#going to do tails and knux next

[simp999]

Lazy Day.

Knuckles The Echidna (movie/tv series) x reader

Sypnosis: Imagine being the first person to help knuckles finally truly relax.

Series: Knuckles (tv series)/ The Sonic Movies

Wc: 1.1k

Themes: Fluff, comfort, can be seen as platonic or romantic.

Note: Takes place in episode 1 of the Knuckles series

Masterlist

“That’s it, I’m gonna be late for work. You two,” Mrs. Wakowski gestures towards Sonic and Tails, “keep away from Knuckles.” 

“Roger that!” Sonic salutes dramatically, and Tails follows suit,

“Noted, Mrs. Wakowski,”

Mrs. Wakowski manages to phone another friend to give her a ride to work, still fuming, while Sonic shrugs and figures he’ll spend time with Tails. They leave the house to go for a walk- it was a beautiful day after all. Sonic picks up baseball gloves and a ball on the way out of the house, and Tails swishes his tails in excitement when he spots the objects, setting foot out of the house.

A few minutes later you walk in through the doors, a few bags in hand. 

“Hellooo!” You call out.

With no response, you raise a brow. Usually, the trio greets you. You then remember Mrs. Wakosky having work, but that still doesn’t explain the other three. You shrug it off, unloading the groceries on the countertop. You wash a bowl of grapes, walking around with them on the search for your favorite echidna. 

You first check out the workout room, but he’s nowhere to be found. Then, the couch where you’re expecting to find Sonic and tails, but still nothing. Eventually you make it to the attic where Knuckles resides, a grape being tossed into your mouth.

“Knux?” 

He grunts in response, not bothering to turn his head towards you. You tilt your head at him, raising a brow. Then you finally ask him what’s on your mind;

“Knux, what are you doing on the floor?”

“I have been grounded.”

You think for a moment, then chuckle.

“Hun, that doesn’t mean you have to lie on the ground. I expected you to be the type to still train or work out while grounded,”

“I cannot go to the workout area,”

“Are you making up excuses? You? Surely you can still do pushups-and sit-ups,” you teased. 

He swiftly sits up, exclaiming; “You are a genius!” 

You giggle as he sets off to start doing pushups, doing them at an ungodly speed. You always were impressed by his strength, praising him often. Although he claimed that your praises meant nothing, you couldn’t help but notice the way he smiled and sped up whatever exercise he was doing at the time.

You watched him for a little while longer, eating your grapes before getting an idea. You stood next you him and he paused his now one-handed pushups, looking up at you, 

“What do you want?” You knew he didn’t mean to sound rude, so you smiled and replied, “I was just thinking- what if I sat on your back as an extra challenge?”

You’ve done it before, he was the one to ask you to do it last time. 

“Excellent idea! Though, that is no challenge for me.” 

He got back into pushup position, and you quietly sat on his upper back, attempting to balance. Once he counted 10 more pushups, your hand hovered in front of his mouth, grape in hand. He froze for a second, analyzing it, before taking a bite and humming. From then on, you offered him a grape for every 10 pushups. It seemed like a good way to keep him going, as he seemed to speed up.

Once the bowl of grapes was finished, you encouraged him to take a break. It wasn’t easy of course, but you got him to hold off on pushups until you came back with a bowl of other fruit- peaches, apple slices, and mangoes. You came back only to find him doing sit-ups. You sighed and he told you between soft grunts- “I am not doing pushups, like you asked.”

“Well- yes, but the whole point was to give you a small break. How about let’s pause for a little and spend some time together instead?”

He squinted at you, glancing over at your soft smile- one he couldn’t resist. You grabbed a few pillows and blankets from around the house while you got Knuckles to pick a movie that he’d be interested in. When you came back, he hadn’t chosen one, claiming that he only wanted to watch something you would enjoy. Very sweet and all, but you wanted to make sure he didn’t just get up and start working out halfway through the movie. So, you picked three movies of varying genres, and he picked the action one out of them- the one you already assumed he’d like most.

As it played in the background, you asked him what had gotten him grounded. 

“The blue hedgehog wants me to ‘relax,’” he answered with air quotes.

You nod, humming, focusing on the movie. After you’d gotten all snuggled up in the blankets and pillows, he sat a few feet away from you.

“You don’t have to be a stranger, y’know. Come on, sit closer,” You muttered in a low voice, not wanting to talk over the movie too much. He contemplated for a moment, sitting much closer to you now. You offer him an apple slice, holding it to his lips. 

It doesn’t take long before he’s asking you about the movie and why people are doing certain regular human things, you enjoying his short excited comments. He punches the air and kicks his feet when he’s excited over a scene in the movie, too adorable. 

Eventually, he gets tired out and you feel a weight on your shoulder. You smile at the scene before you- you’ve never seen him so calm and peaceful. You’ve seen him happy, you loved playing games with him and the boys, but this was different. Seeing him sleeping was something unusual, as he rarely slept around others. ‘This must mean he feels completely comfortable,’ you thought with a content expression.

You lean back, putting the plate of snacks aside, and his head falls to your chest. As it rises and falls, he snuggles into you in his sleep. You begin to gently pet his fur, taking a moment to press a soft kiss to it. He wraps his arms further around you, tugging you impossibly closer, then loosening his grip. 

It doesn’t take long for you to follow him into dreamland, soft snores emitting from you. Your hand still on his quills, head resting on the pillow behind you.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Hours later, Sonic, Tails, and Mrs. Wakowski come back home only to find knuckles relaxing in your hold.

“Huh, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. He does always seem to calm down around them.”

“I knew they had a thing for eachother!”

“Sonic! Shh, let them rest,”

Tails quietly closes the door, letting the two of you relax in eachother’s arms.

.

.

.

April.26.24

[mama-qwerty]

Even more discussions with @nights-nonsensical-ramblings

Gonna get long because this was one of those "yeah, and" kinda things that just took off.

Okay, so let's talk about "Eggdad" in the sense that when Eggman lands on Angel Island, he encounters this little boy who's completely ignorant of, well, everything. Recognizing the kid has unimaginable strength, and a connection to the most powerful gemstone in the universe, Eggman decides to use him to his own advantage.

Knuckles wouldn't have any idea of right or wrong so he'd just accept anything Eggman would tell him as truth. To Eggman, he's a tool to be used, and is only good so long as he's useful. If he starts to question, or refuse to obey, Eggman wouldn't take too kindly to that, likely delivering punishments that would 'remind' him of who he belongs to.

The question would be, how far would Knuckles go to keep Eggman's 'love'? Would he know, deep down inside, that what he's doing is wrong? Or would he simply go along with Eggman's plans and orders until he sees how Sonic treats Tails, much like he started to question in the movie when Sonic went for Tails instead of the compass?

Maybe after a few battles with the hedgehog and fox, Knuckles starts sneaking around behind Eggman's back, maybe spying on the other boys and watching how Sonic treats Tails, and seeing such a different level of caring going on.

Tails makes a mistake of some kind, and it's still kinda early in his and Sonic's relationship and he's kinda cowering and afraid, and Knux is expecting the boy to be punished because that's what always happened with him.

But then Sonic is kind and gentle and soft with the boy, offering head pats and gentle words and kind comfort and something in Knuckles' chest just aches.

And maybe that makes him angry - it's not fair! Tails made a mistake, he did bad thing and he should be punished! How will he learn not to do it again??

And that makes Knuckles even worse the next time they fight, because he just doesn't understand, and maybe he goes after Tails specifically, and is surprised when Sonic fights even harder to keep the little fox safe.

And he sneaks off after the fight to watch them and Tails is so apologetic that Sonic got hurt because of him and he's crying and just feels so bad, but Sonic just waves it off, and is still so kind to the boy after everything.

And maybe Knuckles tries some things to see if Eggman would be worried for him. Maybe during the next fight he doesn't fight nearly as hard and gets hurt, and he waits for Eggman to worry over him, to tell him he did good and to just rest.

But he doesn't.

Eggman is angry that Knuckles didn't fight harder.

"How dare you let that blue rat get a hit on you! Do you know how many bots I lost because of you??"

And maybe at some point Knuckles tracks the boys down and just kinda confronts them. Sonic's expecting a fight, and goes all prickly, standing in front of Tails to protect him, but Knuckles just stands there, looking awkward and uncomfortable and nervous.

"Why do you treat him like that?"

Sonic paused, an eyebrow arched. "Like what?"

Knuckles gestured between the hedgehog and fox. "Like that. You get hurt for him. You protect him. Why?"

Sonic turned and exchanged a quick glance with Tails, before turning back to the echidna. "Why wouldn't I? He's just a kid."

"So are you."

"So?"

Knuckles quieted, casting his eyes to the side. "Do you punish him when he makes mistakes?"

Silence for a moment. "No. Mistakes teach us stuff we didn't know. They're important."

More silence. Knuckles pulled his lips tight. "When do you punish him, then?"

Sonic bristled even more. "I don't. Punishments don't teach. They only hurt." The echidna flicked his eyes back. He stared at the hedgehog for a moment, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed. Then he looked behind him, at the fox. The boy shrank under his gaze, and Sonic moved to block the boy from view.

"You got a beef, you talk to me. You ain't touching him."

Knuckles curled his lip in a slight snarl, before turning on his heel and hurrying back to base. Eggman would notice him missing soon, and that wouldn't end well for him.

This plants the seed and maybe next time they fight he's even more attentive to how Sonic is protective of Tails, and encourages him, and how Eggman doesn't do the same for Knuckles.

Eggman's yelling out orders and insults and berating Knuckles every time he misses a punch or something, and it just builds inside the echidna's mind until he just snaps and turns on Eggman's bots, destroying them all with ease.

He loved Eggman, he thought Eggman loved him, but seeing a true caring relationship between Sonic and Tails just shoved a dagger into his heart that NO, Eggman doesn't care about him at all.

He destroys all of Eggman's bots, all the while Eggman is yelling at him, ordering him to stop. When the bots are all gone, he returns to Eggman and gathers a fistful of the man's coat to yank him forward, snarling into the human's face.

"I trusted you. I thought you cared about me. I thought you wanted to take care of me."

Eggman's lips turned up into a nasty smirk. "But I did, didn't I? I took you off that island of yours, taught you to speak, taught you about the world around you. Where would you be had I not found you? Still on that primitive island, foraging for berries, living all alone. I gave you focus. Gave you everything. And this is how you repay me?"

And that would give Knuckles pause because it did make sense, in a weird way, and he has these conflicting thoughts and feelings inside him over this.

Eggman wouldn't have done all that if he didn't care, right?

But something else nagged at him, poked at him, and he'd turn to look at Sonic and Tails, at how protective Sonic was with the fox, even now as the lull in the fight is letting the fox poke through the destroyed bots, with Sonic close by, keeping a watchful eye around them.

Knuckles is so confused and pulled in different directions, his only instinct is to retreat, to get away. But Eggman implanted a chip in him for just such an occasion, and with a flick of a switch the echidna is brought to his knees by a strong electrical shock.

Can't let his little minion get away, after all. He has access to the Master Emerald, and besides, Knuckles knows too much about his bases and such, can't just let him wander off, can he? Not to mention that he put a lot of work into this echidna, he's not just letting that go.

Sonic would see the change in Knuckles, though, and would attack Eggman while Tails tries to gain access to the chip and disable it. Yadda yadda, they succeed, and drag Knuckles off with them as Eggman beats a hasty retreat.

Now Knux has to unlearn all the horrible things Eggman taught him about interpersonal relationships, and discover that it's not supposed to hurt to trust someone. In a way Knux would be a lot like Tails in that regard, worrying that everything he did would bring a punishment, or rejection.

Sonic's got a lot of experience in dealing with a kid who'd been abused and abandoned, but it's different dealing with a younger kid than it is with someone who's older than you.

I think Tails would be the one to really reach out to Knux. He's learned from Sonic, and Sonic would feel weird treating Knux like he treats Tails (and honestly I don't think Knux would take too kindly to it anyway) so I could see Tails teaching Knux how to deal with worries and fears.

Knuckles would have had all his survival instincts almost literally beaten out of him, so he has no idea how to survive in the wild anymore. He tries to start a fire in camp one night, and is struggling so hard with it, but doesn't want to ask for help because, y'know, Sonic, so Tails just kinda comes over and gently shows him.

Knuckles sits perfectly still when it's time to eat, not touching the food offered him because Eggman used to laugh at the way he ate because of his mitts, so Knux usually waited until Eggman was done and ate alone.

The other boys notice Knux isn't eating, but they don't say anything about it. After a few nights of this, Tails gets really bothered by it and moves to sit next to the echidna, putting his own food down and sitting still, too. Knux casts him a sideglance, an eyebrow raised in a question, and Tails just looks up at him and says "I'm not gonna eat until you do. It's the polite thing to do."

And after some huffing and scoffing, Knuckles finally picks up his food and starts to eat, hesitantly at first, expecting the laughter and insults.

But none come.

He glances at Tails, who smiles and picks up his own food and starts to eat, too.

As time goes on he becomes very protective of the others, Tails especially, but he and Sonic do sometimes have some good talks late at night while Tails is asleep. Sonic usually starts them as a kind of offhanded comment based on something he's observed. He's good at drawing Knux out if it seems like it's just a shooting the shit kinda campfire chat.

He'll comment about some bird Knuckles had been watching earlier in the day, which eventually brings out that Knuckles had at one time only had wildlife for friends and used to be mostly feral, but lost those skills when Eggman took him in. Now he barely knows how to spend a night outside.

Knuckles doesn't talk much. I feel like when he first got with Eggman he would be so much more talkative and inquisitive and open, but Eggman kind of beat that out of him by belittling him and insulting him and making fun of him for it, so over the years Knux just kinda withdrew and didn't talk much. He doesn't offer information.

He's very observant, but refuses to open his mouth and ask, unless he feels comfortable with the person, and even then it's a 50/50 shot whether he'll talk. And usually it's to Tails. The fox just feels safe. Unthreatening.

I would imagine that when Knux first joins the duo he feels like he's intruding. He sees how close they are, how much Sonic watches out for Tails, he feels like he shouldn't be there, that he's unwelcome and unwanted and shouldn't be wasting their time.

I could see him try to leave at some point, expecting them to want him gone, so he just wants to beat them to it before they get a chance to cut him loose. He gets up in the middle of the night and walks away from camp, only to have a little fox come up behind him and ask where he's going.

The boy takes him by the hand--he touches him in a gentle way--and pulls him back toward the camp.

"C'mon. If you're scared you can snuggle up with me. I do that with Sonic sometimes when I have bad dreams. It helps."

Knuckles doesn't respond, but lets the boy lead him back to camp. Sonic is lying with his back to them, but the hedgehog is awake. He awoke the minute Knuckles got up and walked off. His ear was flicked backward, trained on the two returning to camp, and Knuckles thought Sonic was lying a little too still than normal.

Tails crawled back in his sleeping bag, never letting go of Knuckles' hand. The echidna reluctantly lowered himself back to the ground, where Tails pulled his blanket over to cover him up, as the fox curled into the older boy's side to fall back to sleep.

Knuckles watched Sonic for a few moments, and watched as the ear that had been trained on them flicked back into a more relaxed position. The hedgehog drew in a deep breath, letting it out in a soft exhale, his body relaxing as well.

The echidna turned back to stare at the stars overhead. Sleep took a while to come for him. This was all so strange to him. Confusing, but . . . nice.

At some point he realizes he's not holding his breath whenever they move near him. His chest isn't all tight and constricted when they're around. His stomach isn't tied in knots.

The first time he laughs with them is a surprise to all three. Not just a little lip curl on one edge of his mouth, but a full on belly laugh, where it warms his chest and makes his belly hurt.

And it just feels so good.

The happiest he's felt in a long, long time.

Eggman wouldn't let him take off his gloves. He thought Knux's claws looked weird so he never wanted to see them.

The first time Knuckles took his gloves off with the boys, he tried to do it in secret, but Tails saw him and just stared. And that tightening in Knuckles' chest appeared, his face burning as he fumbled to get his gloves back on as quickly as possible, when the fox came over and gently took hold to bring them closer and examine them better.

"I've never seen anyone with such big claws. They look perfect for digging. I bet you can dig really well!"

And that takes Knux by surprise because he vaguely remembers being underground, the smell of the earth around him a comforting feeling.

"I . . . I don't know. I can't remember."

Tails looks up at him, eyes wide. "Wanna try? Sonic's a pretty good digger but his claws aren't like yours. I bet you could dig a hole much faster than him!"

And oh, doesn't that little challenge make Knuckles want to try.

It's a little rough at first, but once he gets more comfortable with it, oh, you can't stop him. Being underground makes him so comfortable and calm and happy. And his claws finally don't hurt anymore, because now they're doing what they were meant for, and being worn down the way they should have been his whole life.

Sonic and Tails teach Knuckles that trusting someone isn't necessarily a bad thing. And he is so, so grateful for their help. For their friendship.

[number-one-shadisper-shipper]

Behold my Sonic fankids!

Buckle up y'all I'm about to lore-drop

Dash the Hedgehog: Son of Sonic and Amy. He's a speedy, fun-loving kid with a big heart. Future hero of Mobius but for now is mostly having fun exploring with his dad and racing anyone he meets. Also has a hammer like Amy's, with which he can do cool tricks.

Mouse the Owl: Adopted daughter of Sonic and Amy. Found and brought home by Dash after her parents were killed by an Eggman scheme. She's really sweet and a bit shy, and is basically the equivalent of Tails for Dash. Best friends with Tikal.

Nova Prower: The girl that grew from Cosmo's seed. Raised by single dad Tails and is a great mechanic like him! Loves sunlight and nature and going on adventures with her Papa.

Ash the Cat: Son of Blaze and Silver and twin brother of Aura. As the crown prince chosen by the Sol Emeralds, he inherited Blaze's fire powers. He's very stoic and serious, taking his role as future king very seriously.

Aura the Hedgehog: Twin sister of Ash. Is far more spunky and playful, and tries to drag her brother out to do fun things instead of studying. Inherited Silver's telekinesis.

Knuckles the Bat-chidna, a.k.a. Knux: Firstborn son of Knuckles and Rouge. Relatively rare in having mixed species features rather than only taking after one. He's rather rebellious and doesn't want to take on the warrior lifestyle on Angel Island, preferring thievery.

Spear the Echidna: Second son of Knuckles and Rouge. Far more serious about his tribal heritage than his older brother, and because of this is next in line to take on the Guardianship of the Master Emerald. Devoted to the warriors lifestyle and protecting his family.

Jewel the Bat: Daughter of Knuckles and Rouge. Sweet and simple, well-trained in fighting but prefers not to. Is dedicated to finding all the secrets of Angel Island, taking care of its Chao population, and recording the history of the Echidna for future generations. Not named after Jewel the Beetle but they do become friends after realizing they share a name.

Hunter the Bat: Son of Knuckles and Rouge. Inherited both of his parents' treasure hunting tendencies and loves to explore. His wings grew in too small, making him the only member of his family who can't fly/glide, although he can hover for a short amount of time. That doesn't stop him from traveling all over the world! Honorary member of Team Kid Chaotix (the next generation of the Chaotix).

Tikal the Echidna: Youngest daughter of Knuckles and Rouge. Small and spunky! Is still a bit young for warrior training, but she's ready to go when she can! Loves animals and swimming and playing around Angel Island. Goddaughter of her namesake, and is able to interact with her and Chaos. Best friends with Mouse.

Night the Wolf: Son of Shadow and Whisper. Autistic and almost entirely non verbal. Is super powerful, with Shadow's abilities, but is very quiet, calm, and stoic. Because of his resting angry face, people think he's kind of grumpy like his dad, but he's actually pretty chill. Very close with his "cousin" Knux.

Maria the Hedgehog: Daughter of Shadow and Whisper. Fun, spunky, loud, and energetic. Basically has the energy and noise of the rest of the family combined. Loves to get into fights and Night constantly has to bail her out. Also has Shadow's abilities, especially running. Loves to run. Always has a different fun design on her T-shirt.

Mint the Bunny-dile: Daughter of Vector and Vanilla. Like Knux, is a rare mixed-species kid, although mostly crocodile. Is hard of hearing due to physical issues with the connection of rabbit ears with a crocodile head. Is very big and strong, sometimes not knowing her own strength. Sweet and a bit rough-and-tumble. Is a big proponent of body positivity due to being mixed-species as well as growing up around primarily mammal mobians who were a lot smaller than her at the same age.

Gale the Hawk: Daughter of Jet. Fast, cool, and a bit egotistical but ultimately good-hearted. Loves racing and pushing herself to learn new tricks and new types of racing. Like wearing the "retro" hand-me-downs from her Aunt Wave (okay actually I haven't decided if I ship Wave and Jet or see them as siblings so for now it's just "aunt")

Thanks for letting me ramble! Feel free to ask me about my babies 😁

[quazart]

(Movie)Knuckles x (platonic!) Reader

A little fic I made on a whim, after discovering that echidnas had pouches.

The Pouch

You stared at the echidna. He stares back, confused by your expression.

"How long?"You ask, not even needing to finish your sentence for him to know what you meant.

"Uh, my entire life? Oh wait, no, apologies. When I was just growing out of my puggle years."

"So, at least, since we've known each other, you've had this?" 

He nods.

Let's rewind. 

You were asked by the Wachowski couple to watch over their sons for a day. Babysit basically. Of course you agreed. Honestly though,  you'd really only need to look after Sonic. Knuckles, the elder of the three brothers, your best friend, was fairly mature for his age. Though, on rare occasions, he can be roped into mischief, almost always by Sonic.

The youngest of the three, Tails, would be going to work with Maddie. Leaving you three alone.

Tom was the first to leave, with Maddie right behind him. The sheriff hugged each of his sons and ruffling the hair on your head before waving goodbye, as he walked out the door. 

The veterinarian was giving you a quick run down on what the boys could and couldn't do. What they could and couldn't eat, etc.

Her final departing words being-

"By the way. Sonic is grounded again. Knuckles already hid his phone to keep him from finding and getting it again. If you see he's got it, just shoot me a text and I'll handle it through a call or when I get home." 

" Yes, ma'am."

You hear Sonic scoff somewhere behind you and  Knuckles.  

Maddie turns away and checks her purse for everything she'll need. "Alright, well I think that's it. Good luck."

You smile and wave bye as she shuts and locks the door behind her and Tails after the kit quickly hugged you and his siblings. Yelling out a goodbye before taking off toward the car in excitement. Ecstatic about joining his mother and visiting all the animals she cares for.

All three of you watching her as she pulls out of the driveway, and drives past the trees, out of sight. 

You and Knuckles turn around but pause as you're suddenly face to face with a certain smug looking hedgehog.

He rocked back and forth on his feet in front of Knuckles. The echidna already knowing what he's planning, gives him an unamused expression. 

"So Big Red? Mind giving me a hint?"

The echidna frowns with a , "No.", and walks away, with you right beside him.

Sonic grabs his arm, trying to stop him, but Knux just keeps on walking, not caring at all. The hedgehog letting himself be dragged by his brother.

