Disclaimer: All non-original characters are property of SEGA or their respective creators.
Inescapable Past, Act 34: Meeting Your Heroes
Shadow didn't like needles.
He hadn't for decades. Not since he first felt the stab of a hypodermic syringe in a Space Colony ARK lab. Back then, an unfortunate scientist had felt the full force of his primitive rage until several of Gerald's minions could sedate him.
This nurse had nothing to fear in that regard. Still, he wished she would hurry up and take the blood sample already. Seeing his blood being constantly pumped through the tall humming machine at his bedside was stressful enough without her poking and prodding the pit of his right elbow.
Couldn't she just siphon what she needed from the tubes plugged into his left forearm?
"Ah-ha!" said the nurse, sounding a note of triumph as she located a suitable vein.
Shadow grasped two fistfuls of bedsheet as the red-feathered oxpecker deployed her needle. No matter how small the point, the stabbing sensation always played havoc with his fight-or-flight response.
"And there we go," said the nurse breezily, covering the puncture wound with a sticking plaster dotted with smiling Chaos.
She dropped a lollypop on the bed within reach of Shadow's right hand and sauntered off. Relaxing his grip on the bedsheets, the hedgehog ignored the candy and reclined. He exhaled deeply, trying to ignore the low hum of the dialysis machine.
According to Rouge, there wasn't much (if any) actual blood flowing through his veins right now. She hadn't said why he was currently running on HemoSynth. Merely that he has. Alas, post-anesthetic grogginess had stopped him pressing her for answers.
Rouge had spent his brief windows of consciousness in Westopolis University Medical Center relaying updates on the hell breaking loose in Metropolis. That is, when she wasn't being interrupted by the extremely attentive Dr Leaf.
Here at King Maximilian Acorn Free Hospital, he'd hardly seen a Mobian in a white coat since his initial examination yesterday. This suited him fine. He was quite content with the company of the anchors of whatever rolling news channel his room's television was tuned to.
Right now, they were teasing some upcoming exclusive interview with Mina and Sonic from somewhere called Echo Beach. A graphic in the top-left corner of the screen wished viewers 'Happy Martina Day', whatever that meant.
"Hello, Shadow."
Shadow stiffened. The feminine voice was familiar. Last time he'd heard it, it'd been chewing him out for putting a child in harm's way, willfully disregarding the fact the child in question was Amy Rose.
"Principal?" he breathed, eyeing Sally warily.
"Please, I've had enough of that from Tangela," said the chipmunk as she entered his room, "Let's stick with Sally, okay?"
"O…kay," muttered Shadow.
"Relax," she said, closing the door, "I come in peace."
Nodding slowly, he watched her drag a chair over to his bedside.
"Is Amy with you?" he asked hopefully.
"She wanted to be," said Sally, taking off her backpack as she sat down, "Something came up, though."
Shadow frowned. "Define 'something'."
The chipmunk smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, didn't mean that to sound ominous," she said, "Mighty's taken her to a concert out of town. Espio's with them."
Shadow shot a glance at the television. "In Echo Beach, by any chance?"
"That's the one," said Sally, unzipping her backpack and pulling out a laptop, "You're stuck with me instead, I'm afraid."
"'Stuck' with you?" said the hedgehog, "What for?"
Sally tilted her head, smiling quizzically. "How about I let Amy explain."
She reached a cellphone out of her blue gilet, tapped at the screen a few times, then held it out towards the bed.
"Hey, Shadow!" chirped Amy as her face appeared onscreen, "So, like, Rouge asked me to show you around your new place, so, err, here goes, I guess."
Shadow reached out to take the phone. Holding it up to his face, a smile flickered on his lips.
〜
"Must you do that?" groaned Sonia, shooting a weary glance at Manic.
The green hedgehog was drumming a beat on the red convertible's bumper.
"There's a whole other car to sit in, y'know" said Manic.
He pointed a drumstick at a silver minivan parked beside the convertible.
"Can't you drum on that?" asked Sonia.
"But it's a rental," replied her brother.
"What, and scratching up Mighty's paintwork car is perfectly okay?"
