Chapter 13 – Rituals, Rumbles and a Reunion.
A/N: The next chapter, and what a long one it is. Hopefully it'll give you all something to chew over whilst I frantically scribe the next one – you're reviews are certainly food for thought:
RGN – Thanks a lot of the offer; I take your point that getting reviews are nice, but the thing that's most important to me is knowing that the same people are still reading the series and it's keeping their attention well. If I know this is happening I can be reasonably certain that, once I take up writing professionally, if I write a series it'll hold the attention of my audience right through to the very end.
HHH – Owwie, busted foot; a point you might want to consider is if you have a hefty life insurance policy no-one ever told you about – that may explain why everything going seems to want to do you in. Anyway, hope you complete that picture soon – my comp needs a new strip of wallpaper!
DH – I take your point with Cream; she's growing up, but she shouldn't just change overnight – don't want to let her do a Kevin, but don't worry, she really pulls of a cute act this chapter. Oh, and regarding your other point, I swear I will explain Espio's deal later in the series (read the chapter and this should make more sense).
TG – I fully take your point; Sonic is one of the harder characters to write about and the reason for this is that fact that he has no real sort of back story. Think about it; who are the characters in the Sonic universe that are generally well pulled off; in my opinion it's Shadow, Knuckles and the SatAM Sonic – all of which have a well documented official history. Conversely, Charmy, Big and other characters without a well established history are more often got wrong; that's because it's harder to come up with a believable, creative character than use, or at least work from, an established blue-print. I'm trying to make my characters believable but at the same time not make them stupid; to give them the 'spark of life' they need to have quirks like everyone else; Sonic and Rouge, for instance, just can't behave themselves when they get together, just like people in the real world sometimes can't. Vector looks slovenly but is actually quite sharp, Big is beginning to accept his 'abnormality' and Mighty's helping that process, just like you would if your friend was suffering; a good rule of thumb is, when I think of scene in my head, I take a step back and think 'would that happen between people I know?' If the answer's yes, I write it, if not I modify it slightly until I think it would. Different authors scribe in different ways, but that's a decent rule of thumb I've come up with and it seems to have set me on the right track so far! (It happens in this chapter as an example – if your mate said 'here's a celebration my family celebrated, will you join me?' would you say yes?) Hope you're still enjoying this fic – have you read them all (apologies for AODAI not being as clear as later fics; it was a first attempt).
BTW, did you find out what haemorrhoid cream was:-)
Typically, just after he'd started drying himself out following his shower, Shadow heard the phone ring and, knowing Julie had nipped out to replace their dwindled milk reserves, he had to rapidly towel away most of the surface water and then squish down the hallway, hitting the receive button just on the seventh chime and immediately confronted by the face of Tails,
"Hi bud; sorry for the timing", he said half-seriously, pointing out unnecessarily where the water was dribbling out of Shadow's fur; trying to palm away most of the worst of it, the hedgehog smiled back awkwardly,
"Well stop being sorry and make more speed; it's freezing out here".
"Okay, right; just got the call from Knuckles and the rest of the Chaotix, the weekend's a go, Mighty's not due down here for a little while yet so yeah, time it right and before you know it you'll have Vector crashing at your place and Espio jumping out the shoe cupboard every other day". Shadow started to laugh, until he saw the look in the young fox's eye; no, he's got to be joking – he's just training his poker face, isn't he?
"No, I'm perfectly serious; ask Lara about the time she and Wyn woke up to find a piece of paper with the words 'you were assassinated in your sleep' on their pillow; Knuckles was in a fine old temper but, you know Espio?"
"Just practising right?" Shadow shook his head, the chill of his dampened fur suddenly forgotten at the thought of the everlasting funeral that seemed to parade around that reptile's frigid heart, "there's something seriously wrong there".
"I reckon it's 'cause he's never had a girlfriend" Tails suggested conversationally; Shadow's riposte was razor sharp,
"Oh, and you have, have you foxboy?"
"No, no I meant, that was hypothetical…" Shadow knew he couldn't do a convincing cute face, not the same way Amy or Vanilla could, but he gave it his best shot anyway,
"Aww, did Cream blush when you owned up to fancying her? Did you? You are now" he added evilly, smirking as the fox's face seemed to be undergoing some sort of spontaneous combustion event; Tails seemed to snap out of it, however, and without another word, leant forwards – as the screen suddenly blanked completely, the connection cut, Shadow was left to retreat to the warmth of his shower and snigger about how true Tails' claims of linked genes with his older brother sometimes rang.
XXX
"Alright Honey, hey Micah", the two echidnas waved at the source of the shout, Shadow emerging into a path of street lamp light, allowing his black fur to be picked out from the gloom of the early evening, "ready for another shot of fancy footwork?"
"As long as I don't have this lump trampling all over my spine", Honey admitted, her boyfriend giving her a dangerous smile out the corner of his eye, "this won't hurt a bit – famous last words".
"You're all right though; you barely weigh anything compared to the rest of us", Micah commented as the hedgehog drew level, the now threesome heading for their bi-weekly class at a sedate pace, "I doubt you even need the bars half the time, except when you're really going for the bony bits".
"True", Shadow commented, giving a slight skip to emphasise the lightness of his feet, "mind you, it was time I had a break in this; using the hands was a pain – I never saw anyone else having to press down to make an impression". Just from the look in the darker furred echidna's eye, Shadow could take a pretty well educated guess what was coming next,
"From what Honey said you normally make impressions by running away rather than pushing down", the blonde Mobian gave the hedgehog a carefree wink as he shook his head; am I ever going to live that down – I doubt it; "anyway, the rate we're going it'll be a few more weeks learning the back muscle tap-dance, then we'll be moving up to the head massages; that's what I'm really after".
"Why's that?" With a flick, the echidna send his dreadlocks whirling, Honey ducking slightly as the cords of fur travelled over her head and Micah answered,
"Take it from me, there's nothing in this world like having your dread roots stroked; that is just…ohh, you can't describe it". Hmm, that could be useful…;
"I'll remember that", Shadow stored that snippet of information away in his memory bank as a potential tool in the future; "Julie never mentioned it". At the mention of the name, Honey slowed up a touch and glanced sideways to ask,
"How is she anyway? Getting on all right?"
"Yeah, she's settled in fine; the EST's starting to slacken off her D.O now she's been clean for so long", Shadow answered casually, happy that someone neutral was taking an interest in Julie's life even if the two women had never actually met, "she hopes to be out of it completely by the winter".
"All she's got to do is keep going; sounds like a right tough nut they way you've been describing her though"; Shadow chortled at the comment from Micah before replying,
"Believe me you have no idea; mind like a tank and body to match – one clean punch from her would probably break me in half".
"Shadow, one clean punch from me would probably break you in half; I could hide you behind my thumb", Honey snickered at the hedgehog wrinkled his nose at her comment,
"Maybe, but you'd have to actually hit me first; I'd have you on the deck before you got your fist back to throw". Honey stopped entirely and turned to face her hedgehog, the smile on her face dark and simply brimming with challenge,
"Is that so?" Flicking his eyes up to see Micah give a slight nod, Shadow met her gaze head on,
"You bet it is"; for a second, neither of them moved, then, quick as she could, the smaller Mobian whipped her fist backwards, hoping to gain the second she needed with surprise. Honey lunged forwards, eyes closed as she waited for the impact that was coming, coming, coming…it was only when she was on the point of tipping over that she realised Shadow was no longer in front of her and she scrambled for her balance, just about managing to avoid falling flat on her face as there was a laugh from behind her; Shadow was stood shoulder to shoulder with her boyfriend, shrugging casually,
"Oh well, better luck next time blondie"; and what are you laughing about exactly?; though she hadn't managed to tap the black hedgehog as she'd imagined she would Honey took some solace in the fact that at least she was still on her feet,
"And you; in case you hadn't noticed, I'm still upright"; somehow, the sight of Shadow's malicious grin didn't reassure her all that much, a fact not helped when she finally registered the very slight twinge of pain from the back of her scalp. It was only when the black hedgehog brought up his hand and the faint light from above them caught on something thin and brightly coloured that panic galvanised her; with a shout of indignant disbelief, Honey snapped her hands behind her back even if she could feel her plait starting to disintegrate without the bobble holding it together.
"You, you git", realising it was a hopeless battle, Honey shook her head angrily, freeing all her hair to fan out down her back, "do you have any idea how long it takes to get this lot presentable in the morning?" Both the boys shared a glance before Micah stepped forwards, snagging the bobble from Shadow's fingers and presenting it towards her,
"Ah, you always look better with you hair down Henu, I've always said that. Besides, look on this as a new start; now you can try out a different style". Mollified somewhat by her boyfriend's words, the other echidna took her bobble and slipped it into one of her coat pockets, sighing as she shook her head again in a resigned fashion,
"Well, I'll have to lump it now – too late to do anything about it, but you owe me a canteen special tomorrow Shads". Seeing the barrel of her lethal finger homing in squarely right between his eyes, the hedgehog held up his hands,
"Right, you got a deal, now come on or we'll be late"; checking their respective watches and realising Shadow was correct in this assumption, all three Mobians sped up as so not to miss the start of their class.
XXX
"Hi Shadow, Tails rang while you were out", as he shut the door, Shadow pricked his ears as he rapidly worked out why, "you really are dreadful to him sometimes".
"I know he'd do the same if it was the other way around; hell, if he didn't I'd know something was drastically wrong" the hedgehog countered, heading towards the lounge where Julie's voice was originating from, "did he tell you about the weekend?"
"Yeah, he let me know – is Espio really as creepy as he was making out?"
"Oh you bet he is", he paused to nod in greeting as Julie looked up from the programme she'd been watching and smiled at him, "he's one of those people you have to meet to understand; just don't be too surprised if he tries to rattle you by some method or other". One chameleonic eyebrow rose, questing for a more through explanation,
"Such as?"
"Well he did try to garrotte me with a liquorice string once", he had to wait for her sniggers to die down before he could convince her he was being genuine; only when he saw that shock in her eyes did he carry on, "he's a useful guy to know, but he's cold, doesn't like people if you catch my drift, don't ask me why; he lives with Vector and Charmy and if they can't break through to him I doubt anything can". As she normally did, after a few seconds of dissecting his words, the echidna shrugged,
"To each his own I guess".
"Fair enough, anyway", Shadow made to unpick a question that had niggled at him for most of the night, "I was going to let you know about the meet this weekend but you weren't around; where'd you go after you went shopping? And did they have any milk left?"