"Oh come on, be a pal!" 

Knuckles waves him off and lays back on the couch beside you. His own phone in hand.

"No. I do not want to be your pal. I am already your brother."

"Ugh!"

He suddenly pauses and turns to you. Big puppy dog eyes at their strongest. 

You take the remote in hand and begin flipping through channels on the t.v. 

"Yeah, I don't think so blue."

"But why? Look, how about five minutes?! Just five, I swear."

You and Knux look at each other, with bored expressions on your faces, then back to your electronics.

Both of you answering, "Nah.", at the same time.

Sonic growls in frustration, but then pulls out the big guns. He takes a deep breath and opens his big mouth.

Ten minutes later of on and on chatter, you and Knux were losing your patience with the blue blur.

Knux is the one to finally give in.

"ALRIGHT!!!" He bursts, partially sitting himself up on his elbows.

You sigh and watch the hedgehog smile, thinking he'd won.

You sigh at the nuisance," Oh my gosh! You can be so annoying!"

He smirks,"Hah, well this annoying hedgehog is about to get his phone back-"

Knuckles sits up all the way, interrupting his brother.

"Not so fast. You can have your device back IF, you can find it within the next two minutes.  You may have it back and we will not say a word to mother. You would just need to give it back before anyone arrives home."

Sonic salutes and gets into running position." When you're ready captain!"

Knuckles lays back down and looks at his phone's clock, "I am not a captain. Go."

One minute and thirty seconds later and he's turned the house upside down, with no sign of his phone. 

'Where is it?!.. Wait!!'

He runs to you and snags your phone, quickly dialing his number and calling it.

You quickly lean towards,  "Hey!" But he holds up a finger, signaling you to wait.

You huff and cross your arms.

Knuckles smiles as he watches the clock. Ten seconds left, then he'll have peace and quiet.

"You will not hear it. Mother turned off its volume for this exact reason." He warns, but what he didn't know, was that Maddie had left it on vibrate.

A faint buzzing noise sounds off and Sonic scrambles around for the device, with no sign of it. 

You're confused. It sounds like it's right beside you, but where?

You look at Knux to see him clench his jaw, and lean forward a bit. Only noticable to you, since you were paying attention and sitting right next to him.

He bites his lip and stares towards Sonic's hand. The one holding your phone and suddenly crosses his arms tightly against himself.

'What is up with him?'

Sonic finally notices with five seconds left. The buzzing was coming from, 'his brother?!'

"What the heck Knux! You ate my phone?!"

Your eyebrows raise, and you look at your friend.

Who's trying to keep a straight face like someone just told him the funniest joke or something. Arms tightened against his stomach. 

"Don't be ridiculous." He manages to say through his giggling.

You don't know why he's fighting a laugh, but the sounds he's making make you smile and start to laugh too. He rarely ever laughed, let alone giggle. So his sudden giggles really hit your funny bone. 

"Why are you laughing?" He asks.

"Huh? Well, why are you laughing?"

The phone stops calling, going to voicemail and Knuckles sigh in relief.

He looks toward his brother and grins. "Looks like you lose, hedgehog."

Sonic groans, frustrated by his defeat. He gently tosses the phone beside you on the couch.

"Well how's that fair! How am I supposed to get it from inside your gut!"

Knux scoffs, " It is not inside me. Of all the foolish-."

This time you call Sonic's phone. The vibrating starts again, making Knuckles sit up with a grunt, and catches himself before a chuckle could escape him.

You and Sonic look at each other, then back to your friend.

That's when Knuckles finally shows you guys. 

He removes his arms from his stomach and raises a hand over it, before reaching into-?! He had a hidden pocket on his stomach?!

Bringing his hand back out, he'd retrieved Sonic's phone, holding it infront of him with a smirk.

Both you and Sonic stared at the phone, then to Knuckles' stomach, where the pouch hid very well because of his fur. 

Knuckles face contorted into one of confusion.

"What?"

And now were back to the present.

"You've had this and you didn't think to tell me!" You grabbed his shoulders and shook him a bit.

"Why would I?! I do not see how having a pouch would be so important as to inform you about it." He said between shakes.

"Dude, this is awsome, you have a body pocket! How is that not important information! What else can you do, or have!"

His mouth is agape still confused by your sudden interest in him because of something as simple as a pouch. A blush covers his muzzle.

"Uh..."

With this distraction, Sonic swipes his phone from the echidna's grip and takes off with a maniacal laugh.

"Haha, sucker! Catch me if you can!"

Knuckles instantly breaks out of his stupor and takes off after him.

"Sonic!!!"

Leaving you thinking of all the awsome and helpful uses he could use his pouch for. He was like a little kangaroo!

You hear something get knocked over and you suddenly remember why you're here.

To watch the brothers so nobody gets hurt and nothing gets damaged. But now that you think about it, even if you tried, you doubt you'd be able to catch up to them. Or have the strength to pull them apart if you could!

Then you have an idea.

"Ha, what was that knucklehead?"

"Why you foul-!"

(*beeeeeeeep* *beeeeeeeep*-)

They both freeze where they are, the sound of somebody calling on their phone with the speaker on. And, as soon as the voice on the other side answers, the boys are suddenly back on the couch. Knuckles holding Sonic's phone and shoving it back in his pouch.

A few seconds before. 

"Hey, (y/n) , how's everything. The boys giving you trouble?" 

Before you could answer, stumbling and grunts echo in the house, getting louder til your two friends are on either side of you, silent. Gazing ahead at the t.v. with blank expressions. You catch Knuckles shoving Sonic's phone back into his pouch. 

"No. No, everything's fine. Just checking up with you, is all. "

"Oh, well thanks hun...And boys?" Her voice grew scary as she addressed the brothers. They both stiffen, knowing she knew they'd done something they shouldn't have. 

"Behave."

"Yes, mom!"

"Yes, mother!"

You say bye to Maddie and hang up.

Your friends glance at you, but quickly are back to the screen when you notice. 

"That wasn't fair. " Sonic pouts.

You shrug." Life's not fair. And besides, how fair do your powers make it for me to babysit you two?"

He grumbles and crosses his arms. 

You look back at your best friend, who was currently laying back on the couch again. Having relaxed since your call to his mom. You pick up where you left off.

Leaning back and holding your head in one hand.

"So?"

He blinks and looks at you, "So...what?"

"What other secrets have you been hiding from me?"

He sits up on his elbows and squints at you, "Why do you insist, so much, in learning about me?"

You shrug, " It's just interesting, and cool. What's the harm in wanting to learn more about my best friend?"

He hums," Nothing, I suppose. And we are friends afterall.. Alright."

"Yes!"

He lays back down and rests his head in his folded arms, behind him.

"First of all, it is called a pouch, not a pocket, as you mentioned before. Its original purpose is to hold and incubate a puggle before and after hatching. For however long their parents can hold their weight, until their spines had almost fully grown in or until they can walk on their own-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Hatching? You came from an egg?" Sonic had interrupted his brother,  honestly surprised by this fact. 

"Of course I hatched, what other way is there?"

The hedgehog turns red, and looks to you for help.

You awkwardly cough into your hand and pat Knux on his arm. "I'll ask Maddie to tell you later. Please, continue. "

"Hmm. Anyways, as far as I can remember,  I don't recall a pouch ever being used for anything else, as it feels strange carrying things in it. I had never used it before, until recently. When mother asked of me to hide his phone." He points at Sonic.

"But he kept finding it, no matter where I hid it. So I gave in and just put in there."

You both look over at the hedgehog again. Who was trying to look innocent.

"For a time, it worked. I've done this several times before and mother had seen me, and did not react. Which is why I was so confused by your surprise to it. "

"Well, you are very animal like, at least compared to humans. And she is a veterinarian, so."

He nods," Perhaps. In any case, just like those previous times, I figured hiding it in the same place would work. What I did not account for was the phone moving about while there."

He held his hand ontop of his pouch. Remembering the strange sensations the phone gave when it moved. It was.. strange, to say the least.

"Oh yeah, what happened with that? Your face looked pretty funny while Sonic was calling his phone."

He removed the phone from his pouch, but this time holding in a slightly tighter grip than earlier, incase Sonic got any ideas, and turned it over in his hand.

"I..do not know. I'd never felt anything like it. I'm not sure what it was."

"Hmm, well, try to explain what it felt like? And I'll see what I can do to figure it out."

He looks at you, then past you, where you knew Sonic was sitting a minute ago. The hedgehog had grown bored and left to the kitchen to make a snack.

"It felt like the buzzing of the device. But.. different. And it made me want to smile..and laugh. Strange isn't it? Like magic."

Your peaceful smile slowly grows into one with playfully malicious intent.

Knuckles frowns." What is with that expression?"

"Oh, nothing. I just think I know what it is."

He raises a brow."You do?"

"Yup, but I'll need to test my theory. Do you mind?"

He is hesitant, but shrugs and watches you reach over and poke around his sides. He twitched a bit and huffed at the feeling, but no smile or laugh.

"Does that feel like earlier?"

"A bit, but not as strong. It's actually rather annoying this wa-AaY!!"

You launched an attack on the poor echidna. Your fingers skittering across his sides and belly, making him grunt at first, but eventually succumbing, forcing high guffaws that evolved into laughter and giggles. You'd grown so used to Knuckles deep voice, but hearing the higher pitched he'd somehow reached, made you smile wide and laugh along with him.

Sonic had been surprised by his brother's outburst, recognizing his voice making all that noise. What he was not expecting, was the reason for it.

A smug grin widens across his face. " He's ticklish!!"

You continue your assault, giggling all the while.

"I guess so!"

Knuckles did not respond. Too preoccupied with trying to catch his breath, his face feeling hot. He should feel humiliated for his actions, but seeing your face and that of his brother, with playful smiles and laughing along with him, pushed those thoughts away.

Besides, he didn't know if he could say anything if he tried. His own laughter taking up whatever breath he could draw in. 

Why did something as simple as touch reduce him to a giggly puggle. 

"Ok, I think that's enough for now." You said in between your laughing.

 His hands covered his stomach as soon as your fingers left. He was trying to catch his breath again, a stupidly silly smile on his face. Leftover laughter fading to giggles as he calms down. 

" That is called tickling, and you my friend are very ticklish, apparently."

"Haha, eh, good, aheh, good to kno-how."

Sonic rubbed his hands together,"Oho ho! Now this is interesting. I could definitely use this next time you hide my phone."

You could hear the gears in his brain already forming plots against his brother.

You look back to Knuckles, with a smirk.

" Sonic is ticklish too."

"Ah! Why would you tell him that!" He cried.

"Eh, just keeping things fair."

A couple hours pass, with you three hanging around the t.v. You were just putting on another movie when you heard the sound of a car rolling up the driveway.

You press pause and get up, along with your friends, to greet whoever was home.

The door unlocks and it's Maddie and Tails.

Tails greets his brothers then you, giving you all another round of hugs, while Maddie walks past, smiling and giving you all a pat or kiss on the head.

"Hey, guys. So how was it? Anything crazy happen or broken things I should know about?"

She's facing away from you guys, not able to see the pointed and worried looks your friends were giving you. A certain blue hedgehog in particular.

"Nope. Everything went well. I even learned something very interesting from today." 

Now it was Knuckles turn to look nervous, and he didn't even know why. 

"Knuckles is part kangaroo." You grin his way, to see your offended friend scrunch his nose and scoff, indignantly.

"I am not. I am one hundred percent echidna. Only echidna blood runs through these veins."

As if purposely ignoring him, Maddie smile at you.

"Why? Did he show you his cute little pouch?"

Knux crosses his arms and looks away from you both, with a huffy," Mother, please."

"Yup. And that's not all." You whisper that last part, walking up behind Knuckles. He barely has a second to turn and see you there before you tackle him down into a cackling mess.

"Wait, no!!-"

"Too late!"

Maddie leans against the wall, watching and laughing along with you two. Tails, hearing the commotion, peeps around the corner, with Sonic right behind him, and sees you ontop of the toppled Knuckles.  

The poor echidna is suddenly saved by the bell. Or in this case, a knock on the door. 

You pause, giving the echidna a chance to breath again, while Sonic goes and opens the door. The sheriff has arrived, and is immediately baffled by the scene before him. 

A wheezing Knuckles with a funny smile and glare directed towards you. Meanwhile,  you're sitting beside him. An oblivious look on your face as you stare off to the side.

Tom blinks for second, then asks, "Uh, what's goin on here?"

Maddie smiles, "(Y/n) was just teaching me something new she learned about our little echidna here."

Tom smirks," And that would be?"

You grin madly and look back to your victim.

"Allow me to demonstrate."

You wiggle your fingers, hovering your hands just above him, making him already unwillingly snicker, knowing what was to come. 

"No, please, mercy!"

"There is no mercy in this house!" 

"No-hOhoHOoO!!!"

Boisterous laughs and chortles fill the air as you show the echidna's father what you'd learned. His family joining in on the laughter at the sight of their more stoic of their family members being reduced to a giggling puddle under you.

"You- eheh, are cruel." His only understandable response amongst his leftover chortles.

Knux doesn't even retaliate or defend himself.  Not daring to move, for fear of lashing out and hurting you. His fists glued to the ground, by sheer will power. A power slowly waning as your assault grows stronger.

You finally let him go when it looks like he's having a hard time holding back and catching a breath. Even afterwards, a string of giggles continues to leave him. The sensation of your tickling still affecting him, even after you'd stopped. 

You give him a sweet little innocent smile."I try."

[lyrarizi]

My take on sonic prime season 3:

sonic prime fanfiction rewrite

Warning: im not naturally english so please dont mind my weird senteces and wrong grammer!

After sonic sacreficed himself he quickly went downhill. The chaos council betrayed them and got sent to the dark pit in the void. Nine gives sonic a communicator and they hug goodbye. The Roses help sonic and shadow to get back to greenhill. After the ship gets damaged shadow picks up sonic (bridal style ❤️) to get him to the gate. After sonic flirts with shadow on the verge of death he faints. Shadow holds sonic even tighter and makes 3 sonic booms. Shadow and sonic get though the portal and are back in green hill. (the moment they enter is just when the crew got blasted away from the prism. They fall to the ground and see shadow crash in holding sonic protecting him from the fall into the ground.) Shadow and sonic Come out of the paradoxprism and crash into the ground. The crew stands up and look confused at shadow but then realize that sonic is dying. They quickly run towards them and help shadow up. Shadow asks if it worked but then he sees sonic is still dying and runs towards him and shouts his name. Eggman stops with pulling the paradoxprism and looks at the scene. Shadow and the crew are trying everything to keep him alive but then he breathes his last breath out. Shadow is in disbelief and the crew cries. Sonic slowy sparkles away but then the paradoxprism shoots a energy blast at sonic. Sonic is rising up while the blast is surrounding him with Light (in the colors of the prism) and gets resurected. (how that happens is kinda like: he rises up and his arms and legs get pushed down as if he reclames his soul. Hope i explained it good 😅) Sonic falls to the ground but before he touches it shadow catches him. He puts sonic down and hugs him and says:" Dont ever do that to me again please!" Sonic hugs him back and responds:" Don't worry, i would't dare." Shadow frees sonic from his hug. Sonic sees his friends and stands up and runs towards them with tears in his eyes. The crew is confused but accepts the grouphug. The groupshug is interrupted by eggman who attacks them. Sonic nods to shadow and he nods back. Together they defeat his robot in no time and the crew is even more confused. Rouge asks:" Okay, what the hell happended between you 2?!" Sonic answers:" I promise i explain everything later but can i please sleep for a whole week first? Sonic faints of exhaustion and shadow picks him up (bridal style ❤️.... Again) and says:" Il bring him home." Shadow leaves and the crew is left flabbergasted. Shadow puts sonic is his big hammock and tucks him in but then he feels a hand around his arm and sonic pulls shadow in the hammock and says:" Stay, please." Shadow gives in and joins him in the hammock. A couple of 10 minutes later rouge and tails enter and see the scene. Tails is really shocked and rouge is like: OMG omg omg SO cute expression. Tails tries to wake them up but rouge takes his arm and shakes her head. Tails gets the message and leaves them alone. A couple days later they wake up and sonic checks the time and realizes they slept for days. (like 2 or somth) Sonic and shadow go to the crew who are chilling at the palmtree. Sonic and shadow explain everything and the next shot you see is the reaction of the crew who are flabbergasted. (again 😜) The next thing what happens is the communicator going off and we hear nine saying:" Sonic, we are all at your gate could you open it?" Sonic sprints to the paradoxprism and takes some power to open a portal. All his friends enter his world and sonic says:"Hey guys! Let me show you my friends and my world!" Rebel en knux let out a tear because they are back in greenhill. Everyone arrives at the palmtree and sonic introduces them all.

The episode ends with them hanging out and having a beach party. (BTW, sonadow is canon)

End.

And how is that for a finale? I decided to not be this the modern sonic crew because i want this to be a seperate universe. And now since this is a seperate universe they just cross over from time to time . And with all the flirttension between sonic and shadow i made them canon in my universe.

thanks for reading my take on sonic prime season 3 finale <3

feel free to make art if you want with my ideas but please ask first so i can see it :D

Reposting now allowed but no stealing please, let's be nice and respect each other ideas

[realperson022]

 I’m A Fine-Tuned Supersonic Speed Machine

Summary:

A fascination had grown within Sonic from seeing the Ultimate Lifeform's most prized possession ever since a joint mission was completed. But he never saw it in action — until he did...and experienced it first-hand, too. Or, 5 times Sonic looked at his rival with his motorcycle from afar, and 1 time Shadow caught him staring.

Rated Teen

1.

At the outskirts of White Jungle, a group of Mobians headed for the same clearing that had been their rendezvous spot before they had ventured into the thick and foggy wilderness, where an Eggman base now rested in ruins along with a myriad of destroyed bots.

"Whaaat a day, am I right?"

Sonic the Hedgehog was dropped safely to the ground by his brother, the fox coming to stand next to him after. Knuckles and the three members of Team Dark, who happened to have joined the heroes with today's mission, made their way over to where the two brothers stood.

"Tired so soon, Blue," Rouge teased, perching herself on top of one of Omega's bulky shoulders. The hero chuckled, shaking his head. "C'mon, I live for this! You do know adventure is my middle name, right? Besides, I've gotten through missions with a lot more badniks and fewer hours of sleep!"

"Even though, I agree and have suffered because of it--" Tails began, reaching out a hand to the cobalt speedster. Without having to say anything, Sonic already knew what his buddy wanted, sticking his hand inside his quills to pull out a small electronic device while scolding him. "I'm not torturing you, bud. I just don't want you staying up so late..."

The hedgehog gave the device to his brother, sharing a look with the genius that spoke of his caring side for him; with a sigh, the two-tailed fox smiled, grabbing his Miles Electric. "I know, I know, but if you're asking me to improve my sleeping habits, it's only fair you do it, too."

If it meant better health for his li'l bro, then why not? Sonic nodded and added his typical gesture of ruffling the youngster's bangs for fun. "You got yourself a deal!"

"Oh, how sweet~" the bat cooed from her place, watching the exchange between the two brothers before she grimaced. "So much that I can't help but feel like throwing up. Shadow, let's leave before they infect us with their gushy feelings and we start spewing the same nonsense!"

The black hedgehog grunted, already moving away from the group and toward a heap of heavy flora that had leaves meticulously overlapping each other. "You don't have to tell me twice," Shadow said, pushing the green foliage and revealing what was hidden under all that.

The sleek and shiny design, the recent paint job, and the familiar striking trademark that belonged to the last living descendant of the Black Arms - the Dark Rider was everything that defined spectacular and it represented the very thing that made Sonic's blood pump faster, his feet itch with anticipation, his face light up with excitement. Its name? Adventure. The dark vehicle was an open invitation to adventure, and the hero would be more than happy to take it one day.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, boys," Sonic heard Rouge say somewhere in the background, probably thinking of giving Knux a personal farewell. And surely, his ears picked up on the usual bickering that came from the white bat's decision to do so, but he could care less about that. Right now, his full attention was on the bike that stood a few feet away from him, watching his striped rival climb onto the seat.

Somehow, the way how Shadow did it so gracefully - his feet fitting into the foot pegs, his hands wrapping around the handles, and his bottom meeting the arch of the seat perfectly - made it hard to believe that he was naturally aggressive when on foot. Then again, the speedster never did really know why one of the fastest hedgehogs on Mobius needed a motorcycle to go around when running got him to places faster. Still, he had never said anything on that matter because the hero had been hoping to see it in action one of these days.

Surprising considering how much time he'd been recently spending with his rival outside mission-related things.

"Sonic?"

Without taking his eyes off Shadow and his bike, the blue hedgehog hummed, tilting his ears in his brother's direction to show he was listening.

However, it didn't matter as the fox was too engrossed with his device to notice where his brother's attention was. Instead, the kid continued tapping at the screen of the Miles Electric and relayed the information he discovered about another Eggman base nearby. "According to these readings, there seems to be another base a couple of miles north from here."

"Active or empty?" Sonic asked, seeing the rest of Team Dark come into his field of vision as they approached Shadow. While they were busy chatting among themselves, the speedster kept himself entertained by how his rival managed to twist his upper body around so easily while being seated.

"Uhhh, looks like it's empty. Do you still want to check it out today or..?"

Casting a glance up at the foggy sky, he frowned. "Will it rain?"

"Let me check," Tails murmured and so, the hero went back to his staring, directing his focus to the motorcycle and widening his eyes at seeing the roaring engine come to life. The sound sent a thrill up his spine, yet it was the swift motion of the hybrid lifting off the kickstand with one foot, seeming to be so well-practiced by the looks of it, that had emerald eyes lighting up brighter than stars.

"Oh, it appears it won't! Not for another hour, at least."

Finally, the Blue Blur, doing as his title claimed, turned around instantly to face the young genius with an excited grin, letting him think it was one arising from the good news. "That's more than enough time to bust down that old place! Let's go!"

Before leaving, Sonic whipped his head around to catch one last glimpse of the Ultimate Lifeform on his famed Dark Rider...Well, maybe a bit longer than a glimpse, but no one noticed as the striped hedgehog disappeared in a green flash.

Catching his eye, Rouge saw the hero looking over in her direction, waving at him before heading off with Omega back to HQ. Sonic turned around, seeing his brother already leading the way up ahead; no big problem as he could easily catch up. Though, it had seemed that someone did catch onto his subtle staring.

Next to the cobalt speedster, the Guardian of the Master Emerald was narrowing his eyes at him, the corners of his lips turned downward. Blinking once, the hedgehog raised an eye ridge, shrugging. "What? Just wanted to make sure they were off safely..."

Knuckles didn't believe that for one second but said nothing, only shaking his head and going after the fox. "Whatever you say, hedgehog."

Guess Sonic needed to work on the subtlety part a bit more.

---

2.

But like everything else, the hero of Mobius tossed the whole 'being discreet about his staring' aside, thinking that being caught by his reclusive red friend - that lacked enough social cues to not know when Rouge's bickering was blatant flirting - was a coincidence.

