GOLAUD

By

Herr Wozzeck

An electric shock.

A great deal of pain that could never be endured, even by the metallic objects surrounding him.

Tears of blood, masked by a leather object.

The slightest twitch of a muscle.

The shortest flashback in human history, one that was so short not even an editor for a film could recreate so many scenes with such frightening speed and precision.

And finally, a light so bright it shamed the sun.

A light so bright, the only thing that could possibly have followed was a darkness without rival.

It had been ages since Shadow had seen Amy; ages still since he had been able to talk to her on a person-to-person basis instead of just looks at each other from the field of battle. Needless to say, the black hedgehog was rather looking forward to these next few months, just to catch up with old times.

The black hedgehog had been informed of a rather long get-together by Rouge that would be taking place at a rather small beach resort; Tails and Sonic had apparently rented a few places there and were getting everybody to come on over for the summer. Of course, it would end the instant Eggman began to act up again, but that was very unlikely as the evil doctor had been getting less and less active for some reason that nobody could seem to figure out. Some figured it was because he was getting old; others, because he was getting tired of being defeated by the same people every time.

Shadow tried not to worry about it. He was just keen on catching up with friends, despite how reluctant he had been to go into this vacation in the first place what with this vacation being held by his arch-rival (of all people).

The hedgehog had been walking around aimlessly on the beach, the sands sifting underneath each step of his feet as he looked around the beach, watching as the people were busy playing around with either the sand or the water.

A certain pink hedgehog finally caught his eye, however, and then he noticed Amy Rose standing by the docks, staring out into the sea with a dreamy haze over her eyes. She was gazing out at a cruise ship that was far in the distance, emerald eyes shining. Shadow made his way over to the girl, and he was only right next to her when the female hedgehog finally regarded his presence.

"Oh, Shadow!" shouted the girl, a bright smile on her face as she regarded him. "How've you been?"

"I've been fine, thanks," replied Shadow, his head dipping forward just a little. "What's with the dreamy look?"

"Oh, Shadow, you wouldn't believe it!" cried Amy gleefully, her smile intensifying ever so slightly as she jumped up excitedly. "Sonic's finally going to take me on a date!"

The black hedgehog raised one of his brows as he heard this statement from Amy. "So he's finally relented, huh?" asked Shadow, a smirk forming on his face. "About time he took a hint, don't you think?"

"H-hey!" replied Amy, a little offended at this stab at Shadow's rival. "Don't say that!"

"Well, what can I say?" asked Shadow. "He was stubborn enough before; I'm pretty sure that won't change any time soon."

Amy simply pouted and looked out to the ship that she had been watching. Shadow simply looked at the ship as well, scarlet eyes tracing the ship as it moved along the water.

"This time's gonna be different, I know it," replied the female hedgehog rather plaintively. "After all, I'm usually the one who comes to him."

"Hm," said Shadow indifferently. "We'll see how that works..."

"Yep," replied the pink hedgehog as the two of them looked on at the ship.

They looked on at the ship for quite a while, ruby and emerald both gazing after the vehichle for quite some time. Finally, Shadow looked at Amy again, bright crimson now a little softer in character.

"You know, Amy, I always wondered why Sonic didn't notice your willpower," said the black hedgehog plaintively. "I think that's a great thing about you; you never give up."

"You think so?" asked the female hedgehog, jade eyes lighting up in appreciation.

"Yes," replied Shadow, grateful that his black fur was covering a slight blush that was forming in his cheeks. "Probably also why you get along so well with Sonic."

"Aw, thanks..." replied the girl, her own blush showing through her pink fur.

The female hedgehog suddenly snapped out of her reverie, though, and the blush instantly dissapeared as she realized something.

"Oh, no!" she said, looking at the setting sun before turning around with a heavy air of startled realization permeating her movements. "I'm gonna be late for my date!"

Amy wasted no time in running out of the beach, shouting incoherent speech at Shadow as she rushed off, leaving the black hedgehog the slightest bit surprised. He had come to expect such behavior out of the pink hedgehog, however, so the surprise quickly wore off and a genuine smile was worn on his lips.

Pain at the bottom.

Cries of pain mingling sickeningly with grunts and groans of pleasure.

A horribly hard matress that didn't cushion the air, let alone two bodies.

The heavy musk of sweat and non-consensual sex.

A row of bars just a few feet away, with a toilet and sink right by the things that barred wonderful freedom.

The coppery taste of blood.

The darkness that resulted from eyelids, screwed shut from unwilling contact.

A few weeks had gone by in the crew's vacation. Everybody was having a great time, and things could not have looked better for anybody.

At least, for anybody but Sonic. His relationship with Amy was really beginning to take off after he had realized his own feelings for her. Their dates had always been fun, he had always enjoyed every little thing about Amy that he was only just finding out, he was really entertaining Amy, and they were both getting very much in love.

And yet, looking at Amy and Shadow having a nice conversation along the pool from the darkness of his hotel room, he couldn't help but feel that something was very wrong with the way things were.

