Bloody Domination (Revised)

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Bloody Domination

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: The last chapter, eh? Enjoy!

Froggy: Will there be a sequel? Maybe. Maybe not. Thirteen Chapters total. Hmmm…

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Chapter Thirteen: Bleed My Heart Dry

A sonic boom split the quiet air as the blue hedgehog skid to a stop just outside Tails' remote Mystic Ruins workshop. He didn't even bother to knock, releasing Knuckles from his grasp and kicking the door down. "Tails? Tails!" he called out as he searched frantically through the workshop, stepping around fallen tools. Something was definitely wrong. The young fox was not anywhere in sight, but his shop was a mess. Tails never left the workshop a mess.

"He's not here, Sonic," Knuckles grunted, "We shoulda come here first..." Indeed, they had headed first to Tail's house, since the hedgehog had thought he'd be there.

"No!" Sonic shouted, kicking over a table, sending tools and schematics flying across the room with a loud crash. His green eyes still scanned the room, desperately searching for some clue he had missed, some sign that Shadow hadn't found the fox first, "He's just... he probably went out somewhere! He had to..."

Knuckles shook his head, "Don't make me be the realistic one, Sonic," he said, "I'm not good at it. Tails has been taken, and we're gonna hunt Shadow down like the dog he is," he spat, picking up something that looked like a gun and sighting down it. Sonic had never seen Knuckles holding a weapon before.

Tails, of course, had plenty of lethal weapons lying around, experimental projectiles or plasma-based that he typically mounted on his newest mech or aircraft. But Sonic couldn't focus on that or the fact that Knuckles intended to use one of them. All the hedgehog could think of was his pal, his best friend who had been by his side on so many adventures, in the clutches of that lunatic, doing the same to him that he had to Amy, Rouge, Cream... Sonic's legs no longer supported him, and he fell to his knees, beating a fist against the floor in frustration, screaming in despair.

"Don't worry, Sonic," Knuckles said in a disturbingly calm voice, laying a hand on the blue hedgehog's shoulder, "We'll get him back."

Sonic's shoulder shook and a choked sound, a restrained sob, escaped his throat. The hedgehog rubbed his face and slowly got to his feet, answering with a silent nod.

"Where should we wait for him?" Knuckles asked him.

"Where else?" Sonic retorted in a deadpan voice, turning his back on Knuckles and walking towards the door, "My place."

Knuckles followed him out, "I hate waiting for him," he said, angrily. Indeed, it made him feel helpless.

Sonic again drew the grey chaos emerald and stared into the shimmering jewel as he left Tails' workshop. He too hated waiting, but what else could they do? Not even he could search the whole world, not in any reasonable time. All he could do was wait for Shadow to confront him. The next time they met, Sonic promised to end this vendetta... one way or another. Closing his eyes tightly, his hand clutched the emerald tightly.

"Hey, what're you doing? Knuckles asked him.

"Taking the fast way home,” Sonic said softly, his back still to the echidna, "Want to come along?"

"I'll walk, thanks," Knuckles replied, "I figure it's safer."

Sonic held the emerald out and said the words "Chaos Control" softly. A flash of white light enveloped him, and he disappeared in a blink, teleported through a tear in space/time to his home. He appeared again in front of his home, and the hedgehog walked slowly to his door. Opening it, he stepped inside. As he entered the living room, he realised that he could hear sobbing.

Shadow stood up, his face drained of emotion, with Tails lying at his feet, "And now I kill you," he said flatly.

Sonic's eyes were glued to his friend who lay on the floor, bleeding and with a vacant, lifeless stare. Something inside Sonic died. It may have been his innocence. Those green eyes, usually so full of warmth and energy, looked up at Shadow with a new, frosty edge to them. "No, you won't,” Sonic told him in a strong voice, sounding more serious, more certain, than he ever had.

"No, I have to," Shadow said, his voice shaking, "I've done everything else, I have to punish you last of all..." His hands curled into tight fists, his nails digging into his palms.

