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Shadow took a deep breath and enjoyed the stillness of the house he and Rouge had shared for a while. He sat himself on the worn couch in front of the TV located on one of the walls of the bland living room, all while enjoying his favorite coffee beans. The quiet mornings were Shadow's favorite time to relax; he could enjoy all the sounds of nature outside without anyone ruining the music of it all with their annoying voice. Overall, it was nice not having anyone else in the house.
Too bad it never lasted long.
A few minutes into his peace, Rouge flung the front door of the house open with a smirk that made Shadow already hate whatever was about to come out of her sassy mouth.
“Would you be a dear and do me this one mission, Handsome?”
Shadow groaned. “Elaborate on the details.”
“We got reports that Dr. Eggman has been kidnapping Mobians since yesterday.” She hummed, showing Shadow the possible location of where Eggman could be hiding the abducted Mobians. “Your job is to simply free them.”
“Excuse me, my job?” Shadow questioned, squinting his eyes suspiciously at the bat. “I didn’t expect this to be a solo mission. How many victims were reported?”
“A total of 3 from the report I read.” Rouge then smiled, a hand on her chin, looking too thoughtful for Shadow’s liking. He knew that expression very well. “But since you seem to insist on going with a partner, then I suggest you drag Sonic along with you.”
Shadow’s muzzle scrunched up at the mention of Sonic’s name. It only irked him more. “Why can’t you come along?”
“GUN has me on a higher priority mission. You wouldn't have me overwork on two missions at once, would you?” Rouge argued, crossing her arms as she pursed her lips in a pout.
“Fine. But I am NOT going with Sonic.”
“You really should.” Rouge winked, recalling her last mission with the hero. “Personally, I enjoy his company while working.”
He mentally and physically facepalmed; he didn’t bother to hide how absolutely stupid the idea was.
Not that he was ever against the idea of a duo mission with his long-proclaimed rival, but Shadow would be lying if he said Sonic didn’t get on his nerves every possible chance he got. Whether it be team missions or duos, Sonic has mastered the art of being the most notorious brat in all of Mobian kind.
“Once again, absolutely not.” He protested, ignoring the roll of eyes Rouge was giving him.
“Even if Sonic could help out, the fact that he doesn’t know when to shut up and focus would do more harm than good.” Shadow took a deep breath to calm the fast-building rage growing in his core. “I will just go on this mission alone.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
The two glared at one another. It was time to settle things in the only fair way possible.
The two stood against one another, each of their fists clenching by their side out of pure competition. Shadow’s glare only deepened as he raised his fist. Rouge chuckled, matching Shadow’s fiery gaze as she mimicked his move. The air in the room stood still.
“May the best Mobian win.”
Shadow took a deep breath and tried to calculate the best move. Rouge just kept that sassy smirk on her face as she looked into his eyes. Shadow knew he only had one chance to get it right and win. After a dreadfully silent minute passed, both were ready to begin their battle. It was a fight of wits.
“Rock! Paper! Scissors!” The two simultaneously screeched.
Shadow chose scissors.
Rouge chose rock.
“God damnit!”
Rouge joyously laughed, blowing a kiss to her fist. Her hookup plan would finally be in motion.
Ring… Ring… Ring…
Shadow’s shoe hastily tapped as he waited impatiently for the other line to pick up.
“Have fun on your little date, dear!” Rouge giggled smugly as she left through their front door, leaving Shadow to his lonesome suffering.
To hell with this. To hell with Sonic.
“Sup, Shads! Missed me so much that you had to call me?”
“In your sweetest dreams, Hedgehog. I'd rather be shoved back in cryostasis than ever admit something so trivial.”
“Ouch!– Rude! Someone definitely poked the bear today…” Sonic chuckled, trailing off with a sigh. “C’mon, Shads! Give me some credit, at least! I make your life just a tad bit more interesting. Never once have you died of massive boredom with me around!”
