#if knuckles were blue instead of sonic

[via01lactea]

Hey

I’ve seen this before

I don’t know where tho

[sonknuxadow]

is this anything

[aealzx]

As Sonic slammed through the enemy’s weapons Knuckles slid to a stop next to Shadow and threw his body protectively over the black hedgehog’s smaller form, a hand resting on Shadow’s head, and face turning to snarl at the soldiers. Only when significant damage had been done did Sonic skid to a stop, standing between the soldiers and Shadow with his arms spread wide, blue lightning rippling off his form. The quiet that fell over the field wasn’t complete, but it was still numbing. “Stay down, new hedgehog. I’ll keep you safe,” Knuckles spoke quietly to Shadow when he tried to push himself up despite the form over him. He smelled of blood mixed with ash, and Knuckles could hear the slight wheeze in his painfully heavy breaths. It was a simple command, but Knuckles was uncertain if the way Shadow’s form relaxed after a moment was a good thing or not. He seemed to be having trouble keeping his eyes open.

____________

“Mr. Wachowski. Care to enlighten me why you’re here?” Commander Walters returned the greeting. “Well, I live here,” Tom answered with a brief smile. “Green Hills is right over there, in case you weren’t aware. We’d appreciate it if the military wasn’t firing off weapons so close to town.” “A minor incident. We have it under control, and will be leaving shortly.” Sonic snorted and opened his mouth to shoot a bitter reply, but Tom stopped him with a hand. “Great! Well then, I’ll just pick up my kids, and we’ll pretend this never happened. We can tell the town you were cleaning up a rogue Eggman drone?” Tom suggested brightly. That got Commander Walters to crack a fake smile. “Ah. Yes, that should do nicely.” “Cool! Keeping it simple. I like it,” Tom breathed, clapping his hands together and turning slightly. “Honey, is kid number four safe to move?” “Four?” Commander Walters spoke in mildly confused protest. “Uhhhhh yeah. Two right here, and then two over there with Maddie makes four,” Tom returned easily, pointing to Sonic and Tails near him, and then Knuckles and Shadow as Maddie reached them. Commander Walters cleared his throat. “I’m sorry Mr. Wachowski, there seems to be a misunderstanding. Project Shadow is property of G.U.N.. I can’t allow you to take it.” “Huh,” Tom voiced, forcing a pause. “That’s strange. I thought slavery was illegal in the United States.” “You know what I mean.” “No, I actually don’t. Care to enlighten me how kidnapping a lost child and subjecting him to experimentation and indefinite imprisonment is something the government does?” Commander Walters’ expression twitched, and Tom started nodding his head. “Yeah, we figured some things out,” Tom confirmed the unspoken, possible question. It prompted Commander Walters to change tactics, shifting his shoulders and drawing a breath for a new conversation. “We’re simply containing a dangerous weapon. It’s standard procedure.” “Excuse me? The only dangerous weapon we’ve had to deal with recently was that moon slicing cannon your people built. The one that my kids stopped, because some nutcase stole it from you. Remember that?” “Didn’t he almost kill you in the process?” “Because he thought I was you!” Tom snapped. ”And seeing what you've done to him now I can see why his first reaction to seeing you was to fight!” “He's dangerous-” “He is a child!” Tom bellowed. “And if you would treat him as one, as a person, instead of a weapon he may have come to like you instead of wanting to kill you the moment he saw you! Now are you going to take my suggestion and get the hell out of here without a fuss, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?”

____________________

“I think he passed out.” Maddie faltered for a moment, but then pushed through, somewhat reassured since they were already in the clinic. “Alright. That’s okay, bring him over here,” Maddie directed, pointing to a shallow bathing station. “We need to get him clean. Can you get his gloves and shoes off?” she gave for further instruction before turning to her three boys. “Knuckles, take your brothers to the front room and call Uncle Wade to come help watch you three.” “But I wanna help!” Sonic protested, already having been dancing around their feet staying out of the way but also trying to stay as close as he could. “I know, but this is a little more intense than I’d like you to have to deal with,” Maddie assured, running her hand over his head. “I’ll be good, I’ll listen.” “No, Sonic,” Maddie stressed. “I’m gonna have to do surgery to fix his ribs, and I don’t want any of you to see that. Okay?” Sonic’s eyes went wide, and Maddie raised her hands to steady him if needed. It was a little blunt, but she didn’t have time to keep trying to convince him. “It’ll be okay, boys. I’ll take care of it. So just be good for Wade, alright?” “I’ll watch over them, mother,” Knuckles assured, moving forward with Tails already clinging to him and putting a hand around Sonic. “Come. Let us contact our Uncle, then construct a plan to welcome Shadow home.”

__________________________

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Iiiiiii have a lot of scattered incoherent thoughts about Shadow getting adopted that I cannot figure out how to string together in a straight story, so I'm just doodling and writing the lil bits that pop into my head. 8 |

Something about Shadow trying to find his inhibitor rings again, but he only gets the 2 for his legs and G.U.N. finds the other 2 first, which leads to Shadow trying to steal them back but inevitably getting worn down by them and his own chaos energy beating him up. So he gives in and goes to Green Hills to find Sonic for help because "I thought that...since you wouldn't kill me… even after all I did, all I said, I thought that maybe…. maybe… you could help me"

This all took long enough that the Wachowski fam had enough time to talk things over about everything.

This also might be the 'I may have beat Shadow up a lil too much haha whoops' headspace 'cause he ended up with this list of injuries by the time the fam got him:

2 displaced broken ribs on the right (stabilized by Maddie with pins to be removed later)

broken right arm

broken left leg

injured right lung (causes wheezing mostly)

large laceration on right torso and right thigh

I'm still not sure if I want Walters to be the one there chasing Shadow or if it should be the other military lady and Walters helps stop them and let Tom and Maddie take Shadow 8 |

anyway post is getting way long so * finger guns and leaves ya'll with this *

[multifandom-pleasures]

A/N: sonic boys and babies ? sonic boys and babies. pregnancy down below as forewarning !! pregnancy announcements and such.

sonic

you sat patiently waiting on the couch of your home, waiting for sonic to return. he was out doing his hero work, and you had finished your job for the day as well; and now you were waiting to show him what you held in your hand. two very positive tests between your fingers.

you had felt somewhat sick the past few mornings, your usual favorite foods made you gag, and you’d become irritable. even sonic was growing concerned for you, and you waved him off. you were probably just tired. but after speaking with amy and rouge about how you’d been feeling they suggested you take the tests.

and here you were. pregnant. you knew sonic would react well to the news, no matter what was thrown his way he took it in stride. but you were still nervous. who wouldn’t be nervous? you instinctively hid the tests beneath your thigh as the door swung open, the blue hedgehog striding in with a bright smile.

“ (y/n)! “ he practically cheered, shutting the door and zipping over to you. he plopped into the spot beside you on the sofa, wrapping his arm around your shoulders and pressing a kiss to your temple, “ you okay? you don’t even have the tv on. “ he looked over at the screen across the room, brows furrowed in slight concern at the dark screen.

“ yeah. “ you replied, lips instinctively into a smile, “ I was just thinking was all. how was work? “

“ ah y’know! same old. helped a few people, saved a few pets, beat up a few of egghead’s bots. “ he sighed, leaning back with his hands resting behind his head, “ you? “

you appreciated the talk, it eased your worries, tension leaving your shoulders and your smile growing.

“ good. “ you replied simply, fingers grazing the tests still hidden underneath your leg, “ I actually had some news for you; maybe it can be considered a gift. “

“ ooh, a gift? “ sonic perked up at that, sitting up properly and his smile stretching across his muzzle, “ what is it, babe? “ you took a breath.

“ well, you know I’ve been feeling sick. “

“ yup; I have been kneeling by you in the bathroom in the morning. “

“ and that I’ve been kinda.. mood swing-y. “ he winced and nodded.

“ yeah, definitely noticed that. “

“ and some foods kinda gross me out. “

“ even your favorite. “ he pouted slightly, “ did you go to the doctor? I’ve been worried you were getting sick. “ you laughed and nodded slowly.

“ sort of? not a doctor but, i did find the reasoning for it. “ he sat patiently, silently waiting for you to continue. you instead slid the tests from under you and took his hand, setting the two plastic sticks into his palm. his eyes drifted downwards and stared for a moment, and the silence drew a bit too long for comfort. you almost started to worry again; until he jumped up and practically dragged you off of the couch.

“ you’re pregnant? “ he exclaimed, a grin on his face, “ like; you’re absolutely, positively, a hundred percent sure? “ you squealed and clung onto sonic as he lifted you by your waist, a shy smile on your face.

“ yes! I took a few more tests to make sure. “ you replied, and sonic looked down at you with an expression of absolute adoration and joy, “ you really are happy about it? “

“ of course I am! I mean, I never had a set plan for kids, but, I’m not gonna say no to them either. “ he replied, setting you down onto your feet, “ so long as you want them too, of course.. I would treat you and them so well, I hope you know that. “

“ I never expected anything less. “ you replied softly, unable to keep the smile of your face as he pressed kisses over your knuckles and hands, “ I want them; I want to have them with you.. “

“ I can’t wait. “ he sighed, bringing your hands to his chest. his smile grew more mischievous as he added, “ I hope they can run just as fast as me! we’ll be the fastest hedgehogs around! “

“ sonic. “ you rolled your eyes fondly, snickering. they would be the death of you; and you wouldn’t want it any other way.

shadow

you’d never been more nervous in your life. you hadn’t planned for this sort of thing to happen; you had one lovely night with shadow, one thing led to another and now here you stood in the bathroom. three tests lined up on your counter, and each had two very solid, and very obvious lines. you could deny it all you wanted, but you were indeed pregnant.

how were you going to tell him? kids were never a thing you’d discussed, he was much too busy with G.U.N and still freshly healed from his traumatic past. this would be the very last thing he could want. you contemplated just keeping it to yourself, mull over your choices and then decide when you were ready.

that idea flew out the window as you heard said hedgehog coming home, his familiar routine of setting his motorbike keys onto the table, along with his weapon, and then making his way to the kitchenette to spy on what was made for dinner. you hadn’t made anything. you were too queasy to eat, which ultimately led to you meeting your wits end and deciding to finally take the test you had in your bathroom cabinet for a week.

shadow then made his way down the hall, and you threw the tests into the trash, haphazardly wasting some toilet paper in an attempt to hide the sticks. you left the bathroom just as shadow made it to the door, and as he looked down at you he hummed and dipped down to give you a kiss.

“ you weren’t hungry tonight? “

“ no. “ you replied quietly, “ I was feeling a bit sick. sorry, love - I know you love to try what I make. “ he gave a small shrug and smile.

“ it’s alright. “ he slid past you to look at himself in the mirror. he cleaned off a few smudges of dirt and whatever other muck he’d gotten in his fur during his mission, “ are you feeling better at least? “

“ still a bit sick. “ and you spoke honestly, your stomach was coiling with anxiety with how closely he stood beside the trash. you weren’t all to sure if he could see the tests or not. he sighed and looked over at you, eyes flitting over your form.

“ do you know what it is? “ you blinked and replied, voice croaking slightly as your hand instinctively settled on your stomach.

“ what? “ his brows furrowed and he tilted his head.

“ do you know what it is? “ he repeated, “ a stomach ache or are you coming down with something? “ you let out a breath and shook your head.

“ just a stomach ache. “ shadow was quiet for a moment, and when his eyes flitted to your stomach and back to your face, you nearly lurched towards him as he stepped back towards the trashcan.

he gingerly lifted the stressfully thrown strand of toilet paper and peered into it, then took the tests from the can.

“ you are a horrible liar. “ he sniffed, setting them onto the counter and observing the positive lines, “ and you are horrible at hiding evidence. you’re lucky you aren’t a criminal; I would have caught you immediately. “

you sighed and covered your face shamefully in your hands, almost expecting a negative reaction to it all. instead, your hands were pulled away from your face and you looked up to see shadow’s surprisingly gentle expression.

“ what is your plan? “

“ I don’t know. “ you replied quietly, fingers curling into your palms, “ I was.. I was thinking you wouldn’t want them. “

“ why wouldn’t I? “ he replied, almost sounding offended by the thought, “ I don’t know much about.. children. I can count how many I’ve known in my life with one hand; but, it is your choice more than mine. “

you were quiet for a moment, thinking. you shifted in place as you slid your hands into shadow’s, interlacing your fingers.

“ I would want to keep them.. “ he nodded, kissing your forehead.

“ then we will. I’ll learn. “ his lips curled into a small, faint smile, “ admittedly.. I’ve wondered what it would be like to have children. with you, at least. “ you blushed and ducked your head, “ I do worry I won’t be a good father.

“ you will. “ you replied as you wrapped your arms around him, hugging onto him. he returned the gesture with a sigh, “ I just know it. “

“ i can only hope.. “

knuckles

it was knuckles who had convinced you to take the tests. he can be awfully perceptive when he wanted to be; and when he noticed the mood swings you had, your changes in meals, and how often you’d been napping, he insisted. you were sure you weren’t, but he said he’d witnessed it a few times with the women in his tribe, and you relented.

you felt idiotic as the test showed you the two solid red lines, and you triple checked on the box that it meant positive. that damned echidna. the door swung open when the silence had stretched on a tad too long and he decided you were done taking the test. he looked down at you and almost looked smug at the result.

“ and I was right. “ he puffed up his chest, hands on his hips, “ as I knew I would be! rarely am I wrong. “

“ shut up. “ you groaned, throwing the test at him which easily bounced off his chest. he laughed and knelt down to pick it up.

