Chapter Text
Sonic isn’t all that sure exactly how he got here. It feels like one moment he’s minding his own business, the next he's chained to the most insufferable prick he’s met in his entire life.
He’s got an unforgivably large needle shoved so far up his forearm he would have thought he was born with it jabbed in there. Paired with the seemingly unbreakable chain tethering the two hedgehogs together is a sturdy tube that laces throughout. The tube is just as unbreakable, Sonic has tried to gnaw through it in his free time playing passenger princess.
He’s lost track of the days. He knows it’s been at least two moons since he was first tethered to this sad excuse of a person. The pain in his arm is but a dull throb now, at least. At first it really smart. Sonic’s attention lazes over to Shadow; who finds himself driving the biggest waste of space in the garage. The truck’s ride is anything but smooth, sand and rocks kicking from under its eighteen wheels. The horizon stretches endlessly over the red dunes ahead, a curtain of beautiful, powder blue placed above it.
His eyes are met by piercing rubies, squinting in disgust. “What are you looking at, blood bag?”
Sonic finds it within himself to balk out a laugh, “I’ll tell you when I figure that out.” The drive has been too quiet for the blue hedgehog’s liking.
Much to his dismay, he is met with silence. Aside from the scoff and eye roll Shadow returns him. Sonic pins his counterpart with a mischievous sneer, eyes half mast and lips pulled taunt to expose his toothy grin. “C’mon, Shad. Can I call you Shad? Want to play some road games? Twenty questions? Guessing game? I spy?” He kicks his feet up onto the dashboard, resting his calloused paws in the mess of quills behind his head as he leans back.
When all he gets in reply is a low growl, he chooses to continue blabbering on. “I feel like I know so much about you, but you don’t know squat about me. Shadow the Hedgehog- Egghead’s right hand man, the ultimate soldier- no, lifeform. Crafted from gnarly alien parts and—“
He is unceremoniously yanked towards Shadow as the dark hedgehog swiftly loops the chain up and around Sonic’s ankle to oh-so-rudely remove his foot from the dash. “Do you ever shut up?”
Sonic pinwheels his arms before steadying himself, a paw firmly planted on Shadow’s shoulder. “Not really.” The momentum forces the soldier to lean on the steering wheel, deepening his scowl. Sonic knows this isn’t ideal. And picking away at this guy isn’t doing him any favors. Unless he can manage to knock him out and take the wheel, this is going nowhere as fast as Shadow can drive them away from Eggvalley.
Can this monster even be knocked out? Word around the base is that this Shadow guy is indestructible. Which Sonic thinks is a heaping pile of armadillo shit. Why would he need Sonic’s chaos jolting blood bank if he couldn’t be killed? Seems like a lifeline to him, what will keep the abomination going when he takes one too many bullets. Or perhaps the alien bits and bobs the “hedgehog” is pieced together with will make him regenerate or something crazy like that.
Sonic is only a little excited to find out, musing on what he’s gathered in intel. At least if he’s stuck at the mercy of this prick he is an interesting one. Because almost as much as Sonic hates his freedom being ripped away from him, he loathes to be bored.
He can’t even remember the last time he was able to take a run. It’s been at least a fortnight since he was captured, tucked away into a lab so far underground he thought maybe he’d reach the center of the earth before he managed to break free. At least his brother got away.
Sonic’s racing thoughts are yanked back to the present when his head hits the cracked windshield, his tangled leg pulling uncomfortably to his chest, and the rest of him lurching forward to squish all of him to the dashboard. Stars flare behind his eyes as he rights himself. He shoots Shadow an accusatory glare.
To his surprise, he’s met with a hardened expression facing the horizon. He follows Shadow’s gaze to see nothing of particular interest. A fingerlessly gloved paw moves with precision to Sonic’s limbs tangled in the chain. With a touch so ginger he didn’t think the dark hedgehog was capable of it, he begins to tug at the chain-clad tube. Shadow’s clawed digits graze the plush fur on his thigh through tattered, holey jeans as he frees Sonic from his prison.
“Look alive, we have trouble coming,” Shadow doesn’t take his piercing gaze off of the horizon, where Sonic swears there is nothing at all. He sits uncharacteristically still until he is finally loose.
“Are you seeing a mirage? There’s nothing there, dude.”
Shadow’s brow furrows impossibly further. “Open your eyes and stay out of my way. Unless you want to die.”
Sonic lets out a faux yawn, “Maybe I’m done being alive. Or letting you try to scare me with ghosts in the sand.”
