Okay, here Chapter Three!... well, part one anyway... I hope you enjoy!
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Death and Destruction Part One: The Deal
Shadow sat in his bed looking at the ceiling guiltily. Knuckles was furious at him for killing his younger sister and then keeping her body in suspended animation. Shadow heard a soft tapping on the door and nodded slightly. The door opened and a bright sphere of light about the size of a golf ball flew into the room. It floated next to the bed and suddenly disappeared in a flash. When the light cleared Tikal stood next to Shadows bed looking concerned.
"What's wrong Shadow?"
"How are you feeling today? Did a certain depressed echidna screech and try to hug you when he saw you?" Shadow asked monotonously.
"What's with you? You never attack Knuckles like that! What's wrong?"
"Your brother knows that you're dead," Tikal looked down slightly and then asked.
"Lemme guess, he wants to kill you?"
"No, he just won't talk to me,"
As the words 'he just won't talk to me' left Shadows lips, the door opened again and Knuckles walked in eyes closed dragging a blanket behind him.
"Shadow," the echidna asked exhausted, "I can't sleep! I keep thinking about Tikal."
"What am I supposed to do about it!" Shadow snapped, irritated that the echidna hadn't knocked.
"I dunno," the echidna replied shrugging, "make me warm milk or tell me a story or something. Else that'll take my mind off my sister."
"What am I, your mother?" Knuckles grinned and opened his eyes.
"Yes, yes you―" Knuckles began but he froze as he saw his sister standing next to Shadows bed.
"You're alive!" the echidna shouted joyfully as he ran forward to hug his younger sister. When his arms should have wrapped around her, he grasped only air and fell forward landing flat on his face. The red echidna made sounds of confusion and horror. He backed into Shadow's bed and looked at the dark hedgehog fearfully. Tikal looked at Knuckles sadly and touched his hair.
"Knuckles, I am dead."
"Then how are you―"
"I… well, when I died my spirit left my body and my body went into a state of suspended animation. Shadow kept me as a spirit and kept my body hidden. About six years ago he created this hologram for me so that it looks like I'm alive. In other words, I can touch you," she explained quietly demonstrating, "but you can't touch me."
Knuckles looked down and then to Shadow.
"Tell me how this happened." The echidna demanded. Shadow sighed and muttered
"It's a really long story and not the best for a bedtime story…" Knuckles shook his head
"Don't try to avoid telling me," the echidna snapped, "I want to know why you killed my sister!"
"Fine. Sit down and I'll tell you what happened after you left."
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It had been about two years since Knuckles had left in his time machine and the Sonic Team was starting to get worried. Shadow thought that he had been right at the meeting and Knuckles was dead now. Tikal, and the rest of the Sonic Team, thought that her brother was trapped in the future with a broken time machine. Although at the moment the Team had much more serious problems on their hands then a missing echidna.
There had been an increasing number of murders and all of the victims had a familiar symbol on their wrists. A Chaos Emerald surrounded by a triangle and a circle; the symbol of Ten. The robot had grown as bold as to kill one right outside of the Sonic Team Tree Base. In order to stop the murders, Shadow had scheduled a meeting with his brother. Epsilon, who would have normaly done it, had disappeared after his last meeting with Ten. At the moment, Shadow was getting ready to travel up to the Space Colony ARK, where Ten held his base. The dark hedgehog heard a slight knock on his door. He called 'enter' and Tikal walked in. She held a small dagger in her hand. When Shadow looked at her confused she muttered.
"In case he attacks you, I don't want you to get hurt." Shadow shook his head and took the dagger from her trying to hide it in the quills on his back.
"Don't worry, Tikal! It's just a meeting! He's not gonna attack me!"
"Shadow, you still have to be careful." Tikal muttered as she helped him conceal the dagger.
