ARAAT2: Eclipse - Part 2

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A Rose And A Thorn 2: Eclipse

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Okay, this ‘meeting with Eggman’ chapter may not be all you’ve been hoping for, but that’s because both Amy and Eggman have more important things to worry about.

Froggy: Seems to me that you guys only enjoy the story when somebody’s suffering. Or having sex. Heart of Darkness, you win the Most Intelligent Review award, partly for getting here - better late than never, I suppose - and partly for wondering about Eclipse. Well, he’s not very old right now… but we’ll see the effects as the little tyke grows up a bit.

Harley: Now, we hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter Seventeen: Lesser of Two Evils

Amy's eyes opened. Somebody was banging on her brain - no, the door. It was the damn headache that made her think... She moved away from Shadow slowly, and heard him whimper this time. She bent down and kissed his lips as he slept, "I love you, Shadow," she told him, hoping he would hear those words in his sleep.

She rose up from the bed, and answered the door to see Sonic standing there, "Thank the gods you've come," she said, and he could hear exhaustion in her voice.

"What's the matter, Amy?" Sonic asked her, "You sounded troubled over the phone..." The blue hedgehog looked different than the last time Amy had seen him. He was no longer wearing that leather jacket for a start; his bandaged arms were open for the world to see.

"It's Shadow," Amy's forehead creased up with worry. She gestured for Sonic to come in.

Sonic stepped inside, a frown forming on his face, "What about Shadow?"

"It's just..." Amy searched for the right words, "I can't do this on my own! It's like I'm looking after a baby, a full-grown, ultra-powerful baby who's flickering between manic depression, paranoia and insanity! One moment he's a raving lunatic driven by bloodlust, the next he's a sobbing child, terrified of hurting me!"

"Yeah, shame you didn’t notice that earlier…" At least that was what Sonic wanted to say. Instead he closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. GUN must have really worked Shadow over bad if it had messed him up that badly. Only now was he realising just how lucky he’d been that Team Chaotix had broken him out so fast. Opening his eyes again, Sonic said, "Is that why you called me? So I could keep watch over him? It won't be a problem..."

"No," Amy said firmly, "He's... he's not safe. I'll be honest with you, Sonic, in his condition he frightens me. No... I need to find out what's happening to Shadow, and what's yet to happen. And I... I asked Eggman for help." She looked ashamed suddenly, "I need you to escort me to make sure he doesn't pull any double crosses."

"Eggman?! You've got to be kidding me!" Sonic blurted out. If Amy was willing to go Eggman for help, this was serious, indeed. Sighing, he said, "Oh, alright. But I don't feel comfortable about this... not one bit."

"If it makes you feel any better," Amy sighed, "Neither do I. But GUN is going to pay for what they did... and what they planned to do."

"Yeah... yeah, I'm with you,” Sonic replied with a determined nod. GUN couldn't be allowed to get away with the sort of things they did to Shadow, and Sonic wanted to personally take them down himself.

Amy returned to the bedroom. Sonic didn't follow her, but he did watch... and he saw her bend over and kiss the sleeping Shadow tenderly, saw her caress his cheek, saw her whisper words into his ear lovingly. He quickly looked away, a lump in his throat and a weight on his heart. That could have been him, if he hadn’t been so fucking stupid. He tried to forget what he had just seen, tried to stay focused on the coming mission. His job was to keep Amy safe, and he would do that well...

Amy left the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She hated leaving Shadow alone, even for a little while... but while he was asleep, he could only have nightmares. If he woke to a hallucination, he could hurt himself and others. She picked up her keys, "Let's go," she said quietly.

"Lead the way,” he replied, following after her, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Twinkle Park," Amy's voice shook. Her first date with Shadow had been there... "A nice, open, public place. If Eggman tries something, it's not his environment for fighting, and we've got open space.”

Sonic thought it was a good enough reason. He found himself morbidly curious as to how the meeting would turn out. There were very few times he got to sit down and just talk with the mad scientist. It would seem very odd if a fight didn't break out.

They left Amy's apartment for Twinkle Park, Amy locking the door behind them as they left. She just hoped and prayed that Shadow would be okay until they got back...

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When they arrived at Twinkle Park, Amy realised that she hadn't set a specific meeting place. Too late now... She looked around for a place to wait, and settled on a bench. Sonic stood beside the bench, leaning against it with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently on the ground.

It was about ten minutes of waiting, before Doctor Eggman waddled up, holding a large briefcase. He saw Amy and Sonic together and smirked as he saw Sonic's bandaged arms, then sat heavily on the bench between them, "Good afternoon, hated hedgehogs," he said coolly.

"I thought I smelled something rotten," Sonic muttered, "Good afternoon, Eggface. What's up?"

"Heh, it's right here," Eggman hefted up the briefcase and gave it to Amy, who opened it eagerly. No slicing blades or knockout gas appeared though, just bundles of paper.

Amy flicked through it, "This is all... science stuff," she said, "Numbers and long chemical names. I don't understand any of this!"

"Are you asking for help again?" Eggman looked as smug as ever.

