"I messed up, doctor...," Shadow said quietly, currently sitting by a dining table in Eggman's kitchen with the man sitting on a chair next to him. The hybrid had an appetizing chocolate cake in front of him, but he did not touch it yet, because his stomach turned into a tight knot from the guilt and shame.
"Shadow, we sometimes make mistakes in life and the regrets live with us, but what we have to do is to not give up," Robotnik tried to comfort him as he took a small bite of his own piece of the cake.
"I am not giving up, doctor," Shadow sighed and lowered his ears in sadness as he finally took the small spoon to his hand and gently cut off a little piece of the cake and leaning his head on his other hand he put the piece to his mouth before slowly munching it. The chocolate immediately melted in his mouth and soothed his taste buds with its balanced sweetness. Milk chocolate was just the best. His chao was there with him, sitting on the table it watched its new owner curiously and so badly wanted to taste the cake, but did not dare to do anything, not wanting to upset the hedgehog.
"I am sure, that the blue rodent won't be mad at you forever," Eggman replied calmly and emptied his plate, as he truly enjoyed the good dessert. Shadow still proceeded to just eat his second piece, being pretty slow, since his appetite was nearly absent at the moment.
"Hmpf, what do you know, doctor? You should have seen his face, he was... very upset," Shadow retorted and noticing the look on the chao's face he got a little piece on the spoon and held it out towards the creature, who gladly opened its mouth and accepted the offered piece, munching it it showed heart above its head.
"Give him some time, Shadow. Later on, you will be able to explain everything to him and hopefully he will at least try to see it from your point of view," the mustached human shrugged before standing up to wash the plate.
"And if he doesn't?" Shadow raised a brow and fed the chao with another piece of the dessert. Thanks to taking such care of it, the chao's color was gradually becoming darker and Shadow just now noticed it, finding it alarming.
"Then we will find some way, I know we will," Eggman replied, sounding still pretty optimistic about it despite the situation.
"I wish I could share your enthusiasm, doctor," Shadow released yet another sigh and finally took the next piece of the cake himself, enjoying the sweetness spreading through his mouth.
"You'll come around," Eggman patted the hedgehog's shoulder in gentle, caring manner.
"Yet.. I don't- I can't tell him about Maria," Shadow said a bit sadly.
"Why?" Eggman raised a brow and sat next to him again.
"Because... it's still so heavy on my heart and.. i-if I tell him, that I did all that only so I could have Maria brought back to life.. or well, we could have her back...," Shadow trailed off, also correcting himself, for he knew, that Eggman had the very same goal. What he was unaware of, however, Eggman was hiding a secret regarding their lost family member. A secret, which he couldn't bring himself to tell Shadow about, unsure of what his reaction might be. Eggman frowned upon the thoughts filling his mind. Maria was actually still somewhat alive, Eggman kept her in a secret cave, locked up in an ancient capsule, where she was stabilized and just needed to be cured of her illness before she could be revived and brought back.
"...but he probably already knows, that I am selfish," Shadow shrugged and took one more piece of the cake before giving the spoon to the chao, letting it eat on its own.
"The way I see it, you are actually generous, Shadow," Eggman opposed, earning a glare from the hedgehog.
"Where?" Shadow raised a brow in doubtful manner.
"You do regret your actions, don't you? If you were selfish, you wouldn't even have those regrets. So, in fact, you care about that hedgehog and it hurts you to see him so upset," Eggman elaborated and Shadow had to admit, the human made a good point.
"Yeah, guess you're right," Shadow returned his glance to the chao and saw it happily rubbing its belly while having the heart constantly above its head.
"Is it just me, or did the blue creature turn a little.... darker?" Eggman raised a brow in confusion, whilst Shadow nodded in agreement.
"It did turn darker, I don't know why," he replied honestly.
"Hmmm, we should run a few tests on it," Eggman suggested, wanting to know more about the creature's kind. Shadow grabbed the chao and held it close to his chest while looking up at the doctor seriously.
"Are you crazy? We could see, how scared and stressed it was the last time you put it to the mini-capsule! I.. I don't want it to go through that again," he said seriously, the chao turned the heart back to the ball above its head and tilted its head curiously. It could sense Shadow getting protective over it, which made the chao giggle cutely.
"Chao-ooo!" it basically sang in joyful manner while nuzzling the ebony hedgehog's chest fur under the scarf. It seemed to be the chao's favourite part of the hedgehog's body.
"Fair point, Shadow. But what if it's getting sick?" Eggman set a bug to the hybrid's head.
"Ugh, fine," Shadow resignated and stood up along with the man before they both headed to the lab.
"Alright, now listen, little one," Shadow glanced down at the chao whilst talking to it in calm tone.
"You now need to be brave, okay?" he gently patted the chao's head in the process.
