Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Soft footsteps echoed down a barren hallway. At first glance, the steel walls, metallic floors, and lack of windows seemed uninviting. However, Maria Robotnik knew that there was warmth to be found within the metal. There were no paintings to look at or pictures to reminisce over, but the blonde girl did not need them. Her memory was enough. A scuff mark on the ground would be unnoticed by most, and they would be right to do so. No one knew what caused the scuff or cared to find out. Maria knew. She knew each bump, scratch, and insignificant mark because she knew who caused it. 

A very rambunctious hedgehog. 

Maria remembered how the scuff mark in the middle of the floor was made. It had been a roller skating lesson gone wrong when Shadow tried to use the shoes Maria designed. She noticed that the tiny hedgehog always looked at her roller skates with awe and wanted to make one for him. Instead of a boring shoe with wheels, Maria poured all her creativity into the design. Her best friend and brother deserved the best, after all. She went through countless rough drafts until she made the one she stuck with. White in the front, black in the back, and with red accents. A red metallic base that split at the arch of the foot for more maneuverability. Four rockets built into the shoe that would be powered by Shadow’s chaos energy. A gold underside to match the inhibitor rings the hedgehog wore. Shadow’s Air Shoes . Maria sent the design to her grandfather, and he agreed to have them made. The hoglet was overcome with joy when she revealed his gift. Most of the marks on the hallways were caused by the various test runs they did. It took a while for Shadow to figure out how to use them without falling every second, but he was getting there.

Her smile at the memories turned bittersweet. It had been a long time since she and Shadow could goof off for hours on end. Now, the poor hedgehog was being hauled off to test after test after test . Each day, she could see the light in his eyes dim further, along with the innocence he used to have. In the past, Shadow acted as the annoying little brother Maria could not help but love. He would nip at her fingers and then squeal when she used them to tickle him. He would lick her when he wasn’t having his way or turn into a limp puddle in a silent tantrum. He would insist on using a ruler every time they were given a piece of food to share. He could be frustrating, clingy, and stubborn, but he was also the sweetest person Maria had ever known. 

And that little boy was starting to fade away. The thought made her steps become more hurried, determined to reach Shadow as quickly as possible. Maria’s body would not be happy with her tomorrow for the excess strain, yet she cared not. Her grandfather’s scolding words were already swirling through her head. You need to be careful. It’s not safe. Don’t exert yourself. Remember your condition. As if she could ever forget the bone deep weariness in her bones and the frailty of her body. After fifteen years of life, she had come to accept her condition and the resources needed to keep it in remission. The ladder made her live in a space colony far from Earth due to the beneficial effects the lower gravity had on her illness. However, there was one thing that Maria could never accept about her condition: a majority of the experiments done to Shadow were for the purpose of finding a cure for the girl. 

The guilt churned viscously in her stomach as she finally reached her destination. Before her was the Space Colony ARK’s observation deck, her and Shadow’s favorite area. Floor to ceiling windows revealed an endless, black void. Its darkness was kept at bay by an ocean of brilliantly shining stars that curled around every inch the vastness of space offered. Adding hues of purple, pink, and blue to what used to be an abyss. While the stars could not give off rays of comforting warmth like the sun, their mere presence was enough for Maria to feel at ease. She became used to the perpetual night she lived in. However, there were still days where she missed seeing fluffy, white clouds instead of expansive plumes of space dust. She could still remember what it was like to feel the sunshine on her face or a breeze rustling through her hair. 

But Shadow did not. He was created in space and knew nothing of the blue and green planet hundreds of miles away. Although, that did not stop Maria from teaching him everything she knew of the earth. She moved to the ARK when she was five, but she continued to learn all she could about her old home, happily sharing that knowledge with the hedgehog. It did not take long for Shadow to become completely enthralled with the Earth. He now loved the planet as much as Maria did, and the pair promised each other that they would go to Earth one day. Together. 

However, as she saw the curled up form of her little brother, hearing his muffled sobs, it felt like she had already broken that promise. As quietly as she could, the blonde approached and sat next to the crying hoglet, her heart beginning to ach from each painful sniffle. With his keen sense of smell, Shadow likely knew she was there, but he showed no reaction to her arrival. They just sat in silence for minutes on end until Shadow twitched, body tensing and a fluffy ear flicking towards Maria. 

“Go away…” His voice came out watery and strained, a meek whimper compared to his usual loudness. The strength in his body seemed to be sapped out, his zeal and determination taken.

Her reply came quickly. “Absolutely not. Something clearly happened during today’s test.” A pause. She then sighed before gently placing her hand on Shadow’s head, stroking the soft fur in soothing motions. Years of practice prevented any pricks from his sharp quills. As long as she moved downwards, with the grain, instead of upwards, the quills were harmless. When Maria started to scratch behind his right ear, the tension in Shadow’s body melted. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Shadow retreated from the safety of his arms, placing his chin atop them instead. Tears matted the fur around his bloodshot eyes, staining all the way to his tan muzzle. He still refused to look at her, gaze distant and glossed over. 

The striped hoglet was silent for a long, long time.

“Please, Shadow. What’s wrong-”

“They’re gonna replace me.”

“What?” Pure terror shot through her chest, feeling like an icicle had been stabbed into it. No, that could not be true. It couldn’t.  The back of her eyes began to burn fiercely. “Oh, Shadow, what happened?”

Silence followed for about two seconds before Shadow launched himself into Maria’s arms, his crying starting anew. She wrapped him in a tight embrace, rocking slightly. When her hands smoothed down his back, she froze at what she felt. Two circular marks, the scar tissue thick and rough from the constant trauma the area went through, never able to heal completely. It was inflamed and hot to the touch. A recent development. The puzzle pieces clicked together, and her anger threatened to boil over. Grandfather. Why must you keep doing this? 

From the moment Shadow emerged from his tube, so small that Maria could hold him in her palms, Gerald had been obsessed with accelerating his growth. According to her grandfather, Shadow was meant to be around fourteen to sixteen years old, both physically and mentally. Something clearly went wrong for the hoglet to come out with the size and capabilities of a newborn human. Maria thought it was wonderful for Shadow to have the opportunity to grow, change, and have a childhood, but her opinion was not shared. The ones funding Gerald’s work were not happy. They wanted results Gerald could not give, pressuring her grandfather to ‘fix it’ as soon as possible. And he tried. Oh, how he tried. Over and over again. However, he was met with failure each time. He pleaded with the investors to give him time, and his wish was luckily granted. Ten years. One decade to make Shadow mature or else the project would be shut down permanently.

It did not surprise her that her grandfather would try again when that time was almost up. From the severe redness of the scars, Maria doubted he was gentle with the tubes that delivered whichever new growth accelerant Gerald had concocted. Hurt and betrayal simmered in her veins. There was a time where her grandfather treated Shadow with as much affection as he gave Maria. Within the past three years, unfortunately, that love faded away. Shadow was no longer his unique grandson but a troublesome project that needed to be fixed. The rest of the staff on the ARK followed suit, the fondness they used to show the hoglet gone. While Shadow was quite mature for his age, the constant accelerants wreaking havoc on his brain development, he was still a ten-year-old deserving of love. 

She held him tighter. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

“No.” The hedgehog shook his head miserably. “I’m supposed to protect you .”

“We’ll protect each other, okay?”

A meek nod.

Maria thought over Shadow’s previous words. Replacement. Shadow was sharp enough to not misunderstand something like that…and she would not put it past her grandfather to do something so awful. “What did grandfather say?”

Tiny hands pulled away from her hold, wiping the tears away from his eyes. He did not need to ask her to elaborate. Ears drooping, Shadow mumbled. “He showed me the plans…for two others. The Ultimate Mind and something about an ultimate energy source. I…I’m not the Ultimate Lifeform anymore…” His lip quivered, making him bite it to hide any further quivering. He looked lost. Completely and utterly lost. The hedgehog’s crimson eyes held a flurry of emotions so intense that even Maria could not decipher them. In an even quieter whisper, Shadow bowed his head in shame. “I failed…” 

“You aren’t a failure, Shadow.” Maria uttered sternly but not unkindly. “You are ten, do you understand? You're not some tool to be used. You’re not a weapon . You’re my little brother.”

“B-But I’m supposed to cure you!” The hoglet pushed away suddenly, standing on shaky legs. His voice cracked from the hurt in his very soul. He yanked roughly at his quills with both hands, nearly pulling them out with the force he used. An endless stream of tears dribbled down his face and his chest began to heave as his breathing became shallow. “I keep f-failing all of the professor’s tests! I’m not big enough o-or smart enough, and he told me that I’m USELESS!” Red crackles of electricity flowed through his body, unable to spread due to the thick rings on his wrists and ankles. Shadow snarled in pain from the burning shocks. “I HATE THIS STUPID BODY! I can destroy things…but I can’t do the one thing I was made for! And now…Now…” His body trembled from the overwhelming storm of emotions swirling inside him. It grew and grew and grew, showcasing memories of the day’s previous events. It was too much. Too much. Too much. TOO MUCH. Without warning, sharp fangs burrowed deeply into the soft flesh of his hand. He twisted his jaws, tearing into the skin, before releasing it to look at Maria. “The professor wants to send me away. To the Black Arms…so my father can train me.” Like a light being turned off, a hollowness settled into the hoglet’s eyes. Empty and numb.

The young teen felt her heart completely shatter at the words. That’s right. Shadow is a hybrid. It was an easy thing to forget due to Shadow’s innocent, gentle nature. Half of his DNA came from a hive mind race of violent aliens ruled by a bloodthirsty monster and dictator. Any other details of the Black Arms were unknown to Maria and Shadow, but the limited knowledge they did have was not comforting in the slightest. They knew even less about Black Doom, the leader of the Black Arms. Gerald refused to disclose any information about the alien to anyone, only saying that he was technically Shadow’s biological father. Neither knew of his appearance, abilities, personality, or anything worthwhile. However, it would not be a stretch to believe Black Doom would be a malicious force. 

Yet her grandfather wanted to send him across the galaxy to Black Doom.

Well, the blonde had made a promise. Determination flowed through Maria’s veins. “Can I pick you up, Shadow?” 

Her response seemed to catch him off guard. “Why?” Shadow asked, blinking, fearful curiosity in his exhausted gaze. 

Maria held up her index finger. “For one, you look like you’re going to pass out.” She then lifted another finger. “And two, I think staring into space while thinking of your alien dad may not be the best for you. Does going to my room sound good to you?” 

It only took a few seconds for the hybrid to decide. He nodded once.

As she gently scooped Shadow into her arms, Maria’s mind became a flurry of thoughts as she analyzed everything the younger had told her. This news could be life changing, but Shadow was too young to fully understand the impact. All he could process was the terror of potentially leaving the ARK and the hurt he felt for ‘failing’ to be the Ultimate Lifeform. He was not aware of the complexities that were the ARK’s strained relationship with the government or the disturbing implications that her grandfather had a way to contact Black Doom in order to send Shadow to the creature. And Shadow’s entire identity had been torn from him without mercy. The way he told her about being replaced…the complete lack of surprise or righteous anger for himself. Her pace through the halls quickened, her lungs beginning to ache from the strain, frustration wrapping around her like the constrictive hold of a serpent. Even after ten years, Shadow still could not see himself as a person. While she knew it was logically not her fault, it definitely felt like it was. What kind of big sister could not protect her little brother in the ways he needed it most? She had not tried hard enough to reassure the poor hoglet. The ARK had been poisoning Shadow’s mind, making him believe things that were not true, infecting him with vile thoughts, turning his self hatred into a pool of black tar. Dark. Endless. And no way to escape. He could only sink because Maria had not pulled him up soon enough.

She let herself get dragged into her own pool, one carved from the unshakeable hold her chronic illness had on her life. Wallowing in self pity for not having a normal teenage life. No friends her age. No school life. No romantic life. No social life. No chance at being able to live without hundreds of medications or a hospital nearby. She got caught up in her own problems and issues, accidentally forgetting about the hybrid who had it so much worse.  The one being trained until their body broke, pushed to the limit every day, neglected of love and care…wasn’t her. To the staff at the ARK, Shadow had become like the frogs used to teach students about dissection. Although, the frog was treated with more dignity. At least, the frog wasn’t alive to feel every cut. It took weeks of gentle prodding on her end for Shadow to admit how much pain he was in. He whispered about how the scientists used a paralytic during any procedures because it would take too much anesthetic to sedate him. And here Maria was, complaining about things that are incomparable to what Shadow went through on a daily basis. Maria had all her needs met, given the highest quality food one could have in space. Shadow was all skin and bones, his ribs and spine protruding from his small form, only given scraps since his ability to survive without food or water was an excuse for the ARK to slowly starve him. What right did she have to feel bad about herself-

“Stop it.” Shadow mumbled into her shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around her neck. “You can be sad too. Everything sucks.”

Maria chuckled wetly, the corner of her eyes burning with unshed tears. “It does.” They both were messes and knew each other far too well. So much so that one could never hide their troubles from the other. She squeezed the small hybrid affectionately before finally reaching her room. The door lacked a handle. Instead, a metal keypad was built into the wall beside it, which Maria inputted the code to with practiced ease. It was Shadow’s ‘Tube-Day’ or the day where the hybrid was released from the tube he was grown in. The day where Maria held a ball of black and red fur, still slick with a green goo, an d her life changed for the better. From once fitting in the palm of her hand to needing to be held with both arms, Shadow had come a long way. To her, however, he would always be her tiny, baby brother. 

