10 - Determination - 10

Empire City, Unknown Location

Infinite's Prison

Evening, 10:00 PM

Probably the most eventful day he ever had so far, but he knew being with Sonic would change that very soon. He'd have many more eventful days with him by his side, now. Yeah, the hero of Mobius was his boyfriend now. He wouldn't tell Rouge just yet, he'd wait on that. She'd probably tease him and make a spectacle out of it just to mess with him even more. After they left the abandoned casino, Shadow visited Tower's office and finally explained to him what Sonic told Shadow yesterday. He felt that now was an appropriate time. Tower begrudgingly agreed, as he had heard about a supposed GUN soldier being taken into custody on New Prison Island by the blue hedgehog some days ago. A very strict inspection would be initiated tomorrow, and all employees of GUN, even interns or janitors, would be thoroughly investigated. As an extra measure, Tower ordered for the president's own inner circle to be investigated as well. It would be a very annoying work day tomorrow, but it had to be done. He was a little tired tonight, and he noticed that he was atypically low on energy ever since he and Sonic...Did what they did. It could have been a symptom of mating season, but he didn't know for sure since he never experienced it.

He'd have to do some research, maybe even ask Sonic what it consists of. After informing Tower about the mole, he did his normal working hours which consisted of writing reports and analyzing cases of high level criminals. He also got curious and looked into the current state of the Chemical Plant ruins. He didn't find much but he did see that GUN's satellites were able to pick up some heavy electrical energy being utilized there. When he clocked out, he made a beeline to Infinite's new secret prison.

On the way, as promised, he called Sonic. It took a couple rings but he answered. "Hey." Shadow greeted.

"Hey you~" A playfully flirtatious, masculine voice greeted back. "You miss me?"

"It's been six hours." He deadpanned.

"Oh come on, I missed you!"

"...It's been six hours." He repeated. But then, he blushed a little. "But yes, I did." He heard the rustling of fabric in the background. Perhaps bed sheets. "Were you asleep? Did I wake you?"

A yawn was his response. "Nah, I'm headed to bed now. Took my shower, got my clothes off."

Shower? His gloves and socks? H-He was naked? "Clothes...off?"

The hero chuckled. "Well duh, it's more comfortable."

Shadow swallowed hard. He remembered how they touched each other. How he groped him and felt his bu-Damn it, focus. "O-Oh."

"Want a picture~?"

A...Picture?

The various things that could entail...So many possibilities. Sonic on all fours, an ungloved peach finger beckoning him to come over. Him laid back with his arms behind his head, showing off his upper body. Or maybe his face laying against a pillow, his arms hugging it closely as his lower body was lustfully inclined. But he wasn't sure if he could handle that. That was so much lewd beauty all at once. His lime irises that had a strange haze of provocative risqué, his velour-grade royal blue fur seemed to dazzle in low light, his fawn peach arms and muzzle helped completed such a gorgeous face and figure. He wasn't sure about this. Something inside of him wanted a picture, but another side just wasn't ready for that yet.

Well...maybe one couldn't hurt?

He'd just have to brace himself. Gradually, he made his lips move. "...I'd like one, yes."

"Mmm, okay...Gimme one second." He heard a few more noises of movement and shuffling around. Every sound he heard caused Shadow to grow more and more anxious. This felt like an overload of feelings, and it didn't feel good at all. Shit, maybe he should have refused. "Sent. Hope you enjoy~"

With baited breath, Shadow carefully took the phone away from his face and began to check his direct messages. He could feel sweat bead on his forehead. It's just a picture, it's just a picture. He placed his finger on the image symbol and braced himself-

...It was just Sonic rolled up in bed sheets like a damn burrito, with the goofiest yet smarmiest smirk he ever saw him make.

Shadow could do nothing but chuckle, as his anxiety immediately disappeared. Alright, he should have saw that one coming. But maybe that was a good thing, because Shadow realized he wasn't ready for potentially naughty pictures at all. Even though they officially started to date after doing something inappropriate, they still just started dating. If they sincerely wanted to be together, they'd have to push things like pure lust aside. Sonic knew this, and was trying to teach him a lesson.

"I hear ya laughin'. You like it, huh?"

With a small smile Shadow held the phone back up near his face. He realized he was just a few yards away from the location and slowly glided to a halt with his air shoes. He began walking casually, his eyes glancing up at the night sky. They were almost as pretty as his eyes. "Yes, I guess you could say that. You're a fool, you know that, right?"

