. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁Stolen Love. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

Chapter 5

You were playing with a few Chao when you heard Tangle and Whisper sneak up behind you. You looked over your shoulder to look at them. You gave them both a warm smile and said. "Hey Tangle! Hey Whisper! What's up?" Their looks gave you an uneasy feeling. Tangle sighed. "We need to talk about something (Y/N)" OH SHIT!! They know, don't they?! But even the professional detectives don't know what you did and can't link the crime back to you. Pray to Chaos that this isn't about the break-in. "Uh yeah. What do you guys need to talk with me about?" You questioned, motioning for the two to sit down next to you. They declined. "...Better discussed inside..." Whisper replied. You nodded and followed the pair, leaving the little Chao behind. You slipped into Tangle's room. "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" You asked as you sat down on the edge of Tangle's bed. Tangle frowned and Whisper crossed her arms. "You want to tell her or me?" Whisper nodded. "...We know everything..." Your ears swiveled back and your eyes widened as a sense of panic washed over you. "W-what are you talking about?" Tangle sighed. "I hate to do this to you (Y/N) but we need a confession. We know you're the one who broke in and stole back Metal Sonic. "How?! I covered my tracks-" You bit your sentence short. Whisper sighed, taking her mask off. "...We know you steal... no need for secrecy..." You sighed, knowing they truly did know you were the thief. "So how did you figure it out? Even the detectives here didn't know. I left no trace." Tangle looked towards Whisper who gave her a nod. "Well a few days ago when i mentioned the break-in, Whisper's wisps told her you felt guilty. She investigated in Tail's lab and outside of it but found nothing and then she..." Tangle frowned, not sure if she wanted to share the next part, but Whisper finished the explanation by offering you the mask. You hesitantly put it on, seeing the footage of Whisper listening in on your conversation. Once the recording finished you pulled the mask off. "I- wow... and here I thought you were ethical heros." Your ears folded down out of annoyance and slight anger. Whisper sighed. "... I didn't mean to..." You rolled your eyes. You were being made out as a villain for doing your job and your privacy had been intruded upon. "I don't care if you didn't MEAN to you still did." Tangle looked at Whisper as the wolf took back her mask. "Look, (Y/N) we aren't mad... We did some research online and know why you did what you did, or at least have an idea of why." You shifted. "Uhm, why do you think I did what I did?" "...You work for Winter... they make you steal things..." Your ears flicked back, eyes widening with shock. "Damn you REALLY did figure me out. You two could be good spies." You gave them a small smile, hoping the two wouldn't turn you over to Sonic. "Thanks! It was nothing really." Tangle smiled. Whisper shook her head "...flattery won't help... I'll get Sonic... Tangle keep her..." FUCK!! I'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!! The second Whisper was far enough away you made a dash for the door only to be caught by Tangle's tail. You squirmed. "Let go!!" Tangle made a few struggling noises as you fought against her. "Come on (Y/N)!! Please don't make this difficult!!" You were going to make it difficult. You felt guilty about what you were planning to do but Winter had always taught you to prioritze your mission and safety over emotions and you'd failed with that recently. You drove your foot down rather hard, striking the lemur girl in the snout. She let out a pained wail and her grip loosened, allowing you to break free. "I'm sorry, Tangle!* You shouted as you darted out the door. You were making a mad dash for the exit when you felt someone yank on your quills! You cried out in pain and tried to pull yourself free. "LET GO OF ME!!" You yelled, trying to fight back against your assailant. Suddenly you felt something hard hit your head. Your vision swam and you collapsed down. When you next opened your eyes you were tied to a chair in a dark room. "Are you really sure we have to do it like this? It seems a bit cruel..." You could hear Amy's voice. "Amy?" You softly called out, ears pinned back and eyes wide with slight fear. It honestly felt like you were a criminal in some action movie. One part of that statement was true. You WERE a criminal. "Oh she's awake now." You heard some suffling as Sonic sat down across from you. He sighed. "Look (Y/N)... We don't want to hurt you." You glared back at him. "I wouldn't even LET you get close to hurting me." Sonic's ear slightly pinned back at the aggressive tone you'd taken on. "I understand why you did what you did, but at the same time it still confuses me why you'd steal for Eggman. He's tried to destroy and conquer this planet, your and our home, so many times!" You looked away. That was true but again your training was telling you to be cold, un-feeling and not cave to their questions. "I did what my mission assigned me..." You mumbled. "Sonic let me try." You could barely make out Amy walking over and scooting Sonic aside. "(Y/N) we just want to know why you did it... We're not mad at you..." Sonic interrupted. "Uh... actually we kind of are..." Amy gave him a sharp glare and he quickly fell quiet. Your ears drooped. You wanted to explain everything to them. They were sweet and friendly and heroes for crying out loud. They were on the same level of friendship and kindness as you Cally, Lavender and Caleb were. Yet you'd been trained otherwise and you were going to stay loyal to your training... Right? "Please (Y/N)... We just want to understand your motivations." One crack in the solid wall of training. Sonic chimed in. "I mean anyone could have stolen back Metal and we would have been angry. We're not angry at you. Like Ames said, we just want to know WHY you did this." Two cracks in the solid wall of training. Tailed chimed in. "(Y/N) we know from Whisper you were just doing your job and that's okay..." Sonic quietly added. "We forgive you..." Suddenly your entire resolve was shattered. Your training was irelevant because you were trained to deal with people trying to pry information from you or berating you for stealing not people... forgiving you... for what you did... Your ears drooped down and you closed your eyes. "I... This has been my job for a few years now... and I just... i got so used to stealing from ALL kinds of people for ALL kinds of people it didn't really phase me... this is the first time I've felt remorse for my actions and maybe that's because one of you saved me or maybe it's that little voice in the back of my head telling that i shouldn't have done this since you guys are heroes and i probably just messed things up for you. Lavender and Cally were right. I never should have taken this mission..." You sighed, head lowering. You felt a hand on your shoulder. "Hey..." You looked up to see Sonic. He gave you a friendly smile. "We said we forgive you and we're keeping to our word. On one condition." You felt unease at the proposal. "What's the one condition?" "This is the fun part. You're going to help us get back Metal! Undo what you did, in a sense. So you're up for it?" You nodded. The blue hedgehog grinned. "Great!" You sighed as your arms and legs were untied. You rubbed the spots where the ropes were tied. "So do you have a plan for how to get Metal back?" You asked the blue hedgehog as you followed him out of whatever room you'd been in. "Well we usually just wait until Eggman and his Badniks attack. Metal is usually with him so by then we can get him away from Egghead." You nodded. You sighed. "I'll be right back." You turned away quickly, looking for Tangle. You found the lemur girl in her room. She was rubbing her now bandaged snout. You poked your head in. "Hey... Tangle..." She gave you an upset look and you immediately felt worse. "I... just wanted to say... I'm really sorry for what I did. I panicked and wanted to get away and the only way to do that... was..." "To kick me in the nose." Tangle finished with a slightly bitter laugh. "Yeah..." Your ears drooped. She stood up and walked over to you. She placed a hand on your shoulder. "Forgive and forget. Sure my nose hurts now but it'll heal. Not to mention you actually apologized. If Sonic can forgive you for stealing from him, I can forgive you for kicking me." Your ears perked up slightly as her statement. "Thank you Tangle..." You softly replied. She smiled. "No problem." You turned to leave and Whisper walked into her room. The wolf waited until you were out of ear shot. "...I don't trust her Tangle..." Tangle sighed. "I had a feeling you wouldn't. I mean yeah she did something bad but she's feeling remorse for it. "...Can't be trusted..." Whisper gripped her Wispon tighter. Tangle placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know she broke our trust but everyone deserves a second chance." Whisper sighed, ears slightly twitching. "...Fine... If she breaks our trust again... I wont be... merciful..." Tangle nodded. "I can agree with that sentiment."