Hydraulics hissed as the door slid open vertically. The welcoming sight and scents of her room beckoned the girl forward. She ignored the bed to head straight to a small tent outfitted with string, fairy lights and a boxy television. It was the pair’s dedicated movie and hangout spot. When Shadow began to wiggle in her hold, she smiled and leaned down to place him safely on the floor. In the tent, there were two large pillows that acted like seats for them. Shadow’s pillow on the right was black and covered in prints of red motorcycles while Maria’s pillow on the left was a pastel blue with floral patterns embroidered along the outline. The hybrid took off his heavy air shoes and plopped down onto his pillow, a deep sigh escaping him. Usually, the next step involved Maria making popcorn and having an hour-long battle with Shadow over picking a movie to watch. She did neither, only going to retrieve her sketch pad and some colored pencils before collapsing on her own pillow. 

Sensing the charged atmosphere, Shadow sat up and wrapped his arms tightly around his knees, occasionally fiddling with the golden rigs on his wrists. His ears were fully pinned back, a sign of his immense stress. 

Maria took one of the hands embracing his knees, smoothing the top of his paw with her thumbs. “Do you think you’re important?”

Shadow blinked, taken aback by the unexpected question. His silence spoke for itself.

“Do you think I’m important?”

“Of course!” Shadow fiercely replied, the spark he had been missing all day finally returning. “You’re the most important person in the galaxy, Maria!”

“Why?” She spoke simply.

Another question that the hybrid did not anticipate. He bowed his head, thinking hard, before he found his answer. He spoke with all the zeal a ten-year-old could muster. “You just are! You’re really strong and nice and smart! You always know what to do, and I never do! Everyone on the ARK is scared of me except for you…I don’t know what I would do without you.” 

Warmth soared through her heart from the touching words. Maria laced their fingers together. “Why aren’t you important?” She prodded carefully.

“I…I’m just…not.” Shadow placed his chin atop his knees. “I wasn’t built right…I mess up all the time and break things…that’s why I’m being replaced with the other two.”

“Well, I’m not built right either. My body is always ready to fall apart. I can’t run without being at risk of feinting. I’m in the medical wings more than I’m in my room. Does that mean I should be replaced?”

“What?! No! It’s not your fault you can’t do some things! You can’t control the flare ups or feinting! It would be unfair to judge you for that! And you don’t replace people! That’s wrong!”

Maria raised her eyebrow. Not responding. 

After a few seconds, Shadow blinked in realization. “Oh…”

When the desire to hug him rose to the surface, Maria did not fight it. She snatched Shadow into her arms and placed her chin between his fluffy ears. She spoke softly. “Everything you said about me is the same way I feel about you. I just wish you could aim that love and kindness to yourself. You are my friend, Shadow. My family. My life would be so much worse if you weren’t in it. You’ve never judged me. You’re too clever for your own good. You have the biggest heart, even if you try to hide it. You’re brave, passionate, and can be a little goblin when it comes to coffee beans.” A huff of laughter left Maria’s lips, and she could feel Shadow quietly snort into her shoulder. “A bad person would not catch me when I fall. They wouldn’t spend hours at my bedside when I’m sick. And would a bad person put in the effort to remember my favorite things whenever I’m feeling down?”

Shadow shook his head.

“But you do it. All the time. Shouldn’t that make you the best person ever?” Maria leaned back to look at the hybrid. Tears of both sadness and happiness flowed down Shadow’s cheeks. His lips quirked up in a small smile, one that Maria matched tenfold. There it is. That was the smile that Maria would push mountains for. She doubted anyone would be able to resist the urge to do anything for that smile. If only they gave Shadow a chance to show it. 

However, the smile faded as quickly as it came. “The other two are still going to be made. What if the Professor does take me to my father? Where will I go? How can I-”

“Breathe, Shadow. It’s alright.” Maria moved her hands down his back repetitively. “No matter what Grandfather says, I’m not going to let you go anywhere you don’t want to go. I’ll be by your side. Even if I have to go across the galaxy, I’ll be with you. I promise.”

Like a dam being released, all the tension in Shadow’s body disappeared as he melted into her hold. It had been almost two weeks since they had seen each other for longer than a minute. He had not realized how starved for touch he was. The hybrid would always ache for Maria when she was gone, but he did not know her affection carried the same pain. His anxieties were soothed by her embrace, the balm to the wounds on Shadow’s soul. However, there was still one more thing. “What about the plans for the two other lifeforms?”

“Let’s see.” Maria maneuvered them so her hands were free but Shadow was in her lap. She brought out her sketchpad and grabbed a black pencil. It took a minute for Maria to doodle an outline of the hybrid. “If they are created, then you shouldn’t think of them as replacements. Instead, you should see them as new people to meet.” As she spoke, the blonde drew two other hedgehogs that lacked Shadow’s stripes. “Even if the people at ARK think differently, you are not a tool to be used and replaced. You’re a person and these new guys will be too.” She grabbed a blue pencil and shaded in one of the sketches, later picking up the black to give it two eyes and a mischievous smirk. For the second, she grabbed a grey pencil and gave the hedgehog a joyful grin with wide eyes. “What do you think?” The girl giggled.

“Why are they hedgehogs?”

Maria shrugged. “I don’t know, it just feels right.” 

“The blue one looks ugly and annoying.”

“Who knows. Maybe he’s gonna be your Prince Charming~”

“Ew! No!” Shadow shoved his hands against her cheeks, but the action could not hide the green flush dusting his muzzle. “You’re the one into the mushy princess stuff, not me!”

“Last I remember, you were begging me to read you a new princess fairytale a few weeks ago-”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did! I especially remember when you started to tear up when the evil stepsisters ruined Cinderella’s dress.”

“ Well, you kept drooling over the prince!”

Maria snorted loudly before wrapping her arms around Shadow’s middle and blowing raspberries into his cheek. The hybrid squealed in response, soon bursting into a fit of giggles. The rare sound reminded Maria of twinkling bells, bright and pure. It made the remaining tension and sadness dissolve, replacing it with an air of warmth that further melted their fears and worries away.

Shadow nuzzled into her. “We’ll always be together, right?”

The blonde smiled at him, and she used a hand to ruffle his ears. Her blue eyes were filled with nothing but fondness for the hybrid. “Oh, Shadow…”

He pressed his head against her chest. When he was with Maria, everything felt normal. Safe. All the memories of the lab’s white walls, the sharp gleam of a scalpel, the scent of antiseptic and blood, the constant beeping of monitors, the apathetic gaze of doctors all around him, the professor coming closer and closer, furious at him, yelling about his failures, his hand striking across his cheek, the grasp against his throat, getting tighter and tighter-

‘Do you have ANY IDEA how much I have sacrificed for you?!’

‘This is how you thank your creator? With this utter failure to grow?!’

‘You are not a child, Project Shadow! You lack finesse and restraint! The Ultimate Lifeform is meant to be the sword, the shield, and to have the mind needed to know when to use them!’

‘I have had enough. Your father will sort you out, he has the power to change you, make you into the warrior you were meant to be. As you are now, your only uses come from the medicinal quality of your blood and your raw power. Perhaps cloning you would be better for the project.’

Today had been one of the worst days of his life. If Shadow were honest, the past few years had been miserable. He did not understand why everything began to change for the worst. All he knew was that he ached for the way things were before. To the times where Professor Gerald was ‘Pop-Pop ’, the person who patiently taught him how to read and write, gave him cookies from his hidden stash, hugged him tightly when he had to get a shot…The change happened so suddenly. One day, the staff and the professor spoiled him rotten. And the next, he was being dragged, kicking and screaming, to an operating table for his first vivisection. Then forced into a room to battle hoards of monstrous robots, unable to leave until they were defeated, even if his arm had been blown off. Now, a constant ache lingered in his body from the countless times he had needed to regrow a limb. The pain leaked into his bones, a consequence of them being broken and the bone marrow taken frequently…At least, he was with Maria now. He would not need to deal with any more experiments today. She promised she wouldn’t let them take him away, and Shadow believed her.

Exhaustion encompassed him like a blanket. He was powerless to the pull of sleep, his eyelids drooping shut. Shadow looked for the lullaby that was Maria’s heartbeat. It was steady and strong, reassuring him that she was here .

…Yet Shadow heard nothing. 

All the comforting warmth was torn away as an icy dread pierced the hybrid. He leaned back to look at Maria. “Are you o-”

His voice got caught in his throat, a strangled gasp escaping him. Maria was…Maria…

Where his head had just been, there was now a bloom of deep crimson leaking from her heart.

Because there was a hole in her chest.

“Maria!” Shadow cried, cupping his hands against her cheeks. Her eyes were glossed over, skin turning a sickening blue. “Maria, wake up! What happened?! Maria, please answer me! MARIA!”

The blonde girl did not react to his words, his shaking, or his prodding. She couldn’t be…NO. There was no way. Maria would be fine. He just needed to get help first. The thought pushed Shadow to his feet, not before he carefully settled Maria onto the pillows like she was made of porcelain. Shadow moved to exit the tent, a cry for help on the tip of his tongue.

A black void greeted him.

“What…” Shadow breathed out. Was he dreaming? Where was the rest of Maria’s room?

From the darkness, an unfamiliar voice boomed. “Gone. Because of YOU.”

“Who’s there?!” The hybrid raised his fists, ready to fight, and kept his gaze on the direction the voice came from. Adrenaline and chaos energy pumped through his veins, promising him their aid in whatever battle to come. No. He couldn’t focus on that. Maria. She needed help, she was hurt. Very hurt. 

Chuckles came from the stranger, still obscured in the void. 

Suddenly, his head burst with agony. It felt like a thousand tiny knives were repeatedly stabbing into his brain. Over and over. The knives twisting deeper, sharper, gouging into his skull. Through the flurry of pain, the same voice spoke, but it did not come from far away. It was far closer. Inside his very mind.

“It’s time to wake up, Little One.”

.

.

.

Wake up.

Alarms blaring. 

I don’t want to.

Thundering footsteps across the hall.

You must. It is not a suggestion.

People shouting and arguing.

 .

.

.

“Subject One is waking up, sir!”

“Good. Get the inhibitor collar.”

.

.

.

…Maria never talked with me that day, did she?

Blonde hair.

Correct. She was in the medical wing, bedridden after contracting an infection from a wound you caused.

Blue dress.

I didn’t mean to scratch her. It was an accident!

Blue headband.

I am aware. Her injury does not matter anymore. 

.

.

.

“ Is the cell prepared, Agent T? We only have minutes until he wakes.”

“Yes. His cell has been secured, sir. Medical crew is on standby.”

“Good. His heart rate is increasing. He’s beginning to take in more oxygen.”

.

.

.

 The squeeze of a warm hand.

She's…gone.

“It’s okay, Shadow. We’ll make it out! Just hold on to me, alright?”

Yes.

“Thank goodness! We made it to the escape pods. We’re going to be-”

No…No…No. No. No. NO.

A shot.

…

A thump.  

…Maria…

Red staining blue.

…

“You have to leave this place. I’ll be fine. I love you so much, little brother. Promise me that you will…”

Don’t make me leave.

Blue eyes fading away.

…

“MARIA!”

Let me stay with her.

It is not your decision to make.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Crimson eyes snapped open, already glowing with chaos energy. Shadow curled his fist and punched through the glass containing him. The blurs in his vision sharpened, turning the dark blobs into people. No, not people. Soldiers. G.U.N soldiers.

They were the ones who invested into Project Shadow. The ones who demanded for Gerald to give them the weapon they asked for. The ones who pushed and pushed until the professor broke from the stress, taking out his frustration from the agency on Shadow. The ones who stormed the ARK, ruining his only home. 

The ones who shot Maria.

“Welcome back, Project Shadow. You have been asleep for quite a while.”

Shadow snapped his attention to the speaker, an older man with grey hair and a uniform decorated with awards. There was something familiar about his voice, and the realization came to him when Shadow saw his unique eyes. The left was a bluish green while the right was a light brown. Only one person had those eyes. Abraham Tower. Betrayal gripped Shadow like a vice, faint memories of playing pretend with a silver-haired boy and Maria simmering in his mind. Why was Abe working for G.U.N? His father had been the head of the agency, but Abraham should not want anything to do with them after what they did to Maria.

A vicious snarl escaped the hybrid. “Traitor.”

The moment he bared his teeth, all the agents in the room aimed their weapons at him. Their masks hide their faces entirely, looking more like a wraith than a soldier. The only ones with no weapons were Tower and the soldier next to him. The ladder had a golden ring in their hands, however. Shadow did not like that. Although, the agent held no tension like the others. Too relaxed. He could use that to his advantage. 

Until Tower spoke up. “Whatever vengeance you’re planning would be misdirected, Shadow. This agency has changed for the better after the damage we caused all those years ago.”

That…wasn’t what Shadow was expecting. He glared warily, nerves itching to attack everyone in the room, but he kept his hands still. Abraham had been a friend once. Not a close one, but a friend nonetheless. When Shadow was young, only a foot tall, the pair would act as knights while Maria would be the dragon that battled them. Due to his small size, Abe would launch the hybrid like a ball to the blonde girl. At times, it would turn into a game of ‘Catch the Hoglet’ that would end with Shadow too dizzy to stand. 

