Chapter 11

Caught the Flu

Author/Cast Commentaries

DL: Okay, another disclaimer! (pulls Shadow up) Here ya go!

Shadow: What? Why me?

DL: Because Shadowpaw's sick. Didn't you read the chapter?

Shadow: No, considering you just put it up…

DL: Yea, but...it says 'Caught the Flu'! (points at chapter title)

Shadow: Yeah, but it doesn't say who.

DL: Oh, yeah…well, do the disclaimer and I'll explain!

Shadow: (sighs) Fine… DL does not own me, Sonic and the others, nor Sonic Team's other…unique…things. She owns her characters, (her friends own theirs) and her and her friends own the plotline (sorta).

DL: Of course, now I'm working more independently. But, for those who know what I'm talking about, it's almost time for 'hate'!

Shadow: (question mark appears over head) '?'

DL: I said 'for those that know what I'm talking about'!

Shadow: Whatever, can you just put up the chapter already?

DL: YES! Fine! Here it is!

"ACHOOO!!!"

Shadowpaw lay in her bed, a thermometer in her mouth, a box of tissues beside her on her right, and a huge pile of used ones on the ground. The pile was about a foot taller than the top of the bed.

She was sick. And she hated every minute of it.

So far, her and Shadow's search had proved unsuccessful; no computer room, no blackmail. Simple math problem. Zero equals zero. She had even snuck out and climbed up the wall to look into windows, trying to find something that could lead to something. And did I mention it was in the pouring rain? And she had been outside for hours?

Yeah. And that was what resulted in this.

After she sneezed again, Cream came in and took the thermometer out of her mouth. She shook her head. "Ms. Shadowpaw, you have a fever. You're burning up!"

Shadowpaw was about to say a sharp retort, but she sneezed again and wiped her nose with another tissue. She threw it in the pile and ended up mumbling, "And this time I didn't put it on a light bulb…"

Feather was outside of the room. Shadowpaw didn't want him to get sick, although she wasn't sure he could, so she kept him out of her room. He sat beside the door and kept trying to sneak in. Shadow walked past the door, but he stopped and came back to look down at the little Chao sniveling. "Why are you outside?"

Feather sniffed and pointed at the door, and they both heard a loud 'achoo!' They also heard something clatter to the ground and Cream saying, "You scared me, Ms. Shadowpaw! I dropped the thermometer!"

Shadow peeked in through the keyhole and watched as Shadowpaw grumbled to herself and blew her nose. She threw the tissue onto the ground and sighed. "I hate being sick…it makes me feel…powerless."

Cream smiled at her. "Its okay, Ms. Shadowpaw! I've gotten sick many times, too!"

Shadowpaw glared at her as she sniffed. "And that's supposed to help me how?" Cream giggled and bent down to look in her little bag. "You're funny, Ms. Shadowpaw!" Shadowpaw growled, agitated. "Stop it. I'm Shadowpaw, and we're not in the Middle Ages. Stop being all…nice and manner-freaky and everything…"

Cream took out an icepack from the bag and put it on her head. "There! That should help your fever go down!"

Shadowpaw crossed her arms and grunted. Cream giggled again and went back to looking in her bag. She took out a little Chao doll and handed it to Shadowpaw. "Here's a friend to keep you company!"

Shadowpaw looked at the doll. "Umm…gee, uhh…thanks."

Cream nodded, but something seemed to come to her mind. She looked at her and asked, "Where's Feather?"

Shadowpaw motioned towards the door. "He's sitting out there. I won't allow him in, in case he gets sick."

Cream smiled. "Well, that's really nice!"

Shadowpaw just scoffed.

"But who's going to take care of him?" Cream questioned her. "I'm going to the store with Tails to get some things on his list."

Shadowpaw shrugged. "I have no clue. Who wants to take care of a little rascal like him?" She smirked to herself. "Little stinker, him…" Feather from the other side of the door stuck his tongue out and made a rude noise towards her, and Shadowpaw's smirk got even bigger. "Yep, just like me; always getting into trouble."

Cream frowned. "But who will take care of Feather? He can't be by himself! He'll get lonely…"

"I don't know! Does it look like – achoo! – like I know someone who will look after him?"

Cream shook her head, and Shadowpaw sighed. "Well, ask everyone here before you go; I can't exactly walk around in this state, although in any other case I would."

Cream nodded, and Shadow moved out of the way of the door as Cream walked out. She didn't see him, however, and continued on past him down the hall. The door closed behind her before Feather could squeeze in, and he sniffed again and cried out, "Muhva!"

