Thats right folks, this is IT! The final chapter in this little tale. No more cliffhangers or open ends. This is where one shall stand and one shall fall.
Part Thirty: In The End
Some would consider the act of teleportation to be unnerving and even ridiculous compared to the rest of the known universe. To transform one's body into pure energy, move through dimensions most would never see and then break back through the barriers of reality to reappear in the physical realm in a place completely different was utterly insane to most 'normal' beings in the universe. Even Sonic the Hedgehog, perhaps the most world-renowned thrill seeker had only attempted the feat a handful of times, and even he would admit that such a notion as having his molecules come apart bothered him just a bit. But to the ultimate life-form, it was simply another means to accomplish whatever mission he had been charged with. And at the moment, his duty and only charge in life was to save the person who saw more than melancholy and subdued anger in his heart. The one who now bore his future inside her, a future he would sacrifice his ultimate soul for. And it was starting to bug Shadow that one of his most important and viable abilities was rendered useless by his weakened condition. For these were the moments that required no delay, no hesitation in their execution as he rushed back down through the halls he had just ascended from. Hang on my flower, I'm almost there!
Leaping over the remains of the door that his cobalt counterpart had broken, Shadow nearly tripped over the lifeless form of a grunt as he darted down corridors and bounced through various rooms looking for any trace of Amy Rose. Even at speeds well beyond reckless in such a claustrophobic environment, every one of his senses were peaked and alert. All the crimson-splashed hedgehog needed was a whisper, a milliseconds glance, any sign would do. Sadly, his efforts yielded nothing but wreckage and ruin on the floor, mostly from his own efforts. None of the still conscious guards engaged him, if they were fortunate enough to even spot the black blur dart past. Shadow growled to himself, combining frustration with unadulterated power as he brushed back the bristling fur along his forehead. Once again, the future he never really deserved nor seen coming had seemed to dance right out of his hands. How much harder to I have to fight to just be at peace? What else must I give to be given tranquility? Those thoughts seemed to bounce around inside him like a reckless pinball until the solution dawned on him with its simplicity.
It was such an obvious oversight that the hedgehog nearly slapped himself. Besides Sonic himself, Shadow was the fastest thing in the building. Even if his blossom was moving at her full speed, there was no way she could outrun him. Unless she somehow mastered the power of Chaos Control itself, but that was a feat he didn't find very likely. So that left only the most rewarding option that she was still close by.
Of course, speed was not much of an advantage in the closed quarters of a building. Though if need be, he would be more than willing to tear the structure down to its foundations if anything stood in his way as long as her safety was assured. Darting back down the corridor he'd come, Shadow took every corner and crossroads on the level, leaping over the reminders of his potential. But perhaps it was the way the blood still hovered right in level with his nose or the constant cycle of taunting and prodding of his heart that actually made the ultimate life-form almost double over, sapping the speed from his shoes. If were anyone else in this world, then he would have resorted to more extreme and impatient methods already, but this was far different. This was Amy Rose, his Amy Rose. And if Shadow had to crawl to her on his bleeding hands and knees to be at her side, then so be it. He would have his absolution, and much sooner than seemed probable in the current stream of time…but was it soon enough?
Every step forward was like the wave chasing down the stone that made it. Even if the pace was nowhere near the breakneck speed of their comrades, the three of them stayed locked in straight and true in their course, each with their own reasons but all keeping in harmony. Whatever differences or divides they might have had were silently buried in the moment, for there was too much on the table now to risk a weak hand.
Covering the rear with twin tails purring true was Tails. Ever since he was a kit, the bright orange canine had been surrounded by violence and insanity, and the thought of such deeds striking so close to home made his young core blaze. Or perhaps it was all those years spent fighting along side the fastest thing alive that had finally rubbed off on him to do whatever his heart told him was right. Whatever it was, the energetic kitsune would do what he could to protect her during these most precarious of times.
