Mirror Image

XXVI - Things I Hate About You

"Shadow?" Sonic croaked.

"Yes, Sonic?"

"On a scale of one to ten, how screwed do you think we are?"

"Let's evaluate shall we?" said Shadow, his tone brimming with irritation, "We're currently being held in the recesses of an ancient temple miles away from civilisation by an insane robot version of myself. Said copy has utilised a device built by my own hand to manipulate a Chaos Emerald to do his bidding. Said copy only has said device because I foolishly left it behind, and I only left it behind because I was concerned with your well-being and not thinking straight. Our friends may well be facing an attack of some sort at GUN HQ, no-one knows where we are, and even if they did, they wouldn't know how to contact us. So yes, Faker, we are indeed 'screwed' as you so eloquently put it."

"Nice exposition, Shads," said Sonic, grinning cheekily, "very succinctly put."

"There is a slight silver lining to this for you," said Shadow, "you did say you would rather have been in a death-trap than in a cell. By the looks of this contraption, you may just have got your wish."

Sonic and Shadow were confined in a small chamber illuminated by a buzzing yellow light. Each of the hedgehogs levitated within a column of swirling blue energy, their hands and feet restrained by metal clamps joined by twisting wires, and on their chest, a copy of the Redistribution Matrix latched onto them, crushing their breath and tingling with an orange glow.

"Do you remember everything I say, word for word?" asked Sonic, prompting an arrogant smirk from Shadow.

"Of course. I have perfect recall of everything that happens to me."

"Alright, Mr. Smarty-pants," sneered Sonic, irritated by Shadow's arrogance, "what's the seventeenth thing you said to me after we met in this temple the first time around?"

Shadow hesitated, blushing slightly.

"It was during our fight over the fake Emerald, I said..." he cleared his throat, ""You asked for it, pretty boy!""

"Not sure if that's even right, but I remember you saying it," said Sonic, his own cheeks feeling hot, "aww, did you only say that to distract me, or do you really think I'm pretty?"

"Of course I don't think you're pretty!" snapped Shadow, causing Sonic to shrink back his coy eyelid-fluttering. Shadow's face softened immediately, and he continued in a soft tone almost like a whisper.

"I think you're beautiful."

Sonic froze, stunned by Shadow's gentle confession. Something about his dark counterpart's genuine tone made him feel vulnerable again. It was easy for him to be open when Shadow stubbornly insisted on keeping to himself, but this exposure of his deepest feeling, this reversal of roles made Sonic want to clam up in his stead. But he had to grab the opportunity, to let his impulse drive him towards the object of his affection.

"Shadow, I..." he said, "I'm so glad to have you back, and if we're gonna die, I want you to know... I lo-"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence I were you, Sonic."

On the wall to Sonic's right, a screen flickered to life, revealing a close-up of Metal Shadow's scowling red-eyed visage. His robotic echoing voice scratched its way through the tinny speakers, and it scratched into Sonic's eardrums.

"Touched as I am by this... heart-warming reunion," he said with as much sarcasm and contempt a robot could muster, "it must come to an end, so you can listen to a little science lesson. Did you know, recent studies have shown a strong correlation between emotion in Mobians and Chaos Energy fluctuations? No-one's sure whether the emotions control the energy or vice versa, or both, but the interesting thing is, when a Mobian feels a strong emotion towards a person, be it love or hate, it actually affects the Chaos energy within and around that person."