#switch!maria

Even though she was told by Commander Walters in the beginning to lose the skates while staying at the facility, that didn’t stop her in the moment. She was bored waiting for her friend, what else was she supposed to do? Besides, she knew the facility inside and out by now to know the best places to skate without getting caught.

Maria skidded to a stop around a corner as she heard voices and footsteps approaching. She quickly pulled off her roller skates and hid them behind her bear and other plushies she brought along.

Her face brightened when she saw Shadow, who was being escorted by two other scientists and her grandfather. “Shadow!” she beamed, leaning down to his level and giving him a hug. Shadow smiled, returning the gesture.

“Maria, there you are,” she heard her grandfather say.

“What are you doing out here alone?”

“Just playing,” Maria answered, gesturing to the pile of plush toys on the floor. “Can Shadow play now?”

“Of course he can,” replied Gerald. “Since he did such an excellent job with today’s experiments.” He patted Shadow’s head, who frowned slightly at that.

“Now then, I’ve got to get back to my work.” Gerald turned his attention to the scientists. “Escort them back to Maria’s room, please.” The scientists nodded.

Now back in the comfort of Maria’s blanket fort, she was happy to see her hedgehog bestie again. Except he didn’t reciprocate the feeling back.

Maria’s smile faltered as she noticed her friend biting back a wince. “Shadow, is something wrong? What happened?”

Shadow forced his expression to be neutral. “Nothing…I’m fine.”

“Come on, you know you can tell me anything.” There was no point in trying to hide anything from Maria; she could always tell when he was lying. That was one of the many traits he secretly admired about her.

The black hedgehog sighed. “It was…” He glanced back at the door, as if he was afraid one of the scientists was going to hear. “They wanted to see how far the limits of my chaos energy could reach. So the scientists had me do countless laps nonstop while they monitored me. And if I started to slow down even just a little…” He sighed again, lowering his head. “They’d make me start all over again.”

Maria felt her heart sink. She always hated how the other scientists treated Shadow as nothing more than a guinea pig. At least her grandfather never gave Shadow that same treatment. He, unlike everyone else at the facility, actually saw Shadow as a person and her friend.

“Oh, Shadow, I’m so sorry you had to deal with that.”

“Doesn’t matter,” mumbled Shadow, shifting away from Maria’s hand that was trying to rest on his. He heard her let out a little sigh, and was quickly filled with guilt. He didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. He did want comfort, but his frustration got in the way and made him express it wrongly. “Maria, I’m…I-I’m sorry.” He lowered his ears, bringing his knees to his chest and hiding his face in his arms.

Maria felt like she could tear up at the sight. “Awh, Shadow…” She hovered her hand over his head. “Is it alright if I pet your head?” She heard a soft ‘mhm’ in response so she gingerly began petting his head. She felt Shadow melt at the touch, especially when she softly traced his quills or gently scratched at the soft fur behind his ears.

When he finally uncurled from his moping position, Maria suddenly yanked him into a tight hug while ruffling his head. “Aaah! Hey! What are you doing?!” He didn’t get an answer, but was instead scooped up and twirled around. “Maria! What…are…you…doing?!”

Maria finally put him down, beaming a smile. “Curing you of your sadness! My grandfather always says the best cure for sadness is confusion; if you can distract the other person with something else, they’ll forget why they were sad in the first place. Did it work?”

Shadow couldn’t help but crack a small smile. “Yeah, a little,” he said, trying to fix his messed up fur.

Aww only a little?” Maria pouted. She had to up her game! She hummed in thought before her face brightened. “Ooh, wait! I’ve got an idea!” She stood up, motioning for Shadow to follow.

When they were in the hallway, she led them to the lift where she pulled out a keycard from her pocket that granted them access to the roof. Now Shadow understood what she was up to. She was taking them to the flower fields where she first took them after he had gotten self-conscious from a certain scene in the movie they watched.

Tranquil silence fell between them as the two laid side by side in the soft grass. It was another clear night, and the inky black sky was illuminated by thousands of twinkling stars. Even the Milky Way was fully visible.

