Chapter Revised [x]

(Rachel's POV)

"I don't understand. How can you guys get a random headache at 2 in the morning!" I muttered, rummaging through a medicine basket in Grandpa's kitchen.

Emma and Travis stood behind me in their pajamas. Travis was holding his head by the temples while Emma pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know, but it hurts really bad," she said. Travis moaned next to her. "Yeah. After we both woke up, we tried and tried but we couldn't even go back to sleep! And believe me, we really, really, really want to sleep."

I sighed to myself while trying to find some pain reliever for them. The twins had woken me up not too long ago. I'd been asleep on the couch while they bunked in the guest bedroom like always. They were complaining about both having a headache...at the freakin same time. I was trying to handle the situation myself without the help of my parents or grandpa, just so there would be no need to disturb them. So far, it wasn't working out well at all.

"I can't find anything. All I see in here are cough suppressants, stuff for cold and allergies, but nothing for headaches."

Travis stepped closer and groaned. "Oh come on! Grandpa has to have something. He's old for crying out loud. Old people always have a lot of medicine."

Emma elbowed him. "Shut up, Travis. Don't be a meanie."

I finally scoped out a bottle of Advil at the bottom of the basket. I twisted the lid to open it and peered inside.

"Of course..." I sighed, chuckling nervously and looking back at my siblings. "There's only one tablet left."

They exchanged competitive glances then both reached for the bottle before I snatched it away and waved a finger at them, waiting for them to sort it out. I was about to suggest we cut it into halves, but then the arguing began.

Should've expected that.

"If only one of us can have it, it has to be me," Travis said.

"Lies, lies all of it!" Emma disagreed.

"Well my headache is ten times more worse than yours!"

"Uhh genius, we're twins. We are feeling the same pain!"

"Oh you've got to be kidding. That whole 'twins are connected' thing is just a superstition. Because I know I'm nowhere near as stupid as you!"

"It doesn't work that way doofus."

"Can it butt-face, you're making my head hurt worse!"

"Mine hurts worse now too!"

"Nuh uh! I deserve the last tablet!"

"No, I do, and that's final!"

"Both of you shut up! Jeez!" I said sharply, not wanting to yell and wake up everyone in the house. "You're both giving me a headache right now. If you can't come to some sort of understanding, then you'll just have to tough it out until morning, or go back to sleep and hope that it goes away. We'll buy some Advil first thing tomorrow. Grandpa has clearly been in a lot of pain if he's almost done with a whole bottle. It's still his medicine, after all."

Now the twins looked horror-stricken. "No! Rachel, you can't do that! We can't do that! Waiting until morning is out of the question! It hurts too much," Emma said desperately. Travis nodded, for once agreeing with his sister. "It's true. I can hardly deal with the pain now."

I sighed, for the umpteenth setting the medicine back in the basket. I left them moping together in the kitchen to go to the guest bedroom alone. Even though I slept on the couch, my bags were in there. I tiptoed quietly across the hall to the room. Once inside, I walked through the dark and grabbed my bag, pulling a denim jacket out, along with my tennis shoes. I pulled the jacket on over my nightshirt, then yanked the shoes on over my checkerboard socks. I was still wearing my pajama pants, which were rolled up right beneath my knees, but I didn't think my legs would be too cold in a simple summer night chill.

After I left the room, slowly closing the creaking door behind me, I grabbed Grandpa's house keys off the coffee table in the living room, and got my black handbag off the front door-handle. Inside the bag was a 20 dollar bill. That was more than enough for one bottle of pain reliever.

Emma and Travis watched me from the kitchen archway. "What the heck are you doing?" Travis asked.

I looked back at them warily. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to get you guys some medicine."

Emma blinked. "What? But where are you going to get it?"

"From the gas station. There's one that's only a few blocks from here. Go lay down in the bedroom and wait for me to get back. Don't tell Mom, Dad, or Grandpa that I left, and especially don't wake them up with your loud whining. It's our little secret, kay?"

