27 - A Fatal Rescue - 27

July 28th - Unknown location in the skies

The Egg-Jackal Armada

DAY 18: Monday

After Dark, 3:30 AM

Seven days.

He's been here for seven days.

Sometimes, he both loved and hated his own ego. He hated it because as of right now, he was starving to death. Out of spite, he refused to cook for himself or eat anything Infinite would give him. He needed chaos energy to live, but if he had nearly none of it, he needed to eat to replenish his life force—That is, if he didn't have another source to get more chaos energy from. Because of this he didn't feel hungry per se, but he did feel lethally empty, for lack of a better word. He also loved his ego, because doing this out of spite was really getting under the jackal's skin, and Shadow loved it. He'd get so frustrated with him, yelling and demanding why he won't eat. He knew that if Shadow died, not only would he not have his hostage, but Team Sonic or GUN would more than likely torch this entire fleet to the ground with the Jackal Squad's ashes in it. Of course, that wasn't the main reason, he mostly just didn't want Infinite to have his way. If Shadow died, he wouldn't have his toy to torture anymore. Additionally, neither of them could ignore the protentional consequences of the canine-villain's actions. Despite his new found power, it was obvious that Infinite was still scared of the hero, and he should be. The blue hedgehog was a beautiful creature when he showed his bountiful kindness, but he hit like a God damn sawed off shotgun when he was pissed. And judging from that incident with Eggman three years ago, his anger became quite literally demonic when pushed too far. Infinite knew this, and that was a sleeping bear he was reluctantly being cautious of.

Infinite temporarily took his limiter ring and removed the smart device in it that allowed Shadow to call and communicate with other GUN agents, and he also destroyed his phone. He couldn't take the limiter rings off to release any power, because that required chaos energy to use power. Since Shadow was dry as a bone, there was barely anything to limit, and he had already used them for their stored power during his capture. He had nothing left to keep him alive. Shadow did nothing but sit and meditate on the bed, staying in the exact same position for several hours before taking some breaks to nap or sleep. He was spiritually closed off from the world, and Infinite couldn't bother him like this. No matter how many times he called his name, yelled at him, hit him...Yes, he was hitting him. As of now, the GUN agent's body was a little battered. Infinite's temper had a short fuse to that of astrolite, and he definitely liked to make Shadow pay for ignoring him. Since he was constantly in a state of meditation, his illusions never worked on him, so the jackal would resort to tantrum-driven violence. He would punch him, kick him off the bed, slam him against the floor or wall, choke him, claw at him, scratch him...He did a lot to Shadow. Since he was void of chaos energy, he couldn't automatically regenerate to slowly heal himself either. He was injured, and he had some dormant level of very sore pain all throughout his body. But it wasn't anything he wasn't used to. He's been tortured before, prodded and poked at. He's had his innards opened up and examined while he was still awake. He knew Gerald didn't intend to hurt or scar him most of the time, but it didn't change what he remembered about being a living experiment. Plus, Black Doom wasn't too gentle when he got his hands on him either.

See, this wasn't the way to break Shadow the Hedgehog.

The biohog knew physical, mental and emotional pain better than anyone, so this was nothing to him. Even if he was tortured for every day of every hour of his life, it would mean nothing. He's felt agony of so many varieties at this point, that physical suffering of any degree was minute. So when Infinite walked in his room this afternoon with a plate of food levitating next to him, Shadow already knew how this could go. He'd offer food, Shadow would refuse, he'd get mad and then hit him for an unknown length of time. Nothing to worry about. The jackal walked over to the bed, the plate of food levitating to the sheets in front of him. "I...Don't know what you like to eat, you won't tell me. I got you a steak," The GUN agent was sure plenty of canine Mobians such as jackals loved that particular kind of meal. "The proteins should help you gain more nutrients in your body. I know that if you eat, you'll gain more chaos energy but I'm not concerned about you using your abilities as of right now. You're allowed to eat if you want Shadow, and I just want you to live."

"..."

Nope, sorry.

No answer here.

A scowl. "Still ignoring me? This is childish, especially for you."

