heroes." Knuckles explained. "It's been home to dozens of advances in magical theory and skill, and magic use is so common there that even the children know how to summon the elements. It's like a...Magic King-"
"Careful, or Disney sues us." Mighty whispered.
"Sorry."
"Take me, take me, take me, take me!" Amy begged, shaking Sonic over and over. "It's SO close to the capital!"
"GAAAH! Okay, okay!" Sonic said, making Amy grin broadly and let him go. "Fine! We head to Westside City, leaving at dawn!...okay, nineish."
"Westside?" Mighty suddenly grinned, getting an idea. He held up his hand and made a "W" gesture. "West Side!" He then flipped that "W" to make an "E". "East Side!" He then held it upside-down. "McDonalds!"
"Pffft!" Amy giggled. "You're funny." She told him, playfully whacking him on the arm as he left the room. "See you at the train station tomorrow!"
"...your girlfriend sure is cute." Mighty told Sonic, elbowing him slightly.
"She's not my girlfriend!" Sonic muttered swiftly.
"Though not as fine as MY honey mine!" Mighty added proudly.
...
...
...
... "Daddy's goin' out to work now, okay, baby?" Mighty said, hugging his daughter tightly. "I'm gonna try and get home early as I can, okay?"
Amy stood nearby, deciding to pay one more final visit to Mighty's home as Venus Dee Milo hugged Mighty tightly, and Willie Mae Milo smiled in approval and pride at her husband. She always found this sort of sentimental stuff just so cute.
"So, you're leavin' today too, right?" Mighty asked. "I'll try and see you off at lunch if I can." He told Amy as he nuzzled his daughter a little.
"I really do appreciate you being so kind to me, Mr. Milo." Amy said, bowing her head slightly as they headed down the stairs and out the front door.
"Please, call me Mighty. Everybody does." Mighty laughed, clapping her on the back. "Whenever you're in Central City, feel free to come here anytime. Me casa es su casa!"
And so, Sonic and Tails boarded the train sharply at nine o'clock, waving goodbye to Knuckles, Mighty, Jet and Wave with cheerful expressions on their faces. As the train began to pull away, Amy leaned back in the seat across from Tails and Sonic, and an idea popped into her head.
"You know, I forgot to ask. Why did you suddenly decide you wanted to see your teacher?" She wanted to know.
"Two reasons." Tails said, holding two fingers up. "First of all, lately we've been on a real losing streak."
"You're JUST going there to better learnhow to make fists meet faces? Oh c'mon. You're such...GUYS." Amy muttered.
"It's NOT just about that!" Sonic stated angrily, folding his arms and "harrumphing". "It's what's "inside". We kind of want to get stronger within. The way we did when we FIRST visited her."
"I see. And the second reason?" Amy wanted to know.
"To find out what she knows about the Chaos Emerald. The other truth that Big spoke about." Tails told her, looking out the window. "We still don't know all the answers, but she's been at this for a looooong time. She might have some idea."
BGM: Dramatic/heroic musical theme
"Kind of a long shot...but it's all we've got." Sonic admitted, shrugging slightly. "We can't be afraid of admitting we did the most Cardinal Sin. We'll just walk right up to her and say...and...say..."
BGM: Record scratch
"...OHHHH." Sonic held his head in his hands. "Teach is gonna kick our AAAAASS..."
"She'll call it "justified braticide"! Ohhh, if only I could have at least had found a GIRLFRIEND!" Tails whined.
"Gee. She's that bad?" Amy wanted to know, scratching her head.
"SHE'S THAT BAAAAAD." They both sobbed at the same time.
"I know something that'll cheer you up." Amy said, holding up her bag and pulling out some pie. "Ta-daaaa!"
"MMMM." Sonic eagerly bit into it. "This apple pie's deeee-lish!"
"I've gotta put it on the "List of Things I'll Eat When I'm Normal Again", then." Tails said, pulling out his list from his belt and writing in it on the spot.
"Good thing Ms. Willie Mae told me the recipe. I'll cook it for you guys whenever you want, I promise!" Amy informed them happily, nodding her head as Sonic eagerly nom-nom-nom'd more of the apple pie slice. "Mrs. Milo sure is nice! And so is ."
"Mighty's a devoted father, a busybody AND he wouldn't stop bragging about his family." Sonic remarked. "Ahhh, but he was so happy to visit us and cheer us up. And to think he wants to help us with what we're doing...we really ought to thank him next time we're in Central City." He told Tails.
"Yeah, no kidding! I wanna see his daughter again!" Tails admitted.
"She is JUST the cutest thing, isn't she?" Amy remarked, nodding eagerly.
"Yeah, I know!"
...
...
...