The two sat in silence until Maria spoke. “Beautiful night, isn’t it?” Shadow hummed in agreement. “I’m sorry you had to deal with what happened earlier. They shouldn’t have treated you that way.”

“Don’t feel sorry, Maria. It was my own fault for not being able to exceed their expectations.”

“Shadow, that’s not true. They were pressuring you, and setting very high standards for no reason.”

“It was still my fault. If I can’t be strong like they expect me to be, then what’s the point?”

“Shadow…” Maria gently took his gloved hand in hers. “You already are the strongest person I’ve ever known, and that’s not because of your powers. It’s because despite everything, you still choose to have a good heart. You’re so much stronger than you know, Shadow.”

The black hedgehog was touched by her words, but there still was a seed of doubt lingering inside. “I don’t feel so strong all the time,” he quietly admitted.

“Well you are,” Maria insisted. She gave a comforting squeeze to his hand which Shadow reciprocated. “You are to me.”

“Do you…really think so?”

“I know so. You’ve got a good heart, Shadow. Never lose sight of that. And never forget that you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Shadow’s expression faltered. “But what if they’re right? What if I am just nothing more than an unpredictable monster? And I’m just fooling myself thinking I can be anything more than that?”

Maria sat up, gently squeezing both of his hands. “Hey, don’t ever think that, Shadow. No matter what anyone says or thinks, you’ll always be my friend. Remember what I said to you before? You can do or be anything you want to.” She gently tapped his chest. “As long as you follow your heart.”

“Besides,” she added after a moment of silence. “How can a so-called ‘monster’ be a monster if he’s this adorable?” She suddenly cupped Shadow’s face, squishing his cheeks before peppering his face with tiny kisses.

Shadow tried to act annoyed by the sudden affection, but slowly broke into a smile after a few seconds. Soft, breathy chuckles spilled from his lips as Maria yanked him into another crushing bear hug while still smothering his head with kisses.

“Okahahay! Okahay, I gehehet ihihit! Aaah! You’re squeezing too tihihihight!” Now the smothering was getting to him.

Maria giggled, releasing him. “Feel better now?”

Shadow fondly rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Thank you for that, Maria. I really mean it.” He suddenly bit back a wince, touching his side.

“What’s wrong?”

“The endless laps I had to do earlier,” Shadow explained as he carefully tried to massage the knot away. “They wouldn’t give me a break as I kept straining myself to push faster, and—well…I guess I strained myself a bit too much.”

“Oh, Shadow…” Maria reached her hand out.

“I’ll be fine,” the hedgehog assured. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve dealt with worse. This is nothing.”

Maria nodded, but she wasn’t so convinced. She knew how stubborn Shadow could be whenever it came to something like bruises or sore limbs. He was always so opposed to accepting any sort of help, sometimes even from her. She figured Shadow tried putting up a tough act all the time in front of her so she wouldn’t worry about him.

She suddenly got a deviously playful idea as she saw Shadow subtly try to rub his soreness away. She wasn’t sure if this would even work on him, or if he would even allow her to do such a thing, but it was worth a shot. Shadow always made exceptions for Maria whenever she wanted him to do something with her so surely he would make the exception for this.

Plus, he really looked like he could use some extra convincing after filling himself with so much doubt. Would this work on him? Only one way to find out.

Maria let out a fake gasp. “Wait, Shadow, you said you were still feeling sore from earlier?”

“Yes? But I already said I’ll be fine.”

Maria put on her best worrisome act. “We should do a checkup to see if anywhere else might be hurting.”

At the mention of ‘checkup’, Shadow scooted away, wrapping his arms around his torso. Maria immediately regretted her choice of words. “It’s okay, Shadow. I meant: why don’t you let me check you up to see if there’s anything wrong? There might be something serious you don’t even know about!” She tried to keep a straight face, not wanting a smile to give away what she was really planning.

Shadow seemed hesitant at first, but agreed in the end. As much as he wanted to convince his friend and himself that a little sore muscle in his side was nothing to fret, he knew Maria wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Even if he hated checkups in general thanks to the GUN scientists, he knew Maria would never do anything to hurt him. He trusted her more than anyone.