"Yeah, I got enough for a couple more days, but I just needed to pick up…a few other things while I was out"; what 'other things'?; her pause made Shadow slightly suspicious – he had the distinct impression Julie wasn't being completely straight with him here, though he had to give her credit that she was hiding it well, "and they weren't easy to find in the locals; I had to go a bit further afield".
"Oh right"; still not sure what you're up to; as he tried to silently read her, she tried equally as hard not to give any of her apprehension away, "did you get it?" Summoning the remainder of her courage, Julie looked up and locked eyes with her housemate,
"Well, that sort of depends on you Shadow".
The statement put a serious spanner in his works; though he wasn't sure what was going on exactly, his imagination was suddenly taking liberties with a few points of artistic license and he was having to exert more of a struggle than he would have liked to curb the worst of it from sending the blood to his face. He would have liked to think his answering voice was firm and casual, but even to his own ears there was a distinct quaver to it,
"In, er, in what way?"
"Well", Julie squirmed a little on the settee, still not sure after the better part of three days thinking about how and where she should make this request, "I know I'm not affiliated anymore, but, in a couple of days, it would be a bit of an event in the Dark Legion's calendar; the Eve of Reaffirmation", she couldn't keep her gaze on his face, unable to see how he was reacting to this information as she scrutinised her lap, the next words contrite as she stumbled to continue, "I always liked this ceremony, the meaning behind it and, I was wondering if, well, you'd join me. You don't have to or anything"; gotta make that clear; she knew she needed to present him with a get-out clause and blurted it out immediately, "it's just, I think it's better to go through with it with a bit of company. Your choice" she added at the end; well, it's out in the open now – he can only say no.
I can't really say no to this; though anything to do with the Dark Legion made him uneasy, the exception to this rule sitting before him, the fact that Julie had asked him to undertake part of this ceremony, and the fact that it would be a glimpse into an uncharted world for him, was enough to get him to take a second look at this possibility. In order to buy himself a little more time, the hedgehog sank into one of the other seats in their shared living room and, taking a few seconds to phrase his question right, spoke up,
"This, ah, this ritual, what's it all about then?" Julie chuckled and raised her head slightly, not quite enough to meet his eyes but at least a step in the right direction,
"It's easier to explain once you've actually done it – it doesn't hurt"; well, that might be a bit of a lie – not much anyway; to hide that little fib she let her grin grow and sat back, "there's no carnal lust around a ceremonial fire or anything like that". As she'd expected, Shadow laughed even as he feigned disappointment,
"Aww, can't have a proper ceremony without a bit of chanting in the background and a couple of virgin sacrifices, or do you do things differently in the Legion?"
"We do things a lot differently in the Legion, besides", Julie had to have the last laugh as she rose to make herself a drink, "do you have any idea how hard it would be to find a couple of virgins in our lot?" Shadow grimaced,
"Too much information, too much information – man, strip poker and now this; did anyone actually do any work where you came from?"
"Only when they had an officer bellowing at them to do it, and most of them were the worst slackers of the lot", despite herself, Julie had to remember the time officer Rykor had come walking into one of her squad's illicit poker games and, after a couple of terse, tense moments, pulled up a stool and dealt himself in; that was before he started going serious – always wondered why he changed like that; shaking her head to dispel the illusionary memory, Julie put all her metaphorical cards on the table,
"So, you in?" After a couple more seconds umming and ahhing, Shadow finally made up his mind,
"Okay then, I'll try anything once; when is this night of yours supposed to be?"
"This Friday; day before I get to meet this other crew you mentioned; the Chaotix – where did they get a name like that?"
"Not sure; something to do with Charmy not being able to spell right when he was younger", no matter how hard he rattled his brains Shadow could never remember the exact words Vector had used when explaining how the then two reptiles and single insect had named themselves, "anyway, never mind them; Friday night then", he leant back in his seat to pat the back of Julie's hand as she walked past, "it's a date".
Though she didn't give any signs outwardly, Julie certainly felt Shadow's fingers linger a second longer than was strictly necessary as they caressed the back of her paw, and she didn't pull away from such attention either. Yeah, a date; she let out a breath, heavily charged with anticipation and nervous energy, as she walked back into the kitchen, making herself something to drink even as a faint spot of colour appeared in either of her cheeks; first one I've had in too long – I owe you one Shadow.
XXX
Aside from the first couple of minutes next day, where he had given Honey a casual wolf-whistle as she paraded her new hairstyle through the office, this time with two identical but smaller plaits swaying in tandem as she walked along, a lot of Shadow's thinking time was caught up imagining what was going to happen at the very end of the working week. The Eve of Reaffirmation; the very name itself was a mystery – though he was smart enough to work out this must be something to do with the Legionnaires repledging their allegiance to the Dark Legion itself, Shadow couldn't even begin to think how they would do this, what structure the ceremony would take, or even how long it would be. Now though, as he slipped his front door keys from his pocket and twisted the lock open, the ebon hedgehog realised there was only one way to find out, and it was the way he was taking now.
"Hey Jules", trying to keep things as normal as possible until she said otherwise, Shadow sounded out his customary greeting, "anything going on?"
"Not yet", her voice echoed back to him from the recesses of the apartment's kitchen, "give me about fifteen minutes; I'll call you when we're ready". The deadline was unexpected but not altogether unwelcome; up until now Shadow had harboured a niggling suspicion that this ritual would have been performed at midnight, or when there was no moon in the sky or under some equally ominous omen – somehow the knowledge that there would be some sunlight still in the sky when this celebration began lifted a little weight off his mind. Well, fifteen minutes; he toyed with the idea of showering but, no, there wasn't really enough time for that – he really needed to look his best for tomorrow to help Julie give a good impression more than anything else – okay, the Chaotix, despite the generally affable nature they jointly shared, didn't quite class as the cream of society but every little helped. With that thought in mind, the hedgehog headed for the bedroom, casually slinging his bag into the room ahead of him as he entered. Knowing full well that concentrating on anything else would be a wasted effort, Shadow flopped backwards onto the bed and tried, focussing every scrap of intellect and imagination he could muster, to wonder what he was about to partake in and, with a sudden palpitation around his chest area, why he had agreed to go through with it.
XXX
Though she couldn't be exactly sure, not having prepared this meal since she'd joined the Legion proper and left the catering corps forever and with few regrets, Julie was almost certain that was as close to the proper recipe as she could get it. Carefully, the echidna scooped up the two small plates and placed them carefully on the table, reaching into her pocket as soon as she'd deposited the plates; I know they should be lit with a stick of incense; she made peace with her memories of this event as she clicked the lighter on and began to set the first of the candles alight; but needs must when the bank funds are tighter than I'd want them to be. Breathing slightly quicker now, hoping against hope that this would go as well as she could remember it going, Julie pushed herself back from the table, took a long last look at her creation and then crossed to the doorway, poking her head around it even as she clicked out the kitchen light,
"Okay, ready as we'll ever be".
XXX
The call came faster than he'd expected and for that he was grateful; he wasn't sure if it was worse to be kept in the dark about what this ceremony entailed or actually being subjected to it. Well; a certain fatalism afflicted his tone as he heaved himself upright and slapped his knees; at least from her on in I've got a slight hand in the proceedings – and she did promise it wouldn't hurt. Mind you…; the slight twinge in the small of his back reminded the hedgehog precisely what had happened last time she'd said that; damn, and I didn't see if she had her fingers crossed this time. Slightly put out by this new angle of thinking, Shadow nervously reached out for the bedroom door handle and twisted, allowing him to view the entire corridor that ran right the way to the front door.
As there was no sight of a tall effigy made out of twisted strips of wood and no-one jumped on him with a ritualistic dagger screaming profane prayers at the top of their lungs, it was a step up from his most pessimistic predictions; in fact, the only thing out of the ordinary was the fact that, aside from the soft yellow glow that seemed to be peeping out from the crack in the kitchen door, there was no light in the short stretch of corridor. For a second he considered hitting the switch to the hall light but, stilled by a closer examination of the light he could see, he realised that this darkness had to be something to do with this Eve of Reaffirmation; apparently, he had to walk towards the light. After a second of squinting down the corridor to try and see any obstacles that may have been laid out in his path and assuring himself that there were none, Shadow set off down the corridor, his nose picking out the slight scent of melting wax and realising the light was coming from candles rather than an electric bulb. Slowly drawing level with the door, he felt a slight tide of excitement rise; here he was plunging headlong into a world as alien to him as Station Square had been to Julie; and it's up to me to face it down like she did; setting his shoulders, Shadow knocked quietly on the door as a precaution.
"Come in Shadow; take a seat"; at least we'll be comfortable while we're doing this then; the thought made him smile as he obeyed the echidna's command and let himself in.
His eyes darted all over the room even before the door was fully open; as far as he could tell, nothing much was different from a normal Friday night; there were a pair of plates on the table with, he raised an eyebrow at the unusual looking dish and how little of it there seemed to be present for each of them, one directly across from the other, coupled with a small shot glass to go with each plate, filled with what looked like water. Seven candles were lit on the table itself, three at each unoccupied side of the rectangle and one in the centre, burning brightly to illuminate a scene that some may well have called romantic, the small notepad and pen sat next to the seventh candle not detracting much from the ambiance as the hedgehog took in the last major piece of this puzzle; looking up, Julie gestured to the seat opposite her that she'd pulled out, ready for him.
"Sit down, this won't take long. Just do what I do, oh, but do not swallow this", she indicated the small tumbler of drink next to her plate, Shadow nodding at that snippet of information and immediately filling it away in the 'very important' section of his memory banks, "I'll, or you'll see why later". With a last sigh and slight smile, Shadow strode over to take his place; as he settled down, Julie looked over at him and winked, picking up her knife and fork before looking down at her plate suggestively,
"Right then", as he'd been advised, Shadow followed her example, "get stuck in". Like there's a lot to get stuck into; he hesitated for the merest second before, seeing the echidna carefully take her first mouthful, Shadow probed the mixture on his plate before, following a closer examination of the morsel he'd speared with a fork and hoisted to eye level, he licked his lips, bit the bullet and ate the first bite.
The taste was more charcoal than anything else; smoky and fairly indistinct but certainly not unpleasant as he rolled the mouthful around his tongue, sucking out all the juices present before swallowing and taking the next bite from the tiny portion he'd been provided with. Two, three, four more scoops he took; it was as the fifth and possibly last forkful was on it's way up that he looked across the table again; as if the sight of Julie with sweat on her brow, face screwed up as though something was causing her awful pain, set off some kind of a chain reaction, Shadow suddenly felt a sensation sweep right through him that brought a whole new meaning to the phrase 'fire in the hole'.
