Sonic X Fan Fiction ❯ Matter of Trust ❯ A Demon’s Madness ( Chapter 5 )
Anime/Manga: Sonic X Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.27.2009 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.6K | Visits: 165 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 5 — A Demon’s Madness
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"....The base itself appears to be standing, but there is no sign of life anywhere on these blood splattered walls. Corpses appear to range in battery, everything from torn in half, to ripped inside out. Ah! Here we have an officer, perhaps we can get a comment on this monstrosity!"
Sonic held his head in his hands, not wanting to look at the screen in front of him. Knuckles stood nearby, the remote in hand, looking at Sonic without emotion, unless you looked him straight in the eyes.
The hero had stayed up all night outside of the workshop, trying his best to find Shadow, then resigning himself to wait for him to come back. He'd only left his post minutes ago, when Knuckles dragged him inside.
"Sir! Sir!! Can you tell us wha---?"
"GUN has no comment to offer the press at this time."
"But surely there's a sus---"
"An unfortunate occurrence, nothing more than a chemical accident."
"But the bodies---!?!"
"The officers mauled each other to death. That is all." The television went mute with a soft clicking sound, and Knuckles turned on Sonic, the hedgehog still shaken and staring at the floor.
Knuckles sighed softly, "You know something, and don't make up excuses. I know you too well and I can tell when you lie to me." He said, a little angrily.
Sonic remained silent, trying to draw into himself. Maybe Knuckles would go away if he pretended not to hear? No, he knew the other furry was far too stubborn for that to work. Then again, Sonic was desperate for him to leave him alone.
Suddenly he knew how Shadow felt.
The red echidna kneeled in front of the hedgehog and placed his hands on the his shoulders, "Sonic, I know you can hear me perfectly. Now, tell me what you know."
He waiting, then sighed at Sonic's mute response, "It might help me find him." Deep down, he knew that Shadow was deep involved into this.
Sonic focused on the floor harder, suddenly realizing what Knuckles had said. Knux was good at tracking, if he knew where to start, and if he found the hedgehog, less the chance of GUN getting hold of him.
"He said....they killed his family..." Sonic dug his fingers into his quills, ignoring the sharp tingling as the spine scraped against his thin gloves. "He's out for revenge..."
The Guardian nodded, then stood up and walked to the door, "Stay here, Sonic. I will find him." He said disappearing into the morning.
Sonic blinked, noticing the absence of Knuckles’ voice. Stay here? Did the Echidna not know who he was talking to?! He wasn't going to sit here and wait if he had the chance to get out there and find Shadow before the streaked hedgehog got himself killed. Hadn't Knuckles learned that by now? Of course, going after him would mean a sock in the mouth later...
So Sonic did exactly what Knuckles had told him to do. He stayed right there in the workshop, staring at the ground until a grin crossed his face.
After all, Knuckles hadn't specified how long he was supposed to stay....
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It took the echidna hours to finally find the general direction Shadow had gone, but in the end he found that the hedgehog had gone into a nearby forest and advanced into its core.
Now it was late afternoon, and the echidna knew that he needed to find him fast as he sensed countless humans, grouped into squad of more 20 men, into the forest, armed with the most technological weapons, in search of the same being as him. They were silent, but he could hear their stealth movements through the forest itself.
"Spread out! He's here somewhere, there are Chaos Signatures all over this area!" One of the masked men ordered, pointing around the group of men. "Divide off into search teams of five each. Jones, Thomas, Kent, and Yeer are with me."
"Choose your partners carefully men, they'll be the only chance of survival you have in this forest."
Knuckles narrowed his eyes, Chaos Signatures? Were they tracking down Shadow following Chaos Signatures? How could that be possible?
The echidna sighed and concentrated, if that was true maybe...
And true it was. He could feel a strong, yet not as strong as a Chaos Emerald, but still strong, Chaos Signature towards the east. Was that really the black hedgehog?
The presumed leading official of the group, and his chosen followers, separated from the whole slowly, creeping through the underbrush in a strange, zigzagging line. After a short time of this, they paused, and the man at the front looked unsure under his helmet.
"What is it Jones?" The leader crossed to him, annoyance clear. The man looked baffled.
"Well sir, it's odd but....are we sure there's only one of these things?"
"Of course there's only one, you idiot!"
"But....there's three signals, sir...."
