Chapter Text
Three weeks passed without any activity from the Robotniks. Stone kept Shadow informed during their near-daily meetups at The Mean Bean; wherein Stone would wallow over Ivo not taking his calls, then update him on the lack of updates. In the mean time, Stone supplied Shadow with imported coffee beans and taught him motorcycle maintenance.
He’d asked Stone, once, what Ivo had done to earn Stone’s loyalty. From Sonic’s and Tom’s description of him, he didn’t seem worthy of it.
“There’s no one thing I can point to and say ‘that’s when I fell for him.’ I’ve known him a long, long time, Shadow. It’s a thousand little things over a whole lot of years. I don’t expect anyone else to understand. No one knows him like I do,” he explained while teaching Shadow how to change the oil on his MTT Turbine Street Fighter.
He was right, Shadow didn’t understand. His own feelings for Sonic were planted the day they met, then were cultivated like a garden until they were in full bloom. He already loved him, and it was apparent by now he’d keep loving him more with each passing day. Should they be lucky enough to have years together, Shadow was confident Sonic would continue to be as lovable as the day they met.
Shadow’s mornings were a welcome reprieve from the full house of humans and aliens. He liked his home and the people in it, but sometimes they gave him a headache. Stone let him sit in the back of the coffee shop and quietly read or listen to music, something difficult to do at the Wachowski home. Tails was always building something, Sonic was always talking, Knuckles was always training. It got to be too much, sometimes.
“He’s an introvert, Sonic, he needs space to rest and recharge from being around people,” Shadow once caught Tom explaining when he returned home in the afternoon. “It doesn’t mean he doesn’t like us.”
The only new information Stone found was that GUN secured the Eclipse Cannon with a veritable army of soldiers surrounding the Thames. Shadow doubted, when the time came for Gerald to make his move, they would be able to stop him.
In the mean time, Shadow rested. He could finally close his eyes without seeing Maria die and feeling the chill of stasis seep into his bones. Instead, he slept with a warm blanket wrapped around him, music in his ears from his new iPod, and Sonic’s scent on his collarbone. He didn’t worry about people touching him when he was vulnerable, either. He was safe here.
“You listen to the new album Maddie downloaded for you?” Sonic asked while nuzzling into Shadow’s neck. His arms were wrapped around Shadow, holding him as close as they could be.
“Mhmmm,” Shadow answered, a little dreamily. He held Sonic in return, though his hold was a little looser. He felt like he was drifting away and could trust Sonic to keep him grounded. “Half of it. I fell asleep.”
“Good. Great!” Sonic cheered. He kissed Shadow’s cheek then aggressively nuzzled it like he was trying to imprint the affectionate gesture into Shadow’s skin. Shadow hoped it worked. “Listen to the second half tonight. None of us like her bubblegum pop stuff, so if you tell her you dig it, you’ll make her day.”
“I like it,” Shadow affirmed. “I’ll tell her.”
He and Sonic were on the cusp of… something. Shadow didn’t know what, but it felt big. It felt important. It felt good.
With rest and recovery, Shadow’s injuries healed fully. His fur was patchy on his arms where he’d pulled his skin off. It still itched, sometimes, though less often. His improved condition meant he could fulfill a promise made when he’d first been brought into Sonic’s care.
“Are you prepared to celebrate my victory, Shadow the more impressive hedgehog?” Knuckles boasted. Shadow smirked at Sonic’s frustrated groan. He’d largely given up on trying to correct Knuckles when he said that, though he still made his displeasure known.
“No,” Shadow replied bluntly. Knuckles laughed and shifted to a ready stance, fists up and leaning forward slightly. Shadow braced his hands on the ground and moved his left foot back in preparation to run. A glance to the gallery revealed Sonic running his eyes along the lines of Shadow’s body. Sonic caught him looking and shamelessly winked. Shadow shivered a little, then refocused.
“You can do it, Knuckles!” Tails cheered, seated in a lawn chair and enjoying a cool glass of lemonade.
Sonic, sitting next to him with a Gatorade and a chili dog, called, “Kick his butt, Shads!”
