Chapter Eight – Rescue
Shadow was livid. He was so anger, that he physically couldn't remember the last time he last his temper this badly. Even the sharks on the way back to shore, didn't stand a chance. He just violently attacked them, killing many, not caring about anyone or anything, as he ran across the ocean floor. He remembered being awoke by that crimson red Aquahog, Rusty, who seemed delighted that he was alright. Ok, fine, but to suddenly have him wrap his entire body around him and lick him on the cheek, definitely crossed the line. He knew the Aquahogs were tactile but that was just intrusive. Extremely disrespectful, it immediately implied an intimacy it was just not interested in. In fact he was downright outraged at the very thought and therefore he just exploded.
He'd violently thrown the male Aquahog off of him, and was so completely and utterly repulsed, that Shadow just got out of there. If that was how Aquahogs did things, then he just didn't want to know. He just ran and ran, and by the time he made back on shore, it was nightfall. He walked out into the shore, and spat onto the floor the last of the seawater out of his lungs. He just didn't care anymore as he wondered into the deep jungle to find somewhere to spend the night. Gills made Shadow sleep, which he normally didn't need to do if he'd been using his lungs, so as he yawned, he settled down at the base of a large tree and fell into a deep slumber.
Suddenly, as dawn rose, there an horrendous noise of machinery, and deep splashing of water. Shadow, awaking, got up to see what the fuss was about. As he peered around the jungle back towards the beach and ocean, he saw Eggman in one of his enormous, incredibly ugly machines, a pod with extremely long, spider-like legs striding across the shallows of the sea. His confidence had exploded since Sonic's disappearance, now building bigger and better machines, like this spider and the submarine. Now he was significantly more dangerous. There was a boat behind it, containing a glass tank of water, with a sealable flip lid. On the upper half of the pod, of which Eggman sat, the machine had two extendable arms, one of which dove deep into the ocean shallows.
Then the almighty arm was pulled out of the water, it brought with it a creature snagged by the tail. It was badly battered and scarred, with several large bite marks. It silently screamed, as it was lifted clean from the water, kicking and squealing, thrashing everywhere, desperate to get free, gasping for oxygen. Shadow's eyes widened.
"An Aquahog?" He stammered, as he immediately ran from the jungle, down to the shore and beach, and then along the nearby wooden pier. He watched as Eggman then proceed to drop the bright crimson red Aquahog, into the nearby tank of water, immediately slamming the lip shut. It screamed inside the tank, banging on the glass, as Eggman proceed to have it taken away.
Shadow growled. He knew that Aquahog. It was that dam male, Rusty, who'd insulted him. He smirked. More fool him for coming too close to the shore. In Eggman's hands, he was as good as dead. He smirk broadened.
"Good riddance." He hissed, having no intension of intervening. He was about to turn back when he suddenly heard splashing behind him. He stopped, only to be thwacked on the back of the head, very hard by something extremely powerful, wet and very large. Sonic was fuming, and had used his speed, after returning his new wife, Bianca, to safety, to propel himself out of the water. He'd pushed the speed of his tail to the maximum to propel himself out of the ocean, especially when he saw Shadow stood atop that wooden pier. He sailed up high behind him, and then curled into a ball and then in the last minute, threw his tail out, right at the back of the Ultimate Lifeform's head. The impact was hard enough to immediately throw him violently forwards and into the water. Sonic crash landed on the peer, but still holding a huge mouthful of water, he managed up wriggle himself off the pier and back into the ocean, hitting it with an enormous splash. He would have temporarily relished being back on dry land again, if he wasn't so annoyed.
Still extremely angry, he went for Shadow. He knew it took the Ultimate Lifeform several minutes to adjust to being back under water again. With his lungs filling with water and the gills within kicking in, so the Blue Blur took the opportunity to charge at him. He swam straight at him, rolled up into a ball and thwacked him with this tail, at the absolutely last minutes. There was a lot of power in that tail, when Sonic put enough speed behind it, and he send Shadow flying. He immediately swam off, backing up and charge again.