He sighed. “All right, fine.”

“Perfect,” Maria beamed, now letting her smile show. She motioned for him to come closer. “Now then, I’ll examine you from head to toe and my assistant here,” she gestured to her teddy bear sitting next to her that she brought along. “will write down anything unusual so I can right away help you. Okay?”

“All right,” nodded Shadow, playing along.

“Good. And I promise, I’ll be gentle.” Shadow nodded again. “Okay, now hold still…” Maria gently rubbed his head. “Any headaches or soreness?”

“No.”

“Alright.” She moved to his ears, gingerly rubbing them before giving them a playful flick to make them twitch. “Ear reflexes look normal. So far so good.” She tested his eyes, making him follow her index finger waving in his face. She checked his limbs, gently bending his arms and legs at the joint back and forth. She checked his reflexes, tapping his knee with her finger and Shadow humored her by kicking his leg out.

“Woah! Reflexes are more than okay,” she stated with a laugh. “Okay, last part. I gotta check and see if anything else hurts.” Maria reached for his torso. As soon as she squeezed both of his sides, Shadow’s breath suddenly hitched. He curled reflexively, but not from the soreness. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even feel the sore knot in his side anymore. It was something else entirely—something odd. A strange feeling he had never felt before.

Maria noticed this, and at first thought she accidentally hurt him. But after another careful experimental squeeze, she saw the corner of Shadow’s mouth curl as he choked on another grunt. It took every single ounce of willpower to not burst out in an excited squeal. Aaaah! No way! No way!! It works! He’s ticklish!! He’s actually ticklish!

“Shadow? Are you okay?” Maria asked innocently. “Does something hurt here?”

“N-No, I’m fine,” Shadow answered as nonchalantly as possible.

“Hmm, are you sure? You’re all curled up. Here, lemme see…” She squeezed his sides again, this time not letting up.

Shadow emitted a startled sound, choking on air again. Why did these squeezes to his sides make him want to reflexively curl into a ball and…laugh?! What was Maria doing to him?

“W-Wait! Maria..! AAAH!” Shadow’s voice cracked as he let out a high-pitched yelp—which he would forever deny until the end of time. He felt Maria’s small fingers start to poke and tase his sides. Why did he get the feeling that she was doing this on purpose now? “Mari—AH! No waHAhait! Wait!! AAAH!”

“Shadow, will you please uncurl so I can see if something’s wrong?” Maria tried to sound stern, but her smile said otherwise.

“I cAN’t if you keep poking me like thAT! What are you doing?!”

“I’m just trying to make sure my best friend isn’t trying to hide some kind of injury from me. But by the way you’re acting, something tells me you are hiding an injury!”

“I am not!”

“Then let me see!”

Shadow slowly uncurled, and yelped as Maria went for his sides again. “QuIHIHIT it!! You’re doIHINg thihihis on pUrpOHose!”

Maria slowly gasped, pretending to be shocked. “Why Shadow, you wouldn’t happen to be…ticklish, would you?”

“N-No! I—I don’t even know what that means!”

“Well,” Maria began to explain, pulling her hands away. “tickling is when a certain spot on your body is touched in a way that makes you laugh.”

Shadow blinked. He had never felt more confused. Maria giggled at his dumbfounded expression. “What I was just doing to you seconds ago. That’s tickling.”

The black hedgehog glanced down at his side where Maria’s fingers had been mere moments ago. Curious, he squeezed his own side and frowned as nothing happened. Maria giggled at her friend’s innocent attempt. “You can’t tickle yourself, silly. It only works if someone else does it to you.”

“This doesn’t make any sense. How is this even possible?”

Maria shrugged. “I don’t know. And nobody has ever really figured out why. All we know is that it’s a silly way to play around and make you laugh.” She suddenly smirked. “And it looks like it works on you too!”

“What?”

“You! You’re ticklish, Shadow! Ohh, this changes everything!”

Shadow felt his cheeks grow warm, but he didn’t know why. “No, I’m not!”

“Are too!”

“I am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too~!” Maria sang, booping the flustered hedgehog on the nose.

