Broken of Sanity
Warnings: contains blood, gore, violence, mental illness and everything associated with that, adult themes (drinking, implications of adultry, etc.), boyXboy pairings, harsh slurs, profanity, character death, (will add to this in other chapters if I think of anything else).
Disclaimer: I own this story and any OC that shows up. Sonic and friends belong to SEGA and the Sonic Team. Any other character that appears belongs to their respective owners. I also own the "cover" to this story. If you like it, see end of Prologue for more information.
Rating: Rated M (mature) for obvious reasons (see WARNINGS above if you haven't already).
Summary: Sonic has been missing for almost six years now. During his absence, corruption has overcome the government, making life a living hell for everyone. It's been the job of everyone else to step up in Sonic's place, to try and save the world with a losing war on their end. But what happens when Sonic suddenly appears out of nowhere, completely different and yet the same? SONILVER.
Chapter 14: Surprise Visit
Shadow and the rest of Team Dark arrive at Tails' Workshop early the next morning. It had rained again the night before, meaning it would be more believable that they'd lost the trail on Sonic if anyone were to ask. Surprisingly, no one has checked in on the progress of the group yet, much to Shadow's relief. He doesn't know what he'd tell them if they did ask.
Kylo is already working. Wondering around the workshop, tending to anything messy and sorting out the cash register. He gives a quick hello to the group as they pass to head into the back room where they find Tails and Sonic. The scene is rather lighthearted, to say the least.
Sonic's legs are currently hanging over the edge of the table, ears flicking irritably. He looks less than amused as he glares at Tails, though emerald irises hold no real malice towards his younger brother.
Tails' back is facing the group, tough Shadow can still make out how exasperated the young kit is by the way his twin namesakes twist around one another. Shadow is somewhat curious as to how the appendages haven't knotted themselves up yet.
"Do you want to reopen your wounds?" Tails asks, hands sitting on his hips as he stands at his full height, which isn't very tall, especially since Sonic is still sitting on top of the table.
"Tails, I told you last night not to worry. I'm fine!" Sonic exclaims, holding his arms out though he quickly hisses in pain as he grips his bandaged side.
"Sonic!"
IT's at that point when Shadow clears his throat to announce their presence.
"Oh, hi guys," Sonic says with a quick wave. Shadow doesn't miss the slight shifting of nervousness.
"I thought you guys were heading back to Metropolis," Tails says as he turns, raising a brow. "Also, it's still early and we're closed right now. How'd you get in?"
"That little assistance of yours is a real sweetheart," Rouge places a hand on her hip and gives a toothy grin. "He let us in."
"I'll have to talk about this with him. Again." Tails sighs, pinching the bridge of his muzzle.
"We still have some business here," Shadow adds, crossing his arms. He avoids looking at Sonic and instead focuses his gaze on the ceiling. He can see Rouge shake her head beside him, but at the moment he doesn't want to go through the trouble of bringing himself to care enough about her disappointment.
"You decide if you're taking me in?" Sonic asks, the lightness in his voice falling. Emerald eyes harden and his quills slightly bristle. "Just so you know, I won't go down without a fight."
"A fight it will be, then," Omega says as he draws his guns, aiming squarely at Sonic. "Prepare to-"
"No! For the love of chaos, we talking about this!" Rouge shouts, moving to stand in front of Omega. "No one will be shooting anyone!"
"Tell that to the bastard that shot me," Sonic growls out, shifting once more as he gingerly rubs his bandaged side with a small grimace twisting on his muzzle.
"Okay, let's all tone down a bit," Tails says, holding his hands up. "Um, there's a bakery a few blocks over-"
"Oh! That's the one we passed," Rouge says, turning to face Tails again. She then smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of her head while saying, "Sorry hon, go on."
"I could give you money to go down and get some. I don't have any food here."
"No need to pay us," Rouge smile. "With us being secret agents and all we have the money to buy a few muffins or cupcakes for our friends without having to worry about spending too much. Even if we are mobians."
"What about chilidogs? I haven't had one in years!" Sonic exclaims, rubbing his stomach. Shadow's surprised he isn't drooling right then and there at the very thought of the less than appetizing food. Seriously, what's so nice about slopping some chili on top of a hotdog?
"It's a bakery," Shadow all but snaps, unable to stop himself. He's still refusing to meet Sonic's eyes. "I highly doubt they sell that stuff you call food."
Sonic mock gasps, eyes growing wide. This time Shadow is forced to look him in the face as Sonic pouts. "How dare you! You'll pay for that, Shadow!"
"Nice to see you're feeling better, Blue," Rouge muses with a fond smile. "At this rate, you'll be your good ol' self in no time."
