Chapter Forty-Nine

Me: I guess the search for the three beasts has taken a backseat to the hedgies anyway.

Vector: Yeah, what's the deal!

Shadow: Face it green guy…the fangirls demand fluff. And damn it, we'll give them fluff!

ShadAmy Fangirls: Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!1one

Amy: I dunno…some fangirls creep me out.

Me: (coughletmedothestorycough)

-- -- -- -- --

Tahra awoke from her sleep one day to a scream of pain that belonged to Sonic, followed by a crashing. She heard Akuma laughing heartily, almost maniacally. She was immediately afraid for her blue love's safety, and rushed outside. To her horror, Sonic was lying in a pile of rubble, all bloody and bruised, while Akuma was standing a few yards away without a scratch on him and looking very proud of the damage he'd done. Excalibur was stuck in one of the larger pieces of rubble.

"AKUMA, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!" Tahra screamed at the top of her lungs, with tears starting to stream down her cheeks. Every muscle in her body was tensing up, and thoughts of vengeance poured through her consciousness.

"Now, now, young one…Sonic and I were just having a more intense session of training. He just didn't know what I meant." Akuma chuckled in a disturbing manner before approaching Sonic slowly. On instinct, the purple hedgehog leapt into his path, only to be flung aside like a rag doll. Akuma picked Sonic, kneed him in the gut and then grabbed his right leg and tossed him a few hundred yards away. Sonic grunted from the pain, but couldn't get up, let alone fight back. But now Akuma's attention turned to Tahra, who was getting up from the red hedgehog's last attack. As she did, an energy blast knocked her down, and seared her back.

"Well, it seems like someone ELSE wants an intense training session, judging by your attitude," Akuma chuckled. "Very well then, let's begin." He immediately began his assault by kicking her straight in the chest, knocking the wind out of her, then following up with a leg sweep to knock her down again, and flowed into a dashing punch.

The girl managed to get back on her feet and dodge a few energy shots before calling the axe, dubbed Labrys by Akuma, to her hand. Now she went on the attack, swinging the weapon with speed that seemed impossible for such a heavy weapon. But Akuma dodged these quite easily, which frustrated Tahra a lot. A wild swing left her wide open, and Akuma then continued to deliver a beat-down. But it seemed that Tahra was made of sterner stuff, and managed to take each hit and stay up, at least until the red hedgehog delivered a furious jab to her throat, making her stop and clasp it. As soon as she let go, Akuma grabbed her by it and hoisted her up with one hand.

"Well, well, you put up a good fight, Tahra," Akuma said, "but I'm afraid you've lost. As punishment, I think I'll blow your boyfriend into oblivion. I'm sure Excalibur can find a more suitable wielder." He pointed a finger at Sonic, and a ball of energy formed there. Tahra watched in horror as it grew bigger and bigger, until it was the size of a basketball.

Please…oh heaven don't do it Akuma…you can't do this to me…first my grandmother and now Sonic? No, no…

In a sudden burst of energy, Tahra forced herself out of Akuma's grip and kicked him, staggering him, and stopping the blast. The girl was pulsating with power, but not the kind from her Dark form. It was something else entirely. The same feelings of protectiveness, fear for the life of someone close to her and desire to help that Shadow, Amy and Sonic had felt were rushing through her now. This was the mental indication of the first transformation to Heroic form.

In a blaze of emerald green, heatless fire, the ancient power of her lineage ignited in her blood. Her fur shifted to a wondrous light blue color (thought not like Nazo), and a luminous green stripe now ran down her forehead, and it also. Another pair of quills appeared on the back of her head, and drooped down to about a quarter of the way down her back.

Her attire had changed as well. The shirt that she had been so used to dissolved, leaving only a shimmering silver bra that seemed armor-plated. The whole image was reminiscent of that ancient tribe of female warriors from whom Tahra was descended. Labrys had returned to her hand as well, as she readied herself to attack. But to her surprise, Akuma stood there, smiling.

"What, aren't you going to attack, Akuma?" Tahra asked with a little confusion in her still angry tone." Akuma finally began to explain what this whole mess was about.

