In Cosmo's Shadow
By Kellie Fay
Disclaimer: Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Cosmo, and the others all belong to SEGA, Team Sonic, 4 Kids and other people not me.
*Waves to Kiari Ninja* Thanks for the review: And yeah I have more tourtures for Shadow planned. :)
To others: Please Review! Everyone needs feedback!
Chapter 11
The Darkness Returns
Actually having Rouge for a neighbor didn't turn out too badly. She kept to herself, and only seemed to be around in the early evening. Shadow found out later that being a bat, Rouge preferred sleeping most of the morning anyway, and only got up in the late afternoon. Only in the evenings did Rouge press her attention on Shadow. He complained of course, but after the last incident, he wondered if he didn't need someone just to keep an eye out for him while he slept. The incident with the data chip, and the extra bedroom still bothered him. He knew that everyone wondered why he built a second room into his house, but he didn't want to talk about it. He needed it, he didn't even know why. He didn't have the words to explain why, but he wanted to fill it with everything he wished he could have given Maria. Sometimes he would just sit there, close his eyes, and try to imagine Maria there talking about what he brought her, but he couldn't help but wonder why when he went into that room pursuing Rouge that he broke into tears.
Once a week Shadow received three more of the star flowers each one in a little makeshift container with water. He decided that if Cream chose to give him the flowers he had nothing to do with it so he did not say anything about it. He didn't let anyone go in that room anyway.
The third week of deliveries also brought a new addition, a child's doll. By now Shadow had directly caught Cream and Cheese making their early morning deliveries, but again chose not to allow even the child to know he detected her. Shadow wondered why Cream chose to give him the doll, but it went with the flowers into his private room.
He struck out at two of them. They would have tried to stop him. Once he dealt with them he turned back to his objective.
"Hold it Shadow," Sonic got to his knees and raised his head. "You mind telling me what this is all about?" He asked in a challenge.
Shadow advanced on Sonic, but they were nearly equal in strength. Sonic managed to hold Shadow off long enough for Tails to arrive.
"Sonic," he called out. Sonic barely took attention from me to shout his command. "Hurry, grab Cosmo and run!"
Shadow wasn't about to let them stop him. He ricocheted off the walls and took Sonic down, but Tails quickly started blocking Shadow from advancing using the ships security system, but it did not matter he had to complete his objective.
He blasted through door after door searching for them. Knuckles tried to stop him, but he threw a chaos spear at a stem vent, and lost him in the fog.
The wiley fox tried to get past him with his plane, but Shadow stopped him there, destroying his toy. Again and again Tails tried to stop him. He blasted Shadow out of a cannon, but he just used Chaos control to return. In desperation Tails tries to attack him, but he just punched the child aside. Nothing was going to stop him from completing his mission.
"Let's get this over with shall we?" Shadow reached out, grabbed the girl by the throat, and squeezed. He felt her wind pipe collapse under his grasp, and because he didn't want her to suffer, made sure to crush her spine as well. He let go and watched her crumble to a heap on the floor. Finished he turned away from her to leave, but stopped when he heard a voice.
"Why Shadow? Why?" She shouldn't be able to breath much less speak. She should be dead already. Shadow looked down, but the hair is gold instead of green. The flowered dress is sky blue, and the face that looks up at him is human.
It is Maria.
No, this can't be! He didn't kill Maria! The soldier did. He hunted them down without mercy. They chased he and Maria through the entire ARK.
Just like he chased Cosmo down.
His world suddenly twisted in a double vision of hunted and hunter in one. He killed her, I killed her. What did I do? What did I just do?
"Why Shadow Why?"
"No! Maria! I didn't mean! I didn't want to-"
"Why?"
NO! Shadow bolted upright in his bed. He could feel arms around him, and a soft voice coaxing him to wake up. It took a moment for the horror of the nightmare to sink in, but once it did, all he could do was fall into the arms holding him, and cry himself into exhaustion.
When he woke later with Rouge in his bed yet again Shadow felt a deep depression. Why? Why had he been so ruthless? Why did he act towards Cosmo the way humans acted towards him?
He crept out of bed without waking Rouge, and didn't resist the urge to go into his separate room. Quietly he slipped into the room, and seated himself in the large reclining chair. He draped a knit blanket over his lap and sat in the chair staring at the empty bed he placed in the room. He must have dozed a little, because he didn't realize how long he spent in the room until he felt ready to leave. Rouge sat outside in his main room looking cross.
"So where were you?" Rouge asked. Shadow gave her an odd look. She could see where he came out of. Shadow suspected that she wanted to know why he went into the room.
"I'm fine," he said instead.
Rouge frowned. "You still don't want to talk about it." She asked.
"No," Shadow answered simply. Most of the time when he stated bluntly that he didn't want to talk about it, Rouge dropped the conversation.
Rouge looked Shadow up and down. "At least tell me you remember going in there," she said flatly.
The nightmare flashed through his mind. "I remember," he said trying to suppress the shudder.
Rouge now gave him a look that helped him remember the few lessons Espio gave him on blocking his thoughts and emotions. He filled his mind with the color blue, and went off to find some breakfast.
All day the dream simmered in the back of Shadow's mind. Finally the need to get his mind off the dream sent him to chop wood for Vanilla. Instead of simply splitting the logs that were available, Shadow went after one of the fallen trees waiting to be cut up and savagely attacked the wood.
"Man, what did the tree do to you?" A voice said from behind him. Shadow whirled to see Sonic sitting on another fallen tree.
"What do you want?" Shadow snapped, not wanting to deal with happy chipper Sonic.
"Heard you were in a mood today," Sonic said casually. "You snapped at Rouge, and now I find you here now turning logs into kindling. Do you want to talk about it?"
"There is nothing to talk about," Shadow said firmly, swinging the ax down onto the wood with a savage fury.
"The hedgehog is saying no no no, but the wood is saying please please please!" Sonic teased.
Without missing a beat Shadow countered, "And the ax is saying let me at the blue hedgehog."
Sonic burst out laughing. "That was pretty good," he said, still giggling, "but seriously you might feel better if you talk about it. You didn't go sleepwalking or anything again did you?"
"I didn't go sleepwalking if that's what you're worried about," Shadow muttered, trying to keep his attention on the wood.
"But something happened," Sonic said quietly. Shadow tried to ignore him, but Sonic wouldn't be denied. "Shadow all I want to do is help you out. Why won't you talk about it?"
Shadow turned the question around. "Why do you want to help me so much? Why do you even care at all?"
To his surprise Sonic thought about it, and gave him a shrug in answer. "Don't know really. I just can't stand by watching someone who needs help, and do nothing."
Shadow wondered at that. It almost sounded like a compulsion. Shadow shrugged the thought off, and said, "Well I told you before I don't need your help."
Sonic sighed. "All right, but if you want to talk later, I'll be around," Sonic said, and with that he vanished leaving only a breeze in his wake.
Coming Soon Chapter 12
A Shattered Secrete
"Take it back right now faker or-" Shadow began his quills bristling with anger, but Sonic cut him off.
"Shadow, it's the truth whether you want to believe it or n-" Sonic didn't get the rest out, because at that moment Shadow tackled him, and tried to land a right cross across Sonic's jaw. Sonic blocked the blow, and threw Shadow off to one side.
"Take it back!" Shadow demanded. He tried again to force Sonic to the ground, but this time Sonic, ready for him, dodged, and Shadow ended up hitting the wall off the hanger.