UlTrRa SiK pRoDuCtIoNs pReSeNtZ:

LoVe'S bUrN

By: UlTrAa 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."

Shadow's POV….

The first phase of our plan was completed. We had finally infiltrated Eggman's base successfully.

"I said we're going left!"

Successfully in the sense that we hadn't lost any members of our little resistance group.

"Dude, your mother! I say we go RIGHT!"

Somehow, the seven of us had defeated a legion of the Doctor's drones and made it into the base relatively unharmed. Although some of us walked into the base unscathed. And I'm speaking of myself here.

"LEFT!"

"RIGHT!"

"I said left you idiot! I'm the one with a visual map in my head!"

"…METAL BRAIN!"

…But here we stand, waiting directly in the middle of the base's foyer arguing about what direction in the fork to take. Faker and the half robotic freak look as if their about to get into one of their heated battles. In wanted no part in their battle; it was simply foolish.

"Will you both shut up?" the echidna hissed, "I thought Eggman's robots made it very clear that we're not welcomed here!"

"True," the fox nodded his head, always playing the role of the peacemaker, "Remember we need to take Eggman out as soon as possible! And standing here arguing isn't going to solve anything!"

"Okay then," the imposter spoke, "Let's stop wasting time and go right!"

The freak, also known as Scythe, bared his teeth, "Didn't I just say left?"

"Sonic," the rose hedgehog gazed at him with steady, emerald eyes, "Perhaps we should listen to Scythe. He is the one with a built-in map of this place."

Sonic crossed his arms and blew a raspberry, "Fine then, let's follow him. Apparently no one cares for what the certified hero has to say."

"Certified?" the echidna arched an eyebrow.

I finally decided to step in, "You're right imposter, no one does care; Scythe, lead us."

In response, the imposter frowned at me as Scythe's expression lightened slightly, "Good. Let's go."

Scythe obviously took a left at the fork as the others filed after him. As soon as I began after Tails and the rose hedgehog, Sonic pushed past me with a nudge, "…Faker…"

I scoffed as I watched him appear beside Amy Rose and Tails, "…If either of us is the fake, it's you."

I let my gaze idle as we traveled through the base. The Sahara Base itself was in superior status; the base's walls had been crafted with pure titanium steel, bright fluorescent lights illuminated the darkness with strong beams of light, and even the ebony floors were made out of a smooth marble, but as opaque as the floor was, it still reflected our images as clear as day.

It was only when I did look at our reflections that I noticed that the female echidna was staring at me. Being gawked at has always been an annoyance to me. But with the odd cast that her eyes held, I couldn't help but answer her directly.

I could tell I startled the female echidna when I looked at her from the corners of my eyes, "…What?" She jumped at the sound of my voice; at first she looked startled that I caught her in a daydream, then she settled into an even, sad gaze, "…I'm sorry."

"Don't be apologetic," I replied, setting my sights before me, "Just tell me why you had that look on your face."

I used the mirror-like surface of the floor to my advantage again; I saw the female echidna appearing to be in thought, as if mulling over what words to say. Then she looked up at the back of my mirror image's head, "…I sense something ill is going to happen."

Although she whispered her words, the rest of the group seemed to have heard her and turned to look at her; even Scythe craned his neck to give her a suspicious scowl. Tikal's aquamarine eyes seemed to tremble as she stared at her interlocked hands, "…Something ill is going to befall you…dark hedgehog."

Instantly all eyes fell upon me, and they gazed at me as if I had grown a second head; I blinked numbly at her words. And subconsciously, I began to question just how good of a fortuneteller this female was…

POV: Normal
The sound of light, nimble footsteps echoed throughout a silent hallway, along with short, bitten-back sobs. Daisy scrambled aimlessly through the relatively dark corridors hoping, just wishing to see some sort of sign that claimed that an exit was nearby.

But thinking realistically, she knew that she was dead in the core of the base, trapped right smack in the heart of the monster. By now, the yellow hedgehog's throat was far too sore to release a clear, loud shriek.

