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Chapter Text

On the edge of Green Hills, behind trees and humbled by some overgrown moss, sits the greatest secret of the Robotnik family. A castle, whose once shining brick walls are now green and overgrown with vines and moss, and whose past towering height has now been dwarfed by the  surrounding trees. 

“And you’re telling me,” Sonic says, staring at the memory of a powerful castle, “that this place used to be under the control of Eggman? Talk about compensating for something.”

“Well, not exactly,” Tails corrects, stepping forward with a small device in his hand. It’s not a phone, because Tails had said he already had something like one, and this device would be that something. “It says here that this place used to be run by a Robotnik, but that would’ve been more than fifty years ago. It couldn’t have been the Eggman that we fought!”

“So we defeat Eggman and now we might be up against Eggman’s dad? Do you think he’s a rotten egg, too?”

“Well, I’m not sure it’s Eggman’s dad… more like Eggman’s grandpa?” 

Tails turns his not-phone device towards Sonic, showing a grainy photo of an old man holding hands with a young girl. There’s another person there that the young girl is holding hands with, but the photo is cut off just enough to not be able to see who.

“He looks exactly like Eggman!” Sonic exclaims, rubbing his eyes but seeing the same mustache and crazy, scientist gleam in the old man’s eyes.

“Looks like- but isn’t. Not only that, but it seems like he’s been missing since he last ruled it. There hasn’t been a sighting of him or anyone else in the castle since that article about him ruling it more than fifty years ago.” 

Turning to face Tails, a thought occurs to Sonic.

“So, an abandoned castle, no Eggman, no Grandpa Eggman… you know, I always thought I would make a good king. What do you think, Tails? Think I could rule Green Hills? I would be so good at running a kingdom, how hard would it be? I can run, this is a kingdom, so-”

“Sonic, shhh! I just saw something move in the window. There might be someone in there.”

“In the abandoned castle? It’s been fifty years, Tails. I’m not Knuckles, you can’t scare me with ghost stories and-”

Sonic opens his eyes, turning from lecturing Tails towards the castle, where his eyes immediately land on two red pinpricks in the dark staring back at him. Immediately, chills run down his back. Even if those are just lights, the feeling of being watched rushes through Sonic and settles heavy in his bones. 

“Tails, I think someone is in that castle.”

Sonic can’t drag his eyes away from those red pinpricks, staring at them until they blink away into the dark. He feels Tails grab at his upper arm, beginning to pull him away from the old castle. He yanks, but Sonic digs his heels into the ground below, eyes darting around the empty windows. 

“Let’s go, Sonic!” Tails continues to pull, switching to attempting to push Sonic back into the forest and back home. 

“I could just run it really quick, super fast.”

Sonic warms up, stepping back from Tails and jumping from foot to foot, excited at the prospect of finding the owner of those red eyes. Be it ghost, demon, or Grandpa Eggman, he felt his heart pick up in excitement. His head felt suddenly focused, a singular mind Maddie had described it as once. 

Before he has the chance to start running, Tails steps fully in front of him, hands spread to catch Sonic if he had tried to run. The fox looked worried and, maybe just a little, scared. 

“Sonic, no! You don’t know what’s in there, or who’s in there! You could get hurt!” Tails collects himself, holding a finger up as he talks. “We should do more research and tell Tom and Maddie. We have to go in prepared instead of going in hastily. We don’t even have Knuckles here with us!”

“It would just be a second! Nothing will happen, just let me-”

Tails grabs Sonic’s arm again, grip firm and voice stern as he says, “Sonic, no. We tell Tom and Maddie first. We come back when we’re prepared and with Knuckles.”

Sonic steps back from Tails again, shoulders shrugging and body loose. “Fine, fine! I won’t be going running into any extremely suspicious buildings with ghosts of Grandpa Eggman in them. Fine!”

He kicks the dirt, turning his body away from the abandoned castle, mumbling to himself about how unfair it is and how fast he could run in and out. Tails matches his pace, hitting his shoulder against Sonic’s in a playful manner. 

“Don’t be so butthurt, Sonic. You’ll get to go in there eventually, and maybe Maddie will let you have a treat because you didn’t run in unprepared!”

Sonic’s brain jumps from the idea of the castle to dessert in an instant. Instantly, he’s running back and forth around Tails and prattling off his inner monologue. 

