Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ A World Without Chaos ❯ Into the Unknown ( Chapter 2 )

A World Without Chaos

-Into the Unknown-

 

“Merry early Christmas!!” Amy's jubilant voice chirped as she raised a glass.

“'Merry early Christmas'??!” Knuckles reiterated with disgust and inquiry on his face and in his voice. “What kind of toast is that?”

Sonic and Tails chuckled to themselves while they watched Amy's viridian eyes flash as she turned to the clueless echidna.

“It makes perfect sense!” she argued, stepping over to him with a hand on her hip.

 

It was the holiday season. Sonic and the others decided to have a get-together at one of their residences. After location ideas were tossed around of who was to go and stay where for the season, Tails had suggested Rouge's place.

When word got out to Rouge, her only warning of the matter was a grinning blue hedgehog on her doorstep asking if she was having any company over.

Cream and Cheese stayed at home, however. Vanilla disapproved of having her daughter be near such a place.

Met with a last minute decision, Rouge reluctantly agreed. Shadow didn't seem to care very much and Omega was away for repairs.

Besides, Rouge had bought a set of lovely flute glasses she had always wanted to use for a certain occasion dealing with a certain black hedgehog.

But since that event hadn't occurred yet, why not put them to use for a Christmas party?

 

“Allright, allright! You don't have to YELL!” Knuckles snapped playfully back at Amy. “Just sit down and drink your cider!”

Amy laughed while Sonic and Tails did the same.

Shadow, who sat on a couch opposite from them only scoffed.

Annoyed, Knuckles glanced at all of them and shrugged. “What's so funny...?”

His words were met with more giggles and laughs. “Should we tell him?” Tails whispered to Sonic.

Sonic chuckled and shook his head. “What do you think, Shadow?” he asked, turning to face the dark enigma.

Carmine annoyance glared right back at him. “...What...”

“Awww” Sonic sighed and crossed his arms. “Leave it to you to really kill a mood, Shadow!”

“Hmph” Shadow frowned and adverted his attention elsewhere while crossing his arms.

No more than a second later, a flash of blue appeared next to him and mocked his behavior.

Amy and Tails snickered to themselves at Sonic being his brazen self while Knuckles sat on the floor with oblivious confusion on his face.

 

“Hey, knock it off already!”

 

Everyone in the room paused in their play and gave their full attention to the voluptuous huntress before them.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen with a tray of assorted cookies, dates and nuts.

Tails and Amy eyed the tray eagerly while Knuckles frowned.

“Don't tell me that's all you have!” he groused with a small pout.

Rolling her eyes, Rouge sighed and went back in the kitchen. Within seconds, she re-emerged with a bowl of fruit and tossed it at the unappeased echidna.

“There! Don't ask me to serve you any dinner, then!” she warned.

“Now you're talkin!” Knuckles cheered as he caught the bowl and immediately began to scarf down its contents.

Rouge chuckled to herself and brought the initial tray out for the others to consume.

Seeing Rouge heading over to himself and Shadow, Sonic nudged Shadow in the arm with his elbow and whispered: “Looks like you won't be getting any sleep tonight...if you're lucky!”

“What--?!” Shadow growled but Sonic was over at the snack tray stuffing his face like crazy.

When their eyes met, Sonic only winked at him but before Shadow could protest, the rounded curve of Rouge's supple hips invaded his line of vision.

Staring at them silently as his mind calmed, he blinked and recomposed himself.

Settling back into his usual nonchalantly disturbed demeanor, he crossed his arms and locked eyes with her.

“What is it...?”

A warm smile spread across her light lips as she shook her head and held out her hand. “Got a minute? You look like you could use a chat to get some things off your mind.”

Slight shock washed over his features. She hit the nail right on the head.

Inwardly, he chuckled to himself.

That was his ally.

Instead of taking her hand, he casually stood up on his own and walked past her to the front door. Group festivities weren't his thing anyway.

Keen aquamarine jewels eyed his figure closely as he opened the door.

He always had a funny walk, she thought. To her, it gave off mixed and opposing signals like 'keep away from me' and 'don't leave me alone.'

“He'll never change.” she smiled to herself. Turning to check on her other guests out of hospitality, she headed to the door herself and grabbed a jacket.

 

The moment she stepped outside, her solicitous turquoise eyes fell gingerly on his form. He stood a few feet away from the door with his back turned to her and his head tilted upwards.

Following his attention, Rouge looked up as well. Silent and thick flakes of snow had begun to flutter from the heavens and kiss the streets in subdued peacefulness.

Intent garnet opals softened at the quiet, but also painful sight. This would have been the second snow he had ever seen and been out in. While the frigid powder was silent and even sometimes beautiful, it also reminded him of death and suffering. He hated how solemn and hazardous it was. When there was an abundance of it, it almost seemed to demand binding authority.

But in addition to all of that, the snow always got him to think of his past more than he probably should have.

