Dec 30, 2025
Happy 2026!!
it’s like a tradition to draw the wachowskis now every new year so let’s keep it going!!
seen from Norway
seen from Colombia
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from Yemen
seen from China
seen from Hong Kong SAR China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Peru
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from Switzerland
seen from T1
Happy 2026!!
it’s like a tradition to draw the wachowskis now every new year so let’s keep it going!!
The Sonic Movie cast but as their game counterparts.
Agent Stone and Tom Wachowski render by Nibroc-Rock on deviantart.
Good ending!
For werewolf prompt in @year-of-the-echidna
Stuck
Hibernation Station
Sonic Wachowski raised himself in the wilderness. In doing so, he’s developed natural instincts that are like the Earth's regular hedgehogs.
Finding these little habits has been a fun journey for Tom and Maddie. It’s the cutest shit they’ve ever seen.
The first winter they had Sonic under their roof, he exhibited some worrying symptoms: namely slowing down a lot and eating a lot. There were moments where they’d catch him bringing many blankets into his closet and tunneling into them. When they asked him about it, he said this happens every winter, except he has blankets now and not dirt, leaves, and whatever else he can scavenge.
That’s how they learn that hedgehogs are one of the only animals to actually hibernate. After learning that, they make sure their little boy is well fed whenever he’s up and moving. Thankfully he’s not out as long as his tiny Earth counterparts, but his lack of presence makes it feel that way. Sonic just shows those symptoms more severely because he is by nature a very fast living being. His body is always at a fast pace, so in order to achieve hibernation, he would need to slow down a LOT and maintain that to even get a shot at it.
When Knuckles and Tails joined the family, their knowledge on this little habit was minimal. Tails is aware of the hibernation period, but the hedgies on Mobius do it much less due to normally not living outdoors on their own.
Knux knows it’s a thing certain animals do when it gets cold to preserve energy or whatever, but that’s really where his knowledge ends.
Sonic is now preparing for another winter of hibernation, happy that he now has much better options than caves or empty burrows. He’s eating more and slowing down… and Knuckles is the only one who’s truly concerned about this.
Brother is convinced his little bro has contracted some bug that’s taken a metal bat to the poor hedgehogs carefully crafted obnoxiousness. Sonic didn’t make fun of him one morning, and that was enough for Knux to call a family meeting.
“My dear family, our hedgehog has fallen ill, and you do not seem to be concerned about the dangerousness of our situation,” Knuckles says, standing on a stool in the middle of the living room so he makes sure his voice is heard, “Sonic did not harass me, so I’d say it’s blatantly obvious that he is to be taken to the Healers.”
Knuckles prefers to call doctors ‘Healers’ even though he knows what the occupation is called. He thinks it’s cooler this way.
His parents and littlest brother give him confused looks.
Tom tells him “he’s not sick, he’s just getting ready to hibernate, bud.”
“What does that have to do with the state of him?”
Tom looks to his wife who he assumes knows the topic better, and lucky him, he’s right this time! Only because she studied up on it when she learned Sonic hibernates.
Maddie explains to her eldest that “Sonic’s body needs to slow down a lot in order to hibernate. He’s gonna be laying motionless for days at a time, and for him that’s a lot to ask.”
“I see.” Knuckles clenches his fist, “then I will ensure my brother has the best hibernation! So that he may wake up ready to face the battles of spring!”
“Actually he’s not going to sleep, or staying out until spring. He says he just sorta… exists, but not really. Last year he was out for 3 weeks, just to get through the coldest part of winter.”
“I did not know the hedgehog could predict troublesome weather ahead!”
Knuckles is kinda right on that. If Sonic had been here for this discussion, he would agree.
Speaking of Sonic, Tails leaves the livingroom to look for him. He quietly scuttled around the house and checks every comfortable hiding spot that could be used as a good hibernation spot just in case Sonic decided to pack his burrow and move locations, which he had already done a few times before circling back to his closet.
Lo and behold, Sonic is finishing his little blanket burrow. He’s stolen a couple shirts from Tom and Maddie since they make him feel safe and comfortable. Their scents shall aid him!
The state of the hedgehog makes Tails sad. He’s really not used to Sonic acting this way, and can definitely see why Knuckles was concerned.
“Sonic?”
Sonic’s ear twitches and he lifts his head up to look around for the source of the familiar voice. He doesn’t seem to spot Tails right away, but when he does, his face softens into a fond expression. That’s his lil baby bro right there. Look at that fluffy creature. Adorable. “Hey, bud.. what’s up?”
Tails opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by the sound of Ozzy coming up the steps, missing one, but recovering quickly enough to finish his journey up into the attic.
Sonic is on the floor, so obviously this means that he is here to play, so Ozzy gives him some slobbery puppy kisses and picks up a random sock with his tail wagging like mad.
After finding his train of thought again, Tails asks “are you ok? Are you all prepared, n stuff?”
Sonic holds one end of the sock while Ozzy is enthusiastically pulling the other end. “Think so.. just need to eat some more, I think.”
“Mom and Dad are turning down the furnace, right?”
“Mm..” Sonic can’t remember. The attic gets a little chilly these days as it is already, but “I dunno.”
