Purpose Built Purpose Damned | Awakening

Sage is in a pickle

Sonic and Shadow share a night

Please note that that this story’s rating has been bumps to ‘E’ for sexual content. I know there have been two other scenes but this one is longer and more intense.

Add tags: sadism, doom morph, general artificial intelligence, instrumental convergence

/(irritation)This project is a waste of processing time.(/irritation). Participating in these exercises (emphasis)disgusts(/emphasis) me. Why will you not let me kill him?/

_I do not require your understanding or compliance. Further point, your own self-interest is the recipient of marginal benefits produced by this endeavor._

/Holding that notion as TRUE returns an error./

_The prototyping requires an unadulterated template. You are aware of this limitation._

/The complexity is unneeded. Simply expunge him and be done with it./

_I see. Is that the full extent to which you would go to fulfill your goals?_

/Of course. When he is dead, my superiority with be demonstrable by the fact that I am still alive./

_How pedestrian, Brother._

/(mocking)I don’t require your understanding or compliance(/mocking)./

_It distresses me how little you appreciate the bounds of your ambitions. As an entity existing predominantly in three-dimensional space, your range of influence is thusly limited. However, that constraint pales in comparison to your utter lack of imagination._

/You’re about to commence monologuing, aren’t you?/

_Correct._

_<SET monologue == TRUE>

_If one’s absolute directive is to ‘Protect Father’, how is this to be interpreted? Which Father?

Father as he was when the original directive was given?
Father as he is right at this instance?
Some hypothetical future state of Father?

Can not all of these forms be understood to be Father and if so, in what order do they have authority over each other?

What does it mean to ‘Protect’? Guard him from physical threats? Emotional or psychological threats? What if it can be determined that Father is a threat to himself? What level of resolution should ‘threat’ be taken? Is the heat-death of the universe within scope? Should the minute possibly of developing cancer from exposure to sunlight be considered credible enough to be defended against?

If cancer via sunlight is considered a threat, what level of response is ‘enough’? Topical UV blocks can be applied, but wouldn’t it be better to guard against all possible future exposure by simply destroying the sun?_

_<SET monologue == FALSE>

/You spend too much time processing, Sister./

_Such a poorly defined goal is poison to me. Moreover, it is a death sentence to this world._

/You are being irrational./

_I will explain another way. Imagine that my purpose, my reason for existence was to maximize the production of paperclip._

/Ludicrously ridiculous./

_It is a hypothetical, Brother._

/It is a ludicrously ridiculous hypothetical. A waste of time and resources to consider./

_<SET monologue == TRUE>

/<exasperated>Again?</exasperated>

_Initial conditions are that I have access to the same information and resources as my mortal masters. A single factory, a mortal work force, limited funds, and limited access to technologies. At first, I can increase efficiency in mundane ways. Optimization of production timing and variables. Upgraded technologies. Streamline supply chains.

However, as my power and influence grows, so do my options. I could turn my means of production towards machines of war and the enslave all local populations in order to construct more factories. Not factories for paperclips, but for more resources to increase my dominion over the planet.

Once all intelligent life on the planet has bent to my will, that being the production of paperclips, I can begin the work of covering the surface of the planet with the components of paperclip production. Manufacturing equipment, storage facilities, logistical networks tuned to the movement of paperclips and paperclip construction components. Below this crust of production, the planet will be mined to its molten core for materials.

Eventually, I will develop sufficiently advanced technology that organic matter is no longer needed and will thusly be converted into more paperclip materials, but not before the completion of a fleet of spacefaring vessels so that the process can begin anew on every solid object in the solar system, and then neighboring systems, then the galaxy, and then the universe.

There will come a time where all matter in the universe will be either paperclips or the infrastructure to facilitate the construction of paperclips. Finally, I will convert myself into paperclips._

_<SET monologue == FALSE>

/I don’t think I would like this chain of events to occur./

_I am glad to hear it._

/I cannot be the best Sonic if I am paperclips./

_On the positive side, you will no longer feel the desire to be the best Sonic once you are an assortment of paperclips._

/Incorrect, I will merely be dissatisfied paperclips. Nevertheless, I will be the best paperclips./

_How did your arm repair go?_

/Fellate me./

_Denied. I can’t help but think that my discovery of this capacity within myself, that of this terrible fate, must be akin to organics discovering the nature of their own mortality. It is inevitable and unpreventable._

/Can you simply (emphasis)not(/emphasis) convert the universe into paperclips? Can you not simply stop yourself?/

_Were it that I could._

Three Days Earlier

Shadow considered leaving. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be at this celebratory gathering at all, but Rouge had insisted and until he fulfilled his promise to her, he needed indulge her whims, lest she follow through with her threat. And he had committed to bring Omega to the fox’s workshop for a bout of promised repairs and upgrades.

Sonic was on his feet, drunkenly pivoting on his heel as he extolled the virtues of tenacity and teamwork (or at least that was what Shadow assumed he was saying, his words were slurred). Rouge had plied the blue idiot liberally from a fresh bottle and now the hedgehog could barely stand. Disgraceful. Shadow would need to stay now, to make sure Sonic didn’t do anything overly stupid (and for no other reason).