Neither of them really wanted to choose sides, so they’d drawn Knuckles’ and Shadow’s names out of a hat to select who they’d cheer for.
“Try not to wreck the fence, kids!” Maddie called, standing on the back porch and looking concerned. Ozzy sat at her feet, chewing a bone and happy to be included. “We just fixed it and I’m running out of lies to tell our insurance!”
“Keep it cool, we don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Tom advised. He looked significantly more excited about this than his wife. “Ready?”
“Ready!”
“Ready.”
“Fight!”
Shadow leapt forward, sped up by a jet of energy from his shoes. Knuckles blocked, then quickly retaliated by attempting to grab Shadow’s arm. Shadow disappeared and reappeared in his blind spot. That scored him a hard kick to Knuckles’ ribs. He tanked the hit and returned with a backhand into Shadow’s chest.
He let out a surprised grunt and was sent back a few feet. “Heh, actually got a hit on me,” he praised after recovering. “Guess I won’t juggle you through the air this time.”
“I do not make the same error twice,” Knuckles asserted. He pounded his chest and said, “You have lost the element of surprise. I know what to expect from my opponent.”
“Do you?”
Shadow vanished again and Knuckles, expecting him to appear in his blind spot, turned around only to be struck hard from above. The shoe that landed on his shoulder flared with energy and sent Shadow into the air and Knuckles into the dirt. Shadow didn’t give him time to get back on his feet. He turned over in the air and launched himself down into Knuckles’ back.
Knuckles turned over fast enough to unbalance Shadow, even if only briefly. He grabbed Shadow’s arm and slammed him into the ground. Dirt and grass flew up in an explosion around him from the force of it. Knuckles let go quickly, avoiding getting teleported into the air, and backed off with his fists raised, ready for the next attack.
“You’ve got him on the ropes, Knuckles!” Tails encouraged gleefully. “Does he?” he then inconspicuously whispered in an aside to Sonic.
“Definitely not,” Sonic answered. “Finish him off, Shads!”
“Hmph,” was all Shadow said before unleashing a flurry of rapid warps and blows. He appeared and disappeared a dozen times over, striking Knuckles with half of them, the other half meant to disorient him. Knuckles blocked hits that never happened, then was left vulnerable when the next teleport brought an attack.
Knuckles had impressive reaction time and he hit hard, but was predictable. Shadow’s initial attacks tested his defenses and confirmed as much. To his credit, Knuckles learned from their previous encounter. He hadn’t learned enough.
Ultimately, Knuckles fell to one knee. Shadow had little mercy for his opponent and finished his flurry with a spindash that sent Knuckles flying towards the fence.
“Shadow!” Maddie chided. “Don’t you dare!”
Shadow caught Knuckles before he made contact with the wood and teleported them both harmlessly to the middle of the yard. Knuckles sprawled out on the ground and groaned. Maddie heaved a relieved sigh and Tom clapped.
“You continue to impress, hedgehog,” Knuckles conceded. Shadow offered a hand, which Knuckles took and was pulled up. He rolled the shoulder Shadow struck. “I sense you were holding back.”
“I don’t mean to disrespect you, echidna warrior, but if I used my full strength, I would kill you,” Shadow explained, frowning darkly. The GUN soldiers he trained against in the lab were far more fragile than Knuckles, so he was used to feeling bones breaking under his fists. He didn’t want to do the same to the echidna. To his knowledge, he’d never killed anyone even by accident because he’d always been mostly drained of his chaos energy. With nearly all of it back, he was far more dangerous.
“I understand. I know the power of chaos. In this fight, your technique was enough to defeat me in combat, not your raw strength. Power cannot be taught. Technique can. I would be honored if you would continue to spar with me so we may both grow stronger.”
Shadow shook hands with Knuckles, looking forward to their next match.
Sonic whooped and dashed over to Shadow, opening his arms and making grabby hands at him. Shadow nodded and Sonic swept him up in a tight embrace, purring happily. Shadow made his deep, throaty clicking noises between his own purrs. They were pressed so tightly against each other, Sonic could feel the vibrations from his chest.
