#Tails flew for the first time ever because of Sonic!

[000marie198]

Lemme reblog this with my additional tags

ROUND TWO!

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

Happy birthday, Tails!

"Fevers Can't Ruin Birthdays"

based on this post by @niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian :)

AO3 version

Sonic didn’t have to be a genius to know that Tails had never had someone celebrate his birthday before they’d met. The kid had been the littlest outcast there ever was, for the dumbest of reasons. He’d been shunned and abused for what Sonic in all seriousness considered to be one of the coolest things about him— his extra tail that let him fly. On top of that, Tails was an absolute genius.

Too bad Sonic had to be the first one in the entire world to notice all this. Or maybe not so bad, because that meant he got to keep him. Which was quite possibly the best thing that had ever happened to him.

They’d been with each other for years now. Things were familiar between them. Familial terms flew from both their mouths in reference to each other all the time without hesitation. Tails had grown so much and now had a level of sass that rivaled Sonic’s. And now the kit was approaching his tenth birthday.

Sure, Sonic had made plenty of efforts in past years to celebrate his little brother. He’d thrown parties, bought out hardware shops in the hopes that whatever he brought would be useful to Tails, and even once made a horrendous attempt at making a birthday cake. (He hadn’t tried again since that first time, although Tails had at least appreciated the thought.)

But this year? This year was extra special somehow. Not only was Tails finally entering double-digits, it was going to be his first birthday after coming back from his extended time of solo adventuring. His “going it alone,” as he’d told Sonic he’d wanted to do back on Starfall Islands.

Sonic had missed him to no end during that time, although they’d still texted most days. Now, Tails had been back for a few weeks. He hadn’t said a word about his upcoming day, but there was no way Sonic would ever forget it.

He’d made plans, alright. Conspired with Knuckles and Amy, Vanilla and Cream, the Chaotix, even Silver and Blaze (though that had been a bit of a challenge). He’d convinced Tails to head out to one of his live-in labs that was closest to all of their friends, to make it easier for them all to come together. He’d spent an entire week shopping (with help from Amy), looking for anything that Tails would even potentially like. Mechanical stuff, computer stuff, bags of mints, lego sets the size of a dining table, video games, a collection of tiny metal airplanes he found at a thrift store, etc.

He had the entire day planned out (which was something that he usually never did). He’d hidden the giant assortment of gifts in a bunch of random secret places and connected them all with strings (although the arts and crafts store had been pretty ticked that he’d bought out their entire supply of yarn). Amy was going to make a giant, absolutely gorgeous cake. Knuckles was helping Cream decorate banners and blow up balloons. Vanilla and Vector were helping him organize everything. Sonic was going to take him to all their favorite places and they’d have races and go sightseeing and maybe dive off a cliff or two. It was going to be perfect. Sonic was absolutely determined to make sure that fox knew exactly how much he was loved.

… So if he woke up on the morning of the long-awaited day feeling a little more lethargic than usual, if he had some kind of tension in his head and felt a little congested and a little rough in the throat, well, he would keep that to himself.

Correction: he would try.

—

“Hey, Taaaaiiilllsss.” The voice was teasing and familiar, but surprisingly gentle for being an apparent wake-up call. Tails barely stirred from his dream, making the slightest of humming noises in acknowledgement.

A hand gently shook his shoulder. “Happy birthday…” the voice went on to sing, albeit quietly.

Still mostly asleep, Tails barely rolled over and automatically finished with a sleepy, “To yoouuu.”

The voice— Sonic, no doubt— snickered. “Nuh uh, lil dude. It’s your birthday!”

Tails smiled as he finally started waking up for real. “To meee,” he corrected, opening his eyes halfway as he began pushing himself to sit up.

“There ya go!” Sonic laughed, reaching out to ruffle Tails’s already-messy bangs. “Welcome to double digits! Just wait till you…”

Tails paused in his climbing down from bed as his brother trailed off in his sentence, instead ending with a sneeze.

“Bless you.” Tails hopped off the bed and grinned.

“Eh. Thanks.” Sonic shook his head and smiled back. “Sorry. What was I saying?”

“Just wait till…” Tails prompted.

“Aw, yeah— just wait till ya see everything I’ve got planned!” Sonic dragged him in for a tight hug, then a noogie, and Tails squealed with fake protest.

Sonic let him go, grabbed the end of the yarn lying on the floor near the bed, and shoved it in Tails’s hand. “Just follow the string!”

Tails laughed, but obliged. “Wait, what? What is this, birthday edition of the Wizard of Oz?”

Sonic shrugged. “I woulda built a yellow brick road, but I didn’t think you’d appreciate me messing up your floors like that. Didn’t think the public would be much of a fan, either.” He turned his face away and sneezed again.

“Whaddaya mean the public? Bless you.” Tails frowned a little when Sonic didn’t immediately turn back towards him, instead reaching up to rub his nose, then his eyes. “You good?”

At the concerned inquiry, Sonic quickly snapped back towards him. “Yeah, I’m good! Now come on, your day awaits!”

Tails kept an eye on him even as he smiled and started walking alongside the string, which he now noticed was stretched out across the floor and tucked in random places out of sight. “Are you getting sick?” he asked Sonic, who scoffed.

“‘Course not. You know colds are too slow to catch up with me.” Sonic gave him an exaggerated wink. Tails rolled his eyes.

“Lame joke, but you sound all stuffy.”

Sonic rolled his eyes right back and put his hands on his hips. “Maybe your ears need cleaning out again.”

“Just like your immune system needs cleaning out?”

“Stop sassing me, or there won’t be any cake.”

“Fine.”

Tails knew Sonic was joking about the cake bit. He still wasn’t sure if Sonic was actually sick or not, but if he was, there was no way he was going to just admit it and go to bed. He was one of the most stubborn people Tails knew, and he hated to be vulnerable in front of other people.

So, deciding to hope that Sonic wasn’t lying and maybe was just sneezing excessively for no reason that morning, he went along with the plans Sonic had created, which admittedly were all pretty fantastic.

“Yooo, is this the newest game from AGES?” he squeaked as he flew up into a tree after the string and found the tenth gift tucked in the branches.

“You bet!” Sonic called from the ground, although his voice sounded extra raspy when he raised it. “Pre-ordered it ‘n everything! I dunno if you watched the trailers for it, but it looks sick. Hoped you’d like it!”

Tails hovered back to the ground, picking up the previous gifts alongside the video game case that he’d left at the base of the tree. Sonic turned his head and coughed a couple times.

“Speaking of ‘sick,’” Tails mumbled, eyeing his brother worriedly.

Sonic waved him off. “I’m fine, I said. Besides, there’s still so much left to do!”

Tails sighed. He was beginning to think that his initial intuition was right, but was Sonic going to care? Nope.

They headed into town next, and Tails finally understood what Sonic had meant earlier about the public. If they hadn’t been world-renowned, Sonic probably would’ve gotten in trouble with the local government for leaving string and random computer parts in cardboard boxes all over the parks and roofs.

The sun was high in the sky at this point. They met with a few of their friends in the streets, too many to be a coincidence, but Tails didn’t mind one bit. While all the effort was definitely heartwarming, it would’ve been easier to enjoy it all if he weren’t so worried about Sonic, who was looking more tired by the hour. Every now and then he’d catch him rubbing his head when he thought no one was looking, as if trying to ward off a headache, and every couple minutes Tails heard him sniffling.

They had lunch with the Chaotix, and Tails of course chose chilidogs. It may have initially been Sonic’s favorite, but his love for them had rubbed off on Tails over the years. The taste of them always brought warm, pleasant memories, and almost for the sake of those memories alone, they were one of his favorite meals.

And he would’ve had an easy time enjoying them now, but it was hard when Sonic was barely picking at his, in the seat next to him. He’d taken a small bite or two, but was now doing nothing more than staring at them with slightly glazed eyes.

Trying not to make a scene, Tails nudged him a little. “Not hungry?”

Sonic blinked and looked back at him, his eyes clearing. “Um. I dunno.” He picked up his chilidog, immediately set it down again, then twisted aside to cough again, as quietly as he could.

Tails caught Vector eyeing the hedgehog from across the table and winced. “You good there, Sonic?” their older friend questioned.

Sonic looked back at the crocodile, almost uncomprehending for a moment. Tails looked between them. Sonic waved a hand. “Not you, too. I’m fine,” he sighed, even though his voice cracked when he spoke.

Espio looked towards them, away from his whispered argument with Charmy that no, Tails was not obligated to share his three new lego sets with him. “You don’t sound well,” he pointed out.

Sonic glanced back at him, squirming under the sudden scrutiny of everyone else at the table. “Hey, quit staring,” he complained, then smiled way too big and nudged Tails. “This is Tails’s day. Give him all the attention!”

Tails gave him a look, deciding that it might be better to be upfront about this than to spare Sonic’s dignity. “I’m not the one who needs medical attention,” he said with a tiny shrug, smiling apologetically when his brother shot him a pleading look.

Vector sat up straight. “Wait, are you sick?”

“No,” Sonic protested, his ears flattening slightly.

Espio leaned down and started fumbling through one of their bags under the table. “I think we still have flu medicine leftover from when three of us had it a few weeks ago. You can take it if you need it.”

“Noooo, thanks.” His big brother looked like he wanted to disappear, although at this point Tails couldn’t tell if the redness on his face was from embarrassment or an oncoming fever. He looked meaningfully back at Espio and nodded, and the chameleon quietly slipped him the bottle under the table.

