A Rose And A Thorn

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A Rose And A Thorn

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: I apologise, ‘A fan of the series Sonic’, if I insulted you. I don’t know who you are so I can’t judge your work. But I stand by what I say – a MASSIVE proportion of the material on ff.net is terrible quality. Not all of it. Some of the best stuff I’ve ever read I found there first. But the reviewers are even worse, they’ll say any old load of tosh is great, and good stuff is evil and crap. I’m not talking about them any more.

And as for telling you Sonic wouldn’t rape Amy… I didn’t say that. I just said we couldn’t have Sonic being killed by Shadow.

Froggy: Harley wrote most of this chapter. You have to figure some of it out, but it’s not tough. It’s our Christmas present to you, if you’re a Christian.

~~~

Chapter Fourteen: True Strength

It keeps going through my head. What I hear, and what I see, and what I feel.

What I hear when I enter the shop is just a grunting sound. No, not just that. Muffled cries too. And panting. That’s when I know something is very, very wrong.

I go through the door marked ‘Private’. And then I see it. I can’t even move because I can see it. He is on top of her, forcing his way in while she tries to scream through a piece of cloth. And I can’t even move. He doesn’t even notice me, he just keeps going.

I can feel the anger and the hatred smothering me like an actual physical thing. The red mist comes down over my eyes, like it did with Cream, but this time it’s infinitely worse. The hate forces my body into action, and I drag him off Amy, hit him, hit him, hit him, and kick him through the door and out the front window. I want to see his blood, I want to give him pain.

We fight. It’s a blur, to my eyes and in my head. And then he’s down, and I’m planning to beat seven kinds of shit out of him. Maybe I’ll kill him. Maybe I won’t. I’ll decide later.

And then I feel pain. I look down, and there’s glass in my belly. He’s holding it, there’s blood all over the place, and suddenly I feel cold.

And then Amy’s holding me, but I can’t feel her properly. And she’s speaking, but it’s like her words are coming from a long way away.

And then I can’t feel anything. Nothing hurts any more. Amy’s gone, but there’s someone else there instead. My precious, precious Maria. I thought she was dead. Sometimes it’s good to be wrong. We embrace forever. Then she smiles at me.

“You have to go back now, Shadow,” she tells me, “You’re needed…”

And she’s walking away, and the pain’s coming back with a vengeance, “Maria!” I cry out, reaching for her hand, “Maria… Come back… I…” My gaze refocuses slightly, and I see a pink blur become my sweet, sweet rose. Only she’s not so sweet now. She’s snatched me away from Maria, dragged me back to a world of pain, "Amy... why…" I manage. I want to ask her why she did that, why she hurt me, but the pain’s too much.

"Hang on, Shadow," she begs me, "Please hang on!"

"I'm not… going anywhere... I promise…" The pain ravages me again, and I can’t even think, it hurts so bad. After a while, the world goes grey. Only I’m not with Maria this time. I’m on my own, and even Amy isn’t here to hold me…

What next?

~~~

"How is he?" Amy asked the doctor, watching as Shadow was brought into the operating theatre on a stretcher.

"He's… stable," said the doctor.

"Stable? Dead is stable! Will he be okay?" Amy asked as the doors closed.

"Okay..." the doctor sighed, "He's in a critical, but stable condition. We're operating on him right now. But we still can't tell if he'll make it through the night. You may like to know that the CPR you gave him saved his life in the street."

Amy remained silent for a while. Finally, she spoke again, "What about Sonic?"

"He has some nasty second-degree burns, and concussion. He's got a fractured kneecap too, but it should heal up easily enough in a month or so."

There was another silence.

"Miss Blossom, the police would like to talk to you about what you saw and what happened to you."

