WARNING: This chapter contains some gruesome and graphic material that some readers may find suggestive. Please read at your own risk. XXXXX Chapter 28 Without Him
"…Shadow!" There it was again. Looking around again he failed to trace its location. It bounced off the walls, sounding like the person who was saying it was on an intercom. He screamed Rouge's name again, his throat now sore, but no luck. He didn't hear anything for a while, with the exception of his hoarse screams. Furiously, he banged on the walls, trying hopelessly to break them. His body scolded him, already being tired from the fight he had with Silver, his arms were in no mood to exert energy.
"Shadow, we're in here!" The voice sounded louder now, and desperate. He quickly replied back, but it didn't answer him. It was as if someone was cutting the person off and stopping them from yelling. He ran through the room he was in, back and forth, back and forth, in a frenzy, thinking of what he should do. No doors, no windows, no lights, nothing apart from the stairs he used to get in here, which were now far behind him. He even checked the floors to make sure there weren't any trap doors. It was just walls. Echoing walls.
Then a thought hit him. If there were no doors to get out of this room, how did Mephiles get out of here? He walked farther into the room, into complete darkness. When he heard another "Shadow!" come from the walls, he jumped because it was so loud. Louder than before. He answered it back, and continued to walk forward, surrounded by blackness. He bumped into a wall, which must have been the end of this side of the room. He touched it. No door. The scream came again, and this time it sounded like the person screaming was standing right next to him. He finally recognized the voice: it was Blaze.
For a moment he was filled with relief. If she's alive, Rouge might be too. But the joy faded rather quickly. He knew the voice was coming from the other side of the wall, but there was no door to go through the wall. He felt the entire wall, as much of it as he could, even jumping up to reach the ceiling, which was shockingly low, considering the size of a hedgehog. He wanted to cry. The wall was bare. Rouge was on the other side of it, he knew she was. She was this close to him, but he couldn't reach her.
The thought he had earlier came to him again, and this time he pondered it. How did Mephiles get to the room he knew Rouge was in, if there were no doors leading to it? There must be some way to get in, this much he knew was true. But how? And I doubt he did a magic trick to make a door appear. He couldn't have walked through the wall, regardless of whether or not he has the ability to, but because he had to be able to get Rouge and Blaze in the room too.
Well, he obviously didn't use some sort of door, or window, Shadow thought.
He banged his fists on the wall. There had to be a way in. But he didn't know it.
XXXXXShadow is alive!, her mind told her gleefully. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or angry. She felt both emotions at the same time, and it felt weird. Happiness seemed to be outweighing her anger and sadness. She knew she was happy he was alive. She also knew she would be happy to see him kill Mephiles and save her. But he broke his promise. After everything he said to her, the assurances he made, the help he gave, everything he did and said to her, seemed to not matter now. It was all for nothing. It was all for her.
Rouge wanted to tell Blaze to stop screaming, not because she didn't want Shadow to hear her, but because Mephiles was getting agitated, and Rouge was scared he might hurt her. But instead of saying this, she remained quiet, trying to sort out her thoughts. Standing frozen, watching everything at a distance, letting it happen without doing anything to stop it. The simple act of being with Mephiles again, back to where she ran away from, made her numb and submissive, unable to move. Her mind had already decided to give up. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let whatever was going to happen tonight, happen. Rape, torture, pain, everything that she knew her and Blaze was going to suffer through today, seemed almost routine to her. Normal, even. She gave up hoping for a miracle to come out of nowhere. And even if a miracle did happen to appear, Mephiles would destroy it.
Said hedgehog was slowly tripping into a panic, his eyes shifting back and forth, his blood boiling. As amateur as it may sound, he wasn't prepared to fight this hedgehog. Fighting Shadow was Silvers job. Running to a far edge of the room he flicked on a light that was so well hidden, you would have to know it was there in order to find it. The light was blinding, and it filled the entire room the three of them were in. Rouge and Blaze covered their eyes, Blaze continuing to shout. Rouge looked over to her, now able to see her clearly with the extremely bright light. She looked so weak, and her throat must have been raw, for she paused after each time she screamed the black and red hedgehog's name. She glanced over to Mephiles, who was now rummaging through the drawers of a desk that resided at the far edge of the room. He threw things out and shoved things about, frantically looking for something. Blaze was still screaming, not as loudly now, and Mephiles yelled back at her maliciously, "Stop fucking screaming!"