"Tikal, why wouldn't I be careful? I'm always careful around my brother. Its not like I'm going in there guns blazing. Besides," he leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips, "I'm getting married to you in a few days! Like I would pass up a chance to see you in that dress."
"Shadow!" Tikal muttered blushing.
"I'll be careful alright! You can tell the others about the marriage once I'm gone okay? I'm not big on getting hugged by anyone but you." As Shadow started toward the door, Tikal ran up behind him and hugged him tightly.
"Don't get yourself killed up there alright?" Shadow smiled at her and murmured.
"I promise I won't."
And with that, he walked out of the door and disappeared in a flash of green light.
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Shadow appeared in the main control room of the ARK. For a second he paused staring at the window that he and Maria had stood at when they had promised to go down to Earth together one day. Of course, that had never happened as the solders of G.U.N. had come to the ARK and killed Maria and almost everyone else. Shadow had been the only one they wanted but the scientists on the ARK had been 'in their way'. As he shook his head of those memories, a cold, amused voice behind him spoke.
"Well, lost in memories again are we little brother?" Shadow whirled around to see his older brother Metal Sonic Ten. The robot was, as usual, using a hologram to appear human, but he was far from it. Currently, he appeared to have long pointed and notched ears. His blue hair was spiked similarly to Shadows. He wore his usual blue outfit that looked remarkably like his real form. His hands were made out of metal, so that it wouldn't disrupt the hologram when he unsheathed his claws. It was his eyes, however, that caused the dark hedgehog to shiver. They were a deep blood red and had no pupils.
"You're here early, Shadow! I expected you in about an hour! Come, let's have a drink and catch up."
Shadow, never having had alcohol before being only eighteen, obliged immediately. Ten lead the hedgehog to his old room and motioned for him to sit down on one of the many chairs around the table.
"Are you expecting others to come?" Shadow asked curiously.
"No, no… well… in a way, I suppose," the robot replied as he poured two glasses of a deep red wine, "I was expecting you to come with guards is all."
"Do you really think I'm so paranoid as to bring guards to a peaceful meeting?" Shadow asked slightly annoyed. He lifted the glass to his lips. He paused as if unsure if he should drink it. Ten shook his head and took a drink from his glass.
"See? No poison. Now, think about it, if I had wanted to kill you, you would have been dead in the control room. You do realize that, right?" The robot smirked and Shadow glared at him again. Shadow once again raised the glass to his lips, this time sipping the ruby liquid. The fruity and yet bitter wine slipped down his throat quenching his thirst almost instantly. Ten leaned forward and asked.
"So, what's new in your life," the robot smirked and examined his claws, "you already know what I've been doing." Shadow set the glass down and looked at his brother accusingly.
"We're supposed to be negotiating the stop of these murders. Not talking about what's new."
"Yes, well," Ten waved Shadows accusation away, "We can get to that in a moment. We haven't talked for two years little brother. I just want to know what's new!"
Shadow looked at his brother carefully, Tikal's warnings ringing in his mind. The question seemed innocent enough, but could he really trust this murderer?
"Nothing new has really been happening," Shadow said careful not to mention Knuckles and his time machine.
"Now really, Shadow, I know that you're lying. You looked to the left. You can tell me what's new you know," Ten said standing up with his hands behind his back, "How could I use it against you? I wouldn't; after all, this is a peaceful negotiation as you said." Shadow looked the robot straight in the eye.
"Nothing new has been happening." Shadow lifted up his glass and finished the wine. Ten shook his head, trying to hide the fact that his eye was twitching in anger. He held one hand behind his back as he said.
"Surely something new must have happened…" as the words left his lips, he unsheathed his claws behind his back. Shadow heard the tell-tale sound of metal grinding on metal and shook his head.
"Even if you threaten me, my answer remains the same. Nothing new is going on." The robot gave Shadow a stern look and walked up to him. He placed his claws at Shadow's neck and pressed softly. Shadow winced but kept his mouth shut.
