ARAAT5: Resurrection

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A Rose And A Thorn 5: Resurrection

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Froggy: Let’s see... on with the show!

Harley: I haven’t got anything to say!

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Chapter Three: More First Words

Mirage had by now wandered a few hundred feet through the debris, kicking aside parts of it and filming as she went. She wasn't stupid enough to actually want a confrontation with the unknown, but it was frustrating being able to do nothing, even if you weren't the hero type. Sonic must be feeling ten times worse. She sat down on the remains of a burning car and pulled out the camera, playing back the few seconds of footage she had. Fat chance an image of some shadowy figure would get her paid. She looked again at the red light that scanned her briefly. Some sort of heat sensor, probably. You could get them pretty small. Which meant that the guy - because all terrorist bombers and dentists were men - had access to technology.

Then again, a lot of people did, it was so small and cheap nowadays. So a fat lot of good that knowledge gave her. She muttered a swearword and got up off the car, walking away.

Suddenly, Mirage had the distinct feeling that she was being watched, a kind of pressure on the back of her neck, "Looking for me?" a husky voice whispered behind her, barely loud enough to be heard over the crackle of flames.

"That depends," Mirage said calmly, "Who are you?" she asked, careful not to turn around just yet.

"Me? Oh, I am no-one. I'm merely the shell of a broken man, a tool of vengeance. But if you need a name to call me by, Quilla will do."

Oh dear gods, there is a loser hobo behind me, Mirage thought, He is going to tell me his life story and how it was not his fault that he wound up on drugs and lost his family, "Well, Quilla, I do not think you are the person I am looking for," she said carefully, "So I shall just leave now." She got up off the burning car to leave.

"Funny, I thought you would be more interested in the man who had caused all this damage," said the voice casually.

Mirage stopped, setting the video camera from 'Play' to 'Record' and faced it towards the voice, "Yes, I would be," she said calmly, "But I am not interested in getting my head blown off, so good day to you, sir. And tell your friends they did a damn good job of getting the attention of one of the planet's heroes. Which is not me, by the way," she added quickly.

Then the camera she was aiming at him was blown apart by a beam of glowing energy. No other beams followed. No more shots were fired, "I have no friends,” the voice said simply, "I did it myself."

"Hey! That camera cost a lot of-" Mirage turned, "Oh dear gods..." she managed in a whisper, her hand rising to her mouth despite herself.

Sitting on the car bonnet she had been on seconds before, gazing up at her with an amused expression on his face was a midnight blue echidna cyborg, his handsome, uninjured left side a sharp contrast to his scarred and mechanized right. His steel fist was pointed at her, a still-smoking barrel extended up from it. The barrel retracted into the hand, and he rested it in his lap again, "Am I really so hideous?" he asked with a smirk, as if he knew the answer.

Mirage fought the urge to faint. She had seen worse aboard the ARK, she reminded herself. Horrible, twisted creatures that couldn't even walk. The lucky ones had died on awakening. She herself didn't have a drop of pure species blood in her body. But somehow this was worse. The unscarred, handsome left side of his face only served to make the right side look that much worse. He hadn't turned out this way, he had ended up this way and yet he was alive... "No..." she managed, "I... how..." she finally whispered, "How... what..."

The echidna reached up with his mechanical hand to stroke the scarred side of his face, a look of pain crossing his features, "GUN soldiers are responsible for my injuries,” he said, answering her incomplete question, "The explosion and shrapnel of a missile shredded my right side. Reconstruction saved my life, but... someone very dear to me was not so lucky."

"Oh... that is too bad," Mirage tried to stop staring, "I will be going now..."

"So soon?" asked Quilla, tilting his head to the side, "If it is because you fear me, don't. I have no intention of harming you. Yet."

"What?" Mirage glared, "Do you have something against me? I have never seen you before in my life - wait, do you know someone I have... annoyed, lately? That happens a lot."

"I doubt it,” the echidna replied dryly, "And I'm not yet sure if I have something against you. By the way, what is your name?"

"I do not have to tell you my personal details!" Mirage snapped at him. She instantly regretted her hasty, rude reply, but it was too late to take it back.

