The Echidna's Curse

It really was a miserable day. A large percentage of the group decided to escape it by sleeping, once the thunder moved away. Knuckles, one of the few left awake didn't blame them; nursing injuries it was probably the best thing for them. He grinned across at Vector around their campfire.
"Do you ever feel like a living hot water bottle?" He asked quietly
He nodded at Vector who was in a similar position to his own with both Espio and Charmy clinging to him as both tried to escape the cold and wet in their slumbers. Knuckles himself had Sonic on one side somehow clinging to both him and Tails using one of his tails as a blanket. Knuckles was sure Amy must be there somewhere, but he couldn't see her. On the other side he had Shadow, silent and motionless in his sleep, though his face was frowning. Rouge was laid with her back to Shadow, Knuckles wasn't entirely sure he would want them to be the other way around. Only Eggman slept alone, his loud snores enough to compete with the thunder. When Espio sarcastically muttered something about it being a fine day to go for a swim both he and Vector laughed.

It was getting dark before the storm passed. The group still sat huddled close together, cold, wet and feeling thoroughly miserable. Knuckles noticed Shadow sat at his side fingering something green, almost as though it gave him comfort. He peered more closely and discerned between Shadow's fingers a small emerald. He'd seen him with it before, several times, though they had only met in passing… Shadow had been holding it in his hand as they'd stared at each other in Frog Forest… He frowned at it, his first thoughts were that it must be a Chaos Emerald. But somehow he doubted Sonic as the last one to hold all seven would have given one to Shadow.
"What is that thing?" Knuckles asked. Shadow jumped and his fist automatically tightened around the green gem. Only after a confused pause did he answer.
"This? Uh I'm not sure… I've always had it"
"Can I see it?"
"…Sure" Shadow passed the green gem to Knuckles.
Knuckles stared at it. His whole body seemed to tingle, like it was electrified. Knuckles started to laugh.
"I don't believe it… No wonder I feel funny every time you get close or use Chaos Control. I thought I was going crazy!"
"Huh?"
"You honestly don't know what this is?"
Shadow shook his head. Knuckles laughed again, fingering the green gem gently.
"I've always supposed it was a small Chaos Emerald…"
Knuckles smiled "You could say that…" Almost regretfully he handed it back. Unfortunately for him the tingling sensation didn't stop with its return. "The Master Emerald flows in my blood… I feel it when it's close… as Guardian. I can feel that thing every time I stand next to you." Knuckles couldn't help but think he was lying, he hadn't felt the Master Emerald for a long time now…
Shadow stared at the gem in his hand
"What are you saying?"
Knuckles smiled "There's a legend. We were told it so many times at the Training School that I can almost remember it word for word-"
"The legend of the Master Emerald. I've only heard it once, Knuckles if you're telling him it will you tell me too?" Vector asked.
Knuckles shrugged "it's open to anyone who wants to listen"
"What is?" Tails asked
A mutter from Sonic informed him.
"Come on Storyteller, get on with it"
Knuckles cast Sonic a dark look before speaking again "Ok… They say that millennia ago, back before there were Guardians a young Echidna was walking in the mountains above his village. His name was Pathfinder. As he walked he found a crack in the rocks, he was drawn to it, to the power resonating from it. Pathfinder broke through the rock of the walls and found beneath an emerald. We have our own name for it in that form… the Coreinth; it is a word in the ancient languages for unity, balance… and dominance. When Pathfinder touched the Coreinth it consumed him, it was too much power for one creature to hold… or contain. It turned his heart black; the Chaos within the Coreinth took Control of him. Pathfinder destroyed much before a final united effort contained him. The ancient Echidna of his village found the Coreinth, the source of his power and as the five of them together touched it Pathfinder's power weakened and he fell… But the power of the Coreinth had destroyed him. He was simply a body, no longer alive, and no-longer possessing a soul… but some say that soul entered the Coreinth itself, and that's what gives the Master Emerald its voice. The ancients decided that that the Coreinth was a power too great to be allowed to exist. They broke it…" Knuckles held out his hands "The great hands of the Echidna shattered the Coreinth into its components… Chaos and Control. The two forces continually battling each other in the world and in the heart of every living thing… except the hearts of those who broke it… The Echidna. The Coreinth shattered into what we now know as the Master Emerald and the 7 Chaos Emeralds. The Chaos Emeralds were smaller, therefore weaker, freed from these the Master Emerald could be a force for… Control. The 7 Chaos Emeralds were the opposites and the partners to the Master Emerald, both alike and different at the same time… Along with these there were the Shards, usually forgotten. These flowed into the waterways, the skies, the fires, and the earth of the world, moving always, changing those they touched, creating both heroes, and villains throughout history. Endowing them with a power they could chose to use for their own ends. There seems to be no pattern to who the Shards chose… only fate could decide that… The Chaos Emeralds were disbanded by the ancients to opposite corners of the world. The Master Emerald was placed in the centre of a sacred island far from all, permanently under the care of an appointed Guardian. The ancients were fearful that if the Coreinth was ever reunited a terrible force would be leased upon the world…. There is a legend that says one day that could be possible, but that is another story. However our hope lies in the Shards, that because of these the Coreinth can never be truely reunited… Because of the Shards that power will never reappear, because they are held in the hands of the Echidna.