Compared to this the Tabasco sauce was like sipping lukewarm coffee; the black hedgehog had the impression that someone had accidentally set off a distress flare and was now attempting to stub out the resultant blaze on his tongue. The heat went so far beyond heat it was actually a searing coldness; perspiration erupted from every pore on his face, evaporated blood swam to the surface of every area of his body as he gagged, all his strength gone as he tried desperately to swallow, to stand up, to do something, anything, that could relieve the ungodly pain that was at the moment melting its way through his teeth. He choked as he was unable to breathe; any air he tried to draw in was instantly combusted to useless carbon dioxide, in another few seconds he was sure he'd faint and oh, he welcomed that, anything other than this sort of unimagined agony. His teary vision swam, but as he swayed, teetering on the brink of merciful unconsciousness, he saw a hundred Julie-Su's, each one knocking back the liquid in the little beaker that was close to the side of the dish. Water!; that would at least abate this blaze slightly – reacting on primal instinct, screaming at him to do something to stop this torture, Shadow seized the beaker so hard the glass creaked; he couldn't have cared less as he threw his head back and, as a result, most of the clear water inside made it into his mouth.
The result was completely unexpected and at the same time welcome and worrying; everything this strange substance touched instantly blanked out; as Shadow quickly gargled, he became aware that, while his mouth no longer felt like Hell's kitchen, it also no longer felt anything like his mouth. Dimly recalling something about not swallowing this concoction, Shadow glanced over to see Julie spit back into the tumbler; trying to follow suit, the hedgehog spattered the tumbler, the table and his hand with droplets of the numbing solution as he tried to evacuate the area between his lifeless lips of anything that wasn't atmosphere. Coughing and choking, anger at such callous violation seized his emotions and he made no effort to stop getting his point across; unfortunately, as he quickly found out, trying to shout was a bit of a wasted effort; what emerged from his vocal chords was something akin to a love-child between a high pitched yodel and a sneeze. What the…?; as he sat back, realising with a creeping sense of horror how he could no longer most of the front of his muzzle, Julie seemed to snort with laugher at his attempted scream; he glanced over as she waved a hand frantically back and forth as through warding something away. What does she want?; as he realised he couldn't talk coherently, Shadow had to find another way to communicate his lack of understanding and thus shook his head. It was only when she pointed at he notepad that he understood; before she could react, he snatched it up and popped the top off the pen, scribbling frantically, the words charged with venom and hurt as he vented his spleen at how she'd tricked him; tearing off the top strip of the notebook, he thrust both paper and pen towards the echidna, narrowly avoiding singing the fur on his arm with the flame from the central candle:
So much for it wouldn't hurt – that was low Julie, I trusted you this time.
Yeah; he sneered as her face fell from reading the note, unable to do anything but gloat as she must have seen just how deep the knife had gone in this time; I hope you feel like Hell for that one. His expression didn't change, not even when she picked up the paper and began to write something of her own, much more calmly and with greater clarity than the hedgehog had. Shadow tracked her intently with his eyes, watching on as he tried to think what excuse she could possibly use this time; the answer 'absolutely none' about the only one he could come up with. It was only when she put the pen down and handed the sheet of paper back, face open and, if not exactly abashed, at least hinting at feeling a little guilt, that he dropped his bale gaze for a second to see what she'd written:
Would you rather feel the pain, or feel nothing at all?
XXX
The question was so unexpected, so out of the blue, that his anger was replaced immediately by confusion; it was obvious there was meant to be a meaning to this question, but for the life of him he couldn't see it. Julie must have deduced this by his blank-eyed look and the way he was shaking his head; the sound of a scratching pen jerked his eyes up and he watched intently as she literally spelt out the answer for him. It took some time as she occasionally broke off, looking into space as she apparently tried to think of the best way to word a few of her sentences, but as he accepted the paper she eventually handed him, the result was so thought provoking, it was well worth waiting for:
That's what the Dark Legion is all about; there's nothing worse than death, not being able to feel anything any more. This ceremony used to be called the Eve of Enlightenment by Dimitri, but Eenerjak, his replacement, changed the title; this was the day the first grandmaster received his enlightenment that death could be and should be fought against and beaten. That meal you just ate, it caused you pain eating it but that's like life; some things in life are painful, but it's better to feel that pain that not be able to feel anything, like our mouths can't now, by being dead; the point of this ceremony is to remind us that life can be a bitch sometimes, but it's worth living for, worth preserving, in the end. So we understand that the goal of the Legion really is worth everything, every sacrifice; we rededicate ourselves to the struggle against death.
For a long time, Shadow could do nothing but read those words over and over again, each time seeing a new meaning in them and, as he relieved the very recent memories of the his fire-eating act, he thought he could gradually begin to see where the Legion was coming from, especially poignant in his case as he could relate to life being unfair and nasty more than most. But would I change it? No, of I course I wouldn't – I certainly don't want to die. Man; he swallowed a sudden lump in his unfeeling throat, shaking slightly as he managed to give Julie a weak smile, disguising his outbreak of insecurity; is Enerjak right about death after all? He tried to quickly but carefully sum up his reactions to this new information, this alien but alluring way of thinking; snapping his fingers and pointing for the pen, he was about to start writing when, as he screwed up his eyes to focus better in the dim light, he suddenly realised something. Counting to make doubly sure and remembering the history the guardians had told him about the first grandmaster of the Dark Legion, Shadow's hand blurred across the paper, excitement coursing through him as he understood, or thought he understood, the significance of the seven candles that glowed in the room with them:
The candles, do they represent the Chaos Emeralds?
XXX
He's got a sharp mind, have to give him that; as she read the question, Julie would have smiled had her lips been able to do so. Asking for the pen with her fingers and taking it as Shadow eagerly anticipated his answer, she lowered her head once more to scribe her answering words:
Yes; they were the light that opened Dimitri's eyes to the way to cheat death forever – the seven candles represent both the seven emeralds letting us see the way to living forever, and our own limited understanding compared to Dimitri's – after all, can you compare a candle to a Chaos emerald?
She pushed the paper, sending it fluttering towards where Shadow sat awaiting it eagerly; she saw him scanning the pages, virtually eating up the words she'd written as he read them. She saw his eyes crackle merrily as she assumed he'd read the last sentence; the hedgehog turned the paper over, finger underneath the last sentence and shaking his head. Julie gave a thumbs-up, beginning to reach for the paper again, only to stall the motion as Shadow retracted his own arm, face suddenly thoughtful as he lowered the paper back to the table and started writing once more, no longer hurried as he seemed to take more deliberation with these written words. Captivated by the deep thought she could see going into these words, the echidna remained silent as shadow wrote on, moving once more only when he set the pen down and slid the paper towards her, allowing her to see his views on the subject:
I never knew the Legion was so involved; before this I, like most of Echidnopolis, imagined they were just a bunch of 'techno-freaks' trying to take over Angel Island – I never thought about it like this. Dimitri never explained much during the little time I knew him but I could tell this aim, the aim of the Legion, was his heart and soul, but I never knew this side of the coin, that normal troopers got involved in this side of things too. I can understand why you'd not want to let go of dates like these, especially if you were raised with them; if there are other dates on your calendar, let me know about them.
The last five words, more than any of the others, were what gripped her attention; she knew, or at least she hoped she knew, why Shadow was interested in these dates, but she needed to be sure; holding up the page and pointing, she raised an eyebrow, a questioning look on her face. In response, the black hedgehog gave what might have counted as a lop-sided grin and settled back in his chair, indicating the pair of them, then the room at large, ending in a carefree shrug; if that means what I think it means; Julie felt relief wash into her like liquid honey; I really am so lucky it's not true. That Shadow would willingly, no, more than that, actively want to take part in understanding more about the world she had left behind, do it so she wouldn't feel so strange and out of place in this new city at the same time as broaden his own horizons; she reckoned she could count on one finger the number of echidnas who'd do the same, even among her workmates. She hastily disguised the sudden excess moisture in front of one eye with a cheeky wink, giving another thumbs-up as Shadow snorted with laughter at her attempting to mouth the word 'thanks' with virtually no control over her lip muscles. As he tapped the table, however, eyes flicking up and to the right, she followed his gaze and guessed from the pleading, perplexed look on his face what he was after this time. Pointing at the clock, she rotated one finger in a complete circle twice; Shadow's face fell flat, the he suddenly flumped back in his seat, arms crossed as he shook his head; Julie had to struggle not to laugh again as she made to stand up.
Even as she switched on the overhead kitchen light, she heard some puffing noises from behind her and, to her not-so-great surprise, by the time she turned around again, all the candles were extinguished and Shadow was already leaning over the table to collect her plate and add it to his own. Knuckles, those blessings you were mentioning; the echidna recalled her recent private chat with the guardian and, to her surprise, began to see more and more where he was coming from; they just increased by one.
XXX
Just before she got ready to sleep for the night, Julie ducked into the lounge, listening as Shadow caught up on the late-night sky-ball results; though the hedgehog knew he'd never make much of a player due to his lightweight build and the heavy tackles involved in the game, he was something of a supporter. As she opened the door and took a silent step into the room,
"You're team winning?" Shadow glanced around, shaking his head as he thumbed the remote to switch the set to standby,
"Thrashed four-one, diabolical performanth", Julie had to choke back a snigger as Shadow screwed up his face, whipping his tongue in and out of his lips as the last traces of the potent muscle relaxant he'd taken still lingered in his distorted punctuation,
"Sorry, come again?" An ebony eyebrow raised in distain as Shadow pointed at his mouth, emphasising the point as he answered,
"Feels like I've had a tongue thanthplant", he complained, still mangling his speech as he was unable to separate his words coherently, "thith one doethn't phit!" Even through her hand, Julie had to break down slightly, chuckling at the slurred words as Shadow was forced to wipe a fleck of spittle from his lips; after a few seconds, however, Julie managed to regain some control and walk forwards,
"Don't panic, it'll wear off by tomorrow; must affect hedgehogs worse than echidnas".
"Thtory of my life, and Thonith's; anything that'd lay uth out for a week juth bounces off Knuckles". Shaking her head the former Legionnaire came forwards to stand by the arm of the couch nearest the hedgehog, placing a hand gently on his shoulder as he glanced up,
"On the bright side, tomorrow you can bet your last crest if one of us is going to make a fool of themselves it's going to be me – you know these people after all, for me it's uncharted territory".
"Don't worry, at worst it'll be like Th…", Shadow closed his eyes for a second, apparently not trusting his lips enough to name his home city, "the place I came from; you already know Knuckles and Rouge".