Quilla glared at her, his one organic eye twitching. It seemed like he was about to do something violent, but the anger melted away with a silent exhalation, "No, you don't, but I did give you my name, and it would only be polite to return the favour."

"Mirage," she replied, a sour expression on her face, "Project: Mirage."

"Mirage... Mirage..." the echidna whispered, testing the word out, rolling it around in his mind, "A false image of that which one thirsts for which disappears when they draw nearer to it, appearing further away, out of reach.”

“I prefer to think of them as causing only suffering and loss,” Mirage said sharply, her expression hardening, becoming bitter, "Goodbye." She didn't like turning her back on the cyborg echidna, but she had to if she was going to leave.

"Still rude and defiant, still strong,” the echidna said to her back, "You haven't been changed much."

"Why do you keep talking as if you know me?" Mirage snarled suddenly, losing her temper, "I do not believe I have ever seen you before in my life!"

"You're right. You haven't,” the echidna whispered. When the hedgecat whirled around to face him again, he was not there; he had simply vanished back into the smoke.

"Godsdammit!" Mirage snarled, and stamped out of the cloud of smoke, furious and smelling of engine oil. She was already resolving that the next time that rotten echidna showed up - wait a minute - echidna? Sonic had already told her that Knuckles was the only echidna alive.

She had asked some questions, and because they were innocent enough questions, people gave her answers. She had done some research, and because the information wasn’t confidential, nobody had noticed. She was quite sure by now that Knuckles was the son who she had lost all those years ago. And she had decided that he was better off not knowing about her. Better to speculate about the truth than know it for sure. She didn’t want to lose him twice.

She growled deep in her throat in frustration, "Sonic!" she shouted, "Shadow! Amy!"

Sonic rocketed towards Mirage and expertly skidded to a stop a few feet in front of her. Showing off, as usual, "What's up, Mirage?" he asked.

"I..." Mirage turned back towards where the cyborg echidna had been. The only sign that he had ever been there was her melted camera, "There was a guy," she said finally, "He kept saying he was the one who did all this..." she gestured around at the destruction.

"What? Where is he? Lemme at him!" the blue hedgehog said excitedly, practically vibrating with energy, ready for another battle against evil. He could be awfully simpleminded like that.

"He is no longer around," Mirage scowled, "He vanished before I could get a chance to kick his ass. With all this debris around, it was not hard.”

"Damn,” said Sonic, looking disappointed, "Well, just who is the guy? What did you find out?"

"Well..." Mirage sat on a wall and ran her fingers through her quills, "He said his name was Quilla. And... he is an echidna."

"Say what? An echidna? But I thought Knuckles was the only..." began a confused Sonic. Shadow and Amy soon stepped into sight, walking towards the two of them.

"Is something wrong? Asides from the obvious,” asked the black and red hedgehog.

"Yes, well he is an echidna all the same," Mirage sighed, "And..." she tried to think how to phrase it, "He has been horribly disfigured. He blames GUN for it. He seems to want revenge." She wasn't sure why she wasn't telling them about the robotic additions. Maybe she felt that they should find out the way she did. It wasn't as if there were any more echidnas.

"GUN has a habit of making enemies it can't handle,” Shadow mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. To be perfectly honest with himself, he didn't care. In fact, he secretly wished the deformed, revenge-seeking echidna luck. The hedgehog experiment from the ARK had received plenty of torment from the global military organization, and while he may have forgiven humanity, GUN received no such thing for him. He still had nightmares from the horrors he endured in captivity on Prison Island.

"Did I mention that he is clearly insane?" Mirage asked quietly, rubbing her forehead. She didn't want to meet the echidna again. He reminded her too much of the atrocities GUN had committed on ARK.

"It’s obvious from the damage,” Shadow said. Looking around at the damage, he added, "His grudge does seem to be at GUN and GUN alone. No civilians were deliberately hurt during this attack. If he doesn't bother us... perhaps we should just leave him alone. If he succeeds, he does for us exactly what we want, and if not, he goes down, and there's one less lunatic in the world."

Sonic whirled around to face Shadow, "You've got to be kidding!"