Tower walked forwards, his hard gaze softening by the slightest bit. “Maria’s death could have been prevented. When I learned of the raid…I was disgusted. Ever since, I have sworn to make this agency better. I’ve succeeded in that, but there is still much to do for the world we protect.” He knelt on the floor in front of Shadow. The hybrid’s instincts screamed at him to slice his claws through Tower’s throat, kill every agent here, get his revenge, her  justice. 

“With your help, we can find a cure to every affliction our planet suffers from. We are particularly close to finding a cure for Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome.”

“...Maria’s illness.” Shadow murmured. His fists loosened. He was entirely focused on Tower. So much so that he did not notice that the soldier holding the ring was gone.

“Don’t you want to make a cure for that?”

Creating a cure for Maria’s disease was the main purpose behind Shadow’s creation. Healing her was his life’s goal. He never cared about being a weapon or that he could make spears and blasts with his chaos energy. All the power in his body meant nothing if Shadow couldn’t help the one he loved most…But G.U.N had done something unforgivable…Yet they were also finding a cure to Maria’s illness in her honor. Out of guilt, perhaps. He didn’t know what to do. What to think. Should he-

Thick metal snapped around his neck.

“You…!” Shadow growled, reaching to the gold bang on his neck. He was a fool. He focused on sentimentality instead of logic. G.U.N was rotten, evil, and Tower was the ringleader of the sadistic circus. When he tried to summon his chaos energy to pierce chaos spears into every person in the room, nothing happened. It felt like something was blocking it. Having the same draining sensation that his inhibitor rings had. The hybrid tried to kick at the soldier who had snuck up on him, but his body suddenly slammed against the ground. No amount of struggle could free him from the thousands of pounds of magnetic force crushing his throat.

The same soldier that collared him approached with a white pole, touching the gold tip to the new ring. With a click, the weight lifted but he could not detach himself from the pole. Shadow’s body shook in rage as the agent dragged him away. He shouldn’t have hesitated. He shouldn’t have trusted Tower. He should have killed them ALL. 

Shadow’s gaze locked onto Tower, boring into the older man. He held himself with great pride, strength clear in his form despite his age. And no hint of remorse. The hybrid’s blood boiled at his apathy before focusing on the golden band around his finger. All this time while Shadow was being tortured by nightmares or fooled with dreams, Tower was living a wonderful life. From how much older he looked, Shadow knew he had been asleep for at least thirty years. The realization broke something within him, his mercy. A viscous smile split his face in half, his eyes burning with the hatred of a sun. “I swear to Chaos, I will escape. And when I do, I will kill you first.”

A flicker of shock broke through Tower’s neutrality. It disappeared in an instant. He looked away from the hybrid. “Take Subject One to his cell.”

With that, the soldier holding the pole pulled him away to an endless maze of halls. Surprisingly, the agent was being gentle. Shadow tried to bite the soldier several times, but the agent showed no signs of rage. The only emotion the agent expressed was when they were in front of a door made of black steel. They pressed a card onto a keypad, a shaky sigh leaving through their helmet. When the door opened, Shadow could see why. 

G.U.N had made a prison. 

Cells of varying sizes lined the blank halls. Some held animals, like a dog and very thin bear, and some were empty but covered in scratches and bite marks. Two cells stood out amongst the depressing gallery of rooms. They were the largest and lacked the bars the other cells had. Instead, they used sturdy metal doors. Each door was labeled with ‘Subject Two’ and ‘Subject Three’ respectively. Clearly, whatever was inside wasn't meant to come out. The only vulnerable area was a small window at the center of the door. Something within him burned to see what was inside, but Shadow was taken away before he could get a proper look. 

They stopped in front of a door identical to the two others. ‘Subject One’. His cell. The agent used their card again and inputted a code to open the door. 

“...Sorry, kid.”

Before he could react, Shadow was pushed into the cell. The door slammed shut, enveloping the room in darkness. While the pole had been removed, the collar still hung around his neck. Like a brand on his skin. A numbness settled over the hybrid as he lay on the cold, metal floor. Awake after so many years and already wanting to go back to sleep. He just wanted to go back to stasis, even if it meant going through the tortuous cycle of nightmares again. Shadow was willing to endure the pain just for the opportunity to experience a good dream or memory. It was rare to have them, but he didn’t care. However, his luck was never one to work in his favor. He had let himself get captured all over again. 

As he laid there, he realized that this was his first real day on Earth. 

Without Maria. Without the professor. Just alone. So, so alone. 

He failed in every way.

He couldn't protect her

He had been too weak.

He’d broken their promise. 

Shadow grabbed his quills, tears beginning to fall.

And screamed. 

Chapter Text

In the beginning, Sonic held no interest in the strange town he had landed himself in. No, that’s not true. He was interested. Very, very interested. He just never gathered the courage to act on his curiosity. Every time the hoglet tried, his mind would bombard him with the worst memories of his life.

‘Listen carefully, Sonic. You have a power unlike anything I have ever seen, and that means someone will always want it. The only way to stay safe is to stay hidden.’

‘Never stop running.’

‘...Goodbye, Sonic.’

A horrid mixture of grief and fear would bloom inside him, making his stomach churn and heart hammer. The utter helplessness he felt as arrows pierced Longclaw’s body, once proud and strong, would return to him whenever he dared to leave the safety of his cave. It was a dingy thing, smelling of dirt, mildew, moss, and something coppery, but it was safe. The cave was well hidden from any predator or, worse, humans. Sonic himself only found it because he fell into it after blindly running through the forest. There was evidence of it being used by other animals based on the faint scratch marks and leftover fur. Maybe a racoon? Time had taught him that those things were everywhere . However, he could also understand why no animal was currently inhabiting the cave. It held absolute no heat and leaving the cave took more effort than was necessary. While a regular den could let the animal leave easily through the entrance, Sonic’s cave was deeper into the ground. The only way to exit was to use the vines that grew along the walls to climb up to reach the small hole on the top.

Sometimes, he wished for his cave to be intruded by the wildlife. The loneliness the cave emanated became unbearable to Sonic. Even ants and spiders ignored his home, as if the cave was cursed. Perhaps it was, but the hoglet did not have anywhere else to go. Sonic worked with what he had and tried to make the space less depressing. When he first arrived as a four-year-old, the best he could manage was using moss and branches for a makeshift nest to sleep in. Now, as a slightly wiser six-year-old, Sonic decorated the cave with interesting rocks he found at the nearby river, flowers that he kept in an old bucket filled with said riverwater, and drawings made from a chalk set someone had abandoned. Finding the chalk was one of the best days of Sonic’s time on Earth. His first drawing was a mural of his home with Longclaw, which he talked to every day. Sonic would pretend he was talking to the owl about his day like he used to do, staring at the Longclaw doodle as if it was the real thing. 

Talking to himself and a drawing could only do so much. And by so much, Sonic really meant nothing. He had never been patient and grew sick enough of his cave that it overpowered the fear. The hoglet wanted to stretch his legs again, explore everything about his new home.

“I can do this. I can do this! Shut up, Sonic. Stay quiet. You shut up, Sonic!” 

Which he was currently doing now. 

Two years of staying in the forest gave him the confidence to navigate through the bushes and thick underbrush easily. Sonic walked, which sucked , because he knew that running on the dewy grass would end with him on the ground with a face full of mud or a twisted ankle. He had learned the hard way. Several times. The hoglet did not want his first time venturing outside his home being ruined by evil, slippery grass. 

Sonic breathed in deeply, smelling familiar pine and petrichor, and looked up at the early morning sky. Various song birds were trilling their songs, but Sonic’s ears were drawn to the cooing of the mourning doves. It calmed his frayed nerves better than the louder chirps. He could not help but let out his own pleased chirp. Besides himself, the only things he could ‘talk’ to and hear were animals. When he was bored, which was most of the time, he spent his hours mimicking all the sounds he heard. He was currently working on his elk calls, specifically the loud bugle they could do. Sonic planned on using it on the hunters that occasionally enter the forest. In its current state, his elk bugle sounded more like a dying trumpet, so he still had some work to do. At least, his bird calls had improved enough where it counted. Getting other birds to pay attention to him. He let out a coo, hoping for the light brown dove to respond.

Rustling came from a nearby tree. Sonic beamed as the bird he was copying emerged from its nest, settling on a branch. It cocked its head at him before flying down to land at its feet. The dove cooed expectantly. 

“Oh yeah!” Sonic perked up as he reached into his quills to pull out a small bag that contained his rations for the day. It was mostly stale soup crackers, but he knew the birds loved it. Hm. Maybe that’s why the birds notice him now. Dang. I thought they liked me ‘cause of my awesome bird speech. Wonder if I said something mean. Do birds cuss? The hoglet giggled at the thought while he sprinkled the crackers on the ground. Instantly, all the trees began rustling. A feeding frenzy would start from the soup crackers he found in a tire filled with empty soup cans. “Oops.” 

The boy zipped away from the crime scene on instinct, needing to splay his arms out as he lost balance. Sonic glared at the grass before noticing his shoes. Eugh . They really needed to be replaced. Its original color was all but gone from the dirt and other miscellaneous stains that covered it. His gloves were worse off, threadbare and ready to fall apart. Another reason to risk going into the town. Do humans use rings to buy stuff? Mobius used two different types of rings for transportation and currency. Would Earth be like his home planet in that regard? It already had most of the animals Mobius did…Just without gloves or shoes or the ability to speak. 

But humans could speak.

That fact had never been more prominent than now. A human was leaning against the hood of a large, metal box on wheels, talking into what looked like a black box, oblivious to the blue hoglet staring at him. The road that led into town was rarely used, but it was just Sonic’s luck that there would be someone there the one time he dared leave the forest. He even chose to go out absurdly early! Why was this man awake?! More importantly, how could he make him leave? He couldn’t run without alerting the human with the blue trail he left behind and his shoes were ready to fall apart. Sonic needed to rely on his brain instead of his legs. Several half-baked ideas swirled in Sonic head. Pretending he was a bear. Trying to dig underground. Try to convince the human that he wasn’t real if he spotted Sonic. Nothing landed until Sonic noticed the pink doughnut the guy had in his mouth. Sniffing the air, Sonic’s mouth immediately began to water as the scent of sugar and bread filled his nose. Did humans like doughnuts? Mobians did. Although, Sonic doubted anything with a mouth could resist the sweet treat. 

Even if it was fake . Sonic laughed pridefully in his head at his brilliant idea. He scooped up the dirt he was sitting on and poured his ration of water to turn it into mud. Carefully, the hoglet formed the mud into a ring. It needed something more…Oh! Sprinkles! It needed sprinkles! Plucking out several blades of grass, Sonic sprinkled it over his ingenious dirt doughnut. He let it dry for a minute until he decided it was ready, ignoring the way it cracked in his hands. When he poked his head out to check the human’s location, he was relieved to see that the man had remained still. But his pink doughnut had disappeared. Good, that means the human would want another-

“...I know that, Wade. Just try to keep a safe swinging distance from Miss Caine’s cane.” 

Sonic’s ears perked at the man’s voice, clearly now that he was actually listening. The human’s voice had a relaxed drawl to it, slightly sleepy, as he talked into the box. It was such a…normal conversation that Sonic was taken aback. He expected something more menacing, like an evil villain talking about their nefarious plans or stuff about experimenting on every hedgehog with speed powers and how they were looking for the blue one to add to their collection - Sonic shook his head harshly to free himself from the storm of anxiety threatening him to swallow him whole. Clearly, this human wasn’t evil. He almost seemed nice, having a pleasant air that made Sonic want to approach. No. I can’t do that. Longclaw told him to run, staying with a human was too dangerous.

Before he lost his train of thought again, Sonic gathered his courage and threw the doughnut a few feet from the human. Please work, please work, please work.

The human made a noise of surprise. “What the?” He looked at the makeshift doughnut with confusion clear in his gaze. Once the man moved to inspect the ring, Sonic pumped his fist in the air silently. On all fours, the hoglet carefully crawled forward and past the human and his weird box with wheels. Hah! It worked! He was a genius!

“Who’s there?” Wariness sharpened his confused tone. 

He definitely did not let out a squeak at the voice. Nope. Sonic stopped his trek, but not before snapping a twig with his knee. His heart dropped to his stomach. Crap. Crap. Crap! On instinct, all of his quills flared to protect himself. While he was too young to have his much sharper adult quills, the quills he had now could offer at least some protection. 

Footsteps began to head in Sonic’s direction, closer and closer. Sonic shrunk into the ground, swallowing the hiss that threatened to escape his throat. Should he run? No, that would just end in disaster. His shoes couldn’t handle his speeds and running on his bare feet was akin to torture. A burning pressure built behind his eyes.

“I’m not mad, kid. Throwin’ a mud doughnut at a cop is pretty funny.” The human moved some of the tall grass away. Inches from where the Sonic was, the poor hoglet petrified from fear. “It’s okay. I can help.” He reached for the blades of grass keeping Sonic hidden. 

“S-stop!” Sonic slapped his hands over his mouth. 

