A/N: I would like to thank Crazy muffin assassin for editorial assistance.
Shadow's POV
A dark green blur shot through the forest. That green blur was me. The green you ask? Damn military uniform. It's too loose and too tight in all the wrong places. Granted it was not designed with a hedgehog in mind, but still. I hate G.U.N. They make me wear clothes, carry small, useless guns, and assign me menial missions. The uniform had more pockets than I know what to do with. If the uniform wasn't bad enough, I had to wear a helmet. There was an infrared scope over one eye and a bunch of other "Helpful" gadgets like thermal imaging and crap like it. In short, I don't need all this crap. All I need is a gun, an AK-47 maybe. Something automatic. The mission wasn't much better. G.U.N. relented and gave me guard duty. Damn government twisting everything around so either way you choose you're screwed. We received an anonymous tip that chaos emeralds, currently in G.U.N.'s possession, are going to be stolen. They sent me and 10 other guards to stand watch. The soldiers were already at the compound, totting AK-47s. They get AK-47s, I get a pistol.
"Lance corporal Shadow" they saluted. I silently saluted back and approached the compound. The scanner at the door confirmed that I was who I claimed to be via retina scan. The door opened with a pneumatic hiss. Inside, protected by several gattling gun turrets and a Plexiglas wall, were three chaos emeralds; yellow, purple and blue. Now I just have to sit and wait. Damn.
Trouble was to be expected, but it took its sweet time getting here. After roughly two hours of tossing the green chaos emerald up, and catching it, something finally happened. There was a scream and the chattering of guns being fired. For five seconds it went on, and then stopped just as suddenly. The metal doors were repulsed and skidded on the floor in front of me. Through the cloud of smoke that was produced, bullets of purple energy sped forth, striking each turret. Upon contact, the turrets rusted and instantaneously fell apart. Afterwards, an unfortunately familiar figure walked through the haze. Mephiles.
"Hello Shadow. Fancy meeting you here" his eerie calm was really starting to irk me.
"Leave, Mephiles, before I kill you" I growled.
"That's so cute. You think that you can actually kill me"
"I can and I will"
"I suppose your answer is obvious, but you can always step off and let me take the emeralds. Should you do so I won't hurt you," I merely sneered in response. We walked around each other in a circle. Quick as lightning, we struck at each other. Silently, I cursed G.U.N. This damn uniform is constricting my movement. Mephiles got in a lucky punch and I tumbled to the floor. I reached for my chaos emerald and scrambled to stand up.
"Chaos control!" I shouted, in an attempt to turn the tide of the fight. A horrible realization dawned on me. Mephiles was holding the yellow emerald and had also initiated Chaos control. How the hell did he find time to get the emerald? A blue time vortex sprung forth from the emeralds, sucking at me. And worse, the suction was becoming stronger with every passing second. I could feel myself slipping towards it.
"No! Not now!" I shouted, barely able to here myself above the noise. The ground was pulled out from underneath my feet and I tumbled clumsily through time. In the confusion, I lost my grip on the green emerald. I cursed again. Now the seventh emerald was in some random time, past, present or future. Finally I reached Mephiles' pre-determined destination. My head slammed down on the black volcanic rock. Despite my best effort, my consciousness slipped away from me, filling my field of vision with a black void. I'm going to be out for a while.
Blaze's POV
The world is screwed. My mother was right. When I was but a kitten, my mother always told me about what it would be like to get married. She told me about the initial shock from the proposal and the rush of affection that follows it. And then when you're engaged it's not that much different until a few days later. The day you wake up and you think: "Oh my god. I'm getting married" like you can run around the world and back, like you can do anything. I always thought that was just my mother being weird, but today, that was exactly how I felt. I woke up and I looked over at Silver. My heart started beating faster, and feelings of extreme, un-diluted, passion stirred in my chest. Maybe I'll give him something to wake up to, I thought.
