10 - Rose Thorns

This was crazy, why were there Moebians trying to kill them? After the tragedy that reigned on the city, Sonic was sure no one would be left alive here. The entire place was barren, after all. But, maybe his assumption was right. Those guys, they had to be Scourge's men. And to think, he and Shadow accidentally fought them all off by fighting each other. He felt bad for them a little.

He almost turned into Dark as well. Since they had all seven emeralds with Shadow having one right in his quills, it was more than easy to turn with all the chaos energy around. However, he never did that before. He never made transforming into Dark Sonic a habit. If he reverted, one would probably never see Sonic turn again, because he always had full control of that. Angry or not, he never allowed his body to fall under the entity's influence. Something stunk, and he had a feeling Scourge had something to do with this. Dark Sonic should not be this active. Or, maybe it was his own fault. When he went to the shrines, maybe that caused it to become more active. But if that was the case, then evil Super Sonic would have already been awakened before Scourge even found him. Was that why he found that demon in his head so easily?

Damn it, what was happening?!

"-Are you listening, Faker?" Shadow's voice pierced through his thoughts. Sonic turned to his partner with a sweat drop. He smiled timidly at him while chuckling.

"Heh, sorry. I spaced out there for a sec." He looked up at the dark sky, and saw a tall ancient looking building in the distance.

"As I was saying," Shadow said with a grunt. "I believe that's our destination." He stated, looking at the very same castle as Sonic. So that's where the 'royal king' was, hm? "I don't get it." He muttered.

"Get what?"

"How one single juvenile caused the destruction of an entire city, and soon, the world." Shadow elucidated. "You stated before that your anti-double isn't one to be trifled with and that he shouldn't be compared to the Doctor. However, looking at past incidents, even the Doctor would take months if not years to develop a plan that succeeds in taking over the world, even if you do end up foiling it." The dark one's tone sounded like he was trying to comprehend to the best of his ability how any of this was possible. "It would take high intellect, and far too much expertise in almost every variety of talent there is to pull off. Every single enemy we've ever fought was no simple child. Not some punk dressing teenager with a leather complex. They were always someone who possessed years of knowledge, who spent years advancing their power. And yet, this fool is able to cause complete demolition in less time than the Doctor could ever hope."

He did make a good point, but there was something obviously wrong with what he just said. The answer was right in front of him. "Well, Shadow, think about that for a minute." Sonic said as he began to explain his rebuttal. "Sure our enemies are always plain nasty, and most of the time they're super smart. But sometimes, people who have years and years of experience with battle or knowledge can get bested too. Even if it's someone who's no where near their level." Sonic began to smile to himself. "There's always someone who's better than you, no matter what age or IQ score. That's why I like you." He slyly complimented. "As for Scourge, it doesn't matter. That's like me questioning how I'm able to beat Eggman even though he spends so much time preparing little schemes. It's just cause I came out on top, better than my opponent. Simple as that. 'Cause, if you think about it, you and I could do the same thing." He looked over at Shadow. "We both could easily destroy our world with our powers, but we don't have the heart to do that. And that's why this universe exists. It's like it's teaching us a huge lesson. What would happen if someone with all that power didn't use it for good?"

"While you are correct," The elder of the two replied. "That still doesn't make any sense. Even you need assistance on your little adventures, powerful or not. Tails is your brains, the echidna is your shield, while your pink fangirl is your brawn. Rouge is my shadow, and Omega was my protector. The Doctor's robots were his army. But what about him? He had no one. And according to you, the only person who was on his side was his girlfriend. The very person who he betrayed and turned into a mind slave as well. He's alone."

Sonic's ear twitched at the sound of rustling paper. He turned to the side, and saw it was just torn and dirty piles of forgotten documents flying in the wind. "That's only because of me. Scourge wouldn't have a gang of mindless brutes in black if it wasn't for my powers."

"True, but like you said, this tragic event happened before you even met him. And it's far too much a coincidence that he just so happened to turn crazy and wreak havoc after his father went 'missing', causing the downfall of Moebius all in one swoop." Shadow's tone showed his refusal to believe in such a tale. "I just can't buy that. There must be a bigger organization at work here. He's working for, or with someone."