Shadow huffed, lowering his ears. “No. I’m. Not!!”

Maria was unfazed by his outburst. “Alright then, Mr. Ultimate Lifeform. You wanna keep denying the obvious? I’ll prove it to you! Lift up your arms.”

Shadow didn’t like where this was going. He hugged himself tightly. “No way!”

“What, are you scaaaared~?”

“I’m not scared of anything!”

“Then lift your arms up.” Shadow reluctantly obeyed, slowly raising his arms above his head. “Now, keep your arms up no matter what.” Shadow’s eyes widened as Maria’s fingers slowly moved closer. He felt something bubbling in his chest: fear but also…excitement?! He brushed it off as just adrenaline. After all, having his arms raised like this left vital spots vulnerable. So yes, it was just adrenaline and nothing more.

Maria wasn’t making this any easier as she slowly, painfully inched her wiggling fingers closer, smirking like a pint-sized villain. And for some reason, the anticipation was maddening! Shadow had never felt this much panicky anticipation. Not even the times where he anticipated grueling tests and experiments the night before.

This was nothing like that. As much as his body panicked, his mind told him nothing serious was going to hurt him. He could feel the corners of his mouth trying to tug upwards. A strange feeling was bubbling and growing in his chest: the urge to laugh.

Finally, Maria’s fingers touched down. She placed her fingertips on his forearms, before softly and slowly tracing down his arms. The closer her fingers got to his exposed underarms, the stronger the urge to laugh became.

Shadow bit his lip, refusing to let any emotion show. His arms trembled as he struggled to keep them up. His instincts were shouting for him to yank his arms down. He couldn’t take the anticipation anymore!

He let out a muffled yelp as Maria rested her fingertips against his underarms. Shadow couldn’t fight his instincts anymore.

“Shadow, keep your arms up!” Maria playfully scolded. When Shadow couldn’t lift his arms back up more than an inch, Maria went ahead and pushed his arms up all the way. Without wasting another second, her fingers plunged down to wiggle and scratch rapidly against the exposed underarms.

Shadow, unable to keep it together, let the dam break as loud laughs poured out of him. “AAAH! MarIAHAHAHA! NOHOHO!” Reflexively, he slammed his arms down to his sides, only to trap Maria’s still wiggling fingers. “NO! NOHOHOHO!! DOHOHOHON’T!!”

“Don’t what?”

“S-STOHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Stop what?”

“AAAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHO!!”

Maria couldn’t help but laugh alongside her friend’s screechy reactions. “You keep saying ‘no’ Shadow, but you’re not telling me what specifically!”

For some reason, the teasing tone in Maria’s voice made Shadow’s cheeks flush even more. His stomach was bubbling with a maddening fluttery sensation that felt like he swallowed a swarm of live butterflies. How was that even possible?!

Quickly losing balance, Shadow flopped onto his back against the grass. “Ooh, making things easier for me by lying down?” he heard Maria say. “I mean, you already lost trying to keep your arms up. But if you wanted me to keep tickling you, Shadow, you could’ve just told me!”

“WhAHAHAT?! NoHAHAHAO!!”

Shadow kicked and rapidly squirmed against the grass. His arms were glued to his sides, and Maria’s fingers somehow were still able to move. As if that wasn’t bad enough, now that he was laying down, Maria suddenly switched tactics. Now, she moved her hands to his ribs, where her devious fingers poked and kneaded at his ribcage.

“WaHAHAHAIT MAHAHARIA!!”

Ignoring his protest, Maria got another wicked idea. She halted her playful assault for a moment. “Hey, Shadow? How many ribs do you have?”

“W-Whahat..?” The hedgehog gasped out, sitting up.

“Does being the ultimate lifeform make you have an extra or less set of ribs?”

“I…I have the same as you. Twenty-four; twelve on each side.”

“Hmm…I better check to make sure.”

“What?!”

Maria faked concern again. “I gotta make sure you’re not missing any! What if one of them came loose from all those laps you did earlier?”

