Rivalry of the Heart
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Pairing(s): Sonic x Chris, Shadow x Chris
Summary: What if it wasn't Sonic who fell in Chris' pool, but instead... Shadow? And what if Chris had a special connection with the Chaos Emeralds? Eggman isn't going to like this...Or is he..?
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Chapter 4;
Stolen Brownie
Points
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The sun beamed down hotly around them, but the breeze made by the rushing wind around them that freely hit them thanks to the topless, and sleek, car kept them at a reasonable temperature. The desert around them was very plain, boring both Shadow and Sonic. It didn't help that they both could of been to their, or at least the blue anthro's, destination by now, if Chuck didn't insist on coming along.
"This thing is going so slow! Geez..." Sonic finally announced, arms crossed as he sat in the back seat next to Shadow. Though the black hedgehog agreed, he remained silent. No way was he going to insult anyone close to Chris. He wasn't stupid like Sonic.
Turning to look back at the irritated hedgehog, Chuck happily smiled as he spoke in a just as carefree tone, "Oh come on!" From the front of the car, Chris suddenly stopped his endless searching that he had started though half the drive, sitting up straight as he held a device neither anthro could see.
"Is this it?" he asked, holding out so only his grandfather could see.
"Oh, yes, yes!"
Happy with the affirmative, Chris twisted in his seat to hand the device to Sonic, beaming just as happily as the old man, but a lot more cutely so. Seeing the confused look on Sonic's face once the device at hand was... well, in hand, Chris continued to smile as he pointed to his head as he instructed, "Put it on."
"What is it?" Sonic questioned, keeping his eyes trained on the redhead. 'He's so cute smiling!'
"An infrared scope," spoke Chuck, not even bothering to keep his eyes on the empty road. "Most likely, in Area 99 there will be plenty of traps," the old man began to explain, "But if you use that, you should be able to avoid them."
Without saying anything else, Sonic quickly understood. As he placed it onto his face, it covered his right ear and eye, making it so half of his vision was now in pink. Ignoring that, the blue furred anthro gave Chuck and Chris two thumbs up, before calmly turning his attention to unbuckling the seatbelt Chris had forced him to wear. Once off, Sonic easily jumped out of the car, over Shadow's head, and landed onto the road next to the stylish car, running right next to Chris. Looking towards the two, he called out a polite, "Thank you!"
"Be careful, okay?" Chris reminded, looking worried once more, smile forgotten.
"I will," Sonic winked, "Well, I'm going ahead!" With that, the hedgehog kicked up the speed, dashing faster and out of distance before anything else could be said, a trail of dust the only thing left of their furry friend.
An amazed "aah" came from Chris at the sudden speed, while his grandfather gave a soft, "He's so fast...!" Beaming again, amazement pushed aside, Chuck yelled, "ALL RIGHT!" stepping on the pedal with renewed excitement, speeding so fast that Chris was forced to sit INTO his seat, instead of on it.
'Show off...' Shadow grumbled silently, glaring after the other. What the two in the front seat didn't know, was that while Sonic jumped over him, he had also purposely whacked the black hedgehog with his foot. But even pissed off, Shadow let an evil grin twist his lips as he thought, 'If that's your way of a challenge, you'll be extremely sorry.'
--
"Can you hear me, Sonic?"
Chris' voice rang like silver bells in Sonic's right ear, making the hedgehog feel on top of the world. He had been running for just a few minutes and already missed the boy by his side. It was a real treat.
Remembering Chris had asked a question, Sonic quickly responded, "Yeah!" before he worried his little redhead any more then he already did.
"When you get in, head of the air vents," Chris instructed. "From there, you should be able to pass security." There was a slight pause, before Chris ended, "Got it?"
"All right!"
"But do you know where they're locked up?" came a faint question from Chris, most likely directed to Chuck, instead of Sonic.
