ARAAT2: Eclipse - Part 1

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A Rose And A Thorn 2: Eclipse

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Well okay, Chapter One wasn’t so bad in terms of gore. But it won’t last, you know that. Oh, and N/A, Shadow fainting was supposed to be funny.

Froggy: Most Intelligent Review goes to KittyNakajuma. Harley did some research on real labour, and that’s why it appears quite realistic. Don’t you hate it when it’s little more than ten minutes of straining? Highly unrealistic. We’re very, very glad that you and everybody else enjoyed the first chapter. We were a little worried it wouldn’t be as good as the original.

Harley: I thought about it, and I realised that really, ARAAT1 was more of a prologue to this story. You’re all correct, it didn’t have an awful lot of plot. But I’m pretty sure that this sequel has more plot. And I hope you all continue to enjoy it.

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Chapter Two: Visitors

Shadow slowly opened his eyes, blinking and remembering where he was. His body ached from sleeping in the chair he had been given. He could have gone home and slept there, or found a nice couch to sleep on, but he didn't want to leave Amy's side. He looked over at her and the baby. Both were still peacefully asleep. He smiled, that comforting warmth filling his chest again.

Amy shifted a little in the bed, smiling even in her sleep. Eclipse slept in a small cot next to the bed. He seemed to be waking up now.

Shadow stretched, stood up, and walked over to the waking baby. He looked down at him with a smile. "Hello there," he whispered, "Did you sleep well?"

Eclipse gurgled quietly, looking up at him with an unnerving sense of recognition from one so young, and reached out a tiny hand. In the hospital bed, Amy shifted again, still dozing.

“Hey there,” Shadow reached down and gently took the baby's tiny hand in his own, "I'm your father. Glad to meet you."

Amy was also waking now. Yawning, she looked up to see Shadow looking over Eclipse's cot. She smiled sleepily, and sat up, rubbing her back, "Well, if that didn't take everything out of me," she said. She got out of bed and started to stand up, carefully. It certainly was a relief to not be carrying around all that extra weight.

Shadow glanced over at her and smirked. Reaching over, he took her by the hand and guided her over to him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"We're parents," she said, leaning on Shadow, a huge smile on her weary face as she looked down at Eclipse. She reached in and picked him up, and he started nuzzling at her breasts instinctively, "He's going to change everything. Let's tell everybody!" she declared, the huge smile sticking.

Shadow smiled and kissed her on the cheek, "Where should we start?"

Amy grinned, "Let's phone everybody we know in alphabetical order!"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Shadow said with a nod, "Now where is the phone..."

"There's one in the maternity ward. It's a payphone, but there's some change in my dress pockets," Amy answered. She sat back down on the bed, still holding Eclipse. After a moment, she unbuttoned the hospital gown and started feeding him.

Shadow nodded and walked off, looking for the phone to start calling their friends. He passed a number of new mothers, and tried to remember in his excitement, who came first. Big. Big had a phone, albeit an old, cranky one. Shadow felt he owed a lot to the overweight cat; his good advice had saved his and Amy's relationship.

Big was excited, of course, and was going to rush over to the hospital immediately. Shadow then called Team Chaotix. Espio answered the phone. Vector was apparently still asleep, but Charmee could be heard in the background, as hyper as ever. He and the chameleon had been on good terms since the incident that got him in the hospital, forming a kind of friendship. The two understood and respected each other. Then Mighty, who despite not being a part of Team Chaotix any more, still assured them he was going to come over as soon as possible, and that he’d bring Ray too. Next, Shadow decided to call Tails, who was overjoyed to hear the news, of course. The two-tailed fox said that he would radio Knuckles and give him the good news as well. Lady Vanilla was next on the list, who in turn passed the news to her daughter, Cream. They both would be arriving shortly. Finally, Shadow came upon the last two people who might be interested in knowing... Sonic was just about impossible to get hold of, and Shadow wasn't sure that he wanted to contact him. And Rouge... he knew her number, but hesitated to call it at first.

It took a few seconds, but he remembered that Amy had at least returned to talking terms with Rouge, over the last few months, and Rouge had been happy for them, once she had been convinced it wasn't Sonic's baby Amy was carrying. The bat would probably want to know, even if she didn't come. Shadow made up his mind and dialled the number of Club Rouge, waiting for her to pick up.

