Author's Note: I am not a major Shadaze fan, but I do like it. Just thought I should try my luck with different pairings. Let me know what you think!
(A Shadow the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat Story)
Blaze charged into the line of robots with her hands alit and proceeded to slash through their metal armor with ease. She was nearing the base now, and soon she would take back the Sol Emerald that was stolen from her. The fury of having it taken fueled her flames as she viciously fought past her enemies. She had come to Mobius to retrieve the sacred gem and hopefully see her friends Amy and Cream afterwards. However, her mission seemed to be taking more time than she liked.
The sound of something behind her exploding caused her to stop and cover her delicate ears from the blast. She turned around and spotted a few familiar faces, along with some she didn't know.
"Come on, guys. Egghead's not gonna wait forever!" Sonic's chipper voice rang out over the battlefield.
"But who's been fighting here before us?!" Tails yelled back as he dodged a laser.
"I'm sure we'll meet 'em once we blow up the base, but we have to keep moving!" he replied and spindashed into a larger badnick.
Blaze's eyes widened and she ran at a mad sprint into the base. They couldn't blow it up yet, not until she finds what she came for. The maze of identical halls were littered with robots, and she destroyed as many as she could while running. She could feel the power of the Sol Emerald getting closer with each step she took, and she briefly regretted having to run in her high-heeled boots. She growled and pushed herself to keep going. I'm too close to start complaining now, she thought. Flames licked her heels as she ran with grace and speed.
Meanwhile
Shadow stooped down to inspect the scrap metal at his feet. "These machines...they look like they've been burned," he said thoughfully as he rubbed the soot between his thumb and index finger, "Whatever, or whoever, caused this would have had to have been very powerful to do this kind of damage."
"We can worry about that later," Sonic announced, "Egghead has something big cooking in there, and we've gotta take it down."
The obsidian hedgehog rolled his eyes and skated ahead of the group, if only to annoy his rival. He followed the clear path of scorched robots and black footprints to the center of the base where he finally discovered their help. She was lavender cat dressed in a royal purple top with white tuffs, white pants, and red boots with a matching white stripe. But at the moment, her slim figure was absorbed with orange flames that seemed to pulse from her. She had her back turned to him, so he couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was physically fit and battle proven.
"Doctor! Give the Sol Emerald back to me!" she commanded the human sitting inside the massive robot. Eggman chuckled in dark amusement at her determination, and Shadow knew that asking nicely wasn't going to get anything done.
"And what makes you think that I will just hand it to you, my dear?" he asked, and the lady's flames only grew. Shadow crossed his arms smugly.
"Give the cat her gem, doctor. If you've seen the trash she's left behind on the way here, you'll call it quits while you have the chance."
"Shadow! When did you get here?!"
Blaze turned around to stare at the black hedgehog casually watching them. His soot-colored fur had fiery red stripes going down his quills, arms, and legs, Gold rings dangled on his wrists and ankles over his white gloves and bizarrely designed hoverskates. His arms were crossed over the tuft of white fur on his chest, while glistening ruby eyes glared up at the human. His body was toned to the point she thought he was made of stone, and his eyes held the look of a warrior's experience.
"I've been here long enough," he replied, "Now give her the Sol Emerald. I didn't come alone."
The mad scientist laughed and got his mech into battle position, "Come and get it."
Blaze smirked, not knowing that Shadow was doing the same, and replied, "With pleasure."
Black and purple blurs raced toward Eggman's machine and attacked simultaneously. Shadow's fists glowed with green flames as chaos energy fueled his strikes, and Blaze marveled at his skill. Is he a pyrokinetic too? she wondered before returning to the battle at hand.
Shadow took a brief glance and observed the feline fighting beside him. Each of her hits were multiplied with the flames dancing around her. She dodged a blow with agility and grace that surprised him. "Wow," he breathed, before he shook his head and resumed fighting.
Sonic and the others arrived only a few moments later and watched as the two flaming warriors fought with Eggman's machine before they leaped into the fray with them. Eggman pounded his hand on the console in frustration.
"Where are all of you coming from?! That's it!" he yelled and pressed a button. The mech's chest lit up and opened to reveal a case with a glowing green jewel in its center.
"The Sol Emerald!" Blaze gasped and ran towards it. Shadow looked up and saw the heavy metal arm swinging towards her, but she didn't stop. It soon dawned on him that she was too focused to see it coming, and he skated towards her.
"Watch out!" he shouted and pushed her off track just as the hand slapped down on top of him. The cat skidded to a stop, and everyone stared in muted horror. He pushed me out of the way..., she thought, Why would he do that for me?
Eggman laughed maniacally at his supposed victory before it faded into shock. The mech began to shake as something, or someone, pushed back on the hand. The mobian heroes cheered when they spotted Shadow's kneeling form forcing the mechanical arm from completely crushing him. The human grumbled and increased the pressure, pushing him down a few more inches. He grunted and pushed harder, his body glowing from green to red. Blaze, misinterpreting his change in power as a sign of losing strength, called upon the Sol Emerald resting in the robot's chest. At the same time, Shadow was summoning the energy from the Chaos Emerald hidden in his quills.
"Sol-"
"Chaos-"
"BLAST!" they shouted together. There was an explosion that shook the entire base, as green and red light clashed. Neither of them had ever felt such power in all of their lives.
