Shadow lied on an incredibly cold metal bed in complete annoyance as he realized how incredibly bored he was. The little azure toddler happened to practically pass out in the his arms after he decided to finally give in and snuggle his cute little face.
He rolled back and forth, helplessly desiring something to do or someone to talk to. Suddenly, a feeling of slight dread started floating in his stomach. He really was all alone right now... And he knew his subconscious would start erupting to the forefront of his mind if he didn't find some kind of activity. The thought that Čelik or Sonic would have to be killed in order to keep the world from collapsing was really testing his ability to remain calm. He needed to stop thinking about it before he had a panic attack. As he glanced over at the picture of Princess Miran, he got an interesting idea...
He walked over to the sleeping child and gently patted the top of his head before taking some of the paints and calmly strolling over to another part of the wall. He assumed because the kid was painting on it before that the Doctor didn't mind, not that Shadow really cared. Then he started to draw. No, not of people, animals or scenery but of music notes.
Slowly he drew a treble clef and five lines with spaces in-between them. He hummed gently in his head attempting to recognize what key he was in the mood for.
"How about B flat." He spoke clearly as he drew one little flat on the middle line right next to the clef.
Then he began to draw notes. First starting with C which happened to be one line below the staff and continuing to B, A, F and finally D, one space below the staff.
This was something Shadow could do practically without trying. He wasn't just talented, he was almost a living Mozart. He continued a few more measures before suspiciously glaring around the room as if he was being stared at.
"Wow... You really are like Miran. How do you just know how to do that?" Čelik's voice ejected from the cold still air as its tone accentuated pure wonder.
"How do you know how to paint like that?" Shadow queried as he pointed to the incredible work of art drawn on the other side of the wall.
"Practice?" The child countered as he shrugged in slight discontent.
"There's your answer." The charcoal hedgehog responded as he continued to hum softly in his head, causing him to create a sweet lullaby to counter the fear running through his body.
He still didn't really trust the child and wanted nothing more than to snuggle against his blue hero once again and let him whisper sweet nothings into his ear.
His face blushed as his inner thoughts sounded like a love-struck teenage girl who just went on her first date with her long desired crush. It was incredibly embarrassing and he sighed in fear that he was losing his touch. He was so used to being controlled and detached that this was almost disgusting. However, his mind ran with nothing but emotion since the azure hedgehog came into his life. Even from the beginning he sensed an odd feeling. His heart abruptly skipped a beat as his brain thought of something.
(Wait the Dr. said eternal lover... As in forever?) He wondered as a strong sense of warmth and acceptance engulfed his skinny, terrifyingly cold body.
"But you have to be very talented to be able to write a masterpiece without trying." Čelik interrupted as he frustratingly glared at the rope of Chaos energy strapped to his leg.
"How do you know it's a masterpiece? You can't even read it." Shadow responded irritably as he was slightly upset with the child for disturbing his wonderful daydream.
"Then sing it to me!" The tiny blue hedgehog exploded happily as he knew all about the incredible singing talent of the princess.
Shadow's face flushed as his body became incredibly stiff. He never really liked his voice, even if it obviously had a lot of training. Most likely because of Maria. Nonetheless, he still thought it was very... feminine.
"Not in your lifetime kid..." He stated coldly attempting to get across the fact that he would NEVER sing.
"Awwwwwww... C'mon!" The child responded disappointedly, quivering his bottom lip trying to look as downright adorable as possible.
All the sudden the two were interrupted by a huge surge of explosions and bangs.
"That must be Sonic..." The ebony hedgehog stated happily as he glanced at Čelik.
"Ready to finally leave this cell, kid?" Shadow exclaimed as even he was exhilarated to leave this dark, humid and cold cell.
"AM I EVER?!" The kid responded excitedly as he clenched both his fists, ready to finally see the beautiful outside world.
Soon the crashes came closer as the door to the jail area came flying off and in its wake stood a particularly messy and frustrated looking blue hedgehog.
"SHADOW! ARE YOU HERE?!" He yelled desperately hoping that his rival was still alive and well.
"Sonic! Right here. Took you long enough, by the way." The ebony exclaimed mockingly before noticing a small smile creep onto his own face.
As soon as he spoke a blue dash of light appeared right in front of the jail bars.