"It was just as Sonic and I predicted…" the red hedgehog said.

"What do you mean, predicted?"

"It's quite simple…he told me how he had obtained his angel form…it was triggered by your screams of pain and anguish, combined by his drive to protect you. Emotions are what ultimately trigger these transformations. Sonic and I decided to make it come out by him getting beaten within an inch of his life. Had you not stopped me, I would have very well killed him."

That idiot risked his skin…just for me, Tahra thought. That is so…so…stupid, but it's still so touching…I really don't know what to think right now.

"The time for pondering is over, axe-wielder," Akuma said, readying a fighting stance. "Show me what this new form can do!"

-- -- -- -- -- --

"Damn that Akuma…" Amy growled to herself as she clutched her bleeding arm and watched the so-called greatest warrior ever fly away. The pink hedgehog knew that the abuse she was taking was for the best, but couldn't help but feel that Akuma actually enjoyed seeing their pain. Why else would he go at them so hard?

Thankfully, her moment of anger was softened when she saw Shadow limp next to her. He had apparently been watching this whole time. He looked beat up as well, but completely forgot all about his injuries when he noticed Amy's bleeding arm.

"Amy…your arm…"

Amy held on to the wounded limb and looked away a little. "It's okay. Really, Shadow."

"Let me see it," Shadow said as he reached for it.

Amy shied away. "I'm serious. It's just fine," she replied, now slightly annoyed.

"For the last time, let me see." Amy finally relinquished her grip on the wounded limb, and Shadow looked it over, his ruby-red eyes scanning it carefully, and rubbing his gloved hand along the wound.

"Doesn't seem major…needs to be bandaged, though. Damn that Akuma, not providing sufficient medical supplies. You'd think the guy expects us to get killed…oh crap…now I have to wash this glove. I got your blood all over it."

"What about you, Shadow?"

"I'm just bruised, and I can regenerate it. I don't know about you, though…geez…you're gushing now." Shadow began to search for something to stop Amy's bleeding, and seeing none, he realized that he only one option.

"Amy, you may have to (gulp)…take off your shirt. Wrap it around your arm."

"Do I?" Amy asked, now a little nervous, remembering the talk she and Tahra had many weeks before.

Shadow was just as nervous. "Just do it, damn it!" Amy removed her shirt, while Shadow averted his eyes, desperately trying not to think those thoughts about her again. He started by simply looking away, but eventually had to literally rush off into the woods just to get his mind off of the girl he treasured.

Why…why are they returning? This thought was continually running through his head as he tried to force away the images of his inner desires. Even now Shadow saw Amy as something fragile and easy to break, and once broken, it could never be repaired.

Shadow tried to tell himself that this was all normal. It would be the same, if not worse in the case of Rouge. But it did nothing to calm him. It felt like some outside force was driving him into this state. He had to do something to knock himself back to sanity.

His frantic search revealed one of the many pools of water on the island. Shadow, without a second thought, ran toward it and dunked his head into the cold water, hoping the sudden change in temperature would bring his mind back to reality. But it failed miserably. Those images kept assaulting his conscious. He knew that someone was trying to warp his every thought, into the motive of deflowering the rose he had sworn to love and cherish…and that force was winning. But that force was something smaller than the point of a needle…

Shadow had been afflicted unknowingly by hadou syndrome, but it had a different effect on his mind and body. As Shadow felt his mind begin to decay, he felt his body painfully bend over and his upper body bulk up. His face was warped into one like a hyena, and his quills extended out to the middle of its bent back. The ruby glimmer of his eyes faded, but was replaced by the same yellow in Eclipse's eyes.

"I'm so sorry…" that was all Shadow could muster to say in his mind before he completely lost himself. His Dark form had finally reared its ugly head, and it was out for its own pleasure. The beast turned its eyes toward Amy and rushed back in her direction.

He skidded to a stop just a few yards away from Amy, who recoiled in terror at this beast. She quickly realized it was Shadow, which made it worse for her.

"Sh-shadow?"

