"Let's face it. We're lost!"
"No we are not lost! I know exactly where we are going, Rat Face!" Insulted Shadow
"HEY WATCH WHO YOU'RE CALLING RAT FACE! PORCUPINE BREATH!"
"Or else what? You want a fight?!"
"Bring it on!" Shade was starting to get on Shadow's nerves. He was about to show the fox a thing or two, when Gem groaned, they froze.
"Is she waking?" Shade asked. Shadow peered at the fox
"How am I supposed to know?" Shadow answered. The orange hedgehog shuffled uncomfortably in the black hedgehog's arms. "Gem? Are you alright?" She didn't answer; she only fell deeper into what seemed to be a very deep slumber.
"Guess not." Shade sighed. "Well, shall we continue?"
"I suppose so" Shadow answered. They continued to, what they hoped, was Angel Island. All of a sudden it went dead quiet.
"Something's not right here" The midnight hedgehog stated.
"What is it?" Asked Shade.
"Not sure, but even though I haven't been on this planet long, it's never been this quiet." As the pair of them listened into the dead silence, Shade's ears began to perk; since he was a fox he could pick up sound quicker than Shadow.
"Something's coming this way!"
"What is it?" The hedgehog asked eagerly.
"Not sure. It sounds a lot like wind, but different, y'know?"
"Wind?" Shadow thought for a moment, and then an image popped into his head. "Maybe it's him" He muttered.
"Who?"
"A sort of friend. Here take Gem." Shadow shoved the limp hedgehog into Shade's arms.
"Where are you going?!"
"To catch a hedgehog" Shadow said slyly, as he rushed off at a speed he wouldn't have been capable of without his modified shoes.
"Catch a hedgehog?" Shade repeated, confused. He looked at Gem's face; it looked so peaceful, as if she was no more than in a peaceful sleep. She wasn't. Gem was having an awful nightmare, but it seemed so life like, so real. She was running from a spirit of some sort, with no fixed form, just a cloud of mist with dark yellow eyes. They were glowing at her, as if mocking her for her fear.
"Leave me alone!" She cried, her voice echoing in the blackness of her mind. She could hear its laugh all around her.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Gem screamed. Its laugh grew so loud it hurt. She fell to her knees, holding her ears
"Please, stop! It hurts..." She begged as it drew nearer, its eyes glowing brightly. "Please!" The hedgehog began to sob. It began to talk.
"You're going to be mine forever, trapped, as I remain free to take over your body!" It looked around. Gem could do nothing but listen. Her panic began to rise. "It won't be long now!" It touched her face. 'It's so cold' Gem thought. 'Please somebody help'
"Gem..." Shade gently rubbed the orange hedgehog's head. Her face had changed. It now looked as if she was in serious pain, and all Shade could do was watch her suffer. "Please hurry Shadow"
Somewhere else, Shadow was searching. His eyes were alert. He spotted a gust of dust only a few miles ahead. He decided to follow it. Shadow put his shoes through their paces, trying to keep up with the thing in front. It began to slow and he caught up with it. 'Where has he taken me?' Shadow thought. He had entered a huge city. Then Shadow saw him. It was Sonic. He was talking to Rouge about something.
"Yeah, I miss him too. But he's gone. There's nothing we can do" Sonic said
"I know that, but I miss him so much." Rouge was crying, holding something in her hands. Shadow decided to surprise them.
"Hey faker. You're not talking about me, are you?"
"Shadow?!" Rouge smiled and Sonic's expression was hard to read.
"What's up faker? You not happy to see me?" asked Shadow
"Not sure about that." Sonic was trying to hide the fact he had missed the hedgehog.
"Well happy or not, I need your help"
"My help? What for? I mean can't the ultimate lifeform handle everything"
"Don't even start Sonic. All I need is for you to show me where Angel Island is"
"Knuckle's place. What you wanna go there for?"
"I need his help. For a friend." Shadow was about to lose his temper with Sonic. His cocky look was too much for him. He'd seen it before and the only thing it had gained Sonic was a good kicking. Sonic could see could see that it annoyed the hedgehog. He smirked.