A sleepy voice answered the phone after a while, "Club Rouge, what do you want at this time in the morning?" Shadow looked at the clock above him and noted that it was almost noon. Still, Rouge was a bat, and certain things could be excused for her.

"Hello, Rouge. It's Shadow."

"What do you want?" Rouge didn't sound angry with him; it was more the tone of someone who had been woken up too early and didn't think it was going to be worth it.

"Amy’s just had the baby, and both are doing fine. I figured you would want to know," he said. He was just too happy at the moment to be bothered by her tone of voice.

There was a pause, "Wow!" Rouge suddenly sounded a lot more enthusiastic, "Tell her I'll be over in about an hour..." Shadow heard her yawn, before she put the phone down.

Shadow smirked and hung up. That should be everyone. He walked back to Amy and Eclipse' room. "Well, that should be everyone. Most of them are rushing out to see you."

Amy smiled, "What, just most?"

Shadow shrugged. "Espio is going to have to wake up Vector first, and that’s no mean feat. It'll take a while for Big to get here, and the same for Knuckles."

Amy just continued to smile. Her mouth actually hurt from smiling so much, but she couldn't stop, "I love you, Shadow," she told him.

"And I love you, Amy," he replied, his heart beating faster at the sound of those words. He never got tired of hearing them.

Amy patted the bed beside her, and Shadow sat down, "He's special," she said simply, "He's not just our baby, he's more special than that - somehow. I can feel it, can't you?"

"Yes, I can..." he admitted, "There is something special about him. I could feel it while you were giving birth to him..."

Amy kissed Eclipse's forehead gently, and he wriggled, "Lively too," she said, "Like his father."

The door flew open, and Cream ran in, "I wanna see, I wanna see!" she shouted. Lady Vanilla came in right after her - she'd obviously driven fast all the way.

Shadow smiled and stepped out of Cream's way.

Lady Vanilla smiled down at Amy, then hugged Shadow, which surprised him slightly, "I'm very happy for you both," she told him, "And I'm very glad you took my advice too, Shadow." Lady Vanilla had been extremely helpful in the last five months, having no small amount of experience herself, she'd given lots of advice - but Shadow was pretty sure she meant the stuff about not turning vigilante hero.

Shadow was glad he took her advice too. To him, this was a far more rewarding life than being the big hero. He didn't need that violence in his life anymore. He returned the hug, "Me too. Thank you for your guidance, Lady Vanilla. It means a lot to me."

Cream was almost bouncing on the bed in excitement, "Oooh, it's a boy!" she squealed, looking down at the bundle in Amy's arms, "Can I hold him, can I Amy? What did you call him, huh?"

Amy smiled, "His name is Eclipse," she told Cream, "And yes, you can hold him - I'll help you support him though." Cream held Eclipse for a little while, with Amy supporting his head.

There seemed to be some arguing outside the door, "You can't just park your giant robot in the car park!" somebody was saying.

The answer was, "I've been driving that damn thing since I was ten years old! I can park it anywhere I like!" Tails entered, looking a bit out of breath. His face lit up when he saw Amy cradling the baby, "Cool!" he turned to Shadow - he seemed to have adopted a similar attitude to Shadow that he had once had for Sonic over the last few months; only it wasn't hero worship but a little like a big brother kind of respect, "What was it like?" he asked, "When Amy was giving birth, I mean."

"Terrifying," Shadow admitted to the kit, "But everything turned out alright in the end."

"Cool!" Tails said again, "He looks really like you!"

Shadow smiled, "That he does. He has his mother's eyes, too."

Only a few minutes later, the doors burst open again, and Charmee flew in. The noise he was making had woken up half the infants in the maternity ward. Espio followed him and nodded at Shadow, "Vector wouldn't wake up," he said, "So I got Charmee to sting him." The crocodile walked in behind him, rubbing his rear.

Shadow chuckled softly at the crocodile's discomfort. "It's good to have you all here, but Charmee... try to keep the noise down, alright?"

"OKAY!" Charmee sat down, and started messing with the contents of the bedside cabinet, also bouncing on the bed. He had the attention span of a hamster in a tumble-dryer.

