Sonic Who?
A Silent Ending
The Shadow loomed over The Blue Demon's corpse and then slowly glanced over at The Mastermind. An almost deafening silence echoed throughout the powerless lair as the black and red hedgehog stood alone in an almost statue-like state. He suddenly heard voices coming from corridor. Some people must have entered into the techno wasteland. Blinding flashlights could be seen coming around the corner of the corridor as police officers rushed into the room completely ignoring The Shadow.
"What the hell is this?" one of the officers asked.
Six of them had entered with three surrounding both of the corpses. After an officer checked the pulses of The Blue Demon and The Mastermind they determined the two be dead on arrival; DOA. The Shadow, standing by the wall silently, observed the officers as they called for investigators and ambulances. Twenty minutes had gone by before both the investigators and the ambulances arrived to take pictures of evidence and collect the bodies. It was a somewhat busy scene as police officers and investigators observed the battle worn room and tired to piece together what they thought happened.
"Looks like a big battle went on in here." one of the officers commented.
"And it must've been a recent one." an investigator added observing a piece of burned metal on the ground. "I'd say from the looks of this place something powerful must've caused the power to go out here and throughout the entire city."
"And what do you suppose this huge machine is here in the middle?" the officer had approached The Mastermind's life supporter. "Perhaps it's what took over the city's power."
"Perhaps, but we'll have to get a team down here to do some extensive work on this place. I doubt that whoever built the machine was just some regular guy."
"Either that or it could've been The Mastermind..."
The two men looked at each other with some slight disbelief. But then again it was possible that The Mastermind built the entire machine on his own. Of course they weren't sure of this so no conclusions were jumped to.
"That's another possibility. We better get to work, these next few days are gonna be quite long." the investigator said walking back for more supplies.
"Right, and I'll have the area closed off. We can't have any reporters snooping around until we find out everything we know about this strange place." the officer replied.
By then the bodies of The Blue Demon and The Mastermind had been taken away from the scene in the ambulances. The Shadow stayed around to for a few more minutes before leaving the main tower silently and leaving the techno wasteland. On his way out many fire trucks had arrived to put out the numerous fires that had been started by the hedgehogs' chase into the wasteland. But no one seemed to have noticed The Shadow as he calmly walked through the confusion and out into the plains heading towards the city.
A light breeze blew through the field as the hedgehog hiked through the tall discolored grass. The usual gray clouds hung in the sky with the sun's rays barely shining through. Another breeze came from behind The Shadow but a giggling voice accompanied it. Feared Chaos appeared hovering over The Shadow and keeping up with his pace.
"And so the tale ends of the cursed lives of those with corrupted minds." Feared Chaos spoke to no one in particular. "Wasted away like useless object, driven to death by desire and dreams. How silly were they to even have those dreams of ideality."
The Shadow shooed away a fly buzzing around his head.
"One misused the of responsibility and exalted himself for his own personal gain. But Feared Chaos knows that such powers can last only so long in such filthy minds. He was poisoned and therefore knew of not of the past or the future, but of the now. Living his days with power and strength but became oh so weak on the inside."
The Shadow sighed observing the peaceful yet dreary scenery.
"Demise was evident in one's future, a fall that would end in shame. Memories that were lost became apart of the now and his inside weakness overruled one's body. Such an entertaining but tragic story of how power is like riches; it comes only to leave and move on to someone new. What does one think of this story?"
The Shadow stopped to sit on a nearby rock staring at the city. Feared Chaos hovered lower and closer to the hedgehog but he didn't seem to notice her.
"Yes Feared Chaos does agree. That story is such a foolish one but Feared Chaos has more. Yes another of a lost soul where dreams were never there and control was the only driving force. Feared Chaos found it hard to believe that one was so driven by control but it was possible. Artificial love and artificial respect is what existed but one must've believed them to be their true forms; such a silly mind she had."
The Shadow kicked at some dirt and then looked up towards the slow moving clouds.
"But something must've happened. Feared Chaos is not sure but something did happen. One must've searched for true love after all but got nothing but artificial love. Maybe the strange shining light above the clouds inspired her... or driven her to see beyond the boundaries of her controlled life; to see what it was like without restraint. Or maybe her controlled life forced her to search for more comfort from a shining light that could never ease the pain."
The Shadow clasped his hands together resting his chin on them as if going into deep thought.
"How does Feared Chaos know one asks? Feared Chaos could see the heart of the demon on his face ever since the girl's demise. Feared Chaos was with the demon for so long but wanted to wait and see where the demon would go for comfort. But if that story did not joggle one's mind then perhaps this one will. The story of one who searched for pain... or even mistaken pain for something that he never did see clearly. Yes brilliant was one but pain obscured his clear vision of life. So obscured was his life that pain became a priority... a need for acceptance if you will."
The Shadow watched a small bug crawl by his feet searching for food in the dirt.
