Lost in Memory - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Shades of Rivalry
The people walking along the streets could only see two blurs, one blue and the other black, rushing head and head by their side, making some hats fly off the heads that were carrying them. The two hedgehogs nimbly dodged every obstacle, both focused on the race and without any intention to lose to the other.
Sonic was euphoric. It had been such a long time since he had had the chance to challenge someone who could actually keep his pace even when he used all his speed. It was a strange but pleasant feeling and it made him wanting to go even faster. He felt like he could run forever, never pausing, not even for a moment, and be happy that way. As soon as they reached the forest again he sped up, shooting at his rival a defiant look. Shadow could be the Ultimate-whatever, but he was the fastest thing alive with no doubt. His body seemed to benefit from the mix of satisfaction and joy that the challenge was giving him and worked better than usual, even after the recent fight against Eggman’s robot. He felt much more motivated. He would never admit it aloud, but it seemed that the black hedgehog was a cure-all for his mood and body.
Shadow, on the other hand, was just focusing on what he was doing, trying to ignore the fact that he was actually having some fun. It was rare to find opponents who could compete against him like the blue hedgehog did. It wasn’t only a fact of being able to match his powers in a fight or his speed in a run. Every time he had found someone worth of his respect as a fighter, he had been forced to destroy them because they were a threat for the universe. For some reason strength seemed to associate with evil most of the times. That was one of the reasons that made is rivalry with Sonic somehow special. He shook his head lightly. What a silly thought. He should be worrying about more important things, like the fact that his energy was starting to run low. The chaos blast had tired him more than he had wanted to admit.
In that moment he saw Sonic speeding up and going past him to throw himself in the woods. Their eyes met, ruby in emerald, for a brief moment and the dark hedgehog knew that his pride would have never forgiven him if he had lost that challenge. He ignored the signals coming from his limbs and forced himself to catch up, sinking his fangs in his lower lip to distract himself from the unpleasant sensation of his body becoming heavier and heavier. He couldn’t give up.
However, as soon as he reached his opponent, he started to notice that something was wrong. The fatigue that had burdened his limbs was starting to disappear and a new power was growing inside him. The odd thing was that he didn’t feel less tired and his conscience kept on fading. He absently noticed that the blue blur had surpassed him again, and instinctively sped up. The feeling became stronger at that and Shadow started to find hard to understand what he was doing. His eyes fell on his body and he noticed that there was a strange dark glow all around him. He was caught by surprise and stumbled a bit, confused. His mind, on the other hand, didn’t show any sort of interest for the phenomenon and he felt his own thoughts trying to focus, against his will, again and only on the race. Why not exploiting that new power after all? It felt like he could do anything. The temptation to just let go was strong.
‘Shadow, stop!’. A voice that sounded like Maria’s one exploded into his mind, awakening him from the trance that had almost caught him. He regained the control of his body and stopped his skating movements. The mysterious energy immediately disappeared, leaving him even more drained. The black creature felt his legs giving out and he fell on the ground rolling for some meters until his back crashed into a tree. He let out a frustrated groan and slowly sat up, leaning on his arms. What the hell had been going on with him just a moment before? He knew that he had already experienced something similar, but he couldn’t remember when.
Sonic saw the scene out of the corner of his eye and stopped as soon as he realised, not without a surprised sound, what had happened. He quickly ran back to where his rival was and found him seated against the tree, arms crossed and eyes closed. “Shadow! What was that?” he asked with a grin. “Don’t tell me you tripped! I can’t believe it! That’s not the kind of mistake that suits the Ultimate…”. He didn’t finish the sentence seeing that the other wasn’t listening to him. He had opened his eyes and his usual frown had deepened. “Hey, is there something wrong? Are you hurt?” he immediately inquired, aware of the silliness of his questions. But he couldn’t help it after seeing Shadow’s serious face. Something was definitely not right.
“I need to see Abel. He owes me some explanation” the latter mumbled pensively, getting up with difficulty. “I knew that there was something he and Molly were keeping from me, but I had no idea that it was so serious. They’d better tell me the truth now.”
“What are you talking about?” the blue hero asked again.
This time Shadow seemed to notice him. “None of your business, Faker” he harshly answered.
“Oh, it is instead! You just fell down before me! And now you can barely walk!” Sonic insisted stubbornly. “I want to know what’s going on since I would have to help you back to the town considering your conditions!”
