Chapter 14
Ease up on the Nonsense.
Shadow sat with the group again from within the confines of the original ARKINTRA alongside the fellow members of the operation that were left. Knuckles loss was unfortunate, but Shadow himself had to steady the others. Sonic and Amy had vanished with some of the Emeralds as well as the Time Stones. Tensions ran high within the resistance.
He had interviewed everyone involved with the incident at Twinkle Park, including those who collected Knuckles body. According the reports from those involved, after Sonic and Amy disappeared, the attacks against, what was described as Princess Elise had merged with a giant spider, stopped for the moment to accumulate what had just happened.
It was a mess.
Shadow interviewed Silver, given he was the main reason as to why the pair left without a trace in the first place.
They were in a dark room with a single light casting overhead a black table. Shadow entered a room, holding several folders filled with paperwork. Silver was sitting there, awaiting, albeit a bit nervously, for Shadows questions.
"Your words and I quote, send them where they are needed. What exactly did you mean by that?"
Shadow asked, as he slapped the files on the table before he sat down himself.
Silver fidgeted as his eyes wandered around, struggling to meet with Shadows.
"We've all been told this before. Sonic and Amy's safety was our priority." Silver answered, although he appeared to sound confident, there was a slight crack in his words that told otherwise.
That was true, although there could have been other ways to go about it.
"That's not what I asked." Shadow scolded.
"You used the power of the Time Stones to send them...what, a year? Two years? A thousand years away?"
The Stones were highly misunderstood. All Shadow knew was they were from Little Planet originally and they did have history with Sonic, as well as the Rosoideae. But like the Chaos Emeralds, their power was not to be underestimated.
"I don't know! I figured the Stones would already figure that out." Silver explained, albeit very poorly. He was rightfully flustered by Shadow's questioning, but he defended his actions to the core.
The White Hedgehog was an odd one. He was brought into the purely for LUCIDs purpose. Shadow would need as many on board who could even understand LUCID itself. Silver had brought the Adaption technology from the future, as far as anyone else knew. But he was a young, naïve hedgehog. Noble to a fault, something Shadow could exploit as a far as Silver's moral compass went.
"You understand that we need both of them, here, to keep an eye on them at all times. What gives you the idea to...just put them somewhere else blindly?" Shadow inquired. He really wanted to know what went on in that thick skull of his.
"You can't send Diga to keep an eye on him at least?" Silver wondered.
Diga. If she was doing stuff without his permission again...he'd have to give her a stern talking to if she pulled this shit off. She forgot who really was in charge here. There wasn't any proof that this was her doing however.
"I'll deal with Diga later. Do you even know how to use the Time Stones properly?" Shadow continued, annoyed.
The door opened, with Morpheus walking as he locked eyes with Silver.
"I told him to do it." The other white hedgehog said.
Shadow rubbed his face. Great, another idiot who thought he was in charge.
"Of course. You're just like Diga. May I remind you, that we all have to deal with severe consequences should any of this fail!" Shadow said with angered urgency, yet he was trying to be as calm as possible. He swore he worked with complete fools.
Morpheus stood behind Silver. What ever crap he cooked up with the moron before him couldn't have been anything Shadow would have liked to begin with.
"Silver only did as I instructed. I have been teaching him myself." Morpheus announced.
It was difficult on who to trust right now. Silver couldn't have possibly been able to do this alone. He hoped that he hadn't manipulated anyone else. Silver was only here for one reason, but if anyone else made it more complicated than it should have been it definitely would have been Morpheus.
"Silver's report is accurate. He does not need to be here."
Shadow looked at Silver again, who remained silent. Silver was an honest person, if Shadow could give credit. He wouldn't think that his report would contain anything more than the truth. It wasn't like Silver himself to try anything smart or stupid. Rather, he would just do what he was told and if he could, he'd do it to the letter. Shadow just had to be careful not to push him too far. He crossed his arms and grunted.
"Very well, Morpheus I'll speak with you alone. Silver, you're free to go." Shadow said.
Ever since Silver got involved in this mess, he couldn't believe how convoluted it had become. When he was given the run down, it was difficult to believe it. How Amy became this...Prophet, Sonic going insane and Tails, well, dying...sort of. The general history was a mixed bag.
But his purpose was both clear and complex. One of this roles was to bring certain back so they could adapt to the different time zones they would visit. The other...Morpheus had been training him for it. Though he never truly understood the reasons why he had been training him with the Time Stones.
Normal occasions Silver figured was that his own time travel methods were through Chaos Control brought through unique methods. But the Stones were their own thing. Powerful objects known to manipulate time far beyond any version of Chaos Control he knew.
He took the portal back to Noiz City and had returned to his cabin, seeing Blaze by the nearby table as she read a book. Silver just collapsed on the couch as soon as he could.
"Huh...I wasn't really expecting you to come back alive." Blaze quipped.
"Ugh..." Silver groaned against cushion.
"Morpheus saved my hide. Again."
Blaze sighed as she closed her book and put it on the table.
"He's been quite the teacher for you. You should probably thank him."
That elicited another groan into the cushion. Blaze sighed.
Morpheus indeed was a good teacher. Though, he'd never quite met a person like him back in his time. The Abyssinica were close to one another. The only part Silver hated was telepathy. He never liked the idea of reading peoples minds. He just stuck with the telekinesis. Probably why a lot of his people isolated him.
"What about you, aren't you supposed to be training with Arinna?" Silver asked.
Arinna the Phoenix. A character brought from Blaze's world. She had been Blaze's mentor since she was young and helped her become the Guardian of the Sol Emeralds. Though she did vanish for a while, when LUCID started, she was brought in by Diga, although Blaze did mention Arinna would never explain what she did between the training and now, preferring to train Blaze further.
"Well the worlds' best Pyrokinetic doesn't have time for me at the moment. She's preparing the Sol Emeralds for exchange." Blaze announced.
That deliberately shocked Silver. Blaze as their Guardian but she had made arrangements for special security to guard them for her while she was needed her, for similar purposes as to why Silver was also here.
"It's mostly for the study of the slab we found." Said Glitch, who had popped out of the bathroom unannounced, almost making Silver fall off the couch in surprise. Blaze rolled her eyes.
Silver got off the floor as he looked at the Cyber-Wolf. He remembered as they fought Elise, her priorities became skewered as it gave her an opportunity to download any relevant files from the Robotnik database. Anything that could help with their goal. He wondered if she had any progress.
"I'm done with the Cyber Emeralds, I believe it proves a theory that the slab reveals more info the more power sources you provide it. Chaos unlocked a snippet and so did Cyber. Although IF we had the Time Stones we would be absolutely certain. But some idiot Hedgehog decided it was a good idea to send them to goodness know where." Glitch stated, as she glared at Silver.
Really? After it was all Morpheus' idea in the first place?
"Once Arinna gets here with the Sol Emeralds, we'll be able to make further progress. So what else has come up so far Glitch?" Blaze inquired, ignoring the drama.
Glitch pulled out her laptop and sat down on the couch as she placed the device on the coffee table. Silver and Blaze sat to the left and right of her, respectively, as she rapidly typed away.
"We know the Purest Power to Conquer any Corruption." Glitch said.
Silver was just glad someone could make sense of it all. It would definitely do his head in.
"So Chaos, Kronon, Sol and Cyber. Makes for at least four main powers that have potential to create it. How many did we need?" Silver summarised.
Glitch typed once more.
