Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. They all belong to SEGA.

The Kiss of the Revenant Reward Pack is a set of 9 Shadow Bound weapons that give you 20% chance to summon a Revenant. Shadow-Bound Chaos Focus.

The story, however, belongs to me.

Story Beta Read by: Pepper1622

~9~

-Concealing Truths-

Damn, where did these robots come from? I was a bit unnerved when the whirring of the electricity slowly went down then stopped altogether, leaving this place in darkness. The training I was forced to go through immediately kicks in, and everything comes into clear relief despite the darkness.

It's after I take a defensive stance, when eight silver robots appear in a circle around me, that I remember I left Sonic unattended to. Logic tells me that he can take care of himself, but my instincts demand that I find him right now. This whole situation stinks, and I just know something will go wrong.

Having been put through this type of situation time and time again aboard my ARK training sessions, I don't even waste time and enhance my already impressive strength with the help of the Emeralds. Looking at the nearest bot near me, I thrust my fist into its face, giving a sadistic grin at the sight of its visage utterly shattering into bolts, wires, and electric sparks.

Continuing the motion from my previous punch, I use my foot to cut through the torso of another, getting back into a defensive position as one of them speaks. 'Give it up, Shadow the Hedgehog. You will not succeed.'

'Really? Well, I beg to differ.'

They converge upon me.

While they do land a few good hits, I've experienced far worse, so I deflect and land damaging blows to the cold metal surrounding me.

Then my ears pick up a sound that causes fear to course through my veins and red to haze my vision.

Sonic. They're hurting him.

The Chaos energy inside me churns and builds in fury, pulling a growl from my throat as I punch, kick, and rip the machines around me to their demise, immediately taking off towards the sound of my Chaos Bound's distressed cries.

Seeing him convulsing violently in the arms of those machines, covered in bruises and bleeding, I vaguely hear myself cry his name before everything around him lies in dismantled scraps at my hands.

I pick him up gently, oh-so slowly, trying to control the trembling in my arms. H-his eyes aren't open. Why hasn't he awakened? Trying to quell the panic that rises inside of me, I lower my ear to his fawn-colored chest and exhale, relieved at the sound of his heart and breathing, although both are slow and labored.

I gather him close and place my head upon his with my eyes shut, as if in prayer. How could I have let this happen to you? I'm supposed to keep you safe… Curling around him protectively, I try to use the power of the Emeralds to heal his wounds.

They hear my wish and begin to obey, taking the energy I offer to help aid in their work. Green light surrounds my Bound, and when I look at his fur, matted and bloodied in some places, I notice the wounds beginning to mend.

It takes a minute, but his fur is vibrant again, and his breathing becomes easier and more peaceful. Feeling calmed, I gaze down into Sonic's face, expecting to see his bright green eyes open.

Thankfully, he doesn't keep me waiting, and as soon as they fully open they lock onto mine.

'H-hey, Shads…' The tired quality to his voice makes me pull him closer, and ever so slowly I seal our lips together. He gasps softly, and I decide to try something I've seen done before by many couples in films.

Hesitantly bringing my tongue forth, I slowly trail it along the smooth expanse of his lips, feeling him shiver and moan. I swallow a groan and connect our lips more securely, plunging my tongue into his mouth, tasting his vanilla wet warmth. It's a bit sloppy, as I've never done this before, but feeling him yield to the kiss is enough to make me want to push him to the ground and—

'S-Shads… can't breathe,' he informs me through pants after breaking the kiss to get air.

I breathe in deeply, gripping the ground—well, some scrap metal—with enough force to crush it as I reign in my desires. 'Yeah. Sorry. I was just worried when you wouldn't wake up, and you were bruised and bleeding, and they had electrocuted you. I don't know what I would've done if—'

He sits up slowly in my lap and places a gentle hand over my mouth. 'Shadow, it's okay. I'm fine, thanks to you. It was mostly my fault anyway. I forgot I had the Emeralds on me until the last minute, and by then they were shooting bolts through me.'

He tries to play it off as 'no big,' but nothing will ever erase the image of him jerking violently or his strangled screams as they tortured him. The same way I'll never forget Maria…

I feel his hand grasp my chin and turn it back to face his firm expression. 'Don't go blaming yourself, understand?'

I nod noncommittally and stand, placing him on his feet next to me.

