#sth movie fanfiction

[lucidheart3]

Visions Of What We Could Be: The Ao3 version

“Nick, c’mon! We have to return to dad’s side.” Andrew says to him, trying to drag him away from where he is glued on the glass between them and a bunch of newborn babies.

“But I wanna see Miles!” He whines, standing on his toes so that he can see the babies in the back, but he fails to recognize any that might be his baby brother.

“Aren’t you worried about mom?” Andrew’s question takes him aback, and he turns to him fully, nodding with a tinge of guilt in his face. He lets Andrew drag him, the boy’s bigger hands clasping his, and he eyes his brother’s broad back. Despite them being Irish twins, Andrew is more well-built, and taller than he is, which always results in people thinking he is a lot younger, ‘ the baby of the house’. With the arrival of the youngest, that is going to change. Nicholas smiles to himself, he is going to be the best big brother ever! They are in front of their mother’s room in a short while, and Andrew gently knocks the door. Their dad welcomes them with a stern, but concerned eyes

“Where have you been? You missed your mother’s arrival!” Tom asks, and they sheepishly avert their gazes.

“I’m sorry, Dad. Nick was a bit curious about our brother, and I didn’t want to let him go alone.”

“But you were curious too, Andy!” Nicholas says with a higher tone, and he is immediately shushed by his father. He tilts his head, then hears a shuffling in front of him. He raises his head to see his mom trying to look up to them with a tired smile on her face.

“Do I hear my boys there?” Her question invites them to her arms, Andrew and Nicholas rush to her side in a heartbeat.

“Mom, are you okay?”

“Yeah, hon. Just a bit tired, is all.” Andrew smiles up to her and Nicholas lays his head on her legs. She chuckles, and pats his head. Tom comes near them and puts a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. Nicholas lifts his head, to face both of his parents.

“When will we see Miles?”

“They should be preparing him. He’ll be here in any minute.” Nicholas excitedly nods, and Andrew chuckles.

“You guys saw him, right? What does he look like?”

“You’ll see.” His father answers with a smile and he pouts. As if on cue, a nurse comes in with their brother in a crib, and they hold their breaths to face him for the first time.

“Alright boys, go sit on the couch so that you can hold him.” Tom quietly says as he takes the baby from the crib, and Maddie thanks the nurse before she goes. The boys are quick to settle on the couch, and Tom hands the baby to Andrew, instructing him to support the baby’s head.

“He is so tiny!” Andrew quietly says, and Nicholas lays his head on Andrew’s shoulder to get a better view of the baby.

“Hey there, Miles!” Nicholas says as softly as he can, and the baby opens his sky-blue eyes, and a little smile appears on his lips.

“Look, he’s smiling at me!” Nicholas excitedly says, and Andrew nods.

“He must have really liked his name.”

“Of course he does! I found that name after all!” Nicholas boasts, and Andrew grins to him. Tom takes out his phone and tells them to smile for the picture, and knowing Nicholas’d want to see it, he shows it to him without having to be asked. The picture captures one darker skinned boy, he has his black hair in shoulder length braids. Beside him is seated a more slender and paler boy with jaw length curly brown hair. And the baby in the older boy’s arms is nearly blond, and palest of them all. Tom jokes that Maddie must have run out of ink gradually with each of the boys, and Maddie giggles. Despite the happiness surrounding Nicholas, the unease in his gut overcomes it.

‘This is wrong. We don’t look like that.’

The thought pulls Sonic out of his dream, and he struggles to adjust to the complete darkness. He rubs his eyes and he is suprised when unshed tears contact his hands. He sniffs, suddenly someone touches his shoulder and he yelps. Quickly clasping a hand over his mouth, he turns to his left to face Knuckles.

“Knux, are you trying to scare me to death, dude?” He whisper shouts, frowning, and he guesses Knuckles’ rolling his eyes.

“You were crying. Did you have a nightmare?”

“Crying? Nah, I wasn’t. Totally! You don’t have to worry now, big guy. Let’s go back to sleep.” Sonic attempts to pull his blanket over him and lay back down, but the hand on his shoulder keeps him from moving.

“I recall we’ve agreed on not lying to each other.” Knuckles replies, giving Sonic’s shoulder a suprisingly gentle squeeze, before taking his hand away. Sonic groans, then kicks off his blanket from his leg and stands up. He approaches the attic door and Knuckles follows suit. They go down the stairs as silently as possible, and Sonic winces whenever the stairs creak under his foot. They reach the living room and flop down on the couch. Knuckles turns to him, contemplating how he should make Sonic talk because as much as the hedgehog loves talking, he insists on only talking about what he wants. If he feels like being secretive, it’s nearly impossible to make him tell what Knuckles is curious about.

“It wasn’t a nightmare.” Sonic mutters, and Knuckles raises a brow, but stays silent. He guesses Sonic is too sleepy to act nonchalant, and sighs. Sonic turns away from him, and his eyes trace the design of the carpet under their feet.

“It was a strange dream, we were children of… y’know...” Sonic sheepishly says, and Knuckles does a double take.

“What do you mean? Aren’t we already their children?”

“We are. But in my dream we were their real, no, sorry, biological children. “

“Oh.”

“Yeah.We were humans. You took a lot after mom, I was a mix of them and Mi- Tails took after dad. In fact, I saw the day he was born.”

“And that made you sad, why? It doesn’t sound like an unpleasant dream.”

“Yeah, that is the deal. It isn’t unpleasant at all. We were all so happy there, and I was… I was happy to imagine that reality. Maybe too happy.”

“I apologise, Hedgehog, but I still fail to see why you cried over this dream that you think made you happy.”

“Don’t sweat it, Knux, I don’t understand it myself.” Sonic mutters, laying more comfortably on the couch. He crosses his arms on his chest and closes his eyes, trying to make sense of his emotions to not worry his brother further. Knuckles closes his eyes too, and hyper-focuses as if to find a technique that will allow him to tap into Sonic’s mind and untangle him from his mess of thoughts.

“You were named Andrew. I called you Andy.” Sonic says, breaking the silence since he is bored from all that fruitless thinking. When voiced, he realises the name, especially the nickname, sounds ridiculous on the Knuckles he knows. He snorts, and Knuckles grins.

“It sounds very strange.”

“Yeah, it really is something.”

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“What were you called in your dream?”

“Oh! Nicholas. You called me Nick.” Knuckles looks him up and down, and nods.

“What?” Sonic asks, raising a brow, Knuckles smiles.

“It kind of fits.”

“How?!”

“The nickname doesn’t sound too different from your actual name. “ Sonic’s eyes widen, and Knuckles smirks.

“So-nic. Oh my God! You’re right!”

“I guess I’m obliged to call you Nick from now on.” Knuckles teases and Sonic groans.

“Don’t make me regret telling you about this!”

“I doubt you will. You love talking, Nick.” Sonic pouts and Knuckles laughs, reaching out to ruffle his head. Despite his annoyance, Sonic allows him.

“What about the fox? What was his name?”

“His was the same. Miles is a human name too, y’know.” Sonic explains and Knuckles hums. They fall into a comfortable silence with Sonic occassionaly muttering, until he speaks up once again.

“One of the things that made me happy the most about my dream was getting to meet Tails when he was born.”

“I agree. It would be satisfactory if we had.”

“Yes! Think about it, he’d never be bullied because we’d be there to protect him!”

“He’d get to have parents earlier. And attend school.”

“He’d enroll into a college to be an engineer! He could even win the Nobel Prize!”

“What is the prize of Nobel? Is it a treasure?”

“Kind of. It’s awarded to successful people.”

“Hmm. It sounds like something the fox could win.”

“If he was human, that is. I doubt anyone would want to award aliens like us anything.” Sonic says, and after taking in Knuckles’ raised brow and parted lips, he realises maybe he shouldn’t have opened up this much.

“Hedgehog, would you want to be a human?” Sonic’s taken aback from the swiftness of the change in conversation. He didn’t think Knuckles had it in him to corner Sonic about his feelings, but he wasn’t all that suprised. Knuckles takes everthing on in a stride, barges head-first into every situation, it’s no wonder feelings are involved on the list of that situations. On the contrary, Sonic evades, dodges and runs away, and it is, to no one’s suprise, no different for his emotions. He refuses to face them.

“Me? A human? No! Why’d I wanna trade this handsome speedy hedgehog’s form to a furless slow-poke’s?”

“Hmm. Maybe to not be an alien? To not have to run?”

Sonic’s mouth falls open, and he can feel Knuckles’ last word trigger something inside of him. A mantra burried deep into his soul, a shield that protected him. His resolve, his promise.

Never stop running.

He feels tears pooling in his eyes. He wanted to stop sometimes, he recalls. He wanted to be crystal clear once, instead of a blur. He wanted someone to see him, that’s why he was so overjoyed that he cried when Crazy Carl first noticed him. It reminded him of his existence.

“I…” He stammers, but only sobs come out instead of words. Knuckles’ violet eyes widen, and he shuffles to get closer to Sonic. He wraps his arm around Sonic, and he shivers in Knuckles’ embrace.

“I have to admit, your dream sounds pleasant. But I wouldn’t trade my reality with it.”

“Y-You wouldn’t?”

“No, of course not. My life… no, our lives were painful, full of losses and failures. But they made us who we are. People in your dream? They are just pitiful imitations of us. Even though they are brothers like us, I can’t imagine a world I never battle the fastest thing alive or get run over by a fox kit.” Knuckles declares, and Sonic wetly giggles while wiping his tears away. When Sonic looks up to him, he takes it as a signal to keep on talking.

“Besides, without the hardships we faced, our strengths’d be non-existent. I’d never be a warrior, fox wouldn’t be an inventor at his young age. And you wouldn’t be a hero in the sense you are, now.”

“Yeah, I get it. No self-discovering road-trips or saving the world. We could never be who we are. I don’t want that, too. I just thought if we were born into this family, we could magically be protected from the tragedies but keep the blessings in our life.”

“Maybe this will teach you to think deeper before weeping, hedgehog.”

Knuckles teases, Sonic groans, this is why they can never have heartfelt moments. Sonic elbows his side, effectively breaking out of their embrace Knuckles has the nerve to fake being hurt, and Sonic frowns.

“Don’t you think that I missed you calling me shallow, Knucklehead! And quit the act, I know it didn’t hurt. Sadly!”

“You want to wound me? I change my mind, I’d gladly replace you with this Nick.” Knuckles teases further, and Sonic gasps and places a hand over his mouth, mostly for theatrics and to hide the grin he can’t supress.

“You hurt me, brother. Just when I was about to say I’d never want Andy instead.” He says, making his lower lip quiver for extra effect. Knuckles looks at him sideways, and snorts.

“Fine. I declare truce.” He says, and opens his arms to invite Sonic in a hug. Sonic snickers and throws himself into Knuckles that knocks him fully on the couch, and squeezes him to death.

“Thank you, Knucklehead. You’re the best!” Sonic mutters into his shoulder,

“You’re pretty tolarable yourself. Still no match for Nick, though.” Knuckles says, but the way he returns his embrace tells Sonic the exact opposite. Still, he pulls back with a groan, and zips up to the attic, Knuckles shakes his head, a lop-sided smile on his face, and follows suit.

[ihaznoclue]

You're not like other people

The winner of the vote from yesterday was----

You're not like other people (Shadow x Reader) and I would like to thank everyone who participated in the voting system :)

Pairings -> Shadow The Hedgehog x Reader

Warnings -> None

Note -> Shadow seems to like you more than anyone else, you treat him better. He then starts to follow you around and stick to you just in case if something happens to you

Genre -> Fluff

Shadow The Hedgehog

You're not like other people...

You showed Shadow more kindness and gentleness, and he could tell you were a good-hearted person the moment he laid eyes on you.

He liked you more than anyone he had met, with the exception of Maria, because of your tender hands and your kind remarks.

He could see Maria within you since your sillyness showed whenever he was feeling low or depressed, and your smile illuminated the room on the darkest evenings.

Your affectionate gestures were different, you gave him soft pats or scratches behind his ears to help him relax, and your dancing made him cringe in the most flattering way possible to provoke a response from him rather that him being sulky all the time.

He adored everything you did for him, and he loved you in return.

Even if he's not very good at it, he merely thinks of all the things he could do to make you feel better, like protecting you or lifting your spirits when you're felling down. At least he's making an effort, or perhaps he's giving you presents in secret.

Ever since he fell down from saving the earth from explosion that Dr Gerald Robotnik wanted as revenge for his grand-daughter Maria, Shadow was convinced that this was the wrong thing to do as it won't bring Maria back..

His goal was to save the planet, and he succeeded, but at what cost? He could feel himself slipping downward more quickly.

When he collapsed back on Earth, he was unconscious, but where was he? He could smell the earthy dirt that tickled his nostrils, all he could feel beneath him was dirt.

However, he heard and sensed something else. A voice? Where was he and whose voice was that?

"Where did you come from?" The stranger's voice sounded clearer, and he could hear its kindness since it was free of fear, stuttering, or trembling.

Then he felt a kind, cautious hand embrace him in. "Oh you poor thing.. You must be hurt" He heard the voice again, and then he sensed a person moving.

What was he being taken to? He doesn't want to return, but what if they were to take him back?

Their footsteps were silent, and he could hear the rhythm of the person carrying him's heartbeat, whether it was fast or slow. He found that listening to the heartbeat helped him relax.

As they kept going, he could then hear them humming, which is incredibly pleasant and reassured him that nothing was to bother him.

Shadow heard the humming fade into the darkness as he knows couldn't hear anything around him, it had seem that he fully went to knocked out mode.

Now it felt hours on end as he now could hear things around him, his body felt warm and covered. His ear flickered at the slightest sound as he now was waking up, his eyes fluttering open as he groaned at the massive headache he just got.

He heard the humming again.. the sweet sound of humming that sooth his headache to go away..

He began to sit up as the blanket that was covering him slightly shifted off of his upper body, his fur was cleaned and hes air shoes were off, neatly placed on the floor near the bed that he was sitting on

He looked around to see where he was, he was definitely not back in the G.U.N base, but the room was slightly dimmed by the sunlight behind the curtains. The walls were painted in (F/C) and the carpet beneath looked soft and fluffy to stand on.

The humming has come to a stop as he saw the person standing near the door way for the room. It was a young person, a smile stuck on their face as they realised that Shadow was now awake

"Oh! You're awake" Their soft voice spoke, it sounded nice to listen to, but Shadow couldn't know if you could be trusted, his ear flicked again

"Can you talk?" You spoke, Shadow eyes lingered on you, trying to cause any squirmy reaction or at least a shiver, but he nodded

"Good! But I have a heap of questions to ask ya little guy" You spoke in pure excitement as you gave a little clap

Shadow was curious about you all of a sudden, you weren't scared of him

He was a 4-5ft hedgehog that was made in a laboratory how can you not be scared of him?

