Bloody Domination 2: Straitjacket

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Bloody Domination 2: Straitjacket

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: To say it again… THERE WILL BE NO SHADAMY IN THIS FANFIC! Let’s see… things happening this chapter…

Froggy: Technically not much. But also a lot!

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Chapter Four: Where Are You Now?

Sonic tapped his red sneaker against the cool, white floor as he waited for admittance into the hospital. Normally, he did so out of impatience, but this time it was just as much out of nervousness. He hadn't thought to make an appointment the last time he was there and so had made things more difficult for the GUN employees there. Still, he had insisted on seeing Shadow that day, and he wasn't going to walk away because of some silly rule.

Eventually, the door opened and a doctor walked in. Sonic recognised him from last time, as Shadow’s doctor, Ferguson, "Hello, Sonic the Hedgehog. It would have been much easier for us both if you'd made an appointment. As it is, it's nearly feeding time. Project Shadow won't be very coherent afterwards."

"That's okay. I just want to give him some company for a while. It seems awfully lonely in this place,” the blue hedgehog replied, standing up and blinking his eyes. Why were hospitals always so damn white? Couldn't they think of any other colour to use?

"Oh, very well," Ferguson sighed, "I'll take you to his room." He walked out of the waiting room and down some corridors. Several doors had to be opened on the way. Sonic also saw some other patients, escorted by attendants. Finally they reached Shadow's room, "You'll have to wait until after he's been… fed," said Ferguson, “Watching may be disturbing, so...” Behind him, three attendants were entering the padded cell.

Curious, Sonic stepped over and peeked into the cell, wondering just how feeding went about in that facility. It was a mystery to him why it would take three men to feed one patient.

Inside the cell, Shadow watched with exhausted despair, backing into a corner as the attendants entered, "It's feeding time, Project Shadow," one told him.

Shadow just glared, "Go feed yourself," he spat as the door closed behind them.

"Don't make trouble, Project Shadow," an attendant warned him.

"I don't make trouble, I just sit here and it makes for me," Shadow growled, "Don't even think of-"

The three attendants pounced on him, trying to hold him down as he thrashed and screamed under them.

What the attendants didn't know was that the door was still open slightly, held that way by Sonic's foot, an improvised doorstop. His green eyes widened in shock as he watched how roughly they treated Shadow. He had to fight the impulse to leap into the room and drag them off him, reminding himself that this was their job, no matter how sickening it was. It was of course Shadow who had refused to eat, but even so, it… It made him sick to his stomach.

As Shadow thrashed around, two of the attendants tried to hold him still and lever open his mouth, while the third produced a long tube and tried to push it down his throat. Meanwhile he was twisting frantically and drumming his heels against the padded floor of the cell. He gagged on the tube as it was pushed down his gullet, and then the third attendant produced a tube of some sort of paste, and started pouring it down the tube.

Disgusted, Sonic looked away, unwilling to see any more. But he could hear the continued struggles, the sound of that paste going down the tube, Shadow's gagging... The blue hedgehog stepped away from the door, letting it close completely, blissfully masking the sounds.

Shadow gasped softly as the food and medication began to take effect, and his struggles lessened. Finally, his head fell back against the floor, and he stared up at the ceiling, no real comprehension in his expression. The attendants removed the tube again, unbuckled his straitjacket to allow his circulation to return to normal, scrubbed his body quickly and efficiently, and put reinforced handcuffs on his wrists instead, before leaving the padded cell and locking the door again.

Sonic was standing outside waiting for them, "So how long am I going to have to wait?" he asked Ferguson quietly.

"He won't be fully coherent again for up to four hours," Ferguson answered him, "But you can go in and talk to him now, if you don't expect him to recognise you. He won't be aggressive, at least."

Sonic nodded and silently walked past them, slowly opening the door to Shadow's cell and stepping inside, looking down at the drugged, incoherent form of the dark hedgehog, "Hey there, Shadow,” he said cheerfully, "Can... can you hear me?"

Shadow apparently heard something. He managed to roll onto his side, facing the door at least, "Huh..." he whispered, "Go... way..." A thin stream of saliva trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Sighing, Sonic walked over and kneeled down next to Shadow, wiping his mouth clean, "How is any of this supposed to help you?" he asked no one in particular, looking down at the dark hedgehog in pity.

Shadow tried to focus on the blurred shape above him. He gave up quickly enough, and just said the only words that came to mind, "Help... me..." he whispered. Was there even anybody there? Was he saying what he thought he was saying? His head fell back again, and he lifted his cuffed hands weakly.

