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: Hmmm… a lot of mixed opinions about this fanfic… some say it’s good, some say it’s not as good as the original. It’s hard to know, but I guess that some parts of it are lacking in greatness.

Froggy: We are now approaching the end of the story. This is not the last chapter, but it’s nearly the last chapter! But not the end of the series! There’s plenty of relationship building to do yet - just not in this story! In the next story, the Mysterious Dream People will be explained. Thanks, Terminus, for bringing them up. Oh, and I haven’t read Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic.

Harley: Yeah, Froggy doesn’t need that to know Sonic’s an asshole.

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Chapter Eighteen: Keeping In Control

Sonic knew there was something wrong just as soon as he and Amy entered her home. This intuition came from the fact that he heard someone coughing and gagging in a nearby room.

"Oh, no," Amy moaned, and pushed open the bedroom door. Shadow was lying on the bed, clutching his stomach and gagging for breath.
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Sonic put his speed to good use, rushing over to Shadow, picking him up, carrying him into the nearby bathroom, and putting him down near the toilet, which Shadow soon emptied the contents of his stomach into.

"Oh, damn," Amy went into the bathroom, "Shadow? Shadow, I'm sorry, I should have been here..."

Shadow didn't respond, still coughing. There was a green tint to his face. Sonic patted the black hedgehog on the back as he continued coughing and said, "It's not your fault, Ames."

"I know, I know..." Amy flushed the toilet. If Shadow was going to throw up like this, she had to keep him hydrated, and that meant that he had to drink a lot of water, "But Shadow... I talked to um… someone about all this, and this means that you're getting better, you hear me? You might feel bad, but the worst is over, I promise you."

Sonic looked up at Amy silently. She was lying, and they both knew it... "You'll be ok, Shadow," Sonic said, joining in, "You just need to get all that gunk out of you..."

"No,” the sick hedgehog finally answered, "...I'm dying, aren't I?"

"You are not dying," Amy knelt beside him, "Shadow, do you hear me? You are not dying... if you can get through this - and I know you can - you'll be fine." Probably, she thought.

Shadow closed his eyes. He wasn't afraid of death. In fact, he was surprised that he had lived as long as he had. Considering the pain he had been in recently, he almost welcomed death. No...what he was afraid of was what he would leave behind if he did die; Amy, Eclipse, Mirage, Ashura... "I can't die yet," he muttered as he got to his feet, "I still have things to... oh..." His knees buckled and gravity pulled him back down. He felt dizzy, probably from dehydration.

"Sonic, get water, and lots of it," Amy told the blue hedgehog, "Shadow, look at me," she ordered him, "Shadow, are you looking at me? You're going to be okay. You can get through this."

"Yes... yes, I'm with you," When she said it that way, looking into his eyes, he could really believe her. He could make it through the pain. Sonic came back with a glass of water which Shadow snatched and quickly downed, sighing in relief as the cool water travelled down his throat.

"I know it hurts, Shadow," Amy said gently, "But I don't think you'll be having any more of those horrible hallucinations. Now me and Sonic are going to be looking after you, and tomorrow Eclipse will come home, and we'll all be together again. So you see, everything is going to be fine." This was all a terrible lie, and Amy knew it. Shadow had to be able to handle the increasing power as well. That relied on both physical and mental strength.

Shadow nodded. Yes, everything would be fine. It had to be. There were people counting on him; he couldn't just die yet. "I know... you always manage to pick me up when I stumble."

"And you give me the strength to do that," Amy answered, "Would you like to go back to bed now?"

"Yes please..." Shadow replied, trying to stand again, this time giving Amy a chance to help him up.

Amy dampened a towel and wiped Shadow's face clean, then guided him back to the bed. Almost as an afterthought, she picked up the little bin and put it beside the bed, "If you feel unwell at all, just call for me," she told him, touching his forehead. To her consternation, it was a little warmer than usual, "And if you want to be sick... try to be sick in that," she pointed to the bin.