He heard Sonic snicker in the background. "Maybe."

"...Thank you. I wasn't actually ready for something like that, but I tried forcing myself anyway."

"I know." Sonic replied gently. "I know you like pushing yourself, but sometimes you push yourself too hard. You've always done that, ever since we first met." If it wasn't for Shadow going overboard with his newfound ability of going super, he wouldn't have plummeted to Mobius and nearly died. "I don't want you to do that with me."

"I know, it's...A bad habit of mine. Sorry."

"Don't apologize for not being ready, Shads. I'll tell you what," He offered. "I don't wanna scare you off. I'm not gonna sext you or do any of that stuff until you say it's okay, alright?"

He didn't want to make it feel like Sonic couldn't do anything spicy, that was kind of boring. He did like how titillating Sonic made things despite Shadow's anxiety, it was fun and the feeling was always mutual. Plus, he felt like he was stopping Sonic from being himself. After all, he was as coy as he was sweet. "But I don't want to stop you from being you. I know you like flirting, and I admit, I like it when you do. Maybe not now, but I'd like one in the future."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, you enjoy how sexy I look in a comforter-burrito."

He snorted a laugh. "Sexy, huh? That's what you call it?"

"You could call it perfection, too."

Shadow smirked. "Yeah, maybe. But I'd personally use the word beautiful."

"..." Ha, crickets. He knew that'd shut him up. Just because Sonic was guiding him in this new relationship didn't mean their little competition of one-upping each other was over. "...You...Did you say-"

"I gotta go," Shadow cut in. As much as he loved to hear how stunned Sonic was from such a compliment, he wanted him to chew on that alone for a while. "I'll text you."

"You're such a dick," Sonic grumbled, and Shadow could hear an audible pout. "But I love it for some reason. Alrighty," He gave in, Shadow won this round. "I'll let you have this one. Hey," He suddenly said with an amused tone. "Do you mind if I take you out somewhere tomorrow? If you've got time, of course. I know you're busy with a lot of stuff right now."

He wanted to take him out? Like on a date? Oh boy, he didn't expect him to ask that so soon. Not that he didn't want it, he'd love to. He supposed he could clock in a little later tomorrow. There was nothing imperative going on other than Infinite's case, and that would only be operated on at night due to a plan Shadow was currently concocting. "I'd be honored, as long as it's in the morning and ends before noon."

"Dope!" Sonic cheered. "Nine?"

"Sounds fine to me."

"Sweet! Meet me at my place. The place I wanna take you to is a little confusing to find unless you're familiar with the area, so I'll take you there myself."

"Ahh, a personal escort?" Shadow asked playfully. "Your generosity knows no bounds, hedgehog."

He heard a scoff from the other end of the line. "You keep playin' with me like that, ya hear?" He could tell they both were secretly loving this cat-and-mouse game they were playing, and they wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. If this was how their relationship was going to be from now on, Shadow was all for it. "Nighty night, don't stay up too late."

A rare, warm smile graced his lips. "Goodnight, Sonic." He heard the line cut, he hung up first. He pulled his phone down to stare at the screen. He didn't want to stop talking to him. He wanted to be in that bed with him right now, even in that stupid, dumb ass bed burrito. He wanted to help him get comfortable and undress the hero himself. He wanted to hold him and kiss him again. He wanted to pin him down and make his face turn red again. He wanted to sleep next to him, and wake up seeing his face. He wanted to do so many things, and yet he knew he wasn't ready for it. He hated himself for this, as this snail's pace was killing him. However, he couldn't do it even if he wanted to. His mind and his body were too conflicted to go that far. Perhaps he could see this as another form of training? Training of the heart, maybe. He placed his phone in his quills. He really needed to update Sonic's contact details. He wanted to use that silly picture he sent as his wallpaper. Maybe Rouge could send him more of those magazine covers for him to use, too.

Alright, back to boring old business.

Actually, as Shadow stared at the old rickety shack that held the secret underground prison, he realized that tonight would be more sad than boring. However, he couldn't hide the truth from Infinite. He had to tell him, he had the right to know what happened to his family. He just hoped that his desire for death wouldn't increase dramatically so much that he...Did something regrettable. Shadow didn't want to do this, but he had to. He couldn't keep this from him, even if he was some terroristic mercenary.

