Chapter Text
His red shoes skidded against the slick surface made by the rain as he ran through the night, air jets firing as he propelled himself forward, boldly leaping from rooftop to rooftop without a second thought as he fought to keep his target in sight as it streaked at high speed through the city in its search pattern.
The pouring rain threatened to obscure his vision and make him slip up with the way it sprayed into his face at every given moment, his fur feeling heavy and sodden in an entirely unpleasant manner from how long he’d been stuck outside. Shadow refused to let any of it get in his way or deter him from his goal though. There was one shot at this and he had to get it right.
An opening appeared as the figure paused on a rooftop and he leapt across the tall gap between skyscrapers, body curling into a sphere halfway over. With chaos energy crackling over his form, he smashed into the metal body standing there, the robot noticing his presence a second too late as the collision sent him reeling across the ground.
Shadow uncurled as he rebounded, sliding across the wet concrete with a glare already affixed to his face. His jaw clenched in irritation as the robot spun its bent limbs back into position like some kind of distorted puppet. He knew one hit was never going to take this thing down, but it irritated him anyways. Bright red eye lenses snapped up to glare at him as Metal Sonic finished straightening himself out with a whirling of gyros.
The pair regarded each other, neither making a move as the rain pelted everything in a steady roar of falling water. The storm was far from ideal, but Shadow had had little choice about the timing of this encounter despite how difficult it made things.
“I know what you’re after,” Shadow said clearly over the din, breaking the silence and watching as the robot’s lenses narrowed speculatively at the words. Metal Sonic’s head tilted in a facsimile of a living being’s, expression guarded, but curious despite himself.
Shadow held up the green chaos emerald in his possession, the city lights catching on the natural cuts in its shape while giving off its own natural shine from within. The internal glow hinted at the power held within the unassuming gem and succeeded in doing exactly what Shadow needed. Metal Sonic’s eyes locked with rapt attention on the exposed gem and Shadow glared in challenge.
“If you want it, you’ll have to come and get it.”
The yellow engine core at the center of Metal’s torso whirled to life as one of the arms folded into a recognizable laser gun. In half a second, both of them charged forward, clashing in the middle as the fight began. Electric red eyes met glowing chaos red as both refused to give an inch.
A week earlier
Amy’s hammer smashed heavily into her opponent with a misleadingly soft piku chime. The blow sent the spherical form that had been aimed her way hurtling into the air and Amy squinted against the sunlight hitting her eyes as she traced his path away from the sparring field. The large, spiked form grew more and more distant and Amy frowned.
There was no way he was going to make it that easy.
True to form, his rolling form curved midair, bouncing off one of the tall trees lining the edge of the forest and rebounding back at her with what seemed an even higher speed than before. Taking a determined stance, Amy braced for the coming blow as, unlike last time, he uncurled and threw a heavy fist at her head once within striking distance.
With clenched teeth, she blocked the hit with the bar of her hammer, muscles straining against his superior strength, but holding out enough for her to deflect and throw him to the side with a toss of her weapon.
She gave a fierce grin, answering the one that appeared on his face as he looked up, tossing red dreads of quill and hair with a quick shake of his head. Pointed fangs flashed before he charged forward once more, Amy mirroring the charge eagerly between one breath and the next.
His favored flames coated his large fists and Amy’s own pink themed power energy flared to life around her, filling her hammer with a ready, reinforced glow. The warrior leapt at her, form going high and Amy slid to a stop, swinging her hammer up to meet him mid-air in a counter.
Gold metal and white cloth met with a solid gong, a shockwave of pink and bright red energy echoing outwards in concussive ripples that shook the ground in faint rumbles. The trees around them bent low, swinging back into their rightful positions with a whispered shiver of limbs as the blast settled and dissipated moments after, the world falling into quiet around them as the fight drew to a close.
Amy couldn’t erase the smile on her face as she beamed excitedly up at her brother from where he was maintaining his one armed handstand on the head of her hammer, flames of disaster gone as he echoed her look with a fanged grin of his own.
”Well matched, sister,” Knuckles boasted happily, dropping to the ground in front of her with a graceful, almost delicate fall. Amy vanished her hammer with a gesture, the weapon disappearing with a poof of air as she directed a somewhat chiding look at her brother.
”You still held back in that one attack. I’ve told you I can take it, Knuckles. You don’t have to be so careful with me.”
Her brother rubbed a hand over the back of his head, looking somewhat contrite, but not apologetic as he explained, “If I had done so, I am sure that your hammer would have broken under the strength. I did not want to risk such a thing happening.”
