Chapter Six – Warnings
Rouge found Tails before she found the Hedgehogs, and there was an seriously urgent look on his face. He was on his way to G.U.N. headquarters. He was heaving.
"I need to find Sonic now." He panted. But Rouge frowned, also panting.
"Sorry, he's already gone." She explained. "Why?" She asked. Tails grabbed her.
"He's in serious danger." He heaved. Rouge stared.
"From what?" She growled. Tails began to panic, looking very terrified.
"Shadow!" He squealed. Rouge gasped in utter disbelieve. From what she'd seen in recent months, the Blue Blur was in no danger. He could easily handle the Ultimate Lifeform, properly the only person on Mobius who could. Tails then suddenly ran back the way he came.
"Look, I'll explain on the way." He gestured and Rouge then ran after him. But before Tails could say anything further, they were suddenly surrounded by people. Knuckles, Amy, Silver and Blaze, all looking as worried as Tails. Rouge is out of breath.
"What's going on?" She asked, but Knuckles cuts across her. He snapped.
"Where is he?" He spat, but Rouge's temper got the better of her. She hissed.
"Sonic's not here. What's the problem?" She growled. Then Silver looks incredibly worried.
"Shadow takes over the world. Completely destroying it. I think he kills Sonic. Two hundred years from now, there's nothing left, just him. He's slaughtered everyone. Me and Blaze have worked out that something must have happened here, about six months ago, that changed the course of history between our two timelines. I literately went from a perfect future to a desolate wasteland practically overnight. Shadow was there but he'd changed. He had new powers, and was killing anyone and everyone he could. No mercy. It took me a long time just to get out of there, find Blaze, and get back here." He explained. Rouge then stared, stunned.
"The collision." She said under her breath. Sonic passing through Shadow seemed to have done a hell of a lot more then just change the both of them. Unfortunately, everyone heard her. Tails knew exactly what she meant, and put both of his hands over his mouth.
"Shadow's new powers." He gasped. "It's already happened." He gulped. There was stunned silence, as Silver absolutely panicked. But Rouge wasn't buying it.
"There no way Shadow would kill Sonic. I'm not sure he even can. He can match the guy." She spat. But Tails wasn't convinced.
"I don't know, Rouge." He wondered. "They aren't balanced yet. Shadow is immortal, Sonic is not, even with all his powers." He sighed. Then it hit him and hard. Balance! He swore very loudly. Everyone stared. Tails went white. "I think I know what's going on. There something between Sonic and Shadow. It's not romantic, but there's something. A Brotherhood. In the way they move, the way they act." He said, very quickly. Rouge immediately agreed, she'd seen it too.
"Yes, but I have no idea what." She heaved. But Tails got very excited.
"I think it's got everything to do with Sonic not dying as he should have done on his seventeenth birthday." He explained but Silver cut across him. He was gobsmacked.
"Wait, are you actually saying he's still alive. I didn't believe you earlier." He said, stunned. "Every history book in the future, says he dropped dead at seventeen." He gasped. But Tails hushed him.
"That was what was supposed to happen." He sighed but got cut across again. It was Knuckles.
"But why though?" He asked. He hadn't seen the Blue Blur in years, and vowed that if the Black Hedgehog had done anything to him, he personally destroy him. Tails then suddenly gasped.
"Shadow!" He said, to stunned chattering but he raised his hands. "Wait. Hear me out." He asked, and finally got silence. "Between Sonic, and his previous relatives who had Super-Speed, the only difference is Shadow. He wasn't around when the others were alive. It was fate that decided that Sonic should die at seventeen, and I think it was fate again that also decided that he should live. The Powers-That-Be can't influence Shadow. He was created in a lab, not born, and therefore doesn't have a destiny. However, they had foreseen Shadow's increase in power, and even though he'd promised Maria not to destroy the world, but the Powers-That-Be couldn't rely on that alone. So they send someone. Someone that they could influence. Not a rival, or an enemy, or a challenger. But someone to balance him. Someone he'd listen to. Someone who'd make absolutely sure that he doesn't destroy the world." He explained. Rouge gulped.
"Sonic!" She gasped. Tails nodded.
