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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSonadowKokoro100\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t		\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSonadowKokoro100\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
is completely responsible for this. It's inspired by a conversation about amputation we had. That's a weird thing to say XD

This starts out like a hurt/comfort type thing then goes into introspection then sexy introspection. It's a bit all over the place, but I'm pretty fond of it.", "writing": "A battle was raging between Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman, as was the norm between the two.\n\nAn army of robots stood before the Blue Blur, but Sonic did not stand alone. Beside him was his friends and rival-turned-lover. Their victory was assured. \n\nSonic and Shadow tackled the greater challenges, the massive forms of steel that could raze cities, while their companions took care of the less deadly robots. \n\nThe battle was one they’d had many a time. The assurance of triumph, the cockiness and complacency of consistent victory, is what did one of their strongest in.\n\nSonic had taken to heart the events of the Lost Hex, when his over confidence had caused his little brother to nearly be turned into a machine. He wouldn’t compromise his loved ones’ safety in such a way again.\n\nShadow, however, had had no such lesson. He drove himself forward recklessly into battle, believing his power and skill to be enough to overwhelm any foe.\n\nIn another battle, he’d likely have been right. But Lady Luck had turned from him this day.\n\nA monster of a robot took a swing at him, which he dodged expertly. However, he failed to notice his trajectory set him in the path of another beastly machine.\n\nThis one possessed a long and jaggedly toothed jaw, resembling a crocodile, designed to uproot trees in their grip. It was repurposed for battle, and had been snapping at anything that got close.\n\nThe thing was unwieldy, though, and slow to attack. It had been easy to dodge for the experienced group of fighters.\n\nBut Shadow’s dodge had left him airborne right in front of the sharpened metal teeth. He was helpless as the jaws clamped down tight on the nearest limb they could reach.\n\nHis right leg was caught by the snapping teeth. He hung in the robot’s mouth, holding himself back from shrieking in agony. He wouldn’t distract his friends and comrades and compromise their focus on the fight.\n\nShadow thrashed wildly, only succeeding in making the wound where the teeth dug in worse. He stopped struggling and intended to beat at the teeth with his fists, but was stopped by the robot curling a fist around him.\n\nHe didn’t realize what the thing was doing until it began [i]pulling[/i].\n\nHe still refused to scream. This pain was comeuppance for his own distraction; he would not cause the same loss of focus for his comrades. He was not worth his friends getting hurt over.\n\nThe fist around him tightened its grip and pulled at him, and he felt his leg begin to disconnect itself. The monstrous robot began grinding its teeth, sharpened edges sheering away at muscle and bone, all while the thing pulled and pulled.\n\nThe robot succeeded in pulling Shadow out of its teeth, leaving his leg behind in between the robot’s jaws.\n\nShadow was dropped to the ground, and the robot left him after spitting out his severed leg somewhere out of his visibility. It likely believed him dead, if it even had that much intelligence.\n\nHe still didn’t cry out, or rather he couldn’t, because the torturous agony had taken his consciousness from him.\n\n***\n\nThe battle came to a close, and Sonic let Eggman run off with little more than a shouted taunt. He dusted himself off and gave a cheerful thumbs-up to his friends, who gathered around him. Many of them had spread out during the course of the fight, having faced great numbers.\n\nEveryone seemed to be present and unharmed, however, despite the massive force of robots they had faced off against.\n\nYet, he couldn’t find the figure he most wanted to see. The adrenaline of an exciting battle always left both Sonic and his lover desiring heat and friction of another kind. But his lover was nowhere to be found.\n\nSonic doubted he had run off already. Sex was the best way to celebrate a victory and Shadow never missed out on their celebrations.\n\n“Shadow? Where’d you go?”\n\nSonic’s call attracted Rouge and Omega’s attention, who were also seeking their missing teammate.\n\n“I will scan the area for the Shadow creature.” Omega declared, to which Rouge responded with a solemn nod, a frown on her normally smirking face. That made Sonic nervous. Rouge rarely let her feelings show.