(((Well, I have to say it's been a somewhat long run here, kids. This is the longest I've stuck with a story without branching out and making a sub or something completely different.
Knuckles: -sitting at a news reporter desk wearing glasses and holding papers- and now for something completely different! -said in a British accent-
Sonic: good lord. We've sunk to monty python level. Sound the alarm!
A: like I was SAYING, it's people like you that keep me writing like this. My thanks to Piccard...
Piccard: SHE SAID MY NAME RIGHT! HALLELUJA!
...Magnus the hedgehog, and Omega the mouse. I don't know if any of my previous reviewers are still reading, but if you are, hell, I have to admire you. All that reading and not a single review. How do you do it? I want to hear from you even if you hates it! Tell me how much it stinks! Please!
Shadow: ok. It stinks.
A: you're only saying that because you're dead...-ish... wait, why are you talking?
Sh: ...X,X urk.
A: that's better. Now here's another char profile since I forgot to put one in last time, neh.
Your name of Itshell has created a practical, patient, scientific nature able to concentrate on the finer details of a project or undertaking. You would function best in settled conditions where you are not called upon to meet and mix too closely with others, but are able to work on your own. This name restricts congenial expression and association, creating much aloneness.
...and I have absolutely NO idea how that relates to her except that she IS calculating, and likes to be ALONE with her counterparts... but I think she has no problem at all being congenial...heh heh...
Tarsa: a little TOO congenial...HEY! Stop fondling my breasts!
Itshell: -innocently- what? -fondles some more-
T: T.T I hate our author...
Sally: if she rapes me I'm filing a lawsuit against you, Aeyvi.
Sonic: I wouldn't mind at all...to watch...:D
Sa: T.T you're sleeping on the couch tonight.
Sn: damnitalltahell. -.-;
A: anyway, you'll find this chapter full of unexpected twists...as is my nature to twist and defile... muwahahahahaaa! So enjoy .
)()())( Shadow: uhh...;;;; I'm like, dead...so I have no idea how I'm doing the disclaimer, but I am. So, Aeyvi owns nothing. I have to keep reminding her, but she doesn't own me either. She owns her characters, like Itshell, and God-willing, she can HAVE her. ;;; ()()()()))(
Chapter 16- Regeneration and Regression
He felt nothing...yet...he was still able to feel, so this meant...something...
His lungs suddenly begged painfully for air. He shook his head, amazed that he still had one, trying to inhale. Instead- to his surprise- he sucked in saltwater.
He opened his eyes in shock, realizing he was underwater. Frantically, he swam for the surface. Coughing forcefully, he was able to gasp in the sweet air, blinking to clear his vision.
He somehow had ended up in a harbor of sorts, an inlet between two curves of cliffs, one on either side. This was odd, you see, because the last thing he remembered was falling to the forest floor...
"What kind of hell is this?" Shadow screamed in his confusion. A bird sang sweetly on the breeze in reply.
He looked from one side of the inlet to the other, now seeing a faraway mansion on one side, and nothing but a lone tree on the other. Being that he'd rather not run into whatever lived in this strange place, he swam towards the side that was vacant.
-------------------
"wh-...where'd Knuckles go?" Tarsa looked around in confusion. "Itshell!"
"Yes, darling?" she appeared in the same place he had stood, arms folded across her chest.
"What did you do with Knuckles? He was here a second ago..."
"No he wasn't, sweet child. That was a projection."
"Projection?"
"Oh, it's too complicated to explain, dear." She drew her into a hug, kissing her forehead. Tarsa pushed her away.
"I've had enough of your tricks! Now, I don't know who you are or what's going on here, but I want to go home! Now!"
"Tarsa, love, you ARE home..."
"Don't you give me that!" she slapped the dark one suddenly, the unexpected force of which caused her lip to crack, blood oozing slowly from it.
Itshell touched this abrasion with disbelief, looking at the blood on her fingertips with rising anger.