... "Ohhhhh! Now THIS is what I'm talking about!" Amy cheered, jumping up in the air and bounding around as Sonic and Tails sighed deeply. Angel Island was an island that floated some 10,000 miles above the ground, with an enormous city built around a towering mystical palace that stretched up into the sky like a golden gift from God himself. Around Westside City, not too far from the capital, there were dozens of temples and houses all over with mystical symbols placed upon doors and windows, and waterfalls magically poured down from a nearby mountain to land in a pristine lake some distance away.
The entire place smelled lovely too, like home-cooked meals and delicious bread fresh from a baker's oven, and there were flags and banners of a green and red and gold decorating the entire place, representing the city's heritage. Red for the echidna people that had created the little slice of paradise, green for the natural magic they tapped into to keep the place afloat, and gold as a symbol of their kings. Yes, the island had been a monarchy once upon a time before it had been made a part of the Eggman Empire.
"Oooooh! Look!" Amy said, rushing over to a nearby church and peering inside to see a circle of people sprinkling some kind of powder around scented candles as they wore hooded cloaks. "Look! A Wiccan Protective Seal Ceremony! I've never seen Wiccans before! Ooh, and they've got a Ram's Skull! And actual RAM'S skull!"
"Uhhhh..."
"And look!" Amy ran over to a store that had dozens of crosses hanging in the window, face pressed against the glass. "The Gnostic Cross! I've only read about the Gnostics in books! To actually see one...I've GOTTA buy one! Those guys were GENIUSES when it came to tapping into the power of the mind and connecting it to Metallurgy!"
"If this place was a person she would have sex with it on the spot." Sonic remarked. "She's practically DROOLING."
"Like a kid at Christmas." Tails laughed. "I think it's CUTE."
"Look at all the people here. We should have just gone straight on to Westside"
"Oooooh!" One pinkly echidna held up Sonic's right arm. "Everybody, look at the inner markings of his rings!"
A large crowd had now formed and were all looking at Sonic and Tails. "Ooooooh!" They all exclaimed as the light caught the glint of the rings. "Aahhhhhh! Ohhhhhhh!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm hot stuff, I know." Sonic admitted, grinning broadly.
"What happened to that attitude you had five seconds ago?" Tails remarked, rolling his eyes as Sonic waved goodbye to the crowd and they headed down the street.
"I hope we don't have any adventures that keep us from going straight on to the Capital." Sonic thought to himself, sighing slightly.
...
...
...
..."Hmmmm. Dr. Snively Robotnik, eh?" Mighty remarked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he looked the newspapers before him over. The Wax nodded eagerly, placing another stack down.
"Yes, apparently he was causing a great deal of trouble by passing off magic as a kind of science that was "breaking through the barriers of human knowledge". He was suckering everybody in Knothole along." The Wax informed Mighty as the two of them sat in the library together, Mighty's eyes peering intently beyond his sunglasses at the articles before him.
"...man. With the Shanazaran Campaign and all these frickin' insurgencies...the Eastern Region's had it rough, haven't they?"
"Not just them, either. It seems there have been issues over in the North and West, too. Border skirmishes and the like." The Wax added, holding up an article in a newspaper from some several weeks ago.
"They let the bodies hit the floor, and before long, the government's gonna get thrown out the door, that's what's gonna happen." Mighty remarked, eyes flashing. "...hmm."
An idea hit him. "...where's the archive room?"
Wax pointed down the hallway. "It's the third right once you pass the bathroom-"
Mighty was off like a bullet. He opened the door to the archives, clearing aside a large clutter of books that were on a desk, and pulled out a thick pencil from off a nearby desk. Grabbing ahold of a map off the wall that showed off the continent of Mobius, he began to make circles at certain spots.
"Shanazar...the Chaos Emeralds...these skirmishes...Knothole...then...hmm. HMM." Mighty frowned darkly. "...this...this does NOT look...I need to tell Dr. Eggman about this." He muttered. "Shadow and the others need to be placed on high-"
The door shut suddenly and Mighty turned his head to look upon an eggplant-colored hedgehog with a large fringe of hair and rather...interesting...clothes.
Her eyes, upon gazing closely...were made up of tiny violet ones and zeroes.
"Well, well! Mighty the Armadillo. Such a pleasure to meet such a BIG, STRONG, MAN. And to think, all the girls said I'd NEVER find a hunk in the library." She remarked cheerfully with a hint of a sneer ruining her otherwise considerably pretty features.
"...I suppose I should be FLATTERED that I'm going to die at the hands of a hot chick." He remarked, looking over at her, one hand clenched into a fist and hidden behind his side as her hair became prickly and strong on the spot, slowly elongating out into harsh spikes, eager to slash into his flesh. Mighty smirked. "But I'm not letting it end YET!" He exclaimed.
