I was in pain. Why, I didn't know. It felt like I was going to throw up I felt so bad. I shivered violently, another cold flash coming on. This had been going on for hours. Why was I here, how did I get here? I shivered as I wrapped my filth-covered blanket, in vain to try and get warm.
As I chewed my lip from the cold, I opened my mouth to speak. But when I did, my voice didn't come out, Shadow's did.
"I hope that girl made it out alright." I said, or did Shadow say it?
I then realized that I didn't want to say anything. Someone was controlling me. I didn't try to fight it, I was far too sick to even try.
"SHADOW!"
I looked up to the bars to see the doctor, and for some reason, I was scared.
"I'm taking you somewhere." The doctor growled.
He opened the door and grabbed me by the wrist.
"Get your things!" Eggman yelled.
I reached down and found Shadow's belongings. I put on his gloves and sneakers in a hurry as I could see the doctor wasn't going to wait around for long.
"Hurry up!" He snapped.
"I'm going as fast as I can." I whimpered.
"Then go faster!"
I put everything on as fast as I could. When I was done, the doctor grabbed my wrist and started dragging me, as to where, I didn't know. After about ten minutes of walking, we entered an elevator but he still wouldn't let go. By this time I understood what was going on: I was now in Shadow's body but he had full control, I was in his MIND! However, it was like we were one mind, it didn't even feel like I was in another body. It was very strange.
When we exited the elevator, I could see a capsule in front of me, the same capsule that Rouge had found Shadow in, in Sonic Heroes. That was when I realized what was happening: I was going to be put into the capsule! I then thought as loudly as I could, hoping Shadow could hear it.
'If you go into that thing, you may never be found!'
'What was that?' I heard Shadow ask in his head.
'You must get out of here!' I thought. 'You go in there and you might have to learn about your past all over again!'
'Who are you?' Shadow thought.
'A friend.' I thought it was the first thing that came to mind. 'Fight the doctor, bite him, kick, punch, do something to get help!'
'I can't, I'm not strong enough.' He thought back.
'Then let me take over.' I thought.
'What?'
'Listen, I don't have time to explain, just relax, and I'll take care of the rest.'
A pause.
'Okay.'
'Good, now just relax.'
Shadow did as he was told and I took over. I felt the health from my own body come flying from out of nowhere. I smirked at what I had in mind.
"Oh, doctor." I said, still having Shadow's voice.
"What is it?" He barked.
"Here's an update: I'm NOT going in that thing!" I snapped.
Before I could give the doctor even a second, I jumped up and kicked him in his over grown belly. He grunted in pain and fell back. Right after the kick, I had taken off in a flash. I ran as fast as I could when I was a human. I may have been fast but I wasn't the fastest in my class. Most, of the guys were faster then me because they played football, not my best event.
However, as I ran, I could feel myself slowly begin to rise into the air. Shadow's sneakers were starting to activate. I struggled to keep myself balanced as I ran. This was like trying to skate but never touching the ground it was a struggle not to trip.
'Shadow, how do you control these things?' I thought to myself.
'It's easy for me.'
I nearly tripped at his voice in my head. I had forgotten that this was HIS body. I had to be careful, one wrong move and we'd BOTH be in pain. I still ran but I took it a little slow. After a few minutes, I had found my way into the air-vents. I panted a little, trying to catch my breath.
'You okay?' Shadow asked.
'Yeah, just a bit winded, I'm not used to running for this long.' I answered.
'I want to thank you, for helping me.'
'Don't thank me just yet, we're not out of the woods yet.'
'What do you mean?'
'I've still got to get you out of here.'
'Maybe I could take over.'
'No, you do that and we'll both be in pain, I could feel as much of that illness that you had back at the cell. It won't help.'
'I've still got to try.'
'…Okay, but if you're still sick, I'm taking over again.'
'Okay.'
I relaxed, trying to let myself return to my mind. It worked. Shadow was still very sick but he was still able to run and fight.
Soon, Shadow was running through the vents at high speed, both climbing and sliding down them at times. After a few minutes we were finally out.
'Now where are we?' I thought.
'I'm not sure.'