She tripped over herself clumsily and fell to the ground in a crumbled heap. Pushing herself to her hands and knees, Daisy emitted another shakily sob; things were looking just too hopeless for her.

But even better yet…in the process of fleeing for her life, she had managed to loose Cream. And now the poor little kindergartener was wandering alone in the drone-infested lab by herself.

…Well, she wasn't alone exactly; she had…oh what was its name that Eggman had given it? That's right! It was one of those mechs; a Flying Dog. It was a favorite that GUN liked to use.

Then Daisy remembered the heartless figure that had done all of this to both her and Cream; she remembered the icy gray eyes, and the sadistic, twisted smile, and the somehow heartfelt, heartless laughter. Even the figure's voice had a cruel edge to it:

'Where are my Master's manners? Girls shouldn't be kept in a cage.'

Daisy heard the sound of her own voice, '…Rouge?'

'I'll let you and the rabbit go…but I think it'll be more fun to release you, with the mechs chasing after you…'

'What?'

'Better get going now,' Daisy could hear the cruel smile in her voice, 'You've got a ten second head-start.'

Daisy closed her eyes as she clenched her fists, "…I lost Cream…I'm being chased by a machine…a…damn machine…This can't be happening! This has to be a dream! A really bad dream!"

She pounded her fists against the cold floor mercilessly. It was only through a vivid flare of green light that Daisy halted her assault upon the floor. The yellow hedgehog slowly turned her head to the direction of the glowing light.

At the end of a long hallway, a small room seemed to wink as the bright emerald glow rose, then died down with a sigh. Feeling almost transfixed, Daisy slowly rose to her feet and made her way to the end of the hallway.

Once she entered the room, the sight instantly caught her breath; the room, what seemed to have been small, was actually remarkably ostentatious.It was a steel room filled with bleeping machinery, and large movie theater sized flat-screen monitors were stationed on walls.

Each humongous monitor was filled with lime-green numbers trekking across the screen at inhuman speeds. Daisy stepped further into the lab, taking in all of her surroundings wordlessly. While wandering through the lab, she came across one air-locked door. It was sealed with an air-tight lock and a number key-pad; there was no way a curious little hedgehog would be able to snoop behind that door.

But…with a couple of steps to her right, she was able to see all that she wanted to know. Before the yellow hedgehog was a transparent fiberglass window that looked into the air-sealed room.

Once she pressed her face against the window, her features were washed in crimson light. The air-locked room was filled with several rows of red, glowing capsules that all had cords plugged into the largest, fattest capsule. Each capsule, oddly enough, was lying horizontally on the floor instead of vertically, like the capsule Shadow had recovered in.

She gazed deeper into the biggest capsule at what she considered to be the main power source. Inside of the red, bubbling, jello-like substance was what appeared to be a sleeping… hedgehog? Since it was surrounded by the thick, red substance, it was too difficult to evaluate the true hue of his fur, although Daisy was able to tell that the sleeping hedgehog was male.

Daisy deepened her gaze with the slumbering hedgehog; she stared at him as if seeming to think that the harder she stared, the sooner he would awaken. Just as Daisy found herself becoming spellbound at the sight of the newcomer, she heard an all too familiar scream.

The yellow hedgehog cut out of her thoughts to spin around and see a small rabbit flop to the floor, "Cream!"

With a scream, Cream splashed onto the floor. In order to reach the little rabbit, Daisy had to backtrac, and return to the long, dark hallway. Daisy ran over to Cream and looked at her sadly. The small rabbit's suit had taken almost as much abuse as her own, "Oh no…Cream…"

As Daisy ushered those words, a loud boom sounded as a Flying Dog tore through a wall. A wash of horror stole the yellow hedgehog's face as she peered at the ominous mech. Once the mech found its target lying on the floor, it sent two searing missiles at the unconscious rabbit.

Daisy gasped and nabbed Cream before the explosion ignited behind her. Daisy tore down the hallway with missiles hot on her trail. She turned corner after corner, until she found a dead-end. She gasped, "Oh!"

Time seemed to wind in slow motion as Daisy turned around to face the Flying Dog. She wailed as the Flying Dog charged at them head-on like a furious train, "Oh no!"

