"Sweetie, you don't want to go near that scary man. He doesn't look very nice."
"Dude, that guy looks pissed. Don't go near him."
"Kids, don't play with that scary man."
"Hey, doesn't that dude work with Sonic the Hedgehog?" "Nah, I hear he's one of the bad guys."
Those were only a few phrases of many Shadow would hear passing by him, along with the music and chatter of the city.
"Scary man."
"Bad guy."
Shadow knew he wasn't the brightest of individuals, nor always the most presentable.
But...did he really look scary? Did he really give off such a dark and evil vibe, that people would assume him a villain at first sight?
He'd thought about it a lot, and the more he'd run into that kind of judgement...the more he'd seem to believe it about himself.
Shadow wasn't really the type to normally let insults or harsh judgement get to his head, but if you hear one thing about yourself often enough it'll change the way you perceive yourself.
The more he'd think about himself and his past…
..."Scary."
They weren't necessarily wrong.
Shadow the Hedgehog. The Ultimate Lifeform. A living weapon of mass destruction.
The sheer energy contained inside him would be enough to blow up a planet, and, if he were to take off his limiters and leave them away, the energy would eat him alive.
A weapon so dangerous, that it can easily destroy itself.
He'd been responsible for the fall of the ARK. The deaths of Gerald and Maria, and other casualties in the space colony.
GUN had come for him in the first place. He'd been a dangerous creature capable of destroying the world. He needed to be contained.
Then he was released years later by Gerald's grandson, and did exactly what GUN was afraid he would do. He attempted to destroy the planet as means of revenge. He'd eventually been swayed off his intentions, but that didn't change a thing about what he did, or excuse it.
That wasn't even mentioning what he'd experienced when the ARK was still active. Horrendous things...things that he could have never told Maria.
With a kind of horrendous and bloody background like that...who wouldn't be afraid of him? Or at least...who wouldn't fear for him?
There was also the mental scars his history had left him.
The horrors he'd seen on the ARK and in GUN's captivity...the trauma of Maria and Gerald's deaths.
His brain didn't work the same as other hedgehogs.
Some days he'd wake up...and forget everything. Sure, sometimes he'd retain some memories, but sometimes it was a complete swipe. He'd wake up...and not even remember his own name.
It's scary. Scary to wake up and have no idea who you are. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to deal with it himself.
And then there was the trauma. The flashbacks...the nightmares...and the little mundane things that would suddenly uncover a wave of unwanted memories.
…"Triggers".
He hated the little things that would set him off. The harsh noise of fireworks on a new year...the sight of rifle, whether pointed at him or not...the blue...her blue...and even just her name was enough for him.
"Maria."
She'd been his best friend, and at the time he knew her...his only friend.
Sometimes he'd remember the events of that dooming night, November 15, 1955.
Sometimes he would remember and he'd shut down. It would feel like the whole world around him was melting; dithering. He'd look down at his own hands and barely recognize them...at least not without the image of them pressed against the cold glass of an escape pod, spattered with the blood of his dying friend. The image of her using her last breath to pull the lever and send him off to Earth.
Out of this world. Out of his body.
The world would just melt into shapes...and he'd disconnect from it all. As if it were some kind of game that you could pull the plug on.
It was...scary.
It made him scary.
He'd thought about all of this one morning, awaking in the guest room of Rouge's house.
After groggily dragging himself out of bed, Shadow made his way to the bathroom across the hall.
Washing his face, letting the cold water alert him, Shadow dried off with a washcloth. Wiping his muzzle, he stared into the shiny, spotless glass that showed his reflection, somewhat sadly.
… "Scary."
He set down the washcloth and examined himself some what. He opened his mouth, prodding at his teeth with one of his fingers. Sharp, jagged fangs. Fangs that made him look harsh and savage. It was one reason he never smiled much.
Shadow brushed his quills lightly with his fingers. Barbed, snaggy, uneven quills, colored a deep jet black, with crimson highlights at the tips. In a way, the highlights formed the look of fresh wounds, being a deep red so similar to blood. Not only did they look ugly, but they were also a potentially eerie sight to random people having had no prior interaction with him.
His eyes. A deep, ruby red, often giving an evil, spiteful energy that he didn't necessarily ever express. Not helping were his brows, big and slanted, giving him somewhat of a permanent frown.
''Perfect Lifeform' my ass,' he thought, hanging the wash cloth over a rod to dry.
Before leaving, he took one last look at his reflection.
He was so...out of place. So sinister looking, compared to all of his bubbly friends. Hell, he made more intimidating types like Omega and Espio look like Care Bears.
After slipping on his gloves, shoes, and a beat up jacket of his, he stepped downstairs to get some breakfast. Rouge was up already, and had some food and drink set out for him.
"Mornin', sunshine!" She waved at him from the kitchen.
He walked in, dragging his feet a little, and pulled back a chair, shuddering a little at the ugly screech it made being hauled a few tiles back on the floor.
Sitting down, he finally spoke to her. "You're up early."
"Yeah," Rouge sighed. "I got real tired yesterday. Decided I'd get my beauty sleep early."
He silently nodded, and took some sips from the juice she'd left out on the table.
He'd only uttered three words to her, but it was enough to remind him of the fact that he hated hearing himself speak, too.
Only having drank half a glass, Shadow got up, grabbed a granola bar from a box on the counter, and left for the house's exit, halting at the door when he heard Rouge speak. "You're leaving already? Hun, you didn't even eat anything!"
Shadow held up the bar, and replied lowly, "I'm taking this with me."
"Still though," Rouge furrowed her brow in worry. "That's not enough food, Shadow."
"I'll be fine," he mumbled, finally opening the door and leaving.
It was cold and damp outdoors, the clouded sky a gloomy light grey. Some mist could be seen hugging the trees and the rest of the city, but it wasn't so thick that you wouldn't know where you're going. He could feel a light drizzle trickle down from the skies and hit his face. Not quite rain, just a small pour.
Well...the weather seemed to reflect his mood rather nicely.
With Rouge's house, the place he'd just left, being only at the edges, Shadow slowly walked out to the rest of the city, facing another day, and leaving his worried friend in her abode, thinking on a cooling cup of joe, wondering what happened to Shadow that could have had him grow so much more somber and distant than usual.