Shadow was slowly creeping around the forest as silent as a ghost; he knew that they were there for him, but that was their biggest mistake as he would rip them all apart with his own bloody hands.
As Knuckles eavesdropped on the nearest group, he heard the most terrifying screams coming from the east, followed soon by rapid gunfire.
He knew that Shadow had started taking them down again, and he needed to hurry up. With a small curse, he ran towards the source of the sounds.
"Captain!!! The target has been sighted!! Repeat, the target has been sighted!!!" The man whirled around as the second man fell, a platter of blood from his neck. "Request back-up immediately!!"
Suddenly, there was a scream of rage and more gunfire; it lasted only a few seconds, and again it was all silent.
Knuckles swore again as he had to change his course from east to north; the black hedgehog was fast, but how could he run that fast in that thick forest?
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Sonic swore, finally untangling himself from the vines he'd caught his legs in, and effectively losing Knuckles. It had been harder than he thought, following the Guardian without him knowing, and it was getting harder in this dense forest.
"Whoever heard of vines in a temperate climate zone?!" He muttered, kicking the last bit away. "Now I've got to traipse this place looking for that red idjit! He just had to glide here, didn't he?!" A soft click caught his attention.
"Well...well...well...."
Sonic felt all the blood drain his face. Something metallic pressed against the back of his head and he stiffened, afraid to move. Sure he could move faster than a bullet, but in this thick jungle he had a less than good chance of gaining enough speed to avoid being shot in the back.
"Turn around really slow, Project. We don't want any...unfortunate mishaps...."
'Crap....' Sonic turned, but kept his eyes searching around the trees and branches above. Maybe he could find Knuckles and get a little help...?
The human took out a handheld radio and pressed a button, "To all squads, reach point x15 y24, the Project is at gun point. Bring the necessary equipment." He said never looking away from what he believed was Shadow.
"You know, Project?" He continued smiling half content half wickedly, "You will earn me a promotion. Having captured the dangerous 'Project Shadow' single handedly."
Knuckles' head snapped upright, his unseen ears picking up the report from one of the two or three remaining groups of humans. He growled and set off quickly, ignoring everything else.
Sonic was busy resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the soldier. After all, he had the gun. Sonic was just the target. And chances were they trained to hit moving targets in whatever place they were taught to handle guns. He frowned slightly, noting that Knuckles was no where to be seen. Maybe he could talk his way out?
"Look, um...I'm sure you're thrilled and all, but...what if I was to tell you that...you might be a little off on your guess of hedgehog identities....?"
The human pressed the gun a little further into Sonic's head, "Shut up, Project. The likes of you are created to serve mankind, not to talk." He said angrily
"And you will serve me one last time, then we will seal you again until we will need your body again." He added.
"...okay, you're slightly on the edge and I'm sure we can find you a doctor for that. I happen to know quite a few, be happy to help you get an appointment." Sonic gestured for him to clam down. "Just lowered the gun, and we can talk about this like civilized, reasonable people, okay?"
As the human prepared to counter that, there were other screams and gunfire coming from north-west; at this he seemed confused, almost scared.
"If you're here, then... who's out there?"
The screams quickly faded away as the attacked group was whipped out; then, a few minutes later, other screams were heard. Nobody had the time to do nothing but try to defend themselves.
The creepy thing was... that the pattern suggested that whoever was attacking with such brutality was coming towards the official and the blue hedgehog’s position.
But before it was there, Knuckles arrived and came barreling down on the guard without much more warning than the creature attacking the other soldiers gave them. Instead of ripping him apart however, Knuckles smacked the side of the soldier's helmet, making the human crumbled in a second. Sonic gaped at first, then grinned.
"I knew you'd show up!" His enthusiasm was not shared by the scarlet warrior. He simply earned himself a heated glare.
"I told you to stay at the workshop!"
Sonic wilted immediately. "I...did stay...." Under Knuckles' continued gaze, he caved. "....for a little while..." He added meekly. Knuckles growled softly in reply.
Once more, screams erupted from the forest for barely a minute before everything went calm again; a group near the two tried to contact all the others, but it was a futile attempt as they were the last standing team.
"Gamma team calls base, Gamma team calls base." The leader of the group said in the radio.
There were some statics, "Come in, Gamma team. What is the status of the operation?"
"We're the last standing team, and in a minute we will be wiped out unless you send other teams..."