“I’ve never asked for your help and I don’t need it”. The dark creature slapped away the hand that was offered to him as a support. But then he said: “I’ve just lost energy. The chaos power I used to destroy the Doctor’s machine had drained me more than I had thought. Without my Rings I can’t control the use of energy.”
“So that’s why those things are so important for you! Well, let’s go and get them!”. On the blue hedgehog’s face appeared a teasing smirk. “You don’t want to faint on your rival, do you?”
Shadow gave him a dirty look. “Just wait for me to recover and you’ll regret all your cockiness. I’ve warned you”. He took a careful step forward, leaving the trunk. His legs were working again, which meant he could walk. ‘But not run’ he reminded himself. He couldn’t afford to take the risk. If it hadn’t been for that voice in his head who knew what would have happened. “Make yourself useful and show me the way.”
The blue blur bit back a smart remark and nodded, not trusting his voice. He didn’t want to piss the other creature off even more. No matter how weak he could be at the moment, his rival was still dangerous even in that poor condition. He waited for him to come closer and then started to walk by his side, trying not to stare every time the other let out a tiny but still audible groan, most likely because off his stiff limbs.
Their eyes met only once during the whole way and Shadow immediately looked away. Sonic almost felt bad for him. He was surely feeling frustrated, if not even humiliated, by his conditions. It was clear that keeping the pace of their walking cost him a lot of efforts, but he was too proud to slow down. The blue hero could fully understand him. He would have done the same in that situation. He pondered for a moment on offering his help again, but he decided against it, aware that he would have been rudely rejected. This was Shadow, not one of his friends. Even Knuckles would have accepted to put an arm around his shoulders as a support after grumbling for a while, but not the black hedgehog. He had even the feeling that his counterpart had some kind of dislike for any form of physical contact outside the battlefield.
The tension between them kept growing until the point the hero couldn’t stand it anymore. And, since he was sure that the other had no intention of breaking the silence, he had to do it. “Listen, I was wondering…How long you and the two humans are going to stay here?” he asked, getting ready for a sharp reply.
“I don’t know exactly. It depends on how much it will take us to gather the data we need” Shadow answered, surprisingly calm. “Once it took us a whole week to complete the task. But I think that a couple of days will be enough.”
“Only two days? That’s a pity! I hoped you’d stay longer since you have friends here. I want to race you again!” Sonic commented, gaining another nasty look. “What was that for?”
“I don’t have friends here” the cold answer was.
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, my bad. How do you call us? Your former allies?”
“Something like that. Anyway, even if I wanted, which I don’t, I couldn’t stay here longer. We are working, not on holiday.”
“You companions seemed more in a holiday mood to me, actually.”
“They don’t take this job seriously enough. Besides, Abel has never left his planet before and all this travelling makes him hyperactive. He actually reminds me of someone”. Red orbs focused harder on the blue figure. “And Molly is still young.”
“You know what I think? That you are the one who is always too serious! That’s the real problem” the blue hedgehog retorted. He hid a smirk noticing how ready to defend his companions the other had been, but didn’t comment. Most likely Shadow himself wasn’t completely aware of his protective ways when it came to the two humans. “Try to take it easy for once. We aren’t at war. You don’t have to fight some threat! You have been sent to do a great job that allows you to travel around the universe! Learn to have fun!”
“You don’t understand” Shadow stated quietly, glancing at his hands. “Nobody does.”
“Well, I’m here! Try at least to explain me what I should understand!” Sonic protested. “I don’t even see what’s so wrong with relaxing and not being ice-cold towards everyone for once!”
“It would be a waste of time. You are right, you don’t even see the problem. And, trust me, it’s better if things stay this way”. The dark creature pointed the first buildings that had started to appear. “We have arrived.”
The blue blur was about to open his mouth to insist and to tell him that they weren’t finished when a voice he knew too well screamed in a high tone: “SONIC!”
“Oh no! Amy!” he groaned, looking helpless. “I thought I have succeeded in avoiding her for the whole day!”
“I’d better go looking for Molly and Abel. I’m fine enough to run now” Shadow announced. “I’ll see you later for the Rings.”
“Shadow, wait!” the hero exclaimed, running after him and ignoring the disappointed yells behind his back. “You can’t leave me with her like that! I’m coming with you!”