Besides, when an opportunity lay before you, it was only fair and smart of you to take it, right? Sonic had that opportunity and took it.

"Congratulations, guys!" Amy skipped over to the trio, the winners of the car race that had just finished a couple of minutes ago. The blue hedgehog glanced at her, seeing a newly acquired hammer in her possession, but it only lasted a second before his eyes were drifting to a certain something that stood several feet behind the pink heroine. With only a short 'thanks, Ames' in response to her words, Sonic let one of his all-known smiles set across his lips as he immersed himself in another moment to stare at Dark Rider.

And, in extension, Shadow.

Best of all, no one would notice a single thing! Because while it appeared that the Blue Blur was engaged in a conversation with his four closest friends, his focus was somewhere else, guarded behind the safety of his new favorite pair of black sunglasses that he bought off that small kiosk that weirdly popped up out of nowhere during the race.

So, there he was, nodding along to whatever was being said between Amy, Tails, and Knuckles, but mentally, he was somewhere else; his emerald eyes trailed the length of Shadow's motorcycle, the ride's polished surfaces seeming to shine brighter under today's blinding sun. Such luster, however, was a stark contrast to the aura that surrounded its owner, who leaned back against the motorcycle with his arms crossed over his chest, a stormy glare directed at Sonic.

'Ha!' The hero's idle smile lifted into a toothy grin, his rival's sour mood always bringing pure joy to him. Sonic the Hedgehog also lived to prove to the so-called Ultimate Lifeform that no superior title and all that garbage of being made to be above them all (and to think he had a big ego) was relevant when it came down to see who was the best of the two. After all, there could only be one to take the first place - today's race ended with evidence of that.

Sonic won, Shadow lost (because falling in second place was just as bad as losing in the hedgehogs' minds). As for the prize, well...the hero was taking it as of currently.

The distant voices of his friends continued in the background, still adding his nod or 'yes' into the conversation; meanwhile, his mind was deciding on how if Shadow just happened to have worn one of those leather jackets he had seen Rouge gift him, he would look the part of a gangster.

A gangster that would ride his bike around the city like a maniac, surely - skipping all those red lights, making sharp turns, speeding up to make a jaw-dropping glide over an unfinished lane or highway bridge to the other side! Just about anything that would leave Sonic exhilarated, feeling the ever-familiar sense of danger tingling under his skin; adrenaline had always been something that got his system overflowing with this buzzing excitement. And perhaps riding the motorcycle could give him that euphoric high he’d never reached with fighting Eggman and saving the day. 

Solely imagining what it would feel like to ride behind the striped hedgehog made Sonic's blood rush from wonderment. Brushing his peach chest up against the back of Shadow's leathered-clad back, securing his arms around his rival's waist, inhaling his scent as he rested his chin over one of Shadow's shoulders, whooping loudly to let him know how much he loved the sensation of the wind on his fur and making his quills dance wildly in the air as the hedgehog duo traveled at unimaginable speeds--

"--date, Sonic?"

Hearing his name, the blue hedgehog's mouth opened and answered, acting on autopilot but his wishful fantasy transferred into his tone. Without knowing, Sonic let out a dreamy sigh, "Yeah, sounds amazin'..."

"Oh my god, really?!" Amy's high-pitched squeal brought the speedster's daydream to a screeching halt. Under his shades, the hedgehog's eyes quickly turned to look at his friend's extremely happy state, the hammer-wielding fighter reaching out to grab Sonic's hand.

"Huh?" Sonic didn't know what was going on.

"I knew you would eventually start enjoying our dates!"

Dates? Oh fuck. The cobalt speedster glanced at his two friends next to him, trying to gauge what the hell he signed up for this time without paying attention. Unfortunately, Tails and Knuckles were reveling at the sight of one beaming Amy Rose thinking that her beloved hero was beginning to see her as something more when in reality, Sonic had been distracted, unknowingly accepting her request.

Even so, the Blue Blur tried to calm the bouncing female, telling her that this was a mistake (and Shadow's goddamn fault). "Look, Ames...you got this all wrong--"

Instantly, the pink hedgehog's demeanor changed, her bright smile slowly dwindling and her feet losing that upbeat skip. "Wrong?"

The hero chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head in an attempt to pull away from her grip. "You see, I was," emerald eyes flicked over to look at the black hedgehog who was mounting onto his prized possession, and all the mesmeric images of Sonic on that ride, too, came flooding back to the front of his mind.

"You were what?" Amy pushed, narrowing her eyes at him.

And not only that, but she happened to visibly shift the hammer in her hold that was now empty of her hero's gloved hand closer into his field of vision; a reminder of the repetitive story that happened between the two hedgehogs whenever things didn't end up going right.

So, not left with much of a choice, Sonic swallowed what was supposed to be his original idea and instead, smiled at his friend, fearing for his life if he didn't make it look like it was genuine - there were only so many horrible headaches and pointless games of cat and mouse he could take.

"...wondering where you'd wanna go?"

Amy's enthusiasm revived, taking Sonic by the hand again and leading him to the fancy, blur race car parked next to an almost departing Shadow the Hedgehog. Along the way, the female fighter rambled on about where they should head, but Sonic was too busy trying to see if he could catch his rival leaving on his motorcycle in a black blur like in his dream and yanked his sunglasses off.

However, it was not possible as the Resistance fighter blocked the hero's sight by startling him with a kiss on his cheek, winking at him afterward, and skipping over to hop onto the passenger's seat of his racecar; by the time he looked at the place where Shadow had been, there was nothing left but a billowing cloud of dust.

Maybe Sonic had won the race, but he didn't get his well-deserved prize in the end.

---

3.

At this point, if people knew of his interest when it came to the intimidating vehicle, they would have come up to the hero asking what exactly made him become fascinated with such a thing, especially when he wasn't one to prefer something over his feet. Was it the need to experience a ride? If that was the case, then Sonic could have simply gotten over it by testing any motorcycle at a local shop in Station Square's downtown area. Easy and quick.

Except it wasn't just about any motorcycle, the hero wanted to specifically take the Dark Rider around Mobius until he exhausted every last drop of fuel in its tank. For that to happen, Sonic knew he would most likely have to end up pestering his rival to use it, or perhaps, stealing it without permission would be better - the sparring challenge that would come after Shadow tracked him down only encouraged him to do it rather than stand here and think about it.

Well, he had been ready to act on it, the ongoing celebration of Tails' birthday party the ideal environment to pursue his one-step plan, but as he had walked past the crowd of close friends and spotted familiar black quills near one of the snack tables by the workshop's garage closed doors, he paused. The mischievous grin he had been sporting while trying to close in on his target faded away, a confused frown taking its place because right next to the Ultimate Lifeform and his precious bike stood the lavender feline princess.

Blaze.

Now what?

Honestly, her being there wasn't enough to refrain the blue hedgehog from doing something reckless around Shadow, considering that there was always someone present to see the shenanigans the hero got himself into by messing around with the one person that found him utterly annoying. So what exactly was stopping him?

He pondered the question while standing there, at a safe distance from the two most introverted people he knew at this party having a casual conversation. Luckily, someone was willing to offer an answer.

"Jealousy is not a nice look on you, Blue."

At hearing Rouge's voice, the speedster quickly shifted his attention away from his rival and the princess, exchanging his frown for a smirk. The bat had walked up to stand next to the hero, nonchalantly sipping at her red solo cup.

"Rouge, likin' the party so far?"

She snorted, shuffling closer to rest her elbow over one of his shoulders. "I am, but are you?"

Sonic gave her a weird look. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ohhh, so we're gonna play dumb," the agent drawled with a roll of her eyes, finishing her drink before clearing her throat. "Look, sugar, as Shadow's 'friend'," she added air quotes around the term, "I should be telling you to get your ass as far away as possible from him."

"Why?"

Rouge gestured over to where her partner-in-arms stood. "When was the last time you saw him interact with someone apart from Omega, you, and I?"

The silence that followed gave away the answer.

"Exactly, so let him have this. Besides," her tone became suggestive, "you never know, those two could hit it off..."

"The man has a soft spot for kitties - the princess has an advantage already over you--"

"Psssh! Nice one, Rouge." The hero couldn't help but laugh at what she was saying, bending over to exaggerate the ridiculousness of the situation she was describing. Yet, uprighting himself, he noticed how the bat was not mirroring his behavior, the first sign that showed she wasn't joking, and her crossed arms only made him stop in an instant.

"You're serious?"

The cobalt speedster scoffed, picking at his ear with his gloved pinkie. "Sorry, Rouge, but I ain't looking for the Faker to have a soft spot for me."

"Then explain the ugly scowl you were clearly directing at your fiery gal."

Sonic stared at the GUN agent, holding his gaze steady before her, but after knowing how she wouldn't let this be and bring it up again at an inopportune time, he surrendered...somewhat.

"Okay, you caught me!" Sonic threw his arms wide open as if to show that she was right. "I'm jealous--"

"Ha!" she cheered, smirking. But her victory didn't last long as the hero raised a finger to cut her off, mirroring her smirk. "Of the fact that Blaze's welcomed to get close to Dark Rider without so much of a complaint on Shadow's part."

The bat took a moment to process the words, varying expressions flashing across her face to the Blue Blur's amusement and mild fear. He hoped she didn't think more of the situation because the woman tended to read between the lines when there wasn't any in-between to be looking through in the first place!

"The bike, huh?" she asked, turning around to observe the black hedgehog and princess in the distance, studying the way her teammate pointed at certain parts of his GUN-assigned vehicle while explaining something to the Guardian of the Sol Emeralds. Shadow and Blaze were certainly not close, yet it would be possible for the two to get along the most outside their small group of acquaintances. So to see how the two Mobians were interacting, Rouge had only wished to poke fun at the hero about no longer receiving Shadow's full attention, regardless of it being rude and aggressive.

But after hearing Knuckles' comment the other day about what he saw at White Jungle, this curiosity Sonic had toward the motorcycle wasn't what it meant in a literal manner. The Dark Rider was a substitute for something--no, someone that the hero of Mobius had yet to accept to feel something for.

"Well, good thing you got me as your friend, too," Rouge remarked, a plan formulating in her head unbeknownst to the hero, who ended up even more confused by her comment. Instead of elaborating, the agent patted Sonic's shoulder and smiled. "Let's fix you up a date with that hot ride."

"Date?" Sonic repeated, becoming flustered. "I told you, Rouge, I'm not interested in Shadow--"

"I meant the motorcycle, Blue..."

"Oh."

Oh, indeed. Rouge chuckled, walking away from the embarrassed male, and wondered why all hedgehogs were so stubborn when it came to these things about feelings and attraction. Well, she guessed she could add one particular red echidna to the list, too.

---

4.

Sonic soon learned what Rouge had meant that evening at Tails' birthday party. The answer came in the form of the two elite agents standing at the doorstep of the fox's workshop one week later. 

“So what happened again?” Tails glanced up from where he was busy taking in the damage done to the motorcycle’s engine. 

Shadow relayed the details, himself occupied with looking over the rest of his bike. “We had a mission over at Mazuri—”

“You guys went to Mazuri and didn’t invite me!” Sonic butted in as he came walking through the workshop’s entrance with a takeout bag in one hand. Passing Rouge on his way to put the bag on an empty counter, the hero gave her a knowing look to which she winked in response. “Hey, Big Blue. Aaaand you know we would have—"

Shadow scoffed, glancing up at the bat when she said that. “Never in a million years.”

Rouge rolled her eyes, “Okay, I would have sent you a message if I could, but it was a classified kind of gig. No outsiders allowed."

"Ah, I see," Sonic wandered toward where his brother and his rival were huddled around the motorcycle. The two talked and pointed at several parts from where the engine had been removed to take a thorough scan of the bike's interior. Already, the hero was closer to the motorcycle than he'd ever been before; unfortunately, this time there were dents, serious scrapes, and once sleek black colors now showing signs of rust. 

But what was a little adventure if not getting a few scratches here and there?

All that mattered to Sonic was being close to the bike, caring any less for how it looked now because appearances were only one thing. He stepped over to stand on the side where Shadow was crouching, staring at where ungloved hands were delicately propped on the bike. Sonic couldn't help himself from his indulging staring again, admiring the long and bold red stripe that slithered down Shadow's arm to his hand, splitting into two thinner lines that led to his middle finger and pinkie only. Even then, the middle finger's crimson stripe followed straight down to neatly trimmed black claws while the Pinkie's stripe curled around the smaller digit twice to reach an identical claw. 

Sonic always knew his rival was different, being half hedgehog and half Black Arms, but whereas the reminder of his bloodline often disturbed other people, it simply made the agent more attractive to the hero. Everything he thought was pleasing to look at for Shadow seemed like a threat to others; the sharp, striped quills, his much pointier fangs, and strong, powerful muscles.

Though, Shadow's bright, red rubies were Sonic's favorite. 

They reminded him of sunsets, of cherries on top of sundaes, of the molten lava surrounding the volcanic area in Red Mountain. 

Red had always been a meaningful color to the speedster, and to see his rival have it as a trademark trait of his without acknowledging Sonic's original intent already - like, hello, red shoes! - made Sonic chuckle.

It caught Shadow's attention, who glanced up at the blue hero hovering over him with a frown.

"What's so funny, hedgehog?"

Sonic shrugged, wearing a goofy smile that only seemed to make the striped hedgehog's eyes narrow further. 

"Nothin', just...noticed something, that's all."

"Noticed what?" Shadow asked, his tone suggesting the hero be careful about how he went about this.

Sonic gestured at the barely eligible insignia the Dark Rider usually had beautifully painted over on the side. "You went for red as your brand."

The agent looked at his scratched bike's insignia, staring at it with knitted brows. The little pout Shadow unknowingly made when thinking hard about something brought out another chuckle from the hero. 

"So?" Shadow huffed, not knowing what had his rival laughing at him beginning to annoy him.

A cocky grin slipped across fawn lips and emerald eyes lit up.

"Well, not to brag or anything, buuuut red's been my kind of thing since the start. I mean have you seen how many pairs of red shoes I own?" 

"He actually has a whole line of shoes and accessories made by him for that brand - Swift Speed," the fox genius piped in from the other side, where he was writing down notes about what parts to order to fix the motorcycle.

"Oh yeah! Forgot 'bout that, I really don't tell others, though..."

"Swift Speed?" Rouge grinned, catching Sonic's attention. "Oh my god..." Her teal eyes were glued to the dark hedgehog who was standing back up.

"Rouge, don't," came the simple warning, but the bat was too excited to share her discovery. "Shadow only ever uses that brand for when he wants to give his air shoes a break!" 

"Oh really..." Sonic grinned, turning back to stare at his embarrassed rival.

"Rouge, stop."

"You have like what? Two or three pairs of running shoes for each color they have," she snickered, making her friend groan in annoyance. "Something about the maker having good taste in style and comfort."

Meanwhile, Sonic was reveling in this new information, pushing this whole thing a step further by shuffling closer to his striped rival and bumping his hip with Shadow's.

"I guess we all know what that means, right?" Sonic teased, slinging an arm freely over ebony shoulders. Regardless of what Rouge just put him through, Shadow was still brave enough to look the hero in the eye and mutter. "No...what?"

"That you should be the starring model for my shoe line! Think about it...you could pose even with this bad boy," Sonic released the agent to turn around and place both his hands on the Dark Rider. And once he couldn't believe he was actually touching the motorcycle, he took the biggest step so far he could with Shadow's property. He swiftly swung a leg over it and posed for his dark counterpart with a smirk. 

"And if you need help, I'm always down to show you some poses," Sonic let his eyelids droop, becoming half-lidded and suggestive. 

"Get off my bike."

"Oh, c'mon, Shads! I'll take good care of you both," the hero winked, his flirtations leaving the dark hedgehog with an angered look by the way his face was burning brighter than the pretty red on his stripes. To further prove it, the hero's eyes widened as Shadow came at him with a menacing snarl. Quickly, Sonic scrambled off the bike and fled the workshop, offering a quick word of gratitude toward Rouge for trying on his way out with a hot-tempered striped hedgehog on his tail.

Rouge just watched the boys leave, the sounds of the fox tinkering filling the background. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at Sonic's blatant stubbornness, having found the smile on his face as he left running with Shadow after him bigger than the one he wore when he finally touched the motorcycle he desperately wanted. 

---

5.

It was always one step forward, and two steps back with Shadow.

Whatever chances he'd gained from last week through Rouge's help were nothing when the striped hedgehog simply ripped them away from Sonic's hands in the next moment. And because he couldn't figure it out yet, the hero blamed it all on his rival, and his outright rude intentions of ignoring him today of all days.

It was the World Grand Prix, and it was down to the last section for riders to use their boards to race through Mazuri's savannah and through exotic smaller towns around the citadel.

Sonic and his pals never missed a chance to show up and enjoy the fun with thousands of others that followed the races across the world; it also didn't stop the blue hedgehog from "accidentally" bumping into an old green-feathered friend and shaking things up with their nostalgic rivalry. And though Jet came off as the same self-centered jerk and remained to bruise Sonic's ego any way he could, deep down the hedgehog knew the hawk was more than happy to have a worthy challenge to look forward to racing with.

But, of course, no one could beat Sonic's best rival - Shadow the Hedgehog.

He was the only one that could test the hero in all the ways others dreamed of or tried and failed. No one could rise to the challenge like the Ultimate Lifeform, and that was something Sonic would rather take to his grave than reveal to anybody lest he want to endure the rest of his life with Shadow constantly reminding him.

Actually, right about now, Sonic wouldn't mind, still standing in the contestants' lane waiting for the announcer to call out the time to head over for the last part of the race. All the wins he had accumulated over the race meant nothing to Sonic right now as he continued to glare at where Jet and Shadow stood, sharing conversation.

Team Dark had arrived halfway through the Grand Prix, and they seemed to have no intention of participating this time around. It'd been a shame since it would've turned the competition a lot fiercer, action-packed...a lot more of Shadow to butt heads with. While Jet gave Sonic adrenaline to beat him at his own game, having Shadow around would have done wonders for the hero's excitement.

Heck, the blue hedgehog would have been delighted to have his striped rival witness first-hand how he beat the green hawk on the track.

Instead, Shadow didn't even acknowledge him! Not even a simple glance in his direction. The agent gave Sonic nothing, and only made the hero's mood worsen as the race progressed by voluntarily going up with Rouge to talk to the Rogues, both GUN agents engaging in civilized talk with the birds— well, Rouge more or so flirted with the purple swallow. But that was the last thing the hero cared about, his attention narrowed down to the green Extreme Gear racer and the Ultimate Lifeform.

"Oh no, here we go again," a familiar voice spoke up from Sonic's side.

He glanced over to find Knuckles coming to stand next to him with Tails at his other side.

"What do you mean?" The young genius asked, cocking his head to the side in curiosity.

The echidna pointed at the group standing across the lane, chatting comfortably with each other. "Sonic's jealous that Jet is striking up a conversation with Shadow because you see our friend here," Knuckles smugly swung an arm over Sonic's stiff shoulders. "He's got this little crush on the Ultimate Lifeform—"

"No," Sonic growled, shrugging off his friend's arm. "I'm not jealous because I don't have a crush on Shadow!"

"Say it any louder and he just might think so."

The hero huffed, ignoring the odd looks he was receiving from the other racers, and though he wish for his striped rival to not have heard him, a little part of him did just to get his attention.

"Look, let's just go get ready to win this race, okay?"

Because he'd rather stand under Mazuri's hot sun by the tracks than see another second of this preposterous scene before him, his friends also seemed to notice as they shared a look of amusement and followed the hero out from the sheltered lane.

Everything went downhill when Sonic saw Shadow approach Jet because he nor his team ended up winning the final race, earning second place on the scoreboard to the hedgehog's dismay. Still, he congratulated his friends and high-fived them as they walked back to the contestants' lane to get some water. Sure, the defeat wasn't what Sonic had planned, but he took the blame for that with his mind having been distracted on the race track, especially with Jet at his side taunting him and all.

It kind of got to his head, but he was ready to move on from today, suggesting to his brother and friend about celebrating with a good dinner. So, the trio headed into the citadel, walking the crowded streets and pointing out new things since they last visited Mazuri until they arrived at a local restaurant with the best meals served fresh.

They took their seats outside, chilling under the welcoming shade of the table's thatch canopy and sharing their thoughts on the Grand Prix. The crowds along the main road thrived with lively conversations, local sellers pulled in tourists to buy exotic tokens, and a small band was playing at one of the corners of the main road's intersection. It was all going well, perfectly well, but leave it up to Shadow to keep ruining the hero's day.

Sonic had been in the middle of telling his friends about the cool move he pulled off in the first leg of today's race when a roaring engine cut through the buzzing streets and lively music. Heads turned in the direction of where the sound was coming from; a handful of excited gasps and chirps of acknowledgment went around the other tables by Sonic's.

He figured out why pretty soon.

An eye-catching ride pulled up to the same street where Sonic and the others were sitting out to enjoy their dinner. The two riders on the motorcycle found themselves at the center of attention, the Dark Rider itself having attracted plenty enough, but with the two well-known Mobians climbing off the bike it doubled the spectators' awe.

"Seriously," the blue hedgehog scoffed, ticked off that of all the places in Mazuri this had to be the one they would come to. And that wasn't even the half of Sonic's problem, eyeing his green feathery rival with open envy as he stepped away from the motorcycle and its owner.

Unfortunately, his staring didn't go unnoticed by the hawk, azure eyes making contact with an unyielding emerald gaze.

"Well, well, well, look who do we have here," the cocky hawk sauntered over to the hedgehog's table, receiving two scowls apart from the hero's. "Celebrating your second-place win?"

"Until your ugly face ruined it, yeah pretty much," Sonic snapped rudely, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jet snorted. "Awful comeback, must be a side effect from losing."

"We didn't lose! It was just a choice of heart to let you win this time around."

"Whatever," the green hawk shrugged, still wearing his smug grin to the speedster's bother. "I think it was high time someone humbled you, and you should be thanking me really."

Sonic gawked, "Thank you? For what?"

"That it was me you lost to and not Shadow—hey!" Suddenly, the hawk leaned over and his azure gaze grew mischievous. "Did you know he bet on you winning? The poor guy came up to me before the race to settle a little deal only to be disappointed by your loss."

Sonic paled, the hawk snickering at his reaction. "I can't wait to tell him it was a choice of heart that made him lose our bet."

Jet was about to go off and do whatever he came here to do, but before he could, Sonic blurted out something. "What was the bet?"

Glancing over his shoulder at the hero, Jet smirked, motioning at where Shadow was busy talking to someone on his phone. "See that nice bike? Well, let's just say you aren't the first rival to get a cool ride on it...see you around, Sonic."

Off the Extreme Gear rider went, heading into the restaurant and disappearing among the crowd standing in line waiting for their orders. Meanwhile, the hero slumped back into his chair, stunned and annoyed by what Jet had revealed; Knuckles had been ready to poke fun at Sonic again, but a harsh nudge and silent glare from the fox stopped him from doing it. The two left their blue friend to figure out his thoughts alone and in silence, both already knowing why Jet's confession disturbed Sonic so much.