"Are- Are you not scared of me?" He spoke which made you froze suddenly, you didn't actually think he would speak

Your eyes were widen but softened "Of course not! Why would I be scared of a cute guy like you?"

Shadow huffed at that as his ear flicked at the word 'cute' but he didn't say anything to make you upset, the pure smile laid on your face made his heart soften

He could see Maria in you for some reason, even though he just met you. He knew he could trust you

"You can stay here as long as you want, I found you in a grass field near my house as I hear the commotion outside so I wanted to take a look and saw you, so I picked you up and took you back to my house which you are in right now"

Your kind words made him realise you were the one that picked him up and carried him back here, to your house

He gave a little huff though his nose as he said "Thank you" In a whispered tone but obviously you hear it as you gave a little giggle and stepped out of the room which caused him to follow you

He didn't know why but he just did, his mind was telling him that he can't trust you now but his heart was telling him to follow you and protect you

But you were so kind, so pure..

Like an angel

HEHEHHE THIS ONE MIGHT BE MY BEST ONE YET

-A<3

[writingtraumaforever]

“There’s Nothing To Talk About.”: A Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Mini-Fic

Notes: Based off this post by @corffee . Minor Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Spoilers!

Summary: He was left disappointed the second those handcuffs were pulled out. Communication wouldn’t be an option, that was clear no matter what the obnoxious blue hedgehog said. He should’ve known better. Should’ve expected as much from those associated with GUN. Still, he was disappointed. And confused as to why he was disappointed. A feeling of betrayal seeping into his core and leaving him feeling even more lost than he already was.

Link to my AO3!

Start:

Shadow has never once met anyone or anything like him.

He was led to believe he was the only of his kind. A creature of mystery. A monster among humans.

Turns out humans were the monsters.

And Shadow was their reckoning.

But this.. this blue hedgehog.

What was he??

Shadow had initially been shocked by the sight of him— well, all three of them, really. A fox, an echidna, and a hedgehog. None human. None of earth. His mind wanted to be open. Intrigued by beings that were more like him than those they lived among. His instinct wasn’t to fight, it was to question. His curiosity led him despite seeing them jump from that GUN helicopter, thinking for only a moment that communication may be possible. That perhaps if anyone could understand, it would be others like him.

Different.

Outcasts.

“Monsters”.

He was left disappointed the second those handcuffs were pulled out. Communication wouldn’t be an option, that was clear no matter what the obnoxious blue hedgehog said. He should’ve known better. Should’ve expected as much from those associated with GUN. Still, he was disappointed. And confused as to why he was disappointed. A feeling of betrayal seeping into his core and leaving him feeling even more lost than he already was.

So instead, Shadow warned them to leave. Not stand in his way.

They didn’t heed his warning, and he put them in their place. Once again warning them to not follow.

He’s learning very quickly that the blue hedgehog is unreasonable. And impulsive.

And fast.

He chased Shadow on foot, keeping up with ease. One glimpse down told Shadow he didn’t need the aid of air shoes, he was simply that quick. Gifted with natural speed, it seems.

He dodged every shot Shadow took at him, managing to disarm Shadow in the process.

Another few moments later and the hedgehog was curled up and rolling alongside him, dashing against his back tire as they made chase down the busy streets.

It all just made them more similar. More the same.

So why was this hedgehog trying to stop him??

Why was he protecting them??

He must not know what they’re capable of.. that humanity isn’t worth protecting.

They’ve made their beds.

Now they must lie in them.

The climax of the rather aggressive introduction came with the two colliding and creating a energy spike that shook the city into darkness. Both hedgehogs are sent flying backwards, hitting the rooftop of the building below like falling, sparking stars. Shadow grunts at the impact, his head throbbing and his body aching..

He’s never been.. hurt. Not from anything more than needles and experimentation.

But this hurt.

This knocked him dizzy.

But he knew he couldn’t let his guard down with his rival still near, shaking his head to try and regain some composure as he pushes himself up on his feet and looks around to spot the blue hedgehog—

He‘s out cold, curled up in a defensive position with blue sparks flickering through his quills weakly.

Shadow sighs at this, releasing some tension in his throbbing body as he rolls his aching neck and slowly approaches what he assumes is the protector of humanity..

That’s what he was meant to be. Their protector.

No.

Their weapon.

Fear prevented this, though. Steering them to instead rid themselves of him before he became what they considered too powerful.

They’ll do the same to this hedgehog eventually.

He’ll see..

Shadow almost pities him.

Standing over him, he uses the toe of his shoe to lightly nudge him in the side and roll him onto his back. The hedgehog groans but doesn’t awaken.

He’s indeed alive. Resilient, it seems.

Shadow’s eyes shift around them, looking for any signs of the two he had arrived with to be following. They apparently weren’t able to keep up, but they’d be coming soon, he’s sure. If the way the fox and hedgehog reacted to the echidna’s defeat was anything to go off of, they obviously cared for one another..

This also intrigued Shadow..

Were they.. a family..?

Shadow’s glowing red eyes fall back to the hedgehog at his feet, sighing to himself before crouching down to take a knee beside him. He lets his gloved hands cradle blue quills, lifting his head up and resting it in his lap so he can rub and rummage his fingers through them. Searching. Assuming they work similarly to his own in ways or storage.

There’s so much junk in this hedgehog’s head— it’s infuriating.

Eventually, he finds what he’s looking for, pulling out the modified handcuffs the hedgehog had flashed him downtown. Popping them open, he moves to clip one around the hedgehog’s wrist, lifting his arm to the attach the other to a nearby pipe. Once this is done, he moves to carefully lift his adversary up from his lap and prop him against the pipe. He’ll come-to quicker sitting up..

He needs to get moving. Find where he came from. Find whoever released him..

He needs to see where he lost her..

But he hesitates. His eyes skimming over the hedgehog before him..

He does look quite similar. Coloring aside, they have similar noses, similar body types..

Shadow wonders if… maybe he came from wherever Shadow came from..

They have differences, though. Shadow’s eyes are sharp and intimidating.. this hedgehog’s are wide and exciting. Like they can’t be quick and big enough to take in the world around them.

Shadow’s fur is long and unkempt, rugged and course from decades of being in that cryo-tank.

This hedgehog’s looks soft and brushed.. clean and taken care of.

Shadow’s face frowns.

This hedgehog’s smiles.

Shadow is dark.

He is light.

Shadow gives off intimidation and fear.

This hedgehog gives off safety and courage.

In many ways, his spunky and obnoxious attitude makes him think of—

He should go.

Moving to shift closer to the hedgehog, he looms over his sleeping form and whispers into his ear,

“Don’t try to find me.”

It’s not a threat. It’s a warning..

It’s a damn courtesy.

Standing from his crouched position, Shadow turns away from the hedgehog and walks to the edge of the rooftop overlooking the darkened city. He sees orange and red streaks dodging through buildings and down streets in their direction..

His brows furrow a bit, turning to look at the hedgehog one more time. Watching him groan and shift slightly with a pained expression..

No..

They’re not the same.

This hedgehog has someone..

Shadow has nothing.

With a trick of the light and a flicker of energy, Shadow vanishes into the night.

The fox and echidna wake the hedgehog.

Shadow is accompanied only by his demons.

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

"What eventually did the trick was a gentle rock of the swing accompanied by Tom’s quietly singing John Denver. By the third chorus of the second song all three boys and Maddie were asleep. Tom let his head fall back. His best friend and his boys, all jammed together while the crickets kept time with the swing. It really couldn’t get much better.

And they still had three days of vacation to go."

Surprise, I'm back with this piece again, except now ✨ DIGITALIZED!!! ✨ Once again, this is fanart from none other than the lovely fic "Part of the Tribe" by @samthefrank and @humanityinahandbag !! Aka the fic that rewired my brain and that I have revisited at least five hundred times. 💙💛❤️ I am addicted to this family 🥹

[kittydoremi]

Drew my Sonic from my Sonic in Wonderland au/fic, but this time it's Movie Sonic 🤭

He's in a world of his own

[thatonesonicfanfictionwriter]

Omfg your writing is so cute !! I already requested a couple times before but I just can’t help it

Sonic x reader that admires Shadow, But Sonic misunderstands this as reader having a crush on Shadow when reader just sees Shadow as a mysterious, cool role model, so this causes Sonic to try and compete and up throw Shadow in order to gain readers affection. Only for reader to confess to Sonic and him being confused like “i thought you liked Shadow???” And reader explains that they just admire him and look up to Shadow, but Sonics the one they actually like!

Sorry if this is hard to understand but take your time!

🐛

“The Wrong Idea”

Pairing(s): Jealous Sonic the Hedgehog x Reader, background Knuxadow/Shadknux (Knuckles x Shadow)

Requested: Yes (by an anon).

Description: Sonic the Hedgehog never got jealous! At least…that’s what he tells everybody. So why was it always that faker that made him feel this way?

Notes: Wooooo, request number seven (eight?- technically the eighth one I’m posting-)! And don’t feel bad for requesting multiple! I’m having fun writing these!

(Reader will be gender neutral.)

(Not proof-read/beta-read.)

– – – – – – – – – – – –

Sonic the Hedgehog never got jealous.

At least…that’s what he told everyone.

But right now, it seems like he wasn’t telling the truth.

He has no clue why, but every time he sees you chumming up with that faker, he gets jealous.

He knows it’s selfish, but he wants your eyes on him, not Shadow of all mobians.

Right now, you and Shadow were outside of Rose’s Bakery, Amy’s bakery that she set up with the help of Vanilla and Cream, eating sweets and drinking bubble tea.

Shadow had some kind of coffee-flavored one with tapioca bubbles (because of course he did), while you had a simple fruit tea with your favorite fruit-flavored bubbles.

…Not that he remembered your exact order each time you go to Rose’s…

Oh, who was he kidding. He had a massive crush on you but he was 90% sure you had a crush on the faker.

So all he had to do was one-up him, right?

Sonic zoomed off, paying for a bouquet of your favorite flowers, before zooming back over to where you and Shadow were, only to find you both gone.

His ears droop in disappointment, the flowers drooping as well in a sad yet funny irony.

“(That’s okay, that’s okay. You’ve just gotta catch ‘em next time!)” Sonic thinks to himself. “(It won’t be that hard! You’re the fastest thing alive after all!)”

The next time he sees you both, you’re on your way over to a movie theater, chatting on the way there.

Bingo!

“Hey [Name]! Shads! Good to see you guys!” Sonic says, zooming over to you both.

“Oh! Hey Sonic!” You say, waving at him with a warm smile on your face, one he always cherished.

“Sonic,” Shadow acknowledges. “What are you doing here?”

“Well sheesh, can’t a guy say hi to his friends without the suspicion??” Sonic asks. “Anyway! What are you guys up to?”

“[Name] offered to take me to see a movie in theaters, to have the “full Mobius experience,”” Shadow states, doing air quotes with his hands.

“Oh, sweet! Mind if I tag along?” Sonic asks.

“You sitting still in a theater for hours? Doubtful,” Shadow states.

“I can too sit still in a theater,” Sonic grumbles.

“Sure thing! Though, we are going to see a horror movie, just warning you in advance,” you tell Sonic.

He makes a “Pshhh!” sound, waving you off.

“Puh-lease! Horror is my middle name!” Sonic states.

“I thought it was Maurice-” you start, only for Sonic to take your hand in his, gently pulling you along.

“C’mon! We wanna get the best seats!” Sonic states.

Boy, was Sonic not prepared for this movie. Luckily (or maybe not so luckily, he hated seeing you scared), you weren’t, either, with you and Sonic clinging onto each other every time there was a scary scene.

When you all exited the theater, you were still slightly shaking.

“R-Remind me not to trust movies with holiday names in them anymore…” you mutter.

“You did say it was gonna be scary, [Nickname].” Sonic tells you.

“Would you like me to take you home?” Shadow asks, holding out a hand for you to take.

“I’ll take ‘em home, Shads!” Sonic suddenly announces, putting an arm around your shoulder. “Besides! I can get them there lickity-split!”

“I appreciate that, Sonic,” you say with a small smile, and Sonic swears he sees a light blush on your cheeks, but he brushes it off.

“Sure thing!” he tells you, before scooping you into a bridal-style carry. “See ya later, Shads! Now hold on tight, [Name]!”

You wrap your arms around Sonic’s neck and he rushes off towards your home to get you back safely.

A few days later, when you texted him asking him to meet up, he was nervous.

What if you were mad at him? What if you told him you didn’t want to be friends?

What if you were dating Shadow?!

He took a deep breath, exhaling sharply.

“Calm down, Sonic. They just want to talk with you. It’s fine,” Sonic says to himself before rushing out of his and Tails’ shared home.

Getting there in the blink of an eye, Sonic immediately notices something.

You.

You’re dressed in a really nice outfit and you have a picnic set up, hiding something behind your back.

You look-

“You look gorgeous…” Sonic mutters aloud.

Your face turns pink, and you look to the side, a bit embarrassed, but you wave him towards you, which he does, sitting on the blanket next to you.

“So…” you start.

“So…” he continues.

You clear your throat with one hand before bringing out what was behind your back; a bouquet of blue orchid flowers, Sonic’s favorites. You hold it out to him and he takes it with a shocked expression, his face tinted pink, cradling the flowers carefully.

“I- But- We- I thought-” Sonic sputters. “I thought you had a crush on Shadow!”

You blink twice before bursting out laughing, hunching back before hunching forward, wiping a few tears from your eyes.

“No, silly! I’ve liked you this whole time!” you tell him. “Shadow felt like a mentor to me. And don’t tell him I told you, but he came to me for love advice.”

“Love advice??? Him???” Sonic questions. “Who could he possibly like??”

Looking around, you cup a hand around your mouth before whispering in Sonic’s ear, and Sonic’s face quickly morphs into one of genuine shock.

“HE HAS A CRUSH ON WHO?!” Sonic yells.

“Don’t say it so loud!” you tell him, letting out another laugh.

“I just- Knuckles???” he questions. “I would’ve never thought!”

You giggle before placing a kiss on Sonic’s cheek, a smile appearing on both of your faces.

Neither of you could be happier.

[phox-129]

—

Sonic understood what it took to want to kill. It didn’t make Shadow hurting Tom any better—it didn’t make it ok. But it made it less unforgivable, softened the hurt into something not as red and angry and big.

But still—Sonic did not forgive Shadow.

But he wished Shadow was here so he could learn to, one day.

(or, the complicated intricacies of sort-of-maybe falling in love with the guy who almost killed your dad, and the aftermath of a sacrifice)

—

Hi I don’t usually post abt my writing on here but ppl seem to like this one so here it is!!