Sonic stomped angrily after the black and silver hedgehog, muttering dejectedly under his breath. The azure hero couldn't believe that the group had listened to the half robot, half hedgehog, full jackass instead of him!

And then Tikal, the really shy, quiet cute chick had told the real faker that something bad was going to happen to him. And good riddance, that's what he deserved for siding with Scythe. But what evil would befall Shadow? Sonic's mind ran and reran the thought over and over again in his head.

Maybe a broken tooth? Or a fractured wrist? Perhaps he'd get shot in the ass! The wheel of doom spinning in the blue hedgehog's mind was endless and…

"Sonic!"

Sonic frowned and turned to gaze down at the carnation hedgehog beside him, "What is it Amy! I was having a good daydream!"

Amy smiled, "Oh it's nothing, I was just wondering…do you like flowers?"

"…" Sonic ground his teeth, "'Do I like flowers?!' Is that what you just asked me? Amy, what kind of question is that at a time like this?"

Amy giggled, "No reason, just to pass time, we don't have to do everything for a reason you know!"

Sonic and Amy's conversation made wheels begin to revolve in Shadow's head. He suddenly stopped walking and uncrossed his arms when a memory suddenly resurfaced. It was when he was back on Ark, and barely knew Rouge.

With his arms crossed and an impatient scowl growing, Shadow stared intolerantly at the marvelous view of Earth before him. He had been called to meet up with the Doctor in Ark's main center, so Shadow had opted for using the elevator. Being that it was the quickest way to climb one hundred and fifty-six stories.

"My, isn't that view gorgeous!"

Shadow's scowl grew even bigger at the sound of her voice; standing beside the all-knowing ultimate life form was Rouge the Bat. Shadow didn't know much about the lovely bat next to him, but he certainly knew that he couldn't trust her for squat!

"No, it's not," Shadow replied coldly, hoping to squash any hopes of a conversation between them, "And this ride would go smoother if some people knew when to keep their mouths shut."

Rouge gazed longer at the glowing Earth, entranced by its beauty; it seemed that she had chosen to ignore that comment.

Finally, when she finished looking at the Earth, she turned and looked at him none-too-subtlety. And at the very moment Rouge looked at him, Shadow felt her invading eyes. The dark hedgehog closed his eyes and scowled deeper, "What?"

Rouge blinked, then beamed at him, "…What's your favorite color?"

Shadow turned and stared at her blankly; he hadn't expected that one. But as quick as he was, his vacant gaze was replaced with his normal, dark façade, "…What does that have to do with anything?"

"My favorite color is purple," Rouge replied smiling, "And you?"

Shadow turned his gaze from her and shrugged, "I dunno, red? But like I said, what does this have to do with anything?"

Rouge sighed, "Shadow, Shadow, Shadow, not everything you do has to have a purpose. Somethings you do to…relax. After all, you know we're going to begin our missions, so we should relax a little before game time."

Shadow didn't reply, he merely stared out the window, thoughtfully.

"…So red's your favorite color, huh?"

Shadow turned to look at the shorter bat beside him. She gave him a smile that displayed her nice fangs, "I hear…People who like the color red are aggressive Tigers. You know, passionate go-getters… Is this true about you Shadow?"

For the first time, Shadow smiled in the presence of the white bat, who couldn't help but smile back, "…Perhaps…but we shall see soon, won't we?"

"Shadow?"

The black hedgehog snapped to at the mention of his name. He blinked, seeing the big gap between himself and the others who had been staring back at him. Shadow caught up until he was matching stride for stride with his cerulean adversary, "Damn, you were gone! What were you dreaming about?"

Shadow smiled at him grimly then tore his gaze from him. Sonic laughed, "…Well that's the creepiest smile I'll see today!"

The black hedgehog halted in his steps once more, this time, a dangerous expression playing on his features, "Did you hear that?"

The chatter ceased as the other fell silent, honing in. With glowing amber eyes, Tikal suddenly gasped as if a bucket of cold water had been flung on her, and pointed at a wall above them, "Look!"

