Ch. 2 Perfect Illusions
Sonic stirred from his daze and held his side. the last thing he remembered was his little brother Tails, calling out for him. He hoped and prayed that the strange masked Mobian had left him be. Sonic took in his surroundings and tried to recall how he got in the metal room he was sitting in. The walls were bare and the only thing he knew for sure was that he was in pain. The jackal and his entourage must have done a number on him.
"Shadow..."
Sonic shook his head,
"No that couldn't have been Shadow, it must have been a clone or something like that."
Shadow loved him even if he gets mad at him sometimes. Shadow wasn't a bad guy he was the sweetest, kindest, most loving...Sonic's train of thought was broken by a sliding door opening I the floor and reviling the bloated form of no other than Dr. Eggman himself. The mustached man held a permanent grin on his face. Sonic looked to the man's side to see he was being accompanied by the masked jackal as well. Sonic tried to run at the pair but before he could energy shot from the walls tangling Sonics legs and arms causing him to fall on his face. Eggman howled with laughter,
"Hohoho! Well not so tough now, are you?"
Sonic wiggled on the floor and growled at the human,
"Whatever, it's only a matter of time till I bust out!"
"I don't doubt it." Eggman said waving sonic away.
"What?"
"You see my old friend; I know you have the capability to escape no matter how strong I build your cell. You're like a hedgehog Houdini! So, I decided that instead I'll convince you to stay."
Eggman looked upon the confusion littering the hog's features and pressed a button on his red coat. Suddenly another hole opened in the floor and a large glass tube rose up. Inside suspend in green liquid was Shadow the hedgehog with tubes sticking into each limb. He was limply floating in the luminescent solution until he began to stir and wake,
"Sonic...Sonic help me, I can't break free!"
"Shadow! I knew that thing was another clone, I know you'd never…"
Sonic moved as fast as he could with his legs tethered together. However, before he could reach the glass the evil Dr. let out a taunt,
"Uh uh."
Eggman pressed another button and one of the lights on the outside of the capsule started to flash and a sickly yellow liquid began filling the tube that led to the enclosed hedgehog's right arm. Shadow howled in pain and screamed as his arm began to melt from the inside out. Acid was being directly injected in to his appendage. Flesh began separating from muscle and muscle from bone. All the while Sonic could only stare in horror. He finally processed what he was witnessing,
"No! Stop! Please!"
Eggman stopped the torture but it was too late, Shadows entire arm was gone leaving only a nub that was bleeding out into the green solution. Sonic now on his knees, turned to the mad man with tears streaming down his face and terror in his eyes. Eggman laughed,
"Don't worry, your precious boyfriend will be right as rain once his arm grows back. He did tell you he can regenerate right? It's incredible, the only drawback is that no matter what I do to him, he can't die."
Eggman looked back at the contaminated chamber,
"So, I'd stay put if I were you. Because that looks painful."
Sonic made eye contact with Shadow as the capsule was lowered back into the floor. Shadow's eyes were drained and looked in pain. Tears of Shadow's own, bubbled at the corners of his eyes and then floated upward. Sonic mouthed the words, I'll save you, before his love was completely swallowed by the ground. Sonic sat defeated, refusing to give Eggman any sort of attention. The monster didn't deserve anything. Eggman's maniacal laughter rang through the small plain room, leaving Sonic behind as both the jackal and human exited. Once the two were alone, the Mobian turned his attention to the cackling mad man,
"How do you wish to dispose of him, sir?"
Eggman ceased his mirth,
"I don't. Not yet, Infinite. I want to make him to feel the pain ten-fold for every moment he has made me suffer."
"So keep him on the brink of death?" Infinite questioned with a calm deep voice.
"No… Causing Sonic physical pain does nothing; he is too stubborn and strong willed for that. I want to break him. I want him to wish he was never born." Eggman stated with hands behind his back and grin growing ever larger.
Infinite laughed softly to himself as he held his clawed hand up, causing energy to form around it from the gem in his chest,
"Understood."
Black and red eyes peered over silver rimmed glasses at the vile creature,
"Do your worst."
