Chapter 3

A Sliver of Softness

Shadow groaned while rubbing a weary hand over the red highlights of his upstanding quills. The early rising sun's fingertips grazed through Rouge's apartment blinds. His head was foggy with eyes equally so, even his memory matched this state. Whatever happened last night alluded his mind, until the feeling of him lying on a cold leather couch jarred some memory back.

His red eyes sluggishly opened to examine the surrounding area that quickly became familiar upon seeing portraits of the white bat. Most of the pictures was Rouge in seductive poses while others were a bit more sensual. Shadow, with shaky arms, pushed himself up till he was in an upright sitting position. Everything in his body, from bone to muscle, was beyond weak and exhausted.

Next to him were many glass casings that housed expensive jewelry. Stolen or not was beyond him, but knowing the bat's tendency of theft, he leaned more towards the former notion.

A dark purple blanket with bright fuzzy edges draped over his very slim shoulders. His shoes discarded by the front door, next to Rouge's white high heel boots she often wore to the club. Then the memory of the mysterious night finally returned.

"Can't believe I let her talk me into that stupid place," He hmphed grouchily and almost fell off the couch in an effort to find his feet. Second his feet hit the white carpeted floor, everything in his body screamed error, and forced him back onto the couch. All within his vision spun like a merry-go-round.

"Ugh…" he rolled over on his stomach, retrieved a trashcan conveniently nearby, and hurled up all his nightly lunch. Everything within his throat and stomach burned from the stomach acid flinging itself into the bin clutched in tightly clasped fingers.

"Damn it Rouge…" he pulled the black pillow over his head to block out the sunlight after he emptied his belly.

His brain struggled to remember the conversations that might've took place. This was first he ever got this drunk. But no regret to harbor now, the damage was done in the form of a severe hangover.

Rouge, wound up tightly in a lavender bathrobe, stumbled out of her room. Her ears flat across her head as she to struggled to keep her eyes open from the blinding light all over the main room. Shadow was curled up on the couch like a cocktail shrimp, no surprise to Rouge. The bat chuckled at her friend's state, apparently not having as much standing up as her.

"I never would've perceived you as a light weight." She snickered while lingering near the doorway exit of the hallway.

Shadow arched a dangerous brow at the sassy bat.

"Don't recall asking for an opinion."

"Not an opinion when its a fact." She giggled while struggling to get herself propped up in the high standing bar chair. Once settled in, Rouge propped her head in her hands, watching the black hedgehog fondly. Trying with every ounce not to chuckle at his aggravated state.

"Hmph," he pushed the pillow tighter on his head. "What did we do last night…?" Shadow peaked at his friend from beneath the pillow, red eyes glowing from the headache.

"You had a few drinks, got hammered, then gave me a lap dance in front of everyone."

Just as Shadow yanked the pillow off his head and prepared for an angry verbal smack down, Rouge slapped the counter and laughed.

"I'm kidding! Slow down grumpzilla." She smirked as Shadow angrily laid back down and shoved the pillow back over his face. "What happened was you had a few drinks, got a little to drunk, and I brought you here to sleep it off."

"That's all…?"

"Promise," Rouge stuck out her little finger to symbolically give him a 'pinky promise'. Shadow just grumbled and rolled over to ignore her jabs, not in the mood to deal with it.

"Whatever," he sulked while gripping his head.

"Need some pain aids?"

Shadow glanced over to her and gave a small nod. Rouge moved to the cabinet, grabbed a pill bottle, retrieved some water from the fridge, and glided over to him in one fluid movement. The hedgehog, whole face still covered by the pillow, blindly reached out to get the pills and water offered to him.

The skimpy dressed bat gave her friend a small smile before returning to her seat. Watching as the emo-minded male guzzled the water down in one swig. Everything from her movements and expression hit her with something she had been mulling over for some weeks now.

"Shadow, I have a question for you."

"Hm…?" he asked while swallowing the nasty chalk-like pills down his gullet.

"Well, I know things have been a bit… tense lately. And…" she sighed, trying to maintain eye contact when feeling those red orbs fall on her. "Why don't you stay with me for awhile? I wouldn't mind a roommate."

