Shadow was crouched outside of Eggman's base, hiding amongst the shadows. Sonic came speeding passed, but Shadow managed to grab him and reel him back.
"C'mon Shadow, I wanna get in on the action!" Sonic exclaimed enthusiastically.
Shadow grabbed both of Sonic's arms and pulled him out of the view of a torret that was searching for a potential target.
"Keep your voice and your head down" Shadow hissed. "This is a covert operation, don't you remember anything I told you?!"
"Sorry, I'm just super pumped to be working with you again, it's been way too long" the blue hedgehog explained.
"Yeah, that's why you'll wait out here while I'll go in and get the job done."
"What, why?" Sonic questioned. He looked hurt.
"This mission is all about stealth. You on the other hand always rush into things without thinking. I know what I'm doing, so I'll go in a collect whatever data Eggman is hiding and get back without triggering any alarms. Got it?"
"So I'm back up, right?" Sonic asked.
"Hmph" Shadow responded. He then looked at the base and then back at Sonic "I suppose"
"Alright, just let me know if you need me and I'll be right there!"
Shadow simply grunted as he walked away. He doubted he would need Sonic's help. He turned around briefly and tossed a headset at the blue blur "Take this. But don't bother me too much when I'm inside" he ordered "Stay here, and stay low"
"Yeah, sure" Sonic mumbled, placing the headset over his ears.
"No, Sonic, I mean it. Stay here. Do not come after me unless I tell you to" he warned. And with those final words, a blue light engulfed Shadow as he teleported away.
Sonic sighed, adjusting his headset. It had been so long since he'd seen Shadow, and he was so glad to go on a mission with him (despite Shadow wanting to go it alone). Shadow had been so wrapped up with GUN recently that he hadn't been able to see anyone else. Sonic was waiting for the opportunity to tell him how he really felt... But this wasn't the reunion he'd been hoping for. Nevertheless, he would tell Shadow how he really felt, sooner or later. He was certain of it. He was just worried about whether Shadow would feel the same way.
Shadow found himself inside Eggman's base. He quickly ducked into hiding spot, allowing some patrolling egg pawns to move passed. Once they turned a corner, he ducked out of his hiding place and ran down the corridor. The computer room was not too far from his position, and he was confident he could make it without being seen.
The door in front of him opened automatically. He paused for a moment, quickly checking his surroundings for any sign of Eggman's robots before speeding down the corridor towards the next door.
"Need any help, Shadow?" Sonic's voice came from his watch communicator.
"I got it" Shadow replied, reaching the door. This one was locked. He knew he was close. He approached the keypad and used his GUN tech to hack it. Within seconds the door was unlocked and Shadow was allowed to enter the computer room.
He went up to computer and started going through the data. He was just about to find what he needed, when several robots came attacking from all sides. Shadow grimaced, leaping out of the way of the robots.
They started to fire energy beams. Shadow used his homing attack to attack one and then quickly got out of the way of another laser beam. "Shadow, gimme an update" Sonic called.
"Not now, Sonic" Shadow growled. Being distracted for a brief moment was the window of opportunity the robots needed. One of them grabbed Shadow and slammed him into a wall "GAHHH!" He cried out. The robot prepared to fire a large close range shot.
"Shadow? Shadow?!" Sonic called.
"Son-" Shadow began, the robots hand crushing him.
"Shadow, I'm coming!" Sonic shouted, removing his headset and running inside the base. With his speed he was able to reach Shadow within seconds. He smashed into the robot that was crushing him and then attacked the rest, reducing them to nothing but a pile of scrap metal.
"You okay?" Sonic asked worriedly.
Shadow was about to speak, but then the lights started flashing bright red and an alarm started screeching. "We have to get out of here" he said, grabbing Sonic's hand and running out of the room.
As they went back into the corridor, a large metal wall slammed down and an identical one slammed behind them. The walls on either side started to close in on them. Shadow's first instinct was to run to wall on his left and forced all his body weight against it. Sonic did the same with the right wall.
"It's no use, it's not working!" Sonic cried.
"There has to be a way" Shadow muttered. He wasn't trying to let the stress of the situation get to him, but you could see the fear in his eyes.
