Hunter's Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic; he and related characters belong to Sega. Predator(s) belongs to their proper owner(s)

Okay look, this proves I'm committed, my speakers don't work at all anymore. So in order to hear things from the computer I've had to connect my headphones directly to the computer. Imagine this; the PC tower out in the open and a pair of good white ipod headphones connected to the back of the PC with me hunching over in my chair so I can hear my music and do this. Without music, there is no way I could ever do this. So be grateful people…very grateful; my neck hurts and my neck is very vengeful so beware… (No I don't own an ipod and the CD player is broken; it was either an ipod or the Xbox 360: and Gears of War with Xbox Live is the only reason I needed)

Damn it feels like forever since I updated but still, I've been so committed to Gears of War; only 3 achievements left, the hosting one, sniper rifle and the 10,000 kills and then I'll have them all! Even though I sold Sonic, I think I might borrow or rent it just to beat it, I only made it to collecting the seven emeralds in last story, couldn't beat Shadow's collection of the emerald. I hope to unlock "Free mode" whatever the hell that is, if it exists, they say it does but S rank in everything? That is some bull…it better exist and it better have player-choice select characters like they say it does.

Enjoy (Damn this iced tea my friend made is so freaking good, and it better be, I gave her two bucks for a pitcher of it!)

Chapter Six – Blood for blood

It was all unwanted. Unwanted by both sides…that perfect silence that crawled under your skin, it only occurred when something haunting happened.

There was perfect silence, not even a cricket chirped. Wolves that had woken up from the ruckus remained deathly still. All wildlife in the forest knew what had died. The haunting silence was nothing compared to the intense atmosphere.

What to do? Should you kill the slayer or slay the one who was next to you, staring in shock? The slain remained motionless on the ground, Shadow glaring down at it. He gritted his teeth and put his shoe to the head of the dead. The implied act received a couple body jumps and growls.

The Assassin cut his round short and forearm hit Sonic in his rib, two sounds guaranteeing at least bone crack. With a cry from Sonic, he threw him into the ground, but aiming towards the pink hedgehog, who had been waiting behind the tree with the unusually two-tailed fox, waiting for the right moment to try something again. Now with the blue hedgehog to the ground, they ran to his aid.

His adrenaline pumping slower now, Shadow found enough mind to concentrate. He crouched down, turning his head fully to his right. His movements had two beasts on edge as he turned the Elite's dead body over. Reaching into a chamber that was the energy mount of the gun that had blown off, he pulled out the glowing emerald. The beautiful purple jewel shined brilliantly as it was closer to the other six. The hedgehog stood up and held it up high in the air. His face twisted into a frown, the suddenly spiked it backwards and away from the two power hungry beasts.

Shadow's back aim was not good as his forwards. The emerald bumped up, rolled, flipped, flopped and stumbled behind him and finally stopped two feet near Mina.

An inner instinct told her to grab it before anything happened to it. Something on her inside said to just take it and protect it, she couldn't explain it. She could only obey it. Slowly she crouched down and picked it up and kept it close to her.

His opponent had the upper hand and right now, the black hedgehog was a much bigger threat than predicated earlier. Now the mongoose had the emerald and it seemed that this hedgehog would let no harm come to her. This Assassin was at a dead end, his options were not good;

Should he bull rush through the hedgehog, by the time he got the emerald, Shadow would've recovered and already would be striking him. No doubt that the Bounty Hunter wouldn't think twice about striking him. Then again, he had to take this chance; this would his only chance to even out the fight. Without giving any relaxed or distracted movements, he continued his deep thought.

A sudden soft clank caught his attention. The Bounty Hunter hit the switch back on his left gauntlet, two of two arrow rods cocked back. It seemed that he had already made a plan. Slowly without much movement, from his elbow to his hand he raised it and carefully used his eyes to aim. Without a laser aim beam it was a little difficult, but doable.

Shadow broke his stance when he heard the metal sheathing. For a second he thought it was an arm blade. To his unpleasant realization he found out it was an arrow rod. The aim seemed off, it pass his side and sliced part of an old wound open and happily cut him a new one. It had a jagged tip, he felt it and it was brutally painful. He had to pause and grip it to stop it from stinging so much.

To be stunned only for a second he found out the next move. The Bounty Hunter spread his legs slightly and let out loud and powerful roared, on both sides of a staff held in his hand. Kick-pushing the dirt under his feet he sprinted into a full-on bull rush. It didn't seem possible for something so big and built to run that fast but it happened, and Shadow felt it hit him like a wall of bricks. The hunter rammed him and made him spin twice in the air before falling flat on his stomach. Shadow noticed the Assassin charged after the Bounty Hunter, but to his own disappointment noticed something else.

'Son of a bitch…is this shit ever gonna end?' With a broken and angered face Shadow growled along with his thoughts.

Wrapped in the cover moonlight and the tense air of the battle area, two figures remained quiet and silent. The warped and distorted appearance of the jungle that their body cloaked was huge. They were taller than the Bounty Hunter, both of them. One started moving, the one the Assassin just stampeded towards, but for some reason he didn't seem to see it, but had to have felt it. The cloaked warrior swung at his arm, the Assassin's blood splashed out and fell to the floor and colored the shape of the weapon. It was a scythe blade, held in the invisible one's hand. The slash made the Assassin hook on the blades curve and spin back around to face his attacker. The spin made him lose his footing and made it slip and fall onto his side.