"Yeah. I think they choose him, because he was the only one out of all of us who's strong enough. It's explains his loyalty towards him. The Powers-That-Be put that there as something that Shadow would instantly respect. Plus Sonic has to keep Shadow on side at all times, and only deep loyalty would do that." He sighed. He was slowly working it out. "I think now that Sonic had grown big enough and strong enough to physically match Shadow, the Powers-That-Be are now throwing Chaos Power after Chaos Power at him, desperately trying to balance out those scales." He heaved. Rouge thought.
"What, like the Static Electricity and the...er?" She said, failing to remember. Tails smiled.
"Molecular Vibration and Intangibility." He corrected. They all stared. "But I don't think they're done yet. The scales are still in Shadow's favourwith the immortality. The Powers-That-Be have have still got more for Sonic." Tails panted. But Blaze cuts across him.
"So then why does Shadow kill him?" She wondered. Tails looked up, he'd been thinking about that himself. He sighed.
"I don't think he does. He has no reason to. I don't think the loyalty in the Brotherhood is just on Sonic. I think Shadow has it to, just not as strongly. You can see it in his eyes. He could choose to ignore it, but he doesn't. I think Sonic does die, just not by Shadow's hand and..." He summates but he get cut across by Rouge who is shaking with shock.
"It breaks him." She gasped. Tails nodded, terrified.
"Yeah and with the bond between them formed by the Powers-That-Be broken, he'd have nothing left but to destroy the world." Tails heaved. But Knuckles goes mad.
"Now we definitely need to find Sonic." He growled. But Amy desperately tried to calm him.
"Knuckles." She squealed. "He could be absolutely anywhere." She panted. That was entirely true, especially with his growing powers. But then Rouge had an idea. It was whacky as hell but it just might work. She piped up.
"Shadow has trained Sonic to respond to a whistle. I saw him doing it several times at G.U.N. headquarters." She shrugged. But Knuckles cut across her.
"That's stupid." He jibbed. But the Bat fought back.
"I don't see you having any better ideas." She spat and then sighed. "It's just, I can't loud whistle." She admitted. They all fell silence. Loud whistle calling was not an easy skill to do for a Sapient, and was actually quite rare. However, the quiet musical whistling was relatively common. Suddenly, a little voice piped up, raising her hand. It was Amy.
"Er. I can." She stammered. She wasn't happy about doing this. She hadn't seen Sonic in five years, not since he walked out on her. She'd regretted everyday since, but she had also found her own way. She grown up a lot a that time. Now eighteen, she still wore a red dress, but it was a lot more mature, her pink quills, which used to fall to her shoulders, were now down to her whist. Her large green eyes were still bright and she still hada fringe on her head.
She was frightened. She had no idea what to expect if this worked. She had married her husband about a year ago. A Chestnut brown Hedgehog, with deep leave green eyes. He wore white gloves with black ties and jet black shoes with dark grey socks. He had a big heart of gold and was very good to her. She was pleased with him, and so to were her friends. It had been a long time since she'd whistled, and as she put her fingers in her mouth, she let rip the extremely loud, drawn out single high-pitched note. She was pleased she still had the knack.
They all waited, with baited breath. Nothing seemed to happen until suddenly a roar in the far distance and what looked like an enormouselectrical storm immediately headed there way. Tails squealed in absolute delight, hugging Rouge. It worked. The Blue Blur was on his way. The roar of his Super-Speed was immense, the loudest any of them had ever heard it before. Unfortunately, they were forced to duck for cover when he finally arrived as the pale blue sparks of his extremely high voltages of his Static Electricity made it rather dangerous. It didn't hurt anymore. They all gasped at the sheer amount of power involved. He stood in his full royal Blue glory, looking around, rather confused. It was obviously searching for the source of the whistle. When the Static Electricity eventually died down, they all showed themselves, to a somewhat surprised Blue Blur. He grinned.
"Oh. I didn't think you were Shads." He exclaimed. His eyes fell on Amy. "Hello Ames." He smirked. Nobody dared go anywhere near him, despite the fact that both Amy and Knuckles desperately wanted to hug him. Amy stared at the physic of the Blue Blur. Wow, did he look gorgeous. His tall, muscular figure, powerful, yet graceful, his royal blue fur shining against the day's warm sun, making him look absolutely stunning. His famous cheery red shoes with their famous white stripes glinting in the sunlight. Even Blaze and Silver were both amazed by his sight and Amy felt horrendously guilty for treating him so badly. She desperately wanted to say something but the shock of the explosion of Static Electricity had stunned her into silence. Pales blue lines of pure electricity were still flowing all over the outside of his body. His eyes were glowing pale blue slightly with it. He began bobbing from side to side, physically unable to stand still. Rouge frowned.
