Chapter Eight – Renewal
It took Shadow several hours to calm Sonic enough to get him to sleep, sending him on his bed, after taking his contact lenses out. He was glad to get them gone. Despite their initial comfort, they had badly irritated his eyes, causing severe bloodshot, and Shadow suspected Sonic wouldn't willingly wear them again, unless he had to. He was still mentally broken to so degree, that would never heal but at least with the conditioning he could cope, surprisingly well. Shadow was impressed, but during those hours, the Ultimate Lifeform finally worked out why Sonic committed treason. To not destroy Eggman when he had the chance, extending the fight. It was a coping mechanism. Fighting Eggman was how he dealt with Amy's bombardment on him. Without the Human, she'd have broken him. Shadow growled. She did break him, just not thankfully not to the point of suicide. Shadow had seen it in Sonic's eyes. A utter willingness to go there, just to get away from her. Thanks to Eggman, it hadn't come to that. Without him, it certainly would have.
Shadow sighed. Just how bad had she gotten before the incident? He, at the time, hadn't cared to pay attention, but he had heard she was clingy. She must have completely dominated his life, to the point, of ripping his freedom from him. Plus the threats with her hammer, Sonic obviously caved. He never heard of her hitting Sonic with it, but those threats, true or not, it didn't matter, Sonic believed them, and along with the coercive behaviour were enough to permanently crack the mighty Blue Blur. Shadow sighed. He had to get the Blue Blur back on his feet, and quickly. They couldn't defeat Project Scorpion without him. He was the only one who processed the absolutely vital knowledge needed to win.
Shadow went to his reading chair to rest for the night, only to find the Sonic curled up in a ball, flat out, fast asleep, sucking his thumb, next to it. The Blue Blur had his choice of any bed on the Ark, but he's chosen, to raid the store cupboard for pillows, make a nest on the cold, hard metal floor, curl up and sleep on it, right next to the chair where Shadow spend every night, his nose in a book. But his heart fell, as he spotted the Blue Blur shiver. How desperate was he for a friend right now? Very. To be reduced to sleeping on a cold, hard floor, just to get one.
This was wrong, as Shadow grabbed a warm blanket and wrapped up the Blue Hedgehog. Finally warm, he stopped shaking. Sonic was at a low point, and had run for a friend for comfort. He'd ran to him, not the person he should have ran for. The person, whom for years, he did run for. Tails. That was when, for the first time, Shadow truly realised just how badly Sonic had taken his abandonment by his friends, especially the Fox. He now understood why the Fox had done it. He believed, wrongly, that after the incident that Sonic was beyond healing, severely suffering and that death was his only release. He was just doing what he thought was best for the Blue Blur.
Having Sonic on the Ark, had been fun, but hard work, but Shadow was keen for him to leave. He was independent now. They bond would still remain, but the planet was where he belonged, not cooped up on a cramped space colony. The Ark was huge, but not for someone with Super-Speed. Someone who deserved the freedoms of an entire planet at his disposal. But he would need looking after. A friend. Sonic now physically couldn't cope without one, and despite his past transgressions, Shadow still couldn't think of anyone better then the Fox. Their deep brotherly bond was now gone, but he believed the Fox would devote himself to Sonic's care regardless.
Especially, if he gave a certain something back to the Fox. He still processed the money he'd given Shadow to kill Sonic. After five years, it was still untouched. Time for a refund, as he grabbed a Chaos Emerald, and after check on Sonic, whom he didn't want to leave, but he knew won't be gone long, he left for the planet, vanishing into thin air. Normally, he never did this. But technically, it was a no kill, so fair enough, but now, having gotten Sonic's name cleared, and the Mobian Authorities off his back, it was time for a little truth. Just the Fox and the Echidna. No one else. Two people, whom Shadow had witnessed, time and again, over the years, had never done anything against Sonic. Right now, he believed that Sonic, for his own good, needed them again. Though, Shadow huffed, they should have originally intervened with Amy. But how much did she hide? Potentially, all of it. They might not have known. Shadow, himself, wasn't there to see. He didn't intervene, but they weren't friends at the time, and therefore it wasn't his problem. But now Sonic was, so time to do something about it.
