*YAY!!! Trilogy Time!!! I thank you all for coming back yet again readers. Oh, and just a quick note- there's more sadness than previously expected, so try to bear with me in this one. But please, continue reading! This is where things start to get really good!! Lastly, please review, and enjoy what you're about to see!*
Shadow stumbled down the hall, pressing one hand on the cold wall for support. The shock of what Rouge said was making his movement difficult. He had nowhere to go in particular, but just needed to get as far away from the room as possible. Eventually, the hallway led to a dead end, and he gratefully walked toward it. Shadow leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until he sat on the floor. He put his head in his hands and let the numerous questions he had blocked out finally invade his mind.
What was wrong with him? He never felt like this before. Then again, maybe it wasn't entirely him. Did Rouge have something to do with it too? Shadow let out an angry sigh, then punched the wall beside him out of frustration. He was tired of not knowing. However, his mind resumed torturing him with impossible questions. If Rouge was a part of it, then what part? And was there a way for him to somehow be... included?
Shadow shuddered with that thought. How could he think that? What was he thinking? He surely wasn't thinking Rouge was...
As he thought of her, that feeling came over him again, the unbearable one that he had felt so many times before. Interestingly, it only happened when he thought about the times he hurt Rouge or when he was actually doing so. What was that feeling? Shadow thought deeply about this, then finally figured it out. It was guilt; something that he had heard about, but never actually experienced, until now. The pain escalated with each passing moment Shadow's thoughts rested on her, reaching its worst when the image of Rouge sitting alone in the room, crying over what happened to her- what he did- crossed his mind.
Abruptly, Shadow stood up with newfound determination. He was going to fix things, and this time, actually fix them. Shadow marched back to the room, hoping that that Rouge was still there, and that she didn't completely hate him.
*Oh Shadow, Rouge could never hate you! (Maybe be completely terrified of you, but that's beside the point.)*
Meanwhile, Rouge calmly laid back on the bed. Her mind began to fill with questions similar to what Shadow's had. What was wrong with her? She had never, never cried like that. Why was it so hard to control her emotions now? Maybe, she thought, it wasn't her at all. Could Shadow be the reason behind it? Maybe, she thought again. Maybe...
At that moment, Shadow reentered the room, to Rouge's surprise. She sat up, bracing herself for whatever he was going to dish out to her. However, Rouge began to loosen when she noticed Shadow's face. It was an unreadable expression, but she couldn't find any signs of hostility within it. Cautiously, Shadow moved to the other bed and sat down. He clasped his hands in his lap and stared at them intently, as if his life depended on it.
"Look," he began. He sounded nervous, unsure of what to say next. "I've been thinking, and..." He sighed and closed his eyes, finding what he was about to say difficult. Rouge sat patiently, waiting for some kind of continuation. However, none came.
"What?" she prompted gently. Shadow took in another deep breath, and quietly began again.
"I was just thinking, and realized that... how I've acted the past two days was... wasn't right."
"No, it's not that-" she started.
Shadow snapped his eyes open and looked straight into Rouge's own, silencing her. She was startled only for a slight moment, but Shadow had sensed it, and mentally punished himself for it. Why did he always make her afraid? That's not how he wanted her to feel. He wanted her to see him as someone who she could approach, someone who... But then, a voice in the back of his mind began to ask that accursed three-letter question- Why? Why did it matter to him what she thought?
"Because," he whispered to himself. Rouge looked at him with confusion.
"Because I-" he said again, holding his head in his hands. Slowly his frustration grew as he wrestled with the questioning voices torturing him. Rouge detected that Shadow's mood had shifted, and began to inch backward on the bed, afraid of what she took to be anger.
"Stop," he said, catching her movement. She obeyed, and remained frozen in place on the bed. After a brief moment, Shadow broke the silence between them.
"Listen," he started calmly, closing his eyes again. "As I said, I've been thinking, and realized that the way you've been... treated since we've met has been... less than perfect, and that's mostly because of me. So... I figured that I had to say... sorry."
*Awww!! How sweet!! I know this isn't a section break, but I just had to interject!*
Neither of them spoke for the longest time after that, or moved for that matter. Rouge couldn't help but stare at Shadow with wide eyes, trying to absorb what he just said. She couldn't believe that he said that- it was so unlike him. Perhaps that's why Rouge was so surprised by it. All this time, she thought he was annoyed by her, seeing how he always seemed edgy around her. But then again, maybe it was different. Maybe it had always been different, and she had just been too ignorant to understand it sooner. Either way, there was apparently more to Shadow than she had realized.
"Thank you." That was all she could manage to say. Shadow merely opened his eyes and looked at her with pensiveness.
