Sonic the Hedgehog: The Phantasy of Archangelus

Paradigm Thirteen - That is My Truth, I Solemnly Swear

PRESENT-DAY SPIRA - BEVELLE - Midafternoon…

A furious wave of shuriken and kunai sliced into Mephiles' flesh: Espio was on the attack, with Mephiles defenseless miraculously. Vector and Charmy were cheering for him from the sidelines, however.

But Mephiles only reveled in the pain.

Once the onslaught ceased, Espio stayed in an offensive stance with another kunai in hand. He frowned. Mephiles staggered around before finding his bearings. He gazed ominously at the Chaotix.

"This only proves your denial and guilt…officers," Mephiles began tauntingly.

"Huh? What's he talking about?" Vector asked a little nervously.

"What?" Espio lowered his guard, blinking.

"Surely, you know the nature of what I speak…? You have been chosen to enforce the righteous laws and creeds for the sake of Earth's humanity…on the behalf of the Humans themselves." He hissed, licking his lips.

Vector flinched, with Charmy cowering behind him. "He's making a scary face, really scary face…!" the bee whimpered.

Espio's eyes glistened. 'He's aware of our home planet?'

Mephiles giggled. "But what you three did to Shadow, on Earth's behalf, would be considered 'unforgivable' in the eyes of a certain someone…"

Espio frowned deeply and reached for another weapon: His best one—his Gauge Cross shuriken. He revved his arm back and hurled the huge four-bladed weapon directly at Mephiles. He scored an unavoidable hit, the weapon slashing Mephiles' entire form into oblique halves.

Strangely, Mephiles' severed body showed no gore. Both ends just fell to the ground. Mephiles cackled maniacally before both ends of him disappeared into the pavement.

The giant shuriken returned to Espio, who caught it. He, Vector, and Charmy looked behind them. And saw Rouge there.

"What just happened?" she fretted.

Vector and Charmy looked to each other nervously, twiddling their fingers. They hesitated to speak, but Espio spoke up for them. He turned to face Rouge.

"Miss Rouge…we are the ones who capture and seal Shadow away back on Earth."

Rouge gasped a little. "Wait—! What are you talking about?" Rouge seemed to be in denial. "Why?"

"Because it was a strict order issued by the GUN. After everything is back to normal, we should be put back in our rightful places…but beforehand, we were notified to go to the GUN's Headquarters in Central City. We immediately obtained a job that we could not refuse: It was for the sake of the world, and the President explained to us how dangerous Shadow is…!"

"After all Shadow's done, the President still wants to lock him away? Why didn't you tell him about—?" Rouge sounded panicked.

"We tried, but he did not listen, and practically dumped the responsibility of Shadow's capture on the three of us. Apparently, he'd heard how great our detective skills are, but I tried to explain to him that we were only detectives, not special agents. Even with our refusal, he threatened to arrest us for treason and being accessories to a conspiracy, and incarcerate us as well."

"And I'm too young to go to jail!" Charmy's little body flailed.

"But wait a minute," Rouge spoke up again, her voice softer this time. "…How do you know all of this if it hasn't happen yet?"

Espio looked down at the pavement for a moment.

"Because that's the most recent memory he can recall before that Chaos Control sent us here."

Rouge gasped, swapping her sights across the way.

Vector and Charmy jumped, striking overly exaggerated poses, while Espio slowly looked over to see Shadow walking over to them.

"A Chaos Control of heavier magnitude freezes the target within radius and places them in a temporal stupor. This is actually a 'shutting off' in the brain and the synthetic effect of complete unconsciousness, which causes the target to think they're asleep." Shadow stopped in front of them, his arms still crossed and his face still stern. "After the target is transported to a destination, they'll wake up, but be unable to recall anything in between their last periods of awareness. It all involves sub-dimensional travel and complex spatiotemporal logic, but…?" Shadow caught Espio's gaze with his own. "You're going to be the ones who capture me then?"

"No, it's not true!" Rouge yelled.

The Chaotix and Shadow looked at her.

"It…It can't be true! After all Shadow's done to keep the Earth safe…! He's sacrificed his own life once, damn it! He's the one who gave up everything, and for what—Earth? And the Humans still want to use their twisted logic to show how grateful they are for saving them by locking him up forever?" Tears were bubbling along her eyelids. "It's not fair! It's not fair to you, Shadow—It's not!"

Espio lowered his head, shutting his eyes; Vector and Charmy also lowered their gazes. Shadow looked away.

"It's not fair!" She sniffled a little. "Just because you're the Ultimate Life Form doesn't mean you're gonna go insane and kill everyone! Can't you see? You're not a weapon anymore! He's…You're my…?"

Tears finally fell from Rouge's eyes, streaming down her cheeks. She tightened her fists. "I may not…have figured out everything about you, Shadow. I may not…truly know the agony you feel when you're torn between the desire to protect the Earth and the desire to destroy it. I may never know what that feels like…but one thing I do know…is…!" She lifted her eyes to gaze into Shadow's. "I love you…Shadow."

The Chaotix lifted their eyes from the ground to Rouge, then to Shadow, whose eyes widened sharply.

"I'll always love you, Shadow." Rouge finally broke down and cried.

Shadow stepped over to her and stood in front of her. He seemed to be waiting.

"I don't want you…to be locked up forever! I want you to stay with me on Earth…!" She looked up at him. "I don't care if it means being stripped of my federal position and losing my job! I don't care if you're the reason why the End of the World came! You've already redeemed yourself as a person, and that should be good enough for them to let you live freely, to let you live!"

"Rouge…" Shadow called softly.

"I don't care if you're infinitely times stronger than I am! You can be monstrously strong for all I care! Your power will never be used for evil! That power of yours…is meant to protect…" Her voice softened. "…You hear me?"

