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For the last several weeks, Shadow had been run ragged, and in more ways than one.
After the first… incident, Shadow was determined to find out what was causing Sonic to go Dark. The blue hedgehog—when he was a blue hedgehog—was mostly as normal as could be, but he wouldn’t tell Shadow what led up to him going Dark. Sonic claimed he couldn’t remember, but Shadow was skeptical of that. Maybe Sonic didn’t want to remember, but maybe that was for the better.
However, Shadow couldn’t trust G.U.N. with this. Who knows what the agency would do if they learned about Sonic? And Shadow knew he couldn’t simply take off time to figure everything out. That would be suspicious, and G.U.N. would no doubt have Shadow followed.
So, Shadow was left juggling his missions and keeping track of Sonic. And he knew he had to do it alone. There was no use telling anyone else about Sonic’s new Dark form, especially with how… volatile he was when he was in it.
In the beginning, Sonic’s transformations seemingly happened at random. Once or twice a week, Shadow would come home to find him waiting.
Then Shadow found another Chaos Emerald.
It happened much more often after that. Nearly every other night. It forced Shadow to make sure he came home every day—something that was becoming increasingly difficult as G.U.N. learned additional information about the Doctor’s plans and assigned Shadow to more missions.
Not to mention he was getting nowhere with discovering the truth about Sonic’s Dark form.
The doctor’s plans seemed typical—he was clearly building some destructive machinery, and Shadow would do everything in his power to stop him. There was no evidence that anything was different, yet Sonic continued to go Dark. All Shadow could do was experiment with the Chaos Emeralds, since they were the only correlation to the increased frequency of Sonic going Dark.
But on one of Shadow’s rare days off, Shadow and Sonic went for a run together.
The two hedgehogs raced all throughout the countryside, running between the trees in a forest, and around a beautiful, isolated lake. They made quips at each other, joking around as they exchanged smirks. They laughed together. And they tired each other out in a way no one else ever could.
It was how it was when they had fallen in love.
They stopped to rest on a hill overlooking the lake, deciding to take in the scenery. They were quiet for a while until Sonic spoke.
“With everything going on, we haven’t had the chance to race like this,” Sonic laughed as he admired the view, watching the setting sun’s reflection in the clear water of the lake.
“I know,” Shadow said, smiling lightly as he admired the same view.
Sonic looked over at Shadow, grinning. “I’ve missed this.”
“So have I,” the dark hedgehog responded, without moving his gaze.
Sonic thought for a moment. “You make things easier, Shadow.”
Shadow blinked and looked over at him. “What do you mean?”
Sonic shrugged gently. “I don’t know. You just make things easier.”
“You think things are hard?”
Sonic shrugged again and looked back at the lake. “I didn’t think I did.”
Shadow eyed the other hedgehog. “We’re going to figure this out, Sonic.”
Sonic nodded and gave him a weak smile. “I know.”
Shadow eyed him for another moment before looking forward again, thinking to himself about what Sonic must be feeling. He knew it was mostly guilt and confusion, based on how Sonic agonized each morning over what he had done the night before.
Shadow wondered if he was attempting to learn the truth in the wrong way.
“Shadow.”
Shadow looked back at Sonic, his eyes widening suddenly as the hedgehog moved in and kissed him gently. He blushed and watched Sonic for a second, before sighing quietly through his nose and closing his eyes. He kissed Sonic back and—
It was like those first few stolen kisses they had.
Sonic pulled away and grinned bashfully at Shadow, his muzzle warm with blush.
Shadow looked back at him and, for the first time in a long time, felt truly happy. That was the grin he’d been aching to see again.
-
When the two of them got back to Shadow’s home, everything continued naturally. As tired as they were from the run, their energies were high. They kissed passionately, embracing each other as they moved off to Shadow’s bedroom.
For the first time, they made love.
For the first time, Shadow led.
They took time with each other—caressing each other and peppering each other with kisses. They laughed together, here, too. It was like nothing had changed, yet everything was finally changing.
Shadow thought back on their first real night together as he headed home, sighing happily to himself in the cool night air. Despite how long the last few weeks had been, he now felt as if things had taken a turn for the better. He wouldn’t let his guard down completely, but he thought they had taken a step in the right direction. Part of him was hopeful—maybe the Dark form was just temporary. Maybe he and Sonic just needed one honest night with each other for that Darkness to slither back to wherever it had manifested.
But he was wrong.
As Shadow entered the front doorway of his home, he felt as if his throat had dropped into his gut.
There he was.