"I've got an idea," he said, sounding almost as normal as if nothing had happened. "Let's start over, shall we? Hello there. My name's Shadow. And you are?" He held out his hand, slightly smiling. Rouge looked back and forth from Shadow's face to his hand, unsure of what to do. She then decided that it was best if all of what had occurred the past two days was forgotten. Rouge also began to smile. She took Shadow's hand with hers and shook it.
"I'm Rouge. It's nice to meet you."
Before long, however, that strange sensation from the night before began to emanate from where their hands met. Both recoiled them to their own sides, and each refused to look at the other. The two of them felt the same disappointment- things could never return to the way they used to be so long ago. Everything was different now, and they just have to learn to accept it.
After a time, Rouge's eyes fell onto the alarm clock on Shadow's nightstand, which showed the time to be 2:27 in the morning.
"I suppose we should get to sleep," Rouge said awkwardly. Shadow gave her a confused look. She quickly added, "It's 2:27." He glanced at Rouge's clock with surprise as to how late it was. Shadow simply nodded, and each went to their respective sleeping areas. However, it was going to be a difficult night for both of them. They were each kept awake by the reality of things being forever changed between them.
*Awww... Everything's different... But now, things can get interesting!! ; )*
The next morning, Shadow woke with a start. Eggman's voice was blaring through the intercom beside his bed.
"Shadow! Rouge! Come to my office immediately! There's something I need to tell you!!"
Shadow sleepily checked the time and snapped up with anger. It was 5:30 in the morning.
"I'm gonna kill him for this," he said menacingly. He got out of the bed and made his way over to the closet where Rouge was still asleep. Eggman's repeating message continued to drone through the speaker. Shadow punched it as he passed, shutting it up. However, the other one still filled the room with Eggman's voice.
Once he reached the closet, Shadow banged on the closed door, calling Rouge's name. He heard a thud from within, as if something fell.
"Ow!" a muffled voice yelled from inside. "What?!"
"Eggman wants us!" he shouted over the intercom's noise.
"What does he want?"
"I don't know, but it had better be important, or else..." Shadow's voice trailed off, his mind filled with possible threats for Eggman. Rouge watched him from behind the closet door as he stormed out of the room, laughing to herself.
"Definitely not a morning person," she said quietly as she left the room. Rouge had caught up with Shadow, but didn't dare to talk to him. He was still burning with fury. Eventually, they reached the large iron doors that led to Eggman's room. Shadow burst through them and marched toward Eggman, who stood by one of the radar systems.
"Look you," he shouted at him. "I don't know who you think you are, but-"
"Shadow, wait!" Rouge nervously cut in.
Shadow stopped on the spot. He took in a deep breath in an effort to calm himself down. It didn't work.
"What?" he said through gritted teeth.
"Before we go off on a killing spree," she began as she walked up to him. "How about we listen to what the doctor has to say? I realize that it's really early and everything, but he called us in here for something, right? So let's just hear him out first." She then whispered in Shadow's ear, "If you want to, you can get him later." Shadow agreed, and slowly let the anger vanish from him. Once gone, he asked,
"So what's so important that you couldn't wait for the sun to rise to tell us?"
"I'm glad you asked," Eggman started. "My radars have detected the location of the second Emerald." Shadow's previous anger immediately came back.
"That's it?! You made us come here just for that?! I'm gonna-" He attempted to charge at Eggman, but Rouge firmly planted her hand on his shoulder in order to hold him back.
"Shadow, stop!" she pleaded. However, Shadow's anger had overtaken his conscious thought causing him to loose his focus. All that concerned him was that primal instinct to break free- no matter what. Then, the next thing Shadow was consciously aware of was that Rouge had released him, but she was nowhere to be found. He looked around the room, and his eyes widened with horror at what he saw.
Rouge was lying on the ground twenty feet away. She was conscious; her hand was clutching onto her face, which had turned a deep red color. Shadow then noticed that his hand was stinging. He looked at it with an awful realization- he had hit her again. Eggman had taken the opportunity to hide behind the door closest to him. Shadow stood frozen as he looked over Rouge, guilt coursing through his body. He only once dared to look at Rouge's eyes, regretting the decision immediately.
Her eyes were tearful, and seemed to ask him, "Why?" making Shadow feel even worse. Suddenly, he bolted through the iron doors, trying to escape from his emotions. Rouge remained on the floor, staring after Shadow. Eggman sheepishly peeked through the door he was behind, and stepped out when the coast was clear.
"Well..." he said. "That was quite something. Are you alright?"
"Yeah..." she said quietly, her eyes still looking at the iron doors. Slowly, Rouge stood up, one hand attached to her face. She started to make her way to the exit when Eggman called her back.
