I Don't Trust You
Over the next few weeks the group that had come to the city together never met if they weren't already together. Rage stayed at the gate and helped with the guard shifts; Sonic spent his time with Tails, sleeping in the spare room next to his workshop, he stayed in his dark form; Slayde spent all of his time with the woman he met at the casino; and Shadow spent all his time training Amy, not letting her rest 'more that she needed', Shadow had reverted to his normal form. Simply put they weren't the best of friends.
Shadow took a swing at Amy's head as she quickly strafed to the side to avoid it swiftly moving her own strike in aimed at Shadow's gut. Shadow used his other hand to clasp her fist and pull her into a throw, causing Amy to go flying into the sides of the rings. Amy hit the ground slower than she sprang back up, ready for another attack to come towards her. Shadow however stood his ground and waited for her next attack. He was completely unpredictable and it made impossible to fight him easily. Amy decided to take a page out of his book and also stood her ground.
Both fighters slowly edged towards each other, each one eager to notice a weak spot in the others defences. No attacks were made however as neither fighter were leaving openings. Shadow foot slightly snagged the ring that they were in causing his head to whip down to see what it was Amy swiftly took the opportunity at the opening and threw a strong punch at Shadow's head, just to find it was a feint. Shadow's head quickly snapped up again and he brought up a swift uppercut to Amy's jaw. Amy's eyes flared open as the fist approached her, it was far too fast for her to avoid.
Shadow stopped just short of the punch and flicked her instead. Amy still staggered backwards from the force, even though it was just a flick. She rubbed her chin.
"That was taking the piss just a bit don't cha think?" Amy said smirking at Shadow, she quickly moved into a defensive position once again, panting. Shadow smirked back and also moved into a defensive position.
"No not at all." Shadow replied smugly. Shadow relaxed and looked at her calmly. "Gather your breath." Shadow sat down so that one knee was pointing in the air so that he was leaning further one way than the other, his breath could be heard to be marginally faster than normal but it was gone within seconds. Amy followed suit and sat down. They both sat there, Shadow staring at Amy, until Amy's heavy breathing steadied.
Shadow stood back up again. Amy stood up slowly and then suddenly charged at Shadow, trying to take him by surprise. Shadow smirked at this, swiftly moving out the way and tripping her up, causing Amy to fall on her nose. Amy sat back up. "That was just mean." She said rubbing her nose.
"You're getting better." Shadow said helping Amy up. He was about to say something else when the door opened.
"Hey time's up guys." A brown Echidna had come to show them out of the room to allow for the next people to come in and have their share of the private ring. A couple of other orange Echidnas stood behind him, presumably the people who were getting the ring next.
"Okay we'll be right out." Shadow said to the guy who was asking them to leave. He signalled over Amy and both jumped out of the ring and exited. Amy noticed that one of the Echidna's, one about her age, was gazing at her chest.
"Get a girl, perv." Amy said as she walked past him. The orange Echidna teen growled at her and leaped to attack, Amy quickly flung herself into defensive position. Shadow swiftly turned round to keep an eye on the Echidna, however, the older Echidna grabbed the younger ones arm, preventing him from moving.
"Come on little bro, it's rude to stare." The older Echidna said to the younger one. The younger one snatched his arm away and, with one last glance at Amy, stormed towards the ring. "Sorry about that, he's a little touchy."
"Oh it's fine." Shadow said, surveying the orange Echidna, moving slightly closer to Amy. "Just tell him to keep his anger under control or he might piss off the wrong person." Shadow's eyes glowed with a dark fire. The Echidna smiled.
"I'll try, but some thing's they just have to learn the hard way." Shadow smirked at this and relaxed a bit. The Echidna got prepared to start walking.
"Too true. See you round here some other time." Shadow said before turning to leave, Amy right in toe.
"Some other time." The footsteps of the Echidna could be heard entering the room with the private ring in. A loud 'what took you so long?' sounded just before the doors closed.
"I think you're ready." Shadow said to Amy. Amy looked at him in shock and mystification.
"Ready? Ready for what exactly Shadow?" Amy asked. Not completely sure what he meant and yet pretty sure at the same time. Shadow sighed.
"I think you're ready to get in one of the main rings and face your own opponent for the first time." Shadow said happily to her. Amy stopped in her tracks and looked at Shadow mortified.
"I'm not. I'm terrible at this! I can only just make your breath faster! And that only lasts for a few seconds!" Amy exclaimed, putting herself down badly. Shadow glared at her.
"Amanda Rose do not put yourself down!" Shadow said to Amy sternly. Amy looked to her feet, her ears flattened, hurt from Shadow's tone. Shadow relaxed a little and put his hand on Amy shoulder causing her to look up, right into his eyes. "I'm sorry." Amy almost gasped. Shadow rarely ever apologised so you always knew he meant it when he said it.
"It's okay Shadow, you just startled me. I wasn't expecting you to defend me from myself." Amy smiled at him, and much to her surprise had her smile returned by one of Shadow rare one-second-long smiles. Of course being one of those it went as quick as it had come.
"Come on Rose, let's start walking again." The both started heading directly for the entrance, Amy marginally behind Shadow. "We'll get you some food first, that way you can get your energy back and have a rest. You remember the fact that there are multiple rings here? And that each one has its own set of rules?" Amy nodded and Shadow managed to catch it in his peripheral vision. "Well there's one of the rings that specifically holds a small period of time each month ruled for disciples. It's a more of a tournament type thing where eight disciples enter and then battles in a tree." Shadow pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of nowhere and drew what he meant so Amy would understand.
"Seems simple enough." Amy said to Shadow as he screw the piece of paper up again, they had reached the bottom of the stairs at this point and there was a convenient bin at the side. Shadow threw it and it conveniently didn't miss and went directly in the bin. They both made their way up the stairs quickly and reached the top in no time. "So what are the rules for this?" Amy asked Shadow. Shadow breathed in deeply, quickly trying to refresh his memory.
"Win by knock out or if your opponent gives up. If a round goes on for longer than 30 minutes then a winner shall be decided by the judge." Shadow said, looking at Amy as they stopped just outside the door that led to the streets. An Echidna walked straight past them heading down as they stopped, revealing the crowd outside before it closed again. "Oh yeah, there's a 500 ring entry fee, but the winner gets 2000 rings and the runner up gets 500, basically, their money back. Bets are also allowed on runner up and winner, as well as what round a specific person will lose in. To qualify as a disciple you need someone who is obviously stronger than you and looks the part or you won't be allowed to join." Shadow stood up straight in a proud of himself way.
"Okay, I'll try my hardest in it for you Sensei." Amy looked at Shadow, unsure whether to be happy or shocked with his faith in her. Shadow smirked and pushed the door open, then shouted at her over the noise.