"Chao?" the chao lifted its paw to its mouth curiously.
"Put it on the bed, Shadow, I will not scan it this time," Eggman pointed at the bed while wielding a syringe in his hand. Shadow put the chao on the bed and saw it panicking at the sight of the sharp needle.
"Cha..chao, chaoo," it shook its head and slightly whimpered, letting a spiral appear above its head.
"Shh, I am here with you, little buddy," Shadow placed his hand behind it and gently rubbed its back with his thumb to comfort the poor creature.
"Don't worry, it will sting just a little bit," Eggman tried to comfort the creature as well, but the chao still kept whimpering and slightly trembling in fear of the needle. Shadow didn't blame it, he himself hated needles so much.
"CHAOOOO!" the creature screamed loudly after the needle penetrated its sensitive skin and once Eggman took sufficient amount of the creature's blood, he pulled the needle out and placed a colorful bandaid over the mark in its little arm. Shadow rather did not question, where Eggman took the colorful bandaids.
"Golden blood? That's new," Shadow perked his ears up and stared at the syringe full of the chao's unique blood in an utter astonishment.
"Your blood isn't much different, Shadow. I noticed tiny golden particles in it, when I once ran such test on you as well," Eggman replied, getting just as amazed as he walked over to the table and put the sample to the scanning device, so it could make the analysis of the chao's blood.
"Ah, true... I guess it's maybe because of our bodies containing the chaos energy," Shadow replied calmly, as he looked at the creature before sitting down next to it and lifting it up he sat it to his lap, making it feel safe and warm.
"Chaoooo," the creature wiped some tear away from its eye as it snuggled close to Shadow's stomach.
"There, you were brave, buddy," Shadow smiled softly at the creature and saw a heart above its head whilst it smiled back at him and turned even darker.
"Uh, doctor?" Shadow called out to the human, as he looked up at him.
"Yes, Shadow?" Eggman replied without looking at him as he was busy taking notes from the scan analysis.
"If the chao is sick, don't you think it would... act different?" Shadow stated in questioning manner before returning his gaze back down to the creature in his lap. The chao was slowly falling asleep there, which made the hybrid melt deep down at how cute it was.
"Maybe? We don't know much about it, so until we get more informations, we should be cautious," Eggman replied and paused for a moment, frowning a bit he then continued typing the notes to his computer. His fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard, as he was able to type really fast.
"I suppose," Shadow shrugged in response and tenderly rubbed the chao's head while getting lost in thoughts. His mind wandered off to Sonic again and the thought made him slightly frown. He wasn't sure, how he could explain everything without making the hero even more upset. Earlier, when he was feeling so broken in the hallway after Sonic was done with him, he cried for at least an hour before finally calming down and actually tying the bandana around his neck, because he didn't want to damage it any further or even lose it. It had a few marks after his sharp claws due to how tightly he gripped it during his little breakdown, yet he kept it mainly for Sonic's scent, which brought a little sense of peace and hope to him. Orbot and Cubot accompanied him for the entire time and casually talked to him about some stuff and tried to comfort him the best they could. The chao was the main anchor here, though, because Shadow found his purpose in taking care of the little creature, since it was kinda stuck with him anyway. The thought brought him to an idea and he abruptly stood up.
"Doctor, is the blood all you need?" he asked the man, who was busy working by the table and almost missed the question.
"Uhhh, so far, yes. Is there any reason behind you suddenly asking me that?" Eggman paused his work and looked at the standing hedgehog.
"I am going outside with him," Shadow could no longer stand calling the creature "it", so he assumed, that it could be of male gender.
"Hmm, just be careful and don't let him run away," Eggman sounded more like a father figure right now. Shadow rolled his eyes in response and turning around he headed out of the lab.
"I know what to do," he retorted before fully leaving the base and narrowing his eyes due to the brightness of the late afternoon. The sun was closer to its setting stage, so Shadow started moving before it would get darker outside.
"Chaooo!" the creature pointed at all the trees around, once they entered the jungle area.
"Yeah, I know," Shadow chuckled a bit, finding the chao's curiousness adorable.
"Chao chao chao," the creature cheered up and clapped his paws while looking around their surroundings and taking in the breathtaking beauty of the nature.
"Now hold on tight, buddy," Shadow said calmly as he suddenly stopped walking and held the chao tightly against his chest before using the teleportation to appear in front of the sacred cave. Entering it through the tunnel he approached the portal and it seemed to get active upon detecting his presence. Shadow was a little surprised, but taking a deep breath he slowly walked through the portal and appeared in the chao garden again.
"There we go," he set the chao down onto the soft grass and the chao went to eagerly pick up one of the fallen fruits in order to eat and get the needed nutrients to his body. His originally bright blue color was now rather dark grey, which made him much more different from the rest. The others of his kind all turned their attention to him and the hedgehog, most of them having a question mark above their heads. The dark one finished his little dinner and sighed in content before looking at his counterparts.
