Chapter 7 – Reunions Now and Later.
A/N: Some interesting ideas as to who's returning, but I might have to set the record straight here (BTW, glad to see some new faces in the review section :-)):
DHarris (DH from here on in) – Wow, an Aussie! Truly this is an international site, but besides that, maybe you could help me out here: Angel of Darkness and Ice never got many reviews (I posted it all in one lump – never a good plan), so why did you like Seraph as a fancharacter? I'd like to become a full-time writer, so I need to know if my characters are believable; what makes Seraph interesting? Can he be improved at all? Should I let Eggman rise like a phoenix from the Ashes (no, no, bad Dreamer – I'm really, really sorry about that last pun, but please try to see it from a Brit's point of view; last time we won the urn I was still in nappies! Have to say though, Warne was player of the series by a long shot; he and his colleagues are a credit to the sport as a whole. Roll on the Aussie Tour – it'll be a stunner!)
Annebelle – Excellent, you followed the whole series so far! Wow, I'm so happy I've got fans like that – hope to hear from you more soon!
HHH – Heh, the number of times I tried to beg for a late start to school – unfortunately, it never happens. Not such a long wait this time though; hope you like it, and who did you honestly think was coming back (answer in the review please :-))
TH – Um, just an odd point; how do you kinda break a computer?
Sitting down in his battered old armchair behind the counter, Reginald Trenton blew a little steam from the top of his recently brewed coffee, the scent of the mild drink mixing headily with the scent of varnish and old, decent wood; what he liked to call the soul of his business. His father had owned this arts store before him and he'd taken it on in his stead and later, his memory as well, though he had somewhat shifted the focus to suit his own ends; he'd never had the knack of creating the art itself, but the frames, the finishing, there was a skill he had mastered and was held in high regard for.
Reg, as he was known to most of his regular customers, was a man of high standards and fairness, not one to back away from a difficult or taxing job; every piece he mounted and framed was a personal task and a cause for celebration – for that reason, Trenton Frames and Arts was well-patroned throughout Station Square, and a good cadre of potential artists were friends with the elderly owner. Thinking of age though; he looked down and flexed his hands, a few twinges of very early arthritis just beginning to set in; Reg smiled grimly as he knew that had been the fate of his father, ultimately denied the craft he loved so much due to his advancing age; but sixty-three not out's a fair innings. His smile widened as he light-heartedly thought about what he should do next for the post; he had considered an apprentice, but at the same time was wary of it – supposing he picked the wrong person? He brushed the negative thought aside; obviously he'd have top take a lot of care in grooming any potential successors, but now was not the time for such thoughts as the bell rang its customary note of warning. Hastily hiding his coffee under the desk, Reg reached into his pocket and produced his glasses case, popping it open and placing his spectacles on his face, allowing the large hazy blob now just inside the doorway to come into sharp focus; as it did, the old man stepped smartly off his stool with a joyous cry of greeting, stumping around his counter at the far end of the shop and extending his hand,
"Big my friend, it's been too long".
"Hullo Mr Trenton", the large cat carefully returned the handshake; once more, the human was struck by the softness of the cat's paws – not that he had anything against Mobians, but those he normally had contact with had paw pads like scourers, one reason they wore gloves was to disguise this. Big also wore gloves, but Trenton's sensitive hands, so used to feeling past the visible surface of wood to see if it had a good core, a decent soul, told him with truth that the pads of his irregular customer were flexible and smooth, a fact made all the more remarkable due to the outdoors life Big led. As was his custom, Reg forwent most of the pleasantries and got stuck right into the meet of the issue,
"Well now, what can I do for you Big? It's been a long time hasn't it?"
"I know"; more than you ever can; "Mr Trenton, I need…" With a smile, the older man raised a hand and forestalled the cat's request,
"I know what you need Big; what colours, and will you need watercolour or oils?"
"Umm, oils", the Mobian replied after a second's thought before squirming and flattening his ears, admitting a vital, unpleasant truth, "I, er, I don't have any money though".