To his shock, the human listened, retracting his hand. “I’m not gonna hurt you, kid. Promise.”

“Just go away! I’m fine!”

“Kid-”

“Leave!” The terror was too much for the boy to take. Blue electricity surged through his body, sparks falling onto the grass. The very flammable grass. 

Oh no…

Like a curtain being torn away, the sparks burned through the long blades of grass. Revealing the trembling hoglet to the human, who was looking at him with a gaping mouth and wide eyes akin to a goldfish. 

“Uhm…Meow?”

The human screamed, and Sonic copied his shouts of terror, scrambling backwards on his hands. Hot tears spilled down the hoglet’s muzzle. Sonic was going to die. He should have listened to Longclaw. Why did he do this? He should have just stayed in his cave. Cold. Alone. Alive. He would die…and no one would care. Nobody knew of his existence, and the forest animals didn’t really care about him. 

“Are you wearing a costume?”

Sonic jumped at the human’s shaky question. The man’s eyes held…guilt in them. 

When Sonic didn’t respond, the man ran a hand through his brown hair. “Geeze, I’m either dreaming or owe twenty dollars to Crazy Carl.”

Sonic blinked.

He crouched to be at the hoglet’s level, to limited success. Humans were unreasonably tall so even kneeled, the man towered over Sonic. There was still fear in the male’s gaze, but it was being softened by the strange regret. The ladder intensified as more tears continued to fall. A sob burst out of Sonic’s chest, the terror too much for him to take.

The human reached for him.

TOO CLOSE.

Not caring about the consequences, Sonic jumped upright and began to escape.

“Wait!”

He was following him.

The hoglet clenched his eyes shut. This was going to hurt a lot .

Sonic gathered his energy. Feeling the familiar power simmering in his legs, excited to be let out after being restricted for so long. He let the energy build and build and build. His body a container for the ocean of energy within him. Electricity ran through his muscles, turning his emerald eyes a brilliant blue. 

‘Never stop running.’

The container overflowed.

And Sonic bolted . 

Crazy Carl was right. 

The old man who regularly went on tirades about vigilante turtles in the sewers, demonic triangles, and sentient rock women was right . 

Everything Carl said concerning this ‘Blue Devil’ was the truth. Nobody in Green Hills believed him, including Tom. Only someone on the same wavelength of absurdity would share Crazy Carl’s theories. Not even Wade, someone who regularly insisted that Star Wars actually happened, entertained Carl’s various claims. The eccentric man’s theories fell apart easily with logic and basic common sense. Without proof, Carl had no leg to stand on against the reasonable townsfolk of Green Hills.

Yet Tom had seen pure, undeniable evidence that the ‘Blue Devil’ was real. Part of him remained in denial about the entire ordeal, insisting that Tom was daydreaming or that it was just a kid in a costume. However, as his mind replayed the scene over and over again, his doubt faded against his will. The descriptions and messy drawings Crazy Carl gave Tom were startling accurate. Azure fur, long quills, green eyes, and the ability to move at supersonic speeds. Nothing on Earth could achieve the last feat. No cheetah or falcon or car could achieve the velocity Tom had witnessed. Whatever the ‘Blue Devil’ was, it wasn’t from the natural order.. 

When Tom thought about aliens, he imagined a being with a large head, green skin, and beady black eyes. It was the most common depiction of extraterrestrials, and Tom lacked the want or creativity to think of a different design. That’s what movies were for, to give people alternative ways of picturing aliens. Although, Tom had never seen a movie depicting anything close to what the ‘Blue Devil’ actually looked like. It had fluffy fur instead of the slimy or scaly skin he expected. It lacked the size most alien monsters exhibited, being surprisingly tiny instead. It had no second jaw protruding from its tongue. It did not try to lay eggs in his intestines or violently attach itself to his face. It did not speak in an indecipherable language…it spoke English. And it did not speak about probing him or taking him to its spaceship. 

It was just…scared. Terrified . Showing more horror than Tom did when he first set eyes on the alien. What stuck with him the most was the creature’s voice itself. It sounded painfully young, having the same pitch as a little boy. Then it… he began to cry and tremble from fear because of Tom . Alien or not, a pit of guilt opened inside of Tom when he realized that the ‘Blue Devil’ was scared of the most boring man in Montana. His wife, Maddie, always said that he couldn’t scare a rabbit, and her comment had been accurate until now. He felt a wave of sympathy overcome him as he remembered how crestfallen his father would become whenever the rescued animals at their farm would cower away from his Pa because a man had caused them pain. At the time, he had thought his father was being a bit melodramatic. Not anymore. If his father had felt the same guilt Tom was feeling, then his sadness was never an overreaction. The knowledge that the tears the alien shed were because of him felt like a knife to his heart. 

He needed to find the ‘Blue Devil’. Partly to find a way to make it up to the little alien and partly due to the concerning state his body was in. From the brief glimpse he got of the devil, he could see how prominent the alien’s ribs were and the countless wounds that covered him. He looked nothing like a powerful intergalactic being, But he looked everything like a scared, lost child in need of a home and a warm meal. 

According to Carl’s accounts, the ‘Blue Devil’ had appeared two years ago. Meaning that this boy had been alone to face the harsh Montana winters for a fifth of a decade. Perhaps longer. The thought that the little devil would spend another winter alone broke something within Tom. 

Resolve filled his veins as he marched to his patrol car, speaking into the radio. “Wade. I gotta leave the speed trap. There’s an emergency.”

Wade answered moments later with a teasing drawl. “Of the bathroom kind or-”

“No! It’s of the…” Tom paused to think of an excuse his deputy would believe. “Of the rabid animal kind.”

“Oh geez, do you need any help?” Wade’s relaxed tone became tinged with a rare seriousness and worry. Both men were well-versed in how dangerous rabies made animals. It was uncommon for their small town to have a robbery or murder, which was a good thing even if it made their jobs excruciatingly boring, but having to deal with a sick animal happened too often than either would like. 

A smile appeared from the show of concern. While he could be a nervous wreck and scatterbrained, Wade was a good friend. Tom shook his head before remembering that the other could not see him. “I’ll be alright, Wade. It’s…pretty small, so I’ll be fine. It’ll just take a while to track down. If anything does happen, I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good. Wish ya luck, man!”

“I’ll definitely need it.” Tom chuckled, ending the call. He sat in his car for a few minutes to allow himself time to process everything. Aliens were real. The weight of the mud doughnut staining his lap was a reminder of that. And he was about to track down a creature that could move faster than the speed of sound. God, aliens were real . They were real, and Crazy Carl was not as crazy as everyone thought-

Wait. 

Crazy Carl.

Tom had a lead.

.

.

.

“What brings ya here, boy?” Carl leaned back in his chair, lazily chewing on a toothpick. 

“Would you believe me if I said I wanted to say hi?”

Carl raised a brow. “Folks may think I’m off my rocker, but I ain’t stupid. You got that look in yer eyes that says you found somethin’ real good fer me but real bad fer you.”

The younger man whistled. “Damn, you’re good.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh, slumping into the creaky chair he was sitting in. Before Tom continued, he reached into his pants pocket to pull out his wallet, procuring two crisp ten-dollar bills. Without a word, the brunette slid the cash over to the elder. “You were right about ‘The Blue Devil’.” Tom kept his voice low, gaze locked onto the yellow tablecloth’s gingham pattern. “I saw him earlier today at the speed trap where the forest meets the road. I thought he was a kid in a suit, but then I saw him up close…He looked just like you described. Blue fur, spikes, and all. Kinda like a hedgehog now that I think about it.” Tom shook his head to return to his original train of thought. “He didn’t look good, Carl, and I don’t mean he looked ugly or scary. He looks sick. Really sick. I tried to talk to him, but he ran away from me before I could do anything.” 

Silence followed, the cozy atmosphere of Carl’s trailer becoming heavy with tension. No shouts of joy or rightfully earned ‘I told you so’s came from the old man. Instead, he rubbed his white, bushy beard in intense thought. After another minute of unbearable silence, Carl spoke calmly. “How fast did he run?”

“That’s what you’re focusing on?!” Tom felt an eye twitch.

“Quit bein’ ugly, boy, and answer.” 

“Ugh, fine. He was really fast? Really, really fast-”

“Faster than sound, I reckon?”

“I–uh …yeah. I think he broke the sound barrier at some point. Look, I didn’t come here to talk about how quick he is. He needs-”

“And his shoes? What shape were they in?”

All of his mother’s lessons about respecting his elders were the only thing preventing him from shaking Carl by the shoulders. Tom exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Bad, I guess? Closer to falling apart than staying together.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

In response, Carl hummed. “Then that boy is more than just sick, he’s hurt. Real bad.”

“What? How do you know?” The anger vanished in an instant as dread filled Tom’s chest. 

“Tell me, Sheriff, what hurts more? Walkin’ with no shoes or runnin’ with no shoes?”

Realization settled over Tom like a blanket of ice. “Running…” Tom murmured, slightly disturbed now.

“So runnin’ as fast as lightning without any protection ain’t gonna end well.” Carl said firmly. He reached for the glass closest to him, sipping on the iced tea he had made for both of them. When he finished, a long sigh escaped him, and he took off his hat to card through gray hair. “I’ve been lookin’ for that devil for two years. He ain’t good at hidin’, but he sure as hell mastered escapin’. But since he can’t run for a bit-”

“We can catch him.” Tom finished, smiling. He thought about the stray dogs and feral cats he helped Maddie catch. It took either a few hours to a few weeks to make the animals trust them enough for them to take them to get help. Hopefully, the same approach could work on the young alien. “We’ll need to be gentle. He’s not a spooked animal since he can understand everything we say, but he doesn’t seem to be as clever as an adult. And since he’s so underweight, we have a chance at winning him over with food. Do you know if there’s any food he likes to eat or…take from your traps?”

“Hah!” Carl shook his head while his shoulders shook in laughter. “He sure does! He’s on all my franks like a bee on honey!”

“Then we better get an entire store’s worth of hot dogs!”

“Only if yer buyin, boy!”

.

.

.

.

.

.

One of the most important parts of being a vet was having a sharp eye and unlimited patience. The former made it possible for Maddie to see the faintest twitch in an ear or the sublest tensing of the body. Her awareness prevented her from being bitten countless times from agitated patients who struck without warning. Having patience was equally crucial for Maddie to do her job, which often involved dealing with screaming huskies and demonic cats. Losing her temper meant further scaring the animal when it's already in a stressful environment. Keeping calm meant that the patient had less to fear.

That being said…

Maddie Wachowski knew her husband was hiding something, and her patience had reached its end. She had no suspicions of Tom cheating as she both trusted him and witnessed his negative level of charisma. However, Maddie knew her husband enough to be familiar with his antics. The last time he became suspicious, hiding his phone and coming home at the oddest hours of the night, Tom had been visiting the local pond with Wade in the hopes of teaching the turtles to catch fish for them. It eventually ended when Tom needed to go to the hospital after getting bit by a disgruntled snapping turtle while feeding the calmer red-eared sliders. With an embarrassed blush on his cheeks, Tom revealed everything to Maddie, explaining that he wanted to have a fishing buddy since he knew she got too seasick to accompany him. While both hilarious and adorable in retrospect, his shenanigans nearly cost him two fingers. When her sister Rachel learned of the incident, she insisted that Maddie should divorce Tom since the man was clearly too childish for her. She did not listen to Rachel then and she would not listen to her now. Or anytime soon for that matter. 

Although, Maddie did not want a repeat of Tom’s Turtle Training if she could help it. Her husband’s hijinks, especially with Wade, were endearing to her, but she didn't want him to end up injured again. So, she brought it up during an uneventful dinner, 

And his answer was…unique. To put it lightly. 

She took a bite of the pasta Tom had made. “Explain this to me again. You and Crazy Carl have been spending every night for the past two weeks in the woods looking for a hedgehog?” Maddie placed her chin on her unoccupied hand. “Is it the rabid animal Wade told me about?”

“Not really. Uhm.” Tom shrunk under her scrutinizing gaze. “It’s a…special hedgehog?”

“Thomas Michael Wachowski, you will tell me the truth this instant.”

Her husband resisted for about three seconds before caving. “Okay, I’ll tell you. Just promise you’ll listen to the entire story?”

“If you say something stupid, I’m going to question it, Thomas.”

“Fair enough.” Tom shrugged. He took a deep breath and continued. “Two weeks ago when I was spending my morning shift at the speed trap, I heard strange noises coming from the grass. At first, I thought it was just a squirrel, so I didn’t pay it any mind. I only noticed something strange after some mud was thrown from the same direction as the noises. I went to investigate and found that the mud was actually shaped into a donut. Even came with grass sprinkles.” At the incredulous look on his wife’s face, Tom quickly pulled out his phone and sorted through his photos until he found the one he was looking for. He showed Maddie his screen, the photo of the mud donut clear as day. The brunette huffed a laugh. “Squirrels can’t do that, but a kid with a sense of humor can. I wanted to check to both complement the kid and check if they were lost or hurt. When I began to talk to the kid…he sounded…” Guilt flashed in his eyes, making him pause.

Maddie set down her fork to lace her fingers through Tom’s hand. “What happened, baby?”

