Chapter Text
Shadow stood right in front of Sonic with his arms crossed and brows furrowed, while the latter twiddled his fingers and tapped his foot with a confused smile. The two hedgehogs were both silent as they stared at one another. A quiet moment like this wasn’t that rare between these two, but right now the air was filled with uneasy trepidation. And Shadow’s intense glare and proud posture didn’t help with Sonic’s nervousness at all.
Finally breaking the silence, Shadow said: “I like you.”
Sonic could only keep staring right back into Shadow’s eyes, his mouth slightly agape. This wasn’t what he had expected when his rival had told him there was something he wanted to talk about. They had agreed to meet at just the outskirts of the city, in the green meadow surrounded by beautiful trees and colorful flowers.
While Sonic was surprised by this revelation, he wasn’t exactly disappointed with it, either. Quite the opposite.
“Like… in a crush kinda way, or?” Sonic asked with a gentle laugh, scratching his temple awkwardly.
Shadow nodded: “Yes. It took me a while to realize what my feelings towards you were, and some time to accept them as well. I thought it would be only fair to let you know this, but if you do not return these feelings, I understand that.”
Sonic had a feeling Rouge had told him what to say in this situation. The word choices in particular felt very fitting for his rival, but him being this willing to accept rejection was something new. Not to mention that he usually wasn’t this open when talking about his or anyone else’s feelings for that matter. Usually if Sonic tried to ask him anything about his emotions, he’d only get a tch in return.
Well, Sonic wasn’t the best with talking about feelings either, but Amy usually encouraged him to be more open. And Shadow was probably the only one he felt he could actually be completely honest with. Shadow was familiar enough that Sonic felt comfortable around him, but the certain air of mystery surrounding him gave Sonic a sense of privacy when it came to revealing things about himself.
“I… Actually do like you too. I just wasn’t sure how you’d feel, so I didn’t really… Do anything about it,” Sonic admitted, his cheeks feeling tingly. He wasn’t sure why he felt so nervous when Shadow had just confessed, but he also felt a wave of relief wash over him.
Shadow’s ears perked and he tilted his head forwards. He looked into Sonic’s eyes with an inquisitive look, not quite sure why he had chosen to do such a thing.
“Because, well… We’ve been hanging out a lot lately, and been a lot more… Y’know, gentle and friendly with each other, and we’ve fought less,” Sonic continued, skipping in place to alleviate his nervousness, “I didn’t wanna ruin the friendship that had started to bloom between us. I was worried that if you knew about my feelings, you’d be uncomfortable with the way we’ve been.”
“On the contrary. I feel very comfortable around you,” Shadow simply said.
Sonic couldn’t help but smile. “It makes me so happy to hear that. I guess we were both worried for nothing, huh?”
“You were,” Shadow agreed, “I’m never worried.”
“Yeah, sure,” Sonic chuckled, “So, how about a date, then? Today?”
Shadow shook his head, clearly caught off guard. “I didn’t expect you’d ask that so soon. But I’d like that.”
Sonic grinned and shook his head a little. What had Shadow expected? He should’ve remembered he was talking to the fastest thing alive, so of course he also made his plans just as quickly.
Sonic shrugged as he asked: “Well, any particular place you’d like to go, or…?”
“A picnic,” Shadow replied both quickly and bluntly, “Around here, with no one else around. So we can have some peace and quiet, and talk to each other.”
Another option Sonic did not expect from Shadow. He thought Shadow would’ve wanted to take him on a ride with his motorcycle, or to a shooting range. But a nice, quiet picnic seemed like such a sweet suggestion – even though Sonic’s lifestyle was all about adventuring, nothing could beat a nice chance to relax in peaceful nature. The only thing missing from making it perfect would’ve been a hammock. Shadow seemed to have an endless supply of surprises and hidden sides of him. Even the whole fact that Shadow actually liked him back was still hard to grasp.
Sonic gave Shadow a thumbs up. “I like the sound of that. So, about the food-”
“I will take care of that,” Shadow cut him off.
Sonic stared at him for a moment. “Really? You don’t have to do that all alone-”
“It’ll be my treat. Just meet me right here in an hour.”
“Works for me! See ya soon!” Sonic grinned, already warming up his legs in order to run home for now.
“Don’t be late, hedgehog,” Shadow warned him, but there was just a hint of warmth in his voice that Sonic did manage to catch.
“With speed like mine? Not a chance,” Sonic chuckled before playfully saluting him and dashing off.
