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Chapter Text

Sonic sighed, tossing and turning in his race car bed that, annoyingly, was getting a bit too small for a growing hedgehog like him. Although he had curled his legs close to himself, the bed frame still uncomfortably pushed against his quills, the snoring from his older echidna brother wasn’t helping either.

What’s even worse is that these issues weren’t the only thing on the young hero’s mind. After saving the world with his dark rival and seeing him, along with Robotnik, sacrifice themselves to save the world, Sonic felt an uneasy feeling inside him.

He should feel relieved right? Eggman, his weird grandfather, and Shadow are gone. There shouldn’t be any more threats on planet Earth! He can finally live a peaceful and happy life with his brothers, Maddie, Tom, and of course Ozzy! So why does he feel so…strange?

Sonic felt his mind drift back to his rival, his black and red counterpart, his.. other half..? Would he even call him that, after all that he did? Sure, he had redeemed himself in the end, but the damage was still done, according to Tom’s still healing arm.. and of course, the big freaking gaping hole in the moon where eclipse canon had struck! No wonder why the waves in oceans were acting off.

Shadow was a strange creature. His weirdly shaped quills were endearing, in a way, Sonic had to restrain himself from reaching out and touching them when they sat together on the moon. And his strength, Sonic being pinned against the broken tube Shadow was once imprisoned in and being thrown against the wall?

Not to mention all the abuse he received in their fights..but hey, Shadow got his medicine in return, and Sonic gave himself a pat on the back for that. He could’ve totally taken down Shadow earlier…if the guy would stop teleporting away whenever the hero would be close to landing a hit. Damn chaos powers..

Which was another thing, were his red eyes…natural? Or was that something Shadow was given? One things for sure, Sonic had never seen that color of red in someone’s eyes before. Ever. Not even in Knuckles’ eyes. They almost had him hooked in like a fish out of water.

Shadow had other red markings that were fascinating, like did his stripes on his arms go down to one finger, or spread through the whole paw? Are the red markings on his quills also natural, or does he dye his quills?

But despite it all, Sonic still really loved his eyes. They told the story of this striped hedgehog that the blue hero had become…friends with? No that couldn’t be right..they barely knew each other for chaos’ sake! And yet…

Sonic whined and buried his face in his paws. He did not want to be up at 1 in the morning and having his thoughts whirl like this, especially for Shadow. It felt.. too weird. As slowly and quietly as he could, Sonic slipped out of his highly uncomfortable race car bed that, he still refused to part with no matter how bad it was hurting his posture.

He quickly grabbed his gloves and hastily put them on, before slowly opening the attic door. A loud noise that was a mix of a snore and a snort came from Knuckles, and Sonic froze in place, looking over. Luck was on his side as he breathed a sigh of relief, the red echidna still fast asleep.

The blue hedgehog then tiptoed down the attic stairs, trying his best to close the attic door, which created a faint bang that made Sonic wince, causing his ears to twitch while also waking up Ozzy. Sonic quickly rushed over to shush the big dog before he could bark and alert Tom and Maddie, who were surprisingly still asleep.

Ozzy kept quiet and looked at Sonic, wagging his tail, and the hero let out another sigh of relief. He looked out the window, and his eyes widened. It was snowing! Sonic felt a grin form on his face. He could teach Tails how to build snowmen, and challenge Knuckles to a sled race!

Sonic’s tail slightly wagged with excitement, he was so happy he had his brothers to share the experience of earth with. The blue hero flopped onto the couch and changed the cable to the Youtube app, keeping the TV volume low as Ozzy came over and laid down next to the couch.

If Sonic couldn’t sleep, he might as well entertain himself with some good old fashioned gameplays. A few videos and many attempts to shield himself from the jump scares shown on TV, along with listening to the gamer’s commentary, Sonic felt himself growing drowsy, his head falling into the armrest of the couch, before a knock startled him awake.

Sonic shot upright, ears perked up to listen for another noise. He glanced warily at the video still playing on the TV, figuring that the knock came from the game the Youtuber was playing. Sonic shrugged it off and snuggled back under his blanket. Then, he heard another knock, and Sonic’s hackles stood on end. That definitely didn’t come from the game.

Sonic sat up, and upon realizing it came from the front door, a chill ran down his spine. Who would even be here at this hour, in heavy snow like this? The blue hedgehog’s mind flashed back to all the monsters he saw in the gameplays he watched, and his ears flattened.

He could handle these monsters no problem! …Right? Sonic stood up and puffed out his chest, and grabbed a baseball bat for extra protection as he creeped to the door. The knocking came again and Sonic’s fur stood on end, but he still walked forward. His hand shakily grabbed the door knob and he slowly opened the door, bat in hand in case things went horribly wrong.

Out of all the things that could’ve been outside, this was the last person Sonic expected to see.

“..Shadow?!” Sonic squeaked out in surprise, his jaw dropped open in complete shock. He couldn’t mistake him for anyone else. It was his broody dark rival standing there, in the flesh. He was badly wounded, eyes glazed over, barely open, and he was shivering violently, snow still falling onto his black quills.

Sonic was still processing what he was seeing as Shadow let out a cold “Of course you’d live in a place like this.”