Sonic's ears pricked up, and he started forward, but stopped when Knuckles' clawed hand grabbed his upper arm. The hero began to protest, but was silenced by the look Knuckles gave him.
"You're going to hide," He hissed. "And you will stay in said hidden spot until I say you can come out. Is that clear?"
His eyes fixated on the hedgehog and Sonic swallowed, before weakly nodding his head. Knuckles then released the arm and slunk forward into the trees toward the final group, making less noise than the wind through the trees, and never looking back to see if Sonic was following orders...
Because Sonic had already done so.
Shadow was running through the thick undergrowth, not caring of getting wounds or not; he knew that the last team was here somewhere. He just knew it.
Then, voices, to the east of him, and he turned sharply with a killing intent. This was the last, then he would rest a little and then he would go for the next base.
As he saw the first human, he jumped into the air, right hand draw back for an attack.
The human just saw a black shape jump at him, before he felt something pass through his chest and squish his heart. Blood splattered on Shadow, which by now was entirely covered with it.
The black hedgehog turned around and smiled wickedly at the six humans, "Your turn." He said with bloodthirsty eyes full of madness, hate, sorrow and hunger for revenge.
Knuckles was out of the previous tree in less than a moment, landing softly on a low branch behind the group of humans and making his way up and over the scene. Knuckles didn't care much for the humans at this point, but he would stop Shadow; he wasn't entirely cold, like Sonic often labeled him.
Though, for all the stereotypes Sonic placed on him, he knew the Echidna best...
Shadow was at his fourth human out of six, and, as he turned, he started charging Chaos Energy into his right hand.
"And now.... big finale... with my Chaos Spear." He announced to the two men.
That's when Knuckles dropped from the overlying tree limb, grabbed Shadow by the wrist, spun him around, and kicked him square in the back, knocking him off balance long enough for the two unarmed humans to flee. Then he straightened, letting himself look as formidable as possible. Sonic would have been terrified. Shadow, he wasn't so sure about that.
The dark hedgehog growled deeply, "You..." He said turning around and looking at the echidna in the eyes with an overwhelming rage and hate.
"What do you want? Perhaps help those wretched humans to retain me again?" He asked tilting his head to the side.
Shadow's crazy grin faded for a second before returning, "You wont stop me, red one. Not until I have killed them all."
Knuckles frowned, and took an offensive pose, sizing Shadow up carefully. If the hedgehog was truly as crazy as he seemed to have gone, the fight would be a little more difficult. He was tempted to answer the somewhat insane looking furry, but instead narrowed his eyes to ready for battle.
The black hedgehog narrowed his eyes as his grin seemed to enlarge, "You know..." He said before disappearing in a small flicker of light that radiated Chaos Energy, "You wont win just with bare force. I'm faster, and thus I can avoid all your attacks." He finished from behind his back.
"I don't rely on just my strength...." Knuckles went into action, spinning in a circle and catching Shadow in the stomach and springing backward, in hopes of avoiding a repercussion. "I can sense you every time you use Chaos Energy. Your speed gives you away."
The black hedgehog grinned even more, "If you can sense Chaos Energy, then sense this." He said as he steadied himself. He raised a hand to the sky and started collecting a large amount of energy in his hand. After a few seconds he smiled, "Chaos... Spear!" He called, quickly lowering his hand.
Five golden spears of pure sizzling Chaos Energy formed from the mass of power Shadow had called on, and shot after the echidna.
Knuckles froze for a second, before actually realizing that Shadow had harnessed the energy into a weapon, and said weapon was coming at him.
He managed to dodge the first four, flipping and jumping out of the way. The fifth however managed to take a slice out of his arm, the right one, and Knuckles instinctively grabbed it, losing his concentration on the tree branch he'd been leaping to, and falling short, colliding with the ground and uttering a loud groan.
As he pushed himself up, he winced, the arm throbbing angrily, blood matting his fur down. He turned to face toward Shadow, involuntarily bearing his fangs.
Sonic watched from beyond the trees, silently chanting to himself that Knuckles could handle the situation. The hedgehog was also staring at what looked like to be a red demon, or something of the manner, its color dripping away as though it was melting. Only his voice told Sonic the true identity of the monster.
He shivered, digging his fingers into the tree's bark, unable to look away from the scene. As a rodent, he told himself he shouldn't be here, he shouldn't intervene. As a hero and a friend, he knew he'd have intervene to soon.