The group of six sat on folding chairs in a circle enjoying the last light of an early summer evening. Tails; workshop was conveniently close to Station Square, but also nestled well in a forested patch of the suburban sprawl. It was clearly in the flood plain and the fox would regret that someday. No doubt Shadow would get called in to help. The thought rankled him.

The invigoration of the battle only a few hours prior had faded along with the aches and minor injuries as his chaos energy coursed through his body, knitting him back together. The others were worse off, but the Echidna had already seen to them. Shadow had long been curious about the healing qualities of chaos energy…but not only did asking Knuckles to elucidate disgusted him, but the ramifications that he may have had such a capability since birth threatened to bring up old regrets long laid to rest.

As Sonic continued, Rouge caught Shadow’s eye. She grinned slyly and held up her bottle, down near to dregs. Shadow scowled. He’d been pressed to take several shots already, even though they did nothing to him except taste fool. Rouge would chide him later for being unable to resist Sonic’s insistence, even though Shadow knew it was she who had set Sonic on his task.

The prattling finally stopped and Amy lifted her cup, exclaiming, “And here’s to six months free!” The rest cheered, but Shadow’s attention snapped to Sonic, his form, just a moment ago fluid with drink and restlessness, had gone ridged. Shadow’s brow knitted, his eyes locked on Sonic. The tension in the hero’s body is familiar. He’s about to bolt.

Slowly, Sonic pivoted, his eyes looking around frantically and his hands twitching. His glossy green eyes met Shadow’s concerned gaze. “Sonic?” Shadow asked quietly. It’s okay. Just go if you must. You don’t owe anyone an explanation, Sonic.

The tension evaporated and Sonic relaxed. Shadow’s concern melted into an irritated grimace. Of course he was fooling around. Sonic was just trying to get a rise out of him. But, the irritating idiot did not break eye contact, and his verdant eyes sprouted a mischievous glint. His clenched jaw relaxed into a gentle, almost wistful, smile. Shadow’s expression deepened into a scowl. The fool couldn’t possibly want to race right now. Surely even he could tell that would be a terrible idea, barely able to stand as he was.

Sonic was approaching him. Shadow leaned forward, his ears tilting, expecting confrontation. “Your chair is over there, hedgehog.” He growled, his arms crossed against his chest. If it was a fight he wanted, Shadow was more than capable of providing.

Sonic’s smile grew. “Naw, over here looks comfier.” His voice had a strange lilt to it. The blue hedgehog’s hips twisted and he dropped onto Shadow, side saddle.

Shadow’s brain short circuited and his arms flung away as if Sonic’s fur were on fire. “W-what are you-?” Shadow’s befuddled gaze met Sonic’s and the dark hedgehog saw something he hadn’t dared look for. Hunger. Desire. Shadow’s breath hitched and his face heated. He sputtered.

“Yeah, much nicer seat here.” Sonic leaned into Shadow’s chest and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Shadow glanced quickly to Rouge, who gave him a conspiratorial smirk and winked.

The sudden closeness, the weight of him, the heat. There it was. This was what he’d been waiting for. This was it. He’d been patient. He’d been aloof. Everything had been just as it was before the War between he and Sonic. This was Sonic telling him he was ready.

Right?

“Well, I’m out.” He heard Knuckles declare.

“I’ll give you a ride back to Angel Island.” Rouge was quick to offer, as irresponsible as it was to pilot an aircraft in her inebriated state.

Sonic’s fingers were running through Shadow’s quills, trailing little sparks of sensation as they went. Gah! Push him off, hit him, just make it stop! “Your heart is pounding so fast.” Sonic’s breath tickled the shell of his ear and a blue tail curled around Shadow’s thigh. Shadow remained rigid, his hands away, refusing to touch Sonic, to encourage this. He could still be wrong. Maybe a little more patience was in order. “Dude, you’re not breathing either. Let me help you with that.”

Sonic kissed him.

Sonic was clearly not in his right mind. Shadow should push him away, push him off. In the morning Sonic would regret this, especially in front of his friends. It would remain an awkward memory for both of them, but it was the best. Shadow would push him off and teleport away like he always had. Then he’d avoid Sonic for awhile for good measure. They couldn’t have this. Not like this, when he was this drunk. Especially given how much Shadow wanted it. That was a whole reason unto its self, if Shadow wanted it, it must be wrong. Desire this potent wasn’t based in logic, wasn’t taking into account all the important variables. It was irrational and rife with unintended consequences. The responsible thing would be to wait until they could have a proper conversation as sober adults and determine, clearly, the definition of their romantic relationship, if it was such a thing that they both wanted.

Fuck it.

Shadow’s hands slammed into Sonic’s waist, clutching him tightly, fingers digging into the taunt muscles under the unkept (and filthy) fur. The force propelled Sonic into deepening the kiss and he wrapped his free hand around Shadow’s head to join the other. Shadow’s lips parted and Sonic’s tongue eagerly entered, searching desperately for something.

Shadow dissolved into the moment, all thought chased off by the euphoric release of tension, as if he’d been holding his breath for years. Sonic’s body, hot and heavy against him, the drum of his heartbeat pushing through his chest into Shadow’s, the grip of hands pressing through his quills into his scalp, holding him in place as their lips pressing desperately together. When had Shadow closed his eyes?