\n\nOmega’s optical lights blinked, and he declared. “The Shadow meatbag has been located.” Omega pointed towards a wooded area. “Alert: Life signs are not within safe parameters.”\n\nSonic dashed off, causing a sonic boom in his wake, making everyone nearby clamp their hands over their ears in pain. Sonic took no notice of this, too desperate to locate his lover.\n\nOmega rocketed off alongside him, keeping close with jet propulsion. Rouge booked it as well, but fell behind.\nThe first thing Sonic took notice of was the blood.\n\nHe smelled it before he saw it. He slowed and stopped when the scent hit him, and he turned to Omega at his side for further direction.\n\nThe robot rocketed past him without a word, also seeming desperate to find Shadow. Sonic followed close on his heels.\n\nThey came to an unnatural clearing where the trees had been uprooted or crushed. Blood, far too much blood, splattered around a small dark heap in the center of the clearing.\n\n“Shadow!” Sonic cried out as he sped towards the fallen form.\n\nShadow didn’t so much as twitch at the sound of his voice. Sonic, and Omega and Rouge he registered somewhere in the back of his mind, reached Shadow. When he saw the damage that had been done, he screamed.\n\n“What? What’s wro-shit! Shit, shit, shit.” Rouge had never been so in-eloquent in front of others before. The situation, however, didn't allow for proper word choice.\n\nWhere Shadow’s right leg had once been, nothing remained but ragged flesh. Blood poured from the wound, spilling out onto the forest floor.\n\n“Alert: Shadow is in need of medical attention. Life signs are becoming weaker.”\n\nOmega’s electronic voice ceased Sonic’s screaming and crying, and snapped him back to attention. He carefully lifted his dying lover into his arms, and launched off towards the city.\n\n***\n\nShadow awoke free of pain. He was surprised to have awoken at all, all things considered. He examined his surroundings after the spots cleared from his eyes, and he determined he was in a hospital bed.\n\n“Shadow? Oh, Shadow!”\n\nWarm and very welcome arms encircled him, and Shadow inhaled the familiar scent of Sonic and relaxed in his embrace.\n\n“Shadow, Shadow…” Sonic repeated his name again and again, and Shadow didn’t find it irritating. Sonic could have been spouting meaningless nonsense and Shadow would have welcomed the simple sound of his voice.\n\nHe knew how close he had come to death. The relief and joy of being alive made him grateful for anything of Sonic he could have.\n\nThe inevitability of Sonic leaving him soon made it all the more vital he appreciated this while he had it.\n\nSonic tried to pull away, but Shadow kept him close, placing his hands on his cheeks and pressing their lips together.\n\nSonic threw himself into the kiss fully, tongue pushing past Shadow’s lips and tasting everything it could reach. Their lips parted, but they kept close, breathing each other in.\n\n“You still…?”\n\n“Hm?” Shadow looked his boyfriend in the eye.\n\n“You still want to be with me? After this?”\n\nThere it was. Shadow had wished it didn’t have to come so soon, that he could touch and be touched for a while longer before his lover left him. Shadow pulled him in for what he was sure was their last kiss, then opened his mouth to make his final goodbyes.\n\nThe door opened, and Shadow shut his mouth. He would not let any other witness his inevitable breakdown. This conversation would have to wait.\n\nRouge entered, eyes widening in disbelief and happiness. She recovered herself, and painted on a smirk.\n\n“Well, well. Look who’s returned to the land of the living. I knew you’d be fine, handsome.” The slight tremble, noticeable only by those who knew her well, told a different story. Shadow decided not to comment on it, not wanting her to leave him in a huff.\n\n“Omega’s outside.” Rouge answered in response to the questioning glance Shadow shot behind her. “He couldn't fit through the doors. I wouldn't let him blow a new door into a wall. He’s pouting and waiting for me to report back how you are.”\n\n“Tell him I’m fine.” Shadow stated gruffly.\n\n“You’re…? Even though…” Rouge cast her gaze further down the bed, and both Sonic and Shadow followed her gaze to the flat sheet where his right leg should have been making a bump.\n\nThat was the sight he had been avoiding. Shadow knew if he glanced down at himself it would confirm what he already knew, but had dreaded looking all the same.\n\nShadow despised the pity in their eyes, wanted to gouge his own out at the sight of it. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, two legs or one or none at all, he wouldn't be pitied!\n\n“Get out.” Shadow growled, suddenly filled with rage.\n\n“Shadow…” Sonic started.\n\n“Get out! Get out of here! Just leave!” Shadow was snarling now, exposing his teeth and dropping his voice into a guttural roar.