The Bounty Hunter still charged for Mina's emerald. The mongoose felt her legs turn cold and felt her body freeze with pure fear. The hunter's eyes glowed into a bright and evil white. She felt the earth shake next to her, the huge thumps and purr made her scream. Her high pitched scream only continued when she noticed a huge cloaked figure next to her. Shadow was already running to her aid before but decided to cut out another fight and went around the new attacker and the Assassin. As he ran to her aid he saw the second attacker swing a long chain at the Bounty Hunter. Several metal clanks and clinks were followed by a spurt of blood at the Bounty Hunter's ankle. The cloaked thing yanked back and threw with its free hand another chain. The blood around the ankle gave figure to another scythe blade, looking for the same shape; Shadow noticed the same weapon on the other chain. It hit the Bounty Hunter's mask and slashed it across the metal without cutting the flesh below. The first maneuver had the Bounty Hunter falling onto his back, the second blow to the face made his body spin and rotate sideways and land face first with his staff landing right next to him, even before the body landed, both chains had already been receded by the new foe.

His lungs tensed and Shadow felt his body slow down some. Like a lightning bolt he came and left with Mina in his arms, sweeping her off of her feet so fast she lost her grip of the jewel and dropped it. By the tenth yard Shadow slowed down to a walk and finally paid attention to his strangely heavy breathing. He put Mina down and turned around and held his sides. He felt it for the first time truly in his life, he was exhausted, he had reach his roadblock, his first experience of his true limits. He managed to keep standing up but didn't know how long before he would probably pass out.

With the two known enemies groaning and moaning in alien tongues the two new ones revealed themselves. The electrical pulse that slid down their shapes and the most distinctive item revealed were the two capes. When they turned around, they purred at all before them. The two Elders began examining everything at the scene, especially Shadow.

In the Forest

"Goddamn!" The crimson guardian shouted as he shook his right hand violently. That skin wasn't normal and sure as hell not soft at all, so why did he punch it?

'Where'd the hell he'd come from? Man I'm never leaving my island again after this' The creature crawled down from a tree and began snarling and snorting at the two of them.

The thing hissed and sucked its teeth and opened its mouth revealing the second set of canines. Its lower jaw moved awkwardly for a moment, as if the thing was in fact hurt by the blow.

"This night just won't end," Knuckles turned his head slightly to check on Rouge. She still lay on the floor with her eyes closed which was really starting worry him. He had to get rid of this thing before anything worse happened.

On his left he heard a heavy snort full of rage, the thing scratched back on the dirt, kicking up some dusts as if were getting ready to charge. It screeched in a high pitched tone that could pop eardrums, but it didn't which made it more horrible that you still had to hear it. Hissing once it charged and opened its mouth, Knuckles reacted in the only way he was used to, when something came at him, he extended usually his right arm, and he caught it.

He felt his stomach flip when felt he grabbed a thick and slightly armored piece of muscle.

'Of all the things to grab…ugh, man couldn't I have just caught his teeth?'

Knuckles made a disgusted face when he found the thing pulling back so it yank its second mouth back into safe hiding. After its second mouth's retreat the snarled and attempted a chomp at Knuckles' chest but he managed to withhold it back with both hands. The stress he was putting out on his injured arms was starting to show, the healing wound start flushing out blood.

With its face caught at point blank range it began claw at him. Though most of its attacks missed, it managed to get him once or twice before Knuckles pushed it away.

He threw a punch hoping it wouldn't hurt, wrong big time. His gloved sizzled and he noticed that a light green drip was eating away at the cloth. Fumbling he ripped it off and tossed on the ground and watched it burn without a flame in front of him.

'Great, now I'm gloveless,'

The thing screeched and screamed in its high pitched tone as it ran off. It ran awkwardly and then Knuckles noticed the ankle wound. It rubbed the bleeding part of its face into the dirt as its own blood began to burn its own armor. Knuckles' punch had broken the armor and let some blood gush out, he had his knuckle barbs to thank, and luckily, he didn't seem to get splashed by any of the blood.

He wanted just give out and pass out and sleep till forever but he knew couldn't. He'd never been this exhausted before. For quickly moment he noticed his shoulder wound wasn't bleeding anymore. Maybe the blood that seeped out was just a build up, either way he tightened the glove cloth used to keep his wound closed. With a groan he turned to the bat lying down in what seemed to be a great resting peace. The guardian kneeled down at her side and slid his hands under her. Slowly he lifted her, he panted at he made himself stand up. He clutched her body to his own tightly; the echidna could barely lift his own arms and hold her felt like trying to carry a baby hippo with a broken arm.

"C'mon," He started running towards where he prayed was the way out of this big park.

Twenty minutes felt like twenty hours. Seeing the same scenery was depressing and annoying, like if all the running he was doing was just a big circle. Knuckles slowed down to ease his breathing; he blinked and tried to shake his face to get the sweat off of his brow. He looked and up let out a sigh of great relief;

"About fucking time!" He growled as looked at the stone park entrance. With his ten second pause he rushed to the gates.

Stopping as he stepped onto the outside sidewalks he began looking around hastily, he didn't know much about the city;

"C'mon, c'mon," He closed his eyes and hoped he could remember the general area of the hospital.

He went through the whole course of this night. His run with Shadow from Angel Island to Sonic's, it was so hard to identify everything they pass by when it was still and you moved so fast. He tried to remember his second run, the one from Sonic's place to that little construction site or rundown area, whatever it was.