"Not if I don't get a chilidog."
"And I'll take my cue to leave. Let's go, Omega!" Rouge turns and practically skips out the door, Omega following obediently behind.
An uncomfortable silence falls between the remaining three anthros as they shift uncomfortably. Shadow desperately wishes he could say something, or better yet have one of the other two say something to lighten the mood.
Luckily, Tails is the one to break the silence, but Shadow immediately regrets his wishful thinking as the fox says, "I'm gonna let you guys talk, you need to."
"Tails, wait!" Sonic shouts, reaching out and grasping at the empty air as the fox makes his quick retreat to the open doorway. "I swear if you don't come back here-"
"Have fun!" And with that, Tails ducks out of the back room.
Shadow's stomach immediately drops as blood-red eyes lock with nervous emerald. What is he supposed to say? What are they even supposed to talk about? Shadow knows this is his chance to tie up some loose ends, like Rouge and Tails probably want him to, but he just can't find the right words. HE can't even think straight.
Luckily enough, Sonic is the first to break the silence. "Do you...hate me?"
Shadow balks. He shouldn't be surprised, Rouge told him about this, but still. "No, of course, I don't hate you. Despite how annoying you can be."
"I'm sorry for what happened in the lab during your...heist thing. The big boss man was probably pretty ticked off that you failed in doing whatever you were supposed to do."
"None of it was your fault," Shadow mumbles, looking away as he leans back against the wall. "If anything it's my fault for not being strong enough to save you."
Sonic is silent for a moment. Shadow's red eyes are unwavering as the other male looks down at his lap, ears lowering. "But-I mean, there was an opening for me to escape. Your backup was one the way, I could've moved us all to a better hiding spot. But I didn't. I was-"
"Sonic, you're the one that was being tortured, it wasn't your job to have to save us in the first place. We should've been saving you."
"I didn't want to put you three in danger. I wanted to find a way to escape on my own, without-without the fear of endangering any of my friends."
"Look at us," Shadow sighs, leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling. The contempt couldn't be any clearer in his voice as he says, "we're reduced to sniveling infants blaming no one but ourselves for who did what."
A bitter chuckle from Sonic earns Shaddow's crimson gaze once more. It doesn't reach Sonic's eyes, and the forced smile on his face quickly falls as a dry sob escapes his clenched teeth. "What the hell happened to us?"
"Humans," Shadow spits out, anger bubbling in his chest at the very thought of their furless faces. "They destroyed this world like I knew they would."
"I wonder if any of it was worth it," Sonic half muses, though his voice sounds flat and dead. Almost like a corpse, and his dull eyes are no better as they practically stare holes through Shadow.
Shadow clears his throat to distract himself from the thought. "What was worth it?"
"Any of it. Like, saving the world or helping out with things around the cities." Sonic shifts, gaze falling to his hands. "I mean, the world still ended up destroyed anyways. At least it wouldn't have hurt so much if I had let him take over the world in the beginning."
"Eggman?" Shadow frowns, keen eyes picking up the minuscule tensing of Sonic's body.
"Yeah."
"Sonic, you have to remember not everyone is bad, however hard that may be. Most of the people you saved, hell, probably all of the people you saved most likely got their shit together. I know I sure did. You gave everyone a good outlook on life, you kept them going. If I'm not proof of that then I don't know what is."
Shadow shifts, his tongue burning with each word. He means it, of course, but it practically scalds him to say it. He's never been one to deal with emotions or pep talks. Hell, he can't even handle his own problems, let alone someone else's. Especially Sonic's problems.
The older male opens his mouth to say more, maybe slap Sonic if he doesn't stop being so melodramatic, but the door opening catches both their attention, ruining the moment. It's mildly infuriating, though Shadow welcomes the excuse to free him of this more or less embarrassing situation he's in.
He sees Sonic perk up at the sound of the bell, and Shadow turns to look out at the main part of the building. His eyes immediately fall on the familiar pink quills of none other than Amy Rose herself.
"Amy?" He hears Tails ask, and Shadow doesn't miss the alarm in his voice as the fox meets her at the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you said-"
"And that still stands," she all but snaps, her voice cold and unfeeling as hse crosses her arms. "I'm just here to tell you-wait, is that Shadow?"
Shadow instinctively tenses and pushes off the wall, though he keeps his arms crossed. He's never really been fond of Amy. She's always been too loud and bright, even compared to Sonic. But Shadow finds himself liking that version more than this cold, unfeeling person before him.
"Amy Rose," Shadow dips his head in greeting, an ear flicking. "I see you're well."
