ARAAT2: Eclipse - Part 2

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A Rose And A Thorn 2: Eclipse

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Me: Well, well, well, it’s time for Chapter Ten. Thank you, Heous. There have been a few things left out... but you're all smart enough to do without them.

Froggy: Continue with the stringiness, and tell your friends! Also prepare from some serious unpleasantness with filling in the gaps.

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Chapter Ten: Interrogation

Shadow felt as if he had been in that room his whole life as he opened his eyes to it once again. The blank white walls, the thick leather straps, the emotionless scientists, the endless torture and hallucinations... But now he had some hope that someone would get him out. Someone who knew him and cared about him.

The door opened, and closed, and that voice he had come to despise and fear rang out, "Good evening, Project Shadow," the Colonel said, "I have good news... and bad news..."

Shadow grunted in acknowledgement. He didn't feel strong enough to do much else.

"The good news is that you're no longer staying in this lab," said the Colonel. There was a long pause as this sank in, "The bad news is that there are spies in this base helping you, and I plan to find out who and where they are."

Amy. That was her name. The Colonel must have somehow figured out that she visited. He didn't reply, staying silent, focusing on his breathing. In and out... slowly... calmly... keep in control.

Two soldiers came into the lab behind the Colonel, and stepped over to the table, removing the restraints quickly. Shadow tried to struggle, but his muscles were cramped up so badly that he couldn't even move without pain. He almost screamed as they threw him onto the floor. They tried to drag him to his knees in front of the Colonel, but since he could barely stand by now, there wasn't much point. He really hoped nothing was permanently damaged.

"You're being moved to the cells, Project Shadow," the Colonel told him, looking down at him with distaste, "And there you'll be interrogated until you reveal the names of those who are helping you."

"I won't tell you," Shadow rasped, his defiance lacking the weight and power it once had. After days of medical torture, he just didn't have the energy for it.

"You may think not, but I have some very imaginative interrogators," said the Colonel. The two soldiers grabbed Shadow under the arms and dragged him away. If he looked at the floor, which was easiest, he could see his blood smearing against it, leaving a gruesome trail behind him.

Shadow closed his eyes and prepared himself for what was certain to be horrible. He would not tell them about Amy. She was the only person who had shown him any kindness in this hell, and he refused to betray her. He didn’t care what they did to him any more. He drew upon his deep reserves of anger and hatred, letting it fuel his will-power.

He lost track of the turns they took soon enough. They'd left the clean research wing, and now he was being dragged along rough stone floors that made his wounds open some more and jarred his muscles. Then finally, into a filthy stone cell with no natural source of light. The soldiers pushed him to his knees, then forced him up against the wall face first and loosely chained his wrists to it.

He forced his face away from the wall and tested his restraints. As he had expected, there was nothing he could do to free himself from them. He no longer even had the energy to try. Oh, what he would give to have his hands on a Chaos Emerald...

Shadow couldn't turn properly to see behind him, but the Colonel's voice was clear, "I will give you one chance, Project Shadow. What are the names of the people who are helping you?"

"I don't know,” Shadow lied.

"Begin," the Colonel ordered a soldier. There was a crack almost like a gunshot, and white-hot pain sliced into Shadow's back. A fresh cut opened, and crimson blood splattered on his back and the dirty stone floor.

A scream escaped from Shadow as the pain shot through him suddenly. That must have been some sort of whip, he thought critically, trying to keep his mind off the pain. It hurt a lot more than he expected, "Is that… the best… you can do?" he managed to utter, trying to put as much disgust into the words as he could.

The Colonel snapped his fingers, and the whip lashed against Shadow's back again, drawing blood and another scream from Shadow, and his back arched in an instinctive attempt to get away, "Who are they, Project Shadow?" the Colonel asked, calmly, "If you don't know their names, you can always give a description." He snapped his fingers, and the whip cracked again.

Shadow jerked and banged his head against the stone wall. He tasted his blood as he bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming, "Well... a giant carrot and a coiled parking meter visited me one time... but I thought I was just imagining things." That was completely true, actually.

