Precious Memories
Allie the Fox
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Copyright information: The beginning of this story written as a
NetRaptor.org fanfiction contest teaser. It is not copyrighted, and may
be modified as the author sees fit. Any fanfiction written with this
teaser may be freely distributed. The Sonic characters are copyrighted
by Sega.
Author’s note: This will only be my second piece of submitted work; so
do not expect much of it. However, I’ll do my best to make it an
enjoyable story. Please bear with me.
Oh, but there is one thing you won’t have to worry about. There is a
fan-character I created who ends up falling for Shadow. (Her last name,
by the way, is pronounced “Koo-zy”. It’s the same as my Geometry
teacher’s, because it’s a cool name.) But don’t worry. I didn’t make
them a couple. I know from plenty of experience that one of the most
annoying and frustrating things for readers and writers of fan-fiction
alike is when someone decides to make a character of their own and then
pair them up with an official one.
Of course, I make an exception for NetRaptor’s Zephyer. Zeff rocks, and
besides, NR had a perfectly reasonable explanation for the creation of
her. Ask her yourself. And my like of Zeff has absolutely _nothing_ to
do with the fact that I get to play her in the RD…*shifty eyes* Why are
you all staring at me?
Ok. I’ll shut up now.
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A ball of fire mushroomed into the sky, and Shadow fled along the steel
catwalk leading away from the zeppelin. Each skating stride carried him
forward twenty feet, and he was still accelerating, trying to escape
the shockwave.
The catwalk sloped toward the loading bay far below. Shadow jumped onto
the railing and grinded down it, sparks flying from the soles of his
shoes. Behind him, fire and destruction consumed the catwalks, and
debris pelted around him with the force of bullets. Shadow didn’t care.
He had paid back GUN one more time, and that was all that mattered.
The catwalk turned left. Shadow jumped off the railing back onto the
walkway, sprinted to the corner and leaped off the edge. He sailed
across a twenty-foot gap, curled into a ball and smashed through a
flimsy partition separating the upward-leading ramp from the downward-
leading ramp. He fled down the stairs, taking them four at a time as
the explosion rocked the steel supports around him. He had not
anticipated such a violent explosion, and made a note to himself to
check what the zeppelin was filled with before he smashed apart the
engines.
Twenty feet from the ground now--he could see it through the steel mesh
below his feet. The air was dark with acrid smoke, and he held his
breath as he flew down staircase after staircase. He rounded a bend and
plunged into a cloud of smoke so thick he was blinded, and he groped
forward, trying not to breathe and willing the smoke to clear. If only
he had a chaos emerald, he would be miles away by now--the power of
Chaos Control knew no bounds.
He struck a wall unexpectedly and turned back, feeling for the next
staircase. His foot struck something soft on the floor--a body.
Probably a fallen soldier. He jumped over it, only to feel a hand close
on his ankle. He stumbled and whirled about, ready to fight, and froze.
The smoke was thinner near the floor, and he could see the shape of a
young fox, eyes glazed with pain and fear, clinging to him by pure
instinct.
Shadow did not stop to think. He grabbed the fox, threw him over one
shoulder, and sprinted down the next stairwell, which opened before
him. Below was the final door opening on the airport runway, which
Shadow kicked open. He sprinted into the sunlight, dodging around the
debris that littered the tarmac, and away from the roar and heat of the
burning aircraft.
The fox's two tails blew across Shadow's face, and he swatted them
away, ignoring the strange feeling that he knew this person. All that
mattered right now was getting far, far away.
Though the explosion was widespread, his swiftness--aided by his hover
skates--prevented him and the boy from receiving any serious injury,
although a few small pieces of shrapnel managed to embed themselves in
his back. He clenched his teeth together against the pain and continued
onward.
When the hedgehog was sure that they were a safe distance from blast,
he skidded to a halt and threw his passenger to the ground. The fox
landed hard, yelping in surprise and pain. Shadow, annoyed that he had
been soft enough to rescue the child in the first place, didn’t much
care that the boy was wounded.
Wheeling around, he made as if to speed off, but a protest sprang from
the lips of the fox. His ear twitched. He paused and glanced over his
shoulder, wondering why that voice sounded so familiar. Feh. It was of
no importance. He faced front wards again and shot off, leaving the kit
to deal with the aftermath of his sonic boom.
***
When he could finally muster the strength to do so, Tails sat up and
reached for the communicator that was strapped to his wrist. Hands
trembling, he had to dial multiple times before he could get the
numbers straight.
“Yo!” came a comfortingly familiar male voice. Tails sighed in relief
before replying. “Sonic?” “Tails! Where on Mobius have you been?”
