He hardly dreamed. But when he did, it was always the same.
He and Maria. Running for their lives. Cornered at the research laboratory.
*BLAM*
That fateful, bloody moment, burned into his psyche. No matter what he did, no matter how many times he had told himself he had moved on from his dark past, the memory would not cease. At first, he had chosen to live with it, to not allow it to deter him from pressing on. But as the years went by, he had to be honest with himself...
It was starting to get to him.
Was there something he was forgetting? Something in his past that still needed resolution? Was the ARK in danger? Did he require some kind of closure from the humans who killed Maria? Or was it something in the present that needed to be done? He had absolutely no clue, and the more he thought about it, the angrier it made him, which, somehow, made the nightmares more recurring and even more detailed.
Sometimes they were silent. Sometimes, more gruesome. But they always ended the same way; Maria gets shot, and he screams his head off in anguish until he wakes up.
It was always the same…until one night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was happening again. Shadow and Maria were trapped in the Research Lab. "Maria, let's get out of here!" he shouted, tugging her to the escape capsule. As she followed him, Maria glanced in fear. He got inside the circle, but before she could join him, the faceless solider drew his pistol and…
Nothing.
No gunshot. No screaming. No blood.
Just silence.
No one moved. Even the bullet that was fired had halted in mid-flight. It was as if time had frozen. "What the hell is going on? I didn't invoke Chaos Control…" While Shadow tried to figure out this turn of events, a voice spoke to him from inside the capsule. "This is how it happened, huh?"
Gasping, he quickly turned to his right and saw Amy Rose beside him in her insufferably cute pajamas. "A-Amy?! What the hell are you doing here?" Shadow exclaimed. She answered, "I felt your subconscious distress, Shadow. The same distress I've felt for quite some time." Shadow glared softly at her continued lack of tact. "Ok, so you've been sensing my nightmares. I appreciate your concern, but you are not welcome here without my permission. Leave."
Amy shook her head. "I'm sorry, Shadow, but I cannot do that. You're asking me to allow you to relive this terrible moment in your life. I know this is personal, but I can't just leave you to suffer like this." Shadow rubbed his temples in frustration. "I understand, Amy, but the fact is you are still invading my space. Please leave." Amy sighed and said, "Fine. But not without you." With that, she disappeared, and Shadow found himself awakening shortly afterwards.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hedgehog's eyes shot open. Still drowsy, he slowly pulled himself from his sleeping bag and looked around. Their camping ground was still pretty much the same, except for the vast amounts of energy that was swirling about, enough to cover the midnight skies. Surprised, his eyes followed the energy to its perceived source of origin and saw that it was Amy, in full-on "Maiden Mode". Shadow was about to reprimand her, but he noticed how much psychic energy she was using. She was spreading herself all over the entire area, even far, far, far beyond. 'Who is she reading right now?' he wondered to himself.
"Everyone…"
"Huh?"
"I'm reading everyone, Shadow…"
The black hedgehog blinked in confusion. "What do you mean, 'everyone'?" With a tone of amazement and otherworldly mystique, she answered, "Every single person on the planet. Men…women…children…animals…I can see them all…"
"T-Th-The entire planet?!"
Amy nodded with a smile. "Yes. It's wonderful, Shadow. The thoughts, the hopes and dreams of the globe's inhabitants…it's beautiful in its fragility. *giggle* I can even see what Chip is dreaming of." She gasped as she added with a tear, "I can even see the thoughts of children who have yet to be born! Oh…and of people who are passing away." That warmed her heart and saddened it. "If I wanted to, I could influence anyone I wanted. And that's not all. I can touch, them, too…"
It was then that Shadow began to worry. "Amy, I know you're in awe of your own abilities, but you have got to stop this, right now! If you become too powerful, you'll be seen as a threat to the planet!" The hedgehog maiden looked down at her lover with a frown. "Maybe they should." Before Shadow could protest, Amy continued, "No, Shadow. I am tired of being underestimated. Isn't the point of my training is to grow as powerful and as strong as I can? Why should I refrain from exploring one aspect of myself en route to that goal?"
Shadow sighed and said, "I'm not saying you shouldn't test yourself, but you have to exercise restraint! People, especially humans, hate and fear what they don't understand. You know I know what I'm talking about!"
Amy simply stared at him. "So do Mobians, and you know it. Besides, how do I know you're not just jealous of my power?" When he heard that, Shadow glared at her. "Because you still can't use it properly." Before she could retort, she sensed his thoughts; he was going to attack her from behind! Before she could use her PK to utterly restrain him, Amy found herself restrained, with a katana at her throat. "How did-?" Shadow growled from behind her, "Even if you can read my thoughts and predict what I'm about to do, you still have to stop it. And not even your powers can predict Chaos Control."
Amy grunted in irritation. He was right; even if she did know what her foe was going to do, she still had to do something about it. "Now, drop your PK, slowly." Glaring back at him, she did as she was told, slowly shrinking her aura from the Earth and removing herself from the minds of its inhabitants.
