Sonic Boom

Mobius

Hedgehog Village

Rated M

Season 3

Episode 5: Don't Let Them Meet

SONIC

"HEDGEHOG!"

Sonic woke up in panic as Eggman's voice destroyed his peaceful slumber. He walked out to his porch, "What EggHead?"

"You set my garbage on fire last night and caused significant property damage! You think you can get away with this?!" Eggman motioned for all of his robots to take their positions.

"Dude, it wasn't me! Why would I set your garbage on fire?" Sonic challenged, "but if it's a fight you want, I'll give you more trash to burn!" His friends showed up around him. "Oh, hey guys!"

"What's this about?" Knuckles asked.

"This blue pineapple set my dumpster on fire last night!"

Amy, Knuckles and Tails laughed. Amy waved a hand like she was swatting away a fly, "Set your dumpster on fire? You think Sonic did that?"

"Who else?!" Eggman growled, "Whatever. It doesn't matter! Robots, attack!"

They fought off the hoard Eggman had brought them with more difficulty than they were used to. Eggman swore at them as he flew away once the destruction had ended.

"Wow," Tails said as he picked up some of the debris, "This is new work for him. Can you guys help me clean this up so I can go through it later?"

"Sure," Sonic said. He found a wheel barrel and put everything in it, "You want any help?"

"Nah, I'm good. It's going to be a lot of meticulous cataloging."

"Who would set a dumpster on fire?" Sticks wondered out loud, "It's a waste of perfectly good trash."

"I think the better question," Amy corrected her, "Is who would commit arson for fun?"

There was a collective sigh as they all said, "Shadow."

"I'll go talk to him," Sonic said and sped over to Shadow's.

SHADOW

Shadow saw Sonic speed up to his front door. He had just returned from Opossum City with the remainder of shopping from the day before. "What do you want?"

Sonic jumped and turned around, "Oh, hey Shadow. Did you set Eggman's trash on fire?"

"Yeah," Shadow pushed past him to go into his house. Shadow cursed himself for not being used to having another speedster around. Sonic was in his living room before he shut the door. "What do you want?"

"Why did you do it?" Sonic put his feet up on the coffee table.

"It made me feel better," Shadow felt an internal timer start ticking until he couldn't handle Sonic anymore.

"That's not really what —" Sonic stopped mid thought and looked at him, "Why didn't you feel ok?"

Shadow nearly dropped the glass bottles of oils, "It was a long day." Sonic was asking about his well being?

"Wanna race?" Sonic grinned.

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Why?"

"It always makes me feel better," Sonic got up from the couch.

"And spar," Shadow said, leveling his gaze to Sonic's, "we race and then fight."

"Alright! Meet you at the volcano!" Sonic sped away, nearly destroying his front door.

"Oh," Shadow thought, "So that's why Sonic didn't bother with a door."

Shadow wasn't far behind and stood next to Sonic. They decided on the course and ran for all they were worth. Shadow had been scouting the land and internalizing the map of their island. Sonic seemed less than happy when Shadow passed him after a short cut under a cliff. They reached the finish line and couldn't decide on who won. The race was too close without a photograph or video playback.

"Fine," Shadow said, "Then whoever wins the fight, wins both."

"You're on," Sonic smiled.

Shadow kicked Sonic to the ground, starting off the fight with an edge of brutality. He pursued Sonic with relentless effort, keeping the upper hand. After a punch to the stomach, Sonic fell to the ground and grimaced as he tried to get up. Shadow let the boosters from his skates go out and stood next to him, "You give up yet?"

"In your dreams," Sonic said with a grin.

Shadow took a spin dash to the face and realized Sonic was faking it. How could he have been that stupid?! Sonic seemed to have finally agreed to the terms of the fight and started fighting Shadow like he was trying to kill him. Shadow smirked and said, "Now that's better."

With both of them fighting at full force, they managed to destroy much of the land around them. Sonic was bleeding from his head, Shadow from his shoulder. Shadow decided to end the fight and with a burst of "Chaos Control!" he pounded Sonic into the ground, putting him in the center of a small crater.

Sonic moaned in pain and tried to open his eyes, "Ow."

Shadow knelt beside him, "You lose, hedgehog."

Sonic groaned, "Whatever."

