Chapter Text
It started with tension in his joints. It felt like his muscles were being tightened and stretched, like his bones were being pulled on each end. An average person would be concerned, but Shadow wasn't the average person.
Shadow dealt with pains throughout his entire life. His body was always put under some kind of stress since his creation. Shadow didn't have time to stop and pause for this. He had the weight of the entire G.U.N. organization on his shoulders—well, basically. Shadow was the one that was called in with all the actual issues. He was in charge of all the big missions. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, a title that was so much more than bragging rights. He was a being that was created with the intent of perfection. He didn't have time for this.
So, when he woke up every night sweating and panting because the pain was unbearable, he didn't do a damn thing.
—
Sonic had his hands tied. The scent of motor oil wafted in the air with every kick and punch he threw. Frankly, he was exhausted. Eggman had been practically torturing him. Even as he grew older, that old man had nothing better to do in his lonely life than to fuck around with a group of colorful furries that were at least ten years younger than him. It was honestly weird when you thought about it. But, that wasn't the point. The point was, Robotnik wasn't giving him a break.
It wasn't like the battles themselves were tough. It was just how frequent they've been recently. Some type of duplication device made it so that badniks kept coming and coming. For Sonic, it was fun at first. It was an endless sparring match, defeating each metal tin-man one after the next. That was, until it wasn't. The battles quickly became boring and Sonic couldn’t help but admit that his knuckles were getting a bit sore from the punches he threw, and his calves exhausted from the amount of spin dashes he performed. Luckily, Sonic came with a team. They took shifts while Tails tried to find the coordinates of where the device was so they could destroy it once and for all. But that was taking way longer than Sonic would've hoped. The kid genius was still a kid after all, he still needed time and lots of work to get good results.
Being the heroic and caring friend that he was, Sonic offered for the longest shift. As usual, it was fun for about the first ten minutes until fighting the same enemy over and over became a bore. It had been about 30 minutes of fighting before Amy stepped in out of pity. That made it a bit more fun. Sonic hadn't had him some one-on-one time with Amy in a hot minute, so the two of them were having a full-fledged conversation between fighting. Which, if that wasn't enough proof of how pathetic Robotnik's creations were, then Sonic didn't know what was. Today was different than his other shifts though. Usually, there'd be a period or two where the badniks dissipated, which Tails assumed was because of the “clone-generator-thingy” (as Sonic calls it) malfunctioning or cooling off. Today, however, was nonstop fighting. More and more pooled in and it was making Sonic get irritated. Him and Amy fought them off the best they could, but they needed backup. Someone capable. Someone like a certain hedgehog that Sonic had conflicting feelings on calling for help.
—
Shadow picks his communicator up from the kitchen counter, rubbing his eyes with a heavy sigh. "Mm?" he hums, not caring enough to use a formal greeting.
"Shadow! Hey!" a glitchy voice responds between various grunts and huffs.
Shadow immediately feels annoyance swarm his brain at that voice. Sonic. Of course it was Sonic. "What is it," he responded dryly, staring down at his coffee mug like it was the hedgehog himself.
"We could use your help out here if you're not busy," a softer, more feminine voice calls out in a slightly panicked voice before a loud crash is heard, assumably her wacking another robot into next week. This honestly makes Shadow feel slightly more sympathetic. It's not that he didn't think Amy was incapable, but he considered her a friend, which made him a bit more compliant in his decision.
"Where are you two?" Shadow asks in an annoyed sigh.
He wasn't busy, not really. Plus, he had ulterior motives. He didn't feel like fighting, but he considered it a part of training. He apparently needed to considering the fact his body was getting weak with how it ached. He had this complex that made him believe pushing him past his limit helped him, even if that was the furthest thing from the truth.
—
The second Shadow uses his Chaos energy to end up at the given coordinates, he immediately regretted it. Chaos Control used a good deal of energy, but it never made him this exhausted. It never made him this drained. He bit his tongue and shook it off, focusing on the task at hand.
Shadow required routine. He needed missions. That's what keeps him running. As much as it kills and drains him, Shadow needed one mission after another. That's what keeps him from slipping. That's what keeps him from remembering. Shadow honestly didn't care about the badniks he knew Sonic probably could handle on his own. He needed this because he always needed this. He needed this to keep himself from getting weak. He couldn't lose his strength. He didn't have time. He needed to be okay. So, he'd succeed.
"Shadow! Hey!" Sonic called out, his hand raising to wave. This proved to be a mistake with how the second he lost his attention, a badnik launched right at him. Right as he turned his head, Shadow was already in front of him in a flash of gold, his foot smacking the side of the robot with a loud crack. Shadow panted lightly when he turned back around to face him, feeling winded after doing next nothing. His brows furrowed and he had a scowl on his face.
"Focus," he growled in distain.
Part of Sonic noticed. Just barely. He could see the way Shadow's fur was unkempt and matted with sweat. He could see the tiredness in his eyes and the way his teeth clenched. He didn't ask, though. Why should he? It was strong, capable Shadow. Sonic couldn’t imagine anything would be wrong.
Instead, he lets out a small laugh before lunging at the badnik that was on its way towards Shadow.
