'With You'
By T. 'RockChick' Evans
Original idea by Pyro Angel
Disclaimer- don't own anyone except the members of Shadow's band, I made them up. Don't own the lyrics either, Linkin Park does. And there's some Creed in there somewhere too.
Author's note-- OK, three sources of inspiration here. Firstly, Pyro Angel's fic 'Innocence'. This is a kinda sequel or A.U, so read that first. (Yes, that fic is comedy while this is more angst. But I suck at comedy, even though I did try to put a little funny stuff in here!) Secondly, a drawing I did a while back of Shadow playing the guitar, and thirdly, the song 'With You' by Linkin Park. Among others.
If you haven't read 'Innocence', here's what happened: Shadow sort of regenerated himself after SA2, and turned up on Amy's doorstep as a baby with little or no memory of the past. He's grown up a bit since then, and is now firmly wedged in the throes of teenage angst… which would make Sonic & Amy, um, somewhere in their early thirties, I think… OK, enough talk. Let's get on with it.
(by the way, Shadow is out-of-character on purpose, K?)
* * * *
"You like to think you're never wrong
you have to act like you're someone
you want someone to hurt like you
you want to share what you've been through
you live what you learn…"
The fifteen- year-old hedgehog's voice faded into silence as his fingers picked out the last few chords of the song. The metal riff echoed around the garage where the band was rehearsing, before finally dying out.
Shadow the hedgehog turned to the other band members and grinned.
"It's really starting to come together," he remarked, shrugging off his electric guitar and placing it back on its stand.
Sid the bassist did likewise.
"It should be," the tabby cat replied, "Seeing as the gig is next week."
The black and red hedgehog grabbed his gloves from the top of the amplifier and put them on.
"Don't worry, we'll be ready in time. As always."
Sid hmphed. 'Always' didn't really amount to much, what with the band being so new. The four young members hadn't played very many venues yet, but as Shadow- who was responsible for song-writing as well as lead guitar and vocals- had said, they were always ready on time.
The hedgehog had only recently discovered his talent for writing music. The songs varied from raging nu-metal to soft rock ballads, but all had a strange, melancholy aspect.
Shadow himself had no idea how he came up with all these angst-laden lyrics, but as he put it- as long as it resulted in good songs, he didn't much care.
"Hey, Shad." A tortoiseshell cat with yellow eyes stood up from behind a keyboard and special effects unit. She was Sid's sister, and for some reason that everyone had by now forgotten, her nickname was Toots.
"Yeah?"
"We're playing 'Points of Authority'," she began, "And then 'My Sacrifice.' Right?"
"Right," Shadow confirmed, nodding. "We'll do the fast one first. That way we can get the audience going, ready for the slow stuff."
"Good plan," the human drummer chimed in from the back.
The black hedgehog nodded before glancing quickly at his watch. His red eyes went wide.
"8 pm? Uh oh. Gotta run!"
Sid chuckled evilly.
"Past your bedtime, is it?"
"Shut it," Shadow growled dangerously, inciting giggles from everyone else. He sighed, embarrassed. "…I'm just…late."
"For?" Toots interrogated, suspiciously wondering if the loner hedgehog had finally found himself a girlfriend.
"Uh… well, dinner," Shadow replied grudgingly, seeing his cool image disintegrate around him. He nervously scratched a pointed ear and blushed slightly. Here he was, running home to his 'parents'… how embarrassing…
The tortoiseshell sniggered.
"I get it. Scared to face Amy's wrath if you're late for a meal."
Shadow said nothing, seeing as it was pretty much the truth. Instead he searched around for his black denim jacket.
"I'll catch you later, guys," he said, finding it. Unfortunately there was a green scaly thing as long as his arm curled up on top of it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"
Everyone covered their ears as Shadow seemed to freeze solid.
"W…what… is … that?!" he hissed when he finally stopped yelling, pointing at the reptile.
