Chapter 43: Lessons of Life
Shadow screamed.
"Shadow, what's wrong?!" Maria had been immediately startled awake, nearly falling out of her camping cot Professor Gerald had finally permitted to be set up inside his laboratory. Nearly a month had passed since the last incident and no further attempts on Shadow's life had been made, but that didn't mean that the two Robotniks had let their guard down. Now Maria was scrambling for the tank in instant worry, trying to discern what had happened to her previously peacefully sleeping friend.
"Ma-maria?" Shadow stammered, blearily blinking at her, his good hand coming up to steady himself against the glass as he apparently attempted to regain his focus.
"Yes, Shadow, it's me, what happened?" the girl panted, pressing both of her palms against the glass. The hedgehog inside frowned.
"You're not a giant starfish, then?"
"…what?" Maria blinked. Shadow sank back in the fluid in relief.
"Oh thank Chaos," he muttered, putting a hand over his eyes.
"What on Earth…?" Maria put her hands on her slender hips, regarding her friend with disbelief. "Shadow, are you quite alright?" The hedgehog looked at her.
"I…had a nightmare," he finally admitted. "Sorry for waking you up."
"A nightmare?" Maria actually cracked a small smile. "But surely nothing could have been terrifying enough to scare the Ultimate Lifeform, I thought?" she asked, relieved now that the black hedgehog wasn't in any immediate danger. Shadow shuddered.
"You have no idea," the hedgehog grimaced. "I was here…aboard the ARK. I had been restored to full health, but the space station was falling apart."
"Oh dear," Maria muttered. "And you were dreaming of suffocating again?"
"No," Shadow shook his head. "I could actually breathe in space, it wasn't that bad."
"Okay…not exactly the most scientifically accurate dream, but carry on," Maria smiled, leaning against the tank now and glancing up at her friend, loving how his companionship could make even this surreal situation feel just like a sleepover with your best friend. Shadow was still rather serious, though.
"There was…everybody talking all the time," the black hedgehog screwed up his face, "I wanted to rip out my ears, there was this flying starfish, like I said, and it wouldn't shut up, and I was supposed to find 'secret discs' of some sort, and giant insects kept bothering me, and they would talk, too, and then there was that ninja in cyberspace-"
"Oooookay. Shadow, sweetie, I promise everything will be alright if you go back to sleep now, okay?" Maria asked sweetly, privately thinking at this point that she'd personally cut her grandfather's moustache off if he ever again messed Shadow's medication up like he obviously had today. "It was just a dream," she assured him again, the worried eyes of her friend still far from calm. Shadow shook his head.
"But that was only the first one," he protested.
"What, another dream?" Maria asked, by now wondering whether this was maybe a moon phase thing of some sort. Shadow nodded.
"Yeah. It was, again, here aboard the ARK. I was really angry for some reason and then…I killed someone."
Maria grimaced, of course not liking this development. "You killed someone? Oh Shadow, it wasn't Vincent, was it?"
"No…" the black hedgehog trailed off. "I didn't know him. But he also kept talking at me and whining about something or other. I killed him with a Chaos Spear in the end." He frowned. "Looked a lot like that Sora from Kingdom Hearts, actually. Not Vincent, but..." the Ultimate Lifeform paused. "I have a feeling this Chris character I killed was actually worse."
X-X
"And what are you doing now?" Shadow asked, raising an eye ridge. Sonic turned from the flip chart he had been facing, permanent marker still in his hand.
"Oh, you know, just a bit of score-keeping. So far, she's killed off both Tails and Chris four times each."
"Hmm." The black hedgehog pursed his lips. Then:
"Five bucks says the next one to snuff it will be the fox again."
Sonic grimaced. "Yeah. You know, ten bucks also says you're as psychotic as our author…"
X-X
On a related note, Shadow wanted to tear out his arm.
Which probably wouldn't have been the wisest decision, considering it had barely yet fully regrown, and all.
But still…
The Ultimate Lifeform ground his teeth and grunted, trying to ignore the constant jabs of pain from his damaged limb now that the nanites had started rebuilding actual muscle and flesh – and nerves. The appendage now looked like the artist responsible for the Body Worlds exhibition had taken a sudden fancy to Sapient hedgehogs; Shadow could look inside his own muscles, see disconnected veins waft gently in the liquid swirls, and watch in fascination as sinews lay bare on dark flesh.
Well.
Actually, the first time he'd looked, he'd thrown up inside his own mask, but by now he'd mostly gotten used to it.