\n\nSonic and Rouge fled the room, and Shadow immediately regretted chasing them away. He had so little time left with his lover and his teammates, what had he been thinking?\n\n***\n\nSonic hovered outside Shadow’s hospital room, the room he hadn’t left for three days unless absolutely necessary. The doctors had kept Shadow in an induced coma for that time while the remains of his leg healed. At the beginning, they had hoped that the leg would just grow back. Shadow had recovered from debilitating injuries before; maybe this would be as easy a recovery.\n\nHe healed quickly, but the leg did not grow back. The ragged hole only closed with no signs of sprouting a new limb.\n\nSonic was having trouble believing his rival and lover had truly lost a leg, he couldn’t begin to image what Shadow was going through. He didn’t hold Shadow snapping at them against him.\n\nRouge had left to let Omega know Shadow had awakened, and wasn’t handling losing his leg well. Sonic badly wanted to go back in, but hesitated, not knowing whether his presence was welcome.\n\nA nurse passed him by to enter Shadow’s room, and when she exited she met Sonic’s gaze.\n\n“The patient asked if you were still here, Mr. Sonic, and if you would come back in if you were.” Sonic nodded and made for the door. “He also asked if I could apologize to Miss Rouge on his behalf. Where has she gone?”\n\n“She just stepped outside, she’s with the big robot by the front doors.”\n\nThe nurse nodded, smiled, and trotted off to the front entrance.\n\nSonic reentered Shadow’s room, and went immediately to his side, opening up his arms in an offer.\n\nShadow lifted his arms as best he could without pulling at his IV, and Sonic threw himself at Shadow, holding him tight. The darker hedgehog made a valiant effort to hold back his tears, but ultimately couldn't keep his sorrow at bay.\n\n“Please, Sonic, please don’t leave me!”\n\nSonic wept with him, half in sympathetic sadness and half in joy with the knowledge that Shadow still wanted him at his side.\n\n“I will never leave you Shadow, never. I love you so much.”\n\nShadow sobbed at Sonic’s declaration, unable to believe Sonic. He cursed himself for his moment of weakness. He wouldn't beg such a thing again, that would be unfair to Sonic.\n\n“I thought you wouldn't want to be with me anymore, after what I did.”\n\n“What you did?” Shadow pulled away and wiped at his eyes and muzzle until they were clear of tears and mucus. “You did nothing.”\n\n“Exactly. I didn't help you. I should have stayed with you and saved you, kept this from happening. That’s what I do Shadow, I’m a hero.” Sonic choked on a sob that wanted to escape him, but he wouldn’t interrupt his confession. “But I couldn’t save-I couldn’t save the person I love the most.”\n\nSonic buried his face in his hands, unable to look at his love, or at the flatness of the bedsheets, a loss that was entirely his fault.\n\n“Sonic, listen to me.” Shadow implored, but Sonic kept his face hidden. “Sonic!”\n\nSonic started, and looked up, revealing tear filled emerald eyes.\n\n“Sonic, my leg is gone because I screwed up. No, listen to me!” Shadow stopped Sonic before he start deprecating himself again. “I don’t blame you for this, so don’t blame yourself.”\n\nSonic leaned forward and kissed Shadow, who returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm.\n\nShadow wouldn’t allow their last moments together be tinged with misplaced blame and lingering regrets. When they parted, Sonic would leave him with a smile on his face. Shadow would make sure of that.\n\n***\n\nSonic didn’t want to be away from Shadow for a moment, which he expected to irritate his lover, but instead Shadow seemed to desire his constant company as much as Sonic desired Shadow’s.\n\nShadow had cut him off sexually, however. He refused every one of Sonic’s advances, despite repeated assurances that he still very much desired Shadow. Yet, Sonic felt that Shadow didn’t believe him.\n\nSonic knew full well Shadow expected Sonic to break up with him. He just wasn’t sure of Shadow’s reasoning for such a conclusion. Still, Sonic did everything in his power to build up Shadow’s confidence in him and what they had together.\n\nThere was more at play in Shadow’s mind than just losing his leg. Something had broken within him, and Sonic was lost as to how to even begin fixing it.\n\nThen he saw the look on Shadow’s face when Tails unveiled his latest invention; a prosthetic leg.\n\nIt was a look of shock mixed with pure joy. It represented the renewal of Shadow’s hopes for their relationship, his hopes to continue being useful to his teammates, his hope for his future.\n\nSonic embraced his brother and twirled him around in joy for bringing such a look to Shadow’s face, and delivered a smacking kiss to the kit’s temple. Tails squirmed and complained about Sonic being sappy, but Sonic didn’t care.