Archive of Our Own

“Have fun on your date with Blue,” Rouge smirked as Shadow got his bass out of the trunk of her car.

“It’s not a date...” Shadow muttered as he closed the trunk and walked up to Sonic’s front door, his bass in hand.

“Whatever you say, hon,” She replied from behind the wheel.

Shadow rolled his eyes and rang the doorbell. Sometimes he really regretted telling Rouge about his crush, but the bat would have probably found out anyway. It took only a matter of seconds for the blue hedgehog in question to arrive his door.

“Oh, heya Shads!” Sonic said, a smile wide on his cheeks.

“Hello, Faker.”

“Aw, already with the faker stuff?” Sonic said as he let him in the house, “You know, you could always call me my name. Easier to remember, same amount of syllables…”

“I think I’ll stick with that one, thanks,” Shadow said coolly.

Sonic shook his head, his smile never leaving his face. He led his ebony counterpart to the living room, where his other siblings already were. 

Sonic’s house was surprisingly nice for it being destroyed by Eggman so often. He had painted the walls a pale blue and hung various records and band posters, a tv hung over the stone fireplace, and the whole room was lit up with a soft yellow light.

“I’m just saying that if you’re gonna be cursed to be immortal, you may as well enjoy it,” Manic said, twirling his drumsticks between his fingers, his legs swung over the armrest of his chair.

“Manic, it’s a curse . You’re not supposed to enjoy it, or it wouldn’t be a curse,” Sonia retaliated from the couch, taking a sip of her tea.

“Yeah, and I don’t think being forced to roam the seas on a ghost pirate ship for eternity and only return to land every 10 years is like a Disneyland cruise,” Tails added, fiddling with an invention in his hands.

“Okay, I get all that, but you get to control the Kraken though,” The green hedgehog said, “That’s gotta count for something.”

Sonic shook his head. “Being forced to stay on a ship for 10 years without land? No thanks pal.”

“But you’re hydrophobic, so obviously you wouldn’t enjoy it,” Tails said.

Shadow simply looked in confusion. Cursed immortality, ghost pirate ships? He figured it was probably a movie they liked or something similar.

“Alright alright, enough talk about cursed immorality and pirate ships when we have a guest over,” Sonia said, noticing the black hedgehog amongst them, “Welcome to band practice, Shadow! Or at least, it’s going to be band practice once we get our instruments out...”

In a flash of blue, green, and pink light, the medallions that the siblings wore around their necks transformed into their instruments of choice. Sonic with his electric guitar, Manic on drums, and Sonia with a synth. It was actually the first time Shadow had ever seen it, and he marveled at how convenient it must be.

“Pretty slick, huh?” Manic smirked.

“It is impressive, I’ll admit,” Shadow nodded.

“So we have a guitarist, a drummer, Sonia on the synth, Shadow on the bass and Tails with the special effects… I think this will be the best going-away present yet!” Sonic smiled, “Though, I wish you guys could stay a little longer…”

“Yeah, Jet was gonna teach me some new tricks on my extreme gear, but guess now we’ll just have to video call or something,” Manic pouted, resting his elbow on his drum set.

“You could always invite your friends over to Ilios sometime,” Sonia suggested as Shadow pulled his bass out of its case, “I’m sure they wouldn't say no, right Shadow? Wouldn't you want a nice vacation?” She asked the ebony hedgehog.

“This is my vacation,” Shadow said, plucking a string on his bass, “Whenever GUN gives me a mission, I go immediately. I don’t have the luxury of travel.”

Sonic shook his head. “And besides, leave and let Eggman take over while I’m gone? No way, not happening. Being the hero of Mobius is a full time job, sibs.”

“That blows… only 15 but we have all these responsibilities and junk,” Manic sighed.

“Only 15? I’m only 8 !”

“Yeah, must be rough for you, little bud,” Manic said, patting the yellow fox on the head before he turned to his older brother, “Hey Sonic, ‘member when Sonia got super obsessed with Micheal Jackson and we had a concert for the whole kingdom? Now those were the times!”

Sonic’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh yeah, I remember that! The whole kingdom was singing along and everything!”

“And I remember you trying to do the dances and failing miserably,” Sonia smirked.

Sonic crossed his arms. “I did not fail, thank you very much. I was amazing .”

“Who’s Micheal Jackson?” Shadow asked. 

Every head in the room turned to him, their faces filled with shock. Shadow squirmed under their gaze, embarrassment flooding his cheeks as the silence grew. Did he say the wrong thing?

“...Who’s Micheal Jackson- did you just say who’s Micheal Jackson ? Like, legitimately? Not a joke?” Sonia said in awe.

Sonic smacked his forehead. “Right- 50’s and everything… But still Shads, Micheal Jackson? Really ?”

“...Am I supposed to know who he is?”

“Um, yes? He’s a legend in music, the king of pop and all that! Didn’t Rouge ever make you listen to his music?” the blue hedgehog asked.

Shadow shrugged. “...Maybe?”

“Sweet chaos,” Manic said, shaking his head, “Sibs, group huddle time.”

Sonic, Manic, Sonia, and Tails formed a huddle on the middle of the carpet, leaving Shadow extremely confused.

“We’ve got to play something for him,” Sonic started.

“Well that goes without question, but which song though? There's so many,” Sonia said, “Should we just go with Billie Jean?”

The young fox shook his head. “I don't know, that feels too impersonal… We should probably choose a song for him specifically, not just the most popular song.”

