{(A BIG thank you to Amii-Art for this art shown above! She's a real sweetheart who you guys totally need to check out! Find her on Instagram and deviantART under the name of Amii-Art!)}
The blue hedgehogs face heated up as he fought back the tears, he has had these monstrosities in his mouth before, but back then, it didn't matter. He was not a hero, he didn't have to be picture perfect, now. He does.
And nothing is more embarrassing for him than having these placed back upon his teeth, he huffed as his ear twitch, he heard the machine turn off and the white cat leaned back, she smiled and began to check his mouth.
"All right, Mr. Sonic. Your braces are done, how do they feel, is there any uncomfort?" She asked as she watched the little hedgehog sit up, he placed his fingers on his swollen cheeks.
"Ouch!- Ssey hurth-!?" Sonic quickly covered his mouth, wide-eyed at the sudden lisp, the dentist laughed.
"Yes, well, that is a side effect, work on your words some in your free time and you'll get rid of your lisp in no time!" She said, Sonic felt his face heat up, he shook his head quickly to shake off the now bubbling tears. He quickly diverted his head as his adopted mother, Vanilla, walked in.
"I'm sorry I couldn't have come sooner, Sonic, how does your mouth feel?" Sonic hesitated an answer, but if he didn't answer his beloved mother would worry herself.
"My cheekss are ssswollens..." Sonic said, his face heated up more as Vanilla placed a hand over her mouth and began to giggle, Vanilla smiled and walked over, gently rubbing the hero's back.
"We'll have to work on that lisp of yours, or no one will be able to understand our beloved hero." The rabbit stood up and made her way to the door, "C'mon, Tails, and Knuckles are waiting for us, Cream too." Sonic slid off of the operating chair as the cat handed him a bag full of items he needed to use on a daily basis now.
"Sonic! How'd it go? How do your teeth feel!?" Tails asked as he jumped down from the waiting chair, his twin tails wagging as his voice happily rang.
Sonic sighed, "My cheesehah- My cheekss-" Sonic looked away as his ears folded back, instantly picking up on Knuckles giggles and laughter, he looked over at Tails who was doing his best, but failing miserably, at hiding his own laughter.
"Sonics cheeks hurt and he's, as you can tell, having trouble talking." Both Tails and Knuckles burst into laughter as Sonics face flushed a deep red, Sonic quickly turned away.
"I- Bahaha, I wish I was recording- ahahaha, that!" Knuckles said as he gripped his own stomach.
"I need to make- Gahahaha, that his ringtone!" Tails added, Sonics muzzle began to feel the streaks of tears running down his cheek, in a sudden sonic boom. He was gone. "Why'd he run off?"
"Mr. Sonic! I made you a present!" Cream cheered as she came skipping in, holding a flower crown, "Mama, where'd Mr. Sonic go?" She asked as she looked around.
"I-I'm not sure, Cream darling, he just ran off."
Sonic let out soft sobs as he ran, not much-paying attention to where he was running, warm bubbles of tears flying off his cheeks and freezing in the below 0 wind around him. Slowly, Sonic had come to a stop, he trembled as he remembered the faces of his friends as he tried to speak.
They were laughing. AT HIM.
His best friends, his FAMILY, they were laughing at him with no remorse whatsoever. Sonic choked out more sobs as he desperately tried to messily wipe his tears away with the palm of his hands.
"D-Damnsss ith all!" Sonic yelled, "Isss all your faults Doom!" Sonic cried out again, his body trembling in anger and cold, the memories of his final battle with Doom flashing back to him.
Flash Back_
"I find it interesting, Shadow, that you've come to care for this mobain boy," Doom said as Shadow heaved and panted, his eyes locked onto the bloodied bandage around Sonics waist. "Not only do you express true emotions around him freely, but you threw a tantrum when a G.U.N agent shot him while your back was turned." Shadow let out a hefty growl.
"Let him go now." Shadow spat as he stood up, his wounds already healing as Dooms armada lay in waste.
"You are desperately trying to remember everything G.U.N took from you, I promised you that I could bring these memories back to you, yet you chose to go with empty promises from a rodent?"