The hero, still gaping at Shadow, snapped out of his shock and shook his head. “You…this isn’t just my imagination right?”

Shadow snarled, “Trust me, I wish it was, too.”

“But how..how did you find me?” Sonic questioned, warily looking at his counterpart. Though, he felt bad at seeing the state Shadow was in, so he pulled him inside and closed the door, hoping the heat of the house would warm Shadow up a bit.

Shadow leaned onto the wall and looked at Sonic, his red eyes dull and tired. “Your chaos energy, it’s…unusually strong for someone like you.” The striped hedgehog replied, his knees buckling, before Sonic caught him.

“Hey, hey..don’t go passing out on me now! Not before we can get you fixed up a little bit..” Sonic led Shadow to the couch, slowly setting his rival down onto the cushions. He then sped off to grab a small first aid kit and hurried back to Shadow, who was already falling asleep. Sonic winced, his injuries didn’t look too bad, but they still looked poorly taken care of, also it looked as if the other hadn’t slept in days.

Sonic carefully started off by brushing the snow off Shadow’s quills. He was fascinated on how they curved and how spikey they were under is fingers…Focus Sonic! Shadow needed treatment! Once Sonic had finished, not letting himself get addicted to tracing every curve his rival’s quills had, he opened the first aid kit and took out what he needed.

“Ok, this might sting a bit, so try not to bite my hand off or something.” Sonic instructed softly. He saw Shadow’s tired eyes look into his and felt his quills spike up slightly. He hoped to chaos that Shadow was too worn out to notice..

“Right..here goes..” Sonic murmured, dabbing a cotton ball with disinfectant, and began running it over Shadow’s wounds. The striped hedgehog flinched at first, before his ears drooped, too tired to even hiss or snarl at Sonic’s work. Shadow dropped his head onto Sonic’s shoulder, his breath coming out ragged.

Sonic’s quills fully raised up this time, and he swallowed hard, doing his best to fix up Shadow while ignoring the strange fear in his chest. None of his injuries were dangerous, or needed stitching, which was a good thing. Sonic finished by putting his special space bandaids on the worse cuts and scrapes Shadow had endured.

When he pulled away and let Shadow fall back onto the couch, his rival was barely awake, blinking lazily at Sonic who was staring at him. The young hero shuffled in place, feeling a bit awkward in this moment, seeing someone he thought was dead, come back to life..although this wouldn’t be the first time.

“Y’know, I really thought you…” Sonic trailed off and Shadow sighed.

“Died?” His rival responded flatly. The blue hedgehog then nodded. Shadow let out a yawn, his fangs showing in the dim light that made Sonic’s eyes widen. ‘With fangs as sharp as those, he could tear through anything…’ Sonic wondered warily.

“I was made to be the ultimate lifeform, the perfect being. This also means that I..can’t really die, at least, not from something like that.”

Sonic snorted at Shadow’s response. “Something like that? That was the eclipse canon, for Chaos sake! It took out a part of the moon!” The blue hero swore he saw Shadow’s lips quirk upward into a smile, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“What you think is dangerous, hedgehog, is trivial for me.”

Sonic scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yea, whatever, tough guy.” he muttered, before noticing Shadow’s still shivering form. He quickly got up and sped off to grab a big blanket that was usually used for pillow forts that he, Tails and Knuckles would build for fun.

Sonic carefully wrapped it around Shadow, watching him closely. “Feel better?” he murmured, watching as Shadow practically melted into the blanket.

“I suppose.” he bluntly replied. The hero put a hand on his hip.

“What? No ‘Thank you Sonic for helping me! You’re the most amazing hedgehog in the world, and so much more faster than me!’”

Shadow sent him a dark glare, but closed his eyes, slumping back onto the couch. “Thank you for..letting me inside.”

Sonic grinned, at least it was something. “Y’know, you can spend the night-“ Shadow shook his head.

“Your family isn’t very..fond of me. I need to find my own place anyway.” Sonic felt his ears droop slightly, and his smile faltered. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want Shadow to leave unsupervised. Sonic sat next to him on the couch, scooting to his side.

“C’mon man, you expect me to let you go back out in that weather, looking like this?” Sonic gestured to his beaten and bruised form, and his tired eyes that the striped hedgehog rubbed at, another yawn escaping the black hedgehog’s lips. “Look, just stay for tonight, and we’ll work out everything else in the morning, ok?” The hero said, trying to compromise.

Shadow sat there for a moment, before sighing. “You’re insufferable.” he replied with a growl.

Sonic’s lips curled into a smirk. “Yea, I am pretty cool, aren’t I?” Shadow let out a snort and Sonic felt his fears settle down a bit, if that was even possible. The blue hero settled into a more comfortable position on the couch, next to Shadow, and pressed play on his video.

There was silence for a while, the only sound being the person in the video panic over the video game he was playing. Sonic was slowly starting to doze off before he heard Shadow’s voice. “I don’t get it. Why doesn’t he just attack the monster following him?” Sonic let out a tired laugh at Shadow’s question.

“That’s not how the game works, man. He can’t attack it because that’s not how the game was programmed.” Shadow tilted his head slightly at Sonic’s response, clearly confused, but said nothing more as he continued to watch silently, trying to stay awake as to not let his guard down.