The hero just shook his head. "Hate to be the one to say 'I told ya so', Shads. I'm telling you, this is all just him." Sonic was also unaffected by Shadow's opinion. He just knew for sure Scourge was the only one responsible. "I mean, this is the opposite world. Maybe...maybe he's a lot smarter than he should be." His tone became eerily quiet, and he suddenly became fearful of his own inference. "Maybe he does have the brain of a mastermind, with an IQ even bigger than Egghead's. I didn't even go to school, and I'm no where near as smart as you or Tails. Maybe that's just another difference between us?"

...Shit.

When he put it like that, their enemy seemed a lot more menacing than before. Then, he thought of his encounter with the bastard. He remembered his 'regal personality', and his 'perverted teacher gimmick' with the glasses. No, he threw that out of the window. He was far too childish to be that deep and clever. "There's no way. No imbecile who acts that immature could secretly be a genius."

"Ehh, to be fair, Eggman's not too bright either. Like I said, he's smart to a point. Maybe Scourge's immaturity's just a small downside, or hell, just part of him being a bit coo-coo." Sonic shrugged. "But, I do see what you're saying. Now that I think about it, even if he was super smart, it wouldn't explain the dumb decisions he made in the past. When I beat him last time, it was only 'cause of his stupidity and his ego. Thank Chaos for that, or else I'd be six feet under right now."

"We'll just have to see for ourselves when we get our hands on him." Shadow concluded. "Who knows, you could be right after all. Maria told me never to judge a book by its cover. That's the mistake I made with you."

Wait, what did he just say? Sonic fluttered his eyes bashfully. "What do ya mean?"

"You're not as annoying or stupid as I initially thought before. While you have your moments, like ten minutes ago, you're more formidable than I realized." He stopped walking when he realized Sonic stopped walking. He looked back at him, and saw that his expression looked blown away. Probably didn't think he'd be complimented by Shadow of all people to such a high extent. "You are cunning, and your strength should be taken into consideration. And though I despise your enormous amount of pacifism, I do respect your sense of justice."

"I..wow, Shadow. That's, really sweet of you to say." Sonic responded in a meek voice. "Guess this is your way of sayin' sorry for earlier, huh?"

Shadow smirked. "You could say that." He looked back up at the castle that stood tall among all other establishments. Towering over the city like a God. "We're very close, and it'll only take us a few minutes to get there if we sprint again."

"Alright, I'm down. We'll race." Sonic got down on one knee in track runner position. With a cocky smile, he briefly looked at Shadow. "Ready?" Seeing him look so excited put a smile on Shadow's face as well. Why not? He stretched his legs and got down on one knee as well. "And," Sonic trailed. Before he could say 'go', Shadow was already gone in a gust of wind. This made Sonic laugh. Just like old times. He bolted from the scene, catching up to Shadow almost instantaneously.

The forty feet tall stone walls of the castle were rivaling that of Eggman's creations. They were very high up, almost unfairly so. The material used to build the walls, which looked like normal old bricks, were cracked and dusty. Shingles on the cones of hovering castle towers that were connected to the building were falling apart. The colors were, bleak. No color what-so-ever. If there was paint here, it faded away a very long time ago. The dead grass that covered the front of the castle went for yards and yards away. Sonic mentioned on the way that he was actually dropped off not too far from here. To see such a supposedly grand and majestic place forced into ruin, it was just depressing. How could anyone live in such a dump? Then again, being trapped in encapsulation for more than fifty years wasn't all too comfortable either.

And that little bastard lived here? One would think he had better taste with all the flashy punk-rock crap he was wearing.

"Are you...Positive that he resides here?" Shadow questioned doubtfully. Sonic looked straight ahead at the large tall thick wooded castle doors. Wait a second, did they modify it? There were pieces of metal all over it, with some big lock. Probably to secure it. After all, the place was old as dirt. No doubt they needed to upgrade it a bit for precautionary measures.

"Yup. This is the place he carried me too." Yes, the very place that entrapped him. The very place that made him give up his will to live. The place that made him forget who he was, and become a lifeless monster. He sighed to himself. He had to let that go, or else it would bother him all day. "Don't let the outside fool you. It's much less of an eyesore inside. A lot more complex, too."