Shadow looked around, trying to find our location. But just when he started looking around, a quick pain hit his shoulder, but for some reason, even though it was small, it hurt a lot worse then it should have. Shadow wanted to let out a cry of pain but I held it back. I looked and saw a dart implanted in Shadow's shoulder. I suddenly began to feel very drowsy. It was a tranquilizer dart.
Shadow reached to pull it out but when he did, the effects had already begun. Shadow's body swayed left and right and he finally fell unconscious, taking me with him.
---
Eggman stood over the fallen hedgehog, the dart gun in his hand. How in the world Shadow got that sudden burst of energy was beyond him. Two egg pawns walked up, grabbed Shadow by the arms, and awaited further instructions.
"Take him to the capsule until further notice." Eggman ordered.
The two robots walked off, carrying the hedgehog, leaving Eggman pondering as to how he suddenly got well so fast.
---
I sighed. I was awake but my eyes weren't opened yet, I as awake in my mind I was laid on a couch. I knew all of it had been a dream, a big beautiful dream. I was still at home, asleep on the couch in the basement. It was all a dream. I wasn't kidnapped. I was still at home, alone. Just when I was about to open my eyes, an aroma filled the air.
Pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast, waffles, bacon, and…wait…chilidogs? Who had chilidogs with breakfast? The only guy I knew who had chilidogs with breakfast was…Sonic.
I knew I had to wake up! I squeezed my eyes slightly and opened them. That was when I took in my surroundings. I was in a family room that I didn't recognize at all in the least, completely made out of wood, with a few green couches and a TV. It took me second but I finally recognized it: it was the Hedgehog family's family room.
I sniffed the air again. The smell of breakfast was stronger then before. I followed my nose a little ways to a doorway. I peeked in and saw the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a blue robotic hedgehog sitting at a table, reading a newspaper. At the stove was an adult female hedgehog in a purple dress making breakfast.
'Sonic's mom and dad!' I thought.
Jules, Sonic's father and the robotic hedgehog, looked up from his newspaper, he saw me in an instant.
"Hello, you must be the girl Sonic was telling us about last night." He said.
"Yes…that's me." I said, slightly nervous.
"Come in, won't you join us for breakfast?" Jules asked.
"Yes, and thank you." I said as politely as I could.
I took a seat across from Jules, who went back to his paper. I looked to he stove. Bernadette, Sonic's mother, was flipping a pancake, humming to herself. I looked back down the hall where the bedrooms where. I could hear a nearly silent snoring coming from one of them. Sonic was still fast asleep.
I wasn't too sure about his age because in some series, he was fourteen, my age, fifteen, sixteen, or eighteen. I couldn't tell here.
"Jules, could you wake Sonic up? I'm making his favorite." Bernadette said. "Eggs and chilidogs."
There was a loud shout from Sonic's bedroom.
"EGGS AND CHILIDOGS!"
In a second, a flash of blue going at super speed came from that room and sat in the chair right next to me.
"Good morning, Sonic." Bernadette said.
"Morning Mom, what's for breakfast?" Sonic asked.
I could tell he was being a jokester.
"Eggs and chilidogs, your favorite."
"YES!"
I thought I might go deaf from that one. As Bernadette placed Sonic's plate in front of him, she turned to me.
"So, you're Shelby?" She asked.
"Yes ma'am." I said.
"Well, I'd like to get some rules down, think you can handle it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Now, you and Sonic both have a curfew of eleven o'clock PM unless there's an emergency or an important meeting. No smoking or drinking in this house and finally no swearing unless there's an extreme emergency. Think you can handle that?"
"I can, I don't smoke, drink or cuss anyways." I said.
"That'll do just fine." Bernadette said with a smile. "However, if you break these rules, I'll have you doing some dirty chores."
"Such as?" I asked.
"Cleaning Sonic's room for starters."
Just like my home, except you'd have to clean my little brother's room, I'd rather search for landmines then clean that pigpen.
"I resent that!"
I looked to the hedgehog in question. It was clear Sonic wasn't pleased with what his mother just said.
"There's something alive under that bed of yours and I wanna know what!" Bernadette said jokingly.
"C'mon Mom, there's nothing alive under there, a few old socks and such but nothing alive." Sonic said.
"Then why do I see a tentacle coming from YOUR room, Sonic?" I added on.
