Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was almost over. After days of running, other worlds, alliances, fist-fights, heartbreaks, and a whole bunch of Shatterspace bullshit, it was over.

And Sonic couldn’t be anymore relieved.

But at the same time, it hurt. Sonic knew he was responsible for all of this, from the initial shattering of his world to Nine’s betrayal.

“Did you even consider what I wanted?!”

He never did. He never asked what any of them wanted. None of his friends, both Shatterverse and his homeworld. He’d been so caught up, thinking they’d be just like the ones he knew back home. But they weren’t.

“They’re not your real friends!”

Speaking of his real friends, where would they be without him? Would they be better off without him and his arrogant, reckless, blind trust?

He thought of all the counterparts of his friends he’d run into. Rusty, Dread, Nine, Prim, Thorn, all of them…..they were never the real deal. And just like his real friends, he screwed them over more than once. The alliance they had made to stop Nine had to be a formality of sorts because it was very clear they did not trust him. And with good reason.

Why should they fight for him? With him? For a world where they weren’t even real, but cheap copies of someone else?

And if they hated him here, then his real friends probably wouldn’t give him the time of day for a few months. Especially Tails, whose warnings Sonic had so blatantly ignored. No way Tails would listen once the universe warped itself back together. In fact, Sonic wouldn’t be surprised if they all blew him off after this. And with good reason – what good was a hero who failed to listen? Who just jumped right in thinking he had all the answers?

“This is bigger than you, Sonic!”

Rebel was right. This was bigger than he was. But it was his mess and he had to fix it.

“Home doesn’t exist anymore because of you!”

Shadow was right. And despite the fact that Shadow agreed to help him didn’t excuse Sonic of the blame.

“You literally broke our world. Why would I trust you to do anything?!”

Why would anyone trust him again after this devastating blunder?

Maybe he should disappear after he put reality back together. That’d be good. A long hiatus from everyone.

No, that wasn’t enough. Amy could track him down like a bloodhound. Even if she had toned down several of her more aggressive tendencies over the years, she still knew how to find him.

‘She might not have to. In fact, she wouldn’t if she didn’t know you.’

Sonic let out a choking cry. How could he think such an awful thing about Amy? She was sweet and loving and fierce—

‘Something you thought her counterparts would be. You assumed everything about everyone and look where that got you.’

His inner voice was right. He’d assumed far too much about his friends. He didn’t know them at all, save for whatever their basic traits were. Maybe if he’d known them better, maybe he wouldn’t have made this mess.

Maybe Nine was right after all.

What he needed was to start over, just like he did with each new Shatterspace. A clean slate. A way to wipe away everything he did. He owed his friends that much. He owed them a lot, but especially a chance at a fresh start.

None of them deserved the lives Sonic had brought them. They deserved a better place; one where they were happy and content without ever crossing paths with the blue hedgehog (just so that they wouldn’t have to deal with the screw-up that he was). Almost like the Shatterspaces, save for the brutal conflicts involved. Without the Chaos Council and without him.

That was the catch. If his friends didn’t know him, he wouldn’t hurt them, wouldn’t assume things about them, wouldn’t take them for granted or anything like that ever again. Their realities would be far better without him in it.

But would it?

Nine lay unconscious just beyond the Prism lab, several bruises littering his body from where Shadow practically and literally beat the shit out of him. The kit’s dream, once something Sonic counted as pointless and something to overlook, was something Sonic now considered. After all, Nine never asked for any of this. None of his allies across the Shatterspaces asked for this. None of his friends ever did. They deserved a much better life and world than what they had with Sonic.

Yes, they deserved that. And Sonic would see to it that this reality would be exactly the one his friends would’ve wanted. A world without Eggman or wars or trauma. They all were kids, after all. And all of them deserved a safe world to grow up in. With Sonic around, they had lost that home -- Nine was technically right about that, too.

“The home you lost. The one I never had. I can make that hope a reality for both of us.”

And if Sonic understood Nine’s notes correctly, Sonic could control the shard energy to rewrite the universe exactly as he saw fit. And with the energy inside him, he could make that world perfectly.

Besides, Nine’s case was a freak incident caused by the Paradox Prism. Sonic would rewrite things so that no one would be like Nine. He’d rewrite everyone so that they were just like their home dimension, save for never meeting him. Essentially, they would be who they were back home, but with just a couple of tweaks.

And not everyone would be rewritten. Sonic needed a safety net, after all. Someone would need to fill in the void left in Sonic’s disappearance. And Sonic knew just who it would be.

With the question of “Should he?” answered, a new question sprang up in his mind: “How?” How was he going to rewrite this reality?

“Got a power-up to save your butt!”

With all the shards combined with the prism’s energy inside Sonic…..maybe…..

“Sonic!” Shadow called. “We have to go! The Prism will reset!”

He was right. They did have to go. To a world without an aggravating blue hedgehog who blew them off every chance they had. He would give their final rest.

He trotted after Shadow, noting the emergency panel to open and close the Prism chamber from the inside, should anything happen. Two big red buttons sat there: one to open and one to close. It was almost too easy.

It was a good thing Tails showed him how to jam doors if necessary. And it was also a very good thing that he knew about smashing buttons enthusiastically.

CLANG!

Shadow skidded to a stop just as the metallic doors of Nine’s lab slammed shut. “Sonic?” What was he still doing in Nine’s lab?

The blue hedgehog glanced at the Paradox Prism, glowing intensely behind him. “There’s…There’s not much time. Once the Paradox Prism gets going, then I can’t stop it.”

His emerald eyes were shining as he faced Shadow. “Go get ‘em, faker. Take care of them.”

Shadow’s eyes darted between the two objects in the barricaded room through the glass. “What are you talking about?” His heart began to hammer against his ribs in nervousness.

“It’s a feedback loop. Nine needs the energy inside me to stabilize the Paradox Prism,” Sonic explained. “So I’ll give it back.”

“Are you insane?!” Shadow threw himself at the door, trying to wrench it open by hand. “We don’t know what that will do to you!” Anything could happen – from simple mutations to Sonic straight up writing himself out of existence.

“I do.” Sonic’s ears flattened. “And it’s a choice I have to make. For Nine. For the Resistance. For Boscage. For No Place.” His smile dripped. “For Green Hill. For my friends. For you. I’d do anything to bring back home.”

“Anything doesn’t mean you pay the price!” Shadow yelped, banging on the glass. “Open the door right now, Sonic! Shut off whatever security Nine has in there!”

His hands slid down the glass as his throat closed up. “I won’t let you do this! You still have people waiting for you at home! And I….I am NOT leaving without you!”

In his mind, he could see a blond girl in a blue dress bleeding out all over the metal floor, uttering her last words while he could do nothing. Shadow would be damned if this happened again.

He hoped, against all odds, that Sonic would actually listen to him.

“Shadow,” Sonic’s voice cracked. The blue hedgehog was in literal tears, something Shadow had never seen. “I have to. I made this mess. It’s only fair that I fix it.” His hand rested against the glass. “Thank you for the adventure.”

Shadow felt like he was going to be sick (even though he couldn’t). “Sonic, please. Please don’t do this.” This adventure had cost both of them so much: their home, their friends, their family, their routine – if Shadow lost Sonic, then this would be so much worse.

But Sonic walked away, tossing away the Shatterdrive Technology from his gloves and shoes; the dull purple gray warping to the dingy familiar red kicks and gloves. “Alright, Nine? You want my energy? Then have it!” And he took off in a prismatic blur of color. The Paradox Prism glowed immediately, energy siphoning in and out of Sonic as the blue hedgehog ran faster and faster and faster.

Shadow glanced at Nine, the fox kit lying unconscious in the corner (after Shadow had roundhouse-kicked the traitor in the head). That sly son of a bitch wasn’t awake to hear Sonic’s delicious offer.

But regardless, Shadow had to get Sonic out of there. He didn’t want to know what would happen if Sonic followed through with this crazy plan of his.

Shadow grit his teeth and spin-dashed the doors, hoping to crack them open so he could end this madness. But the doors didn’t give, even with multiple dashes against it. Chaos Spears did nothing. Shadow put his full strength into wrenching the doors open again, but they didn’t budge. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, for Chaos’s sake! He broke boulders and battleships with his bare hands – a simple steel-lined glass wall should’ve been nothing!

He threw himself at the glass, hoping to shatter it. But the glass didn’t budge either. What was it made of – the same kind they used for the escape pods on the ARK?

But just like the ARK, he couldn’t intervene. He could only press his face to the glass, watching this unfold.

By now, Sonic was barely visible against the searingly bright colors. It was a sight Shadow was familiar with, peering at Sonic in the different Shatterspaces while the former was trapped in the Void.

The crackle in the room made Shadow’s fur stand up on end. “Sonic!” He shouted.

And then he saw Sonic’s silhouette in mid-stride, white and clear against the rainbow of energy and lightning. Stripes of color shot out around the chamber, crashing in with the force of a million suns.

Time moved in slow motion as Shadow punched the door in one last attempt to save the blue hedgehog, the metal finally warping to a crack beneath his fist. “Hang on, Sonic!!!!”

He fumbled for the Chaos Emerald he brought with him and shoved his arm through the hole. “Chaos Control!” He cried, praying that this would stop it.

Sonic turned towards Shadow, the black hedgehog’s name on the hero’s lips.

Then everything went black.

Chapter Text

Head pounding, Shadow opened his eyes to a bright blue sky and the familiar sight of Green Hills in all its vibrant glory: the warm green grass against his back, the checkerboard brown cliffs, palm trees stretching to the heavens, and the ocean humming in the distance. But just in case this was a distorted Shatterspace, he ran around and checked off the sights (like Sonic did when he first arrived in Ghost Hill).

The Loop-De-Loop? Check (and not destroyed, miraculously).

Hedgehog’s pass? Check.

Tails’s lab? Check.

Palm trees? Check, check, and double check.

Okay, so this Green Hill was legit.

Shadow placed his hand against a palm tree, the bark firm against his fingers as he tried to put the pieces together. Something about a rainbow of light, metal warping against his hand, and at the center of it all—

“Sonic,” Shadow realized. What had happened to his…rival? Friend? Friendly rival? Their relationship depended on the day or media.

He warped to the top of Hedgehog’s Pass, ears and eyes searching for a rush of wind and a blue blur. If this really was Green Hill, Sonic should be running around and laughing with his friends. Or at the very least, dealing with the Doctor.

“BWAHAHAHA!!!!!”

Speak of the devil.

Shadow skated towards the laughter until he reached the beach. He could see the Doctor through the treeline with his back to Shadow. It was perfect – take him out before Sonic arrived (assuming he was here and on the way).

Gripping the Chaos Emerald tightly, he charged the Doctor, knocking him into the sand. The Doctor yelped with surprise, but stopped once Shadow had his hands around his throat.

“Sonic may have shattered reality, but it’s your fault for digging up the prism!” Shadow yelled. “Now let’s make sure it doesn’t happen–”

“Shadow!”

Shadow’s blood ran cold at the familiar voice. It couldn’t be.

And suddenly, he was lifted from the Doctor and seated in someone’s arms. Ruby eyes met sapphire ones framed by golden hair.

“It can’t be,” Shadow murmured, heart pounding against his ribs.

She giggled. “Shadow, you’re being silly! Of course it’s me!”

Maria? What was she–

Behind her was the Professor, sitting on the picnic blanket watching the exchange. Rouge, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Big were watching curiously.

“I swear to Chaos, I’m dreaming.” Shadow warped out of Maria’s hold and backed up slowly, hands up in defense. “That’s it. This is a hallucination, another Shatterspace, a dream, something. It’s not real.” His back collided with a palm tree, the bark digging into his spine. “It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not–”

“Hun,” Rouge spoke next, flying over and resting a hand on his shoulder. “Take a deep breath. It’s okay.”

“It’s not!” Shadow exclaimed. He rushed towards Maria and jabbed a finger into her stomach. “Who are you?! I know you’re not Maria!”

Maria’s blue eyes got round as she tilted her head in confusion. “But….I am Maria.”

“You’re not!” Shadow shouted. He ran to the ocean and dunked his head in the waves, trying to shake off the illusion. “It’s not real! It’s not real! It’s not–”

His ears were being rubbed.

No one knew he liked that. No one except for–

He turned to meet Maria’s blue eyes. She smiled as she knelt before him, scritching his ears.

“You….are you….are you real?” Shadow choked, salt flooding his reddish eyes.

“I’m as real as you are, silly,” Maria responded. Then she pulled him close. “It’s okay.”

Shadow gripped the back of her dress, shuddering with grief as the painful memories hit him at full force: the raid, her death, the consequences it had on him, on the Doctor, the Professor—

He met Professor Robotnik’s gaze and whispered, “Is he real, too?”

“Of course,” Maria answered, twirling her fingers through his quills. “It’s all good, now.”

Shadow glanced between Maria and the Professor, still in their prime and in the peak of health. This shouldn’t be possible. After all, it had been fifty years – both of them had to be dead.

Shadow didn’t want to ask the uncomfortable question, but he had to know. “How are you here? I thought–”

“You don’t remember?” Maria asked.

Remember? Remember what?

Shadow put a hand to his head, thinking of an excuse. “I…must’ve hit my head too hard after a misstep.” It wasn’t too much of a fabrication – the Paradox Prism’s energy blast had sent him flying.

The professor pushed his glasses up his nose. “How much do you remember?”

Shadow scratched his head. “Up to the G.U.N. raid,” he answered. That seemed a safe enough response.

Maria nodded. “G.U.N. did come to visit, yes. Grandfather asked that if we were arrested to seal all of us away in cryogenic storage. He figured that in a few years, treatment for NIDS would’ve evolved. G.U.N. agreed, but what Grandfather didn’t tell them was that HE was being sealed along with me and you. So they sealed all three of us away on Prison Island.”

“So you never got shot?” Shadow asked. “We made it together?”

“The escape pod was a tight fit,” Maria giggled. “But Grandfather was happy we both made it out.”

“About fifty years later, Ivo came along and freed us,” the Professor continued. “With our combined knowledge, we beat Maria’s NIDS into submission, just like cancer.”

“They won Nobel and Peace prizes for that!” Maria praised.

“Nowadays, we only visit the ARK if Maria relapses,” Professor Robotnik continued. “But we live on earth, just like the regular people do.”

Shadow was amazed at this. But then he focused on Ivo. “So you never unleashed Perfect Chaos? Or Dark Gaia?”

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed behind the glasses. “I’d have to be crazy to do that!”

“The Lost Hex? The Metal Virus? The Death Egg?” Shadow allowed himself to smirk. “Pissing on the moon? Wanting to be the king of sin?”

“What sort of bullshit are you using to mock my intelligence?” The Doctor asked. “I would never dream of doing such abominations! Before I saved you, I was a brilliant scientist using my inventions to carry out my grandfather’s legacy. Now that I have my family back, I’ve done great things with my grandfather, like animal conservation efforts and helping people. Despite a, uh, minor disagreement with G.U.N..”

“You nearly went to war with them!” Professor Robotnik exclaimed.

“I had reason to! And part of the reason I backed off was if I got you back!” The Doctor defended. “Which I did and made peace as a result.” He gestured to Tails. “Mr. Prower here is my protege. His genius is on par with mine and my grandfather’s! It’s amazing!”

“Yeah! And I’ve got accolades, too! I’m a hero in the world of science and other things!” Tails exclaimed, blue eyes shining.

Shadow scratched his head. Okay, nothing wrong with that. Well, everything save for Eggman going to war with G.U.N. – that didn’t seem odd.

He turned to Knuckles. “Shouldn’t you be on Angel Island?”

Knuckles shrugged. “I learned there’s more than just my island.” He pointed to Amy. “She came with Tails and we reached an understanding.” Then he pointed at Rouge. “And she came, too.”

“To steal the emerald?” Shadow asked.

“At first,” Rouge smiled. “But then we became treasure-hunting partners, whenever I’m not helping G.U.N. out.” There was also a small hint of a relationship, given how Knuckles shyly nodded at her.

Shadow processed this all well. With the exception of Maria and Professor Robotnik, this world was a full-on utopia: no Eggman, no destruction, no rivalry…..Sonic would be bored out of his skull here, but at least he’d be happy that things were somewhat right.

Sonic……

“So is Sonic joining this picnic?” Shadow asked. “Knowing him, he’s probably sidetracked again.” He allowed himself to smile at that. It would be like Sonic to show up late with some excuse.

‘Assuming, of course, he made it out of that blast.’

“Who’s Sonic?” Tails asked, confusion written across his face.

And just like that, the picture illusion shattered. The cosmic record screeched comedically.

“Who’s…Sonic?” Shadow repeated slowly. “Surely, you’d recognize your older brother, right? The one who saved you from bullies?”

Tails shook his head. “You saved me from those bullies, remember?”

If that wasn’t a slap to the face, Shadow didn’t know what was.

He turned to Amy. “Little Planet? And Metal Sonic?”

She shrugged. “I have been to Little Planet, yes. But what’s a “Metal Sonic”?”

Knuckles repeated his answer – only Amy and Tails came to visit, followed by Rouge.

Finally, he turned to the Doctor. “Did you free me?” He asked. It was one of the key facts he knew about himself – fifty years after the tragedy on the ARK, Ivo Robotnik had liberated Shadow.

“You, Maria, and my grandfather,” the Doctor responded.

Shadow put a hand to his head. The universe and the memories all lined up, but without Sonic. How did this work?

“So why did you free m-us?” Shadow asked. “World Domination?”

“No, of course not! Why would I?” The Doctor shrugged. “I already told you, I hacked G.U.N. files and found out you were alive. I had intended to destroy G.U.N. for copyright infringement of my tech when I found out he was holding you all hostage. That was that whole near-war thing. Part of the treaty meant I got you, Grandfather, and Maria back unharmed.”

Copyright infringement for tech. This led to their rescue. Then Maria’s cure. Then Shadow saved Tails. Amy and Tails visiting Knuckles with—

He faced Rouge. “Are we still working with G.U.N.?”

“Sure are, hun,” Rouge replied. “And you know how much I love my gems.”

“Did you help the Doctor with his…..copyright infringement?” Damn, Shadow couldn’t say that with a straight face. “Or were you spying on him for the president?”

“Spying,” Rouge answered. Then her eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking so many questions? I get that you bumped your head, but this is—”

Shadow sped off away from her and them, his mind warped about as ever.

There was one person he knew who could fix this mess, one person that could give him the answers. He just had to find that blue gumball son of a bitch and slap him upside the head a few times.

By sundown, he found himself at the top of the mountain temple (undamaged as well), thoughts cycling through what he’d gathered.

Nothing really made sense.

The past did happen. But Sonic wasn’t any part of it. Nor did people know who he was. And there was no sign of him anywhere. Shadow had done loops around the world trying to find his heroic rival, scouring each and every piece of earth. No stone was left unturned and no hidden zone unexplored. Shadow hit up every chili dog stand within a thousand miles of Green Hill and then the next five thousand, just in case Sonic had stopped by for a post-restoration snack.

But for all his efforts today, Shadow found nothing. No sign of Sonic. In fact, people assumed he was Sonic, given his own speed. A regular misconception back home.

“You could be twins!”

Hardly. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, alternate dimension or not. And in this dimension, because he was part of the Doctor’s copyright infringement plot, people knew about him moreso than they did back home.

But as for Sonic, no one had seen or heard of a blue hedgehog that could run at light speed. No, no that wasn’t a thing. The only speedy hedgehog was Shadow, not Sonic.

It was like….like he never existed. Or if he did, he was in some remote place where he couldn’t be found.

“Dammit, Sonic,” Shadow cursed under his breath. “Where are you?”

He shouldn’t get so worried, he reasoned with himself. He had only skimmed the world today. He could do a more thorough zone search tomorrow. And besides, if it took Shadow a bit of time to recover from the blast, then Sonic was probably still unconscious, given that he was at the epicenter of it all.

But what if he was injured? What if he was like Shadow after he fell from the ARK? Amnesiac? Injured? Presumed dead?

He shook his head. Sonic was fine. And Shadow would probably find him tomorrow on his travels, smiling and laughing about how much fun they had on their interdimensional adventure.

Or tonight, in case the faker decided to try something stupid, like try to speak to these dimensional variants of his friends.

Yeah, tonight would be good. He’d pay the professor for his coffee beans later.

A week later, Shadow was close to repeatedly slamming his head into a palm tree. He shook his head to fend off the exhaustion and poured over a world map dotted with x’s.

He’d run over this world in laps and still hadn’t found Sonic. Which meant he was probably in another dimension or something like that.

“Fuck,” he swore, gripping a fistful of quills. He was going to need the Chaos Emerald for that, which wasn’t a problem save for the fact that dimension-hopping meant there were infinite universes for him to search. And he was just one hedgehog. It was almost too big of a job.

“Shadow?”

He looked up to meet Maria’s eyes. She held up a baby blue blanket lined with satin. “You haven’t been sleeping, have you?”

“No.” He promised Maria he’d never lie, so he never would.

“Why? Are you still worried about your friend?” She asked.

“He’s not my–well,” Shadow sighed. “It’s….complicated.” Which it was. Shadow was never quite sure how to define his relationship with Sonic. Sure, he was a massive thorn in Shadow’s side, but Shadow didn’t hate him. In fact, Sonic was an almost endearing thorn in Shadow’s side. Almost.

Maria sat down and patted the grass beside her. Shadow scooted over, letting Maria drape the blanket over his shoulders just like she did on the ARK.

“Tell me about him,” Maria hummed. “Your friend, the one you’re looking for – Sonic, right? Tell me about him.”

Shadow paused for a minute. He never really described Sonic to anyone, as most people knew who he was.

“Well,” Shadow started, “He’s a hedgehog like me. Cobalt blue quills, eyes greener than spring grass, and as his name implies, he can run at the speed of sound.”

“Just like you.” Maria poked his nose.

Shadow smiled briefly. “He’s fast, he’s arrogant, friendly, caring, cocky, and a hero.”

“How nice!” Maria exclaimed.

“Yes, but his methods are annoying, his jokes are terrible, his skills lack discipline, he constantly sees the good in people to his own detriment, and he has terrible taste in footwear.”

“Oh.” Maria’s face shifted into a quizzical expression. “Is that why you hate him?”

“What? No, I don’t hate him.” Shadow winced. “He just ...His methods are unorthodox, but his heart’s in the right place. And he’s just as powerful as I am, if not maybe a bit more so. I don’t hate him – but I do respect him. We’re rivals, but we respect each other.”

“Right. And respectful rivals mean scouring the globe looking for him.”

Shadow’s muzzle flushed a little. “I…It’s not like that. We had..an argument and things….escalated.”

“So you want to make things right?” Maria asked.

“I-I know I caused this. It just…keeps getting worse.”

“How do I fix this?”

Shadow glanced at his inhibitor rings, the light glinting off them. “You could say that.” The real Maria would've wanted him to make things right with Sonic, too. And Sonic, despite everything, also deserved a chance to be happy, just like Shadow had promised.

Maria smiled lovingly at him (Chaos, how he missed her smile). “I’m proud of you for wanting to make things right with your friend. But running around the world all day and all night isn’t going to find him faster. Get some rest – I’ll help you search for him in the morning.” Before Shadow could protest, she added, “Grandfather’s coffee beans are missing and you have dark bags under your eyes. Doesn’t take a genius to know the connection between those two and now, there’s a motive. Case closed.”

Shadow sighed. “Fine. But only if you stay.”

‘I don’t know how long I’ll have you for.’