When he entered the tiny underground apartment, he saw Infinite in bed, turning over to open his blue and yellow eyes and see Shadow. Was he wallowing in despair by himself? He then immediately moved to sit up and give him his full attention. When he tried to get out of bed, Shadow simply held up a hand to cease him. His amber red eyes that faintly glowed in the dark, were downcast and a lot more sorrowful than usual. Infinite frowned. "Did you not find the hideout?"

Shadow walked over with a sigh. "Do you mind if I sit?"

Blinking at the question, Infinite raised a brow. "I don't think I'm allowed to refuse that, so no?"

Shadow sat down on the edge of the bed and folded his hands in his lap. "A friend of mine discovered where the doctor is, a hidden base underground. When she discovered his whereabouts, she didn't see any other living being in the base. We didn't go inside of it, as we do not plan on raiding the place just yet until we can learn everything we can about Robotnik's intentions." He closed his eyes. "I do not know where the bodies of your family are, or if they were roboticized. All I know is that my colleague saw Robotnik by reading infrared signals, and his was the only one found on her radar. While it isn't one hundred percent proof, I doubt the doctor would just leave the members of the Jackal Squad behind as loose ends. While I'm not completely sure about their status, it's obvious they met a terrible fate this far along into his plans." The biohog lowered his head and looked away. "...I'm sorry."

The jackal's face became completely still, as if frozen in time. The news didn't settle in immediately, no, it was a slow and painful experience. It took several minutes before his face actually began to emote. His brows harshly furrowed, his large fanged canine teeth clenched, his eyes small and shaking like a leaf. His body shook frantically, his hands becoming balled up fists, before gripping his own thighs so hard that he was bruising himself. His ears flattened against his skull, and he hunched over while shoving his fists against his own head. A sharp inhale, and a sniff echoed in the silent room. An enraged snarl sobbed from his throat. "..."

The GUN agent could hear this, and he tried his best to ignore his quiet cries. He shouldn't have felt pity for him, much less empathy, yet he did. He knew what it was like having everything taken away, and he knew what is was like to be manipulated by someone as their puppet. Infinite didn't just lose his family, he lost his own dignity and ability to be a person. He was now just a tool for Eggman's desire to do God knows what. Sure he had other members who were alive in prison, but that was a significant chunk of his group, a large percentage of his family, suddenly gone. Plus, neither of them knew how they perished or if their bodies were even in Eggman's new base. Infinite had no one, and he was alone. Even if by some miracle he escaped and got away from Shadow, where would he go? He had no one left, and no home to return to. The jackal couldn't take much more of this, and he was starting to breathe a lot heavier and quicker. The striped hedgehog opened his irises and glanced at the prisoner, who was heaving and holding his head. He was pulling at his dreadlocks, gnashing his teeth with tears budding in the corners of his darkened eyes. He had bags under them, he hadn't been sleeping very well despite the change in interior. His fur was worse and needed to be groomed soon, and he looked like he just got out of a mental asylum.

He can't stay in here, not right now, Shadow thought. Infinite was too unstable and he was having a breakdown. Shadow knew what it was like to feel this way and he nearly took himself out when he did. This was risky, but if he let him stay here and simmer in this despair, he'd return to a corpse tomorrow. Shadow got up from the bed and reached down to grasp Infinite's wrist. He pulled for him to get out of bed, and murmured, "Chaos Control." They appeared on the surface, now covered in moonlight. They were behind the shack, where the soldiers guarding the place on the porch couldn't see. He pulled Infinite a few more yards away from the area before stopping and grabbing hold of his shoulders. "Hey," He didn't respond, so Shadow shook him. "Stop it. Wake up!" He yelled. He saw his pupils were gone, he was no longer mentally there. "Look at me!" Shadow hollered again while shaking him. "You can't fall apart like this, the others need you! They need their leader!" It didn't matter what Shadow yelled at him, Infinite was too far gone to listen or even consciously be aware of what was even happening at the moment. He tried to think about what he could do to ease his mind from breaking before it was too late.

What would Sonic do?

...

He got it.

"...?!"

Shadow wrapped his arms around the jackal, and held him close. As the prisoner just stood there, his pupils slowly began to react to the moonlight above. "I'm asking you," The ultimate life form spoke firmly. "To please hang on. You can't give up, not when there's still time to make this right. I will take down the doctor, and I will make sure your remaining family are safe. I promised you, and I swear I will not break that promise." He hugged him tighter. "Help me avenge them, help me make him pay for what he's done!"