Even if he could still take out many other humans, the black hedgehog knew that he needed to end this battle with Knuckles as soon as possible: the echidna was a strong fighter. Drawing out this battle would result in him succumbing for lack of energy or being taken out by his opponent.
Shadow jumped forwards, speed matching Sonic’s, and somersaulted in mid air, preparing for a dangerous drop kick aimed at the echidna’s head.
Knuckles had anticipated a move meant to be dealt fatally, and instead of dodging to either side, knowing Shadow could easily still attack him, the echidna dove under, coming out to skid on his back so he would land on his injured arm.
Then, wasting no time, lest Shadow renew the attack, he went for the trees. Knuckles knew that his advantage with Sonic was there, and since everything he knew about the hero had worked in this battle so far, he'd try his luck there. Hopefully, he could reach it faster than Shadow could reach him.
Shadow snarled and bared his teeth as he to took to the trees. Before he could reach the first branch of a nearby tree, he grasped his left leg and spun around, slamming the Guardian on the ground, "I told you that I was fast, red one."
Knuckles stayed silent, save for a loud grunt as his back flared upon impact. Twisting himself face down, he dug both spiked namesakes into the mossy earth beneath him and flipped himself upward, attempting to dislodge the hedgehog.
"I've beaten faster."
The black hedgehog let the echidna's leg go and jumped into a tree branch, "Who knows..." He said smirking crazily again.
Knuckles, ignoring the screaming ache from his arm and back, ascended the tree after his opponent, chasing what he knew he couldn't catch. As he hurried up the trunk, moving from limb to limb in grace, despite injury, a flash of blue only barely caught his eye, before disappearing again. He gritted his teeth, and turned to look behind him, ready to yell if he saw Sonic out of hiding.
However, there was nothing but empty forest.
Shadow smirked as he saw the distraction of his opponent and took the occasion offered; he jumped from the branch towards the echidna, spun around and kicked him with a roundhouse kick on the side of the head.
Knuckles gave a cry of surprise, and lost his grip on the bark of the tree, hitting the forest floor hard. He groaned, and tried to push himself up, clenching his hands into fists against the shooting pain throughout his chest area. Warm blood trickled down from the back of his head where Shadow's blow had connected, and down his dreads to puddle amongst the ground plants.
He slowly blinked his eyes, trying to refocus, but the world seemed blurred at the edges. Finally forcing his feet to stay beneath him, he rose, wavering, looking over his shoulder for his attacker.
Shadow had moved again, and now he was standing on another branch behind the echidna, "I have nothing against you, red one. But if you still keep insisting on stopping me, I will have to kill you."
Knuckles bared his fangs in a grimace, stumbling just barely as he turned, bracing both feet. His answer was obvious. Shadow would either lose, or Knuckles would die fighting him.
The blood covered hedgehog nodded in understanding, "Very well, red one. I promise you that I will kill you quickly so you wont suffer." He said jumping from the branch and landing on the ground with a silent 'thud'.
"If you are able to kill me at all, hedgehog."
He pushed a dreadlock out of his way, keeping his eyes locked on Shadow. It was slightly more comforting that the dark creature didn't sound half as insane as he had minutes before, and that he didn't look like his face was splitting in half to accommodate his grin.
The black hedgehog moved quickly, and in an instant he was in front of the echidna, punching him into the stomach, then he moved again, to his side this time, and kicked his legs out of under him, making Knuckles fall on the ground. Then, he performed a drop kick aimed for his throat.
"Shadow, no!!"
Sonic was out of the trees and had hold of Knuckles seconds before Shadow hit the ground where the echidna had lain. The Guardian was slightly dazed looking, as though he hadn't noticed the last few seconds go by. The hero clutched his friend by the shoulders as Knuckles gripped one arm forcefully, trying to regain his bearings.
"What are you doing here?!" He hissed in undertone, still trying to accomplish standing. "I told you to stay hidden!"
"And let you get yourself killed? You know me better than that."
Shadow narrowed his eyes, "What are you doing here?" He asked coldly, "Trying to stop me like the red one? Don't meddle. I don't want to kill you."
"Glad to hear it." Sonic muttered, looking Shadow in the eyes. "But I don't want you to kill anymore people." He hefted Knuckles to his feet, the Guardian trying to push him away and stand by himself. "GUN soldiers or otherwise."
