Shadic's Escape Chapter 26: Power of the Emeralds

Shadic: Alright, Light Speed is currently suffering from an emotional breakdown over the "Shadow the Hedgehog game" thing. But she got this chapter all typed up for you guys!

Light Speed: WHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY! Shadow plus a gun? That's not what a Sonic game should be!

Shadic: That's right...let it all out. /pats Light Speed on the back/ Give her a month or two, give or take. 'Til then, enjoy the chapter!

POWER OF THE EMERALDS

Soko didn't even have to force his way through the crowd. They parted for him, and he walked past everyone absentmindedly, staring at the sword in his hands. He dare not remove the blade from its carved casing, for he knew that Rain's blood still coated it.

He was startled when a female raccoon removed the sword from his hands.

"I'll give it to him for you," she said in a soothing voice. Soko didn't even bother to speak his gratitude; he didn't need to. Instead he tried to forget about what he had just witnessed, and headed back to where he had left Shadow. He would fill him in, head to the weapon's lab as Rain had suggested, and hopefully get out of here soon.

"Shadow?" he called once he reached the electrical room. Shadow was nowhere to be seen, and made no answering sound. Soko ventured further into the large room, angry at Shadow's disobedience.

"I told you to stay put Shadow! This is no time for hide-and-seek."

"Well if it's hide-and-go-seek we're playing," said a voice very different from that of Shadow's, "then I think you just lost."

Soko froze and straightened. He knew that voice… And after turning slowly, he found that his assumption was correct.

It was none other than Shadic. She stood between him and the way out, a smug look on her face. Something about her body language, her expression, or maybe just shock made Soko shrink back in fear. Surprisingly, he ran into a solid object much too early.

"Hello Soko," it said, "Nice of you to join us again."

Soko spun around and found himself looking down a gun barrel, held by a human security guard. He gulped. Stuck between an armed man twice his size and a woman who needed no weapon to threaten his life. He slowly raised his hands.

"Alright… You caught me."

"Hate to do this to ya, Sok," the man said. He gestured with his weapon for Soko to turn, and gave him a prod in the back. "But orders are orders."

"Yeah…" Soko muttered as he let himself be directed out to the hall. "Orders are orders…" he mumbled grimly.

"You should've stayed with us, Soko," the man went on leisurely, "See that girl back there?"

Soko looked over his shoulder and the man nodded towards Shadic, who in turn was further behind him. "She does all our work for us, but we get paid for it! We just gotta…you know," he lowered his voice, "keep an eye on her."

Soko gave him a questioning look, but the man went no further. Did that mean that Shadic was still trying to fight them? Or did they just want to keep her from killing more people? He hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Well Sok, hope you're ready to have your head chewed off," the guard said. He had brought Soko to Sam's office. He had expected as much.

Once the three of them had filed into the room, Soko found that Shadow had been brought here as well. It didn't seem that he had came as easily though. Handcuffs bound his arms behind his back, and the guard behind him was nursing bite wounds on his arm, glaring at Shadow as he did so.

"Hey genius, guess what? They found us," Shadow said as he met Soko's gaze.

"I noticed…" Soko grumbled. He looked up at the large desk before him. His former boss had a tired look on his face, as if he had been aroused from his sleep to come here.

"Report," he said after taking a sip of his coffee.

"These two were found in the electrical room," Shadic spoke up immediately. "Neither offered any identification, so I figured that they shouldn't be here. Especially him," she added in a growl as she glanced at Shadow from the corner of her eye. "They had these things with them too."

At her word, the guard who had been bitten tossed a brown sack onto the desk. Shadic recoiled ever so slightly as a few of it's contains spilled from the sack.

"Chaos Emeralds," Sam mused. He took the blue gem that had rolled towards his hand and examined it with a smile. The blue glow it gave off illuminated his face eerily. "Come here, Shadic," he said without taking his eyes of the Emerald. For a moment, both Shadow and Soko were filled with hope, as she didn't follow his command. But Shadic had merely faltered, not wanting to get near the Emeralds. She didn't like them; they made her skin crawl and flesh burn, among other unpleasant sensations that she couldn't explain. But she couldn't ignore an order…she wasn't allowed…

"Do you know what these are used for?" Sam asked her once she had slowly approached the desk.