“He was terrified of me, Mads.” The other finished shakily, squeezing her hand to comfort himself. “I tried to tell him that I wasn’t going to hurt him, but he kept begging me to leave. Obviously, I wasn’t going to do that. What kind of cop would I be if I just left him there?” He shook his head. “I couldn’t leave him to fend for himself in the woods. If he didn’t want to come to me, then I would come to him. And when I did…when I found where he was hiding…he wasn’t a normal kid.” Tom stopped to scroll through his photo library again. It took a minute for him to pull up a small album of pictures. He handed his phone to Maddie with trepidation. “He wasn’t a human. He’s the new cryptid Crazy Carl’s hasn’t stopped talking about for the past few years. The Blue Devil. I don’t know what he is exactly. My best guess is that he is an alien hedgehog of some kind. And he is in pretty bad shape. That’s why Carl and I have been going on nightly hunts. We’ve been trying to catch him and get him the help he needs.”

In lieu of a response, Maddie kept scrolling through the photos, analyzing every inch. Tom would never go this far for a prank, and she knew he struggled with modern phones. He could barely crop a photo, much less edit a blue creature perfectly into existence. Most of the photos were blurry, taken at night with only the camera’s flash and Carl’s flashlight to luminate the space. The higher quality photos were shot in the daytime, showing strange paw prints and pieces of shed fur. Another picture had Tom holding a blue quill in his palm, a penny next to it for size comparison. It did look like the quills she had seen on the hedgehogs that visited her clinic. While it was much longer and an unnatural blue, it still seemed to be made of keratin and have the same thickness. There was the chance that it was fake, but Maddie wanted to hear her husband out. She had never seen Tom look so heartbroken when he told her about how scared the alien boy was of him. This was serious to him despite Maddie’s reluctance to believe that extraterrestrials were real and apparently shaped like spiny balls of fluff. None of Tom’s photos could capture a full body photo of the infamous ‘Blue Devil’. However, what she could see concerned her: missing patches of fur on a leg, the thinness to his arms, green discharge coming from an infected eye, blood staining tiny feet. The photos did not show them, but Maddie had no doubt in her mind that this poor creature was covered in fleas and ticks. 

If there was anything that Tom was right about, it was that the ‘Blue Devil’ needed help. 

After Maddie returned his phone, Tom glanced anxiously at her. “So. Do you believe me? I know it’s a lot, and I didn’t even believe my own eyes when I-”

“I believe you.” Maddie squeezed his hand reassuringly, a grin on her face. “I’m definitely freaked out, but I got it under control. You should acknowledge how under control I’ve been.”

“Yup, I know. You’re the best. I don’t deserve you.”

“My sister would agree.” She snickered before her expression sobered. “You said you’ve been doing this for two weeks. How has it been going for you and Carl.”

“Not very good. He knows we’re looking for him, so he stays far from our reach. At least, he seems to be getting used to our presence. We leave him food and just…talk. He doesn’t answer, but I know he’s listening. The little guy isn’t good at hiding, so I can spot him pretty quickly. He stays in the trees whenever we visit. It’s a fifty-fifty chance if he eats the food we bring him after we leave. Carl thinks we have a chance at catching him if we use traps, and he is technically right. But I don’t want to do that. I want to do it the right way, even if it takes longer.” Tom spoke sternly, a protective fire in his gaze. 

Maddie nodded. “Long way it is. I’ll join you and Carl on these trips. Get the little guy used to more people.”

“Wait. You want to help?”

“Of course, I do. Can’t let you have all the fun.”

“I really don’t deserve you.” Tom sighed with a dopey smile. 

She giggled, shaking her head fondly. “Eh, it’s been too quiet lately. I’ve been missing something exciting. Hopefully it doesn’t end in you having a long term rivalry with a snapping turtle again!”

“That was one time!”

“One time too many!”

Laughter erupted from the couple, and they enjoyed their meal in a comfortable silence. Since they got married and settled down in Green Hills, the town Tom grew up in, their lives became as uneventful as the town itself. The calm, predictable day-to-day life they had was not something they complained about. It was a welcome reprieve after the chaos they endured during Maddie’s time in vet school. Tom had to work two full-time jobs and a third part-time job to help her afford tuition and pay their regular bills since Maddie didn’t have a job yet. Staying up all night studying and going through countless textbooks was stressful for Maddie, and she knew how much strain Tom was under to keep them both afloat. After Maddie graduated with a doctorate in veterinary medicine and became board certified to be a veterinary surgeon, they were more than ready for a break. It had been years since then, so it was about time for a bit of mayhem to return to their lives.

However, that mayhem took the form of a living being, who needed to be treated with great care. Tom and Maddie needed a plan. They needed a good plan that had no chances of failing. In her experience, the forest was a harsh place for lost animals. She could only hope that ‘The Blue Devil’ would not succumb to nature’s harshness.

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Something was wrong. 

Something was very, very wrong.

A whimper left the hoglet’s mouth once his umpteenth coughing fit had ended. His chest heaved from the exertion, feeling too tight and aching fiercely. Sonic curled in his nest, groaning miserably, and tried to ignore the emptiness in his stomach. For the past several days, his energy had been steadily draining from him. Now, he had nothing left. Even blinking felt like too much effort, so Sonic had stayed in his cave, feeding off of the rations he had collected.

He had never felt this weak before, it scared him, but Sonic ignored that fearful voice in his head. It wouldn’t be long until Sonic bounced back. The hoglet never stayed sick for long, so he did not have anything to worry about. Right ? Right. Totally nothing wrong. 

“Blue! Are you there, buddy?”

“Sorry, we’re late! We brought your favorite to make up for it!”

Oh no . Sonic pressed his ears against his head from the loud voices nearby, head beginning to pound. That was another thing. Ever since he was caught by Donut Lord, the man refused to forget about him. In fact, he had not left Sonic alone for months now, bringing two other humans with him. Crazy Gramps, the old guy who was the first to see him, and Pretzel Lady, a woman who went with Donut Lord and often showed her lack of bones. She did not talk as much as Donut Lord, often sitting down and beginning to hum while doing stretches…Stretches that Sonic may or may not have tried in private, pulling several muscles, because she looked so calm doing them. It had been a while since Crazy Gramps visited, but it was difficult to notice when Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady bickered with each other. Their banter became Sonic’s favorite thing to listen to, making him have to conceal his giggles more often than not. 

When Crazy Gramps and Donut Lord began visiting, Sonic had no choice but to listen in. After his disastrous first time leaving the forest, the hoglet’s shoes completely fell apart. With how fast he was running, Sonic hadn’t noticed until his feet felt like they were being sliced off . His paw pads had been destroyed, the first layer of skin entirely removed. It took weeks for his paws to heal enough for him to stand without agony. Without being able to move unless he was crawling, he could not escape whenever the two humans came to his forest. At first, he had been mortified, convinced that they were there to take him away. However, they never did. They just talked to him and left daily meals. Unbeknownst to them, their food was the only thing preventing Sonic from starving to death, his injured legs prevented him from moving further than a few feet. It was just enough for Sonic to crawl to the river outside his cave, so he at least had a water source. Even so, Sonic had no idea how he would have fed himself without the human’s help. 

Against his every instinct, Sonic grew to like the three humans in his forest. Donut Lord was his favorite to mess with. While the hoglet continued to stay far away and silent, Sonic liked to throw pebbles at Donut Lord whenever he would say a terrible pun. He enjoyed Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady the most. They were kind to him, and Pretzel Lady gave him more than just food. She gifted him blankets, pillows, comic books, canned food, and a thermos filled with hot chocolate that she would refill when he left it at their meeting spot. 

They meant a lot to him, and Sonic fought himself every day to not jump down from his tree and run into their arms. Pretzel Lady and Donut Lord kept telling Sonic that they would take care of him, give him a home, and protect him with their lives. He wanted to believe it. He desperately wanted to believe it. Wanted to trust them. But he didn’t know how. Longclaw’s words kept ringing in his head whenever he thought about leaving with Pretzel Lady and Donut Lord. She wanted him to keep running. To stay hidden. His power made him a target. More importantly, it made whoever he was with a target. What if the same thing happened to Pretzel Lady and Donut Lord? What if they got killed because of Sonic?

He could not take that risk.

“Little Blue! You there?”

But…he still wanted to.

Body aching and head pounding, Sonic sluggishly climbed out of his cave. The hoglet shivered, fur puffing out, as cold winds attacked him. Winter would be starting any day now, and Sonic dreaded it. Sonic rose on shaky legs and approached the clearing that had become their visiting spot. With many grunts of effort, he lifted himself onto the sturdy branches of his favorite tree to hide in. From his higher spot, Sonic could see Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady waiting for him below. He grabbed one of the thinner branches and shook it.

“Oh! There you are, Blue!” Donut Lord looked up, smiling.

Sonic puffed out an amused breath at the nickname. He reached for a pinecone and threw it at the man’s head.

With his terrible aim, the pinecone landed harmlessly beside Donut Lord. Snickers came from Pretzel Lady, so Sonic still considered his throw a success. Donut Lord picked up the pinecone and placed his free hand on his hip. “Very funny. You know, you’re being a real pine in the neck.”

The hoglet placed his hand over his mouth and blew raspberries into it.

“Aw, come on! That wasn’t that bad. How about this,” Donut Lord grinned. “What did the pinecone say to the pretty tree?” He smiled wider when Pretzel Lady audibly sighed. “I’m pining for you!”

Chaos, he is a loser. Despite himself, Sonic found himself chuckling. His energy improved by a marginal amount. Maybe he wasn’t as sick as he feared. He could have just ate something spoiled. Nothing concerning.

Pretzel Lady flicked Donut Lord on the head. “That’s enough out of you, mister. Blue came here to eat these fresh chili dogs, not hear your terrible jokes.”

Sonic’s tail wagged. Yeah, he wasn’t sick at all. He was fine.

Completely fine.

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Everything was not fine.

I can’t move. I can’t move. I can’t move.

WHY CAN’T I MOVE?

Snow began to fill the interior of his cave as the blizzard outside worsened. 

Am I going to die?

I don’t want to die!

Tears pricked at Sonic’s eyes. He hadn’t felt this awful in his life. Just a few hours ago, he had been with Pretzel Lady and Donut Lord, listening to them talk about a family of ducklings that they helped that morning. Donut Lord had helped them cross the street but needed to bring them to Pretzel Lady’s vet clinic when he noticed the wound on the mother duck’s neck. It did not surprise Sonic. Over time, he realized that their kindness towards him was nothing new for the two. They were nice to anything big or small, fluffy or scaly, person or animal. It brought up fuzzy memories of the kind rabbit lady who babysitted him when Longclaw needed to travel for her role as a mentor to other Mobians. He couldn’t remember her name or what she sounded like, but he knew the rabbit smelled like cake and would sing him lullabies and put bows in his quills. 

He missed her. He missed Pretzel Lady. He missed Donut Lord. Above all…

Sonic missed Longclaw. 

She would know how to cure him. No matter how impossible something seemed to Sonic, Longclaw could easily figure it out. Even this. Longclaw always knew what to do. No one was smarter than her. His guardians would find out how to make him move again and probably lecture him for being reckless.

And she would wrap him in her warm wings. Make him feel like the luckiest kid in Mobius. She would read to him, her soothing voice never failing in making him fall asleep in her wings. Despite their physical differences, Longclaw put in the effort to care for Sonic’s quills and teach him how to maintain them. If his fur or quills were particularly messy, she would use her beak to preen him until she was satisfied. Even when Sonic discovered his ability to run at super speeds, Longclaw kept her patience with the hyperactive hoglet. If other Mobians tried to mock him for his abnormal speed and energy, the owl would be the first to defend Sonic and later reassure him that there was nothing wrong with him. Sonic got to join her on flights as a reward when he behaved or as a present for his birthday. Longclaw loved him unconditionally, and he loved her. Her soft feathers, her hoots when she laughed, her gentle voice, her beak tickling his stomach or preening his quills, her coos and trills that acted as a lullaby when Sonic was scared, her everything …Sonic wanted her back. That desperate want for Longclaw burrowed into Sonic, leaving a hole that could never be filled. He missed her so much it hurt. 

But that didn’t matter.

Longclaw was dead.

Would he die too?

Would he see her again if he did?

More tears fell from his eyes. 

Exhaustion wrapped around his body, making his eyelids weigh hundreds of pounds. Maybe it was better if he slept. There was nothing else he could do. His body was frozen. He would soon be buried under the snow. Sleeping would be better.

“Do you see anything, Tom?!”

“No! The blizzard’s too thick! We might need to leave and get help!”

“We can’t! If we can’t find him now, he will die!”

I’m so tired.

His chest hurt. His eyes ached. His fur itched. His body useless.

“How will we find him?!”

“I don’t know! Try looking for any fur or quills!”

Longclaw. Her warmth and strength. 

Can I see her again?

“Wait! I think I see something! There’s a hole over here!”

“Be careful!”

A bright light shone into his cave. 

Scents of sugar and bread.  

Donut Lord.

“Oh god, kid.” Warm hands wrapped around him, pulling the hoglet into an even warmer jacket. “I found him, Maddie!”

Scents of roses and antiseptic. 

“Let’s go then!” 

Pretzel Lady. 

Fingers poking at him. “Mads, he isn’t moving!” 