Six months had passed since Sonic went missing. Dr. Eggman in that time had launched a full take over. Somehow the mad man had created a whole new weapon with the capability to bring down G.U.N and most of the Mobian forces. Most people had lost hope, most people had given up fighting, most people said Sonic was dead. But Shadow knew that couldn't be true, because if it was and Eggman had killed him... there wouldn't be a world left to take over by the time Shadow was done with it. The dark male had been on the search for Sonic and the cause behind Eggman's power. He had been previously working with the resistance but found their tactics weak and the echidna wasn't fit to be a general by any means, in Shadow's opinion. The red, hot head was also very untrusting of the hog, since Tails had reported that Shadow helped take Sonic out. That tid-bit of info had most everyone suspecting Shadow, a longtime friend, of being a spy. War can turn even the most level headed people insane. At the rate they were going, it seemed it would take them years to find Sonic. Although it looked like Shadow couldn't do much better. After he had a falling out with Knuckles and went off on his own, the fake Shadows began to spring up. As one would imagine they were making the hero's life fairly difficult. Shadow had thought they were more androids at first, but after he would defeat one it would just disappear and there was always ten more to take its place. The hog was now seen as a war criminal. how many times am I going to be framed? Shadow wondered. He could only assume that this was karma for what Sonic had to go through when they first met. The hedgehog couldn't even walk up to one of the resistance members to ask them any questions or tell them of his findings without being attacked, so he decided he was just better off on his own.
"Sonic..."
It was no secret that Shadow was in pain. He may have been accused of losing his mind a few times when he was with the resistance, but most who believed him to be the enemy chalked it up to guilt. Shadow shook his head to regain his deminer. This was no time for him to break down, he had to save Sonic. Sonic wouldn't rest until I was back in his arms and I must do the same, Shadow thought, Sonic would always have hope. The resistance could use some of that hope right about now.
"They must think I'm the scum of the earth. I wonder if rouge believes these lies."
Even though the bat had been on the call with him when it happened, she had remarked that it was very suspicious that Shadow had cut out conveniently when sonic was taken, even if she didn't want to admit it.
Shadow stared out into the sky line from atop an old apartment complex. Clouds of smoke and brimstone filled the atmosphere. The sky that was once as blue as his love was now tainted with death and destruction. Shadow glanced down to the street below noticing and odd sight. An Egg pawn was rushing away from the city, alone. The bot seemed to be carrying something in its hands and Shadow decided to check it out. He jumped from the building to meet the fleeing piece of machinery. The robot spotted Shadow however and quickly began smashing the item in its hand. Shadow got right up on it and shouted before the creation self-destructed,
"Hey! Stop! What are you…"
Broken robot pieces littered the ground. Shadow inspected the wreckage. The only thing he could find however, was tiny shards of what seemed to be red crystal. Shadow picked up one the sharp pieces of shrapnel and held it up to the sun, as the luminescent glow with in it died. The hog had many questions, why was this object so important that it had to be destroyed; what did it do; and where had he seen it before? Shadow tried to clear his mind of his intrusive thoughts that had recently been plaguing him and think. His eyes snapped open,
"It's the same color as the strange gem that was on that Infinite guy's chest."
Crash!
Shadow turned to see one of the mega death Egg robots had spotted him and was preparing its arm attack. Before he could be hit, Shadow chaos controlled out of the way and the hog was gone.
Sonic laid on his side in his ten by ten solitary confinement cell. It was dimly lit and completely silent apart from the occasional sob that would escape the broken male. He was lost. He didn't know what to do. He only wished that he could help Shadow. This had been all his fault, he thought. If he had just listened to Shadow about preparing, instead of choosing to ignore the possibility of Eggman's return, then maybe Shadow wouldn't be… Sonic listened to the strange hum the floor made, as if he was on an air plane or something else mechanical and mobile. Tears stained his face. Was it so wrong for Sonic to want to just live in his perfect world he and Shadow had made; to ignore the outside so he wouldn't have to worry; yes… it had been selfish. Now Shadow was trapped too and receiving the brunt of the torture thanks to him. Sonic remembered why loving someone was dangerous, because it always came with pain on both ends.
Suddenly the wall on the far right hissed and began to slide back, reviling thick glass, that Sonic had already tried once to break to no avail; only granting Shadow more pain for Sonic's disobedience. On the other side held a room with the capsule the dark hog was held in. the scene had become a common occurrence to the prisoner. Floating in the green liquid Shadow's half eaten body was deteriorating and simultaneously fixing its self. He was only a head, a torso, and half of a leg. The green solution had bits of loose flesh and fur that had fallen off of the once hero mixed into the disgusting stew. The dark hog slowly opened his bloodshot eyes,
"Sonic… it hurts… so much."
All Sonic could do was cry. He knew exactly why this much damage had been dealt to Shadow. The night before Sonic had tried another attempt at escape, but as usual he was detected and forced to cease, do to the deafening, heart wrenching screams that Eggman broadcast over the intercom system. The blue hog never made it very far.
"Sonic… please… make it stop… I'm begging you."
Sonic refused to look at the pleading male, but he knew what he was referring to. Eggman had installed a big red button on one of the walls and when pressed was supposed to submerge the entire tank in acid and destroy every last particle of Shadow, effectively killing him.
