Disclaimer: Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are copyright to SEGA. Athair the Echidna was originally copyright to Sonic Archie Comics and Sonic Underground. I changed him alot, but they still get credit. Lemon the Echidna, Tenchi the Hedgehog and all related characters that don't belong to SEGA belong to me, Zeldafreak-Vikki and my friend, Alyssa the Bat!
Well, I hit my goal of 60 reviews! I never even dreamed of getting this far so I've got to thank you all! This next part is where you'll find out even more about the six projects as somemore appear in our midst, starting with the "troublemaker". And there's gonna be some comedy mixed in with the suspense to lighten things up before they get scary. So enjoy!
PART 2 - ONE YEAR LATER...
CHAPTER TWELVE - RAINY SUNDAY
She smiled as his eyes focused in on her. It was one of those rare moments that seemed to warm up her cold heart. She always wondered if he was actually seeing her or was it just coincidence?
She approached him shyly, not sure how to let him know she was there. Should she tap him on the shoulder? Or maybe touch his arm? Perhaps even say his name, but she was so nervous, she knew she couldn't talk without sounding stupid.
"It's alright."
She looked up and realized that he was smiling, his eyes focused right on her. He was looking right at her! She could feel her heart beating in her chest as he lightly touched her chin so that she was looking up at him. She smiled and blushed as she leaned in closer to him... and closer...
"LEMON!!!!"
Lemon's eyes snapped open and she saw two green eyes glaring into hers. She gasped and sat up straight. She was sitting in a bar, behind the counter. She must've fallen asleep while cleaning the last of the dirty glasses for the night. Most of the echidnas had left and now Knuckles was sitting in the corner while their grandfather, Athair, was sitting right in front of her. His strict and heavily accented voice woke her up even more than his stern look.
"Woman, will you quit slackin' off!" he yelled on his lowest volume possible.
Lemon scowled at him. "Oh, Pop, it's not like I do it every night!"
"But you do," he retorted. "Every night, you sit there and get this funny look!"
Knuckles chuckled as he set his glass on the table he sat at. "That's because she's thinking of her boyfriend, Pop," he said.
Lemon bared her fangs and clenched her fists. "Why you stupid-" she began. But Athair cut her off.
"What boyfriend?!" he demanded. "My granddaughter has a boyfriend?! WHO?!"
Lemon rolled her eyes. Knuckles kept that smirk on his face as he continued to embarrass his sister.
"It's a hedgehog."
At this, Athair's eyes became even wider behind his glasses. There had always been a strong prejudice between the hedgehogs and the echidnas. Since Athair was over a hundred years-old, he had lived during the wars and wished he could still kill hedgehogs. But it had been a law for years to stop the killing, much to the old echidna's dismay.
Lemon sighed. "Relax, Pop, I haven't seen him for monthes now. And Knuckles said..." She stopped, unable to finish. At this, Knuckles' smirk disappeared. He looked over guiltily at his sister, wishing he hadn't been the one to tell her the bad news.
"Lemon, I-" he began. But Lemon turned away.
"I'm going to bed."
The two guys watched silently as Lemon walked up the stairs and shut the door with such a force, several glasses fell and shattered. Athair glared back at Knuckles, who cringed.
"Boy, why did you not tell me about this," he asked in a severe tone. Knuckles gulped as his grumpy grandfather sat down across from him.
"W-Well, the guy got killed the night the island moved, I figured it didn't matter!"
"There is no excuse," he snapped, silencing Knuckles. "A hedgehog! Heh! Good thing he's dead or I would've killed him!"
"And it's now nine 'o clock in the morning here in Station Square! As usual, most businesses have opened in the last hour and the kids are out already enjoying their summer vacation! Tell us, Bill, how's the weather?"
The weatherman, Bill, chuckled before speaking. "Well, it's a bit chilly after that downfall last night, which is still going on! We expect this rain to continue on 'til the afternoon so dress warm, kids, it's cold!"
A black and red fist came down on the radio, instantly shutting it off.
"Cold... Don't need the radio to tell me that," grumbled Shadow as he sleepily poked his head out from under his covers. He was living in a small apartment, only a block away from the other hedgehogs. He liked living on his own, in a small neighboorhood where it was nice and quiet. This way, he could spend a few hours every morning in silence, just the way he wanted.
He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of eyes. His quills were slightly bent and his blankets were a mess. Another nightmare. He sighed as he got up and started making his bed. Then he went over to the only window in his small room and opened it. Immediately, the calm sound of rain filled his ears. He allowed himself a small smile as he left his room into the main part of the apartment. There was another window which he had left open the night before. He went over and closed it, seeing that the rain had made the hardwood floor wet. He waved his hand at it and it immediately vanished. He went along past the only two pieces of furniture he owned, an old cusion chair and a beaten up couch he'd found at a garage sale, into the tiny kitchen, where he made himself some toast. He didn't feel like eating much this morning, his mind preoccupied on his nightmare.
Nightmares were a usual thing for people like him. That was the small price to pay for having such powerful Chaos spells at his disposal. He had them almost weekly, and lately, they had all been the same. A black echidna, with claws for knuckles and a hunger for power in his eyes...
