what's up motherfuckers

this semester is going to kill me, but it doesn't matter bc i have sonic the hedgehog fanfiction to write

slightly shorter chapter than usual just bc this is the second half of last chapter. we should be back to normal length after this one tho

thanks to TwidereChan for commenting!


Day 4: Raising the Stakes

"They should be here by now," Sonic muttered as he paced. It had been about a half-hour since they had separated from their younger two friends.

Shadow squatted near the edge of the mountaintop, looking down where they had come from. "They could've gotten lost."

"There's no way they got fucking lost," Sonic said with a snap, "Silver just had to fly 'em over the jungle and to the top."

Shadow didn't seem to react but continued staring down. "I know," he said quietly.

Sonic looked back at him, shame starting to take hold. Silver and Tails were Shadow's friends too, he remembered. He gave a short sigh and held out a hand to Shadow. The other boy looked at him with confusion before taking his hand. "C'mon," Sonic said, pulling him up, "Let's just get the emerald."


The sky began to turn an orangish hue, heralding the coming of sunset. Even though the darkness had not yet come, Blaze had started a small fire which both of the girls now sat around. Elise gave a tentative glance over to the other girl. "They've been gone a while," she said softly.

"They'll be fine," Blaze replied dispassionately, staring into the fire, "There's no use in worrying."

Despite her neutral tone, Elise could tell Blaze was just as worried as she was. A part of her wondered how much that statement was directed at her.

A ripple of movement was heard from the foliage behind them. Blaze stood abruptly. "Is that them?" Elise asked.

Amy's mallet materialized in Blaze's hands. "I don't think so."

Elise stood alongside her, powering up Silver's gloves. A string of robots gushed out from the trees, surrounding the two in mere seconds. The two backed into each other, facing the badniks. But before they could begin to defend themselves, a robot, slightly larger than the others, slowly approached the pair. It came to a clunky stop and from its center, a video broadcast began to play.

The screen showed Doctor Eggman himself, mid-evil laugh. He cackled for a few seconds longer, before peering into the camera. "Look here, Son-" He cut himself off, a baffled expression crossing his face. "Wait a minute. You're not Sonic. Elise and-" He moved closer to the camera. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Blaze," she said, tightening her grip on the piko-piko mallet, "What do you want, Eggman?"

"Well, I fuckin' wanted Sonic, but I guess that isn't happening." He cleared his throat. "Um, anyway. Time's up, Blaze! I told you there would be consequences if you didn't find the emeralds!"

Blaze's voice was deadpan as she spoke. "We're literally working on it right now. We've already found one, and Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Tails are retrieving another one right now."

A devious grin crossed the doctor's mustached face. "Oh, are they?" Blaze's stomach churned uneasily. "Are you sure no one lost their way?"

"What are you talking about?" Elise asked. Blaze had a creeping suspicion that she prayed was wrong.

"While flying over the jungle, my robots picked up a couple of lost children! Sonic's little fox friend and-" He paused for a second. "Whatever the gray one's called. I've never met him."

"Silver," Blaze let out inadvertently, a pit slowly growing in her stomach.

"Is that his name?" Eggman asked, seemingly oblivious to Blaze's distress. "Fuckin' Silver? Yeah, that sounds right." He chortled evilly. "I have Tails and Silver!"

"You're bluffing," Elise said defiantly.

That malicious smile returned. "Am I? You said Sonic and Shadow went with them. See if they have the kiddos with them when they return. But know this-" His voice took a dangerous tone. "I'm not fucking around anymore. Get me those emeralds if you ever want to see your friends again." The video feed cut out and the bot backed away, the rest of the badniks following suit.

Elise watched as the robots turned away and as soon as they were out of sight, she turned to Blaze. "He's lying. Sonic and Shadow wouldn't let him get Silver or Tails."

Blaze stayed silent for a moment. "I hope you're right," she murmured, "But he is right about one thing."

"What's that?" Elise asked.

Blaze turned back to Elise, her stare hardening. "We won't know until Sonic and Shadow get back."


"Jesus, Rouge, not that tight!" Knuckles cried, pulling back his arm. The bandage that was being wrapped around his arm loosened at the movement.

Sat across from him, Rouge merely gave an unimpressed stare, roll of bandages still in hand. She had rolled up the orange sleeves of Tails' shirt and taken off the vest, which laid discarded to the side, alongside the sweatshirt Knuckles had inherited from Shadow. "Quit being a baby, Red." She reached for his arm again, to which he complied reluctantly. "This wouldn't have to happen if you didn't try to fight a sea monster all on your own."