"..."

"Shadow."

"..."

"You can't ignore me forever."

"..."

"Shadow!"

"..."

The biohog was punched straight in the jaw, knocking him off the bed and onto the floor. The plate of food toppled over onto his figure, and he was still completely silent. He struggled to sit up, but he was too weak in his arms or legs to do so. It felt like all of the joints in his body were locking up and causing him to become stiffer. Infinite marched his way over to his body and yanked him by the back of his quills onto his feet. Shadow was so silent that he wasn't even making sounds of pain, which legitimately concerned the jackal for a moment. "You're not dead, are you?" He asked callously. He placed his clawed hand underneath his chin and force his head upwards. "Look at me, damn you." He spat. The biohog's eyes were a dead wine red, he was barely conscious or focused, but he was still alive and awake. His fur wasn't a rich back, it was almost a dark gray. It was ungroomed despite the many times Infinite tried to force him to bathe, the stripes in his fur became a brown red and his muzzle was losing color. He was dying for sure, but he stuck around just to piss him off as much as he could without doing a thing. "Tch." He threw him back down on the floor. "You sure know how to piss me off, don't you?" He asked rhetorically. Surprisingly to this, Shadow made a tiny smirk and weakly chuckled. "...!" Several veins appeared on Infinite's forehead. "You think that's funny!?" He swung his foot into his face, blood splattering on the floor. "I give you a home, food and a toilet to piss in and this is how you repay me? I'm trying to keep you alive! I don't want to hurt you, but you're making me do this!"

Spitting blood from his mouth, Shadow continued to say nothing. That in itself was an action, and he didn't regret it for a second. "..."

"Damn it!" Infinite yelled as he bent down and seized Shadow by his chest hair, yanking him forward to face him directly. "Why aren't you taking care of yourself? Do you want to die!?"

"..."

"You won't accept anything I give you! Not food, not hospitality...And you won't accept me!"

"..." Shadow blinked once. "...I did accept you, before."

"...?"

With barely any strength in his muscles, Shadow turned his head away as he spoke, his voice hoarse and damaged. "Infinite..." He almost whispered. "You're just a child throwing a tantrum...I've no interest in that."

Growling angrily, Infinite pulled the striped hedgehog close and forcefully pressed his lips to his mouth. This was also a common occurrence: Forced kissing or groping. Shadow had to suffer through this as well. Of course, Shadow couldn't be bothered to reciprocate. For one, he was already taken and for two, he wasn't interested. And he'd never be interested, not even at the cost of his life. It was like kissing a cold, brittle wall, because not only were Shadow's lips dry and cracked, but he refused to kiss back. This was useless, he'd never accept his feelings. Then, out of pure disgust, Shadow suddenly turned green and forced his head away. He hacked up spit from his mouth, violently coughing his lungs out. It would have been straight up puke if he had eaten something, meaning that Infinite repulsed him so much that even a failed kiss caused him to throw up. "Fucking...!" Rage filled the jackal's eyes. He fiercely shook Shadow's body back and forth, screaming directly in his face. "Why won't you just give me a chance!?"

Still coughing, Shadow would have rolled if eyes if he had the energy. "...For one, this is forced...You're literally assaulting me. Consent is actually...a lot more attractive than you think. And besides that," Anger suddenly appeared in his tone, radiating his voice loudly. "Because I just don't!" Shadow yelled back at him before hacking a bit from how much he strained his voice, but he continued. "I'm not one to throw stones from a glass house...but you're far worse than me in terms of crimes. You're a liar, a mercenary, a thief, a terrorist, an attempted murderer...and you kidnapped me. You took me away from the person...I actually have feelings for, and you tried to kill him. So I'm sorry if I'm having trouble...finding you even the slightest bit likable at the moment." He turned away from him with a hiss, as he didn't even want to look at him. "When I made my own mistakes, I at least...realized how wrong I was and made the effort to repent. You're just a delusional creep...who thrives on violence and bloodshed. You said it yourself the moment I arrived here, that you had no plans...on cooperating with me and turning yourself in. You want to continue hurting people for your own gain...and you don't plan on stopping. Now that you've got the ruby, you're worse than before. It was never just about Sonic...or his alleged tyrannical ancestry, you just want to dominate the world just like Eggman...with Sonic out of the way." He shamefully closed his eyes. "I should have never shown you kindness. I tried to be like him for once, and it bit me in the ass..."