Mirage groaned. Here came another of Shadow's rants about the evils of GUN. And sure, 50-odd years ago they'd been serious bastards. But they'd learnt a harsh lesson from the atrocities of the ARK, as had many people...

Sonic, however, was quick to cut the rant off, "Look, I don't like GUN either, but we can't just kill them all, or let anyone else, either! I say we find and stop this guy!"

Amy stood up, "Shadow, I know you hate GUN, but if this guy wants to take them down, then that's one obstacle in Eggman's path gone. And other people will be hurt too. From what Mirage has told us, it sounds like he's the one who needs help."

"Besides, not everyone in GUN can be evil,” Sonic said, "Most of them are just ordinary people with good intentions. And-"

Shadow growled, "Alright! Fine. We stop the psycho from murdering the entire well-trained and equipped GUN army,” he said, "But don't come whining to me when it backfires on us."

"Shadow..." Mirage spoke up wearily, "One guy is not going to take down GUN. When he finds that out, he is going to vent in other, less healthy ways."

"I was joking,” he told her, though he didn’t look like it, "And I figured that by the time someone this dedicated finds that out... he'll have just been gunned down by a mech."

Amy wrapped her arms around Shadow, "Baby, calm down," she told him softly.

The dark hedgehog took a deep breath and sighed, letting go of his frustration, leaning back slightly against Amy, "Alright... I'm calm."

Amy kissed him on the cheek, "Nothing more is going to happen here tonight," she said simply. Strangely, despite her saying that, nothing exploded, "Come on, let's go home."

"You're right,” he murmured, "Let's go home."

Sonic rolled his eyes, still disappointed that he couldn't get to face off against the echidna right now.

Mirage stood up, "I am tired," she announced, in an almost childlike way, "I want to go home..." She looked up at the sky, where the stars were coming out, and started walking.