“Tsk, I thought she was your friend.”
“She is! But I don’t like her when she starts rambling about being my girlfriend!”
The two sped up along the road, looking for the two humans, but they seemed to be nowhere. They had to look around almost all the town before finding them seated in the garden of Tails and Sonic’s house, which was a bit outside the residential area. Molly was enjoying some kind of drink, while Abel and the fox were in a deep conversation, which wasn’t surprising considering the fact that they had the same kind of intellect.
The girl was the first to notice them. “Oh, for the universe! Shadow!” she exclaimed jumping on her feet and throwing herself at him. “We were so worried! Abel succeeded in convincing me that something bad had happened to you!”
Shadow tentatively hugged her back before pushing her away gently. “I’m fine, Molly. Luckily nothing happened” he reassured her. “But you two will have to explain me something as soon as we are alone.”
Abel approached him too, relief written on his face. “I’m glad to hear that!” he said. Then he rubbed the back of his neck. “So you noticed it this time. I’m sorry for keeping it from you, but I wanted to find out its cause before telling you. However, I couldn’t do that either.”
“It’s fine, doctor. But this has to be the last time you keep something like that from me” he stated, calmly but firmly. Then he turned towards the fox boy who had been politely waiting for the three to end their discussion. “Good evening, Tails. I apologise for the intrusion.”
“Don’t worry, I’m used to this kind of things. Besides, your companions are a nice company” the little genius chuckled. “It’s good to see you again, Shadow.”
The black hedgehog nodded in agreement, while Sonic stared at the whole scene with wide eyes. His rival had told him to go away almost without giving him the time to say “hi” and now he was having a polite chat with his best friend. That wasn’t really fair.
“Wait a sec! Why did you treat me like I didn’t exist and now you are so easily talking to Tails instead?!” he complained. “I didn’t know you had preferences! I’m hurt!”
“He is able to carry out a conversation without boasting around, something you can’t do” the Ultimate Life Form pointed out. He couldn’t deny that he quite liked the fox kid, he was smart enough for his tastes and he had shown to have enough courage to stand against him. “That’s it.”
“Always so nice, Shads!”
The other four laughed at the exchange, gaining a disapproving glare from the black creature. Tails smiled seeing his best friend almost pouting at their amusement before joining the laughter. That was an unexpected way to reunite with their former firstly enemy and then ally. He and Sonic had put up a fight every time they had crossed each other’s path and it felt strange seeing them just talking, even if not exactly in a friendly way.
“Why don’t we go inside and have something to eat? It’s almost suppertime and I bet that we are all hungry” he proposed exploiting the light mood. “You three could tell me your story. I want to know how you have survived once again, Shadow! It’s simply unbelievable!”
“Ultimate Life Form here, remember?” the blue blur said jokingly, daring to hang an arm around Shadow’s shoulders and preventing him from saying anything. “He himself is incredible!”
The other pushed him away. “Don’t take these liberties with me, Faker. I’m not your friend” he warned. “Don’t forget it.”
“Ah, Shadow! Why do you have to be so cold?” Abel complained glaring at his assistant in disapproval. “They have just opened up their house for us! Try at least to be a bit grateful! Anyway, we will gladly join you for dinner if it’s not too much trouble, Tails!”
“Don’t worry, it’s fine!” the fox reassured them. “Come on, let’s go inside! You can stay in the living room while I’m cooking.”
“Actually, we wanted to help you. It will be quicker this way!” Molly hurried to say. “And it will also be our way to thank you!”
“Any help is welcomed! Just don’t let Sonic near the cooker. Last time it almost exploded” Tails joked, leading the others inside. “Shadow, I guess you aren’t going to lend us a hand, are you?”
“No, I’m not. But I’ll keep an eye on the blue hedgehog if this is what you are asking for” the dark creature answered.
“Hey, I don’t need a baby-sitter!” the blue hero protested, but he was trying not to laugh. “Maybe we should say that I’ll keep an eye on Shadow!”
“You can watch each other then!” the orange-haired girl stated, pointing the living room. “And, Shadow, please try to be nice. Do it for me?”
