(See Part 1 for Disclaimer and Warning).
~What It Truly Means to be Loved Part 2~
[Time Skip: three months later...]
Kit was walking around through Starline's new base, looking for something. Surge had been missing for nine months now, and because of his concerns over how he and Surge could've survived those badnik attacks months ago, he decided to get some answers.
After looking around, Kit found a computer room. He logged into Starline's video files and discovered a series of videos discussing him and Surge. Starline talked about how he believed Eggman lacked introspection and revision, resolving to embrace these things to surpass him.
He mentioned that his time withZavokhad showed him that his plans were initially short-sighted; all the power and obedience of a machine meant nothing in the chaotic and unpredictable world he was trying to control. Needing the will and ingenuity of a living being, Starline had opted to fuse his designs instead. Unlike Eggman, who inserted animals into robots, he decided to take an opposite route in the form of Surge and Kit.
"Well, at least now I know how he enhanced me and Surge. I probably shouldn't continue prying, but I need to know more. What else is there?", Kit said to himself. He began typing in order to access the other files.
In the next video log, Starline stated that the cybernetic enhancements were implemented and his base models were finally complete. For specialization, Starline compiled the necessary ingredients to emulate the biomechanical miracles that his adversaries possessed and then installed them into Surge and Kit.
He had mentioned "emulate" instead of "replicate" because Kit required external support and Surge required electromagnetic propulsion. However, he was seeking to improve things anyway, not maintain the status quo. He continued saying that their level of power must be kept under control.
Looking to Eggman for inspiration, he retrieved programming fromBelleso that he could have the means of fabricating a personality, or rather have the ability to overwrite existing ones. Starline stated that Surge and Kit would think what he wanted them to think, want what he desired them to want, and be who he wanted them to be. As a fail-safe, Starline made Surge and Kit prone to his hypnotic gear in case they needed realignment.
Hearing all this shocked Kit as he watched a video of him and Surge being hypnotized into thinking what Starline wanted them to think, which was hating and destroying Sonic and staying by Surge's side respectively.
Later in another log, Starline stated how he used the resilience of theMetal Virusto make cellular upgrades to enhance Surge and Kit's cybernetic implants, causing the two of them to become resilient to pain. However, it turned out that the constant testing Starline put them through caused them to develop emotional trauma due to the constant failures, forcing Starline to keep using his hypnotic gear to deal with it, despite this both Surge and Kit were still able to learn and improve from each failure, this unfortunately made Starline still subject them to more of his trials, much to Kit's horror.
"I can't believe...", he muttered.
Then, he began looking for any information about who he and Surge were before all this but nothing came up.
"What? It's not there! Why not? Surge and I aren't cyborgs, Starline enhanced us but he didn't make us...so who were we? Were we volunteers? Did he kidnap us? Were we heroes? Or convicts? Who were we before this? Why can't I find any info about us?!", shouted Kit.
"Because it's irrelevant. It's past your bedtime, boy!"
Kit tensed up as he looked behind him and saw Starline standing in the doorway of the computer room. Kit looked at him as tears welled up in his eyes, "No! It's not "irrelevant"! I needcontext!If I have no past, all I have isthis!And "this" is nothing! I'm a nobody, Surge is a nobody! We're just knockoffs! Everything we want--that we think we want--is a lie!", he sobbed.
Starline shook his head, "Oh, Kit...I kept having this conversation with you and Surge all the time...and it always ends the same way", he said as he held up his hypnotic gear.
Kit's eyes widened in fear, "No...No...NO!", he screamed as he used his water tendrils to grab Starline and steal his Tricore. Starline tried to bargain with him, claiming that he was the only one who knew about their past and only he could maintain their cybernetic enhancements, but Kit didn't listen as he threw Starline into a nearby wall.
The impact knocked Starline unconscious, buying Kit enough time to pull out a USB drive and stick it into the computer. He then downloaded all of Starline's video logs concerning him and Surge onto the drive and pulled it out, "I'll find Surge myself...and I'm gonna show her the truth!", Kit said as he fled from the base.
[Time Skip]
Surge yawned as she woke up in a comfortable bed, it had been three months since Shadow had petitioned to become her legal guardian. She stayed at the hospital during that time, nursing her baby girl Sparkplug and seeing a therapist for her trauma.
After that, Surge moved into the spare bedroom in Shadow's house. Since Shadow hadn't found a family to adopt Sparkplug yet, she was still in the hospital's maternity ward being looked over by the nurses.