Sonic sat in the chair at the table, wearing a wide, ghastly grin, facing the door. His quills had once again turned black, angled up and emitting a shadowy aura. He sent shivers down Shadow’s spine and made the room feel desolate.
“Hi, baby,” Sonic purred.
Shadow’s brow furrowed, and he frowned. “No.”
“Yes.”
Shadow shook his head, lingering in the doorway. “No, Sonic. Just last night we—”
“We what?” Sonic scoffed with a laugh. “Played ‘boyfriends’?”
Shadow gave a breath and shook his head again. “It was different. I thought—”
“You thought wrong,” Sonic interrupted, smirking over at him. “This is the real us.”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No, Sonic. Last night was the real us. If you just remember, you’ll understand. You don’t need to do this.”
“What do you mean ‘remember’?” Sonic laughed. “I do remember. And I remember it being soft and boring,” he sneered. “You and I both know this is much more fun.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Am I?” Sonic questioned, grinning with all his teeth.
“Yes, you are.”
Sonic gave him an amused look. “You’re acting devastated, but I think you’re actually relieved,” he said. He raised one of his unclad hands and used a finger to gesture for Shadow to come forward, spreading his legs. “Come here.”
Shadow blinked at that and then frowned more. Sonic’s smile dropped a little when he didn’t move.
“Don’t make me get up.”
Shadow thought for a moment. He wondered what would happen if he decided to fight Sonic. This Sonic was much faster, and he already knew the type of violence he was capable of. But, then again, if he did go to him, at the very least he knew Sonic would return to normal afterward. He always did.
That’s ultimately why Shadow stepped forward and shut the door behind himself. It was to get the real Sonic back. That was the only reason.
That’s what he told himself, anyway.
Sonic’s smirk returned as he watched Shadow walk over to him, laughing. “I knew you’d see it my way,” he said before grabbing Shadow’s wrist, suddenly tugging him down so he could smash their lips together.
Shadow winced at the impact but quickly reciprocated the kiss, parting his lips and letting Sonic lick into his mouth. A hand came down on his ass and he jumped, letting himself be pulled into Sonic’s lap, straddling him without breaking the kiss. Sonic moved his hand after a moment, pinching Shadow’s tail harshly, and Shadow shuddered.
Sonic pulled away and laughed. “Oh, that’s new,” he hummed curiously, pinching Shadow’s tail again.
Shadow grunted lowly and then blushed darkly, keeping his eyes closed. It was like this every time—Sonic finding new ways to make Shadow’s body react and Shadow pushing down that persistent, panicky ‘stophimstophimstophim’ in his head.
Sonic pinched a third time, stroking Shadow’s tail once before sliding his fingers lower, suddenly pressing two digits against his entrance. All he did was put pressure on the ring of muscle there, moving his other hand up to pull Shadow into another hungry kiss. Shadow made a low noise into Sonic’s mouth as his muzzle was promptly released. Sonic dropped his hand between them and rubbed himself, sighing contently through his nose, and once his dick slipped out into his hand, he broke the kiss again. “On your knees.”
Shadow blinked and opened his eyes, glancing down between them and blushing fiercely. “I—I—"
“It’s too bad the first time we did this was last night,” Sonic sighed with disappointment, suddenly shoving Shadow off his lap.
Shadow landed on the floor and blinked again, looking up at Sonic.
“This’ll be much better than last night,” Sonic hummed, leaning back and loosely stroking himself, still wearing that dastardly smile.
Shadow furrowed his brow and shifted onto his knees, looking at Sonic’s length in front of him. Sonic let go of himself so that Shadow could replace his hand on his dick, and he smirked.
Shadow glanced up at him, before looking back down and doing just that—he wrapped his hand around the base of Sonic’s cock, pausing a moment before slowly going to take his tip into his mouth.
Before Shadow could react, Sonic moved a hand to Shadow’s head, pushing him down and forcing him to suddenly take his entire length. Shadow jolted and gagged, and a rapid wave of warmth was sent straight to his own dick as he pulled back and coughed.
Sonic seemed pleased at that, laughing behind his teeth. “You like that, don’t you?”
Shadow cleared his throat and frowned up at him.
“Tell me you like being used.”
Shadow looked away. “I like being used.”
Sonic laughed. “Then get to it,” he said, pulling Shadow closer once again.
Shadow swallowed and looked back at Sonic’s cock, leaning forward to take his tip back into his mouth. Sonic repeated the action and pushed his head down, but Shadow was prepared. He squeezed his eyes shut and relaxed his throat, letting Sonic grab one of his head quills so he could guide him.