”Any more strength and there won’t be a forest left to practice your play-fights in,” another voice interrupted with a relaxed drawl. The pair looked over, taking in the kicked back form of Sonic lounging under the shade of a nearby tree.
The blue speedster cracked an eye their way, a smirk playing across his lips. “You two need to learn to chill. If those concussive blasts get any bigger, they’re going to reach the house and Tom won’t be happy about that. Need I remind you that repairs on the house just finished?”
Amy smirked. “I think you need to take your own advice there, Sonic. How often has Maddie gotten onto you this week about wrecking the kitchen?”
Sonic grimaced, realizing the truth of her words.
”I would not tarnish my honor by willfully trying to damage the Wachowski home,” Knuckles protested, looking insulted that his friend would even suggest such a thing.
Sonic gave him a dry look.
”Dude, you literally built a fighting pit in the living room and that wasn’t even all that long ago.”
”Yes, but I did not damage anything. I still stand by the fact that it was an improvement. Maddie simply had an overreaction to echidna clan aesthetics,” Knuckles defended surely.
”Oh, no. Knuckles, you didn’t!” Amy sighed, picturing all too easily Knuckles’ brand of decorating after living with it herself for so many years.
”Oh, he did,” Sonic grinned in good humor at the memory. “Took forever to get all the spikes and dirt out of the house. I personally thought the large throne was a nice touch. Might actually have you put one up in our room if we can sneak it past Maddie.”
”The throne was to honor my position as family champion. I would gladly build another, but as you have yet to best me in combat, you will not be permitted to sit upon it. If you want the honor, you must fight for it.” Knuckles declared, raising a pointed fist in the hedgehog’s direction.
”Yeah, on second thought, probably best to not go there,” Sonic recanted quickly, Amy chuckling at the quick about face.
“How’s Tails?” she asked, wandering closer to the other hedgehog and glancing at the yellow Mobian laying next to him in the shade.
”Still sleeping like a log,” Sonic said, checking his best friend over as well at the question. “I told him it was probably better to stay in bed, but he was determined to come with.”
The young fox was curled up next to the blue speedster, arms hugging his two fluffy tails close to the chest in quiet slumber as the slight chill in the fall wind ruffled his fur. Soft, even breaths came from the boy’s pointed muzzle, no visible signs that the earlier fight had disrupted his rest in the slightest.
”Did he stay up late again?”
”Of course,” Sonic scoffed with unveiled affection slipping into his tone as he regarded the boy beside him, shaking his head with a small smile. “Lately I’ve had to physically tear him away from the Tornado and whatever modifications he’s making in that new lab of his. He says he’s almost done, but with Tails, that’s kind of a temporary state of being on any good day.”
Amy nodded, having caught on quickly to the young fox’s tendency to hyperfixate on a project since she’d moved in several weeks ago. Tom and Maddie, while in the process of repairing the large hole in the side of the house from Doctor Robotnik’s surprise visit before, had set aside some materials to build Tails a garage-like lab behind the house, a move that, at the time, had almost made the fox combust with joy on the spot. As it was, the kid had zipped inside the moment it was complete and exclaimed over the presence of a red plane that apparently was familiar to all three of the boys.
Since then, Tails had rarely left what he deemed as his ‘workshop’ except for small instances when they had physically pulled him out for a break or when Sonic had caught the other sound asleep inside, the hedgehog carrying his friend back to the house with an indulgent smile on his face.
Amy had wandered inside a time or two to check out the going ons, listening attentively as Tails talked excitedly about what he was doing even though most of it went over her head. From what she did understand, he was adapting the plane for higher speeds and some way to deal with their upcoming trip to the ocean.
The plan to retrieve the Master Emerald from the depths was pretty much set, as with the help of Amy’s tracking senses they knew exactly where it was in the large body of water, so it became less a matter of finding a needle in a haystack and more just getting to it, hence the driven focus of Tails’ work fervor. Sonic shuddered every time they discussed diving down to get the large gem and knowing Tails, he was probably looking into ways to help the other hedgehog deal with his primary weakness before it got to that point. All of which resulted in said fox’s current exhausted state today.
The wind stirred around her, bringing her out of her musings as she glanced at her brother moving through his forms in his self-made training ring, energy still high after their match.
Her brother had been remarkably patient as they worked out their plan of action, actually sticking around rather than simply setting off on his own as she’d always known him to do when the Master Emerald was involved and she privately thought the new maturity was nice to see.
Though, he was still Knuckles at the end of the day, so they’d all had to contend with the uptick in challenges the echidna had been issuing left and right for the last three or so weeks as things were put together, her brother’s propensity for action coming out in the most basic of ways with the adventure on pause for now.
