Corruptive Energies

by Qisty

Summary:

After Sonic's friends head out on their own solo-journeys and Dr. Eggman decides to retire, Sonic struggles to find a new purpose in his life during these times of peace and loneliness. Desperate for distractions, he starts seeking out thrill and getting into one mess after another until he eventually ends up back on Starfall Islands while stalking a shady group of "treasure hunters". Due to a series of unforseen events, the whole group gets involved in a major explosion, with Sonic becoming it's sole survivor.

The hero once again has to deal with being injected with Dark Gaia - while the last time it happened, the evil energy was unable to breach his mental defenses - but a fragile state of mind and years worth of unresolved issues which have all built up ever since then make this an entirely different case.

The weight of the past will eventually catch up even to the fastest thing alive.

Chapter 1: Surprises

Summary:

Sonic deals with his new life.

 

 

---

 

 

"You WHAT?!" Sonic yells out into a small speaker by a metal door, assuming a microphone must be located somewhere inside or next to it. The loud noise makes the receiver grunt out in irritation, with the reasoning behind it likely also attributed to the pain caused to their ears.

"I said, I am retiring. Now get out. I don't have time for your dramatics." Eggman's voice sounded through the speaker, disgust shown in plain view with no effort made to make it any less apparent.

"But - You can't just retire! What happened to wanting to take over the world? What happened to destroying me being your life's primary goal?! You are-!"

"Listen here, rodent. If you don't take your lousy blue face out and away from my base, I will go out there and shove it off that cliff personally. What I do is none of your business, and frankly, you should be grateful for my decision." Sonic could hear the anger growing with each word spouted out of the device, but it hardly served as any deterrent for his desire to express his utter bafflement and need for elaboration.

"Yeah, do come out here! Face me personally, or what, maybe you're scared? There is no way I'll just walk away after you dump such a revelation on me." Sonic settled well in place to emphasize his point, folding his arms over his chest and tapping one foot impatiently. He knew full well the doctor could see him through some sort of camera located nearby and made sure to use that fact to it's fullest potential. This time he was met with total silence, even the static noise vanishing - indicating the doctor must've turned off his side of the transmitter. "Hey, I'm not done talking! Get out before I-"

The metal door suddenly slid open with a thud, but instead of meeting the large body of Eggman, Sonic was met with his own metal replica. Before the hedgehog could voice his questions, he was promptly knocked off the platform serving as a porch and started falling right from the rocky cliff side with a yelp, painfully hitting against the stones. Curse Egghead for settling in such a ridiculous place as the side of a random mountain. Sonic managed to stop his roll after a few bounces and looked up, intent on making his way back up to the platform he was so rudely removed from, only to see Metal disappearing behind the door once more as it shut behind him.

 

 

---

 

 

Four months have passed since the events on the Starfall Islands and Eggman's last public appearance along with it. After his friends' departure, Sonic expected to have to deal with whatever schemes the doctor planned next all on his own, but that moment never arrived.

The hero was used to his nemesis taking his time after each of his plans failing to lick his wounds and crank up another idea, but after a whole month of dead silence, he started to grow suspicious. And bored. So, so very bored. With time, Sonic noticed the number of leftover wandering badniks swiftly depleting, and once he stopped encountering any whatsoever, he began his search for the missing villain.

It took a good while of running around remote areas, visiting old, abandoned bases for clues and asking around the locals, to finally find his target. But it's not like he had anything better to do in that time - the world was at peace, his friends were out and having fun discovering the world all without him, and he was completely free to do whatever he wanted to. But to finally find what he was looking for, only to gain a kick to the face and even more questions than answers - to say he was disappointed would be a gross understatement.

Sure, he could've simply broken down the door and forced his way inside as he's done so many times in the past, but there was something particularly barbaric in doing so with a supposedly retired man who hasn't done a single malicious thing for the past four months. Well, perhaps that wasn't that impressive of a score, but considering the fact every previous one of his actions had already been appropriately punished in one way or another, going out of his way to provoke him was just plain unnecessary and potentially dangerous - not for Sonic obviously, Eggman has long since proven himself to be of no substantial threat to the blue hedgehog, but unsuspecting citizens always tend to get wrapped inside the mess of their squabbles and he had half a mind not to become a direct cause for another one.

It seems he'd just have to wait this one out. Again.

 

Initially, Sonic was happy with his friends' decision to head out on their own and even encouraged it - what kind of hypocrite would he be to disallow others their own adventures? And he kept up this opinion for the first two months or so. The team kept in contact, calling with updates regularly, eagerly sharing their experiences and findings twice a week with messages in their group chat in-between. Seeing them so excited felt great and filled Sonic with pride - particularly directed towards a particular fox - and he was content to have a moment of break from all the chaos. But as time passed, their calls started becoming more sparse - turning into once a week, then every other week, then once a month...

Now their contact was limited mainly to occasional messages in the chat and direct calls - typically initiated by Sonic, worth to note. He knew they were all just busy and didn't hold it against them, but...

Loneliness was really catching up to him. The hero had grown used to being surrounded by friends over the years with rarely a dull moment, so the contrast, while somewhat delayed, hit him hard.

They have returned on a few occasions such as birthdays or celebrations, but each time they'd only stay for about a week before going back to their respective journeys afterwards. Only Knuckles returned once outside of a holiday, after the first month of his travels, but that was just his paranoia forcing him to check up on his beloved Master Emerald. Revisiting his friends was somewhat of an afterthought. Sonic talked him out of it back then and he's calmed down since, once he realized the gem truly is safe. The visits were obviously appreciated and plenty joyful, but in reality they eventually just turned into reminders of how it used to be all of the time and only fueled the grief that would've otherwise began to dissipate. Nowadays Sonic wonders what it would've been like if he hadn't convinced the echidna to go back.

He had his other friends of course, but as time went on, reaching out to them was becoming something harder and harder to do.

He did visit Vanilla and Cream occasionally, but the age gap between them was simply too vast to consider it hanging out with friends - more so like visiting an aunt or some other more distant family member.

There was Rouge, a fairly close friend of his all things considered, but the job of an agent didn't leave a lot of time for casual meet-ups, especially when her significantly closer group of friends consisting of Shadow and Omega were right there with her on the same team.

There's also Team Chaotix - but more or less the same case applies here. Their detective work has gotten more traction in recent times, providing for more jobs and less time. And then again, the team is basically a little family - butting in would feel awkward.

He could spend more time with Tangle, but due to a somewhat recent reveal of her entering a relationship with Whisper, Sonic preferred to give them their time to enjoy each other's company - and third wheeling wasn't something he was looking forward to.

While Silver and Blaze would feel more approachable, living in a separate time and dimension didn't provide for many opportunities for hanging out.

 

And so, Sonic was more or less left to fend on his own.

 

 

His days were slow and uneventful, yet at the same time, weeks passed by quickly and felt like every moment was slipping right through his fingers. He'd spend all day running, reading, sleeping - a lot - and wasting his time away with whatever task he was able to find in a given moment.

The only changes of pace came on the weekends, when Shadow was free from work. Their races and spars became the only thing he was looking forward to, though most of the time it required more and more begging and debts to pay for Shadow to agree to arrive week after week. Sonic started limiting himself when he noticed the growing amount of annoyance from his darker counterpart at his constant nagging - everyone would want some time to themselves after a week of work and fighting - so to be forced to do that again during his time off likely wasn't going to remain fun for long.

And so, he kept on killing time. He pretty much moved into Tails' house at this point, as his mental fatigue kept growing, sleeping under the bare night sky stopped being enjoyable and only fed into his sense of loneliness. Being surrounded by four walls and snuggly pillows at least provided warmth, with the enclosed space somewhat fending off that lonely feeling.

He eventually developed a habit of reading while laying on top of one of Tornado's wings - though the cold metal was significantly less comfortable than a soft couch, it still provided him with a sense of comfort and nostalgia - an illusion of the little fox still present at his side inside of the cockpit just outside of his view. He was pretty sure he went over every single book available in the house this way at least twice, to the point where he actually started borrowing new ones from the library. At least the librarians looked happy.

 

 

After keeping Eggman's newly discovered base under a watchful eye for close to a month with no changes or evil schemes to be found, only more bafflement at the sight of his nemesis in pajamas and later overalls as he started a goddamn garden - was Mr. Tinker back? A laser to the face as he approached too close suggested the answer was no - Sonic eventually gave up and decided he needs to move on. Desperately.

And with that, the hero's own journey across the world began - sort of. Being capable of moving at the speed of sound was certainly convenient for that, as he more often than not could run across the world after breakfast and still be back home in time for dinner. If trouble seemingly refused to come to him, he'd have to go and seek it out himself. Though honestly he started becoming more of a cop than the hero he was known as. Robberies, assaults, vandalism - he was fine with whatever at this point.

Thinking became something Sonic had grown to hate over his time alone, as thinking inevitably led to pondering on questions he did not want to know the answers to. Why aren't they calling? Did they forget about me? Did they find someone better to spend their time with? Do they not need me anymore? Does Tails not need me anymore - Not thinking is easier. So he didn't let himself have the time to think in the first place. Anything to occupy his mind and give him at least a smidge of that adrenaline and thrill he missed so much.

He did put in the effort to keep track of his team's locations to make sure he isn't getting in their way, or worse, give them the chance to notice how unwell he's really doing - something he refused to acknowledge himself, so potentially hearing it from someone else was the last thing he wanted. Would joining G.U.N. be more effective and provide with better and more worth-while things to focus on? Maybe. But his morals and worldview weren't something he was willing to just throw away at a moment's notice.

But his pointless searches for adventure did bear fruit eventually - nearly one year in total after his friends' departure.

 

It happened by accident, really. As Sonic was wandering somewhat aimlessly in a lazy stroll (by his standards at least), he suddenly stumbled upon a suspicious looking metal entrance leading underground.

The hidden base looked nothing like the sort of thing Eggman would use, with a distinct lack of his face plastered all over it, and even more notably - it looked occupied. Well maintained, any and all electronics were working, and it held numerous papers and folders filled with data both complete and unfinished.

Obviously the base was used as a sort of lab and a lot of time must've been spent in there as it even included a rudimentary bedroom with several beds and a kitchen with two fridges - one for food, another one for various vials and containers with unknown substances. Better not touch that. The place seemed empty at the moment as Sonic ran through each room to make sure he wouldn't suddenly get jumped, but some of them had their doors locked so he had to rely on the lack of noise coming from behind.

As he glanced through the papers laid out on the desk, one name stood out from the jumbled mess of scientific terms. Starfall Islands. A concerning amount of information regarding it spread out on the document, and even several others. The Ancients, cyberspace, the weapons, Chaos Emeralds, Titans - even about Sonic himself and his experiences on the islands. How the hell would they know all this? Chaos energy was a term repeated more frequently than the others, along with Chaos Emeralds and all there was to know about them. Sonic honestly had doubts even Knuckles knew all of this. The air felt thick with traces of chaos energy but with no source at it's center - likely some experimentation took place, but whatever was used to do it was taken away along with the people responsible.

Sonic knew his time was limited as the occupants would certainly return eventually, so with his anxiety rising, the hedgehog hurriedly grabbed a few of the papers including his points of interest and quickly evacuated from the building.

 

 

Taking his time at home to read the papers in more detail did not help a whole lot, because frankly, Sonic just wasn't smart enough for this. His mind immediately wandered in the direction of his younger brother, maybe he could help? He could just send him a picture and... But what if he's doing something important already? Maybe he deems this serious enough to warrant his return? No - Sonic can't just stroll in and interrupt Tails' journey like that. Tails was supposed to learn to be independent - but apparently he's doing a better job at it than his older brother is. Sonic refuses to be such a burden just because he is too stupid to understand some stupid paper. He can handle this alone, just like he has done so for the past year and for years before they even met.

When the hero returned back to the mysterious base just the next day - everything was already swept clean. Computers, files, papers, diagrams - all of it gone. Did they really notice a few papers from among literal piles of them going missing this quickly? Or.. the place could've been monitored. Sonic did forget to check for cameras after all. Damn it. He fumbled everything again just because of his recklessness and- Stop. Not the time for self pity. This isn't over before he gives up - and he's still far from it.

Luckily, being an experienced chaos user came in handy on numerous occasions, including this one. The chaos energy present in the lab still lingered and left behind a faint trail, but one strong enough for him to follow.

 

---

 

A few hundred kilometers away, at a mountain's feet sat another metal entrance. It looked aged, slightly rusted and covered in moss, so it was most likely a back-up lab the group had set up long before.

Sonic was careful not to approach too close this time and remained hidden in the darkness of the forest surrounding it, and from this distance he just barely managed to spot a hidden camera by the door. Staying away was a good call.

Where Sonic lacked in patience, he made up for with sheer stubbornness. Keeping the location in mind, he rushed back to Tails' home and started scavenging the fox's workshop for anything useful he may have left there.

After digging through a few boxes filled with parts and unused equipment he found just what he was looking for - a live-feed camera along with a wireless monitor. He wasn't the best at handling technology so Sonic could only hope he remembers how to use the thing from when his brother last showed it to him. It was quite old and not particularly advanced as it was intended for just a small side project, but it still works so it'll do.

Along with the camera he packed some essentials he may need for the next few days - his communicator, a power bank, a multi-purpose tool, some books and a bit of food and water. He could always get more if he were to run out, but it wasn't a concern since he didn't eat much these days anyway.

The camera had limited range so he'd have to stay somewhat nearby, but it was certainly better than staring directly at a door, waiting for something to happen for multiple hours straight. This way he could at least find a safer location and occupy himself with reading in the mean time. It was something he was already used to after all, so this was the kind of boredom he would be able to handle.

It wasn't quite like how he observed Eggman's base months earlier, as back then he opted to just check in on him for an hour or so a day to look for any activity or changes in the surrounding area. This new group felt like more of an active threat and this time he had no idea what to even expect, so passive lookout didn't seem appropriate. The detailed mentions of Sonic's personal experiences on the islands still unnerved the hell out of him.

He set up his camera on one of the trees in a way that kept it hidden inside the thick crown. Next, he set up his equipment in a small cave a few hundred meters or so away and all that was left to do was wait.

Most of the time he spent by reading with the screen settled in the background and kept watch for any changes. During the first days spent this way he gained the rough idea of how many people were involved, he spotted about eight Mobians leaving in and out of the door before they began repeating - no pattern seemed present as each Mobian was of different species, type and age. The youngest was a bird - dove perhaps? - in her early twenties, and the presumably oldest was a somewhat wrinkled canine.

Often times they'd carry something with them either in or outside, but the quality of the recording wasn't high enough to be able to tell what. The only thing he was able to make out at one point was some sort of large crate, large enough for it to take multiple of the members to drag in. Could be supplies.

One pattern he did notice though, was that as he became more acquainted with each Mobian, he noticed there was never a time where the base remained completely empty. There always was at least two people left behind when others left, including at night. Seems like they learned their lesson from last time, and whatever they're hiding must be important enough to warrant 24/7 guard.

That stayed the case up until the sixth night of Sonic's watch duty. He'd been nearly falling asleep by that point, struggling to keep his lucidity until what he saw next completely woke him up. All at once, every member of the group left the lab and head out into the forest, each of them holding different foreign looking weapons and equipment. Then, just a moment later he could hear the distinct sound of some sort of airship flying overhead. Well that couldn't be good.

His first instinct was to follow right after wherever they're headed, but then again, he thought about how this was his first chance to explore the new base and whatever it may hold. Maybe even his only chance. And so he waited some more. And when he heard that same airship going toward a new direction, he immediately made his way to the notorious spot he'd spent so long staring at. He did break the camera this time. The door, quite predictably, was locked - but luckily there weren't many problems a good spindash couldn't solve.

As it turns out, it wasn't quite completely empty. The group obviously wasn't wasting time as now they invested in proper security. Just beyond the now destroyed door stood five humanoid robots glaring Sonic right in the eye. They were quite different from the badniks he was used to fighting with, resembling more a robot like Gemerl with a bit of a modernized twist and a theme of dark blue and black. Though luckily for the hero, they were nowhere near as strong as Gemerl is and were clearly favoring quantity over quality.

The encounter did catch him off guard at first and he just barely managed to dodge an incoming attack directed at him right after his dramatic entrance, but as he settled into the situation he dealt with the machines rather quickly.

Entirely by chance, the first one he took out was the only one to be wielding a weapon, which was something he noticed only after defeating the rest. It looked like a type of gun, modified to be powered by a small chaos drive. May turn out useful. Guns weren't exactly his style, but he preferred to have some kind of backup in case things took a turn for the sour. He stuffed the weapon into his quills, it thankfully had a lock so he didn't need to risk it setting off right into his head.

With the security robots destroyed, subtlety was no longer an issue so Sonic was determined to make the most out of his venture. It will be obvious someone was there, but he still hoped to make the matter of who at least somewhat ambiguous, so he still made sure to warily enter each room and get rid of any cameras he spotted.

The base was quite similar to the previous one, except significantly larger. A lab, sleeping room, kitchen, bathroom, office, and a workshop. The workshop held numerous bits of unfinished machinery and weapons and upon closer inspection, Sonic could notice scraps of destroyed badniks. With how much of Eggman's broken machinery was laid out all across Mobius, it was only a matter of time until some other villain would come in to scavenge what was left of them. There were also more chaos drives present in the room in-between all the rubble and tools, but they seemed to be used up as the lack of a glow indicated, as well as the near lack of energy being emanated. 

The office, yet again, featured a disturbing amount of information about Starfall Islands. But what really made him perk up was what was hung up on a wall next to it all. A calendar with a date circled in red - today's date. That could mean only one thing. They were heading to the islands, and judging by their heavy gear and suspicious research, this was no tourist visit.

With barely as much as a second thought, the hero immediately ran out of the base, threw on his backpack and headed back to the place of his last notable adventure - one he felt an unusual amount of bitterness for - the memories of it stained by the last year of inaction and his own selfish emotions.

 

---

 

Sonic had managed to make it to the islands before the group, though not without some stress of running across the ocean. As much faith as he held in his capabilities, running across water never was a pleasurable experience. Nevertheless, the hedgehog landed himself on the edge of Rhea Island. He'd arrived just in time, as a short while of looking out for noise later, the smaller than he had expected airship arrived.

As he readied himself to head deeper into the island, Sonic was surprised to see that instead of landing somewhere on one of the main lands, the ship stopped to hover above an unsuspecting, small piece of land somewhere on the outskirts. Since running across water isn't exactly subtle and he'd be noticed right away, he chose to wait for the group to settle in place to prevent their otherwise easy escape.

After a whole bunch of staring and fidgeting in the bushes, Sonic's patience was really growing thin at this point and potentially just a bit earlier than he should've, he took off.  Just moments later on the island, much to his surprise, the group was nowhere to be seen, with only the aircraft left behind.

His confusion wouldn't last long though, as soon enough, beneath the thick flora and stones lay another hidden entrance to the underground. Sonic was really starting to notice a pattern. But unlike the bases he's been to, this one seemed positively ancient. Entirely made of stone, cracked from years of withstanding the elements, and completely overgrown with moss and other various plants that made it truly a challenge to spot. The entrance itself was quite small, just barely large enough to fit a Mobian through, with anyone of a taller stature surely forced to kneel or even crawl were they to go in. The door was left open, but Sonic could tell it had some sort of mechanism engraved into it that his predecessors must've solved. That certainly made his job easier.

The descent was steep and narrow, nothing like the underground complexes he's seen on the rest of the islands. It lacked any intricacies and visual flares, not even any light to speak of, with the only source of illumination which prevented Sonic from stumbling right down coming from the sun outside.

Just as that only speckle of sunlight was about to vanish entirely, he'd reached the bottom of the staircase, opening up into a significantly larger corridor. It was as if the two were entirely disconnected from one another, as the basement-like descent highly contrasted with the much more familiar looking pathway. Suddenly the complex designs on the walls and floor, the vaguely blue lighting, all of it was back in a flash as if the strange way that led up to it never happened. The corridor was long but straight and Sonic could see another open mechanism door at the end of it, so he wasted no time and appeared right by it barely a second later.

He could hear some dialogue coming from behind the wall and approached it warily, peeking just barely from behind the heavy gateway. The light was still present inside the room but moderately weaker. The space was large and similarly decorated, though it was noticeably empty with only a single pedestal in the very middle. The center was surrounded by the Mobians, their backs turned as they discussed an 'artifact'. Taking a moment to ignore their presence, the hero squinted to make out whatever their object of interest was from in-between the figures.

A... Chaos Emerald? That didn't seem quite right - he could sense the chaos energy present in the air, yes, but it was much too weak compared to the powerful gems. The energy of the Emeralds is powerful, suffocating, almost overwhelming, but this? It barely went above the natural levels of any average living organism. Why would the scientists - researchers? Treasure hunters? Whatever they were - why would they want something like this? And why would someone put in so much effort to hide it away?

The strange gem was similar to the white Chaos Emerald, but upon a closer look, it almost seemed like it could be some sort of an unfinished variant - the shape far less defined and ragged, Sonic was sure it would be even prickly if he were to try to hold it. Another difference was it's dark center, shifting and uneven, resembling ink in water that never quite fully blends in with the rest of the liquid, or solid in this case. Probably. It was encased inside some kind of force-field, surrounding it in a blue, ever shifting glow.

Sonic paused in his reflections upon noticing something off in the energy the gem radiated. It was difficult to discern from the distance, but, there was something else aside from chaos present in that artifact. He couldn't put a name to it, but it felt familiar somehow, like he's encountered before. Though this sense of familiarity was far from a comforting one - the energy felt cold, eerie, almost malicious. Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything good and certainly not something these people should be in the possession of.

Now, with his enemies all having their backs turned on him, it was an absolutely perfect opportunity to gain an advantage. A surprise attack would be the smartest thing to do in this situation, and anyone else probably would've taken it without a second thought. But Sonic wasn't anyone else. Surprise attacks were not his style, and even despite his year of mostly inaction and somewhat self-imposed isolation, style wasn't something he'd let himself ever lose.

Taking a quick moment to fix up whatever imperfections he could find and putting on his iconic grin, Sonic readied himself to enter the chamber. He had a feeling this would be his brand new debut after an involuntary hiatus, his chance to remind the world of his status as a hero, so a good not-so-first impression was obviously in order.

He paused momentarily to put his backpack down on the floor some distance from the entrance as to prevent it from getting in his way later, and with no more time to be wasted, he confidently strode in past the massive doors.

Sonic stopped just a few steps in with a hand placed on his hip and proceeded to loudly and obnoxiously clear his throat, interrupting whatever conversation the group was currently having. He wasn't exactly good at listening. After successfully grabbing the surprised Mobians' attention, the hedgehog began to speak. "So! What have we got here?" He started walking slowly towards the gem's direction, vaguely gesturing in the air as the group only stared in agape silence. "I'm sure you already know me, so I'll skip the introductions. Cool trinket you got there! Unfortunately, I will have to confiscate it, hope you unders- Woah!" Apparently it was now his turn to be interrupted as he was assaulted by a barrage of chaos enforced bullets directed right at his head.

Now that he at least had the assurance that his enemies felt no opposition towards straight up killing him, his urge to hold back due to his limited knowledge on their cause vanished completely. Clearly his suspicions were not unfounded if their first instincts were to go for the head. "Sheesh! Not even gonna let me finish? You guys are no fun!" Sonic managed to throw in a quick quip in-between the dodges before heading for one of his attackers.

He tucked himself into a ball and aimed for the firearm, promptly knocking it out of the wolf's grip and stomping on it the moment it landed on the ground, hard enough to break the weapon in half. "Sorry for breaking your toys but I like to keep my fights fair." The hero smirked as he saw he had managed to catch the gray wolf off guard, though his expression faltered as he noted how oddly quiet the room was. The short battle went to a stop as his opponents only stared with disdain and annoyance on their faces, no words interchanged neither between them nor towards the blue hedgehog himself.

"Uh, you're making this thing kinda awkward, not gonna lie. Nothing to say? Not even a single insult?" He noticed a fennec fox standing at the back of the group whispering something to a shorter than them dove who merely nodded and ran over to the back of the altar.

Before Sonic could react, the gunshots resumed as if nothing had happened and another member pulled out four metal boxes and threw them on the ground in quick succession. The boxes suddenly unfolded into the same type of robots he'd fought at their base and launched right at him the second they took form, and as the hero fought off his initial shock and dodged both the punches and the bullets directed at him, he noticed the group move to surround the altar in a fighting stance.

With his attention split to so many things happening at once, he failed to dodge one of the bullets as it hit his lower arm. He winced in pain and the sudden distraction gave one of the robots the chance to land another painful blow to his stomach, sending him falling to the floor.

With no time to properly recollect himself, Sonic immediately dashed past the machines and kicked the offending gunman to the ground and pinned him down by the shoulders, all the while still coughing from the punch he'd just received.

He barely spared a glance at the otter's face as his eyes darted from side to side in search for his victim's weapon until he felt another heavy push to his side, proving to be a kick coming from the wolf who was already helping his comrade to his feet. Sonic conveniently found the weapon he was looking for right next to where he had landed and wasted no time to jump to his feet, throwing it at one of the machines with all of his might, sending the thing flying and crashing on a nearby wall.

He predicted another attack would come from behind, and without even looking he instantly turned around and punched the side of the wolf's head who was just about to tackle him back to the floor. With the additional velocity gained from his sudden turn, the hit was strong enough to knock the enemy out cold before he even hit the ground. Keeping up his momentum, Sonic jumped for a homing attack directed at the still dazed otter and then another for a second robot who was charging his way, not even checking for the damages he had caused.

With the wolf and otter taken out, the group was rid of their primary fighters with the main problem remaining being the robots. As Sonic looked up to the pedestal, he could see the force field previously surrounding the gem dissipating and the dove standing up from her work.

Before he had the chance to react, the destroyed machines got replaced by three brand new ones from the hand of a weasel standing at the sidelines. In his brief distraction, Sonic was suddenly tackled to the ground by both of the robots he'd neglected earlier and felt a sharp object pierce his side. He yelled out in pain but managed to shove the weight off his back and charged for the altar.

As the dove was picking up the artifact, he managed to snatch it right off her wings only to receive another bullet to his hand from the fox and dropping it immediately. In a moment of desperation, Sonic reflexively kicked the gem away in hopes of buying himself more time, though not much would come of it as he could see the weasel already reaching out, all the while he felt strong metallic arms grab him by the neck and holding him in place, with more on the way at his front.

Even if the adrenaline muffled the pain somewhat, the hero could feel himself slowly grow light-headed due to the blood loss he hadn't acknowledged earlier. He knew his time was rapidly depleting and his opponents were about to get away.

Almost instinctively, Sonic gathered any of the chaos energy he could muster in his weakened state and released it with a blast, knocking away the machines surrounding him at all sides. With nothing to support his weight, he struggled to stand upright but did his best to ignore the increasing vertigo and attempted to focus his vision on the Mobians.

The weasel had already gained hold of the gem and was running for the exit, with the rest of the group scrambling to carry out their unconscious comrades. Though he was known for his speed, the injuries were slowing him down significantly, enough so that one of the robots left standing had managed to stop him in his tracks just as he was about to reach the terrified weasel.

Even if the strength of the machine would be no issue under normal circumstances, the hold felt far too tight as he was right now. As a last ditch effort, Sonic reached out into his quills using his good arm, pulled out the weapon he had saved there earlier, and with a shaky hand aimed in the vague direction of where he knew the enemy would be.

He pulled the trigger, and almost instantly, the world turned to white.

 

 

His vision was dark and the only thing he could hear was the ringing in his ears. Sonic was fairly sure he was laying on the ground now, but any sense of spatial awareness was drowned out by the burning pain he could feel in his entire body. It felt like he had been set on fire, and with the smell of smoke in the air, perhaps he was.

Not without a great deal of effort, he opened his eyes just to be met with more darkness. He'd think he had gone blind if not for the white and purple glowing specks floating around aimlessly in the room serving as a somewhat pathetic source of light.

He struggled to lift his head up from the floor to take a look around and the first thing to catch his attention was the artifact responsible for causing this entire deadly race. It was lying helplessly just barely a meter or so away from him, or at least one chunk of it was. As he looked around further, the hero could see the gem was shattered into countless pieces spread all around the chamber, all of which still retained a slowly fading glow.

The next thing he noticed were the Mobians. Or their bodies, to be more precise. There wasn't as much as a twitch coming from them, their chests remaining flat and motionless.

Not really in the state to process what was in front of him properly, Sonic decided to make an attempt to get up. With a grunt, he turned to his stomach and very slowly pushed his arms and knees up under him. The dizziness intensified and he took a moment to try to settle, swaying ever so slightly from side to side. After a few agonizing seconds later, he managed to get up on his feet and wobbily made his way to the room's entrance, or at least that's what it used to be, as now the wall separating the chamber from the corridor was in utter ruin with only some barely recognizable chunks of debris leftover.

His backpack has somehow survived through the explosion, battered and ripped, but still there. Sonic practically fell over to the ground next to it and leaned against a wall as he scrambled through it's contents, eventually finding his communicator. The screen was heavily cracked, but a careful press of a button proved it to still be working as it lit up brightly against the dark surroundings. Sonic scrolled through his contacts and stopped on the one he hoped had the highest chance of finding the wicked place he was currently trapped in.

After a few long, horrendous beeps, the call had finally gotten picked up. "Hey Blue~!  It's been a while since you called, what's up?" Rouge's voice sounded from the other side, somewhat static, more so than usual, but understandable enough.

"Rouge I don't... I need help." His voice was raspy and quiet, each word spoken unusually slowly for the blue hedgehog.

Rouge picked up on the severity of the situation right away and her tone shifted to a much more serious one, contrasting against her usual flirtatious nature. "Sonic? What's going on, where are you?"

There was a bit of a pause as he felt his consciousness slipping from his grasp, but he fought against the urge to close his eyes and continued talking. "...Starfall... Islands... Use your spy magic to find me, but mind the mess, hm.." Sonic could vaguely hear her say something more but was already beyond the point where he was still capable of language comprehension. After speaking out his last words he fell to his side, still clinging to the communicator and with that, he was out.

 

Notes:

First ever fanfic but I do have some experience writing stories in general so hopefully I can manage to deliver. This is honestly my self indulgent side project as I could not find quite the perfect fic that would properly scratch my edgy-sonadow-drama requiring itch with the closest one to ever reach it left to be forever unfinished, so I quite literally just went - Fine. I'll do it myself. - with this
Edit: well it was unfinished but it got an unexpected reboot, still gonna continue writing ofc bc I got way too attached to this story than should be considered healthy

I'm also (mainly, actually) an artist! You can check out every main character's designs over here for easier visualization :D Note that Sonic has his canon design at the beginning while Shadow has no scars yet - they will unlock their final forms later as the story progresses ;>

Chapter 2: Changes

Summary:

Sonic reawakes.

Notes:

TW: Vomiting

The next chapters from now on won't include any more warnings to avoid spoilers, please make sure to read the tags.

His body is surrounded in a warm, soft sensation, contrasting heavily against the cold, harsh rubble he remembers from his last waking moments. The pain, while still there in some places, is significantly weaker than it was that last time, too. What wasn't there earlier, however, is the uncomfortable feeling of something stuck into his wrist through the skin. Not painful, but certainly odd. Unnatural.

His eyes are closed but he can still see the harsh light piercing through his eyelids, waning off any hopes of returning to the blissful state of unconsciousness he's been in moments ago. He blinks several times before opening his eyes fully to let them settle into the brightness of the room, a lamp hanging from the ceiling just overhead. He takes a glance around his surroundings. He's lying in a hospital room bed, surrounded by the familiar, white sterility so common to these establishments, along with a few machines hooked up to him and an IV drip stand, seemingly not in use at the current moment. There is a chair some small distance away from him, it's occupant mindlessly looking through her phone with a far-off look in her eyes.

It takes him several beats to register who it is that he's looking at, blinking rapidly before speaking. "Ames?" His voice still sounds raspy and weak, and despite how quiet it was, Amy jumps in her chair with a gasp, nearly dropping the phone to the ground. "Sonic!" The distance in her look was gone immediately, replacing it with an expression filled with pure joy and relief. She bounces off her seat and basically falls on top of him, causing him to let out a soft 'oof'.

He chuckles despite the harsh treatment against his already messed up body. "H-Hey, good to see you too, Ames."

The words seem to bring her back into reality as she realizes the amount of weight she's putting on him and she takes a swift step back with an apologetic look. "Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to squish you like that.." She starts playing with her quills as she lets out an awkward chuckle, looking away for a brief second before resuming eye contact.

Sonic gets up into a sitting position, wincing quietly before settling. "It's all good, I've been through worse. Pretty recently, actually, heh." He pulls his hand from under the blanket to wave her off as he speaks, but pauses his arm mid air as he lands his eyes on it. 

He wasn't wearing his gloves, which is something that would be quite predictable as the unnecessary article of clothing would only get in the way of treatment for the hospital staff. What wasn't predictable though, was that instead of their usual peach color, his hand was now covered in pale, gray fur, extending unevenly down to his wrists. The skin of his pads was similarly paler, though to a slightly lesser degree.

For a few moments he simply stares at it in silence with his brows furrowed in confusion, until he's snapped out of his trance by his friend's voice. "Oh... It's on your hands too." He suddenly jerks his head in Amy's direction at her words, now seeing her grabbing the chair she occupied earlier to bring it closer to his bed and placing it on the floor gently before taking back her seat.

"What do you mean too?"

The pink hedgehog glances around the room awkwardly. "When I got here, the tips of your quills had a bit of gray in them - I thought it was maybe stress or something, but it kept spreading over time. I haven't really had the chance to see your hands earlier, but it seems the same is also happening there..."

Sonic blinks. He grabs the longest tuft of quills on his head he can reach and brings it over to his face, and just like she said, the tips are similarly pale as the fur on his palms. "I'm graying?" There is no way he could be already graying at twenty. It also doesn't make sense for it to be happening so fast - wait, - "Wait, wait, wait, how long have I even been out for?"

Amy looks up in surprise and starts waving her hands in defense. "Oh! No, no, you're not aging or anything - it's only been a few days."

"Then -" He brings his hand up and points at it with his other one, which turns out to be in the exact same state. "What the heck is this??"

She smacks her lips and looks back down on the ground. "Yeah... I don't really know. The doctors just said you're losing pigment, but I don't think they know why. It isn't harming your skin or anything though, according to them."

Sonic spent a few more seconds staring at his predicament but shook his head and brought his arms back down. He can figure out that issue later. For now, there are other matters to take care of. "Uh, well, anyway - when did you come back?" He attempted to put on a weak smile, though he had a feeling it came off more as a grimace than anything that could bring comfort, but either way Amy decided not to acknowledge it.

"I left as soon as I heard what happened from Rouge, and Tails picked me up on his way. We both got here two days after that accident, but Tails is sleeping right now because he's stayed up all night worrying over you. It took me and Rouge both to drag him into bed, I fear he's gotten even more stubborn than before during that journey." There was annoyance clear in her voice, though it seemed to be directed more so at the fox rather than the reason for his concerns. That didn't make Sonic feel any better though.

"You both stopped your travels because of me?" Even if this wasn't his friend's intention, guilt washed over him like an ice cold shower. The reason he did all this solo was specifically so that they wouldn't have to return, and now all of his effort just went to waste.

Amy looked at him flabbergasted over the question, maybe even slightly offended. "Well, duh! Do you even understand what state you were in when they found you? I haven't seen you right after it happened, but Rouge described it to me - and it was bad."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad! I mean, I feel fine, see? There is no need to worry so much." He straightened his back and extended his arms to the sides to present his point, pointedly ignoring the new color of his limbs that still stung his eyes. In turn, she grabbed his palms into her own and brought them between their bodies as she leaned in closer, holding on tightly. Her deadpan expression made him hesitate to try to argue any further.

"Sonic, you almost died."

...

He wasn't sure what he could say to that.

This wasn't his first near-death experience, but none of the previous ones brought any long lasting effects. He always took each event in stride, with his friends going along with the positive attitude the moment his life was no longer at risk. There would be tears, hugs, and a nice, proper beating to the bad guys. Everything would end with a happily ever after and no further conversation was necessary.

This situation seemed different though. Skipping over the changes in his appearance, even despite the fact he was safe and sound now, Amy felt off. She always took his word at face value and held great confidence for his ability to bounce back, but her current expression was a total painting of worry and uncertainty. It bugged him. Did she really lose faith in him over the time they spent apart?

After a few distressing moments he pulled his hands away from her grip and looked down, his ears involuntarily pinned against his head. She respected his need for space and leaned back, but her serious expression remained.

"We were so worried about you. What the hell were you thinking, throwing yourself into something like this all alone, without even telling anyone? Have you thought what would've happened if that communicator got destroyed? If you just got knocked out by the explosion, without the chance to make that call?" She was throwing her hands around in the air, with frustration growing with every passing second. Despite the harshness of her tone, it was clear the words were coming from a place of great care and distress.

But all Sonic could hear was the disappointment. He hated being a disappointment. He hated being a burden.

He tore his gaze away. "No. I haven't. But that didn't happen - I am fine, Amy." He spoke unusually coldly, without even a hint of his typical mischief. 

"You're not fine! There is something wrong with your body, and nobody knows what-! That, that gem or whatever did something to you - not just with how you look, there was other weird stuff going on when you were asleep - like how your injuries healed way, way too quickly, yet for some reason you were still on death's doorstep! All of that should've scarred, yet I don't see a single trace, do you? Or how your vitals was going haywire, as if you were fighting some deadly illness, when-"

"Stop." 

Amy paused in her rant at the sudden interruption with a confused look. "What?"

"Just... Just stop talking." Something was wrong. He felt wrong. He needed a way out of this. Unfortunately, the unprompted nature of his request wouldn't go unquestioned.

"What do you mean stop talking? No, Sonic, you always do this, you need to stop dodging serious matters and take responsibility already - your recklessness is going to get you killed, and it already killed several others-!"

"I did not kill them!"

"I didn't say you did, but your actions-"

"But that is what you meant, isn't it?"

"I did not! Sonic, you are a grown adult, you need to act like it! I'm not trying to have a screaming match with you, I'm just worried-!"

The blue hedgehog jerked up with a growl. "Fine, I fucked up! Is that what you want me to say?!"

She leaned away in surprise at the outburst, but furrowed her brows just a second later. "I am just trying to get you to own up to your actions and learn from your mistakes, maybe if you just stopped interrupting me-"

"Maybe I wouldn't be interrupting you if you just shut up for once when I ask?!"

Amy turned quiet in shock and frustration as she stared him in the eyes. She then stood up from her chair.

The hero leaned back slightly to have a full view of her face as he realized what he'd just yelled out.

"Wait, no, I'm sorry Amy- I just-" Sonic tried to reach for her hand but she pulled it back before he could grab it.

"I see you need some time alone." She stomped out of the room quickly without giving him a chance to respond, slamming the door shut behind her.

 

Sonic let out a mix of a groan and sigh as he slumped back against the pillow, pushing his palms against his eyes.

Why the hell did I say all that?

He never got this angry over conversations. This sort of emotion was reserved for when his loved ones were in danger, not for a stupid fight with one of them. He knew Amy was right, but he just couldn't help the words that came out of his mouth. She was just so loud. Why couldn't she just stop nagging him when he asked the first time. He's not some child to be told off-

He heard the door open once more and pulled one hand away from his face to peek at the source of the noise. Instead of Amy as he had been expecting it to be, he was greeted with the sight of a familiar bat.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Blue. You didn't have the most pleasant of greetings I assume, if I'm judging right by the stomps and the murderous look of Miss Rose over there."

He groaned loudly and put the hand back in it's place. "Oh, don't even..."

"So I won't even get a proper hello? Some thanks I get for saving your life." Rouge approached his bed and put a hand on her hip as she stopped. Her usual teasing tone was notably absent, but there was no real grudge in her words.

Sonic finally put his hands down fully to look her in the eyes before coming back up into a sit. "Right... Hi Rouge, and thanks for... You know." He gave her a tired smile.

"You're welcome." She smiled and sat down on his bed beside him. After a short while her expression shifted to a more serious one that held a hint of worry. "So what was that about?"

The hedgehog just looked out from the window with a grimace on his face. "I don't wanna talk about it."

She smirked. "You know, that's great, actually. I asked more so because it just seemed appropriate in case you'd want to vent, but since you don't, we've got more important matters to discuss other than relationship squabbles."

He snorted weakly at the bat's shameless bluntness. "Well, I'm glad we're on the same page then."

"GUN's been searching through that chamber we found you in. They've got some news. Not of the good kind."

Sonic's smile immediately faltered at her words. Straight to the point. "Those other Mobians... Did anyone else survive?"

Rouge shook her head. "No. Who were they? We got some data on a few of them but information was sparse, no criminal records either. Why were you all in there?"

The hero started fidgeting uncomfortably with an uneasy expression. "Ah... I've been spying on these guys for some time because they seemed suspicious. They were the ones who found and opened that chamber, I just followed in after. But..." Sonic paused to gulp the lump in his throat. "Since they're all... Dead... I guess it doesn't matter anymore." He shifted in his seat while absently tapping his fingers against his arm. He preferred to keep his answer short, there was no point in getting into details. Not for now, at least.

Rouge took a moment to study him in silence before speaking. "What do you mean by 'suspicious'?"

So much for not going into details. "I found their base by accident - it had all these weird records on chaos and the Starfall Islands, and I could tell they were doing some experiments in there. I just figured it would be best to keep an eye on them, and I guess I was right to do that since they were trying to get their hands on the crap that sent them to their graves. Who knows what they wanted to do with it."

Rouge perked up at the mention of a base but waited for him to finish. "You'll need to show me where that base is later, it could be useful."

"What is GUN researching specifically?"

"You know that pedestal in the middle of the chamber you blew up in? Turns out, that thing was a compact portal to the Cyber Space."

The hero was physically taken aback by the information, brows furrowed in confusion. "What? How? The portals I've been to were huge, one of those wouldn't have even fit inside that room."

"Because it didn't need to be. This one was made specifically with the artifact in mind and had it's own pocket of the Cyber Space, without access to, or from the rest of it. All of the data stored in there was related to that gem and was kept there in a way that cut it off from the rest of the world."

He gave her a questioning gaze. "But why? Why go to such lengths to preserve information if they didn't even want anyone to find it?"

Rouge sighed. "That thing is dangerous. Or, was. The Ancients hid it away as well as they could, but in case someone did end up finding it, they wanted to make sure that person knows what they are up against. Or at least for them to know as much as the Ancients did."

"What do you mean?"

"From the way it was written, it was clear they themselves didn't know what they were working with. They just found a way to harness some powerful energy and went right ahead to utilize it to their benefit. It was supposed to be a sort of 'boost' for the Chaos Emeralds, and the gem was a prototype meant to test the waters before injecting that energy into the actual thing. As you can probably guess, that didn't work out too well."

Sonic thought back on the way the energy had made him feel back in the chamber. It was cold and uneasy, he couldn't imagine merging that with the Chaos Emeralds. The consequences could be disastrous. "...So, what was wrong with it?"

The bat's demeanor suddenly turned hostile as she leaned into Sonic, making him reflexively flinch back slightly. "What was wrong with it, was that the energy those dumbasses harnessed was Dark Gaia energy! And they had no idea!" She poked a finger into his chest as she spoke, but leaned back afterwards and crossed her arms over her chest.

That explains the uneasiness he felt. He'd dealt with Dark Gaia before, though he didn't think it's power could be harnessed by outsiders.

Apparently he was wrong.

"...But the gem is gone now, isn't that problem solved already? Actually, why didn't the Ancients destroy it themselves?"

"They mentioned that. They didn't know what kind of damage destroying it would cause and didn't want to risk it. And no, the problem isn't solved - that amount of energy can't just dissolve into thin air. It needs a vessel." She turned to look him in the eyes. "That's what the bad news is. You are that new vessel, Sonic."

His heart sunk at her words, but he attempted to scramble for his deep-rooted confidence. The idea she proposed did make sense in pair with the unusual changes to his appearance, along with how... restless he's felt since waking up. Except that second part wasn't the case last time...

How would he get it out this time, anyway? Dark Gaia itself was the one to pull it out of him previously, but with the evil deity currently lying dormant, there was no way to know an alternative out of this predicament, and awakening it once more was far, far out of the picture. Is Rouge really even right about this? But he wasn't affected mentally the previous time - surely, she must be wrong, it has to be something else. Because if she isn't, that would mean he's gotten...

Regardless of the plausibility of this theory, he pushed away his initial frightened expression to put on a mask of nonchalance and shrugged. "Well, I've had that happen once already, right? Everything turned out fine in the end. I'm sure the same will be the case here too. Maybe I'll get a bit fluffier at night again I suppose-"

She grabbed a hold of his hand to stop him in his ramblings. "There is no transformation this time, Blue. You've stayed the same every night, except for this weird graying, but this doesn't go away during the day either. I haven't mentioned this earlier, but both Dark and Light Gaia's energies were in that artifact."

...

"Wait, what?"

She withdrew her hand, to which Sonic gave the spot she'd been holding a light rub. Her grasp wasn't painful, but he did so out of reflex and as an excuse to have something to occupy his hands with. "This is what complicates things. If it was Dark Gaia only, then maybe, but GUN's research concluded Light Gaia was present in there too. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe they used chaos to force the two together into a single environment."

Out of all the confusing things he had learned in the past ten minutes, this one was at the very top. If that's the difference that caused the energy to affect him differently, then why would Light Gaia of all things be to blame? "How? It's like trying to put together fire and water without putting one out, it makes no sense."

"They didn't know they were merging opposing elements and really just mashed them in. Chaos is holding them together, but they are still constantly at conflict with each other and are essentially like two rabid dogs on opposite sides of a fence." She paused for a moment. "You know, I haven't asked yet, but what actually caused the gem to explode in the first place?"

Sonic opened his mouth to speak but closed it just a second later. How did it explode? His memory of the entire battle was fuzzy and unfocused, and the images only became more and more unclear the further into the fight.

 

Metallic hands. Running Mobians. Pain. White.

 

Rouge waved a palm in front of his face, bringing him back to reality. "You in there? You spaced out a bit."

"Oh, um." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I... don't know.

"You don't know?"

"I can't remember the fight too well."

She hummed. "You could've hit your head, I suppose. None of the scans indicated brain damage but it is possible you just hit it hard enough to cause gaps in memory but not enough to make for visible damage."

"Oh, great. Brain damage. Just what I needed."

"Hmm? I thought you had that already, that's nothing new for you now, is it?"

"Ha. Ha. Beat up the trauma victim, bet that makes you feel better."

"Oh, it definitely does." She said teasingly. He only shook his head light-heartedly with a scoff.

His expression turned more into confusion as he noticed her regular eye contact has turned into a more intent staring, as if in search for something new to be found in them. The prolonged silence was making him more and more nervous with each passing second, so he turned to swiftly interrupt it. "Um... Can I help you..?"

Rouge blinked a few times and turned her gaze to the floor, realizing the discomfort she'd been putting on the hero. "Oh, it's just... "She paused in thought. "I think your eyes look more dull. Like they're... losing color. Could be another symptom of the gem..." She murmured the last sentence partly to herself as she held a finger to her mouth.

Another weird change. The urge to get up was unbearable now, and so despite the protests he knew would come, he threw off the blanket and tossed his legs over one side of the bed. The bat perked up at the sudden movement but refrained from any comments.

He looked down. First thing he noticed, there were no shoes waiting at the floor. Second, his legs were graying as well. Just phenomenal. His nose scrunched up at the sight but he chose to ignore that second observation. "Where are my shoes?"

Rouge looked him up and down for a second, likely taking in his new appearance in full, but didn't acknowledge it verbally. "You should be staying in bed, you know. Tails will get real mad with me if I let you out." He opened his mouth to try to provide a counter argument, but before he had the chance to speak she shrugged and continued. "So make sure not to tell him, will you? You're a big boy, I believe you can handle yourself. Your shoes didn't make it out of the explosion, though, unfortunately. You can use the slippers under the bed for now."

As much as he appreciated her compliance, the second part of her answer made his ears droop down with a saddened "Oh." Perhaps it was just a tad bit silly to grieve over a pair of footwear, but those really did feel special.

He shook himself out of the momentary sadness and leaned down to reach for the slippers buried under the bed. He put them on quickly and headed to the bathroom as Rouge only looked on with a cheek in her palm as she still sat on the bed, an awaiting look in her eyes. He was struck with mild nausea as he stood up, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle and so he continued with little to no resistance.

Sonic closed the bathroom door after himself and turned towards the sink. The room was small, everything you'd expect from a public hospital, but relatively well maintained as far as he could tell. He stopped in front of the mirror and leaned against the basin, finally able to take his new appearance in full.

Aside from all the changes he was able to spot earlier, he looked, frankly, like a mess. His quills were disheveled and unkept, the rest of his fur in a similar state. Though no one else had pointed it out, perhaps not noticing as it's more subtle than the other traits, but with the experience of seeing his own body for years every single day, he could tell how much duller his pelt has gotten. It was a far cry from the usual, vibrant blue of his quills, and the once peach colored arms and chest now looked to be beige at best. And just as Rouge had said previously, his eyes really were, in fact, losing color. And as if to compliment them, the bottom edges received some mocking parody of an eyeliner made of more graying fur.

All of this, along with the new color of his arms and legs, gave him a major sense of discomfort. It all was so unnatural. Wrong. He'd never faced issues with his body image up until now, but what he was looking at right now did not feel like his own. This was not him. He was the optimistic, vibrant hero of Mobius who always carried a smile ready for any occasion. He could not bring himself to smile at the doppelgänger in front of him.

Sonic was suddenly washed over with another wave of nausea, this time strong enough to cause him to release the nonexistent contents of his stomach right then and there into the sink. Since he hadn't eaten for the past few days due to his state, all that came out was an acidic clear fluid, and most disturbingly, some gooey, black substance mixed along with it. He coughed a few times and stepped back in horror once he opened his eyes.

Before the sight could cause him to repeat that same cycle all over again, he violently turned the tap on to wash away the vomit and turned his back on it, pressing his arms over his stomach. After a few seconds in which the water hopefully did it's job, he turned with his eyes closed for good measure and turned it off before immediately marching out of the bathroom. As he crossed the door's threshold, he couldn't even be bothered to put on any new expression, and so he entered the room with his disgusted grimace on full display for Rouge to see. He didn't care. He just had to go lie down again. Who cares if he already spent multiple days doing just that.

Rouge eyed him as he walked towards the bed with discomfort, though not in surprise. Without exchanging a word, Sonic flopped down under the blanket while ignoring the bat's presence, laying on one side with his back turned on her. After a moment of silence, she spoke. "I could hear you threw up in there. I hope that wasn't from the sight of that handsome face of yours, even if it is a bit less saturated than usual." She joked, not knowing that it was, in fact, the reason. He couldn't really blame her, she was just making an attempt to lighten the mood, and it's not like he expected his body to overreact this way either. "You should tell that to the nurses, though. I'm no medical professional, but it seems relatively important." The hedgehog's only response was a low grumble that could really be interpreted as either a yes or a no, though she decided to go with the more optimistic route.

"...What about my gloves."

She turned her head in his direction. "Hm?"

"Did at least my gloves make it?"

"...No. But there are spare ones in the shelf. They are the same as your old ones."

He pushed himself up on one elbow and reached for the shelf next to his bed. The gloves weren't hard to find as they were the only item inside and so he grabbed them quickly and slid them onto his palms. Rouge closed the shelf for him as he was busy adjusting them and muttered a sarcastic "You're welcome." once she received no acknowledgement of her politeness from the hedgehog. He only gave her a disinterested look in response.

At least his hands were covered now.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Rouge sighed and stood up from her seat, to which Sonic raised an eyebrow. "I should go now. I'm still technically supposed to be working now, so I better sneak back in before anyone notices I'm gone." She made a few steps towards the door but stopped to turn back to the upset hedgehog. Even if he wasn't interested in talking much anymore, the presence of another person was still comforting in this fragile state he was in right now. "Don't worry, Tails will probably wake up soon and I'm sure he'll run in here as the first thing the moment he does. I'll be busy for the rest of the week, but feel free to call if you need me." She resumed her tread towards the exist.

"...Thanks for visiting. And everything else."

Rouge turned her head in slight surprise as she held the door open but soon took on a genuine smile. "Anything for you, hon." She stepped out of the room and closed the door, leaving him alone once more.

 

---

 

His brother wouldn't arrive for a few more hours in which he itched to just run out to get the fox kit himself, but the persisting nausea prevented him from leaving the bed in fear of another unwanted incident.

He wouldn't be left completely alone though, as fairly soon after Rouge's departure, he'd get a visit from a doctor who'd surely been notified of his awakening by the agent. He obliged with all of the check-ups, answered the questions and then received food as apparently it was dinner time. It wasn't of restaurant levels of quality as you'd expect from hospital food and he wasn't even feeling all that hungry (likely due to having been fed some sort of nutrients through the IV drip earlier), but either way he forced the food down into his system, if at least to have something to distract himself with. But of course, he'd finish eating eventually and was once more left to rot in his bed with only his thoughts for company.

Though, admittedly, he did have a lot to think about this time, things he'd likely have to face eventually, so he may as well do it now. He peeked under his gloves multiple times as he tossed and turned, in a matter that wasn't too far off from when you'd peek into the fridge multiple times in a row, as if it's contents would magically change whenever you aren't looking. But just like in the case of the hypothetical fridge, the outcome remained the same each time, leaving him with only more disappointment and annoyance.

Dark and Light Gaia. That was not the combo he expected to ever be stuck with, but then again, it's not like getting blown up by a mysterious rock was ever a part of his bucket list. 

 

That fight with Amy. He'll have to apologize to her later for that. She was just worried about him and he yelled at her the first thing after waking up.  Does she hate him now?

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder how Knuckles is doing. Did he return too? Amy didn't mention him, maybe he's still out there. Maybe I didn't ruin it for at least one of my friends.

 

 

 

 

Where are you?

 

 

 

 

 

Please don't hate me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I DIDN'T ̴K̸IL̶L ̷T̵HEM.̵

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too loud

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure Tails will figure something out with the Gaia thing. I'm sure. Tails...

 

He missed him. So much. To think he was somewhere in the very same building, so close yet so out of reach. When was the last time he had seen him? Six months, maybe? Half a year... That's also how long he spent imprisoned by Eggman during the war. No, no, why was he even thinking back on that? This is long past him. He did feel similarly alone back then as he did now, though...

 

Why is his face wet all of a sudden?

 

Are those... tears?

 

He pushed himself into a sitting position once he felt the wetness on his cheeks and moved one hand to his face. What the hell?

Sonic doesn't cry. He never cries. So why are tears pouring out of his eyes so uncontrollably right now? Why won't they stop??

 

He felt a surge of panic as he heard the door open right at this very moment, but any rational thought came to a halt once he saw golden fur breach his doorstep. Tails entered the room initially with his eyes stuck to the floor, visibly exhausted and barely even awake, but was immediately jolted upright the moment he turned his gaze to Sonic who was staring at the door like a deer caught in headlights.

"Sonic! You're awake!!" The fox began running in the bed's direction with a wide smile on his face, but stopped himself whenever he noticed the tears on his brother's face, which were still creating a continuous stream down his cheeks. "Wait, why are you-?"

His unfinished question went entirely ignored by the hedgehog who leaped off the bed the second he came to, right into the kit's arms. "Tails! Oh, oh Tails I missed you so much lil' bro, you have no idea! Oh you've grown up so much, I- I-" Sonic's words got drowned out by incoherent sobs as he pressed his face against his brother's shoulder.

Tails leaned back a bit to look him in the eyes, vaguely distraught by the sudden emotional reaction. "I- I missed you too, Sonic, but- what happened?"

The hedgehog wiped his face with a sniffle, along with a disproportionately wide smile that heavily contrasted against the state of his eyes. "Nothing, I'm all good now, I'm good - because you're here now, I'm good..." He pressed himself back into the fox's shoulder, and this time he simply let him settle and squeezed him into a tighter hug, resorting to simply wait until Sonic calmed down enough to speak.

 

They held each other for several minutes, the only sounds to interrupt the silence of the room being occasional sobs and sniffles from Sonic, and a few whispered words of comfort from Tails.

 

 

 

Chaos, what is wrong with me

 

 

 

Notes:

Art featured made by me (slightly outdated by now)

Tumblr: @qisty89

Also just gonna note that in my iteration, bare hands aren't considered "obscene" or anything, unusual at most. Consider it like how you'd see someone walking bare-foot on the street, you'd probably glance for a second, question it a bit and then move on. It's more or less the same here, kinda weird but often justifiable and nothing to get flustered over

Chapter 3: Turns

Summary:

Sonic goes back to the real world.

Tails is sitting at one of the tables in the hospital cafeteria, awaiting with a glass of juice in front of him and staring at it as if it could answer all of life's greatest questions. The cafeteria is nearly entirely empty as it is early in the morning, with only some quiet chatter of the staff coming from the back of their designated room. Ever since Sonic's awakening, the fox has had a difficult time getting some time alone. They have separated a few times over the days, but each time Sonic specifically had to be the one to leave his brother's side, as any attempt from Tails would result in major distress visible on the hedgehog. Any time it happened, it would remind the kit of their first conscious meeting after his return, which served as a great deterrent from the world outside of Sonic's room.

The encounter was... distressing, to say the least. Tails has never seen his brother in this sort of state before, not even after his return from the six months he spent being held hostage by Eggman. Back then, even though he could see just how traumatizing the experience most likely was for Sonic, he still hadn't seen him shed a single tear. Even through the trembling of his hands, with eyebags under his eyes, the hedgehog still put on a tired smile just for Tails' sake. Still put his well-being first, telling him how brave he was and how hard he worked, even if he was the last person that should be putting in the effort to comfort others.

To see his seemingly unbreakable role model so, well, broken, felt shocking, but also comforting in a certain way. To see that even the most idolized of heroes can have a moment of weakness. This new side of him helped humanize him in a way Tails never thought he was missing. But at the same time, the fox felt helpless. Unable to help his brother, unable to provide what he needed most at the current moment. Not without knowing what had triggered this state in the first place.

He had been meaning to meet up with Amy for a one-on-one talk for a while now, and so even despite the fact the hedgehog was meant to be discharged tomorrow morning, Tails took the first opportunity that presented itself, which was Sonic going away for a few final tests. He believed the process would take at least two hours or so, so in that small time frame the fox had opted to give Amy a quick call with the meeting place. He noticed her total absence in the past days, though the only reasoning Amy would provide over their private messages was that they had 'a bit of a fight', so Tails was hoping to be able to prod her for more details in person, along with several other questions he had in mind.

As the fox was busying himself with mindlessly twirling around a straw placed inside his orange juice, he perked up at the sound of the door opening. Not many people passed by at this time and place, so the chances of his friend being the source of the noise were quite high. And sure enough, at the door stood the pink hedgehog, briefly glancing around the area before quickly making her way over to his table and helping herself to a seat across from his.

"Hey Tails, how are..." She sighed in-between her sentence. "How are things with Sonic going?" She didn't quite seem angry, but somewhat agitated. She was obviously concerned, though from the way she spoke, it sounded like the concern was directed more at the fox rather than the person she was asking about.

"Hi. They're... fine. I think. He's been stable so far and he's actually getting released tomorrow, though he'll still have to come back a few times later for check-ups and such. The graying seems to have stopped, except for his eyes - there's barely any green left... But at least nothing in his tests indicated for that to be affecting his eyesight."

"Do you think it's reversible?"

Tails took a tentative sip of his drink. "I don't know yet. I'll be able to take a better look at everything when we get home, but as of now I didn't really want to bother him with all this stuff while he's recovering."

Amy nodded, but then leaned forward a bit with a more serious expression, pressing her elbows on top of the table. "He hadn't said anything stupid to you, has he?"

The fox let go of his straw and leaned back in his seat, his nose scrunched slightly in minor offense. "I know you had this 'fight' with him or something, but I don't think that's grounds for assuming he'd say something bad to me."

She huffed softly and relaxed a bit. "I know, but - had he been acting any weird lately? Any overreactions, out of character behavior?"

"No, why would he-?" He paused suddenly, crossing one arm across his chest and propping another over it to put a hand to his lips. He started his initial protests basically out of instinct, as jumping to his brother's defense came as naturally to him as breathing would.  Sonic really had been acting completely normally in the past three days, he'd laugh, joke, spoke to him the same way as he always has. It almost made Tails forget the event from their initial reunion. Almost. "...Actually, there was one thing."

Amy perked up, concern mixed with annoyance. "Oh, please don't tell me he yelled at you."

"No, nothing like that. It's just... It was after I first got to his room after he woke up. When I walked in, he had been... crying."

The second he spoke out the last word, any annoyance completely dissipated from her face, replaced only with worry. "Sonic? Crying?" She leaned back, clenching the cloth of her skirt in her hands underneath the table. "Oh no... I hope it wasn't because... Did- Did he tell you why?"

Tails grimaced and looked down to his glass. He preferred to keep his eyes on anything other than his friend's face, just to keep his train of thought intact. "That's the thing. When I asked right after I noticed it, he just hugged me and after that... he was crying too hard to speak. When I tried to ask after he'd calmed down, he just brushed it off, like he always does..." He muttered the last part under his nose. "But after that, when I tried again the next day, he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. Like, genuinely this time. Like he just... forgot it happened."

Amy stared, analyzing his words with parted lips. She then closed her mouth and glanced around with her brows furrowed as she came to some sort of conclusion. "Have you talked to Rouge?"

