Thanks for clicking on this story! This is my first posted fanfic and is shamelessly a Sonadow story. As per usual, I don't own anything other than the OCs who will show up in later chapters. This takes place immediately following the end of Season 2 of the Sonic Boom cartoon. (Which can be found on YouTube if you want to watch it.)

Please enjoy and review! :)

Sonic Boom

Mobius

Hedgehog Village

Rated M

Season 3

Episode 1: New Neighbors

SHADOW

Hedgehog Village? Shadow raised an eyebrow at the sign. Was Sonic really that full of himself? He wasn't that great. How had he convinced an entire village to name it after him? Jeez, he hadn't been gone that long.

Every step Shadow took down the main road proved that he had, indeed, been gone that long. The size of the town had tripled. He vaguely remembered something about a neighboring village being completely destroyed (Sonic's fault) during an attack from Eggman (still Sonic's fault) and was then regarded a hero because he saved everyone from a disaster that was all about him. Sonic had made himself a parasite with a stable feeding supply. Why did everyone like him? Or… why didn't everyone move? Seriously, the danger stopped two towns over.

Shadow stopped in front of a modest house. It wasn't anything special, matched the houses next to it, and neatly kept yard. There was a porch swing and several hanging plants. He glared at the house number and compared it to the number on a note he'd been given. Great. Did it really have to be this house?

Shadow pulled out a key and unlocked the door, letting himself inside. The door closed after him with a snarky snap. "Really? It's not like I want to be here," Shadow said to the empty room. He set the key down next to a folder of papers and a letter that had been left for him. The letter was precisely folded, blank, no markings or blemishes. The writing matched the address he'd been given.

Welcome home, Shadow.

No, you do not have a choice.

Yes, you have to stay.

Because we said so.

Deal with it.

~The Contract

He smashed the paper into a tight ball and threw it across the room. There was nothing about this situation that he liked. He preferred huge cities or solitude. Both allowed him anonymity and solitude had more privacy. The bigger cities had a strange kind. Everyone spent so much effort avoiding everyone else that no-one cared. Now he was living in neither. He was living in a small city. With kind hearted people. A famous and beloved hero. Regular village attacks. Victims and nice people. Everyone knew each other. Everyone knew his name, reputation, resume, shoe size and attitude. Last time he'd come through he shook off three girls who were begging for his number.

Hell. He'd been sent to hell. Shadow sighed heavily. They couldn't even be bothered to furnish the place. Making sure the key was safely hidden, he went about buying the supplies he needed.

After a total of six minutes and thirty seven seconds, Shadow had used Chaos Control to purchase everything and unpack. He looked around to admire his work. The furniture was sleek and comfortable. The majority of his color scheme was black and white. The bathroom towels coordinated into sets. He always gave special attention to his bedding and pillows. They were soft, luxurious, perfectly placed and looked so, so comfortable. He leaned down to take off his shoes and froze when he heard a persistent knock. Shattered Emeralds, he swore to himself, not even one day.

Shadow opened the door abruptly, "What?"

"Um, oh," the Mayor tripped over his words, "Shadow, I didn't think it was you."

"Didn't think it was me, what?" Shadow wanted to burn the house down and ditch already.

"I knew someone was moving in, so I decided to say—" the Mayor was silenced by a door slamming in his face.

It reopened a second later. Shadow shoved the folder at him, "Here's all the paperwork. Now leave." He shut the door in the Mayor's face for a second time. He closed all the curtains and sank onto the couch. He hadn't even been here for ten minutes. Was it too much to ask for at least a good night's sleep before Sonic came barging through his door?

There was a loud, annoying knocking on his door.

Shadow buried his face in his hands. Just… why. Why? That was all he wanted to know. Groaning as he peeled himself off the couch, Shadow put his hand on the door knob. He'd have to face this sometime. He opened the door, folded his arms across his chest and glared, "What do you want, Sonic?"

"Just saying hi to a new neighbor," Sonic gloated with a cocky grin, "You here on your terms this time?"

Shadow rolled his eyes and shut the door, all too aware of the blur that let himself in. "What do I have to do to get you to leave?"

"Hmm," Sonic said as he dashed around the room, "I like what you've done with the place. Your style is awesome!" He made himself comfortable on the couch.

"And I'd like to keep things nice. So leave before you destroy everything," Shadow stood in front of him, tapping his foot.

Sonic stretched, "Ah, come on. I'm not going to destroy anything. Unless you're here to destroy us. Then I'll trash your entire house."