“ careful; we must cherish this! the first sign of our kin! wouldn’t you wish to keep it for memories? that is what people do, is it not? “ you felt your face burn as you took the test back, his excitement for it all endearing and annoying all at once. how could he always be so positive?

“ you mean you do want them? “ you stood up and set the plastic strip back onto the counter. he looked at you as if you had three heads.

“ of course! I would want nothing more than to revive the echidnas with the one I adore most. do you not wish to have them? “

“ no. “ you replied, then quickly added, “ I mean; yes! I do, but, it’s just.. a lot all of a sudden. “ you sighed, resting your palm to your face as you looked down. sensing your worry, knuckles set his hands on your waist and pulled you closer towards him.

“ what are you worried for? “ he questioned, and you looked up at him. curse your hormones making you tear up so quickly. you sniffed and shrugged.

“ I just worry I won’t be enough for them.. “

“ of course you will be. “ knuckles replied without hesitation, brows furrowed and a frown on his face, “ you are resilient! and ever charming, and intelligent, and considerate, and patient, and.. “ you raised your hand to cover his mouth, knowing well if you let him talk he would continue on. you let out a small teary laugh.

“ you really think so? “ he nodded, eyes focused on you as if to assure you, since you did cover his mouth. you uncovered it and were immediately met with a kiss.

“ I know it. if there was only one thing I was sure of, it is that. I have faith in you. “ he murmured, “ you will be a wonderful parent to our kin. “ you sniffed and nodded.

“ we can do this.. “

“ that we can. “ he replied with a bright grin, and you returned the gesture.

“ and I will train them to be the best warriors this planet has ever seen! “

“ knucks. “

scourge

you paced the throne room anxiously, worrying to yourself on how you would tell scourge. the scourge, king of anti-mobius and previously known non-monogamous ladies man. until you, of course. he had never let a single thing tie him down before you, and because of that you always had the inkling in the back of your mind that for any little reason, he would leave you. even if he’d assured you many times before it wasn’t true.

you nearly threw up alone as you heard the doors open and the said hedgehog came waltzing in. he looked rather cheerful. he had his sharp-toothed grin, glasses resting on his head and his eyes were focused on you. you nearly melted as his arms wrapped around you and pulled you into a kiss, which you distractedly returned. he pulled away with a small huff.

“ what, don’t love me anymore? c’mon babe, what’s with that kinda kiss? “ he frowned, almost a pout, as he pressed a few more kisses against your jaw. you wiggled in his hold and gingerly pushed him back, and his frown only grew, “ you okay? what’s up? someone say somethin’ t’you ? y’know I’ll fuck ‘em up. just say the world, doll. “

you shook your head with a soft snort, trying to calm him down before he riled himself up at the thought of someone making you upset. he was cute was he was so protective.

“ no - no. I just.. have something to tell you. “ he was quiet and then led you to his throne, where he sat and pulled you into his lap. he looked awfully serious now with the tone you had given him.

“ what is it, then? “ you wrung your hands together, contemplating how to word it. it didn’t help with scourge eyeing you, tapping his fingers against the armrest of his throne.

“ I’m.. “ you trailed off, then took a breath before continuing, “ I’m pregnant. “ you looked over at scourge, who’s eyes were wide and all motion had stopped. you could feel how tense he was and as you set a hand on his chest, you could feel his heart pounding beneath your palm.

“ you’re sure? “ he said as he finally found his voice.

“ extremely. “ he nodded slowly, tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“ you’re keeping it? “ you looked up at him with a small frown.

“ do you want it? “ you asked instead, and you could feel his heart racing further underneath your touch. his chest was heaving slightly, “ I don’t have to if you don’t want me to. “

“ ‘s not my choice, doll. “ he replied with a soft huff, a forced laugh, “ ‘m not the one with somethin’ growin’ in me. “

“ scourge. “ you said sternly, moving to rise from his lap, “ if you don’t want it I won’t have it. I won’t get stuck raising kids on my own. you don’t have to avoid the question. “

he pulled you back down, and you huffed as you looked up at him. his fingers twitched around your arms before he let you go, realizing the action was wrong of him to do. you still stayed seated.

“ I do want ‘em. that ain’t what ‘m worried about. “ he said after a moment of silence, mulling over his words in his mind. he had learned to think before he spoke for you. he didn’t way round unintentionally upset you, “ I.. don’t know what a good dad’s like. “

you softened, recalling scourge’s past. his father had put his kingdom before him, and after many attempts to try and garner his attention; he’d given up, and stuck to himself. it ultimately let him to the bad group he’d found himself in for the rest of his life.

“ that doesn’t mean you won’t be a good dad. “ you replied quietly, reaching up to cup his face. he twitched away for a moment before melting into your hold, “ and I’ll be here with you. it’s not like you’ll be doing it alone. “

“ I just don’t want ‘em to turn out like me.. I didn’t do a good job - growin’ up. “ he sighed, closing his eyes, “ only good thing I did was find ya. “ you brushed your thumb against his cheek, and he scrunched up his face, “ ‘m not gonna lie, doll, I.. “ he trailed off, unable to finish. you knew what he wished to say. he was afraid.

“ I know. “ you whispered, “ do you want it? “

he nodded slowly, and you smiled, “ then I’ll keep them, okay? and we’ll figure it out.. you just gotta treat them like you treat me okay? you’re always so sweet with me, and patient.. and protective. that’s all I want you to be with them. “ he huffed through his nose and finally opened his eyes to look down at you.

“ y’really think I can do it? “

“ course I do, baby. I know how good you can be. “ he nodded slowly, and leaned down to give you a kiss.

“ let’s keep ‘em then. I’ll do my best for ya; and I give ya permission to give me a good smack if I fuck up, yeah? “ you giggled and shook your head. you knew he’d do well; he had the ability to do it. especially for those he cared about.

“ I love ya, doll. “

“ I love you too, scourgey. “

[omega-e123]

Everything started to blur. Peoples voices were now pretty much muffled nonsense unless they were practically shouting in your ear or within three inches of you. Coordination? Thrown out the window. Hell, you would have fallen straight to the floor if it weren’t for the table keeping you upright.

In your drunken stupor, you nearly clocked Knuckles. Spinning around too fast to face him after he tapped your shoulder. Luckily the only casualty was a glass of water, now on the sad dirty floor of the bar.

It was easy to tell that you’ve had one too many with how aggressive and pouty you were getting. Off to the side, your partner was chatting with Rouge. Glass of wine for her and whiskey on the rocks for him. A lopsided smile plastered on his face. He couldn’t help but stare at your form as you argue with the nearly equally drunk echidna.

Sonic rushes to the conflict, half attempting to simmer it down. Naturally, neither you or Knuckles were going to listen to him. If anything, Sonic’s mild teasing made it worse, but now you two had a common enemy. Green eyes silently plead to two/thirds of Team Dark to wrangle their partners back.

Rouge shakes her head and begins to stand up but was forced to sit back down. A puzzled look appears on her face.

“Wait. I wish to spectate just a bit more,” Shadow simply answers.

Emerald eyes roll in disbelief as he slowly backs up and continues to talk. Sass after sass, you and Knuckles inch towards him. When Knuckles threw the first punch, Sonic stepped to the side, allowing his friend to stumble forward.

As you were about to also attempt to get the jump on the blue blur, a pair of strong arms envelops you.

The result: screaming and cursing. Now you were more agitated.

You flail your arms and try to turn around and face the perpetrator. Instead, you’re scooped up bridal style. “Get your fucking hands off me! If I don’t kill you, my boyfriend will!”

His chests rumbles in laughter as he carries you off without another word to his “non friends.”

After putting enough distance Shadow kisses the top of your forehead and replies, “I am your boyfriend.”

Violently you shake your head ‘no’ and lightly hit his chest. “No you’re not!”

“No?”

“He is ten— no a thousand times more handsomer than you!“

Amused by your claim, he asks,“Is that so?”

“I know so! Where are you taking me!? Put me down!”

Without noticing, you’ve already been chaos controlled to your shared bedroom. “As you wish, my love,” Shadow grants, plopping you ungracefully on top the mattress. It bounces and creaks under your weight.

The world feels like it’s spinning a thousand miles a minute. In order to stave off the nausea, your eyes focus on a single point on the ceiling.

Shadow, completely out of your field of vision, moves by your feet. One by one your shoes are taken off and put aside the foot of the bed. You don’t even fight it. Your brain is too focused in that speck of dirt above. Or is it a bug? Unsure, but somehow it’s completely captured your attention.

Creaking fills the silence as he joins you in bed. Warm blanket pulled over you and him. He reenters your sight momentarily to press a good night kiss atop your nose.

“Shadow!,” you squeal out in delight. As if you haven’t been in his arms two whole seconds ago. Turning to your side, you snuggle in close to his body. How you don’t suffocate in his chest fur is a mystery for the ages.

‘You’re absolutely ridiculous,’ he thinks to himself, ‘and I wouldn’t have it any other way.’

[cc-cobalt-1043]

Arctic Snow:

Arctic Fox Tails au where he gets his winter coat and his brothers are confused by his new look:

Winter was fast approaching green hills, it's residents had all noticed a bitter chill changing in the air, additionally ice had begun gathering on the pavements and paths meaning that the roads and paths would soon need to be gritted.

Snow had now began to fall and Sonic was especially eager because he could now show his new brothers the joys of playing in the snow. Plus they could all wrap themselves up in scarves hats and gloves Maddie had specially knitted for them.

"Sonic, look at my new winter things." Tails cheered his grey and white tails wagging in delight as he held them out.

Sonic took a look and saw a pair of silver grey and white mittens with light blue accents, his new scarf and hat (made specially to accommodate Tails' ears) were both the same colour.

"Looking good little bro, it goes with with your fur so well." Sonic said before suddenly ruffling Tails's bangs.

"Sonic, cmon stop." Tails giggled trying to swat Sonic's hand away and failing.

Sonic continued to ruffle his hair, the giggling only making him do it more.

When he did stop he was surprised to find a large clump of grey fluff come up in his hand and immediately panicked.

"OhmygodTailsI'msosorryIdidn'tmeanit..." He didn't mean it panicked at the thought of accidentally hurting his little brother.

"Sonic calm down, I'm just molting see." Tails said brushing his stomach and sonic noticed a few smaller bits of fluff fall off of Tails and onto the attic floor.

"Oh yeah, I think mom mentioned it, you're getting your winter coat." Sonic said.

Tails nodded.

"Yeah, though I'm probably gonna be leaving fur in a lot of places so sorry in advance." Tails said.

"Don't worry about it little bro, you can't help it, though we should probably warn mom and dad they're gonna be cleaning up more fur than just Ozzie's." Sonic said.

Over the next couple of days Tails' summer fur shed and his winter coat began to slowly come in.

Tom and Maddie took this in stride and everytime Tails got upset about his fur being in places they reassured him it wasn't his fault and it was just his body getting ready for the cold weather.

Sonic and Knuckles also helped out comforting their brother and in addition they made sure his bed was as cosy as it could be as it was a common fact that real foxes  tended to grow more malcohent and tired when shedding their fur and this fact seemed to apply to Tails too.

After about four days Sonic was in for a surprise.

He woke up that day and stretched rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up.

He climbed out of bed and went over to Tails' blue plane themed bed.

"Tails little bro, time to wake up, it's a brand new..." Sonic cut off when he saw something unusual with Tails.

The little fox was curled up in a ball on his bed, but his fur was different.

Instead of the grey and silver it had been the day before, it was snow a bright snow White, as a matter of fact the kit was now completely white like a giant snowball.

Just then Tails let out a squeaky yawn his sky blue eyes fluttering open and gazing at the cobalt blue hedgehog.

"Hmm, Sonic what is it?" Tails asked yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Tails, your fur." Sonic said surprised.

"What about it...oh right." Tails said as though suddenly realising something.

"What's going on bud?" Sonic asked confused.

"This, oh this is just my winter coat." Tails said.

"How come it's all white?" Sonic asked.

"To blend in with the snow, you know like earth arctic foxes." Tails said.

Just then Knuckles awoke.

"Good morning brothers, I hope you have rested well." The echnida said getting up and stretching.

"Knux, check this out." Sonic said indicating Tails' snow white fur.

"Fox, you look different." Knuckles said.

"It's my winter fur Knuckles, what do you think?" Tails asked.

"It is very well suited for this snowy weather fox, and a great camoflauge against any enemy that may attack." Knuckles said.

"Thanks Knuckles but I highly doubt that'll happen." Tails said.

"Maybe so but you never know...plus it is very soft." Knuckles said gently stroking the fur behind Tails' ears making the kit purr.

Sonic tried and indeed Tails' new coat was very soft, somehow even softer than earlier.

"He's right Tails, you look and feel like a fluffy cloud." Sonic said.

Tails giggled and blushed but his wagging tails betrayed the embarrassment he felt.

"Cmon let's go see what's for breakfast, I'm starving." Sonic said before racing out the attic.

Tails' felt his own stomach rumble loudly and giggled in embarrassment.

"It seems you are hungry too fox, come, let us dine on Mother's delicious breakfast feast before the hedgehog eats it all." Knuckles said lifting Tails onto his shoulder and carrying him out of the attic, the fox cheering in excitement.

Inspired by @0vergrowngraveyard's arctic fox Tails art

[misteria247]

Thinking about the thought earlier and how Sally would feel being in a place that's full of familiar faces and yet also full of complete strangers.