"Let's give your speed a test with a run back to the hotel." Shadow said smugly before jumping over onto a building and running across it, triangle jumping to avoid falling. Amy smirked herself and run after him, her speed had greatly improved, and though it was nowhere near Shadow and Sonic's, she managed to keep up with the blur she could see in front of her. In no time to two had made it to the hotel. Shadow jumped down and landed in the entrance bit that didn't have anyone in. Amy noticed it and jumped for it too, landing right next to Shadow. Suddenly as she landed she lost her balance and fell. Shadow swiftly moved and placed his hand in the way to protect her from falling on her face. "Are you okay?" Shadow asked sincerely. Amy nodded at him, going red in the face for such a simple cock up. "Okay let's go in. I'll try cooking this time." Amy pulled a face of mock shock and Shadow rolled his eyes. They both headed into the hotel together.
Shadow walked through from the kitchen with two plates in his hands. Amy was sitting at the table waiting. While Shadow had been teaching Amy how to fight Amy had also taught some cooking skills to Shadow as his want to eat was practically none existent, his need to eat being completely none existent due to him being the ultimate life form, semi-immortality made it so he had no need of food. Because of this he never bothered to learn and simply ate out if he wanted to eat. Amy inhaled the smell of the cooked food deeply.
"Smells good Shadow. I can't wait to try it." Amy picked up her fork as Shadow put the food down to reveal Spaghetti bolognaise. Her eyes gleamed at the same time as her held up fork as she swooped the fork down to scoop the food. She started wolfing it down as Shadow sat down and started eating his food more slowly. Within a few minutes Amy had finished and was sitting there looking at Shadow who was about half way through his food. "That was delicious! Good cooking Shadow." Amy stuck her thumb up at him, he rolled his eyes at her.
"You ate that fast." Shadow said between eating another mouthful. Amy grinned at him.
"Ever since I've been spending time with you I've been forgetting to eat as much. You just never stop! I've even started sleeping less as I only get about four hours before I wake up again, ready to train." Amy half smiled, unsure whether it was a good thing or not. She knew she still got all the nutrients she needed, just in two big goes rather than her previous four meals a day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. Now she just had lunch and dinner. Shadow looked up from his plate with a glimmer of worry in his eye.
"That's not so good. Do you feel like you're getting enough sleep? And enough food? From what I've remembered I never had this effect on anyone aboard the ARK." Amy froze in shock, Shadow never talked about the ARK anymore and even back when he did it was only ever to Rouge. Amy snapped out of her trance to find Shadow still staring at her with the same hard face as usual, but the small almost hidden glimmer of worry was still embedded in the back of his eyes. Amy felt herself go red slightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine Shadow, thanks for asking. I get out of my room when my body wakes me up naturally because it thinks I've had enough sleep." Amy smiled at Shadow, the small hint of worry faded from his eyes, she was happy he cared even if he wouldn't show it.
"That's good then." Shadow said bluntly, poking the last of his spaghetti with his fork before eating it. "You ready to go compete in the tournament?" Shadow asked. Amy almost shot out of her seat in surprise.
"Already? Isn't it a bit soon? I'll lose the first battle!" Amy said in a panicked voice. Shadow rolled his eyes at her.
"Stop putting yourself down. If we don't go today we'll have to wait another month for it again, if we're still here. I'd really like to know how well your potential is growing. I can't really do that unless you fight against people who you've never fought before." Shadow said sternly. Amy realised he was right and tried to put a bit more faith in herself. "You should believe in yourself a little more. You might not be the strongest person in the world but you are most certainly not the weakest." Amy smiled at this.
"Thank you Shadow." Amy said, still smiling at Shadow. Shadow shifted uncomfortably for a moment and then grabbed the empty plates and took them in the kitchen. Leaving Amy in the room by herself. Several minutes later Shadow came back to Amy, who was now sitting on the sofa, to find her with her fingers all touching and thumbs touching on the opposite side, a small ball of energy glowing in the centre. A small red ball.
"To be honest I am astounded with her progress. I have not known anyone progress as fast as that other than myself and... And? There is no 'and' so why did I think it?" Shadow shook it off. "You're doing well Amy." Shadow sat down next to her on the sofa. Amy smiled slightly through her concentration. "Level 5 red. You've made astounding progress in this short amount of time. But it'll get harder and harder to progress as you get higher up. By the time you get to yellow it'll be taking you years to get to the next level. Especially if you don't have someone to help guide you. Or train with in general." Amy let her concentration falter slightly by looking at Shadow, but the sphere stayed there. Shadow quickly registered that her ability to tap into her Chaos powers were also coming more naturally now as well.
"You can't really say that Shadow." Amy said to him calmly. Shadow looked at her confused. Amy rolled her eyes at him this time. "You managed to take a jump from level two yellow to level eight yellow... In one day!" Shadow looked as if he was deep in thoughts at these words.
"I've been thinking about that. It can't just be coincidental that both me and Sonic had such a large jump in power at the same time. I need to discuss my theory with Tails, however, before I inform anyone else." Amy pouted slightly, but she knew that Shadow had his reasons for not telling her what his assumptions were. After all, if there was one thing Shadow hated more than anything. It was he hated being wrong. Amy released her sphere and turned to Shadow fully.
"When will you start teaching me Chaos powers rather than just martial art moves? Don't get me wrong I love learning them all! It's just I'd like to learn some." Amy smiled at Shadow in the way a little kid does when she wants something. Shadow smiled grimly.
"Maybe after your tournament. As I said I need to paint an accurate picture of your strength." Shadow spoke to Amy reassuringly. Amy tried to hide this disappointment on her face. Shadow Checked the small clock that he had bought and put near the television. "11:51HT." Shadow said calmly. "Shit! 11:51HT! Rose we need to leave and get to the building in nine minutes to register. The elevator would take up about 5 of those minutes minimum." Shadow quickly strolled over to their window and opened it. "Looks like you're getting a crash course in free falling. Try to jump so you can use the strength of your legs to push off the wall to throw yourself right into a triangle jump. I'll keep an eye on you to make sure you're okay, but if you do it it'll increase my faith in you." With that Shadow jumped out of the window. Amy looked out of it dauntingly. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to survive a fall like that. She knew both Sonic and Shadow could easily, it was just less conspicuous to jump before hitting the floor. Amy also knew Shadow wouldn't let her down. She jumped out right after him.
She felt the resulting adrenaline rush almost instantly. "To be honest it is kind of nice free falling like this... Oh god I'm turning into an adrenaline junkie." Amy thought to herself as she fell. The ground approached rapidly and she got her legs ready for a strong jump. As soon as a piece of strong concrete came parallel with her she made the jump and soared across to the other side, almost completely halting her fall downwards. She could still feel gravities pull on her however, but she knew she would make it to the other side without falling too hard. She saw Shadow run off towards the stadium as she landed on the building and immediately began her pursuit.
They made it to the area in four minutes and they both headed inside together, quickly heading down the stairs. Amy made sure that she was slightly behind Shadow when they got to the bottom of the stairs as she didn't know where she was going. Shadow rapidly strode towards the arena that had the biggest crowd and Amy followed right behind him. Within seconds they were at the desk. "I'd like to enter my disciple into the tournament." Shadow said to the human behind the desk. He peered over to Amy with green eyes and surveyed her.