"Try, and you'll be the one to die,” Sonic replied coldy. He sounded like someone else. Frighteningly, he sounded very much like Shadow, "Why did you do this?" he asked, "I never did anything to you," He gestured hard at Tails, bellowing, "He never did anything to you!"

"I don't know any more!" Shadow cried out, "Everybody I touch I destroy! But you dropped me! And they just won't shut up!"

"NO!" Sonic roared, "I didn't drop you! But you want to know why you fell? Huh? It's because you were weak!" Hatred, true hatred, was a feeling that was alien to Sonic. All the anger he ever felt, all the malice and disgust he had felt, feelings that he had bottled up inside or ignored, all came rushing out in this instant. "I'm sure Gerald would be real proud of you!" he spat, "I bet Maria would be so happy she died so you could become a sick freak!" It was a low blow, one aimed right at the heart, "You couldn't destroy the world when you wanted to, and then you couldn't even save it right! Instead of just coming after me, you picked on people weaker than you just to feel big! You're pathetic!"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!" Shadow screamed, "You don't deserve to say her name!"

"You're the one who doesn't deserve it!" Sonic screamed back, "She sacrificed herself for you, and for what?! So you could piss all over her grave!" Sonic stomped towards the dark hedgehog, murder in his green-fire eyes. "I'm the true Ultimate Lifeform, and I'm going to finish the job GUN started!" he snarled. Right before Shadow's eyes, Sonic was turning into him, all the ugliness inside himself showing on his blue rival. He was a mirror, showing him what he had become and what his blind hatred had wrought.

Shadow screamed again, this time without words, "I don't even know why!" he wailed, "They just wouldn't shut up if I didn't! And they were always saying it's all your fault and you should be punished! And then I fucked him and they made me do it! And you should die but I should too! And I don't know what to do any more!"

"SHUT UP!" Sonic snarled and punched Shadow in the face savagely, sending a spray of blood from his split lips. A left hook caught the darker hedgehog in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. And then Sonic was on him, leaping on him and driving him to the floor, a feral snarl escaping his twisted face. The light fixture above them was broken in Sonic's attack, casting the room into eerie, flickering light. Sonic's gloved hands clawed for Shadow's throat, determined to throttle the life out of him. "Die!" he cried out as they struggled on the ground, tears flowing down his cheeks.

A few punches later, Sonic realised that Shadow wasn't fighting back, instead lying there, letting every punch land with its full weight on him, "I think I'm already dead..." he managed, tears pouring down his cheeks, "I don't know what to do... I don't know who... or how… I feel nothing... I don't want to be me any more..."

Sonic wanted to say something cruel and callous about him soon to be nothing at all, but something about the weeping face bellow him snapped him out of his rage. His hands released him, and with a gasp, he recoiled in shock, horrified at what he almost did, what he almost became, "Just..." Sonic spoke, breathing hard, "Just... let go!"

"Of what?" Shadow asked, "I don't even know whether it's me who wants to do these things..."

"Just stop doing them! Stop dwelling on the past!" Sonic shouted, "Just...enjoy life and stop ruining it for everyone else!"

"But I already have!" Shadow shouted. He looked at Tails, who was still sobbing, "I didn't mean to hurt him... I only wanted to scare him... but I wouldn't stop..."

The blue hedgehog crawled over to the sobbing kit and gently patted him on the head. "I should have been there,” he whispered before returning his attention to the obviously disturbed black hedgehog, "Well you're going to stop now,” he spoke sharply, "You're going to get help and you're going to be locked up until you learn to control yourself. I... I know that the guy who helped us all out is still in there."

"I don't!" Shadow shouted, "Just... just wanted you to lose... and die for killing me... but it all got out of hand..."

"I'm not the kind of guy who just lets his friends fall from the sky,” Sonic told Shadow bitterly, "Although you make me sorely tempted to wish I had pushed you."

"But everybody says you dropped me... and then they say you didn't... I didn't mean..." Shadow clutched his head, "I didn't want..." he slumped, "But it's all wrong... in my head..."