Maddie checked on Knuckles, who was grumbling about conceding the title of Family Champion to Shadow. Maddie assured him he'd have a chance to take it back, and that improved his mood immediately.
“You were amazing, Shadow!” Tails cheered. “You teleported so fast I couldn’t keep track of you!”
“Yes, you could,” Shadow corrected from over Sonic’s shoulder. “Don’t be reductive towards your own capabilities. Be proud of them.”
Sonic grinned as Tails spluttered and blushed. He squeezed Shadow before letting him go. Shadow didn’t get very far from him, hovering in his space as if reluctant to part. Sonic knew the feeling. In his arms was the best place for Shadow to be.
He took note of, not for the first time, how good Shadow looked. His injuries were healed, his fur was glossy, his eyes were bright. Good health looked great on him. He used to hunch in on himself to look smaller and draw less attention. Since his confrontation with Gerald, he stood up straighter and spoke his mind more often. He was sure of himself, steadier on his feet.
He was clearer about his boundaries, too. He’d called a family meeting and explained, in less detail than he had with Sonic, what GUN did to him. Partially to inform Tom of why his call to turn themselves over to GUN had been a bad one and partially so everyone could understand his needs better.
"GUN has government oversight now. They probably can't get away with experiments like that anymore," Tom had reassured Shadow.
"I plan to search their facilities anyway, when Gerald is no longer a threat," Shadow promised in turn.
Shadow still struggled; he had trouble sleeping some nights and had so many triggers for his panic attacks they were difficult to keep track of. The family did their best to be careful, but even Shadow didn’t always know why something sent him spiraling.
There was the obvious, like the time he’d glanced a surgery on a medical drama Tails was watching and he’d vomited for an hour. And there was the less obvious, like hearing a sportscaster on the car radio leading to hyperventilating on the side of the road. Shadow couldn’t explain that one and he worried there were things that scarred him and he couldn’t fully remember.
Sonic worried about him, wondered what it was like to be so afraid of his own mind. However, he did know one thing – Shadow would always find safety and comfort in Sonic’s arms.
“Hedgehogs, fox, there is a matter we must discuss,” Knuckles interrupted Sonic’s staring at Shadow with a grim tone.
“Right now?” Sonic grumbled. Shadow gave him a tiny, apologetic smile. He was doing that more often too. Smiling. It was wonderful.
“Now.”
Tails finished off the last of his lemonade and left his glass, and Sonic’s, on the porch steps to be brought in later. Tom and Maddie had withdrawn into the house, leaving their kids to enjoy the sunshine. “What’s going on?” he asked, flying over to their huddle.
“I have sought the counsel of the warrior Wade Whipple on the matter of the Master Emerald. We have come to a decision,” Knuckles explained. “I believe we must revise our oath.”
“Oath?” Shadow interjected.
“We promised not to use the Master Emerald again ‘cause it’s too powerful,” Sonic piped up. “...and apparently Knux left the almighty rock with Wade. That’s… a choice.”
Shadow had encountered Wade Whipple a few times, he was a regular at The Mean Bean. He was kind, always greeting Shadow with a welcoming smile, though he didn’t give an impression of competence, in full honesty. Shadow wondered if Knuckles’ judgment was sound.
“The threat of the Eclipse Cannon is too great to not reconsider this matter. The Earth is at risk. I propose we swear to only use the Master Emerald when all of us agree it is necessary.”
“That makes sense,” Tails conceded. “If Knuckles says this is what we should do, then I agree.”
“This is the emerald Tom said turned Sonic ‘golden god mode?’” Shadow asked.
“Yeah, it’s kind of amazing. I summoned a chili dog from a bolt of lightning!”
“You also defeated a gigantic robot that almost stepped on Green Hills,” Tails added. “That seems more relevant.”
“That too!”
“And didn’t you say you were unsure what this Master Emerald would do to my chaos energy?” Shadow attempted to get the conversation back on track.