"What?" Sonic asked, looking.
"Gotcha." I laughed.
Everyone got a good laugh from that one. After a few minutes, Sonic was the first one done.
"Gotta go. Sal said she wanted to talk to me after breakfast." He said and was off in a flash, leaving a gust of wind behind.
'Now I know how Sonia feels.' I thought, fixing my spines.
"That son of mine." Bernadette sighed. "Listen, Shelby, since you're new in town, I figured I'd take you clothes shopping, you'll need more then one pair of clothes for your stay. How about we go shopping after breakfast?"
I nodded. I knew it would take the Brain Trust a few days to get me back home and I couldn't wear the same clothes for very long. I was against shopping for the most part the long part I actually liked about it was looking at the jewelry. I finished my breakfast and went to help Bernadette with the dishes.
"Now, now, there's no need for that." Bernadette said, snatching away the plate in my hands. "You're our guest, don't fuss about it."
I let her do what she wanted, so I waited at the table for her. She finished quickly and grabbed her purse.
"Come on then." She said, waiting by the door.
Bernadette knew Knothole better then I did, so I followed a few steps behind. As we went, the stares continued.
"Bernadette, they're all staring." I said through my teeth.
"Don't worry, it's only because you're new." She said.
I was willing to believe her, she was Sonic's mother after all. Well, one of them anyway. Bernadette was his mothering the Archie comics but Queen Aleena was his mother in Sonic Underground. I wasn't sure about the other series though.
"Something on your mind, dear?" Bernadette asked.
"Just thinking." I said.
"About what?"
"Oh…nothing." I said, looking away.
"Well, there's the store up ahead, come on then."
I looked ahead to see a larger hut and people going in and out the doors.
"This is the shopping center, we'll get you your clothes here." Bernadette said.
"Alright, but only one outfit, I'm not all that fond of taking too long in a stone." I said.
"AH! STOP IT!" A familiar voice cried.
"That was Tails!" I said.
"Oh dear, not again." Bernadette said.
"Don't tell me, he's being bullied." I said.
"I'm afraid so." Bernadette said.
"I'll be right back." I said, running in the direction of Tails' cry.
"Where are you going?" She called.
"To help Tails!" I called back.
I didn't stop running until I finally saw Tails. Sure enough a group of older teenage mobians were holding a small machine out of his reach. I knew Tails had been teased and made fun of before but not this time.
"Hey, leave the kid alone!" I snapped, walking up to them.
"Stay out of the way, girl, we're doing business." One of them, a bear, said.
"Sorry, but I don't like jerks like you picking on those smaller then themselves." I growled.
"You want us to teach you a lesson too?' A panther asked.
"I'd like to see you try." I said.
"Okay then." A hawk said. He seemed to be the leader.
The hawk charged me head on, obviously trying to use his talons. However, I used my brains. Instead of letting him attack me, I timed myself just right until…
"You're dog meat!" The hawk yelled.
That's what he thought. I used one of my most simple moves: a 'sidestep'. The hawk ended up running straight into a wall.
"Next?" I asked.
The bear went next. He grabbed me by the shoulder of my shirt, too simple. I went under his arm and simply slipped free. The bear was too dumbfounded to notice when I tripped him.
"You really wanna try?" I asked the panther.
He charged me extremely fast, a little too fast, for him anyways. Because I simply leaned bent my right knee fairly far, leaving my left leg out, a perfect tripwire. The panther, unable to stop, tripped and was sent head first into the dirt.
"Are you quite done?" I asked.
They glared at me hard.
"Let's get out of here." The hawk growled.
As they walked off I called after them,
"And if you ever come near Tails again, I'll actually put some effort into it!"
"Wow Shelby, that was amazing! You got all three of them down without even taking hands from behind your back!" Tails exclaimed but it was true, I hadn't taken them from behind my back.
"Well, a legend from my world about martial artists says that the best of the best don't even have to use a single move." I said, placing my hand on his head.
"But how's that possible?" Tails asked.
"That means they use their opponents strength against them, they'll grab them by a point in their body and twist or turn it a certain way that it's not suppose to, they use their opponents strength against them." I explained.
"Cool!" Tails said.
"Yeah, now run along." I said, pushing him slightly.