"Seven is what we need. Once the Sol Emerald arrives and hopefully if Sonic and Amy are smart enough, they will bring the Time Stones and the remaining Chaos Emeralds back. Milo and Amy's brother Andrew are working alongside Diga to work out a particular storage room that will be able to contain alls these incredible and dangerous properties." She explained.
"I remember Primal being mentioned." Blaze pointed out.
"Know anything about that?"
Morpheus had stated the Purest Power is triggered by other powers. If what the theory about Sonic's purification stood, Amy had caused it via the Time Stones themselves. Although from what Morpheus had also said, it was only a portion of the Purest Power used.
"I tried researching during the translations." Glitch answered as she typed away.
"Primal was tricky. Elise had files pertaining to such research, although one of the interesting theories that really got me was that yes only certain individuals can trigger it, it was also said it was a combination of Purest Power and Corruptive Energies. So I think we can rule that out since that may be the actual trigger. At least, until we do actually get the full translation from the slab itself."
This also did his head in. In fact, it exhausted Silver greatly. After everything that had happened, he honestly just needed a nap. Although, from what Silver saw, he would have trouble sleeping.
He could see Blaze looking at him, concerned. She knew him too well. Was the bags under the eyes a dead give away, he wondered.
"Well we won't know for sure until the Emeralds arrive. Arinna said she had been doing all the back ground work first before she would send the Sol Emeralds over." Blaze told her.
Glitch closed her laptop and stood up.
"That is true. I'm going to go to Little IT, to see if I can't make contact with those who two over the time line. I have you to thank for that little bit of help there Blaze."
As instructed before she came here with Silver, Blaze had brought in the Cross-Spacial-Temporal Technology from her dimension, said to have been developed by a young Raccoon girl. Must have been her worlds version of Tails or something.
As Glitch left, Blaze shifted her towards Silver. She normally did this when she was worried about him.
"It's been a long day." Blaze surmised. She wasn't kidding.
She had her shoes off as she leaned against the couch and stared at Silver with that expression that just wanted him to confirm how he was feeling. He had gotten used to that look.
"It has. I'm tired. But, I worry if I fall asleep, I'll start having nightmares again." Silver agreed.
Blaze took his hand in hers. She too, was exhausted by all means of the word. The longer Silver stared, the more easier he could make out the bags under her eyes too. She took a deep breath.
"You know, after what Morpheus told us, about the problems about our mission..." She started, before she trailed off.
"Yeah...he said try not to be alone." Silver finished.
She shuffled closer, then leaned her head on chest as he shuffled about, putting his arm around her, as he thought back to a conversation he had with Morpheus prior...
Rewind
Silver worked alongside Morpheus working on his powers. He was strong, but was often without focus. Morpheus and himself had a lot in common. Especially when it came to the mutual dislike of telepathy.
Morpheus himself was an outcast, as per his description of it and many of their people didn't appreciate those who didn't want to communicate their thoughts and feelings that way. Silver fought for his privacy, although it lead people to believe he had something to hide.
In truth, he was sworn, as someone who travels through time a lot, not to divulge information about the past to anyone. It wasn't an Abyssinican idea, but rather, something else that he had been connected to, that had helped him out over the years.
"Our people hold such beliefs because it is a culture, built on trust. No Abyssinican likes being alone." Morpheus explained to him.
The two had halted their training for a brief break. They stood at the balcony near Morpheus' cabin and watched the rest of Noiz City walk about.
"But when you have to sacrifice so much for the lives of others, instead of respect, you get nothing but dirt flung in your eye." Silver said, his tone saddened.
Silver never committed any crimes persay, but rather, he had been treated horribly. And he could never explain why he was this way to others. Morpheus had gone through the same ordeal so in a way, he was glad he himself wasn't actually alone in all of this.
"Is that why you're attracted to Blaze?" Morpheus queried.
Silver blinked. That was random.
"Me? Attracted to Blaze? She's pretty cool. I mean, well, you know what I mean." Silver stuttered.
Morpheus chuckled.
"She hides much in herself too. I'm not too well versed in the culture of the Cats from another dimension, but she holds herself to her purpose. Much like you. But she is more subtle."
Silver was unsure what he meant by that.
"I know a certain pair holds tension a higher, much more truncated version at first glance but becomes more tortuous the deeper you look into it." Morpheus continued.
At least Silver knew who he was talking about this time. The amount of packaged mess those two had was well known across the board. It brought arguments within those in OPERATION: LUCID.
"I honestly just wish them happiness." Silver said, truthfully. He wasn't the only one.
"As do I to you, young Silver." Morpheus acknowledged, although they were indeed rare words to come out of his mouth.
"Hence, why, since we know how this is going to end, you embrace that which brings you copious amounts of warmth. Metaphorically speaking. Loneliness is not wise."
Current
Not that there was anything wrong with being alone. But Morpheus was right. Silver did harbour feelings for Blaze originally, but he did nothing about, simply out of pure respect for the Princess and worked alongside her as normal.
But as things got worse, Blaze herself did too. She had tried to communicate with Amy on numerous occasions. They were friends inside and outside of crisis, despite a rocky start, but Amy, at that point was incredibly distant. This was how she was everyone. Then everyone noticed how she was beginning to be with Sonic and if anything else, if not out of general caution, not other individual, civilian or otherwise, wanted to be involved with their dilemmas. Rumours had spread about Amy's and Sonic's insanity. Somebody in the area had to say something to get everyone to avoid them...that was mainly the issue with a small population in such close quarters; Searing tensions were bound to rise.
People overall were distant. Blaze was used to that, especially from her world. But she only expected that from her world. Even visiting Cream, another close friend, warranted nothing more than childish conversations. Cream was a good kid, but there was no getting proper adult conversation flowing from her.
Which lead her to Silver, the one she had come along with. The only one who knew each others secrets as to why they were actually here. In fact, while Silver had originally planned to mention something about taking things further, it was actually Blaze who broke the light on the subject.
She stated that he was the only one she ever felt comfortable with and questioned if it was alright if they, well, forbid him from mentioning it, but if they touched each other. Like with hugs. He wondered if Morpheus had a very similar conversation with her about not being alone in this place.
It made him a bit better in the long run with such an interesting type of friendship they turned out to have. But Silver would only let Blaze have the first move each time. He was far too cautious and worried if he ever did something wrong, despite Blaze mentioning that he was allowed to do the same to her.
"I'm certain they won't be gone forever." Blaze assured him.
Silver grumbled.
"I know that." He told her.
"Paranoia runs rampant. Without their main players, they suspect doom."
Blaze then stroked his chin, the look on her face more akin to feeling pity for him.
"But how are you feeling? I know with both of us being dropped into this mess, no one else has considered talking about how people are actually coping." Blaze pointed out.
It was a weird premise to consider. Even for Blaze, someone who'd prefer to keep everything in house and to herself.
"You've never questioned it before. Why now?" Silver wondered
Blaze just sighed and collapsed in his arms.
"I have numerous roles to consider as a Ruler and a Guardian. One is for the well being of my subjects and other for their security. To hear them voice their concerns. For more than I can count, are the occasions where they express their deep sorrow. I've tried hard to address poverty, war, crime...but more often than not you are mocked for suggested 'weak-minded' policies by your own advisors. Our coffers are not deep enough to cover the meek and the poor. So some times, as much as I hate it, we have to play the bad guy." She explained, with her matter of fact tone that Silver came to loathe, as he as not well versed in politics. Nor could he completely understand Blaze's reasoning for her actions. She should have more power than anyone else. She had the power to address those concerns on her own terms.
"Are you fleeing here to get away from all that? Your own responsibilities?" Silver queried. He wanted to be angry as he pushed her away from him.
