Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a quiet summer evening in Green Hills, Montana. The sun painted the sky in rich shades of orange and lavender, its golden rays filtering through the window of Marina's bedroom. Inside, laughter echoed off the pastel walls as Sonic, Shadow, Maria, Silver, as well as Marina, Crystal, Joey, and Jessica chatted and joked around, sprawled out around the room.

Joey, sitting cross-legged with a half-empty soda can in hand, turned toward the window. The fading sunlight cast warm streaks across the floor, and a sudden idea popped into his head.

“Guys,” he said, clearing his throat to get their attention. “Since it’s absolutely stunning outside, what if we went to our old picnic spot? Watch the sunset, maybe even stargaze once it gets dark?”

Crystal gasped in delight. “Oh my gosh, yes Joey, that’s a great idea. ”

“Yeah,” Silver nodded. “I’ve never been to this picnic spot, but judging by Crystal’s reaction, it must be amazing.”

“Oh my god it is. It’s just a huge grassy field surrounded by tall greens and mountains,” Joey said in wonder, spreading out his arms dramatically.

“Whoa, that sounds amazing. I can use Chaos Control to get us there,” Shadow said, which they all agreed to since fitting them all in a car wouldn’t be the most comfortable. No one wants a quill to the face.

“I’ll ask my mom if she can make us something to eat!” Marina grinned, already hopping off the bed and ran downstairs.

Few minutes later, Marina returned with a grin on her face. “She said we can go… and she’s baking cookies!”

“Oh my god, yes!” Sonic shouted with excitement as he zipped around the room before diving onto Marina’s bed, landed all sprawled out like a starfish.

Everyone burst out laughing, including Sonic.

“Whoa careful Sonic, you don’t want to break anything,” Joey said while still laughing.

Sonic could only laugh in response.

A few minutes later, they heard Marina’s mom call out that the cookies were ready. Joey grabbed their picnic blanket and they all ran down the stairs excitedly.

She greeted them with a warm smile and a box of freshly baked cookies. The cookies were dark blue frosted chocolate chip with sparkly sprinkles.

“Whoa, these look incredible, thanks Mrs. Melody,” Shadow said as he looked at the cookies.

“Thank you Shadow, I hope you enjoy them,” Annalise said thoughtfully.

“I’m sure we will, you made them after all,” Jessica said, making Annalise smile warmly, cheeks a little pink.

With cookies and a picnic blanket in hand, everyone gathered around Shadow.

“Okay, everyone ready?” Everyone nodded in anticipation.

“Alright…Chaos Control,” Shadow exclaimed as the group disappeared.

They appeared in an endless grassy field, dotted with brightly colored wildflowers and were surrounded by tall trees and mountains. The setting sun cast a golden glow over the surrounding landscape making it look like something out of a dream. Shadow exhaled, rubbing his wrist after the teleport. Even for him, moving that many people wasn’t easy.

Shadow, Maria, and Silver took it in, eyes wide in awe.

“Wow, this place is beautiful,” Shadow said in awe.

“Yea, this is so peaceful too,” Silver added.

“Yea, it’s pretty amazing,” Joey said proudly.

“Alright, let's get this night picnic started,” Marina announced. She picked a spot on the soft grass, laid out the picnic blanket and placed the box of cookies in the center.

They all sat in a circle, sharing cookies as they watched the sun disappear behind the distant mountains. A cool breeze rustled the grass around them.

“Wow, these cookies are amazing Marina,” Sonic said as they ate.

“Thanks Sonic,” Marina replied happily.

Indeed, the cookies were delicious, they were gone in just a matter of minutes. When there was only one cookie left, Sonic and Shadow both grabbed it at the same time. They looked at each other with playful glares, smirks on their faces.

“I’m not gonna give up this cookie so easily big bro,” Sonic said challengingly as he stood up with the cookie in his hand.

Shadow stood up too, slowly advancing on Sonic like a predator. “So you wanna play it that way little bro.”

“Oh yeah,” Sonic replied confidently as he dashed off in a blue blur.

Playfully rolling his eyes, Shadow dashed after his brother. “Well, this could get interesting,” Jessica said smirking as she took out her phone to film the cookie chase.

The others watched as the 2 hedgehogs sped through the field, leaving electric streaks in their wake. Maria giggled at her cousin's antics. She remembered when they used to play tag with each other on the ARK, racing through the corridors and the professor shouting at them to slow down. Sonic zipped in tight circles, trying to shake Shadow, who teleported behind him at one point and booped his nose just to mess with him.

After a bit of dodging and weaving, Shadow got an idea. Using his Chaos Control, he disappeared.

Sonic looked around confused but kept running. “Shadow, where did you go?”

Suddenly, Shadow teleported in front of Sonic. Sonic yelped and swerved, tumbling into the dirt. He lay there, fur caked in dust.

Shadow grinned as he jogged over and plucked the cookie from Sonic’s hand. “Ha, gotcha.”

“Oh come on Shadow, that’s not far!” Sonic pouted as Shadow pulled him back to his feet.

“Sorry,” Shadow chuckled, handing Sonic half the cookie. “The look on your face was priceless. Here, a peace offering.”

“Haha very funny. But…thanks,” Sonic said, taking it and eating it in one bite. Shadow did the same.

Back on the picnic blanket, the others were laughing hysterically. Happy tears flowing down their faces. Jessica held up her phone, showing them the video. Sonic groaned playfully while Shadow smirked, unbothered.

Once their laughter faded, they sprawled on the blanket, staring up at the stars. The night was perfectly clear, not a cloud in the sky and more stars that they could count. With the atmosphere calm again, they just quietly chatted and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Marina pointed out constellations, Sonic whispered about seeing a shooting star. Maria reminded Shadow when they used to watch Earth from the ARK window for hours, dreaming that one day they could go to Earth together…and for a moment everything felt perfect.

Bet then, they were interrupted by a loud boom from the darkness.

"Uh…what was that?" Sonic asked nervously, ears perked, eyes scanning the horizon.

Another boom followed, closer this time. More followed, each one closer than the next. The sound morphed into rapid pops…like gunfire.

“Is…is that a gun?” Sonic muttered fearfully, instinctively shifting closer to Marina. She hugged him, masking her own fear as best she could.

“It’s okay my love,” she soothed, ears twitching too.

Shadow’s eyes narrowed, scanning the area. The sound grew louder…above them.

“It…sounds like its coming from above us,” he said looking up.

They all followed his gaze. A single bright blue light streaked across the sky like a comet, leaving a glowing tail behind it. Also behind it, more blue lights zipped into view, but these ones were smaller and flying in a perfect V formation. They didn’t know what or who it was.

“What the heck is that,” Jessica breathed.

“Are those jets?” Marina asked, squinting.

“No…jets don’t glow blue, normally?” Shadow muttered.

They watched in stunned silence as the smaller lights fired blue beams at the dot in front of them. Energy streaked through the sky like lightning. The lead figure dodged at dizzying speed…faster than Sonic, faster than anything they’d ever seen.

Then came the sound. The booming of wings.

A massive winged creature with horns streaked over the treetops, chased by jet-black robots firing energy cannons. They ducked instinctively as the shapes vanished back into the sky, reduced to streaks of light.

“Is that…another alien?” Marina whispered.

“It has to be. But I have never seen an alien that big before.” Shadow said.

“And…what about those robots? Could they be from…Robotnik?” Sonic asked shakily. His fear rose at the thought of that mad man and everything he had done to him and his loved ones.

Marina scratched his ear, grounding him.

“I don’t think they’re his,” Shadow said, eyeing the sky. “His bots are normally egg-shaped. These are different. Bigger.”

Before they could say more, a thunderous crack echoed across the sky. The lights vanished…except for one.

The single light flickered, growing brighter, larger. A faint whistling reached their ears. Silver’s eyes widened in horror “RUN!”

They scattered just as something enormous crashed into the field. The impact shook the Earth, a shockwave hurling them like rag dolls.

After a few moments of unconsciousness, Sonic groaned, pushing himself up, his fur was caked with dust. “What… was that?”

Behind him, something massive stirred.

In the moonlight, they saw it…a colossal figure, wings sprawled outward, glinting like diamond, Curved horns stick out from its head. Glowing blue light pulsed faintly along its dark body. It was as big as a cruise ship, its body human-like with two arms and two legs.

Its breathing was ragged, every exhale a wheeze.

Before they could approach, several of those jet-black mechs dropped from the sky, landing in a circle around the fallen alien. Their weapons armed with a chilling hum.

“Suspect Paragon. By order of the Guardian Units of Nations, surrender immediately. You are to be returned to containment.”

Sonic’s heart sank. “...G.U.N.?” he whispered. His voice cracked. The name felt like ice water down his spine.

Marina’s eyes widened. “What, that’s impossible?”

“I thought they stopped after…” Shadow’s voice trailed off, fists clenched. Shadow was stunned. Project Paragon…he has heard that name before. During his time at GUN Headquarters, he had heard some soldiers mention the project, but he didn’t know what it was at the time.

The titan shifted, groaning. With effort, it lifted itself to one knee. The moonlight revealed her face, and Sonic felt a cold shiver tear through him. A metal muzzle clamped over her mouth, a thick collar choked her neck, sparking faintly with energy, glowing blue eyes dulled with exhaustion.

She glared at the mechs, silent. Her body began to pulse with blue light, faster, brighter…Then, BOOM. A shockwave of blue energy exploded outward, vaporizing the surrounding mechs in an instant. The blast hit the group before they could react. Everything went black, but not everyone was unconscious.

Far in the distance, Longclaw soared silently above the border of Green Hills, her wings slicing through the cool night air. She’d taken to doing nightly patrols for Tom, a duty she took with pride. It gave her purpose. Protection came naturally to her, and Green Hills, with all its sleepy charm, reminded her of simpler times on Mobius.

The wind brushed through her feathers. The stars glittered above.

Then, a blinding flash of blue light erupted from the distant horizon, turning night into day.

Longclaw barely had time to process it before the shockwave struck, like a freight train to the chest. The force sent her spiraling out of the sky, feathers scattering into the dark. The ground rushed up, and she crashed through a grove of trees.

Everything went black.

Back at the Melody residence, Marina’s mother stood at the sink, rinsing a mug.

The explosion’s light filled the kitchen, casting everything in an eerie blue glow.

Her breath hitched.

She turned to the window, heart hammering, just in time to see the light fade.

Nothing was damaged, just an eerie silence.

But that light…

It came from where she’s dropped the kids off.

Her heart sank.

The mug slipped from her hands, clattering into the sink. Without a second thought, she grabbed her keys and ran, the door slamming behind her.

Minutes later, her headlights swept over the meadow.

What she saw made her stomach twist.

The field was devastated. Grass scorched black. Trees snapped like twigs or reduced to smoking stumps. The air shimmered with heat; smoke drifted over the flattened earth.

She flung open the car door and bolted into the night.

“Marina?! Joey?! Crystal?! Anybody?!”

Her voice cracked against the emptiness.

No laughter, no voices, no rustling of friends hiding in the dark.

Only the whisper of wind through ruined grass and the cooling tick of her engine behind her.

Her eyes fell on something small in the dirt.

A cookie box, tipped on its side.

She dropped to her knees, sobbing. The weight of dread and fear crushed her, stole her breath.
Her little girl was gone.

In the grove, Longclaw groaned and stirred.

Her body ached. The scent of smoke filled her beak.

At first, she couldn’t remember what happened. But then it all came flooding back in a flash. The light, the blast. Where did it come from? What caused it?

She pushed herself upright with a wince, scanning the sky…no stars. Just smoke. She started to hear crying not far from where she was.

With effort, she launched into the air, wings struggling through the heated wind. She glided toward the sound, heart pounding.

What she saw broke it.

A crater carved deep into the earth. Scorched and ruined.

And in its center. Marina’s mother, on her knees, shaking, sobbing as if the night itself had stolen her soul

Longclaw landed quietly beside her

“Mrs. Melody?” she said softly.

The woman turned, face streaked with tears. When she saw the owl, relief flooded her expression, desperate, hollow relief.

“Longclaw…thank God you’re here. It’s the kids…they’re gone! I don’t know where they went!” she sobbed.

Longclaw’s heart clenched.

Sonic. Silver. Marina. All of them…gone?

Without a word, she folded a wings around the woman.

The mother clung to her, as if letting go would shatter her completely.

“We’ll find them,” Longclaw whispered, more promise than hope.

Mrs. Melody wiped at her tears, nodding, trying to steady herself.

The two stood there, the ruin stretching around them, silhouetted by smoke and moonlight.

Somewhere out there the night kept it secrets.

After several tense minutes, Longclaw’s eyes caught a glint in the dirt.

“Over here,” she called.

Mrs. Melody hurried to her side.

Half-buried in the scorched grass was a large twisted shard of black metal.

Longclaw tugged it free.

They hesitated…almost not wanting to know what it was.

They both froze.

On its warped surface, one symbol remained, engraved into the steel.

G.U.N.

“Tom,” Mrs. Melody choked out into her phone, “the kids… they’re gone. And we found something. A piece of G.U.N. tech.”

The line fell silent quiet.

Then Tom’s voice, tight.

“Wait, what? Are you sure?”

Longclaw took the phone.

“We’re certain, Tom. It’s mangled, but the logo’s clear.”

Tom exhaled.

“G.U.N. wouldn’t touch them. Not after everything. But… I’ll call Commander Jonathan. Just in case.”

A pause.

“Can you two get back to the house?”

Longclaw nodded, though he couldn’t see.

“On our way.”

She pulled a golden ring from the satchel, flicked it through the air. The portal swirled open, light dancing across the wreckage.

As they stepped through, one thought wouldn’t leave her mind: What could have caused this much destruction...Where did the kids go?...and are they okay?

Chapter Text

At G.U.N. Headquarters, it was pure chaos. Commander Jonathan stood in the center of it all, barking orders while the air buzzed with static and stress. A dozen screens lit up with critical errors, telemetry crashes, and blinking offline alerts. Every single Nova Mech had gone dark.

“Someone talk to me!” Jonathan snapped. “Where the hell did she go?!”

A junior operative at a console turned pale.

“All Nova Mechs lost contact over a small town in Montana… Green Hills. Sir, the last thing they registered was a massive energy surge. Then… nothing.”

Jonathan’s heart stopped cold. Green Hills. That was where the hedgehogs lived. That was where the kids were.

Before he could even think, his phone buzzed in his pocket. The caller ID hit like a gut punch. Wachowski Residence. He picked up.

“Tom?” His voice was low, already bracing.

Tom’s voice hit him like a thunderclap, frantic, tight with panic. “Commander, we need help. Sonic and the kids…they're gone.”

Jonathan stiffened. “Gone?”

“They were hanging out in the hills. Annalise saw a bright blue light in the distance and Longclaw said that she got knock out of the sky by some kind of energy blast. When they went to check the scene, the whole place was... burned. Like a fire broke out or something. They also found a weird piece of metal in the grass, nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

In the background, Maddie’s voice broke in, tearful and trembling. “Please… we don’t know where they went and we are very worried about them. Please help us.”

Worried was an understatement, they were terrified.

Jonathan felt the pieces slot into place, and none of them looked good. Vanished Nova Mechs. A surge of blue energy. Now this.

“Tom… I need you to listen to me carefully,” he said, keeping his voice steady.

“There’s been…an incident. An incident involving a classified subject that escaped our custody. Somethi…someone dangerous may have passed through Green Hills.”

There was a pause. Then Tom’s voice, quieter now, but still edged with disbelief. “What kind of subject? Is this some G.U.N. thing? Did something go wrong? What happened?”

Jonathan’s grip tightened around his phone.

“I can’t say. But based on what we’re seeing… and the fact that all our systems went offline in the same exact spot… I believe Sonic and the kids may have been caught in it…Taken…Or worse.”

A cold, heavy silence took over the place between the lines. Then Maddie’s voice, so small it barely registered. “Are you saying… our son might be dead?”

Jonathan closed his eyes. Say the truth…but not all of it. he thought. “We don’t know, not yet. But given the level of power involved… we have to consider every possibility”

A soft sob crackled through the speaker. Tom’s voice came back, shaky. “You’re seriously telling us they just... disappeared? And you don’t even know why?”

Jonathan swallowed hard. “We are doing everything we can to figure this out. If they’re alive, we’ll find them. But I need you both to prepare yourselves. There’s a chance they’re…”

He couldn’t finish it.

The call ended with the quiet sound of Maddie crying. Jonathan lowered the phone and stared at the screen for a long second before turning back to the command room.

“Lock down all files regarding Subject Paragon. I want every drone we’ve got scanning that region. Get every available jet in the air, patrolling for signs of the children. If Paragon’s involved… we’ll find her.” He exhaled, jaw tight. “And if she hurt them…” His voice dropped low. He didn’t want to complete that thought. He didn’t even want to think about what Paragon could do to the kids…or what she had already done.

All the soldiers prepped all the tech they would need to find the kids.

Last thing Sonic remembered was everything being enveloped in a flash of blue light, then everything went black.

His eyes gradually opened as he shot up into a sitting position, ignoring the soreness in his entire body. Once his vision cleared, Sonic was able to take in his surroundings.

He was in a massive cave, everything around him was tinted in a faint blue light, shimmering slightly. The cave had 2 openings. One was on the east side of the cave on his right. The other was on the west side of the cave on his left.

Sonic got to his feet as a realization came to me. He was all alone!

“NO…NO, NO, NO. NOT AGAIN.”

Sonic panicked as he could feel his heart beginning to rise. Before he could go into a full panic attack, he saw all of his friends unconscious.

His eyes immediately landed on Marina’s body. Sonic ran over to her, wincing a bit from the soreness in his body.

“Marina?” he whispered frantically, dropping to his knees beside her. “Come on Marina, wake up please…”

He shook her shoulder softly, calling her name again and again.

He began to feel his electric form starting to activate as he felt his quills spark with electricity.

“Sonic…?” she mumbled, voice hoarse as her eyes fluttered open.

Before she could sit up, Sonic threw his arms around her in a tight hug, hot tears streaking down his cheeks.

“Oh thank god, I thought I was all alone again…”

Marina hugged him back, holding him close while she scratched his ear gently. “It’s ok, I’m fine my love,” she whispered, placing a hand on his cheek and planting a soft kiss on the other.

His quills stopped sparking.

They heard shuffling from behind them and they saw everyone else beginning to wake up from the sound of their voices.

Shadow groaned as he sat up holding his head. His eyes met Sonic and he could see that Sonic had been crying.

“Sonic, are you ok? What happened?” Shadow said with concern as he approached Sonic and Marina, followed by Joey, Crystal and everyone else. Sonic looked at Shadow.

“Yea, I’m okay. Just got a little nervous when I thought I was all alone.” Sonic said sheepishly.

Shadow walked closer to Sonic and hugged him. “Don’t worry Sonic, we are all here.” Shadow said calmly and sincerely. Sonic hugged him back. “Yea” Silver said as he join in the hug.

The next thing they knew, they were all in a group hug together, relieved that they were all together, wherever they were.

After what seemed like forever, they slowly broke from their embrace. “Uhh guys? Where are we?” Joey questioned, looking around at the space they are in.

The cave around them shimmered with faint, blue bioluminescence. They realized they weren’t just in a cave…they were trapped inside some kind of transparent, glowing orb.

They see a bright light coming from the opening on the east side of the cave. Marina got up and walked towards the surface of the orb and placed her hand on its surface. The surface rippled out from under her hand like water. The others follow her and look out at the massive space they are in. Marina’s jaw dropped to the floor.

Following her gaze, they saw that she is looking at a beautiful sunrise, casting a golden glow into the cave from the east opening. All of their mouths went agape.

“Wow, that is beautiful,” Silver said in awe. “Yea, it’s absolutely breathtaking,” Sonic added in agreement.

They took in sunrise for a moment, when they were interrupted by a gasp from Crystal as she stumbled backwards, landing on her behind.

“Whoa Crystal, are you okay?” Jessica said in concern as she approached Crystal and helped her get back up.

“Yea, sorry, it’s just…well… take a look for yourself.” Crystal gestured to the edge of the orb and pointed down. Shadow looked down and his eyes went wide.

Seeing his expression, the others look down and they see why Crystal got startled.

They were in a orb on a large rocky ledge thousands of feet off the ground. It was like looking down from the top of a skyscraper.

Outside the bubble, all they could see was rock walls, dotted with a few more ledges and shelves. One of them had large glass jars on it with some earthy stuff in it.

The cave kind of reminded them of Boom Shadow’s cave with the way the stone walls faintly shimmered with blue light. The ceiling of the cave stretched so high that it looked black from where they were. It was dotted with blue lights, like stars in a night sky.

Out of the opening of the cave, all they could see was the blue sky and the rising sun. Since they could only see sky from where they were, they could make out one thing.

Unlike Boom Shadow’s cave that was on the ground, this cave looked like it was very high up, maybe on top of a mountain. While Boom Shadow’s cave was dark and gloomy, this cave was very well lit with the sunlight and looked like someone lived there.

But who would live in a cave this big?

Near the east opening of the cave, there were several huge woven baskets, each one filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. Each type of produce had their own basket. They were filled with everything from oranges to coconuts and cucumbers and greens.

But one thing, the food was massive. A single grape could crush them.

“Whoa, why is the food here so big? Who is big enough to eat anything that size? Jessica said in surprise.

“Well, either we shrunk, or someone with a really big appetite lives here.” Joey said, wide-eyed.

Since they were in a massive cave on top of a mountain, they definitely didn’t shrink.

