Chapter Text
Everyone was captivated by the large explosion in the sky. Striking blues and oranges swirled, demanding attention. Many simply couldn't look away, bounded by its destructing beauty. A few unlucky hearts beat uncontrollably as they watch. All for different reasons.
Maddie looks from the hospital window as she tries to keep her tears at bay. Was Sonic up there? Was this the last time she got to see him? Could she not gently rock him to sleep, leave him with a kiss on his forehead and a sweet dream? How would she tell Tom?
Agent Stone stands in a crowded plaza, he smiles sadly to the stars, momentarily filled with heartbreaking peace. They had been friends all along. Slowly, he turns and walks away.
Knuckles lays in a corn field, relieved that he reached his brothers in time. They were unconscious, but safe. He searches the sky for sign of a third. Though no brother of his, he could commend Shadow's sacrifice.
And Shadow himself, floating in space, unsure of if he made it far enough from Earth to save it. To save the planet from his own, destructive power. It was him who willingly let it get this far. He could now die along with the weapon, knowing that maybe Maria would be proud of him for his last heroic deed.
That was until an itching thought nagged at the back of his mind. Memories of Sonic and his family. Sonic, who was his perfect opposite. He found his family, and he keeps them safe. Shadow almost took that away from him too.
Some selfish part of him desperately longs to switch places with Sonic. He knows the blue hedgehog holds pain like his own, yet he continues on. He doesn't hate, or seek revenge. Maria would like that; she would have liked Sonic. He wants to see him one last time, if only to apologize.
So, fueled only by the urge of bettering himself, Shadow starts to move. Completely disoriented, he searches his surroundings in hope of finding the place he can't quite call home.
Slowly, and painfully, Shadow pushes through debris and dust. Eventually, he finds his way.
---
Knuckles patiently waits for his brothers to wake up. Fortunately, It doesn't take long. Sonic stirs first. He's gotten good at bouncing back quickly, only due to one adamant eggman and his explosive antics.
"Wha..?"
Sonic sits up, groaning and full of aches.
"You fainted. Tails and I rescued you." Knuckles explains.
Everything begins to come back to Sonic quickly. He jumps up to his feet.
"What- where's Shadow? Where's Tom? Where are we?! How did- what- I-" Sonic groans and rubs his hands down his face. "My brain is shutting down"
He pauses for a second, before peeking through his fingers.
"Did we do it?"
Knuckles nods.
"Yes. Shadow... finished the job."
Sonic drops his hands, he follows Knuckle's gaze to the sky. The explosion is still a brilliant array of colors and lights. Neither of them appreciate the beauty. There's a long moment of tense silence. Guilt settles heavy in Sonic's gut. He seriously messed up.
"Knuckles, I-"
He's cut off by faint mumbling from the youngest.
"mmaddie...sonic..?"
In an instant, Sonic is kneeling beside Knuckles, both intently watching Tails. He slowly cracks his eyes open, limbs feeling like heavy jello.
"Tails! Are you okay?!"
It takes a few seconds for Sonic's questions to filter through the haze. But once he recognizes Sonic's voice, Tails immediately tries to push himself to sitting. He manages, but only with the gentle help from two pairs of hands.
"Sonic? Knuckles? What happened? Did we do it?"
"We did." Knuckles reassures for the second time.
A weak smile forms on the young foxes face. Before confusion takes over once again. He looks around.
"Where's Shadow?"
Both boys struggle to come up with an answer. Eventually, Knuckles shakes his head.
"He became a hero."
Those words echo through their heads until Sonic can't stand it. he faces his friends.
"Knuckles, Tails, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have gone off on my own like that. I mean! I tried to fight you!" He gestures to Knuckles. "I keep making the same mistake. I don't know how to change or stop. And I don't know how to make this right."
He finishes his speech somewhat defeated. Tails and Knuckles glace at each other and nod. Suddenly, they both move.
"Wha-!"