The two hedgehogs watched their three companions disappearing inside the kitchen, before heading for the next room. Sonic let himself fall on the sofa with a sigh, while Shadow stood at the threshold, looking around. He had never actually been in a real house. He had seen the ARK cabins, Eggman’s headquarters and spaceship, Molly’s and Abel’s lodgings at the research station. But that was the first time he entered in a building that had the only purpose of hosting somebody. It was nothing special, but it still caught his attention.
“You OK? Don’t you like the place?” the blue hedgehog asked, interrupting his thoughts. “Come on, sit down! You must be still tired.”
“It’s nothing” he mumbled, but he joined him on the couch, sitting with his arms crossed. “I guess I should ask how you have been in these months.”
“But you won’t, will you? Well, I’ll answer anyway” the other grinned, giving him a meaningful glance. “Everything has gone back to normal after we came back here. Eggster has gone back to his plans to build his empire, as you have seen, and Chris has been sent back to his world. I miss the kid, he was a very good friend”. His last sentence gained him a nod of agreement from his rival, but he decided not to comment on it. If he wanted to convince him to talk he had to try not to tease him too much. “As for me, I’m back to my old life. Running, spending time outside, enjoying the nature, fighting huge robots and helping my friends when they need me. That’s all”. He glanced at his speaker. “Are you going to snap and then seal your lips if I ask you the same question?”
Shadow glared at him. “Molly has told me to be nice and I don’t want to disappoint her. After the battle I spent two months in a coma and I woke up with no memory at all. I didn’t even know my name. Abel helped me to remember, which led to three months of migraines and nightmares. After that, I just spent my time working with him at his many experiments and wandering around the planet”. He lifted his pendant. “I have no idea of where the chaos emeralds are, but Abel managed to make this for me. Its energy is similar to theirs and allows me to use chaos control. That’s all.”
“Nothing is ever easy for you, is it? And, wow, you have actually said more than two sentences without insulting me!” Sonic joked, faking shock. “That’s a start! I was just wondering what that thing around your neck was! Oh, speaking about your things, I still have the Inhibitor Rings!”. He got up. “Come on, follow me. They are upstairs in my room!”
“Why do I have to come? Isn’t it better if you just go and get them?” the black hedgehog pointed out. He wasn’t comfortable with going around other people’s bedrooms. He considered them really private places, and maybe that was why he didn’t have one. He didn’t want to risk that somebody could get inside. At the ARK he used to share a cabin with Maria and he was fine with that, but he hadn’t entered any other bedroom without a good reason since then, not even the ones of his two new friends. In theory he shared the lodging with Molly, but he was never there. He preferred staying in the lab and sleeping on the roof. So why should he go to his rival’s room?
“Come on, don’t be lazy, Shads!” the blue blur pressed, standing in front of him. “I’ll show you the rest of the house too. I guess you and the others will be staying the night. And I noticed you have become quite fascinated with the place…”. He let his voice trail off on the last sentence and kept watching him expectantly.
He lifted his eyes. So the idiot had grasped his interest. Great. “Ok, Faker, you won. I’m coming with you” he gave up and got on his feet in turn. “Let’s make this quick. And I’ve already told you to stop using that nickname.”
“As you wish! But I wouldn’t count on me stopping if I were you!” Sonic sang, gaining a nasty look and leading him outside the living room. “Well, on this floor we have only the kitchen, the sitting room and Tails’s lab. Upstairs there are the bedrooms and the bathroom. Easy, isn’t it?”
They reached the first floor. Four doors opened on the corridor. Two of them had a letter carved in their wooden surface, clearly their owners’ initials. The hero went straight to his own and entered, leaving the door opened for Shadow, who peeked inside without crossing the doorstep. It was quite bare, with only a few pieces of furniture, a couple of posters on the walls and a large window. Somehow it fitted his blue counterpart, even if he would have expected some spectacular detail that could match the blue one’s tendency to show off. The said hedgehog had grabbed the casket he kept on his nightstand and was now staring at him again. He blinked in surprised, realising that all that gazing was making him uneasy, but quickly hid his discomfort. He should have been used to it, most people couldn’t tear their eyes away from him when he walked along the streets.
“Is it a new habit?” Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow, with a hint of sarcasm.
“Excuse me?” he inquired, not grasping the meaning of his words.
“Standing on thresholds. It’s the second time you do it” the other explained. “It’s a bedroom, Shadow, it has no intention of eating you!”
He frowned deeply, but took a step inside, pausing for a moment before approaching his rival. “Give me those Rings and let’s end it.”
