'With You' chapter 3
By T. 'RockChick' Evans
Original idea by Pyro Angel
A/N –Sorry this took so long to get up, but I've been unable to get online for quite a while.
Shadow: 'Cos I hit her on the head.
RockChick: No, 'cos I went to university, stupid.
~
I'm afraid there'll be some Bon Jovi creeping into this fic along with the Linkin Park. I know, I know… I do get carried away with the Bon Jovi, but I seem to have their new single permanently stuck in my head at the moment… not to mention their old ones…
* * * *
"I'm getting really worried about Shadow," Toots said, getting up off the couch to glance out of the window. "He's been out there for hours." Her brother Sid looked up from his seat.
"He said he wanted to be left alone for a while… he's probably gone home by now."
Toots shook her head, her tail mirroring the movement with an agitated swish.
"No, he's still there. Sitting on the grass, looking in that sketch pad of his… and now it's raining…"
"Really?" Sid frowned, getting up to look. "Shadow usually hates the rain, says it messes his quills up. Something must be wrong." He grinned. The tortoiseshell female glared at him, wishing he would get serious for once.
"…He's been like that ever since you mentioned that 'Maria' he was yelling about." She pondered. Sid shrugged.
"I probably just reminded him of some old girlfriend." He paused, sniggered. "Maybe he got dumped or something..."
"When was the last time he got into a relationship?" Toots raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"Good point."
"No," she continued, "It must be more than that. Shadow has been acting strange for a while… maybe I should phone his parents."
"Nah," Sid replied, "That's the last thing he'd want. Let's talk to him."
~
"So your name is Maria…" Shadow mused, studying his drawing. It had to be- he had called her name in his sleep. Everything, all those feelings and echoes of memory that his 'parents' had said were nothing but imagination- they were all real. The information Sid and Toots had found proved it, and even though he still couldn't remember anything coherent, his emotions proved it more than anything.
A small shudder went through him as he became aware of the rain pelting his fur. Was that rain on his face, or tears?
At least no-one could see…
"…Sometimes I wait forever just to stand out in the rain
so no one sees me crying, trying to wash away this pain…"
Shadow smiled grimly; there could be part of a song there. But he didn't have the will or the energy to write it down.
"Why'd you leave me alone, Maria…" he murmured quietly, not quite knowing why.
"Told you- he got dumped," someone said, as the rain seemed to abruptly stop. Looking up to see who had spoken, Shadow saw Sid looking at him curiously, while his sister held an umbrella over the already soaked hedgehog.
"You okay, Shad?" Toots added. "You should come in out of this rain…"
Shadow looked around, blinking slowly as if barely aware of the downpour.
"Uh, yeah…" he replied dazedly, and got to his feet. The teen flipped his rather damp pad closed. "I just needed some time to think, that's all…"
They went inside. After Shadow had dried himself off, he moped around, still looking pensive. The black hedgehog restlessly stared at the cloudy sky for a while and sighed, thoughts echoing one of his old songs.
"If I'm killed by the questions like a cancer
I'll be buried in the silence of the answer… by myself…"
"Maybe the answers are up there…" he almost-whispered. He sure wasn't going to get any answers from his family...
The two felines looked up from the couch, where they were watching TV.
"What'd you say?" the tabby asked.
"I said… I need to go up there."
Toots tilted her head, quizzically.
"Where?"
"ARK," Shadow breathed, nodding to himself.
"Where?" Sid echoed his sister, frowning. Shadow frowned back.
"You still haven't read those printouts, have you?" the striped hedgehog gestured to the folder on the table, containing the papers which the siblings had gathered up from the lawn some time earlier. The tabby cat shook his head, expression puzzled. Shadow sighed.
"It's a space colony that orbits the planet. ARK is what blew up the moon."
"Wait a minute." Sid's frown deepened. "You must've really hit your head… you're saying you want to go into space?"
Shadow nodded.
"But that's insane," Toots began, shaking her head. "What about your fear of heights? I mean… how many miles up is that, anyway?"
"That's not important anymore."
"And how are you supposed to get up there in the first place? Hijack the space shuttle?" Sid added.
There was a moment of silence before the hedgehog replied.
"I think… maybe… I know a way."
"Yeah, I bet you do." Sid's tone was sceptical. Shadow glowered for a moment before grabbing the cardboard folder; he began to throw papers this way and that as he searched for the one he was looking for: the newspaper article bearing his name.
Sid and Toots looked on bewilderedly until Shadow held up a page, his face bearing a triumphant expression. The sheet of paper was unceremoniously shoved into Toots' paws.
"Read," the striped hedgehog demanded.