"But since that day the Echidna as a race have been cursed. We were the ones unlucky enough to discover the Coreinth, because of that misfortune we are forever bound to it and its fate. Our fists and our bodies were endowed with the power of the Shards, but in exchange for our physical toughness our hearts were turned to stone, so we are not easily excited by its power, or anything. All Echidna are given a choice, a choice not offered to others, when we are still among the heavens and the stars, we choose the extent to which the Shards flow in our blood and our fists. The strongest Echidna are the most cursed, those who chose power over heart, we are born cursed, we live cursed, only in the servitude of others can we set our souls free and regain our places among the heavens, redeem ourselves for the mistake we made long before we were born"
There was a silent pause
"I still say it's a stupid belief, people aren't born evil or good, only by their actions do they decide" Sonic said firmly
"I did not say we are born evil. I said we are born cursed. We are cursed by our power, many have chosen to abuse it. But many more use it for righteous purposes… It is our choice. A choice that is both a blessing and a curse, but ours alone to bear. I believe that. I also believe all can make a mistake… and be drawn to the allure of power, over a heart that is easily hurt and broken. Most would choose the power to inflict pain over having it inflicted upon them. We chose to protect ourselves by strength and a heart that rejects anyone who draws close…" Knuckles looked down "Given the chance again I would choose heart over power every time."
"But your heart's not made of stone" Shadow said simply
"I've been telling him that for years, but he won't believe me. It might be made of ice, but we'll soon find someone who'll melt it for him!"
Knuckles smiled "I know that anger and hate can make a heart harden. So that it feels as though it is made of rock, but even mine isn't. Some Echidna believe the legend is wrong, a way to scare the powerful ones into doing good. It's worth it if it does. Some believe that those endowed with the power of the Shards are simply unfortunate, cursed in that sense, not for any decision they made. With our power comes responsibility, the stronger we are the more able we are to err from the path… Some say that all chose power, and that life is a lesson, to teach that love is more important… I kinda like that one… soppy as I secretly am. The legends are open to interpretation. But, we have to get on with what we are born with, and make our choices just the same. Good or evil, that choice belongs only to one person. That is the main lesson we are given, the one we live by."
Knuckles stopped and looked around, finally letting his eyes rest on Sonic. Slowly he realised why Knuckles had chosen to tell that story, he could have left the Echidna's curse out, but he hadn't, he was making a point to all.
"That Shadow I believe is a Shard" Knuckles said pointing at the emerald in Shadow's hand.
"Do the Shards come from the Master Emerald or the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked
"Neither and both" Knuckles said "They come from the Coreinth. The Shards are both Chaos and Control, a force as close to being in balance as this world will ever know. We believe the Shards touch many people. Some, like Shadow, have more, and can call on the power of the Shards, all Echidna, no matter their choice have more than other species… I had rather more than the others at the Guardian School… which makes me more cursed than many…"
Shadow was staring at the Shard "Does that make me cursed to?"
"The curse only extends as far as the Echidna. You will only be cursed if you chose to use your power for evil"
Shadow continued to stare at the Shard. As the others watched him the Shard grew smaller and faded into his hand. Shadow clenched his fist a few times but didn't look up.