"Where's Shadow?" She asked. Sonic looked at her, giggling.
"On the Ark." He grinned. "He's received word from Frank that he suspects there is some high level corruption going on at the Mobian Authorities, which knowing them, I wouldn't be surprised at. So he's asked Shads to investigate it on the quiet. He can hack the Eggnet from up there, but the Mobian Authority Mainframe, I'm not too sure." He sighed, then his eyes fell on Amy, and then he smiled. "But I think I know someone who can. How is Charlie, by the way?" He asked, to any absolutely stunned girl. In fact everyone was gobsmacked. She heaved.
"How do you know my husband?" She growled. Sonic walked up to her, only for her to back away. He was still surrounded by Static Electricity. He sighed.
"I've still haven't forgiven you for what you did to me. Amy." He growled. "But I also knew you deserved better then me. It was because I loved you that after Shadow had helped me pull myself out of that pit of despair, I went to find him. He always been an admirer of yours, but never did anything about it because of the stiff competition. But when I told him what happened, and that there was no us anymore, Charlie decided to finally introduce himself." He giggled. "I didn't know if you'd fall for him, but I hoped you would." He sniggered. Absolute silence greeted Sonic with this, until the Blue Blur fell about laughing.
"He's my cousin, Ames." He giggled. "But he's completely powerless. Perfectly normal. I hid him under the radar so Eggman didn't find him." He smiled. Everyone was astonished. But Tails giggled.
"I thought there was something familiar about him." He wondered. Sonic grinned.
"That would be the heart of gold, Tails. It runs in the family, though I swear Charlie's is much bigger then mine. He works for the Mobian Authorities. He's as good with computers as I am with Super-Speed." He said, proud. Amy was amazed.
"Why didn't he tell me?" She cried. Sonic looked at her, frowning.
"Because he wanted you to meet, fall in love and marry him purely on his own merit, not because of whom he's related to." He spat. Sonic did have a very good point. Then he growled. "Don't take it out on him." He hissed. "Otherwise you'll have me to deal with." He huffed, as his emotions got the better of him, and the Static Electricity all around him increased. They all backed away again, Amy nodding. Then calming down, Sonic thought.
"I wonder if he'll help us out." He added. Tails gulped as he got the mighty Blue Blur's attention.
"Yeah, about that..." He stammered, and the proceeded to tell Sonic everything, about Silver's warnings and the suspected Brotherhood between him and Shadow. He frowned. The Brotherhood made so much sense, it was staggering, and as for Silver's warnings, he wasn't buying it. His death would indeed break Shadow but how and when was it supposed to happen?
Then suddenly Shadow teleported right into their mist, making everyone jump, except the Blue Blur, of course. He'd hacked Sonic's radio and had been listening into the entire conversation. He then used that radio was a beacon for his own Portable Teleporter, to allow him to instantly appear right next to the Blue Blur. He agreed with Tails on the Brotherhood theory, it did make sense, but Silver's accusations, did not go down well with him. But the Grey Hedgehog didn't have any further answers.
Shadow wasn't impressed at Silver's lack of clarity. He couldn't give any details on Sonic's death, the how or where it happened. Just that it obviously happened. Very unhelpful. Shadow growled, his entire body glowing red. The others backing off. They were right. Sonic's death would break him, and it wasn't happening. Suddenly, he explodes, completely loose his temper. But then they watch in stunned admiration, as Sonic gently calmed the mighty Black Hedgehog down, to the point where he willingly took Sonic's hand to his fingertips again. The Brotherhood in action. The Blue Blur doing his job.
Sonic gulped. What had he let himself in for, siding with the Ultimate Lifeform? He now knew it was his fate, his destiny, but still it wasn't easy. Shadow had grown far more powerful and determined then he had anticipated, and it frightened him. He was also growing more and more stubborn, and it was getting harder and harder to settle. He didn't control Shadow. No one could. Sonic was just the only person, right now, that he'd listen to. He was the only thing standing between him and world destruction. He had to keep Shadow on side, whatever the cost. The Ultimate Lifeform was still heaving, glowing red, and growling, but he had back the control. He saw the Blue Blur stand between himself and the others. Sonic sighed, in relief.
