Chapter Text
Sonic had a small problem. And by a small problem, he meant a REALLY REALLY REALLY BIG PROBLEM.
“WHAT DO I DO AMY.” Sonic cried exasperatedly, collapsing on the table.
“Sonic, we talked about this. If you really want chili dogs that badly, you should have got them before the shops closed TWO HOURS AGO.” Amy replied, arms crossed against her chest, unwilling to give any sympathy to the blue drama queen currently heaving on her table.
“But I’m so hungryyyyyy…” Sonic complained.
“So the meal I slaved over for you tonight wasn’t enough?”
Sonic immediately sat up, all complaining now completely forgotten as Amy’s withering glare cut through him. She was scary when she wanted to be. “No, no… its nice, it was delicious.”
“Real thanks Amy.” Knuckles munched with a mouthful of food, oblivious to his companion’s previous conversation and more occupied with his own internal debate whether he should get his fifth serving or not.
“Yeah!” Chimed in Tails, whose plate and utensils were stacked in a tidy pile. “Thanks for inviting us round.”
“No problem!” Amy replied, her sweet demeanor returning just as fast as her feisty attitude had emerged, before deflating ever so slightly “Blaze has been out for a while and… I guess I needed the company.”
“Aw Amy, I’m sure she’ll get back soon. She has a lot to deal with.” Tails said tactfully, standing up with his pile of plates, along with grabbing both Sonic’s and Amy’s too giving her a comforting hand on the shoulder. He glanced at Knuckles before deciding against picking up his too, making his way over to the neat kitchen. Probably because if he took Knuckles half finished food, he most likely would end up with a fist to the back of the head.
“Ew relationship stuff.” Sonic added uselessly, his mind still half on the chili dogs so painfully out of reach until tomorrow morning.
Knuckles chortled. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
That gained Sonic another withering glare from Rose.
“No no- I just meant- I mean- that wasn’t directed at you at all- I didn’t mean- you and Blaze…” Sonic stumbled over his words.
“You know Sonic, one day you’re going to meet someone and fall in love. You’re not immune to the wishes of your heart.” The pink hedgehog said, leaving both Sonic and Knuckles astonished, mouths agape.
“Is that poetry?” Knuckles whispered to Sonic.
“I’d like to disagree.” The cobalt speedster remarked, tuning out his friend. “I don’t have TIME for relationships, duh.”
“Mmhm sure Sonic.” Amy absent mindedly replied.
“Hey! Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That thing that you do when you- UGH.” Sonic slapped his hands to his face.
Amy giggled as Tails returned to the table glancing at the watch he had crafted. “It’s getting late, sorry Amy, I have to get home before the sun sets.”
“I wouldn’t keep you from your tinkering.” She said, before giving him a quick hug. She came face to face with Sonic, who received a quick hug too. “Just think about it, ok? And if you ever need some counseling my door is open.”
“Got it…” Sonic mumbled, returning the hug quickly, not too sure how to feel about having therapy sessions with Amy about his supposed future lover.
Knuckles looked up from his plate, before realizing that he was now alone at the table. Shoving the last few bites of food in his mouth, he followed the rest of his friends out the door with a wave to Rose. “Mmmmmppm.”
The three walked through the trees as the setting sun cast golden rays over the ground. Tails had started talking about one of his new inventions that he was working on, Knuckles being as clueless as ever, and normally Sonic would be laughing and joking along with them, having had a good day.
But what Amy had said stuck with him for some reason, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been right, much to his dismay. Though he’d rather go on a strict diet of no chili dogs for a month than admit it to her.
Because seeing all his friends grow older over the years, become more mature, starting to grow and change, he felt almost stuck on the sidelines. Seeing Amy living happily alongside Blaze, watching Rouge flirt with an ever-clueless Knuckles. Sonic had always had this nagging feeling that he was being left behind. Him? Left behind? He scoffed. Never. He was kind-of most-definitely the fastest living thing like, ever. So why did he still feel this way?
“…nic… …sonic…. …SONIC.”
He snapped out of his almost trance, realizing that Tails had been most likely talking to him. “What’s up?” He asked, giving his younger brother the winning finger guns with a wink.
Tails looked at him, unimpressed. “I was asking whether you could pick some stuff up for me tomorrow?”
“Sure buddy! What do you need?”
