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Chapter Text

Sometimes Sonic could really hate his hero status. He could be doing something really important, be called for help, and he just had to drop anything he was doing, no matter what it was. And sometimes it was the dumbest thing, like Meh Burger being out of pickles, or someone fell and had trouble getting up, or some stupid thing that didn't really need a hero at all.

Like that day, he was doing something as important and crucial as taking a nap on his hammock. He was so relaxed, it felt so nice, the hammock rocking slowly as his breath became calmer and calmer, his eyelids closing as he felt the consciousness leave his body. And right as he felt himself falling asleep, his communicator went off, making him jump of surprise and almost fall off the hammock. He groaned in annoyance as he answered the call. "Yeah…?" He said, his voice sounding more tired than what he expected. "Sonic!" He heard Amy's voice, she sounded agitated. He sat himself up. "We need your help! Shadow's in the city!" She exclaimed, and just as she said that, Sonic heard Sticks screaming in the background. Huh, he hadn't heard of Shadow in a while now, since the dark hedgehog usually didn't show himself if it wasn't for a very specific reason, like fighting Sonic, for example.

He sighed as he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes with his free hand. "I'll be there in a second." The hero said as he stood up, not waiting for an answer before stretching his limbs and finally running off to the town. Amy didn't specify exactly where they were, but Hedgehog Village wasn't that big, so it wouldn't be hard to find them.

In fact, it wasn't hard, especially since everyone except the group of heroes was running away from the Town Hall, where Sonic found both his friends and his rival, Shadow, who just teleported away from one of Knuckles' punches. Sonic noticed that the dark hedgehog, instead of teleporting behind the echidna and hitting him like he would usually do, just teleported away, in fact, it took the blue hedgehog a couple of seconds before finding him once again. He was now standing at the doors of the Town Hall.

"Okay, Shadow! Stop whatever you're doing!" Sonic exclaimed as he stepped closer to his friends, who all looked at him in relief. Shadow rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, clearly annoyed at Sonic's presence. The blue hero sometimes honestly wondered if his rival ever smiled at all. "You just can't stay away from my business, can you, Sonic?" He said, raising an eyebrow to his rival as he pronounced his name with pure venom in his voice, as if such name was the worst of insults to ever be said to anyone. "Not while you're surely doing something dangerous!" Sonic said, and after a couple of seconds, where he expected Shadow to attack, he dropped his fighting stance as he looked around, confused. "Uh… what are you doing, anyways?" He asked as he leaned his head to the side. Shadow hadn't moved from his place, hadn't attacked anyone, there was no destruction around. There was something weird going on. "You are so annoying." Shadow said instead of answering Sonic's question, finally launching himself against his rival, knocking them both to the ground.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled before quickly flying towards both hedgehogs, only getting Shadow to stand up and kick him away, the kid being catched by Knuckles. Sonic quickly stood up too, and as he was about to punch his rival, Shadow teleported away, way farther than what he would've expected from him. That was something he both loved and hated about fighting against Shadow. He had such impressive powers, and the fact that he could just teleport away from an attack made it that much harder to hit him, especially considering that he was also fast. It was frustrating, but also so exciting. So without thinking twice, Sonic ran towards him, and soon enough, they were out of the city and away from the rest of Sonic's team.

"Come on, why won't you tell me what you are planning to do so I can stop you easier?" Sonic said as he catched Shadow's fist with one hand and punched him with the other. "Why won't you stay away from me?" Shadow said back as a complaint as his hands glowed with pure power. Sonic took a step back, knowing that attack would be hard to evade, or at least he thought so, until Shadow let out a pained groan, his fists closing tight, so tight that his nails pierced holes through his white gloves. He appeared to be having trouble even moving his right arm as he forcefully tried to lift it.

Sonic's fighting stance quickly dropped at that sight. "Wow, dude, are you okay?" He asked as he took a step closer to the other hedgehog, who apparently hadn't dropped the fight since he looked at him with pure determination. "None of your business." He groaned out as he kicked Sonic to the ground, his left hand now holding his right close to his body. "Hey, hey, hey! I'm being serious, what's going on there?" Sonic said as he rolled away from Shadow's foot that was just about to step on him. "Nothing." Shadow spat out between his teeth as he once again tried to kick his rival, who only had to roll back and stand up to avoid his attack. "Can you stop being stubborn for a second? I'm trying to help! If you haven't noticed." Sonic said as he was now only avoiding attacks, not attacking. "I don't need your pity."

Sonic was about to say something else, continue his insistence, but was cut off by another voice. "Sonic!" Amy was heard calling for him, and as both hedgehogs turned to look at each other for a moment, Sonic extended one hand, reaching for the other, who without mustering a word, teleported away.

The blue hedgehog sighed before dropping his hand back down.

"Sonic, where are you?" Amy continued calling. "Hey, Ames, I'm here!" He called back as he started walking towards her voice. "There you are!" The pink hedgehog exclaimed once she spotted the young man, walking up to him and checking for any injury. "Where's Shadow?" She asked once she was satisfied with her check. The only thing she found was dirt. "I don't know." Sonic answered as he looked back to where he had come from. "What happened?" She asked, confusion in her voice as she took a step back, leaving some space between the two. "I don't know." He shrugged as he looked back at her. "Something happened to him, Ames, I saw it, it looked like he was in pain, he could barely move his arm." Sonic recalled what just happened, and Amy seemed just as confused over those events. "What did you do?" She continued her interrogation. "I tried to help him, but he just kept pushing me back."

"Well…" Amy sighed as she shrugged. "You know Shadow, there's nothing you could've done to help him if he doesn't let you." Sonic sighed too, nodding with his head. Yeah, he knew what Amy was talking about. There was no way around Shadow.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed as he flew right to his brother's arms, hugging him. Action that was quickly returned by the blue hedgehog. "Hey, buddy." Sonic said with a smile, the recent topic being quickly dropped.

"Where's Shadow? I want to kick him!" Sticks said as she looked around, making the gesture with her foot as she kicked an imaginary Shadow. "Sorry, but we don't know where he went." Amy said back, a small smile on her face since she thought the gesture was kind of funny. The other girl gasped loudly before frowning. "That coward." She whispered, as if she was deeply offended and hurt.

"I hope we see him again soon, I want to ask him if he could teach me how to teleport." Knuckles said, a dreamy smile on his face as he thought about how much cooler everything would be if he had that ability. "Ha, yeah, good luck in getting any information from him, that guy is as stubborn as a rock!" Tails jokingly said, earning a couple of laughs from Amy and Sticks, Knuckles then joined in fake and doubtful laughter, not understanding what was so funny about what Tails said.

The only one who didn't laugh was Sonic, which was a strange occurrence. The thing is, he was way too absorbed into his head as he thought about what just happened with Shadow. He remembered how bright his hands shined before they just stopped working for a second, before pain set in, making the dark hedgehog groan. Was that normal? For Shadow, at least. He had such strange powers that no one else had, so maybe they came with consequences, but there was no way to be completely sure about that, unless Shadow told him himself, but that wasn't gonna happen.

"Haha, look, Sonic didn't get the joke." Knuckles said as he pointed to the blue hedgehog, who was quickly pulled off of his own head. "Huh? No, I did get it, I was just thinking." Sonic explained, to which the red echidna only shook his head. "It's okay, Sonic, you can say it, there's no shame in not understanding a joke." He said softly, to which the blue hero rolled his eyes with a sideways smile. "Yeah, that's why you're acting like you get it." He said with a bit of sass in his voice, making the other three laugh again, laughter that Knuckles quickly joined, again, with a fake and doubtful laugh.

Even if there were distractions like that, Sonic's thoughts eventually drifted back to Shadow. At least that was what he found during that day, that even if they were in Amy's house, watching a movie, he just couldn't pay attention to it. He was still thinking about Shadow, about how weird he was acting, about what happened with his hands, about how painful he knew it was just by looking at his rival's face, about what he could've done better, what if there was a way of helping him? But he really should stop thinking about that, there was simply no way Shadow would ever let him help, and not only him, but anybody, so, it was his problem, and Sonic really had to stop thinking about it.

"Sonic?" He heard his name being called and he was, once again, being pulled out of his thoughts. He looked around, noticing how the credits were now rolling on the screen, and his four friends looking at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?” Tails asked as he inched closer to his brother trying to inspect his face, to see if he found anything weird. “You weren’t abducted by aliens, right?” Sticks asked as she pushed Tails away, standing in his previous place as she looked at Sonic with narrowed eyes. “Blink twice if you were abducted.” Sonic finally reacted, grabbing Sticks by her shoulders and lightly pushing her back. “What? No, I wasn’t abducted, I was just… Thinking.” He said as he shrugged, and now Amy took a step closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Is it about Shadow?” She asked, and Sticks gasped quietly, getting the attention. “I knew it! Shadow is an alien! He abducted you!” She exclaimed as she pointed to Sonic, to which Tails chuckled nervously. “Calm down, Sticks, Shadow isn’t an alien, I’m sure there’s a much more reasonable explanation here.” He said as he shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be cool if he was an alien, tho?” Knuckles said with raised eyebrows and a smile, waiting for a collective agreement, but all he got was sarcastic gazes from Tails, Amy and Sonic, and an annoyed one from Sticks. “Take this seriously, Knuckles, alien abduction is a serious topic.” She said as if she was obvious, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

“Anyway…” Tails muttered, trying to get past the alien discussion. “What about Shadow?” He asked as he once again turned to face Sonic. “You said he looked hurt, right?” Amy asked, and the blue hedgehog nodded with his head. “Yeah, I mean, he was in pain, and I tried to help him but-” He sighed as he rolled his eyes. “You know him.” Was what he ended his sentence with. Tails hummed in thought. “Well, if you know how Shadow is, then why are you still thinking about it? He wouldn’t ever let anyone help him, so it’s his problem.” The young fox said, still thinking. “I don’t know! It’s just- It was so weird, Shadow never shows any weakness or anything, but now he was clearly in pain! And his hands were glowing and then he could barely move them and stuff.” He explained. “Oh, dude, Shadow’s hands glow? That’s sick.” Knuckles commented as he stepped closer to the conversation. “Sick? That’s not sick! Tell me, where have you seen someone who’s not an alien have glowing hands?” Sticks asked, and Knuckles brought a finger up to his chin in thought. “I’ve never seen anyone with glowy hands.” He concluded, and Sticks nodded with her head. “Exactly!”

“So going back to the problem…” Now it was Amy who tried to cut the alien talk. “I don’t think you should worry too much over it, Shadow will deal with it on his own, so no need to be worrying yourself over something you can’t fix.” She said softly as she smiled to the other hedgehog, who only nodded with his head as she sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right…”

Chapter Text

He didn’t see Shadow after that incident, so after a couple of days passed, it became easier and easier to get his mind off of it. Sometimes he would still be accidentally reminded of it, bringing back the image of Shadow holding his arm close to his body and he groaned out in pain. That image was quite intimidating if you know that Shadow would never voluntarily show that he was in pain, so the fact that he just couldn’t hold it in meant that it was probably quite painful. And still, Sonic didn’t even know what it was.

It was easier to get his mind off of it when he was with his friends, however, when he was alone, eventually his thoughts would drift back to Shadow. At the moment, he was alone, so his mind could go anywhere it wanted. He and his friends were camping outside the town, and right now they needed wooden sticks for the campfire, so they had sent Sonic to look for some, assuming that he wouldn’t take long. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t count on the possibility of him getting distracted along the way.

He had a couple of sticks in hand when he was taken out of his head. The sound of heavy breathing, someone sucking air through their teeth, stepping on leaves. Sonic couldn’t help but follow the sounds, curious to know what was happening. He took a couple of lost steps before hearing a groan that was clearly tried to keep down, that made him feel more confident on the path he was taking, as as he took more steps he could hear the sounds becoming closer and closer, until he took a turn around a particularly big tree, finding none other than Shadow the Hedgehog himself, leaning against said tree, his forehead pressed against the trunk as his feet struggled to hold his weight.

“Shadow!” He exclaimed in surprise as he dropped the sticks to the ground and approached the other hedgehog without thinking twice. “Don’t touch me.” Shadow demanded as he took a painful step back, positioning himself in a fighting position that looked way less threatening to what it would normally look like given to his shaky legs and limpless arm. However, Sonic didn’t back away, instead he took a step closer, reaching his hand out to the darker hedgehog. Shadow extended his good hand, ready to push the other hedgehog away, however, when their hands made contact, an electric shock was sent up Sonic’s arm, but he didn’t have time to react before Shadow fell unconscious, his body collapsing and losing it’s balance, falling but not hitting the ground since Sonic was fast enough to catch him before he fell down.

The blue hero took a moment to let the pain in his arm die down before looking at the hedgehog in his arms. He was completely unconscious, and his body was warm, way warmer than what Sonic would’ve expected. After a couple of seconds of just looking at his rival, Sonic finally lifted him in his arms, which took him a couple of tries, but once he finally did it, he took the unconscious Shadow back to his friends.

“Jeez, Sonic’s taking longer than what I expected.” Tails said as he looked to the jungle, a little bit worried for his older brother. “Maybe he just got distracted by something.” Amy said as she rested her hand on top of the young fox’s shoulder. “Or maybe he fell asleep in the middle of the jungle.” Knuckles also suggested, but right after he spoke, the very well known flash of blue appeared in front of them, revealing the blue hedgehog who, without a word, left Shadow’s unconscious self on top of one of their sleeping bags, specifically his own, positioning him softly and carefully. “Sonic!” Amy exclaimed as she walked up to him, looking over to Shadow, lying on the floor with closed eyes. “What happened?” Tails asked, also looking over the dark hedgehog.

"I… I don't know." Was all that Sonic was able to say as he rubbed his arm with the opposite hand, still feeling a tingling and warm sensation on it. "Could you tell us everything that happened?" Amy asked, and that question alone took Sonic out of his daze. "I found him leaning against a tree, his legs were shaking. I tried to help him but he didn't let me, and I just kinda reached out my hand to him and he pushed it away but he… Electrocuted me? I don't think it was on purpose but just as he touched me I felt a shock up my arm, and he just fainted." That was the weird explanation Sonic managed to give as he kneeled next to the dark hedgehog. Shadow’s breathing was heavy and unleveled, Sonic wanted to reach out and feel for his heartbeat, but he feared that the other hedgehog might suddenly wake up and yank his arm off.

