He was running. That was easy enough to see. He was running, straight through a dark forest at record-breaking speed, although anyone who knew this particular runner would know that he was far from his full speed. He could reach speeds no one else could dream of for he was the world's Fastest Thing Alive – no one else came close to matching him. Well, almost no one, but this isn't supposed to be about fakers.
Why was he running, you might wonder. This would be one of the most simple questions one could ask, if it were a typical day.
Sonic ran because he wanted to. This would be the short answer. The long answer would be that the blue blur ran because he enjoyed feeling the wind hitting his face and sliding through his quills. He enjoyed hearing the quickened beating of his own heart as he pushed himself forward, reminding him how alive he was. He liked the bright, colourful streak he left behind, leaving his foes in the dust and laughing triumphantly after another day of butt kicking. And so on.
These would be perfectly reasonable answers as to why Sonic ran, on a normal day. But this was not a normal day. This was an out-of-the-ordinary day.
Sometimes a day that's out-of-the-ordinary can be a good thing. But today was not a good day. Today, something terrible had happened.
Something horrible.
Something awful.
Sonic ran. If he ran, he could not think about today, he could not think about what had happened and he could not feel scared. Sonic had been scared.
If he ran, he was not scared because he could not think. So he ran.
He picked up speed, anxious to get away from today. Sonic did not usually run away. He ran a lot but he never ran away.
Until today. He gained more and more velocity. He could not go back, he knew. Not now. He would not be able to handle it. Amy would still be weeping in anguish; Knuckles would still be screaming to high heavens, Cream would still be shaking in grief.
And Tails. No, Sonic could not think about this. He told himself he was not going to think about this.
He picked up the pace and the wind rushed past his ears as the world started to blur. He hadn't been paying any attention to his surroundings anyway, so he didn't really care. Sonic couldn't care about anything at the moment.
He knew they were worrying. He knew they thought he was going to do something really, really stupid. But he was not going to turn back, he was not going to turn back to the storm and the fight and the blood. Yes, there had been blood. He could not face it.
He should have taken the storm as an omen. They shouldn't have gone out that day, to fight Robotnik when it was hammering down with rain, and thunder and lightning were crashing and flashing every minute. He shouldn't have allowed Tails to accompany him. Sonic should have dealt with the robots on his own.
He was trying not to think, he really was. He continued to push himself forward, through the dark and the trees, and the rain. Night had fallen and he could barely see where he was going but still, he didn't care. It only meant that the others wouldn't be able to find him. Not even the faker would find him out here.
"Sonic!"
Spoke too soon.
Sonic ignored the call and continued onward, knowing that stopping would mean he would completely lose it. If he stopped, the tears he had been holding back would fall like waterfalls and he didn't want to cry. Especially not in front of Shadow.
Once upon a time, pride would have been the reason he never showed any weakness to the black hedgehog. He was too smug to allow himself to appear feeble in front of him – it was just one of his principles. Now, all his principles had flown out to window and he didn't even care any more whether Shadow thought he was pathetic.
Not that Shadow did, anyway. He understood – he had lost one of his dearest friends too (Maria, of course). He knew exactly what Sonic felt.
This was the problem. Sonic didn't want anyone to understand him, not when he didn't even understand himself. And besides, he was the tough one. He was the brave one. He was the hero. Though the word 'hero' was a friggin' joke now, Sonic thought. Why should he be called a hero; he couldn't even protect his friend.
"Sonic!" Shadow yelled again, trying to catch up to the blue hedgehog. Sonic tuned him out and continued to look straight ahead through the night. He would not stop, not for Shadow. He knew what he would say.
"Sonic, SLOW DOWN." Sonic did the exact opposite. Twenty feet behind him, Shadow scowled and sped up as well. "You can't run forever, hedgehog!"
Sonic's eyes narrowed, the first sign of emotion to appear on his face since the incident. He turned his head sharply and hollered over his shoulder, "Watch me, faker!"
Small pelts of ice started to plummet from the sky – hail. Sonic hoped that this might be enough to deter Shadow and make him give up the chase, but he knew that wasn't likely. Shadow was known to be as stubborn as Sonic was.
A bright flash of light appeared to Sonic's right, alarming him slightly, although he managed to keep on track. The light faded and Shadow appeared right beside him, skating along with a green Chaos Emerald in his hand.
What started out as a chase had now turned into a race and Sonic attempted to steer away from his challenger. He made a sharp turn to the left and sped off in that direction but Shadow managed to manoeuvre around after a second and pretty soon he was back next to the blue hedgehog.
"Sonic, you have to stop. You're in shock." Sonic tried not to listen but it was hard to ignore someone who was shouting in your ear at break-neck speeds.
"Leave me alone!"
"You're not thinking straight, Sonic. You're going to hurt yourself and the-"
"GOOD!" Sonic screamed. "I hope I do!"
"No, Sonic! You've got to stop, and if you won't do it for me, do it for Ta-"
WHACK. Shadow was very nearly knocked off his jets but he just managed to keep on the path. Sonic had taken to attacking him; maybe this would be harder than he thought. He brought a hand to his hit cheek and looked over at the blue hedgehog, astonished.
"What was that for?!"
"Don't say his name!"
It was now impossible to see anything but each other, the two were moving so fast. The swishing sound of Shadow's jets became more pronounced by the second and Sonic knew that, give another minute, they would be at top speed. As in top top speed.