Shadow closed his eyes and rested his palms on Rouge's shoulders. "Rouge…" he called again. "Listen to yourself."

Rouge's teary eyes widened.

"There's something you still don't understand. I'm not normal. I'm not something that can roam around freely because of that monstrous strength. Someone will use it for evil, and whomever it is will use it to destroy. I realized this a long time ago, Rouge…I've already accepted it, as well. And there's really nothing you or anyone else can do about it."

"What are you saying? You won't be roaming anywhere, Shadow—!"

"My fate's been sealed, Rouge…"

More of Rouge's tears bled from her eyes. "Wh-what…?"

Shadow slowly retracted his hands from her shoulders. "And if the Chaotix are the ones who will eventually imprison me, then so be it. I'm not seen as fit for Earth, so I grant them permission to lock me away." He nodded to them.

The Chaotix sighed despondently.

Facing Rouge again, he went on. "But I knew that from the start. And you should have, too."

SMACK!

The Chaotix all gasped at the harsh sound. Vector's hands flew over Charmy's eyes and ears. "Ack!—Hey! It's too late for that, y'know!"

Rouge had slapped Shadow. There was an intense expression on her face, as far as Vector, Espio, and Shadow could tell.

"What the hell are you saying?" Rouge's voice deepened with emotion, tears still flowing down her face. "You deviated from the destiny that was set for you and saved the world, remember? Your orders were to destroy the Earth, not save it!"

Shadow remained unmoved.

She threw herself against him. "This…isn't something you have to do, Shadow! You don't have to do anything you don't want to do! This is your life, Shadow, not the President's or anyone else's! Not even mine…! You can do whatever you want…!"

"All I want…is for you to allow me to take command of my own life."

Rouge gasped. She felt him grasping her closer. More tears flew from her eyes.

Espio half-smiled. "When something or someone is seen as too powerful…they are assumed to be a threat." Vector and Charmy gave Espio regretful looks. "That is why the President still wants Shadow locked away, simply due to the potential he holds. Humans have the tendency to crave power, and the entire nation knows now that he is the epitome of that desired—yet feared—destructive power. The President only wished to use him as an auxiliary defense, but he fears that Shadow will more than likely rebel."

"What if…" She nuzzled her face against his chest. "…Shadow doesn't rebel?" Rouge asked sadly.

Espio paused, shifting his steely citrine gaze from Rouge to Shadow. "It would not matter. He would be imprisoned anyway," he admitted, his brows flicking downward.

More tears brimmed Rouge's eyelids and spewed over as she threw her sights back at the Chaotix. "But I don't want him to be locked away! I want him to stay with me!"

But Shadow gripped her arm tightly. "Rouge…you have to set aside your desires and trust the outcome now."

Rouge felt the disheartening tug and looked back at Shadow as he spoke, her turquoises bleary and equally disheartened.

"It isn't a matter of what you want, Rouge," Shadow gently told her. "It's a matter of what's best for the world. Right now I am seen as a threat, and I must be taken to a safe place, where no one can find me and so that I may ultimately be forgotten."

"But…what about me?" Rouge wondered. "I don't wanna forget you…"

Shadow was silent for a moment. "I trust that you won't, surely. Now you have to trust that…even if I am not present, I am always with you, Rouge." He suddenly leaned in and lip locked with her.

Rouge gasped in her mind. "Please trust me, Rouge…" she could hear through his kiss. But she was slowly able to return his kiss.

"D'aww!" Charmy sighed, clasping his hands together. "How nice—! Hey!"

Vector had clapped a hand over Charmy's eyes. "This certainly ain't something you need to see…!" Vector said with an undertone of jealousy.

"Aww! C'mon, Boss, not again! I wanna see—I wanna see! You're so mean! Why can't I see? I wanna be in the loop too!"

Vector had the strangest deadpan for a face. "Trust me. No, you don't."

Shadow was the first to break away from the kiss. Rouge slowly opened her eyes and gazed into Shadow's.

"Even if you never rebel against the President's wishes…" Rouge was able to say through her tears. "Even if you are seen as a threat to the Earth, and everyone is against you…just know, Shadow, that I'll love you regardless." She around her arms against his shoulders. She nuzzled his neck with her cheek. "Can I…trust you to remember that?"

Another serious glower appeared on his face. Honesty gleamed in his eyes as he promised her, "Yes." He decided to keep holding her close to him.

At this point, Vector and Charmy were bickering again, but the ever-composed Espio apologetically knelt before both Shadow and Rouge. Rouge saw this and signaled him to stand, telling him everything would be all right and waving it off sweetly with her hand. But she chuckled awkwardly by the chameleon's persistence; he was bowing to them formally again.

But Shadow didn't seem to notice. His eyes gleamed as his thoughts appeared to be roaming everywhere.

'Yes, you can.'

And nowhere at once.

M.P. Lilith: This version of the previous story's Paradigm is a bit more detailed, in my opinion, and bears a bit more depth, as well. This occurrence, unlike in its video game precursor, tells of the events that transpired before Chaos Control sent everyone to Spira. Shadouge lovers might be pleased about the angst-ridden fluffiness between our anti-heroic SEGA duo...well, couple now.

I wasn't sure if I should've referred to The Just and the Fallen at this point in the story. Seeing that it was originally written as the sequel to it, I might have semiconsciously inferred plot points from it (since I like my fanfic version of SA2, too much so, as a matter of fact). I tried to keep it ambiguous, since not everyone that reads this story has read TJ&TF. I leave the interpretation to you guys, though; whichever plotlines you think fit can work here. =D

Also, my A/N's may slacken in the upcoming Paradigms. Probably cuz I'll want to give a lot away, but can't. We are approaching the halfway point of the fic, I will say. Let's head on to Paradigm Fourteen!