*flashback to three weeks ago*
Me: Oh boy, I can't believe I'm already half- way done with this chapter. I really want to show my readers that I want to keep doing this so that they can trust me better. Also, it'll be just before a big work load comes up so that I can explain to them why there'll be yet another delay before it happens. Now if I could just open up that file…
Computer Screen: This file has not been closed properly and has been corrupted.
Me: ….fffffffffffffffffUUUUUUUUUUU-
*end flashback*
Okay, so maybe I didn't say that, but you get the idea. Anyway, as you can see by looking down a few centimeters, we're on the third and final act of this story. The chapters will be a good deal longer from here on out (quite frankly, it's the length that I should have been writing every chapter with, but I digress), and there are only a handful left. Soon, faithful audience, we will uncover the true identity of the killer. Enjoy.
Act III: Silence
Chapter 1: Le Début de la Fin
"I assure you, I am quite alright."
"That may be, but you can't leave the bed until the doctor says you can."
"Then go get the doctor. He would most likely tell you that I can leave."
"He is busy at the moment. Please stay in your bed."
"There is no reason for me to stay in my bed. Please allow me to move around."
"If you don't stay put, I will be forced to take more forceful measures to make sure that you do not leave."
"I'm sorry, but any attempt of yours to force me to do anything isn't going to work out."
"There are several other people in this hospital that are more prepared for that than me. Some even have Chaos abilities."
"I still don't think that they will be able to force me to do anything. Just let me get up and I'll be fine."
Shadow had to stop himself from laughing out loud. Blaze and a nurse were engaged in by far the most polite argument and exchange of threats he had ever heard. Some threats, however, he had to admit were probably exaggerated. The staff that the nurse claimed had control over Chaos were more likely people who had abnormal reactions to Chaos energy. They were probably controlled by it rather than controllers of it. Blaze, on the other hand, was unable to defeat Rouge: a non-Chaos user, but a skilled fighter nonetheless. Still, Shadow would have thought it unwise to try to control a pyrokinetic, seeing as most are extremely resistant to control and can be angered easily.
Silver stood by Blaze's bedside, not daring to get in on the argument, polite or not. Shadow thought him wise considering some of the times that he had attempted to intervene in a fight between women. Even he, the Ultimate Life Form, became an indecisive liability when it came to the emotional affairs of women.
The two continued their banter for a few more minutes. Eventually, Blaze thought it more beneficial to simply wait out the doctor's absence and simply sat with her arms folded. The nurse left, telling Blaze to call if she needed anything to which Blaze imitated the nurse's mouth moving with her hand. Shadow gave a short chuckle and turned to Silver. "Are you sure you can handle her?" he asked.
"Heheh, no," replied Silver with a sheepish grin. "But that is alright because she knows that staying here is for her own good. Right, Blaze?"
Blaze rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Shadow smiled and turned to leave. He noticed that Blaze was far more familiar with the manner of speech of this time. Perhaps being face-to-face with so many people every day was enough to make her learn. He imagined her speaking in that more formal way to her customers and receiving more than a few funny looks.
Shadow stepped out into the hallway. His next stop would be Tails' room to check on the condition of the operation. He hadn't heard anything about it since his return to settle Blaze in. They had said it was approximately another hour if all went well, but they could never be sure. It had been 45 minutes since that time, so he knew that, in theory, it should be soon. He entered the elevator and pressed the number of the floor of Tails' operating room. In time, he began thinking of the next victims. He had no idea how many had been killed in the explosion, and there was no riddle that he could find in the building. What was he supposed to do? Maybe the killer could answer some of his questions in his next call.
The elevator reached the designated floor with a ding, and the metal door slowly slid open. He saw that everyone he knew was standing at the end of the hall, including Sells. They were all looking apprehensive, especially Sonic. His face was slightly paler than when Shadow had last seen it. Surprisingly, Amy was right next to him. She wasn't swooning over him, but comforting him. In fact, was he seeing things, or was she holding his hand?
