Chapter Text
The day had been normal.
Well, not normal by most standards. Not many would consider being thrown into an unmapped jungle to find a secret base, whose existence is merely alleged, to be part of anything that could be called a normal day. But for Shadow it was. Just another mission, another high-risk trip to a place that was guaranteed to have either lethal robots, ancient magic or evil societies. If he was lucky, he might even run into an ancient evil society that uses lethal magic robots. He looked up to the roof of the boat, a blue hedgehog stood there, looking like he was about to pass out. His mere presence increased the odds of encountering the aforementioned ancient evil society that uses lethal magic robots rise by 150%.
“Are we almost there? I feel like we've already gone around the world.”
Shadow was sure that, despite not aging, he’d get wrinkles before 20. Why was HE there? How does he always know to choose the worst time to be a pest? This had become a legitimate question, one that came with a realization: Shadow couldn't figure that guy out.
It should be rather straightforward, Sonic says so himself, he's just a guy who likes adventure. That should be it. But there was something unnerving about him, and Shadow would be lying if he said he hadn't spent an embarrassing amount of time in the last week trying to understand what put him off about that hedgehog.
At first, Shadow blamed it on the other’s unwavering sense of justice. A thing that made Sonic the most stubborn being he knew. He went with that idea, until he hit a wall. That theory didn’t hold up if the scope was scaled because he was far from being their only acquaintance to act on such whims. All his friends, Chaos be damned, even Shadow himself, trusted their sense of justice strongly, too strongly even. That desire for retribution had clouded his judgement more than once, including during his very first time on earth.
Shadow needed to think of something they didn’t have in common.
The hero’s forgiving nature is a strong contender. He has forgiven pretty much every enemy, ending up befriending a lot of them. Shadow remembers when the blue nuisance, at the end of some meeting they had at the G.U.N. headquarters, told him all about how he met knuckles and how, despite the initial misunderstanding, they ended up becoming more than strong allies, they became friends bound by mutual respect and admiration. Even Shadow, whose objective was to destroy the planet Sonic loved so much, had been deserving of forgiveness. Yet when looking at others, it was a simple conclusion that it couldn't be that either. Once more, Sonic wasn't the only person of their entourage who presented that much good will. Amy was overly gracious too, yet, she did not trigger the same uneasiness in him.
Shadow put in all his brainpower, thought of all of Sonic’s qualities, then all his flaws. Everything there was to know about the other in comparison to all those around them, had been scribbled all over a whiteboard, red threads connecting ideas, behaviors, memories… All seemingly pointless. A waste of time. Maybe Shadow should just accept that his rival’s presence would forever give him a small wave of nausea. He was starting to give up, until a small thread caught his attention. Suddenly, it was like someone had connected two neurons in his brain, the realization was obvious, so simple.
Freedom.
All of them loved freedom, evidently, yet it was unquestionable that the freest of them all was undoubtedly Sonic. He was loyal to his friends, that was not up for debate, he’d probably give his life for any of them, but it was common knowledge that if he had to, he’d go against them. Unlike most of the others, he had no grand objective or purpose. He didn’t protect any artifact, he didn’t lead any organization, he didn’t even truly work for the greater good, as proven by his refusal to take Eggman permanently down. When it came down to it, his only objective was to give everyone the opportunity to choose, to do as they want. That's why he reasons with all his enemies. That's why seeing others lose their freedom was the only thing that could ever truly anger him.
It was by pure chance that Sonic was even seen as a hero, all because it so happened that, most of the time, those who lose their freedom are weaker than the pure perseverance of grand evil.
What triggered that answer was when, four days ago, Shadow realized that, whenever there was no eminent danger (somehow, their lives would always converge at those times), the other would appear in his life at very convenient (well, not truly convenient, that would be never) time. It was mostly after a mission or during his time off. Sonic would run up to him and poke at his nerves until they were fighting. Sometimes they’d go eat out, others they’d part ways without a word. It has even happened for them to fall asleep in lavender meadows, though it only happened on days Shadow wasn’t up for the other’s bullshit.