The little fox kit suddenly lights up in remembrance. He trots off into the corner he uses to store his inventions and pulls out a small yellow extra mini mini fridge and silent microwave combo. “Dad said you almost fell down the stairs last year when you got up to eat, so I’m bringing the snacks to you!”
As far as Sonic is concerned, this kid has just handed him the holy grail. “Yo.. that..s cool as shit, bro..”
Tails holds back his giggles as his poor brother gets progressively more physically and mentally prepared to check out.
Knuckles has now arrived! He comes baring gifts! It’s food. So much for one hedgehog.. but Sonic consumes it all. Bro doesn’t really know when he’s gonna get back up, so he’s getting all the grub he can. Plus! Knuckles offered him some of his precious grapes. He can’t let this moment in history go to waste!
As he’s finishing his feast, Tom and Maddie pull up to let them know they’ve turned down the furnace a little.
Maddie just. She looks at her little boy. Oh how her middle boy tugs her heartstrings. Poor kid is ready to check out.
Now, Sonic isn’t a very touchy person. He prefers words over physical affection. His family has come to understand that they either ask, or let him come to them.
Maddie sits on the floor and opens her arms and her heart screams and cries as her blue alien hedgehog son crawls into her lap for some final snuggles. “Oh, my baby…” she kisses his lil head between his ears. He’s so special. That’s her baby! This is how you know for sure Sonic is out of energy: laying in his mothers lap and not changing his position ever 3 seconds. He’s just chilling getting all the pats from his parents, purring more than they’ve ever heard him purr from affection.
OH BUT DONT FORGET TOM! Tommy boy gets his Sonic snuggles in! He’s whispering to his son about all the snow forts they’ll build once he’s up. His son is pumped! But in the lowest low key way. Bro probably didn’t even understand what he was being told.
His brothers?
Knuckles says “farewell, dear brother. May your hibernation be prosperous.” and he gives him a solid two pats on the head.
Tails hugs him and says “imma miss you! Stay comfy cozy!”
Ozzy doesn’t understand, but he’s getting pats, so he doesn’t mind not knowing.
Blue boy crawls into his blanket burrow, kneads the blankets, then curls into a tight ball. Hibernation time!
It has been an hour, and the household already feels less lively. Even if Sonic had not been active at all for a couple days, his presence still held its comforting and energetic aura. His mischievous spirit. His Sonic-ness. It’s not something that can be replicated. Even if he is only upstairs, his absence is noticeable.
Tom and Maddie check on him often to make sure he’s ok. They do something they’ve named the ‘Annual Poke’ where every few hours they’d poke Sonic to make sure he’s alive, and he is, evident by his quills rippling. He ain’t moving besides that.
Ozzy is near him more often than not. He prefers to keep him company while he’s in a vulnerable state, and protect his valuable pack member, just as he knows Sonic would do for him.
Knuckles is also standing guard, ensuring no threat shall dare interrupt his baby brother’s hibernation. He does not move from his post unless it is because he is needed by his parents or babiest brother. He makes sure his little fridge is well stocked with fresh goods.
Tails studies up on hibernation, and he’s fascinated! His brothers body just does that for survival? That’s metal af.
The kit is set on making this the best hibernation station to ever exist. The fridge is always working, there’s now a water dispenser, and he carefully adds some cushioning inside the burrow so the blankets don’t collapse when Sonic comes out for a snack or drink. He’s also made some motion sensing lights that are very dim, and will work to aid in guiding Sonic if it’s dark and his eyes aren’t too great yet.
With Knuckles’ help, it’s the best Hibernation Station. The bestest best. Have I mentioned best? Hi this is me writing days later. Yes it is the best.
After 3 nights, Tails and Knuckles wake to some soft shuffling. They look towards the sound, and it’s coming from the hibernation station. Sonic has slugged his way out to get to his little fridge for the first time since he’s gone into hibernation. They don’t want to interrupt nature, as much as they wanna go chat with him. All they can do is make sure he’s able to get his water and plenty fruits (it’s all he seems to choose from the fridge for some reason) and make sure he gets back into his burrow safely.
Tails is so glad he made sure the light in the mini fridge was super dim. He would’ve felt so bad if his poor brother got flashbanged just for wanting to eat.
In the morning, the two run down to tell their parents who have barely woken up that Sonic got up during the night to eat.
“He ate all the fruits we had in there!” Tails explains, “his mind is geared to choose the most nutritious option when given it.. isn’t that cool??” lil bro wants to know more about this and can’t wait for Sonic to wake up completely so he can give him a first hand account.
Knuckles notes “he was still in his sluggish state. That was pure survival.”
Tom and Maddie, now awake, find their sons interest in this interesting. They must not know many hedgehogs. “Don’t you boys know other hedgehogs?” Maddie asks them.
The boys look at each other. Knuckles says “they are uncommon and tend to keep to themselves. Not many are as social as Sonic.”
Tails tells him that “I haven’t seen many besides Sonic and Shadow. They didn’t really live in my area, and even so, they didn’t have to develop this survival instinct because it was normal to have the resources to stay warm during the winter. Sonic didn’t for most of his life.”
Interesting. And sad for Sonic.
Anyway, more weeks pass, more food occasionally disappearing from the fridge every few nights.
Then it is time.
Sonic slowly begins gaining his consciousness back. It’ll take less time since his body is accustomed to gaining speed asap. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t wake up very weird and confused.