“You should come up with the song then,” Manic said to his older brother, “You know him the best out of any of us.”

Sonic pondered for a moment before the perfect song hit him. “You Rock my World. I mean… it fits, right? Cause… you know.”

The pink hedgehog nodded. “Not very subtle, but okay. Confessing your crush in the form of a song is cute anyway.”

“Alright then, let's do it!” Manic eagerly said.

They left the huddle and went back to their instruments of choice.

“Alight Shads, even though you not knowing Micheal Jackson is a major disappointment, you have us to teach you, so it's all good!” Sonic said with a smile, “Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!”

Sonic started on his guitar before Manic joined in with his drum, keeping a steady rhythm. Soon after, Sonia joined along to make the instrumental feel whole. Sonic looked over and winked at him, causing his cheeks to color.

Sonic began to sing, his voice smooth and soft. “ My life will never be the same… 'Cause boy you came and changed the way I walk, the way I talk, I cannot explain… ”

Shadow hung onto every word he sang, absolutely enthralled by his voice. He had heard Sonic sing before, yes, but this felt… different.

“ These things I feel for you… but boy, you know it's true. stay with me, fulfill my dreams, and I'll be all you need… ”

Sonia, Manic, and Tails joined in the song. “ Feels so right... I've searched for the perfect love all my life...”

“ Searched for all my life ,” Sonic chimed in.

“ Feels like I… have finally found a perfect love this time…,” They continued before going to the chorus.

“ You rocked my world, you know you did… and everything I own I give. The rarest love who'd think I'd find, someone like you to call mine.”

They continued through the rest of the song, but Shadow never once took his eyes off Sonic. The song choice was rather ironic because Sonic was his world.

“So um… what did ya think?” The blue hedgehog asked once the song had finished, fiddling with his guitar strap.

“It was good. You... sing very well…” Shadow admitted, trying to hide the color in his cheeks.

Sonic’s ears perked up. “You really think so? Thanks!”

“Y’know, he chose that song just for you ,” Manic said with a smirk.

“ Manic !” Sonic said through gritted teeth, his face turning red.

“What?” The green hedgehog shrugged, his grin never leaving his face, “I’m just telling the truth.”

Picked it just for him? If that were the case, Shadow had a suspicion… but he quickly dismissed it. Sonic likely chose it because he thought he’d like it, nothing more.

“So um, how about we play some Queen songs? We’re rockstars after all- well maybe not you Shadow but you totally could be if you wanted to, you’ve got the looks for it. N-not in a bad way of course, just in a you look cool like a rockstar sort of way! With like the black and red and everything,” Sonic rambled.

Manic, Sonia, and Tails exchanged a look. He had the perfect opportunity , yet he still didn’t use it. It would take nothing short of a miracle for their brother to finally confess his feelings.

<-O->

After a couple of rehearsals, the big concert was just in 3 hours. The siblings had decided to rent out a waterfront venue, pulling all the stops to make this perfect. They even had purchased custom-made leather jackets bearing their band name on the back, just for the concert.

Shadow had a slight nervous feeling take root in him as the concert time edged closer, the anxiety of performing badly creeping upon him. He was sure that Sonic, Manic, and Sonia would do well, they had done tons of concerts before. But what if Shadow messed up a chord, or came in at the wrong time or-

He felt Rouge’s hand on his shoulder. “You know, I’m very proud that you're doing this, hun.” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, I know…”

“Think about it, Shadow! You, playing in front of practically all of Mobius on this stage?” She said with a flourish of her arms to exaggerate her point, “You’ll be your own rockstar, I can't help but feel a little jealous.”

“Wait, all of Mobius?” Shadow said, looking nervously at all the chairs that were there, at least 500 from what he could see. “I thought Sonic said we were just playing for his friends.”

“Sonic considers practically everyone his friend,” Rouge pointed out before noticing her brother’s anxiety, “...That’s okay with you, right?”

“Sure, yeah,” He quickly said, hating how his heart sped up at the thought. He was the ultimate lifeform , who cares about one silly concert?

“You know I’ll be right there in the front row the whole time,” She said, seemingly unconvinced.

“I know- I’m just… just going to see Sonic,” He said before turning away, leaving her there.

“...Alright then,” She said but didn’t press on.

He went backstage and passed by Tails, who was working on some last-minute kinks in the confetti launcher. 

“Ugh, why wont you start…” Tails grumbled, clicking the buttons to no avail.

Shadow looked at the machine for a minute before finding the problem, flipping over the confetti packet inside. “It was upside-down.”

“Oh… I can’t believe I missed that!” The yellow fox said as he facepalmed, “Thank’s Shadow.”

“It’s no problem.”

He got to the common area, finding Sonic… being smothered in a hug by Amy.

“Oh Sonic, I’m so glad you’re doing this concert! It’s so sweet of you giving me a front row seat and letting me backstage!”

Sonic squirmed in the pink hedgehog’s hold, but couldn’t escape. “Of course Ames, all my friends are getting nice seats…”

“And especially your girlfriend! You’ll look so dashing in your leather jacket, like a real bad boy! I’ve always wanted a boyfriend like that…'' She said, finally letting go of him, thank chaos .

“Uh, yeah sure…” Sonic said, rubbing his quills.

Shadow couldn't stand it, how Amy paraded around calling Sonic her boyfriend when he wasn't hers . A sickly, green feeling bubbled up inside of him whenever he saw her being close to him, disgustingly affectionate and clingy. And yet, Sonic didn’t do a single thing about it! He just allowed her to do it every single time !