"Please Sonic… it's what you owe me… you did this… please, I just want the pain to end."
Sonic slammed his forehead on the floor and whaled,
"I can't, I'm sorry… please forgive me… I can't, I can't!"
Sonic looked up to Shadow's crimson irises with his own green ones, pools of tears leaking from his eyes. He had never cried so much in his life. He had always refused to give people the pleasure of seeing him in such a way. But now, he felt like a helpless child, he just wanted Shadow to be able to hold him again; care for him and tell him it would be alright. The hog in the tube only stared, but then said as the wall started to move back into place,
"I thought you loved me."
Sonic collapsed on the floor out of exhaustion.
The blue hog was startled by being suddenly shook from his sleep. He turned on his back to look up at the owner of the hands disturbing him to see Shadow. Shadow… but how? Sonic gripped onto Shadow's shoulders and in a hushed tone said,
Shadow how did you get out? And your arms…"
"I regenerate remember. Come on there's no time to lose."
Sonic could feel the flood of emotions that he would have to suppress, begin to take hold. He dare not let them out, not right then, they both weren't out of the woods yet. Sonic absent mindly held Shadow's hand as he allowed the other to lead him out a door and into a hall. The hallway looked somewhat familiar to Sonic but the hog didn't question it. The only thing he was concerned with was holding on to Shadow for dear life. He looked up to the brown and orange checkered wall paper trying to remember were he had seen the pattern before, but kept drawing blanks. He returned his attention to Shadow who towered over the blue hog.
"Keep up Sonic, not much longer now."
Sonic nodded his head and wrapped a tiny hand around one of Shadows fingers,
"Yes sir."
The hedgehogs fallowed down the hall until ahead of them they spotted a metal door that looked like it belonged to an industrial building. In red letters a sign above read, Exit. Shadow pushed the door open and a blinding light filled Sonic's senses. When he was finally able to see again, he realized they were standing out in the middle of nowhere, dirt and fields in all directions. Sonic looked behind himself to see that they had just come from a gas station with a closed sign in the window. Shadow spoke as he pointed to a road,
"That way leads home, come on."
Shadow lifted the blue hoglet up into a white pick-up truck, and proceeded to buckle him in. Shadow kissed the top of the baby's head then rounded the vehicle to get in the driver's side. They took off down the road but Sonic noticed clouds approaching from the side view mirror,
"Shadow we better hurry, there looks like there is a storm coming." The child said in a small voice.
"Yeah, no shit sherlock."
Sonic snapped his head to look at the owner of the potty mouth and found Shadow's profile staring out at the road,
"I'm surprised you even figured that out. Idiot."
Sonic blinked with tears welling up in his big puppy dog, emerald eyes,
"What?"
"This whole thing is your fault. None of this would never have happened if it hadn't been for your stupidity. Why are you so stupid, and weak? Gods, you cant do anything for yourself, I can't believe I ever loved you. All you do is take. First your mother and now me." Shadow stated with venom in his voice.
Sonic could barely get a sentence out,
"Why… are…"
"You're a demon…" Shadow suddenly turned his head fully to Sonic showing that the half of his face that had been facing the window was grotesque and melted, "You did this to me, you monster!"
Sonic screamed and pulled the handle to the door, jumping out of the moving vehicle. He rolled on the ground cutting himself on the brush on the side of the road. The truck came to screeching halt and the driver yelled out from inside,
"And stay out of my life!"
The truck once again sped off down the road and out of sight, leaving the tiny child by himself. The sky was overtaken by dark clouds as the wind picked up. Lightning struck a nearby tree setting it ablaze. Rain pelted the tender skin of the abandoned baby as he screamed before he was completely submerged in water,
"No! Come back! Please… Don't leave me…"
Sonic screamed out as he held his hand over his heart trying to calm down. He tried to gather his bearings, frantically shifting his head around the room so he could figure out where he was. The four metal walls that he had stared at for months stared back and he pushed himself against one and cradled his knees with his arms. He hyperventilated until he puked on the floor. The dream had felt so real, too real. Something shiny caught his eye. It was the red button fixed to the wall gleaming off of the dim light fixture above. The boy hung his head and sobbed.
Shadow glared down at the mass of robots that laid destroyed by the dark hero's hand. He quickly returned to the shadows and pressed himself to a wall and peered around the corner. He was in human refuge territory. After the human government had surrendered to protect their citizens, those who were not forced to work in factories as prisoners of war, fled to these dingy safe zones if they could be called that. They were regularly attacked by Eggman's bots and subject to starvation to try and weed them out. Fortunately, the Mobian resistance had found a way to smuggle food and water, while the Humans exchange weapons, supplies, and ammo from there preexisting factories. For once Humans and Mobians were working in harmony; it was a shame it took a war to make that happen though.