"Can you move?" Shadow asked gently.

Sonic tried to adjust his arms, "No."

Shadow sat beside him, "I wouldn't have won without Chaos Control. It would have been a dead tie."

"No," Sonic said again, "You still would have won. I'm not as good a fighter as you."

"Want me to teach you?" Shadow couldn't believe the words came out before he could stop them.

"Sure. With the new rating I just might need it. Help me up."

Shadow helped him carefully get to his feet and learned quickly that Sonic still had some strength when Sonic kissed him fiercely. Shadow was stunned. He felt like he couldn't move. What? Wait… had that happened? He hadn't figured it out yet when Sonic kissed him again.

"What?" Shadow said breathlessly.

Sonic shrugged, "I felt like it."

Shadow let the adrenaline and endorphins from their fight think for him as he grabbed Sonic and started making out with him. Shadow tried to be gentle, but this meant Sonic had slammed him into a wall of rock and took control. Shadow groaned from the pain in the back of his head and Sonic took advantage of this distraction as well. Sonic lifted Shadow's hips and wrapped his legs around his waist. Shadow put his hand over Sonic's mouth, "Put me down."

Sonic did and backed off, "Um… sorry…" They were both breathing heavily.

Shadow sat down, "I think I have a concussion."

"Oh, shit, sorry. Can you make it back?"

"Yeah," Shadow said but wasn't convinced of it.

"When you're ready to move, I'll go with you."

Shadow agreed and they took their time getting up and going home. Sonic annoyingly refused to leave Shadow alone. Amy's voice came through Sonic's communicator, "Sonic! Are you ok? We are worried about you since you haven't gotten back yet!"

Sonic rubbed his forehead, wincing at the bruising, and said, "Yeah, I'm good. Just went out for a run."

"Are you sure? You sound tired."

"The longest run I've done in a while! I'll be back in a couple hours."

"Ok, if you're sure…" Amy's voice trailed off and his communicator went quiet.

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Your girlfriend is really clingy."

"She's not my girlfriend," Sonic said quickly.

"Who have you been able to fool besides yourself?" Shadow accused him. Sonic opened his mouth and closed it again. "That's what I thought. I'm fine, Sonic. Clean yourself up and go home." Shadow was a little concerned when Sonic did and didn't have anything witty to say. Did he have a concussion too?

After an hour, Sonic looked relatively normal, "I'll be back to check on you this evening." Sonic left before Shadow could complain. Shadow sighed. He healed quickly and would be fine before sundown. The immortal thing had its perks.

True to his word, Sonic came by late that night. Shadow frowned, "How'd you get in?"

"I found a blindspot by the back window," Sonic gloated, "I know Tails's work when I see it."

Shadow glared and made notes for how to fix it.

"How are you feeling?" Sonic asked.

"Fine, thanks," Shadow raised an eyebrow, "I don't stay down long."

"Um… I'm sorry about earlier," Sonic said sheepishly.

"I'm not," Shadow countered.

Sonic's face looked completely shocked, "You're… what?"

"I'm not sorry about any of it. You shouldn't be either." Shadow had to admit that he was enjoying Sonic's confusion and cluelessness. "Now get out of my house."

"But, Shadow…" Sonic trailed off.

Shadow felt a pang of jealousy and anger, "Go home to Amy. Leave me out of it." The feeling was unwelcome and painful. Sonic didn't say anything as he left, which made the unfamiliar sensation worse. Why was Sonic more powerful when he didn't say anything? Shadow sunk into the pillows on his couch feeling like he'd ruined something.

SONIC

The sky was clear and blue, with the noon sun shining on the beach. The gang was playing volleyball, fears and worries nowhere to be seen. Until the alert on Tails's disasterometer when off.

"The Gogoba volcano erupted again! Their entire village is in danger!" Tails said.

There were several quiet, tense seconds that went by before Sonic sighed and dropped his shoulders, "Alright. Guess we have to go … save… them…"

The group groaned and reluctantly jumped onto Tails's plane while Sonic brought Blue Force 1. The Gogobas were panicking and running in circles. Sonic left Blue Force 1 to hover and yelled, "Everybody chill!" All the Gogobas froze and stared at him. It was his second attempt at telling everyone to chill that was far more effective than he thought.