"Yeah, it's all in your head,” Sonic told him, "Don't you get it?"

"No! No, it's not like that!" Shadow shouted, "It's like... there's somebody else... telling me what to do..." tears began to run down his cheeks, "I HATE PEOPLE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" he screamed.

Sonic crawled over to the dark hedgehog, grabbing his shoulders and giving them a firm shake, "Then stop listening to them!" he spoke, looking into Shadow's tear-streaked face.

"But you deserve to die!" Shadow screamed, "But you deserve... you do! I... NO!" As Sonic watched, shocked, Shadow's body began to spasm. The black hedgehog pushed him away violently and began to howl like a wild animal.

Sonic scurried backwards to protect himself and Tails, keeping his distance from the crazed experiment in case he became violent again. There was no predicting Shadow's actions at this point.

I know I'm crazy but I didn't know I was dying! Shadow thought. Something was trying to get his attention, kicking the back of his head... None of this should be there... why was it there? Kill Sonic and it will all go away... but I was going to fuck him so hard up the ass he'd bleed out the mouth... No, kill him... Shadow looked up again at Sonic, "If I kill you... it will all... go away..." he moaned. Blood was trickling out of his mouth where he'd bitten his tongue.

"No, it won't!" Sonic insisted, "It'll just get worse, and you know it! Nothing you have done has ever helped!"

To his surprise, this statement didn't actually make Shadow any worse. He just stumbled to his feet, pulling at his quills, "They say... they say..." he looked around furtively, "They say... if I kill you... they'll go away..."

"They're not real!" Sonic called out, getting to his own feet, "You've got to believe me, Shadow. I'm real. You're real. Those voices aren't! Something got messed up in your head when you fell!"

Shadow grimaced and picked up a lamp, "I just want them to leave me ALONE!" he screamed, and charged at Sonic. It was nothing like his usual speed though, and he barely managed a limping hop.

Sonic easily sidestepped the attack, whipping his foot out to trip the dark hedgehog, catching him as he fell. He wrestled for control, trying to keep the dark hedgehog from striking him, "I never wanted to be enemies, Shadow,” he spoke softly as he forced the lamp away from his face, "I wanted to be friends."

"I want friends..." Shadow mumbled, his crazed expression coming close to normal for a moment.

"You can have them, Shadow,” Sonic told him, forcing a smile, "You just have to stop this."

"I want... I want..." Shadow stood up, his hand gripping the lamp so tightly that his knuckles were white, "I want... I want..." His eyes widened, "Wait-" A shot rang out and he jolted sharply, the lamp smashing on the floor. He raised one hand to his chest, then stared at his glove, already stained dark red. Then he collapsed.

Sonic turned to see Knuckles breathing hard and holding a smoking gun in one hand. He stared at his friend in horror, finding it hard to comprehend what he was seeing. Knuckles was a rough one, yes, but Sonic never figured him for the killing type. He didn't even know that Knuckles could use a gun, having lived up alone on that island. The reality of the situation hit him, "What are you doing?!" he shouted at the echidna, standing between him and the wounded experiment.

Behind him, Shadow clutched his chest, "I think... I’m bleeding..." he gasped.

"Who'd have thought you'd have it in you?" Knuckles replied, unsympathetically. He growled at Sonic, "Get out of my way, so I can finish the job."

Sonic recognised the gun as being the one Knuckles had picked up at Tails' lab, "Not a chance!" he called out, keeping himself in the line of fire, "Put that gun down right now! We can help him! We can make him better!"

"Nothing's going to make him better, Sonic!" Knuckles shouted, "Look what he did to Tails! And to Tikal! And to Amy and Rouge and Cream and ME!"

"Put the gun down now or I'll take it from you!" Sonic growled. He could take Knuckles, he was certain. He had beaten him before, and on Knuckles' home ground, no less, "If you do this, you're no better than him!" Sonic added angrily.

"What, so you think I'm gonna rape him next?" Knuckles shouted, "He deserves to die! You know he deserves to die and you want him dead too, you just don't have the guts to pull the trigger!"