"Maria told me to help and protect the humans, something you have no interest in doing. I made a promise to her!" Shadow picked up the alien gun and quickly cocked it, Doom rubbed Sonics chest as he held the injured boy by his head, Sonic's eyes slowly opened. "Put. Him. DOWN." Shadow hissed as his quills raised in anger.
"It's a good thing you're not the hand that feeds me!" Sonic threw his head back and bit down on the alien thumb, Doom hissed in anger and quickly clamped Sonics head, forcing him to let go.
"Why you- What perfect little teeth you have, why don't I change that!?" Doom quickly swiped Sonics cheek with his free hand, Sonic went flying across the battlefield, clutching his bruising cheek. None of his teeth had fallen out, but boy were they out of place.
"You son of a bitch!" Shadow cried as he clutched his knee, Sonic heard a bone break as something shot out of Shadows back
Shadow was entering his true form, Sonic slowly blacked out as Shadow let out a haunting cry.
Reality_
"Argh!!!" Sonic cried as he gripped his quills, he had perfect teeth merely a month ago, why did Doom have to ruin him like this, Sonic felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Shadow asked as he kneeled down next to the heroic male, Sonic looked up at Shadow, Shadow let out an internal gasp as he saw the thick stream of tears running down his face.
"Ss-Ssadow!?" Sonic quickly turned away and began to whip the tears on his face, Shadow cuffed Sonics cheeks.
"Sonic..." The boy stayed quite, "Why are you crying?"
"No rethon..." Shadow tilted his head, it took him some time to process what the smaller hedgehog had said.
"Why do you have a lisp?" Shadow asked once more,
"Brathes..." Shadow harden his grip and slowly opened Sonics mouth, he smiled and let out a chuckle.
"You got braces!" Shadow continued to chuckle, Sonic quickly turned his head away.
"Thut up..." Shadows ear twitched,
"Pardon?"
"Thop laussing at me..." Sonic cried as he shot up, Shadow stood up as well, he reached out for Sonic, only for his hand to get slapped away.
"Faker, I wasn't laughing at you." Sonic whipped around and gave Shadow a stare that could kill.
"Thince when AREN'T you luassing at me!?" Shadow was taken aback by Sonics sudden outburst.
"Sonic...? Why are you so angry?" Sonics muzzle scrunched up as he power walked to Shadow, Shadow, on the other hand, took some steps back.
"You wouldn'th underthands! No one doeth!" Sonic lisped out, his face heating up in anger as he clutched Shadows G.U.N jacket. "I'm ssthe hero! I can't lithp or hase any imperfectionsss!" Sonic cried out as he shoved Shadow away.
"Says who hedgehog!?" Shadow yelled, angry by the others actions.
"Everyone!" Sonic cried out, his voice cracking halfway through, "I'm... ssthe hero... I'm sssuposed to be perfectss" Sonic whispered as his eyes burned from his tears, "You don'tss, you can be fildss wiss flawss and imperfectionsss and no mobian will caress." Shadow stared down at the shorter hedgehog.
"Sonic, I get judged too, I'm compared to you all the time," Shadow said as he reached over and pulled Sonics head up, Sonics soft face went hard as he felt pain rush through his heart.
"Tho!? Sshe only flawss sthey ever point outss about you isth your perthonality!" Sonic yelled, he pulled away from Shadows gently touch. "Sssonic, tell me, ifs Ssadow isth you from anosser universth, why aren't you az handthsome as him!? Or az talls!?" Sonic said, mimicking that of an interviewer, these are all questions Sonics been asked in actual interviews.
"Sonic..." Shadow mumbled.
"Damnss itss Ssadow!" Sonic cried out as his eyes burst into tears once more, "I wiss I wasth az perfectss az you! I wiss I wasth az tall! I wiss I wasth az handsome! I wiss I didn't have to ssthand on a benchss to look you in sshe eyes!" Sonic collapsed as he wipes away his tears, all Shadow could do was stare down in shock. "I don't want to be judgeth all sshe time! It scaress me, Ssadow..." Shadow kneeled down to hug the weeping teenager, but the snow blew up and a gust of wind whipped past him.
"Oh, Sonic..." Shadow looked back as the saw the blue streak streaked away.