He landed outside of the Fox's house, and it looked awful. Shadow frowned. How badly had the Fox taken everything? Horrendously, but the looks of it. He heard voices inside. Two, the exact people he was looking for. They appeared to be alone. He smirked as he Chaos Controlled again, and landed directly in the house, with a mighty flash of light. But to his surprise, he wasn't immediately rounded upon. Knuckles had his back to him, in a darkened, battered and broken house, cuddling hard a two-tailed Fox who was crying his heart out. His arrival had not been seen. Shadow just silently stared. This whole situation felt again so wrong. But Tails just wailed.
"Knuckles, I've looked everywhere. I can't find him." He sniffed, not needing to explain who. Sonic, but Knuckles just hugged him even closer. He heaved.
"We will find him now that we know he's alive. We won't give up this time." He sighed, but Shadow interjected, breaking his silence. He smirked.
"No." He hissed, very coldly. "You shouldn't have given up in the first place." He leered, to immediately get growled. Knuckles let go of Tails, and whirled around to an immediate guard stance, the Fox trembling behind him. He growled, but Shadow just rolled his eyes. He smirked. "Back down, Echidna, I'm not here for a fight. I'm here to return this to the Fox." He added, throwing a credit stick containing all the money, every last cent, to a stunned Knuckles who only just caught it. Tails frowned, immediately snatching it of him, instantly recognising it. He checked it and his jaw dropped, it hitting the floor. He gasped.
"Wait, this is.." He stammered, but Shadow just cut across him. He sneered.
"The money you paid me to take out the Blur Blur. Well." He heaved. "No kill, no charge. Personally, I think you should use the money to do up this place. It desperately needs it." He sniggered. "Besides you have to. If you want him back. This place currently won't pass inspection." But Knuckles just stared.
"Inspection? What are you talking about?" He growled, but then the cogs began to turn as the Echidna began to finally work it out. He exploded. "Hey, what have you done with him?" He roared but Shadow just walked right up to him, the Echidna backing off slightly, the loud clink of metal of his revolvers, as he moved indicating he was armed. He hissed, very hard.
"Nothing." He growled, coldly, but then he just smirked, as a little sense of humour did show, which Shadow did have. "Well, apart from saving his life twice, healing all his horrendous burns, and regrowing brand new organs. Then the therapy, the intravenous feeding because he refused to eat, the hours of me just reading to him just to stop him from crying, and the genetic engineering I did on him just to give him the means to cope." He sniggered. "Apart from that, nothing." He added again, but then he heaved, hard. "The last five years, haven't been easy. He was completely broken, both mentally and physically. He still is, to some degree." He sighed, pointing upwards, indicating that was exactly where he was. The Ark. Shadow, all of a suddenly, felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. He'd never spoken to anyone how difficult caring for Sonic had been, and telling the Blue Blur's two closest friends was a huge relief. He didn't regret doing it. Knuckles went white but Tails just stared. Finally, he was beginning to realised the horrible truth. He spoke, his voice extremely cracked. He whimpered.
"The around the world tour? It was all lies, wasn't it?" He stammered but Shadow just growled.
"That wasn't an attack on you, Fox, but the Mobian Authorities. You don't want Sonic to have the black mark of treason on his record for the rest of his life, do you?" He smirked, but Knuckles just stared in disbelieve, at the total and utter cheek. He growled.
"Double jeopardy. You total..." He hissed, swearing hard at Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform taking it as a total complement, smirking back. But Tails gulped, quickly realising that Sonic wouldn't have come up with such a master plan. He sighed.
"You've done this before." He heaved, but Shadow just nodded.