“Ooh, do you think she’ll let me have some ice cream? Oh, oh, or how about cake? Do we have any cake? Do you think she’ll make cake with me if I want it for dessert? Or make cookies? Cookies are easier, but cake is so good and-”

“We’re home, Sonic. Why don’t you ask Maddie if you guys can bake together? If that’s what you want to do, remember what happened last time?” 

Tails gives Sonic a look, remembering a kitchen covered in flour, milk, and egg. A baking session turned into a cleaning session, with Sonic standing on the kitchen island with the bowl on top of his head, dripping overmixed dough into his quills.

“That was a fluke! A bad moment! Ozzie scared me! Ah, whatever,” Sonic waves his arms a little, continuing, “it won’t happen again! Besides, I’ve learned from that experience. I am a changed hedgehog.”

Tails raises an eyebrow, his mouth quirked into a smirk. “Uh-huh. Well, I’m going to go to my workshop. I’ll do more research about that Grandpa Robotnik guy. Can you tell Tom and Maddie about it? Maybe G.U.N. knows something, too? I’ll search their database. Bye, Sonic! Tell them!”

Tails takes off to his workshop, located in the garage of the Wachowski house. He’ll come back out when Tom or Maddie call that dinner’s ready, but until then Tails gets really grumpy when people interrupt his building or research sessions. 

“Yeah, bud, I’ll tell them!” Sonic calls after the fox, one hand cupping to make his voice louder as he waves his other hand. “Don’t you worry!” 

He makes his way into the household, running through the door and landing with a jump onto the couch, next to Maddie, who was watching some sort of reality-TV romance show. Two contestants were talking by some water, both wearing some revealing swimwear. They talked in low tones, before kissing rather abruptly.

“Ewww,” Sonic yells, covering his eyes with both hands and kicking his feet.

“Sonic,” Maddie starts, fond. “We can change it if you want, but dinner’s almost ready - if you can deal with two people kissing for even a moment longer. Tom and I do it all the time, what’s the big deal?”

“It’s still bad when you and Tom do it!” Sonic exclaims. “So much saliva and spit and-,” Sonic shivers. “It’s gross. That’s all. You humans are so weird.”

“It’s a sweet thing to do, a way to show affection. Besides…,” she turns a sly eye onto Sonic, whose ears go back a little in anticipation. “Don’t you like it when I go like this?”

She attacks, leaning forward in the blink of an eye and kissing Sonic on the forehead and on the cheek. 

“Stop! Stop! Mercy, mercy! No! Dad, help- Knuckles! Save me!”

Maddie pulls back as Knuckles steps into the room as well, surveying the scene of Maddie and Sonic on the couch and Tom finishing dinner in the kitchen. 

“I heard the hedgehog call for help, but all I see is peace. What are these tricks being pulled?” Knuckles asks, gesturing one of his fists around the house. 

Maddie smiles, “Sonic just can’t handle a little bit of motherly love.”

“I so can!” Sonic quickly protests. “I can handle anything!”

“This is false. You cannot handle the pure might of my echidna fist.” 

Knuckles tightens his fist, staring down Sonic with eyes that begged a challenge. 

“And you can’t handle two people kissing in front of you,” Maddie adds, unhelpfully. 

“And!” Tom calls from the kitchen. “You can’t deal with any spice that’s hotter than a chili dog. Also, dinner is ready. Set the table, Sonic.”

“I can handle everything that was just listed against me. All of those things I can handle. And now I will handle putting plates and forks down on the table because I am the fastest creature in the galaxy who can handle anything .” 

Sonic stands from the couch, moving to lean against the dining table as he finishes his sentence. He promptly misses the leg of the table, almost plummeting into the floor if it had not been for his speed. 

“And you all saw nothing,” he finishes, waving his hands in front of himself in a magical, wishy-washy sort of way. Then, he uses his super speed for a more tedious purpose, setting the table in the blink of an eye.

When he finishes, he goes back to where Maddie and Knuckles stand in the living room, both beginning to go towards the dining room. 

“See, handled. Cause I can handle-”

“Can you get Tails now, too, Sonic?” Tom asks, moving the dinner cooked from the kitchen to the table. 

Immediately, Sonic responds, “but it’s Knuckles’ turn!”

“Nuh-uh, hedgehog. I retrieved the fox at the last dinner.”

“You did not!”

“I did.”

“Did not!”

“I did.”