Never one for taking the simplest route, the strongest member of the trio descended the stairway not by step or flight, but by leaps and bounds off wall and railing alike. Just as he had always done since he could stand, Knuckles had been charged with the protection of something most precious and a source of great power. For if each emerald scattered about the planet represented the emotional energy of the world, then the Master Emerald was the embodiment of love and passion. Without the other gemstones, the Master was but a glowing rock. But without the shining green stone, the other emeralds were just as worthless. Such was the case here, as the guardian kept his senses peaked and muscles tense. Just as he did a thousand times before, the echidna was ready to tear into any challenge if it meant something so precious as love and life would be preserved.
And leading them all in their charge, one delicate step at a time was the blossoming flower that had been the center of this odyssey since that fateful night of a party and a broken heart. But that core had been wrapped in tender bandages of ebony and trust and now beat stronger than ever, no longer hidden behind layers of youthful innocence and ignorance about the world around her. Maybe her blacken beau was finally rubbing off on her, or perhaps Amy Rose had stared danger in the face one time too many, but now she understood so much more. She felt so much more, not just about the reality itself but about him. Shadow may be the 'ultimate life-form' on the surface, but she'd seen into the turbulent core of her knight, and inside was that same feeling of love and longing, locked away under carefully built walls of anger and loss. Yet that heart still beat true, and its valor made her feel more content that she'd ever known. Which led her down this little escapade to reclaim her place in his arms.
"There it is, Amy! The isolation level!" the airborne fox called out. Indeed, the group approached the broken and bloodstained remains of a shattered air-tight door. Practically leaping over its frame, the bright cherry hedgegirl skidded to a halt before she tripped over a lifeless pile of armor and skin, bare feet catching the edge of a crimson puddle. Once her mind had caught up to her motion, Amy couldn't help but gasp at the scene, for it was nowhere near what she had pictured. Even the echidna's violet eyes went a bit wide at the display of when indomitable will meets breakable boundaries.
"What happened down here? It looks like a blender exploded!" the young fox quipped.
"I'm sure Shadow will appreciate the complement" Knuckles replied, poking at one of the bodies to ensure its condition.
"You think… you think he did all this?" her voice emerged as barely above a whisper.
"Without a doubt. Sonic may be reckless, but he's not this cold" replied the spike wielding sentry.
No words could counter his estimate, for she knew somehow that he was right. Deep down, Amy wasn't sure what to make of such a scene. There was little doubt in her mind that the echidna was dead on about his suspicions on the source of such primal power. She'd seen first hand what her ebony knight could do under duress or when he was intensely focused, she could still feel the echo of his presence in the air. And Rose trusted in the fact that it was her that the dark hedgehog was looking for. But what had driven him to go so far as to do all this?
Was he even still alive after such a brawl?
And most important of all, what would stop him from going this far again?
Amy's legs wanted to simply dissolve under her frame as the pressure began to build in her ribs, and if not for the steadying frames of the two males, she would have done just that. But as a pair of sturdy braces came across to bear her lithe frame, there is was. A flickering image of crimson and charcoal standing at the other end of the hall, fists clenched and eyes almost vibrating with tempered energy. And with one look that felt like it was a mile away, those blood-red eyes almost seemed to soften.
"Shadow…" her voice was soft and warm as it emerged just barely at whisper's level. Still it was like a glacier crashing into a wildfire as in an instant, Shadow's hands dropped to his sides and spines floated down into their normal resting place. Wordlessly, the red-splashed hedgehog glided closer towards her, relieved grin threatening to break his stonic exterior when the young flower did the one thing even Shadow had not anticipated.
