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He always believed in second chances.
No matter how many times the ones around him lectured him for it, he was always willing to give the benefit of the doubt to those that never proved themselves worthy of it. Whether it be his own doppelgangers, or even the mad scientist himself, Dr. Eggman, he always believed that there is good deep down within a person.
It’s why his rival, now boyfriend, Shadow stood next to them as they both hurriedly closed the gaping black hole in front of them.
Really, Sonic wishes he could blame Eggman for this one, but it wasn’t solely the doctor’s fault. Sure he had been missing for about five years prior to their current situation, but how was Sonic supposed to know that while the madman was plotting, a much more dangerous threat was brewing in the background?
What was once a simple plot created by Eggman, is now a giant, gaping black hole that had threatened to suck in Mobius.
He couldn’t help but be slightly reminded of the Metal Virus from all those years ago. He had given Eggman a chance to change then, and Sonic gave him the opportunity to do so once more when he had disappeared.
Sonic would never hear the end of it from the hedgehog next to him.
Both hedgehogs were surrounded by the big black ink, the stars scattered in such a way, that it highlighted Shadow’s already bright form in a gorgeous light. He wished that they could hurry up and close up the void in front of them, so Sonic could put all his attention on the other.
“How are you doing on rings, Shads?” Sonic called out, summoning more of his chaos energy in order to seal the vortex that threatened to swallow them both whole.
“Fine.” Shadow grunted back.
Sonic knew that was a lie, he could see the other discreetly reaching for his wrists, so that he could remove his inhibitors.
“ Shadow. ” Sonic frowned, finally turning towards his lover.
“ What. ” Shadow spit back.
“You said you would keep your promise.”
Shadow went silent, removing his hand from his wrist, and side-eyeing the other.
“You promised.” Sonic repeated, much more sternly.
The hero could hear the growl that erupted from Shadow’s throat. He was frustrated, Sonic knew, and he could understand why his striped counterpart was so agitated with Sonic’s reminder…but Sonic knew he just couldn’t bear the thought of losing Shadow once more.
One time was far too much for Sonic to handle…he couldn’t imagine the guilt he would feel if he let Shadow get away once more, and had to break the news to both Rouge and Omega.
“You know better than that, hedgehog, you know I’m not gonna just sit back while you have all the fun.” Shadow smirked, placing his hand on top of the chaos emerald in Sonic’s hand.
“Heh, yeah, but it was worth a try.” Sonic shrugged, letting the chaos energy flow through his body. “Can you promise me something, though?”
“Depends.”
“Promise me you won’t take those off.” Sonic pointed to the gold rings that lay heavy on Shadow’s wrists. “You know I can’t have you passing out on me.”
“Hmph. We’ll see about that one.” Shadow rolled his eyes, now crossing his arms. The chaos energy had begun to flow through him as well, and both hedgehogs' fur were quickly turning into a golden hue. The six other emeralds had also begun to rotate around the two.
“Shadow…” Sonic sighed, shifting the emerald to one hand and interlaced his fingers with Shadow’s, “Please. You have to promise me that at least.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Neither of us know what’s going to happen out there, I may need to take them off to keep my promise to Maria. You know I can’t go against that.”
“But what about your promise to me ?”
Shadow was stunned into silence. Sonic hated to put Shadow in the “it's me or her” position, but it was important that Shadow made this vow to Sonic.
The gears were working overtime in Shadow’s brain as he slowly came to a decision. What was more important? Well, neither trumped the other, they were just as equally important to him…
But Sonic was still here, and Maria wasn’t. Maria was his past, and Sonic was his present and future.
He knew that with Sonic’s help, neither hedgehog would let a soul on Mobius get hurt.
Shadow sighed, nodding and squeezing Sonic’s hand. “...Fine, I can grant you that much, at least. I will not take off my inhibitors.”