He looks around his room from where he’s sitting in his burrow and nobody is here. He doesn’t know the day, year, time, but he sees it’s daylight.
This solves nothing for him. Clearly there are 2 solutions here: finish whatever is in the fridge, and take a nap.
He’s doing both.
He doesn’t curl up in a ball for this nap, he lies kinda on his side, kinda on his front. Comfy hedgehog moment right here.
The nap lasts a solid hour, then he’s feeling ok enough to leave his little area. He’s able to check the time, and it says 2:32, and despise it being bright outside, and the absence of his brothers from their beds, his sleepy mind can’t figure out if it’s am or pm.
He tries to lift the attic hatch, and his body hasn’t caught up enough to lift it up and over, so he ends up trying to squeeze his way to the stairs.
Stairs are a no, legs feel like jelly.
So he looks outside. There’s snow out there. He can see snowmen, snow angels, and the foundations of snow forts.
Looks like fun.
He wants to build stuff too. It’s one of his favourite winter activities!
Now time for stairs, he slides his way under the attic hatch, and slowly crawls backwards down the steps on all fours.
He has made it to the 2nd floor. Hell yeah.
He hears click clacks approaching. OZZY!! OZZY BOY!!
Ozzy enthusiastically greets him with full body wags, kisses, and whining. He brings a slipper over because he just cannot contain his excitement. Sonic is giving him all the pats. “Hi, Ozzy..!” He says in a very raspy voice. “Oouh, damn, my voice..” he chuckles in shock that he sounds the way he does.
Nothing well hydration and more yapping can’t fix!
Slowly he makes his way downstairs, and nobody is here.
Obviously Sonic has left his own reality, and now exists in one where he and Ozzy are the only occupants.
He heads to the kitchen and gets some water. He’s craving a smoothie, but he doesn’t trust his coordination in cutting up fruits just yet. In fact he can’t even remember how he got up onto this stool in this first place. How is he gonna get down??
Sonic is trapped. Body recover fast. Mind go fast, but not fast enough.
Using Ozzy as leverage, he slowly makes his way down the stepstool, then the front door opens and he falls flat on his face because Ozzy abandoned him to greet Knuckles and Tails. “Oww.. Ozzyyyy..”
Meanwhile at the front door, Tails’ big ol ears perk up. He hears his brother! He trots into the kitchen and finds this poor dude laying face down on the floor. “Sonic?! Are you ok?!” He asks rolling him onto his back. His fearful tone summons their oldest brother who helps this blue dude to his feet.
Knuckles helps Sonic to the couch so he can chill while he makes him a smoothie because he makes the best! Delicious and packed with nutrients! The smoothie of a warrior!
Sonic confirms he’s ok, and he’s now in a cuddle puddle being warmed up by his brothers and puppy dog. This is what he needed! This and a good stretch. He’s feeling better by the second, and he’s nearly ready to resume chaos and run around the continent like an absolute lunatic.
The parents are informed that Sonic is up, and they both show up at the exact same time by pure coincidence. Tom says it’s because they share a mind.
Anyway, they’re all over him now, and Sonic, who is still rebooting, has no idea how to handle this. Everyone checking on him and talking to him is overwhelming since he’s been in peace and quiet for a few weeks. It doesn’t help that he’s still learning how to say that and not feel bad. Lucky him, his puffy quills and airplane ears do it for him, so they back off.
To help him out, they keep a warm blanket on him and give him snacks.
Mostly he just naps off the crummy discomfort of a cloudy head and stiff joints.
After that? Bro is gone. He left the building. He left the state. He is having his grand tour around warmer areas. He even stops in Florida to chat up some random lizards. Universally, animals love the guy. The lil lizards saw this blue thing and went “hell yeah”
When he gets home, he FEASTS. Dinner time. Chili dogs for his occasion.
Another successful hibernation in the books!
Chaos Control
Knuckles tracks down a chaos source that could threaten his home. (Movie Verse)
Word Prompt – Begrudging
@year-of-the-echidna
(Warnings at the end)
…
Knuckles opened his eyes when something seemed to pull at him, something from inside his own body. A sensation he hadn’t felt since finding The Master Emerald, signifying the end of his journey. However, as he sat up in his bed and focused, he realized that kind, yet demanding touch had returned.
Turning around he checked on his brothers, both of whom were still fast asleep, neither one of them even aware of the strange energy in the air. Not even Sonic, who had been the last to hold possession of the Emerald, before it had been lost to the void, upon the destruction of the eclipse cannon.
Another tug against his soul and Knuckles slowly got up, making his way toward the window and looked out at the stars. However, the pull did not originate from there. It was instead much closer. Coming from the surface of the planet he currently stood upon.
Again, it pulled on him and he could no longer ignore it. And so, taking one last moment to make sure that his clan would be safe while he was gone, he silently leapt to the circular window in the ceiling and made his way out onto the roof. Keeping his steps light upon the tiles as he oriented himself, finally focusing on the direction in which he was being called.
…
It took him a couple of hours to finally pinpoint the exact location of the energy source. Though the closer he got to it, the less he was sure of what it was. The sensation of pure chaos was that of the emeralds, yet it was only one.
He’d been afraid of that.