As soon as he was within touch distance, she shyed away from those hands covered in affection and blood. In the air, the feelings of anxiety and suspense had grown beyond palatable, as even the other males noticed her withdrawal. A reaction that cracked apart the sweet bliss of the moment as both of them realized what had just transpired. Even longing anxiousness gave way to such a basic instinct as concern and even fear. His outstretched hand faltering back to his side, his crimson eyes lowered shut as Amy suddenly began to spout "Shadow, I'm sorry! I just"
"No Rose, I understand." he responded, voice smooth but weakened down to a whisper. "I failed to anticipate just how hard these humans would try and stop me, and so I answered in kind. In doing so, I had to tap into the side of me you should never have had to witness. So it's quite ironic that my efforts to save you have probably cost me your regard…"
By this point she had heard enough sorrow and apologizing from his tone, so Amy reacted with the one surefire way she could think of to reinforce her dark knight's feelings with her own. Deftly stepping over that barrier of apprehension from events current, just hearing his heart carried on that voice once again had reached out to touch her very center. As soon as she was within range, those delicate cherry hands reached out to envelop those charcoal cheeks to lock his eyes down to hers "Oh Shadow…" were the only words to escape her lips before they graced his own. Instantly, that iridescent spark that had come to be between them found its fuel reenergize, as the kiss expanded beyond a simple peck into a another, then a bit more and more again.
"Sheesh, you think you two could wait until after we make a daring escape?" interrupted that time-tested wit from down the corridor, where another hedgehog stood, grin wide and cerulean shoulders shrugged.
"Faker, one of these days that eavesdropping tendency you have is going to get you shot" Shadow replied with a light growl.
"Nah, the bullet would just bounce off his ego" Knuckles could not help but inject, earning a chuckle from the sunset kitsune. Sonic clutched his hand over his heart, but even the target hedgehog was laughing slightly. It was as if all the evening's tension had been bled dry in a sheer frenzy of fury and countered blows.
Cuddling to her knight's ivory-peaked chest, Amy allowed herself the first easy smile in felt like eternity. "Shadow, I'm so glad you're all right. It felt so horrible being without you, without even knowing if you were okay…" Though her voice sounded steady enough to most, only Sonic and Shadow could really tell that the young flower was putting her best foot forward. Those sweet tones still carried a wavering current of anxiety and uncertainty beneath them, ones that the ultimate life-form felt past due to resolve. "It's nothing compared to the fragments of the past. Still, my only concern was you. I've already come too close to losing you once. I will not risk it again" Shadow's voice took on a primal edge for a moment, but he was quick to soothe it back into normal frequencies.
Still, they were tones that well trained ears easily picked up on as they came down to their level "Wow, Shads. I've never heard you show that much worry about anyone. Not even me! Amy, hun, I think I'm a touch jealous." Rouge said with an unabated smile as she approached through the air, a panting canine in a lab coat in tow. Once at the corner of the crossed intersection, Cale leaned heavily against the wall as the huntress floated further to her ruby guardian's open hands. "Guess I… need to… work out more" Caimen stammered out in spurts. Most of the remaining guests were at least relieved or positive about the good doctor's appearance. Only Shadow was still hesitant about were the wolf's allegiances stood.
"Doctor, how long have you been in on this plan? How long have you been watching us?" he asked. The midnight hedgehog didn't expect the truth per se, but his answer would give him an estimate on how badly the agency wanted him back or out of the way, lie or not.
Luckily for him, Dr Caimen was just as tired of this mess as everyone else. The sheer madness of this operation had opened his eyes to just how paranoid true power can make a person. Form here on out, it was time for honesty for himself, his patients, and the audience itself "I was stationed here over a year ago, shortly after you left G.U.N. I was part of a team with a simple mission; to find you, observe your behavior and keep you under our eye. The only reason that the higher ups chose hospitals was because they figured you'd eventually find that challenge you simply couldn't tame." Now that his pulse had steadied, the canine stood tall, fixing the collar of his coat "Through this whole mess, my orders were the same, and I never expected you to show up the way you did the first time we met. And while it is true that I kept my superiors informed of your activities, I never knew that this… all this was their contingency. And for that Mr. Shadow, I am truly sorry. Sorry that you all had to be exposed and drug through this."
Even if the wolf was lying profusely, Shadow knew that even hinting about such a mission was a grave offense against the regulations that had once weighed him down during his employ with the Guardian Unit of Nations. It didn't mean that he had given Caimen any kind of leeway, but the midnight hedgehog nodded his understanding of the problem. "I don't like being kept under a microscope like a parasite, but I doubt the agency will settle for anything less. Is that what you were talking about upstairs?"