Sonic headed straight home, unable to prevent a dorky smile from appearing onto his lips the more he thought about the date they were going to go on. He chuckled as he slammed the door shut behind him and leaned heavily against it. He slumped, slowly sliding downwards until he was sitting on the floor. He smiled to himself, letting out a euphoric cheer before jumping right back up. Unable to stop grinning, he started to dance as he went into the hallway.
Right at that exact moment, Tails exited his workshop. His eyes widened at the sight of Sonic, but soon there was an equally wide smile on his lips as he noticed his brother’s dancing. He could be pretty silly when he was excited about something, but Tails would be lying if he said Sonic’s good mood wasn’t contagious.
“Hi Sonic,” Tails greeted him, “Did your meeting with Shadow go well?”
“More than well!” Sonic laughed as he danced towards Tails, patting the fox kit’s head when he got close enough, “Turns out he likes me back, and we’re going on a date!”
“Oh! That’s good news. When is it?”
“Tonight! In an hour, actually.”
“Oh,” Tails muttered, seeming disappointed – his ears and even both of his tails drooped.
Sonic quickly caught onto this, placing his hand on Tails’ shoulder. He was sure Tails wasn’t disapproving of the upcoming possible relationship, especially when it had been Tails who had tried to encourage Sonic to confess his feelings to Shadow for the longest time, unable to watch his pining any longer. So, there had to be something else upsetting him.
“What’s wrong, buddy?” Sonic asked, sounding worried, despite the encouraging smile on his face.
Tails frowned and looked away, “It’s just… We were supposed to have a movie marathon tonight.”
Right. Sonic had completely forgotten all about that. He didn’t want to cancel the picnic date, especially when both of them had finally had the guts to be open and vulnerable with their feelings. But he could never let his little buddy down either – especially when they had made their movie night plans first. He didn’t want to prioritize one relationship – platonic or romantic – over the other, they were both equally important to him.
“We can still have one once I get back!”
Tails only hummed thoughtfully, the corners of his mouth still downwards and his eyes sorrowful. Sonic felt his heart sink at the sight of Tails being this upset. He hadn’t even realized how important their plans had been to him.
“Hey, come here,” Sonic murmured, pulling Tails into a gentle hug which he immediately returned.
“You’re not gonna ditch me completely now that you’re starting a relationship, are you?” Tails mumbled, still hugging him.
Sonic pulled back from the hug and gently squeezed Tails’ shoulder. “No, I would never! You’re my brother and my best friend, too!”
Tails simply looked into Sonic’s eyes with a deflated look.
Sonic scratched his chin for a while, until he got an idea how to convince the little fox he was still up for a movie or two tonight.
“Well, what if I gave you full permission to stay up a bit later tonight so we could watch as many movies as we want to? How would that sound?” Sonic smiled as he ruffled Tails’ hair.
Tails’ whole face immediately lit up and his namesakes swished in excitement. Sonic letting him stay up past his bedtime was a rare treat, because he was usually very unconditional about Tails getting less sleep than a boy his age was supposed to. Sonic wasn’t just his brother, but technically also his legal guardian. While he did treat Tails as an equal, he did invoke his big brother’s privileges when it was bedtime.
“Okay! It’s a promise!” Tails nodded enthusiastically, offering his fist towards Sonic.
Sonic chuckled, returning the fist bump.
“It’s a promise,” he repeated, “So, we cool?”
“Yeah, we cool. Sorry if I got a little too emotional about all this,” Tails chuckled, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
“Hey, that’s okay, I understand. Sorry if I kinda disregarded our plans. But hey, pick some winners for us, okay?”
“Y-yeah, I will! Have a fun date!”
In order to prepare for the date, Sonic took a quick shower and put on some clean clothes. Just his signature gloves and shoes though – a picnic date wasn’t very formal, and he felt like fancy clothing would make everything just awkward. He wanted to be comfortable first and foremost.
Sonic headed towards the front door, saying quick good-byes to his little brother, who was busy browsing through their library of movies in the living room. There was already a pile of DVDs on the floor he had picked as options. Sonic smiled to himself – it warmed his heart knowing just how important their movie nights were for Tails. That little fox brought so much joy into his life.
Sonic sped through the city, passing by tall buildings, and navigating busy streets. The city was just as lively as always – he had to dodge quite a number of cars, bikes, and buses. He hummed, gaze slowly turning towards the bright blue sky. The bustling noises of the city started to fade away, being replaced by happy chirping from flickies as he got closer and closer to the green outskirts of the city. A few of the flickies flew closer to the blue hedgehog, circling around him. He steadily slowed down before stopping and raising his arm to offer a spot for the birds to land on.
