Third Person POV
"How ya feelin', Shads?" Sonic asked, and the older hedgehog brushed him away.
"I told you, I'm fine. Now go worry about your girlfriend or something."
"Hey! She is not my girlfriend."
"Sure," he replied with a teasing smirk that made Sonic frown in annoyance. Rouge watched the two boys from above. She was perched on a railing that ran above the control room and observed everything below.
Cream and Jimmy Z were fast friends. He showed her how to play some of his video games, and they took turns. Cheese would hover in the background, cheering them on.
Amy and Koki were giving each other fashion tips and simply getting to know each other. They seemed to hit it off pretty fast too.
Knuckles was talking with Martin and Chris, who were eager listeners. He also didn't mind showing off his strength, proudly holding a large box full of mechanical parts above his head.
"You sure this is the heaviest thing you got? I lift more on the weekends!"
The white bat rolled her eyes at this, even if it was true. The Master Emerald weighed much more, and with how many times she "liberated" it, she figured that she helped keep him in shape. In fact, she was pretty toned as well from all of her Angel Island heist.
Tails and Aviva were both at her work table, going over multiple blueprints for different projects. Rouge had to admit the girl was smart, though Tails was definitely the smarter of the two. He would show her different tips that she was extremely grateful for, and the two began to plan something for their adventure.
Rouge's turquoise eyes landed on the two male hedgehogs once again, and she pursed her lips in thought. They never acted this close back on Mobius, and she wondered what finally made them get along. They hurled light insults back and forth with playful grins and the occasional shove, as they stood side by side with their backs on the wall and a foot propped against it. They acted as if they had been best friends their entire lives. However, ithe situation quickly escalated.
"Get back here, you idiot!" Shadow yelled as he chased after a speeding blue blur in a streak of red. They zoomed across the crowded space, narrowly dodging the many people in the room, sometimes even resorting to running/skating on the walls. The wind made Knuckles drop the crate on his foot, and he hobbled in shock and pain.
"You two stupid hedgehogs!"
"Come on, is that the best you got?" Sonic taunted, completely oblivious to his friend's injury.
"Ha! Try me," Shadow challenged.
"Ooo, whatcha gonna do?"
"Stand still and find out."
"No can do. Gotta catch me first!"
Sonic had been running backwards at this point, and so he didn't see Amy's outstretched arm, which caused him to "clothesline" and come to a sudden stop by nearly faceplanting. Shadow, not being able to stop in time due to the lack of friction from his skates, tripped over him and landed roughly. Both hedgehogs rolled like tumbleweeds before finally crashing into the wall upside down.
"Sheesh, watch where you're going, Blue," Shadow remarked casually as he stood and brushed himself off.
"Hey, don't look at me!"
"Guys!" Amy's voice caused them to look up. She had her arms crossed, and she was tapping her foot. The entire room was a mess. Papers and parts were strewn everywhere, and all of the bystanders had wild looking hairstyles.
"What's gotten into you two?" Amy demanded. Like Rouge, she noticed how relaxed the two bitter rivals were around each other.
"He started it!" Sonic accused with a finger pointed at Shadow, who rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"Oh, quit being such a kid."
"Hey! Just cause you're older than me, doesn't mean you can call me a kid."
"I have like fifty years on you. I earned that right a long time ago."
"Not really," Sonic glared and mimicked the other superspeeding hedgehog, hinting at their connection.
"Stop whining and get up already, unless you like the floor," he replied. Sonic climbed out of the hedgehog shaped hole and rolled his eyes.
"Well are you two just gonna stand there, or are you going to answer pinky?" Rouge asked as she dove and landed smoothly on her feet, her large wings folding neatly behind her back, as her heels clicked on the metal floor.
Sonic rubbed a finger in his ear, "What was the question again?"
"Unbelievable!" Amy groaned, and Tails laughed.
"You never change, Sonic."
He shrugged, "Cause I'm awesome enough as it is," he replied, and everyone laughed.