“I wonder what’s happening to him…” Amy mumbled as she also kneeled down on the floor, Sticks walked up to them as she crossed her arms. “So he electrocuted you? With his hand?” She asked, a bit louder than what it would sound like if she was being nice. “And you don’t think he’s an alien?” She finished as she leaned to the front, an eyebrow raised as she spoke. “I’m sorry, Sticks, but I’m sure there’s a much more reasonable explanation for this situation.” Tails said as he smiled nervously. He knew that Sticks could sometimes be really stubborn with her ideas, and that combined with the fact that it was really hard to believe her crazy ideas wasn’t a great situation. “And what is it, then?” The badger asked, and when Tails found himself unable to answer, she only hummed as she nodded with her head.

“What are we gonna do with him?” Amy asked, slightly changing the topic of conversation. “Well, I don’t know, I’m not sure he’d want us to help.” Tails said as he shrugged. Sonic quickly turned around to face him. “What? We can’t just leave him here.” The blue hedgehog said. “Since when do you care about Shadow?” Knuckles asked, not in an accusatory tone, but actually confused. “Yeah! Seems like he’s brainwashing you.” Sticks said as she walked up to Knuckles, standing next to him as if they were on the same team, even if there were not different teams at the moment. “Guys, come on, I think Sonic’s right, we’re the good guys here!” Amy said as she stood up, clasping her hands together in plea. “We can’t just leave him alone, not when he clearly needs help.” She insisted. Tails sighed as he looked down at Shadow, who even when unconscious had a troubled expression on his face.

"I guess I could check up on him, but I don't know how I'll do it if he wakes up…" He muttered, and quickly Sonic walked up to him, putting his hands on the fox's shoulders. "I'll help you, buddy." He said, completely confident in what he said. Tails just couldn't say no if his brother was so eager to do this. "Okay, but I need to get him to my workshop first." The kid agreed, making Sonic smile widely. "Can do that!" The blue hedgehog said as he kneeled down on the ground, picking Shadow up in his arms once again, and signaling for Tails to jump on his back as well. The fox doubtfully did as told. "Sorry, guys, we'll have to leave the camping for another day." Sonic said to the other three before running away, holding the unconscious hedgehog close against his own body as he also felt Tails' hands tightly grip on his shoulders.

He stopped once they got to the kid's workshop, letting him get off his back and to the ground to open the door, letting Sonic walk in and leave Shadow on a table. "D'you have a pillow?" Sonic asked, and Tails pointed to a pile of scrap pieces of metal, under them, a pillow that at some point held a very fragile item but now only accumulated dust. Sonic quickly picked it up, brushed the dust away and once again stepped closer to the table where Shadow was leaning, softly raising the hedgehog's head with one hand as he carefully slid the pillow underneath, then softly letting go of his head.

"Okay, buddy, do your thing." The blue hedgehog said as he took a step back, crossing his arms. Tails nodded with his head as he anxiously looked over the other hedgehog. He didn't even know where to begin. He feared that the moment he touched him, Shadow would wake up and attack him. But he had to help him, so he shook those thoughts out of his head and took a step closer to the table. He first grabbed Shadow's hand, the one he supposed was the injured one. "Oh, wow." He whispered, and Sonic quickly walked up to him, curious. "What is it?" He asked as he looked over Tails' shoulder. "His hand is really warm, like, very very warm." The fox explained as he handed Sonic said hand, letting him feel it, as he also reached out for the other hand, the one that was fine, surprised to find that, contrary to the other, this one was way too cold. "That can't be normal…" He whispered as he let go of Shadow's hand, grabbing a notepad and a pen, writing down his notes on Shadow's state. Sonic also grabbed the black hedgehog's other hand, gasping when he felt how cold it was. Tails now put his hand on Shadow's forehead, once again finding a strange temperature. "He might have a fever, but this is way too much." The fox explained, and the blue hedgehog nodded with his head.

The kid then grabbed Shadow's bad arm, and tried to extend it. It took a lot of effort, and once he did, sparks of electricity jumped and made their way up Shadow's arm, making him groan, and when Tails let go of his arm in surprise, it bended once again close to his body, all the electricity died down. "This might have to do with his powers, but I don't really understand how they work." Tails said as he turned around to face Sonic, who was looking at Shadow with concern. "Can't we do something?" He asked, still not letting go, still trying to do something to help. Tails sighed as he looked down to his feet in thought. "I could take a bit of blood to analyze." He said, and the hero's face once again shined with hope. "How can I help?" He asked. Tails knew there was no way back now. "Wait here." He said before walking out of the room.

Sonic sighed once he was left alone with Shadow. He turned to see the other hedgehog, and stepped closer to him. After a second of just watching his chest rise and fall back down with every breath, he reached his hand out, placing it on the hedgehog's forehead, feeling how hot it was. He sighed as his hand fell down to Shadow's cheek. It was weird to be able to touch his face so softly without getting his butt kicked. Sonic then grabbed the bad hand, and held it tight between his own two hands. He felt as if a rush of energy flowed through his arm and to his body. His eyes opened wide at the surprise of that weird feeling. He had never felt something like that before, it felt so… Invigorating, in a way. He once again tried to extend Shadow's arm, and this time, the sparks took a little longer to appear, and they also had less force. Shadow still yanked his hand away and put it close to his body.

"I'm back." Tails announced as he had a case in hand. He walked up to the table and left the case there, opening it and letting it's contents show. A syringe, plastic gloves, small bottles, sanitizer, and band-aids were seen. “Now let’s just hope this doesn’t wake him up…”

Chapter Text

What they were gonna do was: Tails was going to take a sample of blood with Sonic’s help. They had one of the plastic gloves filled with warm water, which Sonic was going to press against Shadow’s arm to help the blood flow, and Tails was going to put the syringe in. They hoped to do all of that as quickly as possible. So Sonic placed the glove right above the place where Tails was going to poke. The fox carefully and meticulously cleaned the area, and right when he was preparing the syringe, voices were heard outside. “Hi! You’re here, right?” It was Amy who spoke as she knocked on the door. Both Sonic and Tails looked at each other in concern as they sighed. The younger one dropped the syringe to the side, then approached the door, to open it. Sonic’s eyes followed him as he sat on the table, letting Shadow’s head rest on his lap. But just as Tails let the rest of their friends in, the dark hedgehog started whining and stirring awake. Sonic quickly turned back to him with fear in his eyes as he didn’t really know what to do in that situation.

“Hey, we just wanted to help too, if there’s anything you needed-” Amy was saying, but Sonic didn’t hear the rest of it since his heart dropped when Shadow’s eyes opened, their gazes immediately locking, until the black hedgehog frowned and quickly reached his good hand to punch Sonic on the face, throwing him off the table, almost falling off himself. “What do you think you’re doing, hedgehog?!” Shadow exclaimed as he forcefully tried to hold the weight of his body with his good hand against the table. Gasps were heard as the other four noticed what was happening. Sonic quickly stood up. “Hey, hey, hey! Relax for a second and let me explain it to you!” Sonic exclaimed, but Shadow only groaned as he tried to stand up, his shaky and weak legs quickly giving up and collapsing, his body falling to the ground but being catched by the blue hedgehog. “Do not touch me!” Shadow demanded as he, with one hand, reached out to Sonic’s face and tried to push him away, only getting him to look to the side instead of letting him go. "Dude, could you stop being so difficult for just a second?! We're trying to help you here!" Shadow growled as he kept squirming, trying to get out of Sonic's hold. "I do not need your stupid help." He spat with disgust as he grabbed one of Sonic's arms with his hand, trying to get him away from him.

"Hey, it's not stupid." Knuckles complained as he crossed his arms, offended. Sticks rolled her eyes as she ran up to the two fighting hedgehogs, grabbing Shadow's arm and pulling it away from the blue hedgehog. "Get away from me!" The dark hedgehog complained. "Shut up!" The badger screamed. Shadow didn't answer, his frown only deepening before he teleported away from Sonic and Sticks' hands. He didn't get too far though, appearing right besides Amy, who was able to catch him before he fell to the ground once again, his legs still being too weak to hold his weight. "You really don't get tired of this, do you?" The girl asked sarcastically as she raised an eyebrow. Shadow reached a hand to scratch Amy's face before Sonic zoomed over and stopped him. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do, Shads: You're going to tell us what's going on with you, we're going to help you, and then things are going back to normal, got it?" The hero spoke, frustrated, already fed up with how much fight the hybrid was putting up.

"I. Was. Kidnapped." Shadow spoke between his teeth with disgust in his words as he glared daggers at Sonic. The group of heroes seemed surprised. Sonic's eyes opened wide as he looked at Shadow wordlessly. He wasn't actually wrong, they did bring him there without his consent, but… "This is different!" Sonic finally spoke after a second or two, he didn't actually know for how long he stayed in silence. Shadow's frown only deepened. "Care to tell me exactly how this is different, oh, great hero?" The dark striped hedgehog asked with sarcasm. Sonic wouldn't usually be affected by sarcasm, but Shadow had a good point there, so he didn't really know how to answer.

Still, he tried.

"We're trying to help you!" He said, and Shadow rolled his eyes as he groaned. "You just don't listen." After hearing that Sonic sighed in frustration.

"Shadow, we really are just trying to help you." Tails stepped in, a little nervous as he was under the dark hedgehog's gaze. If looks could kill, he would be more than dead. "And how could I trust you?" Shadow's voice kept dripping with hatred and pure rage. Tails didn't find himself able to answer. Amy gasped, offended.

"I'm pretty sure you don't have any other option here." Sonic spoke as he leaned closer to the other hedgehog with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, you can’t even support your own weight, only one of your hands works, and your teleportation isn’t working either, so you can’t really leave, can you?” Shadow only groaned as a response. “My teleportation-” He was going to say, but the blue hedgehog interrupted him, something that clearly annoyed the black hedgehog. “You can’t control where you’re going, right? Because if you could, you wouldn’t be here now, you tried to get away earlier, but you only got closer to Amy here. That can’t be what you wanted to do, right?” The hero spoke confidently, almost in an accusatory tone. Shadow groaned once again.

“And what are you pretending to do to ‘help me’?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he almost spat out his words. Sonic doubted a little bit before answering. “Well, Tails was going to get a blood sample to analyze before you woke up-” Sonic was interrupted. “No.” Shadow said. Amy frowned, if her hands weren’t full with Shadow she would’ve crossed her arms. “What?” She asked. “You won’t get that thing close to me.” It wasn’t hard to understand that ‘that thing’ was the needle. “But it’s the easiest way to get any information…” Tails explained as he walked up to the three hedgehogs, needle in hand. Shadow squirmed, trying to get out of Amy’s hold once Tails got closer. “I DON’T CARE!” Shadow screamed once he was finally let go, falling to the floor.

The rest stayed in silence for a second, just looking at each other with surprise on their faces. It wasn’t usual for Shadow to raise his voice, he usually managed to sound intimidating by just having a low, gravelly voice, and right word choice, so he didn’t usually retort to screaming. None of them were used to hearing him screaming. Sonic sighed as he looked down to the dark hedgehog, who was now sitting on his legs, looking down to the floor as his good hand held his bad one close to his body, his breathing hard and shaky. Sonic then turned back to Tails, who was also looking at Shadow on the floor. It was obvious that Shadow was scared, no one knew the reason, but getting the needle even close to him was clearly something much too difficult. Besides, Sonic felt incredibly guilty, he knew how it felt to be scared of something common, he was scared of bodies of water, after all, and they lived on an island. He looked back at the hedgehog, he felt the need to hug him, hide him from the world, protect him from anything that could cause that kind of reaction, and decided that he really didn’t want to make him go through that, doesn’t matter what the origin of his fear was. “Tails…” He spoke up, not turning back. “Yes?” He heard the fox say back, his voice quiet and uncertain. “Is there any other option?” Tails thought for a bit before answering. Analyzing blood was the easiest way, so that’s what he wanted to go with, but Shadow clearly wasn’t going to let him. “Well, spit could also work, but it doesn’t give me as much information as blood does, and if I don’t get an answer from it then I would still need to get a blood sample…” He explained, and Sonic finally looked at him, a pleading expression on his face. “Can you still try?” He asked. Tails sighed as he nodded with his head. “Yes, I can.” He said. Amy smiled relieved, as she kneeled down to Shadow’s level, not daring to touch him. “It’s okay, no needles.” She said softly, Shadow didn’t even look at her, but it was clear that he heard her when he sighed, a shaky and weak sigh as his shoulders dropped the tension they had. “Come on, let’s get you back to the table…” Sonic spoke quietly as he also kneeled down on one knee, reaching out for the dark hedgehog.

“... I’m going.” Sticks spoke after a couple of minutes of just watching in silence. She saw enough, she wasn’t helping there, and she had things to do, so she had to go. “Yeah, thank you, guys, but now that Shadow’s collaborating I don’t think I need help.” Tails said as he put the needle away, instead getting a small tube. “Well then… Good luck, I hope you’re able to find something.” Amy said doubtful as she approached the door, waving a hand. “I hope you’re able to teleport again, so you can teach me.” Knuckles said as he also waved. And the three of them left, leaving Tails, Sonic and Shadow.

The fox looked at the blue hedgehog as he left the other hedgehog on the table. “Aren’t you going too?” He asked, and Sonic shook his head. “I’m staying.” He muttered, his eyes glued to the dark hedgehog. Tails noticed this, but didn't say anything about it, only nodded with his head as he approached Shadow, handing him the tube. “Can you spit on it? To the red line there, please.” He said, and Shadow seemed to be doing better, since he looked at the fox with disgust on his face. “That’s disgusting.” He said, and Tails shrugged. “You get used to it.” Shadow sighed before obeying. He noticed how Sonic was still looking at him before shooting him a death glare and turning around. The blue hero chuckled softly. Once Shadow was done, he handed the tube back to the two tailed fox. “Have my… Spit.” He muttered. “Thank you.” Tails said back as he grabbed the tube and put it inside a plastic bag with a zip lock. “That would be all for now, I need to analyze it before we have any answers.” The younger boy said as he turned back to face the two hedgehogs.