As one would have it, there were a few times Sonic inconvenienced him during a mission. On those occasions, the task at hand wasn’t too stressful and despite how annoying Sonic could get, he always made himself helpful. All he ever wanted in exchange was to satiate his curiosity, whether about what Shadow was doing or the places he was going, some were answered by brief and concise words, others he had to figure out. It didn’t seem to bother him, despite his high energy and general hastiness, he seemed to enjoy observing others and was rather astute in any of his hunches.
Shadow never found him anywhere though. Once again, it was always Sonic who ran into him.
Shadow never truly tried to find him, to be fair, therefore, he couldn't conclude anything with certainty. It wasn’t too hard to test if this observation was a mere coincidence when one had the ability to chaos control. That's why, after reaching the previous conclusion, he decided to find Sonic. How impossible could it be? Sonic had a very traceable chaos signature, besides, when one runs at the speeds they do, it’s impossible not to leave any kind of trails.
Three entire days were wasted on this. He tried pretty much everything, but the other had pure and simply disappeared from the map. Sonic had no house, didn't use communication devices most of the time and could go from days to weeks without reaching anyone. He had been nowhere with his friends for the last two weeks, had none of the Chaos Emeralds with him, nothing! It was like he completely stopped existing.
At the height of his frustration, Shadow even tried to Chaos control himself to the menace directly, and while he had no excuse as to why he'd be teleporting to him, he didn't have to think of one, because after the flood of energy, he stood in the same place he was trying to teleport from.
Shadow scurried the whole planet, trying to feel the signature energy of his rival, but it was ultimately useless. This wasn’t truly a failure, Shadow had finally confirmed yet one more thing, the hedgehog’s freedom was such a core trait that even his existence acted like the wind, untraceable. There was not a single proof of that damn nuisance's livelihood. No one had seen him, no one had stumbled upon him, no one had felt the dust settle after one of his runs. Nothing.
Therefore, when Shadow boarded the boat that would take him to his next mission, the last thing he expected to see, after hours of travelling, was the damned blue hedgehog, on the roof, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than there. In all honesty, he should have predicted that outcome. When their eyes met, Sonic’s expression morphed, looking suddenly elated, his glee mirrored in intensity by Shadow's growing frustration. The damn thing had the audacity to act like an annoyed guest instead of a clandestine passenger. Shadow knew better than to ask him why. It was just how this was, he appeared whenever, wherever, it’s one of those things you have to deal with.
“We get there once we get there.” The answer was given in a harsh tone. Fate may be inescapable, that didn't mean Shadow would be nice about it. Sonic, unbothered and used to his annoyance, only grinned, those annoying eyes taunting and defiant.
“Awww, come on Shads, that's no way to treat a guest!”
“You ain't no guest.”
Sonic opened his mouth again, probably readying himself to spew some nonsense, when a violent tide crashed against the hull of the vessel. While the wide sway was unsuccessful at making him fall, it was very effective at making him shut up. His expression fell, making him look miserable once again. Shadow smiled despite himself, turning to face away. This type of situation never failed to make him feel amused, after all, who would have thought that Sonic, the great hero of Mobius, would be so deathly afraid of something as trivial as the ocean. Realistically, if he fell into it, he could chaos control himself out, or if he's out of Chaos Emeralds, he could just run on top of the water. Yet, whenever faced with the vast blue, he became more helpless than a child. Everyone has already tried to teach him how to swim, most have already recommended anything, exposure therapy, hypnosis, mind control… even Knuckles had once suggested to ask the Master Emerald for guidance. It was futile, he just refused to face it. A rather stubborn use of free will, but you had to admire that kind of tenacity.
“ISLAND IN VIEW, SHADOW REQUIRED ON DECK”
Well, looks like it's time. Shadow spared one last glance at the other's face that now had relief etched in every feature with the knowledge that the torturous ocean trip was almost over. As Shadow made his way to where he was requested, Sonic jumped off the roof and followed suit.
“AGENT SHADOW, WHY IS SONIC HERE?”
That was an excellent question, one that Shadow wished he knew how to answer. He turned to Sonic, lifting a brow, wanting to clearly showcase he had no hand in the matter.