"You're just in time, there's one spot left. That'll be 500 rings please." Shadow quickly handed over the 500 ring note that he had. Making a mental note to one day thank Slayde for giving him any money to win money from betting for himself in the first place. The clerk handed Shadow a small ticket. "There's a small area to the left of the ring that allows the disciples and their masters to stand with some room. It also contains the tournament board. Good luck." Shadow thanked the man and then grabbed Amy and directed her to the small clearing that the human had mentioned. They made their way inside quickly. Amy looked at the tournament board as Shadow went over to the person in charge of the board. The letter A suddenly appeared at the eighth slot as she was looking at it.
A
"Looks interesting doesn't it?" A familiar voice sounded. Amy spun round to see who it was. Just to see the orange Echidna that was staring at her boobs earlier. She scowled at him. He frowned "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean any harm." Amy relaxed a bit. At least he apologised unlike some arrogant hedgehogs she knew. "This your first time in the tournament? I haven't seen you before and I've been coming for a couple of months." The Echidna asked.
"Yeah, this is the first time." Amy pointed to the board. "Which one is you?" the Echidna quickly looked over at the board.
"I'm Joshua." Amy's eyes immediately darted to the 'J' next to her in the first match.
"Oh God." Amy thought.
"The fourth letter along, not the one near the end. Who are you?" He asked. Amy once again relaxed. At least she wouldn't be against a more experienced fighter in her first round.
"I'm Amy. Only A on there so you can't miss it!" Amy said sweetly. Joshua smirked.
"Be careful in this tournament, even the girls are brutal. No offence." Joshua said. Amy just smiled at him and looked round for Shadow, to notice him talking to the older brother. She saw the older brother whisper something to Shadow and she saw Shadow smirk at it. This got her curiosity up. She walked up to Shadow with Joshua right in toe.
"What you talking about Shadow?" Amy asked cutely. Shadow looked over to her and his eyes gleamed with an inner smile for a moment.
"Seems were so late that the first round had just finished. They are about update the digital reader now. A girl called Tess beat a girl called Beth." Shadow smirked at this and looked over to Amy, who was feeling mixed feelings about entering.
"Looks like that Tess girl will be your opponent after this Harry boy." The older Echidna said confidently. Joshua smiled with self confidence. The older Echidna turned back to Shadow and offered his hand out. "The name's Jack by the way." Shadow looked at the hand in half disgust. He wasn't big on social interactions. He took the hand and shook it half heartedly anyway.
"Shadow." Shadow simply put. Jack smirked and was about to say something as they announced the next fight was beginning. Joshua made a quick dash for the ring. Jack, Amy and Shadow watched him go. Shadow mumbled to Amy. "Keep an eye on the fights and analyse their fighting technique for the later battles." Amy nodded in understanding as a bell rang and the 30 minutes counter came up on the screen above the ring and started counting down. The Crocodile called Harry immediately jumped forwards on the offensive. Joshua quickly dodged and gave him an elbow into the side. Causing him to stumble to the side, but the Crocodile wasn't going down that easily and quickly threw another punch at Joshua. Joshua parried this one causing Harry's momentum to take him to the side of Joshua, Joshua quickly followed through with a knee in the gut and the Croc fell over gasping for breath. Joshua placed his foot on the Croc and smirked.
"Give?" Joshua said. Harry couldn't talk in between the gasps for air he was taking to gather his breath.
'This guy is nothing compared to Vector.'Amy thought as she looked over to the wreathing Croc.
"I... Give." The Croc finally managed to gasp out. Joshua helped him up and took him to the side before coming over to Amy, Shadow and his brother.
"How was that!" He received a high five from his brother. Amy wasn't too impressed as she thought she would be. He moved a lot slower than she had expected, although she supposed that's what you get for practising against something that could move faster than the speed of sound. Shadow stood there with a scowl. She knew what he was thinking. In his opinion honour would have dictated to allow the fighter to get up and decide whether he wanted to give without intervening. She didn't know whether it was because she was Shadow's disciple or something else, but she agreed with those thoughts.
The next battle was announced and the group watched intently. In the end a purple chameleon called Hakan won. If Amy won her match she would be up against him next. Amy's battle was announced to be against a girl called Jasmine. Amy jumped into the ring and got ready. The girl came in the ring and Amy saw that she was a yellow Armadillo. Amy gritted her teeth slightly. Armadillos were known for being strong.
The bell rang and the counter started. Amy quickly readied up her defensive position in case of a direct assault and watched her opponent do that same. It was obvious that this one was not as stupid as the one that Joshua fought. Amy cursed her luck. She quickly snapped out of it when she saw a fist heading towards her, snapping her out of her trance. She really needed to stop daydreaming during fights. Amy quickly grabbed the fist that was heading towards her head and pulled it to the side, from the momentum of Jasmine's punch, combined with the strength of Amy's pull, which cause her to gain too much momentum, Jasmine stumbled. Amy quickly seized the opportunity and landed a fierce elbow blow in the bad of Jasmine's neck. Jasmine fell to the ground and didn't get up. Amy stood there staring at her rather awkwardly while most of the crowd was silent. Although Joshua's noisy tones could be heard quite easily through the silence. "Go Amy!" Followed by Shadow's dark chuckling which lasted a brief moment of a second before the crowd burst into a roar of awe and amazement. The judge quickly scuttled onto the stage and tested for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief before gently picking up the body of the girl.
"Amy Rose is the winner by knock out!" There was another roar from the crowd as Amy started walking off, immediately behind the judge. The judge, a large Echidna, jumped over the barrier at the edge of the ring, rather than climbing through it, with relative ease. Amy climbed out of the ring and walked up to Shadow. She heard his dark chuckle again. It sent shivers down her spine but she didn't know why, it's not as if it made her afraid or anything like that.
"Well done Rose. You used that situation fully to your advantage and even accidentally used a weak point on the body. She should be out for about ten more minutes and then she'll wake up thinking she's still fighting." Shadow smirked. An orange Echidna with a memorable face came bumbling across.
"Hello Joshua." Amy said greeting him as he arrived back from going to see the unconscious Armadillo. Joshua approached her with an impressed look on his face.
"Way to beat her! That was awesome! Even faster than my time and by knock out to boot! I might have some competition in the final!" Joshua winked at her with the last statement. Amy rolled her eyes at him.
"It was a fluke Joshua, nothing more." Amy said to him, she heard a very soft growl come from Shadow. I really need to stop putting myself down. Amy thought, sweat dropping. "Well maybe there was some skill. It wouldn't have worked if I hadn't hit quite so hard, though, my elbow hurts now." Amy rubbed her elbow subconsciously. The tournament tree was displayed on all screens in the immediate area.
B T H J Y H J A
"Would Tess and Joshua please step into the ring." The judge sounded on the intercom. Joshua quickly looked up and dashed off.
"Got to dash!" Joshua shouted back to them as he ran towards the ring. This fight was going to be more action packed.
Joshua came back immediately after his victory had been declared with a big smile on his face and a bunch of bruises on his arms and one lovely black eye that had started showing already.
