Chapter Text
An electric blast went through Sonic's body. It was so strong that even Shadow was able to feel the painful energy in his body where his hand was touching him. Shadow lowered his gaze, his face barely hiding signs of uncertainty about the instantly made decision.
His hands moved fast, picking Sonic up in a sort of forced embrace.
"I never knew you were a hugger."
Sonic didn't budge at what could've been seen as a sudden display of affection from Shadow, simply resting his head on his shoulder. He knew all too well that his black counterpart would do something like this in times of emergency only. Still, feeling his friend's warm fur against his growingly cold body was reassuring.
"Do you want me to save you or not?"
Shadow's tone was firm, but his hands involuntarily squeezed Sonic's shoulder, bringing him even closer to his body.
The blue hedgehog has opened his mouth to answer, but one more energy crack has gone through his body, and this time it was too much to take in, making him go completely limp.
Shadow frowned, his face turning determined to save Sonic. His once-bright, deep blue fur was almost fully see-through, and it was getting worse with each energy crack, which was now hurting Shadow as well.
He didn't lose another moment, pushing away from the shattered pieces around him so hard that his legs began to hurt from all the strain.
One more energy blast. One more shattered piece behind.
Shadow looked up, the green light of their own world finally shining close enough. Getting as close to his top speed as he only could with Sonic in his hands, he made a final go for it, pushing away from the ground with so much power that he swore he heard it shatter even more.
A beautiful trail of black and red moved through the space, right to the portal of the original Green Hills. The blue trail, once the brightest one, was so weak that an unknowing eye would think its dim light to be a mere trick of the light.
The owner of the so-called red and black trail, however, knew that it was neither a trick of the light nor a hallucination. It was a life on the verge of death. Mere moments away from its saving, yet mere moments away from disappearing as well.
They entered the portal with a big flash of light, like a family member welcoming you home.
While consumed by the brightness, heartbeats away from blacking out and making everything go back to normal, Shadow prayed that they made it in time.
Because for a second, just for a split moment, he felt Sonic disappear from his embrace.
Shadow’s eyes haltingly flared open, his hand slowly going up to cover his face from the bright light. He let out a silent grunt, sitting up and looking around. Green Hills were normal again, saturated colors hurting his eyes almost to the same degree as the sunlight. Birds were flying around, one even sitting close to Shadow's leg, probably wondering what the ultimate lifeform was doing here, lying on the ground in the middle of the day.
His head was pulsating with numb pain, making it hard to concentrate. Still, lowering his hand and scaring the bird away, a couple of thoughts ran through his mind. He's home. He's alive. He and Sonic...
Shadow went numb.
Sonic.
Jumping onto his legs, which was a bad idea because the world started spinning so hard he thought he'd fall back down, Shadow's eyes began to rapidly look around, absorbing the surroundings. But no matter how hard he looked through the blurred lenses of what his eyes had become, the blue hedgehog was nowhere to be found.
Where's Sonic?
Wasn't he supposed to wake up next to Shadow? They entered the portal together, didn't they?
Shadow's breathing was shallow, his chest going up and down as his head spun around in a desperate search.
Didn't they?
Taking a shaky breath, Shadow ran his hands through his quills. He has to calm down. Obviously, it wasn't the moment he thought it was. To make everything go back to normal, they had to go back to before Sonic shattered the Prism. Shadow's head jerked up, his frown deepening as he looked at the mountain where it all began. If he's correct, Sonic and his friends were supposed to be there.
Swiftly stretching his shoulders, he got ready to take off, hoping to run into Sonic on his way up there.
However, skating through the island, he saw no signs of his acquaintance, even though having him run around, leaving the blue trail of energy behind, was all too common for such sunny days. Sonic's absence was painfully obvious.
Keeping up his pace, it took Shadow mere seconds to get to the top of the mountain, passing what was left of Eggman's machines on his way there. Getting closer to the entrance, Shadow heard lively voices talking. His tension began to subside. Jumping onto the top of the rock that was half-blocking the entry to the Prism cave, he looked down.
To find everyone standing right there around the Prism.
Everyone, but Sonic.
Shadow stopped, frozen in place, unlike his brain, which was frantically trying to find an explanation. To his disappointment, however, no decent thoughts were finding their way to his head, making the already present knot between his brows deepen some more.
Rouge was the first to sense his presence, her ear flickering to pick up his shallow berating. She turned her head, tilting it with a sly smirk on her face.
"My, oh my, look who's here. Didn't expect you to show up, Shadow," she rested a hand on her hips, fully facing him, her wings gently flapping a few times. Once the words left her lips, everyone else turned to look at their guest as well, following Rouge's gaze.