“You are even weirder than I thought” the blue hedgehog chuckled, taking the objects out of the box. “Here you are!”
The black one took Rings and put them around his wrists, watching them for a moment. He immediately felt better. Now he was sure that he would no longer risk losing the control of his chaos powers. “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked then, turning his attention back to his speaker. “What I have done now?”
“I didn’t mean it as a bad thing! Just…You act quite differently when we are on the battlefield. You never hesitate, almost never explain…You just go and fight. That isn’t exactly how a normal person would behave, even when totally focused on his task. And that’s weird, but I’ve gotten used to it” the latter explained rubbing his ear, a little uncomfortable. He didn’t like the serious look that the other was giving him. “But now that we are in a completely different situation you are even a bit…like a fish out of water. You are as quiet as usual, but you are too careful than necessary and very suspicious about everything. You don’t seem to be at your ease at all. And it is weirder because this is one of the most normal possible situations. It’s daily life. Now, I know you don’t have great social skills, but I never thought you’d be so hopeless.”
“Hopeless, you say?”. Shadow’s tone was neutral, but in his eyes there was a spark of what could be interest. “This is the first time that somebody calls me that way.”
Sonic sat on his bed, leaning on his elbows. “There’s always a first time!” he stated solemnly, but the grin never left his face. He was quite satisfied with the reactions he had got from his rival. The dark creature was slowly getting more relaxed and that pleased him.
“And today is a day for firsts, it seems…” the Ultimate Life Form whispered to himself.
“Come again?” the hero asked, perplexed. Then he patted the space next to him. “And would you sit down by your own? Or do I have to tell you everything you have to do? You are acting like you’ve never been at someone’s place!”
“That’s because I've never have”. The black hedgehog didn’t move from his spot near the nightstand. He kept a blank expression when the blue one stared back at him, eyes wide with astonishment. “I’m not exactly someone whom a sane person would invite at his or her house, don’t you think?”
“Uh, you are right. So this is what you meant…”. The hero tried to sound not taken aback by the news, but inside he was completely astonished. He couldn’t imagine Shadow having some sort of social life, but he still found incredible what he had just heard. Then again, it hit him that the dark one hadn’t even had the chance to do that kind of things, even if he had wanted it. He’d grown up in a space colony as the product of a lab, and he had spent unconscious, recovering from his battles, the time he hadn’t been fighting. Considering that it wasn’t such a big surprise the fact that he had no idea of how to behave. He had never had a normal daily life. And his experience with Molly and Abel didn’t count since once again he had locked himself in some kind of laboratory, that, he was sure, reminded him of the ARK. Shadow had tried, consciously or unconsciously, to rebuild the only kind of peaceful life he knew. No wonder that he had associated himself once again only with a girl and a scientist. He could almost see the chains made of old memories and hard times that tied the Ultimate Life Form to the same, unbreakable schemes and manners. And he couldn’t stand it, being the free spirit he was. He hated every kind of imposed limits and his rival was literally trapped by the worst ones. He had to do something.
A resolute expression appeared on his face and he leant out to grab the dark creature’s arm. The latter was taken by surprised and didn’t have the time to react as Sonic pulled him down towards the bed, forcing him to sit down by his side.
“It wasn’t that hard, was it?” the hero laughed, seeing the other’s unsettled expression. “Relax! You aren’t doing anything wrong! This is how two friends…or rivals taking a break from their contrasts, if you prefer…hang out together!”. He cracked a hopeful and cheerful grin, hoping that Shadow wouldn’t just decide to tear his head off without warning.
The other hedgehog simply stared at him with his usual frown, not showing any other emotion and making him wonder if he hadn’t just ruined everything with his claims to fix a problem that didn’t concern him so far. He forced himself to hold that cold gaze and looked directly in the red globes that at the moment were even more unfathomable than usual. Those eyes had always made shivers run down his spine, since the first time he had seen them, back in the other dimension. There was a whole dark universe beneath them, a world that nobody would never completely understand. Yet, its mystery was almost irresistible.
