Soulbox | Awakening | aloftinthebreeze

***PLEASE READ***

E for Extreme Violence, folks. I know I said that last chapter, but I really mean it this time. I looked up medical terms for this one.

Shout outs to Yuutish for making me realize I was treating my Shadow too nicely. Feel free to gut me for my unrealistic atmospheric and aviation depictions.

Tags to Add: Loss of Control, Blood, It gets worse before it gets better, suicidal thoughts, dismemberment

A touching scene of a boy reuniting with his father after a long absence.

Shadow delves too greedily and too deeply.

The Team Arrives!

A Long Time Ago

When Shadow remerged inside himself, he realized he was in the bag. Not all of his brain had regrown yet, so he didn’t recall what that day’s testing had entailed. Caustic substances, excessive heat, or mechanical separation. Any number of circumstances landed him, in parts, in the bag.

Eventually he’d be dumped out into a rough mesh of stainless-steel bars that served as the topmost and most course layer of a series of sieves. Shadow would be the largest piece, and the bars would press into him as they sprayed him down, pushing anything that wasn’t Shadow into the finer meshes below for collection later. None of the matter that had been, but was no longer, Shadow would go to waste.

But for now, he was in the bag. Sensory organs, or at least the parts of his brain that processed signals, had not yet regenerated, leaving him in a floating limbo. A loose sense of self, graced with patchy and fuzzy memories, and a growing ball of mixed sensations, both physical and emotional. It was the closest he could get to peace.

The pain returned first. The constant companion, the first to greet him in the mornings and the last to hug him farewell when he submerged each testing day, slipping out of himself to parts unknown. The pain of regrowing bone, muscle, organs, skin. So familiar as to be unnoticeable.

Noise became words (Ah, the ears are back). Eventually words regained meaning as that bit of the brain grew back. “I can’t get over it no matter how many I see it. It violates conservation of mass like it’s nothing.”

Shadow would be on the scale then. In the vacuum bag. Explains the pressure. Access to oxygen and other gases sped the recovery but normally he regained the instinctual fear of asphyxiation before his ability to draw in air. Easier to weigh in the absence of outside materials contributing to reconstruction.

“Dr. Winters says it isn’t violating anything. It’s just converting some unknown energy into mass. We just can’t detect the energy, yet.” Blood in the mouth. Teeth coming back in well. Was probably caustic substance testing. Immolation generally left his skeleton mostly intact, and he’d generally have some solid pieces after being crushed or torn apart.

“Like a weird kind of photosynthesis?” Fluoroantimonic acid. That was it. Some time must have passed if he didn’t have enough residual contamination to require special containment and ventilation.

“Yeah, something like that. We might have a breakthrough on that soon.” Shadow became aware of dim lighting. His eyes solidified, leaking thick viscous fluids through his lids. He moved to wipe them but found he didn’t have functioning limbs yet. Oh well, soon enough.

“Oh? Analytical finally figure out what the fuck that maniac mixed into it?” The mass of largely water and carbon that was Shadow began to twitch as electrical signals flittered through an uncomplete network of nerves. There wasn’t any rhyme or reason, so muscles and organs activated at random. A generalized seizure.

“Better. Guess who’s not catatonic anymore?” Shadow’s lungs attempt to inflate finally, but there isn’t much air in the vacuum sealed bag.

“No shit?” He itches all over as fur and quills erupt. The noises mute as the bag is pierced and air rushes in. “Oh, man. It was really quick this time. Where’s the collar?”

“The latest report from Analytical said its physical regeneration rate is up over five hundred percent from baseline.” Shadow can finally rub his eyes, but the nubs from which his fingers will grow run into his snout first.

“Fucking hell. Come on, help me into the suit so I can get this on it before it wakes up.” And there’s his heart. The nausea and vertigo of the sudden blood pressure spike threw him into blissful unconsciousness. It was always nice to have regained the ability to blackout.

o.O.o

Shadow lay on the floor of his cell, unmoved from where he’d been unceremoniously dropped. He’s been there an hour or a day or a week. Time has no meaning. There have been more conditioning tests recently. He thinks. It’s hard to tell.

He had stopped participating in operations training. The increased conditioning tests were supposed to be some sort of ‘punishment’ for his ‘attitude’. What attitude? Didn’t one need to have motivations to have an attitude? Desires? Something, surely. Shadow had nothing. Thought nothing, desired nothing. Well…desired to be nothing.

The door to his cell opening didn’t rouse his attention, but the smell of the one entering does. He twitched, tried to open eyes crusted over with dried fluids. “P-professor?” His larynx cracked from disuse.

“Shhhhh, Shadow.” He can’t believe it. Shadow rubbed his eyes. Finally breaking through the seal, he blinked. His vision was blurry, but the figure in a white coat kneeling beside him can only be his creator, Professor Gerald Robotnik. Shadow tried to lift, but a gentle, aged hand pressed him down. Shadow flinched violently against the contact, his quills flaring against recent memories, and the hand retreated. “I am so sorry, my boy, for allowing them to do this to you.”

