Sonic Runaways

Sonic broke out of the stadium and was met with a blinding light. When it faded, he marveled at the sight of a beautiful and colorful alien forest. It didn't look like anything that could have existed on Donpa Kingdom. Still, it felt so… familiar! Launching off of a ramp, he cut through the tree florets and bopped a Cop Speeder bot, causing it to spin out of control and crash into a group of other contestants. "Huh… I've been noticing a lot of Eggbots, but I didn't see any Cop Speeders during the Blue Sphere round. You don't figure Eggman is—?" Sonic mumbled, switching lanes to regroup with Penumbra. "Hey, any sign of Trip? I don't want her to fall behind, but… you know Trip." He let out an exasperated sigh.

"Don't worry about her," Penumbra laughed, shooting webs all over the place. Sonic gave her a distrusting look. "Worry about HIM!" Sonic covered his head as Shadow's rocket skates propelled him through the sky while hanging onto Rouge, dodging Penumbra's webs while Omega rained gunfire down onto the two.

Sonic locked onto the dark hedgehog, reticles appearing in his eyes. "So, Team Dark made it to round two. Don't strain yourself, Peni! Not when I—!" Trip flew in on a rocket leg which blew up in Team Dark's face, knocking them all to the ground. Shadow Drop Dashed ahead of Team Sonic as Trip landed perfectly fine… only to fall on her face seconds later and tumble along.

Rouge lifted her face from the dirt trail. "Shadow, just keep going! You're our best chance at placing at all," she coughed. Omega carried her in one hand as he clanked onward. Shadow bounced out of his Drop Dash and rocket-kicked Sonic in the face. Sonic was sent flying, pinballing up and down and all around from advertising signs and knocking over other racers. Once he hit the ground, he cartwheeled in donuts back to Penumbra's side before regaining his footing.

"Where's Shadow?" Sonic asked. Trip and Penumbra pointed towards the horizon, no Shadow in sight. Sonic smirked, before zooming up ahead.

Sonic ran right through a capsule of some kind, breaking it open and releasing the cyan alien creature inside. "Whoa, you're one of those Wisps, like in Clutch's video…!" Sonic gasped, as it dropped into his hand. The two gazed at each other in equal wonder. It then merged with him and turned him into a laser, multiplying his already incredible speed and sending him blazing through the racetrack.

The Cyan Wisp emerged from Sonic's chest, and left him racing alongside Shadow. "Took you long enough," Shadow spat. Sonic smirked, running backwards ahead of Shadow. "Grrrrrrmhghgh…" Shadow growled, displeased.

"There's no way I'd let you win a race against me! You might have been the fastest around here for a while, but I've been practicing while away," Sonic chuckled at the end. He let one foot hit the grass, before running ahead. Shadow lifted his feet from the ground and took off after him.

"Do you have any idea what we all went through while you were missing?!" Shadow growled, trying not to expend too much energy by shouting. "Where WERE you all these years?"

"Skinnydipping in a robot! How about you?!" Sonic laughed, clashing with Shadow on a half-pipe.

"I was on the frontlines of a war to take back the planet," Shadow told Sonic. "Nobody could find you, they thought INFINITE killed you. I had to pick up your slack, and fight a battle that would've never ended if not for Dodon Pa unifying the scattered factions trying to overthrow the Eggman Empire." Shadow eyed Sonic intensely. "If you had just done your job, EVERYTHING would've been okay."

"Well, it wasn't exactly my decision," Sonic sighed, looking down before Shadow pushed him to the side. Sonic looked up ahead, the finish line was right in front of his eyes. His heart sunk, watching in what felt like slow-motion as Shadow crossed the finish line a hair's length ahead of him. Leaving Sonic in second place.

The crowd went wild, Sonic turning all around as confetti and glitter celebrating Shadow's victory fell all around the blue hedgehog. He held out his hand, catching some confetti. Shadow didn't seem to care, he only glared at Sonic with his arms crossed.