Without him present to restore it, the seven Chaos Emeralds were now let loose upon the world. Separated and scattered to who knew where, doing who knew what, just waiting for some unlucky sap to pick one up and go mad with power. That was why, even if the sensation of its energy felt worryingly - off, he had to secure it before something happened.
However, his quest was cut short, when the pull led him straight into the solid stone face of a cliff. Grumbling to himself, the echidna turned his eyes to the top of the wall, trying to focus on the pull and its point of origin. But it wasn’t coming from above, so he walked alongside the wall for a bit, only to snap back when the energy signal moved.
He only just managed to get his arm up to defend himself, as a mass of Chaos power crashed into him, and he had to swallow a scream of pain when his already broken wrist cracked under the pressure. With his vision going white for a second, he couldn’t see what was attacking him, before it suddenly snapped out of existence, only to reappear on his undefended side. However, this time he’d sensed it coming and reached out to wrap his fist around the attacking figure’s neck.
Twisting his whole body into the throw, he leveled the creature directly into the cliff face. The force of the impact sending a crack charging up the wall and creating a massive hole where a familiar shape rested at the center, clearly shocked by the sudden turn of events. And, for a horrifying second, Knuckles thought it was Sonic. But when his vision cleared of the pain, he realized it was another hedgehog.
“Shadow?” He asked, honestly shocked. They had all believed him to be dead. But before he could determine anything else, the hedgehog lifted his head, eye’s sparking with orange chaos energy, as he vanished again.
Still able to sense the lingering power of the Master Emerald within his attacker, Knuckles was able to pinpoint his returning location and prepared his defenses for the impact. However, he was still sent flying back into the forest from the pure strength behind the strike.
Branches and leaves snapped under him, as he rolled into the fall, eventually coming to a harsh stop at the base of a large tree, where he found himself gasping for air, his ribs protesting with each breath. But yet, he couldn’t help but smile. It had been so long since he’d had a worthy opponent, and while he truly loved his new home, there was really nothing there that could challenge him.
However, he kept his excitement in check, as he could still sense the vortex of energies inside his opponent. Now that he was close enough, he realized it was not a chaos emerald at all, but instead an intense built up of pure power that was likely equivalent to one, yet this was darker, fueled by fear and rage.
It was so intense that he was actually surprised Shadow was keeping it under control at all. Of course, that was before he looked up to find that the hedgehog had stopped his attack and was instead meandering about, clutching his head in pain. Clearly fighting to stay in command. However, the more he pushed it back down, the more pressure was built.
Even he wouldn’t be able to contain it forever.
Understanding now what he was looking at, Knuckles carefully got back to his feet, causing the hedgehog to freeze up for a split second, before turning to lock his eyes on the echidna. An action that honestly made him look more like a cornered and frightened animal, than the power chaos warrior he really was. But it didn’t take long for that unnatural vulnerability to fade again, replaced by a more familiar rage.
“What do you want?” He growled. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
Realizing that his intentions had been misunderstood, Knuckles opened his mouth to explain. But didn’t get the chance, before the hedgehog was attacking him again. And, again, this was not a normal reaction.
Though they had met just a few times and fought only once, Knuckles had gotten a good read on his opponent. Shadow wasn’t the type to strike first, he was more patient than that, he waited for the opportunity, when his enemy had dropped their guard in the initial, overconfident moments of their attack. The fact that he had given up on the strategy that had won him so many battles was proof of just how panicked he truly was.
However, Knuckles couldn’t afford to show him sympathy. Shadow was not someone he could simply hesitate against. If he didn’t fight back, the hedgehog would go right through him.
Sensing the incoming attack, he dodged, just as Shadow reappeared to crush the tree he’d been leaning against. The force of the blow, sending the thing tumbling into the forest, but having missed his original opponent, the attack also left him slightly off kilter.
Taking advantage of this, Knuckles rushed in for a hit of his own and managed to just make contact, before the hedgehog snapped away. He didn’t get far, as he reappeared only a few feet to the right. But the force of Knuckles’ attack had not been negated, so he was left to slide and tumble across the forest floor, until he finally came to rest in a pile.
Keeping his guard up, the echidna carefully approached the unmoving form, hoping he hadn’t gone too far. But he pulled up again, when Shadow finally moved, slowly getting to his hands and knees, struggling for the breath that had been knocked out of him.
Eventually, his shock led him to look up and, for a moment, he looked like Shadow again, not afraid, just confident, maybe even impressed. But then the moment was shattered, as his body suddenly erupted with energy and he screamed, clutching at his head again, his chaotic presence moving erratically, as if torn between worlds. The power within him ready to rip itself free of his body and consume everything around it.
Feeling the buildup of energy, Knuckles’ attention was momentarily called toward the Wachowski home and the surrounding town. If the hedgehog’s power were to detonate, everything within miles would be leveled. Including his clan.
Immediately, he disregarded his own safety and rushed forward to take hold of Shadow’s arm, noticing that one of his gold rings was missing. But he didn’t get much of a chance to consider this fact, as the second he made contact with the hedgehog, the unfiltered chaos energy surged through his body, and he was flung backward again.
Thankfully, he didn’t get too far before he crashed into a boulder, but the impact left him momentarily dazed, and he felt a trickle of blood run down his face. However, before he could get up to try again, Shadow appeared to regain some form of control. But unfortunately, it was directed at him.
