AN: Whew, a tenth chapter! Sweet. I'm afraid the next chapter won't be next monday as it will be xmas on that day! However, I will update sometime during that week so please have patience for the chapter after this one. Merry Xmas everyone!
Project Shadow: X3 Thanks for the 5 rating. If you liked that one then I hope you love this one!
Amentu Bennu: Well here ya go. XD
FeatherEars: He he, well y'never know WHEN the lovin' will occur. owo
ULFC: Thank you.
Warrior of Virtue: Who knows. o3o
Mya the Hedgie and Victoria: Rouge? With a cruiser? Are you insane? Nah, just joshin. XD
ZekeTF: Too damn right. o3o
Chapter 10:
Shadow was heating up some hot chocolate for Amy who's arms felt freezing when he held them while he walked her to the hut. Sitting beside her, the dark hedgehog offered the mug to her but the pink hedgehog didn't budge an inch. Shadow felt he was losing patience with her lack of movement but he knew the poor teen had a good reason. He swallowed his pride and sighed, blowing on the beverage to cool it down then held it up to Amy's mouth motioning her to drink it. Her eyes finally moved and stared down at the hot chocolate Shadow made for her then looked towards him. He replied back with a blank stare, taking the coco away from her and placed it on the floor to the side of the sofa.
"… Why are you taking care of me?" Her voice was croaked and somewhat dry. It gave Shadow the impression she hadn't spoken in years which was pretty impossible. What was more off-putting was the fact that Amy questioned his generosity. She was never one to do that. Perhaps Sonic's sudden rejecting announcement dug deeper than he realized.
"Why do you ask?" Shadow replied, somewhat curious but more concerned for her well-being. He wasn't exactly sure why he was taking care of her. Maybe it was out of pity or perhaps she was truly a closer friend than he realized.
"Don't I just get in your way? Or distract you from what you usually do?" She made it sound like he always thought of her like that. Somehow Shadow felt she saw everyone like Sonic, or perhaps she thought they all saw her like Sonic did. This was in no way good for her health. If she continued to act like this, she would become alienated from everyone and remain a wreck. The red streaked hedgehog had to think up something to help her.
"No." He didn't sound awfully convincing but Shadow was never one to lie. Even in her darkest and dismal of emotions, she could see he was telling the truth. Perhaps she was always in the way of everyone with how she always went running after Sonic and how she always put him ahead of everyone else. She's been so selfish for so long and didn't realize it. The young female began to feel tears manifest in her eyes and run down her cheeks. She leaned forward, holding onto Shadow's arms and cried into his chest. The dark hedgehog blushed in embarrassment and wanted to get out of it but knew if he did then he'd only hurt her. Once again putting his friends before his dignity, he held his arms around her and hugged her close to him.
"I'm so confused! Sonic was… hic… all I lived for and… and now I'll never be with him, I realize how stupid I… I've been… God… What do I do?!" She sobbed hard into Shadow's chest, clinging to him tightly and trying to calm her mind but so far all these questions made it worse. Shadow sighed and rubbed his hands up and down her back. He didn't know what to say other than insulting remarks concerning the faker but knew now wasn't the time.
Before they could get any closer and deeper into the subject, the ground quaked beneath them and shook everything. Amy suddenly beamed up and looked around quickly to spot what caused the sudden interruption. Shadow too was as curious and glared from side to side in the room. The door to the cabin suddenly burst open and a wet freaked out Knuckles stood in the entrance.
"Shadow! We got company!" He motioned for him to follow as he ran back into the rain. The dark hedgehog hesitated at first then looked over to Amy. He wasn't too sure about leaving her alone but she thought differently.
"Go, I'll be fine." With her nodding and standing on her own two feet without support, Shadow knew she was able to look after herself for now. Twisting around to run outside, Shadow kept a focused mind on helping his friends take care of whoever dared to cross him.
In front of the shrine, Knuckles stood with a deep glare into the skies above. Shadow jumped beside him and stared into the storm. Beyond the lightning and the rain a giant cruiser floated in the sky while slowly making its menacing way over the island. The guardian was hesitant at first then suddenly froze in fear.
"Was THIS the omen the Master Emerald spoke of…?" Shadow turned to him and frowned. Focusing back on the cruiser, he was in no mood for future predictions.
"Dammit… Since when were GUN holding back such a large battleship?" He managed to recall earlier on that day a cruiser with that size was flying high above the clouds of the city he took shelter in till he was exposed.
"GUN…? Are they even capable of creating such a weapon without anyone knowing about it?" Knuckles stared at Shadow.
"I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling we'll be swarmed soon." He wished he had the feeling. What he didn't realize was something much more devastating was to take place. The giant cruiser managed to cover the whole of the island under it after showing it's complete self from the camouflage of the clouds it hid above, also preventing the rain from pouring onto the island. Suddenly Knuckles attention was captured by something else and forced him to run up the steps of the shrine to the Master Emerald. Shadow was confused at first then warped up to Knuckles' side to discover what was going on. The guardian placed his hand on the Master Emerald and focused deep into the sacred gem. The emerald cried out again, warning the guardian of the coming destruction.
