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Sweat dripped down Amy’s brow as she took in weak, labored breaths, admiring the wreckage of Eggman’s latest line of badniks. This battle had caught the team by surprise and had been especially rough on them. Since the doctor disappeared again, everyone had taken a much needed break, and Robotnik had struck right when everyone’s guard was lowered. Although he was defeated again, no one was going to leave the battle unscathed. Amy thought that she had been especially lucky, maintaining only a few ugly bruises and a few minor cuts.
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had been out investigating reports of badnik sightings near Spiral Hill Village when they were quickly overwhelmed by a swarm of menacing robots. When Amy received a transmission from Tails asking for assistance, Shadow had been with her and insisted on coming with her to help.
From a few yards away, Shadow was now briskly walking towards her with his posture rigid and his fists clenched by his sides. He held Amy captive in his intense gaze, keeping her rooted in place as she pondered what the issue could be. Out of breath, the rest of the group watched as Shadow made his way up to her, too tired to ask him what was wrong. She didn’t have any time to react before his hand gripped her upper arm and they suddenly appeared in the middle of her living room.
Shadow immediately let go of Amy and turned away from her, walking away as his fists shook from both adrenaline and anger. The pink hedgehog was confused about his reaction to their victory and why he would Chaos Control them away so quickly rather than check up on Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Seeking answers, Amy followed him as he silently walked into the kitchen. He stopped right in the middle of the room, but didn’t turn around to face her.
“Shadow?” Amy called as she timidly reached out for him. He sharply turned around with such an intense glare on his face that Amy had to withdraw her hand and take a step back. After a few moments of silence, Shadow finally turned around to face her fully, arms crossed.
“...Why would you do that?” he questioned in a controlled tone. Amy could tell that he was holding back frustration, but over what, she didn’t know. At her lack of a response, Shadow quickly sucked in a breath and released a slow sigh, getting more frustrated over the lack of an explanation on Amy’s part. His fists clenched and unclenched again.
“Why were you being so reckless?” he asked, the venom in his voice now apparent. His unrelenting gaze dug right through her as if he was searching her for an answer.
After racking her brain for a few moments, Amy realized what he must have been talking about. During the battle, several super badniks that were at least three times his size had locked onto Shadow and were closing in on him from all directions. He had decided to break off from the group to lead the robots elsewhere and to keep everyone else out of harm’s way. As soon as she saw what he was doing, Amy knew that she couldn’t let him try to deal with all of those enemies alone.
As she ran after Shadow, she could see that he was already a bit worse for wear and was bleeding a considerable amount. Amy knew he could heal fast, but the sight was still something that made her stomach twist. Amy began to run even harder, pulling out her hammer and jumping over the closest robot with a shout of pure adrenaline. She managed to connect her hammer to the head of the robot she launched herself over, severely denting it and taking it out immediately. Fatigued, Amy took a second to pull her hammer out of the robot’s remains, stumbling backwards from the effort when her hammer finally popped free. Upon looking back at the rest of the fleet, she realized that the robots that were once focused on Shadow were now closing in on her. There was no way that she could move out of the way of their oncoming attack.
Suddenly, she was swept off her feet and was travelling at a dizzyingly impossible speed. Regaining her composure, she realized that Shadow was holding her while propelling them away from the horde of super badniks. She could hear the robot’s massive legs pound against the earth as they gave chase, but they were no match for Shadow’s speed. The black hedgehog’s expression was hard and focused on his surroundings, and Amy couldn’t help but admire his features while he was distracted on the task ahead.
In only a handful of seconds, they neared Sonic and the rest of the group who were almost finished with Eggman’s fleet of lower-level badniks. Catching sight of Shadow, Amy, and the machines chasing them, the team prepared themselves for one last push against Eggman’s horde of bots. Shadow raced past the rest of the group, nearing the edge of the battlefield. Once he was satisfied with his distance from the fight, Shadow came to a clean stop with assistance from his air shoes and set Amy down gently before racing back into the fray. Battered but determined, the hedgehog heroine gripped her hammer tightly and ran after him, determined to help finish the fight.
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she realized that Shadow was still waiting on an answer to his question. Taking a few seconds to relax under his intense glare, she took a deep breath to steady herself.
“...I think it’s worth it,” Amy hesitantly started. “I think being reckless is worth it if I can protect the people that I care about.” Shadow squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose at her response.
“I am the Ultimate Lifeform, it’s my job to protect others, not yours,” Shadow responded, clearly not satisfied with the answer she gave him.
Amy’s brow furrowed, confused as to what his problem was. “How can you say that? You can still get hurt!”
“My skin deflects bullets Amy. I’m basically indestructible.”
“But you can still feel pain!”
“That is irrelevant. No one can heal as quickly as I can.”
“But I hate seeing you hurt Shadow!”
“I am the most durable member of the team. It’s best if I face the bigger challenges alone.”
“But you don’t have to fight alone! Who’s looking out for you then? I wanted to help you!”
“I don’t want any help from you if you’re going to jump in front of harm’s way so easily!”
“Why won’t you just drop this, Shadow?!”
“Because I can’t lose you! I won’t allow it!” Shadow shouted, a pained expression revealing itself on his face.
Amy gasped at the intensity of his words as tears gathered in her eyes, now understanding what Shadow must have been feeling. He had lost everyone he’d ever loved, and it would only take one mistake for him to lose her too. She gave Shadow a sad but understanding look before walking over and wrapping her arms around him. Although he remained motionless, Amy wanted him to know that she would never try to purposefully cause him distress. The full horror of the situation suddenly hit her as she cried out into his chest, sobs wracking her small frame. Shadow finally hugged her to him as if she could disappear at any moment; as if she were the most precious thing in the world.
“I’m so sorry Shadow,” Amy whispered into his chest, trying to hide her tear-streaked face from him. Shadow began to lightly rub her back in comfort.
“Please… be more careful.” Shadow murmured, his voice cracking from stress as he held her closer, tucking her head underneath his chin. He had never felt like this about anyone before, alive or otherwise, and he’d be damned if he was going to lose her now. Amy turned her head sideways on his chest so that she could hear his heartbeat, internally psyching herself up to tell Shadow what she was feeling.
“There’s no way I could leave you to fight alone,” Amy began. “Why don’t we just… always stick together. I’m still going to fight alongside you Shadow, but… I’ll be more careful. For you.”
Shadow only gave a soft grunt in reply. He knew how strong Amy was, and didn’t want to discredit her strength. It wasn’t her ability to fight that worried him, it was the unpredictability that all battles against Eggman usually had, and Shadow didn’t like the odds of Amy getting hurt. However, he knew that victory often came easier when fighting alongside others, especially those that cared deeply for each other. He felt that he could be victorious against any enemy as long as he had Amy by his side. He held her closer, relieved that she was here in his arms.