Listen to 'How Far We've Come' by Matchbox 20 , 'In the End' by Linkin Park , or 'Perfect Enemy' by T.A.t.U. They just seem to fit. Shadow and Amy began to SEGA. Villian is owned by me. Infinetly so. R&R Thanks for reading all of yous! Party at my place for over 100 Reviews! I love you all! Enjoy!
(Normal POV)
He picked her up and swung her around in a wide circle, moving farther into the alley with each swing. Amy looked down at him, her mind in a confused daze. By the time he set her down, she'd managed to form a complete sentence.
"What are you doing here?"
Z met her gaze with one full of solemnity. "I could ask you the same thing. The minute you disappeared, people started to get worried. That serial killer was still on the loose and rumored to be in the area, so your friends started combing the town looking for you. I heard about what was going on and joined the search parties. As you've probably heard, things got...well, really wild that night."
He shuddered, hunching his shoulders. "Afterward, we asked around and found out where you'd gone. We found the killer, what was left of him, but no trace of you. Over the week, your friends and I have been calling, searching, anything we could do to find you."
"And today," his blackened face brightened. "I come down to Avalon to visit some family and guess who I bump into? What am I doing, babbling on like this? Come on, there are so many people we have to tell! They'll be ecstatic when they hear the news!"
He grabbed her hand, trying to tug her farther down the alley, but Amy pulled her hand out of his grip.
"But...wait a second...you were there."
"Pardon?"
"That night...you were there." Indistinct memories were flashing through her mind, hazy and muddled. A hulking white shape, the gleam of bared fangs in the twilight...
"What are you talking about?"
Her hammer snapping in two, hot breath at her throat, the sound of talons puncturing through flesh...
"Amy?"
"I..."
Blood dripping, a hedgehog drawing closer, everything growing darker...
The pieces fell into place, the truth horribly obvious. She bolted, running hard and fast towards the street, her lungs filling with air. She didn't even make it half-way.
His talons dug into her ribs, rendering movement painful as his paw was clamped firmly over her mouth. His tail wound around her legs, the charcoal spikes coated with a soft sheen of menace. Quietly, he maneuvered them deeper into the shadows of the alley.
"And we come full circle. Huh, I'm not sure whether to be amused, or offended that you didn't know, didn't guess at the truth. Ah well this suits my purpose perfectly. My pride can live with it."
He chuckled, sending chills down her already frozen spine. Amy's heart had almost stopped beating; fear compacting her lungs into hard lumps, her breaths hard and shallow. His grip was unnecessary, for his presence alone kept her immobile. The scream for help was trapped, plugged inside her throat, building pressure that caused her teeth to chatter and her jaw to twitch.
Amused, he watched her, observing the internal havoc her was causing. "Why don't you call him? I'm sure our dear Shadow would be very put out if he missed our little, ah, reunion don't you think?"
His tone was light, conversational, barely showing the smug exhilaration of victory coursing through him. Amy squeezed her eyes shut, biting down on her lip. Despite her best efforts, the smallest of whimpers escaped.
Eyes glinting maliciously, Zerithan rested his chin on Amy's shoulder, tilting her head back with his paw. "Brave. I don't doubt the attraction he has for you, the loyalty and devotion you inspire. So fair. So soft..." His sinister voice trailed off as his claw lightly traced a line down her neck to her collarbone before slowly going back up again.
Amy shuddered, whimpering again. The Reaper pushed his face closer, his lips barely brushing her neck as he continued. "Had my goal been another...hmmm, Amy you would've been radiant." He breathed the last word, enjoying the trembles his breath invoked.
"Come now," he whispered. "Scream. I know you want to− I can see it. Every fiber of your being is howling. Why prolong your suffering? Call to him, scream his name."
Miraculously, she stayed silent. Pale, shivering, Amy held back the howl, her teeth drawing blood from her lip.
"No?" Serrated teeth were bared in a smile, one that belonged in the lowest depths of darkness. "Well...I have ways of weakening one's resolve."
