Disclaimer: Sonic and co. © Sega
Reise and Egglings © Blank the Nobody
Chapter Thirteen
The Heart Broken and the Heartless
1 Month, 21 Days and 3 Hours before Black Egg Armageddon
What could I do? My heart was too broken that I couldn't run after Eggman and I didn't have the courage to talk to Ms. Vanilla. All I could do is run away and pray that this was all a bad dream.
A bright ray of moonlight covered the hedgehog's cobalt blue fur as he sat on a cliff overlooking Station Square. Out of nowhere, a gentle breeze blew along the scent of blood, gunpowder, lead and burning plaster, making Sonic's eyes water from the smell. Below him, the city was slowly recovering from the attack as the army began to kill the last of the Egglings even though they knew that they wouldn't get all of them. Sirens wailed and the small pops from guns came into the air. Firefighters rushed to put out the flames that almost engulfed the whole city and the small squads of soldiers fired off precise rounds into the heads of Egglings, making an even bloodier mess on the city's streets.
Sonic exhaled a weary and tired sigh, knowing that he didn't help the city at all. The only thing that he did do was run away from his enemy and get an innocent girl kidnapped amidst the chaos. There was no way that Sonic could go back to the city with that on his head. If he did go back, the public would look down upon him, Ms. Vanilla would hate him forever and his friends would never look at him the same. He just couldn't find a good answer to his situation except for running away so he could collect his scattered thoughts.
Leaves rustled on their branches as another cold breeze blew by, chilling the hedgehog to his very bone. Sonic looked up, his eyes meeting the white moon floating in a sea of darkness along with the small shimmering lights that was cast off by the stars around it. A picture perfect night that soothed Sonic's aching heart a little bit. Who knows, maybe on another night like this Sonic would take Amy to somewhere exotic for a nice dinner for a nice chat amongst Mobius's finest restaurants.
The blue hedgehog shook the thought out of his head. He had more important things to think about other then having a nice dinner with Amy. One of his main problems was Tails reaction to Cream being kidnapped. The young fox had already been through hell, how was he going to handle this?
"Sonic?" called out a young, yet familiar voice in a nervous tone.
Sonic looked over his shoulder to find a nervous Tails behind him. The cobalt hedgehog could easily see that Tails was scared, and he knew why. Tails took a step toward Sonic, his single tail slowly drifting to the side as the wind easily picked it up. Sonic was at a loss for words at that moment. He had no idea whether to tell Tails about Cream or lie to him to keep him safe, either way the fox would learn of it sooner or later.
"Tails, I, uh," hesitated Sonic, trying to find the proper words to say. "are you alright? Did any of the Egglings hurt you?" Sonic asked in a worried tone, since he had no idea where his friend was during the attack.
The young fox walked forward and sat next to Sonic. Tails for some reason looked a bit more at ease then Sonic. Maybe it was because he had no idea that Cream's gone or maybe it was because for some other reason. Tails scooted closer to Sonic, as if he had something important to tell him and to Sonic's surprise it was.
"I'm fine and don't worry, I know." said Tails in a quiet tone, before flashing Sonic a kind smile.
A confused look took on Sonic's face as he stared at Tails. "What do you mean?" Sonic asked, no understanding what Tails had meant.
"I know what happened," Tails hesitated for a moment, as if to force the words out of his mouth. "with Cream." said Tails, finally getting the words to come out of his mouth.
No words could form in Sonic's awestruck expression. Apparently Tails was taking it much easier then he could ever. Sonic expected to find a sobbing and saddened Tails instead of one that had the guts and courageousness to confront him afterwards. After all these years of hiding behind Sonic and watching his favorite hero fight, Tails seemed to have developed a stronger spirit and will to win, which surprised Sonic greatly. Watching from the sidelines, watching Sonic endure the pain as if it was his own, all those things seemed to have tempered the young fox's heart made him more like a hero then a sidekick. Even with that Sonic had no idea how to reply to the statement.
He couldn't find any words that he could use to apologize to Tails and Sonic could feel the tears starting to leak from his eyes. Sonic couldn't hold it in any longer and he let the tears flow from down his eyes, before leaning on Tails for support. Sonic couldn't take it anymore. Holding in all the sadness and sorrow, pushing on through tough times had finally gotten to him. Being a hero was hard and everyone knew that, but after so long, even some heroes had to take a break.
"I'm sorry!" Sonic sobbed as he cried on Tails' shoulder.
Tails didn't reply, because he knew how sorry Sonic was. The fox could recall the times that he had to apologize to Sonic for screwing up and now he felt as if he had switched places. Tails extended an arm around Sonic, so he could comfort his friend. A couple hours before, Tails was acting just like Sonic after receiving the news, crying and sobbing his heart out, hoping that his friend would be okay even though there was a slim chance that she would come back alive.
"I tried to save her!" sobbed Sonic, getting his tears on Tails fur.
"I know, Sonic." said Tails softly, trying to make Sonic feel better.
Most people think that Sonic's the tough one and Tails is the weak and sensitive one. Their assumptions are wrong sometimes though. From time to time, Sonic and Tails could switch places, allowing Sonic to release the pent up emotions that he kept inside of him. Even heroes have soft sides, some just choose to hide them from the public to maintain their image. Tails didn't care though, he always made the right choices no matter what anyone else would think.
There was nothing Tails could say. Every time he tried to find some kind words, his mind was frozen on the fact that his girlfriend-to-be, was kidnapped and his best friend was having a mental break down. So far, after Eggman's transformation everyone was starting to lose. Nothing ever turned out right and more people were dying. Whatever Eggman did to himself, it was working. Slowly but surely, Eggman was starting to win and in the process drive the heroes insane.
