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"Shadow?" your voice was light like the breeze that grazed the grassy hills. Shadow's ear flickered, he was stood atop a small mound, watching flickies and other Mobians getting along, "What are you doing here?"
Shadow sighed, his loner stance fading the closer you got to him, "A chaos emerald, it's here, I can... feel it."
"I see," like him, you looked off into the distance, "Does this mean you'll be joining me for tea? Of course, that's if you're not busy. I wouldn't want to interrupt on your brooding." you mused, leaving him behind to start the small walk to your home. Shadow huffed, but a small smirk was apparent, "You're starting to sound like that blasted blue fool again, you need to stop spending so much time with him."
"He's my friend, Shadow." you could now finally look at him as he joined your side, your house was in eyeshot too. You remember your first day inside that house, it was your pride and joy. You loved having people over whether that be for a celebratory party or a quiet night in.
While tea with Shadow wasn't something that always happened, it wasn't a rare occurrence either. Shadow often came to visit you, bringing you gifts he saw one day and thought you would appreciate or even just sharing stories about his week. And you always gave him the same fondness back, telling him about your latest fight with the good Doctor or just offering him something sweet you had made.
You had just sat down after getting everything to the table, Shadow sitting opposite you. It was nice, just spending these moments together, with no real need to progress the conversation. The ebony hedgehog went to open his mouth, probably to compliment your tea-making skills, but that's when Sonic's voice rang in the air: "Ayo (Y/N), Egghead's attacking the flickies, again . We need you to get here right away, Tails' will come pick you up!"
You held back your sigh, "Well, tea was nice while it lasted." you mused, pouring your unfinished cup down the sink. Shadow wanted to tear that blue hedgehog apart sometimes, and this time was one of them. You leaned your back against the kitchen counter, watching Shadow with a comforting gaze, "You're welcome to join us, you know?"
"I have other things to attend to, but I hope for your... uninjured return."
"Wellll..." you hummed, cheeks flushing a deep red as he approached you, caging your body between his arms, "I'll try just for you."
---
"Woaaaaaaaaaaah, don't hit the ground, don't hit the ground!" Sonic repeatedly screamed, his face inching closer and closer to the metallic sidewalk. And although his arms were flailing and his legs were lifted by the magnitude of air, gravity pulled him down until his entire body embraced the floor.
" Owww ," with a long groan, Sonic pulled his face from the imprinted metal slabs and slowly took in his surroundings. Standing on shaking legs, Sonic rubbed his forehead, knowing a bump would most likely form there in the next coming minutes.
"W-where am I?" he muttered out, watching in awe as cars flew above his head and skyscrapers dominated the skies. Citizens would slide on by him, as though they were floating on the ground; of course, it was just an electric walkway.
"What is this place? It's like I've been sent to the future or something." With his spiked back facing against the oncoming traffic, the blue blur failed to notice the vehicle zooming towards him. Wide eyes embraced the car's bonnet, a small yelp for help muffled by the loud honking of the driver's horn.
"Ugh, that does not help this sonic boom of a headache." the blue hedgehog groaned, clinging on to the front of the car for dear life. But once he caught his breath, he was easily able to spindash away from the truck and land on the sidelines safely.
Rubbing his chin, brain deep in thought, Sonic pondered to himself "Why can't I remember how I got here? Think, Sonic, think!"
A bright sterile light encompassed the rodent's shoes, he would've been scared if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't on fire or completely blown to pieces. Though that still didn't stop him from panicking, "Whoa-ho-hooo! What's up with my shoes?"
While Sonic paid more attention to his shoes than his surroundings, he failed to notice the one figure lurking in the shadows. Creeping between the alleyways of the decrepit buildings, whispering details of the hedgehog's appearance and initial behaviour patterns. (Y/N) worked with the resistance, an organisation so top secret most of the miserable civilians that lived in New Yolk City had never heard of it.
And although their crew were small, they made big waves in the city, even gaining the attention of the Egg Council on a few separate occasions. But if what (Y/N) had seen was correct, then this blue hedgehog would help win a lot of diminutive battles against their eggy-overlords.
"Huh, I haven't seen anything like this since I ate truck-stop chilli dogs. Tails? Amy? Heck, I'll even take Knuckles at this point." Sonic sighed, but his expression lightened when he caught sight of more people to bother. Zipping over to the conveyer belt of individuals, Sonic began tapping their shoulders, nudging their arms and straight up yelling at them in hopes they would respond.
"Uh, pardon me, what do you call this place?"
"Are you ignoring me? You're ignoring me, why are you ignoring me?"
(Y/N) watched on from the sidelines, maybe interacting with the hedgehog now would provide better results and an even better outcome for the Resistance. They stepped onto the conveyer belt further up the street, eventually getting close enough to the speedy hedgehog.
"Why is everyone ignoring me?" he growled, hands balling into fists. (Y/N) leant against a wall, trying to pull off a cool stance, "I'm not ignoring you."