"I want to talk to a woman."

~~~

"Just tell us the whole thing, Amy."

Amy squeezed her eyes shut, "Okay... well, I was working in Miss Flora's flower shop - I have a job there. And then Sonic came in. He wanted to know where Shadow was - it was practically the first thing he asked me. I wouldn’t tell him. They've been arguing a lot lately... I figured it was a bad idea for them to be around each other..."

"Do you know what they are arguing about?"

"Me..." Amy whispered.

"Okay... what happened after you didn't tell him?"

"He started getting angry... I went into a back room to avoid him, but he followed me in and we started shouting... when I refused to tell him where Shadow was, he pinned me against the wall and... put his hand... in my knickers..."

"Oh. Then what?"

"I called him a pervert... and he got even angrier... he pulled off my clothes... he threw me onto the table and... and..." Amy's voice had dwindled to a whisper, "And... he..."

"What?" the female police officer asked gently.

"He… raped me..." Amy whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks, "He just wouldn't stop... he pushed some of my dress in my mouth so I couldn't scream for help properly... he… he was inside me… and I was trying to scream… and he just kept on going…"

"And then what happened?"

"I think that was when Shadow came in... I didn't see when exactly..." Amy hid her face in her hands, "He pulled Sonic off me and threw him through the door... and the front window... and they started fighting... and they were trying to kill each other..."

"Did Shadow tell Sonic to stop before he attacked?"

"I don't know... all I could hear was Sonic... what does it matter, anyway?"

"Okay. So what happened next?"

"Well like I said, they seemed to be trying to kill each other... I couldn't see all of it. But Sonic stabbed Shadow with some broken glass. He was going to do it again, so I hit him with my Piko Piko Hammer to stop him."

"Well, Miss Blossom... have you phoned your lawyer?"

"Not yet... I've been too worried about Shadow. I will just as soon as he wakes up."

The police officer patted Amy on the shoulder kindly, “I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” she told her.

~~~

Amy looked at the doctor who was checking her over, "So, am I okay?" she asked.

"Yes," said the doctor, "Sonic was clean. We've also taken some samples, the medical evidence should be enough to prove that Sonic raped you, without you or Shadow having to testify as witnesses. There's just one thing..."

"What?"

"Well, Miss Blossom... I think you’re strong enough to handle the news… you're pregnant."

The colour drained from Amy's face, "What?"

"It’s highly unlikely to be Sonic’s baby – he only raped you a few hours ago. Have you been having sexual intercourse without protection with anybody else?"

Amy opened her mouth. Of all the stupid things for a girl to do, sex with a lack of protection ranked quite highly on the list, "Yes," she said.

"Ah. And do you know who the father could be?"

"There's only one person it could be," Amy covered her face, "Oh god... what am I going to tell Shadow?"

"The young man with the stab wound in his stomach?”

“Yes!”

“Well, he isn't awake yet. I believe he’s still being operated on. You don't yet have to tell him anything if- when he wakes up, although it's probably a good idea to do so."

“Why? Is he going to die?” Amy asked fearfully.

The nurse looked uncomfortable, “We don’t know,” she said finally, “He lost a lot of blood, and we have no matches for his blood type in our storage – in fact I doubt any other person on this planet is a match. We had to invent a new blood type for him. And he took a lot of damage to his lower abdomen with that glass blade.”

“I... I have to tell him," Amy told the doctor, "I just... don't know how… when he’s hurt so bad…"

"Well, he’s strong, I’ll tell you that,” the nurse tried to comfort her, “Or else he wouldn’t even have survived this long."

Amy rested her forehead on her hand, This whole… being pregnant thing… is almost entirely my fault, she thought, Rouge has warned me I couldn't expect men to think about contraception... and I should have thought... should have prepared… should have controlled myself better... But then, what if it isn’t Shadow’s baby? What if it’s Sonic’s? That would be… oh, so many, many times worse.

She dismissed the thought. It couldn’t be Sonic’s baby; he’d only raped her a few hours ago; even the sensitive hospital equipment couldn’t detect pregnancy that early. But the thought still stuck, nagging in the back of her head.

~~~

Sonic lay on the bed quietly, watching television. He’d woken up about an hour ago, and he was shattered with exhaustion, but not too shattered to remember what he’d done. And although he was technically watching the television, he was listening to the accusing voices in his head.

How could you, Sonic? How could you rape Amy like that? How could you do it at all?

Monster.

You broke her trust. You broke everybody’s trust. You’re supposed to be the hero, dammit!

And then, after everything you’ve been through with Shadow, you tried to kill him. Yes, you did. Is he even alive now?

Sonic flicked through some channels idly, not really taking it in. It was just something for his eyes to do while his brain was occupied with what he had done.

You should have trusted Amy’s judgement. You should have seen the way she tried to protect him meant something. You should have seen the way he fought for her showed he’d never hurt her. You shouldn’t have fallen for Rouge. Does she even care about you at all?

She used you. And you were fool enough to let her.

You used Amy.

Sonic turned off the television and lay back on the bedsheets with a sigh, listening to the voice inside his head.

You deserve to be punished.

~~~

Rouge looked in on the room. Amy was sitting by the bed, Shadow's limp hand in hers, a heart monitor bleeping away slowly in a corner. The pink hedgehog had phoned her yesterday, screamed some obscenities down the line, and hung up. After much battling with herself, Rouge had decided to face her.

"Amy... I'm so sorry," she muttered.

"You used Sonic," Amy said tearfully, not turning round, "You used him to hurt me and Shadow because you couldn't bear the idea of Shadow being happy without you. Shadow could die."