"True enough, and thanks again", she gave the shoulder her hand was resting on a slightly firmer grip than before, feeling warmth on the top of her hand again as Shadow must have covered it with his own, "it's always better to go through that with someone else".
"I meant what I thaid Jules", Shadow's voice was reassuring, helping to wear away her sense of isolation and, even deeper and more malevolent than that, the thoughts of treachery, both to the Legion and to her new city that she still had a connection, however slight, to her life in the Legion and couldn't fully relinquish it, "anything else like that, let me know; if anything it'th interesting to know".
"I bet; anyway, I'm turning in – you?"
"Juth catch the news firtht, then into the bag for the night", Shadow informer her as he flicked the television back on, "a lot can happen in a day, and I'll guarantee more will be happening tomorrow". The echidna to the side of him laughed, pulling her hand free from his own covering one and running it quickly through the quills on his head, messing them up affectionately even as he tried to stop its progress.
"I'll take you up on that one Shads", stepping away, Julie made to say her last goodnights, "anyway, see you in the morning; early start?"
"Not too early; come on, I need you to be presentable and that doesn't happen until at least ten o'clock". The echidna stopped dead in the doorway, mock-outrage radiating from her as she thrust her hands to her hips,
"And what did you mean by that; I look great no matter what time of day it is".
"That's because you're desensitised to your own reflection", his comeback was as sharp as she'd expected it to be, "the rest of us could lose retinal cells after such a shock first thing in the morning and I'm pretty certain you won't endear yourself to the Chaotix by striking them blind". Okay, so you wanna play dirty then Shadow?;
"And how come you're immune; oh yeah, I forgot", her turn of speed caught him out, "you've got a better way of blinding yourself during the night…"
"Get out of here!" Shadow span to his feet, jabbing at a course parallel to the hallway, "thometimes you're thertifiable, you know that?"
"Yeah, and I'm proud of it", Julie gave a self-satisfied smile as she indicated the sleeping bag that was rolled up at one end of the couch, "just try and keep it down will you; it's hard to get to sleep over the sofa squeaking…"
"Get to bed before I put you there mythelf!" She couldn't help herself; some devil of mischief had seized control and was now taking every opportunity to embarrass the hedgehog,
"Wow Shadow, I knew you were a fast mover but…"; oh, okay then; the little imp was exercised, as was she, at the sudden hardening of Shadow's expression and the way his finger shook, the blush that she thought she could almost see not detracting from the picture of a Mobian who's patience is at an end. Just before he could start moving though, Julie dashed down the hallway, well aware by dint of association that Shadow had an uncanny knack for living up to his promises, however seemingly far-fetched. Luckily, just this once, she was fast enough to get out the way – she slammed the bedroom door just as the first hint of ebon fur began to streak out of the lounge, holding in her mirth until she was sure that, after a second disgusted snort, Shadow had retreated to the safety of his own nightly quarters. Maybe that was a bit much; she chided herself for a second only to laugh once more as she slipped into her nightclothes; but the look on his face makes it worth it every time!
XXX
Unsurprisingly next day, relations at the breakfast table were ever so slightly strained; Shadow could barely bring himself to look the echidna opposite him in the face and she didn't dare sneak a glance across the table for fear of the demon taking over again and landing her in hotter water than ever. Gradually, however, the tension seeped away; by the time the last dish was put away, there were occasional snippets of conversation generated between the two and, as the clock chimed for eleven, Shadow was feeling generous enough to promise he wouldn't give Julie a 'thrill-ride', though this might have had something to do with the vision of a pair of crushed nuts that flickered across his eyes as the echidna sank her weight onto her back foot and gave a cool, level stare from her post at the kitchen door. As she felt her feet leave the floor and she supported herself in Shadow's arms, the former Legionnaire glanced up one last time,
"So, next stop this Chaotix crew then?"
"You bet", she was treated to a close-up of Shadow's slight smile, feeling his chest flutter as he chuckled at some joke she couldn't see, "and if you thought the rabble at Station Square were a laugh, you ain't seen nothing yet".
"And that's supposed to reassure me hooooowwww!" The last word of her question was stretched away into the distance as Shadow took off, the air whipping her few syllables and sending them echoing around the apartment complex the two Mobians shared their flat in.
XXX
"Incoming"; warned by the cheery shout from on high, Mighty closed the letter she'd been reading and tucked it away safely into the front pocket of her small bag and simultaneously kicked out softly with her foot; as Vector opened one slightly reproachful eye, the armadillo drew the edge of one hand quickly across her throat. The eye quickly lost its sense of unfairness; that emotion was swallowed by shock as the unofficial head of the Chaotix killed the power to his headphones and glanced at his watch in the same movement,
"That time already; just in the middle of my fave track as well". Mighty sighed in exasperation, her hang-dog look catching Vector full in the face as he stood up and stretched, the sunlight glinting slightly off his scales as he soaked up some extra power from the sun,
"You must be word-perfect by now; how can you hear anything after the torments you inflict on your eardrums?" Stung by the slur, the crocodile bent his formidable head down to scowl at his work colleague,
"Iron Maiden is not a torment – if you want something t'go deaf to, you should try Slipknot". In the face of his mock-injured pride, Mighty couldn't help but smile and yield,
"I think I'll pass; I've only got half a sense of touch, I can't afford to lose any others". Why's he smiling so suddenly?; the sight of Vector apparently doubling over in laughter for no apparent reason set the armadillo's guard up; she turned from side to side in case Charmy was up to one of his normal tricks; it was only at a sudden drum roll and a giggle from above her that she sighed and suddenly grabbed upwards, netting the bee that was dancing on the shell covering her head. As she brought them eye to eye and Charmy came right to eye-level with her suddenly volcanic glare, the bee found succour in his humour,
"Well, not quite the light fantastic, but a step in the right direction"; coupled with his winningly cheesy smile, Mighty's annoyance seeped away and she had no choice but to drop her effervescent team mate with little more than a warning she knew he'd ignore,
"Guilty feet ain't got no rhythm, they say", she casually cracked her knuckles menacingly as Charmy did his best to look abashed, "neither do broken ones, catch my drift?"
"Every word"; was all the bee managed to say in response before Mighty noticed his attention shift; he was now looking around her than at her; looking over her shoulder, she quickly realised why and, fighting down a stab of panic as metal shone in the weak sunlight, span on her heel to greet the two new arrivals to this clearing in the wilds outside Echidnopolis.
XXX
Okay then; as she looked down and frantically combed her fingers through the windswept remains of what had once been her hairstyle, Julie ran the same mental plan she had used only a few scant weeks ago through her head once more; same as before – just say hi and take it from there. Sorting out both that plan and the worst of her hair, the echidna blinked and then looked up; she then blinked and looked again as something about the scene before her stuck out like a sore thumb,
"Now you I recognise"; the strange, almost frightening tall Mobian before her chuckled, the lips peeling back to reveal those teeth she remembered all so well from the first, last and only other time she'd had a ringside seat to them; as before, she didn't realise this beast was smiling until she actually heard him speak, a grating, low voice but, she estimated, his jaws probably didn't allow for much more than that,
"Yeah, I have that effect on people; name's Vector", as he strode forwards, smile a little less threatening now she could see it as less of a threat and more of a greeting, Julie stood her ground and, when the hand was offered, was able to shake it without seeing her fingers tremble, "aside from Knucks and his missus, I'm the head honcho of this outfit". Looking past the larger Mobian, Julie saw the other two figures hurrying over; for a second she mistook the one in the lead for another echidna until she noticed the conspicuous absence of a hairstyle on the top of her head; now that's the sort of armour the Legion should be interested in. Just about holding in a whistle as Vector stepped back and she got a good look at the second character present, Julie was able to put two and two together and come up with four,
"If I were to hazard a guess", she probed even if she knew from the other lady's face that she was right in this assumption, "I'd say you were Mighty?"
"And you'd be absolutely correct"; as she shook, feeling both the warmth and strength in the armadillo's paw, Julie gave a cheerful laugh as Mighty continued, "technically it's Michelle but…"
"I can guess", Julie forestalled the explanations as she saw the green eyes flick upwards and followed them, seeing the virtual shadow they disappeared into as the impenetrable shell overhead blocked out the sun's rays, "technically it's Julie-Su for me, but hey, I prefer Jules".
"In that case then, Jules", the echidna looked around as Charmy appeared to slide out from behind Mighty's back without moving his feet, "you can call me", he ran a hand through his antennae, expression calculatingly suave, "the Charmer; interested?"
Despite the fact she'd known this was coming, Shadow having been especially keen to point out how much of a natural comedian the youngest and smallest of the Chaotix was, Julie was still broken down slightly by this deliberate overacting; as she smothered her sniggers behind one of her gloves, she tried to play the bee at his own game,
"Nice try, but", she glanced insinuatingly to her left, hoping to throw Charmy off the scent as his eyes found Shadow and widened accordingly, "I've been warned about your womanising tendencies by my house mate". She saw the doubt flicker in his face for just an instant before, almost seamlessly integrating it into his rhythm, the bee reacted to her surprise pre-emptive strike,
"There may have been some exaggeration there", he still didn't let up with his playboy act, "but I doubt it"; Julie had to stifle her sniggers again as something about Charmy's mannerism and perfect timing wormed its way through her normally steadfast mental defences and got to work on her funny bone, "you better catch me while you can – I've had other offehheerrrrss".
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you were at the time, something else at that moment quite literally descended to cut off the wordplay; even an actor as accomplished as Charmy couldn't keep up his seductive act while being hauled upwards by one of his antennae,
"Charm", Vector spoke in a stern tone at the same time as give a tiny shake to make sure he had the captive bee's full and undivided attention, "be nice; sorry for any offence", the crocodile twisted his head to give Julie an apologetic but not altogether abashed smile, "he's at that age". Unable to do anything else, the echidna shook her head and raised a hand; I don't think it's possible to take offence from this guy;
"Don't knock it", as Vector dropped his hold and the bee sorted out his head quickly, Julie took a step forwards and winked, "you're only young once".
"Yeah, too young" the crocodile muttered as the Mobian he'd come to see as something very like a younger cousin threw off his discomfort and gave thumbs-up, relieved to see that he appeared to have a new ally against the repeated calls for him to grow up too fast. It was at this point that Shadow, having greeted the Chaotix from afar just before Julie began making her introductions, took a quick head-count and realised what, or more prominently who, was missing from this gathering,
"Wait, where's Espio?"
"Here".