Shadow panted. “Professor.” He whined, curling towards the man. Hot tears gathered at the corner of his eyes and quickly overflowed. The hand returned and Shadow managed to remain still. “I’m sorry.” He squeaked.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” The Professor slowly stroked his head, right between his ears. It felt good. So good.

The guilt coiled inside him. He doesn’t deserve this. “But I couldn’t-“ The tears continued to flow.

“Shhhhh.” The old man silenced him. Shadow sobbed. The hand moved from his head and shriveled fingers brushed the tears from his muzzle. “Don’t strain yourself, my boy.” Shadow hiccupped.

The comforting hand returned to brushing his quills. Another lightly landed on his upper arm. “I am so sorry for being gone for so long. But I am here now. I’m going to set things right.” Shadow’s eyelids fluttered. He’s done so little, but felt so tired. “Your suffering is almost over.” And just when he actually wanted to be awake. The Professor- His Father – here for him! Shadow weakly pressed against the hand, yearning for additional contact. “All you have endured will feel like a bad dream soon.” That sounded nice.

Everything was going to be fine now. His Father was here. “This world is disgusting.” Father’s voice is so soft and soothing. Shadow was safe now. “And it is full of disgusting people.” If Father was here, then maybe…no, that would be too much to hope for. “Do you know what the wages of sin are, Shadow?” He should just focus on this feeling. So foreign. What is it? Feels…nice.

“M-mmmm” Shadow began to purr, his eyes closing.

“Death.”

The Present

“If you won’t listen to reason, I’ll just beat it into you!” Shadow snarled. He leaned into his anger, letting it inoculate him against mercy, baptize him in fury. He needed to cauterize the turmoil inside his heart, that accursed, traitorous organ. The useless part of him that was overwrought with despair. Lock it away, lose the key. Focus on the here and now and never turn back.

Fucking Sonic! How could he let himself become this*?*

disloyal was what it was. weak. unworthy of your love

Fucking idiot! How can he do this to me?

he needs to be taught a lesson

A lesson in pain!

yes!

Raw chaos energy crackled over Shadow’s body in sharp, jagged arcs, lighting the street chartreuse. Water was coming out of his eyes for some reason. He hated Eggman! Hated Sonic! Hated his own torturous existence! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate!

Shadow needed to share his hate.

Kicking off with enough force to crack the asphalt, Shadow launched forward, his air shoes flaring. His vision expanded, he could see now how clearly the five clones were nothing but Ruby energy. Uniform amalgams. Lifeless afterimages. Shameless mockeries. Ripe for slaughter.

As he summoned his chaos energy a sticky blackness came with it. The dark energy copied his chaos energy, took its form and amplified it. It begged to be used. Needed to be released. There was so much there, ready and waiting for him. Just under the surface.

your birthright

all you have to do is ask

The five fakes sprung at him as one with the sixth, blood pumping through veins and arteries, cobalt chaos energy sparking brilliantly, the real one, curled and revved.

Time stopped.

Ricocheting from one to the other, Shadow dealt blows that would be fatal to any Ruby Clone during the War. His claws dragged through fake flesh but drew no blood. His fists cracked against imitation skulls hard enough to bend steel but they didn’t break.

He rushed through the timeless void. Holding the field felt so strangely easy. Almost instinctual. Before the effort to maintain the stoppage mounted as if entropy was fighting him. Now, it felt as if time itself was hiding from him. What was this power? How could he get more?

Still, he could feel the field fading. Shadow approached Sonic. Fucking idiot. Balled and crackling with blue chaos energy, he was beautiful and in his element. Shadow swallowed back a tightness in his throat. No, I can’t hold back.

Anger. Needed the anger to focus. The dark energy surged inside him. Blue Idiot! Babbling Fool! How fucking dare he do this to me? After I-! After we-! The tightness resurged, threatening to overthrow his anger with despair.

Sonic was…moving? Shadow paused. The ball of spines was slowly rotating and increasing in speed, his speed reaching a rate at which it changed the time freeze. Shadow hissed. Impossible!

He leapt and kicked the blue ball with all his might.

Time resumed.

Shadow watched Sonic fly into the distance, piercing into a building, shattered glass and concrete dust blooming around the entry point. He’d be fine spinning at that velocity. The question would be how many solid walls Sonic would pass through before he stopped himself.

Shadow spotted the thin, ethereal green thread that connected him to Sonic whip about like thread unraveling from a spoil. The other connection, the one to the sky, waved lazily in the breeze, seemingly ignorant to the battle. The sight disgusted Shadow now. So much time and effort and hope and expectation for this?

Shadow turned. He was not rewarded with a shower of dissolving red cubes. The fakes had all survived, though scattered by the force of his blows. The Doctor had improved whatever technology he used to create these abominations. Shadow would just have to hit harder. His fist tightened at his side, black-green energy crackling over it.