"We should get back, it's alright no one else knows except Charmy and Vanilla." said Tails as he lifted Sonic to his feet.
Soon enough, things were going to get worse, Sonic would have to deal with the public and the press. It would be months before Station Square would be rebuilt and to make things even worse, almost all of the people would blame Sonic. It was as if Eggman had planned everything, from Sonic's reaction to the Public's reaction. There was nothing they could do anymore, the public would either hate Sonic forever or call out his name in times of need once more.
Tails and Sonic both made their way back to the city. As days started to go by, Sonic was starting to get used to the accusations from the public, but now it was different. He had put his friends on the line of fire and this was something he could not allow. Sonic made his way back to the city ready for the waves of criticism that he would receive.
Somewhere else across the city, a dark hedgehog stood atop one of the battered sky scrapers. Below him the windows and chairs were broken and smashed from the Eggling's attacks. A cold and uncaring look glared down at the hurt civilians and soldiers as they were taken to the remaining hospitals in working condition. The smell of fire and gunpowder was familiar to Shadow, as he remembered the Black Arms Invasion.
The ebony hedgehog closed his eyes and images of Cream in her last moments flashed in his head. Shadow blocked out the images and kept his icy glare on. He didn't care at all. If the world were to be destroyed, then Shadow would make sure that he would survive among everything else.
"You could always show some sympathy from time to time. It wouldn't hurt, you know." said a voice from behind Shadow.
Shadow turned around to find a dark brown jackal with a dark tan muzzle standing behind him. The jackal wore no shirt at all, revealing his strong tightly packed muscles, his paints were black jeans and wore shoes similar to Knuckles. Bandages were wrapped around the jackal's wrists and they looked tattered and old. Two shiny gold bracelets covered the jackal's bandage wrapped wrist and the moonlight reflected off of them giving them an ominous shine that seemed to match his dark brown eyes.. Shadow recognized the jackal from a couple months back.
"What do you want Anubis?" asked the dark hedgehog with a cold tone. "I thought Grimwalkers don't come out of the Underground."
The jackal named Anubis laughed. "We can come out Shadow, just not during the day, you should remember. Besides, I wanted to see how you were doing, seeing that everything else is going to hell up here." said Anubis before walked up next to Shadow. Anubis scanned the destruction on the streets and smiled some more. "Reminds me of when we used to work with each other." He said smugly.
A cold gale of wind swept through the city again, not even making Anubis or Shadow shiver since they were so battle hardened. Months before, Shadow wandered upon a portal to a city far underneath Station Square called the Underground. But that's a story for another time.
"Seeing how this world is probably close to annihilation I would like to offer the help of the Underground Army." said Anubis, still looking down on the destruction.
"Good, go to the government and tell them." stated Shadow with the least amount of caring he could ever muster.
Anubis chuckled, finding Shadow's 'tough act' hilarious. But that's not what he meant at all. Anubis wasn't the type of person to offer the help of an entire undead army to anyone. It wasn't like him in any way at all. He liked to play mind games with people to see what kind of person they are and slowly but steadily, Anubis was getting a pretty accurate psychological profile on Shadow
"You misunderstand Shadow, I'm offering my help to you, not the government." said Anubis finally before turning around to face Shadow, with a smile almost like Eggman's.
"What are you talking about?" asked Shadow with a confused glare.
"The invitation is only to you Shadow. Right now you hold the power of an entire undead army. You can either use it against this Eggman or cast it aside to show how strong you truly are." said Anubis, giving Shadow a very important decision.
Everyone knows that Shadow is the type of person that would never except any help, but this was power. The manpower and strength of an entire undead army could definitely help him take down Eggman and the power was something that Shadow definitely wanted. But Shadow didn't want to look weak, he wanted to show his raw power instead of relying on other people. Most people would take the army, just for the power of helping the world or conquering it, but not everyone is Shadow the hedgehog.
"What'll it be, Shads?" asked Anubis in a playful tone.
It was a dire question for Shadow, but he knew that even if he denied it no one would know. But Anubis is a wild card, he could come out of nowhere and probably tell Sonic or Amy and get Shadow into a bigger mess just for the laughs. After a moment of thinking, Shadow had finally made up his mind.
"No, Anubis, thanks for the offer but I don't need your help." said Shadow finally in a stern tone.
Shadow had made his most important decision. Not taking Anubis's help would probably be something he would regret in the future, but Shadow didn't care. As long as he would get stronger, nothing mattered. Anubis raised an eyebrow at the answer before shrugging. For some odd reason, the jackal anticipated the answer and quite frankly, he didn't care anymore. The jackal put his hands in his pocket and grinned at the hedgehog.
"Whatever man," said Anubis before walking past Shadow. The jackal stopped a couple feet behind Shadow, their backs still facing each other. "I almost forgot," continued Anubis. "Felecia says 'hi.'" He said before disappearing into the grim darkness of the night.
Once again, Shadow was left alone to contemplate on his actions. He exhaled a relieved sigh before looking up at the pale moon that sat floated among the shimmering stars. A night such as this brought back memories from the Black Arms Invasion, a hellish nightmare that caused great destruction to the world. This time would be different though, instead of undergoing some bizarre alien invasion, the world would have to face the full wrath of one of its oldest enemies. Shadow didn't care about the decision he had made moments before. The only thing that mattered was his survival and that was something he could definitely ensure.
Shadow closed his eyes and concentrated some power. "Chaos," he began silently. "Control." He finished before a large flash of light radiated from the hedgehog's body. After the light faded away Shadow was gone.
Okay one second
Disclaimer: Anubis © Blank the Nobody
Now that's out of the way, the story behind Shadow and Anubis will be made after I get 'Breaking Point' finished.