Chapter Seven – Instincts
As deceptions go, Shadow had to admit, this one was beautiful, though he didn't enjoy doing it, especially against his own blood brother. It pained him greatly. But the plan was pure genius of the Fox to get G.U.N. permanently off their backs, but it meant Shadow having to beat everyone up. He didn't want to, not after what he'd just promised but they had to give the impression that he was working as a long wolf, and that he come to the house, attacked everyone and stole the Chaos Emeralds. Then all Shadow had to do was make sure G.U.N. saw him leave, just as they arrived at the house.
It worked, as he immediately had them on his tail, leaving Sonic, Tails and Knuckles alone to recover in peace from their injuries. They would be alright, and Shadow had desperately tried not to hurt them too badly. It had required a huge amount of self-control from him, especially now as a Vampire, but to everyone's surprise, he'd excelled, showing off his newly found free-will with pride. Everything he did now, he did by choice. No one was controlling him anymore.
Loosing G.U.N. was relatively straightforwards. All he had to do, was have the organisation completely loose line of sight of him, and boom, he immediately teleported out of there, and straight back to the Ark. Very easy, especially carrying two Chaos Emeralds. But he had no intension of keeping the emeralds on his person, as he knew that was what everyone would expect. But he didn't need them and knew exactly where to put them. The Ark had a super-secure, incredibly high-tech, D.N.A. locked vault, and reprogramming it, Shadow placed the two Chaos Emeralds within, and slammed the door shut. No one, other then him, was getting those out again. It was chaos-reenforced, so teleporting in or out either. To chaos-reenforce anything was extremely expensive and the technology was only reserved for the military. Shadow had stolen it for the Ark and had applied it to the safe only. It was still in it's relative infancy and only shielded a small area. Perfect for a vault, but not the entire Ark. Besides he didn't want to lock himself out. Teleporting was the his main method of transport on and off the space colony.
He heaved, now where? He smirked, he knew, and with another blinding flash of bright white light, he vanished. Rouge. Shadow had been to the Chaotix Detective Agency before but wasn't a fan of them, but they did get results when needed, though they weren't that efficient. However, he'd never been inside the building, as he landed outside, with a flash of light, just as the sun was setting. Unfortunately, the light of his sudden appearance was noticed, and Rouge, Vector and Espio went outside to investigate. Bad idea, as Shadow moved at lightning speeds, causing Rouge to squeal, as he'd got his fellow ex-G.U.N. agent around the neck. Shaking with absolute fright, she whirled round to see the Ultimate Lifeform's deep red eyes, now looking no different then before he changed. But Rouge knew better. She panicked.
"Shadow, please. I've just had communications from Tails. You gave your word you wouldn't hurt us." She pleaded. But Shadow smirked, sparkles building his eyes. He sniggered.
"That doesn't mean I can't scare you." He hissed, as he immediately let Rouge go. There was a very slight giggle in his voice as it oozed warmth. He did actually care, and he wasn't bothering to hide it. Rouge stared at him.
"You've changed." She gasped, but Shadow just smirked at her, the coldness now back in his voice.
"I am now an entirely different species. Rouge. You'd be a fool to think I hadn't." He growled, as he walked right passed them, and into the Detective Agency itself. It was one singular room with a office set up at one end, with a desk, chair, computer and phone and at the other, there was mismatched sofas and a small kitchenette area. It was simple but pleasant enough. As Shadow entered, he stood completely still, and pricking his ears up, he searched the room deeply with his eyes. His incredible heighten senses scanning the entire room. Rouge frowned.
"What are you doing?" She asked. But Shadow just shrugged, as he was deep in concentration.
"Looking for bugs." He heaved. Electronic listening devices. But Vector just laughed.
"There aren't any." He grinned. He checked the room everyday, but Shadow just looked him, and deeply smirked. Suddenly, he moved, extremely fast, all over the room, at speeds far beyond what he could do before, to crashing everywhere. Rouge screamed, as suddenly a pile of black electronic bugs appeared on the desk, and Shadow was stood there, hissing, baring his fangs at her. His eyes glowing red. She put both her hands over her mouth. She gulped.
"Sorry." She stammered, backing away. Vampires really don't like screaming. Shadow, satisfied, nodded and immediately moved to the other end of the room, to get some peace, and try and settle his now rattled instincts, his back to them. Rouge heaved, as they all stared at the pile of bugs. Vector when white. He gulped.
