Running with the Rebels

Bring Back the Hope

   A/N: I am BACK, ladies and gentlemen! Sorry for the colossal wait, but thanks for hanging in there for me! I've had this chapter halfway done for months now, but you all deserve a completed chapter. I've been in and out different fandoms for a while, and school plus internships took up most of my time.

But honestly, I missed you guys. I was going through some old comments, and your reactions, your love and support and kindness are what made the Sonic fandom amazing. So here is just a little something as a gift. Please forgive me if it's not up to the usual standard since it's been so long since I've written fanfiction.
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   Sonic slapped a hand over his face and stifled a groan. This was just peachy. Right when the four needed to sing and lift everyone's spirits, Shadow had to go and disappear on them. Typical.

"Uh," Manic drawled. And Uncle Chuck scratched his head.

    "Does he normally vanish like this?" the older hedgehog asked.

    Rouge planted her hands on her hips, clearly miffed at her partner's little disappearing act. "Unfortunately."

    Mindy glanced between the newcomers. "Is there any way you can find him?"

    "Not unless you can track teleportation signals."

    Sonic blinked. Once. Twice. Then he looked at his triplet siblings, and they looked back and saw how his emerald eyes shone.

    "I think I know how to find him," he declared with smirk, "Try to keep up."

Line break brought to you by Silver the Hedgehog....who has been stuck in traffic.

Shadow didn't know what came over him. All he knew in that moment was that the urge to sing overwhelmed all of his senses, and he was absolutely not going to let it go in a room full of people that still mildly respected him. For Chaos' sake, Rouge was standing right next to him!

    But even alone in an empty alleyway Shadow could feel the words caught in his throat, and his chest ached with the urge to release this new power that he still didn't quite understand. He pressed a hand to his chest, brows scrunched in confusion.

   He'd had no trouble releasing the song before now. But then again, he had either been alone or just with the triplets. They knew more about this than he did, and they didn't mind releasing the pent up energy whenever it struck them, no matter where they were or who they were with.

When he finally realized what he was feeling, Shadow growled under his breath.

     No. Absolutely not, he thought, I am the Ultimate Lifeform. I have faced far deadlier challenges than this nonsense.

     But his pounding heart and tense limbs said otherwise. He had faced alien armies, falling from space, a giant lizard, and more death and destruction than most people experienced in an entire lifetime. Every time he had faced the challenge head on.

        So he couldn't believe he had fled the scene at the thought of just singing in a public space. His siblings did it all the time, and wasn't he supposed to be able to do the same thing? Why on Möbius would he run from something so simple?

    He had acknowledged Sonic and the others as family before, more than once in fact, but actually performing with them with a true audience—that would make it far more real to him, and to everyone else. He could no longer pretend that it was just a possibility and not solid reality after that, even if a growing part of him already acknowledged the fact and accepted it.

    Shadow looked up, and his eyes caught sight of a mobian mouse sitting on the steps of a rusty metal house and struggling to wash the oily filth out of a basket of laundry. Two silent children sat on either side of her and tried to help.