“I…well, I kinda got delayed.” Understatement. “Howsat?” “Uh…could you
come and get me, Sonic?” “Sure thing, T2.” There was a beep as the com
disconnected.
The two-tailed fox breathed a prayer of thanks to the Lord, grateful
that he’d had the insight to install a tracking system in each of their
coms. Quite frankly, at the moment he had no idea where he was, and the
GPS made it possible for Sonic to find him in spite of that.
He lay back down on the hard pavement, staring at the sky as he waited
to be found. Too many things were bouncing around in his head at once,
making it next to impossible for him to think coherently. There was one
central idea, however, that would reappear every so often: Shadow was
alive.
It was a mind-boggling concept, and yet Tails had seen the dark
hedgehog with his own two eyes, had been rescued by him even. Latching
on to this thought, Tails took it farther. First of all, how? It was
impossible to survive a fall as long as the one Shadow had. Well, he’d
thought it was impossible, anyway. But if it truly was impossible, then
how was Shadow alive now?
And secondly…why was he acting so strangely? It was as if he didn’t
remember anything that had happened on the ARK. In that case, Tails
would have to assume that either Shadow had hit his head too hard when
he’d landed, or that someone had found him and done something to his
memory.
Before he could pursue this line of thought, Sonic skidded to a halt
next to him. Tails used his hands to push himself into a sitting
position. Sonic quickly scanned his “younger brother,” noting that the
little fox was looking quite battered. “Dude, what happened to you?” he
asked, eyes filled with concern. The kit took a minute to formulate his
reply.
“I guess it started because I wanted a view of the whole city, because
a bird’s eye view of a town is so cool. So I flew up near catwalk and
hovered close to the top of it. Then there was a loud booming noise
behind me, and the next thing I knew, everything was being rocked by an
explosion.
“I got hit in the leg with a piece of flying metal. It caught me off
balance, and I couldn’t keep myself steady, so I started to fall. I
happened to land on a level of the catwalk that stuck out farther than
the rest.” Tails shuddered at the memory. Sonic knelt down and put a
comforting arm around him.
“Anyways, I hurt so much that I couldn’t move, and I was real scared.
Then…I got rescued.” “Eh? By who?” Sonic wanted to know. Tails averted
his gaze. It took him a moment to answer. “By someone who should be
dead…” he said softly. Sonic stiffened. A recent memory popped into his
head, and without even asking, he knew of whom Tails spoke. “…Shadow…?”
he said, half asking, half making a statement. Tails looked at Sonic,
his eyes telling all.
***
A white form clothed in black flitted from shadow to shadow, silently
making its way towards its destination. A pair of wings aided the
creature, allowing it to slip through the air without a sound, rather
than walking noisily. When it paused to flatten itself against a wall,
the moonlight created a silhouette of it, revealing its feminine
figure, and an extremely attractive one at that.
Rouge the Bat rounded the corner of the darkened laboratory, now sure
that there were no people in it any longer. She flew a little farther
and alighted in front of the door, pulling out a penlight as she did
so. Shining it on the keypad to the door’s right, she used its light to
view the symbols on the keypad’s buttons.
Recalling the code she’d earlier observed being entered, her fingers
swiftly pressed in the correct pattern, and the door slid open with a
hiss. Grinning, she entered and let the door shut behind her. Then, she
reached into a pouch on her tool belt and pulled out a pair of night
vision goggles.
Although she was indeed a bat, and could use echolocation, she found it
to be ineffective for the type of work she did. And although there were
light switches in the building available for her use, it would only
make it likelier for her to get caught.
She padded down the corridor, having temporarily exchanged her steel-
tipped boots for a pair of soft-soled shoes. Their whispery shuffling
noises were highly preferable to the clicking sounds of her usual
footwear in jobs such as this. Any and all precautions to avoid
detection were taken when one was involved in espionage.
Yes, she found herself in the government’s employment yet again. And so
soon after just having finished a job for them only a month ago. She
kept telling herself it was for the pay she got--more specifically,
large jewels--but it seemed as if there were a different reason that
she would not admit to herself. There was something that she wanted to
take her mind off of, something that she used her work to forget…
However, none of these thoughts were running through the bat’s mind at
the current moment. Her objective was to get into the lab that was
placed near the heart of the building and hack into that room’s
computer. According to her boss, there had been an excessive amount of
computer activity in that room recently, and suspicious activity at
that. Apparently there were some things that had been happening which
should not have been.