In the meantime, as her legal guardian, Shadow was taking care of Surge. His home was hers now too, she had her own room and Shadow even agreed to let her go shopping for clothes and personal items with Amy whenever she wanted.
Speaking of Sonic and the others, they were all doing their part in trying to find Starline, but it was proving to be difficult. Meanwhile, the police had actually caught Trevor. Turns out, he got arrested for beating some guy up at a bar, and because he fit the description Sonic had gave them, the police locked him up and plans for a trial were being put in place.
But it was decided that the trial would be held after Surge passed a psychiatric evaluation and Sparkplug was adopted, that way the baby would be safe and Surge would be able to testify in court without any issues.
So for the time being, Trevor was being kept in police custody.
Surge climbed out of bed, brushed her teeth and went downstairs. She found Shadow in the kitchen, standing by the stove; that's when a delicious smell hit her nostrils.
"Hmm, what's that smell? Whatcha making?", asked Surge.
"Scrambled eggs served with toast, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and baby spinach. You're still suffering from malnutrition, so the doctors recommended healthy meals with high protein", said Shadow.
Surge sat down at the table while she waited for breakfast to be done, "So...how's Sparkplug doing? Did you find a good family to adopt her?", she asked.
Shadow sighed, "As far as Sparkplug's health, she's doing just fine. She's a bright and bouncy baby girl, but so far...I haven't found anyone to adopt her. Don't worry, though, I'm still looking and I'll make sure she'll go to a family who'll treat her right", he said.
He then set the plate of food down in front of her along with a glass of orange juice and a bowl of fruit, "Here you go. I hope you like it", said Shadow.
Surge picked up a fork and started eating, smiling at how good it tasted. "Oh wow! This stuff tastes awesome, thanks Shadow!", she said. Shadow smiled at her, then he heard the doorbell ring. "Stay here and finish your breakfast, Surge. I'm gonna go see who that is", he said.
Shadow walked over to the front door and opened it, revealing a pair of Mobian honey badgers, one male and one female. "Hello. Can I help you people?", he asked.
"Hello, we heard that you have a newborn bear up for adoption?", said the male badger.
With that said, Shadow led the couple inside of his house to his den. He poured them some coffee and sat down across from them, "So...your names are Ramon and Yasmin Forrester? Is there any specific reason you two are looking to adopt?", he said.
"Well, even though we're ready to become parents now, we unfortunately found out that Yasmin is unable to conceive. We heard about your situation, so we came to see you about it", said Ramon.
"I completely understand. The next thing I need to ask is...what does your financial situation look like?", said Shadow.
Yasmin then handed him a slip of paper with their bank information on it, when Shadow read it, his eyes widened in shock.
"Oh my Chaos! I've never seen so many zeroes! What do you two do for a living?", he asked.
"My husband and I are freelance artists, people commission artwork from us and we charge $50 per piece. We also sell original artwork as well, so we've made enough money to not only retire in luxury but also pay for our future child's college tuition", said Yasmin.
"Yes, but we had moved from our old town to Windmill Village because too many people tried to suck up to us for our money. It was getting annoying and interfering with our work and private life, so we moved. Having money is nice, but it's not that important. It's only for paying the bills, it doesn't bring you happiness. Family and friends are what's most important", said Ramon.
Needless to say, Shadow was impressed by the couple's financial situation, as well as their selfless attitude. They clearly put the feelings of others over money and only saw money as a means to get daily necessities.
"Well, I can honestly say that everything checks out. I really think you two are going to make wonderful parents, the only other thing I'd like to do is have you two meet Surge", said Shadow.
"Surge?", asked Ramon.
"Oh, she's the one who had the baby. She even gave her the name "Sparkplug". I'm her legal guardian, so I promised her that her baby was going to a good home. She's been through a lot of physical and emotional trauma, so she's scared for her baby", explained Shadow.
"Oh, of course. Of course we'll meet her, we want her to be assured that her child will be safe and loved with us. Where is she?", said Yasmin.
Shadow stood up and walked over to the kitchen, where he found Surge hiding under the table.
"What are you doing down there? This couple wants to meet you, and didn't you say you wanted to meet the people who would adopt your daughter? You know, so you can relax knowing she'll go to a loving home?", he said.
Surge sighed, "I know but...I'm so nervous. What if they don't like me? I wasn't exactly a good person before all this...", she muttered.
"True but that was because of Starline, and all you did was destroy badniks and take over old Eggman bases. You never hurt anyone so you weren't actually a bad person. And now you're more humble, I'm sure they'll like you", said Shadow.