They managed to go the rest of the meal without bringing up the sickly elephant in the room, but Tails couldn’t brush off his worry. More and more he wanted so badly to just take his brother home, tuck him into bed, and take care of him until he was healthy again, but with the way Sonic was, such a thing would be immensely difficult.

“Ready for a hike with the gang?” Sonic asked him, with about as much energy as he could summon at the moment.

“A hike?” Tails echoed, brows rising. “Why don’t we just fly in the Tornado? Where are we hiking?”

Sonic laughed, then immediately started coughing again. It was sounding rougher every time it happened, and Tails automatically reached to put a hand on his brother’s back. “M’fine,” Sonic reassured him, trying and failing to clear his throat. “There’s this one spot out in the mountains nearby with an awesome view at the top. The hike is an hour or so, and yeah I know we could just fly, but I thought it would be nice to catch some scenery in the woods along the way. Knux and Amy are coming along, is that okay?”

“That’s— it’s fine that they’re coming.” Tails paused, trying to sort through his immediate concerns. “Um… I just think…” With a quick breath, he went on, “Sonic, this has all been awesome and the hike does sound exciting, but… I really think you need to go home and rest.”

Sonic sighed, glaring at the ground for a moment, before dragging his gaze up to meet Tails’s with a frustratingly relaxed gleam. “How many times do I gotta say it today, I’m fine! Nothing can keep me down for long. I’ve been waiting to do all this with you for months; please just let me have this?”

His brother wasn’t as good with the puppy dog eyes as Tails was himself, but it somehow worked— for now. Tails groaned, conflicted still but not knowing how to convince the stubborn hedgehog that walking around all day and hiking entire mountains and spending all energy for the sake of birthday fun was not going to let him feel better. Especially if he refused to take any medicine.

“Okay, but—”

“Awesome!” Sonic didn’t let him finish. “I told the others to meet us at the parking lot in twenty minutes or so— whaddaya say we beat them to it?” He swallowed with a grimace as he finished speaking, then sniffled.

Tails stared at him regretfully. “Okay.”

They made it to the parking lot in under five minutes. Tails decided not to say anything about how much easier than usual it was to keep up with the speedy hedgehog, who didn’t seem to be purposefully moving as slowly as he was. As they reached the sparsely populated lot, Sonic stumbled over his feet and all but fell against someone’s car, struggling to catch his breath as he started coughing again, even harder than before.

“Sonic?” His worry ramping up a decent amount, Tails hurriedly dropped down beside him. “You alright?”

Sonic gave him a tired grin, even as his chest heaved for air. “Just catching my breath,” he wheezed.

Tails stiffened, looking at his brother with blank eyes as a haunting memory surfaced in his mind.

“Just catching my breath,” Sonic tried to assure him, even though he was near entirely covered in flickering, red and black cyber energy, had just been coughing, was clearly in pain. Tails stared at his own transparent, glitching hands, realizing he had no corporeal form and could do nothing to help his brother feel better.

And then he’d spent the next few days watching Sonic get sicker and sicker, watching him limp tiredly around instead of run with his trademark smile, watching him hold his arm and his hip and his head until he could barely walk. Tails had come back to his real, solid form, only to find Sonic paralyzed, unresponsive, all but dead, because he’d cared more for their lives and their comfort than for his own health.

This wasn’t the same, he reminded himself in the present; at least, it wasn’t as dire. This was just a bug. Just the flu. And it was just a birthday.

But Sonic was still rejecting his health in favor of making sure that someone he loved was having a good time.

Tails wasn’t sure how to articulate his feelings on that to him right now. So he chose to step closer and throw his arms around Sonic instead, holding him tightly.

Sonic paused for a moment, evidently taken aback, then silently hugged him back. Pressed up against him, Tails could hear and feel the raggedness in the hedgehog’s breathing, and feel the unnatural heat radiating off of him.

“Whoa, are we interrupting something?” a deeper voice called, and immediately Sonic pulled back as if nothing had happened.

“Brother stuff, Knux,” he told the echidna, as Tails fought his internal annoyance at missing his chance of actually convincing Sonic to go home and go to bed. “You wouldn’t get it.”

Knuckles eyed the hedgehog ruefully. “I think I would, somehow.”

Beside him, Amy laughed. “You guys ready for this?”

“The view won’t compare to Angel Island. But I suppose it’ll be nice in its own way.”

“The scenery on the way is supposed to be really cool, too,” Tails put in, remembering what Sonic had said earlier.

“It is!” Sonic agreed, then pointed to a sign by the woods nearby. “That’s the start of the trail. Let’s do this thing!” Without waiting for a response, he half-ran, half-stumbled off towards the aforementioned sign.

Tails just sighed, shook his head, and ambled after him. As he did, Amy headed closer to walk beside him.

“Is Sonic… sick? Or something?” she whispered, looking concerned after their friend ahead of them. “He seems off, somehow. And he sounds all raspy.”

“…Yeah,” Tails mumbled guiltily. “He’s been coming down with something all day. I’ve tried to talk him into going home and resting, but he won’t listen.”

“Sounds about right.” Amy groaned. “I’ll help you keep an eye on him while we walk. If he still won’t go home to sleep by the time we’re done the hike, I’ll just drag him there myself.”

Tails couldn’t help a laugh at the mental image. “Thanks, Amy.”

“Of course!” The pink hedgehog beamed at him. “Now then— how’s your birthday been going, mister ten-years-old already?”

“It’s been good otherwise!” He grinned. “For the first half of the day he just dragged me around town following a string to all sorts of gifts. I had to drop them all off at the lab, or else we wouldn’t have been able to do the hike.”

“Ooh! What’d you get so far?”

“Mm, a lot of computer parts, three new lego sets, a couple new video games, a skateboard, a weighted blanket, a box of mint tea—”

“Wow,” Amy cut in with a giggle. “I helped him do some of the shopping, but he really went all out, it sounds like.” Tails nodded with a soft smile. “I’ll never get over how much he just adores you. How much you both love each other,” she added, watching the fox kit’s eyes shift to check on the hedgehog ahead of them.

Sonic had paused beside a tree, leaning heavily against it, panting with eyes glazed over again. “Sonic?” Tails called, hurrying ahead to catch up with him.

“What?” Sonic jolted upright again, eyes brightening but not clearing as they passed over Tails. “I’m fiiine,” he drawled, and staggered back onto the trail. Knuckles grabbed him by the arm to keep him from tripping down the hill on the other side of the path.

Tails glanced back to exchange a look with Amy, then sighed and tried to stick closer to his brother. Knuckles glanced back and gestured questioningly at Sonic behind the hedgehog’s back at Tails, who mimed coughing into his fist in response. Knuckles rolled his eyes, then silently exhaled and nodded.

All of them were unfortunately familiar with the way their friend would put up a front for them. As Tails had earlier recalled, it hadn’t been too long since they’d seen this kind of thing with him.

It fooled none of them.

The farther they hiked, the more it became abundantly clear that Sonic was getting worse, and the more Tails and the others worried. The hedgehog couldn’t walk in a straight line to save his life, instead stumbling in a sort of zig zag pattern back and forth across the trail, giggling here and there. He’d gone from being pretty quiet and tired out in the first half to jabbering nonstop in the second half, except it was almost pure nonsense coming out of his mouth.

“Looook, Tails,” he snickered, pointing shakily at a flicky in a tree nearby. “Toldja dragons’r real.”

“Sonic, that’s a flicky. And we’re literally friends with dragons. Remember Trip?”

“Ah, yyyyeahh!” Sonic laughed way harder than he should’ve, breaking into yet another coughing fit. “Y’know, I could probably breathe fire too, with how on fire my lungs feel right now.”

He staggered on ahead and proceeded to trip over a tree root.

Tails shot an anxious glance at Amy, then leaned closer and whispered to her, “Would you mind heading back and bringing the Tornado out here? I’d do it myself but I don’t want to leave him. Once you get it here, I’ll bring him home.” He bit his lip. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay!” Amy whispered back. “You got it. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Amy wasn’t quite as skilled as he was with flying the Tornado, but he’d given her enough lessons that he felt confident at least trusting her to fly it out a short distance. It would be worth it, to be able to take Sonic back home with ease and make him get the care he so desperately needed, whether he wanted it or not.

“Where’d Amy gooo?” Sonic whined a few minutes after she’d hurried off.

“She’s just getting something for me,” Tails told him, patting his shoulder reassuringly, although he jumped at how hot to the touch his brother was.

“Izzit a surprise for youuu?” The hedgehog smiled deliriously. “Tha’s cool. Happy birthdaaayy!”

“Thank you, Sonic.”

“Yerrr welcome! Hey… did you dye your fur or somethin’? Ya look way more orange than usual.” He peered at Knuckles and his eyes blew open wide. “Whoaaa, you too!”

Tails facepalmed. “Dear Chaos, he’s even worse than I thought…”

Knuckles looked back and forth between them, having clearly never dealt with a person as sick as Sonic currently was. For Tails, it had been a while, but he’d definitely experienced things like this before. He’d known Sonic for most of his life, had seen him at his highs and his lows. He picked up his pace to match Sonic’s, and Knuckles dropped behind slightly.

“Sonic, you really need to rest,” he told him firmly.

Sonic giggled. “Yes, I’m a pest! Egghead agrees with that!”

Tails facepalmed. “That’s not even close to what I said.”

Abruptly, Sonic jumped and pointed excitedly at a patch of sunlight ahead in their path. Probably the end of the path, Tails figured, but instead of saying that, his brother exclaimed, “Look! A giant duckling!”

“…What?”

“Izzo cute.” Sonic all but dragged himself up to the patch of sunshine and fell over into the grass. “Can I keep ittt?”

