Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters featured in this chapter.
The thundering plummet of rain had dulled to a low drizzle, hours passing as it finally slowed. But the echidna hadn't moved from that spot. He was asleep. A sleep of sorrow. Every breath was like a new sigh, each more saddened than the last, each seeming to deflate him as the ruins of his life rusted around him. Knuckles had reached rock bottom and for now, nothing mattered.
" Didn't I tell you she would bring you nothing but pain?" A familiar voice rang out into his ears. Knuckles groaned at it's noise, lifting his soaking wet body of the slimy floor, fur matted through moisture. His eye lids struggled to open as he viewed the glowing twin of himself, the one he had seen in his dream, and now the one he was seeing in real life, a hallucination. It meant his illness was getting worse. " You can still see me, you must be unhappy" the clone said in a matter of factly tone. Knuckles snorted darkly as he knelt on the pavement, replying with a voice full of sarcasm.
" No! How can you tell that? The fact that I'm lying face down in the middle of a puddle in the night crying my eyes out maybe!" He scorned, his face scowled. The figure however, not seeming to notice his dark mood, chuckled and said
" No. Many people would enjoy that hobby. It could be quite an inspirational position, and some people cry because they are happy". The figure knelt down beside Knuckles, putting an arm around him, drawing him into an uncomfortable hug. Knuckles felt unease at the position but didn't bother shifting. " I know your unhappy because I can feel it, deep in my own heart. You must trust me from now on Knuckles". Again Knuckles snorted and said rudely
" And who the hell are you?". The twin of himself thought for a moment, before explaining
" I suppose you could call me your conscience". Knuckles sighed and rolled his eyes, saying in a tone melting with sarcasm
" Greeeeaaaat. A conscience, now I know I'm nuts". He took his view from the pavement and looked the figure directly in the face. His own face. Without the scars from the battles, without the injuries inflicted by the emerald. Surrounded by a glow of healthy emerald energy, not captive by it but controlling it. " Your not going to turn all 'jimmany cricket' on me are you? Not going to sing?". The figure looked at him with honest eyes and said
" I could sing if you wanted me to"
" Forget it" Knuckles mumbled. For a while the two sat in silence, the dying patter of the rain fading from their ears. Knuckles was thinking through the last few days, thought about his dead child, not even given a chance, thanks to that evil bat who he thought he loved. His heart swelled with renewed pain as he thought of all the moments they shared, knowing that each and everyone of the them was founded on a lie. " So, if your my conscience, what do I do now?" Knuckles asked, looking at the pavement again. The other echidna smiled, glad for his mortal companions co-operation and said in a warming voice
" I told you, The one who can help you will soon arrive and the leash that has been hovering over you for so long will finally be lifted. Your heart will be healed. I will be a long time coming, but I promise, eventually, this tortures life you have been leading will finally succumb. I promise you Knuckles, your true love will show themselves soon". Knuckles stared at him, thinking over his words, working at the possibility of him really being his conscience, his guardian angel. It would be funny for a guardian to have it's own guardian, but a good thing at the same time. After all, who else looked out for him over his whole life?
His 'guardian' suddenly looked alarmed. He looked at Knuckles with anxious eyes and said
" They are on their way right now. Trust them, but please, forgive their first impression". And with that he was gone. Knuckles stared, clue less for a second, before he was pulled out of the reality, realising he was still fact asleep, face down in the pavement. He awoke, his muzzle squashed into the rain. But just as he began to realise the whole guardian angel thing was a dream, something struck across his back and toppled over onto him. He heard it groan, probably a males voice. If he had not been so tired he would have been overwhelmed with embarrassment. But when he shoved the person of his back and struggled to his feet, turning his head over his shoulder to look at whoever had been careless enough to miss him, he flushed not with embarrassment, but anger.