Rouge was keen to what the mysterious precipitation wrought on him. She had hoped before that he would put his abrasive and remorseful thoughts aside for good one day. Inwardly sighing, she zipped up her jacket and walked over to him.

Her sharp boots cut shallow clicks that echoed with every step she took.

“Shadow?” her voice called softly and almost sadly.

Having an idea of what she was going to say, Shadow shook his head, but did not turn to her.

“...Forget about it...” he uttered, idly scanning the sky. “...I've...already put it behind me.”

Rouge blinked in surprise. She had an idea of what he was referring to but wanted to be sure. “Put what behind you, your past?”

He slightly nodded. “Yeah.”

“...” Rouge hesitated. Finally this moment had arrived but she had nothing to say. The words refused to form themselves.

Shadow had actually expected a relieved response from her, but continued on. Outstretching his arms, he uncurled his fingers and allowed the snow to decorate his dirtied gloves with moist patches of purity.

“I've come to accept that the memories I have of the ARK weren't real...”

Rouge wanted to protest but a frosty gasp was all that escaped from her.

And Shadow understood. “...Yes, that also includes Maria.”

“Now, hold on, Shadow...” she spoke up, “Letting your past go is one thing, but to say it was all fake is denial...”

“...Yes, it would be denial ...if it wasn't true.”

“What?”

Shadow took a moment to gather his words. When he did so, he turned to his attractive companion and gave her his full attention.

“I'm not saying Maria or the Professor never existed...but my memories of her...just don't make any sense to me...

“How can a being that doesn't grow have a childhood? How can a static being even have memories of something it never witnessed?

“I was created for the sole purpose to give the Professor's granddaughter a chance to live on despite her illness... When Maria was killed, that agenda changed..I was to be used as a pawn, nothing daring or heroic.

“...The Professor made me what I am...and allowed Black Doom to insert his blood into me...in exchange for a Chaos Emerald...” he trailed off. To make a long story short, he sighed and searched for a conclusion.

“Let's face it. My fond memories of Maria were just another bribe by the Professor to ensure that I carried out her final wish without fail. But even after I've completed that, I'm still haunted by thoughts and false memories of her and her care. ...And I want them to stop... So I'm ending them right here...right now.”

Rouge was utterly flabbergasted by what she had heard. But he had many good and understandable points. “Shadow...” she began to smile.

Catching her acceptance and replying with a small smile of his own, he nodded to her.

“Besides...” he added stepping closer to her. “...I've decided to not allow those false memories to overlap the new ones I've made...and the ones I'm going to make...”

Through the flurries of snow, Shadow could see her eyes widen then return to their usual sly appearance. But he could have sworn he saw a jubilant glistening within her eyes before she turned away from him.

For a second, he thought he had said something wrong but all was made clear when she peeked at him over her shoulder. An accepting and sanguine expression fluttered about her features as she winked at him. “Come on. Let's head back inside.... While there's still an inside to go to with those 4 in there.”

With a short chuckle, Shadow began to follow her back into her place. But right before he stepped in, he took one last look at the falling ivory before him.

“Adios” he whispered and continued inside the club.

 

--

Spiraling brilliant hues of color glimmered in bursts of luminescence like tiny fireworks in the night.

And from within the display, two figures emerged. Battered and wrought with exhaustion, they tumbled out of the light with one arm draped over the other's shoulder.

Not long after their appearance, their bodies reacted to the time travel and icy temperatures.

But the weather was nothing compared to what it was from where they previously were.

Catching her breath, Blaze opened her citron eyes and nearly dropped Silver off her shoulder.

“Silver...!” she panted lightly, trying to salvage her cool-headed demeanor. “Silver, do you know where we are?”

Coming to his senses, the columbine hedgehog squinted as he adjusted to air in the past and relived his weight from her.

“...Yes... I do!” excitement pricked his heart as he eagerly jogged in a small section of the area.

The darkened trees that surrounded them wavered lightly in the slight breeze that traveled between them. Beyond them was a wide clearing that led to the pedestal of the Master Emerald.

“The Master Emerald!” Silver exclaimed and floated upto it curiously. “But...Why did we come here? I don't see anything wrong” he pondered, appearing like a small child checking every nook and cranny for his lost toy.

Once she caught upto him, Blaze watched him in silence. She placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

“Let's go...”

“Huh?”

Instead of answering right away, her determined eyes trailed upto the dark gray sky above them.

The snow was thick, but light in quantity. Whatever caused the creature to manifest itself in their time couldn't have been around there.

Returning her gaze to a bewildered Silver, she cocked her head towards the ocean that encircled below.

“We should look for Chao since we're here and keep them safe.”

A slight twinge pinched at Silver's heart at the word as his thoughts traveled back to the grotesque abomination they had seen just hours prior.

He looked away for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “Yeah... let's go find those Chao!” It seemed his determination had returned to him.

Blaze said nothing while she watched him glide past her. And not a second later, she took off sprinting after him.

 

 

To be continued...