"Maybe you could use chaos control?" Sonic suggested. The amount of room they had was starting to get smaller.
Shadow shook his head "If I did then I wouldn't be able to take you with me"
Sonic glanced around. "Maybe... Maybe we-" he sighed. There was no way out.
"Shadow, if this is it, I just want you to know-"
"We're not going to die here!" Shadow interrupted him.
Sonic ignored his outburst and continued "I just want you to know that" he paused, and inhaled deeply, though his breath was shaky "I- I love you!" He exclaimed, tears in his eyes.
Shadow stared at him with wide eyes. He then closed his eyes and lowered his head, frowning. "I don't know if you even like me, but that doesn't really matter right now. I just wanted you to know, in case I never get the chance"
Sonic lowered his head, bracing himself for the inevitable. Sonic glanced up at Shadow one last time to see that he was removing his inhibitor rings from his wrists. Clutching them both in one hand, he charged up all his energy, grabbed Sonic by the hand, and went charging head long at the metal wall. They burst through it with ease, but Shadow didn't stop. He kept going until he and Sonic were as far away from the base as possible.
Once they were safe, Shadow began putting his inhibitor rings back on. Sonic watched him, looking puzzled "Why didn't you do that in the first place?" He asked.
Shadow didn't even look at him "I wasn't sure if it would work. I didn't want to waste all my energy on a hunch" he explained. He then turned away and folded his arms, staring up at the gleaming, silver moon.
"I'm sorry" Sonic apologised.
"Sorry?" Shadow looked over his shoulder "You put yourself at risk and got both our lives in danger and you're sorry?"
"I thought you needed help. I was worried something might happen to you" Sonic replied, trying his best to defend himself.
"I could have handled it! I told you not to come after me unless I told you, why won't you just listen to me?! You're just so reckless!" He shouted furiously. He then turned away from him once again, his body heaving in anger.
Sonic looked down at the ground "Shadow, please... I need to know. Do you feel the same way about me?" he asked.
Shadow was silent.
"Shadow, just look at me!" He yelled.
The black and red hedgehog turned around, looking at Sonic with a blank expression. "Please... Just tell me" Sonic pleaded.
Shadow looked down, lost in thought. After a brief moment of silence, he looked back up at Sonic "No, I don't" he replied gruffly. "I don't love you"
"And-" he hesitated "And I think it would be best if we go our separate ways" he stated firmly. He and Sonic shared a hard stare, before Shadow turned and walked away. He didn't look back.
Sonic couldn't bare to watch him go. He collapsed to his knees and began to sob. He buried his face in the grass and cried. Was this the end? Would he ever see Shadow again? He couldn't be sure. It didn't really matter anymore. He'd just lay there for a while, hurt and alone.
A/N: I know I said that none of these will be interlinked, but this one will have a part 2. It won't come directly after, but the plot will be related in a way. For now, I have some stuff planned. There's part 2 to this, obviously, then there will be one where Shadow teaches Sonic how to swim, they'll be one about Sonic and Lancelot, and a Christmas special. Then I'll look into some requests, though they'll have my own spin on it.
For anyone confused as to why chapter 7 was posted and then removed on Sunday, well, someone (I won't say his/her username just in case he/she doesn't want me to) let me know that the plot was very similar to another story I never saw until that point. Not wanting to be accused of plagiarism, I deleted the chapter and I'm rewriting it with a different plot. Hopefully it's not the same as some other story out there somewhere, but idk. But I can promise you I would not copy off someone else's story. It's not who I am. I'm just doing this for fun.
Btw, go check the guy out with the story that was similar to the original chapter 7. His story is awesome, so seriously, go check him out. His name is Super Sonic Pizza Delivery and the story is Not a King. If you haven't seen it already, go check it out. It's great, glad I got to read it despite it looking like I copied him when I really didn't. It was not my intention, I didn't know, so I guess I just had the same ideas. Really sorry if it looked like a copied you, if you ever see this of course.
Anyway, enough rambling from me, hoped you liked the chapter, let me know what you think and if you have any requests, and I'll see you in the next one.
P.S. I tried my best to keep Shadow in character so I hope it payed off