"That's right!" He gasped, he bolted to his left. For some reason he found him self running like never before.

The Forest (Close to 4:00 am)

The Bounty Hunter rolled over and now lay on the floor groaning heavily in his alien tongue. With a snarl he reached for his staff without looking, it shrunk in size, with a painful groan it arched up some and place it back into its lock with some difficulty. He lay flat exhaling sharply and groaned as it wiggled its foot slightly.

Shadow gripped the star and glared at the Elder. The sheer size did not intimidate him, nor the weapons. He was too blinded by rage to see its brute strength; he would have to die before he realized how out match he was with these two.

He gritted his teeth and brought the bladed star closer to his face, covering it. Shadow growled as he tensed his glare.

The red caped beast simply turned his head to make eye contact. It withdrew and locked up one chain. He held his left scythe shaped blade chain in his right hand. With one bull-like snort it brushed off Shadow's rage filled threatening looks. It crouched down and started eyeing the ankle slash. There seemed to be no emotion as he looked at wound on the Bounty Hunter's ankle, the wound he made. He titled the foot to the side without much care or gentleness, he didn't seem to care much about any pain he might have been causing by moving the injured foot. After the inspections seemed done, the Elder wiped the freshly flowing glowing blood that now covered most of the foot.

The Elder proceeded to handle the Bounty Hunter's arms without care. Pulling on them harshly, it gripped the white Chaos Emerald and pulled it off. He tossed it in Shadow's direction without looking. The wounded Hunter mumbled something in his native language.

With an unpleasant growl the red caped Elder War-Chief stood up and made a harsh "Get up" gesture with its arm.

The Bounty Hunter struggled greatly to get up. Everyone watched from afar, as the hunters from before that seemed so invincible and unbeatable were now wounded and themselves; in fear. The Elder growled at him again, the lion like roar made the younger Predator reach for the yellow emerald on his other arm. With an annoyed growl, the Elder hit the Bounty Hunter on the head with a scolding tone. The younger one took it off and dropped it. The Elder growled ferociously and grabbed him harshly, forcing his upper half to turn some. He began to grab and yank down on the gun mount. Its well built arms easily yanked out the Chaos Emeralds, the first one let the other one simply fall out.

Shadow saw the interested way its head tilted as it focused its attention on the jewel.

"Put it down now!" Shadow barked.

The Elder growled something and turned his head to the Elder with the white cape. They exchanged growls and soft purr sounds, conversing between each other.

The young Assassin's head hung low and looked only to the ground and rarely up. The young warrior made no sound nor movement as the Elder Blood-Warrior jerked down on his gun mount. He pulled out the dark red Chaos Emerald. The Elder took it and at the same time as the Elder War-Chief, locked it on his own right gauntlet. Slowly their blades began to glow darkly according to the color of their emerald.

Shadow's eyes widened as he let such a deadly move be performed in front of him. He growled as he mentally beat himself up for such as stupid blank out. Jumping forwards did nothing, absolutely nothing…

No growl, or a purr, not even specific glance.

Only the two young ones looked up at him but then looked to their Elders for a reaction. The two warriors held their wounds. The Assassin held the deep slash on his elbow caused by the scythe from the Blood-Warrior, still bleeding down gently he gripped it. The Bounty Hunter stood forwards, heavy on his good foot and lightly on his wounded ankle. He also kept feeling the slash mark on his mask done by the War-Chief earlier.

The two Elders walked together talking to one another quietly. They walked over to the solid black creature's corpse. With the glowing, energy enhanced blades, the proceeded with careful and very precise cutting.

On one hand, a finger of the deadly black creature was cut off. Occasionally a drip of green blood would drop down to the dirt floor.

But Shadow noticed that this blood was special. It was a deadly type special, for the green liquid, assumed blood where sizzling on contact of anything else, besides itself. A small heat wave vented as it melted the ground and steam fumes dissipated quickly.

The two Elder cut the veins of the creature in specific ways. Ways that let the acidic blood melt is own armored skin. This confused most of the watchers, how could such a deadly blood not melt from the inside out but outside in? The blood melted about a good inch for every couple drops. Before there very own eyes, the body was disappearing before them in drips of green steaming blood. The solid green drips devoured the natural armor with a bottomless hunger. Within minutes the corpse was nothing but steaming pile of rotting skin and organs, the bone frame melted long before they began cutting it.

But the blood melted only the body. The long oval frame of the head would not melt. Even the normal armored skin did not melt at the touch of the blood, and so, all that was left was small and long pile of rotting flesh that formed a stick-like frame of its body in the position it was in before the and its head, still in tact.

The white caped Elder picked up the head and tossed it to the Assassin. They barked without looking and took off their emeralds. With the unlocking of the Chaos Emeralds, the blades lost their dark glows and turned around. They faced Shadow who gripped the bladed star, ready to use it. With a snort the War-Chief tossed his emerald at Shadow's feet, the other being followed up by the Blood-Warrior's emerald. They walked to the corpse Shadow had left on the floor. With care they picked up the dead, they shook their head and purred as they noticed the torso was weak and had no bone support. They crossed his arms in a respectful manner across his chest.

In perfect sync, the two elders lifted the body horizontally. Its body inclined inward from the lack of support in bone and from the body having no orders from its mind or any control.

Mina gasp silently, suddenly the same electrical pulse from before slid from the head of the Elite and down to his feet, the body turned into the clear color from before, the view through it distorted slightly and magnified slightly.

