New Paths .:Shadamy:.

Ch. 6

Amy's POV
'I thought he was dead..'
"Where am I?" I refrain from jumping at his deep voice; it isn’t much different from hearing a ghost. ” ‘Of course he wouldn't know where we are. He came from the other dimension. But could this really be him?’ "Shadow.. Is that really you?" He furrows his brow. "Aren't you.. Amy Rose?" I smile and nod. It's him, no doubt. "Yeah, that's me. And you’re in Möbius, my home dimension." He looks around before walking back towards the trees, and I follow him cautiously. He doesn't know his way around here; I know he can take care of himself, but I feel like I should offer him some help. I reach out to tap his shoulder. "Shadow~" He turns suddenly and seizes my arm, pulling me towards him. "How did I get here?!" He demands; I gulp. "I'm not sure. Everyone who was Mobian had to go through a portal and go back home." "Why?" His eyes burn into me, and he squeezes my arm harder; I pull back a little. "Something about our species being from another dimension was tearing the fabric of time apart. If we had stayed, time would have stopped on earth and its dimension completely." His pupils widen, but that is the only visible change in his face. “How long ago has it been since the Ark incident?” At least he doesn’t cut corners with his questions. “Shadow.. it’s been two whole years since all that went down. You have been gone for a long time.” His face hardens but he doesn’t reply. I try to pull my arm away, and he lets it slide through his grip. He turns away from me and begins to stride off again, in a different direction this time. I hesitate; 'Should I still try to help him? He already intimidates me..' Making myself forget my apprehensions, I follow. We walk in silence for a bit, with Shadow looking around at the scenery every once in a while. I go a little faster, and then we are walking side by side. "Why are you following me?" he doesn't even look at me, just walks straight ahead. I answer with a question; "Do you know where you're going?" He scoffs grumpily, "Why does it matter? Everything here is new to me, it doesn't matter where I go. It's not like I belong here." I ponder that thought for a moment before replying. "Would you like to see some old friends at least?" He stops and looks at me. "If you are talking about that annoying blue hedgehog fool you just fought with or any of his little posse, than no. I don't have friends." I smile a little, "I mean Rouge and Omega, you guys seemed like a good team, so I thought you would want to see them again. And aren't we friends?" I look at him, but he doesn't answer my question. "Are they here? Take me to them." Well, this is the old Shadow, no change there. "You can follow me!" I motion for him to follow, and take off running. He runs close behind, and I pick up the pace until the landscape is just a blur.
The trip is quick, and I have to slow down as I recognize the road that leads to Rouge's cafe, jogging through the door. Shadow seems to hesitate before coming in after me, but I don't really care as long as I can get him to see Rouge and Omega. Rouge is sitting on the front counter, looking at something shiny in her hands. Probably something she’s recently stolen. “Do you deal with customers sitting on the counter like that, Rouge?” She whirls and is obviously about to give me some indignant response when she freezes.