He had asked Rouge and Tails both about Amy and Shadow, and both gave him the same answer; nothing was going on between them. And yet, seeing the black hedgehog with his now-girlfriend was stirring a strange kind of emotion that Sonic had never felt before and never thought he would feel; jealousy.

The fact that the timing of this could not have been worse augmented this negative feeling. He had been trying forever to hide his true feelings from Amy, and once he realized his own feelings for the hedgehog she began to hang out a lot more often with... with his arch-rival, of all people! There were plenty of things for him to suspect, and anger worked into his feelings as much as jealousy did.

But more than anything, it was the look in each others' eyes that happened whenever they talked about one another that gave Sonic all the reason to believe that Amy Rose was cheating on him. And Sonic feared it would overtake him to a point that he could never return from.

It was already beginning to speak more for himself; he had begun to grow increasingly violent with Amy, almost to the point that after some particularly violent encounters the blue hedgehog was banging his head against the wall in frustration, not at Amy but at himself for being such a terrible, terrible boyfriend. Sonic had begun to hate himself for this despite all his best efforts to keep his jealousy in check; none of them worked.

To this end, he had planned a small departure for himself and Amy from this vacation. They would just be going to a different part of town for a couple of weeks; nothing permanent, and Tails was more than happy to let the cobalt hedgehog use his workshop as a place to stay. It would be more quality time for each other, it would be great fun, and most of all maybe it would get Sonic to forget these feelings he had been feeling. And hopefully, it would be the boost he needed to keep himself from going too far.

At the moment, though, he was left staring down on Shadow and Amy from his spot in his hotel room, emerald eyes squinted in a strange mixture of sunlight and the mildest amounts of rage. He would tell Amy first thing when she got back to the room before their next date.

Disgusting food that did not deserve to be eaten even by rats.

Guards that hounded the prisoners like hawks, waiting for their prey to make one mistake before they went in for the kill.

The acrid smell of vomit from somewhere in the corner.

The feeling of being scrunched in between two burly men, the one a rapist and the other a thief.

Sounds of disgruntled conversation filled with language that would make most concerned parents pale in shock.

A violent contrast of orange against white, not helped by the fact that the orange was always moving.

Darkness that seemed to trail on the shadows of everybody in the room, despite the brightly lit room.

Sonic moved slowly in the forest, his eyes tracing every movement from his girlfriend as she advanced into the forest of mangroves that was just down the beach she had been walking down.

They were supposed to be going off on their little trip, but when Amy said she had needed to say goodbye to somebody he grew heavily suspicious. He never thought he'd be following Amy like she used to follow him around all the time, but as he gripped the table knife in his hand and slinked as quietly as he could he realized how ironic everything was. The instant he stopped for Amy to catch up, she went right around him and began chasing another person. Sonic was sure of what it was this time; he had come to cement everything with a layer of cement.

The moon was not out that night; the clouds above and the multitude of lights in the distance made sure that only a few stars were visible. This gave the impression of too much darkness, and it meant Sonic had a hard time following Amy.

That changed when she suddenly noticed the form of Shadow sitting close by the shoreline, the black hedgehog's eyes cast on a distant point over the ocean. Sonic noticed him too, and hid as well as he could so he could watch the two of them talk.

"You've kept me waiting," said Shadow softly as soon as he noticed Amy.

"I know," said Amy as she walked over. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," replied the black hedgehog as Sonic's eyes began to simmer with uncontrollable rage. Only then did Shadow's eyes look directly at the female hedgehog right next to him. "I just had some... things I wanted to say before you left with Sonic."

Amy simply nodded, leaning against one of the mangrove trees as the black hedgehog spoke. "What's up?" she asked.

The rest of the ebony hedgehog's body turned so that it faced Amy, the hedgehog's head shifting just the slightest bit as his whole body moved. When he faced Amy, Shadow began.

"I just wanted to say that I've always held you in high regard," he said. "I remember when you got me to save the world how much you reminded me of her. And being with you these past few weeks... I just want to say that I'm surprised that the faker off in the hotel didn't know what he was missing until just now."

Amy giggled lightly at this, but this came as a huge blow to Sonic's ego. The fact that Amy found something amusing about it was angering the blue hedgehog even more than he usually would be, however, and he somehow got a sexual connotation out of this sentence as well.

"Well, I don't know, Shadow," said Amy with a shrug. "Is there something else?"

The ultimate life form simply crossed his arms in front of the white tuft on his chest as he smiled. "Yes," said Shadow. "But I'm not sure words are sufficient to say it."

With this said, the black hedgehog leaned in close to his rose-colored companion, and his lips touched down on Amy's cheek ever so tenderly. The lips were only there for a few seconds before they removed themselves, a great blush having taken form on Shadow's cheeks that managed to show through the dark fur.

"S-shadow..." said Amy, blushing just a little.

By this point, however, Sonic had seen enough to the point that his blood was brought to a boil.

What happened next occurred so quickly that Sonic himself did not know how it happened. In an instant, Sonic had let out a yell, and not even Shadow's speed could save him from the knife that plunged itself into his skin over and over again. Sonic figured Amy had begun to run at some point during the knife's brutal ravaging of Shadow's body, but the cobalt hedgehog simply threw his knife. Before he could see where the knife had gone, somebody had kicked him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold as a harsher darkness than before took hold of his conscious.