[theocddiaries]

Shadow [gives Tom's badge to Sonic] Sonic [takes it slowly] Rouge: Is he…? Shadow: I don't know. Sonic: … You've ruined everything. Amy and Rouge [exchange a look and take a step back] Shadow [scrutinizes him]: I-- Sonic: My brothers are captured, I don't know where Mum is, I don't even know if my dad is-- The world is gonna end, and it's going to be because of you. None of this ever would have happened if it wasn't for you. Shadow: …You're right. I was a fool. All the anger, all the rage, was just to cover my loss. I thought-- Sonic: Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. "I'm nothing like you", "This is justice", "My sister's dead". Amy: Sonic-- Sonic: I don't care if I'm being mean! Everybody's got dead people. That doesn't give anyone the right to get everyone else dead along the way! [takes a deep breath]: I'm going to try and fix this. Amy: I'm going with you. Rouge: Count me in, too. Shadow: I can-- Sonic: No. [clenches the badge]. You've done enough. Let's go, girls.

this inspired me to write this

[myymi]

the brainrot rn is insaneeee **sonic 3 spoilers

[anichibicore]

Starsong

Summary:

"Hey, Shads?" Shadow couldn't help the sigh that easily slipped out of him. "Yes?" "Do the stars look different here than they do on the ARK?" In which a race turns into some much needed comfort, which then turns into stargazing, and so on.

Read on AO3

note: i'm not copying the word vomit of a note i put on this on ao3 but just know this got very far away from me about halfway through. i don't usually post my writing here, but i'm way too proud of this one to not share everywhere. so. here. also i was not aware just copy-pasting the whole thing from ao3 kept the formatting which thank god for that. i didn't wanna go through doing it again

Shadow stood off to the side, resting against the large tree near the party table, just close enough for Rouge to not assume he was plotting to sneak off. He promised he would stay, after all. Despite the day he's had, he didn't want to go back on it. His back still ached, the feeling of the wings he no longer had lingering like a phantom limb. He's sure he looked like a complete mess, but if he did, everyone was kind enough not to point it out.

Sonic popped into his vision then, an obnoxiously cheeky grin on his face as he leaned next to him. Shadow did his best to not look too annoyed at the proximity. Sonic laughed a bit and inched away a tad, and it was all he needed to know he didn't do a great job at that. "Glad to see you made it, Shads."

Shadow hummed his response. "Rouge told me to come, so I did."

"Well, either way, it's cool you showed." Another grunt in response. Sonic shifted from one foot to the other. "Did you, uh... want cake or anything?"

"Not hungry." He answered curtly.

Sonic nudged him lightly with his elbow, huffing a laugh. "Are you still mad I beat you earlier?"

"No." Shadow had almost forgotten about that, in fact. Too much had happened today. He was sure he was forgetting more. All he could think of was Maria and the professor. A nagging part of him wanted to be back in that white space. To be locked back in that one moment of time forever. He knew it was a selfish wish. That didn't change how much he still wanted it.

"Hey, are you good? You seem grumpier than usual."

"None of your business." Shadow snapped a bit more forcefully than intended.

"Alright, alright, I won't push it." Sonic laughed, putting his hands up in surrender. "Y'know, everyone else here has a present for me, so perhaps~...?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself." He spared a glance to Sonic smirking at him and sighed. "...You get a race. Wherever you want."

"Oh, you know me too well." As Shadow started walking away, Sonic zipped in front of him and bowed slightly, holding out a hand. "May I have this race, then?"

Despite himself, Shadow smiled. "I suppose so."

"Race from here to Seaside Hill?" Sonic asked as he jabbed a thumb behind himself.

"I said wherever you want."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get our race on! Hey, Tails! We need a referee!"

Within just a few minutes, Tails had a flag ready as Sonic and Shadow took their positions. Sonic grinned at him as Tails ran over the rules, and Shadow rolled his eyes and focused as the fox began the countdown. The second the signal was given, he took off, the sounds of the party vanishing within seconds and replaced with the wind blowing past him. A glance next to him showed Sonic easily staying neck and neck with him, the only thing that wasn't a blur as he ran. Sonic caught his gaze and laughed before speeding up ever so slightly. The sun was half below the horizon by then and they were still a fair distance from their goal. It soon left and the stars started to dot the sky in it's place.

Shadow caught a glimpse of a familiar flower and started to slow, taking in the sight of the hill he'd been standing atop just last night. The ARK was bright in the sky, almost like a second moon, like a beacon for his eyes to fixate on. The tree at the top he'd destroyed was exactly as it had been when he left, the trunk snapped almost completely, hanging on by a few pieces of bark, crushing the flowers it had fallen on. Shadow climbed up the hill slowly, careful to not disturb the flowers that hadn't been crushed or ruined from his outburst. He sat down once he reached the top, his eyes locked on the ARK. For just that moment, it was just him, the breeze, and his thoughts.

His emotions were still muddled, even though their little race had, admittedly, helped ease his aching. Somehow, getting competitive with Sonic like this had that effect on him. Shadow couldn't properly name most of his feelings no matter how hard he tried. A part of him felt oddly at peace — relaxed, even. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Another yearned for that timeless void again, for his father and sister. The feeling tore into him, made him want to run right back to a place he could no longer reach. The last one burned strongly, fiercely, and viciously, no matter how hard he tried to snuff it out. It was the only one he could clearly name, the kind of rage only a monster would feel. Those parts of him were at war in his head and it was starting to get too overwhelming for him to stand. It practically sapped whatever energy he had.

"..adow? Shads? I wasn't going that fast, was I? Shadow?" Sonic's voice grew louder in the distance. He likely only then realized he'd lost Shadow entirely. The wind rushed past him as Sonic zipped up to him, stopping just off to the side of his vision. He bent at the waist into his line of sight, concern plain as day on his face. "Hey, you sure you're cool? You look... real tired, Shads." Shadow didn't have the energy to answer. He simply pulled his knees up to his chest and shrugged his shoulders, staring past Sonic and up to the sky. Sonic backed up and followed his gaze, making a small sound when he saw the space colony so clearly present in the night sky. "Ah. One of those days, huh?" He offered Shadow what he assumed was meant to be a comforting smile, but it simply came off as forced to him. Shadow tore his gaze away from there and it landed on a flower right next to his feet, swaying gently in the breeze.

The grass rustled as Sonic sat next to him, one of his quills bumping his own when Sonic turned just enough. No matter how hard he tried, Shadow just couldn't shake that day's events from his head. Facing Black Doom again after he'd destroyed him so long ago, the powers he forced on him, trying to make him what he wasn't... His back still had those phantom pains from the wings sprouting from them, tearing through his flesh to reach the surface.

Almost like he read his mind, Sonic spoke again. "Geez, Shads. The fur on your back's all messed up. It's not like you to leave it all screwed up like this. What the heck happened?"

"It's none of your business, Sonic." He couldn't will any venom into his voice. He was too physically and mentally drained for it.

"You sound about as tired as you look. If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine, but I just wanna know. Did something happen back in there? Just a yes or no is cool."

His back felt raw. Shadow was almost certain he would have scars from his wings — wings that weren't his, wings that were forced on him by a monster. The unparalleled power of the Black Arms blood coarsing through his veins, the way it burned like a fire under his skin, yet made him feel so complete... It scared him. Scared and disgusted him, a reminder of how much of him was wrong. And... seeing Maria and the professor again... seeing his family again, hearing them tell him they love him, that they're proud of him, and him knowing he was fated to let them both down... He wanted to be back with them. To feel whole again. Leaving them behind when he had a chance to save them hurt far more than any physical pain he'd endured in there. The hole that had been left behind by their passings felt so much bigger than it had before. The next breath he took trembled as it reached his lungs. The sting in his eyes told him he wouldn't be able to hide it any longer. "Yes."

Sonic quietly scooched closer and tossed an arm around his shoulders, squeezing him just a bit. "It's okay, Shads. I've gotcha." Shadow bit his lip hard, but it still did nothing to stop the broken sob that managed to force its way out of him. He buried his face in his knees as much as he could. He wasn't sure if the tears he was crying were the result of grief, frustration, relief, or a mix of the three, but it didn't really matter now. They were there either way, letting them out was the only way they'd stop.

It didn't take long for the tears to stop, and he brushed off the arm around him as soon as they did. A part of him was annoyed that the attempt at comfort actually worked. "I'm going to let that slide just this once."

"Take it that means you feel better now?"

"I... suppose so."

Sonic shot him a smug grin as he asked in an equally smug tone, "And did I help with that?"

Shadow couldn't exactly deny it, but his pride refused to let him admit it straight to his face. "Shut up, idiot."

"I'm taking that as a yes."

"You say a word about any of this and I will ensure you don't live to see another birthday."

Sonic put his hands up in defense, but it was clear he didn't take his threat seriously. "Relax, Shads. I won't tell a soul." He reassured with a laugh.

Shadow huffed and went back to observing the ARK. It still felt a little strange, looking up at his home from the place he used to marvel at with Maria. The hole in his heart ached more than usual when he recalled all those times the two would sit in the observatory and simply stare. He even remembered a few times the professor had come in, waking the two up when he found them passed out on the floor, surrounded in every pillow and blanket they could find in the colony. Eventually he'd start coming to join them when he had a break from his work. Those ones with the professor were memories he only recently got back, and part of him wasn't sure if they were always there, or if they were new ones formed after his encounter with his family in the white space. He liked to think it was the latter, that it was the professor's way of giving him more fond memories to look back on once they were long gone. His mouth moved without him thinking too hard about it. "I saw Maria and the professor again."

"Back in that weird time pocket thing?"

"Yes. It was... nice." He only then realized there was a smile tugging on his face, but he didn't bother trying to hide it. Yet it wobbled when he carried on. "I... didn't want to leave. I would've stayed there forever if I could."

"Shads..."

"I know it would've been selfish, but... I just wanted a little more time with them."

"Hey, even if it was only for a little, you got to see 'em again. Plus, you've got 'em up here," Sonic tapped his own head, "so, even if they're gone, you can still see 'em whenever you want in there. Right?"

"Your way of thinking is as simple as always, I see." Shadow remarked. Sonic gave him an indignant "hey!" in response, and Shadow laughed before letting his eyes drift to the stars. "But, I suppose you aren't entirely wrong."

"Hey, I'll take it. Glad to hear your day wasn't completely awful, too." After a minute, Sonic cleared his throat, getting his attention again. He looked oddly hesitant when bringing up his next topic. "But, I'm guessing that's not all that happened in there. Judging from... well..." Green eyes flicked from his face to his back for just a moment, almost too quick for him to catch. "So, uh... Mind if I ask?"

His mood quickly soured again. He knew the topic wouldn't slip by so easily. Sonic was way too nosy when it came to him. "What makes you think I'll answer?"

When Sonic defended himself again, it was a little more panicked than his joking version of the motion earlier. "Hey, it doesn't hurt to ask! Sides, you're kinda worrying me here, Shads. And you know I'm not a worrying kinda guy"

"Yes, I'm aware. You're awful at hiding it." Shadow sighed loudly. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to tell him. "I ran into Black Doom in there as well."

Sonic's eyes narrowed, his mouth twisting to a frown as he huffed and crossed his arms. "Take it that went about as well as his last attempt at father-son bonding time did." Shadow leveled a glare at him for the phrasing, and Sonic chuckled nervously. "Sorry. Continue."

The spots from which those wings had torn their way out from his flesh itched like salt was tossed into them. None of the other powers that were awakened by Doom's influence were anywhere near as agonizing. They still all made him feel sick, the reminders of just what kind of blood he had in his veins, the alien feeling of completeness that terrified and disgusted him. It made him want to tear into his veins and let it all pour out, as if letting himself bleed dry would remove the cursed part of his blood, let him claim some semblance of normalcy in his existence. But the worst thing was the anger. He knew Black Doom was coaxing it out of him, bringing out the raw anger that he'd only truly known those first few days after being freed from stasis. That didn't mean it hadn't worked. He could feel it bubbling up again just thinking about how easily he'd been controlled like that. How Black Doom might've gotten what he wanted if Maria hadn't been there to snap him out of it.

"Shadow?"

He'd torn a clump of grass out of the dirt without realizing, crushing one of the few flowers that had survived the blast that felled the tree behind them in the palm of his hand. Its petals were wrinkled and damaged, and he gingerly placed it in roughly the same spot he'd callously pulled it from as if it would undo the damage. Just thinking about the situation seemed to rile him up all over again. He had the feeling that fact wouldn't change any time soon. It wasn't something he could easily put into words, not with how tired he still felt. Sonic didn't need to know the extent of it, anyways. So, he opted with, "It doesn't matter now. He's gone for good. We should never have to worry about him again."

Sonic thankfully seemed to pick up the hint, letting the topic drop without comment. "I'll take your word for it. But, if he somehow comes crawling back to Earth again, I'll help you kick his butt. That alien creep won't see us coming. Right, Shads?" Sonic tapped his arm with his fist, wearing a confident smile when Shadow looked.

Shadow eyed his fist. "I can take care of him myself, you know."

"Yeah, but it'd be better with a partner, right? Besides, I can't just let you have all the fun."

He couldn't help the small huff of a laugh that rose up as he tapped his own fist to Sonic's still hovering next to him. "Fine, you win."

"Cool. Anything else you wanna get off your chest while we're here?"

"Not particularly."

"Want me to play a song, then? I could pro'bly go yoink my guitar from the house in, like, two minutes tops."

"I'd like some peace and quiet for a minute, Sonic."

"Uh... Sure."

Shadow laid down in the grass, letting his eyes slip shut for just a few moments. Sonic must've copied the motion, the grass to his right rustling with the other's movements. He didn't realize just how tired he really was. Not until Sonic's voice roused him from sleep clawing at his conscious. "Hey, Shads?"

Shadow couldn't help the sigh that easily slipped out of him. "Yes?"

"Do the stars look different here than they do on the ARK?"

Shadow looked to the other, seeing him stare straight up at the sky. He did the same, the moon starting to inch its way into their vision, signifying the passing time. The stars weren't as prominent in the sky as they were when looking at them from space. It felt like there was less of them, actually. It made sense. They used to view them while dwelling among them, so they had stars to see for hundreds of thousands of miles and nothing in the way. "A little. They're not as bright here. And there's less."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." The conversation lulled to a comfortable silence for a while before Sonic piped up again. "Y'know, Tails used to be obsessed with space."

Now that was news to him. "Really?"

"Yup. Well, 'used to' implies he's not anymore. I found this old, banged up telescope way back when we were kids. Thing didn't even work since the lens was cracked. Kid took it and fixed it up and would stay up late just staring up at the stars with it. Heck, he's the one that chose where our house would be since the Mystic Ruins escapes most of the light pollution of the city."

"And he's still like that?"

"Not quite as much, but yeah. You'd think it'd lose its luster for him since we've been up there, like, what? Ten times by now? But he's still as passionate as ever. I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up one day and saw he managed to scrape together a fully functional rocket with a bunch of scrap metal and literal junk."