With that, Surge allow him to pull her out from under the table and guide her over to the den where the Forrester's were waiting. Surge sat down from across from them, but she was too nervous to look them in the eyes.
"H-hello...I'm Surge the Tenrec. N-nice to meet you both. You people want to adopt my baby? Her...her name is Sparkplug", Surge said shyly.
"Well aren't you such a sweet girl? Don't worry, we'll take good care of your baby girl", said Yasmin.
Shadow then pulled out some paperwork from a folder, "Well then, now that we've discussed the important matters, it's time to fill out the adoption paperwork. I'd like for you two to also read this contract", he said as he handed them a slip of paper along with the adoption paperwork.
Ramon and Yasmin looked and read the contract, "I'm sure you were both informed about Dr. Starline and how Surge had been working for him for whatever nefarious reasons he had in mind. Since we're concerned about him finding out about Surge's baby, this contract stipulates that you will have protection from G.U.N. agents either at home or when you go out.
"Of course, they will remain incognito so as not to encroach upon your private life and they will only remain active until Starline is found and captured. Once he is, they will be relieved of duty and you'll be able to live worry free", explained Shadow.
"What about the...uh...I want to say Surge's ex boyfriend but after knowing what happened, there was never really a relationship there. What about the father? Yeah, let's go with that", said Ramon.
"He was arrested on a different charge but the authorities are already well aware of what he had done to Surge, so he will get a trial but more than likely will be found guilty and sent to prison. Plus, he's just an ordinary Mobian, he's not a major concern like Starline is", said Shadow.
With that having been said, Ramon and Yasmin signed the adoption paperwork and handed it back to Shadow. "Thank you both for your cooperation. I will take these papers to the adoption agency, they will be processed and by the end of the week, you two will declared as Sparkplug's legal guardians", said Shadow.
"Thank you so much. We'll work on turning the guest bedroom in our house into the baby's room, it's good that we know she's a girl so we don't accidentally get the wrong things. We'll come by the hospital at the end of the week to pick up Sparkplug and bring her home", said Yasmin.
Shadow thanked them for their time, led them to the front door and saw them out. He then turned to Surge, "So...its been done. How do you feel about all this?", he asked.
Surge sighed but smiled, "I'm just glad Sparkplug is gonna be okay. When can I visit her?", she said.
"The visits will be held once a month, at end of the month. That way, your baby will have had plenty of time to acclimate to her new home and parents, and after your therapist deems you fit for the visitation. Not to mention I need to be there to supervise you. Remember that you're still dealing with the emotional trauma, not to mention you nearly tried to abandon your baby and commit suicide so...", Shadow trailed off.
Surge looked away in shame, "Yeah. I know, and I feel so stupid for doing that in the first place. Ugh...I miss Kit, I used to push him around so much but now that I've been through so much turmoil, I feel guilty about it. I wish I could see him so I could tell him I'm sorry", she said.
Shadow smiled as he walked over to sit next to her and hold her, "Its going to be alright, things may seem difficult now but they'll get better with time. That's something I've learned from being around Sonic", he said.
Surge laughed, "Huh...its weird, I used to want to destroy him, but he helped me. He told you to save me and you both helped me and my baby, so now I...don't want to destroy him anymore. I wonder why I even wanted to in the first place, I didn't even know the guy before we met", she said.
Shadow smirked, "I tried to destroy him once too. I think that's just the thing with Sonic, so many people tried to get rid of him only to become his friends. I never understood that but I guess that's just par for the course when it comes to Sonic. Anyway, now that we've finished with the adoption process, what do you want to do today?", he said.
"Can we go shopping for some clothes for me? And maybe even some fun stuff like video games and posters for the walls in my room? And maybe some comic books too?", asked Surge.
Shadow smiled as he got up to get his cellphone, "I'll see if Amy isn't busy so she can come with us, she can help you pick out some nice feminine clothing. I'll help you pick out some games and comics and decor for your room", he said.
[Time Skip]
Meanwhile, Kit was currently running for his life to get as far away from Starline as possible. When he finally stopped running due to fatigue, he stopped to see that he was currently in Central City.
Many passersby walked about, going on with their day; some of them had noticed the exhausted fennec fox, but they didn't pay him any mind. Kit took deep breaths to calm down and get his bearings, then he started looking around.