The constant reminders that the people that are her family are not them at all.

Sally going to tell Knuckles a joke only for him to give her a blank stare because he's not her Knuckles who shares that inside joke.

Sally going to ruffle Tails' head only for him to give her a confused and uncomfortable look. Addressing her as Sally or Miss. Sally instead of Aunt Sally.

Sally trying to communicate with Amy like she always does, briefly forgetting that this Amy isn't her Amy, and she'll be met with an awkward smile.

Or the worst one.

Sally going to reach for Sonic's hand, an unconscious thing because she's so used to doing it with her one true love back home. Only to feel him flinch away in surprise. Because Sally isn't his childhood friend or lover here, but instead of complete stranger.

Those moments that brutally remind her that she is very much alone in this sea of faces of people she loves. And the reality that her friends, the people she knew in her Mobius don't exist here.

There is no Nicole, no Bunnie or Antoine. There's no Rotor. They don't exist here. These people that she grew up with and who she, Sonic, Amy and Tails love more than anything are nothing in this reality. There is no Julie Su or any others of Knuckles kind. There is no her or her family in this place. The kingdom of Acorn isn't even a thing. Eggman doesn't have a nephew, nor does Sonic have his uncle Chuck. There's just nothing left of Knothole.

And the most painful part of it all.

Seeing Sonic and Amy interacting.

It's little details Sally notices. The way his emerald green eyes soften when they look at Amy. The comfortable way they tease and banter. The way Sonic leans into Amy's touch whenever she hugs him or holds his hand. The sense that they're in sync. It becomes crystal clear that the man she loves in her world is not the same as the one here. In this world her beloved hero, her heart, her soul, his heart belongs to Amy Rose. Her dearest friend in the world.

The pain Sally would feel, the heartbreak she'd experience seeing them together. The poor princess having to constantly tell herself that Sonic isn't Sonic. That the man in front of her isn't the one back home. In a way, she'd unknowingly be in her Amy's shoes. Pining for the blue blur and just wanting him to look her way with that soft, fond look. Happy for Amy but at the same time jealous and hurting at the entire situation. Added with her feelings of guilt for her crimes while under Eggman's control, Sally would start wondering.

Does she even deserve to go home?

She's hurt her family, nearly murdered Antoine, attacked Amy, Tails and Cream, and terrorized her kingdom that's protected by Nicole and Rotor. She's hurt Bunnie deeply. And....she tried to kill Sonic. The man she's loved since they were children. Would her loved ones even want her back? Could they ever forgive her for everything she's done?

[bisexualhedgehogs]

I had a silly idea about a possible way Shadow could meet the Wachowskis again after falling back to earth, so I wrote something for it. I'll make an ao3 account at some point and post it there as well. Warnings for injuries i guess? Nothing too bad tho.

Anyway enjoy my dumb one shot (also hints of possible sonadow but way too early for either of them to understand any feelings yet)

Shadow's first thoughts after landing hard into the ground were how dizzy and cold he was. He had to think for a moment, had he survived that blast? Must have. You dont feel this sore all over if you're dead. He groaned and slowly rolled onto his back and looked up at the sky. It was a vibrant shade of blue, similar to Sonic, he realized. He hoped the idiot was alive as he watched some clouds go by. He was so distracted by his anger the last few days that he had not noticed how beautiful the sky was during the day too. He could feel the burns on his skin start to heal, and he stayed there for a while until the sun began to set. Then he had to force himself up and search for his disgarded inhibitor rings. Luckily, they landed nearby.

Once they were found, he tried to figure out where he was. He was in a crater among some tall snow-capped mountains. He had landed in some sort of dense wilderness. The view was wonderful, but the air was starting to get even more of a chill. His gloves had partially disintegrated during his fall through earths atmosphere, and he could feel the cold on the pads of his hands. Honestly, he could feel it down to his core, like his bones were cold. He had to move though.

He checked if his air shoes were still in tact enough for him to glide instead of walking, and thankfully, they were. He didn't have enough chaos energy at the moment to just teleport down the mountain. His lower left leg was trying to heal from what he guessed was some sort of fracture or strain, and putting weight on it was incredibly uncomfortable. Even gliding still hurt, but he was able to ignore it for now. He had to. He stopped to hide in various small caves and under fallen tree roots when he thought he heard humans nearby walking around or needed to rest his leg.

After over a week in the forest, around dusk, he came across a large sign that read, "Welcome to Green Hills." He moved slower as a brief rain and snow shower mix blew through. He shivered and tried to stay hidden as he approached town. He realized the glow from his shoes could give him away, and now he had no choice but to walk, which turned into a limp.

"Fuck, maybe I did break something," he hissed as he stopped to rest again. The lack of food was slowing his healing. He ended up taking his shoe off on that foot and carrying it. The weight of it was hurting too much. He realized he had never felt grass under his bare feet before. It was nice, even if it was crunchy and cold.

He continued walking along the road, avoiding stepping in any patches of snow as best he could, just out of sight in the treeline. He was lost in thought when a deer ran out in front of him and startled him enough that he used what little chaos energy he had to move. Big mistake since he didn't have a specific location in mind. He panicked and landed hard on the road, directly in front of a large pickup up truck that had swerved to miss the deer from seconds ago, and it did not have time to brake fully. The pain in his leg and blinding headlights in his eyes made him freeze as his ears went flat against his head.

‐---------------

About 10 minutes earlier, Sonic was helping Maddie load some groceries into the back of the truck. Normally, all three boys would tag along, but with Tom still healing and insisting he needed the air, Knuckles and Tails stayed home to prevent any accidental added stress. Sonic tagged along since he did not like leaving Tom's side yet.

Speaking of Tom, there was some short bickering between the two adults, as Tom had snuck into the driver's seat while she was loading everything into the back.

"It's 15 minutes back home, let me drive. Please? I drive with one arm all the time."

Sonic laughs, "Yeah, when you're stuffing your face full of donuts, but you could still use that arm."

Maddie groaned, "Okay fine, but if you're so healed and competent now, you can also make dinner when we get home."

"Deal." Tom couldn't hide his grin, and Maddie looked ready to slap him on the back of his head. Sonic was seatbelted between them, kicking his legs, happy his family was getting back to normal. He opened the sunroof so he could look at the stars that were peaking out behind some clouds. He became uncharacteristically quiet and lost in thought.

"You thinking about Shadow again, Bud?" Tom finally asked him.

Sonic nodded, "yeah, I just miss him. He deserved a second chance, and he didn't even get to fully take it. Doesn't seem fair."

Maddie pet his head, "I know, sweetie, earth failed him. I'm just so glad we found you before GUN did. We are definitely never trusting them again"

Sonic leaned against her and watched the stars for another minute or so until they completed disappeared behind some clouds. He closed the sunroof when it started to rain and snow a bit.

He shivered, "I thought I smelled snow. It sure felt cold enough."

Maddie side eyed her husband, "Tom, I swear if you crash in this weather, I will kill you."

Tom laughed nervously, "Relax, it's not even sticking to the road at all. Actually, it looks like it stopped up ahead."

Suddenly, Sonic started sneezing, repeatedly.

Maddie groaned, "Sonic, is there just something in your nose, or is danger coming."

Tom scoffed, "Oh come on, him sneezing is not a sign of danger, that's just a coincid- ... OH SHIT."

They all screamed as a deer suddenly ran out in front of them, and he had to swerve and brake.

Sonic yelled, "SEE NOT A COINCID- ... LOOK OUT!" Something black and spikey suddenly appeared on the road as well. They were still mid swerve, and Tom could not swerve again without risking tipping the truck. He also was a bit too shocked to see those red eyes glowing at them. All he could think to do was slam on the brakes as hard as he could. They felt one of the front truck tires bounce over something.

Shadow managed to duck his head down in time, but said truck tire went over his already injured leg that he couldn't curl up to his body as fast as the other one. There was a lot of screaming from inside the truck that was now above him. One of the voices sounded familiar. He couldn't chaos control himself again, still entirely too worn out. He was afraid he would land somewhere worse anyway and could only mentally prepare himself to run if need be.

Inside the truck, Maddie and Tom slowly looked at each other before finally looking down at the Sonic. Sonic looked just as shocked as them before he finally unbuckled himself and stood up on the seat, "Tom, we told you you shouldn't drive with one arm! You just got out of the hospital yesterday, and you hit a ... a ... hedgehog? wait. Wait. ... was that Shadow. Is he alive? ... oh god, the truck bounced ... OH MY GOD, DAD, DID YOU JUST RUN OVER SHADOW?????." He zipped out of the car in a flash, and Maddie gave her husband an exhausted look before she soon followed.

Tom needed another moment before he got out as well. 'What the hell just happened', he thought. These kids were going to give him a stroke.

Sonic quickly got on the ground behind the truck and looked under the bed. Yep, there was Shadow, curled up between the back tires with his quills sticking out in all crazy directions in defense, clearly giving into the instinct to make himself as big and scary as possible. "Jeez, you look like a wet feral cat under there. Why are you missing a shoe? Are you okay?"

There were some orange sparks and a low growl before he realized who was talking to him. "... Sonic? What are you -"

Before he could register anything, Sonic grinned and quite literally yanked him out from under the truck by his quills and pulled him into a hug. Shadow actually hissed at him.

"Oh, come on, it's just a hug, relax. And the quill thing was payback for throwing me by mine back at that base." He laughed, and then paused. "I'm so glad you're alive, Shadow." Sonic sounded almost ready to cry from relief. Shadow could even hear Sonics tail moving behind him, softly thumping against the road.

Shadow sighed. "It's not that," his voice was a bit shakey from adrenaline still. "I hurt my leg in the fall, and then whatever idiot is driving your truck ran it over. If it wasn't broken before, it sure is now"

Sonic pulled away from him and looked over at his leg. It looked swollen, some skin and fur was also scrapped off. "Oh, that's why you're holding your shoe. MADDIE, he's hurt. Come quick. Tom ran over his leg"

Shadows quills bristled as she slowly approached with a first aid kit and a flashlight. "Who is she?"

"Shhh, relax, Shadow. I won't hurt you. I'm Maddie. Tom's wife, otherwise known as the idiot who ran you over. You've, uh, met before." Her tone was a little sharper at the end than she meant for it to sound. She felt bad when shadow flinched at her tone. He looked incredibly pathetic with his ears back like that and visibly shivering. And young. He must be Sonic's age. 'Oh no, we're going to adopt this one too arent we?' She thought to herself.

Sonic was about to reassure Shadow that it was safe when Tom got out of the truck.

"I'm an idiot? Why is he appearing out of thin air into traffic? I didn't even know you kids could do stuff like that" He didn't sound mad. He was even laughing a little. Until he saw Shadow's leg. He frowned and knelt down beside them. Shadow backed up into Sonic and growled again. He looked very nervous now. Both adults felt their heartstrings tug a little. He just looked like a scared kid to them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. You're safe, don't worry."

Shadow stopped growling and just titled his head confused, " ... you didn't hit me on purpose? For revenge?"

Sonic rolled his eyes and hugged him again, "Dude, we seriously need to ban that word from your vocabulary."

Tom laughed, "No, of course not." He realized Shadow was being completely serious and not joking. "Wait, why would I purposely try to run you over?"

Shadow glared, "Do you have brain damage? I almost killed you. I'm a little impressed you survived actually." He added dryly.

"Oh trust me, I remember. But you think that means I should try to get back at you, though? You're a kid." He seemed concerned at his way of thinking. Especially when Shadow just answered "yes" like it was the most obvious answer in the world. He even almost seemed annoyed now that this wasn't on purpose.

"I don't need your pity." He just leaned into Sonic, quills deflating finally. He was so focused on Tom that he didn't even realize Maddie had begun to check his leg until he felt pain from her moving it. He shot her a warning glare and growled, "I didn't say you could touch me."

Sonic squeezed him, "Hey, easy, she's a vet. If you dont trust her, at least trust me. Besides, if you don't let her splint that, I'll have to. And I'll make Knuckles restrain you." Sonic smiled but also looked completely serious.

Shadow groaned, "is he the red one?" Sonic nodded in response, resting his head on top of Shadow's. He couldn't even use his chaos control now even if he wanted to with Sonic having such a firm grip on him. Something told him Sonic was aware of this too. "Fine, but only because I want that big brute touching me even less."

Maddie laughed a little and finished bandaging his leg. She also examined his bare foot for injuries. "Well, I'll have to properly resplint this later with better supplies, but all your adorable little toe beans look in tact besides being cold."

Shadow looked at her like she was insane, "what the fuck is a toe bean?" Sonic started laughing into Shadows quills. Even Tom laughed, which startled Shadow. "I don't get what's so funny."

"Just the way you said it, and it's a cute way to refer to pawpads." Maddie joined in the laughter and rubbed his foot to warm it up a little.

"Stop that. I'm fine. ... and I'm not cute"

Sonic looked at his face and grinned, "I'm telling you from experience. Pouting does not help. They also think that's cute. Humans are weird like that."

Shadow tried to finally squirm out of Sonic's embrace, "Can I get up now? The road is cold and staying here will draw too much attention"

Maddie nodded and helped Sonic get Shadow into the truck. She had to move to the middle so Shadow could rest with his back against the door and his leg over Sonic's lap. Thankfully, him and Sonic were small enough to both fit onto the passenger seat without being too squished. He also obviously trusted Sonic and didn't mind being so close to him. If Shadow didn't look so apprehensive of them still, she would have commented on how cute they looked together like that.