Shadowpaw answered, "You can't come in, Feather! You might get a cold! Cold bad!"

Feather just sat down and kept sniffing. Shadow found the spectacle rather odd, and then he decided he was going to…keep Shadowpaw company. (Yeah, sure, he's pulling a 'DL' move there!) He pushed the Chao away (gently) with his foot so he could open the door without him getting in. He poked his head in to see Shadowpaw's back facing towards the door, mumbling something dark about crazy rabbits and rabbit traps or something of the like. She was oblivious as he slipped in unnoticed, closing the door in the poor neglected Chao's face before he could sneak in with him.

Shadow smirked at her back. Oh, what fun it would be to scare her like this…will she jump to the ceiling, or just fall out of bed? His eyes sparkled mischievously, and he tiptoed quietly over to her bed. He was right behind her, so close he could see her body rise and fall gently as she took a deep breath and sighed. She muttered, "Colds suck…"

Just as he was going to say something…

"What are you doing?"

Both of them leapt up into the air, Shadow whirling around to face Sly as the feline behind him (as he had predicted) fell off of the bed. She rubbed her tail gingerly as she glared at the red fox, asking, "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing. Just…" He frowned at the pile of tissues beside the bed. "Are you sick?"

The two both rolled their eyes as she answered him, "No, I just – achoo! – wad up tissues into balls and throw them for fun."

"Don't bite my head off." He continued to frown at her, but then he brightened up and stuck his hand into one of his gloves. "Hold on, I think I have just the thing…" He ignored their stares as he searched for whatever it was, before he gave a small 'aha' as he took a bottle out of the glove. He shook it slightly, grinning at the corresponding rattle of pills, and handed it over to Shadowpaw as he told them both, "It's super effective, but makes you a tad drowsy. Don't overdose!" He gave her a smile before he turned around and walked away, leaving Shadowpaw blinking in confusion as the hedgehog glared at his back. Damn him, ruining my chance…

Then, before either of them could say anything, Feather flew in via the left open door and tried to tackle her, yelling, "Muhva!" Before he could get to her, however, she quickly stuck her foot out and held him back with it, and as he desperately tried to get around it she told him, "No, Feather! Agh, damn Sly for letting him in!" She motioned towards Shadow. "Help!"

He had half a mind not to, but the glare she sent after a moment of him not moving made him change his mind. He picked up the Chao, and as Feather glared at him and stuck his tongue out, Shadowpaw suddenly brightened up and said, "Hey, wait! I have the most wonderful idea!"

"Uh-oh…" Shadow muttered, immediately apprehensive.

"Hey, Shadow, you do know you're my best friend, right?" She smiled oh-so-sweetly and said in a sickeningly sweeter tone of voice, "And best friends do favors for each other!"

"…Yeah, but –"

"Great!" She gave him a quick hug, secretly using that moment to turn him to face the door. After she let go, leaving him standing there in shock, she gave him a rather rough shove towards the open door and said really fast, "So-that-means-you-can-watch-after-Feather-right?" As he stumbled out the door, she continued, "Thanks-so-much-I-love-you-to-pieces-bye!"

For some reason, the door slammed shut behind him (magically!), leaving him outside of her room with her Chao. He looked back at the closed door, seeing if his glare could open it back up again, but it didn't budge, and he gave a big sigh and looked down at Feather at his feet. The little guy was sucking on his hand like a baby would its thumb and was looking up at him innocently. How could a little guy like him be so much like his 'mother'?

Suddenly, Shadow had an immense pain in his leg, and it took him a moment to blink and realize that that 'little guy' was now trying to take a hunk out of his knee with his teeth.

Oh, yeah. That's how. After he snatched the Chao off of him, he added to himself, not that she's bitten me. But she might as well. It would make it easier for me to kick her. Glaring at the Chao now in his hands, he grumbled, "Now, what to do with you…"

Suddenly, the little guy grew a smile that was surely something spawned from a demon that lived in Hell. Uh-oh…

Later…

Cream walked into Shadowpaw's room only to see the feline sitting up in her bed with a strange smirk on her face. She had a sketchbook in her hands, and she was drawing furiously, not seeming to notice the young rabbit that just entered her room. It was only when Cream gave a small 'achoo!' that her ear flicked slightly before she looked up to look at her. She teased, "Don't be getting sick on me now!"

Cream giggled and hugged her unexpectedly, causing Shadowpaw to falter in her drawing, before the rabbit suddenly took the book up and asked, "Whatchya drawing, Ms. Shadowpaw?"