The younger warriors cloaked themselves. The shapes of their bodies slowly headed into the forest, towards the cliff deeper in the woods located somewhere behind the Mystic temple. It was difficult to see but you could tell which one was the Bounty Hunter. His figure kept limping on one foot.

"Hold the hell up!" The barked order from Shadow received only one reaction. The Blood-Warrior gently let down his side of the dead and looked at the shouting creature. With pause in his thoughts, the War-Chief let down his side of the dead and picked up the whole body himself. The blood stained his own armor but he did not seem to care, his body had the pulsing electrical flow sweep down and cloak him and everything part of him expect the glowing blood rub-off.

The elder walked away in silence as if not worried about his fellow companion.

Shadow looked up at the seven foot beast towering over him. It looked down, waiting for the hedgehog to do something else. It purr at it cocked its head to the side slightly; it looked at the mongoose approaching them. Mina stood at what she hoped was safe distance and yet close enough to Shadow.

"This ain't over yet" Shadow shouted again. He lifted his left arm and made a blocking gesture and with his right arm, he had it ready to strike. His finger gripped the bladed star so tightly that they began grooving curves of fingers shape into the metal.

The Blood-Warrior tilted his head to the right, making several cracking sounds. The eyes lit up quickly and glowed a blinding yellow for only a second and they dimmed down to only a bright glow.

"S-Shadow," The black hedgehog felt his heart race, "Please, let's just leave," He turned his head slightly; he didn't want to make eye contact with her.

"Mina," He said softly, "Just leave, now!"

The mongoose laced her fingers and brought them to her chest. Through her cold and gloved fingers she could feel her own heart beat race. "What are you going to do," She asked hastily, "Shadow don't do try anything, look, they're leaving, let's leave too. You don't have to do anything else!" She shouted as her voice broke with fear. She started watering at the corner of her eyes.

Shadow ignored her worry. Using all of his strength he cocked his armed hand back. His right foot slid out, and his left knee bent. His teeth grounded slightly, he felt the old ripped wounds sting as he tensed greatly.

The Elder took his movements seriously, activated his blade, the dual blades sheathed and made itself noticeable. Shadow's reaction was just was he expected, the hedgehog twitched and spun back in a half circle. The Blood-Warrior reached for his shoulder and pulled out his scythe.

Blinking once Mina heard a brutal series of movements without seeing it all, the first sound was shoe movements, she knew it had to be Shadow; they shuffled and kicked off the ground. Quickly followed metal to metal, probably shoe to armor or worse, blade to that weird star, the painfully grunt and deep thump/smack sound. She opened her eyes, like Sonic earlier; it had him by the neck. It swung with its fist, quickly receding its blades before they made contact, it hit the stomach; let go of his body and swung downwards before body could even fall. The last blow sent him flying towards Mina's feet but not too close.

It purred calmly but with a threatening movement. Its eyes glowed brightly as it purred and it held its chin up as if telling him to stay down. The muscles beneath the mask tensed and it gritted its teeth, snorting like a bull it huffed at Shadow's attempt to attack.

Shadow held his face with both hands, which hurt more than his stomach. His body rolled slightly from side to side as he regained his vision. He saw the yellow figure above him, all three shapes combined into one Mina. The bright yellow glare from the bottom of his eyes reminded him what happened. He felt her hand cup his cheek, she hastily looked for any sign of blood, aside from what was already dried.

"Shadow!" She yelped, his eyes seemed unaware and lifeless, "Look at me, look at me," She tried to pull or drag him back but he was fighting her moments.

He saw the scythe chain droop down and drag on the floor. The elder lowered his arm, and relaxed his body. His eyes still glowed brightly, with one huff it lowered its head and turned around quickly with its long dreadlocks swinging and smacking the side of his arm before resting still. Shadow sat up and growled as he tried to move forward.

It didn't have permission too. He wasn't going to leave without paying back all that it had cost. One dead wasn't enough to compare to which he, Mina, Sonic, Amy, and to a lesser extent Rouge, Knuckles, and Tails had been put through.

"Don't you dare," Shadow gasp and coughed twice. As he crawled on all fours for about a foot then slowly like a cripple getting two his own two feet, "Turn your back me, bad idea!" Shadow still held the bladed star, with two fingers he handled the long blades, and carefully he twisted them around the double sharp edges and a gripped it with his full hand without cutting himself. He whipped it back and snapped his arm forward, at the right moment he let go and let it guide itself through the air towards the Blood-Warrior.

The humming was just a later sign that he did aim for him. The elder knew it before the hedgehog even threw it at him. By just the simple sounds of flipping the star around and gripping it, he could tell the creature's intent. His hearing let him know its exact spot, the Elder spun around and held up his armored gauntlet and let the weapon clash with it. What arose was several sparks and metal clanking sounds, the elder skillfully grabbed the hyper-speed spinning star and let his fingers flick it back at the same speed. And with an eased mind, the elder coolly turned away and went on his way. His cloaking activated without a pause or change in his walking movements.