"The Shards are part of our bodies. We can no more dispel them than stop breathing… they are part of the fabric of our being… for some of us they are what give us life, in a body that would otherwise be too unbalanced to survive. One of my Masters once described me as being more them than flesh… I think she was right…"
"Are the Shards in us?" Tails asked
"Some of you certainly… though it would be impossible to say who and to what extent"

He was drifting. His head was dropping slowly down onto his chest. Amy and Tails were making bets as to how long it would be before he fell over and woke himself up. Knuckles sat on the log looked anything but peaceful; his whole tattered body was tense despite being close to sleep. Finally he dropped off the precipice and into sleep, without falling over, much to Amy's disappointment.

Everything was burnt. That was the main thing he'd noticed about the ARK. He was holding the toy train again. His hands were bare, which he thought was odd. His fingers were working their way over the melted chimney stack, over the smooth blackened plastic. When he looked up he could see the full moon out of the ARK window, almost as though it was mocking him, even though the only place it now existed as one piece was in memory- He was standing back in the dark room looking at the handprints burned into the door, he reached out to touch them, his hands again bare- A black form lent itself into the doors- A black hand held onto the photo of the girl and the man, gradually it caught aflame and turned to dust. He was back in the black room. The dark shape at the door had a form, he recognised it, he heard a voice, screaming in anger and fear. Green and blue fire filled the room and started to sweep towards him.

"Fire!" Knuckles screamed jumping to his feet, Shadow sitting alone sent a plume of yellow fire up into the sky and a little ahead of him before he could stop himself. Fortunately no-one had been in his immediate vicinity.
"Knuckles don't do that!! It hurt…" Shadow started to say then trailed off. As soon as he'd heard "fire" spoken as a command he hadn't been able to stop himself.
"Knux you ok?" Sonic asked suddenly concerned.
"Fire… Fire the ARK was burnt… everywhere… and he… he remembers living there… the moon when it was in one piece and the girl… in the photograph… must have been Maria… they weren't her toys… they were yours!"
Everyone was staring at Knuckles, who pointed a trembling hand at Shadow, who stood unmoved.
"You remember living on the ARK!" Knuckles said desperately, it wasn't a question.
"I remember Maria"
"Easy Knux, you had one of your nightmares again-" Sonic coaxed
"It wasn't just a nightmare, I know! He lived on the ARK!"
"Ok, ok Knuckles, calm down"
"Shadow tell them!"
Shadow was frowning deeply "I remember ARK and space… I remember the moon"
"You lived there with Maria… you slept in her room! It had pink walls and the bed had pink curtains… you slept in a bed at her foot!"
"Maria…" Shadow whimpered softly, swaying slightly "Maria…" He repeated, his face twisting, every muscle itching to give way to the urge to run. Shadow looked as though he swallowed a lump of glass then his face changed to an angry frown "I remember Maria"
"But you must remember other things! I know you do. I can see it in your eyes; don't lie to me Project Shadow!"
Shadow staggered slightly as though he's been struck "I am Project Shadow… as my new masters I will-" he cut himself off. Fire suddenly raged around him "Do not call me by that name Echidna"
"See… see!!" Knuckles shouted
"Alright Knuckles we believe you… just be quiet now… before Shadow hurts someone"
Knuckles suddenly noticed the colour of the flames, they were purple.
"S-Sorry Shadow… I didn't mean to hurt you"
The flames dwindled for a moment, flickered then went out "Its ok…"
For a moment Knuckles was sure Shadow was going to cry. Then he turned away, and walked across the sand and into the trees.
"Shadow!" Knuckles called after him
"Maybe you should give him some time to cool off… err no pun intended" Vector said

Knuckles couldn't stand it any longer. He stood and slipped into the trees the way Shadow had gone, though many raised their eyes to watch, none stopped him. He wandered in the half light, searching for him. Eventually he came upon a glade. In the centre Shadow sat on a log, side on to him, his face in his hands.
"Shadow…" He said softly
"Go away"
"No"
"Go away!" Shadow ignited flame around himself, but the colour gave him away. It was still purple. Knuckles took a chance and drew closer, hoping Shadow wouldn't use the fire against him. He guessed purple would hurt as much as any other.
"I said go away!" Shadow said, his voice taking on an unusually high note
"And I said no"
"I don't want to hurt you Knuckles" He again squeaked, turning so his back faced him as much as possible.
"Then put the fire out"
"I can't"
"Yes you can. You weren't burning when I came here"
Shadow didn't say anything, but the fire wavered a little. Knuckles drew closer.