“I think dying of boredom is better than listening to a second more of you,” Shadow mumbled.
“Womp womp. Cry about it.” Sonic mocked, smug and challenging. “I’m still here whether you like it or not.”
From miles away, Shadow could tell the Hero was sticking out his tongue towards him. Unbelievable. Was he looking for a fight?
“Brat.”
Shadow clicked his tongue, annoyance creeping up every nerve of his body. It took him all of his self-control not to rush to Tails’s place just so he could beat some sense into Sonic’s stubborn skull. But alas, Shadow has learned to be patient. Unfortunately for him, this will not be the last time Sonic will try to prod at his ever-lasting patience.
Yet, Shadow wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thankfully, that word alone was enough to get Sonic to pull his act together. Shadow was saved from a further migraine.
“Alright, alright! Sorry… just pulling your leg a little…” Sonic nervously coughed out his words. Shadow heard ruffling on the other end; he could only assume Sonic was getting into a more comfortable position. He's content knowing Sonic was self-aware enough when Shadow actually wanted him to be serious. “So… whatcha need?”
“I got reports of Eggman kidnapping Mobians and keeping them around this location.” Shadow briefly explained, sending the coordinates to Sonic’s device. “You and I will scout the area to locate the victims and free them. Any questions?”
“Will it just be the two of us?”
Shadow let out a defeated breath, “Sadly, yes… Just you and me, hedgehog.”
“Sweet! It’s a date!”
“Sonic, this is an important mission.” Shadow’s grip on the phone tightened. “IT'S NOT A DATE!” He paused for a bit. Did his best to calm down a little and ignore the slight blush forming. “We have victims to rescue. So do your damn job and stay focused for once.”
“Aye-aye, Captain!”
“Meet me near the entrance of Eggman’s base in 10 minutes. Be late, and there will be consequences.”
Shadow didn’t bother to listen to Sonic’s response. He hung up almost immediately and stood up from the comfy sofa to get ready. It was best to get this whole mission over with.
Sonic arrived with little to no sweat at the designated area marked on his GPS. The forest’s wind breezed through his quills as he slowed down to a sprint. One of Eggman’s dead bases was just straight ahead; the head of the building could be seen through the sea of trees.
He was greeted by a stern glare from his very-not-so-platonic rival, who was leaning against the entrance of the abandoned base, arms crossed with gritted teeth.
“You’re 15 minutes late, Hedgehog.” He growled, stomping over to the laidback hero.
“Hey, hey, hey–!” Sonic put his hands up in panic, taking a couple of steps back as he attempted to reason. “Tails wanted me to finish up some chores before leaving. He was very adamant about it, too. So if you’re going to blame anyone, blame Tails!”
Shadow backed him into a tree. Sonic couldn’t help but swallow a nervous lump.
Please don’t find out.
Shadow leaned in close, taking a couple of experimental sniffs around his muzzle.
Please, Shadow.
“You… stopped by the city for chili dogs, didn’t you?”
May Chaos grant me mercy…
Shadow groaned under his breath, exhaling his disappointment through a heavy sigh, and backed away. He turned on his heel to walk back to the entrance door, beckoning for Sonic to follow him like he was nothing but an overly annoying puppy.
Obediently, Sonic tailed behind.
“Just for a couple of chili dogs! I rushed on my way here the moment I was done!”
“I’d assume you take missions more seriously when innocents are involved.”
“I do! But I really haven’t eaten anything all day!” Sonic protested, their shoes stopping by the base’s entrance. “Besides, I can’t go around saving people with an empty stomach! A good hero always keeps their stomach filled before saving others!”
“Ugh.” Shadow rolled his eyes before scanning over the tall building. “Stay focused, Hedgehog.”
Sonic merely responded with a snicker. He spread a palm over the rusty metallic door, giving it a couple of experimental knocks. No door handle in sight. He attempted to give the door a little push. It didn’t budge.