"This is how you treat me after all I've done for you? After all we've been through together?"
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU!" she shrieked, grasping her tendrils and tugging on them with frustration. "Get me out of here! I want OUT!"
"Tarsa..." her voice dropped to a low, menacing growl. "I can either be your best friend... or your very worst foe... you don't want me as your enemy..."
She snarled at her. "I think I'd prefer it to your comforting lies and the beatings."
She winced slightly as Itshell seized her by the collar, yanking her closer.
"You haven't even BEGUN to feel pain yet...if you're going to resist me, I have no choice..." she dropped her.
The minute she hit the floor, she found herself no longer in the vast field, but in a cluttered, dank apartment that reeked. In looking around frantically, she found herself in the last place she ever wanted to be...
Home.
-----------------
He climbed the slope of the stout cliff with ease, swinging himself onto the grass when he reached the top. He sat to catch his breath for a moment, get a bearing on his surroundings. The field was beautiful, littered with fragrant wildflowers. He looked up into the branches of the tree under which he was resting, marveling at its intricacy. Surely this wasn't hell, but maybe a lower form of heaven. What he'd done to deserve this was beyond him. Maybe there was a mistake made somewhere...
At that precise instant, everything went dark, stormy...the grass withered, some melting into streets. Run-down buildings sprouted from the very soil, the din of invisible faraway traffic could be heard. He was now looking up into a street lamp, sitting next to a dented garbage can, overflowing with filth. He stood hastily, looking up at the apartment building in front of him.
"What does this mean...?"
Suddenly he heard shouting from the only lit window in the building, saw silhouettes moving in front of the closed curtain. The crack of a belt against flesh... the cries of anguish from a young throat.
'My God...am I supposed to do something..?'
"no...no... PLEASE! STOP! I'll do whatever you say! Please..." the voice was feminine, he guessed about fifteen or sixteen. The silhouette outlined what looked like a very fat dog, grasping the belt tightly. He couldn't see the girl.
"That's a good girl. Now clean this shit up before she gets back. NO backtalk. Or I'll pull out something worse than my belt...heh heh..."
Shadow, knowing nothing else to do, crossed the street and slid through the open door to the building, climbing the stairs.
--
She sniffled as she scrubbed at the stained rug, looking fearfully up at the dog from time to time. He laughed with an obnoxious voice while watching their small TV, stuffing his face with some variety of greasy snack. Tarsa cringed, thinking hard about the choice she had made.
"When you get done with that, I want to see you in my bedroom..." he said through the food in his mouth. Her stomach turned forcefully and she felt sickened. She sighed waveringly.
"...why?"
"You owe me for letting you go out the other day. Remember, you're grounded."
She was always grounded. She could never figure out what she did to deserve it, but it seemed that every petty privilege came with a price.
"...alright..."
"Hell, you owe me for saving you from that orphanage. You owe me for giving you a roof over your head, putting food in your stomach, putting clothes on your back..."
'...and taking them off...' she thought. She wanted to cry again, but the tears wouldn't come. She worked more slowly on the stain, postponing the inevitable torture she would have to endure in the bedroom...
She could feel his hungry eyes on her, and being that she was on all-fours to clean the stain, she knew exactly what he was visualizing...
'Itshell, this is the last straw...' she grit her teeth, staring blankly at the filthy carpet, eyes clouding with rage.
"Will you come to your senses, then?" she asked, appearing in front of the TV. She must have been invisible to the stepfather, for he continued to laugh occasionally, munching noisily.
"No, I will not 'come to my senses', you heartless bitch. I want out. How can you do this to me? I've lived this a thousand times over in my nightmares..."
"Oh, but let's just see it again! Just one more time for fun!" she strode over and leaned into the dog's ear. "I think she's done cleaning, don't you?"
He looked to his stepchild. "Hey, Tarsie, it looks clean to me... come on, go get your robe on for pops, won't you?" he winked at her.
"Damn you to hell. DAMN YOU TO HELL!" she screamed at the ethereal Itshell as she faded into air.