“I just hitched a ride, got intel on Egghead's new thing, and ya know, I gotta see.”
He reached into his quills. Red dots instantly appeared on his forehead and chest area. He lifted both hands in the air, the right one was holding a sealed envelope.
“Calm down, it’s too early to be transformed into a sieve.”
All the soldiers knew they stood no chance, pointing their guns had merely been knee-jerk reaction. They could shoot, Sonic would just evade it all. The objective of his words had more so been to assure he wasn’t here to cause trouble.
“I got clearance, ya can make the calls you wanna, but I got Tower's to sign this,” Sonic said, waving the rectangle of paper. A drone flew by and took it.
Three minutes later, all laser dots disappeared and both Sonic and Shadow were cleared to continue on their way.
Once they finally got to the deck, both were rapidly taken to a small heliport. In the distance, the outline of an island cold be seen. They got inside the helicopter that was waiting for them, engine roaring. In reality, Shadow got inside. Sonic decided that gripping the landing skid looked more fun and spewed some nonsense about helicopter snowboard freefall. Their flight was short-lived, not even 10 minutes after take-off they were dropped on the hedge of a dense tropical forest. From the top, you couldn't make out anything. Unsurprisingly, nothing was visible either from the ground. It was clear that standing on the beach for long would be useless, what he was looking for was most likely hidden deep inside the forest.
“So, what are you looking for?”
Oh yeah, him. Shadow didn't feel like being entertainment for Sonic and therefore wouldn't grace him with any type of response. If he was just going to show himself whenever he wanted, he had to learn that shit wouldn’t just go the way he wanted. Shadow firmly went into the forest, not sparing a glance at the other. It was useless to, he could feel that infuriating shit-eating grin anyway.
····
Hours.
Hours had gone by since they got in that damn jungle, and Shadow was seething. He could feel energy cursing through him, and swear to Gaia, he would’ve already exploded if there was a way for him to safely do so without risking to compromise his mission.
“Hey, we already passed here, like, five times, ya know?”
“Yes, I know, now shut up, unless you know where to go.”
His voice was a bit hoarse. As decided from the start, for all the time they’ve been exploring, he refused to address a single word to the other, and his tone lost at least half the edge from being unused.
“Yup, we gotta go north, we've been going south, east, west for hours.”
Of course, he…
“... you knew we were going in circles”
“Yup.”
Shadow pinched between his furrowed brows. “And you didn’t say anything?”
“You weren’t gonna listen.”
He had the audacity to look amused, eyes sparkling with mirth, big smirk plastered on a face that grew more punchable by the second. Yet, he was right, he would have been ignored if he spoke of their whereabouts. It was a well-known fact that sonic has an incredible sense of direction, and it crossed Shadow’s mind multiple times to just suck in his pride and ask the other for help. It would have shortened this whole thing considerably. He refused to do it, it would feel like handing him two victories, breaking his vow of silence and admit he can’t find his way. That would be three defeats for the week. All this did was delay that fate.
“Jus’ follow me if ya can!”
In a split second, a flash of blue dashed ahead, closely followed by a dark blur. Jumping, sliding, scaling trees, fully mocking him while taking turns to disorient Shadow in a place that by itself feels like a maze. Fortunately, that game didn’t last for much, a small act of mercy that was welcome. Sonic halted, and once again wearing that infuriating mouth tilt on his muzzle, pointed at a tree.
“Love spending time with ya Shads, but I got some stuff to do too. We’re north and that tree looks weird, should be a good start. See ya later faker!”
Sonic blew him a kiss and, before Shadow could throw him a disapproving glare, zipped out, lifting dust and leaves with the wind he awakened. Once his laugh stopped ringing in the air, there was finally, peace.
Shadow exhaled. He had been wishing for some space since the moment he saw his rival. He felt something hollow. This wasn’t the time, he shook his head and brushed back his quills. He approached the tree, and sure enough, as stated by Sonic, it looked off. Or rather, it felt off. All living things emanated Chaos energy, that was expected, but this plant emanated way too much of it. Reaching into his back, he brought out his Chaos Emerald (the green one of course) and as suspected, it reacted strongly to the presence of that stump.