"..."

He could feel moisture and tears hitting his shoulder blade. "...I've been where you are before. I know what it's like to lose it all, right in front of your eyes, not able to do a damn thing. But I swear to you, I'll make it right. I can't bring them back, but I won't let their lives be in vain. I-" Shadow tightly closed his eyes. "I am sorry. I'm sorry, Infinite."

The jackal stiffened as he sobbed, his eyes were still a thousand-yard stare. "...Why are you doing this?" He whispered. "Why do you give a damn about me? I almost destroyed your city, I could have killed so many people. I could have killed you."

This question caused Shadow to feel conflicted, as he was right. This was a cold blooded, greedy mercenary who hurt others for cash. He nearly leveled the entire metropolis of Empire City and could have gotten a lot of GUN soldiers hurt or even killed, if Shadow wasn't strong enough to handle it on his own. He had no reason to show kindness to this Mobian, nor did he deserve it. He deserved to rot in prison forever, and he was positive his victims would love to see him fry for what could have happened that day. Not to mention that he was aiding Eggman in whatever horrible plot he was currently undergoing, despite being forced. Shadow slowly opened his eyes. "...I told you I studied your group carefully. Through my analysis, I confirmed that your group never killed anyone. Of all the years you operated, you never had a body count. I discovered that your team was merciful only because you didn't want a trail of corpses to lead authorities to your whereabouts. And you did terrorize people, scared them, hurt them, but..." He didn't know why he was saying this, but something inside of him couldn't let someone else fall apart the same way he did in the past. He didn't want that. "That was your way of life. It was how you were raised, you never knew any different. I am not absolving you of your crimes, I have no right. You are a criminal, and you belong on death row for what you've done, forced or not. But I've been in your shoes."

With trembling eyes, Infinite broke the embrace and looked the biohog in the eyes. "...You have?"

"Yes. I've done awful things, I nearly destroyed this world more than once and I hurt Mobius' hero more times than I can count." His grip on the jackal was becoming so desperate, that his palms were getting clammy. It was as if he was talking to himself. "I worked with the doctor before and did his bidding, and I hurt many innocents. I was used too, and I didn't realize the damage I had done until it was almost too late. But," He met Infinite's gaze, his amber irises shining under the limited illuminated darkness of the night. This struck Infinite, and soon it felt like they were the only thing he could see. He didn't see the grass of the empty greenfield, or the dilapidated building behind them. He only saw Shadow. "Someone gave me a chance, and they never stopped giving me second chances every time I screwed up. I proved myself, and GUN eventually allowed me in. They saw that I was more than my mistakes, so..." He reached up to the grab the sides of the jackal's face. "Why can't I do the same for you?"

Confusion and bewilderment was his only reaction. "But I...I-"

"You lost almost everything, but you still have something left worth saving: The remaining survivors of your family—Eggman is going to destroy them all!" Shadow shouted as he shook him violently, desperate for his words to purge his ears. "Are you going to let that happen? Are you going to give up just like that? Are you just going to lay down and die!?"

"..."

"Well? Are you!?"

They thought it would be a simple raid, a simple but slightly challenging operation to both destroy and steal the doctor's machines. They planned it all out, mapped every location and level within the base. The robots were so easy to deal with, it was cakewalk penetrating his defenses. And then it all fell apart, because they underestimated him. They figured that since Sonic Team could easily take him on, why couldn't they? They didn't realize that the heroes weren't just abnormal Mobians, they were experienced in fighting the doctor. The Jackal Squad wasn't. They figured some fat Overlander could never go up against a feared mercenary group. When Infinite attacked him in his Egg Mobile, it was easily shielded with a digital force field. And before he could survey his surroundings, stronger and taller robots surrounded them all. He baited them the entire time, gave them a false sense of security then ripped the rug out right from underneath them. He could have killed him that day, slit his throat real quick, but he threatened the safety of his family. One by one, Eggman captured them all. He chipped him and forced both him and his entire family to work for him. Gave them a terrible plan that was sure to fail, threatened him by holding the larger half of his family hostage and now they could be either dead or worse.

He would never see the rest of his family again, and now...

...and now...

A new light shined in Infinite's eyes, and he slowly reached up to grasp Shadow's wrists. He held onto them tightly before a dark expression of determination washed over him. "No." He growled. "I'm done running. Tell me exactly what I need to do. I'll listen, I'll cooperate. I'll do anything if it means making that son of a bitch pay."