Shadow, his body struggling to get to grips with breathing, found himself getting thrown off his feet. The Blue Blur kept coming for him, making the Ultimate Lifeform more and more angry. Suddenly, just as Shadow found his breath, he was thrown off his feet, and up against one of the stilts of the wooden pier. Sonic then charged at his, thrusting his almighty tail right at his neck, pinning against the wood. Shadow own's anger roared, though he'd he'd never seen the Sonic act this before, so brutal. The Ultimate Lifeform growled, but Sonic just shoved his tail even harder at his throat. It hurt. The Blue Blur roared.
"Where is she?" He spat, but Shadow's eyes narrowed. But Sonic just exploded, in a mixture of pure panic and outrage. "The female, Scarlet, who proposed to you. You know her as Rusty. She followed you here, risking the sharks, completely on her own. She was extremely lucky to make it." He sniffed. "Where is she?" He hissed, again. Suddenly, Shadow's eyes widened, as the colour completely drained from his face. What? He gulped.
"Female?" He stammered. It had been years since a female anything had showed him any interest, of any form whatsoever. His face was filled with absolutely horror. Suddenly, Sonic gave him a sideways look, as he lowered his tail. He stared.
"Wait. You didn't know?" He gulped. "That the two Aquahogs you've been hanging out with the whole time, were actually female, not male." He smirked, then he heaved. "Aquahog males and females only pair up for a singular breeding season, lay an egg and move on, abandoning them, as the babies are born completely independent. But the matriarchs, females who have finished breeding, then take care of the babies and children, teaching them in schools. In Aquahog culture, it was matriarchal. It was the females propose to the males, a different one for each of her eggs during the breeding season. It ensure a good spread in the gene pool. They always do the choosing. It was always accepted, as refusal was considered the worst insult in society." He spat, growling hard at Shadow. He gulped. Sonic heaved. "Enough to potentially get a male banished or at very least, never proposed to again. In Aquahogs, males and females look identical, all looking like guys. It was how my ancestor, the ancient Queen, used her Magic to hide the girls. Even the males can't tell the difference. Sometimes mistaking a best friend for a male, when she's actually a female, they are that good at concealing it, even their scents. That was why the Merhogs couldn't find them, they were hiding in plain sight the entire time." He sniffed, suddenly, he swam all around the area, absolutely panicking.
"Scarlet." He cried. "Scarlet." He screamed. Shadow followed him, still stunned into silence. Suddenly, tears fell down Sonic's face. "I need to find her. I have been to new Aquila and the Aquahogs are on the verge of their first breeding season in years." He sniffed. Shadow's eye widened. So they did find a new home. The Blue Blur shivered. "But without Scarlet, we don't have enough females to make the season successful. I need to find her." He panicked, and then rounded on Shadow. "She didn't propose to you to be your mate. You can't breed. We can all tell by your scent. She gave you a royal proposal, exactly like Bianca, aka Zephyr, gave to me. She wanted to be your wife. Only royals have wives and husbands, mating for life. They are the only Aquahogs that do. It was how the Magic was maintained. But Scarlet would still be needed for breeding." He heaved as he desperately looked around. "Oh, where is she?" He cried.
But Shadow growled, mainly at himself, as the guilt exploded within him. He now hated himself so much, that right there and then, he just wanted to die, and now, for the first ever, several tears fell down his face. He heaved.
"Eggman's got her." He gulped, his head hanging down, but Sonic just rounded on him.
"What?" He squealed. "He'll kill her." He screamed. Suddenly, he outright panicked.
"I have to save her." He sniffed, as he immediately swam off in the direction of Eggman's Lair, along the coast, but Shadow high-speed reflexes got there first as he somehow managed to grab Sonic's almighty tail and pull him backwards hards, throwing him to the ocean floor.
Suddenly, the ground all around them began to shake, as Eggman's extremely long-legged boss robot, was back, it's feet slamming into the shallows, forcing Sonic and Shadow to move. They barely got out of the way. Both of them were left panting on the water. Shadow whirled round and grabbed the Blur Blur.
"I'll get her." He hissed, of which Sonic just stared, and then Shadow just smirked.