Normal POV
“Shadow?!” At the name, Omega comes clanking out of the back room to check. He buzzes quietly for a few moments before confirming Rouge’s statement. “Shadow the Hedgehog’s status has been updated. Alive and functioning. Greetings Shadow.” “Is that really you, Shadow? We all thought that you died when you saved Earth..” Rouge slides off the counter and comes before the hedgehog in question. “I’m not dead. Where am I?” he asks. “I-” is all Amy can get in for a protest when Shadow silences her with a scorching glare. Rouge looks between Shadow and Amy before answering, “Shadow, you are now on planet Mobius, our home planet. Earth was in a different dimension, and there’s not really a way of going back there before you ask.” He eyes Rouge suspiciously before turning to Amy. “What you said was the truth.” It wasn’t really a question, more a statement. Amy makes a face. “Yes, why do you think I would need to lie? Anyways, I knew you enough from before to know that you would be able to tell if I were lying or not.” He nods before turning to his surroundings. “I see you aren’t the thief you used to be, Rouge?” “No, this place is just a sideshow. Not that many people come through here since it isn’t near town. Believe it or not, it brings in a nice profit with the food and rent it generates. Not to mention a less conspicuous place to hide my… valuables.” Shadow chuckles a little, easing up. Amy, on the other hand, is starting to feel the strain from the spontaneous exercise her body had to endure, it not being entirely used to running and fighting to such extremes yet. She can feel herself quickly running out of steam. “Hey you two, I need proper clothes. I’m going shopping. I don’t care what you say Rouge, I need that ‘particular piece of clothing’ to feel comfortable, but I think I’ll keep the suit. I can make another dress later. See you guys in like an hour.” She turns and walks out the door, turning to super speed once she is out the doors. “Well, at least she isn’t trying to bust my doors down.” Rouge sighs. “What did you steal from her this time?” Shadow asks, not sure what Amy would have that Rouge would want. “Oh, I didn’t steal anything, but I did throw her bra away.” Silence and a disgusted look on his face greets her. “It’s not like that! She got really hurt on a personal mission I sent her on and all her stuff got torn up..”  *further silence* “Hey, it’s not my fault she didn’t have a spare!” “That doesn’t make things much better from my perspective. On a different subject matter, since when does Amy partake in solo missions? She has little skill or strength. Granted she does seem to have a newfound speed, but that is beside the point.” “She has changed more than you can imagine, and I probably don’t even know the half of it. It’s a long story, one I’m sure you won’t have much interest in.” “Try me.” he replies, not having much else to do in the moment. Rouge sighs. “Well, it all started when this gang came to the Club…”

57 Minutes Later

The two had just finished their conversation when Amy walks through the door with a few bags, looking relieved and satisfied. “Glad that’s over with,” she sighs. “Well someone shrunk while she was out.” Rouge sneers. “It’s called a bra, and we all know you don’t use one. So stop being a pest.” Rouge rolls her eyes and Shadow growls, wishing to escape the immaturity. “Omega, sparring session outside. Effective immediately.” Shadow walks towards the door but Omega stands still for a moment. “Does the pink one wish to join?” Amy looks at Omega; “No thank you. I’m not used to this yet, I’m exhausted. Maybe tomorrow.” Omega buzzes his understanding and follows Shadow, who is waiting by the door with a frown.
Once outside, Shadow immediately questions the robot. “Why would you ask Amy to fight? Just because she wins a bar fight or has a scuffle with a thief doesn’t mean she can fight at our level.” “Amy has shown special abilities and her capabilities are not as limited as I had once registered.” Omega states; despite his inability to show emotion through his robotic voice, Omega seems strangely sure of himself on this subject. Shadow instantly responds, slightly intrigued by the notion. “Abilities, like Chaos Control?” “Access denied. Information not cleared for disclosure.”  Seeing that Omega had likely been told not to talk about it, Shadow shakes his head. “It’s likely genetically impossible for one such as her to possess Chaos power. Just forget about it.”