She came to a hallway filled with cameras, but surprisingly this did
not worry her at all. See, along with the great pay that came with
government jobs were the snazzy gadgets. To their credit, GUN’s
scientists had recently discovered how to create small cloaking
devices. Although they were still at a loss as to how to make them
large enough for ships and the like, one that was big enough to cover a
Mobian was possible…
Rouge tugged at something that was wrapped around her neck. At first
glance, it appeared to be a very thick scarf. When she pulled it off
and unrolled it, however, it was more like a blanket. Throwing it over
her head, she leaned against the wall and began to walk down the
hallway, sliding along the wall to keep from running into anything.
When she encountered the doorway that interrupted the continuity of the
wall, she turned towards it and lifted the blanket slightly so as to
find the keypad. For this lock, she had been unable to observe the code
being entered, for she’d had no previous access to the interior of the
building. That was where the government came in again. They had been
able to obtain the password by speaking with the company that had
installed the security system. Since the government’s word was law, the
company had put up no resistance when asked for information on the
operation of the system.
Success! The door opened before her, and she hurried inside before the
cameras had a chance to turn that way and view the door. Almost
immediately after tugging the cloak off, she spotted the computer
against the wall to her right. She walked over and seated herself in
the swivel chair, immediately setting her fingers to work at the
keyboard.
Her expertise in the area of computers allowed her to browse through
files quickly and efficiently. Ordinarily, she would have just hacked
into this computer’s mainframe from an outside source, but then the
people who worked here would find out that it had been accessed by
someone other than them, and the government didn’t want to arouse
suspicion until they had more information.
A keyword that she had been searching for finally caught her eye, and
she scrolled more slowly though the current file. The information in it
concerned a recent project involving memory wipes. Apparently the
scientists could not actually delete memories, but they had discovered
how to tuck the memories away so deep unto someone’s subconscious that
they were inaccessible by the person whom they belonged to.
However, it had begun to occur to those same scientists that though it
had the potential for a tremendous amount of good, it could also work
equally in reverse. For example, if the wrong memories were to be lost.
If this type of technology fell into the wrong hands, it could be used
to lock away the memories of people who might be captured, and possibly
turn them to the side of evil.
As it was yet to be decided whether they should continue to work on the
memory machine, they had decided to put it away until they could reach
a verdict. This was where the suspicious computer activity came in.
Although this project was supposed to be postponed, it appeared as
though someone had begun working on it again.
Rouge’s job was to find out why, and--if possible--who. Fortunately for
whoever was behind this, they had not been stupid enough to store that
information on the computer. Rouge closed all the files she’d opened
and began to walk around the room, searching for anything that might be
helpful.
On a side table, she noticed that someone had left behind a journal.
“Hm…this should be interesting…” she thought to herself, grinning.
Grateful to the person for dating their journal entries, she flipped
through until she found one close to the date that the government had
begun to notice the extra computer activity and began to read.
“August 2
I’m worried. For the past few days, my conscience has begun to
experience the feeling of being torn in two. Oh, I wish that my heart
did not have so much control over my actions. Unfortunately, it does.
My patient--the one I discovered lying in the middle of a crater--has
yet to awaken. Instead, he twists and turns, many times breaking into a
sweat. He cries out, sometimes actual words or phrases, sometimes just
anguished sounds. I cannot imagine the terrible memories he must have
in order to be experiencing such nightmares.”
Rouge was intruiged, so much so that she could not force herself to
simply skim the pages.
“August 4
I’ve finally decided. I can no longer stand to see him go through this.
Against my better judgment, I am going to continue the work on the
Memories project. I must ready the machine so that I can lock away his
pain. Perhaps with the “removal” of his memories, he shall finally
awaken.”
“August 5
I’ve begun working late hours, after all the others are gone. Lori has
mentioned that they all think I’m just too obsessive with my work. It
seems that they have not become suspicious, so I am safe. For now.”
“August 7
I’m making progress much faster than I had first anticipated I would.
It makes me very happy. Soon. Soon I can make him forget what torments
him. At first, I could not understand why it had begun to cause my
heart to ache whenever I watched him toss in bed.
But now I think I do. I fear I have fallen for him. It’s such an absurd
thought that I have to wonder at myself even as I write it down. But I
cannot think of any other explanation. How could I? How could my heart
ache for someone who I have yet to even speak to? And yet what can I
do? It is an emotion that simply will not go away.”
“August 10
I continue with the work on the project, growing ever closer to
completion.
As I sat next to him earlier, I could not resist. I reached out my hand
and began to stroke his soft fur, thinking in anticipation of the day
when he might finally awaken.
I ran my hands along the red stripes on his dark black quills--“
Rouge’s heartbeat sped up a little.