"Could say the same for you," he quips before glancing at Amy who was dealing with way more robots than him or Shadow were.
"I could use backup too, y'know? Get over here, Shadow can handle himself!" Amy pouts, slamming her heavy hammer back down on another badnik.
"Whoops," Sonic laughs sheepishly. He shoots Shadow a silly salute before spin-dashing over to Amy, knocking a few more down on his way over like bowling pins.
Shadow scoffs before rolling his aching shoulders. He narrows his attention to the badniks ahead of him, the sound of Sonic and Amy turning into static.
One after another, pushing himself to his absolute limit, grunting and shouting as if the sound could carry each movement easier. It crawled up his chest—this white hot pain that sent all his nerve endings on fire. It felt like there was something inside of him and it was slowly pulling him apart. And his lungs felt like they were filled with something scolding, burning with hot air that made it hard for him to breathe. He panted harshly, sweat building uncomfortably under his thick fur. Distantly, he could hear the laughs and quips coming from his rival, blue and pink fuzzy and distorted. If he could just focus…just focus.
—
Yeah, that wasn’t normal was it? Sonic couldn’t help but catch glances between punches and throws, leaning up against a robot carcass as he wiped sweat and machine oil from his forehead. He noticed how Shadow’s stance was much more wobbly, his posture more slouched than usual, how he seemed…in pain.
“Hey Ames,” he starts, glancing over at the pink hedgehog who was busy doing most of the work. He quickly went back to helping out as soon as he realized he was off track, kicking a badnik in its middle.
“Yeah?” she huffs in response, her hammer heavy in her hands as she she slams it on another bot.
“Ya think Shadow’s alright? He seems kind of…messed up.”
Amy takes a second to glance over at the hedgehog in question, humming in thought before bashing in another metal head. “Yeah, actually…I think I see what you’re talking about.”
Sonic tilts his head a little, a concerned frown on his face. “Think I should talk to him?”
Amy gives Sonic a long sideways glance, a knowing smirk on her face. Sonic can feel the blood rush to his cheeks and he groans as he punches a bot square in the face to let off steam. “Shut up!”
“I never said anything,” she shrugs. “But honestly, you know what Shadow’s like. You can try, but I don’t think it’ll go anywhere. I’ll contact Knuckles and see if he can take over this shift.”
“Thanks,” Sonic sighs as he runs his hand through his quills, soon regretting it as he realizes how much machine oil is gummed up in his gloves. He shakes his hand to fling off the black sludge with a disgusted expression. “Eugh…robot guts!”
“Nasty,” Amy says with her own disgust, slamming her hammer into another bot only for it to spew the same guts Sonic was just gagging over.
“Dude!” Sonic says exasperatedly, making Amy giggle. “Whatever, I’m going get Shads before he passes out.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.”
Sonic mumbles something under his breath before dashing over to Shadow’s side, kicking one of the bots out of the way before Shadow has a chance to punch it like he was gearing up to do. Shadow growls in frustration, although he looks too awful for Sonic to feel very threatened.
“I had that!” Shadow snaps.
“The only thing you have is a cold,” Sonic says sternly as he jabs a finger to Shadow’s chest, “…or something,” he finishes with less certainty.
“I’m impermeable to disease,” Shadow counters in a low, annoyed tone.
“Well,” Sonic says awkwardly before smacking his lips. “You got something. And I’m getting you outta here.”
“I don’t need your pity, hedgehog,” Shadow growls, shoving him away so he can go back to fighting.
Sonic stumbles back a little, but his feet plant themselves firmly on the grass, his chest puffed and defensive. He furrows his brows, annoyance filling his system as he grabs Shadow by the shoulders and tugs him away from the fight. “Get your head outta your ass dude, I’m just tryna help!”
“Help? You’re the one who called for my help, aren’t you?” Shadow snarls in response, although he’s too weak to properly fight Sonic off of him.
Sonic takes a minute to register how stupid this is. It was probably dumb of him to call Shadow in the first place. He just couldn’t help but want to fight next to his favorite sparring partner. It always felt good when they joined forces to fight against a common enemy, but that feeling would never be mutual because Shadow hated him. And that was annoying as hell.
“Well obviously you’re struggling,” Sonic points out after an unsure pause. “You can hardly stand, dude! I’m taking you back to your cave…or wherever you live.”
“Get off of me! You’re not taking me anywhere, and I certainly don’t live in a cave!” Shadow growls, gathering the energy to kick Sonic to the ground, although that immediately made him feel sick and woozy, bile rising up his throat as he chokes it back.
Sonic inhales to shout the first five curse words he can come up with, but it the words die on his tongue as he sees how Shadow is wobbling back and forth. “Shads…? Shadow?” he starts breathily, fear filling his gut as his rival falls forward. “Shadow!” he shouts, rushing forward to catch him in his arms. He looks over to Amy with panicked eyes, looking for her approval.
She shoots him a concerned look before nodding. “Go, I can handle it! Knuckles said he’s on his way!” she shouts from her end of the field, making Sonic feel much less worried about leaving his friend on the battlefield.
“Okay, stay safe!” Sonic calls out as he scoops Shadow up in his arms awkwardly, his feet stuttering a little as he rushes towards the direction of Tails’ house.