She told him, "Fuck you! I hope he comes and finds you! I hope he kills you." It was obvious that Blaze had had enough of Mephiles. She would not mourn his death in the slightest. In fact, she would enjoy and even encourage it. She was sick of him as much as Rouge was, but the white bat didn't make that as evident as Blaze did. Instead, she stood there, letting Blaze do all of the work.
Finding some strength, Blaze ran to the other side of the room, leaning on the wall she almost ran into. She screamed into the wall, as loud as she could. "Shadow, please, answer me!" There wasn't an answer but she didn't give up. She whispered to herself miserably, "Please, please, Chaos, let him hear me."
Mephiles' eyes grew wide when he realized she moved to the other end of the room, and was now screaming into this wall. He gave up trying to find what he was looking for, and instead ran to Blaze and violently pulled her away from the wall. Standing behind her, he put an arm around her torso to stop her from moving, and he moved his other hand to her mouth to keep her quiet. She writhed and struggled to be free, but he kept a firm grip on her, pulling her arms behind her back and managing to trap them there, rendering her helpless. He moved the hand that was on her mouth and cupped her cheek, trying to hold her head in place. He moved the arm around her torso to just below her neck, almost around her collarbone. Blaze tried with all her strength to get free. She was crying now because her entire body burned with fatigue, and she knew that she was ultimately too weak to get away from him. He tightened his grip on her, and pulled the arm that was cupping her cheek upward, trying to twist her neck. He couldn't get a good enough grip since she was moving too much, but he tried over and over to snap her neck. Blaze opened her mouth and hissed, reaching one of his fingers and biting it, drawing blood. He didn't let go of her, so she bit down again, keeping the finger in her mouth and digging her teeth into it. Finally, he pulled away, letting her go and holding his bleeding hand. Her fangs had sunk into it so roughly that the skin had been torn, and he could see the bone of his finger. He swore at her, wrapping his blood-soaked glove around his abused digit.
Blaze took the opportunity to punch him in his jaw. Despite how weak she was, she managed to knock him off of his feet slightly. His back hit the wall, and he snarled at her. There was anger in her eyes. With no pun intended, she looked as if she was on fire. She unsheathed her claws and started scratching him, flinging her hands every which way, not caring where they landed, as long as they hit him and made him bleed. He held his hands up in defense, trying to stop her but she moved too fast. She growled and hissed, cursing him out and screaming until she could no longer produce words. She temporarily lost her voice, and her throat burned. When she swallowed, it felt like burning nails and razors sitting on her esophagus. But she didn't care.
Rouge, meanwhile, just stood there, amazed that Blaze still had some strength left in her to put up such a fight.
XXXXXShadow felt like he was losing control. Over everything. He found himself saying little prayers in his head, begging God and Chaos that Rouge wasn't already dead. He banged his fists on the wall repeatedly until he saw blood. He ran around the room numerous times, not finding anything new. He also didn't hear anything. Blaze's voice wasn't there to reassure him, and he felt alone. And scared. Did Mephiles manage to kill Blaze? Shadow didn't let the possibility faze him. He definitely cared about Blaze, without a doubt, but he was secretly hoping that Mephiles would be too busy killing her while he saved Rouge. It was horrible to think, of course. But who could not think like that in a time like this?
There has to be a way, he told himself. Think, Goddammit, think. You know they are in the room opposite this wall. There is no door, no window, and no magic trick. So, there is no VISUAL way to get to that room.He was right. The way to get in must be hidden. It must be secret.
But that still got him nowhere.