Instead, Maddie just turned up the heat when she realized Shadow was shivering still. "You look cold. Do you want a blanket? I think there is one behind your seat. How long were you in the woods?"

He sighed as Sonic made the decision for him and got the blanket out, and draped it over him. "A week, I think. Maybe longer. I landed in the mountains."

"Well, when we get home, you can have a nice warm bath and something to eat. You're probably starving. ... and dehydrated. Oh no have you been without water this whole time?"

Shadow snuggled a bit more into the blanket (and Sonic) before answering, "No, I drank from a couple streams, I'm fine." He still didn't understand why they were being so kind. He didn't feel he deserved it. After a long silence, he finally spoke again with a low voice. "Sorry."

Tom pulled into the driveway of their house, and him and Maddie exchanged looks before looking back at Shadow. "For what specifically?"

Shadow's ears were flat against his head again. He looked quite sad and guilty. "For attacking you, I ... I thought you were Walters. He's the one who froze me for 50 years. I was just so angry ... and I wanted him to hurt. He didn't even let me finish saying goodbye." He hated how his voice cracked at the end. He wanted to curl up in a ball, but his leg wouldn't allow it.

Sonic pulled him into another hug, or as much of one as he could with Shadow's left leg also resting on his lap. Maddie slowly put a hand on his head. Shadow flinched a little but didn't protest. She softly pet behind one of his ears, like she does with Sonic when he's upset.

Tom finally spoke, "I hold no grudge against you Shadow, you're just a kid like Sonic. And I can't say I wouldn't have also punched Walters if I went through something like that. Besides, you also saved the world, which includes us. Now, let's get you inside."

Shadow just hid his face into the blanket. "I don't deserve your kindness." His voice cracked more. He really really didn't want to cry, but he was so tired of it all, tired of fighting and hating himself, tired of being so cold. Just everything. It was becoming harder to keep it together. He was absolutely exhausted. He could feel himself shaking more, and he hoped they just assumed it was only because he was cold still.

Maddie pet his head again, "You know, the friend you lost would probably want us to be kind to you. And for you to accept it. So let us."

This time, when he tried to talk, he couldn't find his voice. A small sob escaped instead, and he covered his head with the blanket, which caused Sonic to hug him as tight as he could. They were right, Maria would want someone to help him. It was just hard to accept. He needed a minute to calm himself, but he eventually allowed Maddie to pry him away from Sonic and carry him inside.

He tried to protest being carried like a child, but she would not allow it, not with a broken leg anyway. So he accepted it and rested his head on her shoulder, sniffling a few times as quietly as he could.

Once inside, Sonic got his other shoe off, and what was left of a very dirty burned sock, and placed both shoes by the door next to his. Knuckles and Tails looked up from the couch, and Tom shushed them before they could react too loudly. Even though Shadow was mostly covered by the blanket, the other two instantly recognized the fur pattern on his legs and feet. Tails ears were back, clearly concerned about how bad the one leg looked.

"Is that the more impressive hedgehog? Is he alright?" Knuckles finally asked.

Maddie held Shadow tighter when she felt him tense up, "Yes, and he'll be fine, mostly cold, I think. I'm going to take him upstairs for a bath and a proper look at his leg. Go help Tom with dinner since he still has his arm in a sling. He'll explain everything. You too, Sonic."

"Yeah, let me tell you both how Tom clearly shouldn't be driving yet and literally ran Shadow over with the truck."

Maddie could hear them bicker about it while she walked upstairs. She set Shadow down on the bathroom counter while she got the bath started. His eyes were still a bit wet, but he looked calmer now, just tired. She held some bottles up to him, "Which of these scents do you like better?"

Shadow seemed surprised, "I get to pick? Why?"

Maddie looked concerned at his confusion, "I want you to like it. No one wants to smell like something they don't like."

He slowly sniffed the bottles, and finally picked the lavender ones. He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself while she undid the makeshift splint and checked his leg.

"If you'll trust me, I would like to get this x-rayed tomorrow. Sonic can stay with you. You might need a cast"

"You don't need to, just splint it so the bone is straight, and it should fully heal in a few days as long as I eat something."

She sighed, "I shouldn't believe you, but nothing would surprise me these days with you bunch. Oh the skin has already healed from being run over. Alright, but if there is no improvement in a few days, I'm taking you. Now, let's get you warmed up. You're still shaking."

"Yeah, well, I went from nearly burning as I fell through your atmosphere to plumetting into a snow-covered mountain."

Maddie paused for a moment, "You fell? All the way down to earth? How are you not burned and more injured ... how are you even alive." She began to palpate him, discovering some cracked ribs.

"Stop, I'm fine. The burns healed already. Bones just take longer. ... and I'm not sure, honestly. ... I wasn't expecting to live."

She really didn't like how disappointed he seemed to be over being alive. Might be time to finally look for a therapist. She brushed the thought aside and picked him up again to help him get into the tub, which he grumbled about but couldn't really stop her. "Well, I'm glad you're alive. You can't make up for what you did if you're dead. And Sonic would have kept being sad."

He slowly sank down into the water, covering himself up to his chin. At least he looked more relaxed now. Finally he asked, "Sonic was sad? Over me?"

She began to wash his quills and detangle them. She was a pro at this after having to help Sonic with his so often. "Of course he was. He hasn't stopped talking about you. The first thing he did when Tom woke up was tell him about what you two did. I'm pretty sure he has some sort of crush on you. It's cute."

Shadow chose to ignore the part about Sonic liking him like that. Clearly, this woman was just stupid. "Yeah, well, he's weird." Despite that, he began to purr softly as she washed his quills, at least until something fell out of his quills and startled them both. He slowly lifted a green gemstone out of the water.

Maddie laughed, "Oh my god, that's where the last one has been. They've been looking for days. Knuckles will bear hug you when he finds out it's safe"

Shadow winces, "Uh, maybe the blue idiot can give it to him then."

She went back to detangling his quills and scrubbing his head, "You know, you'll have to get used to them since you'll be staying here now"

"I didn't make that decision," he tried to sound more serious, but his voice turned into a purr and clicking noise when she scratched his head again. He looked a bit surprised by the noise. Before Maddie could say anything, he looked her dead in the eyes, "Do not call me cute again."

She smiled at him, "Fine, I won't. You're definitely a hedgehog like Sonic though. Also where would you stay if not here? This is the safest place from GUN. Any weird energy outputs, and we just can blame it on Sonic. Unless you want to live outside. During the winter. It gets very cold here." She knew if he was like Sonic, he hated being cold.

Shadow shivered at the thought, "Fine ... why you insist after I almost killed your husband, though, is still strange. You're all strange" He really was starting to think they all had brain damage.

"You're not a bad kid, Shadow. You're just a teenager. A very traumatized one, I assume, from what I've been told. You deserve a second chance. Besides, Sonic wouldn't forgive us if we didn't try. He could have easily ended up like you."

"I guess ..." It was clearly going to take some work to get him to feel like he deserves kindness. He just rested his head on the side of the tub while she finished washing his back, then she let him do the rest.

Once finished, she wrapped him in a big towel and placed him back by the sink. She put a proper splint on his leg and blowdried and brushed him as much as he would allow before bringing him downstairs where Tom was finishing up dinner. Tails and Knuckles were sitting at the table. Sonic had finished telling them what happened and to be nice to Shadow (mostly aimed at Knuckles), and they agreed. They were also glad Shadow was alive. Knuckles commented that he deserved a second chance like he had gotten. Although he wanted a rematch once the black hedgehog was healed.

When Maddie walked into the dining room still holding him, Tom couldn't help but laugh, "Wow, he gets even fluffier than Sonic does."

She smiled at him, "Right? And look at these cute little ear tufts too. He's more Maine Coon cat than he is hedgehog."

Shadow scowled as one of his ears twitched, "Why does everyone keep comparing me to a cat." Maria used to do it too. He never understood.

She ignored him and sat him down on a chair beside Tails. Sonic ran up and put a stool under his leg. Then he suddenly grabbed one of Shadow's hands.

"Well, these don't help the cat comparisons. jeez, these claws are crazy sharp. We're filing those later so I don't get shredded in my sleep. Do you want some gloves though? We're usually pretty sensitive about our hands being bare. We can make you some new ones."

"No I'm fine, I don't really care. Just stop touching me." He shook his hand out of Sonics, a little overwhelmed at all the attention on him.

"You literally cuddled with me the whole ride home." Sonic teased him.

Before Shadow could respond to him, Tails suddenly was much closer to him. Too close. "Hi Shadow. Good to see you're alive. How do your shoes work? Do you want me to fix them up? They look so cool." He had been inspecting Shadow's shoes that Sonic put by the door earlier.

Shadow looked surprised and even more overwhelmed. But slowly, he tilted his head, "Why do you want to?"

Knuckles caught on to Shadow's body language and pulled Tails back properly into his seat, and gave him a look.

"Oh, sorry," he laughed, his tails swishing behind him. "And I dont know, they look important to you, I didn't see any power source though, how do you hover?"

"They are, a friend made them for me. I power them with my chaos energy. I still don't understand why you want to help me though." Kindness was definitely going to take a while to accept.

Tails just smiled at him, "Well, Sonic trusts you, so I will too. And you saved us all. So you can't be that bad." Knuckles nodded in agreement.

Shadow just blinked at him, "I kicked you and threw a car at you."

Knuckles laughed, "That was nothing for me and my muscles. Besides, when I first met the fox, he hit me with a police car. It's practically tradition at this point."

Shadow looked surprised, "why?"

"I was trying to kill the less impressive hedgehog." He laughed as he said this and pointed at Sonic. "The fox was protecting him."

"Dude, just say our names. You know our names. And that's nothing. Tom shot me when we first met." Sonic finally took a seat on the other side of Shadow.

Shadow just slowly looked over at Tom, who was carrying some food in.

"With a tranquilizer gun! No bullets. Jeez. Sonic, please stop leaving that part out."

Sonic just laughed.

"The fuck is wrong with your family Sonic." Shadow finally commented, he looked bewildered.

They all laughed despite his use of language again. That was a conversation for a different day. Tom put a hand on Shadows shoulder, "Well, maybe now you can see why I dont hold a grudge for you punching me. I'm pretty used to this kind of chaos."

Shadow still thought they were all crazy, but he stopped fighting it. Maddie got him to eat a little pasta, and Shadow just observed them all laughing and talking with one another.

Sonic finally spoke to Shadow again after a bit when he noticed him looking lost, ear twitching again as he was listening to everyone. "Oh, uh, Shads. I noticed you tilt your head whenever you're confused about something. That also doesn't help the cute thing. Even I think that's a bit adorable. Why is your ear doing that?"

Shadow scowled and swatted at him when he tried to touch his ear, "Stop calling me cute, I am not cute. I am the ultimate lifeform."

Maddie burst out laughing before stopping, "Oh my god, oh. ... Tom, I think he's serious. Of course you are honey."

Shadow growled, but she didn't seem phased. "You know, if you are the ultimate lifeform, then you would be the best at everything. Including being adorable. Yes?"

Shadow slowly relaxed and stared at her for a moment, seriously contemplating her words. "I suppose I can't argue with that."

Sonic huffed and faked being offended, "Are you implying that you think he's cuter than me? Mom."

Knuckles laughed loudly, "Well, he clearly is the superior hedgehog."

Sonic looked actually offended now, and everyone laughed. Even Shadow smiled a little.

After dinner, Shadow got Knuckle's attention and slowly handed him the missing emerald, "I was told this belongs to you."

Knuckles looked beyond surprised and thrilled, "The last one! It is not lost forever after all! I will visit Wade tomorrow and reform the Master Emerald." He went to hug Shadow.

Shadow quickly put his hands up, "No, no, broken ribs. Hug Sonic instead in my place"

Before Sonic could register what was happening, he was pulled into a bone crushing hug. Literally you could hear them cracking. Sonic groaned. "Please let me go, I'm not dying like this."

Knuckles laughed and put him down, "Don't be so dramatic blue hedgehog. This is the best news we have had all week! We can continue our pact to protect the emerald. Thank you, Shadow."

Shadow gave him a small smile before Sonic interrupted, "What you can't call me by my name. Why are you so weird."

Before Knuckles could respond, Shadow got off the chair, using it to support his weight so he could keep his leg off the ground. He ruffled Sonic's quills and then flicked his forehead, "He probably does it because you get so worked up. You're an easy target."

"Wow, rude. I am not. ... wait" Sonic suddenly realized how much shorter Shadow looked. He grinned ear to ear, "Oh my god, am I taller than you? Aren't you older than me?"

Shadow scowled, "Absolutely not ... okay, maybe. Barely."

Sonic just laughed as Shadow started to pout. "I told you pouting also makes you look cute. Especially combined with the ear twitch."

Shadow covered his ears and growled at Sonic and Knuckles, who was also laughing loudly. Even Tails laughed a little.

Maddie and Tom interrupted them before the bickering got any louder, especially since Shadow was starting to spark. "Okay, enough picking on each other for one night, go settle in upstairs. Knuckles carry Shadow. ... gently."

"I will make sure not to make his injuries worse."

Shadow protested, but he couldn't exactly outrun anyone right now and had to accept his fate. Once upstairs, everyone talked a bit and played some board games. Sonic and Shadow immediately were competitive. Sonic also kept his word and forced Shadow to let him file down his nails a little bit. Just enough they weren't so sharp at the tips.

When it was time for bed, Sonic insisted that Shadow share his, especially when he found out Shadow had never slept on an actual bed before. Shadow was pretty sure Sonic just wanted to keep a hold of him so he wouldn't chaos control himself out of there in the middle of the night. He did consider it, but he also felt safe and warm for the first time in a very long time. And he let himself finally rest.