A five second pause floated between them before Shadow grunted.

"I know what you're implying with that offer, and I don't need a babysitter."

"Hun," Rouge started again, a bit more forceful in her tone. "You know as well as I do that's not the reason, I just want to help relax… Even after getting as drunk as a skunk last night, you refused to drop those iron restraints of yours."

Shadow rolled over till his back was facing her's.

"That's just your perception. I'm fine."

Rouge sighed frustratingly. "I'm not asking as a teammate or fellow agent, I'm asking as your friend…"

The silence returned full force, Shadow refusing to face her. Rouge didn't give into his typical stubborn stoicism. After the seconds ticked by, the edgy immortal slowly glanced back at her.

"Just for a little bit." He sighed and pulled the covers over his head. "Least till my head stops pounding… then we'll discuss this unnecessary offer of yours."

"I'm not taking no for an answer," Rouge slid out of her chair and moved back to the hallway that led to her bedroom. "Once we both get over this hangover, you're going to bring your stuff here tonight. We'll discuss how long later. For now, get some rest."

Shadow gave a frustrated sigh and curled up tighter, not releasing the pressure till Rouge's door completely shut. Damn, of often as he gets his way with her, even he knew better not to argue when the bat was in this kind of mood. Just rolling with it, the hedgehog sighed and shuffled around to get comfortable.

- Eggman's Lair -

Eggman sat surrounded in his lab that was laid to complete waste. White embers floating through the air that ghosted in from the holes burned right through his walls. His mustache lay flaccid from the gallons of sweat his skin poured. Sweat from the most intense emotional turmoil he had ever faced.

Everything around him was completely devastated. His cracked shades hit the foaming anger that boiled from within his gut. Memory of his previous struggle left the scientist in complete disbelief.

How could this creature simply walk out without struggle? Eggman flinched at the memory of the blinding white light with the owner stained in crimson from injuries. Even with his most powerful sedation injected into her was not enough to knock out the abomination.

"How is it… that everything I do leads to these results?" He asked to no one in particular.

This whole experiment, it was so perfect. He just couldn't even begin to pinpoint what went wrong.

"You dare infringe upon knowledge never meant to be discovered." Came a deep ghostly voice.

The egg shaped scientist grounded his teeth with hands covering his ears. "Be silent, I alone discovered this, it belongs to me!"

"The destruction around you… is only the beginning."

Eggman whirled around to face a small shard of black rock flickering beneath one of pieces of his destroyed machine. Snatching the stone up, the mustached bearer spit at the emerald in an angry snarl.

"I am the one who braved the void beyond time and space, I alone discovered this energy, and it will be I alone who defeats those that opposed me with it! I accomplished a manufactured life form of my own design to wield this power, and her vessel did not crack. The experiment was almost a success!"

"The Chaos Emeralds are the only things you life forms can use to harness the energy. But you knock on a door not meant to be open. You have no idea what you have just done."

'Silence! I found you, I alone command you!" He squeezed the rock even tighter. "This was just a setback!" Eggman snapped while glaring at the damage lying beneath his feet. "All I have to do is retrieve the albino chimera and I can finish my operation!"

"...the Chaos Energy was merely discovered by you life forms, does not mean you understand the origin. By somehow finding one of the Chaos Cores and fusing it with a living creature, you have just doomed the energy balance."

"Enough!" Eggman shoved the crystal into his pocket, no longer hearing the voice that had haunted his mind since this operation began.

"If I need any kind of input, it won't be from the likes of a parasitic voice such as you." He hissed while marching up to one of the few computers destroyed. "I won't deny I didn't anticipate the Chaos Core to work this fast. But the fact my experiment didn't completely die from the surge just proves I'm one step closer to my goal."

His eyes watched data stream across the cracked computer while gloved fingers danced over the keyboard.

"All I need… is to retrieve what was taken from me." Eggman smirked as relaxed his shoulders. "I shouldn't even bother to get worked up, the physical vessel holding this energy does not even understand how her psychology even works. Recapturing her should hardly be a challenge. Just need to ensure that this time…" he reaches from a large weapon coated in black chrome.

"She won't have any time to think. Not that she can comprehend anything outside of mere instinct to begin with."