“Uh.”

“Please? Hey Knucklehead, can I keep th’duckling?”

“There’s no duckling,” Knuckles said bluntly.

Looking genuinely disappointed, Sonic shoved himself back to his feet and staggered up to the boulder with the view, the end of the trail indeed. “Taaaiiilllss, canna buy a duckling?”

“Sonic—”

“Whoaaaa, lookit th’vieeww!”

He’d been right, the view here was spectacular. There was no shield from the wind up here; they’d passed above all the trees. They could see hawks soaring below them, and in the distance, they could see the town they’d been in earlier as nothing more than a silent, tiny setup of buildings with microscopic moving specks that they knew were people and cars. For a moment, Tails paused as he surveyed the view. It was fascinating to see something like this and not be flying somehow.

Sonic was grinning in absolute delirium as he whirled sideways to see them, eyes half-closed. “See, wasn’t it worth it…” He frowned suddenly, stumbled, then started swaying. “Whoa.”

“Sonic?!” Fueled by panic and adrenaline, Tails realized what was happening, and lunged to grab the hedgehog by the wrist right before he keeled over— nearly off the edge of the cliff. Panting in suppressed fear, he pulled Sonic back up onto the boulder and sank to his knees, all but cradling his brother as he lay there, barely conscious.

“No more excuses. You’re burning up,” he said, hugging him close to calm his racing heart. “I sent Amy to bring the Tornado. I’m taking you home as soon as she gets here.”

Sonic blinked blearily up at him, then groaned and mumbled, “…Okay.”

Tails blew out a breath. “Good.”

“Jus’ one thing…”

“What’s that?”

“Can I still get a duckling.”

“…I’ll buy you one when it’s your birthday. Now stop talking and rest.”

Sonic grinned wearily, closing his eyes and resting his head down against Tails’s chest fluff. “Okay.”

—

Amy arrived shortly afterwards, and Tails carried his feverish brother up to the Tornado as it circled around them. He set him down in the seat behind the cockpit, then he and Amy switched out as Amy leapt back down to the boulder.

“We’ll head back on our own,” Knuckles called, waving to them. “Go on ahead.”

Tails waved back in acknowledgment, then set the course for the quick flight back to the workshop, barely a minute’s trip.

He thought he heard Sonic mumbling something behind him, but it was difficult to hear him over the wind. He hit a button to bring the overhead windshield over the seats (a feature he usually reserved for rainy days), and said, “What was that?”

“I’m sorry.” Sonic was slumped sideways in his seat, staring sullenly out the window.

Tails frowned as he returned his gaze to the path ahead. “Why are you sorry? You didn’t—”

“I wanted to give you a perfect birthday. After everything.” It was probably due to the sickness, but Sonic sounded downright miserable. “And I ruined it.”

Tails sighed. “You didn’t ruin anything. No one can control when they get sick. It was still a great birthday, Sonic.” He twisted around again and smiled, making sure Sonic saw him before he turned back towards the front. “Thank you.”

Sonic hummed a little in response, but said nothing.

—

They set down at the workshop, and Tails opted to leave the Tornado in the runway for a while so he could take Sonic straight inside and set to doing what he’d wanted to do all day: just taking care of him.

He settled him comfortably on the couch, brought him a couple blankets, made some soup, and brought him some orange juice and a couple slices of bread. After he’d eaten, Tails gave him some of the medicine he’d gotten from Espio earlier. Sonic still seemed kind of depressed, but he was looking a little better, at least, now that he was finally getting to rest.

As he nibbled on the bread, Tails sat down with him and handed him the orange juice glass. “You know,” he said slowly, beginning to smile, “I think I prefer this gift over the others.”

Sonic blinked at him as he accepted the glass carefully and took a tentative sip. “What… which… I haven’t gotten you anything since we got back.”

“Just…” Tails shook his head and smiled, then reached out and rubbed his head between his ears, like Sonic always did to him. “Just this. Being together. You letting me take care of you. I always like that.” Sonic stared back at him in surprise as he spoke. “You have no clue how much this means to me. How much I’ve wanted to do this, basically all day.”

The hedgehog sighed, but smiled back. “Sorry it took all this for us to properly hang out.” He shifted. “Although, as nice as this is… I’m not sure if you really wanna be this close. I might get you sick.”

In response, Tails scooted closer and hugged him tight. “I’ll take my chances.”

Sonic was still tense. “It’s on you if you do get sick,” he warned, although his tone was hardly serious and didn’t match with his affectionate grin.

“I know. Just shush it and let me hug you.”

“…Alright. You win this round, bud.”

💛-----------------the end-----------------💙

tagging, as requested, @star-stages and @yogacatdeskknit

[tornado1992]

The last two times Tails wanted to hug Sonic he couldn’t.

These were the most higher stakes there’s been In a while, in one, Tails thought Sonic was dead, for six months, Tails was alone in a war, with everyone including himself losing faith on him to being “useful”, it was his fault that they killed Sonic in the first place. When he learned that Sonic was alive, and they finally reunited, it didn’t matter to Tails what the others thought of him, he ran for his brother, his tails were wagging so much that he flew to him, his voice happier than ever, he reached for his big brother, and Sonic stopped him. What did he say after six months of being appart?

“You worry too much”

The next time, they were both going on an adventure, a mysterious territory, they got separated, Sonic fighting through a virus that was slowly consuming his body while freeing his other friends, taking long enough for him to worry about not seeing his brother in a while.

Sonic frees Tails, and by doing so, he hurts himself in the process. Sonic is hurt because of him. Sonic was suffering, and Tails needed no more than one second to notice it. What does he do next? He immediately tries and runs to hug his brother, this time Sonic doesn’t stop him, but his arms never truly reach him. Tails is not really there, not physically. He can’t hold his brother, he can’t help him, he is useless. So what does Sonic say to his very preoccupied little brother when he was clearly hurting?

“Just catching my breath”

Tails doesn’t try to hug Sonic that much, not anymore, he just tries to not be the reason for him needing a hug, because even if he hugged him, he knows it wouldn’t be useful.

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

i was supposed to die (you were supposed to live)

It's a cross-dimensional problem, so it requires cross-dimensional heroes to solve it.

He gathered the very best, everyone he's fought and bled with. The princess of flames and oceans. The genie who binds her own book together with page tears and grieving tears. An angry little brother who raised himself in a world that could never be whole. Girls who flew through worlds on a whim, hand-in-hand, only to return home in time for New Year. Rockstars, reapers, elves, cyborgs. Versions of him, too; one with sparks of chaos glittering off his fur and lightning in his soul, one with a backpack of rings and feet that didn't know how not to run, and one with a darkness inside he would never call upon and a brilliant, dazzling light he spread around him to make up for it. She recognized that in his eyes even if he didn't say it. It wasn't hard to do so.

She saw a similar spirit in the newcomer's eyes, too, and that was the first thing she saw of him. She recognized the eyes, then– the color, the shape, the way they darted side-to-side when he entered a room to assess what was inside. That feeling wasn't in the eyes she knew. She looked over the rest of him, then, seeing the familiar quills, the familiar way he crossed his arms when he didn't want to talk, the way his tail held stock-still assessing for threats. He had the same rings, she noticed, as hers; she wondered if they did the same thing. There was same red paint splashed on his shoes.

He looked up at her, then, and she saw that flash of painful recognition in his eyes. At her own steady blue gaze, at her skin, pale from lack of sunshine, at the way her hair curled around her ears. She knew from that look, then, that he was from a world without her. There were a lot of worlds without her, she'd found whenever she looked into them. People she'd lost lived instead. And if she lived, they died. It wasn't fair. Neither were any of these worlds. No world was fair towards anyone.

She looked back to him and held his gaze this time. He'd finished his shocked stare, and a block came over his expression, trying to block his emotions from everyone else in the room. It happened fast enough that she was probably the only one to see it. But she knew. Even in another world, she knew him. She knew him too well.

As they looked at each other, she tried to let her gaze soften, but she found herself holding strong to that same shielded look. It was probably because if she broke now, she'd break completely, and think about her version of him, left behind in her world which threatened to crumble. Everything dies, but not today. She'd think about them trying to kill each other, loyalties divided and bonds broken. Everything dies, but not today. She'd think about something small, like them at five and seven quarreling over what was best to put in stew. Or them at six and eight sleeping under the stars, naming them and wondering what could make them shine so bright. Everything dies. Or at nine and eleven getting stuck in a tree, waiting to be found and blaming each other, and then sitting and watching the sun set together. But not today.

She knew this wasn't her version of him, the same way he must have known instantly that she was different from whoever he knew. She didn't know this boy standing in front of her. He didn't know the girl in front of him. They knew nothing about each other and yet they knew absolutely everything. They had no relation to each other, no paths that had ever crossed, and they were family all the same. She wondered if siblings could recognize each other in every reality, or if it was just them.

"Shadow! There ya are!"

Sonic slid across the table, leaping down to tackle-hug the boy in front of her, who immediately shrugged him off and elbowed him to the floor. She glanced briefly towards the blue blur as he got up, dusting off his shoulders.

"Shoulda expected that, yeah. I see you just met Merlina! She's gonna help us out, too."

Everyone dies.

They knew each other.

Not today.

[solalunar-eclipse]

Ball & Chain of My Own Making

Written as part of the Sonic the Hedgehog Big Bang 2024, hosted by @sthbigbang!