By the time Sonic was about ready to fall back asleep, the sudden weight on his shoulder jerked him awake. He groggily looked over to see Shadow. Shadow was sleeping. On his shoulder. What the hell? Sonic felt his face grow warm. Like really uncomfortably warm. He never expected his rival, the ultimate lifeform, to pass out nestled against his shoulder.

How did things even get up to this point? Wasn’t he just punching Shadow all the way to the moon a few months ago? How was he letting him sleep on his shoulder now? Sonic knew he should just shake him awake and leave him with the couch while he goes back upstairs but…he looked weirdly peaceful, asleep on him like this. He didn’t want to disturb him, not to mention that he would most likely get punched if he woke up the dark hedgehog.

Sonic just sighed and leaned his head back on the couch, trying his best to get comfortable. He had a long day ahead of him tomorrow..

Chapter Text

A few weeks had passed and everyone had been wary about Shadow being present…and alive. Even Ozzy watched him closely from his dog bed, ears perking up every time the dark hedgehog passed by. Maddie had been highly unwilling to let Shadow stay, but after some convincing from Sonic, and surprisingly Tom, Shadow was allowed to stay, under strict supervision.

This was a terrible idea, Shadow was a living weapon! He shouldn’t even be stepping foot into this house at all let alone live here! But him and Sonic working together that fateful day, stopping the eclipse cannon together, there had been a slight glimmer of hope that maybe, maybe there was something more to Shadow than a destructive experiment.

Shadow wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

The moonlight shone down on the ebony hedgehog as he sat on the roof of the house, ears twitching from time to time. He spotted Knuckles down below, who had stayed up to practice fighting techniques. The echidna warrior didn’t even spare Shadow a glance, probably still upset about the hedgehog trying to destroy the world. Fair enough.

He let out a long sigh, the wind blowing through his quills. He didn’t even know why he was here. It was obvious that everyone was still very unsure about him. The only people who gave him some sort of sympathy and the benefit of the doubt was, surprisingly, Tom and Tails. Why, Shadow didn’t know.

He got Tom hospitalized, and he knew he scared Tails, so to see them be…nice to him, it was strange. Maddie wasn’t all that happy to see her husband and her kid try sympathizing with a living weapon, and she made sure that Shadow wasn’t out of eyesight for more than 2 minutes. Knuckles didn’t even look in his direction, practically ignored him, even though Tails tried to convince him to give Shadow a chance.

He didn’t get very far with that idea.

And Sonic…

Sonic was the one who convinced Maddie to let him stay here in the first place, but he still was on high alert around Shadow, especially with Tom around. Anytime Shadow was near him, Sonic would step between them, or stand in-front or behind Tom. That was his dad after all, so it wasn’t surprising he was over protective. He never said anything or mentioned it, but Shadow knew his intentions.

Shadow understood. He was protective over Maria as well.

She would’ve loved it here, in Green Hills. Maria loved seeing new places, and although she was sent to space, she always talked all the places she would go when she got back. She even wanted to bring Shadow with her. He would’ve gone to the ends of the earth with her. Shadow squeezed his eyes shut and let out another harsh sigh. Maria would want him to move on.

But how could he? He still missed her dearly, everyday. He stood up and hopped off the roof, his air shoes breaking his fall, and sped off into the forest, Knuckles not even noticing, too focused on his “Warrior Training”, as he called it. Shadow moved through the forest, an orange blur zigzagging through the trees. Sonic had talked about how running cleared his head before, it didn’t hurt to try.

The wind whistled in his ears, and as he skated through the woods, his mind swirled with different things. Maria. Her laugh, her long blonde hair, her words of assurance that Shadow was her friend. Gerald, what he did and what he was trying to do. GUN, how they caged him, killed Maria, hunted him down, tried to kill him too. Sonic.

Sonic…

Sonic, his long blue quills, his bright emerald eyes, his smile, giving Shadow the opportunity to change, even if it was just for a moment.

“You always have a Choice.”

Shadow shook the image from his head. Why was Sonic out of all people on his mind? Wasn’t this run suppose to clear his head? That’s what Sonic said—no, stop it. Shadow growled and quickened his speed, nearly tripping and falling when he reached a big crater. His crater. Shadow looked down with a hardened expression.

This was the crater he found himself in when he woke up from getting shot out of space. He had picked up his inhibitor ring and snapped it onto his wrist, looking around. He didn’t know where he was or how long he’d been out for. All he knew is that he was tired, and there was a weird chaos energy that was buzzing in his head.

Shadow carefully slid down the crater, his shoes skidding against the loose dirt till he reached the bottom. He walked around the huge hole in the ground. It was definitely his, no mistake about it. He wasn’t surprised he survived, he was the ultimate lifeform after all. He looked up to the dark sky. Could Robotnik have survived that? It should be impossible, but there was honestly no telling with him.

‘He could’ve had an escape pod or something,’ Shadow mused, head tilting. ‘But if he did survive..where is he?’ The striped hedgehog carefully sat down in the crater, looking up at the stars, that were especially bright out here.

“The light shines, even though the star is gone.”

