The Blast

IM BACKKK

Shadow sat in silence on the basement floor, fiddling with his can of food before tossing it on the floor. He couldn't understand how someone he just met could be so comfortable around him, yet somehow deceiving at the same time. He always passed up others behaviors and chalked them up to the blast, so he hadn't seemed to consider that maybe sonic had such insecurities before the blast, and not as a result of it. It fleshed sonic out a bit, making him somehow more relatable. The azure was definitely a curious sort, his attitude towards things often felt dramatic or exaggerated and his morals were clearly complicated. While shadow often could feel annoyed by the hedgehog, or rather embarrassed, he couldn't help but feel somewhat intrigued by sonics behavior. It was unlike any mobian he had encountered since the blast. He wanted to know more about the cerulean, dissect his mindset bit by bit and study it closely. He wanted to know what separated sonic from all the murderous roaming mobians scattered about this ball of debris.
With a bit of hesitation, since it seemed like sonic wanted to be alone, understandably so, he stood up to leave the basement. He didn't want to smother sonic, but he also didn't want to find the azure in danger or something of the sort. He peered through the entrance of the basement, searching to find a glimpse of that shimmering blue fur. He couldn't find sonic standing around anywhere, which sort of alarmed him. He crawled out of the hole completely, looking around before a sickly sweet smoke ran under his nose. It was definitely cigarette smoke. He followed where the smoke was coming from with his eyes, finding that the azure had climbed up the crumbled and destroyed walls of this establishment and was sitting up high, indulging in a smoke as he said he would.
Shadow was glad sonic was unharmed, but also curious as to where sonic had gotten the stick. The sun was angled perfectly on sonics fur, and shadow could really see the damage it had taken. The nicks and cuts in sonics skin became more defined now. Scars that looked to be healing up rather delicately decorated his arms. Blood that either was or wasn't his own stained his fur in different places, discoloring it with a mixture of brown and purple splotches.
Shadow realized he was staring and stopped immediately, knowing sonic and how he might react to it. Instead, he scanned the debris around him. It seemed this building had been someone's home before it was destroyed. Broken frames covered in dirt and grime, priceless heirlooms scattered about the floor. It was a somber sight. He didn't know what he was searching for and it seemed all he was doing was depressing himself. He wondered who had been here before them, what they had suffered or if they had even survived in the blast. He picked up one of the broken frames, finding a destroyed and burnt picture inside. There was a subtle sickness in his stomach when he saw the subject of the picture. He looked similar to the mobian the two of them had dissected previously. In fact, shadow was almost certain it was him, considering the fact that the two of them had discovered him not too far from here. It tripped shadow out that he was in possession of the flesh of this mobian, and that they were using his house as refuge. He wanted to throw up, but ignored it, dropping the frame and looking for something to distract himself.
It seems no matter where you turn in this place you'll always be reminded of who you've become since the blast. Shadow sighed, turning back to sonic, who had finished smoking, but was still sitting up on the ledge, looking off into the distance.
The ebony contemplated his next move, but ultimately decided that there are worse things than going up to sit with sonic. He was feeling somewhat lonely in a way, since this was probably the first time sonic had left him alone since they met. He was searching for a conversation. When they had been arguing previously he had to admit that it felt kind of nice to have an actual conversation with someone for the first time in so long, even if they were both a bit annoyed at each other. It felt like a real interaction, something rare these days. He hated admitting it, but he was growing somewhat dependent on sonics company.
He carefully climbed up the debris and sat himself next to sonic. He glanced at him for a moment, but directed his attention to the horizon. The sun was almost finished rising and the land before them almost looked beautiful. A scene of destroyed buildings being engulfed by moss and vegetation as the shine of the sun defines every shadow and highlight.
They had stayed silent, probably finding it a bit awkward to speak after their argument. To an extent shadow was fine with this, just finding comfort in being around another mobian who had no clear intentions of hurting him... Or any other intention than to survive really.
Sonic sighed softly, breaking the tension a bit. He didn't want to say anything, because what exactly could he say? Why should he apologize for speaking about his feelings? Honestly, neither of them had done anything wrong, as it seemed that they had both consented to the activities in a private space without inconvenience to anyone. Sure, it was odd since they had only met a few days ago, but no one had to know, plus, it had happened somewhat spontaneously, so it was inevitably unavoidable.
To direct the attention elsewhere, he changed the subject, though they hadn't even started talking yet.