The dauntless prowess of resolve resonated between them, and Shadow nodded in confirmation. "I've found many useful things in your hideout. Tomorrow night, I'm going to initiate my plan. And once we know everything, we'll strike him down and end him. Once and for all."

As the two males separated, they looked up at the night sky above.

The stars were so clear, and the fresh smell of nature breezed by with light winds. Shadow briefly glanced at the jackal before stepping away, placing his arms behind his back. "...I remember that I promised to let you outside, with handcuffs and under my personal surveillance. A shame I forgot to grab them." He then turned his back towards him and began stepping away, causing the jackal to watch in shock. He was really letting him have this much freedom? "I will wait by the entrance. Return when you're done, and you may do as you wish so long as you do not leave the area. Enjoy this, I suppose you deserve it. After all," He paused for a moment, thinking about how he would watch the stars of the galaxy along with Maria on the Ark. "It's a lovely night out tonight."

Wiping his eyes with the back of his arm, Infinite quietly agreed.

"Yeah...It is."

July 17th - South Island - Green Hills, Green Hill Zone

DAY 7: Thursday

Morning, 9:10 AM

Just as planned, Shadow arrived in Green Hills to Sonic's home at nine, right on the dot. Sonic was already in the process of leaving the house with something tucked under his arm, and Shadow noticed that it was covered in a thick light blue sheet. After they greeted each other, Sonic told the biohog to follow his directions exactly because it was very easy to get lost in Green Hill Zone the deeper someone traveled. He said he would hold his hand, but he didn't want to drop what he was currently holding. When Shadow asked what it was, the hero just feigned ignorance and said he didn't even realize he took it out of the house. A terrible lie that barely had any effort, but this was because it was a surprise of some kind. They wasted no time in using their speed to traverse the dense biome of palm trees and wild flickies. Shadow had never seen the entirety of Green Hills before, and he was constantly taken away by every little thing he observed. The sun shone so much brighter here than it did in any other part of the Federation's territory, and the grass had such an abnormally interesting pattern of green stripes. The beaches were large and plentiful, yet perfectly clean and empty of littering tourists.

The sands were fresh and unstained, the drooping palm trees were strong and tall. The strange looping hills and crumbling cliffs were quite dangerous, and the structures of the rock formations of the biome were very out of place since there wasn't a set arrangement. Plus, there were many turns, literal pitfalls and lengthy differing paths that would lead someone anywhere but their destination. There were multiple small waterfalls, but one in particular was quite large with magnificent purified water that was untouched by outsiders. Shadow realized that if this was where Sonic and eventually Tails grew up, this was basically their training grounds for traversing the dangers of the outside world. Any normal child would have died attempting to make it through the zone, but that's what made him and his friends special. Sonic eventually slowed down to a beach, the largest one on the island. Upon arriving, Shadow noticed there was an old but charming pergola sitting in the middle of the white sands.

The hero bent down to uncover the item he was holding in him arm, pulling off the sheet and placing it on the ground underneath the pergola. "Heh, I'm glad Tails and I built this thing. Keeps the sun away." The sheet was made of cotton, fluffy and very soft to sit upon. The item Sonic had that was covered by the sheet, was a picnic basket along with a few other small items. Two plush cushions were rolled out onto the blanket facing each other, and he then picked up the basket to place it in the middle. He sat down on the cushion to the right and looked up at Shadow with a warm smile, beckoning him to come over and sit with him. "Come on, take your shoes off. Relax." He said while kicking off his own sneakers to the side.

Astonished by the admittedly romantic set up, Shadow was slow in walking over and sitting down. As he took his shoes off, he noticed how much the ocean from this angle sparkled like diamonds under the sun. It was mesmerizing. "This is extravagant, you didn't have to go this far."

"Of course I did, silly! I didn't wanna take you to some hoity toity restaurant. Especially not this early in the day." He began to open the basket and pull out the rest of the items, such as plates and eating utensils. "That's so lame—No, I wanted this to be special. Besides, I don't feel like being in public. That flash photography is annoying."

Shadow had to agree with him on that one. "True, the new GUN SEA dining with the hero of Mobius? Lots of paparazzi to be sure."