"Please, do you honest think I could do my job with multiple charges of murder on my record." He added, of which the Fox just squealed in fright. He cried.
"Let me guess, they're true." He whimpered, but Shadow just nodded.
"Yes." He droned, stating the obvious. But Knuckles deeply frowned.
"What did he do?" He wondered. But Tails paused.
"Knuckles, what do you mean?" He asked, but the Echidna's frown deepened, staring at Shadow.
" Sonic's incident. It's all true, as I always believed despite what's been said today." He heaved and then rounded on Shadow. "Your a killer, you were sent to peacefully end him. But you didn't. What did Sonic do to make you change your mind? You hated him so why did you save him?" He asked, desperate to know. He did have a point but as Shadow just smirked. There was only one answer, a singular thing that his deeply caught his fascination.
His Sonar.
Shadow was still transfixed by it, still not truly knowing how it worked, but it allowed a completely blind Sonic to break the sound barrier, which was still just incredible. He hissed, mischievously.
"You'll see." He hinted, causing yet more frowns. But Tails quickly moved on, as he just heaved.
"He's on the Ark, isn't he? That's where you've been caring for him. That's why I can't find him down here." He wondered. Shadow nodded, but then Tails got very excited. "Can we see him?" He asked, desperately. Knuckles panicked, realising that was a question too far. The Ark was Shadow's territory. No one was ever invited, and to ask, got people killed. Not even Rouge had been there since Shadow's first awakening. None of them had. Suddenly, Tails dived into his twin tails and brought out, to everyone's surprise a Chaos Emerald, which no one knew he had. It didn't interact with Shadow's own, so the Ultimate Lifeform hadn't realised it was there. They all stared at it. Tails whimpered. "Please?" He begged, throwing it to the Ultimate Lifeform.
Shadow hadn't actually planned to have guests aboard his space colony, but, yet again, these two incredible people had surprised him with their utter willingness to accept the truth and what was best for someone else. He trusted them, not for himself, but with Sonic. He could see it in their eyes. They did still care, deeply, they had just made a mistake. Hell, everyone made mistakes, even him. Sonic had to forgive them, or at least give them a second chance. He could never truly move on without it. Finally, after a long pause, he nodded. Yes, Sonic had indeed softened him over the years. He grabbed the other Chaos Emerald from his own quills. He held out both Chaos Emeralds out ahead of him, and crossed his hands over. He heaved.
"Grab on." He hissed, as Tails and Knuckles took his arms either side of him, as he said those famous words. "Chaos Control." With an enormous, singular flash of pale blue light, all three of them vanished and instantaneously, they landed with a clink of shoes against metal floor on the Ark. Suddenly, Shadow shook them off of him, as he walked away from them, as the intense light cleared, and the majesty of the space colony lay before them. They had landed in the plain and simple room. It was late evening, and the Ark was partially shut down for the night, but Tails's jaw just dropped.
"Whoa!" He breathed. It looked stunning, completely different to the last time he was here. Back then, it was cold, tired, dirty and dusty, and falling apart, but now it was warm, spotless, pristine, and fully repaired and upgraded. It was obvious, Shadow had invested millions of Mobian dollars into the space colony, which as Tails looked around, had the most up to date technology going. Now he understood what Shadow did with his money, especially as a professional killer.
The place was clean, and lacked clutter, and wasn't exactly cosy, with it sweeping corridors, laboratories and rooms, but normally it wasn't a problem as the Ultimate Lifeform was always alone here, but not at the moment. You immediately knew that from the scent, as the Black Hedgehog's aroma had heavily impregnated the walls. This was his home, but there was another scent that sliced through it, one the two new comers immediately recognised. They looked at each other.
Sonic.
Five years on the Ark, and yes, the Blue Blur's scent had lingered. But then Knuckles realised that Shadow was walking away from them. They immediately ran after them, but Shadow just turned and rounded on them, not entirely comfortable about having guests. He hissed, very coldly.