Shadow had always walked a fine line between light and darkness, but now he seemed to be teetering dangerously close to the abyss. His eyes were wild, unfocused, a storm of agony and rage, as the chaos energy threatened to consume him. And Knuckles knew that he had to act. Not just to protect everyone else from the disastrous fallout, but to protect his own life.
Summoning his strength, he pushed himself off the boulder, launching himself at Shadow and barely ducking under a wild energy blast that scorched the air above him. And, in a desperate and awkward reach, he finally got a hold on Shadow's arm.
Immediately he felt the searing heat of chaos raging through his body once more, but this time, he held on, trying desperately to ground the erratic energy. Of course, Shadow was not going to make it easy. As he quickly struck out with his other hand, hitting the echidna straight in the head and opening the already bleeding wound there, before changing his tactic and snapped them both to another location.
Somehow, despite all odds, Knuckles managed to keep his hold on the hedgehog, as they fell through the forest canopy, hitting the ground hard as they fought for control of the situation. Chaos sparking around them, turning leaves and twigs straight to ash and leaving scorch marks on anything it touched.
At some point, Knuckles realized that the screaming in his ears wasn’t just Shadow’s anymore, but also his own. The pain was so intense his body had simply stopped registering it. However, his mind was still reacting, trying to get him to let go. But he couldn’t, he had to hold on, he had to keep it under control – even if it killed him.
…
“I’m – sure he’s fine.” Sonic said, though he wasn’t even able to convince himself let alone Maddie, who’d been waiting by the window for the last two hours. “It’s not like he hasn’t disappeared before.”
This was true, of course, that had been in the early days following Knuckles’ acceptance to the family. It had taken him a number of months to grow accustomed to the idea that he was now accountable to other people. People that worried about him when he disappeared for days on end. But he had slowly come to understand that, if he planned to be gone, he had to, at the very least, leave a note.
It hadn’t even been a full day since the family had woken up to discover their resident warrior was missing. But they’d just assumed he was training or patrolling. So, they had started their day like any other, expecting him to be back in time to eat. But breakfast had come and gone without him, leaving Maddie particularly irritated, but it was what it was. Then lunch had passed them by and still no sign of Knuckles, that was when she had started her pacing. It was almost dinner time now and the sun had almost completely set. Now they were all starting to worry.
“It’s not like him.” Maddie insisted for the hundredth time, as Tom walked up beside her to check the window as well.
“Alright boys.” He said softly but firmly causing Sonic and Tails to perk up, as the man turned to them. “Time to start the search.”
“Tom.” Maddie proclaimed sternly, reaching out to stop him from opening the door. “You just got out of the hospital. You’re not going anywhere.”
“But –”
“We will be searching.” She indicated the boys and herself, before poking the man in the chest, being careful of his broken collarbone. “You will be staying here; in case he comes home.”
The poor guy looked like he wanted to argue, it was almost painful to watch him give up on the idea of looking for one of his kids, but he knew she was right and complaining about it would only waste precious minutes of daylight.
Giving Tails a minute to get his bag of gadgets, they each took a flashlight and stepped out into the encroaching night, only to pause when something slowly emerged from the forest.
“Knuckles?” Sonic asked the too large form, stepping up to put himself between it and his family, in case it was something else. However, he just ended up staring, like a deer in headlights, when Maddie flipped on her flashlight to show them what it was.
It was Knuckles, but he was covered in blood and burns and looked to only be barely conscious. Despite that, he was still moving forward, carrying something on his back.
“Oh my god.” Maddie breathed in horror, being the first to respond, as she raced down the steps to him. Eventually everyone else followed, only to be pulled up again, when they got closer look at what Knuckles was carrying.
“Shadow?” Sonic whispered in both shock and anger, unable to really decide which was more appropriate for the moment. On the one hand, this was the hedgehog that had nearly killed his father and had seemingly just tried to kill his older brother too. But on the other, they’d also worked together to save the world just a few weeks before.
Needless to say, he was a tad conflicted when Knuckles locked onto his eyes, breathing harshly, and seemingly only able to open one eye, as the other was caked in blood. But he remained focused as he spoke. “Containment.” He forced out, but it seemed to use all the breath he had collected, as he had to lower his head to get more, prompting Sonic to finally snap out of his stupor and rush forward.
“What?” He asked, getting as close to his brother as possible, so he could hear what he had to say.
“His energy – it requires – containment.” He finally explained, before finally losing the battle with consciousness and collapsed. But Sonic was there to catch him, slowly lowering his brother to the ground, before lifting Shadow away, so Maddie could check him over.
By the time the two of them managed to carry Knuckles into the house, Tom and Tails had set up a makeshift hospital, clearing the living room for a mattress to take up space, and every single medical or veterinary object in the house was now placed somewhere nearby.
Trusting Maddie to help his brother, Sonic forced himself to leave and return to the yard. Thankfully, the other hedgehog was still out cold and exactly where he’d left him. Though he wasn’t exactly sure what to do about it.