Shadow’s ears drooped slightly. He still remembered his words to Maria that night under the stars. He knew that she would adored seeing the stars out here, with him. They were beautiful, and shined brightly, just like she said they would. Shadow ran a gloved paw through his quills, closing his eyes in thought. He didn’t want to cling onto his past, it hurt like hell to remember. So why did he refuse to let it go?

He knew why.

Letting go felt like betrayal. And…

He didn’t want to forget Maria. He was afraid, if he forgot his past, would he forget her too? That’s why he clung on. Stayed stuck in the past. He’d rather die permanently than forget Maria. It seemed like such a silly thought, but Shadow was left with the mindset that it COULD happen.

He hugged his knees and hissed. He wouldn’t let that happen. He won’t let that happen. He would cling onto the past every moment if it meant not forgetting her, even if it suffocated him.

Shadow looked up with a scowl as the sun rose in the sky. It was past dawn already? The dark hedgehog got up and dusted himself off. Might as well get back before Maddie or Sonic start freaking out.

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Shadow twisted his inhibitor ring around his wrist. He sat alone in the attic, letting out a long sigh. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Maddie left to go camping, leaving Shadow back home with Tom.

Everyone was on high alert leaving him alone with the hedgehog who almost murdered him without a second thought, but Tom waved them off, saying he would be fine, plus Ozzy was with them. Shadow growled to himself, clutching his inhibitor ring tight. Why did Tom insist on staying? Didn’t he know how dangerous Shadow was?

A living weapon, a creation made for destruction, a monster…

Shadow shook his head roughly and his ears pinned back. He wasn’t a monster. Maria didn’t think he was, so why should he think of himself like that? He stood up and started pacing the room, air shoes stomping on the ground, making the old wood under them creak and groan with each step.

Maria was the only one who saw him for more than he was created for. Not a monster, or a weapon, or a destructive creation. A friend. Her partner in crime, her brother..

Shadow froze when he heard a knock on the attic door.

“Everything ok up there?”

It was Tom. Shadow felt his mouth go dry and his quills puffed up into a defensive position. Why was he checking on him? He should be staying away. Shadow forced himself to steady his breathing as he spoke,

“Yes.”

The other side was silent before he heard retreating footsteps, growing fainter and fainter. Shadow put his head in his hands and groaned. He hated being like this. He hated being here. He didn’t belong, the only place he truly belonged was with Maria and now she’s gone and—

Shadow squeezed his eyes shut as the sting of tears started to form. He wouldn’t cry. It was pathetic to cry. His short tail lashed angrily. He needed to stop this self pity already.

How would Maria feel seeing him in this state? She might be disappointed, and that’s the last thing Shadow wanted. For her to be disappointed in him. The hedgehog pulled his hands away from his face, harshly rubbing away any tears that threatened to even spill, and began to pace the room once again.

He’s not a monster. If Maria didn’t believe he wasn’t, he should believe that too. Although, it was obvious some people still saw him as a weapon. Especially Sonic. Although he didn’t show it, he definitely treated him differently than he did with anyone else.

He was new to Earth and how other people acted, but he most certainly wasn’t stupid. He could sense the hero’s hesitance, carefully choosing what he said to Shadow, acting like he was a ticking time bomb that could set off at the slightest bit of pressure.

He saw how he acted with his brothers, it being the same way he acted with Maria. He was loving and caring to them, sometimes getting into petty arguments with them over the stupidest things.

Sonic mostly got into tussles with Knuckles, but they always made up after a while. Shadow knew the story of how Knuckles and Sonic gained their strong brother relationship through Tails, they had teamed up similar to how he and Sonic had, but Sonic didn’t welcome Shadow as warmly as he did with Knuckles after the world was saved.

Maybe it was because Knuckles wasn’t someone who was used as a weapon.

Or a lab rat for that matter.

Would he always be treated like this? Like some monster who had no remorse?

Tom and Tails pitied him, he didn’t want their pity. Maddie always wanted him to be supervised, as if Shadow had another plan to destroy earth..he didn’t. Knuckles acted like Shadow didn’t exist, which was fine by him, the feeling was mutual on the striped hedgehog’s end anyway.

Sonic was wary. Despite saying Shadow always had a choice, he never heard the words “I want to change” come out of his mouth, and seeing how his rival acted, broody and always upset, that must’ve triggered some sort of paranoia in him, like “What if he didn’t want to change? What if he tries to kill us? What if he tries to hurt Tom again? What if what if what if…”

Shadow hissed and looked up, his reflection from the mirror across the room staring right back at him. Ears flattened, quills spiked up, hands clenched against his sides, and muzzle scrunched up. He was pissed. Pissed at people seeing him as a killing machine, pissed at himself, and pissed at wherever he came from, whatever sent him down to earth, to be taken in by scientists, to be experimented on, poked and prodded constantly.

He had no mother, no father, the only people he could really call his family was the professor, and Maria. And now, they were both gone. One for the better, one for the worst. Shadow backed up and slumped onto the beanbag chair in the middle of the room, raising his hand up, watching how his inhibitor ring gleamed brightly in the sunlight, and how the red stripes from his middle fingers ran all the way down a few inches past his wrist.

Shadow’s ears twitched as heard the front door open and a familiar cheerful voiced called out.

