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 a lot, 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, about Hope's End. That turned out to be someone I actually know and it's been dealt with. Hopefully, things will go back to normal. Geh. Anywho, there's going to be a mixture of comedy along with the action as Shadow deals with Athair and Lemon on one side and Yami (who becomes more dangerous everyday) on the other. Heh, I'm so evil. ahem And I'm gonna focus on Arashi a bit more, because I wanna show just how cool his character is! And sorry this is a bit late, I've been busy what with Christmas coming up. Anywho, on with Chapter 17!
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - THE CALLING
"SHADOW! HURRY UP, WE GOTTA OPEN IN FIVE MINUTES!"
Sonic growled as he impatiently waited for Shadow to open up the café for the day. He had learned the hard way that Shadow was a very heavy sleeper and it always took him a long time to get up in the morning. But sometimes that helped, even though he'd never tell anyone. For the past twenty minutes, Sonic had had the chance to simply stand there and organize all of his confused thoughts.
First of all, there was the mind-attack on Shadow. Arashi hadn't said a word about who had done it and why. He knew asking wouldn't help as Arashi wanted Sonic to remember ARK on his own, which was quite frustrating for someone as impatient as himself.
Arashi was definitely hiding things from them. Even after a whole year of staying with them, he barely ever talked about himself. Most of the time, people usually forgot he was in the room, standing there, silent as the grave. At first, it was because his limited emotions tormented him with sadness and pain, which he always kept bottled up. But once he had learned happiness, Sonic had been hoping his new father would tell him more about his mysterious past.
But it hadn't been so. In fact, he seemed even more secretive these days. What was the deal?! Didn't he trust Sonic enough to tell him anything?!
"SHADOW!" screamed Sonic, becoming even more frustrated. His yell echoed in the quiet morning air so loudly that flock of birds lit from a nearby tree, scared out of their little minds.
But it had served its purpose. Shadow grumbled as opened the door, stepped out stiffly and shut it behind him, sending a piercing glare down at Sonic, who simply glared right back. Obviously the black hedgehog hadn't forgotten about Sonic's bold little decision-making spree from the night before. And when Shadow was angry with someone, he didn't forget about it.
The haggard-looking hedgehog yawned as he began to step down the stairs towards Sonic, going extra-slow to rub in whatever guilt could be found. Sonic's ears folded back as he clenched his teeth, feeling the anger already. Judging from how Shadow looked, he was going to get violent soon. Better try to straighten this out, he thought.
"Aw, c'mon, Shad," he said, trying to steady his voice. "You're not still mad at me, are ya?"
Shadow stopped where he was, halfway down the staircase. His red eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Look," he said, his voice scratching in his throat. "You're lucky enough I didn't kill you last night, you STUPID-BLUE-IDIOT!" Sonic gulped, half-expecting Shadow to suddenly attack him. "And I'm not going to restrain myself next time, even if you and Amy-!"
BAM!
Sonic gasped as he watched the wall next to Shadow blow up, accompanied by the sound of a gun being fired. The black hedgehog stood there, stupified as pieces of wood and brick fell around him, his eyes very wide. If he had taken one more step...
"Argh, I was right!" yelled a terrible voice from inside, with a heavy accent. "It's a hedgehog!"
Shadow gulped and leaned forward, looking inside. In return, a shotgun poked out and pointed straight at his chest. He looked down at the threatening barrel aiming at his beating heart, then looked up into the eyes of an echidna. A very old and dangerous echidna.
"Y-You must be Athair."
"Pop, how many times do I have to tell you! The hedgehogs and echidnas are friends now!" yelled Knuckles as he sat across from his grandfather, them being the only customers in the café on this quiet day, although the atmosphere was quite tense.
"It woke me up!" replied Athair angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Shadow, who tried not to look up as he wiped the bar counter clean. Sonic stood beside him, trying his best not to laugh as he organized several glasses.
"I'm gonna toss out the garbage," murmured Shadow, heading for the back-door. Sonic watched him go, an eye-ridge raised in confusion.
"But there isn't any garbage...Shadow?"