If only it wasn't for the pain…
"Rrrrgh!" Shadow clawed at the inside of his glass container in helpless frustration with his good hand, not for the first time swearing he'd rip both of Vincent's arms out when he got out of here, then let Professor Gerald heal him, and then rip them out again. And then his legs. And then his head, if only to really teach him a lesson.
"Morning, Shadow! Fantasizing about carnage again, are we?" Maria asked cheerfully as she entered, the blonde girl able to read her best friend's moods only all-too-well, and right now the blazing eyes spoke once again volumes. "Remember, when the little bubbles start coming out of your ears, it's time to stop."
"Come inside the tank here and make fun of me again, will you?" Shadow asked pleasantly, making Maria laugh at the thinly-veiled mock threat. Inside, of course, he was more than grateful for the distraction the girl he loved so much provided, her visits the only current highlight in his life. He let his forehead sink against the glass of his prison.
"So, what's up today?"
"Well, not much," Maria replied, but at the same time wresting a rather large bag from her shoulder. Shadow regarded the thing curiously, wondering what was inside – and then his heart sank rather rapidly when he beheld the pile of large, thick, brand new-looking text books. "But today the materials for your last year of High School arrived!" Maria exclaimed happily, holding up a volume of Geography and another one of Mathematics – both of which Shadow looked at as if they'd just turned into Scylla and Charybdis.
"Oh. Great. Say, how about we do something else, like, you try and get Vincent to drown me again or someth-"
"Shadow the Hedgehog, you are going to graduate High School whether you want to or not."
"…yes, mylady," the black hedgehog replied quickly and with a certain resignation, already having figured out that there were less stupid ways to die than by standing in between a Robotnik and what they considered necessary education.
"Good," Maria brightened up again, before settling herself down cross-legged in front of his tube, spreading the materials. Shadow let his breathing become shallower to let himself sink in the tube as well, until he was almost kneeling on the floor, his legs folded underneath him while his body was still mostly suspended.
"With what do we start?" Shadow asked, peering at the books through the liquid. It wasn't very easy, having a water-filled cylinder for a classroom, considering he couldn't take notes or read books by himself.
"Geography," Maria stated. "We haven't done that for a while. And you should really know your Zones."
Shadow looked at the atlas she was pulling to herself and his eye ridges rose a little when he saw it was titled 'Mobius' and therefore, obviously a Sapient Edition and not a human one. It wouldn't differ much, but use different terminology; Shadow had learned a while ago that while humans called the planet they lived on 'Earth', Sapients called it 'Mobius', and themselves accordingly 'Mobians'. The same thing accounted for one and the same language – whether the majority of people in Maria's homeland spoke 'English' or 'New Mobian' was entirely a matter of perspective – largely depending on whether the speaker's eyes were six or three feet from the floor, in fact.
Earlier, he'd picked up, there had even been wars, civil wars and riots when the two hemispheres (the North, formerly mostly populated by humans and the South, mostly populated by Sapients) had started to mingle and emigrate more frequently. By now, this had fortunately mostly degenerated into not much but occasional squabbles and stupid prejudices – humans thinking all Sapients were primitive, Sapients convinced all humans were essentially nuts – and in most countries, people both bare-skinned or covered in fur, scales and feathers had the same civic rights and living conditions, differences only in certain customs and the aforementioned use of terminology. Shadow himself thought he was probably a rarity; having been raised by nothing but humans, he thought and talked like them even if his outer form looked like he had been born a Sapient hedgehog. Maybe this atlas was Maria's attempt to bring him closer to his (non-existent) genetical heritage. Shadow's lips twitched briefly at this consideration, but truly, he didn't care. He had a family in Maria and the professor, and that was all he needed.
"Okay, we're gonna start from the top. Why don't you tell me what you know about Holoska…?"
Well.
Right now, he'd also really, really need a cheat sheet, but somehow, he doubted that that would be possible.
OoO
"Harsh," Sonic commented. "You were injured and they made you study?"
Shadow shrugged. "Well, it was the first time ever since GUN made me their property that I really had the time to do anything but either fight or be experimented on. Maria figured we should use the chance."
"Huh. Still. I mean, I've never liked schooling, but at least I had the chance to vanish from the class room when the teacher blinked," Sonic added with a small smug grin. Shadow snorted.
"Figures you wouldn't see the value in education. Did you ever even graduate?"
Sonic sighed disinterestedly. "Not really. Robotnik blew up my schoolhouse when I was twelve and ever since then, I've been basically busy fighting him."