Shadow...
It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He knew what physical pain felt like, but this was so much more than that. His head began throbbing madly, and he staggered. His heart was beating rapidly, each beat collided with his eardrums like a bomb. A cold sweat began pouring down his face as he struggled to stay on his feet. Red streaks began to cloud his vision and he could hardly see. All that he could do was lean up against the wall and take shallow breaths. What could he do? Every part of him was screaming out in agony. He tried screaming out to his friends, but the words were lost in his throat.
His balance was completely thrown off. The hallway seemed to be tilted at an angle. He needed something, anything to ease the pain. Straining to look up, he saw that he was leaning against the wall right by the men's restroom. Anything, anything to stop the pain. His heart sped up even further, increasing the agonizing pounding in his ears. Desperate for anything, he reached forward and pushed open the door to the restroom. In doing so, he overbalanced due to his dizziness and nausea and fell over. Hitting the tile floor was enough to coat any other untouched part of his body in a tidal wave of pain.
He heard a voice calling after him, probably Rouge's. As he painfully pushed himself up with weak arms, he felt the floor trembling slightly with Omega's footsteps. The metallic clanking on top of everything else was maddening.
He stumbled several times, but eventually reached the sink. It was slanting back and forth in his reddened vision. With difficulty, his hands found the faucet handles and turned the cold water on. A flow of icy water came from the faucet and made a deafening crash against the side of the sink. The nausea became overwhelming, and an uncomfortable sensation was rising from his stomach to his throat. He began splashing the cold water onto his face which didn't help much considering he was already in a cold sweat. His skin felt clammy and he shook all over.
"Shadow, are you alright?"
He looked into the mirror toward the door. For a split second, he saw a blonde girl with blue eyes. Next second, it was Rouge, standing at the door with a look of terrified concern on her face. "I'm fine," he lied.
"No, you're not. I've never seen you like this before. Are you... sick?"
"No," he said with as much force as he could in his weak state. "I'm the Ultimate Life Form. I don't get..." He didn't have time to finish his sentence. The sensation had arisen from his throat into his mouth, and for the first time in his life, he vomited. It was an uncomfortable first encounter to say the least.
"Whoah," exclaimed Rouge as she rushed to his side. "Easy Shadow, take deep breaths." Even with Rouge supporting him, he found this impossible. His heart was still beating madly, and his red eyes were watering after his disgorgement. "You're shaking all over. You need help, Shadow."
"No," Shadow protested weakly. "The Professor... didn't create me... to need help."
"I don't care," said Rouge, supporting him to walk towards the door with Omega standing right outside it, unable to fit through the small frame. "Your eyes are so bloodshot, they're almost completely red. I can tell you, you need help."
Shadow was about to protest even further when he vomited again, thankfully missing Rouge. Suddenly, medical assistance didn't sound so absurd. Either Shadow was trembling very violently, or Rouge was starting to shake under his weight. He tried to ease the burden, but his legs felt too weak, even to stand. Finally, the trek was over, and Omega's large metallic hands lifted Shadow from Rouge's shoulder. He was able to lie down, but the cold metal of Omega's hands was awful in his state.
"His body temperature is far below homeostasis," said Omega. "Request immediate medical support."
"I'll go," said Rouge. "You stay here. Make sure he's alright."
"Affirmative," replied Omega.
As Rouge ran down the hallway to get help, Shadow could hear many more voices and footsteps coming from the other end of the hall. It was deafening to Shadow. He groaned and clasped his hands to his ears. There was too much noise. The voices, the footsteps, his heart, that voice that was now ringing in his ear.
Shadow... Shadow... SHADOW!
He began screaming out in pain as the voice in his head grew louder. And that horrible ringing sound. Why wouldn't it stop?
"Silence!" shouted Omega. The voices and footsteps stopped. Now, the only sound Shadow heard was the ringing. It was his phone. Raising a weak arm, he took it from his pocket and opened it. The voice that had become the bane of his existence rang through the speaker.