"Alright. Thank you," he said, lying back in bed. Shadow was getting tired of being so weak and helpless. He practically had to be treated for like a baby. But still... if it wasn't for Amy’s patience and love, he would be in far worse shape, "Thank you."

Amy kissed his cheek gently, and left the bedroom, closing the door. She opened the briefcase and started to flick through it, "Jeez, will you look at all this?" she asked Sonic, "Honestly... I can barely believe that they tried something on Shadow that wasn't even safe for Chao," she said, obvious disgust in her voice.

"They treated him like an animal," Sonic agreed.

"Yes," Amy agreed, checking through the papers, "Damn, and they were going to try this stuff on you," she shuddered and passed Sonic the papers proving it.

Sonic took the papers and read through them. "Those... those jerks! They were going to put me through that crap? They owe me!"

"Huh, they owe Shadow too, but that didn't stop them..." Amy looked tearful, "Oh, if he doesn't get through this... I don't know what I'll do..."

"Don't worry, Ames. Shadow is the toughest guy I know. Asides from myself, of course," he joked, "Seriously, though, if anyone can make it through this, it's him."

Amy nodded, and flicked through some more sheets, "Oh god... they downloaded his memories onto DVD! They sent electrical currents through his body and..." she shuddered, "Oh, I should have gone there sooner..."

Sonic could understand her guilt, even if it wasn't reasonable. "You did the best you could. If you hadn't got there when you did, Shadow would be dead."

"He was barely sane," Amy sniffled, "He could still lose it... I love him, and you have no idea how much it hurts me to see him in that much pain!" she cried out suddenly.

"Oh, I know..." Sonic admitted. He could understand her pain perfectly well. He was feeling it, too.

"How?" Amy asked, "You don't love him!"

Sonic didn't answer, turning away, a hurt look on his face.

Amy just stood up, "All this..." she gestured at the papers, "It's going to bring them down. It has to. They are not going to rise above the law." She returned to the bedroom, sitting beside Shadow again.

As Amy left the room, Sonic didn't feel as sure as she was. GUN had great influence and power...It wouldn't be so easy to take them down.

Amy touched Shadow's forehead. Was it her imagination, or was his forehead a little warmer already? She fetched a damp cloth and started to wipe it over his face and chest.

Shadow flinched as the cloth touched him, moaning softly in discomfort, shivering. The damp cloth felt cold to him, uncomfortably so.

"Shadow?" Amy asked him, hesitating, "What's wrong?"

"Does the rag feel icy cold to you?" he asked her.

"It's just tapwater," Amy said, "It's not hot, but... why?"

Shadow frowned, "It feels like ice…”

“Damn, you must be coming down with a fever,” Amy touched his forehead, "You need to drink more," she told him. She hurried and fetched another glass of water, "You're losing all your water because you're sweating and vomiting."

Shadow readily took the glass and drank its contents. She was right, and he knew it. If he got too dehydrated, he would be in big trouble.

"Shadow," Amy took a deep breath, "When all this is over and the drugs are out of your system fully... your Chaos Control abilities will be a lot more powerful. That's why you hurt so bad... because your body is having to adjust to the extra power."

Shadow blinked, surprised. "How do you know this?"

"I telephoned someone and asked them for information on the drugs GUN forced you to take," Amy said, hoping against hope that Shadow wouldn't ask her who she'd asked. She didn't feel like telling him the drugs were intended for Chao either, "That's why I went out," she explained.

She was hiding something from him, and he knew it. But he trusted her enough to allow her to keep this secret, even if it disturbed him, "I understand. More powerful, you say? ...Well, at least there is something good coming from this nightmare."

"You have to be able to control it too," Amy told him, frowning a little, "You can control it. And we'll get your memories back too," She saw Shadow's confused expression, "Yes, that was in the information too. Shadow, I'm so sorry. I should have… I really should have gotten to you sooner…" Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"It wasn't your fault," Shadow said, reaching up to softly caress her cheek, "You did everything you could. If anyone failed, it was me."