“N-Nothihing came loose!” Shadow answered with a wobbly smile. He was trying so hard not to laugh, to no avail. Even worse, he couldn’t even activate his chaos energy to get out of this flustering situation. In any other scenario, he could have easily teleported out of there, but he needed to concentrate in order to activate his power. And right now, his brain couldn’t concentrate on anything else but the anticipation and tickly sensations.

“Mariahaha, nohohoho!” Shadow couldn’t hold back the anticipatory giggles as Maria slowly inched her wiggling fingers closer to his torso.

Flopping on his back again, Shadow tried to roll away from his villainous friend. Maria quickly reached out, swiftly yanking him back by his sides into her lap.

Now feeling more vulnerable than ever, Shadow frantically tried to squirm free. No luck—why was his super strength sucked out of him when he really needed it the most?!

“Shadow…the more you try to get away, the longer I’m going to tickle youuu~!”

Shadow batted her hands like an angry kitten. “Stohohop tahahalking to me like thahahahat!”

“Like whaaaaat~?”

“Juhust stohoh—AAAH!”

Shadow yelped as his left wrist was yanked upwards. Before he could protest, he shrieked as Maria began kneading his lowest rib.

“Okay, oneee…”

“NAHAHAHAHAO!!”

“Twoooo…”

“STA—STAHAHAHAAAAP!!”

“Threeee…Shadow, hold still! You’re going to make me lose count!”

Maria was having a ball teasing her friend this way. Who knew the ultimate lifeform was so ticklish and susceptible to baby talk?

And Shadow? His ears were pressed flat at how embarrassed the tickles were making him, especially the silly feeling of being cradled in someone’s lap. Even his tail was betraying him; he could feel it wagging behind his back. He just hoped Maria didn’t notice.

She did. But she didn’t say anything as she knew her friend would feel embarrassed if she pointed it out. So she just continued kneading at Shadow’s ribs, slowly moving to the next one and enjoying hearing the stoic hedgehog squeal uncharacteristically.

The higher she got, the louder and more frantic Shadow’s laughter became. When she managed to get to his sixth rib, she paused. “Hmm…aw man, I lost count. Guess we’ll have to start over.”

Shadow’s eyes widened. “What?! N-No you don’t! You were at six!!”

“Was I? I don’t know, it’s just so hard to remember with you squirming around and trying to push my hands away. Oh well~!”

“Mariaha, I swear…if you try ihit again, I’ll—NAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!

Maria cut him by digging all her fingers against Shadow’s ribcage, vibrating rapidly. “Sorry, whaddya say?”

“MAHARIAAAAHAHAHAHA!!”

“I’m right here, Shadow. No need to yell.”

Ohh the teasing. Somehow, it made everything so much worse. As much as Shadow was losing it, he also didn’t want to accidentally hurt his friend with all his squirming and kicking.

Maria, of course, took advantage of him not fighting back. She moved her hands around, tickling every spot she could possibly reach.

When her fingers scribbled down to his belly, Shadow arched his back with a loud squeal. He managed to roll out of Maria’s lap, and immediately covered his mouth with his gloved hands. He couldn’t believe he was capable of making a sound so high-pitched like that. So embarrassing!

“Oh my—hahaha! Shadow!” Maria doubled over in giggles. “That was soooo cute! I didn’t know you could squeal like that! I guess I found a really good tickle spot! No, wait—the Ultimate Tickle Spot!”

Shadow could feel his entire face burn crimson by that statement. His ears pressed flat as he huffed, pretending to act all nonchalant. “N-No that’s—that’s not—whatever! That’s ridiculous to say! And not true!”

“Uh-huuuhhh…Don’t worry, Shadow. I won’t tell anyone. My lips are sealed!”

“There’s nothing to tell anyone!” Shadow objected.

“What, that you screech so adorably loud when I tickle you riiiiight…here?” Maria quickly reached out to scratch at his furry tummy again. Shadow flinched away with another loud squeal, falling on his back again. “Awww!! See? I wonder if any of the other scientists have found out about this? Oooh, what if they do?! Then you’d be in reeeal trouble, Shadow!”