"After me, of course," Shadow quipped with a smirk aimed at the azure hero beside him. Sonic grinned and rolled his eyes.
"Psh, whatever, grump-hog."
"What did you mean by what's gotten into them?" Koki asked.
Tails explained, "Back on Mobius, they can never get along. I'm surprised one hasn't tried to kill the other yet. Whenever they're in the same room, they are usually at each other's throats in less than five minutes."
"Yeah," Amy piped, "It literally takes a world catastrophe to bring them together, and that's only happened like...at least twice."
"Wait," Sonic said as he made a face, trying to do the math in his head, "Yeah, I think you're right."
"No, it was three times," Shadow replied while rubbing his chin in thought.
"Oh! Right! I forgot about that time with the Metarex! Sheesh, you gotta quit dying on me, Shads. One of these days it might actually stick."
"Wait! What?!" the Wild Kratts exclaimed, while the ebony male shrugged.
"Y'know, they did act a lot like what you said when they first showed up. They were almost always fighting," Chris mused. Martin caught on.
"Yeah, until they found out that--"
Before he could finish, Martin found himself pinned to the nearest wall with Shadow gripping his collar and a chaos spear at his throat.
"I don't think you want to know what will happen if you keep talking," he growled deeply. He didn't want the others to know...not yet. Something in the back of his mind compelled him to keep their connection a secret.
"Shadow! Stop!" the others yelled, and the ebony hedgehog felt a pair of arms wrapped around his middle. Aviva gently pried the stubborn mobian off of her friend. He fought and squirmed to get out of her grip without seriously harming her and soon succeeded. Rouge stormed up to him and backhanded him, her wings fanning out instinctively to make herrself appear larger.
"Shadow! I don't know what that was all about, but I better not ever see that again!" she yelled, poking his black nose with her finger and sounding like a mother, as he rubbed his reddening cheek, "Now straighten up and apologize!"
No one had ever seen Shadow shrink back when being yelled at, but he was almost cowering in fear at his partner's rant. He leaned away from her with his ears pinned back and hands held up with the palms out as a sign of peace. The white bat folded her arms over her chest with a heated scowl and waited to see what he would do. With a deep, reluctant sigh, he strode to Martin and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you. I just like my private business to remain private," he more or less apologized with his hand held out. The blue Kratt eagerly took it, if not slightly surprised. And he still wasn't completely sure if it was an apology or a subtle threat.
"No worries! I'll be more careful next time."
"I want an explanation. Now," Rouge demanded. The other mobians quickly cornered the two brothers, blocking them from escaping.
"Uh, fresh out of explanations," Sonic laughed nervously, and held his hands up peacefully.
"But we might be restocked tomorrow," Shadow finished. The others blinked. Since when did the dark and serious Ultimate Lifeform end something with a joke? Amy strode up to the two, stopping in front of Shadow. She stared deep into his eyes, trying to find a hint of...well, anything. She, like Sonic, had the special talent of reading someone by holding their stare. Shadow replied to this with a fierce glare that forced her to back away. She suddenly grinned and sauntered up to Sonic and held his arm.
"Sonikku, why won't you tell us what you're hiding?" she asked softly. The blue blur grimaced and looked away awkwardly, making Shadow smirk. The dark hedgehog bit back a smart comment about his younger brother's love life and instead sent Sonic a careful look that went unnoticed by everyone but his chosen target. Sonic chuckled anxiously.
"Uh, sorry Ames, but I can't tell ya, not yet anyways."
"Why not?" Knuckles asked with his arms crossed, flexing his muscles. Shadow's eyes narrowed at the gesture, and Sonic struggled to find a reasonable answer.
"We have a mission to complete first," Shadow interrupted with a deadly stare set on the echidna, "Sharing secrets will have to wait until things are taken care of, and I would prefer it if you all would quit trying to bully an answer out of us. Now, you all came here to help us, so start acting like it."