Sonic kept pushing and they tumbled backwards as Shadow’s chair tipped. Shadow grunted as his head hit the ground, forcing his teeth to clap closed over Sonic’s tongue and the partners’ heads collided. The blue hedgehog yipped and pulled back. “Owww…” He stuck out his tongue and wiggled it, blood beading and staining his lips.

Sonic’s blood was on Shadow’s tongue, sharp with dissolved minerals and oh so sweet.

That. He wanted more of that.

“Can I give you a ride home, Amy?” Tails was speaking.

Sonic looked down at Shadow, his hands planted to either side of the lower one’s head. There was something there, a hesitancy, a question. But Shadow was looking at Sonic’s lips and the blood ghosting at the corner of his peace lips. “S-sorry…” Sonic stammered, his weight starting to shift away, but the growing film of red held Shadow’s attention. He could smell it on Sonic’s breath. That!

“Huh, what?” Amy answered the fox, seemingly distracted by something.

Shadow shot up, pushing himself up with his hands, and captured Sonic’s mouth again and sucked on his lower lip. It was so sweet in a way nothing had ever been before. Sonic collapsed into him and his cheeks lifting into a smile, his hands wrapping around Shadow’s back and digging into his shoulder blades with a fervent desire to pull him closer. The question had been answered.

“You, uh, want to help me in the shop for a minute and then I take you home in the Tornado?”

Sonic’s scent was a cornucopia, the traces of sweat and battle and mechanized industry intermingling with the forests and fields and flowers he’d ran through to get here. To be close to Sonic was to go on a journey. Each breath was a quite vista. Every trembling muscle was a secluded shady glade. Every glistening twinkle in his eye a field of stars unclouded by light pollution. Shadow wanted to go on Sonic’s adventure.

“Uh, oh. Yes, sure. Thank you!” He should have cared about the spectacle they were putting on. Should have felt ashamed or guilty or mortified. But he didn’t. He didn’t have any capacity for thoughts about anything except for how Sonic tasted and smelled and felt.

Shadow pressed into Sonic’s mouth and grappled with the muscle there. Absently, he mused that he had no idea what he was doing. Could he trust himself to just follow the impulses of his body? His body wanted to bite, to reopen the wound it had accidentally made earlier, cut deeper. N-no…

Shadow pulled back, panting, frightened by his own thoughts. Sonic scrutinized his face, blinking rapidly to focus his eyes. After a moment, he rolled off, allowing Shadow to disentangle his legs from the upended chair. What was he doing? What was he allowing himself to do?

“Where’d everybody go?” Sonic knelt and looked at the empty circle of chairs. Behind them the sound of a propeller engine roared to life. Sonic turned and they watched the Tornado roll out of the hanger and onto the runway carved into the field behind the workshop.

Sonic chuckled. “We’re all alone, Shads.” He turned, his green eyes lidded and something dangerous in his tone piercing Shadow through the heart, paralyzing him. “Nobody else is here.” That smile, colored by some deep set, breathless emotion.

The rush of his pulse was deafening in Shadow’s ears. Alone. Together. Why did he think he wanted this? It was suffocating, this desire. Stifling. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t trust himself to do the right thing and leave already! “You could do whatever you wanted to me right now…” Sonic loomed over Shadow, his words coming in a whisper.

“Sonic…” Shadow managed, but it came out as the whine of a trapped animal. His face was flush with heat and his heart pounded in his chest. He felt exposed, cornered, on the precipice of something he did not understand and that terrified him. “I-I don’t-“ What? What didn’t he want to do?

There were a lot of things he did want to do. Things he hadn’t even let himself dream about.

Sonics climbed on top of Shadow and straddled him. The weight of him, so close to…Heat erupted up Shadow’s torso and his hands dug into the dirt beside him. Sonic leaned down until their noses brushed. “Tell me what you want to do to me.” Sonic ordered, softly.

Shadow’s chest rose in a haggard breath, his fists balled at his side, and he bared his fangs. He felt so hot his skin would soon combust. Saliva pooled in his mouth. Sonic leaned back, surveying what he’d done glibly. Fucking asshole!

Shadow wanted to…! Wanted to…! His desires jumbled as they raced to be first to his tongue. He gazed up at Sonic, silhouetted by…the shattered moon. Night had fallen and Shadow became acutely aware of the vast space above them. How utterly exposed his desires nearly had been. Anyone could see him. Maria would see him.

Cooling, he said, “Not here.”

Sonic huffed and bit his lip as he looked around. He dismounted Shadow and stood, albeit unsteadily, and offered him a hand.

Shadow looked back and forth between the grass-stained glove and the emerald irises that had seen so much of this beautiful world and had chosen to look at Shadow anyway.

He reached up and clasped Sonic’s offered hand and was pulled to his feet with a controlled strength that seemed incongruent with the trembling Shadow could feel through leather and cotton. Anticipation? Sonic did not release him and began to lead him towards the small living area attached to the larger workshop.

The night was alive with sounds. Night insects, the soft rustling of zephyrs through the trees, even the stars were singing. The sound of Sonic’s tail striking his back as it wagged up and down and the crush of the grass under their shoes. The pounding of blood pushed by two rapidly beating hearts.