The cats read.
There was a very, very long silence.
"Now do you believe me?" Shadow eventually asked.
His friends nodded dumbly.
"But… that's just not possible!" Toots exclaimed, after a pause.
"I know, that's what I thought at first." The hedgehog smiled slightly at the cats' shocked expressions. "But somehow, it's true. And I have this feeling that if I want to find out what happened to me, and why I'm here now, I'll have to go to ARK."
The two cats looked at each other for a moment. Then Sid stared at Shadow, his expression serious for once.
"There's definitely something going on here. I'm not sure what it is, but if you need to go to ARK to find out, I'm coming with you."
"Count me in too," Toots added. "Someone's got to keep you boys out of trouble."
The ebony hedgehog grinned at his two friends.
"Thanks, guys." He took the newspaper article from the tortoiseshell cat and re-read it, his red eyes focusing on the part about Chaos Emeralds. It seemed to stir some faint memory. "Okay," Shadow said, looking up, "Here's the plan."
* * * *
Later…
"I really don't know if this is such a good idea, Shadow." Toots shook her head, her paw hovering over the doorbell of Sonic's place. "Stealing Sonic's Chaos Emerald? We could get in real trouble."
Shadow smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not stealing if my parents give it to us. Besides, I'll give it back when we've finished with it."
"Huh," Sid snorted. "We should've got Rouge to pinch one of Knuckles' emeralds…"
"I don't think she's in that line of work anymore." Shadow shook his head, smirking. "And imagine what'd happen if Knuckles found out?!" He drew a finger sharply across his neck.
"That's not as bad as what Sonic's gonna do to us…" Sid muttered.
"My dad? I can handle him. He's a pussycat."
Toots raised an eyebrow.
"I'm a pussycat. He's a hedgehog."
"Oh ha ha. Just ring the flipping doorbell while I get out of here; my parents won't let me get anywhere near that emerald. And remember to stick to the plan!" The hedgehog dived around the corner, out of sight.
Toots rang the bell; the door was instantaneously opened by Sonic.
"Hi," Sid began, surprised by the quick response- until he reminded himself of who they were dealing with.
"If you two are looking for autographs, that's not until Tuesday…" the blue hedgehog said with a grin.
"No," Toots shook her head, before launching into the little script she had thought up. "We're doing this school project and we were wondering if…"
"Whoa, wait a sec-" Sonic interrupted. "I've seen you around, you're Shadow's friends, right?"
"Right," Sid nodded. "We're part of the band," he added proudly. Sonic nodded thoughtfully, wearing a serious expression.
"You haven't seen him anywhere, have you?" asked the hedgehog. "He ran off this morning, and I haven't seen him since… I'm kind of worried."
"N-no…" Toots answered hastily. "I, er, haven't seen Shadow in ages..."
"Yeah, you know what he's like. Always running off somewhere. Heheh..." Sid added, eyes flicking in the direction Shadow had taken off in.
"Hmmm, yeah…I can guess where he got that from," Sonic mused, tapping his chin. He looked up, suspicion glinting in green eyes. "You sure you haven't seen Shadow around?"
"Nope!" the two cats chorused.
Sonic went 'hmmmm' again, frowning slightly.
"Sonic, did I hear the door?" A voice suddenly called from inside the house. The blue hedgehog turned and shouted back.
"S'okay, Amy- it's just some of Shadow's friends doing a school project."
"Oh," Amy replied. "They haven't seen him, have they?"
"I don't think so." Sonic turned back to the two felines, who sighed in relief. "Now, what's this project you need help with?"
The brother and sister looked at each other.
"We're studying Chaos Emeralds," Explained Toots. "We heard you've got one, so can we borrow it for an hour or two, please?"
"Chaos Emeralds, huh?" Sonic frowned. "I don't remember doing that in school. Then again, I never really paid much attention. Learned all about them by experience, anyway…" He smirked and shrugged, before turning serious again. "I don't know about this. Those emeralds have caused enough trouble already…"
"It's only for a few hours," Sid entreated.
"And we'll be really careful…" Toots finished, batting her eyelashes.
The blue hedgehog sighed. "Oh, all right. I guess I can trust you two, seeing as you're Shadow's friends and everything. But I don't want some crazy getting his hands on it, so you mustn't show the emerald to anyone, okay?"
"We won't, Mr. Hedgehog," the siblings grinned.
"Hmmm." With a quick backwards glance, Sonic was gone… and returned an eye-blink later, clutching the Chaos Emerald. He passed it to Sid, who examined the glowing gemstone; it was green, and just small enough to be carried in one hand.