Infinite honestly didn't expect that answer, but he still couldn't accept it. He couldn't. "Why...Why can't you see that I'm better than him? I'm smarter, and now I'm stronger! I can bend the fabric of reality, do things you can't even fathom! And you can say what you want about me, but I'll never be as bad as that fake hero! Just because I wish for domination, doesn't mean I want everyone else in the world to die for it. He does!"

"I told you...that remains to be seen." Shadow easily countered with a raspy voice. "Besides, Sonic at least doesn't force himself onto me. He's patient with me...and even stops me if I try to go too far for his sake. He cares about me, how I feel and what I'm comfortable with. He wants us both to...enjoy being together, he doesn't want the relationship one sided, as it shouldn't be. You meanwhile," His tone became more repulsed with vitriol with every word he continued to say. "Want nothing more...than to sexually take advantage of me and work me like a puppet for your own desires. Why you haven't tried to straight up force yourself on me at this point...is beyond me. Maybe you're hoping I eventually cave in...and let you do what you want with consent, but that'll never happen and you know it. You're fucking disgusting, end of story. Compared to you...Sonic is an angel. The only monstrosity I should be concerned about is my own captor, you."

The jackal shook his head desperately. "But I'm telling the truth! You know Eggman and I weren't lying!"

"I don't fucking give a damn if you're telling the truth!" The biohog shouted abruptly. "At this point, I'd rather Sonic kill me himself than to sit any second longer in here, around you! Unlike you, he was always strong enough to kill me on his own, and at least he deserves to have my blood on his hands...He's earned my attention. I wouldn't even spit in your direction, you fucking garbage dump of a Mobian!"

With disbelief clouding his heterochromic eyes, the jackal frowned heavily. "You...really care about him that much? How? Why?"

Shadow scoffed with a small pitiful laugh. "I've never wanted something...so much in my life, and he's it. He gives me everything I need, something you couldn't possibly do in this lifetime or the next."

"But you've only dated him for two fucking weeks!"

The biohog continued to chuckle harder, even though he was causing himself pain by doing so. "I guess that means the bastard stole my heart faster than you ever could. You don't understand our history...what we've done together, what he's done for me long before I was even considered his friend. Sonic is the most selfless person you will ever meet...someone willing to die just to see someone else smile. And yet you want to take that beauty away from the world...and destroy it. If you still can't get it through your head, let me put this in a way a sex-crazed troglodyte like you can understand," Shadow smirked darkly and glanced at Infinite with a cruel expression. "I'd let him bend me over and fuck me right in front of you, if that answers your question."

With a frustrated scream, the jackal shoved his fist into his stomach. When Shadow fell down to the floor, he continued to punch and beat him over and over. "Why!? Why won't you trust me!? Why can't you see things my way!? Why do you keep falling for that son of a bitch!? He's going to kill us all! Trust in me...!" He held up both fists in the air, balled up. "Trust in me instead!" He pummeled them back down onto Shadow's head. There was blood on the jackal's gloves, and he panted out of anger.

Now completely dizzy and losing consciousness, Shadow was still smirking and chuckling at him. Half awake, he croaked the last thing he had to say to Infinite for today. "...I already...fucking told you why, you idiot." He gasped as he spit up a glob of dark blood. He was out of breath, he could barely breathe anymore. "...Unless those big ass ears of yours...work as well as your brain does. You're...nothing to me. You want to know the real...truth?" He weakly reached up to grab at Infinite's arm, gripping as hard as he could with the limited amount of time he had left to stay conscious. "Quite frankly, you disgust me. You're a pathetic loser...who gets his kicks off of hurting others the moment he gets a leg up...then runs away like a skulker the moment things don't go your way. I hate you...You are a coward...in every sense of the word. You're someone I hate more than any other...A skittish dastard void of any honor!" He then snarled. "You're ugly, you're repulsive, but most of all, you're weak!"