___________________

(Little note, the sneezing thing I got from someone talking about how in one of the earlier sonic games, it was strongly suggested that sonic had some sort of danger sense. It manifested as him sneezing right before something was about to hurt/kill him. I thought that was really funny and cute so I added it in here)

[lucidheart3]

An Analysis on how the movie could make the SonAmy dynamic similar to game version without making Movie Sonic and Amy too out of character:

Heyya! If you follow me you maybe saw me screaming about Reverse Sonamy for the fourth movie for ages, and as much as my shipper heart enjoys that, I decided I should also share my more serious hc’s about their relationship.

After Sonic 3 we all know Sonic has more of a little something called ✨TRAUMA✨. So I don’t imagine him taking a liking to Amy (as a friend) immediately . Because if we compare his first reaction to Amy and Shadow, I recall it being ‘Guys wow look at him he is just like me’ for Shadow, And it’s a more serious ‘who are you’ for Amy.

For Shadow, he didn’t take him serious for their first encounter, he was even asking about highlights and stuff when he was chasing Shadow. Because he really believed talking with him could turn him around. Then when they meet him again at the abandoned GUN facility, he tries to give him a wake up call, still believeing that only talking will suffice.I think he is still going with his experience with Knuckles, thinking Shadow got a little mixed up like him. But then, Shadow turns out to be a real threat once he hurts Tom (we know he thought Tom was Walters but Sonic didn’t know that, especially when shadow said he did what he had to). So that’s when Sonic switches up his approach and literally goes for the kill, and that’s what makes the violance really impactful.

Yes in the end they made up and worked together, but that has to elavate his trust issues that he admitted to having earlier in the movie. So, when he sees Amy, who despite saving him also got him flung to the ground by the impact of her hammer, I bet he won’t fall to his mistake with Shadow, and consider her a potential threat too despite her saving him at first. We can actually see it with his first sentence to her, too, it’s a straight up ‘ Who are you’ rather than even an acknowledgement that she is a heghehog like him. I think this actually lays a good baseline to their relationship if they want to keep the usual SonAmy dynamic we see in nearly every media. Because they can make Sonic not appear as ‘excited’ as her without making him look like he isn’t interested in her in the slightest. He’d have a hard time trusting her, therefore he’d have his eyes on her every move, which can make him acknowledge her strength, maybe even faster than others. I imagine him gaining his hope back once he really accepts that she has a good heart. And since he kept her closer because his initial distrust in her to protect his family,I can see their relationship develop fast, especially on Amy’s side.

About Amy, I don’t think she’d be like Sonic in this regard. She will be the Amy we know and love, except that I hc she was the hero of their home planet since Sonic wasn’t there. She helped everyone in need, and that’s how she is portrayed in her first appearence, as a confident heroine.And especially since she looks like she has been chasing the metal army in my opinion instead of trying to find Sonic. If the theory of Ivo being sent to their home planet is true and he actually builds metal there to capture Mobians/ animals to use them as power sources, I can see her stepping up to fight them. And if Robotnik is the one to make Metal Sonic there is no doubt that he’d send them after Sonic, which is proved by the fact that the screen we were shown that said ‘Blue Hedgehog’ when a robot scanned Sonic, then the robot immediately attacked Sonic.

And about how she will be in their dynamic, like I said they can excuse her being a lot more excited to meet Sonic than he is by his trust issues and not that she is a damsel in distress that falls for the hero. Because she is a hero in the movie too, and she is quite confident in herself as we’ve seen from her expression, and she thinks she can manage everything thrown her way like Sonic did before the events of the third movie, therefore she has no problems of warming up to everyone. Like @iwasbored777 mentioned in one post, she must have heard Sonic boast while fighting Metal, and might be thinking he is too cocky. But I think his reluctance towards her especially when he is with the family will pique her interest a lot more. Like, she must have heard the rumors about him, and like Tails said he must have been talked about as ‘a legend’ minutes before he was boasting then when he sees her there is none of that confidence, he is just warry of her. And knowing Amy that will make her a lot more prone too try and win his favor, hence leading them to have their game dynamic without making her obviously fall in love right away.

These were all about my hcs for the platonic side of their relationship. About the romantic side, I can see Sonic falling for her as he sees her ‘giving the world her love’ side. Because this boy has been surrounded by love for a long time now, be it from his parents and brothers, and we have seen him have a hard time to acknowledge that he has all of that, now. He took two movies to call Tom ‘dad’ and he still hasn’t acknowledged that Tails and Knux are his brothers (which we got the definite confirmation of with Tom calling them all ‘siblings’ instead of friends like he did back in the first movie). And ıt amazes him just how easily she loves and shows her love, and is all more stronger for it. While everytime Sonic tries that, his loved ones get hurt. So he is afraid of labels, afraid of showing affection (because he took long to get used to hugs, too). He must feel like he should hide he holds something dear just so the world doesn’t see and decide to take it all away. He still hides himself like Longclaw told him to all those years ago, he has never stopped running. And Amy will make him realise exactly this. Embracing his love for his family and friends won’t make him lose them, because they are all capable of defending themselves especially when they are together with him, and he doesn’t have to run ahead to protect them. I’m so certain we will get a scene about him running ahead and leaving his team behind again, this time to protect them,because this has been a huge theme of sonic 3 and despite apologising and making up,the team didn’t actually resolve the issue.

I think Amy will play a huge role in this because: 1- He and the other boys don’t have a familial bond with her

2- She proved that she can hold her own right when she first met him.

3- We saw Knuckles and Tails try to snap him out of running ahead several times, but since they are family they weren’t really adamant in fear of breaking him further. And they understand why he did what he did pretty quickly because they know how he feels for his family and why he runs forth, they were there to witness majority of his traumas. Amy wasn’t, and that’s why she won’t shy away from reminding him that they are a team, because she won’t be as afraid to lose him even if his reaction will be negative. She will have the same attitude of ‘I can protect myself’ , he did in the beginning of the movie. And she isn’t actually in the team because she needs them in the beginning, but wants to be there.And isn’t this what romantic love really should be? Two equal people that doesn’t need each other to survive but their lives are all more beautiful because they have each other. They aren’t ‘halves’, they are a ‘whole’ that complement and add onto each other.

And about how she will grow to like him, I hc that as she sees the reasons for his first distrust and reluctance and the obvious boasting he does to hide these, that he has so many precious things he almost got taken away from him to protect,she will tone down her excitement.And him trying to protect his loved ones, and actually having the strength to do so, is so impressive to her.And since being a hero would be her whole identity by now, like I’ve seen @ficsinhistory suggest (for a different but cool reason) she would be self-sacrifical. Because I’m guessing she didn’t really have anyone to love, and she shows her love for the world through heroic deets. And thinks she is nothing without that. As opposed to Sonic who only started trying to play hero after Tom and Maddie took him in. His need for love was achieved through his new family, but Amy’s never was, so she filled that void by trying to protect, so that people love her. Sonic wanted to be a hero, while Amy desperately needed it

I hope this isn’t so disorganized I am just typing every thought that comes to mind!

I’d love to hear your thought on this.

[iglok]

Making my first post here hehe. I was inspired by a lot of artists who were making these arcane versions of Sonic so I thought I’d contribute to this underrated au as well, since Sonic is one of my biggest hyperfixations rn. I am already having more or less an idea of who should be who and I’d really like to hear other opinions too!

So, aside from that, I’d like to add a few adnotations to my drawings:

- I’ve watched a short with an explaination of how Powder/Jinx has different expressions and how her face and eyes look slightly different whether she’s Jinx or Powder so I wanted to do sth similar with Tails/Nine, since I really see him take up her role in this au. I wanted to make his eyes a little bit more round and blue when and he’s Tails (Powder) and a little bit more harsh-looking when he’s Nine (Jinx). Also the ends of his whisks and tails are blue-ish to give that Jinx vibes too

- I have the idea that chaos emeralds could be hexgems and the paradox prism could be shimmer (though idk how it would exactly work tbh)

- Rouge would be Sevika imo. I have the idea that instead of her arm, in the explosion when she saves Silco (Robotnik btw) she loses one of her wings so she replaces it with a robotic one, but that's just a concept

- full disclaimer that I don't mean to ship Knuckles and Tails/Nine in this au. It's meant to be more of a platonic relationship between close friends, plus sth in lines of Knuckles being a kind of mentor figure for Tails when they were little

- it hurts to say this but I planned to make Sticks and Amy as Mylo and Claggor and Big the cat as Vander respecitvely. Someone must get killed off unfortunately, I love them sm tho

- Aand Sonic is Vi and Shadow is Caitlyn. After watching Sonic Prime I cannot unsee the vision of Nine as Jinx, Sonic as Vi and Shadow as Caitlyn

- more to be added later. If you have any questions, go on and ask, I wanna ramble abt this

[nebula-chao-agere]

Regressuary 2025: Day 3

(This is specifically about the movie franchise, there will not be any shipping of any kind as they're basically children in the movies and I see them all more like siblings,,)

Like Brother

Shadow was walking nervously to Tom and Maddie's room, his baby blankie trailing behind him, the corner in his hand. The small blanket was a gift from Doctor Stone, being something he'd recovered from the lab after Gerald and Ivo's death. He didn't have a use for it, but it was in that room that Shadow had been a little too attached to while there. Surely the gift wouldn't hurt. Well, not only did it NOT HURT but it actively helped Shadow when he regressed, the little hedgehog and blankie being inseparable.

He toddled down the stairs and into their currently empty room. Maddie was with Tails and Knuckles in the kitchen working on a lunch of finger foods. Tom was in the bathroom with a fussing blue blur who was very insistent on not taking a bath. While everyone was distracted, Shadow found himself poking around in the shared closet of the parents of the house. He hesitantly flipped through Tom's shirts and jackets, a small pang of jealousy. Sonic, Tails, and even Knuckles had some clothes of their own. Shadow didn't really understand the concept of clothes, not anything other than gloves and shoes anyways. But when it came to bedtime or when one of his siblings were sick, "pajamas" seemed to bring alot of comfort to them. Even just t-shirts or the soft "pants" or "shorts" appeared to have some sort of comfort and gave the wearer some ability to relax.

Sonic had grown quite the collection of t-shirts now, mostly consisting of his favorite superheroes or cartoon characters, and even a few hand-me-downs from Tom. Shadow couldn't quite place why, but he wanted a shirt of his own. He was filled with almost 100% certainty that Sonic would share his, but it just wasn't the same to him. Shadow wanted his own. He wanted to feel... human? That's not the word he was looking for. Something that made him feel a bit more "down to Earth", in a literal sense; similar to how his blankie made him feel. He shook his head, holding his blankie closer to his chest before glancing behind him. Making sure the coast was clear; he hesitantly took a plain t-shirt off of one of the hangers. He'd made sure it wasn't one he saw Tom wear often, and made sure it wasn't one of the fancier ones that he saved for special occasions. And of course, he steered very clear of his work attire. They looked uncomfortable anyway.

The shirt he'd picked would probably be huge on him, but that didn't seem to be a problem for him in the slightest. It had some cartoon mascot on it that he didn't recognize, seeming to be a yellow bear in a red shirt of his own. Shadow hesitantly checked the doorway again before he slipped it over his own head after setting his blankie down, gently, on the bed. He struggled getting his quills through at first, but eventually popped his head through. Something didn't feel quite right though... He looked down at himself, arms tucked underneath the shirt, the little guy not quite understanding how the sleeves were supposed to work.

At that very moment, Sonic sped past the bathroom, somehow already dried off, Tom calling down the hall for him to slow down. "Sonic, you know we're not supposed to run in the house!" he playfully scolded, a small laugh escaping him as he now stood at his own bedroom door. Shadow froze, not even needing to turn around as he realized the predicament he was in. He was frozen in place, his flight or fight at a standstill as he instead froze. "...Shadow?" Tom asked hesitantly, gently, after a moment. Shadow flinched, standing there with flushed cheeks as he didn't know what to do, or how to explain what he was trying to do before he was walked in on.

Not saying another word, not wanting to scare the kid, he closed the door softly, making his way over to Shadow. He crouched down next to him, taking it slow and gently, not wanting to make him flinch or jump again. Tom couldn't help the smile that had now formed on his lips as he saw his shirt hanging down to Shadow's knees. "Let me help ya bud... Is it okay to touch?" He asked before even attempting to put a handout. Once given the slightest of nods after nearly ten seconds of silence, he took a hold of one of the short sleeves, trying to guide Shadow's hand. "You gotta put your arm through here, okay?"

Shadow hesitantly did as he was told but couldn't take his eyes off of Tom. How was he being so calm about this, acting like it was normal? It was a stark contrast from how he looked at him when they had first met, and it was surreal to Shadow. The gentle touch of a father's hand was foreign but not unwelcome. He found himself strangely not pulling away as Tom took his hand and guided it through the sleeve, then doing the same with his other hand. Tom knew it was better to leave all of his questions unanswered. One wrong step, and he wouldn't hear from Shadow for weeks, the prideful hedgehog taking even the smallest of questionings harshly. Either way, he already had a bit of a guess of what he was seeing.

"You like it?" He asked with a tender smile once he'd gotten the shirt straightened out and on correctly. Shadow hid his face in his blankie, feeling ashamed of how much he enjoyed something that seemed so small and simple to everyone else in the house.