Sonic stared silently at the cave’s structure. Everything was on a massive scale. The faint bioluminescence embedded in the stone. The memories from last night flooded into his mind…the alien GUN was after.

Sonic wondered. “Is this…” he started, but a low muffled groan echoed from above them, followed by a long, ragged exhale.

Everyone froze.

The sound rumbled through the stone like thunder, feeling it under their feet.

Shadow looked at Sonic matching his shocked expression, but at the same time, they were thinking the same thing. They all glanced up.

Just above their heads, something sharp sat there… a dark blue, shiny feather, easily bigger than a skyscraper, gently shifting in the morning breeze blowing through the cave.

“W-what is that?” Sonic said his voice shaking as he started to tremble as everyone looked at him.

“We have to get out of here, Shadow…teleport us home.” Shadow looked at his brother, seeing how scared he was and gathered everyone close.

“Chaos Control,” he exclaimed, but they didn’t go anywhere. He tried again. And again, it didn’t work.

“Why isn’t it working,” Sonic asked scaredly, his breathing fastening. Shadow didn’t know why either, but he knew that he had to stay strong for his brother and everyone else. He pulled his brother close to him, “It’s ok little bro, we’ll find another way out of here,” he said reassuringly. Sonic calmed down slightly and relaxed.

“You’re right, thanks big bro. But we are trapped here with a…” he paused as the figure shifted above them, making them all freeze and look up.

Now they were all certain and thinking the same thing, they were trapped her with someone, maybe the alien from last night took them somewhere. Judging by the cave’s furnishings, they believed that this was her home.
They looked at each other. They wanted to go check out who was above them, but they were still trapped in the bubble.

“Um, how are we gonna get out of this bubble?“ Marina said. None of them knew how to get out. They couldn’t break out and they couldn’t teleport out either.

But Shadow had a hunch, it was a big stretch but he wanted to see if it will work.

“Hold on,” Shadow interjected. “I have an idea.” Shadow moved everyone closer to him.

“Chaos control!” he exclaimed as they all teleported out of the bubble and onto the rocky ledge.

The cool, open air of the cave hit them. The bubble they were in disappeared, Sonic looked around in surprise.

“What?! How did you teleport out of the bubble but couldn’t teleport them back home.” Sonic said frantically looking around.

“I think it is the work of some kind of powerful alien technology.” Shadow hesitated. They were all surprised. If this alien could stop Shadow from teleporting to certain places, this alien had to be very powerful and that intimidated them.

But, they were still curious on who was above them. “Come on, let’s go check this out.” Sonic said bravely but still a little afraid.

As he was about to try and climb up the rock wall when Silver jumped in, “Hold on big bro, I know an easier way.” Silver’s hands glowed with his teal energy as he and all of them levitated up the rock wall to the top of large flat rocky surface.

They all gently landed on the ledge. “Nice work little bro.” “Thanks Sonic,” the brothers said as they fist bumped.

Another loud groan and the ground rumbling made them all jump. They looked towards the sound.

They saw a large black structure on a glowing, silky black pad on the rocky ledge. With a closer look at it’s shape, they realized that it was a foot.

They looked down the body and saw the massive wings they would recognize anywhere. It was the massive alien from the night before, Paragon.

“Oh my god, she’s much bigger than I thought,” Maria whispered in surprise. They all had the same look on their faces as they stared her.

They climbed up onto a soft black pad that covered the top of the stone. It was probably more comfortable for her so that she doesn’t have to lay on stone.

They began their way up the alien’s massive body. As they did this, they saw that most of her body was covered in some kind of black material. It looked like some kind of tech suit. It is black with indents in it, faintly coursing with blue energy.

Towering above them, her legs seemed to stretch on forever. She was lying on her right side, her massive body curled slightly in her sleep. Her left arm was draped protectively across her torso, hand nestled near her ribs.

Though they barely see this because of her wings being draped over most of her body like a blanket. Each massive feather shimmered faintly with a deep blue glow. Most of the feathers they could see were long and sharp like blades.

They rose and fell slightly with each breath she took, a subtle wave that whispered she was still alive. Joey ran his hand along one of Paragon’s many feathers, shocked on how soft they were. As they walked along the curve of her side, the wings obscured much of her form, but here and there, the suit peeked through: over her waist, across her arms, through a gap at her shoulder.

Her size was overwhelming, and yet she seemed… vulnerable. They reached her upper body, the wings now gently fanned outward. One massive hand lay palm-up beside them, fingers relaxed.

She had a faintly glowing ring on her wrist that slightly resembled Shadow’s inhibitor bracelets and they remembered seeing the same rings on her ankles as well. The glow from her suit traced along the back of her knuckles like circuit-light highways.

At last, they reached her face.

Her head rested on her enormous pillow, tilted to the side. The suit receded at her collarbone, revealing smooth, dark blue skin freckled with glowing spots and faded black stripes on her forehead. Her skin was close to the same color when Sonic enters his dark form, but it’s more blue than black.

Around her closed eyes, she had shiny silver gem protrusions on the inner and outer corners of her eyes, as well as one in between her eyebrows. She also had dark shadowing around her eyes, looking sort of like black eyes, giving her a corrupted look.

But what they saw made their blood boil, bile threatening to escape their throats.

She had a high-tech black muzzle strapped tightly over the lower half of her face. It went from her nose to the bottom of her chin. That explained why all the noises she had been making have been muffled. They could see some more faded stripes on her cheeks but they were mostly covered by the muzzle.

From the muzzle, she also had a thick, black metal collar on her neck. On the edges of both the muzzle and collar, a dark blue fluid oozed from the sharp edges of the muzzle and collar, soaking the pillow under her head. Since the muzzle and collar were tightly fastened to her face and neck, it could be her blood. Some of the blood had dried on her face and neck as well.

It was absolutely heartbreaking to see.

“Oh my God…” Marina whispered, hands trembling. Sonic held her hand reassuringly.

How could someone treat a living thing like this? They didn’t know what was worse, the fact that G.U.N. had built something so vicious for a living being, or the fact that Paragon had endured this for who knows how long.

Sonic, Shadow, Silver and Marina thought GUN and Dr. Denman were horrible with them, this was a whole other level of torture for someone who probably doesn’t deserve it. They thought that GUN was good with aliens. Apparently they were good with them, not Paragon. What had GUN done to her?

Her breathing was slow and shallow, each breath sounding like a faint wheeze. Her chest barely moved. It looked like it hurt just to breathe. The longer they listened, the more their hearts broke. She looked dead to the world.

On the top of her head, she had large horns that emerged from the upper sides of her head. The horns were tall, sleek, and sharply curved, they curve backward and upward in a sweeping arc. The horns had a midnight blue, shiny look to them with sharp points on the ends. The base of the horns appears thick and is seamlessly blended into her head.

Because of all the similarities she seemed to have with humans, they expected to see hair on her head. But instead, it was covered by a headpiece that looks like the same material as her suit. Because of that, it could just be a piece of her suit that covers her hair and it’s underneath.

Even unconscious, she looked intimidating. And… beautiful, even with the blood soaked muzzle and scars. She looked like she went through hell.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I think she looks kind of pretty.” Marina said looking at Paragon’s face. “Yea, she is rather pretty, in a sort of terrifying way.” Joey said. “She’s gorgeous.” Someone said. They all looked around to see who said that. Their eyes landed on Shadow, his eyes locked on her. They all turned to look at him with puzzled looks, Shadow looked at the ground sheepishly.

They all stood in silent awe, gazing up at the slumbering titan. She was beautiful, but her beauty was disturbed by her pained expression and the tortuous equipment strapped to her. Like she was locked in her own body. She didn’t look too threatening now. She looked…exhausted and in pain.

“Uh guys, why do you think she saved us and brought us here?” Crystal questioned warily. “I’m not sure, we’ll just have to wait until she wakes up. In the meantime, we’re stuck here.” Shadow said. This made Sonic panic. He didn’t want to be stuck here. He missed his parents and the others definitely do as well, but there was nothing he could do since for some reason Shadow couldn’t Chaos Control them back home.

Sonic turned and looked around the lair. “Well since we have nothing else to do, maybe we could explore this place.” Sonic said calmly to reassure everyone else and himself. They nodded in agreement. Exploring the lair could be something interesting to do since Paragon was still out like a light. They could just tell by her exhausted facial expression that she wasn’t waking up anytime soon, which was expected since she had a rough night and looked absolutely drained.

“So where should we go first?” Silver asked. The group looked over the ledge for where they should explore first. “How about we go over there?” Sonic said pointing to one of the shelves on the wall. “Silver, think you can lift us over there?” Sonic asked.

With a determined nod, Silver lifted them all to the shelf Sonic pointed to. On the shelf, a black-glossed box sat in front of them. Shadow stepped forward and eyed it suspiciously. “What is this thing?” he muttered. Joey, ever curious, leaned closer.

“It looks like a music box.” Without hesitation, Shadow reached out and gently touched it. The moment his fingers brushed the smooth surface, the surface of the object flickered blue, then came a melody. It was hauntingly beautiful. The tune was slow and dreamy.

None of them recognized the melody, but it stirred something in them. Marina gasped quietly. Crystal covered her mouth. Silver and Sonic stood frozen, their ears twitching as the sound reached them.

Then they heard a sign behind them. They turned toward the titan. Paragon’s expression, once twisted in pain, softened ever so slightly. Her brows eased. Her wings shifted just enough to make the feathers glint in the light of the rising sun. Her lips parted in a soft exhale and her body relaxed.

“She… heard it,” Sonic whispered. Marina placed a hand on his shoulder again. “It soothed her…” None of them said a word after that. The song kept playing, and they stood there, letting it wash over them. It stopped after a moment and they took in the rest of her lair.

The lair was well furnished with a dark, starry black rug on the floor as well as many floating shelves lining the stone walls. A full length mirror rests on the wall on the other side of the lair. On the other shelves, there were glass jars filled with what looked like dried herbs. A black vase filled with a familiar flower caught their eye. It was purple and had a slender shape to it, lavender. In addition to the floating shelves, there were little pockets in the rock that held brightly colored tropical looking flowers.

On the ground near the rug was black instrument case. “Joey, what instrument do you think that is?” Sonic asked Joey. Joey studied it carefully. The case was closed so he couldn’t see what the instrument was but the case had a signature shape to it that only one kind of instrument had.

“Due to it’s shape, it could be a string instrument of some kind, like a violin or something.” Joey replied. This discovery got them curious. Paragon has a taste in music? Maybe they could ask her to join their band, but that was a bit of a stretch.

“This place surely is something.” Jessica said spreading her arms out. The others nodded in agreement. “Yea, it is, but do you think we can get back on the ground now?” Crystal said nervously. “Sure Crystal, everyone ready.” Silver said, everyone nodded. Silver lifted them off the ledge and guided them towards the ground. “Wait Silver, float us over to the instrument case. Maybe we can figure out what instrument it is.” Joey said suddenly. Silver and them flew and landed in front of the case.

The case was a glossy jet black with dark blue swirls that shimmered and towered over them. Silver used his powers to open the case. Silver lifted the others up and what they saw in the case stunned them.

Joey had been right, sort of. Inside the case was a violin, but it had a different shape to it. It looked lot like an electric guitar, which caught Sonic’s attention. The violin had the same design as the case. Instead of four strings, it’s had seven.

“Whoa, Joey looks like you were right. But what kind of violin is this? I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Maria said curiously.

“I think I’ve seen something like this before, but not quite the same. But, using Earth standards, this violin looks like a special type called a Viper. Think of it like the rockstar version of a violin. Instead of a traditional, rounded wooden body, it’s all sharp and sleek like an electric guitar. With Vipers, instead of tucking it under your chin, it straps right to your chest so you don’t even have to hold it up.”

Joey gestured to the fingerboard and counted the strings. “Normally, these come with four or five strings so you get both high violin notes and lower viola notes, but hers? She’s got seven! That means it can play the notes of high violins and low, deep cellos with one instrument.” Joey said in shock and awe.

The others gazed at the instrument. They wondered what it sounded like. Maybe it would sound different? Joey said that it was the rockstar version of a violin. Maybe it will sound like an electric guitar.

After admiring the violin, they continued their way to the opening on the west side of the cave towards the setting song, which was going to take a while given the size of the lair.

It took a few hours, but they managed to make it to the west opening, overlooking the vast, glowing forest below. A gentle night breeze drifted in, carrying the scent of flowers and sea spray.

They settled along the edge, backs to the wall, legs stretched out over the smooth stone. Sonic sat between Marina and Silver, with Shadow to his other side. Crystal and Joey rested near the edge, legs dangling carelessly. Jessica leaned back on her elbows, eyes tracing the stars above. The view was incredible. The jungle below pulsed with light, trees with luminous bark and rivers like liquid sapphires winding through the valleys. The coastline sparkled faintly under the starlight. And yet, beneath the wonder, a heavy silence hung between them.

Sonic finally broke it. “This place is beautiful. ” “Yea, but it’s miss home,” Silver said softly, finishing the thought he hadn’t said aloud. “No,” Shadow agreed. “It’s not.” “They must be so worried about us,” Marina muttered, brushing a hand through her hair. “Tom, Maddie, Longclaw, Annika, they must be terrified.” Sonic’s ears drooped.

Shadow wrapped an arm around his brothers. “We’ll find a way back. Eventually.” No one responded. They just sat there, leaning against each other for comfort, letting the soft wind fill the silence. The stars above blinked quietly. The sky was painted with gorgeous glowing blue auroras, making the night not too dark or suffocating.

They had to admit, despite the uneasy presence of the powerful titan and absence of their parents, the lair was surprisingly peaceful and had great views of the jungle, ocean, and beaches.

It was breathtaking, but their moment was interrupted when they heard shifting and groaning behind them. When they turned, blue light pulsed from the titan’s loft as she tossed and turned. Something was wrong.

Chapter Text

Back in Green Hills, the silence in the Wachowski household was suffocating. Maddie sat on the couch, arms wrapped tightly around a throw pillow. Her breath came in shudders, her eyes glassy from hours of crying. Maddie had called Rachel about what happened and she rushed over almost as fast as Sonic with Jojo, who had been at a friend's house for a sleepover.

Trying to keep her panic contained, Maddie explained what happened. Jojo’s face drained of color, and she clung tightly to her mother, understandably panicked and worried about her aunt and the others. They settled into the nearby chair, Jojo in Rachel’s arms.

Tom sat beside Maddie, holding her hand and draping an arm over her shoulders. He kept his expression calm for her sake, but his jaw was so tightly locked it looked like he might crack a tooth. Longclaw sat nearby, her feathers drooping, eyes heavy with worry.

At the kitchen table, Annalise gripped the edge so hard her knuckles turned white. Her wide, stunned eyes stared at the half-empty mug of tea that had long gone cold. “They’re… gone,” she whispered, voice thin and haunted.

Tom looked up, meeting her eyes. He gestured for her to join them. She did, still trembling as she sat down. He placed his hand on hers.

“Don’t worry. Our kids are gonna be okay.” he said firmly.

Annalise wiped a tear away and nodded shakily. Tom continued, “We just have to wait for any information about the search. We have to believe they’re okay. They’re fighters.”

Maddie reached across, gripping his hand. “Yeah. You’re right. They’ll be okay. Sonic and his brothers will protect their friends until their last breaths.”

They sat together, the heavy silence returning, but this time with a faint thread of reassurance. The kids would protect each other… no matter what.

Back on the island, Sonic and his friends watched as Paragon’s massive body shifted in restless sleep, her twitching limbs escalating into violent thrashing. Her gasps deepened into ragged screams.

Sonic had suffered plenty of night terrors himself, but it was far more terrifying to see it from the outside. They wanted to help, but at her size, one flail could crush them. All they could do was watch helplessly as the titan’s cries turned into muffled, choked sobs.

Her wings flared outward, the razor-feathered edges slamming against the cave wall with a deafening CRACK. Her entire body arched violently as if being electrocuted from the inside out. She spasmed, rolled, then plummeted off the ledge, slamming into the stone floor.

The group jumped in shock.

Before they could even move, Paragon jerked upright onto her feet. Her eyes glowed wildly, her mouth snarling behind her cracked, blood-slick muzzle. She staggered around the cave, her glowing blood trailing down her neck and shoulders. Black veins bulged and covered her face like vines.

Dark energy pulsed beneath her skin. She screamed again, clutching her head, claws digging into her scalp until black fluid oozed from her ears. With a sickening crack, she slammed herself sideways into the cave wall, chunks of stone raining down.

Her roars collapsed into guttural, panicked wails, like a wounded animal begging for the pain to end. Then she turned, bashing her skull into the wall. Over and over. Each impact made them flinch, the echo of bone against rock reverberating through the cave, streaked with smears of glowing blood.

Her fists clenched so tight her knuckles cracked, nails gouging into her palms until they bled. Her entire body trembled and thrashed violently, as if she were holding something back.

The group could feel her thunderous heartbeat through the floor, like a war drum.

She screamed again, a howl of agony that tore through the mountain. Her wings flared wide, sharp feathers carving deep grooves into the walls as her body shook like it was splitting apart.

Then her hands clawed at the collar around her throat. Her trembling fingers gripped it with desperate rage. With a savage roar, she ripped it off. The collar split in half with a burst of sparks and energy, fragments clattering to the floor.

Her throat began to glow blue. She clawed furiously at the bolted muzzle, metal bending under her grip. With a spray of sparks and blood, she tore it away.

A brilliant beam of blue light erupted from her mouth, shooting skyward. It stopped at the ceiling, blocked by something unseen. The whole sky above rippled with blue energy.

Then black fluid leaked from her mouth as the beam sputtered out. She staggered and collapsed, nearly tumbling off the mountain. Her body hit the ground with a sickening thud. She gasped, heaved, spasmed, glowing blue and black fluid pooling beneath her.

“OMG, what just happened?” Crystal whispered in shock.

“I…I don’t know,” Silver said, shaken.

“I’ve seen my fair share of night terrors, but…not this bad.” Shadow intercepted.

He opened his mouth to speak again, then froze as Paragon stirred.

The group tensed. She staggered unsteadily back to her loft, collapsed, and lay still. Her glowing eyes flickered once before dimming shut. Her breath was ragged, but at least she was breathing.

Silver, still trembling, lifted everyone with his psychokinesis onto a nearby ledge close to her loft. From there, they watched her still-twitching form in silence. They were thankful that she was no longer hysterical.

As their eyes adjusted, the shadows revealed her face and what they saw made their stomachs twist. Deep claw marks ran down her cheeks, raw and inflamed where she had torn the muzzle away. Jagged cuts ringed her jaw and neck, bruised a sickly purple with impressions from tight restraints. Where the collar had burned her throat, the skin was charred, the dried blood darker than the rest, streaked down to her collarbones.

Sonic clapped a hand over his mouth, horrified. Marina steadied him with a hand on his shoulder to keep him grounded.

“Guys, what do you think is wrong with her?” Silver asked hesitantly.

Everyone stood there in silence. None of them knew what just happened, but whatever it was, this wasn’t good.

Shadow’s gaze lingered on the scar along the left side of her neck, its edges pulsing faintly black. It looked… corrupted.

“You don’t think… she’s cursed, do you?” Sonic asked shakily, remembering when Tamisera cursed Sonic with the possession virus and made him attack Shadow. Come to think of it, she did act similarly when Sonic’s curse took over, maybe it was something similar.

“Maybe.” Shadow said.

Marina’s eye lit up with hope. “ Shadow, maybe you can heal it! You couldn’t heal Sonic before, but now you know you can. Maybe you can help her.”

Shadow hesitated. Healing wounds was one thing. A curse was something else entirely. But he had to try.

He stepped closer, placing his hands gently on the scar. Paragon flinched and groaned.

“It’s okay big girl, I’m gonna try and help.” Shadow quietly said as he charged up his Chaos energy and everyone watched.

“Chaos Heal.”

His hands glowed. The scar pulsed black, blasting him back slightly. Paragon whined, her body stiffening before relaxing again.
“Whoa bro you okay?” Joey asked, steadying him.

“Yeah…but this is what I was afraid of. She is cursed.” Shadow muttered.

They all stared at the titan with heavy hearts. Who had cursed her? Hadn’t she been through enough already? And this… was probably only half of it.

They didn’t want to leave her side. So they stayed on the ledge, eventually drifting into restless sleep.

Beneath the starlit cave ceiling, Paragon remained still, faint blood glowing against the cold stone.

Morning sunlight spilled into the cavern, dust sparkling in golden rays. Shadow yawned, rubbing his eyes, then froze.

Paragon wasn’t there.

He stood, scanning the cave until his eyes landed on her massive silhouette at the mountain’s edge. She leaned against the wall, arms crossed, wings tucked, eyes fixed on the horizon.

“Guys. Wake up,” he hissed, nudging Sonic, then Silver. “Huh…?” Sonic mumbled, still half-asleep.

“She’s awake,” he said, stepping forward. He was cut off when a deep, low exhale rumbled from her chest like thunder.

They all froze.

A gasp suddenly escaped Silver’s lips. He quickly covered his mouth, staring at Paragon with wide eyes.

Paragon turned her head, smoke trailing faintly from her nose. Slowly, she faced them. Her glowing eyes locked on the group. Her lips peeled back in a snarl, fangs gleaming.

She stepped forward towards them, but she stumbled and leaned against the cave wall. Collecting herself, she resumed walking towards them. Sonic and the others stared in shock. Intimidating before, she was terrifying now. Every movement rippled with power. Her feathers shimmered faintly in the sunlight, but there was nothing soft in her expression, only anger.