Sonic watched as Mirage and then Shadow and Amy walk away. Mumbling something in irritation, the blue hedgehog gave up and followed after Mirage.

~~~

When Amy and Shadow got back to their shared apartment, the first thing Amy did was check on Eclipse. The baby hedgehog was already awake and looking up at her, "Aw, Eclipse... my widdle baby should be asleep by now..." she admonished him gently, then picked him up.

Eclipse giggled, "Dada..." he looked at Shadow.

Shadow's eyes widened in surprise. Hesitantly pointing at the baby, he said, "Did he... just say what I think he said?" Eclipse had never actually formed a word until that point. He was hearing his son's first word.

Amy laughed happily, and handed Eclipse to Shadow. The baby instantly began to tug at Shadow's chest fur, giggling, "Dada..." he repeated.

A big smile spread over the proud hedgehog's face, and he reached over to run a finger along the baby's cheek, "That's right,” Shadow said happily, "I'm your ‘dada’."

"His first word..." Amy sighed happily, and hugged them both, "He's growing so quickly," she added, “He’s so smart.”

Shadow rubbed his cheek against Amy, still looking down at their son, feeling like they finally had a stable family, that the dangers that had threatened them were far behind. GUN no longer troubled them, dealing with a real threat, Eggman had been quiet for a long while, and he had done much to right the wrongs of the past. Things were finally looking up for Shadow, for all of them.

"Being a mother is even better than I dreamed it would be," Amy kissed Eclipse, and put him back in his cot. Then she kissed Shadow, "Although arranging our wedding is hard work..."

Shadow sighed and nodded his head sympathetically, "Smashing robots, evading armies, and saving the world is easier,” he told Amy.

"And expensive," Amy said, more quietly. Not that it mattered. The government was practically paying for the wedding, in exchange for Amy never showing the documents she had on GUN to the press. Authorised or not, the incidents taking place on Prison Island were incredibly embarrassing for them and GUN. Now, Prison Island was being left to rust, "In a few weeks, I'll be Mrs Amy Lifeform," Amy kissed Shadow passionately.

Shadow wrapped his arms around Amy and returned the kiss, humming softly, "It’s been a long, rough road to get here,” he said.

"You know something?" Amy smiled, "I wouldn't have had it any other way."

"Uh,” Shadow uttered, "I think I would change a few things...." Like the torture on Prison Island or Amy's rape.

Amy knew what he meant, but she knew what she meant too, "I mean, it was worth it, to be with you forever," she explained softly, “If we can get through the bad things, we can get through anything."

The dark hedgehog chuckled softly and kissed the tip of her nose, "I know,” he whispered, "Just playing with you." Sometimes his grasp of humour could be a little shaky.

"I like it when you play with me," Amy smiled mischievously.

Shadow grinned, leaning in closer, "Good,” he rumbled, "I like it too..."

Amy wrapped her arms around Shadow's broad shoulders, and drew herself in for another kiss, revelling in his taste, his scent and the feel of it all. He returned the kiss happily and strongly, holding her tightly to him, giving her lips small licks here and there, his finger sliding through her quills. She stroked the inside of his ear with her finger, her lips parting and then sucking on his tongue lovingly, as her other hand moved through the fur on his chest.

Shadow closed his eyes, purring at the attention to the sensitive spot on his chest. His tongue slid past her lips, and his fingers gently caressed the back of her neck, "Mmm..."

Amy nodded in satisfaction, shivering as Shadow's fingers caressed her. Her tongue met his, and began to lick at it fiercely, lovingly, as her fingers trailed slowly over the highlights on his face, his quills and his arms.

Another pleased rumbled left the dark hedgehog's chest as their tongues duelled playfully. His lips curled up in a smile as they kissed, his fingers moving up to rub her cheeks and ears.

Amy sighed again, her chest rising and falling against Shadow's. Her hands slipped gently to his waist and rubbed at his belly slowly as she continued to kiss him passionately.

Shadow slowly ended the kiss, taking a quick, shuddering breath as he pulled away, grinning at the pink hedgehog, his purrs increasing with her belly rubs. Glancing over briefly at Eclipse, he said softly, "Perhaps we should take this elsewhere..."

"I doubt he'd even know what was happening..." Amy said softly, "But... the noise might scare him a little. You're right..."

"We do get awfully loud,” he replied, smirking at her. Leaning down, he scooped Amy up into his arms and carefully carried her away towards their bedroom.

Amy sat on the end of the bed, kicking her shoes off and smiling at Shadow seductively, "I love you, Shadow," she told him.

Shadow slipped his own shoes and gloves off tossing them aside in a moment. Oh, the advantages of having a fur coat... Smiling back, burning red eyes meeting emerald green, Shadow stepped towards her slowly, a dim form in the unlit room, "Mmm, and I love you too, Amy."

Amy smiled at Shadow again, and pulled off her gloves, standing up and reaching out to run her hands over his body, down to his hips. She took his face in her hands and stroked it gently, gazing into his eyes.

Shadow's eyes half-closed lazily, the hedgehog murmuring quietly in pleasure. Resting his hands on her arms, he rubbed them and slid his hands down to her shoulders. Taking hold of her, Shadow pressed Amy back against the bed, climbing on top of her. He smiled down at her, his red highlights and eyes seeming to glow.

Amy took in another deep lungful of his rich, intoxicating scent and brushed the tips of her fingers over his chest. Her lips descended to his neck, and she began to lick it gently.