Shadow could picture it already. Sonic stepping out to see Tails had a whole ship, launchpad and everything, built overnight in the front yard. "I don't think I'd be surprised either, frankly."

Sonic laughed. "I used to get him a bunch of books about space for his birthday. Kid probably has enough to fill a whole shelf by now. He'd blast through them all faster than it'd take me to run across the the continent and then ramble about all the stuff in them for hours. I admit a lot of it kinda flew right over my head, but one thing always stuck with me, and I haven't really thought about it till now." Sonic's tone shifted and it got Shadow's attention. It wasn't quite serious, but it wasn't his usual laid-back tone, either. Ruminating was the word he decided to settle on, as strange as it sounded for applying to the blue blur. His expression matched the tone when Shadow looked, and he was stretching out one palm to the sky. "Most of the stars up there aren't really around anymore. But, they're still just as bright as when they were when they existed, and we still look up at them and admire their light. Talking to you made me think about it a little more just now."

"How, exactly?"

Sonic's hand dropped back to join the other on his stomach as he met the other's gaze with a confused expression, like he expected Shadow to just understand and was surprised he didn't. "Well, think about it." He turned back to the stars. "Even when we're gone, there'll still be people that remember us and look up to us. It's even possible people will remember us millions of years after that. We'll keep shining on in their memories. We're a lot like those stars, in a way."

Shadow allowed his gaze to wander back to the sky, landing on the ARK as it did. The stars around it seemed brighter in that moment, two particularly vivid ones right next to each other that he couldn't tear his eyes from. All at once, he understood. "You're right."

"I am? I-I mean, course I am!"

"It's weird hearing myself say that, too." Shadow laughed. "When did you become such a deep thinker?"

Sonic huffed in mock offense. "I've always been a deep thinker, for your information!"

"Sure, sure."

Silence came again for just a brief moment. "Hey, Shadow?"

"Yes?"

"I think I retract cashing in that birthday race now. I think we've both had enough excitement for one day, anyhow."

"Unfortunately, I'm not accepting refunds." Sonic shot up with a cry of "what?!" as Shadow laughed and stood up. "I'm kidding. Consider it refunded."

"I can never tell when you're joking, man." Sonic replied as he followed suit, standing and stretching his back. "I know we did a lotta stargazing already, but me and the gang were doing a little camp-out by the house tonight if you want in. Y'know, just chill out under the stars and stuff."

"And you're inviting me because...?"

"Shads, you cried on me and let me gush about my little bro's space obsession for, like, half an hour. I get the feeling you don't wanna pull out the loner act tonight."

Shadow felt himself grimace at how easily Sonic had nailed that on the head. The offer was tempting, but... the part of himself still raging inside, calling him a monster, reminding him of his blood, forced itself into the forefront of his thoughts. "I'm not sure they'd want me there."

"Oh, c'mon, Shads! They like you! They were worried about you as much as I was. The only reason none of them tried to talk to you was 'cause they weren't sure if you even wanted to talk."

"I don't want to intrude." The words left him easily, even though he himself didn't really mean them.

Sonic wagged a finger at him with a stern frown, almost like he was scolding a child. "Nuh-uh-uh, I'm not letting you play that card. As the birthday guy, I declare that you aren't intruding unless I say you are. And you aren't, since I'm inviting you. If you really don't wanna join, you can just tell me, bud. I ain't gonna be mad."

Shadow desperately, almost instinctively, wanted to come up with another excuse to uninvite himself. But Maria's voice, an echo of "you deserve to be happy," rang in his head, cutting through his self-deprecating thoughts, and he gave up trying to argue. "Alright. I can go."

Sonic looked surprised, and Shadow suspected the other was expecting a "no" to the offer. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

The blue blur stared him down for a moment before a smile popped back on his face. "Glad to hear it. You wanna walk, or are you up for a run?"

Shadow started making his way back down the hill to the beaten path, looking to Sonic over his shoulder. "I thought you wanted to save the race for another time?"

Sonic followed him, stretching one arm across his chest as he walked. "I did." He hopped a few steps in front of him and spun around, walking backwards with his hands behind his head. "I just don't wanna ditch ya. The place isn't that far from here. It's, like, a ten minute walk. Or a one minute run, if you prefer."

Shadow couldn't help the grin on his face, keeping his tone light as he said, "You're being rather polite today, aren't you? Are you sure I'm the one that needs help and not you?"

Sonic stuck his tongue out at him. "Sorry for caring." There was no real annoyance in his voice, and he sprung back pretty quick. "Seriously, though. You set the pace. You know I can keep up."

Shadow's grin shifted to a small smile, one he didn't bother to fight. "Alright. Lead the way."

Sonic's smile somehow got wider as he spun on his heel and continued his stride. "Come along then, we're losing starlight out here!"

Shadow followed along with a chuckle from the back of his throat. He still didn't quite feel like himself, but he felt better. It'd be a lie to say Sonic didn't help with that. "Sonic?"

The blue blur stopped mid stride and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

Shadow thought for a moment, considering his options, before closing the short distance and pulling the other into a tight, awkward hug, feeling him tense up. "Thank you."

Sonic, to his credit, only hesitated for two seconds instead of twelve like Shadow thought he would before he returned the hug, seemingly making a point to avoid his back out of consideration. "First you cry on me, now you're a hugger? Who are you and what have you done with Shadow?" He teased, and Shadow couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously, though. Anytime, Shads. Anytime."

Shadow pulled himself away, and Sonic gave him a pat on the shoulder before letting go. An idea came to him then and he quickly readied himself to take off. Sonic tilted his head to the side as he stared at him, as if the extra forty-five degrees would help him figure out what was happening. A sly grin came to him as he plainly stated, "Race you there."

He didn't wait for Sonic to answer before skating away, hearing his confused and frantic yelling getting quieter by the second before the other caught up. "That's gotta be cheating, right? This shouldn't count as my birthday race! You better not count this!" He wildly gestured as he yelled.

Shadow grinned at him as he looked from the corner of his eye. "If you beat me, I might consider it."

"Wha-Shads, you-I-!" Sonic sputtered like an old car engine, stopping and starting his protests again and again before shaking his head and speeding up. "Fine! You're on! I hope you like the taste of dust, 'cause you're about to eat mine!"

Sonic easily pulled ahead, and Shadow sped up to match. They went back and forth like this for a while, and ended up doing loops around the area a few times until they ultimately sped up the steep hill next to the workshop. Sonic ended up tripping on one of the steps and losing, and Shadow ultimately decided this didn't count as Sonic's one free race as he helped him up. He couldn't read the others' faces as well as he could Sonic's, but they seemed glad to see him, and he felt a little relieved by that.

The five of them ended up staying up late into the night, Sonic zipping in and out of the house to grab more and more things, including seemingly every guitar he owned for an impromptu lesson. Knuckles almost snapped the neck of one trying to copy Sonic's hand placement and immediately tapped out after, the rest of the group following suit when they were done, and it ended up turning into Sonic playing whatever came to mind and the rest of them singing along around the campfire. Amy had brought her fortune cards and read their fortunes, teasing Knuckles mercilessly when his apparently claimed he had a crush that he neither confirmed or denied, but the fact his muzzle turned almost as red as the rest of him told them everything. Tails pulled out blankets and sleeping bags, tossing one over his brother's head and laughing when the hedgehog started chasing him with it primed and ready to snatch him up.

They ended up using the bags to make a giant mat on the ground, and Shadow marveled at how bright the sky was here, the stars varied in brightness and the band of their galaxy stretching across the night sky. However, his eyes still found their way to the ARK, easily finding those two brilliant stars near it. He tuned out the group's chatter, feeling sleep begin to lap at his consciousness in waves, eventually dragging him to one of the most peaceful sleeps he'd had in years.

That night, Shadow dreamed of looking up at the night sky in the flower field with his family.

[lucidheart3]

Whelve: The Ao3 version

Chapter 2: Blame

Warnings: Blood and Injury, Amputation Procedures, Loss of a Limp, Description of Panic Attacks. Please proceed with caution.

Once Tom ushers the boy outside, Tom and Maddie are quick to get working. Maddie instructs Tom to carry the hedgehog to the operating room, and grabs the necessary instruments. Once she makes it to the room, she inserts the IV on the boy’s healthy arm,hooks him to the monitor, and tells Tom to clean the operation site. After he is done, Maddie assesses the state of the tissue, and her heart drops. The part below his elbow is of a much paler blue with purple undertones. He is cold to the touch, and one look at the monitor tells her that he has lost so much blood.Her first step is making sure he doesn’t lose any more with blood controlling procedures, then worry about the transfusion. After she is done, the monitor signals an even faster pulse, and panic rises in her chest.

“We need blood!” She shouts, and horror overcomes Tom’s expression.

“Where do we find it?!”

“We have to see if Red is a suitable donor. I don’t want to use earth animals’ blood unless I have no other choice.” She says, and Tom wordlessly gets out of the room to bring the echidna. Maddie draws some blood from the hedgehog, also getting out of the room.She starts the test to see which blood type the hedgehog’s blood is, and Tom swings open the door, and takes a step back once the echidna falls into the room. Startled out of his sleep, the kid scrambles to stand up.

“Oh God, are you alright?” Tom asks, and he nods in response. Then Tom lifts him up, placing him at the metal table while Maddie approaches with a syringe in her hands.

“What is your name?” Maddie asks, attempting to ease his nerves.

“Knuckles, Healer Maddie.”

“Knuckles, we have to draw your blood to see if you can give some to your friend, okay? I promise it won’t hurt much.”

Knuckles feels his arms shake, but he nods again, closing his eyes shut and going rigid so that his trembling stops. An echidna warrior is never afraid, he tells himself, he can do this. Maddie takes his blood swiftly,leaves the IV line open, and moves on to find out Knuckles’ blood type as well. After a few minutes, she deduces Knuckles can safely give his blood to his friend.

“This time, I’ll have to take a little more blood, because your friend needs it, okay?” She asks, and Knuckles nods, watching her hands as she draws blood from the neddle she has inserted minutes ago.

“All done, great job!” She gently says while offering a cotton for him to press onto his arm. She motions what he should do when she sees the confusion in his face, abd he copies her. Heaving a breath, she returns to the operating room. Hooking the kid up to the blood, she begins the operation by pulling the arrow out. After agonizing hours of operation, she is finally able to stabilize her patient. Maddie slips her hands out of her gloves, and takes off her white coat.She excuses herself to her husband, who nods, his soft but calculating gaze never leaving her form. She goes to the bathroom, facing her reflection. Her eyes wander everywhere before landing on the mirror. No white coat, no mask, no gloves. Standing before her is not skilled veterinarian Madeline Wachowski, only Maddie, with the blood stains on her scrubs and the unbearable weight settling on her heart. She collapses against the sink, trembling hands barely finding the white, rigid surface. She is finally allowed to let it all out, the toll it took on her to hold someone’s life in her hands. She sobs, on and on, until a knock on the bathroom door takes her aback. Realising that she must have worried Tom, she quickly washes her face and heads out, immediately crashing on Tom’s welcoming arms. She feels herself tremble because unlike the vet Madeline, Maddie is allowed to.She lets more tears stroll down her cheeks, and cries into her husband’s chest. The quiet, but fast beeps fill the space, and she chuckles wetly.

“He is holding on.” She utters softly. Tom nods, squeezing her body closer.

“All thanks to you. And it helps that he is one strong fellow.” Tom answers, and she lifts her head to face her husband, barely

restraining herself from slipping away from the warmth of his embrace to the coldness of her regret.

“Thanks to me? Tom, his arm is gone.I couldn’t save… He is just a kid, Tom! I should have- I couldn’t do it!” She chokes, this is the first time she left behind a patient in a far from desired state. On top of it all, he isn’t like any patient. He is coming from God knows where, but he can talk like a human, walk like a human, heck, even his anatomy is like a human. His only resemblance to a hedgehog is his quills. He looks a lot more like a toddler in a suit than a hedgehog, and it breaks her to admit it. It makes her doubt herself even more.She realises Tom squeezing her more into himself, and she clutches his uniform like a lifeline. He hushes her, rubs gentle circles on her back and whispers sweet nothings into her ears. Once she is calm enough, she reluctantly tears herself away from his embrace.He holds her shoulders gently, and locks her gaze to his, kind; but demanding her full attention.

“Hey, you did everything you could, okay?And you were the only one who could help him! If we told anyone right now they would be dissected by the government.”

Maddie’s eyes are wide with realisation, and Tom nods, reinforcing his point.

“They could still be found, right?”

“Not if we hide them.”

“We? Do you suggest we take them in?”

“At least until the little guy is healed, you have to monitor him, right? You said he needs to be under intensive care.”

“Yes, I said that, but I forgot he couldn’t be… here. Will they even want to stay with us?”

“I doubt they have anywhere else to go. Blue one was in a cave,Maddie. Bleeding out in the dark. I think Knuckles had to leave him there to find help. Wait… We left him alone!”

They are suprised to see him sleep soundly on the metal table, and he stirs, then wakes up once he realises their emergence.

“How is the hedgehog?” The echidna asks, feeling out of breath. Maddie approaches him, taking his hands in hers, Knuckles reluctantly obliges. She takes in a deep breath, and Knuckles copies her, fear rising in his chest.

“He is okay, we could save him, all thanks to you finding us when you did. But there is one thing that went bad. I need you to stay calm to tell you, okay?”

Maddie feels his hands tremble in hers, but he nods. She has to do this right now, before they let him see his friend.

“He lost his arm.I’m really sorry, kid.” She says, unshed tears glisten in his violet eyes, and Maddie’s heart breaks.

“It’s my fault… All my fault… “ He mutters, and tries to pull his hands away from her. Tears stroll down her face as well,this is all wrong to her. He feels responsible for his friend just because he is a little older, and she resents whoever put these children in this situation. Red sparks enter her vision, and she realises they are coming from him.

“Mads, be careful!” Tom says, pulling the kid away from her when he notices the sparks moving towards her hands. The kid’s in a trance, replaying the same words over and over under his breath. Despite the electrifying sensation of the sparks, Tom shakes the kid by his shoulders, trying to snap him out of it.

“Kid, I need you to stay calm, okay? You’ll hurt yourself!” He shouts, but the echidna doesn’t react. He even ceases to talk, just staring blankly ahead as red sparks rages on around him. Tom worriedly glances at Maddie, and she shakes her head, placing her hands on her face. Then Tom lifts the kid in his arms, hissing with pain with the kid’s unbelievable power against his body. He hurries over to the hedgehog. Maddie understands what he is trying to do and brings a chair for him to place the kid on.Tom obliges, the boy doesn’t protest, and remains unmoving on the chair.

“Look at him, Knuckles. He is breathing. He is alive.You hear that sound, it’s his heart beating. Listen to how fast it is. He isn’t going anywhere, buddy.You saved him.” Tom says, and notices the sparks diminish and hears the boy finally suck in a breath.