Shadow said nothing back as he stared at the oddly arranged lock that was installed on the door. One could tell it was placed on the door very recently. He didn't see any way to open it, not even with a key. There was no padlock, no three or four-digit combination lock, nothing. How was one meant to open this? Could it be that he locked it with-no. This sudden feeling in his body, made the dark hedgehog blink in surprise. There was no source of chaos energy here. He thought at first that Scourge might have locked it that way, but, no. The energy around this place, it felt just so perverted. What was this?

"Uhh, Shadow? Hellooooo?" Sonic nudged his partner with his elbow lightly to try and get his attention. "You still there?"

"Don't you feel it?" He said, abruptly stopping all of Sonic's movements. Shadow wouldn't even look away. "This, this feeling. It's different from chaos energy."

"Uhhh, nope." The azure one frankly stated. "Don't feel a thing. Actually," He placed a hand on top of his temple, and squinted his eyes in slight pain. "After almost transforming, my entire body feels weird. I can't really sense or feel anything. I can barely feel yours." He groaned in minor exasperation. "I dunno know what's goin' on with me."

"Possibly, your dark form is more active because of all the commotion. It was painfully forced out twice while you were in his 'care'. Not to mention Scourge awakened your other...demonic form. It might be because of its influence. Because of it's abuse, being mind controlled, it may have roused a negative effect on your body, causing it to become more erratic. Thus dulling your senses." While he explained, Shadow wasn't all too sure himself if he was correct or not. "At least, that's my guess. Then again, you mentioned something about a shrine in your home island, and not needing emeralds to perform chaos abilities...You hold most of the chaos emeralds, and you're constantly losing your temper.."

Sonic made a loud fake cough while muttering. "..Hypocrite."

"As I was saying," Shadow scowled. "There's a lot of reasons. Or, maybe it's all of them at once. Point is, there's something drifting around this entire castle like some mist. And it doesn't feel right."

Sonic cruised over to the large double doors that were at least ten feet tall. He leaned towards them and rubbed his fingers against the hard wood, until he balled them into knuckles and knocked against it. The knock echoed for miles around. That's how quiet it was. The next thing they both heard, were the caws of ravens or crows soaring into the air away from the castle. With the 'expired' Moebians around, they weren't too surprised to see them flying here. Paying the bad omen no mind, Sonic looked back at the doors. "Think we can bust it down?"

"I don't think so. I feel like there's some kind of barrier surrounding the entrance." Shadow pretty much stayed in the same spot the entire time they speculated about the damn door. "But perhaps we can disrupt whatever kind of force this is with our own abilities." The black hedgehog took a few steps away from his spot and looked over at Sonic. "That thing you did when we fought, we you turned completely blue and charged at me. Can you do it again?"

Craning his head to look all the way up at his task, he realized that the door and it's little lock mechanisms wasn't all that intimidating. He'd give it a shot. "No prob. Just stand back a bit-"

Without warning, the doors and metal parts installed with it, launched off of its hinges and flown across the skies. It was blown back so high, Shadow could hardly see it anymore. When he whipped his head back to the now empty large door way, he saw an unresponsive Sonic on the cold cobblestone ground. There were pieces of rubble and wood shards all over him and his head was bleeding from the side, near his left ear. Before Shadow could run to his partner, he heard an ear-bleeding giggle. With shaky pink legs, a strange girl dressed in some weird outfit tip toed outside. She was wielding a...A monster of a mallet. A huge, green spiked mallet in her hands, with blue sneakers, a yellow skirt, and a white and green shirt with poofy sleeves. Her fur was pink, with a light peach muzzle. Her quills were styled almost like Sonic's, just shorter, with a red headband. Her expression was the very definition of mentally deranged. Didn't faker say Scourge was crazy? Then what the hell was this?!