Dave the drummer calmly walked over, deftly picked the creature up and perched it on his shoulder.
"This? Just my pet iguana. She's quite harmless…"
Shadow looked up at the taller human and grimaced. The lizard's pale green eyes stared balefully back.
Grabbing his jacket, the hedgehog scowled.
"Just keep that thing away from me. I hate lizards."
Dave was surprised, and nervously ran a hand through his blonde hair without dislodging his passenger.
"Uh… she won't bite you or anything…"
"I don't care. I really hate those things. Ugh."
He briskly brushed the jacket down and put it on, shuddering. Thankfully, the drummer took his pet away, quietly reassuring the confused iguana.
"I just… hate them," Shadow muttered to himself, watching gratefully as Dave nodded and waved to the others, then left the garage to take the creature home.
Shadow was reminded of something… that dream he kept having…
"You know," Sid began jokingly, "For someone who thinks he's such a tough guy, you sure have a lot of phobias."
"I do not," the ebony hedgehog replied indignantly.
"Oh, come on. We saw you just now, you freaked!" Sid's sister grinned. "What is it about reptiles that's so scary anyway? I think they're kind of cute."
"You would," Sid deadpanned. The female feline shook a fist at him.
By now, Shadow had put his guitar back in its hard case. He sat on the box and sighed.
"I… I don't know…" he murmured confusedly. "Maybe it's something I saw once, or…"
"…And we all know what you think of heights," Toots continued, oblivious. "I remember one time when…"
"It's not the heights that bother me," interrupted Shadow. "It's falling from them." He grinned slightly. "Now will you please stop listing my neuroses? Or is there anything else you'd like to add?!!"
Sid smirked and nodded his fuzzy brown head.
"Well, there's that thing you have about fire. Plus, you're the only person I know who ever passed out when watching Star Wars…"
"I was eight years old, for God's sake."
"So was I," the cat replied, amused. "And I didn't faint."
"Faint?!" Shadow exclaimed. "I didn't faint. I was tired. I fell asleep."
"The film had only just started, you couldn't have been that tired. One look at the Death Star and you were out cold…"
"I didn't faint," the irked hedgehog firmly repeated.
"Okay, okay!" The tabby raised his hands to placate his annoyed friend. "No need to bite my head off…"
"It is kind of weird though, Shad." Toots thoughtfully flicked her tail from side to side. "You're scared of sci-fi films, heights, getting burned and lizards. Hey--" the brown-and-ginger cat grinned. "Maybe you were an astronaut in an earlier life. Or got fried by a dragon!" the girl laughed out loud, not knowing how close to the truth she really was. Shadow also smirked and gave a snort of laughter.
"Very funny. You have some imagination… maybe you should be writing the songs around here!"
Toots grinned slyly.
"Be careful I don't take your place, pal."
"That'll be the day," Shadow replied. He gave an amused little shake of his head. "Then again, maybe you'll have to after my 'parents' get through with me." The two feline siblings grinned to themselves at his remark, as the striped hedgehog headed for the open garage door with his guitar case in hand. Sid yelled a goodbye.
"See ya later, dragon-slayer from outer space!"
Shadow paused for a moment, wearing a slight frown .
"Yeah, see ya…" he replied distractedly.
* * * *
Later that night, Shadow sat in his room with a pad of paper on his lap and a pencil in hand. He glanced out of the window for a moment, fixing his ruby eyes on the 'full' moon. The shattered orb had always fascinated him, even as a young child… like many things in his life, it seemed to remind him of something that his mind couldn't quite grasp. He wondered again what had carved that huge crater in it. It wasn't as if he hadn't asked, but his adoptive parents had always been so evasive about it… all he could get out of them was that it had happened a long time ago, and he didn't need to worry about it.
The hedgehog sighed, turning his attention once more to the unfinished sketch. He could never really call himself a great artist, but the image on the page was recognisable enough. After carefully adding a few lines here and there, he held the picture out in front of him and scrutinised it.
