Bloody Domination 2: Straitjacket

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Bloody Domination 2: Straitjacket

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Well, I can’t say I’m anything but glad to see that Disaster Master considers the plot of this fanfic too deep to just walk away. Although I must also admit I'm slightly surprised...

Froggy: Also, see those adverts at the top? They mean AFF.net is lacking in money! So donate if you can! If everybody donates just one dollar, and all that.

Harley: It’s not like Fanfiction.net, which appears to have sold itself as an advertiser for e-bay to get its funds up.

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Chapter Twelve: Freezing To Death

Shadow looked around the landscape. They had left the jungles of the Mystic Ruins some time ago now. He kept getting the feeling that they were being followed. Sonic insisted he was being paranoid, but it was the main reason he had flat-out refused to rest last night. At least it also meant Sonic wasn't so damn chirpy too. And they were entering snowy terrain now. That would make them marginally harder to track. Of course, it would also be bloody cold, but some things you just had to put up with.

Shadow seemed to be putting up with it better than Sonic. The blue hedgehog was shivering and rubbing his arms, but otherwise he seemed alright, "Where are we going, Shadow?" he asked.

"I haven't decided," Shadow said, "If we stick to this mountain trail though, we shouldn't get lost. As long as we can throw off whoever's following me..."

Sonic sighed and shook his head, amazed by Shadow's persistent paranoia, "I'm sure that we've lost GUN,” he said, rolling his eyes.

"Those guys don't give up," Shadow insisted, "Trust me on that one. But I'm not so sure it's them. It feels more like one person. And I know it sounds crazy, but I'm not slowing down!"

Sonic shrugged, "Fine by me. I never slow down!" The blue hedgehog gave him his usual cocky grin.

"You'd better not here," Shadow said, "There's a village a few miles northwards. We can head for that." What Sonic didn't know, and indeed, Shadow didn't know he didn't know, was that by 'a few miles', he meant about twenty miles of trudging through two feet of snow.

Not that Sonic would have been worried in any case. This was hardly his first time in a cold, snow-filled place, and he was confident they could handle it with no problem. Distance wasn't an issue when one was as fast as him, and they would be fine as long as they didn't stay out too long.

Silently, grimly, Shadow began to trudge through the snow, "If I had my hover-shoes, this would be so much easier," he complained, but gritted his teeth and continued, step after step, not stopping.

"Hey, it's just a little snow,” Sonic assured him, stomping ahead cheerfully, "And we'll get your shoes back eventually."

"Yeah, I know," Shadow grumbled, "In the meantime, I look like I raided your sock drawer or something."

"Yeah, but you raided some way past cool socks,” he replied with a wink.

"Humph," Shadow grunted and kept moving.

It remained that way for several hours. Sonic could still tell that they were on some sort of mountain trail, but he was getting seriously cold now, while Shadow didn't even seem to notice it. Either that or he was just hiding it. And worse still, the snow had started to come down much harder. It was like a blizzard or something, rapidly covering their tracks behind them.

Sonic's eyes looked back and forth across the landscape, seeing only a blinding curtain of white. The blue hedgehog shivered fiercely, standing closer to Shadow as they travelled, "H-how much further, Sh-Shadow?" he asked his black and red companion.

"I'd say we're about... half-way there," Shadow replied grimly, forcing himself not to shiver, "About... ten miles. Nothing to worry about..." He looked back at Sonic, "You're not thinking of giving up, are you?" he asked, a slight twinkle in his eye.

Sonic grinned at him, "Not a chance! I never give up!" he replied, meeting Shadow's challenge. Still, he wished he could feel his damn fingers.

"You're looking pretty lousy, you know," Shadow said, "I didn't think... I mean, this sort of cold doesn't affect me. At least, not as much. I'm personally freezing my ass off, even though I don't show it."

"C-cold? Me? Nah!" Sonic told Shadow with his usual bravado, but the way his blue-furred body was vibrating like mad told a whole different story.

Shadow looked at him, a rare expression of concern on his grim features, "Yeah, whatever. We'd better pick up the pace and get to that village fast. There's still a few hours until nightfall; you don't want to get caught out here after dark."

Sonic almost made another confident remark about their situation, but became silent as he considered the possibility of being caught out after dark. For once, Sonic joined Shadow in being grim.

They continued trudging through the snow, and Sonic, who had no sense of time, lost track of it. They could have been tramping through this endless white for hours on end, or for minutes, for all he knew.

His eyes stared down, watched his feet move in and out of the snow as they trudged further, his shivering growing worse and his body beginning to sway. The blue hedgehog let out a soft moan as burst of wind clawed at him with its icy talons. He wasn't feeling so good...

Shadow turned to him, "Sonic?"

"I'm... fine..." Sonic shivered.

Shadow looked at him. His skin was deadpan-pale and he was breathing way too slowly, "You're clearly not," he said, "We need to get you somewhere warm. Now."

Sonic shook his head with a weak smile, eyes unfocused onto somewhere in the distance, "Nah... I'm ok..." he mumbled. And then he fell forward into the snow.

