CHAPTER 44
It was early the next morning at the Chaotix. Everyone was in the lobby listening to Shadow explain what had happened yesterday.
Ker gasped in shock while he stared at the white bandage that was wrapped around Shadow's head. "Charmy hit you with a rock?"
Tonya wouldn't think in a million years Charmy would attack Shadow. "That's so…out of character for him."
Espio placed a finger to his chin while he observed the bandage around Shadow's head. "You're lucky that blow to the head didn't give you a concussion."
Appex had made a small chuckle, "I always knew he had a pretty hard head."
The group of detectives glared at the porcupine.
Appex noticed their stares and made an uneasy look. "What? Too soon for jokes?"
Everyone had then heard the door open. They turned and saw Margaret walking through the door and approaching the desk Shadow was sitting at. She arched an eyebrow at the bandage that was around his head. "What the hell happened to you?"
Before Shadow could explain to her what had happened, Midnight spoke. "Charmy nailed him in the head with a rock."
"Yeah", Shadow spoke. "I found out that little shit has one hell of an arm on him."
Margaret placed her hands on her hips. "What the hell did you do to piss him off?"
He slowly shook his head, "Nothing. I just tried to talk to him."
"And?"
"He didn't listen to me…"
She began to worry all over again. Charmy wasn't listening to her or Shadow. She was beginning to think that everything was becoming hopeless. "Do you know where he is?"
"I placed a tracking device on him yesterday but now I'm sure he's found it." He knew he had found it since he did mention to him yesterday that there was one on him.
She bit her lip in worry. "So you don't know where he is?"
"Not exactly but I do know the area he's been hanging around. I'll have to search the entire district to find him."
Rouge figured he was going back to look for Charmy again but this time, she didn't want him going by himself. "Let me come with you."
"No", he spoke. "I don't need any of you to come along." His eyes wandered over to Margaret. "Margaret?"
She focused her attention to him.
"I need you to come with me."
The group of detectives shared surprised looks. They were all shocked that Shadow had wanted Margaret to come along with him to look for Charmy.
Margaret had pointed to herself. "Me?"
He made a small nod towards her, "You raised that boy for years alongside Vector. You are his guardian…you're practically his mother. It's important that you come with me."
She made a nod as she agreed with him. "I'll do it. I'll do anything to bring him back home."
"Then it's settled…" He stood up from his chair, "Let's go find him."
Later on that night, Charmy was alongside Ryder, Spitfire, and Diego. They were all standing in front of an old shut down convenient store using spray paint to vandalize outside the walls and windows.
When the can of spray paint was empty, Charmy had tossed the can onto the ground. He then saw Ryder walk over to him with a smile.
"Isn't this great, Charmy? I know you were kinda down in the dumps yesterday with what happened between you and your boss and all. But doesn't this make you feel a whole lot better?"
"Yeah!" Spitfire added. "It feels good to let out that aggression huh?"
The bee tried to form a smile, "Yeah it kinda does. Thanks, guys!"
They then all heard Diego call out to them.
"Hey, guys! Check this out!"
They all turned and saw Diego standing in front of a parked car that was across the street. They all ran across the street to meet up with him.
The red cheetah gazed upon the fancy and expensive looking black sports car that was parked on the side of the street. "Look at this beauty!"
"Heh, someone's loaded", Spitfire added.
Ryder formed a smirk, "Whoever they are, they sure picked the wrong spot to park their ride."
Spitfire turned to Ryder. "Should we take it for a joyride?"
The white parrot shook his head, "I have a better idea." He glanced around until he spotted a rusted metal pipe that was laying on the sidewalk. He picked it up and handed the pipe to Charmy.
Charmy held the pipe in his hands in confusion and looked up at Ryder.
"Trash it. You know you wanna."
Charmy just knew deep down that destroying the car would be extremely wrong. But he was angry at everything. He thought he had left the life he once knew and was starting a new one with Ryder and his gang. He clenched the pipe in his hands as he thought about the consequences, but this was the life he chose. He said goodbye to everything he had known. So what else did he have left to lose? He turned to the car and fixed his angry eyes upon it.
Meanwhile, Margaret was walking alongside Shadow around the dark and seemingly dangerous part of the city. She crossed her arms as she tried to warm himself from the freezing cold night air. She looked over to Shadow who had just finished smoking a cigarette. "Are you sure Charmy's hanging around this part of the city?"
He flicked the cigarette down onto the pavement and exhaled the last bit of smoke from his mouth. "I'm positive. This area is well known for street thugs and homeless people."
Her eyes wandered away from him and looked down to the ground. "I just don't understand. Why this? Charmy was always such a bright and smart boy. Why did he choose to go into this kind of life?"
He turned to her, "I didn't think that I would see this coming either, but there is an old saying…"
She took her eyes away from the ground and turned to him.
"The ones who are the most happiest are often the most saddest."
She thought about it and she figured the things he was saying had some truth to it. She mostly always knew Charmy for always laughing and smiling. It was rare when he had gotten depressed about anything. She had supposed it wouldn't be normal for anyone to be happy all of the time. "…Shadow?"
He turned to her and gave her his full attention.