Manic cocked a brow. "Do these look like steel brushes to you, sis?"
"They're hardly made of foam," countered Sonia.
"Whatever. Mighty's cool."
With that, the green hedgehog resumed drumming.
Sonia narrowed her eyes and reached into her seat's footwell.
"Yo, little drummer hog!"
Manic looked up to find a hard-light rifle aimed at him.
"Seriously, sis?" he said, raising his sticks in surrender.
"Thousands have paid to watch you do that for three hours later. I haven't. Give it a rest."
Manic hmphed and stowed his drumsticks in his fanny-pack. "Why even ask me to come?"
"Because both cars needed moving," said Sonia, setting aside her rifle, "The hotel was charging us triple for parking space."
Manic grinned. "Still sore about giving us that floor for free, huh?"
"I'm sure they'll make some of it back on yours and Cyrus's minibar," said Sonia, cocking her head to the left, "Heads up."
Manic followed his sister's gaze to the pearl-white business-jet bearing down on the airfield's dirt runway.
"Sweet Solaris!" he blurted.
The siblings raced to take shelter in the minivan as the jet's back wheels touched down, throwing up an almighty dust cloud that only expanded at it slowed to a halt. After the haze had cleared, the hedgehogs emerged to see the plane's airstairs unfurl.
First out was Mighty. He waved to Sonia and Manic in a strikingly accurate imitation of Princess Elise. Behind him followed Espio, looking decidedly unamused. Next came Amy.
"Oh," uttered Manic, shooting his sister a sideward glance, "Did you know she was coming?"
"No," said Sonia flatly, marching onto the runway.
"This is some welcoming committee," remarked Mighty as she approached.
"So glad you like it," said Sonia, "Could I have a word?"
The armadillo blinked, then glanced at Espio.
"By all means, take him," said the chameleon, backing away from his boyfriend.
Sonia nodded her thanks, put her arm around the miffed Mighty, and steered him towards the cars.
"Buy me some time, Manic," said the purple hedgehog as they passed the convertible.
"You got it," replied her brother.
"Time for what?" asked Mighty as he was led behind the minivan.
"To explain yourself," said Sonia, "Does Sonic know Amy's with you?"
"Why? Is he having—"
The armadillo suddenly found a hand pushing him against the minivan's tailgate.
"Does he or doesn't he?" said Sonia.
Mighty frowned. "Well, no. Is this seriously going to be a problem?"
"Only if you make it one," said Sonia, "So long as you weren't planning to surprise him."
"Sonia, please, I know you're in charge of security round here, but get a grip. She's here because Sally asked if she could come. Kid's just here to keep her friend company."
Sonia cast a glance at the jet. Amy and a skinny lemur were watching Manic show Espio how to spin a drumstick.
"Who even is her friend?" she asked.
"A bit of a scamp, but she's an absolute sweetheart. Helped me out of a jam in Westopolis. You might find she gets starstruck a tad easily but—"
"How easily?"
"I…hear she fainted the first time she saw Sally."
Sonia sighed. "Great. A superfan. That's all we need."
"Am I missing something here?" asked Mighty, "Sonic sounded pretty damned mellow this morning."
"Yeah, and we're trying to keep him that way. You know how awkward he gets about all that hero-worship."
"It never seemed to bother him before."
"Because folks used to thank him for stuff he'd actually done," said Sonia, "Now, it's all 'thanks for ending the war', 'you really kicked that alien's ass', 'great work finally busting Buttnik'."
Mighty's eyes widened. "You can't mean…"
"…that my brother feels like a fraud when he gets given credit for shit Shadow and GUN did?" said Sonia, "That's exactly what I mean."
〜
"So, single or double?" asked Sally, looking up from her laptop.
Shadow looked blankly at her. The chipmunk smirked.
"Let's go with both," she said, "Then that'll both bedrooms covered."
As she clicked away, Shadow cast a wistful glance at the muted television. This visit had turned into an online shopping spree. On his bedside table lay a piece of paper on which Sally had sketched a floorplan of his new apartment, based on repeat viewings of Amy's video tour.