"Humph," The Colonel didn't sound at all happy, "Very funny, Project Shadow. Very funny. Now let's see if you laugh after this..." There was a hiss on the air, and Shadow's vision clouded over with pain as a red-hot iron was pressed against his skin. The smell of burning fur filled the air.

The hedgehog couldn't think or breath as the bolt of agony shot through him. He could smell his own flesh cooking underneath the iron. He felt just a little better for screaming while the iron touched him, so he did just that.

The poker was lifted from Shadow's back, but the pain remained, "I am a patient man, Project Shadow," The poker pressed against his side, and he screamed again, "There are all sorts of things that could be done with that poker, and I'm prepared to watch all of them."

Shadow could feel sweat run down his face as he swallowed nervously. He really, really didn't like the sound of that. But he would show neither fear nor weakness. He had to stay strong, not give the pathetic human the satisfaction of breaking him, "Fascinating hobby of yours," he grunted.

"Perhaps we need to change tack," the Colonel said, as the poker pressed against Shadow's belly, "Your hoped for fiancé could always be placed in this position instead of you. I'm sure a woman would be far less difficult to convince."

That threw him off. Shadow couldn't recall any hoped for fiancé, but then, he didn't remember a whole lot of anything… except pain, "What are you... talking about?" he gasped.

"Having trouble with your memory, Project Shadow?" An image was projected onto the wall... an image of him and Amy, caught off guard... kissing... only she was a lot fatter - no, wait, that wasn't fat, that was... a pregnancy bump?

Shadow blinked. He and Amy were lovers? The Colonel could just be lying... but it would explain why Amy acted like she did. She was trying to save a loved one from imprisonment and torture. But he wasn't going to let the human realize that he had struck a nerve, "You're a liar, just trying to mess with my head. It won't work."

"Then we will acquire her and bring her here to remind you," the Colonel knew that until Amy Rose was located, he couldn't fulfil this threat, "Unless you talk now." The poker was pressed against Shadow's foot hard.

Shadow shouted in pain and kicked backwards, knocking the poker out of the guard's hand. Groaning in pain, he managed to utter, "I don't know her and I couldn’t care less about her," he lied.

"I could watch this all day," the Colonel said calmly, "But I have other things to do. I leave you in the capable hands of my interrogators. The sooner you talk, the sooner they'll stop." A bottle was smashed against the back of Shadow's head, cutting him deeply, and the highly alcoholic substance in it flowed down his back and into his open wounds. It stung almost like acid.

Shadow cried out and hung there limply, dazed by the blow to his head. The world around him started to grow dim, and he desperately hoped he would just pass out, or better yet, die.

"Do whatever you want with him," the Colonel told the two soldiers, "But leave him alive!" The broken bottle was dragged over Shadow's shoulders as the Colonel left the cell.

Shadow gasped, the pain snapping him back to reality, the sensation of his own hot blood running down his back felt like the fluid was burning him, "I won't... talk..."

"Good," said one of the soldiers. Shadow felt a large piece of glass pushed under his skin at an angle. The glass was then used as a lever to tear his flesh open.

Shadow squeezed his eyes shut and screamed at the top of his lungs. Were they going to tear him apart piece by piece? He didn't want to die, not really, and especially not this way. He had a reason to live, a mission he still had to complete. He had to remember the truth about him and Amy... and he had to get to the ARK... He had to keep going...

The soldiers left the glass in his back, and repeated the torture with another piece in his leg. Then one of them struck him round the face, hard.

Shadow spat blood out of his mouth, his lip split by the blow. Trying to move his wounded leg only resulted in more agony. One of the soldiers grabbed a handful of his quills, and dragged him off his knees. He felt his shoulders creak in protestation. Then his tail was lifted up, and he felt something cold and metallic savagely inserted into his anus.