"Shadow! Thank goodness you're safe. I was so worried. You're not hurt right?!" Sonic cried out urgently as he was unbelievably relieved that Shadow was alright.
"No, I'm not hurt... I mean, I'm a little hungry and cold but I've been through worse." Shadow responded before noticing how warm, sweet and submissive he sounded.
(Damnit, stupid kid. Making me look like a damsel in distress. I could have broken out of here you know. Just couldn't find a way to bring the kid with me. I guess I could have tried to leave and come back but that would have taken a lot more time. Plus, the Chaos energy surrounding the cell would have made it very dangerous to attempt Chaos Controlling when inside. I think I should be able to use it once I'm out though...) Shadow thought frustratedly as he noticed Sonic's change of emotion from worried to slightly mischievous.
"Don't worry. I'll getcha home with a huge buffet of food and then we can have a cuddle session while discussing payment for saving your beautiful soul." He replied teasingly as he blew the ebony a sweet kiss.
"Aren't you such a WONDERFUL hero... Asshole." The charcoal hedgehog flirted back sarcastically as he walked up to the front of the cell.
"Is IT in there?" The sapphire hedgehog asked slightly fearfully as he looked around for any buttons that would lead to the opening of the jail cell.
"It? Oh you mean Čelik. I actually wanted to talk with you about that." The ebony rested his hand behind his head as he looked over at the little toddler who happened to have his hands over his face preventing any eye contact with Sonic.
"Do you think we could take him with us? He's really well behaved and I'll make sure I keep him on a leash. The poor thing has been stuck in here ever since birth and I think if he stays in here much longer he will never be able to adapt to society." Shadow queried motherly as he looked confusingly at the young child.
(Why are you covering your eyes? Wait… Does it have something to do with how you kill?) The charcoal hedgehog wondered as he realized that Sonic had located the area with all the buttons.
"Shadow, that thing is obviously incredibly dangerous. We are leaving it here." Sonic replied sternly as he finally found the exact button he needed to push to free Shadow.
He made sure to not look at the creature in fear that he would trigger it. He kept his eyes glued to the panel of buttons in front of him while occasionally glancing at Shadow to make sure he was still safe.
"What?! How could you be so heartless? He's just a child, Sonic. Please no one will be hurt if he's under my surveillance." The ebony countered as the doors to the jail cell opened and the Chaos energy surrounding the cell dissipated before abruptly being enveloped in the azure's loving embrace.
(Oh… How I've missed you stupid kid.) He thought desperately as he squeezed the cobalt as hard as he could before being gently pushed away to continue the conversation.
"I'm not allowing any creature developed by Doctor Eggman to be set free. If he's locked in here that's a good enough reason to leave him be."
"Please…? Look at him." Shadow begged sadly as he pointed over to the little blue hedgehog who was sitting, silently listening to the conversation closely with his stands still taped to his eyes.
"Oh my Chaos..." Sonic practically choked on the words as his body became weak with absolute shock.
There was silence for a few seconds as his mind complete froze in fear.
"No...NO... NO...!" Sonic shook his head violently as the child's face teleported him back to the horrifying and traumatic event.
The cobalt's fiercely shaking body resembled that of a person who just saw their parents die right in front of them as his eyes dilated in complete turmoil.
"Sonic... What's wrong?!" For the first time probably ever Shadow was so concerned that he actually raised his voice.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Please don't kill me! I don't want to die. PLEASE!" Sonic begged instinctually as his face became drenched with tears. It was almost as if his mind no longer belonged to reality as the panic attack continued rushing through his body.
"Sonic! It's okay! I'm right here. Everything's okay!" Shadow yelled desperately as he held his hero tightly, hoping and praying that it was enough to calm the complete terror in his emerald eyes.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry… I'm sorry..." The cobalt continued over and over as he rested his head on the charcoal hedgehog chest fur. His blood pressure finally crashed from the insane amount of adrenaline running through his veins as he fell over in Shadow's arms practically unable to keep himself from passing out.
(No... not again... Not when I'm so close...) His mind thought for only a few seconds as his ears were filled with the ebony's pleas attempting to keep him conscience. Sonic couldn't do anything. He was completely helpless. He wondered why everything had to be so difficult before once again being shoved face first into utter darkness.
(How could you... Doctor... How could you do this to me?)