“It’s disappointing that your siblings have to go, but at least you can spend more time with me,” She said, “I’ve been planning this date to the park, we could go sightseeing, visit the botanical garden… and end with a romantic Ferris wheel ride at the waterfront!”

Sonic nodded his head. “Sounds great, Ames…”

Shadow could hardly believe what he was hearing. He went on the Ferris wheel with Sonic, not her. He wanted to take Sonic to cool places and have romantic Ferris wheel rides- and that pink brat had no right to speak to him like that when they weren't even dating.

“I knew you’d like it! And to think, it’s almost our anniversary soon… we could do something really special then.” She smiled before standing on her tiptoes to kiss Sonic on the cheek.

He couldn’t stand this- he couldn’t stand her . He had half a mind to go over there right now and drag Sonic away from her clinginess. He grit his teeth, barely noticing himself growling.

It was then that Sonic finally noticed Shadow, and a look of shock washed over the blue hedgehog’s face. His sudden anger faltered and his fiery gaze softened, he shouldn’t feel this way. If he wanted Sonic all to himself, then how could he call himself any better than Amy?

A hot wave of shame over his extreme reaction flooded him as Sonic’s emerald green eyes stared at him. He opened his mouth to say something- anything , but no words would form. Instead, he took a step backward and then another, before bolting as fast as he could from the room.

<-O->

“I wonder what his problem was…,” Amy said after Shadow had left the building.

A horrible feeling wormed its way into Sonic’s chest, he felt like that was his fault somehow. Shadow had been angry enough to growl at him, something had to be up. He should probably check on him, but that required getting Amy off his back.

“I mean, I don’t really understand why you invited him to play with your siblings if I’m being honest,” She said as she clung onto his arm, “Do you really need a bass guitar?”

“...It makes the music feel more whole,” He said. Having Shadow there made him more whole.

“Yes, but you never even offered me a chance… We could have sang a duet together,” She said with a twinge of disappointment in her voice.

“Ames-” He started before Manic arrived in the room, drinking a bottle of cola.

“Oh hey Sonic, I was wondering where you were…” The green hedgehog said before turning to the other person, “And you’re that Amy chick, right?”

“Yep, that's me!” She smiled, letting go of Sonic’s arm to eagerly shake Manic’s hand, “It’s a shame we haven't talked much until now… Sonic’s so silly, not introducing his girlfriend to his siblings.”

Manic took a long sip of soda. “But uh, you're not really his girlfriend are you?”

“What? Of course I am!” The pink hedgehog said.

“Nah, not really,” he said nonchalantly, “You just pretend that you are and Sonic rolls along with it. Doesn’t mean you actually are.”

“Manic, not now,” Sonic hissed between gritted teeth. He really didn’t have the time for this if he wanted to check up on Shadow…

“What, am I wrong? Just because she wants to be your girlfriend doesn’t mean she actually is…” The green hedgehog shrugged.

“Oh Manic, you're so silly!” Amy said with a fake chuckle, “Of course I'm his girlfriend, our 1-and-a-half year anniversary is coming up and everything!”

Manic’s nonchalance turned to irritation. “Look, Ames- can I call you that? I’m gonna call you that. Just because my older brother over here is too scared to admit it, doesn't mean I am. You're not- ”

Before Manic could get another word out, Sonic started to drag him away. “Um, one second Amy, I’m gonna have a quick chat with Manic…”

“Oh, alright! I’ll be  here when you get back!” She said, flashing a sweet but confused smile at him as Sonic brought Manic away, much to the green hedgehog’s displeasure.

Despite Manic’s wriggling and protests, they arrived in the hallway just out of earshot.

“What gives , Sonic?” Manic frowned as he finally got free from Sonic’s grip

“What gives- you! You’re being weird to Amy and stuff, that’s what gives!”

Manic folded his arms. “Oh, so telling her that she isn’t dating you is weird?”

“Well, not necessarily, but- ”He paused before trying again,  “Look it’s just, I don’t want to hurt her Manic, she’s my friend-”

“Your friend or your girlfriend ?”

“My friend ,” Sonic reiterated.

“Then she should, I dunno, act like it ?” Manic growled.

“It’s not that simple!”

“Well it’s not as complicated as you’re making either,” His brother said, his frustration subsiding, “Look, I’m only saying this because you’re gonna have to say this sooner or later. You can’t go and pursue Shadow if you’ve got someone going around and claiming they’re your girlfriend. It’s not gonna work.”

Sonic rubbed his quills. He was right, of course he was, but he didn’t want to hurt Amy. Even if she was clingy, she was still one of Sonic’s greatest friends. He would hate to lose her- and this was way better than that…

Right?

He sunk to the ground, his back against the wall as his mind raced. He'll never be able to have the slightest chance with Shadow if this continued.

Manic put a hand on his shoulder and sat next to him. “Look- and this is speaking from someone who’s actually had experience in relationships-”

“Wait, you were in a relationship?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, I dated some guys, Sonia dated some girls, but that's not the point,” Manic quickly explained, “If you aren’t interested, then there’s no relationship. I understand that you want to keep her as a friend, but she needs to respect your decisions, Sonic. It’s kinda like ripping off duct tape from your quills; it hurts like hell when you rip out those quills, but they’ll grow back eventually.”