Shadow's eye ridges rose a little. "And you never wanted to go back and finish school when you defeated him for the first time?"
"Nah," Sonic shrugged. "I mean, it's not like I'd've been great at all that papery stuff, anyway. That is – was – more Tails' kind of thing," he said, and for a moment emerald eyes were looking into the distance at something Shadow couldn't see – but the black hedgehog was relieved that at the same time, a small, sad smile also flitted across the broken hero's lips, as if he was able to remember his younger companion now with loving, instead of hate-filled and destructive thoughts.
"I mean, I already know a couple of things," Sonic continued at this point, apparently unaware of the Ultimate Lifeform's observations, "I'm not too bad with planes. Or plants and wildlife. Can DJ or play the guitar, too. Plus, I can calculate the angle of a rocket faster than any ol' computer, I'll bet," he said, winking at the other hedgehog. "It's not like I'd ever be thrown for money – if everything else failed, I could always start a delivery service." He chuckled. "Which reminds me, actually. After five years of running all across Mobius, I would have nailed your geography pop quiz."
OoO
Shadow wanted to tear out his arm.
He briefly considered the statement, noticed that he had actually been thinking about it for quite a while already and therefore rephrased it.
I don't want to tear out my arm. I want to scratch till it's gone instead.
Oh, the pain had vanished.
But now his skin was being rebuilt and at the same time his black fur was growing back – and it itched, itched, itched, itched.
Shadow glared irritably at his uncooperative limb, the thing a mass of fresh, red skin, pink patches where the nanites had already managed to build up a couple of more layers and short, wafting black and red fur that wasn't even half an inch long and tempted Shadow to gnaw the flesh off the bone to end the prickling, needly sensation. Well, at least there was one thing to look forward to today…
"Hi, Shadow! Ready to stand on your own two feet again?" Maria's cheerful voice raised him from any cannibalistic thoughts of desperation and red eyes lit up as the black hedgehog beheld his friend followed by her grandfather enter the laboratory, the blonde girl carrying in her arms his shoes and gloves like one would cradle a precious child.
Shadow felt the edges of his mouth invariably drawing upward as soon as he beheld his old skates, already yearning to put them on again. Professor Gerald nodded his greetings to him, which the suspended hedgehog returned, before moving onto the console that controlled Shadow's tank.
"Alright, then," he announced. "Begin drainage. Non-emergency protocols this time," he added with a small smile.
Black ears pricked up as the churning sounds of the pumps springing into life began to vibrate through the water and Shadow could feel his own excitement rising in time to the sinking water levels. He looked down at his black toes that floated ever closer to the bottom of his cylinder - and couldn't help a sudden grin as finally they touched ground.
Now the weight on his feet began to increase as for the first time in months, the liquid receded enough to first uncover flicking black ears, water pouring out of them as his hearing cleared after an eternity of echoing sounds, and then Shadow's head burst through the surface entirely, red eyes blinking in the sudden dry environment, but his muzzle stretched into a smile as he could finally reach up and remove the breathing mask.
"Hi, Maria."
The girl didn't reply, her own grin only growing broader as she beheld her healed friend inside the tank, her fingers clutching the garments she held even tighter, azure eyes mirroring the joy in crimson ones.
"Hey, Shadow…"
The black hedgehog reached out with his left hand to steady himself against the glass frame, but he didn't stumble and his knees didn't buckle even when the last drops of nutrient solution had vanished through the floor. Gerald smiled and pushed the button that would open the glass case – and when his granddaughter finally dropped the things she's been holding and dashed forward to bury the hedgehog in a hug, his only regret was that with all 300 of his IQ points he'd neglected to have brought a camera.
"Gah, now I'm all wet!" Maria laughed, releasing Shadow long enough to look down the front of her sky blue dress which had now a giant dark patch on it where soaked hedgehog fur had left an imprint. Shadow raised an eye ridge.
"Well, what did you expect?"
"Not having to bring so many towels, probably," Maria winked at him, before walking over to a chair and tossing Shadow one of the white space colony ARK issue towels, taking the other one for herself and rubbing her face in it that she had buried in his head fur. Shadow caught the cloth in one hand securely, first trying to dry off his head and dripping quills (which resulted in the towel being just slightly less usable and a lot more sliced to stripes….) and then rubbing down the rest of his body, dabbing carefully at the raw skin on his new arm.
Gerald had come closer and inspected the surface, nodding once briefly in approval.