Time Skip_
"Sonic, your home," Vanilla said calmly as she watched her adopted son walk through the door, her cheery face turned sour as she looked at the burning red bags on his cheeks and the soreness of his bloodshot eyes. "Sonic... have you been crying?" The boy ignored his mother and quickly walked to his room, Tails walked out from his own room.
"What happened?" Tails asked as he watched Sonic disappear up the polished stairs, Vanilla looked down,
"I'm not sure, try and talk to him Tails." The 8-year-old nodded and walked up the oak stairs and to the second largest bedroom in the house, Tails opened the sliding door and walked in, he looked around the cream and brown room. Sonic was lying in his bed, his back turned from him and his body huddled under his pastel yellow comforter. Tails took note of Sonics shoe placement, they were disorganized and scattered around the room, something Sonic never did.
"Hey, Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked as he sat down on the edge of his older brothers bed. Sonic said nothing, Tails swallowed hard, "Are you mad at Knuckles and me?" He asked again, there was no response, Tails kicked his feet and looked down. "I'm sorry..."
"For sswhat?"
Tails looked up and over, Sonic hadn't moved at all, "For laughing at you... I know it's not easy on you, but I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings..." Tails ears went down as he heard the creek of Sonics bed.
"Don't be sssorry, I'm not mad atss you..." Tails looked over to catch Sonic's eyes looking into his, Sonic smiled and opened his arms, Tails happily lunged into that hug. Sonic smiled and giggled as he quickly cuddled his self-proclaimed little brother.
"Dinner's almost ready, wash your hands!" Tails and Sonic got out of the squishy bed and walked to the bathroom, Cream, and Cheese already washing their hands.
To Shadow_
"I'm sorry, you want us to do what!?" Rouge scoffed as Knuckles stared just as dumbfounded.
"Better yet, why?" Knuckles asked as he crossed his arms, the glow of the master emerald enhancing his masculine features.
"Just... Please, I understand it may sound weird, but I not only need you guys, I need every one of his friends to agree to this." Rouge looked surprised, Shadow the hedgehog, the ultimate lifeform, was BEGGING not only to her, but Knuckles.
"Us doing this is that important to you, huh? Okay, we'll get it done tomorrow."
"Fine- Wait, WE!? Rouge, I didn't agree to this!" Shadow smiled as the two bickered back and forth, two down, too many to go. Shadow chaos control away, Blaze raised a brow as Silver leaned against Mephiles.
"This is quite an odd thing to request, Shadow, what is the purpose of us doing this?" Blaze asked, her foot bouncing up and down as she sat cross-legged on her couch.
Silver jumped in, "Yeah, kinda out of the blue, stripes." Mephiles looked over at his husband and sighed.
"This is quite sudden, may I ask the reason why you are requesting us to do such a random thing?" Mephiles asked as he kissed Silvers hand, which was boredly playing with his ear a moment ago.
"It's just... Its important to me, and I need everyone to agree." Blaze tapped her phone, she pulled it out and began typing, he claws clicking against the screen.
"We'll do it, and to save you some time, I'll text Espio." Shadow nodded and looked over to the married couple.
"She's the boss," Mephiles said,
"You know, Blaze, you don't need Shadows stupid request to text Espio.~ Just tell him you got the hots for him already.~" Silver tease, he yelped as his quills lit up in fire, Blaze growled as her white muzzle was beat red
"Don't push it you naive little hedgehog!" Shadow quickly teleported away to avoid catching fire himself, Shadow was very careful about his next target.
"And WHY Should I, Sonics beautiful GIRLFRIEND do this for YOU!?" Amy asked, Shadow felt a knot in his stomach grow, he wanted to grab her by her quills and throw to the next kingdom over.
'How in chaos's good name does Sonic put up with this bitch...' Shadow thought he cleared his throat. "It's for Sonics well being, please-"
"Okay! I'll do this for you, MY LOVE!" Shadows eye twitched as he simply sighed, he made his way to Tails lab, there laid a sleeping Cosmo, he gently shook her awake.