"I'm not going to let you drive me away. You'll have to turn me to ash first"
"You're a fool to think I won't!" His voice wavered between high and low.
"Maybe" Knuckles said taking another step.
"Back away Guardian" Shadow growled, his voice returning to its usual bass tones. The fire took on hints of black and Knuckles knew he had a problem, but he wasn't willing to turn away.
"I want to be your friend Shadow"
"Friends are worthless. Back away"
"Are you going to kill me without looking me in the eye?"
Shadow turned around "You think I saw all of my victims? I've given you more than enough time." Shadow raised his arm. It shook "The clock is reaching midnight. Time's up Echidna"
Knuckles saw the blast of dark flame come towards him. He raised his hands in front of his face and closed his eyes…

Knuckles was hot. But not nearly hot enough to be on fire. There was a rushing noise around him. He opened his eyes. He was surrounded by a wave of dark flame, rapidly turning purple. He stared, around him the fire seemed to spread out, as though he was protected by an invisible bubble. The fire began to dwindle, the rushing noise was receding, over it Knuckles could hear Shadow's cry of frustration. Finally the flames went out. Knuckles stared around. The ground in front of him was scorched black, as was the ground behind, he was standing on an island among the black. Shadow was on his knees, his head hanging limply. It took Knuckles a moment to get a hold of himself again. He stared around, then quickly trotted forward.
"You couldn't do it"
Shadow said nothing in response. He remained on the floor and refused to look up. Knuckles wavered uncertain, uncomfortable. At a loss for words. He needed to say something kind but nothing seemed to want to come. A whimper from Shadow brought him back.
"Maria…" He mumbled "I miss her…" Knuckles suddenly realised he was crying, and was more than a little surprised. "My Maria… My Angel" He looked up "Why did she abandon me?"
Knuckles came closer and laid a hand on his shoulder. To his amazement he didn't shake it off. "I don't know…"
"Neither do I. I don't know anything!… I miss her Knuckles… She used to be nice to me… I think I loved her… If I can love someone…"
Knuckles sank to the ground beside him "of course you can love people"
"I… I dunno… Can monsters know what love is?"
"Shadow you're not a monster"
"Why did everyone I cared about disappear… Where are they? Why am I so alone?"
"You're not alone… I care about you, and I'm here" The words fell out of his mouth without him thinking, but they were true.
Shadow looked up him, not laughing, or mocking, just surprised. Knuckles smiled a little sheepishly at him.
"I miss my father… and Maria… I wish I could remember" Shadow bent to crying silently again. As Knuckles knelt beside him he was sure Shadow was actually a lot smaller than Sonic. Cautiously he reached out to him more, uncertain, until he finally gave way to instinct and drew him into his embrace. Shadow didn't struggle, he actually relaxed and simply allowed himself to be held.

As Knuckles thought back to the first time he'd seen Shadow he mused he had never expected to be in this situation with him. He'd actually known very little about him until he'd walked into their camp that morning looking more dead than alive. Before that he'd only seen him briefly, on the ARK and a few other places, before they parted ways. Then it had been hardly more than a glance… but at the time a feeling Knuckles was still unable to explain had seized him, given his soul a firm shake and then dropped him again. The feeling had alarmed him so much he'd been unable to act upon it. Knuckles had been sure that at exactly the same time the black hedgehog had suddenly stared at him. Other than that they had had no contact, though Sonic had given a good account of their encounters to him, despite his scathing remarks and unfavourable report Knuckles had been unable to hate him on Sonic's behalf. Perversely he had actually found himself growing quite fond of him, for reasons he didn't entirely understand. When the report of his death had reached him he had found himself suffering greater grief than he would have expected for someone he barely knew, but it had been a strange grief, a disbelieving grief, that seemed more like a form of torn detachment and suspense than loss. He'd also been so sick even Eggman had been worried about him. But Knuckles had never actually believed he had gone, and though he hated himself for it part of him blamed Sonic for not bringing him back to the ARK. He wasn't sure if they were the same creature, but Sonic had told him that the Shadow he'd met had been able to use Chaos Control, and he was certain that was a rare gift, there were only three in the world he'd ever known to do it, Shadow, Sonic and Metal Sonic. If The Thousand were capable of it, why hadn't they used it? Knuckles wasn't sure if he was trying to fool himself, if he wanted them to be the same one… but since then an uneasy sensation had filled his heart. It was there now, pulling at him. His mind was swirling with the words of ancient legends, older than he was, his brain seemed to be trying to tell him something, but it was something he was too frightened and too unwilling to believe…

They had been sat in silence for a long time, both quietly contemplating on their own troubles when a movement from Shadow brought Knuckles' mind back with a bump. He felt his eyes on him.