" What are you doing?" The two shouted simultaneously. Knuckles grinded his teeth together and bellowed " You should watch where your going! Asshole!". The black hedgehog sneered and said in a spiteful voice
" At least I don't sleep face down in puddles!". Knuckles didn't have a comment for that one, he was too busy staring at the hedgehog he had grown to hate. But Shadow was in a state. His eyes were tired, drooping. His fur, greases, unwashed and matted. His ears lay flat against his head, a gesture of defeat and hopelessness. His gloves, brown and dirtied. His muzzle, thick with the shadow of a beard. He no longer looked like the ultimate life form that he was cracked up to be. Some how, Knuckles felt a twinge of sympathy. It wasn't hard when someone was in the state that he was in. He forgot all the instances when he had tried to perve on Rouge, because, to Knuckles, it seemed Rouge was probably worse. And he had slept with her...
" What happened to you?" Knuckles asked, a little more harshly than perhaps he should have. Shadows eyes dropped further as he looked at his stained gloves. He shrugged and said in a heavy voice, oozing with pain
" My heart has been stabbed, poisoned, run over and buried". Knuckles stared at him, showing no emotion but feeling something inside. He realised that was exactly how he felt, although his was more like being electrocuted as well. Putting a side his hatred for the moment, he began walking aside the hedgehog.
" What happened?" He asked. And so Shadow told him. Told him how he and Rouge had started going out, told him of the almost constant events between them, missing out all the erotic details but giving Knuckles enough to imagine their passion. Told him of his invite of Rouge to live with him and finally of the failed engagement, the thing that broke his heart the most. After that he had simply drifted around the city, not knowing what to do with himself, keeping his mind occupied with drink. He told Knuckles he hadn't been home in days.
Despite his anger at Shadow for dating Rouge at the same time he had, he didn't show it. There was jealousy in his heart, but in his mind he knew Shadow didn't know he was also dating the bat. He wasn't the one cheating, she was. He was just an innocent individual caught in the middle.
Knuckles decided not to tell Shadow about the abortion. He didn't think it would be wise, especially with the hedgehog looking as depressed as he was. It wasn't as if Knuckles wanted to bring back that memory either. It still stung his mind as if it were fresh.
But all the while Knuckles and Shadow talked, both realised they needed to get everything that had happened of their chests. They had both been betrayed, both could empathise with each other. It was strange to Knuckles, talking about such personal things to someone who , until recently, he couldn't stand. But his life had just been changed, no forced, into a different direction, leaving chaos spinning in it's wake. So Knuckles, at least for now, had no control on his life and had to simply let it flow his course.
Their conversation moved onto other things. What the other had been doing all these years they hadn't seen each other, what the others were up to. Shadows past came up. The hedgehog was happy to tell Knuckles about his life on the ark, or what he could remember of it. Gerald's inventions were discussed, their adventures, Sonic's continuous homelessness. The list continued long into the hours.
Again the night had began to fall. It was summer too, a late sunset. The time was getting past 10.00. But Knuckles hadn't noticed the dying light, he had been sucked into the conversation with Shadow. It wasn't as if it was a particularly good one either. But Knuckles realised, all the time he had spent with Rouge, he had hardly spoken a word to anyone else, except for his annoying therapist. He was almost a prisoner in her house. He wondered if others before him had fallen into that trap. If all that time when him and the others hadn't seen Rouge, she was busy, pleasing her newest boyfriend. His eyes watered as he thought of her excuse for the first pregnancy test he found. ' It's my friends, not mine'. Hmm, yeah right Rouge, how many other pregnancy tests did your 'friend' get through?' He thought to himself grimly. He was shocked at his own incompetence, not realising that Rouges love was in fact, hollow. It all clicked in his mind at that point. The reason why this conversation was so refreshing, so healing. It wasn't only the fact that this was the only decent conversation he had with anyone in years, but the fact that he could relieve all his thoughts, worries, feelings of betrayal, to someone who not only sympathised, but also understood. It was a remarkably good feeling.
But when Shadow stopped walking and announced " We're here" in front of a grotty looking building that could only be a pub, Knuckles frowned in confusion.
" Here? You didn't tell me we were going any where!" He objected from behind Shadow. The hedgehog turned and gave the echidna the kind of glare that only he could manage. It wasn't hateful, but it was slightly mocking.