Vector grinned slightly, and bent over to look at Eclipse, "Ain't that cute," he said. To Shadow and Amy's amazement, Eclipse didn't start crying the moment he saw Vector’s toothy snout looming above him. He looked more interested than afraid. Vector looked surprised too.

Shadow smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh, he's my son, alright..."

Soon enough, Mighty stumbled in. Nobody was entirely certain what he’d been doing since he’d left Team Chaotix, but he seemed to be hanging out with Ray a lot. The squirrel followed him in.

“Heh… cute kid,” Mighty commented, “It’s been a while, huh Vector?”

“Nearly three years,” the crocodile answered, “I still think you should have joined Team Chaotix, Mighty.”

“Meh, I had more important things to do,” Mighty replied.

Big walked in, frowning slightly, "They wouldn't let me take Froggy in," he said, sounding disappointed, "Froggy wanted to see Amy and Shadow too." He looked happier when he saw Amy though, and looked over her shoulder, "What's his name?" he asked.

"Eclipse," Amy told him, smiling.

"That's a nice name!" Big smiled. The smile floundered, "What's it mean?"

Shadow chuckled, "It's when the moon passes in front of the sun and makes a big shadow," he explained to the cat.

"Oh," said Big. He patted the baby gently, "He's really small," he said. Big was an expert at stating the obvious.

"Well, he's only a day old," Amy answered.

“You named him well,” Espio told Shadow.

The door opened again, and Rouge walked in, her heels clicking on the floor. She seemed more interested in Amy than in Shadow or Eclipse, "I can't stay long," she yawned, "Got a lot of... work to do... Did it all go straight? No complications?"

"It went fine," Amy answered, "Well, that's what the doctors said. It was kinda painful on my end."

"I'm glad for you," Rouge turned to Shadow, rubbing the back of her neck, "Uh, both of you. I, uh... hope you're happy together. Yeah, yeah, I do!" She suddenly looked a lot happier for saying that.

Shadow raised an eyebrow, not sure if she was telling the truth or not. Either way, it sounded uncomfortable for her to say it, and he was grateful for the gesture, "Thank you, Rouge," he said with a smile, "I'm glad you could visit."

"Well, I gotta go now," she said, nodding, "See you around, you know?" she told them, and walked out.

Amy shrugged, "Well, it was nice of her to visit," she said simply, “Even if only for a brief period.”

"Hmm..." It was obvious that the bat still had a hard time being around him. He had let go of any bitter feelings he had felt towards her. He guessed that she had a hard time doing the same.

Knuckles was the last person to arrive, after Espio and Vector had left, dragging the overexcited Charmee out. The Echidna had come all the way from Angel Island, so it wasn't really a surprise. The surprise was that he had done so at all. He looked at Shadow, obviously pleased, "So you got a big responsibility in your life now, huh?" he said, "Welcome to my world."

Shadow smirked, glad that Knuckles had decided to show. He and the echidna had also come to understand each other better. Interesting how the echidna compared having a baby to taking care of a large rock, "I’m glad to be in it," the black hedgehog said, "So how have you been, Knuckles?"

"Oh, same as ever, saving the Master Emerald from the clutches of jewel thieves and mad scientists," Knuckles' serious face twitched into a brief smile, "Eggman's tried to steal the Master Emerald three times in six months, did you know? So you see, I don't need yours or Sonic's help to do my job," he glanced around, "Where is that arrogant blue bastard anyway?"

Shadow's smile disappeared, "I don't know. I haven't heard from him in a couple of months."

"Aw, who cares?" Knuckles went over to Amy, looking down at Eclipse, "What's his name, anyway?"

"Eclipse," Tails told him. He didn't look too happy for Knuckles insulting Sonic. He certainly didn't worship the blue hedgehog the way he had once done, but he seemed to think he had a duty to stay friends with him at the very least.

"Neat," Knuckles continued to look down at the baby. Like Shadow, he had a certain affinity towards Chaos energy, though it was more from living with it all his life than an inborn thing like with Shadow. And if Chaos energy had a smell, then this kid positively reeked of it. He figured he should warn Shadow.