"Oh, Sonic," said the chief Gogoba, "So good of you to show up right as our entire village is being destroyed."

"You're welcome," Sonic said, "We need to get everyone out. As many as you can, ride on Tails's plane. I can take two. Amy, Knuckles and Sticks, round up the rest."

The gogobas were strangely helpful and didn't give them too much grief during the evacuation. They had everyone safe and sound on the beach as they watched a great surge of lava engulf the land they had just left. The entire village was gone beyond repair.

"Thank you for saving us from certain doom, Sonic," said Chief Gogoba, "but now where do we live? Since you're the ones who moved us, I can only imagine you have a place for us to stay."

"Uh, yeah," Sonic said hesitantly, "One minute." He motioned his friends over, "What are we going to do with them?"

"We could put them back," Sticks said, "What? The strongest ones will survive."

"Are there any houses for sale in the village? We could put them up in one of those," Tails said hopefully.

"That one by the lake was empty!" Knuckles said, "Oh, well, Shadow lives there now."

A feeling of terror went around the circle.

Amy gasped, "They can't meet Shadow."

Tails agreed, "He'll kill them. Like, actually kill them."

"Maybe that house is a good idea!"

"Sticks!" they all yelled at her.

"What?" Sticks shrugged, "It'd be efficient and painless."

"What about the rec center?" Amy suggested, "There should be enough room for a day or two. We can get food and blankets while we talk to the Mayor."

"We'll take turns making sure they don't run into Shadow," Sonic agreed, "Except you Sticks."

"Why?" she asked, seeming a little prickly.

Tails rolled his eyes, "Because you'd lead them right to him."

Sticks smiled, "Maybe…"

"Anyway," Sonic interrupted, "Knuckles, you get them to the rec center. Tails and Sticks, start getting food and blankets. Amy and I will go talk to the Mayor."

They all agreed and went to their respective tasks.

It turned out to be more difficult than they thought.

The Mayor had looked as apologetic and clueless as usual while saying, "Well, sorry about that. But it's going to take some time to find them all a new village. The housing industry doesn't just create villages overnight you know?"

Sonic and Amy were walking back slowly. "When are elections coming up?" Sonic groaned.

"This fall!" Amy said cheerfully, "But the mayor is running unopposed again. Unless you count Mike the Ox."

"Ugh," Sonic complained. When they got back to the rec center Sonic saw Tails bringing in a considerable amount of food.

Tails waved, "It turns out everyone has been really generous with donations!"

"That's great!" Amy said, perking up.

"Any luck with the Mayor?"

"No," Sonic groaned, "He says it would take a while."

"We could find them their own place," Sticks said resolutely, "If we find them somewhere, then the mayor can just approve it for us."

"That's not a bad idea," Amy said with a brilliant smile, "Sonic, is there anywhere you've seen with enough space that we could put a village?"

"I hadn't been looking for it but I can check," Sonic nodded, "I can do some scouting."

Sticks smiled triumphantly, "And if that fails, we can send them to Opossum City!"

They all side eyed each other before agreeing. "If we can't find them a place in the next two days, we will send them to Opossum City," Sonic confirmed. Opossum City may be the answer they had been looking for since Season 1. "Now we just have to keep them away from Shadow."

"Oh, Sonic," Chief Gogoba said as he shambled over, "How are the efforts for our new village going? The rec center can't fit all of us, but it's ok, the children can sleep outside."

Sonic didn't have time for this shit. "Look, Chief. We don't want you in our rec center as much as you don't want to be there. We are trying to find you a new home so we don't have to support you. You're infuriating, ungrateful and rude. The villagers donated food, blanks, and money. You should be thanking them for their generosity. I don't care where your children sleep, because this is all we have. If you don't like it, feel free to leave." Chief Gogoba stared blankly at him, stunned. Sonic was shocked as his own nerve, too.

Chief Gogoba recovered, "Well, if that's the best you can do." He turned around and hobbled back to the rec center.

All eyes were on Sonic. "What?"

"Didn't know you had it in ya!" Sticks beamed as she slapped him on the back.

"Good for you Sonic!" Amy had hearts exploding out of her face, "You were wonderful!"

"Eh," Knuckles said, "I coulda done that."

Tails frowned, "Sonic, I need to run some tests in my workshop later. I need your help."