Once her aura had returned to her own personal space, she said, "There. You happy?" Shadow glared back at her, "No, but you should be. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm stifling your growth, but as your trainer, I have no choice. I have seen first-hand the fear and hatred that comes from power like this." Amy sighed, and said, "I am not trying to hurt anyone, Shadow!" He replied, "I know you're not, Amy, but they won't see that, especially if you're this reckless. In the wrong hands, this kind of power could enslave or even destroy the world. Imagine if the Doctor got his mitts on you and turned you into one of his wretched robots."
She humored him, and the possibility was very sobering for the young girl. If Dr. Eggman got his hands on her abilities, there's no telling what he'd do with them in his conquests.
Taking her silence as a hint that she got the message, Shadow released her and turned on his Air Shoes, hovering beside her. "I apologize how being so rough, and I am truly proud of you for growing as much as you have, but…" Amy cut him off, "I need another reality check, right?"
Shadow nodded. "Powerful beings like you and I must be aware of every implication that our abilities bring, positive and negative. Only then can we know what we're capable of, and what we shouldn't do. Take Sonic, for example. I'm sure if he had his way, he'd always zoom across the planet at full speed, restraint be damned. But that would be destructive for the planet, as well as whatever cities he'd be running through. Even a smug showoff like him has to be careful." Amy nodded in understanding, though still very angry for being held at blade point. Shadow continued, "If you're still upset at the restraining, I'm sure you'll get me back in the morning. Now, let's get back to sleep."
Amy gave an irritated huff and hovered back down to the ground, with Shadow following suit. "You can be a *yawn* real buzzkill, Shadow. You know that?" Said hedgehog said, "I know that. You won't find me caring anytime soon, however." Amy rolled her eyes and walked back to her sleeping bag, feeling awfully sleepy. "It's a shame, you know? I was reading so many people. I even got to see the future events of some of them. It was *yaaaaaawn* fascinating…"
"I'm sure it was," said Shadow, "But let's worry about those implications in the morning, ok?" Amy waved him off and wiggled back into her sleeping bag.
With that, the two drifted back to sleep…for about 5 minutes before Amy sat right back up. "Shadow!"
"What is it?!" he said frantically.
She answered with an excited, giddy tone, "KNUCKLES AND ROUGE ARE GETTING MARRIED!"
Shadow, still partly asleep, said, "Oh? Good for them. Let's congratulate them in the morning."
Amy giggled at the grumpy hedgehog and waited.
"Wait, WHAT?!"
He and Maria. Running for their lives. Cornered at the research laboratory.
*BLAM*
That fateful, bloody moment, burned into his psyche. No matter what he did, no matter how many times he had told himself he had moved on from his dark past, the memory would not cease. At first, he had chosen to live with it, to not allow it to deter him from pressing on. But as the years went by, he had to be honest with himself...
It was starting to get to him.
Was there something he was forgetting? Something in his past that still needed resolution? Was the ARK in danger? Did he require some kind of closure from the humans who killed Maria? Or was it something in the present that needed to be done? He had absolutely no clue, and the more he thought about it, the angrier it made him, which, somehow, made the nightmares more recurring and even more detailed.
Sometimes they were silent. Sometimes, more gruesome. But they always ended the same way; Maria gets shot, and he screams his head off in anguish until he wakes up.
It was always the same…until one night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was happening again. Shadow and Maria were trapped in the Research Lab. "Maria, let's get out of here!" he shouted, tugging her to the escape capsule. As she followed him, Maria glanced in fear. He got inside the circle, but before she could join him, the faceless solider drew his pistol and…
Nothing.
No gunshot. No screaming. No blood.
Just silence.
No one moved. Even the bullet that was fired had halted in mid-flight. It was as if time had frozen. "What the hell is going on? I didn't invoke Chaos Control…" While Shadow tried to figure out this turn of events, a voice spoke to him from inside the capsule. "This is how it happened, huh?"
Gasping, he quickly turned to his right and saw Amy Rose beside him in her insufferably cute pajamas. "A-Amy?! What the hell are you doing here?" Shadow exclaimed. She answered, "I felt your subconscious distress, Shadow. The same distress I've felt for quite some time." Shadow glared softly at her continued lack of tact. "Ok, so you've been sensing my nightmares. I appreciate your concern, but you are not welcome here without my permission. Leave."
Amy shook her head. "I'm sorry, Shadow, but I cannot do that. You're asking me to allow you to relive this terrible moment in your life. I know this is personal, but I can't just leave you to suffer like this." Shadow rubbed his temples in frustration. "I understand, Amy, but the fact is you are still invading my space. Please leave." Amy sighed and said, "Fine. But not without you." With that, she disappeared, and Shadow found himself awakening shortly afterwards.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hedgehog's eyes shot open. Still drowsy, he slowly pulled himself from his sleeping bag and looked around. Their camping ground was still pretty much the same, except for the vast amounts of energy that was swirling about, enough to cover the midnight skies. Surprised, his eyes followed the energy to its perceived source of origin and saw that it was Amy, in full-on "Maiden Mode". Shadow was about to reprimand her, but he noticed how much psychic energy she was using. She was spreading herself all over the entire area, even far, far, far beyond. 'Who is she reading right now?' he wondered to himself.