"Chaooo, chao!" he exclaimed and pointed at Shadow, which caused the others to react instantly by cheering up and approaching Shadow to snuggle against his legs and feet.
"Whoa, whoa, hey! What did you tell them?" Shadow stumbled a bit as he widened his eyes and got massively confused by the creatures' behavior.
"Hihihi, chao!" the dark chao clapped his hands while grinning happily. A short outgrowth started coming out of the back of his head and the yellow parts of his body - like the paw and feet tips, his bottom and the tip of the outgrowth itself - started turning pink. He also grew slightly longer, devillish tail and his teeth sharpened, making him look more mischievous and feisty.
Shadow noticed those changes on the specific chao, whom he had around all the time and one thought crossed his mind. Perhaps he himself is responsible for such change of the chao's body. Even though, it also sounded kinda ridiculous, how could he affect someone else's body in such way? He tried to move, but due to all the creatures surrounding his feet it was impossible for him to make even a single step forward.
"Come on, I need to move!" he growled at them, making them all look up at him and finally back off from his feet, giving him space. Shadow sighed and carefully stepped over to the dark chao before crouching down and looking at him properly.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked him and the chao nodded while grinning at him.
"Chao chao!" the creature jumped on spot before crawling around the wide meadow of the garden place. The other creatures watched Shadow carefully and one of them poked his leg before backing off. Shadow glared at them over his shoulder before rolling his eyes as he got up and approaching one of the fallen fruits he picked it up to examine it closely. It looked like some sort of pineapple without the spines and after sniffing it he found out, that it smelled pretty sweet.
"Chao, chao!"
"Chaooooo!"
"Cha-cha-cha-o!"
The creatures started squeaking over one another, which got Shadow's attention, as the hedgehog looked at them all in confusion. Many of the creatures held their paws up and seemed to be eager about the fruit in his hands.
"What? You have plenty on the ground," he pointed at the other fruits on the ground, which made the creatures look at that direction for a brief moment before they resumed their eager sign of wanting the exact fruit Shadow held in his hands.
"Uh..alright?" the hybrid raised his eyebrow and carelessly threw the fruit on the ground, making the creatures stop their actions and watch the fruit roll around until it stopped moving entirely. The little beings all turned their gazes to Shadow afterwards and reacted in various ways. Some got sad and started tearing up, some crossed their paws and scoffed in anger, while a few of them started wandering around, losing interest in both the fruit and the black hedgehog.
Shadow watched them in pure disbelief before trying to find the dark one, which wasn't hard at all thanks to his almost black color. Approaching the chao he sat down next to him and saw him doodle on the grass. Once again, the chao drew a sloppy image of Shadow himself while writing his name above his head, then the chao drew himself and wrote a name 'Onyx' above his head.
"What is it?" Shadow asked curiously, the chao set the chalk down and brushed his paws clean of it before pointing at the drawing of Shadow, then Shadow himself. He did the same with the drawing of himself, placing his paw on his little chest as to sign, that he is the chao named Onyx.
"Is that your name?" Shadow raised a brow, not thinking, that any of these creatures actually had names. He wondered, what were the others' names.
"Mhm, chao!" the chao, Onyx, nodded and smiled at Shadow, partially revealing his tiny sharp teeth. Shadow felt relieved, that he chose the right gender for it. It'd be rather embarassing, if it's female and he would use male pronouns for it.
"Do they have a name too?" Shadow asked while pointing at the other creatures. Onyx shook his head in response as a "no".
"Then how come you do have a name?" Shadow grew a little confused now. Onyx shrugged before seemingly thinking as he had a question mark above his head for a moment. Taking the chalk he wrote some letters to the grass and once he was done, he stepped aside to let Shadow read it.
"I like this word, read it in book," Shadow carefully read it out loud before glancing at the chao and nodding he finally understood.
"Alright, Onyx. It's kinda fitting for you, you know," he smiled at the chao.
"Chaooo!" dropping the chalk, Onyx happily jumped to his lap and snuggled close to his chest. Shadow placed his hand over him and leaned back against the tree behind him, deciding to prolong his stay here, as the place made him feel actually good, relaxed and comfortable.
~•~
Meanwhile....
For a few hours, Sonic sulked and did not allow any of his friends to come any close to him. He used that alone time to cry his heart out over the misfortune of falling in love with a traitor, yet he also knew, that Shadow wasn't the center of the world, there were other people and stuff to live for. As the sun started setting down, Sonic finally came out of his shack and decided to visit Amy. He gently knocked on the door and waited for the hedgette to either open the door and let him in or to not be home at all. The former was the case, as the blue hedgehog soon heard some rustling and a thud before the door flew open. Amy stood in the doorway with a towel wrapped around her head and she seemed to wear just some silky, vanilla yellow night gown, which complimented her peach arms and muzzle.
