~0~ YIN-VERSE ~0~
"Oh, I- yeah. Come on in." Amy had considered shutting the door in their faces for maybe a millisecond before remembering Sally was a princess and a brick wall couldn't stop Shadow. All she had to do was play it cool, and there was nothing they could really do to her. Right?
She stepped back to let them in, trying to choke back a yawn and nearly breaking her jaw.
"Can I get you two anything?" Please please please assume I mean water or food.
"Actually, yes." Sally dropped onto her couch, right where Amy'd been sleeping. Shadow took a very reluctant seat on the edge of her recliner, looking for all the world a kid stuck in the dentist's waiting room.
"Project here came to me to complain about some girl stealing his private possession, and of course I thought that maybe you knew something about it." Sally had either forgotten that Amy could break her in half or she knew something that would stop Amy from doing just that. That grin she was wearing was a tempting target for a punch, though.
"Maybe? I might, I don't know." She sunk down onto a smaller chair, letting her shoulders slump and biting back another yawn. "W-what was it?"
"I don't think you'll have heard about it- peasants like you rarely do- but it's something called a 'Chaos Emerald'. Very powerful, very valuable, and very much owned by Project. Have you seen it?"
Amy sat quietly, thinking. Obviously she couldn't admit that she had, nor could she let on she even knew what it was, so might as well play dumb and hope they left her to sleep.
"I've never even heard of it. And you asked the Chaotix and everybody? I mean, it kinda sounds like their name and everything and they don't really have a good grasp on the concept of personal space."
"That's not the point, Amy, I'm asking you because Project said it was some stuck-up girl that stole it from him-"
"Excuse me." Shadow cut Sally off, and she whipped around to glare at him instead. He didn't even look at her, focusing on the point just beyond Amy's left ear.
"Yes?" Please don't call my bluff, please don't say you recognise me, please don't demand something else from me I'm too tired to deal with a fight-
"I'm sorry, but if you could please allow the princess and myself to discuss this alone-"
"Oh, it's fine." She stood up, proud that she didn't bolt, and fixed the blanket where it slid off her shoulder and exposed her scabbing wounds to cold night air. "Do you want me to get you water or something while I'm up?"
"Don't be ridiculous-"
"Yes, please." He interrupted Sally with a stare in her direction, which shut her up nicely. "Thank you." Amy nodded and shuffled her way into the kitchen, out of sight. His mannerisms were like something out of an old black-and-white movie with gentlemen who wore spats and top hats and ladies who carried parasols. It was . . . charming. Was this what her dream-Shadow had acted like, or was it something only this Shadow [who didn't really act all that dangerous] did?
When he could hear the tap turn on, Shadow turned to Sally with a 'I-see-right-through-you' stare.
"I get the feeling, princess, that you have a personal grudge against this girl."
"I have no such-"
"I certainly never mentioned 'stuck-up'. Or 'peasant'. And she isn't acting at all like I described to you." He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. "You know what?" [Back in the kitchen, Amy is getting the weirdest feeling of deja vu] "I get the feeling that you brought me here in order to pin the blame on this girl. A two-birds-with-one-stone sort of deal. Hm?"
"I- how dare you! I take the time out of my day to help you out and this is the thanks I get-" Shadow interrupted her furious whispering with ease.
"Don't try and turn this around on me, Princess." He bit the word out again, though he was careful not to let it carry out to Amy, who'd turned off the water and was moving something around. "I've heard the stories you've spread about me. I know you don't want me here in your precious 'hidden city', and I've definitely figured out that you don't particularly want this girl here either. The odds of her having my emerald are a hundred to one . . . and if I wasn't positive you weren't clever enough to take it yourself, I would think you were the thief. They looked enough like you."
"You think I'd lie to you about this?"
He looked her dead in the eye, and Sally was suddenly struck by the thought that his eyes being red weren't just a trick of the light. "Yes."
She shot up out of her chair, glaring weakly. "I don't have to stand here and take this insubordination-" Shadow cut her off, standing and towering over her.
"I am NOT one of your moronic little underlings, Acorn, and trust me when I say that if I have something to say you are going to listen." He narrowed his eyes, and some small voice in the back of Sally's mind bemoaned the fact that he was so uncommonly tall. "I came to you under the impression that, despite your lack of common sense, you would honor your role as reigning authority and grant me assistance. And yet, despite the responsibility you carry, you bring me here. To the home of a girl who has never, to my knowledge, made any act against me. What do you take me for, Princess," He growled, "A monster?"