She got up and trudged to her room, closing and locking the door behind her. She leaned heavily against it, sliding down to the floor, wringing her wrists in despair. She sobbed, leaning forward and covering her face with her hands. "Oh, God, please...please... not again...not again...please...I can't go through with it again..."
She scrambled to her feet, searching through her drawers frantically. "I know I had them around here...somewhere..." She slammed a drawer shut in rage. "THEYRE NOT HERE, ARE THEY?" she shrieked.
"No. Sorry. No escape for you this time, dear." She appeared, holding her bottle of painkillers, shaking it tauntingly. "Looks like you're going to have to do this without getting stoned."
She lunged at her, only to crash into her own wall when she vanished. She glared angrily at the spot where the depraved being had been from where she fell, thensobbed, digging her nails into her scalp.
"No..."
---
Shadow had heard a great deal of what was going on within as he was just outside the door. But what perplexed him was the voice of the other female. It was as if only the girl could hear her. he reached for the doorknob to see if it was locked...
To his bewilderment, his hand went through the door.
'I guess this means I really am dead, then... good to know. T.T'
He cautiously stepped through the door, looking around for the girl.
-
Tarsa looked up, gasping in fright at the sound of footsteps. She saw the dark form enter her room without opening the door, eyes going wide with terror.
"STAY BACK!" she made a cross with her fingers, looking away and grimacing.
Shadow stared. This was the selfsame echidna that had been floating above them before she and Karpa fused. Therefore she couldn't be anyone but her twin, Tarsa. Now, why she was here and why shelooked so young were still mysteries.
"Calm down, I won't hurt you..."
"You're like her aren't you?"
"...whom?"
"Itshell... You look like her, so you're a... whatever she is... right?"
"Itshell?" his eyes widened in alarm. "Where is she?"
"She...disappeared. I don't know where to."
He looked around, puzzled. "Where are we anyway?"
Tarsa sniffed, getting off the floor and sitting on her unmade bed. "She said something about another dimension. Like...like my idea of perfection. I don't know who the hell she is or what she's talking about, but she put me through hell, and now... I guess she's 'punishing' me for not wanting to stay."
"She must have created this dimension to lock you in, so she could continue to use your body."
"My body? I'm not already 'in' my body?"
"No...and I guess I'm not either."
"Who are you, anyway?" she asked, a bit of trepidation in her tone.
"My name's Shadow."
"Are you what she is?"
"No...no, I'm...well, I guess I'm dead."
---------------
Karpa walked along the shore, treading the pearly white sand with bare feet. She wore a flowing khaki sarong, holding her sandals in one hand. She breathed happily the fragrance of her homeland, looking up toward the orange grove that took up acres of the property.
"Well, I have to hand it to you, it's not all that bad..." she said as the dark girl melted into sight beside her.
"I could really use a smoke, though..."
She was handed a cigarette, her favorite brand of menthol.
"Why, thank you!" She gave Itshell a kiss on the cheek, then began to search herself for a light.
Her eyes widened as the dark echidna offered a flame at the end of her finger.
"Right...of course..."
"You'll have to get used to being pampered, Karpa." she said as she lit it for her.
"I'm already used to being pampered, what I'm not used to quite yet is you."
She blew a stream of smoke into the breeze, looking at the other with a thoughtful expression.
"I'm still trying to decide if I should trust you..."
"Why couldn't you trust me?" she asked innocently, throwing on a pair of big childlike eyes.
"You are evil, after all. No matter what you say." She chuckled. "After that event in the bedroom, I'd say you're 'very' evil..." she sucked on her cigarette for a moment. "But I don't know if I can trust you not to pull a stunt like you did the other day...or earlier today...or was it yesterday?"
"There is no actual time here." She explained. "It's whatever time you want it to be. So far, I've found you enjoy the late morning hours, so it's always about ten to eleven."