She wobbled her way towards Sonic and tilted herself to peer over him. Her light green eyes were going everywhere. Both eyes weren't moving simultaneously with the other like they were supposed to. She was drooling, she was nervously twitching all over. "Y-You're not my Scourgey...Where is he? Where is he!? Oh," Her voiced lowered delightedly. "Oh wait, that's right! I'm so silly, h-how could I ever forget?" She said as her eyes both became red vortexes. Shadow widened his own. Of course. Scourge must have made this girl one of his victims as well. "The voices in my head specifically told meeeee, that any hedgie was a Scourgey! Meaning..!" She started to cry with glee. "You are my Scourgey! You are you are, yes you ARE!" She screamed as she raised the mallet up high over Sonic, who still didn't move a muscle.

Shadow wasted no more time to chaos control beside her and toss his body over hers. He pounced on her before she could strike down, and pinned her against the ground. "Chaos Fibers." He said loudly before stepping away from the girl. Ropes of red chaos energy appeared around and entangled themselves on her. Right after she made a look of bewilderment at the sudden bonds, she squirmed and tried to wiggle herself free, but the bonds only closed in tighter. Shadow took this time to get to Sonic and kneel by his side. He placed his hand underneath his head and upper back, and tried to get him to sit up. He let him rest against his thigh and tried shaking him to wake him up. "Now's really not the time for a dirt nap, faker!" He shook him again. "Get up!" He yelled.

Sonic clutched his eyelids shut, but gradually allowed them to open. He hissed in pain and rose his hand to his head again and cursed. Looks like it was gonna be another crap day. He looked up at Shadow, realizing that he was holding him up by letting him rest against his leg. What an embarrassing position for some hero. He hid away his rosy cheeks. "Heh, thanks." He held out his hand up to him, and Shadow grasped it. He pulled him and himself up on their feet. "That almost knocked me out for good." He heard the struggles of some girl, and looked in front of them to see one of his worst nightmares. He just cursed to whatever God was up there for giving him such a dreadful enemy to deal with. "Oh God..." Sonic wiped the blood from his temple.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her as she rolled on the ground, trying to get out of his fibers. "She looks very similar to Rose." He glanced at Sonic. "Don't tell me this is her anti-double. Then again, that would explain why you look so stressed out."

"Cause I am." The hero of Mobius prime sighed in anguish. "I'm afraid you're right. That, is the Anti-Amy. Rosy the Rascal to be more precise." After all these years, that girl never changed her appearance. She really was childish.

"And her opposite persona is..?" With that look in her eyes, he almost didn't want to know the answer. The fibers were starting to break. It couldn't last for too long. And she looked heated, snarling at them like a mutt.

"Know how Amy's a super obsessed fangirl?" He casually asked with slight fear as both he and Shadow took a few steps back.

"Yeah?"

"Well that's Rosy, times a thousand." Sonic continued to describe their new adversary cautiously. "In this world, she's not just some fangirl. She's a stalker with more than just a few screws loose. She makes Scourge seem like a kitten when it comes to insanity. And she doesn't want him like how Amy wants me. She wants to kill him."

"Kill him?"

Sonic nodded quickly. "Yup. She both loves and hates him. Hates him 'cause like me with Amy, he doesn't pay attention to her. But he downright ignores her and threatens her to leave him alone. So she's both pissed and freakishly psychotic. He can't even deal with her by normal means."

"That's why she's like this?"

"Oh no no, she's been like this since before I even met her."

"Well shit." Shadow replied impassively. This day just couldn't get any better. He flinched when he felt the binds break. There was no more time, she'd get up any minute now. And she was. The girl got back up on her feet with an ungraceful stance as she tried tripping her way over to the two male hedgehogs. She managed to get her hammer up from the ground and raise it up with a gum revealing grin. With no more time to spend, she ran full speed towards them. She was surprisingly faster than they anticipated. "Move!" Shadow yelled before side stepping away from her mallet swing.

Sonic ducked for cover as well, but took that time to move behind Rosy instead. He tried to grab her, but she swung with a 360, nearly nailing Sonic right in the head again. He dodged by bending downwards and backing up. She was crazy, but she wasn't dumb. From the corner of his eye, Sonic saw that Shadow was cooking up something nice in his hands. He knew for sure it'd be a chaos spear. With a smirk, he knew that was his sign to act as a diversion. Rosy went and turned to go for Shadow, until Sonic whistled to her. With that red glint in her eyes, she was hopelessly under Scourge's spell. But that meant she was vulnerable to be manipulated. Since the voices in her head thought that any hedgehog she spotted was Scourge, then...