“He is alive.” The boy remarks, barely getting out the words. He reaches a hand to hold the hedgehog’s remaining hand.

“He is. And he will be okay.” Maddie says, quietly approaching the echidna and placing a loving hand on his head.

“You hear that, Sonic? You’ll be alright.” With that, he feels the little hand in his twitch,and smiles.

“So his name is Sonic.” Tom asks, and the kid turns to him.

“You’re Tom, and you are Maddie, right?”

“You got that right, bud. How old are you guys?”

“I’m six, Sonic is a hoglet, but I don’t know his age.”

“That’s okay. We’re.. uh.. pleased to meet you?” Tom awkardly says, his grin faltering when he thinks of the events leading up to their encounter.

“I too am. And thank you for your help.When will he wake up?”

“I don’t know for certain, but we have to go now.” Maddie says, and Knuckles attempts to lift Sonic up but Tom interferes.

“What are you doing?! You’ll hurt him!”

“You said you have to go. I’ll take him with me.”

“You both are coming with us, I have to look after him until he is better.” Maddie softly explains, and Knuckles tilts his head, considering her words.

“Fine, we’ll leave once he is back to health.” Knuckles says, Tom and Maddie paying him half their minds,and Maddie gets out of the operating room to gather the necessary items to care for Sonic at home

“Yeah yeah.” Tom says, waving him off as he follows his wife suit. Knuckles is left alone with Sonic, the strange beeping his only company.

<<Previous Chapter - Next Chapter>>

[clowning-raven-fanfics]

Movie Sonadow: [1] A Star Missing

Sonic's POV

It's been a few weeks since that day. Since him.

I'm trying to fall asleep, but it won't leave me alone - the talk we had. With that hedgehog, Shadow. I mean, it's pretty tough not to remember - it literally happened on the moon. Thaat I punched him to. I'll be honest, I did not know that was possible, I was surprised too when I suddenly skedaddled into space like that.

I feel bad about it, though. I mean, sure, Shadow was literally trying to wipe out humanity, but still... I let my anger get the better of me. And it wasn't just the anger I felt when Tom got hurt. It was the anger I felt when Longclaw was taken from me. It was the anger I felt during those years of being isolated and alone.

I suppressed it all for too long. It came out in a punch that sent a hedgehog to space. Real healthy, Sonic. Next time, I'll... I dunno, suppress it better.

That's probably fine.

I sigh, pulling the blanket over my head. Every day, I pretended it didn't affect me. But at night, alone with the soft glow of my fairy lights, I couldn't stop my thoughts from flowing.

And they all kept coming back to Shadow. I suppose I... I wish I could've saved him. I wish he didn't have to do that. I wish I was there to help prevent it.

I reach for the flashlight on my nightstand and bring it under the covers, clicking it on. It's comforting somehow, the small, steady beam. I think of that moment-the sunrise after the fight, when we sat there, side by side.

I looked at him. I couldn't stop looking at him.

There was something peaceful about the way he stared at the horizon, like he'd finally found a moment of calm in all the chaos. His quills caught the light, his crimson eyes reflecting the fading stars, and there was this faint, subtle smile. And I realized how much we really weren't so different. All in all... the view was majestic.

"The light shines, even though the star is gone."

I keep thinking of those words.

Shadow... he was a star. And if no one else will remember his light, I will. It deserves to shine on, just like Longclaw's.

Who I also... failed to save.

...

Damn it...

I clutch the flashlight as I feel tears forming.

"Just go away, just stop-stop, stop, please just-" I whisper as I bury my face into the pillow. I close my eyes, trying to redirect my thoughts to something else. They settle on that sunrise with Shadow again- And I slowly calmed down. Enough to finally fall asleep.

As my breathing slows and my grip on the flashlight loosens, my last thought is Shadow's faint smile, the sun casting a golden glow over us both.

[writingtraumaforever]

A Courtship Christmas: Chapter 1

Notes: Hello everyone! This addition to the Courtship series will be a holiday special and multiple chapters! Yay! I can't promise how quickly this will be updated, but I am really hoping to have the second chapter out before the movie, at least. Either way, I hope you all enjoy this work! (More Notes at the End)

Summary: Sonic is excited to make Shadow's first Christmas on earth a great one! This is completely derailed when Commander Walters has a special letter for Shadow.

Courtship Masterpost!

Link to my AO3!

Start:

Sonic loves so, so much about earth.

From the obvious things like the people and the places to the more intimate things like their cuisines and music and customs, he never spends a single moment regretting his choice to stop running and choosing this planet as his home.

But by far, his absolute favorite holiday on this planet is easily Christmas! 

Maddie and Tom explained it to him when he spent his first year celebrating it with them. How there’s a lot of rumored origins to the holiday. One being the birthday of the Sun God. The other being the birthday of the Son of God. And some just celebrating it because it’s a trademark at this point in society and regardless of the origin, it’s about family and giving and friends and being thankful for what one has. And Sonic loves that concept.

And presents. He loves the presents.

Last year had been Knuckles and Tails’ first Christmas. Knuckles had refused to celebrate at first, saying he was now Jewish thanks to Mrs. Whipple. But he eventually, with the help of a little chat with the Donut Lord, realized he isn’t actually Jewish. He just wanted to be supportive of his friend. And he can do that without conversion into a religion he ultimately doesn’t really know anything about, let alone believe. So after spending a few days celebrating Hanakkuh with Wendy, Wade and Wanda, he came back home to help prepare for Christmas with his own family. 

Tails had fallen in love with it immediately, infatuated with all the lights and the tiny trinkets that would play Christmas melodies and spin.. he invented a different gift for every single one of his family members. Even Ozzie got an automatic fetch machine! 

Sonic and Knuckles had stayed up as long as they could with a trap set by the chimney hoping to snag Santa, but they fell asleep before he came.. they woke up to the trap being untouched and a little note with red and green glitter on it reading ‘nice try, boys - S’. They vowed to get the old man one day. Sonic is a pro at foiling old, fat men. It was inevitable.

The point is that the Christmas Spirit is strong in the Wachowski household. And with the MOBIUS project in full swing this year, they decided to help acclimate some of the new Mobians into the world’s traditions by having a ‘Cookies with Santa’ event in the parking lot of GUN. Sonic had convinced them after demanding they owed him for saving the world. 3 times now. 

They put fake snow everywhere, had an ornament-making station, a gift-wrapping station, Tom dressed up as Santa Claus and let little Mobians sit on his lap and tell them what they wanted— though this giant alligator nearly crushed him at one point doing this— and they had lights strung across the front of GUN and its landscape.

The Guardian Units of Nations had never been merrier!

Shadow had been there, of course. He, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Rouge and Amy had all dressed as elves to help overwhelming crowd of human and alien children alike. They would each help at different stations. Sonic and Knuckles and Tails helped at the Santa station since most people wanted to meet the heroes of earth anyway. Shadow and Amy were on ornament-making duty. And Rouge helped Rachel wrap gifts that were brought for donation to the Mobians who still haven’t found a home.

There was even a sign-up sheet for people who wanted to volunteer to host a Mobian for the holidays!

It all went off with a sinch, and Randall even showed up dressed as the Grinch to cause mischief! He was a hit with the kids, but Sonic did not like it. Something about the Grinch just kinda makes him… disgusted. Some sort of familiarity about him that turns him off the green Who.

Either way, everything went perfect, and by the end of it, humans and Mobians were mingling and celebrating with laughter and hot cocoa and it was perfect. This. This is why he loved Christmas.

Walking to Tom’s truck after helping clean up, Shadow was showing Sonic some of the ornaments he made. “I put fake snow in this one,” he held it up to show Sonic, “and there’s a little snowman inside like one of those little balls..?”

“A snow globe?”

“Yes, those,” Shadow nodded, reaching for his next ornament to show.

This was Shadow’s first Christmas too… well.. on earth, anyway. He celebrated back on the ARK with Maria every year.. they didn’t have much in the ways of gift-giving, but they’d make each other something each year and exchange it at the midnight of Christmas Eve. Then they’d sit and eat cookies together and watch earth from the window..

Maria would talking about how she hoped Santa could find them all the way in space. Shadow would vow to make sure she got enough presents to believe that he did— which she always did thanks to the scientists on the ARK practically adopting her as the whole station’s daughter. 

The point is, Christmas isn’t foreign entirely to him. But it’s his first one on the planet, and Sonic knows it’s gotta be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for the guy since Maria isn’t here to celebrate with him..

Holding up his fourth ornament he made that’s painted to look like a gingerbread man, Sonic grins supportively at it and looks to Shadow, “These will all look real good on the tree, Shads!”

“You think so?” Shadow asks hopefully, a hint of excitement in his crimson eyes.

“Sure I do! They’re all great. We’ll have to let you pick a spot for them on the tree when we get it put up.”

Shadow smiles timidly at this, nodding in return. They’re standing at Tom’s truck, now. The door open but Sonic doesn’t climb in yet. Instead, he stands there looking at Shadow with a shy little smile, Shadow looking back at him with the same sort.

They haven’t kissed again since the bowling alley a month ago.. if that even counts. Sonic didn’t even get to kiss back!! 

They’ve both been dancing around it since then, not addressing it but not fully ignoring it. They’ll do things like a couple would, now. When they go out for lunch, Shadow will hold Sonic’s hand across the table. Or when they end a friendly race, they find somewhere to sit and lean on each other for a bit and just talk. They’ll hug goodbye, nuzzle each other to rub their scents on the other.. 

But no kisses. None.

It’s driving Sonic crazy.

He just wants to kiss this boy properly!

And every time it feels like they’re about to share one, something has to interrupt them.

Every. Time.

“Soo.. you’re coming over, right?” Sonic asks with a little coy smile, tilting his head at the hybrid. 

“Of course,” Shadow smirks, “I’ll hop on my bike and be right over.”

“Good,” Sonic grins a bit wider, biting his lower lip all innocent and shy. Like he don’t know what he’s trying to do when his eyes shift down to Shadow’s mouth a little too long.

Shadow swallows, taking notice, of course, and moving to ever so slowly lean in towards Sonic.

This is it!! They’re gonna do it! They’re gonna—

“Hey Shadow!” 

Every. Damn. Time.

Shadow blushes and immediately pulls back to turn and see Rouge approaching. She pauses upon realizing what she had interrupted and gives an apologetic smile, “Sorry to interrupt, boys— Shadow, Commander Walters wants a word with you before you go..”

Shadow blinks at this, exchanging a look with Sonic who offers a little quirk of his brow before they both look back to Rouge.

“Commander Walters??” he frowns, “What for?? I’m off duty until after Christmas..”

“He so is not being deployed on Christmas,” Sonic demands with a little scowl and cross of his arms, “Not happenin’.”

“Nothing like that,” Rouge quickly clarifies before the two get too snippy, “Don’t get your quills in a huff. He just said he had something to deliver to you. That it’s a private matter..”

Sonic’s eyes widen with a gasp, “Oh my God— what if Commander Walters is secretly Santa???”

Shadow’s eyes roll with a small snicker at his counterpart’s amusing theory, turning to offer Sonic a little side hug— ugh, always with the hugs— and then stepping away, “I’m gonna go see what he wants then I’ll head to your place.”

Sonic nods with a little smile, “Okay. Let me know if you need me.”

“I will,” the hybrid assures before turning to follow Rouge back to the GUN building for his meeting with the commander. Rouge offering a wave to Sonic as she goes, “See you in a bit, Blue!”

“See ya!”

The crew is meeting up at the Wachowski’s for some Christmas festivities. They’re decorating for the holidays and invited everyone to come help since they would all be in town anyway due to the GUN Cookies with Santa Fundraiser. 

It’s rare they can all get together at one time like this with they’re constant conflicting schedules, so Sonic is extremely pumped to have all the people who matter most to him all over at once. 

First to arrive as always thanks to Sonic’s very poor example of nagging Tom into every drive being a race— he’s corrupted the once speed-trap-cop, for sure— Sonic slides right on out of the truck just in time to see Maddie pulling up in her car with Tails and Knuckles in the back.

“We kicked your butts!” Sonic teases as they open their car doors, “Beat you by a solid thirty seconds!”

“You were going seventy in a fifty-five,” Maddie scolds with narrowed eyes towards Tom.

Tom just sheepishly smiles and rubs the back of his neck, “What?? My speedometer read fifty-seven. Thing must be busted..”

“Mhm,” Maddie hums as she waltzes past him to the front door, unconvinced eyes glaring at him as she goes. He just offers a nervous little chuckle and follows her on in.

Sonic dashes to the side of the road to look for the 

Hansel’s to show up next since they’re likely not far behind, and sure as Christmas, he sees them turning onto their street a few moments later. He’s so excited to get to spend some proper time with JoJo since he was a bit too busy to at the event. She’s getting so big! More around Tails’ age than his own, but that just makes things more fun! Plus Amy was a member of the Handel family now, too, so she’d be attending as well. Sonic just loves when everyone comes together. It’s a big reason why he loves the Christmas time, especially now that their family has grown so much!

He remembers the times he spent sitting outside the Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady’s window, watching them turn on Christmas music and put their tree up while they danced around the televised fireplace.. how he’d dance with them in the cold outside, pretending he was a part of something so warm and lovely and merry..

And now he really is. It’s a miracle in his eyes. Something he’ll never be able to appreciate enough but sure as heck tries.

Rushing down the street, Sonic does some playful and excited laps around the Handel car before it pulls up into their driveway knowing that JoJo loves it when he does that. The car door opens once parked and Sonic is immediately darting up to greet them with an excited, “WOO WOO! Handel’s in the HOUUUUSE!”

Jojo laughs as she climbs out, high-fiving her cousin, “You bet we are! Ready to get our Christmas on!”

Sonic laughs and looks to his aunt and uncle with a polite grin and wave, “Heya Uncle Randall and Aunt Rachel.”

“Hey Sonic, you did good with the kids at the fundraiser,” Randal compliments, face still painted green from being Grinch-ified.

“Always do! The Grinch seemed to be a hit,” Sonic replies encouragingly even if he himself didn’t much care for the Grinch.. who the heck likes a guy who steals Christmas??? No one sane.

“Figured I’d bring some green into our colorful bunch,” Randal replies, shutting his car door and heading inside to wash the makeup off, “Gonna get back to being tall, dark and handsome now, though.”

“Just like I like him,” Rachel adds with a wink, Sonic chuckling at his aunt’s flirty antics. 

Rachel has mellowed out a lot since her first attempted wedding. Joining GUN seems to have brought her a better feeling of control in her life rather than chaos randomly popping up on her doorstep. She looks and feels more prepared for what the universe has thrown into her family— which happens to be a bunch of aliens. And despite her sassiness, Sonic knows firsthand that she’d put a bullet in anything that dared to threaten a single member of their family, aliens and all. They’ve all grown close. Trauma does that to people!

