Cf96: The Hero Part is my favorite! And Waking Up is a pretty great song too. ^^
SonicSonic54321: Thank you! :D And I can't exactly answer your question cuz it's spoiler-inducing, but I'll elaborate on it when the times comes. Also, I don't follow the comics too closely, but I might need to start, because that actually sounds kinda cool!
Chapter 18: With a Fate of Self-Denial
~The Road to Self-Assurance~
Westopolis-
When I woke up again, I found that I had feeling in my arm again and it wasn't gushing crimson, along with the fact that I had cooled down and my fur was no longer sticking to me. It was late afternoon at this point, and I wondered just where I was.
A quick scan around revealed a ruined city on fire, and I cringed.
"Westopolis…again?!" I winced, shaking my head. "How many times do I have to be here…!?"
I realized I was leaning against an overturned black car and poked my head around it. Flames were still raging in the city, as if there was anything left to burn. However, there were still Black Arms romping around the city, and it was like they were attacking something.
Upon closer inspection, it looked like Sonic.
"You…can't have him…" I heard Sonic mutter, his voice a bit heavier than usual. "I won't let you take him! RAARGH!"
He lunged at the pack of aliens that were five times his size, striking one in the torso with a homing attack, only to find that it did very little to injure the fiend. Before Sonic could scurry back to safety, the brute he'd attacked grabbed his wrist and hoisted him high above the road and threw him into an ashen pile of uprooted asphalt. I jogged over to him just out of confusion and stood over his struggling body.
"Sh-Shadow…" he winced, covered in deep scrapes and bloody bruises. His eyes suddenly dulled right before he lost the strength to hold himself up, falling back onto the ground lifelessly.
What's going on…?!
The team of Black Arms just snickered in our general direction before they started advancing for me. I narrowed my eyes at them and leapt over Sonic, planning to succeed where he had failed. As luck would have it, there was a rifle discarded not too far from where Sonic had been tossed away- and no wonder he had gotten beaten up, thanks to his strong aversion to guns.
"Glad I don't have that problem," I murmured, jumping on top of a bus and taking aim at the horde of aliens.
"HEY!" I yelled at them all, instantly grabbing their attention on the spot. "If you want me, then come and get me!"
They rose to the challenge instantly, thundering over like a pack of hungry wolves fighting for their last meal. Their clustered state made it easier for me to rapid fire the Shadow Rifle I picked up, allowing for a far quicker dispatching of the fiends. With every ear-popping gunshot, packs of aliens fell, and I had more ammo in my rifle than they had members of their squadron. Each and every one landed on the ground with incredulous thuds, almost like a heavy yet rhythmic rain.
As I assaulted my attack, I didn't notice Sonic beginning to stir again, still appearing incredibly weak, but at least he was alive. His tattered shoes and gloves and disheveled quills certainly didn't assist his appearance, but he was okay otherwise.
"Take them down, Shadow…"
I moved from my perch and ducked behind an upturned bench, sniping all unsuspecting aliens that happened to be lingering in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some even tried taking Sonic hostage instead of me, but, quite frankly, I shot them dead before they ever had the chance.
Once I was sure I'd nailed them all, I stored the rifle into my quills and came out of hiding, scanning the place quickly and making sure there weren't any more sneaking around. Nothing lunged at me, so I assumed I was good to go…for the time being.
"Now that was sweet, Shadow…" Sonic chuckled, finally pulling himself out of the pile and limping up to me. I grimaced and turned away from him.
"Yeah, well, I'm not here to save you."
"I know." Sonic took it better than I was expecting. "Especially considering I'm the one that brought you here."
Excuse me?!
"Yeeeah…" he coughed, looking around abashedly. "I was trying to get you the GUN Headquarters-"
"What, to turn me in?!"
"Nooo, to get you some medical help!" his voice rose sharply, and I subconsciously took a step back. "Omega told me what you went through, and he told me to help you, even though I knew you probably wouldn't accept it."
I folded my arms and tapped my foot; I noticed him snicker under his breath. "How'd we end up here, then?"
Sonic puckered and shrugged. "Erm…guess I just took a wrong turn, ah ha ha…the next thing I knew, those black creatures were trying to take you away and I did my best to fight them off, but…well, you saw what happened. Guess I'm not totally invincible."
The small stab at his own ego nearly made me faint.
"…I appreciate your attempts to assist me, but they're no longer required," I told him, trying to walk away. Despite this, Sonic jogged in front of me and held out his arms to prevent me from leaving.
"Thought you might say something like that, given the circumstances. It was a bit of a hasty and unplanned escape on my end, and I've probably made you even more confused at what went down…"
"No," I replied simply enough. "Omega was worried about my state of affairs so he called you up as a last resort, but you flubbed up your getaway and in the process, I ended up having to save you."
"I didn't flub up- I don't know what happened!" he exclaimed, running a hand through his quills afterward in an attempt to calm himself down. "Look, I was just trying to help. You've been in some serious rough patches lately, and I just wanted to, say, offer an olive branch?"
"…my apologizes, but I don't want you tangled up in my matters," I murmured, tightly gripping my arm. "We wouldn't want another incident like with Diablon, do we?"
"Of course not," he replied gruffly, staring at the ground. "That's why you need to stop pushing my friends and me away- we just want to help you. We're authorized by GUN to put a stop to you, but we know that you just want your memories back. At first, you were going about it all wrong and that's why it seemed like we turned on you, but Omega told me personally to give you a second chance…"
He paused, hanging his head.
"…not that I ever stopped believing in you."
I blinked at this, glancing over at Sonic. He now had his arms folded behind his head casually, with a look that said he was incapable of lies. As much as I loathed his demeanor and that overly quirky personality of his…something in the back of my head was nagging me to trust him.
And this time, I knew it was true.
"Anyway, I bet you want a break from all this stressful and boring heavy stuff," continued Sonic with a more lighthearted tone. "How about a little friendly competition? Like a race, perhaps?"