"I gotta find someone to help me, maybe they'll even know where Surge is...", he whispered. Kit then tried to look for someone to help him, but he quickly realized that he was more tired than he thought. He took one step and then fell face first onto the concrete floor, partially scraping his left cheek.
"...ow! I gotta...get help! I gotta...find Surge! Someone...help me...please!", he begged as he passed out. As Kit laid there unconscious, he didn't see a familiar grey and white striped tail wrap around him and pick him up off the ground.
A few hours later, Kit awoke in a comfy little bed in an unfamiliar house.
"Huh? Where am I?", he asked.
"You're in my house, little guy"
Kit looked up to see a female lemur standing in the doorway of the bedroom, she had light gray fur and orchid purple eyes. She also had a small black nose and a long bushy tail with gray stripes, gray fur around her muzzle and between her eyes, and gray fur around the sides of her eyes and on her eyelids and round ears. She also had extra fur on top of her head and chest, and small cheek tufts.
"Who are you? And how did I get here? Last thing I remember, I passed out in the middle of Central City", said Kit.
"I'm Tangle the Lemur. I was just hanging out in the city when I saw you pass out and fall over, you were pretty exhausted and out of it, so I brought you here to my home in Spiral Hill Village. You got a tiny scrape on your cheek, but nothing major", said the lemur.
Kit smiled at her, "Thanks for helping me. I was just running away from a...scary person and I guess I hadn't realized how tired I was. I was also looking for someone", he said.
"Who were looking for? And also, what's your name? If you tell me, maybe I can help you out", said Tangle.
"My name is Kitsunami, I'm looking for a tenrec girl named Surge", said Kit.
Tangle's eyes widened, "Wait...Surge? And...did you say your name was Kitsunami?", she asked.
[Time Skip]
Since Amy wasn't busy that day, she agreed to accompany Shadow to take Surge shopping. They went to a mall in Westopolis, Shadow waited in the food court while Amy and Surge were in a nearby women's clothing store.
"Hey! How's this look?"
Surge stepped out of a dressing room to show Amy the outfit she was wearing, it was a black and white striped shirt under a short leather jacket, a pair of jean shorts, black sneakers and a white beanie.
Amy's eyes widened with amazement, "Oh my gosh, Surge! That outfit is too cute, I just love your punk rock style. It's not my style, but it works for you", she said. Despite not being the jerk-ish bad girl she used to be anymore, Surge still loved wearing punk outfits and so she wanted to get herself some.
She blushed at Amy's comment, "You really think it looks cute on me?", she asked.
"Of course, especially now that you're wearing your quills down, making it look like you've got long hair. You've got your own unique style that's all you, Surge", said Amy.
Surge smiled as she went back into the dressing room to take off the outfit and give it back to Amy, "Here you go. Can I get some other outfits too?", she said.
"Sure. Shadow is letting you get what you want, he's paid well and has a lot money so he said you can get whatever you want", said Amy.
With that said, Surge walked around the store looking for other outfits to buy. Many of them were punk outfits but they weren't all black and gloomy, a few of them were in cooler colors like blue, or gray-green or even pink.
Once she was done, Amy took the clothes to pay for them all. Then, she gave one outfit in particular to Surge for her to go put on in the restroom. It was a baggy grey shirt beneath a pair of black overalls with a chain hanging on them, black leggings and grey sneakers.
The two girls then walked out of the store and ran into Shadow, who looked down curiously at the bags they were carrying, which was only three of them. "Somehow, I thought you two would have more bags than that", he said with a taunting smirk.
Amy looked annoyed, "Oh shut up, Shadow! Anyway, Surge has her new clothes. What's next?", she said.
"Surge said she also wants some video games and comic books, so first let's go to the toy store. Then we'll go to the book store and finally stop to have lunch before we head back home", said Shadow.
[Time Skip]
The three then went to the toy store, Surge was looking around at the video game consoles and games. She spotted two that she really seemed to like, one was a flat square console that needed to be hooked up to a TV and the other was a small rectangular handheld console with removable controllers that were blue and green respectively.
"Can I get these? I can play with one at home and the other on the go", said Surge.
Shadow looked at the price tags of both consoles and the games that came with them, "Well, they're a bit on the expensive side but I do have the money for it, so yes. Go ahead", he said. Surge smiled excitedly as she put what she wanted into the shopping cart.
As they walked over to the check out counter, Surge spotted something in the stuffed animal section of the toy store. It was an almost life size stuffed rabbit with grey and white fur, wearing a black plushie motorcycle helmet and a black plushie poncho.