"You never do Big, and as I tell you every time, money's not an issue here", Reg swiped the air as though troubled by a cloud of midges, "you supply the painting and I'll get the frame; all I want's a picture of the finished piece". Big smiled sadly as he shook his head,
"My portfolio", Reg nodded, "but Mr Trenton, I'll never…"
"Never say never son", the human cut him off sternly before relaxing and taking hold of Big's hand again, "one day, you might decide it's time to bring your gift to the surface; I waited nearly twenty years for a talent like yours Big, and I'll wait another twenty if I have to, until you decide you're ready. Now though, to business", beckoning the cat, Reg clumped over to his desk and brought out an old, leather-backed ledged, leafing through pages so thin through constant rubbing out and pencilling in of dates and events some were nearly transparent. Coming to the place he needed, he took hold of the pencil from the spine and made to take notes, "how often?"
"About every third day". A few words were scribbled down,
"Okay, just give me a few days to set up the spare room for you and order the oils; I'm shy a few shades of red, orange and green. Now, how large?"
"I think about three by two and a half feet should do it". The human turned around, mildly curious,
"Your largest work to date Big; this should be something to see", he scribbled down a few more notes with his unsharpened nub of a pencil before nodding, "right, that should be enough; in a week Big, we'll be ready". The cat nodded, mumbled his grateful thanks and then departed the store, Reg watching him go with a wistful air; I know you had problems as a child Big, but how long ago were they? Why can't you let them go and let yourself shine?
XXX
With increasing desperation, Shadow paced up and down the hall once more, jaw set in a determined manner that was still slowly but surely being undermined by a steadily mounting pressure, not helped by the faint but audible sound of a running tap in the background. I swear he spends longer getting ready than Amy must do; the black hedgehog upped the ante of his strides, now breaking down into a slight grimace as the battle of attrition took its toll on him. Suddenly, the sound of flowing water was cut off and like a hound at the chase Shadow's head snapped up, desperate for a little good news at last; his ears strained for anything that could help him – he breathed in as there was a footstep, then another and then, like the lock of a prison being broken and setting free the innocent, the handle to the bathroom door tuned and with a rush of warm air, Sonic stepped out. Blessed relief; with a blast of wind, Shadow was gone and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and as such not seeing Sonic's mischievous grin; evil maybe, but after sneaking out of the washing up last night he deserved it.
Only fifteen minutes later, the blue hedgehog was finally ready and raring to go; after quickly checking his quills in the mirror, Sonic stepped away and regarded Shadow with his arms outstretched,
"How do I look?" The black hedgehog reeled as though struck with a crow bar as he beheld his friend, gagging at an imaginary stench as he answered,
"Put it this way; if you don't knock her off her feet your cologne certainly will", he pinched his nose of dramatic effect as Sonic smiled shrewdly and folded his arms, "what did you do, marinade yourself in it?"
"Just a quick dab on the cheeks and wrists I'll have you know, but anyway", Sonic changed tack as he realised he needed to be off soon, "I'd better get going; I'll take a few more minutes to get there because it's sod's law if I hurry something'll mess me up and besides that I want to walk Amy to the cinema".
"Show's at seven-thirty right?" Sonic nodded and Shadow tried to do some mental maths without much luck, "when am I likely to see you again?"
"Around ten, maybe half-past, and you should see both of us; Amy's crashing over here for the night to get away from those forms they keep sending her", Sonic informed him, mind railing at the injustice of so many useless bits of paper being sent to his girlfriend in the guise of her trying to prevent her entering the Station Square University, "sometimes I think that must be some kind of screening process; weeds out the ones who can't stick with answering the junk mail".
"In that case Amy's a dead cert; have you ever known her give up at anything?" Sonic shared his flatmate's laugh before Shadow slapped him on the shoulder, "listen, you better get going; have a good night".
"I will; you know you're more than welcome…"
"Three's a crowd" the black hedgehog cut him off before pointing meaningfully at the door; Sonic nodded, tipped him a wink and then let himself out of the flat the two hedgehogs shared, a final goodbye the last thing Shadow heard.
XXX
As always when Sonic wasn't around, the flat somehow seemed smaller, not as full of life and noise as Shadow slid into the kitchen, knowing what he felt like doing now. The black hedgehog felt a brief flicker of gratitude to Tails as he saw his destination, through anger and shame were still present in equal measure, the fact that the fox was their only major source of news about how Knuckles and Rouge were getting on persuaded him to let the foxboy live another day.