XXXXXBlaze's claws scraped the black and grey hedgehogs left eye, and he howled in pain. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed her hands tightly, getting cut by her razor-sharp claws. He shoved her away from the wall she had him pinned to, and brought her to a wall farther away from where they previously were. He pushed her against the wall and held her hands in place. She was trapped, and he was too strong to push off. Without any flair, Mephiles bent her right hand back and gripped it tightly. Holding her down with his other arm, he continued bending her hand backwards until the bone snapped. The purple cat screamed in pain, trying to get away from her torturer. Mephiles tried to break her other hand but decided against it and instead banged her head violently against the wall. She thrashed and screamed, still conscious, but feeling like passing out. He banged her head against the cement again. There was a small "crack!" sound, and then silence. Blaze instantly fell into Mephiles arms, who immediately pushed her off of him and let her fall to the floor. He looked down at her body for only a second, and then turned away, smoothing out his quills and wiping some blood off of his face. He said coolly, "I hope Silver don't get pissed when I tell him what I did…"
That one sentence brought Rouge out of her daze. Her eyes wandered over to Blaze, lying on the dusty floor in a heap, looking very dead. Dead? No, no Blaze couldn't be dead. She could look like she's dead, yes, but she couldn't actually be dead, right?
Rouge didn't want to know the answer. Blaze was her friend. She had helped Rouge through so much, and she was really the only person in her life that didn't hate her, excluding Shadow. Forgetting about said hedgehog, Rouge ran to Blazes side and rolled her onto her back so she could see her face. A purple, bloody, emotionless face. Rouge put her ear to Blaze's chest. She wasn't sure if it was a heartbeat she heard or just the sound of the blood pounding in her ears. There was blood dripping from behind her head where Mephiles banged it against the wall, small red drops painting the grey floor of the cell. Rouge listened to Blaze's chest again, grabbing her wrist and holding it tightly. There was a small pulse. The tiny beat brought a smile to Rouges face, who brought Blaze's unconscious body up from the floor, and gave it a make-shift hug, holding it against her own. She was still alive. Maybe not for long, but for now she was.
Mephiles watched Rouge's every move, his stomach twisting in knots when he saw her "hugging" the younger girl. So many things were happening at once, he was losing control, and he absolutely hated not being in control. Shadow was only a few steps away, and if he ever found out how to get into this cell, Mephiles wasn't sure what course of action he would take. Blaze was still alive, and Rouge was as well, and where was Silver in all of this? Did their plan really backfire so horribly?
Rouge's mind wandered away from Shadow for the moment. All she was concerned about now was Blaze and her well-being. She felt horrible for not helping her earlier, the actuality of how wrong she was for sitting back and doing nothing made her feel terrible, how she abandoned Blaze, and how she refused to scream with her and help fight Mephiles. She didn't know why she was so frozen before but she was out of it now, and vowed to stay out of it. The thought of Blaze leaving her snapped her back into reality. Into her sick, demented, reality, that there was no escape from. The possibility of losing her friend was the only thing that managed to kick her out of her daze. Not Shadow, not Mephiles, not her own fears, not her own sadness, but Blazes life.
The white bat felt as if she was losing control of everything. But, it wasn't a bad thing. All of the disappointment she pointed towards Shadow was gone, and nothing filled its place. The fear she gained from seeing Mephiles again was gone as well, and now filed with determination and anger.
"You almost killed her…" she whispered, mostly to herself, but loud enough for Mephiles to hear.
He smirked and walked behind her, as if he was completely innocent. Grabbing her hair he forced her head back so she was looking up at him. In a sinister tone he growled, "Be lucky that it was almost instead of completely." He spat in her face, his bloody saliva landing on her cheek. He let go of her head, smiling, thinking that she would cry and maybe even beg him for his mercy. But she didn't.
Inside, Rouge knew she would never be able to forgive herself for what she almost let happen to Blaze. How she ignored her and stood there dumbfounded like a fool. That was unforgivable. But… she could still redeem herself. She could gain redemption by taking out the one man responsible for all of this. Or at least die trying.
"I hate you," she said to him.
"What?"
She looked up at him, aqua eyes connecting with his green. He could see a hint of resolve in her eyes. Determination, rage. These were emotions that he never saw from her before. She looked as if she wanted to kill him. Which was probably true.
"I hate you," she repeated. And she meant it.
He thought nothing of her attitude though. He replied nonchalantly, "You're just acting tough because you think that little hedgehog, what's his name, Shadow, is coming to save you."