The fox was taken aback slightly at the sudden odd question. "No? What does Rouge have to do with this?"

"She called me the evening after Sonic woke up. Apparently, the gem from that explosion contained... Dark and Light Gaia. And Sonic somehow absorbed it. That's why I asked you about his behavior."

Tails looked in surprise and concern. "What? But- he's- he's nothing like how he was when Earth got shattered, and he was possessed with Dark Gaia too back then! He told me - Light Gaia itself has said his will was too strong for it to influence him that way, because he is!"

The pink hedgehog twiddled with her thumbs with a light grimace. "What if... something's changed since then?"

The kit stared in shock at what she was implying, but then shook his head and stood halfway from his seat. "No, no - it has to be something else - I bet Light Gaia being mixed in is somehow messing with things, I don't believe anything else to be the case. Sonic is the strongest person I know - he'd never give in. It's something else, and I am going to prove it. " He jammed his finger into the tabletop as he spoke out the last sentence, emphasizing his point. Amy only looked up at him in worry.

Sonic's emotional outburst couldn't have been related. Sonic was still the strongest person Tails has ever met. No amount of tears or any evil deities would ever change that.

"I hope you're right."

 

---

 

Sonic threw off his bag as he passed the door’s threshold, Tails following close behind him. “Oh, how I missed this place!” He stretched his arms out into the air as he spoke, while the fox kit made his way over to the couch to put down his own bag as well, beginning to take his shoes off afterwards.

“Can you take your shoes off too? I’d rather my house stayed dirt-less, if you don’t mind.” Sonic has received brand new sneakers from Tails ever since the accident, as the red ones he’d used to wear were destroyed in the explosion, as he came to discover earlier. Well, maybe ‘brand new’ isn’t the best way to put it, as in reality those were his back-up shoes he had left at Tails’ house years prior. He got them in case his main ones were unavailable for whatever reason, but never actually got around to wear them until now. They were fairly similar shape-wise to the red sneakers he was used to, with the main difference being their color, as they were dark blue with silver clasps instead of gold. He didn’t really love this color palette, which was one of the reasons why he never actually wore them, but the traction resistant soles he required weren’t that easy to get, so he had to settle for what he had.

The hedgehog paused in his stretches to look back at his brother. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m about to leave again anyway.”

Tails tilted his head to the side in confusion. “What? We literally just got here. Aren’t you even gonna unpack your things?”

Sonic waved a hand through the air. “Eh, I can do that later. I’m sick of sitting in one place, besides, I have some unresolved business that needs resolving.”

The fox gave a questioning look, but chose to simply straighten back up and begin unpacking. “If you say so. But don’t expect me to unpack your stuff for you while you’re gone.”

“Sure, sure.” The hedgehog only gave a small wave over his shoulder without even turning to look at the kit and dashed back out of the door.

 

Being able to finally run again after being stuck in bed for multiple days was exhilarating, but even if in mind he was completely willing to run for the same amount of time as he spent in the hospital, his body had some objections. The lack of physical activity would make its toll even on someone like him, and as a result, he ran out of stamina pretty quickly. He'd been avoiding the subject of his predicament ever since Tails' arrival, as the joy he brought with his mere presence was enough to wane off any negative thoughts Sonic may have had, so to now be stopped from doing his favorite activity, with the cause being the exact thing he'd been avoiding, was quite the wake up call.

The fact he was staring right at his arms and legs while clutching his knees as he was catching his breath certainly wasn't helping.

That call back to reality did have a positive side, as in his thrill he'd nearly forgotten about the business he had said he'd resolve, which was to apologize to Amy. Back in the hospital, he swore to himself that the first thing he'd do after being released back into the world would be to make up with her, with the desire only intensifying with each day she ignored his messages and refused to visit. So, with that realization, he resumed his jog, this time in the direction of Central City.

 

---

 

The shift between the wilderness of forests and plains into the crowded city was uncomfortable, to put it lightly. It's been a while since Sonic has been to Central City, as without Amy, or anyone, really, he didn't have much of a reason to go there. The main reasons for his presence in the city had always been either for Amy, to hang out with other friends, or to stop some sort of catastrophe this city seemed prone to attracting, but with all of these out of the picture, the hedgehog limited himself to more remote, quieter areas. Despite what you might think, being a world-renowned hero and all that, he wasn't really a fan of big crowds and the amount of attention they brought.

Thankfully, the apartment Amy lived in was closer to the outskirts, and so he pushed for his deep buried strength to get to his destination as quickly as possible after entering the city's borders. Though he was slower than he'd be under normal circumstances, he was fairly confident he still looked like nothing more than a blur of color to the outside world, therefore managing to keep all unsuspecting eyes away from his.. new look, so to speak.

He stopped in front of the door, and it felt like all of the nervousness he had managed to keep away up to this point was thrown back at him at full force. Despite this, not wanting to stay outside for too long, he took a deep, shuddering breath, and then knocked.

And knocked again.

And again.

Apparently he was even more nervous than he thought, as a few seconds of silence proved to be enough for him to start hastily and continuously knocking at the door in what could only be described as panic. It did seem to work though, as soon enough he could hear an annoyed "I'm coming, I'm coming, jeez!" muffled through the door. It was only at that moment that he realized what he had been doing and rushed to withdraw his hand back to his side as to not aggravate the homeowner any further.

The door opened just a moment later with a somewhat annoyed and confused Amy at the other side. Her expression turned into one of surprise, but before she got the chance to speak, Sonic started first. "Hi Amy, please don't close the door I just wanna talk, can I please come in? Please? I promise I won't take too long, I swear." The words were stammered out so quickly that Amy could barely make out their meaning, though instead of turning to anger as Sonic had been expecting, she seemed to only get nervous and hesitant at his sight.

She stood at the side of the frame, leaning the door against her body as to hide the inside of her house from view. "Sonic, can we talk later? I kinda have a guest at the moment..."

A guest? He hadn't considered the possibility of her having anyone over just as when he decided to visit, but then again, it's not like he could've warned her beforehand considering the cold shoulder he'd been getting. Or at least probably not, truthfully he gave up on attempting any contact two days prior, deciding to just get things over with in person. Oops, maybe.

"Oh, who is it? I won't bother you, I'll make it quick, I promise." Amy looked at him with more hesitance, but he was really running out of patience at this point. He's sure that whoever it is behind the door will understand. And so, he chose to simply push himself in-between Amy and the door, not waiting any further for a response or an invitation. She made a grunt and some failed attempts at words at the display of Sonic's complete lack of manners, but opted to just let out a disappointed sigh as he already made his way inside and simply slammed the door shut.

Well, alright, maybe the guest wouldn't actually understand his situation as he had predicted, as behind the door he was met with the last person he was ever expecting it to be, sat calmly on the couch with one leg over the other and sipping a cup of tea.

"Shadow?! What are you doing here?!"

The darker hedgehog's calm demeanor shifted to a slightly annoyed one as he noticed the newest arrival, with his only response to the hero's question being a questioning glance at him, the cup in his own hand, and back to Sonic. Otherwise put, 'drinking tea, obviously.'

The blue hedgehog gave him an unamused look. "Well, yeah, I can see what you're doing, what I'm asking is why."

Shadow put his cup down in its holder at the coffee table and leaned back with a sigh. "You need to be made aware that you aren't the only person Amy can be friendly with, hedgehog."

Amy decided to step in before the situation could escalate into something far less peaceful, physically standing between the couch and Sonic who seemed intent to throw out another fueled response. "Shadow just wanted to catch up after I got back from my journey, that's all."

Sonic made a step back from his friend to take a confused look at both hedgehogs, gesturing a hand between the two of them. "Since when are you friendly enough for that?"

This time, it was Amy's turn to look offended. "Years? Sonic, you've seen us hang out before."

"No, I mean- since when are you friendly enough for Shadow to go out of his way to meet up with you? On his own?? Like, not dragged in by Rouge or not asked to be here by someone else?"

The pink hedgehog sighed with annoyance and made a downwards motion with both hands. "Okay, okay, you're here to talk with me, right?" She turned to Shadow. "Shadow, would you mind going to the other room for a minute? It won't take long."

The dark hedgehog stood up with a grimace. "That won't be necessary, my evening is already ruined anyways. I will just go now, see you later Amy." He said with some minor disappointment in his voice, though his face remained as stoic as ever, and without waiting for a response, simply warped out of the house in a flash of blue light.

Amy turned and threw her hands in the air with a huff. "Great, you scared him off."

Sonic raised a brow with slight amusement. "You talk about him like you'd talk about a cat."

She turned back to face him. "Because he basically is like a wild cat! You know how rare it is for him to come to me on his own? I was so excited, and now-" She stopped herself before her speech could devolve into an endless rant. "Anyway, anyway, what did you want to talk about?" She crossed her arms across her chest expectantly. The amusement on the hero's face vanished as he saw her obvious disappointment, his own expression getting replaced with slight guilt.

"Right." He gestured to the couch before making his way over to it himself, taking a seat at the spot Shadow had occupied earlier. As he waited for Amy to follow, he took a glance at the abandoned cup of tea in front of him and decided to use this opportunity to have a free drink. He soon came to regret his decision however, as the moment the beverage hit his throat, he forced it out with a choke. "He drinks this?!" He asked in-between coughs, pointing to the cup as if it had offended him, while his friend sat down next to him with a questioning stare. The abomination that dared call itself tea was probably the most bitter, disgusting thing he'd ever had in his mouth.

"Why would you even-? Eh, whatever, he said he needs stronger tastes or something to actually feel them, something related to his heritage. Anyway, can we please get back to the main subject?"

Sonic shook off the brief distraction as he put away the cup, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand to get rid of any remains of the drink, and leaned back against the couch. "Right, right, sorry. And what I wanted to talk to you about..." He started subtly fidgeting with his gloves, looking down at the floor. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you earlier, back at the hospital. I know you were just worried and I- I agree with you, it was stupid of me. I really don't know why I lashed out like that-"

Amy put a hand on his shoulder with a worried look and sighed. "I- I know, Sonic. I didn't know the situation back then and... I'm sorry too. I really should've waited with that conversation for later, instead of mothering you right after you just barely woke up." She withdrew her hand and leaned her elbows against her knees. "I was just so worried and frustrated because I felt so helpless. This whole thing happened when I was gone and I... I just got so wrapped up in that journey, so busy acting like my own hero, not just the hero's sidekick - it felt nice to be looked at with admiration, not just as one of a group, but as an individual solely responsible for others' relief. Before I departed, I said I wanted to give my love to the world - and I do believe I accomplished that, but after all this time, I completely forgot about the people who need my love the most." She leaned back and looked at the blue hedgehog with pleading eyes. "And I don't even mean that in a romantic sense, just - you, Tails, Knuckles, even Rouge and Shadow or Cream, you're all so important to me, yet I pressed on for so long with my quest, convinced you'll all be fine without me because of how strong you are."

She pulled Sonic into a hug as he could do nothing but fall back limply against her. "Now I see that I was wrong, and that's okay. Everyone's strength has their limits. I shouldn't have left you all alone for so long, but now I'm staying for good, I promise." She squeezed him lightly as she spoke.

He wanted to argue with her. He wanted to protest, to say she shouldn't treat him like a weight that's holding her back. He wanted to say she shouldn't abandon her goals just because someone else couldn't handle being separated. That she should keep living for herself, not for others.

Instead, the only thing he was able to bring himself to do was to slowly wrap his own arms around her, reciprocating the embrace, and to wordlessly bury his muzzle in her fur.

 

 

He really has grown weak.

 

---

 

Sonic's tread back to Tails' workshop he still hesitated to call his home was painfully slow. The conversation with Amy left him feeling emotionally drained and... numb. He hated her decision, but even more than that, hated his own reaction to it, or more specifically, the lack of one as he failed to provide it. He's become a burden, and no amount of sugar coating was going to cover the bitterness that confirmation left in his mouth.

He found it uncharacteristically hard to push himself for anything more than a lazy jog, so instead of trying for even as much as that, he made his whole way back by walking. As a result, the journey back proved to be significantly longer than it would've been normally. But that was alright.

The numbness he felt left his mind uniquely blank. Usually, this kind of event would've left him with a million scrambled thoughts racing in the back of his head, all too loud to ignore or avoid, but not coherent enough to bring about any useful conclusion. Now, there was only silence.

Since when was trying to think so difficult?

...

He needs to see Tails.

 

But it seems someone else had other plans.

As he dragged his legs through the untrimmed, long grass while staring down at the ground, his attention was caught by a sudden flash of light just barely inside his periphery. Once he brought his eyes upwards, for a second time this day he was met with the familiar sight of a dark, striped hedgehog, looking right at him with his arms crossed.

The only sound he could make at that current moment was a still somewhat dazed, confused "Huh?"

Without a word, Shadow steadily approached him with one arm held out, swiftly grabbing Sonic by the wrist and pulling it up in front of him. "Do you know what caused this."

The hero blinked while still looking his rival in the eyes, before realizing what he was referring to was most likely the new markings he recently acquired. His gloves initially covered them entirely by the first time he put them on, but since then the graying has extended up to nearly reach his elbows, so they could no longer hide much. Now that he thought about it, it was somewhat odd that Shadow didn't acknowledge them in any way when they met earlier. He supposed he may not have noticed somehow, but obviously that was not the case.

After a few seconds of silence, the agent spoke up once more. "Sonic."

He blinked again as he regained clarity, pulling his hand out of the other's grasp and increasing their distance by a few steps. Shadow made no effort to keep his hold, remaining frozen in place as he awaited for a response.

"I do. Rouge told me already."

The darker hedgehog crossed his arms over his chest once more. "I've been told that during your first encounter with Dark Gaia, your will was apparently 'too strong to lose yourself'." Sonic grimaced at the words, washed down with a sudden sense of unease he couldn't quite explain the reason for. "But I have also been told of the strange behavior you've displayed ever since your awakening." He began closing the distance once again. "Care to explain?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"From what I've heard, you've shown a higher tendency for aggression, increased emotional sensitivity, and even more impatience than usual, which is something I never thought was possible."

The hero rolled his eyes at the last comment and crossed his own arms. "Don't just take anything anyone says at face value. They're exaggerating. Haven't you thought how I could be just a little restless from, oh I don't know, being chained to a bed after a serious accident? Anyone would be a bit more jittery from that."

Shadow furrowed his brows. "And what about today? How you shoved Amy away and invited yourself into her own house, just after a few seconds of being forced to wait. Didn't even take a moment to look back at the way you made her stumble. You are no longer 'chained to a bed'. Is that how you always treat your friends?"

Sonic stiffened, dropping his hands back to his sides, his nose scrunched in shock and offense. "What the hell are you talking about? I did not shove her!"

The agent grimaced angrily, deciding not to entertain the blue hedgehog's arguments and leaned forward, close enough so that the other could feel his breath against his fur. "I am warning you, hedgehog. If you do not get a grip and I deem you to be becoming a threat, I will not hesitate to stop you if it means keeping those around you safe." He leaned back. "You cannot run away forever." He disappeared in another flash as soon as he spoke out those words, leaving the stunned hero alone once more, with only the howling of the wind and the sound of the long blades of grass brushing against one another.

 

What did he mean by 'stop'?

 

 

Run away from what?

 

 

 

He didn't need stopping. His friends did not need to be kept safe. He was not a threat to them.

 

 

 

He has to see Tails.

 

---

 

During Sonic's absence, Tails has been busying himself with making dinner for the two of them. Though he had planned to start working towards finding a cure for his brother's predicament the moment they returned home, without the subject himself by his side, there truthfully wasn't much he could do. He wished he had at least taken a blood sample, but at the time he didn't have the heart to stop the hero in place for any longer.

The research he'd done on the internet regarding Gaia gave him little more to work with, as in reality it is a fairly niche subject when related to hard facts. A significant chunk of the information he could find was written with religion in mind, so most of it was speaking of myths and legends. If not related to worship, another great chunk had been 'news' on the shattering incident, reports of casualties or data listing the numbers of losses, be it deaths, injuries or the financial kind from all around the world. There was one thing that he was surprised by, and that was how he easily found a digital version of the Gaia Manuscripts. It appeared that a translation of the documents has been made available to the public ever since the last time he'd seen them, though since this was mostly historical literature, it wasn't of much use for what he was looking for.

After deeming this fruitless venture finished, Tails decided he'd prepare chili dogs for whenever Sonic got back. He hoped that eating his favorite food would help ease his brother into taking in the news he intended to deliver.

He'd just finished placing down the plates on the table, two on opposing sides and one at the center with a generous stack of food, that he heard a click of the door opening. The table was located in a way that a simple turn of his head allowed him to see the source of the noise, which came from the exact hedgehog he had been expecting.

"Welcome back, Sonic! I just finished making dinner." He greeted with a smile as he turned around fully.

"Hey." Was the only response the hedgehog offered, unusually flat and lacking in emotion. His face matched his tone, as his expression was completely and entirely neutral.

The fox raised a brow at the odd behavior. He expected he'd be beaming and full of energy, just as he typically tended to be after returning from a good run. "Sonic? You okay?"

Sonic approached his brother with another single worded "Yeah." and stopped right in front of him before squeezing him into a tight hug.

Tails was caught off guard by the sudden embrace, but tentatively leaned into it, placing his own hands on the hedgehog's back. It was pretty clear now, he was decidedly not okay at the current moment, but the fox had a feeling he wouldn't be receiving any proper explanation if he tried asking for one. There it was, that feeling of helplessness again, all due to the total lack of information he was provided with. He wanted to be angry at his brother, how he always just bottles everything up and refuses to acknowledge any issues he might be having, but with the way he was currently buried in the other's short fur, it was hard to feel anything other than sadness. All he can do now is to at least try to bring him a bit of comfort.

Tails gently tapped at Sonic's back with a finger to bring his attention. "Do you wanna eat?"

The hero hesitantly let go of the fox and leaned back. His expression changed now, if only slightly, becoming vaguely more melancholy than it was earlier. "Okay." He gave him a weak smile and made his way to one of the chairs. Tails followed soon after to take his own seat.

"I made chili dogs, consider it a celebration of our first home dinner together after my return." He tried to pour in as much enthusiasm as he could muster into the sentence, mimicking the way he saw his brother do it so many times before.

Sonic's expression visibly brightened as he eyed the food, the corners of his mouth drifting up ever so slightly, and he started wordlessly grabbing his portion.

 

The first half of their meal was spent in silence as Tails watched his brother's demeanor slowly but steadily relax into one he was more familiar with, each bite of food pushing the gloom further and further away. Eventually, the fox felt comfortable enough to try starting some small talk, serving as the main contributor to the conversation at first before Sonic joined his efforts with growing confidence. By the end of their dinner, the atmosphere seemed to be back to the usual light-hearted air the house was typically surrounded with.

Tails stood up with the intention of cleaning up the table until he was interrupted by the hedgehog grabbing one of the plates out of his hand. "Leave it, you made the food so I'm cleaning up the mess."

The fox made a step back to give way to his brother who was already stacking all of the plates along with Tails' cutlery, as he was the only one among the two of them to actually use it. "Alright, if you say so."

He sat back down to his seat as the other made his way into the kitchen, nervously prodding at his gloves. He hadn't predicted the emotional state his brother would be in after his return, so earlier during the conversation he hesitated to bring the news he had. But since he didn't really have much time due to the short time of realization, now with Sonic's mood lifted it was probably the best chance he could get. He's back to acting pretty normal after all, and it's not like what he wanted to say was anything ground-breaking...

By the time Tails found his courage, the hedgehog was already finished with washing the dishes and was currently putting them away into the dryer. Without looking up, the fox began speaking. "I've decided I'm going to Spagonia tomorrow for-" He was suddenly interrupted by the loud sound of shattering. He jerked up, startled by the noise. "Sonic?!"

The hedgehog was standing there, frozen in place with his eyes wide. As the fox ran over and passed the kitchen counter, he could see one of the plates, laying broken on the ground. "You're leaving again?" Sonic asked while still remaining in the same position, staring off into a random spot in front of him. It was exactly the sort of reaction Tails was worried about.

"I'm not! It's just for a few days to-" He stopped himself the moment he noticed there was red trickling down the hero's leg, as apparently one of the shards must have nicked it upon impact. "Ack! Sonic, you're bleeding! Don't move, I'll get the dustpan-"

"Will you really come back?"

Tails paused in place. "I- what?"

"It's really only a few days?"

"Yes, of course! Why would I lie to you about that? I'm only going there to meet Professor Pickle for more information on Gaia-"

"Okay." Without another word, Sonic grabbed the dustpan from under the counter he was standing next to by himself and began sweeping away the shards, the blank expression he wore at his arrival back to his face.

Tails only stared in concern at the display before deciding to head for the first aid kit.

 

Notes:

His seperation anxiety is probably worse than your dog's

Chapter 4: Crossroads

Summary:

Sonic hangs out with friends.

Notes:

A little shorter this time but eventful

As Tails cleans out his brother's wound, he takes a moment to look up to his face. He's sitting on the couch, the injured leg brought up to his chest as he waits for the fox to finish. The haunting blank expression is gone, but the look in his half lidded, newly silver eyes feels no less distant than before, with his gaze clouded and unfocused.

"...How about I put off my plans to day after tomorrow?" That finally captures the hedgehog's attention as he blinks and turns his eyes down to meet Tails', who's currently crouched down on the floor as he works on the wound. The expression remains the same, but at least now it seems like he's actually looking at what's in front of him. "We could have a day out tomorrow, just you, me and Amy - like old times." It would've been a more proper call back were Knuckles to be included, but... He's not here at the moment.

Sonic now turns his head to fully face him. "...Why?"

"Huh? Oh, well - I thought that maybe my initial decision was kind of rushing things... We haven't even gotten the chance to all hang out together - and one day won't make that much of a difference, right?"

The hedgehog eyed him somewhat suspiciously, as if unsure of what to make of this sudden change of heart, until eventually turning his head to the side and resting it on top of his knee. "I guess."

 

---

 

Sonic's uncontrolled slip-up, both the literal and figurative one, was a major inconvenience. The second the mere possibility of Tails leaving again was brought up, it was enough to make his arms weak and brain go empty. It was as if he started running on autopilot for the next several minutes, except whoever programmed said autopilot did a damn bad job. Once again, because he just couldn't think, he led to the push back of another person's plans.

 

As much as he'd like to deny it, Dark Gaia really is messing with him now. For what reason it is different this time, it doesn't matter. All he knows is he needs it out.

One day does make a difference. But he just couldn't get himself to deny the offer.

 

And so, by the next day, the two adoptive siblings stand at Amy's doorstep, for the second day in a row in Sonic's case. They are arriving unprompted, but the chances of her having anyone over again were fairly low. Plus, it was a saturday.

The hedgehog urges Tails to be the one to knock as he doesn't trust himself with the door after yesterday. The fox obliges, paying no mind to it and lifts his hand up.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Just three knocks, as it's supposed to be done. Sonic's foot starts tapping against the ground as they wait.

Soon enough, the door opens. "Oh! Hey guys." Amy turns her head towards the blue hedgehog with a gentle smile. "Hi again, Sonic." Tails raises an eyebrow with a side glance to his brother at the word 'again'. He hadn't told him of his yesterday's visit, so obviously he'd be a bit out of the loop. He's barely talked at all since then, really. It's not because he couldn't, or because he had nothing to say, because he did. He chose to limit his words to a minimum out of fear of what he would say. Staying quiet was the safer option.

"Hey, Ames." Just be normal.

"Hi Amy! We just thought that since I'll be gone for the next few days-" Sonic flinched unconsciously. "-we could use the chance to hang out all together while I'm still here. Sorry we just showed up without any warning like that, but-"

"Oh, don't worry, it's fine! I'm free all day, though where are you going already? Isn't it a bit soon?"

"Ah.." Tails nervously stepped closer to Amy and whispered something into her ear. Why does he feel the need to do that. She nodded in understanding to whatever he said.

"Yeah, sure, I'm up for some chill with friends. Where do you wanna go?"

Sonic grimaced with his arms crossed. As the fox was about to propose some kind of plan, he decided to add in some commentary of his own. "Why did you have to whisper that to her? I already know you're going away, Tails. I'm fine." He was still tapping against the ground. Both of his friends turned to him in surprise, then looked away awkwardly.

"Sorry." Was the only word the kit gave in response, as Amy rubbed her arm in guilt.

The hero sighed and turned his head upwards. "Whatever. It's fine, we can go to a restaurant or something."

The pink hedgehog decided to chime in with her own proposition in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Oh! Oh! There's this new mall that opened nearby, we can go there!" She clasped her hands, visibly excited. "We can go to the movies, buy some nice clothes and go out to eat later!"

Both brothers scrunched up at the mention of clothes, Sonic struggling to hold in a groan. The other options did sound nice though, so he kept his mouth shut.

Tails gave a slightly crooked smile. "Sounds greaaatt!" The words came out visibly strained, but Amy kept up her enthusiasm. Though with the way her expression darkened slightly, even with a beam maintained on her face, she clearly wasn't a fan of the poorly hidden distaste.

She put her hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "I'm so glad you agree!" She leaned forward to the fox. "If you're so excited, maybe we could even pick out some dress for you too, little guy~"

Tails' eyes only widened in horror as Sonic snickered on the side.

 

---

 

The group chatted as they walked, voicing their opinions on the movie which they'd just finished watching at the earlier promised cinema. Sonic was still drinking a cup of soda, the second one that day as he bought another one right after emptying his first. He's gotten more relaxed during their outage, briefly forgetting their current circumstances, though he didn't miss the occasional strange looks he'd get from passersby. It wasn't a problem inside the dark theater, with everyone focusing their attention on the screen, likely not even noticing his presence, but it was definitely starting to become a problem now. One that was making it increasingly difficult to enjoy his time.

"Sooo - what about that shopping session? Are we ready boys?" Amy cheered as she ran ahead of them and stopped them in their tracks, hands spread out in anticipation. Tails winced, likely thinking back on that dress proposition, still unsure whether she was just joking or not. He looked to Sonic pleadingly.

He did plan to propose something else at first, let her have her fun while they split to do their own thing. But as he felt the amount of eyes resting on him increase now that they were standing in place, he was struck with an idea. "...Actually, could we go to a sports store first?"

"Oh? What for?" The pink hedgehog asked with mild curiosity. Tails sighed in relief as the potential dress-up time with Amy probably got temporarily postponed. "Do you want to get new red shoes?"

"Nah, I doubt they'd have ones like that anyways. I thought I'd get sports tape, to cover up the..." He tapped on his arm awkwardly with his unoccupied hand, keeping his eyes locked to the side. Tails looked to his brother in worry but the heroine seemed determined to maintain the positive atmosphere.

"Oh, right... Good thinking! Okay, come on - I'll help you pick out a nice color!" She grabbed the surprised hedgehog by the wrist and started dragging him in a new direction, all the while Tails struggled to catch back up after their unexpected movement. Sonic threw his cup out somewhere along the way.

"Hey! Wait up!!"

 

 

He tried reaching for the red tape as it was the one to catch his attention first - red was his favorite color after all, but Amy caught his arm before he got the chance to grab it. "Oh no, no, no, no. I know you like red, but-" She gestured at his general figure, earning herself a confused look. "It will not fit at all, I'm not letting you bastardize your image with unmatching colors."

"What? But I look great in red!"

"Yeah, when that was the only color you wore! Red will look so weird with the blue shoes!"

"My literal whole body is blue." Mostly.

"That's different!"

"How is it different??"

Tails only stood at the side, awkwardly watching the two bicker on the admittedly silly topic. On one hand, he'd like to side with his brother. On the other hand, Amy is scary. And especially scary when it comes to topics she's passionate about - and fashion was unfortunately one of them. So he chose to just sit that one through and let the two settle on their own.

The pink hedgehog reached for a different roll, this one a blueish, dark gray. "This one will match the color of the sneakers. If you're not gonna buy it, then I'll buy it for you." Without letting the other answer, she decidedly grabbed his wrist and started dragging him once again, this time going for the checkouts. Sonic only groaned in defeat, knowing full well the stubborn heroine would not be willing to give in on that particular matter. She smirked at him on the side during the entire checkout process.

 

Sonic decided to put the newly acquired tape on in one of the changing stalls. Though it's not like he was putting on anything... intimate, it still felt wrong to just do that in front of dozens of random strangers. He wrapped his arms and legs only just enough to cover up the gray fur as any more wasn't really necessary, and so the tape ended up reaching only up to his knees and elbows. He couldn't as easily hide any of the markings on his face or quills, but this much still gave him at least a slight sense of security.

He looked to the mirror inside the stall, and as much as he hated to admit it, Amy was right with the color choice. It did look better than red would have. Not without unease, he turned his gaze upwards towards his face. It was the first time he's looked into a mirror ever since that one time at the hospital, as he's made a great deal of effort to avoid any and all reflective surfaces since then. He did grow more accustomed to the new look over time, but it never stopped giving him discomfort.

Ah. His eyes are fully gray now too, it seems. Maybe silver would be a better way to put it. Nobody tried pointing out any changes ever since the hospital, probably as to not upset him, so he hadn't realized the green was fully lost somewhere along the way. The gray tips of his quills haven't changed much, perhaps getting just a little longer, but that was more or less it. Though what wasn't there before was a gradient of somewhat darker blue quills that started where the gray ended. It reminded him of the werehog form. As if over time, he did actually transform, but only partially. Like something was... blocking it from reaching full potential. Hm.

Could it be due to Light Gaia? Maybe. That wasn't the time and place to think about that though.

He left the changing rooms to meet back Tails and Amy who were still standing outside, waiting for his return. The pink hedgehog was the first to notice him.

"You look great! Told you I made the right choice." She said proudly as she put her hand on her hips. Sonic just scoffed light-heartedly.

"I agree, it does look pretty nice." Tails added.

"Of course it would, I can rock any look." He put on a confident smirk. It's odd how Sonic has to actually force himself to act cocky this time. Truth was, the new accessory was merely a necessity for the sake of hiding his true appearance - and that true appearance was no longer something he had pride in. Thankfully, this sort of response was one he was so used to giving that there was not a hint of a lie to be heard in his tone.

 

The group started walking towards the store's exit. "So! Where to next?" Amy asked with a hinting smile.

Sonic sighed as they passed through the entrance. "I suppose we can go see those-" Suddenly he was interrupted by a yell from a distance.

"Hey gang!" Rouge called out as she flew towards them, an annoyed hedgehog along with a massive robot covered in bags following close behind.

"Rouge! It's so cool to be running into you here!!" Amy cheered, pulling the bat into a hug the moment she landed on the ground.  "Hey Shadow! And uh, Omega!" She smiled towards the dark hedgehog, and attempted a smile for the robot. The agent gave a greeting nod while Omega offered no reaction.

"Hey Rouge, and Shads." The dark hedgehog only sent him a glare. Well okay then.

"What's up, Blue? Doing any better? Nice new outfit, by the way."

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, thanks. I'm better now, back to full health, I'd say." He put his hands on his hips. The bat nodded with a smile while Shadow's eyes narrowed, staring right at him. What is this dude's deal this time?

"Oh! Oh, this is such perfect timing! We were just about to look at some dresses for me and Tails!" The fox's mouth went agape.

Rouge snickered. "Tails? Well, I suppose puberty does hit different for all of us."

"You weren't joking about that?!"

"Nope! Come on, let's go let's go!" Amy grabbed both the fox and the bat into each hand, pulling them away from the rest of the group. She turned her head as she ran and called out carelessly. "You boys go find something to do in the meantime! We'll meet again in like an hour!" Tails looked back to his brother in terror. Oh well, rest in peace bro, you will be missed.

Sonic glanced to the two standing at his sides. Did Amy seriously just leave him alone to hang out with an unhinged robot and the guy who looks like he's currently plotting his murder?

The agent seemed similarly confused at the whole ordeal as he was, while Omega... It's hard to say what that guy is thinking at any time, really.

"So, uh... Now what?"

The robot turned his back to the two. "I WILL OCCUPY MY TIME WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF DIGITAL ROBOTS." He started walking away from the hedgehogs without waiting for a response, still dragging Rouge's shopping bags behind in his claws.

"Uh huh, so the arcade, I guess. Alright, so what do you wanna do Sha-" He stopped himself as he saw the agent already walking in a different direction. "Where are you going?" Sonic ran up back to Shadow's side.

"Leaving."

"Where? Aren't you gonna wait for Rouge?"

"Obviously she doesn't need me here anymore, and I have no business of my own in this place."

"Oh, come on, don't be such a jerk! Besides, this is the perfect chance to hang out with the Hero of Mobius himself in a way that doesn't involve kicking each other's teeth in!" He nudged the other in the shoulder which made him stop in place. Shadow looked at him with an expression as if he's grown a second head. "What?" Sonic asked, confused by the agent's even more hostile than usual demeanor.

"What is your deal."

The hedgehog paused. "...Nothing? What is your deal? You're even more hateful than usual."

Shadow gave him that same look again, genuinely shocked by the other's cluelessness, and so Sonic asked again. "What??"

"Are you serious?"

"About hanging out? Yeah, sure, I got nothing to do, so we may as well-"

"Why are you acting as if nothing happened?"

Sonic was mildly taken aback by the question. "Uh, did something happen that I'm not aware of?"

"Yesterday."

He took a moment to think back. Did he do anything to offend him so much? Was it that he was surprised to see him coming over to Amy's? He didn't really seem that offended though, no more than he usually does anyway. "...Is it about what I said with you and Amy?"

"No, you idiot, when we met afterwards."

"What afterwards? We didn't even meet afterwards, I went home, what are you on about?"

The agent looked at him, flabbergasted. Then, suddenly, it was as if he was struck by a realization.

"What?? I swear, this is the most times I've asked 'what' in a single conversation ever."

"...You don't remember." Shadow muttered, as if more to himself than the person in front of him.

"Huh?"

The agent began glancing over from side to side, scanning their environment, before grabbing Sonic by the bicep. "We'll be back in a minute." He stated, and without giving the other a chance to even process what he'd said, warped the both of them away from the mall. They were suddenly standing in the middle of some field, the grass long enough to reach their waists. It was quiet, without any sign of civilization.

Sonic stumbled briefly, confused by the sudden change of scenery. "Can you warn a guy next time?" He blundered out before glancing around. He realizes he recognizes this place as it is on one of his routes from Amy's home to Tails'. "Why did you bring me here? You're not tryna seclude me to kill me in peace, are you?"

Shadow let him have a moment to settle before grimacing. "You don't recognize this place?"

"I mean, I do, I always go this way when I go back from Amy's, but I feel like that's not what you want me to be recognizing."

The darker hedgehog sighed as he crossed his arms, looking up at the sky. "Honestly, what's even the point of threatening someone if they won't even remember it by the next day."

"Excuse me?"

The agent gave no reaction to the remark. "Have you had any other cases of memory loss since that accident of yours?"

Memory loss? So that's what the whole thing was about. Another symptom. What happened between them that he supposedly doesn't remember? "I don't think so? Even if there were, how am I supposed to know."

Shadow sighed, closing his eyes. "Because of course not." He grabbed the other hedgehog once more, teleporting them back to the same spot in the mall they stood in earlier.

Sonic put a hand to his head, swaying in place from a brief wave of dizziness. "Oh, what did I just say about warning-" He settled in place, but pinned his ears back as they were assaulted by a sudden barrage of sound, contrasting heavily against the quiet of the wilderness.

As he regained his composure, he saw the agent was already holding up the communicator on his wrist up to his mouth. "Rouge, I've got an update on the situation. Where are you?"

The situation? "Are you keeping tabs on me or something??" The hero asked, with the other glaring at him in response for interrupting his conversation.

"Alright, see you there." Shadow responded into the device before pulling his hand back down. He sighed. "Yes, we are. Dark Gaia is dangerous and unpredictable, especially if mixed with Light Gaia. Obviously we'd want to keep track of your state in order to make sure you aren't a threat."

 

Threat. He is not a threat.

I am not a threat

"I am still me." Sonic growled. "Why doesn't anyone trust me anymore? Did Rouge talk to me only for her reports to GUN?! Is that all I am now?!" He yelled out, bringing the attention of the people passing by. But all he could see now was Shadow's distaste. The lies.

The agent was taken aback by the sudden outburst, before glancing around to see all of the eyes focused on the two of them. He pressed his hands against the other's shoulders, his expression angry, but also somewhat distressed. "Get a hold of yourself. There are people around."

The blue hedgehog pushed the other away, briefly making him stumble. "What hold?! Apparently, I have no hold! Now, everyone seems to be scared to look at me wrong, because I got too weak to fight off that bullshit on my own!"

 

Sonic was trembling now as he yelled, loud enough to create a steadily growing crowd of people stop to look at the commotion. Too many eyes. Shadow gritted his teeth. He needs to get them out of there. Unable to think of anything else, he grabbed the hedgehog's wrist and warped them away from the masses. The other yanked his hand out as soon as he did, but the deed was already done. He really hadn't planned to be teleporting with 'baggage' so many times in such a short amount of time and it was starting to wear him down. He could only hope he won't be forced to fight the blue idiot.

He teleported them in somewhat of a panic, without any specific location in mind. The agent scanned his surroundings, seeing he had unconsciously sent them to their training grounds they used to spar in. It was an empty piece of land padded with sand in the middle of a lush forest. It wasn't intentional, but the secluded place worked well enough for the current situation.

As he looked down, he was surprised to see Sonic was crouched down on the ground, hands covering his ears with his eyes squeezed shut. His breathing was ragged and uneven as he tried to shut himself off from the rest of the world.

Shit.

He hates dealing with these types of situations.

The moment stretched on as he was overtaken by uncertainty, the only sound to fill the air being Sonic's unregulated breaths.

After Shadow finally came to, he tentatively moved himself into a crouch next to the other hedgehog, wrapping his hands around Sonic's wrists with the intention of pulling them away from his ears. The hero flinched at the contact, his eyes snapping open before falling backwards, now sat on the sand fully. He looked... afraid. Shadow can't recall ever seeing him look afraid before. "Breathe. We're alone now." Sonic did not answer, only kept staring him in the eyes with alarm and lips parted in confusion.

Shadow grimaced. He slowly lowered himself onto the ground fully, maintaining the same distance the other has created between them.

With his legs crossed, he put his hands together on his lap and set his eyes to the ground between the two of them. Making the hedgehog feel watched would likely only make things worse. He did still keep his ears up and alert, watching out for any signs of Sonic attempting to run off. But all he ended up hearing was rustling of foliage and the sounds of wildlife. There was occasional shifting at the front, some deeper, more audible breaths, but nothing that indicated an intention to leave.

The sun shining through the crowns of trees created a dappled, inconsistent pattern on the ground. Shadow decided he'd occupy himself with keeping track of its movements as it was influenced by the swaying of the leaves.

They stayed in this quiet coexistence for several minutes, maybe five, maybe ten. There was a buzzing from his communicator a few times during this period, but each time Shadow simply declined the call and returned to his initial position. Over time, he opted to simply close his eyes entirely, as sight wasn't a necessary sense in the first place if it was kept on the ground. His hearing and smell were perfectly adequate for the current situation. Though he may have seemed peaceful to the outside, he wasn't exactly relaxed as he remained acutely aware of his surroundings. Thankfully, patience was one of his strong suits.

Eventually, a few minutes after the last attempt for a call, Sonic spoke up at last. "I don't wanna be like this." He let out as a quiet mutter.  Shadow finally opened his eyes to rest them on his rival, who was now holding his legs up to his chest with arms wrapped around them, muzzle buried in his knees. The distress and anger from earlier were long gone now, and all that was left on his face now was a look of emptiness. "Dark Gaia didn't work on me four years ago. Why does it now? What happened to me?"

The agent hesitated to give an answer. Truth was, he didn't know either. But he could theorize. "...Many things have happened in your life in the last four years. Things that tore you down."

Sonic scoffed. "So I was right. I just got weak over the years."

"I wouldn't acknowledge someone weak as my rival."

The blue hedgehog only rested his head to the side against his knee, furrowing his brows.

Shadow sighed. It seems a more serious answer is in order. One he hesitated to give as he can already tell what the response will be. "Having trauma isn't equal to being weak."

Sonic finally lifted his head, brows furrowing even further in offense. "I don't have trauma."

Just what he thought. The agent scoffed in irritation, but before he could respond, the communicator buzzed again. He decided to pick up the call this time, putting it to speaker. "Finally! What the heck, Shadow? You can't just set me up for a meeting and then leave me in the dust! I thought you died or something!"

"I don't die."

"Whatever, the hell happened? Where are you?"

"There was a... detour. I needed to handle something else. I'll be back soon."

"Just so you know, I'll nag you more when we get home. We're waiting at the mall exit already with Omega." Another voice chimed in from the communicator. "YOU ARE WASTING MY TIME I COULD HAVE SPENT BY INDULGING IN DESTRUCTION. I WILL HAVE  NO CHOICE BUT TO MAKE IT UP BY RIDDLING YOUR BELONGINGS WITH HOLES." Shadow's eye twitched.

"I'll be there shortly." The agent stood up as he turned the device off, before looking over to Sonic who had been intently watching the entire interaction. "Go home. I'll tell your friends you had to go back."

Sonic stood up, still somewhat dazed, but remembered himself before the other could leave. "Wait, what happened between the two of us yesterday?"

Shadow hesitated, not expecting the topic to be brought back up. That really wasn't the best time. "...It doesn't matter anymore." It really didn't. It seems his yesterday's warning may have been misjudged anyway. "And by the way, about what you said earlier - no. Rouge talked to you because you are her friend. Her job rarely comes first in any case, especially one such as this, and you should know that."

The blue hedgehog looked to him confused, but the other flashed away before he could ask further.

 

He stood there for a few moments, contemplating, unsure. He then turned in the direction of Tails' workshop, obliging to Shadow's order.

 

---

 

There was a knock on the door, not long after Sonic had arrived. As he swung it open, he expected to greet back Tails, maybe even along with Amy. Instead, he was once again met with Shadow, who was holding some kind of book. Before he could voice his questions, the book was promptly shoved into his arms. "Write in this for the time being." The agent turned around, but added a last word in before leaving, his back still towards Sonic. "That is what I did in the past."

And just like that, as soon as he'd arrived, Shadow was gone.

Still standing at the door's threshold, the hedgehog took a glance at the book that was unexpectedly gifted to him. The cover was basic, made of brown leather, with an obnoxious 'My Diary' written on the front. He turned to the first page on instinct, and was surprised to see there actually was one entry already present.

In careful, neat handwriting, it said:

"Remember who you are."

 

Notes:

A lotta teleporting in this one huh?
Also I'm back with a chapter pretty early bc I was just really itching to write the Sonic Shadow interactions

I'd like to note that the main reason for Shadow's softer behavior in this chapter is due to the relatability of the situation. Relatable struggles are one of the few things that make the empathy in his brain turn on and he ain't a fan, but in general they still aren't really friends at the current moment. Yet.

Chapter 5: Revelations

Summary:

Sonic is left alone again.

Notes:

It's info dumping time

ALSO 100 kudos whoo! Thank yall :]

As Tails entered through the front door, right away he could see Sonic was lying on the living room couch, a book in hand. He was staring into it deep in thought, despite the fact it wasn't even open. For whatever reason, his brother seemed incredibly enamoured by some book's cover, just after he had unexpectedly abandoned a hang out session.

The hedgehog didn't notice the other's presence, as was indicated by a complete lack of a reaction when the fox closed the door after himself.

"Sonic?" Tails' call finally brought his brother back into reality as he visibly flinched, quickly rising into a sit as he put the book on his side.

"Oh, uh, hi Tails. Didn't hear you.

"Yeah, I noticed." He answered while slipping off his shoes. Once finished, he began approaching the couch and continued. "You feeling alright?"

"Um, yeah, why wouldn't I?"

The fox raised a brow. "Because Shadow said you were feeling ill and had to go home."

Sonic paused, mildly caught off guard. "Oh - uh, yeah I was kinda nauseous, I'm feeling better now after lying down." He let his legs fall off the side of the couch, clenching the book to his stomach.

Tails hardly believed his story, squinting his eyes in search for deception. But with no proof, he couldn't be jumping into conclusions and accusing his own brother of lying, besides - he was currently more interested in finding out what has caught the hedgehog's interest to this high of a degree.

"...Alright... What were you reading just now, by the way?" He's pretty sure he wasn't actually reading it, but phrasing the question this way felt significantly less accusatory than asking 'why are you staring at that book so weird'.

Sonic suddenly looked down, as if only now realizing that he was holding something, then back up to Tails. "Oh, uh... I wasn't reading. This isn't a book."

"Oh?"

The hedgehog shifted, seemingly contemplating his next words. "Hey Tails, was there anything that happened in the past week that I participated in but didn't remember happening later?"

The fox blinked, caught off guard by the straight forwardness of the question. After processing the words, he was immediately reminded of the event from the first day of Sonic's awakening.

Tails grimaced, uncomfortable about the subject's resurgence. "...Yes. I told you before, but you didn't believe me."

The hero looked down, furrowing his brows. After taking his time to think, he spoke back up. "...The crying thing?"

"Yes."

Sonic gritted his teeth, moving one hand up to scratch his neck while the other gripped the book tighter. "Oh, man. So that really did happen. And Shadow was right. Why did I cry?"

"...I don't know. You never told me. But, what was Shadow right about?"

"There supposedly was... a thing that happened with me and him yesterday, but I don't remember it. And then the thing you said happened to you - and, and how I can't remember what blew me up-" He laid back on the couch with a groan. "Yeah, no, too many to be chalked up to coincidence or something, my head is all fucked." His eyes went wide as he suddenly slapped a hand to his mouth. "Shit, I'm not supposed to curse..." Sonic muttered to himself, the sound muffled only partially by the fabric of his glove.

Tails looked to his brother in concern, then sighed, sitting down next to him. "...I guess that's another symptom. I heard that you didn't remember the accident, but I thought that was amnesia. With all the other stuff, it has to be something else." He glanced back on the item in the hedgehog's hand. "You still didn't say what that book is, though."

Sonic remembered himself, and brought the item to face Tails, showcasing the words written on the cover. "Shadow gave it to me after... he discovered that memory loss I had. He said I should start writing in it."

Tails eyed the cover, words spelling out 'My Diary'. "Shadow gave it to you?"

The hedgehog chuckled. "Yeah, weird, right? Who knew he had a... softer... side to him..." The humor in his sentence diminished with each word, getting quieter as he spoke them out, furrowing his brows. Unsure.

"So that's why he asked the same question earlier."

Sonic perked up. "He did?"

"Yeah. I guess he wanted to confirm it wasn't a one time occasion." The intense expression came back to the hedgehog's face, deep in thought. Tails added. "Well, either way, it's a good idea. It might help in the future."

The hero blinked, suddenly brought back to reality. He decided to change the subject. "So - uh, what did y'all do when Amy dragged you off?" He put on a teasing smile. "Did you buy any dresses?"

Tails pouted, a slight blush on his muzzle. "No. Amy was just joking with that, she actually had me try on some suits."

"Suits? What for?"

"She wants to do a homecoming party and wanted to dress me up all fancy, since I'm also returning after a while. The party was supposed to be sooner, but she put it off for after I come back."

Sonic looked down for a bit, unease visible on his features. "...Can I ask you a favor? Please, just - don't wake me up before you leave tomorrow."

The fox frowned, puzzled. "Why?"

He closed his eyes, posture slumping. "Just don't. Please. We'll say goodbye before going to sleep, okay?" He looked his brother in the eyes.

Tails took a moment, trying to think of the other's reasoning for this request, but eventually obliged. "...Alright. If that's what you want."

 

---

 

The following day, the young fox did as his brother had asked. He woke up at seven in the morning, quietly prepared breakfast for himself and an additional portion for Sonic to eat whenever he woke up, and left the house without uttering a word. He had guessed that in his more fragile state of mind, the hedgehog most likely simply wanted to spare himself the pain of watching him leave, even if he knew he'd be back soon enough.

Tails had to admit, it was incredibly bizarre to see his brother like this. It was so unlike Sonic to grieve merely a few days spent apart, when once there was a time where he himself would disappear for weeks at a time out of his own volition, just so he could run off to do literally whatever. He was so independent the last he's seen of him - so to have him regressed into this... What this thing he absorbed did to him was nothing short of awful.

But he was going to fix it. He had to.

Tails contemplated a lot during his flight to Spagonia. Did Dark Gaia somehow evolve in this short span of time to be more effective against him? Was Light Gaia somehow weakening him? Was there maybe something more they had missed?

He looked to his bag which was placed on the Tornado's floor next to him. Aside from all of the basic necessities and tools, he took with him a sample of Sonic's blood he had acquired the day prior, in order to hopefully get the answer to the last question. None of his equipment was capable of dealing with Gaia energy, but perhaps the University of Spagonia could provide more information.

 

As he descended below the line of clouds, Tails watched the city landscape in awe as if he'd been looking at it for the first time. To be entirely honest, he had already begun to miss the thrill of seeing foreign places during the past week. His year long adventure really made him fall in love with traveling, learning new things from all around the world, discovering things he never would have otherwise. Now, knowing he was confined to his own home left him suffocated. Even though he did feel the occasional home sickness, knowing there now was someone who needed him at their side for who-knows-how long... It made him feel trapped.

But that is fine. He will power through for as long as it takes. For Sonic.

 

---

 

"Miles - it's a great pleasure to see you again." The Professor greeted as he sat down on one of the leather chairs, Tails following soon after. His office hasn't changed at all from the last time he's seen it, but it makes sense considering a few years barely makes the difference for a man of his age. The fox sat down on the opposing side of a coffee table, setting down his bag on the floor. Professor continued. "What brings you here? Because I can already assume this isn't just a friendly visit."

Tails laughed sheepishly. "Ah, yes, sorry to say. But it is good to see you too." He took a moment to bend down to his bag, producing a blood vial. "You remember Sonic, right?"

"It's hard to forget someone who I still frequently see on the news. Though, it had been more quiet for a while, now that I think about it."

"Right. Well, you see - we're dealing with another Gaia issue. But it is different than it was last time, and we have a hard time figuring out as to why that it."

"Gaia issue? What led up to it this time? I haven't heard anything about the world splitting into seven again."

The fox rubbed the back of his neck, still holding onto the vial in his other hand. "It's... a bit of a long story. The general gist of it is that he had gotten involved with an ancient artifact that contained Dark and Light Gaia, and he unfortunately absorbed its contents. There have been... issues, since."

"Whoever made this artifact was playing a dangerous game to mix the two. How different is it now than during his last exposure?"

Tails placed the blood sample down on the coffee table, within the man's reach. "That's the thing - is it possible it had evolved over the years? Previously, Dark Gaia only affected his appearance - now, it's affecting him... emotionally. A fair bit, too."

Professor frowned as he looked down at the vial. "The nature of Dark Gaia hasn't changed in thousands of years, for it to evolve in such a short amount of time is quite improbable. Could you be more specific about the symptoms?"

The Mobian slumped in his chair, visibly uncomfortable. "Well... the biggest one would be mood swings. There was a few angry outbursts, but I've only heard of those from second hand sources as I haven't seen those myself. There's also some trouble retaining memories, as we discovered recently."

The man leaned back, putting the fingers of both of his hands together in front of him. "I am sorry to disappoint, but those are very typical symptoms of Gaia sickness."

Tails perked up in confusion. "Gaia sickness?"

He stood up and approached one of the grand bookshelves as he spoke. "It is a fairly new phenomenon, or newly documented to be precise." After briefly scanning the shelves, he pulled out one of the books from the 'T' section. "After the shattering, Dark Gaia's influence became much more widespread, and that helped with making the connection to another affliction known previously as 'the miner's sickness'. It wasn't limited to miners, though." The man returned to his seat, placing the book down next to the vial to face Tails. The title read The Psychology of Gaia. He continued. "Dark Gaia's energy is everywhere in lower or higher frequencies, but under normal circumstances, it is essentially powerless on the surface. Like the name says, miners, or anyone who works deep underground, tends to be affected by it as the energy is more potent the closer to the Earth's core you get."

Tails took the book into his hands uncertainly, his brows furrowed. "So... it's happened before?"

"Well, not quite. The symptoms generally show up after prolonged exposure and fade away on their own with time. I don't believe there have been cases of absorption directly into someone's body. That is a whole new territory." He took the vial and stood up once more. "I will hand this over for testing, in the meantime, you can read the book I just gave you, it has plenty of information on the mechanics of his illness." He headed over to the door. "I will be back soon enough, you can ask me for more details later if there's anything you're still wondering and I will try my best to answer."

"See you later, then..." Tails said before the Professor left the room. He frowned as he looked down at the book before him.

The fox felt undeniably concerned about what contents he may be met with, but his curiosity greatly outweighed whatever fears he may have had. And so, perhaps more carefully than necessary, he flipped to the first page.

 

As could be expected, the first few chapters answered the typical and basic questions such as What is Light Gaia? What is Dark Gaia? Oldest known records - etc. The fox opted to skip over all of the information he already had decent knowledge of.

At some point, he'd finally reached the first mention of the Gaia sickness. What was described was much of the same as what the Professor had already explained to him, but eventually it would get into the mechanics.

Unlike what the church of Gaia may have led you to believe, as well as its status as a deity, Dark Gaia's influence is not as simple as the work of divine power, mind control or even possession. Research has shown that coming into contact with its energy over an extended period of time physically alters brain activity, which can be witnessed through, among other methods of scanning, Positron Emission Tomography (PET).

(...)

Since Dark Gaia gains its power through the negative emotions of the people on Earth, it is in its best interest to encourage bringing these emotions out.

There is no direct way to confirm this, but we can theorize that the power aims to not only trigger negative emotions more easily in the person it is directly affecting, but also in the people in the person's environment. To achieve this, Dark Gaia energy works to limit a person's capacity for rational thought, impulse control and decision making, which all makes for a higher potential of unfortunate events occurring around him or her.

(...)

The most affected areas are the frontal and temporal lobes.

The frontal lobe - which among others - is responsible for rational thinking, becomes greatly inhibited, with the damage done varying depending on the mental state of the person. In simpler terms - the more upset the affected person is, the harder it will be for them to control their actions.

(...)

The temporal lobe is where hormonal and emotional regulation takes place. Due to the abnormal activity in this state, the affected person becomes much more prone to rapid mood swings. The same area plays a big part in preserving memory and learning, so as a result, memory loss is often an unfortunate side effect of its influence. That is especially the case in high stress situations, when Dark Gaia energy becomes the strongest.

 

(...)

 

Not everyone is affected by Dark Gaia with equal severity. Though total immunity is rare, it is not unheard of and has happened in the past.

The degree of someone's resistance depends entirely on his or her state of mind. So far, the most prone to its effects have been individuals with preexisting psychological disorders, such as:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - including Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Schizophrenia

• Bipo-

 

 

Tails slammed the book closed with a thud.

 

...Was Amy right?

Did Sonic get... sick?

If.. if he did... How come Tails never noticed? What kind of brother would that make him?

 

No. No. There's still hope - it has to be something to do with Light Gaia - definitely. Or something else. It doesn't matter - surely, the blood tests will clear everything up.

They have to.

 

---

 

Sonic did not sleep at Tails' workshop that night. He did try, but just couldn't. Though, surprisingly, it wasn't due to the fox's incoming departure. Not exclusively, at least.

His request to his brother came primarily from a place of fear. With each passing day, he felt as his control over his own actions kept slipping more and more, and he felt that with everything else that has happened in recent times, he wouldn't be able to keep himself from attempting to stop Tails from leaving. And so, he asked to not be woken up to even witness it.

He was fine with Tails going away. His real self. It's Dark Gaia that isn't.

 

He decided to leave the house. Tossing and turning over and over in bed didn't bring any results anyway.

It was one in the morning already. After he'd made sure Tails was asleep, he grabbed the book Shadow gave to him and quietly left, along with a pen to write with. He hadn't written anything inside it since he'd received it, unsure of how you're even supposed to keep a diary in the first place.

He realized the word diary annoyed him. It felt immature. A diary is typically something you make for fun, to write down the memories from your daily life to look back on with fondness sometime in the future. What he had was a book that was supposed to keep the memories in something, because his own head seemingly couldn't even do that anymore.

He stared at the book's front as he passed the door's threshold. Despite the ungodly hours he was out during, the moonlight was bright enough to let him see relatively well. He scribbled out the word Diary from the cover to replace it with a messy, in all capital letters, JOURNAL. Journal sounded better for his circumstances. Where did Shadow even get that book?

Shadow.

 

Shadow has always been an enigma. But in recent times, it seems as though he's become even more so. Always brooding, always stoic, antisocial, unwilling to work with others. Or that's what he thought of him. But now he's starting to have doubts.

He had always hoped he was at least a little bit like a friend to him - he assumed not socializing or reaching out first was just how he is. But meeting him at Amy's house, to where Shadow arrived out of his own free will, without needing any coaxing from other people whatsoever, proved there was a circle of people with which he found it worth it to sacrifice his time for. Sonic just wasn't one of them.

Why did that kinda sting?

 

What the hell even were they to each other, anyway? He would've said rivals a couple of months ago, but when was even the last time they competed in anything? They sure as hell aren't friends it seems - they barely talk to each other, and even when they do, it's rarely without any amount of disdain. But then there was today.

What, the fuck, was that.

How is he supposed to interpret that. Was Shadow actively trying to break his brain completely?

Was Sonic feeling a bit irrationally angry right now? Sure, yes, definitely. There is absolutely not even a single reason to react to this undeniable show of empathy and patience with anger. But he was angry at everything right now. And who's gonna tell him off anyway? He's alone, in the middle of the night, walking inside some random forest-

Oh. Not a random forest.

He reached their training grounds.

With a sigh, he leaned against a random tree and slumped downwards, his back somewhat painfully rubbing off against the bark. But that's whatever. He should sit down before he does something stupid or goes somewhere stupid.

He looked to the spot in the center of the sand padded area, around the same place where him and Shadow had been sitting for like half an hour or something. Again, why did Shadow do that? Was that a thing enemies did? Allies? Rivals? Whatever?

What were they doing there in the first place? How did they get to- shit-

He opened the book violently, intending to start writing immediately on the first page, but paused. His pen hovered in the air, right over the short entry left there by Shadow sometime earlier.

Remember who you are.

...

He'll start from the next page forward.

 

He could feel his memory getting janky, and it was strange to somewhat witness it happening in real time. All of his previous cases of memory loss happened unconsciously, without him knowing it was happening at all. He still even had doubts regarding the words of others, but literally feeling the gaps in time slowly widen was a bit harder to deny. It was very similar to the way you'd forget what you've dreamed about at night as you go through your day, except here, the dream really did happen. Regardless, he will still try to save as much as he is able to.

 

September 13, 20XX

I'd love to give some introduction but I got no time and you know exactly what ur doing here. So right to the point:

Me, Tails and Amy went to the mall together to hang out. We watched a movie, I bought tape to cover up the weird stuff and then we ran into team dark. Amy immediately went and dragged Rouge and Tails off to buy clothes because she wants to make a party later. Dunno when. Omega went off to do his own stuff and I was left alone with Shadow. He's been acting angry with me from the moment he saw me and I didn't know why. When I tried to be friendly, he got all confused and mad over something we apparently had yesterday. I still don't know what. He warped me to a random field and I thought he was gonna kill me for a second but he was expecting me to remember something. When I didn't he just got me back to the mall. Then

Sonic paused. Everything up until now had been relatively clear, but from this point forward things got wonky. He had to strain to find the details before continuing.

Then he called Rouge and I started yelling about something. I think he got kinda freaked out by that and teleported me again.

He couldn't really remember Shadow warping him away, but considering he had that convenient ability of his, it was a safe guess as to why he'd be on the training grounds seconds later.

He got us to the training grounds and sat down in front of me. I was also sitting and stressed out. He didn't say anything until I did. He said something about me having-

 

...

It wasn't worth writing down Shadow's dumb assumptions.

After that I went home and he gave me this dia journal.

 

Sonic closed the book. He flipped back to the first page.

Remember who you are.

He closed it again.

 

He's Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog does not cry. Does not yell at his friends. Does not lose his temper. Is not dependant on anyone.

And has no trouble moving on from anything.

 

He stood and looked up to the sky. It was surprisingly bright out, the moon and stars shining vividly above. Autumn was approaching slowly, and the breeze in the air still held that summer warmth.

It seems like a nice night to spend sleeping in the wilderness.

 

He opened the journal one last time to add a final note of the day.

I spent the night outside just like I always do.

 

Notes:

I'm no biologist I did do research but don't take any of the shit mentioned seriously
Also sorry for being such a nerd and making this so scientific, this is the only chapter where I ramble so much promise

(and sorry the chapters keep getting shorter I'm just getting more and more impatient to release them ToT I'll try to make the next one longer tho)

Chapter 6: Problems

Summary:

Sonic is doing fine.

Notes:

I had a bit of a writer's block but we're back boys, eat up

At around noon of the day of Tails' departure, Amy decided she'd pay the little household a visit. Sonic's abrupt disappearance from their outage did concern her somewhat, so she figured checking in on him would be the best thing to do, especially since he was left alone now. As for Tails, she's already said her goodbyes the day prior, since she knew the fox intended to leave early in the morning.

The journey over took her a little while as she made it on foot, in no particular rush. Tails lived very much on the outskirts of civilization, away from the hustle and bustle of cities, surrounded by nature with the sea just nearby. She always suspected his choice of a living place was something he'd picked up from Sonic.

She approached the front door and knocked a few times with her fist.

Five seconds pass. No response.

She knocks again, a little harder this time.

Ten seconds. No response.