"Oh this is really cute! I want it!", said Surge as she grabbed and hugged the rabbit.
Amy noticed this and smiled, "Looks like she's found something else she loves", she said.
Shadow noticed too, "She's such an innocent child now, it's hard to believe she used to be a little punk who liked to wreck things", he said with a small smile.
They went and paid for the toys, then they walked over to the book store to buy Surge some comics. She picked out a bunch of sci-fi ones, some superhero comics, a couple fantasy and a few horror too. The book store also sold a few posters that Surge picked out to hang up on her bedroom walls.
After that, they went to a diner in the mall to have lunch before going home. Being the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow didn't need to eat much so he didn't get himself anything; he was paying for lunch for Amy and Surge, so he just told them to get what they wanted.
Amy got a panini with some fries and an iced tea, Surge ordered some chicken tenders, a bowl of mac and cheese and some fresh veggies from the kid's menu, along with an orange juice. They sat and ate quietly, paid for the food and then went back to Shadow's house.
Amy helped Shadow put away all the stuff they bought before she turned to leave, "Thanks for the day out, Shadow. I was happy to help you guys out, I hope Surge is happy living here with you", she said.
"Well, I asked you for help because you would've had a better chance of helping Surge pick out clothes than I would. I don't know much about that since I don't wear any clothes. By the way, how goes the search for Starline? Have any of you found him yet?", said Shadow.
"No, but we're gonna keep looking. The entirety of the Restoration is on the search, if he's out there then we'll find him. Leave it to us, Shadow. You just focus on taking care of Surge, you're doing a good job so far and she really looks up to you. It's like you're her big brother now. Bye!", said Amy as she walked away.
Shadow thought about what Amy had said as he looked inside, spotting Surge sitting on the couch watching TV. His face then changed to an expression of fondness as he watched her smiling and laughing.
Big brother...huh, thought Shadow.
Just as he was about to shut the door, he was stopped by a familiar looking red sneaker. Shadow was taken by surprise when he saw Sonic standing in the doorway, "Sonic? What are you doing here?", he asked.
"Shadow, is Surge here? We need you to bring her to the Restoration base pronto!", said Sonic.
"Why? Did you find and capture Starline?", asked Shadow.
"No, not yet. Just bring her though, it's really important!", said Sonic.
The two weren't aware that Surge was listening to everything they were saying and was watching them with curiosity.
[Time Skip]
A few minutes later, the two hedgehogs had brought Surge to the Restoration base, where she was in for an unexpected surprise.
"Surge?"
"Kit?"
That's right, after being told who he was, Tangle brought Kit to the Restoration base and told the others to come quickly. Kit had no idea what was really going on, but he was shocked to see Surge standing before him, wearing a completely different outfit than before.
But then his shock turned to relief and pure joy as he ran towards her and threw himself into her arms, "Surge! It's you! I'm so happy to see you again, you were gone for nine whole months! I thought I would never see you again!", Kit shouted as he started crying.
Surge felt tears come to her own eyes as she hugged him back, "It...Its okay, Kit. It's okay, I'm just glad to see you again", she said.
When they both finally calmed down, Kit explained that he ran away from Starline after he found out the truth about himself and Surge.
"Truth? What do you mean?", asked Surge.
Kit pulled out the USB drive and turned to Sonic and Co., "Do you any of you have a computer I can plug this into? Once I do, you'll know the truth", he said.
Tails took the USB and plugged it into the base's main supercomputer, he then pulled up the files on the drive, which were video files, and played them for everyone to see. Everyone in the room was shocked and horrified when they watched Starline's video logs, listening to him detail just how he made Surge and Kit what they were.
When the videos ended, Shadow punched a wall out of anger. "That bastard! He took two innocent children and experimented on them like they were just mere lab rats! And then he forced them to train repeatedly, putting their lives in danger again and again!", he shouted.
Upon learning the truth, Surge fell to the floor on her knees due to losing all strength in her legs. Her body was shaking uncontrollably and her breathing became erratic, in fact, she started to hyperventilate. Then, her electricity powers began to flare up as lightning sparked across her body.
The others quickly noticed this, Shadow rushed to her side immediately. Ignoring the lightning zapping him every few seconds, he tried to calm her down from the panic attack. "Surge? Surge, calm down. Just breath, alright? Follow my lead, take a deep breath in and let it out. Inhale…exhale. Inhale…exhale…", he murmured, gently brushing Surge's quills back as he led her in the breathing exercise.