The softness he was shown not moments ago is a thing of the past, as Shadow yanks Sonic at the muzzle to face him, noses close enough to nearly touch. “Listen here, hedgehog . I’m not going to repeat myself again. You better stay out of my way if you want to live. You are nothing but extra weight to me. I didn’t ask to be chained to a blood bag.”
The blue hedgehog is frozen in place, silenced once more. Why is this guy so touchy? He reluctantly nods. Which is apparently enough for Shadow as he releases him and shoves him away.
“Do you see them now?” Shadow tugs the emergency brakes into gear. Sonic somehow doesn’t realize until now as he sees the cranky abomination shuffle out of the truck that he’s been sitting on a booster seat. He can’t resist chuckling, covering his muzzle to stifle it with his free paw. Once again he is physically yanked from his thoughts- and behind Shadow across the seat and through the driver’s door. He lands in the warm sand below.
“ Focus . What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, short stack.”
Shadow sighs, long and hard. “I’m taller than you.”
“By what, a centimeter?”
Shadow is, in fact, several centimeters taller than Sonic.
“Enough. They are nearly here.”
Sonic squints at the horizon, shuffling his way to his feet. The harsh sun beating down upon the two hedgehogs makes Sonic thankful he was at least given boots, and some clothes. Even if that’s just some tattered jeans and a cloak to hide him a tad from the unforgiving rays.
All he can see is a fast approaching dot in the distance. “That’s hardly nearly here ,” his tone falls into that of mockery towards the end, mimicking his dark counterpart. Maybe during a scuffle is the best time to make a break for it. He glances down at the chain tethering them together once more and considers breaking his own paw. Maybe then he’d be able to squeeze out of the cuff.
“You can’t see that horrendously colorful bunch of thieves?" Shadow quirks an eye ridge at Sonic as he steps past him towards the truck. He harshly kicks the rusty side panel, revealing a secret compartment. And within is copious amounts of firearms and ammunition. Like, way too much for one dude. “Word across the sands is that they will steal anything.”
Sonic blanches when his mind catches up with the words Shadow spat at him. “Colorful thieves? No way. Not all the way out here.” The dark hedgehog props a sawed off shotgun on his leg and checks it over, likely for usability and ammo amount.
“You think petty thieves stick to little towns? No, they aren’t any better than bandits.” He starts fiddling with the inner workings of the shotgun, Sonic can hear, but his eyes are glued to the heaps of red sand before them. The dot has become more of a mass, still headed for them at top speeds.
“I just… I may know some guys like that,” Sonic holds his paws out in front of himself, flexing his digits, his calloused pads reminding him of days long past. “ Worked with some guys like that.” He has a pistol placed squarely in his paws.
“If you turn on me or get in my way, I won’t hesitate to fill your mouth with lead,” Shadow says simply, a fact. “You have six shots, make them count, hedgehog.”
Sonic sputters, a roar of laughter erupting straight from his chest. “I won’t dream of working with him again. But jeez, don’t threaten me with a good time, dude.”
Shadow kicks the hatch closed and makes his way in front of the truck, “They are going to try and steal what I have, and I can’t allow that. If you need to defend yourself, don’t hesitate to kill them.”
The blue hedgehog squints. “I’m not killing anybody ! I ain’t a pig.” Out of all the time spent in this wasteland of a desert, Sonic has managed to keep his manslaughter charges to a minimum. He knows damn good and well that’s caused him more grief than succor, too.
As his eyes follow the approaching assailants, the clear outline of a large, four-wheeled, ATV-looking contraption, he can see one of the members of this merry band of thieves perched upon the high sitting bar above the steering wheel.
Feathers, an obnoxious bright green. A pair of goggles pulled over icy, cold blue eyes. Clothes way too clean for someone with such a dirty job, a white button up tucked neatly into A smile etched into a beak that is about to utterly peck into him; told ya so! Shoulda stuck with me!
Shadow scowls. “Just don’t get in my way,” he takes another big step forward. Sonic reluctantly follows. He glances left to right; nothing but rusty dunes as far as the eye can see.
He doesn’t have a choice in the matter. He twirls the pistol around his finger before he shoves in his back pocket.
“You sound like a broken record,” the blue hedgehog shuffles awkwardly. “Can’t we just drive around them? What do you have that’s worth so much in the truck, anyway?”