"That is it, you pathetic faker!" Shadow rushed at the blue hedgehog, fists clenched. He was going to hurt him, bad, when Rouge suddenly got in the way,
"Stop it the pair of you!" Rouge warned. "Shadow, who needs Knuckle's help, and why?"
"A hedgehog named Gem; she saved me from G.U.N......"
"How?" Sonic interrupted.
"Don't know, but she has this gem around her neck. She went crazy and nearly killed Shade..."
"Who?" Sonic interrupted again
"Shade, a fox who looks a bit like me, with the same colouring of his fur"
"Uhm...that's strange Shadow..." Rouge said "but continue."
"Well I rammed her into a cupboard....."
"That is so you Shadow!" Sonic teased
"Shut your mouth hedgehog and let me continue..." He was quickly losing his temper with Sonic again. "She woke up and collapsed again, it's just, before she went crazy, the gem was glowing. The thing is it looks like part of a chaos emerald!"
"You finished yapping yet?!"
"SHUT UP!" Shadow shouted. Rouge listened and, hearing the part about the chaos emeralds, caught her attention fully 'Chaos emeralds. That girl has a chaos emerald!' Rouge thought.
"Are you going to help me or what?" Shadow asked. Sonic looked at Rouge
"What do you think?" he asked
"I think we should help her"
"O.k. then" Sonic said. He looked at the hedgehog. He thought he saw a flash of a smile, but when he blinked it was gone.
"Thank you" The black hedgehog said
"Well we can't just stand here. Let's go!"
"Where is that damn hedgehog?" The fox muttered, stroking Gem's fine quills; they were wet from sweat. The fox laid her in the shade of a tree and went to find some water to cool her off with, hoping not to be too long. Gem was shuffling, trying to wake up. She was struggling with the thing in her mind: she couldn't let it win, and she couldn't let it take over her. But it was hard, and she was scared.
"I won't let you beat me!" Gem cried into the darkness; her voice echoed around her. She felt trapped with no way out. The only way was to except and to let the thing win, but she wasn't about to give up her freedom that easily.
"There's no point fighting, I will win!" She heard it hiss
"NO! I... won't... give...up!" She struggled, getting weaker. Whether she liked it or not, eventually it will win. Gem didn't have a hope in the world of winning. All she could do was fight, until someone helped her.
"Here we go Gem. I found some water" Shade had returned with fresh cold water in a flask for her, only to find nothing had changed. He ripped a bit of his shirt, dipped it in the water and wiped her face. She gasped, eyelids flickering, tossing slightly, then returning into a painful slumber. The fox watched her helplessly
"Where are you Shadow?" Not long after he'd said that, he could hear that same sound as before. Shade stood up seeing a cloud of dust heading right for him and Gem. The Orange hedgehog opened her eyes; she'd won the battle for now. Gasping she pulled herself to her feet, looking around, puzzled and afraid. She saw Shade and wrapped her arms around him.
"AAGGHH!" He jumped making Gem release him. She started backing away, confused. Shade looked at her. His ears folded back in worry, not sure how to respond.
"What's wrong?" She asked
"Gem, are you alright?" He asked.
"I'm fine. Are you ok?"
"I'm ok, but what happened. You freaked out back there"
"I... I don't know, but when I passed out, something happened. A ghost of some sort tried to take over me, control my body, leaving me trapped in my mind forever. I narrowly made it out of there. I think it's because of this..." She stated fingering the Gem around her neck. She tried to take it off
"It... it won't come off, Shade. Help me!" The fox tried to pull it off with no luck
"It's bloody stuck on you" Shade exclaimed. Gem began to panic.
"What am I going to do?!" Shade looked around saw the dust still coming
"Sit tight. I think Shadow's coming back"
"Okay, but I'm scared of this thing. It's haunting me." Her eyes were red from crying. "I don't want to hurt anyone again" Shade wrapped his arms around her.
"Shhh. It'll be okay. I promise." Gem nuzzled her face against his chest, gripping at his shirt, crying
"I'm scared." She whispered
"I know you are, but you've got to be brave"
"What's going on here then?" Someone said. Gem looked at a blue hedgehog standing next to Shadow, there was also a white bat with blue eye shadow on. She was very pretty. The fox stared at the new people recognising one of them.