He flashed me a huge mischievous grin.
How I hated that cheesy grin of his.
I groaned as I folded my arms and turned away again. "I can't just put this off for later- I have to go now! Don't waste my time…"
It was then that Sonic suddenly gained a panic-stricken look as he frantically pointed behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, then jumped a few steps away.
"…Black Doom. Long time no see," I murmured, with Sonic's panic being replaced by skeptism. Doom's Eye was staring back at Sonic with just as much distaste, but kept on talking to me.
"I thought I would be generous and tip you off that there is a Chaos Emerald nearby," he rumbled, and I looked confused at this.
"Impossible. I'm the only one that knows where all the Chaos Emeralds are, and I already took the one from Westopolis…"
"Well then, perhaps one of them has…changed location," Doom hummed, still staring straight at Sonic. "Your mission here was finished long ago- now keep going!"
"Why are you still pressuring me?" I demanded to know. "What more could you possibly want from me?"
"Such brutality…I offer you assistance and this is how you respond? Despicable," he huffed, vanishing into thin air. I just gawked at the spot where he disappeared as Sonic chuckled.
"Guess that means…welcome to the next level!" he chirped and I gave him a look.
"How can you be so chipper about this?"
Sonic rolled on his heels. "Not everyone can thrive on misery like you, Shadow. I like to look at the bright horizons, not at the dark clouds behind me. But, to each his own, I suppose…"
I need a restraining order on this guy.
"Anyway, your alien friend gave us some pretty solid advice- if there's a Chaos Emerald around here, it's gotta be on Lethal Highway!"
I was about to blatantly protest, until what he said registered in my mind. "Wait, Lethal Highway…?"
"Yup!" Sonic practically sang, bouncing up and down. "It's the most dangerous highway in the country…and also the only physical way out of Westopolis that's still intact."
"…you've got to be kidding."
"Does this face look like I'm kidding?" Sonic asked, pointing to himself with a lopsided grin. "Now let's go! It's like you said- there's no time to waste! Race ya there!"
He bolted off faster than I could ever hope to move, but that didn't mean I was about to let him leave me in the dust. I activated my jet shoes and tore down the road after him.
"Get back here…!"
Lethal Highway-
"I've just got to keep moving…" I told myself, repeating the mantra as I quickly made my way down the deserted highway. Sonic was actually behind me, because although he still had the advantage in speed, he had injured one of his legs and couldn't keep up as well.
"Ugh, those darn black creatures…" I heard him complaining. "It's one thing to try and destroy the world, but it's a whole new level when they do that and hinder my speed! It's unforgiveable!"
"Stop whining," I snapped to him, and he silenced himself instantly. "Would you rather be me right now?"
I could sense his hesitance afterward.
"Sorry. I guess that was a tad insensitive…"
I said nothing afterwards, only focusing on the empty road ahead of us, save for a few abandoned cars, broken signs, and Black Arms romping about. Other than how steep the road seemed to be, I didn't see how it was lethal.
"It's lethal because of how many car accidents occur here," Sonic explained, as if he was reading my mind. "The steepness combined with speed combined with all the reckless drivers these days…sometimes, it's complete madness on this road."
"I can see that," I responded truthfully. "However, why is it so desolate now?"
"Evacuation," he replied without missing a beat. "A ton of GUN soldiers were deployed here during the alien's initial attack, in order to guarantee that they get as many people as possible out of Westopolis. Now it's just sort of here…but it's no reason why we can't use it!"
I grumbled in reply, not really caring to carry on the conversation. However, it would have been cut to a stop anyway thanks to the arrival of Doom's Eye again.
"My soldiers have confirmed increased reactions from the presence of the Chaos Emerald…it is definitely in this area," he told me. I just stared at him.
"This is some kind of trap, isn't it?"
Doom leered at me. "If it was, you'd already be caught in it, trust me. Now get that Emerald and get out. This city is nothing to us now- the time has come to completely withdraw…"
"Oh, so that's why all your troops have turned tail and ran!" Sonic scoffed, and I shot him a look. "Well, they're a bunch of slowpokes. Shads and I will take them all down before they even reach the next speed limit sign!"
"What are you doing?!" I hissed through clenched teeth; the blue idiot just shrugged at me.
Of all the nerve…
"You know what you must do, Shadow…" Doom warned me before vanishing again. Sonic jumped right to where Doom had been floating and raised a fist.
"You bet he does- we're gonna finish what we started, and follow that flying vehicle!"
He started walking off, only for his knee to make a sickening crack and force him to the ground. I walked up to him and glanced down disinterestedly.
"Grrr…I really just want to leave you behind, but I know you'll follow me anyway…but if I let you tag along, you'll just slow me down…"
"Slow you down?!" Sonic yelped, almost sounding offended. "I make things go at Sonic Speed! You're the one who's slowing-"
"Quiet, I have an idea…" I trailed, walking over to a heap of discarded cars. Sonic visibly winced.
"I hope it doesn't involve shooting me…"
"As tempting as that sounds," I deadpanned, fishing through the pile of cars and pulling out the prize I spotted. Sonic looked on curiously, pulling himself into a sitting position, before grinning eagerly at what I managed to find.
"Way past cool, Shadow! You know how to drive in style."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" I murmured, sitting down on the black and red motorcycle. "Just get on."
Sonic flounced over as best he could with a limp and climbed on behind me, hanging onto the back of the seat with both hands. I looked over my shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
"Not going to hang onto me? It's safer you know, unless you want to fly off and crack your head open, which I'm not the least bit opposed to."
"Ooh, I don't whether to be insulted or concerned," his ignorant voice mumbled. "However, I'm good. I like thriving on the edge of danger; it's how I feel the most alive! Besides, I wouldn't want to invade your little personal bubble, no?"
"Trust me, Sonic; you already have," I sighed, revving the throttle and taking off. The blue fool sitting behind me even let go to throw his hands in the air.
"Woo hoo! Feeling good!"
This was one event I was going to have to file under "Never Again".