“Did n-”

“Sonic,” Tom says, with that look in his eyes and that tilt to his head that Sonic just hated. The look that practically screamed that there was a reason Sonic called that man dad, and it wasn’t just because he helped Sonic save the world twice. 

Sonic groans. “Ugh! Fine! I’ll go get Tails, but not cause you told me to! Cause he’s my bud and he’s probably hungry.”

He then straightens up, pretending to fix his tie and walking with his back straight until he’s out of sight of the other residents. Then, he hunches and fakes giving himself a pep talk, rushing back and forth down the hallway to the garage door. 

At the door, he hesitantly and quietly opens it, praying that it doesn’t squeak.

It does.

Loudly.

“Shoot,” Sonic winces. “Hi, Tails, you hungry?”

The garage looks like a scene from a horror movie. It’s dark, except for the sparks flying from the welder that Tails is currently using. Slowly, Tails turns his head to Sonic, his face illuminated sharply with the light from the welder, his eyes crazed.

Sonic eeps, scrambling to close the door again. “Nevermind! Not hungry?! Got it! Going! Bye, buddy!”

Door now blessedly closed, he breathes a deep breath out and begins walking back to the dining room slowly. A few steps into the trek, the garage door opens with its loud squeak. Sonic turns, slowly, and watches as Tails walks out of his workshop. 

“Sonic…” Tails says, voice oddly deeper than he remembered it being. 

“Tails, buddy, pal! Did you hit puberty? Did you, I mean, not puberty, but-”

Tails takes a step towards Sonic, and the blue hedgehog feels power and tension in the air. 

“Oh, well, dinner and- bye.”

Sonic makes a quick exit, running back to the dining room and sitting in his usual seat with a nervousness exuding off of him. 

“Is Tails on his way?” asks Tom.

Sonic leans on his elbow, facing down his dad’s carefully innocent face. 

“You know what you did, Wachowski. You know what you did,” Sonic says, before snapping his head to the entrance of the room as Tails enters. “Hungry, Tails?”

Tails visibly shakes himself, brightening up with an easy smile towards Tom. “Thank you for the dinner! I am hungry.”

Sonic mumbles grumpily, but then food is placed in front of him and he recovers. 

Dinner passes quickly and, eager to get to bed, Sonic chooses to pass on the dessert he was talking about earlier. He gets an odd look from Tails, but not a suspicious one, which Sonic counts as a win. 

Quickly running upstairs, Sonic sets a plan in motion. Step one: dummy under his covers, a blue quill there to make it look more realistic. Step two: carefully and slowly make his way up to the window in his room and leave. Step three: run up the side of his room when he ignores step two because the words ‘carefully’ and ‘slowly’ don’t exist in his vocabulary. Step four: prosper.

The cool night air breezes through his quills. It’s even colder as he runs back in the direction he and Tails had gone earlier, running until he is face to face with the castle from earlier. 

“It’s time. What are you hiding mysterious castle in the woods? A ghost? A Grandpa Eggman?” Sonic smirks to himself, getting into position to run. “Time to find out.”

The front door is locked, but there’s a door around the side of the castle that swings wide when Sonic runs past it, and Sonic quickly takes advantage of that. The inside of the room looks like a kitchen, with old countertops and dust everywhere. 

As Sonic inspects it, running a finger over a counter, he gets a faceful of dust and sneezes all over the counter. Cringing, Sonic quips to himself, “well, hope no one was planning on cooking there anytime soon.”

He moves onto the next room, through winding hallways and numerous abandoned bedrooms. There’s no signs of life within the castle, just dusty sheets and dustier fifty-year-old clothes. The most interesting room is a giant ballroom, but there’s nothing in there at all except high ceilings and a balcony that remains empty the whole time he explores the rooms. 

Sonic is, honestly, rather disappointed. Those red pinpricks seemed so much like eyes and that feeling of being watched…

He continues through the castle, finishing exploring the first floor and going up to the second. On his way up the stairs, he trips on a stone, knocking it out of place and nearly hurting himself.

“Whoa,” Sonic breathes out. “Close call.”

The second floor is a lot like the first, with more rooms that seem to be studies. Sonic doesn’t bother looking through the papers stacked on the tables, too excited to find those eyes and to see the rest of the castle. 

He reaches a wall with two paths, one leading right and one leading left. Sonic looks down the hall to the left, pointing down each hallway.

“Eenie, meenie, miny-”

“Mo!”