Even though he knew Maria was just teasing, the thought of having this embarrassing secret be discovered by the GUN scientists made Shadow genuinely panic. What if she was right? Nobody would ever let him live it down or take him seriously for the rest of his life. And the Professor…what would he even do if he found out the ultimate lifeform was secretly ticklish? He’d rather get disintegrated by his own chaos energy than letting that happen.

He snapped out of his thoughts with a little gasp as Maria pulled him back into her lap again. Now cradled and facing her again, Shadow frowned. “You better not mention this to anyone.”

Maria smiled. “Don’t worry, your cute secret’s safe with me.” She playfully booped Shadow’s tummy, who squeaked at that before trying to cover it up with a cough.

“I mean it, Maria!” The black hedgehog’s ears lowered. “If anyone finds out about this offensive tactic because of you, I’ll…I’ll steal your roller skates! And never give them back.”

Maria let out a long dramatic gasp, half-pretending to be greatly appalled by that threat. “Threatening the second thing I love most? First one being you, of course.” She lowered her tone to sound icy. “But my roller skates? Stealing my skates..?”

Shadow was worried for a split second if he had accidentally made Maria legitimately angry. Now he really regretted his choice of words. He could feel a cold chill run down his spine at his friend—his normally sweet and bubbly—friend’s tone, and the way she tightened her grip.

What he didn’t expect was to burst into hysterics as Maria ruthlessly tickled him. She furiously dug one hand into his belly while the other was shoved under his arm. And this time, she wasn’t playing nice anymore. No matter which way he squirmed, her fingers kept tickling and he couldn’t break free.

“NAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!! MARIAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!! WAHAHAIT, PLEAHEEHEEHEEHEASE!! I-I’M SO-HAHAHAHAAAA!! I’M SORRY!!”

“I’m sorry, too, Shadow,” Maria said with faux sympathy. “I’m sorry that I do not accept your apology!”

“WHAHAHAHAT?! YOU—YOU CAHAHAN’T DO THA—HAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!” Maria cut him off by using both hands to furiously tickle his belly. “NOHAAAAEEEEEEEHEHEHAAAAAA!! NAHAHAHO, PLEAHEEHEEHEEEEEASE!! NAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHERE!! IHIHI’M REAHEEHEEHEALLY SOHOHORRY!! AAAAHAHAHA!! I DIHIHIHIDN’T MEAN IHIHIHIT!!

Shadow frantically batted at Maria’s scribbling hands, trying to push them anywhere else but his stomach. But that proved to be a mistake, as Maria switched from tickling his belly to his underarms, down to his ribs, then back to his belly, over and over so he couldn’t get used to the tickly feeling.

Eight seconds later, Shadow was starting to lose it. Maria was wielding a very evil duo attack: she had one hand softly fluttering behind his back (he had no idea he was even ticklish there, either. How many tickle spots did he have?!) while the other scribbled the center of his tummy. Having two spots targeted simultaneously made his body confused; he didn’t know if he should arch away or curl inward.

Even though Maria had softened up her touch, that wasn’t the bad part. It was the awful teasing words she was cooing in his ear that made him want to combust. “Tickle tickle, Shadow~! Who’s a ticklish wittle baby hedgehog? It’s youuu~! Aww, you’re trying so hard to get away, but you can’t! Aww, does that fluster you? Me saying the word ‘tickle’? How about…tickletickletickletickle!! Tickle tickle tickle! Tiiiickle tickle tickleeee~!”

Shadow felt like he was going to burst into flames. That evil baby talk was going to be the death of him! Tickly shocks plagued his entire body.

“M-MARIAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!! C’MOHAHAHAHAHON, PLEAHEEHEEHEEHEASE!! AHAHAHAHAHA!! I’M REAHEEHEEALLY SORRY!! IHIHIHI’LL DO ANYTHIHIHIHIHING, JUHUHUST STAAAAHAHAHAHAHAP!! NOHO MOHOHOHORE!!”

Maria finally showed mercy and ceased her tickling. “Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. You apologize for doubting yourself and for threatening to steal my skates, and then you promise you’ll never doubt yourself ever again because you’re Shadow the Hedgehog. And Shadow the Hedgehog is amazing and awesome at everything he does.”