Instincts snapped into play as the unseen voice hissed into Julie's ear at a range of no further than a foot; the former Legionnaire's years of training couldn't be denied by a mere few months out of active service. Spinning on the heel of her foot, Julie picked out the most likely origination point of the hiss and one of her augmented arms snapped out; she felt contact but it was glancing only; deflection; her other arm was up in a guard as she registered the pressure on the back of her hand, redirecting the force of her blow and making it miss the point she'd aimed at; at least I was in the right place. She heard a set of rustling footsteps receding slightly – her eyes widened as she saw grass being squashed flat even where she could see no-one; as a sudden rush of purple filled her vision she was suddenly the one backing up, trying to take in this Mobian appearing where before there had been none,
"So, you must be Julie-Su", at his tone, the words like poisoned honey as he looked her up and down, frigid eyes seeming to scan over her, searching for weakness as he continued, "I am Espio". Espio – everyone said he was creepy – don't give him another inch; armed with her foreknowledge, Julie refused to go backwards any further, instead standing tall and putting her hands on her hips she faced him down,
"So I gathered; they said you could appear out of thin air", seeing his casual sneer and prangled by it, she pressed forwards to land her criticising blow, "but I thought you'd know better than to give away your position by gloating like that". She at first thought his snort was one of disappointment; it was only when he looked up and she saw the smirk on his lips that she realised she was wrong in that regard,
"Believe me", the chameleon's icy smile didn't make it to his eyes; there was no humour here, he was merely stating a fact, "if I'd wanted you dead your blood would be watering the grass over there by now", he pointed to a patch some three or four feet away before reaching up to tap a spot on his neck, "knife to the carotid artery; very quick, if slightly messy".
"You're a real laugh a minute, you know that? God I'm glad I don't have to shack up with you like these poor sods"; in that second Espio had earnt Julie's undying contempt and, however, grudgingly, a slight sliver of respect as well – she jerked a thumb over towards where the rest of the Chaotix stood, not seeing their expressions as she tried to imagine what it must be like to actually live, not just work, with someone like this. The chameleon spared them a glance before looking back at the echidna, his eyes never leaving hers even as the rest of his body began to meld with the surrounding environment, making him fade out before her eyes,
"I never asked to be popular, I just asked to be efficient", just before he turned away, she saw his eyes narrow, lips pulled back into a feral smile, "and take it from me, I am very good at what I do. I'll see you at home, some of us have to earn a living and don't take time off at weekends". With a jerk of where his head had been, the misanthropic Mobian completed his disappearing act, the only indication of his presence the slight rustling where bushes parted before him, and soon even that was lost in the distance.
Brilliant Esp; as soon as he'd seen his oldest friend appear, Vector had been grinding every single one of his considerable number of teeth in frustration; it was going fine until you show up and ruin the party; all he could do was pick up the pieces and offer to try and make amends,
"Ah, Jules", he saw her flinch away from where she had been watching over the track Espio had taken, breaking eye contact after assuring herself he'd gone, "I can only say sorry fer that; Esp's…"
"I know, I've been told", with a last shiver, as though the chameleon's departure had removed some aura of frost at the same time, leaving her to feel the kiss of the sun's heat once more, Julie cut off the crocodile's contrite speech, "I meant what I said – I really do pity you having to put up with that every day".
"It gets easier the more you do it", Mighty chipped in, seeing where Espio had vanished from and reliving her own first few days as a Chaotix, how the chameleon had been forever snidely sniping away at her defences until she'd finally lost her temper and told him where to go; from then on it got better – he really just doesn't trust anyone; "it might sound corny, but it really does take some time to get on with him". As Julie raised an eyebrow at the armadillo's resignedly forlorn expression, Charmy took his chance to bury the matter with a minimum of pain and fuss,
"He's been like that for as long as I've known him – we've all tried to figure out why but getting anything other than silence and sarcasm from him is like trying to get blood from a stone".
"Some people are natural loners", with a last dismissive shrug and snort, the echidna turned away from the chameleon's departing path, "and as far as I'm concerned they're welcome to it; they want to get by without connecting to anyone I say let them get on with it". That's a relief; Vector let a very relieved breath whistle out from between his teeth; she's got a straight head on her shoulders – too collected to freak out from the wall-crawler's attitude problem.
"Well then Jules, congratulations, you've met the Chaotix", the crocodile smiled as he sat down, gesturing that everyone else should make themselves comfortable as well, "now if you'll just sit tight fer'a sec while the guardians get here, we can get started".
"Started?" Shadow's interest had been piqued as he leant against a nearby tree, wondering what the crocodile meant by that, "what did we sign ourselves up for this time?"
"Sports day of course", Charmy rubbed his hands together gleefully as he did every time one of these dates rolled around, "we all just get together and have a bit of a practise of whatever we feel like; helps keep us sharp and get a bit of team bonding going. You ever do anything like that Jules?" Well, not exactly, but close enough; after fingering her chin for a few seconds the echidna nodded,
"Yeah, there were opportunities to kick back and relax in the Legion, get to buddy up with your squad mates when you had a bit of down time but sports wasn't usually top of everyone's to do list; it was mostly movies or easy-survival camps, that sort of thing? But anyway", the Chaotix saw her indeterminably coloured eyes crystallise slightly as she regarded her housemate, "if we have to split up into teams I'm not going with him or Knuckles". As she'd expected, Shadow couldn't help but react to that criticism; and in doing so you've just dug your own hole;
"And why not", the black speedster put his hands on his hips, looking at the former Legionnaire disdainfully, "you of all people should know I am going to own the track events".
"True enough", she conceded that before striking back, "but I saw a picture of what happened the last time you went on a 'bonding exercise' and", she shuddered theatrically even if the mental memory of said picture still made her smile even now, "from what I saw it wasn't pretty". For a second Shadow stood immobile, absorbing the words as she spoke them, then with a slow closing of his crimson eyes, as the Chaotix realised what Julie was on about and all three of them sniggered at the same picture, he let his head fall into his hands; and I'll be hearing about this for how long? The remainder of my natural life if I'm lucky?
XXX
"I got a bone to pick with you"; even at this range, Shadow could tell by the way Knuckles shrugged in shared camaraderie and Rouge looked away slightly to disguise her grin that both could tell why he was indicating Julie-Su pointedly. One of them, however, held up his hands to try and make the first few steps towards reparations,
"Sorry Shads, I was forced into it – partly of the punishment for what happened downstairs"; oh well, at least she didn't rub my face in it too much; actually, the more Shadow thought about that as everyone waved the pair of guardians in, the less sense it made – Julie had been holding onto a cast-iron ridicule rod and yet hadn't used it until now; where was the sense in that? Filing the question away to be dealt with later, the black hedgehog pulled himself back to reality in time to greet Rouge as she came in for a landing.
"Nice to see you looking so well batgirl", she glared at him evilly even as she returned his handshake,
"Likewise for now – too many comments in that vein though and you'll not be too well in the future spike-ball; ah, hi Jules – don't panic, the cold has completely gone now, vanquished ready for next year". The echidna laughed as the came a little closer; yeah; seeing the bat from this range hammered home the point that Rouge did look a lot better than a week or so ago; she looks like she's back to her best;
"Bet you can't wait for that huh?"
"Tell me about it; anyway, enough of this, the gang's all here", the bat brought her hands together sharply, the loudness of the clap dulling all other conversation as Rouge raised her voice to shout, "so then, let's get down to business; what'll we do first?"
XXX
"Okay, Vec, you best go first; this is a game that has to be seen rather than explained"; as Mighty patted the ground next to her, reserving a little space for Julie to sit down as everyone save the named reptile and Rouge took their seats, Knuckles smiled slyly and called over,
"I've been practising Vec – that record won't last much longer".
"I know", the gruffer tones of the crocodile answered the guardian with easy familiarity that allowed Julie to hazard a guess that this sort of banter was common between the two of them, "I'm feelin' up to breaking it right now; ready when you are dame". Julie leant forwards, trying to guess what was coming next as, having shook her head at Vector's compliment, Rouge looked like she was getting ready to break into a sprint; the echidna's eyes widened when she actually did just that, taking off from a standing start; she's gonna crash right into…whoa! The sight of the bat suddenly catapulted upwards from Vector's explosive throwing motion made Julie's jaw hang loose; the idea of this as a sport simultaneously made her quiver in anticipation and dread; it'll be cool when I'm throwing, but what happens when it's my turn to be thrown?
"So", her melancholy train of thought was broken by Charmy's voice, the bee apparently oblivious to her twinge of indecision as he watched the bat circle overhead, "what do you think to throw Rouge then?"
"Throw Rouge?" The echidna parroted in disbelief until something cleared up for her and she chuckled, "seems alright, but how does Rouge actually play?"
"She gets to sling me about", the bee answered in a carefree manner, breaking off to applaud as Rouge set hr feet to land in the soft grass, having finished her glide to earth from the height she'd been thrown to, "nice try Vec". There was a laugh from across the way; leaning forwards, Julie saw past Mighty to where Knuckles was standing up, eyes fixed as Vector moved back to the seating area,
"Nice try", the guardian stretched upright, loosening himself off quickly before striding forwards, "now watch what happens when someone actually succeeds".
"I'm just gettin' warmed up furry"; as the two Mobians crossed on their journeys, each swatted the other in a competitive but still playful gesture; Julie motioned over to where Vector eventually sat down,
"You guys do this a lot then?"
"When there's nuthin' too pressing on", he shrugged before rolling back to lay prone on the grass, maximising his exposure to the sun, "just helps us keep in trim, and it's better than sittin' at home gettin' bored watching trash on the box. Anyway, heads up", the echidna looked over her shoulder as Vector's glance went over her head, "you're up, an' if that's the best you can do I should be gettin' the same handicap as Mighty".
"Just a fraction lower than you; nothing I won't improve on next round"; as she came to her feet, Julie gave a dark smile, striding forwards and brushing past the other echidna before calling over her shoulder,
"Sorry boys, but you're about to get beat by a girl; ready Rouge?"
"Just say when"; as she sank into the position she'd seen Knuckles and Vector both use, Julie put her faith in the technology of her arms and winked over to the guardian,
"Let's do this; go for it!" The second after she returned the wink Rouge took off, racing right for the echidna and leaping up at the right second; Julie felt a sudden pressure on her cupped hands and, with a loud shout, flung her body upwards to unleash all the tension and strength in her back, arms and hands.
As everyone present saw Rouge propelled skywards, Charmy was the first to find his voice with a low whistle of appreciation,
"Whoa, now that's a new record easy".
