All OC's belong to Piper while Shadow the Hedgehog (yes, Shadow! Sonic isn't here for it to be qualified to him!) Belongs to Sonic Team, as do every other character created by... them...

Substitute Realized

Rouge expertly dropped down the ventilation shaft, trying her best to dodge the invisibly cloaked lasers that she had memorised as the drop commenced. Her wings shot open with a small fluttering sound as the darkness receded to show the metal floor just outside the Computer Room. The bat landed just as swiftly and moved to the wall so fast, she could've been mistaken for a draught of wind, or a glitch in the computers. She turned slightly to the metal door with the words Computer Room splashed in blood red paint.

'Blood red...'

Her ears folded back slightly as she felt the stinging liquid of blood on her hands.

Blood she had deliberately spilled...

And for nothing too...

She quickly punched in the security code on the wall next to her, trying her best to forget about the appalling crime she had committed. Shadow was her friend. Well, maybe not that close, but still, they did work together, and Rouge had never forgotten when he risked his own life to save her.

And how did she repay him?

Going to his only sanctuary of real content that could still his aching heart and destroy all of the things he treasured...

The bat ducked through into the Computer Room as the doors automatically opened, the green lights of 'valid entry' and smoke, giving her quite an entrance. She stepped through it, the camouflage wearing off and her quick eyes darted around. The computers were on and showed the exact same information when she went to carry out her murder.

For that's all it was...

Plain, undisputed, murder...

Kareena was still sat in the computer chair, her long hair dropping down the back and masking all of her body. The heels of her boots were grinding into the pole holding up the seat. Rouge could see quite clearly other dents that had been engraved by the boots, most of them from frustration or anticipation. The chair swung around to reveal the pale teenager once more. Her lips, which were painted with black lipstick, curled into an entertained smirk.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked, her eyebrows rising considerably.

Rouge smiled back. Well, inside it was a frown. Her guilt of what she had done was still there. And she was ashamed of it.

"Of course. You know, if we got found and the base was stormed without my knowledge, what is it going to be like when I show up on the sensors!"

"If we had a break – in every time you made it back, you'd probably be captured about fifty times now," and with a questioning look from Rouge she brought up the security camera's on the large computer.

It showed everything that Rouge had done as soon as she entered the base, and even in the corner there was a planned route of where she had gone so far. As the tape progressed, the bat's green eyes grew wider, until it ended. Kareena's fingers tapped on the keyboard twice, before bringing up the picture of Shadow before the ARK fell.

"Now... where is he?"

Rouge winced. Inside, she was burning with hatred. How could Kareena just stand there and speak about him, as if he wasn't even dead? But the bat tried as best she could to make it seem like it was the knowledge of no item to present to her boss.

"I... couldn't get him..."

"What...? Rouge, I entrusted you with this one simple task, and now look what happens. Honestly, can't you do anything right? If you haven't got him then I'll just have to use you instead!" Kareena's voice was screeching at Rouge as loud as it had ever been, each word striking her further and further down.

Kareena stopped her rampage and changed it into a burning stare. The teenager's breathing was incredibly harsh and gasping, much like a bull's as it begins to charge. Rouge took this chance.

"I'm sorry, I was going to get him but he killed himself before I had time to grab him and fly away! But, I did get something that could help you..."

Kareena stopped and her eyes widened, followed by a dark smile. This was it; Phase One of her plan had been complete. Surely Rouge must've brought a blood sample or a DNA strand? The bat thrust a hand into her cloak and pulled out...

A small child, hanging suspended in the air by the scruff of his neck towards Kareena.

He looked up at her with big, underdeveloped, brown eyes, past tears drying on his black cheeks. Kareena crumpled her nose up at the child in disgust, her grey eyes never leaving him. The teenager hated children and always classed them as complete mistakes, and a total humiliation to the human race. That was probably why she had grown up so fast.

"What, is that?" Kareena asked as she turned her nose up at the Hedgeitten, and pointed to it as if it were a huge and hairy spider.

