Black Petals: Chapter 20 ~ Wound, Meet Salt

Station Square, mid-afternoon. People were walking about and tourists were enjoying the sights. It was almost hard to believe that this place was decimated by the former God of Destruction a while ago.

These were the thoughts that ran through Sonic's mind as he walked into the train station, bored as hell. He was sporting a worn pair of blue jeans and a red/black leather racing jacket, along with his custom Soap shoes, the Power Scorchers. 'Damn it,' he thought to himself impatiently, 'Tails sure is taking his sweet time getting here. The longer I have to wait, the more of a head start Eggman has.' For a brief moment, he considered taking off without him, but even he wouldn't blow off his surrogate little brother like that.

Glancing towards the train entrances, Sonic spotted Shadow and Amy, presumably waiting for the next train. 'Hm. I know Shadow suggested that I back off for now...' He gave the matter some serious thought for about ten seconds before shrugging. 'Eh. Whatever, I'm heading up there. The sooner I make amends, the better.'

While Sonic contemplated his move, Shadow and Amy sat side by side on one of the benches upstairs, waiting for transport to Soleanna in their new threads. Amy was wearing her "tomboy" training clothes while Shadow sported the outfit she got for him. "Shadow, do we really have to go back now?" Amy asked. "I see no reason why not," Shadow replied. "We've had our rest and we got the clothes we came for, as well as two Chaos Emeralds. Why should we stay?"

"You have a point, but..." Amy was hesitant to leave so soon. At the rate she was going, she would master Chaos Energy manipulation in no time, putting an end to Shadow's services...and, possibly, his companionship. Shadow rolled his eyes at her sudden melancholy silence. "Look, if you have a problem, out with it. I'm listening." Amy opened her mouth to speak, but soon closed it. There was no way she could tell him how she felt about him. It was too soon...

"Well, well! Don't you two make a cute couple?" The two hedgehogs flung their heads around to see Sonic zooming up the stairs, coming to a skidding stop before them. "You again..." Shadow muttered. Amy was silent. It was also too soon to speak to Sonic again. "Nice to see you, too, Shadow!" Sonic said with a friendly smile. "Waiting to head back to training or whatever?"

"Yes," Shadow replied, "And the wait was peaceful until you showed up." Sonic smirked, as he was used to his darker counterpart's attitude towards him. "Aw, you don't have to be like that. Judging from what I heard, you've trained Amy well." Shadow asked, "What do you mean?" Sonic answered, "I heard about Eggman's little visit on the news. That stupid explosion wrecked my favorite chili dog stand, you know." Shadow's expression remained blank at that. "Anyway," Sonic continued, "The witnesses said you scrapped those bots in style, Amy. Nice work!" Throwing a thumbs up, he added, "You look great, too!"

"Thank you," Amy said sincerely, as she knew what Sonic was trying to do. While she did truly appreciate it... "Now please leave."

"Huh?"

Amy repeated, "I'm asking you to leave, Sonic. Now." Sonic figured she would say that, but persisted, hoping to lighten the mood. "Wait, you're asking me to leave? That's a first, eh?" This only made Amy uncomfortable and very angry. "Sonic...you're upsetting me..." Sonic chuckled, ignoring her warning. "You've always been easy to upset, Amy. One bad comment and that freaky hammer is whipped out!" Amy started glaring at him, shaking in quiet fury. Shadow noticed this and said, "Sonic, shut up. It's for your own good." Sonic just rolled his eyes at him. "What are you, Shadow, my mother? I'm just trying to make conversation. Lighten up." That callous remark at her new crush extinguished Amy's patience. "Oh, so now you want to converse with me? Just because I'm not 'useless'?" Sonic blinked. "Uh, wait, since when have I called you useless?"

"Since always," Amy said as she stood up. "Never with words, perhaps, but always with actions. You've never acknowledged me or gave me the time of day without me having to hunt you down! Hell, I even busted you out of prison and you didn't even bother to THANK me!"

"He didn't??" Shadow asked incredulously.

"I didn't??" Sonic repeated with confusion.

"NO," Amy shouted, "You didn't!! You always treat me like I'm the biggest pain in the world! As if I'm nothing more than an annoyance! You always act like you're disgusted to even be seen with me!! On top of that, you'd say anything just to get away from me! Like that cockamamie excuse about being sucked into a storybook!"

"Hey, that really happened!" Sonic defended, "Twice, in fact!" Amy scoffed, "On what planet?! Who would believe a ridiculous excuse like that?" Sonic began to get irritated. "Hey, stranger things have happened!" Shadow shrugged. Neither he nor Amy could argue that particular point. "Tch, I don't even know why I'm bothering to speak with you," Amy continued, with a tone soaked in disdain. "Your attention span's always been pitiful, just like the brat you are. I bet you were distracted some rings or chili dogs and forgot all about me just to-"

"Ok, that's enough!" Sonic shouted, no longer willing to have his character shredded like this. "I can handle criticism, but this is a bit much! And anyway, how do you expect me to act around you when every time you see me, you waste no time in cutting off my circulation and demanding that marry you? FYI, WE'RE BOTH UNDERAGE. On top of that, if any other girl even looks at me, you go ballistic! Heck, I heard you were raring to fight Blaze when she first showed up!"