The black hedgehog showed his teeth and narrowed his eyes more as his quills raised to look more threatening, "I said... to not meddle into this, Sonic." He growled in utter rage.
In his eyes there was pure hate.
"If you'd think about it you'd see what you're doing is wrong! You want revenge for something that happened fifty years ago. People age Shadow, the people you're after are either dead or so old you can hear them walking a mile away."
"I won't say they're not corrupt, for reasons of my own, but going on a killing spree isn't going to make people see that. They think you're the bad guy, and in the end they'll come after you along with GUN, long before you've gotten to the next base! Do you know how many people would end up dead?!"
"Look at me and answer this question, Sonic." He paused a little and looked into the blue hedgehog's eyes with detachment, "Do I seem to care?" He started backtracking into the forest, "Besides, I have gone too far to back off."
Sonic shook his head, and stepped forward. "You can't keep doing this! It's murder!" He reached out, pleading. "You're giving them the chance to pin all sorts of things on you, and further their glory!!"
Shadow tilted his head a little to the side and smirked again, his craziness returning in full blown, "I do not care what happens to me, I do not care if they kill me. I will just keep killing them..."
Sonic hardened, his eyes narrow, but it was obvious he hated this situation more than anything he'd ever hated. He trod forward a little more, inching his way.
"I won't let you."
The blood covered hedgehog raised an eyebrow, mocking amusement, "How would you stop me, then?"
"Anyway I can!" Sonic exploded, his fists tightening against his sides. "You're going to end up killing innocent people, Shadow!!"
Shadow's eyes narrowed, "Do you know that the only way to stop me is to kill me? Are you really ready to kill someone?"
Sonic looked taken aback, but reached out, touching Shadow's hand, as though making sure it was there. The blood-stained glove dripped onto his own. "You can't mean it, Shadow....you can't...." He sounded as though he was choking on the words, and his hands wrapped around Shadow's, holding on.
The black hedgehog wrenched his hand away from Sonic's, then he took his wrist, and with a quick movement he turned around and made the blue hedgehog fly over his shoulder and then slammed him onto the ground with his back.
"I am extremely serious, Sonic." He said looking at him in the eyes, "To stop me, you have to kill me."
Knuckles let out a cry of anger from where Sonic had left him, but the blue hedgehog was silent, staying where he had landed, shock written across his face. Then he pushed himself into a sitting position, face downcast, as his hands fisted around the grass.
"I can't...."
Shadow backed a little, "Then, I'll be leaving..." He said turning around and walking away, "Next time we meet, Sonic. We might be enemies... and I might have to kill you."
Silence was Sonic's answer, until Shadow turned his back. Then Sonic, without truly knowing what he was doing, was on his own feet, and in a blur of motion he was behind Shadow, making the black hedgehog freeze in his track. Then, without his own consent, his arms slid around Shadow's chest and he buried his face into the ebony fur on the other's back.
Shadow felt his heart jump, then a second later, the dark hedgehog disappeared into thin air to reappear a few feet behind Sonic, devoid of emotions; he just stared there, not moving, looking at the blue figure with a small flicker of confusion showing in his eyes from time to time.
Sonic had been leaning heavily on Shadow during that short time, and almost fell, but stopped himself in time, looking over his shoulder toward the dark furry, sadness in every feature.
The only thing that Shadow noticed was the blood on the blue hedgehog’s body, "L... look at you, Sonic... you... you are covered in blood... why... did you touch me? I'm... a sinner... unworthy of attention... much less being touched..."
"No one's unworthy of anything, unless they think so..." Sonic whispered, ears folded. He wiped at some of the blood on his front gently, his tan chest fur showing, though still slightly reddened, and held his hand up for Shadow to see. "Blood and sin....they wash away, and people change..." He was quiet, sorrowful, and if you looked closely, he was shaking just barely.
Shadow lowered his head, "This for normal people... I'm not normal. Thus I'm not allowed to change... They won’t let me change." He muttered with regret.
"You're allowed whatever you want, Shadow. Whatever you're willing to reach for..." Sonic's voice had lowered to a whisper almost, but the trembling had increased, until it was almost visible. He looked as though he was going to collapse.
Shadow stood still, "Even if I want it, they won’t let me... they will keep coming for me..."
"Killing them isn't the only way to stop them. We can expose them for what they are, Shadow...." Sonic let himself move toward Shadow, and he seemed to relax a little more until he stood still again. A shudder ran up his spine, and he gripped his own arms, looking away. "No one else has to die..."