"Do you remember what your life was like before...?" He asked. His recollection of his life before the blast was fuzzy and he wanted to see if shadow could relate.
The ebony hedgehog shrugged a bit.
"I remember bits and pieces.." he replied. "I remember when the blast happened, but barely anything before that..."
Sonic nodded a bit, feeling relieved that they were in the same boat. It seemed like the blast was his new life, like everything before it was labeled obsolete and discarded from his mind. It could've been because they were constantly in survival mode these days.
"Do you?" Shadow then asked, kind of interested in learning more about sonic.
Sonic shook his head.
"When I woke up I was with my friends, so I guess I remember them.. but, everything before that is just... Gone." He said, crossing his legs and resting his cheek in his palm.
"Friends?" Shadow asked. "Did they... Like, die or something?"
Memories of his friends almost lifeless eyes as they ripped up and ate a screaming mobian flashes before sonics eyes and he shook the memory out almost as quickly as it came. "You could put it that way I guess..." He said, standing up and searching around the land. It was a lot easier to assess your surroundings when you were up high.
Shadow tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean by that?"
Sonic kept his gaze on the horizon, as if he was searching for something. He tried to decide what he should say, but he didn't really think it was all shadows business anyways. "It's not important." He said, his eyes fixated on a section of the land. "I think we have bigger problems on our hands..." He lowered himself to seem less noticable, pulling shadow behind the debris and pointing off into the distance. Shadow followed sonics finger till he caught a glimpse of movement from afar. A small group of 4 to 5 mobians were promptly making their way towards the building. He was slightly fearful, having never encountered a group of mobians since the blast. It seemed sonic was more aware than him, quickly growing cautious and pulling one of his blades out.
They were outnumbered and they knew it. There was really no place to run or hide without being noticed, so they stayed up high, praying that no one would notice them. The closer the group got the louder their voices became. Laughter and humorous quips would fill the air as they sauntered into the destruction, seemingly searching around, maybe for something or someone to eat.
Shadow watched intently as they walked over to the basement, one of them throwing the hatch open.
"Think it's a trap?" One said. The other shrugged and it seemed like everyone else was too disinterested to answer. One of them was getting unnervingly close to the debris that led up to the ledge, sniffing around as if he had caught the scent of something interesting. Soon he looked up, meeting eyes with sonic, who ducked lower, covering his face with a silent groan.
"Sonic?" The mobian vocalized, catching the attention of the other four.
Shadow was surprised that they knew his name, implying that they had been previously acquainted. Sonic was silent, trying to pretend he wasn't there. He looked embarrassed in a way.
"Sonic?" Another one said, placing a hand on his hip. None of them looked particularly dangerous now. "I thought he died or something." He chuckled.
The first mobian started to climb the debris, getting a fuller look at the two. "It is him!" The mobian seemed somewhat excited to see him. He noticed shadow as well. "And... Who is this? Your lunch?" It came out like a joke which made sonic wince uncomfortably.
"Hello to you too, silver..." Sonic greeted, more out of obligation than preference.
Shadow only became increasingly curious. What had silver meant by "your lunch"? He assumed from this sentence that the group happened to be free roamers, which only posed more questions.
Sonic stood up, dusting himself off and presenting himself to the rest of the group. Everyone seemed to know him, and they all seemed pretty excited that he was there.
"Wow, it's actually him!" One said. "I seriously thought he was dead, I even made a grave for him and everything."
Shadow was confused. He assumed these people were going to try and eat them, but it seemed their previous occupation with sonic saved them in a way.
Sonic didn't look particularly comfortable, in fact he looked embarrassed as hell. Shadow stood up, keeping his guard up just in case.
"Where'd you go for all this time? One day you just kinda disappeared." Silver asked, retreating from the ledge and joining his friends while sonic and shadow came down from the ledge as well.
Sonic hesitated, but quickly came up with a lie. "I-I.. Was... Kidnapped!" He spoke, trying to be convincing. "Yeah, kidnapped. Obviously I got free and... I've been... looking for you guys?" He was unsure of himself, but the group seemed to buy it. He sighed a bit. He suddenly heard a switchblade flick behind him and turned to find one of the mobians brandishing their blade towards shadow as if out of caution. "And... This guy?" He gestured towards shadow, who didn't particularly look very threatened considering he was significantly taller than the other mobian.