And it had nothing to do with the bike, but that was for the hero to figure out on his own.

They half expected him to head over and talk to Shadow first-hand, but they were simply witnesses to their friend's obvious staring. Sonic kept his gaze on the dark hedgehog by the street, who remained oblivious to what just happened and the eyes that were on him.

While Tails and Knuckles continued with their meal, checking on Sonic every other moment, the hero himself was dissecting his thoughts one by one, glancing between his rival and the Dark Rider. There were questions about why would Shadow bring his bike back to Mazuri when it had gotten damaged here in the first place, and why would Team Dark not want to participate in the Grand Prix this year. Alas, these questions were smaller in importance when compared to why would Shadow bet on Sonic winning and getting his most prized possession involved in the mix. Did the agent really think Sonic would win?

Sonic's eyes widened, is that why he was here...to see him win?

The thought of the hybrid solely coming to the races to watch Sonic made his cheeks warm, shifting in his seat at thinking about bright rubies following his every move from the moment he stepped out of the contestants' lane to the tracks. Sonic wasn't going to lie to himself; the mere idea of having Shadow's attention was satisfying, but knowing he believed Sonic to win, it was a lot more than satisfying.

It meant Shadow respected him, acknowledged his abilities, and perhaps, admired him. On some level. An equal level for sure if Jet's words were anything to go by, but it made the hero wonder if that were the case, then why treat him as if he were less?

"Why won't you let me ride with you?" Sonic asked, whispering under his breath.

"What was that?"

Startled by Tails' voice, the blue hedgehog looked over at his brother and smiled, shaking his head. "Nothing! Just thinking about what to order for dessert."

The fox slowly nodded, amused by his behavior. "Okaaay..."

Avoiding his brother's curious gaze, the hero went back to staring at Shadow and his motorcycle, finally noticing that it looked way better than it had been over a week ago. It got its shine back, a new paint job, and tires, too. Now seeing the bike sporting its usual attractiveness, Sonic couldn't help but think about the deal Shadow and Jet made a little more, recalling that the hawk only explained what he won because of the bet.

Though what would have happened if Sonic won the race leaving Shadow to take his side of the bet?

A what-if the hero would not know unless he asked Jet - definitely not - or Shadow - also not a chance. He let out a dejected sigh figuring he would never know the answer, and all because he got distracted by Shadow and Jet talking to each other as if they were best buds—oh, that asshole.

Of course, what an idiot he was!

Sonic was right; it was always one step forward, and two steps back with the Ultimate Lifeform.

At least now he knew that Shadow knew he was the winner before the race even began, smirking at seeing his feathery rival walk back out of the restaurant and flashing the hero another cocky grin. Sonic saw Jet reunite with Shadow at his motorcycle, saying something to each other before the dark hedgehog offered the hawk a helping hand.

Sure, it made Sonic's jaw tick, but the giddiness he was suddenly feeling surpassed the hotness he felt in his chest at seeing Shadow leave with someone that wasn't him on his precious bike. Because at the end of the day, all that mattered was that Shadow knew Sonic was his best rival, the only worthwhile to come to see and play an easy deal for to just end up fooling everyone else.

Well, he didn't fool Sonic.

---

6.

It was a month after the incident at the World Grand Prix when Sonic saw his rival again.

The spontaneous visit could have gone perfectly great if it weren't for the awful timing to end up with an injury after Eggman's attack. Luckily, with the additional help of Team Dark, the Doctor was easily defeated, cursing at the hero and his friends for ruining his plans once again. The one that didn't walk away from the battle so lucky was Sonic, sporting a sprained ankle.

So, now here he sat on the ground, bearing the same old argument Tails and Amy had each time the speedster was injured. It upset him for the most part because he felt embarrassed to be treated like a child. In front of his rival nonetheless! But he kept quiet, blocking out whatever his brother and Amy were discussing, and glanced over to where Shadow and Rouge were checking up on Omega. It appeared the destruction-loving robot took a pretty nasty hit during the fight and had some damage done to his core battery.

But by the looks of it, nothing serious was done as Rouge patted her teammate on his bulky arm while Shadow rolled his eyes rather playfully. Not long after, the dark hedgehog headed for an overgrown bush, parting tree branches and thick leaves to reveal where he had hidden his bike this time around.

Sonic perked up at the sight of it, curiously watching how attentive Shadow was being as he made sure his motorcycle didn't get scratched. It was kind of cute, the hero thought. He'd never seen his rival take care of something so much to the point where it looked like the Dark Rider meant everything to him.

Maybe it did, Sonic smirked, guiding his gaze over the bike's comfy seat and the insignia's outline. The symbol's red color reminded him of his owner with ruby eyes and striking striped quills, and he couldn't help himself to a soft laugh at remembering how he proved to Shadow that he'd been wearing Sonic's signature color all these years.

Something about red looked perfect against black.

The thought made the hero's chest swell up with warmth, risking a chance to look at his dark rival. He saw him looking over his bike, passing his gloved hands over the handles and shiny surfaces—those same hands ran along Sonic's sides, pressing gently into blue hips—holy fuck, Sonic's eyes widened, feeling his breath taken away at realizing where his thoughts were going. Where the hell did that even come from?

Feeling even more embarrassed, the speedster shifted, readjusting his sitting position on the ground and making sure that neither Amy nor Tails were looking at him. Damn it, the last thing he needed was for his brother to point out his blushing face that sure enough he felt crawling down his neck too. Amy would surely give him hell about it, demanding to know what evoked this sort of reaction from him.

He knew the only way to calm down was to avert his eyes from Shadow and the motorcycle, but...the temptation was irresistible; just a small peek, he reasoned with himself.

Emerald eyes steadily retraced their way back to the hybrid standing by the Dark Rider, starting from familiar air shoes, going up the length of striped feet, stopping to momentarily admire the athletic muscles, and continuing up to a strongly built chest until...crimson eyes were staring back at him.

"Fuck," Sonic whispered, mortified at being caught and quickly, ripping his gaze away from Shadow.

He didn't dare to look back and see if Shadow's eyes were still on him, instead struggling to breathe properly; however, this caught his brother's attention to the blue hedgehog's dismay.

"Sonic, are you feeling okay?" The young fox knelt, scanning Sonic's face and pressing a hand to his forehead.

Tails frowned, "You're burning up and shaking..."

These observations devastatingly attracted everyone else's attention, too, making the hero squirm even more under curious eyes. Least of all, now Shadow standing within arm's distance and staring down at Sonic with a knowing smirk. Another flush of redness swarmed the hero's face as he made eye contact with his rival, and to his even greater displeasure, had Amy fret over his health, too.

"Oh! I think he has a fever! We need to take him back to the workshop before it gets worse!" The pink hedgehog crowded the hero's space and glanced over to Tails with an irked expression. "C'mon, Tails! We can't waste any more time!"

"If I take him, the height will just make it worse. He could end up feeling nauseous."

Amy glared at the fox, crossing her arms over her chest. "Then what are we going to do? He can't walk with his sprained ankle—"

"I'll take him."

All eyes landed on Shadow.

"Uh, n-no, that's okay—I'm sure we can figure something else out," Sonic stuttered, staring at anything but the agent.

"Yeah, we don't want to impose on you," Amy added, her jade eyes narrowing at seeing how the dark hedgehog was looking at Sonic. "Besides, carrying him back to the workshop is equally as dangerous as Tails taking him over."

Shadow's smirk remained, casting the pink hedgehog a mirthful look. "We can take my bike."

Rouge nodded, "He's a natural on that thing, so there are no chances of anything bad happening."

"But what about—" Amy started, finding another excuse but was cut off by the hybrid.

"We'll get there before any of you do unless..." Shadow was now blatantly challenging the pink hedgehog. "You want to wait here and come up with another solution while Sonic's condition gets worse."

Offended, Amy rose to her feet. "No! Of course not! I just—I just want to make sure Sonic's in good hands."

Having remained a silent spectator of the discussion, Sonic would have thanked Amy for her care, but all that his mind was feeding him was thoughts of Shadow's hands again - caressing his fawn chest and fingers running through his blue quills. Oh god, Sonic was doomed.

So, so doomed as Omega caught onto how his face continued to redden, almost matching the color of his shoes.

"THE BLUE HEDGEHOG'S SYSTEM IS SHOWING SIGNS OF THE QUICKENING OF HIS HEART RATE AND HIS UNFAVORABLE TEMPERATURE CONTINUING TO RISE."

"You heard the guy. Let's get Big Blue moving," Rouge snapped her fingers and nodded for Shadow to take the injured hero away.

That was all the striped hedgehog needed to crouch low on the ground, reaching out and wrapping his arms around Sonic. With their faces only being only a few inches apart, the hero was afraid to say anything to him, avoiding his rival's gaze. Although, it was difficult doing so when the very same thoughts he was having about Shadow's hands were nearing the possibility of happening in real life as he felt gloved hands slide delicately across his back and hook an arm under his knees.

This would haunt his dreams in the middle of the night if the feeling of being pressed up against the hybrid's sturdy chest wasn't already awakening even more confusing reactions from the blue hedgehog.

Sonic bit back the whimper that fought to free itself from his lips, roughly swallowing the thickness lodged in his throat.

"Okay, we'll meet you back at the workshop," Rouge walked after the dark hedgehog carrying his blue rival to the Dark Rider. She observed in delight as Shadow settled the hero carefully on the seat, deliberately touching his shoulders and waist while explaining to Sonic he wanted to make sure he was secured.

Shadow was then climbing onto the bike, too, and glancing at Sonic over his shoulder. "Hold onto me or you'll fall off."

"Wait, what?"

Huffing, the bat turned to Rose who was in earshot of hearing Shadow's advice as she walked up to them. "He was joking. Sonic's not gonna fall off, buuuut..." Rouge sauntered over to stand before Sonic, a mischievous smile making the hero nervous. "It won't hurt to make the ride a little safer."

Sonic blushed, hesitantly circling his hands around Shadow's waist. "Um, can we go now?"

"Get him outta here, Shadow before he grows any more impatient!" The bat winked at the cobalt speedster, backing off to let the hybrid start the engine. "You're in good hands with the Ultimate Lifeform, Big Blue—oh!"

She gestured for Shadow to wait for a second, her eyes still on the flustered hedgehog behind him. "Before I forget, you owe me."

Sonic frowned, confused. "Owe you? For what?"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't act stupid, Blue. You know what I mean, but in case you don't, Shadow will tell once you get home."

With that being said, Shadow took Rouge's wave as his cue to leave, grinning as he sped across the field with now a gasping Sonic the Hedgehog behind him. The hero hadn't expected the motorcycle to reach these kinds of speeds, seeming to almost match Shadow's and his natural pace when running. But as the shock gradually resided, exhilaration took over and made Sonic forget about his previous awkward state.

He had waited too long for this and it was everything he had hoped for.

Sonic let out a laugh, enjoying the whipping wind hitting his face as Shadow made a turn to head for the city's limits. "Whoa! Hey, aren't we going to the workshop?"

The dark hedgehog shot the hero a quick glance, grinning. "We are, but if we're going to beat them there, we might as well take a little detour."

Finding this playful side of his usually grumpy rival amusing, Sonic chuckled, relaxing into his place against Shadow's back. "Since when are you the fun type?"

The hero saw the agent shrug, guiding them into the first street at the road signs' speed which was a little slower than what Sonic liked but loved the rumbling vibration coming from the engine.

"Maybe you're rubbing off on me."

Sonic smirked, "So I guess my work is finally paying off."

"What?!" Shadow yelled out as he increased the speed, skillfully driving between the lanes and using any openings to push through the rest of the cars and building traffic.

They were approaching the heart of the city, but Sonic let out another cheerful laugh as Shadow dodged the incoming traffic, shocking the hero when he ran a red light.

"Did you just do what I think you did?!"

"Can't hear you! Speak up, hedgehog!"

Grunting, the speedster scooted closer, pressing his chest right against Shadow's back, and leaned over to let his mouth hover closely at the hybrid's left side of his face.

"I said you ran a red light—"

Sonic's words died on his tongue as Shadow quickly turned his face to press a soft kiss to unsuspecting lips, breaking away with a smile at seeing the hero's shocked face. Shadow chuckled, his ruby eyes twinkling now under the evening sun. It took the blue hedgehog a full sixty seconds to realize what just happened, staring at the agent with wide eyes, flushed cheeks, and mouth agape. It was only after Shadow saw the hero blink that he laughed, nudging Sonic's muzzle with his own to regain his focus.

"See, told you you're rubbing off on me," Shadow purred, shifting his attention back to the road sadly, but he felt Sonic finally react.

"You...you kissed me?" Sonic didn't know what to do. This was all so unexpected, but...he liked it. After all, surprises were his favorite thing. Still, he needed to make sure this was what he thought and not some funny joke Shadow decided to pull on him—"It's not April Fools' today is it?!"

Shadow snorted, shaking his head. "No, you idiot!"

"Then why did you kiss me?!" Sonic shouted over the bustling noise of other cars and honking.

"Because I can!"

"I'm serious!" Sonic rolled his eyes, squeezing Shadow's waist for emphasis.

"Fine! I'll tell you...after this!"

In a practiced maneuver, the agent was pushing the pace higher, switching lanes to the farthest left before making a graceful turn. He was leading them to the highway entrance ramp, not slowing down as his swift speed scared away other drivers and let him onto the highway. Without having to worry about any highway patrol at this hour, Shadow took advantage and really made Sonic's first ride worth all the time in the world.

Sonic felt the air being punched out of his lungs in the best way possible as he held on tighter to Shadow, not holding back his loud whooping as they broke every highway speed rule by worming their way between cars and angry drivers. Shadow joined him in his bout of joy, feeling the vibrations of the agent's laughter against his chest and grinning even wider when Shadow's shoulders shook with every laugh as well.

"Get ready!"

That was all the hero got before his rival was tilting the bike toward the right, gliding across the three lanes to get to the edge where a sign Sonic caught a fleeting glance of signaled that a bridge was coming up in a few miles. He was about to ask Shadow about it until he saw another three massive signs alerting drivers that the bridge was under reconstruction, leaving a shiver to run down Sonic's spine.

That was it; the tingling sensation he'd been dreaming about these past few months.

This was what Sonic craved ever since he felt the desire to ride this very motorcycle with his rival and run it for as long as it let them.

"Oh, this going to be so fucking cool!" Sonic's eyes widen as the bridge's ramp leading to the higher ground came into view.

"Ready?!"

The unfinished bridge was approaching quickly at the speed they were going, a wide space empty of any structure to lead to the other side; the hero's blood pumped faster under his skin, his emerald eyes lighting up with the dangerous glint a daredevil always wore in the face of something life-risking. Sure, they could easily miss the other ledge and fall to their potential deaths, but unlike all those times when Sonic was fighting Eggman or another huge badnik or a wrathful god, this time everything felt safe somehow. No matter how dangerous this was Sonic knew he was going to be safe.

As long as he had Shadow at his side, nothing bad would ever happen to the hero.

So, Sonic surprised the dark hedgehog with a share of his own kiss to a tan muzzle, leaning into Shadow's body as much as he could, and confidently gave his answer.

"More than I will ever be."

The two hedgehogs were then feeling the rush of air against their quills, taking in the view under them as the bike reached its highest speed and the first tire left the ground. Shadow grinned, feeling Sonic's grip around his waist tightening but hearing the hero let out an excited scream; it echoed in the air as they glided over the space between the bridge's ledges, immediately marking it as a memorable moment in Shadow's life.

As predicted, the striped hedgehog and his bike made their landing perfectly, bouncing once as the tires made contact with the ground again.

"Holy shit! That was so awesome!" Sonic giggled, bracing his forehead on an ebony shoulderblade as he fully embraced the euphoric high he just experienced.

His rival let him enjoy it in silence as he drove them to the workshop for real this time, slowing down as they exited the highway at the next ramp and turned onto a street that let out of the city. During the ride, Sonic's forehead gesture turned into full-on nuzzling, practically hugging the striped hedgehog and purring at feeling Shadow's warmth.

When they arrived at the workshop, they found themselves alone, the agent kicking out the stand to stabilize the motorcycle. He tapped Sonic's hands to let him know they were here, making the hero's eyes flutter open and the smile he'd been wearing falter. Reluctantly, the blue hedgehog dropped his arms from Shadow's waist, suddenly nervous again now that they were face-to-face again.

"Got you here first as promised," the hybrid teased, noticing his rival's avoidance of eye contact. "Is something wrong? Did I hurt you—"

"No! M'okay!" Sonic blurted out, meeting Shadow's worried gaze instantly.

It knocked the breath out of him, again. He was starting to like this feeling a little too much.

"Just..." the hero rubbed the back of his neck, nervous. "You said you were gonna tell me why you...kissed me."

Relieved to know it had nothing to do with his sprained ankle, the agent relaxed and smiled. "Is that all?"

"Is that all?" Sonic repeated, incredulously. "Uh. Hello, how are you so calm after—that?"

"The ride or the kiss? I can't tell when you seemed to have loved both," Shadow smirked, entertained by how easy it was to fluster his blue rival.

It seemed the roles were switched today.

The hero glared at the other hedgehog, growling. "If you aren't gonna take me seriously, I'm leavin'."

Swinging his leg over the seat, Sonic winced as he placed both his feet on the ground, prepared to walk away when in his first step, he was assaulted with a sharp pain shooting up his injured leg. He whimpered, forgetting the whole point of this ride was to have him take off weight from his sprained ankle. Unfortunately, Shadow was there to remind him as well, surprising the blue hedgehog again by grabbing out to him.

"Hey! What are you doing—?" Sonic gasped as he was swept off his feet, feeling up Shadow's comforting warmth again against his side that was pressed to the hybrid's chest. Annoyed and embarrassed, Sonic huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't need to be carried, Shadow."

"Are you always this stubborn?" The agent remarked, not letting go of the hero and taking him to the house attached to the workshop.

"So funny," Sonic grumbled, looking away from his rival and to the front porch instead.

The dark hedgehog climbed the steps and gently sat the speedster on the top one, being extra cautious of the injured ankle. He settled himself next to the hero after, leaving only an inch of space between them. Sonic would have scooted away, he would have but...the temptation was going at it again, stronger in its magnetic pull. So, he remained where he was and waited for the others to arrive with Shadow.

And for a long quiet minute, Sonic thought this was all there was to this day, unanswered questions and foolish emotions storming his mind.

But Shadow broke the silence, admitting to Sonic something quite shocking.

"I kissed you because I've been wanting to for a while now."

"Oh."

To say the least, the hero was stunned to hear this. It was kind of hard to tell this was what Shadow's been wanting to do when all their interactions ended with petty competitions over a round of racing or sparring.

"Since when?"

Shadow glanced at the blue hedgehog, answering confidently. "After the race car competition a few months back."

Sonic's jaw dropped, remembering that race as it was the beginning of his phase where all he paid attention to was the Dark Rider. Now that he recalled the memory, thoroughly going through each thing Sonic had studied with great curiosity and realizing his gaze somehow had gone from the bike to the rider.

"But you always pushed me away..." Sonic also didn't forget about everything that happened after that day. "You spent all your time with Blaze at Tails' birthday party, you wanted to beat me up when you brought in your bike, and you ignored me all day during the Grand Prix!"

With every new thing Sonic listed, the more confused he became, comparing Shadow's behavior in the past weeks to the present. "Hell, you even paraded Jet around Mazuri on your motorcycle afterward."

This caught the Ultimate Lifeform's attention, leaning forward with hooded eyes. "What? Did that make you jealous?"

"No!" The cobalt speedster scowled, feeling his cheeks burn hot under Shadow's pretty—stop it, you! "I just don't know why you waste your time with others when it's clear that I'm the best you got—I mean as a rival!"

The striped hedgehog chuckled, "You're so cute when you get mad."

"Shadow!"

"What? It's true!" The agent reached for Sonic's face, cradling his cheek sweetly. "And you're right, red's definitely your signature color."

Sonic groaned, glaring at the other. "I swear I'm gonna—"

The hero's vocal threat never came as Shadow pressed another kiss to his peach lips, savoring his time with this one. He brought his other hand to gently grasp the back of Sonic's upper neck, angling his neck to deepen the kiss. Shadow felt his rival shakingly plant his hands on his white chest fur, tangling his fingers in the soft strands. The hero rubbed at the hybrid's chest, pulling soothing purrs from there, too, and felt the vibrations along where they touched.

For the second time that day, Sonic the Hedgehog felt himself riding a delirious wave, up and up and up until he no longer could think straight; his head became empty of any thought except for the feel of Shadow's lips on his, moaning softly as the hybrid's tongue teased him with a dip and caress against Sonic's teeth and tongue, too.

The Dark Rider may have given a taste of adrenaline and excitement like no other adventure, but kissing Shadow...topped even the best moments in Sonic's life, new and amazing. It was fulfilling. It made his blood rush like rapid currents and burn hotter than molten lava. It made him feel like he was airborne, gliding over that same bridge's gap without the need of the Dark Rider. All he needed was a kiss to feel like he could fly far, far above till he reached the stars in the sky.

"Kissing you feels like making that jump over the bridge and still feeling that exciting rush under my skin," Shadow whispered, breaking away to look at Sonic's blissful face.

"You've read my mind."

The dark hedgehog chuckled, finding Sonic's dreamy sigh adorable.

"You were right, too."

Humming, the hero pressed another kiss to Shadow's lips, sighing in pleasure before asking what the hybrid meant.

"Right about what?"

"You're the best I got, and I want you to know that."

"You mean..." Sonic gazed at Shadow, his heartbeat stuttering as the dark hedgehog caressed his muzzle.

"Will you let me be the best you got, too?"

Sonic smiled, "You've always been, Shads."

With confessions made, the two hedgehogs embraced each other into another kiss, slower and tender. Even so, it didn't take away that beautiful and wonderful feeling they felt as they coasted the city's streets to glide over the bridge. Well, not quite. This - being together - felt a lot better; the best feeling actually.

They broke apart once they heard the familiar voices of their friends in the distance, and as they waved over to the two hedgehogs, Shadow glanced down at Sonic's sprained ankle, quickly cradling it in both hands. To the hero's surprise, the agent was able to heal it, seeing the hybrid smirking back at him.

"You healed it...with your emerald." Sonic discovered his rival's secret, "You had one all along. Why didn't you just do that from the beginning?"

Shadow gestured at the incoming group with his head. "How else was I supposed to get you all to myself?"

"I dunno, ask like a normal person," Sonic teased, tugging for the agent to sit back down with him on the porch steps.

Seeing the hero wiggle his now-healed foot, Shadow leaned over to whisper something into his ear just in time as the pink hedgehog reached them. Sonic laughed at whatever was said, making Amy frown as she stared at how close the two rivals were sitting next to each other.

"What's so funny?"

Sonic smiled at her, sneakily squeezing Shadow's hand closest to him. "Nothing, Ames, just finding out how good of a jokester Shadow is."

"I'm full of surprises, hedgehog."

Yes, he was, Sonic thought, the tingling sensation still lingering on his lips.