. . .
Sonic and I tore down Lethal Highway on the motorcycle, the sky growing darker and darker and becoming more alien infested as we went. Sonic was just trying to enjoy the ride, while I was focused on keeping tabs on the fleeting vehicle that Sonic had pointed out. Maybe the Black Arms had found the Chaos Emerald for themselves and decided to take it?
"I just hope this thing doesn't run out of gas…" I muttered contemptuously. This thing was way slower than my own top speed, but as long as Sonic was stuck with me and limping around, I was unable to leave him behind…and I really, really wanted to.
"Maybe we're not racing, but this isn't so bad, is it, Shadow?" Sonic asked. I grunted in response.
"We're not hanging out, Sonic," I insisted. "We're chasing down an alien space craft on the most dangerous highway in the country on a motorcycle that we recovered in a pileup to look for an oversized jewel with magical powers."
"…sounds pretty normal to me!"
Ugh.
"…hey, look out, Shadow!"
"Wha-?"
A sudden explosion detonated right in front of us; at the last moment, I yanked the steering to the left and barely managed to avoid it. I'd almost thrown Sonic off the bike with that maneuver, but he eventually latched onto my shoulders and gulped. Another one went off, this one forcing me to swerve sharply to the right. Sonic yipped and gripped tighter.
"So much for living on the edge of danger…"
"Shut up- you're not the one getting whipped around like a flag back here!"
"Well maybe next time when I tell you to hang on, you'll hang on."
Sonic snorted in response, but I knew that was his way of conceding defeat.
In any case, I glanced back, looking at where the highway had been blasted into several large shards.
"…bombs were placed to detonate the roadway," I realized, starting to scowl. "The Black Arms must have set it up…this was a trap!"
"Well then, we need to juice, pronto!" Sonic exclaimed, nudging me several times. "Come on- how fast can this thing really go?"
"Not nearly as fast as us," I grunted. "You should know that…"
"Figures- vehicles are only good for racing, and even then it's pretty lackluster," he responded.
"…can't you ever stay on topic?!"
"I thought I was!"
In the midst of our argument, we were suddenly being shot at. Sonic shouted something as he pointed behind us, but I just kept focusing on the road and not crashing…or toppling off the edge.
"If it's an enemy, take my rifle and kill it!" I ordered, and I felt Sonic tense up.
"Are you crazy?! I'm not firing that thing- you kill it!"
"I'd love to, Sonic, but I can't look forward to drive and shoot behind me at the same time unless you want to die!"
"…then let me drive," Sonic offered, but I instantly shot him down.
"No. You don't even know where you're going-"
"Well, I'm not shooting either, so you have your options, Shadow!"
He spoke sharply again, and for whatever reason, I couldn't help but take him seriously. I pulled the bike off to the side and begrudgingly sat in the back for the time being.
"I hope you know this isn't some sort of double dash, Sonic-"
"Just get into position and get rid of those things!"
I nodded quietly, giving Sonic the signal to go. He wasted no time in whiskey-throttling the bike, causing it to pop a wheelie when we initially drove off.
So this is how I'm meant to die…
I gripped the bike with my right hand as I aimed the rifle with my left, finally seeing the threat that Sonic was talking about. A whole pack of alien larvae was approaching us, and they were amassing in large quantities. But not just that, a bunch of brutes were riding down the road in jeeps, firing away at us with their own alien ammunition. I just hefted my rifle and practically beckoned them to come.
"Bring it on, bastards!" I yelled, firing a warning shot. Sonic instantly scolded me.
"Shadow! Language."
Hmph, where's he been all this time?
Once Sonic finally got the bike under control, he was actually pretty decent at driving it. I was waiting for him to hit a bump or do something reckless to throw off my aim, but nothing of the sort happened…yet.
"Ramp- get ready to adjust!" he called over his shoulder.
"What kind of highway has ramps!?" I questioned, blowing the tires on one of the jeeps and causing a small pile up. Some of the larvae had been taken out in the crash as well.
"I can name a few from experience- Speed Highway, Radical Highway, a few in Bingo Highway…need me to go on?"
I was going to tell him what I really thought, but it was then that the motorcycle took to the ramp, launching us up and giving the two of us some serious air. The Black Arms scorned at us from below; I blew them right off the highway.
"Take that, vermin…" I huffed.
"Are they still shooting at us?" Sonic asked, sounding seriously concerned. I fell back and shook my head.
"I got rid of the ones with guns, but there's still larvae chasing after us."
"Ugh, get rid of them too. Those things give me the creeps!"
"Ha, and they're the most harmless of the bunch," I scoffed, but firing a final shot anyway that wiped out the majority of the larvae. "There, there, all gone. Want me to drive again?"
"No way- I just found my groove!"
"Well I am not hanging onto you."
"Hypocrite."
"No, I just have standards."
. . .
At some point, we swapped spots again, with Sonic eventually saying that he like riding in the back more- said he liked the feeling of the wind in his quills. I would never understand that, but I didn't question it- I just wanted to drive again.
"Did you lose sight of the alien vehicle?" Sonic asked impatiently. "We should have caught up with it already, if you ask me."
"The Black Tank has increased its altitude, but it's definitely heading in this direction," I muttered back. "Just be patient, m'kay?"
"The word is not in my vocabulary, I'm afraid."
"I bet a lot of words aren't, actually."
It carried on like this, and eventually I had to agree with Sonic- for a highway, it was taking quite a long time for us to reach our designated exit. However, I did notice that the road was becoming increasingly more dangerous…along with the fact it had turned "Black Arms Red" at some point.
"Maybe we should shoot down the ship the next time we get close to it," I offered.
"Good idea!" exclaimed Sonic. "You drive in close, and I'll spin dash it out of commission!"
"Yes, excellent idea, except that would just agitate your injuries," I deadpanned.
"Hmph," Sonic grumbled. "A little pain never stopped Knuckles from helping you…"
I clenched the handlebars of the bike. "Knuckles wouldn't have been in pain if it wasn't for me-"
"I wouldn't be in pain if it wasn't for you! Both times!"