“--and then caressed the silky patch of white fur on his chest. It was
then that he murmured a name. Maria. It occurred to me that she might
be the one to which all of his pain is linked. Perhaps I shall have to
lock the memory of her away…”
The white bat froze, unconsciously bringing a gloved hand to her mouth.
She shook herself and rechecked the dates on the journal entries. They
were dated shortly after the happening with the ARK. But that meant…
***
Shadow crouched behind a dumpster, placed along the wall of a dead-end
alley. The smell was highly offensive to his sensitive nose, but he
knew of no better hiding place, and at the moment he did not feel like
“playing” with the GUN troops and robots. A loud, rumbling growl issued
by his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten in ages.
But where was he to get food? He could easily steal it, but that would
mean more people would be after him, more people to avoid. As much as
he hated GUN for what they did, he was growing weary of running into
them wherever he went. Perhaps he should have taken a little more
thought as to how he would exact revenge.
This thought brought up an image of Maria. His mind ruthlessly replayed
the memory of her, chest bleeding, face pale. One hand had been
clutched to her heart area; the other was on the handle that had
deployed his escape pod. The pod beginning to slide out of the ARK, he
had watched as she fell to the ground, never to rise again.
His fist clenched in fury at the thought of the merciless GUN soldiers
who had murdered his only friend. They would pay, and they would pay
dearly.
***
Sonic ran in a large circle at supersonic speed, his version of pacing.
Unfortunately, his “pacing” was harsh on the environment. He was
literally wearing a circular trench into the ground; it grew deeper
every time he went around. His motions copied the paths of the thoughts
inside his head: they, too, were going around in circles.
According to Tails, Shadow was still alive. But…Shadow had fallen from
outer space, meaning that not only did he have a long ways to fall, but
he also had to fall through the atmosphere. Usually, objects that fell
through the atmosphere began to burn. So how did he survive it all?
Tails had also mentioned that Shadow was acting as if he didn’t know
who Tails was when he rescued him. In fact it was as if time had gone
back to when they had first met Shadow, when he was cold, silent, and
arrogant. But…he was alive. Somehow, Sonic couldn’t quite get that to
register.
Sliding to a halt in his self-dug ditch, he climbed out of it and
turned to head back to Knothole. He found himself facing Sally. The
Princess was leaning casually against a tree, her arms folded across
her chest, one foot tapping the ground impatiently. At any other time,
Sonic would have grinned at the fact that she’d picked up that habit
from him.
Sighing, she asked, “So you’re finally done destroying that patch of
earth?” Sonic flushed with embarrassment. “Eheh…hiya, Sal.” The
chipmunk shook her head. “What on Mobius am I going to do with you?”
“Love me?” Sonic replied hopefully. Sally gave him a look. “Uh-huh.
Keep this up and that’s not gonna happen.”
Then, she beckoned. “C’mon, we’ve got a message waiting for us in
Tails’ hut.” She began walking in the direction of Knothole. Impatient
as ever, Sonic ran up behind her, scooped her up into his arms, and
shot off into the woods.
***
The message, surprisingly, was from Rouge. After her initial shock at
finding out that her former teammate was alive, she had continued to
read the journal until the very last entry. And the information she got
from it was quite disturbing. The next thing to do was to find Shadow,
but she had no means of doing that herself. The obvious choice was to
get a hold of Sonic and have him help.
Yes, she was loath to do it. Anyone who was a friend of that stinking
echidna who kept taking her emerald became an immediate enemy. Still,
she was desperate to know more, and this was the easiest way. After
ARK, Tails had given her a number with which she could use to contact
them in case of emergency, and this was what she now dialed up on her
communicator.
Tails answered. “Hello?” “Hello.” The fox’s voice was filled with
surprise. “Rouge…?” The bat chuckled. “That’s my name. Tell me, is
Sonic around?” “Oh, yeah. Just a sec…” There was a pause as Tails
looked for his buddy. Then: “Aunt Sally is going to get him.” Not
knowing how to reply, Rouge remained silent. Although it was rather
awkward, she was no good at casual conversation with children. Nor did
have any desire to be.
Suddenly, Sonic’s voice was coming out of the speaker. “Yeah, whaddaya
want?” Rouge’s first instinct was to spit out a sarcastic reply, but
she knew that if she wanted Sonic’s help, it would do her no good to be
at odds with him. “Well, I was hoping you’d do me a favor…” “And I
would do that…why?” “Because I think the job will interest you?” she
said, a slight smugness coating her voice. “Uh-huh.” The hedgehog
didn’t sound convinced. “It involves a certain black and red
counterpart of yours…” There was another pause. “What about him?”