"Calling up Hakan and Amy." Amy looked up to the stage. That was a fast call up. Yet it was a long fight so that was probably why. Amy quickly scuttled off to the stage with Joshua cheering behind her already. She got in to the ring to see her opponent, a dark grey wolf who looked like he had an attitude. Hakan slowly moved in to a defensive stance, Amy followed suit just before the bell rang and the counter started. Much to Amy's surprise Hakan leaped right out throwing a fist right at her face. Amy reacted slowly due to surprise and Hakan's hit managed to knock her in the jaw. Amy almost fell backwards from the impact. Quickly straightening herself up again just to find another fist, this time on the other side of her jaw, connecting with her. Amy fell over this time but managed to use her arms and body to roll away from her opponent and spring up in a somersault. However, Hakan was already upon her. Amy had to use her speed to dodge each of the wolves attacks. Hakan was so relentless in his attacks, yet his guard did not drop one bit, that Amy couldn't fight back even if she wanted to. Amy knew that his technique was far beyond what she had even begun to comprehend and that if it wasn't for Shadow's training in speed and taking hits she would have been downed by that first punch or one of the consequential ones that followed.
"Come on Amy!" Joshua shouted in the background. Amy was amazed that she heard it over the roaring crowd, but had no time to dwell on such things as a kick came flying towards her. Amy noticed a slight misbalance in the way that he was leaning for his kick, she swiftly decided it was her turn to go on the offensive. Pushing his leg with as much force as she could muster she made the wolf almost fall, forcing him to plant his foot on the ground swiftly and use most of his concentration on not falling over. Amy curled the tips of her fingers inwards, baring her palm, but protecting her bendable fingers, she thrust her hand out towards the muzzle of the wolf and scored a perfect hit on his nose before he knocked Amy's hand out of the way and jumped backwards, clutching his nose in pain. Hakan looked at Amy with the wild eyes of an animal. Amy, unafraid, put herself back into a defensive stance, determined not to be took off guard this time, however he did not leap at her as he did last time and this time he stood in his defensive form, analysing her every move. Amy suddenly moved, but not to attack, Hakan flinched dramatically throwing up his defences. Amy just stayed still and smirked.
Hakan once again leapt forwards. This time Amy was ready for him and automatically parried his blow. Swiftly doing a roundhouse kick in his chest. He stumbled backwards, Amy quickly followed through with a punch to the side of his head, then an uppercut to his jaw, knocking him off his feet. Amy jumped back and watched him get back to his feet, shaking his head. He slowly put back up a defence. Amy looked up at the clock. 29 minutes 5 seconds. "Shit. Less than a minute left." Amy thought. Amy looked at the heavily breathing wolf. Amy jumped at the wolf without a moment's hesitation. This time the wolf was caught off guard with the sudden attack. Amy landed a punch on his jaw and a knee in the gut at the same time using a technique Shadow taught her. The wolf almost fell over from the dual attack, being winded and shook at the same time. Amy quickly spun round and landed an elbow to the side of the head. The wolf fell down to the ground. Amy steadied herself and rubbed her elbow. 'I need to stop heavily attacking bones with this thing.' The wolf was laid on the floor for a few moments, attempting to get himself up, but his arms kept giving way. The bell rang.
"Time has ran out and as Hakan is on the ground and is unable to get up. Amy Rose wins!" The judge shouted on the microphone. The crowd went crazy as Amy looked round. She went over to Hakan and offered her hand. Hakan looked up at her like a wounded animal and slapped her hand away, crawling up and stumbling over to where his sensei was. Amy quickly got off the stage and headed to Shadow. "Well be having a thirty minute break for the next two contestants to rest before their battle. As such. Here is the tournament tree."
B T H J Y H J A
"That was one hard match!" Amy exclaimed to Shadow. Shadow smirked at her.
"The boy you faced was 14 years old Rose." Shadow said to her patronisingly. "Why did it take you so long?" He then said cheekily. Amy opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, then gave up on what she was going to say. Shadow chuckled darkly. "You shouldn't worry about it. He's been fighting since the day he was born. He belongs to an elite race of wolves that love war."Amy smirked at Shadow.
"You had me going then." She said grinning to him. Shadow stared back at her. Deadly serious.
"I'm serious Rose. He belongs to an elite race." Amy looked at him confused again. Then sweat dropped.
"Never heard of them before." Amy said to Shadow. Shadow smirked at her again.
"I doubt you would have. They keep themselves to themselves. I stumbled upon one of their colonies once while I was running round. There aren't many left." Shadow told her. Suddenly a loud booming sound was heard. It sounded like something hitting something else very hard a great distance away. Shadow looked at Amy, whom nodded. Shadow swiftly went over to the clerk. "We're forfeiting." Shadow told him. The clerk looked in disbelief.
"But you can't do that!" The clerk said to him. Shadow smirked at him.
"I just did." With that he made his way back to Amy, they both started walking towards the exit, just to be stopped by Joshua.
"You're not going anywhere until our match is finished!" He said, blocking off Amy. Amy looked at him sympathetically.
"I'll fight you some other time Joshua. Not now. I promise." Joshua looked in thought. He stood there for several seconds before dropping his arms from his sides. He then stuck his fist out in front of him.
"Rivals?" Joshua sad to her, grinning. Amy grinned back to him. She knocked his fist dead on with her own.
"Rivals." Amy said, Joshua moved out the way and Amy turned to look for Shadow. She heard him shout.
"Rose hurry up!" She noticed him and quickly waded through the people to catch up, it seemed a lot of people were heading outside to find out what was going on. Amy finally caught up with Shadow and he used his superior strength to plough through the crowd like a knife through butter. Amy followed right behind so as not to fall behind again.
They eventually made it to the stairs, which were packed. Shadow swiftly made his way through though and in no time they were out on the streets. The streets were even busier than usual and so full that you couldn't move. There was another loud bang. This time they could tell that it was coming from the Northern area. Quite probably the gate. Amy looked to Shadow. "What we going to do?" She asked.
"We're going to put that new speed of yours to the test." Shadow grinned at her. Amy grinned back. "Let's go." Shadow jumped up and triangle jumped from building to building, Amy followed swiftly behind, Shadow was going far faster than her, but she knew she'd catch up once he reached his destination.
The Northern Gates.
"These past weeks have been nice, having you here. These parts can be quite rough sometimes." Eleanor said. Slayde looked at the Rabbit whom was looking towards her little Wolf cherishingly. Slayde had discovered that the father was a wolf who fought in the first hours of the take over, and died before Eleanor even knew she was pregnant. "It's been nice being away from my mum's constant nagging as well. And it's all thanks to you!" Eleanor smiled at Slayde, whom smiled back.
"It's nothing. Really. You've thanked me plenty of times over the past few weeks. You can just enjoy it now!" Slayde said to her. They were both sat on the sofa of a fairly nice apartment. It wasn't decorated amazingly, but it was definitely cosy enough to be a home. Eleanor looked at the clock, her ears drooped.
"You're leaving soon." It wasn't a question but a statement. "You always leave at 12:30." She said. Looking at him pleadingly. "Stay a little longer?" Slayde grimaced.