A deep voice sounds from behind him, from where he had just come from. Sonic has barely any time to register anything before he’s getting slammed face first into the wall. It crumbles around him, but thankfully it doesn’t break and throw Sonic back out of the castle. 

Sonic groans, holding his head with one hand to keep himself steady as his eyesight swims. He moves his gaze upwards slowly and sees… another hedgehog? They look like him, just red and edgy. A Hot Topic version of himself. 

“Wh-what? Who are you?” Sonic asks, struggling to stand up. He watches as the hedgehog tightens his gloved hands, carefully pulling one fist back as if to punch him again. “Wait, wait!”

Sonic puts his hands up in mock defense, and then gestures to the whole body of the hedgehog in front of him. 

“Who are you? Talk first, punch later. Please!” Sonic asks again, his voice hinting at desperation. 

“The real question,” the hedgehog says, and boy does Sonic have something to say about the way that deep voice just eases over the senses, “is who are you, hedgehog?”

“That’s an easy question! I’m Sonic! The hedgehog.”

Sonic sticks his hand out, but gets ignored by the other hedgehog. 

“Who are you?” he asks, carefully lowering his hand back to his side and fighting off the automatic feeling of saying something more.

Getting ignored again, the red and black hedgehog continues, “what are you doing here?” 

Sonic smirks, “I’ll answer your question if you answer mine first!”

He sticks a finger up, his other hand on his hip. He’s trying to look cool, calm, and collected in the hopes that it makes the other hedgehog more likely to take the deal. The hedgehog takes a moment, looking like he’s thinking, then turns back to Sonic with a determined look in his eyes. 

“How about you answer my question or I punch you into the wall again?”

“Or I can do that!” Sonic definitely doesn’t make a squeaking noise, not him, not the hedgehog that can handle anything. The fastest creature in the universe doesn’t do something like squeak . “I was just curious about a castle in the middle of the woods! Can’t a hedgehog be curious?”

“You expect me to believe you came into this castle for nothing more than curiosity?”

“Yes?” Sonic shrugs. 

The punch, while not expected, was not surprising, and it was easy enough to dodge with some super speed stepping to the side. 

“Oop- too slow! What happened to talking first, man? I thought we had an agreement-”

Another punch, this one seemingly faster than the last one was. Sonic can feel the air of the punch pushing against his face. 

“Okay, no agreement, I get it. I can punch too, you know?”

The fight that follows is exhilarating. Sonic’s excitement makes his quills and fist burn with blue energy, his eyes alight with the blazes of a good opponent. The other hedgehog matches him blow for blow. He seems to be as fast as Sonic is, which is impossible, but the other hedgehog seems to be doing it.

Not only that but the other hedgehog can apparently teleport ! That part is just, frankly, unfair. Still, they go blow for blow, making a mess of brick and dust in the hallway, tumbling and falling through the hallway. It’s close quarters, and it’s tough.

In the end, the other hedgehog seems to tire quicker than Sonic does. He is no less the formidable enemy, but he seems less rested and less fed than Sonic is, and he falters just once, allowing Sonic the entrance he needs to put the hedgehog onto the castle floor. The other hedgehog struggles, but Sonic’s holding him down with a solid grip and a victorious smile on his face. 

“Does this mean I win?” Sonic can’t help but ask. “I think this definitely means I win. Yes!”

The other hedgehog rolls his eyes, just a little, but sighs in his defeat. 

“Fine. You win, hedgehog. If I answer your incessant questions, will you swear to leave and never come back?”

Sonic thinks for a moment. Answers to his questions… leaving… never coming back? No way. But some answers would be nice. 

“Sure…” he answers, surely not sounding suspicious at all. “First, what is your name?”

“I am Shadow, the Ultimate Life Form.” 

“Shadow, huh? Why are you in this castle?”

Such a cool name , Sonic almost said out loud, before catching himself. 

“I am the guardian of this castle. Its protector.” 

“Why does a- nevermind. Why do you look like me?”

At this question, Shadow seems most annoyed. “I don’t look like you, you look like me.”

“No, I’m pretty sure you look like me, buddy. Almost like an imposter of me, or a fake.”

“You’re the faker here, hedgehog.”

Then, before Sonic has the time to react, Shadow throws him off of himself, tossing Sonic to the side like he weighs nothing at all. 

“I’ve entertained your questions long enough, faker. Leave this castle and never return. If I see you around here again I will show you who the imposter really is.”

