#will i ever move on from shth angst? maybe... surge angst sounds intriguing too ;)

[beevean]

The Day That Hope Died

Yes, that’s the name of a real path in ShTH. I love this game <3

An exchange between Sonic and Shadow in the Pure Dark-Dark ending, inspired by a certain comic and its handling of respecting other people’s identity and choices. Sonic might be OOC (let alone Shadow but that comes with the territory), but I did my best with this unusual situation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The idea of separating Diablon and Sonic so that they can have a 1-to-1, and most importantly a certain action Sonic takes :P are the suggestions of @rollflasher.

AO3 link: here.

~

Commander!

Sonic rushed to the core of the G.U.N. Fortress, heart hammering in his chest, he was too slow, he was too late!

If only those annoying black creatures didn’t hold him back! Now the Commander’s mech was nothing more than red scraps of metal scattered onto the floor. Sonic couldn’t see him anywhere… did he…?

“Only one left.”

A cold voice distracted him.

Shadow was approaching the remains of the Diablon, twirling like a toy the purple Chaos Emerald that used to power up the machine. That all but confirmed the worst in Sonic’s mind.

Shadow helped the aliens. Shadow destroyed multiple cities. Shadow destroyed the computers in G.U.N.’s base to weaken their defenses. Shadow murdered the Commander. At this rate, Shadow would destroy the entire planet.

That’s enough.

“Shadow!”

The black hedgehog snapped his head up as Sonic approached him. Cold eyes stared at him, through him, unrecognizable.

“Rouge told me that I’d find you here,” he said, in the most casual tone he could muster. “You really crossed the line, bud. I can’t let you do as you please anymore.”

“Not you again… Step back,” Shadow barked. “You can’t stop me from taking the last Emerald.”

Well, being nice was worth a shot.

“Oh, looking for this?”

Sonic took from his quills the only Chaos Emerald that Shadow hadn’t managed to snatch yet; the Commander had the right idea, separating the two gems so that they wouldn’t neatly fall in Shadow’s lap. The soft red light tinted the tiny platform underground. Sonic would find it funny, if the circumstances were different.

Shadow’s eyes widened and he looked taken aback, but not for long: as soon as his jet skates activated, Sonic stepped aside, avoiding Shadow’s lunging attack. And again, and again. Predictable. He couldn’t even have fun.

“Hello, fastest thing alive? You have to do better than that.”

Bored of the little dodging game, he grabbed Shadow’s wrist and kicked his legs. Surprisingly, Shadow fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. Sonic quickly thanked the Commander for tiring him out.

“I’m not in the mood for games, Shadow. I never thought I’d have to fight you like this again, but after all you did…”

Shadow wasn’t exactly a great person when Sonic first met him either, but he missed when the worst thing the other hedgehog did was being his faker. Now, he will never erase the images of the crumbling Central City and the sound of the grieving survivors from his mind.

The hedgehog started to get up, and before Sonic could react he started to talk, voice dripping with bitterness: “Don’t pretend you suddenly care. Either leave or perish at my hand, but stop being a coward.”

The derisive tone stung Sonic more than it should have. His ears drooped. “I do care. You’re my friend.”

Sonic shouldn’t talk to him. He should take him down! This is what he did with terrorists like Eggman! But I can’t… I can’t bring myself to attack him. I need to know first.

Shadow actually took a step back, and all of a sudden he bristled in a rage Sonic had never seen before from him: “You liar! Are you trying to guilt trip me?”

So Sonic had touched a hot button. He pressed on: he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to, he had to ask, he had to understand what was going on. “I watched you die to save the planet. You helped me again even when you didn’t remember me. You are a good person at heart, I know it! What happened to you?” A realization flashed in his mind before Shadow could even open his mouth. “Wait, it was that Doom guy, wasn’t he? He filled your head with nonsense!”

It had to be him. That stupid looking starfish alien, always hovering around Shadow, always telling him what to do… Sonic wished he had taken care of him back during the attack on Westopolis. But he got distracted, and now it was too late.