Sonic's ears pointed in (Y/N)'s direction, his head soon whipping that way too. In mere seconds he was by their side, an eager smile on his lips, " FINALLY ! Do you know how many people I've had to- wait a minute..." Sonic took a chance to look at them from head to toe, he'd recognise that hair anywhere.
" (Y/N)? " he questioned at first, voice sceptical, but once he saw their eyes widened he readied his arms for an embrace, "(Y/N)!" he cheered. The (A/T) pushed him away with a frown, an accusing finger pointed in his direction, "Don't you ever do that again."
Sonic backed up, his arms raised in an act of surrender, "Woah, woah, (Y/N), sorry to ruffle your feathers," he joked, but it only caused their frown to deepen, "And stop calling me that, the names (N/N). Got it?"
Sonic performed a mock salute, " Weird , so you don't know who I am then?"
"Of course, I know who you are," they replied as though it was such a dumb question to ask. Sonic looked beyond relieved, so his friends still remembered him. Just as the blue hedgehog went to open his mouth, (Y/N) continued "You're the guy that fell from the sky, I watched the whole thing happen. Including you getting ploughed by the garbage truck."
Sonic's hopeful expression faded, "So you really don't know who I am?" They shook their head ' no' , Sonic slumped over, smirk pulled into a grimace. He then clicked his fingers when an idea sprung to mind, "Okay, so maybe you don't know me but you have to know Shadow, right?"
"Shadow?" (Y/N) questioned, but the name did seem to roll off the tongue with such ease. Sonic's brain seemed to break for a moment, "Yeah, well maybe he has a different name here or something. But he looks like me, black and red fur, way more angry than he has any right to be? None of this ringing a bell?"
"No, if you're looking for him there's a good chance the resistance can find him."
"The resistance? You guys at war or something, was this a bad time to drop in ?"
"You could say that," (N/N) hummed out, reminiscent of the before times; the lush green grass and the crystal clear rivers. (N/N)'s ears twitched, as did Sonic's, clatter from down the street. With weary eyes, (N/N) grabbed Sonic's arm, "C'mon, we can't speak out in the open."
Sonic followed along obediently, it's not like he was trying to get killed in a place he didn't even know; it's not like it was a Tuesday or something. The walk to the Resistance base was long and full of many diverting turns, as to ensure you weren't followed. You remained for the most part silent, only every so often giving the blue blur a worded warning about stepping out into the light.
Yet, Sonic being Sonic, silence wasn't really what he was about. For more than half of your walk, he talked like it was his final breath; like he had to get every word in the dictionary out right now or he'd die. Luckily you had met enough of his kind, the chatty folk, and had easily trained your mind to block out all the sound.
With the quietness of it all, your brain was allowed to flourish. Something that the annoying pest had spoken about before, briefly mentioned really, stuck in your head like a bad song. A name, was it?
Shadow?
Why did that fill you with such comfort? The description Sonic gave didn't ring any bells either, although if he were like Sonic then who's to say he hadn't already been captured by the Egg Council? You wanted to know more, needed to know.
"And so I said, listen here Knuckle-head if you wanna-"
"Tell me more about this... Shadow person." you interrupted his story, you wouldn't have been able to repeat any of the details even if you tried. Sonic shook his head but sent you a beaming smile, " Shadow ? Yeah ok, more facts about Shadoooow..." he stalled, scratching his head for something.
"Let's see, he likes coffee beans fresh from the bag. Errrmmm , oh! He's this science experiment from space, but he gets kinda touchy about it." Sonic stood still now, tapping his foot against the floor and his hands braced against his hips, "He doesn't like bright colours, has a big rock collection, enjoys horror movies-"
"No, no," you waved your hands, dismissing him, "Tell me what he's like?"
" Oooh , gotcha!" Sonic smirked, "Pretty grumpy most of the time, thinks he's the best at everything, rarely listens to what others have to say..."
"And I- Do we get along? A-are we friends?" you questioned, suddenly finding yourself stumbling over your words. Sonic nodded his head, leaving you to think deeper. This Shadow sounded so mean, he sounded like the Egg Council, how could you ever possibly be friends with someone like him?
" Well ," you spoke slowly, looking towards the ground, collecting your thoughts. Sonic waited patiently until you looked him back in the eyes, "He seems like an utter asshole and I have no clue why I'd be friends with a person like that." you spat out, turning your back on him and continuing on your journey. Sonic's face paled, he had royally fucked up.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sonic screamed, dashing in front of you with his hands braced against your shoulders. You batted his touch away, glaring at him. Sonic swallowed down the spit clogging his throat before he continued, "He- Shadow's like that with everyone-" you went to open your mouth to refute, "Everyone but you ." he finished.
You closed your mouth, eyes furrowed. Sonic watched with baited eyes, "You and him, oh boy , where do I even start? Amy set you both up on a blind date originally, it took a lot of time to get you both to come around to it. In fact, I think we tricked you into going."
Sonic sighed, rubbing the back of his neck out of nerves, this was never his strong suit; feelings.