"Very well. It seems like exposure to air has not caused any bleeding to start due to unfinished repairs. I'll give you some salve to apply so it'll heal off better."
"Thank you, professor," Shadow replied politely, trying to suppress the strange urge to tie the towel around his waist since it seemed like such an apt thing to do. Instead, he turned around to where Maria was standing with his clothes, smiling as she passed them toward him. Shadow could feel a wave of relief rushing through him as he slipped into his shoes and powered them up for the first time ever since he'd lost his arm. Finally, he felt complete again.
Maria smiled at her friend's obvious content with the world.
"What do you feel like doing?" she asked. "Experiments and the like are not going to start again until next week, so we have days to ourselves!" she said excitedly, for once letting her young age radiate through the mature exterior she had been forced to build up by the grim circumstances of their lives. Shadow pulled his left glove in place, fiddling the cuff underneath the power ring without much difficulty.
"Well, there's really only one thing," he said, before favouring Maria with a ghost of a smile of his own – "I'm going to kill Vincent, of course."
xxx
Well. This hasn't played out quite like I expected.
"Are you feeling ready?"
"Uh. Yeah," Shadow replied with a bit of retardation, having briefly been startled out of his thoughts. He was standing in front of a door with Maria. And about to take his high school graduation exam.
I was planning to murder someone and their reaction is to tell me that there's a quiz waiting for me. Somehow, this is quite bizarre.
Still, he clutched the pens in his left hand slightly tighter, telling himself he wasn't nervous. He'd faced robots and clones, had believed himself dead so many times he hadn't even thought he'd be able to feel terror any more, he couldn't be afraid of a test, right? Wait, how did you multiply vectors again…?
The Ultimate Lifeform shook his head violently. Yesterday and today had been very, very odd. His right arm was bandaged now, a cooling salve underneath the gauze reducing his discomfort somewhat. Shadow involuntarily tensed as he could hear the professor's steps approaching behind the door, and sure enough only a second later it opened with its customary swishing sound and the old scientist beckoned them inside. It was a small room in the computer department, really containing nothing but a table, a chair and a desktop pc with a pile of blank paper neatly stacked in front of the screen.
"Relax, Shadow. It's easy. I took it when I was thirteen."
"Yeah, but you stem from a family of geniuses and your idea of fun is doing quadratic substitution in your head," Shadow muttered.
"I firmly believe nurture can have as much influence as nature," Gerald replied amiably, pulling out the chair. "And you've had an excellent tutor those last few months," he said, Maria flushing with suppressed pride at his words. "Have a seat."
"Will I take the test online?" Shadow asked, walking over and climbing on the (slightly too large) human chair.
"Sort of. I've set everything up. It'll be an oral exam as well as a written one, so be sure to sit so the webcam can see you. You'll be communicating live with Earth," the professor explained, at the same time putting a hand on Maria's back as if already ushering her to leave.
"Wait, are you just going to leave me here?" Shadow asked, slightly alarmed. Gerald raised an eye brow.
"Well, Shadow, it's generally the way how exams work. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Are you?" the black hedgehog asked, half-turned around on the chair toward his creator in the doorway. There was a moment of silence.
"…yes," the old man finally said and gave one of his smiles that had become so rare during the last years. "I'm sure you will. After all," he said, briefly looking over the rim of his glasses at his hedgehog, "All the Robotniks always are."
Shadow suddenly found he couldn't speak and therefore only gave a brief nod in reply. The professor made to close the door.
"Good luck, Shadow!" Maria called. "Remember the right hand rule for electric current!" she laughed.
"You'll be fine, Shadow. Make me proud," the old scientist said quietly.
"Yes, professor," the black hedgehog whispered back, just before the door slid shut. He sighed briefly before turning around to the screen.
Make his family proud…
He drew in a small breath as the screen flickered into life in the very next second and he was staring at a talking cat.
"Is this thing working? Test? Oh, hello."
"What?" Shadow replied intelligibly. The cat of course was a Sapient, and a female and very pretty one at that. She had jet black fur, a white muzzle, fir green eyes and wore a purple top and choker, a jade necklace and two large gold rings pierced through her ear. If Shadow had to guess at her age he'd have placed her somewhere in her mid-thirties, but he really couldn't be too sure. Half of the Sapients he'd ever seen had been actors on TV pretending to be much younger than they really were, and actually conversing with a non-human was a novel experience for him. She was sitting at a table much like he was, so he couldn't see her lower half, but a black tail occasionally flicked into view. Shadow had never been too sure whether he felt as a Sapient himself, having been created by humans and now he also couldn't help but wonder how he must actually look to other…'Mobians'.