“None of your business,” Shadow adjusts his grip on the shotgun before tucking it neatly into a strap across his back. Sonic promptly gives up trying to talk to this guy. If that’s actually Jet hurdling towards them, then the broody monster just became the second most annoying thing out here. Sonic takes a step back, at the furthest distance he can muster without tugging at the chain. He leans coolly against the side of the truck… and the two wait.
Waiting for Jet and his two goons to arrive so they can kick his ass, or scare him off- or whatever. Okay- maybe Wave isn’t a goon. She’s actually kind of cool. Sonic fondly remembers a simpler time, when his genius of a brother was swapping tech secrets with the swallow.
Jet’s goon is Storm, a big, brawny kind of guy. Legend has it, when you see an albatross while on a journey it’s a bad omen. Lo and behold, if Storm is with Jet, it always spelt bad news for Sonic. He pointedly does not let his gaze linger as the ATV stops a few yards away from Shadow’s big rig.
He hears a familiar beep-beep from the group, swiveling his ears in their direction, crossing his arms neatly across his chest. The chain connecting him and Shadow sways and rattles between them.
Wave slides away from the steering wheel. She’s got her attention on some little device in her talons. Storm follows suit in exiting the patched up death trap, cracking his knuckles.
“Should be here,” Wave supplies. The beeping becomes incessant. Reminds Sonic of one of his brother’s noisy machines— “Wait, is that one of Tails’ gadgets? Have you seen him?” Sonic blurts out before he can even stop himself, clear concern lacing his tone. He stumbles forward, losing his footing somewhat in the sand as he shifts up next to Shadow. He raises a brow at Sonic, and if he didn’t know any better he’d say the inky soldier looked a little interested in what he was on about.
The green hawk hops off of his perch, letting out a demented cackle. “Is that you, Bluebell?” Jet gives Sonic a pointed top to bottom once over, leaning forward with his seemingly permanent smirk. “You wouldn’t happen to have one of the emeralds , would ya?”
Sonic’s quill rise in agitation, immediately falling into a defensive stance. His attention is shifted to Wave, who motions for the hawk to look at her device before elbowing in Shadow’s direction. His eyes follow her sideways glance, seeing the dark hedgehog appears to be just as puffed up as he is himself. Odd.
“I don’t know what you’re on about, creep. Go on about your pillaging, or whatever it is you do for fun these days,” Sonic’s lip curls, muzzle crinkling. He hates to be so out of the loop. The only precious gems that come to mind are from some fairytale he’s heard across the sands. But he’d sooner drop dead than admit he has little to no idea what the hawk is on about.
“Just because you’re scared of a little bit of blood doesn’t mean I’m pillaging , it’s called self defense. Maybe if you’d put a bullet in your problems you’d have less of them, too,” Jet bellows out, feathers standing on the edge. “And what is all this even about? Are you on house arrest?” He points towards Shadow, then follows the tubed chain back to Sonic, erupting into laughter.
Storm, ever ready to start any amount of a fight, nudges Jet, forcing him to cease his squawky cackle. “Boss, you want me to ring it out of ‘em?”
And that’s when the ball of angry red and black needles growls ! Like some sort of rabid animal, Sonic assesses. Great, awesome. Love it.
What happens next is almost too fast for even Sonic’s eyes to catch- the ringing in his ears comes before realizing Shadow point-blank attempted to murder Jet the Hawk. Lucky for the green loser, Storm shoved him out of the way with the quickness. He’s fast for a big guy- maybe not as fast as Shadow, though. The albatross is on Shadow like a bird on a worm in a split second. Jet lets out a pained squawk, blood splattered across the rust hued sand below. He holds his arm and already looks like panic is setting in, a bright crimson standing out against his green feathers.
Despite the tether between them, Sonic’s mind is racing ahead to come up with a way to ditch this situation entirely. If Shadow is truly this trigger happy, that can’t be good news for the long haul of this little roadless-road trip.
Sonic knows he’ll have to amp up some of that good ole chaos energy if he wants to compete in this race. Before Sonic can gloat or anything of the like at Jet’s misfortune, he is promptly wretched in the direction of Shadow and Storm’s brawl. The last thing he sees before his face meets the ground is Wave rushing to Jet’s side, seeing to the harsh scrap where he was grazed by Shadow’s bullet.