Sonic opens his mouth to say something, but is met with the sight of Shadow’s clenched fist getting ready for another strike, his eyes glowing that bright red. Just like the red pin pricks from earlier. Carefully, Sonic closes his mouth.

Leaving the castle is easy enough, he is the fastest creature in the universe for a reason. Second fastest? No, there’s simply no way Shadow could be faster than he is. Shadow’s just a fake version of him. 

He needs to know more. That excitement that he felt, that clearness in his head, the way that his ever racing thoughts quieted. There was no way he was going to let Shadow fade away into nothing in his memory. 

The sun is still hiding behind the horizon when Sonic makes it home, but just barely. Making it back into the house unnoticed is the easy part, his brothers able to sleep through just enough to let Sonic sneak in. 

Getting into his bed is easy, too. Falling asleep is a different question altogether. All he can think about is a certain red and black hedgehog that can match him blow for blow. A hedgehog that can calm the chaos of his mind. He simply can’t sleep when he’s thinking of him… of Shadow the hedgehog.

Chapter Text

Sonic knows, when the sun rises and his head is a little more clear from his overprocessing of the memories of Shadow, that he shouldn’t go back. Tails was objectively right. They should wait until they know more information about the not so abandoned castle. Especially the fact that it was - still is? - owned by Robotnik, going in prepared was the safest bet.

Yet, even as Sonic tried to convince himself to stay away, he couldn’t help the way that his thoughts wandered and his legs itched to run back. Seeing Shadow again was like an itch Sonic couldn’t scratch, restless as every minute passed. It didn’t go unnoticed, but it wasn’t a wholly unique event either. 

Maddie had told Sonic about something in humans called ADHD, saying that it seemed like something he might have. After promising to do more research on his own, and then promptly not doing that, Maddie had yet to mention it again besides a few fun facts here and there. Having an endless well of restless energy was a symptom though, apparently. 

While Maddie and Tom had taken that explanation with ease, Tails looked unconvinced. That, and his conspiring with Knuckles, meant that Sonic got cornered sometime between lunch and dinner, while Sonic was reading any comics he could find in an effort to force his mind off a certain red and black hedgehog. 

A throat cleared, and Sonic looked up from his needlessly boring comic. He stood quickly from his beanbag at the serious look on his friend’s faces. 

“Sonic,” Tails says, stern already. His foot taps an even rhythm into the floor below, his tails swishing with what Sonic knows is annoyance. Knuckles stands next to him, arms crossed and face angry as he stares down at Sonic. “You went into the castle last night, didn’t you?”

“What- no! You told me not to- and besides, if I did then it was a completely empty castle and no one was there.”

Sonic crosses his arms, sticking his nose into the air with a stubborn tilt. Knuckles steps closer, talking with his hands as well as his words. 

“Hedgehog, you have been acting strangely for all of the day. We are aware that you have done something that you had previously been advised not to do.”

“You’re being suspicious, Sonic. That castle is the only thing you could possibly be suspicious about,” Tails, unhelpfully, adds on. 

Sonic huffs, “I’m not acting suspicious. I could’ve done anything. You don’t know. You told me not to go into the castle and I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that when you explicitly told me not to, Tails.”

He says Tails name with more emphasis, bringing his crossed arms closer to his chest in his stubbornness. 

“Really,” he continues,” it’s rude of you guys to accuse me at all. I am an innocent little hedgehog who has saved this world twice now. Not once, but twice. Remember? I can handle anything.”

“Except you can’t handle not going into the castle that I specifically advised you not to go in!”

Tails gives Sonic a stern, angry look. His nose scrunches, and Sonic has to fight the urge to react to the adorableness of his little brother, forcing his mind to focus on the accusations at hand.

“I would never-”

“Sonic. The reason I advised you not to go in there is because we hadn’t done enough research. What I found out about the castle so far, deep in the G.U.N. database, is a file called Project Shadow. Apparently, G.U.N. created something so powerful they decided that the whole program needed to be shut down after creating it.”

Sonic blinked, his mind quickly parsing that information: Project Shadow, a powerful creation, a hedgehog in the castle by the name of Shadow. The pieces were slotting in place, but without any context Sonic didn’t understand why and why was Shadow alone in the castle now?