“I’ll need a really strong processor, oh and also probably something to deal with all the excess energy, so maybe some sort of battery storage compartment, and then-“
“Uhhh, how about you write me a list?” Sonic chuckled.
“Agreed, that’s a lot of big words. You might need that explaining book too!” Knuckles chimed in.
“You mean a dictionary?” he corrected.
“Yep! That one.”
Sonic had a strong suspicion Knuckles had agreed with him still not knowing what the word meant.
“I’ll write one down as soon as we get home!” Tails went on, ignoring them both, before continuing to explain his elaborate contraption. “So what happens then, is the energy from the crystal is powered through the core, which then creates the feedback loop in which the excess energy gets stored in the holding compartment, giving it a constant source of backup power that can be supercharged-” Normally sonic would be intrigued by this, trying to grasp how these things worked with absolutely no knowledge in the field. But as it was, he sunk back into his own mind, his thoughts somehow running faster than he ever had. It was overwhelming.
“I think I’m gonna go on a run.” He blurted out, before realizing that he had totally interrupted Tails constant stream of explanation. “Meet you guys back at the house?” He tried feebly, giving a suggested shrug.
Tails gave him a weird look before Knuckles patted him on the shoulder, pretty much knocking the wind out of the small Mobian. “I’ll see to it that he gets delivered to his workshop safe and sound!”
“Thanks Knucks.” Replied Sonic, relieved for the echidna’s unwavering trust in him, also for his inability to read between the lines. Or to read at all, in that matter.
Speeding off before they could say any more, Sonic’s legs took him along his familiar route across green hill, winding up the rolling hills and across the sturdy wooden bridges over sapphire blue rivers. He loved running, it filled his body with energy, cleared his mind, the wind in his quills and whistling by his ears gave him a peace that nothing else did. Well- there was an exception to that…
His stomach jolted as his mind started racing again. In a futile attempt to drown out his unrestrained thoughts, he pumped his legs faster, faster, faster, until he was nothing but an afterimage to those looking from the outside. The world turned to a sea of green as his world became the track, the wind, and the energy that was crackling through his blue fur. Crossing the loops in a matter of milliseconds, Sonic filled his lungs further with air, as he practically flew across the ground with a grin forming on his lips.
Suddenly the world didn’t have any problems, suddenly he was free from his constant flow of thoughts, and as the golden-orange light from the sun illuminated and reflected across the ocean in the distance, he could never be more content in life.
His legs almost had a mind of their own, taking him further and further, cutting and weaving through the various tracks around the island, finally taking him up one of the mountains. It would be nice to see the sunset before he went home, he thought.
He sped up the windy mountain track, around the bends at breakneck speed, the edge of the road taunting Sonic as if goading him to take a wrong step and plummet, but the sure-footed speedster only grinned wider. What was fun without a challenge?
Sonic finally reached the peak of the mountain, coming to a screeching halt as the rays of golden light shone through his quills, the sun coming close to its final rest below the horizon. His chest rose and fell, his heartbeat quick and energized, his face warm from both the golden light and his fatigue from the day. Closing his eyes, he stretched his arms above his head with a deep inhale, his mind quiet.
“What are YOU doing here?”
The sharp voice cut him right out of his tranquil peace and Sonic almost fell over where he stood. He had failed to see, in his high from the run, that there was, in fact, someone else on this mountain. Someone with the same idea he had. Someone with black fur and red quills.
“Ohhh heyyyyyy Shadow… what’s up?” Sonic tried to act cool, pretending that he had not at all been surprised by the sudden meeting, righting his balance.
Shadow just stared at him with those piercing red eyes.
Sonic suddenly broke out in a sweat, surely from his run, right? Had his heart always beating this fast when he got here? “Soooo…” Play it cool play it cool play it cool- “You uhh, you come here often?” Nice one, dipshit.
“Why is that your concern?” Came the curt reply.
Man, totally stonewalled. I forgot how much of an asshole Shads was. Wait, ‘Shads?’ Sonic really did NOT have time to reminisce on that one right now for sure. “Uhhh, sorry.” He muttered, nothing else coming to mind. Wow he was pathetic today huh.
Shadow said nothing to that, and turned his head back towards the sun, as if Sonic had never interrupted him. His legs dangled over the rock ledge, his hands returning to their position in his lap, shoulders finding their home in a slightly hunched over form.