Maria scooted closer. “Of course.” She wrapped her arms around him tightly, just like how they used to sleep together. Shadow’s ear found her heart, beating as healthy as a normal girl’s.

Maria – healthy. Here on earth, the one place she wanted to go. Shadow remembered her daydreams about the planet and the bucket lists of places she wanted to see and things she wanted to do. She always kept a notebook nearby so she could jot down something from earth that interested her.

Shadow had actually found one of her old lists on the ARK following the Black Arms incident and had tried to check off many of these places in her name whenever he could.

Maria rubbed his ears soothingly, humming some tune Shadow couldn’t place in the moment. Despite his big claim that he never really needed sleep (something that simultaneously impressed and ticked off G.U.N.), he couldn’t resist the peace at that moment. It had been a long time since he’d fallen asleep in someone’s arms – Rouge only did it twice (and once was by accident). It didn’t take him long to drift off, his head landing in Maria’s lap as she stroked his quills and fur.

Shadow had a mission – one with possibly the fate of the world at stake. But at the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Their greatest dream, to see and walk on the planet and interact with the people Maria loved, was fulfilled. And it was the happiness Shadow had wished for.

Chapter Text

He could hear the gunshots echoing throughout the ARK. The noises popped in his ears alongside their breathing.

Shadow fought the queasiness churning inside him, his body’s natural reaction to the inhibitor rings. The Professor did say he couldn’t overuse his powers right away and Shadow was paying the price for it.

Groaning against the strain of his powers, he barely got to his feet, leaning against the wall.

“FREEZE!” The soldier barked, darting outside the extraction room. “I said, “Freeze!”!”

“No!”

Shadow collapsed, putting a Chaos Spear through the soldier. His vision blurred a bit, but he could make out a blue shape in his fuzzy vision. Was it Maria? What was she doing?

“Maria? W-Wait….No….”

The capsule room blurred until Shadow was securely placed inside. “Maria….you can’t…stay here alone.”

When his vision cleared, instead of Maria at the lever, Shadow could see Sonic staring at the Paradox Prism. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

“Sonic?” Shadow banged against the glass. “Sonic!!!”

“I should’ve listened to you long ago.” Sonic approached Shadow and pressed his face against the glass separating them. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Then he started running; faster and faster.

“Sonic, wait! Stop!” Shadow screamed, punching the glass.

Sonic grew more and more translucent as he ran, the energy building up.

And then Maria appeared in the far corner of the room. What the heck?

“Maria?” Shadow murmured.

And then the room exploded in light, vaporizing both Maria and Sonic.

“MARIA!!!”

Shadow sat up, gasping violently for breath as he threw off his blanket.

Soft, warm hands carded his quills. “It’s okay, Shadow. It was just a dream.”

Shadow shook, wary of the dream. “I–I thought….you….and the ARK….and–”

“Shhhhh.” Maria gathered Shadow onto her lap. “It’s okay, Shadow. I’m safe. We got out together.”

Shadow quivered, old memories popping up again. The blood, the gunfire, the pod, all of it came roaring in at full force. Chaos, he hated remembering. Rouge said it had something to do with PTSD and upon joining G.U.N., Shadow earned covered therapy. Sure, therapy couldn’t erase the event, but it did help Shadow on his journey to defining himself.

Now, in this world, Shadow had no need for that, given that Maria had survived. But someone else didn’t.

And suddenly, Shadow understood why this universe was the way it was.

Maria had never died. But Sonic….Sonic did. Sonic the Hedgehog, Hero of Mobius, was dead.

“I’d do anything to bring back home.”

“Oh, God,” he murmured.

“What is it?” Maria asked.

Shadow put his head in his hands. “It can’t be. Nothing could kill him.”

“Who? Who can’t be killed?” Maria tilted her head to the side.

“My friend,” Shadow answered. “Maria, I…I think he might be dead.” Isn’t that how sacrificial universes worked? In order for someone to live, someone else had to die?

“And why are you so sure?” Maria asked. “How do you know?”

Shadow shook his head. “I still can’t find him. And I can’t keep warping all over the world like this.”

“Then don’t.” Maria smiled. “If an experiment doesn’t go right, what do you do?”

Shadow tapped his rocket skate. “Look for a new angle?”

“Exactly.” Maria stood up and took him by the hand. “Can you Chaos Control us to a nearby G.U.N. base?”

Shadow regarded her quizzically. “I thought you don’t like Chaos Control? It makes you queasy.” He had to bite his lip to keep from saying “made”.

“A little bit of queasiness won’t stop me from helping my brother,” Maria smiled. “Now come on. I have an idea.”

With a nod, Shadow took her hands and tapped into the emerald’s power.

“Chaos Control!”

“Okay,” Maria hummed, eyes sweeping the computer screen in front of her. “Part of Ivo’s animal conservation efforts established a system for Mobians that includes digitally tagging them by species, color, gender, and age bracket. If your friend is in the system, we’ll find him here.” She turned to Shadow. “Ivo and Miles came up with this system. It’s a way to prevent illegal Mobian experimentation.”

Shadow nodded. While illegal Mobian experimentation generally fell into the robotization efforts put on by the Doctor, it was still a threat in the main world. One that, unfortunately, G.U.N. had no interest in dealing with (at least in his world).

Maria’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Let’s see: age bracket C. Species: male hedgehog. Color: Blue. And…..bingo! Found one match!”

Shadow’s eyes lit up at the familiar face dotting the screen with the exact same smile. At last!

Shadow’s worst fears quelled. Sonic was still alive. Thank Chaos for that (something Shadow never thought he’d say about Sonic). He couldn’t stop smiling, despite himself.

“Tracking number….1991,” Maria hummed. “Current location….Apotos!” She swiveled around with a sunbeam grin. “Does this help?”

“It does.” Shadow hugged Maria tightly. “Thank you, thank you!” He made a note to make this up to Maria later. He had a lot to make up with her.

“Anything for my best friend,” She smiled. “Good luck!”

Despite his outstanding career at G.U.N., Shadow had never been deployed to Apotos. But Sonic had told him that it was one of the most beautiful places to visit and especially for an ice cream connoisseur.

Shadow had to admit Sonic was right.

The white buildings and cobblestone streets punctuated by blue, pink, and green had a sense of beginnings written all over it. The salty sea air tanged with freshness and mingled with the sugary scent of ice cream. The windmills seemed to blow the clouds lazily along, in no hurry to go about. Seagulls squawked amidst the happy residents.

In short, it was super peaceful.

Shadow wandered the streets, a Chocolate Chip Cream Sundae Supreme in his hand. He could see why Sonic liked coming back here, even after the Dark Gaia incident.

His communicator pinged with communications from Maria and Rouge. It felt weird to have both of them speaking with him. But he kindly let them know that he’d arrived and was on the hunt for his missing friend.

He finally stopped, spotting the familiar blue hedgehog leaning on a railing, staring out at the sea. He hung up with Maria and Rouge, watching Sonic gaze across the sea.

Here was his chance.

Now, how exactly do you ask a guy what the hell is going on without socking him in the face (which was Shadow’s usual greeting for that blue asshole)?

If Rouge were, well, Rouge, she’d tell him to play it cool.

Okay, why not?

But then Shadow thought of the joy, the relief, and the peace he felt earlier. Was this how Sonic felt upon seeing the black hedgehog again in the Void despite Shadow throwing him around?

“Shadow, you’re you! The real you!”

“Sonic!” Shadow called. He rushed over and uncharacteristically pulled Sonic into a hug, holding him so tight he didn’t think he could let go (just like Sonic had hugged Shadow in the Void). The black hedgehog ran his fingers through those soft blue quills, warm and clean. He could feel Sonic’s heart pounding against Shadow’s ears; a sign that he was alive and well and not dead in an explosion of light.

He could deck this blue asshole later. Right now, the joy of finding the person Shadow was looking for made him push any reservations and anger he had.

He pulled away, unable to keep himself from grinning. “I found you, Faker.”

“Faker?” The blue hedgehog asked, eyeridges lifted curiously. “Never been called that before.”

“Well, to be fair, it has been a long time since I’ve used that name,” Shadow commented. “But it’s…it’s good to see you, Sonic.” Wow, Shadow would never be able to live this down.

“I’ll be able to hold this over you, forever.”

“That’s not my name.”

The cosmic record once again screeched to a halt. “What?” Shadow asked.

The blue hedgehog backed up, hands held up defensively. “Look, buddy, you’ve got me confused with somebody else. My name’s not Sonic. It’s Maurice.”

Shadow’s ears twitched. “Sonic, we’ve jumped through how many Shatterspaces together? And how many battles have we fought together? I think we both know who we are at this point.”

“I don’t know you at all,” the blue hedgehog repeated. “I mean, I know who you are, but we aren’t friends or anything like that. I know of you, but I don’t know you.”

Shadow’s heart began pounding. “Sonic, don’t you remember Nine? The Paradox Prism? The Space Colony ARK?” He smiled a little bit. “That time we were getting married and couldn’t figure out who the bride was? Or the time I told you what the Doctor’s dick looked like and you said it was Lovecraftian?”

The blue hedgehog shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Shadow shook his head. “Sonic–”

“Maurice,” the blue hedgehog interrupted, eyes narrowed. “My name is Maurice.”

Maurice?

Shadow stood there, slack-jawed. “You were labeled “Sonic” in the data systems.”

“Yes, under “Special Abilities” – Sonic Speed.” Maurice crossed his arms. “What do you want from me, an interrogation? Some government information?”

Shadow sighed. “Yes. I thought you were someone I knew. I….I suppose I was wrong.” He turned away and pulled out his Chaos Emerald. “I’m sorry to bother you. Have a good day.”

But before he could warp away. Maurice caught him by the arm. Green eyes looked up pleadingly. “Who…Who did you think I was?”

An ally. A rival. An acquaintance. “A friend,” Shadow replied before he could stop himself.

“I see.” Maurice then brightened. “Let me buy you lunch. Then we’ll talk.”

Maurice took him to a cozy little table in the shade of some trees. “Here. One second.” And he zipped off in a familiar blur of blue towards the meal counter. Other folks joined the cluster of tables, laughing and joking in their own way.

So it was Sonic, but he didn’t remember anything about his previous life. About the Shatterspaces, Nine, the Paradox Prism, all of it. Here, he was just an extraordinary blue hedgehog living a normal life.

And oddly enough, Shadow found that endearing.

He’d always seen Sonic so tough and fearless, charging into battle with a smirk and confidence like the sun. He’d been a hero since day one, according to him. Nothing phased him, not even the knowledge that he gave up a normal childhood and adolescence just so that others could have those years.

Seeing him crack in both Ghost Hill and the Void was heartbreaking to say the least. He never knew the hero could be so….vulnerable. A chink in the positive armor.

Here, there was no pressure, no responsibility, no duty. Sonic had the childhood and teen years that he’d missed out on. And he was happy. A true sense of happiness, as if this was just what he wanted.

Oddly enough, Shadow liked that. He’d been charged to make sure all of Earth’s people were happy. And that included Sonic. Or Maurice, in this world.

His lunch date returned with a few gyros stuffed with all the fixings. “I’m back!” He chirped.

“So I gathered,” Shadow commented dryly. The two began eating in relative silence (another odd thing – Sonic couldn’t shut up if he tried).

“So, your friend –  he looks just like me?”

Down to the very twitch of his nose. But Shadow gave an affirmative hum.

Wait, was his mind implying that Sonic was cute? Shut up! Sonic was an ally! An ally that needed to get punched in the face, but an ally.

Maurice nibbled at his gyro. “Well, gee. I don’t know any other blue hedgehogs other than me and my Uncle Chuck. My parents are dead and unless I’ve got some siblings separated from me because of a prophecy, it’s just me and him.”

“That’s oddly specific,” Shadow commented. “Not your parents, but the whole sibling thing.”

“I dunno, I’m just spitballing.” Maurice shrugged.

Shadow watched the blue hedgehog eat, struggling to reconcile both the teenage hero that Sonic was and this carefree boy that was Maurice. Same in speed, quills, and eyes. But how could Shadow tell this carefree boy that he really was the hero Shadow wanted to hug and bitch-slap across the face?

Was it fair of him to do so?

Shadow shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“So…is there anything I can do to help you find your friend?” Maurice asked. He leaned forward eagerly, just like Sonic did in the Void when Shadow first expressed the idea of working together. “I may not be who you’re looking for, but I travel the world a lot, so I meet a lot of people. It’s possible I might’ve seen your friend, but I haven’t made the connection.”

Shadow weighed this carefully. It’d be a good way to help without dragging G.U.N. completely into this. On the other hand, if this was Sonic after all and he was pulling a fast one, Shadow would have no qualms about putting him in the ground.

“I’ll…I’ll consider it.”

If Rouge (the real Rouge) were here, she’d call it a step in the right direction towards behind friends with Sonic without calling them friends.

But for Maurice, he smiled and shook Shadow’s hand. “Cool!” He hastily scrawled out a number on a napkin and held it out to Shadow. “This is my uncle’s number. Call me if you need anything!” He winked at Shadow the same way Sonic did.

Shadow accepted the napkin with a curt “Thanks.” The warm feelings he got when he took the napkin was something he’d have to process later.

So Sonic was out of the equation.

Shadow grit his teeth, drumming his fingers against his notes, comparing his handwritten notes to the G.U.N. database. He had to think of a new approach in this dimensional debacle.

He ran through the facts: Sonic broke the Prism (kicking off the Shatterverse). Sonic rebuilt the world using the Prism and his own energy. Now, Sonic didn’t remember the Shatterverse. So what was he missing? What was the key to solving this solution to the world Sonic shattered?

Oh. Oh. Duh!!

Shadow would have smacked himself in the face. The solution was right there and so obvious! The object that started this whole mess. If that blasted jewel started this mess, then it could certainly have the method to fix it.

“Rouge!” He called. “What do you know about the Paradox Prism?”

“Just that it’s a very rare and powerful gem of unspeakable power and that’s without digging into G.U.N.’s archives,” she answered. “Why?”

Shadow grinned. “Because I’m going to help you find it.”

Chapter Text

"Paradox Prism, huh? Didn't take you into gemology," Maurice commented, lying in the grassy meadow.

Shadow lay next to him, eyes gravitating to the clouds above (where one happened to be shaped like the gem he was looking for). "I'm usually not. Not unless it's the Chaos Emeralds."

"The Chaos Emeralds?" Maurice sat up on his elbows. "I've heard of those! But...I thought they were a legend."

Shadow smirked and pulled out the Chaos Emerald he recovered. "Here you are. The legend's real."

"Can....Can I hold it?" Maurice asked.

"Sure." Shadow handed over the emerald, the jewel fitting easily in his hands. Maurice examined it with the eagerness and wonder of a child, emerald eyes glowing with awe.

"It's beautiful," Maurice murmured before he handed back the emerald. "It's almost the color of my eyes."

Shadow nodded as he accepted the emerald back, tucking it away. "Almost. It's more the color of the grass."

Maurice let out a hum. "True."

They lay there together with nothing but the warm summer air, the blue sky, the flickies singing, the rich green grass, and each other. It was absolutely serene, especially compared to Shadow's usual encounters with the blue hedgehog.

It felt...nice. He could get used to this.

He blinked, realizing that Maurice had rolled over a little closer to him, their fingers brushing. Shadow initially bristled at the touch, but then he relaxed. The touch was innocent enough.

Fingers moved to their arms twisting around each other. Shadow faced Maurice, ready to snap at him.

And it was clear Maurice expected it on some degree. "Sorry," he stated, pulling away his arm.

But Shadow took Maurice's hand and guided it to wrap around Shadow. The black hedgehog tucked his under the blue hedgehog. "Don't be." With all the times that Sonic had touched Shadow and vice versa (times that didn't involve beating the shit out of each other), Shadow was used to it.

Maurice purred quietly, smiling as he rolled to face Shadow. "What will you do once you find the prism?"

'Figure out if this really truly is home.' But Shadow answered, "I don't know. Maybe I'll be hopping dimensions or something. Like I normally can do with Chaos Control."

Maurice chuckled. "If you do that, see if you can find me. I hope I'm the same in every universe."

Shadow's heart panged a little at that, remembering the counterparts. Shaking his head, he replied, "I'm sure I'll find you. You always have a way of turning up." Maurice chuckled, scooting closer to Shadow.

Shadow's heart sped up while his mind screamed at him to drop-kick Maurice away. But then again, it felt nice. Sure, Sonic was more affectionate than Shadow, but it was always coupled with a tease. This one....Maurice genuinely wanted to be close to Shadow. He wanted to spend time with Shadow. He wanted to.

And deep down, Shadow liked it.

Maybe that came from spending all that time with Sonic between worlds or even the other adventures they'd been on, but Shadow had grown a respectful fondness for the teenage hero. And he knew Sonic felt the same way about him, even if his teasing bordered on the flirtatious side.

There had been nothing straight about the way he leaned against that crystal fragment back in the Void.....

"Shadow?"

"Hmm?"

"I like this. I like you."

Shadow's face flushed as red as his "gay highlights".

Maurice knew it too, given how fast he backpedaled. "I meant as a friend. I like you like a friend."

A friend. That was better. And it would probably be the most intimate Shadow could (or should) be with Sonic without breaking a mandate somewhere. He could work with that for now.

"I like you like that, too." With the hope that maybe, just maybe, there could be something more, as long as Shadow "opened his heart" or one of Maurice's other cheesy quips.

Wait, what? Maurice made no such quip. That was Sonic's. Why was he getting the two of them mixed up? Just because they looked alike didn't mean they were the same!

No matter. Shadow decided to curl up with Maurice and enjoy the company. He had time to kill before he went treasure-hunting with his team.

Hours later, as the sun was setting, Shadow, Omega, and Rouge stood in front of the temple mountain, staring at the unassuming sheer rock. At least to Rouge and Omega. Shadow knew far, far better.

“So you’re telling me that one of the most powerful gems in the history of our world is behind this mountain wall?” Rouge inquired, eyes raised in her direction.

“Yes,” Shadow replied. Then he turned to Omega. “Blast it down. Make a door.”

“WITH GUSTO,” the robot replied, machine guns clanking to life. Bullets and rockets pelted the rock surface, punctuated by Shadow spin-dashing it and Rouge occasionally screw-kicking it.

Finally, the rock face collapsed open with a billowing cloud of dust. Shadow smirked before diving into the cave, knowing full well what he was looking for.

Sure enough, there was the Paradox Prism. All intact, all six–

Wait, six?

Sure enough, connected between the green and yellow shards, was a pure white shard that bore the slightest tint of cobalt blue. How odd.

“Tower and Professor Robotnik are on their way,” Rouge spoke up. She wrapped her arms around him. "Way to go, hun. I knew you'd be a good treasure-hunting partner. Thanks for gem-hunting with me."

Shadow nodded absentmindedly, his mind distracted by the foreign shard. There were initially five shards when Sonic shattered the world. But that couldn't be right. There were six shards in the Shatterverse.

But were there always six shards? Or was Shadow imagining that there were fewer?

It was getting confusing, like it was when he had amnesia or when Gerald was controlling his memories. Only now, it really felt like he had the details of his memories wrong.

Something wasn't quite right.

“Splendid discovery, Shadow!” The Doctor boomed as he and his grandfather examined the prism. Other G.U.N. scientists were scouring the area, hoping to find clues about this mythical gem. Among those was Dr. Sniveley, who Shadow once swore up and down was related to the Doctor on more than one occasion in his home dimension.

“Professor, I believe I’ve found something,” Sniveley commented.

Shadow’s heart stopped beating.

In Sniveley’s hands was the Shatterdrive technology.

A memory ripped through Shadow’s mind, the audible clink ! of it falling away as Sonic ran, disappearing in an explosion of light and color, how Shadow pleaded for him to stop, over and over again–

“You’re thinking too hard again,” Maria teased him, rubbing his ears.

The Professor took the metal circles and turned them about. “How extraordinary. These four pieces of technology look just like yours, Ivo. And yet they are here, in the heart of this mountain.”

“Maybe it’s some of the Ancient’s technology that migrated from the Starfall Islands?” Rouge asked.

“Unlikely, Rouge. This seems more modern,” the Doctor commented. “We may have to test it.”

“Under G.U.N. jurisdiction, of course,” Snively snorted.

Shadow’s communicator buzzed abruptly. He checked it, surprised to find a message from Maurice.

Maurice: Hey Shadow! I talked to my uncle to see if he knew any other blue hedgehogs like us and told him you were going off of G.U.N.’s database. He said that he didn’t know and that the database is technically incomplete because even though a majority of Mobians are in the database, not every Mobian complies with the tracking system. It’s got something to do with fear of being spied on or something. So your friend might be out there somewhere and we don’t know it, yet.

Shadow shook his head.

Shadow: No harm. I appreciate you searching for me.

Maurice: Anything for a friend. :D

A friend. Not a friendly rival. A friend. That left Shadow feeling fuzzier than usual.

He pocketed the communicator, watching Tails examine the tech. “It…It looks like something I’d design.”

‘Because you technically did.’ Shadow thought, remembering how Sonic stated that this was Nine’s tech.

“And you know what is real? Nine’s tech on my kicks and punching sticks!”

Shadow shook his head. The less he thought of Nine, the better. But the memory of Sonic struck him odd, especially since he'd just spoken to Maurice. They weren't really the same person, were they? It couldn't be.

Unfortunately, he snapped back into the discussion right as Snively was being an argumentative jackass.

“Just because it doesn’t look like your tech doesn’t mean that it’s yours,” Snively snorted. He examined it closer. “It seems to be a sort of energy calibrator. But for what?”

As if on cue, the technology crackled at the same time the Paradox Prism did.

“It’s connected to the Paradox Prism!” All three geniuses exclaimed.

Shadow could’ve facepalmed. “Of course it is, the tech could probably teleport you across the multiverse.”

“So how do we go about that, if that’s the case?” Snively inquired, glaring at Shadow.

“Hope’s got her teleporter,” Rouge offered. “Let’s use that.”

“Good.” Gerald clapped his hands together. “We’ll test it in the morning.”

Shadow stood in Green Hill. At least, he was sure it was Green Hill.

It was white with a purple sky. Crystals floated about on a cold, dead breeze.

But when he blinked, it was the Green Hill Shadow knew beforehand, complete with Flickies and warm air.

Before his eyes was a happy picnic scene. Knuckles was passing grapes around in a rock vaguely shaped like a bowl. Amy spread out her strawberry shortcake, humming a merry tune. Big was sneaking a slice of coconut cream pie while trying to grill some fish. Rouge made an exaggerated attempt at flirting to sneak some of Knuckles’ grapes. Maurice and Tails were casually sitting on the blanket, smiling.

Maria and the Professor were laughing and talking while they waited for lunch.

In short, very serene.

But in the next blink, the scene was gone; replaced by the dead space of before.

In place of the picnic stood a dirty cobalt blue hedgehog with filthy sneakers and gloves. Around him was the Shatterspace technology.

“I’m sorry,” a familiar voice whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Sonic?” Shadow asked, approaching the blue hedgehog with one hand extended to comfort the latter. “Sonic, is that you?”

The blue hedgehog did not meet Shadow’s eyes, even as Shadow walked around Sonic to face him.

“Talk to me,” Shadow pleaded, cupping Sonic’s shoulders. “What can I do? Where are you?”

Sonic shook his head. “Shadow,” he whispered.

“I’m here. I’m here,” Shadow replied.

“I’m sorry,” Sonic whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

His cold hands pulled Shadow’s away and finally, Sonic met Shadow’s eyes, water spilling over dull emerald eyes. “You deserve something better.”