"Of course!" Chuck announced loudly, taking away the device from Chris so he could talk into it, without needing to yell over the car motor or rushing wind, "Head for a suspicious place, and if you go there you should be able to find our objective."
"No way!" an even fainter Chris spoke in disbelief, "How irresponsible!"
"Oh well, I'll take care of that!" Sonic shouted into his own device, hoping the redhead could still hear him as well. It upset the blue hedgehog a little to know he was unable to listen to Chris' soothing voice now that Chuck had taken control, but it was fun while it lasted.
Increasing his speed once more, Sonic dashed quickly towards the tall fence of Area 99, jumping over it with ease and speeding so quickly that the cameras were unable to get a shot of him. Still, even despite his speed, a warning sound could be heard, chiming "Intruder detected." Smirking proudly at his handy work, Sonic continued to run without faltering, spotting the said air vents Chris had spoken of. Without slowing down, Sonic made a mad dive for it, easily slipping in.
"I'm in the air vents!" Sonic announced as he slid down bellow, deeper into the building.
"Roger!" Chris' voice sung through again, telling Sonic that his redhead had gained the device back once more. 'Oh joy!' Sonic thought happily.
But Sonic's inner cheer was cut to a halt as the slide down ended abruptly, rump crashing down on the metal, that made the air vent, harshly. Rubbing his butt and spiky tail, the blue hedgehog mumbled, "I managed to get pretty close..." Ignoring his sore rump, Sonic turned his attention back to the mission, talking to himself as he said, "Well, now, lets see..."
With the pink vision, Sonic was able to see the millions of red lasers that would activate the real alarm at the slightest touch. There was NO way he'd be able to squeeze though those without blowing his cover! Speaking these thoughts without knowing, Chris' voice questioned, "What did you just say?"
Looking around for another way out, Sonic gave a short, "Nothing."
--
"Will he be okay..?" Chris spoke silently to himself, sitting up from his seat as Chuck pulled the car to a stop, looking over Area 99 from a high cliff.
Seeing his chance, Shadow finally spoke, "Don't worry about him. He's stubborn, so whatever happens, he'll make it out of there alive... And with such a place like this, he'll come out without even a scratch."
Turning to look at the black hedgehog, Chris gave him a warm smile, a small pink blush showing on his cheeks. "Thank you, Shadow."
Such a look made even Shadow blush, mouth open agape in total awe. Never had a human looked at him in such a way... Well, not that he could remember anyways. And to be given such a sight by none other then Chris himself?
Smiling shyly, looking sideways at the car door next to him, Shadow gave a calm, uninterested, "Its nothing. Only stating a fact, that's all."
"Still, Shadow," the redhead giggled, moving from his seat so he could sit back with the black hedgehog. Once there, Chris engulfed the anthro in a even warmer hug, whispering into one of the pointed ears, "Its really kind of you, to even bother to reassure me. So, thank you very much."
"Y-you're welcome..." Shadow murmured, thanking whoever could read his mind that he had fur to cover the deep blush now on his cheeks. If this kept up, he might even get a bloody nose! But letting the perverted thoughts die, Shadow rose his own arms to embrace Chris in a hug of his own, finishing his earlier stuttered words with a calm, "...Chris."
--
Just as Sonic finally reached his destination, he was hit with another problem. How in the world was he going to get in there without being noticed!
Luckily for him, he didn't have to take too long to figure out a plan. The lights died without warning, alarming the men in white suits as they panicked and wondered what had caused the black out, completely forgetting the bunny anthro and her chao friend. Taking this as his chance, Sonic snuck in without trouble, making his way towards Cream and Cheese.
Smashing the glass to free the two, Sonic quickly grabbed them and hid, listening as the men panicked even more at the noise, calling, "What was that!"
"Soni--!" Cream cried happily, but cut off quickly as Sonic made a harsh, "shh!"