“Tom! I’m grabbing more chocolate for s’mores later! Knuckles ate all of it…”

Shadow let his arm fall limply to his side as he let out a long sigh, already hearing the blue blur clambering up the stairs. His eyes flickered to the attic door that opened and Sonic’s head popped up. What he didn’t expect was for Sonic to let out a yelp of surprise when his gaze landed on Shadow, stumbling backwards.

Shadow moved swiftly, darting forward and grabbing Sonic’s wrist before he could fall off the stairs. Sonic winced at the harsh grip and slowly looked up at Shadow, ears flattened. “Oh..thanks Shadow! Ya kinda startled me up there! Still trying to get, um, used to you..!” Shadow fixed him with a hard expression and pulled him up onto the floor of the attic.

Sonic quickly ripped his arm out of Shadow’s grasp, Shadow barely noticing as he sat back down in the beanbag chair. “Get what you need and go.” He bluntly stated, waving off his rival.

Sonic rolled his eyes, ear flicking in annoyance. “Uh, dude, this is kinda my room, so I can come and go as I please. But I won’t interrupt your brooding or whatever.” Sonic then turned and started digging through his nightstand, muttering about his secret candy stash, before he let out a triumphant shout as he pulled out 3 chocolate bars.

Sonic then went back to the attic door and opened it, beginning to climb down, but not without shooting a wary glance at Shadow. He then shut the door, his footsteps being heard as he quickly climbed down and sped out the door.

Shadow let out a sigh. “Maria,” he murmured softly, “What am I going to do without you?” He stared at the skylight for a bit, as if he would actually get an answer from his friend. It felt as though the silence was mocking him as he sat staring at the window on the ceiling.

Shadow growled at the skylight, clenching his fist. He had half the mind to break it in a small fit of anger, but he knew that wouldn’t end well. If anything, that would give the family another reason to put him under more strict supervision, another reason to see him as a threat.

Shadow unclenched his fist, letting it relax as he closed his eyes. Maybe if he slept for a bit, he could see Maria in his dreams.

Chapter Text

Sonic sped through green hills, leaving gusts of wind in his wake. One of his main routines was to start his day with a run. It also helped him think about…certain things. Per se, their current guest.

Shadow was definitely less harmless than he was when he tried to destroy the world, but the hero still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about him. He still had the same snark, and same cold eyes. What if he tried something, and it was all Sonic’s fault because he convinced Maddie that he should stay?

Yea, he had saved the world with his striped rival, and got to know him a bit better when they had that conversation on the moon together. He really thought Shadow could change, and he still does! It’s just that…well…there was one small issue.

Shadow was a weapon.

Or, well, he was born as one.

Look, Sonic didn’t really know his full backstory, ok? He just knew that Shadow was dangerous. Sonic had faced his fair share of dangerous things, especially during movie nights with certain films.

But Shadow wasn’t a Godzilla. Nor was he no T-rex, or Freddy Kruger, or any of those other monsters. He was different. He was bitter, angry, and hurt. He lost the one person who truly cared for him, and in that, Sonic could express some sort of sympathy for him. But it didn’t undo what he did.

All the pain he caused, physically and mentally. Sure, Shadow might’ve been blinded by pain and guilt, but who’s to say he won’t do something like that again? What if he was suddenly consumed by his grief and guilt so much he turns back to destruction? Sonic doesn’t think he could handle another set of punches from that guy in full force.

He hits hard!

Could Shadow really change? Sonic suppressed a scoff as he thought of Tom and Tails. They certainly thought that Shadow had changed, even through all his bitterness and unresponsive behavior. Hell, the guy almost killed Tom, and the man still felt bad for him.

“Y’know, Shadow’s just a kid, like Sonic. Shouldn’t we give him a chance?”

Sonic had looked up at his dad in pure shock. He was actually..agreeing with him..? On letting Shadow stay with them for a while?

Maddie had raised her eyebrows at Tom, clearly not amused. She didn’t want Shadow here, and truthfully, Sonic was rethinking his own convincing in that moment, realizing how much he was risking by asking him to stay. It was almost like giving his family a one-way ticket to disaster.

But surprisingly, Shadow had earned the trust of Tom by just staying there! Doing nothing! He didn’t even help out with any house chores! He just sat up in that dumb attic all day, rarely coming out to either eat, or sit on the roof, staring at nothing. And to be honest, it really ticked Sonic off.

The blue blur grumbled to himself as he zipped back home, his frown immediately quirking up into a smile as he smelled the delicious aroma of waffles. Tom’s waffles specifically. Sonic’s tail swayed a bit in excitement, he loved his dad’s waffles! They never failed to make Sonic’s day better.

Sonic immediately walked into the house, an extra spring in his step, excited to get one of Tom’s crispy golden waffles of perfection. Then, he stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed another presence at the table along with his brothers.

Shadow was there. Taking small curious bites of a waffle.

Shadow swallowed his food and looked up, locking eyes with Sonic.

The two hedgehogs just stared at each other for a moment, before Sonic turned his head to look at his brothers.

Knuckles was busy scarfing down his own waffle, that for some weird reason, had grapes on it. Tails looked up from whatever he was tinkering with at the table to see the two hedgehogs.

“Oh, Sonic! You’re back! I invited Shadow for breakfast, since he usually just eats in the attic. I thought he deserved a nice meal with the rest of us, if that’s ok?” And then there was Tails, who also felt bad for Shadow, even though he quite literally kicked the fox kit in the stomach in the first few minutes of meeting him.