Shadow blinked and the picnic scene was restored before his eyes, complete with the laughter and joy. He blinked again, finding Sonic’s broken form.

“Why are you still here?” Sonic asked eerily, body glowing with colors. “You have your world.”

“Sonic?” Shadow took a step forward.

“YOU HAVE YOUR WORLD!!!” Sonic’s arm shot out with a massive crystal in hand, striking Shadow in the head.

Shadow jerked upright, heart pounding at the dream.

Sonic was alive, somewhere. He'd seen him, but in another Green Hill. This whole world was another Shatterspace and Shadow had just cracked the code.

But was that really the case? Or was it something his imagination conjured up?

He'd fallen asleep while the scientists were busy trying to teleport into the Paradox Prism, clumsily holding the tech. All with similar results. Failure, failure, failure, and defeat. Maria and Maurice had both come up, sitting beside Shadow and watching.

“It doesn’t work,” the test subjects complained. “We can’t warp in. We have no clue what we’re doing.”

“Let me do it,” Shadow decided. He jumped to his feet and fixed his gloves. “I’m the Ultimate Lifeform. I’ve tested crazier things.”

Gerald nodded approvingly. “Very well.”

Shadow placed the technology on his gloves and shoes, smiling at how they clicked. That was a much welcomed thing. Then he stepped onto the teleporter.

"Go for it!" Maurice whooped.

“Be careful, Shadow!” Maria called.

“I will,” Shadow smiled, keeping his gaze on both Maurice and Maria (especially the former, given the dream he had). Then he held up his Chaos Emerald and shut his eyes, tapping into the emerald’s power.

“Chaos Control!”

Chapter Text

Shadow opened his eyes, taking in the surroundings despite his own surprise.

It was still Green Hill, no doubt about that. But the hills, the grass, and the palm trees were stark white, much like they were when the Time Eater attacked. The sky was a mostly deep purple, much like the Void, and the rocks were just like the shards floating in the Void. In fact, several indigo and bright purple rocks drifted about in the sky, adding to the illusion of a rebuilding Shatterspace; each piece connecting bit by bit. As they connected, they also turned a pale shade of purpleish-turquoise, leaving jagged purple holes in the newly forming deep teal heavens that could be seen on the horizon.

What the hell was this?

He skated through the whiteness, identifying Hedgehog’s Pass, the Loop-de-Loop, and Tails’ lab as he went (smiling a little at the undestroyed loop – Sonic’s horror at it being destroyed by the Chaos Council still rang in his ears even after seeing it rebuilt).

But there was no sign of Sonic’s friends anywhere. None of them. Not even their voices. Just a quiet, empty wind and the sound of his air shoes. Not even a flicky tweeting could be heard.

He reached the beach and the ocean, marveling at the deep purple ocean and the lack of the soft ocean waves lapping against the sand. Then he skated up the mountain where the Paradox Prism once rested, relieved to see the cave still intact. He approached the entrance, surveying the remnants of a battle (most likely the one for when the Paradox Prism was Shattered).

Speaking of said macguffin, there was the Paradox Prism right where it used to sit, complete with the five shards it should have. So why were there six back home? Heck, he could see the outline of the sixth shard, flickering a familiar shade of cobalt blue.

(Play: Merlina: Queen of the Underworld - Sonic and the Black Knight [OST] )

“I wondered how long it would take for you to find me.”

Shadow jumped briefly at the voice. Then his ruby eyes widened. “Sonic?”

The hedgehog emerged from the shadows with a smile. He was...different now. His quills glowed with every color of the Paradox Prism and his eyes were a bright Magenta. Yet there was a sense of transparency and whiteness shifting between the colors. In one blink, Sonic looked normal again, down to the dirty gloves and shoes from years of combat and running.

“So you found me,” Sonic praised, emerald eyes shining. “Congrats.” He idly crafted a white coconut and spun it like a basketball on his finger in much the same way Nine created those Grim variants they faced.

“Sonic…” Shadow began slowly. “Where are we? What sort of universe are we in?”

“I’m…not quite sure how to describe it myself. It’s not quite the Void and it’s not its own Shatterspace entirely. It’s something in between. Kinda like the Ghost Hill, except maybe a bit more clean.”

“Why are you here?” Shadow asked.

“I could say the same thing about you,” Sonic countered. “Why are you here?”

“Looking for you,” Shadow replied before he could stop himself. “The real you, anyway.” Then, surprising the both of them, he wrapped his arms around Sonic in a hug. It took Sonic a minute to react, but he returned the hug.

And then Sonic flickered, buckling to his knees.

“Sonic?!” Shadow yelped, breaking apart their hug when he realized his hand went through Sonic’s back. “What’s happening to you?”

“It’s perfectly normal,” Sonic smiled. The bright colors were disappearing, taking on more of a translucent shade, much like how they were right before the explosion in Nine’s lab.

“Normal? That’s not normal,” Shadow argued. “What’s going on?”

“It’s just a side effect of the rewrite–” Sonic stopped, eyes widening. He obviously said too much.

“Rewrite?” Shadow’s gaze turned hard and angry. “So you did rewrite our world!”

“Want a medal?” Sonic asked sarcastically. “Thanks for pointing out the obvious.”

“But…why?” Shadow asked. “You wanted to bring back our home!”

“That was what I wanted!” Sonic replied. “Emphasis on “I”. I didn’t ask what Nine and the others wanted. I didn’t do what my friends wanted. Nope, I did exactly what I did and look at all the trouble it caused!”

He buried his face in one hand. “If I had just listened to them, then this mess wouldn’t have happened.” He then removed his hand, fingers curling. “But they don’t have to worry about that anymore. After all, they won’t have to worry about me doing what I want if I’m not there, right? So I fixed the timeline, so to speak.”

He approached the Paradox Prism and laid a hand on the red shard, the one for New Yoke City. “I will admit, condensing the realities and rewriting the timeline took ... .effort. But even you were well-pleased by the results. I must say, replacing me with Maria was the best move I could’ve made.”

How dare Sonic make light of Maria’s sacrifice like that. “Maria wouldn’t want to replace you.”

“She’s dead back home, so she can’t defend that claim,” Sonic remarked callously. Then his ears flattened and he turned his head away. “And in this reality, I will end, too.”

The blood drained from Shadow’s face. “What?”

“It’s the cost of this rewrite,” Sonic smiled. “Left alone long enough and the memories of the two worlds will merge. The new world memories will overtake those of the older ones. You might’ve noticed that already.”

“What does this have to do with you?” Shadow inquired, heart dropping into his stomach.

“I’m here long enough to keep everything proceeding towards that point. And then, it’ll all be over. You and my friends won’t ever have to worry about me screwing things up again. Why? Because when the old dimension collapses, I will die.” Sonic flickered again as his colors dulled, a sign that he was disappearing. "Consider it my way of fixing my mistake. The Shatterverse doesn't happen if I'm not there to make it, right?"

Then Shadow wasn’t losing his mind over the dual realities. This was something real and Sonic was in very real danger.

Shadow’s resolve hardened. “How do we fix it? How do we stop it? We’ll do it together, just like we did before.” He held up the regulators. “I’m not Tails, but I do have some engineering know-how. We can even use the tech to fix–”

“Fix it?” Sonic stared at him incredulously. “What makes you think I want that?”

“You wanted our home back! You said you’d do anything to bring back home!” Shadow exclaimed. “Don’t tell me you plan on just throwing it all away!” He approached Sonic, trying to seem comforting. “Think of your real friends. Your real home. Would they want this for you?”

Sonic’s gaze snapped to Shadow’s. “This is my real home. Where I need to be.” With that, he punched Shadow with a massive tree trunk shooting up from the rock, sending the black hedgehog flying into the rock.

“My time is over. I’m going to take back my tech and see to it that the new reality stays permanent,” Sonic continued, approaching the black hedgehog.

“Like hell I’m letting that happen.” Shadow got up with a snarl. “Your real friends would never want this for you.”

“Don’t ever tell me that they’d want this. I’m sure they’d be happy with a world where I don’t exist to them.” Sonic charged Shadow, the black hedgehog backflipping away to dodge the attack. Shadow rushed out of the cave, hoping to put some distance. Unfortunately, Sonic caught put, grabbing Shadow by the torso.

The two traded punches and kicks in the air, knocking them both into the ground. Shadow kicked away Sonic’s attempt at biting the tech off of his ankle, just like he did in their first fight at Ghost Hill.

“That’s one. Three to go.”

“You want it back?” Shadow growled. “Then come and get it.”

Sonic charged him again, lightning bolts shooting straight out from his wrists. How was he doing that? And the tree?

“How are you doing that?” Shadow asked.

“Shard energy can manifest into some cool tricks,” Sonic smirked as he ran on tiles over Shadow’s head before parking his feet into Shadow’s ribcage. Grunting, the dark hedgehog lunged into another attack. They grappled, speeding through the white terrain. Shadow and Sonic jumped, twisted, kicked, and lunged. Sonic pulled up tree trunks, lightning blasts, water fountains, and magenta crystals from thin air, hurling them at Shadow with great force.

For Shadow’s part, he was trying to play defense; something he rarely played against Sonic. But even so, he found himself scrambling away from the prismatic hedgehog, whose defense was making it harder to land a hit even without the slowly fading body.

They made it to the beach pier, where Shadow finally kicked Sonic behind the knees (without going through them) and into the air before attempting to grab him by the ankles. Sonic, however, countered the move by grabbing Shadow’s wrists and flipping them, sending Shadow back-first into the sand. Shadow gasped, the wind getting knocked out of him.

“You want to know something?” Sonic asked. “The only reason Maria is in this perfect world and why Eggman isn’t a jerk is because you deserved a perfect world more than anyone.” Emerald eyes shifted to a magenta hue. “You lost your home twice. It was only fair if I gave it back to you.”

Once, Shadow would have agreed with Sonic. Would’ve jumped at the chance to see the earth with Maria. But he’d buried the hatchet so long ago that he saw no reason to accept such a gift. But this was a gift (especially from Sonic, of all people), so Shadow supposed he should explain his reasoning to refuse it.

Shadow got to his feet, keeping his eyes on Sonic. “I appreciate that Sonic, I really do. But this….this is the wrong way to go about it. Maria wouldn’t have wanted to walk the earth if she knew she’d be replacing someone else’s life. And think about your real friends – would they be okay with you knowing you shut yourself away like this? Knowing you died because you felt like you failed them and they didn’t know?”

He put a hand to his heart. “Sonic, take it from me. I’ve made my fair share of world-ending mistakes. But I’ve never shut myself away or tried to rewrite history so nobody knows of how badly I failed. Mistakes are a part of life, and growing from them is how to better yourself and the people on the planet.”

He stepped forward calmly, hands raised so Sonic would know it wasn’t an attack. “I’ve owned up to the ARK. I’ve owned up to the Black Arms. I’ve owned up to other mistakes I’ve made. And it’s made me into a better person because of it.”

He reached Sonic and gently took him by the forearms. “I know you’re sorry about the Shatterverse. I know you’re sorry about the countless mistakes you’ve made. But rewriting history isn’t the answer. Isolation is never the answer.”

Sonic’s gaze flickered over to a palm tree, resting on a tiny bump of grass on the beach. “This was bigger than me,” he murmured.

The reality flickered, playing back to Amy, Tails, Big, Knuckles, and Rouge happily setting up a picnic. Amy was obviously the most jovial, exclaiming about how much Sonic was going to love the surprise.

“She said I didn’t get why the tree was important,” Sonic stated, ears flattening as the image disappeared. “But I think I do now. It’s got something to do with the memories my friends and I made under that tree. I saw a variant of that tree in every Shatterspace I went to except the Grim.”

Shadow said nothing.

“You were right not to trust Nine, you know,” Sonic continued. “Not to trust any of the counterparts. I don’t know why they all fought with me. Maybe it’s the whole stop-the-end-of-world shtick I have. I don’t know anymore. It was so obvious they didn’t trust me or they hated me.” His eyes flickered over to Shadow’s. “Even you still hate my guts.”

“Sonic, I could never hate you,” Shadow argued. “You and I fought side-by-side throughout this adventure. What makes you think I still hate you?” Hadn’t their rivalry shifted from hatred to very friendly? Sure, both could butt heads, but it was far from the animosity they had when they first met.

“You say you could. But I know you can’t stand being around me.”

“Your counterpart says otherwise.” Shadow’s thoughts jumped to Maurice. What would he say if he knew about Sonic?

“Counterpart?” Sonic asked. Then he smiled. “Oh, you mean the real faker?”

The real faker?

Oh no. Oh, Chaos, no.

Shadow grabbed Sonic by the shoulders and spun him to face the black hedgehog. “What did you do?!”

“He was nothing more than a red herring,” Sonic giggled. “I took into account our….complicated…relationship and simplified it. After all, since we were such good allies searching for the shards and I know I’m one of your key relationships, it would be stupid of me not to fill that void. But since I’m technically not there, I created a replacement. I thought you’d appreciate a more reserved me rather than the reckless idiot you know.”

‘But that’s not why I like you.’

Shadow bristled at both his thoughts and Sonic’s words. “You thought I’d appreciate it?! You have some nerve trying to decide everyone’s past and future like this, especially my own!” It was one thing when it was Gerald altering his memories or Black Doom’s control – this was Sonic, someone who Shadow trusted. Finding out that Sonic did all this was nothing short of betrayal.

Not to mention that knowing Maurice was nothing more than a fake cut close to home. Did Sonic not truly value the relationship they had? Did he really feel that Shadow hated him so much that he had to create a version of Sonic more in line with what Shadow wanted?

Maurice was quiet, reflective, and docile. None of those traits really matched with Sonic, which was why Shadow liked it when he was those things.

“If I recall correctly, didn’t you stop someone else from doing the same thing you’re doing now?” Shadow’s tone sharpened.

“Merlina’s was a story! That’s all it was!” Sonic snapped back. “Changing the text of a book is different than changing reality.”

“There’s no difference – there’s far more dangerous consequences either way,” Shadow snarled. “Pull yourself together and think, Sonic! You told me you'd do anything to bring back home and this is the solution?! You’re willing to sacrifice your friends and their memories to escape your own grief?!”

“It’ll be better!” Sonic snapped. “Then they don’t have to deal with me and my failures!” With that, he punched Shadow, sending him sprawling face first into the sand. Sonic then jumped, pinning Shadow down as the latter tried to get back up.

“On the bright side,” Sonic purred, placing a shoe right between Shadow’s shoulder blades and preventing him from moving. “I’ll get to hold this over you forever . Oh, and I’ll take my tech back.”

Shadow groaned as Sonic pried the Shatterdrive regulators away from the black hedgehog’s body and then proceeded to reattach them to his own ghostly form. The regulators glowed, warping into a gemstone design with different colors of the prism. He now looked a bit more ghostly than before. Even this universe quaked with surprise as to what happened.

“Much better,” Sonic smiled, flashing his prize with a triumphant smirk. “Now we can speed things along. Then they won’t have to remember how much of a screw-up I am.”

Shadow’s eyes widened. “Sonic, please….” The blue asshole had to listen to him before it was too late.

“Look at that. Begging and defeat in one day. Who’d have thought the Ultimate Lifeform would’ve stooped so low?” Sonic knelt, breath tickling Shadow’s ears. “And to think I’d get both in one day. I truly am lucky.”

“Trust me, Sonic,” Shadow pleaded. “Please.”

“Trust you?” Sonic scoffed. “The only person I trust is myself.” He grabbed Shadow by the ankles and began spinning him around in a rainbow tornado. “This is for your own good.” With that, Sonic threw Shadow through one of the cracks in the sky.

“He was right. We’re all on our own, but especially me,” Sonic’s words echoed through the air.

Chapter Text

“-dow? Shadow! Can you hear me?”

Shadow groaned, body drifting back into consciousness. His body was aching from the fight against–

“Sonic!” He gasped, sitting up and clutching his ribs. Sonic must’ve scored a lucky hit there. Honestly, it might’ve been the first no-holds fight he and Sonic had since they first met.

“It’s alright, Shadow,” Maria murmured. “It’s alright.”

“Are you hurt?” Maurice asked, leaning close to Shadow. “You’re breathing really heavy.”

On reflex, Shadow punched Maurice, sending him flying. The onyx hedgehog staggered to his feet and curled his fists, ready for a blow as he stared down at Sonic’s angry and sorrowful body.

But then he blinked, seeing Maurice’s emerald eyes well up with shock, a sizable bruise swelling up. Maurice. Not Sonic. Maurice. A faker. A real faker. Just like this entire world.

“Shadow?” Maria asked.

Shadow whipped out the Chaos Emerald. “Chaos Control!” He cried out, voice cracking as he warped away.

Shadow arrived at the beach, rushing down the shoreline as fast as he possibly could, wishing that he could outrun what he just experienced.

He kept switching between the bright, lush Green Hill and the cold, dead one that Sonic called his new home. His home, away from everyone he loved; sacrificing his life to give his friends a world he was certain they would love. A world without him.

He reached the palm tree, the one Sonic had pointed out in his alternate world, the one Amy gave that blue idiot, and collapsed against it. He wrapped his arms about the tree, shuddering with emotion.

Sonic had made this world. He had done exactly what Nine wanted to do, but instead of fixing their home, he’d made a separate one with a rewritten timeline.

This whole world was nothing more than a Shatterspace after all. And it would be permanent if Shadow didn’t do something.

“Dammit, Sonic,” Shadow cursed. “Why? Why did you—you knew—how could you think—”

Sonic had touched all of their lives, changing them for the better (or worse). Not even Shadow had escaped Sonic’s confident ways. There was nothing truly like Sonic the Hedgehog – it was simply a role that not even the Ultimate Lifeform himself could fill.

“Shadow? Shadow! Shadow, where are you?”

Maria’s voice echoed across the beach. Shadow folded his ears back, pressing them as close to his skull as he could. It wasn’t his Maria. It wasn’t a real thing. It wasn’t. It never was.

“Shadow!” Her hands landed on his shoulders, rubbing them. “Are you alright?” She turned him around, neatly smoothing out his quills, catching his teary eyes.

“You’re…You’re not…” Shadow choked. “It’s not real.”

“Shadow, what are you talking about?” She asked, eyes curious as ever. Seeing her curious face only broke Shadow further, as it further hammered in the situation at hand.

Shadow swallowed painfully, fully aware of what he was about to do. “Maria, we…..we never made it off the ARK together.”

And he told her everything. Not in as many words. About the raid, his fifty year nap, the Professor’s revenge, Ivo’s evil plot, the Black Arms, Team Dark’s real history, and the blue hedgehog that seemed to go wherever Shadow went. Even retelling the events out loud brought back some bad memories, but Shadow pushed through the murky thoughts. He was amazed he stayed coherent through this.

He told her about the Paradox Prism, the shattering, the Void, the battle, and finally what the hell happened to this universe; how it was essentially a rewrite and a plan to absolve Sonic of guilt for the shattering by straight up retconning and erasing him from the canon universe like a comic book reboot. It sounded less like something that happened to him and more like a very vivid dream or something that happened to someone else. But he knew it had happened. And if telling this Maria everything that happened to him was a way to stop his dual memory, then he'd do it.

Maria, amazingly, did not say a word during this whole discussion, allowing Shadow to speak uninterrupted. And when Shadow finished, all she said was a soft “Oh.”

Then she hugged him. “No wonder you reacted the way you did.”

Shadow buried his face in her dress, unsure of whether to yell or weep. Hadn’t he done enough of both throughout all of this?

Maria stood up and motioned for him to follow. They traced the shoreline, water barely touching their shoes.

“I can’t say I wouldn’t be as lost or as confused in your situation,” she started. “And I’m sorry that this all happened and I didn’t understand. And while I cannot truly speak what your Maria would say if she were here, I will offer some words of my own.”

Shadow fell in step with her as she continued. “I can’t lie and say I wouldn’t be worried about what happened to you at the beginning: plotting to destroy the world for a reason you couldn’t quite name. But I am glad that you kept our promise to help them despite everything you went through. And I am glad that you keep on fighting for them, even when they turn against you. I'm glad you continue keeping our promises, one day after another. I’m glad that you have friends that love you and support you.”

She stopped, gazing across the sea. “And then, you lost it all again. And then to come here ... .and find this….”

She dropped to her knees, putting her hands on Shadow’s shoulders. “I know this world opened up some painful memories for you. I know that the life we – or at least, the one you and your Maria – wanted never came true. And I'm sorry it never did.”

“You lost your home twice. It was only fair that I gave it back to you.”

“But my friend,” Maria continued, “You deserve the chance to be happy, just like the people we promised to protect. To live for your dreams and for both of us. I am very proud of how far you’ve come and I know you’ll continue to do things never thought possible. I know you'll keep our promises down to the very last one.” She touched his cheeks, cradling his face in her hands. “And know that I’ll always be watching from far away and that I love you, always.”

Shadow smiled at her sweet words, purring a little. Even if this wasn’t his Maria, Shadow knew that she would tell him the same thing.

“As for your friend,” Maria sighed, “It pains me to know that he thinks the world would be better off without him. Because he made mistakes, he shouldn’t be alive. It’s tragic.”

Blue eyes met ruby ones. “But that’s where you relate to him.”

Shadow’s ears perked up. “What do you mean?”

Maria continued. “You’ve been down that road, Shadow. You’ve lost home, made mistakes, wondered if the world would be better off without you, and then went to extreme lengths to see things through. You know what that’s like. You can reach him because you’ve been there.” Her hands landed on his shoulders. “And you know Sonic better than anyone because he helped bring out your best. At least in your world. I believe it’s time you returned the favor.”

She smiled. “Shadow, you were brought into this world to save the people of it. Sonic, despite your differences, is one of those people. You need to help him see that the lives he’s touched mean so much. The hopes and dreams he inspired matter. And the memories he made hold so much weight. How much brighter the world is with him in it. You have to help him see that, again. Show him that his life wasn’t all for nothing.”

Maria’s eyes gleamed with a hint of mischief. “You and Sonic may not be twins biologically, but at this moment, you’re twins emotionally.”

Shadow didn’t have the heart to bristle at her for the overdone statement.

“Will you help him, Shadow?” Maria asked. “Promise me you will help him.”

Promise. A word that had strung Shadow and Maria together for as long as he knew her and from then on. A word that had guided Shadow first to revenge and then to heroism. From darkness to light.

Shadow took Maria’s hands into his own. “I promise, Maria. I will help him.” For Maria’s sake, for Sonic’s sake, and for all those left in his home dimension.

Abruptly, the ground shook and the air crackled violently.

“What the–” Maria yelped.

Shadow turned, recognizing the familiar electric blue wave spreading out across Green Hill.

“Maria, duck!” He warped her right behind one of the cliff walls, back as flat as possible as the energy coursed through the landscape, leaving his quills standing on edge and Maria wincing.

Now what was Sonic doing?

He didn’t have time to wonder as a purple crack shattered the bright blue sky with a mighty sound.

Baby blue eyes opened, confused as to why he was lying on a wooden floor.

Nine sat up with a low groan, rubbing his pounding head to alleviate the ache. Where was he? Wasn’t he commanding his Grim robots? How did he end up in a wooden shack with technology that barely resembled his own? This whole place, for that matter, barely resembled his citadel’s interior, save for the device where–

Nine’s eyes widened in surprise and aggravation.

The Paradox Prism was gone! Where was it?

Never mind that. Nine knew the answer to that question. And a certain blue hedgehog was going to get that energy ripped right out of him for this trick.

