A/N: Hey everyone, I'm up here now! I'm so edgy by changing my formula.
So the body swap plot won by like 2 votes I think. It was what I was hoping for, since I kinda like body swap sub plots. I don't know why. This chapter is pretty long, so I can't really call it a 'short' and I was considering splitting it into 2 parts, but I didn't know where to split it, nor did I want to butcher it. Here's this really long one instead. Treat it as a gift.
This one takes place in the Sonic Boom universe, something I haven't done in a while. Have you seen 'The Meteor' episode? Because this one is based off that episode. But with Shadow (hopefully it doesn't seem like he's been shoehorned in). I took some liberties, making it so that Shadow is on somewhat good terms with Team Sonic. I also wrote this one in a way that it's from Shadow's POV but in the third person, so it's like looking over his shoulder, if that makes sense. Just to mix it up a bit.
I'll probably write at the bottom too, I don't really know, I haven't finished editing yet, and I'm probably going to leave this sentence in. Enjoy!
Shadow had been invited to a campfire Sonic and his friends were having on the beach. He had refused Sonic's offer without much thought. Despite the fact that he and Sonic were in a relationship, he wasn't interested in getting involved with Team Sonic's 'fun' activities. He wasn't the type of person to sit around and relax, nor mess around when bored. Plus he couldn't really stand to be around Sonic's friends for very long. He couldn't even comprehend the idea of having to work with them, something Sonic just couldn't understand. He had wanted to get Shadow into Team Sonic for a long time, but his answer would always be no. He may work with them from time to time, but overall he preferred to work alone.
He was currently standing on top of a ridge, staring up at the starry sky and watching the different coloured meteors fly over head. He had been keeping tabs on the meteor shower for a while now. He glanced down at the beach, noticing the aforementioned campfire glowing brightly in the darkness. He narrowed his eyes and squinted at the orange flame. He could only just make out Sonic and his friends from this distance. They sure looked like they were having fun...
Shadow shook his head and looked up at the meteors once again. Just then, a large purple meteor came souring through the sky, coming dangerously close to the ground. He followed the meteor with his gaze, watching as it descended and came crashing down beyond the trees. There was a bright purple flash and shock wave that caused the rocks below his feet to tremble.
He had to investigate the meteor before anyone else could interfere. He glanced down at the beach, just to make sure everyone was alright. They could've been hit by some more falling rocks for all he knew. The group were fine. But they were racing off somewhere in a hurry, in fact they were heading in the direction of where the meteor had fallen...
"Oh no." he muttered. He could only imagine what those fools could be up to. Not wanting to waste another second, he quickly teleported himself to the crash site. Shadow's teleportation was on point, as he had managed to put himself directly above the meteor's location. He couldn't help but be impressed by his own skills sometimes.
He knelt down at the edge of the deep hole, and looked down at the purple rock that was surrounded by it's impact crater. This was a major find. He'd have to get down there and remove it before anyone else could tamper with it. He could sense that it had some potential power, but he wasn't sure if it had the same abilities as the chaos crystals. He'd have to test it.
"Oh hey, Shadow!" He heard Sonic's voice coming from behind him.
Shadow pushed himself off the ground and stood up, and then turned to face Sonic. The blue hedgehog was smiling warmly at him.
It was good to see him. He couldn't say the same thing about his friends.
"Looks like you got here first." Sonic commented, looking down at the meteor.
What was this, some sort of race? Shadow thought to himself. He couldn't understand Sonic's mentality sometimes. "Hmph." He grunted in response, and then folded his arms. He couldn't show much affection towards him in front of his friends.
"Think again, Sonic!" A familiar voice exclaimed.
"Eggman?!" Sonic cried out in surprise.
Shadow looked up, noticing Eggman along with his two robots Orbot and Cubot in the Egg Mobile, hovering over the crater. How long had they been there? He could've sworn he had been the first one to arrive.
"That's right! And as the intrepid explorer that first discovered this regal rock, I hearby call 'dibs'!" Eggman proclaimed.
Shadow rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening.
"What? You can't call 'dibs'." Sonic argued.
Maybe while they were squabbling he could take the meteor. He didn't want it getting into the wrong hands.