Sonic looked at him in confusion. “Isn’t the phrase ripping off a band-aid?”

“Yeah, but once I was being a piece of shit to Sonia and playing loads of pranks on her when she was supposed to be doing crown princess stuff, so when I woke up the next morning she covered my arms in duct tape. Needless to say, I didn’t prank her anymore after that,” Manic said with a chuckle.

“I can see why,” Sonic laughed before sighing, “...And you’re right, I do need to be honest with her… just wish me luck, alright?”

Manic helped him to his feet. “Sure thing bro, you got this!”

They gave each other a fist bump before Sonic headed back to Amy, his heart hammering in his chest. For once in his life, he felt like he got there too fast.

“Oh, you're back!” Amy said excitedly, coming over to him and abandoning her lemonade.

“Yeah, uh, I need to talk to you about something,” He said, stopping her before she could smother him in another hug or cling onto his arm

“Alright, you can always talk to me about anything.”

It was crazy to think that saving the world and defeating Eggman was easier than this. He carefully chose his words, not wanting to be too harsh nor too soft. He needed to make her listen .

“No, I mean I need to talk about us …” He rephrased, rubbing his quills, “Like how there… isn’t really an us .”

“...What do you mean, no us ?” She said, her expression unreadable. “Of course there’s an us, our anniversary is coming up-”

“No Amy, we- we don’t have an anniversary coming up. Listen, you know I care about you and stuff, but it’s not- it was never… in a romantic way. I- I put this off for far too long, but I can’t put it off for any longer.”

Amy stayed silent as she chewed on his words, which only served to make Sonic’s nerves go on edge. He closed his eyes, half expecting Amy’s Piko-Piko hammer to materialize. Instead, she just gave a defeated sigh.

“I’m sorry…”

“What?” He said in surprise, his eyes coming over.

“I’m sorry, Sonic,” She said, tears now falling from her eyes, “I- I figured this would happen eventually, just didn’t know when… And- and I was being so selfish and stupid . Chaos- I’m 13 now, I should know better, but I just kept going-”

She began to sob, tears falling freely from her face as Sonic went over to hug her. Whatever way he expected this to go, this certainly wasn’t it. His heart wrenched at seeing his dear friend cry.

“Ames, you weren’t being stupid or seplfish, just… misguided. I get it, I really do.” He said, consoling her.

“No, but I was ! You- you wanted to be with Shadow all this time but I stopped you and now you don't want to be friends with me-”

“What? No, that’s not what this is about! I’d never want to stop being friends with you, Ames, you’re amazing!”

“R-really?” She said, her sobs quieting down.

“Of course! You’re one of my best friends, and nothing will change that.”

“Oh… that's good.”

Amy let go, her sobs subsiding as she pulled out her handkerchief from her pocket and blew into it. 

“Better?” He asked.

“Yeah…,” She sighed, “I’m glad… you still want to be friends. I think this is better… I can focus about being an actual good friend instead of pretending to be your girlfriend and making you miserable.”

“I wasn’t miserable, per say-” Sonic protested before she cut him off.

“Sonic, I know you wanted to chase after Shadow when he ran away, but you didn’t because you were too scared of what I would think. I’ve been going around claiming to be your girlfriend for 1-and-a-half years, and you didn’t do a thing until your brother pointed it out. I know I was a lot, you don’t have to lie anymore.”

“Well um… if you put it that way… But I still love you Ames, always have. Just… not in a romantic way.”

“I know… and I still have a crush on you… but I think I’m okay with it staying a crush,” She said, giving him a weak smile.

“So… were all good?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, all good,” She nodded, “No more fake girlfriend stuff.”

“Good,” Sonic smiled, giving her another hug. “And uh, unrelated, but how did you know about my crush on Shadow?” He asked, his cheeks coloring.

Amy scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. “Oh please , Sonic, it’s literally super obvious.”

<-O->

Shadow was sitting on the dock, watching the summer waves in the distance. He could smell salt in the air being carried over by the gentle breeze, carrying the scent of foreign places. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, painting a serene picture of golden oranges and pinks with fluffy white clouds hanging low overhead. 

He felt none of that serenity.

All he left was the muted gray of shame and the ugly green of jealousy, a terrible feeling he just couldn’t shake. He hated this, hated how he felt right now. His claws curled into the dark wood of the dock before he looked back at his pile of stones.

He picked one up, the stone feeling cool light in his hands. He squinted his eyes towards the burning sun and tried to skip the rock, but it landed in the water and sank, just like his hopes. He huffed in frustration, taking another stone and lobbing it as far as he could into the distance.

He turned around, hearing the creak of old wood beside him.

“Would you mind if I sat here?” Sonia asked

“I’m not going to stop you,” He replied flatly, turning his head back to the sea. 

“That’s quite a throw you’ve got there,” She said as she sat next to him.

Shadow responded in a noncommittal hum. 

Sonia eyed the rock pile and picked up a stone, skipping it 8 times before it sank.

“Aw, one more and I would have broken my record…,” She mused, disappointed.

“You’ve only been able to do 8?”

“Unfortunately,” She admitted, skipping another stone. It went 5 times before it stopped. “Manic is way better at this than I am.”

Shadow picked up a stone and threw it, skipping it 14 times.

“Nice one,” She said.

He gave her a soft smile. "Thanks."

They continued skipping the cool black stones until they ran out, Shadow’s negative feelings trickling away like the water beneath them.

