Teardrops and Bloodstains – Chapter 6

If you're still reading this from chapter 1… THANK YOU! You may have noticed I've changed tenses and moods… I'm like that. Anyway, another disclaimer…

Big: Froggy?

Knuckles: Froggy's not here Big…

Big: FROGGY!

Knuckles: 'Sigh' I'll do it then?

Big: FROGGY, FROGGY, FROGGY!

Knuckles: None of the characters in this piece of fiction belong to Blood Wren, but to their respective owners, apart from Dark, Twin and Super the Chaos, who DO belong to Blood Wren.

Blood Wren: Thanks Knux! That's the best one yet!

Knuckles: …Can I go now?

Blood Wren: Awwww… ok then…

Knuckles: Come on Big… let's go and find Froggy…

Big: FROGGY!

'''

"All I could feel was Sonic pulling me away; I was too scared to move. The evil look on Eggman's face as he smashed the building to pieces, how did he know where we were?"

"TAILS! COME ON!"

I can't move, icy fear rushing down my spine, rooting me on the spot.

"TAILS! PLEASE!"

No matter how much I want to move, I can't.

"SHADOW! GET HER OUT OFF HERE!"

I can hear Sonic running off, probably going to help Knuckles evacuate.

"Tails… I know you're scared… please, move."

I feel Shadow's hands around my shoulders. It's all I need, so I slowly get up. Shadow grabs my hand and starts sprinting through the open door. I can see everyone downstairs, even the chaos.

"READY OR NOT… HERE I COME!"

Eggman has broken through the wall behind us, the force of the impact throwing us over the banister. Shadow's still got my hand, and with his free one, grabs the edge of the floor. The drop is too big to even think of jumping, we're on the top floor of one of the biggest buildings in the city. Then, something strange happens; Eggman actually climbs out of his machine and walks over to where we're hanging.

"Hahahaha! Look at this! I would kick you off Shadow, but I've got a better idea!"

"NO!" I hear Sonic and Knuckles shouting simultaneously from below.

"IT'S HIS OWN FAULT! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

And with that, he presses the button to shock Shadow.

"AHHHH!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

What? He's still holding on?

"WHAT?"

"It's……gonna have……… to be stronger…………….than that!"

"Pah! Pathetic hedgehog!"

So he kicks us off… It takes me a split second to know what to do… spinning my twin appendages, I stop in mid-air, but Shadow is above me, and his weight makes me falter. I can't keep us falling slow enough! I haven't carried anyone for about a year so, I can't take the strain… and now…we're… we're gonna die.

"WHAT! HE'S OVERRIDED THE SHOCK?"

And as he says that, I feel Shadow's grip loosen slightly. We've gone halfway down the building, but Shadow seems to be thinking… fast.

"Tails, stop flying!"

"WHAT? Are you crazy?"

"DO IT!"

So, I stop spinning my tails, so we're falling twice as fast.

"Hold onto my shoulders!"

So I obey him, holding onto his shoulders. Between us appears his Chaos Emerald. He grabs me around my middle and with the other hand, he grabs the Emerald.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

Everything goes dark, and I can feel my feet lightly touching solid ground. I can hear screaming inside my head, and, judging by his face, so can Shadow. As soon as it had come, the darkness faded and we are on the ground floor.

"Are… you 'Pant' ok?"

"Yeah…'Pant'"

Even though I say I'm fine, I have to lean on him, just to keep standing.

"Tails! Shadow! Are you ok?"

Knuckles and Sonic run up to us. We nod, but now I can tell Shadow isn't alright either. Chaos control must have taken a lot of energy from him, and he had just been shocked too…

"Ha-ha! They're both lying! The traitors!"

"What!"

Eggman is back in his ship, but he's ditched the ball, and now has a claw attached.

"Hmmm? Don't you know? The chip in Shadow's head leads me straight to him… and Tails asked him to stay, regardless… am I right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"WHAT? Is that true Tails?"

"Hey! Don't blame it on her!"

"Shut up faker!"

I can see Shadow's eye twitch with annoyance. Sonic runs up to him and punches him full-on in the face, sending him flying into the wall behind.

"Shadow!"

"SONIC! Calm down!"

Knuckles ran up behind Sonic and grabbed his arms to stop him from hitting Shadow again.

"It's what he deserves!"

"It's what Eggman wants! He's trying to break us up!"

"Shadow? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, it's just a little bit of blood."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You'd better listen to your red friend more Sonic! He's right you know! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What! Knuckles! Let go!"

Knuckles lets go, but is poised to grab him again. I hear Cream's sobs and Cheese is patting her on the head.

"He's… trying to break us up?"

"Don't you see it Sonic? He's trying to manipulate our thoughts like he did to Shadow, just not using a microchip!"

I shake as I say this, worried the Sonic's gonna lash out at me too.

"Tails?"

"We're stronger together! Even if some are stronger than others! But even if the stronger ones are on their own, they're vulnerable! He's trying to make us all hate you and Shadow!"

"WHAT? HOW DO YOU KNOW MY PLAN!"

"Cos geniuses think alike!"

This outburst from Amy has us all stunned, even apparently, Amy herself. In normal circumstances, I would have blushed at the complement but, this isn't normal. In his rage, without warning, Eggman zooms out of a glass window, causing the glass inside shatter and fall over us. Everyone dashes to find shelter, but I have to drag Shadow because he's getting dizzy through his loss of blood, which is getting worse. I pull him under the stairs, putting his head on my lap to tilt his head and help with the flow.

"Stay still!"

"Why? Ith's not dat bad!"