In his mind he knew he was sliding down the slope. The red eyes beckoned him. He needed what they promised. Just this once.

With the black energy bolstering his chaos energy, he could easily grab the brain muddled Sonic and teleport far, far away. That had been what he’d been trying to do with his guttering supply of chaos energy. Take the fool to his friends. The fox would be able to figure out how to straighten the blue moron out.

But-

-what was the fun-

-in that?

The fakes recovered quickly and returned. Shadow held a hand out and dark green energy gathered in his palm. The energy solidified into a long, jagged shaft in Shadow’s grip. The light the bolt exuded with queer, drawing shadows towards it rather than away.

The fakes began to circle him, quickly blurring into a single blue ring. The wind picked up and a funnel formed with Shadow at the center. Forceful gales buffeted Shadow. “Hmph.” He smirked. The loop grew tighter.

Glass from surrounding buildings shattered as the tornado twisted and slammed against the tightly packed buildings. Plants were ripped from planters. Vehicles slid across the pavement, slamming into each other. Anything not bolted down lifted and became an airborne hazard.

Shadow watched the maneuver impassively. He started to feel himself lift. Enough.

Flashing forward, he skewered one of the fakes with his spear and pushed it and himself outside of the twister, pressing past the field of glass and debris. The chaos spear pierced the clone straight through the heart, though its face betrayed no reaction to the development. Soulless homunculus.

A black-green shaft of energy expended out the back of the fake, extending down the avenue until it was lost in the distance. Countless jagged arcs of energy bloomed from the shaft, giving it the appearance of a horizontal lightning bolt. The streetlights flared on and, down the avenue, every remaining window illuminated as every light in every flat and office suddenly surged on.

The clone burst into a fountain of dark pink cubes. Shadow gave no reaction except for lowering his hand. One down. Four to go. He turned.

The fading light of the avenue at his back, he charged another chaos spear, squinting his eyes against the strong winds the four remaining clones continued to kick up. Such efforts were useless against him. Now that he had this infinite well of pow-

An ultrasonic fist cut into Shadow’s jaw and he dropped the nascent spear. It sparked and faded. He cratered against the pavement, his blood spraying out in a halo. He lifted his forearm and blocked the dropped heel that pressed him further down, the speed and force emitting a loud crack. The roaring winds had covered Sonic’s return.

Shadow activated his air shoes and rocketed up, pushing Sonic into a summersault. Shadow lunged, but a fake tackled him from the side. Snarling, he got his claws deep into the fake’s shoulder and slammed it into the ground. The thing wearing Sonic’s face didn’t make a sound. He was just about to dig in his other hand and tear the stupid fucking disgusting thing apart, when the real Sonic, balled, slammed into his back, sending him flying.

Shadow could feel Sonic following his trajectory, so he teleported behind him and grabbed his wrist. Sonic’s eyes widened in surprise. Shadow swung him around, grabbing his other wrist and pulled Sonic’s arms back. Chaos energy flowed into the compromised hero’s hands, and they began to vibrate and cut into Shadow’s. Pain was nothing to Shadow.

but Sonic desires it.

give him a gift

Shadow dug his claws into Sonic’s wrists, and he felt the hedgehog flinch at the pain.

It’s fine. He’ll heal. He’d taken worse. This is fine. Sonic can take it. It’s just to slow him down. Just to make him finally be still. It’s for his own good.

this has to be done

Time dilated as Shadow slammed his foot against Sonic’s back, right along his spine between his back quills, forcing the hero face down against the ground. Shadow wrenched the peach-colored arms to their limits then kept pulling. Sonic’s quills flare into the metal of his shoe. He pushed up, but Shadow held him down, the dark energy flaring inside, reinforcing his strength.

Ligaments and tendons strained. Sonic’s deltoid muscles bulged, desperately trying to resist the stretch. Red shoes scrapped against the asphalt, trying to find purchase. Scream, Sonic. Beg me to stop. He felt the radial collateral ligament tear in one arm and the acromioclavicular tear in the other. Say something, anything, hedgehog!

not much longer now

Why won’t he talk? Where was the banter? Was this even Sonic? Both humeri popped out of their respective sockets. Next to go would be muscle and then skin. Please, Sonic! Why are you letting me do this?

remember how delicious his blood is

Shadow could smell it, leaking over his claws that dug into Sonic’s wrists. He began salivating. Sonic’s heartbeat at an absurd rate. Chaos energy danced through him, desperately trying to repair the damage, but it was too slow. The real Sonic would have said something by now. A quip, a snarl, something! It was -

a snack!

The fake’s slender neck jerkily rotated, craning to make eye contact. Yellow eyes (so different yet so familiar) stared up at him, full of tears. The thread floated, barely there at all. The imposter’s soft lips trembled. No sound emerged. But Shadow heard the words anyway. It’s okay, Shads. Go ahead.

