CHAPTER 3
In the small recovery room located in the Chaotix Detective Agency, Shadow sat on a small bed that was covered in white blankets and sheets along with a white pillow. Across from him, Espio was sitting on a black stool that had wheels on the bottom of it. Nails stood in front of a white countertop with some candles and books setting on the surface around her. They all turned towards the doorway of the room when they heard the door open and then close. They all saw Nell making his way inside of the small and quiet room while having his hands full of multiple different candles arranging from small ones to big ones.
Nell had so many candles in his hands, he struggled a bit to see what was in front of him. He almost ran into the bottom of the counter Nails was standing in front of, until Nails had quickly bent down to take the candles away from Nell's possession and placed them all on the top of the counter around her. After letting out a small and annoyed sigh, he looked up at Nails. "Geez that ought to be enough freakin' candles." He had then turned to look over to Shadow who was still sitting over on the bed, "Are you sure this is going to work?'
The black and red hedgehog paused and then slightly shrugged his shoulders towards him carelessly. "...Not a clue."
The brown owl then made a nervous look at him as he was unsure this was all such a great idea. "Wha!"
"Well", Nails had spoke while she placed one of the one books in front of her. "We are dealing with a dream demon and the only way we're going to come close to finding him is well...in our dreams." She began to move some of the candles close to her, "Shad's idea of using a summoning spell sounds legit but the only setback is putting him in a deep sleep so he can cross over into Infinite's subconscious."
"It might be just me but..." Nell placed a finger to his chin as he looked up at Nails who was sorting the different books and candles around her on the counter. "That doesn't sound very safe!"
Espio folded his arms across his chest and made a slight annoyed look over at him, "Yeah I know", he spoke. "But realistically what other options do we have? This could be our only chance to save Rouge."
Nell shifted his eyes away from him and still thought the entire idea was pretty risky.
"Christ", he murmured under his breath. "Like shit can't get no worse tonight..." His eyes had then looked over to Shadow and it almost instantly made him remember about all of the events that had happened so far throughout the night including Shadow's fight with Vic. He glanced over to Nails and wondered how she would react if he started talking about how Shadow had fought Vic earlier including when he had turned and attacked him as well when he tried to stop him. It made so many more questions about the situation arise in his mind the more he had thought about it. He wanted answers and didn't actually care if Nails was in the room to hear them about it or not. He then turned back to face Shadow again, "Hey, Shad?" When he called out to him, he saw the hedgehog directing his attention to him. "I've been wondering..." he began as he placed his finger to his chin. "When you fought Vic back there...how did you manage to control your demon powers?"
Both Nails and Nell suddenly froze from what they were doing when they heard Espio ask Shadow the sudden question. Especially Nails as she was more confused than Nell had looked. She wondered what he had meant. Did Shadow cross paths with the demon slayer while he was out trying to hunt down Sonic and Rouge?
Shadow made an uneasy look towards the chameleon and nervously held out his hands as he didn't know what exactly to say. "I-I don't know." Honestly for him, it seemed that everything just happened as a blur. "I just remembered being super pissed and everything just kind of happened..."
Espio placed a hand on his hip as he gave the hedgehog a doubtful look, "Come on, Shad. You're trying to tell me with ease you controlled your telekinesis and Chaos Control ability all because you got a little pissy?"
"Yeah", Nell had agreed. "There's gotta be more to it than that." He, Espio, and Shadow were then interrupted when they heard Nails' voice carry throughout the small room they were all in.
"Whoa!" Nails had spoke out. "Hold the fucking phone!" She crossed her arms and made a serious look among the three that were in front of her. "Exactly what the hell happened?"
Espio made a long sigh before beginning to explain to her, "Well after Shad ran into Sonic and Rouge, Shad ran off and had a run into our good old boy, Vic. Long story short, Shadow wasn't having it with him." Before he could continue, Nell had cut in to finish.
He raised his index finger in the air and had an excited look on his face while he explained. "So Shadow wiped the floor with Vic while using his demon powers at a hundred percent!"
Nails slowly unfolded her arms and lowered her hands down to her waist while she gave them all an unbelievable look. "Wha? But that's impossible! The only way Shadow can gain control of Darkness' powers is if he lets Darkness control his body completely!" She knew if that were to happen, Shadow wouldn't exactly be sitting around them and acting so calmly.