"He deserves a second chance!" Sonic shouted, "Just because he did something bad to you doesn't make it right to do something back!"

"It's not just me!" Knuckles replied, trying to push past Sonic, "If you want him to die slowly, feel free to stand in my way, but if you think I'll let you get him to a hospital you're wrong!"

Sonic looked back at Shadow. Blood was bubbling up in his throat. The insanity had drained from his eyes, and he looked scared, "You’re a murderer!" the blue hedgehog cried out in anger, grabbing a handful of red fur and shoving the echidna forcefully towards the nearest wall.

Knuckles fought free of Sonic easily enough; he was the stronger of the two, "You're calling me a murderer?" he shouted, "That monster would have slaughtered Amy if we hadn't stopped him! A bullet in the skull is a lot faster than he deserves!"

"It doesn't matter what he did, you idiot!" Sonic shouted, standing back in a fighting pose, "Two wrongs don't make a right! It's murder no matter who you're killing! Haven't you learned anything?"

"He's... right," Shadow gasped, and both of the young men looked at him, "I... should die... for this..."

"See?!" Knuckles growled, “He agrees!”

"I don't care! If you don't stop this right now, I'm going to beat you down!" Sonic spoke defiantly, "I've done it before, and I can do it again!"

Suddenly, the shivering, sobbing kit closed his eyes tightly, grabbed the hair on his head, and cried out, "Stop it! Stop it, please!"

Everybody stared at Tails, "I'm going to stop it," Knuckles replied angrily.

"Noooo..." the young fox moaned pitifully, "Stop fighting! Please!"

Sonic glared accusingly at the guardian, disgust in his gaze, "I'm going to help Shadow. If you want to kill him, you're going to have to shoot me too." The blue hedgehog turned and kneeled down next to Shadow, putting a gloved hand over the spurting wound, trying to stop the bleeding. "Hang in there, Shad,” he spoke soothingly to the badly injured hedgehog, "You're going to be ok, you hear me?" His emerald eyes searched to see if the bullet went all the way through or was still inside him.

The bullet had gone into Shadow’s chest and left via his shoulder, tearing through a lot of flesh and his lung on the way. The exit wound was a lot bigger than the entry wound too, and was bleeding much worse. Sonic rolled Shadow onto his side and pressed his hand over both wounds.

Knuckles wasn't crazy enough to shoot Sonic too, but he was furious at the blue hedgehog, his eyes narrowing as Shadow tried to speak, "It... was wrong... why... did I do it?" the dark hedgehog choked for breath.

"You know it's wrong now. You don't have to do it anymore,” Sonic said in the calmest voice he could manage, blood seeping past his fingers, staining his gloves red. The wound was bad, really bad, and Sonic had no idea how to treat it. He wasn't a doctor.

"He did it because he's evil," Knuckles growled. He walked over to Tails and knelt beside him, "Look at the kid! He's probably gonna be scarred for life! Don't you care?"

"Of course I care!" Sonic snapped at him, "But killing Shadow isn't the answer!" He continued to try to close the wounds, stop the bleeding, but he felt helpless, his calm slipping away, revealing the raw fear underneath, "Just call an ambulance!"

"You think I'm going to call an ambulance for that… thing?" Knuckles asked mockingly.

"Maybe... it's better... if I die..." Shadow managed, blood pouring from his mouth.

"No, it's not! Hang in there, Shadow. Please..." Sonic glanced hatefully at the red echidna, saying quietly, "You're no better than him, than Eggman... You're a monster too, now."

Knuckles' eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet, "TAKE THAT BACK!" he shouted, "Take it back right now, or I swear I'll beat it out of you!"

Sonic didn't even look at Knuckles, gently shaking Shadow and whispering, "Come on, man. You're the Ultimate Lifeform. You can get through this!"

"You're gonna have to move away from him sometime, Sonic," Knuckles said, shaking with suppressed rage, "And when you do..."