"Hey, I warned you, and you chose to confront me anyway!" I shot back. "Knuckles didn't get a warning; he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he got hurt because I wasn't thinking clearly. You're a different story; you're always a different story!"
"Why?" Sonic demanded to know, and he would've folded his arms if he wasn't hanging onto me for safety. "Why is it always me? All this time that I've known of your existence, all you've done is rival me, and even though you can't remember the most of it, it's all you ever go on about!"
His hands tensed again as he looked away. I just kept my eyes locked on the road.
"Why is it so hard for you to be friends with anybody?"
I kept silent for a few moments, and I didn't know if Sonic wanted an answer or not. But, surprisingly enough, I knew exactly why.
"Because the last person I was great friends with was shot."
True, I could vaguely remember her, but I knew she was incredibly important to me, because whenever she showed up in my dreams, she was so prominent, and I could always remember how I felt about her so clearly…she was smart, kind, genuine, and not a mean bone existed in her body…and I cared for her very much.
Sonic seemed to understand and lowered his tone. "I wish I could've met her. I think I would've liked her a lot."
"Judging by what I remember of her, I think any one on the planet who wouldn't like her would have to be a complete animal!"
"…uh, Shadow-"
"Yeah, I know. That was a bad analogy."
Everything seemed to stop when I rounded a particularly sharp corner- sure enough, the Black Tank was still streaking across the sky toward its destination, but out of nowhere, an ambush of GUN Soldiers emerged out of the shadows and launched an assault on it.
"Their pathetic weapons are never going to penetrate the Black Tank's force field," I murmured, shaking my head. "As usual, their efforts are useless…"
"At least they're trying," Sonic attempted to defend, though my sentiments didn't change. However, as soon as we zipped by them, all chaos broke loose.
"Hey, it's the black hedgehog!" one of them shouted. "As per Commander's orders, focus all open fire on Shadow the Hedgehog!"
"They're still after me?!" I asked, yanking harder on the throttle as a bullet rain chased after us. Sonic legitimately screamed and started panicking. "What do they want?"
"It's the GUN Commander," Sonic explained, flinching after a bullet nearly nicked his shoulder. "Ever since you terrorized Westopolis, he's jumped on the opportunity to bring you down…he really doesn't like you, for whatever reason."
"But what have I ever done to him?! I've never even met-"
"To the tanks!" the soldiers yelled, piling into their machines and careening after us.
"No time to talk- just drive!" Sonic yelped. "I can't believe they're shooting at us- don't they know I'm with you?!"
"So much for good ol' GUN," I hissed under my breath, swerving the bike downward to avoid four bullets. "It's a miracle these soldiers have terrible aim…"
During my muttering, I accidentally ran over a huge piece of asphalt, causing the motorcycle to bump into the air. We rotated in midair, so I threw the bike in reverse and used the mirrors to drive.
"This is crazy!" Sonic exclaimed. I just scoffed at him.
"Yes, because this is definitely the most outrageous thing you've ever done."
The GUN soldiers in their tanks just gaped at us, and now that I was facing backwards, I took out my Shadow Rifle and aimed. Sonic instantly thwacked me in the temple.
"Do not shoot at them! You've already injured far too many, and you want to hurt MORE?"
"Then how do you suppose we get rid of them?"
"We can outrun them, easy!"
I glared back at Sonic.
"…oh yeah."
"Well, if I can't shoot back at them, we're just going to have to abandon the motorcycle."
Sonic's quills stuck out on end. "WHAT? You just chastised me for suggesting that, and now you're going to claim the same thing?!"
"I reprimanded you for saying we could outrun them, not for abandoning the bike," I corrected him. Fortunately, GUN had taken these few precious seconds to reload their ammunition, giving me ample time to pull off my plan. "You said you trusted me, right?"
Sonic winced. "I probably shouldn't-"
"Do you trust me?!" I yelled back, watching the soldiers pop out of the tanks, ready to adjust their weapons.
"Yes, yes- I told you that!"
"Do you trust me with your life?!" I shouted again, this time staring at him through one of the mirrors. His stunned expression reflected back at me, his green eyes frozen in place as if he was recalling something…something I had once shared with him but no longer did.
The flashes of me and him up in space flooded back in my mind, and while they were only glimpses, they were still significant. I could only see a few moments of me saying something to Sonic, and Sonic talking back…before I removed my inhibitor rings.
"Nrgh…"
Everything kept flashing, like an old film movie that no longer ran perfectly. My vision wasn't even in color- sepia toned visions of Sonic and I holding something back, something strong, something destined to bring the world to an end…
…and at the last possible moment, I had pushed Sonic out of the way, right before succumbing to the force and toppling toward the planet myself.
"…do you trust me with your life?" I repeated again, this time in a lower tone. Sonic nodded slowly, if almost a little painfully.
"Yes, I do."
"Then hang onto me."
He obeyed instantly, awkwardly wrapping his arms tightly around my torso. As soon as he was latched to me, I sharply yanked the bike to the right, also simultaneously dodging the next wave of attacks being shot at us. Sonic gulped over the sound of gunshots and held tighter, if that was even possible. I gritted my teeth and yanked the bike back into an upward position, careening down the highway and using its lethal namesake as my getaway cover.
The road curved and dipped many, many times, and had this been an ordinary situation, I would have been driving like an absolute madman, and I was glad that no one was driving on the road; they would have gotten in the way.
Regardless, we still did bounce up and down with the series of jumps we made and lands we executed, along with the constant sharp dodges I made to weave between the onslaught of bullets. I had no idea how Sonic was feeling about it, since he lived for this kind of hazardous high-speed chase, but with his arms constantly tensing around me, I couldn't help but wonder if he was a little scared.
"Fire at will!" the head of the squadron barked, and the shots grew even more frequent. "Follow him at all costs, no matter what tricks he may try to pull on us!"