Amy piles out of the car after JoJo, immediately nearly knocking Sonic over in a hug. He chuckles at that, grunting at the impact before offering an arm around her in return, “Take it easy, Amy!”

“Sorry!” the pink hedgehog apologizes but doesn’t let go just yet, “I’ve just missed you guys! It’s been too long.”

“I was there visiting like— two weeks ago,” Sonic snorts with a rub to her back.

“I know, I know! But still,” she huffs and pulls back at last to grin up at him, bouncing on her toes a little, “I also think I’m just really in the Christmas spirit—“

Her brows furrow with a frown as she looks around then, “…Where’s Shadow??”

“Oh- he had some thing with the Commander to take care of,” Sonic replies casually.

“They’re not gonna send him away this close to the holidays, are they??” Amy huffs, looking very much prepared to take her magic hammer to GUN’s head of the answer is yes.

“No,” Sonic chuckles, shaking his head, “Nah. Rouge said it was just a meeting or something. Nothing more. They’ll both be here shortly, I’m sure.”

Amy’s smile returns at this approvingly, “Good. It’s his first Christmas on earth! He deserves it to be a good one!”

“Agreed,” Sonic winks with a thumbs up before ushering her and JoJo inside, “So let’s get inside and get started on unloading stuff from the shed  so we can be ready to decorate by the time they get here!”

They all contribute, forming an assembly line of sorts from the shed’s attic to the house. It all use to be in the attic, but then Sonic moved in and it was moved to the basement. And then Tails moved in and it was moved to the shed— except that’s where Knuckles ended up moving in next, so they added flooring to the ceiling of the shed to make a small attic. And that’s now where all their seasonal decor goes.

The line goes pretty quickly between Amy and Knuckles’ strength, Tails’ flight and Sonic’s speed. The humans of the family hardly even have to do anything, so they take to emptying and sorting the boxes so they can be returned to the attic for storage until the holidays are over.

By the time it’s all done and ready to be put up for decoration, Shadow and Rouge still haven’t arrived..

Sonic really wanted them to be here for the start of their traditions, so he tries to stall for a bit. Offering to make some late lunch before they get going. Everyone seems to know what he’s trying to do, so they don’t argue. Maddie and Amy whip up some sandwiches while Sonic helps JoJo with an assortment of fruits and veggies— which is a pain when a certain echidna keeps stealing the grapes.

It’s about when everyone is settling to eat that the doorbell rings, Sonic’s tail sent wagging and his feet carrying him to answer the call before the bell even stops ringing. Swinging the door open, he’s caught by surprise when he finds a tall Rabbit standing there with a child next to her..

“Oh, hello,” the older one speaks politely, her voice soft and sweet and immediately screaming ‘mother’ vibes, “I was going to ask if this was the Wachowski residence, but it seems we’ve found the place.”

Sonic blinks up at her before offering a smile, “Yup! That’s us! How can I help ya, ma’am??”

“We were actually invited here by Mr. Shadow,” she says with a slight knit in her brow, “I take it by your reaction, you were not informed.. if we’re going to be a bother, we can absolutely leave. It’s not a problem—“

“No way!” Sonic grins, opening the door wider to allow them inside, “Any friend of Shadow’s is a friend of ours. Come on in!”

“Oh, thank you so much,” the mother smiles politely, ushering her daughter who has been hiding behind her skirt throughout the interaction, inside, “Come along, Cream dear..”

“Cream??” Sonic asks, that hitting a familiar string inside him. Shadow had rescued a young Mobian a few weeks back.. said she had a mother that he was trying to find and reunite her with. The kid’s name was Cream. By the looks of it, Shadow had managed to reunite them before the holidays! He’s so great..

The young rabbit peeks out at Sonic when he says her name, the blue hedgehog closing the door behind her with a welcoming smile. She seems real shy.. maybe a bit scared at their new environment. It’s hard being transported into a new world.. especially all alone. Sonic is real glad she found her mom..

See??? Sonic really needs to kiss Shadow for stuff like this, right?!

“Heya, kiddo, I remember Shadow telling me about you..,” he smiles as he crouches down to her level, “Said you were real brave.”

“Thank you, Mister,” the tiny rabbit replies shyly and ohmygodhervoiceissohighandcutewhattheheck—

“Call me Sonic,” the hedgehog winks.

“Okay, Mr. Sonic,” she nods and Sonic’s brain glitches and his heart flips. She’s so cute, hemustprotectheratallcosts.

Sonic chuckles at this, standing up again to hold a hand out to the mother now, “I’m real glad Shadow was able to find you for Cream. He told me about her back when she first got here..”

The mother shakes Sonic’s hand with a bittersweet smile, “Yes, I’m so grateful for Mr. Shadow’s heroism, he returned my sweet baby to me, and I’ll never be able to repay that.. I am Vanilla, by the way.”

Sonic smiles and nods, “Cream and Ms. Vanilla. Sweet names!”

Cream giggles at that, seeming to get his joke. Sonic just grins a bit wider at the child’s precious laugh. 

“We’re having lunch right now. You’re more than welcome to join us! I can introduce you.”

“That would be very pleasant, dear, thank you,” Ms. Vanilla replies all sweet and warm and yeah. She’s got them mom-vibes. Strong mom-vibes.

Moving to the kitchen and dining room where everyone has formed a little line to fix their plates, Sonic raises his hands to make an announcement, “Everyone, everyone! Eyes on the blue hedgehog!”

Everyone looks to them then, a mixture of confusion and intrigue and welcoming friendliness on their faces as they take in the two newcomers.

“This is Ms. Vanilla and her daughter, Cream,” Sonic explains as he gestures to the two, the mother nodding her head with a polite and subtle curtsey, Cream offering a tiny and shy wave from behind her mother’s dress, “They’re friends of Shadow’s and will be joining us for the festivities! So everyone give them a big Wachowski-Handel welcome!”

“Welcome!” they mostly all say in unison.

Except Knuckles. Who says something weird like “It is an honor to be your host on this fine evening, madams.”

Which is overkill, as always, but Ms. Vanilla seems to find it endearing so whatever.

Maddie is immediately moving to welcome the two properly, introducing herself and her husband to their guests and automatically chatting it up with the rabbit. Maybe they’ll be good friends! Sonic is sure Maddie wouldn’t mind being friends with a fellow mom of a Mobian. Maybe Vanilla can give her tips— not that Maddie needs them. She’s an awesome Mobian mom.

Amy introduces herself as well, seeming intrigued by having another female Mobian around. Her and Rouge have been pretty outnumbered, so this’ll help even things out. Amy seems to take to Cream specifically pretty well and pretty quick, crouching down to talk to her and getting the little rabbit to come out of her shell a bit. 

It’s sweet.

And all Sonic can do is wish Shadow was there to see it. See how he’s brought more people together. Added to their whacky family..

Where is he???

Everyone eventually finishes up eating and is sort of just standing around letting their food settle while they chat, but Sonic knows they’ll want to get back to doing Christmas things soon. He’s already sad Shadow missed out on making cookies..

They can make more once he’s finally there. It’ll be fine.

“Worried about Shadow?” Amy’s voice comes from his left, Sonic jumping just slightly since he had been staring out the window looking for his– boyfriend(?)’s arrival. He spins around to face her, finding her very caring and understanding expression looking right back up at him. She really was the one with the heart in the group.

“I just wish he was here,” Sonic admits with a sigh, glancing back towards the window, “It’s his first Christmas on earth, and I know that’ll be emotionally kinda… confusing for him.” Amy nods with a hummed, “Yeah.. His first without Maria.” “Exactly,” Sonic agrees with a nod, “I just really wanted to make sure it was perfect for him..” It’s so easy to open up to Amy. Something about her is so open and non-judging and nurturing. Sonic gets why Shadow trusts her so much. He’s often said she reminds him of Maria..

Sonic thinks he would’ve gotten along with Maria just fine if that’s true.

“Don’t worry,” Amy smiles and places a reassuring hand on his arm, squeezing it gently as she winks, “He’ll show up. This is very important to him too, ya’know?? He wants this to go perfect too.”

“Really??” Sonic blinks, seeming a bit surprised by this. Shadow has seemed relatively indifferent to Sonic’s Christmas talk. He never stopped to think Shadow wanted the holidays to be perfect too, he just– he was too stressed about making them perfect for Shadow.

“Mhm,” Amy nods, “He knows how much this means to you.. He wants you happy. You should know that.” “I do,” the hero sighs with a little blush, “His happiness is just so much more… I don’t know–” “Precious?”

“Yes,” Sonic agrees immediately, “That. It’s more rare and harder to come by. And his first Christmas on earth will be the foundation for every Christmas after. If this one sucks, he’ll never love the holiday..”

“Oh Sonic,” Amy giggles and shakes her head fondly at him, “You know Shadow is more open-minded than that.” “I also know he dwells on stuff,” Sonic mutters with a little frown, eyes drifting back out the window, “Even if he doesn’t let people know.. Things stick with him.”

Amy sighs at this, nodding in agreement before giving Sonic’s arm a gentle squeeze again and tugging him away from the window, “He’ll come. For now, he wouldn’t want you worrying over him when you have guests and festivities to tend to.”

Sonic allows himself to be tugged away from the window, quirking his brow suspiciously at her as a slow smirk grows on his muzzle, “Shadow put you on Sonic-babysitting duty?” “I’m not inclined to answer that,” Amy replies simply, not looking him in the eye as Sonic laughs in response.

They return to the others, and Sonic can only stall so long before they begin sorting through the decor and handing out jobs. The women will tend to the inside while the men will take care of hanging lights on the roof and in the yard. Sonic points out that that isn’t very ‘equal’ of them to send all the men out in the cold, but he receives a few too many feminist glares and decides to let it slide.

They get on the lights outside right away, wanting to get them up before the sun goes down since it’s setting early these days. Tails works on untangling them and Sonic runs nails and tools around to whoever needs them. Randall and Tom are on the roof with Knuckles, holding lights in place and nails while Knuckles hammers them down with his fists. Amy comes out to tell him to lighten up on his punches halfway through though. Apparently he’s scaring Cream and the ceiling’s spackle is starting to give due to his overkill.

Sonic climbs the trees and tangles the lights through their limbs and all the way down their trunks to the ground. He also sets up lights down their driveway and along the bushes in their flowerbeds. It all goes by fairly quickly thanks to their abilities, Randall commenting that they need to all come to his place next and put up his lights.

They get the outside done just as 4:45 rolls around and the sun is beginning to get low..

Shadow still isn’t in sight. Neither is Rouge.

Knuckles approaches Sonic as the others go inside, both staring down the road as if expecting to see Shadow’s bike come rolling up or a bat to be seen flying through the sky..

“..You invited the bat, yes?” “Yeah, Knux,” Sonic sighs with a frown, eyes still watching the road, “I invited your girlfriend.” “I– she is not my–” “Save it, dude,” Sonic groans with a roll of his eyes, turning with a frown to walk to the house, “They’re both suppose to be here by now..” “Perhaps there is trouble?” “Nah,” Sonic shakes his head, “Shadow would’ve called or something. Chaos controlled here so we could help. It’s the stupid GUN Commander. I bet he has them working or somethin’..” “We could go rescue them from the Commander?” Knuckles offers, hitting his fists together. Always looking for a fight.

“No,” Sonic snickers with a shake of his head, “Shadow doesn’t like when I get involved with his work.. Besides, he can handle himself. So can Rouge.” “This is true,” Knuckles agrees, nodding as they enter the house again, “I am still deeply wounded that you would suggest I’d ruin my pure echidna blood by dating a bat.” “Dude, that almost sounds racist.” “It is not racist! It is simply a fact. I have a duty as the last echidna to repopulate this world with the finest warriors–” “FALALALALA! CAN’T HEAR YOU EW LALALALA!”

The women have gotten the fireplace’s mantel decorated as well as the doorways and the kitchen. The tree has been left untouched so far as well as the ornaments and snowglobes. Sonic can’t help but be grateful of this, knowing everyone has silently agreed to wait for Shadow for this part.

They continue with the extra decorations, leaving little Santa figurines everywhere and using white chalk paint to make it look like there’s snow on the windows. Cream likes this part real well, Sonic notices. She seems to have a knack for arts and crafts.

By the time 6:30 rolls around, it’s dark out and they’re all making hot cocoa and the kids are sitting down at the dining room table to work on ugly Christmas sweaters. Apparently each black sweater was hand-knitted by Amy and Aunt Rachel. Sonic didn’t take Rachel as the knitting type, but Amy was a good influence, he supposed. Sonic’s was red. Knuckles’ was dark green. Tails’ was light blue. JoJo’s was purple. Rouge’s was pink. Amy’s was light green. And Shadow’s was blue. 

Thankfully, Shadow had informed Ms. Vanilla that the kids would be doing this, so she had preparedly brought Cream an orange sweater as well.

The table was laid out with all sorts of crafts and materials they could sew and glue onto their shirts. From fuzzy craft balls to ornaments to battery lights to tinsel, they had plenty of options to choose from. Everyone excitedly got to work on their sweaters while the adults helped them out with hot glue guns and scissors and stuff. Mostly Cream since the others were pretty capable on their own. However, Sonic just sat staring at the empty seat next to him with the blue sweater laid out in front of it..

He didn’t really feel like decorating his sweater without Shadow..

Then there’s a knock at the door followed by Ozzy’s barking and a familiar voice.

“Hey! Down dog, it’s just me,” the bat giggles as she pets the excited pup jumping up on her.

“Rouge!!” Sonic excitedly jumps up from his seat, knocking it over in the process. Knuckles’ eyes shift up quickly to look at her. She’s all dressed up as an elf still from the GUN event, her makeup pristine as always. 

“Hey everyone, sorry I’m a little late,” she apologizes with a wave to the crew, walking into the dining room and looking over the table, “What’re we doin’??” “Christmas Sweaters!” Cream pipes up, having come out of her shell pretty well by now.

“Oh!” Rouge grins, seeming to recognize the rabbit upon hearing her voice, “Cream! And Ms. Vanilla! Glad you both found the place.” “Glad you and Shadow informed us we’d be having extra guests,” Maddie mutters to her with a playful quirk of her brow.

Rouge just smirks at this and shrugs, “What can I say?? We’re a little naughty.” Maddie just laughs at this and offers Rouge a welcoming hug, the bat returning it before Amy pipes up.

“I have you a sweater right over there, Rouge,” the pink hedgehog grins, pointing to the empty seat by– of course– Knuckles.

Rouge smirks at this, moving around the table and tucking in her wings as to not knock anything over, “For little ole me?? You shouldn’t have..” Knuckles makes a noticeable effort not to give her any attention and act as though he hasn’t even realized she’s arrived at all as she makes her way to her seat, even though his growingly pink cheeks tell a different story. He only acknowledges her when she pulls the chair out beside him.