“What the heck?” He muttered, getting up and stumbling towards the massive garage door on his mechanical tails. His body ached from using the Paradox Prism and he still felt exhausted. But his headache had improved somewhat.

He lifted up the garage door (honestly, who would need a door this big save for the Chaos Council?) with his metal tails and did a double take.

The world around him boasted the same dark turquoise sky with green stripes and blazing stars, much like the Grim when Nine first arrived. The ground itself was the same sandy brown from the Grim, too. Massive purple crystalline structures jutted up from the ground, dwarfing that of several palm trees.

Yet the land contour matched that of the embryonic Shatterspace that Sonic brought Nine to following his rescue, save for the yellow patches of grass and trees.

Speaking of Sonic, where was that fool? Nine needed his energy after all. Especially now that he’d stolen back the Paradox Prism.

He tried summoning his Grim Alphas and their clones, but there was no response. There was no way they were all deactivated – that army Sonic left outside Nine’s citadel couldn’t have decimated them all. Unless Shadow did it – he wiped out an entire battalion of them without breaking a sweat.

“Guess I’m doing this myself,” Nine muttered, taking to the air.

As he flew, he noted several key things. First of all, the air felt lifeless. Sure, the Grim didn’t exactly have a pleasant temperature, but this air felt cold and dead. As though this was a decaying Shatterspace. Even the blueprint Shatterspace didn’t feel this devoid of life.

There was no wind, no real plant life (save for one palm tree by the beach pier), not even the echo of Sonic’s friends babbling. It was….grim.

Heh. This was almost like what Nine had in mind for the Grim originally – take the things Sonic loved about his home and completely rebuild it from the ground up. Sandy beaches, blue skies, palm trees, the full nine yards – all within a clean slate.

Nine shook his head. Sonic had betrayed him then and would continue to do so. So while this was a nice attempt at a settlement, it was too late. Sonic had lost his chance.

Besides, if this was Sonic’s attempt at reforming his world, then it was pathetic. The fool had no idea what he was doing.

He reached the mountain where the Paradox Prism was held. Even from where he was flying, Nine could see the bright glow of the prism, undoubtedly stolen by the others and Sonic while Nine was unconscious. Clever move, but not enough to stop Nine.

He landed on the cliff and brandished his mechanical tails for combat. Sonic likely wouldn’t go down easy and Shadow knew how to be stealthy. If both hedgehogs were in here, then Nine would have to be on his toes.

But just in case he didn’t have enough energy in his mechanical tails to take them both out, he readied his blaster. He could always get more energy from the prism once he got inside.

“Alright, Sonic!” Nine called as he entered the cave. “Come on out! I don’t know what kind of mind games you’re trying to play, but it won’t work! Give me the prism and your–”

He cut himself off at the sight of the Paradox Prism, counting the shards in his head.

There were five shards for five Shatterspaces – New Yolk, the jungle, the Grim, the pirate world, and that blueprint Shatterspace. But there wasn’t a sixth shard at all when Nine rebuilt the prism. So where did it come from? What gateway did that lead to?

It was probably another forming Shatterspace, given that it looked like a misty cobalt blue. Nine pocketed his blaster, pulled out his scanner, and analyzed the shard, thoughts prickling one right after another as the data came in.

He was right. This shard led to another embryonic-esque Shatterspace, only this one seemed to be sucking the life out of this dead one. Why was that? Was this world feeding into the shard? Or was there something else?

“Curious,” he murmured. Then he squared his shoulders. His mechanical tails reached up, ready to take the prism and make a break for the Grim.

A massive crystal shot up from the ground, blocking Nine from the prism. “What?!” He yelped, mechanical tails clicking as he skidded to a stop. “How?!”

“There’s my two-tailed genius friend,” A familiar voice darkly purred from the shadows.

“S-Sonic?” Nine murmured, mechanical tails poised curiously and his fur standing slightly on end.

Sonic stepped forward, smirking as he brandished his regulators. “Surprise.”

Chapter Text

Shadow stared at the purple crack in the sky, seeing crystal fragments of the Void flit about in it. But that should’ve been impossible….

Wait, this was another Shatterspace. Right. It could be possible. But knowing this was a thing could mean some interesting wrinkles in the fabric of reality. And if Sonic was rewriting it, then there were bound to be plot holes and inconsistencies. Maybe this was one of them....

“What is that?” Maria asked, resting her hands on Shadow’s shoulders. “Is it one of your alternate universe things?”

Before Shadow could respond, he spotted a black airship with a blood red flag hovering down on the water. It must’ve come from the crack. It skidded across the surface like a rock skipping on the water before coming to a halt.

“Ahoy, Shadow!” The pink quilled pirate called. Once the vehicle floated on the water, she climbed over onto the thrusters. “Ye be a sight for sore eyes!”

“Black Rose,” Shadow greeted.

Her metal doppelganger also disembarked. “GREETINGS, SHADOW.”

“Rusty Rose,” Shadow repeated. “What are you guys doing here?”

“NO INFORMATION IN THE DATABANKS,” Rusty Rose reported.

“Aye, it be a mystery to us!” Black Rose added. “We were fighting those metal things in Nine’s lair and then we somehow came here!” She tapped her chin. “I wonder if the others made it.”

As if on cue, Shadow’s communicator buzzed. It was Rouge and just about every available agent calling in.

“What are those purple cracks–”

“--energy waves higher than anything–”

“Strange pink bird spotted near downtown Westopolis–”

“-- a large battleship over Station Square! Need assistance–”

“Some strangely dressed creatures–”

Shadow tapped in his call. “Shadow to G.U.N. HQ. Send signal 1000.”

“Signal 1000,” the dispatcher repeated. “Agent Shadow on the line.”

“Agent Shadow,” Commander Tower reported. “You may proceed.”

“Request that the strange anomalies be brought to headquarters. I will be there shortly,” Shadow continued.

“You know something about them?” Tower inquired.

Shadow glanced back up at the sky, watching the purple crack seal up like a wound. “Something like that. See to it that both the Professor, the Doctor, Knuckles, Rose, and Miles are all there as well.” Shadow hated dragging the counterparts into this mess, but he knew he had no choice.

“Request granted,” the commander reported. “All units gather the abnormalities and assemble them at headquarters. Contact the guardian, Miss Amy Rose, and Mr. Prower for additional support.”

Shadow pocketed his communicator. “Coming?” He held out his hand.

Maria took it. “With any luck, we’ll get there before Grandfather has his chance to experiment on them.”

Shadow nodded and beckoned Rusty, Black Rose, and Maria to come close to him. “Hang on to me,” he commanded the two roses. They complied.

“Chaos Control!”

(Play: Nothing Left to Lose )

“S-Sonic, is that you?” Nine asked.

Sonic giggled. “Course, buddy.” Of course, he grit his teeth as he lost feeling in his body for a moment.

This, of course, didn’t go unnoticed. “What’s going on with you?”

“Ah, that,” Sonic grinned. “That’s part of the project. I’m giving you your world. The home you never had.”

“You mean the Grim?” Nine inquired.

“No, something better,” Sonic grinned. “How’d you put it? A clean slate? The perfect place to start over and get the world right?”

Nine’s gaze turned angry. “You had your chance!”

“I believe in second–” Sonic’s knees buckled, sending him to the ground. “Heh. You wanted my energy to finish your home,” he chuckled through the pain. “Well, you’re getting more than that.”

“What do you mean?” Nine questioned, tails twitching.

“You saw the data on your scanner,” Sonic replied, getting back up. “You know that this is a Shatterspace that’s feeding another one. How do you think that was possible?”

“You’re putting your own energy in it,” Nine responded. “All the prism energy inside you is going into the new Shatterspace.”

“Not just that.” Sonic tapped the prism. “This shard is a dimensional reset. And once it happens, no one in that dimension will know who I am because I won’t exist. Well, at least the Sonic they know.” He put a hand on Nine's shoulder. “While here, it's just you and me. Our perfect world. The home I should've agreed to long ago. I have made that hope a reality for both of us.”

Nine looked conflicted. “What about the old slate? The one you wanted?”

“Already fixed that,” Sonic grinned. “It took me a bit to…. adjust some things. But now it's much better.”

“So why are you here if things are what you wanted there?” Nine inquired.

“Because in the new timeline, I'm not me,” Sonic answered. “I gave everyone back something they wanted that was broken in their world. But…in order to fix something broken, something had to be sacrificed. So I sacrificed my existence there to make things better.” He smiled, playfully poking Nine in the chest. “And that’s where you come in, little buddy. I need you to help put on the finishing touches and then pull whatever prism energy and lifeforce I have left out and plug it back into the prism. And then you’ll get your home and the world will be put right.”

“Wait a minute,” Nine interrupted. “Are you telling me you’re rewriting the entire Shatterverse so that you’re not a part of it? Sealing this reality with your own life?”

Tails would’ve picked up on that much quicker.

Sonic shook his head to clear the thought. “Precisely. After all, if I’m not there to make the Shatterverse, it doesn’t happen, right?”

Nine's eyes widened. “Are you saying that…. once this is over…. you won't exist here or anywhere else? You’ll just…die?”

“Bingo,” Sonic grinned. “But, I wanted to assure my genius fox friend got his own clean slate. A place far from the bullies and the Chaos Council. Just you. This whole rewrite is all for you, little buddy.” He squeezed Nine’s shoulder. “What do you say, Nine? Bygones be bygones and we get the world right?”

A strange expression crossed Nine’s face. Regret? Shock? Fear? Anger? Bitterness? It didn’t seem to be conclusive. Like Nine was trying to process everything.

“That’s…..That’s really great you did this, Sonic,” Nine finally said. “But I won’t help you.”

“Why not?” Sonic took away his hand. “This is what you wanted, right? A safe home for you regardless of how much destruction and decay you caused? My energy, regardless of if it killed me?”

“Look, Sonic, I get that you’re sorry,” Nine rolled his eyes. “But this isn’t the Grim. This isn’t home. I do want your energy and the Paradox Prism, but within the Grim. Not here in this reality.”

Sonic didn’t respond, staring at the prism.

“Sonic, you’re making a mistake,” Nine added.

“When haven’t I?” Sonic asked. “Every minute I’ve spent in the Shatterverse has been a mistake. Imprinting my friends onto you guys was a mistake. Not listening to my friends was a mistake. I have been nothing but one FAILURE ever since this mess started.” On the last word, a massive crystal shot up from the rocky wall, causing Nine to jump.

His gaze met Nine’s. “I failed you. I failed the Resistance. I failed Shadow. I failed my friends. So I’m making things right and saving them. If erasing myself so that I don’t make these mistakes is the way to do it, then so be it.”

“But you’re still not listening,” Nine continued. “Did you ask if this is what anyone in the Shatterverse wanted?”

“Did you ask any of the variants if destroying their home was what they wanted?” Sonic countered. “All you wanted was me and you had no qualms about killing anyone or destroying homes to do it.” He remembered the crater where Mangey and Sails had been killed, the emotion that went through him.

His eyeridges furrowed. “I would’ve been more willing to give up my energy if you hadn’t hurt my– the variants to force my hand.” He couldn’t call them his friends. They weren’t that at all. Acquaintances at best -- all his talk of them being his friends who had his back was just a ploy at this point.

“If you had just listened, I wouldn't have had to!” Nine exploded. “And this whole plan of yours is a guilt-driven pity party because you can't face those you messed things up to!”

Sonic's head snapped up, focusing in on Nine. “Maybe you and I aren't so different after all: wanting things fixed our way.” He crossed his arms. “I'd do anything for you, buddy. Because you're still my friend.”

“Shut up!” Nine raised his mechanical tails, choking on emotion. “You want to know what would do the world some good? For you to shut your mouth! I hate you for what you did and I hate you now! I’m warning you, Sonic, do not try to write yourself out of this one!” Blue eyes softened slightly. “Sonic, this isn’t even like you. Think about all of the variants. Think about your boyfriend–”

Boyfriend?! What, did Nine think Sonic was gay or something?

“He’s my rival,” Sonic snapped.

“Really?” Nine rolled his eyes. “You both are one doorknob away from coming out of the closet. I mean, “I heart you too, Shadow” ?” His hands formed a familiar heart shape.

“He’s my rival. I only tease him to get under his skin. He hates my guts and everything about me. The guy can’t stand being around me.” Sonic’s eyes narrowed. “He’d tell you helping me was out of necessity. Same with the other variants. They only got involved because I got involved. Take me out and everything fits smoothly.”

“Would you say I’d be smoother if you weren’t involved?” Nine waved his hand around. “I mean, you did some amazing things for me.”

“Yeah, like project my friend onto you. I was wrong about that,” Sonic replied. “Which is all the more reason for you to help me rewrite the universe so that I don’t make that mistake again.”

Nine bit his lip and shook his head. “No, Sonic. I can’t let you rewrite the universe like this. Friends don’t fight to the death or destroy the entire universe because they made a mistake.”

“Friends talk things out! They don’t fight to the death!”

Sonic pursed his lips together. He’d hoped Nine would be cooperative with this endeavor, given how Nine had rebuilt the Grim. Guess he’d assumed wrong (again). “That’s rich, coming from you. But I guess I should’ve known better.”  He laid a hand on the prism, gritting his teeth as the prism greedily sucked at his energy and lifeforce; the regulators flashing in time with the energy transfer. He pulled away, sucking in a deep breath. “Like I said, I’d give anything for you, Nine. I’d give anything, even my own life if it meant I could save you because you’re my friend. One of my real ones. And I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to see it.”

Nine faltered, stunned by the gesture.

“I hope you know and remember that after the reset.”

At that moment, a metallic circle shot up from the ground, energy crackling as it pulled Nine's arms, legs, and tails wide like a starfish. It held the fox kit tightly, just like a similar device has bound Sonic in New Yoke.

“What?!” Nine thrashed about briefly, mechanical tails poised to escape.

Sonic’s hard eyes bore deep into Nine’s soul. “You’ll stay here until this is done. And just in case you get any ideas.”

The cage then electrocuted Nine long enough for Sonic to rip off his mechanical tails, sparks flying as he did so. Then, with a jerk of his wrist, he sent a petrified Nine in that circular cage down into the mountain pit beside the prism, sealing him with a purple crystal. The land heaved with the effort as more purple crystals bursting from the earth. Beyond the mountain, trees shot up, twisted with vines and thorns. The tide raged up past the pier, washing away footprints and markers. Coconuts bobbed on the water like tiny boats. The mountain temple itself sealed in with purple crystals and thorns, a guaranteed way that no one would interrupt the process.

And on that same beach where the pier was, a vibrant palm tree fell over as though it had been chopped down, sighing deeply into the wet sand.

“Alright, Shadow,” Sonic sneered, panting for breath as he tossed the mechanical tails aside. “Come at me, bro.”

Perhaps it was presumptuous to egg Shadow on like that, but Sonic didn't care. He had nothing left to lose and a whole rewritten universe to gain. And there was nothing Shadow could do about it.

Chapter Text

In a G.U.N. meeting room, Shadow found himself assembled with the craziest bunch of warriors he’d ever met for the second time.

Everyone grouped themselves by world with the exception of the Roses. Unlike the others (who took one look at their Shatterverse counterparts and pointed at each other with questioning expressions), Thorn, Rusty, and Black Rose pounced on this version of Amy, proudly calling her their newest sister (much to Amy’s surprise and delight – “I’ve always wanted a sister besides Cream!”). Those four all camped out at a table in the front, whispering and giggling with each other.

To no one’s surprise, the Chaos Council had a table in the back, all of them kvetching about the uncomfortable chairs and the fact that the wifi password was too stupidly convoluted to remember. But the Doctor and the Professor did their best to make them feel welcome (even if Mr. Doctor Eggman kept poking jabs about his full head of hair to the Doctor’s face). There was an obvious tension between the individual members that left Shadow on edge.

The Resistance had the other table right in the front. Renegade Knucks and Rebel Rouge kept trading dirty looks with the Chaos Council, the Doctor, and the Professor (undoubtedly because of the similarities). Also at their table was Maurice, quietly drumming his fingers.

The general consensus from the groups was that no one had a clue what was going on. But the main thread of the story was clear: all were fighting Nine, then a bright flash, nothingness, and then they came here. A statement Shadow was going to address.

“Alright!” Maria called from the lectrum, clapping her hands together. “Quiet, please!” At her voice, everyone settled down, facing the floor-to-ceiling whiteboard behind them. Shadow had already drawn a few notes on it to help them analyze the situation.

“Thank you,” Maria smiled. “Now, we know you’re all confused as to what’s going on. To be honest, I’m just as confused as you are. But don’t worry. We’re going to help you.” She nodded at Shadow. “Starting with an explanation as to what’s going on.”

Shadow stepped forward. “As I understand it, all of you were fending off Nine’s forces when everything went white. Then you ended up here.”

“Aye, that be correct,” Dread commented.

Shadow nodded. “What happened was that Sonic tried to rebuild the Paradox Prism.”

“And he was successful!” Thorn Rose praised, pointing at Maurice, the latter perking up.

“Yes and no,” Shadow continued. “That's Maurice. He's Sonic, but not really.”

“What do you mean?” Prim Rouge asked.

“When Sonic kicked up the energy needed to rebuild the prism, he not only collapsed the worlds into one, but then split it again into two different dimensions.” On the whiteboard, Shadow drew arrows from the prism shards, then a big circle, then two circles below that with arrows pointing to each circle.

“Argh, what could he do with that?” Batten Rouge asked.

“Simple,” Shadow replied. “In one world, a full timeline reset. No one here knows who he is, the Doctor…” Shadow ventured a glance at the Chaos Council. “Well, the Chaos Council I guess, is no longer evil, certain events in history never happened, and the world became a utopia. No evil, no destruction, nothing. It’s a clean slate, more or less.” He wrote “PW” in one circle.

“The other world is where Sonic is. It’s a barren world that bears a resemblance to Green Hill, but with no life in it whatsoever. It’s a cold, dead, white world where Sonic has made his lair.” In the other circle, he wrote “Sonic”.

“And what’s the point of the two dimensions?” Mr. Doctor Eggman inquired, stroking his mustache.

“The Paradox Prism is the key,” Shadow continued. “Sonic is channeling the Paradox Prism and his own lifeforce to create a total rewrite of reality; altering past and present to erase himself and filling in the gaps with a doppelganger, that being Maurice. Sonic hasn’t completed it yet, but once it happens, this world will be permanent.”

For the first time since he began writing, he looked at the assembly of Shatterverse allies. “Sonic, the one you all know, will die once the rewrite is complete.”

The groups gasped. Mangey let out a sorrowful bark, prompting Sails to get up and rub his ears. The Roses all traded fearful looks. Even the Chaos Council looked a tad perturbed. Most of the others stared at the diagram, mouths parted in shock as the full weight of the situation collapsed on them.

Of them all, Maurice looked the most devastated. Not that Shadow blamed him. The blue hedgehog had just now found out that everything he knew was essentially a lie. Was this how Nine felt when he and Sonic argued in the cave?

“THIS CANNOT HAPPEN,” Rusty Rose declared, the first of them to say something.

“Aye!” Black Rose agreed. “We need to get to that dimension straight away.”

“But how will we get there?” Dr. Deep asked. “We don’t have any Shatterdrive technology to work with.”

“True, especially since Sonic took the regulators,” Shadow acknowledged. “But we do have a teleportation portal currently hooked up to the Paradox Prism, specifically to Sonic’s shard. It won’t take much to get that running.”

“And how much time do we have before the rewrite becomes permanent?” Renegade Knucks inquired. “Because I have quite a few things to say to Blue.”

“I’m not sure, but the clue is in the shard itself,” Shadow explained. “Right now, the shard is dusty blue pivoting towards cobalt, Sonic’s natural color. The brighter the color, the less time we have to save Sonic.”

He nodded at Maria, who turned on a map of Green Hill with the projector.

“This,” he explained, “Is Green Hill as it looks right now. The Chaos Council will recognize it as Ghost Hill. But regardless, it’s the same map in Sonic’s dimension as it is here. The Paradox Prism is located in the temple mountain right here.” He pointed out the spot on the map. “That’s the den we’ve got to flush him out of.”

“So we cut him off from that mountain peak, we win?” Renegade Knucks chimed in. Shadow nodded.

“And it’s just him? No army at all?” Dr. Don’t inquired, tossing his head. “Pssh. This will be like beating Forces on easy mode. I don’t know why we’re all getting involved.”

“It’s because Sonic believes he needs to be alone,” Shadow continued. “He took Nine’s decision and made it his own.” His ears flattened a little. “Sonic has nothing but guilt for what happened with the prism, and in that emotion decided that rather than own up to his actions, it’s easier to isolate and rewrite the world.”

Another wave of murmurs echoed through the room, full of sympathy and agreement.

“The poor lad,” Dread murmured. “It might be his fault the world happened that way, but that be no excuse for leaving your crew behind and taking that power.”

“Reminds me of someone else I know,” Black Rose commented, tipping her hat. Dread gave her a smile.

“And unlike Nine, Sonic fully knows how the prism works, what he can do with it, and more importantly, how to not use it.” Shadow gazed at all of them. “He’s not going to compromise his dimension to fight us all off, command an army, and protect it. He’s hasty, but he’s not stupid.”

“But if that’s the case, then why are we fighting him?” Gnarly yelped. “He knows how we fight!”

“Agreed!” Dr. Done-It chimed in. “That blue rat will take all of us down in minutes, since he knows our weak points!!”

“Not all of us,” Maurice chimed in. “If he created me based on him, I will likely have all of his moves minus the prism and I can think for myself. That might give us an edge.”

“And I can whip up a few robotic doubles of a few of you,” The Doctor chimed in. “We’ll blitzkrieg that blue pineapple with them.”

“We have G.U.N.’s planes and carriers,” Rouge added. Then she tossed Shadow a Chaos Emerald with a wink. “Just to insure that those things get in.”

“Sisters will fight together.” Thorn Rose stood up with the other Roses.

“And I’ll help, too.” Maria stepped forward. Shadow turned, ready to tell her no, but Maria stood firm. “I just can’t leave him to suffer. We need to help him, Shadow.” Shadow smiled.

“Hold on!” Mr. Doctor Eggman hollered, quieting them all. “We’ll need that crazy fox to help us out!”

Right. Nine. Shadow could feel the collective groan across the room at the thought of working with the fox who nearly killed them and destroyed their homes.

“As much as I despise saying it, you’re right,” Rebel Rouge groaned. “Anyone seen Nine?”

“I thought he came with you,” Prim Rouge replied.

“He wasn’t with us,” Denizen 1998 spoke up.

Dr. Babble garbled something, punctuated by someone imitating handcuffs.

“Sweet essential oils!” Dr. Deep yelped. “He might be right!”

“Nine might’ve been taken straight to the lair itself!” Dr. Done-It waved his cane around.

“But Nine already had the Grim. He got his world,” Renegade Knucks muttered. “Why would Sonic need him?”

Shadow’s blood ran cold. “Sonic implied that Nine wanted to use the Grim as a home for the both of them.” Was that why everything looked so cold and dead – so it could easily transfer itself to an aesthetic closer to the Grim?

No. Sonic needed Nine to make sure he was rebuilding things just right. Sonic needed Nine's brilliance to ensure that the rewrite was perfectly successful.

“Then the rewrite gives Nine a home and cuts Sonic out of ours!” Miles exclaimed. “A two-for-one blow!”

“Precisely, Prower!” The Professor chimed in. “But how do you propose we go about this, Shadow?”