"Wait," he said. "I suppose I should tell you where the Emerald is. Then you could tell 'cheerful' where to find it." Rouge sighed, and began to walk back toward Eggman. She would rather that than deal with Shadow at the moment.
*Ouch... Shadow, we've gotta work on your anger issues.*
Shadow ran through the endless hallways, eventually reaching the room. He burst into it and sat on his bed, burying his face in his hands. What has he done? How could he do that? Why didn't he stop himself? Why couldn't he? Now, he thought, Rouge must utterly despise him. And for some reason, he couldn't deal with that idea. The anxiety grew stronger the longer that idea stayed with him. But why? Shadow thought about this, and came up with a startling theory. Could he be... attracted to-?
Rouge then entered the room, interrupting his thoughts. Her eyes were focused on the opposite wall, unwavering from it. Shadow stood up and opened his mouth to say something, but Rouge stopped him.
"Save it," she said, waving him away. He slowly sat back down, crushed. She did despise him. Rouge went to the other bed and faced Shadow with a serious look on her face. Shadow looked at her and winced with guilt. The evidence of his assault was still there- her face still retained its redness. He was unable to hold her face in his gaze, and instead looked at an insignificant spot on the wall behind her.
"Listen," she began. "Let's get one thing straight. I-" She noticed his off-centered stare. "Hey! Are you listening to me?" Rouge snapped her fingers in front of Shadow's face, bringing his focus back. "Look at me when I talk to you, got it?"
Shadow obeyed with resentment. Now he had no choice but to look straight at his guilt.
"Good," she said. "Now listen. I'm gonna make one thing clear- I don't hate you, alright, so don't think that. As for being ticked off at you, that's another story. But anyways, that wasn't my point. I've come up with an idea that will make sure that this-" she pointed to her face. "-doesn't happen anymore. We're gonna go with the three-strike system, kay? Every time you attack me like you did, it counts as a strike against you, which means you're down to two of them. One more and I'm out. By that I mean I'm dropping out of this little treasure hunt for good, and who knows whether I feel like ever meeting with you again. Understood?" Shadow nodded.
"Alright then," Rouge said, resuming her normal tone of voice. "Oh, by the way, Eggman told me to tell you where the other Emerald is. He said it was... in the capitol city, I think. And he wants us to get it now."
"And if we don't?" Shadow asked, standing up.
"He'd probably just bark and scream about how incompetent he thinks we are, and blah blah blah. And I highly doubt that either of us wants to deal with that, so let's go, shall we?"
Shadow responded by going over to the dresser and pulling out the Chaos Emerald from within it. He grabbed onto Rouge's wrist and teleported them away in a flash.
*Hmm... I think that there might be something... interesting going on between two certain characters... (If you couldn't tell already)*
**It's later that day, and we warp to an island scene. However, this island isn't surrounded by water- it's surrounded by air. The island, Angel Island, is kept afloat by a large green jewel located on a shrine in the middle of the island- the Master Emerald. In front of it sits a red echidna, who remains motionless, as if in a meditative state.**
Tails and Sonic, who arrived on the island by the Tornado II, approached the echidna.
"Hey, Knuckles!" Sonic called out. Knuckles snapped back to reality, and took notice of the two figures approaching him.
"Hey, guys," he said walking toward them. "I haven't-" he then looked at Sonic. "Whoa, what happened to you?" The evidence from Sonic's fight with Shadow was still there, although it was much less noticeable.
"That's part of the reason why we're here," Sonic began. "You see, we need you're help."
"We're collecting Emeralds!" Tails cut in.
"Ok, but I still don't see where I come in," Knuckles said, folding his arms.
"Listen," Sonic started. "I'll explain everything. It all started yesterday when me and Tails were working on the plane. Tails gave me the power source to put in it- a Chaos Emerald- and that's when Shadow randomly jumped through the window. He attacked both of us, smashing us through the walls." Knuckles' eyes widened. "I crashed on the ground, which is how these-" Sonic pointed to his injuries "-happened. Thankfully, I was still holding onto the Emerald at that point. I was gonna try to escape with it, but..." Sonic cut himself off, unwilling to explain what had happened next.
"Shadow got to him first," Tails finished. "He took the Emerald and warped away with Rouge; she was there too."
"Thanks, Tails," Sonic said sarcastically. "Anyways, we think that those two are up to something, and they need the Emeralds for it. So me and Tails have to find them first, which is where you come in."
"We need your help to find them," Tails said.
"And what makes you think I know where they are?" Knuckles asked.
