Chapter Text
“Why are you running away? We were just getting started!”
With a rough tug from the blue hedgehog, the bike swerved suddenly and Shadow gasped. He only had just enough time to pull it upright when they slammed into the side of a metro bus, cracking the glass of the door instantaneously. The few passengers inside jumped at the sound, distant in his ears.
The flimsy weapon in his hands bounced unceremoniously from his grasp to the street below as he struggled to stay upright. Even the blue hedgehog stilled as the bike teetered back and forth as it would do neither of them good to come crashing down onto the wet asphalt. Finally, the motorcycle stabilized and Shadow sped off once more, giving a small but lethal glance back.
This blue nuisance was getting to him. The first one Shadow had seen that was just like him and they were fighting. Why was someone so enchanting teaming with the other side? Working with the same individuals that hurt him, that killed her and sealed him away for decades! Did he get replaced in the last fifty years? Was this G.U.N’s new toy? If so, why was he allowed outside? What made him different?
He wanted to be angry at him.
He wanted to fight the other hedgehog.
He wanted to kick him down.
He wanted to—
“The more you talk, the harder I want to kiss you!”
His eyes widened for a split second. Those words were not the ones he had intended to fall from his lips, but he snarled all the same and tightened his grip on the bike, revving it and speeding through the cars in the tunnel before them. Behind him, the other sputtered and Shadow’s ears recoiled and flattened against his head. The sudden heat that rose in his cheeks was in stark contrast to the cool, damp air around them but he refused to look back again.
“W-Wait, wait, what?”
Shadow ignored the surprised cries of the other hedgehog and barreled into the oncoming traffic, deftly maneuvering the bike. It was certainly more difficult to account for the added weight hanging from the back, but with ease, he adjusted and sped on.
“Wait, watch out!” cried the other, though Shadow couldn’t ignore this shout.
Both of their eyes met the flashing lights of the steadily approaching railroad crossing, a mile long bullet train speeding by. He gave a fast glance upwards, towards a staggering, glowing tower in the distance and revved with purpose now.
Shadow drew in a deep breath and clenched his fists, letting his energy touch the world around him, feeling the bike below, and, inevitably, the body hanging on. He tapped into each aspect, feeling the electricity crackle beneath his palms, and took hold as they approached the train with unrelenting speed.
And just as quickly, the atmosphere disappeared, the wind whipping through their quills dissipated and a sudden warmth covered them - before spitting them out into the night air - Shadow, bike, other hedgehog and all.
“Ugh, I’m gonna throw up,” the other hedgehog exclaimed, floating mercilessly behind Shadow. He bit his lip, fighting the urge to glance at the other with worry, fighting the need to know more, and grit his teeth to rid himself of those thoughts.
Drifting through the air, he allowed his energy to bubble under the surface, supercharging into the bike and releasing it, the faintest smell of ozone heavy in the air. From behind, the other hedgehog flailed around aimlessly, attempting to follow the bike.
“Woah, woah!”
Shadow braced himself for the landing, charging up the bike up the tower, attempting to distance himself, to get away from the infuriatingly enchanting hedgehog. Why couldn’t he be left alone?
With a turn of his head, he saw a flash of blue as the other hedgehog’s energy clashed with his own, throwing sparks into the air as they climbed the building before, slamming against each other in a continuous fight for control.
Red against blue. Sapphire atop of ruby. Crimson burning into cobalt. Woven together like threads.
He wanted to know more, he needed to know more. And yet he had to fight the other, even as their energies intermingled and danced the night sky purple.
Though he really shouldn’t be surprised. What he wanted never mattered before, so why should it now?
The other hedgehog collapsed over the tip of a ledge in the building, but the bike was too charged for the sudden stop. In an attempt to slow the bike down, he swerved it expertly, the lingering remnants of his chaos energy blending neatly into the sparks the move created, before he was plunged into the air once more.
Shadow barely had time to admire the view. He’d always wanted to see Tokyo with her.
From the landing, the blue hedgehog was gearing up to charge up at him, and Shadow met his challenge, ignoring the panging in his heart, in his lungs. Clenching his fists one last time, he shot downwards, not caring where the bike ended up. The other hedgehog was rapidly approaching, and from this angle Shadow could see the other also preparing to punch.
Taking a deep breath, he charged himself once more, ignoring the sting of his own energy and slammed his fist into the other.
An explosion of light emerged from where their bodies connected and both were thrown downward, back onto the building. The lights of the city dimmed into oblivion as the power grid failed to comprehend the absolute immensity of energy the blast created.
Shadow grunted as he slammed into the concrete, breath taken from his lungs forcefully. He wheezed in pain for a few moments, arms shaking to hold up his weight as he pushed himself to his feet. He hasn’t felt like this since the accident.
Shadow paused, looking behind him.The other hedgehog was right there, knocked out from the blow.
He sat there, staring at the body in the darkness, for quite awhile.
He should leave. The other two creatures were surely on their way, and it wasn’t as if the hedgehog would want to be around Shadow now. He should disappear, far away from the eyes of the world. Where he belonged.
But still, he hesitated.
Against his better judgement, he staggered to his feet and approached the unmoving body. The blue hedgehog was breathing, though completely unconscious, and a wave of pity rushed over him. What was his story? Why was he working for G.U.N? Who would voluntarily work for that hellish organization. Or maybe it wasn’t voluntary?
He felt angry at that fact. G.U.N deserved to be blown off the face of the planet, they didn’t deserve the blue hedgehog in front of him. They didn’t deserve those emerald green eyes.
Like you do? He thought derisively and shook his head. He failed to save her, how could he stand to think he could help the new hedgehog too?