“I’m going home, I’m done with this.” Shadow announced, but Sonic stepped right in front of him, hands behind his back as he shook his head. “No way, I’m not leaving you alone like this, bud.” He said as he leaned lightly to the front, closer to Shadow, only getting him to see the other hedgehog's frown more closely. “I’m not your ‘bud’.” Shadow said between his teeth, and Sonic only smiled wide. “I’m taking care of you, Shads, I don’t care what you’ve got to say about it.” He said as he reached out for the other hedgehog, ready to pick him up. “Where are you going?” Tails asked as he cleaned up his working space, getting ready to check the sample. “To my shack!” Sonic answered, still trying to pick up the other hedgehog, who kept trying to push him away. “No, I’m not going to your poor attempt of a house.” Shadow complained, groaning once Sonic finally managed to get an arm around his back. “Okay, rude, you say that as if you weren’t living in a cave.” He complained. “At least my cave isn’t filthy.” Sonic gasped in fake offense. “You haven’t even gone to my house! You don’t even know what it looks like!” Shadow rolled his eyes. “You called it a ‘shack’, so I can imagine.” Sonic was going to answer, but he finally managed to pick up the other hedgehog in his arms, so he smiled widely as he took a couple of steps away from the table. “You’ll see! Bye, Tails, see you, good luck!” He said, and Tails waved at him, a small smile on his face.

“Hedgehog, put me down.” Shadow demanded, but Sonic didn’t even answer, instead, he speeded right to his home, holding the complaining hedgehog close to himself, careful not to let him fall.

Chapter Text

Once they finally arrived, Sonic quickly left Shadow on top of his hammock, to then dust the dirt away as he smiled at the other hedgehog. Shadow looked around, a raised eyebrow. “This doesn’t stray far from what I thought.” he finally said as he looked back at the other hedgehog. “You don’t have a door, and you sleep in a hammock.” He then added, and Sonic crossed his arms as he gasped. “Dude, you don’t have a door either! And you sleep on the floor!” Sonic complained, and Shadow rolled his eyes. “A cave is very different from a shack.” He explained, but the blue hedgehog clearly didn’t get it. “Whatever, you’re sleeping here.” He said as he pointed to the hammock he was sitting in. “And I… I guess I’ll sleep on the floor.” He then mumbled as he realized he had nowhere else where one could sleep. “You can take your shoes off. Here, let me help.” Sonic said as he kneeled on the floor and reached for the other hedgehog’s shoes, but Shadow quickly pushed him away, his hand against his head, making him fall down. “Do not.” Shadow spat out, glaring at the other hedgehog. “Okay, okay, I won’t.” Sonic said as he raised his hands as if to show innocence. Shadow looked at him for a couple of seconds more before sighing and looking away.

Sonic also sighed as he looked down to the floor.

He might’ve forgotten that he and Shadow were rivals, they weren’t friends, they didn’t get along. He was only helping Shadow because it was the right thing to do, but Shadow didn’t like him. So he really shouldn’t act as if they had that much trust with each other. “Well, it’s late, so… We better go to sleep now.” He said as he laid down on the floor, sighing at how stiff and cold it was. Shadow looked at him in silence for a couple of seconds, in which Sonic only looked back with curiosity. Then Shadow grabbed the pillow on the hammock, and Sonic smiled at the sight, but right before he could reach for it and say thank you, Shadow threw it right to his face, luckily it was just a pillow so it didn’t do any harm. Sonic sighed as he grabbed the pillow and placed it under his head. Even if Shadow threw it at him, he still gave him a pillow when he noticed how uncomfortable he was, so Sonic still thought of it as a nice gesture. “Thanks.” He muttered, and Shadow groaned. “Shut it.” He said as he turned around, his back facing the blue hedgehog -hiding the blush on his cheeks-, making him chuckle softly. “Goodnight, Shads.” He muttered, a small smile on his face as he felt a warm feeling bloom from his chest, making the rest of his body feel buzzy, but in a good way.

Sonic fell asleep shortly after. Shadow didn’t.

His whole body hurt too much, and now that he had nothing to distract himself with, it only hurt even more. He could cry, but he wasn’t going to do it. He wasn’t going to lie to himself, he had no idea what was going on with him, nor he would’ve known how to fix it. He held his breath as a particularly sharp pain made its way up his leg, and then down once again. It felt like his legs were eating themselves from the inside out. Another pain appeared, this time on his arm, it felt as if someone was poking him right above his elbow. He hated it, he hated it so much. He shut his eyes tight as he tried to regulate his breath, but gave up.

He decided that he just couldn’t handle it. He tried his hardest to stand up, but his legs really didn’t support his weight. He groaned in frustration as he brought a hand up to his face. He then took a deep breath before trying to focus, breathing slowly as he really tried to stay concentrated, to then teleport away, hoping that he wouldn’t end too far away. Luckily for him, he appeared right outside of Sonic’s house, in front of the sea.

He sighed in relief as he sat up on the sand, bringing his legs to his body and hugging them with his good hand. He looked at the water, heard the sounds the waves made, admired the night sky, and focused on anything other than his pain. And he felt better. He felt as if he could almost fall asleep there, but when he closed his eyes, the pain was there again. So he didn't. But he felt better.

When Sonic woke up he found that he really needed to stretch, his back wasn’t feeling great, but at least he had a pillow to rest on. After a second or two of just laying there, eyes closed, he sat up and looked at the hammock, looking for Shadow. He didn’t find him there. “Shadow?” He called quietly as he looked around his house, not finding any trace of the dark hedgehog. He stood up from his place, and still didn’t find anything. Where could he have gone? He couldn’t stand and his teleportation wasn’t working well, he had to be close. Unless he took the whole night to escape, in that case he could’ve crawled away. The blue hedgehog then looked outside, sighing in relief as he finally found Shadow, sitting outside.

He approached him, and sat down to his side. “Hey, Shads, good morning.” He said as he smiled at the dark hedgehog, who only looked at him in silence, “How did you get here?” He asked, and now Shadow looked away. “Teleported.” Sonic hummed as he also looked away, to the front, ignoring the water and focusing on the morning sky, avoiding the sun. “Did you mean to end up here or…?” He asked again, Shadow took a second to answer. “Just wanted to go outside." He mumbled his response. Sonic hummed once again. Guess it was just good luck that he ended up here, he could've gone anywhere since he couldn't control his powers at the moment.

"Are you hungry?" The blue hedgehog asked, smiling widely. He wasn't sure of what was going on, but the silence between them felt definitely weird, not necessarily bad, but it was very uncommon between the two. It was nice, even. Shadow looked at him with half lidded eyes and a raised eyebrow. "What? Are you gonna cook something? You surely don't even know how to make yourself a sandwich." He said with sarcasm. Sonic brought a hand up to his chest in fake offense. "Hey, for your information, I can make a very decent breakfast!" Shadow had to look away as he snorted, bringing a hand up to his face as if it were a crime to show his smile. "Decent at best." He muttered.

And it took Sonic a couple of seconds to react, because, had he ever heard Shadow laugh before? He really hadn't, and even if this wasn't a laugh, it was close to it, he didn't even see Shadow smiling but he knew that he was. The image of Shadow laughing took place in his head and he felt like he wanted to force Shadow to look at him just so he could see his smile. He was dying of curiosity, but he then realized that maybe he shouldn't be thinking about that, so he stopped before it was too late. His chest was already feeling tight, after all, he didn't want it to get worse.

"So, want to find out?" Sonic asked as he stood up, reaching a hand down at Shadow, knowing that even if he did take it, he still wouldn't be able to stand up. He just wanted to know if Shadow wanted to go with him or not. The dark hedgehog looked at him through narrowed eyes. "What?" Sonic asked clueless. "You expect me to believe that you wouldn't poison my food, hedgehog?" Shadow said, eyes still narrowed and glued to the other hedgehog, who whined at the response he got. "Oh, come on, Shads, I thought we were making progress here!" Sonic complained as he crossed his arms. Shadow rolled his eyes. "What can I do for you to trust me?" Sonic insisted as he kneeled down on the sand next to Shadow. "You're forgetting that we hate each other, we're sworn enemies, determined to kill the other and be the last one standing." Shadow said dramatically as he closed his fist tightly. Sonic looked at him as if he was crazy. "I think you're exaggerating a bit there, Shads, I would describe this more as a competitive rivalry." The blue hedgehog said as he raised an eyebrow. "Same thing." Shadow groaned, and Sonic chuckled softly. "Yeah, they're definitely not the same thing."

After a second of silence Sonic reached out of the other hedgehog, ready to pick him up once again, but the black hedgehog pushed his hands away, just like the last time Sonic tried to pick him up. "Dude, are you gonna do this every time?" The blue hedgehog asked, and the other boy groaned in annoyance. "I'm going to walk." He said as he tried to lift his body from the ground, using his good arm. "But Shadow, you can't." Sonic said, and was about to reach out once again for the other hedgehog, but stopped himself when he shot him a deathglare. "You can't tell me what I can or can't do." Shadow mumbled as he continued with his attempts, successfully sitting on top of his own legs. He sighed as he realized that maybe Sonic was right, but he wasn't going to admit that. "Let me at least help you…" Sonic said as he put his arm around Shadow's back, making a dark arm go around his own shoulders and helping the other hedgehog stand up.

"I swear if you ever tell anyone about this…" Shadow spoke through his teeth as he was being helped by Sonic. He wasn't really supporting his own weight, instead, he was mostly leaning against the other hedgehog, who only chuckled softly as he nodded with his head. "Don't worry, Shads, no one would know." He said back as he got inside the house once again, getting into the kitchen and seating Shadow on the counter, his feet not reaching the floor. "What am I supposed to do here?" Shadow asked as Sonic started looking around the kitchen for all the things he needed. "Uhm… You can just watch me cook, that way you'll make sure I'm not poisoning you or anything." Sonic said as he shrugged. Shadow only hummed as a response.

"Well, hope you like pancakes, 'cause that's the only thing I'm confident that it'll turn out okay." Sonic said as he put all the ingredients on the counter, next to Shadow, who only looked at them in curiosity, without saying a word. Sonic frowned at that. "What is it? You don't like pancakes?" He asked as he took a step closer to the dark hedgehog, who only shot him a quick glance before looking back down, a frown on his face. Suddenly, Sonic gasped as realization hit him, Shadow only groaned in embarrassment. "You haven't had pancakes before, have you?" The blue hedgehog asked, finding it hard to believe. The other boy once again shot him a death glare as he closed his fist tightly "Are you making fun of me, hedgehog?" He asked between his teeth as if he was spitting out poison. Sonic quickly shook his head. "No, I'm not, it's just… Surprising." He said as he shrugged, Shadow huffed as he averted his gaze to the side. "Do you even know what they are?" Sonic continued asking as he started making the famous pancakes. "Stop with the interrogatory." Shadow demanded, and even if he didn't actually answer Sonic's question, he still made it obvious.

"Well, get ready, because I'm gonna make the best pancakes ever." The hero said with a grin on his face as he started preparing their breakfast. Shadow raised an eyebrow as he watched the other's hands move. "I doubt you have the skills needed." He muttered. "Well, you'll see."

As Sonic made the pancakes, he couldn't help but smile to himself as he felt Shadow's gaze never leave him, watching him intently as he worked around the small kitchen. Something told him that it wasn't him being cautious about food poisoning, but rather curious about pancakes, and, if he was honest, he thought it was kind of cute.

Chapter Text

"Here you go." Sonic said, smiling widely as he placed a plate on Shadow's lap and handed him a fork. Shadow looked at the pancakes on his plate, all rolled up and filled with jelly, and then he looked back up to Sonic. "What are you waiting for?" The hero asked, eager for the other hedgehog to try the breakfast he just made for him. "How do I even eat this?" Shadow asked as if it was an obvious thing to question. Sonic chuckled as he placed his own plate next to where Shadow was seated. "Well, you can eat it with your hands, but only one of your hands is working so I think it would be better if you used the fork, like this." The hero said as he cut a piece of his pancake using the fork, then grabbed the piece with the same fork and finally ate it. "Now you try it." He said as he smiled at the other hedgehog.

Shadow looked down at his own plate, and carefully cut a piece of pancake. It was a little difficult considering that the plate was on his lap, so it moved a bit, and that he couldn't use his other hand to hold it in place, but he managed. Sonic watched expectantly as the dark hedgehog brought the piece of pancake to his mouth and ate it. He couldn't help but smile widely as he noticed how Shadow's eyes went wide for a second. He was clearly trying to keep down any physical reaction, but his eyes told Sonic everything. "So?" The blue hedgehog still asked, just fishing for compliments and getting his rival to say how much he liked the food he made for him. Shadow cleared his throat, sealing down any emotion that showed on his face. "It's adequate." He muttered, but the way he immediately ate another piece told another story. Sonic chuckled as he switched his attention to his own plate. "Glad you like it." He said quietly, the smile never leaving his face.

He wasn't the biggest fan of cooking, but if Shadow liked his pancakes so much he thought he could learn other recipes, hoping that Shadow would like them just as much.

A couple more minutes passed, the only sound heard was the sound the fork made against the plate when another piece of pancake was cut. Shadow finished his breakfast a bit before Sonic did, and once the two plates were empty, the blue hedgehog put them both in the sink. Right as he did that, a voice was heard calling his name.

"Sonic!" It was Amy. The hero turned to face his rival as he held a finger up. "I'll be back in a second, you wait here." He said, and Shadow shot him a look as if he were stupid, but of course, as if he could move anywhere else. Still, Sonic went to greet Amy, who was standing outside the shack, a big black bag hanging from her shoulder. "Hey." Sonic said as he walked up to her. "Good morning." Amy greeted as she smiled. "Tails told me you're taking care of Shadow, so I thought I could bring you a sleeping bag!" She said as she handed him the bag. He smiled at her. "Of course I think it's a little late now, but Tails only told me this morning." She said as she giggled. "It's okay, this is great! Thanks, Ames, I really didn't love sleeping on the floor." He said jokingly.