"No," Shadic answered.

"If you can harness their energy, you can gain practically unlimited power," he said almost longingly. With a sigh, he put the stray Emeralds back into the bag. He roughly pushed the bulging bag into Shadic's arms. "I want you to learn how to use them."

"But-" she began before Sam gave her a cold look. She was going to complain about how they irritated her so. But if she must learn…

"You may go," Sam told her.

As Shadic left, she noticed that the other two hedgehogs were, and had been watching her. She had minimal issues with Soko; she didn't even remember him. But for some reason, whenever she looked at Shadow, her already tingling blood boiled. She growled fiercely at both of them, but kept her eyes locked on Shadow.

"Well, well, well, we all meet again," Sam said after Shadic was gone. "But I have to admit that I'm surprised to see you here, Soko. I thought that perhaps you had had an accident…"

"No, Sir," Soko said out of habit, cursing himself afterward for the addition of "sir".

"Then where have you been?" Sam questioned.

"I assisted Sonic and the others, including Shadic, in their escape," Soko said with no change of expression. Sam, on the other hand, choked on the coffee he was drinking.

"You!" he exclaimed in surprise, "I never dreamed that you, of all people, would betray me like that! Why?"

"Your methods are too cruel, Sir," he spat out the final word. "Besides, you had placed me as Shadic's guard. My duties were to both prevent her escape and ensure her safety unless otherwise instructed. She fell fatally ill and would have died unless treated quickly, which Sonic and his companions offered to do."

Sam stood and glared down upon Soko with his icy cold eyes. Soko remained calm and returned Sam's hate-filled gaze with his own, equally cold eyes.

"You know the price for your actions, Soko", he said in a slow, quivering voice.

"Yes," Soko agreed. He placed his hands behind his back. "I will be placed under arrest," he said as the man behind him handcuffed him.

"For life," Sam added, almost sadly.

"And Shadow?"

"Sentenced for destruction tomorrow morning," he said now with a half grin.

"Better than being frozen again," Shadow mumbled.

"I see… May I ask a question before being taken away?" Soko asked.

"What is it?" Sam said after a moment of consideration.

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Shadic's obedience. How did you get it?" Soko questioned. Of course, he knew what they did from his former conversation. But maybe he could learn more.

"Ah," Sam said in a calmer tone. He seated himself and smiled. "You should know of our research in memory alteration."

"No subject survived the tests," Soko recalled. Sam nodded.

"Shadic has quite a mind, and a will to boot. It was very difficult to make her crack. The others were too weak. Something our little project is far from," he added proudly.

"I see you call her by name now," Soko noticed, "No longer an 'it' to you?"

"She responds better to her name," Sam explained simply, "I think she still remembers being referred to as an 'it', which she still remains. We tried to get rid of little things like that in her mind, but some things held on and even grew. Like her hatred of me. If I fail to refer to her by the name of Shadic, she may turn on me again. And she doesn't hold her power back any more. Rain found that out the hard way today. Too bad… he was your friend, was he not?"

"Yes," Soko hissed, anger welling up inside of him. Sam didn't even seem to care that Rain was dead!

"You'll learn the same lesson he did tomorrow, Shadow," he continued happily, "It's only right that you die by her hands. I believe she is quite eager to spill your blood."

"The Shadic I know wouldn't hurt anyone. Not even me," Shadow growled.

"Oh really?" Sam said after a laugh, "Then tell me, how does she already have one count of murder on her record, hmm?"

Shadow fell silent. He couldn't come up with an argument for that one.

"Take them away," Sam told the two guards. They both saluted, and before they knew it, Shadow and Soko were being herded back out the door. One of the guards put a hand on Shadow's shoulder to assure that he didn't try to run away. Shadow turned and growled at him, teeth bared. After that, neither of them dared touch him again.