The roar that followed shook the cave. Sonic, Silver, Marina, Joey and Jessica dropped instantly, huddling together.

Without hesitation, Shadow stepped in front of his friends. As Shadow looked at her, the deep gashes on her face and neck were nothing but faint grey scars that he probably wouldn’t seen without the sunlight. Deep down, he was absolutely terrified, he had never seen an alien of this size before and she looked ready to kill.

Her wings flared wide, glowing dangerously, feathers slicing the air. Shadow raised his hands calmly. “Hey. It’s okay… shhhhh. Easy…” he said, voice calm but firm. “ We’re not going to hurt you.” Paragon didn’t move. Her breathing was still heavy, shaky, like something was wrong. Her faced suddenly tensed, the scar on her neck pulsed with black energy. She turned and shook her head. With a pained expression, she turned back to them.

“You brought us here…,” Shadow said carefully. “After the robots attacked you…After you used an energy blast to destroy them. You been passed out for the past day or so.”

Her expression flickered. The hostility in her eyes dimmed. Her shoulders eased.

Sonic and the others stayed frozen, watching from the ledge. Their hearts were pounding. None of them wanted to admit it how terrifying she looked. Her blue eyes alone were unnerving. They had all seen people with blue eyes, but none could hold a candle to her. They were dark blue like the rest of her, but they weren’t just a solid color, as most eyes aren’t. They were light blue near her black pupils and they slowly changes to a darker cobalt on the outer ring of her eye. But right now, those eyes were still ringed with dark veins, her pupils sharp and narrow, like a predator coming down from bloodlust.

Shadow’s eyes held certainty in them that stopped Paragon's snarling. No words were exchanged between the aliens as they stared at each other. Paragon paused as the memories from the night before slowly came back. She had just escaped GUN’s capture and was nearly captured again, but she released an energy blast to get rid of them. Paragon shook her head, like she was trying to shake off the fog in her mind.

Slowly, her wings folded back, her posture softening. Her breathing slowed. The fury in her face melted into exhaustion.

Finally, she exhaled and nodded.

Everyone breathed a shaky sigh of relief, thankful that she wasn’t about to attack them.

“Why…why’d you take us?” Sonic asked, voice small but steady. “You could’ve just left us back there. Why bring us here?”

Paragon crouched slightly, looming over them. Her eyes narrowed.

“Be grateful I kidnapped you instead of killing you,” she said coldly.

The group froze, stunned.

“You saved us… and now you’re threatening us?” Sonic said cautiously.

“I brought you here because you might be useful to me. You’ve seen too much. G.U.N. has been on my ass since I got here, you're leverage.”

Marina’s fists clenched. “So you’re just gonna keep us here?”

Paragon ignored her. “You're staying here, until I decide otherwise. I’m not risking some teenagers exposing me”

Sonic stepped forward, trying to stay calm. “We won’t say a word. I swear. But our families…they are probably freaking out right now.”

She snarled loudly, showing her large diamond canines. Sonic backed off, a faint whimper escaping his lips and his ears flattened to his head.

Shadow spoke up, voice tight. “ We’ll stay, but can you just not keep us in that glowing bubble.”

“Fine.”

Paragon rolled her eyes, hand glowing with blue energy. Their bodies lifted from the ledge, glowing briefly before settling back down.

At first, nothing seemed different…until they looked around. Her lair no longer looked so massive. Sonic turned to Paragon, and realized they now stood just below her waist.

“She changed our size…” Silver murmured. “Whoa…” Sonic blinked. “This is awesome.”

Paragon rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. Opening them again and looking back at them, she pointed to the exit with her eyes.

“...Now get out.” They blinked in confusion.

“…Wait, what?” Sonic asked.

“GET OUT!” she roared, wings flaring with a thunderous clap, bearing her teeth again. The wind blast nearly knocked them from the ledge.

Shadow noticed the dark shading around her eyes, the tremor in her wings. Like she hasn’t slept in a long time, and he may have found out the reason why.

“Okay, okay! We’ll leave you be. Silver…get us out of here!” Silver nodded and lifted the group with his powers as Paragon loomed feathers glowing. They drifted down to the tree carpeted land below.

Above them, she turned away, one hand clutching her scarred neck. Her feathers dimmed as she walked back into her lair.

Chapter Text

Once they got to the forest floor, they gazed around. They were surrounded by a dense, glowing jungle. The trees and vines looked like Earth’s, but every leaf and flower shimmered faintly with a blue light, as if the whole forest breathed with Paragon’s energy.

“So…what should we do now?” Silver asked the group.

Shadow folded his arms. “Well, we can’t really go back up there. It would be best to give her some space. Maybe we can check on her later. For now, we could explore this place.”

Everyone nodded.

“I remember seeing the ocean from the top of the mountain, could we go there?” Silver asked hopefully.

“Sure, I could teleport us there.” Shadow said.

They gathered close. In a flash of light, they were on a gorgeous beach. If the beach in Australia was beautiful, this was heaven. The sand was almost white and the water was crystal clear and it almost looked like it was sparkling in the sun.

“Last one in is a rotten banana!!” Joey shouted, bolting for the waves.

The others laughed and tore after him. They played in the waves, body-surfed, splashed, and raced until their energy gave out. Breathless, they sprawled on the shore, soaking in the sun. For a while, it was perfect.

But Shadow couldn't relax. His mind kept circling back to Paragon. What kind of alien is she? Where did she come from? How did she get here? Did GUN capture her and what did they do to her? Did they hurt her like they hurt him and Sonic or like Dr. Denman had?

Sonic noticed the distant, lost look on his brother’s face and sat beside him, the others following. “Hey bro. You alright? You look worried.” Sonic said concerned.

“Oh hey bro. Sorry, I’m fine.” Shadow sighs. “I’m just worried about Paragon.” Shadow admitted.

Sonic rested a hand on his shoulder. “How about we check on her?” Sonic suggested to the group.

Shadow hesitated, guilt and worry flickering in his eyes. “I don’t know, she made herself pretty clear that she didn’t wish to be bothered and I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“One swing could kill someone” Jessica added. She did have a point.

Sonic’s ear twitched, an idea sparking. “I’ll go, my speed will keep me out of trouble.” Sonic said confidently.

“It’s too risky Sonic, I wanna go with you.” Silver pleaded.

Shadow nodded.

Sonic shook his head. “I would be best if I go alone. She could be more likely to attack if we all go in at once.” Sonic said.

Another good point. They were worried for Sonic, but almost just as worried for Paragon. What if her scar flared up again and she was laying on the floor bleeding? That thought alone was enough leverage.

They agree that Sonic will go up and they will wait at the bottom of the mountain if he needed help.

Shadow teleported them back to the mountain and Sonic prepared to run up to the lair. After a few good lucks, Sonic disappeared in a blue blur. Sonic ran up the mountain and arrived at Paragon’s lair in a matter of seconds.

When Sonic looked in the lair, he saw her passed out on her loft again, her body twitched with a pained expression on her face.

Sonic’s chest ached. It was just like when she passed out after her episode last night. Despite how cold she was towards them, they felt sympathy for her.

A whimper slipped from her lips. Sonic’s heart broke. What hurted him most was seeing someone as big and powerful as her so vulnerable.

“It’s okay girl,” he whispered as he slowly climbed up the raised ledges that came out of the side of her rock loft like a ladder.
He looked at her face as he got closer. “I’m going to help you.” Paragon gasped and flinched away, her feathers rattling. Sonic leaned in anyway.

“Easy now.” Hovering over her head, he was about to touch her face when her eyes opened, her fist shot upwards, nailing Sonic right on the chin, sending him flying upward in a straight line.

Sonic let out a terrified scream as pain explode in his jaw and he hit the ceiling of the lair. His quills dug deep into the stone, leaving him stuck up there, his arms and legs dangling like a spiky blue chandelier.

Sonic knew she would be startled or even angry but he wasn't expecting her to punch him.

Paragon sat up quickly, blinking through her haze. Her gaze locked on him. Her face went from being startled to annoyance as she snarled at Sonic.

Her eyes suddenly rolled back and she collapsed back onto her bed, unconscious.

The others were waiting when they heard a crash and a loud scream. It was Sonic.

Without thinking, Shadow skated up the mountain full speed while Silver floated up, carrying their human friends. When they got to the lair, they looked frantically for Sonic, but they didn't see him. “Sonic!?” they shouted.

Heavy breathing drew their eyes up saw him on the ceiling of the lair, his face in pure shock.

Silver flew up to Sonic. “What happened?” Silver worriedly asked. He only got panicked breaths as a response. Given how startled Sonic was, Paragon had something to do with it. Did she threaten him? How did he end up on the ceiling? Did she…hit him, on purpose or by accident? Did he upset her?

The humans watched from the floor, their faces full of worry. Shadow flew up with his air shoes and with the two of them pulling Sonic by his legs, they successfully got him out of the ceiling and back onto the ground. Sonic landed on the ground, his breath shaky and uneven.

Seeing the terrified look on her love's face, Marina hugged him tight and scratched his ears to comfort him. Sonic calmed down quickly after the hug. He looked at his friends and brothers, then looked back at Paragon. “We should go.” Sonic croaked out.

They agreed. Shadow Chaos Controlled them back to the ground. “Sonic, what happened?” Shadow asked softly as to not startle his brother even more than he already was. He had to know what happened and if Paragon did anything.

With his friends around him in a protective circle, Sonic swallowed hard. “I was just trying to get closer to her to comfort her. I climbed up her loft to get closer, but when I was about to touch her, she shot awake and…punched me.”

Their jaws dropped.

“What, why did she do that? She could have killed him!” Joey said angrily.

Before the anger could spread, Shadow stepped in. “Whoa easy guys, Sonic probably just startled her.” Shadow said to calm everyone down.

“If she was just startled, why did she punch him?!” Jessica shouted.

Shadow’s stomach twisted, he knew what happened.

“Shadow, are you okay?” Silver asked when he saw Shadow scared. Putting his hand up, he went into a nearby cave. The others followed Shadow. The cave was dark, the ceiling glowing with blue particles like stars in the night sky. They find Shadow sitting on the ground with wide eyes.

“It’s okay Shadow, you can tell us.” Maria said softly, holding Shadow’s hands. Shadow took a deep breath to calm himself. “She was reacting to someone being around her. You don’t react that way unless…” Shadow trailed off, as if what he was going to say was too painful to come out.”

Realization spread to the rest of them. She was tortured. GUN tortured her, just like how they did Sonic and Shadow if not worse.

Now they were even more worried about her. No one reacts to being awaken like that unless something awful has been done to her.

They stayed in the cave until dark and decided it was best to sleep in the cave since it provided shelter and they didn’t know of any other places. Besides, the cave was pretty.

Later that night, Shadow was restless, haunted by nightmares, Paragon towering over his friends’ lifeless bodies, jaws wide to tear him apart. When her jaws were about to clamp on him, he jolted awake, chest heaving, fur clamping with cold sweat.

Not wanting to have another nightmare, he quietly got up and exited the glowing cave. He wandered around the quiet island, admiring it's supernatural beauty. Not realizing it, he found himself on Paragon’s mountain close to her lair.

He hesitated at the lair’s entrance. His nightmare clung sharp, but since he hadn’t seen Paragon since she sent him into the ceiling, he decided to peek in and check on her.

Since it was in the middle of the night, he fully expected her to be asleep, so he entered quietly. But to his surprise, she was standing on the other side of her lair from where he was, looking out over the vast moonlit landscape below.

He stared at her silently as the moonlight reflected off her dark feathers and horns. He didn’t know what it was, but he found himself just staring at her. She looked almost majestic in the moonlight, he almost felt attracted to her, but the images from his nightmare flooded his mind.

She could kill him if she wanted to with little effort. She could have killed his brother, and that strike wasn’t even intentional. Why was he feeling attracted to someone who almost killed him and scared the life out of his brother.

Lost in his thoughts, he accidentally stumbled on his feet and stepped on a rock, sending it clattering across the polished floor.

Hearing a sound, Paragon quickly spun around, baring her teeth and spreading her wings in alarm as her body pulsed with energy.

Shadow staggered back, panic freezing him in place. His ears drooped. He clutched his inhibitor ring, trembling.

She stared at the hedgehog, analyzing his facial expression. Paragon's face softened from angry to irritated, still glaring at the hedgehog.

Before he could think, he spoke. “I’m..I’m sorry to disturb you…I just,” he choked out, his voice stuttered. Huffing through her nose and rolling her eyes, she turned away from him.

Hearing the hedgehog choke on his words caused mixed feelings in Paragon. She was conflicted. She wanted to be annoyed. But seeing the hedgehog on the verge of tears who had stood up to her the same day made her feel something she thought she lost a long time ago…she felt bad for him.

Before she could turn around, a shaky voice broke the silence, “I didn’t mean to startle you…neither did my brother earlier. Sonic saw you uncomfortable and in pain.” Shadow choked out. Sonic, brother? Was he talking about the blue hedgehog that she punched earlier? He came in…because he was…concerned about her? That’s something she hadn’t experienced before. No one has ever been concerned about her.

Hearing this, she twitched her ear in his direction, turning her gaze back to the hedgehog without turning her whole body, just showing the right side of her head. Her face looked softer than before, showing more concern. Shadow was puzzled. But if he showed he was puzzled, she would get suspicious.

“Why are you here?” she asked, her tone quieter now. Shadow just stared at her, his throat tightened and he began to tremble, lowering his head, words tumbling out before he could stop them. He told her about his nightmare, his friends’ deaths, her looming over him, his fear. Tears streaked his muzzle as he spoke.

Paragon froze. She knew what that was like. But she was puzzled on why he went to her and not his friends to ask them for comfort, so why did he go to her?

Turning completely around, she slowly walked over to the hedgehog. Kneeling down to Shadow’s level, she placed her hand on Shadow's shoulder.

That’s when Shadow broke. Next thing she knew, she had a hedgehog slumped against her chest softly sobbing. She froze, holding her hands up awkwardly. But… she didn’t push him away. Shadow felt her hand go to his back. She faintly touched the fur on his back, recoiling slightly before resting her hand on his back, running her fingers through his fur.

He felt her other hand go from under his legs, being lifted into her arms. She silently stroked the fur on Shadow's back and his quills. His trembling eased under her touch. Against her chest, his breaths grew slower.

Shadow wrapped his arms around her neck as she held him close, wrapping her wings around them both.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered softly into the hedgehog’s ear. Shadow melted into the titan’s arms, his head resting on her shoulder.

For a few minutes, Paragon stood in silence, holding the trembling hedgehog in her arms, hand still moving on his back.

She felt the hedgehog go limp against her, his grip loosened around her neck. His breathing was steady, and he was no longer trembling. She tried to look at him, but his head moved and he pressed his nose into her neck. His eyes had drifted closed and his face relaxed.

Paragon was both shocked and confused. No one has ever trusted her before, especially after she punched his brother.

As she looked at the now calm hedgehog, a warm feeling sprouted in her chest, face growing warm as well, a feeling she had never felt before. Her lips curved into the faintest smile.

Well, looks like he’s not going anywhere now and she didn’t know where the rest of his friends were.

Still holding him, Paragon gently maneuvered Shadow so she was holding him with one arm, leaving her right arm free. Shadow shifted, laying the side of his head on her shoulder and nuzzling closer into her neck, a soft snore echoing in her ear. Her chest tightened, but smiled again.

She looked curiously at the hedgehog’s cat-like ears, she raised her free hand and carefully ran her fingers through the fur between his ears. Her fingers drifted toward the base of one of Shadow’s tufted ears and she scratched gently. A faint sound rumbled against her chest. Paragon froze but smiled as Shadow purred as she scratched his ear. Shadow stirred slightly, a small smile flickering across his sleeping face, and curled up in her arms.

She stopped scratching his ears, which stopped his purring to her disappointment. She moved her hand toward Shadow’s ankle and gently took off his air shoes. Taking off the right shoe, she gazed at the shoe in her hand. She noticed how heavy it was for its size. She looked on the underside of the shoe and that’s when she saw the rockets underneath. This intrigued her.

Traveling all over the universe and seeing many different types of flight tech, she had never seen shoes like these before. Carefully setting the shoes on the floor, she climbed onto her loft, placing the sleeping hedgehog in front of her as she laid down herself on her side, draping her wings over them both.

Her gaze drifted to the golden rings on his wrists. She gazed at her own rings on her wrists, holding her hand next to Shadow’s, showing the rings side by side. Could they be the same as hers? She thought as she stared at Shadow’s rings and hers. While Shadow’s were golden and shiny with an indent in the middle, hers were a shiny black and have a slimmer design.

She felt the hedgehog inch closer to her and buried his head into her chest again. The purring returned, even softer this time. Softly smiling, she wrapped her arm around the hedgehog and felt exhaustion start to take over.

This hedgehog that she met not even a few days ago has already made her feel emotions that she hadn’t felt in a long time or ones she forgot she had. She didn’t know why, but she had a sense of trust for the hedgehog, something she didn’t know she could have for another being.

She didn’t think being in the presence of someone could feel so…nice. Because of the hedgehog, it would be the first peaceful sleep she had in months.

Chapter Text

Sonic woke up the next morning and panicked when he saw that Shadow was gone.

“Guys, wake up! Shadow is gone!” he shouted, shaking the others awake.

Maria rubbed her eyes, instantly alert. “What? Where did he go?”

“I don’t know!” Sonic could feel his quills starting to spark. “He could be anywhere! This place is massive!”

“It’s okay Sonic, we will find him.” Marina hurried over and wrapped him in a hug. His quills stopped sparking, and Sonic finally managed a shaky breath. Together, they set out of the cave to search.

They looked around aimlessly, unknowing where to even start.

Sonic felt something strange pulling at him, a tug in his chest that guided him toward Paragon’s lair. Despite his fear of the last encounter, he didn’t resist, determined to find his brother.

Sonic sprinted up the mountain, Marina shifting into her hedgehog form to keep pace. Silver flew behind, lifting the others with his psychokinesis. Before long, they reached the mouth of the lair.

Inside, it was quiet.

Paragon slept soundly in her loft, wings draped over her. Her slow, deep breathing was the only sound in the cave. On the floor, Shadow’s air shoes sat neatly together, but no sign of Shadow. Confusion rippled through them. Did she imprison him? Taken his shoes as some sort of trophy?

They spread out to search. As they did, Silver paused and squinted up at Paragon. He caught a glimpse of black and red quills coming out from underneath Paragon’s wing. He floated closer, staying just far enough away so he could dodge a punch if it came. His eyes widened.

“What is it, Silver?” Crystal whispered.

“You’ve gotta see this for yourselves.” A smile tugged at his muzzle. He lifted the group up until they hovered alongside him.

Gasps and soft “aww”s filled the air.

Shadow was curled against Paragon’s chest, fast asleep. Her massive arm draped protectively over him, her hand resting gently on his back.

They had never seen her like this, so calm, so…tender. Sonic took out his phone from his quills and took a photo to maybe show Shadow later.

Maria's eyes softened. Maria remembered when her and Shadow were back on the ARK, they would stare out the window at Earth for hours. Sometimes, she could see Shadow getting tired and she let him sleep on her lap as she petted his head and quills.

But Sonic’s gut tightened. What if Shadow had snuck in here without her knowing? If Paragon didn’t know he was there, any sudden movement could startle her and she could possibly hurt Shadow or Sonic…again. But then again, he was questioning himself. If Shadow did sneak in here, how did he get that close to her, especially since she had her arm completely over him?

He carefully reached out, gently shaking Shadow’s shoulder. “Shadow…Shadow, wake up.” He whispered trying to wake him without waking Paragon.

Shadow didn't wake up, only nuzzling closer to Paragon, groaning in protest. At the movement, she stirred, her arm tightening slightly around him. They froze, hearts in their throats.

Her mouth opened into a long yawn, revealing shiny blue canines. Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting on the group. They all felt their chest tighten as she slowly propped herself up with her elbow, with her other hand still around Shadow. She briefly shook her head to get the last bit of sleep out of her mind, wincing slightly before facing them at about eye level. She had a slight glare in her eye that sent a chill down their spines.

“I’m…I’m sorry…” Sonic stammered.

Her eyes softened. “It’s alright.” Paragon said calmly.

Confusion flickered through the group, but they didn't share anything more than a glance, not wanting to make her suspicious.

Sonic swallowed and nodded toward his brother. Wh…why is he up here?”

Paragon explained what had happened, and their hearts sank for Shadow. Sonic glanced at him with pity, and Paragon’s gaze followed, heavy with something unspoken.

Finally, she met their eyes. “Look, I wanted to apologize…for scaring you. Especially you blue hedgehog, I wasn’t in the right state of mind.”

The kids exchanged looks of surprise, then smiled.

Paragon took in another breath, voice more relaxed. “I believe we got off on the wrong foot. Who are you?”

One by one, they introduced themselves. “I’m Sonic Wachowski the Hedgehog.” Sonic gestured to Shadow, “That’s my older brother Shadow.” Paragon looked down at the sleeping black hedgehog, his face still half-buried against her side. “Fitting,” she said flatly. “I’m Silver the Hedgehog, Sonic’s younger brother.” Silver chimed in cheerfully. “I’m Maria, Shadow’s long lost best friend and now cousin.”