Surge took a shuddery breath in and shakily exhaled, the sparks on her body gradually growing smaller and smaller. "There you go. In and out, in and out. Good job, Surge. You're doing great…", Shadow sighed with relief as the uncomfortable tingling sensation he felt went away.
Surge finally calmed down but then she suddenly lost consciousness, Shadow held her in his arms as he shook his head in disgust. "As if this poor girl hasn't already been through enough, now she has this to be added to her trauma!", he said.
Kit looked at him in confusion, "Huh? What do you mean? Did something happen to Surge when she ran away? What is it? What happened to her?", he asked. Sonic walked over to place a hand on his shoulder, "I think you might want to sit down for this, what I'm about to tell you isn't very pleasant...", he said.
[Time Skip]
When Surge woke up, she was back in her room at Shadow's house. Said hedgehog was sitting in a chair next to the bed, he had been reading a book while waiting for her to wake up.
"Hey there, are you feeling alright?", he asked.
Surge sighed sadly, "Yeah...I'm fine. I just can't believe it...all this time, I was just a nobody. Just some experiment Starline wanted to use to get rid of you all, I feel so...I don't even know how to feel right now!", she muttered into her pillow.
Shadow looked down sadly at her before he then started smiling, "I think I know something that might cheer you up: while you were asleep, I got a call from the head doctor at the hospital. The paperwork was officially finalized and now, Sparkplug lives with her new family.
"Her adopted parents gave me their phone numbers, I'll buy you your own phone so that they can call you or talk through video chat and send you pictures of her. They said it wasn't too fair that you'd only get to see her once a month, so they want you to contact them if you ever want to see her so they could video chat with you", he said.
Surge slightly perked up when she heard this, "Really? That sounds great, I hope she's happy with those people. And I hope that when she grows up, she's not mad at me for what I did...", she said. Shadow bent down near the edge of the bed and reached over to stroke her quills.
"Hey now, don't start thinking like that. You may have left her on a bridge before trying to jump to your death, but that's because you were taken advantage of and hurt by two despicable people. You're too young to be a mother, too young to deal with all this nonsense.
"Starline experimented on you for his own evil purposes, I guarantee that if he succeeded, he would've just tossed you and Kit away like trash! Then, you were violated, beaten and held hostage by a total scumbag who just wanted a free housemaid.
"I assure you that in the future, when Sparkplug is old enough to understand all this, she won't be angry with you. She'll understand that you did what you did for her sake, it's better for her that she'd be adopted by a new family. And besides, she'll definitely be happy knowing she has two mothers who love her dearly", said Shadow.
Surge smiled as tears fell from her eyes, she sat up and hugged Shadow tightly. "Thank you so much, big brother! Thank you!", she said. Shadow was surprised, it didn't seem like Surge was aware of what she had just said but he didn't care. It actually made him happy to hear her call him that.
I hope you're proud of me...Maria, he thought, I'm really trying my best to help these children.
Just then, Shadow heard the doorbell ringing from downstairs. He pulled away from Surge, "I'm going to go see who that is, you stay here. Then afterwards, I'll make dinner. How do you feel about grilled chicken with zucchini noodles?", he said.
"I don't know what zucchinis are but that sounds good to me", said Surge.
Shadow chuckled as he walked downstairs to answer the door, he was surprised to see Sonic standing outside with a rather depressed looking Kit standing next to him. "Shadow, we told him the truth and now he seems to have mentally shutdown. I couldn't think of where else to bring him, but Amy suggested I bring him here. She said you would know what to do", said Sonic.
Shadow looked at Kit with sympathy and sighed, "Alright then. I'll take care of him, don't worry about it. You guys keep an eye out for Starline, now that he's lost both his "minions" he'll definitely be on the prowl for them", he said.
Sonic nodded and went home, Shadow took Kit by the hand and led him into the room, shutting the door behind him. He then picked up the little fennec fox and carried him to the kitchen, he sat him down on the table. Shadow then went over to the stove and started boiling up some milk.
After it was hot enough, he poured it into a mug and mixed in some hot chocolate mix. Shadow then placed the mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of Kit before sitting down next to him.
"When you're ready to talk to me about how you feel, go ahead then. I won't force you to talk if you're not ready--"
Shadow was abruptly cut off when Kit took a sip of the hot chocolate and then started pouring his heart out.
"I'm sorry! Sonic and his friends told me everything! They told me about how that bear kidnapped Surge and raped her, I didn't even know what the word "rape" meant until they explained it to me. Once they did, I puked and couldn't believe it!