She had then nervously took her eyes away from him, "Even though I think you're a fucking pain in the ass most of the time, I do appreciate the little things you do for Charmy."
He continued to listen to her as they walked together.
"The truth is I can't always be there for him and it hurts me so much because I always think of him as a son to me." She slowly looked back over to him, "But I've always found comfort knowing that you love and care for him enough to make sure he always had a clear mind and keeping him safe." She formed a small smile, "Don't think I'm going soft on you or anything but I'm glad Charmy has someone like you to look up to. And I know he appreciates you too."
Shadow paused and was shocked to hear such words coming from her. This was one of the few times Margaret had ever said anything nice to him. A small smile formed on his lips, "…Thank you."
The both of them stopped in their tracks when they heard male voices shouting and something being smashed.
Shadow started to look around to see if he caught sight of anything. "What's that?"
"It's probably some stupid kids vandalizing something", Margaret had spoke carelessly.
Shadow paused when she had mentioned that it was probably kids making the strange noises. "Kids?"
She made a small nod, "Yeah probably." She had then saw him about to follow the sound of the voices.
"Come on! We gotta check it out!"
Margaret followed behind him until she and him come across a group of teenage boys who were smashing a black car with bats and metal pipes.
Her eyes widened when she caught sight of a familiar bee who was joining alongside the group of boys. "Oh my God! Charmy!"
Once Shadow had caught sight of the bee, he ran over to the group of boys. "Hey! Stop it! Stop it right now!"
The group of boys immediately stopped what they were doing and dropped the pipes and bats to the ground. They spun around and turned to the hedgehog. They all began to panic at the sight of him.
"It's that hedgehog again!" Spitfire had shouted in panic.
Ryder spun around to Charmy. "Why does this fucker keep finding us, Charmy?"
"Yeah", Diego added. "I thought you got rid of that tracking device?"
Charmy turned to the group with his shoulders shrugged, "I-I don't know."
Margaret stood beside Shadow and stared at the bee in worry, "Charmy…"
The bee's eyes widened in shock that she was there alongside Shadow. "Margaret?"
Shadow glared at the three boys. "You little shits better scram or I'm calling the cops on all your asses!"
In panic, they did as he wanted and they all ran off.
Before Charmy could run off with them, he heard Shadow calling out to him.
"Don't you dare, Charmy! You're coming with us!"
He turned away from the hedgehog in annoyance, "You're nothing but a joke, Shadow."
When she saw him about to run off, she shouted out to him. "Charmy, please! Listen to Shadow! He just wants to help you!"
"Help me? Yeah right! He's done enough!"
Shadow had reached out and grabbed his wrist before he could run away from them. "Charmy, listen to me!"
The bee struggled to get out of his grip but he couldn't break free. "No! I told you to stay away from me! I don't want you near me!" He finally jerked his wrist out of his grip. He stood there and continued to yell at him. "Why can't you understand? You're a bastard! A selfish bastard!" He was silenced when Shadow suddenly sent a powerful slap to the side of his face. The hit was so hard, it knocked the helmet he wore off of his head.
Margaret's heart skipped a beat as she witnessed him hit Charmy. "Shadow!"
The bee held his burning red cheek and slowly turned back to the furious hedgehog.
It took a moment for him to calmly talk rather than yell at him. "…Would a selfish bastard do that?" He growled in a low tone.
A strike of fear had overcame him as he nervously confronted the hedgehog. "…You…hit me…"
"You're damn right I hit you! I'm sick of you not listening to what I or what anyone else has to say! Do you not understand? If no one cared about you, why would we be walking around half the city in the freezing cold to find you! I don't know if you've noticed but a lot of people love and care about you!"
Tears started to swell in his eyes, "But…why? I treated you and everyone else like total crap. I…I said I hated you. Why don't you hate me?"
"Don't you get it?" He kneeled down at the bee, "No matter what happens, I could never hate you, Charmy. We're a family and we will always love and look after each other."
A sniffle escaped him while he listened to Shadow.
"Besides, what would Vector say if he saw you like this? He'd kill me…" He spoke in a weak voice.
Just by hearing the tone of Shadow's voice, Margaret knew that he was practically on the edge of tears.
Even Charmy had saw tears swelling in the hedgehog's eyes.
"I'm responsible for you damn it. I couldn't forgive myself if something were to happen to you too." He tried to fight back his tears, "I don't care how much you try to push me away. Nothing will stop me from making sure you're safe."
A tear streamed down his cheek when he saw him beginning to cry. "…Shadow…" He was then pulled into a sudden hug by him.
He began to sob even more when Charmy had returned the hug. "I don't want to lose you too! I love you, Charmy!"
The bee began to break down while Shadow held him in his arms. "Shadow!" He cried, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Margaret's eyes swelled with tears as she saw the two hugging each other. "Oh, Vector", she spoke softly. "He's okay…your little boy's safe…with his family…"
In The Next Chapter…
Rouge: It's so good to see you smiling so much, Shad.
Shadow: It just feels like everything is finally going right.
Nails: A surprise party for Charmy? I'm so excited!
Tonya: Rouge?
Rouge: I'm sorry but…I just don't want him seeing me like this…