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Shadow the Hedgehog dropped right into the middle of a deserted clearing. He tried to contact his partner, Amy Rose, but his communicator was dead; just when he thought he had finally gotten it to work, an automated voice ringing in his ear simply informed him that the connection had failed. Shadow roughly pulled the earpiece out and shoved it into his pocket.
'Where am I?'
He had been transported here by some mad scientist who claimed to be Sonic's nemesis. The man had said that he couldn't stand the sight of Shadow, that his face reminded him too much of Sonic. Yet Shadow had clearly seen the man subtly wipe his eyes as he said it.
He never should have stepped foot into that trap. But regretting it now wouldn't change a thing. Were the people trapped in that mysterious contraption okay? Amy had been there at the scene, so she had probably rescued them. All Shadow needed to do now was find a way back.
Shadow walked aimlessly. He walked, and he walked. He could have hurried, but for some reason, he didn't want to. Rushing might cause him to miss a crucial clue, anyway.
It was nice that the streets were quiet, likely because he was quite far from the city.
In that silent street, there was only one object making any noise. It was a digital billboard decorating the exterior wall of a building. Shadow reflexively looked up. The news was broadcasting that a new user of 'Hallucination' had appeared. Strange. As far as Shadow knew, the ability known as Hallucination only manifested in one person at a time, and it only passed on to the next person when the current user died. And the current bearer of Hallucination was Villain, 'Sonic'. Did that bastard die or something? As if. Shadow smirked at his own absurd hypothesis, finally reaching the conclusion that he must be in a past timeline. The thought that 'Shadow' didn't exist yet in this era—meaning no time paradoxes would occur—offered a sliver of comfort. Assuming he didn't interact with anyone here, of course.
A few steps later, a wooden building that looked like a workshop came into view. Shadow himself had visited this place a few times before. Not voluntarily, of course.
Back when Shadow had collapsed a few times due to early design flaws, that crazy blue hedgehog used to bring him here to take care of him. At the time, Shadow had been on edge, absolutely certain the hedgehog had some ulterior motive—but it was funny how familiar this place had already become after just a few visits.
As Shadow approached the window and peeked inside, those blue quills immediately caught his eye. It was an incredibly familiar sight to Shadow; whenever he saw the back of that head, he was always seized by the sudden urge to smack it.
But this time was different. The quills looked subtly desaturated, somehow brittle and dry, and the shoulders beneath the blanket were rising and falling with heavy, labored breaths. All of it stirred an unfamiliar emotion within Shadow. The blue hedgehog was panting hard, occasionally letting out violent, shuddering coughs. The house was quite a mess, with used bandages rolling around on the floor, left unattended.
Even if this was the past, it didn't exactly feel great to watch a guy he knew to be so full of energy looking this sickeningly frail. Just as Shadow was about to turn away to find another way out of this place,
CRASH!!
Startled by a sudden, loud noise, Shadow instinctively threw the workshop door wide open. Ah, damn it. Shadow instantly regretted his actions. How many minutes had it been since he worried about a time paradox, only to make such a stupid mistake!
Should I just run away? While Shadow debated with himself, his conflicted eyes suddenly captured the sight of Villain.
Villain had tumbled out of bed. His body was battered and covered in bruises, a clear sign that collapsing like this was a frequent occurrence. Bloody wads of tissue were scattered haphazardly across the floor. Looking closer, the dark red stains around his nose made it obvious that the hedgehog had also been suffering from nosebleeds. He was a walking intensive care unit.
Strangely, Shadow couldn't bring himself to move. If he just turned around and ran right now, he could escape this place. He hadn't spoken to the guy yet, so it should be fine. But why, why! His legs refused to budge, as if his ankles had been shackled. Intuitively realizing that he could never return to the 'current' timeline if he stayed, Shadow remained awkwardly frozen, his hand still gripping the doorknob.
Meanwhile, Villain rolled his pale red eyes to scan the sudden, uninvited guest. Then, with a sigh that sounded faintly like resignation, he pushed his upper body up off the floor.
"Your intel is seriously impressive."
"...What?"
"You're from the Association, aren't you?"
He glanced sideways at Shadow's body. Shadow looked down, saw the insignia etched into his clothes, and let out a quiet 'Ah' of realization. Regardless, Villain struggled to support his weight against the chair next to him and stood up.
"I barely even go outside these days... To think you guys found my hideout already. Color me impressed."
It seemed there was a massive misunderstanding, but Shadow didn't have the energy to correct him, nor could he think of a decent excuse. Shadow squeezed his eyes shut, maintaining his silence. I should have run away earlier.
"Still, I never expected a hedgehog who looks exactly like me to show up. You look just like a Grim Reaper."
When his joking remark was met with absolute silence, Villain slowly started to look a bit nervous.
"Uh... Are you actually a Grim Reaper? I did hear you die young if you get this ability, but..."
"Stop talking nonsense and lie down."
Looking utterly fed up, Shadow shoved Villain back toward the bed. Villain, possessing no strength to resist, flopped down onto the mattress. And yet, his mouth didn't stop moving.