Blaze frowned as she placed her hand on her chest.
"Silver please understand. I came here because the threat Abbadonia poses would eventually come to my world. I have an obligation to fight because I care deeply about this world as I would my own. I may not have any say in affairs here but my skills are required in this place." She explained, before she put a hand on his.
"And I care deeply about you Silver. In a way, that I envy your status."
Envy his status?
"I'm here to fight evil as much as the next person here is...and I was needed like you are...and I'll fight for justice where it is needed." Silver stated with pride.
Blaze gave out a weak smile as she squeezed his hand.
"There will be battles that we'll never be able to fight alone. I have Sonic to thank for making me realise that." Blaze acknowledged.
"If it means allying with people who could fight alongside us then we'll do it what it takes to make our mark on the world."
His world. One that would abandon him at the drop of a hate. One that met him with scorn. But he didn't care. These people didn't understand him or his motives. Just because people hated him, didn't mean they deserve a horrible future.
Justice was meant to right wrongs and ensure fairness within literal and moral laws. Matters like murder and thievery were included. They needed to be addressed as matters that would forever be an issue. Minds didn't need to be changed. It was the need to defend the basic rights of an individual and to seek their needs where they weren't able to solve them on their own.
"I know there would be so much you would want to do but cannot. That is life Silver. But it's still important for us to do what we can because of that." She continued, as she attempted to make eye contact with him again.
"But I hate it so much." He scorned as he whacked his fist on his leg in frustration.
"And If I want to put my own opinion on it. I hate the way Sonic and Amy are being treated. They're unaware of what goes on around them...the many times I wanted to silence the others for even talking about them in that way."
Blaze nodded as she shifted, determined to look at him face to face.
"Having an opinion is fine. Its your actions that will dictate the consequences if you decide to put your words into play. Yes I agree that I don't like the rumours and slander being made about them. I agree that they could be treated better. However, the way we go about it, is finding out ways to not necessarily change their minds, but at least open them slightly. To help them understand. And honestly, from my perspective? They're scared. They've been plucked from the faucets of normal society and thrown into the unknown and suddenly they've had to adjust to a totally different lifestyle. Every single one of them reacts in their own way. Some adapt, some will constantly complain about the conditions here and maybe we may able to address some of them." She explained.
Probably makes sense, considering the amount of times Silver's had to defend his own honour, especially with his own people.
"Hence, there will be battles we will never win, no matter how hard we try. But we know we can keep fighting."
That Silver could agree on.
"...as long as we don't give up..." Silver said, accepting her words.
Blaze smiled warmly to him. A rarity to see such an expression of purity.
"Then perhaps, we may have a chance." She said.
Silver nodded, then scratched his head as he began to think about his own kind.
"The Abyssinnica believe in working together and sharing thoughts and ideas. Most of the time literally. I was never a fan of me speaking to others that way. The concept of privacy was alluring. I wanted to help, but never in the way they wanted me to. So, I never had many friends growing up."
He explained.
"But one ability we have is being able to send Astral Projections across time and space. Those strong enough can send messages. But no one ever dares to. At least, not to my knowledge."
This puzzled her. His kind were weird like that.
"It would be incredibly useful. Have you ever tried?" She wondered.
Not really. He never bothered since he was never taught. He only was taught about the concept overall.
"They say it's an ancestor thing. Out of respect, they never do it. They get me to travel across time...physically...so I suppose it's similar."
Silver rarely spoke about his life in his time with anyone, besides Morpheus. Letting others know what the future beheld was dangerous. But since Blaze was from another dimension, he let it slide.
In his world, he was indeed alone. He was an orphan, but outspoken by those he once considered his friends and family.
It wasn't the most pleasant of scenarios, but Silver wasn't ready to change minds that had been fixated on a millennia old concept. No. He just didn't like people looking in his head and he was glad he wasn't alone in thinking that way.
For now, he was content with where he was, only for the future of this world, to remain in trusted hands.
Shadow became disgruntled in the aftermath and had Maria summon the others to their room. A lot of the reports matched up, but he was vastly concerned about other factors. He kept Morpheus but brought in Glitch, Milo,and several others to plan out their next move. The only person they lacked as well was NiGHTS whom was in the Magenta Emerald thanks to Morpheus. It didn't matter too much, but that jester was important to OPERATION: LUCID to an extent and with more than enough incredibly crucial resources missing, Shadow had to figure a way to solve their main issue with alternate methods in terms of backup, but the conversation about Knuckles situation was the first to be on the agenda.
"It was probably for the best, if any of his previous ramblings were of any indicator."
Morpheus stated, rather coolly.
So much that Shadow could perceive as true but knew he couldn't voice it outright.
"Knuckles held a lot of guilt from his involvement. It definitely wasn't the prettiest way to go."
Milo noted. That too, it seemed. There was still so much he could have contributed however.
"The Echidna is an honest spirit. Of course he wouldn't have been able to handle it any more." Glitch explained. That also was the truth. It would hurt for the moment, but they had to finish it, no matter the sacrifices. It made Shadow wonder what other contingency plans they had in place, if for what ever reason, their original intentions failed.
He pressed his hands as he leaned against the round table.
"We'll make do with what we have left. Any information taken from the base? I know you brought up the Slab, which yes, we've called it the Prophecy Slab for all intents and purposes."
Glitch nodded as she stood up and summoned a holographic blue screen in front of her thanks to her laptop. She explained the powers they had and the powers they needed as she put up projections of various gems for everyone to see.
Shadow pondered. Progress at least. They may not necessarily need Knuckles for this. Figuring out the three others however, may need more research. He had to have leads if they were to have any chances of figuring it all out and ultimately, have the tools necessary to take Abbadonia down once and for all.
"I figure Primal is out of the question...if its not being mentioned." Milo picked out.
Glitch rolled eyes and grumbled.
"No. Primals something else completely. Unless the slab says otherwise. But it does bring to point about Purest Power's processes. It often requires powerful triggers. Primals is perhaps Purest Power and Corruptive Power which in themselves are triggered..."
A blue portal appeared behind them as two figures entered. One was Diga, the other was a bird looking Mobian covered in dark pink feathers, wearing a purple top with one sleeve on the left side and a single strap over the right shoulder with black tight pants and purple boots. Her back feathers were tied up with a gold ring, as she also possessed a small red on gem on her forehead.
"Sorry to interrupt, but if I'm hearing you correctly, you're talking about Fusion Including Nominated Assortment of Latent Energies?" Said the bird.
"Don't mind me, I'm Arinna the Phoenix, but please just call me Rin. And yes, that word does say FINALE. I couldn't help but listen you to talk about FINALE Triggers?"
At last, progress. He didn't care what this 'Rin' said, all he cared was that the Sol Emeralds had arrived so they could go forward.
"Glad you could make it Rin." Shadow acknowledged as he crossed his arms.
"I trust Diga told you all the details?"
He'd rather people in OPERATION: LUCID needed to be kept up to speed. So much had happened in such a short time that he'd rather not waste precious time by explaining matters further. But he hoped she would realise who was in charge, although she did hold a certain smugness, just like Diga and Morpheus did.
"That I did." Diga confirmed.
"She's also valuable into the study of the quantitative amount of differing Foundational Energies. Figured she'd help us out with our current issue."
The more they would be able to know, the better.
"Yes. Coming from a world where certain individuals are gifted with varying abilities, I've spent most of my life trying to understand each of them. A never ending pursuit of knowledge but I'm okay with that." Rin explained further.