Tentatively, she pressed the door's handle. She doubted her friend would mind her minor intrusion, besides, she'd rather have a clear conscience in case something had happened.

It was open, much to her surprise. At least she won't have to owe Tails a new door.

"Sonic?" She called out, in case the knocking simply wasn't heard. Still no response. As she slowly entered, the first thing to catch her attention was the smell of fried food. She noticed its source, as a plate of untouched eggs sat neatly on the kitchen table, a sticky note next to it. As she got closer, she could read the note said 'Made some breakfast :) See you in a few days Sonic!'. Amy frowned.

She pulled out her communicator and made the call. Several long beeps later, just as she was about to hang up, she got an answer.

"Sup Ames?"

She couldn't suppress a sigh of relief. "Sonic, where are you? Why aren't you home?"

The hedgehog chuckled. "Hah! Good one. Home? What home?"

Amy frowned in confusion. "...Your home? The one you live in?"

"You know I live wherever the wind takes me."

Her brows furrowed. "Tails' home."

"And why should I be there?"

"Sonic, what are you playing at? What's going on?"

"I'm not playing anything, but I'm down for a game if you have one."

She sighed, frustration growing. "Sonic, where are you."

"I dunno."

"What do you mean you don't know?!"

"Dunno, just hanging out, somewhere. There's trees, if that helps."

"How would that be supposed to-?"

"Anyways, good talk but I should really go now. See ya later, Ames!"

"What?! No, wait, don't-!"

Beeeep.

She pulled the communicator away from her face, staring at it in disbelief.

What in the name of Gaia is going on with that guy now.

 

Still remaining in the house, Amy paced around the living room back to back, evaluating her current options.

First of all, Sonic's behavior over the call was extraordinarily strange when compared to his demeanor from earlier. Considering his current condition, leaving him be seems risky. He could be simply looking to have some time alone, which can easily tread over the line of him trying to isolate himself, or he could be hiding something. All of these options seem very probable which is really throwing her over the edge.

Should she act like a good friend and wait for a while more to let him cool off from whatever it is that happened, or be a good friend and seek him out to make sure he's safe and not about to do anything stupid? She'd really prefer not to have to notify Tails of this considering how little time has passed...

As she walked from side to side of the room, she suddenly caught the tiniest bit of blue in the corner of her eye. When she stood in place for a better look, she noticed how the normally red couch was covered in an unusual amount of azure fur. From there, now paying closer attention to her surroundings, Amy noted how many loose quills laid on the floor, each one just far enough from each other to not be immediately noticeable.

Ohhh, he's shedding. And when autumn is coming. Yep, that's not right.

 

Amy ended up stress eating the eggs Tails left on the table.

 

---

 

Rouge groaned audibly as she was woken up by a ring of the door bell. She shifted in place, throwing one arm over her eyes. "People are trying to sleep here! Can someone else get that?!"

"I MAY GET RID OF THE INTRUDER."

Her eyes snapped open instantly as she scrambled out of the bed and out her room. "OMEGA NO! We already replaced our door TWICE!" She ran past the steadily treading robot, pushing him out of the way to throw the door open, the force briefly startling the visitor.

"Oh, um, good morning?" Amy greeted, eyeing the bat's bad case of bed head. Rouge relaxed in her stance, slightly confused by the hedgehog's presence.

"NOT A POTENTIAL TARGET. SHAME." Omega added, returning to his spot on the couch. Meanwhile, Shadow made his way from the kitchen to peek behind Rouge, having heard the newcomer's voice.

"Oh! Hi Shadow!" The pink hedgehog leaned to the side beside the bat, giving a small wave. She received a somewhat confused wave back.

"Amy? What are you doing here at top of the morning?" The female agent asked, irritated by her unprompted awakening.

"IT'S 11:43 AM."

"Too early. It's Sunday."

Amy decided she'd invite herself in, walking past Rouge and right into the apartment. "Yeah, I know it's early! And I already managed to lose Sonic somehow!" She threw her arms in the air in frustration.

Rouge tentatively closed the door behind her with a raised brow. "Hasn't it been like, what, four hours since Tails left? Impressive, honestly."

"Yeah, I know! I came over to their house and he was just gone, didn't even close the door after himself!"

Shadow crossed his arms, leaning against a wall. "I fail to see how that is our problem, especially considering how little time has passed ever since his disappearance."

"No offense Amy, but I've gotta agree with Shadow on that one, he could've just gone away for a few hours. Have you tried calling him?" The bat asked, crossing her own arms over her chest.

"I have, and that's what's bothering me - he did actually pick up, but he was just... weird."

Rouge raised a brow. "Weird how?"

"I don't know, like - trying very hard to be... him? Like, purposefully acting like he always did in the past, pretending nothing ever happened. And when I asked where he is, he just said he doesn't know and had the nerve to hang up on me!"

Shadow perked up subtly, eyes widening ever so slightly and ears facing forward. But even that much is already enough for Rouge to notice.

"...Shadow?"

He only scowled. "What? Don't look at me like that."

She stepped closer to him, borderline invading his personal space. "You look like you know something."

He grunted, turning his head to the side in discomfort at the pressure and physical closeness. "I just... gave him a reminder. It's not my fault this is how he chose to interpret it."

Rouge's eyes narrowed. "What kind of reminder?"

Shadow decided to step to the side and away from her suffocating presence, his scowl deepening. "I'm not telling you, and you aren't getting it out of me." Rouge let him out of the way while raising a brow, arms still crossed.

"Did you threaten him or something?" Amy jumped in with visible concern.

"No!" He defended, head jerking in her direction. "Not this time at least..." He murmured.

"THREATS TOWARDS THE INFERIOR VERSION OF SHADOW TEND TO BE VERY JUSTIFIABLE." Omega added in while staring at the TV screen, a damaged controller in his claws, obviously having gone through plenty of abuse in the robot's possession. Amy decided to ignore the unnecessary commentary.

Rouge sighed. "Alright, I'll try and find him." She pointed a finger at the pink hedgehog. "But that's only because I like you and have a soft spot for Big Blue. And you still owe me dinner after this."

Amy gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you, Rouge."

She gave her a nod and a smile of her own in turn. Then, she looked to Shadow tellingly, earning herself a confused stare which then turned into a sneer. "I'm not chasing after him."

Before Rouge could start arguing, Amy decided to cut her in. "It's okay, I'll try to get him first. Hopefully, maybe we won't need to chase him down at all."

The bat gave her an unamused look. "And if we will?"

The pink hedgehog turned to Shadow, joining her palms together pleadingly and putting on her best puppy eyes look. He grimaced at her display, hesitating for a good while before eventually dropping his arms to his sides with a groan. "Fine." Each syllable heavily stretched out, then added. "But only if the moron decides to run. Otherwise, I'm staying right where I am."

Amy beamed, throwing her arms around him, causing him to stiffen. "I knew I could count on you guys!"

Shadow awkwardly patted her on the back before removing himself from her grasp. "...Too close."

The heroine took a step back, putting one palm up with a mildly serious expression. "Right." She dropped her hand down and let the smile return to her face. "It's easy to forget you're so touch-averse when that fluff makes you look so huggable."

Rouge giggled at the statement and Shadow's flustered reaction, stepping closer to Amy to whisper into her ear "I totally get you, I pet it sometimes when he falls asleep in front of the TV."

"You what?!"

She smirked, putting her arms up in defense. "Oops, busted~" She said without a hint of remorse and an innocent expression.

 

---

 

The female agent frowned as she looked at the screen of her monitor. Amy still remained at their place as tracking people down generally doesn't take long for someone like Rouge, though this time, her task was halted by a somewhat concerning discovery. "Hey, guys? Brief distraction." She called out from her room, getting the attention of the two other Mobians.

Amy rushed to the room first, worry evident on her face. "What is it?" Shadow joined in soon after.

"Someone recorded him. With Shadow." Rouge wheeled her chair some distance away from her desk to give way to her friends. After hearing her words, the darker hedgehog immediately pushed his way through Amy to get as close to the monitor as possible. The heroine had to struggle to get some of the view in, confused by the sudden reaction.

The screen showcased Sonic and Shadow arguing at the mall, with the former significantly more vocal than the ladder as a steadily growing crowd of both humans and Mobians surrounded them. Because of the quality, it was difficult to make out Sonic's words, even despite the volume at which he was yelling. The video went on with Shadow visibly attempting to calm the hero down, up until he opts to teleport the both of them out of the building. The recording was cut short soon after, providing only a few gasps and murmurs of additional content.

Once the video was finished playing, Shadow backed away from the screen with an unreadable expression. Rouge decided to be the first to break the silence. "So, mind telling us what that whole thing was about?" He gave no response, looking down at the desk and only huffing out some air through his nose as he stood in thought.

Amy added in more questions to the pile. "Why didn't you say anything? Was that why he actually went home?"

After another moment, Shadow closed his eyes and sighed. "...Yes. I didn't say anything to respect his privacy, but it doesn't really matter anymore as it's been thoroughly violated anyway." There was a hint of anger, but also some disappointment laced in his voice.

It would make sense, Shadow is definitely the type of person to value privacy, not just his own but also that of others. It certainly wasn't pleasant for him to see such a moment showcased not only to the crowds present at the scene, but also to millions of other strangers out on the internet.

"What was that about, though?" Rouge reminded.

"I'm not sure. It happened after I called you with the update, and whatever I said in that moment triggered him to react in the way you just saw." He pursed his lips, hesitant on how much information he should share regarding the details.

"...What are the comments like?" Amy asked, uneased with anxiety towards the potential reaction of the public. Shadow perked up at the question, obviously curious as well.

Rouge sighed and scrolled the page down, simply allowing the two to read its contents without a word of her own.

"Anyone know what happened? Also, when did he dye his quills? I didn't even know you could do that."

"I've never seen Sonic so angry before it's weird to see him like that"

"does anyone have a transcript of what he's saying?"

"What's with the new look"

"Ig thats what retirement can do to ppl"

"I really hope it was a one time thing. It's freaking scary to see someone this powerful finally snap."

Shadow wordlessly crossed his arms while Amy pursed her lips in discomfort. "We should really find him before any medias get him first."

"Already on it, darling."

 

Barely a minute later, Rouge was already calling in the both of them back to her room, Amy having barely settled on the couch while Shadow remained standing in the corridor, likely having already predicted such an outcome. "Good thing he always has his communicator on him, honestly that guy is so easy to track down it's almost laughable."

"For you, it is." Shadow commented, rolling his eyes. "So where is he?"

"Pretty close by, actually. He's at a park in Station Square."

"Oh! He goes there sometimes, I've seen him hang out on a particular bench many times." Amy added.

The bat squints her eyes at the pink hedgehog before speaking. "...Were you stalking him?"

The heroine gets caught off guard by the question, stumbling over her words. "W-Wha? I-I mean, I've gone there a few times and- I happened to see him a bunch-" She lets her arms and ears droop down with a sigh. "Yeah. Maybe." She mumbled, before quickly jumping to defend herself. "But I don't do that anymore!"

"You've been gone for a year. I'd be surprised if you managed to stalk him even through that." Shadow pointed out.

"Well, yeah- but I already stopped doing that even before leaving, okay?"

"Whatever you say, hon. Anyway, Shadow dear, would you mind giving us a lift?" Rouge fluttered her eyelashes as she stood from her seat.

The darker hedgehog gave her an unimpressed look. "Yes. I would."

"Oh, please Shadowww! We need to get there quickly or we might lose him, you know how slippery Sonic can be!" Amy pleaded.

"Unless it's too big of a challenge to chaos control with two other people, hm?" The bat teased. Damn her, always knowing when to step over his ego. And damn the fact it keeps working every time.

Shadow glared, and without a word of warning, grabbed the both of them by the wrists and muttered an annoyed "Chaos control."

 

---

 

The three of them appeared at the outskirts of the park, hidden amongst trees and bushes surrounding it. All of them, even Shadow, needed a moment to recollect themselves from the momentary nausea resulting from teleportation. Despite being the most experienced with it, much to the others' surprise, the darker hedgehog was taking the longest to recover, clenching at his stomach and swaying in place even after the two other Mobians were already back to perfect condition.

Amy lifted a hand in worry, to which Shadow held out his own to stop her in place as he looked to the ground. "Don't. I'm fine, I just need a-" He pressed a fist to his mouth as he gagged, then audibly groaned. "-a moment."

"My, my, maybe it really was too much of a challenge?" Rouge said, holding one arm across her chest as she used it to support the other, hand pressed against her chin.

The male agent snarled and forced himself to stand up straight. "It isn't, it's just Amy's stupid hammer is making it much more of a struggle than it should be."

The pink hedgehog stared in surprise, then summoned the aforementioned hammer into her hand. "Huh, really? Even when it's hidden away?"

"It's still tied to you, even when it's in that pocket dimension of yours or wherever it is that you keep it."

She let the hammer disperse once more. "Interesting, good to know." Shadow tsked at the nothing reaction she provided. Ignoring the noise, she leaned over to Rouge who started busying herself with looking through some sort of device as the other two were having their exchange. "Is he still here?"

"Mhm. Seems he's sitting on that bench you mentioned, since he hasn't moved at all in quite a while." The female agent reached into her purse, producing a small earpiece and handing it to Amy. "Wear this, it'll keep us in touch. We already have one of those each, we'll be able to listen in on your conversation and tell you where he's headed in case he decides to run."

The pink hedgehog took the equipment and put it in one of her ears hesitantly. "Is this really necessary? It's just Sonic, we're not infiltrating some enemy base or something, you know..."

Rouge shrugged. "Better to stay prepared, just in case. Besides, I will never skip over an opportunity to listen in on a conversation I'm not supposed to hear." She winked.

Shadow leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. "Just get it over with. Report it the moment he runs, I'll be here at the ready." He really did initially intend to stay at his apartment for the entire endeavor, but he hadn't anticipated how winded he'd end up after teleportation. The thought of warping home now, just to potentially have to do it again to go back here made his stomach churn well enough.

Without any further comment, Amy simply nodded and started her tread deeper into the park.

As she got far enough out of ear shot (with the equipment turned off, of course), Rouge spoke up to her partner. "You know, I didn't think you'd be so willing to get involved with Blue again so soon. I know you had this 'I'm staying right here, this none of my business' spiel-" She said with air quotes. "-but I know you well enough to know that if you really meant it, convincing you would've been way harder."

The hedgehog looked up to her, then away to the ground before answering. "His behavior is concerning."

The bat raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You admit you're worried about him?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, taking a moment longer to think, then finally continued. "...In a way, I suppose so. But then again, none of his actions up to this point were all that surprising either."

"What do you mean?"

Shadow scoffed and turned his head away. "Doesn't matter."

 

---

 

As Amy had predicted, she spotted the well known blue quills sitting on top of the very bench she used to observe so often at one point in the past. She was fully ready to break into a run, just before noticing numerous odd looks given by other passersby enjoying the park. As she looked closer at the hedgehog, who was currently splayed out against his seat with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed, she noticed a sizable dark puddle just underneath the spot he was sitting on. When she started approaching closer, another detail she noticed was that his gloves were laid out on the bench's support, water dripping off of them down onto the concrete of the sidewalk.

With a healthy dose of hesitance and confusion, she approached her oddly soaked friend and spoke up just as she stopped in front of him. "...Um, hi, Sonic?"

He opened one eye at first, then blinked a few times as he registered the person in front of him. After waning off his initial surprise, he grinned up at her, though still remained in the same position. "Hey Ames, what's bringing you to my humble abode?"

"It's... a public park." His only answer was a scoff and a wave of his hand. She decided to begin with her currently most pressing question. "Sonic, why are you wet?"

He sucked in air through his teeth. "Ah... Y'know, I was just- running around, all that. I was trying to run across a lake but... guess I wasn't fast enough." He shrugged. "Maybe I'm just.. kinda tired still. Dunno."

She sat down tentatively next to him, keeping a fair distance between them. She now notices that aside from the gloves, just against his thigh was laid down a small book. She ignores it for the time being. "You're... tired? Are you eating and sleeping properly?" She notes that despite Sonic's seemingly laid back posture, his quills are stiff and bristled while his eyes are visibly tired. All in all, he doesn't look good.

"Mmm... I guess. Probably."

"Did you sleep at night?"

"Uh huh."

"When was the last time you ate?"

He pauses for a moment to remember, pressing a hand to his chin. "Huh. Last time was chili dogs with Tails I think."

"I asked when."

"That was... Friday?"

She gaped at him wordlessly before exploding. "That was two days ago! No wonder you'd be tired!"

He shrugged. "I ate everything they gave me when I stayed at the hospital, I just wasn't feeling hungry after that."

She stood up to stand in front of him. "Was that also how you've been eating before we came back? Sonic, what is going on with you? And why are you acting like-" She gestured to his general figure. "-like this?!" She could hear Rouge comment into her ear. "Careful, don't scare him off too soon."

Sonic frowned with his brows furrowed. "I'm acting like I always do." Before she could answer, he suddenly picked up the book next to him and started writing something down, making Amy pause.

"What- what are you doing?" She looked to the cover. "Why are you writing in a diary in the middle of a conversation?"

He looked up from the pages with a pout. "Journal." He continued scribbling before closing and setting the book down.

"Whatever- why are you dodging again? I'm worried about you, Sonic!"

He sighed in annoyance. "I'm not dodging because there is nothing to dodge. I'm writing so I won't forget what we talked about." He picked up the laid out gloves, whipping them a few times in the air before putting them back on.

"Why would you forget so quickly?"

He raised a brow as he stood up, stuffing the book into his quills. Amy backed off slightly as he did so. "Tails didn't tell you?"

This time she was the one to raise a brow. "Tell me what?"

Sonic visibly brightened, smirking. "Oh, sweet! Nothing then, never mind that." Ignoring his friend's confusion, he made a few stretches before continuing. "Welp, I think I'm dry enough for now. I'll be out now, cya!" Her eyes widened as she realized what's going on and tried grabbing onto him, but before she could reach his arm, he was already gone in the blink of an eye, leaving Amy grasping onto air with wind blowing into her face. She groaned loudly.

She put a hand to the earpiece and all but growled out. "Shadow."

"Heard that."

 

---

 

After a quick update from Rouge, Shadow was already skating down the streets as he looked out for any flashes of blue amongst the gray city buildings.

There was already one thing he could note from his overheard conversation, as well as Amy's previous report, and that is Sonic is very clearly avoiding the pink heroine. It wouldn't have been all that surprising in the past, as that was a common habit of his back when she'd chase after him like a deer in rut. But nowadays, everyone knew she had calmed significantly ever since then, her obvious crush becoming mere subtle background noise in their interactions. Nowadays, encounters with the pink hedgehog were a thing he very obviously looked forward to and encouraged, so avoidance was certainly an oddity in the current times.

So far, it is hard to say whether the hero is avoiding Amy specifically or if he's just avoiding everyone. It is highly possible he'll try running from Shadow as well, but unfortunately for Sonic, he'll have a much harder time doing so than he had with the pink hedgehog before him.

Passing the city's borders, Shadow noticed the famous blue blur himself making his way across the meadows beyond. He quickly mumbled a "Found him." into the device in his ear before speeding up from his somewhat lazy pace he kept previously for the sake of lookout, quickly catching up to the azure hero ahead. It was surprisingly easy to do so as he could tell Sonic was obviously going slower than he normally would, the poor diet he heard mentioned earlier along with other questionable lifestyle choices most likely taking their toll on him.

As he got closer, he saw the blue hedgehog turning his head backwards mid run, eyes widening in surprise before he scrambled to pick up his pace. Shadow smirked to himself, quickly following his example. He had to admit, he did miss racing the blue idiot somewhat. Though in recent times, their meetings have become more and more sparse, mainly coming down to coincidence. Sonic has stopped going out of his way to meet up months ago, and even though he did consider this, Shadow never tried being the first one to reach out. Partially out of pride, partially out of... other reasons.

As annoying as Sonic's snide comments and obnoxious quips were in the past, at least those were true to his person. They held a light-hearted air of mischievousness that could never quite be replicated by anyone else.

What Sonic did now infuriated Shadow in a brand new, far worse way he couldn't properly pinpoint or put a name to.

Thinking about it only gave him a headache.

 

The smirk he had held quickly turned into a grimace as he made his reflections. He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on what's ahead of him.

He pushed himself to run in front of the blue hedgehog, making him stumble briefly before dodging the obstacle. Sonic yelled out as he looked back. "What do you want, Shadow?!"

Without answering, the agent lunged forward, pushing a boot into the surprised hedgehog's back. He skidded across the ground, burying his fingers in the grass in an attempt to stop in place, up until his back ended up hitting the bark of a tree, knocking the air out of him. Shadow stopped a small distance in front of him, towering over the hero as he coughed.

"What the hell is your problem, man?!"

Shadow's brows furrowed. "I promised Amy I'd deliver you back to her."

Sonic stood up with a growl, supporting himself with one hand over the tree he landed on. "Yeah? Well, good luck with that." He launched back into a run, but would not get far as soon enough he'd receive another hit, this time with an open hand. Shadow buried his muzzle into the ground, keeping the rest of his body in place as he kneeled on top of him. "Oh, come on!"

"You're getting slow, hedgehog."

Sonic pushed against the hand on his head to turn it to the side in order to be able to get eye-contact with the other. "Thanks for the meaningful commentary." He attempted to bristle his quills, achieving no effect as Shadow was obviously mindful of the spikes. He was positioned in a way that left him out of harm's way, perfect proof of how experienced he already was with maintaining safety around the natural weapons, as another hedgehog would be.

Shadow was already physically stronger as it was, so Sonic's weakened state did little to help his situation. After squirming and thrashing in place for a few moments, he finally flopped down in defeat. "What do y'all even want from me. I was just minding my own business, until first I get nagged while I'm trying to chill, and then I get punched in the face for no reason. Not cool."

The agent rolled his eyes. "You're causing more trouble than you're worth. You're already bringing too much unnecessary attention to yourself, it's only a matter of time before journalists get to you."

"What? What are you talking about."

"We've been recorded." As Shadow noticed the look of surprise and curiosity on the other, he deemed it safe enough to reposition for a more proper conversation. He stood up from his place, letting Sonic go from under his weight. He crossed his arms and watched as the other hesitantly followed suit, keeping his eyes on him as well.

"We? Who recorded what?"

Shadow sighed. "Did you write down what happened yesterday in your book."

Sonic was taken aback slightly. "...Yes."

"And do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"...No. Not anymore. But I know I yelled at you. Is that what you mean? With the recording."

"Correct."

Sonic rolled his eyes at the overly formal word choice and crossed his arms. "Yeah, okay, I don't really care what the internet or media or whatever have to say about me." He pointed a thumb to his chest. "This is my life, and I can do whatever the hell I want."

Shadow glared. "You may not care, but your friends do. And now I do too, since the moment I got involved without my consent."

The blue hedgehog gave a sarcastic smirk. "Yeah? And you didn't care before?"

The agent answered with confusion. "...No."

Sonic pulled the book out of his quills and waved it in front of the other's face with a snarl. "What is up with you? One moment you hate me, the next you act all 'caring and understanding' - make up your damn mind - or maybe you're also putting on an act like everybody else?" He starts gesturing in the air. "Speaking of everybody else - Amy was real at first, and then the second she finds out there's something wrong with me, she starts walking around me like with a fragile egg." He starts pacing back and forth. "Rouge seemed trustworthy, but then I find out all I am to her is a fucking job-" Shadow snarled, wanting to step in to defend his friend, but Sonic continued on. "-and Tails-!" He pauses in place, his posture shrinking slightly. "Tails is too busy trying to fix this mess." He hugged the book to himself. "I don't even know where the fuck Knuckles is, and you-" He turned to face Shadow. "I don't know what to think of you. Or what you think of me."

Shadow hesitated, but then his brows furrowed further. "You want to know what I think of you?"

Sonic dropped his arms to his sides, still holding the book in one hand as he looked him in the eyes questioningly.

Shadow leaned back slightly under his gaze. He forced out a 'tch'. "I do not hate you." He looked away, squeezing his hands into fists. "But I do not like you either. I only do what's in my best interest, or in the interest of those I care about. And unfortunately for me, the people I care about happen to care about you."

The hero stared for a moment in bafflement, then chuckled humorlessly. "Great, good to have that cleared up." He turned his head away. "You know, I almost thought we were friends at one point." He stuffed the book back into his quills, turning his back on the other. "Wishful thinking, all that." He chuckled again, while Shadow watched his movements with a raised brow. "They care, you say." He pulled out his communicator and looked down. The darker hedgehog stepped to the side to see what he's doing, just to witness Sonic suddenly crushing the device in both hands. Shadow's eyes widened. "If they did, they wouldn't be treating me like a damn wild animal." He looked back to the other hedgehog with a smirk that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Tell them the 'Hero of Mobius' doesn't need a babysitter."

In an instant, Sonic's fist was on Shadow's cheek, catching him off guard and knocking him off his feet. Just as quickly, the moment the agent opened his eyes after reflexively squeezing them shut, the blue hedgehog was already nowhere to be found. "Shit." He mumbled as he moved to a stand, looking down to the remains of Sonic's communicator.

Rouge spoke through his earpiece. "Shadow, what did he just do? The tracker stopped working, he's off the map."

"He dumped his communicator and ran." Shadow noted how awfully quiet Amy had been throughout the whole thing. "Why isn't Amy saying anything? Is she alright?"

All he heard was silence for several moments before the bat answered. "She didn't take his speech very well. Perhaps we should take a break for today. I'll see you back home, Shadow." She said before turning off her device. Shadow cursed under his breath. He looked forward to where Sonic had been running previously. They were in the middle of nowhere by now, surrounded by forests and fields.

"And he talks of putting on an act. Damn faker." He muttered to himself before warping away.

 

Notes:

I find it slightly amusing how Sonic is actually more vulgar than Shadow is

Chapter 7: Droplets

Summary:

Sonic is nowhere to be found.

Notes:

Wrote most of this on my phone bc I'm away from home atm, not enjoyable don't recommend

Also this is a pretty heavy chapter so strap in everyone, reminder to read the tags for potential triggers

It was a late weekend night, not long after the war had ended. Everyone was still settling back into the normal flow of life, away from the crumbling of buildings and the sound of gunshots. That included the members of Team Dark.

Rouge and Shadow had shared one of their first few calm post-war evenings, simply resting in front of the television and watching bad comedies with plenty of popcorn and a glass of wine in hand. They drank and laughed late into the night, groggily flipping through one movie after another, up until the mildly intoxicated bat inevitably fell asleep on top of Shadow's shoulder. The hedgehog soon followed her example, for once letting himself relax and drift off into unconsciousness. All in all, it was a pleasant night, one the both of them would remember fondly in the future.

Or, it would've been.

Rouge was woken up suddenly, her pillow in the form of her prickly friend moving heavily against her head. It was dark, several hours must've passed as the TV has long since turned off on its own and not a single noise came from the outside. Her neck ached from the uncomfortable position she fell asleep in, but at this current moment, the small pain was the least of her concerns.

She could hear it before she saw it, the sound of quick, shallow breaths next to her ear. As she pulled away, she saw Shadow, slumped against the couch and gasping for air in his sleep. The darkness was no issue to her as a bat, but unfortunately in this case, it meant she had a clear view of the terrible image before her.

She grabbed a hold of his shoulder, the same one she was just sleeping on, and gave it a gentle shake. "Shadow? Shadow, wake up." She wanted to yell, as frankly, she was terrified. But regardless, she forced herself to utter the words at a somewhat lower volume so as to not startle him any further.

Eventually, his eyes snapped open with a deeper gasp and a jerk upwards, his arms falling to grip his knees to support his weight. Though Shadow was awake now, the hyperventilation did not cease and his entire body trembled. His ears were pinned against his bristled quills and his eyes were unfocused and glued forward, seemingly not even registering the bat's presence at his side.

"Shadow, it's okay! It's me, we're home, you're safe." She leaned down to look at his face, but her words of comfort did little to calm him as he squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall against his heaving chest.

Rouge was at a loss. She was not even remotely close to a psychologist, hell, she was probably the furthest thing from qualified to provide any sort of support. She was a secret agent who spent most of her life in emotional isolation, with the amount of meaningful connections she's ever made being countable on one hand.

That stayed the case, up until a few years earlier.

And damn it, did she value that one. And regardless of her qualifications or lack thereof, she was going to do her damn best to help her best friend.

She stepped off the couch to crouch in front of the hedgehog, putting a hand on one of his own that was pressed on top of his knee. "Shadow, it's Rouge. We're fine. It's just us here." She caressed him gently with her thumb. His eyes opened just slightly.

"Go.. away..." He muttered shakily in-between breaths, barely audible.

"No. I'm staying until I know you're okay." She leaned her forehead against one of his legs and used her free hand to embrace it, petting at his calf with her eyes closed. "I'm here." She kept on whispering, softly moving against his fur with both of her hands. Neither of them were wearing gloves at the moment, as they felt no need to in the security of their own home. Because of this, the sensations were all the more clearer and she knew Shadow could share the sentiment.

With time, his breathing started to calm, growing slower and steadier. She stopped talking as it happened, but did not refrain from her movements until she felt Shadow's hand move against hers, turning it padded side up to gently reciprocate her hold. It was still trembling lightly, but significantly calmer than it was moments ago. She moved her head to face him, looking him in the eyes. They were glassy but his muzzle stayed dry, with his expression looking simply... sad. There was no word to describe it other than just sad. The sight of her unshakeable roommate with whom she'd just shared laughs and jokes with earlier, now looking so miserable, it simply broke her heart.

She pushed herself up to sit next to him once more, pressing her side against his while still holding his hand. He slumped his head against her shoulder almost immediately, murmuring quietly. "...I'm sorry you had to see me like this.."

"Don't apologize for something like this, it's not your fault." She used her unoccupied arm to embrace Shadow, using one wing to cover him like with a blanket.

He did not answer, only humming with his eyes closed. The both of them slowly, eventually drifted off back into sleep. It's okay, they can talk about it in the morning. For now, Shadow should just rest. He's earned it so many times already, after all.

 

---

 

It's been three days since their last encounter with Sonic.

He has seemingly gotten rid of any and all electronics he had, effectively cutting himself off from the rest of the world. There have been no publicly reported sightings of him either, making it safe to assume the former hero has made the effort to stay away from civilization.

As strong and immovable as Rouge has made herself seem, Shadow could tell she wasn't taking the current course of events well, just like neither Amy did.

During this time, Shadow had made several attempts to track Sonic down through his chaos energy signature, but to very limited success. After the accident, his energy readings never quite stabilized, constantly fluctuating and shifting, making any trails he left inconsistent and unstable. That's not to mention how inpure it was, greatly tainted with the energy of Gaia - an energy type Shadow is unfamiliar with and can barely recognize. The only warning sign of its presence he really gets is the vague sense of lethargy in its near proximity, along with a feeling of coldness that could always be just a shift in air temperature.

Even if he himself wasn't particularly concerned over Sonic's absence as long as he stayed away from the public, his friends certainly did not share this opinion. So, for their sake, it was better to find the idiot as soon as possible.

Only their sake.

It's been raining the whole day today, which Shadow found somewhat distressing despite never having a particular issue with such weather in the past. It was late in the evening when he had returned home from his latest venture, late enough that he expected Rouge to be asleep by now already. While Shadow did sleep occasionally, he required much less of it in general so he could often afford a few all-nighters with essentially no repercussions to speak of. Meanwhile when it comes to Rouge, even if she was a bat, she was hardly nocturnal as sleeping during the day wasn't the most convenient for functioning in society, therefore her schedule was more or less the same as any other average Mobian's.

With that said, upon entering their shared apartment, he was surprised to see his partner slumped over the kitchen island with the lights above it serving as the only light source in the house. The only sound present in the living space was the subtle noise of raindrops hitting against the window. Barely awake, she sat on one of the bar chairs with one hand to prop up her chin and the other holding onto a glass of wine, waiting to be refilled by a mostly empty bottle of the liquid at the side. Omega was usually turned off by now, so that left the bat practically entirely alone.

She turned an ear and opened one eye lazily to look in Shadow's direction as he closed the door, making no effort to move or speak. The sight concerned him, as Rouge didn't normally tend to drink on the week days, and especially not on her own.

He approached her warily, eyeing the wine bottle at her side. "Are you drunk?"

She let the hand propping her chin drop on top of the counter, watching herself twirl around the liquid in her glass. "I sure hope I am. Would be a waste otherwise."

He grimaced slightly at the smell surrounding her, grabbing the bottle to put it away back with the rest of the alcohol they held in the house. She whined in protest, but didn't try to stop him, only drinking up the small remains of wine she had left in the glass. After getting rid of the rest, Shadow moved to sit on another chair at the bat's side. "You shouldn't be drinking when you're upset."

She chuckled flatly with her eyes closed. "Didn't think I'd live to see the day where you're the one to lecture me on healthy lifestyle choices."

"I'm not lecturing. Advising."

She opened her eyes slightly, looking down with a frown. "Being responsible every day is exhausting. Let me be irresponsible for once."

He fell silent for a moment, leaning his elbows against the countertop. "Is this about faker?"

"No, of course not, because I have so many other issues at the moment other than one of my best friends who's currently possessed going missing after accusing me of being a fake friend to him." She said in a high pitched tone of voice, putting her chin back into her hand.

Shadow sighed. "I tried telling him. He either didn't believe me or forgot that too, hard to say really. Then again, I said it right after he made that assumption the first time, so I doubt he'd forget one but remember the other."

"Appreciate the effort, I guess. I don't feel any better though."

The two fell silent once more, the hedgehog grimacing awkwardly before speaking again. "Perhaps I shouldn't have told him what I think of him so directly."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have, you were kind of a jerk." Shadow looked away at the comment, concealing the mild shame he felt for his admittedly bad tactical decision. "But also, I'd probably feel more bad for him if it wasn't right after he shit talked me and all of my friends." She paused to think momentarily, calming down from her small burst of grudge. "...I don't think you were all that honest when you said that, though."

He glanced at her with a raised brow. "I was."

"You're not the only good observer here, Shadow. I can tell you're worried for him too."

He sneered mildly. "You're just mistaking my concern over you as concern over him. All that hedgehog is is a pain in the ass for me."

She sighed. "...You know, I never brought that up but now it's as good a time as ever I suppose." He looked her in the eyes in wonder as she stopped to gather her thoughts. "You used to actually like him at some point, didn't you?"

Shadow scoffed. "I wonder when."

"Before the war."

His eyes widened as he fell silent, brows furrowed in uncertainty and mouth gaped thinly. Rouge watched his reaction before continuing. "I've seen how you acted around him. Even through your usual banter and grump I've seen what you were like whenever he wasn't looking." She smiled weakly. "I could see that tiny smirk as he talked, even heard you snicker at his jokes a few times." Her smile faltered. "And your worry when Eggman took him."

He listened with a serious expression, ears pinned backwards, unwilling to add to any of her words.

"I was glad you were getting along, even if it was in that weird and kinda mean way of yours. But... something changed after he got back." Her head slumped slightly. "I thought it was just because you needed time to readjust, but.. it never quite went back to the way it was. I thought it'd go back to normal naturally, but eventually, it just... became the normal. So I never said anything."

Rouge slouched down sadly. "...I never liked this new normal though." She closed her eyes. "You started avoiding him and you're always so.. upset when he's around. Even when there is no reason to. It's like just his existence alone ticks you off nowadays, even though you've improved so much in every other aspect."

She tried looking him in the eyes. He was retaining the same position, his eyes glued forward and away from her. "So, what happened?"

He looked downwards as he blinked a few times. "I..." He began, but closed his mouth once more after several seconds and shook his head.

"You're drunk. You should go to bed. We have work tomorrow." Shadow stood up from his seat as Rouge looked at him with disappointment and pleading.

"Shadow..."

"Come on."

She followed suit with a saddened grimace, letting him lead her to her bedroom.

 

Shadow closed the door of her room after himself, but stopped in front of it for a longer while with his brows furrowed.

Sometimes he can forget that there's a good reason for why Rouge is a spy.

 

---

 

 

Amy tapped her fingers on her arm with furrowed brows as she waited for a response.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Be-

"Hello?"

"Sonic is missing."

"I- uh, what??"

"He ran away and cut us off."

"When?? Why?? What happened?"

"I don't fucking know what's in that thick skull of his anymore." She spoke with toned aggression, more like as if she was stating facts rather than having an angry outburst she usually would have in a situation like this. "He disappeared right after you left and got rid of his tech after we tried to catch him, to prevent us from tracking him down again."

There was a pause on the other side of the line, Tails likely trying to process Amy's words and perhaps partially due to him getting caught off guard by the use of vulgarities. The heroine rarely ever curses, especially not in front of the younger fox, but if she does, that likely means that she is pissed.

"I- um.. I'll come back soon."

"Did you make any progress on getting him fixed?"

Another pause. "...Sort of. I've learned some new stuff regarding his affliction, but... I'm- I'm still unsure. But Professor Pickle and the students from the university helped me come up with a temporary solution, so we'll see if that helps in any way."

Amy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Better than nothing, I guess. When are you coming back more specifically."

"I'll try tomorrow."

"Good. You'll tell me more afterwards because I'm not in the mood to be listening to science talk right now."

"..I can tell..."

"See you tomorrow." Click.

Amy threw the phone on top of the coffee table and fell to the couch to lie on her back, pressing her palms against her eyelids as she gritted her teeth in frustration.

Two days ago, she temporarily moved in to Tails' house to both ward it against strangers while the doors remained open, lacking any keys to lock them, as well as stand guard in case Sonic decided to come back at any point. But alas, as it can be easily deduced, that never happened.

She's fought against the urge to call for Tails for the whole three days, not wanting to alarm him and get in the way of his research. But today, after yet another session of fruitless searches of mentions on the internet and aimless wandering through familiar places, she's grown sick of playing around. Everyone knows Sonic is more attached to him than he is to anyone else. If she has to use his little brother as bait, she will if that's what it takes to finally lure him in.

How will she notify Sonic of Tails' return? Well, that's a whole different matter. But she'll figure it out. Eventually.

 

During her unprompted stay, she took to scavenging through the guest room of the house which practically served as Sonic's room, in search of any sort of clues, or... general information. A bit immoral? Definitely. But she didn't really care at this moment.

The room was a mess which is something she did see coming, though even more of a mess than she would've thought. His blanket was splayed out halfway across the floor, books, pillows and trash was thrown around haphazardly all over, and several shelves along with a closet door were left wide open after retrieving whatever items he needed at the time. It was nothing like the controlled chaos she's seen his room to be before her departure, messy but purposeful and traversible. Now it was just a pure mess. She grimaced at the thought of the implications this brought about.

After a minor clean-up and some digging around, she mainly found what you'd expect out of a Sonic room, comics, pictures, souvenirs from his various adventures... an unnerving amount of loose quills and fur...

As she looked closer at the photos displayed on walls and shelves, she noted a peculiar detail. Nearly all of these were old. Even though they've taken many pictures over the years, every one in which Sonic was present was at least several years old, taken back during his teenage years. Not a single one from his adulthood. That's... strange. Did he really dislike all of the other ones they've made?

She took one of the frames into her hands. It was a photo made on Tails' 10th birthday. Pretty much all of their friends were there, with her, Sonic and Knuckles in the forefront all surrounding the birthday boy as they cheered for him to make a wish. Everyone looked so happy.

Amy sighed as she put the picture back down.

Sonic was so quick to write her off completely like she's nothing. Like he wasn't one of the most important people she's met in her life. It's stupid and childish, but she can't help feeling just a tad jealous of Tails, just a kid who had the benefit of showing up before she did. Even Amy considered him to be a little brother of sorts, but there always was that smidge of toxic emotion plagueing the back of her mind no matter how hard she tried to push it away. It's especially hard now after having heard Sonic's words.

She never will be as important to him as he is to her, will she?

She shivered, feeling the beginning of tears well up in her eyes. She took a few steadying breaths, blinking away the moisture. Get a grip.

 

She looked through the desk, noticing a notebook thrown off to the side. She opened it, hoping for notes of any secret places or something of the sort, but what she found instead turned out to be a sketchbook inside. Amy never took Sonic for the artistic type, and well... she still doesn't.

The drawings were.. wobbly, to say the least, but also charming in a certain way. Clearly just a small hobby meant to relieve stress or occupy yourself with. Most of them depicted random elements from the environment like flowers, foods or animals, but as she turned the pages further she could see he's been trying his hand in drawing portraits, too. A few attempts at Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, and... her.

She couldn't help but feel her heart flutter slightly at the sight, noticing the multiple scrapped sketches of herself as Sonic did his best to make his friends justice. Clearly he's put in a lot of love into each of the pieces, even if they were a bit wonky.

 

She decided to cut her scavenging trip short, feeling the annoying tears reapproach the surface of her eyes, though this time for an entirely different reason.

She shut the sketchbook closed and made her way to the door, taking another peek at the birthday photo. She eyed the potrayal of Knuckles as he encouraged the fox next to him, one fist in the air and the other holding him up as he leaned against the table.

...

She should really tell Sonic, but... it wouldn't be the safest thing to do in his current state.

She's had so many chances to do so before but never took them. Now she's left considering it again at possibly the worst time ever.

Amy hates keeping secrets.

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

It's cold.

 

 

So cold.

 

The rain keeps breaking through the leaves, leaving him trembling as the wind brushes against his soaked fur.

He needs shelter.

Not much is around, some cliffs and hills with individual trees and bushes scattered around, all surrounded by long grass and a gray fading sky.

Cracking of thunder can be heard occasionally, a flash of light coming a few seconds before each of them.

The light doesn't make noise though.

He begins running by the cliff's side, hoping for an opening. He's weak and slow, but he keeps on running.

 

Always running.

 

There's a small cave entrance dug out in the rock, vaguely hidden by foliage and surrounding boulders.

He approaches it quickly, but hesitates before entering.

He would fit easily, probably even be able to move about while inside, but it's just so awfully small.

Tight, small, suffocating, the walls so close, surely about to collapse right on top of him-

 

He flinches as another roar of thunder ends up being what it takes to finally chase him in.

He walks as deep into the cave as it gets, away from the constant rush of rain and leans against the rough wall, sitting down. He closes his eyes, trying to ignore the lack of space.

He takes a moment to calm down, hugging himself with his arms to regain some bits of warmth.

It doesn't do much. He shivers.

 

Drip.

His ear twitches.

A few seconds pass. Then another.

Drip.

The roof is leaking.

It's not anything dangerous, just letting through a few droplets. Nothing that would put him in danger. It isn't even close to where he's sitting.

Drip.

But it's there.

 

And he wishes it wasn't.

 

 

He's surrounded by three walls of a square room, across from him glowing electricity in place where a fourth wall would be. He's sitting on the floor, hands stuck at his front, held tightly together. He has the pathetic excuse for a bed next to him, but it truly barely makes a difference. His ears face forwards as he focuses on the only thing which tears through the mind-numbing silence.

One of the constants during his imprisonment was the leaking ceiling across from his cell. Along with the buzzing of the force field, another sound to keep him perpetual company was the drips of water just barely in his hearing range. Always there. Drip. Drip. Drip.

His only companion which wouldn't strike fear into his core whenever they were present.

 

 

He opens his eyes, gritting his teeth. He covers his ears to block out the noise. When he presses the back of his head harder against the stone, some of his quills shove themselves into his face.

 

Gray tipped quills.

 

He hates looking at them.

He's even thought of cutting them short a few times.

 

 

His quills drop onto his face as he curls up on the floor. Messy, unkept, blunt.

His last natural means of self defense made useless.

 

 

He needs them too much to actually do it.

 

Dark claws brush against his muzzle, a caressing touch usually meant to bring comfort only bringing horror to his eyes. The deceivingly gentle hand snaps upwards suddenly, grabbing him by his top spines and shoving his head against the wall. They bristle instinctively, but it's not like they can actually do anything to help in their current state.

His hands are shackled by cuffs akin to inhibitor rings in their function. With no physical strength and no access to chaos energy, he has no way of fighting back.

So he doesn't.

 

He squeezes his eyes shut, pressing on his ears harder. If not for his gloves, his claws would probably start digging into his skin enough to make him bleed.

He brings his knees up to his chest, leaning his forehead against them.

It's getting a bit harder to breathe.

The position isn't helping but he can't bring himself to straighten his back.

 

The cuffs are similar, but unlike the inhibitor rings Shadow wears, instead of keeping his energy at bay, they prevent it from escaping entirely.

Constantly blocked inside of him. Suffocating.

 

 

The air is running out

 

 

Always stuck inside.

 

With no escape.

 

 

An energy always stuck inside of him with no way of escape,

 

clawing against its confines, pleading, begging to be rele̷ase̴d ̴at ̴all̸ ti̴me̸s b̷ut̷ i̴t̷ ̵j̸u̷s̵t̵ ̴ca̴n't̴ ̷i̵t̵ ̷c̷a̴n̸'̷t̸ ̸i̴t̵'̶s̵ ̵s̶t̴uc̴k̶ ̵l̴e̷t̷ ̸it̷ ̵o̸u̶t l̶̔e̵̗͒t̷̍ ̴̼́i̵̤̔t̸͛ ̴̅o̴̻̓u̶̺͛t̸͂͜ ̵̖̘́͑L̵̀E̴͉̖̔̕T ̶̪͊̿Í̸̐T̷̛̘͍̊ ̷͋O̸̭̤̾Ȕ̴͈̚T̶̿ ̵̺͉͝

L̵̮̑E̴͕̅͜T̴͒̓͜ ̵̓͜M̸̮͌È̷̻̙ ̷̭̈́O̷͍͇̅͘Ú̴͕͕T̴̗̀̚

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You really still hear it? You're so weirdly fixated on that noise.

 

 

Aren't you just so pathetic. What hero you are. No wonder the world is in shambles.

 

 

I'm not letting you go, darling. We're not done just yet.

 

 

 

 

 

Drip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suffocating.

 

It's gotten too hard to breathe now.

He has to gasp through his mouth as he can't get enough air in through his nose. It still isn't enough. His heart is beating too hard and too fast, his own pulse thrumming in his ears.

Breathing gets worse as he chokes, coughs tugging at his throat.

He leans forward and presses his palms on the ground, heaving. His arms feel weak and unstable. Like they could collapse under his weight at any moment, bones snap like twigs.

There's something white and purple and black glowing around them.

Is black glowing?

 

let it out let it out let it out let it out let it out let it out let it out

 

 

A blast ripples out from his fist. White. Purple. Black.

The ground shakes as the stone of the floor cracks under the force.  His knuckles hurt and the white glove he's wearing starts staining with red.

 

 

Drip.

 

 

 

 

A heavy weight has been lifted.

 

It feels better.

 

Notes:

"I don't have trauma" - Sonic the Hedgehog 2025

On a more serious note, there really isn't enough representation of platonic love in fiction, so just playing my part to help fix that

Chapter 8: Roles

Summary:

Sonic gets some new accessories.

Notes:

Sorry it's so late! I got no excuse for myself really I just lost track of time and started writing already a week after publishing the previous chapter :[

But here you get big big insight into Shadow's thoughts and motivations so hopefully that makes it up somewhat :) not all of it is pretty tho ToT

Amy was laying on the couch, quills messy and still in her pajamas. She was mindlessly scrolling through her phone, looking over the trending pages of any social media she could think of. It was a routine she created for herself ever since Sonic's disappearance, each morning holding onto the smidge of hope that some obsessive fan had seen him overnight and was unable to keep it to themself. No results so far.

Her ears, previously laid flat on the sides of her head, perked up at the sound of buzzing mechanical wings coming from outside. She quickly put her phone down and ran over to the glass patio doors. After looking from one side to the next, she finally spotted a red plane descending from the sky, just about to land on the field of grass surrounding the house.

Without bothering to change out of her clothes, she ran out through the front door right away, watching as the small plane came to a stop in front of the garage, its spinning wings gradually slowing down. She jogged up to its side, waiting for the engine to shut down as the fox opened the door to the deck.

Before even letting Tails jump to the ground, Amy leaped right over to embrace him, startling him briefly. "It's so good you're back this soon." She stated with relief as the fox wrapped his own hands around her.

"Oh, what are you doing here?" He asked calmly with mild surprise.

She leaned back, letting him exit the plane properly. "I've been staying here to keep lookout. Also, since the door was left open and I didn't have any keys... Sorry I didn't say anything, hope you don't mind?" She asked with a pleading smile.

"It was open?" He looked to the door with a frown, but soon turned around and reached over inside the deck. "It's.. it's fine." He replied as he pulled out his travel bag, throwing it over his shoulder. He began walking towards the house, looking back over his shoulder in expectation for Amy to follow. She caught up to him after a moment of hesitation.

She looked down to herself as they passed the threshold, then back to Tails. "Ah, sorry I'm like that, I woke up not so long ago." She then turned her sight to the unmade couch with more guilt, but the fox paid it no mind as he set his bag down on the floor.

"It's okay. It's still morning after all, I tried to get back as early as I could." He leaned down and opened the zip lock, rummaging through the bag in search of something specific.

Amy looked at his movements, noticing the stiffness of his limbs and his persisting expression of worry. "Are you okay? You look.. tense." Maybe a slightly stupid question given the circumstances, as she herself wasn't feeling great either. It would be a given the kit would be feeling just as bad if not worse, as it was only yesterday that he discovered his brother was missing. It still felt wrong not to ask though.

He glanced up to her briefly, his brows unfurrowing as he suddenly became aware of his body language. "Sorry." Was his only reply as he produced a small box, along with a dark blue book following after it.

"Why are you apologizing?" She asked, eyeing the items in his hands.

He lifted himself up to a stand, blinking a few times. "..Habit." He shook his head and started walking in the direction of the living room table, ignoring Amy's question over his well-being entirely.

Her brows furrowed in confusion and worry, but she wordlessly moved to follow the younger fox as he set down his items on top of the table. As she stopped at his side, he opened the small, leather box, revealing a pair of silver wristbands with a narrow space cut out in the middle. Some sort of blue, mat material filled the missing space, surrounding all the way around them both. "What's that?"

"The temporary solution I mentioned. They're kind of like inhibitor rings, but for Dark Gaia instead of chaos. I just barely finished them this night." He pulled the rings out of the protective box as he explained, handing one over to Amy to let her take a closer look.

She accepted it into her hands and turned it around curiously, feeling the texture of both materials with her bare pads. "They kinda look like the rings Silver wears."

Tails scratched the back of his neck. "I... may have taken some inspiration. I'm not really a designer, and I just thought something like that would fit Sonic too."

She hummed. "What do they do?"

He leaned his arms against the back of one of the table's chairs, staring at his own remaining ring with half lidded eyes. "If they work, they'll hopefully turn down his mood swings and stabilize his chaos energy. They also function as readers, sending the data graphs over to me in real time." He sighed. "But that's only after we manage to find him, that is."

She patted his shoulder with a strained smile. "We will." Tails looked up to her with a saddened frown. Since comfort wasn't working, she decided to put her hand down and turn away from the subject slightly. "What's the thing in the center?"

"That's just there to be an easier way of telling how it's working. If it glows, it works. And the more strain is being put on them, the brighter it gets."

Amy hummed and nodded in response, then put the ring down and looked over to the second item on the table. "And what's the book for?" The cover read 'The Psychology of Gaia' in white letters against the dark background.

The fox's expression turned into an uneasy grimace. He sighed. "He's... not the first case, apparently. I brought it with me for everyone else really, since everything is explained in there better than I ever could." He picked the book up and handed it to the hedgehog, keeping his head turned away from her. "Just give it a read."

She took hold of the book hesitantly, not liking the fox's demeanor towards it. Whatever information it contains cannot be good if just the mere mention is making him this uncomfortable.

 

---

 

After changing into her usual dress and folding all of the linens spread out on the couch, Amy sat back down on the newly made lounge with the piece of literature in hand. In the meantime, Tails made his way to his workshop for purposes he did not specify. She decided not to bother him as the both of them focused on their tasks.

 

By the time she finished reading, she was now nervously biting into her glove on one of her fingers, with her muscles aching from unconsciously keeping them tense for a prolonged period of time. Her quills, typically laying flat and made to resemble hair, were bristled sharply, reminding themselves of their true nature. After realizing this, she forced herself to relax and lowered her hand with mild disgust over the vaguely wet fabric. She scolded herself internally over indulging the annoying reflex. She ran both hands through her quills to set them in place back to their proper position, an action which also partially served as subtle self-soothing. She was glad nobody was around to witness her loss of tact.

What she read more or less confirmed some of her suspicions, that being Sonic developing some issues with memory, something she thought of after their encounter in the park. It was the best explanation for the journal she could come up with, as she couldn't recall her friend ever holding an interest in keeping such things due to how disorganized he is, along with his odd reaction to her surprise. It also confirmed her other suspicion she did not dare voice out loud, that being the belief that Sonic's mental state may have deteriorated during her absence. She was still unable to tell the specifics or the severity, as it has always been a struggle to determine the hedgehog's degree of well-being due to his constant denial of any issues being present. Truth is, unless he was outright bleeding on the ground in front of her, she really never could tell when and whether he was lying or not. Sonic was a surprisingly good actor, and the only reason she could tell now was due to his temporary near lack of inhibitions, but with how badly he's been affected, it would be more impressive if she actually didn't notice.

The part that concerned her the most by far however, was what she didn't read in the book.

There was no treatments nor a cure mentioned.

She looked around the living room to regain awareness over her surroundings and through a window, she noticed Tails standing outside with some sort of device in hand. He was slowly turning from side to side, pointing the thing in different directions with a mild scowl.

Amy stood up from her seat and made her way outside, leaving the book behind at the dining table on the way. She opened the door and stood in the entrance, calling out to the fox from a distance. "What are you doing?"

His ears turned her way first before his body followed, taking an unsure glance back to his his item in hands before giving his full attention to the hedgehog. He answered her question as he approached her. "I'm scanning the area." He stopped in front of her before continuing, the close proximity allowing her to hear small beeps coming from the device with a few second gaps in between each. "I replicated a Gaia reader they had at the university. I tried to increase it's range, but it's impossible to tell just how far Sonic is right now..." He explained with a disappointed grimace.

She sighed and dragged a hand across her muzzle. "Honestly, who thought giving super speed to this idiot was a good idea." She glanced back to Tails who was clearly displeased with the insult, but his lips remained pursed as he couldn't disagree with the statement at the current moment. Amy added hesitantly. "I finished reading."

He perked up slightly before deflating, turning his gaze away and walking back into the house while dodging Amy in the doorway. "Yeah, uh.. do you have some thoughts?"

She leaned back into the house and closed the door after herself, following the fox behind. "...It wasn't Light Gaia messing with him, was it?"

He stopped in the middle of the living room as he flinched, his back still turned on her. After recollecting himself, the beeping came to an abrupt stop as he turned the reader off. "...I don't know." He turned towards her with pleading eyes. "They- they analyzed his blood and.. the majority of the energy was Dark Gaia. They said the Light Gaia that was present was actually helping him and that-" He paused to swallow. "-that if it wasn't there, it would've been.. even worse..."

She stared at him in concern, taking her time to process the implications. She took a deep breath before asking another question, hoping to ground them both with hard data. "It's the majority - then how much actually is there?"

"Approximate, Dark Gaia - 71%, Light Gaia - 23%, Chaos - 6%. I memorized it." He listed flatly while looking down. "The total amount is about as much as half of what chaos energy he produces under regular circumstances." He looked her in the eyes. "A lot."

She joined her hands together and clenched her fingers into a ball as she bit her lip, then began moving towards the table. "Tails, we need to talk."

He traced her movements unsurely as she sat down on one of the chairs and eventually joined to sit down next to her. After a few seconds of hesitance, just as Amy was about to start, he spat out hurriedly while staring downwards. "I still don't believe it." As he looked up and noticed her look of surprise and confusion, he added. "I don't believe he would just- give in like that!" He held his arms out. "There's gotta be something I missed- they all missed-"

Amy stopped him in his tracks by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tails, this isn't about him giving in or anything. You know it's not his fault." She spoke with sympathy in her voice.

"I'm not blaming him, it's just-!" He stuttered, leaning his elbows down on the table. "He was doing fine! He's always been so Sonic, he was always doing so okay!" He pressed his forehead against his hands, still keeping his eyes open. He continued, more quietly this time. "..I never noticed anything wrong."

Amy stared down at him, her heart aching with empathy and guilt. She could relate to his struggle deeply. After all, she never noticed it either. Didn't even suspect anything. And worst of all, she wasn't even there to actually see this downfall.

Maybe that's what caused it to happen in the first place.

She gripped her hands together again, looking away. "None of us did."

He turned his head up to her. "But I'm his brother! I couldn't see it, and on top of that, left with full confidence he'd be completely fine! What kind of brother does that make me?" Amy stared him in the eyes as he talked, seeing them start to glaze over. "He had a breakdown just seeing me back, I- you weren't there, you couldn't see what state he was in back then-!" He took a sharp breath, fighting desperately to push the tears away. "I thought it was purely Dark Gaia doing that to him, but if all it does is exaggerate emotions, and all of this was already there, then-" He squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm such a bad brother." He spoke out, barely above a whisper.

After hearing those words, giving them a moment to sink in, Amy's brows furrowed with determination. She turned to sit sideways on her chair and gripped both of the fox's shoulders, turning him to face her. He stared at her with wide eyes. "Tails, no. Don't say such things about yourself." She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "Maybe I'm not that much older than you, but.. I just need you to understand - there's many things you just won't see or understand at your age, and that's normal. You are already doing so much, so much more than anyone would expect of you. But in some aspects... you just can't outrun time."

He gritted his teeth in frustration, brushing her hands off his shoulders. "I'm not just some kid!" He hurriedly grabbed one of the inhibitor rings and held it in front of her. "I made this - I should be better than this! Like everyone always said, I'm supposed to be the smart one, so why couldn't I notice something so simple?!"

She gently took the hand holding onto the ring in hers, guiding it back towards the table. "You are smart. Smarter than any of us could ever dream of being - but intelligence isn't the same as maturity."

"So now you're just saying I'm immature?"

She sighed. "No. What I'm saying is that you still have time. No kid should be forced to grow up too quickly, and that includes abnormally genius kids." She smiled gently. "And you're not alone in this. Sonic has so many friends willing to help, so you don't need to take on all of the responsibility on your shoulders alone." He looked up to her, his features easing slightly. "Like you said, everyone has their role to play. You're the brains, I'm the brawn, and one of our friends is surely more mature than both of us, because I'm quite sure I'm not that either." She giggled softly, to which Tails' lips tugged at the corners ever so slightly.

She stood up from her chair and looked to him expectantly. "So come on, let's get our stupid comic relief back in place, okay?"

He followed her to a stand and stopped next to her, looking down. "Okay." He glanced up to her, seeing her eyes gleaming with pride.

After a short moment of uncertainty, he rubbed one of his forearms and added quietly. "Thanks... sis."

The tiny word stabbed her right in the chest.

She's so selfish to have felt jealous over this little fox, even if just for a second.

Unable to help herself, she immediately threw her arms around his neck and pressed his head against her body. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked up to her face.

"I promise we'll make it all okay."

 

---

 

Shadow did not sleep that night. He did not show up to work as day came either. Instead, after his talk with Rouge, he walked right out of the apartment and back into the cold rain to continue his search. Trying to prove... something. He didn't know what.

Perhaps, the sooner he managed to find the blue menace, the sooner things would return to normal. Rouge and everyone else could go back to jumping around him, and Shadow could go right back to ignoring his existence. And everyone would be too busy to bring him into emotional talks he did not wish to have.

So Rouge noticed. Of course she'd notice. And it's not like the change she pointed out was something he was oblivious to. In fact, it was a deliberate choice on his part to distance himself from the other hedgehog.

All out of his own need for some sort of self preservation.

 

 

The two blurs of color, one black and one blue, traversing the land side by side suddenly came to an abrupt stop at the beginning of a beach. They had previously set their finish line at the point where grass met sand, and now the two colorful smears turned hedgehogs got right to their usual bickering over who was the rightful winner. In reality, they both reached the end point at the same time as they most often tended to do, but neither of them were willing to accept a draw as a good enough answer, both too prideful to admit to being anything less than the best.

As they eventually exhausted all their quips and insults to be had, with no conclusion in sight, they simply settled to resolve this through a rematch whenever they met the next time. As they always did.

Satisfied with the agreement, Sonic looked over to the bright sun setting over the horizon, his usual grin turning into a genuine smile. The ocean glimmered nearly blindingly, reflecting the light from the water right into the surface of his eyes, creating a beautiful golden shine which nicely complimented their emerald color.

This shine was what Shadow saw first, before turning his own gaze over to its source and taking in the landscape around him. Suddenly he became aware of the gentle breeze surrounding them, the sound and smell of grass swaying around his feet and the gentle warmth provided by the sun.

Since awakening from his stasis, Shadow didn't have much time to truly appreciate his surroundings. For so long he was focused on survival and finding his purpose that everything else became just background noise.

But ever since he's gained more time to relax, with more time spent simply enjoying himself, he's realized something new. Maria really was right.

Earth is beautiful.

And in truth, he probably never would've realized this seemingly obvious fact were he try to do it on his own.

If Sonic wasn't around to help with it.

It clearly wasn't even intentional on Sonic's part. It was something he did with his mere existence, his being serving as a walking embodiment of nature's wilderness.

When Shadow picked up on the smells of each of his friends and acquaintances just as a basic instinct, he would inevitably be forced to memorize the smell of earth, grass and air which always clung onto Sonic wherever he went.

When the two of them raced, he'd always see the blue quills swaying in the wind brought up by their unimaginable speeds.