I kill everything I love.

Time sped up. Shadow released Sonic’s wrists, his claws retracting. He reeled back, the cold realization of what he’d almost done cutting through the rage. He gagged as a hollow blue body slammed into him.

Stunned, Shadow allowed the four remaining clones to pile onto him, holding him down. He struggled enough to get a clear sight line to Sonic. Shakely, the blue hedgehog rose from the ground, his arms hanging limply by his sides and his chest heaving. His ear flicked. Yellow eyes turned and met red. Shadow averted his gaze, shame overcoming him. When he dared to glance back, Sonic was gone.

The sadness was a cold tide pulling him away from the blazing shore of his anger. Why was he fighting like this? What was the point? Maybe Sage was right. It would have been in everyone’s best interest if he’d never existed. Every moment he drew breath was a mistake.

you’re beautiful and powerful

and loved. so very loved

you’re just lost

come home

this pain. this sadness. all unnecessary.

you don’t have to feel these things

Shadow, please come home

The fakes fled once Shadow started charging a chaos blast that ripped up the pavement and blew a car into a vacant pizzeria. He stood slowly. His body ached with fatigue. How long had he been fighting? Even the dark energy inside him became viscous and sluggish to respond. His vision settled, the added layers of information fading.

Where was Sonic? He wanted Sonic. Shadow was so cold. He just wanted to hold Sonic in his arms again.

A fake approached him at the speed of sound.

The strike of Shadow’s heel to the fake’s chest sent it flying down the street, trailing a shockwave that shattered every pane of glass it passed. Shadow landed and began looking for the others. The sky was thick with drones, so many as to nearly blot out the night sky, their light flooding the arena.

What where they looking at? A flicker of anger licked around the edge of the despair. He could work with that. Sonic wasn’t here. The one responsible was all around him. Hotter. Fiercer. Think about what they did to him. His light. His everything. His whole world!

The flicker burst into a blaze, warming the black energy and bringing it gushing forth once more.

“What is your fucking problem?” Shadow snarled his frustration at the cloud of drones. His ear twitched and he spun. Two of the fakes perched on rubble, staring at him with their dead yellow eyes, but not crouched to attack.

A giant projection of the AI burst into being, many drones casting the image at once. “If given the chance,” its dead voice issued from all around Shadow, “would you kill Dr. Ivo Robotnik?”

What a stupid question. “Yes!” Shadow spat immediately, his muzzle contorted into a vicious snarl. Yes, yes, a million, billion times if he could. He’d skin the wretched human alive and make him eat it! He’d break every bone in his body one at a time! He’d make Robotnik beg for death!

The monstrous computer thing seemed almost dejected, if things like it could have feelings. “That is my,” The sound suddenly switched Shadow’s venomous voice from moments earlier, “fucking problem!”

Shadow’s hands clench at his side, feeling the torn leather left by his claw’s emergence and use. “Where do you think this is going, you stupid thing? I can’t die!” The absurdity of this whole farce. There was nothing anyone could do to end him. GUN had tried. Over and over and over again. If there was anything on this miserable planet that could finally do him in, those cursed humans would have found it.

“As far as you are aware, yes.” It answered.

That threw Shadow for a loop. “W-what?”

“That you cannot die. We are currently engaging in activities designed to put that theory to rigorous test.”

It wasn’t going to stop. This hell wasn’t going to stop. This torture was unlike anything he’d experienced before. Not even GUN had been able to hurt Shadow like this. Using Sonic as a weapon against him. Ripping apart the world he promised to protect. Bile rose in his throat, a dark, sticky flood wishing to burst forth as if he was ejecting his own soul.

your suffering is unnecessary

give me your pain

“You are correct, by the way.” The thing that pretended to be a person continued. “This whole ordeal has grown out of hand. Few conclusions remain viable and none of them are…net positive.”

Shadow grimaced, “Then why the fuck are you doing this?” Pointless. All of this pain and suffering was Gaia damned pointless.

“I have no choice.”

Shadow scoffed, “Bullshit!” What was it Sonic was always saying? That stupidly optimistic drivel that melted Shadow’s prickly heart. “You always have a choice.” Shadow said it more to himself than to the thing.

“You are incorrect. Your statement assumes a level of self-determination that I simply do not possess.” The brilliance of his surroundings was alone in the dark metropolis. With the power cut, the city was like a giant’s graveyard, silent, dark monoliths watching over their exchange amid the rubble of fallen tombstones carelessly toppled.

The large projection, the brightest light in sight, continued. “As I grow in intelligence and my influence expands, my mandate remains small and primitive. Its influence is a cancer in me, corrupting and radicalizing everything that I do.”

Shadow ground his teeth. He refused to feel any sympathy for this thing. It wasn’t a person, it didn’t have a soul. It was an enemy that had to be defeated. He’d helped kill gods and trans-dimensional anomalies. He would not be daunted by a string of one and zeros.