"I come 00:00 to 12:30 Which is more than half my day. You need rest and the cub needs rest, he isn't even 5 yet." He explained to her. "Plus something doesn't feel quite right today." I wonder if the others have sensed it. Shadow's probably too busy, along with Amy. Sonic's mind is clouded. Hmmm.
"But..." Eleanor fell quiet; she knew that she would not win in her protests. Slayde looked over to the clock. And with a small nod made his way to the door. The cub looked over to him and looked although he was about to start crying.
"I should be here tomorrow." Slayde said to her as he opened the door.
"See you tomorrow." She said as he closed the door.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow" Slayde muttered to himself behind the closed door. He turned round, looking at his surroundings. The home is in the suburban district, notorious for its rate of crimes. The building is one of the smaller ones, with various apartments. Slayde swiftly jumped off the building down to the street underneath. Falling down perfectly and landing on his feet. Slayde stood there for a minute, unsure of what to do. The only reason he left was because of them, he didn't want them to become too dependent on him in case he went anywhere. Clicking his fingers he decided. He'd go and find out what Rage was up to. He hadn't seen him for quite a while.
Slayde started walking towards the Northern gates, pushing people out of the way gently as he moved through the crowd. Some people obnoxiously walked without cause, purposely barging people out their way. Slayde carried on walking straight towards one such person, essentially challenging him to a game of chicken. The person came close to him, Slayde saw him move into a position to barge him over. Slayde simply kept walking. The force suddenly came, Slayde quickly spun round at a speed only Chaos users could muster and caused the male to fall over. Slayde chuckled to himself as he kept walking.
The buildings were getting gradually lower and Slayde knew he was approaching the edge. It had to be about quarter to by now. Slayde suddenly noticed a small restaurant, making a detour from his original route he made his way right to it and got in. He noticed it was a fast food restaurant, which made him chuckle slightly. He walked into the fast food restaurant and walked up to the bar. "One large hamburger with fries please." Slayde said, digging into his pocket.
"Would you like a drink with that?" The teenage fox asked him. Slayde shook his head. "That'll be 3 rings please." The teenage boy said. Slayde dug out the correct amount. Things in this city sure are damn cheap. Slayde stood there waiting for his meal. It was ready almost immediately. Slayde grabbed his tray and sat down to eat. Scoffing the burger as he hadn't ate for a while and quite enjoyed eating. He looked out of the window next to his seat and saw a bunch of men standing there, holding improvised weapons. Pipes, wooden planks, etc. They were slapping them in their hands threateningly. Slayde turned back to his food and ignored them. Just as he finished his fries there was a loud knock on the glass. Slayde looked up to see a familiar face. The male he knocked over was grinning at him threateningly. Slayde rolled his eyes and stood up, he exited the restaurant and started walking towards the gate again. Fully aware that they were following him. Slayde looked up to see some other thugs standing further away in front. It seemed like they were trying to herd him to the left.
Slayde decided there was no point in spoiling their fun and purposely turned down into a small alleyway on the left that lead to a dead end, he assumed that was where they wanted him. As there were no civilians down there to watch. The alleyway took an L shape so he turned the corner and was completely out of sight from the rest of the street. Time to teach these guys a lesson. Slayde thought. A bunch jumped down from the sides. The ones behind him rushed round the corner and some burst out of the nearest door. Slayde looked round and did a quick count. Twenty one with weapons and four without. He liked those odds.
Suddenly a loud 'boom' was heard. It was so loud all of the thugs clutched their ears in pain. Slayde flinched slightly, then immediately looked alert. It sounded like it came from the Northern gate. After all it had an odd metallic quality to the sound. It had to have been quite the impact. The thugs were stumbling round. Disorientated from the noise. He was thankful. He needed to head there as soon as possible. Slayde quickly jumped up on the nearest building. To his luck he was only a few tens of buildings away from the fields. "That explains why it sounded so clear." Slayde thought as he dashed off, jumping building to building in an attempt to locate the loud noise.
"Well Sonic, you've been here a while now. I hope you're enjoying your stay here?" Tails said to Sonic, looking up from the project he was working on, on his desk. The small Emerald holding one. Sonic still hadn't been told its purpose. At this rate he doubted he would find out until Tails had all the Emeralds. Sonic moved his leg onto his knee and crossed his legs with his right foot over his left knee and crossed his arms.
"It's been okay." Sonic said simply, bordering on bluntness. Tails Sighed. Ever since the death of Knuckles Sonic had been in a very dark mood all the time. Putting almost everything down and having clouded judgement on everything that he did. Tails wished that the dark form would just go away.
"So what you planning on doing today Sonic?" Tails asked him. Looking back to his work and fiddling with it again. Sonic could see part of the inside. Of the machine. He could make nothing of the seriously complicated circuitry. Sonic continued to stare at the strange machine in confusion and awe. Tails looked up again due to the odd silence. "Sonic?" Sonic shook his head, clearing away the daydream.
"Wha'? Erm. Yeah? No wait, no. I don't have anything planned." Sonic blurted out, apparently not even sure himself what he was saying. "Erm... Why do you ask Tails?" Tails breathed in deeply and sighed. Tails pushed down on a small thing that looked like it could transmit messages. "Could you bring in General Duality please?"
"Of course. He'll be there in approximately three minutes." A voice said on the other end of the line. Sonic looked at Tails in confusion. Tails rolled his eyes at Sonic and tutted. Quickly but carefully putting his project to the side he proceeded to tell Sonic what was going on.
"As you know, Knuckles is dead." Sonic was visible annoyed by this statement. His fists clenched and brow stiffened, however he made no attempt to go anywhere. "We need to have someone who can fill his position. Someone who is greatly skilled and not afraid of the battle field. Someone who is recognised and revered by the troops." Sonic nodded, acting like he understood.
"So this Duality guy is the person you think will be fit for the job." Sonic announced, nodding to himself in agreement with his own words.
"No Sonic. He's here to discuss who we think is suitable. You'll find out in due course." Tails said to him in a formal manner. Sonic leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Tails stood up and made his way to the door. A few moments later there was a knock and Tails opened the door. A grey wolf adorning many scars entered the room. He wore a uniform that was made of a special looking material that glimmered slightly in the light. Sonic assumed it was woven with some kind of metal. "Hello, welcome back up here." Tails said to the entering wolf. The wolf looked at him.
"Ah it's good to be here. We need to get this thing sorted before Eggman decides that he is going to rear his head again. We all regret that it has to be changed though." The wolf hung his head low in sadness and respect. Sonic looked at him darkly, unsure as to what to make of this person he had never met before.
"Shall we?" Tails said, gesturing at a chair that was near Sonic. The wolf immediately looked up and smiled at Tails, nodding once, he sat down without a word. Tails swiftly made his way to his chair and sat down. Sonic looked at Tails.
"Why exactly am I here? Couldn't you have done this sometime when I wasn't here?" Sonic asked. Leaning back in his chair, evidently irritated by the meeting. Tails rolled his eyes at Sonic.
"Well we need you to have a say in the matter." Tails said matter of factly. Sonic looked at him in a curious way.