Summary: Set in the Sonic the Comic (Fleetway Publications) universe. Now that Robotnik's grasp on the planet has finally been removed, the world is beginning to recover. During this process, Sonic goes to meet up with his old friend, Porker Lewis, on the Floating Island. Unfortunately, they're long overdue for a conversation…and it's going to happen whether he wants it to or not.

Wonderful art (may contain spoilers!) by:

@eosomit (GORGEOUS ART BY EOSOMIT HERE) @pikafleetsyolo (FANTASTIC ART BY PIKAFLEETS HERE)

AO3 Link

Wooden scaffolding arched towards the bright blue sky, free of smog for the first time in years. The foundations of future homes spread out across the land of the Emerald Hill Zone, built atop the rubble and ashes of the original village, proving that soon, the people who once lived here would be back and better than ever before.

A sudden gust of wind rattled the scaffolds, making them shake but not crumble under its force—because after all, this was no ordinary wind. This was the controlled tailwind created by the high-octane racing of one Sonic the Hedgehog, Hero of Mobius, reaching speeds even faster than his namesake.

He skidded to a stop in the midst of the construction, admiring the view around him. It was good to finally see the world rebuilding now that Robotnik had fallen…this had been just a dream for far too long, so to have it become tangible reality, something he could reach out and touch, was downright awesome.

After a few moments, he spotted one of his closest friends, Miles “Tails” Prower—to him just Tails—helping to push a high-up beam into a slightly better position with the assistance of his namesake tails, which spun like the blades of a helicopter.

“Hey, pal, you got anything ya need taking care of ‘round here?” Sonic yelled up to him. “Because you know if you do, it’ll be done before you’re finished saying so!” he finished, winking up at the fox.

Tails flew down from his place atop the framework, landing neatly in front of Sonic. “I’m afraid that was actually the last piece of work I had on my list for now! I think I’m going to go help out Johnny with his staff—he says it’s been on the blink lately, and I thought it surely couldn’t be much harder than that time I helped you repair your plane!” He beckoned happily for Sonic to walk alongside him as the two headed back to their current base of operations, and the hedgehog did so without protest.

“Hmh.” Sonic replied eloquently, folding his arms and frowning slightly. “Amy and Tekno are still out too, yeah?”

“They are…” Tails looked up at his friend for a moment, before his eyes widened with an idea. “Hey, there has to be a couple of malfunctioning badniks left to take out somewhere, right?”

Sonic sighed. “Not for a hundred miles—and believe me, I’ve looked.”

The fox’s twin tails flicked nervously. “I mean, the only work we have going on right now is this whole relocation project…the thing is, I don’t think any other baddies are quite ready to crawl out of the shadows so soon after Robotnik vanished.” he explained.

Sonic abruptly snapped his fingers. “Hey, there’s an idea! I’m gonna take the Tornado up to the Floating Island, see how that end of the relocation’s shaking out up there! Seeya, gotta scram!”

And with that, he was gone, Tails’s call of “bye!” (accompanied by an understanding smile he didn’t see) just barely reaching him.

Within moments, Sonic was already in the cockpit of his trusty biplane, flipping switches with the muscle memory of someone who had piloted it a hundred times before. His eyes roamed over the controls, then shifted to the shining red paint that adorned it—

…oh no…what have I done?

The Hero of Mobius abruptly froze, his fingers trembling almost imperceptibly as he remembered an earlier version of this very plane, crumbling and burning before his eyes—the fire had burned all around him, smoke choking the air, but this time not from one of Robotnik’s factories, instead it—

Sonic shook his head, gritting his teeth and forcing his quills to relax. “Everything worked out just fine,” he muttered. “He’s gone now. Amy and Tekno said so.”

With a few sharp movements, the plane’s engine was running smoothly, and Sonic taxied it down the runway and took off with ease. He only needed a moment to remember the controls, and then his memory of flying between islands on his adventures took over at last. 

As he climbed in altitude, he banked the plane around so it was pointing straight towards the Floating Island. While Tails had added a map to the Tornado, making it easier than ever to navigate, Sonic didn’t need any of that. He might not have…one particular effect from the Chaos Emeralds any longer, but that didn’t mean their energy would ever stop being intertwined with his being in a way he neither could nor cared to explain. 

He glanced briefly over the side of the biplane, enjoying the sight of Emerald Hill’s in-progress town below, now resembling a child’s plaything more than the towering structures he’d seen Tails working on earlier. 

As Sonic flew further, he passed over rivers that were running cleaner than before (though their banks still bore remnants of sludge) and the half-destroyed ruins of several of Robotnik’s factories. He smirked with a grim sort of satisfaction as he spotted a particularly torn-up building, stamped with that grinning logo all mangled and broken, unable to churn out even one more ounce of material to support the now-toppled Empire.

Thankfully for his notoriously short patience, it didn’t take Sonic long at all to reach the Floating Island. Avoiding the populated Mushroom Hill Zone for the time being, he instead circled the plane around over a large grassy clearing just outside the Hidden Palace, coming in for an (in his opinion) impressively smooth landing.

Sonic hopped out of the biplane after cutting its motor, grinning broadly. Any second now…

“SONIC!” a voice bellowed from within, accompanied by the sound of heavy footfalls. “What on Mobius are you doing here?”

Knuckles the Echidna stepped out of the shadows of the Hidden Palace, his arms folded over his chest and his ever-present glower meeting Sonic’s expectations perfectly. “You’d better not have shown up just to cause trouble. The Emerald Hill folk are in the middle of packing up their entire lives, and I am already at my limit with all the chaos around here.”

Sonic swiped under his nose, his smirk growing wider. “You’ve gotta be having some real trouble guarding all those Chaos Emeralds then, huh? I can always take care of them if you’re not up to it!”

Knuckles’s jaw tightened. “Sonic, I swear—“

“Relax, knucklehead!” he interrupted, cutting Knuckles off before he could get truly enraged. (Unfortunately, the continued presence of his smug smile may not have particularly helped, but he was more than fine with that.) “You should know I’m not here to mess anything up! Just popped up here to check out how things are going on your end. I don’t expect them to be moving quite as fast as my folks, obviously, but I figured if anyone could help speed the process up a little, it’d be yours truly.”

The echidna appeared momentarily torn between the promise of getting complete peace and quiet on his island sooner, or getting marginally more peace and quiet right now by hurling Sonic bodily off the island. Eventually, he just fixed the hero with his most stern glare, before pointing wordlessly to the door of the Hidden Palace.

Sonic snickered, strolling casually into the building and enjoying the irate grumbling behind him. Knuckles was just too easy to rile up, and his reactions were always fantastic.

“Oh, Knuckles, did you find out who it wa—Sonic!”

The hedgehog in question nearly jumped in surprise, but managed to conceal it beneath a smooth pivot to face the speaker…only to smile broadly once he registered just who it was. 

Sitting at one of the consoles around the massive room was none other than Porker Lewis, his old friend and former fellow Freedom Fighter. Porker practically leapt out of his chair, dashing over to greet Sonic more properly. “It’s just wonderful to see you! How’s everything going?”

Sonic flashed his trademark grin, not-so-subtly preening in response to Porker’s unfiltered enthusiasm. “You know me, always chillin’. Howzabout yourself, Lewis? Enjoying that island life?” he added, winking.

Porker smiled wryly, shaking his head. “I’m liking it a lot more now that Robotnik’s gone. Getting to help repair the technology Knuckles’s ancestors left behind is important work, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not nearly as intense as trying to topple a dictatorship.”

The hero’s face didn’t move a millimeter, but somehow, his smile felt so much more strained. “Yeah. It’s…good that’cha can just work on that now instead of having to put up with badniks all day, every day.”

Porker’s own expression faltered briefly, before he brightened up again, albeit more mellow than before. “Well, I’m sure you didn’t just come here to stand around and talk! I’m supposed to be repairing some of the zoom tubes in the Hydrocity Zone today, but I can leave that for later if you want to have a look around Mushroom Hill together.”

“Psh, no way! It’s been ages since I got to give Hydrocity the old run-around, I’ve gotta see if I can beat my fastest time down there! You wouldn’t deprive your old buddy Sonic a chance to do that, wouldja?” The blue hedgehog bounced into a more dynamic stance, one fist held in front of himself and his other hand thrown back as though he were about to spindash right this very second.

“If you tear up this chamber, I will throw you into the ocean.” Knuckles huffed, making Sonic scoff and straighten back up to face the serious guardian. At that very moment, Sonic’s eyes caught on exactly what Knuckles was leaning against—specifically, one of the switchboards in front of the Emeralds’ storage column. 

“Forget it, Porker…you’ve already done more than your share.”

“Don’t mention her, buddy. Lately she’s been driving me up the wall!”

“Whaaaa—!”

(The rock Sonic had been leaning against crumbled beneath him without warning, and he was sent pitching backwards into the column of pure Chaos energy. It surged through him, bright and powerful…and…violent…)

“Whoa, hey, Sonic? Sonic? You with me?”

“Agh!” He jumped backwards, immediately dropping into a fighting stance…before seeing that it was just Knuckles in front of him, one gloved hand raised as though he’d just been waving it in Sonic’s field of view. “Geez, Knucklehead, warn a guy next time you decide to stick your hand in his face, huh?”

“…you didn’t even react after I said I was gonna…chuck you off the island and all that. I didn’t actually mean it, you know. You might be annoying, but I’m not just going to let you drown.” the echidna muttered, still watching Sonic warily, as though he were about to space out again at any minute.

And Sonic wasn’t having any of that.

“Tch, I was just daydreaming about new ways to spindash that smug look ‘a yours right off your face.” he retorted, folding his arms defiantly. “I don’t hafta dignify every smart-aleck thing you say with a comeback, do I?”