Shadow practically gasped as he finally breathed fresh air. They were heading into the last week of summer and the weather was beginning to cool down, especially with all of the rain that had been soaking Station Square lately. He closed his eyes as he felt the cool wind run through his quills and tried to forget about all of the problems and worries that weighed him down. If this kept up, he knew he wouldn't last much longer. How could he end all this?
"Ahh... Where is it...?"
Shadow opened his eyes and looked over as his ears picked up the sound of a troubled voice. On the sidewalk by the small street behind the café kneeled an echidna that looked even older than Athair and much more dangerous. Shadow was just about to run inside when he realized that the troubled outsider was feeling around with his hands for his cane, which he had dropped a metre away from where he was searching for it.
He was blind. Just like Tenchi.
"Ohhh, where are you, you stupid cane!" grumbled Arthur as he continued to feel around. He was very surprised when he felt a hand grip his shoulder and tried to jump away.
"ARGH! Who's there!" He was about to wave his fists at the stranger when he felt his cane placed into his hands. He calmed down and very carefully felt out the hand on his shoulder. No spiked knuckles and no sign of any nails. Not human, not echidna.
"A hedgehog...?" He got to his feet and looked in the direction the hand was coming from. "Is-Is that you, Tenchi?"
Shadow blinked and recognized that voice as Arthur's, the one who had taught him to read Braille when he was Tenchi. He allowed himself a smile and replied with a simple, "Mm-hm."
"Well, Tenchi! Glad to hear you're okay! That Knuckles kid said you were dead or something!"
Shadow chuckled. "Nah. It was a close call but I'm alright. What're you doing here?"
Arthur scratched his head as he spoke. "Ahhh, that girl Lemon said Athair would be here. I wanted to visit but she had to stop at some store or something, I dunno. So I got a bit lost. What're you doing here?"
"I work here at the café."
Arthur's misty eyes seemed to smile on their own. "You remember who you are then?"
"Yeah," replied the hedgehog, keeping an eye out to make sure no one was listening. "I can even see you now."
Arthur grinned. "Ah yes, I knew you'd find your way. Lemon will be happy to hear thi-"
"No! You can't tell her!"
There was a silence as Shadow felt his face burn. Arthur raised an eyeridge, then burst out laughing and slapped Shadow's back much harder than necessary. While he laughed, the poor hedgehog led his friend into the café, where he quickly made him promise he wouldn't say a word to Lemon and sat with Athair and Knuckles and began speaking to them in their native language, which made both Sonic and Shadow stare. But they were distracted when the door opened and Lemon walked in.
On reflex, Shadow yelled and quickly dove behind the bar, knocking over several glasses, one hitting Sonic's foot.
"OW!!! Why, you-!"
"Sonic?"
Sonic looked up and came face-to-face with Lemon, who was watching him with a puzzled expression. He smiled and kicked Shadow, then leaned forward on one elbow, hoping she wouldn't notice.
"What can I do for ya, Lemon?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, hiding how nervous he felt for Shadow if she found him there.
"Sonic," she said, sounding both shy and frightened. "Is Tenchi here? Tenchi the Hedgehog?"
"Uhhh..." Sonic grinded his teeth, not liking how he would answer. Lying was something Sonic tried to avoid and even though he had a reputation for being sneaky, he wasn't the best liar.
"Well... Tenchi..." Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Shadow running his finger aross his throat, warning him not to mess this up. "Tenchi's... not around anymore..." He tried his best to look sad, although the guilt made him want to smile and say it was all okay, that Tenchi was right behind the counter. But he knew that would be near-fatal.
Lemon's eyes seemed to become very watery in the silence that followed. She sniffled and cleared her throat, wishing her tears would go away. "Oh..." She looked up into Sonic's green eyes. "What happened to him?"
Sonic threw a fake sigh and leaned forward, looking very serious. "It was the most tragic event I've ever seen in all my years of adventuring. Poor Tenchi sacrificed his very life to stop a crazy monster, which tried to kill us and use an ultimate power for his own selfish gain!" Sonic made several dramatic gestures as he spoke, making Knuckles and Athair stare while Arthur listened with a grin. Shadow himself slapped his forehead, knowing where this was going.