[bexorok]

Poorly written Sonic Movie 3 pitch/outline

I’ve never really written anything in a script format, but I had so many thoughts about the next movie that I had to write them out otherwise my brain would actually explode. I’m kind of bouncing around with scenes I think should be in the movie as well as character introductions. Hope people find some enjoyment out of these!

This is the first couple of scenes I wrote out. I also had a little blurb about the opening credits, but it’s kind of just what the rumored trailer for Sonic 3 reviled at cinamacon was, so there’s not much point of it. Basically, Robotnik now looks like his original game design, and that’s all you really need to know

Introduction Scene

interior, prison island

Sirens are blaring and red lights are going off. We see automated doors closing, followed by an explosion. When the smoke settles, we see Stone and Robotnik together in a walking mech, destroying all doors that close in front of them. Military robots fight back but can do nothing against him.

They enter a final room at the end of the corridor. Inside we see a capsule that’s completely sealed.

Robotnik: We've hit the jackpot, Stone! Right inside this capsule is the key to ultimate power, and finally destroying that pesky hedgehog and his friends once and for all! I will finally have the power to rule over this world, and even more!

(Insert gay pining from Stone, we all know it’s canon)

Robotnik instructs Stone to search the files for the password to enter. He scrolls through the data for a moment before he comes across something.

Stone: M-A-R-I-A … really? A 5 letter password is protecting the key to ultimate power?

Robotnik: Remember Stone, this dusty bucket of bolts is over 50 years old. They were simpler times. Password decoders weren’t even invented, and our current program probably wouldn’t run on this hunk of junk.

He pauses a moment, seemingly thinking back.

Robotnik: Maria, huh? Haven’t heard that name in a long, long time. Still, I wouldn’t have thought of my grandfather as the sentimental type.

He walks over and types in the password. The capsule opens with a cloud of smoke, and an orange light reveals a figure not unlike Sonic’s. His eyes open and glow red as the restraints around him detach.

Robotnik and Stone stare in awe as he steps out. He kneels to the ground on one knee.

Shadow: I am Shadow, the ultimate lifeform, created by doctor Gerald Robotnik. You have awakened me, which can only mean you seek the ultimate power.

Robotnik yells in exasperation: Yes! Finally, a creature who knows its master! Welcome to the team, Shadow the hedgehog

The camera zooms back, revealing prison island, going further until it shows the entire earth, zooming further to reveal space colony ARK. The rendition of “live and learn” from the original trailer plays as the logo for the movie is finally revealed, with ARK shown just underneath.

Cut to an overview of Green Hills, where we see the blur of sonic, quickly followed by tails and knuckles, all laughing and whooping. They go through the forests and mountains of Green Hills, eventually getting to the peak of a mountain top, where Sonic jumps off and is caught by tails. Knuckles follows, gliding next to them. They fly over a house, where we hear Tom shout to them.

Tom: Dinner is ready! Get here quick, before all the burgers and hotdogs are gone!

They all fly down, landing in the backyard, where Tom has the grill set up. At a table nearby, we see Maddie, Rachel, Randel, JoJo, and Ozzy sitting down. Tails quickly flies to a tree house connected to the garage.

Tails: Just have to grab something!

Knuckles steps to the side of the yard, opening what looks like a cellar door.

Knuckles: I will join you all in a moment. I must double check the emeralds status.

Tails flies back from a window in the tree house, carrying with him a gadget.

Tails: It's fine, Knux, we would have gotten an alert if anything happened to the emerald.

Knuckles: Fox, I trust nothing but my own eyes to confirm if the emerald is safe or not.

He opens the doors and goes down a dark flight of stairs.

Maddie: Let him go sweetie, you know how he gets when he’s away from the emerald too long.

Tom: Sonic, do you mind getting the plates from the kitchen?

In a flash, sonic runs inside the house and back again, setting a plate in front of each person at the table.

Tom: Thanks pal!

Maddie nudges Rachel, nodding her head.

Rachel: Alright, I’ll admit it, the weird little alien things are starting to grow on me, especially considering how much JoJo likes spending time with them. But I still don’t know if I want to move to this town.

Sonic: aw, come on, Green Hills is the best town ever! Pulse as long as we're here, it’ll be the safest town ever.

Tails: That's right! We’re patrolling every day, looking for signs of danger! And for the chaos emeralds, of course.

JoJo: Oh yeah, have you guys found any yet?

Tails: (laughs awkwardly) well, not yet. But as soon as I’m done with my tracking device, we’ll be able to use it to hunt them down!

He shows them the device in his hands. It has a radar map on it with a single, large blinking light next to the yard.

Tails: right now it can only detect the master emerald, but once we find a chaos emerald, I can use its energy frequency to find other similar frequencies.

JoJo: Wow! That’s so cool! Mom, can I help them look for the emeralds too?

Rachel: Woah, woah, woah. No way young lady, I can not have you running around the world, you’re still just a kid.

JoJo: but mom! Tails is, like, 8! I’m two whole years older than him! Why can’t I go on cool adventures?

Randal: because, you’re still a *human* kid. You can get hurt a lot more easily than these guys can.

Rachel: hold up, do you mean to tell me that that little scientist who makes bombs and guns is only 8?

Maddie: We were surprised too. You’d have no idea any of these guys were so young if you didn’t ask.

Sonic: mom! We aren’t that young! I’m 14 now, I’m basically a grown up.

Maddie: Okay, Mr. grown up. But most grown ups don’t like getting tucked into bed every night.

Sonic: MOM!

Everyone at the table laughs, and Tom comes to the table with a plate of hot dogs and burger patties. Maddie looks over at Tails, who is still tweaking with his tracker.

Maddie: Miles Prower-Wachowski, what did I say about gizmos at the dinner table?

Tails: oops, sorry mom!

He puts the radar down, where the camera zooms in on the blinking light. We then fade to the room in the cellar. An automated door with an eye scanner blocks the way, and we see Knuckles take the last few steps down the staircase. He approaches the door and puts his eye near the scanner. A red laser appears and scans his eye, confirming his identity and unlocking the door. It opens, and inside the room we see a small shrine (designed after the shrine from sonic adventure 1) and resting on it is the master emerald. Knuckles nods in content.

Knuckles: as long as I am here, no harm will come to the emerald ever again.

[emeraldtied]

➤ Take A Look | Accepting (slowly)

↳ @familylightfox asked: send DIFFERENT for a scene from my muse's past that they feel changed their outlook / personality / etc, for the better or worse

{➹} – IT WAS A LONG silence, far from comfortable. Marred by the glowering glare that was currently being aimed at him, by his little brother no less. The fox was furious, those baby blue eyes alight with anger the hedgehog had never seen before. And not for a single moment did Sonic blame them for it.

He still shifted underneath it, uncertain of what to do and moreso when it came to what to say. But he had to say something, he had to try to explain himself, to make things right. No matter how dim his hope was for that to happen. "Tails..."

"Miles." The fox's voice was savage, cut across so harshly that it took the hedgehog aback for a moment. And it hurt, Sonic would admit that. It was true then, the fox had abandoned the name the hero had given him. "I'm not a kid anymore, don't treat me like one."

"I didn't..." Sonic started but trailed off, his own voice sounded feeble for a moment. He stopped, took a breath, and tried again with more conviction. "Knux told me how hard you took everything...an' I know we didn't have the best...well, anything, right before everything happened..."

Everything. Rail Canyon. His capture, what Miles and Knuckles had took as the hedgehog's death. Chaos knew there were still days Sonic wished that had been the case. Even now, a few months later, fully healed, he was far from alright and it showed in the way he held himself. Whether Miles noticed or simply didn't care, no one could tell.

The fox only sneered, nearly spat in the hero's direction as his eyes narrowed. "That's how you'd put it? Funny, because I remember finding out the person I idolized the most in the world, the person who saved me, someone I considered a brother telling me he wanted nothing to do with me. Who turned around and insulted me in everyway he could when he thought I'd never know about it. Then said it all to my face."

The hedgehog flinched as if he had been hit, but it didn't take the fox long to realize that they weren't denying anything either. In truth, the hero had no idea what he was supposed to say. How the hell was he supposed to explain to the fox that he had only said those things to save them? To get them the hell out of Robotnik's base before the madman could take the fox and echidna hostage too?

...How could he rightfully say he didn't mean all of that when, at that moment, he just might of?

He regretted it, he truely did, but Sonic knew that wasn't enough. That maybe it never would be. "Listen, I know I was an ass but...I didn't mean—"

"Yes, you did!" Miles snapped, so viciously that the hero had to take a step back when the fox advanced forwards. Their hands were balled into tight fists. The fox wasn't crying, but rather seething. "Why else would you say it? Everything you said back in Robotnik's base was true, wasn't it? That you never wanted me...that you think I'm...I'm a freak."

That part wasn't true, not even remotely. "Tails..."

"Stop calling me that!" It was the straw that broke the fox's back, and he let out a guttural noise that almost scared the hero. Before Sonic could correct himself, before he could try to explain things, the fox had already seen red. They had bent down, scooped up the largest rock they could find and hurled it at the hero.

Maybe it was because it was so unexpected, or maybe he thought the fox hadn't really meant it despite the absolute ire in their voice, but the hedgehog didn't move. Even as the rock came right for his head. It hurt, but somehow paled in comparison to the fox's next words right before they walked away.

"Leave me alone. And go to hell, Sonic"

[heckinconfusedparade]

Tails but Downsized

It was supposed to be a calm afternoon on Hedgehog Island.

Sonic was lounging on his beach chair consuming a really good chili dog when he spotted a silhouette in the sky. He groans as he realizes it’s Eggman flying in.

He quickly finishes the rest of his lunch and stands up, doing some stretches in preparation for incoming battle. But to his surprise, Eggman doesn’t seem to be in any battle mood. He looks concerned.

“Bored, Eggy? Or just lonely?” Sonic comments, soaking up every second of Eggman being upset. Eggman struggles to find words to begin “ok so uh, you know how Tails was visiting my lair to help me fix my smoke alarm since it’s too high for me to reach?” “No, but go on..” “well.. you see, I was working on one of my brilliant inventions. A de-aging ray. I planned to shoot you with it so you could be a toddler.. because toddlers can’t fight, so I’d be free to carry out my evil plans.” “And you’re telling me this because..?”

A tiny fox kit hops out from the Egg Carrier. It’s Tails! But many years younger, evident by his brownish baby fox fur. Tails spots Sonic and runs over to him as fast as his little legs can carry him. Sonic is hit with so many memories of when he first met Tails so many years ago “you accidentally shot Tails with the ray, didn’t you?” Sonic looks down at Tails who’s begging for upsies. Sonic lifts the lil dude up, who immediately starts touching his face. Eggman nods “yes. I’m working on a reversal. Not because I want to, but because I actually like having someone who can even barely rival my genius as a mortal enemy.” “Sure, Egghead.”

Eggman fucks off, and Sonic sits down with the kit still in arms. “What am I gonna do with you..?” “Brudder?” “Yes?” Oh man Sonics heart is soaring. Tails hasn’t called him that in that way since he was 4 years old. Tails hugs Sonic “I hungry.” he whines. Sonic sighs “well, I guess Eggman didn’t feed you, did he.. ah well. Want a chili dog?” “YAH!!” Sonic chuckles as the amount of enthusiasm. He almost forgot Tails used to be like this.

With Tails now on his shoulders, Sonic enters the village. Meh Burger is having as many customers as usual, Dave looking less than thrilled. “Hi, welcome to Meh Burger.. Sonic, I just gave you a chili dog. Next time just order 2.” “It’s not for me. Can we get a Meh Kidz Meal?” Dave looks at Tails who is grinning down at him waving wildly. Dave may be evil, but he isn’t a monster, so he waves back before putting together the chili dog.

Tails scarfs down his meal, examining the lovely bottle cap that came with it as a toy.

Sticks and Amy were walking through the village when they spotted the pair. Amy waves to Sonic “hi Sonic, who’s thi-“ the girls are immediately floored by the adorable little fox. They coo over him “who is this lil guy??” Sticks asks, petting Tails on his head. “Tails. Eggman had an uh oh, and now I’m stuck babysitting.” Sonic responds.

Tails waves, mouth full “hi!!” “Hi baby! You’re so cute!” Amy gushes “don’t talk with your mouth full sweetie, you’ll choke.” Tails nods and continues his munching.

“Tails used to be a brown fox?” Amy asks “foxes are usually a darker colour when they’re born, and as they grow up they gain their more lighter colour that changes or stays depending on where they’re from and what climate they’re in.” Sticks has been keeping this info for a while now. She couldn’t say anything because Tails would hit her with the ‘I already knew that’. Amy nods in understanding.

The 3 take the little fox back to the beach, villagers commenting about how Sonic, Amy, and Tails look like a family. Sticks laughs while the happy couple stay quiet like they ain’t heard a damn thing.

Knuckles is at the beach. He’s just standing there. Sonic stops walking “what are you doing?”

“Waiting for you guys!” Sonic chuckles and shakes his head as the group walks over to Knux.

Knuckles spots the little fox in Sonics arms “ohmygOOOOOSH HOW CUTE~” he yoinks Tails from Sonics arms “cute a cute little baby~ yes you are! Yes you aaaare~!“ he proceeds to lock the poor kid in a tight hug. Tails starts squirming and reaches for Sonic “BRUDDER HALP” and boom he is snatched away back into the arms of his big bro.

Sonic glares at Knuckles “why’d you do that?!” He looks back down at Tails with a much softer gaze and tone “it’s ok buddy, brudder has ya.”

Amy marches right up to Knuckles “Knuckles you can’t just take random kids out of peoples arms. It scares the crap out of the kid and the person holding them. AND YOU COULD HAVE CRUSHED HIM! DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO HUG GENTLY??” “Cuteness aggression is real, Amy.” Knuckles makes a smug look and crosses his arms. Amy throws her arms in the air, frustrated.

Sonic sets down Tails in the sand. Tails walks on over to his workshop and gets inside. Sticks, not trusting any of the tech in that place follows closely behind him with the others in tow.

Tails stares at everything in awe. Tails digs in a drawer. Knuckles crouches down to Tails’ height “Whatcha doin, buddy? Getting something?” Tails shows him an old gadget that’s very behind on upkeep. It’s the legendary original Miles Electric. He gathers some tools and sits down, getting to work fixing it up. The others surround him. Sticks sweats “ohh please be careful! What if you accidentally call aliens! Or put the government agents on our track??” Tails gives her a weird look “I won’ do dat.”

As the Miles Electric boots up, Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy are hit with a wave of nostalgia. “Wow. Never thought I’d see this thing work again!” Knuckles proudly pats the kits head. Sonic smiles as he reminisces on the old times “it was one of the first things he showed me when we met. He was so proud of it..” “why did he ever stop working on it?” Amy asks, and Sonic shrugs.

Sticks processes,“What is it?” “This little thing is called the Miles Electric. Tails invented it as a hub to keep track of and control his other inventions. He can also track heart beats, scan foreign objects, and keep information safe. There’s also a radar for detecting hostile enemies. I remember him saying he wanted to add a video chat function,” Sonic explains, “He stopped using it shortly after we got to this island. Whenever I asked about it, he just said that he wanted to take more time developing his other tech. I guess he probably forgot about it?”

Tails plugs the device into a computer. The little man quickly begins to code and update data. His genius goes back many many years.

After that, an error message pops up on the screen. The error message is in binary code. Tails sighs. The more he tries to fix it, the more frustrated he gets. Then he just turns everything off and leaves, leaving everyone else confused.

When everyone joins him, he begins to fly. He doesn’t have half the stamina or height he normally has, but he is still very fast. Sonic hates this. Tails has gotten it in his hand that brudder chasing him = play time.

Sonic gets close many times, but that little fox is just too slippery. Once he IS caught, Tails cheers and starts giggling. “You sure are trouble, aren’t you?” Sonic is about to say something else when Tails makes the cutest yawn “oooh big yawn…” Sonic can’t help himself. Tails leans onto him. “Sleepy?” Sonic asks. Tails nods “Mhm..”

Tails is taken home and tucked into his bed. He’s asleep before he’s even out down. Sonic keeps an eye on him just in case… wondering when Eggman will come back with the reverse ray.

He did miss when Tails was this little though.

[solalunar-eclipse]

Sonic Boom - S3E12

Chapter title: Schrödinger's Hedgehog, Part 1

Summary: The final mystery about Shadow begins. Who is he, really? Why has he always stayed distant from others? What is his story?

This four-part special will answer all of those questions and more.

AO3 Link

First | Previous | Next

[Scene opens on the six heroes playing volleyball. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails have formed one team, leaving Amy, Sticks, and Shadow on the other.]

“Knux! Knux! I’m open, let me spike it!” Sonic shouted, leaping into the air. The echidna obligingly passed it to him, helping their team score a point as Sonic smashed it into the sand. Shadow teleported in front of the ball before it could roll into the forest and carried it back, shooting Sonic an absolutely deadly look in the process (whether for scoring a point or for making him go get the ball, it wasn’t entirely clear).

“Come on, guys, we won’t lose to them, will we?” Amy insisted, doing her best to inspire her teammates. Carefully, she served the ball, giving Sticks an opportunity to set it over the net. After a few more minutes of tense play, Tails stumbled in the sand, giving Shadow a perfect opening to spike the ball himself. He smirked, making direct eye contact with Sonic as his palm connected with the volleyball.

Unfortunately for him, the angle of his hand turned out to be just ever so slightly off. He realized this quickly, only seconds before all the others, and his expression shifted into one of mild horror before his hand had even left the ball. It was obvious enough that the moment he landed, everyone else automatically turned towards the water, waiting for the splash of an out-of-bounds shot.

Instead, they all watched, mildly stunned, as it sailed over the horizon.

The moment Shadow landed in the sand, they turned back to him, staring incredulously. He winced. “I guess I hit it harder than I meant to.” he said nervously into the silence.

Suddenly, the entire team exploded in cheers and laughter. “Man, that was awesome!” Sonic cried.

“I just wish I’d gotten it on video.” Tails sighed wistfully.

Sticks walked up to the group, smiling one of her rare genuine smiles. “This’ll be one of those stories we’ll talk about for years, won’t it?”

“You know it!” Knuckles cheered excitedly.

Meanwhile, Shadow just smiled awkwardly and wished with all his might (despite all of the positive attention he was getting) that he hadn’t done it at all.

…

[The same intro sequence plays as last time, but Shadow is slightly less irritated. He still refuses to play along with the others, but is no longer outright angry. If anything, he looks slightly amused by the others and their antics.]

[There is no villain reveal in this episode, however, and so Dr. Eggman is introduced like an ordinary character (since he is one of the main characters of the show, as he himself would inform anyone at the slightest provocation).]

[The intro then continues on, before ending with the title of this week’s episode.]

…

After the abrupt ending to their volleyball game, the team decided to wander around town and see if there was anything else interesting to do. In Shadow’s opinion, the simple fact that the other five existed was entertaining enough to count as ‘interesting’ all on its own, but they didn’t seem to agree.

Approximately two and a half seconds after they stepped across the town’s border, an extraordinarily loud shriek of “My baby!” was heard, and everyone except for Shadow (who hadn’t experienced this enough to get sick of it yet) groaned. 

“Not this again!” Sonic complained, even as the entire team headed in the direction of the shout to investigate.

“Does this woman know the first thing about childcare?” Amy sighed. “You’re not supposed to keep your eyes off your child for any extended period of time!”

Once the six made it to the scene, they discovered that this time, the baby in question had somehow managed to clamber up to the top of the highest building in town. They were currently attempting to climb the spire at the very top, but kept on slipping each time.

Sonic sighed. “Can someone else keep the baby from falling today? I’m just not feeling it right now.”

“I got it! I’m great at climbing!” Knuckles said, immediately digging his spikes into the side of the building and hauling himself onto the roof. He was just in time, too, as the baby’s most recent attempt to clamber up the extremely thin spire ended in a near disaster. They completely lost their grip on the metal pole, and began to slide down the roof towards the edge—on the opposite side from Knuckles.

Just as the baby was about to slide over the edge, the echidna dove across the roof, caught the baby in one arm, and then rolled off the side before catching himself on the gutter with his other hand. Gently, he dropped to the ground and handed the baby back to their delighted mother…who immediately wandered off to resume her shopping, not even bothering to give him the praise he deserved.

Thankfully, his friends were there to do that for her.

“Ohmygosh, Knuckles, that was actually so cool!” Tails cried, his eyes wide. “Where’d you learn tricks like that?”

“Oh, you know.” Knuckles said, and then didn’t elaborate.

“No, we don’t, actually.” Sticks replied, giving him a slightly bewildered look.

“I mean, living alone in the wilderness for most of your formational and adolescent years means you learn all kinds of cool survival stuff.” Knuckles explained. “Have you…oh right, you guys have always had houses! I forgot that not everyone is new to this house thing like me.”

“You…forgot?” Amy asked, frowning.

“Yep!” Knuckles smiled cheerfully, clearly unaware that it was abnormal to have spent most of one’s life on this island without a house.

Now that the latest crisis had been averted, the team continued throughout the town in search of something at least as exciting as a baby almost dying.

“Oh, wow!” Tails gasped when they passed the movie theater, running up to the front doors. He pointed at a poster excitedly. “Look at this, guys! I can’t believe the theater is actually getting the new Tommy Thunder movie! It’s coming out next week, and see, it’s called Rise of the Robot Overlords! It’ll be so cool to see someone fighting robots on the big screen just like us!” 

Shadow twitched, his legs slowing down automatically. The poster depicted Tommy Thunder (obviously) stabbing one robot through the chest with a massively oversized sword and shooting another robot’s head off with an equally massively oversized gun. 

Shadow wrenched his eyes away from the image with great difficulty, staring at the ground instead.

Amy shrugged. “I’m glad you’re excited, but we fight robots every day! What’s so special about these ones? They’re all just there to get destroyed in battle or blown up anyway.”

The striped hedgehog opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it again.

“They’re made with really cool special effects, that’s all!” Tails said, his eyes sparkling. “Plus, I always like to see if I can figure out what’s a model and what’s CG.”

Sticks’s eyes grew so wide it was a surprise that they didn’t take up most of their face. “Wait, hang on, why is nobody talking about the title of the movie?! Rise of the WHAT? They’re not even hiding their plans anymore! Everybody! Find food and shelter while you still can!” they screamed, running around the town at top speed.

[Their shrieking is still faintly audible for most of the rest of the scene.]

Shadow winced again, before doing his best to mask it as something brought on by Sticks screaming.

Knuckles frowned. “I dunno, Tails…your robots are cool, but I don’t trust any of the others. Most of them are either made by Eggman or don’t do what they’re supposed to. Or both!”

Tails folded his arms. “What about FriendBot? Or Q-N-C and MAIA?” he asked, not noticing the way Shadow outright flinched. “They were helpful!”

“Oh, are you guys talking about robots?” Eggman asked, strolling up with his arms full of grocery bags. 

“Yeah!” Tails said. “Knuckles thinks that most robots are bad, and Amy thinks they’re boring.”