He buried his mouth in the fur of her neck. As intended, the combined pain and horror of his touch pushed Amy over the edge.
She screamed.
A flash of black fur charged from the street.
Zerithan raised his head from the bite mark, a small trickle of red falling from the corner of his grin as he gazed into horrified crimson eyes.
"Shadow." He purred.
Midnight fur erupted into burning red, slicing the air with a wrathful glow. With a wordless yell of fury that shook the paved ground, Shadow blasted towards the reaper, no reason, no sanity left in the swirling blood of his eyes.
Still smiling, Zerithan flew upwards, maintaining his grip on the limp Amy. A blazing comet of red followed at an almost perfect right angle, leaving behind a panicked crowd and two curious glints of gold.
The enraged hedgehog barely acknowledged the confusion around him; the world was dead to him. Anger as he had never felt was fusing with the chaos within him, flowing through his veins, breaking one barrier after another. A vein throbbed in his temple.
All he could see was him. All he could hear was her gasping breath. All he could feel was the fury, burning him alive yet pouring strength into his limbs. All he could taste were the shapeless howls dancing on his tongue. And all he could smell, or would smell, would be Zerithan's blood on the wind when he rent him in two.
Shadow attacked, launching blow after blow, punch after punch; a crazed spirit of war. Somehow, through his battle-driven haze, trying to avoid harming Amy, the unlocked instincts of his heart steering them clear of her broken face.
Almost lazily, the reaper evaded him, taunting him with his smug smile. Gravity reclaimed Shadow, forcing him to the city rooftops once again, except now he was the hunter. Pieces of brick and stone, chunks of plaster, tiles, and shingles rose up on their own accord, flying at him with bullet-like speed. Despite his supple agility, Shadow couldn't avoid them all. Yet, every urban missile that struck him seemed to goad him further.
Every window shattered as they screamed past a silver skyscraper, the deadly shrapnel dissolving in the crimson aura of pure chaos.
Every brick cracked with the force of their wake as they skirted around the factories of downtown Avalon.
Sirens began wailing in the distance.
Zerithan halted above the wide expanse of a warehouse roof, Amy hanging limply by his side. Less than a second later, Shadow vaulted onto the concrete, the stone cracking slightly.
For a heartbeat both were still, were silent, staring into each others eyes. Lavender and sunset into never-ending red. With a snort, the reaper threw back his head, his pale face twisting into a contemptuous smirk.
"Come now! Is that the best you can do? The light show may be impressive, but you are falling short of my expectations Shadow. For shame!" he shook his head in mock sorrow.
Every muscle on his frame was shaking with suppressed motion. The strain of holding himself in place showed on his face, warring with hatred and fury. "You don't know what I'm capable of!" his voice was a feral snarl. "You can't understand the full range of my power. I've held myself back, but this time−"
He slid into a crouch, his muscles coiling to spring. "− I won't leave you alive."
"Ha, empty words hedgehog. No living thing can kill me!"
"The only way is a sign of love to bring the end of the loveless."
The words were calm, eerie in the present mood. Zerithan visibly stiffened, his surprise transmitting to Amy through her shock-induced stupor. She raised her head.
"What, spouting poetry now?" Zerithan barked, all traces of sadistic humor gone. "No matter, you say you'll kill me?" He slipped a paw beneath Amy's chin, digging in his claws and yanking her head upward. She yelled out in pain, blood trickling from her neck.
"Prove it!"
There was a colossal explosion, the shockwave shaking the surrounding buildings to their foundation. The roof shattered, forming a gaping chasm like an untold monster opening its maw. Debris clattered to the floor.
Shadow flew faster than the eye could see, pulling his fist back to splinter that horrible face into a thousand fragments. But all his speed, all his power would never had saved him.
Causally, Zerithan dropped Amy onto the roof before catching Shadow's fist in an iron grip. He was moving before Shadow could truly be aware of what was happening, what he was doing.