Shadow looked up again, "They are over the law, Sonic. Killing them all is the less troublesome and the fastest way to do it, and the only way that I know of." He answered with rage in his voice.
"Sometimes the best choice isn't the easiest, or fastest one.... sometimes it's the one that no one wants to take, because it's full of all sorts of horrible things, whereas the other ones aren't...." Sonic bit his lip.
"It was never my choice to chose the path I'm walking on... the GUN chose for me, and it's GUN that holds my destiny, and they will never change it."
"GUN may have set you on the path, but you don't have to stay on it....no one can force you to make a choice, you're the only one...." He took a deep breath and came forward again, only a few steps. "Before....you chose not to kill me, didn't you?"
Shadow only nodded at that, unable to deny his own decision, and remained still, unable to look away from the ground.
"Do you think GUN would want me alive, if they knew that I was on your side?" Sonic's voice was shaky, but serious. "Do you think they would want me walking around so that I can help you keep out of their grasp and tear apart their whole conspiracy?"
"They would want me dead first chance they got." He took the final step and looked at Shadow, though the hedgehog's eyes were still on the ground. "So if you're under their control, if they hold your destiny, why aren't you ripping my throat out right now...?"
"I guess.... that it's because you're the new soul that's holding my humanity, that is why I can't do that. If I kill you, I will become what they desire the most..." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "The most powerful weapon of mass destruction ever created with genetic engineering on the space colony ARK, fifty years ago, by the most brilliant scientist, Gerald Robotnik."
There, now the secret was out and he would be rejected more than before.
Sonic didn't flinch, or scorn. He simply smiled. "So you think you're a weapon...?" Sonic held out his hand. "A weapon is something that is used to kill, Shadow, but not the same way you were. A weapon would've killed me in the workshop, would be killing me right here. A weapon wouldn't have the chance or ability to think or feel or decide that I don't deserve to die..."
"That is why I can't kill you... I don't want to be their weapon... I never wanted to be since the first time they said it to me..." His voice, even if still cold, was starting to assume a sad tone.
"Then you're not. You wouldn't be even if you wanted to, because weapons don't want." He was dipping his head to lock emerald with ruby. "You don't have to be so afraid, Shadow. You act like I'm going to hate you the minute I find out who you are...."
"But I'm not."
Shadow remained in silence, processing what he had heard, then he needed to ask something.
"Even... if I was created by human hands? Even if I'm a monster of the human mind? Even after countless killings? Even... even..."
"Even if you had my neck under your hands right now." Sonic grinned, and gestured behind him towards Knuckles, who had long since gone unconscious. "I mean, I put up with the most blunt-brained, idiotic, bossy guy you'll ever meet in this life, and with a smile on my face! What makes you think the fact that you're a little different can make me like you any less?"
"Now, if you ate my chilidogs on purpose, like Red does, we may have a war on our hands."
The black hedgehog remained in silence, not knowing what to say.
Sonic frowned, afraid he'd said something wrong again, like before, and put his hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Shadow.....? What's wrong...?"
In response to that, instead, from Shadow's eyes started to fall small tears, which, when running down his cheeks, collected the blood on his fur and turned red.
Sonic was staring at the small wet spots forming on the ground, and his grip on his companion's shoulder loosened, sliding his arm around the hedgehog's back and drawing him forward to lean on him. "....Shadow...why are you crying...?"
Shadow was too focused on not exploding in howls of sadness, pain, sorrow and relief to be able to answer; he closed his eyes shut and slowly collapsed to the ground, hiding his face in his bloody hands in shame of himself.
Sonic hugged him tighter, going down with him as Shadow sunk from his standing position, concerned for his friend, repeatedly asking what was wrong. The black hedgehog, even if he heard the continuous asking, couldn't bring himself to talk and just kept on weeping quietly.
Sonic began running his hands down the sobbing furry's back in an attempt to calm him down, whispering soft words of reassurance and compassion. He leaned his own head against Shadow's and shushed him gently, waiting for the streaked hedgehog to come back to his senses.
Shadow, however, was far from finished, unable to stop himself from sobbing quietly, uncontrollably; even if the forest was far from being a safe place to cry, he couldn't find the strength to stand up and walk.