Allura looked at the 4 hedgehog siblings. They didn’t look related at all. They all were different colors and had different quill shapes. Sonic had vibrant blue, backward-facing quills. Silver had silvery-white quills with 5 that pointed upwards from his forehead and 2 backward facing quills behind them. Shadow was different. He was the only hedgehog that had 2 colors of quills. His quills were mostly black with a red stripe between his ears that ran from the top of his head and along the top of his upward curved quills. Maria didn’t have any quills, just long silky blonde hair and a baby blue headband. She didn’t see how they could all be related. But she kept quiet, a question for later.

“I’m Joey, this is Crystal and Jessica,” Joey added, pointing as he introduced them. “We are all friends with the hedgehogs.” “And I’m Marina Melody, Sonic’s girlfriend,” Marina said with a proud smile. Her sharp eyes narrowed.

“You’re dating a human?” Allura said bluntly, judgment clear in her tone.

Sonic wanted to get angry at Paragon for insulting his girlfriend, but Sonic knew he had to stay calm. "Well, she's actually my true love. And it's a long story but it's the truth. So no need to be weirded out by that.”

“I always found interspecies romance strange and unnatural…and a human of all creatures.”

Sonic’s fists clenched, but he had to keep his cool. “Maybe it’s strange. But when you really love someone…species doesn’t matter.” Sonic said as he turned to Marina and gently pulled her into a hug, planting a kiss on her cheek. Marina giggled softly, cheeks pink, and the group smiled at their sweetness.

Paragon rolled her eyes again. She opened her mouth, ready to retort, but paused. Shadow shifted against her, rolling away from her chest. Still asleep, he reached out and found her hand that was on his back, pulling it into his chest squeezing it lightly. The tension in her posture and expression melted. Paragon looked back down at him, her face unreadable. The hot feeling in her cheeks was back.

Sonic smiled at his brother, he was cute sometimes.

“So, what’s your name?” Sonic said sheepishly, breaking Paragon from her trance.

Paragon met Sonic’s gaze as he stared into her deep blue eyes.

“Allura”, she said firmly.

They blinked.

“Wait…I thought your name was Paragon.” Silver said.

Paragon's head lowered, her eyes narrowed, and her body stiffened. “That’s just the name your military gave me when they found me.” Their hearts sank. “Oh…yea. We’re so sorry for you.” Sonic said with sympathy.

He gestured to himself and Shadow. “We were targets of GUN as well.” Allura’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Why were they after you, besides being aliens?” She questioned the hedgehogs. They told her what GUN and Dr. Denman did to them. GUN wanted them because they believed that their powers were dangerous and they told Allura their powers. And they had different powers, now she was even more confused on the relativity of the hedgehogs. Marina demonstrated her hedgehog form. Allura’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

Hearing that these guys were targets of GUN too, Allura second guessed her visitors. Maybe they have more in common than she thought. She gave them an ‘I know what that’s like’ look which made their hearts tighten.

She proceeded to tell them what happened when GUN captured her. They captured her and sedated her as they did who knows what to her. Other than the muzzle and collar, she didn’t find anything. She escaped the prison but not before they sent the Nova Mechs after her. They knew that those were the robots who attacked her.

After telling them what happened, she could see the questions written all over each of their faces. She sighs.

“I will answer your questions, but I would prefer not to repeat myself.” She gestured to Shadow, still dead to the world.

“I can’t lay here forever…I need to get up.”

Sonic was about to do it when Allura stops him, “I have an idea.” She said with a smirk.

She lowered her head near Shadow’s and nudged him with her head several times, still no reaction. With a glint in her eye, Allura playfully bit Shadow’s ear and he jolted awake. Allura chuckled lightly as the others burst out laughing at Allura’s funny and almost flirtatious gesture.

“Hi.” She flatly said to Shadow, who was red in the cheeks. The laughing subsided, replaced with everyone catching their breath.

“You done.” She asked Shadow, gesturing to his hand still holding hers. He inched away from her, allowing her to get up.

She jumped down from her loft, landing on her feet. She stretched her back and wings, showing her full wingspan.

“Alright, what do you wanna know?” She asked, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest.

“So, what kind of alien are you?” Sonic started off. “I am a Diamond Fey, the most powerful alien in the universe, and the creator of it.” All of them looked at her in shock. “Wow, that’s so cool.” Sonic said enthusiastically, Allura chuckled.

“Diamond fey sounds cool, where did it come from?” Maria added. “It’s what our wings and horns are made of, among other things, but mainly blue diamond specifically. Indestructible and flexible.” Allura said flexing her wings to emphasize her point. Her feathers shimmered. Maria nodded speechless.

“How old are you?” Crystal added. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try us.”

“10 billion years old, give or take.”

“Wow, that’s old. You don’t age a bit. Are you immortal?” Maria asked.

“Yes, I am. My kind doesn’t age. But, being immortal isn’t as great as it sounds. When you live that long, you witness and experience a lot of terrible things. Things you can’t even imagine.” Allura admitted looking down, her face tight.

“Allura, we’re so sorry for everything you’ve gone through. We can only imagine.” Shadow said a bit more sincerely than he intended. Allura gave a small smile.

“Where do you come from?” Marina asked. “A far away planet no where near here, many galaxies away.”

“How did you get here?” Jessica asked. Allura didn’t answer, looking down. They got the hint that she didn’t want to dwell on that, so they continued.

“Where are we? Are we still on Earth?” Silver asked. Allura chuckled. “On my secret island.” “Why couldn’t I teleport off your island?” Shadow asked eagerly to know why. “My island is cloaked, keeping everything in and out. It makes the island look invisible.” “So that’s why I couldn’t teleport, that’s smart.” Allura nodded as a thanks.

“We saw your violin. Do you like music?” Joey asked gesturing to the case on the floor. “It’s something I do enjoy.” Allura said with a smile.

“It’s a really cool design. I’ve never seen it in person before.” Joey said with excitement. Allura nods. Joey wanted to ask her to join their band, but maybe that can be something for a later time.

“I saw the vase of lavender flowers. You like lavender?” Crystal said gesturing to the vase on one of her floating shelves. “Yes, they are my favorite.” Allura says with an almost worried look on her face, barely visible.

“What is your suit made of? It feels strange.” Jessica questioned, emphasizing ‘strange’. “Nanotechnology, tough and comfortable.” Allura said as she touch her suit on her arm, emphasizing her point. “Can you take it off?” Marina added. “No, it’s fused to my skin. Therefore, it cannot be removed.” Allura said, touching just above her collarbone where the black suit blended into her dark blue skin.

“What are the gems on your face?” Sonic asked, gesturing to the gems. “They are a symbol of royalty. Only fey of royal blood have them. They have them in the same places, but I am the only one who developed these ones.” She pointed to the ones on her lower eyelid in the middle, just under her lower eyelash.

“Wow, you’re royalty. Like a princess or queen!” Marina said excitedly. She had never met anyone royal before, except the president. “I was, once.” Her voice dropped as she looked down.

Shadow’s eyes landed on her bracelets. “What are those bracelets on your wrists?” Shadow asked pointing to them, changing the subject. She touched one of the larger black cuffs.

“The black cuffs are my inhibitor bracelets. The beaded ones are my cosmic bead bracelets.” She moved to the smaller beaded bracelets. The beads were black with dark blue swirls on them. “Wow, they are very pretty. What are cosmic beads?” Maria asked.

“They are beads filled with cosmic energy in case of emergencies.” Curiosity spread through the group. Cosmic energy.

“Do you have powers?” Shadow asked curiously after the mention of this so called cosmic energy.

“Of course.” Allura smirked. “I have the powers of all 4 of you…and then some.” She paused as the new information sunk in. “You have superspeed!” “And teleportation!” “And psychokinesis!” “And shapeshifting!” The brothers and Marina said in shock and surprise. Allura nodded.

“What other powers do you have?” Sonic asked still excited. Allura hesitated a second before responding.

“I possess the power of cosmic energy, the most powerful energy source in the universe. The energy has the power to turn thoughts into reality, doing whatever the wielder wishes.”

All their jaws dropped to the floor. It’s like the power of the Master Emerald from the second Sonic movie. No wonder GUN wanted her so badly. That kind of power could allow humans to become even more powerful and more dangerous.

Their slience spoke volume.

“Anything else?” Allura spoke, breaking the silence. The silence returned.

“Alright. I have a few questions of my own.” She said seriously with a small glare in her eyes. “Um, ok.” Sonic answered hesitantly.

“How did you all meet? How did humans and hedgehogs know each other, let alone be friends?” Allura asked, tone lightening slightly. Sonic proceeded to tell her how he meet Marina, Crystal, Joey and Jessica, as well as his brothers Shadow and Silver. When Sonic told her that Jessica kidnapped him one time, he saw her posture stiffen as she glanced at Jessica.

Allura’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Who are your parents?” She asked Sonic after he finished. “Me and my brothers live with 2 humans, Tom and Maddie. I call them Donut dad and Pretzel Mom sometimes.” Allura chuckled at the nicknames, but she had a tenser look when Sonic said that his parents were humans.

Sonic tried to assure her that they were the nicest humans he had ever met, saying how they took care of him after his 10 year isolation. Allura huffed in response.

She walked to the opening in the wall and stood at the edge, letting the breeze flow through her feathers.

“What did you do while I was out?” Allura asked them from over her shoulder.

“We mainly played on the beach most of the day.” Marina replied.

Allura’s glowing eyes narrowed with thought. “How about I show you the rest?” She said as she fell backwards off the edge of the cliff.

The kids gasped and rushed forward look down in shock. She shot upward, spiraling around the mountain in wide circles. Allura felt the wind blow on her face and over her feathers. It felt so good to finally be able to fly again. With every beat of her massive wings, she gained speed. After circling the mountain a few times, she flew up and dived down a few times. After a few tricks, she landed back in her lair. She was crouched down with her wings spread out and her right arm outstretched, like she was in a fighting stance.

Sonic’s jaw nearly hit the floor, it looked so cool.

Straightening, she shook her full body, feathers glittering faintly. She sighed. “It feels so good to fly again.”

The kids looked at her with awe and relieved at seeing her feeling better and less tense.

“You wanna see anything else?” She asked.

They blinked, almost startled by the offer, but to get closer to Allura, of course they are going to take it. They all nod, the hedgehogs had a pleading look in their big puppy eyes. To their shock, Allura kneeled down and folded down her wing for them to climb onto her back.

“Are you sure?” Crystal asked hesitantly.

Allura only nodded.

Shadow climbed first, setting closest to her head. The others followed behind in a line with the others lined up behind him. Trying to climb on, Joey, fumbling, accidentally kicked her side. She growled low, and he squeaked out an apology, cheeks red. The displeasure on her face lingered.

Once everyone was on, she walked to the cliff’s edge and spread out her wings, preparing to take off.

Allura suddenly took off into the sky, flying higher and higher, the kids' screams fading off into the distance the higher they went. All they could do was hang on for dear life. Allura then leaned to the side and started diving towards the ocean. They screamed as Allura dove just above the water’s surface, splashing them with water and then came back up. She flew above the water and started spiraling around while the kids continued to scream, holding onto each other tightly.

Finally, hearing their panic, she let off. She spread her wings and began to glide slowly.

“What was that all about?!” Jessica panted, clutching her chest.

Allura huffed, almost coming out as a laugh. She did feel a little guilt seeing their pale, wide-eyed faces…but it was amusing too. Despite what others say, she has a sense of humor and likes to have fun in her own way. A few quiet “oohs” and “ahhs” from behind made her smile faintly.

The island was beautiful. Most of it was covered in a thick jungle. They saw Allura’s lair from the air. It was in the middle of a large mountain range that stretched from one end of the island to the others. Small rivers ran through the island like veins. They saw a good size lake too.

While the others were admiring the sky high view, Sonic noticed Allura’s speed. She was pretty fast, but how fast could she really go?

He got an idea and an opportunity as a grin tugged at his muzzle. “Hey Allura, wanna race?”

She turned her head slightly with a quirked eyebrow. It was a sudden question, but she couldn’t help a challenge. She smirked, “You’re on.”

“Can my brothers and Marina join in too?” Sonic asked eagerly as Allura flew to the other side of the mountain range.

Allura nodded.

She landed and they all got off her back. “First one to the other end of the mountain range wins.” Allura said as her and the hedgehogs got into a racing stance.

Joey got in front of them like a referee. “Okay, everyone ready.” Everyone gave a determined nod.

“3, 2, 1, GO!” All of them took off, leaving glowing trails in their wake.

Sonic raced ahead with confidence, dashing through the peaks effortlessly. Shadow, Silver and Marina a few feet behind.

Then Sonic glanced to his left.

Allura flew alongside him effortless, eyes calm as if she weren’t even trying.

His stomach dropped. He pushed faster, even spindashing far ahead. But when he looked again, she was still there. Still matching him. No one had ever caught up with him this easily, well, maybe Eggman when he was flying his egg ship in San Francisco or Shadow sometimes.

With a smirk and a wink, she sped way ahead of him, leaving a dark blue streak of light.

By the time Sonic reached the end, she was already standing there, looking at her nails patiently.

“What took you so long?” Allura asked casually with a teasing smile.

The others, arrived, stunned. Marina used her portal power to bring the others to the finish line. No one…no one had ever outpaced Sonic.

“HOW DID YOU BEAT ME!!!!” Sonic shouted shocked.

Allura only shrugged. “Guess you’re not the fastest creature in the universe anymore…not that you ever were.” She said with a smirked.

Everyone started laughing. Sonic sputtered but couldn’t even be mad. He was still in shock, which made Allura laugh a little.

“What was that spinning thing you were doing in the race?” She asked.

“It’s called a spindash.” Sonic said as he demonstrated by spinning around her feet.

“I can’t do that,” she admitted, “but I have my own version.”

She sprang upwards, twisting in a corkscrew before diving, landing in a dramatic pose.

“Whoa, that was awesome.” Silver breathed.

Allura nodded in acknowledgment.

Sonic suddenly remember. “Hey, during the race, I saw a purple patch in the mountains. What is it?” Her eyes widened a little before she glanced away. She knew what he was talking about.

“Hop on and I’ll show you.” She said reluctantly as everyone hopped on and she took off.

After a few minutes of flying over the mountains, she descended into a valley. An endless field of lavender swayed in the wind, the scent wrapping around them instantly.

The kids ran forward, laughing, scattering petals as they played. As Shadow plucked a flower to smell it, he saw that Allura standing on the edge of the field watching them with a hesitant look on her face. What was wrong, it’s just a little lavender?

Curious, Shadow walked up to her. “Why didn’t you follow us?”

She looked down embarrassed. Now Shadow was even more curious to find out what it was, so he came up with an idea.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to join us.” He said calmly before he started pouncing in front of her playfully, like a tag challenge.

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, but smirked as her competitive side took over. She lunged after him.

He darted between rocks, smirking. Sonic and the others watched Allura chasing Shadow with confusion. What was he up to?

Right at the edge of the lavender field, he stopped. Allura couldn’t stop in time. She stumbled and crashed headfirst into the lavender.

Shadow turned, chuckling. Sonic laughed.

But then..she didn’t get up.

“Allura?” Shadow called. No answer.

His smile faded. Panic pricked at his chest as he rushed forward.

Oh no he thought, fearing his trick had gone wrong.

Then they froze

She was rolling in the lavender, her eyes half lidded and her cheeks pressed against the blooms. A deep sound rumbled in her chest.

“What?” Sonic blinked.

Maria tilted her head, heart melting. “Aww. She looks so cute, like a cat in a field of catnip.”

Crystal giggled. “It’s adorable…looks like she really does like lavender.”

“Allura?” Shadow tried again, crouching beside her.

She ignored him, rolling onto her back with a sigh of pure bliss.

“So that’s why she held back, Shadow murmured, remembering her saying lavender was her favorite.

When he touched her shoulder, she growled and tried to spring to her feet, only to stumble and collapse again, petals spraying everywhere.

Shadow chuckled, “Need help?”

She snarled, trying again. And again. Each time, she collapsed.

“You sure you don’t need help?” Sonic asked. Her growls grew louder as her frustration mounted. Until, after the last fall, Allura let out a small sob of frustration. Allura sank into the lavender in defeat.

Shadow quietly sat beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She snarled at first but collapsed back onto the ground again when Shadow started stroking gently. From how close he was to her, he could see how heavy her eyes were and how much her pupils were dilated. “It’s okay if you like it.” he said softly.

She looked away, then let out a defeated sigh, rolling onto her stomach with a small, content smile. One by one, the others joined her in the lavender, forming a lazy circle among the blooms, quietly chatting amongst themselves. Shadow continued his motion until the lavender finally took her.

Chapter Text

After the whole prank deal, Sonic and the others continued chatting, constantly finding new topics of conversation to keep out the awkward silence. The scent of the lavender flowers surrounded them, a truly relaxing, peaceful place.

Though they weren’t as relaxed as Allura, who had finally passed out next to Shadow. His hand moved from her shoulder to her wing. As he stroked her soft feathers, a thought made Shadow’s heart jolt.

The night he went to her lair alone… that might have been the first peaceful night's rest she’d gotten in who knows how long, at least that they’d seen. It was nice to let her catch up on some real rest after being sedated for a month, as well as the episode she had a few days ago.

Staring at her face, Shadow reached out to touch her cheek. He barely brushed it before she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open.

Shadow greeted her in a calm tone as she slowly got back to her feet, shaking her body and flapping her wings. The gust from her wings sent stray petals in every direction. The others laughed as the hedgehogs shook the petals from their quills.

Allura watched them laugh and smiled to herself. Being with them made her second guess her suspicions. Maybe these guys weren’t as bad as she thought. Maybe she could pay them back in some way.

She remembered when Sonic got emotional while talking about his parents and his sister, how much he missed them. She knew exactly what to do, and she wasn't going to like it.

“Guys, I’ve been thinking,” Allura said. Everyone turned to her. She almost sounded like she was dreading what she was about to say. She sighed before continuing. “I’ll allow you to go back to your parents, but you will bring them back here once you are done.”

Sonic’s mouth flew open and a wide smile spread across his muzzle. “OMG REALLY, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!”

He threw his arms around Allura’s legs, hugging them tightly. Allura’s arms went up awkwardly as she stared at him.

“Uh, no problem. Just get out of here before I change my mind.” Allura waved him off, slightly annoyed.

“Ok, we will be back soon.” Silver said.

“Let’s go everyon…wait, how will I be able to teleport through the shield?” Shadow asked.

“I’ll adjust it so you can get through.” Allura said with a wave of her glowing hand.

“Let’s go home.” Shadow said and everyone gathered around him.

“Chaos Control!” he exclaimed as they disappeared in an orange flash.

Allura sighed. She really wasn’t looking forward to this.

They appeared on Sonic’s doorstep. “So when you guys are done, call us and we’ll meet back here to head back to Allura’s island.” Marina said as the others walked away.

Inside, Maddie was sitting with Rachel when she heard a knock. She ran over to the door, Tom and Rachel not too far behind her. The moment she opened the door, her sons hugged them immediately with tears in their large eyes.

"Oh Pretzel Mom, Donut Dad! We missed you so much"! Sonic said happily as he did this.

"Mom and Dad sorry if we gave you a scare. We love you so much". Shadow added.

"It's so good to be back guys, I love you"! Silver said as they reluctantly ended the hug.

"Sonic Shadow Silver! HAHAHAHA"! Annika exclaimed as she ran towards her brothers. Sonic took her in his arms.

"Hey Annika th-that's right we're h-home"! Sonic said as he nuzzled her.

"Oh Annika we missed you so much". Silver said and kissed her on the forehead.

"Yeah sis we love you so much". Shadow added and kissed her on the cheek.

“OMG Maria, I was so worried about you.” Rachel said as she hugged Maria, Jojo joining in.

After the hugs, the mobians gathered the adults together and told them everything, the truth.

“Wow, so her real name is Allura and she was a prisoner of GUN? She wasn’t the aggressor?” Tom asked, concerned.

“Exactly. She was acting in self defense when GUN tried to capture her.” Shadow said firmly.

“She was fleeing when we encountered her in the meadow.” Jessica added.

“Oh my god, poor thing. I can’t believe Commander Jonathan lied to us.” Maddie said with her fists clenched.

“Unfortunately, they treated her a lot worse than they treated me and Shadow.” Sonic said quietly.

“She’s been through a lot more than all of us put together and we just want to help her.” Shadow added.

“Yea, but she’s not as bad as GUN says she is. We were scared of her at first, but she’s not bad.” Sonic said as he pulled out his phone and showed them the photo he took of Allura and Shadow asleep nestled together.

The adults thought it was adorable, all while Shadow blushed with embarrassment again, looking away.

“Wow, she’s absolutely gorgeous…and big too.” Rachel said in awe.

“Yea, but she’s much bigger in person.” Silver said, leaving the fact that Allura resized them a surprise.

They told them that Allura let them come back, she wanted them to bring them to her, for an introduction. The adults agreed.

Sonic called his friends for them to come back and they were heading back to Allura’s island. Within just a few minutes, Marina, Joey, Crystal and Jessica returned and were ready to go back. Gathering around Shadow, they Chaos Controlled to Allura’s lair.

Shadow teleported them onto a high ledge so they wouldn’t get stepped on and she could see them better.

The adults admired the lair, mouths agape. The sheer scale of it showed just how massive Allura really was.

“Wow, it’s like being in the lair of a giant. Now I know how ants feel.” Tom said jokingly, earning a chuckle from the kids and an eye roll from his wife.

But Allura wasn’t there.

“Where is she?” Aunt Rachel asked.