Now, armed with Sally's credit card, they were furnishing it.
"Bedding, bedding, bedding," the chipmunk muttered to herself as she typed, as if moving to the next item on her mental checklist.
Shadow grimaced. He'd never had to think this hard about his living quarters before. Aboard Space Colony ARK, every design decision regarding his cabin was delegated to Maria. More recently, his months-long search for Omega had meant sleeping in motels when he was lucky, and any old place that was quiet and dry when he wasn't.
Just then, Sally laughed to herself.
"Huh?" uttered Shadow.
"I just thought, I'll probably have to say sorry to Amy for doing this without her."
"Really?"
The chipmunk smiled knowingly.
"Believe me, she already knows which color you're painting every wall."
Shadow took care to disguise his sigh of relief as a normal outbreath. He'd been worrying that might be next on the principal's agenda.
Sally was about to lift up her laptop when a hologram of a brown lynx materialized at the foot of the bed.
"Sally?" said Nicole in apparent surprise.
"Nicole?" said Sally, "Long time, no see."
The hologram smirked. "It has felt odd being apart from you."
"Come to offer an opinion?" asked Sally, eyeing the laptop, "I think Shadow might appreciate it."
Shadow would have grunted mirthfully, if not for the grave expression on the lynx's polygonal features.
"No," said Nicole flatly, "The hematology lab has finished examining Shadow's blood sample."
Sally tactfully closed her laptop, then looked at Shadow.
"Should I…?" she murmured, motioning towards the door.
The hedgehog shook his head ever-so-slightly. Sally reciprocated with an equally discrete nod.
"Shadow," said Nicole, "The good news is the HemoSynth continues to be perfectly compatible with your unique physiology and shows minimal degradation."
Shadow grimaced. "And the bad news?"
"Your blood sample showed no trace of anything the laboratory's computers would class as 'organic' blood."
Shadow's face dropped. "None…at all?"
"In Dr Jarre's learned opinion, it's almost impossible that your body won't eventually replenish its blood supply. However, it's equally impossible to predict how long that may take."
"And in the meantime?" asked Sally.
"Given the performance of the HemoSynth so far, and with a regular course of dialysis — strictly precautionary, to avoid kidney damage — it should be suitable temporary solution, well, indefinitely."
"In…definitely?" breathed Shadow.
Out the corner of her eye, Sally noticed the hedgehog furiously flexing his fingers. She reached out a hand, tapped the back of his wrist, and silently offered him an open palm to squeeze. It was eagerly accepted.
"How regular is a 'regular course'?" said Shadow levelly.
"No more than an hour a day," replied Nicole brightly.
Sally winced at the strength of Shadow's reaction.
〜
"Check it out, sis," said Manic, "Apparently The Sonic Underground's in town."
Sonia leaned forward to peer out the driver's-side window. Amid the crowds thronging Echo Beach's promenade, she saw a vendor hawking T-shirts bearing hers and her brothers' faces above their old band's name.
"If there're folks willing to pay money to wear something with your face, I say take the compliment," she said.
Sitting in the row of seats behind the siblings, Amy giggled. Tangle stayed quiet. She wasn't about to laugh at a living legend's expense. Instead, she went back to looking out her own window at the hordes of concertgoers.
Cosplayers were out in force. Mobians of all species had expended great amounts of effort, dye, and hairspray to style their fur into something resembling quills. Most were blue, obviously, but there was a fair smattering of purple and green.
Meanwhile, the general attire of the less hardcore concertgoers had the lemur feeling more than a little self-conscious about her own outfit. Her cargo shorts were fine. Her plain white polo shirt however…
"I'm dressed like a total dork," she muttered.
"Huh?" uttered Amy, "No, you're not."
"Easy for you to say," said Tangle, "You look awesome."
Amy smiled shyly.
"Y'know where I got this, right?" said Tangle, pinching her polo.
Amy shook her head.
"That place Jet tried to send me…it's a fricking school shirt."
"So? It's not like it's obvious," countered Amy, "Not like poor Tails."
