Chapter Text
Mercifully, Stone hadn't brought up Shadow’s breakdown as he put breakfast on the table. Food tasted like gravel in the boy's mouth. But he persisted. The man deserved for him to at least be cordial. He pushed around his food, trying to brace himself for the next bite. “Do you know anything about martial arts?” He asked, not expecting much. “I do.” Robotnik said offhandedly “10th Dan at age 25.” He bragged. “So you're good enough to teach?” The boy asked, taking another bite of his food and suppressing a shudder. “Only if you’re smart enough to learn.” the doctor retorted smoothly. “Why don't we find out?” Shadow challenged.
They were in front of a punching bag. The doctor was stretching so the boy stretched as well. Going down into a split, he couldn't feel it strain. He remembered when he used to struggle with that, his face scrunched up in concentration next to Maria. He leaned forward, reaching for his feet. His sides burned deliciously. He held that for a couple seconds before he got up. “How far along are you?” The man asked. “Total beginner, sir, they didn't trust me to learn.” Shadow explained abashedly. “Why don't we find a baseline?” With that being said, Ivo threw a punch. It was easy enough to parry. Then he uppercut the boy. The pain rattled in his skull. While he was collecting his bearings Robotnik closed in for the last blow. Expecting that, Shadow leaped to the side when Robotnik went in for the hit. He aimed for the man’s head as he kicked back. The doctor leaned into a backbend and kicked in the chin. The speedster fell from the sheer force. He forced himself to get up and fight back.
Squaring up he saw the mirth in Robotnik’s eyes. He was enjoying this. The boy felt rage lick up his back, roil in his stomach. The doctor wanted to see how ‘good’ he was so Shadow would show him. Using his superior speed, he closed in on Ivo. He used a knee strike forward against the man’s unprotected core. The doctor flew back. He watched as the man clutched at his middle, coughing up his blood. Despite his compromised position, the doctor smiled. “How do you feel about fighting at supersonic speeds?” He asked.
The doctor had been, for lack of a better term, terrorizing Shadow for the past few weeks. Coming up and starting a fight at the most unexpected times. He was working on his air shoes when he heard another person walk in. Assuming it was Ivo, he pinned the man to the ground. “Good form” Stone groaned in pain. The boy helped the man back up abashedly. “So. Shadow. I was wondering if you wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle.” The man offered apprehensively. “Yes, I need a break ASAP.” The boy started to walk out. “Hold your horses. Not without the proper gear.” The man commanded. So instead of walking outside, they took a detour into the garage. “Since I wasn't sure if you'd say yes, I didn't get new gear.” the agent explained with a little smile. “You’re going to have to use my old gear” he said apologetically. Shadow’s eyebrows knitted. “I am honored to bear your gear, Stone.” he said, looking into the older man’s eyes. They were filled with joy. “That’s kind Shadow, thank you.”
When they finally went outside, Shadow felt himself inhale deeply. It was wonderful to feel the sun on his skin even if he didn’t go outside that often. “Put the helmet on.” Stone reminded gently. The boy felt his cheeks burn. He tugged it on quickly. He heard the man laugh lightly, the sound reminding him of bells chiming. “How do we get started?” the boy asked. He then caught sight of the motorcycle.
It was sleek, obviously built for speed, and was black with red accents. The front wheel was much further in front than the rest of the vehicle but was held intact by two steel beams. The back wheel, on the other hand, was almost merged with the body of the cycle. The handlebars were long and had a good grip. The parts of the body that weren’t the seat were a conglomerate of different mechanical parts, with the two exceptions being the front shell that the handlebar was attached to and the back shell which protected the back wheel.
All in all it looked dangerous. Shadow felt a rush of excitement. As if on instinct he got on. He looked over at the man, checking if his form was correct. He got an enthusiastic thumbs up from the agent. He offered a meek smile back. Realizing that the man wouldn’t have been able to see it he mentally cursed himself and put a thumbs up as well. He revved the engine. The vehicle hummed with life. The boy let himself play with the pedal, getting a good pace. It was like the machine was built with him in mind, everything being intuitive. When he finally realized that he should ask Stone’s permission before he went out on the road, the man was out of sight. He would've said something if he didn’t want me to leave. Shadow justified.
He was enjoying his drive when he heard this grating voice next to him. “Heyooo! I don’t think I’ve seen you around here!” The blue blur greeted, evidently on patrol from his uniform. Not G.U.N. the darker speedster noticed. Instead of answering him, Shadow sped up his motorcycle in a silent challenge. The brighter speedster huffed and caught up immediately. “CHILD, I AM COMMANDEERING THE VEHICLE, PUT IT IN THE STORAGE!” Robotnik’s voice rang out. Sonic’s eyes widened as Shadow sped up and backflipped off the vehicle. The cycle had stopped in the moving van.
What shocked the brighter speedster even more was that Shadow was keeping pace with him. The other boy picked up on this and a smirk stretched across his lips.“What? Like it’s hard?” His voice was distorted from the modulator that was apparently built into his helmet. To emphasize his point, he ran up in front of the hero, turning backwards. Instead of the anger, elevated shock or even fear the boy was expecting, he was greeted with a smile bright enough to power Los Angeles. The blue blur picked up his pace with a wink. Shadow bristled in mild annoyance but ran up next to the other boy. “Wanna race?” he asked cheekily. “You mean beat you?” Shadow deadpanned. Sonic laughed “You’ve got jokes, I’ll give you that!” it was taunting and sarcastic, which almost felt alien in the boy's smiling mouth.
Shadow decided he quite liked this side of the speedster. “I’d rather beat the shit out of you.” He said with a shrug. The blur's eyes widened. “What-” the boy cut off the brighter speedster's question with a punch. Fire burned behind Sonic’s eyes before he tackled the darker speedster. Despite his unrefined fighting style, the blur was quite the formidable foe. Shadow found himself being evenly matched. They were at a stalemate, the Robotnik was sure they could've gone for hours. Despite not a word passing between the two, Shadow had never felt more understood.
He was pinned. The brighter speedster loomed over him. A fire burned in the darker’s chest. “I win,” the blur smiled. Shadow put on a half smirk; even if it couldn’t be seen. “Are you sure about that?” He used his superior strength to wrestle the other speedster to the ground. Sonic looked nice all strung out and under him. His lips were parted in shock and his eyes were full of awe. “What now?” he asked. That was a surprisingly good question. “Dunno, you're the first even match I've had in a while…” The darker speedster shifted his position, using one hand to hold the boy down and the other to cup his face. “It would be such a shame if I killed you, I had so much fun.” He could feel the boy's heart race. It was exhilarating. “Killing me would be counterproductive” the brighter squeaked nervously. He was hyper focused on the boy under him.
That was until a small, pink-haired girl with a dress that had small ruffles on it showed up. “What? You had to call upon a deus ex machina? That’s low, even for you blue.” the Robotnik teased gruffly. “No, I’m just here to tell him to get home for dinner.” the girl explained carefully. “But now I have a feeling I should've brought my hammer.” Shadow was thrown off the other and the boy got up. Instead of engaging the other he turned to the pink girl “Amy, what’d Mom make?” he asked. “We got pizza,” the girl said. “Auntie managed to burn the vegetables again.” she added with a shrug. Sonic laughed. It chimed through the forest like a bell, lively and bright. The darker speedster felt his stomach roil.
“Until next time, I suppose.” The darker said before he ran off. When he had finally gotten to the Robotnik household he ripped off his helmet and took a deep breath. His heart was stuttering in his chest. He’s gonna be the death of me.