“You save a spot for me, Knuckie??” she coos all flirtatious, sitting herself down to which Knuckles just huffs and keeps his eyes set on the fabric glue he’s messily using to attach a purple fuzzball to look like grapes on the front of his shirt, “The seating arrangements were not my doing.” “Mhm. Sure,” she winks only to pause when she feels a tapping on her shoulder. She turns her head and finds Sonic sitting on the other side of her looking very much like an excited puppy vibrating in his seat. “Can I help you, Blue??” “Um-yes. Shadow come with you??” “He left the same time I did on his bike,” Rouge answers with a little smile.

So he’s coming. Sonic breathes a sigh of relief and leans back in his chair.

This relief is short lived when Rouge discreetly leans back as well and mumbles only loud enough for Sonic to hear.

“He’s outside..”

Sonic blinks at this, looking at Rouge who isn’t looking at him and seems to be pretending she didn’t say anything. Which means Shadow must not want anyone knowing he’s out there. Anyone other than Sonic..

He wants them to be alone.

Sonic instantly has butterflies in his stomach, biting his lower lip and looking to the blank blue sweater that belongs to Shadow beside him. He only spares one more glance to Rouge’s unreadable face before he’s moving from his chair once more to walk around the table towards the door.

Very casually he remembers there’s mistletoe hanging on the front porch..

As nonchalantly as he can manage, he sneaks his way to the front door and slides out of it without a word, shutting it behind him and turning to look for his partner.

Except.. Shadow isn’t there.

“Shadow??” Sonic calls with a knit in his brow, looking around in the dark for the hedgehog but finding it a bit difficult to spot him in the night. Even with all the Christmas lights on, Shadow is pretty stealthy in the dark when he wants to be. 

“Shads, you here??” Sonic calls again, frowning to himself as he leans to look down the side of the house.. Nothing. Maybe Rouge meant he’s in the back yard??

He’s just about to dash around to the back when his eyes catch slight movement at the end of the driveway..

Shadow. Sitting on the curb by his bike. Back to Sonic.

Sonic’s tail immediately wags, a grin forming on his face as he speeds across the yard over to him. He pounces against his back once close enough, wrapping his arms around him from behind and hugging him with a laugh. Shadow merely grunts and is knocked forward just slightly at the impact, no other reaction.

“You’re here! Finally!” Sonic cheers as he nuzzles his cheek to Shadow’s and takes in his warmth and scent. Immediate comfort. 

Shadow doesn’t respond still. Sonic’s smile falters at that. He leans his head back a bit to look at the side of Shadow’s face. He’s frowning. Looks.. lost..

“Uhh.. Shads?” Sonic snickers quietly, a bit of nervousness rising in his voice now, “You freeze out here or somethin’?? I am hugging you very merrily, and you are not really matching my vibes right now, dude.”

Shadow blinks at that, eyes lifting to find Sonic’s as if he’s only just now realizing he’s even there at all. “Oh.” His lips curl into a small smile that’s not super convincing, but Sonic can tell the hybrid is happy to see him. Which is good. Makes Sonic a little less nervous about this, at least.

Shadow tilts his head towards Sonic so their foreheads press together, nuzzling Sonic lightly with his own and making Sonic’s heart melt at the affection. 

“Sorry. I was just lost in thought..”

Sonic hums at this, his own smile growing more fond and soft now as he settles down from his crouched position behind Shadow to his knees. Scooting around to sit beside him on the curb, he moves his head to rest on Shadow’s shoulder as Shadow continues to rub against him. His nose buries in Sonic’s quills and takes in a deep breath, eyes shutting as he keeps himself hidden there.. As if seeking comfort of some sort..

Sonic doesn’t pay this much attention at first, just basking in the fuzzy feeling he gets from it and lifting a hand to rest it in Shadow’s chest fur to rub there–

Only to then spot the small envelope in Shadow’s hands.

“What’s that??”

Shadow doesn’t answer. Just sighs and keeps rubbing against Sonic. “..Shadow??” Sonic prompts again when he doesn’t get an answer, chuckling quietly as he nudges Shadow’s chin with his shoulder to try and get him to come out from hiding in his quills, “Shads, I can’t talk to ya with you stuck in my spines.” “Mm,” Shadow hums, defiantly placing a hand on Sonic’s waist to hold him still as he speckles a tiny kiss to Sonic’s ear and makes the blue blur shiver.

A shaky breath escapes Sonic, eyes fluttering slightly as he feels Shadow’s teeth nibble lightly on the tip of his now burning ear. The blue hedgehog’s lips curling into a grin as his cheeks grow hotter..

This is it. He could just tip his head up and seal the deal. Kiss him for the first time since the bowling alley. Kiss him proper. The moment is perfect! They’re alone and Shadow is showing a rare form of affection right now and–

And Shadow is hiding from something…

Sonic’s eyes blink and look back down at the envelope in Shadow’s hands. 

Shadow continues his advances on Sonic.. He’s trying to distract him.

Sonic groans a bit and gently pushes Shadow back with the hand on his chest fur, Shadow looking at him with knitted brows and tilted head at this. “Did I do something wrong??” “No,” Sonic says quietly, voiced hushed and face flushed despite himself. He offers a little smile and lifts his hand to Shadow’s cheek now which the ebony hedgehog tilts into.

“...I just don’t want you to use us to hide..”

Shadow’s eyes blink at that, face looking guilty as they avert from Sonic’s emerald ones and instead look down at the envelope he still clutches..

Sonic looks down at it too. What could be in there that’s bothering Shadow so much?? “...What did Commander Walters want??”

Shadow sighs heavy at this, removing his hands from Sonic now but still staying close enough that they’re shoulder to shoulder. Touching.

After a long pause, Shadow doesn’t answer. He doesn’t seem to be able to. Instead, he holds the envelope towards Sonic, prompting the blue hedgehog to read it for himself.

Sonic stares at it a long moment, suddenly terrified of what’s inside. If it has Shadow acting like this, then-... 

“Do I have to open it??” “What??”

“Maybe we can just–” Sonic sighs, taking it from Shadow now and looking at Shadow with a little grin, “throw it away?? Pretend whatever it is isn’t there. Didn’t happen. Doesn’t exist.” “Sonic..” “No, Shadow!” Sonic snaps a bit unexpectedly, “No. This is your first Christmas here on earth! You’re supposed to spend it here with me, not on some stupid GUN mission–” “It’s not a GUN mission.” “I– huh??” Sonic blinks, the fire in him fading a bit at this news, “It’s.. not?” Shadow shakes his head, his hand resting on Sonic’s knee now as if to try and keep the blue hedgehog calm.

“..Then what is it?” This suddenly makes Sonic even more scared. If not a mission then what?? What has Shadow so torn up???

Shadow doesn’t say anything. Just nods towards the envelope.

Sonic frowns at this, looking down at the envelope, “I don’t wanna..” “Read it,” Shadow sighs quietly, head now leaning against Sonic’s shoulder, “...I need you to understand..” Sonic swallows hard. He doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want whatever is in here. Whatever is gonna change things for them, ruin their Christmas. He doesn’t want it. 

But he has to be mature right now. Grow up. Because Shadow needs him.. And he can’t just live in denial.

So Sonic does. He opens the already opened envelope and pulls out the folded up paper from inside.

Unfolding it, he holds it up so he can read it under the Christmas lights.

‘To Commander Walters,

I hope this letter finds you well. I, myself, am doing fine. My family is preparing for the holidays, and my daughter is recovering from her last procedure quite well. Thank you again to GUN for paying for all her medical needs..

I am writing this in regards to Project Shadow. I have been keeping up with the news, and it has come to my attention that the creature that once ran rampant on the ARK is now running free on earth. I’m sure you can understand why this would trouble me seeing as it is responsible for my sister’s death. Or so I believed.. When GUN’s Project Shadow files were leaked to the public, I did my reading. And I can not begin to express how deeply troubled and disappointed I am by how falsely informed myself and my parents were on this entire tragedy. To learn that it was not, in fact, my grandfather’s experiments that killed my sister, but instead was a GUN raid was incredibly shocking and eye opening. I now understand why we have been compensated so much. Not out of obligation or contracts, but of guilt. Not only this, but I have learned the very experiment that my family has blamed for all these years is innocent and confused and alone. From the footage I’ve seen, my sister loved him. And to think the very being she put so much time and love into is being used as a GUN operative, a weapon, is foul. 

I do not write this letter to reprimand you. So before you toss it carelessly in the trash, let me get to my point. After some time and discussion, my family has decided that we would like to meet Shadow. We want to know why my sister loved him so much, and if he loved her in return. I believe we deserve this if nothing more. At the very least, it may provide some long-deserved closure for both us and perhaps even him.

I have enclosed in this envelope an invitation I would like you to deliver to Shadow. 

You will hear from me again before the New Year.

-T’

Sonic reads it. Then he reads it again. Then he reads it a few more times and a few parts specifically.

His eyes are wide, brows furrowed as he processes all this. 

Then he looks back inside the envelope and indeed finds a more formal invitation inside on red cardstock with white snowflakes decorating the border.

‘Please join us for a 

Holiday Party.

Saturday, December 21st at 5:30 PM.

Hosted by Terra Robotnik’

There’s an address at the bottom. And a request to RSVP.

Sonic reads this. Then he reads it again. Then he reads it a few more times and then goes back to the letter.

Then his eyes lift to look at Shadow who is still resting his head on Sonic’s shoulder. He can see the knit in his brow.. The way his hands are clamped tightly together between his knees.

Sonic nudges his nose on Shadow’s forehead once, the black hedgehog grunting in response. But Sonic persists and does it again, Shadow lifting his head this time to look at Sonic and..

He’s scared. Very scared.

“Oh Shads,” Sonic sighs out in a whisper before wrapping his arms tight around the hybrid and hugging him close. His fingers pet down Shadow’s quills as Shadow leans into him and breathes all shaky and uneven. He’s close to breaking down, Sonic can feel it. He’s likely been holding this in all day.. 

Sonic holds him a long moment, not saying anything as his mind races and he lets Shadow calm down a bit. Seek comfort in his arms..

“I wanted to kill him,” Shadow says eventually, voice coming muffled and growled against Sonic’s shoulder, “When I found out he’s kept this from me… I nearly jumped him without a second thought.. If Rouge hadn’t been there-” “You wouldn’t have hurt him,” Sonic assures immediately, not wanting Shadow to even start thinking he was a monster, “..You were hurt. And rightfully so. This is-.. This is a pretty big thing to keep from you..”

Shadow sighs shakily, “..He seemed remorseful. But he also seemed confident in his choice to have kept it from me until now.. He said they needed to be ready first.” “How were they suppose to be ready when GUN had kept the truth from them for so long???” Sonic huffs, trying not to get too fired up for Shadow’s sake.

“I don’t know,” Shadow huffs right back, pulling back from Sonic now to look back down at the invitation Sonic still holds between them.. “...I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, you have to go,” Sonic says without a second thought. “What??” Shadow blinks, looking genuinely surprised by Sonic’s response.

“I mean– you don’t have to,” Sonic quickly corrects with a knit to his brow, “..But I think you should.” Shadow stares at Sonic a long moment before speaking, “Why?? You read it, these people have hated me for fifty years. And rightfully so–” “Not rightfully so,” Sonic corrects again, holding up a finger to stop Shadow, “They were lied to and made to believe the ARK tragedy was your fault. Just like you were.” “It still was partially my fault–” “Bullshit,” Sonic calls immediately, not letting Shadow even speak such things, “Don’t let all of this throw you back to thinking that, Shadow. Don’t go there again.. You know better now. You’ve grown.” Shadow sighs at this, looking down a moment in thought before looking back to Sonic with a small nod. 

“Okay.. So even if it wasn’t my fault, they still have every right to hate me.” “Why??” Sonic smiles a bit as he says this, truly not getting it, “You’re you. You’re Maria’s walking legacy. You were her best friend. If she loved you, then why wouldn’t they–” “I am not her walking legacy,” Shadow corrects, a bit more edge in his voice now as his eyes narrow into a glare, “I am Gerald’s walking legacy. I– I am the walking reminder of a cure that never came for her. I am a failure. I am the reason she should still be here, and yet, I’m the very reason she’s gone!” Sonic’s eyes are wide at this, staring at Shadow in silence and taking in his words.

They don’t talk about the ARK tragedy a lot. They can talk about Maria. And they can talk about Shadow growing up on the ARK. But they don’t talk about the tragedy. It’s not allowed. Sonic doesn’t dare bring it up, waiting for Shadow to be ready..

Seems like Shadow is going to have to be ready now whether he likes it or not.

“Shadow..,” Sonic hushes gently, his hand resting on Shadow’s cheek as the hybrid breathes heavy and almost panicked. He rubs his thumb along his muzzle, trying to calm him as he watches Shadow’s teary eyes flutter shut..

“I’m sorry..,” he whispers to Sonic, apologizing for his outburst, “I’m sorry, I just–” “You’re wrong..,” Sonic whispers back, brows knitting, “I hate to tell ya that, but you are.”

Shadow just frowns at this, opening his eyes to look at Sonic now. And Sonic can see his determination, his rising self-loathing. But he doesn’t give him the chance to argue.

“You are her joy. Her smile. Her laughter. Her rage. Her calm. Her strength. Her understanding. Her heart,” Sonic explains softly, his hand moving from Shadow’s cheek to his chest to rest over his heart, “... Shadow, you’re her hope. And you prove that every day by protecting her world.. I don’t look at you and see Gerald Robotnik– I don’t even look at you and see Maria. I look at you and see you.” Shadow takes in a sharp breath at that, a small tear falling from his cheek that shatters Sonic’s heart. Sonic immediately wipes it away and returns to cupping his cheek so he can wipe away any more that may fall.

“You are all of you. But I won’t ignore that she’s the majority of the reason you have the morals you do.. She taught you to be all these things that you are. Not a monster. Not an experiment. Not a failure. But a light. A living being. You’re someone… And I don’t think Maria would care who you were as long as it made you happy.. I think that was her whole point in her promise, ya’know?.. To make you understand that living is a gift.. And just by doing that, you’re no failure. You’re succeeding.”

Shadow stares at Sonic a long moment, Sonic wiping away each tear that the Ultimate Lifeform sheds. Eventually, Shadow sniffles and chuckles out breathlessly, “She would’ve loved you.” “And she did love you,” Sonic points out with a soft smile, “...And they will too.”

Shadow shakily sighs then, nodding and looking away as he wipes his own tears now with a few sniffles, “Okay..” “Okay??” “Okay,” Shadow agrees with a nod, “..I’ll go.”

Sonic grins immediately, “I’m real proud of you, Shads..”