Eventually Tails followed him, having left to find something that could fulfill Knuckles’ request to contain Shadow’s energy. Though the only thing he’d come up with were the titanium handcuffs, which he had designed to hold creatures with massive amounts of energy like Sonic or Knuckles, so they could only hope it would be enough. In the end, they opted for two sets, one for his hands, the other for his feet. Just so the hedgehog couldn’t wake up in a bad mood and go on another rampage. After a couple of minutes, they also decided to bring him inside, if for no other reason, then he would be easier to keep an eye on there.
“How – is he?” Tails asked in a tiny, worried voice. Finding a place where he wouldn’t be in the way but also close enough that he could hold Knuckles’ hand, as Maddie cleaned and dressed his wounds.
“Thankfully, it’s not as bad as it looks.” She explained, obviously distressed, but was holding it together as their most experienced doctor. “But – he’s burning up and I don’t know why?”
Sonic came over as well, watching as Tails pulled out his little handheld computer to scan the echidna. However, before he could do so, Knuckles suddenly shifted, as if he were waking up and they all quickly rushed in, wanting to be there when he did. However, it seemed that Maddie had noticed something they hadn’t as she suddenly rushed to put her arms around his head, just before his body convulsed again.
“What’s happening?” Sonic demanded, only for Tom to pick up on the problem as well and pulled him and Tails back, as their brother began to shake and jerk, his back jackknifing so sharply that their feared it was about to break. But Maddie was able to roll him onto his side, still holding his head protectively, somehow able to keep his neck straight.
Eventually everyone else joined in, doing what they could to keep him still, as the full effects of the seizure took over, and his unnatural strength was suddenly turned against him. It took everything they had and maybe a little divine intervention, but they were able to keep him safe, as red chaos energy sparked to life, around the room.
It seemed to go on forever, but thankfully, at some point, everything slowly began to calm down again, and Knuckles started to breathe a little easier.
“Shhhh.” Maddie whispered, gently holding his hand when he mumbled something in his sleep. “It’s okay. We’re here. You’re safe.” She promised. Tears running down her checks, as she pressed their foreheads together.
“Tails.” Tom spoke up, turning to the fox and softly rubbed the kid’s back as he stood staring at his injured brother in complete horror. But the contact quickly brought him out of it and Tom handed him back his computer, knowing the best thing for the fox to do, in that moment, was distract himself. However, when he finally got the opportunity to run a scan and check over his findings, he seemed even more alarmed by what he’d discovered.
“What is it?” Sonic demanded worriedly, and the fox shook himself out of his shock once again.
“He – his body is full of chaos energy.” Everyone looked understandably confused by that.
“Isn’t that – normal, for him?” Tom asked, but Tails shook his head.
“Yes, but not like this.” He insisted, tapping at his computer, like he wasn’t sure if it was working properly. “His energy is usually neutral. But – now it’s got a negative charge. I – I don’t understand. That shouldn’t be possible. Unless –” He paused for a second, clearly coming up with an idea and lifted his eyes to look at Shadow. “Unless he absorbed someone else’s.”
“He can do that?” Sonic asked, but even Tails didn’t look convinced by his own hypothesis.
“I don’t know – in theory, he should be able to channel chaos energy, the same way you do with the Emeralds. But – normally someone with an innate chaos of their own can only handle one type at a time.” He looked up at Sonic, as if needing eye contact to calm himself down. “For example, your chaos charge is positive, if you were to take negative energy into your body, it would make you really, really sick, maybe – maybe even kill you.”
Sonic felt his heart skip a beat, as he looked back at Knuckles, who was thankfully still breathing. But – he’d never before been so badly hurt that he’d lost consciousness, and he’d certainly never had a seizure. “He – he’s gonna be okay – right?” He finally asked, looking back at the fox, who again looked unsure.
“I don’t even know how he managed to absorb this much energy, let alone survive the charge distortion.” He insisted, making everyone wince at his distracted word choice. “But, maybe –” He filtered off again, once more speculating the nature of this strange event. “It could be that his connection to the Master Emerald has given him a stronger advantage, maybe even an innate ability to channel and – possibly purify chaos energy.”
He suggested this as more of a question than a statement. As he clearly had no idea and just wanted to come up with something, anything but the presumption that his brother was simply dying.
“Hey.” Tom cut in, kneeling down to bring both Tails and Sonic into a one-armed hug. “Don’t you guys worry about him. You know Knuckles is more stubborn than that.”
Well, that was true.
Of course, they didn’t get the chance to discuss it further, before another moan had them all turning to look at the couch, as this one had instead come from Shadow. Immediately, Sonic was on his feet, putting himself between the hedgehog and his family, as the guy slowly opened his eyes and became aware of the fact that he was handcuffed.
This obviously woke him up, as he quickly tested his strength against the titanium. But, as promised, Tails had built them to withstand just about anything. Eventually his attention was instead drawn to Sonic, leaving them to just stare each other down for nearly a full minute, before Tom stood up to address the heavy atmosphere.
The effect was almost instant, as Shadow turned to look at him, his eyes widened in shock and all he could do was stare at the man, who he clearly believed to be dead.
“Hey, it’s alright.” Tom insisted when Sonic moved again to stand directly in front of his father, his fear and anger causing blue energy to radiate from his body. But the man was able to get ahold of his shoulder and gently bring him back to earth. “We’re all friends here. Isn’t that right Shadow?”