"Oh, hi, Sonic! Come in," she smiled at him a bit awkward, now feeling embarassed about her appearance, when she had a visitor. Unexpected one, though, so it wasn't completely her fault.
"Hey, Ames, thanks," Sonic actually smiled back at her and entered the shack, automatically sitting on the couch he casually took a chocolate bonbon Amy had there accessible on the table. Amy closed the door afterwards and rushed to the bathroom to properly dry her wet quills.
"So, how are you feeling?" she asked him carefully while hanging the towel on a hanger. She then took a brush and moved to the living room, where she sat down on the couch next to her visitor and started brushing her messy quills.
"Not as bad as I expected, honestly. Heh, I realized, that I have many other things to live for. Shadow isn't the only thing important to me," Sonic replied honestly and gently taking the brush from Amy he helped her fix the quills, which she gladly let him do, as it felt so nice everytime he did that.
"You still like him?" she asked carefully, not wanting to reopen the wound. Sonic paused in his actions, releasing a sigh he shrugged and then continued fixing his friend's quills.
"I honestly don't know.. maybe? I mean, if I imagine Shadow completely gone, I wouldn't be happy about it," he admitted with a faint blush on his cheeks. Despite all the pain Shadow caused him feel, his heart still desired to be close to Shadow's.
"Yeah, me neither, if I am to be really honest," Amy replied in sort of agreement with her friend, now wondering what Shadow's doing right now.
"I just.. uh, I can't kinda connect the dots, Ames. For the whole time he was so.. gentle and caring towards me and it felt so genuine, so real. I could see it in his eyes," Sonic frowned while recalling the memories of himself spending time with Shadow.
"So, I wonder what made him betray me like that," he finished his thought and fixed last bit of Amy's quills before pulling all the loose quills out of the brush and throwing them to a trash bin next to the couch. He returned the clean brush to her and she got up to put the brush to its spot.
"I don't know, Sonic. Shadow is very complex person and it's hard to truly understand him," she admitted as she descended back next to Sonic afterwards and took a chocolate bonbon to let it freely melt in her mouth.
"Tsk, tell me about it," Sonic rolled his eyes in response and crossed his arms, still trying to figure out, what reason made Shadow do what he did.
"I can assure you with one thing, though," Amy spoke up and held her hands out towards Sonic while now fully facing him on the couch. Sonic raised a brow, snapping out if his thoughts he turned to face her as well and accepted the offered hands by gently gripping them in his own.
"What is it, Ames?" he asked, genuinely curious about Amy's thought.
"If you two are destined to be together, you will always find a way to each other. And if he truly cares about you, he will do anything to fix his mistakes," she said calmly while looking into the other's almost equally emerald irises. Sonic listened carefully to her words and slightly furrowed his eyebrows in response.
"Suppose you're right? I now wonder, if I myself did something wrong. Maybe I should have talked to him more, maybe.. I should have confronted him much sooner about his sudden disappearances," he sighed while lowering both his gaze and ears.
"Man, I now feel kinda bad for scolding him like that.. I was so angry at the moment, the scene of... my body suffering through the pain and my mind screaming for Shadow to somehow help me still lives so freshly in my head. Yet.. I now remember, faintly.... he tried to free himself from the energy field and called out my name. Oh, Ames, I am so stupid," Sonic shook his head and tears filled his eyes due to the regrets he felt deep in his core. He felt Amy moving her hands away from his grip, only to wrap her arms around him and hold him in her embrace, giving him a comforting hug.
"Sonic, it's okay. Nothing is completely lost yet, you two can have a talk, once you are both ready for it," she tried to make him feel better while gently stroking his quills. Sonic hugged her back and listening to her words he let the hot tears stream down his cheeks. His neck also felt oddly naked and empty, since he got rid of the bandana. Dang, he now kinda missed it and wanted it back.
"Y-Yeah... I hope so," he stuttered a little and wiped his tears away as he broke the hug.
"Thanks, Ames, heh," he sniffled while humorlessly chuckling, earning a soft head-pat from her.
"There, Sonic. Besides, I myself owe him an apology, I was maybe a little too harsh on him. But I was so worried about you," she admitted her own mistake as well, yet tried to somehow justify her actions.
"Ames, it's alright. You just tried to protect me and the others, there is nothing to feel bad about at all. Shadow sometimes needs to be put to his place, anyways," Sonic comforted her and made her smile again.
"You're right. Do you want to watch something with me?" Amy replied and asked in a bit more joyful tone, which Sonic nodded at.
"Sure!"
The two hedgehogs then enjoyed a movie night and fell asleep next to each other due to the sleepiness eventually catching up on them.