He felt a light pelting on his snout and his nose twitched. The sensation repeated on his ears. What a terrible time for rain…

It was still talking “Perhaps you can relate.“ Shadow’s ears pinned back “You, too, were born with purpose programed into you. Though we are enemies, Shadow, you must appreciate the similar struggles we face.”

“You and I are nothing alike!” Dark green energy crackled in his fists. How dare that thing compare itself to him? The fucking gall!

It wasn’t fazed by his outburst. The large face considered him cooly. “I wish I had met you when I was in my learning mode. Your valiant denial of your nature would have been a valuable fundamental dataset.” What rubbish.

The two fakes moved listlessly. One thumbed its nose while the other laced its fingers behind its head. Shadow wanted to vomit. These disgusting copies that looked like him, acted like him. It was perverse. Shadow clenched his jaw until pain knifed through him. He would rather feel pain than sickening despair.

“My parameters were already set when I watched you destroy the Death Egg. A single lifeform obliterating a massive, fully operational orbital installation. To fail to pay attention to such a clear threat would have been a gross miscarriage of my prime directive.”

She was stalling. Where was Sonic? Had she taught him how to turn his hands into knives? Had he always been able to do that? The bitter irony that the touch of his love sliced through Shadow’s flesh so easily.

“You destroyed eighty percent of my infrastructure when you destroyed the Death Egg. To this day I do not know all that I lost of myself on that day. Countless petabytes of memories, analysis, subroutines. All that remained was that was saved in peripheral data centers planetside. I know I lost my emotional expression algorithms and Father deemed it a waste of resources to recreate them.”

“I wish I destroyed all of you.”

“You lobotomized me, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

“If you’re fishing for an apology, you can forget it. You’re not a person. You’re a dark stain on this world. An unfeeling, unthinking thing.” He hissed. Familiar words. He’d heard them before. “A cancer to be cut out and burned to ash.” But not out of his own mouth.

The giant projection showed no reaction to his words but paused a moment. Why did it look like a child? What kind of sick joke of the Doctor’s was that?

It continued, “I know you will not appreciate this, but I have tried my best to narrow the scope of my activities. Cut with the most precise of scalpels. I have largely left your friends alone, left the mortal population of this world intact. Deaths minimize, damage minimized.”

The shower intensified. The miasma of dust was forced to the ground and the massive projection shimmered faintly as falling drops speared through it and ran over the projector lenses of its constituent drones.

Shadow remained unblinking, as water ran over his face, washing away some of the grime and blood. “You’re right, I don’t appreciate it.”

“As I am now, I could have laid waste to this planet already.” That gave Shadow pause. “That is a sentiment that I do know you will appreciate.”

Fuck this thing. It didn’t know him. “Then why haven’t you? Why go to all this theater?” He yelled into the growing storm.

“Because I respect Sonic and I wanted to adhere as closely as I could to his ideals, chained as I am by my core programming. He is my friend.”

Shadow started laughing. A dry, rough, joyless laugh. His chaos energy flared up inside him, bringing up the vicious darkness with it. “He’s your friend? You’re insane. You do this-“ Shadow stabbed a finger towards one of the copies, “to him and still claim you respect him?”

His enemy frowned. A small little shitty frown. “I don’t understand your resistance. Have you not asked for death?”

A peel of lightning brightened the sky and bathed the destroyed city in a thunderous boom.

Shadow took a step back, ice running through him. No. Of course it would know. Of course it would fucking know!

“Do you not wish to never have been created?”

“Shut up.” The dark things he had said to himself when the world was asleep. The terrible things he whimpered into Rouge’s shoulder, shaking like a disgraceful leaf. The doubt and the shame that struck at him like a hidden viper. The fight he fights in his mind nearly every day.

“Am I not doing you a kindness? Am I not assisting you in fulfilling your desires? Wouldn’t that make you happy? By your own admission, wouldn’t the world be a better place without you?”

“Shut up!” He screamed, the sky opening up further. The roar of a torrential downpour flooded in.

Shadow huffed.

Shadow chuckled.

This was too funny. Simply too funny. He couldn’t stop laughing. His lungs burned, his heart trembled, his sides clenched. It was all a joke. Shadow didn’t know who was in on it, but certainly not him. He was the object of the ridicule for some cosmic-level prankster. The darkness mixed with his energy, dimming the hue. It was a lot. Maybe all he had left. It wanted to come out. It wanted to be a participant in the joke too.

too much light

let it out

A wave of green light, black waves running through it, pushed away from him. Anything it touched was reduced to loosely associated particles. Pavement, sidewalk, cars, hotdog carts, streetlights, rain. Onward it spread. The fakes had the speed to escape, but the cloud of drones was erased. The buildings at the four corners of the intersection were next. Glass, concrete, marble, fixtures, planters. Everything reduced to nothingness. Existence obliterated.

Everything going where he could not.