"Oh, so now you don't respect 'dibs'? What's next? Are you gonna allow 'cutsies'? Flout the five second rule? Step on a crack without any regard for your mother's spinal column?"
Shadow sighed. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only competent one on this island.
"Not cool, Sonic." Knuckles piped up.
"Of course I respect 'dibs', but you can only call 'dibs' if you are touching the thing you desire to 'dib'." Sonic explained.
"Ohhh! Well, in that case..." Eggman trailed off as he grabbed hold of one of the Egg Mobile's controls and began to lower himself down to the meteor.
Shadow looked over at Sonic, or at least where Sonic had been, as he had now jumped off the edge and was spin dashing downwards. Shadow was suddenly overcome with anxiousness. He was worried about Sonic's safety. This didn't feel right, they shouldn't be tampering with it.
He had to go after them.
He teleported himself down to bottom, a fair distance away from the crater. Sonic and Eggman were both reaching for the meteor. "Sonic, wait, it could be-" Shadow began.
"Dibs!" Eggman and Sonic exclaimed as they both touched the meteor at the same time. A bright purple light erupted from the rock, sending both of them flying back.
"Sonic!" Shadow exclaimed, rushing over to his friend. He knelt beside the blue hedgehog and pressed his ear to his chest. He was met by the soothing sound of Sonic's rithmetic heart beat. Shadow let out a sigh of relief and then proceeded to scope Sonic up in his arms.
"Boss? Boss?" He heard Orbot behind him.
"Wakey-wakey!" Cubot yelled.
He turned to look over at Eggman, who was also lying out cold on the ground. Nevertheless, he seemed fine, and he had his two robots attending to him. If you could even call it that.
"Come on, Cubot, let's take him home." Orbot suggested, and together they took Eggman by one arm each and began to drag him. He was certainly going to feel that in the morning.
Shadow teleported himself and Sonic up to his friends, each of them showing a large amount of concern. "Is he okay?" Amy asked worriedly.
Sonic let out a pained groan. Shadow glanced down at him and then looked at Amy "He'll be fine." He replied. At least, he hoped so. "We should take him home" he suggested.
"Yeah, he needs to rest." Tails agreed. "Then tomorrow I'll take a look at the meteor, try and find out what makes it have that sort of effect."
"Just don't touch it." Shadow warned.
"Don't worry, I won't." Tails replied.
Tails was probably the only one that Shadow had some sort of respect for. He was clever, and very good with machines. Shame he was still quite young and still had a lot to learn.
He simply nodded at the two-tailed fox and began to carry Sonic back home. He decided to keep it nice and slow, to see if Sonic would wake up in the time it took him to get back.
Shadow arrived back at Sonic's shack after a slow walk through the forest and along the beach. Dawn was breaking on the horizon, with the sun casting a bright orange glow on the inside of the shack. Shadow laid Sonic down in his hammock and gave him a small kiss on his forehead. He stared at him sorrowfully. He couldn't really tell if he was fine or not, and wouldn't be able to until he woke up.
He would stay with him until then.
Shadow patted Sonic's hand gently "I'll be right here, Sonic. You rest easy." He told him softly.
"Everything okay, Shadow?" Amy asked.
Shadow glanced over his shoulder to see Amy standing in the doorway of Sonic's shack. He then looked back at Sonic. "Everything is fine. You go home Amy, I'll stay here until he wakes up." He told her.
"You sure?" She asked. "I could stay if you want."
"I got it. I'll let you know if anything changes." He assured her.
"Okay. See you later." And with those parting words, she left, heading straight for home, though the thought of her still lingered. Amy wasn't really that bad, she was the only one he could level with apart from Sonic. Plus she actually listened to him, unlike the rest. She was still annoying to be around, though, as she was always trying to be light hearted and 'cheer him up', which is easier said than done.
He decided to take his thoughts off Amy and the rest of Sonic's friends and focus on Sonic himself. He adjusted Sonic's hammock slightly, just to make sure that he was comfortable. Once he was satisfied, he moved over to the post in the centre of the room and leaned back against it. He then allowed himself to slide down until he reached a sitting position. He watched Sonic sleep for some time until he eventually fell asleep.
Shadow was awoken from his slumber not long after by the sound of Sonic stirring. He quickly got up and placed his hand on Sonic's hammock, watching as he began to come round. Sonic opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, and fluttered his eyelids.