After a second, however, Amy stopped smiling, and took a step closer to the other hedgehog. That scared him a little, the look on her eyes with pure determination. "How is he behaving?" She asked in a whisper as she looked inside the house, Shadow not being visible since he was still in the kitchen. That question took Sonic by surprise. “You really don’t have to worry about that, we just had breakfast.” He said, also quietly, but a little confused. Amy looked at him through narrowed eyes, as if to analyze him, to see if he was telling the truth. “Where is he?” She asked as she crossed her arms. “In the kitchen, you wanna come in?” He said as he took a step aside. Amy nodded with her head as she got inside the house, then being guided by Sonic to the kitchen. Shadow was there, eyeing intently the golden ring around his wrist, on his bad hand, however, his attention quickly switched to the other two hedgehogs as they stepped into the kitchen.

Amy walked up to the dark hedgehog, a warm smile on her face as she held her hands behind her back. “Hello, Shadow, how are you feeling?” She asked, leaning her head lightly to the side. He narrowed his eyes at her. Sometimes Sonic wondered if Shadow ever did that just to make the other uncomfortable under his gaze, because, oh dear, those ruby red eyes really could make Sonic squirm under their look if he wasn’t so stubborn about holding his cool guy persona. “Why do you ask?” He asked between his teeth, clenching his jaw. “Because we’re supposed to be taking care of you, dummy.” She said, a bit sarcastically as she crossed her arms. Shadow groaned. “I still can’t walk.” He spat out, Amy hummed as in thought. “I wonder what happened to you, poor thing-” She spoke as she reached a hand out to place it on Shadow’s shoulder, however, he quickly slapped her hand away, his own hand staying rigid in the air even if her hand was now far away from him. Both Sonic and Amy looked at Shadow in surprise as he looked at his own hand, and slowly put it back down, looking aside, feeling immensely uncomfortable under those questioning gazes.

“Uhm…” Amy spoke up after a second, turning around to now face Sonic instead, holding the hand that was just slapped, not because it hurt, because the slap wasn’t that hard, but more likely as if to keep track of it, to make sure that it won’t get near Shadow again. “Tails wanted me to tell you that he will probably be ready later today with his analysis.” She said, and Sonic nodded with his head. “Okay, thank you.” He said quietly, and now it was Amy’s turn to nod. "So… I'll be going now." She said as she went past the blue hedgehog, walking back to the entrance. "Oh, well, bye then." Sonic said as he waved a hand

The blue hero then turned around to face the other hedgehog, who was only looking down, still sitting on the counter. He considered asking about what just happened, but he really didn't think he was going to get an answer, so instead he tried to think of a better way to break the tense air. He walked up to the other hedgehog and reached out. "Let me see your hand." He said softly, and Shadow looked at him in slight surprise, but of course he was quick to change his expression back to his normal flat one. The dark hedgehog only nodded with his head, but that was enough of an answer for Sonic, who grabbed Shadow by the wrist and held his hand up close to him to see. He hummed in thought as he grabbed Shadow’s fingers softly with the intention of extending them to get a better look, but right as his fingers made contact with the others, a current of electricity made its way up Sonic’s arm, causing him to drop Shadow’s hand as he quietly hissed in pain. “That keeps happening.” He mumbled as he looked at his own hand, finding nothing new. He sighed as he once again reached for Shadow’s hand, curling his fingers around his wrist. “Mind if I take the glove off?” He asked, now looking at the other hedgehog’s face as he asked, finding once again surprise that was quickly hidden. Shadow, instead of giving Sonic the permission to take his glove off, did it himself, sliding the white fabric off his hand, revealing his naked hand. Sonic hummed as he took a closer look at it. The red stripe in Shadow’s arm extended all the way up to his middle finger. That was something he thought was weird in Shadow, his red stripes, he had never seen any other mobian with stripes of this style, so sharp and in such a bright color, so different from the rest of his fur, and other thing he found weird and was just now learning about; Shadow’s claws, Sonic had claws as well, but they were short, and probably couldn’t do much damage, however, Shadow’s claws were much more noticeable, and sharp, and dangerous looking, kind of like a predator’s claws. Still, Sonic didn’t say a thing about it, preferring to keep those thoughts to himself. However, he couldn’t help but notice how, even when taking his gloves off, Shadow still kept the golden rings around his wrists.

“I’m assuming you don’t have any idea of why this is happening, right?” Sonic asking, gently letting down Shadow’s hand as he took a step back. Shadow hummed as he looked down at his own hand. He did have sort of an idea, to be honest, but, was he really going to tell Sonic about it? If he did, he would have to explain a big part of what he was to him, and that was something that he preferred to be a secret, just for him to know. He doubted for a couple of seconds, grateful for Sonic to just wait for him patiently, before sighing and shaking his head. “No idea.” He said quietly, and now it was Sonic’s turn to sigh. “How strange… Is there any chance that this has to do with your powers?” He continued asking, and if Shadow didn’t have a reputation to hold, he would’ve whined. “Probably, are you done with your interrogation?” He asked as he put his glove back on, a difficult task since his hand was completely numb. Sonic chuckled softly. “Yeah, okay, sorry.” He said as he smiled at the other hedgehog.

They stayed in silence for a couple of seconds before the blue hedgehog spoke up again. “I think we should check up on Tails.” He said as he brought his hand up to his own face, looking at the communicator on his wrist. “Even if he isn’t done with the sample, it would still be good to go help him if he needs it.” He explained now looking back up to the other hedgehog, who groaned as he rolled his eyes. “I get it, you’re nice. Stop talking and let’s go.” He said as he lightly leaned forward. Sonic chuckled as he took a step closer to the other, but now, instead of reaching his hands out, he turned around, his back facing the other boy. “What are you doing, hedgehog?” Shadow asked as he looked at Sonic as if he was crazy. “Well, I can tell you’re getting tired of being carried like a princess-” Shadow quietly thanked the fact that Sonic wasn’t looking at him, because he was pretty sure that he was blushing. “, so I thought it would be nice to carry you in another way.” Sonic explained, a wide smile on his face as he now turned his face to the side to look at his rival from over his shoulder. Shadow sighed as he put his arms around Sonic’s neck, not saying anything about the gesture, just letting the hero carry him on his back.

Once settled, Sonic speeded off to Tails’ workshop, careful not to drop the hedgehog on his back, and once there, he knocked on the door. The young fox took a couple of seconds to open the door and once he did, he appeared surprised to see the two hedgehogs waiting for him outside. Sonic had a wide, warm smile on his face, while Shadow was frowning, not even looking at him. “Oh, hey guys!” Tails said as he took a step aside, letting the two boys in. “Morning, buddy!” Sonic said back, getting inside the workshop, making Tails wonder how light Shadow was, since Sonic appeared to be carrying him without problem. “Wait, I’ll bring a chair for you.” The kid said, walking off the room with a quick pace, returning in just a couple of seconds, bringing a chair with him and leaving it right next to the two hedgehogs. It was a desk chair, with wheels, so it would be easy to move Shadow without the need to carry him. “Thanks.” Sonic mumbled as he gently set Shadow down on the chair, who quickly looked off to the side, not even daring to look at the other boy.

“I’m sorry, I’m not done with the analysis yet, I’m having a bit of trouble.” Tails shyly admitted as he put his hands behind his back. “It’s okay, bud, is there anything you need help with?” Sonic asked, looking around the workshop, finding it a little messier than what it usually was. There were some books scattered around the floor, some opened in a page, others were closed, but as far as Sonic could tell, they were all about DNA. “Actually, I want to show you guys what’s making it difficult to find anything useful.” Tails said as he approached a door at the end of the room. Sonic nodded and grabbed Shadow’s chair, taking him with him.

Chapter Text

“Please wash your hands.” Tails said as he stepped inside a proper lab, that Sonic knew existed, but had never been in it, since the fox insisted that it had to be as clean as possible and Sonic was usually running around in dirt and who knows what. Sonic did as told, and later helped Shadow too, who only groaned in complaint but didn’t do anything to stop the other. “Okay, what’s wrong?” Sonic asked as he followed Tails to a big desk with a computer screen on it, besides a couple of weird boxes that surely only science kids would understand. “So, here’s the sample.” Tails said as he put his hand on top of one of the boxes, not opening it. “And from there I can analyze it on my computer.” He continued, now pointing to the screen. “And, just to show you, this is what a common mobian’s DNA looks like.” The kid typed something on the computer, then showed an image. Sonic hummed, not really knowing what he was supposed to see, but following the kid’s explanation either way. It was just the typical image of DNA one would see in a science book. “This is my DNA, you see over here, this is what makes me a fox, with yellow fur, blue eyes, etcetera.” Sonic couldn’t help but chuckle at how much of a genius the little fox sounded like when he talked about science stuff. On the other hand, Shadow was really considering the possibility of teleporting away, not caring about where he would end up, just wanting to get away. “Now, this is Shadow’s DNA.” Tails pressed a different button, now showing a different image next to the one of his own DNA.

It certainly looked different, way more spindly, completely black with some green specks on it, and, while Tails’ DNA had clear information, just like he said, you could see that he was a yellow fox, even his two tails were indicated there, however, in Shadow’s side, only ‘hedgehog’ was written. “I expected to see more, like about his powers, any weird genetic thing he could have that could’ve caused this, but I can’t find anything, I’ve never seen anything like this.” Tails explained as he now walked around the lab, picking up some of the books he had been reading to gather information that could help. “I really tried to find anything that could help me with this, but I found nothing like it. For a minute I thought it was a problem with my machine, that’s why I put my sample as well, and you can see that it works just fine!” Sonic frowned in confusion. Yeah, he could see what the problem was. He then turned to face the dark hedgehog, who wasn’t looking at the screen, instead was fiddling with the ring around his wrist. “Do you know what could be wrong, Shads?” Sonic asked as he kneeled down on the floor, now looking up to the other boy, who groaned as he looked away. “No.” He simply said, and both Sonic and Tails sighed.

Now Tails also took a step closer, twirling his thumbs around each other in an anxious manner. “Well, I’m sorry, Shadow, but I’m gonna need a blood sample now…” He doubtfully said, not because he doubted his need for the sample, but because he doubted Shadow would let him get it. “No.” Shadow once again said, closing his fist tight. “Shads, I know you don’t like it, but it’s gonna be quick, I promise.” Sonic said as he reached out for Shadow’s hand, but the other quickly pulled away. “I said no.” Shadow said between his teeth, his words sounding as if they were pure venom. “I’m done with this.” He said, teleporting away, not letting Sonic even say a word. “Oh no.” The blue hedgehog muttered, now looking at the empty chair. “I thought he couldn’t control his powers.” Tails mumbled, and Sonic quickly turned around to face him. “He doesn’t! He can teleport whenever he wants, but he can’t choose where he teleports to! He could’ve gone anywhere!” The blue hedgehog said, clearly worried. Tails frowned, understanding why Sonic was worried, but also wondering since when had he started to care so much about his rival. “We have to find him, then.” The kid stated, and Sonic quickly nodded with his head. “I’m gonna call the others.” Sonic muttered as he tapped on his communicator, Tails only looked at him in silence. “Hey, guys?” The blue hedgehog said. “Sonic? What’s wrong?” Amy was heard, a little confused as to why he was calling them. “We lost Shadow, we gotta go find him.” The hero said quickly. “Sorry! Can’t help! I’m a little busy over here.” Sticks said, and Sonic frowned in confusion. “Can’t you drop it for a second? This is important.” He said, looking up at Tails, looking for support. Instead, the young fox only shrugged. “Nope, I’m doing something really important.” She insisted, making Sonic sigh. “I’m not doing anything important, just watching bugs.” Knuckles said. “Great, then it’s Tails, Amy, Knux and I, cool. We just have to look for him everywhere, since we have no idea of where he could be.” Sonic said as he nodded his head to himself. “Okay, we’ll tell you if we find anything.” Amy said. “And we won’t if we don’t find anything.” Knuckles added. “Great, thank you.” Sonic said as he ended the call, dropping his hands to his sides.

“Let’s go, then.” Tails said as he stepped outside his workshop. Sonic was hoping that the same situation that happened that morning would present itself again, that they would step outside and Shadow would be right there, but that wasn’t the case. He was nowhere in sight.

Sticks sighed as the call ended. She was so mad, she couldn’t believe her friends were so worried about an alien that was probably just using them, but whatever, she was going to show them true facts. And to do that, she had to go be like Amy, and go to the library.

She opened the doors, and stepped inside. It was so quiet, there weren’t many people inside. Perfect, she preferred to keep her research a secret, at least until she could prove her theory to be true. She started looking around the building for the alien section, beaming in success once she found it. She picked like four or five books, all about aliens, and sat down on the table, leaving the pile of books aside as she picked the one on top, and started reading. She was trying to find anything that could resemble Shadow, but for now, the book was only talking about the possibility of the existence of aliens, which she already knew. She groaned as she skipped a few pages, trying to find what she was looking for.

“Ah! Interested in extraterrestrial life, I see.” She heard a voice say, so she lowered the book with narrowed eyes, finding none other than Eggman standing in front of her, a book under his arm. “Yes, what are you doing here?” She spat out. Eggman just gave a couple of laughs. “Oh, nothing, I was just looking for this book about power sources in your robots in more efficient ways.” He explained as if it was nothing. Sticks told herself not to forget that, since it would probably be important for them in the future. “But you believe in aliens as well.” The doctor said as he took a step closer to the book, Sticks was still looking suspiciously at him. “You do too?” She carefully asked, and was surprised when Eggman nodded with his head. “Of course! My grandfather was a great researcher of alien DNA!” He proudly said. Sticks wondered if he was trying to put a trap on her or if he was just bragging. Still, what he said clearly interested her. “Is that book by Steven Hawk-ing? My grandfather must be mentioned in it!” The man said as he snatched the book from her hands, looking for the correct page. “Here it is!” He said as he placed the book back on the table, showing the page where his grandfather was mentioned, also showing a photo of him.

Gerald Robotnik, recognised scientific. The man was obviously related to Eggman, he just looked like an older version of him. She was almost sure by now that Eggman was just bragging, so she decided to trust him on this. “Anyway, I should be going, good luck with your exciting research about extraterrestrial life! Buh-bye!” He said as he waved a hand, walking out of the library, not checking the books.