Knuckles rubbed his brow, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Whatever. Porker, can you please take him anywhere that isn’t here? Mushroom Hill, Hydrocity, either way, just…ugh.”

Porker laughed sympathetically, walking up to stand next to Sonic, now with some papers in his arms and some tools on a belt. “I certainly can. So, Hydrocity, is it, then?” he asked the blue hero lightly.

“You know it!” Sonic gave him a thumbs up, before following his old friend to one of the doorways leading out of the Emerald Chamber. 

The two friends traveled down a short hallway, which led to a shaft so deep Sonic couldn’t even begin to see the bottom. Stairs spiraled around its outside, while a pole speared down the center, attached to the ceiling at one end and presumably the floor at the other.

Porker looked over at Sonic. “How about a race? You on the stairs, and me on the pole?” he asked. 

Sonic’s expression split into what had to be the biggest grin he’d worn yet. “You do realize you’re gonna lose embarrassingly, right?”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I can’t at least try, does it?” Porker insisted, his hands in his pockets and the set of his shoulders easy. Internally, Sonic appreciated the sight of his friend relaxed and happy. It had been far too long since he’d last seen Porker like this, after all.

The Hero of Mobius dashed over to the top of the stairs, settling into a sprinter’s starting position. “You sure you’re ready for this, Sonic?” the engineer sked, smiling cheekily as he grabbed onto the pole with both gloved hands.

“Ha! I’ve been ready, Lewis, you oughta know that by now!”

“Alright then!” Porker announced, to the otherwise empty room. “Three! Two! One! Go!”

Immediately, the former Freedom Fighter pushed off the platform and began to slide down the pole—but that could never compare to the power of pure Sonic speed. The instant the sound “go” hit his ears, Sonic tore off down the stairs so fast that anyone watching wouldn’t have been able to make out his features, only seeing the blue blur that had earned him yet another of his many monikers.

Sonic couldn’t help but beam as the wind whistled through his quills and his sneakers pounded on the staircase, loving the thrill of adrenaline that came from riding the line between landing each step as quickly as possible and tumbling into an uncontrolled fall. His agility had to be perfect to pull this off…and of course, it was. He was Sonic the Hedgehog, after all.

Once he hit the bottom, he looked up, waiting for Porker to appear. Thankfully, he’d only just started tapping his foot by the time the engineer came into view.

“Took you long enough!” Sonic smirked up at him, his arms folded and one eyebrow raised.

Porker smiled back. “Well, pardon me for not wanting to free-fall out of control! Not all of us are invincible Heroes of Mobius—that’s your job, after all!”

Sonic hesitated briefly, something about the title resonating oddly in his chest. “Say, speaking of which…it was…a little heroic, kinda, to be the one to clap Robotnik in cuffs like that. How’d you manage it?”

“Oh! Well, it wasn’t much, really. I was just trying to help some of the Emerald Hill folk evacuate out of the Mushroom Hill Zone, when I saw Robotnik trying to escape that massive fight you and Knuckles had with Dr. Zachary! I managed to rally a few of the braver people, and together we got the drop on him and cuffed him before he knew what happened,” Porker explained, beginning to walk into the zone as he spoke. “We were only able to get him because he was so thrown off guard by actually losing his grip on power for once—it was an opportunity we wouldn’t have gotten again! I may have left the Freedom Fighters, but I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night if I’d let him get away, you know?”

Sonic could feel his confusion showing on his face, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to stop it. “You…I guess, but…”

“Is everything alright?” Porker was frowning in concern, and that was enough to convince Sonic that this conversation wasn’t worth pursuing any longer. 

He laced his hands behind his head casually. “Yeah, sure! You know me, since when am I not?”

“…” When Sonic snuck a peek at his friend out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Porker still looked uneasy. 

Luckily for him, a Bugernaut suddenly swooped down at Porker, forcing him to duck out of the way. Within seconds, Sonic had curled into a ball, smashing the badnik and landing with ease. He quickly scanned the area for any more, spotting a few patrolling in a line farther ahead. While Robotnik was gone, his influence clearly still lingered, even up here on the Floating Island.

Briefly, he glanced back at his friend, who shot him a quick smile and a thumbs-up—which was all he needed to tear off in pursuit. It was a matter of a single jump to reach the nearest platform, and then only one more leap to bounce from badnik to badnik in a line, freeing the various little critters inside.

Sonic landed on an even higher platform, crouching by the edge to scan the ground below for Porker. He could jump down easily…but that would mean more awkward conversation. And when his alternative was scouting ahead and taking out any leftover badniks so Porker wouldn’t have to deal with them? It was hardly a choice at all.

He waved to get Porker’s attention, before jerking a thumb over his shoulder and holding up his fists like he was about to get into a cartoonish fight. The former Freedom Fighter gave him a friendly salute back, before turning back to his path towards the busted zoom tube. Sonic let out a breath that, had anyone else heard, he would have denied having been a sigh. Then, in a blink, he wasn’t there at all, only a blue streak of light marking the path he’d taken. 

Thankfully, he did turn out to have a genuine excuse to rush on ahead, as he found several more clusters of badniks after that initial line of Bugernauts. While Porker followed the lower paths, Sonic took every shortcut he could find in an effort to cover as much ground as possible. However, being thorough did mean he had to make some…unfortunate choices, as well. Hanging from a slow rope pulley above water wasn’t exactly his idea of fun, and neither was the promise of dropping into the water to clear out some aquatic badniks, but let nobody ever say that the Hero of Mobius and leader of the Freedom Fighters wasn’t committed to what he did.

With a gulp of air, Sonic opened his hands and let himself drop, curling into a ball and crashing directly into the water. Thankfully, this particular area seemed to have a fast current to it, meaning that he merely had to keep himself curled up and let the water turn him into a badnik-busting buzzsaw. 

Not really loving the lack of air down here, Sonic thought to himself impatiently, finally uncurling in search of an air bubble once he was reasonably sure the room was clear. Now where would…

There!

A small imperfection in the floor of the area had allowed a tiny crack to form in the material. At that exact point, the liquid could freely drip out—but more importantly, air could flow in. Happily, it didn’t take long at all for an air bubble to appear that was big enough for Sonic to use, and he inhaled the oxygen inside eagerly.

His energy restored, the hedgehog made his way over to a slightly narrower section of pipe, letting the current sweep him along once more. Annoyingly, the water turbines were still active, but it was a small price to pay for his otherwise quick progress, and he could easily avoid them with the help of the support struts used to help the pipe hold its shape. Besides, before long, he was spindashing up a ramp and out of the water, soaring high into the air before landing with perfect ease. 

After a bit of casual platform-hopping, Sonic spied Porker a little ways away, kneeling by a strange mechanism and seemingly inspecting it. This must’ve been the fix-it job he had to do, Sonic mused, before leaping down to join his friend alongside the ancient travel system. 

“So, how’s it going?” he asked, making poor Porker yelp and drop his screwdriver with a clatter, startled.

“Sonic!” he scolded, but his smile severely diminished any attempt at properly convincing the hedgehog to regret his actions. “You startled me!”

“I have eyes, I noticed,” Sonic quipped, shifting to lean casually against the wall. “You didn’t answer my question though, you really gonna leave a guy hanging like that? And here I thought we were friends.” he complained, wearing a faux-devastated expression.

Porker stared at him blankly for a moment, before recognition lit up his eyes. “Oh, yes, of course! It really is on you for making me forget, though.” Sonic scoffed lightly, but otherwise didn’t speak, leaving room for Porker to continue.

“It’s frankly quite a simple fix,” the engineer began. “While the tubes themselves are largely made of stone, the mechanical parts that create the vacuum necessary to enable this kind of rapid travel are much more delicate and therefore prone to failure. That’s why the tubes here aren’t working anymore—there must have been a malfunction in this area. Now all I need to do is open it up—” and just as he said this, he heaved a panel off the side of the structure in front of him, revealing an incomprehensible mess of pistons, cogs, and other unidentifiable bits and bobs. “—and figure out what's going on in here.”

“Huh. Why’d the echidnas decide to stick this thing all the way down here instead of up with everything else in the Emerald chamber? Somehow I don’t get the sense they were particularly in it for the sightseeing opportunity.” Sonic remarked, moving to lean against a different piece of the machine’s casing.

Porker’s laugh rang out from the metal walls of the structure, having already slid mostly inside to take a closer look. “Beats me! Knuckles and I are still having quite a time working on translating the ancient language used on most of the schematics for this place. We just got the blueprints for this all sorted out yesterday—it only became a major priority when the tubes stopped functioning. I haven’t even had a chance to dig through more of what we think are records, since most of our focus has been on the way the Floating Island works anyhow.”

Sonic smirked at the sound of Porker’s evident good mood. “Ol’ Knucklehead better have those blueprints all translated correctly, or else he’s gonna wind up going backwards instead of forwards next time he hops in one a’ these!”

“Oh goodness, I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that!” Porker still sounded amused, but also a little concerned. Not ideal. “At least they’d be working again, I suppose!”

“Well, pal, tell ya what. ‘Cause I’m such a kind and generous soul, I’ll give the tubes a spin once you’ve got them all set up! Just make sure to double-check your screws first—I’m not about to have Knuckles laughing at me if I get closely acquainted with the nearest rock, alright?”

“I’ll certainly do my best!” the engineer replied brightly. “Wait—oh, Sonic, I think I’ve found the problem!” he added, shifting around some more inside the machine.

“Forreal? Huh, I guess all that studying must’ve been worth it if you can find the problem that fast!” Sonic remarked, pushing off from the metal plating and strolling around to where Porker was.