"Hi. Shadow, isn't it?" the feline smiled at him. "I'm Ebony the Cat."
"Hi?" Shadow ventured. A Mobian name. Of course. Maria had once mentioned that Sapients could decide whether they wanted a name in the traditional '(First Name) the (Species)' format or chose to add a last name to imitate the human standard.
"I'm the examiner that got assigned to you by the long-distance high school Professor Robotnik registered you in. Are you feeling ready to take the test?"
"Yes." Shadow nodded and the feline gave him a (slightly disconcerting) long-fanged smile.
"Good." She ticked something off on a paper lying in front of her. "You'll be taking the exam in Maths, Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Geography, is that correct?"
"Yes." Shadow nodded again. Finally, he couldn't stop himself. "Are there many on Earth like…me?" he asked.
"What?" Now the cat looked up, a bit confused, but not unfriendly so. "Long-distance high school students? Yes, of course. We are tutoring and examining people from all over the world that travel with their parents or live in remote places – not many in space, of course," she gave a little laugh.
Shadow shook his head. "No, I meant…looking like me," he said, again hating the insecurity he couldn't quite hide from his voice. Maria had told him a thousand times he would fit in just as well as anybody, but…
"What, you mean other hedgehogs? Shadow, do you really feel okay?" the examiner asked, now sounding just a little bit worried, twitching her whiskers. Shadow distantly noted that he'd have to learn a whole new set of body language if he was to deal with Sapients if they ever made it down to Earth, but still managed to nod.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. I'm just…not used to be around new people, that's all."
"Ah. I see. I can understand that, I've got to admit I didn't even know there were Mobians living aboard the space colony ARK at all. Any others besides you?"
"No," Shadow shook his head. The only other being that could have qualified might have been his clone, UL 2/25, but he had neither had a name nor sentience.
"That must be tough," the feline said sympathetically, her ears drooping a bit in what Shadow supposed could mean empathy.
"I manage," he replied, "After all, I still have Maria and the professor." Plus, a human punching bag called Vincent if I should ever get too stressed out.
"Good for you," Ebony nodded, regaining her earlier cheer and gripping her pen once more in black-furred, gloveless hands, what might possibly have been an oddity of some sort, Shadow wasn't sure. "And to answer your question, yes, there's quite a few hedgehogs, at least where I live," she smiled. "Yours is one of the species that differs in colours quite wildly, so I don't think I've seen one yet that looks exactly like you, but no, you wouldn't stand out down here," she said, her tone matching her expression of soothing comfort and Shadow felt himself relax a little. Green eyes narrowed a bit as she seemed to notice another detail about him, though.
"Your arm is bandaged. Are you quite sure you're alright? I have to ask, because you can always take this exam another time if you could fail now for medical reasons."
"Yeah, it's almost healed. Work accident," Shadow replied smoothly (and not quite untruthfully).
"Okay," the examiner replied, not looking quite convinced but apparently deciding to leave it for later. "Then I'll begin the exam." She seemed to press a button on the screen. "Please state your full name."
"Shadow?" Shadow replied, by now not exactly sure any more. She couldn't mean his project name, surely?
"Your full name," Ebony repeated. "Are you called Shadow the Hedgehog or Shadow Robotnik?"
"Er…" the Ultimate Lifeform paused, not exactly sure what he was supposed to answer. The majority of people around here actually called him 'that thing', but somehow, he doubted that Ebony wanted to hear this.
"That is, wait," the cat suddenly broke the moment of silence herself. "You haven't decided yet, have you?"
"I don't think so," Shadow replied carefully. Professor, what have you gotten me into here?
"Yes, in cases of adoption like yours that can be tough," the cat said, nodding understandingly. "Since you're a minor, you'd still have some time left, though, don't you? You're…sixteen now, I think?"
Try a fourth of that age. "Yes. Sixteen," Shadow confirmed, privately a little amused that apparently, the professor had designated him the older brother with that. Even if he hadn't really…adopted him, had he? No.
"Well, one year still to go before you'd have to legally settle for one version then, no problem," Ebony replied cheerfully, "I'll just fill in both with a slash, they should understand that. You're not the first one with a complicated heritage."
Oh, you'd be surprised. "Thank you," Shadow replied loudly instead.
"Good, I think we're all set, then," the cat confirmed. Ready to begin with the Mathematics section…?"