Why was Shadow gaining sympathy from the ones he hurt?

Regardless, Sonic forced a strained smile. Conflict was the last thing he needed right now. “Sure buddy! It probably gets pretty lonely up there anyway!” Tails let out a relieved sigh, his worried expression melting. Shadow himself, looked between the two brothers before going back to silently eating. Sonic vaguely noticed Shadow had barely ate a quarter of his waffle.

Sonic zipped to the kitchen to grab his own, before going back to sit at the table, drenching his own food in syrup. He then slowly looked up at Shadow, who was still taking small bites of his food. He thought that striking off a conversation wouldn’t hurt.

“Soo..Shadow..! How’re you liking waffles? Have ya ever tried one?”

Shadow glanced up at the blue hero, muzzle scrunching up slightly at the amount of syrup Sonic had put on his waffle, before glancing down at his own food. “We had some different foods, like pancakes. Maria had told me about these, but I never tried one for myself.”

Sonic’s eyebrows raised. “Really? What were they feeding you over there if you never had a waffle before?!” Shadow sent an icy glare to him before going back to silently eating. Sonic’s expression dropped, frustrated. “Ok, fine, don’t tell me. I’m surprised they even had food like pancakes there, considering you guys were in a military base and stuff.”

Shadow stabbed his fork into his waffle harshly, making Sonic flinch a bit. Clearly Shadow didn’t like talking about his…previous home. Sonic scoffed slightly as Tom came over and set down a huge plate of waffles that made Sonic’s eyes light up.

“Can you two ever go three seconds without constantly snapping at one another?” He asked, watching Sonic take 2 more waffles and put them on his syrup covered plate, not surprisingly pouring even more on top.

Sonic grumbled as he ate. “He started it! With his broodiness and practically ignoring me!” the young hedgehog said through a mouthful of waffle. Shadow’s eyes snapped up and he glared at him, Sonic returning it with equal intensity, all while Tom sighed in exasperation.

“Can’t you guys just get along? I know it’s kind of difficult with..everything that happened, but Sonic, you practically invited Shadow here! And Shadow, you seemed pretty inclined to stick close to Sonic your first day here! Wouldn’t it be nice to form some sort of friendship?”

Shadow’s face had tinted a slight pink from Tom’s reminder, at how close he had stuck to Sonic his first day at the house, and he just stared down at his waffle. Meanwhile, Sonic let out a short groan, rolling his eyes as he went back to eating his own food.

Tom looked over to Tails who was watching the whole interaction, and the fox gave a halfhearted shrug to the cop, as if to say ‘what can you do?’. Tom just sighed and shook his head.

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After finishing his breakfast, Shadow had immediately went back up to the attic, the door thumping shut with a slight bang. Sonic’s eyes narrowed up at the attic door as Tails walked over to him.

“Y’know Sonic, you should be nicer to him..he’s much different from the rest of us, and is still trying to adjust to earth,” Tails gently said. “You remember how hard it was for me and Knuckles, or even you, to figure out earth customs, he’s probably struggling too.” The fox kit began mindlessly tinkering with his gadget while talking to his older brother. Sonic huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Trying to be nice to Shadow is like talking to a brick wall! He doesn’t care about what I have to say!” Tails glanced up at him with a flat expression.

“Maybe don’t turn every conversation with him into an argument, or don’t provoke him?” The fox suggested, twin tails waving back and forth behind him as Sonic gave an irritated twitch of his ear.

“I don’t provoke him! He provokes me! With his broodiness and constant insults! He won’t even talk to me about his past! What’s he even hiding anyways?!” The hero barked, waving his hands around as Tails let out a sigh.

“He isn’t hiding anything, I don’t think. What if he just doesn’t want to talk about it? It could be a hard thing to explain, even think about for that matter.”

“But wouldn’t it be good to let it out and talk about it? He might feel better and less edgy emo if he just opened up about this stuff!” Sonic protested, and Tails shook his head.

“It’s not that simple for him. He kinda was asleep for 50 years, maybe after everything he went through he just wants to move on and forget this stuff?” But Sonic let out a snort.

“Yea right, he clings onto his past like it’s a lifeline! Did you forget the whole Eclipse cannon thing? How we all almost died because him and Eggman’s weird grandfather wanted to avenge her?” Sonic pointed out.

“Sonic—“

“All i’m saying is, I still don’t fully trust him. The more he stays stuck in the past, the more likely it is that he would snap and go back to trying to destroy everyone. And I won’t let that happen.” Sonic continued before leaving the house in a blue flash of light. Tails watched him go with an exasperated expression.

He loved his brother dearly, but sometimes he could be so stubborn. The fox kit stared down at his gadget, until an idea popped up in his head. Maybe if he showed Sonic that Shadow wasn’t that dangerous anymore, he’d be more inclined to have a normal, peaceful conversation with him, and not see him as a ticking time bomb!

Tails lit up at that idea, a smile forming on his face. With an extra spring in his step, the young fox bounded into the garage and got to work on a new invention, one that would prove that Shadow wasn’t as bad as Sonic thought he was.