"Don't touch anything." He ordered, to immediate nodding, and then walked away again, down several spotless corridors. Both Tails and Knuckles gulped, the both of them realising they really were extremely privileged to be here. Tails heaved.
"Where are we going?" He genuinely wondered, but Shadow just smirked.
"You said, you wanted to see him, didn't you?" He leered to much excitement from the Fox, which Knuckles had to dumb down. Finally, near the far edge of the Ark, they found a the windowed room, with views far out into deep space, where Shadow spent his nights reading. The Blue Blur was still fast asleep in his nest on the floor, completely oblivious to events happening around him. Both Tails and Knuckles gasped at seeing the Blue Blur, but Shadow had to immediately stop them for jumping on him. He growled, hard.
"Patients." He snapped, unimpressed. "Three things you need to remember. One. He hasn't forgiven you for abandoning him at that hospital." He hissed, to very somber looks on both of them. "And when he realises your here, he will panic. How you deal with that I'll leave to you, but if it gets out of hand, then I will intervene and you will be thrown off my space colony." He spat, to immediate nodding. Neither Tails or Knuckles argued. That was fair enough. It was obvious that Shadow had put hours of his time into the Blue Blur and seeing his investment get injured or hurt was not a option. He did care, deeply. Shadow heaved. "Two, don't pity him, he doesn't need it. He's better then you think." He smirked, to much confused looks. "And three." He sneered. "Don't, under any circumstances, let that girl get her hands on him. She will kill him." He snarled, very flatly. But Knuckles just blinked.
"Amy?" He questioned, but nodding from Shadow. He growled.
"She is the reason why Sonic committed treason. He has anxiety, severely. Her constant bombardment of emotions and dominance was just too much for the Blue Blur to mentally handle. As a means of coping, he fought Eggman." He explained, only to be cut across by Tails. He gasped.
"Hence he didn't destroy him when he had chance. He needed to him, to deal with Amy. If the Human was gone, then Sonic would..." He stammered, letting the sentence hang, only for Shadow to smirk knowing the answer. He hissed.
"Would have turned it on himself, and committed suicide. Yes, and he still could, if that girl gets hold of him, again." He spat, angry. But Knuckles deeply sniffed. Suddenly tears fell down his face, an enormous look of guilt on his face. Shadow read him perfectly. He heaved. "I take it, you didn't know." He frowned, but Knuckles shook his head. He cried.
"No, I had no idea, that Amy was pushing Sonic that far, even to take his own life, and I was one of the people encouraging her, believing they were a perfect couple, thinking that Sonic was just being stupid." He whined, but Tails just comforted him. He sighed.
"Look, Amy was brash, Sonic was very ill and neither of them said anything. He must have gotten into that fight with Eggman that cost him everything out of sheer desperation." He heaved, unable to believed that his best friend his fallen so low. "Neither of us had any idea it was that bad." He heaved. "But we have a problem. It's Amy. At that formal dinner her husband dragged her to, she caused a total ruckus. She declared to everyone that she was divorcing Earl, and aborting the baby, all because Sonic was back. She didn't believe he was sterile and still doesn't." He panicked, to the utter shock of both Knuckles and Shadow, both of whom exploded with anger. Knuckles roared.
"Well, she can't have him." He spat, but Tails whimpered, sniffing hard.
"I know." He agreed. "But we have to stop her somehow. Sonic admitting his sterility, that is true, isn't it? I checked his medical records for myself, though they took some finding." He puzzled. Shadow nodded, to the shock of Knuckles, who was struggling to believe anything at the moment. But Tails interjected. "But I don't understand something. Why is he on the Vulnerability Register?" He wondered, but Knuckles eyes widened, somewhat shocked by the thought. Sonic was the last person who should be on that list. But Shadow just smirked.
"That fight with Eggman that cost him 'everything', as you call it. You must have seen his injuries." He hissed. They both nodded. "Do you honestly think he walked away from that with his sight?" He leered. Tails and Knuckles just gasped, gobsmacked. Knuckles heaved, rounding on Shadow.
