Chapter Text
In Green Hills on a day with beautiful clear skies, the color of one of the greatest heroes to exist shone brightly. Sonic and Shadow were having their usual race to see who was faster. Only this time, Tails was the referee because according to Shadow, Sonic is a ‘cheater’.
“1….2….3!” Tails yells enthusiastically, and immediately both hedgehogs dash off. Leaving Tails in a literal smoke cloud.
Sonic of course took the lead of the two, being ever so slightly faster. However, he was distracted by an abandoned mine shaft he'd never seen before. It led to him falling behind by a few inches. Shadow noticed immediately, watching his rival switch motives. Sonic being captivated by this new adventure, he ran into it with no hesitation. Leaving Shadow confused, he quickly followed behind. Wondering where Sonic was going, or if he even knew himself.
“SONIC…” Shadow called out into the entrance of the mine. It echoed through the dark hollow entrance.
“Damn faker….” He muttered under his breath while walking in after.
Sonic was in a daze wandering around the shaft. It was large and full of old equipment. Soon enough he found himself faced with shaft sets. He was about to head into one, when Shadow appeared behind him.
“I really hope you don't plan on going in there.” He spoke, letting his words echo within the walls. Sonic jumped, but quickly got back to his usual smugness.
“Well it can't hurt anyone to explore.” Sonic spoke with a cheeky grin.
“You're going to get yourself killed. You don't even know what's down here. For all we know, this place could be one of Eggman's hidden labs.” Shadow replied instantly.
“Fine. Then if it's so dangerous…”
Sonic took a step back, testing the waters with Shadows' patience. Clearly, he was already getting on his nerves.
“Then I guess it would be pretty irresponsible to… I don't know, run into it?...” Sonic backed up even more.
What he didn't realize in his mocking state, is that a hole had been so conveniently placed at the edge of his shoe. He didn't notice until he felt it. By then, it was too late. No matter how fast Sonic was, he couldn't save himself from falling backwards. Sonic plummeted to the bottom, yelping as he fell. A loud thud was heard as well, signaling he found the bottom. Shadow let out a sigh and used chaos control to meet him. Once down, he observed the hole. Estimating it was 10ft deep and would take time to get out. The walls were smooth. Somehow having little to no digging marks. Just dirt walls. Once he saw Sonic, he noticed he was looking at something in the distance. He followed his gaze. What they found looked to be a Badnic. It was rusty and deactivated. Old looking as well.
“Well would ya look at that. I guess you were right, Shads. Eggman did have a lab under her e.” Sonic loudly rebutted in the silence, lightly smacking Shadow’s arm. “
But why keep it underground? Shadow couldn't help but wonder.
“Let’s get out of here before anything bad happens.” Shadow stated, turning away to face the wall.
“Wait! Before we leave, I wanna see-”
“No.” Sonic was cut off again by an annoyed looking Shadow.
“I'm going to look for an exit, and you're going to stay put.” Sonic was displeased to hear this, and promptly turned his back on the Badnic. This prompted an argument between the two about exploring more of the mine. One where neither of them noticed the robot reactivating itself upon hearing Sonic's voice. It was programmed by doctor Eggman, so of course its only objective was to kill Sonic. So it would. Both Shadow and Sonic had their backs turned on it, and didn't realize what happened until it made a sharp metallic scrape.They looked back, only to see a robotic hand grabbing his chest fur and digging its way into him. Breaking through his ribs, and spraying blood over himself and it. Sonic screamed out in shock, then in pain as he realized what it was doing. As Shadow looked back, it was too late. The badnic had ripped whatever it had grabbed, taking Sonic’s blood and vital organs with it. Shadow was stunned and confused at the sight in front of him, unable to move at first. It wasn't until Sonic fell to the ground did he have the energy to.
“S..sonic..” Were the only words he could mutter. In perfect timing, that was exactly when Tails had finally caught up to them.
“GUYS, WHY’D YOU GO IN HERE?” Tails was out of breath. Panting in between words and yelling into the mines. Shadow and Sonic could hear him at the top. Although faint, it was clear it was him.
“Go…” Sonic whispered. “But you-” Shadow protested shortly, only to hear.
“GO..*cough* don't.. don't let him see this..” Sonic frantically wished. He was losing consciousness. Shadow took one last look at him before he collapsed completely. Shadow pulled the emerald from his quills and sprinted to Tails. Scooping him up without saying a word.
“Shad- OW!” Tails yelped as he was lifted up and forced out the mine he had just entered. “SHADOW! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHERE'S SONIC?” Tails tried to get an answer out of him, but Shadow kept quiet. Running far past their starting point. Once they were far enough, Shadow set Tails down gently.
“What's going on? Where's Sonic? Wasn't he with you?” The amount of questions running through Tail's head was minor compared to Shadows. He couldn't suppress his emotions any longer.“He's….” Shadow spoke up. He closed his eyes and pointed his head to the ground below him. Tails’ ears raised upon hearing Shadow, slightly tilting his head to the left.
“He's dead, Tails…” As soon as the words left his mouth, he could feel Tails’ heart drop. Tails’ tails stopped swinging behind him and completely fell to the ground. As well as his ears.
“What…you're joking, right?” Tails muttered, trying to deny it. “You can't be serious.”
Tears were already forming in his eyes, Shadow looked up and could see them. Before Tails could even let out a whimper, Shadow pulled him into a hug. Shadow wasn't the best at comforting people, but he knew what it felt like to lose an older sibling. He thought of what he would have wanted, which would have been as simple as a hug.