The mechanical handcuffs lay next to the prone figure and Shadow grabbed them and linked him to a railing without a second thought. Now, he wouldn’t be followed. Now, he was sure to be left alone.
Though again, he hesitated.
He didn’t want to leave the other hedgehog. But he needed answers, and he wasn’t going to get any sitting around here. Fifty years was a long time to be in the dark, and as much as he wanted to stay, his past was impossible to ignore.
But maybe he could leave something behind.
Something to tell the other he was there, despite it all. That he wasn’t so heartless, that he wasn’t the monster everyone feared him to be.
An apology, in everything but words.
He plucked a single quill from his head, wincing at the tug. His quills were rough and brittle and it took very little effort. Before, Maria had painstakingly done her best to groom and take care of his quills with the utmost love and affection. But it had been a long fifty years since he’d been groomed. He hasn’t eaten anything in that time either, his stomach panged harshly with every step he took.
He took the frail quill and laid it next to the body. The hedgehog’s breathing was still methodical and he was still laying there unconscious, but as lights flickered back on in the distance, Shadow knew he was running out of time.
He kneeled and grabbed the other’s limp hand, squeezing it gently and gazing over the soft blue fur with an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry. Maybe, in another world,” he whispered, before pressing a chaste kiss to the hand.
He turned away as the hedgehog began groaning and waking up, disappearing just as the lights of the tower flashed and returned, leaving only a single trace behind.
One might think it had been a remnant of the rain. Though those who looked closer, however, would see it as a teardrop, falling sweetly onto the red shoes of the still body.
Sonic groaned as he awoke, holding his head in one his hands. His temple was pounding, and he continued to wince as waves upon waves of pain rolled through him.
“One-point-twenty one gigawatts,” he muttered as his vision stopped spinning. He was able to sit up partially as the lights around him flickered on, illuminating the city that had been plunged into darkness. Though he wasn’t able to go far.
“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!”
That other hedgehog handcuffed him? With Tails’ own tech? That’s stooping to a new level of low that not even Knuckles had tried to reach. Well, Knuckles punched him through three walls and a television, so he barely had enough room to talk.
“Hedgehog!” the aforementioned echidna cried as Tails carried him over the building.
“Sonic! Are you alright?” Tails asked, immediately running over to him and fiddling with the lock on the cuffs.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he clipped, voice coming back much more harshly than he had intended. “But before you ask - I totally handcuffed myself for tactical reasons you wouldn’t understand.”
The fox didn’t look impressed, only saddened and worried. There was the telltale beginnings of a bruise forming on the young kit’s cheek, left from the other hedgehog’s powerful kick. “You really shouldn’t have gone on your own.”
The whole encounter felt off somehow. He couldn’t explain in words, but at the core, was the new hedgehog. “Something isn’t right, guys. G.U.N’s not being completely honest with us and I’m gonna bet that other hedgehog has some answers.”
“Who was he?”
“The more you talk, the harder I want to kiss you!”
Sonic felt his face flush in a way it hadn’t done so before. The hedgehog’s words during the chase came back to him so very suddenly, he almost wished it had been something he’d misheard. His heart raced in his chest, his cheeks reddened, and his hands shook.
“Sonic?”
He shook his head, swallowing thickly and willing the flush to disappear from his face. The others would think it’s just a trick of the light. He answered, “I’m not sure, but he and G.U.N have history, that’s for certain. We’re not jumping out of any more helicopters in the meantime, alright?”
Knuckles and Tails nodded in silent agreement. It seemed as if they wanted more information about the hedgehog too.
“Wait, look!” Tails pointed to the ground and Sonic’s eyes followed obediently.
A dark, red quill, charged with energy. He gasped and picked it up immediately, analyzing it with scrutiny. Even though their encounter had been brief, the crimson electrical sparks could have originated from no other. “It’s from him.”
“If we find this mysterious hedgehog, we find answers, correct? Fox, can you use your fancy gizmos to track him down?” asked Knuckles.
Tails grasped the quill, turning it over slightly before nodding. “I think I have something that’ll do just the trick! Used it on Sonic once with perfect results!”
“Hey, what?”
Knuckles ignored him, raising his fists in the air. “We have our mission then? Let us travel back to the Lady of Pretzels and the Lord of the Donuts and relay our current information!”
Sonic chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his sore head once more. “Let’s not tell them we got our asses handed to us, alright?”
“Language, Sonic,” Tails chided. Though, he looked down and bit his lip as well. “But agreed.”
“We shall not mention our dishonorable defeat. Fox!” Knuckles gestured to Tails.
“On it!” said the kit as he ruffled through the small yellow backpack, grabbing a ring and throwing it quickly in front of him. The portal opened suddenly to the front lawn of the Wachowski home. Ozzy, who had been lazing sleepily in the grass, was startled by the sudden noise and barked through the portal.
Knuckles and Tails immediately traveled through, the former reaching affectionately for the dog, but Sonic hesitated, staring out into the depths of Tokyo, scanning for any signs of the other.
Who are you? Why are you here?
Why have we met?
Every time his eyes closed, he could see haunted crimson eyes. Dangerous, but carrying a delicate air that Sonic wanted nothing more to explore.
As he stepped through the portal, he reveled in the sudden change of atmosphere as his body was welcomed home. The scent of the Tokyo petrichor was dwarfed by Green Hill’s earthy aroma, the familiar smell of the grass flooding his nostrils. He gave a fleeting glance toward the shrinking ring, watching the Tokyo night fade into obscurity.
We'll meet again, hedgehog. Just you wait.