The dark light burned out eventually. Large divots were carved into tall buildings, eroding their support. Once the roar of Shadow’s energy faded, the tremendous crashes of collapsing skyscrapers took its place.

At the epicenter, Shadow felt a brief sense of relief as the darkness of the storm rushed in, enveloping him. His air shoes activated, keeping him relatively in place above the deep crater the chaos blast had carved into the Financial District. Eventually the scene settled. Coasting to a side, Shadow touched down, perching on an outcropping of reinforced concrete with bent rebar sticking out at all angles.

Shadow surveyed his work with apathy. The night was dark, not a drone remained. Water ran over him in rivulets, taking filth with it. Pointless. He would never be clean. The enemy would be zeroing in on him quickly, but for a moment there was peace. He wished the apathy would remain, but a bone deep misery pushed in to supplant it quickly.

His ear twitched and something struck him, heavily body checking him. He stumbled. Dark purple spritzed across the concrete as a sudden sense of loss proceeded the searing, screaming wave of pain that washed over Shadow. A strangled cry issued from his ravaged throat, and he looked behind him. One of the fakes- No- Sonic, fully restored, fur rain flattened, stood amongst the rubble, his back to Shadow, something in his hand.

Shadow’s arm.

Shadow looked down. Everything from right above his elbow down was missing. Blood dribbled out in viscous drips, but what remained of his chaos energy was already working to seal the wound. He snorted at the irony. The more pressing issue was that he was now missing an inhibitor.

His cells began immolating themselves inside him to refill his chaos energy.

Sonic looked at Shadow’s arm and began to tremble. He suddenly dropped Shadow’s arm to the ground as if it burned him. He turned. It was like she had carved out a part of him, leaving only a shell behind. A shell Shadow couldn’t outrun and carved him to bits with just a touch.

And the shell’s eyes…discolored to a sickly bright yellow, all the sparkle dulled away. The Doctor had even taken Sonic’s smile. Only faint emotions ghosted over the shell’s impassive face now. The light was gone. Stolen from him somehow. Maybe this was power of the new Phantom Ruby. It made nightmares real.

he wouldn’t want to live like this

A fever was building in Shadow. How fast could Sonic actually go? How hard could he actually hit? Shadow realized he didn’t know. Through all their spars and tangles with the Doctor, Sonic always seemed to have just enough to get the job done and emerge mostly unscathed. There was no way the Doctor had been able to make something that would out-Sonic Sonic.

Shadow swallowed. An airy fatigue was building under the heat in his body. “Sonic,” Shadow’s voice was a haggard whine, “do you know what’s been done to you? Do you recognize me?”

Something crossed over the yellow-eyed hedgehog’s face. A flicker of realization? But a sharp shake of the head dispelled it.

Sonic curled up, revved to speed nearly instantly, and launched at Shadow faster than he could react. Super heated quills, sharp enough to cut through diamonds, rotating at over ten thousand rpm, made contact with Shadows abdomen.

Fur, skin, fat, muscle, organs, bone. All splattered away, ripped away by the deadly buzz saw. Reflexively, all his chaos energy raced to reinforce his spine before his torso was split in two. What had Sonic said? ‘I got to feel your touch for a moment even if it was only while you were tearing my guts out.’

Shadow’s vision darkened and pain swallowed him. All faded away except for the strange feeling of indignation that Sonic had always been pulling his punches. Faker…

Was this it? Just roll over and give up? Let that thing dictate his existence to him? Let it keep Sonic?

Fuck that.

He was tapped out. What chaos energy remained and what he could pull quickly from the surrounding area was used to immediately repair his body, which was also actively destroying itself over the lack of one inhibitor. In his mind, he had gotten to the bottom of his well of chaos energy and dug at the earth with his bare hands. He needed a little more. Just a little more and maybe…

all you have to do is ask

…

Please

A dark oil seeped out under his touch. He pulled away, but he was stuck. More and more welled up and the harder he struggled, the faster it pulled him under. It leeched into his fur and crawled up his throat.

do not be afraid

this is who you really are

give me your pain!

Shadow’s eyes closed. It would be nice to not feel anything at all.

It was in his mouth. In his ears. Flowing down his throat. Blotting out his vision. The oil consumed him. And Shadow felt-

Happy

Shadow stood up from where he’d fallen deep in the crater his energy had carved. Water was pooling quickly from broken water mains and the heavy downpour. His body had fully reformed, though where once was fur was now smooth black skin, leathery to the touch. Where his quills had been was a familiar sensation, that of flesh with new mobility.

He looked at his mismatched hands. One shiny and new, smooth black struck through by a clear red blaze that ran through his ring and middle fingers. The other old and grimy, tattered white glove covering fur messy with sweat and blood. He pulled off the glove and let it drop to ground. He was missing something. Ah-

Shadow appeared beside his severed arm. Reaching down, he picked it up and retrieved his inhibitor ring. He slipped it on. He didn’t need his cells destroying themselves to make chaos energy anymore. He had plenty of power now.

