An Assassin of my Heart 2: One Wish

Cannibalic Heart

As dusk approached, Knuckles took his apprentices to spar in a nearby field. The field laid in a forest near a lake. The echidna was the protector of the village he lived in since The Firm's fall and the bat and the chameleon were both talented in their own style. The bat, a female named Rouge, used a free style, and she focused more on tactics to fight. Espio, the other, leaned more towards ninja jutsu techniques. The pair were almost perfectly capable of reaching an all around stalemate.

As they began to fight, a spectator started watching. Knuckles watched him closely, fearing the shadowed creature may mean harm. As he watched, he noticed something peculiar around the distant figure, as the being began to glow. A bright red glow surrounded the darkness of the figure's image. Knuckles blocked his view, but still attempted to gaze at the growing energy.

The rays of red weakened, and Knuckles quickly looked at the creature. Running on all fours, a black furred creature ran towards him in a zig zag pattern. The ground beneath the small frame cracked and blew apart beneath it as it ran. Fearful for his trainees, he called them by name and they came to him. The creature, unbelievably fast already, sped up and neared the trio. “Espio, I think you need to help me with this demon. Rouge, stay back, I don't think you are ready to see a fight, and the village needs to be protected should he get past.” Knuckles and Espio prepared to fight when the creature stopped without slowing first, and turned to the pair.

“Are you going to try to stop me?” The dark hedgehog asked in a weak voice. 'Did I over estimate him?' Knuckles thought to himself. The black creature turned his full gaze on Knuckles and the echidna could see the hunger.

“Espio,” The echidna whispered, “He craves blood.”

“What did you expect? Chocolate?” Shadow replied sarcastically. He laughed insanely realizing the echidna did not intend for Shadow to hear.

With that remark, Shadow dashed at Espio. Espio then struck the hedgehog's face with a quick punch. However, Espio only struck the air as Shadow appeared next to him with a red emerald circling his body. The hedgehog was crouched, but through his left leg at Espio who flew into a nearby tree. The dark turned to Knuckles and with a true gentleman's stature, he put out his hand and said, “Nice to meet you, I am Shadow.”

Startled, Knuckles lets his guard drop and the dark hedgehog took the opportunity to vanish in the shine of the red emerald. He appeared behind Knuckles and thrust his elbow into the echidna's back. Kncukles grunted, but turned around immediatly and slammed his fist into Shadow's chest. The hedgehog flew back seven feet and landed on his right shoulder.

Shadow picked himself up, gripping his injured shoulder, and scoffed at the pain. He held out his right hand, and a golden orbed formed in it. He turned his hand around with the palm facing Knuckles. With a flick of his wrist, he straightened the hand up, and the orb threw itself at Knuckles. Coming close, the ball broke into several spears and Knuckles attempted to duck away. Only being hit by two, Knuckles kept his ground, but realized Shadow's real target. Turning, Knuckles saw Espio stabbed with the seven spears that had missed him.

At this shock, Knuckles ran full speed to his fallen comrade. A bright light flickered behind him, and a black fur glared at him in passing. The hedgehog reached their first in a flash of red light. He took Espio's body and hovered just out of Knuckles' reach. Knuckles ran for a nearby tree as Shadow made a thin cut on Espio's upper arm with his claw. He took the blood, letting the gooey substance roll in his fingers. Knuckles kicked off the highest limb, his fist pulled back. Shadow, quick to react, threw the blood at the echidna, piercing his skin. Unable to attack, knuckles fell lower from the force and hit the ground flat.

Watching the echidna flail helplessly, Shadow warped next to red fur and Espio's body drops beside him.. Knuckles attempted to get up, but while on all fours, Shadow kicked him sharply in the stomach. Knuckles fell back and opened his eyes to see Shadow fall to his knees. Espio stood there with a cold look and his hand in striking position. Falling fast, Shadow whispers, “Chaos Control” loud enough for Knuckles to hear the incantation he had whispered all along. Espio stomped upon the glowing figure, but he misses as Shadow warped approximatively half a mile over them. Falling fast, the hedgehog's eyes open wide. His body seems to form an even stronger red aura as the emerald circled him quicker than previously seen.

Shadow appeared next to the chameleon and smashed his face with his fist. He warped again, and appeared in Espio's line of motion. He took his leg back, and kicked the fur into the sky. Shadow disappeared again and manifested himself in the air catching Espio. He turned them upside down, and spiraled downward to the ground. As they neared the Earth, Shadow warped and appeared behind Knuckles. He took the oppurtunity to throw Knuckles in Espio's way. The two collided in air; their injuries obvious through the fur.