“So… what had you storming off anyway? The show’s gonna start soon…” She finally asked.

Shadow contemplated telling her the true origins of his frustrations. On one hand, he didn’t want Sonic to end up finding out, but… he felt like he could trust Sonia. She felt... familiar, despite him not knowing her very well.

“...Will you keep this a secret?” He asked.

“Of course, cross my heart.”

“I um… have a crush on Sonic,” He started, and just saying those words out loud felt both liberating and terrifying.

“Oh, I knew that,” She said with a soft chuckle.

Shadow’s muzzle colored at that, but he continued. “Yes, well… I saw Amy hugging Sonic and being clingy with him, and I got jealous and… growled at her. And I know that’s a silly reason to be jealous, but I just was... and it felt awful . Sonic saw me and I realized what I was doing, so I came out here to brood, I guess,” He admitted.

She nodded her head, listening intently. “You know, it isn’t inherently wrong to feel jealous.”

“Yes, it is ,” Shadow said, folding his arms, “If I’m so jealous that I growl at a person that touches Sonic, then that’s wrong. That makes me no better than Amy with her obsessiveness. And Sonic and I aren't dating, so I have no right.”

“You have a point, but it doesn’t detract from mine. Being jealous isn’t the problem, everyone feels jealous sometimes. It’s how you deal with that jealousy that makes an impact,” She explained.

“Amy is a sweet girl but… she needs to learn boundaries. I don’t doubt that she cares for Sonic, but she’s very extreme about her affection. You being jealous when she’s being clingy doesn’t make your actions the same as hers, and I’m sure Sonic recognises that.”

“But that doesn’t change the fact that I growled at her,” Shadow said stubbornly, “That doesn’t make it okay.”

“You’re right, it doesn't. But it was an accident, Shadow. As long as you apologise to Amy, and so long as it doesn’t happen again, it’s okay.”

It made sense when he thought about it… he wasn’t comparable to Amy’s actions just because he got jealous. And he didn’t hate Amy either, she was someone he highly respected due to everything she had done. Just because they both had a crush on Sonic didn’t mean that had to change.

“... You’re very wise for your age,” He decided to say.

“Well, I am a Crown Princess,” She said with a chuckle.

“Ah, right. Should I bow when you walk into rooms? Or bow in your presence?” Shadow asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious in the presence of royalty.

“Trust me, that’s not necessary,” She said with mirth, “Not with friends. Sonic would absolutely hate it if you started calling him your majesty, and Manic only uses his prince status to get free stuff, so don't do it with him, or he’ll take advantage of it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” He said, already thinking of a nickname to combat Sonic’s own for him.

“And besides,” She said, pulling Shadow to his feet, “Tonight, we're all gonna be rockstars, granted that you still want to play with us.”

“Of course I still want to play with you all!”

“Well then, let's get back then, shall we?” She smiled.

And they walked back on the beach, the warm sand crunching beneath their feet.

<-O->

Rouge wasn’t joking when she said that Sonic was friends with all of Mobius. 

Almost all of the seats in the venue were filled, when Shadow and Sonia arrived back, and people were still lined up to get in. The front rows were filled with familiar faces like Knuckles, Rouge, Omega, The Chaotix, Gadget, Big, Cream, Vanilla, The Babylon Rogues, and countless other faces. It all made Shadow’s stomach swirl. 

Amy’s seat wasn’t yet filled, so Shadow suspected she was still backstage, giving him a chance to apologize.

He went inside, trying to find the pink hedgehog and passing by the chaos of people getting prepared. He finally found a splash of bubblegum pink amongst the sea of people.

“Hey Amy,” Shadow said, tapping her on the shoulder, causing the pink hedgehog to turn around, “I need to speak with you.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Shadow.” She handed Tails a box with laser lights in it, then Shadow let her away from the rest of the group.

“So what was it you needed to speak with me about?” She asked.

“Amy… I came here to apologize to you for growling at you earlier,” He said, “It was wrong of me, not just as your friend but on principle. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, and I’m sorry for that. ”

“Well, that’s no problem, I barely noticed it, honest,” She smiled, patting his shoulder, “ And besides… I haven't been the best friend either.”

“What do you mean?” Shadow asked. He thought of Amy as a wonderful friend, she was always good-spirited.

“I haven't been a very good friend to Sonic,” She admitted, “ We um… well, can you really call it a break-up if we weren't together in the first place?”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “ Really ?” He gaped, trying to hide the slight bit of excitement in his voice.

The pink hedgehog nodded. “He said put it off for far too long, which was true. But it's almost like… this is better. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a little disheartened, sure. But I’ve never had a real relationship before because I always thought Sonic would be the one for me, but now… maybe I could open my heart and try something new. Someone new.”

“That is a positive change,” Shadow agreed.

“And in the meantime,” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a tiny mint-green bag, “Could you go and put on Sonic’s make-up for me? I was going to do it, but since I’m not his pretend girlfriend anymore, I figured you should.”

“Me? Why me?”

“First, you’ve done Rouge’s make-up plenty of times, so I know you can do it well. Second, your eyeliner is always amazing , and I won't lie and say I’m not a little jealous. And third, Sonic wanted to check up on you, so there's no reason not to.”

“ Alright,” He said, accepting the bag.

“Okay, I think he’s in his dressing room. Don’t hesitate to shoot your shot, Shadow!” She smiled, giving him a wink.