"He's blind? But we all saw him break the sound barrier, twice. How?" He desperately wondered. Tails too desperately wanted to know, but Shadow just blew them off. He growled.
"All in good time. Patients is the key, nowadays. Like I said, don't pity him." He hissed, very coldly. "As for Amy, I'll deal with her." He leered, to complete panic from the others. Tails whimpered.
"Your going to kill her?" He stammered but Shadow just fumed at him and hard.
"No." He spat. "She's pregnant, and I don't kill kids." He snarled. Despite his horrendous reputation, that was indeed true. The Ultimate Lifeform had never pulled the trigger on a child, not even an unborn. As far was Shadow was concerned, there was literally nothing a juvenile could do, that warranted them being on the wrong side of his guns. Their parents, sure, but never them. But Knuckles gulped hard.
"You won't kill that pregnancy, but Amy still might, and despite everything, I suspect Sonic does still care about her, even if he can't cope with her anymore." He asked. Shadow nodded, but then Knuckles rounded on him. "Then stop her, by any means necessary. Threats, scaring, whatever, don't let her abort that baby. I suspect it will seriously upset Sonic." He stammered, and they all knew what would happen then. They had all seen him scared of Amy. He'd be unable to deal with the emotions and permanently crash, and potentially never wake up again. Shadow gritted his teeth and growled, and immediately vanished, leaving Tails and Knuckles alone on the space colony. They looked at each other and then silently wondered over to the reading chair, next to Sonic, and sat down, and settled in the night. They heaved, realising that Sonic could have picked anywhere to sleep but he choose right next to Shadow. He really did desperately need a friend. Time to wait until he woke up.
Shadow now trusted them. Tails and Knuckles. Their conversation had properly convinced him that Sonic was going to be safe in their care, as he now had excess baggage to deal with. Knuckles was right. Amy killing that baby, would indeed break Sonic, and like hell that was going to happen. He worked too hard with the Blue Blur to loose him now. But he huffed, throughly unimpressed. He quickly tracked Amy's scent, and had followed it an extremely upmarket and very expensive part of town, in Westopolis, not far from Tails' House, an area that Shadow himself, couldn't stand. The people there always believed that because that had money, they could order him around. No, and it gotten a lot of them killed.
As the expert tracker as he was, it didn't him long to find her, as he hid out of sight, having a full on argument with her husband, Earl, in the darkness, in a front garden of a house. Shadow looked at him. He like him. He was actually fair with the horrible girl, a lot more then she deserved. Earl was holding a letter in his hands, tears streaming down his face, surrounded by other fellow Hedgehogs, whom Shadow could only assume were his family. He cried at her.
"I don't understand. You were telling me less then a month ago, that I was the best guy you have ever met, and ever since you found your 'Sonic' again, you've completely ditched me for him." He wailed. Shadow smirked. Er, yes. But Earl then just looked at the letter, as further tears fell. "This letter, it's from the clinic. You aborted our baby?" He stammered. But Amy just hissed in return.
"Well, I never loved you anyway." She spat, shockingly. But Shadow just frowned. His nose was telling him a different story as he was close enough to get a good lungful of her scent. He knew what a pregnancy smelled like, now he knew it was there, thanks to Sonic, and it seemed that not the entire truth was being told here. He growled. He'd seen enough, time to intervene. He jumped out from his hiding place and deep in the shadows, at Super-Speed, he grabbed Amy and with her squealing, he dragged her into the darkness. Earl screamed running after her, but immediately backed away, when someone marched his wife out of the shadows into the light, by the throat, with a gun to the side of her head. Shadow smirked, having no intension of killing her, but neither Amy, her husband or his family knew that, as many of them fled at the sight of him.