Groaning, Shadow sat on the opposite couch, "I'm not here to fight you."

With a sarcastic drawl Sonic said, "Sure, you're not."

"Now I might be," Shadow snapped.

"There's the Shadow I know!" Sonic smiled and sat up, resting his elbows on his knees, "But Shadow the homeowner, neighbor, and city boy?"

"The Contract," Shadow said simply.

"What?" Sonic sat at full attention, "The Contract?"

Shadow nodded, "Just you?"

Sonic took a breath to speak and started coughing uncontrollably. Shadow grabbed him a glass of water and sat back down. Once Sonic had his breath back they looked at each other. The moment was charged with lightening as they recognized themselves in the other person. Shadow sensed the darkness that Sonic kept hidden and felt uncomfortably sure that Sonic had seen his own secrets. Shadow narrowed his eyes and snapped his head away to break the connection.

Sonic laughed nervously, "Um… Can we—"

"Pretend that it never happened?" Shadow raised his eyebrow.

Sonic yawned and folded his arms behind his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about." He looked around some more, "Are you actually moving in? Like, for real?"

"Unfortunately," Shadow cursed at him, "You can leave now."

"Fine, fine, fine," he said lazily as he got up, "See you at Meh Burger!"

Sonic left, brushing all the curtains in his wake. Shadow rubbed his eyes, sinking back into the couch. It hadn't even been one day. Was this how Eggman lived his life? Shadow groaned with a renewed dread. The only thing worse than living in the same city as Sonic, was living in the same city with a desperate fan boy. And he was living in the same city with both of them.

SONIC

"Hey guys!" Sonic said excitedly, running into Amy's living room, "Shadow moved into that empty house by the lake!"

Amy laughed, "That's a good one!"

"Like Shadow would move here," Knuckles said sarcastically.

"No, it's real! I was just there!" Sonic was starting to feel some anger at their disbelief.

Tails frowned, "Actually, he might be telling the truth." Everyone stopped laughing and stared at Tails. "Why would Sonic make that up? He hates losing."

"Hey!" Sonic protested.

"I think Tails is right," Sticks said confidently, "Shadow beats Sonic at everything. Even volleyball!"

"I've never played volleyball against Shadow," Sonic said with exasperation.

Sticks put her face inches away from Sonic's, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay then," she resumed her place on the floor. There were several turns into a complicated card game.

"You should join us!" Knuckles said, tugging his arm and forcing Sonic to sit, "The rules are strict and unforgiving! This game takes skill and stealth."

Sticks corrected him, "Actually the rules are pretty simple. You have to be the one with the Ace of Hearts at the end of the game." The ace was sitting in the middle of the table.

Taking over the exposition, Tails said, "And you have to get the Ace of Hearts by using all the other cards as weapons. The player with the last card has to swap it out for the ace without anyone noticing. There's no person to person contact, no permanent damage, absolutely no attacks to the eyes. If you make someone bleed, they get a penalty shot. You have to stand over there by the pillow on the floor and they get to throw a card at you anyway you want."

"That sounds dangerous," Sonic frowned, "I'm in! Let's do it!"

Amy sighed with a groan, "Just don't break anything. I'm going to pick up some things from the market." She didn't get a response so she rolled her eyes and left.

AMY

It really was a beautiful day. The sun was surprisingly warm for the end of January. The sun was sparkling on the leaves that shimmered on the wind. She passed a few friends and waved, enjoying the serenity. Until she saw something that stopped her dead in her tracks.

"You call this food?" Shadow spat at Dave the Intern.

"We don't like to put labels on it," Dave pointed out apathetically, "if we call if food then we're subject to a health inspection."

Shadow glared, making Dave cower, "I wouldn't feed this to the opossums you used to make it!"

"Hey!" Amy shouted, running up to them, "You can't treat Dave like that?"

Shadow's glare turned on her, "I really think I can."

"Not in my city!" Amy wished she'd brought her hammer. Shadow was dangerous, even unarmed. She'd never stand a chance against him by herself.

"Your city?" Shadow laughed, "That's rich. Enjoy eating poison, Amy." Shadow walked away without so much as a backward glance.

Amy let out a relieved breath, "Oh thank goodness." She saw Dave the Intern was shaking and staring after Shadow. "Don't worry Dave. We'll protect you."

"Protect me?" Dave said, "Protect me?! He's the perfect villain! He's the ultimate life form! He's stronger than Sonic AND Dr Eggman! I can't believe he's here! Do you think he'll sign my fez?"