"Well why are you speaking like that then?"

"Like wat?"

"Never mind"

I'm finding it hard not to laugh. It is rather funny…

"Tails? Where did you go?"

"Under the stairs!"

Sonic pokes his head around the corner, his hand nervously scratching behind his ear.

"Err, Shadow… You ok?"

"Yeah"

"Heh, sorry about that…"

"Ith's ok, I've 'ad worsth"

Sonic is apparently fighting the urge to burst out laughing as well. I give him a warning look.

"I'm gonna go check on Cream and the chaos. Are you two sure you're ok?"

I nod, dismissing him.

"Everyone was ok, if a little shaken. Shadow's nose wasn't broken, but Sonic didn't forgive him completely. He still didn't trust him. But at that time, I couldn't really care less. We were on the run from the ruler of the planet, and there was a huge reward on each one of our heads, even the chaos. Finding people to help us was hard, seeing as they thought if they were found hiding us, they'd be killed, which Eggman wouldn't do because it would be a useless waste of his time and resources. There were a few people who didn't have anything to lose, so they helped us. We eventually found our old base in Emerald Hill Zone, and the mainframe was still intact, the old "Kintobor Computer"#, which me and Knuckles spent a few day sorting out. It managed to find the old files for the security system in the base, making us invisible to Eggman, even Shadow's Microchip. There was nothing else we could do with it anymore, otherwise we'd be detected. So we went lower into the underground bit of the base."

"This place looks like it's been empty for years!"

"It has! I'm amazed Kintobor# was still intact!"

Me and Shadow are walking through the tunnels that Knuckles had dug for us all those years ago. Bats have infested the lower caves, they'd have to be moved if this was long-term.

Since we've been on the run, Shadow and I have become closer, if that is possible. Sonic and Amy have too, it's strange.

"Are you ok? You've gone all quiet."

"Wha? Oh, I'm fine. It's just all of the memories flooding back. Like, I remember Knuckles collapsing with exhaustion. He dug all of this by hand!"

"Wow…"

I look up into his eyes, he's thinking again. They seem almost purple in this light.

"Can I feel a breeze… or is it just me?"

I look away and try and feel it… there is? But… this tunnel doesn't come out anywhere… does it?

"Yeah, I can feel it to…"

The flames in the brackets started to flicker. Shadow grabs my hand, not hard, but firmly.

"Stay close…"

I'm not gonna disagree, so I tighten my grip on his hand and move closer. I can feel his body tensing; he's trying to feel something… I feel the wind pick up more, so I get closer. With Shadow I feel safe, even though I'm always with him when things happen to me… I'm confused about that still. All of the flames suddenly blow out, as a gust of wind almost whips me off the floor. The air is freezing, and I'm starting to wish we'd turned back. I can't see, but I know he can:

"Tails? You're awake?"

"What? How can you tell?"

"I'm not called 'Shadow' for nothing... I can see in the dark better than you. Hang on."

"Do you want to go back?"

"Yeah… this is giving me the creeps, and I can't see… We should tell someone."

"Not Sonic?"

"No, not Sonic… Knuckles, he dug this tunnel, he should know where it goes."

"He still doesn't trust me, does he? Sonic I mean."

"…"

"Tails?"

"…No"

"Come on, we'd better get back, I'm getting cold."

So, with Shadow guiding, we start heading back, but I'm stumbling over rocks and bumps in the ground. Shadow seems to think it's quite funny.

"Hey! It isn't funny!"

"Well you can't see it can you!"

And he bursts out laughing again.

"Humph! Meany! Ahhh!"

"Whoa! Are you ok?"

I have just fallen over what felt like a large rock, and I'm now on the floor, clutching my ankle. I can feel him bending down to take a look.

"Ah, I think you might have broken it."

"What?"

"Can you move walk?"

I try to, but I can't.

"No"

"Can you put any weight on it?"

"No"

"This sound familiar doesn't it?"

"What?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Are you…ok?"

"…no"

"Can you walk?"

"No"

"Stand?"

"No"

"Oh yeah, Hill Top…"

The memory comes back in one. I lower my head, they're still painful… most of them.

"Yeah, come on, you'll freeze down there."

He picks me up. Now this is too familiar, being carried. First Sonic, the Knuckle, now Shadow… They'll get annoyed though, fed up. I'm becoming dependant on them again…

"God you're light Tails…"

"I… am?"

"Yeah, do you have hollow bones?"

"No… what makes you say that?"

"Well birds have hollow bones or something like that, I was thinking because of your ability to fly, your body might have had to cut down on stuff like that."

"Maybe…"

We walked on a while, I don't remember it being this far before…

"WHO'S THERE?"

The voice came from in front of us. Shadow stopped walking.

"Sonic?"

"Oh… just you then? Where's Tails?"

"Here…"

"Oh, why's it gone so dark down here?"

"A wind blew all of the torches out."

"Wind?"

"Don't ask us, we don't know…"

"Hmmm…"

And after that, I hear the quick footsteps indicating the departure of Sonic.

"He really doesn't trust me"

"Don't take it the wrong way; he used to be like that with Knuckles."

'''

Wow… a STC reference. It was bound to happen… REVIEW PLEASE!

#Kintobor – Robotnik (Eggman's REAL name is Dr. Robotnik to all you newer Sonic fans!) spelt backwards. For more info, check the STC's (Sonic the comic) version of Sonic's origins. (STC is no longer being published, so you might have to find it online.)

Word pages Update!

1 – 4

2 – 4

3 – 5

4 – 3

5 – 7 and a half

6 – 5

28 and a half pages!