Chapter Text
“Shadow, do you mind if I take some of the mugs?” Rouge called from the kitchen.
Shadow looked up from setting down a new vinyl on his record player. “Yeah, go for it.” Soft bass lines began playing as he set down the needle.
“Thanks, I don’t know why Knuckles only drinks energy drinks or protein shakes. Coffee? Tea? Never heard of them.”
Boxes littered the apartment floor, alongside numerous items precariously wrapped in newspaper and bubble wrap. Thank goodness Rouge had taken the better part of a month slowly taking her wardrobe over to her boyfriend’s. After five long years of living with Shadow, Rouge was finally moving out to live with her boyfriend of two years, Knuckles. Shadow would be lying if he said he wouldn’t miss their current living situation. He met Rouge when she got hired at his job, the two quickly realizing they were in the same boat of needing a roommate. It was easy for him to only have to deal with one person day in and day out.
“I’m gonna have my work cut out for me, I’m telling you. I have a whole bachelor pad to transform. You know how much I had to pull teeth to get curtains put in instead of blinds?! Oh, and now he fucking loves them.” Despite Rouge’s words, she was smiling fondly at the thought of her significant other. Shadow could not understand how one could enjoy constant banter with their partner. Then again, it wasn’t like he’d ever really dated much, and Rouge had a very different personality from his own.
“Take what you want, and let me know if you need help installing anything down the line.” Shadow sat down on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. He took a sip of his cola soda before switching on the TV.
“And in recent news, up-and-coming hero ‘Gold Rush’ has once again saved Green Hill from certain destruction as he battled a team of villains who attempted to flood the island nation.”
The screen flashed to showcase a familiar gold blur flashing across the screen to punch a green hawk. Shadow glanced across the room to see if Rouge was occupied before attempting to casually turn up the volume.
“We had the opportunity for a brief interview with the speedster,” the announcer said.
Gold Rush appeared on screen, green palm trees and a sandy beach behind him. He was grinning ear to ear and doing a peace sign when the interviewer chimed, “Gold Rush, you always seem to save the day just in the nick of time— what’s your secret?”
“Well, Rudy, and viewers at home,” the golden male winked at the screen. Shadow rolled his eyes. “I’m always keeping an eye out for evil doers, and always keeping an ear out for anyone who cries for help. Those of you who need a hero- I’ll be there.” The hero finished with his signature finger guns. Shadow rolled his eyes.
“So inspirational and so humble. The heroes of the big cities could take a hint from this small town hero’s spirit!” The interviewer teared up.
Gold Rush’s ears flicked in the background, and he smiled awkwardly at the camera. “Well, duty calls. Gotta go fast!” Those were his last words before a familiar zing noise sounded through the speakers and he zipped away.
The Central City news channel’s logo flashed across the screen before the announcer continued with some story about the recent mayor election.
Shadow tuned out the rest of the program, flipping channels through old cable movies and cooking shows.
“You still crushing on that new guy, Red?”
Shadow spat out his cola. He fucking forgot Rouge was still there, and of course being perceptive, she noticed any slight interest he had in something. While Shadow was quiet and intimidating to most people, he was obvious as hell to Rouge.
“I was just watching the news,” he glanced off to the side, his ears dropping.
“Sure, sure, and you just happen to have a hefty file on him at work for ‘research purposes’. Shadow, you’re lucky Robotnik leaves us to our own devices most of the time,” Rouge laughed.
Shadow frowned, a familiar warm feeling taking over his face.
Yes, he was a villain’s assistant, with a slight— totally normal— interest in a new hero. It was part of his job to know the competition.
Rouge held up a purple vase. “Can I have this?”
“Sure, whatever,” Shadow grumbled. The record player played some needy rock song about longing, and Shadow wanted to pour the rest of his soda over it.
“I’m calling it a night.”
“Alright, make sure you post the roommate listing. I’ll be out of here in a week, and it’s not that easy finding people these days.”
Shadow grunted, social battery depleted for the day. Upon entering his room, he face-planted on the bed and cringed at the quilt tugging on his ear piercings. Pulling out his phone, he looked at Robotnik’s work group chat.
‘Be in tomorrow at 8am. I have an ingenious plan that needs to be actioned right away.’
Shadow looked up at the time on his phone. 12:39am. Fuck.
—
Sonic was late. I mean, he usually did alright with most things. No one cares much if you’re a half hour late to study sessions and coffee dates. Kid brother’s graduation though? Not good. Tails was gonna kill him.