“I did.” Tails nodded. “It could be dangerous for you, Shadow. Or it might not be? It’s not like there’s any published scientific journals I can study about this. The only authorities on chaos energy are Knuckles and GUN.”
And they wouldn't be asking GUN for advice.
“As an authority on chaos energy,” Knuckles proudly announced, “I have witnessed Shadow’s impressive control over chaos. I believe he will be able to wield the Master Emerald’s power.”
Shadow had some doubts about that. They’d only seen a fraction of his power, and when the full might of it was brought to bear, it was more than Shadow could handle. Even more chaos energy might kill him. However, if he said that, Sonic would never let him make the attempt and he would fight the Eclipse Cannon alone. Shadow couldn’t allow that, so he kept quiet.
“Then we agree it will become necessary should the Eclipse Cannon launch?” Shadow said instead.
“That seems likely,” Tails agreed.
“Sure, we go golden and punch a space cannon into oblivion then come home in time for dinner!”
Two days after swearing their new oath, Stone appeared at their door to inform them of an army of badniks taking out the GUN soldiers guarding the Eclipse Cannon. To compound their problems, as the Eclipse Cannon took flight, the badniks remained in London and were wreaking havoc to keep GUN distracted.
Tom and Maddie turned on the news to confirm Stone’s story. Every channel reported the same thing – London was being torn apart while the cannon lifted out of the river and vanished into the sky.
“Here’s the plan, gang,” Sonic announced to his circle of teammates. “Knuckles and Tails will go to London. Either Tails finds a way to shut those badniks down or Knuckles punches them all into electronic dust. Shadow and I will take the Master Emerald and go golden god mode and stop the Eclipse Cannon. Sound good?”
“Sounds good to me,” Tails assented.
Knuckles grunted and hammered his fists together. “I will defeat the robotic menace before the fox, I swear this as an echidna warrior!”
“It’s not a competition…” Tails hopelessly admonished.
Shadow only nodded. Sonic nodded back, more excited than he should be for a fight with the Earth on the line. He couldn’t help it, though. He’d be fighting side-by-side with Shadow, sharing the incredible power of the emerald with him. He wasn’t worried in the slightest despite the high stakes. Defeating Eggman with the emerald had been a breeze. With Shadow, there was even less to fear.
“Be safe, kids,” Maddie warned before a round of hugs for all of them. Even Shadow allowed a brief embrace from Maddie and Tom.
“We believe in you, boys. Go kick some robot butt,” Tom encouraged.
“Shadow…” Stone began. Shadow held up a hand.
“I remember,” he promised. “I’ll do what I can.”
They stepped outside to the backyard. Knuckles followed after them, having needed a moment to retrieve the Master Emerald. He handed the precious gem to Shadow and said,
“Be responsible with its power, my friend. Do not overestimate yourself, and let it go when your battle is done.”
After nodded solemnly, Shadow and Knuckles each tossed a ring into the air, one opening up to London and the other to the surface of the moon. Sonic threw Shadow a questioning glance.
Shadow shrugged. “We should go somewhere remote. We need to follow the cannon into space, anyway.”
“I don’t think we need to go that remote, but sure, this works,” Sonic laughed. With a final round of fist bumps, the two teams parted ways.
Sonic stepped onto the surface of the moon, taken aback only briefly by the shift in gravity. The cosmos expanded out on all side, vast and impossible to comprehend. He gasped, gazing at the unbelievable beauty of the blue marble before him, framed by an abyss dotted with stars. The sun peaked out from behind it, illuminating his home planet with shining splendor. Shadow stepped through behind him, and he too took a moment to take in the view.
In the distance, the Eclipse Cannon loomed, inert and pointed at the Earth’s surface.
They’d save their home, Sonic was sure of it. There were billions of people down there counting on them.
“How do we do this?” Shadow asked, holding the emerald out to Sonic.
“Um, it just kinda happens. I was knocked out the last time I did this.”
“We’re betting the safety of our planet on something you did while unconscious?” Shadow growled and Sonic shouldn’t find his anger so attractive when it was directed at him.