"Do you think they sent me away because I was bad?"
Knuckles frowned
"I remember being told off… and punished for being bad… do you think they got fed up with me?"
"I don't think so Shadow… When I was on the ARK it looked as though it had been left in a hurry, almost as though it had been abandoned…"
"I remember wanting to destroy the ARK… do you think I succeeded?"
"No… Nowhere seemed damaged, at least not beyond repair, but when I went into what must have been yours and Maria's room it felt as though she'd only stepped out for a moment, everything was... well fossilised kind of, like she would be back at any time."
"You saw Maria's room?"
"Yeah… There were toys all strewn about the floor, at the time I thought they must have been hers, but they were yours right?"
Shadow nodded "I always used to get told off for leaving my things around to get stepped on. Like my train…"
"I found that in the room at the front… you burned the chimney didn't you?"
"Yes… I thought I could make it go… but it just melted…"
"See you do remember things!"
"I remember voices, and pictures" He sighed "But none of them seem to go together"
"Yeah… me too" Knuckles said softly
"What?"
Knuckles laughed hastily "Uh… too many blows to the head… make you forget… at least the things you want to remember" Knuckles paused "Shadow…I have something that belongs to you… Sonic gave it to Rouge, heh… w-we all know she likes anything shiny… but she gave it to me, before we even left the ARK… I was keeping it safe… until we found you again…"
Knuckles opened his huge Echidna hand and offered him the bracelet. Shadow gazed down on it for a moment.
"I thought this was gone forever…" He fingered it for a moment then closed Knuckles' gloved hand around it.
"You can keep it; if you like" Shadow looked sheepishly away "I'd like it if you would…" Shadow took off the bracelet that remained on his wrist and showed it to Knuckles. The name inscribed on it was different: Maria Robotnic.
"Maria and our father gave the four of them to me for my birthday, along with these shoes, and fire proof gloves." He grinned "They gave me one for each of us, Maria, Gerald, my father, and Isabella-Maria's mother, father's wife. I never met her, she died before I was created, but father used to say she watched over me and Maria. They're the ones on my ankles, Gerald and Isabella's. Finally there is mine, the one you have. Father said that way I would never forget my… family… that was what he called it. He used to call me Shadowkin… as a pet name, to remind me I belonged to them… to him and Maria as an equal at least. Ironic really isn't it… I lost my identity even with these… maybe if you keep my one I won't loose myself again."
Knuckles was at a loss for words. He just pushed the bracelet that was really a little too small for him over his hand.
"Thanks" For a moment Knuckles was quiet "Come on" He started to lift Shadow to his feet "It's starting to get cold. The others will be wondering where we are"
Shadow got to his feet and walked close at his side for a while, though he noticed that the closer they got to the group the further he moved away.

Secretly Shadow was glad Knuckles had remained by his side, his heart was heavy and he knew of nowhere else to go to find comfort. Knuckles was the closest thing to a friend he had. The others were either asleep now or settling for the night. Knuckles, Shadow found was intending to lie beside him, previously he'd been given a wide birth by the others. But now having won Knuckles favour he found himself in the middle of the group as Sonic had firmly placed himself on Knuckles' other side.
"Knuckles…" Shadow asked softly
"Mmm?" he mumbled seemingly again deep in thought
"You said you looked around the ARK, what did you think?"
Knuckles frowned for a moment then lay down on his back.
"Well it wasn't what I expected, we knew it was a research colony, but until the whole Biolizard thing we didn't realise that you had been made there. We knew you were some government thing but for a long time as far as we knew you were just some Black Hedgehog with a grudge. When we found out you were a… a…"
"Science experiment"
"Err yeah it sent shivers up my spine…" Knuckles growled angrily "Humans, they're willing to experiment on the Shremu, on us, on our species, but you'd never catch them doing what they did to you to one of their own. Their morality only stretches as far as themselves. We're just as sentient as they are, but we're not equals. Just because most of us choose not to embrace technology doesn't mean we're inferior. Even the name they give us is an insult, to them all our species are the Shremu; we're expected to recognise their races. If we were to do our own genetic experiments on their young they would soon oppose it-"
"Blimey Knuckles you do have a brain in there after all" Sonic mocked "Not to mention a chip on your shoulder"
Shadow wasn't sure what Knuckles did but Sonic grunted loudly then said nothing more. Shadow was touched by Knuckles words, he wasn't sure exactly why, but he guessed that for him to have thought about it meant something.
