Curious anon: U walk into a room to find the person u hold closest 2 u beaten and bloody and close to death what do u do
Shadow swore his heart stopped.
His form was frozen as he stared, throat going dry and form stiffening at the threshold of the room. Red. So much red. Red in puddles and sickening hand and footprints on the floor, smears on the wall as if he'd stumbled before ultimately collapsing where he was now.
His body was mangled. He could see gashes and large purple bruises along what parts of his peach skin weren't stained crimson. Limbs were bent at awkward angles; angles that weren't right, weren't possible unless he'd been...
And he was still. Very, very still. From where Shadow was, he couldn't even tell if he was still breathing.
Tense muscles started trembling, his breathing quickened with worry and--and panic. This didn't happen to Sonic. He cheated death, always cheated death. He got into more tussles with the Doctor or whatever creature that threatened their world than he could count and always came out unscathed. Always. This...This wasn't...This never happened...
Shouts, gunfire, blood, running, a girl's scream, her pretty blue dress staining red at the back, her body hunched over the control panel, watching as it fell to the floor as he was helplessly banged against glass and was shuttled down into the atmosphere, Maria, Maria, no...
Shadow gripped the doorframe and the side of his head, cringing. No no no no...
A pained groan and agonized whimper struck him right in the chest and snapped him back to the present and out of his shock enough to immediately run and fall to his knees at his side. Alive. He was still alive. There was still a faint, but present, pulse as he pressed fingers against his neck. Shadow forced himself to attempt to regulate his breathing, trying so desperately to ignore the heavy taste of blood (Sonic's blood) that touched his tongue with each raspy inhale.
Think, Shadow. Breathe and think.
He had to get him to the hospital. There was little he could do but get him to someone capable. That left him with two options: Warping or running. Running meant skating, which meant jostling his already fragile body more than he could take. That left warping, but...what if the exposure to his Chaos Energy hurt him, too?
Ragged breathing, another moan. Shadow gritted his teeth and, as carefully and delicately as he could, Shadow cradled the blue hedgehog's body in his arms and stood up. Blood immediately stained his chest fur and torso, but the only thing he could focus on was just how...weak and helpless he felt against him, only driven further home by his head tucking against the crook of his neck and the faint breathing against his neck.
His heart hadn't pounded with fear like this since-- No. Focus. Deep breaths. Believe he'll be fine. He will. He--He will.
"Listen to me," Shadow murmured shakily into Sonic's ear, despite the fact he probably couldn't even be heard or understood. "Don't die. Don't you dare die. There are too many people who need you."
Needed him to save the world, needed him to help those in trouble, needed...needed him to compete against, to ask how his day was with that ever-present smile, needed him to open his eyes and show him everything he was missing and be that hand to take to help him stand and that shoulder and listening ear when he was hurting beyond his capacity to hide it...
Chaos, he needed him, too.
He was not going to lose another friend. Not like this. Not when, this time, he could do something about it. "Please, hold on..." He couldn't take being left behind, not again. Not again.
With a deep breath and eyes firmly shutting, Shadow muttered 'Chaos Control' and disappeared in a bright flash of green light.