Eclipse reached up for Knuckles, patting his nose. Shadow and Knuckles traded glances. They both saw something in the child that no one else could; his potential power. The same abilities that Shadow possessed had been passed on to his son. Little Eclipse would become powerful indeed. The black hedgehog understood that it could become a problem later...

"Shad, I want to talk to ya," Knuckles said, "Outside, you know?"

Shadow nodded and silently walked out of the room, the echidna behind him. The baby watched them both intently as they left the room, then cuddled up in its young mother’s arms, and fell asleep.

"You felt it, too."

"Damn right," Knuckles agreed, "I know my thing is the Master Emerald, but... well, you were already matured when you woke up with your Chaos powers, right?"

"Yes. When I first awoke, I was already physically and mentally matured," Shadow explained.

"And now you got yourself a day old kid with Chaos powers. He's still developing, but..."

"When Amy was giving birth to Eclipse... he was trying to use Chaos Control," Shadow interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest, "If he was close to doing that while still in his mother's womb..."

"Exactly," said Knuckles, "You can teach him to control his powers, and he'll be easily as powerful as you by the time he hits puberty, or you can leave him be, and he... well, let's just say he'll have as much control over his powers as a ping-pong ball."

Shadow closed his eyes and shook his head. He should have known that it wouldn't be as simple as raising any other child. The baby could use chaos powers through instinct alone. What would happen if he had a temper tantrum? Eclipse's abilities could be a grave danger to both himself and those around him, "This isn't going to be easy..."

"Look at it this way," Knuckles said, "He's got you and Amy to teach him how to use his powers, and how to use them for good. You're right, it's not gonna be easy. But if anybody can do it, it's you two."

Shadow smirked, "Thank you, Knuckles. Yes, we can do it... Hmm. I have a question I've been meaning to ask. Would you mind if Amy, Eclipse, and myself visited Angel Island for a while?"

"Sure... most people don't even ask," Knuckles replied, "They just turn up and say, ‘Hey Knux, the planet's exploding on Thursday, mind helping us save it?’ Like I haven't got enough to do up there... Angel Island doesn't drive itself, you know."

Shadow chuckled softly. "Indeed. You see... Tails has described the island to me from his journeys there, and... well, I'd like to take Amy there on our honeymoon."

"Sure - wait, honeymoon?" Knuckles blinked, "Don't you have to be like, married to have one of those?"

"Yes, and I plan on asking Amy that question very soon," he explained, facing the echidna, "I was going to ask her earlier, but Eclipse interrupted me."

Knuckles worked this out, "Wow, talk about bad timing, huh?"

"Indeed," Shadow grumbled. It was pretty terrible timing, and he would have to go through the process of preparing himself again. Oh joy... Changing the subject, he said, "I also figured that having Eclipse around the Master Emerald would be a good influence. I remember that it felt different from the Chaos Emeralds... peaceful, serene..."

Knuckles nodded, "Okay. Whe- IF she says yes... sure. Just... don't expect me to do any babysitting or cook you breakfast in bed or anything. And don't have sex on the Master Emerald," his face twitched again, the only sign that he'd made a joke.

Shadow snickered, having been around him enough to pick up on his odd sense of humour, "Wouldn't dream of it. Hey, but you can keep it a secret from Amy, right?"

"Shadow, I live on Angel Island,” Knuckles’ face twitched, “Who am I gonna tell, huh? Anyway, I gotta go now," he said, "I left the Island floating off-shore and somebody's gonna complain if there's an extra landmass in the sea for too long. Good luck in the asking thing, right?"

"Right. Thanks again," Shadow said with a nod.

Knuckles nodded and walked away quietly.

~~~

“You can teach him to control his powers, and he'll be easily as powerful as you by the time he hits puberty, or you can leave him be, and he... well, let's just say he'll have as much control over his powers as a ping-pong ball.”

“Rewind that,” a smooth voice ordered. The conversation between Shadow and Knuckles returned to the beginning, and the watcher listened to the entire conversation again.

“So, the Ultimate Lifeform has had a son. And this son has the ability to use Chaos Energy,” The watcher nodded, “Find it. Take it. Bring it to me. I have no doubt that it will come in useful.”

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Harley: You like that, huh? You like the further plot development? I sure hope so!

Froggy: Now review and get with Chapter 3!