She’d indulged him this morning when he’d ambushed her outside her bedroom and rushed her out of the door without a single warning, complaining about how he was interrupting her plans, but going along anyways at his overly eager insistence. Sonic, not one to be left behind, had decided to tag along as a spectator with a half-asleep Tails trailing determinedly after, though the fox had clearly not lasted long before succumbing given his current state.
Her brother was lucky her current red dress, a favorite out of her many new outfits, was suitable for sparring or he would have had it coming if his impatient urge to fight right that moment had ruined it.
Her hands smoothed over said dress at the thought, checking it over for dirt or rips and smiled when it appeared untouched. There were a lot of memories associated with the simple outfit and the notion that it may have gotten damaged again so soon after it had been fixed was an unpleasant one.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case and with the reminder that she really did have plans today, she regarded her brother who was now tossing several cabers up in the air in a juggling motion and the peacefully reclining hedgehog next to her. The boys seemed like they would be fine without her now that whatever intensity Knuckles had been caught up in seemed to have mellowed out a bit.
”Well, this was fun and all, but I really do need to get going. I’ll see you all at the house later, okay?”
Sonic gave her a careless wave, eyes falling closed as he relaxed back against his tree, but the dull thud of several heavy objects hitting the earth in succession drew her eye back to Knuckles. Her brother was staring at her with an almost desperate look in his eyes, the cabers scattered forgotten around him as he held up his hands in a staying motion.
”No, you can’t leave yet!”
”What? Why can’t I?” Amy frowned, starting to get a bit upset at her brother’s continued need to hold her up. She was already late because of his strange need to spar with her that early and didn’t understand what his problem was today.
“You just can’t,” he repeated stubbornly and Amy growled in annoyance.
Had she said he was becoming mature? Obviously that had just been wishful thinking.
”Knuckles, you can’t stop me. I said I’m going so I am! Have fun with your work out.” With that she turned on her heel, rolling her eyes at her brother’s weird antics as she started to walk away.
Large hands grabbed her under her arms and Amy shrieked as she was boldly lifted off the ground.
”Knuckles! Put me down! What is with you today?!”
”It’s just for a few more minutes. You can wait that much longer.”
”What are you talking about? Let me-“
”There you are.”
Amy froze in her struggling, face flushing and head snapping up at the sound of the recognizable voice.
Mortification had her whole face going red at the sight of Shadow standing just a little ways away, the black hedgehog regarding her and Knuckles with a relaxed, though somewhat unreadable expression.
Still held aloft, Amy swiftly twisted and knocked her fist upside her brother’s head, taking advantage as he released her to grab at the spot to hurry up to the darker hedgehog and out of reach of any further grabs he might try.
”Hi,” she said shyly, willing the remaining flush in her cheeks away as she peered up at Shadow. Her heart fluttered rapidly at the soft look in his eyes as he gazed down at her and she kicked the ground, hands tucked behind her back as she apologized. “Sorry I was late. Knuckles has been a little difficult this morning, as you can see.”
”I figured something had to be holding you up,” he accepted easily. “You’re not the type to be late, so I came to you instead.”
Silence settled between them as they stared at each other, Amy smiling happily as a different type of blush touched her cheeks at his attention.
A grumbled, exasperated groan sounded behind her, bringing them both back to where they were and Shadow blinked, quickly holding something out to her as his own face dusted with red.
”Here. I brought your drink since, you weren’t, you know, there to order it,” he offered simply, gaze skirting away as she brightened at the sight of the strawberry milk tea in his hand.
”Thanks, Shadow. That was so sweet of you,” she smiled, taking the drink and instantly taking a sip from it. She hummed happily at the flavor, not seeing the pleased smile that appeared on Shadow’s face at the action.
”What gives, Shadow? No drinks for the rest of us?” Sonic piped up in a teasing voice, Shadow cutting his eyes in a flat glare over her head at the other hedgehog.
”No.”
”Ray of sunshine as always,” Sonic huffed with thinly veiled amusement.
”Ha!” Knuckles cheered in an almost victorious sounding manner, drawing her and Shadow’s attention back to the echidna. “I knew it would work!”
”What?” Amy asked, frowning as her brother pointed at Shadow with a fanged grin.
”It is time for our long awaited rematch, Shadow the Hedgehog! Now that you have arrived at the challenge circle, you cannot leave until a victor has been declared. Time to prove your warrior’s might in the ring!”
Shadow’s eyes narrowed at the challenge and several things suddenly clicked in Amy’s mind.