“Wait, where did you come from?” Amy asked the doctor suspiciously.

“I heard someone talking about robots—which is my specialty, in case you hadn’t noticed—and decided that the conversation would undoubtedly be improved by my input!” Eggman said proudly. “Also, I came from the grocery store. Could you not tell that by the fact that I am currently holding groceries?”

Amy sighed, pinching her brow, and refused to dignify that with a response.

Eggman rolled his eyes, returning to the original conversation. “They’re plenty helpful! All you have to do is keep reminding them that they’re replaceable, or else they’ll start getting all high and mighty about ‘wages’ and stuff like that. I mean, do you remember that time mine went on strike? It was a disaster!”

“They are not replaceable!” Amy cried. “Bea is absolutely unique, and I love her very much!”

“So are you saying that not all robots are boring, then?” Tails replied smugly. 

Amy huffed. “Not all of them! I’d never generalize like that. But look at all of the ones in this movie! They’re faceless and boring, like those Sentinel things. Bea has much more personality than this!”

Shadow cringed at the sound of the word ‘Sentinel’. He began carefully moving towards the side of the movie theater, hoping to escape this conversation.

“Hey Shadow!” Sonic called, making him freeze in his tracks. The hero had bought a box of popcorn and was leaning against a wall, watching the others as they argued. “What do you think of robots?”

“I…don’t have much of an opinion on them.” he said, measuring each word carefully. “Lyric’s robots were awful for the most part, but the doctor’s are less so.”

Sonic ate another handful of popcorn before replying. “Fair enough! I just figure, if they’re cool and can help us, then sure, they’re great! But otherwise, I’m happy smashing them. Tails is the one with all the gadgets—I can live with or without ‘em.”

“Oh. I suppose that makes sense.” Shadow said quietly.

[The camera cuts to show him clenching his fists at his sides, tightly enough that his claws begin to pierce the fabric of his gloves.]

Suddenly, a violent rumble shook the ground, making everyone reel and struggle to keep their balance. Sticks skidded to a stop next to the rest of the group, dropping down to all fours immediately. “Earthquake!” they screeched.

The moment that the first wave had passed, the heroes sprang into action. “Alright!” Sonic cried. “Everyone, get into a doorway or under a table! You’ll be safe there until this thing is over!”

He and Shadow began to rush around the village, helping the people who were stuck outside with nowhere to go. Meanwhile, the others began rapidly to get those closer nearby to safety, switching into ‘hero mode’ with ease. 

Except for Eggman, of course. He just leapt into his Eggmobile and flew away to his island (though he did help one or two people before leaving, and immediately swore them to secrecy on pain of death).

Sonic dashed back to the movie theater, tucking himself under the ticket counter with the others just as the second wave began. They all linked hands as quake after quake passed through, riding it out until the very end.

The moment it ended, the hero checked on Tails first, making sure his little brother was okay. “I’m fine, Sonic!” he insisted, waving the hedgehog away fondly. “I was right here with you, wasn’t I?”

“Everyone else alright?” he asked, checking in on the rest of his friends.

“All good here!” Amy replied, smiling at him. “Sticks and Knuckles seem fine to me too. How’s Shadow?”

“Shadow?” Sonic frowned. “Wasn’t he with you?”

“No, the last time I saw him was when he was running around with you.” she insisted.

Suddenly, they all realized the same thing at once. “Then…where is Shadow?” Amy whispered.

Sonic turned pale. “Oh, no…”

[cut to commercials]

[…]

[fade back in]

When the show returned, the entire team was already rushing all over the village, searching for Shadow. Tails was busy scanning for life signs from above, while Sonic sped throughout the streets as quickly as he could, hoping to spot Shadow safe and sound anywhere at all. Amy asked around, searching for clues as to where he’d been seen last, and Sticks and Knuckles took the more direct approach of simply digging through rubble at random in hopes of stumbling upon him.

After several tense minutes, including more than a few futile calls of his rival-turned-friend’s name, Sonic stumbled upon the little pink porcupine who had been a fan of his in times past weeping on the ground.

“Mister?” she sobbed. “Mister, please, get up…”

Sonic felt his body go cold. “Hey there, kiddo.” he said softly, forcing his face into a noticeably false smile. “What happened?”

“That hedgehog, he—he saved me,” she whimpered, “‘cause the big house was gonna fall on me but it fell on him instead!” She began to wail openly, and Sonic hugged her, his body moving on autopilot. He sent an SOS to the rest of the team, calling them to his position.

“Oh my…” Amy whispered, the first to arrive.

Tails and Knuckles held each other quietly as they appeared on the scene, and even Sticks found her usual energy vanishing as she saw what had happened. However, she was also the first to step forward and take charge, since she was (somehow) the most no-nonsense of them all at times.

“We should start by clearing off all of…this.” she said, gesturing at the house covering Shadow. 

Immediately, all five of them began to clear away the ruins of the house. At first, the porcupine girl helped a little, but they soon returned her to her mother, not wanting her to see whatever might lie underneath. Sonic dug frantically until Tails pulled him back for a quick hug, which he silently accepted. Sticks worked more methodically, Amy smashed bigger rocks into easier-to-lift chunks, and Knuckles hauled the biggest rocks of all out of the way. Tails mostly showed them where to dig without making the rubble collapse and crumble any further than it already had.

Soon enough, Shadow was exposed, and Knuckles carefully lifted his limp body out of the ruins of the house. Tails leaned over to listen for a moment, before sighing with relief. “I can hear his heartbeat.” he announced, letting the entire team relax for the first time in nearly an hour.

The fox flew with Knuckles as he carried Shadow back to the workshop, while the other three stayed behind to clean up a bit of the mess. It was very clear that they were struggling, though—Sonic couldn’t seem to stop tapping his feet, even when he was working, and Amy clutched her hammer like a lifeline. Sticks figured it made sense. They were two of the most exuberant and friendly people on the team, and they’d been the first ones to befriend Shadow. Of course they’d be the most nervous about him now.

As soon as the three were done fixing up what they could, Sonic dragged them back to the workshop as quickly as he possibly could. He burst through the doors frantically, looking everywhere for a glimpse of Shadow. 

“Is he okay?” he asked fearfully, rushing over to Tails. 

“I think so.” the fox replied. “I just can’t make sense of these pulse readings!”

“Does he need CPR?” Amy asked. “I’ve taken a couple of certification courses, just in case.”

“It’s not that…his heart’s beating just fine.” Tails explained. “It’s just that—you know how our hearts beat twice per cycle? Like this.” He tapped out a double rhythm on the table. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.

“Yeah?” Sonic said. “What’s this have to do with Shadow, pal?”

“His heart isn’t doing that. It sounds more like this.” Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Is that safe?” Knuckles wondered nervously.

“I…I just don’t know.” Tails muttered, disappointed. “It’s like whenever I try to scan him for injuries, something stops my machines from seeing what’s inside him. Like, they say the scan is finished and then a blank image of his insides pops up.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have any organs for you to scan.” Sticks’s eyes darted from side to side suspiciously.

“Sticks, that’s downright impossible!” Tails exclaimed. “There’s no way anyone could live without organs.”

“Maybe no one on this planet.” Sticks whispered. “But aliens could.”

Tails sighed, shook his head, and went back to recalibrating his machines.

Hours passed, and Shadow still didn’t stir. Amy, Knuckles, and Sonic had gone into the house to eat, even though none of them seemed particularly hungry. Tails suspected they just needed a break from worrying about their friend.

Sticks was still standing there, watching the prone hedgehog carefully. “It doesn’t make sense.” they murmured to themselves at one point. “If he was strong enough to break through my defenses, then he should be strong enough to deal with a house…”

Suddenly, while Tails’s back was turned, they crept up to where Shadow was lying. They’d never trusted machines before, and these scanner failures were just proving them right. Whether Shadow was an alien or not, he was still their friend, and they were determined to help however they could.

(Though they thought it would be very exciting if he was an alien.)

Carefully, they held his wrist and took his pulse themself. It did feel strange, but it was very faint and difficult to read through the glove. Despite that, though, Sticks was certain that whatever this was…

…it definitely wasn’t a hedgehog’s heart.

Determined to learn more, they began to carefully slide off his glove, feeling a tiny bit guilty but pressing forward anyway. If Shadow’s survival depended on uncovering his potential secrets, then a single glove couldn’t stand in the way of that.

They closed their eyes as it slid off, before peeking quickly. What they saw made their eyes widen and their fur stand on end.

“Tails?” they said weakly.

“Yeah? What is it, Sticks?”

“You, uh…might wanna come over here for a sec.”

“Did you find something new? Is—”

The moment he noticed what Sticks had seen, he froze.

“Oh, Chaos.” the two-tailed fox breathed, already reaching for his communicator.

[screen fades to black]

[Sticks complains, “Seriously? A cliffhanger now?! The government is trying to silence me! Don’t let them win!”]

[roll credits]

[cutegirlmayra]

We’re back to this again lol

I love the Babylon Rogues, so this is PERF XD

-reads both- I know exactly what to do...

(NOT MY ART! Support the original Artist, found it here: (x) )

Prompt:

“NOT AGAIN!” Jet cried out, twisting his Air gear to build momentum and more juice for his speed but Sonic darted by with insane aerials, “He doesn’t even have wings!” he cried out, “How does he-!?” he landed and his board wobbled slightly, so he spent a minute expertly correcting his balance before the confetti was fired out the crowd went wild over Sonic’s racer card appearing on the screens.

“Better luck next time, Jet!” Sonic winked and saluted him as he Jet tore off his goggles and started to biting firecely on one of their eyes.

“Cool your jets, Jet.” Wave flew up to him and curved her board to break gently, as though upon a shoreline... “You know you get upset when you get beak marks on it...” she gestured to his goggles which he grinded his beak against, still staring at the gloating Sonic as he waved to the crowd and graciously smiled when given a huge lei for the victory.

“What is he? A prized stallion winning the race!?” Jet grumbled but Storm just scratched his head, looking confused.

“Uhh... Boss?” He leaned down, whispering in his ear and holding his hand up as though it was private. “I- uhh... think he’s a hedgehog...”

“You wouldn’t be upset if it was you getting all the praise.” Wave folded her arms, “You just have to be so immature...”

“OooooOOHHH! Don’t act like you’re not upset, too!!!” He threw his goggles on the ground, “Ever since Babylon we’ve been rivals! He’s been WINNING. When did he get so good at the wind!?” he gripped his head, shaking it wildly around and then stomped his head in a tantrum.

Wave shook her head with a sigh, then assumed the position of scolding and advising, but before she could go off, Jet stopped to blink his eyes at Sonic interacting with his friends.

“What does he have that don’t!?” He narrowed his eyes, seriously searching between the interactions... Wave was like Tails, Knuckles like Storm... but then...

“Oh?” He stopped leaning and crouching so much to stand up straight, seeing Amy rush onto the field and jump into Sonic’s unexpecting arms.

She showered him with affections, crying out, “Oh, Sonic! I knew you’d win, I just knew it! You’ll always win with me cheering you on! Won’t you, Sonic?”

“Sure will, Amy!” Sonic gave her a wink, “Couldn’t have done it without your support!”

“H-Huh?” Jet looked between the two, still puzzled by that response.

“Thank you.” Sonic gently eased her off of him and gave her a thumbs up, “Your race is coming up, right?” he stated.

“Sure is!” She cheered, “You’ll be returning the favor, won’t you, Sonic?” She jumped a leg up and threw up a fist, excited for her own challenge.

Sonic smiled sheepishly and scratched behind his head, “You know... in spirit.” he gestured out a hand, “Sorry, Amy, but thanks to this win, I get to go into the finals.” he gestured back to Tails and Knuckles, “While the Single Matches that your in are going on, we’ll be competing in another Team Round, meaning...”

He trailed off a second and Amy looked down, pulling her fist up to her chin, “O-oh... Right... of course, I forgot you have to do them back to back... like this.” She knew the tourney was tough on competitors, but...

“I’ll... miss you.” she smiled to them all, as they nodded back to her.

“Be safe, Amy!” Tails cheered.

“And have fun.” Sonic narrowed his eyes and smirked.

“Give them no hope, Amy!” Knuckles punched a fist in the air a few times, trying to get her motivated.

“What are you saying, Knux?” Sonic turned around, playfully to him, “Amy’s too good at inspiring hope..! She’ll have to make the other competitiors at least hope for Second place.”

Everyone chuckled at his humor, as Amy nodded, feeling much better about it now.

“I’m lucky to have you all say that, I’ll do my best!” she held up her fists again, and the boys all fist-pumped her back.

“Yeah!”, “Right!”, “Heh!”

“... Hmmm...” Jet put a hand to his chin, folding the other one underneath it. “I don’t have an annoying girlfriend that cheers me on unconditionally...” He smirked with a devious grin on his face.

“Wave!” he turned to look at her, “What time is the Single’s Round?”

“Wha?” She looked at bit surprised, “W-Why do you want..?”

“It’s time to spoil Sonic’s cute ‘good luck charm’ with a bit of rotten cheating... heheheheh... quite literally.” Jet puffed up his feathers, ruffling his chest up a bit to get them to stick out more, and slicked back the top of his head. “Time for some mischeivous thiefing through some smooth, sly moves if you know what I mean...” He strut along with confidence as Storm and Wave just looked at each other... clueless.

“All racers to there marks! Any last minute entries, you better step up!” The announcement blared, as Wave and Storm handed back Jet’s glasses, which he secured on his head.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Wave warned, “If you compete, we might not make it to the Team Rounds.”

“Peh, leave it to me! I’ll win this puny round--and the stupid pink girl’s heart--all before the second race even starts!” he snickered.

“It’s literally going on right next to each other..!” Wave was incredious at his optimism. “How are you gonna compete in two races... at the same time!?” she held the side of her hand in front of him, as though about to give him a whack at his stupidity when he sneered and pointed to the sky pavillion above him. “See that dock?” He stated, “I’ll jump down and act like I’m in the Team races, before jumping off the track and going back to the Singles. When I win, I’ll just finish the Team races, so you two make sure your placements are high so we can get the final score and I’ll be getting first place!” he shoved a thumb into his chest, showing just how sure he was about his plan.

“Gosh, Boss, that’s a lot of racing...” Storm worriedly bent down and put a finger to his mouth. “J-Just see to it that you don’t forget which track your on...”

“Or where your head is! Hmph!” Wave put her hands to her hips, leaning forward towards him in frustration at his stupidity, and then folded her arms and leaned back, swiping her head away from him. “If you want to jeopardize the whole tourney for your little coup against Sonic out of spite... I’ll never forgive you...” she looked down, speaking softer.

“Huh? What was that, Wave?” He raised an eyebrow, not hearing what she muttered. He stepped forward and turned his head to her, trying to hear better. “Did you say something? On that last part?”

In her heart, she thought he was being so petty and immature... but if he needed someone to cheer him on... 

Hasn’t she supported him from the start? The very get-go? When this team first formed and grouped up?

She just took a deep breath, and gave off a large bird cry into his head.

When he went onto the Single’s track, which did dip down towards the Team’s track and kinda dolphin’d up and down near the end of each other, Jet had one foot on his board and the other limps in the air as he tetter-tottered on his board from the vibrations of his aching head from her screech.

‘Whats gotten into her?’ he wondered, before moving his board up to Amy and smirking.

“Huh?” Amy turned to look at him, also having drifted into her spot and then jumped down with him, since you have to start at a run. “Oh... Jet, right?” she didn’t really know why he was talking to her... again.

“Yep, that’s me.” he tried to lift his chin up and give her the best expression he could muster, but it was having no affect on her.

“... Um, well.” she shifted her eyes a bit, “Hi?” She waved lightly and went into her spot. He quickly darted up after her, turning a shoulder.

“Heey~” he tried flirting. (Author’s note: If you’ve played Fable,... Yes. It’s that XD)

Amy just tilted her head, “You should see a doctor about that sore throat.” His deep voice didn’t work on her and he immediately grabbed his throat. “That’s pretty bad, you know, you really should think about your health. I know I would force Sonic to go if I heard a frog croaking that badly in his throat.”

She moved along the line to find the best positioning as Jet was absolutely deveasted.

Who wouldn’t be?

The countdown began and Jet looked up immediately, having not been able to recover from such a statement by her when she raced by and jumped on her board.

“Shoot!” he chased after her, getting on the board and darting ahead.

Skating easily ahead of her, he looked back with a smirk, “Ehem, excusing the hoarseness earlier, your Sonic’s friend, right?”

She just lifted her head up in confusion, “We’re in the middle of a race!” she cried out, but he ignored her.

“Wouldn’t you rather be with someone a bit more... how should I put this..?” He tapped his beak, then moved up a ramp and did some tricks before flying down and speeding off ahead of her, “Impressive?” he laughed.

But the laughing was quickly cut off when she did a double-handstand on a railing, balancing with her feet and spinning around on it before dismounting ahead of him. “Me and Sonic can only be with the best of the best.” she looked behind her, winking charmingly, “Sonic knows he’s got the best team, do you?” she purposefully slowed down directly ahead of him to tilt her board and lean directly into his face with one of her eyes staring straight into him, thinking he was just trying to intimidate her.

She pulled ahead and he gritted his teeth, ‘Cheeky, little-!’ was about to go after her when he saw the lanes rise up and the Team rounds below him.

“Hmph, catch you again in a minute!” he flew off the side and she gasped.

“Jet!!!”

Jet landed in the Team Round’s track, though it was heavy-duty on his legs, he managed to stay ontop of his board. Wave had invented a ‘prop-dummy’ of Jet and quickly deflated it when he arrived, scooping it up to hide it. “Where in blazes have you been!?”

“Enough chatter, having a bad day, what place are we in?” He looked to Storm, who frowned a bit.

“Third place.” he stated.

“And that’s the best times for both of us.” Wave added, “They add time penaties in this one.”

“What?” Jet looked ahead, seeing Knuckles and glaring. “Storm, you take out the big guy.” he bend himself forward to gain momentum. “Wave, take out the pipsqueak, I’ll go after Sonic..!”

“He saw you cheating, Jet.” Wave warned him, “He looked up and saw you use the ramp, and Amy rail-riding.”

“Great. But he didn’t see or hear anything else. I can use that to my advantage...” He grinned, doing some tricks off another huge ramp and gaining some air.

“Sonic!” Jet cut him off while landing down, as Sonic frowned deeply with his teeth at his arrival.

“So, you really are playing both races!” Sonic’s hunch seemed accurate, “That dummy wasn’t fooling anyone!”

“Heh, I just wanted to see how well your little girlfriend did, Sonic.” Jet looked behind him, snickering, “She’s quite the flirt on the road... if you know what I mean.”

“What?” Sonic seemed taken aback by that random change in topic. His board lost his steady balance and he quickly regained it momentarily, but Jet saw the slight wobble.

‘Heh, so it is working...’ he then saw Sonic jump into his jetstream and frown, “Heh, gotta admit, I was surprised she’s doing so well without you, Sonic... Seems you’re not as ‘needed’ as she let on.”

Sonic just got up close from zig-zagging through the jetstream, pulling ahead to then become paraell with Jet, looking at him funny.

“She seems to not need you cheering for her, she’s moved on to bigger, badder dudes...” He tilted his chin up as though arrogantly trying to convey it was a matter of fact.

With that, Sonic just smiled, “Great!” he cheered, “I knew Amy had it in her, she must be doing really well! To get such praise from you, Jet.”

“Wha-WhAt!?” Jet completely lost his balance on that, as Sonic just scooted on by him, waving back to him.

“For her to have your feathers ruffled up, she must be putting on quite the show up there! Tell her we’re proud of her!” he went on as Jet had to jump to the Single’s Track quickly, grinding his beak’s end together in agitation...

‘They trust each other so much!!!’ he was getting really angry now, landing back and looking up at the score board for Team Races.

He had gotten his team through a check point, giving them added time, but still...

He looked to Single’s and ‘tsk’d, ‘I need more seconds...’ he sped up, looking for Amy who seemed to be pulling towards the higher rankings, but had lost first place somewhere along the way.

Wave looked down to see him back in Singles and pulled up the inflated dummy again, but Storm just looked at her as though it wasn’t really helping, but she shrugged anyway.

“Get the red boy.” she stated, and he nodded and went in to roughhouse with Knuckles.

Wave looked down to see Jet swerving around the younger competition and Eggman robots, who knew nothing else in their programming then to race, so kept doing so, even when Eggman had given up on the tournaments,... they kept signing up for them, espeically against Sonic or his friends.

She wondered if that was their fate now... Just an inflated ego going into countless races due to her bloodline being the best of the best...

She would never admit it... but her hurt her to see Jet so fixated on ruining Sonic in any way he could... that he thought something as silly as going after his female friend was something that would throw him off...

“He’s an idiot.” She looked ahead, seeing Tails and pulling out her large wrench, “But he’s my idiot...” and still going with the plan... focused on nothing else.

                    “Our idiot.”

Jet finally caught up to Amy, attacking a robot next to her, “Back off!” he spat out and then slided up next to her, “You’re really not all that good, you know.” he stated, figuring she didn’t see him cheating. “You think Sonic really thinks anything of you? He isn’t even thinking about cheering you on! He’s focused on his own race!” He gestured a hand out and swiped it firmly, but Amy didn’t give him the time of day, not even looking at him. “What makes you think he cares if you win or lose, Pinkie?”

“You’ve clearly never met, Sonic.” She drifted harshly as Jet noticed her weak footwork and smirked.

‘Got her,’ he thought, deciding to knock her off the track the second she drifted too close to the no-wall edges of the platform... ‘This is it!’ he rose his head up, about to elbow her off the track when...

“Sonic... he cares about his friends.” Her smile... her eyes... “He wins so we can all celebrate, and he pumps us all up when we win, too... To Sonic, our success is his own too, and we all share in a loss together. It’s probably the same as your team, Jet.” she looked gently back to him, her lashes lightly waving in the wind of her drift... “When your team looks to you for that support, you all celebrate an exciting race you won together... right?”

He saw she wasn’t looking.

“Amy, look out!” he cried out as Amy turned and gasped.

At the end of the race, Sonic raced up to find Amy, only seeing on the screens that she was down and hiding one side of her face, her hand pushed up against it as she was crying, hurt...

Jet... was on the screen, holding a hand up...

Sonic’s eyes bent to a deep glare...

Back on the track, Amy touched the pole she had hit as the other races sped by, “You weren’t even trying to look!” Jet cried out, hearing the confetti canons and cheering as he looked up and noticed the Team Races were already over... and now... the Singles were done too.

“What?! No! Drat! This is all your fault!” he had willingly gotten off his board when she was hit, grabbing the edge of her dress to pull her away from the edge of the curve she was about to go flying off of when her board spun out of control... from the side of her face hitting the steel pole...

She could barely say anything, just sounds of aching as he took off his goggles and was about to throw them down... before stopping to look worriedly at Amy.

“... Oh, for the sake of chivalry..!” he cursed, walking over to her and helping her up, “Did you hit your eye?!”

“Y-... Yeah...” she winced, barely able to speak through the pain. “Jet, it hurts... it really, really hurts...” she leaned into him, not even wanting to fully stand.