“I can’t explain it, man. It just happens. So… let it happen.”
Sonic put a hand over the emerald and felt its energy swirling. He reached out to it in a way he couldn’t put into words, feeling it with his mind more than his body. Something connected, snapping into place like it had before, only this time things were different. There was a second presence stirring. Shadow’s. Sonic reached past the Emerald to tentatively stroke the corners of Shadow’s mind. Shadow sighed and let him in easily.
Then, suddenly, the world exploded into light. One Master Emerald became seven stones and they glowed around the two of them, spinning and spinning then disappearing. Only they hadn’t vanished, they’d been absorbed by the pair channeling them. A pillar of light fired into the sky, so bright he was sure it could be seen by his parents down on Earth.
Power surged in Sonic’s veins, his body glowed, his mind expanded out into the depths of space. He felt lightning crackle the air over Tokyo, he felt the desert heat of a distant planet, he felt a thousand supernovas exploding across the universe. This power was greater than it had been before. He and Shadow were two halves of a whole that made the whole greater for having them as a part of it. A mathematical impossibility made possible through raw chaos.
They floated away from the surface of the moon, unleashed by all bounds of gravity or reason or mortality. They hovered in open space, feeling everything and feeling each other.
Sonic felt Shadow. He felt like so much more than all of the rest. The universe didn't dare compare itself to Shadow's glory. Sonic opened his eyes and saw him. He gazed at him in wonder. Saw Shadow look at him the same way. He wasn’t aureate like Sonic was. He was lighter, brighter, more platinum than gold. He was marvelous.
The thought echoed strangely, like he’d yelled it into a cave and an illusory voice shouted it back. Only it wasn’t his own voice, it was Shadow’s. Shadow thought the same thing Sonic did, thought Sonic a marvel, and Sonic heard it like he heard his own voice in his head.
Shadow’s emotions began to seep into Sonic’s skin and glide over his brain like a refreshing, cool tide. He felt the same happening to Shadow. He felt the shared passion that had gone unspoken for too long. That stirred the air every time they looked at each other. That waited for them to turn it from thought into reality.
“Shadow…” Sonic gasped, curling his fingers into the spaces between Shadow’s.
His one and only, his first and his last.
“I know,” Shadow replied so softly. “Me too.”
Sonic knew. He knew exactly how Shadow felt, when he began to feel this way, and how it grew into a shining star within him. He loved Sonic as much as Sonic loved him, thought him inspiring and strong. He believed in good things because Sonic made him believe.
In the same breath, Shadow came to know Sonic’s adorations in turn. He knew, though Shadow thought of his body as a decayed ruin having been plundered and picked at until only dust and bone remained, Sonic found him beautiful. The invisible scars weren’t ruinous, they were marks of a life lived, a struggle conquered.
What a privilege it was to know he was loved as powerfully as he loved, to know Shadow would never doubt his feelings for him.
Neither of them moved first. They came together as naturally as a gentle tide washing over white sand beaches. Like two forces of nature meeting as they were always meant to.
They kissed for an eternity within seconds, overwhelmed by each other and gasping at the feeling. They tumbled through space, falling and floating and holding tight to each other. They were kissing and being kissed and the sensation echoed through both of them, back and forth until they couldn’t tell where they ended and the other began.
“We have to…” Shadow said between kisses, “stop the cannon.”
“One more,” Sonic requested and kissed Shadow one dozen more times.
“Sonic, please,” Shadow begged. Sonic wished he was begging for more and not for them to stop. Still, even as he pleaded, he was pressing more kisses to Sonic’s neck.
“Okay, okay,” he acquiesced unhappily. He’d kiss Shadow more, and soon, once this was done. “Let’s kick that ugly thing out of the sky.”
Hand in hand and giddily laughing, they flew towards the Eclipse Cannon. The Robotniks must have seen them approaching, because a flood of armed robots were released from the machine. With a cocky grin on Sonic’s gorgeous, glowing face and a smirk on Shadow’s, they launched into an all-out war.