Amy started to cry. She didn't care what Shadow said, she still felt at fault. She took his hand, stroking it gently, "I love you... I couldn't bear it if you were taken from me... I don't want to lose you..." she whispered.

"You won't lose me," he quietly assured her. He would live through this. He had to. He couldn't put her through the pain of losing him. Suddenly he clutched his stomach. It hurt - and that was putting it lightly, “Amy…”

“What?” Amy asked him.

“Is somebody… repeatedly hitting me in the stomach… with a… hammer…”

“No.”

“I feel sick,” Shadow announced. He managed to hold it for a few more seconds, rolling onto his side, and then started to gag. Since he had no more food to be sick with, foul-smelling bile was the only thing that came up. He began to cry. It would have been pathetic, if it hadn’t been for the fact that he had a damn good reason to cry.

“Shadow?” Amy checked. The dark hedgehog continued to gag and clutch his stomach, curling up into a tiny ball of fur and quills, “Shadow, you’re going to be okay.”

“Liar…” Shadow whimpered.

“No, Shadow,” Amy insisted, “You are going to be okay!”

Shadow grimaced in pain, “I feel like I’m going crazy…” he moaned, “I feel like I’m going to die…”

“Shadow, look at me,” Amy took his face in her hands, “You are not going crazy and you are not going to die! Just hold on…”

~~~

Six Hours Later…

Amy continued to stroke Shadow's hand gently, "How do you feel?" she asked him, after a while.

"Terrible," the black hedgehog answered. If he told the truth, he felt far worse than terrible. He felt as if he’d just swallowed broken glass.

"Hmmm..." Amy nodded, touching his forehead. It was hotter than before, so she wiped it with the cloth again.

Shadow winced, the cloth still feeling cold to him. He hoped the fever didn't get worse, he felt as if he was burning up already as it was.

Amy sat on the bed next to Shadow, taking his head and resting it in her lap. Her fingers brushed against his cheek. She didn't feel like telling him he'd be just fine any more; it felt like too much of a lie. But even so, she had to stay strong for him. She had the feeling that his fever would get a lot worse before it got better, "Stay with me, Shadow," she said softly, "Don't ever leave me."

Shadow closed his eyes and sighed, resting against the pink hedgehog. He was tired of hurting, torture, hallucinations, fever, drug-induced paranoia and worse... how long would it last? How long ago did it start? It was like some sadistic being was toying with him, enjoying itself at his expense. He just wanted things to be normal again....

Amy continued to stroke his quills. Whatever was happening, it wasn't contagious, so at least she could be close to him. Oh, please let it all be over soon, she prayed to whatever god was listening right now, And let him be okay when it is over, "We will get your memories back," she said quietly, stroking Shadow's ear with her thumb.

"I don't care about them," he replied, a statement that was only half true, "I just want to be myself again. And I want to be with you and Eclipse."

"Eclipse is coming home tomorrow," Amy told Shadow, "We'll be a family again." She was almost crying at the thought of them all being together again. It might have only been a couple of weeks, but it felt like a lifetime, "Do you need anything?" she asked him, "A drink, or maybe something light to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," he told her, "But I am very thirsty. Something to drink would be nice." He blinked, a slight feeling of dizziness coming over him.

Amy left his side and went to the kitchen again, filling a glass with water and dampening the cloth again. She returned to the bedroom to see him clutching at his head, "Shadow? Is there something wrong?" she asked him.

Shadow groaned, "My head is killing me..." Great. Another kind of pain to worry about. Now he was sure that there was some higher being toying with him.

"Okay," Amy brought him the water and helped him to drink it. She wanted to give him painkillers, but she couldn't. The idea of putting more drugs into his system was ludicrous - though it might appeal to him if the headache got much worse.

Shadow quickly drank the glass of water. He groaned again as a spike of pain shot through his head, "I can't believe this..."

"What?" Amy sat next to him, testing his forehead. It wasn't just a temperature any more - it really was a fever. And the way it had all come on so fast wasn't normal either, "What's wrong?"