"Hello, Shadow. Bad time?"
"What do you want?" he replied.
"Well, that never matters to me, does it? Now let me get to the point." Shadow was confused. Had he heard him wrong?
"I said, what do you want?"
"I left this recording to play for you so that I could get the message to you despite not being in an appropriate position." Shadow huffed. Had it been the killer calling then, he could have ruled out everyone in the room.
"If you wish to know, that explosion killed tweny-five people. That leaves you with ten left in case you don't remember correctly." Shadow growled in anger. He wanted to crush something; even a part of himself to get his frustrations of failing again out.
"I am giving you this call to give you the riddle. I couldn't risk having a piece of paper burn up in the building, so you don't even have to look for this one. Quite generous of me, no?" Under normal circumstances, he would have made a biting retort, but in his state, all he could do was pant and wait for the recording to continue. "Here it is:
My host thinks me an irritation, a bother, a pain.
But he can't evict me so I stay, remain.
Then one day I'm taken and ranked among my peers.
Can you guess what I am? Then you might call me dear.
Also, you'll need to know 46th street."
The phone was snatched out of Shadow's hand. Omega began speaking into it. "Hearken to me, you soulless monstrosity. Your actions are not only an affront to society and lives, but are internally destroying my friend. You will surely pay for this. The very first second I see you, I will fill you with so many bullets that your carcass shall be used as a paperweight."
The only sound that anyone could hear was the dial tone. "It was a recording, Omega. Even if... it were him, he would have... hung up anyway. One of his... rules is that he... only talks to me."
Omega began trembling with robotic fury. Everyone else had backed away several feet after his outburst. "His rules are inane drivel," he remarked. "Soon he will be playing by my rules."
Shadow wretched again. This time, there was a mixture of a red substance in it. "Blood," said Sells. "Not good."
He felt as though he was about to die. Everything in the world seemed horrid to him. The voices, the robotic hands supporting him, the riddles, even his own body made him want to simply end everything. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't do anything. Anything he might have said was now lost in his throat. The sweat was getting into his reddening eyes and stung them even more. He heard it again: the ringing. This time, it wasn't his phone. The ringing was coming from inside his own head. Unable to scream, he could only squeeze his eyes shut and clutch his burning ears.
Above the ringing, he heard a voice calling from the other end of the hallway. A few seconds later, he felt himself being lowered from the cold metal hands onto a much softer surface. Next thing he knew, there were shouts and commands being given from the doctors. Soon, though, the shouts were fading away. He no longer felt dizzy, and the pain that had racked his body was now turning to numbness. He didn't know what this meant, but he was glad that it had come. It wasn't worth trying to open his eyes to get back to reality. Whatever this was, it was much nicer. He felt the numbness spread all over him; then nothing.
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Shadow...
He awoke with a start and a sharp gasp for breath. He was alive. Shadow the Hedgehog; he was alive. He was panting slightly. His head was swimming, but the pain was gone. There was a beeping sound to his left, but he soon realized that it was an electrocardiograph. "Are you okay?" asked a voice to his right. He turned to see Rouge there. Now, he realized that he was in a hospital room, and it was full of people. Not only that, but he had an oxygen mask over his face.
"Yes," he replied. He was utterly bewildered. What had happened to him? All that he could remember was a voice and pain. Did mortals feel that whenever they were sick?
He took a look around the room. Everyone truly was there. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Silver, Blaze, Sells, the Chaotix, the only one missing was Omega, but he couldn't fit through the door. They were all smiling at him with looks of extreme relief on their faces. But wait, if they were all here...
"What happened to Tails?" he asked.
Suddenly, they looked less happy. The once-joyous looks on their faces turned somber. Shadow feared the worst. "I see," he said flatly .
"No, it's not what you think," said Sonic.
It was then that Shadow saw a familiar tinge of orange out of the corner of his eye. This time, it wasn't walking in, it was rolling in. Tails was in a wheelchair. The same childish grin was on his face. He looked at Shadow with those big blue eyes. No, no this couldn't be happening. How could it? How could he have failed even Tails?