Shadow stared at the group. “I must admit that I’m not much of a leader. I can’t rally people to battle like Sonic can. And I’m not necessarily asking you to follow into battle.” He traded a quick glance with Maurice. “But all I ask is that you show Sonic that he meant something. He’s convinced you all hate him and believe him to be a mistake. You need to prove him otherwise.”

The groups were silent, murmuring to each other.

Thorn Rose stood up again, lifting her hammer. “Sonic has helped us solve our problems and stood by us to save our universes! And I will do the same for him. Who’s with me?”

“Aye!” Captain Black Rose shouted, raising her sword.

“I WILL ASSIST,” Rusty Rose agreed.

“I stand with the captain!” Dread echoed.

Rebel Rouge and Renegade Knucks stood up. “We may have our moments, but Blue’s heart’s in the right place,” Renegade Knucks asserted. “Let’s get him out of there.”

Rebel Rouge nodded. “Sonic gave us hope. Let’s give it back to him.”

Dr. Done-It agreed. “That blue varmit’s given us plenty of trouble, but this is crossing a line!”

Shadow just barely suppressed a smile. ‘Sonic, if you think you’re on your own after all this, then you’ve  thought wrong this whole time.’

The Shatterverse had teamed up previously to stop Nine. Now, they were about to save the blue hedgehog who’d brought them together in the first place.

No one wasted any time in getting ready. Machines hummed as they were crafted, punctuated with comments and compliments from the various groups as they coordinated their assault. Shadow watched them all scurry together to prepare their tools in his usual stance and stare.

Admittedly, he'd been a real dick to Sonic when he insulted him about relying on the variants during the final battle with Nine. Shadow knew better. After all, he had Team Dark. They had worked so well together. Teamwork wasn't a bad thing. There was no reason for Shadow to dismiss the variants of their allies and dismiss the fact that Sonic and Shadow needed their help in the final battle.

"We need the others."

Shadow smirked a little. The irony was not lost on him -- relying on the same variants he'd scoffed at to help him save Sonic.

“Hey, Shadow?”

Shadow turned to see Maurice staring (well, best he could with a swollen eye from when Shadow punched him) at him. “Yes?”

“Is it true?” Maurice folded his arms together. “Is it true that I'm a fake?”

“Oh, you mean the real faker?”

Shadow's heart stilled. “Maurice–”

“Don’t.” Maurice held up a hand. “You’ve said enough.” He turned to walk away.

Shadow, however, caught him by the hand, forcing Maurice to meet his eyes. “Maurice,” he stated. “You are real. You’re as real as I am. I’m not saying otherwise. You are real. This dimension, as strange as it is to me, is your home. And it’s not fair of me to impose my own interpretations onto you.” He fixed his eyes on Maurice’s swollen eye. He laid a hand on it, tapping into his healing energy.

When he pulled his hand away, Maurice’s eye was no longer bruised.

“That was Sonic’s mistake,” Shadow continued. “He projected our–his friends onto the counterparts, stripping them of their own identity. He did that with a variant of Tails.”

“That’s awful,” Maurice continued.

“That’s part of why Sonic did what he did. He didn’t mean to hurt them, but he’s overcorrecting his mistake.” Shadow’s ears folded slightly. “Sonic, he….he tends to overcorrect things. When something doesn’t work out or he makes a mistake, he course-corrects too far in the other direction. He never means to hurt them, but he can’t stand the idea of him making a mistake. He….He thinks he’s not supposed to fail. Or some higher power says he cannot fail.” It was a pressure Shadow was familiar with.

“That’s not cool.” Maurice blinked sympathetically, expression softening. “No one deserves that pressure. No one.” He took Shadow’s hand. “Not even the Ultimate Lifeform.”

Shadow’s eyes widened. So often had he held himself to that standard. It was part of his identity, after all. He’d never considered this similarity to Sonic.

Maurice smiled. “I can forgive you for punching me and for assuming that I was the friend you were looking for. But….But only if you promise not to punch Sonic too hard for what he did. Sure, he overreacted, but it sounds like he genuinely wanted to take care of his friends.” He shrugged. “Promise me you’ll remind him that it’s okay to fail.”

“I did.” Shadow still hurt thinking about it.

“Promise me, Shadow,” Maurice repeated. “Please?”

Shadow took one look at Maurice, seeing a sense of hope in those familiar eyes. A light that Shadow had always seen in Sonic. A light that was always forgiving, always seeking to do what was right, and sticking to his guns (even when it hurt).

“There’s always another way.”

“I will,” Shadow promised. “For Sonic.” For the blue hedgehog he’d grown to care about in his own way. For the blue hedgehog who had helped him live and learn. For a rival-turned-friendly-rival. For the ally, his only link to home.

“Thank you,” Maurice beamed. “And thank you for being such a good friend to help him.”

Shadow was about to say something in regards to that when his communicator rang. He opened it up, finding Hope’s name. “Hope?!”

“Whatever you’re doing, you’ve got to do it fast!” Hope yelped. “The teleporter suddenly overloaded and the energy levels on the prism are fluctuating at an alarming rate! The monitors— urgh –can’t keep up with the energy overflow!”

“Can you get the teleporter back online?!” Shadow inquired.

“I think I can!” She replied. “Just hurry!”

“We’re on our way.” Shadow hung up the communicator, alarm coursing through him as he hollered at Rebel Rouge to pick up the pace. ‘Oh, Chaos. Sonic, what the hell are you doing now?’

He knew exactly what Sonic had done. He’d drawn the line in the sand and Shadow’s moment, the one that could save the world, was at hand.

And Shadow felt ready.

Sonic smirked, gazing at the prism, the sixth shard a bright cobalt blue. “Any minute, now.” The rewrite was almost complete.

Sure, he’d sunk a little low in what he said to Shadow and what he did. But it was what they all deserved; and Sonic didn’t mind playing the bad guy this time if it meant that his friends got the justice they deserved. It was time to step it up or to back down, but the answer was clear. Sonic knew he was right, so he was going to fight for it. Shadow would listen to him.

It was time to redeem, resolve, and rebuild. The outcome would hardly come free, but Sonic expected that.

Now the line was in the sand and his moment was at hand. He would succeed where Nine failed. All of his friends would have their perfect world. He would win. After all, he was Sonic the Hedgehog – he never truly lost.

And if Shadow wanted to throw down with him, then Sonic was ready for him. Well, ready as he ever would be.

Speaking of Nine, he knew the fox was watching him. So Sonic made sure to flex on how much more control he had over the prism.

Sure, he had his army of life-like variants akin to the Grim Robots. But to stick it to Nine how lame and boring tossing the same hordes of enemies was, he chucked a few rocks and things about. He flipped the universe upside down.  Crystals became thorns. The ground split open, gushing lava and water at several key points. Trees snapped vines like whips. Tsunamis crashed onto the beach.

“Alright, Shadow.” Sonic cracked his knuckles. “It doesn’t matter what you bring with you should you come. You cannot stop me. I’m ready for you.”

It was finally his moment. And he was as ready as he would ever be.

Chapter Text

“Hope!” Shadow called out, rushing for the young girl in the prism chamber. Behind him, the entire Shatterverse army was ready and dashing in after him.

“Shadow,” she remarked. “The prism is growing more and more unstable. It looks like the energy is getting ready to collapse in on itself.”

‘Sonic folding all of reality into this one.’ Shadow swallowed with the thick realization.

“Then we need to settle this now,” Rebel stated.

Now? As selfish as that sounded, did it really have to be now?

Shadow glanced at Maria and the Professor. “If this works,” he swallowed. “If we stop this, then….then….” There was no way for Shadow to come back to this dimension. This world would reset to whatever it was before Sonic had interfered.

Maria approached Shadow and wrapped him in her arms. “I know. And it’ll be okay. I’m never far from you, Shadow. Remember that.”

The Professor clapped a hand on Shadow’s shoulders. “You’ve made me so proud, my son. And you still will.”

Shadow’s eyes widened at the tenderness of the moment. “I….I will.”

Maria hugged him again tightly. “I’m proud of you, too.” Shadow hugged her back, making sure to squeeze her just as tight.

Maurice stepped away from the teleporter. “It’s all set.”

“Maurice,” Shadow called. “I…I think it’d be best if you stayed here.”

“How come?”

“Because if this works, then…..” Shadow didn’t need to finish his thought.

Maurice nodded in understanding. “Okay.”

“Take care of Maria and the Professor,” Shadow charged him. "Protect them with your lives."

“I will,” Maurice promised. Then he hugged Shadow. “Go save him.” Shadow only responded with a light squeeze.

“Let’s get this over with,” Mr. Doctor Eggman huffed. Shadow nodded and stepped onto the teleporter, motioning the others to follow.

Shadow’s gaze met the Professor’s, Maurice’s, the Doctor’s, and Maria’s. Healthy, alive, and not evil or in war in the slightest. Real in a universe that wasn’t his own. And as much as he enjoyed this universe and the short taste of this life, he knew that he had his own life to lead. One far beyond Maria and the Professor and the ARK.

“Take care of each other. Okay?” Shadow asked.

“We will,” Gerald smiled. “Go save the world, Shadow.”

Shadow nodded and lifted the Chaos Emerald into the air, focusing on all of the variants and the other things they were bringing.

“Chaos Control!”

Shadow landed them all on a beach in the Ghost Hill. But the minute he did, he gasped.

The ground was now the color of clay, the rocks a jagged purple much like in the grim. The grass, the trees, the flowers – every plant was a dismal shade of gray. The sky had grown into this sickly greenish-purple hue. Water saturated just about every inch of nearby ground, turning the sand into a squelching mess.

“Yech,” Dr. Don’t snorted. “What a mess.”

“Where are we?” Dr. Deep remarked. “This isn’t the Ghost Hill I remember.”

“That’s because we’re in Sonic’s world,” Shadow remarked.

“What was Blue thinking?” Renegade Knucks inquired.

“He’s planning to die, remember?” Sails replied. “But this reminds me of Nine’s lair.” Mangey grunted in agreement.

“Shadow,” Rebel murmured, eyes fixated on something to their left.

Shadow turned, eyes widening at the sight of the fallen palm tree. The same tree that held so much significance to Sonic throughout his multiversal trip, now fallen and stripped like a queen in exile.

‘Oh, Sonic.’

Shadow shook it off. “Let’s go.”

“Hold on,” Rebel inquired. “Can we get a look higher than the trees?”

At that moment, Rusty Rose’s Birdie flew down, twittering the whole time. The little flicky had probably been scouting while they talked.

“BIRDIE SAYS THAT THERE IS A MASSIVE HEXAGONAL SHIELD SURROUNDING THE MOUNTAIN 800 METERS SOUTH, SOUTHWEST,” She translated.

“That’s the temple mountain,” Shadow stated.

“Can we fly over those trees?” Rebel asked.

Rusty turned to her bird before speaking, “BIRDIE COULD NOT MAKE OUT ANY CLEARINGS SUITABLE FOR LANDING THE KRAKEN OR THE YOKE. THORN’S BIRDIE COULD MAKE IT, BUT DATA REMAINS UNCLEAR.”

“It’s just like the Boscage Maze,” Prim Rouge spoke, eyeing the jungle before them.

“Yeah, except with more water,” Gnarly grumbled, shaking some excess water off his boots.

“Bah!” Dr. Done-It snapped. “We’ll just set the trees ablaze!”

“Sure. And let Sonic know we’re here,” Renegade huffed. “Any ideas?”

“Scavengers take the point,” Rebel stated. “They know a jungle inside and out. They’ll guide us through the treeline.”

She nodded at Shadow. “And since you know Green Hill well, then you will scout ahead with them.” She pointed at the ships. “Airships stay here until we understand what’s happening. We’ll radio if we need them.”

“Works for us,” Prim Rouge spoke up. “Let’s go.”

The trek to the temple mountain from the beach, ordinarily an easy five minute run for Shadow, turned into about forty minutes of slogging.

The initial treeline was so clogged with vegetation and water, Shadow ended up just walking on the trees that jutted out from the marshland. Other members of the party slipped and fell in the mud or got completely stuck, so time was spent trying to pull them free. For Shadow, every minute they wasted trying to save their party members was another minute they could’ve spent saving Sonic. Or, as Sails and Mangey put it, another minute they could save Nine.

Nine…..Shadow clenched his fists. He didn’t care about the fox. But if they rescued him, Shadow wouldn’t be opposed to it.

As they hiked inwards, the ground grew more dry. Although the colors did not change, the trees were still so tightly packed together that it was nearly impossible to see anything. The Chaos Council members tripped over just about every root or so jutting up from the ground.

“Look,” Prim spoke, cutting Shadow out of his thoughts. They had reached the edge of the trees near the temple mountain. The hexagonal shield glowed a soft blue, coating the mountain in a dingy gray between the thorns wrapped tightly about it. Between the shield and the trees was a good sixty feet of open field. It was perfectly open.

“Completely open. It’s a setup for an ambush.” Rebel stretched out her shoulders. Dr. Babble grunted something out from inside his mech.

“Agreed,” Dr. Deep huffed. “Someone should check if he’s alive or not. It’d be a waste of time if he’s not there to watch us punish him.”

“And watch them get blown away?” Renegade Knucks growled. “We’ll send you out first.”

Shadow rolled his eyes before promptly skating out from the trees, stopping once he reached the shield. He laid a hand on it, collecting his thoughts.

Sonic might’ve enjoyed the company of the variants, but Shadow just wanted this done. And the bickering about who was going to fish Sonic out of the temple mountain wasn't going to cut it.

“So the butt-whooping I gave you earlier wasn’t enough, huh?”

Shadow curled his fists and looked up.

Running on lavender hexagonal plates was Sonic. The regulators were glowing brightly, almost too brightly. He hopped down, standing an inch away from the shield and Shadow.

Sonic still looked sickly, but a bit more energetic than usual.

Shadow inhaled before looking at Sonic. “You keep this up, people are really going to start calling us similar.”

“How so?”

“Destroying the world for the people we love,” Shadow remarked. “At least yours was a bit more creative – I will give you that. Dropping a space colony on the earth is one thing. Destroying it in two reality reboots? Now that’s clever.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Sonic’s muzzle. “I guess so.”

There was silence between the two of them for a moment. Then Shadow spoke up. “Do you want to know something funny?”

“Hmm?”

“I always….I always figured you’d go out with a bang,” Shadow remarked. “A big Eggman battle, fate of the world on the line. Explosions and Badniks and gunfire, the full nine yards. You’d be snarking and quipping, and then suddenly, something would happen that would end it. Maybe it’d be a stray bullet, maybe a symphony of orange, but your death would be something explosive. And you’d save the world while you were at it like the big damn hero you are.” Reddish-brown eyes fixated into those fading eyes. “Not withering away in self-pity.”

Sonic’s brow furrowed. “Here we go again.”

“Sonic, you know damn well there’s a good chance neither of us could walk away from this,” Shadow continued.

“You make it sound like I don’t know what I’m doing. I know what I’m doing and I know the risks,” Sonic snorted. “Didn’t you know you wouldn’t survive the ARK crashing to earth?”

“I knew that risk,” Shadow remarked. “And I refuse to let you do the same.” His hand scooted until it was about where Sonic’s shoulder was. “Sonic, for all of the rivalry, for all the pettiness, all of my grievances and annoyances with you….you’re still someone who lives on the planet I’ve sworn to protect.” Ruby eyes met faded gray ones. “You gave me a second chance. No, you gave me forgiveness over and over again. You treat me like a friend despite our rivalry. And I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge that. In my own way, I’ve grown to care about you. Especially now, when you are my last link to home in this shattered universe.”

‘Please, please understand!’

“What are you saying?” Sonic asked.

“You’ve shown everyone, even me, mercy and forgiveness,” Shadow replied. “Please, let me show you the same. And show yourself the same, too. No one has asked you to be a perfect hero.”

“They have!!!!” Sonic exploded, punching the shield with brute force. “All of them! I’ve sacrificed EVERYTHING for them! I gave and gave and I got nothing! No, they expect me to walk it off and if I do fuck up, I get nothing but criticism! “Sonic was never good!” they say!” His eyes narrowed at Shadow’s. “You were right. This is what I deserve.”

With that, he punched Shadow through the shield, the black hedgehog eating dirt as he skidded back.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned in this adventure, it’s that you were right,” Sonic growled. “I should’ve gone after Nine and not trusted a single one of them.”

Shadow got up and spat out the dirt. “Then explain why you took Nine.” At Sonic’s expression, Shadow barked. “I know you have him!”

“Because Nine will finish this,” Sonic smirked. “I will make him finish this. He wanted me and now he’ll have me.”

“I won’t let him,” Shadow growled. “I won’t let you give up everything you worked so hard for all because you cannot face your friends!” He stood up. “Can’t you see how wrong this is for you?! To throw it all away just because of something you never asked for?” Shadow’s throat closed up a little. “I’ve been there, Sonic. It’s not a good place to be.” He held out his hand. “It took you and your friends to pull me out of that dark place. I want to do the same for you. And if it means I shatter this world to show you that, then so be it.” Shadow’s eyes blazed hotly. “You’ve become more like the Doctor than you care to admit.”

At this, Sonic’s glare sharpened.

Shadow abruptly found himself flying back through the trees. He could hear the counterparts shrilling in alarm, caught up in the blast.

Shadow got up, watching the clouds swirl about the mountain.

“Shadow, you claim that I’m a thorn in your side?!” Sonic’s voice boomed. “Then let me show you how prickly I can be.”

Without warning, a metal fist slammed into Shadow’s head. Shadow grunted and flipped backwards, ears swiveling for any signs of his attacker.

His answer was a clunking across the grass. Shadow countered it with a roundhouse kick to the head, pleased to find that it was a sort of Grim Bot shaped like Sonic.

Shadow almost laughed. Sonic was no different than Nine or the Doctor – sending out hoards of robots first before coming out to fight.

But then there were other crashes. Shadow could hear the variants yelping and screaming. In the darkness of the treeline, Shadow could not see where the attackers were coming from.

“Get open!” He heard someone yell.

Blaster shots illuminated the treeline, coating everything in a fluorescent blue and casting strange shadows of attackers in the trees. Crashes and clangs echoed, punctuated with gasps of pain.

“Take cover!”

“Watch out!”

“AUGH!”

Shadow growled angrily and lashed out with his air shoes, trying to see. He heard Rebel’s cry of pain from somewhere in the thicket.

“Rebel!” Renegade cried.

And then fire rained down from the heavens. Shadow jumped back, dodging the laser that slashed through half of the jungle, covering everything in an orange haze. Now Shadow could see the variants, striving against the countless other Grim Bots. Blasting, punching, and slashing everything they could see and praying that they didn't hit a fellow ally tucked away in the trees.

“The Yoke and the Kraken!” Batten Rouge jovially shouted.

Sure enough, the airships hovered above them. Black and Rusty Rose waved from their ship, Thorn Rose and Birdie on standby. The Yoke and the other ship had their lasers ready.

“Say your prayers, Little Boy Blue!” Mr. Doctor Eggman boomed from the Yoke. “Or I’ll blow this mountain and you to bits!”

“You can try.”

Sonic’s voice was cold.

At that moment, the ground melted into something akin to really wet mud. Multicolored lightning bolts struck the ground and the airships, electrocuting anyone on the ground and frying the controls of the airborne vehicles.

“To higher ground!” Rebel screamed as their army threw themselves up trees and onto crystals to escape.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Mr. Doctor Eggman cursed through the speakerphone. “Power levels are dropping!”

“Abandon ship!” Black Rose hollered, leaping overboard just as the ship smashed into the jungle.

“Take cover!” Another soldier screeched.

Shadow vaulted up a tree, staring down the shield and the growing carnage. Growling, he spin dashed it repeatedly, cursing when it didn’t budge. “Sonic, you have to listen to me!”

“Like I did before?”

A lightning bolt struck right where Shadow stood, Shadow missing it by a centimeter. The black hedgehog dashed at the wall, bouncing off of it like he was a rubber ball against a wall or floor.

“I can fix this, Shadow,” Sonic continued. “I can fix everything. And I will. And you can’t stop me, not this time. It’s my turn to right a wrong no matter the cost.”

Another bolt of lightning struck, this time successfully hitting Shadow.

On the other side of the shield, the ground stirred. And bursting from it were two yellow foxes: Sails and Mangey.

“Nicely done, Mangey,” Sails praised, climbing out of the hole. Mangey grinned in reply.

It had been Mangey’s idea to dig under the shield. With all the commotion going on outside, Mangey had figured the best plan was to sneak under the shield and then get up the mountain that way. Seeing all the insanity of the storm outside, it was probably for the best.

The two foxes scampered close to the base of the mountain, Mangey leading the charge.

“Alright.” Sails spun his tails. “Let’s get flying. We’ve got to–”

But Mangey pawed at a section of thorns and grunted.

“No flying?”

A flash of fire caught Sails’ eye and he winced. “Yeah, that’s not a good idea. What say ye?”

Mangey smiled and pawed away the vines, revealing the stony surface. He rapped at it and then compared it to another place on the rock wall a few feet over.

“It’s hollower,” Sails realized. “Good thinking. Let’s get digging.”

With any luck, they’d find their missing counterpart. Hopefully, he could talk some sense into Sonic.

Nine could hear the combat outside, ears twitching in confusion. Who or what was Sonic fighting?

Nine shook his head, knowing the answer. The other “allies” Sonic had probably come out to talk some sense into him. Probably tried to do what Sonic did to Nine back at the Grim – spout off some bullshit about friendship and chili dogs.

Tch. Amateurs.

But then a second strange sound hit his ears. The rumble of rocks.

And then, right before his eyes, the earth opened up. What the heck? Who would be coming to–

“Ahoy!” Piped up a tiny voice followed by a brief grunt. The two yellow foxes poked their heads up, saluting Nine with the biggest grin in the world.

Nine grimaced. Of course it was the other two variants of him that had come to rescue him. Of course they were still alive. Did Sonic know?

“Ar, there he be!” The pirate version of Nine grinned, scampering over towards Nine with his mechanical hand raised. “Boy, ye have no idea how thrilled we are to find ye!”

“Thrilled?!” Nine exclaimed. “You blew up and you’re telling me you’re actually happy you found me?! How are you both alive?!”

“There was an explosion to be sure, but twas nothing we couldn’t fly away from.” The pirate blinked briefly with a furrowed brow. “Mostly.”

The feral version of him barked and came back with something between his teeth. Nine’s mechanical tails.

“Drop them!” Nine screeched. “That’s my technology you’re slobbering on!”

“Good job, Mangey!” The pirate boasted. “We’ll be needing these, too, once we get you out.” His mechanical hand clicked through the workings, boots tapping to the beat of some unheard music.

The ground shook, all three of them wobbling.

“Argh, that’s not good,” The pirate commented.

“No shit,” Nine huffed. “Now hurry up.”

“I’m working as fast as possible, laddie,” The pirate huffed. “It’s just taking a bit of time, tis all.”

Between Sonic’s behavior before, him locking Nine up, and now this variant of him trying to be all buddy-buddy, that was enough for Nine. “Listen, from now on, you don’t talk to me unless I address you. I’m not your fucking laddie!”

Mangey responded by sinking his teeth into Nine’s thigh. Nine yelped, trying to kick him off, but his legs were still spread out. Blood dribbled down Nine’s leg towards his socks and shoes, soaking through the shorts.

