Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
It's about time I do something different for once; maybe a small surprise. Or two. Depends, my first time for something I've never done. Oh well, there's always a first for everything, right? ...And to clear up any misinterpretation. Sonic only said that to provoke Shadow further, because Sonic still doesn't trust Shadow for some odd reason. (Hint-hint, remember the 'alleged' kidnapping?)
(Authoress' Warning: Some Lime content included in this chapter. Might not make sense, but it's my imagination.)
Broken HopeDamn that shithead for annoying him so much.
Ruby-reds dart everywhere. His burns were a little on the intense, bitterly painful side, but now… he had to rest… the scuffle was evenly too much for him, but so far, he was doing pretty well. Sonic had calmed down, and sat on the opposite side of the room, not even lifting a gaze to the ebony hedgehog that attacked him on cue. Shadow would also refuse to look at the azure hedgehog, claiming that he liked Amy… how can he like Amy? She was what? Fourteen? No way in hell.
Shadow ponders something, though. The time on the island, maybe that was only showing him that Amy was wondering if she ever felt feelings about him. Just… maybe. Then there were the clumping doubts surrounding his stomach pit, and his mind. He did intrude on her, and the fact that he will always endanger her… but then again, it was what … the memory of Maria… how she never gave up on him. Even in the desert.
Well, what could be expected of being the 'Ultimate Life Form'? He even thought he didn't deserve the title; nor did he deserve the right to live. His life is only filled with misery and pain, troubles only dragging around like an iron ball attached to his leg by the means of a shackle and chain. And anyone trying to get close to him, only become ensnared within the miles of chains lying around him in a dark, cold abysmal world. His pleas and cries for no more suffering went unheard from above. Only one true soul understood how he felt, but even if this soul did, another was trying to get close unintentionally. And already had those two been snared with the iron chains, unbreakable metal chains. Their bodies covered and snaked with them.
The first one taken down was … Amy… but now he was at it again. Why did his thoughts go right back at the beginning; to her? Sure, she was an annoying little self-minded girl who was obsessed with that freakish blue hedgehog who has no resemblance whatsoever to him in the beginning. Then she mistakes him for that freak on their 'first meeting'. Well, he really didn't expect to see her from behind. Much less be almost squeezed to death. Sighing, Shadow squirmed a little, positioning himself for a comfortable spot on the lounge couch. He did request for some time alone, and the room he is in was dimly lit. He liked it that way.
First, he was slowly letting his eyelids droop; his energy wasn't as efficient as it was, so he needed to rest a long while. Undisturbed. No interruptions. No interference.
His chest rose, and fell slowly in rhythmatic pace… totally relaxed, and falling fast asleep. His own thoughts drifted around in his mind, in an endless sea of grayish nights.
[Eggman's Main Base]
Jerking the daylights out of herself, her repeated coughing literally shook her to death. It hurt the inside of her lungs repeatedly, the inside surface becoming sore with each violent cough. Dark red liquid spilt from her breaths, exiting her mouth each time she kept on with her constant coughing. It was not her fault she was this way; Blizzard…. Or whoever it was, beat her almost to near death. Physically, she'd been beaten mercilessly. Bruises, and broken skin littered the surface of the top. Blood leaked from the broken areas, though most of them have halted bleeding.
Her emerald orbs looked around from her position upon the cold flooring, fast streaks of blue and red darting to and fro from outside of her small sanctuary, clashing and colliding with each moment that passes by, it's a miraculous thing that she is not the one being bludgeoned crazily, with no mind whatsoever. Well now, she does consider the cage her newfound place where she cannot be harmed any further than what damage has already been inflicted upon the body. Damn that doctor… he's killed the real Blizzard, and replaced it with a faking one, one that has no caring emotions. No senses of what friends are. No heart. No soul. No nothing. Just… senseless violence…
It's funny how she ended up like this. And everyone had been beaten by Eggman's robot. But… she thought she was seeing things. Amy saw Shadow trying to stop II from thieving her and Blizzard. Then, he had to save Tails, or else he would have fallen to his doom and gotten hurt… sweet Shadow… friends are important, and he'd find her soon enough. Faith and hope are strange, similar feelings. Amy believed in Shadow, just like she did those two years ago…
[Remembering that fateful day…]
It was that time; The ARK was still falling. Plummeting to give the earth its catastrophic fate. Amy had seen Shadow take off; she felt a lot for him, and though she loved Sonic, something about Shadow sparked a light within. The poor girl couldn't help but blush a deep pink at what he said when he departed immediately from the lab where she found him being… too quiet.
"I have to go now… I have to keep my promise to Maria… and you."
What did he mean by that? She never said anything to make him promise anything to her. Or did it involve the person named Maria, and somehow she reminded him of a memory? Amy was only walking down the silent, cold hallways, each breath emitting a puff from the low temperature of the air inside. Well, this place was huge, and it probably didn't have a big furnace, or for a source of heat. She wanted him to help, but she was scared. Why was she scared? Scared for Shadow's safety? Maybe.
She found the main laboratory room where Rouge, Tails, and Eggman returned after helping Sonic open the pathway leading to the Eclipse Cannon's central core. And whatever was down there; heaven knows what was in there anyway! Tails turned to the arriving Amy.