And he'd always be inclined to see just what Sonic was staring at at the end of each meeting, be it the sun, the clouds or the stars.

And he'd eventually notice it.

All because of a certain annoying hedgehog's undoubtedly raw, natural presence.

Earth really is beautiful.

After a short moment of silent appreciation, Sonic looked over back to Shadow and gave a quick nod towards the beach before jumping down onto the sand from the slightly risen land they were standing on.

The darker hedgehog quickly caught on and followed the other closer towards the ocean, stopping a few meters away from where the waves reached the furthest.

Sonic wordlessly flopped down to lay on his back, setting his hands to support his head.

Shadow copied his movements a small distance away next to him, albeit more gracefully, and laid down at his side. He intertwined his fingers on top of his stomach and looked up at the orange clouds above, the sky behind them creating a gradient of orange and purple which faded to a slowly darkening blue.

As annoying as sand in his fur could be, currently it was also pleasantly warm from the fading sunlight, and so he was willing to make an exception this one time and tolerate it in silence.

Well, maybe there was also another reason.

"Is it just me, or did you get happier lately?"

Shadow turned his head towards the noise, noticing the other hedgehog staring at him with a smirk. He answered flatly with half lidded eyes. "It's just you."

That was a lie. He was happier. But he wouldn't willingly provide teasing material to the menace next to him who would find any reason to make everything about himself. He could already picture it: 'Aww, because of me? Did my good vibes finally rub onto you too?'

Sonic half scoffed, half snickered. "Don't go denying it, Shads. You were smiling at those clouds like they gave you compliment."

Was he really smiling?

Shadow huffed as he turned his head away. "You're seeing things. And I told you not to call me that."

The hero rolled his eyes with a grin before turning his own head back towards the sky. "Nah, it suits you too well. And I know you secretly love it." He gave him a quick wink. Shadow rolled his own eyes as he glanced from the side.

The blue hedgehog spoke again, more genuinely this time. "I'm glad you're finally settling in though. I was getting kinda worried you wouldn't bounce back, with all the amnesia and evil alien dads and all that crap. It really felt like you just couldn't catch a break, and I wasn't even at the center of that."

Sonic was worried about him?

"Even if you won't admit it out loud, seeing my friends happy makes me also happy."

Shadow's eyes widened slightly as he turned back around.

It was the first time Sonic has called him his friend in such a sincere, honest way. Not in irony or as some way of teasing him.

His first instinct was to deny that term being accurate, but...

He didn't really want to.

"...I.. Is that so?"

Shadow looked back up and smiled gently, purposely this time. Sonic's grin widened in response.

 

 

But what did it matter anyway. Sonic's always had plenty of friends besides Shadow, surely if he saw the change, one of them would eventually see it too.

Not like he was relevant enough anyway.

 

 

Shadow watched from the sidelines as everyone celebrated Sonic's return from the dead.

Over the six months of his absence, he eventually accepted the hero's death as the reality. Another loss he had no control over, was unable to predict or prevent.

He did not shed tears for him. The idea of Sonic truly dying in combat was something so abstract and unbelievable he just couldn't properly wrap his head around it, and it took five months of watching others grieve for the information to actually sink in.

But there was no time for sadness. He had to keep fighting every day, and it's not like Shadow of all people deserved the privilege of grieving the hero. He wasn't family. He wasn't one of his real friends.

Why should he be upset over this anyway? All Sonic was to Shadow was a nuisance and a constant headache, right?

...Of course.

 

Seeing his own fake copy fighting the supposedly dead blue hedgehog felt like some sick joke. Just as Shadow started believing him to be truly gone, he just suddenly shows up like it's nothing. Right there, in the flesh, and fighting a creature he's convinced is him on top of that.

But there was no time. No time to process. He had to beat the thing to the ground, just as he's done with so many of those already.

 

After things have calmed, there finally was a chance to notice the subtleties. He already saw Sonic being noticeably disheveled and skinnier on their first encounter, but that was something fairly obvious considering he just got back from months spent in solitary confinement.

But there were also other, less blatant details.

His quills were blunt. Sonic tried his best to hide that fact, aligning his head just right, subtly brushing over them to hide them behind his body. It seemed to work on his friends, or maybe they just wouldn't say anything aloud.

His arms and legs were covered in shallow scratches. Some half healed, some fresh. Shadow has heard he was being abused during his imprisonment, so everyone likely assumed that was where the injuries came from.

He knew otherwise.

These types of wounds would only be created by incessant scratching of claws in one spot, blunt but insistent on drawing out blood. Messy, uneven, and all placed somewhere where he would easily be able to reach.

He's seen those kinds of scratches before.

He's read somewhere that hedgehogs tend to be prone to self destructive behaviors when under prolonged periods of high stress. That was the second case where he saw the statement holding up.

So as much as Sonic would insist he jazzed right through his time he spent away, snarky as always and only a proud annoyance to his captors, these were a living proof of the statement being a complete and utter lie.

But the wounds weren't deep or large enough to permanently scar, so eventually all of it got covered up by blue and peach fur. The wounds were gone, the quills regrew, and Sonic got back to acting as cheerful and optimistic as always, and everything went back to normal.

No it didn't.

Sonic had this mask he'd put on sometimes. Had this specific tone of voice and a way of smiling he'd always use whenever he was distressed or in pain but refused to admit it. He'd often zone out seemingly for no reason, pretending to keep up with the conversation through nodding along or sheer guessing himself out of the situation. Shadow has seen it a few times, whenever he got badly injured in a fight, got in a particularly difficult situation, or simply was having a worse day. He despised this mask of his deeply. There was something particularly infuriating in this display of fakeness Shadow just couldn't stand. It contrasted so heavily against Sonic's authentic nature, but Shadow was able to excuse this behavior as it only happened on occasion and he could personally relate to the need to hide your weaknesses.

But after Sonic got back from the Death Egg, it was like the mask was glued to his face while he was aboard. Stuck there permanently. Eventually it became so ingrained into his person that it seemed as if Sonic himself was no longer able to tell it was there, like he managed to convince himself this was the real him the same way he fooled everyone else.

Everyone except Shadow.

To Shadow, Sonic really did die that day. What came back those six months later was just a shell of what he used to be. An imperfect copy.

A faker.

 

"Sonic."

Both of them have just finished a race and, just as they often did, sat down to relax in order to catch their breaths and appreciate the nature around them.

Except Sonic wasn't there.

Once again he had this far off look, staring over at nothing with a completely blank expression. Simply sitting against a tree limply, without as much as a twitch of an ear. It used to be an impossible task for him to sit still for this long even if his life depended on it, always tapping, fidgeting and jerking around. Now he was completely still as if he wasn't even conscious, the only indication to prove this false being the occasional movement of his eyelids .

The second he heard Shadow's voice, he flinched and his head snapped in his direction, putting on that awful smile near automatically. "What's up?"

"What's wrong."

Sonic looked to him quizzically, retaining his grin. "Nothing? Is something supposed to be wrong?"

"Drop the act. You've been off for months already."

His lips drooped, now only confusion remaining on his face. "What act? I seem pretty normal to me, I don't get what your problem is."

Shadow stood up from where he was seated, looming above the other. "You are my problem. You've been pretending ever since the war and refuse to acknowledge it. It's obvious something like that would mess you up, so stop acting like you're unaffected when it's so obvious that you are."

Sonic's arm twitched at the mention and he gritted his teeth. He moved to a stand to equal the grounds with the agent, still pressed against the tree. "So obvious? Then how come no one besides you has an issue with me? To me, it just seems like you're the one who can't move on, because me and the others are all already focused on other things."

"You were just staring at nothing for ten minutes straight. You are agitated constantly. And all your expressions are so forced it makes me feel sick."

Sonic's brows furrowed. "Wow, okay, rude. First off, I was looking at the landscape, alright? Second, have you thought that maybe I'm just agitated when you are around? Hard not to be when you pull comments like that on me. If you have such a problem with my face, then maybe just stop looking at it. It's not like you are a charmer either."

Shadow was taken aback by the sudden hostility, leaning backwards slightly. It used to take a lot more for the hero to get so defensive so quickly. "Don't you get it? I'm trying to help you." He growled.

"You'd help a lot more if you just wouldn't attack me for no reason."

"I'm not trying to attack you, what I'm doing is calling you out on something nobody else either has the eyesight or guts to do instead of me."

"Or maybe, it's just that everyone else is simply normal and sees no issue where there is none. Get over yourself already."

"I'm not getting over anything as long as you keep up this unnecessary, foolish act."

Sonic moved to remove himself from between the hedgehog and the tree to throw his arms up, turning his back on him. "Fine, then don't! Believe what you wanna believe, I don't care." He turned his head to meet the other's eyes. "Just keep it to yourself, because I wanna keep enjoying my time in peace." He turned his head back to face ahead and settled into a hunched over stance, ready to take off.

"So mind your own business and leave me the fuck alone."

 

 

So he did.

It's been two years since then and not much has changed.

It was as though this singular interaction shattered the already fragile beginning of a friendlier relationship between them, and neither of them ever acknowledged it afterwards.

The next time they ran into each other was in a bigger group, and of course, Sonic acted as though it never happened. Teased, joked and laughed all the same as earlier, keeping his friends oblivious to their conflict and continued tricking them into thinking he's moved on from his time of imprisonment.

After that they'd keep on meeting on accident, Sonic seemingly slowly forgetting the event entirely and beginning to reach out for the occasional spar or race once more.

Shadow played along, if only for the smallest semblance of normalcy he could get.

But never did he end up initiating contact first.

It just never felt the same after that.

 

The storm subsided at some point during the night, relieving Shadow of the constant wetness and cold. Daylight came soon after, and so did some new signs.

He felt a sudden surge of foreign energy coming from a nearby city.

Something's wrong.

 

Notes:

CLIFFHANGER OOPS

 

Also uhh Sonic doesn't even show up in this chapter, sorries ToT he was going to be included initially but the backstories ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated

Btw ngl I'm totally projecting my own trauma onto Shadow with the last bit cause the situations ended up being eerily similar to what I have going on with a sibling of mine (except mine was like, way worse tbh lol)

 

Sometimes I get these moments of clarity where I'm like "oh god this is Sonic the fucking hedgehog I'm unironically writing all this angst for"
And then 5 seconds pass and I just get back to doing just that

Chapter 9: Inhibitors

Summary:

Sonic is back?

Notes:

I procrastinated for almost a week until I just locked in today and stayed up writing until 3am
btw I finally actually bothered to look shit up so my notes finally give actual links to my stuff, at the end of the first chapter I added a drive link for everybody's designs so you can go and check it out if you haven't seen them already

Also welcome back to Sonic gets utterly fucked up part 9 enjoy

As Tails turned on the energy reader once more, not expecting much of a result, almost immediately it started beeping rapidly in his grasp. It picked up on a sudden unnatural surge, one strong enough that made it detectable even from a major distance. Amy was notified right away, though that wasn't really necessary considering she already heard the noises coming from the device. Both knowing what news this entails, the Mobians headed for the Tornado still parked outside without another word. Tails made sure to grab the box containing the new inhibitor rings on his way.

They decided not to speak of any potential theories on what may have happened as they made their way, since their shared anxiety was already thick enough.

 

---

 

During his searches, Shadow ended up straying a fair amount from his home. He likely scoured through the entire continent, but even if he is capable of going over such a distance in one night, it's still difficult to look into every nook and cranny, even for him. That's why the moment he felt the surge rushing from Empire City, his initial alarm was quickly replaced by relief, (with a tinge of worry, but he chose to ignore that part) as he hoped his search finally had the chance of coming to an end. The blue hedgehog finally made himself known, though not in a way he would've preferred.

Regardless, he quickly sped away from his current location, which was likely just another middle of nowhere, and made his way towards the big city.

 

After a short while of traversing through the streets, Shadow was able to spot a commotion surrounding a small local jewelry store. Behind the crowd surrounding it, he could see the shattered glass of the display windows and a distinct lack of items they were supposed to be displaying. At the front stood a distressed Mobian reporting to a human officer.

The small crowd quickly made way as Shadow approached, letting him through to the store owner and the policeman. By the wall next to him stood a large, annoyed looking bird Mobian with his hands tied up in cuffs. He seems familiar, though Shadow can't quite put a name to the face. The store owner shut his mouth immediately upon noticing the agent, obviously intimidated by his sudden presence, but the hedgehog paid it no mind. "What happened here?"

The badger spoke out fearfully. "M- Mister Shadow now? Why would all the heroes start showing up to investigate some little robbery?"

All the heroes? "Was Sonic the Hedgehog here."

The albatross perked up and turned around to face him, squirming against the restraints. "Like hell he was! And he stole my damn gear!"

The officer added. "Sonic arrived shortly after the robbery and went after the rest of the Babylon Rogues, using the gear." Ah, right. Babylon Rogues, this group existed. That's where he recognized him from.

The policeman kept on talking, providing more details, but Shadow was quickly distracted by another surge of energy. It wasn't close enough to be heard, and it seems he was the only one to feel it, as none of the others gave any outwardly reaction.

The human pointed his finger towards his left. "Last we've seen them, they were headed-"

Shadow interrupted, already kicking his air shoes into gear. "I got it." Without another word he blasted off, leaving only a trail of smoke behind himself.

 

Racing through the city streets, dodging cars and helpless citizens, the agent ran across a multitude of battered spots in random buildings or in the pavement itself. What was assumed to be collateral damage was also surrounded by numerous crowds of curious and confused people, chatting with each other and sharing things they've seen on their phones. There was a traffic jam along the way caused by a particularly large crater in the street, but thankfully Shadow was never someone to abide by the rules of the road.

Eventually he'd finally reach his goal, spotting three figures racing on top of their hoverboards several meters above the ground. The leader of the Babylon Rogues was at the very front - Jet, if he recalls correctly, gripping a bag which most likely held the stolen loot. Another member was falling furthest behind, chasing the other two, and the source of the whole discourse was in the very middle - Sonic.

First thing Shadow noticed was his stance. Though him and everyone else always rode on extreme gear while standing, the blue hedgehog was currently crouched down, gripping it's side with one hand. It was somewhat unusual, but he deemed this part to be currently irrelevant. It seemed as though Jet was doing his best to get as far away from Sonic as possible, all the while the hero himself did whatever he could to make the task harder - purposefully bumping into him and trying to knock him off course. The purple swallow only helplessly attempted to keep up with the other two, yelling at the opposing hedgehog and struggling to help her teammate.

Sonic approached at the green hawk's side, trying to reach for the bag, only for Jet to swap it to his other wing with a mocking laugh. He made a rough turn in the hedgehog's direction, catching him off guard and briefly knocking him off the board, leaving him barely holding on with his chest pressed against it. He growled in frustration, his legs swishing helplessly in the air.

The group still hasn't noticed Shadow, but he was getting closer and closer to interrupting this meaningless squabble directly, especially considering Sonic seemed to be sinking further towards the losing side. The agent sped up to try and get under the other hedgehog in case he'd be forced to catch him, only for said hedgehog to do something unexpected.

With a harsher jerk of one leg, he boosted himself in the air with a burst of dark energy, propelling himself back on top of the board. Shadow felt the same surge he did several times earlier, except much more powerful now that he was at its source. The ball of energy created a small blast upon impact with the ground, with Shadow barely managing to get himself out of its way. As he looked back at the dissipating explosion, he saw yet another small crater in the concrete, surrounded by slowly vanishing speckles of purple and white light.

The dark hedgehog was once again overwhelmed with a feeling of coldness and fatigue from such a close encounter with the energy, but significantly more intense than any of the ones he's had with it in recent times. It made him nearly dizzy, but he pushed through regardless, ignoring these odd effects it was having on him.

Shadow was unsure on why he was so sensitive to Dark Gaia, but it's not something he considered news. He's already experienced this during the shattered world incident, which was why he did so little in terms of contributing. It was likely the closest he's ever gotten to getting sick during this time, (well, maybe unless you count the metal virus, but he personally chooses to ignore this embarrassment of an event altogether) feeling constantly weakened and unsteady with all of the energy which enveloped the world. It is possible that this weakness has something to do with his Black Arms DNA, but he's never been able to neither confirm nor deny it.

He noticed how Jet only grimaced strangely at the display, giving no indication of any surprise, implying this wasn't the first time Sonic has used this new ability during their fight.

The bird turned towards the hero, waving the bag around teasingly. "You know, maybe if you finally bothered to explain what the hell that is, maybe I'd consider giving back the bag peacefully."

Sonic settled himself back on the board, crouched on one knee and suppressing small gasps. Despite his obvious struggle, he still smirked at the hawk. "Nah, getting it out of you forcefully is part of the fun. Besides, I wouldn't wanna spoil the surprise now, would I?" Frankly, Shadow would like to know the answer to that question himself, but he'll get a chance to get it out of him soon enough.

Jet only raised a questioning brow at the word 'surprise' and turned back to face the road ahead as he sped up.

Shadow was quickly growing frustrated with chasing the riders from ground level, but there was only so long and so high that his own boots could bring him. He eyed the swallow just above him who was currently straying a fair amount in the back, since the other two Mobians had just increased their speed and she still had yet to catch up to them.

Taking advantage of her position and the others' distraction, Shadow boosted himself high into the air and aimed at the surprised swallow's side. "Shadow-?!" She managed to yell out before he landed a swift kick on her shoulder, successfully knocking her off the board. She fell towards the ground with a loud yelp, landing on the pavement and away from the moving cars, startling any unfortunate passersby in the surrounding area. The agent quickly grasped the gear before regaining his balance, straightening his back and speeding forward.

Now with a more proper means of transport and one less distraction, Shadow pushed the stolen board to its very limits, approaching the pair ahead of him quicker than they could even realize. It wasn't as fast as what he was used to, but it had to do.

By this point, the group has reached a sort of city square, devoid of roads and filled with stores or other recreational spots. Though the amount of civilians around wasn't ideal, Shadow still sought the chance the large space provided and prepared to finally rough things up.

As he loomed closer and closer, he made a sharp turn to dodge Sonic in his way and went straight for Jet, catching him off guard and snatching the bag right from under his beak.  As the hawk let out a startled noise, the dark hedgehog made a 180 degree turn to grab the bird's gear and swipe it from under his feet. As Jet fell backwards, Shadow didn't even bother to look back on him as he launched the board right in Sonic's direction. Wide eyed and paralyzed with surprise, it hit him square in the chest, sending him flying off not far from where his predecessor had landed. Both of the boards began losing momentum without their riders, so the agent made quick work of catching them mid air with his free arm and clutched the both of them at his side. He was already on the ground just moments after the two Mobians had met their painful downfalls, both of them still in the middle of recovering and trying to process what the hell just took place.

They all ended up next to a decorative fountain, the splashing of water mildly taking over any noises brought in by the group. Shadow stepped off the board and dropped the other two on the ground to join it, vaguely registering some distant screams and gasps of the surrounding public. He truthfully wasn't paying much attention to the surroundings at the moment of his attack, so he was lucky not to hit any random innocent person.

He dropped the loot bag right next to the boards and first made his way towards Jet. He was still busy rubbing at his back and grunting in pain with his eyes squeezed closed when Shadow stomped over and grabbed the fluff on his chest, bringing his beak right under his muzzle. The hawk's eyes flew open as he yelped, instinctively grabbing at the offending hand. "What the fuck, dude-?"

Shadow shut him right up with a harsh growl, Jet audibly gulping at the sight of the famous, and clearly angry, ultimate lifeform. The agent threw a thumb over his shoulder with his free hand, pointing in Sonic's direction. "I am going to take care of my own business I have with the blue moron now. While I do that, you will sit here nice and quiet until I am done. And if you try to run away at any point as I do this, I will know. Got it?" 

The hawk nodded hurriedly with a crooked smile. "Okay, yeah, got it! Nice and quiet! Just don't kill me please!"

Without another word, the dark hedgehog let go of the fur and let Jet fall back to the ground. The hawk let out an additional 'ow!' at the treatment but did as promised, staying in place without as much as moving a muscle.

As Shadow turned around, he saw Sonic thankfully still remaining in place, sitting on the ground and clutching his chest where he got hit. He was staring at the two others with his eyes lidded unevenly, gritting his teeth. He only looked up to the other hedgehog expectantly, too confused and likely too exhausted to react.

The agent approached him steadily with furrowed brows and immediately grabbed Sonic by the upper arm, yanking him upwards to his feet. He groaned in response, barely supporting his own weight as Shadow held him in place.

"Where the fuck have you been this whole time? What do you think you're doing now, and what in all hell is that new ability?" The dark hedgehog spat out angrily but held his voice even, careful to control his volume.

Sonic chuckled darkly with hooded eyes. He moved his hand to grab the arm that clutched him, but Shadow paid no mind to the action, focused on the face in front of him. The blue hedgehog answered sarcastically. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

The agent scowled further at the words, but before he could respond, he once again felt the dark energy gathering right on top of his right arm. He tried to yank it away in a panic, but Sonic's hold remained firm up until Shadow felt claws covered in the energy digging into his skin. The blue hedgehog's hand swiped downwards, leaving two uneven gashes in the other's upper arm and freeing himself from his hold.

Shadow grunted in pain and clutched the wound, his glove quickly soaking up the blood. The injury felt extremely cold, and yet, it was far from numb. He saw the darkness gathering around it, clinging to the gashes with more of the colorful specks floating in the air surrounding it. Even though the agent was well known for his high pain tolerance, he couldn't help pressing his hand against the wound hard, muttering out curses. This thing hurts.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He yelled out, no longer caring enough to keep his voice down.

Sonic stared at him several meters away as he swayed in place, clearly dazed from using the unnatural power given to him. His eyes were still hooded, and Shadow couldn't help but think how this is the most distant the questionable hero has ever felt up to this point.

The blue hedgehog opened his mouth slowly, seemingly intent on giving some sort of answer, before collapsing to the ground suddenly, landing on his knees.

Shadow made a step back in surprise, but before he could react, he'd heard the sound of a plane quickly approaching their direction. Before long, said plane would come into view, slowly descending from the sky to land some distance away from the group. He recognized it as the one Tails uses, and soon enough he'd receive a direct confirmation as the exact fox jumped out of the cockpit. Amy, who's been sitting on one of the wings soon followed, and the both of them began running right as they saw their friend crouched on the ground.

Amy was first to appear at Sonic's side, crouching next to him and grabbing hold of his shoulders. "Sonic! Where have you been?!"

The hedgehog groaned and grimaced with his eyes closed, clutching his stomach with both arms. He didn't seem to register the voice in front of him, still struggling with whatever symptoms Dark Gaia was causing him.

Tails stopped right next to Amy and looked down in concern, before bringing his eyes over to Shadow who was still somewhat slouched over and holding onto his injured arm. The fox quickly deduced Sonic would not be a reliable source at the moment, so he brought his question to the next best person. "What happened??"

The pink hedgehog finally looked up, noticing Shadow's presence. He approached them slowly, his face still in a tight grimace. "I think he figured out how to use Dark Gaia's power to his own advantage while he was gone." He briefly let go of his arm to let the two get a look at the injury. The flowing blood has now stained the entirety of his arm below that point, but even though the visible energy was still present, he could see it was slowly dissipating. Good.

Amy let out a quiet gasp at the sight. "He did that to you?" Shadow nodded, to which she looked back on the hedgehog in front of her in disbelief.

"Before I got to him, he was chasing after the Babylon Rogues after they'd stolen some jewelry. He was doing a pretty shit job, mind you, but I guess he was just that desperate to play hero." He looked at the other hedgehog disapprovingly. There was no reaction.

Tails looked behind the agent to notice the hawk sitting on the ground, still watching the whole scene play out with great confusion. As he noticed he was now being watched, he hesitantly spoke up. "Uh, can I move please?"

Jet slumped back down under Shadow's harsh glare, but the hedgehog ultimately ended up scoffing and answering. "Stand up and get over here."

The hawk did as instructed, giving some awkward introductions to the newcomers while on the way. "So what the heck is going on with Sonic?"

Said hedgehog coughed a few times before finally opening his eyes and looking up with a grimace. "Can't y'all have just left me alone?" 

Amy looked back to him in surprise, and then in shock at his words. "Are you kidding me? Have you even seen yourself? By how it's been going, you'd just get yourself killed if we weren't here to interfere!"

Sonic stood up on shaky legs, letting one arm fall at his side but still holding one against his stomach. "I just want to be alone. Be alone, and do my stupid job. Away from all of you."

The heroine stared up at him in disbelief, but gritted her teeth and moved to stand back up. She clenched her fists at her sides, taking a few calming breaths and responded, looking him in the eyes. "Since I know you are not fully in control of yourself, I am going to ignore what you just said and let someone else handle you before I say something you may regret." She turned towards Shadow, passively eyeing the hawk standing at the sidelines. "Since the thief here still needs to be taken care of, I volunteer to escort him to the authorities." Shadow simply nodded in response while Jet rolled his eyes, groaning loudly.

"Don't act like we don't know each other..."

Sonic gave no response, staring with his brows furrowed as the pink hedgehog walked away with the loudly protesting hawk. He then turned to look at Tails, his features easing lightly.

The young fox was staring at him in concern the entire time since the hedgehog last spoke, waiting for some sort of elaboration.

The hedgehog spoke quietly "So you're back..?" He looked away, stuttering. "I- I didn't mean you." Tails didn't answer. After a moment of silence, he only ran off towards the parked Tornado. Sonic stared in surprise, before his brother was back once more, having fetched a set of silver rings from the plane's cockpit.

The fox held them out before him, showing them off to Sonic. Shadow made a few hesitant steps closer to get a better look, but remained careful as to not chase the other hedgehog away with his presence. Tails explained. "I made these while I was away. They're for you."

Sonic seemed to be growing uneasy with the sight, making a subtle step back. "What- what are they? What for?"

"They're inhibitor rings made to keep-"

The hedgehog's eyes widened at the term, backing off and away from his brother with an expression which could only be described as terror. "No, no no no no- I don't want them, I don't-" Shadow both felt and saw more of the energy gathering around him, with no particular target and no consistent shape.

Tails followed Sonic as he backed off from him, looking in concern and confusion. "But- they will help you! You need to put them on as soon as possible, it's already getting worse and worse!" Shadow quickly approached the fox and put his uninjured hand on his shoulder, stopping him in place. Tails stared in surprise, but the agent kept his eyes locked on the other hedgehog with a grimace, watching the heavy negative reaction.

"Stay away from him." Shadow said to him quietly, meant more as a way of ensuring his safety rather than a scolding command.

Sonic stood in place now, but kept on muttering protests before once again stumbling to his knees. Tails stirred at the sight but Shadow squeezed his shoulder harder, keeping him firmly rooted in place. The energy seemed to grow in volume, enveloping him nearly completely. When it seemed like there would be no end to this energy growth, it all just vanished suddenly with no warning. As Sonic sat on his knees, leaning on his hands in front of him, he began hacking and coughing the moment the darkness dissipated. Shadow was no longer able to hold Tails in place after Sonic threw up, letting out some foreign black substance on the ground.

"Sonic!" The fox yelled out as he jumped to his brother's side, looking down at his face while holding one hand on his back. The hedgehog's eyes were squeezed shut as he heaved, until his features relaxed and his breathing calmed. Before Tails could let out a sigh of relief, he'd find that the only reason for the seemingly sudden peace was caused by the fact he'd lost consciousness. He fell to his side limply, away from his brother.

Tails cried out again in fear, scrambling to grab the motionless body and attempt to shake him awake. Shadow quickly ran up to his side and pushed the fox's hands away, flipping Sonic onto his back. Tails initially wanted to protest, but stopped himself as he realized what the older Mobian was doing, simply moving his hands to wipe the tears which were starting to flow freely down his face.

Shadow put an ear to the other hedgehog's chest and held it in place for a while in silence, before moving his head back up with a grimace. "He's breathing, but weakly." After confirming this, he flipped Sonic back to his side and set him in a safer position in case he'd vomit again.

Tails stared at him with wet eyes, clearly terrified, but trusted Shadow to have better knowledge on how to handle the situation. "S- So what does that mean?"

The darker hedgehog took a deep breath, but did not answer. Instead, he held out his left hand towards the fox. "Give me those rings."

Tails stared for a brief moment before perking up, scrambling to get the requested items. He dropped them somewhere behind himself as he jumped to Sonic's help, but he managed to find them quickly and handed them off to Shadow with a shaking hand.

He accepted them with no hesitance and got to work right away, snapping them on Sonic's wrists one by one. They both started glowing an intense blue the moment they were set in place. Though there was no difference to be noticed visually, Shadow could feel the energy which was surrounding the hedgehog beginning to fade in intensity, becoming more muffled as the inhibitor rings took effect. Shadow let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "They're working."

Tails seemed only barely relieved by the information. "We need to take him to a hospital right now."

"And then what? You think doctors know how to treat Dark Gaia absorption? What do you even expect them to do."

The fox stood up, gritting his teeth. "Well, we have to do something! Do you expect me to just sit by and watch while my brother is dying?!"

Shadow joined the other into a stand. "He isn't dying. We did the best we could for now, now we just have to wait."

Tails' gaze flipped from side to side, debating himself internally. He then looked back up to the other, clenching his fists tightly. "Then- Then help me bring him home."

The agent looked down at the unconscious hedgehog at his feet, monitoring the energy's regress. He shook his head. "That's not a good idea."

The other was taken aback by the unexpected response. "What? Why not?? If no hospital and no home, then what do you want me to do?!"

"He's still dangerous as he is now. He's obviously hostile towards everyone around him except you, but even with you - his last waking moments were spent running away from you in fear. What do you think will happen the moment he wakes up?"

The fox took a moment to stare wordlessly, truly mulling the potential scenario over in his head. He looked down, speaking softly. "Why was he so scared?"

Shadow sighed. "I don't know. But either way, as you could see, he can't control that power. He could hurt you even unintentionally the moment he regained consciousness if the things you made provoked such a strong reaction."

Tails squeezed his eyes shut at the idea of his brother hurting him, pushing it away far down his psyche. "What do you want to do, then?"

The agent brushed his fingers through his quills with a scowl, putting his other hand on his hip. "I'll... take him to my place."

"But what about you? He can attack you too, you know.." His ears suddenly perked upwards. "You're not gonna tie him up or something, are you?"

He scoffed. "No. Like I would need that. I can take whatever he throws at me, I'm the-"

Tails quickly interrupted him. "Okay, yeah, I know what you are, we all know." He sighed, but raised a brow upon another realization. "But what about Rouge? Don't you two live together?"

"I'm taking him somewhere else."

"Where?"

Shadow crouched down next to Sonic, putting one hand under his neck and the other under his knees, lifting him up effortlessly. "I have a place." Tails looked at him in wonder before he continued. "I'll tell you the details later. But before I go - do these rings have a lock?"

The fox hesitated before answering. "...Yes.. They lock the moment they're put on. Only I have a key." As guilty as he felt about it, Tails simply couldn't trust Sonic not to try to take them off, even if he didn't expect his violent reaction. He included the feature for his own good.

Shadow simply nodded in response. "Good." He readied himself for the run, briefly glancing down at the hedgehog in his arms. There was no change, Sonic laying there as if he was just asleep. "Since I don't have your number, I'll let Amy know the moment I have an update. I trust she will make sure to pass it onto you."

Tails nodded sadly. "Yeah..." Before Shadow could leave, he put a hand on his brother's, squeezing it gently. He looked up at the darker hedgehog pleadingly. "Please take care of him."

His lips parted slightly before closing back up as his brows furrowed. "Of course."

 

Without another word, Shadow was off, skating away through the city streets at the speed of sound. He made a conscious decision not to use chaos control in this situation, as given the ill symptoms Sonic always suffered after teleportation, it could only work to bring his health down even further.

He slowed down slightly as he exited out of the city, looking down at the other hedgehog and then to the injury on his arm.

"Idiot..."

 

Notes:

Jet during this whole chapter: o_o

also the babylon rogues got away on their own later anyway if anyone's worried about that

Chapter 10: Lilies

Summary:

Sonic gets Shadow's help.

After a short while of running but many kilometers traveled, Shadow reached his destination at the outskirts of society.

At a far west end of the continent, nearly bordering with the ocean, lay a small but sturdy wooden cabin with a flower garden at the front. It was old and currently uninhabited, but not exactly abandoned, still well kept and taken care of. 

Not long after awakening from his stasis, Shadow found this house in a state of ruin, likely left empty for years before his arrival. It was a perfect opportunity for him to gain a reliable place of resort, where he could safely keep his things and withdraw to during moments of crisis or whenever he needed some isolation. Simply put, it was his home, or at least used to be.

He had lived there for several years before the war, during which he moved in with Rouge into their now shared apartment. The bat was growing increasingly concerned with his well-being during this time, worried about the distance. She claimed she'd rather be close by in case of an attack, and even despite his assurances of being able to protect himself on his own, she'd keep on insisting until he eventually relented. Later on he'd discover the real reason for her worries was due to concern over his mental state, but she knew he'd never admit to such issues. Point is, she didn't want him to be all alone.

With the amount of time that has passed and how content he's grown with having a roommate, truthfully, he wouldn't want to be alone now either. Not all the time, at least.

But even despite all this, Shadow wouldn't want to abandon a place he put so much work into completely. Nowadays, the cabin served as more of a warehouse, storing any items he collected over the years that wouldn't fit into their apartment or ones he wouldn't trust Rouge not to steal. As much as he loved his friend, that woman was not trustworthy when it comes to valuables.

Besides that, he still had his garden he had to take care of.

 

He stopped in front of the door and supported the hedgehog in his arms on one knee, quickly fishing out a set of keys from his quills with his freed hand. He unlocked the house with swift movements and stepped inside without hesitation.

With the change of seasons, the difference in temperatures between inside and outdoors started becoming noticeable. He was instantly hit with a subtle wave of warmth and the smell of lavender, along with a hint of wood from the fireplace. The smells were one of his favorite parts of visiting the house, as after moving in with Rouge, he quickly learned she didn't appreciate his flooding of the apartment with his slightly insane amount of air fresheners and strong smelling flowers.

Since Shadow never expected to be taking in any guests, isolation being a primary feature of the cabin, he unfortunately had no spare bedroom. The tiny home also lacked a proper living room, so there was no couch either, with the closest he had to one being an armchair set next to the fireplace. He had some emergency mattress tucked away in a closet, but it wasn't the softest thing in the world, and Sonic probably should be put down on something of higher quality given his state. It seems Shadow will be forced to give away his own bed to his sworn rival. Ain't that funny. But then again, he only has himself to blame, or his annoying conscience more like.

With that said, looking down, Shadow had to put into consideration a fairly relevant detail. Sonic was absolutely filthy right now. There is no way he's putting all that dirt on top of his clean sheets, not even his conscience is strong enough to force him to do that.

After some quick thinking, he opted to temporarily set the hedgehog down on the armchair as Shadow scoured through his wardrobe. He pulled out some older blanket he wasn't particularly attached to, deeming it a suitable sacrifice. He splayed it over the entirety of the bed, making sure none of the linens peeked out and headed back out of the bedroom. He picked Sonic's limp body up once more and carried him over to the newly prepared furniture, setting him down on his side. He took a step back, looking over the unconscious figure. First, the shoes had to go, no shoes on the bed rule still applies. He pulled them off, trying not to think about it too much, and threw them at the feet of the bed. Socks are staying. After that, he stared for a few seconds, confirming the other to still be breathing with no issue. Though one thing was still bugging him, which only intensified as he looked at Sonic's muzzle, still dirtied in the disgusting black substance.

He rushed over to the kitchen, fetching a plastic bucket from one of the counters along with a glass of water. Back in the bedroom, he set the glass on top of the nightstand and the bucket on the floor, right under the other hedgehog's head. Still not quite fully satisfied with the set up, he nudged his head just ever so slightly, positioning him in a way where it sat right at the edge of the mattress, directly above the container.

With this particular issue taken care of for now, Shadow finally found a moment to take a look at his own troubles, more specifically at his still blood covered arm. The wound has already mostly closed thanks to his enhanced healing, but he had to give it reluctant credit, this injury was certainly persistent. Normally, he'd stop feeling any pain from such gashes in a matter of minutes, and yet he could still vaguely feel the subtle, uncomfortable tingling, even though about half an hour has passed since he'd gotten them.

His brows furrowed in annoyance, but he chose not to put too much unnecessary thought into it. He headed to the bathroom and immediately slipped off his gloves, both thoroughly soaked with blood at this point, and dumped them right into the laundry basket. He gave the arm a quick rinse with water and soap over the sink, not in the mood for a full body wash, then dried off with a towel. Since it has already stopped bleeding and he was in no risk of infections, he decided to leave the wound at that, and besides - he doesn't own any medical supplies anyway. He never needed them, after all. He just changed into a clean pair of gloves, not particularly comfortable with the idea of tending to his rival with bare hands.

Back in Sonic's room - his room - he looked over the hedgehog's body once more. As his eyes drifted slightly downwards, he noticed the state of his own gloves. Aside from being dirty and torn up just like everything else in him, his knuckles were stained with a portion of heavily darkened red. Did he get into some other fight Shadow wasn't aware of? A fist fight, on top of that?

Shadow crouched down on the floor, feeling unsure. So far, he's limited the amount of physical contact he made with Sonic to a minimum, both for the sake of his own comfort but also for his rival's sake. He's quite sure he himself wouldn't appreciate excessive prodding over his unconscious body, so he wouldn't want to put someone else through that either. Things like cleanup can wait until he wakes up and is able to take care of it himself, but leaving out blood... A lot can go wrong with blood - like infections, or diseases.

With a sigh, he lifted his hands and started to pull at the fingers. He was met with a bit of resistance, as the liquid had long since dried and stuck itself to the owner's fur, but came off with the slight amount of force. The wounds underneath were messy, but didn't seem too serious. After another quick trip to the bathroom, throwing out the hopeless gloves on the way, he came back with wet cloth and some alcohol soaked cotton pads.

He sat down on the floor next to the bed and slowly took Sonic's hand in his own. Turning his attention entirely to the injuries, he worked to carefully clean them out on each hand. Without the blood in the way, it revealed his skin was torn up, with chunks of the short fur missing. As he was about to put the second hand back down after finishing, he hesitated.

He couldn't help but pause to stare momentarily, feeling the palm in his own. This was only the second time when he got to see the new white markings, ever since the other had started wearing the tape which hid it from view. Even though he's never actually seen Sonic without gloves, therefore there was nothing for him to be used to beforehand, the sight still felt strangely foreign. The way in which the arm it was attached to had gotten skinnier lately only intensified the feeling.

 

...

 

 

Do I really need to have some ulterior motives? Can't I just want to hit up an old pal? Well okay, maybe we don't know each other that long, but you are old so the point still stands, hah.

 

Wohoah! That was sick, man! Think you could teach me sometime?

 

No way, I'm actually getting taller than you? Hell yeah! Don't worry, I'll make sure to bend my knees a bit whenever we meet to keep things even between us, Ultimate Shorty.

 

Ah, ah, ah! No backing out now, I saw that smile!  Sorta wish you did it more often, it looked pretty nice on you! - well, not as nice as mine of course, but you know what they say, practice makes perfect!

 

Hey, you doing alright there Shads?

 

 

 

Shadow blinked a few times and let the hand go. He leaned his back against the bed frame, bringing his knees up to his chest. He rubbed his palms on his face, groaning quietly to himself.

These times are long gone. Stop this.

 

---

 

Shadow spent a good while just sitting, leaning against the bed and waiting. Normally he'd go to read something to pass the time, but this time he found himself unable to do anything other than stare off into space. Listening to Sonic's soft breathing.

He'd nearly started falling asleep when he heard the noise shift subtly, becoming more uneven. As he got up, he saw the other hedgehog starting to stir, eventually opening his eyes slightly with a groan. His eyes quickly turned to Shadow, rubbing them in confusion.

"...Shadow..?" He asked quietly, his voice raspy. He started looking around, taking in his surroundings. "Where is this? Why am I here?"

The agent leaned against a nearby wall, furthering the distance between them. He crossed his legs and arms tiredly. "It's my house. You passed out."

"Why did I..?" He started, pulling his hands away from his face, before pausing upon noticing the inhibitor rings. He pushed himself upwards into a sit, staring wide eyed for several seconds. His quills bristled as his ears lowered. "No..."

Shadow pushed himself off the wall, making a step closer as he saw the building reaction. "Sonic, you're fine. Tails made them to help you-"

Not listening to the other's words, Sonic suddenly started pulling at the bracelets desperately. "No, no, no, take them off take them off I can't have them again!"

"Stop, they won't be coming off, Tails locked them on you."

The blue hedgehog paused to stare at the other in shock. "He did this?" His breathing sped up and his ears pinned back as far as they could go as he started clawing more intensely, scratching the surrounding skin in the process. "How could Tails do this to me?! I trusted him! He wouldn't- how could he-!"

Shadow grabbed his clawing hand, yanking it away from the ring. "Listen to me! You'll only hurt yourself, this is for your own good-"

Sonic only attempted to do the same, scratching with his free hand at the one in the agent's grasp. "No! I need my chaos, I can't-! You can't take it away again!"

Gritting his teeth, Shadow finally grabbed both of his wrists, squeezing hard as he thrashed in his grasp. He pulled him up to press his arms against the wall next to the bed. He had to bring his knees on top of the mattress, bracketing Sonic's own and effectively straddling him. The hedgehog looked around wide eyed, hyperventilating heavily at this point, desperately trying to get away.

"Stop!" Shadow momentarily pulled the wrists in his grasp away from the wall just to push them back, trying to get the thrashing hedgehog's attention. "Sonic, look at me!"

The other finally looked him in the eyes, pausing in his movements, but his gasping only intensified. "I can't again- I can't-" He mumbled in between breaths, squeezing his eyes shut.

The agent looked from side to side, feeling his own panic creeping in. He took a short moment to gather his wits and spoke again, more gently this time. "Sonic, look at me." Sonic opened his eyes hesitantly as he heaved, and Shadow continued. "Follow my lead."

He took a deep, exaggerated breath, then exhaled slowly. He repeated this a few times before Sonic started actually copying his actions, taking in his own shaky breaths.

Breathe in, hold, breathe out, repeat.

He lowered his arms as the other hedgehog slowly calmed, laying them at Sonic's sides but still held them in his grasp. His ears were still low on the sides of his head, but he started breathing somewhat normally on his own, so Shadow decided to speak again. "Now focus. Can you actually feel your chaos be held back?"

He looked at him for a few seconds in silence before giving a tiny shake of his head.

"Do they cause you any pain?"

Hesitance, then another small shake.

"Alright. So if I let you go now, will you leave them be?"

Nod.

Shadow pulled his hands back carefully, waiting for movement. When Sonic remained motionless, he finally got off of him and settled next to him, still monitoring. After a few seconds, the blue hedgehog stirred as he looked down, simply pulling his knees up and hugging them to his chest without a word. He buried his muzzle in them, staring blankly at the mattress.

The agent stood up to pick up the glass of water, handing it over to the other. "Drink."

He accepted it reluctantly and chugged it all down in one go, then returned to his curled up position after giving back the empty glass. The darker hedgehog set it back down on the nightstand, then moved to sit on the edge of the bed some distance away from the other before speaking. "The rings are only blocking off the influence of Dark Gaia. They have nothing to do with chaos energy." No response. He continued. "How are you feeling?"

Sonic blinked a few times. After a few seconds, he murmured. "I don't know."

"How much do you remember from before you lost consciousness?"

"...Everything."

The darker hedgehog looked at him in surprise. "You're sure?"

He nodded, before asking. "...Why am I with you? Where is everyone?"

Shadow hesitated. "...That ability was making you dangerous. I'm the only one who could take it on if it got out of control."

Sonic lifted his head, turning his eyes to the other hedgehog's right arm. His eyelids lowered a bit more before he leaned his head back on his knees once more. "...Yeah. I guess so."

The agent was mildly surprised by the calm reaction, remembering the last time he as much as mentioned the possibility of Sonic being a threat in front of him. He didn't want to lie even despite this, ready to face the consequences. But it seems he won't even have to. Perhaps the inhibitor rings are working even better than expected, or something else is at play...

He decided it will be better to limit himself to only a few questions at a time, as interrogating and barraging Sonic with accusations could only distress him and potentially cause him to shut himself off even more.

He stood up from the bed, the shift in weight bringing the other's attention. "When was the last time you ate?"

Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, unsure.

Shadow sighed. "You need to eat. I'll go make some dinner, in the meantime, you should really take a shower. You stink."

He snorted weakly in response and uncurled a bit. As he moved to stand, he had to support himself with his arms on the bed, swaying mildly. Seeing this won't be going in any positive direction, Shadow approached him and threw Sonic's arm over his shoulder, catching him off guard. "H-Hey, I'm fine-"

"I'll just lead you to the bathroom to make sure you don't kill yourself on the way."

Sonic pouted but didn't protest, allowing himself to be dragged off from the room. As they passed the door, Shadow put him down to sit on top of the toilet's closed lid, taking his arm away.

"Will you handle yourself from here?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"Good. All the supplies are in the shower and you can use any of the towels afterwards, they're all clean. You can also borrow one of my pairs of gloves and socks, I don't care."

Shadow left the room as Sonic hummed, closing the door after himself. With that, he left him to it and got to his own work right away.

 

---

 

Since he doesn't live here day to day anymore, he'd had to make a few chaos control trips to his apartment for the ingredients. Luckily Rouge and Omega are still out, while Sonic didn't seem to notice his temporary absence, so everything went swiftly without issues. While a soup would go down with more ease, Sonic should probably have something more nutritious given he hadn't eaten in hell knows how long. He settled on improvising some fried beef with vegetables and cooked rice. He rarely actually knows the names of the meals he makes, but he's been told they taste good, so that's all that matters.

As Shadow stood by the counter, the meat and vegetables nearly finished, he heard the bathroom door click open. He decided it'd already be enough and turned the stove off, then leaned back to peek behind the wall. Sonic stood against the door, fur and quills mildly damp. He was also wearing new socks and gloves. He was considerably cleaner than before even looking from afar, but he was still very messy and far from put together. He had large bags under his eyes and looked probably even more tired than before, rather than refreshed as one tends to be after a shower.

He watched as Sonic's nose twitched at the smell of food and eyes lit up slightly. Shadow smirked at the sight and walked from around the corner and leaned against the wall's side, crossing his arms over his chest. "Impressive, you still look like shit even now."

Sonic stared with wide eyes, then snorted as he made a step forward, but suddenly he stopped in place. The snort shifted into a chuckle which kept up for a tad too long, until the small grin twisted into a grimace. Shadow stepped away from the wall, letting his arms fall to his sides in concern. The innocent laugh from the beginning slowly turned into a broken sob, until the sob soon became full on bawling. He pressed his palms against his face, trying to hide from view.

Shadow walked up to him slowly, feeling something in his stomach twist at the sight. "Hey, you know I didn't mean to..." He stopped before him, his hand drifting next to the trembling figure as if afraid of making contact.

Sonic rubbed his eyes, turning his gaze slightly upwards but not quite making eye contact. He sniffled. "Why is it that you of all people feel like the only one who's real anymore?" He murmured out quietly.

The agent opened his mouth, but no sound came out. What could he answer to that, really?

The blue hedgehog started swaying once more, falling forward. Shadow caught him in the air, holding onto his shoulders as Sonic ended up with his forehead buried in his chest fur. He was concerned that the other may have passed out again, up until Sonic brought his fists up to press at the sides of his head.

"Why do you need to mess with my head so much? You do all this stuff for me, then you- you tell me you only tolerate me because of your friends." He sobbed. Shadow could see tears drop down on the floor below him as Sonic's face stayed out of his view. "And then you take me in, you pamper me- even after I just shredded your arm just earlier today-" He curled in on himself more, bringing one fist up to hit against Shadow's chest, though there was no real force behind it. "You can't do this to me...! If you don't really care about me, then don't fucking act like you do!" He finally brought his head up, staring him in the eyes with gritted teeth and tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm so confused, everyone's giving me all these mixed signals, I have no idea what to think anymore! You are always so fucking blunt with everything, can't you be the one person who's clear in all of this?!"

Shadow stared with wide eyes, his mouth gaping narrowly. "I- I don't..."

"None of this 'I don't know' bullshit! Just tell me, do you fucking hate me or not?!" He hit at his chest again weakly.

The darker hedgehog gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. After a moment of silent contemplation, he answered quickly before he could change his mind.

"You... said you thought we were friends once." Shadow mumbled out. "..You were right. I thought we were too."

Sonic leaned back to look at his face. "..Then why...?"

"Because you are a self destructive idiot who I didn't fucking want to care about, but did regardless."

"What...?"

Shadow scoffed. "Don't make me go into specifics... Fine, I don't want you hurt because I myself do unfortunately care about you, stupid dipshit." He pulled away a bit, still holding the other hedgehog's shoulders. He didn't say anything as he stared at him with glazed eyes. Shadow sighed, turning his gaze away. He dropped his arms and grabbed the other by the wrist, leading him into the kitchen. "Now come to eat already before you starve to death."

Sonic wiped his face with his free hand. "Is it like a rule that you need to throw one insult per every nice thing you say?"

He glanced back at him, then pulled his eyes away again. "Yes. Just like with chaos, my body implodes if too much kindness builds up over time."

He chuckled. Then the chuckle became laughter. A true laughter.

Shadow looked back, his eyes widening in surprise as he finally realized something.

The mask was off.

 

---

 

Sonic was still reluctant to eat at first, but forced himself either way under Shadow's watchful gaze. He seemed to like it, though he didn't comment anything out loud. Eventually he was the first to break the silence.

"So... how long am I supposed to stay here?"

Shadow glanced up from his plate. He wasn't sure about the answer either. "Since things seem to be under control now, I suppose you could go back to Tails even tonight."

Sonic flinched, pausing with his meal. He spoke again hesitantly. "...I.. I'm not ready."

The other raised a brow.

He sighed. "I.. I ran, because... I needed time away from everyone, but... I don't know, the Dark Gaia stuff was..." He swallowed. Shadow waited for him to continue wordlessly. He started rubbing the rings on his wrists. "I should honestly feel grateful to Tails for making these... If I'm being honest, it was... getting a lot worse. I was barely lucid at that point, just... working on autopilot. Doing whatever felt right. It's honestly really scary, looking back.."

The agent nodded. That would explain his odd behavior and the sudden reappearance, showing up so blatantly despite trying so hard to stay undetected beforehand.

"But even if I should feel grateful, I just..." He breathed in shakily. "When- When I was on the Death Egg..."

Shadow immediately perked up, his ears shooting upward, though he remained quiet. This was the first time Sonic has ever mentioned anything related to his time there on his own.

"..They put inhibitor rings on me. Except not like yours, they didn't hold back my chaos, they- stopped it altogether, keeping it in-" His hand started trembling, dropping his fork. "Suffocated-"

That explained everything he needed to know. The darker hedgehog stood up halfway and grabbed Sonic's hand across the table. "It's fine. I know enough." The other looked him in the eyes, then nodded. He took a deep, shaky breath as Shadow let him go and got back into his seat.

They remained quiet for a moment, but Shadow felt he needed to add. "...Thank you for sharing this."

Sonic looked up and forced a crooked smile. "Yeah.. no problem, man..." His lips dropped again. "But my point was-" He sighed. "I know I'm already pushing it but... could I just... stay here for a few days?"

The agent looked up in surprise.

"I don't feel.. safe... to see everyone else, and since I'm already here- you know, you can watch over me I guess and make sure I'm not doing anything too stupid and stuff..." He shook his head. "I know it's a lot, sorry. You can just say no, I'll just suck it up and-"

"Alright."

Sonic blinked. "Really?"

Shadow shrugged. "I suppose I don't mind spending some time in my summer home.  Lucky for you, my love for my flowers transcends my hatred for your presence in my vicinity."

He snorted with a raised brow. "Seriously? I never took you for a gardener."

The agent sent him a glare. "Do not mock my hobbies, or else I may change my mind."

Sonic raised his hands in defense. "No, no, it's cool! Just didn't expect it, is all. It's kinda cute to be honest."

Shadow looked away with a scoff.

"Can I see it?"

He looked back up. "Huh?"

"I wanna see it."

Shadow blinked a few times. "...Sure. After you're done with dinner."

Sonic rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Fine, mom."

 

---

 

The garden was located right at the front of the house, surrounded with a small wooden fence. It had two wide rows of flowers with a stone pathway going down the middle, with wisteria hanging from the support beams above. Many of the flowers were already withered with the change of seasons, but they still held up most of their beauty. Purple was a unifying theme, with most of the species being various shades of it, such as lavender, lilacs and purple hydrangea bushes. One stood out from the rest though, as any otherwise empty space was filled with smaller, white flowers. Lilies. 

Sonic looked around as he walked down the stone path, Shadow following close behind.

"Woah. You sure like purple, huh?"

The agent hummed. The blue hedgehog prodded around the wisterias a bit, admiring the blanket they created over the rest of the garden before crouching down next to a bigger patch of the white flowers.

"And what's up with these? They're the only non-purple flowers here."

Shadow hesitated for a second before crouching down next to the other. "...They're white lilies. They used to be Maria's favorite flowers."

Sonic paused in his ministrations, eyes widening. "Oh... Sorry, I-" The agent sighed and suddenly bumped him with his elbow, causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground. "Woah- hey! What was that for?"

Shadow scoffed with a tiny smirk. "It's fine, hedgehog. You don't need to apologize any time she's mentioned, honoring her memory is the point." He held his arm out for the other. "Come on, don't go wallowing in front of my house now. Before someone gets the wrong idea."

The hedgehog looked unsure at the hand in front of him, before hesitantly accepting it, letting himself be pulled up. Shadow crossed his arms over his chest as he let go, looking over the flowers with a small, prideful smile.

Sonic could do nothing but stare at the other in awe.

 

When did you...?

 

Notes:

oh my god they are finally bonding yall no way

I constantly forget these guys are animals-ish and have to go back to have them emote with their ears and stuff
you'd think I'd be used to that already when half of my ocs are warrior cats lol

also yeah my Shadow is a gardener who writes poetry whenever he isn't busy being a badass what of it

Chapter 11: Plans

Summary:

Sonic tries to settle in.

Notes:

Happy pride month :)
Also tysm for all the nice comments! This fic seems to be getting more attention recently and I'm really glad so many people like the story <3 I will admit this will be a long journey as I am incapable of creating short plots and we're already pretty dang deep in so it's really neat to see people are willing to sit through so so many words, with plenty more to come
I'm still unsure how long the whole thing will be exactly as I tend to often switch things up as I write and get inspired or end up going on for much longer than anticipated, but I'd make a blind shot and say 30-ish chapters? Probably more knowing me

Anyway I'm rambling at this point, enjoy the new chapter - a looooot of talking and setup in this one

After the incident with Sonic and Shadow's prompt takeover, Tails returned to his workshop stressed, confused and on the verge of tears. Again. Amy returned soon after, still needing to pack her things she brought over for her temporary stay. Still, even after that, she decided to keep the fox company for the remainder of the day, both for emotional support and to remain close by in case Shadow calls her as she learned he stated he would.

As they waited, they found out two things. First, the Babylon Rogues escaped not long after Amy made her leave. Because of course they did.

But the second thing was significantly more concerning. It was fairly predictable, they were making quite a ruckus in a public place after all, but neither Amy nor Tails took it into consideration in the heat of the moment. As it turns out, the entire situation was once again recorded and already going viral. To outsiders, last time was a simple screaming match and an unexpected change in appearance from their semi-retired hero. Strange, but not that big of a deal.

Now this time...

Odd appearance. Obvious sickly state. Tons of collateral damage all over the city. A brand new superpower. Attacking a fellow well-known hero and passing out afterwards in a cloud of black smoke.

All of it was out there for anyone to see.

There is no chance of keeping quiet now.

If the both of them were already stressed out of their minds beforehand, all of that got now quadrupled.

All of that, and the fact that at some point Tails' reader connected to Sonic's new rings started going haywire, certainly did not help.

 

After a while of a shared panicking session, Amy's phone suddenly buzzed in her hands. The fox, who had been pacing around the room immediately jumped to her side at the noise, all but sticking his muzzle in front of her face. As expected, it was Shadow.

"Please be good news please be good news..." The hedgehog murmured out loud as she lifted a tentative finger. She pressed down and put the call on speaker. Before the agent could even get the first word in, both Mobians started bombarding the phone with questions.

"Is he up?"

"Is Sonic okay?"

"Where did you take him?"

"Are you sure the rings are working like they should?"

After a short while of silence from the other side, likely due to having to process the questions, Shadow answered. "..Yes, debatable, classified, yes."

"What do you mean by 'debatable'?" Amy asked.

"And what do you mean with 'classified'?! You said you'd tell me!" Tails nearly shouted.

"That is what I intended to do, but there had been some change of plans. You will learn eventually, though. I can explain further if you'd let me make a proper report."

The pink hedgehog sighed. "Right, okay, go on." The fox simply leaned back slightly, stopping himself from asking more.

"Sonic woke up about three hours ago. There was some distress at the beginning related to the inhibitor rings like I had predicted, but I managed to calm him down. Miles' invention seems to be working well, as Sonic is significantly calmer in general now after his initial panic. He is still heavily lethargic however, but it seems to be unrelated to the Dark Gaia issue. I believe he is simply very malnourished."

Amy rubbed her hand on her forehead. "Right, that makes sense... I'm glad he calmed down though, good job Tails." She patted him on the back with a weak smile, but the fox barely had any reaction to her praise.

"Can we talk to him?" He asked.

There was a lengthy pause from the other side before a firm answer. "No."

"Wha- why not?"

"Can he not talk? Is it that bad?"

"He can talk. He just.. doesn't want to."

"So he's just been dead quiet since waking up? I've never seen him go even an hour without rambling, let alone three..." Amy asked with worry.

"What I meant by that, is that he doesn't want to speak with you two specifically."

"What?!" Tails exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh?! Oh, so he's mad at us now?! We're not the ones who disappeared for almost four days just to come back to make ourselves a public sensation, and not the good kind of sensation!"

They could hear Shadow sigh. "He isn't mad at either of you. From what I understand, he just needs time alone. Since I'm already here, I am to keep track of his state and report it to you. That is what we agreed upon. He does seem more content with my presence in particular, but that could be exactly because he doesn't hold as much attachment to me as he does to you."

Tails remained quiet, hurt by the information. There has never been a time where Sonic would deliberately avoid contact with him, even after the worst of disagreements, which were already few and far between. Just a week ago he was literally unable to leave the hedgehog's side even for a moment without upsetting him, so the sudden change in attitude gave him major whiplash. Now he's unsure which alternative he prefers.

If he could, he would just choose regular Sonic. But that wasn't an option he was provided with.

Amy cooled down from her initial outburst, but she was still visibly unhappy with the answer. "He already had four days of alone time and came back worse than ever. How long could he need?"

"...I do not know. I am sorry."

She bit her lip, overtaken by sadness from her friend's genuine tone. She leaned back in mild defeat.

The fox spoke up after a while of silence. "Do you know why the rings scared him?"

"...I do, actually." Shadow hesitated. Long enough for Tails to remind of himself after perking up at first.

"And?"

After a few more seconds, he seemingly came to some sort of conclusion and finally gave them an explanation. "It's related to the time he spent being held hostage by the Doctor. He was apparently forced to wear something similar back then."

Both of their eyes widened, with Amy's lips parting slightly in surprise. Tails spoke first. "But... wasn't that, like, two or three years ago already?"

"It's been two years, yes." Shadow answered without further elaboration.

The two exchanged worried looks. They decided to drop the subject for now, taking the hint.

"So why are you keeping your location secret?" Amy redirected the conversation.

"Because I know you would try to come here regardless of faker's wishes."

"Oh, come on, who do you take us for?"

"Nosy, concerned friends."

They remained quiet, not sure what to say in response. That wasn't exactly not accurate...

Shadow continued. "I do understand your perspective, and I do not blame you. But I believe you can benefit from this time apart as well. You will finally have the chance to settle in properly after your return, without having to worry about faker for once. I will admit, I did not like seeing you so stressed, Amy. You should have some rest - that also goes for Miles, but we don't know each other that well, so I hope you understand why I'm less confident in giving you advice."

"Yeah, of course..." Tails agreed.

"Shadow, I appreciate the concern, but you shouldn't sacrifice yourself like that for our sake. I know you don't get along with Sonic well, so maybe he could just stay with someone else - like Miss Vanilla, or-"

"It's fine. I don't mind."

"...You sure? I really wouldn't want him to get into any fights right now, and we all know how prone you two are to starting those. And before you say anything, that includes verbal fights."

"...I have no intent of causing conflict. I do have the capability of taking circumstances into consideration when it comes to personal squabbles we may or may not have. I know when to put non-serious matters like this aside."

Amy pursed her lips, glancing back to Tails for reassurance. He gave her a small nod after his own moment to think.

"...Okay. I trust you Shadow, so you better not disappoint me, alright?"

"You should already know I never disappoint with anything."

She snickered with an eye roll. "Humble as always. Alright, call whenever there's anything new to say, and good luck with handling that dummy."

"Yeah, and thanks, Shadow. We will hear you later." Tails added.

"Take care of yourselves."

Beep.

Amy leaned back against the couch with a sigh, Tails following her example. They both glanced at each other.

The news related to Sonic's reaction to the rings still rattled on in their heads, bringing brand new worrying implications to the table. As much as they could theorize and draw their own conclusions, nothing will be confirmed as long as their friend stayed away from them. All they could do now was wait for a green light and think of their own issues. And maybe, just maybe, try to temporarily forget about the outside world and the public reaction which was sure to force itself into their lives sooner or later.