"But...but...Rachel! Just wake up mom and dad! They can help us!" Travis said. I shook my head and put a finger to my lips, to signal that he needed to be quiet. "There's no need to wake them. You guys pull this stunt all the time. I can't even count on two hands the number of times you've bothered them in the middle of the night.

So bottom line, you both owe me big time."

And then I left without another word, storming off into the stricken black city of Westopolis.

(Shadow's POV)

"And...We've...landed!" Eggman sighed happily, loosening up after the Egg Carrier had come into harsh contact with Earth's surface. The sound of twigs and leaves crackling left rumbles through the floor. I found myself lightly gripping the arm rests to keep my balance, and instantly looking towards the window.

I surveyed the environment outside with an unimpressed frown. We were in Mystic Ruins, planted down in an area that was open enough for the Egg Carrier to fit, but still remained hidden by the surrounding forests. Though, we had probably knocked down a signifant amount of trees in our sloppy landing.

Either way, it was pitch black outside, so there wasn't much to look at.

Without Dr. Eggman's consent, I unstrapped myself from the seatbelt and left the chair. My muscles had been restrained for too long. Maybe I should get a little exercise...

"Where are you going now, Shadow?" Dr. Eggman asked me. "You can't already be going out to retrieve the chaos emerald. We just got here! At least wait until we devise a plan." He sounded irritated, though I couldn't give a lesser care on how he felt about the decisions I made. Some part of me wanted to go out and see how much Earth had changed in the sixteen years I'd been gone. Knowing how horribly humans treated their planet, I knew I would be able to see a difference.

"Don't wait up on me. I'll return after I take a look around."

He nodded. "Ah, I see. Off for some fresh air are we?"

I cringed inwardly. Earth's air was anything but fresh.

"Fine by me, Shadow, but remember, don't let anyone see you. And I mean anyone. The current time is 2:43 AM. Be back by 3:30," the Doctor instructed.

3:30? That was less than an hour. "Sure. Whatever."

I then sped out of the Egg Carrier and took off through the woods, instinctively dodging through the trees and brush, and headed dead on for Westopolis. With my speed, plus the ability to use chaos control, I could visit Westopolis and be back within 47 minutes no problem. A part of me was curious to know how much the city changed. I remember the Black Arms had done some heavy damage back when they invaded. Now that I thought about it, security might be more enforced as well because of that event. But again, there's no way they could stop me from getting what I was after.

Even if I was late getting back, what was the most Dr. Eggman could do to me? Yell at me to death?

I still chose to respect his wishes and return before the time he gave me. Then I could get back and we'd figure out how to execute this master plan of his.

Besides, it wasn't like anything interesting was going to keep me from returning.

(Rachel's POV)

The cashier watched me while simultaneously shuffling change out of the cash register. I had already paid for a bottle of Advil. The walk here had been extremely creepy and uncomfortable, but I managed to make it to the Westopo Gas Station in one piece. I stood there awkwardly. The man seemed to be taking his sweet precious time taking the dollars and coins out of their slots.

"So what brings a young lady like you out to a gas station so late at night? And alone?" he asked me, his tone barely tipping past that boundary between friendly and sensual. He looked at least twice my age, with blonde oily hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. I swallowed heavily and tried to play it cool.

"Oh, well see my Dad sent me here to get medicine because he's been having muscles pains, from...uhh...overly working out," I quickly lied. It wasn't easy to make a big teddy bear like my father look menacing. I needed to give him a fake, badass profile, just so this guy would know better than to try anything.

"Yeah he's really been pushing himself to the limit lately. Sometimes I wonder why he owns so…so many guns! Yeah, guns! Haha, I mean what's the point? He already has his biceps...triceps...and uhhh...anything else that ends with 'ceps', buffed up and ready to fight. Yeah…"

I was mentally bashing my head in. Oh god, why do you choose now to be the world's worst liar!

The cashier chuckled softly, leaning closer to my face. "So he has guns huh? And muscles? Is that supposed to scare me or something?"