"Say I wanted it to be seven..." Karpa began. Suddenly, the sun sunk to just above the horizon, casting a dazzling sparkle on the ocean and turning the sky and scattered clouds a breathtaking scarlet.
"Bravo! It's perfect!" Karpa clapped with glee.
"Of course it is." her voice had deepened, and as Karpa turned to her, she found herself looking into Shadow's eyes. She grinned, taking his hand. (AN- this is not THE Shadow, mind you. Just in case you got confused)
"I'm glad we can finally see a sunset together. Who ever thought you, of all people, could get romantic?" she giggled, kissing him briefly.
"Anything for you, Karpa." He drew her into a tight caress, kissing her back passionately.
--.o:o.--
"I have good news...and bad news." Vector began.
"How much more bad news can one receive in a single day?" Sally groaned, folding her arms.
"Rouge took the transport when she went to take Charmy and Cream to safety...and she hasn't come back yet."
"Oh. This is lovely. So, we're stuck here is what you're telling me." Sonic complained.
"In a word, yes."
"Well, we just wait then." Amy said, taking a seat on the wall.
"What if she's not coming back?" Espio asked with concern.
"She will." Tails said, not looking up from his Gameboy.
"Obviously you don't know Rouge." Sonic sighed tiredly, raking a hand through his quills in anxiety.
Amy tapped her foot nervously, looking in the direction of Shadow's body. "What are we going to do about him?"
"I guess we should bury him... I mean...I don't wanna haul him back with us." Sonic said with disgust.
Amy sighed, walking over to the body, stooping over it and looking at it sadly.
"Hey, I hope you had a good long run, Shadow." She closed his eyes with two fingers. She gasped and jumped back as they opened again. The body twitched.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"Good gawd, Amy, you scared the bejeesus outa me!" Sonic said from behind the wall he retreated to.
"He's alive! But he's dead! He's a living dead person! He's a zomb-"
"Oh, pipe down. It's probably his nerves dying. It happens." Vector reassured her.
"But... but..." she stooped over him again, feeling for a pulse.
"-sigh- You're right. He's dead."
Her eyes widened as she noticed his chest was rising and falling rhythmatically.
"...but he's still breathing..."
She then put as much distance between herself and the corpse as possible in ten seconds.
Sonic's already-large eyes seemed to pop from his skull at the sight of this. He squeaked, leaping into Vector's arms like Scooby Doo and Shaggy.
(AN-LOL!)
Sally just stood and stared.
"Wait...is that possible?"
"He...he may be in a coma..." Espio offered. "Often those who are comatose have very faint heartbeats. He may still be alive."
"Sal, I think there's a stethoscope in the med room..." Sonic said, getting down from Vector's arms if not a little embarrassed for jumping into them in the first place.
"Hey! I think -gasp- I saw -gasp- Rouge!" Knuckles panted as he appeared from the darkness behind them.
"You saw the transport?" Vector asked hopefully.
He only nodded in reply, catching his breath.
"Uh...Soniiiic..." Sally said uneasily as she had listened for a pulse.
"What?"
"...his heart's not beating..."
"Sure it is. Listen carefully."
"I am." She looked up at him, taking the stethoscope from her ears. "This hedgehog is dead. As a doornail. He's even going into rigor."
Everyone froze.
"But...but he's breathing!" Tails protested.
"That's the strange part."
"What the hell..?" Knuckles frowned, searching the group's faces, finding only sincerity.
"No joke?"
"The only explanation I can give you... assuming you have a 'very' open mind... is that he is an honest-to-God... living dead." Sally said, tilting his head slightly before the movement of it froze completely.
Sonic leapt into Vector's arms once more.
--.o:o.--
"So...can you get me out of here?" she asked the stranger hopefully.
"Well, my hypothesis is that this place was invented by you. She only made it tangible."
The young echidna tilted her head in confusion. "In English?"
"-sigh- She made your ideas of heaven and hell...reality. To you, at least. She's probably done the same to Karpa..."
"Who's Karpa?"