Infinite's eyes widened. "..."

"Don't you dare ever show your face to me again! You weakling!" Shadow's voice held the emotions of someone who had enough. But not enough of the pain, not enough of the torture or the assault. None of that mattered to him. He had enough of Infinite. Not just of his face, not just of his voice but his very existence. His expression was contorted into so much outrage, so much loathing and so much genuine nausea by the jackal, that it almost frightened Infinite and put him in a thousand yard stare. With a loud, hefty voice, Shadow said one last thing before his last ounce of strength left his body: "You're NOTHING!"

...

...Shadow passed out.

"..."

And now it was Infinite who had nothing to say.

August 4th

DAY 25: Monday

Morning, 11:00 AM

Two weeks.

It's been...two weeks...

Shadow was tired.

Shadow was very tired.

He didn't have much left in him.

One more day of this, and he was sure he would die. He could barely breathe, even taking oxygen into his lungs was an ordeal that took several minutes to complete. He could never keep his eyes open for long, and the cells in his body were growing stagnant. The tiny bit of chaos energy he had left wasn't doing much to keep his organs operating, it's been too long without a healthy amount in his body. Usually it came back on its own, but Infinite injured him so badly that he screwed even that up. He kept refusing to eat, as he didn't want to owe the jackal a damn thing nor give him the satisfaction of accepting anything from him. Again, he starved himself out of spite. Normal Mobians or Overlanders would have died within only a few days, but him...He was lucky he was lasting this long. Well, maybe that was the blessing or curse of being the Ultimate Life Form. He couldn't even meditate anymore, it was like beating a dead horse. Why meditate? What good would that do? Infinite didn't even care to try and trick him with illusions anymore. All Shadow did was lay against this bed, staring at nothing. Sometimes he would crack a ghost of a smile, because he'd think of the one thing that would make him happy. He was out there...Somewhere. Looking for him, checking every single satellite in space for him. He'd come, eventually. He didn't want to die before he arrived, because he didn't want to break his heart. If he died, he knew that would destroy him. If only he could tell him his location.

The biohog realized: He loved Sonic.

He loved him.

He was in love with him.

He wasn't unsure about this anymore, and he's had nothing but time to think for the last fourteen days. Every time he's around him, he feels happy and at peace. Every time he smiled at him, his chest was inflamed. Every time he flirted with him, he immediately panicked and felt butterflies zip in his tummy. His voice was so sweet, he had the cutest face when he slept and snored. He was so warm to touch and hold, and he was so soft to lay against at night. His green eyes mesmerized him, and when they turned neon, an animalistic hunger breached from within. He felt so lonely whenever he wasn't around, and he was so bored and unhappy whenever he couldn't see him or hear his voice. Honestly, not being with him for this long put him in a small state of depression. He...He was sad. He wanted to see him, he wanted to know if he was okay. He wanted to see him at least one last time before he went. He knew the hero would have survived being dumped into the ocean, he knew he'd fight tooth and nail to get back to him. He knew he wanted him back. He knew he...needed him. He's the only person in this world who could truly understand him, who could truly comprehend him on a level no one else could. The way he made him feel, it at first reminded him of Maria.

That blue color palette of his figure, reminded him of her dress. His gentle words and kindness reminded him of her forgiving, almost nurturing nature. But those two were not the same. The blue blur was cocky, rambunctious and unbelievably rude, but that only added to how much he adored him. He wasn't just a sweetheart without flaws, he was a stubborn and annoying challenge. A challenge that welcomed anyone to try, including him. He took on this challenge, and he was still currently undergoing it. He didn't want to lose here, as there was so much he wanted to do with him. He wanted to go on more beach picnic dates, lay on the sand and kiss sweet nothings for hours. He wanted to spend more nights in bed with him, sleeping in late and cuddling against him without a single responsibility. He wanted to keep teaching him about chaos energy, showing him the way of an ancient untapped art that had great potential within him. He wanted to feel his body against his, feel his lips and his long eyelashes brush against his face when they woke up in the morning. It was true that he was willing to die for him before when it came to fighting big bads, simply because the world needed its hero before it ever needed him. But now...He was willing to die for him...Just because. He didn't know why he was falling so hard for him. Perhaps it was the long lengths of silence in this room. Maybe he was going crazy, or maybe he felt this way because Sonic was the only reason why he was still forcing himself to stay alive.