But the effort was lost to Cheese, who happily cued in its own language, jumping up to wrap its little arms around Sonic's neck as it rubbed it's baby blue face up against the blue anthro's own. Despite the seriousness and need to quickly flee from the place, Sonic couldn't help but smile at the little chaos antics. That is until another man's voice shouted at the noise.
"Who's there!"
"Lets run," Sonic whispered to Cream, handing her her little friend as he did.
"Hai!" she nodded obediently, excepting her friend and the hand that Sonic used to drag her into a run; no where near as fast as he usually went, but enough to keep the two out of danger from those scientists.
Running down the now dark hallway, Cream finally felt it safe to talk with no one else near.
"Did you do this, Sonic-san?" she questioned with a smile, happy to be with a friend again.
"Nope, it wasn't me," Sonic responded truthfully, smiling despite it, "I can't do that much."
Giggling breathlessly, from the run, Cream spoke, "I think that maybe you have something that brings good luck."
"Oh ya?"
Just to spite them, though, the lights, including the power to Area 99, shot back alive, the sudden surprise stopping the two in their tracks. Especially when those cameras that were now trained on them.
'This might be trouble...'
"Maybe... Sorry, I must have done something-" Cream started, feeling suddenly guilty for their sudden predicament.
"You have nothing to do with it," Sonic reassured in a calming voice, but refused to turn his green eyes away from the problem at hand. Which was a good thing, for if he had, he might of missed it as the camera's opened up a secret compartment that held an odd looking device within. Recognizing that certain device, thanks to countless encounters with Eggman, Sonic hissed out, "Shit! Lets go!"
"Okay," Cream got out, before Sonic dragged her along once more.
Good thing, too, for if they had waited another minute, one of those white light laser raises would of hit the two easily. But Sonic paid little attention to that, keeping his full focus on getting the hell out of this building, alive, with Cream and Cheese in toe.
--
Outside of Area 99, from on top of the cliff, Chris turned his attention away from Shadow as soon as the alarms had blared though the air, reaching their own ears clearly. Worry etched its way a crossed Chris' features again at this, pulling the device to contact Sonic on quickly.
"Sonic! What happened?" Chris called through the mouth piece, hoping the anthro could still hear his voice, "Are you all right?" 'Please be all right...' he silently prayed.
"Don't mind me!" Sonic's voice rang through, along with faint sounds of lasers firing in the background. "Run!" he spoke to someone else, most likely the girl they were there to save in the first place.
Turning a concerned glance over to Shadow, the black hedgehog gave him a warm smile, nodding in reassurance. "He'll be fine," he repeated once more, glad to know his words were enough for the redhead.
Smiling cutely back, still slightly worried, but reasonably so, Chris nodded. "Un!"
--
After destroying a few cameras and climbing the stairs with only a slight accident of almost loosing Cream and Cheese, the three were now safe on a blue plane, one driven by another anthro; one with two tails.
"Yo!" Sonic called in greeting, ignoring the fact that they were laying helplessly on the plane's wing.
"Hii!" the little fox chirped back, one hand raised in a semi-wave.
"I see! It was you!" Cream announced happily, smiling over at the second youngest of their group.
Winking at the youth, the fox spoke, "Hold on tight and try not to fall!"
Flying over Chuck's car, three pair of eyes were trained on the blue plane. Chris gave a laugh, happy everything had worked out fine. Just as Shadow had told him. Turning to give Shadow an appreciative glance, his grandfather spoke up, cutting off anything Chris had planned to tell the other anthro.
"Well then, shall we get going?"
"MmHmm," Chris nodded, sitting back down in his seat, but this time next to Shadow. It felt... like the right thing to do. And Shadow made no noise of complaint.
--
Back in Chuck's garage, the same blue plane lay innocently in the parking lot, just outside. Inside, Chris was finally able to meet Sonic's three companions and friends. For some odd reason, Chris had a feeling of deja vu. What was it about seeing the two remind him of a fox and bunny sharing flowers? Weird...