"Don't get caught." He ordered, of which the Blue Blur just nodded, and immediately the pair when their separate ways. Sonic dived immediately out to sea, but the almighty robot spotted him, and went straight after him. Eggman cackled.
"I see you, Blue Boy." He growled, desperate to catch that slippery Aquahog. Shadow torn himself away. Sonic could take care of himself. Scarlet, not so much, and she would die of he did nothing. Assuming she wasn't already dead. Shadow gulped. He desperately hoped not. He ran across the sandy ocean floor, straight for the wooden pier, climbed onto it, into the open air. He then raced along it, empting his lungs, and then along the sandy shore, straight for the Human's Lair.
His mind was spinning. He heaved. A female. He was gobsmacked. He had no idea, but as he looked back through his memories, all the signs and signals were there. How Rusty was particularly tactile with him and about how she'd taken a real shine to him. He sniffed, he'd just been just too stupid to notice. Despite everything. His evilness, his darkness, his cold-heartedness, she liked him, enough to propose to him. He frowned. He didn't understand. He was sterile. His creator had wanted the Ultimate Lifeform, not an army. He couldn't breed. But the Rusty, or should he say, Scarlet, it didn't matter. He heaved. A wife? He couldn't just believe it, him. He gulped. Something he never believed possible.
Well, almost. He'd have to release her for the breeding season, but then she'd come back, right into his arms, once again. It sounded absolute pure bliss. But incredibly stupid him turned her down, violently at that, and now she was going to die. Shadow roared with the pure agony of it, realising that his only chance now, was for her to propose to him again, assuming she made it. But in Aquahog culture, as Sonic had just said, females never propose to the same male twice, and he couldn't chase her, as the females did the choosing. He heaved, as another tear fell down his face, he'd blown it.
But that was under Aquahog rules, and he wasn't a Water Hedgehog. He wasn't anything. The Ultimate Lifeform followed no ones rules, and now he was utterly determined to make an mends, and desperately hoped she'd come back to him. He sighed. She had every right not to, considering how badly he'd treated her. He fully understood why Sonic was so angry at him. He was just protecting his people, like the grand high Prince should.
But Shadow was so deep in his thoughts as he ran, that he didn't immediately notice that he was surrounded. Four people, one at each corner of the compass, all brandishing roar anger at him. He ground to a halt in front of the mighty Echidna, as he crack his knuckles. He smirked, somewhat evilly, wanting revenge for their friend's demise, not quite believing that his killer was still breathing. Shadow gulped, whirling around, looking at the four faces around him. The tearful Fox, the angry Echidna, the vengeful Hedgehog, and the wild Badger. Then he noticed just over Knuckles' shoulder, Eggman's Lair just behind him, and the water tank, containing, now to Shadow, the most precious creature ever, screaming and crying, being carried now by helicopter and was about to be dropped through the open roof of the Lair, and inside the build. He screamed.
"No!" He heaved, as Tails whirled around, looking at the same direction as the Ultimate Lifeform. He frowned.
"What the?" He questioned. "An Aquahog?" He stammered, as she disappeared inside the mighty white tower. He looked back at Shadow, who was now rumbling with anger. He was about to ask, when the Ultimate Lifeform cut across them, just as they were about to attack him. He squealed.
"He's alive." He hissed. Immediately, they all stopped and stared. Shadow was bobbing on his feet, absolutely desperate to go after Scarlet. That was clear to see. There was none of Shadow's usual cold, dark, icy calm, evil, attitude. He was heavily sweating, now somewhat emotionally broken. Suddenly, there was a enormous crash behind them that made they all look up. Shadow screamed. "That way." He growled, pointing straight back at the commotion. "But he won't survive long." He stammered as he immediately pushed passed Knuckles and onto the foreboding Lair. He heaved, no Aquahog was dying today, not if he could help it. A second explosion, immediately send Sonic's friends to his aid. Now they were on their own. Shadow growled. He wasn't going to stand on ceremony with Eggman's Lair. No sneaking in this time. Time to so in, grab the girl and get out. As quickly as possible.