"G-Go on," said Lemon, completely hooked. Sonic continued on, trying his best to sound tragic. "After a spectacular fight to the death, we thought we had won until the monster used all of his remaining strength to throw a giant piece of metal at us! But Tenchi, using his supersonic senses, anticipated the move and pushed me out of harm's way... only to meet his own untimely end as it crushed his spine." He lowered and shook his head, his conscious laughing as Shadow blushed from his hiding place. Lemon gasped and leaned forward, all of her attention focused on Sonic. "And then-?"
"And then," continued Sonic, forcing himself to work up some tears in his eyes. "I ran to my fallen comrade, hoping to save him, but he said it was too late-" He paused here, pretending to sob as if reliving some horrible memory. "I asked him, 'What can I do, Tenchi?' and he replied, 'Tell Lemon that I lo-'"
"YOU NIMROD!" Sonic was cut off as Shadow came out from his hiding place, jumped up into the air and kicked Sonic right in the side of the face, sending him into the wall. The black hedgehog landed on his feet angrily and was about to shout when Lemon cut in.
"Hey! Who do you think you are, interrupting our conversation like that!" she shouted, vexed that she could not hear the rest of the story.
Shadow looked to her and his gaze softened considerably as their eyes met for the second time. Lemon was taken aback by his stunning red eyes, which made her heart skip a few beats. Shadow gulped as he blushed and faced her completely, Sonic, rubbing his head and grumbling, forgotten on the floor.
"I, uh, I'm sorry," he said nervously. "I'm sure he was telling a great story and all but-"
"Whatever! Who are you?" interrupted Lemon impatiently.
Shadow paused, then spoke, feeling his voice shake from his heart beating wildly in his aching chest.
"My name's Shadow," he said. "I live upstairs."
"Upstairs?" Lemon blinked. "Oh, you're the one who let Pop stay with you! Thanks a lot for that! It really helps us out, y'know?"
"Uh, yeah," he said, chuckling nervously, happy that her anger was gone.
Lemon smiled. "Well, thanks, Tenchi, I'll-" She stopped, realizing her mistake.
"Uh, Tenchi?" asked Shadow, pretending to be confused by this.
"Tenchi? Did I say Tenchi? I meant... uh, sorry, what's your name again?"
Inside, Shadow felt as if he had just shattered into a million pieces.
Arashi the Hedgehog tried not to draw attention to himself as he walked through the crowded downtown area, his hands behind his back. He could've used his speed like Sonic usually did, but he didn't like panicking Humans and making a big fuss. So he simply walked at a hurried pace, Shadow's long coat flowing behind him gracefully. Arashi had received an urgent call to go to a nearby pay phone and, thinking of that law set up by the Humans, had stolen his friend's coat, or as he liked to put it: "borrowed without permission."
He came to the pay-phone, wondering who would want to meet with him. He didn't have any friends outside of Sonic's group and barely ever went into the city except for helping Amy get groceries and other such duties. He stood there for several minutes, watching people walk by until the phone began to ring. He looked up and suddenly realized he was too short to reach the receiver. He jumped up, trying to reach it but realized there was no way he was going to even get close to touching it.
A teenage boy paused, seeing the Hedgehog and his dilemma and picked up the phone. Arashi stopped his futile jumping and looked to the boy as he passed the phone to him. "There you go," he said.
"Thanks," said Arashi, taking the phone.
"Heh, no problem, shorty!" With that, the boy walked on, laughing. Arashi watched him go, then, making sure no one was watching, allowed his yellow eyes to glow as he made a spark catch onto the boy's pant-leg, causing small flames to sprout up. With some satisfaction, he watched the boy panic and run, screaming for help.
"That wasn't necessary," said Matt Haruna over the phone, his voice familiar to Arashi.
The hedgehog shrugged, knowing Matt was watching him. "Humans need to be disciplined sometimes. That includes you and your little friend, Haruna."
The old man laughed. "Sonic sure opened your eyes, huh? You could use some more positive emotions but we can talk about that later. Right now, walk into the restaurant across the street from you. We need to talk."
Arashi listened as the dial tone sounded, signaling Haruna had hung up. He looked up and simply left the phone hanging there, not wanting anymore Humans to do so much as even look at him. He walked into the small Chinese-style restaurant and quickly spotted Matt Haruna, sitting there with a young woman, who wore a hood over her head to hide her face. Ignoring the nearby waiter, Arashi walked up to their table and, not waiting for an invitation, sat down, feeling like an inferior child as the two Humans seemed to loom over him.