Shadow nodded. Shadow himself understood very little, rather than knowing how to use the powers to his benefit. He himself was born into using Chaos and had copious amounts of experience using it. But for anything else, he had zero insight.
"You are Blaze's trainer, I've been told?" Morpheus mentioned.
Rin nodded.
"Yes, I served as her mentor for many years. I myself am also a Mistress of Flame like our dear Princess. Taught her what she needed to know about how use the element proficiently."
Another fire user. Just like they had two telekinetic users. Shadow had to remind himself that the more power they had the more likely they were going to win. Unless everyone decided that they were incompetent.
"We've prepared a room for the Sol Emeralds storage. When you're ready, we'll take you there." Milo explained.
They talked further into the premise of discussing the multitude of energies that existed. Rin knew a lot about the differing ones from her world. But she would need time to sort through Mobius history to determine any well known signs of other assortments of abilities.
They talked about the four, as well as Maria handing over valuable data that could also assist Rin as she went.
True to his word, as Shadow dismissed everyone, Milo had taken Arinna down to the planet as Shadow exited and went to a nearby window to look into space. He stood with Maria who teleported herself next to him with her hands behind her back and eyes out, as Shadow became contemplative over his many decisions.
"You don't trust her do you?" Maria asked.
Shadow shook his head.
"Going from the look of her, she reminds me of Morpheus and Diga. I trust neither of them." Shadow admitted, getting odd gut feelings over the thoughts of both of them.
"But I know what they're capable of. I just don't like that they're a bunch of know-it-alls. We don't need that kind of arrogance that causes carelessness."
That may have been the wrong term. Shadow was more worried it could get even worse by the instant. The worst part was the death of the Wisers: a fact very few knew about.
"I'm concerned that if and when Sonic and Amy return, that Amy's going to notice a few changes having taken place." Maria stated.
The Wisers had kept to themselves and when ever Amy wasn't there, they were tended to by Little IT if they needed anything. But they were isolated from the rest of the Resistance, therefore no one ever really paid much attention.
"I'll deal with Amy if Asmos doesn't deal with her first." Shadow assured.
"But then she may still make me track down what ever the hell happened to Elise. We've bombed her base, but that doesn't mean she hadn't escaped the fire."
Mentioning the topic of Elise, a few beeping sounds prompted Maria to shuffle through an incoming message.
"Oh, we have Aceste Rose on board. She's next on the list." Maria announced.
Another Rose. Another piece of work to deal with.
The third child sat there, looking disheveled and gaunt under the light. Her quills were in tatters, covering her eyes from the light above. She had her hands in front of her as she was restrained by handcuffs. As Shadow entered the room, he could sense the scorn for her straight away.
"I'm glad I get to speak to you." Aceste noted. Her voice was low and unwieldy.
Shadow would be flattered if not for the fact that her mother being considered worse than him insulted him slightly.
"Don't think I'm going to be easy on you just because I'm not Asmos." Shadow threatened as he sat down. All that did was make her laugh.
"Fine. You want to know why I ended up betraying everyone? Everything written down in that file is true. GUN has so much hidden away that I became so disgusted to be grouped together with them. Elise had the right idea." Aceste revealed.
Her profile indicated she was still dating Kratos, a human traitor the cause. He had to know where he was as well as if any part of Elise surviving the onslaught. A lot of the data Elise had was partly stolen from the Robotnik and GUN Networks, in the hopes it would help figure out more about the current issues at hand.
"I've dealt with ancient conspiracies before." Shadow admitted to her.
"But now isn't the time to be traipsing tantrums are insignificant. What was Kratos looking for exactly?"
It had been evident enough that the human had been busy scouring the world for more answers, though how much Aceste had given him in terms of secrets or even how many secrets Agent Strider gave her was unknown. Aceste just chuckled.
"Oh more than you care to know. Where should I start? I showed Sonic and Amy the death of our father thanks to Mephiles. GUN, for what ever reason never officially revealed the true reason and covered it up with conflicting information." Aceste stated with sinister connotations.
Asmos did cover the fact to him that Aiden Rose did work for GUN at one point, but lying about his death did raise some questions. One he'll raise with Asmos when he had time.
"We've had Glitch download the gross amount of data. which we'll sort through all in good time. But as long as you tell us as much as you'd know, I'll deal with your mother soon enough. Maybe keep you here on the ARK as an Assistant." Shadow offered.
Aceste grinned as she blew away a stray quill from her face.
"Oh tempting..." She said flirty yet sarcastic undertones.
"Very well. Kratos before he left said he had a hunch about something...and claimed he needed to go on his own to find out more about it. He recorded it."
Shadow opened the box in front of him, seeing a tape inside. Considering the nature ARKINTRA, he had Maria summon a holographic player. He inserted the tape and pressed play.
"Aceste, my dear. You must understand my actions." Said Kratos, with such sincerity.
"Be angry at me, if you may. But I need to go on this alone. There's much at stake, I know. But provided my theory works, thanks to the amount of work Elise had put into this, even we may have Dr. Eggman to thank as well, since he too had been looking into the matter before...you know."
So this had gone as far back as Eggman looking into it what ever the hell it was they were looking into.
"It could be linked as to why he decided to merge with Abbadonia to begin with, I don't know. But here goes. If you're listening, know what parties are involved. GUN, for the most part, has had its upper echelons involved, maybe as high as the Supreme Commander herself. But it does go back, if you're not including thousands of years worth of history, going back to your ancestors, at least I know where it could have gotten worse. Think back fifty years, to where Gerald Robotnik first developed Project Shadow."
This triggered a sudden bout of anger within Shadow himself.
"My research into the background of Muriel Edenguard, aka your grandmother, notes that she came from a line of Prophets. The Edenguard family tree is all kinds of messed up. It was only when she met Professor Rose aboard the ARK, I looked into his lineage as well. He's a descendant of the Royal Family. Which, by default, you and your siblings could be considered royalty all means. Whether or not that had been played by Muriel I'm more inclined to the former. Your sister, Amy, happened to inherit the Prophets role due to her natural affinity."
Which would make sense as to why Muriel preferred to train her in the role.
"Your father had declined the role to the point, where, while Amy had the potential, his own mother declared him a lost cause and no longer needed him, so he had requested Mephiles to kill him to tie up loose ends, as well as paving the way for Muriel to get to your sister faster."
It made Shadow wish they had killed Muriel earlier on.
"Going from the reports about the process involving Muriel's transferring Abbadonia's essence in Amy, Eggman had jumped in to absorb her essence instead. By all means of what we knew, it would have gone straight for her eventually. Eggman would have died instantly. Instead, Abbadonia took it upon herself to use Eggman...or maybe the other way around I can't tell. But Amy was spared. The powers that be state that Abbadonia was only ever tied to the Prophets line. How Eggman managed to absorb her was...nothing short of impossible, let a lone a mere human taking hold of such a powerful force that only a mobian could ever manage."
It did seem strange enough. Amy was the clear target. So how did he do it?
"I'm only partaking in this because I know how much a threat both pose to this world while GUN sit on their asses trying to accumulate power through the Chaos Emeralds and hoping Sonic the Hedgehog would solve the problem for them. What we need to do is figure out how to contain Abbadonia first, then destroy her outright."
If only Kratos knew the truth.
"By using the method Eggman used on Abbadonia we can use that same method to seal her. Elise is frantically looking through her...well, as we know her fathers systems to figure out how he did it. No such luck can be found here. But Eggman has had bases spread across the globe and my mission is to find out how. If you see anything there my love, please let me know. You know how to contact me if you need me. Especially with that...thing there with you. Agent Strider, signing off."
