Jayde and the Seven Shards [1]

34: I Can Be Stronger? ✔️

"Look, if you're going to attack a robot, that's powered with a Shard - might I add - then you're aiming for a death sentence." Tails spoke towards the red echidna whose fists were clenched against his desk. The hammer swinging female nodded, glaring at Knuckles.

"Look, I know I can attack-"

"Knuckie just wants to prove how tough he is to me." Rouge grinned down at the arguing trio from wooden support beams across the young fox's ceiling.

The echidna glared up at the bat, "The only thing I want to prove to you is how much I despise you."

"That's no way to speak to a lady. Didn't you ever learn any manners?" the ivory bat asked, holding her head high.

"I've got manners but you're no lady."

Jayde glanced around the room. Silver and Blaze were talking between one another, ignoring the argument going on in front of them - it was pretty ridiculous. But the female had quickly learned that Knuckles hardly backed out of a fight, no matter how stupid it was. The blue hedgehog was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

The Protector walked over to the Hero of Mobius, nudging him, giving a questioning look. Sonic simply shrugged and rolled his orbs before looking around, "No Faker?"

One of Jayde's ears bent down as she tilted her head before looking back to him, "Shades wanted to be alone for a bit." The female was worried about the Ultimate Lifeform. She had never thought that he'd be afraid of losing her to the black Shard.

"Jayde, quick question," Silver asked, calling over the hedgehog to him and feline, "Did you know you're powers are still growing?"

The Protector frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, in the future the Protectors have similar powers to you, but every day they grow stronger and become more powerful. Because the Seven Shards are connected to your body, they also protect you and vice versa; if you were in danger, the Shard you are swore to protect would react to your increased heartbeat and send a flood of power through you to defeat the enemy."

The female still looked confused, so Blaze stepped forward, flames pooling in her hands, "It is like my ability - it has developed over time to become more powerful and cause more damage. It also becomes easier to control and use in different ways."

"So, you're saying I may have powers that I haven't discovered yet?" Jayde asked, twisting one of her inhibitor rings around her wrist.

Silver nodded, "And since you have now induced chaos control, your powers may connect even more with the Master Emerald and allow you to have similar powers to those."

"How are the Seven Shards and the Chaos Emeralds connected?" Jayde asked a slight frown on her muzzle, "Aren't they completely different and created at different times?"

The purple feline spoke up, "We've no way of knowing when the Shards or Chaos Emerald were created but it has been believed that the Gods that created them. But the Riot Crystal was shattered and broken into the Seven Shards whereas the Chaos Emeralds are shrouded in mystery and no one knows where they come from, only that they are connected to the Master Emerald that unifies the powers." Blaze finished, closing her eyes.

"To say it, we probably know more about the Seven Shards than the Chaos Emeralds. The main thing being that the Chaos Emeralds have a range of powers like wrapping time and space and initiating the super transformation." Silver spoke, glancing at his own inhibitor rings.

"That's what Shadow can do," Rouge added, floating down from the ceiling after hearing what they had been speaking about, "Say, Jayde; how's your relationship with the Ultimate Lifeform?" She grinned, changing the subject completely.

"R-Relationship?" the female gulped, glancing at the ivory bat. Jayde had never really thought about what she and Shadow were. She knew they were good friends but they had never really discussed their relationship - it wasn't particularly something they wanted to talk about or what the grey female was interested in at the moment. She'd never thought about relationships like that as an important factor.

"Well, sure," Rouge grinned, raising her arm whilst the other placed a hand on her hip, "You two do seem kind of... close."

Jayde closed her eyes and chuckling nervously, she shook her hands, "I swear Rouge, nothing is going on between Shadow and I. We're just good friends."

The rose hedgehog walked up to the apprehensive female, a small grin on her face. Silver and Blaze walked away, leaving the grey hedgehog to deal with the questions that were about to be thrown her way. As the telekinesis hedgehog looked back, she glared at his snickering face, "Mhm, that's not what I saw." Amy closed one orb, winking at Jayde. Her fingerless gloves scratched the back of her neck as she glanced to the side ingenuously, flapping one hand in front of her form.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, yesterday you and Shadow were getting cozy on the sofa." Rouge said, pointing towards the place the red echidna sat. Knuckles overheard this and shot up, making a disgusted sound as he walked over to Sonic and Tails.

"We were just tired and fell asleep!" she protested, "I seriously do not want to talk about this guys." She muttered, trying to avoid the conversation in any way possible. These types of things were the least of her concerns.

"Shadow trusts you, you know, and that's pretty big." Amy said.

"You're knocking down his walls, hun." Rouge spoke, staring at the hedgehog as she turned away and crossed her arms, "And I think he's doing the same to you as well." Jayde's eyes widened slightly before clenching her fists by her sides and walked towards the door. Her hands ran through her quills before pulling out the blue Shard, hiding it in one of Tails' drawers.

The purple feline glanced at the grey hedgehog and watched as she ran out and into the forest. The young female had been through a lot since she'd been here, from fighting Eggman to shifting into her Negative form - Jayde deserved a rest. But everyone knew that she wouldn't rest until the world was safe, even though the Doctor would always have something else on the way.

Jayde continued running until dark. The stars shone above her and although her breathing was heavy and uneven, and her body ached; her legs still ran. She clasped a branch and swung herself into the tree, her shoes gripping to the bark as much as possible. The hedgehog continued to climb up the tree until she came nearer the top, looking out on the whole of Mobius. The stars and moon lit up the sky above her giving her a sense of peace and tranquility.

The grey female frowned, looking away from the sight before her. She couldn't put her friends at risk. Jayde knew that the black Shard could kill her or destroy her from the inside, but she had to take that risk to save the planet - but to jeopardize her friend's lives?

She had to fight this alone.