“What did they create? Did Grandpa Robotnik do the creating? Why did they shut it down? How did-”

At Tails’ heavy sigh, Sonic stopped his mind from spilling out of his mouth. The questions continued to pile in his mind, pushing their boundaries and fighting for their space in the open air. 

“I don’t know.” Tails sounds frustrated, voice lilting with annoyance. “I tried to get more information but it seems like it’s all been wiped from the system. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find any other information at all. Robotnik has something to do with it, but I don’t know what. We’ll either have to ask G.U.N. ourselves or check it out - together, this time.”

“I didn’t check it out alone at all! I heeded your warning, Tails! Honest! Like a Boy Scout!” 

Sonic holds a hand to his chest, the other in the air like he’s taking an oath. He drops both hands to his sides at a look from Tails, his mouth pressed in a thin line. 

“Did you tell Tom and Maddie about the castle?” Tails asks. When Sonic stutters a half-coherent response, he sighs again. “Of course. You go where I tell you not to go, and don’t tell who I tell you to tell. Sonic, you’re supposed to listen to us, we’re supposed to be a team.”

“This is true, hedgehog. Teammates do not go behind each other's backs,” Knuckles added.

“Guys, seriously, it wasn’t that big a deal-”

“If it wasn’t a big deal, you wouldn’t have done it behind our backs. We’re best friends, that’s what makes us such a good team.”

“Best friends do not go behind backs.”

Sonic glances away from them, then looks back at them. He looks Tails in the eyes, then Knuckles, and then lowers his head.

“Fine, I did go into the abandoned castle. But!” He looks back up, one finger held up to emphasize his point. “I didn’t see anything in there. Just empty rooms filled with dust.”

“Hedgehog, do you tell the truth?”

“I do, Knuckles. And nothing but the truth.”

“I’m going to tell Tom and Maddie about it. Maybe they can get more information from G.U.N. about the castle. Even if it isn’t in their database, someone has to know something about it! A project of this scale doesn’t just disappear! ”

Tails flails his hands as he talks, then points at Sonic, right in his chest. “Don’t go back there. And if you do, cause I know you will-” Tails rolls his eyes, “- leave at the first sign of danger. If there’s anything or anyone in there, you leave immediately.”

“Of course, bro! When have I ever run straight into danger?”

“Last night.”

“Ah, let bygones be bygones, it’s no good to dwell in the past.”

Tails sighs heavily, shaking his head but without any real anger behind the action. “Be careful, Sonic. I’ll see you at dinner.” He carefully looks at Sonic now, deep into his eyes. “Unless you run off to the castle before dinner even starts.”

Sonic sputters, “I-I wouldn’t! Tails, I wouldn’t do that! No way!”

“We are not believing of your words,” Knuckles says, arms crossed as he talks to Sonic. 

“Alright, conversation over now! I’ve been perfectly chastised enough, please! Guys, remember, handle anything? It’ll be fine! Maybe I’ll even get more information for you guys!”

Tails and Knuckles levelled him with a look, disbelief and doubt heavy in their faces. Tails took a deep breath and Knuckles gave him a solid pat on his back, throwing Sonic off balance for a second before fixing himself. They both muttered their goodbyes, see you at dinners, before going off to do what they usually do during the day. 

Sonic sighs, sitting back down on the beanbag chair and sinking into it. Suddenly, his brain feels a lot less like a hamster stuck running on a wheel. It still feels fast, Sonic is sure that fact will never change, but it feels like it’s stuck moving under some honey.

The biggest, loudest thought covering up the rest of them was the thought of Shadow. Project Shadow, most likely run in some way by Grandpa Robotnik, creating a weapon. Was the Shadow that Sonic had met that very weapon? Was he connected in some way to the Robotnik that Sonic had helped rid the world of?

It was impossible to know on his own. Luckily for him, Sonic knew just where he could find the answers.

He’d be back by dinner, he was sure of it. 

Running back to the castle was easy, not getting caught on his way there was easy too. Tom and Maddie were still on their way home from work, Tails was in his workshop, and Knuckles was in the background seemingly doing some echidna training maneuvers. 

The castle was in the same place as Sonic had left it, but there were no red eyes peeking out of any windows as he walked back towards the doorway he entered through last time. Same dusty rooms, same dangerous stairs - Sonic almost tripped on the same rock as last time. 

He took the trip slow this time, keeping his ears perked for any stray sound. He listened for any hint of Shadow in the desolate halls. Even as his heart pounded and his feet itched to run around looking, he kept his feet light and his ears listening. 