"It's the same with the Guardianship" Knuckles continued "Most humans think that Guardians are little more than their property, their slaves, it's supposed to be an equal partnership. By the time we actually Bond with them they usually understand, but some of them never do, but we have little choice but to Bond with them anyway. They go through their lives treating is like… animals… pets. Half of them don't realise how lucky they are to have us at all. The rest use us as a means to show off to their friends, made me glad not to be matched to a human"
"They're not all bad Knuckles"
"Sorry Shadow, you aren't exactly the best judge. I don't know how you of all creatures can maintain a good opinion of them, you must be even more naïve than I am"
"My Maria, and our father they weren't bad, they treated me like a son and brother"
"But look at what he did to you, what he said about you…"
"He said I was perfect, that he made my mind to be pure"
"He also said that if you were released you would destroy the world"
"I nearly did. My father knew my nature better than anyone. Why won't you follow from my example? Humanity cannot be so bad if I am willing to forgive them for what they did. Like it or not, humanity gave me life. Just as a child belongs to its parents and the parents to the child, I belonged to my creators, to be used as they will. Only now have I grown old enough to be rid of them-"
"But Shadow they may never let you go. If they discover that you are still alive they may come after you…"
"It is the creator's jurisdiction to both create and destroy. I am their creation, nothing will ever change that"
"In my view parents, creators, whatever, shouldn't have any control over what they make"
"But doesn't every parent have a responsibility to their child?"
"Yes, but some of them cast that aside. I've seen many evil things both in my race and humans. The Guardian School was filled with children abandoned or mistreated by their parents. Angel Island is little better than an orphanage. Many of my fellow Trainees were destined to go out into the human world to Bond with children living in poverty, hunger and pain, lives that would be short lived. The Guardians to Bond with them would enter a short lifetime of suffering. What right has humanity to bring members of our races into the world to suffer when they cannot look after their own! And to make you a weapon to deal out more despair and pain! What right have they got?"
Shadow looked angrily away "Would you rather I hadn't been created?"
Knuckles anger disappeared and his heart dropped "That's not what I said Shadow… I just wish you'd been born into a better world"
"All parents wish that for their children, and I believe, all Guardians wish that for their Charges"
"I suppose you're right, but for me the Master Emerald is older than I am, as old as my ancient ancestors, it didn't deserve to be in a good world"
"As soon as I learned of the Guardianship I was intrigued. I always longed to meet a Guardian, and his or her Charge, and find out what it is like to be bound to someone for life. Secretly I always wished I might have a Guardian of my own one day" he laughed softly "Father said that was unlikely, but still I liked to dream…" Shadow smiled at him through the darkness. "It's ok to have… daydreams… isn't it?"
Knuckles laughed softly "I used to spend most of my life lost in a daydream"
"In my dreams I had my own Guardian who looked like the picture from one of my books, he was like me, we lived in a world like the fairytales in my imaginings of what Earth must be like." He sighed "I'm afraid the real Earth didn't really match up to my dreams…"
"Did your Guardian have a name?"
"No, just Guardian… in various languages, I played with him when Maria was in her lessons… The scientists didn't like him… so I kept him secret. But they were right; I was just being a baby. I don't have him or daydreams anymore."
"That's a shame, but hey, you don't need him anymore, you've got me!"
"But you're not my Guardian are you?"
"Ugh… no" Knuckles made himself say, he ignored the tingling sensation again flooding through him, coincidence, that was what it was… nothing more.
"So you had a look around the ARK what did you see?"
"Yours and Maria's room… a lab… Wait, there was one place I didn't understand… There was this big room, all the walls were covered in plate metal and seemed… burnt… I guess that was your effort?"