“It’s a relatively simple issue too, thank goodness,” his friend continued, “there’s a hole in the main conduit for the pressurized air. In the long term, this pipe should really be replaced, but for now, I think a simple patch job will suffice.”

“What, and you just happen to have ‘pipe patcher’ on ya at all times?” Sonic asked, snickering slightly. “You go to dinner at someone’s house and think ‘oh no, better not leave my pipe patches at home’?”

Porker’s sigh echoed in the machine’s chamber. “It’s really not all that special, all I’m using is duct tape. So long as it makes a proper seal—which I’m being careful to do now—it should hold well enough for us to go back and get a proper replacement. And duct tape is an essential part of any engineer’s toolkit, especially when they’re going to do some engineering work. Which is exactly what we came down here to do.”

“We?” the hedgehog asked. “S’far as I can see, you’re the one doing all the fix-it jobs around here, I’m just tagging along to clear out badniks and have a good time. Wouldn’t wanna be inside that thingamajig anyway, you can barely even move in there!”

Porker made a movement that seemed to suggest a shrug. “It’s really not that bad,” he said, beginning to extricate himself from the mess of machinery. “I honestly find it quite comfortable—though I must admit there have been a couple of times when the sentries didn’t think to warn me politely before tapping me…I earned myself quite a few bruises before they learned not to do that.” Now fully outside, he shook his head with a slightly tired smile. “At least they apologized afterwards, I suppose.”

“Aw, man, I wish I’d been there! I would’ve paid good money to see that!” Sonic clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, grinning good-naturedly. “So, we gotta head back and grab that piece, yeah?”

Porker nodded in agreement. “Yes, we do, but first—”

But by the time the word “yes” had left his mouth, Sonic was already in the tube.

“Aw yeah!” he whooped to himself, rocketing upwards at a breathtaking speed. “This is the good stuff!”

Suddenly, however, he noticed that his speed was…beginning to slow down. He frowned. The zoom tubes normally didn’t do that at all, instead letting him blast out at full speed. This wasn’t a new problem Porker would have to fix, was it?

Sonic felt his quills begin to raise as he continued to decelerate, scraping uselessly against the near-frictionless surfaces of the inside of the tubes. The air grew weaker and weaker, struggling to push him up a vertical passage, and the Hero of Mobius felt a cold chill settle in his stomach. 

He curled up just a little tighter, trying to use the movement to regain even a fraction of forward momentum, and that was enough to get him through the bend onto a horizontal plane, but then—

—he stopped moving.

Entirely.

Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing on Mobius, could no longer move.

~~~

Porker Lewis, on the other hand, was running as quickly as he possibly could.

He’d wanted to warn Sonic that he needed to check the air pressure first, make sure everything was at least moderately in working order before he let his friend give the zoom tubes a test run, but while Sonic’s thoughts moved much faster than his own, that didn’t necessarily mean he had a greater amount of caution. Now, Porker had no idea where Sonic was, nor whether he’d even made it out of the tubes at all.

Still, the engineer pushed himself to follow the path upwards, in spite of the increasing difficulty he met with as he climbed. More precarious platforms, more obstacles, and wider gaps had to be dealt with, slowing Porker down as he struggled to navigate, but he refused to let the tube out of his sight. He had to be coming to a bend or junction soon at this rate…

And then, he saw it. The tube made a right angle, running along the ceiling of the Hydrocity Zone, and within it, just visible through the glass paneling, was a ball of blue.

Quickly, Porker scanned the area. The panel was held in place by a frame, which could be easily removed with his screwdriver, but getting to the tube in the first place would be rather more difficult. Further examination revealed that there were small crevices and ledges on the wall adjacent to it that he could use to climb up, but staying in position without falling and injuring himself would be complicated, especially since he would essentially need to turn around while on the wall to properly remove the paneling. 

Still, it was the best he could do, given the situation. Removing the screwdriver from his tool belt and holding it in his mouth, Porker began to clamber up the side of the rock wall, moving as quickly as he could without putting himself in danger. He would be no use at all to Sonic with a broken leg, of course.

Speaking of him—“Sonic! I’m going to unscrew the paneling! You’ll be out shortly!” Porker shouted, forcing his voice as loud as it could possibly go.

If his friend replied, the engineer couldn't hear it. Nerves gripped his heart as he forced himself to climb faster, reaching the top soon after. Now came the difficult part; he braced himself with a hand against the pipe, before carefully shuffling his feet in a manner that would allow him to turn around and press his back against the rock wall.

The only thing keeping him from falling now was the strength of his arm as he pushed against the tube.

Carefully, Porker began to unscrew the frame bit by bit, wiggling the screws out of their housing one by one and letting them drop to the floor. After the third screw, his supporting arm began to tremble, but he refused to let it falter. Not when Sonic was counting on him.

The fourth screw dropped. At first, the frame refused to move, but a good whack with the screwdriver fixed that—followed by a sudden flinch from Porker as the glass panel dropped and shattered on the ground below.

“Good heavens, that’ll be quite the repair job…” he muttered to himself, before recalling exactly what the situation was at the moment.

“Sonic? Sonic, can you hear me?” he called, craning his neck in an effort to get a better look at the insides of the tube. He could see the ball of blue spines pretty well, actually, but something wasn’t quite right.

“…oh.” Porker murmured quietly.

Sonic was shaking.

He would have to get the hedgehog out all by himself, but how? He certainly couldn’t reach into the tube, not from this angle, and Sonic was clearly unable to move. The only thing he did seem capable of, as a matter of fact, was bristling his spines.

Wait. If Sonic had his spines raised, then that meant they could catch on something, yes? Porker began to hurriedly shrug off his jacket, only pausing to swap hands on the pipe once his screwdriver was back in his belt. Frowning in an effort to better gauge the distance, he swung the jacket back and forth once, twice, and then up into the tube—and thank goodness, at least one thing had gone right in this whole mess, when the cloth caught securely on Sonic’s spines.

Porker pulled as hard as he could, and for once the near-frictionless surface of the zoom tubes proved useful when his friend moved along with little resistance. Uncomfortably slowly, given the awkward angle, Sonic’s curled-up form slid further and further forward until finally, he slipped out of the opening.

What Porker had forgotten, however, was that Sonic had weight, and weight affected both balance and gravity.

What this meant, in practice, was that Porker very nearly wrenched his arm out of its socket fighting to keep them both from falling.

Even then, he didn’t succeed for very long, pitching forward and off the face of the wall soon afterwards. At the very least, his fall was more controlled, so that when he landed, he merely sprained his ankle instead of breaking it. (Happily, he was also able to avoid the shattered glass on the ground. Things would have gotten much more complicated if he hadn’t, and he was already about at his limit for complications.)

He ought to be thankful for small mercies, he supposed, because that at least meant the pain wasn’t so excruciating that he couldn’t check on his friend. 

“Sonic? Sonic, are you al—are you hurt?” he asked quickly, pulling himself along the ground towards the hero, who had uncurled and was now on his hands and knees, with his head hanging between his arms.

For a moment, Sonic didn’t respond at all, and Porker felt a pang shoot through him. Just a second later, though, the hedgehog sat up, raising an eyebrow at him cockily. “Am I hurt? You’re the one who can’t curl up into a ball here, I’m not the one you should be checking on.” 

“I wasn’t just talking about the fall. I meant before that, too.” Porker insisted, unwilling to let it go quite so easily.

“Tch, what, me getting stuck in the tube? Just don’t tell Knucklehead, he’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

Porker felt his stomach turn uncomfortably. He really, really didn’t want to push this, but the thought of Sonic pretending that nothing had happened sat even worse with him. Shakily, he inhaled once, then sighed, and felt his shoulders tense up as he prepared to speak again.

“Sonic.” Porker insisted. “I saw you shaking with my own two eyes. I can’t just let that go.”

“What, me? Shaking?” Sonic scoffed. “You of all people should know that the Hero of Mobius doesn’t shake, pal.”

The engineer frowned…and then abruptly his expression softened, as something that Sonic had just said caught his attention. “No, I get it. The Hero of Mobius doesn’t shake, you’re right. But, well, my old friend Sonic, from way back in Green Hill…he’s allowed to get scared in front of me, I think. Whether or not he thinks he should.”

“Uh, you sure you didn’t hit your head in that fall, Lewis?” Sonic asked, now the one to squint over at his friend in confusion. “In case you forgot, this speedy blue hedgehog—y’know, the one called Sonic—is the Hero of Mobius.” He jabbed a thumb at his chest for emphasis.

Porker took another deep breath subtly, trying his best to keep from getting exasperated. “That’s true. But being the Hero of Mobius is a job, and being Sonic just…is. You’re Sonic all the time, but you’re only the Hero of Mobius when you want to be. And you don’t have to be in front of me.”

“You sure about that one? ‘Cause last I checked, only one of us was up to being a hero.” Sonic shot back.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze, his eyes widening slightly and his teeth snapping together so hard they clicked in the suddenly heavy silence.

“Porker—we can—just forget that happened, ‘kay? Apparently my mouth moves as fast as the rest of me sometimes, heh.” 

Porker gave Sonic a surprisingly flat look, making the hedgehog’s poor attempt at humor fizzle out into nothingness. His grin twisted into a grimace, and his hands balled into fists on the floor as he avoided Porker’s eyes.

Well, at least now he’s hiding his emotions less, the former Freedom Fighter thought to himself, internally sighing.

“Sonic.” he said softly, and while his friend didn’t flinch, his fingers did tighten noticeably.

“I’m not upset. Or—well—I am, but not at you. I just don’t like that you feel you have to be a hero around me all the time. I know we were fighting Robotnik for so long, it’s kind of hard to be anything else…but before that, we were just friends, stumbling our way through life together.”

Porker sighed, allowing himself a bittersweet smile. “I’d like to go back to being that way, at least to some extent, now that the war is over.” He hesitated briefly, before continuing, “If you don’t want to though, for whatever reason, I’ll understand.”

Sonic laughed, but his eyes were too wide for it to seem genuine. “Hey, what? Of course we’re friends, there’s no way I’d wanna change that! Why on Mobius would you ever think I would?”

“It’s…difficult to explain.” Porker began, picking up a chunk of debris and worrying circles into it with his thumb. “Sometimes it feels like when you look at me, you’re seeing just another civilian to protect, instead of, well, me.”

“Well, that’s not it at all!” Sonic straightened up boldly. “It’s totally different—I’m just making sure you don’t have to deal with the difficult stuff anymore after we—after you, y’know, got stuck on, uh, Little Planet.”

“Sonic, just because I was too stressed out to continue fighting in a war doesn’t mean I’m too distraught to live my life, or to help my friends when they could use a hand!” the engineer explained. “Besides, living here on the Floating Island has done wonders for me, I’d say.”

Sonic had sported a strangely skeptical expression for the first part, but when he finally spoke up, it wasn’t in response to that at all. “Was it really good enough for you that you were able to handle Robotnik?” he asked, frowning genuinely.

Porker stared blankly at his friend for a few moments as several things suddenly slotted into place. “Is that what you meant when you asked me how I was able to cuff him earlier?”

Sonic’s sudden eagerness to look away and shift positions, combined with a short “Eh, it’s whatever. Never mind.” told him all he needed to know.

He bit back his first instinct, which was to get upset that Sonic essentially seemed to view him as an invalid, no longer capable of functioning in the face of difficult situations. Getting upset wouldn’t help here—he’d known Sonic long enough to be certain that if he got angry, Sonic’s temper would flare up to match. Instead, he struggled to work out how best to explain his current situation to his friend. 

Porker knew that Sonic had gone through a difficult process when he’d decided to leave the Freedom Fighters, and had taken some time to come around to the fact that not everybody had his level of fortitude and resilience when it came to coping with difficult situations. However, it seemed like Sonic had understood Porker’s choice to leave as a permanent “off” switch on his abilities, instead of the truth, which was that the scales of “desire for freedom” and “fear of lasting damage” had simply tipped in the other direction, without any weight being removed from the former.

Suddenly, he was jolted from his musings by the voice of the hedgehog in question. “Listen, how about we head back to Hidden Palace and grab whatever parts you need? That way you can show me around some more, yeah?”

Slowly but surely, Porker got to his feet, sighing tiredly and trying not to wince at a twinge from his ankle. “Hang on, I just wanted to explain one thing first. You mind if I talk your ear off for just a moment?” He shot Sonic a half-smile, and that seemed to do the trick.

“Sure thing, pal. Hit me.” he replied carefully, moving to lean against the wall.

“I may have assumed this was more obvious than it actually was, but…I was always scared. Even when you first asked me to join the Freedom Fighters, I was frightened as anything.” Porker began, cringing internally as Sonic tensed up once again. “But the thing was,” he hurried to add, “I believed in the better future you talked about more than I felt afraid. So I pushed myself to join because I wanted to help make a world where people like me didn’t have to be so scared all the time, and that was enough to keep me going.

“But then…when I was held on Little Planet for so long…” Porker trailed off, memories of wire biting into his arms and endless examinations flashing before his eyes briefly. He blinked rapidly and squeezed the rock in his hand tighter in an effort to dispel the images—only to look up into an expression on Sonic that was emptier than any he’d ever seen before.

The engineer sighed and shook his head, smiling ruefully. “After that, I was so worried about it happening again that I couldn’t contribute to the team like I wanted, and, well, you know the rest.” He paused for a moment, composing his next sentence in his head. “I think there was one thing I should’ve said to you back then, but didn’t, because I thought it was obvious.”

“Yeah?” Sonic’s voice was perfectly measured, perfectly even.

“I don’t blame you for what happened. I don’t even see how I could—I knew the risks, I knew Mobius had to be kept safe, and I made my choice. I mean, in the end, it all worked out too. If that was really what had to happen to start the chain of events that led to the Empire of Metallix being defeated, then I can’t even say I regret it.”

“Porker.” Sonic marched over, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “Now I know for a fact you hit your head in that fall. Either that or I need to get my ears checked, because I know I didn’t just hear you say you’re okay with the fact that we all left you there.”

“What else am I supposed to say?” he asked, genuinely. “We were in a difficult situation, not to mention a dangerous profession. Awkward choices and bad experiences were bound to happen eventually. All things considered, I escaped without any serious physical damage and got the space I needed to work on healing mentally. Things could have gone a whole lot worse—”

“But they also could’ve gone better!” Sonic barked. “We left you there! We all could’ve gone back with you, fought off the Metallix together!”

“And left the planet defenseless against Robotnik? That would’ve been terribly dangerous.” Porker forced himself to keep his posture open, hoping that having something else to focus on would help him feel less stunned that his friend was on the verge of yelling at him. “Besides, it’s equally possible that the Metallix would have overpowered us all, seeing as we’d be stuck there for a month, and then who would have saved us from them?”

“What, so are you telling me you’re fine with the way things turned out?” the hedgehog snapped.

“Yes and no,” Porker replied, hating how stiff his voice had become, but unable to search for any better words, “I certainly would have preferred to not be trapped on Little Planet for a month, but since I was, and we were able to destroy the empire that I was stuck with, I don’t really have anything left to be angry about. I may be upset that it happened to me, but I’ve decided that I don’t resent anyone for the way it happened.”