With that said, Amy decided to be first to break the silence. "Let's do our best to follow his advice, yeah?"

The fox hummed, looking down.

"I mean it, Tails. Please don't overwork yourself like always. You already made some big progress, let's just take a bit of a breather for now."

He sighed. "I'll try."

She placed a hand under her chin in thought, before her lips turned upwards slightly into a smirk. It may be their last chance for a good while to celebrate a bit of peace, so they may as well use the opportunity to its fullest.

"So what about that homecoming party?"

 

---

 

Shadow pushed himself off the wall of the cabin as he ended the call, going back inside. As he entered through the door, the other hedgehog was still busy with the same task he'd been occupying himself with for a while now, which was scribbling something down in his journal.

He was sitting on the armchair with his feet brought up against the edge, his knees serving as support for the book. His brows were furrowed the entire time as he moved the pen around frantically, occasionally visibly scratching off some portions of the text. He only stopped upon hearing the sound of the door closing, looking up from the pages with widened eyes.

The restless way in which Sonic behaved somewhat concerned Shadow, but he preferred not to bother him, as a diary was supposed to be something rather private.

He walked up to the dining table and sat down on one of the chairs, facing to the side as he looked towards the other hedgehog. "I told them you'll be staying away for some time."

Sonic's expression remained neutral, though his ears turned backwards. "And what did they say?"

"They didn't like it, but ultimately they made peace with it. I told them to also rest."

The other turned back to his journal with a small twitch of his lips. "That's... cool."

The agent couldn't help but turn his gaze towards the item as well. "I assume it's serving its purpose well."

Sonic gave him a mildly surprised glance before realizing what he was referring to. He grimaced with lidded eyes. "Yeah." A pause. "...Why did you add in that message on the first page?"

Shadow blinked, caught off guard by the question. He knew what message he meant right away, but he hesitated with an answer. "Because... that is a reminder I could've used back when I also needed to keep a journal like this." It is the truth, but it isn't all of it.

"...I didn't know you had something like that."

Shadow let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief at the lack of prodding. "You know I have a history of dealing with memory related issues. I had to make up for it somehow."

Sonic tilted his head. "But wasn't yours just amnesia? Like, a one time thing?"

"...It repeated in smaller ways. During... harder times." He clicked his tongue, closing his eyes. "But that's irrelevant now. I haven't had problems with it in a long time."

The other looked at him somewhat questioningly, then turned his head back to the journal. He flipped it to the first page in thought and stared at it for a good while before speaking again. "And who do you think I am?" The question sounded genuine, not meant as any sort of attack.

Shadow couldn't find an answer to the simple, yet oddly complex sudden question. He was left gaping at the other hedgehog, unable to find words which would be appropriate for the given moment.

After several moments, he opted to simply redirect it in a way that felt usual for their dynamic. Something familiar. "You are a thorn in my side. A thorn which... can be regrettably capable and useful at times. But annoying regardless." Keeping it brief and vague but genuine enough.

Sonic's brows furrowed as he still kept his eyes away. "I'm not asking what I am in relation to you. I'm asking who I am in general."

"You know I cannot answer that question for you. You did describe yourself in a particular way on one of our first encounters, though. 'Just someone who loves adventure', or something like that. I'd assume you already had that figured out."

His fingers clenched on the pages as his brows furrowed further. He then half sighed, half scoffed. "Never mind." Sonic mumbled.

Shadow stared at him somewhat blankly, quizzically. He didn't say anything, the conversation already feeling too heart-to-heart for his comfort. He stood up from his chair, heading towards a bookshelf in the corner of the room. He selected one of the books, then faced Sonic who had been eyeing his movements. "I'm going to my room. Help yourself to something when you get bored. I don't think our tastes have much overlap, though, but you can check regardless. Just don't take anything from the bottom row."

Sonic gave him an odd look at the last sentence, squinting. "...Is it porn?"

Shadow stuttered in his movements, his mouth gaping in a grimace. He resumed his tread towards his room, ignoring the way in which he felt his face heat up slightly. "No, you moron." He smacked him over the head with the book on the way, causing Sonic to grunt. The darker hedgehog stopped for a moment in the door, taking a glance back. "Just don't touch it, it's private."

Sonic stared with a hand held to the top of his head as Shadow overly aggressively closed the door, only to stop himself just when it was about to slam shut, leaving out a narrow gap. Presumably in order to hear him better through the wall. Sonic decided to yell out with a tiny amused smirk, entirely for teasing purposes. "Hey, I don't judge, man!"

"Shut up!"

Sonic snickered to himself, but his grin faded quickly as he looked back at the bookshelf in wonder.

 

After waiting out a few minutes, he set his journal down on the floor and headed for the curious set of books, albeit a bit wobbily. His eyes were obviously set right on the forbidden bottom row. Shadow has no way of telling which books Sonic is taking or looking through from the other room, so he should be fine, right?

He glanced back over his shoulder, confirming the door to be still remaining in the same state it was in before. He does appreciate Shadow's hospitality of course and would want nothing more than to respect his wishes, but... It's not like he'll be reading through his diary. And what does he want to keep away from me?

He crouched down, first taking a glance at the spines of the books for their titles. None of them are labeled. Huh.

He reached out for any one at random, looking at the cover. Also blank. After quickly shifting through the rest, he would find that that was the case for all of them. That's odd.

They weren't empty, though. As he opened the book in his hand, he could see it did in fact have a title, but it was only located on the inside. 'The Cries from Underneath'. Kinda obnoxious, but whatever. The title was printed in a fancy, decorative font. Kinda similar to Shadow's handwriting now that he thinks about it, at least from as little as he's seen of it. There was no author listed underneath, also odd.

He flipped to the next page. Huh. It's all stylized as if it was handwritten. Wait...

It is handwritten. In Shadow's handwriting.

Holy shit those are his books.

As in his his.

He slammed the book shut immediately with wide eyes, tossing it back to where he took it from.

Oooookay now it does feel like he was trying to read Shadow's diary. Reading a secret book of his authorship against his wishes feels like a step too far, even for him.

He ended up taking some other book from the upper shelves instead.

So Sonic's been here for a single day and already he finds out several new things about Shadow. First, he can be actually kinda nice if he feels like it. Second, he can cook pretty well. Third, the guy has actual hobbies which don't involve guns or motorcycles or anything even remotely edgy. In fact, his hobbies are strangely pretty.. wholesome? Domestic? At this point you could tell him Shadow fosters homeless kittens in his free time and he'd probably believe you.

Yeah, he needs a nap. Screw the book.

 

---

 

Shadow could feel his eyelids growing heavier as evening approached, slumping deeper into the mattress. It had been a few nights since he last slept, after all...

It was already dark outside, with artificial light illuminating the inside from the ceiling. It would be nice to simply turn it off and collapse into the bed, but he should probably still agree on who sleeps where. Shadow will probably have to be the one ending up with the mattress.

He lifted himself into a sit with a sigh, ready to head for the main room before he felt his wrist buzz from the communicator. Right, Rouge. He completely forgot to tell her. He answered the call with a grimace, already preparing himself for a scolding.

"Shadow, what the hell did you do."

The agent raised a brow, not expecting this particular sort of scolding. "You need to be more specific."

"You were gone all night, didn't show up to work, and now you're all over the news. Where are you, where did you take Sonic and what the hell is going on with the two of you."

Well fuck.

"Shit... I didn't think about all the people around.." He sighed. "I took Sonic to my cabin."

"Why you and not Tails and Amy? What happened to him?"

"I'm still unsure on what happened exactly, but I took him for the sake of keeping others safe. I assume you've seen that new skill of his."

"Yeah, I have. Much more than I would've liked with how G.U.N. was seething over it and all the damages he caused. You have no idea how hard I had to work to cover his and your asses, they were this close to just tracking you down in order to get to him."

Shadow gripped at the sheets, taking a glance at the door. "I... will see them tomorrow."

"You better. You're lucky they're scared of you."

He scoffed. "That's no luck. I gave them good reason."

"Yeah, yeah, Ultimate Lifeform yada yada. Okay, now switching from coworker talk into friend talk. How is Blue doing?"

"Better, after receiving inhibitor rings Miles made."

"It's good that we've got the kid genius since G.U.N. can barely do anything right. Oh, uh..."

"What?"

"Speaking of that... they actually did find something new. About Sonic's issue."

"...Go on."

"So, technically I shouldn't be telling you this, since they wanted to tell you about it directly whenever they see you again, but I figured you could use a heads up. Right, so - a while back Blue gave me the location of one of the bases of those dead freaks. Well, our beloved higher ups finally decided to share what they found in there." She paused.

"Which is?"

"So, the gem Sonic absorbed. It was meant for you."

Shadow blinked. "...What?"

"Yeah, so they had a lot of info on both you and Sonic. Blue never mentioned anything about it, so I assume he might have gotten spooked by the files on him and ended up missing yours. But, oh boy, was there plenty of that."

He shifted uncomfortably. "What did they want from me this time?"

"First off, they were fully aware of what the gem did, if somewhat misguided. They assumed it gave a power up and simply corrupted whoever wielded it. From what I can gather, they wanted to somehow get to you and attach it to you, maybe getting rid of your morals or something like that. The classic 'get a powerful evil minion and take over slash destroy the world' sort of deal."

Shadow's brows furrowed angrily, clenching his fists. Yet another case where someone wanted to use him for their own goals. Like hell he'd let that happen. "They're lucky to already be dead. Their demise would be far less peaceful were they still here."

"Yeah... but it is shitty Blue had to suffer for it too. Well, there. That's my heads up. They're gone and a nonissue as of now, I got off track. Back to more pressing issues, how is your boyfriend doing more specifically?"

The agent was slammed with whiplash by the sudden change in tone, needing a moment to recover for a few seconds. "My what?"

"Oh come on, I mean Blue. It's no fun teasing you when you don't even understand it."

"Where would you even get the idea-?"

"Ever heard of jokes? Just answer already."

He remained quiet for a moment, taking another peek at the door. He stood up to take a quick glance at the outside room. He saw Sonic awkwardly splayed over the armchair, partially hanging off the edge as he slept. He was still holding onto his journal. With the reassurance that Sonic won't hear him, Shadow closed the door fully shut and returned to sit down on his bed.

"He's more.. coherent, from what I can tell. Earlier he seemed vaguely detached from reality, but the rings appear to have reconnected him somewhat. But he's still quite unstable."

"He looked really weak in the videos. How is he now?"

"Not much has changed in that department. It's not because of the energy."

"Huh? Then what is it?"

"Malnourishment. Simple as that."

"So the dumbass was willing to starve himself just so we wouldn't find him?"

"I don't think that's the case. You've heard how he had trouble with eating even before he ran away."

"Hm. I do remember that coming up, now that you mention it."

"There is some psychological issue at play, and probably has been for much longer than what we've seen. Either connected to a preexisting problem or its own separate disorder. Either way, he has to be constantly reminded and monitored, otherwise he won't even think of trying to eat on his own."

"...I never thought he'd have an issue like this..."

"..Can't say I did either."

"How long will he be staying? Even if he is a major pain in the ass, all that sad talk makes me wanna come over and squeeze him so hard his eyes pop out."

"..Don't do that. We're still unsure how long, but probably a few days. Up to a week maybe. I can ask him if he'll be fine with seeing you."

"When did you get so close for him to tolerate you and not me?"

"...Today. Probably."

"..Did my drunk talk yesterday get to you perhaps?"

"Perhaps."

"Heh, I'm glad, then. Oh, but also - I know you're a tough guy, but he scratched you up pretty bad from what I've seen. You doing good too?"

He looked down to his right arm. He couldn't feel it anymore, but it still looked fresh. Not nearly as healed as it should be by now. His brows furrowed, but he answered regardless. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, figured. Alright, I think I'll be checking out now, it's pretty late. See you tomorrow hon, don't be late."

"..Goodnight."

The call ended, and he looked back to his injury with an irritated huff. Perhaps it's just taking a bit longer due to his sensitivity to the dark energy.

 

He walked out of the room, still standing against the wall. He called out to the sleeping hedgehog on the chair. "Wake up, hedgehog. We're going to bed."

Sonic jolted a bit more violently than necessary, reflexively squeezing the book harder in his grasp. He looked up, blinking a few times. "Hu-? Oh, yeah, 'kay." He moved into a sit with a yawn. "Where do I sleep? There's only one bed, right? Don't tell me we're sleeping together."

Shadow scoffed. "Of course not. I have a spare mattress, and..." He sighed. "You can take the bed."

"Huh? You sure?"

"I've slept in worse conditions."

Sonic stood up. "Well, alright, if you say so."

He walked towards the door slowly, still gripping the journal in his hands. He passed past Shadow who walked in soon after him. Before he could question the action, Shadow headed for the wardrobe and dragged out a folded mattress with a blanket and a pillow. Sonic sat down on the bed wordlessly, which seemed to already have been made earlier.

Shadow dragged all of the items out of the room, stopping for a moment on his way to turn off the lights and speak. "Scream if you need something. Just not too loud."

Sonic let out a short chuckle as the other left the bedroom, closing the door after himself. He was now covered in total darkness, now that the remaining source of light from the other room was closed off. It felt isolating.

He laid down on the bed, covering himself up with the blanket. Smells like lavender. Even more so than the rest of the house. It was starting to hurt his nose. He wasn't going to say anything about it.

He slipped off his gloves and haphazardly tossed them into the shelf next to him. He clenched the journal to his body, not willing to leave it out on the nightstand. If he can look at things he shouldn't, Shadow might as well

He lifted up his pillow and hid the book underneath, then finally settled down, letting himself drift off into sleep.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

september 18

i̷ ̸h̷a̵t̷e̶ ̴t̸h̵e̸ ̶l̵o̷u̸d̵ ̴b̷e̷ ̴q̴u̷i̸e̵t̸ ̴s̴h̵u̸t̷ ̵u̶p̶ ̶s̵h̷u̵t̵ ̸u̵p̶

i̵ ̴d̵o̴n̵t̵ ̴w̴a̶n̷n̷a̵ ̶b̵e̵ ̵h̸e̶r̷e̵ ̷b̴u̷t̴ ̶n̶o̵w̴h̵e̴r̷e̵ ̸f̸e̵e̴l̷s̸ ̵s̶a̶f̶e̵ ̶t̵h̶e̶y̸ ̶a̶l̸l̸ ̸s̵c̵a̷r̷e̵ ̴m̵e̵ ̶b̸u̴t̸ ̶t̷h̸e̶i̴r̷ ̸a̴l̷l̸ ̶i̷ ̸h̷a̴v̷e̸ ̵l̶e̴f̵t̸ ̸i̸ ̸m̷i̵s̶s̷e̴d̴ ̶t̷h̸e̷m̸ ̷s̶o̴ ̴m̸u̴c̷h̶ ̸w̸h̸y̵ ̸c̵a̵n̵t̴ ̶i̸ ̴f̸a̷c̸e̸ ̶t̴h̸e̷m̵ ̵t̴h̴e̴y̸r̴e̷ ̷a̸l̴l̶ ̵j̵u̴d̴g̶i̸n̴g̷ ̵m̸e̶ ̵a̸l̷l̸ ̶w̵a̴t̶c̸h̷i̸n̶g̶ ̵a̸l̶w̷a̴y̷s̷ ̸w̸a̵t̴c̷h̴i̸n̵g̶

it hurts

I am fine. Are we fine? we are good. Everythings good dont remember keep the good only the good thats all there is so thats easy right? right right

am i still the same

i think i ran today but i cant remember im somewhere alone still i dont kno where

I want to keep running but I feel too weak  Just keep running and you'll be fine

 

 

 

 

september 19 20XX

I slept through this night today it was cold but it kept the memories away

I shouldn't remember so why do I

I̷ ̷w̷a̷s̵ ̷o̴n̷ ̵l̷a̴n̴d̸ ̴b̴u̸t̴ ̵I̴ ̵w̵a̷s̷ ̶d̸r̴o̶w̴n̶i̵n̴g̵.̶ ̸T̴o̶o̴ ̸w̵e̴a̷k̸ ̵t̶o̶ ̵r̴u̷n̵ ̸t̴o̸o̴ ̵w̸e̷a̶k̷ ̴t̵o̶ ̷s̴t̵a̵n̴d̷ ̶I̶ ̷w̸a̶n̸n̶a̸ ̷s̵m̶i̵l̸e̷ ̷b̸u̶t̷ ̴m̷y̴ ̸f̷a̷c̸e̶ ̸h̵u̵r̷t̴s̸.̴ They are gone away like they have been for too long it feels better that way. i can't keep waiting but it feels far away i wanna go home but no home exists for me

there is no peace theres always danger around

They caught me. I don't feel safe. But I wasn't safe earlier

Shadow says he's a friend. Maybe he's lying.

I don't know yet.

 

Notes:

HAHA bet you thought I forgot about all those plot points, hell naw I'm way too obsessive for that

also a little bonus art I made recently with our fav gays
I refuse to describe Shadow's hands in text because after having read so many fanfics already, if I see yet another 'the red stripe ran all the way down to his blank' I swear I am going to have an aneurysm

^not set in the present just so you know, meant to be from some time in the future (except the lone Sonic doodle, this one is pretty ambiguous)

Chapter 12: Jobs

Summary:

Sonic starts to open up.

Notes:

Sorry I took longer but I was really NOT looking forward to the GUN headquarters section as I hate professional settings and know nothing about them
I also started writing it with much more detail at first but then I realized how small my brain is and just went with the easy route (aka mostly just describe what happens)

Unrelated but I imagine this Shadow to have the voice from prime simply because I think it fits best
It's also just my fav Shadow voice across all media (even if prime did do him a bit dirty regarding screen time)

Sonic gains awareness as he's on some sort of field, standing at a dirt road. It doesn't seem familiar but he doesn't question it, simply following in its tracks. The sky was clear at the beginning, but his surroundings became grayer and darker as clouds enveloped the landscape, getting darker the further he got. It's probably also getting colder, but he wouldn't know.

Eventually he'd start encountering people on the road and at its sides, all up to their own business and ignoring his presence. He ignored them too. He didn't know any of them.

That was, up until he spotted a young fox standing with a taller, pink hedgehog. They both looked younger, with Tails only reaching up to her chest. Both of them were shorter than Sonic now. They were talking about something with neutral expressions.

The hedgehog smiled at the sight of his friends and broke into a light jog. The fox noticed him first, his eyes widening, but much to Sonic's dismay, his first reaction was to hide behind Amy. The hero's smile faltered as he slowed back down.

The pink hedgehog, now noticing his presence as well, embraced Tails into a protective hug, scowling as she shielded him with her body. She spoke. "What are you doing here?"

He stopped in front of them with a confused look. "Am I unwanted here? What's going on?"

"Of course you're unwanted. Leave."

He took a step back. "What? Just let me talk-" His arm reached towards the younger fox, only for him to sink into himself further. Amy blocked his way with her own arm, materializing her hammer into the extended hand.

"I said leave!"

Sonic winced back. "What did I do? I just wanted to-" Suddenly he felt his shoulder being shoved from the side, not coming from neither Amy nor Tails. As he turned his head, he saw Knuckles.

"Why the hell are you here? Just to torment us?"

"I'm not tormenting you, I just missed you guys is all."

Amy responded. "We already know what an actor you are, quit it. You're not fooling anyone anymore."

Sonic's brows furrowed in frustration. "What is wrong with all of you? Just let me see my brother!" His hand shot out, pushing Amy out of his way. He grabbed the terrified fox by the shoulders as Knuckles caught the pink hedgehog. Her hammer fell to the ground. "Why are you avoiding me? You know you can't leave me, buddy. I miss you!" He exclaimed, pulling Tails into a forceful hug. He tried to get out of his grasp to no avail.

Knuckles and Amy attempted to rip Sonic off of him, shouting some things along the way. He'd stopped listening, squeezing his eyes shut as he buried his face into the fox's fur to the best of his ability with all the pulling and pushing around him.

Eventually the efforts to seperate them ceased, along with any sounds. All that was left was him and his brother. As it should've been from the beginning.

Finally feeling at peace, he opened his eyes - just to find himself surrounded by a void. The fox in his arms was no longer moving in any way, laying limply and cold. He pulled away to take a look at his face, just to find Tails' eyes half-closed and lifeless. His neck and chest were stained red.

Sonic gasped, reflexively dropping him from his grasp. He didn't watch him fall as he heard an odd noise at the very same moment, immediately turning around in shock. There was nothing there. As he spun back to where his brother previously was, he only found more blank space in his place. Not even the blood was left behind.

He heard a chuckle rumble close by, sounding as though it was right next to him. It was a laugh he knew all too well. He was given no chance to see its source as he was enveloped tightly by black, gloved arms with long claws, grabbing hold of his middle section from behind. He couldn't move. The figure spoke directly into his ear now. "I missed you too. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Sonic was completely paralyzed, unable to reply. His eyes were wide as he stared down blankly.

The person spoke again, more raspy now. Commanding. "I'm sure you're just as happy as I am. Go on. Tell me about it."

As if a switch had been flipped, Sonic's mouth moved on its own, driven solely by survival instinct. "I- I'm really glad to be back, Inf-"

 

 

Sonic was woken up with a gasp by a roar of thunder from yet another storm. The only sound present now was the constant tapping of raindrops hitting against the window next to him.

He fought hard against the fight or flight instinct brought on by the loud noises from outside, which only became harder as he recalled the fuzzy dream slowly fading from his memory. He was somewhat surprised to realize he was laying in a bed, but soon let relief wash over him upon remembering where he was. His breathing slowed down, but there were still some remnants of his nervousness leftover. His hands would probably tremble if he were to lift them. He wasn't going to check to confirm it, though.

It's fine. It's just a dream.

Same like every other one.

He brought the blanket up to cover his head in hopes of muffling the noises of the storm. It worked only partially. But at least the smell of lavender was somewhat comforting now compared to earlier.

The scent itself is fine, it's just that it's all too strong and everywhere. Too much of anything can get irritating. But now it was a reassurance that someone else was there too.

He closed his eyes, though he knew there was little chance he'd be getting any more sleep this night.

The dream did remind him of one thing, though. Something he hadn't put enough thought into due to all of the recent events. Why isn't anyone bringing up Knuckles at all?

 

---

 

Shadow entered the room early in the morning, expecting to wake his visitor up for breakfast before heading out. The moment he opened the door however, he could already see movement underneath the blanket, until the covers were pulled down entirely to reveal a pair of tired silver eyes staring back at him. Either Sonic was an incredibly light sleeper, or he wasn't asleep in the first place. Shadow had a feeling which one was the answer.

"Why were you awake?"

Sonic rubbed his eyes, pulling himself up weakly. "How do you know I'm not just an early bird." He said flatly with a small smirk.

Shadow approached closer, raising a brow. "Because I've known you for five years."

"Heh, how time flies, am I right?" He said as he placed his chin in his hand, keeping up the smirk. His counterpart only crossed his arms as he stood in front of him, unamused. Sonic let his expression falter, looking towards the window. "The storm just woke me up some time ago."

Shadow looked to the side, taking note of the still persisting rain. He hadn't even noticed it before. "Well, you can get more sleep later. I just need you to eat before I head out."

The other put both arms to rest on his lap as he raised a questioning brow. "Head out where?"

"I need to go to G.U.N. HQ today. I can't afford to miss another day this time."

Sonic's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. Right. I forgot you have a job."

Shadow gave him a side glance. "That can happen when you stay unemployed for your entire life." The other hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Can you actually walk today or do I have to carry you again?"

"Hey, I never asked to be carried. You did that out of your own volition." Sonic grumbled out as he threw his legs over the edge of the bed.

The agent muttered out, looking to the side. "Like I had much of a choice."

Sonic ignored his commentary, focusing on his movements. He stood up carefully, still unsteady but somewhat more confident than he did yesterday. After testing his balance for a few seconds, he grinned up at the other hedgehog and gave him a thumbs up. A gesture which soon faltered as Shadow ignored it, simply heading out of the room upon seeing the other can manage on his own. Sonic grumbled to himself but followed after him.

Out in the kitchen, he could tell by the smell that the breakfast had already been prepared earlier, later seeing two plates of omelettes set across from each other on the table, with a package of bread set out in the middle. Even though this was no different from how they had dined the day before, Sonic felt significantly more self conscious about the setup the more lucidity he was regaining. He was already more aware yesterday, yes, but he hadn't realized how much control he was still lacking until he got it back.

So eating alone, right across from each other, together with Shadow of all people? Bizarre.

The darker hedgehog noticed the other's holdup, pausing in place in front of the table as Sonic still stood frozen just a few steps out the door. "What?"

Sonic blinked, looking up from the table and back, then pointed a finger forwards. "Uh, is- is this normal?"

Shadow squinted in confusion, taking a look at his cooking. Seeing nothing wrong, he turned back. "What is?"

The other let his hand fall back to his side, resuming his walk after another few moments. "Never.. mind."

The agent gave him an odd look but sat down in his place as Sonic joined him. Shadow began eating right away without issue, helping himself to a slice of bread in front of him, but the same couldn't be said for the lighter hedgehog. For a good while he sat in place still, staring down at the plate as if pondering on its edibility. He wanted to give him some time, but after an awkward while spent as the only one chewing, Shadow sighed after swallowing down a bite.

No point in dancing around the subject. "Are you anorexic."

Sonic's head snapped upwards, expression twisted in bafflement. "What? No!" He hurriedly picked up the fork and stuffed a chunk of omelette into his mouth, grimacing but visibly forcing himself to swallow. "There, see? I'm fine - no- no teen girl issues here."

Shadow scowled. "That's not how it works. Just be upfront for once - after yesterday, I thought you were making progress on that."

"That's just- that was because I was still overly emotional and maybe I just said a bit too much. You should be glad I'm back to controlling myself better now." He said as he pointed the fork towards him.

His brows furrowed. "I'm not. And you're deflecting."

Sonic paused as he was about to speak, but no sound came out. He closed his mouth and looked down before sighing. "Okay, fine. I may have some troubles with food, but that's nothing to do with 'wanting to be skinnier' or whatever..." He said condescendingly. He leaned back, crossing his arms. "I'm not even doing it on purpose. I just don't have the appetite, that's all."

Shadow put his cutlery down to lean against the table on his elbows. "And how long have you 'not had an appetite' for?"

The other's eyes widened a bit as he brought his eyes to Shadow's face, then back to the side. "Uh..." He scratched his muzzle, looking around the room nervously. "Like... half a year? Probably more."

He expected a similar outburst he had gotten from Amy a few days prior, but much to his surprise, the agent didn't even flinch, keeping his gaze even. "And you know that's a problem, right?" He stated matter-of-factly.

Sonic blinked, turning back to his food. "Uh.." He lifted his fork, picking at the food tentatively. "I guess it would be with how big of a deal everyone is making it out to be."

"You have abnormally high metabolism, so by proxy you're supposed to eat more. Currently, you barely eat even by regular Mobian standards. The reason you can literally barely function right now is exactly because of that. So yes, it is kind of 'a big deal'."

He paused, blinking. He stared down, wide eyed in thought, as if he hadn't considered that to be an option. After a few seconds, he resumed movement to actually pick up another chunk of omelette. "Huh. That would make sense, actually." He said before stuffing it into his mouth.

Shadow dragged a hand across his face with a groan. "I can't believe this idiot actually..." He mumbled to himself through the glove.

"I heard that." Sonic said while chewing, not looking up from the plate. He raised a brow. "But, hey - what would you know about my metabolism? Why do you even know that?"

"Because mine is."

"Yeah, but you're like, half alien so-"

"Don't overthink this, hedgehog. Just eat the damn eggs." Surprisingly, after another pause for a short staring contest, Sonic obliged. It obviously required effort to force down each bite, but he went through with it regardless.

The agent went back to his own food, letting out a somewhat disappointed sigh of relief. "Thank Chaos you're actually listening to reason for once, though."

"Excuse you, I'm a very reasonable guy."

Shadow only fake-coughed in response. Sonic scowled but made no further comment.

 

The darker hedgehog finished significantly earlier than Sonic, which already was to be expected. He'd purposefully woken Sonic up earlier than he would normally in order to have time to discuss some matters, and they still had some time left before Shadow would be forced to leave. After cleaning off his own plate, he sat back down in front of the other, much to his surprise. Sonic looked up with a raised brow.

"Rouge would like to visit."

The blue hedgehog paused for a moment. "..When?"

Shadow shrugged.

"Um, why?"

"She's worried. Like everyone else."

Sonic looked down, contemplating as he leaned back in his chair, putting his hands on his lap. He didn't seem downright opposed, but obviously unsure.

Shadow leaned forward, placing one forearm on the table. "Rouge is your friend as much as she is mine. And as her friend, I will not let you bastardize her name by claiming her to be a fake one. What you've said about her before is utter bullshit and the furthest thing from the truth. Is that clear?"

The other was taken aback by the harshness of his tone, not expecting the sudden hostility. He looked down, chuckling flatly. "Sometimes I forget how much of a loyal bastard you are." Shadow glared, but Sonic put his palms up to clarify. "I mean- you.. usually make the right choices, so... I will choose to believe you." He dropped his hands down, crossing his arms across his chest. He gave him a weak smile.

Shadow's gaze softened, his eyes widening in surprise by the compliment.

"I mean, well..." He sighed. "I think something kinda serious happened yesterday, and I probably said a lot of dumb stuff.. Well - I don't exactly remember it, but what I didn't mention with those memory issues is that even if I don't remember the specifics, I still know what I felt in those moments." He laughed nervously. "I did write something down about this, and I'd wanna say that even if I didn't trust you I'd still trust myself, but - truth is, as I look at my notes, I kinda trust you more than me right now." He ran one hand through his quills and gestured vaguely with the other. Shadow could hear his foot tapping on the floor. "I mean, I don't really want to, but it's kinda hard not to with how much you're doing for me."

Shadow was completely stunned, staring wide eyed at the other and only adding to his nerves. Sonic groaned, leaning his hands on his knees.

"You're making this so weird for me, you know? Do you have any idea how weird it is to go from thinking your sworn rival doesn't give two shits about you, to having him prepare meals for you and- and all that, in the span of like five days? It's weird as heck!"

The agent grimaced, looking to the side. "It's only weird because you're making it weird. Don't make me have this conversation again..."

"Not my fault I was too broken up to remember it the first time!" Sonic stood up suddenly, stopping in front of the other. He placed his hands on his hips. "Okay, but since apparently you do actually like me, how about- we get rid of the awkwardness all at once." He spread his arms out. "Bring it in? Bud? Can I call you buddy?"

Shadow shrunk in on himself to distance himself from the other, squinting in an extremely judgemental stare. "You're really pushing it now. And do not call me that."

He clicked his tongue, letting his arms drop. "Yeah, expected as much." He made a step back, letting the other relax, but then smirked and pointed a finger forward. "But since I'm feeling more myself and you've officially admitted to being my friend, I will have you know, I will be getting that hug eventually." Sonic backed off into his room with his arms crossed, keeping up the pretentious smirk and eye contact.

Shadow stared as he disappeared behind the wall, then looked down towards Sonic's still unfinished breakfast. "I've made a mistake." He muttered to himself flatly under his nose.

 

By the time Shadow was about to leave, Sonic had gone back out, attempting more awkward small talk along the way. He most likely spent the time in his room writing again, as he was in the process of stuffing his journal into his quills as he passed through the door. He was also notably more dressed now, as he put his gloves on by then. He still was lacking the tape, though, as what he was wearing up until yesterday had to be thrown out.

Shadow obliged and entertained his ramblings somewhat, but he was admittedly starting to regret his choice of words in the midst of emotions.

"So.. you really trust me enough to leave me alone?"

Shadow paused in front of the clothes hanger. "No. But I don't have much of a choice."

Sonic raised a brow as he let one arm hang from one side of the armchair. "Is it.. something serious?"

"Yes." He said, returning to the wardrobe and pulling out his jacket.

"...Elaborate?"

"Later."

"Uh huh..." Sonic decided not to press, not wanting to annoy the other even more than he already has. That was it at first, until he got distracted.

He stared as Shadow put on the jacket, adjusting his shoulder blades to fit through the holes in the back. It was black with red accents, obviously tailored specifically to him. The agent quickly noticed the other's intense gaze and looked at him questioningly.

Sonic blinked as he realized he'd been gawking. "Oh, uh - I've never seen you wearing that jacket. Is it new or something?"

"No, I just don't wear it often. It can get in the way of combat." The only reason he was putting it on now was so that he could subtly hide the persistent injuries on his arm that still haven't healed, even overnight. It was starting to get concerning, but he wasn't going to point it out right now.

The other grinned. "You should totally wear it more. You look sick, dude."

Shadow was slightly confused at first, almost saying something along the lines of 'I literally can't get sick'. But then he remembered the second meaning of the word, one he learned over the years Sonic was prone to using. Then he actually realized exactly what he had said. Not that the jacket looks 'sick', he does.

He let the compliment feed to his ego and smirked, though purposefully avoided eye-contact. "No need to point out the obvious." He said, to which Sonic rolled his eyes light-heartedly. Shadow awkwardly cleared his throat. For whatever reason, he was feeling oddly un-confident all of a sudden. He's probably just not used to being complimented by Sonic, and it was already the second time it happened just this morning. "I'll.. consider it." He opened the door, but stopped himself just before leaving, turning more serious. "Leftovers from yesterday are in the fridge. There will be consequences if you forget."

The blue hedgehog fought the urge to snicker. "I'll keep it in mind. Probably."

Shadow glared, but finally passed through the door fully and locked it from outside.

 

---

 

He's conflicted. Sonic's state seems to be improving, but Shadow can't help but feel like something isn't right. Something still feels off, but at the same time, Sonic doesn't seem to be putting on an act either. Under the darkened veil of their current circumstances, Shadow can see glimpses of the hero's old self shining through, a version of him he hasn't seen in so long it started to feel almost foreign.

No, that's because it is foreign. Because Sonic has never been as genuine as he is now, has he?

Maybe there is some good to come out of this whole predicament after all. Some of his actions are painful, cruel even, but it all comes down to the same thing. Sonic is forced to act on any and all of his urges, no matter how selfish or revealing they might be. But that also means he lost the ability to pretend. Or do it believably, at the very least. He's obviously trying to of course, as is in his nature at this point, but the attempts are failing spectacularly.

Personally, Shadow finds that great. Something he's seen for so long is finally being noticed by other people. Watching the facade crumble away is something incredibly satisfying to witness in a mildly sadistic sort of way, but at the same time, he feels.. guilty.

Because after all, by absorbing the gem himself, Sonic unknowingly saved him, hadn't he? If the criminals were to succeed, Shadow would be currently standing in his shoes instead of the hero, suffering Chaos knows what kind of ill effects the energies would have on him. Would he resist it? Would he fare any better than Sonic does? Would he even survive that kind of exposure?

He can still feel the phantom pain of the injury on his right arm beneath the jacket's sleeve, feel the weakness and cold it brought at the moment of acquiring it. Even though Sonic was the one to deal it, very much intentionally too, for once in his life, Shadow isn't angry. Neither of them knew it at the time, but it could be considered a sort of payback for taking on the metaphorical bullet for him, as stupid as he still thinks the action was. But he isn't angry.

Because Sonic is already suffering enough as is. Instead of Shadow.

 

The visit back at G.U.N. went much as expected. Just like Rouge had warned him the day before, he was almost immediately presented with a set of files regarding the gem and Shadow's failed connection to it. Albeit phrased in a significantly more detailed and professional way. But Rouge's explanation was fairly accurate and got the general gist of it, so there weren't any surprises to be had.

And just like he had expected it, Commander Tower was far from thrilled about Shadow's careless ventures and lack of obedience. But then again, that was nothing new.

"And where is he now?"

"I'm not telling you." Especially considering he's at his private home, a location he'd prefer to keep as far away from the hands of G.U.N. as possible. Over fifty years may have passed and he may now work for them, but that doesn't mean Shadow puts any of his trust into the military. Quite the contrary.

"Sonic should be arrested, and he would've been if it weren't for his hero status. Yesterday, he had made it very clear he has no control over his own actions and serves as an active threat towards society. If you refuse to work with us, even despite your status as our agent, the least you can do is ensure the safety of the general population by bringing him in for our scientists to see."

"He hasn't killed anyone, has he? Don't blow this so much out of proportion." Rouge, who had joined the office together with Shadow, retorted back. Shadow is fairly confident Tower wanted to speak to him privately, but there is no force in the world that could drag the bat out of a place she wants to be in.

"Yet." The commander bit back.

"There is no need for your 'scientists'. We've already found an acceptable solution, and I can assure you, Sonic is of no threat under my watch."

"Oh, is he? Then how come you are covering up your arm today? Unless you've developed a sudden sense of fashion, which I severely doubt, Agent Shadow."

Rouge gave him a concerned glance from the side, but kept her mouth shut. Shadow glowered in warning. "Do not underestimate me."

Tower glared back, but attempted to reason. "You said you found an acceptable solution, but mentioned no cure. I believe it is safe to assume the problem still persists. Believe it or not, the military is also grateful to Sonic for his past acts of heroism and wouldn't want to consider him a criminal. That means we wouldn't treat him as one either. We simply want to fix things and get everything under control, to prevent any future issues from arising."

There is the key word. Control.

To hell with that.

Shadow crossed his arms. "I think I will take my chances."

Commander's expression shifted into one closer to confusion rather than hostility, letting the mask of formalities drop momentarily. "Why are you so adamant on keeping Sonic hidden, anyway? Last time I checked, you two were barely even allies. I don't think that warrants such personal protection, especially from you."

The agent felt somewhat caught off guard, but wouldn't let it show on the outside. Thankfully, Rouge cut in with support. "It's not like Shadow is the only one who's in on this. Believe it or not, Sonic has friends, but I suppose it would be understandable if such a concept was foreign to you of all people."

He glared. "For your benefit, I will choose to ignore that last comment."

She scoffed with an eye-roll. "You always do."

Having gotten the time to recollect himself, Shadow spoke. "My reasonings are for me to know. Let me cut this meeting short - most of what I wanted to say has already been said and you will not change my mind on this." He stood up from his chair, catching Rouge's attention. "Last thing I wanted to add is that you won't be seeing me here for the next several days. I have other business to attend to." He headed for the door, but stopped to turn one last time, seeing Rouge already following in his tracks. The commander looked like he wanted to say something, but Shadow interrupted. "I will be back whenever I'm back. We both know I'm too good for you to fire, so spare me the threats. I will do you a favor and let you count it into my unpaid vacation days."

As he was about to leave the office, Tower spoke one last time. "There won't be any second chances, Agent Shadow." He said coldly with his brows furrowed.

Shadow barely acknowledged the comment, leaving the room without as much as glancing back. Rouge only gave Tower a small smirk as she waved goodbye, wiggling her fingers. "See you later, boss~"

He waited until his partner closed the door of the office after herself, then fell into a steady pace down the building's hallway, knowing she'd be soon to follow.

"Well, that went better than I expected."

 

Rouge intertwined her hands behind her head as the two left the building, more or less satisfied with the visit. "Speaking of Blue, did you ask him if I can pay a visit?"

"Yes. You can, but not today." She raised a brow, but before she could say anything, Shadow rolled up one of his sleeves and took off his wristwatch. "I have a job for you."

"Aw, leaving work just to get another one? You're really no fun." She said with a fake pout, but accepted the watch into her hand when he offered it.

"Can you somehow wipe the history of my locations? Establish some anti-tracking system?"

She smiled, placing her chin in her free hand. "Hmm, maybe I could, but what can you give me in return?"

He expected that kind of answer. He already knows she's never serious when she does this. "Eternal gratitude." He said with an expression so stone flat it was almost comedic.

She smirked. "Eternal gratitude from the Ultimate Lifeform? How generous of you. But maybe something less ambitious, how about - five free hugs where you are not allowed to complain or push me off, free to use up whenever I feel like it?"

He sighed. "Fine. But only five."

She embraced him immediately as he finished speaking. "Using one up now!" She squeezed him tightly, and he fought back the urge to groan. Eventually he couldn't help but allow himself a tiny smile while Rouge couldn't see, her head pressed on his shoulder. Eventually she let go, not even attempting to hide the massive grin the action brought her. "Alright, you got it handsome, deal is a deal. Go back to our little menace, see you tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Tomorrow."

"I'll be back with your new and improved gadget before you know it." She spread her wings and lifted off the ground, beginning her flight towards their shared apartment. She turned one last time before she's gone too far, giving him a wave and shouting. "Buh-bye!"

He watched her retreating figure for a short few moments, but it wasn't long before he'd also take off in his own direction.

 

Notes:

I really like hugs if you couldn't tell (despite the fact I actually hug pretty rarely irl lol)

Sonic is in a better mood and he's making it everybody's problem (everybody being Shadow specifically)
He's not cured ofc, far from it but he can't be always miserable, it's still Sonic after all
Basically he's still fucked over but giddy with Shadow admitting to considering him his friend, now that he's fully coherent and capable of letting that information actually sink in

also here's a piece that was supposed to be a simple showcase of Shadow's jacket featured in the chapter but then my hands kinda slipped

I never mentioned it but yes he has a chaos emerald this entire time, he still wouldn't be able to teleport without it

Chapter 13: Apples

Summary:

Sonic and Shadow get vulnerable.

Notes:

I know the plot slowed down a lot recently, and this chapter is mostly calm as well but I will tell you that it was all sort of building up to this point and we will pick back up a bit after this and the next one (I was gonna jam it all into this one chapter but I feel like, really shitty and have no mental capacity for doing that rn ToT)

I was gonna make art for this chapter as well since it is pretty special but I am sick with med withdrawal symptoms and I'm way too exhausted to even move my arm across a screen rn so, sorry
Maybe I'll come back to it when I feel better

we're starting on the sonadow guys this is not a drill THESE BITCHES GET GAY

On his way home, Shadow decided to make a stop at a random grocery store to supply himself for the next upcoming days. As always, he did his best to ignore the blatant stares he received from anyone who noticed his presence. None of them were hostile per se, mostly ranging from curious or excited to mildly alarmed. But context and harmless intentions don't matter here. Prying eyes are always uncomfortable. He rarely did the grocery shopping as that was a task Rouge typically tended to take on, and even if he did, she'd most often still be there by his side.

Her presence always made dealing with strangers easier, but unfortunately, he wasn't afforded this luxury this time. Therefore, he tried to make his visit quick. There weren't any other particular reasons for why he was in a hurry.

Aside from the usual ingredients like meat and vegetables, he tried imagining what Sonic would like. Frankly, the only food Shadow knows for sure he likes is chili dogs, but literally everybody knows that. Does he like fruit? He remembers Amy mentioning he doesn't like strawberries. Weirdo. Apples seem like a safe bet. Everyone likes apples, right?

At some point, his eye gets caught by a package of nutrition drinks as he passed by the coolers aisle. That's awfully convenient.

 

---

 

He had no intention of running with a bunch of grocery bags, so one chaos control after he soon found himself back at the cabin. It was around afternoon by now, but thankfully the door remained the same as he had left it and none of the windows appeared to be open.

After a short while of fumbling with the keys while balancing the bags in his arms, the door was pushed open and he went inside.

First thing he saw, Sonic was right there, splayed halfway with his arms spread out on the floor while his legs were pressed up on the armchair. Did.. he pass out again?

After another look around the room, he noticed cleaning supplies left out on the floor not too far from him. Now that he paid closer attention, the house did seem cleaner and he could smell traces of citrus surrounding the room. Unusually strong, too. He expected anything to happen while he was gone, but Sonic cleaning of all things was pretty far down the list.

Shadow took a moment to put down the grocery on the kitchen counters before slowly approaching the less than conscious hedgehog. He crouched down beside his head, careful not to step on the spread out quills. He saw Sonic's mouth was partially opened with the beginnings of drool spilling out. Gross. But it seems he's just asleep. In a horribly awkward position for whatever reason.

He poked the side of his head. "Hedgehog. Wake up."

Sonic groaned a bit as his brows furrowed. His quills bristled just slightly on instinct, but nowhere near close to harm Shadow. He mumbled something to himself before finally his eyelids fluttered open, looking up in confusion.

Shadow withdrew his hand to himself and let it rest on the floor, while his other was placed against one knee. "Why are you sleeping on the floor."

"I'm.. what?" He rasped out and glanced around, noticing his current position. He dragged his feet off the armchair, but made no effort to support them, causing his legs to fall to the floor with a thud that seemed frankly painful. Sonic seemed unfazed, though.  Shadow stood and took a step back as Sonic lifted himself off the floor to sit upright, his arms supporting his weight from the back. He looked around the room further with still tired eyes. "Crap. I didn't mean to fall asleep. Well, whatever."

"How did you even end up like that? And why were you cleaning?"

Sonic used the chair's armrest to support himself as he stood up. "I was just taking a break. I really appreciate the gratitude by the way, I'm flattered, truly. I'm not finished, though."

Shadow grabbed his arm as the other started walking towards the mop, stopping him in place. "It seems finished to me. If you're tired enough to fall asleep on the floor, you should really just go to bed."

The other hedgehog took a look at the arm in Shadow's hand and frowned, pulling it out of his grasp shortly after. "I doubt I'll fall asleep anyway. May as well make myself useful, so why are you complaining?"

The agent's nose scrunched up as he took another whiff of the air. "Faker, you're using way too much detergent. It smells like a lemon tree threw up in here."

Sonic crossed his arms. "I will have you know, I use the perfect amount! Amy taught me, so you're insulting her too. It's probably strong just because I went over this room like, thrice. Y'know, just to be sure."

Alright, this turned from weird to concerning. He raised a brow. "...And why would you do that?"

"Just to be sure, I told you." He said as he threw himself sideways across the chair, letting his legs hang off the side. Seems he took a liking to this spot. "If you don't like my cleaning, then give me something else to do."

"There isn't anything you can do right now that I couldn't do better."

"Mean." Sonic frowned, though he didn't seem particularly offended.

Shadow placed one hand on his hip and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other. "Sonic, what is this actually about."

The hero pouted, then shrugged, still in the same position. "It's simple, really. I'm stuck inside - alone." He begins gesturing. "When I'm on my own, it's silent. And when it's silent, I can hear my thoughts. And that's bad. So I do work. Because working makes me too busy to think. And not thinking is good, people say I'm bad at it anyway, so it's better all around, right?" He spread his arms in the air, then let them drop at his sides, one falling off the edge of the armchair. His brows furrowed as he stared up at Shadow, annoyed and expectant. "Ya like that answer? Bet not, makes me look like as much of a grump as you." He paused, looking down. "...But I did wanna do you a favor too, though."

Shadow frowned. "Is that also what you did while your friends were gone?"

"Maybe."

The agent sighed and shook his head. That isn't the worst way of coping he's seen, but... it doesn't feel right either. He went back over to the kitchen section and started unpacking the groceries. "I appreciate the effort, I suppose..."

Right as Sonic noticed the grocery bags, he immediately zipped over next to the other, the burst of wind and sudden presence causing him to flinch. "Lemme help!" He exclaimed with renewed enthusiasm, which soon faltered as he began swaying in place from the sudden and fast movement.

Shadow caught him as he nearly fell over, gripping his upper arms. "Chaos, just go to bed!"

Sonic grabbed his head and smiled sheepishly. "Whoops. I did that out of habit, haha... I'm just not used to.. not running." He moved his hands to support himself on the counter and brushed Shadow's off. The agent grunted in annoyance and without a word rummaged through the bags. He pulled out one of the booster drinks he bought earlier, then promptly shoved it onto Sonic's chest. He looked at him in confusion but accepted it in his hand. "What's that?"

"To get you to recover faster. Now go away and drink it."

Sonic frowned. "Weren't you supposed to give me something to do?"

"No, I wasn't. I never said I would. But you said you need tasks when you're alone - well, you're not alone right now."

He looked at the bottle in his hand, over at the door of Shadow's room and back at the hedgehog himself. He grumbled, but eventually complied, walking towards the bedroom. Despite his previous words, he closed the door after himself as he passed through.

Shadow glanced back and sighed, but moved to finish his own task, finally back at peace. As he opened the fridge, he took a look at the pot containing the previous day's dinner. It does seem like Sonic actually listened, since there's just a bit less left than there was previously, though not as much as Shadow would've liked. He decided to let it pass for now.

After he was done with unpacking, he first shed the already too warm jacket and then took care of the cleaning supplies left out in the open, putting them in their rightful place. He also opened a window to let fresh air in, since it was very much required after Sonic's excessive mopping. He looked at the door apprehensively. They should... probably discuss this, right?

He approached a bit slower than necessary and opened the door. Sonic was again sitting on the bed, his back against the wall and mindlessly sipping on the drink he was given with a blank, mildly agitated look. He took a glance upwards as he heard Shadow walk in, barely acknowledging him before looking back down.

The darker hedgehog hesitantly sat down on the other side of the bed, sitting on the edge with his feet still touching the floor.

Sonic smacked against the bottle's rim and spoke before Shadow had the chance to. "You should knock first, you know. You never know what the other person could be doing on the opposite side of the door."

Shadow twisted his head back to glance at the other and raised a brow. "What could you be doing here?"

He gave him a deadpan look. "Figure that one out on your own." He took another sip.

The agent stared questioningly for a moment but ultimately ignored the small exchange. He slipped off his boots and laid them out neatly next to the bed before pushing himself further onto it, positioning himself against the wall similarly to the other hedgehog. He still maintained a fair bit of distance between them, but tried to make himself comfortable by pulling one knee up to his chest and letting his other leg lay crossed against it. Sonic raised a brow, vaguely confused by the other's actions, but didn't say anything.

Shadow took a moment before he'd start speaking, doing his best to compose himself. Talking about emotions never felt natural to him, and he really didn't want to turn this into another therapy appointment. Except he would have to play therapist this time, and Chaos knows there's a reason for why he isn't one. Several, actually.

But Sonic's been the most open he'd ever seen him. He earned to get some of that back, even if Shadow still finds the idea abstract and uncomfortable.

Finally, he starts. "...I didn't expect you'd give that up so willingly."

"Give up what?"

"With what you said about making yourself busy. Neither did I think you'd be aware that it isn't.. very normal."

Sonic looked to the side with furrowed brows. "Of course I know. I'm not that stupid." He brought one knee up to lean his elbow against it and placed his chin in his free hand. "I figured that since I already said way more than I ever wanted to, there's barely a point in keeping my other shit secret. And trying to eats up way too many of my brain cells anyways, ever since that thing got me." He tapped a finger on one of his rings. "I mean, not the bracelets, just- oh, you know what I mean." He waved him off.

Shadow took a moment to let Sonic's words simmer before answering. "..I used to do something like that too." That made the other perk up. "Just avoid everything I didn't wanna think about. That's honestly partially why I started working for G.U.N. at all. It was the perfect distraction and a way to keep a close eye on them." He leaned his head against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. "All it did was just make everything come back stronger than it would've otherwise."

"...I'd rather nothing would come back at all." Sonic muttered.

"It's probably inevitable, unless you become a total amnesiac. Or not. Even amnesia didn't really work for that in my case."

The blue hedgehog remained quiet for a while, and Shadow let him have his time to think on whatever he'd like to say next. Eventually, he asked. "...So what changed?"

Shadow gave him a side glance before returning his eyes back to the ceiling. "Rouge got annoying, for one. With time, she got more attached to me and wanted to do more. So she just wouldn't leave me alone. I kinda hated it at first, but she grew on me I suppose." He paused. "...She isn't really like Maria, pretty far from it. But I guess she.. became a different sort of comfort. A much louder and more obnoxious one, but she obviously cares in her own right."

Sonic's expression softened slightly, but he looked away and added. "I already have friends."

Shadow continued despite the comment. "Eventually she'd force me to talk. And I do mean force. She even tried getting me drunk, even though I told her it's impossible. She ended up as the drunk one instead and I had to be the one to comfort her. After a good hour of crying she finally got me to open up after she spilled her own guts to me." He may or may not have also cried, but he definitely won't be mentioning that part. "It sucked. It was revealing and uncomfortable." And painful. "..But it helped in the long run. Her knowing allowed her to.. warn me of some things, or just... help out when needed. And after more similar sessions like this I just got more and more desensitized. Avoiding it stopped feeling all that necessary."

"...I always thought you were pretty upfront with this stuff. You never really tried keeping Maria and what happened to her a secret... I don't think.."

Shadow looked down. "I wanted to keep her will and memory alive. But there's a lot of things about my time on the ARK you don't know about. And with those... there was no will to maintain or a person worth remembering. Her death was just the last straw to make me lose all hope in this planet. Well.. back then, at least."

Sonic looked up at him with a horrified expression, putting the now empty bottle down. "But- wasn't Gerald like - your family?"

"In a way. But I was still a science experiment in the end. One that was meant to cure Maria, no matter what it took. And it's not like I was opposed to it, either - I wanted her to get better as much as Gerald did. But that doesn't mean I didn't see or feel everything the scientists on the ARK did to get there."

"Shadow... what did they do to you?" He tried reaching out his hand hesitantly.

The agent looked him in the eyes properly with a neutral expression. "Would you answer if I asked what Infinite did to you?"

Sonic visibly flinched at the sudden mention with his eyes widening. His hand withdrew entirely, but he squeezed his eyes shut and managed to recompose himself. He looked away, keeping his lips pursed.

After a moment of quiet, he shook his head. He brought his knees up and buried his hands in his puffed out quills, smiling sarcastically. "..But I was desensitized, I was! I've- I was fine! I barely even thought about that time, and- and now- I was too busy thinking of other things, but this stupid fucking Dark Gaia is forcing it back onto me, I don't want this!"

Is it even lying if you wholeheartedly believe your own words?

Shadow turned sideways to face him fully. "Are you really-?"

"Thinking about like how I thought my friends got bored of me- or how incompetent I am and how I'm totally unneeded now- because if I'm supposed to be the hero and I can't even do my job right then what is even the point-!" There were beginnings of the dark energy slowly enveloping him, just like earlier. It was more subtle now, but no less worrying.

Shadow grabbed his shoulder. "Calm down, not- not like this.." He said with a grimace. He rarely ever stutters.

Sonic brought his eyes onto him. There were no tears. Only frustration.

The agent looked around, unsure of what to say to make the other relax again. He stammered out the first thing that came to mind. "Do you like apples?"

The other hedgehog dropped his arms down and stared in bafflement, but his quills smoothed out slightly. "Do I- what?"

Fuck, that's ridiculous. Yet Shadow continued digging his grave deeper. He dropped his hand from Sonic's shoulder. "I.. bought apples. And thought maybe you'd like some."

Sonic stared for a moment longer, but then snickered, still baffled somewhat. "Uh, yeah? I.. like them, I guess.." He shook his head, keeping a palm on his forehead with a mild grin. "Chaos, Shads - it's so hard to do this with how hilariously awkward you are." As embarrassing as the blunder was, it worked. The darkness fully dissipated.

It was probably the only success he didn't feel proud of. He turned and rubbed his forehead with a groan. "I just- shut up."

Sonic snorted. "I'll have one of those apples of yours later." He kept up an awkward grin for a while longer, before turning more tense, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know... We've been mostly talking about a lot of depressing shit recently, and I get why, but, uh... Could we maybe just- chill for a little bit? Just to de-stress, or something." He looked him in the eyes. "You know. Like.. friends."

"..You're really not gonna let that term up, huh?"

"Nope. That's what you're stuck with now." He smiled. "It's been a really long time since we just... well, chilled together. And we only ever did that after races or spars. I really liked it, though." He looked down. "I kinda miss that."

Shadow's gaze softened. He looked away somewhat nervously. "So you just wanna sit and do nothing?"

"I mean, we could watch a movie or something. If you'd like. There's no TV here, though.."

"...I have a laptop, but it's back at my apartment."

"Dang, so no-?"

He was cut off as Shadow suddenly vanished in a flash of light, just to reappear a second later with the aforementioned device in his lap.

"-Oh. Well, that's convenient."

"No, I think Rouge saw me. She's probably gonna question me about it later."

Sonic snorted. "Oh yeah, you live together. Is it at least wholly yours?"

"...Yes.."

"That sounded awfully unsure of you."

"Yes. Now shut it or pick a movie." Shadow said while opening the laptop.

Sonic only chuckled, but obliged, leaning a bit closer to get a better view of the screen. He also dunked the empty bottle next to him somewhere on the floor, much to Shadow's distaste.

 

Sonic was surprised to learn about Shadow's movie taste. He expected them to be at least similar in that regard, leaning towards action, adventure, sci-fi or the like. At least horrors and thrillers would've been more predictable. Instead, it seems that living with Rouge for several years influenced him even with something as small as this. Pretty much anything Shadow would propose or hovered over involved some amount of drama, comedy and a lot of romance. And it seems he didn't even realize that himself, as he got visibly flustered the moment Sonic pointed it out. Sonic, of course, didn't skip over the opportunity to tease him for a bit over that, but ultimately respected his taste and they settled for some dumb action-comedy they both could enjoy. Sonic unironically, and Shadow probably ironically.

Shadow, as predicted, didn't talk much throughout the movie's run. He remained mostly quiet, with the most opinionated actions of his being the occasional eye-roll at a particularly stupid or cheesy joke. But thanks to his lack of investment, he didn't mind the other hedgehog's lively commentary. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it more than the movie itself, sometimes bouncing it off with his own quip or even the tiniest of smiles. Any time Sonic managed to trigger a twitch upwards of the other's lips brought him far more joy than it had any right to. Normally, he'd probably tease him over that too, but he didn't wanna risk not seeing it anymore.

The movie was over in a flash, and frankly, Sonic hadn't had this much of a blast in months. Not even on the movie he went to see with Tails and Amy a few days ago. It was pretty fun, but it was just.. different. More tense in a way. But it could be because that movie took itself much more seriously than this one and Sonic wasn't allowed to ramble inside a theater.

Point is, he couldn't get enough. So he convinced Shadow for another one. He reluctantly agreed, but only under the condition of the movie being of his own choosing. It was apparently his favorite, one he liked to watch together with Rouge from time to time. Some movie with a bunch of rude women at a school. He didn't really get it, but he was fine with whatever as long as he was able to get some enjoyment out of it. And he did.

At first, Sonic kept his established distance with Shadow, keenly aware of the other's oh-so-valued personal space. But over the course of the first and second movie's run, Sonic was unconsciously slowly scooting closer to Shadow, just ever so slightly every once in a while as he wanted to see the screen better. It was subtle enough that neither of them had even noticed, up until Sonic got close enough to actually make the two touch shoulders. The second he felt the contact, he jumped back as if he had been burned, but surprisingly enough, Shadow's only reaction was a mildly confused look at Sonic's sudden movement.

Neither commented on it, as Shadow simply went back to casually watching the movie as Sonic quizzically looked him over. After letting a few seconds pass while retaining the renewed distance, Sonic experimentally scooted closer to him again. No reaction. So he tried again. And again, up until they were back to pressing against each other's shoulders.

Ever so oddly, Shadow once again had no reaction whatsoever. Just keeping his eyes on the screen as if nothing had happened. Sonic felt as if he had just successfully tamed a dangerous wild animal. And from that point on, he was way too giddy with the fact he was allowed such closeness to the broody hedgehog to pay any attention to the movie for longer than five seconds at a time. But he arguably enjoyed that more. Shadow was surprisingly soft for such a prickly guy.

 

When Sonic's sleep deprivation inevitably caught up to him and his head fell limply on top of Shadow's shoulder, he froze.

Sonic was basically laying his entire weight against him, making him into some rudimentary pillow. He felt a similar way to how he did back when Rouge did that for the first time. Except atop of being confusing, awkward and annoyingly warm on the inside, it was also weirdly scary. His heart was beating completely and utterly unnecessarily fast for such a mundane occurrence and that fact left him probably more confused than Sonic's presence itself.

It had been.. actually surprisingly fun up to this point, so Shadow didn't particularly mind Sonic getting closer. He's been behaving himself and annoyed him only a little bit in the past few hours, so Shadow saw no harm in it. Besides, the screen is small and the laptop is sitting on his lap, so obviously Sonic would need to be close to see. He didn't think much of it at the time and didn't predict such an outcome, but now he was seriously doubting his previous decisions.

Thankfully, or potentially even more horrifyingly, Shadow was knocked out of his stupor by his communicator. He didn't give it away as the communicators were Miles' invention, and as far as he knew, they worked outside of the usual phone signals, therefore outside of G.U.N.'s clutches. He carefully took the vibrating device out of his quills, which somehow still hadn't worked to wake the sleeping hedgehog. Amy was calling. Because of course she would.

He hesitantly picked up the call and spoke out as quietly as he could while still remaining audible. "Amy."

"Hi Shadow, how're you two doing?"

He grimaced as he glanced down to his side where Sonic sat. He hated how hot his face felt from Amy's question. "We're fine." He spoke the second word with a bite to his lips.

"You're kinda quiet today, you sure?"

"Mhmm."

"Uh, okay? Well, has Sonic done anything odd since yesterday?"

"No." Yes. But it's been resolved and he'd really rather keep the words to a minimum.

"...You're really not talkative at all today, huh? Well, uh, since everything seems to be in order and you're clearly not in the mood.."

He sighed. "That's not it, Amy-"

"No, no it's fine, we all get these days, no need to explain yourself. I just wanted to tell you, ah... And I really don't expect you to accept, but it would still feel wrong not to invite you-" Shadow raised a curious brow. She obviously couldn't see it, but habits persist. "Me and Tails would like to invite you to our homecoming party on Sunday at 2 PM. We're organizing it at his workshop, well, me mainly - but it won't be anything big, just a little get-together to properly greet all of our friends. I know you don't like group events, so I really won't take it personally if you choose not to go. Ah, and well, Sonic is also invited, I suppose... I would like him there, of course, but you know..."