"Shadow?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "What are you doing here?" His voice was stern, even though Shadow knew he didn't mean any harm. Not that he would try to harm him anyway. He and Knuckles had a relationship built around mutual respect towards each other, so seeing them fight became quite a rare sight in recent times.
Amy stepped closer, picking up on Shadow's nervousness. "It's not like you to look for our company without a reason," she crossed her gaze with Tails, who just shrugged and shook his head. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, what happened?" the fox added, his tails calmly moving behind his back.
Shadow took a deep breath, jumping down and into the cave. His eyes glazed around the opening they were in, swiftly brushing past the Prism that was pulsing with a rainbow of lights. He rushed past the others, taking the Prism into his hands and into some kind of safety. Hiding it in his quills, he turned to face the crowd that was patiently waiting for an answer.
"Ask Sonic instead," he said, his voice raspy from being silent for all this time. "He should be the one to explain everything. It was his fault after all," Shadow looked around again, hoping to see the blue blur pop up behind a wall. Unfortunately, Sonic didn't. "Where is he anyway?"
The others exchanged glances before facing Shadow once again.
"What are you talking about?" Rouge's smirk turned into a confused grimace.
Shadow shook his head. "It's too much to explain, I'm not going to waste my time on it," his gravelly voice echoed off the walls of the cave. "Where's Sonic?"
Amy stepped forward, placing a hand on Rouge's shoulder.
"I'm pretty sure she meant to ask-"
"Who are you talking about?" Knuckles decided that taking a soft approach to this issue was a waste of time, interrupting Amy and directly stating the question.
Amy closed her mouth and shook her head, visibly irritated but at the same time not bothered enough to talk back.
Upon hearing these words, Shadow's gaze locked on Knuckles. His normal frown was gone, and one could even think that there was a hint of disturbance in his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice strained, trying to keep calm.
Rouge rolled her eyes. "He means, darling, that we have no idea who this 'Sonic' you're talking about is," she crossed her arms, watching as Shadow turned to face her.
An unpleasant silence fell between them. Shadow moved his gaze to everyone else, then looked back at Rouge. "Is this some kind of a sick joke?" His low voice was filled with now audible anger mixed with confusion. "I have no time for this," he grunted.
"Shadow, we don't know anyone with this name," Amy rested her hand on her hammer, her eyes carefully examining Shadow's face. "Are you sure we know him?"
"I'm not sure I've ever heard this name," Tails mumbled under his breath, holding his chin in his hand. Knuckles nodded, agreeing with his friend. "Neither have I."
Something in Shadow's chest tightened, making him feel sick. It didn't look like they were joking. He wasn't even sure that they'd agree to this in the first place; Shadow wasn't exactly known for liking jokes. And Tails saying that he's never heard Sonic's name, even though Sonic has been his role model for years? That was wrong. Everything here was wrong.
Shadow felt the fur on his hands stand up. He shook his head.
"This is wrong," his voice was quiet, shaky against his own will. He grabbed his head in his hands, leaning forward and frantically thinking.
"Shadow? Is everything alright?" Amy reached out her hand, stopping it right before touching his shoulder. Rouge, Knuckles, and Tails also came closer, adding to the suffocating pressure Shadow was feeling.
"What happened to that 'Sonic'? Why are you looking for him?" Knuckles' voice was steady, not at all worried at Shadow's sudden collapse.
"We can help look for him, if you want?" Tails added, nodding slightly.
Their voices were echoing off the surrounding walls, adding to all the roaming thoughts Shadow had inside his head. He needed some time alone. Straightening his back, the hedgehog turned to leave, not caring to explain himself. He shouldn't waste any time on them. Pushing away from the ground, he jumped out of the cave, sliding down the mountain with his air shoes. He heard Rouge call out his name, but no one tried to pursue him. It would've been in vain anyway, since the only person who was able to keep up with him was currently missing.
Once this thought crossed Shadow's mind, he failed to keep his balance, tumbling down, the momentum sending him rolling across the dirt. Pain shot through him, each roll counting every bone in his body. Stopping after meters of plowed land right on the cliff edge and a full mouth of dirt, he rolled onto his back, spitting everything out and gulping for air. A couple of seconds went by with Shadow merely trying to get himself together, staring up into the sky, where the clouds were following the wind's guide. He slowly sat up, his eyes locking onto the sea he was about to fall in. The breeze was calm, its delicate touch brushing Shadow's skin. Unlike his mind, the surroundings he found himself in were eerily calm. Nobody seemed to understand that something was incredibly wrong.
Summoning all his strength, Shadow forced himself to admit it.
Earlier, he didn't imagine it.
Sonic was truly gone.