"Why don't you tell me what you're hiding?" The robot pressed harder. "Hmm?" he murmured as a whisper escaped Shadow's lips. Shadow spoke again, louder this time telling Ten to do something quite dirty. Now the robot pulled back and glared at his younger brother, unsheathing his other hands claws. Shadow glared back, crimson eyes fierce. Ten cocked his head to the side and slashed at Shadow's face. The hedgehog fell over backwards in his chair. Ten followed him and dug his claws into the ground, narrowly missing Shadow's head.
"Why don't you just tell me what's going on!" the robot snarled. Shadow's breath quickened as Ten's other hand rose, now poised to strike Shadow directly in the heart. Shadow quickly pulled the dagger out of his quills, only to have it knocked away by the robot. Shadow sighed, if he didn't tell Ten something, then he would die. The hedgehog thought of the most innocent bit of information possible and hoped that Ten couldn't use it against him.
"Fine," the hedgehog murmured, "I'm getting married."
Ten drew his claws out of the floor and sheathed them. He stood up smirking and offered his brother a hand. Shadow knocked it away and stood up, brushing dust off of his ebony coat. Ten poured another glass of wine for Shadow and asked.
"Well! Marriage, I didn't expect that. Who is the lucky woman?" Shadow looked at his brother warily.
"Tikal," He replied calmly. Ten nodded a slight smile spreading across his face.
"Ah, yes… I always knew you two would end up together… oh, and speaking of Tikal, you are to kill her." A chill ran down Shadow's spine as he bellowed.
"No! I'd never kill her!"
Ten smirked slightly and disappeared for a split second. Shadow suddenly screamed in agony as his right hand dropped to the floor, blood spurting from his severed wrist.
"I thought you might refuse," Ten murmured smirking widely, "but if you don't agree, then you'll bleed to death." Shadow knew that what the robot said was true, but he would never hurt the one he loved. He wouldn't let anyone else he loved die. Not after… Maria.
"Never…" the hedgehog breathed. Ten smiled wider still as he snapped his fingers. Shadow expected the chaos emerald in his wrist to activate, but instead, Chance and Luna appeared behind the robot looking scared and confused. They were accompanied by none other than Epsilon the Bat.
"You," Shadow muttered murderously. Epsilon smirked at him and said.
"What? Did you seriously expect me to be a goody two shoes for long? I've been spying on you brats this whole time!" As he spoke, the bat pushed Chance and Luna forward. The second that Chance saw his brother, the little hedgehog screamed and attempted to get to him to help stop the bleeding, but Ten held his hand up and Epsilon restrained him.
"Now listen to me, little brother, if you don't choose to kill Tikal, I will kill Chance and Luna. It won't matter to me, after all," the robot smiled horribly getting close to Shadow's face, "they are just annoyances." As Chance and Luna looked at Shadow fearfully and Shadow clutched at his wrist, he thought about the impossible choice before him. He could either condemn his brother and sister, or, he could kill his fiancée. Apparently he took too long for the robot who assumed that he had chosen not to kill Tikal once again.
Shadow was forced to watch in horror as Ten stabbed poor little Luna in the neck. He removed his claws as she screamed. He then dug his claws into her just below the collar bone and dragged them down to her opposite hip. As Luna hit the ground in a bloody heap, Chance began to weep uncontrollably. Shadow wanted desperately to get up and comfort Chance and throttle Ten behind the little hedgehog's back, but he was too weak from blood loss to rise.
"You monster!" Shadow screamed. Of course, had Chance not been in the room, he would have used something much more profound. Ten simply smirked again and motioned to Epsilon. The bat nodded and drew out a dagger and stabbed Chance in the heart.
He was dead before he hit the ground.
"No!" Shadow roared as he leapt to his feet, ignoring the tears streaming down his face and the unbearable pain in his wrist. One thought was burning in Shadow's mind, Kill Ten. As he attempted to tackle Ten to the ground, Epsilon moved in the way and took the blow for the robot.
