A/N: Grief made Shadow want revenge when Maria was killed. He doesn't want to be a revenge-seeker so he hopes that Cammy will be okay and stay alive so he doesn't go crazy from more grief and try destroying the world again. That's what I meant.
Chapter Five
Sonic waited impatiently for Shadow and Cammy, then ducked when the base exploded, looking out at it in horror. What had happened? Why didn't they meet with him outside? Did they make it out before it exploded? It was too soon! Cammy said ten minutes, it had only been three!
"Tails! Can you pick up Shadow and Cammy's Emeralds?! Are they okay?" he called out. Tails studied his Emerald and the machines in the Cyclone.
"They weren't in the base when it went off, Sonic. It looks like the Emeralds are back in Station Square." he reported.
"Then let's go! We've got to see if they're okay!" Sonic exclaimed and watched the Cyclone transform into the Tornado II again. Knuckles jumped onto one wing as Sonic leaped on the other. "Let's go! I'm not using Chaos Control again this close to a military base! Besides, I'm a little tired out from the fight."
"What fight?" Tails asked, curious. Sonic shook his head and the fox took off for Station Square, still wondering about what had happened in the base.
Shadow woke when pain surged through his arm. He sat up and gasped at his ruined arm, then again when he saw Cammy lying beside him, unconscious and barely breathing. He shook her shoulder.
"Cammy? Cammy, wake up! What happened?!" he cried and looked at the Emeralds in her arms for a clue. "You used Chaos Control." he murmured in realization, "And this is what it did to you? Is that why you never used it after that one time?" He looked up at a clock on the entrance of the zoo. Two twenty. Only ten minutes before the school expected the children to be back! He grabbed the Red Emerald. "Hang on, Cammy! I'll be back for you!" he exclaimed and held it up. "But first, those men that are stealing animals! Chaos Control!"
Shadow warped to the shack where the men were still loading cages onto a truck. Ignoring his hurt arm, he used a Fire Somersault to knock them over and then threw them into a cage of their own. He grabbed on, used Chaos Control again, and warped to the warden's office.
"Animals in the shack outside of zoo! These men did it!" he blurted out to the startled men, then cried in pain and warped again, this time to the Chao children.
Amy was all tied up to a tree with the Dark Chao dancing around her, laughing. Shadow appeared and grabbed his bag as Omochao finally arrived, still looking for help.
"Shadow! You're free! You're hurt? What happened to you?!" Omochao yelped.
"Time to go, kids! Grab on to me! Omochao! In the bag! Now!" Shadow barked. The robot jumped and flew in as the Chao gathered around Shadow and held onto both him and each other. "Chaos Control!" They warped to the school, leaving Amy behind.
"Wait! What about me?! I don't want to be an Indian sacrifice anymore!" Amy wailed. "Ooh! Shadow, you're just like Sonic! A great big brat of a hedgehog! I don't care if you're the ultimate life form, you're a spoiled, rotten brat!"
Shadow appeared in the school and let all the Chao kids run to Ms. Chao. Prof. Chao looked surprised.
"Shadow? Why did you warp them back? We thought you'd bring them the normal way, on a bus!" he exclaimed. Shadow tossed down the bag and cried in pain again before warping away. "Shadow? Shadow! Get back here this instant and explain what's going on!" the principal shouted angrily. Nurse Chao ran to where Shadow had been standing and peered down at the drops of blood.
"Professor Chao! Shadow's injured! I think the stitches on his arm broke! We've got to get him to a doctor!" he declared. The principal nodded.
"Ms. Chao! Call the teacher's aide so we can track down Shadow!" he declared. Ms. Chao scowled.
"Professor Chao! Shadow is the teacher's aide! Did you forget that already?!" she snapped.
"Oh yeah." Prof. Chao remarked bashfully. "Sorry."
The black hedgehog returned to the grass as the Tornado II flew overhead and Sonic and Knuckles jumped down from it to him. He ignored them and struggled to pick Cammy up. So much warping, and the fight in super form had weakened him, Shadow couldn't hold her and just knelt there, crying in pain and worry.
"Shadow! What happened?! Why didn't you meet me at the base? What's wrong?!" Sonic cried, running up to him. He cringed as he came to a stop, but quickly wiped the expression from his face. Tails landed the plane and changed it back into the Cyclone, watching them worriedly.
"I can't move! I don't have any strength left! I've used it all up and Cammy's dying and I can't do anything to help her!" Shadow cried, left arm hanging limply and shredded. Sonic pulled Cammy away and held her out to Knuckles. "Save her, Sonic. Do something!" Shadow pleaded, "First Maria, now her.... I won't be able to take it!"