<-O->

Sonic heard a knock at his dressing room door. He got off his director’s chair and opened it, finding Shadow behind the door.

“Oh hey! I was looking for you.” The blue hedgehog said.

“Yes, Amy said the same thing,” He remarked, “She sent me here to do your make-up.”

“Ah, okay, but I didn’t know you could do make-up, Shads,” He said, plopping back into his chair.

“I do it for Rogue on special occasions,” He simply said, opening the mint green bag and placing it on the table, “Besides, you never noticed that I wear eyeliner?”

“You do? How did I not notice that after staring at you so much?” Sonic’s muzzle flushed a deep red when he noticed what he had just said, Shadow’s eyes wide in surprise. “I mean, I don't stare at you that much, just uh, a normal amount! Yep, just a normal amount of staring, no reason to get into it or think about it anymore! Normal people stare at other people, it’s a normal thing and- shit, just bury me in a hole while you’re at it,” He covered his face in his hands as he rambled, his face the color of a tomato.

Sweet chaos , did his impulsivity get him into trouble sometimes!

“Maybe later, but right now I’ve got to do this for you,” Shadow chuckled, removing Sonic’s hands from his face and tilting his chin up, “What color do you want for eyeshadow?”

“Uh, red maybe? So we can match and all.”

“Red it is then,” Shadow got out the makeup brush from his bag and Sonic closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair.

“You know, you really got to stop surprising me with these new interests. I mean, I’m gonna start feeling out of the loop after a while,” the blue hedgehog said.

“What, do you suggest we have a heart-to-heart, discussing our newly found interests?” Shadow said with mirth, brushing the red eyeshadow on one of Sonic’s eyelids, “Perhaps a picnic along with it?”

“...I wouldn’t mind it,” Sonic admitted, his heart thumping in his chest. “Having a picnic with you, that is.”

Shadow sighed. “I wouldn’t either, but it’s so hard to make the time around GUN missions…”

“Well maybe we could hang out after the concert?” Sonic suggested, “If you’re not too busy, of course.”

“That could work. And… thank you for letting me perform with you and your siblings.”

“Oh no problem! Anything for yo-” Sonic relented, stopping himself. “Anything for a friend,” He chose, but the word friend just felt.. off.

“Right… friend.” Shadow mumbled.

It didn’t take very long for Shadow to finish, Sonic staring at his reflection in the mirror. He usually didn’t do much even for shows like this, but even he was extremely impressed. He had smokey red eyeshadow in the shape of a star and a bold black eyeliner, complete with tiny red and black stars on the sides of his face.

“Whoa dude, you really did all this? This is so cool!” Sonic turned to Shadow and smiled wide, “Thanks dude!”

“Your welcome,” the black hedgehog replied, giving him a sweet smile that practically melted Sonic’s heart.

“Oh, one more thing before I totally forget,” Sonic opened one of the dresser drawers and got out a braided cord bracelet with 5 beads on it, red, yellow, blue, pink, and green. “These were Sonia’s idea, but Tails programmed them. Whenever one of us is in danger, your bead will glow and give everyone else your location so we can help! Also it's a friendship bracelet, which is a plus.”

He tied the cord around Shadow’s wrist to match the one he already had. The black hedgehog ran his thumb over the colored beads.

“It’s lovely… thank you Sonic.” he said.

There was a knock on the door before Tails peeked his head inside. “We’ve got 5 minutes until showti- Wow Sonic, that looks good on you!”

“And all thanks to Shadow!” He grinned, lightly punching Shadow’s arm.

Shadow’s face flushed in embarrassment.

“Anyway, the show starts in 5 minutes, so you’d better get everything all prepared.” The fox said, tapping his clipboard with his pen.

“Alright, sure thing!”

They followed Tails out backstage, meeting up with Sonia and Manic.

“Whoa, did Amy really do that?” Sonia gasped, “I should have asked her to do mine…”

“Nope, that was all Stripes over here!” Sonic beamed’

“I told you not to call me that…”

The blue hedgehog shrugged. “Well, you know I never listen, so...”

“Whatever, your majesty,” Shadow smirked, folding his arms.

“ Ha , he got you there!” Manic giggled.

“Hey, no, that’s a low blow!” Sonic protested.

“You mess with me, I mess with you,” Shadow said, “That’s just how the world works.”

“Bet I could make a nickname you hate more than stripes and emo short king,” Sonic challenged.

“I bet you could, but I’d just make a worse one for you.”

“Sonia, did flirting change since I dated that last guy?” Manic whispered to his sister, just loud enough for Sonic and Shadow to overhear.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” She chuckled,  “Were we missing the deep stares in each other’s eyes and the playful banter, or is that just a Mobius thing?”

“We weren’t- we’re not flirting !” Sonic’s face was the same shade as a strawberry. He suddenly found it difficult to look at Shadow. “It’s just a rival thing!”

“Maybe rivals means something different here…” Manic smirked.

“Not even that, just a Sonic and Shadow thing,” The yellow fox said.

Shadow took this opportunity to peek his head outside and look at the sea of people in the crowd, his heart racing at the sheer number of them. He staggered back as anxiety began to wash over him like angry ocean waves, his throat feeling like sandpaper.

“S-sonic, I can’t play,” He choked out, the air feeling like it was thin.

“What? Why not?” 

“T-There's so any people and I’m going to mess up and your performance will be ruined and so will your present and it will all be my fault-”

Oh. Stage fright.