Amy hit her forehead with her palm, "Probably not." She walked away feeling her faith in people erode a little. Lost in her thoughts, Amy bumped into someone, "Hey, stop standing in the middle of the road!"

"Shh!" Perci whispered, "He's so hot! Look!"

Amy realized she was now part of a group of women who were staring at Shadow as he did his shopping. They were chittering about the fact that he could cook, and chose such healthy vegetables. She could have sworn she heard Zoey comment on his ass. "Are you freakin' kidding me?" Amy protested. She pushed her way through the group to many hisses and scoffs.

Amy was intently comparing two heads of lettuce. After turning them over in her hands several times, she picked one and turned to look at the tomatoes next. Her foot slipped out from under her, sending her vegetables flying. She braced for the impact and then… there was none. She blinked her eyes open and saw Shadow's face over her. He'd caught her waist and was holding a basket with all of her items intact. Her cheeks flushed red as he helped her stand upright. "Th… thank you, Shadow," Amy said breathlessly.

"Sure," Shadow said venomously and left the market.

Amy felt herself swoon. She'd succumbed to his mystery, his brooding intensity. He was so… hot. And forbidden. Amy's cheeks burned brighter. She could shake this off. He was a terrible person, anyway. He had a really high kill count, tried to destroy the world several times, and on and on. Shadow didn't care about anyone but himself. Whereas Sonic cared about everyone and saved people every chance he got. Shadow could never compare to him. But still…

They kinda looked alike. If you put an industrial strength fan under Sonic it turned his quills upward at the ends. Finding Shadow attractive wasn't too different from finding Sonic attractive. She'd keep her thoughts to herself, just in case. The rest of her walk felt much lighter.

Her good mood even persisted when she got home and saw the disaster the card game had made. Four guilty, wide-eyed faces looked at her in horror. She laughed, "Oh, it's ok. As long as everyone stays to clean up."

"Thanks, Ames," Sonic said, "You ok?"

"Of course! It's just a really beautiful day and they were having a sale! I have plenty for everyone. Clean this up before dinner," Amy secluded herself in the kitchen.

Tails, Sonic, Sticks and Knuckles looked apprehensively at each other.

"It's a trap," Sonic said firmly.

"It's not a trap," Knuckles said, "It's a ruse!"

Tails gave him a look, "She could just be in a good mood."

"I don't buy it. She could have been replaced by a pod person!" Sticks ran into the kitchen, "Amy! What did Sonic say to you about your new shoes two years ago on New Years?"

Amy stopped tossing a bowl of salad, "Um… you have mud on them?"

Sticks sighed with relief and called to the boys, "She's not a pod person."

"Duh," Sonic and Tails said together.

"You can never be too careful. Thanks, Amy!" Sticks dashed back to the living room.

Amy chuckled, "They're so silly." She hummed as she added spices to the frying pan. The image of Shadow holding her came back into her head and her cheeks flushed anew. No-one needed to know. She would keep this secret to herself.

EGGMAN

Dr Eggman spit his coffee over the console as he saw the footage of Shadow returning home from the market. His Spy Bots had been working overtime. He knew something wasn't right. His evil detectors had been reporting off the charts and he couldn't figure out why. Now he knew! Shadow the Hedgehog had moved to Hedgehog Village!

"Cubot, Orbot!" he called, "Quick! Get me my best pair of boots and a gift basket. I want to give Shadow a house warming gift!"

"Yes, sir," Orbot said slowly, "Don't you think it might be better to wait to greet him? He doesn't seem to like surprise visits."

Dr Eggman thought it over, "You have a point. But I don't care! I'm going to see Shadow!" Giddy with excitement, he was in the Egg Mobile and across the water in no time.

Clearing his throat and mustering his courage, Eggman knocked on Shadow's door. To his surprise, Shadow opened the door quickly but the look in his eyes made him jump back a bit. "Hello Shadow! I noticed you were in the neighborhood. And since you're living here, you're also my new neighbor! Would you like to get together some time for tea?"

Shadow stared at him blankly for a long, painful time. Then his shoulders sagged and he rubbed his temples, "Just… go away." Shadow slammed the door shut.

Eggman tapped his chin as they walked back to the egg mobile, "Hm… if Shadow won't talk to me…" he triumphantly punched his palm, "I'll make him talk to me. Shadow won't know what hit him."

Orbot cleared his throat, "Um, Dr Eggman. Don't you think another attempt at diplomacy might get more favorable results?"

"Diplomacy is easy to ignore. A full out assault on his new home isn't."