°○•Çìřćümśțăñçěş ○•° \\REWRITTEN//

°•○6○•°

Shadow was grabbed by the wrist tightly and dragged along by the lapiz hedgehog inside the small hut, followed closely by the older Sonic.

Amy's room seemed to suit her a lot. She had light beige woven chairs and a table, adorned with pink and white cushions and pillows, on the left wall by the doorway. A tasteful amount of potted plants cluttered shelves, table tops and corners ranging from small cacti to a large bouquet of blue, white and purple lilies. A large poster bed sat against the far right wall, matched with the woven seats. The room had many pastel colours and clutter, it reflected what Shadow knew about her perfectly.

Opposite the bed, sheilded by the table, was a small woven bassonette with white blankets and thrills draped over the top. Shadow was dragged along helplessly as his blue counter-part rushed towards the children in glee. It was odd to see him so excited over children, his and Shadow's shared children no-less.

Shadow's wrist was finally released from Sonic's death grip as he placed his hands on the bassonette to get a closer look at, presumably, the children. Shadow walked closer to Sonic, being just behind him yet still able to see the children.

There were two in the crib, a navy blue one with short quills that reflected Shadow's and a smaller ebony one with even shorter quills, that looked like Sonic's, and lapiz streaks. Shadow couldn't see their eyes as they were asleep, but the navy blue one had black eye markings extremely similiar to Shadow's own. It was unsettling.

"Red is clearly not a strong gene." Sonic commented with a sly wink. Shadow rolled his eyes, he knew Sonic was somewhat aware Shadow favoured red over any other colour. He still couldn't fathom how Sonic was remaining completely calm in such a situation. "Neither is bright blue." Shadow remarked. "If this were real genetics, they would both take most of their genes from me."

Shadow turned to the older variants for any kind of validation. He knew how genes worked, it had been explained to him many times given his past. They merely stared back silently.

After awhile, the older Shadow stepped forwards and cradled the ebony hedgehog in his arms, rocking the sleeping child gently. "This is Zip." He introduced. His voice was no louder than a whisper, Shadow had to perk his ears to hear him. "Guess who named him." He added bitterly.

"Zip's a cute name!" The older Sonic whined, picking up the navy hedgehog. "I couldn't go through with naming him Chip." He added hesitantly as his voice wavered. Sonic tilted his head down almost automatically. Shadow automatically placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder. He knew the feeling of loss all too well. "What's the other's name?" Shadow asked to try change the subject. He only knew how to inclift pain, not heal it.

"Maria." The older Shadow spoke up hesitantly. The ebony hedgehog paused, eyes slightly wide. He didn't even know what to think. It was an honor to Maria, yes, but wouldn't that make the small navy hedgehog a constant reminder? What if the name was bad luck? He involuntarily gulped. "I can see why you would." He reassured the older Shadow. He couldn't say much else. His voice threatened to crack to his emotion.

Sonic wrapped his arm around Shadow's waist and pulled him closer, a reassuring smile on his muzzle. The ebony hedgehog was less than reciprocating, yet it comforted him in a weird way to know somebody cared. He glanced at the taller lapiz hedgehog but chose not to pay the phsyical touch any mind, he didn't want to harm the children accidentally.

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A mixture of dust and sand clouded the ebony hedgehog's vision. He scrunched his eyes shut and sheilded his face. Shadow pondered shouting for Sonic, but he knew opening his mouth was a death sentence. In a matter of moments, his mouth would dry over immediately as the dust and sand entered.

The dust eventually fell, dragging the sand with it. Shadow coughed and spluttered before taking in a needed breath of air. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened. He had vague memories of Eggman appearing and beginning an attack on the small cluster of huts. Shadow and Sonic had rushed out alongside their older counterparts to fight, but in a matter of seconds a hut nearby was sent tumbling and separated the group.

"Sonic!" Shadow yelled as loudly as he could. Everything was silent. The ebony hedgehog looked around gingerly. He couldn't see much as the dust and sand slowly settled, just large, predominantly featureless, silhouettes. Everything remained silent. Shadow took a shaky inhale as he tried to steady his thoughts. He always thought the worst, yet everybody he knew was yet to die. Surely, Sonic hadn't died. The amount of times Sonic had recovered from fatal injuries or been reincarnated had Shadow convinced the blue blur was immortal to some capacity.

"Sonic!" He shouted again, tears welling up in his eyes. He could try convince himself it was a reaction to the dust, but he knew the truth. His entire body shook and he froze in place. His ribcage rose and fell at a rapid, unsteady pace and he's knees buckled. What if he had lost him? A tear rolled down his muzzle slowly. What if he had failed somebody again? He was overcome by a feeling of sickness clawing at his throat.

"Sonic!" He shouted again desperatley, his voice now broken and uneven in tone. He fumbled amongst the rubble and rocks, dragging his legs as dizziness overcame him. Clear memories of the foggy, scuffed glass he watched helplessly from attacked his mind like an unrelenting force. "Please..." He whispered hoarsely. If a god did exist, it wanted nothing but the worst for Shadow, and yet all he could do was pray.

Cries cut through the silence. The cries of an infant. The ebony hedgehog jumped up instinctively and raced to the source of the sound. To his relief, Amy's hut was in tact. Shadow wasted no time and rushed inside. Some of Amy's furniture had been knocked by the blast, however the bassonette was still upright and the children were unscathed.

He sighed in relief as he approached the two, taking both the children into his arms. He was in no way certain anybody was okay. He could be stuck on the island, alone for the rest of eternity, forced to raise children that weren't technically his. All he could do was rock them in an attempt to silence their cries.

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The makeshift portal activated with a loud whirr. The magnetic force it generated almost sent the poor fox hurling towards it, however the red echidna, that stood beside him, managed to grab his shoulder and hold him down. The fox grinned at the echidna and then back to his machine.

The two hedgehog siblings did too. "You guys ready?" Sonia asked the trio. Tails nodded vigorously. "We need to act quickly." He reminded the light pink hedgehog and red echidna. Amy merely rolled her eyes. "We know."

"Relax, Tails." Manic passivley added. The fox turned to the careless homewrecker. He was spinning on the fox's beloved office chair, pushing the backrest as far back as it would go as he did so. His antics were quickly stopped by Sonia, who kicked the lever on the chair and sent the back hurling towards the green hedgehog, who fell off of the chair almost instantly.

"If anything happens, we have contacts." Sonia smiled reassuringly. She held up a radio and wiggled it between her fingers in a repetitive motion to remind the fox of his invention. "I'll call if anything happens." The fox nodded with a smile. "Be careful!" He warned the two hedgehogs as he began to approach the portal, Amy and Knuckles in tow.

"You're always right Tails, this will be a walk in the park!" Amy reminded, a confident grin on her face. The fox nodded back hesitantly, he was his biggest critic - outside of Eggman of course. "Let's just get those two idiots before they kill eachother."

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1367 words
Published: 13th October, 2024
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