One-Shot # 8: Crayon

There was no breeze to diffuse the powers of the sun. The rays ran down the air, the grass, and the trees like juice. Sticky, staining the world with an irreversible color and light; burning the images into the memory of the blue hedgehog. He examined the green foliage between his fingers and under his knees. Still, soft, silent. Within his current state; however, the grass appeared as if it had been dyed a deep scarlet. Who had done that?

His breathes were shattered, sharp like glass, ragged and heavy. He coughed, covering his mouth in an attempt to contain the crimson color from spreading any further. Of course, it was already a worthless effort, for he was decorated in newly created cuts and bruises. His arms were splashed with purple and black, his right ankle was throbbing from an unfortunate mis-step, there was a deep gash that spread across his chest, and his forehead harbored a slit that ran above his left eye. The hedgehog obviously had more wounds, but at the moment, analyzing his pain wasn't the best option. His body began to shake with heavy spasms so bad that it appeared as if an entire earthquake was contained within his tiny body.

Each swallow of oxygen felt like he was drowning. Despite the crystal clarity of the day, it was as if a thick fog had settled around his form. What was it that had caused the lack of proper oxygen? Was it the blood he tasted, the fact that he probably had a broken rib, or something else? It was most likely a combination. Swallowing, the boy nodded to himself. This was what he needed. He coughed once again, his ears pricking up when he heard the deep, rumbling growl of the other hedgehog.

"What on Mobius was that?" He asked, his voice filled with an incredible fury. "Was that the best you can do? You have to be kidding me!" A few months ago, his questioning would have been sarcastic, but at the moment, they were the very definition of malice. "That was pathetic. Your friend Tails could have done better, and he's in the hospital." The mention of his friend made the blue hedgehog's entire being freeze in place. "And of course, there's no one to blame for that but you."

The hero knew that for a fact, but he had no words to return to the black and red hedgehog. His body continued to shudder with coughs, and his eyes were clamped shut. It felt as if he was collapsing, falling, ripping apart all at once. Everything was aching. Every inch of him was ignited with a pain that was like a flame. Slow and weak at first, then wild, thrashing, and merciless. Never before had such pain—and humiliation—greeted him so kindly.

"I'm disappointed in you, Sonic." Shadow spat, "This is no where to start. If you really expect me to train you in the chaos arts with this little skill, then you might as well have given me a crayon to recreate the Mona Lisa."

The hero did not doubt—or disagree with—Shadow's words. It was true. He had come to the black hedgehog with no true experience with the chaos arts. No training, no special skills; in fact, all Sonic knew how to do was a chaos control, and he couldn't even do it without a chaos emerald. Shadow on the other hand could perform a flawless chaos spear without even a sprinkle of chaos energy. Yes, it was true; Sonic's lack of talent was pathetic.

The ebony hedgehog growled, "But I will no go back on my promise. I will train you, even if it will kill you." Shadow told him, his tone slightly softer.

Nodding, the hedgehog examined his right glove. It was soaked with the cherry color that he hated to see. The scent, the taste, everything—he hated it. More than that, he hated being so brutally defeated. He had honesty done his best in the battle. For every moment in the battle, he was intent on winning and proving to Shadow—and himself—that he could succeed. But he had failed. It was more that that; he had been beaten so viciously that at the moment he couldn't even stand up. Had Shadow been going easy on him all of those other times? When they had fought to verify who the true hedgehog was?

But it was much more than that. The hero's spirit had been broken, mauled, and murdered; but there was still one fragment remaining. His ego, though almost nonexistent after everything he had gone through in the days previous, had to die. Ignorance was no longer an option, because his "confidence" had almost killed Tails. There was no other choice. He had to have his state of mind destroyed. No more being the best of the best, no more unfaltering assurance of success, no more. There was no room for any of that. It was humiliating, but Sonic had to let it all go. It was time to grow up.

Something in the back of his mind tugged on him to listen to the black hedgehog's words, but by the time he actually tried, Shadow had pulled him upright. With blurred vision, the blue blur examined him. His scowl was the same one he always wore. Furious, endless, heartless… there were thousands of words that could have been used to describe him. Was Shadow mad that he hadn't listened? He wanted to ask, but the ultimate life form didn't allow it.

"Chaos regeneration." There was a moment of intense pain that made him cringe. Luckily, the aches ended as quickly as they had begun and to the boy's shock, so did the rest of his soreness. To his surprise, Shadow had healed him. "You will go wash up, and your real training will begin when you get back." When he had looked up, the boy saw the back of Shadow's head. "Return within an hour."

Sonic watched him for what seemed like an eternity before faking a smile and running off. Despite having the cuts and bruises mended, he still felt sore. It seemed almost as if something within that battle had signified something. It was the ending of a part of his life that he had thought would never stop. All at once, it felt as if Sonic had left behind a piece of himself. A piece that he wasn't allowed to come back for.

"A crayon, eh?" Sonic whispered. No matter what, though, he wasn't going to release his motivation. Even if it did kill him, he was going to paint a masterpiece.

Growing up is hard to do, especially if you never really had a childhood to grow up from. Sonic's been having to save people for such a long time...

Anyways, hope you liked it! This is pretty much the sequel to One-Shot # 3, requested by doylewells.

Next time is another request! And remember, you can make requests! However, I won't do M rated stuff, or lemony stories either.