Sonic didn’t know what to do. Would it be more awkward to try to start a conversation again or simply walk off like nothing happened? His eyes gazed at Shadows form, his mind wondering why, out of all places, he had decided to be here. And more curiously, whether Sonic had instinctively chosen to run here tonight or not.
“Well, are you just going to stand there and stare at me?” The black and red Mobian growled.
Geze, you could at least be nice. “Umm, would you like me to… leave…?” he offered feebly.
Once again, Shadow said nothing.
Well hey, that’s something. Sonic thought hopefully. For some reason, he felt like walking off would be the wrong thing to do right now. So why was he so scared? Tapping his foot, he made his decision. Fuck it, what was Amy always saying? ‘Get out of your comfort zone?’
Carefully, the blue hero made his way over to Shadow, who let his eyes drift over to him in mild surprise, before that faded into the ever-schooled blank look his rival always had on his face.
Sitting down beside him, Sonic fought the urge to ramble on, gulping down his constant stream of thoughts, which were -for some reason- running at a million percent right now. The two sat in silence, watching the sun set over the distant waves, the very last golden rays painting the sky with pink, purple, and orange. It was strangely nice, actually. Normally when the two rivals were in the same vicinity, they were arguing, or fighting, or both. Sonic turned his head to look at the black shape beside him, and the realization washed over him.
The light from the fading sun cast the others face in a soft glow, illumining his features, and Sonic could only think of one thing; wow, Shadow is actually really pretty. He tore his eyes away, stamping out the thought just as fast as it arrived. Despite now being on somewhat the same side after joining G.U.N, Sonic felt like Shadow had never liked him very much.
Sure, their constant fighting was fun, now that he wasn’t trying to KILL Sonic any more. Sure, their challenging races and constant playful jabs at each other were fun, goading each other on to reach the others full potential was definitely always a highlight of Sonic’s day. But just whenever Sonic thought they might finally have something more than being distant rivals, whenever he thought he had finally started to chip through the cracks in those towering walls Shadow put up around himself, Shadow would disappear. And Sonic was left in his disappointment, alone, drowning in a sea of emotions which he could not swim.
His heart gave a sharp pang, and Sonic was brought back to reality, feeling like someone had stabbed him in the chest, his emerald eyes dulling slightly.
This change was not unnoticed by Shadow though, who saw the usually bright Mobian almost curl inwards on himself. He was washed with a strong sense of guilt, knowing that HE was the reason why, though not for the reason he thought. Why was he so rude to Sonic all the time? And why did it make him, the ultimate lifeform, feel so hopeless at seeing his rival down? He opened his mouth to say something, before realizing that he had no idea what he was going to say, and closed it again, looking away.
They sat in silence for a while longer, the air growing colder around them.
“Hey Shadow,” the voice from beside him came quietly, in stark contrast to his usual mannerisms.
Shadow turned his head slightly once again to look at the blue figure, searching his face.
“Have you ever felt like you’re being left behind?” He asked quietly.
Shadow narrowed his eyes slightly. “Are you calling me slow?”
“No no no,” Sonic quickly corrected, struggling to find the words before giving up in defeat. “I- Never mind, it sounds stupid.” He sighed.
They both fell back into silence.
Sonic looked at his feet, gently swaying back and forward. Surprisingly, it was Shadow who broke the quiet.
“How do you mean, ‘Left behind’?”
Perking up ever so slightly at the invitation to continue his thoughts -even though he might have been slightly regretting his decision to confide in SHADOW of all people- he looked back at the sunset. “I don’t know, seeing everyone move through life, seeing them grow and change and I guess I’m just feeling stuck as the same person I was, especially seeing people get into relationships like Amy and Blaze…” he trailed off, internally cringing at the fact that he had just admitted to Shadow that he was thinking about RELATIONSHIPS.
They fell silent again, and the blue blur was just about to get up and apologize for being such a stupid idiot that couldn’t keep his trap closed when Shadow opened his mouth once again.
“At times.” He added softly, picking up a small stone from beside him and examining it between two gloved fingers.
Sonic couldn’t believe that Shadow had actually admitted something personal to him. Granted, he WAS the one who asked Sonic to continue his thoughts, but still. “At times?” He questioned.
The ultimate lifeform turned his gaze away from the rock, instead looking at Sonic’s emerald green eyes with his own slightly narrowed. “Don’t push it, hedgehog. Like I said, at times.”