"Hi, Shadow," called Tails.
He didn't respond. There was no way to. He only closed his eyes and bowed his head.
"The weight threw my spine off too," explained Tails. "By the time they got it fixed, it was too late. I can probably still fly since I have my tails, but I won't be walking any time soon."
Shadow began slowly shaking his head. It was his fault. He had brought this upon them. If he had only kept this to himself, none of them would have been hurt. None of them would be worrying about anything. They would simply be continuing their normal lives.
"Shadow," called Silver. "I have heard your thoughts, and I think that you are completely wrong." Everyone in the room turned to look at him. "Blaze and I came back to this time willingly because we wanted to help you. I have spoken to the Chaotix, and they tell me that they voluntarily became involved in the case. Not only that, but you have an amazing group of friends. If they so much as heard that you were in trouble, they would be right by your side in a heartbeat. You brought nothing upon us. You seem to have yourself mixed up with the killer. Well, I say to you that there is no way that anyone with a heart such as yours could kill, not even if their life depended on it. Now I suggest that you heal up so that we can get back to catching this murderer."
He had no words. All his life, he wanted to blame himself for everything. Maria's death came about because he was not decisive enough to save her. He never even wanted to dream that it was what she wanted. He had tried to destroy the world because of his own selfish desires, not because of one forgotten memory. Black Doom had come to Mobius because Shadow was there, not because he wanted the energy from the humans. No matter what happened, he always wanted to bear the burden of the world's sins and keep everyone else pure, but he could never do that. There was no way that he could bring himself to blame himself for everything wrong that happened in the world. Strangely, this came as a loss of luxury to him. The world that he had fought for and nearly died to save was not a perfect one. Bad things would happen every day. Still, Maria would have thought that that was what made it worth the risk. But at this point, he could not see the light.
"Alright," said Shadow. "I need to talk to some people alone. Rouge, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Sells, you stay in here. Everyone else, I would appreciate it if you'd leave."
With some looks of disappointment, all but the aforementioned left the room, some whispering to each other. When everyone had left, Shadow immediately turned to Sells. "I know that the Chaotix know who you are, but Rouge doesn't, so you can tell her."
Sells chuckled. "I should have known that at least one of them would have given you a clue. Alright, Ms. Rouge, I'm going to need for you to not shout or make any loud noises."
Rouge looked positively bewildered. She looked at Shadow, but he merely bade her turn back to Sells. Sells began lifting up his shirt until he reached the point of his heart. Before she could utter a word, he had opened the door that showed his robotic insides. She stifled a gasp and nearly fell back onto the bed.
"I believe that now I should introduce myself. I am the Superior Eggman Last-resort-"
"Maybe you didn't hear me correctly," interrupted Shadow. Everyone in the room turned to look at him looking confused. "I said that you should tell Rouge your real identity, my nephew."
The room was filled with silence; a silence broken only by Sells' chuckles. "Should have known that you'd figure it out."
"It was obvious enough. If you were an android, then how did you receive that wound when you saved the District Attorney's life? You earned our trust, but it was indeed a dead giveaway."
'Sells' gave another chuckle, then tapped his wristwatch several times. Slowly, his body began to change. It was like watching one person fade out, and another come in. The once- thick arms and legs became much more long and thin, as if they were made of putty and being pulled apart. The black police uniform changed to red and yellow coat over a rounding torso. His thick brown hair began to disappear, and a much thicker moustache appeared on his upper lip. To finish it all off, a pair of black pince-nez goggles covered his eyes. "Leave it to grandfather to make a truly Ultimate Life Form," remarked Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
Ha! Ya didn't see that one coming, did ya? Well, my friends, the plot twists are just getting more and more dramatic, so we must be near the end. Until next time, dear reader, Adieu.
(P.S. The title of the chapter is French, and it means "The Beginning of the End")