On the trip home, before he could be cornered by the two irate hedgehogs and pummelled to oblivion, Tails had made a peace offering to both him and Sonic in exchange for them not nailing him to the roof of his Tornado and sending it on a one-way trip to the great beyond; due to his new friendship with Lara-Le and the fact he now had a fairly regular income that involved continual commuting to Angel Island and back, the fox was able to gain precious news on how the newlyweds had been finding their honeymoon. He was thus exchanging this information for gradual forgiveness after that monstrous embarrassment at the wedding reception; three weeks on and he was still alive, so Shadow reasoned he had to be doing a good job of it.
Recently, and with a great deal of excitement, had been the acquisition of a packet of photographs, sent to Lara by special delivery from her son and passed on to Tails to share with the others. Shadow smiled as he reached down to the draw where the pictures now lay; that must have cost a pretty penny to do – though a couple of businesses now shipped to Angel Island and the resultant echidna population, Tails having proved to be quite the trailblazer in this game, they still weren't all that common and quite expensive for the most part. Still, I doubt expense is even coming into this holiday; Shadow smiled as he carefully extracted the collection from where it nestled in one of the kitchen drawers; the Brotherhood must have fairly deep pockets, so they should be able to cope with whatever those two get up to. With that though, and now desperate to see the result of the fox's travels, the ebon hedgehog unfastened the lip of the envelope and took out the first picture, holding it up to the light to get the best view possible.
A smile crossed his lips as he saw Knuckles and Rouge trying to pose in the normal manner, though it looked as though the ski wear was hampering them somewhat in this regard. Somehow, Knuckles didn't look quite as formidable with his spurs hidden by a massive pair of mittens, likewise Rouge didn't give off quite the allure she normally did with her ears and eyes covered in goggles and a large ski hat. Shadow smiled as he drank in the picture, though the nectar was soured suddenly by a realisation as he did so; putting the picture down, the former ultimate life-form sighed as he realised, despite his friends, he was still alone.
Knuckles and Rouge are married now, Sonic and Amy are going like a steam train, heck even Tails has Cream, even if neither of them will admit it yet; Shadow was cheered slightly by memories of the fox and rabbit's vehement denials of any kind of feelings beyond friendship, though it was obvious to anyone with half a brain-cell there was a crush there, and a bad one at that. You don't just randomly build a plane for someone in much the same way to don't invite just a friend to a cute couple's free day at Twinkle Park; he chortled, then sighed again as he realised he was just delaying the inevitable – his own admission that he lacked that someone special in his life. He recalled Rouge holding him after he said he'd give her away, looking at the memory with fondness and somehow thirsty to be held in such a way again.
Sonic and Amy were always inviting him to go out with them, but he didn't want to intrude on what the two of them had jointly earned, and besides that he didn't want to try anything in front of them in case he made a fool of himself, but that wasn't really an excuse. With an effort, Shadow banished these bad thoughts to behind him and reached forcibly for the next picture, mind steely once more; well, if I want someone, I'm going to have to get out there and find them – the perfect girl isn't just about to ring me up and ask me. Of course, at that second the phone rang.
It's just a coincidence; Shadow repeated that certainty over and over again, though he couldn't displace the nagging feeling that someone upstairs might have been listening and was now having a secret giggle at his expense. The trilling note continued until, with strangely warm and clammy hands, the black hedgehog picked up the appliance and greeted cautiously,
"Hello?"
Oh, hi"; oh my God; the fact it was a woman's voice made Shadow's quills stiffen, until the next words deflated him utterly, "is Sonic there?" Well, it was a long shot anyway; Shadow mourned the loss of something he'd only just thought of until the voice in his ear jarred him back to reality,
"Hey, is anyone there?"
"Oh, sorry lost in thought", he apologised before answering, "no, Sonic's not in, but this is his house. I'm his flatmate". He thought he heard a triumphant exclamation on the other end and curiosity prickled him as the other person spoke again, voice now noticeably more excited,
"Okay, is he going to be in later?"