"So... You want all of us to participate in this?" Cosmo asked as she sat in the heated greenhouse, Shadow nodded, Cosmo stood up. "Well, we gotta be quite 'cause Sonic might hear us when we tell Tails and Vanilla." Shadow nodded, the two aliens snuck their way into the cake smelling house, Cosmo went for Tails room and Shadow gently knocked on Vanillas door.
"Hmm, is something wrong Son- Shadow?" Vanilla looked up at the male, he placed a finger to his lip and guided the seamstress downstairs. Tails was already waiting with Cosmo by his side. Vanilla smiled and nodded, "I think we can do that, right Tails?" Tails nodded with a smile, Shadow signed, his work was done for tonight, now the painful part comes.
Time Skip_
Sonic sighed as he walked down the snowy sidewalk, since he got his braces, he's been doing his absolute best to not smile or talk. But it was hard for him, he felt his phone vibrate, Sonic pulled out his phone, which barely fit in his hand, and looked at his messages.
Tails:
"Hey, Sonic, do you think you could meet us at Vanillas house, we got a surprise for you!"
Sonic, not being able to read due to never having a proper education, held his finger down on the text, his phone buzzed and a male leopard zapped out.
"Would you like me to read the message out loud for you, Sonic?" Sonic nodded as he looked at his phones version of Nicole.
"Yesss Thebathtain..." Sonic covered his mouth, Sebastian smiled and quickly read the message aloud. Sonic nodded as he put his phone away, Sebastian returned to his place in the phone. A sonic boom echoed the land as the hero sped off to his house. When Sonic walked into the warm house, he was greeted by the frowning faces of all his friends, each one pouting at him. Even Cream and Cosmo.
"Whatss wrong?" Sonic asked as he looked at each one of them, they all looked at each other, then back at Sonic. Their faces lit up and they smiled at him.
Braces. They all had Braces.
"Whats..." Sonic asked as Blaze looked over and walked past Vector, she ran her tail under an invisible character, Espio jumped out of his skin but quickly smiled too as Blaze soothingly scratched his scaly chin.
"It wathsn't our idetha," Rouge said as she shrugged, Sonic looked at the white bat as he long white hair was tied into a bun.
"Yeath! It wasth Ssadows idetha..." Silver said as he adjusted his swollen jaw, Sonic's eyes widen.
"He came to usth and asskedss usth to do ssith for you." Tails said as he mimicked Sonics signature thumbs up, Sonic looked down.
"Whereth isth Ssadow?" Sonic asked as he grabbed the hem of his sweater.
"Ath sshe park," Rouge said as she placed a hand on her hip before anyone could say anything else and Amy could latch onto him. He boomed right out the door. Vanilla smiled down at Cream.
Shadow stood under a snow-covered tree as he let the wind guide his long quills elsewhere, the sudden change in the air currency is what alerted him to the mobian he's been waiting for. Shadow turned around to see the smaller, shorter hedgehog looking at him. Sonic looked down as the cream-colored muzzle flushed red.
"Ssank you!" Sonic said, he grabbed Shadow by the hand and guided him towards a nearby park. Sonic stopped in front of a park bench, onlookers quickly took out their phones, Shadow walked up to the bench. Sonic stopped the ebony other from sitting down and instead stepped onto the seat, hoisting his body mass onto the wood. Sonic looked Shadow eye to eye as he stood on the park seat, Sonic quickly latched onto Shadow, his arms wrapped tightly around the neck of the ebony male. Shadow extended his arms and wrapped them around Sonics waist. Shadow lifted Sonics legs up and wrapped them around his own torso as the warm embrace only got warmer.
"Ssank you thoooo much!" Sonic cried, his tears dripping from his muzzle onto Shadows G.U.N leather jacket, Shadow let Sonic down and looked at the shorter male. Onlookers gasped at the scene before them. Shadow reached his hand out and gently cuffed Sonics left cheek, using his gloved thumb to wipe the tears away at the same time. Shadow revealed the sun kisses all over Sonics muzzle, the makeup Sonic wore to have that picture perfect look wearing off on Shadows glove.
Shadow smiled. Sonics tears swelled more.
Blue and green braces decorated Shadows teeth.
Sonic gripped Shadows wrist with his smaller hand and nuzzled his face further into his palm, his tears running down as Sonic for the first time since he got his braces.
Smiled back at Shadow.