"I'm Chris," the redhead shook off his train of thought, focusing on greeting Sonic's friends properly now that they weren't in the cross of danger. "I only made friends with Sonic yesterday."
"I'm Tails," the two tailed fox announced with a carefree smile, "I'm always together with Sonic. Right, Sonic?" Tails looked towards Sonic at that, waiting for a confirmation.
"I guess," Sonic responded without a care, looking smug. 'Damn,' he thought inwardly, 'He makes it sound... like we're more then just friends.'
"I'm Cream," the bunny spoke sweetly, before introducing her little companion, "And this is my friend, Cheese." Together, the two bowed respectfully as the chimed, "Please to meet you!"
"Me, too!" Chris breathed, bowing along with them, "Nice to meet you. We're going to be great friends." Looking over their heads, Chris announced, "And this is my grandpa."
"Incredible," whispered Chuck in amazement, holding a small paper-styled-plane, "I never saw such a remote-controlled airplane."
Turning around to face the old man, Tails finally showed some pride as he tried to shrug off the complement. "Those are nothing special," the fox spoke, both tails wagging happily.
"But..." Chris spoke, his earlier concern for Sonic's safety coming back to him as he glanced at the said hedgehog. Seeing how calm and smug he looked, the redhead couldn't help but snap, "That was really dumb!"
Shadow smirked evilly at this, as Sonic opened his half lidded eyes to glance over at Chris in slight confusion, but keeping on an uncaring air.
"They're the army, you know!" Chris continued to lecture, "It could start a war..."
'Why's he worried about that..?' Sonic wondered, before facing Chris with another smug look. "If that happens, it'll work out fine," the blue anthro reassured without a care in the world.
"That's not the problem I was talking about," Chris huffed.
"Oh?" Sonic responded, shrugging.
"Are you listening?" Chris slightly whined, feeling upset for being shrugged off so easily. "It was so dangerous for me..." the redhead tried to reason, but still received no response. Sighing, he continued, "Because you said it was so dangerous... Its a good thing everything went all right, but... Are you listening? Sonic! Sonic!"
By the time Chuck and Tails had finished their own conversation, one that only Cream and Cheese kept an ear on, Chris had puffed up his cheeks in frustration with the blue furred hedgehog. He was completely ignoring the redhead, and smiling the whole time! The jerk!
"Geez..." Chris huffed, turning away from Sonic in defeat, but irritation still obvious.
'Shit!' Shadow growled silently, glaring at the blue hedgehog as he let out a confident "heh," arrogantly sticking his pinky finger to scratch the inside of his ear. 'I may of gotten Chris' respect, but he knows exactly how to get Chris' attention. That no good--!'
"Hey, Sonic..." Tails suddenly spoke, winning the attention of everyone in the room, "You, me, Cream, and Cheese all got caught in that accident, which means... Maybe others were also sent into this world?"
"Other people who were there were..." Sonic spoke aloud in thought, hand raised under his chin, "Knuckles, Amy, and..."
Suddenly, a reminder of the old madman flashed through his mind, along with a Chaos Emerald, which had also been the culprit to the reason they were all there in the first place. And not only did the image flash in Sonic's mind, but in Cream and Tails', as well. Even Shadow thought of the possibilities, but remained silent as the three all cried, "Dr. Eggman!"
--
Somewhere on a small, unimportant island, a tall tower now stood, a robot floating above it to keep watch for any enemies or possible danger. Within the tower, a large round man sat, along with two other robots; one tall and skinny, the other short and stumpy.
"Oooh," hummed the bald man in red, "With Chaos Control, we came into this world. Looks rather plain for a place to be keeping the secret weapon hidden. Oh well!" Grinning widely, he continued, "In this world I'll build my Eggman Kingdom. And soon, we'll conquer other worlds!"
Breaking out into smug laughter, Dr. Eggman started his plan in finding this... secret weapon.
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-tsuzuku-