Shadow had focused back at the problem at hand, and was now slowly pushing himself towards the black hole. Inching ever so close that his attacks were effective against the thing, but far enough away that it didn’t swallow him whole. The blue blur joined Shadow by his side, copying his movements. Focus, Sonic…
With chaos energy crackling through his veins and sending it through the palms of his hands, he did everything he could to seal the gaping void, but it seemed that every attempt was futile, both Sonic and Shadow’s powers combined wasn’t enough to seal it.
Tails, Amy and Knuckles were waiting in the modified Tornado nearby, waiting to swoop the two hedgehogs back home to safety, but the black hole was getting closer and closer to their current position, and the hero couldn’t risk their safety, which meant he knew exactly what to do.
He turned to Shadow, opening his mouth to bark out orders, but immediately snapped his mouth shut as he saw Shadow furiously removing his inhibitor rings. He shouted in agony as if the weight upon his wrists and ankles being lifted caused him great pain, and the chaos energy sparked with even more intensity around his boyfriend.
Sonic couldn’t bring himself to say anything, and sped his way towards the other hedgehog, collecting the abandoned inhibitors on the way.
‘No, no, no, you PROMISED.’ Sonic screamed in his head, clutching onto Shadow’s inhibitors tightly. It felt as though time was moving slowly, and Sonic was flying through a field of thick molasses to get to Shadow and pull him away from the fight. Sonic was sure he wasn’t that far from Shadow, so why was everything moving so slow?
“Chaos….!”
Sonic gasped, bringing himself to full speed to stop Shadow before he spoke another word.
“CONTROL!”
Time was no longer real. The stars, the planets, the universe stopped moving, and Sonic was forced to watch as Shadow disappeared into a thin sliver of light alongside the void.
It was eerily quiet now.
Before he knew it, he was able to move normally again, and the first thing he did was dart over to where Shadow was last seen. He sped through the dark inky sky, looking for the dark hedgehog.
There was no sign of the other at all.
He felt his heart shatter into two…there was so much he had left to do with Shadow, they were just getting their life started.
Or at least, Sonic wanted to start their life together,
It was all gone now…all gone because Shadow didn’t keep his promise, and Sonic could feel himself sinking into himself. He would run out of rings soon, but he still had to keep looking for Shadow. He couldn’t go back home without the other. He refused to.
A loud crack brought Sonic out of his sulking, and he perked an ear in the direction of the noise. When he turned, he saw an all too familiar sight.
Shadow was quickly coming out of his super form, gold slowly dissipating from his quills as he lay motionless…
And the black hole wasn’t gone.
This time, it threatened to envelop Shadow in the darkness. Within mere seconds, Sonic was by the other’s side, pulling Shadow’s lifeless body away from the vortex, and distancing them both away from the strong winds it produced.
“Shads…Shads wake up.” Sonic said breathlessly, lightly slapping the dark hedgehog’s face in an attempt to wake him up. The action proved useless, as Shadow remained slumped in Sonic’s arms.
The hero grumbled to himself, he really shouldn’t be doing this right now… even if the black hole was farther than it originally was, they were still running out of time, and Sonic spend much time waking the other up.
He just had to know Shadow was still alive.
Trying to wake Shadow up once more, Sonic shook the other as hard as he could, which prompted the other to crack an eyelid open.
“You idiot.” Shadow mumbled. “You have more important things to do, I don’t have any chaos energy left to help you…”
Sonic breathed, chuckling lightly and pressing his forehead against Shadow’s. He was so relieved to see his boyfriend awake, and acting as he usually would.
Their relationship had its ups and downs, as it took Shadow ten years to finally gain the courage to ask Sonic out. They thought they had everything figured out about the other, but once it had all been made official, they discovered new things every day.
Sonic learned that Shadow ironed his linens every night, and that the dark hedgehog smelled like lavender. Shadow couldn’t stand scents that didn’t smell like the flower, he said everything else gave him a headache.