There, done.
"Who are you…" he whispered to the girl's silent image. The wide eyes seemed to stare mournfully at him, impenetrable.
He stared at the drawing for a few more seconds. Whoever she was, this nameless young girl had haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. A recurring nightmare that always included her, and one that had been getting more vivid lately.
Shadow knew she was important to him somehow, but didn't know why… and whenever he saw it, the sight of her face made him feel so.. so empty inside.
If only he could remember her name… maybe it was something to do with whatever had damaged the moon…
The hedgehog blinked, suddenly inspired. Ideas always came at times like this.
He turned the page, and slowly began to write.
About half an hour, various mistakes and corrections later, the young hedgehog put down his pencil and re-read the words on the page.
"I woke up in a dream today
to the cold of the static and put my cold feet on the floor
forgot all about yesterday
remembering I'm pretending to be who I'm not anymore
a little taste of hypocrisy
and I'm left in the wake of the mistake, slow to react
even though you're so close to me
you're still so distant and I can't bring you back…"
Shadow closed the sketchpad and smiled a little. There were the makings of a good song there. He leaned back in the chair and shut his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine what a suitable tune would sound like.
He jerked back into alertness as he heard footsteps outside, and the doorknob turned slowly.
"No need to sneak. I'm awake," the hedgehog called, smirking.
Amy Rose stuck her head round the door before crossing the room. The pink hedgehog sat on the bed, seeing as the chair by the window was taken.
"It's one in the morning. Shouldn't you be--"
"I'm not a baby anymore," Shadow interrupted, glancing at his 'mother'. Not his real mother, of course- he had no idea who his real parents were, or even if he had any. But Amy and Sonic were the ones who had found him, and brought him up…
Another unsolved mystery. The black hedgehog sighed and looked out at the moon again.
There was a short silence as Amy regarded the teenager, who she had come to think of as her son. His face was framed in the moonlight, reminding her of the past… fifteen or sixteen years ago, when she had found him staring into space through ARK's window. Just before the Finalhazard… he had had the same strange, thoughtful look on his face…
The reborn Shadow didn't remember that, nor anything else from his past life. At fifteen, he now looked almost identical to the 'old' Shadow except perhaps a little younger… the black fur and red markings were the same as Amy remembered, as was the fluffy white patch on his chest. OK, he had a pierced ear now. His shoes were different, and he no longer wore those bracelets on his wrists. But that was nothing major. Even his voice was now hauntingly familiar.
As a person though… well, he was totally different. Shadow actually took after Sonic.
But recently…
"Is everything all right?" the female hedgehog asked.
"Huh?" Shadow turned his gaze away from the window. "I was just thinking…"
"What about?"
"Nothing…"
There it was again, Amy noticed. Over the last few months, Shadow had been getting this look in his eyes every so often. It disturbed her a little because she had seen that look before…
Maybe he was starting to remember. Or maybe it was just Shadow being a teenager. Amy smiled; she had been pretty wacky during her own teen years, and Sonic could testify to that.
"So, how come you were late for dinner again today?" she asked finally, tilting her head to the side a little.
"I was rehearsing with the band."
"Again? You know, I'm not to sure about this band thing--"
Shadow frowned.
"Why not?! I'm just doing what I'm good at."
Amy sighed and didn't answer. She wouldn't have disapproved normally, but she had read some of the lyrics… so like the 'old' Shadow. And he had only started to behave strangely since he had joined that band. It seemed to be bringing things to the surface that should stay buried… it was better for him if he didn't remember.
"Besides," the ebony hedgehog continued, "I've always felt like there's, I don't know… something missing. Something I should be doing." He paused, sighed, and stared out of the window again. "At the first gig we played, there were some people at the front who were really enjoying themselves. And…" Shadow trailed off, searching for the right words. "…It made me feel… complete, for once. I guess I just want to make people happy."