He looks down at himself and stretches in amazement and curiosity. 'Whoa, no pain. What'd you…? The Chaos Emeralds, right?' he figures out on his own.

I nod with a cross to my arms. The embrace I receive from the side startles me from its intensity, and I look to see Sonic's face obscured in the depths of my obsidian fur. 'Aww, Shads! You're so good to me!'

I hate to admit it, but I blush at those words.

Feeling him tug me forward, I follow behind him, like I know I'd be willing to do every day for the rest of our lives.

'Come on, Shads! Let's go!'

~XxoOoxX~

A warning alarm sounds on the console, forcing the Doctor to halt in his research. He gives a disgruntled hum and clicks on a few buttons to figure out what the problem is.

The monitor displays a message: Eggtrons sent on deploy are reading a status of TERMINATED.

The evil scientist's gloved fist slams on the dashboard. 'What? How could this be?!' Quickly bringing up the last footage of his robots' memories, he watches the recording with growing realization. 'Hmm. Seems I've underestimated the Ultimate Lifeform and his role towards that pesky blue hedgehog. Maybe I can use this to my advantage….'

Hastily getting up to work on his machines again, he leaves his research on Cosmo to another time.

~XxoOoxX~

The cold artic air courses through my fur as I sail through the sky after being launched from the black cannon in Carnival Night. Ice Cap Zone looks dazzling at night with the moon's light reflecting off the many ice crystals that decorate the place. The snow is lush and white so high up on the mountains of Angel Island, making me wonder if I could talk Shadow into making snow angels with me…

Seeing my trajectory heading towards the snow-covered ground at high speeds, I almost imagine the board of wood I used the first time I slid down these snow banks sticking out of the ground ready to break my landing. Unfortunately, I'm not so lucky this second time around.

I land messily on my feet and face-plant in the freezing snow, beginning to slide down the mountain due to gravity and momentum. The distant shout I hear warns me of ensuing mayhem.

'Watch out!'

It's only a second's warning, and I try to scramble up to my feet on the slippery snow, but the heavy colliding of his body makes us crash back into the ground and tumble our way down in a tangle of limbs and, surprisingly, laughter. I know how this is going to end, and when the ground suddenly disappears from beneath us, I give a resounding 'Whoopee!' as we land in the entrance to the ice caves, settling on the pile of snow created from the first avalanche.

Still chuckling, I realize the snow wasn't the only thing that broke my landing. I sit up and move to the side, allowing Shadow to pull his face from the snow and give me a wry look. 'Well, that was amusing.'

I chuckle and nudge him affectionately. 'Admit it—you had fun. I heard you laughing earlier.'

He crosses his arms in denial. 'Yeah, nearly suffocating in snow is really fun.' But the smirk he gives me lets me know he's just teasing.

Before I can joke back, a beeping from my wrist brings me up short. I look down with confusion and then remember. The Wrist Com. I totally forgot I had it. With a sheepish smile I press the button and see an image of my little bro on the tiny monitor.

'Hey, Sonic! How's everything going?' Tails asks as soon as the connection's made. I can't quite place it, but something is different about the tone to his voice.

'Everything's going fine, bro! Although, there was a close call… but Shads here came through for me,' I say with pride and fondness lacing my words in the end.

'Your Chaos Bound, right?' he asks just to be sure. I did only say Shadow's name once to him, and now I'm referring to him by nickname. Tails is used to it by now.

'Yep.' I internally shiver due to the low temperatures and wet snow I'm still resting in before turning my focus back on Tails.

'So you did manage to work things out. I'm happy for you!' He genuinely sounds pleased, and I love him all the more for it.

'Yeah, me too… Hey! Do you want to talk to him? He's—' I look up, expecting to see an obsidian red-streaked hedgehog next to me with an indifferent expression on his face, only to spot him standing deeper in the cave, away from me.

I'm sensing some emotionally scarring backstory from this situation… Why else wouldn't he want to talk to my bro or even tell me about his past? I look back at Tails to see he's confused at my abrupt stop in speech and hastily try to explain. 'Umm, Shadow's busy right now. How's everything going with you? Anything new come up?'

Expecting to hear that he somehow figured out the mysterious prophecy, I'm astonished to make out the voice of a friend who was nearly lost. 'Would I count, Sonic?' she asks in an amused voice.