The dark mass extracted from Sonic. The reports dictate the same story. As soon as Sonic and Amy were sent to goodness knows where, the group that remained hightailed out of there and grabbed Knuckles corpse (thanks to Morpheus) before Glitch called down a strike that destroyed the whole facility.
"So...you know how to get to him hm?" Shadow inquired as he stood up and placed his foot on the table.
Aceste looked away.
"Kratos has his ways of doing things. You don't need him. Not yet." She stated.
"He just told you what he was doing. There's nothing more to be said. He'll come back with the info we need once he finds it."
Not the answer Shadow was looking for.
"Do you even care about your sister?" Shadow balked as he pointed to the folder on the desk.
"You almost killed her and you're sitting on everything we need right now to solve this. What else are you hiding?"
Aceste shot up and slammed her fists on the table, forcing Shadow to take his foot and look at the Rose in surprise.
"I love Amy!" She shouted.
"I love my family! Except, dads death spiralled Madame Bitch out of control and turned into this...this monster that rules with an iron fist! But her secrets are worse..much worse. Take the crossbow that I stole from her...did you even know she used to use it a lot? She had been hiding it in her office and if I had more time, I would have dug deeper into the files she kept...her super secret files that I just KNOW she has."
Shadow only knew a slither about Asmos as a whole, nor did he care to look into the matter. She was his superior and be damned did they work on the same level as respect. There were thing he didn't like, but that was the nature of the hierarchy. Hell, there were things Shadow did he was sure Asmos hated but she had allowed him to do because she also knew it had to be done.
"And I know..." Aceste breathed as she calmed down.
"I saw...the love between Amy and Sonic. He would suffer just for her."
Shadow grumbled in response as he turned his head.
"Suffering doesn't mean love." Shadow said calmly.
Aceste laughed at his words as she sat down and crossed her legs.
"Oh really? Remember that I helped the pair of you. I was thinkin' at first, maybe she was better off with someone stronger than Sonic. Rouge and I planned it all because, we both wanted you two to be happy. Then you drop Amy hard and you go about your business and let her go on her own, despite her condition. You are just as bad as mother, believe me."
Shadow wanted to punch her lights out. How dare she? He slammed his hands on the table as he leaned and glared at her.
"Back off while you can." He threatened.
Aceste wasn't phased one bit.
"Oh touched a sore spot did I Shadsy? Is this...jealousy I smell?" She joked.
It had nothing to do with jealousy. It was to do with her assumptions more so. He had his reasons for cutting it off with Amy. Yes, he did still care for her, but he wasn't going to give Aceste fuel to joust him further. He pushed against the table to get himself straight up again.
"Would you prefer to me to call your mother in here? I'm sure she has a dozen more questions than I would." He questioned with a dark tone.
Aceste sighed.
"Oh mother dear herself can ask all she likes. In fact, you can speak to her yourself about the origins of her weapon or maybe even her past. I'm certain there are so many facts she could give you."
Shadow had enough as he left her in the room on her own. Although he did have Maria monitor her. He grew frustrated with not only her, but with himself for letting her get underneath his fur.
Did Asmos have anything to hide though? Aceste only implied that Big Mama had her own sets of secrets in store. The Crossbow shouldn't surprise him, since Asmos wasn't a combatant, at least, not anymore.
But the recording also disturbed him. Kratos' assumption that lead him to believe a lot of the issues did stem from his creation. Aceste's report as well as other reports did trail Muriel Rose back to the ARK itself.
He didn't like where this was going.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to head back to Noiz City, as he ordered Omega to ensure Aceste remained here until he got back.
Going through the portals once again, he had to decide on what he wanted to do. First thing he knew he had to, was to go to a popular area with civilians. It was late at night when most of them were asleep.
One of the buildings had been constructed into a church of sorts, where people could offer their prayers to either their Gods or ancestors. The room was dark for the most part, with dimly lit torches on the walls and what appeared to be hundreds of a candles at the shrine at the front. Shadow walked down the middle aisle, seeing several people deep in their prayers who were up at this time, those who couldn't sleep or perhaps they were like Shadow who came here when it was quiet.
Shadow approached the shrine, looking at the multitude of photos and candles on a multiple faceted shrine. There was a picture of Rouge as she leaned over a short fence. A picture that Omega had took when they were out a mission. She looked over a river. They were out on the rare occasion they had a day off and they discovered Omega could take really good pictures. He then placed a photo of Knuckles, an image from the archives next to her. Shadow didn't know Knuckles all that well, but going from how Rouge used to speak about him, he seemed like a good person, if not all his flaws.
They were too many photos placed here. Two many of those lost in the aftermath of Abbadonia's wrath. It was a damn shame they couldn't do more to save lives. It was one to say he didn't even have time for humans. It was another to think that not all of them deserved this.
"Oh, Shadow, didn't expect to see you here." Said a soft, female voice.
Shadow turned to see Asher, Amy's other sister, as she approached the shrine herself. She took a candle and lit another, displaying an image of another Pink Hedgehog.
"Just here to talk to dad that's all." She continued.
Of course. Her father. He looked familiar, although Shadow had no idea about who he was or what he was like.
"I won't get in your way." Shadow replied as he stood back to observe.
Asher seemed pleasant enough. She wasn't as boisterous as her sisters were. Though going from the huge sigh that escaped her lips, it seemed like she also had a huge weight on her shoulders like everyone else. She still held the guilt of Rouge's death on her persons, something Shadow honestly never bared any ill will about. He had nothing against Asher herself, only that she was one of few doctors here that could help anyone.
They sat down on the front benches and talked. There was something about Asher that seemed different from her sisters. Calmer, more stable. A breath of fresh air. She was nothing like their mother either.
"What was your dad like?" Shadow asked her, in his rare bout of curiousness.
Asher grinned.
"He was a good person. A family man." She told him.
"Wanted nothing more than to secure the future for his children and be able to love the woman of his life."
Goodness knows what he saw in her that made him stay and not make him insane.
"Hmmm...guess he never got to see the results of that huh..." Said Shadow as he tried avoid going in that direction.
Asher just smiled.
"I'm sure he knows." She said wholeheartedly.
"Though, probably not in the ways he intended to lead us."
Especially given the situations with Aceste and Amy. Especially with the direction where Amy was headed.
"I've never really had a father, unless you call a grotesque alien who contributed his genetic composition a dad." Shadow joked in a morbid way.
Asher was bemused by that.
"I guess. In my original line of work, there were a lot of single mothers, abandoned by frightened fathers not willing to raise their own making." She explained. "Amongst other issues."
Shadow disliked that notion. In a way, he must have feared Rouge falling through the cracks if it ever went that way. Knuckles had his priorities, but...
"Hmph, yeah, simple cowards who don't want to take responsibility for their own doing." He criticised.
"Which is why young Geralds' circumstance is so...devastating. Rouge had a hard time trying to decide if she wanted to bring the little one to the world. And it cost her life to do so. And now with Knuckles gone..." Asher spoke of sadly.
Gerald had no one else to go with. Luckily, Vanilla and Anise Rose, who only had another Child of her own recently, were willing enough to care of the little guy. Shadow would believe it best to leave him out of the oncoming storm by being with them. But Asher felt the full brunt of Rouge's death, unable to save her despite giving it her all.
"I know how that feels." Shadow acknowledged.
"When I lost Maria, I thought I had nothing else. I was so consumed by anger and revenge against the world...that I failed to recall her last wishes. At the time I thought I had paid the price."
Asher looked up at the roof as she leaned back.