"Hey, you're Sonic the hedgehog!"
"Yep that's me..." Sonic said. He spotted Gem. "And who is this?" He asked bending down in front of her. Sonic wiped the tears from Gem's cheeks. His touch was soft and gentle. She saw Shadow and, breaking Shade's embrace, ran into his arms
"Oh Shadow, I was so scared. There's this thing in my mind and it wanted to take over me. I was so frightened." Shadow could do nothing except put his arms around the hedgehog and try to comfort her. Shade stood up peering at Shadow. He narrowed his eyes.
"There, there Gem. It's O.K." Shadow exclaimed
"Don't let it take over me. I don't want to hurt anyone. Please Shadow"
"I promise I won't let it" He looked at Sonic, who was snickering, and then to Rouge, who shrugged.
"I'm so frightened." She said burying her face in his fur. Shade scowled
"Well, let's not waste anymore time"
"Fox boy's right! If you wanna get to Angel Island, we better hurry. It'll be dark soon" Stated Sonic, his eyes on the sun, which was steadily setting behind the trees. Making day become night
"I can see in the dark because I'm a bat, so we can still keep going even when it's night" Stated Rouge.
"I suppose Rouge, but..." Shadow peered at Gem who was still holding on to him nuzzling into his fur. "What about Gem. Should she really travel at night?"
"Don't know. Ask her?"
"Gem..." She looked at Shadow, eyes teary and red "What do you think?"
"I don't care. The sooner I get this thing off, the better"
"Then that's settled!" Rouge clapped her hands. "We keep going!"
"Are you lot finished gabbing, I want to go already!" Stated Sonic, impatiently.
"Don't be so inpatient Sonic!"
"Ok Rouge. Can we PLEASE go now?!" He asked sarcastically
"Of course we can." Gem answered, scowling slightly. 'Impatient Git' She thought.
"Well come on then" And with that Sonic sped off towards the setting sun
"Wait for us!"
"No we are not lost! I know exactly where we are going, Rat Face!" Insulted Shadow
"HEY WATCH WHO YOU'RE CALLING RAT FACE! PORCUPINE BREATH!"
"Or else what? You want a fight?!"
"Bring it on!" Shade was starting to get on Shadow's nerves. He was about to show the fox a thing or two, when Gem groaned, they froze.
"Is she waking?" Shade asked. Shadow peered at the fox
"How am I supposed to know?" Shadow answered. The orange hedgehog shuffled uncomfortably in the black hedgehog's arms. "Gem? Are you alright?" She didn't answer; she only fell deeper into what seemed to be a very deep slumber.
"Guess not." Shade sighed. "Well, shall we continue?"
"I suppose so" Shadow answered. They continued to, what they hoped, was Angel Island. All of a sudden it went dead quiet.
"Something's not right here" The midnight hedgehog stated.
"What is it?" Asked Shade.
"Not sure, but even though I haven't been on this planet long, it's never been this quiet." As the pair of them listened into the dead silence, Shade's ears began to perk; since he was a fox he could pick up sound quicker than Shadow.
"Something's coming this way!"
"What is it?" The hedgehog asked eagerly.
"Not sure. It sounds a lot like wind, but different, y'know?"
"Wind?" Shadow thought for a moment, and then an image popped into his head. "Maybe it's him" He muttered.
"Who?"
"A sort of friend. Here take Gem." Shadow shoved the limp hedgehog into Shade's arms.
"Where are you going?!"
"To catch a hedgehog" Shadow said slyly, as he rushed off at a speed he wouldn't have been capable of without his modified shoes.
"Catch a hedgehog?" Shade repeated, confused. He looked at Gem's face; it looked so peaceful, as if she was no more than in a peaceful sleep. She wasn't. Gem was having an awful nightmare, but it seemed so life like, so real. She was running from a spirit of some sort, with no fixed form, just a cloud of mist with dark yellow eyes. They were glowing at her, as if mocking her for her fear.
