The Ruby Eyes of Affection

Nirvana

Sonic laid on his bed wrapped in his favorite blanket as a few drops of tears soaked into the covering.

(What Tails said was unacceptable.) He thought as he continued to snuggle the comforter while gently rubbing it against his eyes.

As the azure hedgehog turned his head to gaze out the window, he sensed a feeling. A very bad, horrible, dreadful feeling. His ears perked up as he saw Shadow next door in the lab.

(What in the world does Tails want with him?)

Sonic's eyes shot open as he threw the blanket off his body and marched out of his bedroom a bit on edge.

(Something isn't right at all.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ebony hedgehog set the book where he found it, not really wanting to know the answers. He decided to push away his thoughts until later as he heard Tails fly back into his workshop. The kitsune closed the door behind him, stealthily locking it completely shut.


"All taken care of Shadow. I must admit, his reaction was surprising. He actually fought with me a little, but don't worry he ended up accepting what I said." Tails stated with a very phony smile as he started to walk over to the black hedgehog who looked as if he was on the brink of mentally collapsing.


Shadow was still in a state of shock as he nodded to the little fox making it clear that he was fine. This relieved the kitsune a little as he decided to put his plan into action.

Tails quickly passed by him and walked over to one of the machines he had been looking at and snatched it from the pedestal it was located on. It was a simple radar screen with a little antenna.


"This is supposed to be able to locate Chaos Emeralds? You must be joking." Shadow inquired sarcastically as he poked the front of the screen.


"All it does is look for spikes in energy. Think of it as an advanced metal detector, the only difference is it's looking for strong signals of Chaos Energy." He revealed as he set down another contraption.


Shadow stared at the round slab of steel with a look of curiosity as Tails hooked the invention to the Chaos Emerald Locator.


"And this is what will be transferring the energy. It yanks the Chaos energy from your body using static electricity. The science is really quite fascinating. All you have to do is take off your glove and put your hand on top of it and when I turn it, don't be alarmed, but you might feel a little tingle. When the screen on the radar lights up you will be done and may remove your hand." Tails explained showing the instructional designs and pointing out the steps.


"Are you sure this won't destroy everything around us?" Shadow asked hesitantly.


"Were you not listening earlier? I said I was 89.976% certain that you and your surroundings will live to see another day. Those are the best odds I've ever had." The fox pointed at the designs again showing the exact number.


"Alright, but if I lose some quills due to flames, I'm blaming you..." Shadow declared as he started to take off his glove and put his hand over the metal slab connected to the device.


"Don't be such a pansy, Shadow. I did my end of the bargain and now it's your turn." Tails assured with a smirk.


He backed away a few feet and just as Shadow was starting to have second thoughts, switched on the machine. The ebony hedgehog could feel his energy being drained and placed into the Chaos Emerald Locator as little bolts of lightning ran up his fingers. He was surprised to notice that there was no pain. In fact, if anything, it was kind of soothing. The surge of electricity continued for a few more seconds before the device started making all kinds of weird noises. Crackles and pops flooded through the lab like fireworks. This wasn't a good sign and Tails took an even larger step back as the sounds became more prominent.


*BOOM*


The mechanism exploded into pieces as a huge surge of chaos energy erupted in all directions. Hitting both the Chaos Emerald Detector, completely destroying it, and Shadow in the process. Tails was fortunate, he had put enough space between him and the machine that he didn't get wounded. The ebony hedgehog, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. His body rested on the cold floor after being catapulted against the wall, practically lifeless. Tails quickly staggered over to check if he was still alive.


"No no no no no! I didn't want to kill him, I don't hate him that much. All I wanted was to sap his power!" He howled desperately as he checked Shadows wrists.


There was a pulse, but it was inconsistent. His heart must be having trouble keeping up after being drained most of its energy. He knew he needed help, but if he opened the door Sonic would come rushing in to save the day and the kitsune wanted him completely out of the situation. He pressed a little button underneath one of his many experiment tables and a hidden door opened as he lifted the unresponsive hedgehog, placing him on the couch.