He screamed in shock.

~~~

As the soldiers continued torturing Shadow, Amy and Sonic were back at the lab. Amy was tugging frantically at the door, "Why won't it open?" she hissed.

"Tails,” Sonic called softly, “Can you please..."

"Working on it!" Tails snapped, "I'm going as fast as I can!"

"You've got the Emerald... and I know exactly where Eclipse is," Amy paced, "We have to get them out! I can't stand this!"

Sonic sighed, sharing in Amy's impatience. "Do you want to blow our cover?"

"No... but you didn't see the room Eclipse was in... Oh god, it was the nursery from hell..."

Sonic shuddered. "I prefer fighting Eggman to these guys... At least Eggman’s supposed to be our enemy. Tails, do you-"

"Got it!" the fox shouted, the door opening as he did so.

Amy stepped into the dark room, but she already knew it was empty, "He's been moved," she said, "He's gone."

Tails immediately started looking for him. He had to concentrate on keeping his eyes open and his tired fingers typing, "There's no official records of where they're keeping him... but if I were to guess, they've taken him to the cells!"

"Why would they want him in the cells?" Amy asked, knowing she wouldn't like the answer.

"Probably to interrogate him. Judging from the security reports I'm reading, GUN suspects that something is up. It's getting harder to hack the system." Tails told her.

"Interrogate?" The first thing that sprung to Amy's mind was a police cell, where people were bullied into answering questions. But then she remembered how Shadow had been treated in the lab, and far nastier images sprung to mind, "We have to get him out of there!"

"I'm sick of sneaking around," Sonic said, "Let's just nab him and get him the hell out!"

Amy nodded, for once agreeing, "We'll pick up Eclipse on the way out," she said, "He's not being tortured at least - not physically, anyway."

Sonic tossed the green emerald into the air and caught it, "Shouldn't be a problem with this."

"It is when we don't know exactly where Shadow is," Amy told Sonic. She picked up Shadow’s jet shoes and gloves.

"Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Can't help you with this one, Sonic," the kit quickly said. He was still irritable about feeling so useless, “There are no records on where he’s being kept.”

"We're just going to have to wing it. You ready, Amy?"

"No," Amy admitted. Chaos Control always made her feel like her organs were lagging behind the rest of her body. When they caught up, she always felt like she'd eaten three tubs of ice cream straight out of the freezer.

Sonic shrugged and grabbed her arm, "Too bad, because here we go!" To both of them, the world exploded in light, torn to shreds and rearranged. For a moment, their bodies ceased to exist. There was nothing at all. Then everything came crashing back together. They existed again, in a different wing of the building. Specifically, the detention area.

Amy's organs caught up with her, and her entire body was plunged into deep freeze for a matter of seconds. She felt like she was going to throw up. But she didn't, instead straightening and pointing to the floor, "That blood's almost fresh," she said, looking to the smears where Shadow had been dragged, "We should start by following its trail."

Sonic looked at the rifle in his hand and got ready to use it. He had little experience with firearms, but now was as good a time as any to start. At Amy's suggestion, he followed the trail of blood, expecting soldiers to try to stop them at any moment

As they followed the trail, Amy heard the calm, cool voice of the Colonel. She stepped aside as he went past, ignoring them. But she heard a few words, "You know sir, that Project Shadow will not talk. It's not in its nature to aid humans."

"Yes, I know that. But I wanted to see it suffer. Furries are despicable..." the Colonel walked on by, and his words became nothing.

Amy felt her hands clenching into fists, The day will come, she thought, rage filling her mind, When I shall snap your neck in two. She and Sonic followed the trail to a cell door.

Sonic reached down to open the door, but it was locked. He gave the door an annoyed look, turned to Amy, and then back to the door. Shrugging, he bent down, curled into a ball, and performed a spindash, tearing the door to shreds, as well as shredding his clothes. He rushed inside and got to his feet.

Amy's eyes widened in horror behind her visor as she stared at the two soldiers bending over Shadow, who was crying out in pain repeatedly. She was paralysed with horror and as realisation dawned, also disgust.