"It's good to see you awake." Shadow told him.
Sonic sharply turned his head to face him, looking a little stunned. "What are you-" he didn't finish his sentence. He looked around the room in confusion. "What am I-" he didn't finish that sentence either. He glanced down at his hands, and then lifted said hands and touched his own face. His eyes widened in pure horror.
"Sonic, are you feeling okay?" Shadow asked concernedly.
"Uh, yes- I'm fine." He stuttered. He looked nervous. "I am Sonic after all." He chuckled lightly.
Shadow raised an eyebrow. Something seemed odd about him, he just didn't know what. The way he looked at him... It wasn't the way Sonic normally looked at him. It just didn't feel right. Perhaps it was just a side effect of touching the meteor.
"Yes... You are."
Sonic smiled at him. Shadow stared at his face, noticing that his smile looked really off too. It was more of a forced smile, and he could even see pools of sweat forming on Sonic's head. He really was nervous.
"Do you think you could leave me alone for a bit, Shadow, I'd like to get some more rest." Sonic told him.
"Yes, of course, as much as you need." Shadow responded. He gave Sonic's hand another gentle pat, which caused Sonic to give him an odd look.
He simply shrugged off and walked out of the shack, only to be greeted by Knuckles, Amy and Sticks. "How is he?" Amy asked.
"Well, he's awake." Shadow replied. He couldn't exactly say that he was fine. He was anything but fine. He was acting so strangely. Shadow wondered if the others would notice when they saw him.
"That's great!" Amy cried out happily.
"Do you think he'll be up for a video game session later?" Knuckles asked.
"Sonic could have been badly hurt and you're worried about video games?" Shadow retorted angrily.
"Hey, no need to get so mad, dude, I was just asking." Knuckles argued back. Shadow glared at him furiously. Knuckles was probably one of the most annoying out of the group, aside from the paranoid badger. He may have strength, but he was utterly clueless, and had a huge ego to go along with it.
"Settle down you two. Sonic's fine and that's all that matters." Amy butted in, trying her best to keep the peace. "Now, I'm making milkshakes, do you want one, Shadow?" she questioned.
Shadow frowned at her "No." He replied simply.
"Will you go ask Sonic if he wants one, and what flavour he would like? I want it to be special."
Shadow silently walked back to the shack and entered through the doorway, only to discover Sonic wasn't in his hammock, but instead lying on the floor and pressed up against the far wall. "What are you doing?" He questioned.
Sonic got to his feet and brushed himself off "You know me, always got to be running somewhere." He replied with a nervous laugh and scratching the back of his head.
"Straight into a wall." Shadow pointed out.
"Must be because of what happened to me last night." Sonic explained.
"Yeah, maybe." Shadow murmured. He walked up to Sonic and examined him for a brief moment "You need to be more careful. You scared me last night, I thought something terrible might have happened. Please don't scare me like that again."
Sonic took a small step back, as if he was uncomfortable by how close Shadow was. "Uh, yeah, sure." He responded. He didn't sound so sure.
"Anyway, Amy's making milkshakes, do you want one?" He asked him.
"Ooh, milkshakes! I'd love a chocolate one."
"I'll go get you one, then." Shadow replied, walking out of the shack. He paused outside, and quickly ducked out of sight. He peaked back inside, watching as Sonic, who had a devious look on his face, went into a spin dash and began to roll around the room.
What could he possibly be trying to do? This all seemed so out of character for him. Shadow knew he had to get to bottom of whatever was going on and soon.
Shadow stood at the far side of the shack, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and watching Sonic and Knuckles playing on their video game. Shadow didn't really see the appeal himself, but he wasn't focused on the gameplay, he just wanted to keep an eye on Sonic in order to figure out what could possibly be wrong with him.
Sonic's character managed to wrestle Knuckles' to the ground, thereby winning the match. Sonic threw his controller aside and leapt off his stool in excitement and began to do a victory dance.
"Oh yeah! Score one for Dr. Egg- I mean Sonic."
Shadow narrowed his eyes at him.
"Hey, no need to rub it in, dude." Knuckles replied grumpily.