"Amy! Where have you been? I thought Sonic told you to stay put in here?"
She seemed a bit embarrassed to tell anything, and Rouge was getting suspicious in haste; you could tell from how she was just looking at Amy's posture, and recent entrance behavior.
"Um… nowhere… I was just taking a walk… since you guys didn't want me to come along! Hmph!"
"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you're lying. On the spot," Rouge sighed at her comment.
"…Um…. Ohh, fine! I was walking around, fussing on how you guys get to have all the fun, and I found Shadow. I… went and talked to him, trying to beg him to get him to help us out… he was refusing the offer, until I begged him to help, and that saving people was a good thing. He froze, and I… I saw him cry a little bit. I felt sorry for him, because I had no idea why he was crying for. He told me he had to go… he had to keep his promise to …Maria, and me… but I don't remember making Shadow promise me anything…" Amy was looking away, her cheeks showing a light red hue.
Tails snickered. Figures. Amy stared at him for that, and she crossed her arms.
"What? I kinda thought there was something between you and Shadow… haha…"
"Very funny, Tails!"
"Everyone, take a look! I…. I don't believe this! Impossible! T-that thing…" Eggman's stuttering caught Tails', Amy's, and Rouge's attentions all together. On the display screen, there was the cannon's core… and a HUGE monster blocking the way after a brilliant light flashed. Amy shrieked in horror. What… what was that thing?!
"It's my grandfather's work… the creature that was proclaimed to be the ultimate life form under his standards. There's no chance that Sonic or Knuckles can defeat that thing. It has the special machine infused to its back. This life support machine gives the creature its ability to resist physical attacks altogether…"
"What? What are they supposed to do, then? They won't be able to attack that thing at this rate!" Tails was angry at the fact.
"Wait! Look! It-it's Shadow!" Amy jumped at the sight of a black and red speck below the monster.
"Shadow? What the…?"
They all didn't believe it when the speck was actually Shadow, as the pink one pointed her index finger at the screen up close. But as time progressed, Sonic and Knuckles, the red and blue dots, escaped the monstrous Biolizard, heading to what looked like a replica to the Master emerald shrine. Shadow was left behind to fight the …thing. He may have had a good reason to let the other two escape while standing there. But the action commenced, the lizard trying to go after Shadow by eating him. But, the ebony hedgehog ran away from the mouth, going in a full rotation until, it stopped for a breather. He ran right at the monster and grinded up the pipes coming from its mouth, and hit the red light on the support system! He repeated this every time, avoiding the electrical black balls spouted right out of the creature's mouth, and the pinky eggs that appeared out of nowhere for Shadow to home in and hit the light the last time.
"YEAH! Hit it with everything you got, Shadow!! You're doing it!!"
Time seemed to slowly pass for Amy, as everyone turned to look at the tensed, dancing-wildly Amy Rose… apparently cheering for Shadow, over excitedly. She froze in mid-dancing, and made a bewildered look, then realized what she was doing, and tightened her posture with a tiny blush.
"What?"
Everyone shook his or her head.
[End memory]
Such embarrassment. She sighed to herself… as she slowly closed her eyes… feeling so fatigued. She missed him, and wanted to thank him for trying to save her. She wanted to let him know she cared…but how? Taking a deep breath, she sighed heavily, tiredness overlapping her awareness, until she faltered into a small slumber… letting go of her realities.
[Shadow's POV. Resting at the hospital as he drifts to sleep.]
Everything's so quiet… so relaxing. Peaceful if you may call it. I feel, as I am at home, just the silence being my friend. My pain is non-existent here. My sorrows never reach this solitude. No one to bother me.
Then comes my questioning. How is it that I have to have these odd feelings? I can't describe them, but I feel, as I have known them since I felt the help given to me in the past. I cannot thank her enough… for all that she's done. I wanted to break down when that metal monster took her away from me. But anger fueled my sorrow. I have to get them back…
But I cannot. Not under this condition.
Hm? My space is invaded by another presence. A similar feeling this one shares, except this one is in pain, yet longs for someone.
I… I have no idea who it is.
I'm just floating here, in the space that I created for my solitary mind, freely and careless. There shouldn't be anything else in here. It can't be… this is impossible. Not unless this is a different kind of circumstance I've never understood before, then there is an intrusion in my space. I have to force it out. I'm flying freely towards the source of disturbance, passing nothing but endless darkness that I formed to match my liking, that is, until I am frozen like ice in a hesitant moment. It's not a what, but who. And who it is makes me freeze in place, wide with shock and awe.
It cannot be! It just can't… be right…
A-… Amy?
The Carnation pink hedgehog was just, floating there in peace. Arms and legs dangling freely, and the seizure-like shaking of her bare body, waves of pain were crippling her. I could feel and see her plight. I… I could do nothing, could I? I am not sure until I approach the pink one, hearing the rapid breath she was performing. Her… her skin, and face… I slowly pulled off my right glove. I throw it away lightly behind myself, to lean and touch her face with my bare, black and red hand. The moment I do, I felt a moist spot. Felt like water, yet a bit thicker than that. Blood? …
She was hurt. I would have gone nuts if I had seen her damaged in reality. Who had done this… was out of the question. That doctor was truly going to lose his life for harming her. I swear, I will rip his limbs off and send him straight down to hell. Where he belongs. I could be imagining this. I could be hallucinating. But… this… she looked so real. The feeling of denial couldn't harass me at the moment.