Before Tom could coax an answer out of him, Maddie called for the kiddos, trying to round them up in the living room for lunch. Tom held his arms open, offering to carry Shadow. It was always hit or miss if Shadow would let anyone pick him up... bud today... he let himself walk into Tom's arms, nuzzling his face in the fabric of his blankie that he held onto, sat atop his father's shoulder. "Let's go get some food in your tummy, yeah?"

As Tom carried him into the living room, the other three kiddos weren't even really paying attention, Tails and Sonic competeing to see who can stack the tallest "cracker sandwich" while Knuckles was filling up on the grapes while they watched the movie Maddie had turned on. Maddie however, couldn't help but raise a brow at the hedgehog in Tom's arms, strangely docile and clingy. Not that it was a bad thing, just something she wasn't expecting. Tom sat Shadow down next to the other boys... or tried to. Shadow was oddly very attached to Tom all of a sudden, almost as if he'd regressed into an even smaller headspace than before. Not wanting to draw any extra attention by asking about it, Tom sat down instead, holding Shadow in his lap. Shadow made no move to take any of the food, but watched the other three, trying to gauge what he should do here.

Being the literal Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow didn't need to eat or drink, nor was he accustomed to doing so. But when Maddie offered him a sippy cup similar to the ones the other three had, Shadow accepted it with hesitance, but almost instantly began to sip from it when he saw Sonic take a sip from his. He laid his head against Tom's chest, watching the movie, blankie in one hand, sippy in the other.

This family life really wasn't so bad... Nobody judged or expected anything of him... Nothing hurt and he was... safe? Safe. Yeah, that's the word he was looking for.

[galactic-knightmare]

Posting my old Sonic art Part 1

mm tasty tasty poll numbers lmao

Anyway lets start this off with the AU that I still haven't finished! (I might finish it later but we'll see)(Ya'll get to see the deformed squids that used to be how I drew hands lmao...)

Unfortunately I never finished Rouge's bio thingy, but now that like, ya know, I'm hyperfixating again I might end up redoing all this.(We'll see)

All of these are back before I decided on my preferred name, so their all signed Fidget or Fluffeh-Shiba instead. like shit, I'm not sure I even knew I was ace yet back then lmao (I figured that out when I was in the middle of making my Lifesize shadow plushie, so maybe inbetween the classic drawings and the bios?) its still the exact same style of signature though, with the white letters and magenta outer glow. (some of this older art in the folder has the super old signature on it though, from before I started dating my art lmao)

ANYWAY since I just threw a bunch of AU art at ya'll, lemme explain some bits of it! Its a swap au (obvs) with mainly Team Sonic and Team Dark, but also with a lot of other characters that I never got around to drawing the stuff for. Essentially, Sonic and Shadow were both on the Ark, with Shadow having just been created (he was a smol babums) and Sonic just living on the ark/being adopted by the scientists. the Ark raid still happened, and like in Canon Maria got Shadow to an escape pod thing, but, ya know, died. Sonic this time was the one traumatized, and GUN, thinking he was the ultimate lifeform (he wasn't) put him in the stasis chamber, eventually leading to SA2 (my favorite game not even gonna lie- not my first game though, that was Sonic Forces) the lifepod for whatever reason had stasis stuff too (Plot convenience!) and the baby was in there for fifty years until it's systems started failing, waking him up. Vanilla, while out in the forest, heard the angy baby noises and investigated, finding said baby and decided "Oh hey, free baby!" and Cream ends up with an older brother when she's born. the original idea was that Vanilla dies at some point, thus making the two orphans like how Sonic and Tails canon are (or at least not around parents? dunno if their actually orphans. the basic idea is that fuck no Vanilla would not want her kids doing dangerous shit so I had to get her out of the picture) but tbh I might be able to think of something else? I can't just pull a disney and kill everyone's parents... (not to mention I like Vanilla and Cream...) eventually the big bad (not Egg) pops in. everything is business as usual (baby Shadow running deliveries for people) and Cream ends up coming across a Chaos Ruby (phantom ruby swapped). the big bad, who I had only called The Traveller so far (I know who it is obvs I just never said it cause baby me wanted to be like OHO REVEAL TIME BITCHES) ended up kidnapping her because he wanted the ruby, thus starting the regular sonic storylines. Rouge and Knuckles are also swapped obvs. Rouge is the last of a bat tribe that lived on Angel island and protected the Master Ruby. She's still obsessed with treasure, she just tends to be guarding the ruby so it's not as obvious. Knuckles is a GUN agent and owns a bar, later ending up with two impulsive blue hedgehogs for a team (Sonic and Metal, who's swapped with Omega.) Theres more obvs, like how the Superforms are silver now instead of gold and such. (I think Blaze and Amy were swapped???) Eggman was kidnapped by The Traveller somewhere at the start before eventually being rescued (probably somewhere around SA2/Heroes) and ended up being the adopted Uncle of Team Shadow (He's a semi-responsible adult. responsible enough to be concerned and all but Eggman-enough to be like "hmm teenagers in dangerous situations fighting demons? thats normal.") Anywhere theres more but like, I'm tired of typing this out honestly and my attention span is failing again LMAO so here have the WiP of my Shadow design in the new style I'm trying out

Shadow with three eyes my beloved (I still haven't seen the third movie or played the new generations...)

[kurama-maria]

(what I think might happen)

Sonic 4:opening Scene

I hope you guys like it. It's what I think might happen? I dunno. My friend who's not a sonic fan read it beforehand and said she liked it. Enjoyy~ *runs away*

The sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard in the meadow, as well as the sound of a small jet booster. Frenzied footsteps could be heard, panting and swooshing air.

A: Stop running and fight me!

Amy destroys two more Metal copies Without breaking her stride. The blue robot looks back at her before turning forward and blasting off into the forest. Amy growled, brows furrowing and gripped her hammer tighter.

A: COWARD!

Amy ran even faster, half tempted to remove her bracelets or have her hammer go back to her chaos space briefly. But she came to neither option. The pink hedgehog came to a skittering halt. She let out a chuckle. So, that comment seemingly got under into its circuits. Metal let out a few beeps, flexing its claws. Amy Soon heard Metal copies surrounding them. One glance around told her all she needed to know.

A: Really? *head tilt* more copies? I'll destroy them easily. Without help.

Metal's red eyes narrowed, understanding and taking the bait she casted. The pink hedgehog wanted a fight with him? Fine. She would get her fight. He held out a metal hand, effectively halting the hoard. He looked back, seeing her smirk.

A: Finally.

She swung her hammer, holding it with both hands instead of one and got into stance. Metal was analyzing the fastest way to take her down when he got another chaos energy reading. He glanced in the direction of the reading, before looking back at Amy and blasting off. He'd finish her later. He had to see what this new reading was.

A: H-hey!

The hoard of Metal copies followed suit. Amy tched, going with her first plan. Her hammer disappeared and she took off. Evening became night and she was able to catch up to them

But it seemed like they were too focused on their new target - a blue hedgehog. Curiousity piqued her. A blue hedgehog? Could he be...? She heard him talk to Metal, only ticking him off. Amy watched as his eyes narrowed; the only warning Metal gave as the hoard buzzed to life. They all flew, rearing to attack all at once. Her brows furrowed again.

A: Not if I can help it.

Amy summoned her hammer and leapt as the copies zeroed in on the blue hedgehog who stared around him in shock.

She threw her hammer before they could strike, a pink trail of chaos energy left in its wake. It destroyed all of the copies effectively, coming back to her. Just one Metal left. The blue hedgehog had stood dumbfounded, watching her hammer. So he didnt notice Metal coming up behind him. Giving a small twirl in the air, she readied herself to smash Metal. The explosion was small, but still strong enough that the blue hedgehog was blown away a small distance.

Amy couldn't help the smirk that came onto her muzzle.

A: *Whispering * like I said. Easily, without help.

She watched the glowing red eyes blink a few times before fading away. She heard a small gasp and looked up. The blue hedgehog shifted and stared at her incredulously.

S: What?! Who are you?

Amy lifted her hammer, nonchalantly, resting it on her shoulder, pulling back her hood. Just as she opened her mouth to respond, voices shouted out in the now silent forest.

K & T: SONIC!

Amy gasped, looking back in the direction of the voices. Her jade gaze looked back at the blue hedgehog still on the ground. She watched as he slightly shook his head, almost as if asking her not to go. She let out air through her nose and pressed her lips together.

Amy wasn't ready to trust whoever these people were. Her grip tightened on her hammer as she pulled her hood back on and dashed away, leaving a trail of pink chaos energy behind.

S: WAIT!

Sonic got up and outstretched a hand to the direction she left in. He was about to go after her when Knuckles and Tails entered the clearing.

K: hedgehog, you took us far from home.

T: woah, Sonic, what happened here? Are you okay?

Sonic let out a sigh before turning to look at them. Now that he wasn't in eminent danger, he better assesed the clearing. At least twenty robots were smashed, not including the one he exchanged words with. Twenty one in total.

S: I was ambushed? It was strange, the robots resembled me.

Knuckles walked forward to him, giving a small look of approval.

K: Well hedgehog, you proved your worth and fought with honor.

Sonic shook his head.

S: That's the thing! I could have easily taken them down, so to speak, but someone beat me to it. She beat them like it was taking a chilidog from a baby! And you guys scared her away!

Tails and Knuckles looked at each other.

T: well, *looks back at Sonic* who was it? A girl?

S: She looked like me-- a hedgehog. A pink, hammer weilding hedgehog. She destroyed all of these robots-- it was like the fourth of July here.

K: And what's this fearsome warriors name?

Sonic let out an exasperated sound.

S: That's the thing, you scared her off just was she was going to tell me! She ran off a few seconds before you arrived.

Tails look at him and walked up to him, taking a small flashlight and peered into his eyes.

T: I think the explosions may have affected you.

S: what?! Tails, no! *Sonic swats away Tails' hands and walks over to the last robot that was destroyed* here's the proof! One hammer sized dent in the ground and robot!

Both of his companions came closer an tried to see what he was seeing, but only saw the small twitches and buzzing from the robot.

K: Come on, hedgehog. Time to go home.

S: But! I've gotta know, Knuckles!

Knuckles picked up Sonic and began to run back home, Tails following suit.

Amy watched from a far off tree the entire exchange. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, huh?

[ghosty-zero]

Sonadow one shot number #24: Mark my Territory

When animals were in heat, there were a few things they did, like a routine they couldn't break free from. They'd strut around, showing off their furry finery, or they'd let out a call that could be heard for miles. But what Sonic had never seen before was the subtle art of marking territory with a bite. He was just cruising through the forest, minding his own business, when he stumbled upon a peculiar sight. A young doe, her eyes wide and innocent, had a chunk of fur missing from her neck. It looked painful, but she didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, she was watching a buck with a mix of fear and fascination as he approached her, his antlers proudly held high.

That's weird...I didn't know they were kinky, Sonic thought to himself, his curiosity piqued. He decided to stick around and observe, blending into the underbrush to keep a safe distance. The buck grew closer, his steps calculated and purposeful. His nostrils flared, taking in the scent of the doe, and then he did it. He lunged forward and clamped down on the same spot where her fur was missing. The doe flinched but held her ground, her eyes never leaving his. The buck's teeth sunk into her neck, and she let out a soft whimper. It was clear that this was not the first time she'd felt the sting of his bite.

"Whoa..." Sonic whispered, lowering further into the bushes. "Kinky deer? I guess you learn something new every day in the forest."

He watched in fascination as the buck released his grip, leaving behind a fresh set of teeth marks. The doe didn't move away but instead leaned into his touch, almost as if she enjoyed it. The buck licked her neck gently, almost apologetic, before trotting off into the woods. Sonic blinked, tilting his head. Why would she let him do that? And why didn't it seem to bother her? It was like she was wearing his bite marks as a badge of honor.

Well, deers are weird, Sonic thought as he emerged from the bushes, brushing off leaves and twigs from his blue fur. Never seen that before. I bet Tails knows all about it. He's a walking encyclopedia on everything animal. He'd probably say it's part of some mating ritual or something.

So Sonic asked him when he ran into him in their shared base of operations, a small suburban house with a yard that looked like it hadn't seen a lawnmower in weeks. Knuckles was in the front yard lifting weights while Tails sat on the porch steps, typing away on his lap top.

"Tails, I need to borrow your brain for a sec. What's up with those deer in the forest?" Sonic called out as he approached the porch.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tails looked up from his laptop, his tails twirling.

"Ya know, the ones biting each other's necks. It's like they're playing tag, but with teeth," Sonic explained, tapping his foot. "Super weird."

"Biting...oh! You must be talking about marks!"

"Uh...yeah, sure," Sonic said, tilting his head. "What do you mean by 'marks'?"

Tails chuckled, closing his lap top and setting it aside. "Sonic, it's not as weird as you think. It's actually a very common practice among certain animal species, including deer, to establish dominance or claim territory. It's a way of saying 'this is mine' without resorting to a full-blown battle. The buck was likely leaving his scent to let other bucks know that this doe is under his protection and part of his harem."

Knuckles snorted. "Harem? That's a fancy word for a boyfriend with more than one girlfriend, isn't it?" He paused his workout to join the conversation, wiping sweat from his brow with a grin."More or less," Tails said, nodding. "In the animal kingdom, it's all about survival and passing on genes. The biting is a way to assert authority and secure mates without unnecessary conflict."

"Oooh...yeah, I kinda just thought they were really into neck play or something," Sonic said with a chuckle, his cheeks flushing a bit at his own naivety. Tails just rolled his eyes, his tails fluttering with amusement.