It wasn’t until he reached the stairs that led to the third floor that he found Shadow, his red eyes glowing from the top of the staircase. Sonic felt it, his thoughts narrowing into the hedgehog, questions about him from his origins to his favorite color.

“I thought I told you to never come back here, faker,” Shadow’s deep voice called, echoing down the staircase. His footsteps echoed as he slowly made his way down. “If you wish to fight, I will not lose.”

Sonic took a step back, into a more secure spot if they did start fighting, calling out, “I don’t wanna fight, dude! I just want to talk!”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I answered all your questions. I gave you clear instructions.”

“I have more questions! How about an exchange? I’ll answer any of your questions if you answer some of mine! I’m an open book! Ask away!”

Sonic did finger guns, trying to ease the situation. Shadow didn’t seem convinced of Sonic’s pure and innocent intentions, however. His eyes glowed with energy, sparks seemingly flying off of him. 

“Fine, first question,” Shadow says, and Sonic smiles. He is getting somewhere! This is great! “How does my fist feel?”

Sonic felt his mind do a reset. 

“Uh, what?”

Then, a fist collided with his jaw. He flew back, skidding across the highway. He twisted his body, landing on his feet. 

“Shadow! I don’t want to fight! I just want to know-”

It was too late, Shadow was already running towards him, fist lifted to punch him again. Sonic quickly dodged, feeling the wind pushing past him. Thinking he was safe, he went to turn around to talk some more, but again felt a fist on his face. Shadow had his body fully facing him, body slightly lifted in the air. It was impossible. Shadow couldn’t have turned that fast.

Sonic ate the punch, staring at Shadow as he did, and watched as the hedgehog blinked out of existence before appearing again next to him, fist raised. 

“Dude, teleporting?! That’s just not fair!”

“Weakling.”

Sonic dodged the punch, and dodged the teleportation attempt after that, and again after that. Then, it became like a game. Sonic felt his quills lift in excitement and anticipation, feeling for any shift in the wind and then reacting as fast as he could. 

Still, he rambled as he moved and danced around the castle with Shadow. 

“Seriously, I just want to talk! I just have so many questions for you. Where did you come from? Were you created? Did Grandpa Robotnik create you? Is he just Robotnik to you? Why are you alone? What’s your favorite color?”

“Do you ever shut up?”

“A question in return?! I didn’t think this would happen. I’ll answer, even if you haven’t answered mine. No.”

He dodged more punches, deliberately not throwing any back at the other hedgehog. The longer he dodged, the more tired yet more excited he felt. Shadow was an incredibly impressive fighter, and if Sonic hadn’t spent the last more than a year fighting for his life and for the world, he would’ve never been able to keep up. 

“Now it’s your turn!” Sonic says, lifting a finger and winking at the red and black hedgehog. He quickly sidestepped another punch. 

“The more you talk, the harder I want to punch you,” Shadow returns.

Sonic dodges more punches, exclaiming, “you’re too slow! If I let you land a punch, will you answer a question of mine?”

Shadow’s eyes glowed impossibly brighter, and he answered with a short, “no.”

His next punch landed, leaving Sonic dazed on the ground. Before he can recover, he feels Shadow grab the top of his head, his quills gripped tight in the other hedgehog’s hands. His body feels like it weighs nothing as Shadow lifts him and throws him back across the hallway, Sonic landing roughly. 

His vision blurs, watching as Shadow splits in two, three, and back into one. Everything kind of shakes in his head, everything feels a little heavy. His mouth, even, moves like molasses as he slurs, “is this what a concussion feels like?”

“I am the Ultimate Lifeform, hedgehog. No matter how hard you try, I will never lose again. You will leave and never come back, or you will face your destruction.”

Shadow lifted his hand, forming a fist and clenching. Energy spiked around him, red energy flashing and small lightning coming off of his fist. Shadow himself was looking down at his fist before slowly lifting his head, staring deep in Sonic’s eyes.

“Don’t come back, faker.”

Then, Shadow turned his back and was gone before Sonic could protest. Sonic, too hurt to follow and knowing it was time to go home, took the defeat with a heavy heart and a hurt pride. There was no way he could explain this to Tails or any of his family without admitting to some of his lies. 

It hurt his heart more to think of coming clean, even though he knew he was going to have to. 