"Yeah, he should be back at about half-ten", he would have asked for a name had the girl not beaten him to the punch,
"Right, could you take a message", Shadow obediently put the conversation on pause as he hunted for a scrap of paper and a pen, "tell him to ring this number when he gets in", a string of numbers followed, Shadow diligently recording each one before speaking,
"Hey, what name should I give?" There was a light-hearted chuckle on the other end,
"Just say dance school; he should know who I am". She hung up, leaving Shadow more confused and more curious than ever before.
XXX
Dance school; the two words bounced around in Shadow's head, leaving him unable to rest or think about anything else as he tried to piece together puzzle that had more pieces missing than were actually present. At first, he had been a little worried that the strange caller could have been an old girlfriend but, after trying to weigh up the conversation he'd just had, the ebon hedgehog decided this idea was unlikely; surely any kind of old flame would have given her name, ensured her recognition, rather than a cryptic reference to an old sort of meeting place? That sudden thought of school had set the ball rolling on a different track; this might be an old school friend, trying to make contact with her former friend from her youth, but even so, amusing as the image of Sonic in a leotard or a tutu doubtless was, Shadow couldn't really see his blue friend tripping the light fantastic as a form of education. Dancing has to be involved; he tried to logically sum up as much as he could, the conflicting influences and thoughts making his head spin; but where, and how, and who the heck is she? How come I never asked Sonic about his past, well actually, that's easy – I'm too focussed on trying to get back mine. Finally, mentally exhausted by chasing the same thoughts in a circle, the former ultimate life-form gave up with a huff and resorted to the desperate act of someone trying to wait patiently; slipping onto the sofa and grabbing the remote, Shadow started channel-flipping, flicking his eyes to the clock occasionally to make sure that time, however agonisingly slowly, was at least passing, bringing his answer ever closer.
XXX
"Sonic, that was the best night I've had in ages; thank you", Amy reached over and squeezed his hand, smiling as he chuckled and quickly moved in, sliding his arm around her shoulder and squeezing, resting his cheek almost on top of her softer head quills,
"Ames, after ploughing through all that tat they keep sending you, you deserve a night off", he chuckled again as the pink hedgehog rolled her eyes, envisioning the mountain that still awaited her in the morning, after her shift at the Quick Stop Shop, "if it were me, I'd have shot someone by now".
"It's not got quite that bad yet, but I've been a bit snappy with Si recently", her face clouded with apprehension as she recalled spitting hasty words at her colleague, the hurt plain on his face as he resisted the urge to snap back; the silence had somehow been worse than if he'd had a slanging match with her, letting her irritableness fester away and nibble her concentration, "I owe him a real apology".
"I'm sure he'll understand", Sonic was conciliatory as he ruffled her hair affectionately, though with a hint of zest he couldn't help but add, "he should know you're a little spitfire after all". The rose rascal scowled up at him before suddenly jumping up and brushing her lips against his; as she landed, she laughed and pointed at the blue hedgehog's sudden blush,
"Well you're on fire, but I didn't do any spitting. Hey, ahh, quit it!" She protested as Sonic gained his revenge by means of the monkey scrub, gently scrubbing the skin of her scalp until she caved in, glaring up at him as she tried to rearrange her hair and he tried to stop sniggering. With a contemptuous snort, she thrust a finger forwards and uttered a command,
"Hey Lothario, I want the door to this dive open, a cup of coffee on the table and
a nice warm pillow to lay my head upon and I want it now". Still high from his victory, Sonic jingled his keys,
"As you command your royal shortness"; Amy cuffed him lightly as he stretched to make the most of their slight high difference before he fitted his key into the lock. Strange; the key didn't turn, the door already unlocked; Shads must still be up and about. With a shrug, he flipped his key back into his pocket and pushed the door open, holding it for Amy to slip in first. As he followed and pulled the front door to, the hero greeted,
"Hey Shadow, why the stop up?" A split-second pause and the black hedgehog appeared in the doorway to the lounge, television remote still in his hand; Sonic raised his hands in surrender as he pointed it at him directly, "hey, I surrender captain; set that thing down to stun and we'll talk". Amy smiled slightly at the reference before Shadow's tone made both returning Mobians take more note,
"You've had a call Sonic; it's been driving me nuts all night since I took it".