His skateboard skirted around a sharp corner, and Sonic grabbed onto a lamppost to prevent crashing out on the street. His hand burned from the speed he swung around the metal.
This time it was really not his fault. He told his boss two months ago that he had to clock out early today. But, of course, two of his coworkers called in sick and lunch rush was fucking insane. Why are people eating diner food at 2pm on a Thursday?! Then, of course, there’s that age old phrase from any retail boss. “We really need you to stay today.”
“I can’t. I have to go to my brother’s graduation.”
“Sonic,” the balding man placed his hands on blue clad shoulders. “I would completely understand and wouldn’t ask this of you if it was your graduation. But you’re going as a guest. I’m sure the whole first hour is going to be droning speeches, and you don’t need to see the first round of kids walk the stage.”
Sonic shuffled uncomfortably, looking around at the packed diner. There weren’t even enough cooks for fast turnout, so tips were unlikely.
“Come on, where’s that Meh Burger spirit? You’ve been here the longest, Sonic. I was really thinking fondly of you for any promotions opening up.”
Fuck, he couldn’t lie that he needed the money. Tails’s scholarship wasn’t gonna cover everything.
“Fine,” Sonic sighed reluctantly.
“Perfect,” his boss clapped his hands, “You can head out as soon as the rush dies out.”
Flash forward two fucking hours later, and Sonic’s phone has been blowing up with texts from Tails.
“Meh burger spirit?! I fucking run to work from Green Hills! No one commutes from an island for a food service job!”
His tires screeched as he halted at the stairs in front of the school entrance. Thank god there were papers taped up around the walls leading him to the ceremony. He burst through the back doors of the atrium, and families turned around to raise brows at his entrance. He must look a low-life, heaving breaths in, hands touching his bare knees through his ripped jeans. His blue locks are a mess, and his forehead and torso are drenched in sweat.
“Congratulations, Miles Prower,” Sonic heard the words and looked up. Things seem to move in slow motion as he let in a loud gasp of air, stood straight, moved his fingers to his lips, and let out the loudest whistle from the back of the room. Amongst all the polite claps and joyous cheers, Sonic’s following whoops were the loudest. People raised more brows, but Tails’s eyes met his, and while he would usually sheepishly smile at the attention, when he saw Sonic, all he did is laugh and grin all the way up to his eyes.
The ceremony ended with all the grads throwing their hats up into the air as some new inspirational radio hit played in the background. Sonic managed to find a spare fold out chair at some point and sat himself down next to a young girl who was fascinated with his skateboard. His phone buzzed and he sees a text from Tails.
‘Glad you made it. Meet in the parking lot to take photos?’
Sonic sends a thumbs up emoji and made his way to the side exit. He spotted Tails chatting with some of his friends as they took selfies in their gowns. He ran up to him a little faster than most people would deem normal, and tackled him in a hug. Tails let out a laugh.
“Sonic!”
“I’m so proud of you. You did amazing!”
“All I did was walk across the stage,” Tails chuckled.
“Yes, but it was a good walk!” Sonic urged. They both know he meant so much more by the words, though. Tails was a prodigy at his school, and in the district. Even in Green Hills middle school, his teachers convinced Sonic to send the kid to Central City for high school, claiming there would be far more resources for Tails’s talents to flourish. Now, here he was, captain of the robotics and physics clubs, with a GPA that’s flawless, and a full ride scholarship to Empire University. Sonic was beaming with joy.
The rest of the night consisted of them taking photos and fun videos. Tails kickflipped and skated the handrail of the staircase on Sonic’s board, while Sonic filmed it. The bus ride home had them editing music and filters on the videos while laughing. Sonic posted one on his Mobiangram story that had rock music, Tails edited with black sunglasses, and the caption “2 kool 4 skool” in sparkly green letters. The next photo he posted was a selfie of him and Tails with a more heartfelt caption. ‘So proud of this kid, Happy Graduation! @milestailsprower’. He gets a few likes and responses right away from his friends and coworkers.
They get off at Tails’s favourite pizza place, which just happens to be next to Sonic’s favourite arcade. “Hey Ralph, give me a uhhh large pepperoni, and get me some banana peppers on the side for my baby bro here.”
Ralph nodded with a smile and punched in the transaction. Sonic passed him 30 bucks for the food and a pretty decent tip. Hey, he may be a broke part timer, but he respects people in his same industry. Plus, Tails and him have been coming to this place ever since they started residing more in the city. They make a mean pie.