A quiet murmuring of spectators, some scribbling things on notepads and others taking pictures.

The impassioned testimony of somebody standing in a small elevated box.

A silence that followed when a group of people left the room to argue.

The equal hush that followed their return with thei point of view.

Guilty of the charges laid before him.

The harsh bang of the gavel, the final blow having been dealt.

Finally, the darkness that overcame his mood when he was led out of the room, his head hanging down and his eyes threatening to overflow with tears.

Quite some time later, Sonic had been treated to quite a bout of bitching from Rouge about it all. Sonic had killed Shadow the Hedgehog, that was sure, and the way Rouge had talked down to him the cobalt hedgehog was actually surprised that Rouge did not try to kill him right there.

Instead, he was placed back in his hotel room, where Amy lay dying on her bed. Rouge and Tails had both left the room at this point. The two-tailed fox's prognosis had not been good; he said that Amy would die within the hour, even with the treatment the fox had tried to get to her. Now, Sonic sat in a chair, just a little glum about this development but somehow feeling very, very detached from everything that was going on. His girlfriend was going to die within the hour, and yet, somehow he didn't feel any different at all.

Now, Sonic had the opportunity to talk to Amy.

"Amy..." he began softly.

"Sonic... Why...?" asked the pink hedgehog.

Sonic sighed, shifting in his chair.

"Amy, I want you to be perfectly honest with me here," he said, emerald eyes gazing over her as he spoke. "What was going on with Shadow?"

"We were just... talking... There was nothing going on..." replied the pink hedgehog.

Sonic shook his head, gazing down at Amy.

"Damn it, Amy, you know I saw that kiss he gave you!" he exclaimed, trying not to raise his voice in his anger. "Just, tell me the truth!"

"The truth?" asked Amy.

Sonic sighed, wondering whether Amy was really that dense or she really did have nothing to hide. "Yes," said the cobalt hedgehog. "I noticed you hung out with Shadow a lot. Please, Amy, just tell me the truth already; was there something going on between you two that you didn't want me to know about?"

"W... What are you saying...?" asked the pink hedgehog. "Are you saying... I'm a slut...?"

"Damn it Amy!" shouted Sonic, standing up and waving his arms in frustration. "You chase me around for god knows how many years, and the instant I take you out on dates you turn start hanging out with Shadow more than you do with me! Damn it, Amy, be true with me here! Was there something going on between you and Shadow?" At Amy's conemplative silence, the cobalt hedgehog had to fight the urge to shake the shouders of the one he thought he loved. "Answer me, Amy!"

A tense silence filled the room, the only thing more piercing being the darkness that the room was plunged in. Amy's ragged breathing was the only sound that was heard, and Sonic's impatience began to grow slightly at this.

"There was nothing..." replied Amy at length. "What's wrong... with just being friends...? Shadow... might have gotten something... but I never swayed... I always loved you..."

At this, Sonic's emerald eyes began to widen at the realization that she would not be the type to hold secrets with her to the grave. As this thought crossed her mind, she continued.

"I thought you cared for me, Sonic... I can't believe you would do this... because you thought Shadow and I were... you know... Why...? Why all... this? Why the death? Why the backstabbing? Why??"

Amy's reply crushed her boyfriend, and soon after she began bombarding him with that one phrase, he fell to the bed, sobbing by one of Amy's arms as he held the arm with all he hd. At this moment, Tails came back in the room, a great shaft of light penetrating the room as Sonic cried on the bedsheets.

"Why...?" asked Amy again.

"Damn it, Sonic, don't let her talk!" shouted Tails as he entered the room, dual tails swishing violently as he entered, the lights in the room coming on quickly and dousing the room in a bright golden glow. "You'll kill her faster that way!"

Sonic simply shook his head, sobbing into the bedsheets as Amy continued to pester her own question on the blue-tinted hedgehog.

"It doesn't matter anymore..." said Sonic between sobs. "I... I already killed her..."

Amy could have sworn he had added a curse under his breath after this sentence. The blue hedgehog, meanwhile, was deriding himself in his head for such foolishness.

Soon after, Amy Rose died quietly, with only her boyfriend and his friend with two tails to watch. Sonic was barely able to comprehend anything after that; he had just done the unthinkable, and for a completely stupid reason as well. The hedgehog couldn't believe himself; he could barely believe that he had killed his own girlfriend, and in such cold blood as well when all she had given him was her love for as long as he had known her.

In the end, Sonic was hopelessly destroyed; there was nothing in the world that could assuage the empty feeling that overcame him as he grieved the death of his girlfriend.

The feel of his friend's hands massaging his shoulders as he cried.

The sounds of the police rushing up to catch the perpetrator. Sonic made no attempt to resist as they carried him away; one of the soldiers actually noticed that he moved his hands in place for them to handcuff just before they entered the room.

The sound of a police van heading towards the prison compound.

The bright light at the compound as he was led inside; the light hurt his eyes that were still producing tears aplenty. He again made no attempts to resist as they threw him in a cell; he knew he deserved the worst these people could dole out.