"Right", Sonic ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to think who might possibly call him that Shadow wouldn't know; at the minute nothing was registering and he needed more info, "any idea who it was?"
"Didn't give a name, just asked you to call back", with his eyes trained solely on Sonic's face, Shadow came to the crux of the issue, "and what does the phrase dance school mean to you?"
XXX
Amy looked around, suddenly as interested as Shadow as Sonic's furrowed brow meant he was as confused as they were. She was about to reach out and touch his shoulder, when with alarming speed his eyes widened to almost bulging point, bafflement banished and replaced with the dawning of realisation, a deep, profound truth of sheer exultation,
"No way"; Amy barely the heard the breathed words and assumed Sonic must have been talking to himself before he stood tall, addressing Shadow and demanding with authority, "where's the number?" On cue, a slip of paper was produced and Sonic snatched it up, turning to her in the same movement and looking breathlessly excited as he excused himself,
"Amy, please, bear with me a second, this is huge, if it's really…man". She shooed him forwards with an uncertain hand, stuttering the first words of permission she could find,
"Er, yeah, go, er, go call this…dancer?" With no further ado, Sonic raced into the hall and swept the phone up, tapping the keypad and lowering the receiver to his ear, every motion of his body trembling in anticipation. She and Shadow both watched as Sonic waited poised, then stiffened, a single tremor running through his body, tip of the tongue wetting suddenly dry lips as he spoke down the phone,
"Is this who I think it is?"
Watching half of a conversation normally isn't too enlightening as you miss most of the relevant points and only get half a picture; however, when the half the conversation you get comes from Sonic Hedgehog, the half picture can still prove very illuminating, especially when he jumped a foot vertically and punched the air,
"Yes, all right; how the heck you doing girl? I haven't seen you in flippin' years; what's happening?" Two glances were exchanged as the performance hit a relative quiet period, Sonic apparently listening hard to what the other person was saying, until with a jolt he spoke again, excited almost beyond coherency,
"You serious?" He had the phone held so tight to his ear he was almost certain to have an imprint as he reached for the pen, snatching it up and scribbling down, "right, when is it? Sweet as; listen, don't book a hotel, or a motel, or anything like that, there's a room here for you", the blue hedgehog's gaze flicked to Shadow for a fleeting instant before his voice carried on, "yeah that was Shadow, don't worry, he'll be cool with it. A week and a half – counting the minutes already. Right, okay, looking forwards already, see you, bye". With a care that forsook the recent frenzy, Sonic very carefully replaced the receiver with something like reverence; once it was back in its proper place, however, that was a different story.
XXX
"Reckon we aught to try and get some sense out of him yet?" Amy joked half-seriously, nodding her head at the capering, celebrating Sonic as Shadow was forced to concede a reluctant smile,
"Since when has Sonic ever made sense, but you're right", he amended hastily as a thin piece of wood covered in hearts hove into the edge of vision, "I'm as desperate to know as you are; hey Sonic". At the shout, the blue blur reined in his celebrations with a visible effort, slowing his celebration to a crawl even if he couldn't wipe the smile off his face, even when Amy folded her arms,
"You want to explain who that was? And since when have you ever been a dancer?" Taking a deep breath and putting his hands on his hips, Sonic visibly calmed down and spoke, the undercurrent of excitement still tangible in his voice,
"Right, okay, you guys need an explanation; sorry but that, wow, bolt from the blue or what", he smiled again as the other two Mobians swapped glances, "that was someone who I haven't seen for, blimey, nearly ten years now, and yes, we met at a dance school", he held up a hand to stall questions, smiling at the memories as he filled his friends in, "it was one of those summer workshop things; we were the only two Mobians there and, well, everyone else was a bit too tall for us to work with, so it was a case of buddy up or flounder. We got on pretty well and learned a fair bit; when it was all over, we split up – I never thought I'd heard from her again and…"
"Wait", Amy cut him off, an almost challenging look in her eye as she drew herself up, "she?"
