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It wasn’t every day Sonic got asked by Shadow to join him in going to one of Eggman’s bases or anywhere really. Whenever he was asked though, Sonic would drop everything and go with him. Today was one of those days.
Sonic had plenty of things planned for the day. He was going to start off with making an impromptu visit to his parents and uncle’s shared house then go catch up with some old friends. After that, he’d go to Tails’s workshop – he’d definitely be there instead of at his house – and ask him if he wanted to go for lunch somewhere in the city. To wrap up the day, he’d head to Angel Island and spar with Knuckles.
Sonic was on his way home from a late night run when he saw Shadow. A quick glance at the clock tower standing tall in Station Square told him it was just before midnight, but Sonic knew that he could safely consider his whole day booked as soon as Shadow opened his mouth.
And now they were here. They entered the titanic base in the morning’s dark and reemerged in the evening’s dusk. Sonic wore a satisfied grin, Shadow a smirk. Another job well done.
The bot Eggman had stashed in there was an admittedly tough customer, but it was pathetic against the two of them. When the fight dragged on too long for Shadow’s liking, he took off his wrist inhibitors and tossed them at Sonic before landing the final blow on the piece of junk.
Sonic wondered why he didn’t lead with that. Maybe Shadow had fun fighting Eggman’s machines? If that was the case, then it was nice to know they had something in common.
He had forgotten he still had Shadow’s inhibitors until Shadow’s gloved hand stopped him from continuing his walk away from the now ruined base. Sonic dropped them into his hand, not without giving them a curious look first.
“Why do you wear those anyway?” Sonic looked from the inhibitors to Shadow. “You’ve got a lot of power so why hold back? It looks crazy fun to tear holes through Eggman’s stuff with no effort.”
Shadow secured one of the inhibitors onto his wrist. “They force me to pace myself. If I didn’t wear them, I would be dead by now.”
“Um…” Sonic’s eye ridges furrowed. “You’re immortal though, right? How would letting loose kill you?”
Shadow snapped the other inhibitor on with a sigh. “Despite the undesirable half of my biology, I am still partially mobian. The professor didn’t fully account for that in the early stages of my development.”
“Sooo…?”
“My full power would be too much for my body. It would drain all of the excess chaos energy I have along with all of the chaos energy I need to live and would kill me – assuming my body wouldn’t break under the pressure of my ‘natural’ strength first.”
Sonic huffed out a small laugh and crossed his arms behind his head as he started his walk again. “That’s quite the oversight.”
Shadow didn’t follow.
“I agree,” Shadow murmured, clasping his hand around one of his inhibitors. “As did GUN.”
Sonic’s ears twitched at the quiet voice, just barely picking it up. He stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at Shadow.
“Shadow?”
“I wasn’t supposed to be the final product of Project Shadow.” Shadow’s hold tightened.
Sonic dropped his arms to his sides and turned around to fully face Shadow. He knew the Biolizard was a prototype of Shadow, its species chosen for its regenerative properties with Professor Gerald’s goal of curing his granddaughter of her illness in mind – information courtesy of Rouge. Sonic was unaware there was ever planned to be another.
“The scientists aboard the ARK discovered that flaw the first time I demonstrated my abilities. When it almost resulted in my death, none of them were thrilled to put it lightly. They saw it as all of their time and research having been wasted on a defective product.”
Sonic walked back to him.
“They began deliberating over what to do about it. The first suggestion was to simply dump me somewhere and restart the project from the ground up. Many of them were in agreement with this.”
Sonic didn’t understand how anyone could create life just to rip it away like that. Even if Shadow wasn’t what they intended, was that really all they needed to want to… dispose of him for a lack of better words? Not only that, but from the sound of it, Shadow was right there to hear all of it.
A world without Shadow… Chaos, Sonic didn’t want to think about that. It was painful enough when he thought he failed Shadow back on the ARK, but now that he actually knew Shadow and considered the two of them to be somewhat close…
Yeah, no. Sonic had never really thought about it as he wasn’t one to dwell on negative memories or thoughts, but now that he had, he was filing that under Things to Not Think About.
Sonic wouldn’t say the guy was exactly rainbows and smiles, but he had become a consistent part of Sonic’s life, one that Sonic held dear. Sonic would never, never, forgive himself if Shadow was ripped away from him and everyone else ever again. The thought that that could’ve happened before they ever met made Sonic’s blood boil.
The inhibitor creaked in Shadow’s hold. The grip was tight enough for Shadow’s claws to poke out of his gloves and pierce his skin. His hands shook as his intense gaze stayed bolted onto them.
Then Sonic grabbed his wrist.
It took a moment, but Shadow came back to the real world, freed from the confines of his thoughts. His fingers loosened their hold and let both of his hands fall slack with a shaky sigh.
“The professor insisted against it, and the next day, he gave me my first set of inhibitors. They were but a prototype, fitting for me, but the result they gave pleased GUN for the time being.”
Sonic’s lips flipped up into a smile. “Sounds like a labor of love to me.”
It was faint, but Sonic swore he saw the corner of Shadow’s mouth twitch before he hid it from Sonic’s view by turning his head. To Sonic’s surprise, Shadow still hadn’t swatted his hand away, nor had Sonic thought about letting go.
“Perhaps, in a way, you’re right,” Shadow said as he turned back to Sonic, his face forced into a neutral expression.
Normally that would be good enough for Sonic. Not today though.
“Nah, I know I’m right.” Sonic ran his gloved thumb over the inhibitor. “If it wasn’t for this planet, then it was for Maria… Or you.”
Shadow’s gaze fell back on the inhibitor, an emotion in his eyes that Sonic wasn’t sure he had ever seen from Shadow or anyone for that matter. It was more of a mish-mash of various emotions from all over the spectrum rather than just one. Shadow’s eyes slid shut.
“I’m doubtful I was the reason.”
Sonic frowned and released his wrist. “Eh, it doesn’t matter what I say; you’ll just believe whatever you want,” he said with a dismissive wave. His smile still found a way back to his face. “Whatever it was that made him want to go through with it, I’m happy he did.”
Shadow’s eyes snapped back open, the conflicting whirlpool of emotions replaced by mild shock. Sonic met it with the biggest smile he had ever worn in his whole life. He turned on his heel and looked off in the direction of the nearest town.
“I think I’m gonna drop if I have to stand here any longer.” His stomach rumbled in agreement. “Wanna grab some grub?”
“I suppose I don’t have anything better to do.”
Shadow came to his side, keeping his head turned away from Sonic. Sonic’s smile turned into a grin when the ruffled fur of Shadow’s muzzled revealed the skin of his cheeks had turned a light shade of red. He may not have gotten a smile out of Shadow, but this was just as good.
The two abandoned the base behind them and began their trek to the smattering of buildings that hid over the horizon. Neither of them were in much of a hurry.
Sonic normally would use this as an opportunity to challenge Shadow to a race that he would begrudgingly agree to even though he, strangely, seemed to end up having more fun than Sonic would. Maybe he could goad him into a race back to Station Square after they both had some food in their stomachs. For right now, Sonic didn’t mind taking his time.
Maybe he didn’t get to do everything he wanted to do today, but without a doubt, the time he spent with Shadow was just as special.