"Someone please help me..." Sonic pleaded softly. He couldn't leave Shadow. If he did, Knuckles would finish what he had started. If he didn't, Shadow would surely bleed to death.

But then his pleading was answered by the click of a phone being picked up and the sound of speed-dial. Tails was standing up shakily and was calling for help.

"What the- Tails, what the hell are you doing?!" Knuckles raged at the kitsune.

"Why’s he... doing..." Shadow asked weakly. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"Sonic's right,” the fox sniffled, glancing sadly at the echidna, "We've got to help him... no matter what he’s done…" Holding the receiver to his ear, the kit quickly described the emergency and gave their address.

"Fine! Save his life! Act as if he hasn't done anything wrong!" Knuckles snapped, "I thought you were smarter than this, Sonic," he snarled, "Instead you're acting like I'm the one who's kidnapped and raped and murdered! What do you think he'll do if he survives?"

“How about you shut up and we find out?!" Sonic snapped. Fear was not something he often felt, but it was overwhelming him now, as tears streamed down his face. Shadow was dying, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it. All he could do was sit there and wait.

Shadow choked up some more blood, trying to focus. His chest didn’t hurt so much. That was a good thing, right? But he seemed to be lying in a pool of blood that plastered his face and chest. That was probably bad. And Sonic was crying. Shadow wasn’t surprised; there was plenty to cry about, most of it his fault, “S-Sonic…” he rasped, “I’m… s-s-sorry…”

"I know,” Sonic choked out, eyes wandering over the spreading puddle of blood. He was bleeding out too fast, and he feared the ambulance wasn't coming fast enough, "Help is on the way,” he reminded the dark hedgehog, "Just hang in there a little longer."
"I... I... didn't... mean..." Shadow was shivering and his face was pale now.

"I know,” Sonic repeated, giving Shadow's shoulders a firm squeeze, "You can say sorry all you want later. Just stay awake, ok?"

Shadow tried to swallow, and tasted more blood, "I..." he tried to breathe in. It hurt, and he couldn't see Sonic clearly, and he just felt so... sorry.

Sonic knew there had to be a way to stop this, he knew it, but he couldn't find the way. He was lost, and he wondered if this was how Shadow felt when he saw Maria in the same situation. The Ultimate Lifeform had come full circle.

Knuckles looked on, rather unsympathetic, as Shadow's bloody chest stopped rising and falling, "Looks like it's over," he said flatly.

"Shadow? Shadow!" the blue hedgehog cried out. Letting go of his dark rival, he beat his fists against the blood stained, white-furred chest, "Don't you die!" he shouted, "It's not over!" The only reason Sonic knew Shadow was still alive was because corpses didn't keep bleeding.

"I don't even know what I'm doing here." Knuckles stood up to leave.

Sonic looked up from Shadow's dying body to the echidna as he left, growling, "Yeah, you leave! Go back to your island and guard over your stupid rock! Don't you ever show your face to me again."

"You're taking this way too personally," Knuckles sneered and slammed his way out. Sonic looked down at Shadow. The dark hedgehog wasn't breathing any more.

“Oh, god, no…” Sonic bent forward over the dark hedgehog and started doing CPR frantically, his own body now soaked in thick, dark blood. But there was a limit to what he could do. Shadow was gone, "NO!" Sonic cried out, beating his fist against the hedgehog's chest one final time, his head hanging low, "We were so close..." Shadow had almost been freed from his mindless rage. He was almost himself again. Sonic had failed him. He let him drop.

Outside, he could hear the ambulance coming to a wailing halt. Tails patted his shoulder, saying nothing. What was there to say?

Sniffling softly, Sonic looked away, unable to look at Shadow's body any longer but incapable of leaving his side. Looking down at himself, he was covered in Shadow's blood.

"What's gonna happen now?" Tails asked in a small voice.

"I don't know,” the blue hedgehog whispered, sounding drained as he stared at Shadow’s body.

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Harley: Well, should there be a sequel?

Froggy: Don't know... still, you must tell us what you think of the ending! Shadow got shot and died. Was it what you wanted?