Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Character List: (Please note that some Madagascar 3 characters aren't listed here since they don't specifically appear in this work)

Sonic the Hedgehog as Alex

Tails the Fox as Marty

Knuckles the Echinda as Melman

Rouge the Bat as Gloria

Sticks the Badger as Skipper

Gadget the Wolf as Kowalski

Cheese the Chao as Rico

Chip the Light Gaia as Private

Surge the Tenric as Captain Chantel DuBois

Shadow the Hedgehog as Vitaly

Amy Rose as Gia

Silver the Hedgehog as Stefano

Tangle the Lemur, Whisper the Wolf, and Lanolin the
Sheep as the Horse Triplets

Cubot Prototypes as the Dancing Dogs

Big the Cat as the American Promoter and Froggy as the Eagle

Chapter Text

The beautiful city lights glowed in the night. The Circus train had finally arrived in Spagonia, the place where Sonic, his friends, and their new circus friends would perform. The place where they would hopefully impress the big time promoter, and grant them a contract to go on tour in America. (And allow Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge to go back home to Central City)

The circus was looking forward to showing off their new skills they have learned the day before. Sonic was a little bit worried on how things would run as they had only practiced for a day, and Sonic had to cut it short so Surge wouldn't find them. But as the saying goes, the show must go on.

The train had finally come to a big, colorful circus tent. A tent much bigger than Sonic and his friends ever seen. Once the train stopped, everyone was overcome with excitement, ready to put on the best show they can. Well, everyone except for a certain black and red hedgehog....

Shadow the Hedgehog had the complete opposite feeling everyone else had. He was filled to self-doubt, fear, and anxiety, feelings he normally doesn't display.

The moment he had opened the doors to the cabinet full of rings he used to perform with years ago, his mindset had completely changed, and not in a good way. The dark hedgehog was suddenly hit with flashbacks of the moment his circus act ended in disaster, and he went up in flames, literally. He was reminded of the moment he had failed himself, felt pain, and had lost his confidence.

Overcome with all these overwhelming feelings, Shadow had immediately slammed the cabinet doors shut, panting heavily, and trying to calm his breathing down. He couldn't do it again, he couldn't relive the past. Although he had told Amy and Silver he would try again, he just couldn't take the risk...

"Alright everbody, we have arrived in Spagonia!" Sonic enthusiastically announced to the circus as they stared exiting the locomotive. "Tonight's the big night where you guys get to show off your new skills to blow that promoter away!" Everyone cheered with excitement. They couldn't wait to get this show started. "I can't believe we're here, I can't wait to perform Trapeze Americano with you!" Amy happily said to the Blue Blur. "And I look forward to performing my cannon ball act with Tails!" Silver shared, feeling very excited that Sonic had helped them out to reimagine the circus.

"Okay, let's all start getting ready backstage, and then get this show on the road!" Sonic had said to everyone as they headed into the tent to get prepared. The blue hedgehog felt a little uneasy about the idea of Surge showing up unexpectedly, so he went over and pulled Sticks to the side, along with Gadget, Cheese, and Chip. "Hey, could you please keep a look out for Surge so she doesn't interfere with us or the performance?" He spoke to them in a whisper so no one but the four of them could hear. "You got it!" Sticks had exclaimed quietly and all four of them made there way into the tent.

As the group was making their way backstage, Silver couldn't help but noticed that Shadow wasn't walking with the rest of them. In fact, the last time he remembers seeing him was when they were boarding the train to go to Spagonia, but even then, Shadow had preferred to sit in his own train car for the ride. Concerned about the dark hedgehog, Silver walked back to the train to see what was going on.

Once Silver got to Shadow's personal train car, he slowly opened the door and peaks in. He notices Shadow busy going through his belongings and packing a suitcase, but what for? "Hey there" the grey hedgehog says as he slowly walks in, unsure of how Shadow was going to react. Shadow sighs annoyed, but responds "What do you want Silver..."

Silver felt a bit awkward, but decided to share what he was thinking "Well...I-I just noticed you weren't walking with us, and wanted to see what you were doing. Why are you packing a suitcase?" He asks confused. "I'm leaving..." Shadow had answered. "I'm not going out to perform..." This news had caught the grey hedgehog off guard. "What?" He replies a little worried. "But you told Amy and I yesterday that you were go-" He tried saying but was cut off by Shadow. "I know what I said before, but I can't do it again..." The younger hedgehog speaks once again "You can't leave now? What about your friends, what about the show? What about circus stick together?"

"You guys can perform without me, you've done it before. I can't risk myself out there again after what happened to me." Shadow continues to pack up. "But it's been a few years since that happened. You could give it a chance and try again. You can't let the past hold you back from doing what you loved..." Silver tries convincing his closest friend. "I'm sorry, but I left that behind. I can't do it..." Shadow says sternly.