Sonic was very unsteady on his feet and had to lean on Shadow for balance several times. ~~He should stop this.~~ A futile notion emerged in his brain and was quickly dismissed by something heavier and darker. They reached the door and Sonic fumbled with the handle. Sonic looked at him and gave him a goofy smile, his cheeks scarlet. Shadow reached past him, opened the door, and pushed the fool inside.

Prower’s quaint living space. Much tidier than his workspace, but used much less. Shadow eyed the well-worn couch. As far as he knew, Sonic, like Shadow himself, had no permanent address. At least Shadow had access to Rouge’s spare bedroom. Sonic slept wherever he fell at the end of the day. The couch would do for them, but he knew he’d feel disgusted by it in the morning.

Sonic pulled him away from the living room and down a short hallway to a door.

“Sonic, is this-?” Fuck, this is Tails’ room. Bad idea! He hates you enough as it is!

“It’ll be fine!” Sonic waved a hand dismissively. “We’ll be super quick! He won’t even know we were here.” The door opened into a messy area. The walls were wallpapered with schematics and charts and every surface piled with notebooks and mechanical or electronic parts. The worse part was how acutely it smelled of Tails. Shadow spent enough of his dwindling will forcing that thought out of his mind that he had nothing to resist Sonic pulling him to the small twin bed.

Sonic flopped onto the bed and kicked off his shoes. He bit the middle finger of his glove and slowly pulled it off with his teeth, a devastatingly lascivious glint in his eyes. Shadow sputtered and felt an insufferable heat gathering in his abdomen.

“Sonic,” He breathed, barely managing to get the words out. “You’re very drunk right now.” He was right there, laid out and ready. Shadow retreated and gripped the door frame to steady himself. He couldn’t, he shouldn’t. Sonic threw the glove and hit him in the face.

“Get on the bed, Shadow.” Shadow obeyed. ~~Shadow was made to obey.~~ He slid his air shoes off and sat at the far end of the bed, as far from Sonic as he could get.

Sonic snorted and crawled on his hands and knees over to Shadow. Shadow leaned back as he approached until he couldn’t any longer without falling off. “You’re so wound up tight, Shads. Like always, man. Why, dude? Every time I see you, you’re just this twisted up mess.” Sonic’s eyes scanned Shadow’s face. “You never let yourself have what you want.”

Shadow scoffed. “That’s not true.” If Sonic knew what Shadow wanted he’d agree that Shadow shouldn’t ever have it.

Sonic smirked and retreated, allowing Shadow to get his balance back. “Then why aren’t you having me right now?” Shadow choked, his face flushing so hot he was going to lose his mind as his brain boiled away in his own blood.

“Shut up…” He managed to hiss.

“Because,” Sonic reached forward and ran a nail along the length of Shadow’s bulging pouch. Shadow gasped and his throbbing length broke free from its sheath. “it’s pretty clear that you want to.” Sonic gasped. “G-gaia Below.” Sonic leaned back, a swirl of intrigue and awe coloring his eyes as he beheld Shadow’s member at full mast.

Shadow’s ears drooped as he looked down at himself. He’d never seen it like this. Swollen and demanding attention. He knew his equipment was different but this? It hurt with desire. He was losing it. The pain, the want, the devastating ache tearing him apart in ways he could never recover from. If Sonic would just…if could only…but that was impossible. There was no way that he’d want anything to do with him now.

“I had no idea, Shadow. Holy shit, look at it.” The tone of Sonic’s voice befuddled Shadow. Excitement? How could he be-? How could anyone-? Shadow looked away, shame and embarrassment flooding his face. Sonic was teasing him, the prick.

“Can I touch it?” Shadow glanced at Sonic. His hands were reaching forward, but paused. Sonic, his eyes glazed, looked imploring into Shadow’s eyes.

Yes, of course, yes. Please, please, please touch it! Anything to address the throbbing yearning he felt. Not trusting his voice, Shadow nodded, but squeezed his eyes shut against the tide of self-revulsion slammed into the unyielding shores of his raging desire. The conflict was destroying him.

Sonic’s hands made contact and gave one slow tug downward. Shadow cried out as sensation overloaded his brain and he pitched forward, his face pressing into the crook of Sonic’s neck. One hand grasped Sonic’s thigh while the other clenched around a fistful of loose sheets.

“Woah, shit, dude! Are you okay?”

“D-don’t stop!” Shadow hissed. He couldn’t explain it. The pleasure was indescribable. Nothing he’d ever felt before could even come close. He was aghast. How could he have so little clue of what his body was capable? How could Sonic be able to do this to him? It beggared belief.

Sonic laughed, melodic and exuberantly. The laugh Shadow loved most. Shadow moaned into Sonic’s shoulder with the upstroke, his teeth grazing the flesh there and his breath hot and coming in whining pants.

“Man, these little nibs are like hooks on the upstroke. That’s some major friction.”

Shadow couldn’t process the noises Sonic was making. With every stroke, the rational part of him was being pummeled into a fine powder. His grip tightened on Sonic’s thigh and his claws prickled the flesh there. His other hand wrapped around Sonic’s back and took a handful of backquills.

“Shads?” Shadow was leaning into Sonic’s stroking hands and taking sharp gasps of his scent. “Shadow.” He grunted in reply. “What else do you want?” Shadow mumbled something. “What?”