Sonic didn't even consider shadow until now, wondering what the ebony could be thinking about all of this. "Uh, he helped me escape.." he quickly replied, hoping to ease the roamers suspicions.
The mobian with his weapon pointed towards shadows chest kept his stance for a moment before smiling and grabbing shadows hand to shake it, without shadows consent. "Any friend of sonics is a friend of mine!" He said. "Names Espio, might I ask yours?"
Shadow yanked his hand back, rubbing it to relieve it from the mobians strong grip. It seemed these roamers had a significant amount of energy, probably because they had been continuously consuming mobian flesh nonstop. "It's shadow..." He said, feeling obligated to not appear suspicious now. Sonic was lying to these people and he wanted to know why.
"Pleased to meet you!" Espio quipped. "Any particular destination you two have been searching for?" He put his knife away, turning to sonic as if he could honestly care less what shadow had to say.
Sonic shrugged, putting on a fake smile. "Well, gosh, we've been looking for the base for a while." He said in a somewhat chummy voice, obvious to shadow that he was lying but apparently the roamers were too dumb to realize it. "Think you guys could redirect us?"
Silver smiled and shadow noticed that it looked like he had sharpened his teeth on purpose. "Well we haven't been out harvesting for too long but I'm sure the boss will be thrilled to see you again!" He said, grabbing sonics wrist and leading him. "Let's go!"
Sonic began to sweat. He had hoped maybe they would just give them some directions or something and the two of them could sneak off once they were far enough, but now the group felt obligated to privately escort him. "Oh. Lead the way then, I guess." He looked defeated, being dragged around by his wrist. The group started walking, discarding shadow completely. Shadow didn't know why, but he followed along. He could have easily just left, let sonic do whatever and continue living his days out in the basement completely alone, but what kind of life would that be? He quickly dipped into the basement, gathering his stuff and shoving cans of food into his sleeping bag. He grabbed his flask quickly, abandoning the room with enough resources to feel comfortable. He contemplated taking the bag of mobian flesh with him, ultimately deciding that he had to, just as a precaution.
He scattered out of the hole, quickly running after the group, the only thing weighing him down was the bag on his back.
What seemed like a very short walk later, the group came across a large dip in the floor, almost like a trench. It was well hidden in the floor, the only thing really making the bunker noticeable being the bright red ladder that led down into the deep trench. Once you got in, the base was huge, multiple mobians scattered about, laughing, drinking, some of them even playing music on makeshift or broken instruments. It was like a secret underground society, which shadow was almost surprised he was correct about in the first chapter. (Lol)
Everyone suddenly turned their attention to the group, their expressions lightening when they saw sonic. Everyone he passed would greet him, most of them saying he was dead, even showing sonic the tribute the group had made to honor him. It was somewhat humorous for shadow to witness, but sonic seemed less than interested. It was like he was searching for an exit at every turn, an opening to escape. Shadow simply followed around aimlessly, no one really giving him much acknowledgement. They were much more focused on sonic for whatever reason. Was he popular amongst the free roaming society? If so, why? On some level this caused shadow to grow weary of sonic, this experience reminding him of the less than delicate way he would treat a mobian corpse. A few turns later, most of the group retreating respectively while sonic, silver and shadow entered a room much larger than any room that wasn't the main room. In the center of the room sat a red echidna, sitting in a handcrafted throne. It was somewhat distasteful to see him sipping from a damaged silver gauntlet as if he was king shit of turd mountain. Shadow admired the large mobian, noticing his interesting choice of fashion. He was wearing a cape, much like one a king would wear, except the fabric wasn't made from regular material... But rather the discarded fur and skin of dead mobians. It was disturbing, seeing every line of stitching that connected probably multiple different sections of mobian flesh to be paraded around like a conscious fashion choice. Or rather it was a display of power.
When the echidna noticed sonic he immediately perked up, a smile spreading to his face. He discarded his cape, rushing down the steps and quickly pulling sonic into an embrace, holding him incredibly tightly. Sonic didn't seem to reciprocate the feeling of excitement, quite the opposite rather. "You're alive!" The echidna cried out, his hands relocating multiple times as if he was trying to make sure sonic was actually there. "I thought you'd perished, my love..." He leaned in, leaving multiple unreciprocated kisses on sonics muzzle.
Shadow looked away in embarrassment. He was somewhat surprised to find that sonic seemed to have had a romantic relationship with this man before they had met, which also slightly confused him. If sonic had someone who truly desired him, why did he talk so much about feeling unwanted?