"I'm sorry, I was almost certain this wouldn't have happened. I will take full responsibility, but only because it's my fault." Tails said irritatingly while rushing out the secret door. His thoughts were running with who he could possible run to for help as Shadows shallow breathing continued to get even more unpredictable.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sonic felt the aftereffect of the chaos energy explosion and dashed out of his home as quickly as he could. Is Tails trying to murder Shadow using his own power? That's incredibly twisted! He marched towards the lab with motivation as he wiggled the doorknob expecting it to easily open.


"Huh, it's locked... Tails... TAILS! LET ME IN THIS INSTANT!!" Sonic shouted at the door banging as loud as he could.


He put his ear to the wall, hoping to hear the sounds of movement but heard nothing until:


"Sonikuu... help me..." Shadow frantically cried out in his sleep as his body could sense his presence.


The blue quickster had never heard the ebony hedgehog sound so desperate. He knew he was in bad shape as he urgently pushed against the door.


"I'm right here. Let me in and I'll help you!" Sonic exclaimed comfortingly as he went back to the wall listening closely for a response.


Nothing.


That was it. He didn't care what Tails thought. He didn't care what anyone thought. Shadow needed him and if he had to destroy an entire village for the ebony hedgehog in his time of weakness, he would. In other words, nothing, especially a stupid door would stand in his way.

He backed up a few feet and got into his normal running position as he prepared himself for contact. He counted to three before sprinting as fast as he could, striking the door hard enough to make it go flying off the hinges.

He celebrated this accomplishment for a few seconds before running over to ebony hedgehog who was still struggling for oxygen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shadows eyes opened cautiously as he felt the sense of complete feebleness that plagued him in the prior nightmare. He looked around, but blackness covered his body. It was almost like he was looking from the view of a god observing down at the people. In the middle of the emptiness sat a silhouette of what looked like a young Mobian child with his face buried into his hands. Tears cascaded down his face as the ebony hedgehog could hear voices of speculation.

"I heard he killed those poor people. His parents should throw him in a mental asylum." Said one of the people followed by a response.


"I know, but he IS just a child, maybe he will grow up to be a nice young man."


"Demons cannot grow up to be gentlemen, Miss." Another voice spoke as the outline continued to sob.


"I have no idea what happened, please you gotta believe me. The lady, I must find her, so please give me another chance. I'll be better, promise!" The child begged and screamed with a tone of complete defeat and fear.


Shadow wanted to comfort the small creature but before he could even get his bearings on the situation everything went completely silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sonic put his hand on Shadows face gently patting it. He was eerily cold and motionless, the only movement being his breath which happened at an arbitrary rate. The cobalt hedgehog could sense how little energy the other had.


"I'm right here, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If I wasn't such an emotional basket case this morning, Tails would have been fine." He spoke soothingly trying to comfort the black hedgehog who wasn't responding to any form of physical contact.


"Please wake up, I want to talk to you. No, scratch that. I need to talk to you. I have some major apologizing to do." His voice started to choke as tears filled his eyes.


"I can't apologies if you die, Shadow. Please..." He wrapped his arms tightly around his rival, resting his head on his soft white chest fur.


"Please be okay... If you wake up, I promise, I will do everything in my power to protect you." Sonic begged as he nuzzled his teary face into Shadows fur.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ebony hedgehogs feeling of fear started to fade as the young voice from his dream sneaked into his ears.


"I'm right here. Let me in and I'll help you." It whispered thoughtfully as Shadow watched a magnificent glow fill the vacant blackness.


As the light continued to grow, he experienced a paradise unlike anything he had ever seen. The sun was bright enough that he could watch the waves wash over his shoes and listen to wind blow at a very mild calming rate. He watched palm trees gently sway in the breeze. He could even smell the wonderful sea salt air. Everything was bright and warm with nothing but beauty stretching as far as he could see.

(Is this heaven?) He thought to himself as the utopia continued to become more vivid. He could feel a passionate happy sensation sweep over him.

No this is the feeling of...

Nirvana.