\n\nTheir troubles, unfortunately, didn’t end there.\n\nAttaching the prosthesis was an awful experience. Shadow cried out in pain as the artificial nerve endings attached to his natural ones. The leg brought him more pain as the days wore on, until after two weeks of torture had passed, the agony ceased at long last.\n\nThen came relearning to walk, a challenge that Shadow faced with his usual audacity and determination.\n\nWeeks of physical therapy passed by, and Sonic lifted Shadow back onto his feet every time he stumbled and fell. During that time, Tails had synthesized an artificial skin of sorts to cover the gleaming metal of the prosthetic. There was a distinctive seam where natural met artificial skin, and the dark fur was not quite of the same texture, but nevertheless Shadow felt better knowing it wasn’t immediately obvious the leg was fake.\n\nWalking was accomplished, then running (at normal speeds, that was) came next.\n\nAt last, Shadow felt confident enough to try using his skates again. He wanted badly to race across the countryside with Sonic keeping pace. He wouldn't even care if Sonic was eternally faster than him so long as he could run at all.\n\nWell, that probably wasn't true, he hated the thought of being outclassed, but for the moment, just running, really [i]running[/i], would be enough.\n\nThat was when the final blow to Shadow’s hopes came.\n\nThe metal of his false leg couldn't channel chaos energy. It was a living energy after all, and it couldn’t pass through something as inorganic as a prosthetic.\n\nHis right skate failed to fire, and Shadow collapsed in a heap of tears.\n\n“Shadow, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay. So what if you can’t run? You like fighting more than running anyway, and you still kicked my ass when we sparred yesterday.” It pained Sonic to admit he had lost, but he would say anything to get these tears to stop, for Shadow to smile again.\n\n“It’s not going to be okay, Sonic, because you’re going to leave me and I’ll be alone.”\n\n“What? Shadow, no, I said I’m never leaving you!” Sonic kissed Shadow hard and fast.\n\nShadow pushed him away. “Sonic, I can’t run.”\n\n“Yes, I noticed that. So?”\n\n“If I can’t keep up with you, you’ll leave me behind!”\n\n“Then I’ll just slow down for you!”\n\nShadow shook his head vigorously. “Don’t you dare say that to me, Sonic. Running is what you love, it’s who you are, it’s what makes you, [i]you[/i]. I would never ask you to slow down for me, so don’t offer it. I would never take away something so important to you. I won’t be that person.”\n\nSonic cast his gaze downwards, hearing the truth in Shadow’s words. The biggest reason Amy would never be more than a friend was because she wanted him to stop and settle down. That was the worst fate he could imagine for himself. Being with Shadow came with the promise of understanding and freedom.\n\nHe wouldn’t, couldn’t, lose that. Not for anyone, not even Shadow.\n\nStill, Shadow had things all mixed up.\n\n“Yeah, you’re right.” Sonic said, and it broke his heart to see the light die in Shadow’s eyes. He spoke quickly to make his point clear. “I can’t slow down, even for you, and I love you more than anyone and anything. And I know you’d never ask me to.\n\n“But running is what [i]I[/i] do. You [i]fight[/i], Shadow. You fight with everything you have, and you can still do that with the same ferocity I love to see in you. You lost a leg, then got it back and fought through the pain to make it work for you. You've fought for every step you've taken since. Fighting makes you, [i]you[/i]. \n\n“You lost a leg, not who you are. It doesn't matter if you can’t run with me, because you’ll always be the person I’m running towards.”\n\nShadow cried into Sonic’s chest, all doubts in his head cast far away. Sonic loved him, and somehow something so simple had been lost in a head filled with fear of the unknown. \n\n“Now, Shadow, will you let me have you again? All of you, you masterpiece of a hedgehog?”\n\nShadow laughed through his tears, and nodded.\n\n***\n\nSonic moaned into Shadow’s lips as his dark lover bounced on top of him, riding his cock with the intensity he put into everything.\n\nShadow’s passage was tight around him, pulling him in deep, letting Sonic into the most secretive parts of him. Places only Sonic was privy to. \n\nPlaces not just within his body, but within his soul.\n\nShadow had removed the false skin on his leg, leaving shining metal exposed to Sonic’s sight, and Sonic thought that Shadow, confident in all of himself as he was and reveling in pleasure, had never been more beautiful.", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "A battle was raging between Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman, as was the norm between the two.