“Well, I’ve seen evidence that he’s still alive. I’d try to find him
myself, but something tells me you’d be better suited to that task. You
two think so much alike, it’s rather uncanny. Besides, you’re the only
one who can keep up.” Sonic snorted. “Keep up? I could run circles
around him any day!” “Mm-hm. Anyways, I need you to catch up with him
and persuade him to come have a talk with us.” “But why?” Rouge sighed.
“I suppose you’ll need to hear the whole story.”
She related the things she’d read in the journal. “It seems that this
female scientist tried to “lock away” Shadow’s bad memories so that he
wouldn’t suffer anymore. But in the middle of actually doing so,
something went wrong. The program stopped working, so only his most
recent memories have been lost. And that means…” There was a loud noise
on the other side as Sonic and Tails groaned together. “Lemme guess, he
only remembers what happened before the ARK.” “I’d say that’s pretty
accurate,” replied Rouge, “seeing as he’s going around terrorizing GUN
again.”
Sonic groaned a second time. “Aw man, you gotta be kidding me. Y’mean
I’m supposed to go get him after he’s already gotten GUN mad at him?
Again?! Did you forget what happened to me last time?!” Rouge coughed
lightly into her glove, and Sonic knew she was implying that she found
the memory humorous, though her refusal to actually laugh gave him no
room to accuse her of anything.
“As a matter of fact, I didn’t. I had the government clear you with
GUN, not to mention inform them that the two of you are color-coded.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line, then a confused “Huh?”
Rouge rolled her eyes at the hedgehog’s denseness. “Blue means the hero
and black means the bad guy.” “…Oh.” “I think you’ll be fine, so long
as you don’t do anything wrong.” It was Sonic’s turn to roll his eyes.
“Oh, yeah, I’m just dying to have GUN on my case again.”
***
Shadow, having wanted to take a temporary break from the city in order
to regroup, headed for the Great Forest. Of course, he had no knowledge
of its name, nor of the fact that Knothole was located somewhere in its
depths. However, he guessed that there were no GUN troops roaming
around in a forest. And so, unbeknownst to him, every skating stride
brought him that much closer to Sonic.
The green foliage gave him an unexpected sense of dejavous. What in the
world… First the fox kit, and now this. Shadow sniffed in annoyance.
Such a bothersome feeling, that. Why wouldn’t it go away? He paused,
crouched low, and leapt up to the top of a dead tree that had fallen so
that it sloped at an angle to the ground. Turning sideways, he grinded
some of its length, jumping off about halfway down. The feeling came
again, this time full force.
He inhaled sharply as an image began to superimpose itself over his
surroundings. The woodland plants were replaced by the sort of tropical
tress found in jungles. Murky water bordered him on three sides. But
what startled him the most was the ghostly image of the creature in
front of him: almost a mirror image of himself, except…blue. He
blinked, and the vision faded.
His stomach yowled at him, and it was then that he understood.
Grinning, he mocked his own fear. The hallucination was simply a result
of no food and water for the past few days. It was easily resolved; a
lush forest such as this was bound to be full of edible things, not to
mention a river or stream.
As he began to skate away, he cast one last glance over his shoulder.
And though his cold, sensible side kept assuring him it had only been a
figment of his imagination, he could not rid himself of the nagging
thought that the person he had seen was, in fact, from his past.
***
Sonic needed to think. Again. His brain had never been one of his best
assets, so for him thinking things out in detail required a greater
amount of time than normal…plus a nice, long run. The moment Rouge cut
the connection, Sonic had left the hut in a whirlwind. For him, this
was information overload.
Shadow’s being alive had been confirmed. He was alive…and he had
forgotten everything they’d been through together. Sonic remembered the
pain that’d torn through his heart as he’d bid Shadow a last farewell,
knowing that he’d never see him again. And now…he was alive, and there
was a part of Sonic that couldn’t help being overjoyed. His racing
buddy was back! But what good was it if his “buddy” couldn’t even
recall the bonding experience they’d shared?
A determined fire began to grow in his eyes. He’d almost befriended
that black hedgehog once. Why shouldn’t he be able to do it again? Only
this time, he’d make sure to finish the job. Yeah, that’s right. And
he’d also make sure to beat him in a race. They never had actually
finished their previous one…
Crash! The blue hedgehog suddenly found himself lying on the ground. He
sat up, groaned, and rubbed his forehead. He cracked open one eye to
see what he’d run into. And promptly found himself on the verge of a
heart attack. Apparently the “what” that he’d run into, or, more
accurately, “who”, felt the same way. However, the creature quickly
masked his facial expression.