Tangle snickered. She had a point there. The fox's green plaid pants were almost as garish as her blush-pink pencil skirt.
"Say, where does he even go to—whoa!"
Just then, Tangle caught her first glimpse of the shell-shaped cliff-face through the windshield. She craned her neck for a better view over Sonia's shoulder.
"Has that always been like that?" she asked excitedly.
"That's certainly what the locals want you to think," chuckled Manic.
"Oh," muttered the lemur, sinking back into her seat, "See what I mean about embarrassing myself?"
"Now you're just being silly," whispered Amy, gently nudging the lemur.
Tangle forced a smile.
Maybe she was being silly. Maybe she wasn't. What she did know was how few (if any) people back home were going believe a word of this. No one in her grade at Spiral Hill Secondary, anyway. Not even Jewel.
With that in mind — and her cellphone back in Statin Square — maybe she should just focus on taking in as much as she could. She'd have plenty of time to process it in detention.
Before long, Manic turned the minivan off the beachfront road and into a forest of feather-flags. Dazzled by the dizzying array of sponsors' logos on the fluttering polyester banners, Tangle didn't realize they'd stopped until Manic heaved on the parking brake.
"Here, girls, put these on," said Sonia, turning round to toss two lanyards onto the backseat.
Tangle put Amy's on for her before seeing to her own. She took care to thread the lace cord under her polo's collar. If she was going to look like a dork, she could at least be a tidy one.
Climbing out of the minivan, she noticed the red convertible parked nearby. To her brief amazement — Amy was quick to remind her who'd flown the plane — Mighty had invited Tails to drive him and Espio to the concert site.
"Is that where Sonic is?" asked Tangle meekly, eyeing two shipping containers across the tiny parking lot. The gap between them was guarded by a badger in a black polo.
"I sure hope so," said Manic.
Watching the green hedgehog saunter off, the lemur gulped.
"This is actually happening, isn't it?" she murmured.
"C'mon," said Amy, "It's only Sonic."
Tangle held her breath, silently willing Amy to take her by the hand. When she didn't, the lemur sighed and shuffled along behind the twelve-year-old and Sonia.
As they neared the entrance to the VIP area, Tangle tensed up, convinced she could feel the full heat of the security guard's searching gaze. Still dying for a hand to hold, she pinched her lanyard's laminate like they were Solarian prayer beads.
"Welcome back," said the badger, exchanging nods with Sonia.
Then, the badger looked off to the right.
Tangle held onto her laminate anyway as she filed past the disinterested security guard, between the shipping containers, and into another world.
The inflatable hot tub caught her eye first, bubbling away beneath a gazebo. Under a second gazebo beside it, Mighty stood behind a portable bar, cocktail shaker in hand. Beneath a third gazebo, Espio was surveying a buffet big enough to cover three tables.
Dazed, the fifteen-year-old gravitated towards the nearest solid-looking surface: the lip of a chocolate fountain.
"You okay?" asked Amy, sidling up beside the lemur.
"I…think so," said the lemur, glancing around the enclosure.
For all their wealth, she'd never seen Jet and company indulge in this level of opulence. It was possible that she simply hadn't been invited to those parties, but even so…
"I, uh, didn't think these things actually existed," she said, nodding at the cascade of molten chocolate behind them.
"Tango!" Mighty called over.
Tangle groaned quietly.
"Why's he making that a thing?" she mumbled.
"He's just like that," said Amy, "He used to call me Rosy."
Tangle lifted her eyes. "That's actually kind of cute, though."
Amy smiled shyly.
Tangle jumped as an arm snaked its way across her shoulders.
"Come and meet the other hedgehog, Tang—ugh!"
"It's Tan-gle," snapped Amy, almost shoving Mighty into the chocolate fountain.
"Noted," said the blindsided armadillo.
Resisting the urge to give the hedgehog a thank-you kiss, Tangle helped Mighty regain his balance.
"So, uh, where to?" she asked.
"Just there."