Soon, the two hedgehogs were unrestrained and sitting in separate cells. Soko had never dreamed that he would see this side of the bars. He didn't mind that neither of them have spoked for what seemed forever, until Shadow sighed.

"You still alive over there?" he asked.

"Yeah," came Soko's half-hearted answer.

"I sure hope you found some good information. What did that guy mean by 'memory alteration'?"

"That's how they're controlling Shadic."

"Yeah, I got that part. What does it mean?"

"It's kind of like how you lost your memory. Except instead of erasing it, they 'reversed' some things in her head. She used to think that she didn't have to listen to what the people here told her to do, but now she thinks that she does," Soko explained monotonously. "It has more to do with will than actual memory."

"I wonder why they don't do that to me and make me their slave too."

"I doubt they know how. They have a system they used to create her, and I bet that's how they did this." Soko said. After another moment of silence, he decided that he might as well explain more, seeing as he wasn't under contract anymore... He could tell anyone GUN's secrets now.

"They made a machine to build and change her DNA. Anything that they wanted to do to her had to be worked out through a computer. The computer runs the data to this machine of theirs, and it tries to make a bacteria that would cause the change in reality. Shadic has to be in stasis so the machine can inject whatever concoction it came up with into the tank, and it's absorbed into her bloodstream through the skin. It literally infects her entire body. It's made specifically to work with her, and would probably just end up killing anyone else."

Shadow whistled. "I wonder how many geniuses it took to come up with that idea."

"The entire committee," Soko said, not catching the sarcasm. "So, do you care to share how you got caught?"

"They called in the electrician when those cameras went out." He laughed sadly. "We really should have thought of that…"

"But we didn't," Soko said in a tone of accepted defeat. He was strongly considering bashing his head against the stone wall right about now…

"Well, you're the smart one. What do we do now?"

Soko stood and began pacing around the cell, hands clasped behind his back. Never before had he been in a situation remotely like this! He ran every possible plan through his head, but none of the outcomes were any good. He closed his eyes and growled softly to himself.

"I don't know. I just don't know…" he said, a touch of distress mingled into his normally calm voice. He knew all too well that his failure to come up with a plan would result in Shadow's execution, his own life-long imprisonment, and Shadic's continued servitude. He just wasn't the man for this job! The only thing he was good at was being quiet and following orders, not leading a rescue-turned-escape!

Soko abruptly stopped pacing and leaned face-first against the wall. It felt as if all the pent up emotions of the last few hours were attacking his soul at once, and it was driving him nuts. He hadn't cried since he was a baby, if then, and he didn't want to now. Instead, he hit the wall with his fist, sending a wave of pain up his entire arm. That was Soko's way of expressing grief.

Halfway across the building and at least three floors up, Shadic thought nothing of her potential heroes. All of her attention was focused on the gem resting upon her chest as she lounged on her bed. She was supposed to be "harnessing its power". Bah, the only power she sensed in this rock was the power to give her a splitting headache. With an irritable growl, she slapped the Chaos Emerald away. It bounced off the wall and rolled to a shaky stop by its multi-colored counterparts. Red, white, purple, green, blue, light blue, now yellow. None of the seven Emeralds seemed to hold anything special. Just seven different ways to torment Shadic.

She rolled over onto her side and flung her arm over her eyes. It was hard to believe that these things were supposed to grant her unlimited power. Heck, they were draining it!

Just as sleep was about to claim her, her skin began to tingle furiously, giving her goose bumps that caused her fur to stand on end. She gave a long, drawn out groan; why couldn't these rocks leave her alone?

She allowed her arm to slip from her eyes, where it dangled feebly over the edge of the bed. Her eyes opened and expected to find darkness. They were instead forced to squint as a light stung and surprised them. How could there be light in a room without a light bulb? Shadic raised her head in curiosity, willing her sleepy eyes to adjust.

Two of the Chaos Emeralds were glowing unusually bright, and for no apparent reason either. That defiantly explained the strange light, and most likely the reason for Shadic's fur to stand up too.