The creature sat there, looking the girl over with a disturbing look in his eyes. Amy seemed to know what it wanted, and against her better judgment, kneeled down, closed her eyes and bowed her head.

I was hoping my first time would be a little more enjoyable…Amy said to herself, but I did say I was ready. I just hope he gets done fast.

Shadow loped toward Amy, and began to sniff her, much like a dog would, which puzzled Amy. She had expected him to leap upon her like a wild animal. Here, he was acting almost puppy-like. Was it a ruse to lull her into a false sense of security, or was the good Shadow trying to fight back?

She tried stroking Shadow's head, and he seemed to take pleasure in it. His eyes were trying to shift back to red, and it seemed like the good Shadow was winning. A few minutes of this, to her amazement, managed to return Shadow to his normal form, with his head still in her lap. He had realized all that had happened, and seemed very ashamed.

"Amy…I'm sorry about…"

"Don't be that way, Shadow…you stopped yourself."

"I'm scared that it will happen again…it was too close."

Amy lovingly embraced the black hedgehog, and his soul was comforted, the fear of rejection passing from his mind. The thoughts that drove him to the madness were gone for now, and in their place was simply the love he had for that pink hedgehog who had stolen his heart yet again.

-- -- -- -- --

"I don't understand," Geddon roared. "How could that girl, without so much as landing a single punch, defeat the one creature she fears! That black and red hedgehog was reduced to a mere puppy! It makes me so mad!"

"You have obviously misjudged them, master," Nazo replied. Regal was there with the two as well, watching Shadow and Amy with interest. In all his years, he had scoffed at the notion of real love. He had always considered his girls as cultists in the religion that worshiped him. But as he observed all this, he couldn't help but wonder if he was truly in need of a special someone. A memory came back to him…

Regal was suddenly interrupted by the grey bat whom he had added a week before to his band of groupies, who immediately rushed into his arms.

"Vera? What's wrong, sugar?" he asked.

"My chest hurts a lot…and I think my pendant is stuck…I-I can't get it out."

Regal glanced at her chest, and saw that her pendant had extended tiny wires that had injected themselves into the bat's breasts…and they seemed to be slowly inflating, much like balloons. The girl was obviously in pain, and the red hedgehog didn't like seeing one of his girls suffer. With a smile, he deftly pulled the two wires out, and Vera was back to normal in a few seconds.

"All better now, kid?" Regal asked, still holding the bat in his arms. Vera nodded shyly. She hadn't known Regal for very long, so she had not yet obtained her status as his favorite. That title was held by a white hedgehog that was notoriously snobbish, and flaunted her status. Sshe burst into the room at that moment and she was obviously angered at the lesser member of Regal's group.

"Hey! Bat-girl! Out!" the hedgehog demanded.

"Now, now, my lovely, the girl just needed a little attention, that's all. It'll only be a minute."

"What about MY priority?" the white hedgehog replied.

Regal had just about enough of this disrespectful girl, who had already annoyed him several times in the recent past. Now it was the last straw.

"YOUR priority!" the red hedgehog responded angrily. "I know you're my favorite…but every girl who I take in gets at least SOME time with me. Vera needs it more than you! If you're gonna hog me just because of your status, you don't DESERVE it."

"Regal…you aren't…"

"Get out of my sight, you slut!" The white hedgehog ran out of the room in tears. Vera was somewhat surprised that Regal could shove the girl who he was always around away like that.

"Thanks for defending me, Regal…but who's going to be your favorite now?"

"I have to think about it…"

Regal was a bit surprised by the conclusion he came to…he actually had feelings for Vera…and then she knew that all that evil in her hear was just something to please her father…otherwise he could kill her in a way that even he thought disturbing. Vera was a lost soul, as was he…and maybe revenge on Tahra wasn't the best idea…

-- -- -- -- --

Me: Love conquers all…yet again! And we have a new pairing!

Shadow: Regal x Vera, huh? I suppose they're going to come to our side before the story ends.

Me: Could be…

Amy: Shadow and I are that cute of a couple? We can make other couples form as well?

Nazo: It sickens me.