My face flushed. Crap. He knew that I was lying. He could sense my nervousness. But then again, a blind and deaf person would have no problem sensing it either.

I then felt something slip into my hand and nearly jumped out of my skin. The cashier laughed even harder than before. I looked down and saw it was just some dollar bills and nickels. My change.

I didn't even make eye contact with the man again, and instead grabbed the bag containing the medicine and turned to leave. "Thank you," I said quickly, not worrying about getting the receipt. I just wanted to get the hell out of there and get back to Grandpa's townhouse. Right as I left, I heard the cashier make some witty remark about having my 'old man stick to steroids instead', but didn't ponder on it.

After walking outside for a few minutes, a chilly wind began to pick up around me, biting through my denim jacket and swirling around in my hair. Even though it was supposed to be summer, the air smelled dry and rotted, like dead autumn leaves. I looked down, swallowing my fears and and picked up my pace. The plastic bag made loud, rustling noises from the wind rushing around me, and from me going at a power walking speed down the street.

I stopped when I came across a dark alley.

I looked through the narrow opening, noting the unfriendly graffiti splashed across it, and the dewy bricks that lined the walls. But then I realized it was headed in the direction of Grandpa's house, therefore it served as an easy shortcut.

Pshh, yeah right. Like I'm that stupid. Everyone knows not to go into dark creepy alleys at night. I'd be setting myself up for that one.

I quickly began walking again; tensing up every time I saw movement nearby, even if it was my own shadow. I passed a lot of homeless people who slept in their own bundled clothes, or lit cigarettes over flaming trash buckets, and people who were residing outside of buildings, deadpanning their eyes when I passed.

Jeez, could this be any more freaky? A sixteen year old girl walking by herself at night was not a safe, or smart situation at all. Especially in a dangerous city like Westopolis. I must've been half asleep when I came up with this God awful idea to just waltz out into the middle of the night for stupid medicine. Travis was right. I should've let my parents handle the dilemma. This confidence must've come from me being used to walking about Station Square any time of day with no problem. But I wasn't in Station Square, where any sort of danger was quickly eradicated by Sonic and his friends. Right now, I was in a different city. All I wanted was to be back on the couch, dreaming about outer space or something pleasant like that.

After turning onto an abandoned street, a cheap, rusted car rounded the corner and slowed down before it could pass me. The driver's window hummed and rolled down to reveal a middle aged man, sitting there and flashing a creepy look. "Hey sweetheart, you lookin' for a ride?" he asked in a pedophile sort of tone. My heart shriveled up in fear. Oh no. Oh God, please no.

There was another man in the passenger seat, as well as two in the back. The ones in the back rolled down their windows and began howling obnoxious wolf whistles at me. "Hey baby, what are you doing out here all alone? Don't you have a man to take care of you?" one asked.

Despite my anxiety, I couldn't help but scoff at them. Who were they kidding? I was barely sixteen, and not even attractive enough to garner their attention. But then I realized that being by myself with no one to guard me or come to my aid, I was basically up for grabs. And these sickos were aware of it too. I willed silent prayers into the atmosphere, begging that they would go away.

One of the men in the back leaned out. "Say, do you need a man to take care of you? I can be that man, sweet cheeks."

They're drunk. They just have to be.

I shook my head with disgust and continued walking, not daring to say or try anything. Why did this have to happen. Why. Why was I such a moron.

The driver then shifted the gear into reverse and began going backwards to follow me. My eyes widened and I tried to look away, suddenly finding the fence I was trotting alongside very interesting.

"Listen here. We just got back from this wicked party, and were about to head to my place to chill. Care to join us? You can just hop on in the back and-"

"No," I said flatly, trying to disguise the fear in my voice. "Leave me alone, please."

"Hey, what you got there in that bag?" the man in the passenger seat asked, ignoring me and referring to the bag with the Advil inside. I hid it away from them and looked forward, refusing to answer him.

One of the guys in the back laughed. "With our luck, it could be condoms, boys! She knew we were coming after all!"