"Told you", all present looked over to see Shadow nod upwards at Rouge's now gliding form, "she's about as strong as three of me, guess that just proves it". Vector nodded in dumbstruck awe,
"And then some", the crocodile gave a gruff laugh before tapping Mighty's shoulder, "reckon she could give you a run for ya money if she trains up a bit". The armadillo's smile was answer enough when coupled with the raised eyebrow that went with it,
"Just as well; it'll be nice to have a bit of competition at last"; Charmy drew in a sharp breath as Vector scowled disgustedly at his team mate for a second before applauding the triumphant Julie as she returned to take her seat,
"Nice throwin' arm you got there babe, but it must be a pain getting through customs".
"Oh you got that right", the former Legionnaire laughed as she realised this joke had no strings attached; it was just truly meant to poke a bit of harmless fun at her metallic augmentations, "I just have to feed myself through the metal detector one piece at a time before they'll let me board a plane; I'm just counting myself lucky that Tails isn't that paranoid".
"Yet; give us a few more weeks though", Shadow added as he rubbed his hands together evilly, Mighty and Knuckles smiling in a similar vein, "he's still not figured out how we know about the plans he's got to modify the Cyclone; I swear he thinks I've bugged his phone or something"; sometimes I think that tub of triple strength rum and raisin was the best bargain I ever brought – one look and Cream was ready to jump through hoops to get at it – just give tails a few more days then tell him how we were second-guessing him all the time. Julie held in her laughter, though there was no denying the way her shoulders shook as she exclaimed,
"You lot really are the worst when it comes to that kid; what did he ever do to you?" Mighty's eyes shot wide open,
"How long a list do you want?" Before Julie could even consider an answer the armadillo had gone on, "he embarrassed Sonic by publicly shouting out his middle name, took that picture of Shadow, Knuckles, Sonic and Thunderhawk getting their proverbial freak-on…"
"That was very funny though", Charmy piped up in the fox's defence before a harsh glare from both present offending parties cowed him into submission and allowed the armadillo to continue after a second of screwing up her courage,
"..and, to top it all off, well, Big sent me a less-than-flattering drawing and he opened it for me, then passed it around all of this horrible shower", Julie noticed everyone save Shadow concealing smiles by this point as Mighty finished, "so yeah, for a while he wasn't in my good books either – in fact the only reason I let him live was because he promised he'd ship me to see said cat every so often free of charge". Julie's smirk was evident even before Mighty finished speaking, but she had to try and offer some evidence that Tails, despite the trouble he occasionally caused, was no better or worse than any other member of the gang,
"Okay he's not perfect, but he does have some good points", Julie was about to elaborate before, with a very loud mental click, two fragments of speech, one recent one not so much, came together to make a very good piece of sense; flicking her eyes sideways, she saw Shadow give the tiniest of confirmatory nods and from that homed in, "wait, Big? Isn't that the guy who painted…?"
She didn't finished her question, but then again, as she saw the armadillo's face soften completely, eyes drifting as they were enraptured by memories, Julie knew she didn't need to; that look would have been enough to convince anyone this was the case,
"Yeah, he's the one", the armadillo breathed dreamily before shaking herself slightly, dragging her concentration back to the present as she finished her answer, "Big's the artist who did that, and a lot of other works besides; he's also my, er", Mighty's brow knitted for a second as she finished carefully, "significant other – is that the politically correct term these days?"
"Something stupid like that"; everyone glanced up as Rouge landed softly close by, the bat having been concentrating on her gliding thus far and therefore only joining in the conversation now, "but it doesn't matter here; all we need to know is that he's got his claws in you good and proper". The armadillo glanced up at her friend with a smile tinged in humour,
"And sometimes quite literally at that; mind you if I could get a mould for them and start producing them whole-sale, it'd be the biggest thing in armadillo hygiene since floor wax was invented; gives the shell a lovely sheen if you use it right" she explained to the numerous baffled looks that accompanied her last boast. Unfortunately, however, Julie still couldn't quite get her head around what the armadillo was saying,
"Wait a minute, this guy actually claws you occasionally? What are you, some kind of scratching post for him?"
"No, no, no, you don't understand", Mighty waved those ideas away; should have seen this coming – oh well, everyone else is cool with it; "you see this shell on my back?" Julie folded her arms with a calculating smile,
"Not like I could miss it"; she's got some nerve being sarky like that; Mighty rolled the answer around in her head for a minute before smiling mentally and continuing; good.
"Right, well little bits of dust and fluff are always getting caught underneath it and I certainly can't reach under there; someone else has to go in and get them out for me. Most of the time I have to raise the plates of my shell up to do this but Big", she hooked three of her fingers to mimic claw curves, "he's a cat. He can just slide his claws under the shell, scrape out anything that's under there that shouldn't be – job done, so long. Here", reaching into her pocket, the armadillo opened one of the partitions of her wallet, motioning for Julie to have a look. The echidna peeked over the small photograph present as Mighty explained,
"This is Big; I know, before you ask, that is his real name – long story"; man he had precognitive parents; the former Legionnaire took in the difference in height between the pictured armadillo and the mammoth Mobian she could see stood by the side of her, posing for the camera as it snapped them both; he must be a good foot, foot and a half taller than me if this is anything to go by.
"Very fitting", the echidna commented as she settled back onto the grass, motioning for Mighty to put the picture back where it belonged, "and from what I've seen of his work so far, very talented as well". Knuckles nodded at this; he was one of the privileged few who had seen not only The End of the Hunt, but also, when Big had summoned the courage to reveal it to them all, the rest of his portfolio as well; every single one of the artworks he had seen there had been imprinted so deeply into his memories that he knew he'd never be able to forget them,
"You don't know how right you are Jules, but", she looked up at the fatal B-word, sensing with a keen ear some kind of a clause coming up in the proceedings, "he's shy with it; doesn't like the public eye"; right, I see what you need here – if anything I can understand that as well;
"Fine by me", Julie commented nonchalantly, though there was an unspoken promise in these words that all present could pick up on and respond to; Vector, who had up until this point been fiddling with a loose connection on his headphones, was first to react to the shift in mood from 'slightly serious' to 'just having fun',
"Right then", he asked no-one in particular, "time for round two?"
XXX
As she lowered her fists to the floor, supporting her bodyweight to get back a breath of air, Julie looked up to where the rest of her playmates were in similar state of recovery, recapturing escaped breath following their latest exercise being called to a halt. Even Shadow, used to running far faster and for longer than this, was sat down re-oxygenating both his muscles and his mind; in a game of tag like this, you had to keep your wits sharp all the time and that was as tiring if not more so than the actual running. As she slowly brought herself back to full height, the echidna smiled and managed to call over to the nearest Chaotix,
"Hey Mighty", the armadillo looked over from where she was prone and rocking on her shell, trying to get back to her feet, "how often do you guys get together like this?" Sucking down a deep breath, she managed to reply after a minute or two,
"About once or twice a week, depends on what else needs doing if we can get the time".
"In that case", the echidna stood tall, beginning to stretch off as she warmed down, "give me a call for next time; not had a workout that fun for ages". Knuckles looked over with a grin as he helped pull Shadow up to his feet,
"Like I said to Shady here", he slapped the hedgehog on the shoulder as Shadow nodded, indicating he was all right to stand unaided, "more fun than pounding carpet to the beat of the box".
"And you were right".
"But who said it was over?" All heads turned towards the source of the shout in time to see Charmy fling himself to his feet, apparently none the worse for the past forty-five or so minutes of virtually ceaseless running as he planted his feet and raised his fists in a guard, "come on, I'll have you; anyone who's up for it, step up right now!"
He can not be serious; Julie was suddenly torn between respecting the bee's heart and doubting his sanity as he made that challenge; Knuckles, Vector, not to mention Mighty – any one of those would have him for breakfast. Surprising as that declaration was, however, when the call was answered, the identification of the challenger really threw the former Legionnaire for a loop; with a blaze of flame from his jet skates, Shadow went from stood still to black blur, pulling to a halt just outside Charmy's fist range and giving a small, secretive smile as he raised his own guard,
"The guardians mentioned you'd been training", the hedgehog spoke casually as he seemed to size up his smaller opponent, "let's see if it's paid off yet".
"Aye", Charmy's response was drawled and measured, though he never broke eye contact with the hedgehog as he began to circle, "lets".
"'Ang on", Vector suddenly rose to his feet and approached before things could get too heated, "fer those who've never been here before", by some strange inkling Julie knew this was for her benefit and no-one else's, "the rules; ya win by three knock-downs, tap out, or in your case buzz-boy, by sting. No cheap fightin', keep it all above the belt, and, oh yeah", the crocodile smiled as he seemed to be struck by a sudden idea, "no spittin'. Right, that's my piece over", the scaled reptile scurried backwards, putting some distance between himself and the two combatants, "get going!"
Drawn in by the spectacle, Julie kept her eyes on Shadow for the duration of the fight; she'd never thought of the hedgehog as anything like a fighter due to his overall light build and therefore, she assumed, lack of staying power; despite the advantage his pace offered him she would have guessed that, over the course of fight going the distance, Shadow would have been bested by even an average Legionnaire. Against some of the pros, those who actually made the boxing teams for the inter-squad competitions, well, if he'd have lasted beyond the first punch she'd have been impressed by his resilience. Still, he'd have an impressive first few flurries and those would be the danger punches; however, as the hedgehog rocketed backwards and away from Charmy's advance, avoiding the bee's jabs and crosses with ease, Julie found all her preconceptions thrown into the air when the fight truly began.
As he came forwards, looking more like a cannonball than anything else, Julie suddenly saw the spikes that she thought of as little more than ornamentation evolve into pointed, potentially deadly, weapons; though Shadow kept them depressed, as Charmy staggered, half-spun as his attempted dodge didn't quite work and he caught a glancing blow from the hedgehog's attack, Julie realised that, push come to shove, Shadow could have become someone quite dangerous. Speed plus technique equals power; the echidna remembered that old chestnut from one of the Legion's combat trainers halfway through basic – applying that sort of formula to Shadow as she was now, the theory given extra credence as said hedgehog, uncurling and on his feet in a flash, took advantage of his opponent being off-balance and rushed in, kicking out low and sweeping the feet out from under the bee, she felt a little worm of unease creep up her spine; hand-to-hand I'd not have a problem, but if he got anything like a run up….
"Nice move", as he stood back up, Charmy commented his opponent even as his eyes remained calm and calculating, "not used to fighting at that sort of pace". Shadow laughed,
"Aside from Sonic, I don't thinks there's anyone fighting at my kind of pace Charm", the hedgehog suddenly snapped back into his ready position, "one-nil to me".