As for Shadow, the hedgehog had been on floor plenty of times today but this one was new. Spitting off some of the dirt on his lips he looked to his sides and found the Blood-Warrior gone. With jerky movements he tried to get up but something kept trying to hold him down;

"Mina let go," He growled. Shadow felt his blood boil; he was at a rage he had never felt before. Mina had her arms wrapped around his waist, but he forced them off. He felt a blazing energy inside him, one he had rarely ever felt. With her arms off of his waist he made a quick sprint for the purple emerald. He turned around and doubled his speed and chased after the thing. Blazing above the grass he leaned dangerously to the left in order to come close to the ground without stopping, he slid his arm across the grass and gripped the emerald and started harnessing the raw energy; the jewel glowed brightly in his hand, within seconds he had regained his balance.

Shadow was arriving at the forest start. There was no way that he could track them through there, with an idea already in place he jumped into the air. His shoes began a hover mode; he rose through the air and stopped just above where he jumped off the ground. Flames in his eyes allowed the emerald's power to surge into his whole arm; he rose his hand up across his chest to his shoulder and slammed it down.

One solo arrow laced with a brimming energy came from him to the earth. The energy burst hit the ground and ran against the earth for about twelve yards cutting anything in its way. The chaos spear left the twelve yards wrecked and destroyed across ten yards wide, trees fallen, some burning and anything on the floor was now sliced apart from the earth. Shadow growled when he didn't see any movement down there, he threw another spear, the result was the same but it ran longer this time. When the smoke clears and the bright energy left he found the same torn scenery, nothing but dirt, trees and some burning leaves that blew out as the wind came. When he still couldn't find them, and nothing responded back he yelled fiercely, he start raising both arms and swinging them down alternately. He fired six blasts into the ground, scorching the dirt and trees into burning piles of ashes. His eyes still found nothing, with both hands on the emerald he roared and slammed them down sending a huge surging lance of energy into the dirt than ran against it for at least twenty yards.

He couldn't even look at the burning field he just made. The direct impact of the double charged lance made a huge carter at least six yards wide and twenty yards long. It was the same as before but on a bigger scale, clouds that had been looming overhead just above the mountains were a safeguard for the fires left in Shadow's rage. The exhausted hedgehog's mind blacked out, without control of his body balancing, his body fell. The shoe's vertical sensor assuming he was falling at his own will, shut off. He hit the ground like rock, his heavy skeletal frame of metal made his body sink in about three inches. Unfortunately for him, the impact brought him back to reality. A painful one too, he felt every needle stinging pain of his old cuts being reopened and dirt being rubbed into them along with any broken twigs and the rare tiny but painful gravel rock.

But like the fighter he was, he managed to get up onto all four. He heard her screams, his name repeated over ten times by the same person. Shadow let his head hang low and spat up some blood and coughed twice. His arms shook violently under his own weight; he had never felt so weak in his entire life. With great pain he turned his head and saw the purple jewel in the distance, at the forest entry. He groaned and heard several series of footsteps, something shouted his name again but it was muffled. Soft and gentle arms wrapped around him, cuddling closer to him. They had a firm grasp, they held him back and pulled his body as close as possible to hers. Her voice was brimming with concern and on the verge of breaking into weeping.

"Shadow," She said loudly near him, he was staring blankly at the ground. His eyes were wide as if he had received a fatal blow. The ebony hedgehog's eyes closed half way slowly, he blinked quickly and looked around, blankly and lost still. She held him tighter, "Shadow, please say something,"

He coughed and gently brushed her grip off. Shadow wobbled his arms and sat up to loosen her hold and finally released. Right now, was nothing compared to how he felt seconds earlier, he was starting to get feeling back in his body. Every inch of his exterior screamed with pain, double in his opened and reopened wounds. A cut on his leg had spilt open and flooded the blood building up within it. Underneath he beaten exterior his internal organs were on the verge of death. If it were not for an infinite stabilization program in his self-material preservation guard nanos, he'd be dead. In bigger clusters they worked to bring the broken metallic bones together in completely fractured spaces and the few complete break offs, like his left shin. With Shadow movements, which were extreme for his condition, the nanos worked under great stress and pressure. In a great miracle, they managed to get his skeletal structure stable and their internal tools allowed them to make strong but short term fixes, nothing was better than the Ultimate Life Form's natural. The order best evaluated for his condition was to work from the inside out, and the mechanical safe guards began their work.

He felt a horrible pain inside. Shadow had never felt like this, ever, not even the fall from ARK and through the atmosphere and landing was this painful. His insides felt like they were burning and his open wounds stung with the pain of a thousand needles with salt tips. He groaned and managed to get to his feet, he wobbled back two steps and his right leg bent a little due to lack of strength. The battered hedgehog's head fell back and his eyes closed half way and he felt himself having no strength to balance his head and bring it down. Shadow stared into the dark blue and sky, he felt morning coming. Though the sky was deep blue and a mix purple in the distance, he could feel the morning coming. He felt the mongoose's hands take his left arm and felt a hand on his back, they were the only things that kept him from falling, and his hearing was fading into sharper tones. Her soft was filled with fear and concern, the more she said his name, the better it sounded and the more he felt his feeling of touch and awareness come back, though with more recovery; came more feeling of the current pain. He winched and growled as a leg wound stung from the wind blowing on it directly. Mina shook him gently and his head slowly dropped down and he groaned as he mouthed some words;

Let go

"Shadow!" Someone shouted from afar, he blinked and looked up, it was Tails, "Shadow—oh man you alright?" The young fox landed gently on his feet, he couldn't see details from above but up close, he saw the whole aftermath that had taken its toll Shadow. He seemed half-conscious. It was like was aware but could barely responded. But with each passing minute and with every urged to respond from Mina he started breathing easier. He kept his mouth closed and he coughed and opened it only to spit out the taste of blood. Shadow slowly turned to face those behind him. "Shadow, you okay? You went berserk for a moment and then I saw you fall to the ground—Shadow?" Tails stopped his talking when he noticed Shadow wasn't paying attention, neither was Mina; they were looking each other straight in the eyes.