"My… body is betraying me," the dark hedgehog growled quietly. He was feeling worse than he had a few minutes ago, shivering and clutching at his throbbing head.

"Oh, dear," Amy wasn't sure what to do exactly. She wiped his forehead again, "You're going to be okay," she said, aware that her voice didn't sound too confident.

Droplets of sweat were starting to form on Shadow's face. Not good, not good at all... "Amy," he rasped, "I need you to do a favour for me quickly."

"What?" Amy asked him, worried. She touched his forehead once more, then cried out with pain. Shadow was so hot he had scalded her hand.

"Fill the bathtub with cold water," he told her, grimacing.

Amy hesitated, then nodded, "If it helps," she said, going into the bathroom and turning on the cold tap fully. As the bath filled, she went back to Shadow, "Now?" she asked him.

"Help me up," he whispered, trying to slide out of bed, "I need to get in... need to get this fever down… need to stop hurting… fast."

Amy wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to his feet. His body was actually sweating even as she touched him, and he was burning up. With her help, Shadow walked into the bathroom and approached the tub of cold water. Taking a breath and steadying himself, he stepped in. The black hedgehog gasped and stifled a cry of pain as he lowered himself into the water. It felt so cold... it was as if he was being stabbed by a thousand daggers of ice.

Amy knelt by the tub, her arms very loosely around his shoulders. Wetting her hand in the cold water, she placed it against his forehead, "Any better?" she asked him.

"Hurts," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut, “Real bad…” He would have to endure the pain, though, unless he wanted something far worse... like his brain being fried.

Amy turned off the taps, and continued to pour cold water over Shadow's forehead, "It will get better," she told him, "You got this far. I would take all your pain on myself if only I could..." Amy stopped, suddenly realising she'd said that aloud.

"Believe me... you don't want it," Shadow said, giving her a pained smirk, "I'll survive. I always have before."

"Yes," Amy agreed, "And all those times you didn't have me beside you."

"That does make this easier," he admitted, still giving her a smile. Truthfully, he knew he would be dead if it wasn't for her. She gave him something really worth living for.

"I had to get you out of that place," Amy said, "Any decent person would," she poured some more water over Shadow, "I couldn't let them keep torturing you..."

Unfortunately, it seemed that the decent people in the world were far outnumbered by those who were not. It was for the sake of those good people, like Maria and Amy, that Shadow restrained his more violent tendencies. However, GUN was testing the limits of his mercy... He shook away thoughts of vengeance. He had greater things to worry about.

Amy tested his forehead again. She had no idea what was going to happen next. This stuff was tested on Chao, and at a massively lower dosage. What the hell was it going to do to Shadow? She held his hand - he hadn't even bothered to take off his gloves when he'd gotten in the water, so she did that now.

Shadow didn't react to her touch. In fact, he didn't even seem to be reacting to the water anymore, looking straight ahead, not blinking, and not focused on anything in particular.

"Shadow?" Amy waved a hand in front of his eyes, "Shadow are you there?"

"I can feel them," he said, his eyes still unresponsive to movement, "Can't you, Amy? They are getting closer..."

Shit, Amy thought, Not this hell again, "Sonic!" she called for him, and squeezed Shadow's hand, "Nothing's coming, Shadow," she tried to reassure him.

"No, it… it’s the Chaos Emeralds!" Shadow clutched his head, "I can feel them! They are coming... too fast! It's too fast!" The hand that Amy was holding grew warmer and warmer... becoming hot enough to scald her own. She dropped it with a cry of pain. Steam started to rise from the once-cold water.

Shit, shit, shit, Amy thought, "SONIC!" she screamed again, "Shadow, get out of the bath, quick," she told him.

Shadow started to stand, "I can't… control it!" he shouted. An invisible force slammed into Amy's chest, sending her sliding across the floor away from Shadow, whose body began to glow red. The water he was within began to boil.