Shadow learned that Sonic loved to read, and the hero often indulged in the activity when he was spent from running. He had caught Sonic pilfering through his library one night before bed, and once he had found a book that seemed interesting enough, he tucked himself into Shadow’s bed. It was before the two had lived together, and the first time Shadow witnessed it, he felt his heart swell with…
Love.
Shadow’s eyes were closing once more, Sonic knew that it was hard for him to keep consciousness after being in his super form. He was never able to get a good grasp on it, and it had always put him in a coma for a few days. Sonic couldn’t imagine how exhausted the other was, especially since his inhibitors were still removed.
Before Sonic thought twice about his actions, the words fell from his lips.
“Shads…will you marry me, when this is all over?”
Both of Shadow’s eyes cracked open when the words came to fruition, and a look of disbelief formed on his face.
“You cannot be serious right now, hedgehog.”
“I’m very serious.”
“We are both about to be consumed by a giant black hole, and you can’t wait to ask me at any other moment?”
“This might be our last moment, I just wanna know if you would.” Sonic shrugged.
“I never thought of you as a pessimist.” Shadow weakly brought his hand to Sonic’s arm, gripping onto it tightly.
“I consider myself more of an optimist, but even in situations like this, it’s a little hard to see the bright side.” The hero smirked.
“...Will you bring me with you?” Shadow muttered, breaking eye contact with Sonic.
“Answer my question first.”
“...I can’t.”
During their exchange Shadow struggled to stay awake, each word getting weaker and weaker, to the point that Sonic could barely hear his last words before he shut his eyes once more.
With Shadow out of the fight, Sonic turned towards the cosmic entity on his own, letting the chaos energy flow and crack through his veins. It ignited a spark within him, and he felt a newfound drive to put Eggman’s newest plot to rest. He wouldn’t let the end of Mobius be a black hole of all things.
He flicked his nose with his thumb, and settled Shadow’s limp body against his side. He wouldn’t let go, and he wouldn’t give up this fight.
He would do anything to keep everyone safe.
The last thing he remembers is searing white hot pain coursing through him, and everything went black.
***
The hero didn’t remember much after passing out. He knew that he was alive, as he could hear the panicked cries of his friends flickering through his exhausted mind, and he definitely felt that he was still alive.
He also knew that at some point, he had woken up from his coma for a moment, and the first thing he saw was Shadow’s unconscious form laying in the hospital bed next to him. ‘Too far…’ Sonic thought to himself, before dragging himself out of his own bed with what little energy he had, and gripped onto his IV stand tightly. He flopped himself onto his boyfriend’s bed, despite there being little room left for Sonic to lay on. That was okay though, he never minded curling up and practically sleeping on top of Shadow before anyways. The other hedgehog only groaned in response, moving his arm in a more comfortable position, which was around Sonic’s form.
The blue hedgehog couldn’t remember anything other than that, however, and the next time he woke up, it was due to the very loud noises outside their hospital room.
‘I dunno…last time I went in there, Sonic hissed at me as he clutched onto Shadow, should we really bother them right now? I think they’re still passed out.” One voice, which Sonic recognized as Amy’s, said.
‘Oh and Chaos forbid we wake up Shadow with our voices. If you think Sonic is scary when he’s rudely awakened you’ve clearly never been around Shadow.’ Another, more sultry, voice replied, and Sonic identified the voice as Rouge’s.
Amy hummed in response, and Sonic could hear the two walking away, as each footstep got further and further away from the door.
Sonic let out a sigh of relief he didn’t realize he was holding. It wasn’t that he didn’t wanna see his friends. Truly, he’s grateful they saved his reckless self once more, but he had something to discuss with Shadow when the other woke up, and he didn’t want Shadow to get carried away with other topics before Sonic got the chance to talk to him.
Besides, Shadow was very comfortable to lay on, and he didn’t want to move.