"Yes… That was my room, my Training Room; I went there for my lessons, when they taught me to make fire… They also used to put me in there when I was bad… or when I lost control, because they knew that no matter how much fire I made, no matter how hard I bounced off the walls I couldn't escape, I was trapped in there until they saw fit to release me… until the fury dissipated, and the flames went out." Shadow paused as though straining hard to recapture a memory "The last time I was put in there I remember being really angry, there was more fire than I'd ever made before, I was consumed with rage… and something else, stronger… and far more painful… but I don't remember why…" he sighed "That time I think I nearly escaped. The room was full of flames, and ice… then all the lights went out and I was in darkness…" Shadow stopped "Once the anger was gone that horrible feeling remained… I fell asleep consumed with it… I'd have done anything to get away from it. I passed from the waking world in the darkness there that day… and I don't remember waking up again…" Shadow rolled onto his side so that his back was facing Knuckles "That feeling has been with me for as long as I can remember… it won't go away. Sometimes it's stronger… other times I can almost forget it's there… but it's never gone" Shadow glowed briefly "Like the fire… it's never gone."
"You burned your handprints into the doors…"
"Yes" Shadow said softly, his voice muffled "They used to lock me in there for a very long time"
"Shadow…" Knuckles reached out to touch his back but a low level of flame ignited around his body warned him to keep away.

"Please no! Don't put me in there, I'll be good, I promise, just don't put me in there again! Please don't put me in there… I don't like it!"
The hand holding around his wrist didn't loosen even slightly. The man in the white coat held him up so that his feet didn't touch the ground. He pressed the Stick into his back so he couldn't make fire, even if he wanted to, but he knew better, the attempt would earn him more time in the prison, not to mention the pain it would inflict. Shadow struggled trying to wring himself free of the tight grip but to no avail, without the fire his body was weak. He could see those double doors getting closer, plastered with all their warning signs.
"Please, please don't put me in there, I wont do it again, please I beg of you don't… don't leave me alone in there. There's monsters"
"The only monster here is you"
He opened the door and Shadow was thrown inside. He ran for the door but it was already closing
"No light this time. You've been a very bad boy Shadow"
He was plunged into darkness.
"Noo!! Please leave the lights!! Let me out let me out let me out please let me out let me out let me out…"
Desperately Shadow placed his hands against he door and started to burn. "Let me out let me out let me out let me out… Maria!" He screamed long and anguished, vivid blue and green fire burning at the doors, glancing off them. "Please, let me out… Let me out… Help, the monsters are coming!"

"Shadow shhh!! You're ok… There aren't any monsters…Hush, you're safe"
"For goodness sake Knuckles shut him up! I'm trying to sleep" Sonic muttered
"Shadow come on now, be quiet. Hush" Knuckles shook his shoulders.
Shadow opened his eyes and was suddenly silent.
"Are you ok Shadow?" Tails asked
Shadow didn't say anything, but watched by Knuckles he placed his thumb in his mouth and started to suck.
"Hey love, you ok?" Rouge asked sleepily
"He'll be alright… go back to sleep everyone"
Suddenly Shadow realised what he was doing and hastily pulled his thumb out of his mouth and sat up. Knuckles smiled in a reassuring way that said he wouldn't tell. After a moment Shadow settled, to Knuckles relief there hadn't been even as spark of flame throughout the whole incident. The others were quiet again, either asleep or on their way there.
"You must have had one hell of a nightmare to scream like that" Knuckles observed, allowing him to decide whether he wanted to talk about it or not.
"I dreamed of my Torture Room"
"What?!"
Shadow shook his head "My-Training Room"
"You called it something else"
Shadow sighed "My Torture Room… Charlton used to call it that." Shadow hugged his knees to his chest "He liked locking me up there more than the others… they used to say it was for my own good… and I believed them, I didn't want to hurt anyone… but him… he liked to use the Stick more than others. He never gave me a chance to stop it for myself…"
"The Stick?.. Did they hit you Shadow?"
"No… not with the Stick"
"Then what was it for?"
"They used it to stop the fire… when they pressed it against my skin I couldn't make fire anymore. Even if I wanted to, but I soon learnt not to fight it, for the pain it gave me when I tried. If I tried to make fire when it touched me the only person I could burn was myself…"
"It turned your power against you, is that what it did?"
Shadow nodded into his knees "Yes. Sometimes I welcomed its touch, when I lost control… then I wanted it, more than anything, I wanted control. I hate being out of control." Shadow said firmly.