… Was all of this his fault?

Shadow crossed his arms, hands gripping too tightly to pretend to be aloof. “How presumptuous. Do you think you know me better than myself?”

“Looks like it. I don’t know what I’m looking at, but you’re not the Shadow I know.”

“Who do you think you are? ‘Your friend’? ‘The Shadow you know’? You just want me to be what you expect from me, don’t you?”

“I want you to snap out of it, yes. This isn’t you!”

“You don’t know anything! Black Doom helped me understand! It is my duty to judge mankind. Those foolish humans don’t deserve to live, and I will punish them personally–”

“SHUT UP!”

Sonic dashed to Shadow still rambling like a maniac and did the first thing on his mind: he punched him in the face with all his strength.

He almost fell over, probably more due to the shock than the pain. Even with his knuckles dully throbbing, even with his hands shaking, Sonic couldn’t deny that it felt great.

But Shadow didn’t have the decency to take the hint; there he was again, with that mocking fake smile, and those empty eyes. “Heh, I’m surprised you had it in you.”

“Enough!” he yelled. “I don’t want to hear another word from you unless it’s ‘I’m sorry, I’m back to normal’!”

Black Doom… it’s all because of him! When I get my hands on him…

“Arrogant hedgehog. How dare you dictate my own identity? I finally know who I am! I won’t let anyone sway me or stand in my way!”

Sonic huffed in spite of himself. “Your ‘identity’? Don’t act all philosophical on me when you’re talking about killing people.”

“This is what I was made for! They deserve it for what they did!” Shadow shouted, with such conviction in his voice that felt like a punch to the gut.

His fur began to shimmer of a bright red color; it hurt in the dimness of the cave. Nausea bubbled in Sonic’s throat, both because the negative Chaos Energy was too much to handle, and because of Shadow’s words. The more he let him talk, the worse he got.

His hatred sounded too familiar to be mere brainwashing.

Sonic sighed. “Fine. If you won’t come to your senses on your own, I’ll knock some into you! I stopped you once, I can do it again!”

Yes, the race on the ARK… he remembered it like it was yesterday. It was fun, racing someone as fast as him, keeping up with his banter. Yes, the real goal was to destroy the Eclipse Cannon from being used by Eggman, but Shadow was such an intriguing rival, and it was chilling to discover what was done to him, and the relief at him coming back to help them against the plans of his creators was immensurable.

There was no trace of that honorable person in the madman drowning in Chaos Energy in front of him, who was so sure that not only destroying the world was good, but was his purpose.

Was it Black Doom’s fault for reopening old wounds?

Was it really Sonic’s fault for leaving him alone?

Should he have kept a closer eye on his former friend?

But more importantly: what could he do now?

Shadow spread his arms, a twisted smile on his lips. The cave wasn’t red anymore, but shone with all the colors of the rainbow: the Chaos Emeralds were lazily circling around the black hedgehog. Their power was almost palpable, a soothing warmth caressing Sonic’s fur, but it wasn’t enough to stop the dread squeezing his chest.

Shadow with one Emerald could use powers Sonic couldn’t even imagine. Shadow with six Chaos Emeralds would be nothing short of a beast. It would be like trying to take Perfect Chaos down without his Super form. His chances were slim…

… but when did that ever stop him before?

“You’re clearly outmatched, Sonic!” Shadow cackled. “Give up and be smart for once! But if you insist on supporting humanity… I won’t show any more mercy!”

Something snapped inside him.

What was he doing, wasting time like this? Trying to reason with him? No matter how much he begged… people like him didn’t change that easily.

Maybe… maybe he is the real Shadow, and I was wrong all along.

Sonic clung onto his only Emerald and his cold anger. Nothing else mattered. There was only him, the world in dire danger, and an enemy to be stopped at all costs.

“Okay, Shadow. You made your choice. If being a murderer is what you really are… I’ll treat you as such.”