The chaos emeralds trailed behind him like a rainbow comet tail, streaking the black sky with color.He was sure all those below watching...waiting...hoping...were watching it from the planet below. His partner was right beside him, a determined look on his face and deathly silent.
Together, the two of them could do this.
They /had/ to do this.
They were heroes!
...right?
Sonic pushed himself harder and harder, pulling all the strength from the chaos emeralds that he could. The oxygen bubble that covered his face was thinning due to the growing distance from them, but he did not care. They /had/ to do this.
Even if it cost them their lives.
It came as a shock when he hit the edge of the emerald's power. He had never pushed himself like this before, so he did not know this strange reaction would even happen. Just as the air bubble around his face felt like it was going to pop, he was violently slingshoted backwards towards the emeralds themselves.Shadow had no time to dodge, and the two of them were sent back to the ring of emeralds that had settled since their forwards momentum was gone as a tangle of limbs and quills. It took them several seconds to get sorted out, but those seconds were all it took.
All the pair could do was watch as the asteroid collided with the 'core', shattering it.
...and everything else around it.
The tiny bubble created by the chaos emeralds were all that kept the two hedgehogs from suffering the same fate. They could feel the energy washing against the bubble like waves against a ship, but unable to do anything to it. It was outside the 'core's influence. The fragments rained down around it and through it, but none touched the hedgehogs. The power flowing through them that made them super drained, leaving just the faintest traces of it as the emeralds focused on protecting them.
Sonic couldn't move. He couldn't think.
He had...failed.
He had always been the hero, able to stop the bad guys from winning at the last second. Always down to the wire, he was. Yet he had never failed like this before.
Something caught Shadow's eye and he reached out, snagging a glittering piece out of the air. Cupping it in both paws he sighed softly, looking to Sonic. His voice was soft as he spoke."This...This is all that's left."
Those words seemed to jolt Sonic out of his stupor. He whipped around to face Shadow head on."N-no...You...You're lying!"
"Sonic..."a soft whine stuck in the back of Shadow's throat.He wished he could deny it like Sonic was now, but...he couldn't. This was as real as the day he had lost Maria.
"We didn't fail!"Sonic snarled, trying to blink back the tears in his eyes. "We couldn't fail!"
"Anger will not solve this-"the darker boar started and had to dodge backwards to avoid a fist to the face. He cradled the tiny piece close to his chest, careful not to drop it.
"S-Shut up, Faker!"Sonic spat, unable to blink away the tears, and let them fall down his cheeks. "I'm a /hero/! I'm /supposed/ to /save/ everyone! Not let it end like this!"
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Shadow tried to speak again. "Even like this, wielding the powers of the gods...we are not them. We are mere mortals. We make mistakes."
" I said /shut up/!"Sonic bared his teeth at the other, panting hard. What pained him more than anything was that the words struck home, far harder than he wished they would have.
Closing his eyes, Shadow turned away from Sonic. "..."
"..."The blue boar sniffled softly as he reached up to paw at his eyes, trying to brush away the tears he wished would have never fallen. Tears that should have never fallen.
Several minutes passed in the timeless void, before Sonic moved forwards and around Shadow, cupping his paws around his. "...What should we do then?"
"..."red eyes filled with sorrow as they opened, looking into brilliant, hopeful emeralds hat still shone with the traces of the tears.
"...I don't know..."
Art by Me
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