She looked down to the book, and read the pages about Gerald’s research. It was so amazing. It talked about this project Gerald was doing with alien DNA, especifically with a race of aliens that he called ‘Black Arms’, merging the DNA from this species of alien with mobian’s DNA, project that was eventually shut down given that it was deemed as too dangerous. And with this, she decided that she would have to continue her research in another place.

Eggman had done wrong by revealing that he was related to this man.

Sonic sighed as he looked around, still not finding Shadow. He was so scared, he feared that he wouldn’t be able to find him ever. He looked down to his communicator, not finding any lost calls from any of his teammates. He whined, but decided to just call them himself. “Hey, guys, have you found anything yet?” He asked as he looked around. “Only rocks, and more rocks.” Knuckled answered. “No, I’m sorry, Sonic, I haven’t seen him.” Tails also said. “I asked everyone if they had seen him, but no one has.” Now it was Amy’s turn to answer. Sonic sighed once again. “He could be anywhere…” He mumbled, but right after saying that, he felt a strange wave of energy in his body, pushing him to the forest. “Again, I’ll call you if I find anything… Bye.” Amy said, but Sonic didn’t say anything, instead he just followed the wave of energy, guiding him through the trees. It became stronger the more he got into the forest, eventually, screams of pain were also heard. The sound sent chills down his spine, it sounded like Shadow. Sonic froze when another voice was heard. “I know, I know it hurts, I’ll give these back to you soon, I’m just going to fix them and you’ll be back to normal.” It was Eggman’s voice.

The blue hedgehog peaked around a tree, finding both the hedgehog and the man. Shadow was on the floor, his forehead pressed against the ground as he squirmed and groaned in pain, Eggman standing next to him, his back facing Sonic. “You really have to take more care of these things, Shadow, or else this will happen again.” Eggman said, in such a casual tone, as if Shadow wasn’t on the floor, screaming his guts out. It made Sonic’s blood boil. “SHUT UP!” Shadow screamed, taking both the hero and the villain by surprise. And Sonic just couldn’t help it anymore, he couldn’t just stay back and watch as this scene unfolded in front of him. He had to step in.

“What do you think you’re doing, Egghead?!” He yelled as he approached the man. Eggman turned around to face him, surprise on his face as he tightly held four golden rings. It took Sonic a second to realize that they were the rings Shadow wore around his wrists and ankles. “Sonic, can’t you stay out of our business for once?” The man asked as he crossed his arms. “Nope! You’re hurting Shadow, and I’m here to help him!” The hero exclaimed as he lowered himself to a fighting stance. Eggman shot him a cocky smile, and even if that did make Sonic a bit nervous, he didn’t let it show. “Hurting him? I’m helping him! But of course you wouldn’t know that, since you don’t even know the truth about your friend over here.” He said as he pointed to Shadow, who was now hiding his face with his arms as his whole body shook because of the screams he was holding back. Sonic looked at him in concern. “What are you planning, Eggman?” He asked, still frowning as he looked once again to the man in front of him. “Me? I’m not planning anything! Just helping an old family friend.” He said as he shrugged, the golden rings in his hands just moving around as he handled them with little to no care.

Chapter Text

Sticks groaned once she found herself outside of Eggman’s base, looking for a place where she could enter. She smiled when she found a slightly opened window. She reached for it, luckily she was pretty agile, so it wasn’t such a big problem for her to get to it, and through it. Looking around once she was finally inside. This appeared to be a bathroom. She quietly approached the door, and opened it, peeking outside. “I’m sorry, what are you doing here?” She heard, and when she looked down, she found Orbot looking up at her, head slightly leaned to the side. She narrowed her eyes at it. “None of your business.” She spat out as she crossed her arms. “Actually, I believe it is my business since you’re busting in our home, miss.” The robot said, holding a finger up as it clarified. Sticks rolled her eyes. “Show me Gerald’s Robotnik research.” That seemed to take the red robot by surprise. “Excuse me, how do you know about Gerald?” It asked, and Sticks leaned to the front, her hands on her hips as she aggressively spoke. “Egghead was bragging about him earlier.” She explained, and the robot looked down. “I’ve always told him that he has to work on his ego…” It whispered, and Sticks rolled her eyes as she pushed the robot lightly. “Come on, bolts, show me professor Robotnik’s research!” She insisted, and the robot brought its hands up in an innocent manner. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Orbot said, making Sticks groan. “Don’t act dumb, I read about it on a book, I want to know everything about it.” She said, but the robot stayed quiet, making her sigh. “Fine, keep lying, I’m going to look for it myself.” She said as she started walking down a hallway, looking around. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, miss.” Orbot said as it followed Sticks. “Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?” She asked with a bit of sass. “Cubot?” The robot called, the other robot, the yellow one, appeared from the other side of the hallway. “Yes, Orbot?” It asked happily. “Could you please press the button?” The red robot asked. “What button?” The yellow one inquired, confused as it scratched it’s head. Orbot let out what would be a sigh in an organic being, but in a robot it was only a sound. “The one next to you.” It said as it pointed to the button. Cubot looked at where Orbot was pointing, finding the button it was talking about. “Ah! That button! On it!” Cubot exclaimed as it reached for the button, pressing it.

And almost immediately, waves of menacing looking robots appeared, all around Sticks, ready to kick her out of the base. Her breath hitched, but instead of running away like a coward, she ran towards them, hitting the ones that were on her way, running down the hallway and locking herself in a room, closing the door and blocking it with a desk. She sighed as she heard the robots trying to open the door, others hitting the wall. She knew that the desk wouldn’t stay there forever, but it bought her time.

Amy sighed as she saw Tails appear in the distance. She approached him, and almost laughed when she also saw Knuckles approaching the young fox. “I almost think that Shadow just teleported out of existence.” She said as she placed her fist on her hip. Knuckles also sighed, clearly tired. “Is he invisible now?” He asked. “Normally I wouldn’t consider it a possibility, but right now? He might be, he isn’t anywhere! And the island isn’t even that big…” Tails said as he looked down. “I’m worried about Sonic, too, he was so scared when Shadow teleported away.” He added, kicking the sand with his foot. “What made him teleport away, Tails?” Amy asked, and the young fox seemed almost embarrassed to admit it. “I couldn’t get anything from the spit sample, so I told him I would have to get a blood sample, and he freaked out.” He explained, and Amy hummed in thought. “I don’t like needles either, they hurt.” Knuckles said as he nodded with his head. “Yeah, I know, Knux, but it’s not the same.” Amy said as she placed a hand on Knuckles’ arm. “It’s almost like… He has a phobia.” She said, and Tails nodded with his head. “He’s way too afraid of them, I wouldn’t be surprised if something nasty had happened to him in the past.”

Knuckles was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the sound of all their communicators going off at the same time. Tails was the one to check his own. “It’s Sticks.” He said before answering the call. “Hey, Sticks, Knuckles and Amy are with me, what happened?” He said, and was surprised to hear Sticks’ unleveled breathing. “I-I need a bit of help here, guys. I’m in Eggman’s base, there are badniks outside.” She explained, and Amy let go of a loud gasp. “Sticks, what are you doing there?!” She asked, worried. “It’s a long story, so, you’re coming to help me?” Sticks asked, and the three mobians looked at each other. “What about Sonic?” Knuckles asked. “I don’t know! He didn’t answer the call! He isn’t with you, guys?” The badger asked. “No, we don’t know where he is.” Tails answered, shaking his head. “We can try to contact him on our way there, come on.” Amy said as she took a couple of steps in direction to Eggman’s base. Both Tails and Knuckles nodded with their heads. “Stay safe, Sticks, we’re going.” Tails informed before ending the call.

“We can take the Tornado.” The fox informed, then guided his friends to his plane. “I wonder what happened to Sonic...” Amy muttered as she got on the backseat of the plane. “I’m calling him.” Knuckles said, holding his communicator up. A couple of seconds passed, and he sighed. “He isn’t answering.” Amy whined, worried. “I just hope it’s not something bad.” She said as she sighed. “It’s Sonic we're talking about, I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Tails said as he started the plane, not fully believing himself, but trying to be the optimistic one.

Sticks sighed as she let her hand fall down to her side. She then looked around the room she was in, and decided to look for what she was searching. She opened a couple of drawers, finding trash -'trash' being anything that didn’t help her-, growing nervous as the sounds from outside grew louder. “Come on, come on, come on…” She whispered as she opened another drawer, only finding a stupid toy of a small puppy. She sighed as she threw it to the other side of the room. She then reached out for another drawer, but was surprised to find it was locked.

“This must be it.” She whispered, and she now started her search for the key. She stood up, and looked over the same desk she put against the table. She opened some more drawers, finally finding a keychain, with many keys on it. Whatever, she was going to try them all until she found the correct one.

The first one wasn’t it, she groaned as she tried with the second one, once again not having any luck. The sounds from outside grew louder as she tried with the third key, whining since it took her a couple of tries to get it in the lock. The desk now started to be pushed by the door that was finally opened by a bigger robot. She held her breath as she tried with a fourth key, gasping in surprise when it successfully opened the lock. She opened the drawer, and smiled widely when she saw an old camera, and a thick folder, a photo of the same old man on the book on it. Gerald Robotnik, she found it. And right in time, since the door was now fully opened, letting the badniks in. She frowned, holding both the folder and the camera tight to her body, and right when the bigger robot was reaching out to her, a yellow beam of electricity appeared, wrapping itself around the robot’s head and throwing it down to the ground, revealing Tails, Amy and Knuckles. “Guys!” Sticks exclaimed in relief. “Come on, we have to get out of here!” Amy exclaimed as she approached the badger, grabbing her arm and pulling her. “I was hoping we could fight today!” Knuckles exclaimed, a wide smile on his face as he smashed two robots together, both falling to the ground. “We have to do this quickly! We have to go get Sonic too!” Tails said as he once again wrapped the yellow beam around a robot, and threw it against the wall. “Sonic’s still not answering?” Sticks asked as she kicked a badnik and made it fall down. “No! We have no idea what could’ve happened to him!” Amy answered.

Sonic’s frown only deepened. ‘Old family friend’? Eggman must be going crazy. “Lucky for you, my friends and I were already helping him, so you’re joining a little late, bud.” He said, which only made Eggman laugh. Sonic really wanted to punch him in the face, and honestly, he had no reason to hold back, so he did it, he punched Eggman right in the face, making him fall back a couple of steps. “Shut the fuck up, Egghead, and stay away from him.” He said, holding his fists up, ready to punch the man again if he found it necessary. Eggman looked at him, offended, as if he couldn’t believe what just happened. He huffed, dropping the rings to the floor. “Fine, but when your little friend over here dies burning from the inside out, don’t come to me crying.” He said, taking a couple of steps back, but stopping right in front of Shadow, which made Sonic tighten his fists. “Rest in peace, goodbye, Shadow, I sincerely doubt this bunch of kids will be able to help you.” He said, and finally, he walked off.

Once the man was out of sight, Sonic dropped his fighting stance, and quickly approached the dark hedgehog, looking at him, almost crying because of how worried he was. “Hey, Shads.” He mumbled, voice shaky and weak. “What did he do to you?” He then asked, and Shadow, not being able to answer, held a hand out, reaching for the rings on the floor. Sonic was surprised to see the white fabric of his gloves tinted green, a deep green that appeared from the space between his fingers. The blue hedgehog had no idea of what that was, but he didn’t give himself the time to analyze it either. He reached out for the rings and held them up. “Y-You need these?” He asked, but didn’t give Shadow the opportunity to answer, instead he just put the rings on his wrists and ankles, and once he was done, he heard Shadow groan. “Shadow?” He asked, but got no answer. He looked at his face, and found his eyes closed. He felt his breath hitch as he once again got close to Shadow’s face, bringing a finger under the dark hedgehog’s nose, sighing in relief when he felt his breathing. He was about to pick Shadow up when his communicator went off once again. He hadn’t bothered to answer before since he was much too worried about Shadow at the moment, but he thought he should answer now, not wanting his friends to worry any longer about him. “H-Hello?” He cursed under his breath at how shaky his voice still was. “Sonic! Are you okay?” Amy was heard, pure relief in her voice. “Yeah.” Sonic muttered, his hand was also shaking. “Why didn’t you answer? You made us all worried!” She then yelled, now mad at him. He sighed. “I found Shadow, he isn’t well, can we reunite at Tails’ workshop, please?” He asked, and after a second of silence, he got an answer. “Okay, see you there.” Amy said, and Sonic nodded with his head to himself. “Thank you.” He muttered as he ended the call.

He picked Shadow up, the green splatters also getting on his fur, staining it of the same green. It was warm, but once again, Sonic didn’t give himself the time to think about it, instead, he ran as fast as he could to Tails’ workshop, waiting outside for his friends to get there as well. He looked down at Shadow, who, even unconscious, still had a pained look on his face, and then he looked at the green stains in both his fur and Shadow’s fur.

Sonic looked up as he heard the sound of a plane getting closer, and sighed in relief as he saw the Tornado approaching, his four other friends on it. “We’re here!” Tails exclaimed once he landed the plane, jumping off of it and running to the two hedgehogs, looking at Shadow for a second before quickly opening the door. The other three also approached. “What happened to him?” Amy asked as she watched in horror. Sonic sighed. “I-I don’t know the full story.” He was able to say, not looking up from the hedgehog in his arms. “Come on, leave him on the table.” Tails said once he opened the door, stepping inside, being followed by his friends, Knuckles being the last one to get in, closing the door behind himself. “Is that puke?” He asked as he pointed to the green stains on the two hedgehog’s fur. Sonic shook his head, because the only thing he was sure that it wasn’t, was puke. He finally left Shadow on the table, and sighed. He then noticed the things Sticks had in hand, and raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s that?” Sonic asked, and Sticks looked at him, a proud expression on her face. “Important research.” Was her answer, and even if Sonic was a little curious, he was more worried about Shadow.

Sonic watched as Tails paced around the workshop, and was surprised to see him grabbing the same case he had earlier. “I’m gonna take a blood sample now that he’s unconscious. Sonic, please help me.” He said, and Sonic quickly nodded with his head, doing the exact same thing he had done the last time they tried to get the blood sample. This time, Tails was able to stick the needle in. Both sighed in relief, but quickly gasped when, instead of the expected red blood, a green liquid started flowing through the tin tube, the same tint of green that was staining Shadow and Sonic’s fur. Tails then looked at the blue hedgehog in surprise. And Sonic, on the other hand, felt his soul fall to the floor, the color leaving his face. He even felt dizzy, but he fought to stay standing.