"I never meant... I never meant for Sonic to rape you," Rouge said quietly, "And I never meant for Shadow to get hurt... not like this. I swear... I swear it."

"Why should I believe you?" Amy asked her, “Thanks to you, Sonic raped me. He could go to jail for the rest of his life. Thanks to you, Shadow could die. Thanks to you… my baby could grow up without a father.”

“What?” Rouge blinked, “You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, I found out when they were checking me for catching anything from Sonic.”

There was a silence, “Whose is it?” Rouge asked.

“It’s too early to tell for sure,” Amy said. This wasn’t entirely true, but she really felt like making that treacherous bitch of a whore squirm right now, “You tell me what would be better for the child? Never meeting his father, because he’s in prison for rape, or never meeting his father because he was stabbed to death when he tried to protect me?”

“You could have an abortion,” suggested Rouge.

Amy stood up slowly, “What was that?”

“Well, you could. I’m just saying.”

“So I’m just 18. So I’m not married. So what?” Amy narrowed her eyes, “I don’t care what you or anybody else says, I’m keeping it. And if you keep trying to convince me otherwise, I swear I’ll give you such a slapping.”

“But if Shadow doesn’t pull through-“

Amy just glared a lot more, “You know something, Rouge? I’ve thought about that. And the more I thought about it the more I realised how little choice I really have.” She turned back to Shadow and sat next to him again.

Rouge sighed, “I should leave now," she replied, turning to go. But she placed a 'Get Well Soon' card on the bedside table as she went out.

Amy didn't look up. She just clutched Shadow's limp hand, "I love you, Shadow... please come back okay," she whispered.

He was pale, and unconcious, and all the things that went with it. It didn't seem right. He was supposed to be strong, and energetic, and here he was, looking half dead... it was nightmarish to see him this way. He'd probably blame himself if- when he woke up too.

And now... now she was pregnant. It might not last, after all it was still very early on. But Shadow was used to taking care of only himself. How would he react to being told he was going to be a father? Did he even know he was capable of reproduction? Would he run off? Or ask her to have an abortion? In her heart she knew he never would... but the thought was there, and it was too late to unthink it.

Amy shuddered. If she closed her eyes, she could still see Sonic staring down at her, a look of uncontrolled lust in his wild eyes. If her mind strayed, she could almost hear him, grunting out his pleasures on top of her. And the pain in her hips and the bruises all over her body ensured that she'd feel his touch for much longer than she wanted. She knew she'd wake up screaming to those memories for a long time.

Would Sonic have killed her when he was done? She didn’t know.

But even being raped by her 'hero' was nothing compared to watching him stab Shadow with a blade of glass. The memory of that would most likely be with her forever.

"Oh, Shadow," she sighed, "I love you so much... please come back okay..."

After a long time, she fell asleep, still holding his hand.

She woke because something was wrong. The heart monitor was slowing. Shadow’s blood pressure was falling rapidly. He was getting colder and paler. She hammered the emergency button with her fist desperately. As the doctors came in, she was bustled out.

“You can’t let him die!” she screamed back at them, “I’m carrying his baby!”

~~~

Something’s wrong. I’m cold. Freezing, even.

I can hear voices. Far away. I try to make out what they’re saying.

“He’s gone.”

“We might as well turn the life-support off.”

No! I’m not gone! I’m not dead! Don’t turn it off! The thoughts are a wild panic in my mind.

I have to be strong. But I don’t feel strong. Something’s pulling me, not forward, or backward, but down. I don’t even feel cold any more. I try to struggle, but I’m too damn tired. I’m going to die. And then I hear it. Not a voice, but a memory.

True strength isn't about how much power you have in your fists. It's about how much power you hold in your heart. Amy said that.

I want Amy to be here. Or Maria. Anybody would do. But I’m alone.

I want to go home. Wherever it is…

There’s warm light ahead. Cold darkness behind me. I want to go home. To Amy. Who cares about the damn pain, I need to be with her. I’m nothing without her. Especially if I’m dead. But which way is home?

I’m still being pulled down. It would be so easy to just let... whatever it is… take me. So down is the easy way. I never was one for taking the easy way out. But if down is the way out, then which is the way back? Darkness or light? Warmth or cold?

I face the light, take a deep breath, and take a step backwards.

~~~

Froggy: End of Chapter 14! Cliffhanger!

Harley: Did Shadow take the right path? Is Amy going to STAY pregnant? Is it really Shadow’s baby, or is that just wishful thinking on Amy’s part? Do I ever shut the hell up? Stay tuned for more romance and carefully researched medical problems! Read and review!