The trek back home was worse than going to the castle. Besides the head injury, it seemed Sonic’s ribs and his legs themselves decided to ache with some vengeance. One of the worst parts of it all? The sky was dark and still, the moon already sneaking its way higher. The sun was already hidden away for the night.

Dinner was long past, and Sonic had definitely missed it. 

Opening the door to the Wachowski household, he was met by his two parents sitting on the couch together. Their conversation had been too muffled to make out beyond the front door, and it stopped as soon as the door had opened. Both Tom and Maddie turned to Sonic as soon as he entered. 

“Sonic!” Maddie called, immediately coming around the couch and stepping into Sonic’s space. Concern flowed off her in waves, her touches against the cuts and bruises on her son’s skin delicate. “What happened, baby? Who did this to you?”

Sonic sighed, eyes lowering to look at the floor. 

“I… haven’t been entirely honest with you guys. With Tails and Knuckles, too.”

“They’ve already gone to bed, so how about you tell me and your dad first, and then we’ll tell the other boys in the morning,” Maddie said, voice level with practiced ease. Sonic had admired her for it, but right now it itches at him how not mad she sounds. “Come, sit with us on the couch, baby.”

Sonic followed her to the couch, waited as she left to get the first aid box, waited as Tom brought some of their dinner leftovers to him, and then started explaining everything from the first time he and Tails found the castle. It seems Tails had told the two of them about the castle, but Sonic’s side of the story had given them more context.

“So, this other hedgehog beat you up? Why?” Tom asks after Sonic finishes the story.

“I don’t know! He seems so angry, but Tails couldn’t find any information and Shadow didn’t want to answer anything either.”

Sonic crosses his arms, angry at the thought of his own defeat and at the thought of what could’ve made Shadow so angry. Unbeknownst to him, Tom and Maddie shared a concerned look over his head. 

“Well,” Tom starts, “it’s clear you can’t go back there alone.”

“But I-”

“No buts, Sonic. It’s dangerous. What if he hadn’t stopped there? What if he…” Tom hesitated, swallowing before he could continue. “What if he killed you, Sonic? You’re our family, we don’t want to lose you.”

Sonic sighed again. “You’re right. I just- he looks so cool, and he’s a hedgehog like me! I want him to like me. I just want to help him, why can’t he see that?”

Maddie gently took Sonic’s hands in her own, looking down at him with sweet eyes. 

“Sometimes, when people think they can handle things all alone,” she flicks his nose at this, clearly referring at least in part to him as well, “they refuse help from everyone else. It can hurt their pride to accept help, especially if they think they should handle everything alone. 

“Whatever happened to him, whatever is keeping him in that castle, it can’t have been easy for him. He might think he has to do this alone, Sonic, just like you did. Remember when you started living with us, how hard it was to let us in? To let us hug you and love you? To let us help you?”

Sonic looked down at their hands. He smiled a little, his eyes fixing themselves with a determined look. 

“You’re right. Thanks, mom.”

She rubs his head, running her hands lightly through his quills. “Of course, baby. That’s what I’m here for.”

They sit there for a moment, enjoying the silence and just happy to be together. 

“But if he ever hurts you again like this, I will storm that castle myself. It’ll be a full-stage coup.”

Sonic and Tom find themselves laughing, Maddie chuckling along with them. They laugh for a while, hugging each other on the couch. 

“Alright, bedtime, little guy. You’ve got a big day tomorrow. We won’t punish you for keeping things from us, we’re sure your brothers will do that enough for us. However, don’t you ever sneak out without telling us first. Anything could’ve happened to you, and we wouldn’t have known where to look or how to find us. You worried us, more than we ever want to be worried again,” Tom said, a stern look in his eyes.

“Alright, dad,” Sonic responded, an overemphasis on the word dad. Sonic then stood from the couch. “Well, I’m beat, and it’s bedtime. I’ll see you guys in the morning?”

“Bright and early, buddy,” Tom reassured.

Sonic began to walk off, but before he went all the way to his room, he called to them both, “I love you two!”

He heard both of them respond in kind, and smiled to himself. A warm feeling nestled in his chest, a completeness he thought he had lost after Longclaw. Before he fell asleep, his thoughts still wandered to Shadow, but his plan felt clearer, his ideas felt stronger. 

He was going to help Shadow. He was really, really, going to help Shadow realize he didn’t have to fight his battles alone. Just like his family had done for him.