He a didn't move, but the pressure Sally felt weighing on her shoulders doubled as though he had, and she sank back down. "Or perhaps you take me for someone like you?"
A crash rang through the house, breaking their eye contact and letting Sally gasp for breath. She pushed herself up and staggered out of the house, straight for her castle, trying to get away from the furious red eyes that would haunt her nightmares for weeks.
Shadow didn't notice, however, and followed the sound out to the kitchen and through the open back door. Amy knelt out on the patio, patiently picking up shattered bits of glass. The glass was colored, all ripply and warped, but for the life of him Shadow couldn't tell what it had been.
Amy hadn't noticed him yet, and for a moment he just stood there, silent.
He'd known that the Freedom Fighters [what a childish name] got hurt during their battles, none of them being trained as he had, but somewhere along the line he'd made the assumption that the younger ones were never near the crossfire. That little bunny, for instance, always got shooed away. This girl- he felt the stirrings of annoyance with himself for not remembering her name- had a black eye to rival his, numerous cuts from plasma bolts, and a sprained wrist if the way she wasn't moving her left hand was any indication. These people, he fumed, honestly. They claimed to protect everyone no matter who they were and yet they were no better than he was-
"-about this." The girl was looking up at him apologetically.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry about this." She gestured to the glass. "I hadn't been paying attention and I guess I knocked it off the windowsill when I went to water the plants-"
"What was it?" He knelt beside her, gently pushing her hands away and picking up the shards himself. He would knock them away [he needed them out of his way, after all] but she was hurt and he'd been taught better than that, once upon a time-
"A failure." Her voice went on, telling her story, but the train of thought he'd been locking away all this time came crashing back to him all at once. 'A failure', they'd called him, 'a scientific marvel, to be sure'- as though this should make him feel better- 'but a failure as a cure'.
~0~
"Professor Downe! Sir, this secret project of yours, why is it being shut down?" A journalist with a stupid hat called up to the man at the podium. He wore a loud jacket with patches in the elbows, though his face was generic and faded into the background easily.
"Project SHADOW has been a complete and utter failure in the eyes of the scientific community as a whole. The Board of Governors has hence decided to call a complete end to the operation-"
~0~
"A failure!" Gerald roared, smacking his hand against his desk and swiping his papers off onto the floor. Maria flinched next to him, and Shadow leaned into her as their grandfather tore a 'classified' file in half. "How dare they call a life-times work a failure!? A disgrace!? My team pulls together a sentient, perfected miracle with our ludicrous budget and those peabrains down on Earth DARE label him a failure-"
~0~
'ERROR'. Another failure. The glowing word on the screen bit as sharply as a snake, and he forced himself not to look at Maria. The escape pod was offline; probably sabotagued by those huge soldiers- the ones with those guns and glasses- so that they couldn't get away. They'd already tried and failed to turn on the others, and Shadow refused to try the small exploration ship. The pooling blood he'd seen outside the open door of the shuttle convinced him it wasn't worth it-
~0~
"I'm so sorry, Shadow," Maria sobbed as they ran down the hall, shouts and shots coming from behind them. He spared her a terrified, confused look over his shoulder before concentrating on making the turn ahead. Just in time they slid around, a bullet hitting the far wall. "I should've warned you earlier, but I messed up, I failed-"
~0~
"It's okay, shh, don't worry." Maria pressed her hand against the glass and smiled sadly at him. They'd made it to the cyrogenic pod storage, but only one was in position to be fired back to Earth and she'd locked him in it. Her hair falling over her shoulder [he'd helped her brush that hair, and now it was tangled and filled with ash] "Shadow, it's okay. I wouldn't last long on Earth anyway." She smiled at him again, but this one was covered in tears. "I love you, very much, and I want you to remember that, no matter what. I can't tell you how much I-" She flinched when there was a bang on the barricaded door, but continued. "You're perfect and I love you with all of my heart, Shadow. I'm just sorry I can't protect you the way a sister should." Her tears were staining her dress, and the door was breaking behind her. "I'm sorry you got stuck with someone as weak and silly as I am, and I'm sorry I can't stay with you now when you need me most." A soldier ran in behind her, gun cocked, but she ignored him as she slammed the release button. "I'm sorry. I really am a failure-" she was cut off with a gasp and a spurt of blood. The shots ripped through her lungs [the very lungs she wanted so badly to be strong] and the soliers face was cold and blank as she slid to the floor. The last Shadow saw of her was covered in tears and blood as the pod he was in began to freeze over . . .
