Chapter Three – Magic

Having the Ultimate Lifeform land on top of you, was not fun. He was heavy, and Sonic had to use a burst of anger and his almighty tail to get him off of him. Shadow rolled over, on the floor of the canyon, on his back, severely gasping for oxygen. He could barely breath. The intense water pressure down here had completely collapsed his lungs, and now he was dying. He looked back at the Aquahog, who, apart from some cut and bruises, looked relatively unharmed. He hovered upright, in the water, just above Shadow, swearing very harshly at him.

Suddenly, not giving up, he grabbed Shadow again, and tried desperately to lift him and swim out of the canyon, kicking his tail extremely fast. But the Ultimate Lifeform's dead weight, was just too much, as they collapsed back of the floor again. Sonic's strength was in speed, not muscle. His tail was dangerous when huge quantities of speed was put behind it, as Shadow found out, as it had threw him out here. Sonic sniffed, roaring at the Ultimate Lifeform.

"You complete and utter idiot, you should have listened to me, because now your drowning." He spat, extremely frustrated. "Don't you know anything. Merhog gills are extremely limited. They can't go down here, to the deep oceans. Their lungs just collapse, killing them." He cried, tears rolling down his face. "And I don't have the strength to carry you out. Your too heavy." He heaved. "Call me weak, if you like. Pathetic. I don't care. I'm just not the type of person to let someone die. For once in your life, will you just listen." He desperately wailed, knelling down next to the mighty Black Hedgehog. Shadow had been watching him, while lying on his back. He'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, and he was absolutely dumbfounded, as Sonic put his head over his chest and cried over him. He was indeed dying, he could feel it.

He was evil, a complete and utter monster, and yet someone cared. He didn't understand as he put hand up, over and on the head of his rival. He had no lungs, thats why he was fine down here, and now for the first time in years, Shadow felt incredibly guilty for treating him so badly. His downright selflessness in trying to save everyone and everything was not a weakness at all, and Shadow was glad that he wasn't alone in his final moments. He smirked.

"The world's in your hands, I guess." He gasped, his voice cracked, desperate to breath. Sonic looked up, extremely confused, as Shadow's eyes rolled back in his head. He frowned.

"What?" He spat, but truthfully, the Ultimate Lifeform was just mumbling. Sonic looked down at his own hands, still gloved, and his jaw hit the floor. Suddenly, he had an idea, and roughly grabbed Shadow's chest fur, and shock him awake. The intense pain, immediately awoke from his darkness, deeply growling with the very last of his energy. He heaved, but Sonic sat right on top of his, his enormous tail out at the back, and growled at him.

"Alright, you git. I can save you, but I want your solum word that you'll help me." He spat, unusually coldly. Shadow's eyes widened. He was within a matter of seconds of drifting off into darkness, and never returning. He gulped, completely clueless on how the Blue Blur could achieve this, but right now, he didn't have a choice. He growled, not liking it one bit, he finally nodded, wondering what sort of help he could possibly want. Suddenly, he began to violently fit as his body grasped for the last molecules of oxygen. Sonic immediately grabbed him harshly by the throat by both hands. He heaved.

"Hang on, Shadow." He screamed. "I'm really sorry, but this is going to hurt." He added, as suddenly, and to the Ultimate Lifeforms utter amazement, bright pale blue light appeared from Sonic's own hands, desperately pushing what little Magic he had, into saving the Black Hedgehog. He heaved, screaming with the strain, as horrendous pain, streamed straight through Shadow. He screamed, desperate for it to stop, almost kicking the Aquahog off of him but then he remembered and actually, he'd listened, and stayed as still as possible, as excruciatingly difficult as that was. He could feel something happening to his neck, as his lungs finally completely deflated.

Suddenly, blood streamed from between Sonic fingers as finally the Aquahog let go, toppling backwards, gasping on the floor, with the intense drain. Shadow stayed where he was, squirming with the pain, but then finally, it eased. He sat up and his brain was throbbing the intense lack of oxygen as he put hands to his neck, feeling several flaps of skin either side of his neck, them bleeding slightly. His jaw dropped, as his eyes widened.

Gills?

A second set of gills, this time on his neck. What? How? But Shadow didn't have a chance to think, as the lack of oxygen was severely fogging his brain, threatening to knock him out. He growled. He had to get these things working and quickly. He looked back at the Aquahog, still gasping on the floor, taking enormous gulps of seawater. He frowned, but without having much of a choice, he copied. He took in an enormous mouthful of water and gave an almighty gulp. Expecting it to hit his stomach, it didn't. The seawater suddenly passed, and rather painfully, right over his brand new gills, causing a slight current on his quills out the back.

The hit of oxygen was like liquid gold, as he immediately gulped again and again, relishing in his newly found breath. It wasn't long before he body started to do it automatically.

Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind, a hand over his mouth, and a enormous tail came wrapping itself around him, blocking the view ahead. Not that anything could be seen, in the pitch darkness. Shadow roared in anger. That was way to close for comfort, and tried to push the Aquahog off of him. But Sonic wasn't letting go, desperately shaking his head, as the Blue Blur suddenly grabbed him, absolutely panicked. He stammered, terrified.

"Shark!"

Shadow's eyes widened as the most enormous creature with huge teeth suddenly loomed over both of them. On land, Shadow was king, but here, in the ocean, he definitely wasn't, and immediately nodded at the Aquahog. He was gobsmacked, he hadn't even heard the thing coming.

It hovered in the water, moving slowly, deeply surveying the area for anything of interest. Sonic curled into a ball, and pulled Shadow in really close to him, and encouraged him to do the same. Obliging, he noticed that Sonic then covered them both with his enormous tail, which with it's dark colour, successfully hid them from view. Sonic, despite violently shaking like a leaf, stayed as still as possible, knowing it was a matter of life and death. These monsters were attracted to movement, but it was the smell of blood that brought them here, like moths to a flame. Shadow gulped. His gills, upon their creation had bleed, and had immediately brought them in. However, he was seriously impressed, he never seen the Blue Blur stay so still but peering round the tail and seeing the almighty predator for himself, he fully understood why. He shivered, very much not wanting to be in the jaws of that beast. But he was deeply confused.

How did he not see it coming? Then he growled. Because his incredible extra-sensory perception was still numbed with the water pressure, that why. He looked at the beast. The shark was huge. The body was pale grey with dark grey vertical bars or spots on the flanks with a pale or white underside. The markings were especially distinctive in juveniles but diminish with age. Tiger Sharks the largest of the sharks in the Mobian oceans and at twice the length of a Aquahog, they will eat, absolutely anything, of which Shadow was certain, included himself. They are notable for having the widest food spectrum of all sharks, with a range of prey that includes crustaceans, fish, seals, birds, squid, turtles, sea snake, dolphins and even other smaller sharks. It also had a reputation as a 'garbage eater', they were deep sea dwellers and their favourite food was indeed Aquahogs. They traveled in groups, so it wasn't long before another showed up, circling all around them.

Sonic held his nerve, until finally, the sharks moved away and they were left alone. It was a long time, before Sonic moved, and unwrapped himself from beside Shadow and moved away slightly. The Ultimate Lifeform himself was panting heavily, but as he got to his feet. He was severely torn, feeling completely undeserving. He tried to murder the Blue Blur by successfully drowning him, and what does he do back to him in vengeance. Save his life. Twice. He didn't understand. This went against everything he'd ever believed, and yet the Aquahog was asking nothing in return. Well, he was actually, his help. Help Sonic had tricked him for. He huffed, fine, he was used to that but it was the saving of his life a the second time, with the sharks, that had completely thrown him.

Sonic could have easily just have swam into the shadows, hid himself, and left Shadow for fish food. Against a shark that large, blind and powerless, the Ultimate Lifeform had literally got nothing. He definitely wasn't the king down here. He wondered how Aquahogs survived against those sharks.

But Sonic didn't leave him. Why and what did he want help for? He sighed, finally and somewhat reluctantly agreeing to whatever it was, but he was deeply curious as to what it could be. But he heaved. What could he do out here, blind and powerless? He looked up, seeing Sonic just in the shadows, still very frightened. They'd had a very close escape, and for time ever, Shadow actually felt for him. Life down here was absolutely brutal. He now understood why he left for land, but seeing him using his 'Magic' in his hands, the pale blue light to give him gills. Saw how much it drained him, there was no way he had the power to turn himself back. He suspected someone else's Magic was used to turn Sonic into a Land Dweller in the first place. The drowned process triggering the Magic to return him to normal, back the ocean. Someone with significantly more power. The question was, who?

Shadow heaved, seriously not wanting those sharks to come back. He took a deep gulp, passing the water over his gills, the oxygen hit calming him. He was quickly getting used them. He sighed.

"Look, we have to leave, move on. I've decided that I will help you. You, tricking me with my life, would have just angered me, and gotten you a definite refusal, but you, saving my quills from that shark, of whom I saw nothing, had earned you my respect and cooperation. But." He added. "I am unsure how I can help you, I see and feel nothing down here." He sniffed. Suddenly, he heard giggling from the shadows, to the utter confusion of the Ultimate Lifeform. Sonic swam out from his hiding place with an enormous grin on his face. He giggled.

"Well, shock horror. An honest statement from the Ultimate Lifeform. I never actually thought I'd hear the day." He smiled, but Shadow growled, but then smirked, seeing the somewhat amusing side of it.

