UlTTrRa SiK pRoDuCtIoNs pReSeNtZ:
LoVe'S bUrN
By: UlTtrrAa ShAdDow
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Sega's characters...but I'd be a very happy guy if I did!
"You can close your eyes to things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to things you don't want to feel."
Third Person POV:
The Sahara Dessert...
Traveling through the long, golden Sahara was Shadow, who was being trailed by a small yellow hedgehog. It was only minutes ago that they had materialized in the Sahara Desert's transporter and began traveling, but with the fierce heat wave, it seemed as if they had been wandering for hours.
The journey on the whole had been peaceful; the only noise heard was the soft trudging of steps in the scorching sand, and Daisy's light panting.
Throughout the crossing of the Sahara, the young yellow hedgehog had been sweating profusely; constantly bringing her forearm to wipe away the trickling sweat from her brow. Moments later, with careless footing, she tripped over a hidden stone and almost comically face planted into the sand.
"Oof!"
Shadow slowly turned around to face her. The yellow hedgehog popped out of the sand and released a cry of frustration, "That's it! I'm tired of this stupid, stupid desert!"
She furiously wiped sand away from her sweat-caked face and began to throw a tantrum, flailing her arms and screaming, "Who in their right mind hides a base out here anyways? It's got to be a thousand degrees out here!"
"Oh? And you're complaining?" Shadow asked crossing his arms, "When I'm the one who's clad in black fur?"
Daisy blinked, thinking of his last words. Now that he had mentioned it, he did have it worse between the two of them. With a closer examination, she noticed that sweat was pouring down his face, and steam was rolling off of him, fading into the atmosphere. He was literally smoking!
Apologetically, Daisy's ears lowered, "I-I'm sorry, but it's just so dang hot!"
Shadow crossed his arms and smirked contently; yes, he was not only the ultimate life form, but the ultimate pacifier as well. Shadow took a few steps towards her, but before he could speak, a loud humming sound interrupted his dialogue. Both hedgehogs looked up into the sky to see one of Eggman's devices hovering above them.
"…Eggman…" Shadow whispered to himself.
"Huh? What is that thingamabob?" Daisy asked.
"It's one of Eggmans' devices," Shadow replied.
"Umm, is it bad?" she asked, brown eyes turning to look up at him.
As if to answer her question, the machine swiftly swooped downward and began raining red lasers. At the first sign of trouble, Daisy screamed and dove face-first into the sand, meanwhile Shadow performed a couple of back flips.
The yellow hedgehog's performance could have been considered hilarious if the situation had not been so severe. With his newfound space, Shadow took the role as the diversion and began to trek around the dessert terrain at unruly speeds.
While searching for an answer, Shadow himself almost lost his balance when he stumbled over a stone. He felt his anger rise, but then an idea appeared. He picked up the stone, and inspected it.
Weighing the stone in his hands, he found it adequate and with a snap of the wrist, hurled the rock at the machine. Hitting a sweet spot, the machine crash landed into the sand, inches away from Daisy's face.
"Wha…that was a close one," Daisy said blinking in stupor. Seconds later the duo looked into the sky to see a fleet of five similar aircrafts flying their direction as well.
"Aah! Shadow!" Daisy cried pleadingly. Crimson eyes began to scan over the desert, furiously; he looked from the airborne machines over to the smoking aircraft beside himself, then down towards Daisy.
He skated over towards the fallen aircraft, which was now smoking. "Get down!" He shouted over his shoulder to Daisy. He heard a quick squeal and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Daisy flop onto the sand. Shadow released a yell, and with his new found strength, Shadow picked up the aircraft, and began to spin it around in a circle.
When he received enough momentum, he launched the aircraft and it took to the sky like a frisbee and collided with the other machines. A fiery explosion conflagrated in the air and clumps of metal rained from the sky.
Daisy had peeked over at Shadow just in time to see the explosion ignite in front of him; the scene almost resembled a movie poster. With the metal landing all around her, she deftly covered her head yet again until she heard, "Yellow hedgehog, it's clear."
Petite hands uncovered her face and a single brown eye detected Shadow, standing valiantly in the post-battle air; the ultimate life form looked like some kind of action hero.
As the wind ruffled his quills he stood with a stern, daring glare and one hand on his hip. Somebody was a poster boy. Slowly, she rose out of the sand and walked over to Shadow in awe. Shadow crossed his arms and arched a curious eyebrow at her.
Daisy scoffed, "I swear, what is it with you macho hedgehog guys? First it's Scythe, and now it's you!"
Inside The Sahara Dessert Base...
Blurry-eyed, Rouge ran her fingers through Scythe's fur. She softly stroked the fur around the frame of his face, meanwhile trying to wipe away her persistent tears. Eggman lowered his weapon and finally dropped it.
Eggman felt the back of his head, muttering curses. To some satisfaction, she noticed that not only were the doctors glasses chipped and broken, but he had lost a good amount of blood, due in part to Scythe.
Eggman slowly limped over towards the room's intercom and summoned a couple of his robots, "Alpha twelve and Alpha thirteen, get in here and take care of our causality, I don't care what you do with him…throw him into the dumpster for all I care!"