"Gimme that!" Shadowpaw quickly took it from her, careful not to bend anything, and as she examined her picture she let Cream look over her shoulder to stare at the paper she had been working on. She had felt kinda bad for leaving Feather with Shadow, and she decided to draw a picture for the Chao (ha! I bet you thought I was talking about Shadow!); it was a picture of him with his trademark toothy-grin and an apple in one hand, like the first night she had him. She gave a short smile, satisfied with the picture, before looking at Cream and asking out of curiosity, "Where's Feather?" Of course. She wouldn't ask about Shadow.

"Well…" Cream looked a little uncomfortable. Immediately, Shadowpaw narrowed her eyes, but the rabbit quickly said, "I-It's not anything super bad! It's just…well…"

Crash!

"Well, what?" She seemed to ignore the crash from downstairs.

"Do you think that…Shadow will be okay?"

Meanwhile, downstairs…

"Holy frickin' shit!"

Shadow fell down the stairs for the fourteenth time that hour as Feather giggled from above. As he hit the bottom, he quickly got up and ran up the stairs, satisfied to hear the little whelp yelp (I rhymed!) in terror and begin to flee. Getting tired of chasing him, he revved up his jets, hoping that he wouldn't have to do any sharp –

Wham!

…turns…

In Shadowpaw's room…

"Oh, yeah, he'll be perfectly fine." Shadowpaw smiled as innocently as possible, trying to hide the devil horns that threatened to pop out of her head. "Don't you worry about a thing!"

That evening…

Shadow wearily knocked on Shadowpaw's door. He grimaced as he noticed how weak it sounded. But he was so damn tired. That Chao had given him a run for his money the entire day; first falling down stairs, and then eggs in his fur, and then he had broken his 'Shadow the Hedgehog' game. I mean, sure, the other stuff all sucked…but breaking his game…now, that just went too far!

Now I'm gonna have to play Sonic Heroes… He groaned in frustration, but silenced when he felt the bundle in his arms move a little. He looked down at Feather fast asleep, barely hearing a mumbling of 'dada' in his sleep.

Once the little tyke had gotten tuckered out, it was easy to round him up and give him a scolding he wasn't listening to. All he did that showed he even recognized Shadow's presence was his constant taunts of 'stoopid' and annoying calls of 'dada'. Still, he did look…well…like Cheese when he was sleeping. And Cheese was cute and innocent. No, he wouldn't go as far as to say that Feather was innocent, let alone cute. I mean, he was Shadowpaw's Chao. No need to compliment her, after all. (DL: 'Spitting image of his mum…') She's the one that frickin' left me with this little shit…

Finally, the door was answered by a half-asleep Shadowpaw, who had her eyelids halfway over her eyes as she gave a big cat yawn. Her hand raised to cover it, she spoke around it, "Whadya want?"

He held out the Chao to her, grunting, "Chao." He wanted to get rid of this burden as soon as possible.

She stood there for a while, staring and blinking owlishly, as he waited expectantly for her to take Feather away from him. When she did not comply, however, he waved his hands holding the Chao a little to catch her attention. The feline, however, seemed to have slipped off to some strange state of sleepwalking, for she just stood there with a dazed look on her face. Wanting to be relieved of his duty now, he pushed Feather towards her, his fingers slightly grazing her overcoat (yes, she's still wearing it).

Startled out of her stupor, she raised her hands in alarm only to find that they grabbed his hands in retaliation which held the sleeping Chao. She froze, now wide awake, as the warmth from his gloves shocked her into silent staring. Looking first at the hands which she grasped, her amber eyes trailed up the strong, obsidian-furred arms, past the fluffy white chest, and up at the surprised look on the hedgehog's face. Not knowing what to say, she remained quiet as the Chao sat forgotten in their hands.

Puzzled by her behavior, Shadow was reminded of Feather when said Chao shifted in their grips, as if uncomfortable by their uneven pressure. That seemed to break the 'spell', for Shadowpaw quickly pulled her hands away with the Chao in hers now, turning her back to him as if to hide her face. Wait, she was hiding her face…what was she…?

Then, it seemed they had, indeed, awakened Feather, for he gurgled, "Muhva!" He gave her the best hug he could, what with his short arms, and she patted him on the head stiffly and muttered, "Yeah, yeah, go back to sleep…" Her mind seemed to be on something else entirely. After Feather blinked innocently (he didn't fool Shadow, however), he looked past his 'muhva' to see the hedgehog standing there quietly. He gurgled and reached his arms out towards him, saying rather loudly, "Dada!"