~0~
What he'd been created for, his purpose, his reason; and they call it a failure? What about Maria? He was supposed to be a living, breathing sample of the synthesized tissue that wouldn't be affected by NIDS, he was supposed to be the all-powerful Project Shadow, he was supposed the be the one who saved Maria. He couldn't be a failure. That would mean letting everyone down- letting down Gerald, and the kind old woman who volunteered for testing so she might one day meet her grandchildren, the man whose dream was to be a pediatrician, the dogs and cats down in the testing lab Maria said they'd adopt when she was cured- letting down Maria. She was a princess, much more deserving of such a rank than anyone else in the world. She was too kind to deserve NIDS, too pretty and sweet and small [she called herself his older sister but he couldn't help but feel like she was the younger one when he had to carry her down to the infirmary] and he was lucky she even looked at him- and he'd let her down.
He was a failure.
An utter failure.
And he knew it.
~0~
When Sally and Shadow came to her door, Amy had a sinking feeling. When she was sent away, it felt like a whirlpool pulling at her insides. Shadow helping her with the glass made her spleen drop out . . . and when he passed out, looking like he was in the middle of a nightmare tantamount to her scariest visions, she felt as though a black hole had opened up beneath her heart.
This was TERRIBLE.
She dragged him inside, and somewhere in her panicked state she managed to thank god that she was a hedgehog- one of the strongest, pound-for-pound, mobian species ever. Which was an awfully weird thought to have while freaking out, so she forced herself to focus.
What to do, what to do.
Okay, first up; don't be stupid. Don't try and tie him up or act more powerful or dominant. He'll break free, then break you. Amy would need to just . . . act . . . normal.
Wait.
This sounded familiar.
She set him in a chair at the table and began putting together some tea at the opposite counter, where he could see her when he woke up. Freedom Fighters were all required to take first-aid classes before going onto the field, and Knothole [being the oldest faction] had a special class on veterans. In it, Amy'd learned about PTSD and how to handle anyone with triggers or mental problems. Something in what she'd mentioned to Shadow- maybe a gesture, but probably a word- had triggered memories of whatever had broken him. And something HAD broken him, she could see it in his eyes, and hear it in his voice when he spoke quietly. The thing to do- according to her instructor- was to react to it calmly, avoid using the trigger again, and make sure they felt absolutely comfortable when they woke up.
Amy was pretty sure she could handle that. She'd never dealt with it before, but it couldn't be hard to treat someone like a person. Even if they were scary and brisk and . . . alone.
He was kinda like her.
No, she thought, not anymore. I was found by all my friends back home, and I'm not alone now. I'm NOT. She smiled when she remembered how warm it made her feel inside, to finally accept that she belonged, to trust someone with everything after years of thinking she couldn't put that trust in anyone. If the Sonic here gave her butterflies, then Dream-Sonic gave her wings. And she could remember what it felt like before being found- cold and empty, even when she was happy or mad.
Shadow was, scary or not, a person. And if she- Amy Rose, refugee and pest- could be found, then he definitely deserved to be found.
And, given that he was currently passed out in her kitchen, she figured that this probably counted as finding him.
~0~0~0~
Hey guys. Sorry this chapter was later than usual- I was working on a personal project and managed to finish the whole thing today! I'm pretty proud of it, even if it is a bit rough.
Hello, new reviewer EliasxAmyNightcorePotterFan. I'm glad you like the whole SEGA vs. Archie thing- I've been having a lot of fun with it. And, just out of curiosty, what/who do you mean in your username by 'EliasxAmy'? Amy Rose and Elias Acorn, or other characters entirely?
Hey, it's The footballer again! Yeah, I've actually got a couple more chapters stockpiled after this one, and there isn't any danger of me not being able to write [at least until school starts].
So! Sally has absconded! Shadow has suffered an attack, unfortunately due to the use of a trigger on Amy's part! [If I wrote the triggering thing wrong, PLEASE tell me. I don't have any personal or professional experience with such things.] Amy has made a decision concerning her attitude towards Archie-Shadow!
What will happen next? [Ha ha, rhetorical question. Please answer it anyway, I want to know what you guys think.]