Moments later a few robots entered the room and without second thoughts, they took Scythe away from Rouge's. With her hand still outstretched, she watched as Scythe slowly disappeared from view.
Something about watching him being carried off wretched Rouge's heart and involuntarily, she began to cry even harder. Once Rouge and Eggman were the only people in the room, Eggman turned to face her, "Now, with all distractions aside, my plan is finally unveiling itself, batgirl."
"Wh-why do you need me, I don't what to help you," Rouge said, wiping her face clean of tears, then icy cerulean eyes ignited, "I'll never help you."
"Well, voluntarily or not, you're going to help me retrieve Shadow. It'll be just like the fairytales, batgirl. The brave hero's going to try save his fair maiden…but ultimately end up plummeting into my trap," Eggman said.
Then he laughed deeply, "Come to think of it, this will all be successful due to you, batgirl. If your boyfriend hadn't had been so whipped…then this plan would never work."
Then Eggman continued, carefully analyzing Rouge, " And maybe I should also be thanking him as well… I did lose that deadweight hedgehog any how."
But instead of getting furious, Rouge burst out laughing, Eggman took a step towards her, "And just what do you find such humor in batgirl? Or is it realization that you've lost."
Rouge smiled, "You really are a fool. You think your plans will work? I have yet to recall one of your schemes working…even against Sonic. If that idiot can outsmart you, then you really are dumb. He has to have an IQ of ten!"
Eggman scowled, "If I was you, I'd watch my words," then he smirked, "Are you speaking of escape? Don't make me laugh! It'll never happen! You're unarmed, and I'm the one holding the gun. And don't forget that you're in the middle of the Sahara Dessert. So looks to me like there will be no jail breaks today."
"True, but Scythe somehow managed to put you out, armed or whatnot," Rouge replied.
"And now he's dead, your point?"
Rouge rose slowly, thinking over her words. She watched as Eggman turned his back to her and began to ticker with his computers.
She noticed that he was monitoring the cameras. One camera, however, was focused on a black hedgehog carrying a yellow one. Eggman rose out of his seat, "No, it can't be…this is too good to be true!"
Eggman picked up a speaker, "Alpha 00101, come pick up our precious batgirl and take her to the guest room."
Rouge quickly glimpsed at the palm of her left hand, 'Universal key?' she thought to herself, 'Just my luck!'
She held a small silver key, the one that Scythe had used. With his last motion, he had slipped Rouge the key. Remembering this, she closed the key in her hand and smiled.
She quickly hid the key once she saw a robot unlock the door and lead her to a new room. She turned and took a look back at the monitor. She saw Shadow! It was Shadow! Rouge smiled, blushing at the thought. She quietly thought her personal thoughts and followed the robot with a small smile.
The Sahara Dessert...
Shadow sped through the desert carrying Daisy in the firemen's carry style, who was having the time of her life traveling at the speed of sound.
"This is awesome!" she cried, "Why didn't we do this before? I'm actually not burning up! I feel the wind on my face!...And why can't you just carry me in your arms?"
"The reason we didn't do this before is because now I know we're close to the base's perimeter," Shadow answered.
"Look!" Daisy pointed, "There it is!"
In sight was Eggman's ostentatious base which was resurrected from a previous pyramid with his own hands. Due to its new technological guise, it looked rather foreign in its settings.
"It's amazing!" Daisy gasped, "If his base looks like this, then I wonder what he looks like…"
Shadow frowned.
"Well, do you know how he looks like?" Daisy asked smiling, " Can you say three words to describe him?"
"…Fat, bald, and repugnant," Shadow answered nonchalantly.
Daisy laughed, "That can't be true! You're just—"
Daisy was cut off mid-sentence as she was knocked out of Shadow's hands. The black hedgehog skidded to a stop, "What?" He heard the sound of Daisy hitting the ground and he turned to find her, "Yellow hedgehog?"
Once he sited her, Shadow noticed that her eyes were closed and he started running towards her, and he called even louder, "Yellow hedgehog!" Slowly, Daisy came to and sat up, still seeing stars, Shadow approached her, "Huh? What happened?"
This time, being prepared, Shadow heard it, 'zoooom' he started skating towards Daisy at faster speeds, "Look out!"
Daisy stood up, obliviously smiling and waving at him; Shadow came towards her and pushed her out of the way, leaving himself completely vulnerable. Daisy fell a good distance backwards, releasing a yelp of surprise and landed flat on her back, legs splayed.
Moments later Shadow was struck by the hidden force and landed poorly on his chest. He looked at his elbows and knees, which he used to shield himself, and saw a leaking red substance. Shadow slowly rose to his knees, looked up and saw a pair of multicolored sneakers.
He looked up further and saw the unfamiliar red echidna; the revved up Knuckles, with the fierce red eyes and a malevolent scowl. Shadow grimaced, "I should have known it was you…"
Knuckles voluntarily failed to answer the hedgehog and dug his claws into the sand beside Shadow's head, "There's no escape for you hedgehog, and by the time I'm done with you, Rouge won't be able to recognize your face."