And with that, the brakes on the car screeched to a halt, right there in the middle of the street, between lanes. All four men jumped got out at once, leaving the engine going behind them, and came towards me in differing directions. I froze in place for a few seconds and took in all of their faces. The expressions they had were fairly disturbing. But what scared me the most, was that I expected them to smell like alcohol, or look even the slightest bit tipsy. But they appeared completely sober. They were aware of what they were doing. Therefore, it would be harder to run away from them.

Without thinking, I took off bolting as fast as I could down the street. But one of them jumped in front of me, grabbing the sides of my arms and pushing me backwards. "Where you goin' babe? We were lying about that party. You're the real party we've been waiting for all night. Cha-ching!"

My heart thudded against my chest as I struggled to free myself from his grip. But more hands seized me and before I knew it they were pulling me to the car. "You sick bastards! Let me go!"

One of the men that I noticed as the driver, held his hand up for everyone to stop. "Hold up guys, she seems like trouble. She doesn't really have to go back to the condo with us. But there's an alley right over there," he said, gesturing towards the alley I had previously passed by. The other ones grinned sadistically, nodding in agreement. I kept trying to get away, but there were too many of them. And they were ten times stronger than I was. They began prying me towards the alley like a dog on a leash. A dog trying for the life of it not to get any closer.

"NO! Somebody help me!" I screamed. But then something flew over my mouth, cutting off my cries. It was a cloth of some sort. One of them wrapped it tightly around my mouth. "Eh, shut the hell up," he said. They all howled in sick laughter. I closed my eyes tightly.

I'm done for. Absolutely done for.

(Shadow's POV)

I stood quietly on a hill, with my arms crossed over each other. It was the same hill that I stood on years ago, before the Black Arms began falling from the sky and destroying the city. The same hill where I was questioning who I was, and what purpose I had. Even though all my memories had been recovered, I felt as though this hill always held some sort of significance behind it.

Westopolis was directly in front of me. From what I could tell, the buildings looked more run-down than before. Some appeared to still have multiple areas of damage. Hmph. Figures. Humans are too lazy to reconstruct their own habitat.

The first thing I wanted to do was find where the G.U.N. base was located while remaining unseen. Then I was going to see if I could find the G.U.N. commander's home. I remembered before we landed, Dr. Eggman gave me the address. How he knew where it was, I had no idea. But never question a mad scientist who self-proclaims possessing an I.Q. of 300.

I held the Chaos Emerald that I'd brought along with me high up in the air. It was the red Chaos Emerald, the one I seemingly always ended up with. I looked up at it, watching as the stars in the sky bore scarlet-tinted lights through its translucence. I was ready to teleport to the G.U.N. base. My power was called forth, and I felt it slowly build within me as I closed my eyes, focusing on my destination.

"Chaos...-"

"NO! Somebody help me!"

My eyes shot open, the energy going idle.

Being the Ultimate Life form, my ears were able to pick up sounds that most creatures couldn't hear from the same distance. Therefore, my hearing never decieved me. And someone was clearly calling for help. The voice belonged to what sounded like a young girl.

You've got to be kidding me.

Normally I didn't care about the well-being of humans. But for some reason, and I couldn't pinpoint why, this cry for help sparked my interest. The city was quiet, so it wasn't like it was under attack by any outside forces. So no one within it had reason to be in danger. Or, danger that was catastrophic like the kinds I dealt with.

From my past visits here in Westopolis, I knew that human girls tended to over-react and scream in situations where it was unnecessary. But this one sounded desperate, like she was truly under attack by something she couldn't withstand on her own. I wanted to see what was happening to make her scream in horror like that.

The Chaos Energy was still inside me, ready to be put to use. Curiosity got the better of me.

I sighed in annoyance, and began thinking of the girl's cry for help. Thinking about it would bring me to her location. Then I could see if really needed my assistance.

I was supposed to not let anyone see me. Was I really going to jeopardize my mission for one human? But then again, I was never one to play by the rules. Who knew what would happen.

Only one way to find out.

"Chaos Control!"