Nodding, the ash colored physician gestured to the ivory bat "Miss Rouge was able to get in touch with the higher powers and call back the operation. I think right now it's just Treize and those soldiers directly under him we have to contest with, they we're the only ones who are ignoring the message."
"Ignoring? How the hell are we supposed to deal with the words of liars and hypocrites!" a new voice bellowed out from the shadows around the corner behind Caimen, who turned to face the intruder with jaw agape. Instantly, Shadow's fur stood on end as his fists clenched and crimson orbs focused on the barrel of the automatic rifle that Treize had leveled at him. Instinct positioned Shadow in front of Amy, easily willing to use his body as a shield if so needed, as was the same with Knuckles moving to cover Rouge, fists leveled and ready to strike. Unused to dealing with such personal firepower, Tails kept his cover around the corner, letting his ears take in all the dramatics he could stand, but Sonic felt the wind calling his name as his blue spines twitched anxiously. All either hedgehog normally needed was a split second's opening, a single breath of hesitation. But with so much possibility for collateral damage, both held their ground as Treize emerged from the darkness, but no further. The human knew how far his reach was and fully intended to keep his quarry at length.
"Agent Treize! What the hell are you doing?! This is in direct violation of your orders!" Cale barked out. The human did not even tilt his sunrise capped head as he replied, keeping both hazel eyes and rifle sight on Shadow. "On the contrary, Doctor. My orders haven't changed since someone turned traitor and abandoned those who counted on him. Do you remember that, Shadow? Can you still see their faces?"
Snarling, the ebony warrior lashed back "Can you? Do you really think that capturing me will solve anything?"
Instead of an instant retort, Agent Treize chuckled that same mirth that had always irritated the hedgehog whenever it emerged from his throat "Still as arrogant as ever, eh Shadow? Since when was all of this about you? After all, we could have just left you for dead on the operating table, but this way you can at least watch your children grow up from an isolation cell."
And that was the breaking point right there. Threats of pain and imprisonment were easily dismissed by the ultimate life-form when they were pointed at him. But when levied against those who hadn't even taken their first breath, that was simply infuriating in a realm all its own. But Shadow wasn't the only one who had become fed up with standing still, and that fact would easily work out in favor of the dark knight. Since Treize had locked onto Shadow and kept his focus there, the human had to at least turn his eyes as far as they could go to accurately watch anyone else. Which meant when Sonic braced himself for an offensive all his own, the agent had suddenly divided his attention between two very fast-moving targets. The moment those brown orbs quickly flashed to one side to watch the blue blur, Shadow took to the air in a monumental burst of speed and wrath. Treize's finger pulsed back on the trigger as reflex demanded, but it was almost futile without the guiding sight behind the weapon as three high velocity rounds zipped past the hedgehog's cranium, past Dr Caimen's muzzle and into the wall.
But where the human had failed, the ultimate life-form succeeded. Deep from within his recharging core, deep red electricity swirled around his fist as Shadow connected with a bone-shattering hook to the taller soldier's cheek, before momentum carried his weight into a follow through kick that planted the heel of his airshoe into the back of the falling human's neck. Even the bandages around the hedgehog's body could not take the torque and fell away from his body as Treize hit the ground with a satisfying thud and did not try and stand again. Once Shadow stepped back to confirm his work, Cale bound the human's arms and legs with surgical tubing retrieved from nearby laboratory wreckage. "Nice shot, Shadow. I thought for sure you would have tossed him through the window" the canine jested.
Smirking in response, the midnight clad sentry vented a quiet sigh as his pulse slowed to mortal norms. Crossing his arms across an almost completely healed sternum, he spared the defeated one last glare "The thought had crossed my mind. But that wouldn't have taught him anything, and then this mess would never have ended. At least this way, he can answer for his failures. What about the rest of the organization?"