They all knew who he was. As infamous as Sonic was famous, Earl was terrified to suddenly have a professional killer in his midst. But Amy huffed, though her fright, as she never had a gun pulled on her before, as she growled at him.
"Shadow, get off me." She spat. "Sonic sent you, didn't he?" He stammered, but then seeing the gun to between her eyes, as Shadow faced her, she gulped hard. "Hey, come on. You won't hurt me, Sonic won't let you. He loves me." She declared, but Shadow's smirk just broadened, his voice going as cold as ice.
"Er, no." He hissed, flatly and promptly pointed the revolver to down to her foot, and to everyone's utter horror, pulled the trigger. The bang exploded the entire housing estate, a bullet through her foot, outright panicking. But Shadow was extremely clever, calculating the angle and distance of the shot perfectly and extremely fast. He had enough medical knowledge as a geneticist, to shot the bullet so it missed every major artery, vein, and tendon in her foot. It was also close enough to cauterize the wound, sealing it, from the intense heat of the bullet, leaving nothing but a black hole and no blood. A very painful but relatively light injury. Amy screamed, tears streaming down her face, in horrendous pain, but still his the Ultimate Lifeform's grasp. Earl desperately ran in to comfort his wife, but hesitated. Now she really feared for her life, exactly what he wanted. Shadow growled.
"No, Miss Rose, he doesn't love you. Not anymore. But I'd suggest we start with the truth." He sneered, grabbing Amy by the back of her neck and thrusting her painfully out towards her husband, her foot still painful. He hissed at him. "The pregnancy is still present. I can smell it on her." He leered, his lip curled. "Seemed like she lost her confidence at the clinic." He snarled, incredible intimidating, noticing the letter. Earl stared but Amy nodded. That was indeed the truth. He was overjoyed but still terrified, amazed that she would even know such a killer. But Amy sniffed.
"I just couldn't do it. I do love you, I lied. There is no divorce, I never filed the paperwork but seeing Sonic again, has just left me so confused." She admitted, then she deeply sighed, looking at Shadow. "There is no us, is there?" He asked, of which Shadow shook his head. He growled.
"He's not interested, and you are no longer welcome. He suffered dearly by your hand, so now I'm intervening. Enough is enough. You broke him, Miss Rose." He spat. Amy was horrified, realising that Shadow was just returning the favour here. She was well aware of the history between them. But Earl blinked, then he thought.
"Hey, that was why he was so scared." He wondered, remembering their last encounter. But Shadow nodded, but then round on Amy, very harshly. He hissed, very coldly.
"Yes, but call this a warning, Miss Rose. The bullet in your foot, may be painful, but it is superficial. I am an expert marksman, it will heal. If I ever catch you anywhere near the Blue Blur again, the next bullet." He paused, moving the gun to her forehead, making her shake with terror. "Will go between the eyes, and as you know, I never miss." He smirked, and with that, he threw her into the arms of her husband and immediately disappeared into the night, leaving absolutely everyone terrified in that garden. But finally, Amy heeded the warning, especially with Shadow now watching Sonic's back, and left him alone. To hear she'd broken him, crucified her, and she was now desperately wondered how he was doing, but getting close would now get her killed, so in the end, she dropped it, believing someone else would take care of him.
Thinking back, Sonic was right. She had a good life, a good husband, who, even now, was still willing to forgive her. She'd almost messed it up, but had inadvertently been given a second chance as Earl just hugged her. She heaved. Shadow's methods were much to desired as she got her painful foot treated, but he did get results. He'd permanently convinced her to drop Sonic and go with Earl, his family and have her baby, especially in this nieghbourhood, extremely well looked after. It was much better then anything Sonic could offer, especially if his sterility was true. Which thinking about it, as she finally suspected, it was. The way he acted all those years ago, it majorly hinted at it. She sniffed, she desperately wanted to apologise but it was to late. She had been so young and stupid, and she'd blown it.
Would she see Sonic again? With Shadow around, no, but she hoped so.
Unfortunately, she never did.