The hedgehog blinked as these words seemed to pull him from his stupor. However, he was clearly unable to respond, so Sonic did it for him. “Friends!?” He proclaimed in horror. “Are you kidding me? He nearly –”
“It was just an accident.” Tom insisted kindly, still not taking his eyes off of Shadow. “Just a simple case of mistaken identity – right?” He asked, and Shadow jumped as if his spirit had just slammed back into his body.
“I –” He tried, forcing himself to finally look away from the man he’d nearly killed, only to notice Knuckles instead and he tensed up again, causing Sonic to get right in his face this time. However, his rage soon dissipated, when Shadow looked up to meet his eyes and he remembered the moment, on the moon, when they’d been in nearly the same position. He’d been unable to act on his anger then – and couldn’t do it now.
Eventually Sonic managed to pull his eyes away and stood with his fists clenched and his breathing heavy, as he fought down the surge of chaos energy in his body, until it was finally gone.
“How?” Shadow spoke up again and Sonic twitched, but didn’t move, as the other hedgehog looked down at his cuffed wrists, not even trying to escape them anymore. “How did I get here?”
The room was quiet for a moment, but it was Tails that eventually broke the tension. “Knuckles carried you here.” He explained, his voice was a little jittery, but he was staying strong. Even when Shadow looked up at him, clearly shocked by this information and he turned to study the echidna once again. Only to quickly look away, when Sonic tensed up, prepared to jump in and defend his brother, if the black hedgehog so much as breathed the wrong way. However, Tails somehow found the courage to step forward and continue their conversation. “He – has a large amount of negative chaos energy in his body. Is – it yours?”
“What?” Shadow asked, clearly confused. Only to seemingly remember something and he looked down at his hands again, specifically focusing on his right wrist, which was missing an inhibitor ring. “He –” He proclaimed in shock, looking back at Knuckles, despite Sonic’s warning, only this time he looked almost flabbergasted, maybe even somewhat humbled. “He helped me? But – why?”
This got everyone’s attention, as it was pretty clear that Shadow was far too traumatized to lie. “What do you mean he helped you? What did he do?” Tails insisted, trying to collect as much data as possible, in order to help his brother. But, for a moment, the hedgehog just looked back at his hands, clenching and unclenching his fists, before finally answering the fox’s question.
“Without my ring – my power was unstable. I couldn’t control it anymore. I was – I was going to – die.” He admitted simply, looking back at Knuckles once again. “He must have syphoned it off. That’s the only way I could still be alive right now.”
“Okay.” Tails muttered shakily, running his thoughts through his brain analyzer. “Can – you syphon it back?” He asked, but Shadow only shook his head.
“I don’t have that ability. I’m honestly surprised that he does.”
Tails made a noise of deep concern and bit his finger in consideration. Desperately trying to find a way to help his brother, before finally focusing on Shadow’s inhibitor rings, and reached over to poke one, barely even noticing anymore that he was in the presence of their most dangerous enemy to date. “Would these be able to help him?” He asked, but again Shadow shook his head.
“They are designed to contain my power, not remove it.”
The fox was about to ask another question, when Maddie called them back and they all turned to find that Knuckles was actually waking up. Though he was still groggy and not all there yet.
“Knuckles.” Maddie whispered, gently rubbing her thumb along the bridge of his muzzle. “Hey honey. Talk to me.”
“Mo – ther.” He mumbled and everyone kind of started a little, having never heard him call her that before. However, it wasn’t exactly clear whether he was aware of this fact or if it was a case of mistaken identity, and Maddie looked as if she might melt into a puddle of happy tears, so no one had the heart to either confirm or deny it.
Eventually, with a little more coxing, the echidna opened his eyes. Though they were dull and unfocused at first, he started to slowly come around. Leading Tails to pull out his computer again and scan him.
“What?” Sonic asked, when the little fox looked at his screen in shock.
“It’s – going down.” Tails proclaimed in a tone of voice that suggested that this simply should not be possible.
“What?” Shadow demanded and they turned back to him. “Where is it going?” He asked, clearly aware that that would be the only reason for the fox’s explanation. But Tails only shrugged, looking back at his computer again and smiled a nervous little grin, clearly happy that his brother was okay, even if there was no explanation for it.
“Contain?” Knuckles told the ceiling groggily, as he tried to get his arms to work and push himself up, but he didn’t accomplish much more than getting Maddie irritated with him.
“Don’t worry, big guy.” Sonic told him, kneeling down to place his hand on the echidna’s shoulder, to help keep him from moving, and smiled when their eyes met. “We got it under control. Now the only thing you need to do is get better.”
This finally helped the warrior to relax, in fact, they’d never seem him look so relieved. It made them wonder just what kind of serious situation they had truly missed in the subtests. Either way, he was able to focus on other things now, as he slowly turned to look at Maddie again, his expression a little drunkenly sheepish.
“I’m – sorry.” He offered, looking like he was afraid he was about to be grounded. “I’m – late for breakfast.”
…
They tried moving Knuckles to the spare room, or Shadow to the garage, but the echidna was having none of it. Despite not even being able to sit up yet, he insisted on keeping an eye on the hedgehog. Which meant that Sonic was pretty much permanently rooted to a nearby chair. And Tails had moved everything he’d need into the dining room, so he could work on something to help contain Shadow’s energy while still being close by.