"Of course. Sonic's a good sport. I don't know what came over me, Nuggets."
"What were you going to say?" Shadow spoke up.
"Huh, oh er, Dr. Eggbeater." He told him. "It's my video game handle." He explained.
Shadow glared at him. "Fair enough."
Sonic gave him another forced smile and then walked off, taking out his notebook and pencil and going through his schedule, whilst muttering to himself. Shadow watched him closely, only to be distracted by a loud crash coming from outside. "What was that?!" Sonic exclaimed aloud, before quickly rushing outside and being swiftly followed by Knuckles.
Shadow didn't have time to think before his legs started working for him and he too was running outside. Eggman was there, probably to launch another attack, only he seemed to have crashed his beloved Eggmoblie into a tree.
"My baby!" Sonic exclaimed, reaching out to the Eggmobile that was now spewing out smoke and had a large dent on it's side. Why would he say that? This was all getting stranger and stranger.
Eggman stood up and brushed off some dust he had gotten on himself, whilst Sticks and the others prepared themselves for a fight.
"Guys, it's me! Sonic!" Eggman claimed.
"Ha! Nice try, Eggman! Wait, no. That was a terrible try." Knuckles responded cluelessly.
Shadow stared at Eggman, watching as he returned his gaze. The look he gave him... It wasn't like Eggman. Shadow walked away from the group to one side of the porch and stepped off onto the beach, making it so that he was somewhat closer to Eggman.
The Doctor turned his attention back to the others "But I'm not Eggman! I'm Sonic!" He insisted.
"Don't listen to him! I'm Sonic! Look at how blue I am! Must be one of his ingenious plans we all admire him for. Ha ha, friends?" Sonic asked.
Amy and Sticks looked at each other, and then burst out into laughter. "'Ingenious plans'! Good one, Sonic!" Amy said through laughter.
Shadow was trying to piece everything together, looking from Sonic, to Eggman, and then back to Sonic, who was taken aback by their laughter "Yeeeah... we're making fun of Eggman because we're secretly jealous of him, right? I mean, the brains, the panache, the mustache... He's the total package, eh?"
Knuckles joined in on the laughter, leaving only Sonic, Eggman and Shadow who weren't laughing. Shadow didn't know what was so remotely funny.
"Hilarious!" Sticks chuckled.
Sonic and Eggman looked at Shadow at relatively the same time, almost as if they were both searching for his support. Support that neither of them were getting.
The Doctor turned his attention back to the group once again "Listen! Eggman and I switched bodies somehow. He's me, and I'm him." Eggman explained. Knuckles continued to laugh, as he still seemed to think that this was all a joke.
Shadow looked over at Sonic to see how he would respond and defend himself, only to watch him take out a cream pie and hit himself in the face with it, the cream covering his left eye. "Ow! Eggman threw a pie at me!" He cried out childishly.
"Huh? No, I didn't!" Eggman responded. He had every right to say that, since he hadn't done anything, Shadow had seen it with his own two eyes. Why was Sonic doing this...? Unless... He glanced over at Eggman. Unless that wasn't Sonic.
"Let's send this miscreant packing!" Sonic ordered.
Eggman ducked to avoid Stick's boomerang, and almost ended up tripping over his own feet as rushed over to Shadow. He grabbed both of his arms and squeezed them tightly "Shadow, please, you have to believe me, I'm not Eggman." He pleaded. Shadow gazed up at him silently. He wasn't really sure what to think anymore. "I know you know, I can see it in your eyes, please just say something, help me, please!" He begged, shaking Shadow violently. He was so desperate, so distraught, it was so... Unlike him.
He glanced over at the others and then back at Eggman before finally speaking up "You better start running." he told him simply.
Eggman looked utterly crushed by Shadow's response, but quickly regained his composure. He turned to run away and retreat, but then gave Shadow one last heartfelt look before he made his escape. Knuckles ran passed Shadow, going after Eggman, who was currently running as fast as he possibly could.
Shadow turned his attention away to look at Eggman's robots, only to see Cubot fire up the damaged Eggmobile as Orbot jumped in. They then flew after Eggman, who was trying to get Knuckles to listen to him. "No, I'm Sonic! You have to believe me!" He cried.
His pleas were falling on deaf ears.