"I'm guessing the Maria AI is not up to scratch?" She asked him.
Shadow just shrugged.
"She's nothing more than a copy of the real thing. To hear her voice again is nothing short of a miracle, but then I remember she doesn't have the originals soul. But Maria did make her for me, so I guess that I am obliged to treat her the same way." He answered.
He was originally concerned with the Maria AI's despondency and words that were hollow. But it was as the nature of artificial intelligence that he knew of. But she certainly had more emotion than Little IT did. As harsh as the words could be.
"As long as you're awake and aware." Asher stated, although he did wonder with what she meant.
"If you want to know more, you're welcome to back to my cabin. I've been needing an excuse to get into the wine..."
Strangely enough, he did take her up on her offer. If he couldn't get any info out of Aceste, surely Asher may be able to provide given her already generous attitude. Although last on his list would be Andrew, provided he couldn't get any more from Asher.
Her cabin was humble, clean, as he sort of expected. She did have a corkboard that was filled the brim with papers and random photos. In fact she had frames everywhere on the walls. A lot of them were photos of her family...as well as her nephews and one old one of her whole family together, including Amy who looked very tiny in her fathers arms.
"Amy was always a daddies girl." Asher said as she poured a glass of red.
"Called her Rosie the Rascal, although mum always claimed that he used to nickname her that when they were younger. After she gave birth to Andrew, he would then call her Big Mama."
It explained a lot about why people had to be cautious around calling her that directly, now that Shadow thought about it.
"I'm surprised you haven't gotten a family of your own, going by the amount of pictures of yourself with your brothers kids." He noted as he continued to look at all the photos, especially the ones with her nephews, including the most recent.
Asher just laughed as she handed Shadow a glass.
"I've tried. Last relationship didn't work out. Now my priorities are just ensuring the health of the remaining population, as much as the Chief of Medicine should. I don't mind it. Relationships aren't everything."
A point to her madness, that was for sure. If that was Shadow a year ago, he would have agreed. Now, he wasn't so sure. Being with Amy did open his mind a bit. He stumbled and fell at first, but eventually he got the hang of it. Cutting Amy off however when he did...it was all to ensure she healed properly...
Rewind
It had been a month since the incident. Majority of people had given up on figuring out what actually happened. But Asher hadn't given up on looking after her little sister. The Chaotix had mentioned Amy acting weird, then having a seizure, then she blacked out.
She had been in a coma for about a week and Shadow was annoyed that he couldn't do anything about it. He'd been pressed against the issue many times but no answers were ever found. He'd consulted NiGHTS to see whether or not they had anything to say about the issue.
He was busy in the ARK, pertaining to monitoring the situation as per Asmos' orders. The Supreme Commander herself claimed that it was to get satellite footage of any changes, although he suspected she wanted him away from her ill daughter.
"Theories are abound." Said NiGHTS as they floated around, pacing the room.
Shadow stood there, overlooking the planet like it was his hobby.
"But nothing conclusive. We may have to accept that glitches happen sometimes."
Shadow refused to believe it was an accident. Something like that just does not happen.
"Amy's nearly a blank slate. Something has to have caused it." The Hog insisted.
NiGHTS frowned.
"Seizures can be caused by clots to the brain. It hurts to say she most likely has got brain damage." They said, although their tone was down.
But even that didn't sound right.
"Asher did the scans. Her brain is fine." Shadow noted, as he recalled being by her side the entire time.
She would continued to be looked after by Asher herself. Amy could still walk and talk, although her words were stilted and lifeless. Shadow had tried to argue with Asmos stating that he needed to be with her, but all she said was that it was useless for him to be there and that he could be doing better things. Being his superior, he could do nothing but obey, no matter how much it hurt him.
Rouge herself apologised to Shadow, noting that Asmos had been right. He was better up there.
"Maybe I should break up with her." He said outright, stunning NiGHTS.
"Shadow...I wouldn't say those words lightly." NiGHTS exclaimed.
"Amy may be emotionless now, but her memories would live on. Maybe she'll get those emotions back over time? She must just have to get over the shock first. Which could still take a while to get herself back together again."
Which was exactly why he needed to let her go. He couldn't do much for her in this state she was in.
Not to mention the only reason why he dated in the first place was no longer required. She didn't need him any more.
"Amy's been given enough time. Given her lacklustre emotions, I doubt she would even care in the slightest." Shadow pointed out.
The dream jester didn't like it one bit. But that was their opinion that Shadow didn't have time for. Yes while he did worry about Amy, he also had to keep track on where the hell all the Chaos Emeralds went. Besides Asher, she had Cream and Vanilla to look after her. She would be fine. Eventually. Hopefully.
Current.
Asher swirled the wine glass and watched the drink swish about in it.
"Even after she started to get better, I imagine bit by bit, in her recollection, she would have been tormented, unknowing that parts of her were missing. I'm not religious but I can't imagine the amount of pain of having ones soul torn apart like that. " She commented.
It was never really defined as to how it all happened. Amy never gave great detail or explanation into what lead up to it. Before and after. Would they ever find out? It wouldn't matter.
Useless to think about, but Shadow cursed himself for even daring to care.
"Is that why you weren't chosen to be a Prophet?" Shadow wondered.
Asher laughed, before she sipped her drink.
"Scientifically speaking, only two people had enough, let's say, genetic concentration to be viable in the role. One was Andrew and the other was Amy. Aceste was considered, but for some reason, mother felt she was more suited to another role. Although, she never fully divulged into what that actually meant. I was fine with that, free to pursuit to arts of healing to those who needed it. Now that's a power." She said with pride.
Only if Asher had been around with Maria, maybe she could have had the skills to cure here in this day and age.
"You tested this yourself?" Shadow inquired. If there was anything Shadow was remotely interested in, it was genetics.
"I originally studied to be a GP, but then made further study into being an obstetrician. There may have been a scandal or two that did require us to find out who fathers were. Believe me, mothers generally given me a whole set of GUN records detailing basically for everyone who GUN has dealt with, even its employees, past and present." Asher continued.
Shadow then observed his glass of wine, but didn't drink from it. Fascinating. He wondered if anything could be traced on himself, other than what ever he got from Black Doom. There was an inconsistency as to why Shadow was more, well, a Hedgehog that a hideous monster like Doom was. It wasn't a common thought nor would have been one he'd dived deep into.
"Know much about Project Shadow then?" Shadow put out. GUN would have had to have something that could give him more of an idea of what Professor Gerald did to create him.
Asher just shrugged as she paced around the room.
"I may or may have not looked at a fair few files. Mother said it wasn't really the greatest issue to be worried about, since you already took care of Doom. No signs of any other Black Arms since so its safe to say, they declared that a closed case." Asher explained.
But surely, there was more to the story than declaring it closed without further answers being found to questions not even asked, but he was certain, that they were there.
"Although that may have been deliberate on her part. She had her official sanction to close the matter, but given that we know our grandmother Muriel had a huge part in its design, it's given me red flags as to found out more about her intentions. Which reminds me..." She said, before she placed her glass on the table and went into the bathroom, and brought out a black box kit of sorts.
"I figure, while you're here, and you have yet to drink the wine, I can study your DNA, figure out anything that Muriel would have left behind that we don't know about. Mother reckons Muriel would have deleted a lot of the info the ARK that not even the AI can recover. But...genes can tell us so much more..."
Shadow provided his saliva, his blood and a snippet of his fur for further study. He couldn't remember much of Muriel himself, given that the attack on the ARK had suppressed a great deal of his memories. Both the loss of Maria and with the fight with the Biolizard took priority.