"Sonic, I am warning you. Stop now, or I will make you." The idle threat went through one ear and out the other. Sonic knew that Shadow wasn't going to be able to stop him, not with brute force. Any attempt to touch the blue blur would most certainly end in a collide.
He was nearly there, nearly at top speed. He could count the seconds till the familiar boom. Ten… nine… eight…
"No! You're going to make us crash!"
"Just get lost!"
Seven… six… five…
"Think about what you're doing, Sonic!"
Four… three…
"Stubborn fool!" Shadow growled. "Chaos…!"
Two… one…
"Con-!"
All sound was put on hold as Sonic created a sonic boom. A rupture of light surrounded him, and everything in the world appeared to slow down. A quick glance to the side again told Sonic that Shadow was no longer beside him.
Sonic thought (despite not wanting to think) that this could mean one of three things. One, Shadow could have pulled out and given up, realising Sonic was serious about running away. Two, Shadow actually couldn't keep up (and if it were a normal day, Sonic would be ecstatic about finally beating the faker in a race, but today he felt that he couldn't care about anything less). Three, Shadow's warning had rung true and the force of the sonic boom had been enough to make him crash.
The third one made panic cloud over his mind. He might just have succeeded in causing the death of another one of his closest friends.
Logic tried to fight the panic. If Shadow could survive a fall from space, he could survive a little trip on the ground. Even if they were going at supersonic speed. Besides, he would be too late to help Shadow. He was already miles away from where Shadow might have crashed. And he could not turn back. He just couldn't.
The world was becoming more and more daunting the longer he stayed on it. Nausea was filling his stomach and his senses were dulling. Every minute that ticked by was just another minute to allow what had happened at the battle against Robotnik to sink in. He needed an end! He needed to stop!
And suddenly, he did stop. There was no longer any ground below him. He was running on air.
A cliff. He'd just run off a damn cliff!
He slowed down and the sonic boom wore off. For a split second, he simply hung in mid air, like one of those cartoons – you know the ones.
And then, he was falling.
Fallingfallingfalling. A few seconds later and he would hit the water. And if the impact didn't kill him, then he would drown.
What a way for him to die. But at least then he'd be able to see Tails again.
He closed his eyes, blinking out tears and waiting for death…
"SONIC!"
He opened his eyes and there was Shadow, in free fall right next to him with his hand outstretched.
They were about to hit the water, and reflex was the only thing that managed to make Sonic grab the black hedgehog's arm. As soon as he touched the ebony fur, they were gone. Through a portal of Chaos Energy, and back on solid ground.
It was still raining. The thunder was still clapping. The lightning was still flaring across the night. But the hedgehogs ignored the storm.
Sonic let go of his rescuer. He had finally stopped. So now…
Now he would have to think.
Nevertheless, Sonic continued to stall for time. "Well?" he spoke, expecting Shadow to tell him what an idiot he was for falling off the cliff. Or how arrogant he was for refusing to listen to Shadow earlier. Or what a coward he was for leaving the others when they needed him the most.
Shadow said nothing.
"Say something," Sonic said.
Shadow continued to say nothing.
"Damn it, faker!" Sonic strode right up to the black hedgehog and yelled in his face.
Shadow didn't even flinch. He simply stared into Sonic, his scarlet eyes bright with a dozen different emotions.
The two stood there for a moment, their noses nearly touching and their eyes locked into each other as the clouds carried on pouring over them. Sonic could see something familiar in his counterpart's eyes. It was the same look Shadow would wear whenever he thought about Maria. Whenever he thought about anyone he knew who'd… passed away.
"He's…" Sonic tried to say. "He's…"
Tails, his companion, his ally, his friend…
"He's DEAD!" Sonic howled. He fell to his knees and the tears poured out. Anguish took over all feelings and actions and he reached out for Shadow's legs, needing something to lean on. He kneeled down as well and Sonic buried his face in the other hedgehog's arms.
"He's gone… he's gone…" Sonic cried, repeating it over and over again.
"I know…" Shadow said, his eyes closed. He patted the blue hedgehog's quills softly, steadying him as he shook from his breakdown.
"No... NO! YOU DON'T KNOW!" Sonic bellowed, hitting Shadow in the stomach with all the force he could muster, but the black hedgehog didn't falter. "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
Shadow waited patiently until the distraught one could compose himself. Eventually, the screams and the punches died down and Sonic lay there, his head on Shadow's lap. He covered his face with his hands, not wanting Shadow to see his bloodshot eyes. He sneezed.
"Come, let's get you back home," Shadow stated. Sonic shook his head vigorously, spewing out more tears. He couldn't go back home, he used to live in Tails' house. He wouldn't be able to set a foot through that door without him. "Sonic, we have to find shelter. The storm will only get worse."
Sonic allowed the coal-coloured one to help him to his feet and lead him back to the city. "Hush, Sonic… it'll be… okay…"
Why would the faker bother to lie to him?
Why?
Tails was dead. Things would never be okay again.
Author Note: Wow, the first Sonic fanfic I've ever posted! And sorry it's so angsty, but I was proud of it when I wrote it, so I decided to share it with you, avid reader! Now, I know it's not the most original idea in the world and Sonic and Shadow might have been pretty out of character, but like I said, I was proud of this. This was intented to be a oneshot but if I get another stroke of inspiration I may write another chapter. Thanks for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it! Only Becka, out.