He was covered in Shadow’s blood. In the nasty green blood of the hedgehog he had been so worried about.

He wanted to vomit.

“T-That’s…” Amy was heard trying to say, her voice shaking as she struggled to keep breathing. “Green blood!” Sticks exclaimed, not as surprised as anyone else. “Where have you seen a normal mobian with green blood, huh?!” She asked, so proud that she finally had concrete proof about Shadow being an alien. “Aren’t we hallucinating…?” Knuckles asked, confused. “I don’t think so…” Tails answered, eyes glued to the warm green liquid as it went up to the small sample tube. Once it was full, he took off the needle, and handed Sonic a small cotton ball. Sonic pressed it against the small wound, still feeling as if he was about to faint. “Sonic, do you want me to do it? So you can go clean up.” Amy offered, and the blue hedgehog simply nodded with his head, letting the girl take his place.

“Uhm, Sticks? What is that?” Tails asked, referring to the folder and the camera the badger was holding. “This, dear friend, is professor Gerald Robotnik’s research in alien DNA.” She proudly said, handing Tails the folder. “Robotnik…?” He asked quietly as he looked at its contents. “Isn’t that Eggman’s last name?” Knuckles asked, and Amy quickly nodded with her head. “Yeah! He’s Ivo Robotnik.” She said, and now it was Sticks’ turn to nod. “Gerald Robotnik is Eggman’s grandfather.” She explained. “How did you find out about this?” Tails asked as he looked at the photos of what Gerald would call ‘Black Arms’, a chill running down his spine at the sight of such scary creatures. “I’m just an amazing researcher.” She said as she shrugged.

Suddenly, Tails gasped, taking everyone’s attention. He quickly ran to his lab, and placed the folder down on the table as he once again showed the image of Shadow’s DNA on the computer screen, comparing it to the picture of Black Arm’s DNA. It wasn’t exactly the same, but if you paid attention, Shadow’s DNA appeared to be a mix between Black Arms and mobian. “Sticks, can we see what’s in the camera?” He asked, feeling his heart beating fast on his chest, threatening to get out. “Of course.” The girl said, placing the camera on Tails’ hand. The fox quickly plugged it to his computer. The camera was old, but luckily he was prepared, having tons of different wires. “Can you call Sonic?” The kid asked, and Amy nodded with his head, going to the bathroom to get the blue hedgehog.

She found him leaning against the sink, covering his face with both hands. “Hey…” She said quietly, Sonic looked at her through his fingers, eyes bleary, he was clearly holding back the tears. “Sticks wants to show us something… Are you okay?” Amy asked as she took a couple of steps closer to the boy, who rubbed his face with both hands. “I’m alright.” He said, and she could tell that he was lying, but she found nothing else to say, so instead, both went to the lab.

“We’re here.” Sonic announced, and Tails nodded with his head, clicking on the oldest video on the camera’s storage. The face of Gerald Robotnik was revealed, a very old looking image of him setting up the camera and sitting down on his chair.

“Advances on ‘Project Shadow’, two hours after the ultimate lifeform’s birth.” The old man said to the camera, but a small whine was heard. “Don’t call him that, gramps! He’s just Shadow!” The voice of a young girl was heard from behind the camera, none of the five mobians had any idea of who that could be. “Maria, please go play in another room, I’m doing something important here.” Gerald said, and a groan was heard. Then, the image of a little girl jumping to hug the old man was seen, and after that, the girl ran to another room. The old man sighed before continuing talking. “Project Shadow is my attempt to cure my granddaughter's disease, combining Black Arms’ mobian hedgehog’s DNA and an immense amount of Chaos Energy, to create the strongest creature ever existing. His name is Shadow, and as of now he’s doing very well, we’re running tests on him, mainly blood samples. His blood appears to be green, like the Black Arms’ blood. We’re later going to test how well he deals with pain and how fast he can heal, since we designed him to have an especially fast healing capacity.” And after saying this, the video stopped.

“So… He’s half alien.” Amy said as the second video started charging. “See? I told you! And you guys didn’t believe me.” Sticks complained, but quickly got quiet as the second video started.

“Advances on ‘Project Shadow’, two days after the ultimate lifeform’s birth. We’ve finished the first pain and healing tests, and he’s doing as expected. We injected this acid substance onto his bloodstream and even through obvious pain he was able to react to all of our stimulus, as a plus, the acid quickly evaporated off of his blood, leaving no trace of ever being there.” Sonic had to hold back from screaming at the man on the screen, knowing that it wouldn’t change anything. “No wonder he’s afraid of needles…” Tails muttered to himself. “How could they do that to him?” Sonic spoke between his teeth as he held his fists tight. “The healing tests also went greatly, showing success in our attempt to make him almost immune to any injury. We started by giving him a cut out his hand, which quickly healed, barely leaking any blood. The second test consisted in cutting one of his fingers off and testing how long it takes him to grow it back. We decided to go with the pinky finger on his left hand, and after a full day, it has grown back. The next healing test we will run consists in cutting off two of his fingers.”

The second video ended, and all of them were horrified by what they heard. “I- I think we should stop watching these…” Amy said quietly, her voice shaky. “But we might find something useful to help him…” Tails muttered, just letting the third video start. Amy decided that she didn’t want to hear any of it anymore, so she left the room, eyes glued to her feet as she slowly and quietly walked out.

"Advances on 'Project Shadow', six days after the ultimate lifeform's birth. The second healing test didn't go as expected. We got started with it, however he showed signs of fear, he put up resistance, but we still tried to continue with our test. Eventually he let out a burst of Chaos Energy, sending me and my comrades across the room. We have resorted to seal him inside the same test tube he came out of while we work on something to control his powers." After the man finished his sentence, the image changed to a photo of four golden rings.

Sonic gasped.

"These will be his inhibitor rings. We've found out that his powers are too much for his body to support, so we've found a way to control them. If he, in the future, ever takes them off, the enormous amount of Chaos Energy he possesses will start slowly destroying his body-"

"I think I know what we can do to help him." Tails said as he paused the video, walking in between his friends and outside the lab.

Knuckles quickly followed, curious to see what was happening. Sonic, before following, turned around to see Sticks. She was looking to the floor, an empty look in her eyes. The blue hedgehog sighed and walked outside the lab.

Chapter Text

"Aha!" Tails exclaimed as he held Shadow's wrist, looking at what they now knew to be one of his inhibitor rings. "What is it?" Sonic asked as he quickly approached the young fox, looking down at the hybrid on the table. "His rings, they are damaged." The kid explained, pointing to the ring. Sonic took a closer look at it, finding scratches and bumps.

"Care to explain?" Amy asked, curious. Of course she didn't fully understand what they were talking about, she skipped the last video they saw. "These rings control his powers, but they're damaged, so all the energy Shadow has is hurting him. All I have to do is figure out how these were made so I can fix them." Tails explained, and Amy nodded in understanding.

Sonic was intently looking down at Shadow when he started to stir awake. The blue hedgehog quietly gasped, getting everyone's attention, as the hybrid woke up. "Shadow." Sonic mumbled once the other hedgehog was looking at him, with confusion showing in his red eyes. "How are you feeling? Are you better now?" The hero asked as he leaned down a bit, closer to the hybrid as he looked at his face, looking for any sign of anything that could be wrong. "I'm as fine as I can get as of now." Shadow answered quietly, as if it was a secret for only Sonic to hear, as he shot quick glances at the other mobians over Sonic's shoulder. He appeared to be uncomfortable by their presence, however, he said nothing about it.

Sonic sighed in relief. "Okay, good." He muttered as he looked down for a second, quickly raising his gaze once again to the other hedgehog, a small smile on his face. "Guess what, Tails might know how to help you now." He said, and Shadow quickly turned around to see the kid, who waved at him. "You see, Shadow, we found these videos on 'Project Shadow' and-" He was interrupted. "You what?" Shadow asked, his face slowly forming into a deep frown, even his fangs showing as his eyes expressed nothing but fury.

Tails felt his mouth go dry.

"W-We found Gerald Robotnik's research a-and he talked about your rings and-" He quickly tried to explain himself, but the penetrating look Shadow was giving him made him eventually lose his train of thought. Amy quickly stepped in. "Hey, hey, no need to get aggressive here, we're just trying to help you, Shadow." She said as she held her hands up in innocence, but Shadow's completely disgusted look didn't fall, instead, he just got closer to her, his eyes appeared to be able to burn holes onto her. "I didn't want your help. You kidnapped me and left me no other option." Shadow aggressively spat out, his voice low, gravely, almost shaking with how much rage he was containing. Sonic reached out to place a hand on Shadow's shoulder, however he only received a slap. The hybrid then turned around to look at him. "Do not fucking touch me." He said.

The dark hedgehog then made an attempt to stand up, Sonic once again reaching out to help but only being rejected. Instead, Shadow fell down to his feet, biting his lower lip as if to hold back a scream of pain. Waves of green electricity appeared around Shadow's body as he struggled to stay on his feet.

Sticks let out a long sigh before stepping forward, getting closer to the furious hybrid. "It was my idea, okay? I was so sure that you were an alien and I wanted them to believe me, don't be mad at them, it was my fault." She said, her fists closed tight as her gaze stayed locked with Shadow's, not ever looking away. Until he rolled his eyes. "Heartbreaking." He said sarcastically, before powering his rocket shoes and skating off with all the speed he had at the moment.

If one good thing that came out of that last encounter with Eggman, it was the amount of Chaos Energy he let out when his rings were off. He did feel a little better, but of course taking his rings off and just waiting wasn't the best option for him if he wanted to stay alive.

But he was kind of considering that last part. Did he want to stay alive? Who knew, he at the moment didn't. He was way too focused on the immense shame he felt, how naked he felt, and how angry he was. He even felt betrayed, how could that be possible? Did he honestly ever trust Sonic and his friends? Was he that stupid? How couldn't have he seen this coming before? Of course they were going to go behind his back! They didn't trust him either! Why did it hurt so much, then? It was all Sonic's fault, he made it seem as if he cared for him, as if he truly only wanted to help him, as if he trusted him and was one who could be trusted. Yes, they were rivals, but what had Shadow done for Sonic to do such a thing to him? To play with him? To go behind his back and uncover the biggest secret he had? Something that he never wanted anyone to know, something that he wished to keep between himself and the only other alive being who knew, Eggman. How did they even get those videos? They were supposed to be in the space colony! They were supposed to be lost forever, for no one to see ever again! What were they doing here? Did the world really hate him that much?

Unfortunately for Shadow, he was so immersed inside his own head that he didn't notice the fact that Sonic was behind him, catching up to his speed.

"Shadow, please listen to me!" Sonic exclaimed, catching the hybrid's attention, only receiving a death glare. "Get away from me!" Shadow ordered as he tried to skate faster, but Sonic catched up to him quickly. "I'm sorry, okay? We're all sorry! We were just trying to help you, yeah? We didn't know what those videos were!" The blue hedgehog insisted, but Shadow only ignored him.

Sonic thought of the best way to get Shadow to listen to him, and after a second, he started running faster, positioning himself in front of the other hedgehog and abruptly stopping. Shadow didn't have the time to stop as well, so he ended up collapsing against the hero, sending them both to the floor, a strong current of Chaos Energy flowing through their bodies and shoking them as they fell.

Shadow fell on top of Sonic, but quickly rolled off of him, groaning in pain as he tried to regulate his breathing, covering his face with his hands.

He wanted to cry so bad.

Sonic quickly sat up, wincing at the pain on his back given the fall. He got closer to the other hedgehog, looking down at him with worry.

"I'm so sorry, Shadow." He said softly, letting out a sigh. "I totally understand why you would want to keep it a secret, but, if it helps, it doesn't make me see you any differently." He continued speaking, hoping that the other hedgehog was paying attention. "And the tests they ran on you? They sounded horrible, I can't ever imagine how someone could bring themselves to hurt you so much, you didn't deserve any of that…"

Shadow couldn't hold it anymore, he started to cry, his body shaking with how much effort he was putting into trying not to sob. The tears wetting the fabric of his gloves, some also rolling down his cheeks and falling to the ground beneath. His jaw was clenched, his upper teeth pressed against the lower ones as he tried his hardest to hold down his sobs. He didn't want to fall so low, to lose so much of his dignity so fast.

"It was awful…" He said, voice shaky and quiet. Sonic listened carefully, just letting the other vent. "I hated it so much." Sonic hummed as he nodded with his head. "I can imagine." He said. "They were treating you as if you weren't another living, feeling being." He added in a mumble, and that must've struck a chord, since Shadow finally let out a choked sob. "T-They wanted me to be a weapon, they expected me to be nothing but a walking gun." Shadow whispered as he sighed, his whole body still shaking. "The only ones who treated me as just another kid were Gerald and Maria." Sonic thought for a second until realization hit him. "The little girl, right? That's Maria?" He asked, and Shadow nodded with his head. "What happened to her?" Shadow took a second to answer. "She's dead."

Oh.

"Sorry." Sonic mumbled. "The humans closed the colony and shut down 'Project Shadow's, they thought I was too dangerous." Shadow continued explaining, and Sonic continued listening. He wondered what happened to the humans, since the only one he'd ever seen was Eggman. "They raided the space colony, put the scientists in jail, including Gerald, and they tried to seal me away. Maria managed to get me out of the colony, but they shot her, and she's dead."

Sonic hummed again. "Shadow, could you look at me, please?" He asked softly, and the hybrid doubted for a second, before taking his hands away from his face as he sat up, looking at Sonic through glassy eyes as tears kept rolling down his face. Sonic had never expected to see his rival in this state.

