Duality [INFIDGET]

Chapter Eleven: Protecting What's His

"Chaos control!"

A dark hedgehog teleported to a spot in the woods. He looked around and started to search, using a portable tracker to search for two Mobians. This was the prime location the tracker picked up so Shadow relied on it to find Gadget and Zero, especially Zero; for he had a bone to pick with him, and he knew how to make him scream.

---

As dawn broke, Zero was the first to wake up. He glanced down at his adorably sleepy wolf and kissed his forehead, making the wolf smile in his sleep. He stood up and stretched, yawning softly.

He scratched his chest, letting his lover sleep. He went down on all fours so he could sniff around, anything could have approached them while they were sleeping, he picked up nothing but wandering deer and the odd rabbit, but found footsteps that didn't look like animal paws.

Growling, he sniffed over the footprint, a familiar scent alerted his nose and brain; for this was the footprint of Shadow the Hedgehog.

---

Gadget woke up seeing his lover no where in sight, but he seen the flick of a black and white tail near a bush and pushed his worry aside. He sat up and stretched, he walked over to Zero who was still on all fours.

"Zero? What are you doing?"

"Agh!" Zero shot up in the direction of the voice and panted softly.

Gadget tilted his head, "You seem very on edge, not to mention you were on all fours" he muffled a chuckle.

Zero facepalmed, "Gosh, Gadget. You scared me there" he chuckled and stood up. "I sniffed around our ground to make sure no one was here when we were sleeping and I came across these" he pointed to the shoe prints in the ground.

"I see..." Gadget hummed. "Who are those prints from?" he asked.

"Shadow" Zero replied and sighed, he held Gadgets hand as they walked back to their claimed territory.

---

"Targets identified, closing in."

Shadow watched the couple walk off and decided to follow, but struggled to find a closer place to hide as their base was in the open. He decided for a swift attack, his target was the smaller of the pair first.

---

Gadget told Zero he had to go to the bathroom and left to find a bush. Zero resumed making breakfast as it would be done when Gadget returned.

There was a faint rustling in the woods, and before Gadget could scream he was swiftly knocked out by Shadow. Gadget collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Now, to deal with your other half." Shadow growled and left Gadget where he collapsed, completely exposed to the wildlife of the woods.

Zero was contently finishing breakfast when his ears picked up the familiar stomp of shoes, he smirked and swiftly dodged a bright yellow spear that came for him. Zero looked at the dark hedgehog and stood up, "Come to finish what you've started?" he growled.

"You read my mind, but firstly-" Shadow stated but was cut off by a punch at his jaw by the jackal.

"At least let me finish" Shadow rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, a limp Gadget was teleported to Shadows side. Zero gasped and snarled, "What did you do to him?!" he snapped.

"Nothing he won't sleep off" Shadow grunted, "I don't need him interfering with our business. Now, I won't hurt him-" he shrugged. "-but I will if you lose, which you will." Shadow chuckled and pressed his foot on Gadgets arm.

Zero growled and tackled Shadow off his limp lover, "You will never harm him." he stood in front of Gadget, protecting him, it was a stand off.

Powering up his ruby, Zero hovered in the air and created a box of cubes around Gadget so he couldn't get harmed by flying projectiles, there was oxygen supply in there so he could breathe inside it and eventually wake up.

"I will not lose this time" Zero spawned a flurry of illusions of himself and went to attack Shadow in all sorts of directions, from left to right, above and even below using sharp vines. Shadow managed to dodge the majority of the hits but did get the odd cut, he hissed and growled; "Chaos spear!" he shouted and a large spear appeared in his hand, he aimed for one of the illusions and struck it, destroying it instantly as it crumbled into red fragments.

Zero chuckled deeply and hovered above Shadow, who was distracted by the many illusions of the jackal. Zero spawned his own red spear and threw it at the hedgehog, getting a direct hit on his shoulder. "Agh!" Shadow hissed and grabbed the spear, pulling it out of his shoulder that was bleeding profusely. "Enough!!" Shadow yelled and fired spears in all directions, hitting and destroying the rest of the fakes.

"Let's play a game" Zero smirked and teleported behind Shadow, throwing a red cube into his head. Shadow's eyes widened as he fell to his knees.

---

"Shadow? Are you there?" A woman's voice called.

"Maria?.." Shadow's voice hitched.

"Shadow? There you are!" The young woman ran to the hedgehog. "Come on! We have to leave!" She ran away.

"Maria, wait!" Shadow ran after the woman.

"Get in here, quickly!" Maria pointed to an escape pod.

Shadow got into the fake pod, "What are you doing?"

"There she is!" A man dressed in military shouted. "Stop them!" he commanded as his colleague pointed a gun at Maria.

"Maria! Look out!" Shadow banged on the pod.

Maria turned around but it was too late, a shot ran out and struck her in the chest.

"Maria!!" Shadow shouted as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Shadow... promise me something.." Maria's voice turned weak as she bled out. "Promise me..that you'll take care of everyone...for me..." and with that she took her last breath.

"MARIA!!!" Shadow sobbed and shouted as his pod was dispatched from the ARK.

---

Shadow was left sobbing on the ground from the mind illusion, leaving the jackal stunned, for he had never seen him so sensitive before.

Zero landed on the ground, "If you know what's good for you, you will leave us alone." he growled and impaled Shadows side with another spear, making the already wounded cry out.

Shadow grunted, wiping his tears. He grabbed the spear and took it out of him, it disintegrated in his touch. He slowly stood up, clutching his side, sending a glare to Zero's way. Shadow teleported off in defeat, there was no way he could fight against Zero like that; crying and sensitive. As he entered the Resistance headquarters he collapsed, but was soon taken care off by the other members present.