The room silenced instantly as the crimson-streaked hero pushed past the group and proceeded to check the main computer for the time and distance remaining until they docked. All of the mobians lowered their heads as they thought about it. After a moment, Rouge sucked up her pride and strutted over to the ebony male, whose back was facing her. She stood beside him, her head lowered and her ears drooping.
"I'm sorry, hon. We all care about you two, and it hurts when your partner feels like he can't trust you..."
He turned his head towards at that, wondering if she was still going to try to get the secret out of him. She smiled softly at his suspicious expression, guessing his thoughts.
"I've really missed you," she continued before he could ask, "Everyone on Mobius has been looking for you two, and when all of the reports came back negative, we started losing hope. It's been such a long time since I've seen you..."
Shadow's gaze softened, and guilt mixed with something else boiled inside his chest. He could understand where she was coming from. Before, he trusted her with almost everything and now that had changed a little. Without his consent, she hugged him tightly. He stumbled at first and looked over at Sonic, only to see Tails and Amy doing the same thing to him. He sighed and hugged Rouge back, as she cried on his shoulder. Just how long had they been gone?
"Don't worry, you'll find out everything soon," he whispered. He wanted to tell her, but he knew he had to wait for the right time. "And just how long has it been?"
She looked up at him in shock, "You don't know? It's been at least six months since we've seen you!"
"Six months!?" he and Sonic jinxed. The two looked at each other nodded.
"We need to kick this into high gear," Shadow ordered, sounding like a military commander, and Sonic readily agreed. The computer suddenly buzzed, drawing everyone's attention to it.
Destination reached.
Jimmy quickly reentered the cockpit and brought the Tortuga to land in an open field. Sonic and Shadow were the first ones to leave the ship, and the older of the two stopped. He knelt and placed a hand on the ground, focusing his new energy to search for the heart.
"I've pinpointed it. You and the others go search for the chaos emerald. We'll meet back here in four hours."
"Where's the heart?"
"30 miles northeast of here. You know the radius; it should be a quick job if all of you are looking."
"You have your emerald, right?"
"Naturally," Shadow answered as he flashed the green jewel, "Do you?"
"Of course," he replied and showed him the yellow chaos emerald.
"You do remember how Chaos Control works?"
Sonic nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. But are you sure you don't want any of us to go with you?"
"Oh, you're not going alone, handsome," Rouge interrupted as she sauntered up to him. Before he could reply, she continued, "We're a team, remember? And if even Carefree Blue over there doesn't want you going off alone, then I'm for sure going with you."
Sonic laughed while Shadow rolled his eyes, "There's no talking you out of it, is there?"
"Sorry, hon, but you're stuck with me. Not to mention, I hear these World Hearts are gorgeous gemstones! I'd like to see one for myself."
"More like steal one for yourself," the obsidian hedgehog mumbled, and Sonic snickered. Rouge nudged him playfully.
"Sonic! Wait for us!" Tails called, as he ran out of the Tortuga. Sonic crossed his arms and shook his head with a knowing smile, as he tapped his foot.
"I'm waiting!"
Sonic and Shadow shared one last glance before they knew it was time to split ways once again.
"Stay outta trouble, Shads."
"You too, Pipsqueak."
The younger hedgehog's ears flattened against his head, as he growled. Nicknames could only go so far. Amy and the others heard their parting words and gave both of them equal looks of surprise.
"Pipsqueak?!"
Sonic tried to grab him, but Shadow took Rouge's hand and waved teasingly. He gripped his chaos emerald tight, as it began to glow.
"Get back here!"
"Chaos Control!"
Sonic's hand brushed empty air, as the two agents vanished into the wind. The azure hero's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and anger at the taunt. Shadow always hated the nicknames he gave him, and now he understood why.
"Moron," he grumbled under his breath.
Somewhere Far Away
Shadow smirked as the Chaos Control ended, "Right back at ya, Blue."