“Right, sorry.” He again mumbled, though curiosity was taking over his mind. He decided to go with a less personal question in hopes to not scare Shadow off when the two of them were finally having a mildly emotional moment. “Hey Shads, why are you here?”
Shadow gave him a strange look. “I could ask the same for you.”
The blue hero went to reply before realizing that he had just called the black Mobian Shads. Out loud. “If you really want to know that badly, I wanted to see the sunset before I went home.” He said, trying to play it off like it was totally normal to call his number one rival a nickname.
Sighing, Shadow flicked away the rock he had been fiddling with and placed his hands behind him, supporting his body weight. “I like to come here and think sometimes. Not your strong suit, so you wouldn’t understand.”
“Hey! I think too sometimes.” Sonic indignantly exclaimed.
“Sometimes?” Repeated Shadow with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah! Wait-” Sonic replied, before doing a double take. He was about to open his mouth to yet again say something indignantly, when he saw the tiny smile ever so slightly cross the normally passive face of his rival. His heart jumped at the sight. So instead, he started laughing. “I’ll have you know that I’m still faster than you, by the way.”
“Is that really the only reply you could come up with?” Shadow asked, the small smile peeking through the carefully maintained façade.
“I thought it was a good one honestly.”
Shaking his head, Shadow returned his gaze to the fading sun. “It sounded more like a challenge to me.”
“Oh, you gonna prove me wrong? Afraid you’ll lose to the fastest living thing ever?”
“I’m the ultimate lifeform, I don’t lose.”
“Yeah yeah yadda yadda ultimate lifeform this ultimate lifeform that I’ll still beat you, hah.” Sonic grinned, standing up, now feeling full of energy.
“I hope I see the look on your face when you lose, hedgehog.” Shadow replied, though not at all with the usual bite he had while talking. He stood up too, coming face to face with his blue counterpart, his deep red eyes full of challenge, the small smile still on his face. His heart beat faster, as if preparing for the coming race. At least, that’s the reason Shadow thought.
As did Sonic’s too. But for a slightly different reason. As they stood facing each other, energy surging through both their bodies, Sonic’s eyes glanced over to the sparkling waters. “First one to the ocean?”
“I thought you hated the water.” The red Mobian replied.
“It’s nice when I’m not in it.”
That gained a small internal chuckle from Shadow, though he would rather turn himself over to Eggman before he admitted that one of Sonic’s stupid jokes made him laugh.
“Threetwoonego!” The blue blur mouthed before speeding off without giving the other a chance to realize what he had done.
Growling, though not in his usual annoyed manner, Shadow activated his air shoes with his crackling chaos energy, boosting himself forward with immense speed and leaving scorching trails of rock and grass in his wake.
Catching up to the blue speedster by following his lasting trail down the mountain, Shadow knocked into Sonic before speeding past him, leaving his own red trail behind.
“Whoa! Couldn’t hurt to say excuse me!” He huffed before pumping his legs faster. Gaining speed, the two zipped down the thin mountain trail, Sonic just behind Shadow. Feeling his legs burn, and his chest fill with air, he began to grin as his head rushed like it normally did when he was racing. But this time was slightly different, because as his legs pounded into the ground, each step pushing him faster and faster, his heart did too.
They finally reached flat ground, and this gave Sonic the perfect opportunity to pass Shadow in a flash of blue, startling his rival. There was absolutely no way he was going to let him win this one.
The wind rushed through their fur and quills as the soil of the tracks was carved up in their wake, two paths crossing and weaving through each other as the two hedgehogs battled for first place, neither successful in overtaking the other for more than a few seconds. Up the hills and around the loops at breakneck speed once again, the ocean approached closer and closer.
Sonic, coming level with his counterpart, subtly shouldered into the red Mobian, hoping to get him to slow somewhat.
Instead, Shadow shouldered him back, taking his eyes off the path for a quick second to look at Sonic’s green ones. The two of them became locked in some sort of wrestle while running at full speed, trying to push the other off the track, shoulder to shoulder. The blue blur suddenly jumped, rolling into a spindash against Shadow. Taken off guard for half a second, Shadow replied by doing the same, rolling himself into a ball and smashing into Sonic a little harder than he anticipated, before unraveling and using his chaos energy to boost forward.