"We'll get you both to a doctor." Sonic promised and turned to the echidna, "You take Cammy. I'll deal with Shadow."" he told him. Knuckles gave her a look over and frowned.
"She's really weak, Sonic. I don't know if she could make it or not." he replied, taking her in his arms.
"She's got to, Knuckles. She's part ultimate life form, and they can't die." Sonic told him, wrapping Shadow's good arm over his shoulders and hefting him to his feet. "Tails! Call ahead! Tell them we're on our way in with injured hedgehogs!" he called to his best friend. Then he winced and sighed. "Myself included." Sonic added in a low voice. He limped ahead quickly with Shadow running to keep up.
"What?! You're hurt too?!" Tails cried as he made the call. Knuckles ran after the hedgehogs, carrying Cammy in his arms.
"Of course he is! Didn't you see his arm and leg, Tails?! Sonic's been mangled as bad as Shadow's arm!" he called back. Tails gulped and began to follow the group deeper into the city.
"I wonder how Amy's doing." he muttered to himself.
Several hours and a pair of surgeries later, all three hedgehogs were asleep in hospital beds, bandaged, stitched and looked after by nurses and friends. Tails headed back to the zoo, untied Amy and brought her in to see the three hedgehogs. Cammy was extremely drained of energy, too weak to even breathe on her own. Shadow's arm was restitched and then put back into a cast while the rest of his injuries were bandaged. Sonic had similar treatment for his arm and leg. Just before going to sleep, he loudly complained how it would make him a slug, then kept an eye on Shadow for as long as he could. Shadow immediately konked out after a strong dose of sedatives was pumped into him to keep him from shrieking about his treatment and the addition of the cast. He still hated any medical facility that reminded him of G.U.N.'s bio-laboratories.
"So, what happened? How did my hero get all banged up like that?!" Amy demanded to know from Tails and Knuckles.
"I don't know! Sonic said they were in a fight in the base, but that was all he would say. I just want to know how he broke his leg. Sonic's never broken his leg before." Tails muttered, "And if you want to see Cammy, she's in the room next door. She doesn't look good. She's pale and hasn't woken up."
"Hey, I think Sonic's coming around." Knuckles remarked as Sonic shifted and then opened his eyes to look up at them. "Hey, guy. Welcome back to the world of the living." the echidna joked.
"Ugh. How long was I asleep?" Sonic grumbled as he sat up carefully.
"About two and a half hours." Tails replied. "Shadow's really out of it. He hasn't moved at all since falling asleep and he keeps muttering 'Maria' and 'Camilla' over and over. He's driving me nuts."
"He's still blaming himself. How is Cammy?" Sonic answered, then asked. The group looked grim.
"Not too good. She looks more wiped out than you when you first used Chaos Control with that fake Chaos Emerald." Knuckles told him.
"The Emerald sapped out her energy and since she's a hybrid, it sapped even more than usual to get a full effect. That's why she's so weak." Sonic muttered, thinking aloud, "Like the fake did to me. It sapped more to get the full effect of a warp."
"What happened in the base? Why were you cut up with a broken leg? How did Shadow and Cammy get messed up like that?" Tails asked him. A nurse came in and wrote something out on his chart, then gave him a tray with a bowl of soup on it, then went to check on Shadow. She felt his forehead, stuck a thermometer in his mouth and waited. She pulled it out, checked it, frowned, then left.
"I don't like the way she did that." Sonic muttered, "Anyways, we went down to get the other Emeralds but G.U.N.'s general had a surprise waiting for Cammy and Shadow. A giant snake monster called Predator. We destroyed its power supply and it turned out that Predator was Cammy's lost friend, Ben." Sonic frowned and shook his head. "I think I broke my leg snapping off one of the power poles. I kicked them all pretty hard. Anyway, Ben begged Cammy to kill him so he could stop living as a monster and Cammy did. She turned super, just like me and Shadow, but Shadow and Cammy were losing power throughout the fight and it was a struggle to keep them in super form to do the job. She used Chaos Blade to finish him and we all went back to normal. I gave them a couple of Emeralds and told them to meet me outside the base before it exploded. I warped out first. Shadow didn't look like that when I left and the base exploded sooner than Cammy said it would."
The nurse returned to check on Shadow once again. Sonic merely scowled and glared at her until she finished her duties and left the room once more. Amy walked over to him and poked at Shadow a little.