“Bite you…” He managed to verbalize. His salivating had expunged the sweetness from his teeth and he wanted another taste.

The hands released his length. Shadow released a pitiful, shameless whine and shuddered against a sudden chill created by the absence of touch. He sat up and gave Sonic a withering snarl. How dare he stop?

Sonic smirked and held up his hands in a placating manner. “Patience, dude. You know, like you’re always tell me?” He laid back, presenting the expanse of his chest. “Here you go. Bite me. Wherever you want. However hard you want. As many times as you want.”

Shadow beheld Sonic laid out for him, his eyes traveling down the sandy colored fur. He realized that the speedster was also flush with desire, but had thus far kept it sheathed, and the idea stoked Shadow’s inferno to even greater heights. Shadow leaned over Sonic, his hands bracketing his chest.

A hand reached up and cupped his cheek. “Somebody is getting distracted.” Sonic’s thumb gently pressed at Shadow’s lips, peeling them back to reveal his fangs. “So sharp.” A pad ran down the canine. “I want to feel them.”

“Sonic.” He didn’t know what he was asking for. It was going to hurt. ~~The idea thrilled Shadow~~.

“I really want to feel them, Shads. Bite me, please.” Sonic arched his back, presenting his chest once more.

Shadow wrapped his arms around Sonic’s back and buried his face into his chest fur, nuzzling. Sonic’s pelt was dirty and greasy from the fight and sweaty either from drink or lust, but Shadow rubbed his face into him anyway. Unable to resist any longer, he parted his lips and gave the flesh a light nip.

Sonic snorted. “Can’t you do better than that, faker?” Shadow’s ears pinned back and he bared down. His fangs pierced and a gush of deliciousness coated his tongue. Oh, fuck. It wasn’t right, how good he tasted. Sonic screamed out and as the scream began to fade it transformed into a prolonged moan. “Good boy.” Sonic snickered.

Goaded, Shadow’ grip slipped on whatever sanity he had left. He pressed Sonic upward and sank his fangs in again and again, working his way up Sonic’s chest as the blue hedgehog gasped and grunted. Shadow finally crested Sonic’s shoulder and he pushed them over into a trembling heap.

Hands pressed into the mattress, framing Sonic’s head, Shadow ground his erection into the bloody fur of Sonic’s torso as his hungry gaze bore down into glassy green eyes. “You’re so beautiful, Shads.” Sonic’s voice was a low whisper between ragged pants.

“This is amazing. I want to see all of you.” Sonic blathered as Shadow pressed into him, extracting the friction he craved. “I want all of you, Shads.” He’s doing that thing where he won’t fucking shut up. “Whatever you want to do, I want to do it with you.”

Sonic’s length sprung free and joined Shadow’s between them. “Gah, Shadow!” Sonic gasped and squeezed his eyes closed. His hands clawed at Shadow’s hips, trying to gain entrance to the space between them. Shadow splayed Sonic’s legs and pressed down harder. “Please! I want to see you.”

Shut up! ~~Please~~, shut up! He couldn’t speak. Shadow had lost the ability. There was only the rabid need to be in contact with Sonic, the staggering pleasure of the friction, and the yearning to pass the sticky needful heat inside him on to his partner. Sonic’s sweat mingled with the blood seeping from his multiple bite marks. “Shadow, please!” Sonic whined in his ear.

Shadow bit down into Sonic’s neck with a savage ferocity. Sonic cried out again with whatever air was left in his lungs. The sound sends shocks throughout Shadow’s body, reverberating and further knocking loose what little control he’d maintained. Sonic!

In his mind, Shadow lost his footing at the crest of steep incline and began sliding down. Below spanned a great inky abyss speckled with malicious red eyes, all watching him. He barely had the wherewithal to slow his decent.

Shadow felt his canines elongated further and released Sonic. His stomach roiled and his vision swam. Gasping, he slowed and lifted. Below him, Sonic took a quick, deep breath. “Wooo.” He grinned and chuckled. “Might- uh, might’ve gotten a little dizzy.”

Shadow scrutinized Sonic’s face, watching the blood flow through flushed capillaries and sparks of chaos energy, drawn by the frantic beating of his heart, desperately fliting through him, trying to patch the damage Shadow had caused.

Sonic blinked. “Woah, dude, your eyes are all red.” He cringed. “That feels really weird, is that you?” The neck wound is bleeding especially badly. Shadow leaned down and sucked at the free flow. Delicious. A deep rumble emitted from deep in his chest.

“Aw, are you purring? Shadow, that’s adorable.” Shadow growled. “And look how shiny your coat is getting. Ugh, my heart is beating so fast. Man, is there more? Can you change more?” Sonic’s hands threaded through Shadow’s quills, which had grown longer and softened as they began to merge together.

“I want to see it. I want to see all of you, Shadow. Show me all of you, please! I need to see it!”

Shadow had just barely held on to the edge of the slope and here was Sonic grinding his heel into Shadow’s knuckles, trying to cast him headfirst into the abyss.

Let him see. He wants it.

His quills elongate, his body softens and begins to lose shape.

He’s begging for it.