"Shadow!" Amy screamed. She could feel the force - whatever it was - pressing her body down. She couldn't even stand, "Shadow, I'm right here!" she shouted, hoping he could hear her, "Hold on! You have to be able to control it, otherwise you could die, or worse, go insane!" she shouted. She could hear Sonic desperately trying to kick open the door, which was jammed shut with the power in the room.

Shadow squeezed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and struggled to contain the overflowing chaos energy that was streaming through his body. The pain was indescribable, worse than any he’d felt before. He felt as if he was being turned inside out. Somebody was screaming and he was pretty sure it was him. And in his head something was telling him that the way to be rid of this pain was to accept his fate as a weapon and kill, just destroy everything.

As Amy watched Shadow scream in agony, the bathroom mirror shattered into fragments. Several fragile items around the house broke.

Everything he had suffered before… it had all been foreplay for this. And if he didn’t control this, it was over for him, Amy, Eclipse, and possibly the entire planet too. So don’t scream. Survive. Shadow forced the screams down, and away. The pain was boiling up inside of him, and he just wanted to punch something until it all went away. Like a magnet, his head turned towards Amy.

And that, he always claimed afterwards, was what saved him. Seeing her wide, frightened eyes and sweet, innocent face reminded him that there were more important things in the world than hitting people. Besides, what would Eclipse think of him? This was his body, and he would have control over it. He forced the pain away.

The invisible force left Amy, freeing her, and objects stopped breaking. Eventually, the glow around Shadow disappeared as well, "I think I've got it... I think I've... YEOUCH!!" Shadow scrambled out of the boiling bathtub, falling to the floor in a soaked, steaming heap.

Sonic finally managed to kick his way into the room.

Amy sighed in relief, standing, "Are you okay?" she asked Shadow, reaching to take his hand. She glanced at the bathtub. Almost all of the water had already boiled out of it.

"Actually..." Shadow said, rubbing his head and getting to his feet, "...I feel a lot better."

"What the hell just happened?" Sonic asked him.

"It was a rush of chaos energy... I've never been able to draw that much of it to myself before without a Chaos Emerald. It felt kind of like... changing into my super form, but a lot more painful..." He frowned. "This must be the final side-effect of the drug you mentioned. ...Someone with less experience in dealing with the energy would be killed. I guess this means that this nightmare is almost over."

"Almost?" Amy looked worried again.

"Well... I feel fine now. Better than fine," he said, stretching and testing his refreshed body.

"Really?" Amy stared. Shadow had just gone through hell, he'd nearly died on several occasions, and now he was just fine? She could tell he meant it too, "Oh, thank gods..." she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. She didn't want to ever let go now - after all they had been through... it was finally over.

Shadow smiled and hugged her back, relief flooding him. Flexing his fingers, he could still feel that flood of energy near him, ready to be used when he commanded it. He felt stronger, more powerful.

Amy tested Shadow's forehead once more. His temperature was normal, he wasn't in pain... she stroked his cheek, tears coming to her eyes as she smiled, "I knew you were going to be okay," she said, gazing into his eyes, "I knew it from the start." She stroked his cheek again, glancing at the shattered bathroom mirror, "I'll have to replace that."

Shadow grimaced, looking at the damage he had caused, "Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," Amy reassured him, "The important thing is that you can control your powers, and that they don't control you." With that, she reached up again and kissed him.

Shadow kissed back with all the love and passion he could muster, tilting Amy as he did so, just so happy to be in the arms of his love again.

Reluctantly, Amy broke the kiss, "I think Sonic can go home now," she said, "Now that you're okay."

"Yes. I'll be fine," he said with a smile, "...Sonic sure has changed."

"Yes," Amy thought about the cuts on Sonic's arms. Shadow hadn't seen them yet, "Yes, I just hope it's for the better."

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Harley: Way-hey! Shadow is more powerful than ever!

Froggy: Read and Review! It’s not quite over yet!