An army of robots stood before the Blue Blur, but Sonic did not stand alone. Beside him was his friends and rival-turned-lover. Their victory was assured.

Sonic and Shadow tackled the greater challenges, the massive forms of steel that could raze cities, while their companions took care of the less deadly robots.

The battle was one they’d had many a time. The assurance of triumph, the cockiness and complacency of consistent victory, is what did one of their strongest in.

Sonic had taken to heart the events of the Lost Hex, when his over confidence had caused his little brother to nearly be turned into a machine. He wouldn’t compromise his loved ones’ safety in such a way again.

Shadow, however, had had no such lesson. He drove himself forward recklessly into battle, believing his power and skill to be enough to overwhelm any foe.

In another battle, he’d likely have been right. But Lady Luck had turned from him this day.

A monster of a robot took a swing at him, which he dodged expertly. However, he failed to notice his trajectory set him in the path of another beastly machine.

This one possessed a long and jaggedly toothed jaw, resembling a crocodile, designed to uproot trees in their grip. It was repurposed for battle, and had been snapping at anything that got close.

The thing was unwieldy, though, and slow to attack. It had been easy to dodge for the experienced group of fighters.

But Shadow’s dodge had left him airborne right in front of the sharpened metal teeth. He was helpless as the jaws clamped down tight on the nearest limb they could reach.

His right leg was caught by the snapping teeth. He hung in the robot’s mouth, holding himself back from shrieking in agony. He wouldn’t distract his friends and comrades and compromise their focus on the fight.

Shadow thrashed wildly, only succeeding in making the wound where the teeth dug in worse. He stopped struggling and intended to beat at the teeth with his fists, but was stopped by the robot curling a fist around him.

He didn’t realize what the thing was doing until it began pulling.

He still refused to scream. This pain was comeuppance for his own distraction; he would not cause the same loss of focus for his comrades. He was not worth his friends getting hurt over.

The fist around him tightened its grip and pulled at him, and he felt his leg begin to disconnect itself. The monstrous robot began grinding its teeth, sharpened edges sheering away at muscle and bone, all while the thing pulled and pulled.

The robot succeeded in pulling Shadow out of its teeth, leaving his leg behind in between the robot’s jaws.

Shadow was dropped to the ground, and the robot left him after spitting out his severed leg somewhere out of his visibility. It likely believed him dead, if it even had that much intelligence.

He still didn’t cry out, or rather he couldn’t, because the torturous agony had taken his consciousness from him.

***

The battle came to a close, and Sonic let Eggman run off with little more than a shouted taunt. He dusted himself off and gave a cheerful thumbs-up to his friends, who gathered around him. Many of them had spread out during the course of the fight, having faced great numbers.

Everyone seemed to be present and unharmed, however, despite the massive force of robots they had faced off against.

Yet, he couldn’t find the figure he most wanted to see. The adrenaline of an exciting battle always left both Sonic and his lover desiring heat and friction of another kind. But his lover was nowhere to be found.

Sonic doubted he had run off already. Sex was the best way to celebrate a victory and Shadow never missed out on their celebrations.

“Shadow? Where’d you go?”

Sonic’s call attracted Rouge and Omega’s attention, who were also seeking their missing teammate.

“I will scan the area for the Shadow creature.” Omega declared, to which Rouge responded with a solemn nod, a frown on her normally smirking face. That made Sonic nervous. Rouge rarely let her feelings show.

Omega’s optical lights blinked, and he declared. “The Shadow meatbag has been located.” Omega pointed towards a wooded area. “Alert: Life signs are not within safe parameters.”