"Alright," Shadic said quietly, "what are you trying to tell me?"

She rolled off the bed without bothering to sit up first; landing cat-like on her hands and toes. Immediately she drew her arm back, and felt a warm, sticky substance oozing from her hand, along with a stinging pain. She looked down and saw a piece of jagged glass glimmering in the multi-colored light. No one had bothered to clean up the shattered remains of the mirror she had broken, and the floor was covered with these little fragments. It looked quite pretty by the glow of the Emeralds, but was a hazard all the same. She sucked on her bleeding wound, and used her pillow to brush a clear space on the floor where she could sit.

After making sure that the floor was clear, Shadic sat down cross-legged by the Chaos Emeralds. The last one she had thrown, the yellow one, had come to a stop between the green and red ones. Both the yellow and the green were now glowing at least twice as bright as before, but all of the others remained the same. Puzzled, she reached out and touched the yellow gem. It vibrated slightly, and felt warm beneath her fingers. These weren't how they felt before…

She removed her cut hand from her mouth and moved it toward the red Emerald. She hesitated as she noticed that it, too, became brighter, but only when her hand was near. It stopped if she brought it back. Curiosity won over Shadic's caution, and she went ahead and touched it. She withdrew it with a surprised yelp. A spark of what she guessed was energy had jumped from the Emerald to her hand, and it had left the open cut burning. It hadn't done that before either!

She wondered if it were just that one she couldn't touch. Reasoning that since she had made contact with the yellow Emerald, she decided that this was true.

Just to be sure, Shadic tried to touch it again, still with her cut hand. She stopped in a hurry when it glowed in warning. Frustrated, she simply tried her other hand.

Nothing happened.
It didn't become brighter, and no shock came when her finger cautiously poked it. Again, it felt warm and soothing in her hand.

"What, can't I touch you with my left hand?" Shadic asked the Emerald with a faint smile on her face. It had seemed to calm her angry mood, which she had been in as of late. It was a nice change.

She noticed that as she picked the Chaos Emerald up, both it and the green one dulled, and she was unable to feel its vibration. She put it back, and at once they both flared to life, and she could feel their power again.

Shadic sat back and tapped her lower lip, absorbed in thought. In her mind, a mental list of facts was forming.

One: Don't touch the Chaos Emeralds with your left hand. Shadic had absolutely no idea why this was so, but the memory of the red Emerald episode would keep her from doing it again.

Two: Yellow plus green was good. At least she figured it was a good combination. Whenever they were near one another, they glowed. And only when this occurred could Shadic feel their so-called "power". These two would also vibrate at a low frequency that could be felt, but not heard, and they were warm to the touch. The gems also tended to mellow Shadic, too. Maybe it had something to do with that vibration.

Three: The five Chaos Emeralds that were left were as dull as rocks. Plain and simple. They did glow in their individual colors, but after seeing the intensity of the yellow and green, that was nothing.

Four: All seven of them made Shadic uncomfortable. Again, plain and simple.

And that was as far as this list went. But what did it mean?

"It's a puzzle!" Shadic soon said to herself. She wasn't sure how she had come to this conclusion. The answer just seemed to come out of nowhere. Her theory was this: if the Chaos Emeralds were lined up in a certain order, maybe then she could see their "unlimited power". It was such a simple answer! But she was proud of her problem solving skills all the same. It was just going to take awhile to get the Emerald's in the right order… Looks like she would have something to occupy her after all.

While Shadic had work to do, neither Shadow nor Soko had anything to keep their minds off of what they knew would happen in the morning. And since neither were known for their people skills, conversation was limited.

Soko simply sat, silent and brooding as usual. His dark, icy blue eyes stared forward, but saw nothing. Too much had happened for him to handle, and there was nothing he could do about it. All those years of seeing families split, innocent creatures imprisoned, mentally and physically tormented… He hadn't known what it was like until now.