"Thank you Shadow." Asher acknowledged as she sealed the samples away.
"Don't know what I'll expect to find, but I'm hoping to have results in the next few days."
He also didn't expect Asher to find anything they didn't already know. But admittedly, he would be inclined to find out more if possible.
"It's fine." He said as he finally took a sip. It had a nice flavour and texture. He'd drunk wine before, courtesy of Rouge and her former club and this wasn't too dissimilar.
Asher grinned.
"You're a Hedgehog that's rich in history, yet, your own line doesn't even stretch out that far. It's made me utterly curious if there is really anything else to it. I mean, what method did they even use to birth you? A surrogate perhaps? Or a tube? Both?"
Nothing but stagnate darkness came up in his mind. Though tubes were more familiar, in all honesty.
"All I can really have to say is that several people, like Rouge and Maria believe was my design was inspired by an ancient mural on Angel Island that the Professor found. An Angelhog. Heh...the irony hurts." Shadow joked.
Asher nodded in tandem.
"So, maybe your mother really was a Hedgehog? No other explanation would fill it." Asher theorised.
He wouldn't have really cared if she was a shrew.
"Perhaps. It would be likely. Not sure why it would be relevant now."
Asher then shot a sidewards grin and giggled.
"I'm joking of course. Your moniker of 'THE Hedgehog.' gives us obvious credence to believe it. And attraction to my sister maybe..."
Shadow denied such matters would be related to his own history. Asher was just making things up now. It took him a moment to realise they she was on her third glass of wine and he'd barely touched his.
"You're going to touch base with her eventually, aren't you? Since the way her and Sonic are going, I feel your break up with her wasn't exactly what you wanted." She conferred.
Shadow simply downed his drink and shoved the glass to her, as she grinned and gladly poured him some more.
"That's none of your business doctor." Shadow balked at her.
Asher rolled her eyes as she took a sip, then placed her glass on the table.
"Shadow...I've spoken about sex lives with many patients over the years. Yes I'm a woman who people to come when they need to pop out a baby but also people have come to me, for how to get pregnant in the first place...and to help them track their progress. I have seen all types of relationships, lovers, married couples and couples who were obviously having affairs who may have been married to other peoples etc etc.." Asher said as she helped Shadow down his glass as well, then put said glass on the table, before helping herself to his lap, much to his astonishment to the point where he couldn't even move.
"You're drunk." Shadow said outright, smelling the sweet wine from her breath.
Asher's smile got wider.
"I would say I'm relaxed." She responded.
"Drunk would involve a bit of unintended expulsion of liquids from all known orifices."
Shadow grimaced. There was no need for her gross wording.
She then cleared her throat to continue.
"Anyway, know that it's a common point of contention for me not to witness the amount of tension or drama that's usually between the couples involved. You never had sex with Amy, I take it?"
How could he even answer such a question? He wasn't ignorant, just...not experienced. Rouge had tried him with other people but it never went anywhere. He just wasn't interested, but he felt his face heating up far more than he was comfortable with. He pushed Asher off him as he stood up.
"Asher, I respect your role, but I don't wish to talk about this." He said as he went to the door.
Asher rose an eyebrow.
"A yes or no would be fine." She said in a professional manner.
Shadow just sighed as his hand hovered over the door knob. He wondered if she was doing her job, or she had other more mild intentions here.
"No...I didn't..." He admitted.
Asher nodded as she poured him another drink.
"I'm not trying to get you drunk Shadow. I'm trying to help you relax as well." She assured him as he sat down again as she handed him the glass.
"Are you still attracted to her? I'm purely asking for medical reasons."
It was a matter still up for debate. There were many things that he felt, including tension.
He hadn't hung with Amy a lot. In a way that he tried so hard not to think about. But as matters with Rouge escalated, to the point of her death, there wasn't much else on his mind, rather than what more he could have done to save her.
Frustrations with Asmos grew as well. A lot of the choices that were made by her did little to alleviate his concerns with how it was all being run, including her treatment of her own children. His meetings with Asmos were always work related and he'd been charged as being an enforcer, more than a co-leader.
He had to respect chain of command, as his own roles in leadership tested him a lot in the past and it gave him very minor moments to consider on his own feelings in the matter, especially those of other people. At the end of the day, he wished people to leave him alone.
But Amy...Amy had the ability to ensure the small moments they had together were spent well and the negligent affection he had grew in portions to where he'd always let her to take them where they wanted to go, since Rouge would always advise him to listen to her, but ensured that she listened to him as well.
The relationship wasn't bad. Whether he could have did something differently, he couldn't say. He had zero experiences prior and frankly, didn't want Rouge to barge in on matters he didn't care for.
Breaking up with her at the time seemed so simple, but Asher's urging warped his thoughts as the trail ran down a lost but not forgotten path.
"Maybe...I...I don't know. She never pursued the matter further. Even as Rouge reprimanded me, I couldn't go back on my decision." Shadow explained.
Asher nodded as she took in his words.
"It seems to me you never look back as often as you should. Am I not wrong?" She piqued.
It was the last thing he wanted to do. After the drama that surrounded his whole upbringing and when he closed the door that was Black Doom, he wanted to solely remain in the present and remain steadfast for the future.
"There's nothing for me to gain by doing so." Shadow stated in sureness.
"My goals are for what's ahead, not in the past...not any more."
Asher observed him like of those damned psychologists.
"Are you...are you suggesting I try and get back together with her?" He asked. It seemed like that she had certainly been implying it. Like another sister of theirs.
Asher crossed her legs as she took another sip.
"So what are you goals?" She queried, examining him closely.
He grunted again.
"Answer my question first." He demanded.
Asher then bowed her head.
"It's entirely up to the way you believe how it all should be. A world of what you perceive to be true. A world of experiences left undone...it doesn't matter how long you live for, experience does give birth to knowledge. Pardon for the bad pun on my part." She said.
"To answer your question, only you can ever truly know. Love is systematic as it is random and chaotic. To see the signs of how one would act to you...the signs are there, just subtle and unassuming."
As Asher had sat on his lap before, it gave him memories as to when Amy would sit on his lap when they were left alone. There were signals that he got, he just never got the picture completely.
"Were you trying to send me something before?" He questioned.
Asher nodded.
"You had the right response in more of a...altered fight or flight procedure. You pushed me away. You did not want. Yet, did you do the same with Amy?" She pointed out.
A question he did not ever contemplate. Sure having Amy close to him and touching him as they got closer did cause some kind of reaction; he wasn't sure what those reactions meant.
"Would that mean I would still have those feelings now?" He wondered as he sipped a drink as he became lost in thought.
"Uncertainty in that situation...second guessing yourself...not the point. If you didn't, it would suggest Amy could have vouched for more. But you were blind to the message she was sending." Asher theorised.
This was far more complicated than he expected. If Amy wanted Sonic he would think Sonic would have a far more easier time understanding, given the many years that Amy literally threw herself at him from witnessing the many times, including the first time they met where she confused Shadow with Sonic, that he'd seen the two interact. He didn't bother to learn because he just...like with everything else, he didn't care.
"I don't blame you for not getting it." She continued.
"I made that mistake when I was with my ex-husband. First marriages...tend to work out...most of the time. But divorces are common when you simply aren't blind...but you just don't understand the signs the other is sending off. For example, he loved bonfires. Every chance we got to have to go away he loved huge flames. Until I found out he was involved with a huge bushfire when one time I didn't go with him. Experience has indeed taught me many lessons to watch out for toxic trends."