“Watch where you’re going much?” Shadow asked, eyes sparking slightly.
To his embarrassment, Sonic realized that there was about twelve inches
worth of space between his top lip and bottom lip. He pulled his mouth
shut as he groped desperately for a coherent answer. “Um…yeah, yeah, I
do…but I only actually move when I like the person--or object--enough
not to run into them.” Oh yeah, real slick, Sonic, he thought, berating
himself.
“So…uh, long time, no see, eh Shadow?” The black hedgehog froze in the
action of brushing himself off. Glaring suspiciously at the other
Mobian, he asked, “Why do you know my name?” Then, an appealing thought
seemed to occur to him. “Oh, I’m that famous, am I?” he said with a
smirk. “More like infamous,” Sonic muttered. Shadow’s ears flicked
towards him; he chuckled at the remark. “Yes, I suppose that is
accurate. Considering…”
“So, headed anywhere in particular at the moment?” Shadow sniffed.
“What business is it of yours?” “Oh, you’d be surprised…” “Hm. Try me.”
“Well…there’s someone who mentioned that they’d like to speak with
you.” “If you mean GUN, I already know,” the Ultimate Life Form replied
with a wave of his hand, turning to leave. “Actually…I was referring to
Rouge the Bat.” Shadow stopped cold as another ghostly memory flashed
through his mind: one of an arrogantly grinning white bat, a chaos
emerald in hand.
“Hah! So you do remember her,” Sonic crowed triumphantly. “And me too,
by the look on your face when I bumped into you. Shadow laughed, having
already recovered. “How can I remember someone I’ve never even seen?”
Sonic became serious again. “Liar. I saw it. Your body language tells
more truth than what you say. Anyway, whether you remember her or not,
she wants to tell you some stuff.”
Thoughts swirled around endlessly in Shadow’s mind. Why should he trust
the blue newcomer? But why not? Who was Rouge? Where had that image
come from, since he had finally eaten and could no longer be
hallucinating? What else did he have to do at the moment? Deciding to
take a risk, he replied, “If this is a trick, you’ll be the first to
die, hedgehog.” Sonic snickered. “Uh-huh. Sure thing, Shads.” Then,
striking a pose, he said, “By the way, my name’s Sonic. Sonic the
Hedgehog.”
Strangely, the voice seemed to have an echo. “Sonic…the Hedgehog…
adventure…what you see is what…just a guy who loves…” Shadow had to
work at not grabbing his head. That voice…Why…? He almost shuddered.
Instead, he crossed his arms and tapped a foot impatiently. “Well, what
are you waiting for?” Sonic grinned. “Not you!”
Without warning, he turned and zipped off into the trees. Shadow was
almost knocked over by the blast of wind he created. Instinctively, he
righted his balance and pursued the retreating hedgehog. Sonic flashed
up beside him. “We never did finish our race…you were too bent on world
destruction at the time. We’ll have to fix that.” World destruction?
He…knew? But…
“And why did I wish to destroy the world?” Sonic’s grin faded.
“Because…she was all you had.” Shadow’s heart almost stopped. He did
know. Maybe he was trustworthy after all… Then he mentally scolded
himself. What was he thinking? He could trust no one. Not if he planned
to get revenge properly.
His thoughts were cut short as he realized that Sonic was skidding to a
halt. He followed suit and saw that they were in a primitive looking
village. Gesturing to the huts, Sonic said, “Welcome to Knothole.”
Walking over to a bell that hung nearby, he rang it twice to signal
that he’d come back. The door of one of the nearby huts opened, and out
walked Sally.
She seemed surprised. “Wow, Sonic, that was fast!” Then she added,
“Even for you.” Sonic grinned. “You know me, Sal, always working to
break my old records.” Sally observed their guest with interest. So
this was the guy that had almost destroyed Mobius and then helped to
save it all in one day. Shadow returned her gaze, noting that their
seemed to be a regal air about her.
Although his appearance made her slightly nervous, Sally greeted him
with a warm smile and an extended hand. “Hello. My name is Sally.
Pleased to meet you.” “Make that ‘Princess Sally,’” Sonic added. Sally
rolled her eyes. “Sonic, you didn’t have to tell him.” Shadow bowed
politely, displaying more manners than Sonic had ever seen from him.
“Greetings, your Highness.”
Sally’s eyes sparkled with sudden mischief. “Sonic, consider yourself
replaced.” Sonic started; then looked confused. “Huh?” Sally walked
over to Shadow and hooked her left arm and her right hand around his
elbow. The black hedgehog suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Why don’t you
let me give you a tour of Knothole while Tails goes to pick up Rouge,”
she suggested. She began to guide him into the village. Sonic protested
and hurried after them.