"Wow, your voice is great too... How does it match your face so perfectly? It's like you were meticulously crafted by hand, absolute perf—"
"I see you still have the energy to flap your gums."
Only then did Villain snap his mouth shut. It had been a very long time since he had rambled on like this. After all, for a while now, Villain's only conversation partner had been the hallucination wearing a yellow fox's face.
"Sorry. It's just been a really long time since anyone came to visit me... Guess I got a little too excited and my mouth ran off on its own."
"Do you plan to keep running your mouth in front of the Grim Reaper, too?"
"...Wait, are you really a Grim Reaper? I mean, seeing how handsome you are, it kinda makes sense..."
Shadow let out a short sigh. There really wasn't a single ounce of seriousness in this guy.
"Then should I call your name three times, Sonic the Hedgehog?"
"Haha, no, I'll pass on that... ...Huh?"
Silence fell for several seconds. The only clock in the workshop had stopped working a long time ago, leaving the room in an absolute, suffocating quiet, as if they were the only two people left in the world. Just as his ears were adjusting to the dead silence and a faint chirping of birds drifted in, Villain opened his mouth. He probably didn't realize it himself, but his voice was trembling pathetically.
"I must be... hearing things. Sonic is—"
"Not dead."
"..."
It had almost been a year. A year since he lost his supersonic speed—his symbol and his pride —since he lost his family-like friend, Tails , and since this bizarre superpower invaded his body and ran rampant, forcing him to live as 'Villain'. How long had it been since he had heard from someone else's mouth that Sonic was alive, instead of constantly hearing people say that he was dead?
Villain clutched his head and let out a breathless, hollow laugh.
"...What is this. Are you serious...?"
"..."
"All this time, no one... Until now, I..."
The way he looked at Shadow shifted by the second. First it was curiosity, then a flash of inexplicable fear, and back to sheer bewilderment. Met with a reaction that looked as though Villain was seeing a literal ghost, Shadow simply decided to play the part of the Grim Reaper. It was easier to explain, and it served as a convenient way to gloss over his true identity.
"Heaven took pity on you and decided to give you a second chance, alright? Does that put your mind at ease?"
"So, you mean..."
"I'm not taking you with me."
"Aha,"
"..."
"...But why is the Grim Reaper wearing an Association logo?"
For a moment, Shadow considered just spouting whatever nonsense came to mind, but gave up when he realized he was getting swept up in Villain's easygoing pace. Figures. Whenever I'm with this guy, I end up acting strange, too.
"Then... what did you come here for?"
Villain brought the conversation back to square one with his question. Right. What exactly am I trying to achieve, barging in here like this? This time, Shadow slowly scanned Villain's body. The only explanation he could come up with was that he simply couldn't walk past someone in such a wretched state.
Ah, he felt like he finally understood. Why Villain hadn't been able to walk past him when he had collapsed from system overload back then. How Villain had been able to treat him so warmly, even when Shadow had spat nothing but harsh words at him.
You already knew me, didn't you.
"...Let me ask you a question, too. What were you doing before I came in?"
"Huh?"
"Didn't you fall out of bed?"
Villain stared blankly at his surroundings before lightly clutching his stomach, as if remembering something.
"Oh right, I was about to see if there was anything to eat in the house. Felt like I was actually going to die at this rate."
The sight of that emaciated body—so starkly different from the 'current' timeline—bothered him immensely. The dark, sunken bags under his eyes, his severely chapped lips devoid of any moisture. It was such an unfamiliar sight that Shadow genuinely wondered how he ever managed to become so energetic in the future.
Shadow stood up. He ordered Villain, who was still lying on the bed, to wait quietly, and then stepped out of the workshop.
Only after the sudden whirlwind had passed did Villain lean back against the cushions and try to process the situation. Okay, so, was what I just saw actually real? Am I seeing things again? Ah, right. It must be another one of Hallucination's tricks. Logically speaking, there's no way a hedgehog who looks exactly like me—and a hero from the Association, no less—would just declare that he isn't going to arrest me!
Villain was a high-profile target. A cursed ability user who hopped from host to host, whom the Association had spent years frantically tracking down and obsessing over! He knew for a fact that 'Hallucination' was one of the very first warnings the Association drilled into their heroes. And yet, that hedgehog—whose attire and flawlessly disciplined movements screamed that he was an Association hero—had just said he wasn't going to take him away. Was it some high-level strategy to make him lower his guard? But Sonic was in terrible shape right now. There was no need for that handsome Grim Reaper to trick an opponent he could easily knock out with a single punch.
About ten minutes might have passed while he organized his thoughts, before the workshop door opened again. Villain secretly worried that the hedgehog had brought a whole swarm of other Association heroes with him, but thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case. The only one to step into the workshop was the familiar face from earlier.
But he was holding something in one hand. Was it a gun? Handcuffs? As Villain struggled to focus his blurry vision, a very familiar scent simultaneously pierced his nose.
"...A chili dog?"
"You figured it out instantly."
"How did you— Ah, right, right... You know me. Everyone knows how much I love chili dogs..."
Villain paused mid-sentence and scratched his head, looking somewhat conflicted.