Sonic cleared his throat and prepared his most prestigious voice acting. "Hey Rosy," He made sure his voice was rougher and more husky, matching his double almost perfectly. This made her eyes flicker with emotion, happy that her crush was actually talking to her. At least that's what she thought. "Do me a favor and get lost already, would ya?"

"W-Wha..?" Her face drooped like uncooked dough. "B-But," Then, her sad frown warped into a fuming glower of intense anger. "You, you..!" She repeated with a growl. "If you don't want me, then I have no problems squishing you into green mush. Over, and over and over! I'll smash you good, and then I won't have to hate you anymore! I'll just love what's left of you!" She started to laugh hysterically. "Ahahaha! I'll love you so much! Then you'll be happy!"

This was starting to sound super familiar. Hell, maybe Rosy rubbed off on Scourge. With a sweat drop, Sonic prepared himself. With a war cry, she swung at Sonic with all her might. When he hopped out of the way, she destroyed part of the ground, and had to yank her hammer out from the hole she made. She recovered quickly however, and ran while swinging at him again. The male hedgehog dodged in the opposite spots of her swings. She was so predictable, he just moved from side to side while speed walking backwards. He even put his hands on his hips and moved them hypnotically as if he was dancing. This was annoying her, so she moved even faster with her attacks striking even harder. Sonic has no problem matching her speed. She was getting a bit creative though.

She swung for more upper areas, Sonic had to move his head left and right. She swung at his shoulders and arms, making him lean to the side. Before she could make another failed attempt, he slid her arm against her own and gripped the stick of her mallet. She wouldn't let go, but he wasn't planning on taking it. With the other free hand, he made his own failed attempt to grab her, not wanting to have to punch her. She nearly got seized but moved her quills away just in time. Seeing how successful that move was, Sonic took both of his hands and shoved it down into the base of the hammer. While Rosy gasped in surprised, Sonic shoved the hammer's stick into the ground. He then grasped the handle of it like a pole with one hand, and twirled himself around it with his leg kicking outwards that was heading right for her.

He punted her right in the face and got her off of the bludgeoning weapon. She yelped as she fell on her back a few feet away from Sonic and her hammer. She screamed in anger, pounding her fists into the ground as a tantrum. She got back up on her hands and knees, soon her feet. She made a bee-line for Sonic and tried hitting him with everything she had. He dodged effortlessly with her hammer now out of her clutches. He just kept dodging around it, basically playing peekaboo with her. When she tried to swing at him with a right hook, he just hopped on top of her green weapon with his legs crossed. He waved at her with a smile, taunting her. Growling even more, she took her hands and seized the hilt of her weapon.

With a huff, she lifted it out of the ground, with dead roots of plants falling from the end tip of it. Sonic looked down below, not thinking that'd she actually lift both him and the hammer too. When she swung it to get him off, Sonic kick flipped off of it and landed right on her arms. He tried to land as softly as he could so he couldn't hurt her too much. As she tried wringing him off of her limbs, he just did another flip onto her hammer and proceeded to do a brief break dance on top of it so his feet could do the attacking. His body weight was making her lose balance, and her body dipped down low while turning her head away so his feet didn't kick her. But once he raised a leg in the air and did a twirl with his entire body to do another flip, he landed on her arm with a hand stand. Both hands gripped her arm tight to balance himself, and swiped his leg to kick her hammer from her hands again.

It tossed away like a tomahawk and stopped by impacting the castle wall. Sonic swung his leg down and ax kicked her in the head while letting go of her. He landed on his feet, while she fell on her butt. She threw her hands to her head and writhed in agony. Payback was a bitch. When she made a move to get up, Shadow intervened. "Chaos Spear!" He threw his hand towards her, directing the arrows to her. They aimed and pointed, raining down on her. She looked away and whimpered, until she realized they only scratched her. The arrows were tearing through her clothes, and pinned them down against the ground so she couldn't move. She could always just rip out of them, but they were sure she didn't want to be seen indecent. She was exhausted anyway. So she just gave up with a pant and laid limp against the ground.