Shadow kept quiet, abandoning his previous thoughts to focus on the gazes competitions. He had to admit that the blue blur had surprised him, proving himself to be much smarter than he had thought. He had probably grasped the main cause of his uneasiness and was trying, in his personal, exuberant way, to help him to get more comfortable. He refrained himself to roll his eyes in annoyance at that, but deep down he felt a hint of gratitude. He didn’t quite get how the cocky hedgehog could still treat him so friendly after he had tried to kill him and his precious friends. That was something linked to the concepts of trust and companionship that he would probably never understand. But he still felt like he had to do something in exchange. That’s what Maria had taught him.
‘Remember, Shadow, in your life you will meet a lot of different people, especially once we will go to the Earth. Some of them will be not so nice or even nasty with you, as some of the scientists here at the colony are. But others will show you the most precious things you’ll ever find in your life: friendship and love. A deep bond, like the one you and I share. Hold on to them, Shadow. Because they are the only ones who can give a real meaning to your existence.’
He had stared at her with confusion, unable to comprehend what she was saying. She had laughed and ruffled his quills, stating that one day he would understand what she meant and he would thank her. The irony was that he had grasped it right in the moment when she had given up her life to save him. The promise he had made to her had become the sense of his existence and the symbol of their bond. He instinctively lowered is eyes at the memory, to conceal the sorrow that slowly filled them. That had been so unfair. She was joyful, lively, good and brave, one of the most beautiful incarnations of life in his eyes. She knew how to live at her full, even if she had grown up among metal walls as well. Yet, she was fragile, as every existence was. And she had died, leaving behind a creature who knew almost nothing about the meaning of living. That was so wrong.
“Uh, Shadow?” Sonic called, not knowing how to interpret that sudden change of attitude.
The black hedgehog came immediately back to the present, and put on a blank expression. “I still have some problems with my memories” he stated coldly. “Forget about it.”
The hero didn’t seem convinced at all and dared to ask: “You were thinking about her, weren’t you?”. He didn’t need to say her name.
Shadow for a moment thought to growl him to mind his own business, but Maria’s words came into his mind once again. “Yes” he simply admitted. Then he let out a brief hollow laugh. “She would have wanted me to befriend you. And I’m quite sure she would have liked you a lot.”
The blue blur’s smile took a hint of sadness. “And I would have been more than glad to meet her” he said quietly. “After all she is the only one who seems to have some good influence on you! She must have been a great girl.”
The Ultimate Life Form nodded. It felt odd talking to Sonic about something so personal. He had opened up like that only with Molly, and only a few times. But he couldn’t stop his words. “She wasn’t a normal human, she was special. She taught me several things, even if I still don’t understand most of them. But I owe her everything, and I would have even if she hadn’t given up her life for me”. He hesitated for a second, but the rare serious look on his rival’s face pushed him to go on. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m worth her sacrifice.”
Sonic titled his head slightly. He wasn’t expecting such a heart-to-heart talk from his counterpart, and he was well aware that if he spoke the wrong words he would never have another chance to start a more friendly relationship with him. He decided for straightforwardness. It was always the right choice for him. “You may not care about what I think, but, if you ask me, I say she had done a great work. You’re not the best kind of person in the universe and a good part of your personality is actually awful”. He allowed himself a chuckle at that. “But they are the traits that make you Shadow the Hedgehog, the cold-hearted bastard that has saved us all more than once and the faker that deep inside is not as bad as he wants to appear. She loved you for what you are and I can see why she did. If you only smiled more, we could say that you are more than worth her choice. The universe, which owes you its existence, would surely agree with me.”
Shadow stared at him, openly surprised by the speech. Then the corners of his mouth curved up slightly. “I’m impressed by your use of rhetoric. I didn’t know you could be that good, Sonic”. He stood up. “We’d better go back downstairs, I can hear Molly calling for us. I don’t want her to think that I’ve killed you and run away.”
The hero’s smile grew wider as he heard his name coming out from the other’s lips. That was the dark creature’s way to make him know he had appreciated his efforts. A direct “thank you” wouldn’t have been in Shadow’s style and besides for him those sarcastic but sincere words meant more than any other sign of gratitude. “I have a lot of hidden qualities!” he playfully boasted getting up in turn. “You’d never imagine!”
The dark hedgehog snorted quietly but threw him an amused glance as they left the room. His visit on Mobius was taking an odd turn, but it also offered some interesting sides. Maybe they could stop there for a while, considering that Molly and Abel were getting very much along with his former allies. He shot another brief look to his rival. Yes, they certainly should.