"Leave me alone!" She cried, her voice echoing in the blackness of her mind. She could hear its laugh all around her.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Gem screamed. Its laugh grew so loud it hurt. She fell to her knees, holding her ears
"Please, stop! It hurts..." She begged as it drew nearer, its eyes glowing brightly. "Please!" The hedgehog began to sob. It began to talk.
"You're going to be mine forever, trapped, as I remain free to take over your body!" It looked around. Gem could do nothing but listen. Her panic began to rise. "It won't be long now!" It touched her face. 'It's so cold' Gem thought. 'Please somebody help'
"Gem..." Shade gently rubbed the orange hedgehog's head. Her face had changed. It now looked as if she was in serious pain, and all Shade could do was watch her suffer. "Please hurry Shadow"
Somewhere else, Shadow was searching. His eyes were alert. He spotted a gust of dust only a few miles ahead. He decided to follow it. Shadow put his shoes through their paces, trying to keep up with the thing in front. It began to slow and he caught up with it. 'Where has he taken me?' Shadow thought. He had entered a huge city. Then Shadow saw him. It was Sonic. He was talking to Rouge about something.
"Yeah, I miss him too. But he's gone. There's nothing we can do" Sonic said
"I know that, but I miss him so much." Rouge was crying, holding something in her hands. Shadow decided to surprise them.
"Hey faker. You're not talking about me, are you?"
"Shadow?!" Rouge smiled and Sonic's expression was hard to read.
"What's up faker? You not happy to see me?" asked Shadow
"Not sure about that." Sonic was trying to hide the fact he had missed the hedgehog.
"Well happy or not, I need your help"
"My help? What for? I mean can't the ultimate lifeform handle everything"
"Don't even start Sonic. All I need is for you to show me where Angel Island is"
"Knuckle's place. What you wanna go there for?"
"I need his help. For a friend." Shadow was about to lose his temper with Sonic. His cocky look was too much for him. He'd seen it before and the only thing it had gained Sonic was a good kicking. Sonic could see could see that it annoyed the hedgehog. He smirked.
"That is it, you pathetic faker!" Shadow rushed at the blue hedgehog, fists clenched. He was going to hurt him, bad, when Rouge suddenly got in the way,
"Stop it the pair of you!" Rouge warned. "Shadow, who needs Knuckle's help, and why?"
"A hedgehog named Gem; she saved me from G.U.N......"
"How?" Sonic interrupted.
"Don't know, but she has this gem around her neck. She went crazy and nearly killed Shade..."
"Who?" Sonic interrupted again
"Shade, a fox who looks a bit like me, with the same colouring of his fur"
"Uhm...that's strange Shadow..." Rouge said "but continue."
"Well I rammed her into a cupboard....."
"That is so you Shadow!" Sonic teased
"Shut your mouth hedgehog and let me continue..." He was quickly losing his temper with Sonic again. "She woke up and collapsed again, it's just, before she went crazy, the gem was glowing. The thing is it looks like part of a chaos emerald!"
"You finished yapping yet?!"
"SHUT UP!" Shadow shouted. Rouge listened and, hearing the part about the chaos emeralds, caught her attention fully 'Chaos emeralds. That girl has a chaos emerald!' Rouge thought.
"Are you going to help me or what?" Shadow asked. Sonic looked at Rouge
"What do you think?" he asked
"I think we should help her"
"O.k. then" Sonic said. He looked at the hedgehog. He thought he saw a flash of a smile, but when he blinked it was gone.
"Thank you" The black hedgehog said
"Well we can't just stand here. Let's go!"
"Where is that damn hedgehog?" The fox muttered, stroking Gem's fine quills; they were wet from sweat. The fox laid her in the shade of a tree and went to find some water to cool her off with, hoping not to be too long. Gem was shuffling, trying to wake up. She was struggling with the thing in her mind: she couldn't let it win, and she couldn't let it take over her. But it was hard, and she was scared.
"I won't let you beat me!" Gem cried into the darkness; her voice echoed around her. She felt trapped with no way out. The only way was to except and to let the thing win, but she wasn't about to give up her freedom that easily.