"Okay, Aunt Shelby." Tails said.
My ears nearly jumped off my head at that! Had he just called me 'Aunt Shelby'?
"Tails, what did you just call me?" I asked.
"Aunt Shelby, you DID help me after all." Tails said. "I mean, if it's okay."
"It's okay, sweetie." I said, rubbing his head.
"Okay, see ya 'round!" He said, running off.
As he ran, I couldn't help but smile. My heart felt like it was flying from what Tails called me.
"If saving my lil' bro from bullies is the best you can do, then you've got me convinced."
I turned around to see Sonic, leaning on a wall with his smirk.
"Hey Sonic." I said.
"Hey, really did good there, you didn't even touch them with your hands, that's something to be admired." Sonic said, walking up.
"Sonic, you're gonna make me blush." I said, embarrassed.
"Sorry 'bout that." Sonic said. "You coming to the party tonight?"
"Party? What party?" I asked.
"You mean those games don't tell ya?" Sonic asked.
"Uh, Sonic, this world seems to be more around the comic book series, and those only show the most important stuff." I said shyly.
"Whatever, point is, almost every night we have a sort of party to keep everyone's hopes for freedom high." Sonic said. "So you comin' or what?"
"Of course." I said.
"Cool, starts around six, I'll see ya there." Sonic smiled.
"Okay. Oh man, I left your mom at the store, I'll catch up to you later." I said.
"Only if you can run at super sonic speed can you catch me!" He called after me.
"You know what I mean." I called back.
---
Sonic smiled as he watched her go. She had such a strange spirit.
'Mental note:' He thought. 'Learn more about Shelby.'
---
I sighed heavily as Bernadette was looking at another pink tube top. I had told her I just wanted ONE outfit, but she insisted on getting me five outfits. I wasn't going to stay that long, was I? She was just as stubborn as her son, Sonic. I looked at the clothes she had already put into the grocery cart.
I hadn't even allowed her to put a dress or skirt in it. I wasn't the kind of girl who wears those. The closest thing I allowed to either was a skort, a skirt with shorts under it.
So far inside the cart was a green skort, a green t-shirt with Robotnik's face on it with a slash on it, obviously meaning 'No Eggman allowed'. A sky blue t-shirt wirth a star on it and Sonic's face in the middle, blue jean shorts.
"How about this?" Bernadette asked.
I looked from the t-shirt I was looking at to what Bernadette was holing. It was the most sparkly, pink dress I had ever seen. I was NOT going to wear that!
"Uh no thank you." I said, worried. "Pink isn't my color."
"But you'd look so pretty in it." Bernadette said.
"No, I don't really think I could." I said, taking a step back.
'Who do I look like? Nacy Drew?' I thought.
"Just try it on." Bernadette said.
I sighed. I knew she wasn't going to give up.
"Fine, but just because I'm trying it on doesn't mean we're buying it." I said, walking back to the fitting room.
One quick wardrobe change later, I was standing in front of Bernadette, wearing the dress.
"Oh, you look SO pretty." She said.
"Listen, Bernadette, I don't mean to sound rude or anything but dresses just aren't my thing. Can't we get something, other then a dress?" I asked.
"Of course, I can see you have some tomb boy in you." She said.
"Yeah, a little." I admitted.
I changed back into my clothes, glad to have the dress off of me. Bernadette pulled me back into the girl's department, and looked again.
After that, she was now carrying a silver blue tank top and matching cargo pants. There was also a royal purple t-shirt and sunset purple jeans. I was allowed to pick the last outfit.
I strayed away from Bernadette a ways until I was bored out of my mind. I wasn't into looking at clothes at all. After a few minutes, I thought I might have to have Bernadette when my eyes spotted a t-shirt that I nearly missed.
It was white with royal blue short sleeves and a royal blue heart in the middle. I liked it. I picked out a pair of jeans to go with it. I showed Bernadette the clothes and we went to but buy them.
As we left, my mind ran a stray. It was about that strange dream I had last night. Shadow and me switching places and having control over the same mind, freaky. But then I wondered: what if it was more then a dream?
I cast my gaze to a near by tree. I could see Shadow sitting in it, mumbling something. I cocked an eyebrow, wondering what in the world he could be doing.