Shadow looked down at his hand. It was mostly black, except for the horrible scar going over his ring and pinky finger. His eyes followed the scar all the way up his arm to his shoulder. Then he looked away, almost wishing that he couldn't see them. But he remembered being blind and reminded himself just how bad that was, not being able to see anyone... see your best friend...
He shaked his head, willing himself to forget about that. It wasn't a big deal, that he had never seen some of his friends' faces. Of course, there was always the fear that she would come back...
'Quit thinking about her,' he thought to himself. 'It's no big deal that you've never seen her face!'
'Yes, it is,' replied another part of him. 'What will happen when that island comes back in a week? What if Lemon the Echidna comes back?'
He growled as he finished buttering the toast. He was about to eat it when the telephone rang. He jumped and looked over to it. He almost forgot he had one! He went over and picked it up.
"Hello?" he said uneasily.
"Shadow?! Hey, man, where are ya! We've been waiting here half an hour!"
Sonic. Waiting for what?
"Wha-? What're you talking about?" he asked.
Sonic sighed. "Don't you remember," he said impatiently. "We're all going downtown today! You still coming or what? We're all outside the café but you locked the door!"
"Ah!" yelled Shadow. He had completely forgotten! "Wait, I'm coming!"
He hung up and quickly scrambled into his room, grabbing his gloves and fire-rings, the piece of toast in his mouth. He went to the little wooden dresser he had and pulled out a pair of pants that were far too big for him and began to pull them on. Because the population of the furries in the city had gone up, the humans had asked that anyone of them going into the city wear at least some clothing, just to make some people feel better about it. Shadow didn't really care too much, although whatever clothes he tried to wear, they kept falling off. But he was also thankful for it, because it gave him the chance to hide his scars. He secured his belt, making sure the extra-baggy pants wouldn't fall off, grabbed his trenchcoat and bucket hat, stepped into his shoes and began to run down the stairs outside.
The building he lived in was only two floors and the first floor was a café that Sonic had started since Dr. Eggman had finally gone to prison. All of the hedgehogs ran it together, Shadow being in charge of locking it up every night and opening it up the next morning. It was Sunday, so he hadn't opened it early like he usually did. Sonic and Amy looked over as Shadow slipped down the last of the stairs and came to before them, an apologetic look on his face.
"Oh, there you are," said Sonic, snickering. "Jeez, I should've realized earlier you had slept in."
"Sorry," replied Shadow groggily. Amy stepped closer to him, a concerned look on her face.
"You don't look too good, Shadow, are you ok?"
Shadow blushed. "I-I'm fine. Just...tired..." He pulled on his hat a bit, hoping to hide his burning face. His skin was usually very tanned but today, it was rather pale, so it was easy to see if he was blushing or not. He tried not to look at Amy as they walked down the rainy sidewalk, Sonic and Amy sharing an umbrella.
They reached downtown after a few minutes. Even though it was a rainy Sunday, it was still very busy at the mall. Sonic and Shadow let Amy lead the way through the mall as she checked out her favorite clothes store. She was trying on some new dresses when Sonic finally let himself talk.
"Shadow, what's the matter?" he asked, keeping his voice down so that Amy wouldn't hear in the changing rooms.
Shadow sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "Ah, it's nothing. I just haven't been sleeping much..."
"Well, that's obvious," said Sonic. "Did you hear about that break- in at G.U.N?"
Shadow nodded. Only a week earlier, someone had snuck into the military's base and released a secret weapon. It sounded alot like when Shadow was released by Dr. Eggman and it scared him. But he couldn't remember who else was trapped in there. He had a pretty good idea who, but he kept it to himself.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'm fine."
Sonic didn't seem so sure. But he let it go as Amy walked out in a little black dress. Both Sonic and Shadow stared as she did a little twirl for them, giggling.
"Well," she said. "Whaddya think?"
Sonic went a little red, blinking. "It's perfect..." he said. Shadow chuckled and elbowed his friend teasingly. Amy laughed and went back to get changed. By the time Amy had found some of the clothes she had wanted, the three of them went to the food court, where they shared some Chinese food. Shadow half-listened as Amy was chattering on with Sonic about what they were going to do next and failed to notice someone was sneaking up behind him.
The person casually walked by the table and grinned craftily as he slid a small knife right at Shadow's throat. At that moment, however, Shadow dozed off and let his head slump down a bit, the knife barely missing him. The criminal cursed under his breath as he walked on, Shadow never knowing he had nearly been murdered.
"Hey, Shadow!" called Amy, waking him up. "I think you need a cheer- up! C'mon!!!" He cringed as she pulled him up and began to drag him back into the mall, Sonic following with an amused look on his face.
An hour later, Shadow left the mall holding a bag of clothes Amy had picked out for him. Of course most of them were too big on him, but she said that they'd look nice on him. Amy and Sonic were going to spend the rest of the day together. Shadow decided he'd go home and try to get some more sleep. He'd try his new clothes the next day, when he had to work.
Outside, the mysterious criminal grinned as he memorized where his rival lived, still gripping the knife in his hand.