<<Hųśh>>

-'13'-

"Lunch is in an hour." Knuckles' voice echoed. The room was practically barren, save for the few bunkbeds lining the walls. Each sound had a deafening echo, it pained Rouge's ears.

"Thank Chaos. I feel like I haven't eaten in days!" Amy exclaimed. Though she seemed optimistic, there was a slight exhaustion in her tone, perhaps boredom.  The small fox chuckled lightly, he too was losing optimism, "You ate this morning." He reasoned.

Rouge turned her head to the window. Her mind couldn't focus on food. Every second felt like a minute. Anxiousness was brewing in her mind. She toyed with her communicator as she flipped through all of the possible scenarios her 'brother' was in. She could only stare at the message she had recieved a few minutes prior. It was clearly rushed and panicked. Shadow would have never sent such a misspelled message if he were okay.

The room was suddenly enveloped in a bright light, the conversation seized. Rouge flinched as the light blinded her, blinking a few times to try regain her vision.

A grunt echoed from infront of her. Her head snapped upwards. Shadow was turned away from her, keeled over and grunting. She gasped and jumped up before running to the hedgehog. Before she could reach him, he collapsed onto the floor, blood steadily oozing out of him. He was injured.

"Mr Shadow!" Cream shouted. Rouge very quickly lifted up the ebony hedgehog with help from the boisterous red echidna, who she passivley thanked. "Where is the medical room?" Rouge asked Amy - who had taken the time to explore the area. She could feel the blood pooling in the palm of her hands and seeping into her gloves.

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Pain seemingly flooded his body. He wasn't dead at the very least. With a grunt, the ebony hedgehog opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a room, but not one in the house. He felt an odd tightness on his abdomen and arm, looking down to find his jacket missing and very haphazard bandages wrapped around his torso and forearm.

He huffed in frustration and sat up suddenly. He wasnt in the home, clearly.

The walls were a light grey in colour with black flooring. Mismatched beds scattered the walls up to the doorway that presumably lead to another room. He didnt recognise the area. The windows had been draped with cloth of some kind - probably bedsheets. He had accidentally teleported away instead of somewhere else in the house. It was always guilt that forced him into such situations.

"You scared me you dumbass!" A familiar voice, tangibly watery, exclaimed. Shadow looked to his side slowly in horror. His eyes widened as the realisation hit him. He had teleported to Rouge, who was wearing his missing jacket. 

The white bat hugged Shadow gently. The pressure of the hug only increased the pain in his torso. Shadow chocked a hiss, breathing at an unstable rate to try ease the pain. Rouge pulled away swiftly afterwards, looking him over in concern.

"What happened?" She asked. "He shot me with my own gun." Shadow hesitantly replied. Even knowing his nemesis - who wasn't in the right frame of mind - had used his own weapon against him was shameful. He had promised to ensure Sonic wouldn't harm anybody and remain locked up, and he had failed. Sonic could have been anywhere spreading havoc; Shadow had practically handed him a weapon to aid him. The now navy hedgehog was unstoppable, those who could defeat him knew him personally - Shadow, his own rival, couldn't. His friends stood no chance.

Rouge took off the leather, studded jacket and handed it back to Shadow. "It was cold." She reasoned. Shadow merely huffed, even in an apocalypse she stole his possessions while he remained unconscious. Atleast that never changed.

"You need to eat, hun." Rouge's tone shifted to an air of serious and concern she had never shown Shadow. He himself was never all that concerned about being harmed, until now. He actually struggled while fighting Sonic - normally an easy foe if his morals weren't used.