"Yeah, sure," Sonic agreed, "it wasn't that great guys. I just… lost my patience."

"They deserved it," Sticks comforted him, "Let's go get something to eat. I'm starvin'."

SHADOW

Shadow had been seeing a lot of activity all day. Team Sonic had been rushing around with loads of household goods. He hadn't gone to investigate, but had the unwanted feeling that it would show up in front of him sooner or later.

"Ow!" complained a pale-brown chinchilla who was suddenly on the ground in front of him, "You've tripped me and my ankle is broken!"

Shadow ignored him and walked away.

"Hey, come back here. How am I supposed to walk after what you've done?"

This time, Shadow did not ignore him. He turned around very slowly, with the charge of Chaos electrifying the air around him. "What I've—"

Sonic was very suddenly between Shadow and the creature on the ground, "I'm sure it was a misunderstanding. Let's get you," he said to the Gogoba, "back to the rec center." Sonic took the Gogoba, left and came back without him in seconds.

"A misunderstanding?" Shadow repeated.

"They are a tribe called the Gogobas. They are unfortunately native to our island and their village was just destroyed in a volcanic eruption. They are staying in the rec center until we can find them a new place to live," Sonic explained apologetically.

"Are they all like that?" Shadow felt a growing seed of disdain.

Sonic nodded solemnly, "I think they are born that way."

"If they stay out of my way, I'll stay out of theirs," Shadow agreed, "If they don't stay out of my way, I'll kill them." Sonic looked panicked and Shadow elaborated, "If they have such minimal sense of self preservation that they refuse to heed a warning, they are fair game. I will give them one chance."

Sonic shrugged, "Alright. Fair enough."

"Good."

"Hey, Shadow," Sonic said before Shadow could turn away, "I have to go looking for some land for them. Do you want to go?"

Shadow furrowed his brow, unsure what to think. He ultimately decided the situation was harmless. "Sure. When are we going?"

"An hour or so? Meet you by the volcano?"

"Ok," Shadow agreed and then ran home. This entire island needed to sort out its affair with volcanoes. They really were dangerous. Even with his Chaos Control, he was no match for an erupting volcano. Geez.

Shadow had half expected Sonic to show up late, but he was there as promised.

"Where do you want to start?" Shadow asked.

Sonic gave a half-chuckle, "As far away as respectfully possible."

"After you," Shadow invites him.

They ran clockwise around the island until they reached the land bridge that connected them to the mainland. It was a journey that took three weeks by normal transportation.

"Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I want the Gogobas to be exposed to the rest of the world. They may be better off as Island pests," Sonic said with a heavy heart, "let's keep going."

On the other side of the land bridge, there was a very large clearing not far from a river. They ran in for a closer look.

"It looks like there was a village here," Shadow said as he looked at the distances between trees, "I wonder how long ago."

"No idea," Sonic said, "I haven't heard anything about this place. Maybe it's haunted."

"Perfect," Shadow grinned maliciously.

"You're kinda right," Sonic laughed, "Let's move them here."

"I'm not doing shit," Shadow asserted.

Sonic was happy to agree, "I want as much distance between you and the gogobas as possible. We can build some wagons they can use to make the journey. They will have to figure out the rest by themselves. It's still early. Want to hang out here for a while?"

They found a flexible bridge to sit on that overlooked a waterfall. There were a couple rogue robot fish they had to knock out of the way but after that the view was breathtaking.

"Now what, Sonic?" Shadow asked, cutting through their silence, "You have me alone, far away from everyone else, observing some very beautiful landscape."

"Uh…" Sonic stammered, "Um… nothing? I just thought it would be fun. You're a new friend, so…"

"But I'm not," Shadow countered, "I've never been a friend to you."

Sonic sighed and laid back on the bridge, "I don't know. I just like being around you."

Shadow scoffed and tried to deny the smile his face was making, "You have a death wish."

"But you're still here," Sonic sat up, "Why haven't you left?"

Shadow realized he didn't have an answer for that. He couldn't explain it either. He was just enjoying Sonic's company and this caused him a wave of confusion. "I don't know," he answered honestly, "I just haven't." Shadow was suddenly very aware of how close Sonic was to him.