The Eggmobile Electromagnet picked Eggman up, and carried him away, causing Knuckles' attempted diving tackle to miss. The Eggmobile along with Eggman flew off into the distance.
Shadow felt someone put an arm around his shoulder "Pathetic, isn't it?" He heard Sonic ask.
Shadow shrugged him off and moved away from him "You'd never say something like that." He replied, shaking his head "It's not like you." He added, turning his head away. He didn't want to look at him anymore. It sounded like something he himself would say.
"Oh come on, Shadow, I was just kidding."
He felt so conflicted. Why would Eggman go to such lengths to say that he was Sonic? What could he possibly be planning? "Why was he trying to convince us that he was you?" He questioned aloud.
"It's probably some elaborate scheme of his, who knows what goes in his genius mind." Sonic responded. Why was he always complimenting him?
"I wouldn't call them elaborate... More idiotic." Shadow commented. Sonic looked cross, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, Shadow could see it written all over his face. He must have touched a nerve. "It still doesn't add up..." He trailed off, lost in thought.
"Just give it a rest, Shadow, let's just have a drink with the gang and celebrate our victory." Sonic suggested, gesturing over at the others, who had now settled down on the sun loungers outside of the shack.
Shadow narrowed his eyes "No, I won't 'just give it a rest', I can't just ignore the fact that you-" he jabbed his finger at Sonic "Have been acting strangely ever since last night."
"What is your problem?" Sonic asked, his tone sounded agitated.
"My problem? I think you should be asking yourself that." He retorted. Both of their tempers were rising.
"You know what, if you have such a big problem with me, then maybe you should just go! We don't even need you here anymore!" Sonic shouted, finally reaching boiling point.
Shadow's heart sank. There was a pit in his stomach, and Sonic's words were like a punch to the gut. They hurt him in so many ways. He couldn't believe he would say that, he was the only thing that mattered to him, he had been the one to constantly invite him into Team Sonic, or get him to join in on their fun. And now... He was turning his back on him. The only friend Shadow had.
His sadness changed into anger and bitterness. He tried not to show his emotions, and instead opted to glare at Sonic with a look of death in his eyes. "Fine." He replied coldly, his tone dry and lacking any sort of feeling. He leaned forwards, noticing that Sonic appeared to be fearful by his sudden turn.
"Have fun with your friends, Sonic" he spat his name, before allowing himself to enveloped by a bright blue light.
Shadow reappeared outside of Eggman's base. Burning with pumped up energy, he turned to the nearest rock and punched it in an act of frustration, while pieces of rock split off and flew in different directions upon impact. Breathing heavily, he lowered his hand, and looked at the dent that he had left.
He turned his attention back to Eggman's base, and charged head long at the door. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them. One way or the other. He smashed through the steal door and went charging down the corridor. He had been expecting at least some security robots but to come out and put up a fight, but so far, everything was deathly quiet, apart from the clanging his shoes were making on the floor as he ran.
He turned the next corner and kicked down the door that stood in his way. As soon as he entered the room, he caught sight of Eggman, along with his two somewhat loyal robots, Orbot and Cubot.
"Shadow?!" Eggman exclaimed, quickly rising from his chair. "What are you doing here?" He questioned.
Shadow walked up to him "You claim to be Sonic, so I came to find out if it was true." He stated. "You two have been acting strangely ever since you touched that meteor." He was starting to believe it. He had been sceptical at first, but with how they had both been acting, it was the only thing that made sense, no matter how crazy it sounded.
Eggman's shoulders sagged "Yes, it is. I'm so glad that one of you are listening to me."
"If you really are Sonic, tell me something only he would know." Shadow challenged him. He still had to be cautious, he couldn't just take his word for it.
"Well, you talk in your sleep a lot, in fact there was this one time where you mumbled something like 'would you like more tea with that'." Eggman responded.
Shadow heard Orbot and Cubot laughing, and shot them a quick glare, causing them to go silent. "And you don't like to hang out with the gang... You always turn me down... But that's okay, because that's just how you are, and I understand that-"
"Stop." Shadow cut him off. It was sure sounded believable, and he was satisfied by his answer, but Eggman did tend to spy on them, so it was unclear what information he could've picked up along the way. Though he didn't know about his and Sonic's relationship. There was still one thing he wanted to do, just to make sure.