"Phew." Sonic exhaled in relief. He was glad they were done with her. Shadow joined his side and stood over their work.

"It took a while because I needed to charge them, so they could last for a while. Good work." He complimented. Sonic smiled at him but didn't retort back. He was just happy that he didn't have to deal with her for now. "Didn't realize you were so flexible and agile." Shadow walked over to the large gaping opening to the castle. Sonic smirked to himself and followed.

"I mean, I do dance."

"True." The ultimate life form crossed his arms and stood a few feet inside of the castle. The main hall was dark. The old torches that were put here died out ages ago. The red carpet that laid for royalty to walk upon was wrinkled and torn. He couldn't even see where the hall led to, because it just led to darkness. All he could do was trust in Sonic's memory of the place. "Guide us to where we need to go, faker."

"I don't get it! There were guys in black everywhere, I swear!" Sonic cried as he walked up the large second set of spiral stairs. "There were guys on the stairs, in the dining hall, in the friggin' bathrooms. They were all over the place, and now everybody's gone?" He asked out loud. While they walked through the building stealthily, they noticed that no on was here. The dining hall was empty, the kitchen was empty, the bathrooms were empty. They couldn't find anyone anywhere, and it seemed like the place was abandoned too. They could tell someone was here recently, because there were belongings of others littered around. They even checked the lab that was in the basement, which held very few weapons and ammunition. They even checked the throne room, and it was empty. They were now traveling up to the third floor where the bedrooms were, and where the torture room was.

"They left somewhere, out of no where." Shadow said aloud in wonder. Where would they even go? Even if they did go to Mobius Prime, Rouge would have tried to call him. When they passed by the lab, there were some larger warp rings on standby that stood against the walls, hooked up to machines. They must have been used not too long ago. When Shadow made a move to take another step, he felt something push against him from the front. He stopped in his tracks and looked down below him. He practically jaw dropped over what he saw, even though it was so out of his character, so he forced himself not to.

"Oops! Sorry Shads. My damn shoes are a bit loose. Hold on a sec." He was bent down in front of Shadow, his backside upright with his face down at the stairs. His tail flicked against Shadow's lower abdomen, his arse laying against him. He could see himself hovering his hands over his blue cheeks, and grabbing them. Touching them, rubbing them. It was so round and-

"Ahem." Shadow looked somewhere else. "Would you mind getting yourself off of me?"

"Hm?" Sonic stood up and looked from behind, seeing what Shadow was talking about. "Oh! Sorry, sorry." He stepped away by going up a few steps. "Come on, there's only a few more places where he might be." With that, he pressed on without looking back. Shadow closed his eyes and told himself to uphold his temperance.

They checked the bedrooms, the guest rooms and the master bedrooms. They checked the bathrooms on this floor as well, and they were on their way to the torture room. When Sonic got closer to the room, he was becoming slower and slower. The room had a lone black metal door. Sonic just stopped moving and just leaned and slumped against the wall. His expression became discouraged, and he just looked down with his face darkened. His arms were hugged on each other below his chest, and he didn't get any closer to that door. Shadow saw how uncomfortable he looked about that door, and assumed that going inside with him was out of the question. This was the place where Scourge tormented Sonic.

He tried making a small laugh and a grin, but it was lopsided and fake. "Just yell if he's in there, alright? I'll come runnin'." His face drifted back downwards, and his fake smile vanished. "Go on...without me. I'll stay out here..." His tone, was dark.

Shadow didn't like that at all. He frowned at this. "..Are you fine out here by yourself?"

"Yeah." Sonic replied quickly.

Shadow knew he wouldn't get anywhere with him if he tried talking to him. Besides, he couldn't blame him. Shadow was no stranger to physical torture, but not like that. What Sonic went through was a complete mind fuck of suffering. He wouldn't wish that upon anyone, except for Scourge. "Very well." He agreed to his choice and entered the room. When he used the handle to open it, he had to use a bit of force. It was a little heavy. When he got in, he recognized everything Sonic described to him. But what really set it off in this room, was the HOME SWEET HOME sign, and metal chair. Yup, this was the place alright.