"Well, don't get used to it, Aquahog." He spat. But Sonic was sarcastically gobsmacked. He grinned.

"What, a joke." He gasped, then he rounded on Shadow, swimming right up to him, face-to-face, their noses practically touching. "I knew it, I knew it." He giggled, brandishing a finger as his chest fur. "You do have a heart in there, beneath that cold, hard, exterior monster of yours." He panted, not quite believing. But Shadow just rolled his eyes. This was old news, he already knew. He growled.

"So what if I do?" He shrugged, slightly amused at Sonic's revelation. He smiled.

"Well, it's just you've never shown it before, and I was beginning to believe you didn't have one." He heaved. "The question is, is it a heart worth fighting for?" He added.

Shadow suddenly stared, absolutely stunned. He'd never thought about it like that, as he'd never let anyone help him before. Alone and on land, he didn't need it. Correction, he believed he didn't need it and now looking at the Blue Blur, and the situation they were in, lost in the deep ocean, they only way to survive was to work together. He looked at the Blue Blur, realising that without him, he'd die out here, and now he was asking if Shadow was a Hedgehog worth saving.

Normally, he wouldn't have cared, his immortality would have just kicked in, but would that even work down here? He had no idea, and finally, Shadow realised what Sonic was asking for. Another honest answer. He heaved.

"I hope so." He muttered. "Though I don't deserve it." He added, of which Sonic just rounded on him. He growled.

"No, you don't." He hissed. "But this should help." He added and before Shadow could stop, Sonic place both his hands on his chest, and the bright pale blue light shone. Sonic screamed as the Magic concentrated on his torso, and began activating something deep with him. Suddenly, Shadow's eyes began to glow, as suddenly the world exploded all round him as he could see, hear, and feel everything. His extra-sensory perception was back, also with other Chaos powers in his arms and legs. Finally, he felt strong again, but Sonic suddenly screamed, the Magic immediately giving out. The Aquahog had given all he had, and collapsed to the floor, but not before Shadow caught him before he fell. He smirked, his Super-Speed was back. The Blue Blur was barely conscious. He sniggered. "And people wondered why I was called the 'Miracle Worker', back on land." He giggled, but Shadow was worried. Which surprised him, not used to this emotion at all. He growled.

"You can't keep doing this. This Magic, whatever it is, is killing you." He hissed, though deeply thankful of what it had managed to achieve. But Sonic just smirked.

"No, it's not. Well, not anymore." He smiled. "Look, I went for your Chaos Powers. I couldn't activate everything, I'm not strong enough, but I did get a couple of them. Your E.S.P., Super-Speed, and Super-Strength, I think. You'd have to check that. I thought useful against sharks. The others I'm afraid are still numb." He heaved, desperate for rest. Shadow gasped, yet another gift. He heaved, but now suspected that Sonic was preparing him for something. For whatever he needed help for. Suddenly, the Blue Blur fell asleep. As he snoozed in his arms, Shadow looked ahead of them. The darkness exploded, in a beautiful black-and-white image detailing everything, and how badly invested with sharks the waters were. They moved absolutely silently, he could barely hear them with his E.S.P., and now fully understood how he missed them.

He felt his Chaos Powers. His E.S.P. (extra-sensory perception) a means of seeing, his Super-Speed, a means of traveling across the ocean floor, and his Super-Strength, a means of fighting. He was now incredibly grateful to have these, and as for the others, they would have to wait. When he returned to land, as he remembered Merhog could. He could now climb the cliff and just run back to shore. But as he watched the sleeping Aquahog, did he want to? Truthfully, no, he was genuinely too deeply curious as to what was going on here. He growled, he was definitely preparing him for something, and be felt far more then just survival down here. He gritted his teeth. He now wanted the truth, having been lied to in the past, and throughly hating it, but he suspected the Blur Blue wasn't going to be very forward with it. He'd hid the truth on land for years, why would be upfront now? Suddenly, Sonic awoke and quickly sprang back into life, the sharks completely missing the Magic cast. Shadow heaved.

"Thank you." He admitted, to a somewhat stunned and surprised Blue Blur, who was quickly recovering from the Magic. He smiled, putting a hand on his chest and bowing slightly.

"Your welcome." He grinned but the Shadow rounded on him, now somewhat desperate. He heaved.

"Please tell me the truth, what's going on here?" He hissed. Sonic gulped. Shadow had actually cooperated this far. He didn't just immediately run back to shore as soon as he could. He placed his bottom on a rock and spade his large tail out ahead of him. He did deserve an explanation. Sonic sighed.

"I'm not the only Aquahog in the ocean. In fact, we're quite prevalent but we are also extremely illusive, living here in the deep ocean. In a beautiful city, filled with light including an incredible citadel. But that was a long time ago, before I left. But I have been feeling for a long time now, even before you drowned me, my people's cries, my city falling, all because I wasn't there to defend it." He sniffed, in tears.