Sonic is pulled into a bone crushing hug. And since he's being hugged by knuckles, he's not entirely sure that's an exaggeration. Nonetheless, he squeezes back just as tight. Tails is the first to speak.
"Sonic, we should've trusted your judgement. You two wouldn't have been able to deflect the laser without the Master Gem! This time, it was us who needed to be more trusting."
They break away, all grinning.
"Thank you guys," Sonic exclaims before shouting "I have the best team ever!"
They all bask in their newfound happiness for a moment.
"Okay," Sonic stands, feeling a lot better than before, "We should get to Tom and Maddie, they are probably worried sick! Wait- how do we find them?"
Sonic and Knuckles automatically turn to Tails. He rolls his eyes, jokingly exasperated.
"Yes, I can find them, just give me a moment..." He pulls out his unbreakable device and hits a few buttons.
"Yes! We aren't very far!" Tails tried to stand, using his tails as support. Still, his legs tremble, and knuckles catches him before he collapses.
"Do not worry, fox. I can easily carry you with my muscles."
Tails gratefully lets Knuckles pick him up. The trio travels as fast as they can, which is still too slow for their standards, to the hospital where Tom resides. At the entrance, Sonic's nerves get the best of him, and he speeds through the hospital to find Tom.
The door bursts open and a blue blur enters. Maddie, who was still transfixed on the sky, whirls around.
"Sonic?!"
"Maddie!"
Very quickly, Sonic is in Maddie's arms and it feels amazing. She hugs him tightly, more relieved than she's been since last time Sonic almost exploded. Soon Knuckles and Tails enter, Maddie hugs them both for a long time too. After, she holds Tails in her arms gently, even though he could stand on his own now. He doesn't let her know, only cuddles further into her comforting embrace.
"Oh you boys, I was so worried." She lightly wipes away dirt from Knuckle's head with her unoccupied hand.
"We came to make sure you guys were okay!" He quickly glances at Tom, still asleep, before continuing. "But we have to go find Shadow! We think he's still up there!"
Maddie can see right through Sonic's energetic exterior and knows that he is practically dead on his feet. She lovingly shakes her head.
"I know you want to find your friend, but you guys are exhausted. I think it would be better if you regain your strength. And Tom would be so relieved if he woke up and you three were here."
Nobody dares to defy Maddie, they knew she was right. Sonic begrudgingly settles down into one of the hospital chairs.
He might have fallen asleep too, before the shifting of bedsheets is heard.
"Kids?" Tom speaks weakly.
"Tom!" All three shout in return.
Sonic is at his bed in an instant. His tiredness suddenly evaporated.
"Tom! I'm so glad you're okay! We went into space! And Shadow turned into a good guy! And me and him fought like a million little robots in space! And then we stopped the big laser from hitting Earth and Tails and Knuckles turned the whole spaceship away from Earth and!-"
"Sonic.." Maddie chides.
He grins innocently. Tom pats his head with his good hand, taking a moment to scan the room.
"I'm glad you kids are okay. Where is that new boy, anyway?"
The room is silent before Knuckles speaks.
"Shadow pushed away the space ship so it would not hurt Earth when it exploded. We do not know where he is."
Tom frowns. Maddie walks over to grab his hand comfortingly.
"But we don't know what's happened to him yet. We can have hope," she says with optimism.
They smile at each other for a long moment, and then let it pass. Tom effectively lightens the mood by asking the kids to tell him all about the action he missed. Time passes, they pull up their chairs to sit around the bed. Each moment slowly stitches back together their torn little family with light banter and stories. All of them are glad to have this quiet moment.
"-and since our camping trip was interrupted, I say that we need to have a redo. What do you guys think?"
Sonic and Knuckles excitedly agree, Tails has snuggled into Tom's side and fallen asleep.
"We have to have even more marshmallows this time! Knuckles ate them all!" Sonic accuses.
"I did not." Knuckles retorts. "They are just very little and delicious. It took many to fill my hunger."
Before they can get worked up, Maddie butts in. "Well, did you guys know that there's a jumbo version?"