"I will,” Sonic assured him, taking the cuffed hands and giving them a squeeze, wondering if Shadow could even feel it through the drugs. It was clear to him now that GUN wasn't doing Shadow a lot of good in their little hospital. The dark hedgehog needed help, and being drugged and confined to a cell all the time wasn't it. But what could he do? Break Shadow out? As much as he disliked them, Sonic wasn't sure he wanted GUN as an enemy.

Shadow's body went limp again and he turned his head away. He was twitching slightly, focusing on nothing, "I... wanted..." he took in several breaths, but forgot to swallow, so some more saliva trickled down the side of his face.

Sonic continued to wipe it up, trying to keep the other hedgehog's attention, "What did you want, Shadow?" he asked, wondering what was going through his mind.

Not really sure of what was real and what was fake, Shadow just talked. He'd never been this talkative before, "Wanted... friends... and I'm the Ulti- Ult- Li- life... They know it... just won't admit..."

"You've got me as a friend,” Sonic told him, finding those words odd as they passed his mouth. Shadow had gone on a crazed rampage against his friends in a misguided quest for revenge, and here he was calling him a friend? At times, life seemed truly absurd, even to Sonic.

"Yeah, there's always you," Shadow slurred, "You... never stop..." he shuddered, "Never go... way..."

"No one can say I'm not persistent!" Sonic agreed with a laugh. Shaking his head, he added, "I tried to bring Tails and Amy this time, but... Tails is scared of you, and Amy can't bring herself to forgive you. Sorry..."

"Yeah... I'm a terrible person," Shadow mumbled. It didn't really sound like he was answering Sonic, "If I... ever get out..." he began to laugh. It was a horrible, garish sound. It made Shadow sound as if he was choking something up.

"You're not bad,” Sonic told Shadow, and then corrected himself, "Well, you don't have to be bad," he gave Shadow's shoulder a quick shake, "I don't know if you understand me, but... if you swear to me that you'll try to be a good guy, I'll get you out of here, ok?"

Shadow managed to focus on the blurred shape over him, "Whu... S-Sonic?" he managed, "No… It's the drugs... gotta be... they got me on so much shit..."

"No, I'm real. It's me, Sonic,” Sonic told him with a smile, confident as always, "I said I'd be coming back, remember?"

Shadow tried to shrug. He could barely remember what happened yesterday, let alone a whole week ago, "Pretty... pathetic... aren't I?" he rasped.

"Nah, you're not pathetic,” Sonic replied with a wave of his hand, "You sure stood up to those GUN people a moment ago. That took guts."

"Still got fed... feel like a fucking... dog in here," Shadow said. He coughed heavily and tried to pull away from Sonic, "Damn bastards..."

"They aren't very nice, that's for sure,” Sonic agreed with a nod, "They kept me waiting for hours because I 'didn't have an appointment'!" Hardly a fair comparison, but it was supposed to be funny, "Most others would have given up by now. You're one tough guy, Shadow,” he added.

"I won't let those fuckers... tame me," Shadow said simply, "I'll die first..."

Sonic understood completely, being the same way. He wouldn't let anyone tame him, no matter what the consequences. He was free, always had been, and no one could take it from him, "I'm going to get you out of here, Shadow. Just promise me that the... the violence will stop,” he whispered.

"I..." Shadow gritted his teeth, "Why would you help me?" he asked, "I... did all that stuff... Don't even know my own head..."

"Because I know that's not who you really are,” Sonic explained, "Don't ask me how I know. I just do. I want to give you a chance. It's easy to get angry, but forgiving is the only choice that does any good."

"I'll... I'll do anything..." Shadow slurred, "NO!" he cried out, "No... not anything... I... you..." he gulped a couple of times, "You dropped me..." he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

"Do you really still believe that?" Sonic asked, exasperated that he and Shadow still had to argue this point.

"Something in me... just keeps saying so..." Shadow muttered, "I don't want to listen... it won't stop..."

The voice that told him to do terrible things. Sonic remembered him mentioning it, and combated it in his own way, "So you're taking orders from someone else? Now I know there's something wrong with you,” he joked.

"You don't know what it's like!" Shadow realised to his horror that he was crying, and tried to cover his face, "It's in my head... it won't shut up! Why'd you think they put me in a padded cell?!" He rolled away from Sonic and pressed his head to the padded wall, his fingers digging into the material.

"Whoa! I didn't mean to make fun of you!" Sonic spoke quickly, crawling over and placing his hand on Shadow's back, "You... you're the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow! You don't have to listen to some voice in your head. You can beat it, crush it! I'll help."

"I..." Shadow forced back the tears. Friendly contact was something that he had almost forgotten the feel of, "I don't need your help..." he whispered. It was a paper-thin lie, even in his eyes. Wrecked as he was, he knew he couldn't go on like this. He turned to look at Sonic, and the desperation in his eyes was easy to read, "You'll have to... force me to accept your help... Please force me to accept your help..." he begged.