" Did you think we were just going to walk around the city until Rouge comes running out and begged for forgiveness?" He said scornfully. Knuckles didn't answer. In truth, he hadn't known where they were going, or cared, the conversation with Shadow was enough to draw his mind away from the pain Rouge had put him through.
" So, why are we here?" Knuckles asked, when his brain finally managed to respond. Shadow smiled grimly and said
" Why else? To drown our sorrows of some sweet, sweet alcohol", and with that he pushed open the door and entered the pub, Knuckles following reluctantly.
" We shouldn't be drinking! It's the worse way to solve anything! It completely screws your life up!" Knuckles protested, but Shadow simply chuckled as if he were a little child, which, in a way to Shadow, he was.
" By the sounds of it, your life is already screwed up. Come on! Let your hair down! You deserve it!" Shadow said, running his fingers through Knuckles dreads to mess them up. Knuckles recoiled at Shadows touching, shocked at his sudden openness to the hedgehog. He caught Shadows eye, a questioning, but harsh look bore onto the hedgehog. But to Knuckles surprise, the hedgehog didn't stare but in the piercing, shocking, ice cold way that only he could manage. Instead , the hedgehogs mouth twitched. He struggled to contain it, then broke into a girlish giggle. Knuckles eyes almost feel out of his sockets. Shadow? Giggling? He never thought he would see the day. He shook of the shock and observed the hedgehog a little closer, noticing he was wobbling, his walk not as steady as Knuckles own. The echidna became nervous, realising that Shadow was probably not completely sober. He must have been so wrapped up in the conversation that he didn't notice. No wonder the hedgehog was being so hospitable to him. He was pissed.
The hedgehog wondered further into the pub, making his way over to the counter and lounging himself over one of the stools. The barman made his way over, cleaning a glass. He grinned a salesmen's grin when he saw Shadow, taking his clothe out of the class, ready for use with the black hedgehog.
" Hey!" He greeted, with enthusiasm that was just a little too cheesy to be real " It's our newest regular! What can I get you Blacky?". Knuckles was sure Shadow would punch his face in for calling him Blacky, but, instead, he simply ordered something he had never heard of in an awaiting tone. Knuckles, curious and worried, hesitantly made his way over to the bar and took a seat next to Shadow.
" One extra for my friend here" he ordered, noticing Knuckles take a seat. The bar man nodded and gave both of them a small glass each. Knuckles felt relief at the small dosage, but then noticed the label on the bottle, displaying a larger percentage of alcohol in it than he even thought possible. Shadow raised the glass to his face.
Knuckles panicked. He lunged to the side and smacked the glass out of Shadows hand, the liquid inside flying out of the hedgehogs glass and all down his face and chest. If his fur wasn't sticky enough.
Shadow however, didn't seem to notice. He still raised the glass to his lips and tried to drink. It was only when he realised he could taste nothing on his tongue, that he looked at Knuckles, confused.
" What did you do that for?" He asked, seemingly out of it already.
" Yeah, leave the feeler to his drink!" The barman injected from the background. The other lowlifes in the bar nodded in vague agreement, before going back to their own little world.
" Shadow! This isn't right! Your drinking yourself to death! This isn't the way to overcome your sadness!" Knuckles protested loudly in a strained voice. Shadow paid no attention and simply ordered another drink to replace that one that was now glistening across his chest. " Shadow please" Knuckles said pathetically, giving up already. The hedgehog stared at him for a little bit, his eyes half asleep it seemed. It almost looked as if Knuckles words were getting through, until he opened his mouth again and addressed the barman
" Give him a break, he just lost his girlfreind. The guys pretty beat up. Give him a free drink or two would ya?". The barman looked as if Shadow had suggested heracy
" Free drinks! How do you expect me to make a livin' if everyone comes and drink what they like without payin'? You wanna give him a free drink, pay for it yerself Blacky" the barman said in hostility. Shadow raised his hands in a gesture of defence and said
" All right! All right! I'll pay! Sheesh I thought we were friends" he said as he handed some money to the barman. He eagerly took it and replied flatly
" Of course were friends!" He started counting the money " But you still gotta pay". A glass was handed to Knuckles, another one to go along side his untouched first glass. He shuffled away from them, uncomfortable with the temptation the very sight of them conjured. Just the curiosity of what it would be like, what it would be like to drink such a renowned drink?