"No, that's not the reason why," she told him, standing up slowly. She was telling the truth, as much as it hurt her. Shadow broke his promise to her. And she was sick of promises. She couldn't worry about what happened to Shadow, if Silver killed him or if he was still out there screaming somewhere. She couldn't let his broken promise get to her, because she knew he wouldn't want her to worry. Shadow wouldn't want her to just, give up like this. He would want her to fight.
And that was enough proof to make her see that she didn't need him. Not anymore.
She had thrown her whole life onto his shoulders, and depended on him for everything. That wasn't right of her. She knew it was selfish, but it took her this long to realize it. All the protection she begged for, the love, the friendship, the thankfulness, she didn't need it. He didn't need to give it to her. She managed to go so long thinking that she couldn't live her life without Shadow, that she needed him for everything. She almost had herself convinced that Mephiles wasn't worth fighting against simply because Shadow let her down. But just because he disappointed her, doesn't mean her whole life had to end right then and there.
She finally realized it. A distorted epiphany that flooded her mind, making her see her whole life through someone else's eyes. She didn't need Shadow to save her life. Only she could be able to save herself. Shadow was simply a band-aid that was put over her mistakes and injuries, but she would have to be the one to catch herself when she fell, and to be the one to pick herself back up again. She couldn't spend the rest of her life hoping that someone will protect her and save her from everything. She was responsible for protecting herself. And Shadows broken promise proved that she didn't need him. That she didn't need anyone. And that she didn't need to give up everything just because someone has hurt her. Her entire life she had given up, stopped fighting, and just waited to die. She had given her life up. And it was time to get it back.
Mephiles scoffed. He had never seen his slave act like this, even before he started abusing her. He grabbed her neck and pulled her close to him. "Do I have to remind you of who you're talking to?" he hissed.
Blaze was unable to help her now. Shadow was M.I.A. Rouge would have to fight for herself now, as much as she feared it. Giving up, as tempting and easy as it may be, was not an option. She thought back to when Mephiles first brought her back here, which was literally, only minutes ago. How she tried to stand up to him, how she gave up hoping that Shadow would come back, and how she is now trying to stand up to the dark hedgehog once again. A vicious loop, but Rouge was determined to stop the loop here, even if that meant losing her life.
And now she was broken. Just like shattered glass, she was broken.
Did she really believe she was so fragile? Yes, yes she did. Her conscience used to proclaim that she was easily broken. But now her conscience was telling her:
If you want to shatter like glass, you better be prepared to pick the pieces up afterwards.
XXXXX
Bang! Bang! Bang! His fists made contact with the God-forsaken wall so many times that the pain was nominal now. There were blood stains everywhere. The black hedgehog stopped his movements for a moment to rest, as the blood dripped from his arms. As a final resort, he had opted to break the wall down. Fortunately, he made some progress. There were dents in the wall from where he banged it. He also tried shooting the wall with his gun, wasting every single bullet he had.
But the important thing was that he was making progress.
He squeezed his arms, trying to stop the blood flow. His arms were completely red, even his red highlights were red-er. He could feel that his gloves were soaked, and everything was slick. Taking out his Chaos Emerald, he used its light to see how much damage he had done to his arms and hands. Bruises, cuts, broken claws, possibly broken fingers and covered in red liquid… His inhibitor rings had stains of blood on them too. And now the Chaos Emerald was slippery as he held it.
Even with all of this pain, what he was feeling inside could not begin to compare.
Throughout his attack on the wall, the image of Mephiles was all that he thought about. He didn't like thinking about the bastard, but it was a hundred times better than thinking about Rouge. So he tried to focus solely on Mephiles, and how similar the two of them looked. If Rouge had told him that he looked like Mephiles the minute she woke up after he saved her from the alley so many weeks ago, he would have better understood why she didn't like him at first. In all honesty, he was contemplating whether or not Mephiles was his clone. It sounded crazy, but they were so alike. Right down to the small features, which included the cuffs around his wrists that attached to his gloves, and their inhibitor rings, the only difference being that Mephiles' were grey whilst Shadows were gold. Despite this, Shadow knew that Mephiles was able to use them, since he summoned that purple energy which he used to Chaos Control (or at least what Shadow thought was Chaos Control) into his house to grab Rouge. Or perhaps the rings were only for decoration, which was why they were grey and looked as if they were a simple fake copy? Shadow wasn't sure.