"But not for long"; with a shout, Charmy pushed off into the air, flying high and spinning in the air to avoid Shadow's attempted jump, kicking out with his feet; Julie saw her house mate's course deflected but no more damage than that; Shadow landed in a crouch, springing away already, never letting his opponent get close enough to even throw a shot as he regrouped,
"Nice move"; this time it was Charmy's turn to laugh,
"Thanks"; using his words as cover, the bee dived in; why did he do that?; even from her seat on the sidelines Julie could see he was going way too slow to trouble Shadow; as she knew he would, the hedgehog merely darted backwards just at the point Charmy's course was set, when he couldn't pull back up due to his velocity and had to be carried to the ground by his momentum. Two-nil I think; Shadow revved up once more, careening towards the grounded bee and looking to hit him square this time; this is going to hurt.
XXX
Go time…now!; though he had been training hard with both the guardians, Charmy, despite Espio's numerous remarks to the contrary, was smart enough to try out a few new things on his own initiative, and one problem he had thought about, especially in the lieu when Mighty had been recuperating from her battle with Metal Sonic, was how he could get to grips with a speedster like Metal, or, for that matter, the flesh and blood Sonic. He knew he'd never keep up and he could only stay in the air for so long, so he couldn't win that way; he had to use his cunning rather than match power or speed with this kind of foe. As Shadow's attack came steaming in, Charmy waited as long as his nerves would let him, then threw himself to the side; land it, land it right; he braced his arms for the impact, seeing with a little hope that Shadow was going to miss him and, yes, he couldn't change course, he was going to do this!
He landed, palms flat to the ground and immediately thrust his arms out, whip-lashing back the way he'd come, legs apart to entangle and grip rather than merely kick this time; he felt pressure and, like a mousetrap, his lower limbs snapped shut, hugging around something. He shut his eyes as he was dragged along, feeling pain as his calves were repeatedly rolled over but blocking it out as his tolerance to fighting had allowed him to do; the pace of his victim was slowing, it was safe now. Bending his knees, the bee shouted,
"Sting!" and pumped his abdomen forwards, feeling fur and flesh underneath him as he kept his most dangerous asset sheathed; the last thing he wanted to do was actually hurt someone he'd grown a little fond of. All movement suddenly ceased and he found himself looking up at the sky, seeing the clouds as he registered and began to deal with the throbs of pain in his legs, feeling Shadow uncurl from his ball and begin to untangle himself from his conqueror at the same time there was a little applause from the sidelines. Charmy remained prone, still soaking the pain and the victory up; a sudden object above him blocked out the light and he squinted up at it, grinning and accepting the hand that was offered to him, pulling himself upright as Shadow nodded his approval,
"Neat trick Charm"; he fell silent as the bee suddenly collapsed against him, legs not quite up to holding him steady yet as he grimaced painfully,
"Sore though; no such thing as a free lunch huh?"
"Tell me about it; anyway, next time, don't try and wrap me up like that", Shadow cautioned, though he wasn't doing down the bee's adroit performance down in the slightest as he offered his advice, "I had my spikes down but in a real fight they'd have left your calves in ribbons. Next time, kick out, sort of like wrestlers do; that sort of impact would flip me over, I'd uncurl on my back and, if you were onto it like you were then, you'd have paralysed me before I could do anything more than wonder what had hit me". Charmy nodded, digesting the information as Vector came to his feet again, clapping his team mate's victory as he spoke over the din of celebration and whistling, the two guardians congratulating their prodigy on his win,
"Nice work buzz-boy; Charmy wins because of the sting", the impromptu announcer declared, Shadow bobbing his head in acknowledgement of defeat as he made to retake his place amid the crowd, "winner stays on then".
"No, not this time", the crocodile looked down, concern in his manner as Charmy raised his hand, shaking his head and hobbling towards a soft patch of earth, "everything under my kneecaps has been pretty much tenderised, I think I'm done for the day. Retire on a high, that's my motto". Vector pursed his scaly lips in consideration before nodding acceptingly and changing his game plan,
"Okay then, we'll need another pair to keep this going". Ah, why not; Julie felt that old destructive urge flutter up a little as she pushed herself upright; I could use a decent fight, and anyway we're not out to really hurt each other.
"You got one of the two here", she strode forwards, tapping Charmy on the shoulder as she walked past, a little admiration in her gaze as he took her seat in the grass with relief; she had half a mind to tell him to ask Shadow for a hand in relieving the stress in his leg muscles but, than again, Shadow had just lost a fight to a younger opponent – she couldn't really give him any more cause for embarrassment right now. As she reached the patch of ground where Vector stood, she turned to size up who would be joining her in this match; Mighty would be okay, I just have to keep moving – no idea what Knuckles is like and I really don't fancy messing with Shadow, and…hello; though it was a hard struggle, she just about managed to keep her poker face straight as she saw Rouge unbuckle her boots and then place them to one side, standing up to fight barefoot as he winked at the master of ceremonies,
"Oh well, none of these other cissies are up for it; looks like it's you and me Jules". The echidna didn't answer directly; she was too busy wracking her brains for memories – what had everyone else mentioned about the bat's fighting prowess. Julie was reasonably sure she was a kicker but, beyond that, this was pretty much a blind fight for the echidna; at least that works both ways – she doesn't know what I can do. As the bat sauntered forwards and stood opposite her, Julie could almost feel the serene confidence she exuded and did her best to replicate it, respectful that the bat could act so cool even if she knew Rouge must have been trying to solve the same problem she was; what's she capable of?
"Okay ladies, same as before 'cept no win by sting; first to three falls or a tap out wins. Okay, just get me tail in the clear", Julie had to let out a tiny smile as the larger reptile backed up to a safe distance before calling over, "right, go for it!"
From the word go, when Rouge's front foot had smashed into her leading guard arm and send a shockwave up through her shoulder, Julie knew she was in for a completely different contest to the one she was used to. Most of the Legion's boxing was to do with picking out the grand-slam shot to put your opponent down, or else it was all about staying out the way, dodging most of the traffic and trying to follow up with the counter-attack. But this; the echidna growled as Rouge darted in, feet flickering faster than a flame, hoping to shatter through her guard and land soft but numerous, strength-sapping blows to keep her on the defensive before whipping back out of range; this is completely out of the bathtub. Julie was smart enough to know that trying to wind up a big one was just asking for trouble; Rouge was more than quick enough to send a flurry of kicks flying in and then dodging whatever came back with impudent ease – no, she had to try something else.
"Come on Jules", the voice almost made her arms drop due to shock; only her instincts kept her jaw intact as Rouge snapped in to attack her split-second pause, "just pretend you're trying to hit me and it'll be a cinch". Smiling at the thought, the former Legionnaire advanced into the teeth of the storm, taking the majority of the punishment on her steel arms and shrugging it off, closing until she could launch an attack of her own, tagging the bat as she tried to skip out of range though there was nothing like the force needed to cause a stumble behind the punches finding home as Julie commented quietly, aware Rouge would be able to hear her over the noise of the fight,
"What do you know – he was actually right for a change".
"Now that's not nice", the bat leapt up, bringing her feet together and forcing Julie to spin away or risk being drilled into the floor as she came down, flashing out into her normal fighting stance in a trice before the echidna could even think about retaliating, "he was my team mate once upon a time".
"I know", Julie moved again, trying to box her way in and close the distance, "remind me again how you put up with him?"
The fight raged on for minutes with neither fighter giving ground; there had been a minute of controversy when Rouge had gone down but, stepping back, Julie had shaken her head to Vector's declaration of a fall; I never touched her, that was a slip; and earned a look of respect from her opponent – obviously Rouge respected fair play. Now though, it was starting to become more desperate for the former Legionnaire; though she was in good condition due to her training, she now knew with bitter certainty that Rouge was both better trained and much more comfortable at this kind of fighting than she was; the bat had a better game plan and, as she felt another kick scissor up towards her ribs, only just able to get her elbow down in time to stop its progress, she had to admit it was working. Can't go on like this; surrender never entered her mind as she flicked her head, sending her dreadlocks and sweat flying out of her vision; need something else – come on, what's she got to exploit that I haven't? The answer, as Rouge took to the air, flying up but leaving her legs down as she sought to rake the echidna from an overhead pass, seemed to be not much; Julie paced backwards, watching her opponent's weapons as the guardian's wife began to fly forwards, circling, looking for an opening to exploit just as Julie was thinking hard to try and find that extra edge. She had to lower her eyes as Rouge flew towards the sun, though she knew the bat wouldn't attack from there as it was a dishonest thing to do and thus she had a few priceless breathing seconds; panting down a few deep ones the former Legionnaire thought back frantically, looking for something, anything that she could turn into an advantage. Hang on a second…
XXX
Damn, must really be an echidna thing; though she let nothing show, Rouge was feeling the strain of this combat and had to respect Julie's heart from this sort of performance – the echidna simply would not let herself be beaten. Still, even someone like her could only do so much; completing her turn the bat saw, just for a second, a quiver run through the other woman's arms and had to home in on it; straightening out into her dive, she closed with both feet poised, ready to strike; Julie's arms came up ready to block but, even if she did manage to get them both in the way the momentum of this was going to be irresistible. It was only when she saw the feral grin on Julie's face that sudden, cripplingly fearful second thoughts reared their ugly heads and, by then, it was too late to back out.
XXX
All watching craned their necks as they saw Rouge get ready to pounce, then were forced to cover their ears as, expending all the power her augmentations could give her, Julie brought her forearms together at full speed, the metal clashing together with a resounding clang that echoed away into the distance. It was bad enough as a spectator; Rouge, being a lot closer to the source of the noise and having much more sensitive hearing to boot, was caught by the wave of sound and instinctively had to protect her hearing, clapping both hands up to her ears and curling up into a sort of foetal ball. She felt her knees slam down into something that yielded but it was all foggy, the haze of pain from her throbbing eardrums blocking out most of the other stimulus she could have detected and because of that she never really stood a chance. Despite being bowled over by the impact, Julie was quick enough to take advantage of the bat's dulled speed and reared up, catching Rouge in a hug and dragging her down into a scuffle on the floor the bat couldn't really win; Julie's strength was superior at such close quarters and, though it took a while to subdue Rouge long enough to apply pressure to a point she knew from experience caused an awful lot of pain. Vector saw the bat's free hand flutter on the ground and immediately called it,
"Tap out; that's a wrap girls – Julie's fight by submission"; now that, was hard; for a second the echidna couldn't move, having to sink down on the floor next to the gasping bat as she tried to muster the energy necessary to move again.