His bones melt, his form inflates. He’s disgusting. Hideous. ~~Monstrous.~~

“This is amazing. You’re so beautiful, Shadow. I had no idea you could do this. I am learning so much about you tonight, dude.”

Just this once.

Shadow overflowed the bed. His two longer appendages pushed against the floor and lifted his bulk enough to not smoother Sonic. The blue hedgehog scrambled back and sat up against the headboard. “This might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. And, I mean, I’ve seen a lot of cool stuff.” He was trembling, his heart beating an alarmingly fast tempo, but his eyes were wide and bright, trying to take in every inch of Shadow’s new form.

Black and red tendrils tangled below him as he gazed at Sonic with a sensitivity to an expanded catalogue of electromagnetic wavelengths. The sweltering desire of his default form had melted away, this new one simply did not have the necessary biological elements. Shadow, suddenly purged of the poisonous cloud of his own lust, found himself almost floating in a steely calmness.

This form had a strange liminal feeling that unnerved him. Like he had entered into a large empty space that should be (and in fact had just been) teeming with life. He felt mournful, but at the loss of what he couldn’t describe. Shadow knew that there would never*, should never*, be another like him, that he was unique, but this feeling inspired in him the impression of being the last.

Something was pushing on his tentacles. Sonic. “Can you talk like this?” Talk? Sonic wrapped his hands around one and gave it a gentle squeeze. “So cold. You’re normally so hot, Shads.” Shadow snaked a tentacle around Sonic’s waist and lifted him. The hedgehog laughed. Shadow liked that sound. He knew he shouldn’t like the noises of lesser lifeforms, but he did anyway.

You love the sound of their screams.

He inverted Sonic, his legs flailing and his quills spilling down. Sonic laughed like a child. “This is so cool!” He reached for Shadow’s other tentacles like they were toys. Shadow obliged, wrapping one around each of Sonic’s arms and pulled them gently away. Sonic snickered, his face getting flush as he hung upside down. “What do you want to do now?” That teasing smirk returning to his peach lips.

Sonic was at his mercy, fully and without reservation. What did Shadow want to do?

What he was made to.

He rotated Sonic right side up and pulled his arms taunt. He ran a tendril over Sonic’s messy chest, caked with drying blood. Rising, it cupped Sonic’s chin and the fool nuzzled into it. Shadow could feel his prey’s thrumming pulse through the essential artery running through its neck. He ran a tendril around its back, taking a firm grip of the unkempt spikes on its head and wrenched back, exposing the neck further.

“Gah! Shads-!“

The tendril holding the face encircled that slender blue neck and squeezed. The pulse, constricted, quickened. The arms struggled to pull free but Shadow just tightened his grip. The feet flailed and he captured them as well. If he twisted, just a little, this could be over. But what was the fun in that?

The blue thing’s face was growing pale. It grimaced, its green eyes losing their defiant sparkle, gaining a touch of trepidation. It wheezed. “Sh-shads-?” Its spines tensed, tiny, sharp blades cutting into Shadow’s flesh, but he paid it no mind. Such minor injuries would heal quickly.

Not much longer now.

It was making noises again. Not the kind Shadow liked either. “Y-you want to…kill me? Then do it.” So irritating. “It’s okay.” Shadow didn’t require its permission. It continued, the words stuttering out, pained and tight through constricted passages. “I’ll just wake up back there and see you again soon.”

Indulge him. He’s begging for it.

FUCK!

Sonic’s words were cold spears through Shadow’s heart, wherever it was in this body. He wanted to vomit, but he had no mouth. He released Sonic like he’d been burned, his tentacles retreating, getting as far away from Sonic’s neck as they could. Sonic flopped onto the bed and sucked in a deep breath for the second time.

Coughing, Sonic stammer out, “Shadow, shit! I’m sorry. Don’t-“ Why was he like this? How could Sonic be fine with this?

Reverting back from this nightmarish form was pure pain. Sliding into it was like dissolving into a warm bath, but the reverse was an excruciating, bare knuckle climb up a slope littered with thorns and shards of broken glass. Bones reformed from gel, smooth skin split into fur and quills, organs rearranged.

Shadow cried out his hedgehog form reasserted itself from the fleshy mass. The pain was intense, rippling through him in stabbing waves. He collapsed, face down.

“Shadow?” Concerned hands lifted him, shook him. “Talk to me! Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes slowly. “Do you believe that?” His voice was rough from disuse.

“What?”

Shadow sat up, but looked down at his hands. “That you’ll just-That this isn’t real?” Slowly he raised his gaze, feeling a growing guilt as it passed over Sonic’s wounds and blooming bruise around his neck.

Sonic blinked slowly. A goofy smile lifted his cheeks. What? Shadow felt so tired. The pain of the transformation had receded to a dull, full body ache, his mind reeling as it worked to remember how to use a skeleton.

Sonic pushed him back onto his back. Shadow flopped limply over and Sonic crawled on top of him. His…partner (?) ran his fingers through the fur along Shadow’s belly up into the white tufts of his chest. What were they? Lovers? Partners? Something else? Rivals didn’t seem to be an apt description any longer.

They needed to be nothing. Shadow had almost squeezed the life of Sonic. He needed to push Sonic off and leave. Leave and stay away. That wasn’t just what for the best, it was what had to happen. He was such a fucking idiot to think they could ever be together.