Shaking his head, the canine nodded over to Rouge, who was approaching with ruby guardian in tow "Leave them to us. She still has some pull, as I imagine even you do, and I'm in charge of this coup now. I can't guarantee that they will simply forget about you, but I'll do what I can to make sure all this never happens again."
"Same goes for us too, Shads. You don't have to worry" added the ivory huntress, catching a mild look of dismay from the echidna "Wait, we will? How the hell…"
Rouge cut him off with a soft, yet solid glare, making Knuckles shut his open mouth and nod "Yea, no worries."
"Shadow? Worry? Never heard those two words in the same sentence before" Sonic butted in, drawing in light mirth from the rest before the fastest thing alive nodded over to where Amy was waiting just behind them "Now then, don't you have someone else to attend to, 'faker'?"
Giving his doppelganger a patented 'humph', Shadow turned to face Amy once more, and was rewarded with a bright cherry blur crushing against him, arms linking behind his neck and warm cheek nuzzled against the ivory patch on his chest. No real words were needed at the moment, as this simple gesture was far more powerful. Such a mark of victory had been shown time and time again throughout history, and it never seemed to grow dimmer or meaningless. "Let's go home, Shadow" she whispered to him, even though everyone else within the gathering caught it.
"Yea, Amy's right. I've officially had my fill of hospitals! No offense doc" Knuckles added.
"None taken." Dr. Caimen smiled in reply as Rouge offered a light hug as her thanks "If you need me, just give a ring down at my club" she offered, which Cale accepted with a nod as the two treasure hunters departed back down the staircase, the echidna's arm wrapping around her shoulders and ivory locks tangling with red dreadlocks as they both leaned over to just savor the company.
"We should probably get going too, Tails. I'm guessing someone is worried sick back at your shop" Sonic added with a shrug and a grin. Naturally, it only took a fraction of a second for the canine genius to jog his own memory "OHMYGOSHCREAM!" he practically yelped out and took off down the hallway in a bright orange blur. Laughing at his little brother's overzealous nature, Sonic was also quite relieved that all this was over. Sure, he didn't have the starring role in this adventure, but the cause was all the same, as was the victory. "Take care of yourself Shadow. Don't let me catch you in any more trouble."
Shadow gave him a mock glare somewhere between annoyance and gratitude, to which the cobalt cruiser gave his classic thumbs-up. But as that hand was in midair, another one reached out to enfold it. This one was smaller, covered in bright pink fur, and far more delicate "Thank you, Sonic. I mean it."
"Heh, it was nothing Ames, really. Besides, we're counting on you to keep him in check."
"Oh ha ha, faker" Shadow butted in.
"I will Sonic. He's in good hands" Amy said, wrapping her arms back around the darker hedgehog's waist.
"Now then, I need to go catch Tails before he embarrasses himself. See you two later!" And with that, the fastest thing alive was off once again, leaving only the two loves to head out at their own pace. Casting one last look over at the good doctor, Shadow's question was beaten by Cale's nod for them to go "Just make her happy, Shadow."
In one fluid motion, his flower was cradled tightly back in his arms, a position she relished in. Amy's grip secure around his neck, the ultimate life-form followed the path their comrades had laid down, out of the building, past the dwindling remains of any sort of crowd and into the east, just as the first hints of sunlight began to breach over the horizon.
Finally, there was some small sense of relief as the suspense and tension of the evening bled into night sky. The sides of the board had clashed twice over with so many futures at stake, with ambitious empires falling and a new sense of unbiased peace breaking though into the future. Whatever future that was still lay deep in the fog of uncertainty, but for the first time in a long while, no one seemed to mind. At least, there was absolution for one and peace for all.
Terminus (aka: fade to black...)
I really, REALLY hope that this wont be percieved as deus ex machina, but I felt that this was the best way to bring this tale to a close. Granted, there is a completely seperate version of this story out there somewhere, but it might stay where it is for now...
Regardless, I do hope you have enjoyed watching all this unfold.
-Shade