Rouge glanced to the child and back to Kareena. She smirked widely and dropped the child to the floor. It gave a painful yelp and a few tears splattered the metal.

"It's Shadow's son."

Kareena narrowed her eyes as she took in the... creature before her. He was all black, with under-developed quills that stuck up unnaturally at the ends. His eyes were a said brown colour, a symbol of infancy for a small child such as him. He had a white muzzle and arms, with a small button nose that did not resemble a hedgehog's at all. He wore sparkling white gloves with plain white trainers. But what made Kareena even more suspicious of the child's kin was the lack of streaks on him.

"You are telling me that this, this thing, is Shadow the Hedgehog's child?? And what does it have to do with Shadow's body?" Kareena asked with a raised eyebrow, kicking the Hedgeitten repeatedly in the side as the words left her mouth.

A small yelp and more whimpering of tears accompanied each dull thump of shoe on bone. But the child was so frightened and horrified by what he had seen that he couldn't speak at all. Kareena didn't care. She just wanted to know what this had to do with Shadow. Rouge cleared her throat and tried not to listen to the yelps.

'Great... I don't just have to kill him, I have to torture his kid as well... Oh, why did I bring him here!" she screamed into her mind, the pressure getting to her again.

Guiltily, she walked over to the side of the computer, picking up an injection needle. It was completely empty, but it might as well have been spattered with blood. It felt like she was holding a red-hot poker, but she daren't let go, for fear of what could happen. She bent down and picked the child up roughly by his neck again. He whimpered in her arms. Quickly, her fingers brushed against his fur, calming him. It was actually quite effective how she had done it. Just as swiftly, and to avoid more pain to the Hedgeitten, she jammed the needle into his skin and pressed down on the top. His screaming echoed throughout the entire base, much like a funeral hymn at a church. She carefully took the jab out and dropped him back to the floor, claiming another yelp from him. Even more rushed from the pain beating within her heart, she strode over to the computer and unclipped a wire from it's back. She carefully dropped the cord into the needle's interior and logged up a program, covering the picture of Shadow. It showed a huge metre chart, as the blood was checked into the program's main data. Rouge knew this data, for she had collected it herself, back on ARK. Shadow's blood type. In a matter of minutes there was a slight beep and then the cool voice from the computer:

"Blood sample successfully downloaded."

Kareena walked over to the bat sitting smugly in the computer chair, being extremely careful to stamp on one of the child's upper quills, receiving a shrill cry of pain. She stood beside Rouge and watched with one eyebrow raised as the two letters 'AB' appeared on the screen. She looked down at the bat.

"Very good. But I still don't see why you brought him here and didn't just kill him. He's no use to us, and you know it," the teenager said to her.

"Ah, well watch what happens when I compare the kid's blood with Shadow's," the bat replied, a glimmer of a smile crossing her face.

Another few minutes later and Shadow's blood type had also appeared in red lettering beside his son's. It was then that Kareena understood. This was perfect, no, better than perfect. Shadow was too pure a soul and too clever, to go willingly back to Rouge and the evil that took over him. After he had sacrificed himself for ARK, his body was left free of it, he was untainted. He wouldn't have wanted to get mixed up in it again. So why not use someone who did not understand the ways of good or evil, who had only seen one sight of injustice, which could be wiped clean from his memory anyway?

Why not use... Shadow's son?

Just a little side note from the last chapter. I'm sorry for leaving Shad's description for so long, it's just that it doesn't really matter... You'll find out why in a sec ... I also would like to say sorry for not giving Twist a proper description, but, as you may have read, she wasn't alive long enough to qualify for one. And if you want to make something of it, read my other fics and leave me alone!

And also, I know Shadow didn't kill himself, but think! The thorns were piled in a bundle beside him, he had been moving around a lot, there was blood everywhere, and Rouge wasn't there to see what he was doing. So Rouge just assumed. What else is she going to say to Kareena: 'Oh, I don't know what happened to him, I think I killed him.' Think people!

Yes... please review - . -