Sonic gasps. "Really? Really really!? We have to get them please Maddie this is so important. This is life or death important!"
The adults chuckle at Sonic's pleas. Of course, they agree to get the jumbo marshmallows. This in turn leads into a very long and serious debate on how much of the food they eat can be jumbo-ified.
Through the window, the sky slowly returns to its normal state. It seems, as the colors fade, that everything will be alright.
---
A familiar sound catches the attention of the whole family, minus Tails. A quick electric zap, one that signifies a certain teleporting hedgehog. Their hushed conversation pauses. A tense moment passes, then, Shadow steps into the doorway.
He looks as he feels; completely broken down. The effort of making it back to Earth was more than he had left to give. Only his goal kept him from collapse. He needed to make things right.
Everyone gapes at him. Sonic breaks the tense silence.
"Shadow! You're okay!" He darts over and hugs Shadow before he can react. He doesn't return the hug. He doesn't really know what to make of it. Sonic releases him soon after.
"I..." He doesn't know how to do this. Shadow looks around the room. He spots Tom. They lock eyes. He looks so kind.
Shadow leaves the room. He stands in the empty hallway with his back against the cool wall. He was stupid to come back. He doesn't need to ruin this happy family.
Sonic internally debates whether he should follow Shadow or not. He looks to Tom for reassurance, and finds his answer. He slips out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.
"Hey, Shadow." He starts.
Shadow jumps at the voice, lost in his own head. Too much shame keeps Shadow from meeting his gaze directly. He speaks to try to explain himself.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here. I just- no. My intentions here are completely selfish."
Sonic stares at him confused.
"Where else would you go? We're all glad you came here, Shadow. We were going to look for you as soon as Maddie let us!"
They would've looked for him? Shadow is shocked at the simple statement. Sonic says it so sincerely. What has he done to deserve this kindness? He grasps onto the hope that passes through him.
"I want to learn from you, Sonic. I want to move past this pain that controls me. I want to change, for Maria."
Sonic nods. "It's not easy, sometimes, but my family helps me. Honestly, I feel like I can do anything when I'm with them."
He puts out his hand with a big smile. "Let's go back in, okay? I promise they won't bite!"
Though as simple as Sonic makes it seems, to grab his hand and re-enter, Shadow feels it is a bigger question. This is the tipping point. To take Sonic's hand, become a better version of himself. Or to run away, which would be so easy, and continue to live in the painful past. It sounds obvious, he should take Sonic's hand. Why wouldn't he?
But Shadow is scared. He is scared to take the leap. This cliff is tall, and the unknown is frightening. His pain is all he knows. It's easy to be angry, it's second nature. It's easy to fight all of his problems. To hide away from the truth. He needs to stop hiding. He owes it to Maria.
He owes it to Maria.
That thought reverberates through Shadow like a bullet.
He never needed to avenge her. All along, it was right there all along. All he owes to Maria is to become someone she would be proud of.
Suddenly, it doesn't feel as hard anymore.
Shadow takes Sonic's waiting hand. Sonic grins.
Shadow is still hesitant, and scared, but he follows Sonic back into the room. If he wants to change, he has to start somewhere. With one big breath for confidence, Shadow crosses the room to Tom's bedside. It's a little crowded, but Shadow is intent on completing his goal.
He can't quite meet Tom's eyes. Sonic, who never let go of his hand, gives it an encouraging squeeze. Shadow finds the right words.
"I.. I never wanted to hurt innocent people. I thought I did, I thought it would help, but I was wrong. I want to change. I'm sorry."
Tom smiles sincerely, he was never angry at the poor kid, didn't blame him either. From what little he knew about Shadow, he could tell that he'd been hurt. Tom knew he needed some Wachowski love!
"It's okay, Shadow. Honestly, I've been more upset at Sonic for less" A small 'hey!' was heard from Sonic, but Tom continued.
"Actually, have you ever been camping?"
After that, it was pretty clear Shadow wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.