“Shads,” He started, resting a hand on his companion's shoulder, and looking him deep in his crimson eyes.“The only thing that’s saying you can't do well is self doubt. We’ve practiced so much and there’s no way you’re gonna mess up, and even if you do, you shake it off and keep going. I’ve done tons of shows where I messed up, but when one of us mess up, we support each other. These jackets aren’t just for decoration, you know. Tonight, you’re part of The Underground, and we got your back, alright?”

“Yeah, you can't mess up worse than I did,” Manic chimed in, “The first time I played on stage, I totally puked in front of everyone . Easily the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

“You’ve always supported me and my ideas, so of course we’re gonna support you!” Tails said,  “I used to have the worst performance anxiety, but Sonic helped me through that, and if I can do it, I know for a fact you can!

“And, you’ve saved the world tons of time in front of everyone, this can't be that different. Just think of it as a different kind of battle- a battle against everything telling you you’re going to fail, with you emerging victorious as always!” Sonia added.

Shadow looked at the four of them, then ran his thumb over the corded bracelet he had been given earlier. He took a deep breath, then gave them a smile.

“You’re right, let's rock and roll!”

“Hell yeah!” Manic said excitedly, “Hey everyone, Underground on 3! 1, 2, 3-” 

“ Underground !” They all cheered.

Tails gave them a thumbs up before they went up on stage. Sonic, Manic, and Sonia materialized their instruments in a flash of light, while Shadow fastened the strap on his bass guitar. Cheers erupted from the crowd, and it was like music to Sonic’s ears. He grabbed the microphone in front of him.

“How’s it going, Mobius?”

<-O->

Shadow had never been to a concert, but he was sure that no concert could ever beat this one.

The crowd was going wild, enjoying every song they played and even singing along. They had been playing for over an hour, zipping through song after song. We Will Rock You, Another One Bites The Dust, Don’t Stop Me Now (Sonic’s favorite), and even songs like Layla by Derek & The Dominoes and Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana. 

And Shadow hadn’t messed up once .

“Alright everyone, it’s almost time to go,” Sonic said, “But before we blow this joint, I think there’s one little song we’re forgetting…”

Sonic gave his bad member’s a wink, signaling their big finale. They waited for the crowd to go silent, and in clear voices, they sang together in harmony.

“ Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landside, No escape from reality… ”

Sonia began on the synth, playing the instrumental as they continued to sing. “ Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see… ”

“ I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy ...” Sonic began taking the solo.

“ Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low… ”

“ Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, To me…” Sonic began playing his guitar to accompany Sonia.

The blue hedgehog took a deep breath before singing as clear as he could. “ Mama,

Just killed a man… Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, Now he's dead… ” Shadow stared in awe, it was like he put his life and soul into the music in such a captivating way. “ Mama, life had just begun, But now I've gone and thrown it all away… ”

Manic came in with the crash of his symbols, the next in line to sing. “ Mama, oooh,

Didn't mean to make you cry, If I'm not back again this time tomorrow, Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters… ”

“ Too late, my time has come, Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time… Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go, Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth…” Sonia sang, everyone playing their instruments in the background.

Shadow took a deep breath and sang, pouring every emotion he could muster into his voice. “ Mama, oooh.. I don't want to die, I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all…”

Sonic started his guitar riff, but Shadow heard the sound of machinery inching closer and closer. Soon, dozens of robots surrounded the venue, and that usually meant one thing…

“You hedgehogs just can't help but make a ruckus, can you?” Metal Sonic said, descending from the sky on his rocket shoes.

“What, you’ve never been to a concert before?” Sonic cooly said, not even stopping on his guitar. “Or maybe you just can't get past the ‘are you a robot test' to buy yourself a ticket!”

“I have no use to go to a silly concert,” Metal scoffed, crossing his arms. “I am here to do one thing and one thing only; destroy you and your miserable companions !”

“Oh really? Well I’d like to see you try!” Sonic grinned, leaping off the stage into the crowd. “Shads, no matter what, keep playing! ”

Was he out of his mind? Badniks were surrounding them on all sides, shouldn't they save everyone? 

He turned to Sonia to try to get some answers, but she just nodded her head, turning her keyboard into a keytar. “Trust us, we got this!”

“ I see a little silhouetto of a man, ” Sonic sang, kicking a badnik as he went.

“ Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango! ” Sonia returned.

“ Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening me! ” They all chorused. 

Each strum on Sonic’s guitar let out a laser blast, knocking down badniks left and right, the same could be said for Sonia’s keytar. Manic’s drums seemed to be leveling the earth itself , rising them into the water and causing the robot to electrocute and crushing other badniks.

Oh. They weren’t crazy.

Shadow smiled. Or at least not completely .

“ Galileo !” Sonic called out, frying more badniks with his laser.

“ Galileo!” Manic answered, throwing more badniks into the water.

“ Galileo!” Sonia went next, kicking a couple of badniks into a heaping pile.

Shadow went forth, surveying the chaos surrounding him and the siblings' impeccable skill. “ Galileo!”

They all chorused the next round. “ Galileo, Figaro - magnifico! "

“ I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me, ” The green hedgehog sang, destroying more robots.

“ He's just a poor boy from a poor family, Spare him his life from this monstrosity!”

“Why are you still singing?” Metal Sonic fumed. “Are you all too stupid to understand that I’m attacking you? You’re supposed to be taking this seriously!” 

Shadow chose to ignore him. “ Easy come, easy go, will you let me go ?”