“Could be a paralysis tick, but I won’t know unless we go to my clinic.”

“I think he’s covered in fleas too…”

“I feared that. Let’s get him home.”

Sonic felt two differently sized hands card through his quills.

“You’re safe now.”

Frozen, scared, and ill, all that Sonic could do was believe them.

“We got you, kid. We got you.”

Chapter Text

For a name as formidable as ‘The Blue Devil’, the tiny hedgehog in their bathtub did not look demonic whatsoever.

Although, the red tint to the water was certainly terrifying. 

“Tom, calm down. He isn’t actually injured.”

“Not injured?! The bathtub is filled with blood! He’s probably bleeding out, Mads!” The brunette ran his hands roughly through his hair, tugging at the strands in stress. How was his wife so calm about this? Sure, Maddie saw this kind of stuff at her clinic on a daily basis, but…still! Something was seriously wrong with Blue. The hoglet wasn’t moving at all and there was so much blood in the water! He was going to die-

A warm hand squeezed his shoulder. Maddie looked at him imploringly. “Trust me, baby. I’ve checked him all over. His body is in terrible shape, but there aren't any deep wounds to be concerned about. You see the tiny black spots all over his fur?”

“Yeah. Is that dirt?”

Maddie shook her head, gaze solemn. “I wish it was, but they aren’t. They’re fleas.” She picked up a white bottle, completely empty after they used it to lather Blue’s expanse of fur in medicated shampoo. “The fleas are dead thanks to this, that’s why they’re more visible than they were before. All the red you see isn’t from any cuts.”

“Then what is it?”

“What do fleas eat, Tom?”

“Blood?”

“Yes, and what happens to food after it’s been digested?”

There was a pause, Tom taking a moment to think about her question. When food is digested it becomes… “ Eugh .”

“Yup. That’s all flea poop. Welcome to being a vet. Now, help me wash him off.” 

It took an hour of careful scrubbing to remove every dead flea from the hoglet’s fur. They had to take extra precaution not to prick themselves on his quills as they did so. Tom grimaced at the parasites while Maddie did not bat an eye, plucking them off with her bare hands. Eventually, she had to leave their bathroom to retrieve a flea comb from the emergency vet kit she kept at home. Her and Tom took turns brushing the remaining fleas and flea eggs, always switching once their hands grew sore. Once Maddie was confident that there were no remaining fleas or eggs, she sat back on her knees. Blue had yet to move, remaining limp against the rim of the tub. The only sign that he was still alive was the weak rise and fall of his little chest. It made her heart ache at the sight. While the fleas would no longer be an issue, the hoglet was not even close to being in the clear. His paralysis was the most concerning, and Maddie had a suspicion as to what caused it. In fact, some of the culprits were crawling at the bottom of the tub. Ticks . If there was one creature she hated more than fleas and mosquitoes, it would be ticks. 

The medicated shampoo was made with fleas and ticks in mind. While it effectively killed the former, the ladder would remove itself from its host in order to escape the shampoo’s suffocating lather. Maddie glared at the horrid things, hating the sight of their engorged abdomen, filled with the blood they took from Blue. Based on how large the ticks had gotten, all of them had been feeding off of the poor hoglet for a while. The only good thing about the ticks' endless gluttony was that they were rendered near immobile once they got to a certain size. Which made them easy to catch. It only took a few minutes to gather all the fallen ticks and place them in a bucket filled with bleach that she ordered Tom to fetch. Maddie felt a familiar satisfaction as she dropped each tick into the toxic liquid, something she always felt after removing these parasites from her patients. This was not the worst case of ticks she had seen. That goes to an unfortunate pet burmese python whose owner abandoned it in the woods. It took hours to remove each parasite from the snake. It broke her heart to see how weak the snake was, breaking further when she realized how calm and friendly the python was. However, there was one thing that the python did not have that Blue did: paralysis from his neck downwards. Her more optimistic side wanted to insist that the hoglet was simply tired, but the vet in her knew better. At some point during their journey back home, Blue had woken up and shrieked in terror, in tears as he struggled to even twitch. His cries were like knives in Maddie’s heart.

She could only hope that they were not too late. To be safe, she fetched another bottle of flea and tick shampoo to wash Blue a second time. Tom left to prepare the guest room for Blue, so it was just her and the unconscious alien. As Maddie carded her fingers through blue fur, checking for any leftover parasites, she reminisced on the past several months with ‘The Blue Devil’. It was her idea to shorten the title to just Blue until the hoglet spoke to them. Tom insisted he could talk, but he himself did not know why Blue remained silent. Her husband described Blue’s voice as belonging to a little boy with an adorable squeakiness. Maddie wished to hear it and hoped the child would finally feel safe enough to talk. From their interactions, she had a feeling he would be a total chatterbox. He was very responsive in his own way, making fart noises at Tom’s puns and throwing various seeds or pebbles when he was annoyed or wanted attention. On the days where Blue was feeling brave, he would poke his head out of the protection of his tree and gaze at them with curious eyes. It took all of her self control for Maddie to not squeal whenever he would show his precious face. He was cuter than any puppy or kitten; he was all eyes, wide emeralds that put any doe to shame. His muzzle was a soft peach color and tended to quirk up in a mischievous grin, and he had pointy ears that perked up at every noise. Blue was the embodiment of innocence to Maddie, and she was determined to protect it.

“You’re going to hate me for this, Blue.” Maddie whispered once she finished her second round of washing. If she wanted to protect this boy, then she knew she had to go further than another wash. There was a chance, very slim but possible, that there was a tick she failed to remove. A tick that could be the one responsible for Blue’s paralysis. With her luck, it was likely she hadn’t removed the parasite responsible.

With great reluctance, Maddie stood up and went to Tom’s side of the sink. She rummaged through his cabinets until she found the electric razor he used to shave and occasionally cut his hair when he forgot to go to the barber for the umpteenth time. After plugging it in, she sent a mental ‘thank you’ to the universe that Blue was still asleep. 

After twenty minutes of shaving Blue, Tom walked into the bathroom. “Room’s ready. Do we need anything el- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“Shaving him.”

“Why?!” 

“Remember what I said about Blue probably having paralysis caused by a tick?” When he nodded, Maddie continued with a sigh. “I need to make sure that there aren't any ticks left. His head and scalp should be fine, I checked it thoroughly and the fur is short enough that I’d notice if there were any left. His quills have no blood for ticks to drink, so they don’t need to come off. Can you get the extra blankets in the storage closet? He’ll definitely need some hoodies too.”

Tom winced as he looked at Blue’s shaved body. Most of his stomach and arms had been shaved, revealing the peach skin underneath, and Maddie was currently working on his lower back. “Are you sure we need to shave all of him? I’m sure we got everything.”

Instead of responding, Maddie continued working on the blue hoglet. Her eyes were scrunched in concentration, shaving another part gently. And as the azure fur fell away, she saw what she’d been worried about. Another tick, belly close to bursting with blood, attached directly on Blue’s spine. She grabbed the tweezers she placed earlier in her pockets and skillfully plucked out the pest. Its legs wiggled angrily at being removed, but no amount of struggling could free it from her iron grasp. With a tired smile, she showed the horrid parasite to her husband. “ This is why we shave our patients when they are infested with ticks.”

“Gross.”

“You get used to it after the hundredth tick you remove from a snake.”

“...Have I told you you’re the strongest person I know?”

“Yes, but it wouldn’t hurt to hear it more often!”

The pair’s chuckles filled the air before Maddie’s expression sobered. “I haven’t treated many patients for tick paralysis. It’s pretty rare. It only occurs when a female tick has a specific toxin in her saliva, and only a select few species of ticks carry it. One of them is the Rocky Mountain wood tick, which I’ve found all over Blue.” She shaved another section of fur near the hoglet’s leg, finding another but far smaller tick. Her brows pinched togethers, lips downturned. It made her look older than she was, exhaustion evident in her gaze. The woman’s voice became softer, sadder. It was the tone she would give to the owner’s of many beloved pets when she delivered bad news. “We have no way of knowing how long these ticks have been on Blue. The patients I did treat for paralysis only had the tick for a few days and improved once it was removed. And even then it was just their back legs that couldn’t move…I’ve read, however, that the paralysis can spread to the lungs.” Maddie’s voice cracked. “When I listened to Blue’s lungs earlier, I could hear the respiratory infection he had in seconds . I checked his teeth, and he’s so young, Tom. And he’s already so malnourished and sick. If the paralysis spreads to his lungs when they’re already so weak…I don’t want to make any promises about his outlook.”

Silence. 

Tom swallowed the thick knot in his throat, but it returned with a vengeance when he looked at the limp hoglet. The thought that Blue may not make it never crossed his mind. Aliens were supposed to be so much stronger than humans, right? How could an Earth parasite and illness defeat an alien hedgehog? Especially an alien hedgehog who…has no immunity to common Earth diseases and has been living alone in the forest for at least two years. Shit . He thought painfully, eyes misting over. 

If someone were to tell him a few months ago that he would be crying over a blue, spiky alien, then he would not have believed them and just laughed instead. Anyone in that position, except for Carl and probably Wade, would think it was a joke. Afterall, they would be talking about an alien, which he already doubted was real. And, worse, they would be talking about the alien being small, covered in bright blue fur and quills, with large green eyes, and the ability to run faster than sound…Yeah, he would not have even tried to think that it was anything but a joke. Yet it wasn’t. This fast ball of quills and fur was very much real, and Tom had grown attached. Very attached.

Without a word, Tom knelt beside his wife and held Blue’s small, limp hand.

Hang on, Blue. Please. Just…hang on.

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Sonic was floating.

He didn’t know how, as he could not swim, but he was floating. In water that felt neither hot nor cold. In water that was too shallow yet too deep. In water that left his fur dry.

“Wake up.”

I don’t want to.

After two years of struggling to survive on a planet he did not belong in, and no friend to his name, Sonic the Hedgehog was done. Six years was plenty of life for him. Everyone always said that he was too impatient anyways. Why wait decades for him to die of old age when he could just do it now? His body ached. His stomach roared in pain and hunger. His throat cried for water. His heart couldn't take the solitude anymore. He could stop floating on the surface of life and finally sink into a sleep he would not wake up from. What was the point of going on? His last memories were of the blizzard filling his cave with snow, and he could not so much as lift a finger. If he did wake up, he would just slowly freeze to death. At least, this way, he would not have to feel any pain. No one was coming for him. Pretzel Lady, Donut Lord, and Crazy Gramps would forget about him eventually.

Then the tiniest paw Sonic had ever felt placed itself on his forehead. It stroked over his quills, almost insistently. With a voice like warmed honey, the owner of the paw whispered. “ Wake up, hoglet. It is not your time to go yet.” Despite never hearing the voice before, something within Sonic relaxed immediately. Like he instinctively knew the voice was safe and trustworthy. 

But Sonic was tired . It seemed like his bottomless well of energy was not as endless as he thought. He could not open his eyes even if he wanted to. They felt rusted shut, no amount of force able to pry them apart. His loneliness further weighed down his eyelids, reminding him of how unbearable it was to be alone for two years. His grief locked them tight, promising him the chance to reunite with Longclaw if he gave in. 

“She wanted you to live more than anything, young one. Do you not remember?”

Of course, he did. No amount of time or suppression could ever make him forget. Longclaw used her body as a shield the second the echidnas rained arrows upon their home. She could have flown to safety with her powerful wings, but she stayed to protect Sonic. Instead of using her precious seconds to escape, she used them to give Sonic her satchel of rings and send him to a safe planet. Those seconds were all it took for several arrows to pierce through Longclaw’s chest, yet the owl remained steadfast, guarding the open portal with the last of her strength. Even as blood poured from her wounds, she did not falter until the portal was closed. Sonic had realized that Longclaw would die far too late, trying to return to his guardian. Only for the portal to dissipate into a golden mist. It was the first time his speed failed him. Failed her . 

Would he fail her again if he gave up? Would her sacrifice be in vain? Deep down, Sonic knew the answer and that the strange voice was right. Still…he was so tired. Maybe Longclaw would be happy to see him?

A sigh. “No. She would be devastated.”

Anger, though weak, surged through him. Who was this stranger? What right did they have to say such a thing? It was almost enough for Sonic to open his eyes. However, the fire died as soon as it came. Longclaw would have wanted him to be happy, but would she want him to suffer at the same time? Sonic had not been truly happy since he lost her. The closest he ever got to feeling like his old, joyful self was whenever Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady visited him. What did it matter? If he came back, he would die in the snow. He wouldn’t see them again no matter what he did.

“That is where you’re wrong, child. You were saved by them. I can prove it, but I need you to open your eyes.”

Saved? Tentative hope crept into his heart, lifting the weight from his eyes. Over the past few months of knowing Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady, they were the model example of a good samaritan. Their kindness knew no bounds, and he would not put it past them to save animals in a blizzard…but to save him ? He wanted to believe it was true, even if a majority of him doubted it. Screw it. Sonic used all of his willpower to finally open his eyes fully. He had to know.

“There you are.” 

Sonic groaned miserably as his vision was flooded with bright light. It felt like he was staring into the sun from how much it stung, a feeling he unfortunately knew from experience. He rubbed his face several times until the blobs and blurs sharpened into something discernable. Although, there was not much to see. The hoglet was surrounded by a void of white. Some of the white would be interrupted with blue, but there were no other features. “Where am I?” 