***
Rouge paced in front of her apartment complex in poorly contained
agitation. Tails was coming to pick her up and take her to Knothole so
that she would be on hand whenever Sonic finally brought Shadow back.
Her teammate. There were many reasons for her nervousness, one of them
being her last encounter with Sonic’s black rival. She’d seen the cold,
apathetic look in his eyes, the way he hadn’t even cared whether or not
he would have to kill her in order to keep her from stealing the Chaos
Emeralds. When he’d stared at her like that…She shuddered, knowing that
had been one of the only times in her life when she’d felt real fear.
Secondly…there was the fact that he was incredibly handsome. She’d
never admit it to anyone else, and even had a hard time admitting it to
herself, but she found Shadow attractive. It annoyed her immensely. A
crush would simply get in the way of her job. Yes, from time to time
she’d had to use her…feminine influence…to get tasks done. But to
actually like someone, that was out of the question. She was afraid
that if she saw him again, it might make things worse.
But it was her job to set things straight with him, according to GUN.
And if she couldn’t…well, she didn’t like to think about what she would
have to do if it came to that. She ceased her pacing long enough to
slip a compact out of her pocket, flip it open, and check her make-up.
By the time she was satisfied that everything looked just right, Tails
had found her and was waiting for her to notice him, scuffing his shoe
on the ground.
She looked up in surprise. “My, my, that was quick.” Tails rubbed the
back of his head with one hand. “Yeah…I made some modifications to the
X Tornado to increase its speed…Um, you ready?” Rouge winked at him.
“Always, hun.” Reddening, he turned around and said over his shoulder,
“The bi-plane is this way.” Shutting her compact and replacing it in
her pocket, she walked after him.
They had to go a few blocks before they came to the clearing where
Tails had landed. Whirling his namesakes, he flew up to the cockpit and
seated himself inside. “Would you like me to lower it for you?” he
inquired over the edge. Fluttering her wings, she replied, “I’m good.”
She went up to the passenger seat.
Waiting until she was safely belted in, the kitsune then switched the X
Tornado out of walker mode. Unused to the transformation process, the
shuddering feeling produced by the machine startled Rouge. It felt as
if it were about to fall over. The bi-plane lifted off of the ground
and into the air without mishap. The white bat was relieved when they
were finally cruising smoothly along. Being jostled around was one
thing she could do without.
Now that they were on their way, she could try and straighten out her
thoughts and feelings so that she wouldn’t come out sounding like an
incoherent idiot when she finally got the chance to speak with Shadow.
That would certainly do no good if she were trying to convince him of
anything. She silently ran through the list of things she needed to say
to him, rehearsing them like a speech.
As for her irritating feelings towards him, she decided that so long as
it was just a passing crush, there could be no harm in it. After all,
most every girl she knew had some guy they were fantasizing over.
Thankfully, she would never take things so far as to dream about a boy.
The slight quickening of her heartbeat where he was concerned was
enough.
With so many things to occupy her, Tails reached Knothole much sooner
than she’d expected. Those must have been some pretty amazing
modifications that he’d made, she thought. The fox landed the plane
near the center of the village. Waiting for him to give her the okay to
un-strap herself, Rouge noticed Sonic coming out to greet them. ‘Isn’t
he supposed to be out looking for Shadow?’ she wondered irritably. The
arrogant fool certainly had his own schedule for things.
“Back so soon, T2?” he asked, high-fiving the youngster as he hopped
out of the Tornado. “Yep. Remember the modifications I made to her?”
her he asked, affectionately patting the machine. “Sure do. You were in
your workshop for days.” “Well, they made her a lot faster.” Then he
added, “Plus she’s got a great power source.” Sonic grinned knowingly.
A Chaos Emerald provided extra energy for their plane.
A cough behind them announced the presence of Rouge. Sonic scowled.
“Hello to you, too.” Rouge pretended to look offended, placing a hand
over her heart. “Why, Sonic, what did I ever do to you?” Sonic muttered
something unintelligible, and Rouge was tempted to laugh. Instead, she
asked, “Weren’t you supposed to be doing something?” Sonic rolled his
eyes. “Yes mother,” he said mockingly, and ran off. Rouged folded her
arms over her chest. That hedgehog had no respect for a lady.
She drew her breath in sharply as he came back a moment later, bringing
two people with him. Shadow was walking towards her, Sally and Sonic
flanking him on either side. She thought she saw his step falter as he
was finally able to see her clearly, but the mistake was quickly
covered up. He finally came to stand before her, his face
expressionless. Then again, she too wore a mask, her eyelids lowered
and her lips curved up in a half smile.