”Wait, is this why you’ve been acting weird all morning? Dragging me out here so early, refusing to let me leave. You knew I had plans with Shadow today, Knuckles. Did you use me to bait him out here?!” Amy asked with indignation, anger growing when her brother shrugged unapologetically as he confirmed his plot.
”You are always hanging out together. Shadow still owes me a match. We had agreed to one weeks ago. I had to do what I could to get him to the challenge arena and this was the best method. Obviously my plan was perfect as he is here now, as predicted. You can continue whatever plans you have after I have defeated him and fully secured my position as top warrior of the Green Hills area!”
”And why would I help you with that?” Shadow asked, clearly unamused by Knuckles’ antics as he folded his arms over his chest. “You talk as if your victory is a sure thing even though you’ve never managed to beat me before. Why would the outcome of this fight be any different?”
”I have been training nonstop in readiness for our rematch and I am confident of my victory this time,” Knuckles grinned readily, fangs flashing.
Amy glanced between the two boys as Shadow considered her brother seriously. Finally, he seemed to settle on something as he nodded to himself.
“So all I have to do is beat you and you’ll stop bothering me with this? No further tricks or interferences?”
”If you win,” Knuckles stated, cracking his gloved joints pointedly.
Shadow grunted, satisfied with the condition as he smoothed back one side of his large mane of quills with a gloved hand, gold power ring glinting in the daylight.
“Let’s make this quick then,” he said with an almost bored confidence, approaching the field where Knuckles was impatiently waiting, her brother’s eagerness visibly growing as he saw that the hedgehog was actually going to fight.
Moving back to the tree and settling next to the still sleeping Tails and a now more attentive Sonic, Amy couldn’t say that she really hated the turn of events the morning had taken. True, it wasn’t how she had envisioned the day going, having just pictured a quiet day being in Shadow’s company, but she was part of the echidna clan at heart if not exactly by species. Fighting might not consume all of her focus like it did for Knuckles, but she had been raised to admire the skill and technique that went into it. Plus, she’d never say no to the chance to watch Shadow fight.
”You got this, Shadow!” Amy cheered encouragingly, grinning as his ears flicked back towards her briefly before redirecting to focus on her brother as they faced each other across the field.
Amy found herself leaning forward eagerly as Knuckles’ power energy crackled to life, flooding his eyes a bright red as he bared his fangs in a fierce grin at his opponent. Shadow stood calmly opposite him, arms hanging relaxed at his side as he stared fixedly back.
Amy’s attention drifted as they readied themselves, admiring the way the sun shone off of Shadow’s deep black fur, the red highlights in his large mane of quills drawing her gaze to the serious set of his profile, his hidden strength practically radiating from his form like an aura. Her heart fluttered anew at how handsome he was just standing there and she sighed a smile of appreciation at the sight.
She knew Knuckles was incredibly strong, but she had no doubt as to the outcome of this match. Still, it had been awhile since she’d had the chance to watch Shadow fight and she looked forward to seeing how he would counter some of her brother’s attacks, as up to this point she had only heard stories of their first fight. The chance to witness it first hand was filling her with excitement and she couldn’t wait to see how it would play out now.
Knuckles made the first move, charging forward with red lightning arching behind him as he quickly closed the gap between him and Shadow with a familiar battle cry.
”Mmmm. Two handsome males going at it this early in the morning? This I have to see up close.”
The feminine, sultry voice spoke up unexpectedly right next to her ear and Amy gave a startled squeak as she jolted in surprise, almost losing her hold on her drink as she snapped her head to the side to see who had spoken.
There was a Mobian, a white bat, hanging upside down from the lower branches of the tree right beside her, dusty purple wings wrapped around her torso securely as she observed the two boys fighting out in the open before them. Amy blinked as blue shadowed eyes slanted towards her, pink lips quirking in amusement as the bat glanced at her expectantly.
The powerful sound of flesh hitting flesh had Amy’s attention quickly moving back to the fight in front of her, staring in a different kind of surprise at the scene before her.
Shadow’s head was snapped to the side, eyes wide with something resembling surprise, body staggering backwards as a bruise already began to bloom high on his cheekbone.
Amy gasped in shock, not having expected him to be hit and especially not so quickly into the fight.
Her brother seemed just as surprised, his stance frozen where he had connected with Shadow as he blinked in clear bewilderment before a large grin broke across his face.
”Ha! I have landed the first hit! First point goes to me!”
Dark red eyes moved from where they had focused on Amy, sliding with a slow, cutting look at Knuckles and Amy suddenly felt really bad for her brother.
”Oh ho, someone let themselves get distracted, didn’t they? Looks like this just might get a little more interesting,” the stranger said gleefully.