“In a limbo of sorts. I’m sorry for how bland it looks. I cannot change it.” Fluttering wings sounded as a tiny being floated in front of him. They reminded him of the chihuahuas that would yap at him when their owners took them on walks through the forest. They had burgundy fur with a white muzzle, hands, and paws. Their wings were light blue, almost transparent like a fairy’s. A tuft of white fur sat atop their head, reminding Sonic of a dollop of ice cream, and an even larger white tuft acted as their tail. A silver necklace was wrapped around their neck with a green ball in the center. Large ears with rounded tips were perked up, attentive and alert. Their bronze eyes looked at the hoglet fondly, filled with a warmth he did not understand. Their voice was the same one Sonic had been hearing, whispering comforting words of encouragement. As if understanding the boy’s confusion, the stranger smiled. “Don’t worry, I will help you return to the living world. I am Light Gaia, the protector of life and light. One of my duties is to protect the balance between the living and the dead. I was awakened when I sensed your impending death.”

“Why would you do that? Aren’t gods supposed to not care about that kinda stuff?” Sonic blinked, tilting his head. He remembered plenty of tales from Longclaw about how gods were never to ‘interfere with mortals’. While he did not know what that exactly meant, he could get the gist of it. Gods stayed away for the most part. 

Light Gaia laughed again, sounding like the twinkling of bells. “I always forget how silly you tend to be, Sonic. I’m not a god. You see, gods create things. I cannot do that. What I do is protect what the gods have already created. Which includes you.” His cheery tone turned serious and the space darkened to match the change in atmosphere. He raised one of his hands towards the few blue splotches in the void. The being twisted his wrists and moved his fingers until a familiar, spiked shape emerged. “In every universe, Sonic the Hedgehog holds a great importance, good or bad. If he were to disappear before his proper time, a great imbalance would emerge in the world. I must keep this balance or else entire universes can collapse.” He swept his hand in a wide motion, causing several more ‘Sonics’ to form. Their features emerged from the blue, becoming more unique. 

While Sonic did not understand… anything Light Gaia had said, he was captivated by the different versions of him being manifested. There was one covered in shimmering golden armor and holding a mighty sword. There was another who was far taller, hands and legs wrapped in sports tape, a brown bandana, and a very cocky grin. There was a small version of him with lighter fur, a round body, and black eyes. There was a version with strange shoes and gloves that seemed to be constantly shifting in shape, color, and size. There was one who seemed to be straight out of the comic books Sonic got his hands one and another out of the ‘Buff Man Turns Yellow When Angry’ show he watched Donut Lord play on his phone from afar. All of them looked confident, powerful, brave…yet kind.  

“Woah.” Sonic walked towards the first one he had seen, the one covered in glimmering armor. However, when he reached to touch the projection, another similarly armored being stopped him. A dark sword halted his hand, glowering crimson eyes glaring at him through its helmet visor. In a chain reaction, other dark and red beings emerged behind Sonic’s doppelgangers. 

“You are very important, Sonic, but you’re not the only important person.” Light Gaia responded patiently. He fluttered over to the new being who had swung at Sonic, now bowed before his golden-armored version. “In every universe, you will have the one who reflects you. Completes you in a way none can.”

Despite the ominous words, Sonic’s tail began to wag. “Like a friend?!”

His ears drooped when Light Gaia shook his head. “More like a rival. It’s what I’ve seen happen the most.” He motioned to the version of him with the bandana, whose black and red reflection stood behind him menacingly with clenched fists. “But there are worlds, while few, where you are companions.” He gestured towards the version with shifting gloves and shoes, whose black and red reflection stood beside him with a grumpy frown. “Even something more.” He pointed at the armored version of him, whose black and red reflection emanated an aura of pure dedication and loyalty.

“How do you know about this? About me?” Sonic asked tentatively. “I’ve never seen you before or even heard of you.”

“My existence is complicated, but you do not need to worry about it, child.” Light Gaia waved his hand again, causing Sonic’s alternate versions and their dark reflections to dissipate. He flew upwards, landing on the hoglet’s head. “We’ve always been friends, Sonic. I will help you, no matter what. All I need is your permission first, and I can send you back.”

That was right. Light Gaia said he could help Sonic return to life with–“Wait. Are you sure Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady saved me? Do they even want me?” He wrapped his arms around himself, frowning.

Light Gaia’s eyes became impossibly softer. “They do. In fact, they are currently doing everything they can to heal you as we speak.” He fluttered off of Sonic’s head and landed onto the ground. The being sat down and patted the spot next to him invitingly. It took a few seconds for Sonic to accept the invitation. With a flourish, Light Gaia moved his hand and caused a portion of the white to turn into a window of sorts. It showcased a saddening sight. Both humans who always visited Sonic with smiles, stories, and snacks were hunched over a bed, each looking like they hadn’t slept in days. Something in Sonic’s heart twisted as he saw tears fall from Donut Lord's eyes while Pretzel Lady shouted something at someone faraway. She turned to say something to Donut Lord, likely a demand with how quickly Donut Lord left the room. Without Donut Lord obstructing part of the bed, Sonic could see what they were panicking over.

Sonic’s stomach dropped.

“Is that…me?”

“Yes.”

On the bed was an almost skeletal hoglet, most of his fur shaved off. A mask and tube were attached to his mouth, and his body was covered in wires. Sonic had never seen himself look so terrible before. So lifeless. He felt particularly disturbed when he saw how abnormally thin his legs looked. What had happened to him? Sonic almost did not want the answer. He gazed at the burgundy-furred being, who was staring right back.

Sympathy filled Light Gaia’s eyes. “You have been unconscious for three months. These humans have been caring for you nonstop. An Earth parasite infected you, which is why you could not move. They have removed the parasite, but its effects still remain. It spread to your lungs, so they put you in a medically induced coma. It’s a way to put you to sleep and let your body heal. However, you have been getting worse lately, which alerted me so I could intervene.”

“Was I gonna die?”

“If I did not step in, you would have. But, with my help, you can heal from this.”

In a meek voice, Sonic whispered. “What about my legs?”

“I will be honest with you, child. It will take a long time for your legs to regain their muscle and function. You will be in a lot of pain and face many difficulties.” Light Gaia sighed heavily before he continued with a determined grin. “But you will heal. You will return to normal eventually. It will just take time, and I know your humans will be there for you every step of the way.”

“And if I wake up…will I grow up to be like those other versions of me?”

The other’s smile widened. He nodded. “I cannot tell you the specifics of what your future holds, but I can say that you are destined for greatness, Sonic.”

“What about that weird, evil reflection of me?”

“Hm. You will meet him eventually, but he isn’t evil, child. You two are more alike than you think.” Light Gaia winked. “And the third will agree with me.”

Sonic jumped. “Wait, third-”

“Don’t worry about him yet. His time will come, much like yours.” Suddenly, the smile vanished from his face. Light Gaia looked faraway, staring into something Sonic was blind to. In a quieter voice, the being uttered. “I cannot stop nor warn you of the pain and loss you will face. Those hardships are what will form you into the hero you will become. You will persevere, Sonic. Just remember to keep going.”

“Never stop running…” Sonic muttered, remembering Longclaw’s words to him.

“No. To run is to avoid your problems and ignore what matters most. Your mentor meant for your safety when she said that, but there is more to it. To keep going is to never give up, no matter how difficult things will become. Can you do that, Sonic?”

He thought back on his life with Longclaw, looking into the white void. As he stared into the blankness, he swore he could see the familiar silhouette of an owl in the distance. She always said to hide his powers, warned him of how they made him a target, taught him the best places to run without being seen, reminded him of the dangers of their world…And she had been right to do so. It was his ignorance of her warnings that made the echidnas find where they lived. But all those versions of him looked like they would never run from danger. They would actively seek it, and then save people from it. Like a hero. That’s what Light Gaia said he would be. What would Longclaw think if he did that, though? Her sacrifice would mean nothing if he embraced his powers.

The silhouette grew more detailed. Her feathers glimmered in the light of the white void, long and elegant like always. Her hooked beak was curved in a gentle smile. Her blue eyes gazed into his own. Full of so many things.

Love. Sadness. Pride. Joy. Concern.

Acceptance.

‘Go, my dear Sonic. You have a heart like no creature I’ve ever known. I love you so much.’

Tears flowed down Sonic’s face, but a shaky smile broke through. “I love you too, Longclaw.” He whispered.

“Are you ready, child?” Light Gaia placed a paw on his shoulder.

Sonic nodded. “I am. Thank you, Light Gah-ee-a?” He chuckled weakly. “Can I call you something else?” The hoglet sniffed the air, realizing the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafting from Light Gaia. “Maybe Chip?”

An elated giggled left the other. “I was wondering when you’d give me a nickname. I love it!” Chip grabbed Sonic’s hands in his own. “Let’s get you back to your family.”

His eyes grew heavy again, but the weight was warm. More like being wrapped in a warm blanket than being slammed shut. When Sonic began to slump, Chip lowered the hoglet’s body into a lying position. 

Sonic felt like he was floating again, but this time, he would not let himself sink. He knew his small, winged, chocolate-scented friend would not let him. 

He would rise to the surface. Like bread in the oven.

Like pretzels.

Like donuts.

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His mother’s words of ‘it takes a village to raise one child’ had never been more true than now. It had been three months since he and Maddie found Blue unmoving during one of Montana’s worst blizzards, and their stress had never been higher. Working three jobs to cover Maddie’s tuition at vet school and the bills seemed like child’s play after this. Supporting themselves financially had not been a matter of life and death, but everything surrounding Blue was. 

Maddie, like an oracle, had been right about Blue’s prognosis. Barely a day had passed since they rescued him when Blue’s lungs began to fail. They needed to rush him to Maddie’s clinic to intubate him and place him in a medicine-induced coma. With Blue comatose, Maddie got to work on getting his vitals, x-rays, and blood drawn. The many tests revealed the countless vitamin and mineral deficiencies the poor hoglet suffered from, and the hairline fractures that his legs and feet were covered in. She patched him up as best as she could, but Blue needed to stay in the clinic for long term treatment. Which meant revealing the young alien to her coworkers. As expected, they all freaked out, but Maddie managed to talk them out of calling animal control or the government. Luckily, Blue, even unconscious, was adorable enough to sway everyone from contacting the ladder. Her coworkers even agreed to help keep watch on Blue.

With how severe Blue’s condition was, he needed twenty-four hour surveillance. Maddie and Tom tried to do it alone for the first week, but they caved soon after and accepted her coworker’s aid. It was the right decision to make as, not a day after, one of them detected a further increase to Blue’s already elevated white blood cells. The vet that watched him that night while Maddie and Tom took a much needed nap did a test for the disease that many puppy owners were terrified of. Parvo. Blue tested positive for it, the virus wreaking havoc on his internal organs. It was one of the few things Maddie did not test for. Since it was caught early, they were able to treat the parvo before it got worse. 

Bit by bit, Blue began to improve. His parvo was cured, his anemia disappeared, his vitamin deficiencies rose, and his white blood cell levels returned to normal. 

Then, on the third month, Blue’s heart suddenly went into cardiac arrest.

It had been so unexpected that Maddie and Tom were frozen for a few seconds before they jumped into action. They had been staying late at the clinic with one of the senior vets who volunteered to help when it happened. Maddie began to deliver chest compression and shouted for the other vet to retrieve the medications that could improve Blue’s heart’s blood flow and ordered Tom to get the defibrillator to shock Blue once they found a pulse. 

For a moment, they had nothing. The only sound they heard was Blue’s heart monitor flatlining. It was the worst seconds of Tom and Maddie’s lives as they thought they had lost their little alien.

Until the heart monitor began to beep.

Blue’s heart regained its strength. It took a few hours of watching the body like a hawk until the couple felt safe enough to send Maddie’s coworker home. They felt guilt for keeping the older man in the clinic for so long. 

That had been five minutes ago.

“Uh, Mads?”

“Shh. Not now, Tom.” The woman did not even look up from her work of refilling Blue’s IV. 

“But-”

“Not. Now.” 

“I think he’s waking up, Maddie.” Tom whispered in awe. He gestured to Blue’s fluttering eyelids. 

“Wait what?!”

When Blue’s fingers began twitching, they both knew Tom was right. They froze, bodies tenser than a spring coil, as they watched Blue come to. He twitched more frequently, weak arms trying to push the intubation tube away. Maddie gently did it for him and smiled when she heard the hoglet taking deep breaths. To be safe, she still placed an oxygen mask over his peach muzzle. 

Finally, after three grueling months, those emerald eyes opened. 

Tom did not even try to stop the tears from forming. “Hey…Hey, Baby Blue.”

“You’ve been asleep for a while. How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?” Maddie asked kindly.

Blue shook his head.

“I’m glad. You gave us quite a scare, Blue-”

Blue shook his head again. “Ssss…” He soon erupted into a coughing fit.

“Oh, geeze. Your throat must be really dry.” Tom briefly left to retrieve a cup of water from the clinic’s staff room. He moved Blue’s oxygen mask and held the paper cup to the hoglet’s mouth. Greedy gulps followed and Tom refilled the cup four times before Blue felt hydrated enough.