"Take off your glasses," he ordered "I want to see your eyes."
Eggman did not hesitate. He lifted his hand and removed his glasses, allowing Shadow to get a clear view of his eyes. The way he looked at him... It was the same way Sonic always looked at him. That's when Shadow knew it had to be true.
"I believe you." Shadow told him.
Sonic let out a sign of relief and put Eggman's glasses back on "Thank you, Shadow. I knew you would." He then smiled. It looked odd coming from Eggman, but it was a natural smile, unlike the forced ones the fake Sonic had been giving him all day.
Shadow shook his head and grimaced "You even sound like him." He commented.
"I know, it's terrible." Sonic responded.
"I'm sorry I took so long. It was just difficult to trust you." Shadow apologised.
"It's alright. I don't blame you."
"What's it like? Being Eggman, I mean?" Shadow questioned, examining Eggman's body.
"I feel really, really heavy. Like all my speed has been turned into mass." he explained, touching 'his' stomach. "What about Eggman, how's he finding it?"
"Well, it seems that he enjoys having your body at his disposal. Though he is rather clueless as to how you act, but your team seem to have fallen for it."
"That's why I knew I could rely on you." Sonic replied, placing 'his' hands on Shadow's shoulders.
"Don't touch me."
"Right, sorry." He apologised, removing his hands. "I forgot."
"It's just weird, that's all." Shadow explained, not wanting to hurt Sonic's feelings.
"I know." Sonic responded. "So what do we do now?" He asked, changing the subject back to the task at hand.
"We have to get you two to switch back. It has to have something to do with that meteor, so maybe if you both touched it at the same time again you'd be able to reverse it." Shadow suggested.
"But how will we get Eggman to touch the meteor?" Sonic questioned.
"I'll worry about that. I need you to use Eggman's robots to launch an attack, so when the others are distracted, I'll deal with Eggman. I'm going to contact Tails and tell him what's going on, so that he can bring the meteor to us."
"Sounds like a plan." Sonic agreed, clamping 'his' fists together.
Shadow nodded confidently "Then let's do this."
Shadow watched Eggman and Team Sonic relaxing from afar. He was hidden amongst the shade of trees a fair distance away and was keeping a close eye on them. He had managed to swipe Sonic's communicator since Eggman hadn't been wearing it, and was keeping tabs on where Sonic and Tails were with it.
The communicator made an alert sound, so Shadow glanced down at his wrist and answered the call. "Shadow speaking" he announced.
"Hey Shadow, it's me, Tails. I'm just getting the meteor all backed up so I'll be there as soon as I'm done." Tails told him.
"Alright. Thanks for keeping me posted." Shadow responded.
"See you soon." The young fox said, before ending the call.
Shadow quickly contacted Sonic and waited for him to pick up. "Everything's ready on my end, what about you?" He asked, once he heard Sonic answer.
"We'll be there any second." Sonic replied.
"I'm good to go when you are."
Sonic abruptly ended the call, and at around the same time the ground started to shake violently. Shadow turned his attention away from Team Sonic and watched as Mega appeared over the horizon, knocking down trees that stood in his way and leaving a path of destruction behind him. Sonic flew in on the Eggmoblie, followed by Orbot, Cubot, and an army of robots.
It was time.
Shadow clenched his fists and waited for the battle to ensue. There seemed to be some sort of delay on Sonic's end. Perhaps he wasn't completely in control of Eggman's robots, but Shadow couldn't hear what they were saying from where he was.
Whatever issue there was had been solved and the robots began to charge at Team Sonic, but the group immediately began to fight back, destroying as many as robots as possible. That was to be expected. Nevertheless, they were distracted, leaving Eggman out in the open.
Shadow teleported himself directly behind him. "Hello Eggman" he whispered in his ear.
Eggman whirled around in surprise, only to have Shadow grab him by 'his' neckerchief and throw him halfway across the beach. "This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you." Shadow told him. "Though it will hurt. A lot." He then added.
Shadow charged towards him, slamming his fist into 'his' chest and then landing another punch directly to 'his' face and knocking him to the ground.
"Come on, don't make this too easy for me." Shadow growled "Fight back."