"…I'm here…" I whisper words into her ear softly, a tone in which neither Amy nor anyone else has ever heard from my voice box. I wanted to be at her side, and tend to her. I was doing this, but there was more. A certain thing for what I've never done, or witnessed. Something I wanted to do, but never bothered with it… just maybe…
No!
She's fourteen!
How could I be thinking this?!
I can't! My body reacts to a surprise when a hand touches my face. A soft, small hand. I had been too much in thought to realize she was looking straight into my eyes. I could say mine were hypnotic, but to say the same thing about hers, that was it, neither of us would move an inch, not even a word was murmured. Amy looked into mine, and I looked into hers. I couldn't bare the thought… but…
She was just…
No…
I can't…
Damn it…
My heart melts a little, when I see her smile to me. As if I cared for her. I… I…
I was cut off. The feeling of a kiss, a soft, almost unnoticeable kiss upon my lips caught me off guard. Time seemed to stop in my world. She kissed me. She kissed me. More sensations opened up before me; I couldn't keep track of how many I felt at that point in time. We were still in contact with each other, as if our lips were sealed together with super glue. Hell, I've never felt something like this ever before. I can't remove myself from her, nor did I want to, but I was running out of breath. At least it felt like I was running out of air. Parting away from her slowly, I stared at her in bewilderment. This was wrong, because of her age.
But… she tasted… sweet.
Like candy.
I wanted more. More isn't just what was driving me for more of satisfaction from with the lip-to-lip contact. In the exact truth, she was all mine, to begin with. No one elses', just mine. I didn't care what Sonic even said to me anymore. There goes my stomach again… a small part of my mental mind wanted to hurl, and retract from this nonsense. Going against it, by ignoring the constant pestering it does as usual, I lock her in my own grasping kiss, tasting every portion of her mouth as I desired, tickling, pushing, and exploring my way into each and every crevice and space my mouth-based appendage could squirm its way into. Literally invading every single millimeter.
I didn't have a single care in the world when I removed my lips and tongue from her moaning, hungry mouth. But I wasn't going to stop there. No. Muscles in my groin pulse beyond what I could comprehend, that I was getting a hard-on or was it my fantasies being fulfilled to have an image of her in my mind. To preoccupy me whilst I rest on the outside in the world of reality? Maybe. This was just too good to be true. But I continued, no limits setting me in a defined boundary.
I suckle my way down, caressing her as Amy reacts to my butterfly=like kisses trickling down her chin, to her exposed neck, my lips catching a bit of blood, staining them. Lashing out my tongue in a smooth, soft manner that makes direct contact to her neck surface, perceiving that she was still enjoying this, as I wanted to please my newfound lover when the moist appendage rubs across the silken skin, or just some of her fur. Retracting it back once I hear her appeasing sounds, I stop, with short, gasping breaths. Something, or someone, was touching where it was not supposed to yet… I spied Amy being a little, on the naughty band by having her left hand rub the surface fur of my groin.
Somehow, there's a knot forming just about everywhere I could think of… throat, stomach, muscles, liver, and both intestines. Something was just screaming at me. Screaming at me to back away. This should not be happening!
Stop! Halt! No!
[End POV]
Shadow awoke at the flick of a wrist.
He snaps his eyes wide open and almost gasping for breath as if he were being choked a little. He jerks himself up into a sitting position, which he should not have done, and the end result was his burning arm and hand went into stinging sensation mode faster than a pistol firing it's bullet out of the barrel. His eyes, face, he was almost in complete shock at what had just… happened. What is he thinking? Why is he doing this? …Why did he enjoy it so much and neglect his other priorities… just for this?
"What the hell am I thinking? I… I can't… I can't love her…"
"What's going on? Shadow, are you alright?" Tails came to ask the rashly awoken obsidian and crimson-striped hedgehog, who had obviously been disturbed by something. Shadow, ignoring the stinging pain, shook his head very little sideways, indicating a 'No'. Sure of himself, Shadow was never going to fall asleep for some time, unless he wanted something like that recent dream… fantasy, whatever someone calls it, comes right back at him like a strongly-attracted magnet to metal.
Pausing for a moment or two, before the young two-tailed foxboy left, he pulled out the silver tinted Chaos Emerald. Could this be the sources of his troubles? Maybe so, but this is an utterly important jewel that Eggman cannot have. The digits tighten their grasp upon the emerald's surface, speckles of sparkles glittering about. What on Earth was he doing? He can't be using the Chaos Control now, or surely he'd get himself killed with those burns if he is caught or drawn into a trap, possibly a fight, even. The jewel was giving off a tremendous glow now, held in his burn hand and arm. The pain was easing up, the power of the emerald soothing his injury.
What was he going to do? He's put himself in a predicament whereas he does not want to hurt her feelings… at all.