"This is exactly why I stay on the side of the law…!" Sonic murmured, his quills sharpening defensively. "How much more of this can we take?"
"Aren't you the guy telling everyone to always relax?" I retaliated, taking a left on what appeared to be an exit off the highway.
"Well, you can't relax all the time…"
The road was slowly coming to an end ahead, and GUN wasn't letting up. A fallen building was sprawled up ahead…along with the Black Tank about to make its final escape.
Well, this was going to work out beautifully.
"Okay, Sonic," I murmured, and I felt Sonic shift. "When I say go, you're going to count to three in your head. When you get to three, yell it out loud, and do not let go of me, got it?!"
"But it's a dead end-"
"Got it?!"
He nodded, and I said, "GO!"
"One…"
We closed in on the Black Tank and the building, and GUN was gaining on us relentlessly. A bullet whizzed by my ear and I instinctively gulped- their accuracy and precision was increasing.
"Two…"
I gripped the motorcycle tersely, timing it just right and really hoping for the best.
"THREE!"
I let go of the motorcycle and leapt off it, simultaneously chucking it upwards. It soared through the air, thanks to its speed and momentum, and effectively crashed into the Black Tank, which them slammed into the fallen building and caused a huge detonation. The GUN soldiers had little time to process what had happened; some had driven straight into the explosion, protected only by the tanks, while others had enough time to brake to a stop. One of the soldiers who had seen me pull off the stunt quickly popped out of the tank and looked to where Sonic and I should have been still in the air, but we were no longer there.
. . .
"Whoa, talk about an adrenaline rush! My legs are shaking!"
"That's nice, Sonic. Now, I know I've pounded the opposite information into your head previously, but let go of me before I turn you into a backpack."
Sonic had been so stunned that he hadn't realized he was still latched to me, but he had let go before I'd even finished speaking.
"I'm just amazed you managed to get away from GUN and take down an important alien aircraft!" he gushed, and I stared coldly at the ground.
"I won't allow them to do what they want to anymore."
"That's a relief," Sonic sighed, arms behind his head as he trotted next to me. "So, uh…where exactly did you teleport us?"
"The eastern outskirts of Westopolis," I explained. "In other words, just a ways off from behind that fallen building."
I noted that he practically had a bounce in his step and I stared curiously.
"Hey, what happened to your leg injury?"
He grinned at me like a fool. "I told you my legs are shaking. I guess they're numb from nearly driving into a wall while nearly getting shot in the back."
Sonic's expression then got a tad more serious.
"But say, Shadow…why didn't you teleport a little farther from Westopolis? I mean, there's still no reason to be here…"
My expression became twice as serious.
"Because, there's still a Chaos Emerald in this area, and I certainly didn't find it," I explained, noticing Sonic's quills go rigid. "That either means the Black Arms have secured it…or there's another option I haven't explored yet. You wouldn't happen to have any alternate ideas, would you?"
Sonic looked like he was dying to say something, but out of the dusk of the night came Doom's Eye once again. He seemed ghostly pleased about something…which means it was time to put an end to it.
Sonic shuffled close to me as I marched over to Doom. Doom seemed to welcome the challenge.
"So we meet again, Shadow. Any luck locating that Chaos Emerald?"
"Don't try to act dumb," I hissed at him, pointing accusingly at him. "Hand over that Chaos Emerald or else!"
Doom's Eye chuckled lowly as he lessened the space between us. "Ah, the Chaos Emerald? I hope you don't mean…this Chaos Emerald, hmm?"
I stared at him quizzically, until Doom's Eye's appendages suddenly lashed out and grabbed Sonic, restraining all four of his limbs and preventing him from fighting back.
"H-Hey! What's the big idea here?! Lemme go, NOW!"
I just looked on as Doom's extra limbs reached into Sonic's quills, fishing around until they retrieved the red Chaos Emerald from him. Retaining his prize, Doom chucked Sonic away, discarding him in yet another pile of rubble.
"Okay, THAT'S really getting old…" I heard Sonic grumble afterward. I turned and shook a fist at him.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a Chaos Emerald?!" I roared at him. He stared back at me disinterestedly.
"I thought it was obvious," he scoffed, scratching his ear. "After all, I got you out of the Lava Shelter by using Chaos Control, but like I said, something went wrong and I ended up back in Westopolis!"
"Wait…'went wrong'…?" I trailed, sliding a glance at Doom's Eye. Had he managed to corrupt Sonic's Chaos Control, and that's how he knew about the Emerald? Even so, how could he do that to Sonic? I hadn't even figured out how he could mess with mine…
"Besides, how else did you think I healed my leg?" Sonic continued. I snapped out of my thoughts and growled at him.
"Well, you lied to me about having a Chaos Emerald-!"
"Actually, you never asked," he interrupted. "'Sides, the last time I had one in my possession, I was put into the exact same position I'm in now! Do you really think I was in a hurry to return to that?"
"Ugh, I'll deal with you later…" I huffed, whirling back to Doom's Eye. "As I said before, you'd better be handing over that Chaos Emerald soon!"
Doom chuckled again, seemingly emanating a reddish glow due to the Emerald's presence. "So, you still think you have a chance against ME, do you? Even with the power of the Emerald in my hand?"
"I always have," I sneered back, taking a fighting stance. "And I have more power than you could ever wish to possess, with or without Chaos Emeralds!"
"Perhaps…but our real destructive powers have yet to be unleashed!" Doom assured, tentacles flaring out with rage. I sighed, shaking my head with pity.
"Look, I don't take orders…especially not from you. Not anymore." I made sure that was clear, staring Doom straight in the eye. "…but I'm not here to fight you, either. I'm collecting the Chaos Emeralds to find my own answers…"
I flashed a glance at Sonic.
"That's all I've wanted this whole time…" I clenched my fists and snarled at Doom's Eye. "…so why don't you just back off?!"
Sonic blinked in surprise as he got back up again. Doom, meanwhile, wasn't nearly as impressed.