"Er, that's embarrassing." He stammered. "I take it that all of them." He asked, but a sudden harsh growl from Shadow, immediately indicated that, yes it was. Espio picked one up and examined it. They all carried a symbol on them, instantly recognisable. The Chameleonheaved.
"Eggman." He growled. But Rouge frowned.
"But he'd been dead for weeks, before I even came here. You don't think..." She stammered but Shadow immediately whirled around growling, cutting right across her.
"That G.U.N. or the Mobian Authorities might be listening. No." He spat. "The Human had an entirely unique inscription on every single electronic signal. So many, in fact, it was extremely difficult keep to track of. I seriously doubt they would have been hacked. I removed them because their buzzing was seriously annoying me, despite the fact that no one's been on the other end." He smirked. They all stared astonished, having heard nothing. Rouge growled in frustration, as she began to get some confidence back against the Ultimate Lifeform. She knew Shadow, or at least, before he changed. He was cool, calm and deadly. Highly professional, efficient and dangerous. He barely spoke. He never got involved, let alone helped, and always looked down on everyone. Not anymore. Now he was just plain weird. She growled.
"Shadow." She spat. "Talk to me, what's going on?" She heaved, pointing to his head. She was a few feet away from him, and daren't get any closer. Shadow deeply sighed. Before he would have just ignored such a request, but now as he looked at Rouge, and remembering her loyalty to him over the years, she did, at least, deserve an explanation. He heaved.
"I don't know." He admitted, truthfully. Rouge frowned, somewhat stunned.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" She spat. But Shadow just sighed, folding his arms, the warmth back in his voice.
"When Sonic said he'd rewrote my D.N.A., he literally has. I checked on the Ark. I have been reborn. Rouge. My preprogramming, genetic engineering, the chemical locks on my brain, the emotional restrains, even the Black Arms, it's all gone. I am now reading as nothing more then pureblood Vampire, exactly like the Blue Blur himself." He frowned. Rouge blinked. Shadow heaved. "The Ultimate Lifeform as you knew him, died, ceased to exist, the moment Sonic bit me." He sighed. "I let him." He added. But Rouge gasped.
"What?" She stammered, but Shadow rounded on her, causing her to back away. He growled.
"Because I'd had enough. Rouge. The control. I'd been a prisoner my entire existence. So when I was offered, freedom, a way out. Yes, I took it." He hissed. Rouge gulped. She had no idea it had been that bad. He'd never said a word, before he changed. Shadow deeply sighed, suddenly becoming very honest. "It hadn't been easy, the change. There are some elements of being a Vampire I do enjoy." He smirked. But Rouge heaved, cutting across him.
"The killing?" She hissed. Shadow nodded, smirking.
"Obviously, but there are other elements that have been difficult. The instincts are sometimes impossible to control, hence the Blue Blur doesn't bother, and the sudden influx of all the emotions has been very bizarre, as I have never had to deal with them before." He admitted. Vector heaved.
"Well, that explains your sudden warmth." He pondered. "So you do care." He spat, but Shadow just sniggered.
"I did before. It just didn't show." He shrugged. But Rouge exploded at him. Her temper flared. She growled.
"Then if you do care, then why did you kill a hundred and fifty people at G.U.N?" She roared. But Shadow just smirked, suddenly going very cold, indeed.
"Two hundred and forty seven. I know my own kill count, Rouge." He hissed, though truthfully, not all of them were his. Sonic had feasted on, at least more then half, but Shadow was still taking responsibility. Suddenly, the Bat gulped, her temper completely breaking. She had no idea it was that high. Shadow leered. "Cross me and that's what happens. G.U.N. forcibly controlled me and I took out their foundations. My ability to care only goes so far." He admitted. They all gulped, absolutely terrified. But the situation was strangely simple. He glared at her. "As I said before, don't anger me, and I won't kill you." He hissed. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth, screwed his eyes up, and groaned, very harshly, and placed a hand on his stomach, as it proceeded to rumble very loudly. He swore hard as he backed away from them, his instincts beginning to flare.
Hunger.
It always caught him off his guard, as he still wasn't used to that fact that he now needed to feed. It was excruciatingly painful if he didn't, and his instincts would just explode. Rouge panicked in pure fright. She cried.
"Shadow?" She stammered, but the Ultimate Lifeform put his hands up to them. He panted.