The pizza comes out hot and the boys eat right out of the box. The cheese pull was insane and Sonic could feel his mouth watering.
“I saw your news interview earlier today. It’s going pretty viral on Birdy.”
Pause.
Right.
Sonic still forgets himself sometimes. He wasn’t just Sonic the waiter, or Sonic from Green Hills, or even Sonic: Tails’s older brother. He was also Gold Rush— incredibly powerful superhero who’s taking the world by storm. Don’t get him wrong, he loved being a hero. It’s just, some days, he missed it just being him and Tails with their quiet life. That is about to change, though, with Tails going out of state for college.
Sonic should really be focusing in on this hero thing. It’s probably got more money in it down the line than his current job, if he gets a sponsorship or something. Maybe he could be the face of those energy drinks Knuckles likes so much. ‘Drink PowerPunch and battle villainy just like me.’ Okay, they probably have marketing people who can come up with better shit than that, but still.
“Yeah, there’s been a few news crews that frequent Green Hills more now cause they know it’s my home base. Not only that, some hero vloggers have been stopping by, which has been great for tourism on the island.”
“That’s good. Not a lotta city people go out that way, since it’s too nearby to be ‘an exotic vacation’.”
“Yeah, it’ll be good. I am thinking of hitting up some of the Central City big bads’ soon, though.”
Tails grinned. “That’ll be cool. If you’re gonna go toe to toe with Eggman, I can definitely help out remotely. His tech all has the same base code, so it’s not that tough to hack.”
“Yeah. Time to make the big hero debut and all that,” Sonic chuckled nervously.
Tails rested his hand on Sonic’s shoulder. Big blue eyes stared at him. “Hey, you’re gonna be great at this. I know it.”
Sonic relaxed. “Yeah, thanks. It’s just all so new.”
Sonic always had powers… just not really super powers. He was always fast— topped in district track competitions and was offered a few college acceptance letters because of it. See, powers are decently common. Tails has his intelligence, Sonic has his speed, Knuckles has his strength. But, if you want to make it as a super, you really gotta be powerful, or you’re gonna get your ass handed to you. Sonic stands a decent chance on a good day anyways, but when he’s touched one of those emeralds Tails found a while back, oooh boy. That power is a rush. It’s blissful and addictive and he feels like he could do anything.
He’s talked about it with Amy before. She’s one of the only supers he knows in and out of costume. Amy was powerful naturally— she’s got bravery and strength. She’s told him more of the same: “The feeling of saving people, protecting the place you grew up in— there’s nothing quite like it.” Sue him, though, Sonic had a bit of imposter syndrome. He can only compete with the big names out there because of the emeralds, and their power is temporary. Thank goodness Tails made him a watch that tells him when he’s about to power down.
Sonic shook off the thoughts and stole a pepper from Tails. “Hey! You don’t even like those!”
Sonic’s sour face confirmed the statement. “No, they’re decent.”
“Stop lying, you just wanna steal my food.”
They both laughed and finished eating. They hopped next door and played arcade games for the next few hours. Tails beat Sonic at skee-ball, and Sonic beat Tails at some off-brand DDR. They both ended the night playing Taiko, Tails playing seriously and Sonic tapping the drums at random.
“I’ll be right back,” Sonic said, and headed to the back prize table. He’d been saving since he got here, and even though he had enough points two months ago, he waited until today to cash them. He grinned at the teenage worker who has a bit of an emo look to him. “That one, please.” 20,500 points. Two years of saving. He probably could’ve just bought them at that point, but where’s the fun in that?
Heading back to Tails, who was trying his best at the claw machine, Sonic leaned against the machine’s glass and pulled out the wooden box from his pocket. “Happy Graduation.”
Tails glanced over, then double takes. “Ohmygod.” Pause, then, “Sonic!! You didn’t!”
“I did,” Sonic stated simply.
Tails took the box gleefully and slid it open. Inside were resin yellow and blue DND dice that gleamed with glitter flakes. Tails made a noise that sounds like a happy bird. He’d been eyeing them since the arcade stocked them 6 months ago. Sonic had to admit, they’re pretty cool.
“Thank you,” Tails exclaimed, and hugged Sonic tightly.
There was nothing more perfect than this moment. Yeah, Sonic’s average life was pretty awesome.