"If anything happens to that emerald," Sonic warned in a dangerous tone of voice, "I will be very annoyed. Okay?"
"Okay," Toots confirmed, while Sid nodded frantically beside her.
Sonic watched as the two young cats walked off, wondering if he had just made a very big mistake.
* * * *
Shadow, Sid and Toots examined the glowing emerald.
"Okay," Sid began, "Now we've got the thing, what are we gonna do with it?"
"Yeah, it's pretty and everything, but… how can this rock get us all the way to ARK?" Toots added.
All eyes turned to Shadow.
"I'm not really sure…" the dark hedgehog answered, receiving various dirty looks in return.
"Wait a minute," said the tabby, "We went to all that trouble to get the emerald, and you don't know what to do with it?!"
Shadow looked thoughtful, uncertainly scratching his ear.
"Well… it's more of a feeling, really- that newspaper article said that I- if it was me- used the emeralds to move ARK. And I can almost remember…something…" he shrugged confusedly. "Maybe if you gave it to me, I could…?"
Sid passed the emerald to the hedgehog, who gasped audibly as its power flowed up his arm, infusing his body, seeming to cut though the fog in his brain. Shadow shifted the gem into his other hand and--
* * * *
--caught it, then tossed it into the air again as he gazed down from the rooftop. He continued to idly toss and catch the emerald as he gazed contemptuously at the other life form on the street below.
The Chaos Emerald landed in his palm with a solid smack, defying anyone to try to take it from him.
"My name is Shadow," he stated in a voice devoid of emotion, throwing the green gem once more. Ruby eyes glinted coldly.
"I'm the world's Ultimate Life Form."
Shadow observed the blue figure below, who had been shocked into silence. There was some resemblance between the two of them; they were the same species -in appearance at least- but the black hedgehog saw nothing but a pathetic impostor. He glanced up, noticing the approaching G.U.N vehicles with distaste. It was time to leave. The resemblance between the two hedgehogs could work to his advantage; with any luck, the military would mistake the blue one for him again.
Shadow tossed the emerald for the final time.
"There's no time for games. Farewell!"
Shadow caught the emerald.
"Chaos control!"
The universe filled with green light…
* * * *
--Shadow blinked and shook his head.
"Whoa…" He looked around, finding himself back with Sid and Toots, who were still looking at him expectantly. That vision, flashback, or whatever it was must have only lasted a second or two. It was fading now, but was that Sonic he had seen? The hedgehog shivered slightly at the thoughts that had been going through his head…. Hate and revenge…darkness…
And Shadow had a nagging feeling that the emerald hadn't been given to him willingly.
If that was the kind of person he had once been, maybe he didn't want to know…
"I wanna run away,
never say goodbye…"
"You okay, Shad?" Toots asked gently. The dark hedgehog forced a smile, deciding not to let his friends know about his suspicions.
"I'm fine," he nodded. "And I think I remember what I have to do now." He eyed the Chaos Emerald; at least the flashback had shown him that much.
Maybe he didn't want to know, but he needed to. He had to go to ARK and find out who he really was.
"I wanna know the truth
instead of wondering why…"
Shadow carefully gripped the emerald with one hand, and extended the other to the two cats.
"Grab hold, guys…"
"Huh?" Toots frowned. Shadow sighed impatiently.
"Just trust me, okay?"
Seeing the intense look in their friend's eyes, the siblings glanced at each other. They shrugged; Toots took Shadow's hand, while her brother grabbed the tortoiseshell's tail and grinned wickedly. Toots shot him a deadly look.
"I wanna know the answers
no more lies…"
Shadow made sure the two cats were on board, and closed his eyes in concentration. He tried to focus on ARK and managed to coax a vague mental image from his memory; hoping it was enough to get the three animals there, he allowed instinct to take over as he drew power from the Chaos Emerald. He felt, rather than saw, a green aura form around him.
"Chaos control!"
Then they were gone…
"I wanna shut the door
and open up my mind…"
To be continued…
* * * *
Behold, the serious bit.
Bet you're wondering where the rest of the story is, right? Sorry this chapter is so short and rubbish, but I have my hands full at the moment with university stuff. Plus, I can't get on ff.net much anymore because the university computers are 'for academic use only'. So I have to sneak online…. Arrrghhh…
Don't worry though, it's not like I'm giving up writing or anything. It just might take a little longer than usual to get stuff done.
Anyway, I've heard about ff.net banning script-fics and NC-17 fics, which sucks. Two of my fics have gotta go, one because it's script, the other due to a copyright thing. Luckily this is not one of them, so you can expect chapter 4… er… sometime.
Oh well, that's life…
--Thalia