Shadow hummed to himself in thought. "I will need some time to decide. I can ask him what he thinks later."

"Huh? Where is he now?"

"...He's sleeping."

"Oh, okay. Well, get back to me whenever you decide or if something happens. I'll try not to bother you so much."

"..Understood. Goodbye."

"Goodnight!"  Click.

Night?

Shadow looked out the window. Huh, it's evening already.

As he noticed the end credits rolling on the screen, he now became very aware of how long he's been stuck in this position with Sonic on top of him. In some mixture of panic and (very regrettably) embarrassment, with one quick motion he pushed the other hedgehog off with his free arm to send him falling back on the bed.

That was what it took to finally wake him up, causing him to jolt back up on his arms in startled confusion, looking frantically from side to side. "Wha- huh?!"

Shadow turned his face away to hide the likely already visible redness of his muzzle. "You fell asleep. And fell. On the bed."

He looked to him and relaxed, pushing himself back into a proper sit. He rubbed the back of his neck apologetically. "Aw man, I missed the movie, why didn't you wake me up?"

The agent cleared his throat into his fist. "I didn't notice." He avoided eye contact. Part of the reason for why Shadow is generally so honest and blunt is because he is painfully aware of how hardly lying comes to him.

Sonic looked around the room. "Oh, when did it get so dark?" He moved to stand up from the bed and headed for the light switch, visibly stumbling on his first steps but saving himself in time. They both had to briefly squint at the blinding light, with Shadow audibly grunting. Sonic returned back to the bed shortly and flopped himself down on the edge. "So, now what?"

Shadow closed the laptop and shuffled closer to the edge as well. "Amy.. messaged. She's inviting us to a party on Sunday."

Sonic's eyes widened. "Oh. Huh.."

"But she did mention she doesn't expect either of us to accept."

He looked down. "Uh.. do you want to?"

Shadow shrugged. "I don't care either way."

Sonic rubbed his arm. "I'm.. mh.." He shook his head. "I should go."

"You don't need to force yourself."

"No, I'm-" He looked up with determination. "I owe it to her. There's still a few days left, I'll go."

The agent stared at him for a few seconds before turning away. "Well, if you're sure." It's not like it was his business to decide for him. "Also, just so you know - Rouge will come here tomorrow."

Sonic jerked up slightly. "Oh. Uh, that's earlier than I expected." He looked down anxiously. "It's fine, though! Totes fine, yep." He stood up suddenly, stretching out his arms. "Oh man, isn't it late! I've already been passing out all day, so I should probably hit it for the night, huh?"

Shadow blinked up at him, but stood up after some hesitation. "Right." He slipped his shoes back on and made a few steps towards the door. "I don't think I will be sleeping tonight."

"Huh? Why not?"

"I don't need to sleep as much. A few hours every few days is enough for me."

"Ah, Ultimate Lifeform privileges. Well, just try not to watch me in my sleep, I know it might be tempting." He winked.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I already see your face for long enough during the day. Pass." He walked the rest of the way to the door.

"Your loss!"

The darker hedgehog only glanced at him one last time before turning the light switch back off and closing the door after himself. He's honestly not sure what the point of Sonic turning it on even was if he's going to sleep anyway. Unless he wasn't planning to?

 

---

 

As usual for one of the nights like these, Shadow took it to writing. Night time was the only time where he felt safe to do so without the risk of anyone noticing. His hobby isn't exactly a secret, but not something he likes to make public either. Especially considering how personal the contents of it feel. Not even Rouge has gotten the privilege of reading them.

It's a nice way of transferring thoughts and feelings onto paper in a thin veil of fictional scenarios. His old doctor even said it's a good form of self therapy. It wasn't intentional, but he can see their point. He had also tried visual arts, but the results were... less than stellar. Seeing them was a hit to his ego more than anything.

But tonight even what he thought he was good at isn't going as well as he'd like. Multiple crumpled papers and even more crossed out lines later, he came to the conclusion he's too distracted this time to do this.

Just as he was about to stand up to find himself something else to do, he felt the same uneasy sensation he's grown uncomfortably familiar with recently. Obviously coming right from the other room.

Shadow hesitantly approached the door and pulled down on the handle. Surprisingly enough, Sonic still seemed to be asleep, wrapped up in the blanket with no signs of movement. As the agent got closer though, he could see a subtle tremble to his body and a tense, unconscious expression. And there was that darkness again, small but clearly there. Seems he's having a nightmare. Makes sense that the energy would feed off of him even in his sleep, as long as he is upset enough.

The darker hedgehog put a hand on the other's shoulder and shook him lightly. "Sonic."

After several seconds of keeping up the action, the hedgehog finally jolted awake and out of instinct, his hand immediately shot up to grab hold of Shadow's middle forearm. Without any gloves, his claws dug right into his skin, causing the agent to hiss out and pull his arm away. Thankfully, unlike the last time, Sonic wasn't putting in the effort of concentrating the energy into his claws, therefore the pain was purely mechanical.

The moment Sonic noticed the person in front of him, he shot upright and the darkness dissipated. "Shadow? Shit, I'm sorry-"

"It's noth-" Before he got the chance to finish, the other hedgehog grabbed his hand once more and pulled him closer to assess the damages. Just a few pinpricks, barely deep enough to reach blood. That fact did nothing to comfort him, though.

Sonic lowered his hands to Shadow's wrist, lightening his hold and looking down. "I just keep hurting everyone." He murmured, barely audible.

Shadow made no effort to pull his hand out of his grasp, unsure of what to do.  He hesitantly sat down on the bed next to Sonic, allowing him to keep his hold as even this minimal amount of contact seemed to be bringing the other some comfort. He spoke quietly. "Do you have nightmares often?"

Sonic kept his gaze lowered on his wrist. "...Yeah."

"Do you wanna tell me what they're about?"

The other hedgehog made some small noise and suddenly let his head fall forwards, resting his forehead on Shadow's shoulder. The agent flinched, but didn't push him off. "..Depends. It's usually something to do with my friends. But I think it's always about me disappointing somehow."

Sounds familiar. "...You haven't disappointed them yet."

"Tell that to my unconscious brain. That guy seems to really love making shit up." His eyes suddenly widened as he slowly lifted his head and let Shadow's wrist go. "Oh, uh, sorry.. I didn't realize."

Shadow took the previously occupied wrist into his own grasp and looked away. "It's fine."

Sonic gave him a small smile. "You're really going soft on me recently. Very un-Shadow like of you."

The darker hedgehog gave the other a small glare, though there was barely any real effort behind it. "I am never soft. I only act... appropriately to the situation."

Sonic chuckled and made Shadow jump in place as he began gently petting his arm. "I dunno Shads, you say that yet you feel like a fluffy cloud. Maybe a storm cloud, I guess."

Shadow's eyes widened and he stood up suddenly. He was glad it was dark and Sonic didn't have the night vision to witness the mess of red his face surely became by now. "I- goodnight." He began walking towards the door.

Sonic, much to Shadow's horror, giggled, the sound of which making his unexplainable issue only that much worse. The blue hedgehog lifted his arm up to reach towards him. "Wait, sorry-! Come on, Shads, I was just joking!"

The agent stopped in place momentarily to glance back. "I will sleep after all, I changed my mind." As he was about to walk out of the room, he was stopped again.

The other hedgehog's tone shifted, turning more genuine. "Wait, uh... If so, would you mind if- fuck, no. It's stupid, never mind."

Shadow turned to fully face him, staring questioningly.

Sonic sighed. "If.. you could... Stay here at night? Not- not in bed with me! If you could just, get that mattress over here, so..." He covered his muzzle with his hand, looking down. "So it's not that lonely..." He dropped his hand down and scratched the back of his neck. "I just- it's less common for me to have nightmares when Tails is somewhere around, so I just thought..."

The agent's gaze softened. He grimaced a bit to himself but nodded. "If that... lowers the risk of that nasty energy rising again.."

Sonic looked up. "Oh, so that's how you knew? I kinda thought you couldn't resist watching me sleep, after all." He chuckled.

"Don't make me change my mind."

"Nope- sorry, do your thing."

 

Shadow set up his mattress next to the wall, a bit farther below the bed. Still in the same room, but far enough to prevent awkward eye-contact upon waking up. Sonic seemed fine with the arrangement as long as he could see him be present. They didn't talk as he did this, both probably too wound up by the bizarrity of the situation. They simply slid under the covers in silence, though Shadow didn't miss the tiny smile on Sonic's face, and his anxious look as he turned towards the wall.

The darker hedgehog muttered from where he laid. "Rouge really missed you, you know. She will be happy to see you."

Sonic didn't answer, only curling up tighter in his bed. But Shadow could hear the quiet sigh of relief he let out through his nose.

After another longer while, he muttered with a tiny laugh. "I actually hate cleaning."

Shadow smiled to himself. "I know."

 

Notes:

Oh my god they are roommates I can finally make that joke

Why did I name one of my favorite chapters apples? Idk I don't even really like apples

We're getting SO close to that hug yall
I know I've been killing u guys with the slow burn and while it definitely isn't over yet, there will be a lot more proper sonadow moments from this point on, believe me I've been waiting for this too :3
the reason it's like this is I just couldn't imagine the two of them just falling for each other instantly or as quickly as I often see it presented. It's probably related to the fact I'm personally aroace, therefore it takes a lot more for me to get attached to other people and that also translates over to my writing (if I'm totally honest in an ideal world it would take EVEN longer if I were to maximize the realism but I know I'd kill off a lot of my audience and also probably myself that way lmao) also they're adorable but so fucking awkward too, as god intended

they're also meant to be presented as both ace with Sonic somewhere on the aro spectrum (demi probably), but it won't be really brought up as it isn't particularly relevant to the story and I think they'd be unlabelled anyways bc I couldn't imagine either of them giving much of a shit about that lol

(something even more adorable will happen in the next chapter and I planned for it to be here but like I said I feel like shit and don't wanna rush it too much AAGH)

Chapter 14: Nights

Summary:

Sonic realizes some things.

Notes:

In this chapter you will get the most cutest and most gayest piece of art I've ever made, I'm not sorry and you're welcome
I will also try to be more consistent with illustrating important moments like this in the upcoming chapters as I haven't been properly dedicated to that, admittedly because I was pretty impatient with releasing them, but now I developed the tactic of drawing first before I write the chapter to have the motivation to just write faster now lol

Shadow created a sort of routine by now. Wake up before Sonic, make breakfast, force Sonic to eat it and then continue idling until dinner. There are plenty of meaningless conversations along the way, small talk and simply getting to know each other better by proxy, even if it was never Shadow's intention. His only actual intention in bringing the other hedgehog in was as simple as just keeping him alive and making sure he doesn't cause trouble, as cruel as it may sound. He thought it would be over and done with potentially even on the first day.

A few months ago, he probably would've immediately warped away at the mere idea of basically becoming Sonic's roommate, even if for a limited amount of time. Now, though.. it isn't as bad as he would've thought.

Quite tolerable even, dare he say. Of course, Sonic can be still annoying at times, but never past a point of becoming genuinely infuriating. He clearly has some set boundaries he doesn't want to cross and holds some amount of gratitude and respect towards his de facto host. Besides, the snarky comments or just any random chatter throughout the day are actually... kinda pleasant?

Yesterday's movie night changed something between them. Sonic has now become even more touchy than he was before, more outwardly affectionate and just generally - with no better way to put it - simply happy to be there. It made Shadow feel weird. Not quite the bad kind of weird, just.. weird. Especially the touchiness, as subtle as it is. Sonic very clearly has some innate need for physical closeness, even if he is doing his best to suppress it. Whether that need is to be closer to the agent specifically or to any other person in general is unknown. It's also difficult to tell for someone like Shadow whether it is a part of his personality or just the current circumstances - could even be both, with one amplifying the other. Shadow tries to be considerate and tolerate it for now, though he hates to admit it doesn't require as much effort as he would've expected it to.

Rouge arrived quite early, for her at least, just as the sun was reaching noon. She likely followed Shadow's example and dumped work for the day, or potentially made an actual agreement with Tower, as the recent workload is relatively calm and today is a Friday anyway. Shadow can't be bothered to ask though as he'd much rather limit talking about the topic to the absolute minimum.

Shadow was in the middle of making dinner, with Sonic hanging around his shoulder and insisting on helping out while the other hedgehog continuously refused, when the both of them were suddenly distracted by a knock on the door.

Sonic finally had his wish granted when the agent asked him to watch the contents of the frying pan, but the hedgehog was all but frozen in place at the realization of who had already arrived. Shadow paid no mind to Sonic's quiet panic and made his way to open the door.

As it swung open, as expected, Rouge stood in the doorway with an impatient look which morphed into glee at the sight of her friend. First thing she did, she held out Shadow's communicator she'd taken the day earlier out in front of him. "Delivery~!"

The agent accepted it into his hand. "Did you manage to do what I asked?"

"Of course, who do you take me for?" Not giving the other a chance to answer, she invited herself inside and passed the door's threshold. "Now, where is our buddy Blue?"

Sonic, still frozen in place, flinched slightly at her sight but held up one hand in a small wave. "Uh, hi Rouge."

She perked up at the sound of his voice, then wasted no time to immediately run up to him and embrace him in a tight hug. Too tight. "Blue! There you are, have you had any idea how much you had me worried?!" She moved her chin up, not a lot, given her taller stature and planted several pecks on his forehead, barely minding the quills.

"Hi, I missed you too but you're choking me..!" He managed to wheeze out.

The bat finally leaned back, letting him access to the precious lost air, but still kept a firm hold on his biceps. She tried subtly spitting out bits of fur from her mouth, attempting to stay nonchalant all throughout. To limited success. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before letting out. "Where the heck have you been?!"

He winced back at the sudden yell, turning his gaze towards Shadow who was now joining the two of them at Rouge's side. Sonic looked to him pleadingly but the darker hedgehog provided no help, waiting for him to answer. He frowned at the lack of support but turned back to Rouge. "I, uh... I'm not sure?"

The answer made the bat look like she could implode. "What do you mean you're-?!" That's when Shadow finally interrupted.

"Dark Gaia is causing him to have issues with memory."

She looked between the two of them, switching back and forth with a perplexed expression. She softened up and let the hedgehog go fully. "I see..." She paused for another few seconds, then put on a small smile. "But you're looking a lot better now, at least in my humble opinion. How has living with my roomie been treating you?" She poked the side of Shadow's head at the word roomie, making him growl. She paid no mind to it and smirked. "I've been stuck with him for years, so I hope your experiences so far were better than mine."

Sonic paused for a second, before relaxing his stance in an attempt to mirror her energy. "He was kinda cranky at first, but he came around by now I think." He suddenly grabbed Shadow and swung his arm around his shoulder, making him flinch in surprise. "As it appears, even our local edgelord has had a softer side all along - I think we're totally besties now!" He exclaimed with a teasing smirk, side eyeing Shadow. The darker hedgehog said nothing, with his only response being purposefully bristling his quills with an annoyed scowl.

The sharpened spikes quickly dug into Sonic's extended arm, causing him to jump back. "Ow! Hey!"

Rouge snickered. "Oh, total besties I can tell. I just hope he doesn't surpass me in your friend scale."

Sonic gave Shadow one last pout before waving Rouge away. "Nah he's only like, the 12th highest in the ranking. Still a long way up to go, which won't go up if he keeps stabbing me." He emphasized the word into Shadow's face. The darker hedgehog only crossed his arms with an eye-roll.

"Could you actually sit down instead of talking in the middle of the kitchen? I was busy with something if you couldn't tell."

Rouge glanced towards the pan. "Ooo, finally some good food! I've missed your cooking, me or especially Omega can't cook for shit, I've been living off takeout the whole time you were gone." 

Shadow pushed the both of them towards the table. "Yes, I am aware. Now get out."

They obliged, with Sonic glancing back at him with a mildly amused smirk. "Well, it's good to know I'm not the only one he acts like that around food with."

"He's protective of all of his interests, better not to bother him. Oh, speaking of protective..." She turned towards Shadow. "Did you steal my laptop yesterday?"

Sonic choked back a snicker while Shadow paused in his movements as his ears pinned back. The agent muttered out without turning around. "It's shared."

"No, it isn't? You never even use it, what would you need it for now?"

Sonic answered for him. "We just watched some movies yesterday, don't worry about it. He'll give it back, probably."

Rouge looked at him in wonder before putting on a teasing smile. "Ooh, so that's how it is?"

"That's how is what?"

She answered while staring over at Shadow, who did his best to ignore the conversation. "You weren't kidding when you said you were getting along. I see, I see. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing how your friendship develops." She winked at Sonic who only stared in confusion. She noticed his look and backpedaled slightly. "I mean, well, it may not seem like much but it took a while before I got Shadow to hang out with me like that, he used to be so obsessed with work all the time. I'm either an amazing friend and a great influence - which I have no doubt I am, of course - orrrr," She leaned forward over the table to speak more quietly. "He may just be developing a bit of a soft spot for you, Blue~"

He continued staring at her quizzically but forced on a smirk after a short while. "Come on, who doesn't have a soft spot for me?"

Rouge turned to Shadow again, who continued working despite his quills becoming visibly bristled as the conversation went on. "I'm really proud of you, darling!"

He finally turned his head around slowly with a burning look. "Can the two of you either shut the hell up or stop talking about me like I wasn't here."

"Ah, always the life of the party."

Sonic answered sarcastically. "Don't worry, you get used to it."

"Mmm, I don't know, I think it will take a few years at least to get used to that whole 'Shadow' guy. He seems kinda creepy, right?" The two held a brief staring contest before laughing the exchange off. Shadow let out a loud, disappointed sigh in the background.

He's come to the conclusion that he may not have even disliked Sonic himself. He dislikes a Sonic in the presence of Rouge. All he needs to do now is to make sure that they never, ever meet up with him around again.

 

The three eventually shared their dinner, with Rouge dramatically fawning over the food and complaining about Shadow's absence. Sonic, of course, continuously egged her on, bringing Shadow barely a step away from throwing the both of them out of his house. He never did, but oh how he wanted to. The hero still visibly struggled with eating as usual, but did his best to put up an act in front of the bat, probably successfully, seeing how she never brought it up. Or it could've been on purpose, not wanting to bring attention to the topic.

But the meeting with Rouge certainly lifted Sonic's mood further and alleviated some of his anxieties. The longer it went on, the more relaxed he got and talked more freely and boldly. The general tone was positive for nearly the whole time, or at least it was, up until during a lengthier pause, Rouge finally addressed the elephant in the room. It was only after they were all done with eating, Rouge seemingly slowly preparing to leave. But now it was obvious she wasn't willing to entirely ignore the topic.

"Hey, Blue... you know, I heard what you said to Shadow right before you ran away." She didn't appear angry, simply stating the facts out loud.

Sonic froze up and his eyes widened. He's read the entry in his journal about that. It was brief and unspecific, but enough for him to know that what she heard wasn't good. His cheerful demeanor vanished instantly, replaced by the walking embodiment of nervous energy Shadow has seen several times already whenever an uncomfortable matter would come up.  The darker hedgehog turned silent as well, but felt somewhat more confident after having discussed that same topic with Sonic earlier.

"...Shadow told you..?"

"No, I heard it through an earpiece."

"..."

"You don't really believe that, right? What you said about me?"

He looked away. "...No."

She put her hand on top of his on the table. "Honey, that but with more confidence? Please?"

Sonic looked her in the eyes softly at the gesture, along with the pleading request. "I don't. I was just really paranoid back then, and I'm sorry I hurt your feelings like that. You deserve better."

She smiled and squeezed his hand gently before letting go. "Apology accepted. I know it's not really your fault either. And I'm also sorry you have to be going through.. all that." She gestured on his arms.

He grimaced, putting them down under the table. "Eh, I kinda asked for it, to be honest. Was only a matter of time before something screwed me over, this is just.. a more peculiar way for it to have happened, I guess. Probably still better than a missing limb or something."

She looked to Shadow with a worried look but didn't comment on the statement. Eventually she stood up, slipping back into her more usual persona. "Well, I think I've already overstayed my welcome. I got fed so I'm happy enough, not promising I won't be back for more, though." She smiled.

Sonic stood up as well as he remembered the last thing he wanted to ask her. "Wait, Rouge, before you go."

She paused in place, giving him a questioning look.

"Since I know you are kinda close - uh, close-ish I think, it's really hard to tell - do you by any chance know how Knux is doing? I couldn't get a hold of him for a few months now and Tails didn't know either last time I asked."

She suddenly froze in place. She turned towards Shadow, who also appeared more anxious now as he stood up. While Sonic kept his eyes on Rouge, the darker hedgehog mouthed to her tensely. 'Not now.'

The bat grimaced guiltily, but listened. She forced on a smile. "You know how he is, he really isn't an expert when it comes to technology. I may or may not have forced myself in, but from what I've seen he's doing fine."

"...Does he know about what happened?"

Rouge tensed again and fell silent for a while, thinking through her answer. "I don't think so."

Sonic's brows furrowed but he huffed out in relief. "Good."

Her grimace persisted, but eventually she sighed and turned to walk towards the door. "Well, it was a pleasure seeing you again, Blue." She turned her head back with an expectant smile. "See you at the party?"

He blinked in surprise at the mention. "...Yeah. See you there." Him and Shadow followed after her to give their goodbyes.

Rouge's smile widened as she nodded and opened the door.

Shadow put in his own last comment. "See you on Sunday, bat."

Right away, she recognized this as Shadow's small attempt on lightening the mood. He's gotten better at it over the years, noticing and actually acting on the need more frequently as he learned from his environment. He still did it in his own way, usually sarcastic and retaining his typical stone expression. It was cute in a way, how he was able to do something seemingly so unlike him, successfully even, while still feeling like the same person she knew and loved.

She huffed out a brief laugh and turned to face him fully in the doorway. "Bat? What, you feeling nostalgic now, handsome? How long has it been since you last called me that?"

He crossed his arms. "I may be just returning back to my roots."

Sonic looked between them. "So he actually stopped calling you by your species? How long will it take for you to stop calling me hedgehog, then? By the way, you say it like it's an insult, when you're literally also a hedgehog."

"Don't even dream of it changing, hedgehog." He paused, then raised a brow. "So now I'm also a hedgehog, yet yesterday I was 'half alien' when it was convenient to you then. Try being more consistent next time."

Sonic opened his mouth, closed, opened and silently closed again. He finally responded. "...Point taken."

Shadow smirked. Rouge shook her head lightheartedly with a sigh, then squeezed the both of them in a hug. "Before you say anything Shadow, that's two. Now let me enjoy this."

The darker hedgehog said nothing as he tried to keep his mind away from the sensation. He was significantly more focused on being squished against Sonic than Rouge, something he was a lot less used to. The blue hedgehog just raised an amused brow. "What, are you keeping track of how many times you can hug Shadow before getting chaos speared? What's the record, I may need that knowledge."

Shadow muttered out into Rouge's fur. "You get zero."

"To me it seems I'm getting one right now and I feel pretty whole to me."

Rouge snickered but finally let the two go, with Shadow immediately taking the chance to create a larger distance between them than potentially necessary. The bat turned towards the door once more. "Okay, now we can actually say goodbye."

Sonic waved to her as she left while the darker hedgehog kept his arms crossed. As Rouge began flying into the distance, Sonic closed the door and looked towards Shadow. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Sonic spoke.

"We didn't give back the laptop."

"..."

"Wanna watch movies again?"

"..Sure."

 

The rest of the day passed by calmly, quite similarly to the day before. During alone time, Sonic as usual went back to his journal. His previous notes have been lackluster and not as helpful as he would've liked, so a lot of previous entries were scrapped and some information was elaborated on. Along with a few more notes.

 

September 21 20XX

Shadow stayed with me for the night. It was nice of him. I could tell he didn't sleep a lot though, I think he was just pretending for my sake at some points. Well I can't really judge because I also did for a bit, but I was trying to. I didn't have any nightmares tonight I think. I can't remember dreaming of anything really but he didn't wake me up either so I assume it was fine.

I'm also getting stronger again, I still get a bit dizzy when I stand up too suddenly but it's getting better. Guess Shadow was right. The drinks are still kinda gross tho

Rouge came over today. It went better than I expected. She isn't mad at me it seems and it was nice to see her again. Having someone to torment Shadow with for a bit was fun not gonna lie. I still feel kinda guilty tho. But at least she got me to kinda half hug Shadow hehe. Not quite there but I said I'd get one and I will keep my word

But Rouge didn't know anything about Knuckles either. I wouldn't be worried if it wasn't for how weirdly she reacted when I asked. Something really doesn't feel right now. Either they actually got together and already managed to become bitter exes, but I don't think Rouge would be trying to hide that, or something happened. Maybe while I was out or even before that. And they're trying to hide it from me. ...

I'd ask Shadow but I doubt he'd know. He never really talked to Knuckles and I don't think he'd hide something like that from me. At least I hope he wouldn't. He didn't hide anything up to this point even if it made him into an asshole, so I doubt he'd restrict himself now.

Shadow said it's supposed to storm at night again tomorrow. That's not good.

 

 

For now, it was another relatively peaceful night. Shadow being there in the same room really does help, but not entirely. He woke him up again at some point, but this time Sonic couldn't really remember what his dream was about. The only thing he knew was that he woke up feeling scared and stressed, but unable to tell why. He wouldn't be left feeling this way for long, though.

"Are you okay?"

Sonic stared at Shadow who was currently standing above his bed. He's looking at him so.. softly. With genuine care and concern.

...Why?

"I'm fine. Thanks."

 

Sonic can now tell Shadow isn't pretending. It really is as he said, Shadow really does care about him. It's so obvious now in fact that Sonic can't even tell why he ever believed when he said he's only helping for the sake of others. But that just leaves him with yet another question. Why even would he?

 

---

 

The next day, the two hedgehogs spent a good chunk of the day outside as Shadow trained by himself. He insisted he cannot waste all of his time away by sitting in place, or else he'll grow stale. It is a fair concern, if maybe not for the part where he forbade Sonic from joining him. He wouldn't mind a spar to refresh his skills, but Shadow claimed he 'wouldn't want to hold himself back today'. Jeez, thanks. That's how the blue hedgehog ended up on the sidelines for the entire time, watching Shadow be cool while he had to sit there in boredom.

But he did notice an interesting pattern. As nighttime comes and the world grows quiet, so does Shadow. Accurate to his name maybe, or something. He gets significantly more patient and calmer, and even his face looks a lot softer than it is during the day. Maybe he just thinks Sonic won't be able to see it in the dark and actually lets his face express his real feelings. Because during the day, the hedgehog goes right back to maintaining his stoic, blunt image of someone who cares only about his own business and status of 'Ultimate Lifeform'. Sonic doesn't buy it. Not anymore.

"Shadow."

The darker hedgehog stopped in place, a chaos spear still in his hand. He sighed. "What is it this time."

"Why do you even care about me?"

Shadow's eyes widened and the spear vanished into thin air. He stared with a gaping mouth for a moment before speaking. "...That's kind of a loaded question to ask so casually."

Sonic wouldn't give it up so quickly, though. "Will you answer?"

"..I'm not going to go around feeding your ego so freely."

The other frowned, looking down to fidget with the grass by his legs. "It's not about my ego." He looked up. "I was an asshole to you."

Shadow's features eased slightly. He relaxed his stance but turned away and crossed his arms. "I know it was just the Dark Ga-"

"I mean even before that. I've been so shitty at times, and yet.. and I know you aren't a paragon of forgiveness."

The agent turned his head back to look at him, then looked down and muttered. "You weren't always..."

"Yeah, but I was most of the time, wasn't I?"

Shadow turned back around to face him fully, letting his arms drop at his sides. "Your self-esteem is a lot lower than you let on, isn't it?"

That took Sonic aback as his mouth fell open wordlessly. His brows furrowed as he looked down, but he wouldn't end up speaking any more after this. After a while, as Shadow realized he wouldn't be getting an answer, he simply went back to training as Sonic stared down at the grass.

...Is it?

 

---

 

As the day approached evening and the sun was beginning to set, Sonic expected the two of them would be already heading inside for the day. But just as he was standing up to walk in the direction of the door, Shadow stopped him in place.

"Wait. Follow me."

The blue hedgehog stopped in place and watched as the other already started going in a completely different direction, not even looking back. Sonic did as he was asked, falling shortly behind. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

He looked at him questioningly, but decided to wait this time as he doubted Shadow would be taking him anywhere far.

 

He was proven right, as after only a short walk through the surrounding forest they would emerge on the other side, revealing the sight of the ocean. He never realized they were this close to the edge of the continent. Sonic stopped for a moment at the sight, but was soon forced to catch up when Shadow continued walking without pause. The sun was already approaching the horizon, nearly touching the water and painting the sky and clouds in pastel colors.

As they approached the border between sand and grass, Sonic realized where Shadow was really taking him. "Why did you bring me to the beach? I sure hope you're not counting on taking a swim."

"No." Shadow didn't elaborate and simply continued walking. The other hedgehog was slowly getting concerned over the proximity of the water, up until the agent stopped several meters away from where the waves hit the furthest. He sat down without a word, supporting his elbow on top of his knee and waited until Sonic followed.

After a bit of confusion, he sat down as well a small distance away from him.  "You know, you didn't need to act so mysterious over wanting to hang out on a beach together." He leaned towards him with a teasing smile. "You know I'd always be up for a romantic walk by the sunset~"

Shadow surprisingly didn't react to the comment, keeping his eyes on the shimmering water with a neutral expression. Sonic leaned back with a bit of confusion, but remained silent. Eventually, the darker hedgehog spoke. "You used to always stop me in places like this after our races."

"Oh.. I guess I did, didn't I." He looked towards the horizon.

"You probably don't know this, but.. those meetings meant a lot- to me. Probably more than they did to you." He looked away.

Sonic tried looking him in the eyes. "..They did?"

Shadow simply nodded.

The other hedgehog stared for a longer while before facing away in guilt. "I'm sorry."

The agent looked to him in confusion. "For what?"

"For.. not thinking much of them. I didn't think they were important to you.. at all. I probably should've appreciated it more."

Shadow sighed. "That wasn't my point. What I'm trying to tell you, is that just... you had an impact, even when you weren't thinking about it at the time. The smaller good things don't stand out as much. They just.. come naturally, that's why you don't even notice them. But.. others might. I did."

"..Oh..."

There wasn't anything he knew he could add without ruining the moment. That was a.. really meaningful thing to confess. Something that clearly wasn't an easy thing to do for Shadow, but he decided to say it either way. He could've let their previous conversation pass by with no elaboration or conclusion, but he chose to do what he thought would make Sonic feel better about himself.

Shadow really did come a long way, huh?

They watched as the sun set in silence, letting their fur and quills slowly sway in the strengthening wind. Gray clouds were approaching closer, but they extended their time here for as long as possible. 

After several long minutes, the agent spoke up again. "What do you want to do after tomorrow?"

Sonic looked at him. Tomorrow, that means after the party. Should he just.. go back to living with Tails? Stay with Shadow even longer?

Either stay being his burden or become someone else's. Neither.

"I'll leave."

Shadow raised a brow. "Leave where?"

"Anywhere. Back to how I used to live every day. I feel better now, so I'll be fine."

"You just want to run away again. Haven't you-?"

"No, no I- it's not like that. I'll keep in contact with you guys now. I'll visit, I just- I don't wanna keep on.. leeching off of everyone around me. I don't want to feel like some sort of kid who needs to be taken care of. I.. promise that if there's a really bad night, or if I need help with something.. that I won't hide anymore."

I don't want to worry everyone again. Me being around worries them, but me being completely gone makes it even worse.

Shadow grimaced but didn't try to argue. He looked away and muttered. "Just don't try to break that promise."

 

---

 

The storm was a bigger issue than he would've thought. Another nightmare was to be expected, but this time, Sonic would no longer be able to fall back asleep. Waking him up actually didn't help with the dark energy either, as the longer he stayed awake the bigger it got.

Shadow returned to his mattress after waking him up at first, but seeing this wouldn't go in any positive direction on its own, he returned back to the bed and sat down next to the other hedgehog. Sonic had his back on him, facing the wall and quietly shivering as he did his best to hide his distress. Shadow couldn't help but ask. "Why are you afraid of storms?" He couldn't think of a way it could relate to any of Sonic's traumas that Shadow was aware of. Perhaps it wasn't related to that at all, and could just be a childhood fear he never got over and which simply got amplified by his condition.

Sonic flinched slightly at the question. He didn't turn around as he answered. "I'm not." He spoke quietly.

Shadow sighed. "I don't know why you're even trying to hide it now when I can literally see tangible proof of you being afraid right now."

He curled up tighter. "...I didn't mean I'm not afraid. It's not about the storms. It's the thunder. I'm just... not good with loud noises in general. I don't care about the rain."

"...Is there a particular reason for that?"

"...Yes."

Another roar of thunder. Another flinch. It seems that talking about the matter made the darkness expand further, large enough to a point where Shadow was starting to feel the beginnings of the usual fatigue associated with it. At this rate, it has the chance to actually become dangerous...

"Do you know what could help?"

Sonic stayed quiet. After a few seconds, he shook his head slightly.

He had said earlier that another person being around helps, huh.. And.. Shadow did notice he seems to unconsciously crave physical contact...

...

He will probably regret doing this later.

"...Move aside."

That finally brought the hedgehog's attention as his head suddenly snapped around. "Huh?"

Shadow pulled away the covers and forced his way next to the other with probably the biggest grimace he's ever sported in his life. This time, not even the artificial cold from Dark Gaia could overpower the heat on his face right now.

Sonic turned around fully. "Woah, woah, woah, hold on- I- I don't need THAT much-"

The agent only laid down by his side, facing away from him. He did his damn hardest to keep his quills from flaring up and stabbing the other in the face. "Just shut up. For both of our sakes." Maybe even if this wouldn't work to relax him, Sonic might just get flustered enough to be too distracted by his presence next to him to focus on what's happening outside. Shadow can only hope the experience doesn't also kill him along the way.

It did work to shut Sonic up as the darker hedgehog could feel him going completely still behind him. At least there's that.

Shadow squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to get at least a wink of sleep, entirely in order to be provided if just a moment of blissful unconsciousness. But falling asleep right now would be an amazing feat when his heart felt as if he was running in a marathon. Worse, actually, because he handles marathons way better than he does whatever this is.

His overly quick breath hitched when he suddenly felt a hand being placed on his side, still experimental, hardly even touching him. He felt as Sonic shifted just a bit closer, whispering somewhere behind his neck. "Thanks..."

That one simple word was enough to make everything feel as if it had slowed down. Shadow turned his head around halfway to take a glance at the other hedgehog. The darkness was fully gone and his eyes were closed now, his expression seeming significantly calmer than before, in spite of his initial protests over Shadow's actions. Even though his arm was trying to hold him, Sonic still kept some distance with the rest of his body, likely in fear of the other hedgehog's potential reaction.

Shadow's features softened as he huffed out a small breath. He turned around to actually face the other now, making Sonic stir up as he opened his eyes slightly in wonder and moved his arm away. Despite everything that his brain kept screaming at him, Shadow slowly brought his own arm to wrap around Sonic's torso this time, putting his hand right under his shoulder blade.

After getting over his initial surprise, Sonic's lip curled upwards into a tiny smile. He took this as an invitation to get closer, and with no further hesitation he pulled his arm up, wrapping it around Shadow's neck and burying his hand into his quills, trusting they wouldn't harm him. He curled up on himself, pushing his snout into the other's chest fur. That caused the darker hedgehog to stiffen briefly, but he made no effort to push him away.

Sonic couldn't help but quietly add with a smile. "I told you I'd be getting that hug."

Shadow scoffed with an eye-roll, but the comment did admittedly help in easing his nerves. It was probably the most 'Sonic' thing Sonic could've said in that moment, obnoxious and cocky as always, bringing in a sense of normalcy.

 

The darker hedgehog let himself properly relax as he heard the other's breaths getting slower and steadier, signifying him finally falling asleep. He watched the slow rises and falls of his chest, with his expression so peaceful and so unlike what he sees most of the time. Not bothered by anything or anyone. Just.. existing.

Shadow eventually followed Sonic's example, gently nuzzling into his fur and closing his eyes. Sharing his peace and ready to drift off into sleep, for real this time.

 

Notes:

An accurate visual representation of Sonic's and Shadow's current general thoughts (colorized)

we've reached the end of the roommates bonding arc folks it can only go downhill from here

btw I may be slower with writing during this month as I participate in art fight and will probably be dedicating a bunch of time to that whole thing
(also before anyone gets excited and wants to attack me, I have absolutely no Sonic oc's all of them are cats with one human and one pony I may draw some mobians for other people but I really don't have any characters to receive as revenge from this fandom lol)

Chapter 15: Balloons

Summary:

Sonic and Shadow go to the party.

Notes:

Alr yall over 11k words let's do this shit
Prepare yourself this one is an emotional rollercoaster

I also drew some of their outfits for the party, I was gonna do a few others too but I'm weak willed and this chapter is already big enough by itself sorry


did I have to draw Shadow again for this? no, no I did not. but I chose to anyway
fun fact: Shadow would like to wear earrings but piercings heal pretty much the moment he takes the earring out so he can't unless he re-pierces them every single time :/ ultimate lifeform struggles

Trying to take a break and relax would turn out to be a much bigger challenge than Amy would've thought. After the incident in the city square, Sonic would become a country-wide sensation, with the press and media creating countless theories and assumptions about his condition and general state. The fact Shadow took him in also turned out to be an issue, as many people came to the conclusion that after the two's fight, the agent had gone and kidnapped him for some unspecified reason. Assuming Shadow's gone back to the dark side, which is something Amy finds simply disgusting, considering all the good the agent has done for the world ever since his first introduction.

That last theory was something Amy and Tails actually learned about from Tangle and Whisper, as the two visited the workshop in worry, hoping to learn the truth. They denied this, of course, but remained vague due to their own lack of information, leaving the girls largely skeptical. Amy would take this chance and invite them to the upcoming party, promising to explain more with everyone else around. That would become a promise she'd tell to everyone who she sent out invitations to the moment each of them inevitably started asking questions. She's still unsure whether or not that is a promise she will be able to keep.

Thankfully, she'd eventually receive the news that both Sonic and Shadow would indeed show up, which lifted her spirits considerably. If Sonic was feeling well enough to actually arrive, then that meant his presence alone could disprove many of the guests' worries, and also will provide him the chance to actually speak for himself.

It was supposed to be just a small get-together for all of their friends, a day of fun and catching up to all of the goings-on. That will be hard to accomplish when currently the biggest thing going on is Sonic's unfortunate state.

She really, really hoped that this party would be a moment of reprieve, but she had a feeling that the chances of that actually turning out to be the case would end up being pretty low.

Tails, on the other hand, tried to relax. For the first day at least.

He attempted to occupy himself with his other, unfinished projects he'd been working on previously during his journey, but that only worked to remind him of their origins, all inspired by things he's seen or experienced during his travels. Travels he might never be able to go back to.

Leaving his brother again would be much too cruel.  Perhaps he will be able to some day simply take Sonic with him?

Being entirely frank, he barely trusted Shadow. He didn't think he was malicious and that he'd intentionally try to harm Sonic, but it was hard to think positively when he's never seen a single truly positive interaction between them. Especially now, when the hero is particularly unstable and easier to provoke. He wouldn't say it out loud, but there also might be a chance he is just a tiny bit scared of Shadow. But that's besides the point.

Tails can only hope this temporary stay doesn't lead to further straying in the destructive hedgehogs' relationship, which in turn would lead to only more disasters. Maybe small scale ones, if they get lucky.

 

---

 

On the next day's morning, Sonic was oddly enough the first to wake up, unlike on any of the previous days. And it surprisingly wasn't due to a nightmare or any odd sound from the outside. He was actually quite well rested, probably the most he had been in months.

Even so, he wasn't particularly fond of the idea of getting up right now. Not with the comfortable feeling of warm and fuzzy fur on his face and enveloping his sides. He noticed their positions shifted slightly in their sleep, with Shadow laying on his back, still holding onto Sonic with one arm while he was halfway on top of him and using his chest fur as a pillow. The only other times he's ever been this close to Shadow would be during the occasional spars, lasting seconds at best whenever one would accidentally fall on top of the other, just to immediately pick themselves up and get back into combat. But he did take notice of the white silky fur Shadow owns, obviously, and he'd be lying if he said he never had the urge to bury his hands in it for a longer while.

So now having the chance to straight up snuggle with him? And also not only to have his hands on the fluff, but his whole entire face? Oh, he was going to use the shit out of this opportunity. Who knows when, if ever, he will get to have Shadow quite as close as this again.

And so, Sonic nuzzled in closer, further burying his nose and muzzle in the soft fluff, sighing out in contentment. As he breathed back in, he was again hit with the lavender scent he's grown so acquainted with in the past few days. It was annoying to him at first, but as it is now... if this was the smell associated with the rest of his current sensations, there might be a major threat of him becoming very, very attached to it.

He unconsciously squeezed his arms tighter, making the other hedgehog stir up in his sleep briefly. A bit startled, Sonic curled up to face downwards, pressing the side of his head against Shadow's chest and squeezing his eyes shut in hopes of fooling the other into thinking he's still asleep. It wasn't necessary though, as the small movement turned out to be a false alarm, with Shadow still fast asleep.

Before Sonic would change back to his initial position, he noticed the way one of his ears was placed happened to be located right on top of the left side of Shadow's chest. He stilled completely for a few seconds in surprise as he heard the heartbeat, before giving in to the urge to press the ear closer. He closed his eyes once more, and simply listened.

Powerful, steady, likely slower than when he is awake, but still frequent.

He wasn't having doubts about it, but it was a reminder that the person next to him is real. Truly here, alive and breathing. Not an illusion or hallucination.

Because illusions have no heart for it to beat.

That realization along with the sound itself made his chest feel tighter.

It's just a heartbeat. Everyone has one. You already got over that fear years ago, so stop being weird about it and get off.

That's what he told himself. And it was true, he knew the people around him truly were real by now. But even so, his head remained rooted in place. The sound was far too comforting than it had any right to be.

It's hard to tell how long he stayed like that. He'd even started slowly drifting back to sleep, that was until he first heard Shadow's pulse pick up, before soon later being joined by his voice.

"What's that clicking..?" He asked groggily, not yet opening his eyes.

Sonic couldn't focus on how much deeper Shadow's morning voice sounds for long, because soon after he'd actually register the meaning of his words.

Clicking? He didn't notice any- oh, oh crap.

"Nothing..?" He muttered as he unsuccessfully tried to stifle the stubborn rumbling in his chest. He faced downwards, hiding the beginnings of heat on his face. No way he nearly got caught doing.. that, and actually got caught with purring while snuggling up to the guy who was still considered his rival barely a week ago. Maybe still is, who knows what they are at this point.

"No, it's..." He leaned in closer, his ears turning in various directions in search of the source. "Huh?" He leaned back again the moment he found it. "How are you doing that?"

Wait, he doesn't know?

Sonic tried saving himself. "Uh.. it just happens, sometimes, on its own. It's nothing."

"...Is that normal?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. Just a little hedgehog quirk."

"I don't think my body ever did that."

"Maybe it did and you just didn't realize. It's involuntary and usually pretty quiet so you might not even notice it's happening."

Shadow hummed. "What causes it?"

Well, alright, get over yourself, a little bit of embarrassment won't kill you if it's for the sake of educating your confused hedgehog-alien friend. Since Shadow doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of the term half-alien. Or maybe alien at all. Whatever, he can't read his thoughts ...Hopefully.

"Uhh.. you know how cats can purr? Well, it's that but a hedgehog version."

"Hedgehogs can also-?" He paused suddenly as the realization struck him and his face reddened once again. Shadow is surprisingly prone to blushing it seems. It's honestly quite endearing how many times it has happened already, but it probably also kinda sucks, especially for a person like Shadow. Sonic is lucky enough to not get that problem often.

Shadow seemingly finally realized the position the two of them were in and quickly moved to climb from under the other and push himself into a sit. Sonic smiled smugly as he watched and remained in place, though the separation was admittedly mildly upsetting. At least it got rid of the purring issue. The darker hedgehog cleared his throat, looking away. "This was a purely tactical decision, as I've determined that... it would be the most efficient in suppressing the Dark Gaia. Don't expect it to repeat."

Oh, he so wishes it does repeat. Sonic hummed, still smiling. He propped his head in his hand, leaning on one elbow. "That's one way to justify cuddling with your frenemy."

"I was not cuddling you."

"Sure, whatever you say, man."

Shadow grumbled something to himself as he stood up, likely aware of how he wasn't at all helping his case. He slipped on his boots and turned back towards Sonic. "Just.. get yourself together. We're going to Amy's today, in case you forgot already."

"Oh, yeah.. right. Well, I'm glad you're going too. You make for a great emotional support teddy bear."

The darker hedgehog turned back around, inhaling loudly as his quills bristled. He gripped them in his hands and walked out of the room without a word. The teasing put on top of the night spent cuddling may have overloaded Shadow a bit, as Sonic could feel the chaos energy rising in the air around Shadow as he left. And... soon after something was breaking, followed by a loud thud outside. Like a tree being knocked down, which it probably was. Whoops. Welp, apologies to the local ecosystem.

 

A short while later Sonic left the room as well, having made himself presentable to the best of his ability. Which was mostly simply brushing through his fur and quills, and getting as dressed as it gets for him. Don't blame him, it's not like he has any of his usual supplies on him here.

The moment he stepped out of the door, Shadow was immediately right on his face, sticking a finger in his chest. "If you dare mention this happened to anyone while we are there, I will gut you."

Sonic snickered. "Didn't cut down enough trees to cool off? Never thought I'd have such a strong effect on you."

Shadow leaned away with a scowl. He only let out a small 'hmph' as he didn't have anything meaningful to answer with. He then looked Sonic up and down. "You're just going like this? Did you even brush yourself?"

Now it was Sonic's turn to scowl. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did."

"Can't tell."

He groaned. "We aren't going to a wedding or something, what do you expect me to do? Besides, you never even go to parties, you're one to talk."

Shadow stepped away in the direction of the bathroom, still glancing over at the other. "I don't need to go to social gatherings often to know how one is supposed to look on one. If you're supposed to show up there with me, you better look right." Before Sonic could answer, the darker hedgehog quickly stomped into the bathroom, before again reemerging with some sort of round package.

"What are you-?" Not letting the other finish, Shadow swiftly grabbed one of the chairs away from the table, setting it down sideways and all but shoving Sonic down onto it, having him sit backwards to the agent. Sonic turned his head around questioningly, but not without some amusement. "Are we doing a makeover montage now? Is that what this is?"

Shadow yanked his head to make him face forwards. "Do you ever stop talking?" Sonic could hear him unscrew the lid of the package. He then saw as Shadow carelessly threw his gloves onto the table. He got the mild urge to turn around again to see what the other's hands look like, as he hasn't seen them even during the few days they spent living together. He restrained himself though, knowing how easy it would be for Shadow to pull at his quills right now, which he has no doubt he would do if Sonic were to try.

"Mm, no, not that I'm aware of."

Without answering, the darker hedgehog scooped up some of the gel, then rubbed his hands together to have it distributed evenly. Once he was satisfied, he began applying it to Sonic's quills, starting from the bottom and slowly making his way upwards. As caring as the action may seem, Shadow's obvious built up frustration was clearly shining through with his lack of gentility.

Sonic winced mildly at a particularly stronger pull. "You know, I didn't think you'd care about appearances so much."

"Of course I would. Being ultimate applies to looks as well."

"And here I thought you're just hot all naturally. Coulda' fooled me." Yank. "Ow! Stop that!"

"I will stop if you decide to finally shut up." His voice sounded strained.

"I could just do this by myself, you know. If you're gonna be so mean about it-" He suddenly felt claws graze his skin as Shadow reached up to his scalp, making him shiver involuntarily. "Actually, never mind, keep doing that."

That was what made the darker hedgehog actually pause. "...What?"

Sonic turned around. "Your claws feel kinda nice like, uh-" He tried gesturing in the air. "Those cut-up whisk looking thingies with little balls on their points? Like, the ones you scratch your head with and it feels all cool and weird."

Shadow just made a step back, squinting. "I have no clue what you are talking about."

The blue hedgehog scoffed and turned back around. "Whatever, just keep working your magic."

The odd description Sonic provided successfully distracted Shadow enough to simply oblige, going back to his previous work, though not without a mildly confused grimace. The confusion also drowned out his frustration from earlier, subconsciously making him move more gently. Sonic now sat there shockingly patiently, only softly tapping his foot on the floor as he enjoyed the other hedgehog's ministrations. He couldn't recall ever being groomed by anyone other than himself, as Tails was never quite brave enough to stick his hands into his sharp quills. Amy did propose taking care of him that way a few times, but Sonic always refused as the obvious romantic undertone the action would have always rubbed him the wrong way.

Maybe he should've agreed, though. This was really nice.

Soon enough, he'd unconsciously let his eyelids droop down as quiet clicking reverberated through the air once more. The moment Shadow heard it, much to Sonic's dismay, he pulled his hands away and immediately took the gel package back to the bathroom, mumbling out a quick "It's done."

Not paying much mind to Shadow's hurry, he took a fistful of his own quills and brought it up to his nose. Smells like aloe vera. He could also see how the spines reflected in the sunlight nicely now, giving them a fresh and shiny look. He liked it enough that even the gray ends didn't bother him as much this time. Dang, Shadow really knows his stuff. Sonic yelled out as the agent stayed in the bathroom for unusually long. He definitely wasn't using it, as the door remained slightly ajar. "Hey, how 'bout I do you now?"

It took a few beats for Shadow to answer. "I already did earlier."

"Aw. Maybe I'll return the favor next time."

Shadow mumbled something that Sonic couldn't quite make out. He heard the water running, then soon after saw as Shadow walked out of the room and went for his gloves. Before he put them back on, Sonic got to take a glance at his hands, and yeesh these claws look sharp. Really doesn't seem that way with the gloves on.

Sonic asked. "What time is it?"

Shadow glanced at his wristwatch. "10 AM. There's still some time."

There was an idea Sonic came up with while thinking on the previous night. He doesn't usually wear clothes and it isn't yet cold enough for him to start as he typically would, but putting something on might be a good idea. Being honest, it's been months since Sonic has last seen most of his more distant friends, which he is sure would all attend today. Aside from wanting to hide his new markings, he had a feeling that people might get worried over his.. unintended weight loss. He has some clothes at Tails' workshop, as well as the rest of his sports tape, so he'd have to get there before the other guests did to get himself covered up.

Was he feeling ready? No, not really. But a promise is a promise, and... he does miss them. Miss everyone.

Besides, he still has some questions he needs answers to.

"Could we head out a bit early?"

Shadow raised a brow. "Why?"

"To - you know, get all this stuff covered." He simply pulled his arms up while glancing to the side.

"Oh. Right. When, then?"

"Uh, like, right now?"

"Eat first."

Turns out, he still forgets. "Oh. Yeah. Thanks for the reminder."

Shadow's eyes widened slightly, but he ultimately ignored it as he turned towards the kitchen. That was the first time Sonic has actually expressed gratitude about the topic, instead of annoyance as he reluctantly went along with Shadow's orders. He's.. actually making progress.

 

---

 

Another breakfast later, one Shadow for once actually allowed Sonic to help with, for whatever reason, the two readied themselves for departure.

As Shadow was putting on his cool jacket again, Sonic took a glance back at the little living space. He's gotten somewhat attached to it over the past few days, the cabin started feeling surprisingly cozy and homey. As lame as the bare minimum amount of space and a lack of a TV, or most other convenient appliances for that matter, was, he felt bored actually fairly rarely. Hm..

Sonic glanced back towards Shadow as he was now looking at him expectantly. The darker hedgehog pulled his arm up as if to grab him, until it froze in the air with hesitation. He instead held his palm upwards, silently asking for Sonic to take it. The blue hedgehog looked at him quizzically.

"I can teleport us straight there."

"Oh. Oh, wait, you're actually asking for my permission this time?" Sonic asked with barely contained excitement. Maybe too much excitement over the simple fact that Shadow was actually finally respecting his wishes now, instead of catching Sonic by surprise as he always did it before.

Shadow only looked to the side with a quiet 'hm..', still holding his hand in place.

"Okay, okay, as happy as I am that you actually wanted to listen now, I actually gotta refuse this time." He walked towards the door as Shadow dropped his arm and stared in confusion. "Let's run there!"

The darker hedgehog turned to face him fully. "You are aware that we're at the edge of the continent, right?"

"Yeah, so? When I'm at full strength I can run laps around the globe."

"But you aren't at full strength."

"And I'm not running across the globe either, right?" He grinned.

Shadow took a moment to think the proposition over, before shaking his head with a sigh. He joined the other at the door. "You better not turn this into a race. You don't even know the way."

Sonic saluted to him with a wide smile. The agent only rolled his eyes and led the way out of the door, closing and locking it after himself. He turned back towards Sonic as he all but vibrated in place at the prospect of finally getting a good run. Shadow fought against the tug of his lips at the sight of having his rival so genuinely enthusiastic again.

He widened his stance and activated his boots, then looked towards the other hedgehog expectantly. "Try to keep up."

Sonic copied his position with a smirk. "Same goes to you."

In an instant, the both of them took off in a blur of color.

Shadow limited his pace somewhat, aware of the other's current limitations, but he was quite certain they still went well above the maximum speed of your any average vehicle. As he glanced to the side, he could see Sonic followed his every step, remaining right at his tail. The blue hedgehog gave him a quick thumbs up as he noticed his gaze, to which the agent simply nodded, turning back towards the road.

Sonic soon caught up to him fully to have them run side by side and yelled out, jumping a short height into the air. "Whoo!! Oh, I've missed this so badly!" He laughed to himself.

Shadow stared at him, watching as the wind tugged at his quills which blended into the iconic blue blur. Sonic's smile and happy giggles made something in his stomach flip. What is going on with him lately? He pursed his lips to bring himself out of his stupor. "Are you feeling fine?"

"Oh, I feel better than fine!" It wouldn't take long before Sonic's competitive nature would take the better of him, even despite his earlier claims. He picked up the pace, outrunning the other by a small distance.

Shadow's brows furrowed as he sped up. "You weren't supposed to make this a race!"

Sonic brought a hand up to his ear. "What?! I can't hear you over the wind, you're so far behind!" He snickered.

The agent groaned, swiftly getting rid of the distance between them. "So this is how it's going to be." He muttered to himself, before bumping into the other's shoulder, making him stumble briefly.

"Woah, hey!" Sonic grinned and moved to quickly get back at him, copying the action. It wasn't nearly as effective, barely making Shadow's movements stutter as he gazed at him with disapproval. Sonic could still pick up a hint of amusement in his expression, though. "Alright, alright, not racing! Just a friendly run between two buddies, right?"

Shadow sighed. "Whatever term gets you to behave." Sonic only chuckled in response.

The grass and air around them soon dried as they got out of the wide area which was caught in yesterday's storm. Landscapes shifted around them quickly, from forests colored by the beginning of autumn, to open grass fields, to passing by small towns and cities.

Normally, Shadow didn't tend to think much of running outside of a competitive context. It was quite literally just a means of transport, a way of getting from point A to point B. Aside from exercise, he didn't do it unless he had to, never quite understanding how the action could bring anyone so much joy.

But as he ran side by side with Sonic, not making any attempts to one-up one another and watching the sheer amount of happiness on his face - the enthusiasm was starting to get just a bit contagious.

Before he knew it, his face twisted into an involuntary smirk, which he only realized was happening once he noticed Sonic smiling at him knowingly. Shadow forced his lips to drop and sped up ahead of him without a word.

"So you can have fun after all!" He could hear Sonic yelling out behind him. Shadow only grunted, speeding up further.

That was, up until he heard some small tired gasps. He glanced back and saw Sonic beginning to struggle, his condition obviously catching up to him, but still refusing to speak up about it. Even now, too prideful to admit he's getting tired. Instead of pointing this out, Shadow only slowed down to the other hedgehog's pace without comment, for which Sonic was obviously grateful for as he let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief.

The blue hedgehog would eventually note. "Hey, I recognize this area now! Race you from here?" He asked, even despite his now obvious panting.

Shadow only raised a brow with an expression which spoke 'Really?'

"..Yeah, maybe a bad idea, hah."

 

---

 

The two would be reaching their destination not long after, slowing down the closer they got until coming to a full stop once in viewing distance of Tails' workshop. The outside yard was already mostly set up, with numerous tables and decorations adorning the trees surrounding it. The theme was pink and yellow, a not-so-subtle reference to Tails and Amy's primary colors. It was a pretty nice combination, all things considered.

They still stood a considerable distance away, Sonic catching his breath as they watched Amy busying herself with folding all the napkins into overly intricate shapes. Her outfit was a bit different than usual, wearing a slightly longer dress, but they were too far to tell most other details. Tails was still nowhere in sight.

After a longer while of gasping in place, Sonic finally straightened himself to full height. "Ugh, this is embarrassing. I never get as tired as this. My quills still looking good at least?"

Shadow took a glance. "Mostly."

"Comforting." He took a steadying breath. "Alright, let's do this." He started approaching Amy's direction, the heroine still oblivious to the two hedgehogs' presence. Shadow followed soon after.

Sonic yelled out with a wave of his arm as they were only a few meters away from the yard's unofficial border. "Heyy, Amy..!" He forced on the most convincing smile he could muster.

The pink hedgehog's head jerked upwards upon hearing his voice. "Sonic?! And Shadow? You- you're early..!" She jogged up to them as they continued walking.

They all stopped a small distance across from each other. They could now see the new dress better, it being more of a pink hue than her usual one and decorated with yellow bows. Shadow greeted. "Good evening, Amy."

"Looking good, Ames!" His expression was strained, but the compliment still seemed genuine.

She fixed up her dress, mildly flustered. "Oh, um, thank you! You also look much better than when I've last seen you. Nice jacket, Shadow!" He nodded in response, muttering out his own compliment at her. "What brings you here so early?"

"I just wanted to prepare a bit before everyone else arrived, since all my stuff is here."

"Oh, um- of course! Come on in, go ahead. Tails is inside cooking the dinner." She gestured towards the door.

Sonic nodded and jogged towards the house as Shadow remained outside with Amy. She motioned him a bit to the side, to which he obliged and followed.

She spoke a bit more quietly, but still above a whisper. "You really took care of him, didn't you? He looks way better than he did last time, and feels more like his usual self too." She smiled softly.

Shadow crossed his arms, looking away. "Hmph. Someone had to, and I'm not letting him stay a dirty raccoon while he's at my house."

She giggled. "I really didn't expect so much improvement - thank you Shadow, honestly. I know it couldn't have been easy for you."

He huffed, avoiding eye contact. "..It was nothing."

 

Sonic stepped through the door and closed it after himself, nervously glancing around. The inside was similarly decorated, balloons and decorative tape hanging around the living room and the usual dining table serving as a snacks stand. Like Amy previously claimed, Tails was busy operating the kitchen and preparing meals to join along with several already finished ones. He was also wearing.. a red tie? Amy probably forced it onto him, knowing her.

Not looking up from the pan, the fox yelled out. "Are you done with the outside?"

Sonic hesitated for a few beats before answering. "It's me."

Tails' head shot upright to stare in his direction with wide eyes. The hedgehog gave him a small wave and a nervous smile.

"Sonic!" The young fox exclaimed joyously as he immediately ran in his direction and jumped into his arms. Sonic was too stunned to reciprocate the hug, but Tails would soon break it either way as he leaned back to look him up and down. "How are you feeling? Are the rings working? Did Shadow treat you alright?"

After a moment of silence, Sonic gave him a saddened smile. He brought his hand up to ruffle the fox's head fur in an act of nostalgia. He actually had to reach up significantly higher than he did in the past, as Tails was nearly as tall as he was by now. "Yeah. Your invention worked like a charm bud, as always."

Tails swatted his hand away, but grinned at the confirmation and Sonic's demeanor. He embraced him once again and said quietly. "I'm so glad to have you back."

'Have you back.' Sonic was unsure whether his brother meant it in a literal or metaphorical sense. He returned the hug this time, but was washed over with unease at this uncertainty.

The fox leaned back. "How come you're so early? Did Amy give you the wrong time?"

"Nah, nothing wrong on her end. I just wanted to be here a bit early to fix myself up with my own stuff."

"Oh! Yeah, makes sense - go ahead, we'll be here waiting. Did Shadow come with you?"

"He sure did. Didn't even complain, surprisingly. And he did my quills, too!"

That had Tails a bit taken aback. He stared for a few seconds with wide eyes. "He- really?"

Sonic waved him off with a grin. "Don't worry, he's not sick as I thought he might be - he made sure to be as rough with it as feasibly possible, and I'm pretty sure he only did it at all just so I wouldn't 'embarrass him' with my presence next to him or something."

Tails' shoulders sagged as his expression morphed from surprise to disappointment. "Oh. Right, that sounds more like him."

Sonic snickered. "He's not so bad to live with, though. But I'll be heading upstairs now, I'll tell you more later, alright? Also- I think the food is burning."

His eyes suddenly widened as he sniffed the air. "Crap!" The fox jumped up and ran towards the kitchen.

The hedgehog still chastised him light-heartedly as he walked towards the stairs. "Language!"

"That's not even a swear word!"