“Long time, no see, Shadow.” To her surprise, her former teammate made
a face. “Must everyone greet me with that phrase?” Sonic punched him in
the shoulder. “Oh, come off it. I was the only other one to say that
and you know it.” Shadow shoved him away with a scowl. “Now, boys,
violence is not the answer.” She put a motherly tone in her voice,
teasing Sonic for the way he’d called her “mother” a moment earlier.
Turning her attention to Sally for the first time, she asked, “Do you
have a place where we could sit down and talk?” Sally nodded. “Yes, the
Meeting Hut.” “Hut…right. Lead the way, then.” The playful look, to
Sonic’s annoyance, returned to the princesses’ face. Hooking her arm in
Shadow’s again, with a smirk directed at Sonic, she turned and began to
weave her way around the living huts towards their meeting quarters.
To her irritation, Rouge felt a flash of jealousy. What right did that
girl have to be so familiar with Shadow? It wasn’t as if she’d known
him, had worked with him, had almost been fr--‘Cut it out!’ she thought
frantically. ‘Who cares? It’s just a freakin’ crush. Leave it be.’ Then
she realized that even Tails had already left. If she didn’t hurry, she
would be left behind.
***
Shadow, meanwhile, wasn’t sure what to think. Rouge had looked exactly
same as she had in his so-called “hallucination”. He was becoming
frustrated and a little frightened. Two people, now, he’d remembered
what they looked like before he even saw them. And they both had known
his name, had even known about Her. What was this? Why couldn’t he
remember anything about them besides their faces? Actually, that wasn’t
quite true. He’d remembered bits and pieces of what seemed to be
something Sonic had said to him, when they’d met before. If they’d met
before today.
It didn’t help any that Sally was so close to him. The only female he’d
ever been touched by was Maria, and it made him feel as though he was
being untrue to her by letting Sally hold his arm. Still, something
about the way her blue eyes reminded him of his friend’s kept him from
shrugging the princess off.
When she finally noticed his discomfort, she let go of him
apologetically. “Sorry about that. I’m just trying to get on Sonic’s
nerves, and let me tell you it’s working.” Shadow looked at her
somewhat quizzically. “I do love him,” she explained, “but sometimes he
needs a little reminding that I’m not just a toy he can play with
whenever he feels like it. He needs to know that if he can’t treat me
properly, I’ll find someone else.”
Love? Shadow hadn’t heard that beautiful word in ages. Not since Maria
had passed away. She had been his all…and then she was gone, never to
speak his name again, never to comfort him when he was sad. Although
the last thing he wanted to do was replace her, he couldn’t help a
longing in his heart for someone else to hold him.
It wasn’t until they’d arrived at the Meeting Hut and were seated
around a table that he brought his attention back to the here and now.
Everyone’s expressions had turned serious. “Shadow,” Rouge began,
looking him in the eye, “Certain things have happened. Things you don’t
remember. That’s what we’re going to start with: reminding you of some
recent events in your past. Sonic and Tails will be filling in the
parts I don’t know.”
Shadow listened in growing astonishment as they began to describe
things he had done just a month ago, things he had no current knowledge
of. Or did he? The more they told him, the more faces and images began
to appear in his mind, until finally when Sonic was telling how he’d
battled against Shadow in the Jungle, Shadow whispered, “Faker.” Sonic
stopped talking. Then he shook his head. “Never thought I’d actually be
glad to hear you say that, but it’s a good sign. It means you’re
starting to remember.”
They continued, Rouge and Tails taking turns with Sonic, until finally
they finished with his deceptively fatal fall from outer space. “If all
this is true,” he said slowly, “then why could I remember none of it?”
Rouge folded her hands on the table. “To put it simply, your mind has
been tampered with.” Shadow looked at her in alarm. “Not to worry,
we’ve restored what was lost.
“To give you a better explanation… Someone found you after you landed,
Shadow. They kept you for a while, caring for you while you were
unconscious. But after a while, it became apparent that you weren’t
going to wake up. Not without help, at any rate. So, your rescuer began
to secretly continue work on a project that had been temporarily
suspended. It involved memory wipes. They finished it up and began the
process on you. However, it seems there were some bugs in the program.
Something went wrong. The process didn’t finish, and only your newest
memories were tucked away.”
Shadow stared at nothing in particular, obviously struggling to deal
with the abnormally large amount of information. “Who--who saved me?”
he said at last. “A scientist,” replied Rouge. “Her name is Dr. Loraine
Kuziej.”
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