"So what now?" He asked. The question seemed to snap Shadow properly back to his senses. He grabbed the Blue Blur by the shoulder, completely ignoring the pale blue sparks still flying around him. He took command of the conversation.
"Go with them." He spat indicating Tails and company. Sonic frowned.
"Why? I can take care of myself." He smirked. But Shadow growled.
"That's not the point." He spat. "I agree with the Fox, the scales are still in my favour. You don't have immortality..." He hissed, but Sonic cut across him, giggling.
"Yet." He announced. But Shadow rolled his eyes. He leered.
"And until that day, Sonic, you can still die, and the Peacock's future can still come to pass." He smirked, looking at Silver, who huffed. He hated being called a 'Peacock'. He'd be staring at Shadow's hands. The markings were almost identical to his own, except that his were cyan and Shadow's were black. He was intently curious as to what happened, but considering that both Sonic and Shadow were now bigger then him, he decided against it. The Ultimate Lifeform noticed him staring and a single look of death, immediately got him to back away. Shadow had been thinking, trying to piece together the information he had.
"I think there's a connection between us, the Mobian Authorities and Eggman. This corruption case, that G.U.N. asked me to working on, it seems to seriously involve the Human. The Eggnet has very detailed information about the two of us, heavily leaning towards recent events. If Eggman and the Mobian Authorities are working together, then that would be corruption and high treason. It's the Mobian Authorities job to protect the people from the Human. If Eggman seeks to destroy us, then two words." He leered. "He can't. But if he's looking to kill you in order to break me..." He sighed, letting go of Sonic and walking away. Everyone stared. It was obvious that Eggman had realised that if he couldn't have the world, then no one could. A Robotnik using him yet again for their dirty work. To have him destroy it for him. He must have come to the same conclusion about the Brotherhood as Tails. But Shadow suspected that Eggman was lying to the Mobian Authorities about this. To make them think the Human could actually permanently take down the Hedgehogs.
He growled. This was tough. The Brotherhood was strong in him now. The Powers-That-Be's trick on him had worked. Sonic had finally earned his true respect. That was how the Blue Blur was able to get through to him so effectively when no one else could. He growled, looking back.
"Where do I find your cousin?" He spat. "I can't prove my theory until I get into the Mobian Authority Mainframe." He hissed. Sonic looked up. He thought.
"Er, yeah. He works in the basement of the Mobian Authority building in Robotropolis." He shrugged. Amy looked at him, surprised.
"Charlie mentioned the building, but not the basement." She huffed. Sonic giggled.
"He used to work in Social Services, but when a job position came up in the basement for an Archivist, Charlie jumped at it." He giggled. "When we was kids, he'd always be the one who rolled around in the grass, and dig holes. A true Hedgehog. He likes those dark, underground places like that. As for me, I just went travelling, including to the circus." He smiled, turning to Shadow. "You'll spot Charlie easily, he's me, just without the wild hyperactive or crazy powers. He also knows about you, and should be able to help you as best he can." He informed. But just as Shadow then was about to leave. Sonic growled.
"Hey, what about me?" He snapped. But Shadow eyes narrowed back at him.
"Go with them." He said again, but the Blue Blur wasn't happy.
"But..." He stammered, but Shadow cut across him. He hissed.
"Just do it!" He spat, and prompting vanished in a cloud of dust, his rocket shoes super-speeding him towards Robotropolis. Sonic was heaving as he watched him leave. But he decided he wasn't going to argue. Shadow obviously had a plan, hopefully one that still had him alive by the end of it. He looked at Tails.
"Your House?" He asked, wondering if that was their next destination. The Fox looked up.
"Er, yes." He nodded. But then the Blue Blur got extremely excited.
"Cool." He giggled. "Race ya." He announced and he suddenly exploded, yet again, in the huge amounts of the pale blue sparks of the Static Electricity, as he sped away at the enormously fast Super-Speeds. The power was off the charts. They were forced to duck for cover again, this time screaming. Tails was out of breath, swearing at the raw power. He turned to Amy.
"Are you glad you didn't marry him now?" He asked. She was shaking. She too was finding Sonic's sheer power difficult to handle.
"Oh, yeah." She admitted.
She did make the right choice after all.