Taking steps around, he looked for anything that could explain the abnormal amount of energy radiated there, until he found it. He couldn’t help but bring a hand to his face again, massaging his temple. There was a sigil engraved, one he couldn't recognize, one that looked like something a primitive writing system would have. Ancient societies and magic are definitely in the picture, and Shadow is pretty sure he knows what was next on his checklist, and he really wants to speed the inevitable up and be done with this damn mission. Scrunching up his face, he extended his hand, tracing the symbol with the tip of his finger. It seemed engraved. Predictably, it lights up, emanating a soft blue light, and of course, a hole opens up right beneath him. He wasn’t even surprised, choosing to cross his arms as he fell, using Chaos control to teleport himself to the ground once he was close to reaching it.
What Shadow wasn’t fully expecting was to be met with the imposing sight of a temple. Then again, he was expecting anything, so it’s up to interpretation weather this was or not surprising. The overall appearance of the building was familiar, he just couldn’t tell exactly how yet. It was circular, the structure supported by marble columns, all of them decorated with intriguing golden motives. Murals were painted all around the walls in vibrating colors. They depicted a places and people that were most likely long gone by now. The whole thing was tall and topped by a golden cupula that seemed to have some vivid accents. Shadow would probably be able to see it better from the inside.
There was something far weirder about this subterranean place than its existence and that was light. There was no source of it to be seen, no holes above besides the one he fell from, which all the way down in this cave accounted for an insignificant dot of sunlight. In spite of that, there was a soft glow enveloping him, illuminating the whole place, coating the temple with yet another layer of mystery. It was so nonsensical, the light, the vegetation that was able to grow, the fact that the damn building looks shining new, with not a single vine overgrowing on the walls, no dust that would hide the bright gold and no signs of decay. It all felt alive, and in Shadow's experience, that was never a good sign.
He had a mission.
All senses in high alert, he turned his focus to a big door in the wall in front of him. It looked like it was also made of marble, with painted carvings. Shadow resisted the urge to roll his eyes once he realized they represented the seven chaos emeralds and the master emerald. He only had one of them. Would he need all of them to open the entrance or could he simply bust through it? He lifted his hand and felt the contour of the central gem. It was salient. That's unusual, normally that kind of thing is concave to insert the gems.
The frame lit up.
Shadow jumped back, readying his stance to fight and parry any threat that could come. The door moved, a loud rumbling filled the silence, something rather expected for a door that was probably a few tons of weight. Well, this was easy. Shadow couldn’t call this a victory for now.
A strong gust of wind came from the inside, almost making him lose his footing. He had to close his eyes from the sting. Once it ended he opened up them again, and the sight he was met with was undeniably breathtaking.
Light entered through a grand stained-glass window from above, the thing Shadow previously thought to be a gold cupola. It was divided in 7 parts, separated by golden arches. Most of the glass pieces were of some shade of yellow, except the ones that made up, once more, the shape of the emeralds and the ones in the center, which came together to form a moon. The light this part of the art piece cast down was of a pale blueish tint, but the harsh contrast it had to the warm lighting that fell on all the rest of the room made the altar at the center stand out. It wasn't the only altar, there were seven more around, each lit up by the emerald parts of the glass, but the one in the center was bigger and more ornate. It reminded him of the Master Emerald altar.
Shadow walked towards it, remarking the lack of any artifact, and decided to keep some distance, not wanting to accidentally become one. He felt more wind. He took a piece of paper from his quills, the one he was supposed to write his report on. Shadow hated paperwork, and he knew losing this document meant nothing but postponing the more tedious part of his job, they'd just print a new one. He tore out a corner and let it follow the breeze. It flew around the room in a halo pattern. A ring of air. He looked at the columns around the altar and saw yet more symbols. Just for once he wished he could reach out to Knuckles. Well, he could always try a more convoluted route. He reached for the watch on his wrist.
“Rouge, you hear me?”
There were five seconds of silence before the sultry voice of his colleague passed through.
“Oh Shadow, color me surprised, why are you calling?”
“Where is Knuckles?”