"Shit!" Shadow knelt beside him, "Sonic! You've got to get up!"

"Or you could leave him. It's the perfect opportunity," said the voice in his head, “Nobody would ever know. Besides, it’s a good idea. He’ll just slow us down.”

"You can shut the hell up!" Shadow ordered it, "Sonic! Get up now!"

Sonic shifted in the snow for a moment, letting out another moan, "O-ok,” he mumbled, "I just... just need to lie down for a moment..."

"No! You can't!" Shadow scooped him up into his arms, "If you fall asleep here you'll freeze to death!" he looked genuinely surprised at his next statement, "And I care!"

"You do?" Sonic asked groggily, and then added, "...cool." Shaking his head, the blue hedgehog clung to Shadow as he picked him up, taking Shadow's advice to stay awake. But oh boy, did he want to just curl up somewhere and take a nap.

"Damn you, Sonic!" Shadow sped up, pushing his way through the snow. Sonic was like a lump of ice in his arms, "Don't you dare fall asleep! Don't you dare die on me! I won't let you!"

Sonic mumbled something incomprehensible and then nuzzled his way into Shadow's furry chest, shivering fiercely once more. Shivering was a good sign. As long as he was shivering, he could survive this. But once he stopped shivering...

Shadow gritted his teeth. Trying to save Sonic as well as himself was stupidity. It was worse than stupidity; it was potential suicide. If Sonic slowed him down too much, they'd end up in the snow in the dark, and they would both die, maybe yards from the village. The smart thing to do would be to drop him and go for it on his own. He'd have about the same amount of help. But it was his fault that the blue hedgehog was in this mess. It didn't help that he hadn't let him sleep either. He shook the hedgehog roughly, "Talk to me," he commanded, "Say something. Anything! Just talk!"

"Something… Anything,” the blue hedgehog spoke weakly, “Just talk…” At least his sense of humour was still intact. If that went, it really was over.

"Yeah, keep talking," Shadow ordered him, "Come on, normally I can't shut you up! Say something!"

Sonic couldn't think of anything but the numbing cold, and so his mind instantly drifted to other such events in his life, "Did I ever tell ya about my adventure on Angel Island?" he murmured, "I had fun snowboarding on this icecap place there... right before I wiped out," the blue hedgehog smirked, "Knuckles was even more of a doofus back then."

"Yeah, that's great... tell me more," Shadow told him, his eyes fixed on the horizon. Was that smoke he could see? Smoke meant fire... fire chased away the cold, and the darkness that was creeping in as the sun set, "Come on! Tell me more!" he said louder.

"T'was the first time Knux got tricked by Eggman... kept giving me and Tails trouble the whole way until Eggy turned on him,” Sonic continued on softly, still shivering, "I never told you 'bout the Death Egg, either. What a rip-off that thing was..."

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Shadow asked him. He looked down again. Sonic's eyes were shut, and his breathing was way too slow. His shivering was more violent, and his lips and ears were turning blue, “Shit! Sonic, wake up!” he ordered the blue hedgehog, “You have to wake up! You have to tell me all about how Knuckles is a moron and the Death Egg and… and…” He shook Sonic hard, “Wake up!”

Sonic blinked and shifted in Shadow's arms, "Right, stay 'wake..." he mumbled, teeth chattering, "Death Egg was a... big space station that Eggman built to take over the world," Sonic focused hard on recalling the battle station. It helped keep his mind off the numbing cold, "It was a ripoff of a station from this old movie... but I doubt you've seen it..."

"Never seen any movies," Shadow admitted, "I bet I'm a godawful ripoff of half of them, too..." he chuckled.

Sonic chuckled with him, realizing that it was true. Now his limbs were totally numb, and yet he was feeling strangely warmer, "Tell ya what, when we get out of this, we can sit around the tube vegging out all day watching old movies. It'll be fun."

"Yeah..." Shadow looked down at him, "Hey, can you feel when I do this?" he squeezed Sonic's hand.

"Do what?" Sonic asked groggily, answering Shadow's question, "Hey, did you put a blanket or something on me? I feel a lot warmer..."

Oh shit oh shit oh shit, Shadow thought, Now he doesn't even think he's cold? Stage three of hypothermia. Hello, clinical death, "Just keep talking," he said grimly. Was it his imagination or was the snow thinning out?

"Chili dogs, popcorn... whatever candy I can dig up. Couple of blankets on the floor and the TV. It'll be a fun day,” Sonic spoke with a lazy smile, going on about his movie day idea, "Me and Tails used to do that, before..." The hedgehog frowned unhappily, leaving the thought incomplete, but his eyes lit up again, "And maybe we could also... you know, do what we did in the jungle again."

"Maybe," Shadow admitted, a faint blush coming to his pale cheeks, "I do have to warm you up first though..." He stepped forward again, into a street. Less snow. Houses. Civilisation. The main problem with that lay in the fact that he didn't want to be recognised. Then he realised that there were about thirty houses, but even this late at night, smoke was only coming from two or three chimneys. Had he by some miracle stumbled upon a holiday village?