“Mangey,” the pirate barked sternly. Mangey released Nine’s leg and retreated back to the hole, blood staining his maw. The pirate finished freeing Nine, the energy bands crackling with each release. Nine toppled to the rocky ground, hands immediately covering the bloody wound, crimson smearing on the chrome of his gloves. Would he have to get a rabies shot for this?

“Yer right about one thing,” The pirate snarled, picking up Nine’s mechanical tails. “I’m not yer friend, but we have one who’s going to die if we don’t help him. So ye can either help us out so ye can go back to that barren wasteland ye call home or ye can sit here, be a jackass, and lose everything ye ever wanted. Either option works for me.” He threw the mechanical tails at Nine’s feet, evidently fixed. “Ye decide.”

The pirate motioned for Mangey and the pair of them leaped back down the hole they came from, leaving Nine alone in the darkness with the noise of battle ringing in his ears.

Chapter Text

Shadow’s head was spinning when he came to. The grass tickled his face and muzzle from where he was laying.

Voices echoed about, smeared with haze and punctuated by the sound of flexing metal.

“Take cover!”

“The whole forest is on fire!”

“What now?!”

And then Rebel Rouge’s voice, distinct in his ears. “Get up, Shadow! Get up!”

Shadow shot to his feet, gritting his teeth. “Sonic’s losing control.”

“No shit,” Rebel Rouge cursed. “He’s going to kill someone if he’s not careful.”

Shadow winced at that. Sonic had sworn to him a long time ago that he’d never take a life, even if it meant saving the world. He’d never be caught dead with a weapon either, though that was now unfounded by that time he wielded a sword, so who knew what to make of the no-killing rule.

Thorn Rose then landed beside them. “Mangey and Sails got through!”

“How?!” Renegade Knuckles yelped, throwing a bot at the forcefield.

“Look!” Batten Rouge called, pointing.

Sure enough, Mangey and Sails were scaling the mountain, handhold by hand. Robots surged down the mountain, pushing the foxes back six feet for every two they climbed. Behind them, the forest was orange in light and punctuated with lightning.

“They’ll need backup,” Rebel Rouge decided. “How'd they get in there?”

“They must’ve dug under the shield,” Thorn Rose observed. “Gnarly!”

Gnarly Knuckles scampered over alongside Prim Rouge. “Yeah?”

“Dig under the shield,” Thorn Rose stated. “Mangey’s in trouble and we gotta help out.”

“Dig under it?!” Gnarly yelped. “And get blasted before I get close?!”

“We’ll cover you,” Prim Rouge stated.

Gnarly nodded and dug straight down, dirt flying amidst the wreckage. He popped up on the other side, only to get clobbered by three robots and a tree trunk with eighty feet of vine. “I knew the trees were going to kill us!” He screamed as the machines tossed him into the air.

The armies as a whole were getting annihilated out there. The aircraft were having trouble dodging lightning bolts and those on the ground were subjected to far too many varying attacks of natural and mechanical kinds.

An Egg Forcer with Dr. Don’t’s symbol on it clunked over to their group. “Well, it can’t get worse,” he huffed.

As if to prove him wrong, a blast of lava burst from the earth.

“Oh, come on!!!” Dr. Don’t shrilled as half of his Egg Forcers were obliterated by lava. “That one had my high score!”

“I think we’ve got bigger problems than hot lava!” Batten cried out. “Look!”

Shadow’s gaze snapped up just in time to avoid getting clobbered by a G.U.N. truck, buzzsaws whirring as it did.

“What the devil is happening?!” Knuckles the Dread bellowed.

Shadow’s heart sank into his stomach.

The sky above was dotting with purple cracks, objects falling through them in various levels of danger. Some were harmless – an old Gaia manuscript here, a plush there. But others, like the aforementioned truck and a massive cannon, crashed down at such a destructive rate that the distance between the shield and the forest became a minefield. The ground began to spin again, sending Egg Forcers and fighters to the skyward portals. Many grabbed tree branches and the grass to break their falls. Egg Forcers in particular were dashed to bits as they collided with each other and other various objects. Lightning struck again, and this time, as the ground lifted to the left, lava sprang up, frying anyone and anything caught in the wake.

“Fall back! Fall back!” Someone hollered. Dr. Deep, maybe? The hollering had increased with the panic.

A scream broke through the air. Shadow’s eyes snapped up again, this time to see someone actually falling through the portals.

Shadow jumped, air shoes blasting as he ricocheted off the shield in time to catch the Mobian. She looked to be no older than seven, her merlot eyes shining with relief. Shadow gave her a nod and then tossed her right back into the portal she fell out of.

Shadow tumbled onto the Kraken ’s deck, grimacing in pain and frustration.

“ARE YOU STILL ABLE TO FUNCTION?” Rusty Rose inquired.

“Yes,” Shadow grunted. He jumped to his feet and leaned over the rail. Hundreds of cracks now split the sky. Some into alternate realities, some with pieces of the Void, but all were growing by the second. The Shatterspace was literally tearing itself and several other realities apart.

Shadow’s heart stopped. Would Maurice—

“All missiles FIRE!!!” Dr. Done-It screamed, a volley of missiles connecting with the dome. Smoke billowed from….under the dome?

“By Poseidon's soggy beard!” Black Rose hollered. “How’d that happen?!”

Rusty Rose looked grim. “THE REWRITE IS ACCELERATING. BECAUSE OF THIS, POWER IS BEING DIVERTED AWAY FROM THE DEFENSES. REWRITE IS ALREADY AT 81% COMPLETION.”

They were running out of time.

Shadow vaulted from the ship, fists clasped over his head. Then he slammed them down onto the shield, smirking as it flickered yet again. This time, there was enough of a gap that several variants scrambled through the shield. Shadow kicked on his Air Shoes to meet Rebel Rouge and Renegade Knucks. Sails and Mangey were beside them. Dr. Babble, the first of the Chaos Council to breach the dome, clapped his hands and began blasting at the dome and the swarm of enforcers on either side. The ground heaved again, rotating to the right. Screams crescendoed as soldiers tumbled into trees and rocks. Denzin 1998 took a tree trunk to the ribs, a crack echoing. Other troops scaled trees and clung to boulders.

“I knew it was a death trap!” Gnarly Knuckles exclaimed, popping up from somewhere off screen.

“So how do we get up there?” Sails inquired, hovering in the air. “Me thinks we’ll all be sent to the locker if we fly or climb.”

“And if we stay on the ground, we’ll all be toast,” Renegade Knucks huffed. He glanced at Rebel. “And as much as I love a good dust-up, we need to think smarter.”

“Tch. You’re all a bunch of idiots.”

Renegade Knucks shot forward and socked the nine-tailed traitor in the face. Shadow smirked, watching the fox wipe his bleeding nose.

“Been wanting to do that for a while now, traitor,” Renegade Knucks taunted.

Nine got up, shaking his head and staring at the group with genuine disinterest and hatred. “I’m only doing this so I can get back to the Grim. Then you can go back to your silly lives and silly spaces and leave me the hell alone.”

‘Not after I break you for what you did.’ Shadow thought.

“So what’s your idea?” Rebel Rouge inquired.

“Simple. He wants me to rip out his energy,” Nine huffed.

A parallel to the tedious two hours of battle they had fought earlier. Just peachy.

“So he’s got eyes on you? Perfect.”

Rebel Rouge’s remark was cut off as the shield shattered, lavender shards raining down.

“To the cave!” Black Rose roared.

“Press the attack!” Rebel Rouge hollered, spreading her wings and taking to the skies.

Shadow immediately charged up the mountain, smashing through robot after robot and plowing through thorn after thorn. Geysers burst from the sides, sending climbers back down.

And yet, something was off. The attacks were no longer….well, they still had oomph. But the intensity was draining. Like there wasn’t enough fight left to give.

Shadow cleared the cliff and smashed right into a wall of rock and spikes. He grit his teeth and pulled the spikes out. Then he turned back to call for any one of the Knuckles.

Oh, Chaos. What he saw made his heart stop.

The beaches where they arrived were nonexistent, fading not just into the purple shards that surrounded the gateways, but simply….fading. The sky was becoming grayer and grayer. This sickly gray consumed everything in its wake. Even the purple shards in the sky were fading and fading.

“It’s like time is dying in this Shatterspace. Not just decaying into the Shatterverse as a whole, but time literally feels like it’s dying,” Nine’s voice hummed to Shadow’s left. The fox’s baby blue eyes were wide with horror as he stared at his scanner. “But…not like before. Curious.”

“Can we not analyze this?!” Dr. Deep shouted, vaulting over the cliff’s edge in his outrageous mech suit. “We’re all going to die by the hedgehog’s hands if we don’t do something!”

“Stand still.” Nine cocked his blaster and shot a huge hole at the entrance. When the smoke dissipated, several branches were torn away. Seeing their opportunity, Renegade, Gnarly, and Dread all charged at the thorny entrance and began smashing it. Chunks of rock and spikes flew in all directions. The mountain shook, sending debris to knock more people back to the ground.

A mechanical pink-gauntleted fist shot out and smashed a hole near the top of the cave entrance. Rusty Rose pulled back her hand, grimacing. “SENSORS INDICATE THAT REWRITE IS AT 91% COMPLETION.”

Shadow grit his teeth. They had to end this.

“Clear the door!” He shouted, fingers twisting off his inhibitor rings. “I’m taking off my rings!”

“What good will that do?!” Batten Rouge inquired, confusion written all over her face.

Shadow allowed himself to smirk. “You’ll see for yourself.” He tucked his inhibitors into his quills and invited the emerald’s power within himself. Then, he focused his thoughts: his anger towards Sonic, his anger towards Nine, the grief of possibly losing home all over again….

“Maria loved our planet,” Shadow growled, a red sheen emitting from his body. “I will not let you destroy it.” Tension built like a rubber band. Shadow curled his fists, mere centimeters from the entrance. “CHAOS….”

Sonic gazed blearily at the Paradox Prism. The rewrite was nearly complete, as the new shard was glowing a brilliant cobalt blue. Sonic’s own palette was a sickly gray.

“Hang on, guys,” Sonic grinned. “Your worlds will finally be fixed. And then you don’t have to worry about me again.” He reached up to touch the prism, siphoning more of his power and life.

He’d let the defenses fall intentionally. Sonic had always been one for theatrics (evidenced by Grim Big’s first appearance), so he wanted the others to see the show that was about to ensue.

And deep down, Sonic had some final things to say to Nine and Shadow. They were friends, weren’t they?

“No,” Sonic growled. “Shadow is my rival. And I never should’ve trusted Nine.” He shook his head and glanced at the hardening shard. Maybe he should just end it now.

Hell yeah, that’d be—

CRASH!

Sonic whipped around, stumbling a little as his body trembled. What the–

“Ahoy!” Two yellow twin-tailed foxes appeared from the top of the supposedly sealed cave entrance, smiling brightly.

“Hey.” Mangey waved.

Sonic’s eyes got round. “Sails? Mangey? You’re…You’re alive?!” Despite his looming demise, Sonic beamed. “Oh, Chaos, you’re alive!”

Mangey scampered down into the cave and jumped up to give Sonic a hug, Sails following. Sonic did his best with his semi-solid body, kneeling on the cave floor to embrace both foxes. “Oh thank Chaos,” Sonic whimpered. “I thought–”

“That we’d been blown to kingdom come?” Sails finished with a grin. “Nope. We were mostly unharmed! Only a bit of singed fur!” Sails’ smile grew bigger. “We took over that Grim Big of our conniving duplicate and lit up some bots! It was a spectacle for sure!”

“I’m sure it was!” Sonic whooped. But then, his ears twitched. “But….how are you here? I thought for sure I only grabbed Nine.” Not that he was complaining, of course – he was relieved to see that the variants were all right, but why was he seeing Sails and Mangey now? Especially that everything was nearly ready?

“Oh, ye grabbed him all right,” Sails grimaced. “And that salty sea dog rightfully got what he deserved.” Mangey’s smile widened, revealing a red stain.

Sonic paled (if that was even more possible. “Is he–”

Sails laughed. “No, no, he lives, mind ye. But Mangey and I were angrier than a storm at him, so Mangey made like a shark hunting a fish. Don’t ye worry, he still lives since he’s still one of us, but next time he may not be so lucky.”

The image of Mangey going absolutely feral on Nine made Sonic smirk (not in a mean way – it was more akin to Tails doing something that matched his emotional state), but then he shook his head. “No, I mean, how are you guys here in this dimension?” He’d made sure it wasn’t an easy thing to access, right? Even Sonic had a bit of trouble getting Nine here, so how did they breach this world?

Mangey chuffed and snapped, pretending to fight. Sails nodded and then translated. “One minute we were fighting Nine and the second, we all were transported to some odd dimension and then this black hedgehog brought us here.”

Sonic’s eyes narrowed. “Shadow.” Oh, he could hardly wait to make that black hedgehog permanently enjoy his newfound world. His perfect world, one where Sonic was docile and Maria lived. Sonic had half a thought to send Shadow sailing back there already.

But Sonic got up and shook his head. “No matter. You’ll soon get everything back a hundredfold. You and all of your Shatterspaces. It’ll be perfect, you’ll see. It’ll be a world you could only dream of.”

“Oh, I know all about yer plan, matey. But I don’t think it’ll work so good, Sonic,” Sails remarked. “Ye seem to have forgotten something in this rewrite plan of yours.”

“Oh?” Sonic hummed. The prism was so bright……Sonic had maybe minutes to live if that. “What did I forget?”

“That yer friends came to save you the last time you tried to sacrifice yerself for us,” Sails remarked.

Sonic’s eyes widened. Friends? Did that mean—

“.....BLAST!!!!”

BOOM!

Sonic’s gaze snapped upward towards the previously sealed entrance of the cave.

Standing amid the smoke and rubble of the cave entrance were all of the variants Sonic had met, from Rusty Rose to Dread Knuckles to the Chaos Council and everyone in between regardless of their alignment. They all seemed to be in various states of surprise, shock, and a hint of anger (not quite the emotions he was expecting, but Sonic wasn’t planning on being surprised). And leading the charge was the last piece Sonic had to his old life and home, the Ultimate Lifeform himself.

Heh. Talk about being stubborn and full of surprises.

The black hedgehog finished clipping on his inhibitor rings (Chaos, when had Shadow taken them off last? Sonic couldn’t remember) and glared menacingly on the blue hedgehog. “It’s over, Sonic.”

Chapter Text

“You’re right, Shadow,” Sonic remarked coolly. “It’s over. It’s nearly done.” His smile brightened a little. “It won’t belong before you and Maria–”

Shadow shot forward and punched Sonic in the face, knocking him against the base of the prism. “Don’t you ever say that again!” He grabbed Sonic by the neck and slammed him back into the base. “Don’t you dare hide behind her name! Don’t you fucking dare!”

Sonic kicked Shadow back. “You mean to tell me you don’t want this?!”

“No, I don’t!” Shadow exclaimed. His eyes narrowed. “You’ve invalidated everything I’ve worked so hard for. The promises, the memories, the struggles, all of it – gone, under an assumption of your own making.” Shadow’s gaze was deadly. “And you have no idea how sick she really was. Your little fantasy of us being on earth wouldn’t have been much of a reality. We ran out of time on the ARK. Maria wouldn’t have lasted a full year on earth with or without the fifty year cryogenic storage.” He shook his head. “She was so sick she would’ve died with or without the raid. Your rewrite merely delayed the inevitable.”

“So you’d rather she die in the prime of her life?” Sonic huffed.

“She’d have died one way or another!” Shadow yelled. “And I would’ve had to watch it happen either way!” He pounced on Sonic and threw punch after punch, straddling the blue hedgehog. “And you….you have the gall to act as though I’d love it?! Love seeing her die again?! I can’t do that again, Sonic!” Reddish eyes blazed with anger. “I said earlier I appreciated your thoughts in giving me and Maria more time. I was wrong. You’ve undermined everything I went through; and although I am not bound to the past anymore, I can’t deny that what happened did happen.”

Sonic kicked Shadow off him. “I should’ve known you’d be selfish.”

“Likewise, faker!” Shadow curled his fists. “Do you know what I want now?”

Sonic’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Or guilt – Shadow couldn’t tell.

“I want a world where I have you both,” Shadow remarked. “Not necessarily at the same time, but where I have you both.”

Sonic rolled his eyes. “So the world I gave you?”

(Play: Soothing Spring Music - Garden of Wishes )

“I don’t want that one!” Shadow barked. “I want the world where Maria and I were on the ARK for a short, yet sweet time. I want the world that took everything from me. I want the world that I would’ve destroyed had it not been for a blue hedgehog and his friends. And speaking of him, I want that blue hedgehog who could never shut up, touches me without consent, and believes the best in people regardless of what they do!”

Ruby eyes gleamed with salt. “I don’t want any blue hedgehog, Sonic. I want you . I want my rival back. I-I want my friend back. I-I want my fellow hedgehog brother back.” The light outside disappeared, leaving Shadow’s anguished expression visible by the light of the Paradox Prism. The variants all leaped into the cave, unwilling to look away from the two hedgehogs. Even Nine was watching with curiosity.

“Sonic, you may think the world’s better off without you,” Shadow continued. “But look at New Yoke. Look at Nine and Rusty and all of them. If you weren’t there, then New Yoke would be our reality. Think about it: in New Yoke, would the Chaos Council have let Rusty Rose talk me out of destroying the world? Who would’ve rivaled me on Mission Street?”

Sonic was quiet, trading glances between the variants.

“None of them likely would. If the world wasn’t destroyed at my hands, then it’d look just like New Yoke.” Shadow slowly approached Sonic, hands lifted to comfort. “And that’s not a world I want to see. No one in this cavern save for those Eggheads wants to see that world.”

“HEY!” Mr. Doctor Eggman boomed. “Leave us out of your sappy speech!”

Shadow reached Sonic and placed one hand on a faded shoulder while the other one interlaced their fingers. “I know you’re hurting. Betrayal and loss run deep. But take it from someone who’s stood in your sneakers before: ending it all is not the answer. Ending it won’t make the pain go away….it’ll only push it onto your friends who might not have even known you were struggling.”

Shadow gestured to Sonic. “It’s never too late to change. It’s never too late to ask for help. Hell, it’s never too late to admit you’re struggling. Our friends are the biggest and most supportive group I’ve ever seen. Even our allies, who we’ve only just met, seem to care about you.”

Sonic glanced briefly at the variants, eyes glazed over with an emotion Shadow couldn’t place.

“And most importantly, you do care about you,” Shadow added, turning Sonic’s head to face the former. “And how do I know this? Because since I started talking, you haven’t punched me. You even paused the rewrite. You literally gave up the fight just so you could listen to what I have to say.”

This was true, as the rewrite’s white light blazed intently outside the cave while the interior remained untouched.

“You want to make things better for yourself, but you’re so afraid to hurt again that it’s easier to hurt on your own terms,” Shadow argued. “But that doesn’t make it right. It just makes it worse. Not to mention, it goes against something you’ve always surprised me with: you keep fighting.”

Sonic stared at the black hedgehog.

“You never gave up on anyone and you never gave up a fight. Even on me and even on Nine,” Shadow continued. “How much more would we do to save the blue hedgehog who brought us together? Who fought fearlessly for people he just met?”

Shadow allowed himself to smile. “You’ve always been strong, Sonic. Always. What I said during the battle with the Biolizard still rings true. You are an Ultimate Lifeform all on your own. That takes so much strength and it’s strength I know you have. Combine that with your heart and I know you have the strength to fight on. The strength to make a change in your life because you care not just about your friends, but you as well.”

Shadow’s eyes blazed not with anger, but with compassion. “It’s wrong that no one acknowledged your true mental health before and during all of this. It’s wrong that whenever the subject came up, it was dismissed without a second glance. It’s wrong that I never thanked you for saving me or truly acknowledged our friendship, as tense as it is. And it’s wrong that you, Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Mobius, someone who fought his ass off more than once to save the planet and who raced across an entire multiverse to save it all because he cared so damn much for his friends new and old and his home….wants to just end it all because of something he had no control over: someone else’s choice.”

He swallowed thickly. “But you don’t have to go there, Sonic. You deserve to get up and make a change in someone’s life – our lives – because you have that power, you always have had that power. And because you matter. You matter to our friends. You matter to me.” Shadow shifted their interlocked fingers to form a familiar heart shape. “I heart you too, Sonic.”

Sonic’s eyes were wide with shock. But then his gaze shifted to the variants, settling in a wary expression.

Prim Rouge stepped forward, hands clasped between them. “We have to acknowledge our part in this too.” She gestured to all of the variants. “We all have to.”

“No. You did nothing wrong. None of you did. It’s my fault.” Sonic shook his head and pulled away from Shadow. “I just wanted to go home. But my home is gone. And your homes are slowly fading away.” His ears flattened. “I thought I could make this right by fixing it long before it happened. Then you wouldn’t have to deal with me and all of the trouble I brought with me.”

The Shatterverse variants traded looks, unsure of what to say or even how to process what they knew then and now.

“Shadow’s right. You’ve been seeing the jungle for the trees,” Thorn Rose piped up.

Sonic blinked at her in surprise. “What?”

Thorn Rose smiled. “You’re so convinced that everything you did in the Shatterverse was bad that you’ve forgotten all the good you did.” She smashed her hammer into her palm. “Like helping me and the Scavengers heal.”

“Giving hope to New Yoke and fighting alongside us,” Rebel Rouge chimed in.

“Teaching me that there be more valuable treasures than a shiny rock, just like me captain knew,” Knuckles the Dread smiled bashfully.

“How to fight,” Prim Rouge grinned.

“Letting us pirate again!” Black Rose whooped.

“Being my first real friend, even when we were fighting,” Nine mumbled. “You cared about me. You still cared.” He blinked, lowering his weapon. “Sonic,” he finally spoke up. “Sonic, what I said earlier…..you did hurt me, yes. True, you didn’t listen and you assumed things about me...but destroying the Shatterverse to build my home was no different than those portals being left open: the Shatterverse was decaying no matter what I did.” His tails clicked together. “And….as far as fighting you and nearly killing the foxes goes, I…I took things too far. You at least tried to make up for it. I…well…”

“Nine, you know it was my fault I pushed you that way,” Sonic replied.

“But I didn’t have to fall,” Nine replied. He lifted himself up on his mechanical tails and approached them. Shadow took a step closer, Chaos Energy crackling in his hand in case the fox decided to try anything.

Renegade Knucks stepped forward, apparently agreeing with Shadow’s sentiment. “You’ve had your moments, Blue. But your heart’s always in the right place. You came through when we needed it. We were only mad then because we didn’t understand the fact that there were other universes out there.”

“Aye!” Black Rose piped up. “Ye stuck to us like a barnacle on a boat!” Then her jade eyes gleamed. “Sonic, as much as me heart enjoys the fact ye wanted to give us a better world, friendship with ye was a far better treasure.”

“You’re our friend, Blue,” Renegade Knucks agreed. “And we wouldn’t trade knowing you for all the beaches and palm trees in the world.”

“Here here!” The variants chorused.

Shadow glanced at Sonic, a ghost of a smile curling his lips.

Because for the first time, it truly felt like their friends were in this very space. The same friends Sonic had wanted ever since reality shattered.

If Sonic was a computer, then his whole processing system had been overloaded. The error text probably said something like Sonic.EXE had stopped working.

There was no way they all still considered him a friend. Hell, he was waiting for Shadow to sock him in the face.

But yet, here they were, just like they came for him in the Grim.

“You’ve fought with us often enough.”

A slight pawing got his attention. He glanced down to see Mangey pawing at him. The kit’s big blue eyes got bigger than before. “Huggises?” He asked.