For a moment Shadow and Knuckles exchanged intense glares, but then Shadow saw, out of the corner of his eyes, a yellow hedgehog slowly standing up. Shadow turned to face her with a guise of complete horror. His intuition sparked and he knew she was going to do something irrational.
"Shadow!" Daisy yelled.
She began cautiously to trek her way over towards the two. Shadow sensed something bad was going to occur. He could feel it. He tried to free himself from Knuckles' grip, but ultimately found his struggle useless.
'Whatever steroids Eggman pumped into this guy worked,' Shadow thought. The hedgehog quickly waved a warning signal with his free hand at Daisy.
" No! Stop!" Shadow cried.
Misreading his signal, Daisy started running over towards Shadow, screaming, "Shadow! I'm coming!"
Knuckles snapped his head around to get a good look at the fool who dare interfere with his business. A small, yellow hedgehog fell into his radar. A dark smile crossed his face and he slowly pointed his arm out towards her and said, "Thunder Arrow!"
The deep growl stopped her in her tracks, but before the echidna could get a secure lock on his target, Shadow smacked his chin and raised his aim.
The thunder arrow struck the side of Daisy's head and she fell without a sound. She hit the ground unconscious from shock. Knuckles rubbed his jaw and looked at Shadow indignantly, "You just hit me."
Knuckles lifted Shadow by his neck, gave him a blow to the ribs for good measure and booted him across the desert. Shadow landed on his knees finding himself rather irate.
"That…" Shadow said slowly, rising from the sand, "is the last time you'll never do that, echidna," Shadow spit the taste of sand from his mouth and glared, "And now, we've got a fight."
With a war cry, Knuckles began his charge and although silent, Shadow came menacingly as well.
Inside The Sahara Dessert Base...
Rouge sat in her secured room tapping her foot as she contemplated, 'So Shadow's coming for me…' Then a smile crossed her face, 'But does he not know that I can take care of myself? I am a trained agent after all.'
Then she closed her eyes, thinking, 'Allrighty then, it's time to focus, time to think like the top federal agent that I am…now how would I get out of this room?'
"Life form Rouge the bat, your evening nourishment is present."
A smirk appeared on her lips and she decided to initiate her new plan, "Oh, then come on in." A small, clunking robot, which happened to be wearing a laced apron, entered the room pushing a cart with Rouge's dinner on a trey.
Rouge frowned a little, almost regretting the fact that she was going to destroy such a domestic robot. "Here's your evening nourishment, Life Form Rouge the bat."
"Uh, thanks," Rouge said taking the trey, "Oh and by the way, how do you feel about the Eggman Empire?"
"Long live the Eggman Empire! May the sun always shine—"
Rouge sighed and moved her arm from the short circuiting machine, "Well, that made things a whole lot easier."
The click of a key was heard and the lock that once held the guestroom door closed hit the floor. The door carefully opened and Rouge's head peered out of the doorway. She scanned the long hall ahead of her and saw that it was clear of any danger. Just as she was about to leave, a guard appeared around the corner.
Rouge slightly closed the door and waited. Her keen ears picked up the sounds of the machine's motor as it drew closer. Just as soon as Rouge was sure that the machine was right in front of her door, she slammed the door against the machine as hard as she could.
The guard was launched several feet and as it looked up, in its view came an ivory bat standing with one hand on her hip and the other against the wall.
"Hi," Rouge said beaming.
The guard raised its gun and fired; Rouge's smiled broadened as she pulled out a scrap of metal. 'Thanks housemaid robot!'
The laser shot hit the metal scrap and deflected, hitting the guard robot. The robot exploded on the spot and Rouge shielded her eyes. Once the light was gone, Rouge uncovered her eyes, blinking.
Just before she headed down the path that the newly destroyed guard had came from, a laser shot was fired and hit the wall directly above her ears.
Rouge turned to see a second guard robot charging straight for her. She used her extra piece of scrap metal and heaved it at the guard. The metal cut through the guard, and it too exploded.
Rouge fluffed her hair then walked to the end of the hall, took a left and entered the elevator. Once the elevator started descending, a fleet of guards went flying towards the elevator. While traveling down the elevator, Rouge heard violent banging on the floors above her.
"Oh great," she moaned while gazing upward.
The elevator gave a violent jerk as it stopped and the lights, even the music turned off. Rouge gasped; now she was forced to use her nocturnal vision.
She looked at the entrance of the elevator where all the violent hammering was originating from. The door was broken in and a swarm of guards entered the elevator…only to find that it was empty. The guards searched the elevator a moment longer and then scurried off to investigate other floors.
"Hmph, creeps."
Rouge sat cross-legged at the top of the elevator, watching the guards leave. Once they all left, she smiled coyly then glided to the bottom of the floor.
She landed at a level below the elevator and she opened a panel which led to underground aqueducts. It was definitely a good thing that Rouge had decided to join up with Eggman…that way she got to study all of Eggman's different lair maps.
She hopped down a manhole and scampered off into the waist-deep water. Just as Rouge ran passed a dark corner of the aqueduct, two glowing red eyes appeared and followed Rouge. Just as she disappeared out of sight, it began its pursuit.
To be continued...
Chapter Eighteen Theme: 'SOS'-Rihanna