Chapter Text
"What?" Shadow asked, feigning innocence. He had a lot of speculations, but he didn't want to settle on anything just yet. Sonic pointed at the medallion around his neck.
"Where did you get that?" he demanded, albeit a little harshly. He never expected his arch-rival to be the fourth voice. Shadow clutched his amulet, afraid the blue blur might try to take it by force.
"It's mine."
"Impossible," Sonic dismissed, "There's no way your the fourth voice! These amulets were given to me and my sibs by my mom, so quit playing dumb and tell me where you really got it."
"I'm telling the truth," he growled then mumbled under his breath, "even if I find it hard to believe too."
"Uh huh, sure, then how did you get it?"
Shadow crossed his arms, "I don't have to explain myself to you. You know my word is good enough."
"I just want a little proof to go with that unchallengeable word, is all."
"Then see for yourself," he snapped back, reluctantly giving in. He held up the crystal, not letting go of it, and showed his counterpart the inscription. Sonic's face paled.
"No way," he breathed, "But how? I mean, there's just no way! You're literally from the past and—!"
"Actually, that's under speculation," Shadow interrupted, "As it turns out, I wasn't created afterall. I was found aboard the Ark as a child, and they operated on me. Where I really come from is still a complete mystery," he sighed, his eyes trained on the ground. Just another wild goose chase for him to follow up on.
"Well, that's good news, I guess," Sonic replied, although his mind was starting to come up with ideas about his rival's past, and some weren't exactly favorable, in his opinion. With that bit of information, it made a lot of things possible.
"Sonic!" Tails called, and the two hedgehogs looked to see the team, along with Sonic's siblings and friends, had followed them. Manic and Sonia were the first to reach them, and their eyes instantly went to the microphone-shaped medallion around Shadow's neck.
"You found him!" Sonia exclaimed happily and hugged him.
"Found who?" Shadow asked, not liking the extra attention he was getting, but another voice made him wince. His partner's.
"Shadow Terios Robotnik the Hedgehog, where in the world did you go!?" she yelled as she landed, but then she saw the amulet and her attitude did a complete turn, "Oo, where did you find this lovely little thing?"
Shadow kept it out her reach, knowing that her jewel obsession could completely take over any second. Sonia and Manic looked at each other, while Sonic laughed.
"And I thought I had a long full name!"
"Did she say Terios?" Sonia asked.
Manic rubbed his nose, "I don't know about the rest, but I definitely heard Robotnik."
"Long story," Shadow retorted with a glare and his arms crossed, "but you both heard correctly."
"Dude, you're a 'botnik?" Manic gasped, and he, along with his sister and Cy, became a little scared. The dark antihero nodded.
"In a roundabout way, yes," he answered. He was surprised he found it so easy to talk to them, "I was adopted by your Robotnik's grandfather a little over fifty years ago. Ivo and I are technically cousins, if reading the paper work correctly, not that I'm proud of it. He tainted the whole family's name with his constant attempts at world domination."
"Dude, that's crazy," Manic whistled. Sonic rubbed his chin as he thought about it.
"Wait, so you're a real Robotnik? I figured it would've been because of what happened on the Ark," he mused. Shadow looked away. It had always been a touchy subject for him.
"After living there for a few months, the professor showed me the documents and took me in. I was no longer just an experiment to him, but he came to see me as a son, and Maria became my sister."
"Wow, at least you’re one of the good ones, like Hope," he laughed, and the dark hedgehog rolled his eyes with a knowing smirk.
"Are you sure this is the right guy, Sonic?" Cyrus asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah, his medallion's legit," he answered.
"C'mon, the guy's over fifty! He's old enough to be my grandfather!" Manic argued.
"Maybe the Oracle knows what happened," Sonia reasoned.
"Why do I get the feeling that you are keeping me out of the loop?" the ebony male wondered aloud, his gaze directed at Sonic and the newcomers. Sonia was the one to answer.
"Well, there might be a slight chance we're related, or at least, closely connected," she explained and held up her own amulet, "These medallions are magical, and they were given to us by our mother when we were babies. They were meant to be a way to recognize each other and keep our family united. The fact that you have one means you are either a part of, or are very close to, our family."
"Twenty rings says you’re a brother," Rouge smirked, making her partner frown. He really hoped she wasn't right, but anything was possible at this point.
Shadow rubbed his forehead as another memory resurfaced. It had been happening ever since he defeated Black Doom, and most of his memories had been of his time aboard the Ark. But this one was different.
A purple hedgehog wrapped in a white dress and red cloak held him close. Her emerald green eyes stared into his tearfully as she kissed his cheek. He hugged her close, not ready to let go.
Her fingers touched his amulet as she said, "Just remember that as long as you wear that amulet, we will never be too far apart."
"I will."
The flashback ended as soon as it came, "Your mother. What does she look like? She wouldn't happen to be purple with green eyes, would she?"
The triplets gasped and looked at each other.
"How did you know?"
"What's going on?" Amy asked, but her question went unanswered as a large red airship hovered above them, followed by a large robot army. The triplets groaned and rolled their eyes in unison.
"Not these two idiots," Sonic muttered, "Guys, back off, this is my fight!"
"No chance!" Amy replied with her hammer in hand, "You're not doing this alone."
"We're with you, Sonic!" Silver said as he used his telekinesis to fly with Blaze not far behind.
"Don't you turn back into a loner now, bro!" Manic said as he activated his medallion.