Shadow and Omega fight for a few hours, the girls occasionally watching from a window. When they finally come back inside the club Amy and Rouge had just sat down for an early dinner, Rouge motioning for Shadow to come and sit with them. As he seats himself, Rouge clears her throat. “Amy, now that we have some time to relax, I want to ask you a few questions.” “I may have a question or two as well.” Shadow states, surprising the girls a little at his interest. Amy gives a ragged sigh; “Alright, fine. I can’t promise you will get a lot out of me, I’m tired and I really don’t feel like saying too much.”
Rouge largely ignores her response, instead jumping right in; Shadow just watches carefully. "How did the fight with Kenna go? It looked like you barely scraped by, so I have to know how bad of an ass kicking you gave my rival.” She smirks, ready for a story. “Actually we really fought twice. I confronted her in a bar, and it was more like she was introducing herself than fighting. The second fight was deep in the sewers. Kenna had a long blade and knife-tipped boots; it was hard to avoid the boots but I tossed her blade away pretty soon in the fight. I thought I would disarm her and the fight would be near its end, but nothing could have been further from the truth. She just had a pocket knife left, but she managed to get me with it and crack my ribs. Although for the most part, it was hand to hand combat. She fights well, but she thought she had won too early and gloated, saying she was going to kill me. That’s when I took advantage; I think I busted her arm. We didn’t fight for too much longer, when I won she gave me the cash. In the end she only had enough energy to run off.”
“Haha, you taught that girl a lesson!” Rouge laughs, but Amy interrupts her. “I certainly did. She thought I would kill her, but I told her that she was already killing herself by staying in Mobotropolis. I told her to get a real job and get away from there. Pretty sure she took my advice, at least in leaving the city. I might even be able to call her my friend.” Rouge frowns in disappointment and slight disgust. “Chaos, that’s just something you would do too.” Shadow catches Amy’s attention to ask something. “And this was just yesterday?” Amy nods, but before she can speak he continues. “So all those flesh wounds you received, and the cracked ribs… they didn’t just disappear. How did you heal so fast?” Interrupted again, Amy is cut off from answering by Rouge. “When I went to see her again after the little Sonic incident, some of the cuts I didn’t manage to bandage up were healed and her ribs seemed fine by the way she was standing. When I asked Omega about it, he wouldn’t say a word.”
“Something similar happened to me when I asked why Omega invited Amy to train. He said she showed ‘special abilities’ and higher capabilities than he had previously known. When I asked something specific, he denied access to the information, which has never happened before. I would like to know what you have done to him to keep his silence, and reverse it immediately.” Shadow stated firmly. Amy flattened her ears defensively.
“I didn’t ‘do’ anything to Omega. I just asked him to keep a secret, and he did. I’m surprised that he didn’t tell you, since I hadn’t thought to ask him not to tell you as well.” Shadow glares at her challengingly, and Rouge pouts at having secrets kept from her. “You didn’t ask Omega to tell me what, exactly?” Shadow asks her, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s –“
“Rouge and I have both directly and indirectly asked about abilities of some sort. This is the center of our questions. I would advise you to quit the act and come clean. My patience is wearing thin.” Amy stiffens up at this veiled threat, knowing full well that she has no hope to stand up against the Ultimate Lifeform. She lowers her head and sighs in defeat.
“Go ahead and tell ‘em, Omega. After that, guys, no more questions. I need some sleep.” The robot buzzes, presumably going through his internal files. “ From a single observation, I have seen that Amy can heal herself using Chaos Emeralds; registered in status update at 9:25 am today. She also exudes a small amount of Chaos power on her own, further abilities possessed unknown.” Rouge stares at Amy in disbelief, but Shadow nods. “When I made physical contact with you earlier and back on Earth, I sensed something; I knew about the Chaos Emeralds this morning, but there was always something off.. This explains it.” Rouge recovers from her astonishment to ask, “You? Chaos powers? That’s interesting. Is this a new thing?” “No. Not that I should really be telling you anything else.” “Why would you need to hide that, and not tell anyone?” Amy closes her eyes; that is the difficult part, with too many roots in more important personal issues. “For reasons of my own, including my safety. That’s all.” “Now I wonder what other secrets you have to hide.” An aggravated and cranky Amy gets up and slams her hands on the table, growling while staring harshly at Rouge, who smiles and nonchalantly flips the finger. Knowing that this could come to blows, Shadow steps in. “Rouge, leave it.” At his few words, Rouge frowns but leans back in her chair. Amy snorts and leaves the table, ready for a rest. When she passes Shadow, who is still seated, she puts a hand lightly on his shoulder. “Thanks.” With that, she maneuvers her way over the serving counter and to the hall leading to her room. As soon as her door clicks closed, Rouge turns on Shadow. “Why did you side with her? You want to know what’s up with her as much as I do!” He grunts. “Not so much that I would need to push her buttons. You went too far.” Rouge throws her hands in the air. “Whatever, fine! I’ll still ask more in the morning. This is too interesting for me to just stop. I’m going out, there’s a free room right next to Amy’s. Bye.” With that, Rouge leaves the club behind for her nightly endeavors, whatever they may be.

