Black Petals: Chapter 2 ~ Reality Check

Shadow the Hedgehog is a living weapon. To him, that is a fact...and it frightens him. All too often, he has found himself having to exercise restraint in order to prevent civilian casualties and lessen property damage. At times, it could be incredibly frustrating to handicap himself as such. This was one of those times.

What had started as a lesson was starting to turn into a headache for the Ultimate Lifeform. He had dodged multiple rage-induced swings from Amy already, whose style of fighting was not only undisciplined, but also erratic and impulsive. 'Much like her,' he concluded to himself. As she attempted to hit him with a Homing Attack, she held her hammer out during the spin in order to do any damage. Shadow rolled his eyes and waited. Amy zeroed in on him and he waited. Closer...closer...closer...

"Chaos Control."

With that invocation, time froze. Amy's hammer was but a centimeter from his face. As he casually strolled to her side (like a boss, one might say), he got a good look at her face. Amy's expression was usually one of cheer and optimism. At that moment, however, it was one of anguish and pain. Shadow sighed and rubbed his temple as he snapped his fingers, ending the time-space distortion, which promptly sent Amy, without a target, careening off course. The girl skidded a few meters before stopping. Bewildered, she frantically looked around for the hedgehog that had the gall to insult her. Said hedgehog just zoomed past her on his Air Shoes. Still very angry, she gave chase.

Shadow led her to an open clearing, nearby a giant boulder. Calmly, he waited.

"NOW I'VE GOT YOU!!" Upon hearing that, Shadow rolled his eyes for what seemed to be the hundredth time and thought to himself, 'All right, enough of this.' He then turned around and saw Amy charging at him. He glared and calmly braced himself for her attack. She screamed and swung her hammer...only to have it halted mid-swing by the palm of his left hand. Amy was stunned. No one had ever had the guts to try and stop her Piko Piko Hammer like that, much less do it! "You idiot." Shadow's disgust was made painfully clear to Amy now, if not by that statement, then by the backhanded slap that immediately followed afterwards (done with his right hand).

And with those two actions, the fight, if you could call it that, was over. Shadow, the winner, was looking upon the girl who attacked him with impatience and contempt. Amy, the loser, rubbed her bruising cheek and stared at the one who struck her with shame, bewilderment and especially, fear. Now that she had been brought out of her sorrow-induced rage, she remembered just what Shadow was capable of doing...and she was frightened out of her wits.

"Hmph. Are you ready to admit your own foolishness, Miss Rose?" he asked her arrogantly. She quickly nodded yes and glanced at her Piko Piko Hammer, which was now in Shadow's possession. "My hammer...h-how did you...?" Shadow glanced at the weapon in question and shook his head. "Have you forgotten that you are not the only one who knows how to fight with weapons? Stopping this thing was a trifle matter."

"I see," Amy understood. "All right, you win. Now give it back." Shadow shook his head in response. "What?" Amy was confused. "But, you won."

"Yes, I did." Shadow confirmed. "Then give it back," Amy repeated. "I said no," repeated Shadow. "Give it back!" Amy shouted. "Or you'll do what?" Shadow fired back. She wanted to show him, but stopped herself. He still had her weapon after all, and she knew her boxercise would be useless against him. So, she kept quiet. "Tch, yeah. That's what I thought. And as for this stupid thing," Shadow gripped it in his hands, trying to resist the urge to break it in two, "It has been holding you back, and, for that matter, so has Sonic. You'll never get anywhere pining over him. If you don't get stronger, how do you expect to impress or protect anyone?!"

"I-"

Shadow immediately cut her off. He would have none of her ridiculous excuses. Not today. "Did you ever consider why Sonic always leaves you behind? Why the Doctor always considers you an easy target? Why everyone else is so damn afraid of you on occasion?"

"I'm-"

"It's because you're weak and childish! You think that all you have to do is swing this stupid hammer around and you'll get your way! Without it, you're nothing!"

"That's not true!" Amy shouted in protest. "The hell it isn't!" Shadow shouted back. "Everyone knows it, including Sonic!" Amy felt the tears returning. "Sonic wouldn't say that!" Shadow growled and continued, "Of course he wouldn't! He's too damn nice! He considers you a friend, of course, but you're too blind and selfish to see that that's all he wants from you! Seriously, has he ever given the slightest hint of liking you the same way?"

Amy racked her brain for a response, but could only recall instances where Sonic had been annoyed, freaked out or just downright irritated by her presence. "But..." Shadow noticed her resolve breaking and went for the coup de grace. "Name me one time that Sonic has shown you any special, 'romantic' attention without the Doctor around or this dumbass hammer in your hand. ONE. TIME."

..............

"Precisely. If you think that anyone could love you with the way you've been acting, you're sadly mistaken. Now..." Shadow finished as he tossed back her Piko Piko Hammer, "I suggest you leave, or you'll have more than a broken heart and bruised cheek to nurse." Amy said nothing as she retrieved her childhood weapon and left the forest, dragging it behind her. As Shadow watched her go, he sighed. 'I'm truly sorry, Amy, but it was long overdue. It's up to you to figure out what do next.'
Later that night, in Central City, Amy sat alone in her bedroom. Her mind was a painful fog. Sonic would never be hers...what was she supposed to do with her life now? What purpose did she have for living? She had no answer. And so, she did the only thing she could think of...























...and cried. She cried, and cried, and cried...until she fell asleep.