Mina whimpered and jumped at him. She wrapped her arms around him and sniffled in his chest, her tears soaking his tuft of white chest fur. There was something different she felt in his body, it wasn't because he didn't hug back or even acknowledge it, no, it was the aura she felt. She let go and stared at him, he was looking to the woods on his side. Shadow closed his eyes and flinched as a neck twitch caused a surging pain in his body. The air around him, it was so tense and dark, not his usual dark, the one she had been used to, this dark was so thick and heavy, filled with an unimaginable hate and anger he had never expressed before. He could feel it inside him, the exhausting adrenaline and the raging hate of failure; he slipped up and let them escape. Shadow let his head down and focused on the grass, his attention drawn immediately to the glowing emerald, the brimming light that it had in his hand in the air had faded significantly, it looked like plain purple jewel.

"Shadow," She said in a soft toned voice, "What's wrong?" Her voice dripped with loving worry, she took his hand and tried to get his attention. Shadow shook his head gently;

"Nothing…" He sucked his teeth slightly, "Let me go," The grumble sounded annoyed, he shook off her grip. Shadow held his head as a small headache strengthened underneath his skull. The pain made him groan and blink a lot as he tried to suppress the pain, but it wasn't doing a thing. With a frown he moved his feet, the pain still stung with every tiny move but he didn't care enough right now to pay attention to the pain. Right now he was too pissed and hurt in the head to care about anything. He walked his own into the forest, leaving Tails and Amy behind, wherever they took Sonic. Shadow felt the dying feeling him again, like his inside were going to give out and let his body die. He bent down and coughed harshly, he felt like his lungs were going to come out. The taste of his own blood was nasty. That taste of your own living liquid, he spat it out once, and spat again to make sure the fluid was gone and a third time to confirm his teeth didn't have any.

"Where are you going?" She shouted just before stumbling over a stray root and end up right next to him as she regained her balance. "Shadow," Mina crossed his path and made him stare her eye to eye again.

'Something's not right,' It was the look in his eyes. His crimson orbs stared at her with a different tone, with hate and anger, but was it at her?

"Shadow, tell me what's wrong," Mina cupped his face, her thumb rubbing a stain of blood from a small scratch off of his cheek. "It's over…Shadow…they're gone, it's over." Her voice was quiet. Shadow gently put a hand on her arm and moved them slowly, his face still uneasy.

Shadow looked to his left and observed the object of interest. There was a lake in the distance maybe a good thirty to fifty yards away. The water surface rippled as a couple of acorns dunked in the lake water. Above the moon's reflected and bumped up and down accorded to the ripple wave that reflected it. There was cliff that let water pour into the lake, feeding it. The fall hit a higher elevated part of the lake that only about a couple of inches deep, but it led straight into the lake, if not for an exiting stream it would've overflowed, and with the exiting stream, the lake wasn't a lake.

Something dark was lying down near the side. Or so it seemed, Shadow ignored all of his surroundings, sounds, voice, taps, grabs and focused on this thing. It was on all fours, like a dog but its joints bent forward, unlike many of the creatures of this planet. It had its body extended over the water, with what seemed to be its head partly in the water. The creature opened its mouth revealing an inner set of teeth and hiss with those pair. It closed and opened its mouth, as if to bite the water with the side that was submerged. It rose up and turned around, a long and naturally armored tail swung around and dipped into the water, the thing backed up and dipped one of its legs in the water and brought them back to land. It shook its body once and flexed its neck, growling at no one in particular.

Shadow had been walking since then, coming closer. And fortunately Mina had noticed his interest and stopped talking and followed him as Shadow stalked the beast. She kept her distance from Shadow; there was a look in his eyes that scared her, something of bloodlust. The stalking hedgehog flinched and whimpered once, he grabbed his side. He grunted as the needle pains intensified, he groaned and looked at the thing. Shadow crept behind trees and kept low, using bushes and low hanging branches as cover. It took every single ounce of strength for Shadow to maintain a steady balance while trying to crouch. He was on the other side of the lake when he stopped at the brush and tree clearings, it was about another fifteen to twenty yards across the lake. His crimson orbs burned past the dark air and across the lake and examined the creature.

The thing growled and hissed at itself, long clawed fingers caressing its face, feeling the scars with what was to itself a gentle touch. Its face looked up and in their direction, the whole body moved; it walked on all fours carefully to the left. Shadow could hear several sniffles, his heavy blood stains and opened wounds had to have been drenching the air with smell of blood. Long black claws dug into the ground fiercely, the thing roared as the tail whipped from side to side wildly, the creature seemed to be staring at them, Shadow couldn't tell because their were no visible eyes, assuming that the front was the side with the teeth, but after this night, it wouldn't be that surprising if he was wrong. It was focused in their direction. The mouth opened and it roared with deep growl with an after-sound of a screech.

Shadow groaned from a continuing pain that kept crying out for attention, he clutched it and grunted. On one knee Shadow collapsed onto the tree next him, he had no energy and he was amazed that he hadn't passed out, even more; that he wasn't dead yet. The creature heard him and his whimpers and looked directly in his direction; it opened its mouth and screeched loudly. The high pitched sound blared into their ears and forced Mina to cover her ears. Meanwhile Shadow had to suffer with it, his pain was worse at his side than his ear but still, the thing's scream was stunning.