"From that moment on, you two hit it off. I don't know the whole spiel, you guys kept it pretty private. But from what I do know, Shadow is, like, a completely different guy around you. He treats you like royalty. And it's my fault you don't even remember him right now." Sonic frowns and for some reason, you don't like that look on him, it feels wrong to see him so sad.
You don't know what to say to that, you've never had someone care for you as seemingly Shadow seemed to do. What you would give to have someone like that. But your tranquil moment together is ruined by one of the most violent and villainous members of the Egg Council, Babbler. The robotic baby lunged around the corner, separating you and Sonic via a fist in the ground.
Your gaze darted to emerald green eyes, "Go! Get out of here!" you yelled, grabbing your weapon. Sonic shook his head, zipping to your side in an instant, "No way, I'm not leaving you to fight...whatever this thing is!" he yelled. Babbler drew his fist away, crying and whining louder and louder. He threw his fists down once more, pounding the ground as you bounced along with the abundance of rubble.
"You can't be here, if the Egg Council get their hands on you who knows what will happen? I've never seen - Woah !" you dodged another fist, now facing an armada of flying robots too, "- I've never seen anyone run that fast before, and that means the Egg Council haven't seen it either. You're not safe here."
"Ugh, fine. But I don't like this idea, Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't run away from fights." he groaned out, kicking down some bots to even the odds. You yanked your axe from the chest of an Eggbot, watching as sparks poured from its armour.
"I'll create a diversion, you speed off as fast as you can and as far away from here as possible."
"But what about you?" Sonic's voice was full of concern while driving circles around Babbler's mech. You heaved a groan, "I'll meet you again, later, with the resistance! Just go!" Sonic, albeit reluctantly, began to run. Your voice calling out to him, "And don't stop running!" but the further away he got, the quieter your voice and the sounds of a fight became.
Sonic hated running away, it was tied second with losing against Eggman. He began to pick up speed, a blue light emanating from around him. The world surrounding him became fuzzy, his body feeling light as a feather, "Sonic..." a voice called out to him, dark and gruff. Sonic's ears flickered, "Keep running..." it spoke once more. So Sonic did what he does best, he ran like hell.
Eventually, the world around him dissolved into nothingness, and he was left aimlessly floating around space. His head was banging, body vibrating; he felt like he'd been on the same rollercoaster over twenty times.
"Sonic..." that voice again, but where was it coming from?
"Wake up!" whoever it was, the voice was getting more aggressive, "GET UP!"
Sonic's eyes burst open thanks to the increase in volume, his gaze was still hazy but he could faintly make out another lifeform floating meters away from him. Creasing his brows, Sonic used all his energy in clearing his vision. Red and black splotches distorted his view, " Wha -" he wordlessly mumbled.
"Wake up, Sonic."
"Sha-dow?" he mutters, hand slowly moving to rub his bruising head; two concussions in one day, huh?
Blinking back into reality, or what was left of it at least, Sonic caught Shadow's determined glare and oh man did he look pissed. Sonic's smile only lasted a second, "Man, Shadow, am I glad to see you! I- I was in this weird world where Egghead was-"
"Quit it, Sonic. I don't care where you were and I don't care about what you were doing." Shadow's aggression was usually at an unsavoury level, but right now it felt downright hostile. Sonic could sense this, sense that he had done something bad, "Listen, I don't know what's going-"
"You caused this! Look around you and tell me this looks normal!" Shadow yelled out, fists balled at his side. Sonic, for once, listened and glanced around the voidless space, "I'm sorry."
" Sorry ?" Shadow keened, tilting his head in confusion, " Sorry doesn't fix this, Sonic. You should have listened to me and listened to your team. They told you to show up on time, they told you to wait...and what did you do? You didn't listen. " Shadow grabbed a small pebble from the air, "And look where that's left us." he flicked it out into the open.
The small pebble floated towards Sonic, hitting him right between the eyes, "I- I didn't know this would happen. But our friends are alright, (Y/N) is alright , Shadow. They aren't gone, they aren't hurt, they're just...not themselves right now. But we can fix them!" he sounded hopeful.
'Wasn't themselves right now?' What did that even mean? Would Shadow have to start over again? Redo his life with you? He shook his head, he couldn't, he'd never be able to connect with you if you remembered nothing about your former self. You wouldn't remember all the dates you went on, the quiet nights at the beach, the ways in which Shadow showed his love for you even if it was unconventional.
Anger fueled his body, whenever he had something good going, one person would always take it away from him. It happened on the ark and it's happening now; same story, different time.
"YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!" Shadow growled, looking like he was about to jump Sonic with every fibre of hatred in his body.
"Shadow, wait! I just want to go home!" sonic cried out, quills hitting the jagged purple rock hurdling through an empty space. The leather of shadow's gloves squeaked as his fists crumpled together, "Home doesn't exist anymore because of you!" He yelled out, perched against another rock.
His gaze narrowed, fangs bear, "(Y/N) doesn't exist anymore because of you!" he forced himself away from the rock, a punch homing in fast on Sonic's face; unfortunately, the blue hedgehog was not snappy enough to stop it. All went dark.