"Wait a sec Julie", she felt rather than heard Vector's voice and, as she felt pressure on the back of her top, she realised he must have been hauling her to her feet; she managed to get her legs underneath her again as Rouge shook her head, looking around dazed as she patted her ears, still not fully over the effects of the concussive blast of piercing sound. Julie was about to try and lend a hand but someone else piped her at the post; Knuckles knelt by the side of his wife and helped her rise slowly back to a vertical base, looking across as he did so with his eyebrows raised,
"That was awesome Jules; how'd you come up with a move like that?"
"Desperation", the echidna managed to grin, pointing at Rouge as she began to slowly stretch off, winking at the victorious echidna at the same time as mouth the word 're-match', "I remembered bats have sharp ears in more than one sense and tried something different – lucky for me it worked. Though I don't think I'd try it again in a hurry".
"Sore?" Vector queried, glancing down at her arms; Julie chuckled and shook her head before nodding at Rouge,
"No, but come on; you really think she's going to get caught out by a shot like that again? Anyway", with a sudden clap, victorious adrenaline tanking her up again as she finally realised she'd won that gruelling war, she threw down the gauntlet once more, "who's next?"
XXX
Run me a bath; as she let him into the apartment that was beckoning towards them, Shadow tried to mentally compel Julie to do the bidding his body was aching for; and pass the smelling salts. Te run here had been bad enough; the exertions from the games, fights and final, all-out make or break tussle that had come just before he and the echidna in front of him had said their final goodbyes were beginning to get to him at last; all he wanted to do now was sink into a hot, deep bath, slurp up something that didn't have to be chewed to be eaten and then crawl into that soft, warm bed that was just singing a lullaby he was having to struggle against to resist. As he shut the door behind him, he just about managed to prick his ears enough to hear Julie's first words,
"Man, that was a blast", she stretched upwards, standing on tip-toe as she took in a heavy yawn, "gonna have to do that again sometime".
"Not until I've got a decent meal and a good night's sleep under my belt though", Shadow managed to mumble in response as he recalled something about it being his turn to cook tonight, "go get a bath or something, just save some of the hot water for me later". What did I say?; apparently, something about what he'd said must have sparked of some mental process for the echidna before him; after tapping the side of her face for a few moments, eyebrows drawn together as she put some thought into her words, Julie pursed her lips before extrapolating his former request,
"Got a better idea", Shadow leant forwards, interest piqued, "I'll get a bath and, when I get out, you have my water; it'll save the utility bill", she added quickly as the hedgehog tried to digest this new idea; seems to make sense – just put in a drop more hot after her, shouldn't be a problem – nice idea to cut costs Jules; reaching the end of his mental rope, the hedgehog gave an approving nod,
"Sorted then; I'll cook something while you're in; you'll have to reheat it when you get out but at least it'll be waiting for you".
"Thanks", Julie called over her shoulder, already heading into the lounge to collect a few of her essential toiletries before she crossed into the bathroom, though she paused at Shadow's last, most important question,
"So, how'd you find the Chaotix then?"
He could almost see her picking her words as her eyes lowered for just a second; must be a big thing to try and sum up – heck, I still can't quite manage it now – the only group more disjointed than those four is the Brotherhood of Guardians, and only then because Athair's a paying member; he cut off his own opinions as Julie glanced up once more, humming mildly as she started to talk,
"As far as I can tell, straight shooting as the next bunch; Charmy really does do what he says on the tin – he's going to be a real lady-killer when he grows up", Shadow chuckled a little at the mental image of a stripy Casanova before paying attention to her again, "Vec's a lot sharper than you might think and Mighty, well, she's just like Charmy, no hidden depths or anything – what you see is what you get and I like that", the former Legionnaire gave a gruff snort as if she'd finished, but Shadow wasn't fooled by this – he saw the way her chameleonic eyes misted slightly and that colour change brought him smartly to the crux of the issue,
"Let me guess", it was her turn to look up, startled at his perception, "Espio?" He waited for her to nod before sighing and crossing his arms behind his head,
"Don't take it to heart; he's always like that – he did something similar first time I met him, as a friend sort of thing"; first time I met him I think Charmy said I ended up dangling him off the edge of a skyscraper or something like that – I still think he was making that up though; "he just loves people to not know about him, likes it when people are scared; I just think he's a bit twisted but you have to respect what he can do".
"I know; believe it or not I've met a fair few like him before", at Shadow's raised eyebrow the echidna grinned a little before carrying on, "yeah, almost the entirety of the Legion's sniper core were a lot like that; snappy, rude and outright abrasive, but you had to put up with them because you knew, push come to shove, their skill could save your life. That still didn't meant we liked any of them though, but, like he said, they were very good at what they did". To her surprise, Shadow laughed at this,
"Just as well in his case; some of the things Vector said he was going to do when he got hold of him – he said Espio had promised to try to be social and, well, compared to what he can do it wasn't his worst but, even so, he could have done better".
"If it was anything like he did to Mighty", the vision of the crocodile rearing up, his armadillo team mate clamped fast in his jaws as he shook slightly, the sight mesmerising Julie almost into immobility before someone had tapped her on the shoulder and mentioned that due to Mighty's resistant shell this was a pretty common outcome when the pair fought, "I'm sure glad I'm not him. Anyway", seeing her attention shift, shadow made to head to the kitchen and get something cooking, hearing with half an ear as the echidna finished, "bath time".
XXX
"No, sorry, that's it", Julie stretched back in her chair, yawn barely able to keep up with her oxygen demand as she tried to clear her foggy head, "bed time". Seeing the tiredness in her face and reminding himself that, yeah, it was getting on and he could do with a good doze to see in the new day in something close to a coherent state.
"Yeah, I guess so; hey", he cut off Julie's attempts to sidle off at the same time as the T.V, suddenly wary as he realised what she was after, "not a hope you; week's not over yet". Right, brace for resistance; he could just tell by the way her face feel and then reset itself in a softer mould what was coming next,
"Oh come on Shads", her tone was designed to wear away the first barriers of stubbornness, ready for the grand assault, "if I don't sleep somewhere soft now I'll wake up rigid as a plank".
"Julie you already are a plank", the riposte caught her off-guard but she quickly reasserted her control as Shadow finished, drawing his legs up onto the couch he was sat on, fortifying his position further, "and the answer's still no".
"Aww, please"; result; her mind unearth a relatively recent and, not so long ago, mortifying memory and suggested it right to her tactical mind; internally smirking as Shadow's eyes widened alarmingly, she fell to her knees and started to shuffle slowly forwards, voice high and obsequiously annoying, "Shadow the Hedgehog, I beseech and implore thee…" His lips twitched; not even he could stand up to this sort of spineless cringing for long,
"…in all they glory, splendour and magnanimity…" he was already spluttering; a few more words should do it;
"…to aid me in this, my…" Gotcha; she couldn't mask her smile as the hedgehog suddenly snapped like a twig, chortling away merrily at her absurd overacting and, having to make it stop, acquiescing to her request,
"Okay, okay, you win", she celebrated, pumping her arms in close to herself as Shadow waited a second before continuing, "just get off the floor; last time you were down there nearly scarred me for life". Julie poked her tongue out at him as she pushed her legs upright, standing tall and winking,
"Forget you; how'd you think Amy and Sonic felt?"
"I don't even want to think about it", the black hedgehog grimaced as though biting something bitter, "urgh, evil, evil thoughts".
"Welcome to my mind"; Shadow shivered,
"Why do you delight in torturing me?"
Because it's fun", Julie answered smartly, a light tone in her voice as she moved forwards and gently tapped him on the thigh, a friendly pat just before she moved off with, maybe, just the merest hint of something else, something deeper, behind it, quickly revealed and hidden once more as she lifted herself once more, "anyway, 'night".
"Or, in my case now, nightmares"; she shook her head sniggering despite herself at his comeback as she departed; oh what I wouldn't give to have been in the same apartment as him and Sonic – I'll bet you could have written sketches on that pair that would have brought the house down.
XXX
As she walked towards her work once more, Julie kept her eyes open for one particular store, the ten crest note Shadow had passed her in the morning strangely weighty in her pocket as she recalled her part in the plan that had been generated last night from an emergency vid-phone call just last thing on Sunday evening. He did say triple rum and raisin didn't he?; she was certain that was the flavour Shadow had specified as Cream's favourite and she was now on a mission to procure on her way home; but she deserves it after that sort of a trick; Julie smiled as she remembered the circumstance behind this unusual item on her shopping list,
Hitting the receive button on the vid-phone, Julie had watched as Sonic's face sprang into view; she would have voiced her concern for his unusually tense face and the strain in his voice had the blue hedgehog not beaten her to the punch,
"Oh hi Jules", he seemed to look over her shoulder; she could guess what he was aiming at, "is Shadow about?"
"Err, hang on"; she had turned to go hedgehog hunting but hadn't got halfway across the lounge before her housemate had appeared in the doorway, looking over her at the screen behind,
"I'm here dude; what's the problem?"
"I need to find something for Cream", unlike his normal jokey self, Sonic had sounded completely serious before continuing, "something she'll really love". Consumed with curiosity, Julie was the one to ask,
"Why, what's the occasion; what did she do this time?" For the first time Sonic had given a gruff laugh prior to his answer,
"What's she done – saved me a packet is what she's done", he elaborated as Julie waved at Amy, who'd just moved into shot over the blue hedgehog's shoulder, "remember she asked me about those exams when we were all together a few weeks back? Well she only went to her school and twanged a couple of pretty long strings", Shadow came forwards to stand side by side with Julie, getting a closer view of Sonic's awestruck face as he finished, "I don't know how she did it but she's somehow got me enrolled into her school's sixth-form. Basically I'm now still at school, I can do my A-levels under their exam board, it won't cost me a dime. She's saved me the cost of doing the exams externally; Vanilla just rang with the good news – now I gotta get her something to say thanks, and I mean something big".
There was a bit of a pause at this; both Shadow and Julie were trying to take in the act of generosity the younger rabbit had just performed. Both put thinking caps on before Shadow, pursing his lips and pinching his lower one lightly between two fingers, had looked up again, eyes glinting calculatingly,
"Well, this being Cream and her having a sweet-tooth that rivals Charmy's, I reckon I might have just the…"
Someone jostled her from behind, throwing her train of thought off track as she thought about what to say next; oh sor…
"Just act casual".
It wasn't so much the unusual words that blew all thoughts of apology, every notion of running away from her; even the fact that something hard and pointed was jabbing her just below her ribcage wasn't what stopped her thinking of making a break for it.
What managed that was the fact that she recognised this voice. Very well indeed.
Oh hell!
A/N: Ohhh, tense ending to keep you on tenterhooks – gotta love being a cruel author! Next chapter hopefully coming soon!