"Well, Arashi, good to see you after so many years," said Matt, sipping some tea. He had changed, no longer the excitable and slightly dim teenager Arashi remembered but a wise old man, still strong despite his old age. The light blue hedgehog leaned his elbows on the table as best he could and his suspicious gaze wandered over to the woman.
"Who are you?" he asked, not bothering to be polite.
The woman smiled as she lifted her head and slowly pulled back her hood, revealing her pretty face. She had beautiful peach-colored skin and her blue eyes and blonde hair reminded Arashi of an angel. A certain angel from ARK, that is. She smiled as his eyes widened.
"Maria," murmured Arashi, unable to hide his shock. "You're alive!"
Maria nodded, turning solemn. "Yes," she said. "And the Hatian Cells have kept me young, although I'm older than you, Arashi."
Matt grinned as he set his teacup down. "Well, Maria here has been very interested in you projects ever since Shadow was released from GUN's base on Prison Island. And what with Jigoku still alive, we figured it was time you all were reunited."
"Reunited?" repeated Arashi, the very thought making his flesh crawl. "You want the Ultimate Life-Form to rise? Maria, do you realize how dangerous that is? The life-form itself has enough power to destroy the Earth! Do you want that?"
Maria was silent for a second as she thought, a sad expression on her face. "I don't want that," she replied. "But... The Ultimate Life-Form... My grandfather's treasure. I can hear it in my head, urging me to release it. And the more I refuse, the stronger it gets."
"The calling of the Ultimate Life-Form," said Matt, remembering his secretive and confusing work with Gerald Robotnik all of those years ago. "It's in your programming for it to call you to it's will. I can't blame you for giving in, Maria."
"Giving in?" Arashi paused, putting two-and-two together. "Wait, if you've given into the programming, that means it was you who released Yami from GUN's underground base!"
Maria nodded, not bothering to deny it any longer. "Yes. I thought he was imprisoned with Shadow on Prison Island, so we were relieved when we learned that Yami had been taken into the underground base for an experiment."
Arashi watched Maria speak and felt a great pity for her. Here was this beautiful woman, free of the prison-like colony, only to find a new one inside her own mind. The Ultimate Life-Form was getting impatient and had chosen her to use as it's servant. Arashi, being one of the most psychic projects, heard it speak to him in his sleep but he had a greater will to resist it, knowing how much havoc it would wreak on the world. He couldn't let the terrible dream of Professor Gerald come true.
"So, why did you bring me here? I already know all this," he said, getting annoyed.
Matt adjusted his glasses, a serious look on his face. "We need your help, Arashi," he said. "I know you don't want the Ultimate Life-Form to rise and we won't force you. But if you don't give us a hand, Yami will kill Shadow and destroy the rest of us, one by one. We need to prevent this."
"So what do you want me to do?" asked Arashi, keeping his face straight. Maria held up a small earpiece, built for hedgehog ears. "Put this in your ear. That way, we can listen to all that's going on with Shadow, Sonic and you. We can even talk to you and you can reply, but don't tell the others because Sonic still doesn't even remember all of this and there's enough in his memories alone to put him into shock. As for Shadow, he's a big threat right now." A great concern glowed in her eyes. "Has he been acting suicidal at all lately?"
Arashi thought for a minute, then nodded. "Typical for him, he figures now that he has no purpose, he has no reason to live. Sonic did us a favor there and offered that Shadow share his place with a guest, so he hopefully won't try to kill himself in the next month."
"Ok, good, we're safe there," said Maria. "As for Yami, he has the Chaos Emerald I used to release him and he'll be gathering the rest. He won't try to take yours, Arashi, but that'll leave him with six so be ready for the worst. Don't let Sonic anywhere near him once he reaches his full power. It's up to Shadow to end the fight they started long ago."
Arashi wanted to protest but before he could open his mouth, it started. The more he talked to Maria, the more he heard that voice, which begged that he would obey. He struggled to fight it, but his will just wasn't enough. He sighed as he surrendered, feeling like a traitor to Sonic and Shadow.
"I will do as you say."