The hedgehog looked back at his 'mother' and smiled warmly, his expression halting any criticism that Amy might have made. After all this time, she thought wonderingly, Shadow was still trying to fulfil his promise. Even if he couldn't remember it! And he seemed so happy…
Unsure, the pink hedgehog shook her head.
"I suppose it's your life, Shadow… you're right. You aren't a baby any more." She got up to leave, and Shadow wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a sniff.
What? Was she just going to leave?
"…'night," he murmured, a little bemused, as Amy closed the door behind her.
What the heck was that all about? No nagging, no lecture, nothing! The teen frowned slightly. All he had done was say how he felt, but whatever it was had touched a nerve. Something was going on here…
Hmm…
Still frowning and puzzled, Shadow opened his sketchbook and studied the drawing of the human girl. He turned the page and looked over the short snatch of lyrics, then glanced through the window at the broken moon.
All his instincts told him there was some connection. And now his mother was acting like she had something to hide… weird.
Putting the book on the bedside table, he searched around until he found his mobile phone. After quickly punching in a number, he impatiently paced back and forth across the floor as he waited for an answer.
Ring, fumble, clunk. Someone swore on the other end of the line.
"…Uuh?"
"Sid, it's me." Shadow hissed quietly so that his parents couldn't hear.
"Nghhh… Shad? This'd better be important." The groggy voice sounded half-asleep and more than a little annoyed. Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Wake up, sleepy head. I need to talk to you- it's urgent."
"… Can't it wait until morning? It's…" there was a silence as the cat checked the clock. "Ten past one?! Geez, Shadow! Do you ever sleep?!"
The hedgehog chuckled nervously. Oh yeah… it was kind of late. He'd forgotten about that.
"Uh, sorry. Listen, I have this great new idea for a song, and--"
"You woke me up for THAT?!" the irate Sid practically screamed down the phone. "Let's talk about it tomorrow, okay? 'Night!"
"No, don't hang up! Wait, that's not all--"
Click.
"Damn." Shadow dialled again. "Pick up, you lazy little…"
Clunk. A growl.
"Now what?!"
"Sid, I need a favour."
The tabby cat sighed resignedly down the phone.
"If I say yes, will you go away?"
Shadow grinned to himself.
"I need you to look something up for me…"
Another sigh.
"Fire away."
"I want you to find out exactly what happened to the moon. My parents won't tell me anything, and I've got this hunch that…"
"Shadow," Sid interrupted, "You are one weird hedgehog. I'll see what I can find in the morning, okay?"
"Thanks, pal. I owe you one," he replied, smirking. Sid grumbled something unintelligible, and hung up.
The black and red hedgehog put the phone aside and flopped onto the bed with a satisfied sigh. Perhaps now he would find some answers!
* * * *
To be continued!
RockChick: OK, cruddy ending I know. And nothing much happens. But chapter 2 will be up soon!
Shadow: What have you done to me? I'm all… smiley!! Aarrrgh!
Amy: I'm old!
Sonic: I'm not even in it!
RockChick: OK, so these guys hate the fic. But all you nice people on ff.net like it, right?
(There is silence. A few crickets chirp. We hear a pin drop a few miles away.)
RockChick: Uh, people? Hello?
Shadow: Face it, there's no one here. No one ever reads your stuff…
Sonic: No one ever reviews…
Amy: Problem is, your fics are too long- and you've already been told that Fleetway fics scare people away…
RockChick: This fic isn't Fleetway, so there.
Sonic: How is anyone supposed to know that? Did I mention that your summaries are rubbish too?
RockChick: *sniffle* You're mean! I'm gonna cry!
Everyone: Noooooo---!!!!
(Arggh! RockChick is about to drown ff.net in a flood of tears! Who will save us?! Calling all the good people of ff.net-- Prove Shadow, Amy and Sonic wrong by leaving some reviews! Flames or rants… something, anything! You're our only hope!)
(A/N --My other fic, Reflections, has not died. I'm working on it.)