He opens his mouth in the midst of a yelp, only to have it fill with sand. This isn’t helped at all by the fact that he’s being further yanked away. Sonic manages to get a knee under himself, squinting towards the skirmish. From the looks of it, Shadow’s sawed off shotgun has been cast out of reach. Storm has always been one of the biggest dudes Sonic has ever seen, but he’s surprisingly evenly matched with this freak of a hedgehog. He’s got his talons embedded into Shadow’s shoulder. Then he takes a harsh slog to the bottom of his beak that sends the albatross up a good few feet before plummeting back to the grains below. He falls flat on his back and groans as he gets his boots back under him.
Shadow shakes rapidly, blood splattering away in flecks along with excess sand from his quills. With little to no warning, aside from his cherrywood eyes fixating on the cuff around his own wrist- he twists a knob on the underside of it.
Sonic is pretty sure in that moment he sees new colors that have never been named before, unseen by any other being on this miserable excuse of a planet. He can physically see the chaos energy jolt from his body; focus pouring overwhelmingly into the venipuncture at the crook of his elbow. The energy arches and jolts into and around the tubed chain, the strobe of colors finalizing on a bright blue until it meets Shadow’s veins. It erupts into an array of golden sparks as it crackles around the monster Sonic finds himself chained to. Sonic has donated blood before but never has it looked so… colorful.
For the first time since he's met this prick of a hedgehog, he sees the man actually smile. It’s sinister and vile- but most alarmingly sort of a good look on him. Sonic loathes to admit. As in, maybe this freak is more of a looker than he originally judged. He notes the toothy grin features elongated fangs. Checks out for some weird alien genetics Shadow is rumored to possess.
The hybrid then holds his paw out and shoots a golden-orange beam from it at the unfortunate albatross before he can get his balance in check. It hits Storm square in his broad chest, forcing him to return to the rusty grains.
Shadow barks out a laugh, the cachinnation bouncing around Sonic’s skull like a billiard ball. He solidifies more chaos energy around his paws, this time the hue taking on an acidic green. It’s getting harder for Sonic to concentrate as the brawl before him starts to blur together, the hedgehog seeing doubles of Shadow and Storm as they exchange blows. The horrific blood transfusion has Sonic’s heartbeat pulsing in his ears. He watches the crimson liquid rushing through the chainclad tube, wondering if the device has an off switch before he is bled dry. His arm lazes forward at Shadow’s behest until suddenly he’s falling in the opposite direction he’d expect to- away from the chaos jolted fisticuffs.
He notices Jet’s boot plant itself on his chest before he realizes he’s making one winged sand angels on the ground, his free arm sluggishly trying to resist the pull. “Not so fast, Bluebell. Maybe he’ll answer my reason and give up the emerald like this,” Jet squawks like he has all the answers.
And truth be told, Sonic only processes every other word. The blood loss is starting to make him feel a tad chilly. He can’t remember the last time he felt cold . There’s a lot of problems with that. He hopes he lives to address them. When he lazily closes his eyes, managing to drift off for a moment somehow, he is ripped back to consciousness when the chained tube is looped around his neck and pulled taunt. It pulls on his fur, somehow it's the pinching sensation he’s focused on the most at first. He refocuses his eyes forward the best he can, even if standing up right again hurts something awful.
“Hey Stripes, if you don’t leave my guy alone and drop the emerald I’ll choke him out.”
Sonic doesn’t think the hawk would do that.
But he also didn’t think Jet would raid a village then push the blame on him- THEN get mad when he decided to bounce. So who’s to say he wouldn’t snap his windpipe with an indestructible tube-chain. Their mutual crushes didn’t mean anything, what’s one more crush to the throat added to the mix? The thought of rolling back into a bunker with Jet again made Sonic’s skin crawl.
For how slow his range of motion and cognitive reflexes are, his mind is racing.
Shadow has managed to pin Storm when his cuffed arm is yanked away at the behest of Jet’s threat, the chain growing tighter around Sonic’s throat. The dark hedgehog squints, his trademark scowl long since returned to him. There’s something in his glazed, crimson eyes Sonic can’t quite place.
“I don’t care.”
This time Sonic is the one to laugh. Perhaps it’s the massive blood loss making this funny to him. Jet is so stupid. He’s pretty sure Shadow would be happy to get rid of him. The chortling easily turns to a wheeze, the lack of air starting to get to him.
Jet and Wave are saying more between each other but it may as well be a language he doesn’t understand. Even with the flashes of light in front of him strobing, Sonic can tell Shadow is winning. He hopes he wins faster.
The last thing Sonic can piece together before losing consciousness is Jet squawking about something in his ear, his taloned digits lacing between the chain and his throat.