Sonic was about to fall asleep once more, listening to Shadow’s heartbeat and finding comfort in the rise and fall of his chest, but it was interrupted by a sharp intake of breath. Sonic raised his head to look at his boyfriend’s face, and could see his eyes fluttering open, wincing at the bright fluorescent lights above them.
Shadow tightened the arm around Sonic unknowingly, trying to curl away from the light, and Sonic couldn’t help but let a fond smile adorn his features.
They were okay.
Shadow was okay.
“Shads…” Sonic whispered, ghosting a hand over the dark hedgehog’s tuft of fur on his chest. “You’re awake.”
“How long?” Shadow mumbled. “How long was I out?”
“I’m not sure…I woke up not too long ago. Or at least, from what I can remember.” Sonic chuckled. “At some point I snuggled up next to you.”
“Can’t keep your hands off me for more than two minutes, can’t you, hedgehog?” Shadow quipped, rubbing his hand up and down Sonic’s arm.
Sonic purred at the action, and decided not to dignify Shadow with a response. Instead, he embraced the comfortable silence between them.
He knew he would have to ruin it eventually.
“What is it?” Shadow said abruptly.
“What is what?” Sonic responded, deciding to play dumb.
“I can practically hear the gears turning in your head. I’m not stupid. So spill.”
Damn. Well, he couldn’t put it off any longer.
“Shadow, how much of our fight do you remember?” Sonic lifted himself off Shadow’s chest and made eye contact with the other hedgehog.
Shadow blinked, staying silent longer than Sonic expected, before opening his mouth, “So it wasn’t a dream.”
Sonic cocked his head in confusion, “What? Why would any of that be a dream? We’re in the hospital , dude.”
“No, you idiot,” Shadow flicked Sonic’s forehead. “Your question. I didn’t dream that?”
“It was very much real.” Sonic said smoothly, trying his best to hide his nerves. “Do I need to ask again?”
Shadow slowly snaked his arms around Sonic’s neck, bringing him closer to his face before muttering a soft ‘yes’.
“Shadow the Hedgehog…will you marry me?” Sonic softly said back. Like it was a secret. A secret kept between the two of them and locked away forever.
“What will I do when you inevitably leave my side?”
“Look back at our memories fondly.”
“What if I regret it?”
“You won’t. You’ll regret it if your next words aren’t ‘Yes, I will marry you, Sonic.’” Sonic teased. “We’ve been over the whole immortal thing before. Please don’t let it stop you from being happy, Shads.”
“Yes, I will marry you, Sonic.” Shadow had a brief smirk flash across his features, before they smoothed down to the neutral expression he usually carried. It was a good thing Sonic was so good at reading his expressions though, because his eyes said a thousand words to the hero.
“Really?” Sonic breathily chuckled. “You mean it?”
“Don’t make me take it back, hedgehog.” Shadow rolled his eyes.
“Woohoo!” Sonic jumped out of Shadow’s embrace and sat on his knees, pumping his fists in the air. “I can’t believe I’ll be able to call you ‘husband’ soon.”
“Hmph, be quiet. Do you want the entire ward to hear you?”
“Yes, yes I do. I get to marry the Shadow the Hedgehog. Don’t you know how exciting that is?”
“I guess I do see the appeal.” Shadow shrugged. “Now stop kneeing me in the ribs and lay down. I have a headache and your screeching isn’t helping.”
“Alright, alright you rest. I have a lot of thinkin’ to do.” Sonic flopped back down next to his fiance, wrapping his arms around Shadow tightly.
“Never took you as the type to take weddings so seriously. Has Amy rubbed off on you?”
“Wedding? Shads, don’t be ridiculous. You know in the end we’re both just gonna go sign the certificate and get it over with.” Sonic laughed. “Neither of us have the patience for all that.”
“You know how pissed off Rouge and Tails would be if we didn’t have a wedding though?”
“Eh, that sounds like a later problem. For now let’s focus on getting out of this hospital, yeah?”
“...Yeah.”