"But that didn't happen", Espio spoke while raising his index finger up to her. "I know it's hard to believe but Shadow was perfectly in control of his powers the entire time. I saw it" He then spotted Nell who was giving him a sly look back at him. "Oh...and Nell too..." He said while using his thumb to point towards the brown owl who now had an annoyed look on his face.
"But..." She took her hand and sifted it through her black hair with her face in disbelief. "That's impossible!"
"Trust us", Espio spoke while slightly arching an eyebrow towards her. "We're all in the same boat here. Just do me favor and not let that little secret leave this room. We don't want to alarm the others. Besides, Shad controlled his own actions the entire time. So what does that tell you?"
Even though she wanted to believe both Espio and Nell's story, she still carried a bad feeling about the entire situation. Her eyes then glanced over at the brown owl that was standing next to her while giving her a wide and seemingly innocent smile towards her. "...What about him?"
With now an offended look on his face, Nell used his finger and pointed towards himself while he looked back and forth at Nails and Espio. "What about me!?"
Espio made an annoyed sigh and then turned to her with a serious look, "Unfortunately he was taking notes as usual...so the truth will make its way out when it does I suppose..."
Nell shrugged his shoulders at them while having an annoyed look on his face. "Hey what do you want? It's my job! Duh!"
After Shadow saw Nell storm over to the vacant white stool that was next to Espio and sat in it. He saw him grabbing his notebook off from the small table that was next to him and rested it on his lap with his pen in his hand ready to write. "While we're on the subject of Vic", he spoke when he turned to Espio and Nails. "I just thought you'd guys know that it was him with the cameras." It didn't take long for him to hear a loud and angry gasp come from Nails.
Nails took her hand and tightly clenched it into a fist angrily, "That son of a bitch..."
Espio shook his head slightly and crossed his arms in disgust, "...Should've known."
"But why?" Nell had wondered.
"Why else? To keep a close eye on his target..." He formed a slight smirk as he looked back at the worried group. "I wouldn't be too concerned with him though. He ought to keep his distance from everyone for awhile." Even despite how he had acted out earlier, he still had no regrets from how he had fought him. If that's what it took to get Vic to back off, then he was glad that he did what he done.
Judging by how Shadow was talking, Nails had wondered what really happened when Espio and Nell ran into Shadow and Vic from earlier. She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard Shadow calling out to her.
"Okay, Nails. Is everything in place?"
"Huh? Oh!" She approached the front of the counter where her books and candles where again and took out a small box of matches. She turned away from the counter and made a small nod towards him. "Uh, yeah. Just about."
When Espio saw Shadow lay completely down on the bed, he stood from his seat and walked up at the front of the bed to confront him. "Now are you sure this is a good idea, Shad?"
Shadow rested the back of his head against the pillow and shifted his eyes over to the chameleon. "Not at the slightest, but this is the only way I can think of to find this son of a bitch."
Nails had looked over to Nell, "Nell, the lights."
Nell had then sprung up from his chair and turned off the lights to the room making it completely dark until Nails had struck a match against the side of the box to light it. A shiver went up his spin as he heard nothing but silence in the small and dark room. His body slightly jolted when he heard Nails striking another match to light the wick of one of the other candles that was near her.
After lighting another one of the candles near her, Nails waved the match around to put the flame out on it and slowly directed her attention over to Shadow who was looking back at her within the dark room while he laid on the bed. "All right", she spoke in a low voice. "Let's find this fucker..."
"Holy crap!" Rouge pointed over at the male black jackal that was standing across from her with his yellow eye and red eye locked menacingly onto hers. "You're a half demon!"
"Yes", he spoke in a low tone. "Now you along with a select few know my secret."
"Well", she spoke while she folded her arms across her chest. "Now I think I know why you took such an interest in Shadow..." She saw him slowly shifting his eyes away from her. "...Um, that is why...isn't it?" She saw him once again giving her his full attention as he prepared to reply to her.
"Your husband and I are the only half breeds known in existence." He formed a slight smirk and used his finger to gently rub his chin, "It's extraordinary really. All these centuries and only two half breeds exist? It's unheard of..."