As Sonic got into a rhythm, the obscene noises got to Shadow, as much as he’d like to deny it. He drooled down his muzzle as he quickly went to pull his gloves off by his own lap. His dick was already beginning to peak out of his slit, and it didn’t take much for him to work it out the rest of the way.
The moment Shadow had a hand around himself, Sonic tugged him off his dick.
Shadow grunted as he was suddenly pulled up and slammed stomach-first onto the table. The speed that this Sonic used was impossible for Shadow to get used to. It nearly made him sick, and the force of the movement made his head spin a bit.
“S—Sonic, w—wait,” he breathed as he looked back at the Dark hedgehog behind him, his voice hoarse from what they were just doing. He went to wipe the drool from his mouth. “I have lubricant. Can we—”
Sonic was already grabbing Shadow’s hips and moving closer, grinning. “You’re the Ultimate Lifeform, aren’t you?” he asked with a snicker. “You don’t need it,” he said, grabbing his dick and lining himself up with Shadow’s entrance.
Shadow blinked and opened his mouth to protest, but Sonic pressed into him all at once, so all that came out of his mouth was a bark of pain.
“W—Wait,” he gritted out, grabbing the edge of the table.
Sonic chuckled and paused for a moment, leaning over him partly. “I know you like the pain,” he said lowly, moving a hand down to wrap around Shadow’s length, squeezing. “You wouldn’t be so hard if you didn’t.”
Shadow moaned at the squeeze, face flushing with embarrassment. “No I don—aghhhh,” he tried, but Sonic dragged his hips back and then thrust forward, making Shadow involuntarily groan.
“Chaos, you are tight,” Sonic growled as he repeated the motion.
Shadow growled back at him, but he was right—the pain made everything intense. It made his dick twitch and leak steadily, and although it truly did feel good, Shadow couldn’t help but compare what was happening now to what had happened last night.
This Sonic was not the same Sonic as the one from last night. That Sonic was caring, attentive, and warm. He didn’t crave the type of dominance this one did. He wasn’t a sadist. Last night was real and tender and intimate—the real Sonic wouldn’t take as this one does.
The voice in Shadow’s head was breaking free, even if it was fogged over by arousal.
“What—What makes you like this?” Shadow panted, as this Sonic began to pick up a rhythm with his hips, slow for now as Shadow began to loosen up.
Sonic chuckled. “Nothing special,” he said, contempt in his tone.
Shadow’s brow furrowed more at that. “I know that’s not true,” he breathed.
Sonic thrust into him a little harder at that. “Aw, c’mon, Shads. You know I don’t lie.”
“The—The real you doesn’t lie,” Shadow said with a moan, opening his eyes and twisting his body a little, peering back at him. “I know this isn’t you.”
Sonic blinked a little at that, his hips stuttering for a second before he grinned wickedly. “You don’t know anything,” he laughed, letting go of Shadow’s dick as he leaned over more, suddenly snapping his hand over Shadow’s mouth.
Shadow frowned behind Sonic’s hand, looking back at him as he started a new, more ferocious rhythm.
“So much better when you’re just fucking quiet,” Sonic moaned, moving his other hand to Shadow’s shoulder, baring all his weight down on the hedgehog and angling his hips to hit that one perfect spot inside of him.
Shadow shut his eyes and whimpered behind Sonic’s hand, only realizing afterward that he made such a sound. When Sonic hit that spot a second time, he moaned instead, tears forming under his closed eyelids as he bucked back to meet Sonic’s movements. After another minute, Shadow groaned loudly and came in thick spurts, making the floor under the table a mess.
Sonic gave a feral growl and followed right after him, spilling heavily inside of Shadow.
The two hedgehogs panted in the silence of the room. Shadow breathed quickly through his nose since Sonic kept a hand over his mouth for a second, the tension slowly releasing from his body.
Sonic slowly pulled out, moving his hand from Shadow’s muzzle.
Shadow gave a breath and rested for a second, eyes closed as he began to regain his sensibility.
“You know…”
Shadow’s eyes shot open when he heard Sonic speak, twisting around again to look back at him, eyes wide.
“… you are a filthy slut,” Sonic chuckled, admiring his work.
No.
Sonic smirked down at Shadow’s expression. “I’m tired of being the hero.”
No no no no no.
Shadow looked at him in horror.
“Like I said, Shadow. You don’t know anything.”
“No,” Shadow finally said, shakily beginning to push himself up. Change back. Please change back.
“Yes,” Dark Sonic laughed.
Change back!
“I think I’ll stay like this for a while.”