He went for the front door and smashed it down, immediately dusting any robots who dared to intervene. He ran through the building. He could have teleported in, he knew the building well enough but didn't know exactly where Eggman was keeping Scarlet, and excess teleporting was tiring. He tended to use it only when needed. He ran up through the tower, smashing down every door, searching every room. He growled in frustration. She had to be here somewhere. The clock was ticking. The fight outside was getting louder by the second, and slimmer the chances got of getting these Aquahogs out alive.
But Shadow didn't give up, he couldn't. Not for her, not for them. They had been so good to him, and yet he'd treated them so badly. He gritted his teeth. If he couldn't have her, then her people should. It was the least they deserved after what he'd done. But as Shadow rapidly climbed the tower, smashing everything in sight, he thoughts turned to Scarlet herself, or should he say, Rusty, and the memories he had of her. Her kind smile, her infectious giggle, her smart temperament, her intelligent nature. She was incredibly witty, completely fooling the Ultimate Lifeform himself, whom she'd cuddled several times. Shadow gulped. He was falling for her. He desperately tried to shake it off, but it wasn't working, as he barged his way into one enormous cavernous-like room, to finally, found the water tank at the far end.
He immediately ran for it, pressing his nose against the glass. The tank was sealed on all side and the stunning red crimson Aquahog, was lying on her side, on the base of it, desperately gasping, gulping hard. The faint smell of seaweed giving her away. Shadow smirked, remembering smelling it on the Blue Blur the last time he was on land. He stared at her. Her features made her certainly look like a male Aquahog, but as Shadow blinked, he began to see the differences. But they were incredibly subtle. Her face was rounder, and her nose, hands and tail, very slightly smaller. Her eyes were softer and her smile warmer. She reached for him in the water but then she gaged. The tank wasn't oxygenated with a pump, and in her panic, she'd used up all of the precious life-giving gas dissolved in the water. Her eyes were streaming with tears. Within minutes, she'd suffocate. Shadow banged on his glass with his hands, just as Scarlet passed out, a singular tear in his eye.
He could get her out, but she'd drown in the air before he'd get her to ocean in time. But he couldn't leave her here, she was suffocating. Either way, she'd die on him. He had to think. There had to be a way. He wasn't going to allow it to end like this. The he looked down at his hands, and clenched them hard. Suddenly, he had an idea. There was a chance. He could teleport her out. But he'd be teleporting both blind and with a passenger. Two things he'd never done before. But if he aimed for Eggman, still fighting with his boss robot then he was bound to hit seawater and that was close enough. He knew he had a matter of seconds to do this, and took a deep breath as he faced the glass wall of the tank.
He growled hard, and pulled back his closed hand. He roared with pure anger, as he threw it forwards with everything he had. He screamed, as the glass immediately shattered, cutting him badly, but he couldn't have cared less. Water came pouring at his face like a torrent, but Shadow just dived for the hole, and grabbed the incredibly delicate but unconscious Aquahog. Holding her strong, he screamed, activating his most famous superpower for everything it had, desperately praying it would take her with him. Suddenly, he was surrounded by the extremely bright pale blue, almost white light and with an enormous flash, he vanished as the tank finally emptied with water.
Sonic was swimming with everything he had, but he was only barely dodging Eggman's almighty feet of his long-legged robot. It was frustrating. He desperately wanted to get out of the water, get up there and teach Eggman some manners, but he couldn't. Within minutes, he drown. Even jumping out onto the wooden pier again didn't work, though it was an incredibly risky move. Suddenly, he was caught, with robotic legs smashing either side of the pier, preventing him from getting back into the ocean.
He panicked, his mouth and cheeks bulging with water, as he desperately filtered it through his gills as slowly as possible, but it only gave him a few minutes. His body slide across the top of the deck of the wooden pier, his huge, mighty tail kicking like mad, completely useless out here on land. Then it came. Eggman struck straight for him, sending down an enormous robotic leg right on top of him. He gritted his teeth, desperate not to scream, loosing his precious water. He instinctively put up his hands and closed his eyes. It was the end. If the leg, hit him, it would kill him. He cried, tears falling. But suddenly, silence.