Eggman got to 'his' feet and charged at Shadow, throwing a punch at him. Shadow caught 'his' fist and swung his own at Eggman's face, knocking him to the ground once again "You may have mastered some of Sonic's speed, but you don't know how to fight. You're always so busy sitting on the sidelines." He tormented him.
Eggman staggered to 'his' feet once again. "For someone who cares about Sonic, you sure are doing his body a lot of damage." Eggman commented.
Shadow grabbed Eggman by 'his' neckerchief and lifted him off the ground "Don't worry, you'll get the same treatment once you switch back." He said, slamming him into the ground, and holding him there by 'his' throat.
"Why do you care so much, anyway?" Eggman asked, though he was struggling to talk from the pressure on 'his' throat. "I thought you and Sonic hated each other."
Shadow couldn't help but smirk. "You'll piece it together eventually."
"Shadow, what are you doing?!" Amy cried out, running towards him with her hammer in hand.
Shadow glanced over at her with gritted teeth "Amy, stop!" He exclaimed, holding out his hand towards her before she could get in swinging range. She looked to have calmed down and was even willing to listen to what he had to say. "Amy, you're just going to have to trust me on this one." He told her "Eggman was telling the truth, he is Sonic! And Sonic is Eggman." He explained. "Look, I know I don't give you much of a reason to believe me with the way I treat you and the others, but I'm just looking out for Sonic, the same as you. I wouldn't hurt him unless I had to."
Amy slowly lowered her hammer "I-" she began.
She was cut off as Tails arrived on the Tailsmobile, with a trailer attached to the back loaded with the meteor. "I have it, I have the meteor!" He exclaimed, leaping off his vehicle and running over to them.
Shadow released Eggman but made sure to keep his eyes on him. Meanwhile, Sonic flew down on the Eggmobile and got off, joining the others. "Listen, everyone," Shadow addressed them "Eggman and Sonic did switch bodies, and the only way to switch them back is for them to touch it again." He explained.
"It's true," Tails backed him up "After studying the meteor, it's energy capabilities do prove what Shadow and Egg- Sonic are claiming."
"What makes you think I want to switch back?" Eggman questioned "I'm not touching that stupid purple rock."
"No ones asking you." Shadow snarled at him "So just do it." He ordered, shoving him towards the meteor. Sonic sniggered as he walked over to the meteor.
They were just about to touch it when Shadow spoke up "Oh, and Eggman." He addressed him. Eggman turned 'his' head to look at him. "You did a terrible job as Sonic."
Eggman scowled, before touching the meteor. A bright purple light erupted from the meteor just like the night before, sending both Eggman and Sonic flying backwards. Shadow quickly rushed forwards and caught Sonic in his arms. At least, he hoped it was the real Sonic.
'Sonic' opened his eyes and stared up at Shadow. He then looked down at his hands and used them to touch his face. "I- I'm back." He stuttered in disbelief "We did it!" He exclaimed, a huge smile on his face.
It was the real one.
Sonic jumped up, only to immediately regret it "Ouch!" He yelped, clutching his chest. "I feel like I've taken one too many punches."
"That's because you did. I gave Eggman quite a beating." Shadow explained. "Speaking of which..." He looked behind him, only to discover that Eggman, along with Orbot and Cubot had gone, with only a beach covered in broken robots left behind. "He got away." He growled angrily, clenching his fist.
"Leave him. It doesn't matter." Sonic said, patting Shadow's shoulder.
Shadow smiled at him "It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back." Sonic responded. "Anyway, I'm going to go for a quick run, I've been itching to do one all day." He stated "Hope you don't mind."
"Go ahead. You deserve it." Shadow told him.
"Alright. Catch you all later!" And with those parting words, he ran off towards the woods.
Shadow walked over to the meteor and examined it for a brief moment. "Shadow." Amy addressed him.
"What is it?" He asked, not bothering to look at her or the others.
"I- we just wanted to say thanks for helping us today. We might not have been able to switch Sonic and Eggman back without you."
"It was nothing." He replied simply.
"It was nice to spend the day with you. Maybe we could do it again sometime." She suggested "Not the crazy body swapping thing, but something more... Normal."
"Maybe." He muttered.