Would it be too late to make amends? But now Shadow's own emotions were left in a twist. He didn't know what to do with them. But making mistakes...could they be the only part that he wasn't doing? He believed the whole part of it was ensuring no mistakes were made. At least, given from how patient Amy had been with him through it all, even after their departure.
"Amy wouldn't have been able to see the damage because at the time she wouldn't have properly felt it. I've seen mothers detached from their newborns and unable to love them...they can't make the connections due to some kind of instability." Asher pushed on.
"But just...just know love is a fickle experience. Getting it wrong is half the battle."
What warranted screwing up? He could have made the incorrect decision to make in allowing himself to get away, but then he should have thought about it, but as he knew, he literally had no time to think. But now he did. And he wasn't entirely sure what he should do. Asher had seen the interactions Sonic and Amy had with each other lately and that...that alone in just the thought, turned his head.
"So show me." He told her as he stood up.
Asher tilted her head, puzzled.
"Show you what?" She wondered.
Shadow took a deep breath.
"Show me an experience. I want to learn!"
The question confused the Rose sibling as she crossed her arms and tried to suss out what he meant.
Perhaps he wasn't getting the message across as clear as he meant to.
"I wasn't intending to fall for Amy like I did. What ever made me cross the line between pretending and this...thing I have with her is troubling. To see how better I could have handled the scenario is...specifically what I'm after. But I don't know if I still want her in that sense...the facade that became real." Shadow continued.
Asher tapped the table as she shuffled his words.
"Aceste and Rouge have admittedly told me the details." Asher revealed.
"Now that Amy is on the mend to getting herself back to normal, you want to give it another try?"
Shadow nodded.
"Yes. But I want to experience what she needs. What she needed. Rouge always hated the fact that I never treated her properly. But between her and work, I hadn't known what to do or how to do it. It confused me."
Amy did try and explain. They had gone on a few dates, sometimes they would hang at her place and watched movies. She then touched him, hugged him, snuggled with him as she would say. Rouge stated this part was normal as Amy was known to be very affectionate...with everyone.
At least until she started her meds.
"We went as far as...making out...but that was it."
It was then Asher's eyes widened.
"Oh how have I been so stupid not to see it? Oh Shadow I'm sorry...and to think I've taught schoolboys this." She said as she slapped her head.
"You want to know...if she ever wanted...intercourse?"
Yes.
"Indeed. I'm not...totally ignorant. Rouge's Club has had many...courteous young women approach me directly which I had respectfully declined...as Rouge told me to. Those signs are more easier and blatant to me. Amy's...not so much." He explained further. Amy was different, apparently.
Much different in approach.
"Amy's always been on the romantic aspect of the scale...even when she was a tiny one." Asher stated. She then laughed.
"Funny, we used to play together. I'd always been interested in her playing with her dolls and pretended that they used to date and I used to ask whether or not her...doll couples were expecting. She said they hadn't decided, maybe after marrying them. It took her a while, but then she announced that her little dolls, Boomer and Amelia, were getting married and that Amelia would love to have a kid."
Playful expectations from children. Maria used to talk about the dolls that her parents on the main planet sent her one Christmas.
"But from my understanding...did you ever tell her that you loved her? At least once?" Asher questioned.
Shadow was extraordinarily far from that. But hearing all this...it all fit. Asher then took another sip of her drink.
"No...I didn't." Shadow said sadly.
"You've opened my eyes a great deal. Now that I know, I definitely want to make amends. But since I've never had it first hand, I want to be able to please Amy. Which is why I asked if you could show me."
Asher then spit her drink.
"What? You...want me to have sex with you?" She asked, dumbfounded with reddened cheeks and ear tips.
The black hedgehog looked steadfast with his words. Asher was the expert. With Rouge gone, there was no other person he could turn to. No other person he could trust any further. He didn't even blame her entirely for Rouge's death. All his anger was focused on that bitch Elise...and himself for failing to save her in time.
"I would have asked Rouge eventually if it had come to that. But...no...I'm a kinaesthetic learner according to the Professor. So I would best learn about the nuances from someone who's studied it proficiently." He told her.
Asher stood there with that same stunned look on her face for a while. Had no one thought to ask her this before? He wondered.
"I...uh...Shadow...dear...I'd love to teach you...but I've never had to do it with my patients. I've normally used books, diagrams..." Asher stuttered.
Shadow groaned.
"Yeah Rouge told me that reading is nice and all, but experience is the best teacher. I'm sorry if you're not comfortable with it. Is there someone else you can recommend then if you don't want to?"
Asher had a hard time deciding what she should do. Shadow being naïve in this field complicated matters further. He didn't get the complexities and deeper aspects of sex in general. The thought of him doing it with her to ensure he would please her own sister was horrific to contemplate.
Shadow was pleasing to the eye, for that it was no doubt. Casual sex would have been fine but in this circumstance...Shadow was willing to go to someone else. Asher didn't know of anyone else, nor did she want anyone else to know what he was after.
I have doctor-patient confidentiality to back me up on this...but if Shadow...
Asher thought.
He wasn't bothered with the idea in the least and his intentions were certainly, admirable from a bizarre standing point, but the implications and if the word got out it would not look good on Amy. She did see the tension between her sister and Sonic and could see the hidden love they had for each other. On one hand she supported the two, but with Shadow so inclined to patch things up with her made it hard to define on what path she would take.
The wine made her a bit more open to the idea, but she wasn't too far gone as to straight up take his offer. She had to think carefully. Very carefully. If he wanted to learn, that would allow her to instruct what he had to do throughout the session. So...to begin, she had to set out some ground rules. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she began to control the situation.
"No...no its okay." She told him, after much anguish.
"But...first things first. I don't want this getting out to anyone, understand?
He nodded.
"Of course Doctor. I understand the privacy between us is strictly with us alone. Not a word will be said to anyone. Even Amy...unless it was something I had to tell her."
Shit. No. Telling her would break her entirely. No...if anyone had to tell her if it came to it, it would be Asher, not Shadow. At least he understood doctors ethics.
All she had to worry about was that it was only meant to be for educational purposes. Nothing else.
No getting attached either.
"I'll deal with that when the time comes." She told him as she stood up.
She took a deep breath and sat next to him.
Glitch sat in the Portal HUB with her laptop. Cream the Rabbit sat nearby and watched the portal in her vigil. Cream missed Amy greatly and wanted her back.
In fact, it was Creams idea that using Little IT, Amy's personal AI, to track her and Sonic across time. The girl was intuitive, oddly enough. Glitch had the AI use its usual tracer program, like they did with the other Emeralds.
Cream became curious to what Glitch had been doing as she rapidly typed away. She didn't mind Cream, although she was unfettered to the world around her as it decayed. She'd been positive for the most part, which while the cynical Cyber-Wolf had to admit that the innocence of a child was worth protecting.
"Is your work hard?" Cream asked.
How could she put this to her in a way she understood?
"Sort of. If you mean its difficult then from your perspective, maybe. To me, it's easy and I always love a challenge." Glitch answered.
The hardest thing would only be keeping track of everything coming and going and acknowledging any major changes in the game at hand.
"We're getting a response from Little IT!" Glitch declared.
People were summoned to Portal HUB as energy signatures were detected. Shadow ran there immediately, as Asmos came shortly after. They watched as the Warp Gate lit up, with a familiar pair of Hedgehogs that soon walked out of it. Seeing them okay, (well, they looked exhausted as hell but still) sent a wash of relief over everyone.
"We're back!" Sonic announced as he waved, having his other hand behind Amy's back as the pair smiled.
AN: Shadow, you are an idiot.