I Am...All of Me

Black Shadow (Part 3)

Cover image by Cloecat12 on Quotev. Excellent job!

Change

     The next morning Shadow woke long before the others. Well, he hadn't actually slept much at all, not with his elongated tail continuously trying to curl around him on its own. He lowered his feet to the floor but instantly jerked them back up as they touched the cold surface. After a few more seconds, he set them back on the ground and stood carefully. His tail added a lot of extra weight, which made finding his balance a difficult task at first. However, he found that he could curl it inward just a small bit, so that it didn't drag on the floor. It felt strange, being able to control and use a part of him he typically ignored.

    Once he had regained his footing and was able to walk easily, he headed downstairs to the living room/ kitchen. Though he didn't normally have to eat, he felt voraciously hungry, and he settled himself on the new task of finding breakfast. He went over and dug through the fridge, trying to find anything he considered edible. His black and red tail swished back and forth absently, but it would send a shiver up his spine whenever it grazed the floor. This fact startled him at first, since it was a very new sensation, but he soon grew used to it and continued hunting for food. His ruby eyes landed on an unopened package of raw steak, and a strange, overwhelming desire for fresh meat triggered his system. His tongue slid past his lips as he slowly reached for the meat.

     "Hey, Shads! You're up early," Shadow's head collided with the roof of the fridge as Sonic's chipper voice snapped him out of the trance. He growled and rubbed his head as he glared at the blue hedgehog, who was grinning at him like an idiot.

          "What do you want, faker?"

    "Hey, chill out, faker. I came here lookin' for breakfast, same as you," he answered with his hands raised in a gesture of peace. The dark hedgehog grumbled and rolled his eyes, the hunger momentarily abated by the shock. He stalked away from the kitchen and decided to find the fox who hopefully had some answers. Why was this happening to him? Why now? Will he ever get back to normal? What if he was stuck like this permanently?

      He followed the sound of loud machinery into a wide, spacious workshop. There he found Tails busily melding something together with his blowtorch. From what he could tell, it looked like some kind of capsule. The kid genius looked up to see him and set his tools down.

            "Hi, Shadow. Get any sleep?"

    He narrowed his eyes in reply, making the kitsune shrink back sheepishly. The answer was obvious.

    "I guess that's a 'no.' So what can I do for you?"

   "I need answers," he answered bluntly, "something you said you might have."

    Tails rubbed the back of his head out of habit, as he replied, "Well, I'm not totally sure, but I think if we put our heads together we can figure it out. Oh! That reminds me! Come here. I do have something to show you."

    He waved the hybrid over to his work station, where a large computer was broadcasting readings of some kind along with a swirling DNA strand.

   "Yesterday, before your..uh..transformation happened, I took a blood sample to see if everything was all right. And well, I found something you might want to look at."

    Tails typed something on to his computer, and the screen zoomed in on the DNA strand. It was mostly green, but tiny black spots could be seen floating around with some even becoming attached to the stem. Shadow's elongated tail swished absently as he watched.

                       "What are those dots?"

    "That's a good question, but first, can I take another sample? I can use it to compare to this one."