Chapter Text
Written by someone who only got into sonic four days ago and does not know that much
Chapter One: SO MUCH IS HAPPENING AND THE PLOT IS OFF
Tails recently has been working on a big project and refused to tell anyone about it. Including Sonic, his best friend. Whenever anyone would question him on it, he would become a bit defensive and nearly annoyed. Of course he would never be working on anything malicious. But to be this secretive on it… concerned most of his friends.
He was barely sleeping, and always muttering to himself. It was getting slightly creepy. And after the usual fights with Robotnik, instead of celebrating and getting food with everyone. He would just go back to whatever he was working on.
Sonic particularly would notice the decrease in attention during battles Tails would show. Generally an enthusiastic person, Tails became MORE anxious than he already was.
Coffee became consistent mixed with the constant mints being eaten. Making for a strange mixture of aromas following him.
Amy was the first to try and reason with him, ultimately failing due to Tails brushing her off. Making her annoyed and telling Sonic.
He KNOWS something is up, but it just confuses him more and more. He wants to respect Tails but… There is a limit to privacy versus a cry for help.
"I just don't get it, he always shares everything with me! I understand we need to understand and respect him but… he is losing sleep over this." Sonic ranted to a random Chao. The Chao simply responded with "Chao! Chao." And smiled absent-mindedly. Sonic smiled and patted the Chao's head and then stood up and stretched.
He has been running for a long time today, being a rather tame day. Amy invited him over again but he told her gently that he was busy. Busy running again. A while back, he realized he can make Sonic BOOMS from running so fast he breaks the sound barrier, and he had been trying to find ways to control this, since he found when he does this, he can literally walk on air.
So since then, he had been trying to redo the sonic boom and try to control it at will. Since it could potentially show useful against Eggman, and make him leave everyone alone once and for all.
He yawns and Stretches his back. Seeing a ring on the floor and picking it up and putting it in his pocket. These can prove useful when you need quick travel.
As he prepares to charge forward again, he eyes a fellow hedgehog gliding past. Shadow. His relationship with Shadow was rather… complicated? They are rivals to put it at that. Or at least Shadow seems to see them as that. Sonic sees Shadow as a potential friend. And sees that Shadow has proved to be a great ally… when he wants to be.
Shadow used to work with Dr. Eggman and once tried to kill everyone on earth due to a flawed memory. But in reality, his promise was entirely different. After remembering his REAL promise, he proved to quickly progress to hero work in an efficient manner.
Shadow has always been an extremist. But loosened up over time. Now, he doesn't see Sonic so much as an enemy as just a nuisance.
Still, although they bicker and are at each others throats often, at least Shadow doesn't want to kill him. Or at least, intentionally kill him.
Sonic considers asking for a race. Seeing as Shadow is more competitive of the two, perhaps it would prove to be a useful race. Sonic decided to see Shadow go ahead to catch up with him. It only took a few minutes for the blue hedgehog to later be at the darker one's side.
"Hey Shads!" Sonic grinned and casually ran backwards, facing Shadow's scowl. Shadow rolled his eyes and sped up ahead. Sonic followed after in a quick pursuit. "Shaaads! Don't you know when someone says 'hey' the polite thing to do is at least acknowledge them?" He snickered light heartedly, winking in a joking manner. Shadow raised an unamused eyebrow and simply replied "What do you want? Faker." In a casual yet softly annoyed tone.
Sonic fake gasped and put a gloved hand on his own forehead dramatically "Oh, so I'm not allowed to make casual conversation? Is it illegal?-"
Shadow sighed and stopped in his tracks "Alright spit it out. And stop stalling." A small invisible smile threatened his mouth. Sonic grinned widely and ran in place "Weeeeellll since you asked soooo respectfully~" he held a hand out to Shadow. "How about a friendly race? And maybe a spar afterwards?" The blue hedgehog challenged mischievously.
Shadow eyed his opponents hand with distrust. But, as he had nothing important to do at the moment, it wouldn't hurt to bite. And besides. Maybe it would teach that faker a lesson. What kind of lesson, is still pending.
He took Sonic's hand firmly. Both hedgehogs pausing for a quick stare down. If they were to do this in the past, either one of them would end up seriously injured. Nothing would really change now, but at least they are doing this for fun and not with the intention of physical and mental harm.
"So… what are the rules in mind for the race?" Shadow folded his arms and side glanced Sonic stretching again.
"Oh huh? Well um let's see. You see this coconut tree here? Well, the first one to loop five times around the green hills and reach the tree and touch it successfully five times gets the first free hit in the sparring match afterwards." Sonic pointed to the tree they were standing next to and then gestured to the racing track around them.
Shadow looked unimpressed, but the competitive spirit in him seemed to win his better logic. He shrugged and prepared himself.
Sonic stood there and nodded to Shadow holding up three fingers.
"1…"
"2…"
"3-" not even done with saying number three, Shadow was already off. Sonic grinning and running after him. It seemed fair to give Shadow a bit of a head start but not too much to let him win ahead.
When he got far enough, Sonic sped faster. Feeling the wind around him become hotter. His quills felt sharp and smooth. His legs running autopilot. Thoughts numbing as he paced faster. Shadow looked behind to see Sonic speeding up. He grunted and ran faster ahead. His 'Ultimate Lifeform' complex shining through.
Sonic didn't hesitate to speed up even more. Barely working a sweat. He was so close to Shadow he could just reach out and brush his quills. And as he was going to do that, a coconut hit him in the head. Knocking a few rings out of his pocket.