They danced through space in a destructive duet, twisting and spinning their way through the robots like they were made of paper. They laughed and kicked and reached for each other to twirl around with hands intertwined and kissed and kissed again, then spun away to continue the dance.
Shadow’s naturally red chaos energy mingled with his platinum glow, turning the light show following him a glittering pink. He was a nebula of light and stars all his own and Sonic wanted to take him in and think of nothing else. Unfortunately, the robots trying to kill him didn’t allow that. He still enjoyed the joyous smiles on Shadow’s face every time they paused their fight to embrace one another.
They fought through the robots to the Eclipse Cannon, leaving nothing but scraps behind them. Sonic took Shadow’s hand and they warped inside.
When Shadow and Sonic, hand-in-hand, appeared within the Eclipse Cannon’s control room, relations had apparently broken down between Gerald and his grandson. They were fighting, blows enhanced by the same machinery Gerald had with him on their previous encounter. Sonic caught one of Gerald’s attempted attacks and pushed him back across the room, destroying the nanomachines with a playful flick of his finger. Shadow grabbed Ivo and disarmed him as well.
“Shadow!” Gerald tried to bellow.
“You don’t talk to him,” Sonic roared back, shaking Gerald hard, voice vibrating the air. The pure power on display made Shadow quiver. He wanted all that intensity focused on him, looking at him, touching him, loving only him -
Ivo gave him a disturbed look. “Whatever this is, do it further away from me.”
Shadow got a hold of himself, ignored Ivo and said dismissively to Gerald, “I have nothing else to say to you.” He then addressed Sonic, “I have a promise to fulfill. Can you keep an eye on him?”
“Do what you gotta do, babe.” He held Gerald aloft with one hand gripping the old man’s coat collar. “I got this.”
Just before Shadow disappeared, Sonic pulled Gerald up in front of his face and asked, “Okay, Robuttnik senior. Where’s the off switch on this thing?”
He and Ivo materialized in Green Hills’ small holding cell. The distance between this place and the Eclipse Cannon was much, much further than Shadow should have been able to travel. The Master Emerald made it as easy as blinking. He understood Knuckles’ warnings about this power, now. It would be easy to become addicted to wishing for things and having it happen with so little effort.
Power had never done Shadow any favors, however. It made him a target. It made him a victim. He didn’t want or need to keep the Master Emerald and would let it go, as Knuckles instructed, when this battle was done.
Wade was at his desk snacking on a bagel when a platinum-pink hedgehog and a wanted criminal materialized behind bars. Shadow warped outside of the jail, leaving Ivo to confusedly bang against the bars and demand answers.
“Oh, hi Shadow. Eggman,” Wade greeted merrily once he dragged himself off the floor and readjusted his toppled chair. “How’s the space battle going?"
“Tell Tom he’s here,” Shadow instructed, pointing at Ivo. He had no time for pleasantries. “Do not tell Stone.”
Shadow liked Stone, enjoyed the time they spent together in his coffee shop or garage, but he didn’t trust him to not attempt to break Ivo out and flee with him. Stone would know later, after the battle when Ivo's imprisonment was assured. Shadow kept his promise to save the doctor but he had no illusions about who he was. He’d tried to kill Sonic and his family. He couldn’t be let free.
“Stone is hanging about in this dingy little town?” Ivo derided, his voice sick with sarcastic revulsion. “Obviously, he’s hopeless without me.”
“He’s better off without you,” Shadow snarled, flying at the bars and hitting his fists against them. Ivo leapt back. “The world would be better off without you. But he asked me to save your worthless life, and he has worth to me. So you’d better spend the rest of your days being grateful for him.”
Shadow warped, not caring one bit about Ivo’s reaction to that, and reappeared at Sonic’s side. The scene in the control room hadn’t changed much, though Sonic was now floating above a Gerald who was seated on the ground.
“Missed you,” Sonic teased, stealing a quick kiss. Gerald scowled at the pair of them. Shadow didn’t know if it was the failure of his plan, his disdain for Shadow, or his outdated sensibilities and didn’t much care either. “We have a bit of a problem,” Sonic continued.