"You still don't know your place, do you?" he challenged me, rising higher and higher from the ground. "BLACK BULL! I summon you!"
"Wait, Black Bull…?" Sonic asked, his ear flicking curiously.
Still sounds less ridiculous than the Egg Dealer…or the Egg Balloon. Honestly.
A large black and red creature suddenly crept up behind Doom's Eye, and I had never seen anything uglier…aside from Black Doom himself. It could also hardly be called a bull- it was more like a bulldog Cyclops with the body of a slug and weakling wings being the only thing keeping it in the air.
"Behold! The wrath of the Black Arms!" Doom announced.
"Yeah, I'm really beholding it."
The Black Bull opened what I assumed to be its mouth to howl at us. It was completely inhumane, and it only served to make my ears press against my will and to cover me in its slobber. If I wasn't already disgusted enough, a squeaky-clean Sonic hopped next to him in a battle-ready position.
"Woo hoo! Now we're talking! Bring it on!" he cheered, rapidly punching his fists. "Sonic and Shadow, ready to take out the alien trash-!"
"I'm still mad at you."
"You're always mad at me," Sonic scoffed, undeterred. "Face it, you're mad at my existence. Now let's team up and end this thing's existence!"
"Finally," I grumbled, rolling my head and clenching my fists. "Something we can agree on."
Doom's Eye floated well out of our reach, taking the Chaos Emerald with him.
"Now, Black Bull…burn this entire city and its inhabitants to ash!"
"Man, he really has a thing against Westopolis, doesn't he?" Sonic wondered, and I just rolled my eyes and ran toward to Black Bull. Sonic was a little ahead of me now, appearing way more eager at something to fight than I was. We hardly even managed to get in close when it hurled a yellow ball of energy at us. Sonic braked instantly and dodged to the side while I whirled around and skated away from it.
"Well, check you out, big guy!" Sonic taunted. "Let's have some fun!"
"I question your idea of fun," I shot back, ducking under the energy sphere and letting it slam into a building. Sonic laughed as he bounced relatively gracefully off all the debris and threw himself at the bull.
"A lot of people do."
He landed on the exterior of the bull, only to find that it had really tough skin, and not only did he once again fail to do any damage against the aliens, but he was smacked away by the bull's tail and sent to the ground. I skated over to him and begrudgingly helped him up.
"Ow…that thing's blubbery body seems immune to most attacks…guess we've gotta find its weak spot!"
"Huh, really? Got another smart idea, genius?" I sneered. Sonic stumbled a bit, glancing at his arm that was now really scraped up thanks to the bull's thick skin. He then looked back at the Black Bull, which was now coughing up more aliens to attack us. They were all bird-like, and they started flying over to us, so against Sonic's wishes I took out my rifle and shot them all down.
"Hey, wait…" he trailed, although I didn't stop until all the birds had been taken care of. "If that monster can spit out little bird creatures, you should use its pets against it!"
I was about to call him out on his dumb idea, but looking back at the Black Bull, the way he sent out the bird creatures…maybe Sonic was onto something…
Sonic stayed back in order to taunt the monster, while I skated towards it again, just in time for it to cough up some more bird creatures. They were all lined up perfectly, and leading straight for the bull itself. I homed in on each of them, approaching the bull quickly until I was close enough to its face to attack from the air.
"Take this, abomination!"
It seemed to howl the very moment I collided with its single eye, recoiling on the spot and swatting me away. I backflipped in the air and landed on my feet, with Sonic running up to me sounding excited.
"That's it! It's working! The eye is the weak point!"
"Hmph, found out that one the hard way, huh?"
"Well, maybe." Sonic huffed and turned away from me. "But I've learned in all my adventures to always go for anything that glows…and when that fails, hit 'em in the eye!"
"I'm pretty sure anything would keel over if they were struck in the eyes…" I grumbled, but then I took out the Shadow Rifle and spun it on my finger. "Hey, Sonic. If you're keen on having the Black Bull take a hedgehog to the eye, then you home in on it, and I'll stay back this time."
Sonic caught sight of the rifle and sucked in his cheeks. "You want me to stun it so you can deliver more damage?"
"That is indeed the plan. Glad I only had to explain it once."
Sonic glowered at me; I shot him one of those cheesy grins he always flashed at me. Apparently he wasn't expecting that, because he flinched on the spot.
"Argh, just promise you won't hit me, m'kay!?"
"I dunno if I can promise that-"
"That is not funny-!"
"Fine," I murmured, just ready to get this over with. "I'll make an effort to not hit you, okay? Does that satiate you?"
"Yes- I'll take it!" he exclaimed, winking and giving me a thumbs up. "Just leave it to me!"
I followed half a pace behind him as he jogged ahead of me, ultimately moving fast enough down the road to warrant spreading out his arms like he was flying. He gained more speed, eventually looking less like an airplane and more like a blue missile; or something to be reckoned with.
We caught up with the Black Bull again, easily dodging the orange blasts it chucked at us before launching another group of birds at us. I ceased skating and kneeled down in position with the Shadow Rifle raised; Sonic kept darting forward, rushing to the left to get some air by running up a building and jumping off of it.
"Here we go!" he called, only needing to glance at the birds' position for a second before launching himself. Sonic targeted them faster than I ever could have, and with more precision as well. In fact, he did it so quickly that he managed to strike the Black Bull's eye four times- two times more than I had.
"I don't know if I'm just out of practice or if it really does just come more naturally to him…" I mumbled under my breath, taking aim at the eye and letting loose with a barrage. It squealed at the top of its lungs again, but luckily the sound of the rifle's rapid fire drowned it out.
"Yeah, smash it!" Sonic whooped, landing on the ground before jumping around with a fist in the air. I rolled my eyes and simply kept shooting. Eventually the Black Bull turned away, causing my bullets to ricochet off its blubbery yet coarse exterior, so I halted my shots and took off after it again.
"Hey, I just had another idea!" Sonic announced, easily catching up to me and looking pleased with himself. I glanced at him half-heartedly.