So that's why his voice sounded so full of life—Cosmo's back! I can barely keep the smile off my face. 'Welcome back, Cosmo! It's good to see you again!'

Her face is now smiling brightly at me on the screen, and I'm again amazed to see that she appears to have the same look as the one she took before taking on the form of a tree. 'It's good to see you as well, Sonic! Tails has told me everything that's going on, and I've offered to help in any way that I can.'

I smile at that, remembering how determined she was to do the right thing no matter how hard it might be. 'I've really missed having you around, Cosmo.'

'I've missed you guys as well.'

I see Tails' face appear beside hers but with a noticeably smaller smile on his muzzle.

'I did find something out, Sonic. It's only a theory, though, but I think it might have something to do with what Eggman has planned.' His tone is serious, and I adopt the same attitude.

'Yeah, well, let's hear it.' I clench my teeth a little to prevent a chatter from displaying my lack of warmth.

'You and Shadow are most likely pure Chaos energy beings, you being positive and he negative. If your powers were to combine and become active, the results could be cataclysmic, but if a certain third power was added to the mix, everything would become balanced out.'

I rub my head quills in wonder. 'Well, that could be serious.'

The two nod their heads. 'I know, but I'm still looking into things. I'll let you know if I find anything else, okay? Good luck with the Emerald!'

I smile and nod. 'Thanks, buddy! See ya guys when we get back!' The connection ends, and I hop off the snow mound, shivering slightly from the wet snow that melted into my fur. Chaos, I forgot how cold this place actually was.

Seeing Shadow still standing where I last saw him like a sentry on duty, I make my way towards him, noticing his obvious lack of wet fur. Pouting due to his luck, I decide to demand some answers instead of complaining about the cold. Besides, there's this neat trick Tails and I used to stay warm here, so I won't have to worry about it for long anyway. 'Why'd you leave back there, Shads? I wanted you to talk to my brother.'

The reprimanding quality to my voice seems to pull a wince out of him, but he doesn't respond. I place my hand on my hip, ignoring the shiver that racks my form for a moment, and demand, 'Look, you said you would tell me about your past later. Well, I'm declaring it later. Enlighten me.'

I see his vivid red eyes glance in my direction for a second before he begins to walk ahead in the ice caverns. 'I can sense the Chaos energy coming from here. I'll take the lead.'

For the love of Chaos! What does a guy have to do to get a straight answer out of you!? I ground my teeth and wrap my hands around my body, trying to conceal warmth, looking in Shadow's direction every so often and seeing no such signs of discomfort from him.

I try to take my mind off of things by looking at the endless waves of small crystals that seem to glow purple and blue continuously. This place is so cool. The word seems to bring up another round of shivers, and I turn my eyes back in front of me in sudden confusion.

Looking around then looking around again a bit more frantically, I finally realize what's missing. The Rings! Where are the Rings? They were in every Zone we've been through before, so why aren't they here? It usually doesn't take Rings too long to respawn, so the fact that I don't see a single golden one around is a bit disconcerting.

I need those… Tails and I used the small bit of energy to keep us warm when traveling through this place. My mind tries to come up with another solution, and I recall the Emeralds in my quills. Maybe I can use those! But I'm not really sure how, and that might use up all their energy.

Biting my lip, I consider going to Shadow, but I notice his tense stance, and his fists seems to clench and unclench in frustration. I better not. He still seems pretty bothered. He said he could sense the Emerald. Who knows? It might not even take that long.

I trudge on in silence behind him, uncontrollable shivers still shaking my form.

~XxX~

I can no longer feel my toes or the tips of my fingers. Every cold breezy is like a slash across my skin, but I keep walking along like a good little hedgehog. How long has it been? Hours, days, years? The shiny crystals and sparkling snow all seem to mesmerize me and close in on me all at once. I notice sparkly icicles grouped together jutting out from a wall not too far from me. I wonder if they feel like my quills, all prickly and stuff… A violent shiver quakes my form before I walk slowly towards it and stick my stiff hand out.

'What exactly are you doing, hedgehog?' The deep sound of his voice startles me, and I turn to see him looking at me with a strange expression.

Oh, Chaos, I need to answer quickly before one of those bad shivers comes and he sees. Don't want him to worry 'bout me. 'Uhh, nothin'. Juust reliving olld memoriess.'Chaos, did that sound as slurred out loud as it did in my head?

