Chapter 7: What Happened?

10:00 pm

Half an hour had went by.

Everybody was seated in the living room, quietly listening in agony as more gunshots and screams were heard from outside.

Shadow was sitting on the couch next to Sonic, keeping off of his leg like he was told to. He had finished the water Cream had given him, and denied a fourth glass. After all, after three glasses of water, he could feel his bladder starting to fill up. He was going to ask where the restroom was, and if he could possibly be escorted there to keep the strain off his leg, but he kept quiet, believing he could hold it a while longer.

Besides, Sonic looked like he wanted to say something, but he wasn't gonna say it on his own without encouragement.

"So..." He started, looking at the blue hedgehog. "What happened? I mean... before you find me?"

Sonic looked away a bit, hesitant to say. He really didn't want to talk about it, but everybody was staring at him now, expecting him to speak. He sighed, looking at his friends.

"It's bad out there." He started. "Real bad. Walking right by all that crime... pass all those screams of pain and terror... it was hard for me. Guys... I had to walk right on by a woman being raped, RAPED." He shuddered as he remembered that, wishing he had never seen or even heard it.

Shadow saw how much Sonic was struggling with this, and so did everybody else... but the hedgehog's ears were the ones that went down a bit, actually feeling sorry for the hero next to him. He reached a hand out and placed it over Sonic's, making the blue one look up at him in confusion. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Sonic blinked in surprise, never before thinking that his rival would actually feel sorry for him. He sighed and nodded. "Thanks, Shadz." He sighed again. "I wasn't completely out of the dark while I was out there though."

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"I... I got caught, at some point."

"You got caught?!" Chris gasped. "What happened?!"

"It was just some guy looking for something to kill." Sonic shrugged. "He snuck up behind me and pressed a gun right up against the back of my head. I gotta be honest, I've never been so scared in my entire life. I actually thought I was gonna die. But I managed to knock the gun away from him and into a sewer drain and knock him unconscious. I'm not proud of it, but I wasn't gonna let him kill me."

"Good on you, Sonic." Knuckles nodded, then looked at Shadow. "And what about you?"

"Me?" Shadow frowned.

"Yeah. What happened while you were out there?"

Shadow growled. "I got jumped, echidna. What more do you want from me?"

"Certainly more than that." Knuckles frowned. "Come on. What happened?"

"Yes, I would actually like to know myself." Eggman said from the laptop.

Shadow sighed. He knew he didn't have a choice now. They weren't going to stop bothering him until he talked.

"Alright fine." He sighed. "I had just entered the city. I had no idea what I was in for. I knew that given by my reputation, I would most likely be a target, but I didn't think I would get attacked so quickly." He sighed again. "They were lying in wait. I think they knew I was going to attempt something tonight. It's Purge Night after all. Everything is legal. I can't be held accountable for anything I may do tonight. I stepped one foot into the city and they were on me like flies on rotten meat. They all had knives in their hands. Someone grabbed me by my quills. I couldn't use them to defend myself. They started teasing me, slashing and cutting at my body with their knives. I wanted to use Chaos Spear to get them away from me, but I wasn't coordinated enough to do so. Plus, they wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a target on them. And then... their leader came out. It was a man, young. He had a gun and he was pointing it directly at my face." He blushed a bit. "I'm not proud of it, but I was actually a little scared. I thought I was gonna die at that moment. I... I panicked and kicked the man as hard as I could away from me. And then I ripped myself away from the person holding onto my quills... that's how I lost some of them. I used Chaos Spear to scare the others from trying to grab me again... and then I ran. But as I was running, the man got his bearings again and shot at me... and the bullet went into the back of my leg... I'm lucky I got away with only that much."

"Yes, you are lucky indeed." Eggman agreed.

"How did Sonic find you?" Rouge asked.

Shadow blushed again. "While I was running... I managed to find a gun. There was only one round in it, but I didn't think I would use it, but I took it with me anyway because... to be honest… I felt safer to have a gun. I thought that if I shot anybody, nobody would care because everybody had a gun. If I shot someone with a Chaos Spear, the people that were after me would find me. I was hurting. I Could not run anymore. So I found a small alleyway and hid behind some boxes. And then... I heard someone coming. I got scared all over again. They were coming closer, I thought they were coming for me. I thought I had been discovered. I didn't want to be caught, so I took the gun and shot at them. I missed, but then I heard someone shout. I told them not to come any closer... and that's when Sonic spoke up and introduced himself… and that's how he found me."

"I bet you were relieved." Chuck smiled.

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other, a small smile on their faces.

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"Well, it's all over now. We're safe as long as we stay in the house now." Lindsey sighed.

"Right. 'Cause no one has targeted you guys before, right?" Amy asked.

"That's right, Amy." Chris nodded. "And as long as nobody knows that Shadow is here, I don't see any reason why they would start now."

And then, at that moment, there was a loud banging against the steel covering the front door.