…

"Sonic! We won!" Trip exclaimed. She bounced towards Sonic as she and Penumbra crossed the finish line, following behind many others but still placing somewhere in the middle. Sonic watched the pity points tally up on the monitors. Turns out his team was doing just well enough for themselves to make it to the next round.

"No, we didn't," Sonic growled, crossing his arms. "I don't get it! That should've been a slam dunk. Shadow wouldn't have won if it weren't for—!" Sonic's fingers curled as he watched Shadow bask in his victory. Sonic tried to calm down. That was SHADOW. Shadow was his FRIEND. Shadow… had Tails and Knuckles on his team… Sonic took in a deep breath. "If it weren't for his rocket skates, if it wasn't for him cheating by pushing me, if he was NEVER MADE!"

"Chill out, Sonic, we'll get 'im," Penumbra laughed. Sonic glanced to her, and let go of that breath.

"Yeah," Sonic chuckled. They would get him next time. Sonic would be able to able to show him who's boss in a fair race. Penumbra then shot a rocket at Shadow. Tails, Knuckles, Rouge and Omega were all blasted back. 

Shadow had half off his head and his entire right arm blown off. He lurched forward, spraying everywhere. Sonic watched his body wobble around for a second, then keel over. Sonic was confused as the green blood trickled down his own face. His ears were ringing from the blast. He wasn't sure what happened. Until it hit him.

Sonic screamed, joining Trip and the other teams. Penumbra smiled as she looked down at her handiwork. "Peni? You— you just—!" Sonic stammered, in disbelief. "You're off the team!" Penumbra gasped, facing Sonic. Rouge readied her Pick Nails and slashed at Penumbra, but Sonic pushed the bat back. His mind was racing faster than his body could keep up with. He took deep breaths, he tried to calm down…

But the crowd seemed to love all of it.

"What?" Sonic mumbled, looking around at the raving audience. The cheering and the banners being held sky-high in his team's honor. Dodon Pa lowered from the sky.

"Well, it seems we have our fourth death of this year's Dodon Games," Dodon Pa said, fascinated by the carnage left behind by Penumbra. Wait… fourth? "I don't think anyone expected the Ultimate Lifeform to be killed off so soon, but that's the type of drama you come to the show for." Everybody cleared a path as tanuki paramedics slowly and casually walked in. The cameras focused on Dodon Pa as Shadow was carried out in a net. Rouge screamed, hit the tanukis, cried for her friend. Only for them to run into their ambulance and drive off through the electric gate.

"Shadow! SHADOWW!" She screamed, trying to force herself through the gate.

"Rouge. No," Omega muttered, pulling her away from the gate. His head spun around as he tried to process what had happened. "That was… not the original. It was a fake. Shadow is fine, because… because…"

"The next game is called 'Keep the Flow Going!'" Dodon Pa announced, the cameras zooming in on Rouge as Omega attempted to console her. "And no, that doesn't mean your tears, Shadow fanatics. Remember, these twists are all part of the fun…" Dodon Pa directed the Dodonpapod over to a big bottle of seltzer water. "In this game, teams compete in seltzery, refreshing fun to control the direction the water sprays. Climb to the top of the bottle and render your opponents positively sopping! Hohoho! This one has always been my favorite, if you couldn't tell." Sonic resisted the urge to vomit. He was supposed to play some silly game right after all that?

"I QUIT! YOU SICKOS!" Sonic almost blurted out, before biting his tongue. Shadow's words echoed in his ears. Didn't matter if that was a Shadow Android or not, he had gone through so much during Sonic's absence. Would it be fair for Sonic to give up now? Silver and Dodon Pa himself had mentioned how this competition was working towards the betterment of Erius, hell, the whole universe. Sonic smirked weakly through the blood on his face. He'd avenge Shadow. Shadow was there for the same reason as everyone else. Not for a cash prize, but to make the world a better place!