“You’re too late,” Gerald cackled. “The laser can’t be fired without you, my boy. I tried with what chaos energy I stole from GUN and it wasn’t nearly enough. But that doesn’t mean I won’t see my task complete.”
“What have you done?” Shadow demanded, shaking the professor hard. Warnings sirens began blaring around them.
“I set the reactors to overheat. They’ll blow in a few minutes, destroying the planet’s atmosphere with radiation and rendering it uninhabitable. I wanted a quick, merciful death for this rotten planet and because you refused me, it’ll die a slow death instead!”
“Don’t blame me for your actions, professor,” Shadow scoffed. He turned away to inspect the messages popping up all over the control room display screens. “He’s not lying. The cannon is about to explode.”
“We need to move it away from Earth’s atmosphere. Can we steer it into space?”
“No, the engines are inoperable,” Shadow reported. “We have to move it manually.”
“We can’t teleport it?”
“Pinpoint teleporting is difficult enough on Earth,” Shadow explained. “Precision is nearly impossible in the mostly empty expanse of space. We’ll end up lost unable to get back to Earth.”
“Yeah, that’s bad, let’s not do that. Moving it manually it is!”
Shadow took Sonic’s hand and left Gerald behind. He knew he was leaving the professor to die, but he’d signed his own death certificate. Shadow couldn’t sacrifice the time needed to get him to safety when their clock was ticking down to the end of all life on their home planet.
He would sort through his feelings on that later.
Together, he and Sonic braced their hands against the outer paneling of the Eclipse Cannon. He let Sonic feel the movement of chaos energy from their cores to their feet and hands. He copied the flow that Shadow directed so often it was second nature, and through their connection it became second nature to Sonic as well. Together, they pushed.
Slowly, too slowly, the Eclipse Cannon moved by fractions of centimeters. They weren’t going to make it, Shadow realized that within the first few seconds of their efforts. Sonic echoed the epiphany and was on the edge of panic when Shadow made a decision.
He undid the clasps on his inhibitor rings. Both of the rings that adorned his wrists. He’d never taken both off before and certainly never done so while empowered by a magical emerald. He didn’t know what the consequences would be. He didn’t care. He wouldn’t let this planet, his planet, Sonic’s planet, die in Maria’s name.
Everyone on that planet would live in her name, even if Shadow couldn’t be one of them.
Shadow's energy flared out in a platinum-pink display. Sonic flinched at the onslaught before acclimatizing to it and staying on task. The explosion of power made the Eclipse Cannon jerk forward and move away from Earth faster, faster, the two hedgehogs working against the immense pull of Earth’s entire gravity and conquering it.
“Shadow?” Sonic asked, not sounding happy with their progress. “This doesn’t feel right. You’re burning up your energy too fast!”
“We’re almost there!” Shadow insisted. He grit his teeth, the pain of a supernova turning into a black hole encompassing him, and he struggled to hide the feeling from Sonic.
With one last, mighty effort, the cannon escaped Earth’s gravity and became far easier to move further into space. Sonic let out an elated cry, which quickly changed into a shocked and pained gasp when Shadow struck him hard in the side.
He was sent spiraling towards the moon, towards the still active ring that was supposed to take him and Shadow home, tumbling and unable to right himself until he struck the moon’s surface. He felt, deep in his heart, an overwhelming love that was Shadow’s sole focus. His love for Sonic, for Maria, for his newfound home. Along with his determination to die for it.
“No!” Sonic screamed. He tried to take off into the cosmos, tried to reach Shadow and the Eclipse Cannon getting further away with every heartbeat, but the power was fading. His fur was turning from gold to cobalt, his connection to Shadow was dying. The Master Emerald appeared in his hands. It fell into the dust from Sonic's limp fingers.
The Eclipse Cannon exploded into a contained galaxy of stars and color. Shadow’s connection abruptly ended. It was so sudden, so jarring, Sonic was empty of all feeling for some time before he realized.
Shadow was gone.