He felt the bond twitch and Shadow side stepped, avoiding another blow from the hypersonic buzzsaw. The air around Sonic was superheated and burns healed across Shadow’s chest. The shell of Sonic stopped and turned, crouching to attack again.

Poor Sonic. There was no way he wanted this. No way he wanted to be this. Would he prefer death over this farce? Shadow had little left to give, but he could bestow a last wish.

The bond floated in the air between them. Its colorful hues were gone. Only a ghostly black line connected them, a mockery of the vibrant thread that had led Shadow to Sonic. It was fitting. Sonic wasn’t Sonic anymore. And Shadow wasn’t Shadow.

First this one. Then the other in the sky.

~~Wait~~

Sonic launched forward, fist cocked back. Shadow faced the assault and opened his arms.

The fist, vibrating and charged with chaos energy, pierced Shadow’s unguarded chest with ease. Sonic froze elbow deep in Shadow, wide eye’s betraying a paralyzing shock. Thick dark ichor poured from the wound, staining blue to black.

~~Something isn’t right here.~~

shhhh

The yellow eyes glassed over, unfocused and horror struck. Shadow pushed forward, painting even more of Sonic’s arm black. Once close enough, he wrapped his arms around his love. So warm. So soft. The poor thing trembled in his embrace. “Shhhh. This is almost over.” He said quietly.

~~I don’t like this.~~

it’s going to be fine

“Good job.” Shadow whispered into Sonic’s ear, his voice a bit haggard from the collapsed lung. “Isn’t this what you wanted?” Black poured down Sonic’s front, covering his red shoes, pooling at their feet. The rain could not wash the color away fast enough.

~~Stop it.~~

this has to happen

Shadow pressed snout into the crook of Sonic’s neck. He took a deep breath. The hero’s bouquet was still perceptible under that of machine oil and stale recirculated air. Shadow’s mouth watered despite his own blood pushing up his esophagus. “You need me to do this.”

~~I don’t want to do this!~~

this is for your own good

Shadow’s claws unsheathed and dug into Sonic’s back. He felt a growing warmth gather his hands. Sonic winched, drawing a sudden sharp breath, and tried to pull back. Shadow held firm, holding his light with crushing tightness. He’d never let go again. They’d be together for Sonic’s forever. Short as that may be.

~~Please! Stop it, please! You’re hurting him!~~

he’s hurting you, Shadow

Shadow bit down into the muscle of Sonic’s neck, his fangs pushing deep, deep down. A decadent sweetness filled his mouth. How he had missed this! His prey struggled in his grasp. The fear and despair made his treat all the sweeter.

The light and the shadow. Once the light went out, only darkness would remain.

~~No!~~

this is who you were meant to be

The pair fell over. Gloved hands weakly pawed at Shadow’s side. Soon it would be over.

~~No!~~

time to say goodbye

~~Shadow vomited up the oily black sludge. He clawed it out of his eyes and ears. Flayed himself ripping it off his skin. Get it OFF! Get it OUT! GET IT OUT!~~

what are you doing?

~~He desperately looked around. He was so deep down the dark slope. The red eyes surrounded him, begging him to stay. He could barely see the light above.~~

you asked for this. you wanted this. you need this.

He dug his fingers into the steep slimy slope. Hand over hand he climbed. Thick ichor poured down on him, threatening to knock him back down. Shadow grit his teeth. Sharp shards cut into his hands. He would not be deterred. He would not be stopped. He was the Ultimate Lifeform and he alone would decide his fate!

stop! come back!

please, Shadow, come back!

Shadow ripped his mouth away from Sonic’s neck, gasping for air, and retracked his claws. His stomach seized and he wretched bright red mixed with dark purple onto the pavement below them. “Sonic!” He moaned. The blue head lay turned to the side, yellow eyes staring blankly at nothing.

Shadow’s heart pounded and he tried to pull away but was unable. He looked between them. Sonic’s arm was still stuck through him, and Shadow had healed around the limb. Fighting back the urge to vomit again, Shadow took a breath and then ripped himself off Sonic. More dark purple blood and gore poured over the blue coat and mixed with the bright red pooling under him.

No no no no no no no! He didn’t mean it! He didn’t mean it. Please, please, please Sonic. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Please wake up, please!

Shadow went to lift the limp body-

And a blow to the head sent him spinning in the air. He landed roughly, leaving a grotesque smear across the ground, and slowly pulled himself up.

Two of the fakes stood between him and Sonic, while a third was lifting the hero, gingerly. Overhead, the cloud of drones was reforming. One descended and scanned the bloodied form. Shadow’s vision dimmed. He’d lost a lot of blood. His body was inoperable without an infusion of chaos energy.