 

As Sonic walked into the guest room, AKA his room, first thing he noticed was how much cleaner it was. Amy most likely fixed it up while he was gone, since he doubted Tails would be bothered enough for that. There was also something new which wasn't there before, though. There was a small card left out on his desk filled with colorful images and a note on the side. As he approached, he noticed the card was a set of stickers. He read the note, recognizing Amy's handwriting right away. 

'Hi, Sonic. I don't know when you will read this, but I hope you're feeling better by then. Ever since I've noticed your journal, I've been thinking about how bland and sad it looked. Since it's something important, I thought it should fit you a bit more - it's a very small thing really, but I just wanted to give you something to remember me by and add a bit of life to it. You can pick whichever ones you like (well, you don't have to pick any at all, but it would be nice if you did!)'

Sonic smiled to himself at the gesture and pulled the journal out of his quills. It was a bit gross and oily from Shadow's gel, but oh well, what can you do. He set it down and looked through the various stickers. After a bit of thinking, he decided to pick three out of the batch - a heart for Amy, a thunderbolt for Tails, and... A green emerald for Knuckles.

He grimaced to himself with a huff, but he decided to temporarily ignore the matter. Once finished with all of the stickers, he opened the journal to continue today's notes, since he already had the book out. He hasn't had that many memory-related issues in the past days, not since Shadow took him in, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

After that was over and done with, he put the journal back into his quills and headed towards the wardrobe. It doesn't have all that much in it, mainly winter clothes if anything, but it's still something. The tape was also left right where he had left it, so he decided to take care of that first, most importantly hiding the markings on his legs since he still refuses to wear pants. He did also take care of the ones on his arms, as he doesn't want to risk anyone seeing them in case his sleeves accidentally roll up or something.

Scouring through his clothes, he ended up landing on his baggy dark blue hoodie. He also has a red one, which he'd honestly prefer, but he had a feeling Amy wouldn't approve of that choice, considering the reaction she had back at the mall. He put it on and adjusted it quickly, making sure the sleeves covered up the rings and headed back downstairs. He didn't bother checking himself in a mirror, someone will point it out if there are any visible flaws.

Back in the living room, he noticed how Shadow had joined Tails in the kitchen while he was gone, helping out with the cooking. Tails was pretty obviously nervous in his presence, but seemed grateful enough for the help.

"Hey guys, I'm done here. Need any help?"

Tails' head turned towards him in mild surprise while Shadow's only reaction was a tiny twitch of his ears. The fox answered after taking a brief glance at his new outfit. "We're almost done too, actually, thanks for asking though."

Sonic stepped closer, taking a look at the counter filled with numerous meals waiting to be eaten. One of the plates included a pile of chili dogs, quite possibly meant especially for him. His eyes lit up a bit at the sight, but he refrained himself until the rest of the guests would be here. There were also a few desserts, such as pies and cupcakes, probably prepared earlier by Amy.

The blue hedgehog watched the two work for a few moments, smirking slightly as he saw Tails' tie waving around as he moved. He couldn't help but comment. "Weren't you supposed to be wearing a suit for this or something?"

Tails audibly groaned. "Amy tried to force me into one, but there's no way I'd wear a suit for something like this, because, come on."

"I assume the tie was a sort of compromise?"

"You could say that."

Once Shadow finished setting up a plate of various rolled up slices of hams and cheese, he walked over to the counter and put the plate down right in front of Sonic, giving him a telling glare. The blue hedgehog held his hands up in defense and whispered out. "I know, I know, I will, jeez." That guy is really adamant once he sets his mind to something, even if that something is as simple as making sure his rival eats when he's supposed to. At this point, Sonic can't tell if that's a sign of genuine care or just spite. Maybe both, honestly.

Tails thankfully didn't seem to have noticed or heard the exchange as he himself finished his own task, placing a bowl with some sort of salad down with the rest. He took a look at the wall clock. "They're gonna be here soon, I suspect Blaze and Silver will get here first since Blaze is always so punctual."

Sonic looked at him with a bit of surprise. "They'll be here? I thought Silver was, y'know, in the future."

"He's been in our time for a while now, he just hangs around a lot while he's waiting for Blaze."

The door suddenly opened as Amy joined the group inside. "Alright, I think we're all done! All that's left to do is wait - and pray it goes well..." She sighed and approached Sonic directly. "Since I'm done with that - don't you ever dare scare me like that ever again!"

Sonic leaned back against the counter as Amy leaned into his face. "Yeah... sorry 'bout that, Ames. The bracelets Tails made really helped, though - and, Shadow also I guess, as weird it is to admit."

The answer satisfied Amy somewhat as she leaned away from his personal space. She then perked up and clasped her hands as she came up with an idea. "Oh! Since we're all waiting anyway - I'm really curious what Shadow was actually like, since he refused to tell me anything."

Sonic looked back towards Shadow who stood behind the counter, shooting him a dangerous glare. Tails sneakily walked away from the kitchen as he picked up on the danger the hedgehog potentially posed. Sonic looked back to Amy and rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "He might honestly kill me if I did."

She grinned teasingly and sat down on one of the bar stools, placing her chin in her hands. "Ooo! Come on, I wanna know how much my best friends bonded with each other!" She jumped up in her seat with a gasp. "Maybe we can all start going to concerts together!"

"Yeah, no."

"No."

Both Sonic and Shadow answered at the same time, causing Amy to pout with disappointment.

The group was then interrupted by a loud knock on the door. The pink hedgehog immediately jumped off her seat and headed for the door, while Sonic gripped the edge of the counter, fighting off the urge to run into hiding. Shadow walked from behind it to stand next to him and gave him a subtle look, not directly referring to him in any way, but Sonic suspected it might still have been his way of reassuring him. Tails joined Amy at the door as well, ready to greet the first guests.

As the door swung open, Sonic could peek from behind the hosts that Tails' guess had been correct - but aside from Blaze and Silver, right at their side stood also Rouge.

After they all exchanged their prospective greetings, Amy was quick to guide them inside, having all of the guests' eyes land on him. The only one out of all the newcomers to react calmly was Rouge, as she simply sent them a smile as she waited for Blaze's and Silver's reactions to pass.

Silver ran straight to him right away, while the princess tried remaining more dignified, approaching behind him at a steady pace.

"Sonic, you came after all! Are you okay? Shadow didn't do anything bad to you, right?" The lighter hedgehog looked him over, searching for injuries.

"Woah, woah, I'm fine, maybe some greetings first?"

Shadow coughed at his side, causing Silver to freeze as if he hadn't noticed his presence.

"Oh, woah. Hi Shadow."

The agent grunted with an eye-roll. Blaze approached the group with far more politeness, Rouge and the rest following not far behind her. Blaze was wearing an elegant, but still relatively casual purple dress with red and golden decorations. Rouge meanwhile had her usual jeans and high boots, with only the top exchanged for a black one, joined along with a leather jacket and some additional jewelry. She also had a black bag hanging off her shoulder. Blaze would speak first. "Good afternoon, everyone. It's good to see you in better condition now, Sonic. I'm glad to see that the media were only exaggerating about your condition."

"Hey, what's up with your eyes though? Oh, wait, are your quills also different? Did you dye them? They're a similar color to mine - that's so cool! Why didn't you say anything if you wanted to match-?" Silver excitedly rambled, much too close to Sonic's face for his liking as he nervously pressed against the counter, hard enough to make it start jamming into his skin somewhat painfully.

Rouge decided to butt in-between the couple, interrupting their prodding. She swung an arm around Sonic's neck and partially covered him with one wing. "Okay guys, how about we wait with the interrogations until at least an hour into the party? You're already stressing out our poor little Blue, and you haven't even had anything to drink yet!" She used her free hand to pull out a bottle from her bag, the glass clinking on the way out and suggesting it wasn't the only one she had. Sonic only watched with mild relief at the distraction.

Amy joined in with annoyance. "Rouge! I told you not to bring any alcohol!"

The bat simply waved her off, using the hand which held the wine bottle on top of that. "Oh, don't be such a drama queen - I'll wait with the real hard stuff until the kids go to sleep."

While the two argued, Sonic leaned slightly away from Rouge and towards Shadow to whisper. "I can tell why you're best friends with her." He said with an amused smirk.

Shadow didn't have much to comment as he gave him a slight shrug. "Her tactics can be questionable, but they work, I suppose."

The distraction proved to be sufficient enough as Rouge successfully swayed the conversation away from the topic of Sonic, making the rest of the group engage in a different matter for the time being. Soon after the next to join would be Vanilla and Cream, along with their respective chaos. The initial greeting went relatively similarly to the previous, both of them showcasing their concern and making sure of his well-being before drifting away towards different matters. Amy made a promise to explain everything once all of the guests got there, so Sonic was granted a moment of peace while he waited for everyone's arrival.

Once Rouge's and Amy's argument calmed down, he didn't neglect to express his gratitude for the bat as he leaned against a wall next to her. She was just taking a small break from socialization, drinking a glass of punch on her own.

The one thing he likes about wearing hoodies is the ability to put his hands inside the pockets. "Hey again Rouge, thanks for that save earlier. I owe ya one."

She smirked against the glass's rim. "You owe me, you say? You can pay me in emeralds then, Chaos or Master, I accept both."

He snickered. "Were you planning this would happen?"

"More or less, I would've brought in the goods either way, though." She leaned the glass in his direction. "Want some?"

He pressed it back against her. "Hah, pass." After a few seconds of thinking, he leaned back towards her and whispered. "Well, okay, maybe later."

 

Sonic did his best to act as he normally would, talking to other guests casually and cracking the occasional joke. With each incoming guest he got used to the pattern of questions, giving the same reassurances and vague explanations each time. Both Amy and Tails relished in plenty of their own attention as well, except the questions directed at them were typically far more pleasant to receive. Sonic listened in on some of their dramatic retellings of their adventures, Amy talking about her more grand heroics while Tails animatedly showcased all of the inventions he'd created in the time he was gone.

Shadow predictably stayed more on the sidelines, only occasionally adding in his own commentary and only with a few select people. Sonic noticed some of the guests would send an odd look his way, either due to how rare it is for the agent to show up to social gatherings, or due to the 'rumors' they had been hearing that Sonic was still unsure about the nature of.

Eventually, he'd finally cave in and ask directly, muttering over to Tails during a moment of peace. "Hey, so what's everyone's deal with Shadow? Everyone keeps mentioning some rumors and theories about him and something to do with me."

Tails glanced around, making sure Shadow wasn't nearby before answering. "Just the press spreading around another dumb theory. They think Shadow kidnapped you after what happened after you came back."

Sonic leaned back in surprise. "Seriously? Pfft, yeah, like I would even let him do that."

The fox sighed. "Don't joke about this, Sonic. We'll probably have trouble with resolving that whole thing later. Besides... I don't entirely blame them. You really weren't looking good."

He grimaced in offense. "I'm not doing that bad, like, come on - I literally ran all the way here!"

Tails looked at him with unusual seriousness. "I don't wanna argue with you right now. We were supposed to enjoy today, so leave that for later. I'm going to go get something from the garage." He stood and began walking away towards the house before Sonic stopped him in place, grabbing him by the arm.

"Wait, I gotta ask you something while you're here. Have you still not heard anything from Knuckles? Didn't you invite him?"

Tails paused with a raised brow. "Well... I've been hearing from him through Amy, but I had a hard time contacting him myself. Amy said she did invite him, but he said he wouldn't be able to make it."

Sonic let go of his arm as his face twisted in thought. He put on the best smile he could force on himself. "Thanks buddy, I was just curious about that. It's been a while since I've seen or heard from him, is all."

His brother hummed a bit sadly. "Yeah. It's kinda strange, but I guess Amy is just luckier with her timing. I've been looking forward to seeing him too." He resumed his tread as he headed towards the door inside.

The hedgehog leaned back in his chair with furrowed brows. He was careful to watch Tails' reaction closely due to the odd behavior he got earlier from Rouge once he mentioned the topic. He thought he was perhaps just being paranoid, but he noticed clear differences between the two - Rouge was obviously tense and nervous to answer while the only thing he picked up from Tails was confusion with a hint of sadness. As far as he can tell, one is being more genuine than the other.

Hearing about Knuckles through Amy, huh?

 

Tangle and Whisper would be the last ones to arrive, as the lemur got supposedly distracted on their way here, causing both of them to be late. In total, the party consisted of: Amy, Tails, Sonic, Vanilla, Cream, Silver, Blaze, Team Dark (minus Omega, who's apparently too destructive for parties), Team Chaotix and now, of course, Tangle and Whisper.

With their arrival would finally come the time for the dreaded explanations. Not long after yet another set of greetings, Amy would gather everyone outside and invite both Sonic and Tails to her side as they made the pseudo announcement, with the pink hedgehog acting as the main speaker. Sonic tucked his hands away and fiddled with his fingers inside of the joined pocket, doing his best to avoid direct eye-contact with anyone from the audience.

"So as you all probably already know, Sonic has been in a bit of a kerfuffle recently." She tried giving him a reassuring glance and sighed. "While me and Tails were gone, he got into an accident while chasing down a group of criminals on his own. Obviously he's still here, alive and standing, so no need to worry about that." She tried to joke. "To make a long story short, the whole chase ended up with an explosion from some ancient gem, which unfortunately contained Dark Gaia. The result of that was Sonic absorbing it, again, as some of you may know."

The audience erupted into quiet chatter, with a few individual gasps.

"All of the changes in Sonic's appearance are the result of that."

"So no - I didn't go into any delayed phase to make up for a lack of one as a teenager. Believe me, I didn't choose to look like this." Entirely out of habit, Sonic considered adding in some witty remark about how 'he still kept the charm' or whatever, but frankly, he wasn't in the mood.

Tails added his own comment. "But! You really have nothing to worry about, we're already working on solving this, and I already made the first steps towards a cure. Everything will be right back to normal in no time."

Some questions obviously still popped up. 'Are you sure this is treatable?' 'But he looks nothing like the werehog!' 'Why were you acting so weird in the videos?' 'Do you really feel fine?'

Sonic limited himself on how much he'd speak up about the matter, letting his friends handle the rest as they would most likely do it far better than he would anyway. They explained everything anyone asked for the most part, except they'd dodge or straight up lie their way through the questions regarding his behavior. Light Gaia's part in all of this was also grazed over fairly shallowly, as Tails probably didn't want to overcomplicate things even more than they already were.

The entire time he was forced to stand in the spotlight, his only reprieve would come in the form of Rouge and Shadow, who were the only ones not to ask any of the questions. They stood at the side next to each other, with the bat trying to give him a friendly smile whenever she'd notice his eyes on them. Shadow remained mostly stoic, keeping eye contact with Sonic for nearly the whole time and keeping his arms crossed. He wasn't sure how to interpret it.

All in all, the whole meeting went probably better than anyone expected. All he received was unconditional support and promises of help. No additional judgement, no teasing, no dismissal.

Does he really deserve all of this?

The party soon went back to normal as everyone did their best to simply have a day of fun and try to forget about their issues. Few people ever went back to the topic of Sonic's condition after this, as most of the questions they had were already answered and his friends could tell talking about it made him uncomfortable. This didn't use to be so easy to tell in the past.

 

---

 

Vector quickly used the opportunity the party provided to act as the DJ, even setting up a rudimentary dance floor outside. Soon the party devolved into games and dancing competitions, some of them even drunken in a few cases, no thanks to Rouge's contribution. Sonic managed to participate for a few hours, but as the day went on, he was getting more and more exhausted. Perhaps he should follow Rouge's example. Hah, that's never a good sentence to say.

Everyone kept the party outside, only coming back inside for any missing drinks or snacks (or bathroom breaks). Tails and Vector managed to drag him into some silly dance competition between a few of his other friends, but after a bit of coaxing and reassuring that he'd soon be back, Sonic managed to slip back into the living room.

Shadow was the only one staying there, sitting on a bar stool while sipping on one of the drinks. It didn't take long for him to notice Sonic's presence, but he made no effort to chase him away and simply let him take a seat next to him without a word.

"Hey."

"Hm."

Sonic took a look at his glass. It smelled of alcohol. "You said you couldn't get drunk."

"I can't."

"What's the point of drinking, then?"

"I like the taste."

"The taste is literally the worst part!"

Shadow shrugged.

"Can I have some?"

"Did you eat the dinner?"

Sonic snorted with an eye-roll. "Yes, jeez. You're so fixated on that."

Shadow looked away. "I was supposed to keep track of your well-being... so I am."

The other's features eased and he gave him a gentle smile. He spoke after a few moments. "Being real for a second, though... Thanks for caring, Shads. Really."

The agent didn't answer as he continued looking away. Sonic didn't need one, though. After another short moment, he stood up and helped himself to a drink of his own, since Shadow probably wouldn't let him borrow his. He just poured himself some whiskey with soda and ice, nothing fancy, then sat back down next to the other hedgehog.

He took a sip and spoke his thoughts out loud. "I wonder if alcohol will have any influence on the Dark Gaia. Hmm.."

Shadow's eyes widened as he immediately pulled the glass out of Sonic's grasp.

He laughed. "I was just joking! I'm sure it's fine!" He tried reaching back for the glass.

Shadow only held it farther away from him. "I'm not taking any chances."

"It doesn't mess with chaos or anything, and Dark Gaia is kind of in the same group, right? I really doubt it will do anything."

The agent stared with the glass held up for a few seconds as he thought. Sonic's argument did have a point, and the energies are undoubtedly similar, aside from the fact one is significantly more corrupted than the other. He finally sighed and let the hedgehog have the drink back, muttering out a small "Fine." Sonic did a small cheer of victory as he recovered the glass.

Sonic eventually spoke after he had gained the courage. "What will we be like afterwards?"

"...What do you mean?"

The blue hedgehog fidgeted with his glass. "I just.. I don't wanna go back to how we used to be before this. Like how when we.. pretended to be barely more than enemies. I had fun spending time together, you know? I don't want to just... forget the past five days ever happened."

Shadow looked to him in thought. He then looked away. "...I don't know yet. We'll see."

Sonic didn't really like that answer.

Both of the hedgehogs were startled upon having two arms wrap around their prospective shoulders, even Shadow having missed Rouge's sudden appearance behind them due to their conversation.

"Hello, boys~! Are we having fun?"

Shadow growled out. "Now I definitely am not." He hated being sneaked up on, and he knew that Rouge knew it.

"Well, shame, then. I just got bored of watching the guys outside yelling. Vanilla and Cream just left by the way, and you two weren't there to say goodbye."

The darker hedgehog asked with surprise. "Already? What time is it?"

"I think it's like 8 PM. Gotta tuck the kids to bed, all that. I'd pull out my real goods by now if Charmy didn't keep insisting on staying."

He hadn't realized so much time has already passed. Sonic grimaced as he stared at Rouge's green crystal earrings, swinging around with every movement of her head. He suddenly shrugged her arm off of his shoulders, much to Rouge's surprise. He stood up and turned back towards the yard, quickly finishing his glass in one gulp. "I'm going out."

The two agents kept their eyes on him as he left through the door, Rouge then turning towards her partner in confusion. "What got to him all of a sudden?"

"Who knows."

 

The sky was already dark as he stepped outside, with the previously decorative hanging lights now turned on to make up for the lack of sunlight. Tails, Silver and Team Chaotix were all playing around with some kind of gadget made by the fox, while the girls were taking a break at the tables. Amy was passively picking at a piece of pie while talking with Tangle and Blaze, with Whisper only pseudo-participating in the conversation as she hid behind her girlfriend.

Sonic steadily approached in the pink hedgehog's direction, paying no attention to Vector and Charmy shouting something in his direction. She noticed his presence as he was just a few steps away from her, everyone else's eyes falling on him soon after.

"Hey Sonic, do you need something? Or just joining into the girls talk?" She gave him a slightly teasing smile.

He grimaced further as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Amy, why isn't Knuckles here?"

She was immediately taken aback by the sudden question as her eyes widened. Before she could answer, Tangle broke in first.

"I asked you the same before! Now I remember you never actually answered, so thanks for the reminder Sonic!"

Amy gripped her hands together and avoided eye-contact, but tried talking as smoothly as she could and kept up her smile. "I did invite him, but he told me he just wouldn't be able to make it, unfortunately."

Sonic's brows furrowed. "What is he busy with? I haven't heard a peep from him in months."

She fiddled with the bow on her dress. "..I think he's still in Shamar. He was searching through some ancient ruins with a little group he established over there, so it's pretty likely he's underground, so... he wouldn't have a signal there."

He made a step towards her. "Tails' communicators should still work underground." The rest of the girls were growing visibly more concerned, picking up on Sonic's accusatory tone.

"Maybe- maybe the connection is particularly bad? I don't know how it works, Sonic."

"Show me your communicator." He held his hand out.

"Wh-What?!"

"You're lying. Why are you lying? What happened to him?"

Blaze spoke up. "That's a serious assumption to make, Sonic. I don't think you should be jumping into conclusions so quickly-"

"I'm not jumping to conclusions quickly! Actually, I'm way too late to be asking this, as far as I can tell. He's been gone for a year and silent for months - nobody knows anything, yet I feel like a crazy person because I'm the only one who seems to notice anything wrong with that! And Rouge- Rouge was also lying to me before about this, what does she have to do with-?!"

Sonic was suddenly interrupted as a familiar hand squeezed down on his upper arm. He turned around to see Shadow glaring down at him, with Rouge standing a short distance behind him. He now notices that even the guys paused in their games, all staring at him in obvious worry. And... was that fear?

The darker hedgehog holding him spoke. "You are making a scene."

He yanked the hand off of him. "I don't care if I'm making a scene, I deserve to know - everyone deserves to know!" He shoved his way past Shadow, putting himself right into Rouge's face. "You were supposed to be trustworthy - then last chance, tell me! Prove to me you aren't a goddamn liar!"

She stared at him with a pained expression, unable to bring forward any words. She opened her mouth, but Shadow would beat her to it before she could let out any sound.

"This isn't her fault! She wouldn't be lying to you unless she had to, you moron!" He gritted out before he could stop himself.

Sonic turned back towards him with wide eyes. "...You knew?"

Amy finally snapped under the pressure as she jumped from her seat and stood between him and Shadow. "I don't know where Knuckles is, okay!?"

The blue hedgehog pressed his eyes shut for a moment as he heard the answer. He squeezed his fists and growled as he turned away from Shadow. "Just stop lying already! I can already tell-!"

"Won't you just shut up for a minute?! I don't know where he is, Rouge doesn't know where he is, - because nobody knows where Knuckles is!"

 

 

"...What- what do you mean by that?"

 

 

 

 

Amy barely held back tears. "He went missing four months ago."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sonic couldn't stop himself as his hands shot upwards to roughly squeeze at her shoulders. "You knew he's been missing for four months, and you haven't told me anything?!"

She winced in pain under his grasp. She kept her eyes closed as she responded. "I'm sorry! I know I should have, I really do-! I just- after they told me, the next time I talked to Tails he sounded so happy, and- and I was already worried with how much sadder you sounded during that time - I- I thought it would get resolved quickly, that it was a false call or something, but then the more time passed the harder it was getting to just go ahead and tell you-!" Tears started flowing freely down her cheeks, but Sonic remained undeterred. His claws had started digging into her skin through the gloves as she was overcome by coldness. She tried to pull his hands away. "Sonic- Sonic let go, you're hurting me..!"

Sonic was frozen in place as he took in the information, up until he was finally roughly shoved off by Shadow. He immediately noticed the way Sonic's face looked hauntingly blank. The blue hedgehog was entirely covered by the dark energy, up to a point where even just touching him was painful to the agent. He pushed through with it regardless. "Sonic, you need to calm down!"

The blank expression faded somewhat, though he still seemed vaguely detached as he answered. "How am I supposed to calm down?! One of my best friends had gone missing four months ago, and I only learn about it now?! Why isn't anyone looking for him?! Why the fuck are we just lounging here like nothing's happened while Knuckles is fuck knows where?!"

Rouge broke in. "We did look! How do you think I know?! I found out on my own way too late while our precious little princess was too scared to speak up about it! The only reason I didn't tell you is because I knew you would react like this." She gritted out. "G.U.N is still looking. I'm looking. Even Amy was looking - he's nowhere to be found. Only his communicator was left."

Sonic shook his head. "No. No, no, no, no - I- I need to do something, I need to-" He attempted to walk away, but Shadow's grasp held him in place. "Let me go!" He tried ripping his arm out of his hold, to no avail.

"Haven't you heard what Rouge just said?! You won't be able to do any more than-!" He suddenly paused as something cut through his cheek. The same cold pain again.

The Dark Gaia energy was back again in full swing, manifesting itself as razor sharp claws. More violet darkness enveloped him, licking up at Shadow's arm at the point of connection. He instinctively let Sonic go as the blue hedgehog gasped for air in a daze. The inhibitor rings on his wrists were glowing brightly enough to be shining even through the hoodie's fabric.

Amy yelled out at his side. "Tails! Do something!"

"I'm trying! The- The rings reached their limit!"

A lot of noise. Everyone was yelling some things, including all the other guests. Their own shock and anger at the news. Some movement in his periphery. Shadow was only focused on his wound, watching what was in front of him in silence. Staring as Sonic heaved, thinking himself further and further into a panicked frenzy.

He wasn't sure what he was feeling as he stood there motionless. Betrayal? Was there anything to betray? Anger? Does he even blame Sonic for reacting this way? Can he even blame him while it is unclear how much of his actions are in or out of his control?

He was briefly brought out of his stupor as he heard Sonic muttering to himself, oblivious to all of the chaos happening around him.

Sonic gripped his quills in a pathetic attempt to self-soothe as his legs shook under him. "Oh Chaos, is - is he dead? 

 

Shadow's eyes widened as the words helped him come to a realization. What Sonic was showcasing right now wasn't an act of rage. It was pure, unfiltered fear and desperation.

The exact same kind of fear he himself felt as he stood in the face of danger over his best friend's life. Helpless, stuck, unable to do anything at all except watch it unfold right in front of his very eyes.

 

He momentarily forgot about all of the people surrounding them. All became white noise as Shadow, against all odds and against all of his instincts, approached Sonic while he kept deteriorating. He quickly passed through the dark cloud, unbothered by the cold and pain. In a sudden surge of vulnerability and some overwhelming primal need to protect, his arms shot out to press Sonic tight against his body.

Sonic voiced out protests, tried to get out of his hold, but Shadow only squeezed him tighter. Even through the pain, even as he felt more cuts making their way through his body as the hedgehog in his arms did anything and everything he could to get out of his grasp, even when he felt other of the people present joining into the efforts to separate them. Trying to protect Shadow from Sonic's 'attack'. He knew Sonic was merely trying his very hardest to defend himself from the outside world. But he also knew what his actions looked like to them. And it hurt. It all hurt.

 

But losing yet another person would hurt far, far more.

 

He finally found it in him to speak out loud. "I promise we'll find him. I promise he isn't dead."

The words made Sonic pause in his movements. He sat still in his grasp for a few moments, completely frozen. Seconds passed by in total stillness, seconds in which Shadow started questioning whether he had done something wrong, or if Sonic had again lost consciousness, back to the same state he was in back in the city square. If he had undone all of the progress they both have made by asking Rouge to lie directly into his face.

That was, until the body underneath him suddenly shook in place with a hiccup. And after a few more seconds, another one.

Every one of the guests around them stopped, quickly taking notice of the shift in the atmosphere. The world suddenly turned quiet as only soft, muffled sobs reverberated through the air.

Sonic mumbled into Shadow's fur. "I'm scared."

"I know."

 

 

...There really is no going back, is there?

 

Notes:

Sonic is a lot smarter than some people (including him) might think

 

Chill chapter where everyone has fun at a party? HA NO not in this household bitches - IT WAS A PLOT EPISODE IN DISGUISE ALL ALONG
Yeah, the fluff lasting for most of the chapter just so I could hit yall with that train wreck afterwards was totally intentional. Just gotta remind everyone what story you're reading after all the calm chapters we've had recently :)

Chapter 16: Scars

Summary:

Sonic and Shadow think some things over.

Notes:

I had such a shit eating grin while reading the comments on the previous chapter I'm so sorry yall I'm evil lmao

also I wanted to show what the dark gaia powers actually look like since I realized I somehow haven't drawn it yet, so I decided to make a little illustration for the last chapter :]

I'm not putting it where it would take place as I did with other illustrations tho as this isn't quite a full proper scene since there is no background
but it also still kinda applies to this chapter soo

September 23 20XX

(...)

 

You fucking will remember. You will know this, you aren't letting this be forgotten, no more ignoring any of the bullshit happening around me. I can't stay oblivious for a second longer, because this time Knuckles will only suffer even more if I act like a goddamn coward again. This isn't about you.

Amy is a liar. Knuckles has been missing for 4 months and she didn't tell us shit. Neither did Rouge. Neither did Shadow.

Nobody else besides them knew. GUN found his communicator abandoned and because technically Knuckles has no biological family they just didn't feel obligated to tell this to anyone. The only reason they told Amy was because she just happened to be nearby. They assumed she'd pass it to the rest. I can't tell if I'm more angry at them or at Amy. All of that is fucked and all I'm hearing are excuses.

The party was a disaster. I just had to break down in front of everyone and the only saving grace of that was the fact everyone was just as mad at Amy as I was so they were too distracted to judge me in full. I hurt Shadow again. By the end of it he was covered in blood all over but he just wouldn't let go. Shadow regrets keeping this secret It's obvious but I don't know what to think what to feel it's all too complicated and I can't think anymore I need a break I need I dont

Everyone left soon after that. Now I feel like I can only trust Tails because he got just as betrayed as I did. I don't know what I'd do if he ended up also being involved.

 

---

 

Sonic paced around the room as Tails sat seated on the couch, his hands intertwined in thought. It was already late in the night, but neither of them were willing to sleep right now. The hedgehog still had residual energy clinging onto him and following him around, but it remained at a relatively stable amount that likely wouldn't be completely vanishing for a while anyway.

The only thing they had gotten to do after everyone had already left was Tails checking up on Sonic's bracelets. They failed to maintain his energy at optimal levels in the moment, but thankfully they would go back to normal function after Sonic had calmed down. Unfortunately though, this entire situation proved that the rings were still far from a fool-proof solution and that they would not hold up in the long run.

The hedgehog spoke without stopping. "Stop working on everything else you have on right now. We're ignoring everything unrelated until we find Knuckles."

"But- you heard Rouge... they've already been doing everything they could and for months, how do you know we will be able to make any more progress than they could? And we still need to deal with your affliction-"

"I don't give a shit about myself right now. We've got more important matters, and my affliction doesn't have a time limit anyway."

Tails stood up from his seat. "Well, I do care about you! We have no leads on Knuckles, but you're right here, so we have no reason to completely drop-"

 

 

See? They've moved on right away. Can't waste their time on someone like you when they have more important things to deal with.

 

Did the fox even shed any tears for you?

 

 

"Was that also your attitude after I got kidnapped?!" Sonic paused in place and snapped suddenly, making Tails flinch away.

"No! Of course not! We just... we thought you were..."

 

Look just how well they're all fairing with their precious hero 'dead'.

 

He leaned back with a scoff. "Yeah. I know what you thought. And now you think that, what? That he will be totally fine and dandy to stay wherever the hell he is for maybe just a few months more?"

"Stop saying things like that! He was my friend too!"

"Don't talk about him in past tense!"

Tails grit his teeth. "You know I wouldn't do that on purpose! Please, just-" He walked up to him past the coffee table, causing the hedgehog to make a step back. "Sonic, I feel just as betrayed as you do. And I want to find him as soon as possible too, but please, just think logically for a second."

Sonic looked away. "You don't know how I feel. You couldn't know."

The fox stared at him for a few seconds before continuing. "If we get your situation more under control, we will have an easier time finding Knuckles." Sonic remained silent. "I'm not trying to forbid you from looking for him. It's just... others are helping too, and, this isn't the only thing we should be working on. Just don't forget about yourself in all this, okay? I'm worried about you." Tails pulled him into a hug he hoped would be reassuring. Sonic didn't say anything, nor did he return the embrace, but the energy surrounding him slowly faded out into nothingness.

The fox let him go and made a step back. "It's too late to do anything today anyway. We should go to sleep, and we'll get to work tomorrow morning, alright?"

Sonic's brows remained furrowed. He kept staring down at the floorboards, but eventually he nodded, giving the fox the green light to leave towards his room. He expected Sonic would need a moment before heading to bed himself. The hedgehog had other plans, though.

After waiting out a few moments after he'd heard the door to Tails' room close, he trailed down to the fox's workshop. He has no intention of wasting any more time. But he also made a promise.

Right as he stepped into the room, he went straight to rummaging through the various boxes and shelves holding spare equipment in hopes of finding a spare communicator. Even though he knew Tails typically made new ones for each specific person, he had some small, tiny amount of hope that maybe he'd keep spare ones for himself. Or at least some old, broken one. This was one of the few moments where Sonic regretted not owning a phone. They were annoying, the internet on them was overwhelming and they were a lot easier to track or stalk someone through with, but at least he wouldn't be having this particular issue right now.

 

If only he hadn't broken the goddamn thing back then, if only he hadn't wasted so many days away, if only he hadn't acted a complete dumbass and if only he'd noticed something off earlier-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really seems that your friends don't care about you nearly as much as they claimed they did.

 

 

Nobody's coming to save you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHUT THE FUC̴K UP ̶AL̷RE̴AD̷Y̴

 

 

He slammed the last available drawer closed, making the rest of the cabinets shake from the impact.

 

He leaned against the desk, doing his best to stabilize his ragged breathing. He momentarily closed his eyes and gripped the desk's edge to a point where his fingers would ache.

Don't lose it. Don't lose it. Don't lose it.

He took several long inhales and exhales, recreating... something. He's been shown how to calm himself by.. someone? at some point.

Memory loss should probably feel scarier than it does. It's hard to feel too intensely about it when this is just a tamer version of what he's already been through the year earlier.

Besides, a lack of memories is much easier to deal with than their presence.

Once he was able to breathe somewhat normally again, he opened his eyes and took notice of the book lying at the side of the desk. He had seen the book while searching but didn't pay attention to it, assuming it's just one of Tails' science books he'd have no use for right now, but this time he actually paused to look at the title. 'Psychology of Gaia'. Psychology. The fancy, polite way of telling you how you're fucked up in the head.

The book is definitely something Tails had brought with him from Spagonia. He initially wanted to ignore it for now and put it off as something for later, but he stopped himself for a second. 'If we get your situation more under control, we will have an easier time finding Knuckles.'

He sighed. Maybe knowing more about what's actually wrong with him a bit better could help in the long run. Even if every second spent doing anything unrelated to finding Knuckles felt like a waste of time.

He roughly flopped himself down onto Tails' chair, making it wheel off just slightly away from the table before pulling himself back. He slid the book across the desk to stop it right before him and opened it, going straight to the contents section. No way in hell he'd be reading the whole thing in full.

Symptoms and Mechanics. That will work.

 

---

 

Shadow collapsed onto his knees nearly the moment he and Rouge breached their apartment's door. He'd been holding out somewhat well on the way there, insisting on being fine, up until his legs could no longer hold him up under the weight of his persisting vertigo. She immediately crouched down to his eye level, barely remembering to close the door after them. She could see the blood still kept on flowing from his wounds, despite the fact enough time had already passed for such injuries to heal already under usual circumstances.

Rouge yelled out into the depths of the apartment. "Omega! Get bandages, now!"

She could hear loud metallic stomps swiftly approaching. "HAVE YOU ACQUIRED INJURIES?" He asked as he fetched the first aid kit, not yet seeing the two of them.

"Not me, Shadow."

The robot quickly delivered the requested supplies and handed them over to the bat. "HIS CHAOS ENERGY RESERVES ARE HIGHLY UNSTABLE AND I AM DETECTING ANOTHER TYPE OF ENERGY FROM A FOREIGN SOURCE. HIS BODY TEMPERATURE IS ALSO LOWER THAN AVERAGE." He stated as he scanned Shadow, while Rouge repositioned the hedgehog to sit back against one of the walls. For once, he wouldn't comment anything on the treatment, likely due to his ongoing fight to maintain consciousness.

"Yes, we know that already." She answered as she began cleaning out his most prominent wound, that being a long and deep gash running down his thigh. It was the main source of the blood loss, large enough for it to require stitches. She knew Shadow wouldn't approve of her decision once he became reachable, never having gotten such treatment under the pretense of 'not needing it'. But seeing as it still hasn't closed up on its own, they obviously couldn't afford to simply trust Shadow's healing capabilities alone, lest they wanted him to end up bleeding to death.

She took out a skin stapler and momentarily let up the pressure she'd been keeping on the wound, muttering out a quick "Brace yourself." Whether or not Shadow had heard it, he hissed through his teeth as the staples pierced his skin in quick succession.

"WHAT HAPPENED? WHO DO I NEED TO EXTERMINATE?"

"Sonic happened. I'm still debating whether or not to kill him, so maybe hold that thought for now." She answered as she tightly wrapped the hedgehog's gauze covered gash in bandages. None of the other slashes were as serious as this one, so she took to only clean them out and let Shadow's body do the rest of the job. "You still with me, hot stuff?"

"..Somewhat..." He groaned out with his eyes closed. "..I just need to.. lay down..."

"Alright, come on now, you big baby." She said as she stood up, picking up the first aid kit along with her. Omega needed no further prompting from Rouge, crouching down to pick Shadow up right away and carrying him over to the couch. He laid him down somewhat gently, or as gently as he was capable of, resting his head on one of the pillows. Shadow muttered out some curses under his nose at any more sudden movements. Still detecting the low temperature, the robot took a blanket folded up on the side and tried to cover the hedgehog with it as thoroughly as he was able. Being created as a combat machine made it a lot harder to complete the more delicate tasks, but both Shadow and Rouge knew he's doing his best.

"WHAT PROMPTED SONIC TO ATTACK? HOW COME YOU ARE COMPLETELY UNINJURED IF YOU WERE THERE?" Omega asked as he stepped away from the couch.

Rouge temporarily placed the supply box down on the dining table as she went over to the kitchen. "I wouldn't really say he attacked us... It's kind of a long story." She poured a glass of water from the tap and headed back over to Shadow.

She sat down on a free spot next to him and propped his head slightly upwards with her free hand. Shadow peeked one of his eyes open with a grunt, but obliged her silent request when she put the rim of the glass down to his lips.

"You've really gone and done it now, hon. With how you're handling all of this, I feel like you're still not telling us something." She wouldn't let him answer as she made him drink small sips at a time, with Shadow only able to send her a one-eyed glare as he swallowed the water down. She let him up once the glass was about halfway empty and put it down on the coffee table.

He flopped his head back onto the pillow the moment she let him go and let his eyes fully close once more with a scowl. "Shut up."

"You know, it doesn't really work when you say that after I'd already stopped talking."

He weakly turned to lay on his side, turning his back on her. "Just let me sleep this off."

She stood up with a sigh. She then shrugged. "Well, if you wanna sleep on the couch so badly tonight. Don't expect me to forget about this whole thing by tomorrow." When he didn't answer, she decided to just head over to her room, gesturing to Omega on the way. "Come on big guy, I've got a bedtime story for you."

He followed after her, though not without comment. "I DO NOT SLEEP. OR OWN A BED."

Shadow could hear her mutter as their steps slowly grew quieter. "And I seriously live with those guys..." He could then hear the door to her room close, presumably to let him sleep while she'd recount the story.

After a few moments would pass, Shadow opened his eyes to take a better look at his body underneath the blanket. He had barely registered Rouge bandaging him up, but he could still see the other scratches on himself that she had left for the most part alone. The smallest ones were already closing up, but still remained quite visible. He brought a hand up to his cheek and winced at the contact. It still felt cold.

 

What's gotten into him back there?

Shadow was created both as a weapon and as a cure. Were the deep rooted instincts to heal and nurture really strong enough to get him to put his own safety at risk for the sake of someone else?

 

 

Sterile rooms filled with clinking of metal tools and the smell of chemicals. White lab coats and latex gloves which would always stain red over time. Words of reassurance and apologies which barely ever seemed to work.

 

 

Right. They always were.

But all of that was always only for Maria... He doesn't get such urges or reflexes with just anyone.

Did he see Maria in the spot where Sonic stood back then? Was it because he saw himself in him? Or was it all still just about..

 

Sonic?

 

He generally avoids doing it as his body typically heals well enough by itself, therefore it'd only be a waste of energy, but he decided to give it a try this time. He channeled a portion of his chaos down to his fingertips and into the gash on his muzzle. In contrast to the Dark Gaia, chaos felt comfortably warm and relieved the leftover pain. What was concerning, though, was that unlike any other times he's done this on any more severe cases, the relief was not at all instantaneous. Not only that, it required him to pour in significantly more of his energy than a wound like that should've.

After what felt like forever and he stopped feeling any changes, he dropped his hand down with an exhausted sigh. He thought he'd just heal all of the scratches this way so he didn't pay attention to the order in which he took care of each, but seeing how much just this one drained him, those hopes could be thrown right into the dumpster. He regrets not going for the one on his leg.

He turned onto his back and reached for Rouge's makeup mirror he'd seen her leave on the coffee table earlier. After a bit of blind searching, he found his target and brought it back to put in front of his face to take a look at his current state. His eyes widened.

The gash... Is still there.

It's fully healed, yet it's still there.

 

---

 

Mood swings, harder rational thinking, memory loss, and all of which get stronger in intensity the more upset he gets. Yeah, that about checks out, doesn't it.

He smirked in irony with lidded eyes as he used his hand to cover his mouth. Not saving a single thing, huh? They really got him all covered. He cursed under his breath and flipped a few pages further, looking through somewhat carelessly until his eyes were caught by a long list of disorders. He decided to first read the lines that would lead up to the list.

'Though total immunity is rare, it is not unheard of'

'So far, the most prone to its effects have been individuals with preexisting psychological disorders'

 

Immunity.

"I've been told that during your first encounter with Dark Gaia, your will was apparently 'too strong to lose yourself'."

The most prone.

"You've shown a higher tendency for aggression, increased emotional sensitivity, and even more impatience than usual."

 

His eyes ran through the various names for disorders, many of which he knew nothing about or didn't even recognize at all. He snickered to himself flatly. Wonder which one they'd say applies to me. Maybe even more than one, wouldn't that be fun.

He closed the book and dragged a hand down his muzzle. Fucking hell.

Sonic shoved the book away from himself and stood up from the chair. He left the workshop and went upstairs towards his room, making sure to keep his steps quiet. He swiftly took off his hoodie and threw it into the closet, not caring about folding it up. He got rid of his shoes, gloves and sports tape, not paying attention to where any of them would end up in his room, and flopped down onto the bed. He'll ask Tails for a new communicator tomorrow.

He pulled his journal out of his quills and left a final note of the day, or rather, a continuation of an old note.

Shadow thinks Shadow said I have trauma.

 

 

 

 

 

Tails was woken up early in the morning by loud knocking on the door. He yelled out groggily. "Come on in.."

Sonic entered his room upon his permission and approached the bed as Tails was slowly sitting up. "Can you make me a new communicator?"

The fox rubbed his eyes with a yawn. "Huh? Oh, yeah, you lost your old one, right?"

Sonic stiffened a bit at the question. He scratched the back of his neck. "Uh.. yeah. Sure. How soon do you think you can get it done?"

"I already have the blueprints and some parts so it shouldn't take too long.. why?"

"I'm going over to Rouge's today."

Tails' eyes widened. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed, turning towards Sonic fully. "I don't know if you should be seeing them right now... and I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish it today-"

Sonic turned his back on him, stepping towards the door. "That's all I needed to know."

The fox jumped off the bed towards him. "Wait, Sonic-! What do you even wanna do? I really don't think-"

The hedgehog took a glance at him from behind his shoulder as he stood by the door, holding the frame. "Nothing that would put anyone in danger, if that's what you want to know." He turned his head to face forward again. "And sorry for yelling at you yesterday. I'll be back by evening." Sonic said calmly, before vanishing just the second later.

Tails grimaced with worry as his arm hung in the air by reflex, reaching where Sonic had been just the moment before.

 

---

 

Shadow was left alone in the apartment for the day, using up his first ever sick leave in his life. He was frankly surprised he even had those.

Even though he had woken up, he decided to stay in bed (or rather on the couch) during the morning before Rouge and Omega would leave, all in order to have the excuse to remain covered up by the blanket. He'd get up the moment they had left, immediately getting rid of the bandages and the annoying staples which Rouge unnecessarily subjected him to. They did help some, he supposes... The wound has fully closed during the night, which it might not have if it weren't for their inclusion. That still wouldn't stop him from feeling irritated by the choices she'd made for him while he was unable to refuse, though.

Besides, maybe the gash did close, yes. But it was still there. Much more visibly than it should, again.

Only the smallest of the cuts have fully healed by the next day. Any larger and deeper ones still remained, just like the injuries he got on his arm several days earlier, which also still did not leave.

Almost like a scar.

But Shadow does not scar. He'd lost entire limbs, yet not a trace would ever be left.

So why are these stupid simple slashes still haunting him with their perpetual presence?

Second thing in the morning, he took an ice cold shower. Both because cold water is better at washing out blood, and also because if it stung his skin enough, maybe he would be able to get a break from thinking. But all it did was remind him of the cold feeling Dark Gaia always imposes onto him.

He is angry. Infuriated, even. He is supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform, yet all it took was a few cuts created using the powers of some useless deity that is as good as dead for most of the time.

Angry at the Dark Gaia, angry at his body and the illogical weakness it has to it, angry at himself for letting the blue idiot do this to him, angry at-

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Just in time, as he was squeezing the mug of coffee he held hard enough for it to be beginning to crack. Well, now at least they match. He checked his wristwatch to see it was only 10 AM. Who comes knocking at people's doors at ten on a Monday morning?

Without Rouge there, he barely had any reason to answer. For all he knows, it could just be a scam or a representative of one of those religious groups that come knocking from door to door to talk about things he couldn't care less about. Amy always warns him beforehand if she wants to hang out, but even if not for that aspect, he seriously doubts she'd be ready this soon after what happened yesterday. Outside of his roommates and Amy, he doesn't have any close enough friends for them to visit him directly. The only other person out of all the ones he knows which could come knocking at his door would be-

...Would he?

The bell rang again.

Shadow finally stood up from the table and headed towards the door. He could hear tapping coming from the other side. Because of course. He took a look through the peephole (which he embarrassingly has to stand on his toes to reach to...) and saw

Blue quills.

He sighed. He took a moment to brace himself and hesitantly opened the door.

Sonic flinched and gaped slightly at his sight, before his expression turned into a grimace. Right. Shadow made no effort to cover up his injuries in any way, only wearing his gloves and boots like he usually would. Not like it matters anyway when Sonic is their source.

When the agent remained silent, Sonic finally spoke as he regained his wits. "Hi."

Shadow didn't answer. Greeting him as if nothing had happened felt wrong. Scolding Sonic felt wrong. Demanding for him to state his business also didn't feel right. So he didn't say anything.

After a few seconds of only standing awkwardly in the door and staring, Sonic finally opened his mouth again as he pointed behind Shadow. "Can I come in?"

The agent stepped to the side without a word. Sonic's grimace deepened as he entered the apartment, with Shadow closing the door after him. The blue hedgehog stopped in the middle of the living room, staring down at the floor as he squeezed his fists. Clearly gathering up courage.

Shadow remained by the now closed door, glancing at the other hedgehog with his body turned to him sideways. He took a deep breath and looked down as well.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

They both ended up saying at the same time, before instantly turning to look into each other's eyes.

Typically in a situation like this, the followup question would each be asking 'What for?'. Not this time. They both knew what the other was talking about, and they both knew neither were a 'it was nothing' case. The surprise here came from the fact neither expected for the other to own up to it. And certainly not without prompting.

Shadow wanted to apologize regardless of his physical situation. No matter how prideful he may be, lying about something as important as this was indisputably wrong. Even if he did so arguably for Sonic's sake. And if Sonic's friend ends up suffering because of it... no amount of permanent scarring could ever justify it, could it?

The agent was the first to elaborate. "I never wanted to lie to you. The only reason I wouldn't say anything despite being aware of the situation was due to your current condition. I fully intended to tell you the moment we were rid of it, and until then, I would've began supporting the search in your stead."

"...I've only been like this for like two weeks. Why didn't you tell me before this? Or Rouge?"

Shadow's eyes closed as his nose scrunched up. He exhaled sharply before turning to sit back down where he was before. "Until recently, Rouge was convinced you already knew. She learned about Knuckles only about two months ago, and by then you've already isolated yourself."

Sonic sat down across from him as he listened with furrowed brows. Shadow expected him to deny the last claim, but he only waited for him to continue without word.

"..She found out you had no idea only once Amy got back, and she convinced her not to tell you. She was furious, but she agreed due to how unpredictable your condition is." He looked away. "I.. frankly did not give much thought into the situation. I personally did not care for the echidna. And... I did not care about what you knew or didn't know, as long as it remained outside of my business."

The other looked from side to side. "You didn't care, but you said... you'd look for him in my stead?"

Shadow grimaced further in discomfort and squeezed his hands together. "...Over time, my motivations shifted. I was..." He sighed. "I was worried. Not about how you'd react and how it would impact others, not anymore. I was worried because I knew how triggering finding out about this would be for you. And I did not want.. to consciously subject you to it."

Sonic chuckled sarcastically. The agent saw his ears were pinned back as he looked up. "Well, guess you were right. It sure triggered something alright."

"That is not what I-"

"Shut it, I know what you meant." He stammered out quickly as he stood up. Shadow's eyes widened and he leaned back in surprise. "I'm not justifying myself because all I'd say you'd already know, and I'd rather not waste time." He took a few steps towards the agent, sliding his palm on top of the wood as he walked. "Don't get me wrong, I still am sorry, but apologizing wasn't the only reason I came here."

Sonic pushed himself up on the table right in front of the other and leaned down to his face, supporting himself with one arm. The sudden close proximity took Shadow aback and prompted him to turn to the side, putting one arm on the chair's support to widen the gap between them. Sonic wouldn't let up the small distance, keeping his expression stone serious. "I do get your reasonings I suppose, but I still much prefer knowing what's going on so I can actually do something about it. So." He finally leaned back again, towering over the other hedgehog.

"You'll tell me everything you know about this whole thing while we're on our way to Angel Island."

 

Notes:

Maybe a bit of a contrast against the previous one since this is a mostly transitional chapter, but it's still pretty important and I didn't wanna leave yall hanging for too long after what happened last time
Wonder what Sonic's thinking now hmm

Chapter 17: Regrets

Summary:

Sonic starts to take action. Shadow stands in his way.

Notes:

I might take longer with the next chapter because I need to study and yknow deal with real life bullshit

"What are you staring at me like that for? You said you'd help, right? Chop, chop, then. I don't have all day." Sonic clapped twice and threw one leg over Shadow's chair, putting his foot on top of the small amount of free space next to him and leaned his elbow on his knee. "Unless you have something to say." His voice went down a few tones, completely rid of his typical mischief.

Shadow scrambled to push himself to the edge of the chair to keep his thigh from touching the other's shoe. Sonic's boldness today was getting increasingly harder to ignore. He grimaced as he could feel his face heat up, with no way of hiding it from the hedgehog this up close.

Whether or not he noticed it, Sonic had no outwardly reaction. He placed his muzzle in his palm. His eyes were half lidded and posture so casual, the contrast between his body language and Sonic's words were making Shadow feel uneasy.

He stood up from the chair, gripping the table with one hand in discomfort. "I did say that. Get off my table." Shadow indirectly agreed, uneager to be bossed around, yet not willing to refuse either. Aside from wanting to keep his word, he felt severely thrown off by Sonic's shift in behavior. The image he was creating for himself right now was vastly different from his usual snarky, light-hearted attitude, making the contrast feel almost uncanny.

The blue hedgehog smirked slightly, his eyes still lidded. "Whatever you say." He used his foot to push the chair out of the way, the screech of the metal legs against the floorboards making Shadow flinch. Sonic jumped off the table and walked straight over to the other hedgehog, holding his hand out towards him.

The agent stared down at the hand, then back to Sonic. Despite the good-natured beginning of their meeting, it was clear the hero was still far from friendly towards his rival after the recent discovery. "Whatever it is that you want to do over there, I want to be there to see it." Leaving Sonic to his own devices as he was right now would be dangerous. Either to his surroundings, or to the hedgehog himself.

After taking a moment, the other shrugged while keeping his arm hanging in the air. "Whatever."

Shadow hesitantly took the hand offered to him in his own, with the other instantly squeezing it tight as if not trusting him not to let go. The agent briefly looked up, seeing Sonic furrowing his brows expectantly.

Without another word, Shadow finally willed his chaos energy and that which is located in the Emerald in his quills to warp them to his latest memory of Angel Island.

With a short flash of light, their environment shifted into a lush forest at the edge of the island, filled with the sounds and smells of wildlife.

Sonic let go of Shadow the moment they got transported to grasp at the side of his head, squeezing his eyes shut. Just like he had during the previous times, he was again met with the brief period of nausea and vertigo as a side effect of teleportation. But unlike those cases, this time the hedgehog only groaned in annoyance as he slid his palm downwards and quickly looked around to assess his environment.

Getting a vague idea of their current location, Sonic immediately began heading to where he believed the Master Emerald would be located, nearly missing Shadow's current state.

He paused in place as he noticed the agent frozen in place behind him, holding one hand to his mouth while the other hovered in the air. He was staring downwards with furrowed brows and a hint of alarm, briefly forgetting about Sonic entirely.

The blue hedgehog made a step back towards the other, raising a brow while his arm instinctively reached forward. "..Are you.. okay?"

Shadow only squeezed his eyes shut as he let out some muffled, tiny wheezes. Unable to restrain the reflex, he coughed into his hand a few times and turned away in an attempt to hide from Sonic. Once he gained some semblance of relief, he pulled his hand away from his muzzle.

Shadow's eyes shot open as he stared down at his glove, prompting Sonic to approach closer. He looked over the agent's shoulder, but before he could take a glance at whatever caught Shadow's attention, he closed his hand into a tight fist and dropped it to his side, obscuring whatever was in his palm from view.

"What was that-?"

Shadow's head snapped towards him, his expression unreadable. "It's nothing. You wanted me to tell you what I know, right?"

Sonic blinked before regaining focus. "...Right. Go on, then." He started walking towards the center of the island at a quick pace, with the other hedgehog following shortly after.

The agent still made sure to hide his glove as he walked. "I may have to disappoint you, as I do not know all that much about the situation either. All I know comes from hearing the limited information G.U.N. decided to share with us and from Rouge's venting after she was able to dig anything up from their databases. To their credit, they didn't really have a whole lot stuffed away that they kept from us. The reason they were so vague with telling us anything was because they didn't know much either, and probably just wanted to keep up appearances. Give an illusion of having more control over the situation than they actually did."

Sonic's fists squeezed tighter and his expression subtly darkened, but he didn't say anything in response and waited for the other to continue.

"As you've heard earlier, his communicator was found abandoned in Shamar, in a fairly obscure and secluded area. It was just a random Mobian who found it, just as they were hiking in the area. They reported it to the local police a while later, who then handed it over to G.U.N. once they realized who it belonged to. Before this, the echidna was last spotted in a nearby village while he was buying supplies with a small team a few weeks earlier. Amy wasn't entirely bluffing when she mentioned that."

The hero's pace quickened at the mention of Amy. He was visibly holding back his anger, but remained quiet.

Shadow predicted a reaction such as this and simply continued, also speeding up slightly. "They were supposedly on their way to explore the underground ruins of some ancient temple. They weren't found there, as you could probably guess already. Nothing really was, or at least nothing that had any relation to them, so it's unlikely they even reached their destination at all. There were some signs of struggle around the place of the communicator, but nothing that could be tied back to any suspects." He paused briefly, looking down. "There was.. also blood. But all of it belonged only to the team members."

Sonic's steps stuttered momentarily.

"None of the team's members were seen ever since then, so the current running theory is that... someone, or something kidnapped the entire group while they were on their way."

The blue hedgehog stopped in place suddenly, still not saying anything. Shadow paused a moment later to look back at him. He was staring down at the grass with a blank expression and a mild tremble to his limbs. After a few seconds spent looking towards him in concern, waiting for a reaction, the agent made a step towards him. Sonic's head turned upwards the moment he saw movement, exhaling shakily. The hedgehog blinked a few times and continued walking. "That's what I suspected already." He sneered as he answered, keeping his eyes away from Shadow.

The agent followed him hesitantly. "That.. was about all I was able to gather overtime."

Sonic didn't look back as he spoke. "That's fine. If this works out as I want it to, we won't need any more info."

"...What do you want to do here?"

The hero looked back briefly. "You'll see." Without warning, he broke into a run, no longer in need of a slower pace in order to listen.

Shadow was caught mildly off guard but quickly caught up to the other. Sonic was running significantly faster than he did during their run yesterday, nearly matching his speed at full strength. The agent was surprised to actually have to somewhat strain himself to match, but that didn't come without consequence for the blue hedgehog, as Shadow could see him clearly struggling, but forcing himself through it either way.

Reaching the center of the island would only be a matter of seconds now, and soon enough, the agent could see a large sphere surrounding the area where the Master Emerald was located. He was a tad surprised at the sight, as he admittedly hadn't been on Angel Island since before everyone's departure, never having the need for it.

Sonic, on the other hand, obviously anticipated the sight and only briefly looked up before he'd begun circling the force field in search of a specific spot, slowing down only slightly. Eventually he'd stop by some dark block at the feet of the sphere, turning out to be a small panel which extended to both the inside and outside of it. Shadow watched his movements after stopping in place as well, now seeing the panel to be pretty limited, with only a small handful of options. There was a small green light at its side, likely signifying the force field to be in use.

After having chosen some option on the panel, Sonic lifted his right hand, which Shadow noted to still be subtly trembling, and took off his glove. He placed his bare palm on top of the panel, which shortly after caused the force field to partially open up, creating an entrance. He stepped into it as he put his glove back on and looked back towards his companion.

Shadow followed after him with a raised brow. "Why is it set up to open for you?"

Sonic stepped inside fully with an eye-roll. "Who do you think watched the Emerald while everyone was gone." He answered without looking back. Shadow ignored the rhetorical question and continued on his way in. The entrance sealed itself shortly after them, creating a full, impenetrable sphere once more. 

The area it enclosed was fairly large, being a good one hundred meters or so in every direction. Shadow soon noticed it also just barely enveloped a small, gray brick house, most likely being the place where Knuckles spends the nights. While he is there, at least. It was significantly more barren than Shadow's own, the echidna clearly putting much less effort into outside appearances and prioritizing practicality.

Sonic skipped over the house entirely, only focused on the center of the force field. Shadow was getting mildly concerned. They quickly reached the main attraction, stepping onto the altar through the set of stairs leading up to the large emerald at its center. Shadow asked as they ascended the stairs, him falling short behind the other. "Sonic, what do you want to do with the Master Emerald."

The hero still wouldn't look at him. "Try and find my friend."

They'd reach the top right after, Sonic immediately heading for the partially sunken gem. Before Shadow could stop him, he propped himself up and stepped on top of the Emerald, crouching down on one knee and pressing his hands against its surface. He finally glanced at the increasingly worried agent. "The Master Emerald can find the Chaos Emeralds, right? Maybe it can find other things too. Like its guardian, for example." He stated with mild agitation, unsure of his own words.

Shadow's arm, which was hovering in the air dropped down. He stared at the gem sceptically, then back towards Sonic. "How do you even know that that would work? The Master and Chaos Emeralds are connected, Knuckles isn't. At least as far as I know."

Sonic snapped towards him, lifting one hand from the gem's surface into a fist. "Well, what's the harm in trying?! It's supposed to have unlimited power, right? I don't give a crap whether or not it makes sense as long as there's even the slightest chance that it works." He pressed his palm back down with a sneer, staring down. He tried to ignore seeing his reflection in its shiny surface.

Shadow made a step back and crossed his arms with a grimace as he watched. "Do you even know what to do?"

"No- yes- kind of, just shut up and let me focus, okay?!" He yelled back without looking up.

The agent sighed, but decided not to interfere for now.

Sonic scrunched his nose as he wracked his brain for the words. After a moment, he mumbled to himself quietly. "Sorry Knux, I know I'm not supposed to be the one to do this..." He sighed and begun reciting the prayer.

"...The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power..." He paused as he tried to remember the rest. "..power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos. Please.. help me find your guardian." His tone gradually softened towards the end of the mantra.

Shadow's eyes widened as he saw the Emerald actually begin emitting a green glow. Sonic's did as well and he grinned widely, looking into the reflection intensely.

"It's working..! I think I can-!"

The glow would quickly start fading, and Shadow immediately perked up as he felt something wrong. From where Sonic stood, the gem's green color slowly faded, being replaced by cold black. The ground beneath them started shaking.

Shadow stumbled momentarily, before settling in his stance. "Get off the Emerald, now!"

Sonic's head jerked towards him, seemingly not having noticed the changes. "What the hell- no! I can almost-" He looked downwards, but before he'd get a clearer look, he was promptly shoved off as Shadow tackled him to the ground.

The blue hedgehog grunted as he hit the stone floor and immediately pushed the other off of himself. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

"The island is about to collapse, can't you see what's happening?!" He looked back towards the Emerald where he still sat on the ground. The darkness seemed to stabilize and stop in place, but did not vanish. As he looked towards the surroundings, it looked like the island was slowly descending, but thankfully not entirely falling.

They both picked themselves back up, Sonic being a tad quicker to do so. "I almost had it! I need to- I just-!" He tried to get back to the Emerald, until Shadow grabbed his wrist, stopping him in place. His glance whipped back on him. "Let me go! I'm seeing this through no matter what the hell happens!"