"It was a lake monster, actually," he said, just a little smugly, "And anyway, how was I supposed to know it'd appear when I took the weed gem?" A small smile crossed Rouge's face. "What?"

"Nothing," she said through her smile. She cleared her throat. "But still-" She began to rewrap his wound. "-You could've been safer. Or smarter." She didn't look at him as she spoke. Her gaze was fixated on the bandages.

"Well, 'smart' isn't exactly my strong suit," he said, unsure exactly how to respond to the concern he detected in her voice. She snorted at that. "But I'm fine, really."

She hummed in response. "Well, Mr. Fine, I'm nearly done patching you up, so why don't you let me finish?"

He gave an exaggerated sigh but obeyed. His gaze flickered to the other side of the campfire, where Amy was sleeping. "She's got no trouble getting to sleep, does she?"

"What are you, a broken record?" Rouge remarked sarcastically. "She's a kid. Let her sleep."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "It wasn't a criticism. If anything, I'm jealous."

"Don't be." Her eyes flicked up for a half-second. "It's not a good look on you."

Knuckles' stomach twisted into a knot. He had pointedly ignored the "Mr. Fine" comment, but he couldn't exactly let this one slide. He was getting just a bit tired of their little game of half-flirting and stolen glances. "Oh yeah?" He said with a boldness he didn't know he possessed. "What would you know about that?"

She didn't look up, but he could see her pursing her lips. "Nothing." One of her white tails flicked behind her. She finished wrapping his arm and pulled away. "There. You're free."

Knuckles flexed his arm a little. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me." Rouge stood, brushing herself off. "Thank Tails' ridiculously deep pockets. G'night, Knuckles," she said with a turn.

"Wait, Rouge," he said quickly, standing. She stopped. He hesitated, uncertain if he really wanted to disrupt the status quo like this, but continued after a second of deliberation. "Can we-" He swallowed tensely. "-Talk?"

"Sure." She sat back down. "What do you wanna talk about?"

He took a breath. "This." He gestured vaguely between the two of them. "Us."

She chuckled. "You're gonna have to be a bit more specific than that, Red." Despite her calm demeanor, Knuckles could see the tails behind her wave uneasily, a tell she wasn't used to having. He couldn't blame her. He felt the exact same way.

He wasn't sure how to verbalize his jumbled thoughts, but he tried anyway. "You keep saying these things about... me, about us and they-" He laughed nervously. "I don't know how to take them. Sometimes, it's like, 'Oh, that's clearly a joke,' but then other times, I can't tell. It's- It's like it's a game to you, just to get a rise outta me and I can't take it anymore. I-" He stumbled over his words. "I can't deal with what you do to me."

It wasn't very eloquent, but it still felt good to get it off of his chest. But any of the relief he felt dissipated as soon as he saw Rouge's face. It was unnaturally neutral, her jaw clenched slightly. "Alright," she said, "I'll just leave you alone, then."

"What?"

Her face morphed to one of anger, any of her previous attempts at apathy wiped clean. "That's what you want, isn't it? Since you 'can't deal' with me?" She stood and scoffed. "You can't deal with yourself, so obviously it must be Rouge's fault. Oh, that's rich-"

"What? No, that's not what I-"

"Fuck you, Knuckles."

"I like you!" he finally managed to spit out. Rouge stopped and took a step back, bewilderment plastered on her face. He sat back down. "I, I like you," he admitted quietly.

For a few moments, Rouge seemed shell-shocked, his words still sinking in. But once they had, she slowly sat down next to him. He expected her to say something, anything, but she surprised him. She placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him.

It was a short kiss, a small kiss, but Knuckles could stay there forever, Rouge's lips on his. But just as soon as it started, Rouge pulled away, a slight smile on her lips. "What was that?" he somehow managed to say.

Rouge's smile widened just a little. "It was a kiss. Don't tell me you've never had one before."

"I haven't," he said honestly.

She chuckled. "Could've fooled me. You're pretty good at it."

It fell into silence as Knuckles continued trying to process what exactly had just happened.

Rouge just kissed me.

Rouge just kissed me.

Rouge just kissed me.

"Can we do it again?" he asked, "Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke?"

A real smile fell onto Rouge's face this time as she leaned in again, Knuckles leaning in along with her. Their lips met and it was just as wonderful as the first time. His hands moved to her face, cupping it. Knuckles couldn't believe how good, how right it felt to be kissing her.

Rouge stopped and said, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"You've liked me for a while?" he said dumbly.

She laughed. "I've liked you since we met. 'Course, it wasn't like this at first, but I've always liked you, Knuckles. Why d'you think I tease you so much?"

