Untamed (by RAWN)
Chapter 13: Reunion
A patrolling robot rounded the corner where the blue hedgehog had stood only a second ago. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, it continued on its way without a
pause and was soon enough out of sight.
A small sigh of relief escaped the cerulean hedgehog hanging from the ceiling. A few moments ago he had noticed a pipe just above him and, in a split second,
jumped up and clung to it with his legs and right hand. His left hand was still occupied by the heavy tile which he strained to hold up next to him so it wouldn`t
dangle straight in front of the glowing lenses of the tall metallic guard.
Deciding that the corridor should be safe again, he began to loosen his cramped clutch around the pipe. He carefully let himself slip out of his grip with the intent of
landing softly on the floor below. Expecting to land on a smooth hard surface, his shock was therefore great when his sneakers made contact with something soft and
living.
Whoever he landed on was instantly knocked down on impact, while Sonic himself lost footing and fell on his back with a surprised yelp. Closing his eyes shut at the
sudden impact and, believing that it was the doctor, lashed out with the tile-holding hand heavily at the top of the other`s head. Hoping it would knock the other
unconscious before he had time to call out a command.
When the pained groan caused by his action did not belong to whom he thought it would, he opened his eyes in disbelief to stare at...
"Shadow?" he called out in astonishment as he watched his dark counterpart rubbing his head, wincing slightly as he massaged the offended area.
"Yes," the other hissed through his teeth. Gathering every ounce of self-control he could muster not to attack or yell at the other. Clinging to the knowledge that the
blue idiot didn`t act so stupid on purpose. Just on accident. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to make a scene in the middle of their mutual enemy`s lair.
It started to down on Sonic what he had actually done as they both got up on their feet, and he awkwardly scratched himself behind an ear. "Sorry," he mumbled in
apology and added a little bit louder with a trace of concern in his voice "Are you okay?"
"What do you think? You hit me in the head with a…" here the peeved hedgehog had to pause as he wasn`t entirely sure what he had actually been hit with "…with
whatever that is," he finished off huffily while gesturing toward the tile.
"A floor tile," Sonic answered simply without any further explanation.
One of Shadow`s eye ridges marginally rose to change his expression into a slightly curious one. "I`m almost afraid to ask, but; why are you even carrying
something like that?"
The cerulean hedgehog sighed "Do I have to explain that now?"
"You had the audacity to steal from me and somehow convinced me to let you get away with it too, so I think you owe me that much. And since you refused to tell
me on our last encounter I decided to find out on my own, but so far I`m even more puzzled by your behavior than before," the dark hedgehog replied sternly.
"You`re right, I do owe you an explanation," the cerulean hedgehog agreed. "It`s sort of a long story though, so I think we should move our conversation someplace
safer."
"There`s a kitchen nearby," Shadow suggested.
"That`ll do," the rather famished and parched hedgehog chirped eagerly, which earned him another raised eye ridge from his rival.
Shadow led the way to the kitchen, which was where he had entered a few moments ago before being knocked down by a certain blue clown.
Said blue clown immediately began to raid the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards for food as soon as they had entered the room, making the other mentally face
palm.
Upon noticing the other one`s irritated frown, Sonic figured that the small pile of bread and fruit he hurriedly had gathered on top of the tile, that had currently been
promoted to a plate, were enough and sat down on a chair to tell him about his situation. Before he began, he also noticed something else about his grumpy
lookalike…
"How did you get inside? It`s not like you could have chaos controlled without an emerald," the blue one asked in what he hoped was an innocent tone.
"I have my methods," Shadow said mysteriously, not wanting to share that mildly embarrassing information.
"Think I`ll translate that to 'ventilation shafts'," Sonic teased.
"How did you know?" the previously black now grey colored hedgehog asked mildly baffled.
"Intuition," was the slick reply accompanied by a light shrug, before pointing randomly at his arm and adding "oh, and you have a spot right there." Truth be told, he
might as well had gestured to all of him, because he was covered in dust from top to toe. Sonic himself had gotten rid of his share of dust bunnies at his first homing
attack yesterday.
Shadow huffed in annoyance when he finally discovered the reason for Sonic`s amusement, and started to brush his fur clean while his blue rival took the opportunity
to munch down on his food.
When they were finished with each of their respective tasks, Sonic told about his misadventures that had led him to be the disobedient and unwilling minion of the
evil doctor.
"So? Think you can help me outta this mess?" Sonic asked hopefully when he was done.
Shadow went silent for a little while, seemingly lost in thought, before he spoke. "I think I`ve got a plan that will solve this troublesome ordeal you`re in and finish
off what you unsuccessfully attempted, but it requires that you wear that…" he pointed at the choker around his rival`s neck, "a little longer and stand still for a
moment." The black hedgehog came toward the blue one, who twisted uneasy in his chair by the look of the sudden callous smirk that had appeared on the other`s
muzzle.
"Ehm, Shads? What are you playing at?" Sonic asked nervously.
"I promise it`ll be over in a second and that it won`t hurt…much."