"Mph. I bet it's just as great as some of your previous ones."
"Hey, my last three ideas haven't been that bad, and two of them worked!" he protested with a pout. He then became happy again and shared his idea anyway. "Anyway, I was thinking that if we used Chaos Control, we could stop time around the Black Bull, giving you the perfect opportunity to fire your rifle at its eye and beat it once and for all!"
"Huh, not half bad…except for the three snags in that plan," I murmured. Sonic feigned pain at that point.
"Well, there's two flaws right there! One, I do not plan- I have ideas. And two, my ideas are always flawless!"
"I find that hard to believe, but here's what wrong now," I scoffed. "One, it's near impossible for me to initiate Chaos Control, keep it stable, and shoot at the Black Bull at the same time. Which brings me to my second point- from what I've seen and heard, you can only teleport certain distances with Chaos Control, and have no access to its temporal capabilities."
"I'll learn eventually!" Sonic complained. "And my spacial Chaos Control abilities are not small…"
"Which brings up the third point," I huffed. I was about to continue, but the bull was attacking us again while we were lingering our conversation in the open, so I grabbed Sonic and dragged him behind a building. "…you can't do Chaos Control without a Chaos Emerald, and yours was stolen by Black Doom not even ten minutes ago! And I'm certainly not letting you lay a hand on mine."
"Well we can't just rinse and repeat either- it's taking too long!" Sonic protested. "If you stop time, I'll keep it stable while you shoot, all right?"
"I don't know…what if you accidentally cause time to collapse?"
Sonic heaved a sigh and stared hardly at me. "Look, Shadow. I put all my faith in you when we were about to go out in a blaze of glory…more than once…so would it kill you to do the same for me for a few seconds?!"
…I hate it when he makes an ounce of sense.
"You'd just better hope and pray the Black Bull goes down fast," I susurrated, pulling out the green emerald and refusing to take my eyes off on Sonic. He just gave me a curt nod and ran ahead to catch the Black Bull attention. It wasn't hard, since all Sonic had to do was waved it down and it instantly chased after him. Once the bull was in position, he shot a nod at me, and I sprung out of hiding.
"Just watch this!" I called, glowing blue around the edges as I called upon the emerald's power. "Chaos…Control!"
Time halted, and the colors of the city around us quickly inverted; something that never failed to make my head spin slightly. Regardless, I turned to Sonic who was jogging up to me again.
"You know what to do- it won't last much longer though," I warned him, tossing the Chaos Emerald in his direction. He ran up and leapt into the air, grabbing the Chaos Emerald and feeling its power surge through him.
"I'll use your Chaos Control!"
As soon as he said that, I swear the world grew even brighter, and I almost lost sight of the Black Bull. However, its eye was as prominent as ever, so I locked onto it and fired relentlessly.
Just as Sonic had promised, the Black Bull went down almost too easily, and its wounded scream broke Sonic's focus on the Chaos Control, causing time to start again abruptly and for Sonic to fall to the ground, land on his stomach, and for the Chaos Emerald to roll out of his grasp. I wordlessly plucked it from the ground as the Black Bull's eye painfully exploded into a rain of green goo. I was all ready to clean up and go, but once Sonic came to again, he started sprinting after the beast.
"It's not dead yet! Keep going!"
"I told you that idea wouldn't work!" I yelled after him, activating my jet shoes and careening after the blue blur. Sonic shook his head.
"No, I think it needs just one more hit now- that's why it's trying to flee!"
"Well we can't use Chaos Control on it if it's facing the other way!" I insisted. "And I sincerely doubt it's going to turn around and spew some convenient birds for us."
"You are so negative," Sonic scoffed in mock disgust. "It's like what I said before- not everything has to be rinse and repeat!"
He stuck his hand out toward me and grinned.
"It's okay to break the mold sometimes."
I stared at his hand blankly.
"What is that supposed to insinuate…?"
"Tails, Knuckles, and I do this all the time!" he assured, and I was suddenly feeling apprehensive. "…I'm going to throw you at the Black Bull, and then you're going to hit it where it really hurts!"
"There's no way you can throw me up there-" I started to argue, but he shook his head.
"I know I'm not as strong as Knuckles, or even you, but I don't need strength!" he assured. "A little speed is all I need!"
"…I've been around you too long," I grimaced, latching onto his arm with mine.
"You can never be around me too long!"
Yes, you can…yes you can.
Regardless, Sonic suddenly boosted forward, and in an instant we were right next to the escaping Black Bull. He turned to me and nodded, signaling that he was about to throw me. I silently braced myself as he worked his way to the front of the bull, and once he was directly in front of it, he leapt up and started rapidly spinning in midair. Once he went as fast as he could go, he literally hurled me, and I hardly had the time to curl up myself and nail the Black Bull in the eye for the final time.
"Yes! End of the line for you!" Sonic celebrated on the sidelines, breaking out into a small dance. I just leapt off of the bull and skid next to him, watching the Black Bull finally fall to the ground as it stopped moving.
"Serves that alien monster right for getting in my way…" I grumbled, folding my arms. Sonic felt the need to whack me on the back.
"Nice job, Shadow! That was great!" he exclaimed as I tried rubbing the ache out of my shoulder.
"Yes, fabulous, especially now that Black Doom has a Chaos Emerald!" I hissed at him, any sense of victory I had previously now gone. "You were so worried about me getting the Chaos Emeralds that you let Black Doom waltz up and take yours! How dense can you be?!"
"Shadow, wa-"
"You all…were so afraid I'd give the emeralds to Black Doom…but that's precisely what I was trying to prevent after what I did to Central City!" I continued, bottled up rage rising up to the surface, and it felt good to lash it out on Sonic. "For whatever reason, he won't take the Chaos Emeralds from me…but if he ends up getting his hands on them at this point he'll destroy the world!"
"Shadow, we didn't-"
"Stop," I demanded, and his mouth clenched shut. "Where exactly did you find that Chaos Emerald?"