Sonic debated carrying him, but with Knuckles unconscious, he would have to make two trips. Knuckles was too injured to be left alone, and Shadow....Sonic wasn't sure Shadow would be able to handle being on his own right now.
So, cradling the still tearful furry to his chest, Sonic stooped slightly and backed up against a tree close to Knuckles prone form, and pulled the red echidna to his side, so that he could watch over them both for now.
Shadow, unaware that he had been moved, just kept weeping into his hands; he didn't even heard someone approach them, running.
An orange bi-tailed fox shoot out from the trees and slowed down when he saw Sonic, "Sonic! Finally I found you! We have to get out of here. There's a whole army walking trough the forest with what I believe are deadly intentions!"
"Tails!" Sonic grinned. "Right on time, lil bro!" He debated the difference in weight between Knuckles and Shadow, then gently nudged the furry clinging to him. "Shadow? You'll have to let go now, Knuckles is the heavier one here, and Tails can't carry him, I'd think. Unless you think can walk...?"
Shadow looked at him confused, "What? Why?"
"We have to get out of here. Tails says that the uh....soldiers Snow Red over there," He thumbed towards Knuckles, "...kept you from killing brought some buddies. A lot of buddies. And they feel like playing hard ball."
"Now, I'd say the odds are against us, wouldn't you?"
Shadow looked down to the ground, "Sorry... to have dragged you all into my problems...." He murmured before gathering Chaos Energy in his right hand. It took him a moment before the energy was enough,
"Chaos...Control." He whispered releasing the charge. The forest around the four melted away and was quickly replaced by the familiar living room of Sonic and Tails’ house.
During all that, Shadow never looked back up.
"Okay..." Sonic breathed, still trying to adjust to the missing forest, and expecting the rug to become moss again at any moment. "That's.....a really handy thing to have around...." He stared off at Knuckles who was slowly waking.
"What...the hell...?"
Tails gaped at what had just happened, "Amazing!" He exclaimed excited, "We actually warped from the forest to our house in less than a second!"
Knuckles rubbed his head, wincing as he struck the dried blood, and suddenly whipping to look at Shadow with a glare. Sonic raised his hands, placatingly.
"Chill Knux, it's fine. He got us home before we got ourselves shot down."
The echidna looked at Sonic, then back at the black hedgehog covered in blood that was sitting on the floor looking at it, "You mean that..." He asked looking back at the blue one to confirm that the dark one had stopped his madness.
"Yeah, Shadow's fine....slight problem with pent up frustration. I think we gave him the wrong kind of soup." He grinned at Shadow, silently passing the confirmation that he would say nothing until Shadow himself wanted to disclose the information.
Knuckles watched as the black hedgehog moved his ears at the mention of his name and as tears kept just running down his cheeks; from time to time he would take a big breath and release it in a shaky sigh.
Sonic recircled the aforementioned furry in his arms, and, remembering how fond he'd been of his ears being stroked before, took the tip of the left one and began to gently rub it, holding the hedgehog close.
At that, Shadow curled up and left his eyes focus on nothing but air, meanwhile his mind focused solely on the rubbing and the warmth provided by the blue hedgehog's body.
Tails looked at the echidna, "If you come in the kitchen I'll start to patch you up. The Guardian nodded and the two quickly disappeared from the living room.
Sonic watched them go in silence, then turned to concentrate on taking care of Shadow. He lowered the fingers, scratching gently at the base like he had before. The hedgehog seemed to be settling down already, and Sonic was relieved. He had been afraid the dark hedgehog would become hysterical, and he wasn't the best at playing doctor. He'd barely got Shadow to listen in the forest, and full-on therapy would be well beyond his reach.
Shadow shakily sighed again as his eyes never stopped releasing tears of mixed emotions. He was starting to be utterly tired and his eyelids started to slowly close.
"Feeling a little better..?" Sonic held the furry tightly, smiling as he sighed. He would fall asleep soon, and the hero could only hope he'd wake up in a better way than before, when he'd tried leaving. Perhaps he'd feel safer now that he knew, even though Sonic knew the truth, he wouldn't turn him away.
Shadow never answered neither with a word nor a movement; he was too deep into his mind to hear what the blue hedgehog had really asked. He could just hear words that seemed to be meaningless; he curled more and never moved from there, awaiting sleep. Possibly a dreamless one.
