Disclaimer: Look, people, I don't own them! Any of them! Shadow, Sonic, Tikal, none of them! GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!! Come on! This is the tenth update! I've said this nine times in this ONE story! Heeeelloooooo! Are you even listening to me!?! ........buugers....
Although, General Asaro is mine....as is Atl....sorta....
Ugh, raise your hand if you've ever experienced Writer's Block. Yeah? All of you...? Dang, an epidemic's going around, ain't it? O-o Well, yeah, that's what happened to me anyway. Good old fashioned getting-stumped-in-the-middle-of-the-story. -.-' It saddens me, because I've been on such a role, and when the Block strikes, I forget everything I had planned. Oh well.
Some good news? I'm posting another Bil work, a Sonic-luff piece, that involves torture and sadness, so if you haven't seen and read it yet, I suggest you do so. It's kinda angsty, but then, it's Bil, so what do you expect?
Bil: I am not angsty... That's just the only genre you post here.
Well, all of your OTHER works have nothing to do with fanfiction, now DO they?
Bil: ...shut up...
No....no, I don't think I will...
Shadow: Ah HAH!!! Now I remember!!
O-o ???? .....remember what, exactly?
Shadow: Do you remeber what your sister gave you as a Christmas present....?
O-----O um........I....uh....
Sonic: -catching on- That's right, the water!!!
Shadow: -evil grin- .....and it's not like you've been cured....
o------o Um.......well, I uh....I......
Sonic: And you can't TYPE if you have PAWS..... -sly smile-
CRAAAP!!! -runs, while Shadow and Sonic chase her with buckets of cold water-
Chapter Nine - Dead--Or Not So Dead?
There's a pain that sleeps inside
Sleeps with just one eye
And awakens, the moment that you leave
And I search through every face
Without a single trace, of the person
The person that I need
- Hoobastank
Even though he looked strange, she couldn't think of anyone else it could be. One couldn't change so much in six months, but concerning one such as him, there really was no telling. He always had progessed faster than everyone else. The quills, stance, and general aura about him were so different from how she remembered, much more cold and strange, and his eyes were all wrong, far too deep and filled with abundant anger and sadness. But there was a presence of confidence and true power about him that she'd only known him and the others to posess...
"Sonic....?"
"I'm...not Sonic..."
Tikal stared for a moment, unsure of what to do or say. If he wasn't Sonic, then she was lost on who else he could be. Though she thought, on second glance, it was, in it's own way, somewhat obvious that she had been wrong. The hedgehog before her had all the wrong coloring of fur and eyes. Now that she was focused and actually could see him, instead of groping to feel his aura, she could've kicked herself for not noticing the differences betweeen the two earlier.
He gave her a stern glare, the kind she'd planned on having him receive and suffer under only a few mintes ago when he had shaken her awake. She figuratively stood her ground under the unblinking eyes, but slowly wilted under its intensity. Even as she turned away, she could still feel the red-hot stare fixated on her, sending anxious prickles up her skin.
"If you know Sonic, you are one of his allies...?"
She gave a start, snapping back to face him, since his voice had suddenly gotten closer. She gave a loud squeak when she realized he was kneeling next to her. Even though she didn't mean to, her instincts made her react. She extended her arm and struck him clean across the face. Or at least, she tried to...
He caught her hand before it even came close to contact.
A shocked silence followed this, in which Tikal gaped at his gloved hand closed tightly around hers. His grip was very strong, not quite enough pressure to do any permanent damage, but plenty to make her wince in pain, as she was beginning to do. His gaze had now gone from cold and calculating to a more surprised, yet considering sort of look. Slowly he rose off his knees, dragged the silently protesting Tikal upright with him. She pulled insistently at her arm, trying to make him release his overly strong grip.
"Please stop! You're hurting me!!" She yelped, stuggling to get away.
"But you would've hurt me...." He answered, letting go so suddenly that she stumbled backwards with a loud cry of panic. He let her land, his face remaining completely passive to her annoyance.
"Yes, well, if you hadn't startled me, I wouldn't have lashed out like that..." She pushed herself back onto her legs, grumbling. After she'd somewhat straightened her skirt and dusted herself off, she returned her gaze to him. "However, I admit I was in the wrong for trying to strike you. One should not automatically resort to violence when in danger..." She extended her hand, half-expecting for him to touch palms with her, the ancient way of making peace between individuals.
She could've slapped herself when she realized that he couldn't have known the procedure; it had died centuries ago, and now lived only within her and Chaos.