Mighty pointed to a corner of the enclosure where two static trailers were parked side by side. The uniformed Tails was perched on a sun-lounger in front of one, tinkering with a guitar pedal in his lap. Standing behind the fox, gazing intently over his shoulder, was Sonic.
Tangle felt herself seize up. Mighty struggled to steer her towards the sun-lounger. Then, Amy clasped the lemur's left hand.
"You can do this," the pink hedgehog whispered as the trio finally started to move.
"Yo, bluey, drop the poker face, you've got visitors!"
Sonic and Tails looked up at once. Best as Tangle could tell, they looked genuinely surprised.
"Amy?" said Sonic.
"Hey," said Amy quietly.
"Here's that kid I was telling you about," said Mighty, patting Tangle's shoulder.
The lemur felt vaguely queasy as hers and Sonic's eyes met. Weirdly, he looked like he was trying to remember something, almost as if he recognized her.
"Tan…" — Tangle's heart skipped a beat — "…gle?"
Tangle meeped. Her free hand promptly pinched the top button of her polo to keep from clapping.
"Sonic?" called a voice from across the enclosure, "The camera crew's ready for us."
"Be right there, Ash!" Sonic called back, raising his hand in a thumbs-up, "Sorry, gotta dash."
The beaming Tangle nodded vigorously. Sonic smiled back.
"C'mon, pixel brain," he said, clapping his hands on Tails' shoulders.
The fox looked up from the guitar pedal. "Okay, chili breath."
The duo exchanged wry grins.
"Say, why don't the rest of you, uh—"
Sonic trailed off as he looked up to see Amy kissing Tangle on the cheek. The lemur looked as stunned as he was. Her expression didn't change as the pink hedgehog pulled away, turned to Sonic, and smiled.
"Sonic, seriously!" barked Ash.
The blue hedgehog took Tails by the hand zipped off across the enclosure. Mighty went after them.
"Why did you just do that?" asked Tangle in a choked whisper.
Amy looked up at the fifteen-year-old, whose eyes were still fixed on the vacant sun-lounger.
"I just…"
Trailing off, she tried to keep ahold of Tangle's hand. The lemur's tail pushed her away.
"You just what?" asked Tangle, "And what was that smile about?"
Amy nibbled her lower lip, emitting a flurry of noises that might've formed a coherent answer with enough rearranging.
"Couldn't you just tell your friends you like girls?"
"Huh? Th-that's not why—"
"Why did you, then?" hissed Tangle.
Amy reared up, stumbling backwards onto the sun-lounger. She hid her eyes behind her bangs.
"I j-just…wanted Sonic to see I was, like…over him."
"Over him?" echoed Tangle.
She rubbed her kissed cheek like it'd been punched.
"Great," she muttered, "Now I feel used."
Amy's head snapped up as the lemur turned heel and ran. Before she could get to her feet, Tangle had already disappeared between the shipping containers. She gave chase anyway.
"That's far enough, kiddo," said Espio, appearing in front of the gap between the containers, too late for the pink hedgehog to slow down.
"I didn't m-mean…" Amy gibbered as the chameleon caught her in his arms, "I really didn't—"
Espio shushed the twelve-year-old as he hugged her. She didn't try to wriggle free.
〜
Shopping had ceased at the King Maximilian Acorn Free Hospital. So had conversation.
Shadow sat with a lollypop in his mouth, watching the news channel build up to its big interview with Mina and Sonic. Beside him, Sally was at something of a loss.
She hadn't much experience handling silent, stoical types like this. The communal vibe of Knothole Village meant it had tended not to attract wannabe Freedom Fighters of that ilk.
"Shadow, would you like me to step out?"
She jolted at the speed his head snapped towards her.
"Please don't," he said softly, a glint of panic in his red eyes.
Noticing his fingers begin to fidget, Sally reached out and held his restless right hand in both of hers.
"Then talk to me," said Sally warmly, "Please."
"About?"
"Whatever's on your mind."
Shadow glanced back up at the television. The interviewer, a bubbly flamingo named Ula, was introducing Sonic and Mina. He muted it with his free hand.
"I don't understand," he said.
Sally eyed him quizzically. "About…?"