Well, about Hope's End. That turned out to be someone I actually know and it's been dealt with. Hopefully, things will go back to normal. Geh. Anywho, there's going to be a mixture of comedy along with the action as Shadow deals with Athair and Lemon on one side and Yami (who becomes more dangerous everyday) on the other. Heh, I'm so evil. ahem And I'm gonna focus on Arashi a bit more, because I wanna show just how cool his character is! And sorry this is a bit late, I've been busy what with Christmas coming up. Anywho, on with Chapter 17!
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - THE CALLING
"SHADOW! HURRY UP, WE GOTTA OPEN IN FIVE MINUTES!"
Sonic growled as he impatiently waited for Shadow to open up the café for the day. He had learned the hard way that Shadow was a very heavy sleeper and it always took him a long time to get up in the morning. But sometimes that helped, even though he'd never tell anyone. For the past twenty minutes, Sonic had had the chance to simply stand there and organize all of his confused thoughts.
First of all, there was the mind-attack on Shadow. Arashi hadn't said a word about who had done it and why. He knew asking wouldn't help as Arashi wanted Sonic to remember ARK on his own, which was quite frustrating for someone as impatient as himself.
Arashi was definitely hiding things from them. Even after a whole year of staying with them, he barely ever talked about himself. Most of the time, people usually forgot he was in the room, standing there, silent as the grave. At first, it was because his limited emotions tormented him with sadness and pain, which he always kept bottled up. But once he had learned happiness, Sonic had been hoping his new father would tell him more about his mysterious past.
But it hadn't been so. In fact, he seemed even more secretive these days. What was the deal?! Didn't he trust Sonic enough to tell him anything?!
"SHADOW!" screamed Sonic, becoming even more frustrated. His yell echoed in the quiet morning air so loudly that flock of birds lit from a nearby tree, scared out of their little minds.
But it had served its purpose. Shadow grumbled as opened the door, stepped out stiffly and shut it behind him, sending a piercing glare down at Sonic, who simply glared right back. Obviously the black hedgehog hadn't forgotten about Sonic's bold little decision-making spree from the night before. And when Shadow was angry with someone, he didn't forget about it.
The haggard-looking hedgehog yawned as he began to step down the stairs towards Sonic, going extra-slow to rub in whatever guilt could be found. Sonic's ears folded back as he clenched his teeth, feeling the anger already. Judging from how Shadow looked, he was going to get violent soon. Better try to straighten this out, he thought.
"Aw, c'mon, Shad," he said, trying to steady his voice. "You're not still mad at me, are ya?"
Shadow stopped where he was, halfway down the staircase. His red eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Look," he said, his voice scratching in his throat. "You're lucky enough I didn't kill you last night, you STUPID-BLUE-IDIOT!" Sonic gulped, half-expecting Shadow to suddenly attack him. "And I'm not going to restrain myself next time, even if you and Amy-!"
BAM!
Sonic gasped as he watched the wall next to Shadow blow up, accompanied by the sound of a gun being fired. The black hedgehog stood there, stupified as pieces of wood and brick fell around him, his eyes very wide. If he had taken one more step...
"Argh, I was right!" yelled a terrible voice from inside, with a heavy accent. "It's a hedgehog!"
Shadow gulped and leaned forward, looking inside. In return, a shotgun poked out and pointed straight at his chest. He looked down at the threatening barrel aiming at his beating heart, then looked up into the eyes of an echidna. A very old and dangerous echidna.
"Y-You must be Athair."
"Pop, how many times do I have to tell you! The hedgehogs and echidnas are friends now!" yelled Knuckles as he sat across from his grandfather, them being the only customers in the café on this quiet day, although the atmosphere was quite tense.
"It woke me up!" replied Athair angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Shadow, who tried not to look up as he wiped the bar counter clean. Sonic stood beside him, trying his best not to laugh as he organized several glasses.
"I'm gonna toss out the garbage," murmured Shadow, heading for the back-door. Sonic watched him go, an eye-ridge raised in confusion.
"But there isn't any garbage...Shadow?"