Amy hesitated, "Yes. So what does all this mean?" she asked him.

"It means that technically, Project Shadow should be dead by now," Eggman grinned, "Either that or totally insane."

Sonic had an idea of which one Shadow was closer to.

Amy blinked, "What? Why?"

"Well, the drug most prominent in Shadow's system right now - the one that's casing him all the trouble - is a drug restricting his Chaos Control abilities," Eggman explained, "GUN intended to keep giving Shadow this drug until his body developed a resistance to it. Then they planned to stop giving it to him once he was... ahem... broken. His Chaos abilities would increase massively. Unfortunately the drug was designed to make Chao more powerful in battle, and they all died in testing."

Amy went pale, "For... Chao?"

"Yes. When Project Shadow came into their hands, they just increased the drug's concentration fifty-fold."

"Fifty... fold?" Amy looked like she was about to faint.

"Whoa... And he's still alive?" Sonic said, momentarily forgetting that he was speaking to his greatest foe.

"I don't know how either," Eggman admitted, "He should be dead, yes. According to the test results I acquired, one hundred Chao were tested on the drug. Fifty were taken off it after a week. Those that remained on it became so insanely violent that they attacked their own breeders, apparently mistaking them for enemies. They couldn't be controlled and they all had to be put down."

"What about the ones that came off it?" Amy asked, her voice a whisper.

"They all died too," Eggman said simply, "Either from the appalling withdrawal symptoms, or the fact that their bodies simply couldn't handle the increase in power. Except one. That one apparently became insane and managed to kill five armed GUN soldiers. It had to be killed."

"What's going to happen to Shadow..." Amy half asked.

"Well, he isn't dead yet," Eggman said cheerfully, "All the Chao that came off the drug went through stages of full-body cramps, hallucinations and temporary insanity. Those that survived that went on to dehabilitating stomach cramps, vomiting and abnormally high fevers. The one that survived all that became insane anyway."

Amy started to cry. Sonic glared at Eggman, "Well, is there any way to save him?"

"Pray?" Eggman suggested, "If he does eat anything he's likely to vomit it up. During his hallucinations he will be highly dangerous. I recommend tranquillizers. Of the horse variety."

"More drugs?" Amy sniffled.

"Well it's not like I care, he has tried to kill me," Eggman pointed out, "I have a doctorate, that doesn't make me a doctor. Keeping him calm and comfortable, with people he knows and trusts, is probably the best way to keep his health up at this point. So far you seem to be doing well, seeing as he's still alive, but keeping his sanity intact is the most important thing for now."

A psychotic, out-of-control Shadow was the last thing any of them wanted. Sonic had seen a taste of it before, back during the ARK incident, but even then, Amy had managed to reason with him. He’d been pretty wild during all the bullshit with Metal Sonic too, but Rouge had balanced him out. If he completely lost it...

"Now, you have all the evidence you need to discredit GUN, and you know what's coming next," Eggman levered himself off the bench, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to work on the Death Egg 3.8."

"3.8?" Amy asked.

“You called me before I had a chance to finish it,” Eggman explained.

Sonic groaned. "How many of those do I have to destroy until you figure out that it's a bad idea?"

"No more, Sonic, no more... this time, it will be unstoppable!" Eggman cackled, and waddled away again, back to the car park where his Egg-O-Matic was parked.

Sonic shook his head and smirked. Eggman never learned, "...So what now, Ames?"

Amy stared down at the information in her hands, then burst into fresh tears, "Oh god... Shadow's going to die... if he doesn't lose his life he'll lose his mind... what am I going to do?"

"Maybe..." Sonic paused, thinking about his words carefully, "Maybe Shadow will be different. He isn't a Chao... he's the Ultimate Lifeform! I bet he'll be fine..."

Amy didn't speak at first, "I have to get back to him," she said eventually, standing up, "I have to be with him," she continued.

"You also need someone around in case he loses it," Sonic told her.

Amy didn't look certain, "If he did, what could you do?" she asked Sonic.

"Um... beat him up?" the blue hedgehog asked with a shrug and a sheepish grin.

"Violence against violence never brings peace," Amy said quietly. She sighed. It would be nice to have someone around to take over though, "It might seem hard, Sonic... but you have to reason with him. Even if he won't listen, you have to keep reasoning."

"Even when he's trying to rip my guts out?” Sonic looked doubtful, “Sometimes, you have no choice but to use violence, Amy."

"Hopefully it won't come to that,” Amy replied, “There's a world difference between defending yourself and fighting. You can't fight him... somebody would get badly hurt, and I don't know who that would be. I can't lose him again..." Amy hung her head.

"...You won't, Amy. I promise you that,” Sonic assured her.

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Harley: Okay, it’s a little shorter than it sometimes is. So what?

Froggy: Wow. Amy working with Eggman. She sure is pissed. At least she doesn't hate Sonic any more.

Harley: Wouldn’t you be? And what the HELL is going to happen to Shadow? Trust me, whatever it is, it's going to be PAINFUL. Gods I love that part.