"Well..." Tails began sheepishly. "You've always been good at finding the Emeralds beforeā¦"
"Those weren't the Emeralds! They were pieces of the Master Emerald! But in any case, I'll try to help."
"Really? Thanks!"
"Mm-hm. But first we need to get off this island. The only thing my radars would be finding is that thing behind me, and I'm pretty sure that won't help."
"Alright then," Sonic said. "Let's go."
Sonic led the way back to the plane, with Tails and Knuckles following behind. They all were eager about this newest adventure, but little did they know it would no longer be just for fun.
*Gasp! Suspense!*
Meanwhile, Shadow and Rouge had been scouring the city for hours, looking for any signs of the Emerald. However, it remained firmly hidden.
"Can you feel anything yet?" Rouge asked.
"Yeah, but it's just the one we're holding. I've got an idea. Take this one and fly high above me. That way, I'll be able to sense the other one better. Then you can follow me in the sky."
Rouge agreed, and flew up with the Emerald. Shadow closed his eyes and stood completely still as he tried to feel for the Emerald. Suddenly, he sensed something to his left. Shadow skated after it, Rouge flying behind him. Eventually, Shadow stopped in front of a building that faced a large open square. Rouge flew back down to see what the trouble was.
"Well?" she asked.
"The Emerald's in there," Shadow pointed to the building with his thumb.
"Are you sure? Why would it be in there?"
"It's the mayor's office." He then laughed to himself. "I should have known. Where else would you keep something like a Chaos Emerald in a city?"
"True. But how are we supposed to get in?"
"Simple. We use the front door." Shadow opened the wooden doors and casually walked inside. Rouge just looked after him, astonished by how lightly he was handling the situation.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked.
Rouge entered the office and gently closed the doors behind her.
"Are you crazy?!" she shouted. "We can't just go waltzing into any building we feel like!"
"Calm down," Shadow said, ignoring her. "We'll be fine."
"We may be, but do you think we'll be after the mayor catches two strangers walking around his office?!"
"Would you please relax? The mayor can't do a thing."
"How would you-" Rouge then came to a realization. "Shadow, what did you do?"
"Nothing bad, I just temporarily removed him from office."
"But you can't do that!! We could-"
Shadow shot her a threatening glare.
"For the last time, calm down. You don't have to worry. The mayor's fine. Now, if you would please follow me, I'll take you to the Emerald."
Shadow turned down the left hallway, with Rouge close behind. The twosome traversed through numerous corridors; Shadow stopping every now and then to recheck the Emerald's location. Eventually, they reached a circular room that held a giant safe at the opposite end.
"This is it," Shadow said. "The signal's really strong."
Rouge was stunned by how intimidating the safe's large size was.
"How do you suppose we get it? I'm guessing you don't have the combination for this thing, do you?"
"No I don't, but I do have a Plan B. If you'll kindly toss me that Emerald, please." Rouge obeyed and handed him the Emerald.
"Stand back," he said. Rouge stepped back to the doorway.
"No, I mean way back." She left the room and went to the end of the hall.
"Is this good?" she shouted. Shadow peeked through the door frame.
"Perfect," he called back. Shadow went back inside the room. There was a brief pause, and Rouge could do nothing except stand there, completely clueless.
"What is he-?"
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, knocking Rouge to the ground. There was a loud explosion that came from the room that Shadow was in. When she got to her feet, Rouge saw dust at the other end of the hallway. She ran towards it, coughing when she got to the room. Rouge peered through the dust, trying to find any signs of Shadow. Nothing. Then something was coming out of the room towards her. It was Shadow. He walked right past her, perfectly fine, with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Shadow, what happened?" she asked once she was free of the smoke.
"I got the Emerald," he said as he held up a red gem.
"I see that, but what was that explosion?"
Shadow ignored her, and began walking down the hall. Rouge ran after him, calling his name. He rolled his eyes, and turned to face her.
"What?" he asked with slight annoyance.
"I wanna know- what was that explosion?" Shadow sighed and resumed walking down the hall. Rouge caught up and walked beside him.
"If you must know," he said. "I used Chaos Blast."
"You mean, that was you?!"
"Mm-hm."
"Wow."
The two of them walked in silence the rest of the way out. Shadow passed through the doors first, then froze in his tracks with an angry glare on his face. Rouge noticed this, and gave him a confused look.
"What is it?" He didn't respond. Rouge followed his line of sight, and discovered what he was staring at. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails had followed them in their search for the Emerald, and were now standing in front of them, ready to fight.
*End!! And just when things were getting good! I guess that gives you an excuse to come back next time for Part 4. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! Just a reminder- please review on this, and I guess I'll see you guys next time. Bye!*