He pulled out the various foods that he prepared for their date, all of which were perfectly wrapped up in tight-sealed plastic containers. There were buttered biscuits, small chocolates, a mini tub of cream cheese, sliced rolled omelets and strawberry sandwiches with whipped cream. There was also some water bottles and two jars of freshy made fruit juice. As mentioned before, Shadow didn't normally eat for pleasure but he'd certainly do so today. This stuff looked absolutely mouthwatering. "Yeah seriously...I just wanted it to be you and me, you know?"

The GUN agent couldn't help himself and was already chewing on a few pieces of chocolate. "I appreciate that-" He said with his mouth completely full.

"S-Shadow I didn't even take everything out yet." Sonic chortled as he handed him a napkin. "Geez, I thought you didn't eat like that anyway."

"I don't."

"Okay, I know we're hedgehogs but please don't literally hog up the food."

Shadow squinted his eyes at the pun while reaching over to grab a bottle of water. "Says the man who nearly ate out the Burger Shop's entire stock of food within a single hour. Yeah okay, thunder thighs."

Thunder thighs? With red immediately decorating his cheeks, Sonic immediately took offense to that. "Hey! Big talk for someone with a huge ass."

Taking a few seconds to ponder that insult, Shadow was unclear what the point of said insult was since it just simply wasn't true. "Are you...calling me fat?"

Sonic then grinned and immediately waved his hand to dismiss this. "Oh no no no babe, you're way too toned to be fat. I'm just saying you've got a very nice ass, one with a nice amount of meat." He slyly sipped his glass of fruit punch with a wink. "And I see that's in shape too."

Alright, let the games begin. "Pot calling the kettle black, frankly." Shadow mumbled, but just loud enough for Sonic to hear.

"Yeah?" The blue one smirked and leaned closer. "You think I got a nice ass?"

Shadow met his gaze with a matched energy of salacity. "Indeed, I do. It's exquisite, as a matter of fact. And I think your thighs are nice, too."

Licking his lips, Sonic got on his hands and knees and slowly crawled closer until his muzzle was only a few centimeters away from his. "Yeah~?"

The elder male gratefully leaned closer as well. "Yeah."

They nuzzled each other's noses before tilting their heads and pressing their lips together. As they shared a passionate kiss, Sonic crawled himself into Shadow's lap. A hungry low moan vibrated from the depths of Shadow's throat, he caressed Sonic's face to find a better leverage and to hold him even closer. The hero gripped his white chest hair with one hand, and rubbed up his back with the other. Feeling more confidence than last time, Shadow stuck out his tongue to slowly graze the tip of Sonic's tongue. He felt the blue blur smile in the kiss and delightedly gave him some tongue back. They swirled and swished against each other, the sounds of lip smacking and louder moaning being the only thing anyone could hear. The biohog broke the kiss slowly. He kissed down Sonic lips, his chin and his underneath his neck. His hands reached down to his waist, and rubbed against his lower body. Sonic groaned longingly for his touch, his breathing getting rougher the more he touched him.

He pressed his blue thighs against Shadow's pelvis, grinding against him very slowly. Shadow wanted to keep going, but he was hesitant. "Am...I allowed to..."

"You can do whatever you want to me, Shadow." He whined impatiently into his ear. "Absolutely anything you want, anything-" Suddenly, Sonic felt fingers tickling his sides. "W-What the-" He felt his dark striped boyfriend hug him and tickle him, and he couldn't even move due to Shadow's weight. Sonic tried to use his legs to move away but the tickling was starting to become too much for him to handle, so he couldn't get away. "H-Hey wait, wait wait...!" He cried in panic. "S-Stop...! S-Stahahahahap!" He kicked his legs desperately as he began to giggle out loud. "H-Holy shit you bastard, stop! You s-sneaky son of a-!" He couldn't stop himself from cackling to the heavens above. "Hahahaha you freakin' asshole, stop!"

Ah, he remembered how Maria used to do this to him. Shadow had one simple request. "Submit."

"N-No!"

"Submit, faker."

The hero of Mobius refused to be defeated this way! "Ohohohooo screw you, no way!"

"Hmm," Shadow casually replied as he watched a group of adorable blue birds fly right by them. "Tempting, but I don't think that flock of flickies over there would appreciate that. I suppose you've had enough." And like that, he released the blue hedgehog and held his hands up to show that he had no plans on assaulting him with his barrage of ticklish fingers again.