"Likewise," Shadow can't read her eyes, though he can hear the disdain in her voice clear as the sky on a bright summer day. "What brings you here? You on one of your...Sonic expeditions? Or should I call them fantasies?"
"Amy, that's not fair," Tails mumbles, shooting Shadow a helpless look as he chews at his lip. "Besides, it wasn't a fantasy, or whatever, because Sonic's here now."
"Sure he is," she rolls her eyes, arms remaining crossed.
"Is there something I'm missing?" Shadow asks, feeling the hostility in the room rise with every second Amy's here. Why wouldn't she believe Sonic's here? She helped Tails patch him up, right? At least, Shadow remembers Tails telling them that.
"A long story that you never stay long enough to hear," Amy practically hisses, forest green eyes turning to glare pointedly at Shadow. "You know, I've been wondering what brings you here to our happy little city? Hm? You've never seemed to care before-"
"That's not true-" Tails tries, though Amy refuses to be stopped in her verbal tirade as she talks over the young kit like he isn't even there.
"So why are you here? Looking to use one of us in those G.U.N. missions of yours?" Amy now moves her hands to her hips and a sickly sweet smile hints at her teeth as she slightly leans forwards.
"No, why would I do that?" Shadow grounds out, his quills bristling with agitation. Behind him, he can hear a quiet growl from Sonic, though he doesn't look back at him. He doesn't want Amy verbally attacking him as well, that's the last thing Sonic needs in order to hopefully recover completely, both mentally and physically.
"Oh, surprising, seeing as you're siding with the very humans wanting to tear us apart."
"We're not-"
"Oh, right," Amy turns her eyes to Kylo who is now standing beside Tails. "I forgot some of you are still playing hero with your failed idols."
"That's enough," Shadow snaps, uncrossing his arms as he steps forwards. "If all you want to do is start fights then you can leave."
"That's a lot, coming from you. And the words "fight" and "fact" are both different things. But I guess your pitiful coping mechanism won't allow you to see that."
"Amy, what is going on?" Tails asks, half moving between Amy and Shadow should a fight break out. "Why are you acting like this? I mean, I know you're mad about Sonic-"
"Why?" She repeats, disbelief playing in her eyes before she glares at Shadow once more. "How could you just-just let him in? After years of nothing. I mean, I kinda see you letting that monster in, but Shadow? Seriously? He's the Ultimate Lifeform but he can't even protect his friends."
"Amy-" Tails tries, though Amy shakes her head, eyes hardening.
"No, Tails! I'm serious. How can we even trust him when he failed to bring Sonic back home? And then he let his friend, his sister die right in front of him without even doing anything! And now-"
"Leave."
Amy blinks, mouth hanging open midsentence as she stares at Shadow. His heart races with the unwanted memories burning behind his eyes, making him sick to his stomach. His hands are balled into fists and it's taking everything he has to not stab a chaos spear right through her eyes.
"You just don't wanna face the-"
"I said get the fuck out before I rip off all your fingers and shove them down your throat."
"Ooh, look at Shadow using his big boy words," Amy practically purrs, smirking.
"Amy, I swear to chaos if you don't leave I'll kill you," Shadow growls darkly, staring at the space pas her shoulder. He doesn't even trust himself to look at her without losing his shit right then and there.
"Is that a threat?" She asks, almost amused. "Just like you to kill one of your fr-"
"You're not my friend, you're not even my acquaintance."
"Guys, stop, please!" Tails shout, holding his hands out. "I just got his place cleaned up, and I don't like seeing my friends fighting."
"Shut it, tails. If you can't tell, I'm watching Shadow throw his tantrum-"
"Chaos Spear!" Shadow gives no warning as the chaos charged attack is thrown at Amy. She's barely given enough of a chance to avoid the attack as she twists to the side.
"That all-"
"You're fucking dead, bitch!"
Shadow shoots forwards, swerving so as not to run straight into Tails who pulls away from him. He draws back his arm and aims a bone-crushing punch straight at Amy's light cream muzzle. She ducks and delivers a swift punch to Shadow's sternum in response.
He gasps, recoiling, though he recovers quickly enough to catch the roundhouse kick Amy has aimed at his throat. Shadow uses Amy's light weight o his advantage and quickly swings her around in a huge arc, then used the momentum to throw her into the nearby shelves.
"Oh come on! Seriously?" Tails shouts, throwing his hands up while his fur bristles with anger. Kylo looks just as annoyed as he stands behind the kit, though the fear in his eyes is more prominent as he watches the two mobians face off against one another.
Shadow remains standing, narrowed eyes watching as Amy pushes the boxes and shelves off her as she stands, cracking her knuckles.