"There's no point fighting, I will win!" She heard it hiss
"NO! I... won't... give...up!" She struggled, getting weaker. Whether she liked it or not, eventually it will win. Gem didn't have a hope in the world of winning. All she could do was fight, until someone helped her.
"Here we go Gem. I found some water" Shade had returned with fresh cold water in a flask for her, only to find nothing had changed. He ripped a bit of his shirt, dipped it in the water and wiped her face. She gasped, eyelids flickering, tossing slightly, then returning into a painful slumber. The fox watched her helplessly
"Where are you Shadow?" Not long after he'd said that, he could hear that same sound as before. Shade stood up seeing a cloud of dust heading right for him and Gem. The Orange hedgehog opened her eyes; she'd won the battle for now. Gasping she pulled herself to her feet, looking around, puzzled and afraid. She saw Shade and wrapped her arms around him.
"AAGGHH!" He jumped making Gem release him. She started backing away, confused. Shade looked at her. His ears folded back in worry, not sure how to respond.
"What's wrong?" She asked
"Gem, are you alright?" He asked.
"I'm fine. Are you ok?"
"I'm ok, but what happened. You freaked out back there"
"I... I don't know, but when I passed out, something happened. A ghost of some sort tried to take over me, control my body, leaving me trapped in my mind forever. I narrowly made it out of there. I think it's because of this..." She stated fingering the Gem around her neck. She tried to take it off
"It... it won't come off, Shade. Help me!" The fox tried to pull it off with no luck
"It's bloody stuck on you" Shade exclaimed. Gem began to panic.
"What am I going to do?!" Shade looked around saw the dust still coming
"Sit tight. I think Shadow's coming back"
"Okay, but I'm scared of this thing. It's haunting me." Her eyes were red from crying. "I don't want to hurt anyone again" Shade wrapped his arms around her.
"Shhh. It'll be okay. I promise." Gem nuzzled her face against his chest, gripping at his shirt, crying
"I'm scared." She whispered
"I know you are, but you've got to be brave"
"What's going on here then?" Someone said. Gem looked at a blue hedgehog standing next to Shadow, there was also a white bat with blue eye shadow on. She was very pretty. The fox stared at the new people recognising one of them.
"Hey, you're Sonic the hedgehog!"
"Yep that's me..." Sonic said. He spotted Gem. "And who is this?" He asked bending down in front of her. Sonic wiped the tears from Gem's cheeks. His touch was soft and gentle. She saw Shadow and, breaking Shade's embrace, ran into his arms
"Oh Shadow, I was so scared. There's this thing in my mind and it wanted to take over me. I was so frightened." Shadow could do nothing except put his arms around the hedgehog and try to comfort her. Shade stood up peering at Shadow. He narrowed his eyes.
"There, there Gem. It's O.K." Shadow exclaimed
"Don't let it take over me. I don't want to hurt anyone. Please Shadow"
"I promise I won't let it" He looked at Sonic, who was snickering, and then to Rouge, who shrugged.
"I'm so frightened." She said burying her face in his fur. Shade scowled
"Well, let's not waste anymore time"
"Fox boy's right! If you wanna get to Angel Island, we better hurry. It'll be dark soon" Stated Sonic, his eyes on the sun, which was steadily setting behind the trees. Making day become night
"I can see in the dark because I'm a bat, so we can still keep going even when it's night" Stated Rouge.
"I suppose Rouge, but..." Shadow peered at Gem who was still holding on to him nuzzling into his fur. "What about Gem. Should she really travel at night?"
"Don't know. Ask her?"
"Gem..." She looked at Shadow, eyes teary and red "What do you think?"
"I don't care. The sooner I get this thing off, the better"
"Then that's settled!" Rouge clapped her hands. "We keep going!"
"Are you lot finished gabbing, I want to go already!" Stated Sonic, impatiently.
"Don't be so inpatient Sonic!"
"Ok Rouge. Can we PLEASE go now?!" He asked sarcastically
"Of course we can." Gem answered, scowling slightly. 'Impatient Git' She thought.
"Well come on then" And with that Sonic sped off towards the setting sun
"Wait for us!"