¿Him or Her? {Sonadow}

Chapter Two

__Shadow stood there, unmoving, with his arms crossed as he stared at the blue hedgehog. Something about this hedgehog's bright smile was aggravating him. He didn't like whenever he looked at him like this. It made him feel weird. He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head as he waited for the reply.
__"Am I not allowed to just come and say hi?" The blue hedgehog asked innocently. Even his voice annoyed Shadow.
__"No, you're not," Shadow responded bitterly.
__The blue hedgehog smiled awkwardly and started chuckling. "Figured. But yeah, I do want something. I'm bored and everyone else is busy."
__"What does that have to do with me?" Shadow asked even though he knew where this was going.
__"I wanna race!" The other hedgehog cheered.
__"You always want to race," Shadow pointed out in annoyance. "At least just once challenge me to a chess match."
__"Does that mean you finally don't mind hanging out with me?" The blue hedgehog asked hopefully.
__"No," Shadow shook his head in disappointment. "It means I'm tired of racing against you. If you're going to force me to hang out with you, challenge me to something that's not a race."
__"Aw, come on! You're literally the only person who can catch up with me!" The blue hedgehog whined, but not in a complaining kind of way. "Okay look, just race with me one more time and next time I'll think of something else to bug you about."
__"As great as that sounds," Shadow began sarcastically. "I'm not in the mood for it."
__"You're never in the mood for anything," The blue hedgehog mumbled. He then wrapped his arms under his quills and narrowed his eyes at Shadow. "I never spend much time with you like I do with the others." And I'd like to keep it that way. Shadow thought as he continued. "You of all people should be getting special treatment from me anyway."
__"And why's that?" Shadow asked unenthusiastically.
__"Because your my rival! We're supposed to be showing off who's better, right?"
__Shadow stared hopelessly at the other hedgehog. There was no way of getting him to leave him alone. He sighed in defeat and uncrossed his arms. "All right, fine. One more race. But don't go crying to me when I beat you with no more races to come."
__The blue hedgehog burst out laughing and shook his head. "Yeah right! I'm the one who's winning this last race!"
__"Whatever, Sonic," Shadow muttered. He popped his neck and rolled his shoulders back as he looked away. "Where are we racing then?"
__"Where else? Green Hill Zone!"
__Shadow groaned and motioned with his hand for Sonic to lead the way. Both activated their super-speed and ran for Green Hill Zone. They were there within seconds, of course. Shadow scanned the entire area. There were lots of green grass, waterfalls, and land that somehow formed into perfect loop de loops. He could see and hear the blue birds flying across the sky. After he finished examining, he looked at Sonic and placed one hand on his hip while motioning with the other. "All the badniks are gone, right?"
__Sonic nodded. "Yep! They're long gone."
__"Good." Shadow let both his arms drop and stayed silent as Sonic started talking again.
__"So this race will start here," He pointed to the spot he was standing on before pointing at the very end of Green Hill Zone. "and end all the way over there." Shadow stayed silent. That made Sonic look at him in confusion. "What? Nothing? C'mon, what's up?"
__"Let's just get this over with," Shadow groaned.
__"You're no fun," Sonic grumbled. He started stretching his legs before standing behind the invisible starting line. "Ready?" Shadow slowly walked over to Sonic. He tried keeping a good enough distance between them. As usual, he waited for Sonic's words. "Set go!" And like that, they both ran. They both stayed by each other, even when running up and down the loop de loops. With this being the final race, Shadow actually wanted to make this count. He wasn't going to lose. He got a look at Sonic's face and was confused by how happy he looked. How are you always so joyful? I barely ever see you upset.
__Shadow saw the end of their race course and tried getting past Sonic. But something went wrong. He felt a large jolt from his shoes and tripped over his own feet, digging his face into the dirt. Sonic didn't stop running until he was out of Green Hill Zone. He laughed in victory until he looked back at Shadow. His eyes went wide and he ran back for him. He grabbed his arm and helped him stand, but Shadow immediately pulled his arm away. "I don't need your help."
__Sonic looked at Shadow with concern as Shadow wiped the dirt off of his face. "What happened? You never screw up in a race like that."
__"I don't know." Shadow brought up his right foot and checked under his shoe. He tried activating the jets, but they just kept making sparks until they stopped and only made a hissing sound. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" Shadow growled as he stomped his foot back on the ground.
__Sonic looked down at Shadow's shoes before he looked back at his face. "Let's go see Roter. I'm sure he can fix them."
__Shadow crossed his arms before looking at Sonic. "Wouldn't it be better to have Tails look them over?"
__Sonic shook his head. "Tails is busy catching up with his mother. Roter knows what he's doing. He did teach Tails some techniques when he was a kid." Shadow stayed quiet as he followed after Sonic. This is just great.

__"Go ahead and take them off," A purple walrus said as he set a toolbox on his work bench. Shadow stifled a groan as he slowly removed both of his shoes, revealing his black socks. He handed them over to the walrus and watched him examine the bottom of the shoes.
__"There may be blown fuses in them," The walrus infered. He grinned and leaned on the work bench as he looked at Shadow. "I can have them fixed by tomorrow night."
__"What?" Shadow shook his head. "I have a mission tomorrow in the morning. I need those."
__Sonic narrowed his eyes and smirked. "You don't need them, Shadow. You may not be fast or be able to fly at the moment, but you're still good in a fight regardless."
__"I still need them."
__"All right, Shadow," The walrus opened his tool box and pulled out a few tools. "I'll call Nicole to help me with this. We should be done in the morning then."
__"Thank you, Roter. We'll leave you to it." Sonic sighed and led Shadow out of Roter's lab. He then groaned and crossed his arms as he looked at Shadow. "You need another pair of shoes for today?"
__"No, I can handle walking on sharp glass without socks even," Shadow replied promptly.
__"You sure? I have other pairs of shoes that are your size."
__"I said no."
__"Okay," Sonic uncrossed his arms and placed both of his hands on his hips. "I think it's safe to say that race didn't count."
__"Whatever it takes for you to leave me alone," Shadow muttered before walking away.
__"I'll text you when Roter and Nicole are done!" Sonic called out. But Shadow showed no acknowledgment as he continued walking away. Annoying. Just stop.