“ Bismillah! No, we will not let you go!” Sonia and Manic answered.

“ Let him go! ” Sonic sang.

They continued to go back and forth. “ Bismillah! No, we will not let you go!”  

“ Let him go! ”

“ Bismillah! No, we will not let you go!”  

“ Let me go! ”

“ Will not let you go!”

“ Let me go! ”

“ Never let you go !”

“Let me go! ”

By the time they finished going back and forth, more than half the badniks were electrocuted, fried, or deactivated.

“ Ah, No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

“Oh mama mia, mama mia,” Sonic began to sing before being helped by the chorus, “ Mama mia, let me go, Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, For me! ”

Metal lunged at Sonic in an angry rage of not being taken seriously. Sonic dashed out his way and Sonia hit him with a powerful blast from her keytar. The robot paused for just a minute before he got hit by Sonic’s spin dash, not doing much damage but pushing him underneath a bit of earth Manic had levitated, sending it crashing down on Metal.

They were either completely crazy or geniuses. Shadow figured it was probably a mix of both.

“ So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye? ” Sonic sang, hopping back to the stage beside Shadow and sending him a wink.

Shadow’s confidence was soaring, just like the badniks Sonia was kicking out of sight. “ So you think you can love me and leave me to die? ”

“ Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby, ” Sonia stood over Metal, grabbing his core and beginning to crush him with her impeccable strength.

“ Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here !” Manic sang.

With the second instrumental, all the remaining badniks were rendered harmless and all the band players returned to the stage. 

Metal stood up with a grunt, sparks flying from his core. “I’ll be back, Sonic … but in the meantime, enjoy your little show,” He said, giving them a sly look before flying away.

The heavy rock died down, leaving the instrumental to the calm that it started with. “ Nothing really matters, Anyone can see… Nothing really matters, Nothing really matters to me. ” The blue hedgehog sang.

“ Any way the wind blows… ” They all chorused and Sonic played his final guitar note, ending the song.

The crowd erupted in cheers and Sonic looked over to him, beaming with happiness.

There was a supernova of emotions and colors going off inside of him, like the fireworks currently shooting off into the night sky and the confetti in the air.

And every color was bright, just like Sonic’s smile.

<-O->

Metal slammed the steel door open of Eggman’s newest base, frustrated that he had to walk half the way because his rocket shoes gave out mid-way. He dragged his claws against the side of the wall, making a horrible scraping noise against the metal. He hardly cared, he was already grumpy enough from being tossed around like a rag doll just minutes earlier.

And seriously, how was that inferior rat’s sister that strong ?

He threw the door open, brushing past the various computers and half-finished badniks to find the doctor on a video call. He signalled his arrival by kicking a discarded moto-bug shell.

“Ah, Metal, you’re back!” Eggman said, turning to his robot child, “But not without a couple dents, I see…”

“And we’ve successfully acquired the moonstone, big bro!” Orbot said over the video call, summoning Cubot to hold it up to the camera.

The yellow and black robot attempted to show it off, only for the pale blue stone to slip out of his hands, the robot fumbling with it until he finally got it under control. Orbot flashed a nervous smile and Metal shook his head. They really were idiots…

The doctor began to examine the damage done to Metal, mumbling to himself how long each dent and scratch would take to fix. “He really went for it this time, the unhinged brat...” He stopped when he reached Metal’s core, seeing that nothing had damaged the robot’s vital power source.

“Metal, your vocal module is on,” Eggman noticed, “I thought we agreed to keep it off, especially around that blue blithering idiot?”

“I wanted to talk, okay ? Is that such a bad thing?” Metal snapped.

“The last time you talked to him, you ended up going rogue,” He said before he paused. “Metal, it’s not because of you, you know that. It’s just statistically proven that-”

“Don't berate me about statistics , I know the statistics.”

“Then you understand why you can’t speak to him, not until after our victory has been executed. It’s not that I don’t want you to gloat over your arch-nemesis, but now simply isn’t the best time, alright?” He said, patting the robot on the back.

Metal shrugged him off, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes in response.

 It’s not like he didn’t understand his creator’s reasoning, the time when he became Metal Overlord and took over his empire had hurt the doctor, and after that incident, he hadn’t been allowed to roam freely without supervision for months . But still wanted a voice, he wanted to speak what was on his mind for others to hear, he wanted them to listen and pay attention to him in ways more than screaming whenever he attacked them. He couldn't explain why he wanted it so bad, but the feeling burned brightly inside of him.

“The distraction went as planned,” Orbot said, “Not a single person saw us, and security was easy to bypass. You’d think a gem thief like Rouge would have more upgraded security…”

“It is a shame I had to waste all those badniks and send you out,” Eggman mused, “But we’ll have you fixed in a day or two.”

“I want an upgrade,” Metal said.

“Yes, yes of course! We can increase your max speed and power-”

“No, I want to handle my upgrades,” Metal reiterated, “I’m making design changes.”

Eggman paused, confused. “Metal, could we ah, discuss this later?”

“Am I not allowed to make design changes either ?” The blue robot growled, clenching his fists. 

“No, no, of course you can! I suppose you are old enough to begin making your own decisions now,” The doctor said, tapping his chin.

Metal nodded, feeling content with his new privilege.

“Now then,” Eggman turned back to the video call, “Since the Moonstone has been secured, Phase one of Operation DarkSide is offically complete.”

He gave an evil grin. “ Onto phase 2 .”