Sonic put on a convincing fake smile, acting as if he had missed the echidna, though he clearly didn't. Shadow wasn't watching, only listening to the short conversation the two of them had. He couldn't help but feel betrayed by sonics seemingly loving tone towards this man, since he couldn't really tell sonic was lying through gritted teeth.
He heard the wet smack of their lips and felt... Jealous. He learned the king's name was knuckles, which was somewhat comical to shadow considering the echidnas large hands.
Soon knuckles began escorting sonic to a room, yet again leaving shadow behind as if he was completely invisible to everyone. It wasn't a nice feeling, being ignored, but he was also kind of glad that no one was asking him questions, since his tongue wasn't nearly as silver as sonics. He followed behind as the two mobians conversed, sonics voice so soft and convincing, as if he really had been trying to get back.
"We kept your room exactly as you left it." Knuckles said, pushing open a wooden door and gently pushing sonic inside with his hand. "I don't have the time to catch up, but trust I'll be coming back soon to see you, darling." He left sonic with a tender kiss on the cheek, turning around and being met with shadow, who was standing there quietly, feeling out of place. The echidna was almost surprised, having never acknowledged his presence until now.
"What about me?" Shadow asked, wondering if he would also get a room.
Knuckles snorted obnoxiously, rolling his eyes, much to shadows annoyance, since it seemed like since he had gotten there everyone was looking down on him for no particular reason.
"What about you?" He laughed, pushing shadow out of the way and walking off, probably to fulfill his 'royal duties'.
Shadow raised his shoulders and hands in confusion, a scowl on his face. He turned to sonic, who was still standing in his doorway. "What's his problem?" Shadow asked.
Sonic promptly closed the door in shadows face, clearly trying to avoid him for whatever reason. Shadow assumed it was due to his embarrassment of being suddenly outed as a former free roamer, but it still kind of hurt his feelings.
He sighed, turning around and looking around the long narrow hallway. He felt incredibly out of place and claustrophobic, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. He was in an unfamiliar place full of unfamiliar people, and he had no idea what to do with himself. He walked down the hallway, searching for the main room with all the others inside it. This place was a maze, but eventually he entered the room. Everyone seemed to be happy, mingling about as if everything for them was normal. Like they weren't living in a world where you have to skin mobian corpses to feed yourself. It was oddly comforting, knowing shadow didn't have to think about or do anything like that for a while with the rations of food he had. He searched the room until he found Espio, the purple chameleon that seemed to be the only one here who even acknowledged his existence. He tapped him on the shoulder cautiously.
The chameleon had a large mug of beer in his hand and he seemed to be in good spirits, turning to meet shadow with a smile. "What's up, bud?" He asked, a noticeable slur to his speech.
Shadow felt that the familiarity Espio expressed was a little unearned, but he spoke anyways.
"Do you guys have... I don't know, a room I can use?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Espio tilted his head slightly, setting his drink down. "Knuckles didn't give you a room?" He scratched his chin curiously.
Shadow shrugged. "I don't think he likes me very much, for whatever reason."
Espio thought for a moment before standing up and gesturing for shadow to follow him. "That's odd." He said as they walked. "No matter, there are plenty of empty rooms for you. No guarantees on how nice they'll be, I mean, we are living underground."
Shadow couldn't help but chuckle at this as he followed behind Espio. "A room is a room." He replied. "Better than sleeping in a freezing basement."
Espio looked around the hallway, inching closer to sonics door as he searched some of the rooms. He pointed out 5 rooms that shadow could choose from, even though they were all the same. Shadow chose the room directly across from sonics. He wanted to stay in the same proximity as his only friend in this whole ordeal, even if sonic seemed like he had no intention to talk to him at the moment. Espio welcomed shadow as a member of the community, which shadow didn't necessarily want, but accepted anyways because of the hospitality Espio was showing him. He trudged into his room, looking around before setting his heavy bag down on the ground. The room was small, but large enough to live in, with a bed in the corner and even a homemade window. It was just a pane of glass being held in place by the molded dirt on the ceiling, illuminating the room. While it wasn't much, shadow was slightly impressed by the stable structure of the room. He'd imagine building an underground society wouldn't particularly be easy, and he admired the creativity they put into it.

With a sigh, the ebony threw himself onto the mattress, sprawled across it as he stared up at the dirt ceiling. This was certainly an interesting development on his end, but all he was left with was unanswered questions.