“Well, since we were gone a bit longer than we thought we were gonna be, I believe that she just left and would be back shortly.” Shadow said

Then they began to hear the sound of beating wings and a loud gust of wind as Allura landed on the ledge. She had a whole fish in her teeth and proceeded to eat it whole, licking her canines.

“Whoa, that’s a big alien.” Tom whispered.

Allura’s ears twitched. She glanced around for the source of the voice, then ignored it. Tom and the other adults watched her in pure awe as she made her way across the stone floor. They could feel her every step through the stone like an earthquake.

She walked toward her massive mirror on the wall. She walked up to it and studied her reflection.

She ran her hand down the top of her horn. Her eyes closed as her fingers drifted down her face. They open as her hand hovered just above her scar. She grimaced at it, an agitated look spreading across her face as she bared her teeth and snarled at her reflection as her scar pulsed slightly.

Staring at herself, her expression shifted into a sadder, more confused look. She pressed her forehead against the mirror, shutting her eyes, letting out a long sigh.

Shadow frowned. Something was definitely wrong with her…something she hadn’t told them. Maybe it was just too painful to tell?

He cleared his throat to get her attention. She spun around, then calmed a bit when she saw him. But when her gaze landed on the adult humans, her pupils shrank.

Her instincts flared before her mind could stop them.

She walked towards them, spreading her wings, her feathers rattling. Her blue energy pulsed as she bared her teeth, letting out a loud, deep snarl.

Annika whimpered and buried her face into Maddie’s shirt.

“Hey. Don’t scare my sister!” Sonic shouted, stepping in front of his family and Allura as his quills spark with electricity, eyes turning from emerald green to electric blue.

Allura only got closer, her scar pulsing black. Her snarl grew louder and her eyes glowed blue.

Shadow stepped in between them. “Whoa easy Sonic. Stand down. This isn’t the way to stop this. It’ll only make things worse.”

He turned to the agitated titan. “Especially for someone as defensive as Allura,” he said softly, hands raised. “Easy, it’s okay. You’re okay. Sonic was just protecting his sister.”

Allura's expression doesn’t change. She glared at the hedgehog with fury and was still snarling, her breathing fast. Black veins emerged from the scar and spread under Allura’s skin like vines on a tree. Her snarls choked more into a pained whine as she turned away from them and shook her head.

Her vision grew blurry and her heart pounded, her suit pulsing in sync with her racing heart.

“Allura.” Shadow called, calm but firm. She turned her head toward him, now showing a more pained than angry expression. Her black scleras were vined with glowing blue energy, giving her a creepy look.

“Allura, calm down. Follow my breathing okay.” Shadow said, inhaling slowly. Allura slowly began to follow. It took a while but her breathing finally started to deepen and relax. Her pulsing energy got slower, the veins under her skin retreating back to the scar.

After a few minutes, Allura’s breathing was finally steady, her wings folded down as the tension in her body relaxed. Now calmer, Allura meets Shadow’s eyes, the veins gone from her eyes as well as her vision cleared.

On the final breath, her eyes closed and her scar stopped pulsing. She shook the tension out of her body, flexing her wings.

“There you go.” Shadow whispered. He held out a hand.

She lowered her head toward him. He rubbed her nose gently. She closed her eyes as she accepted the gesture, a deep rumble vibrating in her throat.

“You okay.” he asked.

She didn’t say anything, but the deep, calm exhale was enough of an answer for him.

The others stared at them in stunned silence as to how Shadow was able to calm down the titan that fast.

Now that she was calm, Tom and Maddie were able to get a better look at her face. They noticed the faint scars around her mouth and neck from the wounds caused by the muzzle and collar Sonic told them about and Maddie was surprised that she healed that fast.

She also noticed a small dark bruise on the right side of Allura’s neck. She recognized that kind of bruising, it’s when injections are given sometimes.

Allura lifted her head and looked at the humans with a guarded glare and huffed.

“Hey, it's okay.” Shadow said gently. “They are not going to harm you. We wouldn’t have brought them here if they would.”

She didn’t look convinced. She reeeeeeally didn’t trust adults humans by the looks of it. What exactly happened to her when GUN captured her, or was it something else altogether?

Shadow gestured for his family to introduce themselves. They looked at each other, hesitating on who should go first.

Tom stepped up, taking a deep breath. Allura’s posture straightened. “Hello, I am Thomas Wachowski, the father of Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. You can call me Tom.” Tom gestured to his wife and daughter. “This is my wife Maddie and our daughter Annika.”

Maddie nodded in greeting. Annika still couldn’t look at Allura. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Maddie said warmly. “Our sons and his friends have told us a lot about you.”

“I am Longclaw, the godmother of the hedgehogs,” Longclaw said with a bow to the towering giant. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

Allura nodded faintly back. “I’m Rachel, Maddie’s sister and this is my other daughter Jojo, she is also Maria’s sister.” Rachel said as calmly as she could.

Allura gave a confused glance at Maria and Jojo. “Hi, it’s…nice to meet you.” Jojo said shyly with a small wave.

Allura just stared. This family was strange.

Backing up, she waved her glowing hand and she resized them again. The adult humans were now as tall as her upper chest with the hedgehogs around mid thigh height.

Annika still hid in her mothers arms, not wanting to be put down. Annika lifted her head from Maddie’s shirt.

“Is…is she a monster? Will she hurt us?” Annika said in Maddie’s ear.

“No, no she’s not a monster. She just looks intimidating.” Maddie said quietly, squeezing Annika reassuringly.

“You don’t need to be afraid of her,” Shadow added, resting a hand on Annika’s shoulder. “She’s just been through a lot and she just needs time.” Annika smiled faintly, but was interrupted by a huff and growl from behind them.

Allura heard everything, she knew that she would never truly be viewed as anything else but a monster.

She turned away from them, walking to a ledge and stared out at the landscape below, her back turned to them.

Maddie watched as Annika reached out with her little hands to Allura with a sad look on her face. Maybe she wanted to say sorry to Allura for offending her? She didn’t mean to.

Putting Annika down, she slowly walked towards Allura. Annika looked so tiny compared to Allura. The hedgehogs weren’t that much bigger, but still. Annika only went to about Allura’s knee. Hearing the human’s footsteps, Allura’s ear twitched and her body went rigid. She stomped her right foot into the stone. Hard. It made the whole lair rumble and her feathers rattled, all while not glancing at Annika. She ran back to Maddie.

They decided to just give Allura time to calm down and adjust to new individuals in her space before she wanted to engage in the conversation.

“Does she not talk?” Rachel asked quietly.

“No, she can, but doesn’t usually when she’s upset. She does those sounds instead.” Shadow clarified.

As they talked, Shadow noticed that Allura had turned her head so she could watch them from over her shoulder. As she watched them interact with each other, she started feeling strange, almost jealousy.

These humans treated these aliens like they are one of their own made Allura confused. Seeing the family she never had.

Letting out a sigh, she shook her head and flew off, leaving them in her lair. She didn’t know why she was feeling like this. She has been alone all her life and she thought that she never needed anyone, but there was something about them that made her feel strange. Seeing humans treat these aliens with such love makes her feel, sad.

Annika looked at her big brother with sad, worried eyes, “Where did she go?”

“She’s probably just got a lot on her mind. I have a feeling she hasn’t told us everything that happened.” Shadow said, walking up to her.

“But…I wanted to give her this.”

Annika pulled out a small flower with white petals from her pocket. Shadow glanced down at it, then at her.

“You might be onto something sis. Come on. Let’s go give it to her.” Shadow said as he guided her close and they disappeared in an orange flash.

They emerged from the trees and walked toward the sound of crashing waves.

They stopped abruptly when they saw Allura sitting on a high sea cliff overlooking the ocean and the setting sun. She had her right leg pulled up towards her chest, her arms wrapped around her leg, her head hung low. The golden light reflected off her dark feathers as she let out a sigh.

They approached her slowly, not wanting to startle her. “Stay here Annika. I’ll be right back.” Shadow whispered to her as he circled around to get a better look at Allura. She looked completely lost in thought with a sad, confused look on her face. When Shadow returned to Annika, he nodded for her to follow.

As they drew closer, Allura suddenly whipped around in alarm. Her wings snapped open, teeth bared as she snarled and arched her back like a wild animal ready to attack.

Shadow immediately held his arms out, shielding Annika behind him. After a tense few seconds, Allura folded her wings back, still panting from the adrenaline. Shadow apologized softly for scaring her. She only stared at him with a stiff, unreadable expression.

He cleared his throat. “Allura…Annika has somethin for you.” Allura’s face turned skeptical, she didn’t look in the mood to talk or be bothered. Annika hid behind Shadow, trembling like a leaf.

After a little reassurance from him, Annika stepped forward. Her tiny hand lifted the flower up toward Allura. Allura’s expression softened instantly. Her wide eyes flicked from Annika to the white flower. Gently, she knelt down and took the flower between her fingers, staring at it with a look of quiet awe.

Seeing that, Shadow knew something inside her had cracked. He had to find out what was wrong with her.

He gestured her Annika to back up, whispering that he’d take her back to Maddie and come back later.

When Shadow came back, Allura was still sitting there, staring at the flower like it was something she couldn’t understand. She looked calmer now, though confusion and conflict still flickered in her eyes.

“I’m back,” Shadow said.

She flinched slightly, almost standing, but didn’t move away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

She only huffed and looked away.

When Shadow tried to approach, she rattled her feathers sharply, a warning. He stopped in his tracks.

“Look. I just want to help you,” he said softly. “But I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

She clenched her fists. Slowly, she turned toward him, her whole body twitching slightly, like she was fighting something inside herself. Then she rose to her feet, towering over him.

“How can you love those humans so much… and they love you back?” Allura’s voice trembled. The words came out sharp at first, but already began to break.

“No one’s ever loved me. My father treated me like a lab rat, and my mother…” she choked, voice shaking, “she was too much of a coward to stop him.”

Her tone wavered, climbing from grief to rage. “Even after my kind was gone, it didn’t end! Other species found me. Tortured me. Used me.” Her voice broke, rising to a shout. “And I wiped them out!”

“I’ve spent a billion years reliving what they did to me.” Her hands clenched, shoulders trembling. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Whatever part of me that could feel love… froze a long time ago while I was in stasis.”

She sucked in a shaky breath. “That’s why I almost killed you, Shadow. I couldn’t let myself care again. No one’s ever cared about me.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper, tears threatening to burst from her eyes. “Because I’m a monster. Monsters can’t be trusted…Monsters don’t get love.”

Her scar pulsed black.

Allura gasped, the sound twisting into a scream as she clutched her neck. She collapsed to her knees, her veins flaring with violent blue light.

“Allura!” Shadow shouted, darting forward before she hit the ground. He caught her, holding her tight as she heaved in pain, heat radiating through her suit.

“If you didn’t have a heart, you would have killed us to keep yourself a secret.” He said firmly.

He glanced up at her pain-stricken face, voice softening. “But instead, you chose to bring us here even if you didn’t want to…your heart is bigger than you think.”

Her breathing hitched, shuddering, and Shadow tightened his arms around her. Slowly, hesitantly, she wrapped her trembling arms around the small hedgehog.

He rested a hand on her back, rubbing slow circles. She flinched at first, a small jolt running through her, then the tension bled away. Her muscles loosened, and the frantic pulse beneath his palm began to calm.

She released a long, exhausted sigh.

She lowered her head until her chin rested lightly atop Shadow’s head. The gesture startled him, but he didn’t move. He just kept holding her, stroking her back in quiet rhythm.

Neither of them spoke. The only sound was her slowing breaths and the faint hum of fading energy.

No one knew how long they stayed like that. The last light of the setting sun bathed them in gold before it set below the horizon.

Shadow felt her head shift from her chin resting on his head to leaning her cheek on his head. She nuzzled her cheek against Shadow’s head, her breathing finally starting to even out as her body slumped against him exhausted.

“You okay.” Shadow whispered.

She gave a slow nod. Even though Shadow couldn’t see her face, he could imagine her drained expression just from the way she sagged against him.

It took some effort to hold her up since he is less than half her size, going to about her mid thigh. But he didn’t care.

“We just want to help you,” He murmured.

She didn’t respond, he knew she heard him.

“Wanna head back?”

She nodded again.

She gently released him, rising unsteadily to her feet. Shadow prepared to teleport them back to her lair.

“I’ve got a better idea.” she said, kneeling down and folding her wing down. “Hop on.”

Shadow blinked in surprise but climbed onto her back near the base her of neck, on top of her shoulder blades above where her wings come out of her back.

“Ready?” she asked.

He tapped her shoulder.

With one powerful flap, she launched into the night sky.

She settled into a slow glide as the cold wind whipped through Shadow’s fur. Auroras above shimmered in the same brilliant blue as her energy, waves of light rippling across the sky. Shadow wondered if the auroras were caused by her energy, since auroras normally take place in more northern regions.

Allura turned her head briefly to glance at him. Seeing him stare in awe, she smiled softly and faced forward again.

They descended toward the lair where the others waited. Sonic, his parents, and the rest looked up as Allura landed before them, the ground trembling slightly beneath her.

They saw Shadow on her back as she bent down so he could slide off her back.

“What happened?” Sonic asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Shadow replied quietly.

Allura cleared her throat. “I’ve made my decision,” she said. “You can all go home.”

The group stared in shock. They should have been thrilled. They could finally go home, be with their families again, sleep in their own beds and get on with their own lives. But, none of them moved.

They hesitated.

They’d gotten to know Allura, the real her. Not the monster that GUN said she was, the real lonely her. If they left, she would be all alone again. What if her scar acted up again and no one was there to help her?

Shadow stepped forward. “We thank you so much for this offer. But…we don’t wanna leave. We’d miss you. We don’t want you to be all alone again.”

Allura stared at them, stunned. A small involuntary smile tugged at her lips, one she couldn’t hide.

“I wanna stay too.” Annika said hopefully. She didn’t want to leave her brothers.

Maddie hesitated at first but when she looked at Allura, truly looked at her, she didn’t see a threat. She only saw someone who would protect them from anything.

The adults eventually said their goodbyes. Tom, Maddie, Longclaw, Rachel, and Jojo departed into Marina’s portal, leaving the others behind.

Allura turned to the remaining group with a faint smile. “I have something for you.”

She opened her palm, and several small electronic chips materialized. They hovered in the air before gently embedding themselves into each of them.

“What did you just do?” Joey asked

“It’s microchip clearance,” Allura explained, showing them her own chip between her shoulder blades along her spine under her suit. “Now you can pass through my shield without me adjusting it every time, and without risking exposure.”

Their faces lit up with excitement and awe. They playfully bowed in gratitude.

“I’m not done yet,” Allura said with a smirk, materializing several small black discs. Each one floated to them and attached behind their ears. “Communication devices. So you can contact me directly.”

They looked even more fascinated now, like they were going to explode.

“Don’t make me regret this,” she said dryly, though there was warmth in her tone.

They laughed, each touching the new device curiously.

Allura glanced toward the night sky. “It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, we should head to bed now.” Shadow agreed as he and the others were about to leave for the crystal cave at the bottom of the mountain for the night.

Before Shadow could teleport them down, they suddenly stopped in their tracks as they were held back by Allura’s psychokinesis. Her hand outstretched in front of her

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“We’re going back to the crystal cave to get ready for bed.” Shadow said, slightly confused.

With a wave of her hand, a large pad similar to hers appeared on the floor.

“You’re bunking with me from now on,” she said matter of factly, climbing up onto her loft.

The group exchanged smiles, murmured thanks, and made themselves comfortable on the soft pad. It was big enough for everyone to spread out without crowding. Within minutes, they were fast asleep. It may not be home, but they could definitely get used to this.

Later that night, everyone slept peacefully.

Well everyone except Allura.

She tossed and turned, feeling herself growing warm as her breathing quickened and her energy pulsed. Suddenly, she found herself standing in a familiar field. Broken mech parts lie everywhere, small fires burning the grass.

She suddenly gasped in horror, Shadow and the others lay lifeless on the ground, their bodies slashed with bloody claw marks, blood pooling beneath them.

She rushed to them, dropping to her knees. “No, no, no, no…”

She stared at their lifeless faces, their eyes glazed over.

“Look what you have done.”

A deep, psychotic voice echoed through the air.

“They cared about you…and look what you did to them.”

Allura spun around, searching for the voice. It was familiar, a voice she never wanted to hear again.

She looked down. Her hands were covered in blood. Red blood.

“No one will ever care about you,” the voice sneered. “You will never have friends…No one will ever love you.”

Her breathing sped up. Her energy pulsed wildly. Her scar flared in agony as she grabbed it in pain.

“You’re a cursed monster!” the voice shouted, louder now. “A monster! A monster!”

Allura fell to her knees, screaming as pain tore through her body.

Her eyes flew open, she sat up with a sharp gasp

Shadow awoke at the sound. He glanced around and saw that everyone was asleep. He could hear someone breathing heavily from above him and that’s when he saw Allura on her loft hunched over as he heard her hyperventilating, her wings wrapped around her hiding her.

Quietly, he climbed up to her, careful not to startle her.

“Allura?” he whispered

She flinched hard, retreating further behind her wings.

“It’s okay,” Shadow said gently. “It was just a nightmare.”

Allura curled tighter, pulling her knees to her chest, wings wrapped around her trembling form. Her breathing was sharp and uneven, and beneath the shimmering feathers he could hear soft broken sniffles between each fast breath. He knew exactly what to do.

“Can I… touch you?” he asked softly.

She didn’t answer, she couldn’t.

But he couldn’t bare seeing her like this. Slowly, he reach out and placed a hand on her back, stroking gently.

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s over now.” he murmured.

Oh, how she wished she could believe him.

After a while, her breathing finally began to slow, though she was still trembling.

Shadow carefully pulled her wings away from her face and his heart nearly broke clean in half when he saw her.

Her lips were quivering, tears uncontrollably streaming down her cheeks. She looked absolutely terrified.

Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her into a hug.

Her body tensed for a split second until she buried her face into his fur, soft sobs shaking her shoulders.

A few tears soaked through his fur. He rubbed circles on her back to calm her.

“Do you wanna talk about it,” he whispered.

She shook her head.

“That’s okay,” he said, continuing to hold her until her crying subsided and her breathing steadied.

He was deeply worried, but not surprised about this discovery. He had seen his brother’s fair share of nightmares, but this seemed to have been going on much longer. Given what he knew of her past, it would make sense.

Then it hit him. He hadn't seen her lie down before he fell asleep. She must’ve fought sleep until her body finally gave out…and the second she did, her past came clawing back.

“You want me to stay?” he asked quietly.

After a short pause, she nodded.

He laid down beside her. She wrapped her arms around him tighter, pulling him close to her chest, like a child clutching a stuffed animal.

Her breathing deepened, the trembling finally stopped.

Shadow relaxed in her hold, relieved he could help her since he wasn’t able to help her the first time.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, she didn’t dream of pain.

Chapter Text

When Shadow woke up the next morning, he realized that he was still in Allura’s grip, who was still asleep. He was glad that he was able to help her the same way she did for him when he had a nightmare, returning the favor.

He was perfectly content, just lying with her…but man did she have an iron grip in her sleep. Actually, make that a diamond grip.

He tried shifting slightly, but that only made her tighten her hold around his torso. Every slightest moment made her tighten.

A moment later, from below him, he heard the others stirring. Sonic sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. When he noticed the empty spot beside him, his ears perked up and he looked around.

“Shadow?” he whispered.

“Up here,” came Shadow’s voice from the loft.

Sonic walked towards the loft, peeking up at him. “What are you doing up there?” he asked curiously.

“I heard her moving restlessly, then she jolted awake. I stayed with her until she fell back asleep, but now I could use a little help getting out,” Shadow said, shifting ever so slightly. Allura’s grip tightened again.

Sonic chuckled quietly. “Awww, you guys look so cute. She must really like you.”

Shadow gave a strained smile. “Yea, it’d be cute if she wasn’t crushing me.” Shadow said with difficulty in the titan’s tight grip.

“Alright bro, I’ll get the others.” Sonic said, grinning as he moved off and proceeded to wake everyone up.

Sonic whispered to everyone about Shadow’s predicament and they had to get him unstuck, and soon they were all giggling softly as they made their way toward Allura’s loft. Within moments, they clustered quietly around Shadow and the still-sleeping titan, forming a loose ring. They didn’t want to wake her, but if they could, they want to keep her asleep.

“Alright, Silver use your psychokinesis to lift Allura’s arm off Shadow,” Sonic whispered.

Silver nodded, used his powers to gently try and lift Allura’s left arm. It twitched slightly, and her brow furrowed. Everyone froze.

She let out a quiet breath and relaxed again.

“Okay, let’s try something else,” Maria whispered. “Let’s roll him toward the edge slowly. Maybe we can slide him out of her grip.”

Shadow glanced down. “As long as I don’t fall of the loft, go for it.”

Maria knelt by Shadow’s head, brushing Allura’s cheek gently. “We have to be careful. If she wakes up and panics, she could hurt us…or herself.”

“I know. Maria, you stay by Allura’s head to keep her calm,” Shadow whispered.

Maria nodded and positioned herself right beside Allura’s head. Marina and Sonic carefully began easing one of Allura’s arms open slowly. Shadow started to slide out, and for a moment, it looked like they were succeeding…until Allura stirred.

Her massive wings twitched, and her grip tightened slightly. Then, one eye cracked open slightly.

Everyone froze.

Allura groaned sleepily. Sonic gave Maria a panicked look. Thinking fast, Maria softly began to hum… the same melody Allura’s music box played when it calmed her before. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it echoed softly in the lair.