"WHAT THE HECK SHADOW! That was DIRTY." Sonic whined and rubbed his nose speeding up again. Shadow simply snickered softly ahead.
Knowing Sonic would speed up, he kicked a tree and made a coconut drop to slow him down. Yes, it was a dirty trick, but Sonic never established exact rules. He ran faster ahead, continuously kicking down coconuts and trails of things to throw Sonic off.
It was becoming tiring for the blue hedgehog who tried dodging every one. He could NOT afford to lose any more rings.
To the average human eye, the two racing must look like two beams of light circling randomly.
The first one to touch the Palm tree was Shadow. But only because Sonic tripped over a coconut and accidentally sped past.
Tumbling over, he was able to get back up and turn around enough to catch Shadow smirking as Sonic quickly fumbled to touch the palm tree.
The second match ended with Sonic touching the tree, and Shadow afterwards. The third match ended in Sonic touching it yet again. And the fourth ended in a tie. Both nose to nose racing forth and touching the tree with full force. It's a surprise it hasn't fallen over yet.
Shadow and Sonic are at their last race, about to settle the score once and for all. Energy up high, and sparky remarks thrown back and forth at a rapid speed.
And as they speedily quickened at each other, Shadow was nearing the palm tree when it finally happened. A sonic boom. Sonic couldn't exactly describe how it happened. But it was described as an energy surge like as if he suddenly was holding back this ball of energy increasing and increasing. Electricity surged with a more powerful burst. It threw off Shadow's balance and as soon as Sonic realized what happened, he went after Shadow.
"Oh my chaos… it happened." Sonic whispered to himself in a sort of mystified sense. Shadow on the other hand was royally PISSED. He was flown against a rock harshly due to the explosion surge that came from Sonic. It hurt like HELL.
Sonic quickened his pace in the slowest way he could muster and went to check on the so called Ultimate lifeform. He had many scratches and was sitting looking furious. Sonic carefully and gently sat next to him.
Sonic and Shadow sat in silence for a few moments before Sonic tried to say something, and Shadow absolutely socked him in the face, sending him back.
"What the hell Shadow!-" Sonic exclaimed before Shadow glared at him and walked away. The glare the darker hedgehog gave was icy and cold. One nearer to the stares he used to give Sonic in the past. It sent a frosty shiver up Sonic's quills. He sighed exasperated. Knowing that Shadow would prove it difficult to sit and talk about it. He was never good with expressing feelings and when he locks up, it becomes all the most challenging.
Luckily for Shadow, Sonic was a stubborn idiot who liked challenges. Even if they were an emotionally constipated hedgehog like Shadow.
Sonic went after him and followed him into the the trees. As he was brushing aside bushes and trees, he passed by Tails. Who was crouched down observing some specimen. Sonic stopped and wondered if he should greet him. He decided to take the risk and tap him on the shoulder to say hi and ask if he has seen Shadow.
Only one part of that mini plan was followed through. He tapped Tails on the shoulder which was followed with a quick "DON'T. TOUCH ME." Sonic stepped back a bit confused as Tails turned back and his expression shifted from a glare to a look of nervous relief.
"Oh. Sorry Sonic. I thought you were… nevermind. Why are you here?" Tails stood up awkwardly and covered something with his tails. He had a clipboard dropped on the floor and two pens intertwined with his fur. He had clear eyebags and looked as if he was nearly going to fall over at any time now. The fox had a nearly aged look on his face, and dusty faded spots in his fur, due to working on… whatever he was tinkering with. Sonic stumbled over his words and then spit out "Tails. I should be asking you the same thing. Why are YOU here?" He asked sincerely.
Tails shrugged, still covering whatever was behind him with his tails as they shifted slightly. "Invention stuff. Boring tech stuff, you wouldn't be interested." He replied stifling a yawn. Sonic wasn't 100% convinced and was about to ask more before Tails interrupted his train of thoughts by asking "Did you and Shadow fight again or something? He rushed by looking upset." Even at his most tired state, Tails had a sharp mind and was able to observe things without looking. Sonic groaned softly and looked to the side, flicking a leaf off his quills.
"Did it have to do with that large electricity wave?" Tails questioned, shifting a bit in place, his tails following pursuit faithfully covering behind him. Sonic nodded silently and looked embarrassed and laughed sheepishly. The fox rolled his eyes and shook his head while muttering something to himself.
"What was that?" Sonic asked, not quite catching it. Tails looked up and waved it off "Nothing. I got distracted thinking of something else. Anyways, if you were looking for shadow, he went that way." Tails pointed North at the trees and turned around, getting invested in whatever he was looking at again. Sonic muttered a half hearted "…thanks…" and before leaving, he shifted to try and catch a glance at what Tails was doing, only to be thrown back by a diagram. The diagram had a bunch of numbers not too known. And charts all over.
Sonic felt Tails glance back and ran off. His heart beating loudly with a very off feeling inside him. Sure he didn't know what those numbers meant, but clearly it was something important. One particular diagram caught his eye. But he wasn't sure he saw it clearly.
It was a blue chart with the word "BLUE ELECTRICITY SHOCKWAVE" on it. But maybe it was something his mind made up. Afterall, if it was related to him, why would Tails hide it? And why would Tails hide this from everybody?
He ran past and took shortcuts in the direction Tails pointed. His stomach rumbled a bit, and the mental image of a Chillidog floated in his mind. Chaos, he was hungry. But it might be better to take care of whatever happened with Shadow before taking a snack break.
… is what he said to himself before stopping at a Chillidog stand.