Eggman's mech was obliterated, and he only barely escaped in his eggmobile. The heroes gathered together to check on the ones that fought the hardest. At the sight of Blaze, Sonic, Amy. Tails, and Cream ran to greet her, and the purple feline was overwhelmed with hugs from the girls.
"Blaze! We missed you so much!" Amy said as she squeezed tighter, making her think that she would explode.
"Uh, Ames, you might be hugging her little too tight," Sonic pointed out, and she loosened her grip. Blaze gasped for air, while the others, excluding Shadow, laughed at the familiar scene.
"Oh," Sonic snapped, "introductions. You've already met me, Tails, Ames, and Cream. Red over there is Knuckles. He's kinda like you; he's the guardian of the Master Emerald. And then there's Rouge, she likes jewels too, and Omega is one of Egghead's robots turned good."
The lavender cat tried to get the faces right, but she quickly noticed that one was missing. Her rescuer. "Where did that black hedgehog go? I have to thank him for saving me."
"Hey, where is Shadow?" Tails wondered.
"Over here!" he called as he climbed out of the wreckage with a rectangular green jewel in his hand, "The doctor was kind enough to leave his newest prize for us."
He strode towards the group and paused directly in front of Blaze. The two stared hard at each other, sizing them up, before he gave her the Sol Emerald.
"I believe this belongs to you."
Her tail flicked suavely as she took it, and she looked back into his crimson gaze. She gave a small smile, "Thank you...for what you did back there," she said shyly, "I don't think I caught I caught your name?"
"It was nothing," he replied in an equally quiet voice that surprised everyone that knew him, "and it's Shadow. Ultimate Lifeform. And you are?"
"Blaze, Princess of the Sol Kingodm."
Shadow took her hand and kissed the back of it like a gentleman, "Charmed."
A faint blush colored her white muzzle before she quickly covered it with a flustered look, "Ahem, yes, the same to you. How can I repay you?"
"It was nothing. Just an act between allies."
"Surely there is something I can do?" she pressed. She didn't like the feeling of being indebted to someone. But he only shook his head, and she restrained a sigh of annoyance. There had to be some way she could thank him; he had just saved her life after all. An idea flew into her head, and she faintly smirked.
Shadow didn't know what hit him till it was too late. One moment, Blaze turns away from him after he rejects her offer to pay thanks, and the next she stands on her toes and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. It took him several long seconds to realize his tan muzzle had turned scarlet, and he quickly averted his eyes and coughed. The onlookers gasped and snickered among themselves at the unusual behavior between the normally reserved fighters. Of course, that was quickly silenced by matching, deadly glares from both cat and hedgehog.
"We should get going," Shadow stated, "Weren't we going to blow this place up?"
"Oh yeah!" Sonic chimed in absently, "I'll go set the charges while you guys get out of here."
"It would be faster if we both do it," the obsidian male replied and grabbed half of the bombs with them. "I'll take East; you take West."
It wasn't a suggestion, and Blaze realized he sounded much like one of her generals back home. The azure hedgehog nodded, and the two disappeared down opposite ends of the hall, leaving the rest of the team behind.
"Come on. Let's get out of here!" Amy declared, and the group ran down the hallways and out of the base. A few seconds later, two black and blue blurs dashed to meet them a few miles from Eggman's lair and stopped only a few feet from them. Shadow and Sonic were smirking at each other competitively.
"I win," they said at the same time, and then all chaos broke loose.
"No, I won!" they argued simultaneously again. Shadow scoffed and crossed his arms, and Sonic mirrored him.
"I was here half a second before you were," Shadow stated as if it were fact. Sonic made a disbelieving face.
"No, I had three inches on you," he retorted.
"Why don't we let them decide?" Shadow suggested, and everyone scratched their heads or wouldn't make eye contact. Sonic facepalmed, and Shadow sighed.
"What if we see which half of the base is destroyed first?" Blaze reasoned, and the two hedgehogs agreed readily.
A few moments later, the eastern half of the base went up in flames, followed quickly by the western. Shadow's smirked broadened, and Blaze noticed the air of a champion surrounding him.
"As I said, Faker, I win."
"Whatever, Faker. That's the last time you best the Fastest Thing Alive."
"That's what you said last week, or did you forget how the Ultimate Lifeform beat you again?"
Sonic and Shadow continued to swing insults, names, and remarks at each other, while Blaze watched hopelessly confused. She looked at the others to see that they were either bored or annoyed.
"Does this happen often?" she asked. Everyone nodded. Rouge, the white bat currently checking her nails, spoke up.
"At this point, hon, I could recite it to you."
"Mr. Sonic and Mr. Shadow love to race," Cream agreed, "but they always do this afterwards."
"Who wants to get something to eat? They'll be at for a few more hours at least," Knuckles suggested.
"I'm game," Amy said, and the others quickly agreed, except for Omega.
"I will stay here and ensure that they do not destroy each other without my consent."
"Uh, it might be best if they don't destroy each other at all, big guy," Rouge corrected.
With one last look at the two hedgehogs, Blaze walked back with the others to Tails' plane, not realizing that Shadow had looked her way.
"Let's quit this already," he told his rival, just before Sonic was going to make another smart comment. The blue speed demon raised an eyebrow in confusion and shrugged, before he followed the older hedgehog to the plane with Omega in tow.
So how was it? This is just a one shot for now, but if enough people like it, I might extend it. I'm desperate for input!