Allura’s muscles loosened, her arms relaxed, and she slipped into a deeper sleep.

Shadow let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Nice save Maria.”

Maria smiled, whispering, “Thanks.”

With Allura fully asleep again, the group resumed trying to get Shadow free. After a few more careful maneuvers, they finally slid Shadow free. As they backed away, Allura rolled over, murmuring something incomprehensible. Her wings curled protectively around herself. Seeing her tense expression, Silver used his powers to gently tug the blanket over her, careful not to disturb her feathers.

They all stood for a moment, just watching her. Her expression softened as she clutched the blanket the same way she’d been holding Shadow earlier.

“Come on guys. Let’s leave her be,” Shadow said quietly.

The group nodded. One by one, they slipped out of the lair, leaving Allura to rest.

They landed in the jungle and walked towards the lake they’d seen from the air yesterday.

“So bro, I just have to know.” Silver said. “Why were you with Allura this morning? How did you get stuck?”

Shadow took a deep breath before answering. “I believe she suffers from…chronic nightmares. I mean it makes sense given everything she had been through…but it’s still heartbreaking to see. She’s unable to sleep and when she does, it doesn’t take long for her to wake up in a full panic.” Shadow looked down

The worry spread to all of them.

“Wait. what do you mean everything she’s been through? I thought she was just captured by GUN.” Sonic asked concerned.

Shadow sighed. He was going to have to tell them.

He told them what happened last night when he went to her on the cliff and she told him everything she had been through. She had lost everything, her home, her family. She had been alone all her life and a target for others to use to their advantage. Before she was captured by GUN, she had been a prisoner in her own mind because of the stasis.

Marina’s mouth along with everyone else's, flew open, Marina almost on the verge of tears. Does her torment ever end?

“But don’t ask her about it,” Shadow said firmly, standing in front of them.

They all agreed to keep it quiet, giving that it’s a sensitive topic. His brothers each placed a hand on his shoulder in a show of support.

Even just after seeing her jolt awake twice, Shadow couldn’t shake the realization that the only times Allura slept peacefully…were when he was with her. But he kept this to himself.

Emerging from the jungle, they arrived at the lake’s edge, a high cliff with a massive waterfall on top of it. The water rippled gently in the morning breeze glistening like liquid glass. It looked so refreshing.

Sonic couldn’t resist. Before anyone could stop him, his legs moved ahead of his brain, and he cannonballed straight into the lake.

The others laughed as he resurfaced with his merhog tail and his brothers quickly joined him. The humans watched in amusement as the hedgehogs splashed and dunked each other, laughter echoing through the jungle.

Their fun was interrupted by the familiar sound of beating wings.

“Sounds like someone’s awake,” Marina whispered, gesturing for the hedgehogs to get out of the water and hide in the bushes. Sonic looked confused but quickly steam dried his and his brother’s tails before retreating into the bushes.

“Why are we hiding?” Sonic whispered.

“Let’s see what she’s up to.” Shadow replied.

Moments later, Allura landed just infront of them without noticing their presence She briefly glanced around, ears twitching before turning toward the lake. As she walked, her suit shifted from covering most of her body to just a cropped tank and shorts.

They all stared, a few gasps escaped. She had long, grey slash scars all over her body, on her chest, arms, back and legs, the scars disrupting the natural faded black stripes that ran along the sides of her body. With his sharp eyes, Shadow noticed lighter discoloration on her upper thighs near her behind, as well as her inner legs. It didn’t match her normal dark blue skin tone. He frowned, wondering where those scars came from. The slashes looked like battle wounds, but the ones on her legs, those were from something else.

She stepped into the lake and fully submerged, bubbles rising to the surface. The group exchanged worried glances. No wonder she’s so defensive, Shadow thought. Those other aliens did a number on her.

After a few moments, she emerged. Her wings dripped, feathers shimmering under the sunlight. For the first time, her black nanotech on her head was gone, revealing long, black curly hair that stretch down to her mid-thighs.

She splashed water over her head. After a few times, she waved her hand over her head, her long curls turning into long knotless braids. She walked out and shook herself dry, soaking the group hiding in the bushes.

Soft yelps and laughter erupted. Allura turned, spotting them instantly.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, water still dripping from her hair.

“We just…didn’t want to disturb you after…what happened last night. And after we got Shadow unstuck from your grip. It took multiple people.” Maria said with a chuckle at the end.

Allura blinked, then laughed softly, a mix of amusement and embarrassment. “Sorry about that,” she said.

Jessica waved it off. “No problem.”

“For trapping you, how about some breakfast?” Allura offered, flexing her wings ready to takeoff.

They all agreed enthusiastically.

“What did you have in mind.” Joey asked.

“Wait and see.” Allura said with a grin as she took off into the sky, flying out of sight.

She returned minutes later with a massive red fruit, bigger than her own head.

“What is it?” Joey asked curiously.

Allura placed it down gently. “Taste it. You’ll probably know.”

She dug her claws into the thick fruit and took a bite. Marina leaned closer and spotted black seeds inside. Her eyes widened.

“Guys, its watermelon!” Marina said.

“Wait, aren’t watermelons normally green?” Silver asked.

“I just shave the rind off.” Allura said, popping another piece into her mouth.

“Wow, that’s brilliant.” Silver said in awe.

Allura gestured for them to dig in, and they happily did, tearing into the juicy fruit with their hands, or claws, in Allura’s and the hedgehogs’ case. It felt fun to eat without utensils. A brief seed spitting fight broke out after Sonic started it playfully spitting a seed at Silver. It went on for easily 10 minutes as the kids turned their mouths into seed-shooting machine guns. Once their hands were sticky and their bellies were full, they rinsed off in the lake.

Sonic turned back to Allura with a confident smirk. “Allura. I want a rematch from the last race.”

Finishing her piece, she smirked back at him with a nod, accepting the challenge, though it probably wouldn’t be much of a challenge.

She leaned down, and they climbed onto her back. Moments later, they were at the same spot of the last race. The others stood by to watch as Allura and Sonic took their mark. Marina counted them down, and in a flash of blue energy, they were gone

Sonic ran harder than ever. The air whipped past his face as he push himself to his limit, feeling like he was about to lift off the ground. He prayed that she wasn’t beside him, but she was, keeping up effortlessly.

He pushed harder, but she stayed just ahead, teasingly close, never overtaking. Sonic watched her as she crossed the finish line and dove down the cliff.

“Allura!” Sonic shouted, running to the edge. He saw only ripping water below.

Shadow suddenly teleported next to him with the others. “What’s wrong?”

“She just dove off the cliff after reaching the finish line!”

They all scanned the water, then gasped as she shot from the surface, her lower body now a magnificent mermaid tail. Her scales glowed dark blue, coursing with cosmic energy, her crescent shaped tailfin glimmering like glass. Instead of a tech suit, she sported a blue bikini top made of sleek, thin shards of black and dark blue crystal, shaped like small overlapping petals.

She looped through the air before diving again, surfacing with a sly smile.

“You never told us you were a mermaid!” Jessica shouted from above.

“You never asked.” Allura replied, floating on her side, showing off her tail.

“Well, I guess that makes us even,” Sonic said, glancing at his brothers and Marina. They smirked, clasped hands, and jumped.

Allura quickly swam over to them, only to see them with tails too. She looked at them eyebrows raised. Guess they didn’t tell her everything either.

“They look good.” she said approvingly.

They thanked her as she nodded her head for them to follow her. Swimming with her felt surreal. They have swam in the ocean with their tails before, but this just felt…different. Each flick of their tail left glowing particles in their wake, like swimming in starlight. This whole island was just coursing with an alien energy none of them could describe.

They soon arrive back on shore, and Marina provided a portal for the others to meet them on the beach.

Annika was the first to run up to her brothers, her smile growing when she saw their tails.

“You guys look so pretty.” she giggled.

The hedgehogs rushed over to her, now back in their normal forms.

“Awww, thanks Annika,” Sonic said, scooping her into a hug.

All while this was happening, Allura is behind them, lying on her stomach, arms crossed in front of her, tail flicking and splashing the shallow water.

As they talked, Sonic got an idea. He quietly gathered the group around, whispering his plan. The discovery of Allura’s mermaid form sparked a memory, and an opportunity. An opportunity to improve her relationship with humans.

With Marina and the others, she’s gotten better, taking to them a little more, but the hedgehogs could tell that she was still not completely comfortable with them. But given what GUN did to her, all they could do was let her get comfortable at her own pace. And they knew just the people to help with that.

After a bit of debating, they came to an agreement.

Marina turned toward Allura. “Allura, we have an idea,” she announced.

Allura quirked an eyebrow, her tail giving an idle slap against the surface. “Oh, do you now,” she said, her tone edged with amusement.

“We wanted to introduce you to some friends of ours.” Silver spoke up hopefully.

“What kind of friends?” Allura asked, her tone curious but skeptical. Which was expected. “And why ask this now?”

Sonic grinned. “They are the Mako Mermaids from Australia. We met them when we were on vacation there for the summer. They’re the ones who gave us these powers, but just to me, my brothers and Marina.”

Allura gave him a skeptical look, her tail slapping stopped. She was about to question why she should believe them, but since these guys gave them mermaid tails and she just saw them in front of her a few minutes ago, it would be reasonable to believe that these so called Mako Mermaids were real.

“Fine,” she said finally, turning around towards the water.

With a wave of her hand, the others shrank back to their normal sizes, once again looking like ants compared to Allura.

“Find me when they get here,” she said as she dove below the surface, her tail flicking up and making the water before disappearing into the blue.

“I’ll go get them,” Shadow said, already preparing to teleport. A second later he vanished in a flash of red light. Let's see if this goes well.

It only took a few minutes before Shadow reappeared with Emma, Cleo, Riki, Bella, Lewis, and Will in tow. They were buzzing with anticipation. Shadow had only told them they wanted to introduce them to a ‘special new friend' of theirs.

“Special friend?” Rikki muttered, flicking a strand of hair from her face. “You could have at least given us a hint”

Shadow just smirked. “You’ll see soon enough. And I’m sure you’ll be surprised.”

Sonic waved them forward. “Come on. You’ll wanna be in the water for this.”

He could barely contain his excitement, and he already knew what was coming. The girls exchanged curious looks and followed him in along with his brothers and Marina.

The ocean was crystal clear, and unnervingly still as they dove beneath the surface. Sunlight filter through the waves, glinting off the Makos’ shimmering tails like golden gems.

They searched for what felt like forever. For someone as massive as Allura, she was surprisingly hard to find.

“Maybe she’s shy,” Cheo whispered.

“Or maybe she’s deciding whether to attack us or not,” Rikki said dryly.

“Rikki!” Cheo hissed.

They soon formed a loose circle, scanning the endless blue, taking a break from swimming and settle to just scan around to see if they can spot her.

Before Rikki could reply, Shadow stiffened. His eyes narrowed toward a dark shape in the distance. The water darkened, and a faint hum pulsed through it.

Allura materialized from the blue.

The Makos froze. Her enormous form circled them slowly, her tail pulsing with radiant blue energy beneath each scale. The sheer force of her presence made the water feel thicker somehow, almost electric. She eyed them, she looked suspicious but a little curious at least.

Sonic and his brothers almost forgot how big Allura really was, like a sardine next to a blue whale.

Cleo gasped softly. “Oh… my gosh.”

“She’s beautiful,” Bella whispered awestruck.

Emma’s eyes widened but her voice stayed calm. “Everyone stay together. She’s not gonna hurt.”

“Not yet,” Rikki muttered, though her eyes betrayed her fascination.

After circling them a few times, Allura stopped in front of them, studying the group curiously, tilting her head slightly. Her glowing eyes studied each of them with interest.

Sonic swam forward, smiling. “Allura, these are our friends from Mako Island, the Mako Mermaids.”

The Makos still stared at her, speechless.

“Go ahead.” Shadow said. “Introduce yourselves. She’s not gonna bite.”

Emma was the first to swim forward. “I’m Emma. It’s an honor to meet you,” her tone calm and respectful.

Cleo gave a nervous little wave. “Uh, hi… I’m Cleo. You’re…gorgeous.”

Rikki crossed her arms with a smirk. “Name’s Rikki. You’re kind of setting the bar high for cool entrances.”

Allura rolled her eyes with a small smirk of her own.

Bella smiled warmly. “I’m Bella. It's amazing to finally meet you,” she said, hesitantly extending her hand towards her, but she quickly recoiled.

Shadow saw this and got an idea. He didn’t know if Allura was going to accept this, but he wanted to try. He motioned for Bella to come closer, and together they swam toward Allura’s massive head. Her expression stayed neutral, unreadable.

Allura’s eyes tracked them as Shadow guided Bella forward, her hand outstretched. When Bella’s fingers brushed Allura’s nose, the titan’s eyes widened slightly, then softened. Bella glanced at Shadow in disbelief, then back at Allura, breaking into a bright smile. Shadow placed his hand beside Bella’s.

A deep rumble echoed from Allura’s throat, vibrating the surrounding water as her eyes drifted shut. Shadow smiled faintly. He had never heard her make that sound before, but it sounded peaceful, almost like a whale’s song.

He gently swam down and let his hand slide gently down her nose, over her mouth and along the underside of her chin. Allura lifted her head toward the surface, the rumble shifting into a soft clicking sound. Her lips quirked into a small smile. Shadow withdrew his hand. She lowered her head again, eyes now half-lidded.

Allura noticed Bella’s wide grin and returned it with a small, tentative smile of her own.

“Can I try something?” Bella asked.

Shadow nodded, curious about what she wanted to do.

Bella gave a graceful backflip in front of Allura. The titan tilted her head, confused. Bella flipped again, a little faster this time. Allura’s eyes widened slightly before she mimicked the move, her powerful tail sending a gentle wake that pushed them back. Allura straightened, eyes locked on Bella.

Bella beamed.

She performed a loop with a spiral, and Allura followed, still making the rhythmic clicking noise. Bella laughed, and Allura responded with a wide, toothy smile. Then Allura looped around them in a spinning spiral, her clicks turning into almost a playful squeak. The others couldn’t help but smile as they were swayed in her wake.

Allura came to a stop beside them, turning to show the long, gleaming side of her body. She gestured toward her back with a nod.

Shadow immediately understood. He swam to her and grabbed one of her bikini straps. “Come on,” he called to the others.

One by one, they joined him, holding tight. Shadow gave Allura a tap, and she surged forward, her massive tail propelling them through the endless blue.

She swam through the glowing shallows, darting between coral pillars and enormous rock spires that shimmered with her energy. Allura’s control was flawless; even at high speeds, just as smooth as she was in flight.

“She’s incredible,” Bella murmured, trailing her fingers along Allura’s shoulder.

Emma nodded. “Just the control of her body…it’s amazing.”

Cleo giggled nervously. “Well, if the ocean listens to her, I’ll just…stay on its good side.”

Rikki rolled her eyes. “Relax Cleo. If she wanted to eat us, she would have done it when Bella was in her face.”

Allura glanced back and huffed, making them freeze. For a second, they thought they’d offended her, but then her mouth curved into a half smile before she turned forward again.

They swam for what felt like forever. By the time the water glowed gold with the setting sun, they’d completely lost track of time.

Suddenly, Allura stopped, causing her passengers to lurch forward with startled cries. Her ears twitched as she scanned the water in quick, sharp head twists. Then she shook her back, jostling them loose.

“Let go,” Shadow said quickly, and they obeyed.

Allura’s eyes narrowed, locking onto something ahead. She licked one of her sharp canines, and then she was gone, exploding forward in a blur, leaving only a trail of bubbles.

The water churned in her wake, pressure rippling through everyone’s fins. They watched as she reappeared chasing a massive tuna, twisting and darting with effortless precision. The tuna tried to escape with sharp turns, but Allura dove suddenly into the depths, vanishing into the darkness.

The group floated, scanning the water. The tuna swam aimlessly, then suddenly charged straight toward them. The hedgehog brothers and Marina swam infront of the Makos, ready to protect them.

Before they could strike, Allura erupted from the deep, jaws open, and sank her teeth into it.

On the surface, a boom of displaced water shot skyward as she breached, a flash of glowing blue and silver. The tuna writhed her between her teeth as the setting sun’s light streaked across her wet scales.

Lewis, Will and the rest of Sonic’s friends all gasped as Allura arced high above the waves, crashing back into the sea with a thunderous splash.

A massive wave sent out in her wake, soaking everyone on the beach before they could escape it.

Lewis blinked, dripping seawater. “Was…was that the ‘special friend’ you mentioned?”

Joey grinned. “Yep, that’s her.”

Will’s jaw hung open. “She’s…magnificent.”

Maria nodded, eyes wide. “And terrifying at the same time.”

Jessica crossed her arms with a half smile. “Yeah, but she’s not mean. Most of the time.”

“At least she caught the fish before it could’ve eaten us at this size,” Crystal added.

Annika giggled and clapped. “Big fishy.”

Moments later, Allura rose from the surf, shifting back into her true form, trading her tail for wings and legs. The tuna still hung lifeless from her teeth as she stepped onto the sand, water cascading off her feathers in sheets. Her body shimmered in the fading orange light. The tuna was pretty big, almost a quarter of her size.

Joey and the others could only stare as she dropped the fish and began tearing into it. The sound of ripping flesh filled the air, but no one flinched. Well, all except Annika. It was a little graphic for her as more and more of the tuna’s blood got all over Allura’s face and chest. At least it was the fish and not them.

When she finished, Allura wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and licked her fingers clean. Then, with a quiet sigh, she collapsed onto her back onto the sand, stretching her wings lazily. A satisfied groan escaped her.

By the time Sonic, his brothers, and the others reached the shore, they found her sprawled under the fading sun, a cleanly stripped carcass cast aside. Joey and the others turned toward them, still awed by what they’d witnessed.

They all settled around her as the tide whispered in and the sky deepened from orange to indigo. One by one, conversations began soft at first, then easy, then full of laughter. Sonic told Joey and everyone else who stayed ashore about what happened under the waves and Will told them how Allura’s breach looked from the beach.

They talked about everything under the sun, even though it had already vanished below the horizon. The hedgehogs caught the Makos up on all that had happened since they last met, their adventure to Halloween Town as well as the Multiverse chaos. Even Allura joined in here and there, her voice calm and distant, sharing fragments of her story, snippets of moments of her life, moments she thought she’d forgotten.

The group listened, spellbound. For once, she didn’t sound like a goddess of destruction or a GUN weapon, just someone discovering what it felt like to belong.

When the moon rose high and painted the waves silver, Marina opened a glowing portal for the Makos. They exchanged hugs, promises to visit again, and one last wave before stepping through and vanishing into the portal.

As soon as they left, Allura waved her glowing hand and Sonic and the others resized them back to their bigger sizes.

The night fell silent. Waves lapped gently against the shore, a soft rhythm beneath the stars. Allura gazed out over the endless dark water, her energy particles shimmering in the water like a magic potion.

She tilted her head toward Shadow.

“Wanna go for a night swim?” her voice soft but carrying a hint of mischief that he’d never heard before.

Shadow glanced at her, moonlight glinting off his crimson eyes. “Really?”

She nodded, smiling faintly.

He was about to rush towards the others and ask them to come too, but Allura grabbed his wrist before he could move. “Let’s keep this between us,” she said quietly.

Shadow blinked, surprised, then nodded. “Alright. Can I at least tell them where we are going to they don’t worry…so they don’t bother us.” That made Allura smirk.

They walked back toward the group. “Guys, we’re going for a night swim,” Shadow said simply. “We’ll be back soon.”

Sonic smirked, crossing his arms. “Oooooh, you two going on a date,” he said teasingly.

Allura rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and shifting her hip.

Sonic’s smirk faded, replaced by an awkward smile, “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. But have fun, lovebirds.”

Allura laughed softly, rolling her eyes again. Her feathers shimmered in the moonlight. “Lovebirds. Really.”

Shadow’s cheeks involuntarily flushed pink. He looked down, pretending to brush the sand off his gloves. Allura didn’t notice, still smiling to herself.

He cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. “We should get going while the night’s still good.”

Without another word, they walked back into the surf, disappearing beneath the glowing waves.

Under the moonlight, the sea was alive with bioluminescent trails that danced around them as they swam. Allura moved with effortless grace, twisting and spinning in the water, her scales and hair leaving ripples of blue light.

Shadow followed close behind, matching her movements with smooth precision. They twirled around each other, diving deep, then bursting through the surface with matching flips and jumps, sending arcs of glowing water skyward.

Allura even showed him a few “flashy” swimming moves, bursts of speed that shimmered with trails of light as she curved around him like a streak of living starlight.

For a while, it was just them and the ocean, calm and endless.

Eventually, they floated side by side on their backs, staring up at the night sky.

While Allura just enjoyed the quiet, Shadow’s mind silently raced. Every time he looked at her peaceful face, he felt his cheeks grow hot and his heart raced. This feeling…this reaction was getting harder and harder to control. What was this feeling anyway? It was consistent whenever he was around Allura. He couldn’t let Allura find out. He didn’t know how she would react, or how he would.

Then Allura suddenly went rigid. Her ears twitched, and her eyes flicked toward the horizon.

Shadow noticed immediately. “What is it?”

She didn’t answer. Her glowing eyes narrowed, scanning the distance.

From behind the island, a low horn bellowed, a deep, resonant sound that rolled through the night. The water trembled slightly.

A massive shape came from the other side of the island. Shadow turned toward the sound, his expression tightening.