" Go on Knuckles, it's free! You disprove it" Shadow said, prompting from the sidelines. Knuckles came out of his trance.
" No!" He objected, then noticed the angered look on Shadows face. He cleared his throat " No, no thank you". Shadow stared at him hard.
" Just one"
" No!"
" It will make you feel better!"
" No it won't!"
" Coward". There was a pause in the argument.
" What?" Knuckles asked, not sure he heard right.
" I said coward. No wonder Rouge dumped you, if your afraid to try one little drink" Shadow said, agitating Knuckles. He growled in aggression and said
" I dumped her!". Shadow wasn't discouraged.
" But think of all the pain you told me you were holding inside. This will make you feel better, this will get rid of the pain" he said. Knuckles looked up from where he was slouched
" All of it?" He asked, his curiosity growing again.
" All of it" Shadow confirmed, a smirk of confidence on his face. Knuckles sighed, wondered if it was really as bad as it was supposed to be, and raised the small glass to his lips, Shadow smiling in the corner.
A few hours later
" And it wasn't even as if she even told me before she did it!" Knuckles wailed. Many of the people from the bar had left, leaving just Knuckles, Shadow, the barman and a depressed looking guy still there. It was probably for the best as well, as Knuckles had gone into hysterics. Rather than the alcohol making him feel better, as Shadow had promised, it had swerved him even deeper into depression, screwing up any control he had over his repent emotions before and turning him into a wreck. It had been going all right, Shadow offering Knuckles more drinks and Knuckles drinking them, keeping relative control over themselves. True, there had been some silly pranks, dirty talk and an unexceptable level of belching, but then, they were both drunk, that behaviour would have been appropriate. But then Shadow mentioned Rouge, and that's when everything started to go downhill.
At this point, Knuckles was slumped over the bar, crying into his arms, wailing for the whole world to hear about his dead child, with Shadows hand on his shoulder, patting sympathetically. The echidna shuddered, gasped and sniffed, then reached forward and took another sip of his drink. Shadow had still listened to all of his tales, just like before they had even arrived. But he was drunk now, he didn't seem to realise just how upset Knuckles must have been. So, instead of comforting words and gentle advise, he slapped Knuckles across the back, hard, and bellowed out in a boisterous voice
" Don't worry about it, Rouge was a slag anyway!". Knuckles looked up, his eyes blotched and red, showing his utter disbelief at Shadows behaviour. He took an unsteady breath and said in a deflated, annoyed voice
" Can't you be serious about this?". Shadow looked at him as if he were insane.
" Look , if you take life seriously all the time, then your never going to happy ever again. So what if Rouge dumped you..."
" I dumped her!"
" ...and so what if you betrayed what you've guarded all your life and gave up every hope of getting it back...
" Is this meant to be making me feel better?"
" I dunno, I forgot what I was supposed to be saying" Shadow replied and smiled stupidly. If Knuckles was his normal self, he would have realised that Shadow as acting far more childish than he ever had before. But then, Knuckles was crying like a women, so he wasn't exactly normal either.
" So, what now?" The echidna asked, realising he was finding it harder and harder to focus. Shadow stared dully at him, seeming to be thinking, slowly. Then, his eyes lit up, he launched himself of his chair, grabbed Knuckles arm and dragged him out of the bar.
" Hey! How about paying!" The barman shouted in a rage. Shadow ignored him and pelted out of the bar, Knuckles in tow. When they were out of the range if the place they hadn't paid for, Shadow slowed down to a fast trot, allowing Knuckles to keep up with his pace. The echidna puffed, caught up and said in a miffed and confused voice
" Where are we going?". Shadow smirked and said
" To get revenge on Rouge". The echidna raised an eyebrow and said
" And how are you gonna do that?". Shadows smirk grew and he giggled
" You'll see Knuckles" he smothered a laugh with his hand " It'll be fun".