Smirking and closing his eyes, Shadow lifted his chin, allowing Amy to lick his throat more easily, purring louder in response. One hand moved over her chest and belly, although her dress was regretfully in the way. The hand moved further up, caressing the gentle flesh of her throat.

Amy took Shadow's hand and guided it up her little red dress, sliding it up and down through her fur. As he continued, her lips moved from his throat to his shoulders, and her hands slid up and down his spine.

Shadow hummed louder, his fingers sliding through her fur, caressing and rubbing and squeezing. He kissed the top of Amy's head as he worked to remove the dress around her body.

Amy allowed him to manipulate her body as he wished; she trusted him with it as utterly as she trusted him with Eclipse. Her kissed trailed over his chest and her tongue lapped at the clean, white fur, enjoying to feeling of their bodies so close together.

Murmuring happily, Shadow reluctantly lifted himself away from her just long enough to pull the dress off over her head, tossing it away casually and again lowering himself onto her. His hands roamed freely over her belly and chest now, caressing and squeezing her breasts as he tilted his head up to lick along her ear.

Amy giggled as his rough tongue traced that ticklish spot, and her hand moved down between his legs, rubbing his most sensitive areas gently.

Shadow grinned in the dark, closing his eyes and feeling his arousal grow at her gentle touch, "Mmm, Amy..." he mumbled before taking the edge of her ear into his mouth and sucking on it, his hips pressing back against her hand.

Amy giggled again, her hand still trailing over his arousal, shivering in pleasure each time his hands moved over her body, “Shadow…”

Shadow's hands grasped her sides as he pulled himself to her, his mouth leaving her ear to suckle her throat, the tip of his member rubbing against her belly.

Amy writhed beneath him in enjoyment, reaching behind her and unclipping her bra so that her breasts were bare. She stretched as best as she could underneath him, and pushed his hands further down to her panties.

Pressing against her panties, Shadow pulled them off and down her legs in one swift movement. His fingers moved against her slit, rubbing softly as he lowered his mouth to a breast, kissing and licking it happily.

Amy began to moan, writhing, beneath Shadow as her hands slid over his body. She squeezed him gently in places, and slid her foot up and down the inside of his leg.

Giving her breasts another lick, Shadow crawled back up her until they were again looking each other in the eyes. Softly touching her cheek, the tip of Shadow's shaft pressed against her slit, throbbing with excitement.

Amy’s head pressed back against the sheets, as she gave another shiver. The heat of them both pressed together was arousing in itself; she could almost feel her juices coming. She gazed up into his eyes, "Shadow, you are so..." she searched for the right word and settled on, "...perfect, when you're like this..."

"Perfect…” Shadow whispered, "…isn't a strong enough word to describe you in this moment." He pressed his lips against hers, the heat of their bodies mixing as he thrust forward, entering his mate slowly and smoothly. No matter how many times they did this, it never got old to him, and he hoped it never would.

Amy smiled into the kiss, and as Shadow entered her, gave a low, long moan. She spread her legs wide and braced them against the bed, raising her body up and pressing harder against him, a slow tremble of pleasure running through her body as she grew steadily more aroused.

Their tongues again met and their moans mingled within the deepening kiss, Shadow sliding further and further within her until he hilted inside her, groaning in pleasure. His hands met hers, pressing them down against the bed, their fingers tightly entwined as he slowly raised up and thrust back within her, glad to return to her warm, tight depths.

Amy moaned again, another shudder racing through her as shadow's heat pushed into her slowly. Trapped in his protective embrace, filled and completed, she wanted to be this way forever, and that she finally had a dream that could come true.

Shadow could think of nowhere he would rather be and no-one he would rather be there with. Surrounding and resting within Amy at the same time, feeling their hearts beat together, bound by their love for each other, he could forget the past, forget himself and just enjoy life for what it was. The hedgehog slowly and steadily moved inside her, thrusting back and forth, gaining in speed and power as time went on, the pleasure filling his mind, the softness and warmth becoming his world.

Amy cried out his name, softly at first, then louder, her hands wrapped around his tightly. She raised herself up against him repeatedly, if irregularly, and cried out again as she felt herself ache and tremble inside, "Oh... Shadow!" she cried out, "Oh... almost..."

Shadow moaned, hearing Amy cry out his name, feeling her tighten around him. Grunting and panting loudly, the dark hedgehog sped up his thrusts, moving within her faster and deeper, pleasure building up within him, heat and sweat and scent mixing together into an arousing concoction, "Amy! Oh, yes...."

The mix of it all, and the heat between them, made Amy gasp for breath. The smell of Shadow's musk was overpowering, and she gave one more shaky cry of pleasure, before her body trembled and she orgasmed, tears of pleasure running down her face as she tightened and trembled around him.

Shadow cried out loudly, the shout muffled by Amy's fur, which he had pressed his muzzle into tightly, as he too orgasmed soon afterward, clutching at her tightly and filling her with his fluids, panting for breath and dizzy with pleasure, "Amy..." he moaned, lightly kissing her throat.

Still gasping, Amy gave a shuddering sigh of pleasure, "Shadow..." she whispered, "I love you..."

"I love you too,” he whispered back, nuzzling her face and kissing her cheek, his hands leaving hers to wrap comfortingly around her body.

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Harley: Read and Review!