"Everyone…"
"Huh?"
"I'm reading everyone, Shadow…"
The black hedgehog blinked in confusion. "What do you mean, 'everyone'?" With a tone of amazement and otherworldly mystique, she answered, "Every single person on the planet. Men…women…children…animals…I can see them all…"
"T-Th-The entire planet?!"
Amy nodded with a smile. "Yes. It's wonderful, Shadow. The thoughts, the hopes and dreams of the globe's inhabitants…it's beautiful in its fragility. *giggle* I can even see what Chip is dreaming of." She gasped as she added with a tear, "I can even see the thoughts of children who have yet to be born! Oh…and of people who are passing away." That warmed her heart and saddened it. "If I wanted to, I could influence anyone I wanted. And that's not all. I can touch, them, too…"
It was then that Shadow began to worry. "Amy, I know you're in awe of your own abilities, but you have got to stop this, right now! If you become too powerful, you'll be seen as a threat to the planet!" The hedgehog maiden looked down at her lover with a frown. "Maybe they should." Before Shadow could protest, Amy continued, "No, Shadow. I am tired of being underestimated. Isn't the point of my training is to grow as powerful and as strong as I can? Why should I refrain from exploring one aspect of myself en route to that goal?"
Shadow sighed and said, "I'm not saying you shouldn't test yourself, but you have to exercise restraint! People, especially humans, hate and fear what they don't understand. You know I know what I'm talking about!"
Amy simply stared at him. "So do Mobians, and you know it. Besides, how do I know you're not just jealous of my power?" When he heard that, Shadow glared at her. "Because you still can't use it properly." Before she could retort, she sensed his thoughts; he was going to attack her from behind! Before she could use her PK to utterly restrain him, Amy found herself restrained, with a katana at her throat. "How did-?" Shadow growled from behind her, "Even if you can read my thoughts and predict what I'm about to do, you still have to stop it. And not even your powers can predict Chaos Control."
Amy grunted in irritation. He was right; even if she did know what her foe was going to do, she still had to do something about it. "Now, drop your PK, slowly." Glaring back at him, she did as she was told, slowly shrinking her aura from the Earth and removing herself from the minds of its inhabitants.
Once her aura had returned to her own personal space, she said, "There. You happy?" Shadow glared back at her, "No, but you should be. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm stifling your growth, but as your trainer, I have no choice. I have seen first-hand the fear and hatred that comes from power like this." Amy sighed, and said, "I am not trying to hurt anyone, Shadow!" He replied, "I know you're not, Amy, but they won't see that, especially if you're this reckless. In the wrong hands, this kind of power could enslave or even destroy the world. Imagine if the Doctor got his mitts on you and turned you into one of his wretched robots."
She humored him, and the possibility was very sobering for the young girl. If Dr. Eggman got his hands on her abilities, there's no telling what he'd do with them in his conquests.
Taking her silence as a hint that she got the message, Shadow released her and turned on his Air Shoes, hovering beside her. "I apologize how being so rough, and I am truly proud of you for growing as much as you have, but…" Amy cut him off, "I need another reality check, right?"
Shadow nodded. "Powerful beings like you and I must be aware of every implication that our abilities bring, positive and negative. Only then can we know what we're capable of, and what we shouldn't do. Take Sonic, for example. I'm sure if he had his way, he'd always zoom across the planet at full speed, restraint be damned. But that would be destructive for the planet, as well as whatever cities he'd be running through. Even a smug showoff like him has to be careful." Amy nodded in understanding, though still very angry for being held at blade point. Shadow continued, "If you're still upset at the restraining, I'm sure you'll get me back in the morning. Now, let's get back to sleep."
Amy gave an irritated huff and hovered back down to the ground, with Shadow following suit. "You can be a *yawn* real buzzkill, Shadow. You know that?" Said hedgehog said, "I know that. You won't find me caring anytime soon, however." Amy rolled her eyes and walked back to her sleeping bag, feeling awfully sleepy. "It's a shame, you know? I was reading so many people. I even got to see the future events of some of them. It was *yaaaaaawn* fascinating…"
"I'm sure it was," said Shadow, "But let's worry about those implications in the morning, ok?" Amy waved him off and wiggled back into her sleeping bag.
With that, the two drifted back to sleep…for about 5 minutes before Amy sat right back up. "Shadow!"
"What is it?!" he said frantically.
She answered with an excited, giddy tone, "KNUCKLES AND ROUGE ARE GETTING MARRIED!"
Shadow, still partly asleep, said, "Oh? Good for them. Let's congratulate them in the morning."
Amy giggled at the grumpy hedgehog and waited.
"Wait, WHAT?!"
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