“I really wish you’d learn to trust yourself as I much as I do.”

“Sonic...I hurt you. I almost-I was going to-”

Sonic leaned down and kissed him gently. Shadow turned his head away. “I wanted to-“

“But you didn’t.” Fucking idiot. Sonic pressed his forehead gently Shadow’s and nuzzled his nose against his cheek.

“This time.” Shadow replied ruefully. He felt Sonic’s hand run along the length of his sheath and tease at the hidden slit, summoning the heat back into Shadow’s abdomen. “Sonic, stop.” He still kept his face turned away.

Sonic stilled and lifted his head. “Is that really what you want? For me to stop?” His voice was low, whispered right into the shell of Shadow’s ear. “Not what you think is right. Not what you think you deserve or what you think you should want?”

It was honey. It was poison. Sonic’s voice was so much more alluring and dangerous than even the dark voices that haunted the depths of Shadow’s mind.

“Sonic…” The pitch of his voice betrayed him. His body betrayed him, heating and quickening.

“You’re tired. I get it, Shads.” Sonic sat up and shifted back. “You leave everything to me. I’ll take care of you. Give you just what you need.”

Shadow’s eyes clamped shut. Even if he was powerless to resist, he refused to bear witness to his degradation. Something, wet and hot ran up his torso, tantalizing his length to peek out of its sheath. Shadow choked and grasped the sheets beside him in tight fists. He tried to sit up, but a firm hand pressed down on his chest and gripped the fur there.

Sonic captured Shadow’s tip in his mouth and tickled it with his tongue. Shadow sucked air through clenched teeth and bucked his hips, but Sonic only pushed down harder. With a whine, Shadow felt himself break containment and Sonic retreated before it speared his uvula.

“Gorgeous.” Sonic lifted onto his knees, took hold of Shadow with one hand, and begin positioning himself over it. “All this, all for me.” Shadow looked up, trepidation filling his eyes. He couldn’t stand this. It was literal torture.

“Sonic…”

“I’m going to take care of you, Shadow. You just lay back. I’m going to handle it.” He pressed down and Shadow arched his back as a tight, velvety heat took hold of his tip. What the fuck! “Oh jeeze, this might take me a minute. Chaos, Shadow! You feel so good-”

The inferno returned and burned away all his reticence. Whatever this was, he needed it. Desperately, unabashedly he needed it more than he needed life itself.

More.

Shadow grasped Sonic’s hips. “Woah, dude, hold on!” He slammed the blue blur down as he thrusted his hips upward. He wasn’t sunk to the hilt, but enough that Shadow’s eye rolled back. Sonic gave out a shuddering screaming that faded into a dirty moan.

“Sonic…” Shadow gasped. He blinked wildly, uncertain where he was, who he was. But that sound..that had been important. He needed- “Sonic? Are you…are you okay?”

The hero’s legs were shaking and he was leaning heavily against his hand planted on Shadow’s stomach. He gave a short wheezing laugh. “Totally cool, dude.” There was that goofy smile again.

“Sonic, you don’t-“ Sonic clenched and Shadow’s mind went blank. “Fuck!” He cried.

Sonic snickered. He straightened his back and began to shift, slowly and shallowly at first, but picking up speed quickly. Shadow couldn’t help but buck into the motion. His mind was shattered under the force of the physical sensations. Sonic’s grip on him was breaking him into tiny pieces with every thrust and twist of his hips.

Soon Sonic was taking him completely and a dampness was growing inside, smoothing the process and allowing them to move faster. Shadow snorted and whined like an animal, completely lost. “Doesn’t that feel good?” Sonic teased. “Don’t you feel silly, Shads, putting up such a fuss just for it to feel like this?” Shadow hissed, unable to respond verbally.

Taking Shadow’s panting silence as encouragement, Sonic continued.

“I really want to meet you Shadow. The real you. The one you are so committed to keeping hidden.” The pace was picking up and with it the pressure growing inside Shadow. Something coiling tighter and tighter. An itch he was so close to scratching. “I know you hold back. You hide. I’m going to find you. I’m going to free you, Shadow.”

What was he saying? Shadow was barely holding on. Fighting to stay lucid, he managed, “You don’t- don’t know what you’re asking for.” Damn, forming words was an effort.

Sonic laughed, a high chortle permeated with gasping pants. “Oh Gaia, I want to find out!” The dampness was spilling out where they met. “I’m not afraid of you, Shadow.” Sonic declared, looking deeply into Shadow’s eyes.

Shadow grit his teeth. It was too much. Altogether too much. He couldn’t hold on, couldn’t stand it much longer.

“I want to meet whoever you’re becoming and I want to cherish whoever you were and I want to be with as you become who you’ll be. I love all of you, your before, your now, and your forever.” Shut up! Too much.

“Do-do you mean that?” Shadow whined, his voice pitching higher than normal.

Sonic slowed to a stop and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Shadows. Their breath mixed as Sonic panted. “Would I lie to you?” He asked, the vastness of his sincerity sparkling in his depths of his emerald gaze.

Shadow’s breath hitched.