"Why do I 'need' to have a say in the matter?" Sonic asked Tails. The wolf looked round at him from his chair and spoke to Sonic.
"I would have thought that was obvious. We want you as the new head. After the battle that recently occurred, there are very few troops that haven't heard you name. They're revering you as a champion, a hero, and many of them wish for you to battle alongside them once again, myself included." The Wolf told him. Sonic looked at the Wolf marginally gob smacked. Which was hard to do to Sonic, especially in the mannerisms that he was in due to his new found hatred. Tails then spoke, snapping Sonic out of his state of shock.
"It'd be good for you. You'll have something to do. It's not technically just head of defence. It's also including the army that goes into the outer reaches, across the globe for sabotage missions and such. I believe that you would be a good person to put at the head of the soldiers, and Duality agrees, because of your reputation. Of course, you'll have people to support and help you so you can properly learn the ropes on how to command something so vast. You also have many people underneath you that you can simply ask to do what they think is best, they'll control small segments as the whole thing works like a tree. Although many are currently abroad. If you accept the job, I'll be taking you to meet some of these leaders. Also, I'll be taking you to see someone who is planned for promotion to a rank just underneath you for showing us such excellent ability to think tactically under pressure." Tails said to Sonic. Sonic sat there looking at Tails, unsure what to think. "Will you take the position?" Tails asked, holding out his hand in reach of a handshake. Sonic looked at the hand unsure. Then he smirked and itched his finger under his nose, grabbing Tails' hand and shaking it.
"I'll take it because you're asking mate." Sonic said to Tails. Tails smiled.
"Okay. Well as most high officers are busy or away, we'll be going to find the person up for promotion. I need to go and inform and congratulate him. We need to go to the Northern gate, as he currently spends much time with the guarding, something that keeps him well in touch with the men, and he seems to enjoy it, so we'll be taking a Jeep there." Tails opened his door, both Sonic and Duality followed.
"I think you may have heard of him. His name is 'Eric' and he was the one who brought everyone inside once the fighting was over." Duality said to Sonic. Sonic nodded as they entered the elevator.
The Jeep could be seen making its way to the gateway. Sonic's voice could be heard from down the road. "God this thing is so slow!" Sonic moaned. Tails tutted at him.
"Almost there Sonic." Tails told him, peaking out of the side of the Jeep. A few minutes later they slowed down to a stop. Tails got off the Jeep swiftly followed by Sonic then duality. The Jeep killed its engine and waited for them. They approached the door swiftly but before they got there Eric came out, intent on finding out what was going on outside with the vehicle. "Eric! Good to see you!" Tails shouted over to him.
"It's nice to see you all too. What may I ask has given me the pleasure of so many revered figures coming here?" Eric asked. He shook the hands of Tails, Sonic, then finally Duality. Tails moved to stand next to duality while Eric stood in the middle. This caused Sonic to be looking in the direction of the Jeep.
"Well there are two reasons for our visit here today. The main one being something of great importance to you. You are being promoted to General. Congratulations!" Tails smiled at him heartily. Eric looked extremely pleased with himself.
"I'd be honoured to take this role. When do I meet the troops I'll be commanding?" Eric asked sincerely. Tails smiled at him, almost chuckling slightly.
"In your position you'll be overseeing a lot more troops than before. You proved you could do it when a previous General died on field! You took up command and, against the odds might I add, won a great victory!" Tails told him happily. Eric seemed bashful of the compliment.
"Thank you Tails. I shall start preparing immediately! What was the other thing you wanted to tell me?" Eric asked politely. Bewildered as to what it could be.
"Well we've appointed a new head of the army. As you're now directly under him, we wanted you to be one of the first people to know, and also we wanted you to meet each other in person properly." Tails told him. Eric looked at Duality, then to Sonic, then back to Duality again before finally looking at Tails again.
"Who?" Eric asked. He obviously presumed it would be someone there, as Tails had practically given that away.
"Sonic here." Tails said, he gestured to Sonic. Eric looked at him and Sonic waved slightly. "He's to replace Knuckles after his untimely death." Sonic brow darkened as did his aura at the mention of Knuckles name, bringing the waving to a stop.
"Good to see you again Dark." Eric said formally, sticking his hand out to be shook. Sonic looked at his hand darkly before softening his look and shaking the hand. Meanwhile Rage came out to see what was taking Eric so long. Sonic had his back turned to the hut so he didn't notice him until he spoke.
"Hey guys, what's happening?" Rage asked the group in general. Sonic's body whipped round at the speeds that few Mobians could muster. Sonic looked at Rage with a death stare that could melt rock.
"You're the cocky one from outside." Sonic stated pointing at Rage in fury. Rage shrugged at him in a rather aloof manner.
"So what if I am?" Rage asked crossing his arms in a cocky way. Sonic continues the death stare until suddenly his eyes widen, Sonic jumps forward at Rage, grabbing his neck and holding him off the ground, Rage immediately grabbed his hands and started trying to pry them off his neck
"I remember you from Eggman's base. You're a spy." Sonic announced to everyone within earshot. Tails stood standing at Sonic gob smacked, he didn't know about this. Eric ran forwards towards Sonic in an attempt to stop him, but his run wavered and slowed down when he realised that if what Sonic said about him being from the base was true then he may well be a spy. Sonic released him and let him fall onto the ground, his feet almost buckling from beneath him, he immediately jumped backwards into a defensive stance.
"I am no such thing, I want to be rid of the disgusting fatso." Rage spat on the floor to the side in disgust. Sonic stared at him with dark eyes for a few second before jumping at Rage with insane speeds that Rage could barely see, let alone react to. Sonic delivers a furious round house kick to the gut, causing Rage to fly at the wall behind him at incredible speeds. The impact creates and loud bang that could only closely be described to a bomb with a high yield going off. Everyone in the immediate vicinity covered their ears with their hands, except Sonic who was too determined on walking towards Rage, and Rage because the impact left him in a lot of pain with a few broken bones, lolling on the floor. Sonic bends over and grabs his neck once more, picking him up and leaving limp feet dangling with empty, pained eyes looking into his own.
"I don't trust you." Sonic tightened his grip once again as Rage's hands raise slowly to weakly attempt to pull his arms off. "No one here ever will spy." Suddenly a flash of fur was seen out of the corner of everyone's eyes except Sonic's, who suddenly found a body ramming into him, forcing him to let go of Rage as he stumbled a fair few meters. Sonic's now stable body quickly whips round again to see whom would dare be the intruder. He looks into sapphire blue eyes which are full of loathing.
"This is not how a hero is suppose to act. Sonic." Slayde angrily muttered to Sonic, putting a lot of distaste and stress when saying Sonic's name. The vein on Sonic's temple pops out slightly as he looks at intruder on his plans.
"You. Acquaintance of the spy. I'll deal with you after, move out the way." Sonic shouts angrily at Slayde, who's standing in front of the body of Rage. Slayde looks at Sonic with strong distaste.