"Shadow? Are you awake?" she asked softly. Shadow made a face and opened his eyes, scowling at her.
"I am now." he grumbled and sat up slowly, "My head is killing me and I hate this cast." He looked around, saw no one else in the room, and panicked. "Cammy? Where's Cammy?! Where is she?!" he cried in worry, then cried and winced in pain, falling back on the pillows.
"She's next door, sleeping. Take it easy." Amy told him and smiled. "I brought markers with me! I'll decorate your cast!" she exclaimed and brought out the box of markers.
"You will do no such thing." Shadow muttered, still a little groggy. Amy stuck her tongue out at him and set to work on coloring the cast on his arm. "I'm being punished, right?"
"Let's see, pink hearts here and red kisses here and some rainbows and flowers and my name here. Ooh, and a kitty over on this side!" Amy remarked as she happily colored the plaster, covering it in drawings. "Let me squeeze in one more puppy and... there! All done! Look at how sweet it is!" she exclaimed, stepping back so everyone could see it. Shadow grumbled and pouted as Tails and Knuckles examined the decorated cast and started laughing.
"I don't deserve this, you know." he muttered, "Great, I'm gonna be stuck with flowers, bunnies and rainbows for another three months." He would have gone on complaining if Ms. Chao, Prof. Chao, Nurse Chao, Omochao and the doctor hadn't walked into the room. "Omochao! Hello, everyone! How are you? I'm great! See? Nothing to worry about." Shadow tried to lie his way out of pity, smiling and waving his bad arm at them, "Look, my arm's healed! It's a miracle!" A small shift and Shadow yelped in pain. "Ow! No, it's still sliced up. Never mind." he sighed.
"I told you to be careful in that shed! What did those men do to you?!" Omochao demanded.
"I wasn't at the shed. G.U.N. kidnapped Cammy so I went to save her. They had her attack me, then had a giant snake attack the both of us and then the base exploded while we were still in it. That's why I look like this." Shadow grumbled, "And don't ask to sign the cast. The pink hedgehog already worked her marker magic on it."
"So where's Cammy?" Omochao asked. Shadow looked down and sat back.
"She's next door and very weak. She needs to rest." Sonic told the robot.
"Are you happy now, Shadow? Now she won't chase you around anymore. Isn't that what you wanted, huh?" Omochao scolded the black hedgehog.
"I didn't want her like that. I tried to save her, but she didn't want to be saved. It's my fault she's like that in the room." he murmured. The doctor looked Sonic over, handed him a crutch and told him to take it easy for the next few weeks.
"Take it easy?! That's torture!!" Sonic wailed as he was helped out of bed by Tails. Shadow snickered a little and tried to look innocent when Sonic glared at him. "Shadow, you were making fun of me. I heard you snicker." he pointed out. Shadow shrugged and smiled at him. The doctor turned to him, stuck a thermometer in his mouth and wrapped his arm up in a sling. He waited, pulled the tube out and checked it.
"Fever's gone. You can go now as well. Go easy for a few days and try not to get into as much trouble as Sonic here. You kinda look alike. Are you his brother?" the doctor remarked curiously. Shadow swallowed and looked to him for help.
"Yeah, that's my brother, Shadow! He's been overseas a few years, checking out the sights. He came over here to tell me all about it and to visit for a few weeks. We kinda got in a wreck when he wouldn't let me use his car as a roadster." Sonic quickly butted in. "Shadow, you're absolutely right. I do much better on my feet than behind the wheel of your sports car. I'm real sorry I mangled the fender! I'll pay you back! Promise!" He laughed forcefully, hoping it sounded convincing.
"Next time, let your brother drive. He seems to have more sense than you do." the doctor muttered and frowned at his chart. "And the other hedgehog, Camilla Maria Hedgehog. How is she connected with you? This is the second time she's come in with severe exhaustion."
"She's Shadow's new girlfriend!" Amy volunteered before Sonic could shut her up. Shadow looked mad enough to jump out of bed and strangle her with one hand. "She got tired out again, but we're not sure why."
"Well, she should recover soon enough. I give her another two days before she's ready to go legend hunting again. She's really into her field work, Miss Hedgehog is. I'll call her sister and let her know she's in again." the doctor replied and left the room. Shadow climbed out of bed and stomped to Amy.
"Why did you tell him that?! She's not my girlfriend! I owed her for saving me and I paid her back! That's all!" he snapped at her. Amy stuck her tongue out at him.
