Amy panicked, and in her panic sprinted to the first store she saw. She ran into a boutique, which had been abandoned by the owners when Eggman’s robots had landed in the city, and ripped the holiday blankets off the shelves. They were made of that cheap fleece material that was only good for decorative blankets, but they would still keep Shadow warm.

When Amy returned to the scene, Sonic was kneeling over Shadow’s body, sobbing. She wasn’t expecting it from him; Sonic never cried. He was always tough, just like Shadow, although in a different way. Shadow hid his true self by showing less emotion, while Sonic accomplished this by having a more positive emotion as a front to keep his negative thoughts inside.

Today was different. He was squeezing Shadow’s hand, weeping.

Knuckles had gone to deal with more robots. The metal minions appeared to be retreating from the scene. That was good. Hopefully Eggman was leaving after what Team Sonic had done to him. Hopefully he would never try this sick, twisted plan ever again.

“Please be okay.” Sonic’s voice wavered. “I need to tell you something important. Please. I don’t think I can live without telling you.”

Amy ran over, trying not to listen to what Sonic was saying. No. She had never seen him like this, even when she herself had gotten hurt. Sure, he had done his best to help her whenever she had fallen ill or got hurt, but this brokenness of Sonic… it was not something she had ever seen before.

Nothing broke Sonic. Not until he saw Shadow injured, bleeding onto the pavement.

Amy tried to lift Shadow out of the pool of liquid nitrogen, but as soon as she stepped too near, her boots began to freeze. Sonic stepped into the puddle without fear and lifted the black hedgehog out of the frigid mist. Amy darted her eyes to Sonic in horror at this, since she realized what he was doing to himself when he did this.

Sonic would have burns on his arms.

The liquid had evaporated from Shadow’s body, although his limbs were stiff from the extreme temperatures. Sonic winced in pain as he sat Shadow down on the ground some distance away. Amy ran over as quickly as she could, tears welling up in her eye sockets.

If only she could do something. If only she could be like Sonic and actually do something.

No. She was a little girl, incapable of doing anything without the help of Sonic. All those times she had needed saving, all the times when she was only a “helper” to the team. She felt like the weakest link in Team Sonic, and here was yet another display of that truth. She was only there as support, unable to do anything on her own.

Worthless, she scolded herself.

Sonic’s tears fell faster as he sat Shadow on the ground. Amy thought it was more sadness, although realized it was from pain as he gripped his arms tightly.

Shadow has lost so much blood. Even worse, his skin was completely frozen solid. Amy grinned in terror. How far through had the liquid nitrogen burned Shadow?

Amy tore the packaging from the blankets and carefully draped them over Shadow, her arms quivering. Blood began to seep through the fleece fabric. The smell was starting to become apparent. Amy gagged.

Amy knew with every passing moment Shadow’s chances of survival were becoming slimmer. She wasn’t even sure if he was going to make it out alive.

“Please don’t die.” She heard Sonic’s whisper as he carefully touched Shadow’s hand. “I…”

Amy couldn’t stand herself. She had to do something. Something meaningful.

“It’s going to be okay, Shadow.” She forced herself to say.

Amy allowed her legs to cross under her as she fell to the ground next to Sonic. Her gloved hand barely grazed Shadow’s cheek. SHe wasn’t sure if he could hear her, if he was even conscious or not, but she continued all the same.

“Me and Sonic are here. We’re going to make sure you get to a hospital. You are going to be alright.”

Shadow didn’t respond. It was then she realized that he had entirely stopped breathing.

Eggman’s ship lowered near them, the two-tailed fox climbing down on a rope.

“Eggman abandoned ship and– WHAT HAPPENED?!”

Tails flew down to inspect Shadow. 

Sonic didn’t answer. Amy’s entire body was shaking, although she knew she was the only one strong enough now to answer.

“Shadow… got doused with liquid nitrogen… it’s been some time now…” Her voice sounded a lot more raspy than she was expecting.

It hurt so much to see Shadow in his condition, although it hurt just as bad to see Sonic in his state. He was usually the leader, the one who was strong when no one else could. Now he was broken, unable to speak or react to anything around him.

Why was Sonic so shattered?

Amy knew that Shadow would survive. He had to… he was the Ultimate Lifeform. There was a good chance of Shadow dying, of the world losing him forever.

They boarded the ship. If Shadow did survive, would he ever be the same?

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

Hello guys! Thank you so much for reading my fanfic!

Don’t panic, I am not ending it here. This is simply the end of Season 1. I decided to break the story into parts to make it more manageable for me to write. I also thought it would sound cooler to put “season” into the chapter titles ;)

Anyway, I have a ton of plans for Season 2! You’re free to put ideas, suggestions, and guesses as for what may happen next in the comments! I really love it when you guys comment, it means a lot to me <3

I might take a short break after this, maybe a few days or a week. I’m not entirely sure, it depends on how much of a buffer I have when my previously scheduled stories are done posting. I like having at least five chapters written out that aren’t published yet so that I can change the trajectory of the story if it seems to be going in a weird direction.

I do all my own art. If you’d like to see more of them, I’d be happy to start putting them up with each new chapter :3

Anyway, have a wonderful day! Stay tuned :3