Shadow was just about to move forward when he heard a shot ring out and metal clang to the ground. The hog turned to find a broken robot and standing over it a tired looking woman with brown hair poking out from a G.U.N issued helmet.
"Topaz."
"Shadow! I'm so glad you're all right."
The woman dropped to her knees and hugged the dark male. He hugged back squeezing her tightly like he used to do to Maria and Sonic...
"Shadow what are you doing here, I figured you would be helping the Mobian forces." Topaz said pulling from the embrace.
Shadow cringed,
It's a long story, here let's find a safe place to talk."
Shadow and topaz settled down in a makeshift shelter. The building use to be a school house, but now the children's work and drawing that once hung from the walls lay on the ground, chard and unrecognizable. The agent and commander pulled up the tiny chairs and took a seat; well the chair was tiny for Topaz.
"That's awful that they think you're apart of all this. And... I'm sorry about Sonic. I heard that he had died, but if you believe that he is alive I trust you."
"Thank you, commander, but where is Towers?"
"We have a group that are undercover helping the resistance gather info from inside Eggman's facilities. He is overseeing that operation."
Shadow breathed a sigh of relief,
"That's good... listen Topaz, I came to ask if the humans had found out any information about secret bases that the Dr. might be hiding. Can you help me?"
The woman smiled,
"Yeah, but we will have to head to the G.U.N refugee HQ."
Shadow smirked,
"Is it anywhere near the central city fountain?"
Topaz looked confused trying to think of what Shadow could be talking about but then she made the connection to what location he was referring to,
"Yes, but why?"
Shadow suddenly latched on to the human's hand and in a flash of light they were gone.
Sonic sat with his feet pulled to his chest. The wall that presented Shadow's torture chamber was down once again and the dark hog stared back at the blue one,
"Please kill me"
"No..."
"I'm in so much pain, please..."
"No..."
"Sonic."
"No..."
Each answer the blue male gave came out more horse than the last. Sonic felt dead inside. He was losing hope. But he couldn't. Still something in the hedgehog's heart felt wrong, this whole situation felt wrong. Shadow's quickness to give up threw Sonic for a loop, even from the very beginning Shadow acted hopeless. the strange nightmares didn't seem right either.
"Why do you hate me?"
Sonic looked up to the voice with tired eyes,
"I love you."
Shadow sneered inside of the tube,
"No, you don't. If you did you would let me die. You're just selfish."
Sonic laughed to himself,
"Maybe you're right... it's funny… They call this solitary confinement but they use your company to torture me."
"Torture you? Look at me, Sonic! You are perfectly fine... Gods all you do is take and feel no remorse."
Sonic slowly lifted his head something was wrong but Sonic couldn't place it. He looked to his love but couldn't really feel him. It wasn't like he was really there. Sonic thought that maybe he was just dissociating, but he couldn't shake the feeling.
"You're pathetic, I don't know why I ever loved you."
Sonic abruptly stood up. He looked hard at the image before him. Something clicked in the hog's mind,
"You're not Shadow."
Suddenly the edges around everything in front of him started to become fuzzy and discolored like looking through 3D glasses. The hedgehog in the tank didn't flinch,
"What are you talking about. Take responsibility for what you've done for once in your life."
For a moment the image started to go back to normal, as Sonic was wondered if he had gone crazy. No, he had never doubted his instincts before and he wasn't about to start. Sonic glared back at Shadow,
"No! Shadow would never say those things to me, no matter what. This isn't right!"
Sonic took the cuffs that where clasped to his hands and smashed them against the glass… but it wasn't glass. It cracked in red streaks distorting the image on the other side. The fake on the other end screamed,
"Stop!"
Sonic delivered one final blow to the false glass before shattering it completely, leaving behind only the metal wall. He stared at the metallic silver color before him and realized that, in fact, for the past six months he had been completely alone. Shadow wasn't hurt, he probably wasn't even there; Sonic had been taken for a disturbing, hell of a ride. The hog's quills began to stand on end as an alarm sounded, most likely due to his behavior. Rage suddenly over took Sonic and he dropped to the ground shivering. His cobalt fur took on the shade of dark navy and he snapped the cuffs off both his arms and legs.
"Aaahhh!"
Sonic began spinning into a tight ball and bouncing violently from wall to wall, ceiling to floor. The Mobian was in a frenzy bashing himself back and forth. The room that once was square now more resembled a lumpy dented ball until the hog weakened it enough to bust through. He was foaming at the mouth and his irises were not visible. The shining whites of his eyes shown through thick smoke as robots and Dr. Eggman himself approached. Before they could reach him however, Sonic collapsed.