“Well, don’t be a crybaby about it..!” he knew she couldn’t drive with her board going off the side of the non-existant railing and looked around to see what he could do. “Ughhh... get on the board!” he lifted her by her armpits and put her on his wobbling board, steadying it for her as she kept silently crying.

“Quit that!” he handed her the goggles, “Put these on! No one wants to cross a finishline looking like a sad little girl!” he started to push the Air Gear towards the finishline, “And if anyone asks, no, I don’t care what happens to you!” he clearly did...

She removed her glove, and he suddenly lost his haughty attitude when he saw red smudges of blood on it... Then, putting on the goggles, he couldn’t tell the extent of the damage...

“Thank you... Jet.” she placed her hands down on the board, her legs dangling off the side, as he continued to push it from behind.

He frowned, but turned his head away... ‘I was gonna push her off...’ he told himself, ‘She shouldn’t be thanking me... I could have done a lot worse than what that pole did... Landing on the Team Track took a lot out of my legs... If she can’t even drift perfectly right... I can’t imagine what would have happened if I-’ he shook his head, ‘No, don’t do this to yourself, Jet! You ARE the best of the best! And you DIDN’T push her off! She hurt her dumb self all BY herself! It has nothing to do with-!’

He rose his head up to see a blur of blue coming his way down the track, and before he could blink, Sonic’s fist reared back and Jet only saw the justice of his face as he slammed it between Jet’s eyes.

He went flying back, rolling along the track as Amy cried out, “Sonic, stop!!!”

Sonic skidded his feet to a halt, not even bothering with a board anymore, and heaved his chest up and down...

“What did you do to her, Jet!?” His voice... He sounded like a justified hero.

Jet felt himself get pulled up by the scruff of his feathery chest as Sonic held him before him. “I... didn’t do anything...” he spoke through gritted teeth.

‘I’m not lying,’ he told himself, his eyes flinching more than just with the pain of Sonic’s highspeed punch... but from what he could have done to Amy... He didn’t think she wouldn’t be able to recover, but what if her legs weren’t strong enough? What if... ‘No! I can’t allow myself to beat down on something that never happened!’

He opened one eye to Sonic, slightly able to put a hand on his own gripping his feathery fluff near his neck. “You care about your crew... so do I!” he stated as passionately as he could.

Sonic... slowly let him go and turned around to help Amy down off the board.

“Why are you wearing his goggles?” he asked with a defensive ring to his voice, as though still being there for her but also somewhat protective.

“I... Jet helped me... He... said you shouldn’t cross the finishline crying...”

That’s not quite what he said, but he appreciated the abbreviation for his sake.

Sonic looked over his shoulder at Jet, who was getting up and coughing, wiping his beak on his arm as he tried to fight off the dizziness from the punch. 

Sonic took a calming breath, “May I see..?” He asked, lifting his hands to the goggles...

“N-no...” she put her hands on the goggles, “I... want to cross the finishline... smiling.”

She then looked up at Sonic, “Did... you win?”

They were both speechless.

Jet and Sonic, on either side of the board, as Sonic explained they did win, and she shared in that joy even through her pain.

Wave and Storm came up to Jet later as he watched Sonic carry Amy bridal-style off his board... her goggles remaining on through the pictures and press, the crowd not truly seeing the damage done.

“...Jet?” Wave saw that he seemed somewhat changed.

“She seems happy... but...” Storm poked his pointer fingers together awkwardly, “She... is actually really hurt, isn’t she?”

“... But her team won.” Jet let the sounds slip out as though accepting his own defeat with a sense of noble humility. “Hey, sorry about the loss fellas. I wasn’t there for you all. I was... being selfish.” He turned around and wrapped an arm around each of them, “I’m not the best leader... but I will be...” he closed his eyes, as though feeling the pain in his eye still from where Sonic had punched him, a echoed reminder...

“... The best of the best.” Wave returned the hug, “... At disappointing us.”

He slumped in their hold as Storm just laughed, “Y-yeah, but we got third with Dummy Jet!”

Jet glared up at Storm.

“Guess we’ll appoint him the new boss, eh, Storm?” Wave teased, resting the back of her hand on her hip.

“Ohhhh, okay, I get it. Lay it on me and let me have it.” He folded his arms and pouted as the two laughed... but together... they had shared in their sorrows.

After that, Amy tried to return the goggles, and when she did, Jet threw a gift at her and told her to leave him alone, stop acting like a crazy fangirl just because he showed a little bit of courtsey to the weak and unskilled.

She opened the gift to find a small, cute little whipped cream cake with strawberries and wonderfully sweet frosting in it.

she enjoyed it very much.

[mama-qwerty]

Robo Knuckles

Okay, a bit of discord writing. Something something, Knuckles is either turned into a robot, or his entire personality and everything that makes him who he is is downloaded into one. Think Metal Sonic, but in this case the bot kinda IS Knuckles. In a way.

I don't remember if we said this was by Eggman, but I don't think it was. Some other group of scientists or something. I dunno.

ANYWAY, this takes place years and years in the future, when Silver finds the long abandoned base where Robo-Knux is still living, his protective and guardian instincts still driving him.

This was started (as a number of these things usually are) by @nights-nonsensical-ramblings, and then I took it over because my brain went GIMME GIMME. I've noted the different places that Night contributed.

Night

As soon as Silver starts fixing up the old base the robot starts to assist. On closer inspection he can see that the robot has been trying to keep this place maintained, but it’s been a losing battle. The stubborn loyalty to his home reminds Silver of the original Knuckles, and he can’t help but feel deja vu from when he’s watched Knuckles work on Angel Island.

But that’s for another day. He still needs to help this poor abandoned robot and he promises he’ll return with more supplies to help fix the base tomorrow.

And for the first time in many many years a promise of fixing is kept.

Me

As they work together to get the place semi-functional again, the robot seems to be more eager to help. He's often standing at the front, waiting for Silver to come back. He doesn't speak, and Silver can't figure out if it's because his audio circuits are damaged, or if he simply can't.

Memories of Metal Sonic flicker through his mind, but Silver dismisses them quickly. This robot doesn't seem to have any ill intent. He actually does seem to be very much like the Knuckles he remembers.

Over time systems are brought back online. Lights flicker to life. Computers long dead blink awake. Silver isn't as good at technology as Tails was, but he can manage. He flicks through various programs, most of which are of no use or long since defunct. Until he finds the one pertaining to the robotic guardian.

Night

The robot stands beside him as he opens it, watching and observing him as he often does when there’s no task to be done. Silver found it creepy at first, but the robot’s gaze seemed oddly soft, like he was both curious and keeping a watchful eye over him.

Me

A lot of the files are corrupted. Silver can't tell the origin of the metal being next to him, but ultimately decides it didn't really matter. He was here now, what point was there to discovering how he'd come to be? The hedgehog decides to search for diagnostics and schematics instead, trying to make sure his new friend is functioning properly.

It's slow going. Silver isn't really technically inclined, and he needs the robot's help to decipher what a lot of the symbols and labels mean. Through trial and error they slowly begin repairing the metal guardian. Fixing some mobility glitches, patching a few frayed wires. They work for days on what appears to be a vocal speaker. Silver nearly fries the robot's ocular input sensors as he attempts to access the necessary components, and that scares the hedgehog so much he backs off, not wanting to do anything more.

Silver's retreated to the far end of the room, arms hugged around himself. What was he doing?? He wasn't Tails, he didn't know anything about machines, this robot trusted him and he'd nearly caused unfixable damage! He should go. Why was he here anyway? This place didn't exactly seem to be a threat, it wasn't useful to keeping the rest of the world safe. Why was he wasting so much time here? Just because this robot looked like someone he used to know?

Heavy footsteps behind him, drawing closer. He turned, and found the robot echidna mere feet from him. His singular functioning LED eye—the one Silver almost damaged—flickered softly as it locked with Silver's own.

"I don't know what I'm doing," Silver said, and he wasn't sure why he spoke aloud. He wasn't even sure if the robot could hear or understand him. "I don't want to hur—damage you any more than you already are."

The echidna-bot stared for a long moment, before reaching forward and taking gentle hold of Silver's wrist. The bot pulled Silver back to the computer terminal, gesturing to continue.

Silver hesitated. The robot stared, tilting its head toward the console. When the hedgehog still didn't move, the bot reached forward and turned him more square before the computer, and gave a little shove.

A little smile curled Silver's lips. It didn't just look like Knuckles. It seemed to have the same impatience, too.

"You sure?" His voice was soft, with a hint of shake. He really didn't want to mess anything else up. "I might make things worse."

The robot gave a curt nod, before pointing with its large metal mitt.

Silver heaved a sigh, before turning back toward the computer. "Okay. Let's do this."

Hours later. Through careful examination, meticulous comparing the picture on the monitor with the innards of the robot, and more than one near panic attack, Silver worked to repair the metal being.

They'd searched through drawers and cabinets, and managed to find a replacement LED for his . . . its right eye. It was bright green instead of violet, but it worked. The bot gave him a thumbs up when it flickered online.

The voice box was more intricate, and the two had argued over the design. Silver managed to remove what he thought was the speaker, but the robot kept gesturing toward the monitor, pointing at a different area.

"That's in your back, why would your voice box be there?"

The robot pointed almost angrily.

"I see it but that doesn't look like what we need!"

More pointing. A loud whirring sound emanated from its chest. It sounded almost like a growl.

"I don't think that's . . . ugh FINE. I'll check it out."

The bot nodded and turned to allow Silver access. The hedgehog was only doing this to show this stubborn bot that this wasn't . . .

Well, damn.

"You were right."

Silver pulled around the little device the robot had pointed to, and it did better match the schematics of the vocal emulator. The robot held its head up a little, and Silver could imagine Knuckles' smug little smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Finding it is one thing. Fixing it is something else."

It took a long time. Days. The wires were so fine, and the innards so delicate, Silver used his psychokinesis to maneuver around inside it, and even that was painstakingly slow.

But eventually it seemed back to functional order. He reinstalled it, triple checking that everything was connected properly before attaching the last wire. Once done, he stood back, brow furrowed in concern.

"Okay. Try to boot it up. Or whatever you call it."

The robot turned to face him, and its LED eyes flickered slightly as it accessed the repaired component. At first there was nothing, and Silver thought he may have either messed it up, or it had been damaged beyond repair. But then a loud, high-pitched whine split the air, and he slapped his hands over his ears.

The whine cut off, replaced with static. The robot beat its chest with a fist.

"zzzz . . . st-- . . . --pid thi-- . . ."

Another solid pound, and something clicked inside it.

". . . did it work?"

Silver's eyes went wide. His hands dropped to his sides and he stared at the robot.

It didn't just look like Knuckles. It didn't just act like Knuckles.

It sounded like Knuckles, too.

[rapidhighway]

Dying to hear your thoughts about knuckles being possessed by the chaos emerald

Everyone else can close their eyes this is for Nahla lmaooo

You mean master emerald? Cause the master emerald oh boyyy WELL

Okay cmere (pats my bed foryou to sit next to me) this will make no sense probably but I've had many specific thoughts about this idk if it's any good

umm i won't lie I have a whole ass au in the making rn skcnkdkdkd but im very unsure about many things so I'm not going to go into this stuff much. However I've been thinking about this for quite some time and what I think is that a scenario like that would require a new villain (or one that already exists but I'm not versed enough in sonic lore and idk them). LISTEN IDK anything about enerjack I WILL I prommy I will and I will scream about ittt But. A villain that is interested in Echidnas, Angel Island and stuff, someone knowledgeable and with big big ambitious. I don't see it being Eggman cause I feel like the most Eggman would do with the Master Emerald is powering some big ass robot or a giant laser or something. And this should be personal. This should be about Angel Island and the Echidnas and about Knuckles' life and his mission. Knuckles doesn't go super, he doesn't use the emeralds, he doesn't use the Master Emerald, he just guards it. So to get him to actually use it, get corrupted by it, it would have to be something powerful and something that plays on all bad parts of his life. I don't really see Knuckles as someone who angsts a lot about his situation, he's unsatisfied by it but I don't think he's going to cry about it. He's proud of being the guardian of the Master Emerald even though it has big big downsides. The things that would actually be painful would be failure as guardian (not just of the ME but his friends too)loss of Angel Island, loss of something big, very important to the echidna culture, stuff like that, idk I'd have to think it through haha. I don't think Knuckles being corrupted by the Master Emerald should be anyone's end goal. It could be something of a side effect, perhaps Knuckles trying to protect it from destruction or corruption or something would get corrupted himself and entangled with the Emerald's power. All very cool he needs a very cool form. Personally I think the tactic for his defeat could be more than one person using the chaos emeralds to become super, this way let's say Sonic takes all the punches (gets punched out of his super form like the master can do) and for example Tails and Amy (I need them to go super pls pls pls) could blast Knux to smithereens lmao. You know what I mean. I think? But basically, this is a very cool concept but I NEED it to be so good and big and dramatic. This is NOT a one shot idea for me okay, I need a 50k story at least.

[shadofiredragon]

Legends Never Die

{ Imagine my horror when I realized that I not only was behind in putting up chapter 7- but also chapter 6!! So, here’s two for you guys!! Shoot @000marie198 a thank you not only for being a great motivator and editor, but for keeping up with LND on AO3 and posting updates on here for you guys. Otherwise you’d have to wait for my sorry self to update late.

Anyway- please enjoy! }

( First | Previous | Next )

Part 1 ~ Immortal Escape

Chapter 6 - Where I Belong

Sonic helplessly watched as his little brother ran upstairs, angry footsteps pounding through the upstairs hallway. A loud slam from one of the bedroom doors made him flinch, a pang of guilt wringing his chest.

He didn't think he'd ever be able to forget the hurt and betrayal that had shattered Tails' wide blue eyes.

"I didn't mean to make him upset," Knuckles mumbled from next to him and Sonic had to resist the urge to bristle.

Knuckles was his friend too, as clueless as he could be sometimes. And Sonic knew that the knucklehead really meant well.

He's just really bad at pulling that off.

Sighing, Sonic turned towards the red echidna, crossing his arms expectantly.

"Well, it happened. Now, can you please explain what's going on? At least fill me in on why you thought coming in here and dropping that info-missile would be a good idea."

Knuckles tensed.

"I just thought you both would want to know. And- ya know- I've always been a 'rip the bandaid off' kind of guy."

"Yeah well- this is kinda a big bandaid, Knux." Sonic's foot began tapping. "You don't think for something this big you shoulda- I don't know- taken it slow?"

Knuckles snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Funny to hear that coming from you of all people."

"Hey, just because I run fast on the track doesn't mean I blow past everything else in life."

"What, and I do?!"

Sonic's hands went up with a sigh of exasperation.

"You know that's not what I meant-!”

Knuckles didn't look up at him, allowing for Sonic to take a long breath.

"Look." The hedgehog stepped forward, laying a hand on the echidna's shoulder. His tone softened, "I know you meant well. But, man, you just turned our little buddy's world upside down."

Violet eyes emotionlessly studied the floor.

"He's still just a kid, Knuckles. And half of his life's been spent trying to fit in. Now suddenly you come in claiming that he's not even Mobian?" Sonic shrugged. "I don't know, but maybe this conversation could have used a little more planning? And discretion?"

The echidna ceded with a heavy sigh, stepping back and collapsing into the couch while rubbing his forehead.

"I get it. And you're right. It probably would've been better if it weren't so fast. But I have no idea how I would've been able to break that kind of news easily anyway."

Sonic relaxed.

"S'okay."

They waited in the beats of silence that followed, giving Sonic time to think.

And he didn't particularly like it.

His brow creased and Knuckles looked up at him curiously.

"What?"

Sonic didn't answer immediately. Instead he took a seat next to Knuckles on the sofa, expression still thoughtful.

"Are... Are you sure you're right?"

Knuckles raised a brow.

"About?"

Sonic rolled his eyes, waving a hand out.

"All this Kitsune business. You really think he's one of 'em?"

Knuckles shrugged, frowning.

"It's just what the Master Emerald told me. And it's not like it doesn't make sense..."

Sonic didn't answer.

Knuckles continued, "I mean, you've felt him too right? There's always been this... this-"

"A light." Sonic finished, exhaling. A small smile flickered across his muzzle as nostalgia deepened his gaze. "Like a little spark in a world of embers."

"Uh... Yeah..." Knuckles scratched his chin, watching the hedgehog with a calculating gaze, "Something like that."

Sonic shook his head. That distant look in his eyes disappeared as they veered up to the floor above the staircase.

"I need to go talk to him."

Knuckles' expression fell. "Yeah. And I think I do too..."

Sonic stood and turned his head to look down at Knuckles incredulously.

Knuckles waved a hand.

"No, not more of this. I need to- apologize. And- I'll ask him if he wants to know more first."

Sonic frowned.

"There's more?"

Knuckles shrugged, "Being Kitsune comes with a pretty hefty dose of powers."

"Okay... Just-" Sonic walked over to the staircase, ascending the steps with ease- "Let me talk to him alone first. And let's just avoid the whole topic as much as possible for a while. 'Kay?"

Knuckles leaned back into the couch cushions.

"Alright."

And with that, Sonic had disappeared up the stairs.

~•~•~•~

It took a good couple hours before Tails had finally come around. Knuckles once again apologized to the kit for his brashness, and the two older Mobians decided to comfort the fox by allowing him to pick a movie for the three to watch downstairs.

The rest of the evening went by arguably smoothly. Knuckles had popped popcorn and provided some mints from the secret stash in one of the kitchen cupboards, which Sonic had graciously revealed to him.

The hedgehog himself, however, never left the fox cub's side. Carrying him down the steps in his arms, like he used to do when they were younger and only slowed to pull out a blanket from the hall closet. With as much tender care as a mother for her newborn, Sonic settled them down onto the couch, wrapping both himself and the young fox in the soft blanket.

Though, admittedly, said fox probably had more of the blanket than the blue hedgehog.

Even so, Tails never deviated from the tight hold on his brother. Always leaning on him in some way or another.

Sonic allowed it. Absorbing the weight and warmth of Tails' small body pressing against him and his very best to fight against the waves of insecurity and distress with comfort.

Knuckles wordlessly took the open spot next to them, setting the snacks on the coffee table and starting the movie.

Believe it or not, Tails did begin to feel a bit better. The hole in his heart hadn't completely gone. But simply being with his brother and friend, watching this movie like everything was normal, did help ease the shock and pain of the day.

He even found himself smiling when Sonic commented on some outrageously unrealistic detail in the movie.

He nudged closer to the hedgehog, closing his eyes and drinking in the blue speedster's constantly radiating energy. He felt Sonic's arm drape over him and a profound sense of security filled his heart with peace.

Mystical being or not, he knew, with all of his heart, that this was where he'd always belong.

~•~•~•~

The hot afternoon sun beat down on the sand-blown turf, searingly hot as it peered down at the black speck racing through its domain.

Tails found himself sweating under the sun's burning glare, a sheen of sweat dampening the fur under his leather uniform. A thick cloud of dust billowed up behind him, the roar of his hover-cycle's engine breaking the otherwise deathly silence.

He'd long ago left the city limits, and now, miles of desert wasteland stretched before him. Scarlet boulders, which had once been beautiful natural formations, lay in rubbled heaps. Scattered between these boulders were the remnants of a metal army, their twisted limbs reaching from the depths of the wasteland like black claws reaching for the dull blue sky above, speckled and overgrown by dry, sparse shrubbery.

Years of wind-blown sand had covered most of these ancient relics, burying them deeper within the folds of time until even this last remnant was forgotten.

Did anyone remember what had happened in history anymore?

Tails' eyes scanned the horizons through his protective helmet, specialized with a net-screen displayed on the visor. He couldn't help but marvel at how much time had changed things. It felt like only a few years ago when seventy percent of Mobius was still green and alive.

Now though, it was nothing but ruin. The world crumbling and drying all on its own, with only a few remnants of fertile land where most fruits and plants were grown, shipped and sold worldwide.

It truly was a marvel. And, as he'd grown accustomed to his long life on the world, he'd come to accept that change was inevitable.

Change, he'd learned, was something that was best taken in stride and with little resistance. But the young kit inside him, the one who'd known and grown up with green hills, babbling streams, and lush magical islands, grieved for the past. For the rich and beautiful things that had been, and might never be again.

And it's all because of you.

He winced, shaking his head and the thought with it.

That was all conjecture and theory. There was no real evidence that his planet's struggle was because of him. And since he'd resolved to keep this troubling thought to himself, he never sought the opportunity to actually research a definite answer. Mostly because if the others ever found out they'd probably insist he stop and try to convince him as best they could that it wasn't his fault.

A twisted shard of metal stuck up from the ground and Tails had to swerve sharply in order to avoid it.

"Maybe I should just focus on getting back home in one piece," he muttered to himself.

It was a pretty far drive after all.

He'd left early morning, and already the sun had crossed halfway through her charted path.

He glanced at a map on the upper right portion of his net-screen, calculating how far he'd traveled. According to the map he was making good time and, if he kept up his pace, would make it home just before dark. Which was good.

Staying out in the wastelands after dark would be asking for trouble.

Focusing back on the 'road' he hugged his body closer to the hover-cycle's frame and twisted the throttle, shooting off in a could of dust and sand.

No harm in picking up the pace right?

~•~•~•~

The sun was just beginning to hide itself behind the horizon when Tails finally reached the first familiar landmark that would direct him home. Dead End Ravine.

It wasn't a creative name, but the long, black scar in the earth's surface was certainly deserving of it. At least- for anyone who didn't know it's little secret.

Tails let off the throttle, urging the engine's high octave whine to deepen into a growl. Slowing down by a few MPH and turning right, he sped directly alongside the ravine edge.

Looking down into the pitch dark abyss would most likely send him careening into the ravine's hungry clutches, so his eyes stayed locked ahead. Waiting for the next landmark.

There- the rock formation that looked oddly like a bird.

The hover-bike's engine pitched at another hard right turn, Tails circled the rock formation to face back towards the ravine. Without batting an eye he shot straight towards the ravine's ledge. The hover bike obediently carried him over the edge, but luckily for the machine, Tails knew exactly what he was doing.

Yanking the handlebar hard to the left, Tails twisted himself around and the hover bike lurched to follow its new course. For half a second they were in free fall, then, with a rocky jolt, the hoverbike found ground and stabilized itself. It wobbled precariously but Tails was able to keep it balanced, as well as keep himself from actually plummeting into the depths of the ravine below.

Not that I couldn't just fly myself out.

His thumb flicked to a switch on the right handle and the hover bike's headlight flashed to life, illuminating the steep path carved into the ravine's side.

Tails' jaw clenched. This part was always his least favorite.

The path was narrow, with a jagged wall to his left, and a straight drop to destruction on his right. And then there were the turns.

He pumped the brakes, easing up even more on the throttle and letting gravity do its job. The engine slowed to a gentle purr, the sound was Tails' only comfort when he spotted the first turn. A 180 degree turn that stood steeper than the rest of the path, which would allow him to continue alongside the ravine's wall.