Amy winced at that. "That was-"

Sonic cut her off with a swipe of his hand, "Oh, and by the way, it's really annoying to have people assume we're dating when we're not. Do you really tell everyone that you're my girlfriend? I sure as shootin' don't date anyone who has to lie like that!"

"I don't-"

"Oh, yes, you DO," Sonic callously interrupted. "'Dexter' can probably vouch for THAT."

Amy started to tear up in frustration and embarrassment from his own tirade. "Why the hell are you bringing this up now?!"

"Because you've been asking for it!" Sonic answered. "Yeah, I've ditched you more than once and I'm really, really, sorry for that, but can you honestly blame me? No guy in his right mind would stand still around a psychotic chick with a hammer!"

"'Psychotic'?!"

"Yeah! What, you were expecting me to welcome crap like that with open arms? Give me a break, Rosy! How delusional are you?"

Amy was livid by that point. "I am NOT delusional, Sonic the Hedgehog! You take that back!!"

"No way!" he replied.

"I'm warning you!!"

"Ooh, I'm scared," he sarcastically replied.

"THAT'S IT!!!" Amy dashed forward to attack Sonic, who charged her in response. Both hedgehogs were ready to duke it out...but their attacks were effortlessly halted by none other than Shadow.

"THAT'S ENOUGH. BOTH OF YOU. You're making a scene."

Shadow gestured to the crowd Sonic and Amy's quarrel had attracted. Both human and Mobian looked upon the two teenagers with disappointment. Amy looked away in shame. "Well, this is embarrassing," said Sonic irritably. "I just came here to say hi and congrats to you guys. I didn't want all this to happen." Shadow scoffed in disgust. "Yeah, well, it did." Before he could scold them further, a voice on the loudspeaker announced, "NOW ARRIVING: Soleanna Transit." Sonic silently thanked the announcer and cleared his throat. "That your train, guys?"

"Yes," answered Shadow, as the train came to a stop before them and its doors opened. With a heavy sigh, Sonic looked at Amy and said, "Look, Amy, I'm sorry, all right? Seriously, I am."

"..."

"Amy?"

"...I should have let you die," she whispered. Amy then stormed inside the train, tears streaming down her face. Confused, Sonic asked, "What did she say?? I didn't quite catch it."

"Nor did I," Shadow lied.

Sonic kicked the floor. "Shoot. This didn't turn out like I hoped." Shadow growled, "Of course it didn't. I warned you to keep away, didn't I? But, nooooo, you didn't listen. She's not ready to face you, you idiot."

"Well, I know that now!" Sonic sighed, "Look, I don't hate Amy in the slightest. I just-"

"Save it," Shadow said. "I really don't give a damn about your reasoning. The fact of the matter is, your presence is grating and getting in the way of her development. Now, I'm getting on this train and back to business. You just go back to your pointless running around." Sonic folded his arms and glared. "Hmph. Yeah, I'll do that, so long as you keep acting like you don't have feelings for her." Shadow said, "I told you, I-"

"Save it," Sonic shot back. "I can tell when someone's into someone, believe it or not, and you've definitely got something for Amy. Personally, I think she'd be good for you, Shadow."

"Bullsh-"

"I'm serious, bro," Sonic continued with a warm smile, "I don't know if you've noticed, but you've become a little more open since you started training her." Shadow replied uneasily, "You don't know what you're talking about, and neither do I."

At that moment, the loudspeaker piped up again. "The train headed for Soleanna will be departing soon."

Shadow inwardly sighed in relief. "With that, this pointless conversation is over, and not a moment too soon." Sonic smirked. "Heh, sure. Later, man." Shadow turned and boarded the train. As Sonic watched it leave, Tails came up behind him, clad in a blue and yellow hoodie, with matching shorts. "Sorry, I'm late, Sonic. Hope you weren't too bored." Sonic glanced back at him. "Nah, I'm good. Amy and Shadow just left." Tails gasped. "Really?! How are they doing??" Sonic smiled and looked back at the train as it disappeared into the distance. "They're doing just fine, Tails."

The ride to Soleanna began in silence, with Amy silently fuming and shuddering, trying her best not to cry. Shadow simply let her be. After a few minutes, she began to sniffle a little. Shadow silently brought her close to him. Amy quickly latched on to him and sobbed quietly.

After a while, Amy spoke. "Shadow...am I really that terrible?" He answered, "No, Amy. Not anymore." Amy sniffled again. "I've still got a long way to go, though, right?" Shadow nodded. She looked up at him, still teary-eyed, and asked, "Will I get there?" He looked back at her with a small smile. "Yes. We'll get you there, together." Amy gave Shadow a small smile of her own and snuggled into him. For his part, Shadow showed no signs of disdain.

'"Good for me," huh? I'll believe that when I see it.'