Sonic would want him to keep fighting, he wouldn't want him to let Infinite win. He'd want him to see Rouge again, to see Omega, who was currently stationed elsewhere in the world right now. He wondered if he ever finished his mission in Shamar, he'd love to speak with him again. He wouldn't have even minded to see Abraham, or any of Sonic's friends. But what he would give to see him...The things he'd be willing to do to get one glimpse of him again before he passed on...

"Shadow?"

No...

Could it be?

Very slowly, and tiresomely, Shadow's eyes forced themselves to open. His dead wine colored irises attempted to readjust his failing vision. He saw blue, and he saw peach. He started to smile. "...S..." He couldn't even move his lips to talk, his voice was dying out. "...So...nic...?"

"Hey," A blue hedgehog crouched down to place a white glove on the striped hedgehog's head, petting it softly. It was like there was an angelic aura around him. His angel coming to save him. Was he dead? Was this the light? "You're starving yourself, babe."

"..." Shadow couldn't respond.

"I need you to eat for me, okay? I got some food, right here."

"..."

He got him...

...food?

Something wasn't right.

Why would that be the first thing Sonic offered? Yes he was starving, but he didn't need food, not from him. If this was a rescue mission, Sonic would just give him chaos energy to revive him and he just recently taught him how to do so. Sonic even performed this feat right before they were separated, so he knew how to help Shadow properly. They didn't have time to eat if they were going to escape this place, and spreading chaos energy to another person was almost instant. Much quicker than having to consume and digest food. Shadow frowned as he stared at the hedgehog's eyes, which looked green at first, until they shifted from lime...

...To magenta.

Bastard.

He should have known.

The biohog moved his lips to spit directly at the imposter. Granted, he barely had any saliva at this point, but it did the job. The blue hedgehog flinched at this, before sighing with exasperation. He stood up from the bed and clenched his fists. "I tried to make this easier for you," He suddenly growled, black and white fur suddenly faded onto his body. His voice went from tender and comforting, to familiarly irritating and gross. The illusion was shattered instantly, and Infinite was revealed. His face was obscured by a mask, a real complicated looking one too. It was a silver-colored metal mask with white and black circular patterns on the inside of the ears, with the right ear being black with white circular patterns, and the left being white with black circular patterns. While his left eye was visible through a red visor, his right eye was covered by a black lightning bolt-shaped piece, similar to an eye patch, that was connected to his mask's right ear, which glowed reddish-purple every time he used that damned ruby. He supposed he really liked the asymmetrical schtick. Shadow's spit had stained the right eye, and it slowly slid down the surface. "I tried to give you the one thing you want, and you still won't take it!"

Shadow just stared with apathy. Even if he killed him right now, he didn't give a damn. There's nothing he could do to break him, and that bothered him. If Shadow had the energy, he'd laugh right in his face. "..." Infinite used his power to levitate the hedgehog in the air. With his hand, he made a crushing motion, which began to choke the GUN agent. He couldn't even cough, he just stared down at the jackal with that same disgust as he did before.

"If you wanna die so badly then...!" The jackal made his hand into a fist. "To hell with you! Suffer and burn in hell!"

His heart was stopping as magenta filled his vision, he could feel the blood in his body begin to stop moving. He was blacking out, he was going to die.

I'm sorry, everyone.

I'm sorry, Rouge, Omega.

I'm sorry, Sonic.

...I'll see you soon, Maria.

He accepted his fate.

"...!?"

A loud bang.

Several loud bangs.