"Yeah, she was", Sonic saw the problem and chuckled, holding out his hand palm upwards and explaining, "Ames, we were about eight at the time; nothing went on beyond a bit of ballet". Shadow snickered in the background as Amy smiled, looking a little abashed even as she read in Sonic's eyes no offence had been taken and he finished,
"…and she just rang me", he chortled, amazed at how sometimes things just worked out right; of all the numbers she finds, she gets me; hw shook himself and turned to Shadow now, mock-stern, "so listen up you; no bringing home any ladies after the next week and a half, we're having a guest for a little while". Shadow blinked as Amy gasped and exclaimed,
"She's coming to Station Square?"
"Yeah, she's got an interview here soon, so least I can do is offer her a place to kip for the night; I'd better mark it on the calendar", Sonic stamped his feet in childish impatience, "ohh, I can't wait!"
"Um, just a sec here", Shadow raised a finger, brow knitted as he smiled weakly; this had moved a bit too fast for him to be entirely comfortable with, "she got a name, this girl who we're going to be house-sharing with soon?"
Sonic stopped for a second, as thought the question had failed to sink in at first, then, as though catching up with the black hedgehog's words, sniggered a little,
"yeah, her name's Michelle but", the sniggers matured into gentle chuckling, "I wouldn't call her that; what it is with names beginning with M?"
"What do we call her then; Shelly?"
"No", Sonic shut him off vehemently, "that would be your first and probably last mistake; she's a bit touchy on that subject". Amy raised an eyebrow,
"What is she, a turtle?"
"And that would be your second, equally fatal error", Sonic shook his head before filling them in, "she's an armadillo, and if you're going to call her anything call her Mighty; trust me you'll understand when you meet her". Against that logic, all Shadow and Amy could do was swap curious glances and nod, inwardly almost dreading by what Sonic had meant by that last statement.
XXX
In the pitch black, with no light at all present for risk of activating the crude security system, the team worked hard to achieve their mission. His mechanical eye configured to see in the infra-red spectrum, Kragok tapped the micro-bead in his ear and listened to the grating voice report,
"It is done lord; the defences are down. You may proceed without risk". Checking his internal chronometer, the second in command of the Dark Legion snarled back coldly,
"Thirteen point two seconds behind schedule Jari; I shall be consulting your immediate superiors about this. Out". Cutting the transmission before the tedious explanations could begin, Kragok strode through the now opening portal to where the prize lay, the information his sister had inadvertently hacked from the world below leading them to this new avenue of exploration. His mental map of the target zone was clear and unfettered by doubt; Kragok arrived on schedule, the transmitter for the teleportation beam held in his steel claw as he located the object he had been sent to retrieve. Standing before it, brief emotion flickering for a second, he brushed his hand over the cell, noting the official designation of Evidence: B12221.
So alike we are; he had read the mission briefing well as was his custom – much as it jarred him to feel attachment to anything, Kragok couldn't help but sympathise with this weapon; fettered by those afraid to use our power fully. With a shake of his head, he thrust these aside and returned to the mission; he was to attach the teleport homer and then move his team out, leaving everything as it was. With luck the theft would go unnoticed, and a weapon powerful enough to turn the tide of the war with the guardians would be in the hands of the Dark Legion. As it still would had Dimitri merely…; he caught himself – he must not think such thoughts, they only served to fester his indignation at being denied his true purpose, the role he knew he must play. Instead, he carefully placed the metal disk onto the side of the containment capsule with a dull clunk, the thrill of capturing this new power translating into the knowledge that would be his when the time came. The Legion will prosper; he thought as the air shimmered, the cell disappearing before his eyes as a grim, cold smile edged onto his face; once the obstacles are removed from my path, Angel Island shall know true release.
A/N: Okay, as you have hopefully all gathered, in my fics, Mighty's a girl! Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase Girl Power (Author nods knowingly at TH), but then again why not – it always struck me that girls can be as rough and tough as boys (it often struck me quite literally now I think about it…). She's coming back next chapter, and the machinations of the Dark Legion become slightly clearer…
P.S. – This is a bit cheeky, but could someone try this out for me. I can't draw to save my life, but if there are any artists or Deviant-artists out there, could you please, PLEASE, draw the photo Tails took of Knuckles' stag night, and the reactions to it at the wedding? I've just got such a picture in my head, I really want to see if I'm getting the idea across well enough, plus who doesn't like to see Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow embarrassed every once in a while :-)?