He chuckled. "I guess that makes sense." She rested her head on his shoulder, his arm around her. She fit perfectly. Holding her felt almost as good as it did to kiss her. "I didn't realize," he said, his voice low, "Not for a while. I thought I hated you for a while. I've never met anyone like you."

"I've never met anyone like you either," she said quietly. After a moment, she sat up, her eyes level with his. There was a playful grin on her face. "Y'know, I think you're right. I think we should have that conversation about us."


It had been hours since Sonic and Shadow had retrieved the emerald from the top of the mountain. They had decided to stay and wait until morning, just in case Silver and Tails really had gotten lost. But with every passing minute, it became more and more apparent that something had gone wrong.

The sky, which had had a light blue hue when they had begun their vigil, was instead a deep black, the only light coming from the fire that Shadow had pitched when the sun had started to set. It was good he had set it when he did. Without the coverage afforded by the jungle, the wind was strong, giving the air more of a chill.

Sonic sat close to the fire, holding his arms close. "I don't think they're coming."

"I know," Shadow said, something like regret thick in his voice.

Sonic felt himself shiver involuntarily. Knuckles' athletic wear had kept him from overheating during the day, but did little to keep him warm now. The least the guy could do was have a jacket.

He didn't notice Shadow watching him. After a moment, he stood, taking off Sonic's own jacket and placing it on the shivering boy's shoulders. "What are you doing?" Sonic asked.

Shadow sat back down. "You're cold," he said as if it were explanation enough.

"I'm fine," Sonic said, but he pulled the jacket closer (and ignored the growing warmth on his face). It went silent again, which allowed Sonic to remember why they were there, what was missing. The guilt and anxiety he had felt before came flooding back. "This is all my fault," he said, not bothering to explain what he was talking about, "I never should've let us split up. I know better than that."

His darker counterpart seemed to ponder his words for a moment before saying, "It's not your fault, Sonic." His voice was quiet, contemplative. "If anything, it's mine." He looked down at the ground. "I was so focused on getting the emeralds as quickly as possible, I didn't think twice about splitting up. I should've listened to you."

I should've listened to Shadow.

Sonic's own words, spoken only a few days ago, came echoing back to him. "Y'know," he said slowly, "A very wise almost-eight-year-old once told me that I shouldn't blame myself for things I can't control." He nudged Shadow. "Something tells me that advice applies to you too. Just because you're the Ultimate Lifeform or whatever doesn't mean you don't make mistakes."

Shadow chuckled, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're not great at taking that advice yourself."

"No, I'm pretty bad at it," he said lightly, "But it's the thought that counts, right?"

"I guess." They fell back into an uneasy silence once again, only broken by Shadow clearing his throat. "At least we found the piss rock."

The effect was instantaneous. Sonic almost choked at the mention of it, wheezing out laughter. Once he finally composed himself, he said, "I can't believe you remembered that!"

"Why wouldn't I?" Shadow asked, a little dumbfounded, "It was one of the first conversations we had. I go into the Funland tunnel and you just start yammering on about a piss rock and it took me forever to realize that was what you called the yellow Chaos Emerald." He stopped and thought for a second. "You talked a lot."

"I still talk a lot," Sonic corrected. He thought back to their adventure on the Space Colony ARK. "That was a while ago. It's kinda hard to remember a time before we met you and Rouge." He paused. "I'm glad we did. I can't imagine what it'd be like without you guys."

"Same here," Shadow said quietly.

A gust of wind blew past them and Sonic trembled yet again. Although he was grateful for his jacket, it still wasn't much. He glanced over at Shadow, who seemed completely unbothered by the temperature. He was about to make a biting remark, but held his tongue, a different idea striking him.

It was kind of dumb, and just a little bit pathetic, but against Sonic's better judgment, he snuggled up against Shadow. It was insane how warm the other boy was, basically functioning as another source of heat. That bastard, Sonic thought fondly. He leaned in closer to the touch.

Shadow went rigid but didn't move. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to conserve heat," he explained lamely, "I'm cold and emotionally vulnerable right now, and I feel bad that you gave me your jacket."

Shadow sighed but leaned against Sonic as well. "Technically, it's your jacket."

"Shut up."

"Okay."


god i'm so bad at writing romance why do i do this to myself

this isn't really an update, but this is the most appropriate place to talk about this: I'm actually working on turning this fic into a web comic of some sort. idk if I'll ever even post it, but I'm about 4 pages in rn and it's p fun! so that's cool

uhh pls comment that would be p cool of you please and thank you

see y'all next time