"… Oh no…" The echidna took a step back from the emerald with the expression of a parent who discovered their baby was soon to perish. Shadow was more confused than before and felt time was running out for everyone.
"What? What's wrong?!" Grabbing Knuckles by the shoulder, the hedgehog twisted him around and shook him to get him to focus on the now.
"… That cruiser's going to destroy this island!" He threw Shadow's hands off him and jumped down the shrine while glaring up at the cruiser with no way of reaching it. Shadow realized now what the omen meant and quickly warped to the top of the shrine.
Large machinery was heard twisting and clamping within the battleship. Suddenly a bright cyan glow revealed itself from the cruiser. The light was so bright it practically lit up the entire island. The circular dome on the underside of the cruiser opened up like three triangles coming apart from making a complete shape. Within the light a large cannon came into view and lowered itself down from the battleship and aimed towards the island. From how it charged, it seemed look as if it was bringing in energy from pure air. The auras that flowed into the tip of the cannon's nozzle appeared from nowhere and gathered into the enormous weapon, brightening its glow. Shadow felt a sudden sense of fear similar to Knuckles'. The cruiser was too far away to Chaos Control onto it and even if it was he wouldn't be able to destroy the cannon in time.
"What's going on?!" Amy ran from the shelter of the cabin and stood behind Shadow and Knuckles to locate the source of the blinding light. "GAH! What is THAT?!"
There was no time to explain. It was obvious what it was but by the time it would sink in they will all be dead. Shadow quickly grabbed Knuckles and Amy and warped them to the shrine.
"What're you doing?!" Knuckles demanded an answer from the black hedgehog. He placed the two of them onto the Master Emerald then jumped on between them.
"Just hold on!" Shadow kneeled down, taking hold of the top of the giant gem below him and focused its energy into him. Knuckles watched as the large cannon from the cruiser charge to powers beyond what any of them have ever seen. Amy quickly grabbed hold of Shadow's leg as the echidna held onto the emerald. Within seconds, all seemed to be covered in a bright light which wasn't radiating from the weapon.
"CHAOS CONTROL!" Suddenly they warped from the scene into thin air miles away from the island. Before they could all plummet into the sea hundreds of miles below them, the dark hedgehog kept a focused mind and used Chaos Control to keep all three of them along with the Master Emerald levitated. Treating the enormous jewel like a magic carpet, the three of them stayed positioned on it as they watched in the rain the giant cruiser reach its final stage of charging its weapon. Amy stood up on the emerald and held tightly onto Shadow's arm, worried something terrible was going to happen. Shadow glared at the cruiser with much anger racing through him. Knuckles sat there helpless and aware what was happening but felt it would take forever to sink in.
The cannon gleamed in its last second and fired a wide beam into Angel Island. The cannon fire ploughed through the earth of the island and ripped its way through the other side and out. Within a second the beam came to a halt and dissipated. Another second had passed before the island itself began to tear apart. Suddenly pieces crumbled off and earthquakes ensued within. The tall mountains ruptured and exploded with overflowing amounts of hot magma that trailed down and set fire to the forests and melted the ice. It wasn't long after that when the inside of the island exploded with terrible amounts of force that blew the entire landscape apart, sending each piece falling at high speeds into the sea below. The waves of the ocean engulfed the ruins of the island and drowned them.
As the carnage ensued, the three aboard the Master Emerald watched in complete horror and disbelief. After so many years the island itself was destroyed in a matter of seconds by a weapon of magnificent power and all life that treated the island as their home perished along with it. If the natural forced disasters of the dieing island didn't take their lives then the explosion that ripped it apart or the consumption by the sea would have. Amy felt she heard the screams and cries of all those who died on the island and found herself crying on Shadow's shoulder. He held an arm tightly around her to try and calm her down as he glared in frustration and disgust at the battleship that had brought its weapon of mass destruction within itself fleeing the scene with only its engines possibly half the size of the murdered island in view.
"…" That was all that could be heard from Knuckles, silence. The guardian leaned forward on the side of the emerald as his home sank into the dark abyss of the ocean. All his life he protected both the emerald and his home. Now he lost one of the treasures he held precious to him. All he fought for was gone, taken away in a heartbeat, by a monster of the sky.
"… Grr… Damn you GUN… Damn you…" Shadow cursed as he kept all three levitated in mid air. The rain pouring hard, the thunder storm booming in large amounts of volume and the sorrow of the Master Emerald appeared to affect them all.
SADNESS IN THE AIR! ;-; Poor Knuckles, poor animals on Angel Island. Evil is spreading in the air and the three survivors must solve what the hell is going on! I hope you enjoyed this long chapter because this had to be my favourite! n.n
Update next week but NOT on Monday for it is CHRISTMAS! Merry Xmas everybody! Have fun!