Sonic’s legs gave out, whether from emotion or exhaustion. He wrapped his arms about Mangey and bawled (something he swore he’d never do). Mangey hugged back, just as tight.

And then the others joined in. Thorn Rose. Then Rebel Rouge. Black Rose. Sails. Catfish, Hangrey, Batten, all of them (save for the Chaos Council, as expected). Even Shadow knelt down and squeezed Sonic’s hand.

“I-I’m sorry,” Sonic babbled. “I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I–”

“It’s alright, Sonic,” Rebel’s voice assured him. “It’s alright.”

“You can punch me,” Sonic whimpered, glassy eyes locking with Shadow’s. “I know I deserve it.”

“No. You’ve been through enough,” Shadow chided soothingly. He pulled Sonic to his feet. “What do you think? Want to try life again?”

“You’re still going to support me? After all of this?” Sonic asked, shaking his head.

“You’re not on your own,” Shadow promised.

Sonic glanced at the variants of his friends, all nodding and smiling. For a split second, Sonic could see his real friends, smiling at him. The variants shared the sentiment, despite not having known Sonic for as long.

The list of things he wanted altered in Sonic’s mind.

He wanted the pirates to have a grand adventure with treasure.

He wanted the Scavengers and Thorn Rose to keep peace and harmony, sharing everything.

He wanted Rebel and Renegade Knucks to have their beaches and palm trees back.

He wanted Nine to have a home, safe and sound, where no one could hurt him.

He wanted Big to have plenty of fishing holes to fish with and for Froggy to always be nearby as a comforting ear.

He wanted to see Knuckles get off that dinky rock.

He wanted to see Rouge teasing Knuckles and then hear her talk about a beautiful gem.

He wanted to see sweet Amy strike out on her own, a hero in her own right.

And…..he wanted to see his little brother grow up. Wanted to see him become a hero in his own right.

“I want to live,” Sonic finally decided. His faded eyes met Shadow’s. “I want to live, Shadow.” Shadow only nodded, a ghost of a smile forming.

Someone tapped his shoulder. Sonic turned around, meeting Thorn Rose’s eyes. “Your friend was right. Talking to each other helps.”

Sonic chuckled. “Yeah.”

Thorn Rose took Sonic’s hand and spread it flat. Then she placed five white seeds in his palm. “The berry patches are growing back despite the portals and the collapsing universe,” she smiled. “Nature can heal. So can relationships. And so can you.” She folded Sonic’s fingers over the seeds. “Plant these in your universe. So you will always remember you’ll grow back.”

Sonic nodded. “Thank you, Thorn.” He then nodded at the variants. “Thanks for coming for me. For not giving up on me.” He then turned to Shadow, holding out a hand. “Thank you, Shadow. For not giving up on me.”

Shadow responded by clasping their hands together just the way they did after the Biolizard was nearly defeated. “Last I checked, Maria asked me to take care of you, too.”

“And we’ve got yer back, no matter the squalls!” Sails Tails declared.

“And we’ve got this!”

‘Shit,’ Sonic thought, spinning around.

The Chaos Council had snuck around behind the Paradox Prism and were staring at it with their greedy little eyes.

Chapter Text

He should’ve known that this was coming. Curse his stupid, second-chance giving mind.

Sonic shook his head, glaring at the Chaos Council as they smirked triumphantly. The variants stepped up behind Sonic, gritting their teeth.

“Dr. Don’t!” Mr. Doctor Eggman bellowed. “Triangulate the coordinates for New Yoke City, or whatever’s left of it. We’ll take the Paradox Prism back with us!”

Shadow stepped forward, growling. A katana blade cut him off. “Stand down, edgelord,” Dr. Deep growled. “The prism belongs to us.”

Sonic took a step forward and buckled, pain flaring up through him. Thorn Rose knelt beside him, a hand on his back and chest.

“Oh, I wouldn’t try anything, Little Boy Blue,” Mr. Doctor Eggman continued. “You’re dying, after all. A shame it’s a waste of valuable resources, but still. Who knows? Maybe we can rebuild you in New Yoke.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Nine fired two blast shots, the pink lasers landing right next to Dr. Deep and Mr. Doctor Eggman. The pair yelped, backing away from the prism. The other variants sprang into action, kicking and punching at the Chaos Council, determined not to lose it again.

Just like it was back home……right before Sonic ruined everything. But maybe this time, his impulsive action could fix this. With his friends distracting the Chaos Council, there was a chance.

Sonic pushed himself upright, staring at the prism and the cave around them. “Thorn,” he wheezed. “Hit me up to that one ledge.”

“What?” Thorn Rose echoed.

“I know how to stop this,” Sonic continued. “But I need you to trust me.” Thorn Rose gave him a strange look, but then she nodded. Sonic curled up, letting Thorn Rose slam him up to the ledge. Then, Sonic boosted forward, legs blurring into a figure eight.

“Stay away from my prism!” Mr. Doctor Eggman shrilled, swatting away Rusty Rose.

“Your prism?!” Dr. Done-It echoed. “Bah! It’s mine!” Dr. Babble, well, babbled something incoherent as he grabbed Shadow and slammed him to the ground repeatedly.

“Step away from the rock, Eggheads,” Sonic snarled, forcing his body to move faster and faster. He couldn’t feel his body anymore. The pain and tension felt like a bowstring, drawing back tighter and tighter. He finally jumped up and curled into a ball, dashing towards the prism.

“Sonic! Wait!” Sails yelled.

But Sonic kept on spinning, faster and faster.

“Sonic! No!” Everyone shouted.

“Chaos Control!” Shadow hollered.

That was the last thing Sonic heard right before he slammed into the prism, feeling the rock splinter against his body.

Shadow put a hand to his head as he got up. “What the hell happened?”

Purple crystals melded with modern technology glowed and hummed in time with the readings. The other variants were scattered across the gray floor, sporting various bruises and bumps.

“Where are we?” Prim Rouge echoed.

Nine sat up, his blue eyes brightening. “The Grim!” He exclaimed. His tails clicking across the tile, he hopped up to the platform where the Paradox Prism was sitting. “One, two, three, four, five! Five shards!”

Sure enough, the Paradox Prism sat right there, dulled and cracked. The crystals of the Void floated out past the shield, an indication of the collapsed world outside.

The other variants got up, save for the Chaos Council, who still laid unconscious. Them and….

“Sonic?” Nine echoed, his voice full of worry. Shadow bared his teeth, unsure of whether or not he wanted the fox to feel some level of empathy.

“Here.” Sonic stepped out from behind the Paradox Prism, his quills a bright cobalt blue and eyes still glowing bright. His gloves and shoes sported their purple gray Grim design. He still looked exhausted, but compared to the collapsing, pale figure he was a few minutes prior, this was a welcome improvement.

Sails and Mangey ran for him, hugging the hedgehog as tight as they could. Mangey was whimpering and nuzzling Sonic the whole time. Sails was nothing like that, but he was still clearly bothered by it.

Sonic finally parted them and approached Shadow, emerald eyes still remorseful. “You still want to punch me in the face? I know I deserve it.”

Shadow shook his head. “I think what you’ve been through is enough.”  He caught Sonic by the arm, pulling the blue hedgehog closer. “Just…..promise me you won’t die again anytime soon. And….take care of your mental health. I know some professionals at home. I can get you set up, no questions asked.”

“You’d do that?” Sonic blinked.

“Anything for a friend,” Shadow allowed himself to smile, squeezing Sonic’s arm with a small hint of affection.

Sonic beamed at this. “Done.”

With this, Sonic turned to Nine, the fox nervously twiddling his thumbs. The blue hedgehog’s smile was soft and forgiving, as was his voice. “Nine….I’m sorry.”

“No.” The fox shook his head. “I’m sorry. I pushed things too far. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This shattering, the world destruction……doesn’t make me too different from those Eggheads, huh?”

“Or me,” Sonic added with a sigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. To any of you. And I’m sorry I nearly ended you all.” His grin disappeared. “I’m no different from those Eggheads either, huh?”

Nine shrugged. “Maybe.” He shifted his feet. “And I’m sorry for being so stubborn and angry. Like I said, I didn’t have to fall when you pushed me. I didn’t have to destroy the universe like the Chaos Council.”

“Like I said, Nine,” Sonic continued, kneeling before the fox. “You’re still my friend, no matter what side of the battlefield we’re on.”

Nine firmly wrapped his arms around Sonic, nuzzling into the blue hedgehog’s shoulder briefly. Sonic hugged him back, just as tight. “I can forgive you, Nine,” Sonic added. “If you can forgive me for not only projecting onto you, but not listening to you and nearly destroying your universe.”

“I can,” Nine sniffled. “And I will.” Shadow smiled, watching the sweet scene. Sonic always had a forgiving heart (much to his own detriment), but Shadow wouldn’t say that he hated it.

“I hate to bust this happy moment,” Renegade Knucks spoke up. “But what are we gonna do about all the floating rocks out there?”

Everyone glanced out past the shield dome, hearts sinking as they saw the Void and the hundreds upon thousands of shards that made up the different gateways and worlds.

“I’m sorry, Sonic,” Nine sniffed. “Because of all the energy outputs, our world’s going to end. And only a great sacrifice can fix everything.”

A sense of hopelessness swept over the variants. Batten Rouge and Sails curled close, Batten’s hand on the pirate fox’s shoulder. Mangey whimpered, curling into Gnarly’s hand. Rebel Rouge and Renegade Knux both stood there solemnly.

“IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR, SISTERS,” Rusty Rose spoke up, taking Thorn and Black Rose’s hands tightly before pulling them both into a hug.

Shadow crossed his arms. So the universe was going to end. Lovely. If he had known, he might asked–

No. Shadow dismissed the thought. He would not allow the thought of a world where Sonic was dead to be the one he wanted.

Thump!

Everyone spun around in time to see Sonic standing on top of another cylindrical platform hooked up to Nine’s computers. His face was determined, as if he’d made another choice.

“Sonic?” Nine blinked as everyone gathered around. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you a sacrifice,” Sonic answered plainly.

“Over my dead body,” Shadow and Renegade Knucks both stated (and in doing so, earned the echidna a lot of respect from Shadow). They both traded surprised expressions before fiercely whipping back around to stare down Sonic, emerald eyes full of determination.

“Blue, we just got you back,” Renegade Knucks continued. “We can’t let you do this.”

“And you promised me you weren’t going to die soon,” Shadow snapped back. “I won’t let you do this, Sonic. Not again.”

“Shads, I have to,” Sonic continued. “It might be the only way we get our home back. And the way we take care of them. All of them.”

“Sonic’s right. At least about the restoring home part.” Nine dashed to the computer. “If I extract the prism energy inside Sonic, I can rebuild the gateways.”

“What about Shadow?” Rebel Rouge inquired. And Shadow sided with her briefly. He had his fair share of interdimensional hopping. And with the rewrite….

“Shadow wasn’t part of the shattering,” Sonic replied. “He blipped into this reality. But I shattered the Paradox Prism, not to mention rewrote everything.” He traded a look with Shadow, one that said “It’s this or nothing.”

And Shadow, reluctantly, knew that Sonic was right. Sonic broke it, so he would have to fix it. He gave a crisp nod, casting his weight with the decision. Hopefully, it was the right one.

Sonic glanced at the variants. “If I do this, you have to promise to leave Nine alone. Let him live his life in peace here in the Grim.”

“How can we trust him?” Renegade Knucks bit back.

“Yes. How will we know if he keeps his word?” Rebel Rouge added.

Nine, for his part, admittedly appeared honest, his eyes no longer extremely harsh and callous. “You have my word,” he assured them, his hand on his heart. It reminded Shadow of his own promises, a young girl’s hand squeezed in his own.

“Shadow?”

The black hedgehog faced Sonic again, the blue hedgehog kneeling before him. “Hold these for me?” He placed five white seeds into Shadow’s hand. “I don’t want to lose these.” Shadow nodded. Sonic straightened back up and turned to face Nine. The fox was scrambling to boot up the computers. Nearby, the roses tied up the Chaos Council (with Rusty ripping out all the wires in anything electronic), ensuring that they wouldn’t interfere with what was about to happen.

Nine finished typing in the calculations and met Sonic’s eyes. For the first time, the kit looked….upset? Worried? It was an expression Shadow knew well. “Are you sure, Sonic? If I do this, you might shatter.”

Shatter? Akin to his near death minutes ago?

Shadow knew he wasn’t the only one uncertain of this development, given that everyone sucked in a quick breath. The tension was now rising, higher and higher.

“It’s the only way, Nine,” Sonic assured him with his classic smile. “Do it.” Nine hesitated for a moment, but with a moment of quiet resolution, hit the button.

The platform lit up underneath Sonic, capturing him in a purple glow. The machine buzzed and hummed, growing louder and louder. Judging by the buzzing, it wouldn’t be a quick or neat process.

If anything, it was a painful one.

Shadow’s heart skipped several beats as he watched Sonic try and curl up as soon as the extraction began. The pained grunts followed, a sound Shadow knew Sonic was trying to keep hidden. Waves of gray and white flickered up and down Sonic’s body, the device pulsing and forcing Sonic’s body to straighten violently.

And then Sonic started screaming, the agony of it all coursing through him as his chest heaved for air; his body writhing desperately. His gloves and shoes became a blinding strobe light of adaptations courtesy of Nine’s Shatterdrive technology. Nine’s machine whirred louder and louder, drowning out Sonic’s screaming.

Shadow couldn’t tear his eyes away, no matter how much he wanted to. His greatest wish was to see Sonic endure, after all. To see him make it home.

A bright flash caught Shadow’s eye, forcing his gaze away from Sonic and towards the Paradox Prism. The gemstone shook as each crack was healed, inch by inch, energy by energy; shards fusing one at a time.

His ears flicked at the sound of metal snapping like twigs. The technology…..

Abruptly, the room flashed with a bright white light, blinding everyone in the lab; Shadow included.

As his vision cleared, his ears were met with a sizzling sound. In a flash, he spun around to check in on Sonic.

The blueish hedgehog swayed from his half-kneeling position, as if he were either a marionette or dazed. Then he collapsed face-first onto the platform, smoke billowing around him.

Shadow took a step forward, hand extended for Sonic, ready to see if he needed help, if he was alright. But that was when he saw the slowly paling blue fur and an eerie glow about the blue hedgehog. Shadow’s blood ran cold at the image, his ears flattening against his head as his arm lowered.

No, no, no, please no…..

“Sonic?” Nine asked. “A-Are you—?”

There was no response from the blue hedgehog.

Chapter Text

If Sonic was actually dead this time, Shadow would never forgive himself. Nope. Never. Instead, he’d dive into the underworld, get Sonic’s soul, shove it back into that blue asshole’s body, and then throttle the daylights out of him just for this stunt. Of course, this would be after he hugged Sonic and made sure he was actually back.

“Is he–?” Batten Rouge asked, ears folded inwards.

Nine flew up and laid a hand on Sonic’s head. “He seems to be alive.”

“He didn’t shatter!” Rebel Rouge cheered, relief painted across her features.

Nine zipped back to his computer, running the final results. “His energy has been extracted. The prism is whole.” His monitor showcased the extractor’s results: as expected, Sonic had no energy while the prism was truly whole.

Small comfort for the pain he just put Sonic through.

Nine bit his lip. “His body appears to be stable, but I don’t know how much time he has until….” He couldn’t finish the thought. His face and eyes were full of guilt as he faced Sonic, just as transfixed on Sonic’s sickly frame – a stark difference from the energetic hedgehog they knew.

Shadow swallowed thickly. Once again, Sonic was dying thanks to an energy siphon. And they probably didn’t have as much time to go around as they did when Sonic was about to rewrite the universe.

Renegade Knucks hopped up onto the platform, hands sliding under Sonic’s shoulders and knees. “He’s as cold as ice.” His amethyst eyes were full of fear.

Sonic let out a low groan at the contact, his voice sounding pained and as if he were possessed by a radio demon. “Easy Blue,” Renegade Knucks murmured, shifting Sonic so that the latter’s head lay against the former’s heart. “I’ve got you.”

“And how did we get into this?!” Mr. Doctor Eggman bellowed, thrashing against the restraints.

Alarm coursed through everyone, leaping into battle. Renegade Knucks quickly pulled Sonic close, shielding him from the attack. Nine bristled, anger coursing through him. Shadow stepped forward with a snarl.

The Chaos Council had finally woken up. All of them tugged at their restraints, cursing the lack of power in their devices.

“They cut off our power!” Dr. Don’t huffed. “I can’t do anything!”

“Well, we do have our full selves intact,” Mr. Doctor Eggman boomed. “Unlike their friend there.”

Shadow’s gaze snapped to Sonic, the blue hedgehog limply lifting his head. A tired smirk bloomed over his face. “He’s right. I’m gassed,” he panted. “But if neither Nine or I couldn’t handle the power, you clowns have no hope.”

At this, the Chaos Council revolted. “I most certainly can handle that power!” Dr. Deep bellowed. “And I’ll wield it to build a world where you’re more…agreeable! Especially since your time is over.” His katana sliced the ropes free and he staggered upright.

“Wait, you wield it?” Dr. Don’t huffed. “Pfhh. Wait until you see the VR world I’ve been planning. I’ll call it “The Egg-a-Verse”.”

“In your dreams, you no-good whippersnapper!” Dr. Done-It barked.

“What’s a “whippersnapper”?” Dr. Don’t inquired, slouching in his chair. Dr. Babble angrily mumbled, flailing his arms. He must’ve switched from automatic to manual power; something he probably wasn’t used to given that the speed of the arms wasn’t as smooth.

“Oh, cram it with walnuts, you big baby, or I’ll give you a permanent time-out!” Dr. Done-It snapped, his cane pointed in Babble’s direction.

“Enough, you fools!” Mr. Doctor Eggman bellowed. He punched the head off his machine and glared at them all. “We stand at the precipice of a new world, and you would ruin my moment?!”

“Your moment?!” Dr. Deep shot back. “Why, you unsanctimonious—” Dr. Babble slammed his right mechanical fist down, knocking all five of them off balance before they glared at each other.

Shadow lifted a brow at the conversation. Interesting…..the previously united Chaos Council was dividing under their own egos. Heh.

Dr. Done-It threw the first punch, swinging his cane into Dr. Babble’s mech. Dr. Deep slashed at the two remaining Eggforcers controlled by Dr. Don’t. The former then kicked a spinning Dr. Done-It straight into Dr. Don’t before dodging an Eggforcer with a flip. Dr. Babble then grabbed the remaining Eggforcer and threw it into the wall, shrapnel flying towards Shadow and the variants. Yelping, Renegade Knucks turned, using his body to shield Sonic.

Shadow growled and took a step forward when Rebel’s hand caught him by the shoulder. “Hold on, Shadow. Let’s see how this plays out.” Shadow agreed. Even if she wasn’t his Rouge, he knew her tactical thinking when he saw it.

“Stop! Stop, you morons!” Mr. Doctor Eggman pleaded, dodging shurikens. But none of them listened. Dr. Done-It bashed Dr. Don’t over the head with his cane. Dr. Deep charged Dr. Babble, but was thrown to the ground.

“Arghh. Should we do something?” Dread asked, confusion written all over his face.

“Not yet.” Renegade Knucks shook his head with a jovial expression that reeked of satisfaction (a sensation that Shadow knew well). “This is like candy to me.”

Shadow turned to Renegade Knucks. “Enjoy it,” he replied. “I’ve taken my fair share of candy from babies.”

Batten Rouge’s eyes got round in the same way Rouge’s did at the sight of a gem. “Ye took candy from babes?”

“I’ll put it like this: don’t ever take my sweets. It won’t end well,” Shadow remarked. “Besides, that kid would’ve choked on it. It was irresponsible of the parent to not say no sooner.”

Something caught Shadow’s eye. Nine scrambled for the computers, fingers flying across the keys. The Paradox Prism hummed again, this time jutting out a rainbow energy beam that opened a purple portal to the Void behind the Chaos Council. Dr. Deep launched up, katanas ready to strike. Dr. Babble full-on smacked Dr. Deep with his blaster, sending him flying clear into Dr. Done-It. The pair tumbled into the Void with a scream.

“Babbles, no! Bad baby! Bad!” Mr. Doctor Eggman exclaimed in anger and in shock, pointing at the baby in anger.

Dr. Babbles garbled something angrily. And although Shadow didn’t understand what the baby uttered, Mr. Doctor Eggman did, gasping in faux shock and then slipping into rage as easily as slipping on a sock. “That is IT ! You’re getting a time-out!” His mech shifted into a blaster (of course the guy would have a backup power for the backup power). Toxic red lasers began raining around the lab. Denizen 1998 ducked as they impacted, leaving plumes of smoke. The perfect level of escalation.

“How about now?” Shadow asked, turning to Rebel.

“Knock yourself out,” Rebel agreed.

With a war cry, Shadow launched himself into the air, scoring a perfect homing attack on Dr. Babble and sending the baby wailing and tumbling into the Void. He landed, glaring at Dr. Don’t and Mr. Doctor Eggman, the surviving Chaos Council members. Rebel Rouge and Rusty Rose soldiered forward behind Shadow, slowly approaching them.

Dr. Don’t, clearly having understood his odds, blipped into the Void without a fight. “Okay, that’s it. I’m out.” Once in the Void, he pulled out his device and resumed his game. This, of course, left a very apprehensive Mr. Doctor Eggman.

Renegade Knucks handed Sonic over to Catifsh before joining Rebel Rouge and Rusty Rose. “Now we do something.” Nine joined in their heroic saunter.

“No! This belongs to me!” Mr. Doctor Eggman growled. “I’ll defeat all of you! I’ll–”

Renegade Knucks charged first, punching the mech. Rusty Rose, gripping her hammer tightly, slammed an uppercut into his head. As soon as the doctor crashed down, Nine kicked him in the chest. Hot on his mechanical tails was Rebel Rouge, whose kick sent Mr. Doctor Eggman flying into the Void with a yelp. Unlike the others, who floated as though they were in space, the mech stayed upright, more or less.

“You haven’t heard the last of us!” Mr. Doctor Eggman boomed, fist curled angrily. “You just wait! We’ll amass a much greater army and destroy–”

The portal closed with a sharp zing !, cutting off the threat.

“Good riddance,” Nine huffed with a slight smile. Shadow couldn’t agree more.

“Mmm?” The grunt was weak, but everyone in the room recognized the sound.

“Sonic?” Nine asked. Shadow felt his heart leap as he caught sight of Sonic’s half-lidded eyes.

“You….You were right, bud,”  Sonic mumbled, looking so small in Catfish's hold. “Guess without that prism energy….I can’t exist…in the Shatterspaces.” He grunted in pain, twitching and glitching.

Nine’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “With the prism whole again, if I start the reformation process, I should theoretically be able to bring back Green Hill!”

“Green….Hill?” Sonic repeated feebly. Even Shadow raised an eyeridge at this. Even after all this violence and trouble, Nine was willing to bring back their world?

Catfish patted his head. “You rest.” A statement Shadow disagreed with. If Sonic closed his eyes, things could get a lot worse.

Nine finished punching in the keys. “Here goes.”

The machine hummed again, droning to life. The Paradox Prism responded to the energy surge, growing brighter and brighter. Shadow’s ears flicked, hearing Sonic spasm behind him. Was he reacting too?

The prism suddenly disappeared in a bluish-white flash, causing everyone to flinch away. When the brightness faded, the prism chamber was empty, crackling with yellow bolts of electricity illuminating the smoke of the darkened area.