With awkward deer and dog like movements mix it backed up two steps and began to hop-run away. It glanced back twice before it blazed its own trail with its high natural speed. The tail left Shadow grateful that a fight did not break out, the long and heavily armored tail slammed into trees ripping them open and sometimes knocking lighter and smaller ones completely down, most of them in about two pieces or split at the least.

As much as Shadow hated being ignored in a conflict, he was grateful this time. He was grateful for the fact that his battered body wasn't tested any, he was feeling heavy eyelids. Honestly, he couldn't tell what hurt, his outer wounds or the inner ones. Hell, he couldn't believe he was able to stay up on one knee, his whole body felt like one big beaten bruise.

Pass out.

That's what he wanted to do most of all, just drop and sleep for the next couple of years. It was maddening that he couldn't though, the pain knew just when to act up again, right when he was about to give out, a spiny and blistering pain would flare up inside him, particularly his right shoulder and left rib side. Shadow leaned against the tree near him and used it to get up with less stress. He walked over to the edge of the lake, followed by Mina.

"Shadow, stop," Mina pleaded as she rushed to his side, "Look at you," She tried to make him face her as he stopped at the edge of the lake, "Just stop and look at yourself!" Shadow let his eyes drift to water below him, the moonlight gave the water a lambent aura. The reflecting water molecules let him see how bad the damage he had taken was and how visible it was. His black fur was dried with blood all over, his left ankle and shin had a few dry green blood stains and chest had a mix of red dry blood with some glowing green drizzle on top of it. Shadow could see in plain sight his most painful wounds, the dual blade that was rammed through him had sealed, he could see his under skin and the pink toned flesh that had healed it closed. On the reflection's right, the slash that had ripped his side open had been healing; the blood that had trailed out had already dried up too and clumped his fur in thick slumps of dried-blood fur, as was all over his body though. His right arm was worse; his should was torn slightly and his arm had cuts all over; his glove and most of his arm up to the elbow point were drenched in green blood. Thick and thin small sprinkles of green blood had splashed across his whole arm and to parts of the right side of his body.

The glove that was torn and ripped all over had a green tint and glowing green aura. Only now was he seeing the darker side of himself, he began to toss the idea of his sanity at the moment. He lost it and he knew it, but was he completely gone or just in the moment of rage? The fact that he was actually questioning his own state of mind was not persuading him towards the better answer. Shadow felt his knees give out and dropped to them, his hands broke the complete fall.

Mina brought him to his knees gently. Her soft touch smoothly pushing him down more until she felt and saw his body relax, "You're in no condition to be running around," She was on her knees next to him. Under the dim moonlight she could see the true extent of his wounds, "We need to get you help," It was obvious if one looked at his sides, "Can you stand?" After seconds pass it felt like she was talking to a brick wall, he wouldn't move. His face stared at his hand, the blood drenched glove with a cold and emotionless look.

"Shadow…" Mina said softly as she tried to get his attention, "Talk to me—"

"—I'm fine Mina," His was tone and speed of response was just short of a snap, "I failed…" He whispered to the air. His face frowned slightly, his eyes drifted to his left. She didn't have a clue as to what she heard, most likely no one would.

"Failed what?" The mongoose's voice was filled with surprise and shock, "Shadow there is nothing to fail! You saved us all, there is no win or lose!" Her voice was louder, she was disgusted in a way, "What is happening to you lately!"

Shadow growled and punched his left fist into the dirt; crack some of the cold, frozen earth. The raven project stood up without any pain, "You don't get it do you?" Mina twitched at his angered yell, "Sari; one of your friends is dead and she isn't coming back, those kids on the bridge are dead, Knuckles and Rouge are who knows where, Sonic is broken in at least seventeen different place and those things are still out there." Shadow clenched his fist, "And they'll probably come back to kill us!"

"Shadow you are not them," Mina felt her eyes water as she yelled back at him, "We did what we could, and you did what you are capable of! Yes, Sari's dead, and others are dead but do you really think you can take on all of those things? Even you have limits! Stop looking for a fight, it spared me for a reason, it didn't kill any of use when the chance was there, maybe they want a truce or peace!"

"Blood for blood Mina, that's how life works, they could way less than a fuck about who we are or how peaceful we are—arrgh!" Shadow turned his body and growled, "You just don't get it," He held up his hand. His right thumb, index and middle fingers extended and pinky and ring fingers curved. The left hand placed its index and middle fingers on top of his right pinky and ring, the rest of his left fingers curved around his right hand. He bent them inward so a circle shape formed by his thumb curves. He sighed, he couldn't believe he just yelled at her like she was anyone other person. His movements paused; "Forget is…I'm sorry…" he tensed again.

"Shadow what are you—" Mina gasped as he disappeared under a bright flash and twinkling spark left from his light speed teleport, "Shadow wait!" She yelled aloud, she whimpered, "Shadow!" Her tears flowed as she looked around for any sign of him, "Come back!" The only time she remembered crying like this was when she was little and for mother when she got lost in the store. Their argument and his immediate leave left her hollow and alone now, she fell to her knees and cried. She cried for him, tonight had been nothing short of insanity, she found love; she felt fear; she saw death and experienced a mix of emotions. But this one, this feeling of guilt mixed with loneliness was by far the worse of them all.