Sonic dashed off, causing a sonic boom in his wake, making everyone nearby clamp their hands over their ears in pain. Sonic took no notice of this, too desperate to locate his lover.

Omega rocketed off alongside him, keeping close with jet propulsion. Rouge booked it as well, but fell behind.
The first thing Sonic took notice of was the blood.

He smelled it before he saw it. He slowed and stopped when the scent hit him, and he turned to Omega at his side for further direction.

The robot rocketed past him without a word, also seeming desperate to find Shadow. Sonic followed close on his heels.

They came to an unnatural clearing where the trees had been uprooted or crushed. Blood, far too much blood, splattered around a small dark heap in the center of the clearing.

“Shadow!” Sonic cried out as he sped towards the fallen form.

Shadow didn’t so much as twitch at the sound of his voice. Sonic, and Omega and Rouge he registered somewhere in the back of his mind, reached Shadow. When he saw the damage that had been done, he screamed.

“What? What’s wro-shit! Shit, shit, shit.” Rouge had never been so in-eloquent in front of others before. The situation, however, didn't allow for proper word choice.

Where Shadow’s right leg had once been, nothing remained but ragged flesh. Blood poured from the wound, spilling out onto the forest floor.

“Alert: Shadow is in need of medical attention. Life signs are becoming weaker.”

Omega’s electronic voice ceased Sonic’s screaming and crying, and snapped him back to attention. He carefully lifted his dying lover into his arms, and launched off towards the city.

***

Shadow awoke free of pain. He was surprised to have awoken at all, all things considered. He examined his surroundings after the spots cleared from his eyes, and he determined he was in a hospital bed.

“Shadow? Oh, Shadow!”

Warm and very welcome arms encircled him, and Shadow inhaled the familiar scent of Sonic and relaxed in his embrace.

“Shadow, Shadow…” Sonic repeated his name again and again, and Shadow didn’t find it irritating. Sonic could have been spouting meaningless nonsense and Shadow would have welcomed the simple sound of his voice.

He knew how close he had come to death. The relief and joy of being alive made him grateful for anything of Sonic he could have.

The inevitability of Sonic leaving him soon made it all the more vital he appreciated this while he had it.

Sonic tried to pull away, but Shadow kept him close, placing his hands on his cheeks and pressing their lips together.

Sonic threw himself into the kiss fully, tongue pushing past Shadow’s lips and tasting everything it could reach. Their lips parted, but they kept close, breathing each other in.

“You still…?”

“Hm?” Shadow looked his boyfriend in the eye.

“You still want to be with me? After this?”

There it was. Shadow had wished it didn’t have to come so soon, that he could touch and be touched for a while longer before his lover left him. Shadow pulled him in for what he was sure was their last kiss, then opened his mouth to make his final goodbyes.

The door opened, and Shadow shut his mouth. He would not let any other witness his inevitable breakdown. This conversation would have to wait.

Rouge entered, eyes widening in disbelief and happiness. She recovered herself, and painted on a smirk.

“Well, well. Look who’s returned to the land of the living. I knew you’d be fine, handsome.” The slight tremble, noticeable only by those who knew her well, told a different story. Shadow decided not to comment on it, not wanting her to leave him in a huff.

“Omega’s outside.” Rouge answered in response to the questioning glance Shadow shot behind her. “He couldn't fit through the doors. I wouldn't let him blow a new door into a wall. He’s pouting and waiting for me to report back how you are.”

“Tell him I’m fine.” Shadow stated gruffly.

“You’re…? Even though…” Rouge cast her gaze further down the bed, and both Sonic and Shadow followed her gaze to the flat sheet where his right leg should have been making a bump.

That was the sight he had been avoiding. Shadow knew if he glanced down at himself it would confirm what he already knew, but had dreaded looking all the same.

Shadow despised the pity in their eyes, wanted to gouge his own out at the sight of it. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, two legs or one or none at all, he wouldn't be pitied!

“Get out.” Shadow growled, suddenly filled with rage.

“Shadow…” Sonic started.

“Get out! Get out of here! Just leave!” Shadow was snarling now, exposing his teeth and dropping his voice into a guttural roar.