“The prism,” Batten Rouge exclaimed fearfully. “It be–”

“GONE,” Rusty Rose reported. She turned to them all in shock. “AND NOTHING HAS CHANGED. OUR ATTEMPT HAS FAILED.”

Everyone’s heads dipped in disappointment, but then Nine let out a sharp cry. “Look!” He pointed outside, somewhere out in the crystal void.

Everyone hurried outside, Catfish lifting Sonic up so he could see the beautiful sight.

High above them, the gateways glowed. First No Place, then New Yoke, then the Boscage Maze, and then high above them all was a white gateway. All four of them glowed simultaneously. Then, as if by some sort of magic, each fragmented piece of the gateway drifted back together, forming their natural shape. Gold-sparkle-like energy flitted across each healing piece. One by one, the pieces interlocked; and when they did, their entryways glowed brighter than ever. Shadow couldn’t take his eyes off of the sight. It was something so beautiful that it took his breath away.

“The gateways,” Sonic whispered. “They’re reforming.”

Indeed they were, and as each gateway was healed, a respective resident named it.

“No Place,” Black Rose beamed.

“The Boscage Maze!” Prim Rouge rejoiced.

And above their excitement, their curiosity grew as the white gateway pieces reconnected together, shining brightly.

Birdie squawked something. Next to her, Thorn Rose shook her head, unable to look away. “I don’t know what that is, Birdie.”

Shadow furrowed his brow. It couldn’t be, could it?

“It’s….Green….Hill…..” Sonic murmured softly. “You did it, Nine….”

“I did it, Sonic. I did,” Nine smiled. But then his brow pinched. “But that gateway won’t last forever. If you leave right now, you can make it.”

“Even if I wanted to, I can’t.” Sonic collapsed, falling back onto Catfish. The cat cradled him tight, patting his head again. “Between the rewrite and this, I’m outta juice. I’m not going to be able to outrun this one – I’m sure of that.”

“You’re not doing it alone, Blue,” Renegade Knux stated, left fist curled tightly while his other hand rested against Sonic’s chest. “Not when you’ve got friends here to help.” Sonic smiled briefly, eyes dipping shut again.

“He’s right. C'mon,” Rebel Rouge ordered. “Let's get him home.”

“How? It’s so far,” Denizen 1998 asked. Froggy croaked dejectedly.

“Birdie and I will take Sonic,” Thorn Rose decided. “We’re the fastest. My sisters, take Shadow on the one ship we have left.”

“Aye, sister,” Black Rose agreed. “And the rest of ye hurry back to yer worlds.”

“Captain, if I may,” Dread spoke up. “Might we all join ye?” He glanced at Sonic’s nearly lifeless form as Catfish held him tight. “Methinks we ought to prove to the lad we be his allies after all. He risked so much to give back our homes; and I would be damned if I didn’t help him get back to his world.”

“THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE YOLKOMOTIVE IS UNCERTAIN,” Rusty Rose spoke up. “I’M NOT SURE IF SHE WILL HOLD ALL OF US.”

“I can help with repairs,” Nine spoke up. “I owe Sonic that much.”

Shadow nearly grunted at that, but then his heart stopped again, watching Dread take Sonic from Catfish, the fading hedgehog cradled in Dread’s arms. Upon seeing Shadow’s expression, Dread shot him a soft smile. “Easy there, lad. I’ve got him.” He then turned to Sonic, graying eyes meeting purple ones. “I got you.”

“LET ME GIVE YOU A HAND,” Rusty Rose spoke up, taking Sonic from Dread and placing him on Thorn Rose’s lap. The scavenger tucked him close, punctuated with Rusty’s hands nudging Sonic to rest in Thorn Rose’s arms.

“Take….care…..other….” Sonic faintly mumbled. “Okay?” Damn, at the rate he was fading, Birdie might not get him there.

“Hold tight, friend,” Thorn Rose ordered. “Let’s go, Birdie! Fly!” Birdie took off, sailing through the violet, crystal-studded sky.

“To the ship!” Black Rose ordered, gesturing to the lone Yolkomotive that survived. Everyone obeyed; with Shadow taking a spot at the bow while the pirates, the rebels, and Nine scampered about the damaged ship, trying to keep it moving. The scavengers sat in the middle, watching warily (save for Mangey, who ran off to join Sails). It took off, the starboard engine sputtering to life. Nine raced over to the portside, mechanical tails primed in a last ditch effort to get the other engine going.

“Those rocks are going to kill us,” Gnarly muttered. Shadow rolled his eyes at the remark. He kept his eyes on the white gateway; it slowly morphing into a minty-green color.

Suddenly, a sharp squawk split the air. Shadow’s eyes snapped up just in time to see Sonic, high above them, slip off of Thorn’s lap, plummeting down. The scavenger screamed in horror and defeat. “No! Sonic!” She and Birdie wobbled in the air, descending at about the same time.

Shadow rushed in for the catch, but Gnarly, surprisingly enough, beat him to the punch. “Got him!” Thorn Rose and Birdie crashed down beside Shadow, the giant flicky sighing in pain.

“What happened?!” Prim Rouge inquired, rushing to help Thorn.

“A rock struck Birdie’s wing!” Thorn Rose stated, patting Birdie’s beak. “She’s too injured to fly.”

“Then hold onto your backsides!” Black Rose bellowed. “We’re going to pick up the pace!” She shoved the throttle levers forward, kicking the engines up and causing everyone to stumble. Sonic was knocked to the deck, Thorn crouching beside him as the fading hedgehog groaned in agony.

“Hurry!” Thorn Rose begged, one hand holding Sonic’s while the other one rested on his head. “He’s not going to make it!”

Shadow’s heart stopped beating. No, no, no......

Maria's bleeding image on the floor of Space Colony ARK manifested itself into Shadow's mind. He swallowed, trying to push the eerily similar image from his mind. Sonic would live. He had to. Shadow refused to let him die. He curled his fists tighter. 'Hold on, Sonic. Hold on.'

“I’m doing me best!” Black Rose bellowed, snapping Shadow out of his mental spiral. She smacked the console impatiently. “But this bucket of bolts is barely holding together!” The ship rattled, every rock impacting it with the force of a blaster.

“Ah, great. What else could go wrong?” Renegade Knucks huffed, face knit into a scowl as he punched away an oncoming rock.

“There they are!” A cranky voice bellowed. “Don’t let those varmints get away!”

Chapter Text

“Damn!” Renegade Knucks cursed. “We’ve been detected!”

The Chaos Council had managed to pull whatever emergency power they still had and were now trying to storm the deck. The ship rattled, rocks crashing. The variants scrambled to defend the ship and keep their balance.

“KEEP IT STEADY!” Rusty Rose ordered. “I WILL CLEAR A PATH!” Arms stretching, she lunged for the sole operable cannon and began blasting like mad, trying to shake off the Chaos Council and the crystals.

“Battle stations!” Rebel Rouge screamed.

“Grab your swords and deal out some pirate justice!” Black Rose ordered.

“That blue beaver knows where the Prism is!” Dr. Done-It shrilled. “If we can’t have that power, then neither can he!”

“Protect Sonic!” Prim Rouge yelped, her spear lashing out amidst the lasers. Shadow grit his teeth and threw a Chaos Spear at Dr. Deep, nailing his mech dead center. He had worked too hard to throw all of this away. He would not lose Sonic. Not again.

Sonic writhed in a fit of agony, jerking Shadow’s attention away. Beside him, though occasionally striking a member of the Chaos Council with her hammer, Thorn Rose knelt beside him, comforting her friend. “No.” Her face was drawn and pale. Nine, Mangey, and Sails all joined her, forming a defensive wall around Sonic.

Shadow’s brow furrowed. There was no chance in hell Sonic was going to make it.

The ship lurched abruptly, the starboard levitating engine ripping away.

“ARGH!” Black Rose grunted. “I’m losing speed!” Shadow kicked and threw away a few crystals in an attempt to help, but the engine sputtered and died with a hiss.

“Shadow.”

Shadow turned towards Nine, the fox’s eyes fierce. “Get Sonic and run. Go.” Sails and Mangey nodded, stepping aside to reveal Sonic’s limp, graying form.

“Black Rose!” Shadow called just barely above the cacophony so the Chaos Council wouldn’t get ideas. “You’ve brought us far enough! I’ll take it from here.” Black Rose nodded. Thorn Rose and the Tails all helped Sonic up. Shadow immediately pulled Sonic’s arm over his shoulder and quietly slipped off the side of the ship. The foxes and roses were the last ones to see the pair.

Shadow leaped from crystal to crystal, ping-ponging off of each one. He landed on a large flat one, grunting on impact. Sonic did too, buckling to his knees. With no hesitation, Shadow swept Sonic into his arms in a bridal carry before booking it, trails of orange blazing behind him.

“To be ... .in your arms,” Sonic whispered, a hairline grin across his pale snout. “I never knew you were a hugger.” He twitched again and with it, Shadow’s heart fluttered. Damn his gay head.

“Do you want me to save you or not?” Shadow remarked, keeping a deadpan expression. Sonic only smirked again before he twitched again, this time completely losing consciousness; his one hand falling off of his semi-translucent chest.

‘Damn! Not here!’ Shadow gasped and boosted forward, speeding towards the end of the rock before launching off of it. They sailed for all of thirty feet before landing on the next crystal.

“Stop him!” Mr. Doctor Eggman boomed.

“Go for it, Shadow!” The black hedgehog heard one of the Tails yell. Nine, maybe?

With a growl of determination, Shadow poured most of his energy into his legs and rocketed off the crystal, shattering the sound barrier three times in his wake (and if he hadn’t been so desperate to save Sonic, he would’ve admired the fact that this was the first time he did this without a Chaos Emerald).

“Hang on, Sonic!” He hollered, blasting towards the gateway. He gripped Sonic tightly, unwilling to let his rival/friend vanish just like that.

A bit further…..a little bit….

They hit the gateway. Everything went white.

There really was nothing that could stop Eggman. At least not like the power of friendship.

Sonic could hardly believe he was surrounded by his actual friends. Weeks with their variants had left an impression. It took him all his mental strength to not refer to them by their variant names. It was just Rouge, Knuckles, Amy, and Tails now. And while he would miss their counterparts, he felt much better being surrounded by his friends.

He watched Eggman beat a hasty retreat, his friends cheering and clapping in a victory celebration. And true, Sonic wanted to celebrate with them. After all, these were his bonafide friends, not some versions with the faintest resemblance to his friends. These were the real deal.

But suddenly, he felt exhausted. The entire adventure he only got...what, a night of sleep? His perception of time was all messed up from the Shatterspaces. Then the rewrite and the extraction…..Chaos, he felt tired and bruised (Chaos knew how many bruises and concussions he gave himself in addition to nearly sucking out his lifeforce). He really could go for a nap. He stumbled for a moment, nearly missing Tails’ high-five. And before he knew it, he pitched forward.

The last thing Sonic remembered was his friends’ shrill of alarm and Tails reaching out for him as the rocky podium reached up for him.

After securing the Paradox Prism, Shadow teleported back to the temple mountain, easily finding Rouge as she darted out of the cave. “Rouge!”

“Shadow!” Rouge exclaimed. “Thanks for the save, though you will have to tell me where–”

Shadow cut her off by putting a hand on her shoulder. “Is it really you?”

Rouge gave him a look. “Hun, what do you mean? Did you lose your memories again?”

Shadow grit his teeth. “How’d we meet?” If this was Rouge, she’d know right off the bat.

“Eggman and Space Colony ARK,” Rouge answered slowly.

“What color emerald is my favorite?” Shadow asked.

“The purple one, since it reminds you of lavender,” Rouge answered. “Though you favor the green one as well since it was your first emerald.”

“My favorite random memory?”

“The first time in a Hot Topic bathroom,” Rouge responded.

“Last question: how do I take my coffee in the morning?”

“Cereal bowl of Sumatra beans with a spoon.” Rouge narrowed her eyes. “Shadow, what’s the point–”

He cut her off with a tight hug. “It really is you!” Chaos, he missed his teammate. Even if she was spending more time with Sonic nowadays, she was always Shadow’s closest friend since he was awakened.

Rouge returned the hug, though she gave him a curious look when they parted. “Shadow, what’s gotten into you?”

Shadow shook his head. “It’s a long story and it’d be better told coming from Sonic.” At least everything up until the rewrite.

“Then it’s going to be a bit. Big Blue passed out after the battle,” Rouge explained.

“What?!” Shadow sped to the entrance of the cave and felt his heart stop again.

Sonic lay face down and unconscious on the rock platform where the Paradox Prism used to sit. Knuckles and Amy were leaning over the edge of the rock while Tails hovered nearby, hand reaching out for Sonic.

In Shadow’s mind, he saw another yellow fox reach out for Sonic, one with metal tails, and before he could think, he decked Tails, the crunch of cartilage echoing throughout the cave as the fox crashed to the cave floor.

“Shadow!” Knuckles exclaimed.

“Fuck, Shadow,” Tails snorted (a word he didn’t expect to come out of the kit’s mouth), a stream of red gushing from his nose.

“Shadow, what’s–” Rouge started. But Shadow gathered Sonic into his arms and booked it, a blur of orange behind him as he raced out of the mountain and through the green and checkered landscape.

He staggered to a stop right next to the palm tree on the beach, the one Amy got him. Chest heaving, Shadow dropped to his knees, keeping Sonic still. “Dammit, Sonic. Wake up. Wake up.” He shook Sonic, but to no avail. Shadow’s frown pursed itself nervously. “Sonic. Sonic, wake up. We’re home, see?” He propped Sonic up, allowing a relatively unobstructed view of the beach. “Please wake up,” he pleaded. Laying Sonic back down, Shadow placed his ear against Sonic’s chest, his other hand finding a peach wrist.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

Shadow exhaled slowly, relief spreading through him. “You’re alive.” He brushed a hand through Sonic’s quills. Despite himself, tears dripped down his cheeks. “Thank Chaos you’re alive.” He laid down next to Sonic and pulled him close. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” He then curled up tight around Sonic (careful to mind if he had any injuries) before he too, fell asleep, equally exhausted by the adventure.

The first thing Sonic felt when he woke up was softness. Every effort to move felt heavy, as though his body was made of lead. He was also incredibly cozy, bundled up as tightly as a newborn hoglet. Someone was patting his head, something he sorely missed from Catfish.

His memories felt hazy. He remembered the extraction….the gateways sparkling as they rebuilt….Shadow carrying him….collapsing in front of….Tails?

He coughed sharply, body jerking upright against the constraining fabric. Chaos, what happened, what happened, what–

A pair of strong arms enfolded him tightly, the slight curve of metal pressing against Sonic’s back. He could faintly smell lavender. His vision was met with red and black, the quills tipping like wings.

Shadow’s relieved chuckle split the air. “I found you, faker.”

“What….happened?” Sonic inquired. He coughed again, trying to cover it up with his elbow. Only then did he realize he was wrapped quilt to foot tightly in blankets.

“We’re home. It’s been fixed,” Shadow answered, “Our friends are fine.” His eyes drifted to somewhere down the shoreline. Following his gaze, Sonic’s eyes widened, catching sight of Knuckles, Tails, Amy, and Rouge playing volleyball. Big and Froggy sat on the pier, happily fishing.

Shadow coaxed Sonic to lay back down, putting the blue hedgehog’s head in his lap (and putting a handful of emotions into Sonic’s head). “You should take it easy for a while. Your Chaos Energy is really low. Dangerously low.”

“How long have I been out?” Sonic inquired.

Shadow got quiet. “Nearly a week. Our friends were so worried.” The subtext was clear — “I was worried about you.” .

Sonic felt his face heat up. “And ... .were you just sitting here with me this whole time?” Shadow looked away for a moment, but his fingers dug into the blankets. He seemed so…. frightened. As though he was still seeing a ghost....

Finally, he spoke. “Every time I closed my eyes, I thought you would disappear. I was afraid that if I shut them, you'd fade from reality. Being with you meant some good sleep, even if it might give Rouge some blackmail.”

“I'll bet,” Sonic chuckled. "The blackmail, of course. Not the disappearing."

They fell silent for a moment before Shadow spoke again. “Can you promise me something, Sonic?”

“Of course,” Sonic chirped.

“Promise me you'll endure,” Shadow continued. One arm slipped under Sonic while the other one went over. “You are something special. An Ultimate Lifeform in your own right. A light of hope. It's a spark I never want to see go out.” Shadow paused. “And after watching the rewrite….you literally dying in my arms…. it's something I never want to see happen again. So please, promise me you'll endure. Promise me you'll keep on fighting for this world.” Gloved fingers squeezed Sonic's shoulders. “And promise me that you'll reach out when you need help. It's okay.” Shadow smiled. “Do it for me. And for our friends.”

Sonic smiled faintly. “I promise. Now, can you help me out with these blankets?” He wriggled, trying to get his arms and legs free. “I can’t move and I really don’t like being tied up like this.”

“Take it up with Rose and Miles. They wrapped you up,” Shadow answered. He leaned in close. “That is…..unless you want Rose and Miles to practically smother you.”

“No!!!!!” Sonic squealed playfully. “Anything but that!”

True to his word, Shadow helped Sonic get into therapy. His friends were very supportive, of course. Even Eggman backed off a bit once word got out that Sonic was going to therapy. Although clashes with Eggman were still common, Sonic rallied his whole team and employed teamwork over soloing in each battle, just like he did with Gemerl. Every now and then, Shadow joined the fight.

Nightmares became common for both Sonic and Shadow in the immediate aftermath. Sonic’s mainly consisted of either Shadow falling into the Void or Nine’s violent slaughtering of his friends. Shadow’s were much simpler – him being too slow to save Sonic. Both hedgehogs were just as frightened of losing the other, so midnight visits to the other became more common.

Eventually, both of them rallied their friends and told them everything. About the Shatterverse, the Void, the Grim, the rewrite…..everything. As expected, their friends were horrified. And upon hearing about the rewrite, everyone bawled when they realized what Sonic had nearly done.

“Why didn’t you tell us about your mental health sooner?” Amy asked.

Sonic shook his head. “I’m not supposed to fail. And my mental health went against that.”

“We’re friends, Sonic,” Tails stated firmly. “We care about you. Your needs are just as important as ours.” The fox kit stood proudly before the blue hedgehog. “And just because I’m your little brother doesn’t mean I can’t care about you either.”

“He’s right,” Amy chimed in. “Friends talk to each other about anything that troubles them, no matter how insignificant it might seem.” Her jade eyes gleamed. “And Sonic? Admitting you have a problem isn’t a weakness. Admitting that you’re struggling isn’t a fault. There’s nothing wrong with saying that you can’t figure this out on your own. Don’t sacrifice your own needs because you feel that it would benefit everyone else around you. It’s not just you on the team nor is it just us. It’s you and us, and that’s what makes us unstoppable.” Her hand clasped Sonic’s. “It’s okay to not be okay. We’re here for you. Always.”

Sonic’s eyes were full of tears. “Thanks guys. I….I really needed that.” He pulled everyone into a group hug. It was hardly the first group hug he’d taken part in, but much like the one the Variants gave him in that dark cave, it was one that felt like the light at the end of a tunnel. The road wasn't over yet, but this was a good start.

About two months after the Shatterverse, Sonic spotted Shadow brooding up near Hedgehog’s Pass. Good – he was just the guy Sonic was looking for. “Hey, Shads!” Sonic called. “You got a minute?”

“What is it?” Shadow asked.

“C’mon! I got something to show you!” Sonic repeated. He sped off, knowing Shadow was right behind him.

They soon came back to the temple mountain. Right back to where everything had started. The massive crack in the mountain was still there; a stark reminder that some scars couldn’t heal. But the other one, the one that rested in the field just in front of the mountain (the one that didn’t exist in Ghost Hill)......that one had changed.

A few weeks ago, there was a crater from where Eggman’s mech had been. The same crater where the Shatterverse incident began. Now, it was full of berry bushes; many of them ripe with fruit. Sonic had taken good care of Thorn Rose’s seeds; planting them as a reminder that he too, could grow back.

“They turned out beautifully,” Shadow praised.

“Thank you. My therapist agreed that it was a good way to help with my mental health,” Sonic explained.

“I can appreciate that.” Shadow nodded.

Sonic picked a couple of berries, handing one to Shadow. “They’re ripe. They taste like strawberries.” The pair stood beside the berry patch for a moment, enjoying their snacks. Flickies twittered somewhere in the distance.

“I never thanked you by the way,” Sonic continued quietly. Shadow tilted his head in confusion before Sonic continued. “Not just for saving my life, but….for reminding me to live it. Sure, every world will end, but it’s that fragility that encourages us to live life to the fullest.” He smiled, plucking another ripe berry. “At least, that’s what I figured.”

Shadow hummed quietly, staring at the bushes.

“There’s something else I realized, too,” Sonic continued. “I didn’t need to rewrite all of reality to find a perfect world for me and my friends.” With that, he booked it up the mountain. Shadow followed, chasing that blue blur just like he’d done so many times before. When they reached the peak, Sonic stopped and turned around. Shadow followed, surveying all of Green Hill; from the Loop-De-Loop to Hedgehog’s Pass to Tails’ lab.

“This is it,” Sonic smiled. “This is my perfect world. My home, one with my friends.” His ears flattened. “And I’m still sorry that I forgot all of that.”

“Hey,” Shadow interrupted. “It’s been fixed. It’s over. I know you would’ve done the same for me.”

“Course,” Sonic answered. “Cause we’re…..” he trailed off, still unsure of how to define his relationship with Shadow. The adventure had twisted their dynamic so far that Sonic wasn’t sure if he could still technically call them rivals.

“Friends,” Shadow butted in. “We’re friends.” There was a gleam in Shadow’s eyes. “You don’t call my highlights gay and not be a rival.”

“I said a lot of that to tease you, you know!” Sonic exclaimed. Then he smirked. “Unless you like it on a different level–”

“Just friends,” Shadow snorted indignantly. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Yeah, yeah, tsunderesayswhat,” Sonic snickered.

“What?” Shadow inquired, ear cocked in Sonic's direction.

“Heh. Gotem,” Sonic chuckled.

"Shut the fuck up," Shadow snorted affectionately with an equally dramatic eye roll. "Don't make me take it back."

"Just one thing?" Sonic put on his best puppy dog eyes and lifted his arms.

"Alright." Shadow's arms wrapped tightly around Sonic's backspines while peach ones wrapped around Shadow's neck. Sonic breathed deep, easily finding that beautiful lavender smell. It was...nice and relaxing, a welcome sensation in all of the craziness. And it also reminded Sonic that he still had Shadow. He wasn't lost to the Void or in another timeline of Sonic's own actions.

"Don't get used to it," Shadow warned as they broke apart.

"Aww, I wanted to! Maybe even dream it!" Sonic remarked with a grin. “But seriously,” he added. “Thank you, Shadow. For everything, not just helping me find the shards, but for reminding me that I have a real world to fight for. And for not giving up on me.”

“You’re welcome.” Ruby eyes gleamed. “Live and learn, right?”

Sonic matched his smile. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Race you to the beach!” He leaped off the cliff in a flip, blasting off in a blur of blue. Behind him, he could hear Shadow skating behind him, air shoes blazing to life.

They sped past Tails' lab, the kit laughing as he waved them on. Then Amy, happily hanging around with Birdie. Rouge and Knuckles vanished in a quick blur, the pair undoubtedly racing for the Master Emerald. Lastly was Big and Froggy, the pair humming with their fishing poles in hand.

It felt so good to be home.