Suddenly, before Knuckles had time to object, Shadow snapped up his wrist and dragged him across the street, pelting his furiously fast feet at their usual pre-sonic boom stage. Knuckles could do little more than hang on and brave the breeze, hoping that Shadows idea wasn't as crazy as he had a feeling it was.
When they arrived at club Rouge, Knuckles really thought Shadow was going to blow it up using one of his powerful chaos blasts, if he still had control over them that was. But to his relief/worry, Shadow went straight for the front entrance, kicking open the door and rushing in with Knuckles being helplessly dragged along. It was so late even the club was deserted, so Shadow had no trouble crossing the dance floor.
Unfortunately for Knuckles, the echidna realised just where they were heading. He had been there enough times to figure it out, Rouge's apartment.
" Er...Shadow, what are you doing?" Knuckles asked uneasily. Shadow smirked and kept dragging him, stopping just outside Rouges door. He turned to Knuckles and grinned.
" You'll see" he answers unhelpfully. Knuckles raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything else, but was shocked when Shadow, instead of knocking, simply kicked the door down. Knuckles mind sent up alarm bells, but, instead of shouting at Shadow to be quite, he simply giggled. It was strange, his body was starting to disobey his mind. But Knuckles didn't have time to think about that, because a few moments later he found he had been dragged into Rouges house and smashes through her bedroom door. His body now seemed to be frozen. He could do nothing to stop whatever crazy thing Shadow had planned as his revenge.
" Hey slag!" Shadow shouted loud enough to wake up the sleeping bat, still in her bed. Rouge stirred, wriggled around a little and sleepily half opened her eyes. They shot to their fullest angle when she saw just who had bust into her flat. Not one of her exes, but two. And not just any too, so far her most loving and involved lovers.
" Shadow! Knuckles!" Rouge said in shock, trying to get over the realisation of what was probably one of the worst circumstances she could get herself into. It was more like a dream than anything that could happen in real life.
But what Shadow would do did next, would surprise her even more than she thought possible.
First, he linked arms with Knuckles, something that mildly bewildered her. Knuckles too, was a little confused, but then he figured that Shadow was probably getting ready to drag him along for a fast escape, just in case the bat got nasty.
" We just dropped by to tell you that me and Knuckles don't need you!" Shadow said, although he struggled with some words because of the alcohol circulating his blood. Knuckles began to see the fun in the situation and smirked slightly, although inside he felt pretty awful, seeing the bat that broke his heart again so soon wasn't helping the healing process. But Shadow seemed to be thoughrally enjoying himself, grinning stupidly. He swayed and almost feel, clinging onto Knuckles steadier arm for support. Somewhat over the initial shock, Rouge managed to raise an eyebrow and ask in a suspicious voice
" Shadow, are you drunk?". The black hedgehog regained his balance, smiled sheepishly at Knuckles, who gave a weak one back. Completely ignoring Rouge, he continued
" And just to prove we don't need you, I wanna say we both found someone else! Someone better than you!" He proclaimed proudly. Rouge didn't really look like she cared, but Knuckles was once again confused.
" We have?" He asked quietly, turning to Shadow, who looked like he would burst from happiness. The hedgehog nodded.
" So? I don't care. Get out of my house!" Rouge said, getting impatient. She didn't really want to come out from under the covers, as she still didn't wear any underwear under her night clothes for bed. Shadow smirked even more and lolled around like an idiot.
" Well don't you wanna know who we've found?" He said, urging her on. Rouge sighed and said in an impatient voice
" Who?". Shadow turned round to face Knuckles, who had his own eyes on Rouge and wasn't paying attention to what Shadow was doing. But the hedgehog seemed fixated on the echidna.
" Each other!" He proclaimed proudly. Rouge shot up and yelled
" What!". Knuckles vaguely heard what Shadow had heard, but it didn't register in his brain. However, the message got through when Shadow leant forward, seemingly as quick as lightening, and placed his lips on Knuckles, leaning into him and giving him a deep kiss.
Authors notes
Don't flame me!
Also, im going to be forever updating lately becuase i am in the middle of my exams. I'm really sorry but it's important. i need to pass at least 4 to get into college!
So please be patient with me. Thank you my readers.