I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters.

Practice

Shadow spun around Blaze and threw a punch at her but she brushed it aside, then spun, flames exploding out of the back of her left heel, sending her foot flashing up into the side of his head in a roundhouse kick that flipped him sideways. He crashed down hard and grit his teeth, feeling his head start to pound. He took several breaths before standing just in time for Rouge's foot to crash into his chest, hurling him backward into a tree. He grunted as he hit and a red aura began to form.

"Shit!" Shadow gasped, gritting his teeth, struggling to calm himself, only for his fear to begin to build.

"It's alright, Shadow," Rouge said as she and Blaze knelt in front of him. "You control your power. Just focus your thoughts on what calms you."

"I can't!" Shadow said.

"Yes you can," Blaze said, she and Rouge taking his hands. "You just need to try. Close your eyes."

He did so.

"What do you enjoy?" Blaze asked.

"I don't remember," Shadow said.

"Picture yourself in a field," Rouge supplied. "We're all there. Knuckles is getting beaten up by me. Amy's hitting Sonic for accidentally flirting with Vanilla. Blaze is burning Silver for flirting with her."

A small smile formed on Shadow's lips, the red aura slowly fading.

"Now, open your eyes," Rouge said.

Shadow looked down, seeing the aura was gone and his smile widened slightly. "It...It worked."

"Of course it did," Rouge said. "I'm a genius."

Shadow pulled her into a hug instantly. "Thank you. But...I can't do this in the middle of a fight, and I can't fight without being angry. Anger is my strength."

"No," Blaze said. "You only think it is. Your strength doesn't come from your anger. Your strength is your own. You are one of the best fighters I know. You're far stronger than you think. You just need to have faith in yourself. We'll teach you to fight without anger. That way you can keep yourself in control."

Shadow swallowed hard and nodded, pushing himself up and taking a moment to calm himself, keeping the mental image of Sonic, Knuckles, and Silver all being beaten up by girls. Then, he readied himself and nodded.

Shadow flipped over Blaze, kicking at her, only for her to spin around his foot, jumping and kicking at him. He caught her leg and spun, hurling her into Rouge. As he landed, however, he wasn't in a forest. He was in a factory, and there was a massive machine before him, one with dozens of spiked tentacles, upon one of which, Rouge and Blaze were now impaled. Shadow's eyes widened as he fell to his knees, staring at them before clutching his head, a strangled cry of pain and grief ripping out of his mouth just as an explosion of red energy shot off of him. However, as soon as it cleared, a hand lifted him, allowing a second to slap him, hard.

He recoiled, gasping for breath as though he'd been holding it for minutes, and his wide, panicked eyes found Rouge and Blaze in front of him, both unharmed, backdropped by trees, not a giant killer robot, and now standing inside of a fresh crater. He tried to exhale, but his throat closed and when it finally opened, a sob slipped out. Blaze and Rouge both pulled him into a hug instantly, exchanging confused looks.

"I saw...you were both..."

"We're safe," Rouge said after a moment of him not speaking. "We're both here. We're not going anywhere."

"It...It was...so real," Shadow said. "There was a robot. It had these tentacles, and it..."

"It's alright," Blaze said. "It wasn't real. The only things out here are the three of us. I promise you, we're not going to go anywhere. We're not abandoning you."

Shadow nodded, slowly calming himself, though his arms didn't loosen their hold on the two women. After several minutes, he finally released them, wiping his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Blaze asked.

Shadow nodded, standing. "Can we try again?"

"Sure," Blaze nodded, she and Rouge readying themselves again.

Shadow stared at the burger Blaze had gone to a city nearby to get, along with their own. It had only taken her a few minutes, but the entire time she was gone, he had felt anxiety eating at him. it shouldn't have. He knew that much. But he couldn't help it. She and Rouge had become his lifeline in the last few days they'd been training. And ever since the vision, or hallucination, or whatever, that morning, he had been on edge. When she was gone, even while he fought Rouge, he hadn't been able to shake his fear that the vision would come true for Blaze, or that any number of other horrible fates might befall her.

"Are you alright?" Blaze asked, she and Rouge already halfway done their burgers, while Shadow hadn't even started his yet.

"Yeah," Shadow lied, taking a bite. "I'm fine."

Blaze nodded and watched him as he ate slowly before continuing to eat her own burger again.

Shadow flipped, firing a burst out of his right shoe, launching himself at the robot, curling himself into a ball as he did, tapping into his Chaos Energy, forming himself a spherical aura of it, his fur and quills all shining red just before one of the robot's tentacles swung around, crashing into him and sending him blasting into the ground, bouncing him, no longer as a ball, before the robot's bulldozer-sized fist crashed into him, sending him exploding into the wall. He crashed to the ground, coughing and groaning before standing and channeling his energy into his right palm, firing a barrage of spear-shaped energy blasts, which flashed through the air into the robot, exploding against it harmlessly before Shadow pushed off the wall, activating his shoes and racing out of the way of several tentacles, which stabbed into the ground in a line after him.

After a moment, he jumped, once again using his shoes and his Chaos Energy to send himself flashing toward the robot, this time exploding into its head hard. Its head, the size of a house, was its weak point, but even so, it was so massive that he hardly hurt it. It rocked backward, then lurched forward, headbutting him and sending him crashing to the ground again. Just as he began to stand, a tentacle flashed down at him, tabbing toward him, only for movement to obscure his vision.

Shadow sat up, gasping for breath, trying to scream, to shout for whoever it was to get out of the way and let him die, except he couldn't scream. He couldn't breathe. And he also wasn't fighting. He was in a cave, with a pair of arms wrapped around him, a soft voice gently murmuring comforting words, calming him even before he had realized she was there. He sighed, curling into Rouge, hugging her. It was the same robot as before. But how? Hw couldn't understand. Was it supposed to mean something? he didn't recognize the gigantic, black robot with spikes covering its back and a general body shape like King Kong, but covered in tentacles. So what was it?

"Are you alright?" Rouge asked.

"I...yeah," Shadow nodded. "I think so. Thank you."

Rouge smiled and nodded, gently guiding him to lay back down. Then, she sat beside him, her left hand in his right as her right hand gently traced the contours of his skull with her middle finger. He wanted to ask her what she was doing, but the light, pleasant sensations were making him feel exhausted rapidly. Before he even knew it, he was asleep again.

"You should be careful," Blaze warned. "If you're not, you might actually make Shadow fall in love with you. He's not the same loner we once knew."

Rouge simply smiled for a few minutes. "What about you?"

Blaze watched her for a few moments before sighing. "I want to help him. He needs someone to be there for him. And I don't want to hurt him."

Rouge nodded, smiling. "If you're not careful, he might just fall for you too."

Blaze didn't respond. Instead, she lay down, restarting their fire for warmth before drifting off to sleep. A few minutes later, Rouge did the same, Shadow's hand still clutched in her own.

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