"That bear...he hurt Surge every day for six months! He got her pregnant, he violated her and was planning to keep her trapped in his home like a caged bird! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I was always by Surge's side and I always supported her, I know now that it was only because of Starline that I always did that but it doesn't matter!
"If I had been there for her, if I had ran away with Surge, none of that would've happened to her! I'm supposed to be there for her but I didn't run away with because I was worried about what Starline would do! I'm such a pathetic, sniveling little coward! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!", he shouted.
After that, Kit stopped talking and simply sat in the chair, bawling his eyes out. Soon, he was "ugly" crying too, with tears falling from his eyes and snot dripping from his nose; he even coughed a few times due to the loud shouting of his sobs straining his throat.
Shadow watched as he waited for the young fox to calm down, his heart ached so much for the boy that he couldn't even be disgusted by the mucus dripping from his nose. Surge had been through so much physical and emotional trauma, but poor Kit was treating the whole situation like it was his fault.
After about half an hour, Kit finally stopped crying and was just sniffling quietly. Shadow gave him a handkerchief to wipe his eyes and nose. "Do you feel better now that you've gotten that out of your system?", he asked.
Kit just remained quiet, which made Shadow feel concerned. He sighed, "You don't have to answer me right away. I can tell that this is all so overwhelming for you. You can stay here with me, Surge is already living here so I don't mind. I'll have to buy another twin sized bed for the spare room so you'll have a place to sleep", he said.
Shadow then stood up and walked over to the entryway of the kitchen, "I'm gonna go talk to Surge for a minute. Wait right there, I'll be right back. If you want, I'll make you dinner too", he said before leaving.
When he was gone, Kit quietly stood up from the table and walked over to the drawers. He opened one of them, finding something shiny inside. Something…shiny and...very sharp…
Back upstairs, Shadow told Surge about Kit's outburst. She looked down sadly, "The poor kid...it sounded like he felt guilty for what happened to me, but its not his fault. Ugh, and I just feel guilty for how I used to treat him", she said.
Just then, the two of them heard a bloodcurdling scream coming from downstairs. They both ran downstairs as quickly as possible and entered the kitchen, that's when they gasped at what they saw.
On the kitchen floor was Kit, shaking and crying. In his left hand was a knife, stained with his blood. The underside of his right arm, however, was covered in the red bodily fluid, from his elbow all the way up to his wrist.
Surge screamed in horror but Shadow remained calm and quickly took charge of the situation. "Surge, calm down! Find the house phone and call 911, I'll stay by Kit's side and keep him from bleeding out", he instructed. Surge ran off to find the house phone as he told her to.
Meanwhile, Shadow pulled out a kitchen rag from one of the drawers and wrapped it around Kit's right arm, putting as much pressure on it as possible to halt the bleeding but not too much that he would hurt Kit accidentally.
"Kit? Kit, can you hear me?", asked Shadow.
The young fennec fox twitched, turning his head slowly, his eyes looked extremely dull. "I'm...I'm sorry...", he muttered. His voice was weak, which worried the older hedgehog, "Its okay, son. It's not your fault, I'm not angry with you. You're gonna be alright", said Shadow as he began to rub the fox's back, smiling softly.
Kit nodded slowly, his breathing growing shallow. "It hurts…so much...", he mumbled. Shadow looked at him sympathetically, "I know, I know. Its gonna be alright, Surge is calling for an ambulance right now", he said.
Just then, two paramedics burst into the house, rushing over to the kitchen.
"We got a call that someone had slit their arm in this house, where is the victim?", asked one of them.
Shadow moved over a bit and gestured to the half awake fox on the floor, "He's right here. He slit his arm with a knife, I've managed to stop the bleeding but he might need surgery. Hurry and get him to the hospital!", he said.
The paramedics moved in to take care of kit, politely easing Shadow to the side so they could have more space to work. One of them wrapped gauze around Kit's injured arm while the other attached an oxygen mask to his muzzle, then they loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him outside to the waiting ambulance.
Surge was crying the entire time, she didn't know how to react to all this. Yes, she had tried to kill herself as well but she had done so by attempting to drown, this was much more violent and gory than she could have imagined. She was also aware of the enhancements Starline gave them, meaning Kit would probably be alright, but she was still extremely scared.
Shadow had hastily cleaned up the blood on the floor before rushing to her side, "Its gonna alright. Let's go to the hospital, I'll call the others when we get there", he said.