City; Hospital District:

Signs. That's all that passed him. Knuckles kept running in the correct direction according to the signs on the side of the road;

Hospital

"Well where the hell is the damn place!" Knuckles growled to no one in particular, well there was the possibility of the sign but that's for another time. Again, ignoring his numb and pained arms lasted for a little but the exhaustion was starting to ignore him ignoring it. His sprinted with all of his energy, and there wasn't much left. Knuckles felt his legs begin to drag his feet more now that his fatigue was settling in with vengeance. A dizzy feel came lightly and unnoticeably, Knuckles started wobbling to the left in his jog.

Hospital

That was it! Right there, a large white board with in bright red letters, Red Cross Hospital, Knuckles never felt so relieved to be at hospital in his entire life. He hated doctors but now he loved them;

'C'mon, we're here Rouge, I told you that I wouldn't let you die,' Knuckles dragged his job into a run. He could barely breathe as he took a left and followed the road that led into parking lots of this hospital. He sprinted straight ahead, obeying the arrow sign that said the main building was in that direction. Sure enough, there was a building, the lights were blurry and there was fuzz to the details of the building. The guardian panted harder as he took big steps up a steep but short ledge, his breathing only got harder. Across the circle that emergency vehicles pulled in and sped through Knuckles saw an ambulance pull in, it was off and silent, it pulled up to two large sliding doors, the ones Knuckles was heading for. He was closing in, but his vision was so blurry, the ambulance was so vaguely detailed, and the words '911 Emergency' was barely readable to him.

He was at the emergency entrance; he slowed down and caught his breath but refused to stop. The door did not open as he walked up to it; he growled and kicked it, cracking the glass near the metal frame. Some people heard the cracking and the metal rattling, and starting shouting at from behind the second set of doors beyond the outer pair.

"Open the damn door!" Knuckles kicked it again, bending the middle beam inward. "She needs help now!" Knuckles growled as doors inside just now opened, he kicked the outer doors again. The beam cracked and clanked, the doors finally opened. Two emergency doctors came out and immediately asked for her, one doctor was a beaver, his voice was deep and he was shorter than the female human nurse that came along with another doctor, a skunk pushing a bed cart hastily. They took her from his arms and placed her on the bed cart gently but with extreme care, the skunk and beaver rushed her back inside and down a hall. Knuckles was approached by two people, the female nurse and also a female doctor, a mouse, male probably a doctor spoke. Knuckles' closed half way and he could barely make out any facial features.

"Sir what happened?" Knuckles panted heavily, "Sir! Nurse, get him to the ER, now!" The mouse caught him as Knuckles dropped forward, his legs limping on the ground. He began to drag him inside, the nurse had come back with a bed cart and they pushed them both. The doctors began doing the most they could, their biggest concern would have to wait, and hopefully the two would be able to recover.

City Outskirts; Forest

A small tear in the air expanded into a rip of light in the forest space, strands and tears opened more and a lone figure blazed out of it. The grass his feet trended had literally been rubbed out of the ground. The lone hedgehog's legs gave out as his blazing sprint turned into a jog. Only six jogging steps led into a walked that led him a fall to his knees and completely on the ground. He panted heavily; he couldn't feel anything, but two lone tears on coming from his eyes. The set of teeth that bared dual fangs on both sets grounded to one another. His mind on the verge of a break down, how could a mere twenty second run be driving him insane?

Why did he feel so terrible right now? Sure his physical condition was at a horrible state because he had no control in his movements, but his mental state was wild. So many thoughts ran through his head as he lied down on the cold ground, revenge and guilt were the biggest ones. He felt the need to kill those that had brought hell upon him and those who ran into these creatures on this unfortunate night. Shadow the hedgehog had failed, for the first time his life he truly felt that it was his duty to protect and avenge on this night and he failed. Now those this would come back, maybe in double of force or worse, many more, an they will surely remember him for taking the life of one and trying to kill the others. But the worst of it would be should they run into Mina or the others, surely a race like theirs would be able to remember faces like theirs. And with the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald left unguarded for only hours they can come and easily seize power.

No, something felt worse. It was causing the most rage in him, aimed at himself. Sonic asked him once in his life before;

Jeez Shadow, don't you ever feel like an asshole acting and talking to people like that?

An asshole, he never cared before but now. Well things changed and he had always promised himself that he would never change because change always left room for error or vulnerability. It left space for weakness, emotions being the opening gates. He was built as the ideal perfection, and to change that would be…it wasn't necessary but why was it possible. At times like this, he wished he were a complete android, not a biotechnology and mechanically enhanced hedgehog. He could fit the role of an assassin if it weren't for his fatal flaw. He had emotions, and in his own opinion they were useless and would only lead to a downfall. But why was it so important to him? If he could care less, why was he feeling so bad right now? Why couldn't he just move on like he had with everyone else, why couldn't he put it passed him like Rouge, Sonic and the others?

'I know why…' Shadow finally closed his eyes, his mind seeping into a black consciousness 'It's cause she not like everyone, she's different, she important to me…'

Shadow the hedgehog was feeling regret.

And with this final sentence I end this chapter. I finally did and I am happy with it, its 12:00 am and I am going to bed. Good night to you and please, let me know your thoughts, don't worry I'll continue this soon. Nothing, I promise you will be left unfinished here, wait with me and you'll find out the end to this one.