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Shadow had slumped back into the beanbag chair, the chattering from Sonic and Tails muffled from his own thoughts. Who was Sonic to get upset that he didn’t want to talk about his past? It’s like the hero couldn’t read the room, and Shadow wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

He heard the door shut from Sonic leaving the house, and Tails’ faint footsteps head to the garage. For what, Shadow didn’t know, nor did he care. The ebony hedgehog looked up at the skylight, looking for some sort of answer that would magically solve all of his problems, but as usual he was met with silence.

Shadow grumbled to himself before sitting up, looking around the attic. He never really took in how much stuff the Wachowski brothers had piled into this cramped little space.

Knuckles owned various weights and different home made weapons, Tails had his little gadgets and novels about planes and fantasy, and meanwhile Sonic had his share of comics, video games, and even a ring light that stood in the middle of the room.

Shadow eyes landed on one of Sonic’s comics, and he picked it up, flipping through it. The comic was about this human who apparently got the powers of a spider, and Shadow snorted in an unimpressed manner, throwing the comic back onto the pile.

Shadow stood up and teleported out of the house, on the roof again. He settled in the same position he was in during the night he discovered his crater. Shadow sighed and looked up at the clear blue sky. Almost anything blue reminded him of her, and he hated it.

He was the ultimate lifeform for chaos sakes! The perfect being! He shouldn’t be feeling like this, much less trying to live some domestic life when it clearly didn’t suit him. The wind brushed through Shadow’s quills as he watched the clouds roll by, his gaze blank.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, when suddenly Shadow’s ear twitched at the faint call of his name. He looked down to see Tails calling for him, walking around with a weird gold ring in his hand. What did he want with him? Shadow teleported down to stand in-front of Tails, which startled the young fox kit as he jumped in surprise.

“Shadow! There you are! I had something I wanted to ask you.” Shadow crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow, urging the fox to continue.

“So, I know things haven’t been exactly…smooth between you and Sonic lately, and I feel like he’s intimidated by your power!” It was clearly a lie, Shadow knew that much, but he decided to play along.

“I thought that maybe, if we show Sonic that he doesn’t need to feel insecure about his own powers, maybe you guys could form a bond! Now hear me out first—“

“Let’s do it.”

Tails’ ears swiveled to his direction and he looked up from his tiny gadget to stare up at Shadow in surprise. “What?”

“I said let’s do it, I think it’s a good idea.”

Tails’ expression twisted into one of confusion. “Really? Like, you’re not going to argue at all?”

Shadow scoffed, “I am the ultimate lifeform. Sonic has no need to feel insecure about being weaker than me, he just needs to accept it, this could be a good opportunity to show him.”

Tails sighed in exasperation, but began walking into the forest. “Just come on, if we do this near the house Maddie would kill us.” Shadow hesitated for a moment before trailing behind the fox kit.

Soon enough the pair made it to a clearing, a part of the forest Shadow never noticed before. Tails turned around and unclenched his fist to reveal the ring. “Now, this ring will basically just test your limits, and measure your true power.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow, clearly uninterested before the fox continued. “All you have to do is channel your chaos energy into this ring when you wear it, and it will display your true power!”

“I can already do that. Why would I want to do something I can already do?” Shadow questioned, demonstrating by raising a fist up that was already electrified with chaos energy crackling around it. Tails flinched at Shadow’s fist but his voice didn’t waver.

“To show Sonic you’re stronger, of course!”

Shadow lowered his fist, letting the chaos energy fade out as he held out his hand. “Right. Let’s get this over with.” Tails quickly handed the ring over to Shadow while whipping out a small screen device. When Shadow put on the ring the screen lit up.

“Alright, just channel as much chaos energy into your ring as possible, ok?” Tails piped up and Shadow nodded, closing his eyes. The striped hedgehog began to drag up his pent up anger and grief he buried so deep that helped fuel his chaos energy, if Tails wanted to see his true power he was going to experience it first hand.

Shadow felt the chaos energy crackling through his veins, barely registering the surprised noise from the fox in front of him. The ebony hedgehog felt his fists faintly start to shake, and his quills spiking up. The ring on his finger felt like it was draining his energy as he felt the chaos move into the ring and shoot right back into him like a thousand cuts.

Just what had Tails given him? It didn’t matter, Shadow was going to make sure the fox kit got a true display of his power, as the Ultimate Lifeform. He took a few deep breaths, and before he knew it, his eyes snapped open. Suddenly, he was shooting out a huge blast of Chaos energy, that knocked out the power in the town.

Luckily for the towns people, it was daytime. But Shadow’s ears perked up as he heard a loud thunk against one of the trees and he snapped his head towards the noise, seeing Tails limp against one of the trees.

Shit.

Shadow sped over, his shoulders slightly relaxing as the fox let out a groan. Shadow grabbed Tails’ hand and helped him up. “I apologize—I didn’t notice how much energy I used—“ He paused as the fox waved him off weakly.

“No no! It’s not your fault Shadow, clearly I made a mistake when creating that stupid ring.” Tails quickly said. Shadow fiddled with the ring for a moment before taking it off and handing it back to the young mechanic. “I knew I should’ve spent more time on this thing..” Tails murmured to himself, turning around and Shadow let out a wince as he saw the huge gash across the back of Tails head, the blood still dripping from it.