It was definitely used not too long ago. He even smelled a very faint aroma of Sonic's natural scent. His organic smell of flowers, but it was masked with something else. It surely wasn't Sonic's scent, and it smelled like heavy cologne. Now that he thought about it, Scourge did wear some kind of noxious perfume when they first met at Tails' house. Everyone was so rattled up, they didn't even notice. Also, Shadow felt something weird here. The same feeling he felt when they were at the front doors. Then, the bed that was in the back was a mess. Someone slept there a while ago, and it was probably Sonic. Other than that, he didn't find any traces of evidence that anyone was here. Scourge and his little gang really was gone.

But, under that bed, something was there. He saw a small streak of orange. What was that?

"Ngh! Hands off, asshole!" That was Sonic's voice from down the hall. Shadow skated himself out of the room and peered over to where Sonic was previously. Three bulky Moebians in black cornered him and had him pinned against the wall. One was a wolf, the second was a bear, and the last was someone who was slightly smaller. Some kind of hawk, who had Sonic in a choke hold. Of course he'd get himself into trouble when he left him alone. That still didn't excuse the fact that they were putting their hands on his ally. That wouldn't go unpunished.

Shadow advanced towards the three and had his fists ready. When he was close enough, he went for the bear first. He reached up and grasped his hand into the back of his shirt and yanked him down to his level. The Moebian in black looked back with a shocked expression, until he felt the back of his head fur get in a grip lock with Shadow's fingers. Since Shadow was shorter, it was actually craning both his back and neck in a very unusual position. Shadow retracted his arm, before ramming it back in the direction to the wall. He smashed the bear's face into the wall and did it more than once with strong blows. The other two Moebians backed away from Sonic when they saw their fellow member get his face destroyed. With one last smash, Shadow snatched his hand off of him, and glared at the other two.

The hawk was furious, but he was dumb. This would be over in a second. He recklessly tried throwing punches at the hedgehog, but Shadow was breezing by them. He threw another punch, and Shadow caught his arm in his hand. He pulled and tossed the lackey down onto the dusty floor. He stomped his foot onto his back and repeated the action, making his opponent continuously groan in pain. His next and final stomp landed on the back of his head, knocking him out instantly and shutting him up for good. The final underling of Scourge's seemed to panic. He just winced from Shadow's death glare and charged at him. When the red-eyed Prime Mobian stepped aside, he caught the wolf by the collar of his stupid black outfit. He rose him up from his feet and dragged him away. Sonic just sat against the wall and watched with dilated eyes as Shadow went down the hall to the spiral staircase where they came from.

His blue ear twitched as he heard some pleas and cries for help, but then he cringed. Because he heard the sound of a bone snapping, and the slamming and thuds of something heavy falling down the stairs. He heard some footsteps and watched Shadow return to him once again with a small amount of blood on his glove. He looked up at him and raised a brow. "He's not dead, right?"

"No." Shadow inadvertently replied. He looked down at Sonic and crossed his arms. "Hurt?"

"No." Sonic said back.

"Then get up." His tone was entirely indifferent. Probably because he had to save Sonic's butt a second time today. Sonic sucked his teeth and got up on his own.

"Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome."

Both their ears flicked against something coming from the open torture room. It sounded like moaning, like someone was in there having a hard time. Shadow was perplexed, he thought no one was in there. The two hedgehogs looked at each other briefly before moving into the room instantly. They looked around for the source of the noise, seeing exactly what Shadow saw before, nothing. There was nothing and no one here, so why were they hearing something? And there it was again. Sonic saw something in the back of his vision, and looked back at the bed. He motioned for Shadow to follow, and slowly moved over to the messy bed. The sheets that covered the side moved like curtains. There was something underneath.

Sonic squatted down, and rose his hand up to the cascaded sheets. He slowly lifted them up and lowered his head to look under. Shadow was right beside him, and felt that weird feeling from earlier grow even stronger.

What or who was in here?

END - 10

Reviews are nice. Thank you to the few who constantly do it with every post.

Also, there's only one bonus trait for this chapter.

1. Scourge doesn't just ignore Rosy, he mistreats her very badly when she annoys him. With Amy, Sonic tries his best to keep his patience with her, and not to hurt her feelings even when she irritates him.