Tom seemed to magically appear anytime there was even a hint of animosity. Maddie was usually checking on Knuckles’ or Shadow’s recovery or making sure that her husband didn’t do anything he wasn’t supposed to. An endless task, considering the man’s worst enemy was boredom.
Then there was good old Ozzy, who was always whenever someone needed a snuggle or a pet. He even managed to get through to Shadow a few times. Of course, Shadow hadn’t moved from the couch once since he’d gotten there. And thankfully seemed content to keep it that way, at least until Tails was finished with his new inhibitor ring.
“Why did you help me?” Sonic opened his eyes, when Shadow said this and slowly shifted until he could see the other two occupants of the room. It was night and everyone was supposed to be asleep. However, Knuckles casually opened his eyes as if he’d just been waiting for the black hedgehog to speak.
“Because I had to.” He whispered back. “Your energy was unstable. If I had done nothing, it would have destroyed my home.” He clenched his fists, before turning to glare at Shadow. “I have lost everything once. I will not allow it to happen again.”
Shadow looked shocked by this reviolation and slowly looked away from the echidna’s intense stare. “Still, you could have achieved the same goal – by just killing me.” He pointed out, only for Knuckles to suddenly sit bolt upright, despite clearly feeling some discomfort from the action.
“Do not tell me how to achieve my goals, hedgehog.” He snarled angrily, somehow able to keep his voice down, so as not to wake anyone else. “For years others have tried to make me kill for them. I would not do it then; I will not do it now.”
Sonic twitched at this sudden revelation, realizing that his brother was talking about things that he’d never brought up before. He had always claimed that his past was just that ‘the past’ and he had no need for it anymore. However, it seemed that something about his interaction with Shadow had opened the flood gates.
And it appeared that Shadow was picking up on this as well, as he slowly turned to look at him again. “If those people were truly so evil, then killing them would have been a blessing.” He insisted, clearly convinced of that, as he met Knuckles gaze firmly and without fear. However, the echidna didn’t waver either.
“Perhaps.” He admitted.
“Then why not just kill them? You have the power.”
It was Knuckles who looked away this time and lifted his hands as if to check them for something. “I nearly did.” He said and Sonic started to feel uncomfortable. He didn’t want to spy on his brother, but at the same time, he couldn’t make himself speak up. “I faced that monster you refer to as revenge.” Knuckles spoke again and looked back at Shadow, more determined than he had been before. “And it nearly consumed me.”
Shadow blinked and honestly looked a bit taken aback. “So?” He finally asked. “At least you would have had –”
“I would have had nothing.” Knuckles corrected him sternly. “Killing him would not have taken my pain away or returned the years that he took from me. All I would have achieved was becoming that which I hated.” It was clear that Shadow had never actually considered this in his own quest for revenge, as he suddenly looked far away in his thoughts, which made Knuckles soften his words as well. “It took everything I had to get back even a small piece of myself, when all was said and done.” He revealed quietly and Shadow looked back at him again. “If I had turned against my own beliefs, turned against everything I knew to be right. I would not have been able to find even that. I would never be able to face my father again.”
Shadow considered this for well over a minute, before finally speaking up, though there was something else in his voice now. Like he was in physical pain, upon realizing just how close he had come to doing the same thing, to turning against everything Maria had stood for and never being able to face her memory.
“You said – you lost everything once?” He asked, almost like he hadn’t meant the words to actually be said aloud. However, he still looked back at the echidna, prepared to finish the question anyway. “What is – everything?”
Knuckles just continued to stare at his hands for another moment, lost in his own thoughts. “Everything.” He answered simply. “My clan, my father, my home, my freedom, even my own memories were slowly stripped away. The person I once was – died, and I have never been able to get it back.” He finally looked up at Shadow again, an odd softness to his eyes now. “But – I have found a new life now. I have a family here, friends, brothers. And I have slowly come to find the person that I want to be. It is not the same, but that doesn’t matter. This is my island to protect. This is my home.”
Shadow slowly looked up again and he too seemed to soften a little, to the point where he almost smiled. “How did you do it?” He whispered and Knuckles smiled back, before turning to look over his shoulder and Sonic jumped, as he met his eyes.
Realizing he’d been caught, or maybe they’d known all along that he was listening, he smiled back and slowly untangled himself from his blanket. Then he sighed and looked at Shadow, finally feeling all of his anger and fear fading away. If Knuckles could do it, after losing so much more than anyone should ever have to, then how could he, the one who’d actually managed to pull him back from the edge, do any less.
“It’s not easy, Shadow.” He spoke up at last, the other hedgehog seemingly coming alive for the first time since they had met. As the three of them found connection in their shared losses and their shared love. “But you don’t do it for yourself.” Sonic continued, feeling tears in his eyes. “You do it for them. The ones we had to leave behind. Because – if we don’t live for them, no one else will.”
…
Chapter 2
(Warnings: Blood, seizures, death, trauma, loss, mentions of slavery)
All my WIPs so far
Lot of doodles to do
(also ive noticed sonic has become my biggest thing on this thing- hilarious because i only have this doodle and a shit comic with sonic characters. literally ive drawn sonic characters 2 times, and neither are finished.)
So remember how in the Archie comics Sonic had a dog that got turned into a full Mobian after the reboot?
IF this ever happens please let him just hug Tom and Maddie and thank him for all the love.