It was a very exhausted Shadow that stumbled out of the door a few hours later, but the open arms of Maria and the smiling face of the professor Gerald more than made up for everything.
xxx
"And you're sure this is the appropriate way to celebrate your graduation?" Maria asked a little while later and just with a hint of sarcasm, looking down at her friend currently reclining on the burgundy couch. Shadow checked the items around him.
"Let me see….Popcorn from Nate…pillows…stack of dvds…fake warning of radiation problems in the movie theatre, so no-one will come in here and interrupt the viewing pleasure…yes, I think we're all set," Shadow replied unperturbed. "Besides, I haven't graduated yet. They'll send us the test results in a few days."
"Yeah, but still…" Maria said, picking up one of the movies, looking at the cover and wrinkling her nose. "B-movie-horror?"
"I happen to like them. They make me think of Vincent," Shadow replied, earning himself another eye roll from Maria.
"Shadow, will you stop thinking of revenge?"
"He did try to kill me," the black hedgehog pointed out, his tone serious now. "He shouldn't have expected to live if he failed."
"I don't like you talking like this," Maria said quietly, hugging her body as if cold and turning away from him. "It's like I don't even know you anymore."
The black hedgehog briefly closed his eyes, the words for some reason hurting more than they should. He breathed out.
"Maria…I'm sorry."
There was a dark side to him. He knew that by now. Whether GUN had created it with their brutal training or whether it had been there all along, he didn't know and never would. But what he knew was that whenever those azure eyes looked at him, he wished he could deny it was there…
"I didn't mean those things I said. Please stay," he said, his voice low and eyes downcast. He didn't look up until the couch beneath him moved…pressed down by a slender human body now sitting beside him. Shadow looked up and saw Maria, finally smiling at him.
"That's my Shadow. Thank you."
"Yeah," Shadow sighed. Deciding changing topics might be the wisest choice after all, he then picked up the movie again. "But I'm not going to be sorry about making you sit through all 95 minutes of 'The Defurrer: Extended Edition'. This one's got the scene with the goat and the balloon animals."
"Yay," Maria sunk somewhat deeper into the cushions. "But only if I get to choose the second movie."
"Deal," Shadow said, having stood up to put the disc into the player. When he noticed Maria's small little smile as he turned around again, there appeared just the tiniest knot of worry in his throat, however. He swallowed.
"Oh no. No. Not again. Please don't-"
"We're going to be watching Notting Hill," Maria announced cheerfully, "With Hugh the Grunt and Julia the Robin, she's a bird movie star flying the skies and he's just a common garden fish variety, it's one of the greatest Mobian romantic comedies of all time!"
"Great. You think the professor could suspend me in the tank again?"
"Why don't you sit down here so I can punch your sore arm?"
xxx
It was a lot later that night when Shadow finally pressed the button on the remote that would switch the giant TV off. There was silence now in the room, except for the peaceful breathing of his friend, who had sunken against him at some point during the last movie they had watched, 'The Defurrer Part IV: It's Fur If It Bleeds', possibly during the scene when the titular character had just been about to do something unsavoury to the poor chipmunk backpackers that somehow had never gotten that part about not staying in hostels in strange backwater countries, especially if you're two guys, two girls, and one of you is blonde. It had been the fourth movie of the evening, (right after Maria had forced him through Legally Blonde Ray, some idiotic flick about another fish, for Chaos sake, except she wanted to be an marine environmental attorney this time) and now it seemed like it had been finally too much for her body – that, or her brain had decided to shut down to prevent insanity from rotten movies, anyway.
Shadow gently lifted her head off his shoulder and placed it on the couch. He got up silently, rummaged around for the blanket he knew had to be there, and draped it over her, placing his hand for a moment on her side, but not waking her up. He paused.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm not sorry about what I'm going to do, but I'm sorry that I lied to you about it earlier."
He turned away and stalked to the door, the contraption opening almost soundlessly, the soft clink of his hoverskates on the metal floor outside the only sounds in the moonlit, dim world that was the ARK during their artificial night time among the stars.
Shadow started to walk, knowing that Vincent wasn't going to survive the night.
To be continued...
(looks around ghost town) oh dear...it hasn't been two months already since the last update? Apparently so...oooh, how about you take that as adding another dimension of realism to the passing of time with the small scenes in this chapter? Hm? No? Yeah, I thought so, too...^^°
But anyway, THANKS to anybody still sticking with this story after all this time! :D It's not dead, it's not dying and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter as well. :) On related news, I'll be attending Summer of Sonic this year in London, anybody else coming? :P If you read, please review...