Shadow weakly nodded with a soft eye roll. “Fihihine…” Just as he was about to open his mouth to say the required words, his eyes widened at Maria hovering her wiggling fingers over him like tickling crane claws. “Mariahaha, nohohoho! I cahahahan’t say ihihit if you’re doing thahahahat!”

“This is to make sure you’re serious about your promise and the things you say,” she smirked. “Go on and say it. If you don’t, I’ll have to tickle you again~!”

Shadow curled in the fetal position. “NOHOHO! You better nohohohot!”

“Then say it!”

“Okay, okahahay!” Shadow tried to get the words out, but Maria’s teasing fingers weren’t helping. They kept inching closer, slowly wiggling towards his stomach or making pinching motions towards his ribs, before pulling away at the last second.

And poor Shadow was consumed with anticipatory giggles that wouldn’t let him get a single word out. “Maria, that’s cheaheeheeheating! You cahahan’t do thahat!”

“Shadow, you have thirty seconds before I tickle you to death.”

“NO! Okay, fihihine!” Shadow breathed a giggly sigh. He tried to fix his gaze on Maria’s eyes instead of her teasing fingers. “Maria, I’m sohohorry for doubting myself…and threatening to steal your skates. I promihihise I won’t ever doubt myself again. There, I said it.”

“And?” she pressed. When Shadow didn’t want to say, she gave him a few quick side tases.

“AAAH! OkAHAhahay! And! Because…” He sighed. “I’m Shadow the Hedgehog, and Shadow the Hedgehog is amazing and awesome at everything he does.”

Maria smiled in satisfaction. She pulled her claw hands away, and gave Shadow gentle rubs to the head. “I accept your apology. And your promise.” She gave him a hug. “Now was that so hard to do?”

Shadow scoffed. “Very.”

“But don’t you feel better?”

“…Yeah. Thank you, Maria…really. You always know how to help me feel better. I really don’t know what I’d do without you. Thank you again for everything.”

The two embraced in a warm hug. When they finally broke, Shadow gave her a stern look. “Don’t think I won’t try and get revenge for your little stunt you pulled today.”

Maria laughed, not taking the hint. “Oh, Shadow. No you wouldn’t. You love me too much as a friend. C’mon, let’s head back.” She suddenly yawned. “I’m getting tired.”

Shadow nodded, softening his expression. “Of course. Here,” he took her hand. “No need to walk all the way back.” He activated his chaos energy, and teleported them back to Maria's room. She invited Shadow to stay and sleep together in the blanket fort, which he happily accepted.

Once they were nestled under the blankets, Shadow decided to enact his revenge. No way was he going to let her get away with tickling the ultimate lifeform. Very carefully, he slid his hand under the blanket. When his fingers found Maria’s side, he started gently squeezing.

Maria squeaked and burst into giggles. “Shahahahadow! EEEEheeheeheehee!”

Now it was Shadow’s turn to smirk. “Did you really think I wasn’t going to get back at you after what you did to me?”

“I don’t knohohow! Mahahaybe? EEEEEHEEEK!! Shahahadow, wAHAHAhahait!!” Maria squealed and giggled louder as the hedgehog delivered rapid pokes up and down her ribs. She batted at his hand, and tried curling on her side.

“Oh, did I miss a spot here?” Shadow pointed out as he poked her other side of ribs. He smiled as he heard her bright giggles.

Maria tried shielding herself by pulling her blanket over her head.

“Trying to evade my revenge will only make things worse!” Shadow declared, yanking the blanket off of her. Maria squealed in surprise, opting to hug her torso for protection. She turned her back to the hedgehog.

“Do you really think that’s going to stop me?” Shadow playfully remarked, raising an amused eyebrow. He was surprised Maria wasn’t putting in a lot of effort to try and stop him, like he did with her. He figured maybe this was just something she secretly liked.

Shadow gently traced imaginary lines up and down the girl’s spine, eliciting more high-pitched giggles. She simply covered her mouth with both hands, and twitched at the soft touch but didn’t try to move away.