Something was out there.

And whatever it was…Allura wasn’t happy.

Chapter Text

After a long moment of staring off into the distance, Shadow was about to ask what Allura saw but she suddenly huffed through her nose and dove beneath the waves, her tail smacking the surface.

Shadow blinked and followed her, keeping close until she stopped near the edge of her island’s cloaking shield, poking just the top of her head above the water. He noticed the glare on her face and followed her gaze, a cruise ship sat in the distance.

At first, it didn’t seem strange. But something was off. It wasn’t moving. When a cruise ship was out in the middle of the ocean, it was moving, traveling to its next destination. But this one was still, drifting in the current. Maybe it ran out of fuel?

Allura’s face twisted into a snarl. Shadow knew that look. Her territorial instinct were taking over. He knew what she was about to do and he couldn’t allow her to do it. If he didn’t intervene, many innocent humans would be killed.

He spoke quickly, but calmly to not rile her up. “Allura…look…if you want to get on better terms with humans, we should help them. It would be the right thing to do.”

Allura shot him an agitated look but softened a little when she realized he was right, but she still wasn’t thrilled about the idea.

“I’ll teleport onto the ship,” Shadow said. “Figure out what’s wrong and if they need help.”

With a reluctant nod, Allura shrank Shadow back to his normal size and she dove toward the ship, keeping just beneath it, the ship almost the same length as her. Shadow disappeared in a flash of red energy.

He reappeared on the bridge, startling the captain and a few officers. Gasps filled the room as they spun around, eyes wide.

“Sorry for the sudden appearance,” Shadow said calmly.

The captain blinked. “Wait, you’re the hedgehog who did the broadcast with the president! Shadow right?”

“Yep, that’s me.” Shadow said proudly.

After a quick exchange of greetings, Shadow asked, “Why is your ship just sitting in the middle of the ocean?”

The captain sighed. “We had a propeller malfunction. The ship can’t move. Our mechanics can’t fix it, and we’ve been waiting for help for a good while now.”

“Where were you heading?”

“Honolulu, Hawaii,” the captain replied.

Shadow nodded slowly. He wasn’t exactly sure where Allura’s island was located, but it couldn’t be too far…or too close…either. “How’d you get this far off course?”

One of the officers stepped forward. “We drifted during the night. “We’re just waiting for a rescue boat.”

“I miiight know someone who can get you there,” Shadow said, turning toward the window. “And fix the propeller, too.”

The crew exchanged confused glances as Shadow tapped his earpiece, the one Allura had given him.

He told her about the situation, and after a long pause, she reluctantly agreed to help.

“Come to the front of the ship,” he said.

Seconds later, a bright deep blue light shimmered beneath the surface. Allura’s glowing head broke through the waves, her glowing eyes locking onto Shadow’s and the captain’s. The crew went silent, staring like they were witnessing a god, which isn’t entirely wrong.

Shadow gave her a small smile and nodded. She nodded back and disappeared below the surface.

Moments later, the entire ship was surrounded by a soft blue aura. As Allura swam forward, the massive vessel surged through the ocean, gliding faster than it ever had before, or made to go. Yet it remained steady, almost like it was floating atop the water.

The captain and his crew stared in awe as Allura’s glowing form darted below the surface, surfacing every now and then like a dolphin guiding a speeding boat.

The captain and his crew bombarded Shadow with questions about their savior. What was she? Who was she? Where did she come from? How can she swim so fast?

Shadow gladly answered what he could, though he dodged anything too personal, he knew Allura wouldn’t want them to know everything.

Then Allura froze. She could hear the roar of engines above the waves and clouds. She knew that sound all too well, and this wasn’t a good time. Not that there ever was a good time.

“Shadow, we’ve got company,” she said cold and sternly through the comm.

Shadow looked up just as 6 Nova Mechs appeared overhead, diving toward the ocean in formation. Shadow recognized them as the same types of robots that attacked Allura when they first met.

“I can help you.” he offered, already preparing to teleport to her to help. He wasn’t about to see her get beat up again.

“No, stay on the ship,” Allura ordered. “If GUN sees you not only alive but with me, they’ll start asking questions and explore this area more, getting closer to my island.”

Shadow frowned but nodded. “Just…be careful.”

“There’s nothing to be careful about,” she said flatly, almost cocky.

The ocean erupted as plasma bolts slammed into the water, but Allura was already gone. Her glowing tail sliced through the water like a living blade, leaving spirals of blue light in her wake. One mech dipped too low, scanning for the target.

The water exploded upward. Allura burst from the depths, her tail coiling and snapping as droplets scattering like falling stars. She slammed into the mech’s underbelly, dragging it down into the dark. Metal crumpled under the pressure of her tail curling around it.

The others fired wildly into the waves. They never saw her coming, just flashes of blue light, a shimmer below, and then another mech gone.

Since GUN didn’t know that Allura could swim, they didn’t make them suitable for underwater combat.

Shadow stood frozen on the deck, watching in awe while the crew’s jaws dropped. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

The final mech fired a missile at Allura, but missed, the missile speeding toward the ship.

Allura shot out of the water, intercepting it with her shoulder. The explosion painted the sky orange and blue as she burst through the fire, tail snapping to propel her downward again. She vanished beneath the waves, leaving only smoke, foam, and twisted wreckage floating in her wake.

Moments later, she resurfaced, panting from the exhilaration. A sting of pain spread through her right shoulder where the missile hit her. She groaned from the pain, putting her hand to it. She met Shadow’s gaze and gave a quick nod, removing her hand from her shoulder, indicating she was fine before diving again.

Within minutes, they reached Honolulu. Allura guided the ship gently into port.

The captain, along with his crew and Shadow ran out onto the ship’s outside deck. The captain leaned over the railing. “Thank you!” he shouted.

Allura nodded, waving a hand, her finger tips glowing, and the ship’s damaged propeller mended itself instantly, good as new.

The captain immediately announced her efforts over the ship’s speakers. People poured onto the decks, clapping, cheering, and shouting their thanks. The ship’s horn bellowed in salute.

Allura flinched at the first blast but quickly realized it was a sign of gratitude. Allura froze, wide-eyed. Instead of screams of fear, there were cheers, hundreds of voices thanking her. For once, she wasn’t seen as a monster, instead she was seen as a hero.

This was a new experience. Shadow saw the shocked look on her face, unknowing how to react to gratitude. It almost made Shadow’s heart hurt. He joined in with the cheering crowd. She gave a deep, echoing roar in response, people cheering louder.

Shadow jumped into the water, his merhog tail replacing his legs. Allura resized him big again and with one last glance, they dove beneath the waves, Shadow in tow and they began the journey back to her island.

The trip back was silent. Shadow could feel the tension still in Allura’s body as she swam ahead of him.

“You did amazing,” he said softly, hoping to ease the tension with a compliment.

“Thanks,” Allura replied, though her voice was tired.

“You alright?” Shadow asked concerned.

“I’m fine,” she sighed. “Just…sick of GUN.”

“I know,” he said. “Tomorrow, I’ll take the others and we’ll talk to Commander Jonathan.”

She slowed and looked back at him, a small smile touching her lips. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course. It’s not fair how they treat you. And the commander will listen to us. We’re on good terms with GUN now.”

Her smile grew a little as she turned back and picked up speed toward her island.

When they reached the shore, Allura stepped out of the surf, shaking uncomfortably as the salt crusted on her skin with an irritated look on her face.

“You okay?” Shadow asked, watching her fidget and shift.

“Just the salt. It gets irritating when it dries,” she muttered, shaking her wings. “Just gotta wash it off. You probably should too.”

He nodded. He started in the direction of the lake.

“Where are you going?” she asked, stopping him.

He looked at her confused. “I was heading to the lake.”

Allura raised a brow. “The lake?”

“Yeah, the one where we saw you wash up before.”

She smiled faintly. “Come on then.”

She knelt, and Shadow climbed onto her back. After flying over the mountains, they landed in front of the glowing cave.

Allura headed inside, Shadow following. Shadow wondered why they were heading into a cave when Allura said she wanted to wash up. He followed her deeper into the cave.

The cave grew warm and humid as Allura led him deeper until they reached a hidden chamber, tucked behind some large rocks. Steam drifted across the ceiling like fog, and a wide hot spring shimmered in the soft light.

Neither Shadow nor the others knew this was here since they didn’t go deeper into the cave. The chamber had a private and sacred feeling.

Allura grabbed a small tinted glass bottle beside the spring and poured it into the water. Bubbles rose, filling the chamber with the scent of lavender. She shifted her suit into its cropped tank and short style, then melted into the warmth of the water with a relieved sigh.

She gestured with her head for him to join her.

Shadow slipped off his gloves and shoes and eased into the hot spring.

The water was hot at first, but he quickly adjusted and it felt amazing, especially after swimming in the cold ocean.

Allura dunked her head underwater several times, surfacing to spray water from her mouth like a playful whale to get the water out of her mouth. With a wave of her hand, her braids loosened into her long, curly natural hair.

The two relaxed in silence for a while.

Shadow noticed how close they were, not cramped, but close enough that he could feel her foot brush up against him now and then. The warm feeling in his cheeks returned, not because of the spring’s heat. He wondered if he should try getting a little closer, maybe find what kind of touch she tolerated, or even liked.

Allura grabbed another glass bottle and poured the soapy mixture onto her arms, chest, and legs and rubbed it in. Shadow did the same when she put the bottle down, scrubbing the salt and sand from his fur.

She was having trouble reaching her back and between her wings. Now was his chance. Shadow hesitated, then asked softly, “Want some help?”

She looked over her shoulder, surprised, but nodded after a moment.

“Turn around,” he asked gently.

She did, slowly. She jumped slightly when she felt his hand begin to rub the soap along her back. Now that he was closer, he could see just how many scars Allura had on her back, whip marks, claw slashes, some so deep the flesh had healed unevenly.

Apart from the scars, her skin was as smooth as silk.

He worked carefully, moving from her back to her wings. Her feathers were slick and very slippery when wet, like silk sheets.

As he ran his hand along one of her feathers, a rock fell from the ceiling, making Allura flinch and her feathers locked up. Shadow pulled his hand away at the sudden sharpness. So that’s how that works? Shadow thought. She could press the fibers of her feathers together, making them as sharp as blades. When she relaxed, the fibers loosened, leaving them silky soft again, like a luxurious fabric.

Slowly, he ran his hand up her back towards the back of her head. She winced slightly when he touched her tender shoulder. He had an idea, he knew how much he and his brothers loved their head scratched. Maybe she would too? It was a stretch, but it was worth a shot.

He began scratching her scalp and the base of her horns.

Allura inhaled sharply, then exhaled, tilting her head toward his touch.

Shadow chuckled quietly.

Once he was done, he moved down to her long hair. He felt a new relaxation and almost pleasure in running his fingers through her hair. “I never knew…being touched could be a good thing,” she whispered.

Shadow froze, surprised but touched. “Yeah, it does, especially when it comes from someone who cares.” He said, trying to keep his shock hidden.

Even though they were clean, he kept playing with her hair. It was relaxing for both of them.

Maybe Sonic was right, this was starting to feel more and more like a date.

He blushed at the thought.

Allura noticed his fascination with her hair, another new sensation that felt strangely good. Was this a normal hedgehog thing? Why does it feel better when someone else does it?

Over her shoulder, she offered him a black hair brush. He took it and blinked.

She nodded and turned away from him, silently giving him permission.

He began brushing her long hair, taking his time with each area. She has a lot of it, but luckily mostly tangle free with only a few spots being slightly tangled. He warned every time he was about to pull, Allura remained relaxed the whole time.

Eventually, she felt exhaustion taking over, eyes growing increasingly heavy. She floated on her stomach with her head resting on the edge of the spring. He knew how she felt, the warmth and lavender scent was making him drowsy too.

Despite his care and the whole group's attention, Shadow felt that she was still on edge, lost and conflicted. He wished he could take away all her fears and pain the same way he removed the salt from her skin and tangles from her hair.

But trauma was hard to overcome, and it doesn’t just go away. It takes a long time to fade and it never truly goes away, it always lingers. All others could do was help those affected feel comfortable and let them settle on their own. He kept brushing, then switched back to softly scratching her scalp.

After a while, his fingers went numb. He stopped very slowly so as not to upset her.

Allura immediately stirred, grumbling and turning to him, her eyes half open.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I was gonna braid her hair. Is that okay?”

She blinked in surprise but nodded, turning back around.

He smiled faintly and began to braid her long curls. He remembered when used to do this with Maria, and taking baths back on the ARK. They always used to splash each other and make the bathroom a complete mess in the process. Though Allura wasn’t as energetic as Maria was, but the peace felt familiar.

When he finished, exhaustion finally claimed Allura. Her breathing was deep, eyes closed. He looked at her with a warm smile.

Though he was honored that he was able to help her relax, he couldn’t leave her in the hot spring. He shook her shoulder to get her attention.

“Come on, let’s head back up,” he murmured.

Her head shifted and her ear twitched. She finally opened her eyes. She got herself out of the spring, a little unsteady from sleep, steam coming off their skin and fur from the hot water. Allura shook herself dry, soaking Shadow in the process.

“Hey!” he laughed, shaking back at her. She laughed too, shielding herself with her wing.

Calming their laughter, Allura gestured for him to follow her and they walked out of the cave. She kneeled down for Shadow to climb on and he did without hesitation. Allura took off up the mountain.

Allura landed quietly in her lair as she saw that everyone was asleep.

Shadow hopped off her back and made his way to the pad with everyone else. Allura did the same as she briefly jumped up onto her loft, laying down on her side propped up on her elbow.

Everyone was already stretched out across the pad. Sonic was tucked in near the center, breathing evenly. Shadow hovered at the edge, searching for space. Every corner was taken, their small bodies tangled together comfortably. They weren’t on top of each other, but they did take up a fair portion of the pad. He really didn’t want to wake any of them up by trying to weasel his way into the huddle.

From her loft, Allura watched. “Come on up,” she said gently.

Shadow stiffened, looking up at her. “Are you…sure?”

She nodded with a small smile.

He hesitated, still shocked from the invitation. But, her calm insistence left no room for refusal. Taking off his shoes, he climbed up. He laid down in front of her as she relaxed on her side. The warmth of the bath and the lavender still clung to her. Without realizing, he shifted closer, soothed by the rhythm of her breathing.

When he noticed she had been watching, he pulled back quickly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get too close.”

Allura reached out gently, guiding him back against her chest.

He froze, then relaxed, her warmth surrounded him.

Hesitation gone, he unconsciously nestled further into her chest, head resting under her chin.

Allura’s eyes widened faintly, then softened. She draped a wing over them both and rested her chin on top of his quills.

Shadow’s breathing slowed, finally surrendering to sleep.

Allura lingered, studying him. His calm expression, the way he was almost holding onto her in his sleep, his soft snoring. It was enough for her to put her arm around him. For the first time in a long while, she didn’t feel alone.

Taking one last look at the hedgehog in her hold, she closed her eyes, letting the rare peace settle over them both.

Chapter Text

Sonic woke up to the morning sun spilling into the lair. He blinked groggily, glanced around, and saw that everyone else was still asleep. His eyes locked on Allura. Instead of being on her loft, she was laying on her side and soaking in the warm light pouring in through the east opening.

Maybe she woke up early for the sunrise? It did look amazing from the top of the mountain.

A smirk crept across Sonic’s muzzle. An opportunity to start her morning with a playful hello. He couldn’t do it in the beginning because of how untrusting she was. He learned that the hard way when she sent him into the ceiling. But, he felt like things were getting better and wanted to see if he could have a little fun.

Quietly, he got up and crept toward her.

Shadow stirred when he heard movement. His eyes found Sonic immediately, specifically Sonic crouched down and creeping toward Allura like a cat. He knew what he was about to do and he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Even though Allura was getting used to them, he didn’t know if this was going to go well or not because it was sudden.

Sonic bent his knees, ready to pounce.

He launched, but before he landed on top of her, Allura whipped around. One hand snatched him by his chest fur mid air, and in the same motion, she pinned him to the warm stone in front of her, leaning over him on her hands and knees with one hand still on his chest.

Sonic let out a shocked gasp, not expecting her to be not only awake but to catch him like that. At least she didn’t punch him like before.

Allura loomed over the hedgehog with narrowed eyes and a raised eyebrow. A look that just said ‘really’.

She adjusted her grip on the hedgehog, unintentionally hitting a ticklish spot on his stomach. Sonic stifled a laugh. Her eyes widened slightly, then she gave him a slow, knowing smile.

She proceeded to tickle him as he cried with laughter, kicking and squirming trying to get away. Soon Allura also started laughing.

“That’s what you get for trying to pounce on me,” she said, settling back to a smirk. “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to try and sneak up on me.”

Sonic lay there, catching his breath, feeling the heated stone against his back quills. Allura finally lifted her hand and rose to her feet.

Shadow let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“You want breakfast?” Allura asked.

Sonic nodded so dramatically she snorted, then she launched herself out of the lair and into the jungle.

Shadow hopped down from her loft, making Sonic jump. “That could’ve ended badly,” he said.

“At least she didn’t punch me this time,” Sonic replied.

Shadow smirked. “Yeah, thankfully.”

By the time the others woke up, probably from Sonic’s laughing, Sonic told them the whole story. They bursted out laughing when Sonic told them what he tried to do. They were glad that she didn’t hit Sonic this time and not only that, she even played with him a bit. That was a big step for her.

When they asked where she’d gone, Sonic said she was getting breakfast. That got everyone excited.

Maria nudged Shadow, asking about their “date” last night. Shadow told them about the cruise ship rescue and the close moment they shared. They didn’t know there was a secret chamber in the cave they stayed in days before. The others immediately cooed at him when he told them about when they were in the hot spring together. Shadow laughed it off, hiding his flustering cheeks.

Then, Shadow told them about his plan to talk to Commander Jonathan, smooth things over and get Allura off GUN’s radar. Everyone agreed. It was the best chance at what she wanted most, a life where she wasn’t a target anymore.

Allura soon returned, carrying a coconut for each of them. She sat down and cracked hers open with a single twist with both hands. The others stared at their untouched coconuts, unsure of what to do. They didn’t have Allura’s strength.

Allura rolled her eyes fondly and used her psychokinesis to crack every coconut cleanly in half, peeling the meat off the shell and placing it inside like little bowls.

They settled in to eat. Sonic and the other chatted and laughed while Allura listened from the side, lying on her hip and propped one elbow as she ate her coconut and ran her hand over the braid that Shadow did. She was tempted to zone out into her thoughts when a certain topic and a mention of her name made her ear twitch, her head turning toward them.

“Okay, but I still say that race wasn’t fair. You were flying, and I was on foot!” Sonic said as he looked over his shoulder to make eye contact with Allura, a grin on his muzzle.

“You challenged me. I simply accepted.” Allura replied with a raised eyebrow, tossing a piece of coconut into the air and catching it in her mouth.

Sonic spun around and leaded toward her. “Yeah, but you’ve got nothing to run into up there! No rocks, no trees, just open sky! That’s basically cheating!”

Shadow smirked. “Sorry Sonic, but it looks like you’re not the fastest thing alive anymore.”

Sonic gasped. “Oh, come on! That’s not fair!”

Marina giggled. “She may have been airborne, but bottomline is, she still beat you.”

“Yeah, she smoked you.” Joey added.

“Not to mention twice.” Crystal added.

Sonic crossed his arms, grinning stubbornly. “I let her win the second time.”

Allura gave him a knowing look. “Of course you did.” she said, her tone playfully smug.

Everyone laughed, except Sonic, who only grinned wider, pretending to sulk. Allura shook her head softly, amusement glinting in her eyes.

“This is why I don’t have friends.” Allura said with a sign.

The laughter faded instantly.

“That’s… kind of sad.” Marina murmered, her voice sympathetic.

Allura shrugged lightly, standing up and turning toward the sunlight. “Ah, when you’ve been alone as long as I have, you just get used to it. No one ever accepted me, so being alone became simpler. Friends only make things more complicated. Simpler to stay by myself.”

The friends exchanged quiet, sad looks. That sounded lonely, especially for someone like Sonic. Spending 10 years alone, watching from the sidelines while everyone else lived their lives, it made the loneliness hit a lot harder.

Allura paused, her expression softening.

“Though…I’ve started to question that belief…Ever since I met you.”

She turned back to them with a small smile.

Sonic beamed. “Yeah! Friends are handy. And nice. The more the merrier!” He wrapped his arms around his brothers.

Allura rolled her eyes, but her smile stayed. “Sure. If I were to have ‘friends,’ I have to worry about getting pounced on.” She said with air quotes.

She shot Sonic a pointed look.

He grinned sheepishly. “At least I made you laugh. I’m not gonna lie, I’m still impressed on how you caught me like that.”

Before Allura could reply, Shadow chuckled. “At least she didn’t turn you into a spiky blue chandelier again.”

That sent the group into another fit of laughter. Allura didn’t hold back this time, she even laughed a little herself.

Maybe…just maybe… a few friends wouldn’t hurt.

Calming their laughter and finishing off the last of their coconuts. Shadow turned to the group with a serious expression.

“We should get going,” he said, standing up. “It’s time to head to GUN HQ.”

The others exchanged glances and nodded, rising with him. Allura tilted her head, confusion flickering across her face. Her brows furrowed.

“What are you planning?” she asked, suspicion in her tone.

Shadow met her gaze. “We’re going to tell Commander Jonathan the truth, that you’re not a threat. That you deserve to live in peace here, not a target on your back.”