"Rouge. I am still in control, it's just I have to eat and soon, otherwise my instincts will do it for me, and then I can't guarantee anything." He heaved. They all nodded, but Espio sighed.
"Honest answer." He shrugged. But Vector frowned.
"Why are you here?" He gulped. It wasn't for hunting, they weren't on the menu. Shadow smirked, his back still against the wall.
"You know that training facility you've had under surveillance." He hissed. But Vector's frown deepened. He sighed.
"Yes, what about it?" He asked. "We were going to hit it tonight." He informed. Shadow stood up straight from the wall, having finally fully regained his composure. His lip curled.
"I'm coming with you." He demanded. "It's got five Chaos Emeralds inside it."
Some time later, they were gathered in the darkness, behind a large boulder, just outside of the fenced facility. Even in the dead of night, it was quite busy, trucks coming and going, but it did look like to was all going to settle soon. Rouge was crouched next to Shadow, with Vector and Espio, the other side of her. The Ultimate Lifeform had his head resting on the boulder, panting hard, his fangs were out and his eyes were glowing. He was seriously struggling with the hunger. He closed his eyes. Rouge smiled.
"Thank you." She beamed. Shadow opened an eye and looked at her. He frowned.
"For what?" He asked, but she just heaved.
"For not slaughtering us, when I can see it in your eyes, that every instinct you have, desperately wants you to." He stammered. Shadow nodded, but the hunger pain was back, causing him to heave. But he growled.
"Don't underestimate me, Rouge. I did give my word, but." He gulped. "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up." He admitted. But Vector frowned.
"If there are five Chaos Emeralds in there, the where are other two?" He asked, but Shadow just smirked.
"Security vault on the Ark." He sniggered. He was immediately stared at. He growled. "What? I don't need them anymore, so they are not on my person. When I changed, I kept all my abilities as the Ultimate Lifeform, and they got further enhanced as a Vampire. So all of the skills I needed a Chaos Emerald for, I now no longer do. As for the Ark, that is now mine. It is a partially organic space colony whose computer system requires the D.N.A of it's owner in order to function. G.U.N. and the Mobian Authorities used Gerald's and my old D.N.A. in order to control it, but now I have completely reprogrammed the entire Ark, with my new Vampire D.N.A. They are completely locked out. Trust me, those Chaos Emeralds are going nowhere." He growled. Suddenly, the pain was back, and Shadow buckled, almost curling into a ball. Suddenly, Espio piped up. He smiled.
"Looks like the facility has quieten down." He reported, and immediately Rouge rounded on Shadow. She wasn't happy about what she was about to do, sending Shadow in to kill, but quite simply, it was them or G.U.N., and right now, she'll take G.U.N. She growled as pointing at the main gate, over the boulder. She growled.
"Shadow. Go, eat. Get us in that place." She ordered, and the Ultimate Lifeform didn't need telling twice as hissing, immediately his claws exploded from the tips of his fingers, and he scrambled over the top of the boulder and disappeared into the night. He moved at breathtaking speeds, absolutely silently, and didn't even stop as he saw the nearest guard. Shadow was so hungry, that he was straight on top of him, plunging his fangs deep into his neck, draining him dry within minutes. But one guard was nowhere near enough to satisfy him, as Shadow immediately pounced on a second guard and then a third, his instincts exploding. He knew that Rouge was taking advantage of him, but right there and then, he didn't care. This was easy food, as Shadow quickly broke open the main gate, and charged into the courtyard, and proceeded to slaughter and then drain completely dry everyone in it.
It was done ruthlessly efficiently, and incredibly fast, and by the time, the others caught up with him, as they ran through the gate, Shadow was stood there, holding the door of the main building open for them. His was purring slightly, happily preening, licking the blood off his claws and fangs. His stomach was bulging as the dead lay all around, finally sated. He looked up as they approached. He smirked.
"After you." He sniggered, indicating Rouge. But the Bat didn't move a muscle. Not after that display of blood lust. It had been horrifying to watch. She knew he was hungry but not that hungry, as more then thirty people lay drained at their feet. Shadow wouldn't need to feed now for a least several weeks. Sonic had to eat daily regardless of how much he ate. Rouge heaved. She growled.
"No way." She spat, of which Shadow just shrugged.