“You are . . . boring,” Shadow started. “I will make you glorious. In the end, your blood will make you beautifu. But you have skin to hide the living water. I am sure you know what I have to do.”

The two got up despite their injuries. Knuckles took a moment to reflect upon his growing terror when Shadow appeared between them. Prepared this time, they both began to throw punches at the hedgehog. His speed, however, was far to great, and he fought each with one hand. Done with the charade, he grabbed Espio's arm and Knuckles arm. He spun himself and let go, tossing them in opposite directions.

Espio collided with a tree which smashed and splintered. Shadow transported himself into the air and grabbed the splintered wood from the tree. He warped himself next to Espio who had stopped moving. Knuckles had tossed his body in a flip to cease movement. He found himself staring as Shadow took the wood and drove it deep into Espio's body. The chameleon screamed a sound that pierced Knuckles with greater force than the wood to Espio. Shadow grinned and knelt over the body. He lowered himself over the dying body and traced his tongue along the open flesh. He lapped at it, his mouth becoming overflown with the red fluid. Licking his fangs of the red, thick substance, he warped behind Knuckles and whispered “Want some, he tastes wonderful.”

The Echidna struck behind him as Shadow moved left. Knuckles struck there but the emerald's power made him to fast. Finding himself desperate, Knuckles revealed the item the village has protected, that he has protected. A small green emerald shined in his hand as Shadow warped a few feet away from him. “I knew you had it. With it, I will be closer to being complete. Hand it over.”

“WHAT!?” Knuckles yelled, appalled at the thought, “You would kill others for this power!?”

“Of course, would you have given it to me had I asked?” Shadow replied coolly. Knuckles grimaced but knew he would never have given away his treasure.

“I know how to use it too.” Knuckles said lightly warping behind Shadow and struck him in the back. Shadow flew into the earth but took to his feet with awesome speed.

“This will be fun,” Shadow began as he made a dash for Knuckles. As his fist flew, Knuckles warped behind Shadow and kicked the hedgehog. However, the darker had already warped behind Knuckles and sent gold spears into the echidna's back. The spears caused the echidna to take serious damage, but he used the gravity pulling him to dig into the earth as he made impact. Lacking concern from missing the echidna's tactic, Shadow landed with a superior grace than his competitor. He looked into the crater finding Knuckles missing. He surveyed the area and was unable to locate the echidna.

He turned to check his back when the echidna erupted from the ground. As the punch made contact with Shadow's chin, the dark could feel his form fly straight up, and his emerald flew from his control. Knuckles' emerald continued to stay behind him, firmly locked. 'He has the concentration of dog trying to dig up a bone.' Shadow took a cheap shot and sweeped Knuckles' feet. He then jumped up high and grabbed his emerald again.

He warped when he held it and appeared in front of knuckles, who “up and upped.” Knuckles slammed his fist into the ground creating a barrier of earth and stone between the two fighters. Shadow tensed, sensing a plan in the echidna's mind. Suddenly, a ball of the wall flew creating a hole. Shadow dodged it easily and turned back to Knuckles. The echidna rapidly punched holes in his barrier rocketing the “dirt balls” at the other. Shadow used his chaos spear to blast away most of the rocks, but one continued its path. Shadow caught it with both hands and spun it to send the rock back at the earth wall. The wall fell under the force and Knuckles warped behind Shadow.

“Game,” Shadow said as he stabbed Knuckles with a sharp stone he extracted while spinning the earth back at the wall. Knuckles coughed blood and removed the stone. He fell and started crawling to the dark. He tried to stab Shadow with his last strength, but breathed his last breath a moment to soon. His soul left an empty shell, and Shadow took the stone, covered still in his opponent's fresh blood. He tasted it, finding it to be worth the trouble. 'Now, for the real prize.' He thought with grim glee. He took the emerald Knuckles protected for the short time he held it, and warped on top of a near by tree. He folded his arms, letting the emeralds freely circle him. 'That bat girl should have fun with this. However, it is none of my concern, and there is at least a 12% chance she will die in a month. It is her most likely fate.' He warped onward to continue searching for the emeralds.

A/n: Please don't kill me, this chapter was HARD to write and took forever. And you know what, IT IS ONLY 3 PAGES!!!! ARGH!! Oh well, i suppose that is not TOO bad. Please PLEASE review, I need the self esteem. All my other stories are getting less than 2 reviews a chapter. (Mostly 0, but that is NOT helping...!) That is all for now, later.