“But you’re coming too.” Sonic blinks at that. “...Excuse me??” “I can’t do this without you,” Shadow admits as he looks back to Sonic, “..I’m asking you. Please.” Sonic’s brows knit up at that, “...Of course I’ll come, Shads. Where else would I go??” Shadow melts a bit at that, his head moving to slowly reach for Sonic’s, “Besides.. If I’m going to be having a, uh-.. family reunion,” Shadow chuckles bittersweet, “I better go ahead and introduce my boyfriend.” Sonic’s brain glitches. His eyes widening a bit and his tail wagging uncontrollably. A dramatic gasp escapes him, “Yousaidthething!”Shadow chuckles quietly, nodding his head as he squeezes Sonic’s hand, “I did.” “Youcalledmeyourboyfriend!”

“You are.” “Iam!” “You are.” “Cool.”

(Art by the very talented and lovely @grim-hawkins 💙)

Notes: Terra (noun): the planet earth, of earth. I don't know how many of you played Sonic X Shadow Generations, but it was revealed in the game that Maria has a sister. I have been absolutely fixated on this fact since then. In the game, there's also a letter from someone with the initial 'T' who sends the remains of Gerald's journal to GUN. Some have theorized this 'T' is Maria's sister. I've ran with this and named her 'Terra'. Which was chosen for her by her parents who vowed never to lose a child again.. especially not to being kidnapped to space.

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

"Can't Die with Regrets."

SONIC 3 SPOILERS!!!

Based on this post

AO3 version

“If neither of you have the guts to help me, then I’ll do it alone.”

Words that Sonic was regretting. Severely.

It had been nearly an hour since he’d last seen his brothers. In a fit of rage, and grief, and too many negative feelings for him to process, he’d all but stolen the Master Emerald and hunted down Shadow, fully intending to kill him.

Looking back at himself, the way he’d just lost control, he felt ashamed, but he could still remember why he’d done it in the first place. He still could feel the paralyzing fear that had gripped him when he’d found Tom unconscious, completely unresponsive. Fear that had quickly turned into an early kind of grief, reminding him all too much of a night long ago, when he’d found himself alone in an unfamiliar forest at night, crying over the loss of Longclaw.

His first parent.

Things had been fuzzy. He was scared. He was stressed. He was angry.

He had not waited ten painful years for his family, only to have it stripped away from him again. He didn’t know what he would do without them. Without his dad.

“What kind of hero abandons his friends to pursue revenge? Abandons his family?” Shadow’s chilling words still echoed in his mind. He hadn’t had an answer. All he’d been able to feel was rage, and grief, and a spiraling sense of being completely out of control.

And while the fury had subsided as he remembered Tom’s words to him recently, about not letting his pain from losing Longclaw change who he was, the grief had stayed. The fear had stayed. Even as he let go of Shadow, as they sat and talked about their experiences with loss, the pain continued to burn in his chest.

Sonic pushed it to the back of his mind as they both charged up on the Chaos Emeralds and went to stop the giant cannon about to destroy a chunk of Earth. Talking with Shadow had helped him a little, as he reminded them both about how they could deal with their grief and their pain. Finally befriending this edgy other hedgehog had done him well. Fighting alongside him was even its own brand of fun.

But it was hard to not think about his family.

How the last he’d seen his parents, his father was in some kind of coma and being taken into an ambulance. His mother was looking at him and his brothers… strangely, as she sat with her husband. With a blank expression, one that chilled him and stirred a different fear entirely in his stomach.

Like she wasn’t quite sure of them anymore.

And his brothers?

He had not parted with them on friendly terms. He’d been in the thick of his grief-induced anger still. He’d snapped at Tails for attempting to comfort him, and had nearly fought with Knuckles over his demands for the Master Emerald. Knuckles had refused to fight him, which in hindsight made him feel even worse.

He wanted to apologize to them. But he didn’t know where they were.

In the distance, the huge cannon thing was crackling with chaos energy, clearly about to fire. Shadow dealt with the last of the bots that they’d been fighting, then they were both making a beeline for the cannon.

It probably wouldn’t destroy the entire earth— it was a precision weapon— but it would still kill many innocent lives. At the moment, it was aimed directly for London.

As far as Sonic knew, his entire family was down there.

So the only plan he could come up with in the panic of the moment was to block the hit directly, using the combined chaos powers of both himself and Shadow.

It was a big risk for sure, but there was no way he was letting that blast hit the earth.

“Now this might hurt a little!” he yelled to Shadow, as they flew directly up in the line of fire.

The cannon unleashed its blast.

It hurt more than a little, as they both raised their arms to create an invisible shield of sorts, blocking the blast, protecting those far below.

“This was your plan?” Shadow demanded beside him, his voice strained as he squinted against the blinding light.

Sonic didn’t answer, grunting as he tried to conserve his quickly-draining energy. Desperate for any kind of hope, he hollered, “Would someone mind shutting down the giant death ray?!”

He figured it was just the Robotniks up there, and they were the ones who’d planned this whole thing, but somehow his plea was answered. Slowly but surely, the continuous blast started to tilt, gradually away from the earth.

However, it was quickly getting harder and harder to keep blocking it. The ray was hot and excruciating to the touch, only less so because he was in golden god mode, but even that energy was starting to… fade.

Sonic gritted his teeth, nearly whimpering as he struggled to keep on blocking it. Hundreds of people are at risk down there! he snapped at himself silently. Including your family. Keep at it!

The ray continued to turn, slowly.

The edges of his vision started going dark.

He shook his head slightly, glaring up at the ray. The ray glared back at him.

You HAVE to do it! You have to get back to them! You have to see if Dad will be okay. You have to check on Mom. You have to apologize to Knuckles and Tails. YOU HAVE TO!

SO KEEP AT IT!

“Can’t… hold… much… longer!” he gasped out, as if whoever was turning the ray could hear him. Shadow looked over at him for a split second, then immediately turned back forward, pushing even harder against the blast.

Sonic couldn’t risk looking down to see how far the ray had turned from the earth. All he could do was keep looking up, keep hoping against hope that they were going to save everyone— and make it out alive. Both of which he couldn’t afford not to do.

But it wasn’t looking likely.

He didn’t have any more energy he could just summon out of nowhere. And he was very quickly running out of time.

And even as he struggled against the ray, his heart began to sink.

He had too many regrets. Too many things he still needed to say. Too many things he still didn’t know.

Stupid cannon should’ve waited a bit longer, at least so he could’ve gotten a chance to do all that.

But, just like throughout this whole ordeal, he was absolutely powerless with such a thing.

It was too late.

The darkness at the edges of his vision spread, as his arms and body started going numb. And with a final yelp, he blacked out.

The last thing he registered was a hand on his shoulder, forcefully shoving him to the right. Then everything went blank.

---

Sonic had truly thought he was going to die.

If he’d fainted while still in the direct path of the death ray, he would’ve gotten incinerated.

But that hand that’d pushed him… had it gotten him out of the way? Shadow had saved him?

His consciousness slowly edged its way back in, stirred by the sound of coughing. As his senses recovered, he realized he was lying down, sprawled half on an earthy floor, halfway on top of someone else…

Vision and hearing foggy, he squeezed his eyes shut tighter for a moment before wearily blinking them open. “Sonic, look,” a young, familiar voice said quietly.

Slowly, shakily, Sonic pushed himself to his feet, still trying to register what was happening, where he was, what was going on. But as he looked up, the memories returned, and another wave of grief hit him hard.

There was a huge, nebular mass in the sky above them, clearly the result of some kind of massive explosion. Tails had gone on excited rants to him in past months about astronomy, and stars, and what happened when they exploded. How they left a beautiful nebula blanketing the space around them even after they were gone.

“Shadow and Robotnik,” Tails said quietly beside him, staring with a hollow look up at the remains in the sky. “They sacrificed themselves… to save everyone.”

…Oh.

Shadow was gone.

Sonic looked at the distant fire, swallowing. “You always have a choice,” he murmured, remembering how he’d told that to Shadow right before they’d gone in to stop the death ray.

“The light shines, even though the star is gone,” was what Shadow had said, as they’d sat and reminisced on the moon’s surface.

They’d saved Earth, and everyone on it, but Shadow had given everything to make the right choice in the end. He’d become his own fallen star, like Maria, and he would shine on even now that he was gone.

Sonic’s chest ached. For all the drama and violence and pain of the last few days, he would never forget Shadow. The words they had shared stuck with him. Shadow had not deserved to die. He’d become a hero when it had mattered the most.

And so had Robotnik, apparently.

Sonic swallowed again, then turned to face his brothers, a sudden dread pooling in his heart. In what he’d thought were his final moments up there, he’d been desperate to live so he could apologize, and he’d pictured himself dramatically rushing back, shouting out the “I’M SO SORRY”s, hugging everyone left and right, rushing to do everything he thought he couldn’t. But now that he was faced with the real opportunity, and the reality of what had happened, he… was scared.

Scared that he’d gone too far. That they wouldn’t trust him again after he’d betrayed their oath.

Especially as he realized that Knuckles and Tails must’ve saved him after he fell. Even after what he’d said to them. It was the only explanation for how he’d woken up piled with them both in the middle of a corn field, relatively unharmed for having apparently fallen all the way from space.

“Guys, I’m really sorry for running off like that,” he said softly, avoiding the two pairs of eyes locked on him. His heart pounded uncomfortably in his chest. “I shouldn’t have left you behind.”

He dared to meet Knuckles’s eyes. The echidna stared back at him, his eyes hard.

“The truth is,” he went on, shifting his gaze again, “you’re the best teammates a hedgehog could ever ask for.” He glanced at Tails, the words spilling out now, and he was struck with a sudden gratefulness that he was here, getting to say all this, when he’d truly thought he’d missed the chance. “And the best friends,” he quickly added. “…Can you ever forgive me?”

Sonic held his breath. Silence reigned. His heart skipped a few beats.

Knuckles continued to stare.

Then the echidna slowly raised a fist towards him. “Team Sonic?” he asked quietly.

Sonic stared at his brother’s extended fist for a moment, almost weak as relief rushed through him. In a rush of emotion, he smiled like a sap and lurched forwards to hug Knuckles close, grasping to pull in Tails as well. “How about, just ‘team’,” he replied softly, resting his head against the echidna’s chest and wrapping his arms around both him and Tails.

His teammates. His friends. His best friends.

His brothers.

----------------------

there will be a second chapter soon btw

[kittydoremi]

So I had an idea

Sonic in Wonderland, but with Movie Sonic

[thatonesonicfanfictionwriter]

Hello, I was just wondering if you watched the new sonic 3 movie? If so, I would like to request shadow (platonic) who was taken in by the reader after the events of the movie took place and they showed him that he could be loved again.

And what would he feel like and do if he saw them die or nearly die (I don't think I saw it on your won't-do list), by perhaps G.U.N. or some sort of accident.

If you haven't watched the movie, I would really recommend that you watch it, it was great😁🥰

“Not Again, NOT AGAIN!”

Pairing: Movie Shadow the Hedgehog & Reader (platonic)

Requested: Yes (by @grapegirlpoland ).

Description: He had finally allowed himself to get close to someone again. Why did the world not allow him to have that happiness…?

Notes: Ahhh, more angst. And yes, I have seen the movie! It was great! Hope you enjoy the oneshot! Though it feels both platonic and romantic on accident, sorry-

(Reader will be gender-neutral.)

(Not proof-read/beta-read.)

(TW: Reader nearly dies.)

– – – – – – – – – – – –

The way you two met was…not natural.

Then again, he wasn’t natural. He was an alien hedgehog for crying out loud!

But when you found him in that crater, with him suffering multiple burn wounds…

You couldn’t just leave him there.

So you climbed down the crater, gently picked him up, and brought him to your house to get him medical attention.

Of course, when he woke, he was very…aggressive? No, aggressive wasn’t the right word.

He was scared.

It took some time (a lot of time), but he warmed up to you, eventually telling you his name.

Shadow.

He was essentially this alien hedgehog that tried to help destroy the world, but decided not to after realizing what he was doing was wrong.

He was surprised he was even alive, to tell you the truth.

But he was grateful. Grateful for your help.

He could even call you a friend.

Someone he trusted.

…

But he’s never allowed to stay happy for long, is he…?

No.

Because they showed up again.

The Guardian Units of Nations, or G.U.N. for short.

They wanted to contain Shadow again like they had done in the past.

But you refused.

You demanded they leave him alone, to let him live free, like every being deserved.

When neither of you were expecting it…

BANG.

A gunshot went straight through your chest, causing you to cough out blood.

Your pupils dilated to a small size, you reached up to your mouth as you coughed again, blood spilling onto your hand as you fell to your knees.

The last thing you heard before your vision went dark was Shadow yelling your name in a very frantic voice.

…

“…And that leads me to where I am now,” you mutter to the other person. Or ghost, you should say.

Right now, you were in a place called Limbo, the place between life and death.

The place where Maria Robotnik resided.

She nods, not saying anything for a moment.

“Do you wish to go back?” she asks you.

“Of course I do,” you say. “I don’t want Shadow to be alone again. Not after everything he’s been through.”

Maria gives you a smile.

“I’m glad to hear that, [Name],” she tells you. “Take care of my brother for me, will you?”

You nod, and she closes her eyes, you doing the same.

When you reopen them, you immediately feel the pain in your chest. But that's the least of your concerns right now.

Looking over, Shadow seems to be sleeping soundly on the bed, on top of your legs. Tear marks stain his muzzle, causing you to frown.

You reach out and gently pet the top of his head, and he leans into it, a quiet clicking sound being heard from Shadow’s chest, similar to a hedgehog’s purr.

Suddenly his eyes shoot open and the clicking stops, and he looks over at you with dilated pupils.

“[NAME]!” he yells, engulfing you in a hug, which you reciprocate without a millisecond of hesitation. Tears seem to be pooling down his muzzle once more. “I th-thought…y-you were…”

“Shh, shhh, I’m okay,” you mutter, petting the top of his head again. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You better not be,” he says, choking out a sob. “You had me worried sick…”

“I know bud, I’m sorry,” you tell him. “How’d you manage to get me to a hospital?”

“I…had to get the help of an annoying blue hedgehog,” he mutters, a bit embarrassed.

“You? Getting help from Sonic? Am I talking to the real Shadow here?” you joke.

“Ughhh, yep, you’re fine alright,” he grumbles.

“You know you like it,” you say.

“I tolerate it,” he says back.

You chuckle, before tightening the hug a bit.

“I’m just glad you’re safe, Shadow,” you tell him.

He lets out a soft sigh but allows himself to get comfortable in your arms.

“I’m glad you’re safe too, [Name],” he mutters. “And it’ll stay that way. Don’t want to lose my favorite human.”

“I thought that was Stone?” you ask.

“Nope. It’s you,” he says. “Don’t make me take it back.”

You let off a giggle.

“Nope, it’s going straight to my head,” you say.

He lets off a groan. Why did he put up with you sometimes…