As Shadow scratched and bit and screamed at the bat, he slowly sank to his knees. The pain in his wrist was too much. He was losing too much blood. He knew that if he kept this up, he would kill himself, but the dark hedgehog didn't care.
Ten slowly walked over to Shadow. He touched his brother's hair and said.
"You know, they didn't have to die. If you had just decided to kill Tikal in the first place, they'd still be alive." Shadow felt as though an iron fist was clenched around his heart. Ten was right. If he had decided to kill Tikal, Chance and Luna would still be alive. It was all his fault. Shadow looked up at Ten slowly, tears still streaming down his face.
"What… what am I gonna do?" Shadow asked quietly looking, for a moment as he had when Maria had died; helpless and unbearably sad. It pained Ten to see his brother like this. It wasn't that the robot cared for the hedgehog, oh no, it was just brotherly instinct, he thought. The robot stroked Shadow's hair and murmured,
"I could bring them back for you if you want." This, of course was a lie. If the robot had the heart to do it, he would just simply put the souls of the two back in their bodies, but the power he gained from their souls was too wonderful to give up. Still, he could tell his brother that he would to get the pathetic little hedgehog to do something for him. Shadow looked up hopefully.
"You could?" the hope in Shadow's face and voice disgusted Ten. Shadow had been created to be a killer from day one. The hedgehog just hadn't killed someone since he had gotten over his amnesia. He didn't remember how wonderful it felt. The joy it brought. He had used to kill whenever Ten mentioned the word. Now, here was the 'great' and 'powerful' Research Project Shadow crying over the loss of two annoyances. But Ten hid his revulsion and put a kind smile on his face.
"Of course I could. But first, you need to do something for me." Shadow nodded slightly as Ten smirked inwardly. At first he had hoped to get Shadow drunk enough to agree to anything, but this was even better. Not only did he get rid of Chance and Luna forever, but, Shadow was going to kill Tikal. He was killing two birds with one stone.
Ten looked back down at the pale and bleeding hedgehog and realized that if he didn't do something; his brother would die of blood loss soon. So he lifted the hedgehog up and carried him over to the table. He looked at Epsilon pointedly and the bat left momentarily. When he returned, he was carrying a mechanical hand similar to Ten's.
He handed it to the robot and looked away. The bat didn't want to have to see Ten attaching the hand to Shadow's wrist. He heard the robots voice, "Alright, now this might hurt a bit," and then the screams that could only mean that Ten had laid the hand on Shadow's bleeding wrist.
Epsilon knew what was coming next so he closed his eyes and covered his sensitive ears. He didn't hear the sound of metal welding to flesh. He didn't hear the agonized screaming that escaped from Shadow's lips. He didn't see the evil glint in Ten's eyes as he finished attaching the hand.
Ten touched Epsilon's shoulder lightly.
"It's done. I know you don't like that, but it was necessary. He would have died." Epsilon nodded gruffly and turned around trying to ignore the blood around Shadow's right wrist. He walked over to the table and saw that Shadow had covered his eyes. Ten leaned down over him,
"You can open your eyes now little brother." The hedgehog opened his eyes and looked over at his right hand. He looked at it in amazement. It fit seamlessly to his wrist. He looked at his brother weakly, and then passed out on the table. Epsilon scoffed.
"Wimp," he muttered. Ten looked over at the bat, a crooked smile on his face.
"Really, Epsilon," The robot said walking over and extending his claws, "you would like to have a hand like Shadow's?" Epsilon blanched and backed away.
"No sir!" Ten sheathed his bloodstained claws.
"Well then, don't call my brother a wimp." Epsilon looked back over at the unconscious hedgehog.
"But sir, he passed out―" Ten cut him off by turning and extending his claws again, this time putting them to the bat's throat.