“For someone with 300 IQ, you’d think he took better care of all his bases…” Sonic grumbled under his breath; he considered busting the heavy, metallic door open with his body.
“They’re abandoned for a reason.” Shadow hummed, teleporting inside the building with ease. Sonic’s lips pursed as he heard Shadow’s slightly muffled words behind the metallic barrier. “A good hero always knows how to break through, don’t they?”
Shadow couldn’t help but smile smugly as Sonic destroyed the entrance with a powered spindash, causing the door to be split in half as they were thrown across the surface. He turned his back on the hero, swallowing down a satisfied chuckle.
“Don’t start underestimating me now, Faker.”
Shadow snickered at the slight pout he heard. His reply was interrupted at the sudden blare of alarms flashing in the entire building, echoing through the empty hallway. For a deserted base, it’s almost impressive that the power still worked so well despite being unattended for possibly years now.
“Oh, come on! Rouge didn’t tell you this place was still active?” Sonic exclaimed as he tried to keep his balance. The whole building was shaking now.
Hatches opened, revealing armed robots who zoomed right to their spots. The two of them dodged with ease, swiftly moving away from attacks sent their way. There were dozens of them appearing, and Shadow couldn’t afford to let these worthless bots waste their precious time.
“Sonic! Search the area and see if you can locate the missing Mobians!” Shadow called out as he landed a final uppercut to one of the flying bots. “I’ll take care of them.”
Sonic’s ears perked up in interest. He spindashed from bot to bot, making his way to the nearest hallway in a flashy blue blur. “On it, Boss! I’ll let ya know if I found anything!”
“Now then…”
Shadow stood up straight as more bots closed in on him. He outstretched his arms, letting his chaos powers naturally flow across his palms, summoning green chaos energy under his fingertips.
“Let’s make this quick.”
Sonic broke through each closed metal door with a heavy spindash, quickly scanning the entire room for any locked up victims before moving on to the next room.
Rinse and repeat.
It took Sonic a while, but he finally stumbled across the room he was looking for.
Instead of locked-up Mobians in cages, what he found was Chaos instead. Each cage contained at least two. They gripped and hit the bars, sobbing and whimpering to be let out of the space that confined them.
“Chao! Chao! Chao!” All of them excitedly cheered as they saw Sonic break in.
Sonic was rather confused. That was odd. The report Shadow got was that of kidnapped Mobians. They didn’t get the wrong base, did they? Or was it false information from Shadow’s source?
“Shadow, you might wanna take a look at this once you’re done with all the bots.” He spoke to the communicator on his wrist. “You’ll be surprised at what I found.”
Sonic heard a grunt from the other line, followed by explosions. And judging by the way the ground slightly shook, Sonic concluded that Shadow still had his hands full. He was starting to consider whether Shadow needed an extra hog to help him out if Shadow kept him waiting any longer. He’s merely been running around the building; it was about time he got some action!
“Copy that. Stay put, I’m almost done.”
Sonic let out a defeated sigh. “Sir, yes, sir…”
While waiting, Sonic did his best to calm down the panicked and sad chaos trapped in their cages. The hero offered light pats using his fingertips between the metal bars and reassured them that he would get them out in no time.
Both Shadow and Sonic had successfully transferred all the caged Chaos back outside, placing them all by the entrance as the two carefully maneuvered the locks of each enclosure to make sure the Chao could be freed without harm.
All the Chao cheered and jumped around in joyous celebration once all of them were set free. They crowded the two hedgehogs that saved their lives, chirping and wrapping their arms around whatever they could of the two.
“Chao! Chao! Chao! Chao! Chao!”
“Aha! Hey!– That tickles! Stop that!– Ahh! Shadow, they’re crowding me!” Sonic dramatically wailed as he flopped onto the patch of grass below him, the Chaos now roaming around his body in happy curiosity.
