...stirring beneath her four month hiatus...

...rising from the depths of Tartarus itself...

...lifting herself from the ashes...

...exploding from the debris of hell..!

SHE HAS RETURNED


Complicated Chapter Eleven

Manic's P.o.V.

"Well, we both know each other's ability…" I started slowly, gathering myself for the conversation that was about to take place. The idea of telling someone I didn't know all that well was… well, seriously setting off the paranoia I'd grown up with being raised on the streets. I was a little more okay with Flip hearing, considering I'd known him for a couple years. "You're a telepath and I'm an empath." I stated, just to get it out there. 'Wow that felt strange.' Shadow didn't comment on my apparent stalling and his emotions remained at a steady flow of interest and patience. Helpful. "Sonia and Sonic are the only ones who know about me- no, wait, I take that back." I was so stupid, how could I forget? "I have a lot of adopted brothers and sisters who know," I nodded my head at Flip to indicate that, obviously, he knew too. "About my empathy and Kleptomaniac. It's… kind of a package deal."

Shadow nodded and his emotions shifted slightly. "There are several creatures who know about my telepathy. I'm something of a parapsychologist, meaning I study ESP and the various forms it comes in when I get the chance." There was a little trepidation from him, he knew I'd get slightly antsy hearing that. "Revealing myself as a telepath is the only way I can usually get someone to trust me enough to share their ability."

He felt as if he was very comfortable with this, but I asked just in case.

"And you trust them not to tell?"

"Yes." Shadow nodded and I sensed a swell of confidence. Geez, his emotions didn't exactly come in small waves.

"I'll trust you on that," A burst of gratefulness.

"Whadda ya mean by 'study'?" Flip's lip had curled up a little and I could feel a sharp spike of caution from him, which was strange as he'd never been much of anything other than calm.

Shadow shook his head. "Nothing too intrusive, and what is intrusive is entirely optional. I ask them questions about their ability and if they allow me I do a…" He frowned in thought. "Mental scan, of sorts. The scan allows me to pinpoint where in the mind it stems from. Some creatures have refused to allow the scan and I have never pushed for it."

The scan sounded a little creepy, no way around it, but it made sense that he'd be into some branch of science considering he was raised around scientists in that Ark thing. He seemed to respect creatures' privacy and it was a logical thing to do, so I didn't let it bother me all that much. Though I doubted I'd let him do one on me.

"What are your standards?" I folded my arms and scanned his emotions carefully.

A generally accepted idea for paths of any kind (and yes I'd run into a few others here and there) was that of the standards.

The standards varied depending on a creature's moral compass but all paths had their own. Some were very strict and refused to enter another mind at all, while others could get… unethical. But there was always a line that a path refused to cross and knowing what Shadow's was would let me get an idea of how much I could really trust him.

His mind suddenly straightened out at the same time his voice took on a reciting tone to it. "Only enter minds when necessary with strangers and for creatures with given permission only when convenient or needed and never deep enough to get full thoughts. Only deep enough for intentional conversation and impressions. Never force a way into a mind and never go all the way in. Gathering information from current thoughts if lives are at stake but purposefully digging for anything is unacceptable. Walls are to remain up unless scans are being done and teach any creatures who know about telepathy how to create their own. Ask permission whenever possible. And never under ANY circumstances tell G.U.N. about ESP."

I stared at him for a few seconds as Flip snorted.

"Wow, do ya practice sayin' tha' in front o' tha mirror?" Despite his joke even Flip looked impressed. Shadow just rolled his eyes.

"Wow." I finally said. "I haven't heard anyone with standards that… thorough."

"Jewel, a biokinetic parapsychologist who I combine research with, assisted me in specifying my standards." He huffed slightly as my eyes widened at the word 'biokinetic'. "That's not even all of it – more of a summary."

"Wow." I repeated. "Mine are a lot simpler, mostly since I can only control my empathy to a certain point. Don't do anything to another's mind, keep my own emotions from influencing other creatures', don't use it all the way unless it's needed, the basics. I try to keep my empathy to myself but I can't turn it off, only dampen it."

"That makes sense." Shadow tilted his head. "Would you mind answering questions of how your empathy works? I believe I'll wait before thinking of asking about the scan."

"Not at all, though I might not know how to answer some of them."

"Hey guys?" Both of us started mentally, though I only noticed Shadow because of his emotions. Flip was just so easy to forget about! "Doncha guys think we should be gettin' back right 'bout now?"

With another start I remembered that my brother was awake and very likely waiting for me. If I wasn't back soon enough he and Sonia would be out looking for me, it was one of their rules about me being Kleptomaniac.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." I stood up from the edge of the building and stretched the last of the faded spasms out of my muscles.


It took a while for us to get back but luckily I'd made a mental map of the way there. While trying to quietly roll the boulder out of the entrance I had a thought.

"…How'd you guys get through the first time?" I quirked an eyebrow as I looked behind me.

"Lever system." Flip grinned proudly. "Ain't no place keepin' me out or in." I probably should have expected that, knowing Flip was pretty much an escape artist. That is to say he made escaping from anything and everything a form of art.