Sonic cleared his throat before speaking. "I don't care that you're half alien, I don't care about what the purpose of your creation was, I don't care about what you have done in the past. You're hurt, and I want to help you heal, because I care about you." He confidently said, never looking away from Shadow's red eyes, now also puffy. "So please, let me, and I promise to treat you better than how people had treated you in the past." He added as he reached a hand out, palm looking up, hoping that Shadow would take his hand. The hybrid looked at him doubtfully, then looked down at his hand and then at him again. "Why would you care about me?" He asked quietly with a frown on his face in confusion, and Sonic shrugged. "You can't really control who you care about, can you?" Was his answer, and Shadow understood what he was talking about. After all, it wasn't his choice to be so affected by the fact that Sonic now knew about his secret. He didn't choose to care about the blue hedgehog, so he believed him when he said that he just cared.

Shadow sighed before finally holding Sonic's hand, looking at him with a look in his eyes that said that he trusted him, so please don't let that change. Sonic smiled widely, and after a second of doubt, Shadow finally reached out to hug the other. The hero was taken by surprise, but he quickly returned the hug, softly petting the quills in Shadow's head as he just let him cry all he needed.

Sonic felt this warm feeling bloom from his chest and to the rest of his body, the smile on his face showing how happy he was. He loved hugging Shadow, he never wanted to stop, and when he felt the hybrid's hold tighten around him, he knew that this wasn't going to be the last time he got to hug him. Still, he let himself enjoy it, as his hand gently caressed Shadow's head, and he could feel his breathing, and even if the hybrid was crying, Sonic knew that they were okay at the moment, he was just letting the other cry all the rivers he needed. And the hero couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride blooming from his chest since Shadow now felt comfortable enough around him to cry like this, to just let himself be undone and cry and sob as hard as he could.

Ah, finally, he was hugging him, hiding him from the world and protecting him from anything that could cause a bad reaction out of him.

Chapter Text

"Are you feeling a little better now?" Sonic asked quietly now that Shadow's sobs had quieted down. The hybrid nodded with his head as he rubbed his face with his hands, his eyes red and puffy. "Good." The hero mumbled, just watching the other fix himself, almost trying to look as if he hadn't just cried his heart out. "Do you think we should get back with the others?" Sonic asked, still speaking softly, keeping his hands to himself now that he managed to hold the other tightly against himself.

Shadow shook his head, Sonic sighed. "I'm not gonna force you, we can just go back to my shack, but just so you know, they didn't know either, and they feel just as bad as I do." The hero said, and Shadow took a second to answer. "I don't want to see them yet." He mumbled, and Sonic nodded with his head. "Okay then, back to my shack."

Sonic brought Shadow with him to his home once again, leaving him on the hammock and going to get a wet rag, using warm water to clean Shadow's fur from the blood stains.

The hero approached the other, rag in hand, and a small smile on his face. "Would you let me clean you?" He asked, and Shadow nodded with his head. Sonic hummed before grabbing Shadow's hand, removing the glove, careful not to take off the ring as well, and began cleaning him, softly rubbing the fabric against dark fur, removing the green stains.

"Y'know, having green blood's a really cool thing, if you ask me." He said, a sideways smile on his face which only widened when Shadow chuckled softly. "You say that because you don't have it yourself, hedgehog." The hybrid said back, to which Sonic shrugged. "What? You don't like it?" He then asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't care enough, it's just blood."

Well, if you really thought about it, it made sense, Shadow must be used to it by now, while Sonic was only now seeing it for the first time.

"So… All of these problems you've been having are happening because your rings are damaged?" Sonic asked, continuing his work of cleaning the hybrid, holding his arm up and gently rubbing the rag against Shadow's upper arm. Shadow hummed quietly. "Most likely." He said, his voice also sounding quiet. "Well, those are important, huh." Sonic muttered.

He didn't actually want to say it, but the idea of your life depending on such small things, the idea that your power is too much for your body to handle so you need something to keep it controled or else you would be consumed by the same power inhabiting inside you, it seemed scary. Sonic didn't know what he would do if he was in Shadow's place.

He sighed, now holding Shadow's hand between his own. The hybrid couldn't help but notice the fact that the hero was treating him as if he were to break if mishandled. He knew it wasn't true, he had been designed to endure waves of pain and thousands of injuries. But it was nice for the other to see that, even after all, he wasn't indestructible. He didn't need to be treated as if he was made of thin porcelain, but it was nice.

And just the way Sonic was holding his hand made his cheeks burn and his heart beat faster. He was trying his hardest not to melt at the tender touch, but when the hero started softly caressing the back of his hand with his thumb, he couldn't help but let out a dreamy sigh. Sonic looked up at Shadow, finding him with a strong -green- blush on his face and bright eyes, however, the hybrid quickly looked away. The hero chuckled softly, also blushing.

"Hey, Shads?" He called softly, Shadow hummed just to let the other know that he was listening. "Remember when I said that I would treat you better than those other people?" Shadow now nodded with his head. "I meant it." Sonic stated confidently, looking at the other with pure determination in his eyes even if he wasn't being looked at. "I want you to know that you're safe with me."

Shadow didn't know what to say back, he wasn't the greatest with these emotional encounters. "Chaos, since when do you care so much about your rival?" He asked, a bit of humor in his voice. Sonic chuckled too as he smiled, then shrugged. "Dang, I don't know, you did things to me, Shads." The hybrid felt his words die in his throat.

Sonic took a step back after a second. "I should call Tails, to tell him that you're with me." He said as he pressed on his communicator. Shadow only nodded with his head. "Hello?" Tails' voice was heard, and the blue hedgehog sighed before speaking. "Hey, buddy, uhm- Shadow's with me, just so you know, you don't have to worry about that." He said, sitting on the hammock next to the other hedgehog. "Oh, great, are you guys coming back here or…?" Tails asked a bit doubtfully, he wasn't sure if Shadow ever wanted to see him again, and to be honest, he felt super guilty. He understood that they had gone behind Shadow's back, and learned about some experiences that were most likely traumatic for the hybrid without his consent. Shadow always appeared to be trying to hold this tough image of himself, and the fox understood that they had just ripped it apart.

Sonic looked at Shadow, looking for an answer. The hybrid had to think about it. He couldn't help but feel as if he was making a big deal out of nothing, even if it wasn't 'nothing' to him. He didn't want to appear like a whiny baby, he was still trying to keep his dignity, or the last bit remaining of it. So he just sighed as he looked down. "Tomorrow." He mumbled, and Sonic repeated what he said to the young mobian on the other side of the line. "Oh, okay. And, uhm… Tell Shadow I'm sorry." Tails said, and once again the blue hedgehog looked at the other, a small smile on his face as he saw the surprise on the hybrid's expression. "I'll tell him, don't worry." Sonic said softly, and Shadow sighed. "Thank you." Tails mumbled. "You're welcome, I'll see you tomorrow, take care." The blue hedgehog said his goodbyes, and the kid did the same, eventually ending the call.

Sonic sighed after they fell in silence, then turned to face the hybrid next to him. "I obviously can't force you, but I really hope that you can forgive him, and the rest, and me." He said, holding his own hands against each other with such a soft look in his eyes that Shadow just had to look away. Could he really forgive them? He knew he had forgiven Sonic already, he didn't have it in him to stay mad at the blue hero anymore, even considering how much he wanted him dead at some point. But the others? He was still wary about them, they haven't shown as much worry as Sonic had, in fact, he was sure they were only helping him because Sonic wanted them to, he was sure that they were talking behind his back, just saying how much they hated him, especially now that they knew how disgusting of a creature he was. But Tails' apology… It wasn't the most beautiful worded, it wasn't a full speech, it didn't try to sound sad, but just the way he said it, the guilt in his voice, how pressed about the matter he sounded and how relieved he was when Sonic told him that Shadow was with him. That made the hybrid doubt.

"I forgave you already." Shadow said, and let Sonic decide whether he meant only him or his friends as well. The blue hero smiled as he reached out to hold Shadow's hand, interlocking their fingers. "Great." Sonic mumbled, looking down for a second, however his eyes quickly went back up. "Are you tired? I certainly am." He asked before chuckling and stretching his arms up. Shadow thought about it, he was more emotionally tired than anything, but he guessed that sleep would still help, so he nodded with his head. "Okay, then." Sonic said as he stood up, leaving Shadow all the space and going to get the sleeping bag Amy had brought for him earlier.

That time Sonic slept much better. And Shadow managed to sleep, he was way more exhausted than what he realized, so sleep came easier for him.

Still the next morning he woke up earlier than the hero.

He sighed as he tried to stretch, but after the shock of energy he and Sonic had the day before, when they both fell to the ground, most of his complications had come back. He hated it. Even the smallest of movements of the smallest finger sent a wave of pain all the way up to his shoulder, making him suck air through his teeth as his whole body became stiff and his eyes closed tight until the pain went away. He really hoped Tails figured how to fix his stupid rings because he didn't know for how long he would be able to deal with the pain.

Sometimes he just wished to pull the rings out and just let his body get dried out of any Chaos Energy, but he knew what that would cause. Even if too much energy was obviously a danger for himself, he still needed it to live, without it he would be a bag of skin and bones laying on the ground, lifeless.

He looked over at Sonic, and found him still sleeping peacefully. He sighed, and just kept staring at the other hedgehog until he started waking up. The blue hero opened his eyes slowly, and smiled once he found Shadow looking down at him. "Good morning." Sonic said as he rubbed his eyes, his voice sounding a bit lower and hoarse. "Hello." Shadow mumbled back as he looked away. Sonic sighed once he was done stretching, but didn't move, still feeling as if his body was still asleep. "How long have you been awake?" He asked, curious mostly to know for how long Shadow had been looking at him. "Not long." Was the answer he got, and hummed. "And how are you feeling?" He also asked. This time the hybrid took a little longer to answer. He looked down at himself, and sighed. "The same." He quietly answered, and Sonic gave a short nod in recognizement. "That sucks." He muttered, and after a second, he sat up. "Well, let's have breakfast and then we'll go to Tails, yeah?" He said, and the hybrid nodded with his head.

Breakfast went by quietly, just both hedgehogs sitting down and eating in silence, however, it happened a couple of times that Shadow caught Sonic staring at him as he ate, and when the hybrid would raise an eyebrow in question, the blue hero would only chuckle and look back down to his food, as if it was the most normal thing to do, instead of explaining why he was looking at him with such wide eyes.

Once they finished their food Sonic picked up Shadow like he was already accustomed to, and even if the black hedgehog did like being treated so gently -even if he wouldn't admit it out loud-, he couldn't wait until he could walk on his own again. He felt so helpless when being carried around, and he still had the need to feel strong, powerful and independent, he still felt as if he couldn't depend on anyone else because he was supposed to be enough on his own, so he couldn't wait until he would be able to carry himself around instead of having Sonic doing it for him.

"We're here!" Sonic announced instead of knocking on the door, his hands being too full of Shadow to do it. Tails quickly opened the door, and sighed in relief when he saw that Shadow was also there, as if he had been holding his breath that whole time.

"I'm glad you're here." The young fox said, and even if it wasn't specified in his sentence, Shadow knew that it was directed to him.

Chapter Text

Tails seemed way too nervous, but Shadow could get it, he had made a big mess the day before, putting up a show, being a crybaby and way too sensitive. He could understand why Tails was so nervous to talk to him, he was way too volatile. And even then, the kid still tried. He walked up to the table Shadow was sitting on, hands behind his back.

"Uhm, how are you feeling, Shadow? Are you… Still in pain?" He asked as he slowly approached the hybrid. "Still in pain." Shadow repeated as his answer, and Tails hummed. "W-Well, I already have an idea on how your rings were made, and-I-I didn't continue watching the videos, by the way!" Tails quickly interrupted himself, his arms hugging his own body.

Shadow sighed, ugh, he didn't like that reaction from the kid. He looked to the side as he spoke. "It's okay." He said quietly, and didn't miss the way the fox looked at Sonic in surprise, as if waiting for an explanation from him. Sonic simply shrugged. "He knows we didn't have bad intentions." The hero said, and Tails hummed. Shadow, on his end, stayed quiet.

"Hey, Shadow?" Tails called, and the hybrid had to force himself to look at the kid in front of him. "I'm still sorry, we shouldn't have watched the videos without your permission, I understand that it's very personal information and I get why you didn't want us to know." The young inventor spoke with such sincerity and guilt in his voice, Shadow couldn't help but be reminded of the same blue hedgehog standing next to him. "It's fine." Shadow quickly answered, not thinking twice before speaking. Tails smiled before giving a small nod. Was everyone in that group so sentimental? Shadow didn't really know if he could handle more than just Sonic looking at him as if he was the most precious thing alive.

"Well, I was reading through Gerald's research -skipping the parts where he was talking specifically about you-, and found this part about your rings." Tails explained as he opened the folder on the page he had marked earlier, pointing to an image of the same golden rings Shadow was wearing. "I think I understand how they work, but I'm gonna need you to take at least one off for closer inspection." The hybrid clearly didn't like that last part, he looked down, trying not to make a big deal out of it. He wasn't going to put up a show again, so, instead of crying like he felt like he needed to, he took a deep breath and quickly took one of the rings off, the one on the hand that was already limp, and handed it to Tails.

"Thank you, I promise I'll give it back as soon as I can." Tails said as he quickly disappeared inside the lab, trying to keep his promise of taking as little time as possible.

Shadow was struggling now. His hand hurt like hell and he could feel the energy becoming too much, the flow of it through his arm, it was as if there was acid in his veins, burning his interiors. Sonic noticed this and quickly stood up from his place next to Shadow, instead standing in front of him with a worried expression on his face. "Does it hurt too much? Is there anything I could do to help?" He asked, and Shadow shook his head. "I'm just not supposed to take them off." He managed to say through his teeth. The blue hero sighed as he pressed his lips together in a thin line, then grabbing Shadow's limp hand and holding it between his own. His intentions were to at least just show his support, and maybe give a bit of comfort, but as he grabbed Shadow's hand, he felt the Chaos Energy go up his arm, and when he heard Shadow sigh, he guessed that he was helping after all.

"Does this happen with everyone? The flow of energy?" Sonic asked quietly, and Shadow once again shook his head. "Never has happened before." He quietly answered, and Sonic hummed. "So it's only me, then?" Now the hybrid nodded. "You probably have your own Chaos Energy as well." The hero's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I'm not sure if that's awesome or scary." He said half jokingly, and Shadow sighed. "You don't have as much as I do, if you did, it probably would've already consumed you." He mumbled, and Sonic didn't find a good answer for that. He guessed it was true, that was why Shadow had to wear his rings, to not be consumed by his own power.