His ear twitches, and he looks at me closely before responding. 'Are you all right, Sonic? You seem a bit…'

His step towards me causes me to stumble back in response, but I catch myself in time. 'm fine, Shadz. Jusst keep movin'.'

He looks unsure before nodding slowly and walking forward again, causing me to sigh in relief then aggressively shiver. Need to be more careful. I nod to myself and try to make the crystals stop winking at me.

~XxoOoxX~

I feel heavy with guilt for being so short with Sonic earlier. I just couldn't bear to look him in the eye and tell him what I am, what I've experienced… what I've done. It's probably the reason why he doesn't want to be close to me right now. Damn it, Shadow. Stop being so stubborn and apologize to him. I can practically hear Maria agree, although she abhors my use of language.

I sigh and brace myself for his reaction as I begin to speak, turning around as I do so. 'Look, Sonic, I apologize for being so curt and distant—'

Pale skin the color of frozen ice and eyes that are completely dazed are images that burn vividly into my memory. I hold his gaze for a split second before he loses consciousness, and I race to catch his falling figure. My heart is racing faster than should be physically possible as the wet, ice-cold texture of his fur makes contact with my body. Oh, god, he has hypothermia. What the fuck was I thinking? He's not some damn creation that can survive at sub-arctic temperatures! He fell in the snow and continued to walk around in these freezing conditions without a word. How could I not notice?

The earlier signs were there: dazed confusion, slurred speech, and probably shivering that he wouldn't let me see—the true reason as to why he didn't want to walk next to me. I internally rage at myself but gather his form close to mine in the hopes of transferring body heat.

As I stand up, my mind races with possible quick solutions. I need to get him out of here and to some place warm immediately or he'll just get worse. Looking down into his pale face, I feel sickness rise in me. I let this happen to him. I let him get hurt again over senseless stubbornness. I failed him again…

Flattening my ears in shame, I think of possibly Chaos Controlling back to the tropics of this island but realize that I used up most of the energy from the Emeralds to heal Sonic the first time. If I attempt to use them now when their energy hasn't restored, it most likely won't work and be a complete waste of time and effort.

I absentmindedly rub Sonic's fur and come up with the only other possible solution: retrieve the Emerald from this Zone. The idea troubles me, because Sonic will have to be exposed to the cold for longer, but it's the only idea I can come up with for now.

I hold him as close as possible and murmur in his ear, 'It's okay. It's okay. Stay with me. I'm going to fix this. Make it right. I'm so sorry for putting you through this…' My voice wavers, but I push the emotion down, only letting determination and concern for my hedgehog rule me for now.

The Emerald isn't too far off, I can tell, but I can't glimpse any foreseeable places it could possibly be. I growl in frustration and rub Sonic more. I don't want to wander around for too long, but all I see before me is a steep drop down and a wall of snow.

I can sense that the Emerald may be just beyond the snow, but it just doesn't seem possible. Feeling Sonic shiver in my arms—which is a good sign because I haven't felt him so much as twitch since he collapsed—I decide to take a chance and hope I don't just ram into it and fall to our deaths.

I kiss the cold fur of his forehead before taking the leap of faith. Expecting some kind of impact, I'm surprised to feel us practically faze through the snow like it wasn't even there, the sensation almost surreal. This room is much notably warmer and decorated with diamond-shaped crystals all over the walls. The Emerald floats, pulsating a neon white, in the very center as if rewarding me for my risk-taking.

More shivers rack the hedgehog in my arms, and I hear him mumble my name almost unintelligibly. I hush him softly and grab the white Emerald in my palm quickly. I concentrate on the warmth of the jungle from before and the want for Sonic to get better.

Faster than one can blink, I appear before the Master Emerald with the Echidna and Rouge appearing to be in a very compromising position. Not particularly caring about their personal life, I speak in a very demanding and imposing manner. 'I need to get him warm. Now.'

The two look up, startled, before Knuckles jumps up like the self-appointed hothead I dubbed him to be and begins spewing things that aren't important to the situation right now. 'What did you do to him!?'

Rouge stands up and places her hand on his shoulder before walking quickly towards me. 'That's not what's crucial right now, Knuckles. Come with me, Shadow.'

I follow the voice of reason, holding on tight to the person in my arms. My ear twitches at the faintest sound of Sonic attempting to speak. 's coold.' I look down, feeling the shivers course through him, to see his face scrunched up in discomfort. He doesn't seem to be fully conscious.