“Hey, little buddies,” Sonic smiled, gently petting their heads as they settled onto his arm, “I’m going on a date with Shadow, so I can’t chat for long.”
The flickies looked at each other before taking wing, turning their heads as a sign for Sonic to follow. They led him towards a meadow that was filled with all sorts of trees and plants, but most importantly flowers. They flapped their wings above a spot filled with purple ones, and Sonic’s eyes immediately lit in realization.
“Hey, that’s a great idea, Shadow really loves lavenders!” Sonic smirked, kneeling down and picking a handful of them to make a tiny bouquet. Since Shadow was taking care of the food, it was only fair that Sonic would give him something in return. And he knew very well just how obsessed the dark hedgehog was with these purple flowers. He always smelled like them, at least.
As the flickies flew away, Sonic thanked them one last time. He looked at the bouquet and nodded to himself, hiding it inside his head quills so he could really surprise Shadow. Their meeting spot was now a bit farther away since the flickies got Sonic a little sidetracked. But it was fine. He still had time.
He ran towards a hill to get a better view of the outskirts. Maybe Shadow was already in their spot, setting up their picnic. Sonic couldn’t wait to see what kind of foods Shadow would bring with him. But as he got higher and higher, something caught his attention.
The sound of something crackling. It sounded like… Some sort of energy?
That shouldn’t be… Nothing natural – at least around here – could make a sound like that. Perhaps Eggman was up to something. It would be just like him to show up and try to ruin the exact day on which Sonic had important plans. Well, Shadow would understand him running late if it was for the sake of saving the world, right?
He slid downwards on the hill, heading towards the source of it as fast as he could. Yet despite his unmatched speed, he was feeling cautious. Knowing Eggman, it could very well be a trap. The sounds were getting closer, until finally the source was found.
It was a… Portal?
At least it looked like one. Just at the bottom of the hill, there was a purplish blue, swirling vortex floating in the air. The inside of it resembled a tunnel, but it was unclear where it could even lead to. Several specks that reminded him of stars were swirling around at the entrance. But when he tried to look inside it, it was only filled with bright, blinding light. He circled around the portal, keeping some distance just in case. The other side didn’t make it any clearer where it led to, nor where it had even come from.
“Alright Eggman, if this is one of your weird attempts to ambush me, you can give it up now. Aren’t traps supposed to be hidden, anyway?” Sonic scoffed, crossing his arms, and tapping his foot impatiently.
There was no reply, though. Only the sound of the portal filled Sonic’s ears.
Weird. As cunning and smart Eggman was, he still wasn’t the type to just silently wait for his plans to succeed. He would always enjoy watching them unfold, to taunt Sonic and laugh menacingly if anything happened to him – he was all about theatrics, after all. What was the point of having an arch nemesis if you couldn’t have some back and forth when you fought?
He approached the portal while looking around, just in case Eggman thought Sonic was falling for his trick and would reveal himself. But still, nothing happened. He frowned, standing only inches away from the swirling vortex.
‘This has got to be Egghead’s worst plan ever,’ Sonic thought to himself.
He peeked in properly by sticking his head inside, yet all he could see was swirling light and floating specks. He tried to pull his head back outside, but to his horror it seemed like the portal was trying to suck him inside. It wouldn’t let go, no matter how hard he tried to get out.
Welp. He’d just need to use more force. A little push with his hands would do the trick. He brought his hand closer to his face, trying to get out. But the more he pushed, the closer to the portal his hands got – and it happily sucked them in as well. Letting out a yelp, Sonic lost his balance from sheer shock and tumbled forwards, entering the portal fully.
Sonic’s scream echoed through as the portal pushed him forward. Great speeds were rarely a problem for him, but this time it was too overwhelming – he had absolutely no control over his movements. He tried to slow down, but it was near impossible thanks to him having absolutely no balance. He rolled in the air while flailing his limbs to no avail. Eventually the other end of the portal came, and he flew out of the weird, spiraling tunnel. He landed on the ground face first. Letting out a pained groan, he spat out excess dirt from his mouth and wiped the dust from his face.
It seemed like the portal was a wormhole of sorts. Sonic got up and turned to face the direction he came from, but the portal was nowhere to be seen. He could swear he had heard the crackling energy just seconds ago, but now there was no sign of it.
This was just great…
As Sonic started to eye his surroundings more carefully, he froze in place. Nothing looked like it should. Instead of a bright blue sky, there were gray clouds all over a dust-brown sky. The tall buildings in the horizon were partially destroyed or at least abandoned. The streets were eerily quiet. And instead of green grass the ground was covered in brown dirt and dust, with debris scattered all around.