- Outside Eggman's Lair -

The albino creature that strongly resembled a broadly built porcupine limped as fast as her limbs would go. Snow covered trees surrounded her in a deep valley guarded by huge towering mountains that seemed to almost touch the sky. Miles behind was barely seen stream of smoke rising from one of the smaller mountain's edge.

The place she had awoken in, and the same area she had broken out of. It was left in complete rubble. But she did not have time to see if the strange man shaped egg had survived.

Something inside urged the chimera to turn around, to see if the familiar face might've survived. Though that freakish face was responsible for the source of this 'pain' she had learned since her awakening, it was also the only face she found familiar.

But another unknown energy prevented the fearful desire to return. Something far stronger, a mysterious pull in her center that kept her feet moving forward.

The snow went up to her knees as she tumbled through the white powdery stuff that left her limbs painfully numb. Faster she pushed herself away from the smoke filled structure hidden on the mountain side. Pain shot up her foot as a spiked rock stabbed her toe and sent her entire body flopping down the hill side.

Her vision was knocked every direction imaginable till she slammed into an opposite facing cliff side. Very long spines strung out, revealing the strange pain that continued to course through her body. It came at different levels, one moment the pain in her chest would become numb, giving a moment to relax, before starting right back up. Sometimes the current moment worse then the one before.

A crimson colored substance leaked from her reddish pink nose and stained the freezing white blanket beneath her.

Being thrown into the rocks still left her dazed as she struggled to make sense of everything around her. But the internal pain was far to much of a distraction.

As she tried to find her feet, another surge of pressure stabbed her ribs. Gasping, she curled forward, coughing up more of this red leaky substance. The agony became so unbearable that a strange overwhelming heat swarmed her back spines.

The white blinding energy that released her from her liquid imprisonment began to swirl around her like the winds of a building hurricane. She tried to stop the bloody coughs as the power whipped around and shredded the cliff's base like a knife through butter.

Huge boulders gave way from the lack of support. Their shadows nearly consuming the creature as she barely had time to leap out of the way when they came slamming into the snow. The impact's force sent her back another several feet till making a much softer landing in the snow.

She laid on her back, twitching from all the unknown internal sensations jogging her ability to understand. That accompanied with the strange surrounding she woke up to just fueled the fire of fear. Pain and fear, those things were the most familiar.

As she slowly pulled herself up, another pulse of the white thermal energy exploded from her back and completely obliterated many nearby trees into white ashes. Her eyes widen in horror as the blinding light started to rev up again.

Before another shockwave could be released, she thought fast and connected her head into a nearby rock. All went fuzzy as the inner sensations were momentarily quieted. Stars glimmered in her vision after knocking herself silly, but the self-inflicted smack seemed to frazzle the energy as it sizzled down to nothing but a few weak sparks.

She slowly sat down, head held firmly in both hands. Untrimmed sharp nails scratching the poorly healed wounds hidden beneath her ghost white fur. The cold around her seemed to provide a numbing effect to the injuries once she managed to force the energy into a confused state.

Sangria red eyes with ominous white irises struggled to focus on things that surrounded her. When all the colliding sensations finally quieted, only the tingle of nervousness remained. It was not an ideal feeling, but better then what she was enduring previously.

Running one hand through the strange cold substance that matched her own fur color, surprise hit when it left a mirror shape similar to her own digit. She leaned in a bit closer, attempting to poke the shape till she left many new little dots next to the original print.

She grunted and ran her eyes in another direction. All that surrounded her, from the tall shaggy brown creatures to the even bigger jagged shapes that touched the open space way way above.

No answer or understanding came. All was completely blank.

Something inside told her this was not supposed to be the case. But this knowledge came automatically, the only thing she could vaguely make out. Familiar shapes that moved inside her head that her physical eyes couldn't see. What these moving images were, she had no clue.

Before she could even attempt to make sense of anything, a blinding yellow light startled her. Many large drones came pouring from the sky, all armed with massive laser guns and deadly scooped blades.

"Find the chimera!" Came that familiar man's voice.

Immediately comprehending of the danger, the chimera got to her feet. Looking around for any kind of escape route, she spotted a small hole the white energy had burned into the cliff side from earlier. Without wasting a second, she darted right to the opening and crawled in.