"Well, you certainly did that..." Sonic replied with a mischevious grin that quickly died. His green eyes looked around at the village around him, just noticing it for what it was, "Oh, that's a good thing,” he stated the obvious.

Shadow walked up to the first empty log cabin he saw and looked at the door thoughtfully. Then he kicked it in and strode in.

Sonic felt that maybe he should tell Shadow that it was wrong to break and enter homes, but decided that it just wasn't the time for such a lesson. The blast of warm air from inside made the hedgehog's skin tingle with little pinpricks of sensation.

Since the house hadn't been used for months, there was a certain sterile neatness about the place that made Shadow feel very much at home. And now he had to help Sonic. He carried the blue hedgehog into the bedroom and dropped him on the bed, "Now, hold still," he said, and pulled off Sonic's gloves and shoes.

Sonic could see that the ends of his fingers were swollen and too pink, "Oh, that's not a good thing,” he spoke, staring at his extremities with worry.

"Nonsense, it's just a little frostnip," Shadow told him, "You can rest now; it's safe here." With that, he began searching the house, and came up with sheets, which he began to tear up into strips. He soaked them in warm water, and wrapped them around Sonic's hands and feet, "I just hope there's a way to turn on the heating in this place..." he muttered.

"Warmer than outside,” the blue hedgehog pointed out, shivering, but not quite as bad as before. He looked inquisitively at the strips that Shadow tied onto him, feeling slowly creeping back into his limbs, "Did they teach you this on the ARK?" he asked.

"They taught me this in my flash programming," Shadow said, "Same thing, I guess. It makes me more able to survive in hard terrain. Your cotton gloves and socks are killers in a snowstorm, you know. They stay wet."

"Ah, didn't think of that,” Sonic said, painfully trying to wiggle his fingers and toes. He never much thought about his state of dress. In fact, he really didn't dress much at all, being essentially naked all the time.

"And they don't retain a damn of heat," Shadow added, "Now, hang on..." He stood up and left the bedroom, searching the kitchen. He found what he was looking for - hot chocolate. Perfect. He made two strong mugs of it, and returned to Sonic, "Drink this," he said, holding one of the mugs to Sonic's lips, still not certain of the hedgehog's return to normal.

Sonic took a careful sip of the hot liquid, enjoying the warmth that seeped into his body from the drink. It didn't taste bad, either, and that certainly helped, "Thank you, Shadow,” Sonic spoke.

Shadow picked up his own mug and started drinking, "Well then," he said, when he had finished the mug, "Let's have a look at your hands..." He removed the bandages, "Feeling any better?" he asked, testing Sonic's fingers gently.

The blue hedgehog wiggled his fingers with greater ease, pleased by the feeling returning to them, "Yeah, a lot better,” Sonic replied with a smile, "Guess I should have been more careful out there."

"Hmmm..." Shadow picked up some dry bandages, and wrapped them around Sonic's hands and feet instead of the wet bandages, "Now you can sleep," he said, pulling the heavy covers over Sonic, "Get your strength back. I'm going to find some food in this house."

Sonic smiled again and nodded, settling in under the covers. Closing his eyes and letting off a soft sigh, he allowed himself to relax and rest, as Shadow wanted. Although he hadn't admitted it, Shadow really had saved him out there, and he owed the guy for that.

Shadow ruffled the blue hedgehog's quills, still uncertain of why he had saved his life - twice now. Oh well, he needed to make something to eat. There wasn't much in the place that was interesting, but there were a few microwavable meals. It didn't really matter what Sonic liked right now; what he needed was a good hot meal.

By the time Shadow returned to the bedroom with that hot meal, however, the blue hedgehog appeared to have fallen asleep in record time, snoozing contently in the warm, comfortable bed.

Shadow checked him carefully, but he could see that it was a natural sleep, and not the comatose vacancy of the hypothermic. He sighed and put Sonic's microwave dinner back in the microwave, then sat next to the bed and ate his meal.

Sonic rolled over and curled up in Shadow's direction, murmuring quietly in his sleep.

Shadow put his empty plate aside and bent over Sonic, scritching him behind his ears gently. As the blue hedgehog purred quietly, he bent over him, whispering into his ear, "Don't leave me, Sonic... I can't make it without you." It was something he would never have admitted had Sonic been awake.

Sonic's only response was to nuzzle against Shadow's hand. Despite all that happened to him, he took life in stride and was always able to sleep peacefully.

Shadow smiled a little. He bent forward and kissed Sonic's lips lightly. Then he crawled under the sheets, and wrapped his arms around the other hedgehog.

Unconsciously, Sonic scooted closer to the dark hedgehog, rubbing his cheek against his and sighing quietly.

Shadow trailed his fingers through Sonic's fur and quills, nuzzling him softly, almost absentmindedly, "I don't know why I never killed you," he murmured, "But I'm glad I didn't..."

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Harley: All right! More cuddly ‘awwww’ stuff between Sonic and Shadow! Read and Review!