Well, this wasn’t the first time Sonic had gone through a portal and arrived in an area he didn’t recognize. This was either a completely different dimension from his home, or time travel. Perhaps both? Whatever it was, he would find it out. And then get out of here.
Sonic took a running start, leaving dust behind as he dodged the debris all around. He kept looking around, trying to see any sign of life. If he was able to breathe, surely this world was livable for others as well. However, there was no sign of anyone else – not even a reaction to all the noise Sonic was making, be it from running or calling out for anyone else out there. He couldn’t see any signs of life, not even tiny little flickies flying around like moments before.
He climbed up a hill, similar to the grassy green one he was climbing just moments ago – although this time it looked more like a pile of dirt and dust. The top of the hill gave him a good view of the place, but even that didn’t help with anything. Everything looked familiar but destroyed. Everything seemed so… Lifeless. Was this what Silver had to deal with on a regular basis? Maybe this time Sonic had been sent to him, instead of him traveling to the past…
Sonic reached to his head quills, pulling out a communication device Tails had built him a year ago. It resembled a simple phone, and it was a bit like a walkie-talkie as it had a pair that Tails kept – but instead of using radio waves it was able to reach the other pair in… Some other way. Sonic wasn’t quite sure how it worked, and even when Tails had explained it, all the tech mumbo jumbo had just gone in one ear and out the other. All he understood was that it was a good way to reach each other in case there was no phone reception or any other way to contact one another. And now seemed a good time to try to find his brother. But as he brought the device to his ear and tried everything, he was met with nothing but static noise. It didn’t even connect to the other pair.
Just his luck.
Sonic sighed as he fell on his butt on the ground. He was starting to feel hopeless, it seemed like he had gotten trapped in some sort of a weird dimension with absolutely no one else around, and with seemingly no way to go back. No signs of other portals, no crackling sounds of energy, nothing. Sonic would’ve thought this really was Eggman’s plan, if it wasn’t for the fact that there was no familiar, maniacal laughter mocking him. The air was filled with eerie, distant hums and the silence somehow hurt his ears. He had no idea where or when he was.
But the hope of getting back home returned with full force when he finally saw someone in the distance. Someone so familiar that he had to rub his eyes to see if it actually was who he thought it was. He could recognize those black quills and their red highlights anywhere. And that proud, composed demeanor was way too familiar.
It was Shadow. It had to be.
His back was turned towards Sonic, and he was walking at a careful, yet hasty pace. A wide smile immediately spread all over Sonic’s face and he got up. He was bouncing in place, excited to see a familiar face and possibly hear an explanation for everything. Sonic did some quick stretches, preparing for a run – until a thought crossed his mind.
What if this was another dimension, like Camelot, with alternative versions of his friends who had no idea who he was? He didn’t want to startle Shadow by acting too friendly in case he truly was a stranger here. He’d have to approach him carefully.
Sonic sprinted into action, catching up to his rival with ease. He ran past him, quickly screeched to a halt – having to try really hard not to fall in the process – and turned around with a wide, albeit awkward, smile. His brows were twitching nervously.
“Heeey,” Sonic waved his hand sheepishly, already planning several options in his head to explain who he was and how he ended up here just in case Shadow didn’t recognize him.
Shadow seemed completely startled. His eyes were wide and unblinking, and he dropped a bag he had been carrying in his hands. Its contents, including things such as bandages and canned food, fell out. Weird choices of items, but who knew – maybe Shadow had eaten nothing but canned food on the ARK. Although Sonic really hoped these items weren’t what he had picked for their picnic date. He immediately bent down, gathered everything, and held the bag out for Shadow, giving him a reassuring smile.
Shadow was completely quiet, and Sonic had time to take a better look at him. The dark hedgehog looked slightly different from what he was used to; there were two scars over his left eye, a scar on the left side of his torso, and a notch in his left ear. His inhibitor rings and shoes looked very worn off with cracks and a bit of rust. His gloves were all ripped, too, exposing his fingers. Despite this new rugged look, Shadow still somehow also looked just like moments before, right when they had agreed on a date. His demeanor – including the way he stood, back straight and eyes focused directly onto Sonic’s – hadn’t changed at all.
“Sonic?” Shadow finally managed to gasp, shaking his head in disbelief.
That was a good sign, Shadow knew him. So, this possibly wasn’t another dimension. Although considering the shape this world seemed to be in, Sonic really hoped this wasn’t his actual home. Sonic was pondering all the different ways to ask Shadow what this world was, and why he looked the way he did. But he didn’t have to, as the next thing Shadow said gave him some answers.
“Where have you been for the last fifty years?!”