Shadow knew he needed help, but he couldn't swallow his pride and ask. Sonic nodded, understanding, "You're going to accept my help,” he spoke with an edge not normal for him, "Whether you like it or not. Got it?"

Shadow grunted something in response, but managed to nod. Slowly, like the crumbling of a glacier, he slumped to the floor of the cell, staring at the door. Ten minutes of conversation had totally exhausted him, but he was, for now at least, able to hear Sonic. It wouldn't last for much longer though; that much was obvious. Sonic wondered just how strong drugs had to be to sedate something like Shadow.

"You're a good guy, Shadow. I always thought so,” Sonic told him, sitting down beside him, "I know you've... had problems with me, but I swear, I never had anything against you."

"I... I'm sorry I hate... hated... you..." Shadow managed. Sonic noticed that once again the dark hedgehog wasn't remembering to swallow.

Sonic again wiped his face, reminding himself to get a clean pair of gloves later, "...Ok, so maybe I was annoyed that there was another super-speedy hedgehog around. Never had anyone that could keep up with me before,” he admitted, and then grinned, "But now I've got good competition."

"Right now... couldn't race a... a shit to the toilet..." Shadow stammered. His body twitched slightly, "I... can't get out..."

Sonic grinned and scooted closer, wrapping an arm around Shadow's shoulders, "You leave the gettin' out to me. Just worry about keeping your head from being fried."

"GUN... will come after you... too..." Shadow slurred softly.

"They can try,” Sonic replied, cocky as always. Of course, his confidence was well-founded. No one had ever kept him down for long, and he always seemed to come out on top.

"You're so... damn cheerful..." Shadow covered his face morosely, and began to slowly and rhymically bang his forehead against the padded floor.

Sonic shook his head and dragged Shadow's head away from the floor, "You should try it out sometime,” he suggested, "It makes life a lot easier."

"Huh..." What Shadow actually meant to say was, If you always expect the worst, you'll never be disappointed and you might be pleasantly surprised. But he didn't have the energy for it. He tried to pull away from Sonic instead, hating how easy it was for the blue hedgehog to restrain him.

Sonic shrugged, figuring they could each follow their own life philosophy. Slowly, the blue hedgehog scooted away from Shadow and stood up, "I don't think they want me in here for too long, so I'll go now. Besides, it looks like you need some rest."

Shadow shrugged, "Come back..." he whispered, "Please come back..."

"I will. I promise,” Sonic said softly, looking down at the drugged hedgehog with a smile. Turning away, he walked to the door and tapped it with his knuckles, telling the attendants on the other side that he wanted out.

The door opened, and three attendants walked in, holding a straitjacket. They ignored Sonic and walked over to Shadow. One removed his handcuffs. It took Shadow a moment to realise what was happening, but he started struggling instantly. It took the three of them to force the struggling hedgehog into the jacket, and tighten the straps.

"Hey, careful with him!" Sonic told the hospital workers, "You don't need to be so rough with him, know what I mean?"

They paid him no attention, and left the room, pulling Sonic out behind them, and locking the door, "We're just doing our job," one of them told him.

"Yeah, but you could be a bit, you know, nicer about it,” Sonic tried reasoning with him, "I mean, the whole tube down the throat thing? Yeah, there's got to be a better way of doing it. I'm sure he'd eat if you just gave him the stuff."

"It's got his medication in it; it's the only way we can get him to take it. And even then, the first week he was here he kept making himself vomit," Ferguson told Sonic, "That's why he's in the straitjacket. That, and he once stabbed another doctor in the knee with a pen."

"So keep him away from pens!" Sonic replied, spreading his arms out for emphasis, "Can't you just... inject him with whatever drugs he needs? And for that matter, do you need to keep him so doped-up that he drools everywhere?"

"We try to keep him away from needles, too," explained Ferguson, "Perhaps this time you'll remember to make an appointment. This is a prison hospital, Sonic. There are rules."

"Whatever,” Sonic snapped at the doctor. He looked through the small window at Shadow, who had simply slumped to the floor again, and was staring vacantly at the door, twitching slightly. What he was seeing under the influence of the sedatives, or if he was seeing anything at all, was a mystery.

Sonic turned and stormed away from them. They didn't even give his suggestions the slightest consideration. It was clear to him now that GUN wasn't helping Shadow, and the only way he would ever find peace would be somewhere else. There was only one way to do that…

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Harley: Well, read and Review. Tell me what you think. I didn’t allow Anonymous reviews for the hell of it!

Froggy: What’s Sonic going to do, eh? Something stupid? I bet he will!