"About this!" snapped Shadow.
He jerked his left arm up, tubes and all.
"Where did it all go? I had a bullet in my leg, not a…how does something like that happen?!"
"Intentionally so," a husky voice interjected.
Shadow and Sally's eyes converged on an unfamiliar Mobian who'd poked their head round the door.
"How long were you standing behind that?" demanded Sally.
"Not long," replied Whisper.
〜
"Where're you even going, you dork?" Tangle mumbled to herself.
Her attempt at a head-clearing walk had dissolved into an aimless shuffle around this maze of shipping containers and feather-flags. Despite her access-all-areas lanyard, she was too nervous to venture outside the backstage, lest she be denied reentry on account of being a complete nobody.
A dumb kid from Spiral Hill had no business hanging out with those heroes anyhow. Even if some of them knew her name.
"I can't believe he got it right," she whispered smilingly.
It was just a shame a certain hormonal seventh-grader had to go and make a spectacle of her. Then again, maybe that incident would make Sonic remember her.
"Pfft, sure it will, you dork."
Just then, Tangle heard a nearby chuckled she recognized as Manic's. He'd sure laughed enough in the minivan. Fearing a search party, she darted in the opposite direction. Keeping one eye over her shoulder at all times, she ran past a rumbling generator and behind a shipping container…straight into someone's back.
"S-sorry," she said, backing away from whoever she'd collided with.
"Whatever," grunted the imposing brown bear, peering over his shoulder. He was wearing a security guard's black polo, "Get lost, kid."
Entirely forgetting her lanyard, Tangle nodded slowly as she reversed. A few paces back, she suddenly saw what it was the bear seemed to be guarding: Sonic and co.'s tour bus.
It sure looked the part, being roughly the height of a small two-storey building, with blacked-out windows end to end, and impossibly shiny wheel rims.
"Get lost, kid."
Feeling a pang of indignation, Tangle stayed put. She leaned sideways, straining to see around the barrel-chested bear. She squinted at a narrow gap between the twin rear wheels.
Were those someone's legs she could see?
"Hey, what's that guy doing?" she wondered aloud.
"None of your business, kid," said the bear as he turned around, "Get. Lost."
The bear took a step forward, spreading his folded arms.
Tangle stood her ground. Infinite's bodyguarding lessons had come flooding back. If the Mobian under the bus was a mechanic, she would expect to see at least a few tools scattered around, if not a toolbox. As it was, she saw nothing of the kind.
Moreover, why would they need a mechanic with Tails around?
Tangle glanced up at the bear. He glared back. She backed up a little further, then lunged forward, diving between his legs. Pulling her tail clear before it got stamped on, she ran headlong towards the bus. She kicked the owner of the legs square in the groin.
A momentary roar resonated from beneath the bus, followed by a loud metallic ding.
Heart in mouth, Tangle stepped backwards, watching the furry black legs for any sign of movement. She was thrown against the bus as the bear charged her from behind. Barely keeping her feet, she managed to stagger round to face him.
A left hook to the jaw knocked her off-balance again. An uppercut knocked her on her back.
"Feist?" said the bear gruffly, placing a heavy foot on Tangle's chest.
The furry black legs didn't move, nor did their owner reply.
"You should've gotten lost, kid," the bear muttered.
Tangle gagged as the weight on her torso increased tenfold. She tried to take the deepest breath possible as her lungs were compressed. She also tried to push back against the foot, to no effect.
Light-headedness set in as panic took hold. Convinced she was moments from suffocating, she tried to fight her rising anxiety, concentrating on taking shallow breaths. Involuntarily grasping her throat, Tangle closed her eyes, praying she would at least pass out before her ribs caved in.
"Get. Off. Her!"
Someone grabbed the bear from behind and threw him clean off his feet.
Tangle stared at the sky as she took great grasping breaths and hugged her excruciating ribs. Gradually, hyperventilation gave way to something resembling regular respiration. Only then did she turn her head.
There, straddling the supine bear's barrel chest, gripping a handful of black polo with one fist while she pounded his face with the other, was Mina.