Shadow had been talking with Rouge on the phone as Sonic was falling to his Chao demise. With a light click, the call ended. He let out a frustrated sigh as he sat down beside the hero, his crimson eyes pondering ahead in thought.
Some of the Chao had moved to Shadow, climbing all over the agent’s broad body and exclaiming their gratitude for saving them. One climbed to his shoulder, another one to his head, a couple sat around him, and another climbed right to his lap.
Another sigh left his lips, his gloved hand hesitantly reaching out to the Chao on his lap, giving it some affectionate pats on its head. The Chao purred and nuzzled back, chirping in delight.
“Well?” Sonic called out, sitting up from his position and putting aside some of the Chaos climbing on his body. He gently set them all down one by one. He then looked back at Shadow, emerald eyes softening after seeing how gentle one brooding hedgehog could be. “What did Rouge say?”
Shadow turned his head to the hero, his arms now crossed as he, once again, put on his tough guy personality like he wasn’t just doting on a Chao a minute ago.
“We didn’t get the wrong base. H.Q. apparently had technical issues when they gave out the information to Rouge.” Shadow briefly explained, yet it was obvious that something still bothered him with the way his brows furrowed further. He opened his mouth as if to voice out his thoughts, but then shrugged it off at the last minute with a sigh. “Regardless. The outcome was still in our favor.”
“You’re not going to question why Eggman is kidnapping these cute little Chaos?”
“Obviously, I do,” Shadow grumbled, frowning at the hero. “But there is no point in pondering what-ifs when we don’t have enough information about whatever plan he’s conjuring up next.”
“Maybe he’s making a machine to turn Mobians into Chao?”
“Now, why would he want that?”
Sonic shrugged. “For fun?”
Shadow’s face wrinkled further, looking at Sonic like he had grown another pair of quills.
Sonic merely smiled, blissfully unaware of how absurd the idea sounded to Shadow. “What? He’s a mad scientist, it’s in his nature to explore around what kinds of machinery that doctor brain could create!”
“That benefits no one!”
“That’s the point of fun, Shads!” Sonic laughed, putting his elbow by his thigh and leaning his face against the palm of his hand. “Call it a wild gamble, but that’s my honest guess.”
Shadow really considered the idea Sonic voiced out. Personally, Shadow didn’t believe the Doctor was the type to cause casualties for mere fun as the only benefit. But it would be very ironic if what Sonic said was true. It would make Shadow look like an utter fool.
“We’ll see once the time comes, then.” Shadow shook his head with another sigh, slowly setting down all the Chaos that stuck to his body before standing up and dusting himself off. “With that said, our work here is done.”
“What?” Sonic whined, shaking his head in exaggeration. “Already? The day just started, Shads! The sun isn’t even setting yet. Surely you can stay for a while.”
Shadow’s ears perked in mild interest. “For what?”
“We can race, spar, arm wrestle, take long, romantic walks on the beach, get dinner together, let me crash at your place, the possibilities are endless!” Sonic smugly listed his options for Shadow to pick. Yet each of them managed to get an eyeroll from the agent.
Shadow hummed in consideration. This seemed to only excite Sonic further.
“You’re not leaving me room to say no, are you?”
“Nope!” Sonic gave him a thumbs-up of agreement.
“Well then,” Shadow rubbed the back of his head, cracking his neck as he slowly turned to his opponent. “Ready to lose, Hedgehog?”
Sonic’s smile widened, his blue tail swishing against the grassy plain as he excitedly stood up, pure glee in his eyes. “Aha! That’s my line!”
The Chao looked between the two competitors, question marks floating above their heads.
If it was a challenge Sonic wanted, it would be a challenge Shadow would make him regret.
“May the best Hedgehog win.”
Sonic and Shadow decided to spar.
And spar.
And spar.
They sparred until the afternoon sun set on the horizon, the sea of orange skies now slowly disappearing, replaced with a darker blue. The gentle evening breeze flowed through the air, cooling down the heated skin of the two panting Hedgehogs.