Forgetting about his thoughts, he threw his abused fist into the wall again, ignoring the pain it brought.
XXXXX"I fucking hate you…" she said again, tears in her eyes, but not tears of sadness, tears of anger.
For once, Mephiles had a somewhat concerned look on his face, as he pushed Rouge against the wall and held her there. Immediately, she tried to get away.
"Rouge, you don't mean that," Mephiles said. "You don't hate me, you used to love me, don't you remember?" After all the work Shadow and her had done to erase those memories, Mephiles brought all of them back at once.
"Not anymore," Rouge told him, trying to release her arms from Mephiles' grasp.
He laughed evilly. "Yes you do Rouge," he said. "You still love me. I can see it in your eyes. And believe me when I say this," he moved in closer to her so he could whisper sadistically in her ear, "I still love you too. Even after all of the shit you caused."
Rouge looked up at him confused, not sure what he meant by the last statement.
He answered, "It was you who messed everything up Rouge. Don't you remember? You fucked up our relationship, not me. Everything was going good, until I started being with Silver. And you couldn't handle that. You got jealous and wanted me all for yourself. You, a silly little slave-girl, wanted to make my decisions for me. Your jealousy got the better of you, and you went crazy. Don't you remember Rougey?"
What the black hedgehog was saying was the truth. Not everything entirely, but most of it stemmed from what really happened. Rouge did get jealous that Silver was becoming her former Masters friend, and soon-to-be lover. Perhaps if Rouge hadn't of gotten so possessive over Mephiles, he wouldn't have started loving Silver instead of her? It was so long ago, and she was so young and confused...
She dug her nails into his arms, but he didn't budge or let go of her. He stared deeply into her blue eyes. She said, "Maybe if you didn't start hanging with Silver, I wouldn't have gotten jealous." She said this accusingly, but she already knew her argument would be futile. He would always win the fight, even if he was wrong.
He shoved her against the wall painfully, out of his anger. "I didn't love Silver, Rouge. I worked with him. We were friends, not lovers. I still loved you. But you got so attached to me, that I realized that with you, I wouldn't be able to hang around with anyone else, because you would get jealous."
"That's not true!"
"Yes it is Rouge! You know it's true! You just couldn't handle me being with someone else, so you got mad. You started acting like my girlfriend, instead of my slave. That was always the problem with you; you wouldn't accept the fact that you had a collar around your neck."
"You treated me like your girlfriend!" Rouge exclaimed. "You never treated me like a slave. Until Silver came along. Then you changed!" She wanted to get away from him. She couldn't stand the past being brought up like this. She bit his cheek, but he didn't move. She stepped on his foot, but he didn't move. She continued scraping her nails into him, but he didn't move.
"No, no that's not true Rouge," Mephiles lied. He knew that Rouge was telling the truth. He didn't treat her like a slave, which was why she went crazy when he did start treating her like one. In retrospect, it was his fault. Everything was his fault, and not Rouge's. And when he realized back then, so many years ago, that he was to blame for Rouge's attitude, he started drugging her, hoping that his transgression and abuse of her friendship and love to him would be forgotten. But she didn't forget.
As if saying it meant anything anymore, Mephiles screamed into his former slave's face, "You still love me Rouge! I know you do! I don't know what that other black hedgehog did to you, but the minute he comes in this cell, I can assure you, he is as good as dead!"
Still trying to fight him off, Rouge screamed back, "Fuck you!"
He said, "You look so ridiculous, Rouge."
"Fuck You!"
"I still love you Rouge. We can still be together."
"Fuck You!"
BANG!
They turned their heads to see the wall, which had screams coming from the other side of it, being broken down slowly. There were dents which were caused by something on the other side, and small holes. Someone was breaking the wall down.
"ROUGE!" came a terrible scream, the person saying it no doubt in great agony and pain. It was Shadow.
XXXXX
When Rouge heard her name, she was filled up with something that she had never felt before. And if she had felt it before, she didn't know the name of it, and still doesn't know it. But it didn't matter. She loved the feeling. When Shadow screamed her name before, she ignored it, and didn't pursue it. Now, she was more than ready to reply.