"But what should I do? I feel bad, but my tongue's gotten so weak lately that I can't eat anything even slightly spicy anymore."
"It's not poisoned."
At Shadow's casual remark, Villain let out a genuine chuckle. Then, he tapped his finger against his mouth.
"Hmm, so it's not spiked with sleeping pills, either?"
"I should have spiked it. Wait a moment."
"Okay, okay. Give it here."
Taking the chili dog, Villain sniffed it, savoring the scent of food for the first time in a long while. Lately, perhaps because his body had grown so weak, anything he ate made his stomach churn, and even the mere smell of the chili dogs he once loved was often enough to make him gag. But for some reason, the smell didn't make him nauseous right now. It felt like he could actually eat it.
Villain brought the chili dog to his mouth before suddenly pausing.
"Ah... But is a patient allowed to eat something like this? It's kind of heavy—"
"Did you think I wouldn't have that much sense? I told them to make it as mild as possible, so if you still can't eat it, that's entirely your problem."
"Ahaha! Are Grim Reapers always this sweet? I'm genuinely touched."
Without a hint of hesitation, Villain took a bite of the chili dog. And then he chewed. Slowly, very slowly. It was a sluggish movement that completely belied his former title as the fastest thing alive.
"...The seasoning is perfect. It's delicious."
"Good."
"No poison, either."
"..."
"And no sleeping pi—"
"Shut up."
Despite his harsh words, Shadow thought to himself that this was highly unexpected. No matter how you looked at it, right now, he was nothing more than an incredibly suspicious stranger. He must have been a target of caution from the moment he appeared wearing the Association logo, but putting that aside, he somehow knew 'Villain's' true identity, and he even knew the location of his hideout—information that was practically impossible for the Association to possess at this point in time. Every single thing about him was suspicious and questionable. And yet.
"...What would you have done if I actually did spike it with something?"
At Shadow's quietly muttered question, Villain stopped chewing and stared at him intently. Then, the corners of his mouth subtly curled up.
"You're terrible at lying, aren't you."
"What?"
"I can tell just by looking at you. You're obviously the honest and straightforward type."
Unable to follow the flow of the conversation, Shadow suddenly couldn't tell if he was being insulted or praised. Still, possessing a rather serious nature, Shadow arrived at what he deemed to be the best possible answer.
"I have never told a lie in the first place... so it is impossible to judge whether I am good or bad at it."
"I guess that's one way to look at it."
Saying so, Villain took another bite. When was the last time I had a meal while chatting with someone like this? Searching through his memories, Villain suddenly recalled a hazy image of Tails, drinking a mint chocolate shake right beside him as he ate his chili dog. We always used to eat together like that.
...
"What about you?"
"...What about me?"
"Aren't you going to eat? You only brought one."
"I'm fine. I don't need to eat."
"Gasp. Because you're a Grim Reaper...!"
"No... Hah, never mind."
Judging by his reaction, it really seemed like he wasn't one. What is his true identity, then? If he's not a Reaper, an angel? Villain neatly crumpled the wrapper of the chili dog that had vanished entirely into his mouth and tossed it into the trash can. Well... if he doesn't want to tell me, I have no intention of interrogating him. It was so strange. Why did he feel so at ease with a complete stranger sitting right in front of him?
"Thanks. That was a good meal."
"..."
Shadow had been staring out the window for a while now. Even when Villain finished his chili dog, he didn't look back this way.
"...Are you going back now?"
Villain, having long since noticed that Shadow's mind was elsewhere, spoke up while looking out the same window. The day was coming to an end.
"I get it now. Your eyes are looking at me, but you're actually looking at someone else entirely, somewhere far beyond me. Am I right?"
He was usually so utterly oblivious, but he always managed to strike right at the core like this when it counted. Shadow remained silent once more. It was an affirmation.
"It hurts my pride a little, but... it can't be helped. You need to hurry back to that person, too."
"If you tell me not to go, I will stay."
Shadow finally fixed his gaze on Villain. Villain stared back at him with dazed eyes.
"Did you just read my mind or something? That's a new experience."
"Answer me."
"...Your precious person must be waiting for you. I don't want to steal you away from them."
"You could afford to be a little greedy."
"I'm good."
As soon as he heard the answer, Shadow made his decision quickly. Just like this guy said, that highly saturated blue hedgehog was probably waiting for him. Knowing him, he was probably lounging comfortably in Shadow's spot, tearing into a bag of snacks and watching a movie.
Shadow opened the door to the workshop. The sun had completely set, and the cold night air brushed against Shadow's cheeks. A sneeze echoed from behind him.
He didn't even care about time paradoxes anymore. Shadow stepped forward with the sole, burning desire to go back and smack the back of that arrogant blue head, and in an instant, he vanished entirely from Villain's sight.
"See you sometime, Mr. Kind Reaper."
Villain stood in the spot where Shadow had disappeared, taking the cold wind head-on as he sniffled.
"I'll stay alive until then."
The hedgehog gave a violent shiver. Maybe I should make some hot cocoa for the first time in a while. I wonder if the cocoa powder has all clumped up by now, he thought, pulling the workshop door shut.