Just as Tikal foresaw, the wall, a spot about one hundred feet above them broke, bearing a small hedgehog being tailed by a Flying Dog. Everyone was more than sure that the machine was a flying assault mech, but what was it after? From where they all stood, the mech was easily visible, but the yellow blot that it was chasing was inaccessible.

But when they heard a scream, most doubt was eliminated. Tails squinted his eyes, "What is that?"

"Hold on," Scythe replied.

He took a step closer and glared hard at the Flying Mech. To the untrained eye, a person would think that black hedgehog was merely glaring, but someone with sharper eyes, such as Shadow or Sonic, would notice that he was adjusting his eyes, as his irises were being stained with ebony.

And the modification did for Scythe as a telescope did for a stargazer; with a perfect viewing window, Scythe was able to see that the Flying Dog was pursing a familiar yellow hedgehog who held an unconscious rabbit.

"…You've gotta be--" Scythe began in a monotone voice.

"What is it?" Tails asked.

"It's that girl!" Scythe hissed, springing into action, "Daisy, and she has the annoying rabbit!"

A roar of upset broke through the crowd as the heroes stepped into action; Tails and Tikal took to the air and Sonic, Shadow, Amy, and Knuckles broke into a mad dash. Because the black and silver hedgehog had spotted the girl first, he had ten steps over everyone. He halted progress as he glared up at the wall, trying to figure out how to reach the yellow hedgehog above him.

Seconds later, Shadow and Sonic skid to a halt beside him. Sonic blinked up, watching the flying mech as Tails and Tikal flew above overhead, "…How are we going to reach them?"

Amy and Knuckles stopped beside Shadow who looked at Sonic, "I have an idea, we can--"

He paused mid-sentence as Scythe, actually leapt through the air, dug his claws in, and began to scale the wall as if it were a fence. Shadow raised both eyebrows as Sonic and Amy shared shock with gaping mouths, Knuckled blinked. Sonic turned to look at Shadow, "…Holy cow! …Is he freakin' climbing the wall!?"

"…I was going to suggest we use Chaos Control," Shadow replied.

"Okay," Amy replied, "For those of us who can't do that, then let's Chaos Control."

Sonic looked at the green emerald in his palms, as it began to radiate with power, "Chaos Control! Locate: Cream!"

"Oof!" Daisy collapsed, barely avoiding a barrage of bullets from the Flying Dog. She looked up at the Flying Dog, ignoring the choppy bangs that obscured her view. The flying mech had landed a couple of feet in front of her, and Cream, who had rolled out of her arms, was lying behind her.

The mech marched past the fallen hedgehog, appearing as if it had never seen her. With each heavy clank, the Flying Dog slowly approached Cream. Daisy watched in a silent terror, with her mouth frozen in a scream. The helpless kindergartener was going to be killed, and it would be all her fault. Ever since Rouge was put in that machine, it was her duty to watch over Cream. And now, not even thirty minutes later, it seemed that Cream was going to be killed.

Then, something sparked behind those warm, caramel eyes as Daisy sprung out before the mech, screaming, "Cream!"

The Flying Dog halted as a small hedgehog skid into view. It ran twelve different analysis scans over the young girl within two and a half seconds. And after finding out her height, weight, and blood type, the Flying Dog also found out that she was perfectly harmless.

Just as the mech had finished running the last of its tests, a hand reached up and grabbed onto a nearby railing. By pulling himself up, the hedgehog revealed himself to be Scythe. As he grimaced, pulling himself up on the railing in the manner one executed a pull-up, Scythe caught a glimpse of an angry Daisy glaring at a mech three times her height.

"Move you idiot! Move!" he screamed.

The mech none too gently removed the girl from his path with a blow to the face. And with the sight of Daisy being toppled over like empty tin cans, Scythe was revved up and trying to scramble his way over the rail. At the thought of being pushed aside, at first Daisy looked shocked, then her face contorted into anger. With a snort reminiscent of a bull, Daisy rose to her feet and appeared before the mech again.

She stared at it defiantly, "…I'm not gonna let you hurt her anymore! If you want Cream, you're gonna have to get past me!"