Though she couldn't be classified as 'living' anymore, now could she?
"In any case," She said, lowering her arm. "I apologize." That phrase he seemed able to understand, and nodded his head to her rigidly, before turning away from her. For the first time since she'd woken, she began to give her surroundings a good look.
More of the same plain white walls made an almost perfect, large square, off by maybe a foot or so. She was standing near some the few patches of wall in the room. It was much like the hallways, except that there were a multi-tude of machinery pressed against the walls, and leading in rows down the interior. Her hedgehog comrade was standing at one of the blinking consoles, frowning. For a moment, she was silent, then she spoke, slowly to make sure she had his attention.
"Are you the escaped 'specimen' they were broadcasting about earlier...?"
Tikal could just see his face harden and twist angrily at her words, and she immediately regretted them. His hands, which had been resting on the sides on the consoles screen balled themselves into tight fists, the sound of metal being crushed beneath his strength, and his head whipped around to give her a dark stare.
"I am not a specimen...but yes, I am who they were looking for." He growled deeply, eyes narrowed and fixed upon her. "....you may refer to me as Shadow." It seemed to be a grudging sort of surrender from the way he went about it, telling her his name.
"I am Tikal." She answered, on beat. In older customs, one would state their parents' names, to let their aqquaintance know their status in society, but there was no need for that now that the civilization was gone. He wouldn't have known her father, and if he had, he would've been centuries old, and impossible for any creature she knew of to live that long, save rebirthed Chao.
"Tikal....." He looked her over again, blinking slowly as his anger seemed to leave him. "You are an Echinda...a friend of the red male's...?" She blinked in astonishment.
"You know Knuckles?!" She inquired, excited. Something clicked in her mind, as the name 'Shadow' began to ring little bells. "....but...wait, the Shadow from Ark...?"
The hedgehog frowned slightly. "Yes."
Tikal realized she was staring, but could quite bring herself to stop. He couldn't be serious...
"That...that can't be right...." She mumbled, and his ears twitched slightly. She gazed at him, knowing that it was true, but at the same time, unable to completely believe him. He fit the description, and there was no doubt he was fast and strong, but Shadow the Hedgehog, as she had been told by Knuckles, had fallen from space, through the atmosphere, and according to Sonic, had vanished in a flash of light. Shadow the Hedgehog was no more....Shadow the Hedgehog....
"You're......dead....."
Well! That was an awkward note to end the chapter on, now wasn't it. O-o I think I'm losing my better writing skills, but then again, it could just be a little plot development. Personally, I have great plans for Shadow and Tikal, and when the others come in....-.o Let's get say things'll get topsy-turvy. Next chapter is another flashback to Tikal and Atl's past, and how Chaos came into the picture, but I will however give you a small taste of what is to come in the chapter afterwards. You know, just 'cause I'm so insanely nice and stuffs.
"Watch out!"
And that's all you get!! :p
Sonic: That was cheap.
Was not! I'm just being insanely evil!!!
Shadow: You just couldn't think of anything to write.
.......yeah, so?
Daxter: Come on girl! Give them a real teaser!!
O-O but......oh....fine, I will but I want extra brownie points for this.
"Watch out!"
He was at her side in a moment, and in the next had scooped her up off the ground and dodged with her to the opposite side of the hallway. Tikal squeaked in surprise, but didn't protest, mostly because she was too busy staring. A rain of sparks hailed down, striking the ground where she'd been standing only seconds before, and it took a little while before she was able to fully comprehend that they were in fact, bullets.
Someone was trying to shoot them...
"How fast can you run exactly...?" He asked, cutting off down a different hallway, glad that the chip GUN had implanted didn't affect his speed, since that, at least, didn't require his now-cancelled out Chaos Energy. She was clinging onto him for dear life, eyes scrunched closed in fear.
"N-Not very fast," She admitted, opening one eye slowly before screaming right in his ear.
"TURN! TUUUURN!!"
There, are you happy now?
Shadow: Much better!
Sonic: Yep yep!
Daxter: Kudos to you.
Shadow: And now...... -dumps the water on her-
O--o -stands there wet- Huh....? HEY!! I didn't change into a rat!!
Sonic: -checks his water- Agh! That's right!! It's still summer, so the water got warm before we could use it on her!
And you know what that means.....TORTURE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!! BUWHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Daxter: Next chapter's a flashback....
o---o DANG!! Oh well, chapter after that! 0
Shadow: We're dooooomed....i--i