"Wha?" Shadowpaw turned her head with the ghost of red staining her cheeks to stare at Shadow, whom her Chao was pointing to. She blinked. "Da…da?"

Feather nodded. "Dada!" He flew out of her grasp and up to Shadow, hugging his leg tightly and repeating, "Dada!" The little guy seemed oblivious to the tension he had created in the hallway. Shadow stared down at the Chao attached to his leg, wondering why he suddenly seemed to be calling him 'daddy', and why him. It could have been anyone, but no, it had to be him. And, if I'm right, parents are people you 'love'. And yet, he disobeys every single thing I tell him to do. Why is he calling someone he hates 'daddy'?

Shadowpaw stared at the two before her with a strange feeling giving her goosebumps. Why is Feather calling him 'daddy'? Feather seemed to be extremely happy, hugging Shadow's leg as the hedgehog stared at him regretfully. What did Shadow think of this? He didn't seem to be very happy with the Chao's newfound affection towards him (DL: Actually, his exact thoughts are damn, but…) …in fact, he looked rather tired, and weary. What the hell did Feather do this time?

Feeling a little guilty for giving him 'custody' of Feather temporarily, she bent down and grabbed the young Chao, removing him from Shadow's leg, and straightened up quickly to turn away. When she did, though, Feather gave a small whine and gurgled, "Dada, dada!" He waved his arms over her shoulder in an attempt to grab Shadow for another 'hug'. Both anthropomorphs were still, standing quietly as the thick and heavy silence that had fallen after the Chao's pleas nearly suffocated the two. Shadowpaw really had no clue what to do; she was going to go mad if she had to deal with Feather calling her 'muhva' while he called Shadow 'dada'. After all, the prospect of the two being together in any way, shape, or form was…was…unbelievable! But, being a little guy like him, he didn't know any better, and to scold him or do any other sort of negative actions towards him could cause him to get sad and start crying or decide to be a spoiled little brat. Besides, wasn't it good for little kids and such to have a fatherly…figure?

Man, since when did taking care of Chao have so many complications?

"Err…" She looked down at the Chao, not knowing what to do. "Uhh, Feather –"

"Dada!"

"Feather –"

"Dada!"

"Feather –"

"Dada!"

"Feather…"

"Da – da!"

"Fe -"

"Dada!"

She was starting to get a headache and was beginning to go over in her mind the possible things she could stuff in his mouth to make him shut up. (A sock would do nicely. Always has, always will. Classic…) But, she had to get him to stop without hurting him (damn!), and so she quickly made a difficult decision.

"Umm…say 'goodnight'…to…'dada'…Feather."

"Nightie-night!"

Ignoring the surprised look on Shadow's face, she quickly turned away and walked briskly inside her room. She closed the door enough so only a small crack was left, and she gave a big sigh and muttered, "I'm never going to have kids, ever."

(DL: If only she knew...)

(Shadowpaw: Knew what?)

(DL: Nothing! (smiles innocently))

Then, her ears perked up as she heard something that sounded like chuckling…or was that snickering? She looked around, found no one there, and then looked outside. The hallway was empty, however, and so she was left to ponder who it could have been…

Meanwhile, following Shadow…

As he lay on the bed in his room right beside the feline's, he found himself still smirking at her comment to herself. He could still see her face after she had called him 'dada' for Feather's sake, and it was something he really wished he had taken a picture of. I hope that little brat gives you hell!

"We will soon be arriving at the corner of the streets 'Pay' and 'Back'…"

He gave another short laugh at that, not caring if anyone heard. So what; they heard the Ultimate Life Form, who was also one of the moodiest hedgehogs around, laugh.

It was a handsome one. They should get over it.

Ha, I couldn't help but put the last few sentences there! I mean, Shadow is arrogant as well as stubborn. Why not put it into this story? Besides, I KNOW you all think he's hot! (snickers) Not me, though; he's just frickin' cool. Besides… (sweatdrops) I don't think I've really ever heard him laugh, other than during the ending scene on the neutral path with the hero ending on Shadow's game. But…that wasn't a happy laugh; that was an evil chuckle – a cackle, even! (shivers) Creepy…

ANYWAYS, how will they all deal with Feather's random bouts of craziness? How will Shadow deal with Feather calling him 'dada'? How will Shadowpaw deal with it? And how much chaos will ensue in the next chapter?

You'll find out in the next 'spike-straightening' chapter (ooh, I just gave you a spoiler! Shame on me!) of 'Just Your Regular Daily Chaos'!