But Shadow knew all too well. He had been a prisoner for fifty-some years, and he remembered little, if any of it! He almost wished they would freeze him again; the boredom was more than he could take. For a brief time, he had found minimal amusement in throwing a small rock he had found at the bars of his cell. The rock would bounce off the metal with a clang and come back to him, ready to be thrown once again. His "fun" had ended, however, when the rocked missed its target and landed outside the door, far beyond Shadow's reach. So much for that.

"It almost seems too quite in here now," Soko said with a melancholy air.

"I'll miss that little pebble," Shadow responded, "It must have given me at least fifteen minutes of entertainment."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Soko's lips. He knew Shadow was making an attempt at humor. That fact alone was funnier than the joke itself. The smile soon faded though, as Soko remembered that his companion wouldn't be around tomorrow. He would be fighting a battle that he could only lose. That thought somehow brought up Soko's next question, one that he wasn't aware of asking until he had said it.

"Are you going to hurt her?"

The question startled Shadow for a moment. He had hoped that the conversation wouldn't include the upcoming battle between himself and Shadic. Leave it to Soko to worry about her well being, even after she had switched sides. But he too had been pondering over the same question himself…

"I haven't decided yet," Shadow said after a long pause.

"You haven't decided…" Soko repeated grimly, "That's another way of saying yes."

"No," Shadow retorted, "It's another way of saying that I don't know. I can't attack someone who I see as family, and I won't go down without a fight. You see my problem."

"Oh…" Soko said, more as to say that he had heard than he agreed.

"I'm not going to on purpose," Shadow promised, "But a few scratches and bruises won't kill her," he added. "If anything, you'll get her back in one piece. Good enough?"

Soko took a deep breath, held it, and slowly let it out. "Good enough," he finally said. After that, they were silent once more.

It was now well into the evening, and still no words were further exchanged between the two hedgehogs. In fact, there hadn't been any sound whatsoever. One could have gone deaf and not have noticed.

Only after Soko's ears picked up a faint sound was he certain that the gift of hearing was indeed still with him. He started to stand, only to be forced to have to catch himself on the wall. He hadn't realized that his entire right leg had gone completely numb…

He half hopped, half dragged himself to the door of his cell, and pressed his face to the bars, hoping to see something. Within a few moments, that "something" finally came into view.

It was a little old lady, pushing her food cart in front of her. Soko sighed in relief. He thought that they would get the food deprivation treatment.

"My my, what are you doing in there?" she asked Soko once she had reached them, something that had taken quite a while. She didn't give Soko a chance to answer, however. "I haven't seen you in there since you were about yay high! In fact, I haven't seen you anywhere for awhile. I thought you had run off with your sweetheart though. All the girls down at the cafeteria have been talking about what a wonderful novel someone could write about your lives. So is the little trouble maker here too?"

Soko had never been more grateful for his thick, dark fur, because it hid the fact that he was now blushing more than he ever had in his life. I didn't help that he could hear Shadow's stifled laughter either.

"Oh, um, yeah, she's here," he mumbled.

The elderly woman shook her head and began taking bowls out of her cart, speaking while she worked. "That's a shame. This is no place for someone to grow up. You ought to know that, "she said solemnly. "Nope, she needs to get out and see what a real life is like before she reaches my age. And so do you!" she added as she pointed her ladle at him. "You're already twenty-five!"

"Eighteen," Soko corrected, knowing it wouldn't matter either way. This woman usually didn't talk this much, but once she got started…

"Oh well," she sighed, "the least I can do is bring her some dinner. I hear she couldn't stomach my soup though, poor thing. I'll make her a nice sandwich." She handed both Shadow and Soko a bowl of her infamous soup while she spoke. "Would you like me to give her a message for you?"

"No…no thanks," Soko said softly. He knew there wasn't any point in it.

"Alright." She patted him on the head as if he were a child. "I'd better be going. Best of luck to you."

With that said, she began to leave, taking as much time as it took her to arrive. Once she was gone, Shadow wasted no time bursting into laughter.

"Oh that was great!" he howled, "If only Shadic were here to hear that one!"