It took several seconds for the men to realise she was there, but they dropped him and stared back. One started to reach for his gun. The other hefted a poker with blood dripping down it. Behind them, Shadow gave a soft, choking sob of pain.

Amy swung her Piko Piko Hammer, and a Pink Typhoon knocked both men off their feet and into the wall, knocking them out.

While Sonic relieved the men of their weaponry, Amy pulled off her helmet and rushed over to Shadow, kneeling beside him, "Oh god, oh dear god..." she muttered. She took in the cuts from the whip, the glass blades thrust deep in his body and the blood now plastering his lower body. Shadow looked more dead than alive, "Oh Shadow... Oh I love you so much..."

"A-Amy?" he asked, his voice shaking. She had come back for him? He didn't think she would get there in time, if ever. Maybe she hadn't. Considering how much he hurt, he wouldn't be surprised if the damage were fatal. Or maybe he was just imagining this, and she’d never really existed at all...

Amy pulled out the glass pushed into his flesh as best she could, "We're getting you out right now, Shadow," she told him, touching his cheek lightly.

Sonic stepped over and unlocked Shadow's shackles with the keys he had taken from the guards.

“Kill me… just kill me now…” Shadow mumbled, blood trickling from his mouth as he spoke, slumping against the wall. He lacked the strength or the will to stand.

Amy supported him gently and looked into his eyes, “It’s going to be okay, Shadow,” she told him firmly, wiping the blood away, “We’re going to get you out of this place.” She pulled his gloves and jet shoes onto him, hearing soft moans of pain as his body had to be moved.

When that was done, she wrapped her arms around his waist. He stank of blood and sweat, and the acrid stench of alcohol. There seemed to be nowhere she could put her hands without causing him pain, "Get up," she told him, trying to pull him to his feet.

Shadow choked in pain. He tried to stand, but every part of his body screamed the moment he made the attempt. His head spun, and he managed to take a few shaky steps before falling again, “I… I can’t…” he moaned.

Amy gritted her teeth, and pulled him up again, this time with Sonic helping her, "Get up," she ordered him, her voice like steel, "Get up or give up," Shadow stood, with both their help, "Now take a step." Shadow took a step, almost collapsing, "And just keep putting one foot in front of the other," she coaxed him, "You have to keep moving."

"I sense... an emerald..." Shadow rasped. He remembered those, at least…

"I've got one with me," Sonic explained.

"Give it… to me…" the black hedgehog shuddered in pain. Hesitating for a moment, Sonic handed the emerald over. As soon as it touched Shadow's hands, a sigh of relief escaped his lips, and he stood more easily than before. Its energies had given him just enough strength to continue.

Amy sighed in relief. But even though they could move him, Shadow was still in terrible pain; it was clear to see he still needed their support, "We're going to get Eclipse," she told him, "Then we're going to get out of here and off this island."

"Sounds like… a plan," Shadow agreed. He wanted to leave the island far behind him and never return to it. He didn't want to see a lab again in his life, even considering the fact that he was technically immortal, "Lead the way," he told them, "Act like I'm… your prisoner."

Amy glanced at Sonic. His uniform was ready to fall off him. It wouldn't be easy for him to pass as a soldier much longer, "Then we've got to keep moving," she said, holding him up as the three of them walked back towards the research facility. It was where Eclipse was being held.

Fast was something Sonic could agree with. The moved as fast as they could without drawing attention or hurting Shadow even worse than he had been already, part guiding, part carrying, part dragging him down the hallways towards the research facility.

The door 226 was not guarded, but it was locked. Amy was running out of patience. She didn't want to wait for Tails any longer. She leant Shadow on Sonic briefly, busted the door open with her Piko Piko hammer, and went inside the hideous playroom. The guard 'playing' with Eclipse already had a gun to hand, but another Pink Typhoon silenced him. Amy bundled Eclipse up in her arms, crying with relief.

Sonic couldn't help but smile, seeing the happily reunited mother and child. The smile left as he remembered yet again how he had done his best to ruin what she had. He fought back the shame; it would have to wait. He and his razor blade could have some private time later. Right now, they needed to get out of there.