Amy’s POV
I hear Rouge argue with Shadow, then finally leave for the night. I wonder how she got caught up on her rest, with how she was up bandaging me super late last night. I sigh, rolling my shoulders to loosen them up a bit. Her problem isn’t mine. I throw off my suit and put on a crop top and shorts I bought for pajamas. That’s the problem with leaving my house behind and using hammer space – I packed emotionally, not practically. All of my clothes are in my closet, and there is no way I’m going back there any time soon. Oh well. I need to sleep, my body has been under major stress these past few days…

Dream POV
A teeny little Amy runs around with her parents through the thick forest around their home. They are playing squirt tag, and it’s Amy’s turn with the squirt gun. Her parents had split up and she had chosen to follow after her mother. Or at least, she could see her mother’s beloved cloak flapping as she jogged away. Trying to sprint on her stubby legs, Amy trips over something and the squirt gun flies through the air. “Oooowie!” whines Amy, but her mom doesn’t seem to hear her and keeps running. Amy looks down to what tripped her up and sees something pretty and shiny sticking out of the ground. The innocent young child doesn’t even know that she’s staring down the barrel of a rusty but still efficient gun..
Amy tries to pull it out, but when that doesn’t work she scrapes the dirt away from the object. Picking it up, the girl notes that it is heavy. She stands up with her new treasure and starts running towards where she last saw her mother. “Moooommy! Mooom~” She swings the heavy thing in her hand around, its aim dancing around in front of her. “Mom!! I found something! Commere!” A rustling sound is heard and her mother emerges from hiding behind a tree. “What did you find?” She kept her distance, wondering if her daughter was tricking her to come within range of the squirt gun. Amy pointed the thing at her mother and waved it. “This!” At that, her mother widened her eyes and rushed at Amy with startling speed. Startling enough for the little girl to instinctively tense up; startling enough for her finger to slip into the more natural grip of the trigger guard. And squeeze.
A loud bang reverberated throughout the forest. The bullet pierces through cloak, skin, and all. A dark pink woman drops to the ground with a seeping red hole in her chest. Amy shrieks, drops the loud thing, and rushes to her mother. “Mom?” The woman has tears in her eyes, sobbing wetly and clutching her ribs. The bullet had punctured a lung and had bounced around in her sturdy rib cage, doing more damage. “Mom, what’s wrong? I’m sorry!! I didn’t mean to!!” Mini Amy starts to cry, clutching at her mother. Loud noises can be heard as her father runs towards the sound. “Echo! Amy! What happened-?” He stops dead as he sees the blood, the dropped gun, his wife on the floor and his daughter with blood on her. He comes to his senses and is at his wife’s side in a burst of speed. “What happened?! Echo, talk to me baby!” She cannot reply, and begins choking on her own blood. “Amy, we have to heal her! Help daddy, remember what we taught you!” He props Echo up to help the blood flow down so she may breathe, and father and daughter try to heal the fading hedgehog. The warm glow surrounds the area, the atmosphere wavers with the power being exerted from the powerful male and tiny girl. Echo mends enough to speak again. “Amy, it’s ok. It’s not your fault. I love you. I love you so much… *gaaak* Arron, I don’t think…” Her green eyes become watery, and her spine becomes slack and wobbly. “Don’t talk baby, we’ll save you! It’s going to be okay!” The glow becomes more intense, but the mother and wife was almost gone. The wound was sealed but blood had filled her lungs; it was no longer an injury keeping her from health, there was nothing to heal. She managed a few words before she drowned. In her own blood. “Amy.. not your fault.. I love you so much.. I love you both… so, so much…” And her last breath is nothing but a memory.
There was a terrible racket as father and daughter screamed and wailed in absolute agony and loss. The creatures of the forest fled the area in fright.
Though this is just a moment from the past, it has become reality for the Amy of the present. Because for her, tonight, locked in a terrible nightmarish truth, she will relive this memory over and over and over...