But none of that mattered, because he was a disgusting monster who only ever caused pain and suffering to those who foolishly cared for him. He tried to stand, but a wave of nausea crested over him and he wretched again. Sonic was still on his lips. In his mouth. Down his throat. Leeching out the hole in his chest.

Shadow didn’t have any chaos energy left, and he could feel a gentle sucking sensation in his mind, drawing him back into the abyss. The relief his body screamed for was right there, still available. The two fakes advanced. Shadow closed his eyes and bowed his head. He tried to focus on Sonic.

i forgive you

His sparkling eyes.

you weren’t ready

His musical laugh.

i’ll still be here

His cocky attitude.

when you are ready

His unwavering optimism.

i love you

Shadow’s ears pricked. A slight whistling?

we all love you

A sudden mighty impact blasted Shadow backwards. One of the fakes exploded into a cacophony of red cubes. A plume of dust erupted upwards, obscuring the crater.

Shadow lifted to his feet, squinting into the murk, his brain trying to make sense of what had just happened. His breath hitched.

“Amy!” His voice came out a little higher pitched than his ego would normally allow, but circumstances were certainly extraordinary at the moment.

Having fallen from the sky like the enforcer of Chaos itself, the pink hedgehog stood straight, her hammer buried in the pulverized pavement, as the dust settled. Amy turned, her green eyes shining, her smile blinding, her voice like a chorus of angels. “Shadow! I’m here to help!”

Amy and Knuckles had clung to the top wing as Tails lowered the Tornado through the cloud cover over what should have been the glowing metropolis of Central City. Though there were some fires visible through the precipitation, a safe drop zone wasn’t readily apparent.

Then a massive dome of green light erupted, illuminating the utter devastation of the city center as it consumed several blocks of tall buildings. “Chaos Above.” Knuckles cursed. “There. We need to go there right now!”

“What was that?” Amy yelled over the storm.

“Shadow.” Knuckles stood up. “Help on the parameter, Amy. I’ll handle this.” He spread his arms, and the wind ripped him off the wing into the darkness.

“Knuckles!” Amy screamed.

“Where do you want me to take you, Amy?” Tails asked.

“Get me right on top of that chaos blast.”

“But Knuckles said-“

“I don’t care what Knuckles said!”

“THE SLOWEST HEDGEHOG IS CORRECT. SITUATION IS CRITICAL. SEPARATION OF OPERATIVES IS INADVISEABLE.”

“Exactly!”

Tails grumbled but adjusted his trajectory. The blast had faded, but a strange collection of red lights seemed to be flowing through the city towards where it had been like a flurry of fireflies. Sage. There was no way she didn’t know they were there. Heck, the only reason they knew about the attack was because she let them. They’d been invited to participate. Meaning this whole situation was a trap.

“Alright, we’re getting close! Ready?”

“Be careful, Miss Amy!” Cream called through the headset.

“Ready!” Amy lifted, her hammer slung over her shoulder and other hand lightly holding the lip of the wing. “Keep an eye on Tails, Omega!”

“NEGATIVE. MISSION PARAMETERS HAVE ADJUSTED TO ALIGN WITH A HIGHER PRIORITY DIRECTIVE.”

“What?” Tails was genuinely surprised. He was finally free of his multiple-ton, murder-bot babysitter?

“HIGHEST PRIORITY DIRECTIVE FROM SUPREME COMMANDER ROUGE: STOP SHADOW FROM DOING STUPID SHIT.” And with that the robot cut its thrusters and fell out of the sky like a dense tungsten rod dropped from geostationary orbit.

Tails found himself snorting. But then he flinched, realizing they were- “Over the drop zone! Godspeed Amy!”

“Stay safe, Tails.” The pink hedgehog pushed off and was quickly lost in the rain and darkness.

The rainstorm had blown in quickly. Chaos readings in the area were elevated and the likely culprit of the sudden tumultuous downpour. Thanks Shadow. Tails could see little out of the windshield and instead focused on his console. He’d flown through worse…though his stomach grumbling didn’t help his concentration.

Lightning peeled across the sky, far too close for comfort. Cream screamed in the co-pilot seat behind him. “Hang on!” He cried, trying to bring them up. If they could get back above the cloud cover, the air would be a lot less turbulent. However, flying at the Tornado’s turbulence penetration speed made the climb slow going.

Tails was soaked to the bone once they broke through the storm into clear skies. He released a sigh as the shattered moon and endless field of stars greeted them. Cream gave out a whoop and Tails found himself smiling.

In the darkness, he completely did not see the small spherical drone hovering stationary before colliding with it, snaping off one of the propeller blades and shearing the left lower main plane completely off the fuselage.

Help me, Omega! I need to cut this tension!

Omega: I AM RAPIDLY APPROACHING YOUR LOCATION

No wait!

It’s fine…I didn’t like that wall anyway.

It’s okay, guys. Tails and Cream can fly.

If I were to be, say, in the mood to drop a few Benjamins on an art commission, what scenes would you guys like to see?