"Do you get lonely?" Sonic asked him, "I have a lot of friends that stay by me, but I've never seen you with any."

Shadow thought about his answer carefully, "Yes, but not like you'd think. I prefer being by myself. I find it peaceful when I'm not being attacked or having things asked of me. I get lonely occasionally, but it's more because I don't have anyone who can understand Chaos power or what it feels like to be hunted."

"You're still being tracked?" Sonic asked, with shock and compassion in his voice.

"Always," Shadow sighed, "They won't be happy until I'm behind bars or on an exam table."

"Then they sent you here…" Sonic trailed off as he thought, "Do you think you're any safer here?"

Shadow shrugged feeling a familiar weight on his shoulders, "Maybe. Between you and Eggman I'm an easier target to find, but a much louder one."

"I'll be there," Sonic said.

"What?"

"If they try to come for you. I'll be there to stop them," Sonic smiled at him, "You're not alone anymore."

Shadow forced away the feelings in his chest, "Yeah right. You can choke on your heroics on your own time."

"No, I mean it," Sonic insisted, "You don't have to believe me. But I'm not going to make you fight them alone."

Shadow flipped through every emotion and answer he could think of and couldn't find anything he wanted to admit to. So he nodded and stood up. "Let's go back."

Sonic jumped to his feet, "Race you."

SONIC

Sonic delivered the news straight to them, "Guys! I found a place! It's an old clearing by a river. There's a waterfall not too far away. It's really nice."

"That's great!" Amy gushed, "Let's go talk to the mayor," she lowered her voice, "Right. Now."

Sonic stifled a laugh, being able to imagine what had happened to irritate her that badly. "Let's start building wagons to get them there. It will be about a two week trip." Sonic and Amy went to get approval. Sonic felt much more optimistic now that the Gogobas would be a very long way away and relatively isolated. They could put up warning signs for unsuspecting passersby.

They were shocked at how easily it went at the Mayor's office. Sonic suspected it was a side effect of having the Gogobas so close to the rest of the village. Tails and Knuckles had the wagons under swift construction. It looked like they would be able to start moving them out the next day.

"Whoof, what a relief," Sonic said as they called it a night.

"They'll be gone in no time!" Amy agreed.

"Sonic, I still have some tests to run," Tails said pointedly.

"Yeah, sure, as long as it's fast." Sonic and Tails made their way to his workshop. "What do you need?"

"Sit here," Tails pointed to a chair, "and hold this." He handed him a large vial, very full of thick, pink-ish/purple liquid. "Great! Whatever you do, don't spill it."

"This doesn't seem very safe," Sonic complained. The water level of the vial was dangerously close to the top.

"You were pretty bad ass with the Gogobas today!" Tails said, taking notes.

"Thanks. What does that have to do with the test?"

"What changed that made you feel bold enough to chew them out?"

"What? Nothing!" Sonic said too quickly, almost making the vial spill.

"Nothing, huh?" Tails tapped his chin with the pen, "Did you get enough sleep?"

"Tails, what is this about?" Sonic asked, feeling a little sour.

"You get cranky when you don't get enough sleep. What were you out doing?"

"I went for a run," Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Ok, let's say I believe you," Tails showed Sonic the page he'd been making notes on. It was an outline silhouette of Sonic's form with various hash marks and circles. "Each of these indicates an injury I noticed today."

Sonic's eyes went wide and he splashed the liquid. With a yelp, he avoided the spills. The liquid had burned away pieces of the chair he had been sitting on. "What the snap, Tails!?"

Tails seemed pleased with himself and took the vial from him, "I wasn't sure you'd answer me. Where did the injuries come from?"

Sonic watched wearily as Tails put the vial away, "Your dark side is scary." He decided he'd better come clean. "I went out for a run and sparred with Shadow. We didn't hold back. I had a lot of fun."

"Mm-hmm…" Tails said, "And?"

"And nothing."

"Why were you in a mood? Those all sound like good things."

"Shadow and I… um…"

"Yes?" Tails pressed.

"Can we leave it at that?" Sonic pleaded.

Tails smiled gently, reassuringly, "Sure. You can stay on my couch if you want."

Sonic grinned, feeling reassured and comforted, "I think I will." He also realized that Tails was going to burn parts of his body if he didn't answer.