Scythe growled as he slipped on the rail, "Dammit! Why does everyone choose today to be stupid!?"

Daisy squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her hands together as if praying. Scythe watched in horror as the mech placed one of its large cannon's point-blank into Daisy's face; but how could she know that? The girl had her eyes closed! Scythe almost emitted a squeak as he saw the cannon beginning to radiate with a golden glow. But then, he realized that the yellow light was coming from the small, praying hedgehog.

"Please," Daisy began, the yellow orb of light beginning to grow, "I'm not strong, but I need power to protect my friend!"

The Flying Dog's arm cannon began to glow green, Scythe screamed multiple commands amd even curses, at the yellow hedgehog who was soon engulfed in a green light.The assault mech released a green ray beam, covering Daisy completely. Scythe stared at the scene wide-eyed and wordlessly.

Once the green light disappeared, the bright yellow light appeared again. It seemed as if a yellow protective force field had been made. Finally, Daisy opened her eyes, staring straight at the mech. She raised both of her palms to the sky and closed her eyes, "I summon…Sunshine Borealis!"

Strong, golden beams rained from the sky, as Daisy waited, feeling the warm power flow through her. The mech was swarmed with glowing rays, and burst into flames. The Sunshine Borealis had created a shield to defend both Daisy and Cream, but the draft from the explosion knocked her off of the platform and over the rail.

Scythe watched Daisy fall and grabbed her by the wrist before she plummeted any further. Daisy opened her eyes to look at Scythe, "…Scythe? …Oh! Where's Cream?"

"We got her! Or, um, I got her."

Both hedgehogs looked to Sonic who was hanging on a rail beside them. He touched Scythe'd head, just as the Chaos Emerald began to glow, "Chaos Control! Locate: Amy!" In a matter of seconds the three hedgehogs were beside Amy who was holding Cream. Daisy looked over at Cream happily, "Oh, you're safe! I'm so glad!"

"All thanks to you!" Amy smiled at the smaller hedgehog, "I saw the whole thing! You were great!"

"Really I destroyed that thing by myself?" Daisy asked happily, "You guys didn't help?"

Knuckles chuckled, "...What are you talking about? That was all your doing. When we saw you destroy the mech, we got the hell outta there!"

Tails nodded his head, "Yup, yup!"

"…Not bad at all," Scythe replied, his hostile gaze dying.

"Really?" Daisy returned his gaze.

Before the two of them could have a moment, Shadow stepped in, looking none too happy, "…Why are you two here?"

He motioned to Cream and Daisy. Sonic stepped by the dark hedgehog's side, looking slightly skeptical.

"Yeah, what gives," Sonic asked lightly, "You guys look more war-worn then we do."

"Holy cow!" Tails cried, " We left you guys at the workshop!"

"...Yes, yes we did," Knuckles replied, looking at Tails skeptically, "...Aren't you supposed to be the genius?"

Daisy shook her head and her face dropped, "Oh…It's terrible…It stared when you guys left…Eggman held us hostage…He kidnapped Cream and shot me in the stomach. If we didn't go with him, he said he'd kill Cream."

Something violent flared behind Scythe's eyes, "He did what to you?"

Shadow's normal mean scowl disappeared abruptly, he looked at Daisy with uncharacteristically anxious eyes, "….Where's Rouge?"

"Right here," a cool, feminine voice replied.

The group turned to look ahead of themselves. Idling in the middle of a fleet of drones and Flying Dogs was Eggman, looking perfectly happy with the situation before him. But standing at his side with her hand interlocked in his was Rouge.

She was adorned in a black leather form-fitting, high-collared trench coat that flared out around her legs like a dress. Her normal sky-blue eye shadow was replaced with a smoky, gray powder, and her eyes were lined with a thick, gothic-looking liner. And her normal sparkling, blue eyes were a cool, foggy gray.

She was staring dead at the ebony and crimson hedgehog with a malicious smirk, "…Hello baby."

To be continued!

Chapter Twenty five Theme: "Sing for the moment"- Aerosmith