[Time Skip]
An hour later, Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles burst into the hospital's waiting room, just in time to see Shadow finish speaking to a doctor while Surge was sitting on a chair holding her stuffed rabbit.
"Shadow, what happened?", asked Sonic.
"Kit...he tried to kill himself. He took a knife and cut his arm...", said Shadow.
Everyone gasped in horror, "What?! Why?! Why would he do that?", asked Tails.
"Before he did that, he had an emotional breakdown, apologizing for all the terrible things that happened to Surge. He kept saying he was sorry as if it was all his fault, I'm guessing the guilt was too much for him to handle. Damn it all...", Shadow trailed off as a look of anger and shame graced his face.
"Shadow, what's wrong?", asked Amy.
"I left him alone for one minute to speak to Surge, I shouldn't have left him alone! He did this to himself, I could've stopped him!", Shadow shouted.
Knuckles went to place a hand on Shadow's shoulder, "Now don't you start that too, Shadow! You couldn't have possibly known Kit was going to do that, so don't go blaming yourself. Just like Surge, he's been psychologically damaged by Starline, if anything this is his fault, not yours!", he said.
"Knuckles is right, Starline is to blame for all this, but you can't worry about him now. We'll focus on finding him and making sure he faces justice, you just need to focus on caring for Surge and Kit. And right now, they both need you", said Sonic.
Shadow calmed down and looked at Surge, who was shaking in fear. Just then, a surgeon walked out of the operating room. "I'd like to inform you all that Kitsunami is out of surgery and he is awake, so you can see him. Thankfully, he didn't hit any major arteries so he didn't have to lose his arm, but he did need about fifteen stitches", she said.
Shadow led Surge into the recovery room where Kit was lying in a hospital bed wearing a pale green patient's gown, an I.V. drip attached to his left arm. Surge sat down on a stool next to him.
"Kit, you okay?", she asked.
"More or less...", said Kit.
"Okay good, because I wanted to ask you something...WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THIS?!!", shouted Surge.
Kit flinched in surprise and fear, and then winced as a strike of pain shot through his bandaged right arm.
"Wha...I...I...", Kit couldn't even speak properly.
"Why, Kit? Why? Was it guilt? Because as you've been told already, none of what happened to me was your fault! Yes, you didn't follow me when I ran away because you were scared of what Starline would do and that's completely understandable.
"In fact, we both just found out that your desire to always be at my side was something Starline had made you think that's what you wanted, it's not how you actually feel. Now, if you actually want to be by my side then that's fine, but you're still not to blame for what happened to me.
"Its Starline and Trevor who are to blame for everything that's happened. Starline experimented on us for his own stupid evil schemes and Trevor violated me and got me pregnant just so he could have a maid.
"And if anything, it's my fault for running off, but if I didn't then maybe I wouldn't have met Sonic and his friends or learned that they're not so bad and don't deserve to be destroyed. I don't even know why Starline wants to destroy them anyway!
"Kit, I'm also so sorry for how I treated you before all this. I was such a bully to you, I used to push you around and insult you, and I never gave you any appreciation for your support. I want you to know that I do really care about you and now you don't have to saddled with just following me around and constantly supporting me. You're free to do what you want, be who you want to be and think what you want to think. And I'll be there for you", said Surge.
She then pulled Kit into a tight but loving hug, nuzzling the side of his head with her cheek. Kit didn't know how to process all the information that was told to him, but he did know one thing: Surge was still by his side and she wasn't going to abandon him ever.
He started crying again, but this time he cried quietly and there was a small smile on his face.
"Thank you, Surge. And I'm sorry for scaring you", he whispered.
"You're welcome, Drippy. And stop apologizing to me already!", Surge said with a laugh despite the tears that fell from her own eyes.
Shadow stood off to the side, watching them share a tender moment while being lost in thought.
Guess I'll have to petition for legal guardianship for Kit now as well, he thought, and it seems he's going to need therapy as well.
Shadow was feeling emotionally exhausted but it wasn't because of his newfound responsibility over these two young Mobians, it was because he had experienced his own brand of emotional trauma in his life and he was just wishing that he could live his life without experiencing any more heartache, even if it wasn't his own.
Starline...when we find you...I promise I will make you suffer for the pain you've brought upon these poor children, Shadow thought.
[To be concluded...]
(Note: Yes, this story is only going to be three parts longs because it is a short story and wasn't going to be that long anyway. Next will be final part, which would include the conclusion of the story as well as an epilogue that'll take place three years later.)