Sonic and Rouge fled the room, and Shadow immediately regretted chasing them away. He had so little time left with his lover and his teammates, what had he been thinking?

***

Sonic hovered outside Shadow’s hospital room, the room he hadn’t left for three days unless absolutely necessary. The doctors had kept Shadow in an induced coma for that time while the remains of his leg healed. At the beginning, they had hoped that the leg would just grow back. Shadow had recovered from debilitating injuries before; maybe this would be as easy a recovery.

He healed quickly, but the leg did not grow back. The ragged hole only closed with no signs of sprouting a new limb.

Sonic was having trouble believing his rival and lover had truly lost a leg, he couldn’t begin to image what Shadow was going through. He didn’t hold Shadow snapping at them against him.

Rouge had left to let Omega know Shadow had awakened, and wasn’t handling losing his leg well. Sonic badly wanted to go back in, but hesitated, not knowing whether his presence was welcome.

A nurse passed him by to enter Shadow’s room, and when she exited she met Sonic’s gaze.

“The patient asked if you were still here, Mr. Sonic, and if you would come back in if you were.” Sonic nodded and made for the door. “He also asked if I could apologize to Miss Rouge on his behalf. Where has she gone?”

“She just stepped outside, she’s with the big robot by the front doors.”

The nurse nodded, smiled, and trotted off to the front entrance.

Sonic reentered Shadow’s room, and went immediately to his side, opening up his arms in an offer.

Shadow lifted his arms as best he could without pulling at his IV, and Sonic threw himself at Shadow, holding him tight. The darker hedgehog made a valiant effort to hold back his tears, but ultimately couldn't keep his sorrow at bay.

“Please, Sonic, please don’t leave me!”

Sonic wept with him, half in sympathetic sadness and half in joy with the knowledge that Shadow still wanted him at his side.

“I will never leave you Shadow, never. I love you so much.”

Shadow sobbed at Sonic’s declaration, unable to believe Sonic. He cursed himself for his moment of weakness. He wouldn't beg such a thing again, that would be unfair to Sonic.

“I thought you wouldn't want to be with me anymore, after what I did.”

“What you did?” Shadow pulled away and wiped at his eyes and muzzle until they were clear of tears and mucus. “You did nothing.”

“Exactly. I didn't help you. I should have stayed with you and saved you, kept this from happening. That’s what I do Shadow, I’m a hero.” Sonic choked on a sob that wanted to escape him, but he wouldn’t interrupt his confession. “But I couldn’t save-I couldn’t save the person I love the most.”

Sonic buried his face in his hands, unable to look at his love, or at the flatness of the bedsheets, a loss that was entirely his fault.

“Sonic, listen to me.” Shadow implored, but Sonic kept his face hidden. “Sonic!”

Sonic started, and looked up, revealing tear filled emerald eyes.

“Sonic, my leg is gone because I screwed up. No, listen to me!” Shadow stopped Sonic before he start deprecating himself again. “I don’t blame you for this, so don’t blame yourself.”

Sonic leaned forward and kissed Shadow, who returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm.

Shadow wouldn’t allow their last moments together be tinged with misplaced blame and lingering regrets. When they parted, Sonic would leave him with a smile on his face. Shadow would make sure of that.

***

Sonic didn’t want to be away from Shadow for a moment, which he expected to irritate his lover, but instead Shadow seemed to desire his constant company as much as Sonic desired Shadow’s.

Shadow had cut him off sexually, however. He refused every one of Sonic’s advances, despite repeated assurances that he still very much desired Shadow. Yet, Sonic felt that Shadow didn’t believe him.

Sonic knew full well Shadow expected Sonic to break up with him. He just wasn’t sure of Shadow’s reasoning for such a conclusion. Still, Sonic did everything in his power to build up Shadow’s confidence in him and what they had together.

There was more at play in Shadow’s mind than just losing his leg. Something had broken within him, and Sonic was lost as to how to even begin fixing it.

Then he saw the look on Shadow’s face when Tails unveiled his latest invention; a prosthetic leg.

It was a look of shock mixed with pure joy. It represented the renewal of Shadow’s hopes for their relationship, his hopes to continue being useful to his teammates, his hope for his future.