"Close, but no, sorry, bud. Most animals aren't into that kind of kink," Knuckles said with a hearty laugh.

Sonic didn't know why, if you asked him, you'd never get a straight answer, but for some reason he felt like he wanted to do what the deer did...but with Shadow. It wasn't about marking territory or mating, it was more like...like leaving your tag on something so no one else could claim it. And who better to tag than his rival? Sonic was all about spontaneous acts of weirdness, and this one was perfect for him.

So, like any good friend slash rival, Sonic decided to stalk Shadow to learn his schedule and patterns. For several days, he followed Shadow through the city, blending in with the shadows of the alleyways. He knew every path, every clearing, and even which tree had the best acorn crop. Shadow was a creature of habit, and Sonic learned very quickly that he liked routine. His days were predictable, almost boring. He would wake up, go for a run, eat breakfast, meditate, take a nap, then go for another run, read a boring book with no pictures, and go to sleep. It was mind-numbing, and it was only day three of Sonic's stalking that he was already going crazy with boredom. But he stayed strong.

Sonic had no idea where this sudden determination came from for such a ridiculous mission, but he chalked it up to being the Ultimate Life form's rival. It was in his nature to keep up with the pace and not be outdone by anyone, not even by his own mind. If he wanted to mark Shadow with his teeth, he would do it. Even if it meant waiting for an opportunity that might never come. He blamed his ADHD and hyperfocus for this behavior, but there was no going back now.

After a long and tedious day of watching Shadow sit in a field and read a book about rocks, Sonic finally got his chance. It was night time, and Shadow was out for his evening run. It was the perfect time to strike. Sonic waited for Shadow to reach the woods before jumping out from behind a tree, startling the unsuspecting hedgehog.

Shadow slammed his air shoes into the ground to halt himself and narrowed his eyes. "Sonic? What the hell, what do you want?"

Sonic grinned cheekily and leaned against a tree, his arms crossed. "I just wanted to see if you're down to hang. We haven't gotten together to talk in ages."

Shadow snorted, rolling his eyes. "We literally just saw each other yesterday. Get a life."

"Nah, I'm good. How about you? How's your life going? Anything new and exciting?" Sonic asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shadow glared at him, his ears twitching. Shadow never really expressed his emotions with words, but it was always clear what he was feeling via his ears and tail. Right now, his ears were perked up with interest, but his tail was swaying with agitation. It was obvious that he wanted to run but was trying to be polite.

"My life is fine. Yours?" Shadow asked flatly.

"Same ol', same ol'," Sonic said with a shrug. "I learned something cool the other day."

"Oh, really?"

"Imagine, if you will, dearest Shadow, a buck in the forest biting a doe's neck."

"...what the hell?" Shadow said, shaking his head. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Sonic laughed, walking slow circles around Shadow. "You, my dear, are the little doe, and I am the mighty buck."

"No, I am the ultimate lifeform, you are a blue rodent," Shadow said, his ears flattening.

Sonic ignored him and continued, "He bites her, and it leaves his mark on her. She's like his property, and no one else can have her."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Why would she let him do that? That's ridiculous."

"Oh, but you see, Shadow, that's the best part. It's not about the pain, it's about the pleasure," Sonic purred, his voice dropping an octave. Shadow's ears twitched as he stepped back, clearly uncomfortable.

"And how do you know this? Are you secretly a deer?" Shadow asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I probably was in a past life, who knows, back to the point at hand," Sonic said with a wink. "I'm going to bite you."

"Uh, no, you aren't."

"Ya, I am."

"I will slap you."

"That's hurtful."

"You touch me, Sonic, and I swear to Chaos, I will end your life," Shadow snarled, his hands clenching into fists.

Sonic grinned. He loved when Shadow got feisty. "It's just a little nibble, Shads. You'll live."

"That's so far from the point that we might as well be in different dimensions." Shadow shook his head. "What's with you? Did you drink a toxic mushroom or something? Why the hell do you want to bite me?"

"Nope, just got ADHD and a weird thing for necks," Sonic said, stepping closer to Shadow, who backed away in response. "Come on, I'm not gonna hurt ya, Shads. I just want to try something new. We're rivals, right? Isn't it in our nature to compete with each other?"

"Biting is a symbol of a lover marking their mate, you idiot," Shadow hissed, his ears flattening against his head.

"Ya, duh, Tails told me."

"And you still want to try and bite me, of all people?"

"Ya, duh, you're the only person I want to try it with."

Shadow's ears flicked as he tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. "...why? You've never expressed interest in me before. What's changed?"

"Nothing," Sonic said with a shrug, leaning against a nearby tree. "I just wanna see what it's like."

"So this is basically a little experiment to see what it's like to mark someone with your teeth? You want to give me a hickey? That's your entire motivation?"

Sonic nodded. "Pretty much. Come on, Shadow, you know me. I'm impulsive and curious. I'm sure you can relate. This is just another weird thing to add to my list of weird things. Like that time I ate a whole onion and didn't cry. Or that time I jumped off a cliff to see if I could land on my feet like a cat."

"I...can't even argue with that logic," Shadow muttered, shaking his head. "Fine, do whatever. But if you bite too hard, I'm kicking you in the crotch."

"Oooh, kinky," Sonic purred, stepping closer to Shadow until they were almost touching. Shadow stood at an intimidating height for a hedgehog, but Sonic was tall enough to look him in the eyes without straining his neck, though he did have to stand on the tips of his toes to do so. He smiled softly as he reached up, gently running his fingers over Shadow's cheek. Shadow leaned into his touch, his eyes fluttering shut.

"You're really warm, Shads. Like a heater," Sonic murmured, his voice low. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

"Many times," Shadow replied, his cheeks flushing a light red. "You're incredibly sappy. How many people have you seduced with those words?"

"Just you."

"That's a lie."

"It's not, and I'll prove it," Sonic said before leaning forward and kissing Shadow on the lips. It was soft, gentle, almost hesitant. Shadow had never kissed anyone before, so he essentially just stood there awkwardly. Sonic pulled back after a few seconds, his eyes searching Shadow's face for any signs of discomfort.

"Was that okay?" Sonic asked quietly, his fingers still resting on Shadow's cheek.

"It was fine," Shadow said, his face void of emotion. "It wasn't terrible."

"Aww, Shads, I love you too," Sonic laughed, his eyes sparkling. "Do you want more?"

Shadow blinked. "...I think so."

"Can I touch you?"

"...sure."

Sonic nodded, reaching down and gently lifting up Shadow's left arm. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Shadow's wrist, causing the black hedgehog to shiver. Shadow kept a surprising straight face, which Sonic took as a challenge, for whatever reason. He licked his lips, taking in the scent of Shadow's fur. It smelled like vanilla and sandalwood, a perfect combination. He took a moment to admire the sight of Shadow's exposed neck before pressing another kiss to the base of his palm. Shadow's breath hitched as his ears twitched, but he didn't move away.

"You okay?" Sonic asked, looking up at Shadow through half-lidded eyes.

"Are you going to keep being weird?" Shadow asked, his voice steady.

Sonic grinned, showing off his fangs. "Yes."

Shadow sighed, his ears drooping. "Expected that much."

"I'm totally gonna mark ya as mine now," Sonic purred, his tail wagging like a dog.

"You are by far the strangest person I've ever met, and I've met Robotnik," Shadow said with a shake of his head.

Sonic laughed and nuzzled Shadow's neck, breathing in his scent again. His wet nose brushed against the sensitive skin, causing Shadow to tense up just a smidge, but he didn't make a move to stop Sonic as the blue hedgehog peppered his neck with kisses, licking and nibbling here and there. He pressed himself closer to Shadow, his body flush against the black hedgehog's. 

Sonic wasn't the aggressive type, nor did he make a habit of biting things randomly, so his teeth weren't sharp, unlike Shadow's canines. But Sonic was determined to leave a mark on Shadow's neck, so he took a moment to think about the best way to do it without causing too much pain. He went from the right side of his neck to the left side, nipping gently at the soft skin. He started slow, working up to it, making sure he didn't overdo it and break the skin. He wanted this to be pleasant, not painful.

"Oh, for chaos sake, would you just man up and do it already?" Shadow groaned, rolling his eyes. "You're acting like I'm made of glass."

"Well, excuse me for being a gentleman and not wanting to cause you unnecessary pain," Sonic retorted, pulling back slightly. "Fine, you want it rough? You're gonna get it, mister."

"Ooooh, I'm so scared," Shadow deadpanned, crossing his arms. "Come on, just do it already."

Sonic rolled his eyes but returned his focus to Shadow's neck, slowly moving down until he found a suitable spot. He kissed it lightly before he copied what he'd seen the buck do earlier: he opened his mouth and clamped his teeth down, digging in until he tasted blood. Shadow let out a small grunt but otherwise stayed silent as Sonic applied pressure, his ears twitching. Sonic didn't bite hard enough to break the skin, but he did leave behind a noticeable mark in the outline of his mouth, which was his goal. He held the bite for a few seconds before pulling back, admiring his work.

"Ta da~!" Sonic said with a grin, his tail wagging like crazy. "You're marked now, Shads. I own you. Ha ha! How does it feel to be property of Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"You're a dork." Shadow raised his hand and placed it on the spot where Sonic had bit him, feeling the indentations that were still very present. "You have teeth like a cow."

"I resent that statement," Sonic said with a snort, his ears flicking in annoyance. "I'll have you know that my teeth are perfectly normal. Unlike your weird shark teeth."

"Shark teeth? What are you talking about?" Shadow asked, tilting his head.

"You have shark teeth, dude. Like, pointy and super sharp."

"That's an exaggeration."

"No, it's not." 

Shadow ran his finger along the bite, tracing it. "So, what, are we dating now?"

Sonic shrugged. "Sure. We can do that."

"Okay, great. I'm going home now," Shadow said as he turned and walked away, leaving Sonic standing there alone.

"Wait, what? That's it? I just marked you, and that's all I get?" Sonic called out, jogging after Shadow.

"What more do you want?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a kiss or something? Come on, Shads, give me a break here."

"You bit me, be happy with that," Shadow said, rolling his eyes. "We're rivals, not lovers."

"But ya gotta admit, it was kinda hot," Sonic purred, nudging Shadow playfully.

Shadow stopped walking and turned to face Sonic, his expression unreadable. "You really are a pain in the ass."

"Love you too, Shads," Sonic said with a wink.

A bite to symbol affection...how did that even work? Shadow thought, his neck throbbing gently. But as he felt the phantom pressure of Sonic's teeth on his skin, a strange warmth spread through him. He glanced over his shoulder, watching Sonic jog up to him with that infectious grin plastered on his face. He had always associated biting with aggression, but this was...different. It was intimate in a way he had never expected from the blue hedgehog. And actually allowing it? That was something new entirely.

He placed his hand on the mark again, feeling the warmth that lingered there. It was strange, but it didn't repulse him as he had initially thought it would. It was almost...comforting, like a big sign on him that said "MINE".

"You know what?" He said, stopping mid-step. "I, too, would like to partake in this ritual."

Sonic blinked, his eyes widening. "Wait, what? You wanna bite me?"

"Yes, I do."

"Oh....well, you see...the thing is...uh...I'm chronically ticklish and therefore cannot be touched without breaking out in hysterical laughter," Sonic said, his ears flicking nervously. "So, ya know, no thanks. I'd rather keep my dignity."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, and I've heard you talk for hours," Shadow snorted, crossing his arms. "Come here, you coward."

"Nah, I'm good. I think I hear Ames calling me anyway." 

"I heard nothing."

"Then you're...deaf, I dunno."

"Come here."

"What's that, Amy? You want me to come home?"

"I'm going to murder you."

"That's great, Ames. Be home soon."

"Sonic, don't you dare run away from me right now."

"I'm sorry, babe, you're breaking up! Can't hear you!"

"Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog, you come here this instant."

Sonic froze like a child being caught doing something naughty. He slowly turned to face Shadow, his cheeks flushed. "Excuse me, good sir? Did you just full dead-name me? What the fudge? I'm gonna have to fight you now. It's law."

"Oh, please, if I had a dollar for every time you claimed we had to fight, I'd be rich," Shadow said with a roll of his eyes.

"How'd you even find out my old name, anyway?"

"Resources."

"Cryptic bastard."

Shadow pointed to the spot in front of him in perfect angry-mother fashion. "Get over here."

Sonic gulped and shuffled over to Shadow in defeat. "This is an abuse of power. I'm going to tell your manager."

"My manager is an 18 year old bat who flirts more than she breathes."

"Still, she should know how you treat me. This is harassment."

"You bit me first, you hypocrite."

"You didn't tell me not to, so it doesn't count."

"That's the stupidest logic I've ever heard."

"Yeah, well, that's how my brain works, so deal with it."

"For Chaos sake...just...here." Shadow sighed before grabbing Sonic by the shoulders and pulling him closer until they were inches apart. He looked down at the blue hedgehog like a predator finally cornering its prey. His red eyes flashed dangerously as he leaned in, his breath tickling Sonic's ear.

"Are you scared?" He whispered, his voice low and husky. "Do you think I'm going to hurt you?"

"Nope," Sonic replied, his voice shaking ever so slightly. "I trust you...I think...a little bit...maybe."

Shadow laughed softly before pressing a gentle kiss to Sonic's forehead. "Relax. It won't hurt."

"It's not that, I just...I dunno...I'm nervous?" Sonic admitted, his ears drooping. "It feels weird to be on the receiving end."