Sonic bit his lip and looked at the ground.
"…it was in one of Eggman's old bases, but he didn't even know it was there…" He shook his head. "I went in there and grabbed it while he was launching his Sky Troops' assault against Black Doom."
"Okay, that means Black Doom has the one I was going to go for next," I sighed, balling my fists. Sonic, for once, really didn't want to talk, but I called on my negative Chaos Energy and started glowing red. Sonic tried to back away, but we both knew I had the advantage- I could warp anywhere I wanted, no matter how fast Sonic could run.
"Shadow…can we please talk about this?" he asked calmly enough, and I nodded once.
"Sure. You can tell me two important things, and you'll be able to keep your quills intact," I challenged, and he didn't speak against me, surprisingly enough. "Now, are any of your annoying friends anywhere near Death Ruins?"
A ghost of a coy looked crossed Sonic's face, but he tried to play it off.
"None of my friends are annoying," he defended haughtily. "…and I'm shocked to hear to say that about Rouge. I thought you cared for her more than that."
"You've gotta be…Rouge is there?!" I screeched, and while Sonic maintained a poker face, his ears flattened against his head.
"Yes, Shadow. Once Knuckles returned to the GUN HQ, she informed me that she, Amy, and Cream went looking for the final Emeralds, but after I found the red one, their communicators picked up the one in Death Ruins. Therefore, Amy and Cream went back to the base and Rouge is still there looking. She is an expert treasure hunter, after all…"
I grimaced and glanced away. "An unfortunate turn of events, to be sure…but there are still more pressing matters at hand."
My red irises flashed to meet with his green ones, and he knew he wasn't going to like my next question.
"Sonic, this is really important, and I absolutely have to know…"
"I'll never tell you," he whispered under his breath.
"Sonic, you've got to tell me…"
"No, not on my life," he susurrated again, and I narrowed my eyes.
"We can arrange that easily. Last chance, Sonic-"
"You'll never get it out of me!" he completely snarled, flashing his own fangs with a ferocious flair that did not belong on his face. I would've stepped back had I not been as furious as he was. I desperately needed the information, so I grabbed him and held him against the nearest wall, arms pinned and legs rendered useless. He was clearly wincing in quiet pain, but he still wasn't going to tell me.
"I'll find out one way or another, Sonic!" I yelled at him, a growl emitting from my throat afterward. He tore his solemn gaze from the ground, green eyes rolling up to meet mine.
"No."
The arm that was pinning his legs quickly flashed up against his neck, applying enough pressure to make a threat, but not enough to restrict his breathing or speech.
"Where…is…Tails?"
Sonic still didn't answer. I lessen my hold on him ever so slightly.
"I'm not going to hurt him, Sonic. I have absolutely no intentions of doing any harm. But if I don't get to him first, far worse things will," I insisted, and he squirmed slightly. "You know what Black Doom did to you…he's done worse to me…and I'd hate to imagine what he'd do to a kid like Tails the moment he learned that fox had a Chaos Emerald?"
"I can't tell you!" Sonic suddenly howled, and I gave him three seconds to explain himself. "I can't tell you…because I don't know."
I stiffened, allowing Sonic to fall to the ground and regain his freedom. He sucked in large gulps of air rapidly, rubbing his throat and glaring violent daggers at me.
"How do you not know where your own little brother is!?" I snapped at him, and I regretted it instantly with the way Sonic's face fell. It lifted with rage once again, and he flung himself at me. I didn't stop him, either. Quite frankly, I deserved it.
"I don't know where he is because of you," he said acidly; a tone I'd never heard from him before. "He convinced us that he should've been the one to escort the president, so we let him…but then you and the Black Arms sabotaged the Air Fleet and GUN had its Emerald stolen! Hmm, wonder who did that?!"
It probably wasn't the best idea to bring up the fact that Tails had handed over GUN's Emerald at this point…
"Because of the attack on the Air Fleet, Tails left on the Tornado III, after everyone back at HQ told him to run and hide, to take his Emerald and just leave, and not to come back until after the aliens were successfully driven away…"
Sonic glowered at me, impossibly angry, and I had no idea what to say at this point.
"But the aliens are still here, Shadow, apparently after your head and world destruction…and no one's heard from Tails since yesterday." He swallowed hard. "The aliens are still here…but we don't know if Tails still is."
"Why haven't you contacted him on your fancy communicators?" I questioned, hiding the small twinge of jealously that wanted to surface. Sonic shook his head.
"He won't answer. After the Black Arms successfully hacked into GUN's mainframe via the Digital Circuit, he's afraid they'll be able to hack his communicator's transmission and pinpoint his location…"
That's a really specific fear for an eight-year-old, but this was Tails…
"But you and Rouge and Knuckles and all the others have been contacting each other all this time!" I protested.
"Yeah, but none of us had Chaos Emeralds then."
He eventually let up on me and angrily ran his hand through his quills; I just quietly stood back up and pondered my options.
Black Doom had one Chaos Emerald, meaning he had one more than he needed. I was going to have to pry it from him eventually…but I sort of wanted to hold that one off until the end.
The one I was aiming to get in Death Ruins was now probably in Rouge's hands by now…and whether I threatened her or begged her, it was going to be hard plucking that "beautiful gem" from her thieving hands; for all I knew, I could take her one and she'd have swiped my four.
…and she was still the easiest target.
I thought Tails would have been the easiest, seeing how I managed to get him to hand over GUN's last Chaos Emerald. But if what Sonic said was true, and no one could even find the fox…that not only made it harder for me to get the Emerald and get him out of harm's way, but if the Black Arms had reached him first…
It gave me chills to realize there might be nothing left to find.
Pretty long chapter; I wanted to cut it up, but it flowed so well that I figured it'd be better if it stayed as is. :P
Next time...Shadow continues his attempts to reconcile with his friends, but how do you apologize to someone who needs it the most when A) no one knows where they are and B) they just so happened to lose what you were looking for...?