Silver's POV
I woke up abruptly when I felt something slithering around the inside of my mouth. I opened one eye, then the other. Blaze was lying on top of me, in her underwear, with her tongue in my mouth. Subconsciously, I started to kiss her back.
"Good morning, sexy" Blaze cooed.
Then I snapped back to consciousness. "Blaze, what are you doing?"
"You're so cute when you're clueless. I'm appreciating my fiancé" she said flirtaisously. I tried to move, but she pinned me back down. She took my face in her hands and kissed me again. There was a small thud coming from outside. Sky was there, gagging and pretending to puke.
"Ok, Blaze, not now" I said.
"Oh, I know, playing hard to get"
"N-no, that's not at all what I'm-" but she cut me off with her tongue.
"Blaze, stop! Sky is right there!" I pointed desperately to Sky, who now resembled a deer in a car's headlights. Blaze got up and slammed to door angrily in her face. When she turned around, the dreamy smile returned to her face.
"You know, Silver, we don't have to wait 'til our wedding night" Blaze pointed out, shooting a nasty look back at the door. She dug her thumbs under her bra straps and walked back in a seductive fashion. For every step she took near me, I took one away, scooting around the edge of the room.
"But, don't you think it would be more fulfilling if we had s-sex when we're married?" I stammered.
"Oh, but there will be other people here then. Do you really want Sonic or someone interrupting us?" she asked, closing the distance between us.
"Ok, well, I'll go make some breakfast, you just-" and I sprinted out the door. Unfortunately, Sky was still standing near the door. We collided and landed on the floor.
"Ow, Silver! Watch where you're going!" she screamed.
"Sorry! Wait, were you listening to us?" I asked suspiciously.
"No" she lied, turning every so slightly red, then smiling. "It's ok. I'll make sure Sonic and the others don't interrupt" now it was my turn to turn red.
"If Blaze finds out you heard that, she'll kill you"
"Life goes on" Sky shrugged. I helped her up and we walked down to the kitchen. Today, I was in the mood for cereal. Sky got a muffin. (Surprise, surprise). Sky sat next to me at the table. Blaze came downstairs shortly after, now wearing a bathrobe.
"Hey, Sky?" I asked, in between bites of cereal.
"Yeah?"
"Do you know any good bands? We need one for the wedding"
"Well, I know a-" but she was interrupted by the doorbell. I got up to see who was visiting. I swear, if it's Marine… Upon answering the door, I was relieved to find it was not Marine, but Rouge. Then I noticed the expression on her face. She looked sad. Her usually smugly confident eyes were glassy and she was frowning. Aside from that, she was panting like she'd just ran 10 miles and was dressed in G.U.N. combat gear.
"Rouge? What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's Shadow. He's gone M.I.A." Rouge panted. Sky's eyes widened and the muffin slipped from her grip.
"What do you mean he's missing in action?" Sky blurted.
"He's gone. The compound he was stationed at was attacked and razed. Soldiers dead, emeralds stolen, but no sign of Shadow's body"
"But, he can't… He told me not to worry" Sky stammered.
"Shadow was my partner! How do you think I feel?" Rouge yelled.
"He told me he'd be fine! He told me he couldn't die!" Sky shouted back.
"I've known Shadow a lot longer than you! How do you think I felt when he fell of the ARK? Everyone just gave up on him! Everyone told me to move on! I've known him since he stepped out of that stasis pod and you've just popped up in the last few days!"
"I don't care how long you've known him! He's my friend too! I care about him" Sky shouted, her hands were trembling with small sparks of electricity coursing around her fingers. And then she ran, stray bolts of electricity scorching the walls. She ran off upstairs to her room, slamming to door.
"Go away Rouge" I said simply, closing to door and following after Sky. As I walked my foot kicked something. I looked down to see what it was I had kicked. The object lying on the ground was most intriguing and very familiar. The green chaos emerald. What the hell? I thought. I thought Shadow had this one. A small grin crept its way onto my face. Shadow's still alive. How, though, I don't know, but he wouldn't leave this emerald behind.