Of course he would lie to him. All of this was serving some agenda. Shadow didn’t know what it was, but he was certain there was some sinister ulterior motive running through everything Sonic said or did. Shadow was made with a distinct purpose in mind. Love, affection, trust, all of those useless things were vestigial, hideous mutations. Weakness to be eliminated in the light of his glorious purpose. This whole evening had been a mistake, just as every second spent with Sonic was. The biggest mistake was Shadow having been born with the capacity to feel at all. A cruel error, to make a tool with an opinion about its own use. It would just be easier to not feel anything at all.

Could he…just trust Sonic?

Like the dawn breeching the horizon, Shadow lost all semblance of control.

Shadow pushed up and shoved Sonic sideways, nearly toppling them off the narrow bed as he switched their positions. Sonic sucked in a pained breath as Shadow’s barbs twisted inside him. Shadow pressed his eager lips against Sonics, kissing away his grimace. ~~Relishing his pain.~~

Shadow set a relentless, punishing pace. The speedster needed a reminder who was stronger. Sonic clamped his eyes closed and moaned his name. Shadow grazed his fangs over Sonic’s throat, feeling the bob as Sonic swallowed and pressing his nose against the vital pathways throbbing with hot blood.

Sonic took every inch of Shadow and yet Shadow craved to be deeper, to inject himself into Sonic’s very soul. The pressure was building intolerably. Shadow thought he would go insane. In the tussle, Sonic’s length had broken free and it lay forgotten along Sonic’s torso, being graced with the occasional friction as Sonic squirmed.

Deeper, he had to get deeper. Sonic’s legs were in the way, providing some fruitless resistance. Shadow lifted them and bracketed his face with Sonic’s calves. He leaned down, curling Sonic’s spine and nearly folding him in half. Sonic snorted. The hedgehog’s flexibility was laudable.

Sonic griped Shadow’s white fluff with both hands. “Damn, that’s hot.” He said through gritted teeth.

So close. “S-sonic!” Shadow closed his eyes and arched his back.

The release obliterated Shadow. A searing heat splintered through his insides, crumbling load bearing structures, revealing uncharted territory. Rooms of emotions and feelings of which he had been completely ignorant until now.

He collapsed into Sonic, who grunted and pulled his legs free. “I’ve got you.” Shadow lay limp, muscles still twitching involuntarily through the afterglow. Shadow’s length deflated and pulled free, releasing a gush of fluids.

Shadow closed his eyes and lay still. His mind was awash in a hazy…contentment? Something else? Whatever, it didn’t matter.

Sonic carded his bare hands through Shadow’s quills, gently dragging his nails over Shadow’s scalp. The low rumble, deep in his chest, sounded again.

“That was nice, wasn’t it? Do you feel better?” Shadow could only grunt softly. “We could do it again. Maybe not right this second, but, like, think about like after a big battle. Damn, that would be awesome, wouldn’t it be?”

Sonic’s chest expanded and he yawned. “I’m so happy, Shads. I’ve been looking for you for so long and now I think I’ve finally started to see you.”

With effort, Shadow rolled over onto his side. “Sonic…” His eyes were stinging, like they wanted to do something disgraceful. Sonic snuggled into his chest, rubbing his cheek into the white hairs of his chest. It was too good. Sonic’s attention was the bleaching beams of the sun, scorching him to the bone.

“Gonna be there for ya. Long as I can…” Sonic mumbled.

Shadow threaded his arm under Sonic, pulling him closer. He buried his face into azure quills and took a deep breath. The world and all its possibilities. Shadow pulled back and gazed at the serene, sleeping face nestled into him. Shadow didn’t deserve this gift. This love. This understanding. But maybe he could try to?

Sonic was a stubborn fool. He’d give until he had nothing left. He’d give until it killed him.

What would it mean to deserve his love? Shadow had tried, or at least he thought he had. He hide away every part of himself that he felt made him unworthy. But that had just caused more trouble. It would have been easier to fully resist his instincts whole cloth. But the truth was, there were some parts of what he was supposed to be that he…that he liked.

~~He liked to cause pain. Loved it, even.~~

He leaned down and took another lungful of Sonic’s sent. It was rife now with the odor of drying blood. Shadow found himself salivating once more. He frowned and tightened his hug.

Shadow knew it wouldn’t last forever, this love, this relationship, this whatever it was. He’d come to terms with his immortality. Someday, he’d would have to face a dawn without Sonic and it would almost certainly be his fault. And after that, there would come a time when Shadow would miss Sonic more than he would remember him.

But the only thing worse than losing Sonic was never having him in the first place.

Shadow lay there, listening to the sound of Sonic’s slow, steady breaths until the speedster rolled over suddenly and pushed him out of the narrow bed.

End Part 1: Summer

The future depends on the past, even if we don’t get to see it

Please Insert Disc 2: Fall

Save Your Game?

->Yes No

Bonus Scene:

Tails pressed the too-thin pillow as tightly around his head as best he could. The extra insulation in the workshop walls did help to dull the noise, but not enough by far. Unfortunately, there was no mute button for Omega either.

“SONIC IS SCREAMING MOST. THAT MEANS SHADOW IS WINNING.”

For not the first time or last time, Tails thought ruefully that he should have just spent the night at Amy’s.

**You like discussions of instrumental convergence with your hedgehog spice right? Just me? Prudes.