Again, Mephiles was taken aback by the scream. Taking the opportunity, Rouge shoved him off of her and managed to get away. She ran to the wall and putting her hands on it, screamed at the top of her lungs,
XXXXX"SHADOW!" came a terrible scream, the person saying it no doubt in great agony and pain. It was Rouge.
Oh, thank you Chaos she is alive.Shadow answered her back, as he continued punching the wall, a new sense of purpose giving him the strength to break the wall completely down. Her voice sounded so sweet to him. He didn't want to ever have to live without hearing her. He wasn't sure if she was still angry with him, but at least they were on speaking terms.
He shouted her name in rapid succession, as if it was the most important thing in the world. She screamed his name too, and they repeated this as the wall that was keeping them apart continued breaking.
XXXXXMephiles took note of the dents in the wall, and knew that soon enough, there would be no wall anymore. He also took note of the happiness he saw in Rouge's eyes right before she shoved him off of her and ran to Shadow's wall. There was love in her eyes. Real love. Not love that a Master and slave would feel for each other. Not the love that Mephiles and her felt for each other either.
She really loved Shadow. She could care less about Mephiles. It was Shadow that she wanted.
Running back to the desk he was at earlier, he desperately tried to find something in it. He muttered things under his breath, but Rouge wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. She didn't take her hands off of the wall, and she didn't stop screaming. The wall was getting more dents and holes in it. It wouldn't be long now.
Finally, Mephiles found the thing he was looking for earlier. A small glass vile filed with purple liquid. Taking a needle that you would use to give someone a shot, he sucked up some of the liquid and tapped the glass above the needle point. He ran back to Rouge and grabbed her violently, putting a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. He said menacingly under his breath, "That fucking hedgehog thinks he can take my Rouge away from me again?" Rouge screamed under his hand, but only muffled shrieks came out. Without warning, Mephiles stuck the needle into Rouge's arm, and injected the purple liquid into her bloodstream. Almost immediately, she fell onto the floor unconscious.
XXXXX
Shadow stopped banging his fists on the wall, only because Rouge had stopped screaming. He felt his heart stop and his breathing hitch. She stopped screaming. Why did she stop screaming?
Instead of banging this time, he just put his hands on the broken wall, waiting for Rouge to answer. She never did. He knew that Mephiles had stopped her from screaming.
He was finished with this. He was through with this fucking wall. His hands hurt like nothing he felt before. He couldn't see straight. Everything around him was black. The only thing that shone through the darkness was something gold on his wrists. Oh yeah, his inhibitor rings. His inhibitor rings. His inhibitor rings!
Why, in Chaos' fucking name, did he not think of it before?
"I must be a fucking idiot…" he said to himself.
Taking off his rings, he lifted his arms up and screamed at the top of his lungs,
"CHAOS-
XXXXXThe loud bangs on the wall had stopped immediately after Mephiles injected Rouge with the liquid. The black and grey hedgehog smiled. Picking the white bat up, he brought her body to a dark corner of the cell they were in. In the darkness, he tied her body up and gagged her, if, in the worst case scenario, she ever woke up, which he doubted. Revealing another trap door on the floor, he threw her unconscious body into it, and closed and locked the door. He smiled again. No one was going to take his Rouge away from him now.
He barely had enough time to blink before the wall, that was almost ready to collapse, burst into a billion pieces, a globe of red energy filling the cell. The wall had collapsed. There were pieces of cement on the floor.
Looking up, Mephiles saw what took the place of the part of the wall. A black, bloody, hedgehog, who was screaming,
-CONTROL!"
XXXXX
After a long wait, Chapter 28 is finally here! I'm sorry for the small hiatus, but for compensation you get an explosive, action packed chapter. I really wanted this chapter to be something special, so that's why I didn't rush it. The cliffhanger is awful, I know, and you all probably hate me right now… ^^() So, in review, Rouge finally forgives Shadow for breaking his promise to her. She believes in herself now and knows that some things she has to do for herself. We also learn more about Mephiles and Rouge's unsavory past. Shadow finally manages to break the wall down, but Mephiles gave Rouge something that caused her to pass out. Will she ever wake up, and will Shadow get to her in time? And is Blaze going to be okay?
So many things have gone wrong… How will everything turn out?