"Fine." He hissed, and then, as his fangs and claws retracted themselves away, he swung himself around the door and went in first, the others following. The long corridors and rooms of the main building was surprisingly darkened, but even in the middle of the night, there was activity in the building. Voices could be heard in the distance blackness, as they crept through. Down corridors and around corners, until finally, the narrowness opened out into a vast cavernous room, right in the centre of the building. It ran from the floor to the roof rafters and had balconies all around the edge where the second and third floors entered the room. Around the edge, there was extensive computer consoles and monitors, with scientists in white coats working at them. In one corner, there was main electric breaker switch, with an huge red leaver. Enormous thick wires ran from it, down the wall and across the floor, which had to be stepped over, to the very centre of the room. There was a very large capsule, made entirely of heavily reenforced harden steel, with a small glass window at the front. All around the top, were deep recesses, five of which were full, two empty. The Chaos Emeralds.
Immediately they hide out of sight, as the door of the corruption machine opened, as an unfortunate poor soul, a young Wolf, crying his heart out, was forcibly thrown into it, the door slamming. Suddenly, the mighty machine whirled into action, as it filled the entire room with incredibly bright white light. Shadow squealed, and so did the Wolf through the window, grabbing his head. Shadow was still incredibly sensitive to Chaos Energy, even though he now longer fed on it, and found the whole process rather painful. Suddenly, the light died down and they all looked up. The Wolf, just stood there, still and silent inside the machine, and had to be guided out. Immediately, he was examined, and obeyed every command he was given, as his mind having been completely broken with the Chaos Energy. His eyes were now black, both iris and pupils. The classic sign of the corrupted.
Suddenly, he was lead away, to receive further orders, and Shadow's temper absolutely erupted. He'd seen enough, and was going to tear this entire place down. He knew what it felt like to be broken and programmed. Gerald had done to him and wouldn't wish it on anyone, least of all a frightened little kid. The others agreed, they too had seen enough, but they were seriously outnumbered, and knew they were going to take this place out, they needed to come back with a plan.
But they didn't get the chance. Someone had snuck up on them from behind, while the machine had been running, and the Ultimate Lifeform being distracted, a device being placed on his head, it digging hard into his quills. But the before any of them could do anything, the entire facility went haywire as suddenly it was activated, and Shadow was left grabbing his head screaming, as the it was flooded with huge amounts of Chaos Energy, everything on full power, drawing huge amounts from the Chaos Emeralds. Significantly more then his mind could cope with. He stumbled forwards into view, from his hiding place. Suddenly, one of the scientists cried in delight.
"Yes, I got him, sir." He grinned. Suddenly someone walked out from behind the correction machine, in a grey suit and large black mane. Lionel. He smirked, evilly.
"Finally, I have you, Ultimate Lifeform. I knew wouldn't be able to resist five Chaos Emeralds." He sniggered. "The device your wearing is years in development, designed specifically for you. You can't remove it. It contained super-concentrated Chaos Energy, of a frequency that only you can process. You will be ours, Hedgehog." He hissed, but Rouge eyes widened, as she could see that Shadow was fighting the device, and preyed she's be forgiven later for what she was about to do. She turned to the Chaotix.
"Run." She spat. But Vector frowned.
"But what about..?" He began to asked, but then Shadow corruption process, began to go wrong, as the electricity flickering everywhere. But the Bat got to her feet.
"Leave him." She ordered, and immediately ran for the corridor she arrived through, back the way she came. Immediately, Vector and Espio followed, suddenly there were all running for their lives, remembering what was said earlier.
Vampires and corruption don't mix.
Shadow buckled to his knees, screaming hard, but the others were spotted leaving, just as General Xander as he entered the room. He growled.
"Hey." He spat, but Lionel just cut across him. He shrugged.
"Leave them. We've got what we came for." He hissed. The Badger's eyes widened as he sees Shadow before them. He gulped.
"They abandoned him." He gasped. "So much for friendship." He heaved, but then he rounded on Shadow, kneeling down, and promptly punched him, extremely hard, across the nose. The Ultimate Lifeform opens his eyes and looked at him. The Badger growled. "That was for my boy." He roared. But Lionel grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him back on his feet. He smirked.
"Don't worry, you will get your revenge." He hissed, but then staring at Shadow, still fighting the device, he deeply frowned. "Hey, this is taking longer then predicted. He should have succumbed by now." He asked, as one of the scientists came over with a clipboard. He too was deeply puzzled.
"Yes sir, but I don't understand. I've studied the Ultimate Lifeform's D.N.A. in detail, built the device specifically for him. According to every simulation I ran, his mind should have broken by now." He heaved.