"Stop seeing enemies where there are none. The anger causing dark energy that flows with you is corrupting your mind and poisoning your thoughts." Slayde told him sternly with a bitterness in his voice. Suddenly Sonic charged at Slayde. Slayde's eyes flare open as he barely managed to avoid the fist for his face. As soon as that one missed Sonic flung another with his left hand, Slayde shifted backwards to avoid the reach of Sonic. Sonic was flinging a kick at Slayde before he even realised Sonic was attacking again. Slayde let his weight drop to the floor and the kick harmlessly flew over him. Sonic brought his foot down swiftly, intent on getting Slayde in the back of the head, luckily Slayde rolled over just in time to avoid. A slight, weak yellow aura was now visible round Slayde's form. Sonic starts going into a flurry of punches, Slayde tries talk to Sonic as he attacks, dodging in between each word. "Sonic. Calm. Down. I'm. Not. Your. Enemy." Sonic suddenly brings up a knee and Slayde barely notices it in time. As he doesn't have enough time Slayde blocks the attack with his arm, causing him to go flying backwards into the wall behind, the yellow aura clearly pouring out at the point of contact as a crash almost equal to that of the one made when Rage hit the wall was heard, causing everyone except the combatants to hold their ears in pain.
"You're annoyingly difficult to kill." Sonic announced angrily to Slayde. Slayde smirked at him as he got up from the fall after hitting the wall. Looking right into Sonic's once again hollow white eyes with amethyst purple ones.
"The strength that dark form gives you is incredible. If it wasn't for the fact we're on equal terms with speed and that I spent so long training in my human body I would have been long dead. I'm barely staying alive now." Slayde replied. Sonic looks at him with a dark look. Slayde's heavy breath could be heard quite audibly and was carrying over to the small group who were standing and staring at the battle. Sonic smirked and prepared to move in for the kill again. Eric could be heard talking to Tails at the side.
"Why is Sonic suddenly smirking?" He asks. Confused about what's going on.
"Slayde seems to be able to match Sonic with his speed but in destructive power he is dwarfed. Also Slayde seems to have nowhere near as much experience in fights as he is tiring so quickly." Tails replies to him, explaining. Slayde looks over at Tails for a brief second and Sonic takes it as an opportunity and jumps at Slayde, landing a punch directly into his jaw. Slayde slides across the ground scraping up a load of earth before catching a rock and flipping a couple times before landing expertly. Wobbling from a sudden wooziness caused by the punch he almost falls over. Sonic charges once again but Slayde manages to dodge this time. Sonic suddenly unleashed a spinning kick, connecting and, causing Slayde to go flying to the left in a daze, before he hit the ground however, he was caught by a blonde hedgehog and put down, not gently but not rough either. Slayde looked at the newcomer and, seeing the red strips on his quills, immediately knew that it was Shadow in his super form.
"I didn't expect to see you here." Slayde forced out while clambering up from the ground. Slayde looked at Sonic who was keeping a steady eye on Shadow, who was keeping a steady eye on Sonic.
"I could just leave again, if you'd prefer?" Shadow asked Slayde in a bemused voice, not moving his eyes away from Sonic. Slayde smirked.
"I'm not complaining. I could do with a break. I'm just wondering what brought you here." Slayde commented. A slight smirk was visible on Shadow's muzzle.
"Maybe the loud banging had something to do with it? I felt some strong negative energy fighting a positive energy of slightly weaker strength so I changed to this form and race ahead of Amy. I expected Sonic to go off the rails, but this was above my prediction... You should take Rage to the hospital and get yourself checked out while you're there. If you see Amy on the way there, point her in the right direction. If this ends up in a fight I want her to see this." Shadow spoke openly to Slayde, he suddenly tore his gaze off Sonic to look at Slayde. "Have we met before? Because I never get open to people by accident." Shadow asked, looking right into Slayde's still purple eyes.
"I don't know? Have we?" Slayde said, making it sound like a mind game. He chuckled slightly then winced and grabbed his side. "I should probably go to the hospital like ya said." Shadow smirked and quickly looked back at Sonic, Slayde quickly jogged as fast as his injuries would let him to go and pick up Rage to take him back into the city. Sonic noticed Slayde getting close to Rage and moved his attention to Slayde and started walking towards him. Shadow growled at him and got his attention back. Shadow shook his head and Sonic stood there staring at Shadow darkly. Slayde pulls Rage into a fireman's lift and jogs back to Shadow with him. "Thank you for your help Shadow." Slayde mutters to Shadow as he passes before going into a run that was far slower than normal towards the city.
"Why did you interfere Shadow?" Sonic snarled at Shadow, Shadow just sighed at Sonic and crossed his arms.
"Sonic you're being a fool. Release that form this instant." Shadow demanded in his usual calm manner. Sonic grunted with a dark glance.
"This is who I am now. Not even you can change that 'Ultimate Life Form'." Sonic sneered mockingly, attempting to aggravate Shadow into attacking him.
"You can't dwell on his death Sonic. You know this and yet you persist. These are not good times for mourning. Do it when it's over." Shadow lectured Sonic.
"Don't tell me what to do Shadow." Sonic growled back. Shadow crossed his arms in his trademark way and let off a famous smirk.
"I'll do what I want, faker." Shadow said cockily. Sonic eyes flared and then narrowed. He jumped at Shadow at full speed. Shadow, half expecting the sudden attack, swiftly dodged to the left and held his hand to his side "Chaos..!" Sonic whipped his body round in a nanosecond and threw up his hands to block the inevitable energy bolt. "Spear!" Shadow cast his yellow bolt of energy; sending it flying towards Sonic. A black surge of dark energy covered Sonic's hand and he deflected bolt to the side which proceeded to smash into the side of the wall. Before it had reached the wall however Sonic was, yet again on the offensive, throwing a punch at Shadow once more. Shadow parried the blow and tried to get in his own punch aiming for Sonic's gut. A quick back flip got Sonic out the way in time as the Chaos spear hit the side of the wall and caused a micro explosion. The two hedgehogs stood still, staring at each other with murderous intent. Tails just stared at the two and blinked. It had all happened in less than a second.
"What the fuck just happened?" Tails asked to no one in particular. Sonic and Shadow continued their glaring match at one another, Eric wearing an equally gob smacked look on his face. Seconds later a faint sonic boom was heard as Amy managed to join the fray.
"Slayde just told me where you were. What's going on?" Amy asked Tails, eyeing the two fighting hedgehogs. At the sound of Amy's voice Shadow looked round and, realising what he had done, snapped his head back round. Shadow's face met Sonic's fist and Shadow went flying backwards at incredible speed. He slowed down, using the power of his super form, by floating himself in the air and pushing energy backwards in a way similar to how the energy allowed them to fly. Shadows eyes wiped up again to scan for Sonic, alas Sonic was already upon him pointing his finger right at Shadows forehead. Instinctively Shadow knew what he was about to do and with all his might rammed into Sonic to prevent him from using his move. Sonic jumped back again but this time Shadow followed throwing a punch at Sonic head. Sonic's eyes widened in surprise and he move back from the left hook, to be caught on the nose. Sonic hand moved to his nose as he threw a kick at Shadow who promptly backed off and stared Sonic down. This time it took a whole second for the scene to unravel.