Sonic embraced his brother and twirled him around in joy for bringing such a look to Shadow’s face, and delivered a smacking kiss to the kit’s temple. Tails squirmed and complained about Sonic being sappy, but Sonic didn’t care.

Their troubles, unfortunately, didn’t end there.

Attaching the prosthesis was an awful experience. Shadow cried out in pain as the artificial nerve endings attached to his natural ones. The leg brought him more pain as the days wore on, until after two weeks of torture had passed, the agony ceased at long last.

Then came relearning to walk, a challenge that Shadow faced with his usual audacity and determination.

Weeks of physical therapy passed by, and Sonic lifted Shadow back onto his feet every time he stumbled and fell. During that time, Tails had synthesized an artificial skin of sorts to cover the gleaming metal of the prosthetic. There was a distinctive seam where natural met artificial skin, and the dark fur was not quite of the same texture, but nevertheless Shadow felt better knowing it wasn’t immediately obvious the leg was fake.

Walking was accomplished, then running (at normal speeds, that was) came next.

At last, Shadow felt confident enough to try using his skates again. He wanted badly to race across the countryside with Sonic keeping pace. He wouldn't even care if Sonic was eternally faster than him so long as he could run at all.

Well, that probably wasn't true, he hated the thought of being outclassed, but for the moment, just running, really running, would be enough.

That was when the final blow to Shadow’s hopes came.

The metal of his false leg couldn't channel chaos energy. It was a living energy after all, and it couldn’t pass through something as inorganic as a prosthetic.

His right skate failed to fire, and Shadow collapsed in a heap of tears.

“Shadow, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay. So what if you can’t run? You like fighting more than running anyway, and you still kicked my ass when we sparred yesterday.” It pained Sonic to admit he had lost, but he would say anything to get these tears to stop, for Shadow to smile again.

“It’s not going to be okay, Sonic, because you’re going to leave me and I’ll be alone.”

“What? Shadow, no, I said I’m never leaving you!” Sonic kissed Shadow hard and fast.

Shadow pushed him away. “Sonic, I can’t run.”

“Yes, I noticed that. So?”

“If I can’t keep up with you, you’ll leave me behind!”

“Then I’ll just slow down for you!”

Shadow shook his head vigorously. “Don’t you dare say that to me, Sonic. Running is what you love, it’s who you are, it’s what makes you, you. I would never ask you to slow down for me, so don’t offer it. I would never take away something so important to you. I won’t be that person.”

Sonic cast his gaze downwards, hearing the truth in Shadow’s words. The biggest reason Amy would never be more than a friend was because she wanted him to stop and settle down. That was the worst fate he could imagine for himself. Being with Shadow came with the promise of understanding and freedom.

He wouldn’t, couldn’t, lose that. Not for anyone, not even Shadow.

Still, Shadow had things all mixed up.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sonic said, and it broke his heart to see the light die in Shadow’s eyes. He spoke quickly to make his point clear. “I can’t slow down, even for you, and I love you more than anyone and anything. And I know you’d never ask me to.

“But running is what I do. You fight, Shadow. You fight with everything you have, and you can still do that with the same ferocity I love to see in you. You lost a leg, then got it back and fought through the pain to make it work for you. You've fought for every step you've taken since. Fighting makes you, you.

“You lost a leg, not who you are. It doesn't matter if you can’t run with me, because you’ll always be the person I’m running towards.”

Shadow cried into Sonic’s chest, all doubts in his head cast far away. Sonic loved him, and somehow something so simple had been lost in a head filled with fear of the unknown.

“Now, Shadow, will you let me have you again? All of you, you masterpiece of a hedgehog?”

Shadow laughed through his tears, and nodded.

***

Sonic moaned into Shadow’s lips as his dark lover bounced on top of him, riding his cock with the intensity he put into everything.

Shadow’s passage was tight around him, pulling him in deep, letting Sonic into the most secretive parts of him. Places only Sonic was privy to.

Places not just within his body, but within his soul.

Shadow had removed the false skin on his leg, leaving shining metal exposed to Sonic’s sight, and Sonic thought that Shadow, confident in all of himself as he was and reveling in pleasure, had never been more beautiful.", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Before A Fall", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" }, { "content_tag_id": "5", "name": "Strong Violence", "description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "5", "views": "1030" }