Silver tries convincing him again "But I'm if you-" Shadow suddenly cuts him off and yells "NO I CAN'T!"
His sudden change of tone makes Silver jump, and feel a little freaked out. "Don't you remember what happened years ago? The moment I pushed my act further, I actually caught fire!" And if it weren't for you jumping in to help me, things would have ended way worse!"

Silver sadly still remembers that fateful day. He witnessed his closest friend attempting to jump through the flaming hoop, and then had to run to him with a fire extinguisher when his act ended in disaster. That moment still scarred him to this very day...

"I'm leaving the circus for good, and not ever coming back. You guys can do a good show without me..." the black and red hedgehog had told Silver. "B-But it won't be the same without you!" Silver said upset and desperate. Tears had starting to well up in his golden eyes. "You heard what I told you, now leave me alone..." Shadow said frustrated. Silver grabbed Shadow's arm with both hands to get him to listen. "You can't leave us!" He cried. At that moment, Shadow had heard enough and snapped "I SAID LEAVE ME BE!" He exclaims and suddenly throws Silver against the wall of the car and throws one of his knives from his knife collection unintentionally down towards him, thankfully missing him in the process. The grey hedgehog knew that Shadow had outbursts when he got frustrated, but this probably has to be one of the worst ones he's seen.

Feeling shaken by what Shadow had said and done, Silver hurried out of Shadow's train car. As he clumsily falls to the ground outside, Shadow slams the train car door shut. He couldn't belive what had just happened. Shadow was leaving the circus, and there was nothing he could do about it. The young hedgehog felt shakey, and tears streamed down his face as he started to cry. Not just because of Shadow's outburst, but also ge thought of how the performance was going to go without him, and if they were ever going to make it to America.

Silver ran through the back opening of the circus tent, running backstage behind a partition, covering his face with his hands, and sobbed heavily. How would the show go now without Shadow?

Chapter Text

The audience was packed with many mobian citizens, waiting for the big show to begin. Meanwhile Sticks, Gadget, Cheese, and Chip were sitting in the rafters searching for the promoter in the big crowd. All four of them were wearing top hats and bow ties for the event. While looking for the promoter, they also remembered Sonic's instructions from earlier on looking out for Surge, making sure she wouldn't crash their party.

"Come on, come on, come on, where is he?" Sticks says impatiently as she looks through a pair of binoculars. She continues to search the audience until she spies a big dark purple cat, and his pet frog, sancking on their popcorn. This was the promoter they were going to perform for. "Bingo!" If that's not a red-blooded American promoter then I don't know what is...."

"We need to get this show on the road. Chip! Tell them the frog has hopped in." She speaks to the light Gaia. "The frog has hopped in!" He exclaims excited to Sonic through a walkie talkie. He replies to Chip through the other walkie talkie "Watch your back, oh..." He then speaks quieter so only Chip can hear him "and keep an eye out for Surge..."

"Aye aye guvnor." He assures the blue blur. "The promoter is in the house!" Sonic enthusiastically announced to the circus as they were preparing backstage. His friends Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge squeel happily as he walked over to them. They were wearing colorful neon paint for the show. "Central City is closer than ever!" Tails says eagerly. Sonic was just as excited at the idea of finally going back home to their city, but knew he couldn't just jump to the conclusion right way. They would have to wait and see what the promoters feedback would be..."Let's not get ahead of ourselves" He explains to his friends. "First, we have a circus to do..."

"Got it!" Rouge replies, giving the blue hedgehog a thumbs up. "We're on folks!" Sonic announced to everyone backstage. There was still at least about a half hour left before the show began, but Sonic wanted to make sure everything was in order. He looked through the lineup of circus acts that were going to perform, and Shadow was the opening act. However, he didn't recall seeing him walk with the rest of the group earlier when they first arrived in Spagonia.

Desperate to find him, Sonic began looking for Shadow. The trio Tangle, Whisper, and Lanolin walk over to him to ask about their number. "Do we go on before, or after the Cubots?" Whisper asks."Yes!" He answers, but doesn't specify what he means. "What?" The three girls asked, unsure of what Sonic meant. "Overlap. You're acts overlap." He says, continuing to look around backstage. "We go on between?" Lanolin asks, still confused. Sonic, however, had other things mind in the moment. "Where's Shadow? He opens." He finally asks the trio. "I don't know" Tangle says. All three of the girls shake their heads, uncertain where the black and red hedgehog had gone off too.

Sonic continues to search for Shadow, still not succeeding. But he wasn't going to give up yet. Suddenly, his attention goes to Silver's silhouette, sitting towards the back of tent behind the paper partition. (Which was taped from when Sonic accidently fell through it) "Silver!" Sonic called out, but the grey hedgehog didn't answer. He then decided to walk right up to him to ask again, unaware of what he was going to see next. "Hey, Silver. Have you seen Shadow-?"

