I Will Protect You

Chapter 21

Narrator's POV:

With those words a gruesome one sided fight broke out. Sonic kicked, punched, spin dashed, and other move his zombified self could come up with, while on the defensive Shadow just blocked and dodged and took the brutal beatings with opened arms. A fatal kick to gut had him finally kneel down to the ground and gasp for air as a snarling Sonic stood above him a few feet away waiting for him to stand and fight or swivel up and parish. Shadow lifted his head slightly and stared at the white eyes that once were Sonic's.

Crimson eyes stare into a white abyss of pure misery. A trembling figure faces against a hallow shell of a former self. A quivering lip trying to hold back its regret mocks a snarl of pure meaningless rage. A black and red hedgehog... The Ultimate Lifeform... facing his only weakness...an enemy, that he was once proud to call his friend, now trapped behind a wall of drug endouced darkness while the memories of his pain and suffering fuel his rage making him stronger and that much more indestructible.

A knee to the stomach. A move that means nothing to the mindless zombie programmed for nothing but destruction.

A kick to the face. A move that could have been easily blocked and/or avoided by the Ultimate Lifeform if he wanted to... but he couldn't. He looked into the blank white eyes of what use to be his former companion. He didn't see pain... he didn't see the need to destroy...he didn't see misery or suffering... no... instead he saw something else...a need...a need to be free...a need to escape the torment and torture that he was forced to live through for so long... that was the real pain...that was the real torture, nothing else.

Shadow stared into those bright white canvases and saw the things he always wanted to see. Sparkling green irises... a cheery disposition...a cocky attitude mirrored by its matching grin...an optimistic personality never willing to take no for an answer or any negative thought at that... The Real Sonic...the Sonic he was use to... the Sonic that he and his friends had loved with every burning moment that their hearts beat.

Shadow bowed his head looking down at the floor still in his kneeling position. His mind raced with only one thought that he knew he had to do...he had to break his promise.

"Sonic i'm so sorry. I failed you. I couldn't protect you just like I couldn't protect Maria. I failed you both and I know that you may never forgive me for that and I understand completely... " Shadow then takes a shaky step towards Sonic and continues speaking.

"Sonic we might have started out as rivals before but I am so happy and thankful that you changed that for me those so many years ago. I am and forever will be grateful and in your debt."

He then stops when he is mere feet away from Sonic. He slowly reaches into the back of his head quills and pulled out a recently cleaned black 357 Magnum and silently cocked it. He swallows a lump in his throat as he struggles to stand and stares Sonic in what was left of his eyes. " Sonic we both know how that I am a hedgehog of my word and that I hate to break my promises but... sometimes...a promise cannot protect one from harm. That is why...why..." Shadow struggles to speak past the growing lump in his throat as he tries to finish his sentence.

"that is why I have to break my promise. I can't let this go on any longer. I can't stand seeing you in all this pain and suffering. I thought I could fix it...I thought I could make everything better but I only made things worse. But in a way Sonic I did find a way to make you better it's just not what I expected. I hope you can forgive me Sonic and please if you see Maria...tell her I said hi"

And with that Shadow brought the gun up to Sonic's forehead and released a shell planting it right in the center of his forehead. Shadow's gun dropped to floor as he caught Sonic's lifeless body before it hit the floor. He watched silently as Sonic's dark upturned quills flattened and returned to their natural cobalt blue. Lifeless lime green eyes no longer the vibrant Jade they once were when he was living replaced the white blank set that once adorned his face.

Shadow breathed in a raspy breath as he closed the cobalt lids giving Sonic a peaceful almost sleep like appearance. He folded Sonic's arms over his chest and gently picked him in his arms, similar to the day when he first rescued Sonic and no one said a word to him, not even Dr. Valentine himself, as he walked out of G.U.N with Sonic's body in tow.