"Because he nearly died of blood loss," Epsilon backed up as the little color that had returned to his face disappeared, "and just imagine the shock of finding your hand looks the same as your worst enemy's!" Epsilon looked down.
"I'm sorry sir, I shouldn't have spoken up."
"Exactly my point," Ten said as he turned to his brother again as he shook his head, "Come on, let's get him to the medical room."
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When Shadow woke up, he was in a sterile white room. He shook his head not knowing why he was here. He looked over at his right arm and immediately wished he hadn't. Apparently he hadn't been hallucinating when he had seen a metal hand where his old one should have been. Not only that, but a thin needle was stuck in his arm and feeding blood back into him. Shadow looked up form his arm and was surprised to see his older brother fiddling with the bag of blood connected to the needle.
Ten felt Shadow's eyes on him and looked up surprised.
"Oh, Shadow, I didn't expect you to wake up for a while." Shadow looked at the robot confused and suspicious.
"What did you do to me?" Ten shrugged
"Well, I cut off your hand, killed Chance and Luna, and gave you a mechanical hand. But that's only in the last day, would you like me to continue?" Shadow glared at the robot and hit him over the head with his mechanical hand. In the process of hitting his brother he flicked his wrist accidentally. From his fingers grew four inch claws causing Shadow to jump slightly and scratch the top of his brother's head. Ten sighed and showed the hedgehog the motion to sheath his claws. As Shadow looked at Ten, cold fury in his eyes Ten replied, feigning an apology.
"Oh, did you I forget to tell you that you have claws now?" Shadow's eye twitched in response.
"Well, I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but we have more important matters on our hands." Shadow looked at his brother his eyes widening as he remembered with a sinking feeling that he had agreed to kill Tikal during his hallucinations. But there was one thing that Ten said that Shadow was sure he hadn't hallucinated; he knew for instance that Ten would never say he loved Epsilon.
"Ten," Shadow asked cautiously, "did you really say that you could bring Chance and Luna back?" Ten looked at his brother a small smirk on his face.
"Well, in theory, yes, but," here he paused looking at Shadow cruelly, "I don't really feel like it. They really did annoy me." Shadow hid his hand under the blankets as his claws extended involuntarily. He looked at his brother, a mix of defiance and utter loathing on his face.
"If you won't hold up your side of the deal then I won't―" but he was cut off by Ten laughing cruelly.
"It's too late Shadow. You already promised me. And you know what happens when you break your promises." Ten held up one hand, prepared to snap. Shadow looked at him defiantly.
"That won't work on me anymore." Ten raised his eyebrow.
"Oh really?"
"You can't scare me anymore." Ten smirked.
"I was hoping you'd say that. It means that you're ready to kill her." Shadow was taken aback by this. What did the piece of scrap metal mean? Shadow thought. Luckily, Ten explained.
"Before your fall from Space Colony ARK, you were the perfect killer. Fast, strong, silent, and nearly invisible in the night. I could always tell you were ready for an assignment when you defied me. It meant that you were bored with sitting around the house and you wanted to see blood on your dagger again. It was your way of letting me know that you wanted to kill."
Shadow's eyes widened as he remembered the rush of adrenaline that he got when someone fell in his path. But, that wasn't who he was anymore. He would not kill Tikal. As if sensing his refusal to kill her again, Ten sighed.
"Alright, your insolence is forcing me to do this the hard way," Shadow looked up, now genuinely worried, "if you don't kill Tikal within the next three days, then I will take control of your body and make you do it." Shadow looked at Ten disbelievingly. Possession was impossible, right? As if to prove his point Ten looked at Shadow's mech hand and made it extend its claws and hold them to Shadow's neck, on its own. Shadow looked from his hand, to Ten who was smirking widely.
"Well, do we have a deal?"
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End Part One
Yes, this is a two part chapter now. I hope you lie my cliffhanger!
Please R&R
Next Time,
Death and Destruction Part Two: The Death of Many