She slightly arched an eyebrow towards him, "I mean yeah I guess that's one for the books I suppose, but if that explains why you're after Shadow, then why have you been stalking me? I'm clearly not a half breed. I'm barely a demon..." She took a small step back when she saw him suddenly disappear and then reappear right in front of her. "What the..." He was so close to her, he placed his finger under her chin and made her look him in the eyes with his face only inches apart from hers. "Get the hell off of me!" She tried to pull herself away from him, but he held her body up against his closely so she couldn't get out of his embrace. She lowly grunted as she tried to shove his body away from hers.
"You're right", he spoke as he gently licked his lips. "You're still pretty much a mortal woman, but it makes me curious why and how a demon could fall in love with a mere mortal." He leaned in closer to her, "I want to know..." He spoke softly as he held her body closer and closer to his having her large breasts rub up against his chest. "What about you drives that hedgehog wild..."
Rouge continued to try to shove herself away from him until she suddenly felt the jackal's warm lips brushing against hers. When she screamed within the kiss, it allowed him to easily slip his tongue inside of her mouth. Her heart raced inside of her chest as she felt his hand squeezing her waist. Her mind began to panic as to what Infinite's movements could lead up to and she wasn't prepared to go through that torture. She decided to stop trying to push him away from her and quickly moved her hand down to the holster that was strapped around her right thigh.
Before he could explore his tongue inside of her mouth even more, he suddenly felt a sharp and stabbing pain in his lower stomach. While letting out a low and painful groan, his hands quickly released from her. Not long after he released her from his grip, he saw her taking her knee and striking it into where he had gotten stabbed. He let out an even louder groan and fell to his knees while holding his bleeding stomach.
"Goddamn, demon!"
His eyes looked up and saw the bat woman standing in a fighting stance while making sure to present the small knife with the blade covered in his blood.
"You think I'm gonna just let you have your way with me? Think again!" She held the knife outwards while making sure to hold the point up at him. "Know who you're fucking messing with!" Her eyes glared coldly at him when she heard a low yet amused sounding laugh coming from him. She gripped the knife tighter in her hand when she saw him standing from the floor and giving her a devious smile.
"Now I can see why that hedgehog is so infatuated with you..."
Her eyes widened when she saw him removing his hand away from his bloody injury and watching his wound slowly heal itself. "...What the..."
"Beautiful, courageous, strong..." When his wound was completely healed, he began to slowly step over to her. "Why I'd be absolutely mad to not make you my queen..."
She saw him walking over to her and she honestly didn't really know what to do. It was clear he apparently had the power to regenerate and she knew that would leave her to a huge disadvantage in a fight against him. Besides that, he was obviously strong. She didn't think she would even last two minutes in a fight with him. Without super strength or any immortal abilities, she knew she'd be as good as dead. But she knew that couldn't be an excuse for her to back down if he decided to fight her. She had then saw him wave his hand out towards her and had a black aura of energy flash and lash out at her hand that she held the knife with. The flash of energy hit her hand like an electric shock which had made her fling the knife she held out of her hand. After when she let out a shriek and held her hand, her body was then pulled into his with an unseen amount of force. She was then found in his arms once again. She looked into his eyes with a horrified expression. He apparently had telekinesis abilities too. Just how strong was he anyway? She began to question if he was even stronger than Shadow. When he grabbed both of her wrists tightly so she couldn't move them, she fought once again to try to get out of his grip. "N-No! No!" She shut her eyes tightly as she didn't want to know what awaited her next until she heard a male voice shouting out from above them it sounded like.
"Boy, you sure like playing with fire..."
The both of them froze and looked away from each other to look up at the second floor balcony above them. There they saw a young male white rabbit who appeared to be a ten year old boy who stood on the balcony.
The young male rabbit casually leaned against the metal railing of the balcony and rested the side of his head against his hand while his demonic red eyes looked down at jackal who held the white bat woman captive in his arms. "...Don't you, Zero?"
Author's Note: Just wanted to say thank you all for your wonderful reviews and feedback! More is definitely on the way! By the way, hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!
In The Next Chapter...
Devil: I can't believe you'd go this low to test your power.
Infinite: I will be the only one remaining!
Rouge: Oh dear God...
Nell: What's happening to Shadow?
Shadow: Infinite...I will find you...