Said fox then turned to face him. “What?” he asked before putting a hand on the back of the head. He yelped and Shadow averted his eyes in guilt. He heard a slight “Ohh..” from the young fox kit and the ebony hedgehog clenched his fists. “Oh—Shadow, it’s fine, i’m fine! Maddie can fix me up, she’s a vet, so this is light work for her!”

Shadow’s eyes flicked up to see Tails’ kind smile and sympathetic eyes. He opened his mouth to respond before his ears flicked at a woosh noise, and he turned his head to see a blue streak advancing towards the two at top speed. “Oh no..” Tails murmured his expression crumpling into dread. Shadow’s ears flattened as Sonic appeared, standing in front of them.

“Hey! What‘s goin on? I was watching the funniest thing and then boom! The power went out! Did something—“ Sonic’s rambling cut off as he saw his little brother’s glove stained with blood.

“Tails?!” Sonic said in a panic, rushing over to the fox and gasping as he saw the huge gash on the back of his head. “What happened?! Who did this?!” Sonic said, his voice full of concern but still dripping with anger. Tails let out a sigh, shoulders slumping.

“Sonic—“ He started before his brother whipped his head to his stripped rival, who stood at a distance with his arms crossed.

“Did you do this?” Sonic hissed, expression darkening. Shadow lowered his gaze, his own expression hardening to match Sonic’s.

“It was an accident. Due to some faulty programming, I used more chaos energy than necessary.” He replied coolly, voice clipped. The small worried noise Tails made went unnoticed as Sonic stepped closer.

“Faulty programming my ass! You lured Tails out here to hurt him! Just like how you want to hurt me and everyone else on this planet!”

“Sonic—“

“You’re delusional. I have had no intention to hurt any of you. These accusations are pointless.” Shadow spat, his tone full of venom, Sonic growling in return. Tails looked between the two nervously as he spoke again.

“Sonic he didn’t mean to hurt me, it was my fault—“

“Don’t defend him! He’s dangerous! You shouldn’t even be around him!” Sonic barked, quills raised as he switched his fiery gaze from his brother to the striped hedgehog. “You’re sick, picking on a fox kit, how low can you get?!”

Shadow blinked at his rivals words, but didn’t let his glare falter as he stayed silent, his lips pressing into a thin line. Sonic scoffed and took Tails hand. “C’mon, Maddie’ll get you fixed up. You shouldn’t be here.” Sonic began stomping away with Tails in tow, the fox kit looking back to mouth a “sorry” to the dark hedgehog as he got dragged away.

Shadow watched them go, squeezing his eyes shut as he let out a strangled yell, punching the same tree Tails was flung against, creating a huge crack in it, the wood splintering. He then let out a sigh, leaning his forehead against the broken tree. He should’ve known he wouldn’t fit in. He was a disturbance to Sonic and his family’s domestic life. He didn’t belong.

With a shaky growl, he stood up straight, and teleported away.

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Tails let out a small wince as Maddie disinfected the gash on the back of his head. “I knew that hedgehog was trouble, it was a mistake to let him stay here.” The vet muttered darkly, Sonic nodding along with every word she said.

Tom, who came back from the bathroom with bandages for the fox, had his brows furrowed in confusion. “I just don’t understand..why would Shadow go after Tails? And in a strange, unexpected way?”

“He didn’t—“

Tails started before Sonic cut him off. “Because he’s dangerous! And he’s basically a living breathing weapon!” the hedgehog’s quills were bristling in anger, and Tails sighed in annoyance.

“He didn’t go after me. It was my fault.” Tom’s gaze flickered to Tails after he handed Maddie the bandages, urging his son to continue. “I just wanted to help.. they always kept arguing non stop. So..I wanted to find a way to show that Shadow wasn’t as bad as Sonic made him out to be.”

Sonic’s gaze softened at his brother’s words. He did that whole thing, just to see them get along? Maddie finished applying the bandages and ruffled the fox’s fur. “What you did was very dangerous. But your heart was in the right place.” Tails gave an apologetic smile.

“That being said, you are grounded for a week.” The vet said sternly. Tails let out a nervous laugh and nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Sonic felt a hot wave of shame pass over him and he stared at the ground. He felt the soft weight of his father’s hand patting him on the head, which did little to ease the guilt.

Tails then sat up straighter with a quizzical expression. “Where is Shadow anyway?”

Sonic slowly turned to face his brother. “I thought he was right behind us when we were walking away…didn’t he follow us home?” Tails’ expression suddenly grew dark with worry.

“If he’s not here, then..” Sonic’s eyes suddenly widened as he bolted outside. Upon seeing Shadow missing, he zipped back to the place he had the argument with him, only to find an empty space..and a tree with a gigantic crack traveling down it, the wood splintered and broken. No doubt something Shadow did in a fit of rage.

Sonic’s ears lowered and he swallowed as a sense of dread filled his stomach. Someone as dangerous as Shadow out there, roaming free, possibly hurting innocent civilians made the hero’s stomach turn with unease.

Sure, that could just be him being paranoid, maybe Shadow just needed to blow off of steam. Regardless, he needed to find his rival soon, because he already had a very bad feeling.