"Stop right there," a voice commanded them. The three hedgehogs turned. The Colonel was standing there, shaking with rage, accompanied by half-a-dozen soldiers. Amy gasped, "A rescue mission, perhaps? I think not."

All of the soldiers were aiming guns at them. Amy became aware of one digging into her back, from the soldier she'd just knocked down.

Sonic glared angrily at the Colonel, "Oh, so you're the creep behind all this," he said, "I oughta cream you right now!" Brave words, Shadow had to admit, but it looked like the blue hedgehog was going to soon learn how false his bravado was.

The Colonel snapped his fingers, and one soldier dragged off Sonic's helmet, while the one behind Amy pulled off hers. "Sonic the Hedgehog. Ex-hero of Planet Earth. And Miss Blossom! How nice of you to visit us. We were getting very worried. I'm sure Project Shadow will be more co-operative if we have you to hand."

"Ex-hero?" Sonic asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm not out of the business yet, and you're next on my list of bad guys to take down!"

The Colonel ignored him, "Hand over Project Eclipse now," he ordered Amy, and a soldier approached her.

Amy clutched Eclipse to her, "No!" she cried out, wrestling with the soldiers as he was torn from her arms - again, "NO!" she screamed, twisting like a maniac. Her elbow rammed into one soldier’s gut, forcing him to drop the gun, and her hand found the pistol in her pocket, "YOU WON'T HAVE HIM!" she screamed, and fired off two shots rapidly. The shots were badly aimed, and Amy knew almost nothing about recoil, but the soldiers dropped, either dead, or wisely pretending to be. The others stared for a few seconds. A mother defending her child... there was no beast more dangerous or unpredictable.

Shadow felt helpless. He couldn't fight. He could barely stand. He couldn't use his chaos powers to get them out of this... and GUN was just going to torture his rescuers as they had him. He was almost tempted to tell Amy to turn the weapon on herself; it would be a much easier way to die.

Sonic spun around and kicked the soldier who had taken his helmet away against the wall, knocking him out. Looking back and forth, things didn't look good. They were way outnumbered and surrounded by people with guns.

Amy was now holding Eclipse in one arm, the pistol in her other hand, a wild look in her eyes. Her eyes met the Colonel's, and he reached for his own gun, "Any of you make a move, and he's dead meat," she said, her voice ringing out.

"You wouldn't dare," the Colonel growled.

"Try me..." Amy's voice was a low hiss.

Sonic recognised those words. He'd said them to Amy. And Amy would pull the trigger, and then they would all die. He felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He didn't want Amy to make that kind of mistake, "Amy, just... put the gun down, ok?"

"Why the hell should I?" Amy was shaking, she could pull the trigger at any moment out of sheer nervousness, "He's a monster!" she hissed, "Look at what he's done!"

Sonic searched his heart for the answer he knew was in there. It had been a while since he had spoken from the heart. He feared it after it had betrayed him... or did it? Was he really following his heart when he raped Amy, or was that his head getting in the way? Bravely looking inside himself, the answer seemed clear, "Because it's not right to become a monster to destroy him!"

Some of the insane rage faded from Amy's eyes, a little, "But... he'll do it again!" she insisted.

"That's no excuse!" Sonic pleaded, "It doesn't matter what he does... you can't let him make you do wrong because of it!"

Amy half-raised the gun again, "I have to do it now, or else I never will!" she said, but she sounded as if she was arguing with herself now.

"...Don't do it, Amy. Please don't do it!" Tails' quiet voice pleaded over the earpiece, "You're better than that! I know it! I believe in you... I'll get you out of there, I promise!"

"You're going to stay right there, Tails!" Sonic shouted suddenly; to everyone else, it looked like he was shouting to himself. He took a deep breath, "Put it down, Amy. You don't need it," he told her, like he was talking to a child.

Slowly, with fingers that didn't feel like they belonged to her, Amy dropped the gun. It fell to the ground with a clatter.

"SHOOT HER! SHOOT HER NOW!" the Colonel shouted.

A soldier fired. Amy gasped. There was no time to dodge. And she didn’t even try, only half-turning and hunching over Eclipse, using her own body as a shield for him…

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Froggy: End of Chapter Ten.

Harley: THIS IS… THE ULTIMATE CLIFFHANGER!

Froggy: Oh Harley, you are so cruel. Making them wait a whole WEEK! I mean that in a good way, of course.