"Come on, lay off," Soko said, both angry and embarrassed beyond belief. It took Shadow a long time to gain control over himself again.

"You've gotta admit, that was funny," he said as he returned to his old self.

"Yeah, ha-ha."

"She's probably right you know. About getting out of here. The way she talked, it sounds like you've been here for a long time."

"I have," Soko said simply. Though the way he said those two words told Shadow to back off. And Shadow had caught the hint. Instead of pushing on with this seemingly touchy subject, he turned to his unappetizing food. Until he thought of something that stopped him from touching it.

"That wouldn't have been the one who poisoned Shadic, would it?" he asked cautiously.

"No, of anyone who could have done that, she's more than the least likely candidate. Besides, she couldn't poison anyone. A – because she's too kind, and wouldn't dream of harming a fly, and B – because she simply wouldn't know how. I've been eating this stuff all my life. Trust me, as long as you don't have a weak stomach, her food won't hurt you."

Shadow, still cautious, sniffed the liquid in his bowl and winced. "Oh well, I'm going to die tomorrow anyway…" Without another word, he plugged his nose and downed the "soup" all at once. Soko judged by the choking sound he made that Shadow wasn't fond of the dinner. Shadow spent the next half hour with his tongue hanging from his mouth trying to rid it of the foul taste that lingered.

Yellow…green…purple…light blue… Shadic had figured out more than half of the puzzle. Just three pieces left! And what a tricky last few pieces they were. If she put the red Chaos emerald in line by the light blue one, and the white one after that, they all would glow. But when she put the last Emerald, the blue, in the last space, nothing happened. It was very disappointing…

Shadic rested her chin on her hand, thinking. Until her thoughts were disturbed by a knocking outside her door.

"What?" Shadic snapped. Some nerve, disrupting her again like this!

"Well if that's how you treat your guests, I'm sure glad I'm not one of your enemies!" said the voice of the one who knocked.

Shadic grumbled for a moment and stretched her cramped limbs before opening the door for the "guest". Before her stood the lunch lady, a warm smile on her face. Shadic crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorway.

"What?" she repeated. Now that she had left the Chaos Emeralds, their soothing nature did not affect her, allowing her irritableness to return. She needed no reason to hate anyone who wore the GUN insignia – that was reason enough.

"I just thought you'd like a bite to eat. No need to be grouchy," the woman said, "Now are you going to invite me in or not?"

Shadic frowned. It wasn't really an order, but still… Surely she wouldn't have to listen to what this old woman said! Even as she thought this, however, Shadic's eyes came to fall upon and identification tag pinned to the woman's dress. Darn it!

The woman, whose name was Mary, according to her ID, followed Shadic's gaze. "Oh, I forgot I was wearing that silly thing! I never used to, you know. But they've been very strict about that lately. For some reason, everyone has to wear them at all times. I don't see what the fuss is all about."

Shadic waited until Mary finished yakking, then stepped aside so she could enter the little room.

"My word!" she gasped, "You have a carpet of broken glass! Don't you know that you could have cut yourself?"

"Already did," Shadic mumbled absentmindedly. She for one thought the glass was pretty…

"I'm sorry dear but you're going to have to speak louder than that."

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing!" Shadic practically screamed.

"No need to yell," Mary scolded. Shadic put her hand over face and groaned in irritation. Mary put her own hand over her mouth and gasped again. "Your hand! You did hurt yourself! What did I tell you?" She seized Shadic's wrist to get a closer look. "Aww, poor thing, that must sting," she coed while she stroked the cut; an act that made Shadic flinch. "You sit down and eat while I go get you a bandage, ok?"

"It's just a little cut!" Shadic argued.

"Sit!" Mary pushed Shadic onto the bed by the shoulders and handed her the sandwich she had prepared. "Eat."

"But-"

"I want that sandwich gone by the time I get back."

Shadic watched Mary leave with a bewildered look on her face.