"Oh, where did all that attractive confidence go?" Shadow teased, nuzzling Sonic's nose gently. "You seemed so eager to bite me earlier."

"Yeah, well...duh, I had the upper hand. Now you're...ya know...big and scary."

"I thought you liked it when I'm scary."

"Well, yeah, but not when you're using it against me!"

Shadow smirked before tilting Sonic's chin up with his hand, exposing his neck like a sacrifice. "Then let me take over. Just relax."

Sonic took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "Just so you know, I will laugh and squirm like hell."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Shadow leaned down, his nose brushing against Sonic's neck. He took a moment to breathe in the blue hedgehog's scent, taking it all in. Sonic smelled like chili and fresh grass, an expected combination for him. He licked his lips, his tongue sliding across Sonic's fur, causing the blue hedgehog to shiver and giggle. Shadow had to physically restrain himself from laughing. Sonic was cute when he was nervous.

Shadow placed one hand on Sonic's hip and the other on the back of his head, gently pushing him forward. He pressed another soft kiss to the side of Sonic's neck before opening his mouth and sinking his teeth into the soft flesh. Sonic yelped, his body tensing up, digging his feet into the ground as he tried to remain still. But Shadow held him tight, keeping him in place as his teeth sank deeper. His teeth were far sharper and just slightly longer than Sonic's, so it wasn't surprising when Sonic started to squirm and whimper.

"Oh, gosh, that hurts," Sonic whispered, letting out a small forced chuckle, only to burst into laughter when Shadow moved his hand down to tickle his stomach.

"Quit wiggling," Shadow ordered, pulling back ever so slightly to allow Sonic to catch his breath. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"It hurts!" Sonic whined, pouting. "Your teeth are pointy!"

"Oh, boo hoo. I didn't even bite that hard," Shadow said with a roll of his eyes. "You're like a rabbit. You make little squeaks when you're scared."

"Hey, don't make fun of me!" Sonic huffed, his ears twitching. "I'm sensitive."

"Shut up and deal with it."

Sonic pouted but complied anyway, relaxing in Shadow's grasp. He closed his eyes and allowed Shadow to do whatever he wanted. And what Shadow wanted was to mark him up and down, leaving behind a trail of hickeys and bite marks. Each one hurt more than the last, and Sonic had to bite his own hand to keep from laughing. It was incredibly embarrassing to be so weak when it came to being tickled, but it wasn't like he could help it.

Shadow worked his way up and down Sonic's neck and across his shoulders, leaving behind an array of fresh wounds. Sonic winced every time Shadow bit him, but he never complained out loud. He let out soft whimpers and moans, which only encouraged Shadow to continue. His hands roamed all over Sonic's body, feeling every inch of fur as he bit and sucked on the blue hedgehog's neck. Sonic shivered, his tail wagging like crazy.

"There we go," Shadow murmured, pulling back to admire his work. "I think that'll do for now."

Sonic's quills were puffed up, his cheeks flushed, and his breath heavy. He looked absolutely adorable. Shadow reached out and stroked his cheek with his thumb, causing Sonic's eyes to flutter open.

"That...was...so...embarrassing," Sonic wheezed, his legs shaking. "I'm gonna die."

Shadow chuckled, shaking his head. "You're fine. It didn't even hurt that bad."

"You're one to talk, mister I-Never-Feel-Pain-Ever."

"You exaggerate."

"And you bite like a shark!"

"At least everyone will know who you belong to now, won't they?"

"Oh, it's hardly fair, mine was a small bite, you went to town on me!"

Shadow smirked. "I guess we're just even then."

"How is that even? How the fudge are you even? You're evil," Sonic whined, stomping his foot like a toddler. "Evil, evil hedgehog."

Shadow rolled his eyes before leaning in and kissing Sonic gently on the lips, causing the blue hedgehog's ears to shoot straight up like an excited puppy. He kissed back eagerly, wrapping his arms around Shadow's neck. Shadow pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. It was sweet and slow and perfect. Sonic sighed happily, closing his eyes and melting into Shadow's embrace.

When they finally parted, Sonic was smiling from ear to ear, his tail wagging like a madman. "That...was awesome."

"Oh, now you have a change of heart," Shadow teased, nuzzling Sonic's cheek. "Maybe next time I should mark your face, hm? That way everyone can see who owns you."

Sonic groaned, rolling his eyes. "You are the worst. And I mean that in the best way possible."

"I'm flattered."

"Let me do another one on you, please? I feel bad now," Sonic said, his eyes pleading. "Come on, Shads, I'll be gentle this time."

"No."

"Ah, come on, you can't make me a walking billboard of love and not expect me to return the favor!"

"Yes, I can. Now stop talking."

"But Shadow..."

"If you say another word, I'm going to make you scream."

"Kinky."

"I will strangle you."

"Please do."

"Insults turn you on? Really? What a kink."

"I can't help it, you're just so good at it."

"I swear to Chaos."

"Shaaaaads, pleeeease?"

"Fine. Do it."

"Ha, you're so easy. I love that about you."

Shadow glared at Sonic, his ears flattening against his head. "You are the absolute worst."

"Love ya too, babe."

"Don't call me babe."

"Aww, but it fits so well!"

"I hate you so much."

"Yeah, yeah, love you too, ya big baby," Sonic said with a laugh, nuzzling Shadow's cheek. "Now, let me give you my own personal mark."

"Fine, but if you dare try and tickle me, I will kill you," Shadow grumbled, crossing his arms. "So help me, I will."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sonic said before pressing a quick peck to Shadow's lips. He then pulled back and began examining Shadow's neck for the perfect place to bite.

By the next day, both hedgehogs were sporting matching neck decorations - a series of bruises and teeth marks that were impossible to hide. Sonic looked like he had been in a battle with a feral animal, while Shadow's neck was a messy yet calculated canvas of love bites from his blue rival. They had decided to keep it a secret from their friends, mostly because they didn't want to explain why they had decided to start biting each other like lovesick teenagers in the middle of the forest at night. 

They just wouldn't understand.

[artsyannierose]

where blue burns brightest - sonamy fic

lmao i wrote another one in 30 minutes flat im crying 2 am inspo is no joke

—

“That one,” he whispered, pointing. “See it there? The blue one?”

“Brightest one tonight,” she breathed, gentle as the breeze.

“Blue ones burn bright, but not for long.”

A pause.

“Still worth seeing though.”

—

Amy never forgot that conversation.

Not after the wars and battles came and went.

Not after the world fell apart and they pulled it together again.

Not after he ran—one last time—with all that he had.

—

Some say stars don’t truly die. They simply trigger the birth of new ones.

She knew better though. They go out brightly, too fast, in blinding light. They go out with a smile, sharing its final moments with as many people as it can. They die saving people who don’t truly know that cost of their freedom. He gave it all to save them—and they had no idea how much it truly cost.

—

“Sonic! STOP!” Amy cried out to the stellar golden being in the sky, directly facing the colossal foe with an unreadable expression.

But Amy knew what was going through his mind.

“PLEASE!” she begged, helpless to anything but scream at him from the ground. Tails grasped her arm and yelled similar pleas at his brother, and Knuckles insults in disbelief, but all Amy could hear was the ringing in her ears.

“SONIC DON’T YOU DARE!” she commanded, the tears finally spilling down her cheeks. “THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY! THERE—”

His piercing crimson eyes, usually characterized by sheer determination and confidence, were laced with unsaid apologies and bittersweet resolve.

“Don’t make that face,” he smiled sadly her. “I’m just going ahead a little sooner than I thought.”

He floated higher, the chaos energy around him surging as he prepared his final attack.

He turned back one final time with a smile and his eyes full of warmth and love—the kind you only find in a goodbye that can’t be said aloud.

“Keep running, you guys. For me.”

—

Amy survived. That’s what Sonic would’ve wanted.

She led the Resistance. The Restoration after that too. She carried her hope like it was a weapon, and everyone noticed.

They called her “The Red Star,” a name born of passion, fire, and sorrow.

She burned, long and steady. People could rely on her, she would always be there for those who needed it. She was an inspiration to others, a symbol of perseverance.

Though they didn’t know she needed to be recharged. Reignited.

Just like how flames need something to burn, she couldn’t do this on her own.

Everyday, the same time each night, she ran into the hills to the same spot they had gone stargazing that night.

There was a star there. A bright blue one. A little too blue.

The first time she had seen in appear in the sky, she’d almost collapsed.

“Show off,” she had whispered. “Of course you’d be a star, wouldn’t you.”

And it became a habit, a daily one. Every night, same hill, same star. The world moved on, but Amy never forgot. As if by visiting his star…maybe she could keep him close.

—

She ran to the hill that day. It had been a really long one, and she really needed that quiet moment.

Just one of those days when the world asked too much of her—names blurred together, decisions felt fuzzy, and her smile felt like painted porcelain instead of genuine.

So she ran. Not fast, not far. Just enough to touch the feeling of comfort tucked away with nature.

The stars were out that night.

The blue one shone the brightest.

Amy knelt under the blanket of black velvet covering the night, when most others relaxed comfortably in their slumber. High above, standing stark against the clusters of white and gold, shone her coruscating blue star.

The grass was cool against her knees, and the chill of the wind caressed her shoulders.

“You left me,” she whispered. “I wasn’t ready for this without you.”

Her voice cracked. Tears threatened to spill over.

“I try, I swear I do, I did everything I could! But I’m so tired Sonic. I miss you…I miss you so, so much.”

Amy futilely wiped at her face, but the tears just kept wetting her freshly dried cheeks. She quietly sobbed there, with no one but the heavenly bodies to witness.

“Amy.”

She froze.

She turned around slowly, almost terrified at what she’d find.

He was there.

He cracked a sheepish smile at her. And he was real—not a ghost, not a figment of fiction—he was standing there behind her, solid underneath the starlight.

Amy sniffed. “You’re not real,” she cast her eyes away. She knew better.

She felt a warmth on her shoulder and whipped around to come face to face with him, noses almost touching. She only stared, eyes wide open, tears streaming down her face.

“You’re not real,” she repeated.

He smiled again. “Maybe not. But I’m here.”

She collapsed into him, and he held her there, just as tightly. She held him like he was made of light, like he would slip through her fingers if she wasn’t careful. And maybe she was right.

“It’s not fair,” she blubbered into his chest, wetting his fur with her crying. “You weren’t supposed to leave. You’re supposed to always come back.”

“I didn’t leave though,” he squeezed her tighter. “I’m here with you, every time you look up. Every time you help someone, go on an adventure, live for yourself. Amy, that’s all I want for you.”

He pulled back to hold her face with both hands, angling it to meet hers. “Amy, I need you to be happy. To live your life.”

Amy grasped his hand lightly, guiding it to place on her heart. “There’s a hole here Sonic. My life isn’t complete without you.”

“I don’t wanna be a hole in your heart Amy, I wanna be the reason it beats harder.”

Amy stared at him, long and hard and full of the kind of pain found in a bleeding heart.

“…Will I see you again?”

“Every time you see that star.”

He caressed her face, and Amy leaned in to his touch, almost desperately.

And just like that, he was gone.

—

Amy woke in the grass, her vision graced with hundreds of sparkling lights, dawn mist curling in the distance.

It’s always the darkest before dawn, after all.

“Still worth seeing, huh?” she laughed quietly.

The wind whistled like it was laughing along with her.

—

They say blue stars burn bright, fast, fierce, gone before you can name them. Red stars burn steady, quiet, patient, pulsing with stubborn hope.

But once in a lifetime, a blue star falls in love with a red one. And for a moment, the sky holds its breath.

He glowed like light. She burned like fire. And somehow, impossibly, they orbit the same dream.

Even after the blue had vanished from the night, even when the red flickered alone, the sky remembered.

For stars like that are never truly lost. And one day, the red rose to follow.

Because some love stories don’t fade. They blaze once… and echo forever.

AO3 link

[radiantrookie]

Breakfast Flavor Texts

Whether you're an early riser or your first meal of the day is more of a "brunch," it's important to start out energized! Some people like a hearty breakfast while others like to keep it light. We came together and settled on a few of our favorite ways to start the day!

Sonic's Eat 'N' Run Oats:

First thing in the morning I want to get up and go, but I need energy to reach those crazy-fast speeds. I whip up this bowl of oatmeal real quick so I feel good and energized before I start running! Whassat? It's very blue? So am I! And we're both great!

Knuckles's Roll with the Punches:

Knuckles: Living out in the brush of Angel Island, I need to gather up most of my food from the wild. I'm not really known for my delicate touch, so smashing up what I find into a delicious paste is just right for me. Then I use that as the filling for these rolls. A simple start to the morning is just how I like it. Omochao: Peanut butter is one of the most common allergens in the world! Try using almond butter or any other kind of nut butter instead!

Silver's Future-Proof Egg Tarts:

We compared notes, and it turns out this recipe is the same here as it is in my time! I like to make these egg tarts because they're simple, filling, and easy to share. It's easier to take on the future with a full stomach!

Vector's Perfect Note Waffles:

Some days you need to get an early start to crack the case. Some days you realize you're hungry and have been putting off a trip to the grocery store. Either way, these waffles of mine are the solution to the recurring case of "What Am I Gonna Eat?"

Charmy's Surprise Twist Sweet Treat:

Yeah! You thought you were getting breakfast, but-surprise!-it's a sweet dessert! Vector and Espio keep telling me it's a breakfast food, but I figured it out! Is it sweet? Check! Is it delicious? Check! Do I want more? Triple-check! It's gotta be a dessert! Woo!

Images by Codename Catfish