Shadow practically gasped as he finally breathed fresh air. They were heading into the last week of summer and the weather was beginning to cool down, especially with all of the rain that had been soaking Station Square lately. He closed his eyes as he felt the cool wind run through his quills and tried to forget about all of the problems and worries that weighed him down. If this kept up, he knew he wouldn't last much longer. How could he end all this?
"Ahh... Where is it...?"
Shadow opened his eyes and looked over as his ears picked up the sound of a troubled voice. On the sidewalk by the small street behind the café kneeled an echidna that looked even older than Athair and much more dangerous. Shadow was just about to run inside when he realized that the troubled outsider was feeling around with his hands for his cane, which he had dropped a metre away from where he was searching for it.
He was blind. Just like Tenchi.
"Ohhh, where are you, you stupid cane!" grumbled Arthur as he continued to feel around. He was very surprised when he felt a hand grip his shoulder and tried to jump away.
"ARGH! Who's there!" He was about to wave his fists at the stranger when he felt his cane placed into his hands. He calmed down and very carefully felt out the hand on his shoulder. No spiked knuckles and no sign of any nails. Not human, not echidna.
"A hedgehog...?" He got to his feet and looked in the direction the hand was coming from. "Is-Is that you, Tenchi?"
Shadow blinked and recognized that voice as Arthur's, the one who had taught him to read Braille when he was Tenchi. He allowed himself a smile and replied with a simple, "Mm-hm."
"Well, Tenchi! Glad to hear you're okay! That Knuckles kid said you were dead or something!"
Shadow chuckled. "Nah. It was a close call but I'm alright. What're you doing here?"
Arthur scratched his head as he spoke. "Ahhh, that girl Lemon said Athair would be here. I wanted to visit but she had to stop at some store or something, I dunno. So I got a bit lost. What're you doing here?"
"I work here at the café."
Arthur's misty eyes seemed to smile on their own. "You remember who you are then?"
"Yeah," replied the hedgehog, keeping an eye out to make sure no one was listening. "I can even see you now."
Arthur grinned. "Ah yes, I knew you'd find your way. Lemon will be happy to hear thi-"
"No! You can't tell her!"
There was a silence as Shadow felt his face burn. Arthur raised an eyeridge, then burst out laughing and slapped Shadow's back much harder than necessary. While he laughed, the poor hedgehog led his friend into the café, where he quickly made him promise he wouldn't say a word to Lemon and sat with Athair and Knuckles and began speaking to them in their native language, which made both Sonic and Shadow stare. But they were distracted when the door opened and Lemon walked in.
On reflex, Shadow yelled and quickly dove behind the bar, knocking over several glasses, one hitting Sonic's foot.
"OW!!! Why, you-!"
"Sonic?"
Sonic looked up and came face-to-face with Lemon, who was watching him with a puzzled expression. He smiled and kicked Shadow, then leaned forward on one elbow, hoping she wouldn't notice.
"What can I do for ya, Lemon?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, hiding how nervous he felt for Shadow if she found him there.
"Sonic," she said, sounding both shy and frightened. "Is Tenchi here? Tenchi the Hedgehog?"
"Uhhh..." Sonic grinded his teeth, not liking how he would answer. Lying was something Sonic tried to avoid and even though he had a reputation for being sneaky, he wasn't the best liar.
"Well... Tenchi..." Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Shadow running his finger aross his throat, warning him not to mess this up. "Tenchi's... not around anymore..." He tried his best to look sad, although the guilt made him want to smile and say it was all okay, that Tenchi was right behind the counter. But he knew that would be near-fatal.
Lemon's eyes seemed to become very watery in the silence that followed. She sniffled and cleared her throat, wishing her tears would go away. "Oh..." She looked up into Sonic's green eyes. "What happened to him?"
Sonic threw a fake sigh and leaned forward, looking very serious. "It was the most tragic event I've ever seen in all my years of adventuring. Poor Tenchi sacrificed his very life to stop a crazy monster, which tried to kill us and use an ultimate power for his own selfish gain!" Sonic made several dramatic gestures as he spoke, making Knuckles and Athair stare while Arthur listened with a grin. Shadow himself slapped his forehead, knowing where this was going.