And a final loud bang that caused an entire portion of the ceiling to be stretched down into the room, until it was completely torn through from the sheer weight of several unconscious bodies being dropped onto the carpet floor in front of the two males. With dust and pieces of chrome metal falling on the floor, creaking and moaning with the physical stress of having its material torn and bent, several jackals were now suddenly plopped in front of them. Looking up, there was large hole in the ceiling, where more bodies of jackals were laid out. Shadow could feel Infinite's power over his body abruptly cut off, and he fell to the floor. He landed on the back of his head harshly. That blow was enough to start shutting his body down. He had minutes to stay awake, his vision was incredibly blurry and he could barely see a thing. He could only tell that the ceiling was ruined, and bodies were falling out. Infinite was frozen with shock, and he rushed to the pile of his Jackal Squad with great concern. He easily could have used his ruby to heal them of whatever wounds they currently had, but he was too caught up in seeing them injured to do so. Shadow couldn't tell how severely hurt they were, but they were definitely attacked by something powerful.

Something like...

A red, white strap buckled sneaker stomped it's way down onto Infinite's head, who too landed in the pile of other jackals. Shadow's hearing was gone, his vision was going black. A loud siren began to ring throughout the entire base, the room was flashing red. A pair of blue legs rushed in his direction, and they bent down to the weakened biohog's level. Peach colored arms reached out to caress his face and adjust the position of his head, changing the perspective of his current dying vision. The most beautiful face he had ever seen greeted him, and this time, his eyes were genuinely lime green. He knew who this was for sure, he knew this wasn't an illusion. That flawless figure, that gorgeous pair of irises, even his wild flower scent, it was all there. He knew this person wouldn't hurt him, he knew this person would give their very soul to protect him. He knew this was the person he fell in love with, and he knew they would stop Infinite no matter what.

With a dying smile, Shadow's eyes involuntarily closed. "...S...on..."

...

...

...

...He wasn't moving.

He was gone.

Shadow was dead.

"No no no no no..." The blue hedgehog mumbled in a hushed frantic whisper as he lifted the striped hedgehog into his hold, letting his body lean against him. "C'mon babe, c'mon...wake up for me," He lightly shook him. "Shadow, don't do this to me...I need you babe, wake up for me. Wake up! Please! Shit..." He stood up with his body cradled in his arms and sprinted out of the room in a blue streak. He zoomed down the hall until he found a room that seemed far enough and safe enough to stay in for now. When he got inside, he instantly turned around and saw a button on the wall beside the entrance. He pressed it, and the doors shut and locked tightly. Without slowing down, the blue hedgehog looked around the area and saw that he was in some messy storage room that had a bunch of random pieces of furniture in it. He saw a metal bench and carried the unconscious GUN agent to it, placing his body down softly. He then bent down over him and placed his lips onto his cold tan ones. He closed his eyes with hope and puffed air into his lungs. He then pressed his palms onto his dark gray furred chest over and over to attempt to perform CPR, but nothing was working. "Shit, shit, shit...!" Panicking, he reached his hands up to his face, before realizing that the answer was indeed literally right in his face. "...!" Chaos energy transference...That was it. He could do it normally, but it wouldn't reach Shadow's vitals in time. It was an ability that was only almost instant. He needed a more intimate and instantaneous way of doing it to revive him faster than that, and he knew just how to do it. He leaned back over his limp body and pressed a kiss against his mouth once more, breathing a breath of blue chaos energy into his lungs. As he did so, he gently caressed his face, while his other hand desperately clutched his colder one.

Please...save him...

I beg of you...

"...?"

The hell was that...?

Was that someone's voice?

Whatever, not important right now. He had to focus, he had to get Shadow back.

That's when he felt a tiny, weak squeeze against his glove.

"...!"

It was working, but he couldn't stop now until he heard a steady heartbeat. He kissed him as if he had never kissed him before, pushing as much of his power as he could within him. He couldn't lose him like this, he refused to. He wouldn't! He was even losing his own oxygen from pushing so much of his air into someone else like this, but he didn't care if he suffocated. He'd do this until he saw him stand up and walk all on his own, and he didn't mind acting as a living defibrillator if it meant getting Shadow back. His blue ear perked up, he heard a heartbeat and he could feel it thump against his arm. It was so faint, but it was there. He just had to keep going, keep going...