"That's not what I heard. Tails said you were mumbling her name in your sleep." she pointed out. Shadow stepped back and snorted.
"That doesn't prove anything." he muttered and left the room with the Chao following behind. Sonic watched them go and sighed sadly.
"And there he goes again." he muttered and hobbled along, "Come on, guys. Maybe we can get some ice cream at the hotel and rest up some. We'll come back later and visit Cammy." The others looked at each other, shrugged and followed him out.
Shadow watched the clock on the table next to his bed. It read the same time for nearly an hour. Omochao sat next to him, also watching it. Sighing, Shadow picked up a screwdriver and began to open the clock, making yet another attempt to fix it on his own.
"Couldn't you just buy another clock? That one jams no matter what you do to it." Omochao asked, "You know, the person who trashed that clock did it for a reason."
"I can't afford a clock. I can't afford new gloves, or blankets, or food." Shadow muttered and sighed, setting the screwdriver down. "Now I only have one arm working. That makes it even harder for me. How can I take care of the Chao kids like this?" There was a knock at the door and Shadow walked over to it, pushing down on the staircase to open it. The Chao kids and Ms. Chao stood at the bottom.
"Hello, Shadow! The kids all made 'Get Well' cards for you! Come along, children!" Ms. Chao exclaimed happily and flew up the stairs as the Chao kids climbed up into the attic with their cards.
Inside, the kids presented Shadow with their handmade cards, laughing and hugging him. He laughed with them, patting them all on the heads as he looked at each card. Soon, they all put the cards in a little pile on the table and trooped off, waving goodbye to him. Ms. Chao flew up to Shadow and looked concerned.
"Shadow, take care. The kids love you very much. You're the best friend they always wanted. Be careful in the future." she told him, "We just wish you would take some kind of payment for the work you do here."
"I'm doing this for free to pay you back for your kindness. You helped me when I was in trouble, so now I'll help you. Besides, seeing the Chao kids so happy is payment enough." Shadow replied and looked out the window at the city. "I guess I should go visit Cammy. See if she's woken up at least." he murmured and glanced in the mirror to see if he looked all right. With that, he headed downstairs and started walking to Station Square's hospital.
Shadow arrived at the hospital, asked where Cammy's room was to make sure he wouldn't get lost, then headed up to see her. As he stepped out of the elevator, Shadow saw Cammy step out of the hospital room, dressed in a conservative brown business outfit, high heels, and a pair of no-nonsense glasses. She walked down the hallway as Shadow ran up to her.
"Cammy! You're awake!" he exclaimed, "I'm glad you're okay!" The green hedgehog stared at him with wide, sea green eyes before turning and running down the hall in screams.
"Help! Help! Security! There's a killer here! Rapist! Murderer! Help!" she screamed as Shadow blinked and chased after her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him.
"Cammy! What's the matter with you? Don't you recognize me? It's me! Shadow the Hedgehog, remember?" he asked her. Cammy shook and screamed again, pounding her fist on him.
"Let me go! Let me go! Help! Killer! He's trying to hurt Cammy!" the hedgehog screamed. Shadow jumped back, surprised.
"But, you're Cammy! Aren't you?" he asked the green hedgehog who stood paralyzed before him.
"No, I'm her twin sister, Vanilla Crema Hedgehog. Stay away, or I'll call security!" the green hedgehog threatened shakily. Shadow looked back at the room, then walked over, opening the door and walking in. "No! Leave my sister alone!" Vanilla yelled and chased after him. She found him standing next to Cammy, who still lay asleep. She had regained some strength and was now breathing on her own. "Go away!" Vanilla hissed.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone. Cammy is my friend. She saved my life and I just wanted to see if she was okay." Shadow replied softly and reached out to Cammy. He stroked her cheek a little, then pulled away. "When will she wake up?" he asked the twin. Vanilla jumped slightly and looked a little scared.
"Uh, um. I... I don't know. Maybe in another couple of hours." she babbled, blinking a few times very quickly, then looked worried. "At least, that's how long it took last time. Why did she lose energy this time?"
"You don't know?" Shadow asked, surprised that Cammy's own sister was confused by her weakness. "Didn't she ever tell you about Chaos Control?" Vanilla shook her head. "She really did keep it a secret. Well, I think it'll be better if she told you." Shadow remarked and headed out of the room. "Um, you wouldn't happen to have a nickname or something?"
"Vanni. Cammy's twin. How did she save you, Mr...?" Vanni trailed.