Sonic doesn’t remember how he ended up in this kind of position below Shadow, but…
Chaos, he’s so close…
The hero had no recollection of how long they had been going neck-to-neck against one another; all he remembered was the impact his fists and feet made contact against Shadow’s own, the aftertaste of blood on the tip of his tongue, and the intense fiery gaze that was constantly locked onto his. They exchanged blow after blow until their faces were mere inches apart.
Shadow read him way too well. He managed to catch Sonic off guard and flipped him around, completely destroying his flow of the fight.
Both of Sonic’s wrists were pinned to the ground with only one hand. Shadow’s other hand was gripping around his neck, not tight enough to choke him, but tight enough to cause him to gag and struggle with his breathing. It didn’t help that Shadow had his whole weight on his legs.
Sonic was completely and helplessly restrained.
Well, fuck.
Sonic coughed, straining his head to look up and stare back against Shadow’s piercing red gaze. A satisfied smirk was plastered across the agent’s muzzle, drops of sweat trickling down his fur as he looked down at Sonic like he was nothing but mere prey.
“So predictable.” Shadow chuckled out, his grip on Sonic tightening further. The hedgehog under him flinched, tensing up from his aggression. “You’re making this easier for me, Hedgehog.”
Sonic clicked his tongue, sounding rather annoyed. Shadow prides himself on being one of the very few Mobians to be able to get under his blue skin.
“Well, it wouldn’t be as fun if I kept avoiding you, would it?” Sonic barked back, forcefully pushing his head forward to be more eye-level with his rival. “Where’s the fun in that, hah?”
Shadow’s smirk fell to a faint smile; his grip on Sonic slowly softened with a quiet sigh. “You’re too reckless for your own good.”
“Yet you don’t sound the slightest bit against it!” Sonic quipped, the smile on his face turned teasing. “Told ya you wouldn’t die of massive boredom with me around.”
Shadow’s smile turned into an annoyed frown in mere milliseconds after that comment. He let go of his hold on Sonic and stood up tall, both legs between Sonic’s sides as he tidied up his slightly messy quills.
“You’d be much more tolerable as a Chao,” Shadow grunted under his breath, backing away from Sonic’s laid out body. “You talk too much as a regular Mobian.”
Sonic stuck out his tongue, sitting upright. Stranded blue quills were everywhere alongside his bruised-up body. “Nah, I think you’d hate me more as a Chao! Those little guys love to talk your ears off, me included.”
Shadow cringed at the mere thought. He shook his head and offered the hero a hand. Sonic happily took it and pulled himself up. The hero dusted himself off, stretching his sore limbs.
“So, what now?” Sonic turned to Shadow, a hand sassily by his hip. “Dinner?”
“I’m not taking you anywhere with you looking like that.” Shadow pointed at his roughened body. Bruised skin, bloodied nose, messy quills… The Hero does not look appropriate for any of the food places within the city. “You need a well-deserved shower.”
“Only if it’s your shower! Tails wouldn’t want me to dirty up his place.” Sonic threw him a playful wink, but his words only caused Shadow to scoff in disagreement. “And I’m a-okay with takeout!”
Shadow grumbled under his breath and began to walk away. “And who’s inviting you to my place?”
“Me.” Sonic gleefully smiled, following along beside him with his arms at the back of his head.
“You’re… so annoying.” Shadow facepalmed, going to a full sprint.
“You know you care, Shads!” Sonic exclaimed, following right behind him.
Shadow wanted nothing more than to eat his favorite mug of coffee beans, take a nice hot shower, do his 20-step skincare routine, and call it a day in bed. Sonic, of course, being himself, loves ruining that for him.
Although Shadow was leading him to his shared house with Rouge, Shadow didn’t push Sonic away, nor did he tell Sonic to leave him alone.
Shadow focused his gaze ahead, hoping that the wind would blow away the heat creeping up on his face.
Stupid Hedgehog.