Shadow's grip tightened. "You're not thinking rationally! The Emerald is getting damaged and the whole island is about to fall, just think about the consequences for more than one second!"

Sonic ripped his wrist out of his hold with a growl. "I already did." He attempted to get to his target once more.

Shadow quickly shoved him to the side and away from his route, standing in his way. "Do you really think Knuckles would want this?!"

Sonic's eyes widened in rage. "Don't you fucking tell me what he would or wouldn't want." He gritted his teeth and took a step back, leaning slightly and widening his stance. "If I have to fight my way through to get to that goddamn rock, then so be it. Bring it on, just like old times, right?" He smirked sarcastically as the dark aura enveloped him. He clenched his fists tight.

Before Shadow could answer, Sonic immediately launched himself right at him, aiming for a punch at his head. He managed to dodge the attack last second, but did not retaliate, only jumping out of his way. "Don't you get it?! What do you think will happen once Knuckles comes back to see the Master Emerald in ruin? Do you think he would trust you after something like this?!"

Sonic paused momentarily as realization flashed across his eyes. He quickly pushed it aside, gritting his teeth in anger. He ignored the agent and tried to run for the Emerald once more.

At this moment, the agent was done playing around. This was for his own good, and if Sonic refused to see reason, then so be it. With a golden flare of chaos energy, he launched a kick at the hero's side, sending him flying off the edge of the altar. Holding onto the edge of the first layer, Sonic quickly pulled himself back up with a grunt, wincing in pain. Shadow joined him on the edge right away, attempting to knock him off the platform entirely, only for Sonic to spindash out of the way and uncurl some distance away from him. Shadow barely managed to stop in place before falling off himself.

The dark glow around Sonic only seemed to be intensifying. "First you hide the truth from me for months, and now you won't even let me undo the damage it caused?!"

"I'm just trying to prevent you from betraying your friend yourself!"

Sonic's eyes widened. "I am nothing like you." He spat the words out and jumped back to the opposite edge of the platform. With the gained distance and momentum, he spindashed right at the other hedgehog, sending the both of them off the altar. He uncurled midair and grabbed onto Shadow's shoulders, keeping him beneath him to take the brunt of the fall. He yelled out before they'd reach the ground. "Apologies don't mean shit when you keep working against me!"

Shadow looked back, seeing the ground rapidly approaching. In the last possible second, he shoved the other off of himself, using him as leverage to make a jump and allowing himself a more controlled fall to the ground. He slid across the grass with a long groan, trying to stop himself in place by digging his fingers and toes into the dirt. Sonic saved himself in a similar way, bouncing off of Shadow but would end up falling onto his back. Both of them created two trails of uneven dirt where grass used to be.

The hedgehogs now looked significantly messier than usual, both suffering many scratches and bruises resulting from the fall, but neither paying attention to it. The hero pushed himself up, panting through his teeth. He wiped the blood trickling down his forehead with the back of his glove. "I take back what I said. Maybe you deserved a bit of roughing up after all. But it's not like it even matters, huh? Ultimate fucking Lifeform, you never need to suffer the consequences of anything, since all of it will surely be gone by the end of the week."

Shadow stood up, slightly slumped over with a grimace. Painfully aware of how wrong the statement was. "You really never listen, do you?" He said flatly, slightly out of breath.

Sonic took a few steps forward, stomping harshly with his fists clenched at his sides. "I listen to everything! I've listened, and that's why I know what's happening in the first place! I listened, and that's how I know what you all think of me! Too unpredictable, too stupid, too sensitive to handle anything, right?!" He stopped in place and chuckled to himself. "And I know you're all fucking right. But I try anyway, because everyone always depends on me," He stuck a thumb to his chest. "-even when I know they all wish they didn't have to." Without giving Shadow a moment to process his words, he dashed right at him with a fist directed to his stomach.

Shadow, slightly caught off guard, warped behind him a small height into the air and aimed a kick to his shoulder. Sonic quickly avoided the attack and turned around, grabbing his ankle midair. Using both hands, he swung the hedgehog by the leg and threw him towards a tree.

Shadow had the air knocked out of him as his back hit against the bark, causing him to have another coughing fit. He covered his muzzle with his hand as he glared up to the hedgehog approaching him. The energy radiating off of him was making him feel weakened.

The hero tried to unsuccessfully hide his strained gasps. "You always do that. Any time I'd catch you off guard, you'd try to get a kick on me from behind. That little trick of yours got boring years ago already."

The agent pushed himself up, supporting himself on the tree with one arm. He coughed the last few times and wiped his mouth from any residual traces of the liquid. "..You shouldn't be fighting right now. You're still weakened."

Sonic paused in place as he was taken aback. He snickered in disbelief. "You seriously care about that now?"

Shadow huffed and looked away, forcing on a weak smirk. "How foolish, isn't it? My biggest design flaw, by far. Remember how I was initially created to cure someone? It gets a bit hard to force away that second nature when it comes to someone I consider important."

The other made a step back, shaking his head. "No, no, no, you are not doing this right now." He pointed a finger towards him. "You already got me to believe you once, you-" He leaned back suddenly as his eyes widened in realization. He squeezed them shut and grasped his quills with one hand. "Stop fucking doing this shit already! You can't just-"

Taking advantage of his distraction, Shadow tackled Sonic in a spindash, pushing him to the ground and uncurling a few meters away from him into a crouch. Sonic growled and quickly turned back, curling into his own ball to launch at him.

The two crashed into each other several times, one chasing the other, occasionally curling and uncurling to throw out occasional punches and kicks. Some of them landing and some being met with air or a roadblock. The earthquake eventually calmed entirely once the island ceased its descent at some point, remaining at a significantly lower level than it did usually.

Sonic yelled as they wrestled against each other. "You lying bastard! Playing with my emotions like that- that's just low, even for you." He stated right into his face with an expression of rage and hurt, all the while pushing his fists against the darker hedgehog's palms.

Shadow dug his boots into the dirt as he tried to keep his ground. He panted in effort before he answered. "Who ever said I was lying?"

"Shut up!"

Sonic brought his knee up to the other's chest. Shadow doubled over momentarily as it connected, and that gave the hero the leverage to finally gain the upper hand, pushing him down onto the ground. He pressed down on his shoulders, putting in his entire weight as he kneeled over the other hedgehog. The combination of Sonic's building energy and the strain put on his chest sent Shadow into another coughing fit. He was unable to cover his mouth this time with the other on top of him, and all he could do was hold onto the hero's arms instinctively as the hedgehog pushed his shoulders deeper through the layers of grass and dirt.

Sonic yelled, barely taking notice of Shadow's state. "Do you know what happened this morning? I had to learn about how I was betrayed a second goddamn time, because this piece of shit affliction made me forget about it! I'm not letting this thing rule over yet another part of my life and prevent me from finding him. Honestly, that oversized jewel can break and the island could fall apart entirely for all I care! Because if I don't find that son of a bitch echidna when I have the chance to, I know I will regret it for every single moment he is still gone, or maybe even for the rest of my life." He panted as he stared down at the other.

"And you know the worst part?" He chuckled sarcastically. "I know I will regret this too. But I rather have him hate me and alive, than have him potentially go through what I did for any second longer." He squeezed his eyes shut as he gritted his teeth. "You were fucking right. Because of course you were. So go on, rub it in my face since you've earned it. Tell me, how does it feel to always be fucking right?!" He leaned down as he spat the words out, unable to control his emotions at this point.

Unable to keep it down any longer, Shadow coughed until a black liquid forced its way out of his throat, landing on his white fur. He heaved and looked up weakly. "..Not as great as you might think."

Sonic leaned back as his eyes widened in surprise, his lips parting slightly.

"I think I figured out where that whole weakness comes from..." He chuckled. "Good news, you'll be leaving your mark with me for a lot longer than just a week." He said with a forced grin.

"What.. what are you talking about?" He eased his weight against Shadow's shoulders.

"..With what you said... you finally realized it, huh? So you really do listen sometimes. My apologies." Shadow let up the grin and let his expression soften. He lifted one arm, Sonic's gaze following the movement, now seeing more of the black liquid soaked into his glove. He rested his palm against his cheek, making the blue hedgehog's breath hitch. "Good job, Sonic."

Completely stumped, the hero only stared at the other for several moments in disbelief. He blinked a few times and slumped over, turning his head away and causing the agent's hand to drop back down. His face scrunched into a pained expression. "Something so obvious shouldn't warrant any praise..!" He opened his eyes and turned back to face the other. "But.. what were you talking about earlier? What the heck did you mean by that?!"

Shadow exhaled sharply. "Those cuts you left... they aren't going to heal. You may have found the only way to actually scar me." He smiled weakly.

Sonic stared for a few seconds in silence. "...How do you know that?"

"I've already tried healing myself. How they're at now is the furthest it will go."

The hedgehog let up more of the pressure he was keeping on Shadow. "And you.. knew that- when you..?"

"No. But I was aware there would be some sort of repercussions, but I chose to do it anyway. And I still would." Shadow said in a neutral tone, as if stating basic facts.

Sonic closed his eyes, his angry mask falling apart completely and replaced with one of sorrow. He let his arms give in under his weight and fell on top of the other hedgehog. Shadow gasped in surprise, but didn't stop the other when he wrapped his arms under his back and squeezed him lightly. Sonic's quills relaxed and he laid the side of his head on top of Shadow's chest. He muttered. "I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Let alone.. permanently."

Shadow could feel heat gathering on his face but paid it no mind this time. He slowly brought his hands up to rest on the hero's back and hummed in acknowledgement. He let the moment pass in silence as Sonic calmed down and the aura around him dissipated.

After a few minutes would pass, Sonic sighed. "How do we fix the Master Emerald?"

"...I don't know. It would be good to assess the damages first. Can you stand?"

The other hedgehog hesitated before answering. "...Yeah."

Sonic picked himself up slowly off of the other and up to a stand. His sudden absence felt awfully cold, and it had nothing to do with the energy stuck inside the hero. He offered Shadow his hand, which he tentatively decided to accept. Sonic pulled the other up to his feet, and immediately into another hug.

"I'm sorry. Again. I know you're only trying to do what's best." He muttered into his shoulder. He let him go quickly, leaving the agent a bit stunned.

The blush on his face which had just managed to fade was back as if it had never left. "..Accepted." He answered shortly as he couldn't quite force himself to come up with anything more. What in all hell is that hedgehog doing to him.

Sonic looked behind him, noticing they had strayed a fair distance away from the altar in the midst of their fight. "We're kinda far.."

Shadow looked back as well, and smirked as he glanced back at the other. "Admitting you're tired already?"

The hero rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly, glad for the little slip into their usual dynamics. He simply put his hand out. "Just do your thing."

The agent stared down, somewhat hesitant after what had happened the last time he tried warping the both of them. During the battle, his use of Chaos Control was instinctual and he had no time to think about the potential effects, but either way, he suffered no ill symptoms. With that in mind, he decided to take the risk and accepted Sonic's hand into his own, teleporting them back next to the Emerald. Thankfully, he ended up only feeling mildly winded, but no disgusting black bile accompanied it. Whatever it was that overtook him back then seemed to be gone, or at least letting him be for now.

Sonic froze in place for a few seconds afterwards to let the usual nausea pass by. Meanwhile, Shadow took a better look at the gem, now that he had the chance to. It was darkened from the top, the black discoloration stuck one-third in place of taking over. He approached it slowly and felt it giving off the same coldness, though not as strongly as he's already handled before.

Sonic remained at the same spot once he came to, just a few meters away. Hesitant to get any closer.

Shadow attempted to touch the Emerald's surface, just to wince back as a sharp pain shot through his arm. He sighed and took a step back. He spoke without turning back. "You mentioned chaos energy and Dark Gaia being in a similar sort of vein."

The blue hedgehog crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his shoulder anxiously. "Yeah... They feel kinda similar, but.. worse."

"I believe Dark Gaia works like poison against chaos. Your use of the Master Emerald subjected it to it, causing.. this." He gestured towards the gem.

Sonic perked up as his ears pinned back.

"That is the same reason why I cannot fully heal from it. I function almost like a living Chaos Emerald." He turned back to look the other in the eyes.

"Currently, you are like walking poison for me."

 

Notes:

An apology doesn't always solve every issue. But it's a good first step, right?

Chapter 18: Struggles

Summary:

Shadow gets a checkup. Sonic tries to prevent himself from faltering.

Notes:

Happy 100k words I think I'm going insane

This ain't an action chapter we're here just to suffer but the plot still wobbles on
I don't do filler I do plot relevant pain breaks

no art this week I'm tired

It was nearing afternoon as Sonic dragged Shadow back to his brother's workshop. He insisted on letting himself be seen by Tails, to which Shadow begrudgingly agreed. So long as he isn't under the hands of G.U.N. Sonic remained awfully and uncharacteristically quiet on their way there, retaining that serious yet far away look. One that gave off a sense of.. detachment. Shadow tried to not pay too much attention to the way it left him feeling as if he had a pit stuck in his throat.

Sonic pressed down at the door's handle in habit, only to find the door closed. He let out a short annoyed groan and gave it several, quick strong knocks. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he waited for a response, with Shadow standing up straight a small distance at his side.

The door opened after a few moments, with the fox all but jumping in place at the sight. "Sonic? And Shadow?? What in the heck happened to you two?!"

Oh. Right. They both failed to address the fact they looked like they'd gotten run over by a car or two.

Sonic briefly looked down, then quickly turned his eyes back up, holding his hands out towards the fox. "It's nothing, we just- fell, a bunch, - it doesn't matter." He shook his head and made a step forward. He looked as if he wanted to usher the fox inside, before wincing back just moments before he'd make contact. "Please, I just need you to check something. Let us in."

Tails eyed him in concern, then turned his sight towards Shadow. The agent turned to the side under his gaze, still feeling somewhat awkward in the fox's presence. Tails sighed and stepped to the side. "Okay.."

Sonic smiled tiredly. "Thanks, buddy." He walked inside, gesturing back for Shadow to follow.

The fox closed the door once both of the hedgehogs made it in and turned towards them. He noticed Sonic acting especially frantic, anxiously looking from side to side. Shadow seemed relatively collected as always, if not somewhat unsure. "So, what is it?"

Sonic took a deeper breath. "How did you make my bracelets?" He held his wrist out.

"You mean the rings-?"

The hero grimaced and dropped his arm. "Don't call them that."

"..Why not-?"

"Just don't, doesn't matter - do you have something that, I dunno- detects where Dark Gaia is or something?"

Tails blinked. "I do, actually." He walked over to his workshop through the indoors entrance, making his steps quick so as to not keep the two waiting. Sonic sighed in relief and straightened his back, but couldn't stop his anxious tapping. Tails returned just a few seconds later with an electronic device in hand. He spoke as he made his way towards them. "What do you need it for?"

Sonic looked to the side. "Could you just use it to check on Shadow?"

The fox froze in place in front of them. "Why?"

"Just do it. Please."

The fox stared between his brother and the agent questioningly, feeling increasingly concerned. "Okay..?" He eventually looked down to his device and turned sideways to the two before turning it on. Without the desired target, it made no noise.

"..So this should indicate the energy's presence. Right now it's quiet because where I'm facing, there's nothing there."

He then turned the device towards Sonic, causing it to beep rapidly, the noise not dissimilar to a Geiger counter. "...And this is what happens when it does detect it." He frowned subtly. Sonic grimaced and turned his gaze to the side.

He wordlessly turned towards the darker hedgehog. The frequency of the beeping lowered significantly, but did not cease. It created a new steady stream of slower signals. His eyes widened and he looked up to the agent who didn't have much of a reaction, only staring down at the gadget. Already expectant of such an outcome.

Tails turned back towards Sonic, keeping the device on Shadow. "Sonic... did you do something?"

The blue hedgehog only looked away without saying anything.

The fox frowned. His sight turned back on Shadow, or more specifically on his numerous scars. His ears pinned back. He turned to Sonic again. "I'd like to check something... Can you, uh, touch him?" He smiled sheepishly and moved his free hand up in defense as he looked at the agent. "If that's okay with you, of course!"

"It's fine." Shadow answered flatly.

Sonic eyed the both of them cautiously before bringing his hand up. He very slowly pressed one finger against Shadow's shoulder, as if the mere contact would burn his arm off. Tails looked back down, seeing no change from the device. Seeing the lack of an effect, Sonic experimentally let his entire palm press against the other flatly. Shadow shrunk in on himself slightly at the contact, looking away. Tails continued staring at the device as he heard no changes, then turned his gaze back on Shadow, and... was his face kinda red?

Tails decided to chalk it up to the lighting in the room. He turned the device off and let his arm fall to his side. "I think basic physical contact is safe, but if so.. what exactly caused it? What changes did you notice to want to check this?"

Sonic dropped his hand at the confirmation with visible relief, which almost immediately faded at the fox's question. He tensed up as he knew what was to come.

Shadow' posture returned back to normal once the other hedgehog ceased the contact. "Everything started only once he used Dark Gaia's powers on me. Dark Gaia is.. basically toxic to me. I assume that through the wounds, it was able to make its way into my system."

The blue hedgehog's quills flared up. He stared down blankly, hugging his arms.

Tails noticed the negative reaction. "Sonic?" Shadow looked towards the hero as well. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but Sonic spoke before he got the chance.

He seemed to have gotten brought back to reality at the mention of his name. His head snapped towards Tails suddenly. "Did you finish that communicator?"

Tails was somewhat taken aback. "No..? I'm still working on it-"

Sonic sighed. "Okay, whatever, I won't be gone for long anyway- I'm going out." He started making his way towards the door.

Shadow's eyes widened in surprise. Tails made a step towards the blue hedgehog. "What-? We just confirmed just you being here isn't harmful-"

Sonic paused in place and back towards them. "I know, it's not that- I just need to... I'll be back later." He looked to the ground. "By the way... you'll need to check up on the Master Emerald later. Sorry for putting so much work on you." He gave both Mobians a wistful look before quickly walking out of the door and closing it after himself.

Tails winced slightly as the door was slammed shut by the wind. He looked towards Shadow as he realized what had happened, who continued standing wide eyed, staring at the door. "What.. what did he mean by that? What happened to the Emerald?"

Shadow blinked. "You'll see."

The fox stared quizzically. "Is.. he running away again?"

Shadow looked to the fox. "He isn't. He'll come back."

"How do you know that?"

He looked back on the door. "He wouldn't have asked about the communicator first if he didn't intend to come back, would he?"

Tails let himself calm down just slightly. "I- I guess so."

Shadow turned towards the fox's workshop. "You can do more tests. There's.. actually something I wanted to check up on too." He held his right hand up and opened his palm, revealing the dark, now dried stain on his glove.

The fox's eyes widened. "That's- that's the same thing Sonic.." His snout scrunched up as he hesitated to finish the sentence.

"What he threw up, yes." Tails grimaced further in discomfort at the bluntness. "Now we have the chance to actually see what it is. I've been curious about it ever since back then, but I wasn't exactly keen on scooping up vomit off the streets."

Tails looked away. "Uh, yeah..." He took a glance back at the hedgehog as he started making his way to the garage. "Follow me, I guess..."

Shadow took a final glance at the main door and sighed, before going after the fox.

 

He did not like the disconnected feeling the hero had been giving him for the whole day up to this point. He understands his need for space, especially after the news he had been given, but...

Sonic better not be doing anything stupid while he's gone.

 

---

 

 

The hedgehog barely paid any attention to the world blurring around him as he ran past it. He vaguely felt the long, wild grass brushing against his fur as he cut through it at insane speeds. He ran past forests. Wild fields. Crop fields. There was some occasional gravel and sand in his way, maybe even some water. Hard to tell when he didn't even really look under his feet, only looking out for trees to avoid running into.

His muscles burned. The earlier fight with Shadow, the constant strain he'd been putting on himself after barely having recovered, lack of proper training. It all left him drained and exhausted.

So tired. Physically. Mentally. Any possible way to be tired, he felt it.

He needed... just a moment. Just a little moment of peace.

Even if he knew he didn't deserve one. He couldn't help being selfish.

His mind was continuously stuck on the same two images, switching out interchangeably. Constantly causing him to flip back and forth between overwhelming guilt and the need to do something. Be useful. But how is he supposed to do that when every action he'd taken so far only caused more damage.

The picture of Shadow's weakened state as he spat out black bile. Covered in scars and new scratches and bruises, right under Sonic who had him pinned to the ground and forced him to fight. After he had already hurt him enough.

It'll be better to bring himself out of Shadow's sight anyway. He deserved at least that much after all the shit he had put him through.

And then there was the image briefly conjured by the Master Emerald. Short. Useless. Unexplanatory. But stuck to him like a parasite.

He hoped being surrounded by nature would bring him the reprieve he needed. A tiny, miniscule break from the stress that kept piling against him with every new disturbing discovery. But his environment made no difference when he couldn't even focus on it for more than a few seconds. There was no escape.

Just keep running.

 

 

---

 

Shadow took off the most stained glove and handed it over to the fox sitting at his side. Tails accepted it from him with some hesitance as he eyed the sharp claws being uncovered. The agent leaned the hand down on the table in front of them as Tails put the glove under a microscope, finding mild amusement in the way the fox continuously took occasional glances at his hand.

Hmm...

While Tails put his eye against the microscope's lens, Shadow put his cheek in his still gloved hand and began tapping out a steady rhythm with his claws against the metal table. He smirked as the fox briefly pulled away from the eyepiece, just to try to quickly go back in hopes Shadow hadn't noticed. Even if he didn't, Tails' ears were still prominently pinned back in obvious anxiety and displeasure.

"I wouldn't need to use my claws if I intended to hurt you right now. Those are just a last resort."

Tails frowned deeply as he looked towards him. "And I was starting to think you were actually nice..." He turned back to the microscope.

Shadow paused, some of his fingers hovering midair. He let them fall the last time and clicked his tongue. He let the claws withdraw and put his palm flat against the table. "Is that better?" He asked with a twinge of sarcasm.

The fox looked towards his face, then down to his hand. His eyes widened as his mouth fell agape. "They're retractable?"

"Yes. But it's more comfortable to have them out." He occasionally forgets how this feature of his body isn't generally common, therefore comes as a surprise. The only other Mobian he knows to have that ability would be Blaze, though he's never seen it personally and only knows that to be the case due to her species. His isn't quite the same as it is for cats, as it actually requires a small amount of effort to have his claws hidden, with them being out as sort of a default.

He suspects Black Arms have them out at all times to always be ready for combat and only hide them for the sake of taking care of their young or the sort. He'd rather not think about the origins of his traits for too long though. He just uses the ability to keep his gloves from always getting shredded at the tips.

Tails stared for a moment, obviously mildly excited by the new discovery. His hands twitched a bit, urged to get a closer look but not confident enough to go through with it. "..That's cool." He stated simply as he forced himself to not delve too deep into it and go back to his primary task. His tails twitched slightly at his side as he frowned. "Hm. Give me a second."

The fox momentarily stood up to reach into one of his shelves in the corner of the room. He pulled out a small vial containing a glowing, yellow crystal. A chaos drive. He walked back over to the table Shadow was sitting by and carefully took off the lid of the glass container. After fishing out a pair of tongs from a toolbox at the table's side, he slowly used them to pull out the tiny crystal from its container.

He put the vial down on the side and took the glove off the microscope's stage to instead replace it with the crystal, then looked into the lens once more.

"It's a bit harder to compare when it was on the glove instead of with raw materials, but... That black liquid is structured similarly to the solidified chaos in chaos drives." He spoke, before pulling his eye away. He quickly put the crystal back into the safety of its container and closed the lid, but left the vial to remain on the table.

"..Sonic already figured out their connection. He actually gave me the idea for my theory, which is that the energy of Dark Gaia poisons chaos."

Tails looked up to him in surprise. "He did?" He looked down as he smiled softly to himself.

Shadow grimaced. "But that is what he meant when he mentioned the Master Emerald. He infected it."

Tails' smile dropped immediately as his head snapped towards the other. "What?!"

The agent sighed. "He attempted to use it to track the echidna down. Due to this, and likely due to his general state of mind... it was exposed to the gaia energy."

Tails stared in worry and fear. "Did the island fall down?"

"No. I interfered in time, so it was damaged only partially. It lost some of its power and was unable to keep the island as high as it used to be, but kept enough to have it stay afloat. I'm not sure how many other capabilities it lost or retained, though."

The fox covered his mouth and looked down. His tails curled up on his lap anxiously. "Knuckles is gonna kill us if we don't have it fixed by the time he's back..."

Shadow looked towards the younger Mobian. Even with the clear fear present, he couldn't help but feel relived by Tails' attitude. By his wording, it was clear he wouldn't even consider the possibility of either of these things not happening eventually. The natural optimism felt like a breath of fresh air, for once.

Tails rubbed his face tiredly. "So much work to do... I.." He muttered to himself.

The hedgehog's mouth fell open thinly. His hand twitched. "...Are you.. alright?"

The fox lifted his hand away from his face and stared in mild surprise. He let his arm drop to his lap and sighed, looking away. "Yes, I'll... I'll be fine." He turned back towards Shadow. "I'm guessing that.. you had the same thing happen to you as Sonic did? With the gross black stuff?"

Shadow stared for a moment, before hesitantly letting the subject switch back to his topic. "Somewhat. I thankfully did not, full on... vomit. It just forced its way out through coughs." He looked away and shuddered slightly at the memory. Coughing is far from something he was used to, and he preferably would rather never have to get used to it.

Tails leaned against his thighs and put his hand over his mouth in thought. "My best guess would be that your bodies are trying to get rid of foreign material in the only way they know how... Not very successfully." He looked up and tilted his head. "It might be helping a little bit, but not enough to make a real difference."

"...I suppose that would make sense. My organism was meant to deal with diseases, viruses or bacteria - very tangible things. Something like this isn't something it is equipped to fight against, so I assume it could be just reverting to basic functions.."

The fox hummed and placed the microscope further away from them to leave more space on the table. He returned the stained glove, to which Shadow reluctantly took it with a grimace. He only put it down next to himself, unwilling to put the dirty thing back on. Tails sat sideways on his chair to face him fully. "Have you been getting any other symptoms?"

Shadow looked down as he thought. Coming up with a conclusion was embarrassingly easy, as he'd already been noticing several odd reactions in himself over the past days. "I've been... strangely agreeable lately.." His nose scrunched up. "Particularly around Sonic..." He muttered to himself as an afterthought, regretting it instantly.

Tails raised a brow. His eyes widened slightly. "You two are.. a lot closer than I thought." He twiddled with his gloves, choosing his words carefully. "Like, well... I never imagined you'd be willing to do something like yesterday..."

The agent grimaced as he looked to the side. "I didn't either." He mumbled.

"So.. could you say you were a bit more emotional recently than usual?"

"I suppose..."

"Worse decision making?"

Shadow squinted his eyes.

Placing his hand on Sonic's cheek mid-fight without thinking. Holding onto Sonic as more and more piercing pain struck his body. Pulling Sonic into a hug while they laid in the same bed-

"Yes." He stated a bit louder than necessary. He could feel his face heating up again.

Tails flinched at the reaction, then eyed the other questioningly after he settled. "Uh.. anything else you noticed?"

He squinted. "Fluctuating body temperature."

The fox raised a brow. He hadn't seen that aspect to be written down as a symptom anywhere. "Huh. That's odd. You sure it's not a fever?"

Shadow glared. "I don't get fevers."

Tails leaned backwards defensively. "Yeah, but... you weren't supposed to be coughing either?"

He stared for a moment before relaxing. "...Fair point."

The fox's lip upturned slightly. "You really are more agreeable."

The glare returned as Shadow snapped fully towards him. "Don't test me."

Tails brought his hands up in defense, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry."

After a moment passed, the fox turned towards the table as he put his hands on his lap. He stared down at the metal. "I doubt you absorbed it like Sonic did, so your affliction should supposedly pass on its own after a while. That is, after you stop being actively exposed to it, so... either after we find an actual cure, or if you stay away from him for the time being."

Shadow frowned as his eyes furrowed. Just stay away from Sonic for as long as he remains afflicted. That was the most logical conclusion. But how long would it take for them to find a solution?

And why did he absolutely resent the idea of becoming uninvolved again?

Up until this whole thing began, until he got forcibly dragged into it, that was the whole entire point. Don't involve yourself with the blue moron's shenanigans. Keep yourself away from his foolishness. Keep yourself safe. Remain ambivalent to the way Sonic was so obviously destroying himself.

He'd failed spectacularly at all of these goals. And worst of all, he started to genuinely care about him and his well-being. Well... he always did to a degree, didn't he? Except now he'd made the mistake of allowing that care to grow way past the levels which could still be considered within safe confines. Levels at which he'd still be capable of moving on were something to happen to Sonic. Something... irreversible. Something he'd known the hero was at constant risk of. And something he'd remain at the risk of were he to continue down his current path.

 

 

Shadow stopped in place as he suddenly heard a sharp thud against the metal floors. His gaze snapped backwards to reveal his companion down on her knees as she held onto the stand for her IV drip. She clenched the fabric of her dress as she gasped softly.

The hedgehog immediately jumped to her side, grasping onto her arm. "Maria! I told you you should've stayed in bed!"  He exclaimed in clear worry.

The girl opened her eyes and gently brushed his hand off with a reassuring smile. "I was feeling okay back then... I really don't know what went over me just now."

Shadow's brows furrowed as he moved to her side. Despite her wishes, he firmly gripped her side and helped her up to her feet. "This is the third time something like this has happened."

She reluctantly put a hand on his shoulder and fully leaned into the support he provided. "I'm fine Shadow, really."

He frowned. "You can't lie like that when you're feeling sick. You're only making it worse." He started walking slowly, leading her back into her room.

Maria sighed as she pushed the stand along with her free hand. "I wanna get to spend more time with you, outside. I look so pathetic when I stay in bed all the time like that."

He looked up to her sadly. "Don't say that..."

"I just don't want to worry you."

 

 

---

 

 

He eventually stopped in place once he deemed himself to be far enough away. He stood on top of a small hill, overlooking the horizon. It showed a view of a field filled with red, yellow and white flowers. High mountains surrounded the large open space, the distance giving them an illusion of a blue hue which contrasted nicely against the flowers' colors. The landscape was beautiful, maybe even breathtaking.

He only stood and stared forward, hardly even seeing it.

What was he doing there again?

 

You hurt him

 

Oh. That's right.

He sat down on the grass, hugging his knees up to his chest. His insides felt hollow.. somehow.

 

You hurt them

Now you're just wasting time

 

He didn't know what he felt. Nothing, but something. Not sad, but off. Something was missing, even though everything was already too much.

He stared down at the grass swaying in the wind. It was getting a bit cold. He eventually stopped noticing it and his puffed out fur simply became something to be expected.

 

You were supposed to help

 

The individual blades of grass blended together after a while. It all just became a blurry blob of various shades of green.

Green.

 

He watched himself in front of a mirror as he adjusted his vibrant blue quills. His emerald eyes glinted with specks of gold in the morning sunlight.

 

Green was a pretty color.

No wonder Shadow always kept the green one out of all the Emeralds whenever he could.

 

The shining green of the Master Emerald slowly vanished from under him as it was slowly being replaced by a dark void.

Sonic purposely ignored it.

 

Inside the void he only managed to get a short look. Just the echidna's face. Looking.. peaceful. As if simply asleep. The place he was in looked dark. Or maybe it was just the darkness spreading from under his palms.

So close yet so far.

 

Does he even need help?

 

Stop being useless

Stop pitying yourself

You should be looking for him right now

What are you doing? Do something

It's already been done, it will stay damaged forever

There's nothing you can do about it

He will be scarred forever

They will be scarred forever

Just like you are

 

Now you're poison

And you did it to yourself

 

 

You don't have the time for this

 

He was suddenly brought back by a sharp pain on his scalp. He kept his fist closed and brought it down, seeing he'd unconsciously ripped a few of his quills out.

He opened the hand holding onto the ripped out spines and watched as they fell onto the ground.

He was able to briefly refocus.

But the pain faded quickly.

 

Shadow smiled weakly from under him. Covered in scratches and dirt and blood and scars. Something black was staining his mouth.

It looked familiar.

His ruby red eyes, normally so sharp and piercing, looked so dull now. He looked weak. Almost sickly.

You forced him to fight like that

And you weren't even in the right

 

He moved without thinking. He brought his left arm up and used his right hand to grab at the tape wrapped around it. He found one of its ends and yanked it upwards.

He circled around his forearm as he held onto the tip, slowly revealing the white fur underneath. His mind was blank as he ran on autopilot. The revealed arm doesn't even feel like it's his.

He let the string of tape fall to the ground right next to the lone quills.

 

Get a grip.

You'll need to get back soon.

 

Do whatever it takes to get you back on the ground.

 

 

---

 

"..Shadow?"

He blinked a few times as he realized he'd been quiet for much longer than would be considered acceptable. "...I can't." He said quietly, nearly a whisper.

"Can't what?"

Shadow pursed his lips. "..I.. I'm supposed to be helping you find your friend."

Tails deflated visibly. He looked away. "Right... but if staying near Sonic is harmful to you, I don't think you should force it-"

"I can handle it. Don't underestimate me." The hedgehog barked a bit more aggressively than intended, startling the other slightly. He cleared his throat and leaned back. "I should also apologize for keeping you in the dark." He decided to change the subject.

The fox relaxed and turned his saddened eyes to the table. He leaned against the metal with a muted look. "It's not like I really expected to get the news from you..."

Shadow crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking down. "It wasn't my place to inform you of such an event, considering it didn't involve me in any way. I didn't keep in touch with neither you, the hedgehog, nor the echidna at the time, and I prefer not to meddle in other people's business. But... for the record, I never approved of Amy's decision."

Tails brought his feet up to his chair and hugged his knees. "I thought... I thought Amy trusted me.. especially after..."

The hedgehog looked up after the discontinued sentence. He responded once he realized there would be no elaboration. "She does trust you. It wasn't a matter of trust." He turned his gaze forward. "It was always just about the fear of consequences."

"She always felt like the one person I could always talk to if Sonic wasn't there. She always had some answer, some way to cheer up, but..." He could hear the fox sniffle. But once he turned towards him, he could see he was still holding on, keeping his tears from flowing down. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the area, desperately trying to keep any wetness hidden. "Now what?"

Shadow grimaced and looked away. He's not well suited to dealing with such situations. "The only advice I can give, is to... just give it time. Whenever you're ready, you can decide how you'd like to move forward from there. Rose isn't a bad person, she can be just.. misguided at times. She's very emotional and acts based on how she feels at a given moment, without thinking about how those choices might impact things in the future. But it's easy to tell she really is working towards improvement. In the end, whether or not you decide to forgive her is up to you."

Tails slowly brought his feet back to the floor. He managed to calm down, and was frankly somewhat surprised by how much more to think about Shadow had given him. In truth, he got somewhat carried away, saying whatever was on his mind to whoever happened to be listening. He never expected for Shadow to be so.. observant.

Before he could think of any proper answer, his ear twitched as he heard the main door click open. His head immediately snapped upwards, now seeing that Shadow also has noticed. To his surprise (again), the hedgehog was quicker to stand up and move towards the exit of the garage. He soon gathered his wits and followed after him, now both of them standing by the door and staring towards the hallway.

Sonic didn't see them at first, looking down as he closed the main door. He blinked as he looked up, but then gave a small wave. "Hey guys, I'm back."

"Hi.. where were you?" Tails asked.

Shadow said nothing as he squinted in suspicion with his arms crossed. The blue hedgehog paid him no mind and simply walked towards the workshop. "I just needed a bit of fresh air, I'm feeling better now." He passed by the two Mobians and went through the garage door, giving the fox a quick head ruffle on the way with a small smile. "So, any updates while I was gone?"

Tails smiled as he fixed up his fur, relieved by his brother's uplifted mood. At ease, he followed after the hedgehog. "Only a little bit, we found out with Shadow that-"

The rest of the conversation became noise to him as the darker hedgehog remained frozen in the doorway, his gaze following after Sonic in alarm.

The moment the blue hedgehog passed by him, he noticed a faint metallic smell surrounding the air around him.

 

Notes:

I might be overusing flashbacks a bit

I went back and forth and chopped up this chapter so much it's not even funny, I literally wrote the second to last scene as the first one after rewriting it like twice my brain is mush at this point and I have no idea what this whole thing even is anymore but I hope it's coherent because I sure as hell am not

Chapter 19: Offers

Summary:

Sonic gets a little push.

Notes:

Psst.. psst... guess what
I started writing a prequel for this fic
check it out if you want

I took longer with this one because aside from starting that prequel I also had to study for an exam and irl bullshit all that but it's finally done and I'm totally free now yippee
but that also unfortunately means I haven't really had the time to draw anything so we stay starved

"'Sick leave', huh?" The commander said with his arms crossed and a raised brow. He called both present members of Team Dark into his office at some point into their shifts, quickly letting them know this wouldn't be a peaceful day of work. Rouge had avoided the topic of Shadow ever since he stopped coming to work, no matter how much grief she'd get from her boss. However, that simple change in his absence - AKA actually providing a reason for once - suddenly made things a lot more questionable and harder to avoid.

She tried playing it off regardless, crossing her own arms. "He just realized he has those available and decided to use them up. Just so you would stop nagging him - but apparently you still feel the need to nag someone. It's not like Shadow is your only agent, you know."

"He may not be our only agent, but he is our only agent who is also known to be a dangerous bioweapon."

Rouge felt her eyelid twitch at the title.

Tower continued. "I know he had been injured by Sonic. Everyone with access to the internet does. Is his absence related to this event?"

"No." She said without hesitation.

He turned toward the robot standing at her side. "Omega?" He remained quiet, knowing he isn't supposed to reveal anything. The commander sighed. "I will again try to reason with you. Our scientists can help with whatever issue Sonic, and as it seems Shadow, is going through."

She stared for a few moments in thought, though her expression remained stoic. She then spoke. "Sonic wouldn't want to see you right now. He found out about Knuckles."

He raised a brow, not particularly surprised. "Is that so? And why would that make him not want to come here?"

Rouge gritted her teeth. "He's furious, as he should be. You kept this secret, even though he was part of the closest thing Knuckles had to a family."

"It certainly took him a while to realize, then."

She slammed a hand over the desk in anger, rising to her feet. Her wings spread out at her sides in instinct. "You-!"

"ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS."

Rouge squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to sit back down. She folded her wings and massaged her forehead, all the while her boss only watched with barely any reaction.

Once he thought the bat had calmed down enough, he took a breath and continued. "Let us make it up to him, then."

She lifted her hand off her face to look at him questioningly. "What do you even want from him?"

"I only want to keep a positive, or at the very least neutral relationship with the hero. He is a dangerous, but also a reliable individual. Getting him back into shape would be just as beneficial to him as it would be to G.U.N., and if we are able to help with it, then we'll do everything in our power to see it through."

Rouge searched his expression for signs of dishonesty or malice. Her boss was admittedly hard to read, as would be expected of the leading commander for the military. She found none, however, and his words did make some amount of sense.

"What's the catch?"

"The only catch I can think of is the fact we'd get to learn more about an unknown condition and potentially find ways to deal with it in the future. I personally don't consider this to be a negative thing, but I know you don't think too fondly of us having any more information than you do." He said somewhat bitterly.

Rouge only eyed him for a few moments wordlessly.

She thought back to yesterday's evening and Sonic's state back then. Seeing her friend act this way, especially for a person like Sonic, felt nothing short of disturbing. What's worse, she had to witness him hurting her best friend, all the while she was powerless to stop it. Even if it ended off on a 'friendly' note, that doesn't change the fact Shadow got majorly wounded. It cannot be guaranteed that something of the sort won't happen again in the time it takes for Tails alone to find a cure.

She didn't like Tower as much as the next guy, but if he was being truly genuine, they might have a real chance of solving at least one of their issues. And maybe if they included Tails into the mix, with all the knowledge he already has and with the help of a multitude of scientists on his level...

After several moments of silence, Tower knocks her out of her thoughts. "Agent Rouge?"

She blinked a few times. "I.." She sighed in resignation. "I'll... ask him."

Omega finally moved, turning in her direction in clear surprise, even without the help of facial expressions. The Commander in turn seemed relieved and answered in a somewhat softer tone of voice. "Thank you, Agent Rouge. Dismissed."

 

The two agents left the office, Rouge staring down at the floor as if disappointed with her own decisions.

"ROUGE?"

"I know, I know. Shadow's gonna be mad, but this might be our best chance."

"THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT G.U.N. WON'T MAKE AN ATTEMPT TO EXPLOIT SONIC."

She crossed her arms and smirked slightly as she looked up. "Well, they can attempt whatever they want. If they don't, we can have one less problem on our hands. If they do, well, that's just a bonus opportunity to blow some stuff up, right?"

"I APPROVE OF THIS LINE OF THINKING."

She snickered quietly as the two began walking down the corridor. "I knew you would. It's not like I'd plan to leave Sonic alone with them."

 

---

 

Shadow looked from the side as Tails further explained the details of what he'd found and his theories to his brother, who stood behind his chair with his chin placed on top of his head. The fox seemed happy with the small gesture, smiling softly as he talked, in spite of the subject matter.

Sonic's face was neutral, partially lidded. He smiled slightly whenever his brother looked up towards his face, but otherwise it was hard to tell whether or not he was truly listening.

Shadow gave additional responses whenever prompted, but couldn't keep his attention away from the other hedgehog. He wouldn't stop taking occasional glances towards his tape covered arms, searching. They looked the exact same as before, no stains to be found, but he still smelled it. The scent of blood which refused to leave his senses.

The image itself felt familiar - an older sibling draped on top of the other in a subtle show of affection as they tended to other things. Except that constant smell and Sonic's blank look tainted the picture, making Shadow feel discomfort in place of nostalgia.

The fox eventually stated as he looked up. "I'll go back and quickly finish up your communicator for now, alright? I'll go see the Emerald tomorrow, it will be easier once we can actually stay in contact."

Sonic gave him a somewhat guilty glance and lifted his head. "Alright." He looked around, searching for a way to change the subject. He stretched his arms out into the air. "I'll go wash all this junk off, I guess." His eyes turned to Shadow. "I advise you do the same."

Shadow blinked. "..Right." He turned towards the door. "I suppose I'm not needed anymore for now."

Tails turned to him. "I mean, you could stay longer if you want?" He tried to offer with a shy smile.

"No, I'd just get in the way. Tell me when you need anything."

The fox's smile faded. "If you say so." He turned to his desk and retrieved the unfinished communicator along with any required parts and tools.

While he kept himself busy, Shadow looked directly at Sonic, to which the hedgehog stared back quizzically. "Well, see you later, I guess."

Shadow only motioned his head towards the door with a subtle glare. Sonic raised a brow, but shrugged and obliged. "I'll come back once I'm done, bud." He said as he walked out of the garage, Shadow following close behind. Tails paid the interaction no mind as he replied with a short 'Okay', not looking up from his desk.

They stopped in the hallway, Shadow closing the door to the workshop after himself. He wasted no time and just cut to the chase. "Why do you smell like blood."

Surprisingly enough, Sonic didn't even flinch as he stared back at him. He blinked a few times before speaking. "We just fought. You smell like blood too."

"It wasn't as strong before you left."

Sonic shrugged. "Maybe I just haven't stopped bleeding in some places yet." He turned to the side. "And I'm about to take care of that." Shadow opened his mouth, trying to argue, but Sonic quickly continued. "Again, see you later Shadow, though you should stay away." He said flatly with lidded eyes and turned away, walking deeper into the house.

The dark hedgehog stared as he remained in place, left alone in the hallway.

 

He left the house without another word.

 

 

Shadow did follow this 'advice' of Sonic's and cleaned himself up the moment he got home. By the time he was done, the minor scratches and bruises have already vanished without a trace. Further proof that the new scars were far from normal for him, but it's not like he needed it. Thanks to that, he looked as if he hadn't left the house today at all, with both of his roommates staying oblivious to his meeting with Sonic and his current turmoil. He preferred it that way.

 

"I agreed to ask Sonic about getting help from G.U.N." Rouge deadpanned not long after returning home.

Shadow was attempting to distract himself with reading. The contents of the book he was already struggling to keep track of immediately evaporated from his mind at her words and his head snapped in her direction. "You what."

The bat rubbed her forehead as she sat on the chair sideways to be able to face the couch. "This whole situation is getting out of control, don't try to act like it isn't. I don't wanna do this either, but Tails is just one kid - who knows how long it will take for him to find a solution."

Shadow closed the book and shoved it down onto the couch. "They can't be trusted with shit, Rouge. Just because we work for them doesn't mean we can control what they do."

"I know, but, please - I'm really worried after what happened yesterday. We can't be sure something like that won't happen again, and-" She took a breath. "Shadow, there's something wrong with those injuries, isn't there?"

His eyes widened momentarily, but then narrowed. "Where did you get that idea?"

"The first scratches he gave you, the ones on your arm. That was a week ago already, and I've seen enough of your injuries to know how quickly they're supposed to heal. If this was normal, they'd be long gone by now."

His mouth gaped open, but he remained quiet, unable to find any counter argument.

"And I've seen you during that whole Dark Gaia incident. I wouldn't forget the only time I've seen you genuinely sick. I know gaia energy does something seriously wrong to you."

His fingers dug into his knees.

"Please, we might be getting help served to us on a silver platter, I-" She looked down with a pained expression. "I hate seeing you like this. Both of you."

"I'm fine, and he- he'll be fine eventually. I.."

"Shadow."

He squeezed his eyes shut. "I won't let them lay a hand on either me nor Sonic. The fox will get this figured out, I have some knowledge as well, I can-"

Rouge leaned forward, leaning her hands against her knees. "And how long will that take?! Besides, don't make decisions for him! If you're so insistent on staying out of this, then fine - I understand. But I want him to at least know he has that option."

Shadow attempted to answer but couldn't get himself to utter a word. Rouge was right, that is not his decision to make. But Sonic wouldn't know what he knows. Hasn't seen what he's seen.

The thought of putting Sonic under that risk made him nauseous.

"I- he-" He gritted his teeth. He stood up and turned towards his room. "You know what, do whatever you want. Just keep me out of this." He didn't let the bat answer as he quickly stomped towards his door, pressing his palms against his eyes. He slammed the door shut behind himself and pressed one hand against the wall, leaning against it as he carded his fingers through his quills.

Rouge probably thinks his reaction is based entirely on his own need for self preservation, acting to avoid facing anything remotely close to those sorts of environments. He's actively feeding into this belief, in fact. Because it isn't entirely false.

But what's mostly winning over right now is that infuriating protective instinct he's still greatly confused by. Hence why he'd rather Rouge not know about it. Because if he laid out any more hints than he already has, then she'd start asking questions. Questions he wouldn't be able to give an answer to, because he doesn't know them either.

His rational side is telling him that she's right, they might find a solution faster that way, that everything will be easier if they just chose the obvious option. She's right, this isn't even remotely his place to be making such important decisions for Sonic, no matter how awful of a mental state he's currently in. Sonic is an adult, he is one hell of an independent person, he is the same guy who had defeated actual gods in the past, and even more impressively, was able to match Shadow in skills. His... rival. Who only recently received the label of a friend.

But his less rational, preprogrammed side is just as loud. It keeps telling him that he has to do everything he can to prevent him from going there, to ensure Sonic is safe, to make sure he never goes through anything bad ever again, to go back in there and rip that stupid sports tape off his arms and yell at him for-

He slumped forwards, pressing his forehead against the wall and put his hand to his mouth. He feels like he might just throw up.

He only ever felt this strongly back when Maria was under his care. His sister whom he loved with his whole little existence. Rouge got close, but it wasn't quite the same. He loves her, of course he does, and he'd still do whatever it took to keep her safe. But it was always controlled, calm, collected. It never got to a point where he struggled to even think right under the slightest chance of a threat.

Is it.. actually even normal for his instincts to be firing off this harshly in regards to just a friend?

He felt a gag coming up his throat, but he forced himself to swallow it down. The action triggered more disgusting, wet coughs.

He'll need to change his gloves again.

 

---

 

Throughout the day, Sonic checked in on Tails every few hours to see his progress and exchange only several words, just to leave soon after to do his own thing. Tails didn't mind, as it gave him the reassurance that Sonic is still nearby and unlikely to be doing anything concerning. He wasn't sure what he was doing in between those visits, though.

Tails doesn't like thinking and acting so controlling over his own brother, but it's hard to feel at peace with how he'd been acting. But the sooner he finishes the communicator and grants them long distance contact, the better.

He likes to think that his current mindset will at least lessen once they have that.

Having set the final screw in place, the fox leaned back and sighed in relief. He flipped the device from its back to the front and pressed the power button. The screen lit up, and soon enough, he could see everything was working in order. The communicator looked the exact same as Sonic's previous one, red with a few lighter and darker accents. All that was left to do now was to copy over the contacts from Tails', since their list was kept mostly the same.

Just as he picked up his own communicator, the device buzzed with an incoming call. Rouge?

He set the other one aside and picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey there lil' guy, any chance Blue is somewhere nearby?" She sounded somewhat tired.

"Um, yeah, I'll go get him, give me a sec."

"Sure thing."

Tails stood up from his seat and walked over to the exit from his workshop. He opened the door and only peeked his head out to look around. Seeing no one there, he yelled out. "Sonic?"

Just like that, the hedgehog was almost immediately at his side, the fox only seeing in a minor flash that he was coming from upstairs. Sonic stopped in front of him expectantly, though he seemed mildly dazed. "Is it done?"

Tails leaned back, slightly startled, but quickly recollected himself. "Yeah, but uh - Rouge wants to talk to you."

Sonic blinked, but hesitantly stepped into the workshop. "Why?"

The fox only shrugged as they walked over to the table, side by side. Both of them sat down, Tails occupying his usual chair while Sonic took the stool which remained there, left behind by Shadow earlier.

"He's here."

"Hi, Rouge..." Sonic looked away with a grimace.

"Hi there Blue. Doing any better today?"

Sonic swallowed. "..Yeah." Tails gave him a worried look.

"Listen, I'm not gonna bug you any more about yesterday, but it... I have an offer, or G.U.N. has an offer, more like."

They both turned to each other in confusion. "G.U.N.? What would G.U.N. be offering to us?" Tails asked.

"After that whole incident in Empire City and Shadow getting involved they became interested in the situation. Tower says their scientists could help with finding a cure."

Sonic sneered to himself, but remained quiet.

The fox noticed his look and grimaced. "You sure that's a good idea? I dunno, G.U.N. is kinda..."

"I know. I don't trust them either. But if they really aren't bullshitting and do actually intend on helping, it could really speed up the process. Especially if you were to oversee it."

"So now they're suddenly up and ready to work when it's about me. The second the hero has an issue, they're gonna resolve it immediately, no questions asked." Sonic growled with an eye-roll. Tails looked away.

"..Yeah."

He scoffed. "If I was anyone less 'important' or whatever, they'd leave me out on the streets I bet. Or just send me to a doctor." He leaned back, crossing his arms. "Oh, doctors have no idea what to do? Uh-oh, guess you're stuck like that. Too bad, so sad." He said sarcastically, his tone dripping with acid.

"..."

"Bet if I went missing, they'd scour the planet in less than a week. Oh, just so long that they don't assume I'm dead first, that is." He squeezed his eyes shut and slumped in his seat. Tails put a hand on his arm with a pleading look. Sonic briefly flinched at the contact, but let it be. He opened his eyes, keeping his gaze on the floor with a grimace.

Rouge sighed. "Sonic, I- I know... I don't like this either, but I'm just saying. The offer is there, but whether or not you decide to take it is up to you."

Sonic looked to the device. His brows furrowed. "What did you tell them after they asked?"

"I just said I'd ask what you think. I didn't say anything besides that, they still don't even know where you currently are."

His eyes widened slightly.

"..What do you think we should do?" Tails asked.

"I'd take the risk. If you agree, I promise that me, Shadow and Omega won't be letting our eyes off you and leaving you alone with any of those weirdos. And if they try anything outside of what they were allowed, I swear they will not be walking out of there with all of their limbs attached."

The fox looked towards Sonic. He stayed quiet for a moment, before asking. "When."

"What?"

"When would we be meeting them."

"I'd need to set it up first. I'd ask about it tomorrow when I'm at the HQ, and then they'd probably decide some date for the first meeting to assess everything. After that, they'd probably start the actual examinations and tests at another time, start their research with Tails' help, et cetera. It will probably take a few weeks, but you can still do your own research in the meantime, obviously."

Sonic's sneer deepened as she explained, but he ended up answering. "Fine. Tell Tower I agree." The fox briefly turned to him with a bit of surprise.

"Okay. I'll try to hurry their asses as much as I'll be able to." She made a pause. "And, Sonic... We'll still keep looking for Knuckles, I'm not setting that matter aside."

His expression eased as his brows pinched upwards slightly. "..Okay."

"I'll update you as soon as I can. See you, you too, Tails."

"..Bye Rouge. I hope it goes well."

"See you later." Sonic's brows remained furrowed as the call ended.

The fox faced him fully. He gave him a small smile. "Let's try not to assume anything nefarious is going on. It will be nice to have some help, right?"

The hedgehog continued staring down at the table. "..Yeah."

Tails' smile dropped, but he perked up as he remembered. He leaned forward on the desk and grabbed the finished device. "Oh, your communicator is done!" He handed it to his brother.

Sonic accepted it in his hands, his brows raising. "Oh right, forgot about that." He looked at the other with a small smile. "Thank you, buddy. I really appreciate it." He put it inside his quills. His other hand twitched towards the fox's head reflexively, but soon after he forced it down.

Tails' grin returned. "No problem."

The hedgehog glanced through the window. It was already dark out. "You should rest, though. It's pretty late."

The other yawned. "Now that you mention it..."

Sonic stood up from his seat. "Come on bud, I can tuck ya to bed if you want." He said somewhat teasingly.

Tails rubbed his eyes as he followed. "I'm not a little kid anymore."

They both started walking towards the door, Sonic holding his hands behind his head. "Don't gotta be a kid to get tucked into bed. I know I would wanna get tucked in if there was someone to do it for me."

The other chuckled. "I can if you really want to."

Sonic momentarily tensed, but it was subtle enough for his sleepy brother not to notice. He waved a hand. "Nah, that's a job for the older sibling. Besides, I'll probably stay up for a bit longer, I don't wanna keep you awake."

Tails closed the door after them. "Your loss. Just don't stay up for too long, alright?"

"Hey, that's my line!" Sonic grinned.

He snickered. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth real quick." The fox said as he headed towards the bathroom.

"Alright, tell me if you changed your mind afterwards."

"Totally." Tails said as he walked into the bathroom.

 

Sonic stood in the hallway, his hands still pressed behind his head. The moment he saw the door close, his expression immediately dropped. He stared silently for a moment, then used one hand to feel for the communicator in his quills.

"Yeah, won't stay up too long..." He muttered to himself quietly.

 

 

 

---

 

 

The three Mobians approached the building warily, their leader at the very front. Each of them held onto their trusty extreme gear, always at the ready in case of the upcoming events going sour. They were set to go into some more obscure area of the city, one of which typically the less wealthy tended to reside. They passed through a shady alley at the edge of Central City, the kind not many dared lurking around in. At least it was still bright outside.

As they got closer and closer to the entrance of the brick, old building, Wave decided to speak up for the enth time during this outage. "Where in the heck are you leading us into, Jet? I really don't like this place." She kept her voice down.

"I don't know, that's where they asked to see me, so that's where we're going."

"How much money did they even offer for this thing to be worth it?!"

"They just said it'd be 'enough to make up for what we lost' or something." He air quoted. "But it's money for information, so basically free! What sorta idiot would pass up on that?"

She pinched her eye ridge. "Oh, for the love of..."

"I dunno, I agree with Jet! Sounds like a good deal!" The larger of the three added.

Jet continued. "Hey, I'm not a fan of this place either, alright? But that's why I'm taking you with me - the Babylon Rogues can take on whatever gets thrown at us!"

"Yeah!" Storm cheered.

"Sure, I guess.." The swallow responded significantly less enthusiastically as she turned her head to the side.

The group would finally reach the end of the alley, at which stood a metal door with a rectangular peep hole at the top. Jet took a final glance at his teammates and gave it an apprehensive knock.

After waiting several seconds in doubtful silence, they got a response. "Who is it." A male voice sounded through the door, though the peep hole oddly enough remained closed. It sounded oddly.. normal. They'd expected something a lot more menacing, or at least deeper if anything.

"Oh, this is Sto-!" The albatross started before Jet promptly snapped his beak shut with his hand, sending him a glare.

The hawk let go of him once he got the message across and pulled out the instructions note he received earlier. He hesitantly answered once he double checked the code. "Uh, I was supposed to say '0435'"

"This is so corny..."  Wave muttered out to herself.

The door opened right away, revealing a dark furred scruffy cat. He had a blank, almost bored look on his face as he simply stepped to the side and let the group in, barely sparing them a second glance.

The team walked in slowly one by one, regarding the bare surroundings. The room looked like some sort of lobby with an empty desk at the center and two other doors on both sides. On the opposite wall and next to the entrance stood a series of chairs, seemingly meant to use during waiting time.

Once everyone made their way inside, the cat shut the door behind them, cutting off the natural sunlight. The room did have a light on the ceiling, but not strong enough to illuminate the entire space properly with the lack of any windows. The already tense and uneasy atmosphere was only quadrupled when they heard the door getting locked.

"..So, now what-" Jet began, until the cat only passed by the group without a word and towards the door on the left side of the desk. The Mobians looked towards each other as they were momentarily left alone in the room with no clear directions. 

"I told you this is a bad idea!" Wave whisper yelled.

"Just give it a moment, maybe he just went to get the money." Jet responded.

They thankfully wouldn't have to wait long, as soon enough the door opened once more - except instead of the cat they were met with previously, they now saw an entirely different, taller figure.

Out of the room emerged a white platypus with long, wavy bangs and tinted glasses. "Good evening to the legendary thieves." He greeted with a smile and slightly lidded eyes. He held his hands behind his back as he walked up to them, his posture straight and professional. "You are the great Babylon Rogues I've heard so much about, correct?"

Jet took a step back as the platypus stood in front of him. He responded with a grimace. "Yeah, that's us. Are you the guy who wanted the interview or something?"

"Right on the money." He said with a knowing smirk.

"So where is the money?" Storm interjected.

The platypus held a hand up. "All in due time. First the service, then the payment." He dropped the hand down and back to where he held it before. He turned towards the hawk. "But I believe you are the one I have business with."

"They're staying." Jet answered sternly.

"Of course, of course, I understand the need for safety. Besides, they might be of some use as well."

He leaned back. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing threatening." He took a step to the right. "Follow me, let's talk somewhere more comfortable." He started walking towards the other door, opposite of the one he emerged out of. The group followed after another moment of hesitance, before stopping right in front of the entrance to the room. It looked like a simple office, similarly gray and poorly lit as the 'lobby'.

The platypus stepped inside and turned back towards them. "Come on in." He stomped on the ground a few times. "No traps, no nothing."

"That doesn't sound comforting." Jet stepped in despite his words.

The stranger walked behind the office desk and took a seat. "That's a shame." He gestured towards the chairs opposite of the desk. Exactly three. "Either way, take a seat if you still want what you came here for."

Each Mobian took one of their designated chairs, with Jet sat in the center, all still keeping their gear at their side. Once they were in place, the platypus took in hand an already prepared clipboard and took out a pen from a holding cup on the side of the desk. He leaned back in his chair and clicked the top of the pen.

"The three of you were involved in a recent event centered around Sonic the Hedgehog as he attempted to stop you from robbing a jeweler. Correct so far?"

"Yeah, and? Already heard that this is what you were interested in."

"Correct. Sonic has displayed some.. interesting new abilities during your fight. I'd like to know more about the details which could not be captured by simple cameras, so of course - we went straight to the closest witness. Well, asking Sonic himself would be even better, of course, but he isn't exactly available to us."

Wave raised an eyebrow. "'Us'? Who's us?"

"With all due respect, but that doesn't concern you."

Jet leaned back as he crossed his arms. "Doesn't matter as long as we get paid. So what do you wanna know?"

The platypus smiled, pointing his pen towards the hawk. "Finally asking the right questions." He pulled the pen back, hovering it over the paper.

"Y'know, since it's just Sonic you want to know more about - it might be good for you to know that I met him again not too long ago."

The stranger raised a brow, while his companions looked towards him in surprise. They stay quiet though, and the platypus responds. "Oh? Well, that depends on whether or not whatever additional information you might have found is of any value."

Jet smirks. "I assure you, it is. It was already after your goons offered the meetup, so I prodded him a healthy bit, just in case." He leans back. "Of course, I'd hope the additional effort will have some impact on the pricing."

The platypus smiled. "I see. I shall adjust it accordingly, then."

 

Notes:

I feel like this chapter is written kinda weirdly but idk I hope it's fine?

Also just to make this clear - the last segment is set in the future. Sonic didn't sneak out to meet up with Jet while you weren't looking or anything

Notes:

Check out my tumblr for more fic related art here! :)

After writing a chapter I lowkey run out of braincells required to think of a response to all of the comments so the chances of me responding are fairly low (unless it's for non spoiling questions) but please know that, and I cannot emphasize this enough, I read all of them and I absolutely adore my commenters so a lack of a reply does not mean literally anything other than me being too tired to think lmao pls do share your thoughts if you have any, smooch

Btw, I'm willing to take constructive criticism if anyone has any as my perfectionist ass always looks for mistakes so I wouldn't mind getting help with that (but maybe sandwich it with something nice just so I don't cry)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of CE AU