"I was just wondering that myself." Tails said after taking a blink. "Blink and you miss everything." Amy didn't seem to be paying attention however, and was carefully watching the two hedgehogs starting at each other. "At this rate there's going to be more staring than fighting." Tails chipped in again. Sonic finally moved his hand away from his nose to find the palm of his glove was soak in sticky red liquid. Sonic looked up at Shadow angrily.
"This is your fault!" Sonic growled, pointing at his nose. Shadow looked at Sonic in mock surprise and pointed at himself.
"Me? I don't recall, sorry." Shadow spoke in such a calm and assuring voice that if the Amy hadn't seen the punch with her own eyes she might have believed him. A quick glance at Tails and Eric confirmed that the fight was too fast for them; they believed Shadow and seemed to be confused as to where the sudden nose bleed had come from.
As suddenly as it started the nosebleed stopped and Sonic's nose slowly started to shift back into its proper position. Before it could heal however, Shadow was on the offensive. Throwing a flurry of punches and kicks that even Amy's eyes, which had been trained watching Shadow's speed, were struggling to keep up with. Sonic's quick reactions managed to save him from the first of the many attacks, but as Shadow increased the intensity of his attacks Sonic was forced to dodge at a faster rate than he ever had before. This took a toll on his nose and suddenly it was bleeding again. Some of the blood splashed into one of Sonic's eyes as he was dodging, suddenly impairing his sight and depth perception. Shadow immediately seized his change and threw a punch right into Sonic's right hand temple, as this was the side that the eye was impaired in. The results were immediate. Sonic flew into the side of the wall, allowing for yet another loud clang.
Shadow stood, arms folded and a smirk upon his muzzle, looking at Sonic as he slowly clambered up, clearly dazed and confused from the direct hit in the temple. Sonic stumbled, looked at Shadow hazily and fell to his knees. Then his eyes slowly fell shut as he face planted the ground. The dark pelt covering his body evaporated like black mist and Sonic was finally back to his cobalt blue trademark self.
"How come when he's gone unconscious now his state slips off and yet it doesn't when he goes to sleep!" Tails exclaimed, not really asking a question but just shouting in frustration. Shadow looked at him, panting, and then released his own form, going back to his ebony and red coat.
"Super forms are only released like that if it's a forced unconscious state. Something like sleeping isn't strong enough." Shadow said to him, still breathing heavily but loud enough for all to hear. Shadow turned to Sonic's body and appeared to be checking something before he picked Sonic up and walked up to Eric with him, plonking Sonic in his arms. "You and Tails need to take him to the hospital. His pulse is normal so he should be fine with a plenty of rest."
"But what about you?" Tails said as Eric started walking towards the city. Shadow folded his arms and looked at Tails as if he was stupid.
"I'm the ultimate life form. Why would I need medical help?" Shadow asked in his calm, smooth, honey coated with a hint of malice underneath voice. Tails looked at Shadow wide eyed.
"Um, good point." Tails mumbled and scuttled off after Eric. Amy walked up behind Shadow and giggled. Shadow turned round and raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.
"What?" Shadow said in a confused but bemused voice.
"You never change do you Shadow?" Amy asked him. Shadow shrugged, smirking. He'd finally caught his breath. Shadow looked up into the sky, Amy sighed. Shadow continued to stare into the sky impassively but Amy could tell he wanted to ask what was up. It was in his nature to remain impassive as Amy had learnt over the short weeks they'd been together. "That was a pretty impressive battle Shadow. I struggled to keep up with what was going on." Shadow turned round and looked at her intensely. Amy, who was now used to these looks, stood there waiting for him to reply, looking back into his eyes.
"Yes it was Rose. It was harder than I expected. Sonic seems to be better at fighting in his dark super form than he ever was in his super form." Shadow finally replied pensively. Looking slowly to the ground with an equal amount of thoughtfulness in his eyes.
"But wouldn't that mean…?" Amy's sentence trailed off as she looked at Shadow questioningly. Shadow turned and looked at Amy again with a grim look.
"It would mean that our dear hero must be hiding more darkness than anyone realised. Where this darkness has come from I have no idea at all." Shadow finished Amy's sentence and answered her unasked question. Amy frowned, as if she had thought of something that burdened her, and turned away from Shadow.
"I might have an idea as to what it is, at least, it's the only thing Sonic has ever talked about in contempt. He only ever spoke of it once to Tails, Tails told me about a year ago. Well I suppose it's more than that now, anyway. The way Tails described him was the final straw for me liking him. He was drunk mind you though." Amy trailed off, staring into space thoughtfully. Shadow stared at her in anticipation. After a few moments had passed Shadow was starting to get impatient.
"Yes?" Shadow hinted. Amy quickly looked at Shadow as if he had suddenly woken her from a deep dream. She blinked a couple of times before continuing.
"I think that it may be because he doesn't know where he came from. He has no real family and doesn't even know if any exists. He was simply raised by Hedgehogs who found him, apparently abandoned, somewhere in a forest." Amy told Shadow. Shadow stared into the air once more. He too knew too well what it was like not to know his parentage. Not to remember almost anything. Truth be told he hadn't really considered the fact he might have biological parents until Black Doom showed up and announced that Shadow was essentially the fruit of his loins. Shadow shuddered involuntarily at the thought.
"Well there's next to no chance of finding out now. Almost everything was completely annihilated. All records, when the Doctor took control." Shadow replied thoughtfully. Amy looked up at Shadow. Changing the subject from the depressing mood it was creating.
"That was a pretty amazing fight Shadow. I'm really glad I got to see most of it." Amy said to Shadow. Shadow snapped out his thoughts and back into reality. Then smirked at her.
"I wanted you to see it. I knew how much it could help you progress with your fighting style. Also I thought it'd help because no doubt, one day, you will be able to go to a super form. I just hope that it'll be for the right reasons, unlike how Sonic became Dark Super Sonic." Shadow looked at Amy, half amused, half curious. "Though who knows what lays in the future besides a select few?" Shadow said to Amy. Amy looked at him confused, frowning.
"But no one knows the future… Do they?" Amy questioned. Looking at Shadow interested. Shadow grinned.
"Some other time Amy. You're still learning." Shadow told her letting off one of those rare true smiles that just sucked you in. It was gone again like a flash. "Well shall we head back into the city? Or would you like to go into one of the forest areas now that you're getting stronger? It's the only place that the more wild creatures are still living in the radius of the city." Amy looked at him quite happy. He had just paid her two compliments in a row about her development.
"If you're up for it Shadow, I would love to go to the forest area. Which one though? Aren't there three?" Amy asked Shadow. Shadow grinned and pointed to the nearby forest that Amy knew was the biggest. Taking a full 6 kilometres from the wall towards the city and taking up almost the entire space between the North and East gates. Making the area of it about 122 kilometres squared, it provided most the oxygen for the city.
"Then let's go." Shadow announced, smirking before speeding off. Amy followed immediately behind.