He was almost there, he almost got him back.

Come on, come on...

...

...

...

...Coughing.

He got it!

The blue blur lifted his head and opened his eyes with relief, but then he felt a hand push his face back against the stripe hedgehog's. Blushing, the hero closed his eyes back to continue the life saving kiss. Slowly, the kiss was broken and it left the blue hedgehog panting heavily with a reddened face. The striped hedgehog below him was conscious again, struggling to move his limbs. Chaos energy drifted to internal organs, resuscitating the entire organ system of his body. Blood vessels picked up within the veins and began flowing once more, and electrical sparks began to fire off in the brain to create bodily functions. Cuts, gashes, bruises and other wounds closed up and healed before fading away and returning the skin and fur to it's proper color. His fur became jet black, his stripes were a bright amber red along with his irises, his muzzle was a strong tan and the smile he had before dying only brightened when they gazed into his green orbs. Their lips were a little red from such a lengthy kiss that wasn't even meant for pleasure, but it was more than worth it. Sonic carefully got behind the black and red striped hedgehog to help him sit up. He offered his hand to allow him to lean against him, and the biohog gratefully took it. He continued to look lovingly in the hero's eyes, his gaze never leaving his.

"...Sonic."

The Ultimate Life Form was alive again.

Unconditionally relieved, Sonic released a large sigh of happiness. "Thank Chaos." He hugged Shadow closely, clutching him to his body as if he would be taken away from him again. Then, he felt kisses being planted against the side of his neck and his shoulder. "S-Stop..." Sonic giggled a little at the familiar ticklish feeling. "Not now, heheh...stop..." He felt Shadow break the embrace and hold his face in his hands, as if he was an invaluable treasure he was terrified of losing. Shadow stared at him so intensely that Sonic was almost too intimidated to keep looking back. "S-Shadow-" A chaste kiss was pressed on his peach lips. "Mmn..." The hero was utterly flustered at this point. "Y-You can't do something like that right now...I...This is serious."

"I'm sorry. I...I was worried."

"Worried about me?" Sonic repeated with furrowed brows. "Shadow, you were dead for at least five minutes, you looked awful. You were bloody, your fur was matted and dirty and discolored..."

Shadow shook his head. "But I'm fine-"

"You died, Shadow!" The hero said with a louder voice, one that sounded almost broken. "If I didn't figure out you needed chaos energy, I..." His irises became glossy quickly, and he made a shameful expression as he looked away. "..." His ears flattened and tears appeared in the corners of his eyes. He truly didn't want to see him like this, and Shadow was shocked that he was seeing the hero break down at all. "I'm so sorry..." Sonic's voice was quiet, shaky and cracking with small sobs. "I'm so sorry I didn't find you sooner...I could have lost you...You were probably in so much pain...I let you die...I failed you, I'm so sorry..." His shoulders shook as he closed his tear filled eyes.

So this was what it was like to see Sonic the Hedgehog cry.

How...Did he still look so beautiful even now? As sparkling tears rolled down his cheeks, he kept his whimpers nearly silent, as he was rueful of showing this side to himself. Shadow was sure none of his friends ever saw him like this, and probably never saw him cry or ever get this upset. Shadow caused this, he caused him so much distress. He had to fix this and fast, he couldn't bear to see him so unhappy. He hugged Sonic closely, feeling so joyful that he had him near him again. "But like always," The elder hedgehog reminded him of how good he was at his job. "You came in the nick of time, you still saved me. Thank you, Sonic."

Sniffing and blushing as Shadow wiped away his tears with his thumbs, Sonic tried to make himself stop releasing them. However, he never cried, so he supposed a lot was building up over the years. "I...I'd do anything for you." He whispered.

The biohog smiled at him warmly. "I know."

Those wonderful green eyes suddenly flared with a flame of unyielding rage. "That motherfucker basically killed you..." He hissed, his tears almost completely drying up the moment he brought up the elephant—or jackal—in the room. "I'm gonna make him pay."