Her expressioin shifted from confusion to skeptism, her glowing eyes narrowing slightly. Still, there was a hint of warmth beneath the doubt, moved by their plan. “You really think he’ll listen?”

Sonic smiled faintly. “We’re on good terms with GUN, they trust us.”

Allura huffed through her nose and rolled her eyes. “Trust is hard to come by these days.”

Sonic chucked.

“When you get back,” she said softly, “there’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Shadow nodded. “We’ll be back soon.”

With a flash of orange light, they Chaos Controlled away.

When they appeared, Commander Jonathan jumped in his chair. Pure shock spread across his face when he saw people who he thought were dead standing before him.

His eyes were wide, mouth agap. “Oh my god, you’re alive?!”

Sonic chuckled at the commander’s expression and gave a casual shrug. “Surprise.”

Commander Jonathan blinked hard, trying to steady himself, a million questions running through his had. How were they alive? Where have they been all this time? Where is Paragon? After taking some breaths, he looked at them with relief as he rose from his desk to approach them. “I’m relieved that you guys are unharmed.” He placed a hand on Maria’s shoulder. She smiled. They exchanged a nod before he returned to his desk.

His face turned confused and serious. “Where have you been? What happened? How are you alive?”

Sonic lifted his hands in a mild “okay, fair questions” gesture. “It’s…a long story.”

Shadow crossed his arms. “Yeah, complicated as well. You won’t believe it.”

Jonathan stared at them, baffled. “Try me.”

Maria stepped forward gently. “You should know what really happened.”

Jonathan sank back into his chair, bracing himself. “Alright. Start from the beginning.”

Sonic took a breath and began. “First of all, we didn’t die from the explosion or killed by Allur…Paragon…She saved us.

Jonathan’s jaw clenched at the name, but didn’t interrupt

Joey added, “She took us to her secret island. She was planning to keep us hostage until further notice, but we managed to change her mind. To break down her walls, slightly”

Marina nodded. “Yes. She fed us. Played with us.”

Jessica crossed her arms tightly. “And she didn’t hurt any of us. Not once, at least not intentionally.” Keeping the fact that Allura punched Sonic into the ceiling out of this conversation. That would not help Commander Jonathan trust her.

Jonathan’s brows knit together. “You’re telling me that the same thing that obliterated two GUN facilities just…saved you?”

Shadow gave a single firm nod. “Yes”

Silver stepped forward next. “We spent days with her. We saw who she really is. Not the monster she was made out to be.”

Jonathan looked at each of them, at the absolute certainty and sincerity in their eyes.

His voice dropped.

“...Why would she save you?”

Sonic smiled faintly. “Because we didn’t treat her like a weapon. We didn’t fear her, like everyone else did.”

That line hung in the air for a while.

Sonic continued, softer this time. “And as soon as we said her name…you tensed up. So…yeah. We figured this conversation was inevitable.”

Jonathan leaned back, swallowed hard, and exhaled. “Fine. Explain everything. Start with this island.”

Shadow’s expression hardened. “That’s classified. We don’t even know exactly where it is. Even if we did know, we would never tell you.”

Commander Jonathan frowned at that but let it go. “Then tell me this…how come she spoke with you and didn’t speak to GUN?”

Shadow’s eyes narrowed. “Better question, how did you find her? How did you capture her? That’s the part she never told us.”

The room went still. Commander Jonathan took a deep breath.

“Fine. I’ll tell you.” He gestured for them to sit and he began.

“In the 1960s, we got a report that a meteor crashed in the Bearpaw Mountains of Northern Montana. We thought it was just a normal meteorite despite its extreme size…until it started to pulse with a strange, unusual energy signature. We built a facility around it to study it, to try and figure out what it was. After decades with no progress, cracks began to form.”

Sonic leaned forward. “Cracks?”

“When the rock layer broke away, we discovered something. It wasn’t a meteorite at all. The meteorite contained a lifeform…the true ultimate lifeform.”

Shadow’s head snapped up. “What do you mean…the true ultimate lifeform? Someone had that title before me?”

Commander Jonathan met his eyes. “Yes. Gerald wasn’t happy that we stole the title from his creation. But from what we discovered, she’s more worthy of the title.”

Shadow’s chest tightened.

Commander Jonathan continued. “Her cosmic energy goes far beyond any creature ever discovered. The scientists who worked on her believed that this energy would usher in a new era for humanity.”

Maria tone darkened. “You tried to use her.”

Commander Jonathan’s face hardened. “We tried to understand her. But her energy proved to be too dangerous. A terrible accident occured, she awoke from her comatose state and destroyed the entire facility, and everyone in it.”

The group stared at him, shock and anger simmering in their expressions.

“So you locked her up again,” Shadow said coldly. “Like you did to me.”

Commander Jonathan bristled. “We had no choice. The president declared her too dangerous to be roaming freely and needed to be contained. They spent months looking for her. Mechs finally discovered her unconscious on the side of a mountain. They were tempted to just kill her, ridding themselves of a dangerous and powerful being. But, they came in an agreement that she was too valuable to destroy. So they took her to another facility for testing. But that only lasted a month before they were unable to keep her sedated any longer, and she broke out, destroying the facility again.”

“She was provoked…you scared her and if you had just left her alone, those lives would not have been lost!” Shadow shouted, getting closer to the commander. Sonic held Shadow by the arm, Shadow backed down. Sonic didn’t know he’s grown this protective over Allura.

Commander Jonathan kept his cool. “The footage begs to differ.” he said as he opened his laptop and turned the screen toward them.

The first video showed a GUN facility, black walls and a tall dome ceiling. Alarms and guns loading were the only sounds they could hear as they saw Allura thrashing on the ground, weapons aimed at her. Her entire body pulsed with energy for a while until she went limp, the audio falling silent. But then she opened her eyes and got to her feet. Gunfire echoed through the base as she walked towards the wall, breaking through it like paper. Her mouth lit up blue, her feather’s glowing brighter. Then the video went black when the cosmic breath left her mouth.

Commander Jonathan switched to a second clip. This one showed her restrained, chains clattering, body shifting. There was one thing they noticed. They saw how mentally drained she looked. She looked like she didn’t even want to fight. Allura cried in pain as she snapped the chains on her shackles and got to her feet. One breath of cosmic energy, the screen went black again.

They said nothing for a long moment.

Shadow stepped forward again, voice low and controlled. “Why did you restrain her like that? Those chains were hurting her.”

Jonathan fired back immediately. “It was the only way to test her safely. And she wouldn’t have been injured if she hadn’t resisted. All of her wounds were her own fault.”

That did it.

Shadow finally snapped.

“She’s not your lab rat,” he hissed. “She deserves to live freely on Earth.”

Maria stepped up beside him. “She’s been hunted her entire life for the same reasons you’re hunting her.”

Jonathan pressed his lips together into a fine line. “I’m just protecting the people of Earth.”

“No,” Maria said firmly. “You imprisoned her to use her for your own gain.” She paused. “You don’t just lock people away because they are suffering.”

Sonic added, quieter, “You did the same thing to my brother.”

Shadow’s voice softened. “She saved a cruise ship full of people from being stranded in the middle of the ocean and protected them from the mechs who were trying to capture her.”

Mentally, Jonathan believed that saving one ship doesn’t undo the other hundreds of people she had taken. But he kept this to himself.

Instead, he muttered. “Look, 4 ft tall anthropormorphic hedgehogs and a 1,200 ft tall cosmic alien titan with the power to destroy entire worlds are vastly different. Plus, you guys have never killed anybody…Allura has killed hundreds of humans since she got here.”

Sonic exhaled sharply through his nose. “Okay. Then let us prove to you that she’s not a threat.”

Jonathan raised a brow. “Alright.”

Sonic dug into his quills, pulled out his phone, and tapped a few times. He stepped forward and set it on the commander’s desk.

A photo lit up the screen.

Jonathan squinted. “Is that… her? And…Shadow?”

Shadow cleared his throat, awkwardly. “Yes.”

The photo showed Allura curled on her side, massive wings folded gently, with Shadow nestled against her chest like he’d belonged there his whole life.

Jonathan blinked hard. “Why didn’t she kill you?”

Maria answered calmly. “She told us she was going to the night she first encountered us.”

Everyone except Shadow sucked in a breath.

Maria continued, “But she stopped. She wanted to understand how humans and aliens could live together. She wanted to know if she could ever live here without GUN hunting her.”

Sonic swiped to another file, a video. He hit play.

The screen showed Allura shaking, feathers pulsing erratically as she held her neck in pain. Shadow stepped into frame, talking softly to her, grounding her, calming her until her glow dimmed and her breathing steadied.

Jonathan’s mouth fell open. “She listens to you?”

Shadow answered quietly, “Yes. She trusts me.”

Then he reached into his quills, earning a few curious stares, and pulled out his phone.

After a few swipes, a photo of Allura showed on the screen.

“You took pictures too?!” Sonic whisper-yelled.

Shadow ignored him. He set his phone on Jonathan’s desk.

It showed Allura standing infront of one of the openings of her lair, staring out over her glowing island. Moonlight glinted off her feathers and horns.

“She could’ve chased me out when I showed up. I’d…had a nightmare,” he said softly. “But instead… she comforted me.”

He swiped to another photo

Allura was looking into her massive mirror, a lost gaze in her eyes.

“She didn’t threaten anyone. She was scared that her instincts would cause her to hurt other people.”

He pulled up another photo.

Shadow sitting on Allura’s back as she glided under the stars the night she met his parents, the titan looking peaceful, wings stretched in a gentle arc.

Jonathan looked up at them like they’d all completely lost their minds.

“You’re telling me… you’ve just been hanging out with her?” His voice cracked. “Having fun with her? This is insanity. That thing is a…”

Shadow stepped forward sharply. “Don’t call her a thing.”

Sonic placed a hand on the desk. “We didn’t do anything special, Commander. We just treated her like she was one of us…with respect… the respect you didn’t give her.”

Jonathan scoffed. “It’s tough to respect someone who has murdered hundreds of people.”

Marina spoke up softly. “We’ve learned more about her in a few weeks than GUN did in sixty years. And we’ve had more fun with her than we thought possible. She’s not who you think she is.”

Jonathan just stared at them, like they were telling him they’d made friends with Satan himself.

Shadow met his gaze without hesitation. “She’s not the monster you think she is. She’s just a lonely girl how has lost everything she ever had. She found out what it means to be cared about…and loved since she has never experienced it.”

His voice cracked just slightly. “She deserves to live a peaceful life…not to just exist.”

Shadow could see the crack in Jonathan’s wall. He sat back in his chair, staring down. The room was suffocatingly silent until he finally said, “Alright fine. I’ll talk with her.”

The whole group let out a breath in relief. Sonic stepped forward. “But, this comes with conditions. We are dealing with someone much more powerful than all of us put together and if threatened, it won’t end well for any of us. She is easily triggered because of her psychological trauma. So, no weapons or soldiers. And if you detect her energy signature, do not pursue her. Leave her be.”

Jonathan hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. “Agreed. But I’ll need to know where to find her.”

Shadow folded his arms. “Closest place you’ll get is Hawaii. We’ll bring her when she’s ready.”

Jonathan typed something on his laptop. “I’ll have jets at the site ready on your mark.”

Shadow gave a curt nod. “Then we’ll be in touch.”

With a final flash of chaos energy, the group vanished, leaving Jonathan alone in his office. The blinds swayed from the residual shockwave as he stared at the empty space where they’d stood.

He rubbed his temples, murmuring to himself, “Can’t believe those kids made friends with a goddess.”

He looked out the window toward the blue sky.

“Let’s hope you’re right about her, Shadow.”

They appeared back inside Allura’s lair, though the titan herself was nowhere in sight. She was probably out wandering the island. Sonic raised a hand toward his comm to let her know they were back, but Shadow stopped him with a grab to the wrist and a quick shake of his head.

“I’ve got a better idea.”

Sonic blinked, then nodded, curious what his brother was about to do.

Shadow walked to the edge of the lair, looking out over the vast, thick jungle. Then he let out a sound that was so distinctly alien that everyone froze. None of them had ever heard Shadow make a noise like that… but they recognized it instantly.

It was one of Allura’s vocal calls.

The sound echoed across the island, softening as it traveled, until the jungle fell quiet again. A moment later, the silence broke, replaced by the sound of beating wings.

Allura landed on the ledge with a gust of wind, feathers gleaming like sunlight. Her hair was now back in her knotless braid style. She scanned the space and spotted them a distance from her feet. Her expression softened into a faint, amused smile.

“Well,” she said lightly, “that’s one way to get my attention.”

The group chuckled. Shadow shrugged. “First try.”

“Not bad,” she teased.

She knelt before them and placing her hand on the stone floor. They all climbed on and she moved them onto a nearby ledge so they had eye contact and Allura didn’t have to bend down to speak with them.

They filled her in on the meeting. “Everything went… somewhat smoothly,” Sonic said. “The commander agreed to meet you.”

Allura’s smile faded into a skeptical frown, which was expected. But the longer they talked, the more her expression eased.

“I guess, if he was to listen to anyone…” she muttered, “it’d be you guys.”

“So you’ll meet him?” Shadow asked.

Allura took a slow breath, then nodded. “I will hear him out.”

Crystal perked up. “Earlier, you said there was something you wanted to tell us?”

Allura straightened a bit. “I need to refuel on cosmic radiation from a special star…one of the ones my species used to rely on.” Then she smiled, almost shyly. “I want all of you to come with me. After I refuel, we can go exploring.”

The reaction was instant. Shock. Delight. Absolute chaos-level excitement.

“You’re taking us to space?!” Sonic yelped.

They had never seen outer space before. Not really. Not like this.

Allura continued, “I always thought the closest star was too far. But, I located another one closer to Earth.” She tilted her head, thoughtful. “And…the longer I’ve been with you, the more of my good memories have returned. Planets I once enjoyed. Places I think you’d enjoy.”

“Where did you want to go.” Crystal asked

“That is for me to know and you to find out.” Allura said with a small, mischievous smile.

Immediately, they all started talking at once. “How are we getting up there? Are you building a pod? What about a ship? Do we need suits? Space suits?!”

Allura raised her hand, silencing them instantly.

“You won’t need a pod or a ship,” she said calmly. “You only need… an upgrade. I can turn you into Diamond Fey.”

They all stared at her. Every one of their jaws fell to the floor.

“You can do that?!” Sonic practically squealed.

Allura nodded once, confidently. “Cosmic energy can do almost anything. Besides, if you want to travel with me, you’ll need the body to survive deep space.”

They burst into cheering and excited jumping. Allura rolled her eyes with exaggerated patience, crossing her arms but wearing an amused smile.

“Training starts tomorrow,” she announced. “We leave once you’ve completed it.”

Crystal asked, “How long will we be gone?”

“As long as you wish,” Allura said. “But likely a few weeks.” Allura gestured with her head to the exit. “Go spend the night with your families.”

Shadow stepped forward, hesitant. “…Will you be okay alone tonight?”

Allura paused. A beat too long.

“I’ve been alone my whole life,” she said softly. “I can manage one night.”

Shadow didn’t push, he knew she wasn’t proud that she needed him to sleep peacefully. He only nodded.

They said their goodbyes, and with one flash of chaos energy, Shadow teleported them back to Green Hills. Joey and the others split off toward their homes while the hedgehogs went inside their house.

Dinner that night turned into a full celebration. Sonic told Tom, Maddie, and Longclaw about Allura’s plan, and the adults were stunned, amazed, and unbelievably proud of the boys.

Silver tossed ideas back and forth with Sonic, building possible plans for their cosmic adventure. Shadow sat unusually quiet. His eyes kept flicking toward the window. The sun was sinking fast. And the lower it dropped, the tighter the knot in his chest pulled.

Back on the island, Allura stood on the edge of her lair, staring out over the moonlit landscape. Even with the night sky dim, she could make out dark storm clouds creeping over the ocean, lightning flashing faintly inside them. Thunder grumbled low in the distance.

A cool breeze ran through her hair and across her wings.

A storm was coming.

She turned back toward her loft. For a split second, fear stabbed through her chest. She shook it off.

I can survive one night without him. I always have. I don’t need him.

To keep her lair dry, she activated energy shields across the openings, sealing out the weather. Then she climbed onto her loft, curled up, draping a wing around herself.

She drew a deep breath, closing her eyes.

Back at the Wachowski house, Sonic and Silver slipped down the hall to check on Shadow. He’d barely said a word during dinner, which was… well, weird. Red-flag weird. He naturally didn’t speak as much as they do, but he’s never that silent.

They pushed his door open and saw him standing in front of his balcony door, staring out at nothing with a completely ‘lost in thought look’ on his face, arms stiff at his sides. Silver asked gently if he was alright.

Shadow jumped like someone had fired a gun behind him. “Y-Yeah. I’m fine.”

Sonic didn’t buy that for a second. “No bro, you’re not. And that’s okay. Allura’s gonna be okay, Shadow. She’s strong.”

Shadow didn’t answer. That gnawing unease sat heavy on his face, the kind that didn’t just go away because someone told him to relax. Sonic stepped closer, softer this time.

“If it’ll help…we can go check on her. Right now. All of us.”

Shadow hesitated. He really did. But the worry was eating him alive, and he finally exhaled. “Alright.”

He grabbed their hands, red aura flaring, and teleported them straight onto Allura’s island.

The second they appeared, the lair assaulted them with noise. Heavy rain whooshed outside, wind howled around the mountain, and every few seconds lightning flashed, lighting up the lair in bright white light.

Sonic flicked on his phone light, but since he was still small, it wasn’t very effective. So they used the periodic lightning flashes for them to scan the lair. They checked her loft first, she wasn’t there.

Another flash lit up the lair near the wall on the opposite side and that’s when they saw her.

Allura was slumped on her side against the wall. Her eyes were closed, eyelids twitching. Her breathing was shallow and shaky. Black fluid leaked from the corner of her mouth as she heaved. Her head hung limp to the side, her body struggling to stay upright. The cursed scar crawled with black viens that spread across the left side of her face.

The brothers gasped, horror striking them all at once like the lightning outside. She looked awful.

Shadow lifted his hand to stop his brothers from advancing towards Allura, stepping forward slowly.

He took one step toward her. Her eyes snapped open, her wings flared wide, and she let out a broken, choked snarl. Her scar pulsed violently and she collapsed to her knees, coughing up more of the black substance. She tried standing again, but her legs gave out and she hit the ground with a thud, landing on her stomach.

“Shh. Shh, hey…hey, it’s okay,” Shadow whispered, inching closer.

Sonic and Silver stayed behind him, frozen but ready to yank him out of the way if she moved the wrong way.

Allura weakly lifted her head. Embarrassment flickered across her exhausted face. A small, pained groan escaped her.

Shadow’s heart twisted. “It’s okay Allura, I’m here to help you.” he whispered.

She shook her head once, eyes widening slightly. She propped herself up on her elbows and then raised a trembling hand. Her fingers glowed, and all three hedgehogs resized instantly to their larger sizes.

Her light flickered.

She fell again, but this time was caught by Shadow, bracing her massive weight as gently as he could. His instincts took hold. He rubbed her back until her trembling started to ease and the horrible black veins slowly faded from her face and back into the scar.

Sonic and Silver sank down beside him as he comforted the terrified and exhausted titan.

Shadow leaned down to her ear. “You think you can stand up?”

A small sound came out of her, almost a whine.

“It’s alright,” he whispered as he wiped the black substance off her face and mouth. “I’m not leaving. I just want to get you back onto your loft. We’re staying with you.”

Sonic and Silver nodded. No way they were leaving her like this.

Her eyes softened, drooping with exhaustion. Without a word, she tried to push herself upright.

The brothers helped her to her feet, her legs shaking violently. She swayed, nearly falling down again, but Sonic and Shadow grabbed onto her legs before she fell.

They kicked off their shoes and climbed onto her loft. Shadow went first, Sonic and Silver coming up after him.

Allura collapsed onto the soft pad, then snapped her head at Sonic and Silver, growling. The territorial warning was obvious. Letting them sleep in her lair was one thing, but her loft was hers. Only Shadow had ever been allowed there.

Shadow lifted a hand. “Hey. It’s alright.”

She bared her teeth at the two brothers, but her eyes were still hazy with exhaustion.

“Allura, may I touch you?” Shadow asked quietly.

She paused. Her snarling eased.

Shadow reached out slowly and placed his hand on the back of her head, just between her horns.

She went rigid… then her entire body went slack. A long, shaky breath left her. Her tension completely melted and her head dropped straight into Shadow’s lap.

Shadow gasped, and then smiled, eyes shining.

Her wings drooped at her sides as he rubbed soft, steady circles into her head. Her breathing slowed.

Sonic edged closer, hand hovering. “Think she’d mind if I…?”

Shadow nodded. He could see that Sonic wanted to comfort her as well. Since she was calm now, maybe she wouldn't mind?

Sonic rested a hand on her back and stroked gently, copying Shadow’s movements. Allura stirred but didn’t pull away. A low hum rumbled in her chest, something like a purr buried beneath fatigue.

Sonic melted, giving a heartfelt smile.

Silver floated to her other side and sat. He brushed his fingertips through her silky feathers. She let out another weak sound of contentment.

The exhaustion in the room finally caught up to all of them.

Sonic fell asleep parallel to her back. Silver curled up in front of her, near her stomach. Both of her wings slid down over them like a blanket.

Shadow lay back with her upper body draped across his chest and legs, one hand still resting protectively on her head as they all drifted off.