"Your...your twin."
"I...have a twin?"
He scratched at his quills. "How do I explain? Well, when you two were born..."
(Interval in which he explains the wholedamn Dark Emerald story AGAIN and which you will have to go to chapter 9 (or 10 if you go by the label ffnet gave it) to read it...again...if you so choose. Dashaaa.)
"Oh... well, that's a lot to swallow..." she sat and digested the information she had just received. "So... my real parents...didn't want me...because of the color of my skin?"
"Yes. But that's beside the point. We have to find a way to stop her from in here. No one can stop her out there. That's how I wound up here to begin with... I think."
"But... But how?"
"I don't know. Maybe we could start by getting out of this place. What happened to that meadow?"
"It... it disappeared."
He looked out her window for a moment in thought.
"Let's see if we can't find it again. It seems most of this dimension is based on subconscious thought and memory... perhaps we could 'think' it back?"
"I'm willing to try anything right about now." She stood, stepping past him to the door, unlocking it and peering through a crack of it cautiously.
"He fell asleep, the fat fuck..." She whispered. "Now's our chance..."
"Chance for what, pray tell, my love?" came the insidious voice from behind.
"Itshell!" Shadow crouched in a deadly stance.
"...How...how did you get here? You're dead!" she demanded, a bit of fear creeping into those blood-red eyes.
"I was about to ask you... this IS your dimension, after all..."
"Damnit...this is the LAST thing I need..." She clenched her fists.
"Tarsa, brace yourself."
"Wha?"
Suddenly, he grabbed the girl and made a homing-attack out the window with a loud crash. He touched down easily, Tarsa's arms tightly clasped around his neck.
"You can open your eyes now..."
She did so, looking around.
"Wow...I'm not dead..."
"Truthfully, I don't think you can die in this place." He set her down. She dusted some broken glass from her overalls, shaking more from her hair.
"How are we supposed to escape her if she can just appear anywhere she wants?" she asked him, hoping for another one of his technical answers.
"I want you to think hard about that meadow. Imagine us both in the center of it. Try."
She shrugged, taking a breath and closing her eyes tightly. She concentrated...
"TARSA! You cut that out this instant! Don't make me-" Itshell began to rant from the window above...
And suddenly, the dark melted into sunshine, the building sunk into soft, green grass. And her tree stood nearby, leaves rustling softly in the breeze.
"I did it! I'm back!" she ran over and hugged the tree. "And I'm twenty-one again!" she added, looking down her shirt.
"Gawd I missed you two..."
She looked up at a blushing Shadow, then blushed herself at the fact he saw her admiring her own breasts.
"Ahem."
"Anyway, it seems she hasn't followed us... So far so good." He skated over to the edge of the shallow cliff.
"Whoa...I never noticed that before..." Tarsa stated, pointing across the bay to the mansion on the opposite cliff.
"You mean, you didn't imagine that?"
"No. that's not mine at all..."
"Wait! Look down there!" he pointed to two small figures far away on the beach.
"Itshell!"
"No... there are two...and one looks like..."
There was a long pause as he squinted against the sun.Then hegasped.
"Me?"
(((dun dun DUNNNNN! Sorry, I had to. It was too tempting, and I believe this chapter is long enough already. Besides, I must prepare for a meeting tomorrow...
Sn: ADMIT IT! Velociti was your self-insertion character!
A: gasp! I would NEVER stoop to self-insertion!
Sn: oh yeah? I know you keep checking out my ass every time I turn around! You can't fool me!
A: psh. You wish I was checking out your ass... -is too busy checking out Knux's ass anyway-
K: -covers ass- I AM NOT A PIECE OF MEAT!...grapes.
A: I admit Val and I share many characteristics...but I'm still too much a mix of the twins. They are my good and bad sides, sigh. THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT A SELF-INSERTION! I hate self-insertion.
Sa: oh. ok. We believe you. Uh huh.
A: don't make me spank you. T.T
Sa: eee...