His grip tightened on the bike's handles, pumping the brakes to slow himself enough to not wipe out.

The turn drew closer, glaringly obvious in the hover bike's harsh light.

Closer... closer... now-!

Tails yanked the handle bars right, keeping his weight even and ignoring the stomach flip he got from the sharp drop to the next portion of pathway.

He didn't dare relax. This ravine was treacherous. And even though he, himself, would be able to traverse it easily, he didn't want to sacrifice his tech.

Seven sharp turns later and he finally reached the bottom of Dead End Ravine.

Here he could begin to relax, easing to a steady pace of 50 mph. Jagged rock formations jutted up from the bumpy crevice floor, looking like the broken pillars of a forgotten world. In some way, they were.

The air was wet and cold. A bitter breeze somehow made its way down to him, sharpening the wind already kicked up by his hover bike. As the light from the sun continued to fade, Tails found himself plunged further and further into darkness. Eventually, the only light in the cavern came from the glaring yellow headlight of his bike, and the only sign that the sun hadn't completely set yet was the gash of wispy blue stretched in the black sky above him.

But when even that last bit of daylight abandoned the sky, and distant stars flickered into existence, something extraordinary happened.

All along the ravine walls, shimmering fluorescent blue sprang to life, bathing the polished pathway in welcoming light. Tails watched as flowers and thick-leaved ivy opened as if it were growing right before his very eyes.

Rich green and blue light carved intricate lines into the leaves and stems of the ivy, while the centers of their flowers glowed brilliantly in violet, yellow, red and even turquoise. Some flowers shook off their bioluminescent particles, sending them floating eerily in the still ravine air.

Besides the enchanting fauna exploding to life all around Tails, there were also rich blue crystals embedded into the ravine walls. The crystals were scattered throughout the nooks and crannies of the rough canyon rock, casting pulsing blue light over the narrow pathway. They speckled the pitch black stone, trailing about thirty feet up, well above the fauna's reach, and and stretched back along the trail as far as the eyes could see. Glowing even where the plant life dwindled and grew scarce.

Tails admired his surroundings with fond familiarity. The origins of the plant life and glowing crystals was still unknown to him, though he had a couple running theories. The crystals had first begun to show themselves around 100 years ago, and where they went, the mystical plant life followed. The vines and flowers had grown astoundingly quick, but why they would only grow where the crystals would appear was yet another mystery to Tails.

As he sped by the enchanting light show, he marveled that such a fantastical place was unknown to the world above the ravine. Part of him felt sorrow for it, knowing how much joy and awe a sight like this would inspire in the stifled hearts of this broken world. But the rest of him thanked Chaos no one had ever thought to traverse into a treacherous ravine to see what they might find.

Treasure hunters, incapable scientists and big-shot organizations would make quick work of this natural phenomenon. Not to mention that it would be far from ideal for a bunch of humans and mobians to be poking their noses where the lair was supposed to stay hidden.

Then again, with an impressive drop of two and a half miles, it didn't surprise Tails at all that no one had yet discovered this natural phenomenon. At those daunting depths, it was safe to say that any passerby who happened to be daring or stupid enough to near the edge of the ravine would still see no sign of the rich glow below. Which was a great relief since the lair had literally ended up in the very center of the growing fauna and mysterious crystals.

Speaking of which...

The glowing crystals and multicolored fauna became tightly packed, almost completely blanketing the rough walls. Including the one in front of him. Thick-leaved vines draped down from an overpass, creating a thick, hanging wall of soft color.

He slowed the hover-bike to a crawl, the engine happy for a break, and ducked close to the body of the bike as he pushed through the thick foliage. Leaves brushed against his helmet and leather coat, flickering brightly at the contact as if they were happy to see him.

Past the foliage, nestled into a wall of rock, was a large bay door.

Tails relaxed.

Finally home.

His right thumb flicked over a small switch, and the bay door obediently crept open, sliding up into the stone above. As the door opened Tails took one last glance up at the now pitch black sky before pushing the hover-bike forward into the garage. Not a single light inside the cavernous space was on, leaving him in darkness, with only a light glow streaming in from outside and a harsh beam from the front of the hover bike.

Parking it in the center, he flipped the switch once more and the door groaned as it slid closer to the ground. Tails removed his helmet while he waited, golden-orange bangs instantly fell over his eyes and he blew at them to put them back in place. He watched the gap of gentle light grow thinner and thinner. At the last moment a playful breeze whistled through the gap, swirling around Tails' bangs, tossing them about.

A strange sort of melancholy overtook him at the breeze's playful touch. Once again his mind found itself wandering back to times of his youth. Back when his friends would gather round him, laughing and talking, and that same playful breeze would kick up. A telltale sign that a certain blue hedgehog had shown up for the party.

Things were so much simpler then.

The bay door hit the ground with a creaking rattle, cutting off any flowing air from outside.

Tails sighed, sorry to have the little breeze go.

But any melancholy and grief quickly passed, when bright yellow garage lights turned on and a cheery voice sounded from behind him.

"Hey, Tails! What took ya so long?"

( First | Previous | Next )

[darkjanet2]

Sonic Adventure 2: Sonadow

Chapter 27: Sonic meets Venusmon

That night at the hospital, Sonic was in the operating room with a gurney right beside him, while the surgeons were strapped to their separate beds. The machines surrounding them beeped and clicked all of the time and were hooked up to life support equipment attached to IVs and monitors. There was an oxygen mask over Sonic's face as well. The surgeons began to operate Sonic on his own body.

They began by slicing through Sonic's skin as gently and swiftly as possible. It didn't hurt much, but every time the scalpel went into him, a small piece of skin came off. Soon it was all gone and there was nothing left except a little bloody mess under the microscope. When they were done, they began to stitch up Sonic's wounds from where he had gotten injured. He still couldn't feel anything, so they just covered up most of the stitches and left some holes behind. When it was finished, one of the doctors wrapped him in gauze. They were ready to give him the injection. He would wake up and have a full recovery.

In the waiting room, Shadow, Amy, and Tails were sitting in the chairs except Knuckles was pacing back and forth. All four of them were trying not to think about what would happen next. Amy and Tails were sleeping soundly in their chairs while Knuckles paced back and forth. Shadow was sitting still in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest with his eyes closed. He got annoyed when Knuckles kept walking back and forth in front of him.

"Knux!" said Shadow irritably. "Would you stop pacing? I'm trying to sleep here."

"What? You can't sleep if you're worried! I don't know why you even care!" snapped Knuckles. "Why do you always have to be such a drama queen?" He turned around to go back to his seat when he noticed something out of place. Shadow had fallen asleep in the waiting room when Sonic was having surgery. He hoped his lover was okay. But he knew that his hopes were pointless. He should probably try to get some sleep himself. So, he sat down. Ten minutes later, the doctor came out of the operating room, Shadow and Knuckles looked at her to see what was happening. This doctor was a beautiful woman with brunette long hair that was tied up in a bun, and piercing green eyes with black rim eyeglasses. Her name was Dr. Linda Harrison.

"How is he, doctor?" Shadow asked her.

"He's fine. He's going to make a complete recovery after all this," she said. "Yet he's in a coma for several days. We'll keep monitoring him until we know that he's alright again. Until then we'll keep him sedated."

"Is he waking up soon?" asked Knuckles.

The doctor shook her head. "I'm afraid not. That's part of the problem now that he's asleep. But I'm sure he'll regain consciousness soon."

With that, Dr. Harrison went back inside Sonic's room, followed by a group of nurses who helped her prepare everything she needed to take care of the patient. Shadow turned his attention to Knuckles. "Well?" asked Shadow. "Did you manage to find a lead yet?" Knuckles nodded. Shadow sighed in relief.

Dr. Harrison came out of Sonic's room a few minutes later, carrying a clipboard. She took her glasses off, cleaned them on the end of her shirt, and put them back on. "You're all cleared to visit your friend now," she told them.

"Thank you," said Shadow. "Can we see him first?"

She nodded, "Of course, but try not to overwhelm him." Shadow thanked her again, then stood up. Before the others could get out of their chairs, Knuckles woke Amy and Tails up and told them to lead the way to Sonic's room. Once they entered the room, Sonic was sleeping in the hospital bed with a heartbeat monitor and an IV drip attached to his arm. There was an oxygen mask attached to Sonic's mask to help him breathe. He had white bandages on his right arm and his abdomen from surgery. He looked exhausted. He was asleep so deep that they could barely tell that he was awake or breathing.

"Wow...he looks awful," whispered Amy in shock.

Tails nodded, "Yeah..."

"I hope he recovers soon," said Knuckles.

Shadow sighed and walked up to the bed. He looked at his lover's face and saw that Sonic was still unconscious. Then, he sat down on the chair beside the bed and placed his hand on Sonic's forehead.

"Hey," he spoke softly. "I'm sorry about what happened to you. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you." Shadow let his tears flow freely. He hadn't cried since they buried him. He had forgotten how painful it was to cry when someone died. He lost his friend Maria when she was shot, and now he couldn't lose another one. After all these years, he finally realized how true that saying really was that time heals all wounds. Even death couldn't kill Shadow's love for Sonic. Even though he was unconscious, Sonic could hear Shadow talking to him."It's okay," he whispered to himself. "You're okay. No one will ever hurt you like that again."

"Well, it's 2:17 AM. Let's go home and let him rest," said Tails.

"I agree," said Amy.

Amy and Tails walked out of Sonic's room while Knuckles looked at Shadow, still holding his hand on Sonic's forehead.

"Are you coming or what?" asked Knuckles impatiently.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Shadow was to leave and looked at Sonic once more before leaving. He smiled sadly to himself. "Get well soon, Sonic," He kissed him on his forehead and left the room.

Outside the hospital, the air was chilly. In the distance, they could see the city lights twinkling on the horizon. The moon was full and the stars were twinkling brightly, giving them some light to see by. As they walked down to the parking lot, Tails yawned and rubbed his eyes. He took out his phone and contacted an Uber to take Tails and Amy home. Five minutes later, an Uber driver arrived, Tails and Amy waved goodbye to Knuckles and Shadow and they waved them back as they went inside and left.

"Do you want to catch an Uber or something?" asked Knuckles.

"No, I have my Chaos Emerald with me. It's faster than taking the bus or subway, especially when it's dark out," replied Shadow.

Knuckles nodded, "Okay, take care, Shadow."

"You, too." Shadow raised his green gem in the air. "Chaos Control!" he shouted as he vanished in a flash of green lightning.

Now that Knuckles was alone. "Well, I guess it's time for me to go," he said as he took a fly swatter out of nowhere and flew up through the city streets, heading to Angel Island and guarding his Master Emerald.

Three weeks later, it was around 10 AM, and a white female bat was at the cafe, drinking tea. She was dressed in a purple denim jacket, a black crop top, white jeans, and black boots. She wore sunglasses on top of her head. She was enjoying her tea and reading her book. Her phone rang, she checked the caller ID and it was Amy Rose.

"Hello?" she answered her phone.

"Hi, Rogue, it's me," said Amy.

"Oh, hi, Amy," Rouge responded. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you take me to the hospital. I have to visit Sonic. He's in a coma right now," said Amy.

"Oh, sure, I'll meet you there in 15 minutes," said Rouge.

Rouge hung up the phone and got up from her seat. Just then, Rouge began to drive her white Lamborghini. When she saw Amy standing outside at the flower shop, she carried a bouquet of white daisies and lilies out. She approached the rose-pink hedgehog, she gently honked a horn when Amy saw Rouge in a white Lamborghini.

"Hello, Amy. How are you doing?" said Rouge.

"I'm good," said Amy.

"Hop in," Rouge smiled and opened the passenger side door. Amy climbed into the car, and they drove away together. About ten minutes later, they arrived at the hospital. They parked the car and made their way inside. Amy stopped in front of the receptionist's desk.

“Hi,” Amy greeted her.

“Hello, how can I help you?” the receptionist looked at her with kind blue eyes.

“We’re here to visit Sonic the Hedgehog,” said Amy.

“Ah, yes. He’s on the second floor to the right. The room number is 216,” the receptionist gave Amy directions. “Please make sure to inform us if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” said Amy. She took the flowers from Rouge and walked towards Room 216, which was right across from the elevators. She knocked on the door before opening it up. She peered in to see Sonic lying peacefully in bed, hooked up to his life support machines. He had a nasal cannula in his nostril

to help him breathe. His body was wrapped up in a blanket and his skin looked extremely pale. On the sides of his bed, there was a heart monitor, an IV pump, and a tube connected to his right arm. He also had an ECG machine on his chest that was beeping rhythmically.

“Sonic?” said Amy quietly. She stepped closer to him, careful not to disturb any of his things. She sat down on the edge of his bed and carefully took hold of his hand. Sonic didn’t stir. “I know that you can hear me."

Rouge placed her hand on Amy's shoulder reassuringly, "He'll be alright, hun. He should wake up soon."

Amy didn’t say anything; she just continued holding Sonic’s hand and caressing it with her thumb. She wished he could wake up from a coma already because she wanted nothing more than for Sonic to open his eyes and look at her. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to do that. Because of what happened to Sonic, even though Sonic did come out of the coma after Eggman attacked.

"I hope so," sighed Amy.

A few minutes later, Sonic had a strange dream. He found himself in a beautiful garden with colorful flowers. The sound of water flowing and the birds chirping filled in his ears. He was walking through the garden, looking up and admiring the bright colors of the trees and bushes that lined the ground. He could see the waterfall where the fish came from that sparkled and glimmered in the sun with a colorful rainbow. He stared at nature in awe.

'Am... am I in heaven?' thought Sonic.

He looked around at his surroundings and suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. Sonic whirled around, expecting to see someone who resembled him, but there was no one there except for him.

"Who's there?!" said Sonic, prepared to fight.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart," a woman’s voice spoke from behind.

Suddenly, the woman appeared before him. It was a beautiful woman, like a goddess. She had beautiful long, flowing blonde hair braided updo hairstyle tied with a white ribbon. She wore a white long maxi dress that revealed her sexy legs and her large cleavage. She wore these two necklaces; one with silver, and one with an apple pendant. She wore silver armor arm guards and boot guards. The white ribbon tied her eyes like a blindfold. She had a dove on her right hand and she had a blue clam on her left hand.

"I didn't mean to scare you," said the beautiful woman.

"Wh-who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Venusmon," she said. "I'm one of Olympos XII and I rule over love," she bowed to him.

'Olympos XII?! That's another mythological being,' thought Sonic. 'She must be real!'

"Uh, you don't need to bow to me. My name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," he pointed to himself with his thumb.

Venusmon giggled, "Well, Sonic, it's nice to meet you. Come, let's sit somewhere and talk."

"Sure," Sonic agreed as he followed her.

They both sat down under a large tree.

"So tell me," asked Venusmon, "Why are you here?"

"Umm... I... uh..." Sonic was nervous. "I was fighting with Eggman that he destroyed the city and tried to take over the world. I was trying to save my friends, but he summoned a new robot, Neo Metal Sonic, who looked exactly like me."

Venusmon nodded and listened intently to Sonic.

"Neo Metal Sonic was so powerful and I couldn't save friends. I wasn't strong enough to save them. He tried to end my life, but luckily Shadow came to save me and finished them off," said Sonic, remembering everything about Neo Metal Sonic that he knew.

"Hmmm..." murmured Venusmon. "I see," she said. "And so, you came here to protect your friends and your loved ones."

"Yes. Shadow saved me from Neo Metal Sonic," confirmed Sonic.

"How did he save you?" she asked.

"Shadow was flying above Neo Metal Sonic and threw an arrow that hit Neo Metal Sonic in the back of his head, killing him," explained Sonic. "I started to black out and ended up going to the hospital."

Venusmon hummed softly, "That explains a lot. You may want to get some rest, Sonic."

"Hey, Venusmon? Am I really dead?" asked Sonic.

She giggled, "No, sweetie, you're alive and well." She gently stroked Sonic's cheek, smiling at him.

"You're just dreaming in a coma," she whispered to him.

"Oh, God! Am I in a coma? How long have I been out?" asked Sonic.

"About 3 weeks, ” she replied, “but you'll be fine soon. Don't worry, Sonic."

"Okay," said Sonic, feeling relieved. "Thanks." He relaxed a bit, feeling comfortable with Venusmon.

"Hey, can I tell you something?" asked Sonic.

"Of course," Venusmon assured Sonic.

"Umm, I kinda love Shadow..." said Sonic.

She giggled, "Really?"

"Yeah!" answered Sonic enthusiastically. "I met him in the street city. This guy looks exactly like me. But he was different," he said. "The police thought I stole a gem from the bank and tried to frame me."

"Hmm... interesting," Venusmon mumbled.

"Yeah, I was falsely accused of stealing a gem. I had to flee from the police where I met Shadow. He was the one who stole Chaos Emerald," said Sonic.

"Was he a criminal?" asked Venusmon.

"He used to be, but not anymore. He's a hero now," Sonic replied.

"Wow, that's quite the story," Venusmon said.

"Can I tell you something more?" asked Sonic.

Venusmon nodded, "Mmm-hmm."

"Shadow and I are in love. We've been together ever since," said Sonic, blushing a little.

Venusmon smiled warmly, "That's great to hear. Have you told him yet?"

"Not yet, but I will eventually. After all, Shadow is my boyfriend," said Sonic.

"Then tell him how you feel when you talk to him next time," said Venusmon.

"Will do," Sonic replied.

In a flash of white, Sonic finally came out of a coma. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting slightly as he adjusted to the sudden brightness in his surroundings. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed he was surrounded by people.

"Wh-where am I?" asked Sonic.

Amy gasped. "Sonic!" She went to hug him. "I'm so happy to see you awake!"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Amy," said Sonic.

"How do you feel?" asked Rouge.

"Rouge! It's so great to see you!" exclaimed Sonic. "I thought we were gonna lose each other forever."

Rouge laughed as she shook her head, "No way, bro. I would never abandon you."

Sonic looked around the room. "Where's Tails and the others?" he asked.

"They're busy. I'll have to call them with great news, and I'll tell the doctor that you're already awake," said Amy as she pressed the button. And she went outside and called her friends to tell them the great news.

"So I heard you fought with Eggman," said Rouge as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, I did," admitted Sonic as he scratched his head. "And I think I lost to Neo Metal Sonic."

"Damn, I wish I could have come here and save you," lamented Rouge.

"Don't worry about it. If it was up to me, I'd never let Eggman live," said Sonic.

"I know," Rouge chuckled.

Sonic lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and let out a sigh. "You know, I still can't believe I'm alive!"

"I can understand why you're so surprised," said Rouge. "When Eggman attacked the city, I was shocked too. It took you months to recover after that battle. By the way, how much longer do you plan to stay here?" she asked.

"My belly was torn up pretty badly. But I'll be resting up for 3 months. Then I'll go home and take care of myself. And then when I'm recovered, I'm coming back to help take care of you guys. You know, make sure everyone is safe."

"I agree," said Rouge.

"By the way, what happened to Eggman?" asked Sonic.

"He's in prison. So he won't bother anyone anymore," Rouge answered.

"Good," he replied.

Dr. Harrison came into the room, wearing a white lab coat. She smiled at Sonic.

"Hello, Sonic," Dr. Harrison greeted.

"Hi," he smiled.

"I'm Dr. Linda Harrison," she introduced herself. "Today is your first day of recovery, so I'll just give you some basic information. Today, you'll be staying here for 3 months while your body heals. We can do a few tests later to see if you're ready to leave the hospital."

"That sounds good," said Sonic.

"Alright, I'm going to examine you," she said as she produced the stethoscope and began to check Sonic's breathing. After several minutes of checking Sonic's health, she put the stethoscope down around her neck.

"Everything seems normal," said Dr. Harrison, "you should be discharged within 3 months."

"Thank you, Dr. Harrison," said Sonic.

"No problem, Sonic," smiled Dr. Harrison as she turned to leave the room.

Amy came back carrying a bag of sugar cookies that she made that morning.

"Here, Sonic," said Amy as she handed the bag to him, "It's your favorite! They're sugar cookies. It's delicious, I promise!"

"Thanks," Sonic took one cookie and took a bite. "This is really good, Amy!"

Amy giggled, "Thanks. I'm glad you like it."

The sun began to set at 6 PM, Amy and Rouge said goodbye to Sonic and went to their homes while Sonic went back to sleep and met Venusmon again.

[stillafanofsonic]

9 years later

Baby: (grabs her piggy bank and pulls on one of knuckles dreads to get his attention) Psst! Knux!

Knuckles: (casually stops his work out as if he wasn’t lifting the equivalent of a small school bus) yes?

Baby: My bicycle needs fixing. Can we take it to Shadow’s

Knuckles: Hmm, if your bike needs fixing then perhaps we should inform father or see if Tails could do something about it?

Tails: (a few feet away doing his homework) Dad’s probably too busy this week, but I got no problem! Could use a break actually.

Knuckles: See?

Baby: (puffs her cheeks and walks over to tails to whisper something. Tails expression falls flat)

Tails: On second thought. I am waaaaaay too busy with the science fair. Because, science I guess?

Knuckles: (raises an eyebrow but relents upon seeing them puppy eyes) Fine. Let us go then (lifts her up and places her in his shoulder)

At “Shadow’s” workshop:

Baby (rising her so definitely in need of repairs bike): Shadow! Shadow!

Knuckles: Afternoon Shadow!

Shadow: Hey guys, what’s brings you here?

Baby: My bikes bad, you need to fix it!

Shadow: (looks at knuckles who has an expression that would make flat earthers proud) Um, ok, let’s have a look. (After giving it a good inspection and even getting some else to take a look at it) Well, I’ve got good news. Your bike’s in perfect condition.

Baby: But, but, you need to fix it!

Knuckles: There’s nothing to fix ______. Come, let us return home, Sonic will arrive soon.

Baby: But, But-

Shadow: Um… I could grease the chain? It’ll help make it go a little faster.

Baby: Yes please! (Afterwards) Thank you Shadow! Here (tries to hand over her piggy bank)

Shadow: Woah! What’s this?

Baby: Payment! For the bike! Mom says you always have to pay when getting something fix.

Shadow: I…. I can’t accept this.

Baby: But, what about your bike?

Shadow: Motor- (Knuckles coughs) … never mind. It’s fine. Really, there’s no need

Baby: But that’s not honorable

Knuckles (after getting a desperate look from Shadow, he kneels in front of his sister) Hmmm, how about, instead of giving Shadow your piggy bank, you run over to the corner shop and get him some ice cream?

Shadow: It has been quite a hot day

Baby: (exited) Ok! I’ll be right back

Knuckles: Be careful! And if a stranger approaches you

Baby: I kick’ em in the chin!

Knuckles: (chuckles proudly and sits next to Shadow) You know she planned this whole thing out, right?

Shadow: Figured. Still, I couldn’t just take her money. Felt wrong

Knuckles: Thank you.

Ps: Sorry of this was way too long

It was not! I love it! This is so sweet

While I don't have a name for baby yet, she's going to have an amazing life, growing up with all her big brothers and cousins