But it didn't.
Suddenly, the device drew even more power from the facility, as Shadow screams a death scream, which turns into a deep, hard predatory roar, that shakes the entire building, so much so that it exploded the fuse box. The entire building is plunged into darkness, as Shadow collapsed on the ground. He heaved.
Finally, the pain stopped, but he was loosing his grip on everything, his mind now completely broken. It was trickling though his fingers like as sieve, as he was slipping into deep darkness. He desperately clung on, but failed and finally, the Ultimate Lifeform ceased to be.
But the Vampire remained.
Shadow's instincts exploded with both fright and extreme anger at suddenly finding themselves completely alone. They searched for the Ultimate Lifeform, desperately looking for guidance, anything, but nothing. He was gone, and now they saw two people ahead of him. They had no idea who they were, but now, the instincts were feeling incredibly threatened by this place, especially by the smell. They stood Shadow up, and growled at them, but felt pain in his head, and putting up a hand, they painfully yanked the device off. They looked at it, now knowing what had killed their precious and beloved Ultimate Lifeform. They didn't understand how or why, but as the intense emotion of grief set in, they wanted pure revenge. The instincts could feel emotions, but they had no control of them. They came sporadically and extremely strongly. Lionel panicked as he backed away from Shadow. He knew something was wrong. The Ultimate Lifeform didn't have the usual black eyes of corruption. His iris' and pupils of both eyes had just vanished completely, leaving nothing but creepy, plain whites behind. Two small, grey smudges were the only things that indicated where his eyes should be, as they moved around. Shadow clearly not behind them. Suddenly, the emergency lighting came on. The Lion gulped.
"Shadow, yield." He ordered. "Yield." He snapped, as he just walked towards him in the partial darkness. But the instincts, the Vampire, just ignored him. He didn't understand anyway, as suddenly a scientist came right up to him, desperate to examine him, but to the Vampire, that was far to close, and taking it as a threat, promptly retaliated. Moving at lightning speeds he went for the scientist, who immediately stumbled backwards, holding his neck, the Vampire stood back where he was, curiously looking at him. He squealed.
"Ow. He bit me." He whined, massaging his now badly bleeding neck. But General Xander ran forwards and went to grab Shadow, but the Vampire got there first, sinking his fangs into the Badger's wrist, at breathtaking speeds, only to let go seconds later. He squealed tumbling backwards, holding his wrist, and then finally seeing the bite mark, did he realised the truth. He stared back at the Vampire, and saw in the darkness, the fangs and claws protruding from his jaws and fingers. He gulped, as suddenly, the scientist, whom the Vampire had bitten first, screamed and then began to violently shake. His eyes rolled up into his head, and finally his collapsed to floor within minutes, dead.
Venom.
General Xander screamed.
"Vampire!" He shouted, as his own body was succumbing to the powerful poison. Lionel looked and stared. He just couldn't believe it, until he saw the fangs for himself, and screamed. There was outright panic, as the Vampire exploded. The noise rattled his instincts so badly, that he couldn't bare it and that, on top of his anger, he just completely lost it, immediately began biting everyone and everything in that entire facility. Lionel, the Chief Executive of the Mobian Authorities didn't stand a chance as he tried to flee, as the Vampire chased in down with seconds and plunged his fangs deep in his neck, General Xander now dead. He desperately tried to fight off the Vampire, but too late, the lethal dose of venom had been administered.
The Vampire then immediately let go him, and threw him to floor. He ran to chase down another victim, leaving him to die. But Lionel didn't understand. His plan should have worked, every detail had been meticulously thought through. He heaved.
"How?" He gasped. He'd been beaten, that was for certain, by someone who'd gotten to the Ultimate Lifeform before him, but the question was who? But he never found out, as his body then violently shook, causing him to pass out. Succumbing to the highly-potent venom, he died.
But the Vampire didn't stop, not until every single living being in that facility was dead, assassinating everything. He felt incredibly threatened by this place, this scent, and had vague recollections of it's smell somewhere before. The instincts did have access to Shadow's memories, even though he was gone but they didn't understand them. But there was an image here, or a scent there, they did know. Something comfortingly familiar in amongst the confusion and bewilderment. Wherever that scent was, it would die. The Vampire wanted peace from it, and it that meant killing everything to get it then so be it.
As dawn rose, the utter carnage was plain to see as the Vampire ran out of the facility, into the field and away.