A tail held him in place; talons pulled him closer to the demon, less than an inch of space separating their faces. Shadow had one last glimpse of his eyes gleaming in triumph before the reaper parted his serrated jaws.
"...your end."
He inhaled.
Ignoring the pain, Amy looked up just in time to see a sight that would haunt her for months to come. The burning red aura vanished and Shadow went limp and very, very still.
no.
He slid from Zerithan's grip and fell, his spined back curving like a bird's wing in flight.
No!
He tumbled through the hole in the roof, bouncing off the far rim and falling out of sight.
NO!
The scream ripped through her throat, drowning out Zerithan's triumphant crow and her rapid footsteps, but not overpowering the blood-chilling thud of Shadow hitting the ground with awful finality, or the sound of her heart, the heart he had saved, breaking.
The pain brought Amy to her knees at the edge and she stared down in horror at what was once the Ultimate Lifeform. He was absolutely still, his limbs splayed out in different directions. His eyes were open, blinking idly, but they focused on nothing. They saw nothing. It was as if the life that had been behind them...was gone.
He was gone.
"n...no..."
Zerithan convulsed, bending over in midair, grunting as his white skin brightened and the black spines jutting out of his skull grew somewhat longer. Talons developed a sharper curve and his face became more alien, more angular. His arms and legs lengthened, developing hardened muscle that traveled to his torso, abdomen, and tail, adding to its length and increasing the deadly spikes.
"Th− th power! The potency! I should have taken him long ago. I could conquer the world twice over without needing you."
Amy didn't hear him. Disjointed memories were flashing before her eyes. His warm strong hands holding her face, his black silky fur pressed against her cheek, his every touch, his every word, his burning eyes as his face neared hers.
Zerithan walked to her, prolonging the moment and savoring the new strength and masculinity of his altered body.
Of all the things Shadow had said, only one struck the pink hedgehog with deliberate force.
The reaper pulled her up by the arm, turning her to face him. "The final hour before a new age!"
The only way is a sign of love to bring the end of the loveless...
He did not notice the resolve hardening the emerald glass in her eyes, vengeful determination chasing away his purging influence.
The only way is a sign of love...
"This...is for Shadow." She murmured.
"What?"
A sign of love...
She pitched forward, seized his face, and clashed her lips onto his.
A heartbeat barely passed before he screamed.
Amy stumbled back, almost falling down the hole as Zerithan shoved her away. The most peculiar sound was staggering from the reaper's mouth. A horrible, wailing, ear-splitting shriek.
He flailed and shuddered, scrabbling frantically at his arms, his chest, his head. The sharpened claws broke through the albino skin, metallic purple-black blood falling like rain. His back arched and his feet left the ground. It was as if he was being dragged into the sky by his chest.
The scream never ceased; it rose and fell in pitch, louder and louder. The seizures grew more violent as glowing cracks crisscrossed his gashed hide. He abruptly exploded into nothingness. A bright whirlwind of light replaced him, spheres of golden light small enough to fit in Amy's palm flying and whirling in circles before streaming away in all directions. Up and down the country lungs filled with life, arms holding loved ones as they woke from their lifeless sleep.
There was silence, a long complete silence before Amy could move or speak.
"Shadow..."
Without pausing to think, Amy jumped, shaking off the fresh bruises in her haste to reach him. His breath was shallow, his eyes still unfocused. Sudden weakness caused Amy to collapse on his chest, her shoulders shaking.
"Why?! Oh please God why? You've d−done so much. Y−you've saved me f−from him time an−and time again. You saved m−me from myself. You didn't deserve this!"
Her fist pounded the ground, tears cascading down her cheeks.
"Please Shadow...don−d−don't leave me. I can't take it! P−please come back!"
She buried her face in his snow white chest, her voice barely a whisper.
"I love you."
His arms came around her.
Amy's breath caught and he spoke, whispering in her ear.
"I'll never leave."