Sonic walks through the partition, where he suddenly hears the sounds of crying, sniffling, and shaky breathing. Silver was also facing away from him. "Hey..." Sonic spoke to him, concerned. Silver uncovers his face, and turns around to look at Sonic. His face was wet from the tears that were streaming down his face, and his body was trembling terribly. He looked like an emotional wreck.

The sight of the sad hedgehogs face was the last thing Sonic was expecting. Seeing his new friend in this kind of state broke his heart. "Silver...Why the sad little face?" Sonic asked softly as he bent down to the younger hedgehogs level, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "I-It's Shadow....H-h-he will not go on!" Silver says to Sonic, but it his sobbing and gasping for breath made it difficult. "What?" Sonic was alarmed by this response, but Silver continued to explain. "I-I tried e-everything I could, b-but i-it didn't w-work. He p-plans on leaving, and I-I couldn't-" The grey hedgehog couldn't even finish his sentence before the tears began to fall, and he started crying again, slowly turning away.

"Shh, shh, shh..." The blue hedgehog soothingly said, cupping Silver's face, lifting it up to look at him. He used his thumbs to wipe Silver's tears. "It's going to be alright. Just wipe away your tears, and calm down. We'll figure this out..." He tries reassuring, but Silver was too caught up in his thoughts to listen,and turns away from Sonic, still heavily crying and shaking.

Silver was too overwhelmed to calm down. He had so many thoughts going through his head right now. How the show was going to go, Shadow leaving, their chance of making it too America. Shadow's huge outburst towards him earlier didn't help things either, it was so much for him to take. Not to mention that he felt he failed at convincing Shadow, and lost his long time friend. As Silver continued to cry, he suddenly felt tightness in his chest, it was becoming hard for him to breathe. He was gasping heavily for air, and when he couldn't get a breath in his lungs, he started to panic. This worried Sonic in front of him, but he stayed composed so he could try and help calm him.

"Hey, Silver. You're going to be okay. Just focus on calming yourself down.. " Sonic tried saying softly , but Silver couldn't focus. "I-I-I...I c-can't breathe!..." Silver said crying and panicked. The young hedgehog was hyperventilating, and having a full blown panic attack. He continued sobbing as he struggling to control his ragged breathing, curling up into a ball in fear. Sonic knew he had to go find Shadow, but in this situation, Silver came first.

"Shh, listen to me. I want you to try to calm down first, alright? Sonic tells the young hedgehog softly. "Try and take a slow deep breath for me." He instructs, hoping the breathing technique would help him. Sonic also takes one of Silver's hands gently, as a way to ground him. Silver tried to take a breath in slowly, but his frantic gasping and sobbing made it impossible to do so. To him, it was hopeless, and he felt like he was going to pass out. "I-I can't do it...!" He struggled to say, but Sonic held both of Silver's hands and started rubbing his thumbs on his knuckles gently to relax him.

"Hey, look at me." His emerald eyes met with the others golden eyes. "You've got this" Sonic assures him. "Just focus on slowing your breathing down. Follow my lead okay?" The young hedgehog nods, tears still staining his face.

"Okay, take a big deep breath in through your nose..." Sonic breathes in slowly through is nose to demonstrate. He also lifts one of his hands up to exaggerate the rhythm, still holding on to one of Silver's. .Silver closes his eyes and breathes in slowly. Despite it being shaky, he manages to get the full breath in. Hold for five...." Sonic holds his breath, using his fingers to count the 5 seconds. "Now breathe out slowly through your mouth..." He breathes out and Silver follows too, feeling some of the stress leave him as he does. "Good, let's keep going" Sonic encourages. He breathes in slowly with Silver again, holds it for five, and both breathe out together. Within the span of minutes, the breathing technique starts helping Silver to calm down, relaxing his fast breathing, and feeling tension being released after each breath.

"You're doing great, Silver. Nice calm breaths. Breathe all the stress and anxiety away...." Sonic encourages as Silver continues the breathing exercise. His heart rate was finally slowing down, and his body was starting to relax. After a few more breaths, Silver finally calms down, feeling much better, calmer than before.

"There you go." Sonic spoke to him. "Now where is he? I'm sure I can go and reason with him" He reassures Silver, but he starts to feel a little worried again. "Are you sure you can? What if it doesn't work, what if he doesn't-" Sonic stops him before he can start spiraling again. "Hey, take a deep breath..." Silver breathes in and out slowly once again. "I'm sure he'll listen to me" the blue blur says confidently.

Silver gives Sonic a big hug "Thank you so much..." This catches Sonic off guard, but he hugs back "You're welcome" He replies, and goes outside to the train to finally reason with Shadow...