The hedgehog thrust her head forward and a lock of hair struck out as Mighty grabbed ahold of a the pencil and tossed it.
SCHWING!
SCHLUCK!
A few moments later, Mighty staggered out of the archive door, clutching a very-heavily bloodied shoulder, gasping in pain. He quickly lurched down the hallway, muttering as he headed for the hallway that would lead him to the library's phones. Inside the archives, Sonia's eyes were wide open, and some rusty-brown/red fluid oozed out of her mouth as she stood shivering on the spot, the pencil stuck deep in her eye. She let out a paind gasping howl as she pulled it out, panting as she hit the ground.
Mighty grabbed ahold of the phone as the Wax ran over to him. "Sir, what happened?" He asked, eyes wide in horror.
"It's...I just...gotta call the...call the..." Mighty mumbled as he prepared to dial.
But than a horrifying realization sunk in. He frowned darkly and then slammed the phone back into place, lurching out the front door. "Sorry...need...to go..." He muttered, making his way outside of the laboratory.
Slowly but surely he lurched down the steps, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his shoulder throbbing dull with the pain. He ignored this inconvenience, continuing to move forward, heading for a payphone some distance away by a bench near some trees.
"Helloooo? Who is this?"
"Miss...I need you to connect me...connect me to Colonel Shadow. NOW." Mighty mumbled out, taking deep breaths.
"Uh...we kinda have a rule about not allowing civilians to connect to anybody-"
"This is Mighty from Central City! I'm calling because this is an important emergency! My codename's "Sapphire"!"
"Oh, well, okay then..."
"Goddamn red tape..." Mighty mumbled as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a picture of his family and biting his lip intently, allowing his thumb to brush over the space where his daughter was. "...Lord almighty, don't let me reach his voice mail..." He prayed.
"One moment and I'll connect you."
"Hurry it up! The entire government is in extreme danger! They're all-"
CA-CLICK.
The sound of a gun cocking made him stiffen.
"Put...that phone...down." Wave the Swallow said, frowning as she held a pistol up, aiming it intently at Mighty's head. "...as in, NOW."
Mighty turned his head around slowly, eyes widening as he took a good look at the bird that was pointing a gun at him, his body not shaking with pain...but with horror. "I said, put the phone down-" Wave repeated.
"...Wave...no. You're not her." He muttered.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Wave said, looking annoyed.
"The top part of Lieutenant Wave's beak...ought to have NOSTRILS. Like JET'S." Mighty muttered darkly, his eyes becoming feral slits.
"Wave" blinked a few times. "Oh? Really? How careless of me. You mean...like...THIS?" "She" asked, holding two fingers up and putting them on her beak, creating two nostrils on the spot.
"I've had acid trips that made more sense than today has..." Mighty muttered, seeing "Wave's" eyes change...becoming red...becoming made up of a steady, bright string of ones and zeroes.
"Don't go blaming ME for this, organic. You're the one who's bright mind figured things out when you should have stayed stupid." "Wave" commented snarkily, rolling her eyes.
"Awww, now have a heart. I've got a wife and kid waiting for me at home..." Mighty commented quietly, reaching down and picking up his photo. He then growled. "I'M NOT DYING HERE!"
He whipped around and threw the photo, and it cut into "Wave's" head, making her stagger back as Mighty promptly kicked her in the gut, then grabbed her neck.
CRA-KRAK!
"...be seein' you." Mighty said, waving goodbye as he yanked the photo out of her head and walked off, heading down the street.
There was silence for a few moments. And then...
"Oh, HONEY...how could you do that to me?"
That voice. Mighty stiffened and turned around, fist held high...
And he stopped, seeing his WIFE'S face looking right back at him, her neck twisted in place. "Why you gotta hurt me, baby? WHY?" She asked, looking mockingly at him.
Mighty's fist clenched tightly, his body shaking, tears rolling down his cheeks as he found he could not move the fist to meet this imposter's face, even though she was raising the gun back up. He could not kill this being that had stolen his beloved's features.
"...you...bastard..." He whispered.
BANG!
...
...
...
..."Hello? What is it?" Shadow remarked, holding the receiver of his phone to his ear.
"A call from Mighty on a public line."
"Oh? Alright. Patch me through."
CLICK!
"Mighty, if you're calling to brag about your family again I'll..."
Nothing. No sound except...faint...PANTING?
"...Mighty? Mighty?"
Metal Sonic grabbed the receiver and promptly hung the phone up. He would have smirked had he any mouth to do so. "You organics risk your lives over such inane things. Stupid." He said, turning his head to look at the slowly-dying Mighty before walking away. Inch by inch the blood pooled out, oozing over the photograph of Mighty's family as the armadillo tried to raise himself off the road.