A certain mad doctor had begun testing to what extent Erebus's powers could go. The clones of Metal Sonic worked the exact same as the original. The clones had the same strength, the same speed, the same power and were nearly identical to the original, only they were made completely of shadows. The doctor grinned as he began to work on more robots. "Having you around, Erebus, is becoming quite handy." The dragon-like creature nodded. "I try to make myself useful." "Once I'm finished with these robots I'll finally be able to defeat that horrid hedgehog! Now leave, I've got work to do." Erebus was unceremoniously shoved out of Dr.Robotnik's lab. Erebus huffed. "Mortals..." He grumbled as he began to wander around Eggman's base. Out of old habit he began to talk to himself. "I will get back what was taken from me all those years ago and once i do, i purge this world of it's medelling heroes. Then what is shadowy and dark may rule once more..." Erebus chuckled, his chuckle turning into a manical laugh. "Those foolish mortal heroes will have NO power against me once I get back The Tear of Light." The ancient spirit gently placed a hand on his chest, remembering the feeling of pendant against his chest. A certain hedgehog was doing the exact same motion only she HAD the necklace.

You gently rubbed your fingers along the smooth and cold surface of your mother's necklace. You'd end up moving into another room in the base, one that Sonic said the occupant of probably wouldn't be needing any time soon. The room had dark red walls, a black ceiling with glow-in the dark stars stuck to it. There were a few posters on the walls and a black bookshelf pushed up against one wall. It was full of random books, who's titles slightly bored or confused you. The bed was neatly made and seemed to have been that way for a while, as if the person who lived in the room didn't sleep in it for a while, however other things in the room hinted that the occupant had been here recently. You still felt a bit awkward staying in someone else's room despite Sonic assurance that it would be completely fine. You hesitantly sat down on the bed and then laid down. You felt something poke you and you gently pulled a black quill out from behind your head. You sighed. Today had been so event filled and dramatic you hadn't realized how tired you were. Exhaustion overpwhelmed your slight awkward feeling for sleeping in someone else's bed and you curled up, laying your head on the pillow and pulling the blanket over yourself. You noted the slight scent of lavender the pillow held before you drifted off to sleep. However your rest wasn't peaceful. You were surrounded by burning buildings. People were running and screaming. You turned to look at what everyone was running from and your blood ran cold. It was the shadowy creature from your childhood. Only now it was bigger and probably stronger. The one that'd destroyed your home and killed your mother. You tried to move but you seemed to be frozen. The creature approached you and picked you up. "Little hedgehog... the only one who survived the destruction of her village. I'll make sure to finish you off soon." The world swirled to black as you fell. You tried to scream but your mouth wouldn't open. You jolted upright and placed a hand on your chest tightly gripping your mother's necklace. That was just a nightmare, right?! That had been terrifying. Your ears swiveled, taking in notice of the rain pounding against the single window in the room. With a flash of thunder, you noticed someone else in the room with you. With their sudden appearance in the dead of night and your recent nightmare it was only reasonable that you'd scream out of fear.