He opened his eyes, finding to his utter astonishment, being completely overshadowed, by an almighty Echidna, who'd caught the mega robot in mid air with nothing but his bare hands. Knuckles growled, shaking with the strain. He roared as he kept the mighty robotic leg aloft. Then, out of nowhere, he was surrounded, and then immediately cuddled, as Amy, Sticks and Tails, hugged him with everything he had, delighted that actually Shadow had been telling the truth. Sonic looked up, to a nod of approval from Knuckles himself, as with an almighty heaved, he threw the robot backwards, causing it to topple over.
Suddenly, Sonic began to gag, but Knuckles didn't grab and hug him. He grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, lifted him clean of the wooden pier, and immediately and rather brutally, threw him straight back into the water. Amy exploded.
"Knuckles, what was that for?" She cried. But Tails rounded on her. He growled.
"Amy, he's an Aquahog. Your saw his tail, right? He'll die if he stays on land." He spat. Amy gulped, biting her lip. She hadn't realised and now felt incredibly guilty. Tails leaned over the wooded pier and splashed his hand in the water. He stared out to open ocean. There had been no sigh of anything since the Blue Blur went in. He cried.
"Come on, Sonic. Please be alright." He stammered. Several minutes went by, nothing. Then out of nowhere, he felt it. A warm but very wet nose, of someone caressing his hand, licking it, and rubbing his face and ears into it. Tails smiled, purring, tickling his best friend under the chin, finally the smell of properly seaweed filling his nose. He looked up, they all now could smell it, and realised just how long Sonic had been hiding this. Tails sighed with relief, as Sonic giggled. He was absolutely fine, now back where he belonged. But as Eggman's almighty robot began to get back on it's feet, it was unsure how long this would last. Tails growled, tears running down his face as he grabbed his best friend by the scruff of the neck, and threw away from the wooden pier. Sonic looked back confused, his large green eyes seen just beneath the waves. Tails pointed out towards the open ocean.
"Go." He screamed, ordering him to flee. Suddenly, Eggman was on top of him again, and finally, he cried, reluctantly agreeing. Islands were no places for Aquahogs. He was just too vulnerable here and he dived down, swimming between the legs of the monstrous machine and out into the open ocean. But he didn't get far, as something almost landed on him at it hit the water from above. He fled and hid, only to see something black and red, immediately sink to the ocean floor. Shadow gagged as he lungs filled with water, but within seconds, he was fine. Transferring between land and water was getting easier. He panted hard, but he smirked. The teleport had worked. He appeared just above Eggman's head, but because his mighty robot moved, Shadow was plummeted into the deep bowels of the ocean below, exactly had he'd hoped. Then to his absolute joy, he still had his prize in his arms. Sonic swore.
"Scarlet." He gasped, immediately swimming over, taking her from Shadow. She was still unconscious. Sonic screamed. "She's not breathing." He cried, and rolled onto her back, lifted up her head and massaged the front of her neck, desperately trying to stimulate her gills. It was quite rough, but Shadow knew from experience, if anyone could her breathing again, Sonic could. He'd been successful with him. He sighed, gulping, praying he hadn't taken too much time. Sonic cuddled her in close. He sniffed. "Come on, Scarlet." He begged, her body and tail swaying limp and lifeless in the water.
Tears began to fall, as Sonic realised that this was taking far to long, but he wasn't giving up. He never gave up, ever. Suddenly, her tail kicked, as finally, she took in a deep gulp of water as the gills kicked in with a bang. Flailing everywhere, Sonic grabbed her, held her upright and this time, massaged the base of the throat, he got her automatically gulping water again. Shadow was absolutely relieved but unfortunately, wasn't paying attention to what was happening on the shore directly behind them. In fact, none of then were, as suddenly, an almighty robotic arm crashed through the water at high speed. Out of nowhere, it grabbed the Blue Blur by the tail and refused to let go, catching him completely off his guard. It thrusted him backwards, but not before Shadow's super high-speed reflexes got there first and he grabbed Sonic's hands.