Shadow took that as his cue to continue. Time to turn the tables. “Hey, Maria, remember that rhyming chant you always liked to use to mess with me? Well, let’s see if it works on you, too!” He traced another set of parallel lines down her spine. “Let’s see, line line, spider crawling up your spine…” his gloved hand switched to a scribbly claw. “Pat pat…” He gently patted her shoulder blades before…

“Heart attack!” Shadow suddenly reached out to tase Maria’s sides.

Maria squealed loudly and shrieked laughter as the tases didn’t stop. “EEEEEK!! ShAHAHAdow! AAAheeheehahaha!! WAHAhahait, noho faHAHAhair!! I’m only supposed to do th—AAAH! Thahahat to you!!”

“Well, now I’m doing it to you!” The snarky hedgehog pointed out. “This is what you get for pulling all your devious stunts on me!”

Instead of letting her answer, Shadow decided to be mean and slipped his hand under her pajama shirt, gently digging into her belly the same way she’d done with him. The reaction was priceless; Maria screeched and flailed as if she was being electrocuted, but that didn’t deter Shadow.

“SHAHAHAHAHDOW!! AAAAAHEHEHEHAHAHAHAAAA!! WAHAHAHAIT THAT REALLY—EEEEEEHEEHEEHEE!! TIHIHIHICKLES!! EEEEEEEEEK!! NAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Maria’s flailing arm suddenly smacked Shadow on the head. He ducked as her elbow almost collided with his jaw. He decided to turn the tables one last time by slipping his free hand behind her to scribble her back while still fluttering his other against her belly.

“EEEEEEHEEHEEEHEAAAAHAHAHA!! HEHEHEHEY, NO FAHAHAHAHAIR!!”

Shadow kept tickling the girl for a few more seconds before her laughter turned silent. He stopped immediately, suddenly concerned. “Maria? Are you okay?” He shook her shoulder. “Did I go too far?”

Maria shook her head as she panted, her cheeks dusted a pink hue. She sat up, coughing between pants.

Shadow became very worried, guilt washing over him. “I’m sorry, I should have stopped.”

“Shadow, it’s okay,” Maria insisted once she caught her breath. “I’m okay, really. I was just laughing really hard.” She giggled, adjusting her shirt. “You really got me good back there. But I’m fine, I promise.”

She smiled reassuringly, which Shadow felt relieved for. He didn’t want to accidentally tire her out too quickly, even if she half-deserved it. “Just…don’t try that on me again, or else I won’t be so merciful next time,” he told her.

Maria laughed it off, completely unfazed by his little threat. “No promises. I’ve never heard you laugh before, Shadow. But it was so cute! And I never knew you were ticklish, either. But I am so gonna tickle you now every chance I get!” She waggled her eyebrows cheekily. “Maybe that’ll teach you not to be so pouty all the time!”

Shadow’s mouth dropped agape, but he recovered in the next second. “Try it, and I’ll make you sorry you ever did.”

“Oooh, soooo scary.”

“You should be. You just never learn, do you?”

“Nope!”

Shadow shook his head with a faint smile. “We better get to sleep. It’s not healthy to stay up so late.”

Maria was about to protest when a yawn interrupted her. Giving up with a tired sigh, she snuggled under the blankets again. Shadow adjusted the blanket for her, making sure she was covered before handing Maria her bear that was discarded off to the side during all her tickly induced flailing.

Maria sleepily smiled and cuddled her plush bear close. Then, Shadow slid under the blanket next to her. Once comfy, he faced his friend who was almost asleep.

“Good night, Maria. Sweet dreams.”

Maria reached out to pet Shadow’s head. “Good night, Shadow,” she sleepily replied, eyes barely open. “Sweet dreams and sleep tight.”

Shadow smiled warmly, and gently petted her head in return. The soft glow of the fairy lights hanging above combined with the warmth of the fuzzy blankets and pillows quickly lulled Shadow into a peaceful sleep. So much better than sleepless nights floating in a giant test tube.

The two friends slept blissfully together, protected in the safe space of their blanket fort. And for the first time since Maria had discovered him in the lab, Shadow slept tranquil enough to not have any nightmares or doubting thoughts. Nothing could harm him as long as they had each other.