Okay, that's where he needed to stop his overzealous lover. "Sonic, you don't understand." Shadow warned. "Infinite is stronger than before, much stronger. Even if we fight him together, we're no match for him with that ruby."

The hero gave Shadow a look. "I know that. That's why I've got all the emeralds with me, but that's not all—I have a plan. That ruby's strong, and if it's able to cancel out chaos abilities completely, it might be able to cancel out the emeralds, too. So," He broke their embrace and helped Shadow to stand. "I'm gonna go toe to toe with him myself to feel him out. I'm gonna leave the emeralds with you." A flash of several colors illuminated Shadow's eyes, and the seven emeralds appeared before him, circling around the blue hedgehog in the air. With another flash of rainbow lights, they disappeared. Shadow could feel the powers of the other emeralds around him, hidden within Chaos Control. Suddenly, Sonic made a tight scowl. "You don't get it Shadow...you have no idea how pissed off I am right now. I," He clenched his teeth angrily. "I wanna kill him. I wanna hurt him in the worst way possible. The way I felt when I almost killed Eggman...that's how I feel now. I've got enough chaos energy inside me to last for a few rounds. The emeralds are a last resort, but we can't use 'em if he finds some bullshit way to turn off their power, or something worse. That's why I gotta fight him to know for sure what he's capable of. I may not be as smart as Tails, but I'm damn observant. While I keep him busy, you get to the airship's control room and get in contact with GUN. They're looking for you. All you gotta do is tell them where we are and they'll come runnin'. I'm sure there's a map in there somewhere that'll help you out. Then, you gotta take this whole thing down. We'll find each other and Chaos Control out, then we'll transform together and waste this shithead once and for all."

The biohog frowned at this, he was reluctant. He had a God awful feeling about this plan for some reason. "Sonic...I don't want you to get hurt-I can't see you get hurt. He wants to kill you, too. You've seen what he's done to me. If he does to you what he did to me, I might lose it."

"He won't kill me," Sonic's eyes became neon green. "That's a fact. 'Sides, I can't let him hurt you again. You need to stay away from him. We just gotta play it safe, bait his ass and blast him off the planet." Those eyes instilled a level of determination and intimidation Shadow could feel from their gaze alone. "Trust me, I think we can do this."

Shadow was very hesitant but...

...He ended up nodding anyway.

What other choices did they have? Sonic was a reckless imbecile sometimes, but he was no dunce. When he was serious, when he locked in on something, that's when it was time to bend your ear and listen. He was right—Infinite got stronger, and neither of them knew the depths of his power or what he could do. They couldn't just turn super together without knowing if he could disable their only trump card. If they were going to do this, they had to analyze him before doing anything drastic. Meanwhile, they could set up their situation to act more in their favor. By the time Sonic went a few rounds with the jackal, Shadow would have GUN and Team Sonic invading the armada and give them some much needed backup. It wasn't a bad plan at all, it was just incredibly risky. Sonic acting as bait made Shadow feel sick, but Shadow couldn't do it—He was literally just Infinite's prisoner, died, and his body was still a little shaken up. Meanwhile, Sonic was more than willing to not only beat the hell out of several dozen jackals, but throw hands with the strongest villain they've ever faced yet in base form. Sonic was ready, and not only that, there was no way in hell Shadow could change his mind simply because he was too damn angry.

He couldn't deny him.

"...Okay." He finally said. "However," Shadow reached behind the hero's head to pull out one of Sonic's quills. He then stuck it within himself, specifically on his left shoulder. "That way, we'll feel if the other is in danger, okay?"

Sonic nodded confidently. "Gotcha."

Suddenly, the doors to the room became engulfed in magenta, and they were flung from off of its hinges into the corridor outside. An infuriated masked jackal stepped inside with shaking fists.

The pupils within the angry hero's neon green eyes turned into feral slits of barbaric wrath.

"Good," Sonic whispered as he stepped closer as well.

Shadow never thought the Hero of Mobius could get this mad.

"I've been waiting for you, puppy."

27 - END - 27