"What a crazy old coot," she grumbled. She slowly nibbled at the sandwich in her hands. It was pretty good, but she just didn't feel like eating, even though she couldn't remember when she last had. She had been starving all day, but now that she actually had food, she felt too queasy to eat it. All she wanted right now was the sort out the Chaos Emerald problem before daybreak; already the sky was beginning to lighten. Before she knew it, her mind had drifted back to the stubborn gems. Maybe if she put the yellow at the end of the line…

"You'd better be done with your dinner young lady!"

With a start, Shadic snapped out of her thoughts, and remembered that she hadn't finished her food. Just as Mary walked through the door, Shadic stuffed what was left of the sandwich into her mouth.

"You finished? Good! Did you like it?" Mary asked. Shadic nodded, as she couldn't open her mouth. Lucky, Mary had to sneeze, and that gave Shadic time to painfully swallow the whole load. She straightened once Mary looked at her again.

Mary sat next to Shadic with a length of gauze in her hand. "Alright, let's fix you up shall we?" She gently took Shadic's hand and dabbed a moist cotton-ball on the cut. Shadic hissed and tore her hand away from the startled woman's grip. Whatever was on that cotton-ball stung!

"Oh don't be a baby!" Mary said sternly. "It's just a bit of peroxide."

Shadic snorted and flattened her ears, yet let Mary take her hand again without fuss. She was only dimly aware of the woman wrapping the gauze around her hand and pinning the fabric with a silver metal clip.

"There, all done. That wasn't so bad now was it?" Mary said in a tone one would use when talking to an infant. "Now, just let me clean up this glass and I'll be on my way."

Shadic innerly breathed a sigh of relief. Soon she'd be alone with the Chaos Emeralds and her thoughts again. She tried to look patient as she watched Mary sweep the glass shards into a dustpan. It felt weird watching someone else working. All day people had made Shadic do chores for them, while they snickered behind her back. Even when they knew she was trying to fix this Emerald problem! Oh how she'd love to deck a few of them. But she couldn't, as they constantly reminded her.

"Those are some pretty jewels you have," Mary spoke conversely, "Chaos Emeralds are they not?"

"How'd you know?" Shadic asked in apparent surprise. Mary laughed as she straightened and dumped the broken glass into a bag.

"Everyone has heard of the Chaos Emeralds! Never thought that I'd see them though. I've only seen pictures. I always thought that they were glued to those pedestals," she said with another laugh, "They were always on them in my pictures. Always in a circle. Very pretty indeed!" She gave a sigh, then smiled happily. "Oh well, I suppose I'd better get out of your fur now, hm? If you need anything else, just give me a shout!"

"Uh-huh." Shadic was already jumping off the bed and taking her seat in front of the Emeralds before Mary had shut the door. She yawned deeply before trying the idea of moving the first Emerald to the back.

"No go," she groaned when nothing extraordinary happened. That was her last idea too! What now? She knew for a fact that if she didn't make these things do whatever they were supposed to do, she'd be in trouble. Her ears drooped slightly as she stroked the golden bracelet on her wrist. If there was anything Shadic remembered from before this change, it was what happened when she got in trouble…

"Maybe I ought to call Mary back," Shadic thought out loud. She stood up and paused before the door. If someone came back and she wasn't here, would she get into more trouble? Then again, why should she care? She could take on anything they threw at her with her hands tied!

She put her hand on the doorknob, and found that it wouldn't turn.

"What the heck!" Shadic tried in vain to pull the door open, but it wouldn't budge. Mary must have locked the door on her way out. Everyone seemed to do that! She groaned again, much louder this time. "Locked. Again! You'd think that I'd have earned the right to have my own key by now!"

Feeling once again very moody, Shadic went back to the Emeralds, letting them calm her. She sat heavily before them and rested her head on her knees. There wasn't much left she could do but stare at the Emeralds and wait for someone to come yell at her. She should have asked Mary for help when she was here. She had seemed to know a lot about Chaos Emeralds.

"Wait a minute…" Shadic snapped her head up as she went over the conversation she had had with Mary.