Holding the boulder as they passed I frowned. "Din't Sonic say somethin' 'bout a teleport thing ya c'n do?" I slipped back into my accent as I looked at Shadow.

He stumbled ever so slightly and the sharp wave of realization and embarrassment hit me. I snickered as he smoothly corrected himself.

"Rouge has the Chaos Emerald and even if I'd had it the energy use would have alerted Faker." He replied calmly.

"Nice save dude," Flip snickered, though not unkindly.

"Shut up." He paused and looked me in the eye. "I only just remembered the reason I initially followed you. Your mind is starting to split. At the moment it's obvious you have an alter ego, but much longer and Kleptomaniac is likely to develop into an independent personality."

My eyes widened. "What? But…" With a frown I dove into my own emotions. And… he was right. They were dividing. At the moment I still had access to both 'sides' of the split but soon enough I wouldn't. "Thanks for tha' warnin'. Any idea how ta stop it or fix it?"

"A few," Shadow nodded. "But that will have to wait for later."


Rouge's P.o.V.

I'd never really disliked Amy. When she'd tamed down the crazy fangirl thing I'd even started to actually like her. Spending so much time with her lately we'd started to become friends. I didn't approve of how much she depended on Sonic, but every girl her own.

Amy and I were roommates at the moment. We usually waited until the other had woken up before getting ready, and this morning when we got up for breakfast we found a very strange sight.

Sonia and Tails both weren't awake yet, but everyone else was sitting at the 'table' we'd made out of crates. Sonic was watching the entire debacle with a very very slight grin of amusement, but mostly curiosity and surprise. Knuckles was huddled at one corner looking like he'd eaten something sour and trying to avoid looking at anyone else. Shadow usually sat on a separate side of the table or as far away from everyone else as he could get but Flip sat cheerfully next to him talking to Manic, who was sitting next to his brother. Every once in a while Shadow would comment on something or one of the other two would ask his opinion on something.

"This is… weird." Amy whispered to me.

"You're telling me," I whispered back. "I thought Shadow hated Flip." Not to mention Shadow wasn't exactly this… talkative.

"What do you think happened?" Amy lead the way to breakfast, some fruits and scrambled eggs laid out for anyone to take.

"Who cares? Shadow's not giving everyone a death glare." Well except for Knuckles, but that was guaranteed considering they got into fights a lot. She hummed back in agreement.

Sitting down on Shadow's side that Flip hadn't taken I gave them all my favorite flirty grin. Amusingly, the only reactions outside of Knuckles usual grunt was Sonic and Amy rolling their eyes. Amy quickly planted herself next to her boyfriend and didn't look like she was moving anytime soon.

"Morning!" She hugged Sonic's arm happily.

He rolled his eyes with a smile and hugged her with one arm. "Morning Amy,"

Everyone gave their variations of 'good morning' and Manic and Flip continued talking while everyone else ate. As they talked good naturedly about some city called Theen I took the time to examine them.

Manic was definitely more relaxed. I couldn't tell why, but a certain tension in his shoulders was gone. His eyes were also… I nearly stopped eating in my surprise, but masked it quickly when he gave me a curious glance. Different people had different tells. Some had extremely good ones, while others were easy to read. I'd suspected Manic as having a difficult tell since I'd never gotten a good read off of him before but I didn't expect to find it so easily.

His eyes. It was like looking into a window, they were that easy to read. He and Flip might have been having a conversation about a city but there was an entirely different conversation going on judging by those babies. Was it subtext? Listening in closer there wasn't any indication of a second meaning to their words.

What the heck was going on with this hedgehog?! Just when I thought I'd figured something out about him, something new popped up.


Shadow's P.o.V.

'She's suspicious.' Manic thought to me. 'I think… oh dangit, she's looking me in the eyes.' He quickly moved to looking at Flip.

'What's so bad about that?' I did the mental equivalent of a raised eyebrow without allowing anything to cross my face.

Manic sent a 'flinch' feeling and slight mortification. 'It's my only tell. For some reason my brother and sister have always been able to see through anything if they can get a good look in my eyes. As Kleptomaniac that's never a problem, since it's always too dark and I don't exactly leave survivors, but I've never been able to stop whatever it is with my eyes.'

'It's fine,' I cut off the vague feelings of panic and paranoia before they became more than just impressions. 'Rouge is always suspicious. I'll deal with her later.'

'…Okay. But you do know something's wrong with her lack of respect for guys, right?'

'I always have. But there's nothing I can do about that and I'm one of the few she has any for, so I leave it be.'

'…Meh, good enough. Now what was that last question..?'

'Does your empathy react to the people around you.' I reminded him.

'Oh, right, well I guess yes. It depends on how many there are and what kind of person they are…'


Ha ha ha... I am not even gonna get into the reasons this is late. But enjoy. The "totally serious and intense talk" was probably not as intense as it could have been but I had fun writing it and it was important for plot reason.

Thank you Lightclaw's Shadow, AngelCake20, sonicxjones, Guest (Anonymous 1), Guest (Anonymous 2), and Guest (Anonymous 3) for reviewing last chapter!

[loudly screams DISCLAIMOR]