“You don't beat around the bush, and here I was hoping you wanted to spend time with me,” she feigned to be hurt, but didn't play around too much before providing information, “Sorry hon, I’m also out on mission, what did you need from him?”
“Found some old writing, it would be useful to know what it says.”
“Well, take some pictures and we'll go to him later.” She made a small pause. “Sorry I couldn't help, but good luck out there!”
-CRASH-
“Woops, sounds like I jinxed you.”
“This mission was cursed the moment Sonic appeared.”
Before Rouge could tease him, he ended the call, turning to the door, trying to see the origin of the sound. Of course, how could he have forgotten the last bullet of the list, robots. Well, at least those didn't look powered by magic, in fact, they were very familiar. Eggman robots.
“Hey Shadow, long time no see!”
There ran Sonic, followed by the Doctor's inventions. They shoot lasers at him, and he avoids it all with the same playfulness as usual. Shadow must admit, when not directed at him, his antics could be enjoyable to observe. He may look chaotic and childish, but there was no denying his skills. Every one of his jumps was highly calculated, and all landed with perfection, all while adding in the complication of taunting acrobatics accompanied by dumb quips and one-liners. He destroyed all the assailants with the right amount of strength that allowed him to break the enemy without losing his momentum. He was unpredictable, but there was a flow to it, he made it all look as easy as breathing, and for him, it probably was.
Shadow sometimes thought about it. In his own case he had been made as living weapon, was made for combat and war. Knuckles comes from a clan of warriors who lived to serve and protect the master emerald. He has seen Amy train to become stronger and be useful to everyone. He knows Rouge has been stealing since she was a child, out of necessity, then out of pure amusement. He may not know all the details, but he knew the key-points that made everyone into the fighter each of them is. He could also recognize the lack of polish their ways have. All of them are young after all, and while evident they all had to grow up faster than they should have, all of them had an immaturity to them that would show in the way they fight. Be it a miscalculated hit of the hammer, a punch thrown a millisecond too late, a shortcoming in an overly complex plan… Not Sonic.
Sonic had a control over his own body that one trains for years to have, and keeps training harder to maintain. Aside from running, Shadow never saw Sonic train. Every time they met outside of battle, he was just lazing around, curious about other people's endeavors. He watched Amy bake, tested Tails’ inventions, took a nap, ate an absurd quantity of chillidogs… Maybe he trained on those moments he was unfindable, but if he were training, due to the nature of his talent, he should be easy to find, his chaos energy should be traceable, his movements disruptive of the life around. But it wasn't.
Shadow asked himself what horrors could a 16-year-old go through to acquire not only this level of physical strength, but also this type of intelligence. Sonic's physical abilities could be explained by the chaos energy that pulses through him, by the level of coordination one must have to operate at the speed he does. Shadow knew it first-hand, after all, he too tapped into that energy to move like he moves. But the intelligence the other displayed in battle, that was a whole other story.
To the outside, it may look like what he does is easy, mindless even, but his fighting style was marked by an impressive series of decisions, made in the smallest fraction of time, that were meant not only to make the whole deal fun, but also scarily efficient.
Case in point, as Sonic is fighting right now, with another well-timed jump, he managed to lure five flying bots into crashing into each other, then spindashed into on his way down, sending them off to five different corners, where each of them took off a land robot. He didn’t stop there, he was already rapidly spinning around the dome, creating a strong circular wind that dragged all the still operational enemies up. He halted with very little braking time, making the tornado subside, and quickly climbed the temple using the already falling techs as steps, destroying them in the process. Finally, he kicked the last one up as he propelled himself upwards with it and then kicked the hunk of metal once more, this time down. It landed with a heavy thud right in front of the door. Shadow looked around. All the husks were disposed symmetrically around the space, the distances between each of them perfectly equal.
“I normally wouldn’t bother, but I know you like stuff tidy.”
Sonic had landed with his back turned to him, looking around, hands on his hips. He was heaving, not so much from the effort, much more from the thrill. He turned his head until their eyes met, that magnetic green looking at him, the same green as his favorite emerald. A shade he couldn’t look away from, an intensity that pinned him on the spot, curiosity oozing out, gauging his next move.
The air whistled.
Then Sonic fell.