Both hedgehogs just stayed like that, in silence, holding hands, until Tails came back, ring in hand and a wide smile on his face. "I have good news!" He exclaimed, and now Sonic also smiled widely as he grabbed the ring and gently placed it back on Shadow's wrist. "Yeah? What is it, buddy?" He asked as he took a step back. "You see, Shadow's rings are full with weird materials that hold back the Chaos Energy, they kind of hold it for Shadow, but they are really rare. In fact, I'm sure I've never seen anything like it. If the rings are broken to such a point, it would be very hard to repair them." The kid started explaining, and now Sonic raised an eyebrow in confusion as he crossed his arms. "That doesn't sound like good news to me, Tails." He said, but the fox quickly shook his head as he raised one finger. "But it is! Those weird materials are covered with gold to keep their absorbing properties inside the ring and just the one who wears them, you know, so it doesn't affect anything outside. Shadow's rings only have scratches that managed to break through the gold exterior, not only letting the Chaos Energy out but also not being able to absorb it from Shadow. So we only need to repair those apertures on the layer and everything will be alright again!" Tails explained excitedly, moving his hands around just showing how excited he was for this discovery. "That's great!" Sonic exclaimed, now looking back at Shadow, who even through his flat expression seemed relieved.

"So! Where do we get gold?" The blue hedgehog asked, and Tails' excitement died down a bit. He brought a hand down his chin in thought. "I didn't think about that…" He mumbled, a bit embarrassed. "Maybe… Someone on the island has gold, we could do some favors in return, or maybe we could do it the old fashioned way…" The kid continued mumbling to himself as he walked in circles, that is, until Sonic gasped loudly in realisation. "What is it?" Tails asked, and Sonic smiled proudly. "Sticks!" He exclaimed, and the kid's eyes widened almost in delight. "She loves shiny things! She must have something made of gold!" Tails also exclaimed, relieved now that they had a solution for the problem.

Shadow tried to not let his discomfort show. He wasn't the happiest about seeing Sticks, unlike Sonic and Tails. But he guessed that, if she had their solution, he couldn't be mad at her for invading his privacy.

"I'm calling her." Tails said as he pressed on his communicator, and Sonic nodded with his head as he once again approached Shadow. "Hi." Sticks simply said once she picked up. "What happened?" She then asked. She didn't sound very happy. Sonic and Shadow weren't aware of this, but she had been strongly scolded by Amy a couple of minutes after both hedgehogs had left, and the pink hedgehog had left it clear that she had made a mistake, so it wasn't really her fault to think that she was being called to continue being scolded. She didn't need it, she already felt guilty enough. "Shadow's here, we're trying to repair his rings, and we need gold." Tails explained, and Sticks only stayed in silence, so he continued. "Do you have anything that could help?" He asked a bit anxious, but hopeful. A second of silence passed before Sticks sighed loudly. "I do." She answered, and Tails beamed. "Do you mind…?" The kid said, not finishing his sentence, hoping that it would be understood. "Yeah, I'll bring it, are you in your workshop?" She asked, and Tails nodded with his head even if Sticks didn't see him. "Yeah, we are, thank you!" He said smiling, and Sticks groaned. "Yeah, whatever, I'll be there." And the call was over.

"You heard that, Shads? You're gonna get better!" Sonic said as he smiled widely, and the hybrid simply nodded with his head. "Now, it might take me a while, I'm not the best at manipulating that kind of material, but it'll do. What I'm saying is that it'll be better if I just work in one ring at the time so you don't have to spend much time without any of your rings on." Tails explained, and Shadow once again nodded with his head, this time also humming in understanding. "I'll do the ones on your ankles first, though, so you can walk again." He then added, and Shadow was relieved to hear that. He really wanted to be able to walk again.

Sticks arrived a couple of minutes later, and when Tails opened the door for her, she walked in with a bag over her shoulder, then dropped it on Tails' desk and opened it, showing its contents. "I brought everything I could fit into this bag." She said, and both Tails and Sonic smiled widely. "You really didn't have to, I don't need as much material." Tails said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's in case this happens again." Sticks quickly answered, then approached Shadow with crossed arms. "And a way of saying sorry." She said once she was standing in front of the hybrid, who only looked at her in silence, his red eyes burning holes, but she didn't falter. "I made a mistake, I shouldn't have done that, I mean, looking for Gerald's research in the first place, but then also showing the videos without your permission, or even your knowledge. So I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to forgive me just by saying that, so I also brought all the gold I could, in case you need it."

Shadow sighed as he looked over Sticks' shoulder, at Sonic. The hero was looking at him with a wide toothless smile on his face, not pushing him to anything, but hoping he trusted his friend. The hybrid groaned as he rolled his eyes, looking back at Sticks. "I forgive you." He said between his teeth, and the badger seemed surprised. "What?" She asked quietly. "Don't make me say it again." Shadow said, and Sticks smiled widely. "I won't! But- Just to make sure, you're not the abducting kind of alien, are you?" She asked. "Sticks-" Tails said as he put his hand on her shoulder, a small frown on his face. "I'm not even full alien." Shadow answered, and Sticks nodded with her head. "Good point." She said, now turning around to see both Sonic and Tails. "Okay, boys, do your thing." She said, and both siblings sighed in relief.

"Wait here, I'm going to melt this." Tails said as he grabbed the bag Sticks brought. "You know how to do that?" Sonic asked in curiosity. "Yeah! I use all kinds of metals when inventing stuff all the time, and I think I have something that I could modify and use for this project." Tails said as if it was nothing, and Sticks quickly walked up to him. "I want to help." She said, and the fox seemed confused. "Are you sure?" He asked, and the badger nodded with her head eagerly. "I want to be with my shiny things when they start a new life." She said almost mumbling, and Tails sighed. "Okay then, follow me." He said, now getting outside the workshop, being followed by Sticks.

Sonic quickly turned to Shadow and approached him with a small smile on his face. "I don't know if you were honest about forgiving her or not, but I really hope you know that you can trust her." He mumbled, and Shadow felt a chill run down his spine at how close the other hedgehog was and how intimate the exchange felt. "Well, if you trust her then she can't be that bad." Shadow answered, also mumbling, not being able to break the eye contact the other started. Sonic chuckled softly. "Aw, you're forgiving her for me? That's sweet." He said teasingly, and Shadow rolled his eyes. "Well, you've done enough for me." The hybrid said even more quietly than before, and Sonic simply smiled sweetly.

Chapter Text

Shadow stayed at Sonic's shack even after he was able to walk again, by the hero's request. "I just want to make sure you're fully healed before you go." Was Sonic's reason, and Shadow didn't find it in him to protest, how could he, when Sonic looked at him with such a tender gaze and held his hand with such care?

But now Shadow was okay, all of his rings were fixed, and he was back to normal. He and Sonic even went to the jungle and fought just to test Shadow's powers, and they were all back to normal as well. He was able to teleport just like he did before, and to throw all of his already known attacks, and power his rocket skates. He was like new. And with him, his life had to go back to normal. He would have to go back to living alone, and to survive on his own, just like he did before.

He didn't realize that he had spaced off right in Tails' workshop until Amy walked up to him with a smile on her face.

The whole group was there, all excited to see Shadow all healed, just like before. Shadow still wasn't the most comfortable with them, but they at least weren't treating him as if he were disgusting, or just a science experiment, even when knowing of his origins, so that was a plus. "How are you feeling, Shadow?" She asked, now lesson learned, keeping her hands to herself. "Better." Shadow dryly asked, but she seemed satisfied by that as she nodded with her head, still smiling. "I bet you're happy to go back to normal! Sonic can be a little tiring after a while, I can't imagine how it is living with him." She said half jokingly, looking at the blue hedgehog with half lidded eyes and a smug smile. "Hey! I'm not that bad. I let him sleep on the hammock!" Sonic complained, but he left out all the other gentle gestures he had shown Shadow. Not only did he let him sleep on the hammock, but he learned to cook a bunch of stuff just for Shadow, trying to make the best breakfasts, and not having to take the hybrid to Meh Burger every day for lunch. Or how he would stay awake with him when his pain was too much, or how he would hold his hand and take some of the Chaos Energy whenever Shadow had to take off one of his rings.

But he preferred to keep it private as well. Just a little thing between the two of them.

However, if he were to answer Amy's question then no, he wasn't as excited to go back to normal. He wasn't excited to go back to his cave, alone, cold, and angry. He didn't like it anymore, but he also didn't want to keep bothering Sonic, especially now that he was fine again, so he had to go.

"I think we should celebrate!" Knuckles said excitedly, and right after he spoke, his stomach rumbled, making them all laugh. "How about we go to my house and make a nice lunch for all of us?" Amy offered, and everyone seemed pleased with the idea.

"I could go get the gaming console so we can play Tomatopotamus." Sonic also offered as he shrugged. "I thought we destroyed all the copies?" Tails said confused, but Knuckles shook his head. "No, that was Tomatopotamus 2, Tails." He corrected a bit offended, as if it should be common knowledge. The fox simply shrugged. "As long as you don't destroy my house out of your 'gamer rage' then I'm fine with it." Amy said, and both Sonic and Knuckles beamed. "Okay, you guys go to Amy's house, Shadow and I will go to my house to get the game." Sonic said as he walked up to the hybrid, who, even when surprised, nodded with his head. "Great! See you guys there!" Amy said as she walked out of the workshop, being followed by all her friends. Tails closed the door and waved to the two hedgehogs before following the rest of the group.

And that left Sonic and Shadow on their own. "Hey, Shads." Sonic called after a second. "Yes?" Shadow answered as he watched the other hedgehog stretch casually. "Race ya to my shack." He said, and after even less than a second, he ran off. Shadow reacted just a moment after and quickly followed the hero to his home. "That's cheating!" He exclaimed once he catched up to Sonic, who laughed out loud as he speeded up again. "Is it cheating or am I just faster than you?" He said, and Shadow rolled his eyes. "No, you're just a cheater." He said right before stopping at Sonic's shack, both sliding through the ground as their momentum died down. "I won!" Sonic exclaimed, however, in Shadow's eyes it was impossible to determine a winner. "In your dreams, I won." He still said, making the other chuckle. "That's what a loser says…" Sonic said as he started to look for the gaming console.

"Why did you want me to come with you? Just to cheat in a race?" Shadow asked after a couple seconds of silence, and the hero laughed. "No, I just wanted a moment alone with you." He said in the most casual tone of voice ever, as if his words didn't get Shadow to almost choke on his own spit. "I wanted to make sure that you are fully healed." Sonic then added as he walked up to the other hedgehog, a small smile on his face. "Are you?" He asked more quietly, and Shadow nodded with his head. "I am." He answered, and Sonic sighed. "So I guess you're going back to your cave, then…" He mumbled, and Shadow hummed as his answer. Sonic looked down for a second before looking back up to the hybrid. "Do you like it there?" He asked, and even if Shadow was talen by surprise, he didn't question it. "It's enough." He answered. "Do you like it better here with me?" Sonic then asked, and Shadow this time had to look away. "Why does it matter?" The hybrid asked, and Sonic quickly grabbed both of his hands. "I don't want you to go." He said, and when Shadow looked at him in surprise, he quickly added: "I want you to stay here with me." He smiled, and Shadow returned the hold on his hands. "Why?" He asked quietly. "Because I like having you around and- I, well-" Sonic stumbled on his words, now both hedgehogs blushing strongly. "And I like you, a lot."

Shadow felt his words die in his throat, and his heart beat strongly in his chest. "I- Uhm- I…" He tried to say, and Sonic chuckled. "You don't have to like me back, I just want to, well, you know, make sure you're safe." He said as he shrugged. Even if he was acting as if it didn't matter, he was a little disappointed, he was really hoping that Shadow liked him back, but now he thought that maybe he was a little dumb for hoping that. Of course Shadow wouldn't like him back! What was he thinking? He was crazy for thinking that Shadow could ever like him, it was just ridiculous and-

"I do like you as well." Shadow said, trying to stop the thoughts that were clearly going through Sonic's head, and he was apparently successful with that, since the hedgehog looked at him with wide eyes. "You do?" Sonic asked quietly, and Shadow nodded with his head. The hero smiled widely as he squeezed Shadow's hands between his own, a strong blush on his face that he was no longer trying to hide. "Please stay with me, here." He insisted, and Shadow sighed before once again nodding with his head. "Well, if you insist…" He said half jokingly, making Sonic chuckle. "Yeah, go ahead, act as if I'm the only one who wants it." He said as he rolled his eyes, then pressing his forehead against the other hedgehog's, staring straight into his eyes. "Can I hug you?" He asked quietly, and Shadow almost melted in place with just the fact that Sonic asked for permission, so, instead of answering with words, he just hugged the hero himself, which was quickly returned.

Shadow wondered if they would've ended up in the same place if his rings hadn't been damaged. He wondered if he would've realized that pull he felt towards Sonic on his own if it weren't for this whole thing happening. Would Sonic and his friends have found out about his alien DNA on their own? What would've they thought about it in that case? He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, after all, Sonic was here, hugging him, showing him how much he cared even after discovering not only his origins but part of his past experiences, still wanting to be with him and still wanting to make sure that he was okay.

And he didn't want to run. He wasn't uncomfortable, he didn't feel too weak, he didn't feel as if he was making a big deal out of nothing.

He felt fine. Nice, even, all because Sonic was still there with him.

"Now come on, let's go to Amy's house, the rest are waiting for us." Sonic said after what could've been a whole minute, or maybe less, he wasn't sure and didn't care that much. Shadow nodded with his head as he watched the blue hedgehog grab the gaming console and walk out of the shack. "Hey, Sonic." He called, and the hedgehog quickly turned around to see him, and right when he did so, Shadow placed a quick kiss to his cheek, leaving Sonic dumbfounded in his place. "Race you to Rose's house." Shadow said as he gave the other hedgehog a smug smirk, then quickly running off just like Sonic had done earlier.

Sonic, however, took a little longer to react, still thinking about the kiss he just received. He placed a hand on top of the kissed cheek, and after a second, he laughed, finally running behind Shadow, not caring if he won this time, since he already got the prize before the race even began.