Shadow stared, and suddenly, it hits him and extremely hard. The Magic, the unusually large tail, it all screamed one singular thing, that caused him to swear very harshly at the Aquahog. He growled.

"Your dam royalty." He hissed, utterly disgusted. Sonic eyes filled with tears, as he nodded, his heart sinking. He heaved.

"But I swear I didn't want to be. Aquahogs lay eggs and I didn't hatch out in the nursery caves, along with every other youngster in the kingdom. I was hatched in the palace, with no one but my mother and a father, who couldn't have cared less." He admitted. But Shadow stared. He frowned.

"You were lonely?" He asked. Sonic again nodded. He sniffed.

"Intensely lonely. Baby Aquahogs, when they hatch, are entirely independent, and instinctively group together for safety. Groups of which they spend their entire childhoods, until they become adults, pairing off to breed." He heaved. "I was desperate for a friend, but wasn't allowed one. So, I swam away to find one, leaving the kingdom far behind." He sighed. But Shadow gasped.

"But how did you walk on land?" He wondered. But Sonic just deeply sniffed.

"I stole my mother's Magic. Only female-born royals have it, and father had forced her to completely relinquish the power in the form of one singular bright white Orb, which he calmed was to be used to protect the kingdom. Yeah, right. He was using for his own means." He growled, then sighed. "That, along with the effort of laying her one and only egg, me, she was dying." He cried. "I was barely a hatchling when she passed. The only person who ever cared about me. My father just beat me, saying I was too wild for his liking, and not the female he wanted." He growled, but Shadow smirked. Accurate description, though brutal on a youngster. Sonic heaved. "I wanted out, so stole my mother's Magic Orb and left the kingdom far behind. To the shallow waters and land. I didn't know what to do, until I heard commotion on the wooden pier, sticking out from the shore, and then suddenly something was thrown in the water. A material bag, tied to a heavy stone. It sunk right to the ocean floor. Curious, I looked to see what it was, only for my horror, to see the bag wriggling. Unable to untie it, I ripped the bag open with the Magic Orb, and pulled out the most unusual creature I'd ever seen. A baby like me. A Fox." He smiled. Shadow's eyes widened.

"Tails!" He gasped. Sonic again nodded. He beamed.

"But he was dying. So panicking, I grabbed him, kicking my tail and swam to the surface, and gave him back his air." He smiled. But Shadowed growled.

"Someone tried to drown him?" He hissed. But Sonic just shrugged.

"I assume so, with him being born with an extra tail. Just too different for some people to handle. But I've never told him, he was too young to remember. But when he reached the surface, he cuddled me with everything he had. I'd found a friend. He didn't let me go. But an Ocean Goer and a Land Dweller, can't live side-by-side, unless someone changes, as now I was struggling to breath." He admitted. Shadow then heaved himself, sitting next to Sonic.

"So you used the Magic on yourself?" He asked. Sonic heaved and nodded.

"If I'd have just left Tails on the beach and swam away, I knew someone would try and kill him again, and properly succeeding. So I used the Orb, and wished a means of protecting my new friend. The Magic was absorbed into my body and gave me the legs and lungs of which to survive, and my powerful tail, just got converted into the superpower I became famous for." He giggled. Shadow rolled his eyes. He smirked.

"The Super-Speed." He sniggered. Sonic heaved.

"And the rest of the story, you know. I never forget walking, very wobbly, out of the water, for the first time, carrying my new friend, knowing I'd could potentially never return. That's why I was so scared." He stammered. But then Shadow smirked.

"Because going into the water, would mean never returning to land." The Ultimate Lifeform heaved, remembering what was said earlier. He sighed. "But then the ocean came calling." He sniggered. Sonic growled.

"Yes, I heard them, but I didn't want to go. But I knew my time on land was coming to an end, and when I saw you in the water, outside that underwater base." He heaved. But Shadow gulped, suddenly feeling another emotion he wasn't used to. Guilt. He panted.

"I'm sorry." He admitted, suddenly blurting it out. But Sonic calmed him. He smiled.

"It doesn't matter. I don't know how much longer my mother's Magic would have lasted anyway. I have been feeling it slowly failing for years. Better to convert back in the water, then anywhere on land, my mother's Magic completely dying. Drowning, for real. Now, unfortunately, there is nothing left. I've used the last of it on you. They why it knocked my out, it was finally ridding itself from my system." He admitted. But Shadow was gobsmacked. He growled.

"What?" He spat. "Why me?" He hissed but Sonic just rounded on him. He hissed.

"The Magic may be gone, but that's not the end of the Aquahogs. We are greater then that. But I can't take back my kingdom back on my own. I'm not strong enough.

I need a Knight."