"G-Go on," said Lemon, completely hooked. Sonic continued on, trying his best to sound tragic. "After a spectacular fight to the death, we thought we had won until the monster used all of his remaining strength to throw a giant piece of metal at us! But Tenchi, using his supersonic senses, anticipated the move and pushed me out of harm's way... only to meet his own untimely end as it crushed his spine." He lowered and shook his head, his conscious laughing as Shadow blushed from his hiding place. Lemon gasped and leaned forward, all of her attention focused on Sonic. "And then-?"
"And then," continued Sonic, forcing himself to work up some tears in his eyes. "I ran to my fallen comrade, hoping to save him, but he said it was too late-" He paused here, pretending to sob as if reliving some horrible memory. "I asked him, 'What can I do, Tenchi?' and he replied, 'Tell Lemon that I lo-'"
"YOU NIMROD!" Sonic was cut off as Shadow came out from his hiding place, jumped up into the air and kicked Sonic right in the side of the face, sending him into the wall. The black hedgehog landed on his feet angrily and was about to shout when Lemon cut in.
"Hey! Who do you think you are, interrupting our conversation like that!" she shouted, vexed that she could not hear the rest of the story.
Shadow looked to her and his gaze softened considerably as their eyes met for the second time. Lemon was taken aback by his stunning red eyes, which made her heart skip a few beats. Shadow gulped as he blushed and faced her completely, Sonic, rubbing his head and grumbling, forgotten on the floor.
"I, uh, I'm sorry," he said nervously. "I'm sure he was telling a great story and all but-"
"Whatever! Who are you?" interrupted Lemon impatiently.
Shadow paused, then spoke, feeling his voice shake from his heart beating wildly in his aching chest.
"My name's Shadow," he said. "I live upstairs."
"Upstairs?" Lemon blinked. "Oh, you're the one who let Pop stay with you! Thanks a lot for that! It really helps us out, y'know?"
"Uh, yeah," he said, chuckling nervously, happy that her anger was gone.
Lemon smiled. "Well, thanks, Tenchi, I'll-" She stopped, realizing her mistake.
"Uh, Tenchi?" asked Shadow, pretending to be confused by this.
"Tenchi? Did I say Tenchi? I meant... uh, sorry, what's your name again?"
Inside, Shadow felt as if he had just shattered into a million pieces.
Arashi the Hedgehog tried not to draw attention to himself as he walked through the crowded downtown area, his hands behind his back. He could've used his speed like Sonic usually did, but he didn't like panicking Humans and making a big fuss. So he simply walked at a hurried pace, Shadow's long coat flowing behind him gracefully. Arashi had received an urgent call to go to a nearby pay phone and, thinking of that law set up by the Humans, had stolen his friend's coat, or as he liked to put it: "borrowed without permission."
He came to the pay-phone, wondering who would want to meet with him. He didn't have any friends outside of Sonic's group and barely ever went into the city except for helping Amy get groceries and other such duties. He stood there for several minutes, watching people walk by until the phone began to ring. He looked up and suddenly realized he was too short to reach the receiver. He jumped up, trying to reach it but realized there was no way he was going to even get close to touching it.
A teenage boy paused, seeing the Hedgehog and his dilemma and picked up the phone. Arashi stopped his futile jumping and looked to the boy as he passed the phone to him. "There you go," he said.
"Thanks," said Arashi, taking the phone.
"Heh, no problem, shorty!" With that, the boy walked on, laughing. Arashi watched him go, then, making sure no one was watching, allowed his yellow eyes to glow as he made a spark catch onto the boy's pant-leg, causing small flames to sprout up. With some satisfaction, he watched the boy panic and run, screaming for help.
"That wasn't necessary," said Matt Haruna over the phone, his voice familiar to Arashi.
The hedgehog shrugged, knowing Matt was watching him. "Humans need to be disciplined sometimes. That includes you and your little friend, Haruna."
The old man laughed. "Sonic sure opened your eyes, huh? You could use some more positive emotions but we can talk about that later. Right now, walk into the restaurant across the street from you. We need to talk."
Arashi listened as the dial tone sounded, signaling Haruna had hung up. He looked up and simply left the phone hanging there, not wanting anymore Humans to do so much as even look at him. He walked into the small Chinese-style restaurant and quickly spotted Matt Haruna, sitting there with a young woman, who wore a hood over her head to hide her face. Ignoring the nearby waiter, Arashi walked up to their table and, not waiting for an invitation, sat down, feeling like an inferior child as the two Humans seemed to loom over him.