Loner? Shadow thought, That blue moron is social maniac.
"So this is where you've been hiding, Prince Sonic," an all too familiar voice stated.
"Prince?!"
"Not now!" he groaned and spindashed through a line of robots. The others quickly joined in the fight and charged.
Silver used his powers to lift hoards of robots and disassemble them in midair, while Blaze slashed through the ones under him viciously with her flames.
Amy and Rouge tag-teamed, covering each other wherever possible. Knuckles and Vector fought back to back, using their combined strength to land powerful blows.
Charmy and Cream worked from the skies, throwing whatever they could down on the machines to distract them long enough for one of the others to deal the final blow. Espio used his honed ninja skills and weaponry to masterfully cut through the lines, leaving a clear trail for anyone following.
Omega...he was having fun using his automatic rotary cannons to take out dozens of robots at a time, all the while hurling insults at them. Tails, who had run back to get his plane, returned minutes later and attacked from above with his own set of precision guns.
Sonia and Manic activated their amulets and used their offensive abilities to fight back with Cy using a blaster he had picked up.
Sonic and Shadow were nothing but blurs as they maneuvered through the battlefield. Shadow used his chaos powers to deal swift and heavy damage, while Sonic drove through them in a lethal spindash.
The remaining triplets stole a glance at him as he raced by with his signature grin.
"He's not even using his medallion! I hope he'll be okay," Sonia said as she blasted a Swatbot with her keyboard. Shadow scoffed as he flipped over a Swatbot, which was a very new model to him, and used its head as springboard.
"He's fine. It's your pals I'm worried about," he answered and sent a volley of chaos spears to protect the two inexperienced siblings.
"Woah," Manic breathed, "Awesome!"
"Betcha can't beat me in a number count, faker!" Sonic shouted, and his counterpart smirked.
"I already have! 297, wait...302!" he called back as he rocketed through another group. He could have sworn that his more cheerful doppelgänger's smile had faltered.
"Fine! You have this one! But we race after this!"
"You're on!"
"How are they able to talk so casually in the heat of a battle?" Cy asked no one in particular. Amy's hammer flashed behind him, taking out another robot. She gingerly wiped the sweat out of her bangs as she answered.
"Robot attacks are a weekly routine at this point, even if there are a lot more today than usual. Those two are always in some sort of competition," she brushed off easily.
"Wow. I didn't think Sonic would have someone as close to his speed to compete," Sonia said as she played a note, sending a pink laser to destroy a Swatbot that was getting too close. Amy laughed as she swung her hammer like a baseball bat, striking the head of a smaller robot clean off.
"It's not finding someone to compete. It's getting them to call it quits after a battle that's the real challenge," she panted.
The entire team made quick work of the small army, and Sonic grinned up at the ship, waving cheerfully while the others took a moment to catch their breath. Those who needed to did anyway.
"Is that all you got, Sleet? Or are you gonna have to come down and actually put up a fight?" he challenged.
"I shall get you once and for all, priority-one hedgehog!" his enemy snarled.
A massive orange dingo and a half-robotized wolf exited the mobile base, and Sonic quickly took over introductions.
"Guys, meet Sleet and Dingo, Buttnik's personal lame squad," he said with a grin that made the wolf crinkle his nose. Dingo just waved.
"Hi, Sonia!"
Knuckles stood close to her protectively, and she only facepalmed, "Hi, Dingo," she replied with a half-hearted wave back.
"Doesn't she look so pretty, Sleet?"
"Shut up, you stupid buffoon! Focus!" he snapped and returned his attention to the group of heroes, "Surrender now, or I'll take you by force."
"Oo, I'm so scared," Sonic taunted and stuck out his tongue, "Catch me if you can, garlic breath!"
He zoomed around them in a cobalt whirlwind, his tenor laugh echoing from all sides. Shadow smirked. I see what he's doing.
"Let me in, faker! It takes two to twist!"
"Come on in! The wind's fine!" he called as if he had been in a pool, which was of course impossible. Shadow ignited his skates and swiftly generated a fiery second circle around Sonic's. After a few seconds, the two merged to create a blue and red tornado.
"Sleet, what's goin' on?!" Dingo asked as the two were lifted off the ground.
"That little runt has gotten faster!"
"And it looks like he has a fast friend too," he pointed out as a second outline was barely visible. The super-speeding twister moved towards the large red tank, and together the three were hovering precariously in the air.
"Shadow, close in!" Sonic yelled, and the two ran/skated closer, forcing those trapped inside to go higher.
"Toss!" the older of the two ordered. They linked arms, creating as much built-up energy as possible, before they released and sent the two bounty hunters and their ship catapulting several miles off. The two hedgehogs tumbled in opposite directions before they cut identical lines through a patch of trees, their momentum having its own effect on them. They joined the others in a matter of seconds however, both panting slightly. Sonic laughed, releasing the pent-up energy, and most of the others joined them.
Manic, in the mean time, was reluctantly giving his triplet brother ten rings.
"That's the first time I lost a bet," he joked. Vector suddenly felt for his wallet (or whatever they use to carry rings) and realized something serious.
"Hey! I'm missing my rings!" he yelled, and Sonic shot his younger brother a dirty look. Manic laughed nervously.
"What can I say? Old habits die hard," he said as he returned the stolen money and fished ten rings out of his drumstick bag and handed them to Sonic. Shadow saw this as his opportunity to slip away from the crowd, but he was once again stopped by his partner.
"And just where do you think you're going, handsome?"