"Shadow, just call me Shadow. And she saved me twice, I think. Once from smugglers, then again from a secret base. I'm not sure about the last one, I was sort of out of it." Shadow replied.
"Oh, wonderful. Smugglers, secret bases, ancient ruins, relics and artifacts, centuries old riddles and legends.... Why couldn't Camilla get a nice, quiet job and settle down?" Vanilla griped, "Look at me. I have a nice job, a loving husband and I don't have to go tramping around the world racking up a huge medical bill just to get my hands on some new story about those silly Chaos Emeralds she's been talking about." Shadow held up his Emerald.
"You mean this?" he asked, showing her the red Chaos Emerald. Vanilla looked at it and yelped.
"Eek! You've got one of them! Quick! Hide it before Cammy wakes up and decides to figure out where it came from and test her crazy theories on it!" she squealed and pointed at a trash can. "Throw that nasty jewel away! Eek! Get it away!"
"You're a lot different from Cammy." Shadow remarked softly and left the room. Vanilla watched him leave and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned back to her sister and sat down beside her.
"Cammy, how on earth did you get involved with that creepy hedgehog? And how did you end up like this again? I thought it was a one time thing. I told you your work was going to do you in, but do you listen to your sister? Nooo." Vanilla scolded, "You just go on, zipping around the world with that backpack full of parchments, scrolls, books, and artifacts. And where did you get that horrible armor outfit? It's so skimpy!" She sighed again and opened her brown purse, pulling out a phone. She dialed a number and waited for an answer.
"Hello, Mother? Mother, it's me, Vanilla. I just wanted to let you know that Cammy's done it again. She's gotten herself in trouble again and now she's in the hospital because of exhaustion and... no, she's fine. She's sleeping right now." the twin chatted, "Mother, she's really done it this time. She's gotten herself involved with this rascal that looks like serious trouble. Well, he seems polite enough, but I don't like the looks of him. Have you ever heard of a black and red hedgehog, Mother? It's positively chilling! He looks like a maniac killer! No, he didn't try to kill me, Mother. He's got a cast on one arm and it looks like some little girl's been scribbling all over it and.... No, Mother, I don't know if Cammy's dating him. She hasn't said a word to me all day. Never mind. She's doing fine and I'll talk to you later, Mother. Kissies! Muah, muah!" Vanilla smooched and then hung up.
"Errm." Cammy groaned softly and slowly opened her eyes. "Vanni? Is that you?" she asked softly. The twin nodded and leaned closer to her.
"Cammy! You're awake! How are you?!" she asked cheerfully.
"You called Mother again, didn't you?" Cammy grumbled, "You know she hates my work." She shifted and yawned. "I feel like somebody sucked my bones out of me." she muttered and eyed her sister. "Vanni. I thought I heard a guy's voice in here. Was it Shadow, a black and red hedgehog?"
"I knew it! You are involved with that crazy-looking young man! Where did you dig him up this time, huh?! Some wild jungle tribe in South America?!" Vanilla scolded, "And what's this about you messing with smugglers and secret bases?! Why, oh why, can't you ever leave it to the police?! That's what they get paid to do!"
"Boring. And Shadow is a teacher's aide from a Chao kindergarten. He's a friend of mine." Cammy grumbled, "Now help me up." Vanilla helped her sister sit up and continued to lecture her about her work.
"And then there's that whole thing last year where your assistant, Ben Tucker, disappeared and you couldn't remember a single thing that happened. I told you it was dangerous work!" she added. Cammy winced and fought back tears. Vanilla noticed and stopped lecturing. "Oh, Cammy. I'm sorry for bringing him up. It's just that I get worried about you, twin." she whispered and hugged her. "I don't want to lose you to some 'mysterious force' before you get your feet back in reality." Vanni smiled gently, "So, what did you find on this outing of yours? Besides the danger and intrigue and the high risk of death?"
"I found someone I liked, I learned some new things about myself, and I learned that some people have to leave us." Cammy replied, "And that they never really leave as long as I hold them in my heart." Vanni watched her and smiled again, shaking her head.
"Astounding, Camilla. You've turned a day at the zoo into a race against death. And somehow you've actually managed to win. Again." she remarked and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Rest up, twin. I'll come back soon. I left the trainee hanging at the office. A secretary's job is never done." she laughed and left the room. Cammy watched her go and sighed. Then she put a hand to her cheek and looked puzzled.
"Was I dreaming, or did Shadow actually touch my face? I guess I could ask him the next time I chase him down." she muttered and lay back down, pulling the sheets up as she drifted off to sleep again.