Thanks to all the nice reviews!
Jinx The Hedgehog: Yes, Sapphire does have a thing for Shadow…it'll be explained later why she's jumping on his head. ^^
Disclaimer: You guys should know the drill already….I own the OCs, but I don't own the Sonic characters or Sapphire. Instead, I have to cope with my cousin's cat, who is very grumpy.
And….COMIC ALERT! COMIC ALERT! There's a second comic for a scene in this chapter, kindly drawn by Lucy Labrador. Check it out, it's on my profile!
Chapter 14: The evil of needles!
The next day, Hikari was tidying up the waiting room. She eventually finished clearing away the books and newspapers, so she went to see Takeshi.
Hikari walked into the room. Takeshi was looking for something in the cupboard, while Shadow was sitting on a chair, spacing out as usual.
"Anything else you want me to do, Takeshi?" she asked.
"No, you can take a break."
Hikari sat down next to Shadow.
"And how is Shady today?" she asked.
"Humph…" Shadow mumbled.
Takeshi finally found what he was looking for. He took a needle out of the cupboard, and placed it on the table.
"What's that for?" Hikari wondered.
"Oh, it's for Shadow. I'm just going to give him a jab, and maybe take a blood sample as well."
Shadow quickly came out of his daydream.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, it's for you." Takeshi searched the cupboard again. Shadow peered at the needle, and he went pale.
"Did I ever tell you I don't like needles?" he said, still staring at the needle, as if it would jump up and start dancing.
"I wonder what would give us that clue…" Hikari muttered.
Hikari's flashback
Hikari was sitting by Shadow's bed, reading a copy of Twilight. Takeshi came in, with a box full of needles.
"Hikari, I need you to put these away for me." he said, giving her the box. Hikari nodded.
"What's in the box?" Shadow asked curiously. Hikari tilted the box so he could see, and his eyes grew wide, and started twitching.
"I don't really like needles…" he said, slowly moving away from the box. Unexpectedly, Sapphire came in. She jumped onto the bed, and peered at the box.
"MIAOW!" she mewed, leaping off the bed, and running down the corridor. Hikari sweatdropped.
"It looks like you're not the only one…"
*End of flashback*
"Don't worry. It won't hurt." Hikari said. Shadow's ears flattened. When Takeshi turned around, he saw a shocked Hikari, and a hastily fleeing hedgehog running for his life down the passage, with a trail of dust behind him.
"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything…" Takeshi muttered, holding the needle. Sapphire stuck her head into the room.
"Mew?" she asked, looking around.
"Shadow's not here now. He ran off." Hikari said. Then Sapphire saw the needle in Takeshi's hand. Her eyes widened.
"MIAOW!" she chased after Shadow, as Takeshi facepalmed.
"I need a new job…"
And so, an epic game of hide and seek started. Hikari and Takeshi searched all around the place, looking behind chairs and tables for Shadow. But they didn't find him.
"Where could he be? It's not like this place is big!" Hikari complained. Takeshi thought for a bit.
"Well, he's a hedgehog…we're going to have to think like hedgehogs to find him." he said.
"OK…thinking like a hedgehog…" Hikari pondered.
"I've got it!" she shouted.
Meanwhile, Shadow was hiding in a box in Takeshi's office.
"They'll never find me here!" he thought. Sapphire came into the office, and started scratching at the box.
"Mew!"
"Shut up! You're going to lead them to me!" Shadow whispered.
"MEW!" Sapphire mewed loudly.
"OK, OK! You can come in here. Just don't make any noise, ok?" Shadow picked up Sapphire, and ducked back down into the box. Hikari came into the office.
"Hmm…my senses are tingling!" she said.
"Oh crap…" Shadow thought. He prayed to all of the gods that Hikari wouldn't find him, when Sapphire sniffed. He looked at her.
"No! Don't sneeze!" he whispered. Sapphire tried her best, but could not hold it.
"Achoo!"
Hikari heard the noise, and came over to the box.
"OK, Shadow. Come out with your paws up!" she shouted. Shadow glared at Sapphire, who was trying to look innocent. Then he jumped up, and ran past Hikari, who chased after him.
"GET BACK HERE! YOU HAVE TO TAKE YOUR SHOTS!" she cried.
"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" Shadow yelled back. He managed to avoid Hikari, and he hid in a cupboard. Brook came along.
"Shadow? Are you around?" she asked.
"Sweet Chaos…I forgot Brook could sense me…" Shadow thought. Takeshi came along.
"What's wrong, Brook?" he asked.
"I can sense Shadow somewhere. Oh, well." Brook walked away. Takeshi slowly opened the cupboard, and was met with a curled up ball of spikes.
"That won't help, Shadow."
"I'm not going down without a fight!" Shadow said, sounding muffled. Takeshi sighed, and pulled some gloves on.
A few minutes later, Hikari was trying her best to keep Shadow from moving around.
"It's not that bad!" she said.
"NOT BAD? YOU TRY GETTING JABBED, THEN!" Shadow yelled.
"Well…OH, IT'S WAFFLE TIME, WAFFLE TIME, WILL YOU HAVE THESE WAFFLES OF MINE!" Hikari sang randomly. Shadow stared at her.
"What the-"
Sapphire came into the room.
"MEW!"
Takeshi took this moment to quickly poke Shadow with the needle.
"Ow!" Shadow turned to look at Takeshi.
"See? It only took a few seconds." he said.
"Fine…"
"Mew!" Sapphire jumped unto Shadow's head, purring.
"Oh yes…Since Sapphire was a stray, she'll need shots too." Takeshi got out another needle, and Sapphire stopped purring.
"MIAOWWW!" she tried to run away, but Shadow grabbed her.
"Don't you dare. You got me into this mess, it's only fair you get your shots."
A few minutes later, people outside on the road heard a noise that sounded like a cat yowling.