I always thought that they were glued to those pedestals. They were always on them in my pictures. Always in a circle.

"Always in a circle!" Shadic repeated in sudden understanding, "They have to be in a circle!"

Filled with excitement, Shadic went right to work. She placed the yellow Chaos Emerald directly in front of her, the white to her left, and the purple to the right. The green went to her upper right, and the red behind her and to the left, while the light blue went behind her and to the right. Only one Emerald remained. She held on to the blue gem, silently praying that this worked. She finally placed the blue between the yellow and white.

This time, something happened.

After Shadic dropped the blue Emerald, all seven of them seemed to light up. Then, unless her eyes were deceiving her, the Chaos Emeralds left their places on the floor and began levitating in midair!

"What the?" Shadic asked in surprise. She cautiously stood with the intention of moving away. Putting the Emeralds in a circle around herself might have been a stupid idea.

Almost as if in protest of her movement, the Chaos Emeralds began to rotate around Shadic. They moved slowly at first, but quickly picked up speed. If she had tried to get away now, the impact from one of the Emeralds would probably end up shattering her bone. Wide eyed and quickly becoming nervous, she instead backed up until she was as far from them as possible, which was dead-center of the circle. That appeared to be just what the Emeralds wanted. The moment Shadic's foot touched the midpoint, their rotation speed jumped. The wind they created blew Shadic's fur and quills around wildly, through nothing else in the room seemed affected…

Without any warning, a blinding light burst from the gems, disabling Shadic's vision. With the light came a strange sensation that washed over her body with just as little notice. Shadic would have cried out in fear if her voice hadn't caught in her throat. Every inch of her was tingling, and for all she knew she could have been on fire. She both wished that she knew what was happening to her, and was glad that she didn't.

And then, it stopped.

Very cautiously, Shadic opened one eye, which had been squeezed shut. A painfully bright light made her close it again. She couldn't feel any wind, so she figured that the Chaos Emeralds had stopped. Eyes still closed, she reached out with one hand. Nothing hit it. She braced herself, and then tried opening her eyes again. What she saw made her stuff her fist into her mouth to keep from screaming.

The bright light was coming from herself! Her silver fur wasn't silver anymore. It had turned a pure, bright white. Even the albino hedgehog whom she had fought wasn't as white as she was now!

A strange aura seemed to be admitted from every strand of fur on her body. That's where this light must be coming from. It looked somewhat like the aura that surrounded her when she used her energy attack. But somehow, it was different. She brought her hand closer to her face and flexed her fingers. Whenever she moved, she could see an after-image of where she had been.

"Wow…" Shadic said in awe, "What'd I do to myself?" She suddenly felt very powerful, not tired and fatigued like she had been a moment ago. Her body seemed very light, too, as if it wanted to leave the ground.

Shadic closed her fingers into a fist and laughed almost insanely. "So this is unlimited power? This I can get used to. I can't wait to try it out!"

A/N

It has come to my attention that this chapter doesn't seem to be doing well. I realize that this isn't a very "exciting" chapter, but it is very nessesary to bring together chapters 25 and 27. I also realize that some think that I'm making Shadic a little too powerful. You guys are on my frequency, believe me! But you're also putting a little too much thought into it. I have fought with myself for weeks before even writing the beginning of this chapter, debating whether or not to let her go Super. I have finally come to a conclusion, but unfortunately, you won't see what happens until the next chapter. If you want some food for thought though /POSSIBLE SPOILER/ this will be Shadic's last use of the Chaos Emeralds. They aren't good for her health...

I know it takes me an awful long time to update, but I have a lot of other things to do as well, and I try and turn out chapters as fast as I possibably can. I hope that you can spare me some slack and won't get too frustrated with me. I estimate that there are about two chapters left to this story. A lot of you have been reading this since I started it about four years ago (some time before I uploaded it). You guys have encouraged me more than you know. The advice I've gotten on this wild ride as helped me out a lot. For that I thank every single one of you who has read my story and put up with the insanely long intermissions. I just had to say that.