He picked up the meteor. "I'm going to take this somewhere safe, so nothing like this will happen again." He announced.
Just as he was about to leave, Amy spoke up one more time. "I was going to say that I trust you earlier." She informed him "We all trust you, no matter how you act around us. And we'd be more than happy to spend time with you."
Shadow turned to look at them. They were smiling at him. Something he hadn't expected from the people he had treated so badly since day one. It made him feel... Awful.
"You're a pretty cool guy." Knuckles spoke up.
"And smart." Tails chimed.
"You might not even be a government agent." Sticks spoke up.
Shadow adjusted his grip on the space rock "I um... Thank you. All of you." He replied gratefully. He paused for a moment before speaking again "I better go."
"Bye Shadow. We hope to see you again soon."
"Yeah..." He trailed off. He bit his lip "Goodbye."
He was back where he started, sitting on the ridge with his legs dangling over the edge and looking up at the starry sky. No more meteors... Thank goodness. He wasn't sure if he could handle another fiasco with some other magical space rock.
It had been quite a day. He planned on staying on the ridge for a while, where it was peaceful. Perhaps he would rest his eyes and soak in the cold night air. He proceeded to close his eyelids and rolled his head back.
"Hey Shadow." Sonic greeted.
Shadow opened his eyes and watched as Sonic came and sat next to him. "Beautiful night, huh?" He commented.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with you friends?" Shadow questioned.
"I want to talk to you, that's all." Sonic told him "I mean, I could've gone to a chick flick with Amy, but this was more important."
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, first I just want to say thanks for your help today. I don't think I could've done it without you."
Shadow shook his head "You didn't need me. You would've figured it out, one way or another."
"You don't give yourself enough credit. You really are a big help. Which leads me onto what I came up here to say..." He trailed off for a moment "Me and the gang have been talking and we'd really like you to join our team. I know I've asked you this before, but this time it's different. Before, it was just me asking you, the team didn't really want you to join after the way you used to treat them, but they didn't show it. But now, they want you to join as much as I do. You don't have to be around us 24/7, you can go off and do your own thing whenever you want. We just want you to fight along side us. They want to get to know you better, and maybe one day, you could be their friends too. And if you don't like it, then you can leave at anytime, I won't stop you, please, just give it a chance." Sonic finished.
Shadow was silent, while Sonic made a move to get up. "I'll leave you alone to think about it."
"I already know my answer." Shadow responded.
"Really?" Sonic asked, sitting back down. He sounded surprised.
"I'd like to join your team." Shadow stated. "Your friends aren't as bad as they thought they were. They care about you, just as much as I do. They aren't perfect, but then again, neither am I. I'd like to get to know them better." He explained. "Plus someone has to keep an eye on you" he added, nudging Sonic teasingly.
Sonic smiled "Well in that case..." He placed his hand on Shadow's "Welcome to Team Sonic."
A/N: I'm not that edgy
I spent 3 straight days writing this one and gave it my all after the last one. I know people thought the last one was 'good' but at the same time I feel like I let you all down. That I let myself down. But at the same time, I don't have a desire to change it. I'm just going to leave it as is.
Next chapter is also in the Sonic Boom universe. It's going to go back to just being Shadow and Sonic, like the first couple. Trying to write in the rest of the cast is a pain. But they'll probably be back in the future at some extent.
And no, I'm not writing a short about them having a baby. You know who you are. But if it starts to become a really popular request, then maybe, just maybe, I'll do it. Don't you dare start flooding my reviews with the same request now that I've said that. Please don't. As for the 'injured Sonic being nursed back to health by Shadow' I'll make sure to read the other story in order to steer away from their idea and write my own. And if it's impossible for me to do that, then I'll just scrap that idea.
Valentines Day is coming up, and you know what that means... (it means they'll be another special like the Christmas one, ssh, don't tell anyone).
I'm in a better mood than I was when writing the last chapter if you couldn't quite tell. There are still some things that are bothering me, but I'm okay. I should be okay. I'm not going to let life's many problems stop me from doing what I love. Writing stories and showing them to you lovely folks.
I'm going to go take a break after spending all of my free time writing on this. But I'll be back very soon!
Thanks for the support for the last one btw. I don't feel like I deserved it but thank you. Really. You made me feel a lot better.