"...Willie...Venus...I'm...I'm sorry..." He whispered tearfully, his gloved hands twitching slightly. "I'm so, so sorry...I thought...I'd get...home...early..."
...
...
...
... "Hello? Shadow! How are you! Is Mighty working late to-what's...what's wrong?"
"...Ms. Milo, I...I'm...you need to sit down for this..."
...
...
...
...it was a solemn affair. His body had been placed in a beautiful pine box, the flag of the country draped atop, a giant robotic egg with a mustache against a bright red background. Shadow stood near the grave that his dear friend would be lowered into as Rouge stood by HIM, gently squeezing his shoulder. Willie Mae and Venus were standing across from them as Dr. Eggman stood with a private guard, standing at the far end of the crowd of people who had come to the funeral.
Ironically, it was a beautiful day. There were few clouds out, and a gentle wind was caressing everyone's face, as if nature itself was trying to desperately console those grieving. Colonel Michael "Mighty" Milo the Armadillo was going to be buried with high honors in Central City's Military Gravesite, where the dead soldiers were given their due.
Everybody was wearing black outfits. Jackets. Pants. Belts. Hats. Knuckles's face was an unreadable mask of stone as they fired off the 21 gun salute into the air, and Ray and the others were all trying desperately to contain their tears. Heavy was standing nearby, playing a sad tune on his guitar as they lowered the body into the ground, singing solemnly and gently despite his robotic nature.
Let's not drive away just yet,
Give me a mooooment more!
To walk through those rooms again,
To walk through that doooooor...
If we turn off the radio...
I've only to close my eeeeyes...
And the wind in the sycamores...
Will carry me hoooome!
The vine of my memoooory...
Is blooming around those eaaaaves
But its true it's a chore to tame...
Wisteeeriiiiiiaaaaaa... Wisteeeriiiiiiaaaaaa...
"Mom...why are they burying pop-pop?" Venus Dee whimpered.
"...Venus...sweetie..." Willie whispered, blowing her nose on her hankie for a moment before looking nervously down at her daughter.
"If they throw dirt on him, he won't be able to go to work." The young armadillo insisted. "He won't..."
"...I...I'm..."
She finally held her daughter tightly and cried into her as Venus continued to speak. "Poppa said he had a lot of work to do! Why can't he come out of there?" She begged.
I'm tempted to ring the bell.
Maybe they'd let me iiiin...
Or maybe its just as well...
To let it all beeee...
Remembeeeeer the price we paid?
It seemed like a looooot back theeeeen...
Remember the love we made...
The day we moved iiiiiiin?
The red echidna's stony face was now broken with tears that trickled down his chin as he covered his head in his big hands, sobbing openly. Dr. Eggman shook slightly, biting into his lip. Shadow's fist clenched tightly and he grit his teeth.
"Don't bury him! DON'T BURY HIM! POPPAAAA!"
The vine of my memoooory...
Is blooming around those eaaaaves
But its true it's a chore to tame...
Wisteeeriiiiiiaaaaaa... Wisteeeriiiiiiaaaaaa...
"...promoted two ranks for dying in the line of duty." Shadow thought to himself. "...he probably would have been bragging about it all day to them...Brigadier General Mighty the Armadillo...dammit."
He closed his eyes tightly. "What's the goddamn point of having somebody who said they'd support me from below literally...and then going ABOVE me in...you think this is FUNNY, you...you idiot...you'd think this was funny, I guess..."
"...Shadow..." Rouge said quietly, gently squeezing his shoulder again.
"...you know...looking at this...I think I know how those boys felt...why they'd try to play God...what could drive them to commit "that" sin..." He mumbled to Rouge as he slowly turned and walked away a few dozen feet.
"Are you alright?" Rouge asked quietly.
It did need some pruning back...
And I know...that's it not my place...
But how could they just cut it down?
And leave not a traaaaace?
Let's not drive away just yet,
Give me a mooooment more!
To walk through those rooms again,
To walk through that doooooor...
"...no...I want to get out of this rain." Shadow muttered.
"There's no-"
She saw a tear trickling down his cheek, and instantly stopped herself.
The vine of my memoooory...
Is blooming around those eaaaaves
But its true it's a chore to tame...
"...you're right. It's getting chilly. Let's go." She said quietly, gently hugging him close to her.
Wisteeeriiiiiiaaaaaa... Wisteeeriiiiiiaaaaaa...
Author's Note:
The song, in case you didn't know, is about going back to one's old home to find out how much it's changed. It's a haunting little song and it always makes me cry a bit as I listen to it.
...oh, Mighty, forgive me. I'm sorry. -_-