"And so one began to seek for acceptance by means of having pain inflicted upon himself. Such very stupid behavior if one should as Feared Chaos. But jealousy occurred when one could see the demon harming others as if they were better. But he put up with this neglecting behavior and tried harder to achieve acceptance. Soon driven out to the edge by jealousy and could only see one path with his obscured vision: prove yourself of power and fear. Feared Chaos saw this dream favorable although unwise when abused."
The Shadow scratched the back his right ear.
"So one did receive power and one did create fear but when it came down to getting what he dreamed of so much..." Feared Chaos paused to shake her head in shame. "Such a disappointing tale he had. One refused to realize that the demon is not forever... yet... it's what he sought for. I could've given him the pain that he needed and one would still be powerful and feared... So sad, so sad. Perhaps Feared Chaos should move on to another story. A story so well known that only Feared Chaos could tell it with a passion of enjoyment. One should listen to the tale of a fool's heart and a dreamer's naive mind."
The Shadow stood up and paced around the rock slowly with his hands behind his back.
"He was so lonely, oh yes he was. But diligent was one at first a very long time ago. As the years progressed he became lonely often wondering if anyone else existed. Until one a demon came along and dazzled his mind. Afterwards one knew that there others out there, he was so sure of it! After seeing another being of a superior mind, one could only think of who else would he see. Yet time dragged on and he became very lonely again. Feared Chaos was a prisoner though, my powers being to great and feared of had Feared Chaos trapped inside a small world of only me. I tried to corrupt one's mind but he resisted."
The Shadow stopped and rocked back and forth on his feet gazing at the city once more.
"Until one day when another appeared and created such powerful feelings in one's heart. He didn't know what to do but Feared Chaos did. Befriending the other, one was now very fond of her and wanted more. Feared Chaos urged him on but he resisted... damn his resistance. But Feared Chaos watched at one's emotions took over... and all was lost for the other. What Feared Chaos did not mention was that the other was of a pure heart and had pure intentions. Curious was she and also very brave and daring. But Feared Chaos saw opportunity in this. Feared Chaos could see that one had a weak mind and a weak heart for sorrow and sympathy, and this became a tool to an escape that could only be so devastating for such fools."
The Shadow sat down on the rock and closed his eyes.
"Such a naive heart could only come from a comforting past, yet Feared Chaos knew that one was not prepared for such corruption in her life. And of course when the other let his emotions take control corruption did come and she was scarred for life. Distorted and confused, one knew only to escape from such a horrid place but Feared Chaos made sure that she was forever burned. Filling one's mind with guilt and imperfection... one now saw herself as worthless like so many other beings do. Entertaining isn't it? As for the other he suffered not only physical death, but also emotional death for the love of his life."
The Shadow began to slouch over almost falling asleep but immediately woke up from the shock.
"Fools they were but the girl did do something that Feared Chaos did not see; she changed herself, became someone knew. Now one has a silly dream of capturing Feared Chaos in hopes of bringing back her perfection. But Feared Chaos knows that her heart will be lost in the riches she will seek after. And so ends the tales of corrupted minds. Does one think twice of his actions now?"
The Shadow yawned and stood up beginning his hike towards the city again. Feared Chaos hovered after the hedgehog.
"Or maybe one does not need to think of his actions because one does nothing of influence on the environment."
The Shadow began to pick up his pace going into a light jog. Feared Chaos kept up with him.
"Yes one is truly like a shadow in the midst of all of these tales. A silent shadow that did nothing, said nothing, yet experienced so much in so little time. Feared Chaos commends one for he is neither corrupted nor a dreamer, but like a person's shadow. Silent, ineffective, but observes so much."
The black hedgehog finally broke into a run, the air jets on his shoes turning on automatically. Feared Chaos stayed by his side as the two zoom through the vast field staying just outside of the city.
"Perhaps Feared Chaos shall cross paths with one again. And Feared Chaos is sure that one will not be corrupted when the second meeting comes. But when Feared Chaos does think about it, of all the beings that have crossed paths with the corrupted fools, you were not affected by their corruptive behavior. Maybe there is more to you than meets the eye... but that shall be left for another time."
Still keeping her speed, Feared Chaos ascended into the sky and disappeared. The Shadow continued on running until he the grim city was no longer at his side but rather behind him. The hedgehog continued to speed on into the vast hills zooming through the tall grass. And when he was miles away from the city, The Shadow slowed to a stop on top of a hill and looked back at the grim city in the distance. For some strange reason the gray clouds began to part just above The Shadow. A ray of sunlight shone down onto the hedgehog but for the first time he suddenly had an expression on his face; a fearful expression. It seemed as if the sun's light brought him to life suddenly giving him a personality.
"What if she comes after me next?" The Shadow asked fearfully.
The clouds closed up and the black hedgehog traveled on emotionless in the shadows of the sun.