Throwing his enormous weight backwards, he roared, forcing a tug-of-war, desperate to keep the Prince under the water. Sonic screamed, clinging onto the Ultimate Lifeform with everything he had, absolutely terrified. But it wasn't enough, as they broke part and the Blue Blur was thrown out of the water and high into the air, as the robot let go of him. No water tank for him. Eggman wanted him dead. He cried, as he sailed across the island, landing somewhere near the centre. The Human had thrown him that hard. The Blue Blur crashed through the trees and bushes of the jungle, and he landed with a bang. He screamed in pain. His delicate body barely surviving the landing, only just not breaking, and the roughness of the jungle floor, tore his smooth, beautiful skin to pieces.
He kicked and whipped his tail, desperate to get up and move, but he couldn't. Stuck on his back, he was going nowhere, and there was no sources of water anywhere. Finally, the huge mouthful of the life-giving liquid finally ran out, and he was left gulping nothing but air. His brain and body screamed as it was starved of oxygen, in excruciating pain as Sonic gasped, desperate for anything. He looked around to see no one, tears streaming down his face, as finally, he stopped fighting as the darkness closed in, and then he was plummeted into deep blackness.
Shadow roared. He didn't even stop and think, he just immediately ran straight after the Blue Blur. He had a matter of minutes to find him and bring back to water, otherwise he'd drown. For real, this time. He exploded out of the water, to see to his horror Sonic go sailing over the island, to the intense screams of his friends. But Shadow just ignored them, as the immediately raced onto the island. He was watching Sonic intensely as he soared through the air, and desperately trying to predict where he was going to land. The Blue Blur's life depended on it. Shadow had to be fast, really fast. As Sonic hit the jungle, crashing through the foliage, the Ultimate Lifeform immediately suspected where he'd land. He smirked, an area he knew well, as he immediately raced there.
The seconds ticked by, as Shadow ran through the jungle, to his fortress of solitude. He whirled around desperately searching, nothing. He roared in frustration. Further seconds ticked by. Sonic should be here, this was where he should have landed. He ran out on various directions. Nothing. More seconds passed by. He panicked, desperately searching for anything. Then he caught it. A smell. Subtle but distinctive, and completely out of place in a jungle.
Seaweed.
His eyes widened, remembering Scarlet and the water tank. His heart leapt. Aquahog! They stunk of the underwater plant in the air, but in the ocean, nothing, and right now, it was being Sonic's lifesaver. Shadow immediately followed the trail, and extremely quickly found him lying on his back. He was in a very bad way, badly cut and bruised. Unfortunately, he was out cold, but as Shadow checked him, his heart still beating, he'd only just passed out.
But Shadow couldn't hang around. That heart could stop in a matter of moments, but he smirked. He needed less then that, as he immediately grabbed the Blue Blur, his body surprisingly lightweight, and concentrated hard, zoning in on the now very familiar wooden pier. Suddenly, the he was surrounded by the pale blue, almost white light again, and pushing his teleportation power for everything it had, he screamed, desperately wanting safe passaged. He growled, as finally, they vanished, with another bright flash of deep white light.
With the sudden instantaneous surrounding of pure whiteness, Shadow landed, absolutely perfectly, a second flash of light announcing his arrival. But he hit the ground running, literally, the Blue Aquahog still in his arms, as he went straight down the wooden pier, as full speed, and before anyone could do anything, he dive-bombed himself and the Blue Blur right back into the ocean. As they sunk to the bottom, as Shadow immediately let go of the him, but Sonic just hung there limp and lifeless. The Ultimate Lifeform kicked him hard, again and again, as they fell to the ocean floor. Finally, one almighty kick to his chest, just beneath his throat, awoke Sonic with such a start, that he screamed in absolute pure terror.
Shadow grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook him back to his senses, as they hit the bottom. Sonic panted, gulping water hard, truly and utterly believing he was done for. That he'd never make it back to the water, let alone alive. He cried but Shadow just smirked, nodding in approval.
"Now we're even." He sniggered. Debt paid but it wasn't over yet.