Sonic didn't really need an answer though, Shadow curling up closer was really all he needed for now. He ran the unoccupied hand through the thick, coal-black fur, alternating between scratching the unattended ear, and playing with the blood soaked pelt. When Shadow woke up, he'd have to lock him in the bathroom for a shower.
Finally, Shadow's eyes dropped shut and his body went slack with sleep as the sweet darkness took over his heavy, troubled mind.
Sonic smiled and examined one glove, while the other continued scratching Shadow's ear, in case he wasn't fully asleep yet. He took in the stained cloth with a sigh, knowing he'd have to run them through the wash again, and this time they probably wouldn't come out as clean.
Although Sonic's doubt of Shadow's current status of sleep, the black hedgehog was deeply slumbering, and wouldn't wake up even if he was moved around. That was because he knew that the blue furry would never hurt him.
As soon as he was certain the other wouldn’t wake up, Sonic carefully slid his arms back around Shadow and hugged him gently, relief pouring from him. The hedgehog had shaken Sonic to the core several times since he'd saved him from the fire, and the cerulean hero was positive the dark furry had been created just to scare the hell out of Sonic every day.
Shadow murmured contently at being hugged and tried to nuzzle into the calming warmth that was Sonic. A soft chuckle escaped Sonic as Shadow pressed against him, and he held him a little tighter to help, resting his chin on Shadow's bowed head, smiling.
Knuckles poked his head from the kitchen, "You should move him somewhere comfier, Sonic." He whispered loudly enough to be heard by the blue hedgehog.
Like he had appeared, he disappeared behind the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.
Sonic looked up in time the see the last bit of red vanish into the kitchen, and rolled his eyes, but silently agreed with Knuckles. The floor was probably the last place Shadow would want to wake up on, since it would more than likely leave him with a stiff back. It looked like it was back to the couch...
Sonic gathered the slumbering hedgehog into his arms and hefted him upward, scooting to the couch until he settled him onto it's stuffed surface, face up. From this angle, even blood-covered, Shadow looked......childish as he slept. Not innocent, the blood ruined that, but more like a kid who'd got into red paint or something....Sonic's smile grew one-sided.
The black hedgehog mumbled out something to attract Sonic's attention, but it was too low to be heard properly.
Sonic leaned down, ears pricked. "You say something, Shadow?" It might've just been the speedster's imagination, but he'd been so sure that the other had spoken.
Shadow mumbled out something else, and this time it was accompanied by his arms that flew up and grabbed the blue hedgehog by the torso, bringing him on top of himself, and thus as close as he could.
Sonic gave a small yelp, but ended up swallowing it as he was jerked downward. He blinked rapidly, and had to battle mentally to keep from instinctively struggling and waking the hedgehog, though it might've been the best thing. He didn't want Shadow to open his eyes and think Sonic was trying to get away from him for reasons different than Sonic meant.
The black hedgehog turned on his side, dragging Sonic with him and thus trapping him between himself and the back of the couch. Then he curled up a little on his chest and ceased his movements.
"Sorry..." He mumbled out tightening his grasp a little as if afraid that the other hedgehog would run away and never come back
"Um...that's okay...I guess...." Sonic mumbled in reply, looking around for a way out of, or around, the situation. He was pinned rather well, however. It looked as though he'd be stuck there unless Shadow moved...
....but of course, the dark hedgehog never did; however, his grasp slackened as he entered a more deep sleep, possibly a peaceful one, but that depended by the deepest part of his mind, where every repressed thought and memory was stored.
Sonic sighed and leaned his head back. At least he could move his arms slightly now. The position was still very awkward, and he shifted a few times, only to find himself pinned further into the couch. And if Knuckles saw this....ugh, he'd never hear the end of it...
The black hedgehog moved further towards the source of warmth, the blood had to still completely dry, and this was making him cold, making him shiver from time to time.
Sonic couldn't stop his face from heating slightly, and he put a hand against Shadow's chest to halt the loss of personal space. Sure, he could understand the whole coddling-for-warmth thing but this felt a little tight for comfort. After a few minutes he let the hand fall, thinking Shadow had settled for the night.
In fact, the black hedgehog had finally settled, but the fact that he was still cold was still visible as the shivers never stopped.
Sonic almost immediately felt clawed by guilt, and, moving his still slightly constricted arms, he drew Shadow a little closer, knowing that either Shadow would butcher him for it in the morning, or he'd be woken by Knuckles dying of laughter. Of course, for now he would do the 'nice' thing.