"It would be in your best interest to leave-"
"Shut the hell up! You've really pissed me off and I've had it up to here with your bullshit," Amy hisses. She holds out her hand and in a puff of pink smoke, her piko-piko hammer appears. Her fingers easily curl around the torn black foam handle and she gives a few experimental swings. Then she charges.
Shadow dodges to the side and, with his hand already charged with more powerful chaos energy, grips Amy's upper arm while shouting, "Chaos Burn!"
Amy screams as the raw energy burns through her tender skin, singing the light-colored fur around it. Shadow releases her after a few seconds and the two jump away, glaring acid daggers at one another. If looks could kill, they wouldn't even be a pile of ash. They'd be completely vaporized with how much hate is coursing through their very eyes alone.
During the small pause, Shadow notes both Tails and Kylo standing on the sidelines, both having mixed emotions. Kylo looks scared beyond hell, with how wide his eyes are and how badly he's shaking. Tails looks more than pissed and Shadow doesn't doubt he'd step in to stop it had he been better prepared.
Shadow is the first to charge this time, taking Amy by surprise. He delivers a quick blow to her stomach with a nicely aimed punch, then he drops to a crouch and kicks her legs from under her.
Amy falls with a startled yelp, though she lashes out at Shadow with her hammer. She manages to bash the handle across his cheek, causing him to bite the inside of said cheek. He spits blood to the side as he rolls away, rising to a crouch as Amy jumps to her feet.
She doesn't stop there, however. She jumps into the air, raises her hammer high over her head, and brings it down onto the spot Shadow had been crouched just a second before. He had rolled away at the last second and is now standing once more, knees pent and fists pulled close as he prepares for Amy to charge him again.
The shockwave from the force of her hammer hitting the floor-albeit small-causes the shelves to rattle dangerously. The sound of breaking glass can be heard as a few more shelves fall, the knick-knacks on them breaking upon impact with the hard floor below.
Thank chaos this building has no windows, or else they'd be shattered beyond recognition.
"That's enough!" Tails shouts loud enough Shadow is surprised he still falls under the radar of the government. HE steps between the two hedgehogs, glaring viciously at the two of them. "You know, I"d expect this kind of thing from Shadow, but from you, Amy?"
"Oh so now it's my fault?" She asks, her eyes narrowing.
"Yes! Amy, we were each other's crutch for a long time after everything went to shit. I helped you get over the death of your daughter and this is how you repay me?" Tails gestures to the mess all around them. "By destroying my home, are you serious?"
Amy somewhat has the decency to look guilty, but the way she's glaring at Shadow ruins the whole act.
Shadow slowly takes a deep breath to try and calm his fiery nerves. He hates the fact that he had let his emotions get the better of him. He hates how easily he lost control, and all because Amy had been taunting him like a petty child angry that she didn't get to go to a theme park.
"Tails, he's the one-"
"I think you should leave, Amy." Tails' voice is so flat it squishes all hints of possible emotions as he turns to face Amy completely.
"What?"
"I said leave!"
Amy stands there, shock written all over her face. Her arms hang loosely at her sides and the fingers of her right hand curl around the handle of her hammer, barely tight enough to keep from falling. "Tails, you don't really-"
"Please, Amy," this time there is a crack filled to the brim with emotional turmoil in the young voice. "Just go."
Amy is silent for a long moment, her green eyes filled with so much guilt it's amazing how she hasn't collapsed under the weight. 'At least that's one thing we can both understand.' Shadow thinks heatedly as he crosses his arms once more.
But then Amy's face hardens, and the grip on her hammer is revived as she squares her shoulders "Sorry, Tails, but I'm not leaving until I beat that mother fucker to a pulp."
Authors Note: sorry it took so long to update! I've been really busy with school and such. I have a 1.2 GPA so I gotta try and get all my grades up. Luckily, my mom isn't one of those crazy parents who requires a good grade in all my classes, or else I'd be dead. Also, one of my snakes has scale rot so I also have to deal with that as well. Which isn't good.
On a lighter note, I made an account on Ao3 where I've also posted this story. I only have 3 chapters up on that one so far, and it might take a little bit for me to catch up, but for those of you who like Ao3 better than, um...good for you I guess. I don't know what to say about that. I just thought I'd try to get more attention for this story, seeing as I don't really have too many people reading it right now (I still appreciate everyone who's reviewed/followed/favorited so far! It means the world to me and it's why I've kept going so long). I'm working really hard on this story and I really want more people to read it. My username is the same as this one, by the way, which is DreamCatcherofLight.
Anyways, that's all for now. Have a good day/night, and don't forget to review/follow/favorite! See you all later!