"Chaos Control…"
"Yes… they weren't expecting me to learn that" Shadow sighed "After a while they all started to carry Sticks with them wherever they went, even the ones that were nothing to do with me… like they were afraid of me. Then even Maria started to wear one… she wore hers on a chain around her neck. But she only gave it to me when I asked…" Shadow sighed "Only shortly after they started using them they made them better, roughly at the time I learnt to project the fire away from my body, so that they didn't even have to be near me to make it work, but it was always worse when they touched me with them, and they usually did." Shadow sighed "They would take me to my room and I'd burn off the anger there for a while, if it was bad. Sometimes just a touch of the Stick would be enough to settle me enough to continue with whatever I'd been doing, they usually gave me a moment to try and contain it for myself, providing no-one was in danger. That was the point of my training after all…" He trailed off "Sometimes the Stick wasn't enough to stop the fire, to stop me making it, even though I wanted to stop it sometimes I just couldn't, my emotions ran away with me. They would take me to my room writhing in agony and leave me there to burn. They would come and get me when it was over… and I would wake up in my bed in Maria's room" He stopped for a moment "But when I was bad… they used to lock me in my Torture Room for hours at a time as a punishment, without anything to contain the rage. That was what usually got me put in there… but that place made me angry… I always wanted to escape, so I burned all the more, until I exhausted myself… If I was really bad they would lock me in there without the lights… and the monsters would come and get me, they'd close in on me… and I had to burn to keep them away…"
Knuckles looked at Shadow through the darkness. He could see him shaking.
"That's cruel…" Knuckles muttered "Shadow do you hate all small spaces or was it just that one?"
"I don't like little places… like that stasis pod, and small dark rooms… they all have monsters in them"
"You're claustrophobic. That makes what they did to you even more cruel"
"I'm what?"
"Scared of small places, like Sonic's scared of water. One of my friends back at the Guardian Training School was claustrophobic, she hated anywhere small… they used to make us all see the Head Doctor from time to time… we all had problems" Knuckles chuckled
"What's a Head Doctor?"
"You know, a shrink"
"You mean a psychiatrist?"
"Yeah"
"We had one on the ARK. He was a little too interested in me… so I burned him" Shadow frowned "I hated him, almost as much as Charlton, he didn't need to lock me in a room to frighten me, and make me angry, he just had to say a few words to make me burn with rage or cringe with fear… and that gave him an excuse to use the Stick."
"Well none of us have got one… so you don't need to have nightmares about them anymore… why don't you try and go back to sleep… we're all here with you… so you're safe"
"Ok…" Shadow said yawning as he lay down. After a brief pause in which Knuckles looked up at the moon he joined him.

Sonic had been watching Shadow and Knuckles. He missed the times when Knuckles had talked to him like that, he missed being able to have a conversation with him that didn't end in an argument… Knuckles had once called Sonic a jealous creature, maybe he was right… maybe he was jealous. Sonic's love for Knuckles and Tails was as strong as he knew; he'd even go so far as to say he loved Amy. The others were his friends, and as such he cared about them, at least, all but Shadow. He couldn't bring himself to care about him, even though he was beginning to want to, for Knuckles and the others, but something always seemed to stand in the way, preventing him from taking the leap to care about him, he just couldn't forgive him… Now as he lay in the dark staring at the back of Tails' head he wondered if Knuckles was right, if it was jealousy.

In the past Sonic and Knuckles had been enemies, rivals, but somehow they had been thrown together, along with Tails into some semblance of a team, even though to begin with Knuckles had insisted it would only be a temporary arrangement, for as long as it served him, but slowly they had come to trust and rely on one another, and Knuckles had always made himself available to help when he was needed. Sonic at least had come to rely on Knuckles; he was beginning to wonder if it worked both ways. Knuckles was his strength, not just physically, emotionally. Knuckles like the rocks he broke was strong, unchanging, he helped keep Sonic's otherwise flighty personality firmly rooted to the ground. He was a level head that would otherwise be sorely lacking among them. Sonic looked up to him in many ways, like an elder brother, though only a year separated them. Knuckles had always been the more experienced warrior, and to Sonic seemed far stronger than himself, in all respects. Most importantly Sonic knew that as long as Knuckles still breathed he would never let any harm come to him or Tails… Now Sonic wondered if perhaps Knuckles would come to rely on Shadow more than him and so if he would be left with no-one to depend on…