'Shadow, come right through here. I had Knucklehead build this place for me, even though he hardly sleeps inside. I still wanted to have a lavish house.' Her tone of voice tries to be light and playful, but I can hear the worry and concern in the lilts as if we've been friends for years.

I follow her into the two story house with hardly any awareness to my surroundings. Nothing captures my attention accept the hedgehog I'm carrying, and Rouge seems to understand. She points me to a room, and I immediately lay his pale blue form under the lavender covers, making sure to take off his wet gloves, shoes, and socks. While I'm doing the same, Rouge walks in with an armful of white fluffy towels.

'Here. I warmed these up. Just rub these on him and try to warm him up as much as possible.'

I nod and take the towels, but she makes sure we make eye contact before she lets go. 'He's going to be okay, Shadow.' I try to let her confidence combat the fear that's welled up inside me, but looking at him so quiet and in pain, so unlike himself, makes it hard to believe.

She moves to the large window lined in dark purple drapes in order to open it, which allows for a dry, warm breeze to flow through the room. Immediately after she leaves us alone, and I get to work rubbing the towels all along his fur to dry and warm him. He moans and mumbles my name weakly, then shivers and tries to curl in on himself. In time I deem him dry enough, tossing the now damp towels on the dark wood floors, and climb into the full sized bed, deciding to lie on top of him at an angle so that I don't completely crush him but can keep him warm and wrapped-up more proficiently.

He shivers under me, mumbling incoherently a bit before settling down. I rub his soft fawn-colored arms slowly to create friction and just start talking, wanting to give him what he wants. If he wants to know of my past, then I'll tell him everything.

The Swimming Pool will turn fully red after 6 kills, showing the Eye decal, the Crimson Ring Club logo, and the PARMA Initiative decal.A Survivr standing in the pool after 6 kills.Changing Hall filled with loot.If in the sauna rooms, you replenish health slowly. Near one of the entrances, there is an area that resembles a Changing Room with 2 and 5. The red strings club wiki. It also leads to the main room containing a Swimming Pool which is also accessible to 2 small rooms resembling Sauna rooms.

'I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform. I'm a scientific experiment created aboard a space colony named ARK fifty years ago by Professor Gerald Robotnik. Strange isn't it? No, I'm not fifty years old or anything. I was just sealed in a cryogenic chamber for fifty years, actually. I'm technically only a few years old; I just grew and matured at a fast rate due to being created with a fake Chaos Emerald. The last time the Professor checked he said I was perhaps wonders of being an experiment.'

I pause as he gives a soft shiver and snuggles closer to my warmth. 'Life aboard the ARK was no walk in the park. Professor Gerald created me to cure all diseases, specifically so that I could help cure the disorder his granddaughter, Maria, had. But, of course, being the Ultimate Lifeform, the military saw the benefit of using me for more combative purposes. I was then forced into training as well as constant experiments.

'Maria was the only thing that made life fun and always gave me something to look forward to. We got into all kinds of trouble playing aboard the ARK. We always got scolded, but our time together was always worth it. She was a little sister to me, and I loved her dearly.' I hold my mate closer at the burning pain that begins to consume me when remembering her sweet smiling face.

'After the training, I was no longer the innocent, curious hedgehog she and the Professor knew. Violence and pain became almost wired into my coding. I learned how to fire every type of firearm imaginable, how to fight ruthlessly in hand-to-hand combat, and, most importantly, how to kill. I tried to keep my new knowledge away from Maria, not wishing for her purity to be tainted by my existence.

'Then they realized just how powerful I really was and began to fear me, the very thing that they created. It was decided that the ARK would be shut down, and anyone who resisted would be eliminated immediately.' I bury my face into his quills as the memory of that day flashes before my eyes. 'I tried so hard, Sonic, to protect her, but she was determined to see me live. Even in death she wished for me to help people, to give them a chance to be happy. She was only fourteen, but she was the noblest person I knew…'

I sniff and feel a tear slide down my cheek slowly; I decide to finally allow myself to rest, for once feeling too emotionally exhausted to remain conscious.

I sure have been putting Sonic through the wringer in this. I hope that was a decent representation of hypothermia ^^'

Thanks so much for the support guys 3 It means a lot!