Spotting a large stone within the cave she had hidden away in, she looked to the entrance, then back at the rock.

Marching up to the rock four times her size, she dug her nails in and began to move it. The granite scraped against the stone floor till the chimera's force was able to successfully lift it. When held up securely, she shoved it against the opening to block out any search lights. It jammed right into the entrance, locked down tight in the space as several small rocks tumbled from the ceiling. All outside lights pushed out almost immediate.

Breathing heavy from exhaustion, she fell to her knees and hit the ground hard. Body seizuring from the violent onslaught of all chaos that she just endured hours prior to this very moment. The ache deep in her bones forced her mind into a blackened state. Unable to stay awake any longer.

She fell into a deep unstable sleep. The search lights showering the area outside, completely oblivious to her little hideout. Thanks to the massive boulder that guarded her.

- Central City -

Shadow, with an ice pack on his head, sat at the kitchen table as Rouge shoved some burnt sandwiches in front of him.

"Here, some salami and cheese, home made," she winked at him before returning to the stove.

Shadow stared at the edibles, their smell filling his nostrils with the scent of burnt bread. He huffed and gingerly pushed the plate away to allow the fresh air back in his nose. Rouge gave him a sideways glance, which he shrugged in return.

"I'm just not hungry…" he sighed and laid his head back down on the cool bar's surface. His feet cold wearing only his black socks. Rouge noticed this earlier and had made him wear one of her spare robes. It was black and fuzzy, quite comfortable against his fur, not that he'd ever admit that to the bat. Plus, the colors were less of a headache to look at it.

"You know, you should consider wearing clothes sometime, that robe alone looks good at you, slim."

Shadow ignored the bat's jab/compliment. "I'll let you know when I develop an interest in shopping…" he sneered while chugging another glass of water down.

"Still can't believe you forcefully moved me in."

"Not giving you a choice Hun, all that time you spent mulling over Eggmans' silence has clearly left you a bit tightly wound. More so than usual."

"Don't need reminding…" he felt a small ache rise in his gut, following up with a loud growl. Tightening his grip, he growled in an effort to fight back the sudden hunger. When the growl became louder, he gave in and got the plate back in front of him. The burnt bread made his mouth cringe till he hesitantly picked up a piece of the sand which and bit into it.

"I figured maybe later we could catch a movie," Rouge announced while making herself a sprite soda with a lemon.

"I'd really like some silence…" Shadow muffed while forcing down the last bite to shut his stomach up.

Rouge examined the hungover hedgehog, his tone was deep and dangerous like always, but ever since their last G.U.N mission, she noticed an air of softness start to emerge. Given how less snappy the mopey emo had become when she enforced her authority, which was extremely rare. The bat honestly lost count how often Shadow got his way with her, but these last few times he surprisingly didn't put up much of a fight.

This was what worried the bat. Whatever was causing the cold immortal to show slivers of softness, she hoped to find out. Speculating the reason, if other then Eggman's long silence, must've been a big one.

"Of course, I have to go run some errands later anyway. You can stay here for the time being." Rouge put her drink down and guided Shadow's gaze throughout the kitchen, "Healthy snakes are in the top cabinets, the chocolate is in the bottom. Don't eat it all." She playfully winked.

"I don't eat sweats…" he mulled.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, I've got photo proof of you chowing down on chocolate bars before. So don't give me that!"

Shadow's eyes shot open as he cut her a very dark look. Which the bat just smirked off while marching past him.

"Like I said Hun, I know you better then you give me credit for. Now just sit back, relax, and try to rest up. We'll talk about a potential movie when I get back."

He watched his female companion move back towards the back room. Sighing, he slid down from the bar and back over to the couch. Seated in a comfortable spot, he let his eyes wander towards the sliding glass doors that led onto a freshly cleaned balcony overlooking the city.

Deep in his gut, something told him Eggmans' silence just wasn't right. Not like the other times he had gone quiet. Whatever was going on, the air of mystery was enough to even lock his mind up.

Sighing, Shadow rolled back over on the couch to regain some sleep he had lost before the chatty batty had woken him up.