In a scratchy, meek voice, Blue spoke to them for the first time in months. “Sonic.”

“Is…Is that your name?” Now, tears were in Maddie’s eyes. 

A nod. 

“It’s wonderful. Special. Just like you are, kiddo.” Tom whispered, fondness laced in his tone.

“Thank you.” Sonic croaked. “For everything.”

Maddie smiled. “We would do it  all over again if we had to.”

“W-why?”

“‘Cause we care about you, kid.” An idea popped in Tom’s mind. He smirked. “We ‘quill’ always care about you.”

Sonic raised his arms, weak after months of misuse, just to slap Tom on the head.

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Living with someone else had become foreign to Sonic, but it was a change he welcomed and accepted whole heartedly. 

To put it simply, being alone had sucked, so not being alone was awesome. 

With any new thing, however, there was an adjustment period. Some bumps in the road. Particularly with Sonic’s recovery. Due to being in a coma for a few months, all of the muscles in his legs and arms deteriorated. Chip’s words about his road to healing being difficult and painful had been deathly accurate. Sonic had been hoping that Chip was over exaggerating, but it was unlikely for an ancient omnipotent being like Chip to ever be wrong. To start, Sonic needed to take a hoard of pills every day that left a bitter aftertaste. Pretzel Lady told him that the pills would help his body heal faster and often gave him sweets to get rid of the taste of medicine. It took several days of careful convincing to make Sonic trust that the white capsules in her hand were not going to poison him. 

While he knew that Pretzel Lady and Donut Lord had been nothing but kind to him, there was still the crucial fact that Sonic did not really know them. Their visits in the forests were purposefully curated to get him to trust the couple and let his guard down. Sonic was well aware of their goal, so he never risked leaving the safety of the trees when they came. Although, knowing all the effort they put into saving him from the blizzard and the months they spent by his bedside made it easier to quell the hoglet’s fears. If they wanted to hurt him, they would have done so long ago. Sonic felt ridiculous for continuing to be wary, yet Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady remained patient with him. During the first days in their home, the humans would explain what every pill did and would take one for themselves to prove that it was safe. Eventually, their efforts paid off. Now, Sonic only hesisted to take his pills due to the terrible taste, not the fear of it being laced with something. 

One thing Donut Lord did to make it less of a hassle to give a fussy boy his medicine was cook a new meal to go with the pills. With the addition of Pretzel Lady’s sweets, the Wachowski’s created a gluttonous monster. Sonic had never known that so many foods existed. Aside from the rare candy and even rarer junk food, all of his meals with Longclaw had been simple, mainly consisting of things she hunted or harvested herself. He ate many fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts with her. She encouraged him to eat whatever his instincts craved. Longclaw did the same, catching stray mice and rats, but she was not aware of what hedgehogs eat. She learned the hard way when she had to clean up a mud-covered hoglet after he had stuck his head into the dirt to eat any insect or worm he could find. Little did he know that Longclaw’s naturalistic tendencies would be vital in surviving on Earth. He would have starved if she never taught him to listen to the gross side of him that wanted to eat bugs. Those bugs were what kept him alive until he found the treasure trove that was trash cans. Eating wasteful human’s garbage and leftovers was the most luxurious his meals got. Sonic had accepted that he would never have a warm, Mobian meal again.

Sonic had never been so happy to be wrong. At first, Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady kept him on a liquid diet after he woke up. They explained that his stomach needed time to adjust to having real food again, so solids were off the table. He would have complained more if he hadn’t spent the past two years eating expired canned food and earthworms. But since he did spend two years eating like the rats Longclaw used to hunt, the daily soups they gave him were equivalent to a gourmet meal cooked by a Michelin-star chef. It was just so good . He never knew that so many things could be made into broth. And when he was cleared to have things in the broth, Sonic teared up on multiple occasions. His chicken broth was upgraded to have noodles, potatoes, carrots, and actual pieces of chicken! He learned about creamier soups like tomato and broccoli cheddar. He never thought anything with broccoli could be edible, let alone taste like a loving hug! He was introduced to the world of asian soups, and nearly lost his mind when he learned what wontons were. Who knew noodles could be filled with things?! He got so excited that he demanded for Donut Lord to give him the phone when he was ordering from the local chinese restaurant that had made the wonton soup. Sonic thanked the confused woman on the phone, calling her a genius and deserving of a gold medal, not knowing that she was not a chef and that she did not invent the dish. However, the restaurant was flattered by Sonic’s stunt, adding freshly-baked almond cookies to their order with no charge. 

…The world of soup was incredible.

And the world of solid food was immaculate . 

“ Whuh ish thif?! ” 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Blueberry.” Pretzel Lady pinched his cheek, a teasing smile on her face. She grabbed the napkin beside her and dabbed at the smeared sauce on his muzzle. There was a quiet ‘ thump, thump ’ as his tail wagged from the attention. That was another thing. Somehow, Pretzel Lady’s touch became more addictive than the candy she gave him. Her hands must have been blessed with how warm and gooey they made Sonic. She always knew the exact spot to scratch that would turn him into a puddle of content. When his fur began to grow back, he needed her touch almost constantly from his itchy skin. Donut Lord helped where he could, but he was better suited for patting his shoulder and ruffling his head. 

“Hey, squirt.” 

Which he was currently doing. Sonic batted his hand away, unable to frown with his cheeks filled  out like a chipmunk. 

Donut Lord placed his hand on his hip, the other holding a plate with a metal cover. “I take it you like sausages? You’ll have to tell that to Wade. He thinks his barbecue is better than mine. Heh.” His smugness increased tenfold as he set the covered plate in the center of the table. It took some maneuvering due to the other plates that littered the table. Likely wanting to show off to the hoglet, Donut Lord had cooked a feast for dinner. The human called it ‘BBQ’ and said it was an important tradition to have a barbeque on the weekend. Sonic never heard of it on Mobius, but he also knew that he was sheltered on the island he grew up on. 

Apparently, a barbeque lasted all day. It involved a lot of preparation according to Donut Lord, but he promised that it was worth it. Sonic did not understand why rubbing things on large slabs of meat was so important that Donut Lord dedicated hours to do it. He tried asking Pretzel Lady about it, but she only smiled and ruffled his ears. She said that ‘All good things need time, Sonic.’ and quickly shifted the conversation to teaching him how to make cornbread and biscuits. He accepted the distraction, happily forming balls of dough with Pretzel Lady at the table. Every time he tried to sneak outside to see what Donut Lord was doing, she would catch the rolling chair he used to move around in an instant. There was no winning against her reflexes, so Sonic admitted defeat and stopped trying to escape. The two ended up making not just cornbread and biscuits but two loaves of banana bread, a loaf of regular bread, and a ham and cheese quiche they split for breakfast. Hours passed until morning became afternoon and afternoon to night. By the time Sonic was debating eating worms again, Donut Lord announced that he was finished and to help set the table. 

When Donut Lord brought the first plate, Sonic knew the waiting had been worth it. It was the best dinner he had ever had with the couple. The table was overflowing with cornbread, biscuits, sausages, ribs, skewers of chicken and shrimp, pulled pork, brisket, and the pitcher of lemonade Donut Lord had made. The man eaglery talked about his process to them. Terms like ‘propane grill’ or ‘braised’ or ‘dry rub’ flew over his head, but Sonic cared little when Donut Lord was so happy and the food was godly . 

They ate and talked and Sonic’s heart felt fuller than his stomach. Two years of solitude, three months in a coma, and now five months awake. Five months with people who cared about him deeply. Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady…Tom and Maddie. The hoglet had known their names for a long time, but it felt intimidating to say it. Saying their real names would confirm how attached he was to them. How much it would hurt if he were to lose them. There was a chance that this living situation was not permanent, that they were only keeping him around out of pity. That they would get rid of him the moment he was fully healed. 

The last thought terrified him the most.

What if they were sick of taking care of him? What if they realized what a burden he was? What if they lied about…

A large pile of papers was placed in front of him.

“Uhm. Is this you saying I need to go to school, Donut Lord?”

A hearty laugh. “It isn’t, but we are trying to get that arranged!”

The scent of sugar and bread as Donut Lord sat next to him on the couch. 

“Soooo what are they?”

“Papers.”

“...I can see that…Thanks?”

“Special papers.”

“Uh…Thank you again?”

Soft footsteps coming from, announcing Pretzel Lady’s arrival. She had a thick, orange folder in her hands, but she was smiling as widely as Donut Lord was. Her scent of roses and antiseptic wafted over when she sat on Sonic’s other side. Pretzel Lady wrapped an arm around Sonic and squeezed him in a gentle, one-armed hug. “What Tom means to say is that these are papers that will let you live with us without trouble.”

Donut Lord nodded. “We were aware of the risks we’d be taking in caring for someone from another planet.” He tapped Sonic’s nose. “You technically don’t exist in the eyes of the government, which is a good thing, but also a bad one. We want you to have a life here, bud, but you can’t have a life hiding away. You deserve to go to school, have friends, experience things kids your age do. Without the fear of being taken away if you’re seen.”

“These papers make it so that the government cannot legally take you. We have been working with someone that knows about you, but wants to help. Her name is Judge Penny and she agreed to make it possible for you to live on Earth as freely as we do.”

“Really?! That’s…That’s amazing! Can we do it right now?!” The hoglet beamed up at the pair.

“Well, that’s the thing.” Donut Lord replied, rubbing the back of his head. “If you were to become a citizen, you’re still underage. You need legal guardians. Parents.”

Pretzel Lady held one of Sonic’s hands. She spoke in a hushed voice. “It means adopting you, Sonic.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Honestly, we considered you ours the moment Tom took you out of the snow, and that feeling has not changed. We love you, Sonic. To us, you’re already our family. Our son.” The woman paused to wipe at her eyes and take in a deep breath. “But it’s your choice. We don’t want to force you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“We’ll love you no matter what you choose, kiddo.” Donut Lord wrapped Sonic in his own one-armed hug, squeezing tight.

Now, the papers took on an entirely new aura. One of hope and belonging. “So these are…”

“Adoption papers.” Pretzel Lady confirmed.

“We want to adopt you as our son, Sonic.”

What if they lied about wanting to adopt him?

He knew he would not be able to handle it being a lie. He would ask Chip then and there to send him back to that white void if it were true. While Sonic would never admit it aloud, he knew exactly what that gooey feeling was. That warmth that filled his chest whenever Tom played on his guitar or Maddie petted his fur. The tears that burned behind his eyes every time they cheered him on during sore days or held him after a nightmare. That gooey, warm, sickly sweet feeling was love . It was the same feeling he had with Longclaw and it was happening a second time with Tom and Maddie. 

He was in too deep.

Yet…Sonic didn’t want to go back.

Sugar and bread. “You alright, kiddo?”

Sonic flinched, finally breaking out of his reverie. He gazed at Tom and Maddie, their eyes filled with identical looks of concern. They looked at him as if he meant the world…That was how he looked at them. 

I can’t believe I love these losers . Sonic grinned. “Yeah, I’m okay. Whaddya got for me, O Donut Lord?”

Instead of responding, Tom lifted the cover. Steam billowed out, quickly dissipating to reveal a pile of the best things in the universe. 

A plate of chili dogs.

Each bun was carefully toasted, the hot dog was cooked to perfection, and the chili smelled of rich spices that made Sonic’s mouth water. He had been living off of the memory of what they tasted like for so long. To see the real thing…Chaos, it was beautiful!

Sonic looked at Tom and Maddie, eyes wide. 

They grinned at him and winked at the same time.

It was so cringeworthy and cheesy, but Sonic found himself tearing up.

Yeah. I really do love these losers. 

And he was starting to believe they loved him back. 

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Beep. Beep. Beep.

A man in a dark suit sipped stale coffee from a white mug. In his other hand was a crossword puzzle. He had grabbed it from the facility’s commissary on a whim. It was something to pass the time.

The crossword puzzle was a simple one. It was about the elements on the periodic table. Instead of giving hints like the color or atomic number, the puzzle took a more unique approach.

I am one half of seventy percent. I am everywhere but not where it matters . What am I? It took him several minutes to find the answer. Hydrogen. When combined with oxygen, it became the water that covered most of the Earth’s surface. It is the most abundant element in the universe, yet there is more oxygen than hydrogen on Earth. 

I am a solid, but one letter turns me into a liquid. Silicon. 

Part of me has been forgotten by space, shunned away for my size. Plutonium. 

Fish can be me. Fool’s want me. Fowl’s lay me . Gold.

He was currently stumped on the next one. He tapped his pencil against the paper, reading the hint again. The words were bathed in green light, which originated from a cylindrical tank. Within the tank was a small creature, barely an inch in length. Several monitors were attached to the tank, whirring away with its vitals and other analytics. 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The grey-haired man took another sip of coffee. His eyes, one blue and one brown, glanced at the glowing tank. He stopped when his phone buzzed with a notification. With a sigh, he placed his coffee on the nearby nightstand and checked it. On it was a single message.

GREEN HILLS, MONTANA, USA. 

“There he is.” The man chuckled. 

After sending a reply to confirm he received the information, Tower looked back at his crosswords.

The good love me. The exceptional hate me. The pampered use me. The negative need me. 

“Giving me trouble already, Subject Three?”

Beep. Beep. Beep.