"Silver, what was all that about?" Blaze asked, slightly un-nerved. I honestly can't blame her; I was feeling a bit un-nerved myself.
"Shadow's M.I.A. and the compound he was guarding was destroyed"
"Oh my god. Is that why Sky's…" I nodded. I walked up to the closed door of Sky's temporary room. I put an ear to the door: completely silent.
"Sky? Can I come in?" I asked.
"Go away Silver," she said. I took it as a "yes". I tried to twist the handle before I realized it was locked.
"Sky…" Damn. The one time I really need to say something, I'm at a loss for words and locked out. Time for a little innovation.
Sky's POV
I should be used to this by now. I've seen many people die back when we lived in Crisis City. Some of them were friends. Why is this any different? Was it the kiss? My lips tingled from the contact they had made with Shadow's cheek the other day. I walked over to the window and opened it. The cool March breeze caressed my face. I usually like March, but now I don't. It's frustrating to feel so terrible, but not know why. So I stood there watching clouds roll by and listening to the frustrated swearing of Silver, who can't figure out how to open the lock. At least some things never change.
Silver's POV
I stood there for at least 20 minutes with a screwdriver and a paperclip trying to pick the lock.
"Damn it!" I swore when the screwdriver slipped and slashed the greater part of my finger. After applying first aid and pacing around, another idea struck me. Maybe I could fly in through the window. With child-like excitement, I ran outside and around to the back. Sure enough Sky was watching the clouds roll by. Then she heard something and walked away from the window. I smirked; piece of cake.
Sky's POV
Something's wrong. Silver's not swearing anymore. I cautiously approached the door. As far as I could tell, he wasn't there. I breathed a sigh of relief. He finally gave up. Maybe I'll go talk to him later.
"Sky" Silver said from behind me. I turned swiftly in disbelief.
"How did you get in here?" I demanded.
"Unimportant" he replied. "Sit down. We have to talk"
Silver's POV
"Leave me alone, Silver" Sky said.
"No, it's important and about Shadow"
"He's dead, Silver. He saved my life and I never really got to thank him. He promised me he would be fine" she whispered, the last sentence quieter than the rest. I smiled sympathetically.
"And that is where you are wrong. He's not dead and even if he were, it wouldn't have been lowly thieves that did him in," I said.
"Silver, please don't tease me. Not now" tears started brimming in her eyes.
"I'm not. Look" I pulled out the green chaos emerald for her to see. The brilliant green gem glinted mischievously in the sunlight that flickered in from the window. She almost tripped over herself running to get a better look at it.
"Shadow had that when he left…" she murmured.
"Yes, and I found it downstairs"
"But he teleported from outside my room"
"Exactly"
"So he's not dead?" she said excitedly. I shook my head. Sky hugged me fiercely. I returned the hug. It wasn't like a passionate hug, but more like a brotherly/sisterly hug.
"Thank you, Silver. Heh, Resourceful Silver makes a rare, always appreciated appearance" Sky commented.
"I have my moments"
"Wait, if he's not dead, then where is he?" Pfft, moment gone.
"The appropriate question is when is he," I corrected.
"But how are we going to find Shadow? We could-"
"Sky, you're still injured. I have complete faith in Shadow" Sky's gaze dropped. "Don't worry, Sky; he'll be fine"
Blaze's POV
Silver is so kind. He's such a nice older brother. I watched the whole scene unfold from outside. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her, despite how much I can't stand her. I do hope Shadow is ok though. If any of our friends were to die, I don't know what I'd do. Shadow had better get back all right.
A/N: Where did Mephiles send Shadow to? What does Mephiles want with the chaos emeralds? What is the rest of Team Sonic gonna say when they hear what happened? Is Marine sober yet? Find out whenever I post the next chapter.