A little exasperated by that, Sonic had a visible vein throbbing on his head. Panting, he promised Shadow this was not over. "When I get my damn hands on you..."

"Well I'm not ticklish, Rouge has tried." Shadow shrugged. Well, he wasn't ticklish anymore. He was incredibly ticklish when Maria got him, but things were different then.

"Oh I'll find a way to get you back for this." Sonic shoved a declarative finger into Shadow's muzzle. "Mark my words!"

The biohog easily patted his hand away from his face. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Talk shit and expect me to get flustered over it? I'm immune to your nonsense by now, hedgehog-" He was then abruptly shoved down against the banket onto his back. "...!"

He watched the blue hedgehog use his quote on quote "thunder thighs" to trap the striped hedgehog underneath him, straddling him down while he loomed over him with sinister green eyes. A greatly lewd grin slowly spread across his face as he rubbed his hand down Shadow's abdomen. That's when Shadow mentally hit himself over the head. Sonic was experienced, he knew how to get back at him in all kinds of ways he couldn't fathom. However, he was so enamored by his lower body, specifically his arse that was currently sitting against his lower stomach, that he was too flabbergasted to do anything. He didn't lie, he did have a nice ass. "You know what I could do?" Sonic asked with a subdued voice that Shadow swore he would dream about at night. "I could bend you over against that tree over there, spread your legs open and spank you while I eat you out like a fucking mango." And for good measure, he flicked his tongue at him tauntingly. But Shadow knew he meant every single word he was saying, this wasn't just a comeback. "How 'bout that, cowboy?"

...

...Okay.

Shadow slowly sat up. "...Oh my fucking God, you are perverted." He whispered in shock, completely beet red in the face.

Sonic was suddenly stood above the biohog, laughing triumphantly as he sat back down in his cushioned seat. "Ha!" He pointed his finger at his embarrassed expression. "I got you! I win!"

Well of course he won, what the hell could Shadow do against a threat like that? "God damn it," He grumbled as he felt liquid drip down his nose. Aw damn it, he was nosebleeding too? This was beyond embarrassing. He saw Sonic smugly hand over another napkin, and he snatched it out of his hand with a scowl. "Rouge told me your mouth was filthy, but sweet Chaos...Do you just have porn scripts memorized in your head or something?"

The hero made a big shrug of his hands and shoulders as he stuck out his tongue much more playfully this time. "Hey, you started it! And you like it, don't pretend like you don't."

Reluctantly, Shadow agreed because...Well he did. Very much so. "...Yeah I do."

He felt lips press on his cheek as Sonic quickly snuck in a peck. "Heheh. I know you do, babe~"

After a while, they both returned to eating their meals and enjoying the wonderful tropical scenery. They talked about nothing, and just enjoyed each other's company. Shadow once again praised Sonic greatly for his cooking skills, loving the strawberry sandwiches in particular the most. The fruit juices were refreshing, and the water was delightfully hydrating them under the hot beaming sun. The pergola however had great shading, and they managed to keep cool. They finished what they wanted to eat and closed up the basket. After Sonic turned on his phone and played some relaxing music, they eventually laid back on the sand, cuddling against each other. Sonic was lying against Shadow's chest, his leg over his. Both of their eyes were closed, enjoying their serene date.

Shadow nuzzled his face against the top of Sonic's head, gently ruffling his fingers through his fur. "...How do you smell so good all the time?"

He heard Sonic chuckle against him. "Pfft, man I dunno...I exercise, but I don't sweat that much to begin with. I also don't like using cologne all that much, but I do shower a lot..." He looped his finger in Shadow's chest hair. "Amy says there's some people in the world who don't actually need to use all of that stuff and that I'm one of 'em. 'Said I had a good natural scent."

As he pet Sonic's head more, he could feel him purr. "I concur, you always smell so fresh. Like wild flowers and tropical trees."

"And you always smell like coffee." The hero smiled warmly as he listened to his heartbeat. "I like that." Their hands met and held together as they laid against the blanket. The soothing sounds of the waves lightly pushed against the shore, placing them in a calm state of serenity. Several minutes passed, maybe even twenty, perhaps thirty. They just stayed like that for a while, until Shadow felt something pull at his brain. Something he wanted to know, something he couldn't ignore now that the source of his curiosity's potential answer was right in his arms.

He sighed silently before asking. "Sonic?"

"Mmn?"

"What did you do to Eggman?"

10 - END - 10