"Well, Arashi, good to see you after so many years," said Matt, sipping some tea. He had changed, no longer the excitable and slightly dim teenager Arashi remembered but a wise old man, still strong despite his old age. The light blue hedgehog leaned his elbows on the table as best he could and his suspicious gaze wandered over to the woman.
"Who are you?" he asked, not bothering to be polite.
The woman smiled as she lifted her head and slowly pulled back her hood, revealing her pretty face. She had beautiful peach-colored skin and her blue eyes and blonde hair reminded Arashi of an angel. A certain angel from ARK, that is. She smiled as his eyes widened.
"Maria," murmured Arashi, unable to hide his shock. "You're alive!"
Maria nodded, turning solemn. "Yes," she said. "And the Hatian Cells have kept me young, although I'm older than you, Arashi."
Matt grinned as he set his teacup down. "Well, Maria here has been very interested in you projects ever since Shadow was released from GUN's base on Prison Island. And what with Jigoku still alive, we figured it was time you all were reunited."
"Reunited?" repeated Arashi, the very thought making his flesh crawl. "You want the Ultimate Life-Form to rise? Maria, do you realize how dangerous that is? The life-form itself has enough power to destroy the Earth! Do you want that?"
Maria was silent for a second as she thought, a sad expression on her face. "I don't want that," she replied. "But... The Ultimate Life-Form... My grandfather's treasure. I can hear it in my head, urging me to release it. And the more I refuse, the stronger it gets."
"The calling of the Ultimate Life-Form," said Matt, remembering his secretive and confusing work with Gerald Robotnik all of those years ago. "It's in your programming for it to call you to it's will. I can't blame you for giving in, Maria."
"Giving in?" Arashi paused, putting two-and-two together. "Wait, if you've given into the programming, that means it was you who released Yami from GUN's underground base!"
Maria nodded, not bothering to deny it any longer. "Yes. I thought he was imprisoned with Shadow on Prison Island, so we were relieved when we learned that Yami had been taken into the underground base for an experiment."
Arashi watched Maria speak and felt a great pity for her. Here was this beautiful woman, free of the prison-like colony, only to find a new one inside her own mind. The Ultimate Life-Form was getting impatient and had chosen her to use as it's servant. Arashi, being one of the most psychic projects, heard it speak to him in his sleep but he had a greater will to resist it, knowing how much havoc it would wreak on the world. He couldn't let the terrible dream of Professor Gerald come true.
"So, why did you bring me here? I already know all this," he said, getting annoyed.
Matt adjusted his glasses, a serious look on his face. "We need your help, Arashi," he said. "I know you don't want the Ultimate Life-Form to rise and we won't force you. But if you don't give us a hand, Yami will kill Shadow and destroy the rest of us, one by one. We need to prevent this."
"So what do you want me to do?" asked Arashi, keeping his face straight. Maria held up a small earpiece, built for hedgehog ears. "Put this in your ear. That way, we can listen to all that's going on with Shadow, Sonic and you. We can even talk to you and you can reply, but don't tell the others because Sonic still doesn't even remember all of this and there's enough in his memories alone to put him into shock. As for Shadow, he's a big threat right now." A great concern glowed in her eyes. "Has he been acting suicidal at all lately?"
Arashi thought for a minute, then nodded. "Typical for him, he figures now that he has no purpose, he has no reason to live. Sonic did us a favor there and offered that Shadow share his place with a guest, so he hopefully won't try to kill himself in the next month."
"Ok, good, we're safe there," said Maria. "As for Yami, he has the Chaos Emerald I used to release him and he'll be gathering the rest. He won't try to take yours, Arashi, but that'll leave him with six so be ready for the worst. Don't let Sonic anywhere near him once he reaches his full power. It's up to Shadow to end the fight they started long ago."
Arashi wanted to protest but before he could open his mouth, it started. The more he talked to Maria, the more he heard that voice, which begged that he would obey. He struggled to fight it, but his will just wasn't enough. He sighed as he surrendered, feeling like a traitor to Sonic and Shadow.
"I will do as you say."