A small little “Oomph” could be heard from the hedgehog before the wind snatched it away. Righting himself, Sonic bounced himself out of his roll and continued running, his back slightly aching, trying to catch Shadow as he sped ahead. He would worry about that later.
Glancing back at his blue rival, Shadow tried not to convey the concern that he knew would be revealed in his traitorous eyes.
Sonic just flashed at him a winning smile once he saw Shadow’s red pupils lock with his.
Looking back with a huff and red energy crackling in his quills, the red and black hedgehog willed more energy to his air shoes, hoping for that tiny boost in speed that would allow him to cross the finish line first. If he let Sonic win, he knew the other would never cease to annoy him about it every chance he got.
They entered a densely forested area, the last rays of the fading sun struggling to make their way through the canopy, causing the track to be thrown in and out of dappled light. Speeding up, Sonic once again came shoulder to shoulder with Shadow, slightly leaning into him as if to push him off the track again. Paying more attention to his rival than the actual track, Sonic failed to see the massive log sprawled over the track in front of them.
Shadow’s lips curled into a small smile as he suddenly disappeared, leaving little sparks of energy in his wake. Sonic, taken by complete surprise, fell to the ground at the sudden loss of his support and, by complete chance, rolled straight under the branches without losing too much speed. Jumping up while trying to carry his momentum, he saw Shadow a decent way ahead, having used his chaos control to just teleport straight through the log.
Pumping his legs to their limit, Sonic willed with all his might to catch up to Shadow. “OI,” he yelled to the wind. “THAT’S CHEATING.”
“You didn’t set any rules, Hedgehog.” Shadow’s voice just reached his ears.
Feeling the spark or annoyance at his rivals fancy shmancy special abilities that he loved to wave over his head, the extra heat in his body gave him the boost he needed to lunge at Shadow, toppling them both as they rolled over the ground, jumping up at the exact same time.
Now they were completely even again, reaching the final stretch of the race as the sand of the beach became visible, the two rivals raced against each other, pushing to their limits of speed. Their hearts pounded in sync and their blue and red trails merged into one, a purple missile of two souls intwined. Sonic willed with all his strength to push harder, gain speed, beat his counterpart. And he was successful, gaining the tiniest bit of ground.
Just as they were about to cross the finish line, just as Sonic was about to win, Shadow lunged at him, returning the favor, and the two bodies cross the finish line at the exact same time, toppling into the sand as the grains exploded upwards. They finally came to a stop, limbs still tangled, Shadow ending up on top and Sonic stuck underneath, panting, both trying to catch their breath as their burning muscles ached in protest.
“I… SO… won that…” Sonic heaved.
“No you… didn’t it was… clear that… I did…” Shadow panted.
“You… CHEATED… cheater…”
“Can’t cheat if… you don’t set rules… Sonic…”
“I thought it was… unspoken…”
“You said race… we had a race, and I won…”
“No you didn’t… CHEATER…” Sonic accused, grinning now that his lungs had mildly come back under his control.
Shadow laughed, actually laughed. Sonic couldn’t believe it. His heart nearly jumped out of his throat, his jaw hurt from smiling so widely. The ache in his back was long forgotten, and his body felt warm with electricity. He had never felt more… alive. “Ok fine, agree to be even?”
“Don’t push it, Hedgehog.” Shadow replied, a small smile still on his face, unrestrained for once. Still in the same position, and his eyes were drawn to Sonic’s grinning face, and they locked eyes. The very last rays from the sun put on their final display of goodbye before it was quenched by the ocean, casting a soft, warm glow over the two of them, the green eyes before him sparkling with life, challenge, care, empathy and sincerity. The smile slipped off his face. Shadow felt sick.
“Ok then, agree to disagree?” Sonic asked.
Shadow didn’t reply, finally realizing what position they were in, and sharply untangled himself despite the small yelp of pain from the other, causing nothing but another wave of nausea to swallow him.
“Shadow…?” Sonic asked, suddenly concerned.
“Don’t talk to me.” He snapped harshly, before disappearing with a soft pop, the only remnants of what remained were the small particles of red and white energy that almost immediately fizzled out into nothing, just like the smile on Sonic face.
And then he was left alone, with nothing but the ocean and his thoughts, the cool air on his skin was nothing compared to the sudden knife wound in Sonic’s chest.
And again he was drowning.