“Yeah? Well, good for you, but not all of us feel that way, y’know.” Sonic spat.

Porker hesitated for a moment. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what his friend meant, but he wanted to check something first.

“Are you upset with me for going back?”

“Wh—f—why would I be mad at you?” Sonic looked like he was about to explode, face twisted into a snarl. “It’s the Metallix’s fault, for being scummy enough to treat you like they did! It’s Robotnik’s fault, for making those machines in the first place, and for making a Mobius where there needed to be Freedom Fighters at all! And—and it’s on me for asking you to join the Freedom Fighters, because then this’d never have happened!”

The walls of Hydrocity Zone rang with the echo of Sonic’s outburst.

“…we’re done here.” the hedgehog muttered, turning away.

“N-n-no, we’re not.” Porker insisted, still gripping the rock, now so tightly that his hands shook. Sonic whipped around, his eyes hard, but Porker pushed onwards as quickly as he could. “S-Sonic, you couldn’t have possibly known this would happen. You may be a hero, but you’re not the Omni-Viewer—you can’t kn-know or do everything. And that’s fine!” he added, quickly, seeing Sonic’s quills begin to rise. “I don’t, I don’t expect you to, and anyone who does is being absurd, frankly. All you knew when you asked me to join was that Robotnik needed to be s-stopped, and that I was smart enough to help. And all you could—could do when I went back to Little Planet was make an impossible choice, and if you’re sorry that I got hurt, then I’m sorry I put you in a position to choose between me and everyone else.

“I don’t know if you really do r-regret asking me to join the Freedom Fighters—and if you do, I can try to understand why, but I have to inform you that I disagree whole-heartedly. You would n-not have survived fighting Robotnik on your own, you needed others by your side, and you were a big enough person to a-admit that in spite of the fact that I’m sure you would have preferred otherwise. If you regret asking me, then do you regret asking Johnny, or Tails? Do you regret bringing all of us into this? Because let me tell you, if I have to choose between a future where I am traumatized but alive, or a future where I never met the Metallix and you are gone, I would choose the former every time!”

Porker’s legs wobbled beneath him, and he lowered himself to the ground quickly, breathing hard and fast. “S-sorry, sorry for my harsh tone at the end there.” he apologized. “I didn’t m-mean to get so worked up.”

“…Porker.” Sonic said, no longer facing him, his voice strangely quiet in a way the engineer had never heard before. “You’re—right. About all of it. I’m glad you said yes when I asked you to join. Without you, we’d never have saved Kintobor, or gotten all the gadgets we needed to fight. It just, you know. Like you said. We were friends, but I was also the leader. That made your safety my responsibility. And you know me, I don’t like to, well. Lose. Heh.” He laughed humorlessly, even as his hands twitched and shifted with surprising intensity. “When you’re the Hero of Mobius, and you don’t save someone. Anyone. But especially a friend. It makes a guy wonder if he still gets to call himself a hero. If he still…has that friend. After he couldn’t keep him from getting permanently hurt. You know.”

“I think I do know.” Porker replied, almost instantly, needing to make sure Sonic knew that this opening up, no matter how stilted, was the right thing to do. “And I know that his friend has been with him for a while. His friend has seen him save people so many times, over and over again, even without a reward. So, quite frankly, if there was ever a time when he didn’t save someone, that friend would not doubt for a second that he didn’t wish things had gone differently. But,” he added, “this friend would also care about him a lot. And his friend would feel terrible if it seemed, for even a second, that a choice that the friend made was something he was using to make himself feel worse, whether he thought he deserved it or not. Because his friend is, well, his friend, right? So of course that friend wouldn’t want him to torture himself using the thought of what happened. 

“After all, he may be a hero—an incredible hero, even—but he can’t do everything, and like I said earlier, that's okay. That’s why the rest of us were there, to help him be able to do everything with our help. And sometimes that meant we were in danger, just like him. But that was okay, because there was no place we’d rather be than by his side, helping to make the world a better place.”

A single drop of water wet the stone by Sonic’s feet.

“There’s—” he croaked, before cutting himself off and abruptly clearing his throat. “There’s nobody I would rather have had with me.”

“I’m glad.” Porker smiled gently, and hoped it carried through in his voice.

“Ugh, first Super, now this—what is it with me and coming to visit you that makes bad things happen?” Sonic groaned, finally turning around once again (and the engineer elected not to notice how he was still working to compose himself).

“Well, in the very, very long run, that was a good thing too, considering that Super’s EMP blast was what enabled us to defeat Robotnik.” Porker said.

“Oh, so you’re not upset about that either?” Sonic asked, voice caught halfway between sarcastic and hesitant.

“Sonic!” the engineer huffed. “Super’s transformation process is completely involuntary! It may be frightening in the moment, but I would never, ever blame you for his actions!”

“…good to know.” Sonic said simply. “Speakin’ of which, I saw you two put up some better walls around the Emerald chamber, good to see we won’t have any more falling accidents.” He finally turned around, his arms folded and smirk back in place. “Don’t wanna find out what Super Porker is like or anything.”

“I hope seeing the Emerald chamber again wasn’t what bothered you earlier.” Porker’s brow furrowed in concern. “I didn’t even consider how it might be an unpleasant place to be…”

Sonic’s smirk lessened just a fraction. 

“You know, you’re always free to talk about it if you’d like.” Porker said, but when Sonic scoffed, he already knew it was a lost cause.

“Listen, I’ve had more than enough ‘talking about it’ for one visit.” Sonic rolled his eyes and did exaggerated air quotes, but…

…‘for one visit’ wasn’t ’for a lifetime’. Maybe it wasn’t such a lost cause after all.

Porker decided to take pity on his friend at last. “Would you like to head back to Hidden Palace now? You can bother Knuckles some more while I find the part I need to repair the zoom tubes.” 

“Finally!” Sonic exclaimed. “As much as I appreciate a good cave adventure every now and then, I’d rather be somewhere I can actually see the sun. Come on, let’s get moving.” He began to walk back towards the entrance, making Porker hesitate and frown over at him.

“…you’re not going to scout on ahead again?”

Sonic looked over at him, surprise registering for the briefest of seconds before he relaxed, his usual smirk returning—albeit somewhat crookedly. “Nah. If any badniks haven’t learned their lesson by now, we can handle ‘em.”

Porker could feel himself smiling wider than he had all day, enough so that Sonic seemed to notice. “Shut your trap, pixel-brain.” he grumbled, folding his arms. “Haven’t we had enough sappy nonsense already?”

“Fair enough,” Porker admitted. “So, how’s the rebuilding process going back in Emerald Hill?”

“The new town’s looking better every day!” Sonic’s grin returned in full force. “It’s gonna be much more defensible, but it’s also just way better quality and more sturdy than before.”

“That’s fantastic.” Porker said, suddenly feeling as though a weight he hadn’t even noticed had been lifted off his chest. “As much as the hillfolk have appreciated Knuckles’s hospitality, they seem eager to get home.”

“It’ll be good to have them back.” Sonic sighed. “Seeing the world start to live a post-Robotnik life sure is something, huh?”

“It really is. Sometimes I wondered if we’d be fighting for the rest of our lives,” Porker smiled ruefully. “But I’m so happy that isn’t the case.”

They walked together in silence for about half a minute, giving them both time to admire the water flowing through the caverns and the massive pillars helping to keep it all stable. The fact that the colors on the pillars hadn’t faded after all this time was fascinating to Porker, and he was beginning to think back on the papers Knuckles had gotten from that pirate fellow—

Sonic abruptly dragged his hands down his face and groaned. “Now you’ve gone and done it! Why’d you have to bring up Super in the first place, now I can’t stop thinking about him!”

“Technically, you brought him up.” Porker corrected him, before smiling sheepishly when Sonic shot him a glower (without any heat behind it, of course).

“Listen, it’s just—something about falling into the Emerald chamber made him way worse than usual. I don’t know all of it, but lemme tell ya…” He trailed off, staring into the middle distance.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Porker said softly, wishing he could give his friend a hand on his shoulder or a hug, but that wouldn’t help someone like Sonic. Instead, he jammed his hands in his pockets, kept walking, and waited.

“Ugh…waking up in the wreckage of our plane with the others nowhere in sight…fire everywhere…feeling myself laughing without knowing why…it’s good he’s gone, ‘cause I’m never about to see something like that again.” Sonic spat, forcing the tremor from his voice.

Porker felt his stomach turn. “Nobody told me about that! I can’t imagine how that must have felt, being amongst all that devastation without knowing what had happened!”

“They didn’t even tell me they were alive for days.” Sonic muttered, his shoulders hunched. “Super was still an issue, I know why they didn’t, but they left me thinkin’ I’d—! For days!” Suddenly, he kicked a rock with such speed and violence it shattered on impact.

Sonic clenched his fists, stopping in his tracks in an attempt to catch his breath. Porker shifted a little closer to him, worrying the fabric of his gloves with his fingers. “I’m sorry that happened. I’m guessing you haven’t mentioned this to any of them?”

“Why would I?” Sonic scoffed. “It worked, didn’t it? They fixed the problem.”

Porker opened his mouth—then hesitated—then sighed gently. “Well. I can see why they might have done that, but I don’t necessarily think it was the perfect solution. And if you ever want to talk about it more…I’m here. As your friend.”

“…you meant what you said earlier, right?”

“Hmm?” Porker blinked. “I said a lot of things earlier, I’m afraid you’ll have to remind me.”

“About…not blamin’ me for the stuff he does.” Sonic muttered, clearly embarrassed.

“Of course I did!” he insisted. “And I’ll say it as many times as you need! I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you. I don’t—” 

“Alright, alright, I get it!” Sonic snickered, shoving Porker lightly. “Save your breath for all these stairs, we gotta climb them to get back up to that knucklehead.”

“Oh, good heavens.” Porker sighed, eyeing up the spiral staircase warily.

Sonic rolled his eyes, his trademark smirk softening just a fraction. “Forget it, Porker, just grab on tight.”

Seconds later, they were back in the main room of the Hidden Palace.

The engineer pulled his wrist from Sonic’s grip, stumbling over to the nearest control panel and slumping into a seat. “I will never be used to that,” he wheezed, chuckling lightly.

“Sonic, you’d better not have broken my best engineer!” Knuckles barked, stomping over to the two of them.

“Isn’t he also your only engineer?” Sonic shot back.

“All the more reason not to drag him along when you decide to have a run around!” the echidna insisted.

“Knuckles?” Porker called, interrupting the two’s bickering. He had removed one of his shoes—but not his sock, obviously—and was bandaging up his sore ankle. Both of the others seemed concerned, but when he smiled reassuringly, they both trusted him enough to back off. “Oh yeah, just turned my ankle, nothing major. Anyhow, do you know where the replacement air conduits are? We found the break, but my temporary fix wasn’t much of a fix at all.”

“Drawer 14B.” he replied, already heading off in that direction. “I’ll get it for you if you keep this prickly tank of hot air out of my face some more. Take him to Mushroom Hill or something, have him play with the toddlers a bit to burn off that energy.”

Sonic huffed, tapping his foot rapidly. “Hot air?! You come back here and say that to my face! C’mon, Porker, let’s leave the guardian to his sulking.”

The engineer laughed under his breath as he joined his friend once again. “You two could have a whole comedy show with that kind of banter.” he said warmly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Sonic rolled his eyes. “Now who needs help packing up?”

Porker did indeed proceed to show Sonic all around the Mushroom Hill Zone, and the two helped out where their skills were needed as the citizens of Emerald Hill prepared to return to their long-evacuated home. (As a matter of fact, Sonic sped up the process by at least half a day, which went greatly appreciated amongst everyone present.)

Once they had finished with that, Sonic admitted that he should probably head back soon, to make sure that the rebuilding process was still going well and that his other friends didn’t need him for anything urgent. Porker walked him back to the plane, the two chatting about memories new and old along the way. And just before Sonic hopped into the cockpit, he placed a hand on Porker’s shoulder—the only differences from last time being that Sonic was the one to leave via plane instead…and that Porker put his hand over Sonic’s for just the briefest of moments.

As the Hero of Mobius took off, he looked back for a second to see his old friend waving him off with a smile on his face, and he couldn’t help but feel pleased to know that he was welcome back whenever he felt like it. To his surprise, however, there was one other thing he noticed—or rather, the absence of something.

This time, when he had settled into his plane and prepared for takeoff, the memories of Super hadn’t been there. Even now that he noticed it, even though he could still remember the fire, now, there was also…

“I don’t blame you.”

And wasn’t that just something else?

[addisonrottmnt]

Sonic prime

Shadow the hedgehog x fem hedgehog reader

First meet

Y/N was walking in green hills in then she something was falling down from the sky

Y/N: what the what is that

Sonic: Y/N look out !

Y/N: woo

Sonic: What was that

Y/N walks towards where crashed

And she see a black hedgehog

Y/N: black hedgehog

Sonic: hm well we should probably not wack it up also I should get back to my friends and you should come back to so meet you there

Sonic runs back to his friends you look at the black hedgehog and you thought maybe I should wack him up you walk towards him and he starts to wake up you help him up

Shadow: uh were am I

Y/N: um you’re at green hills

Shadow: Maria

Y/N : uh my name is Y/N

Shadow: Hu your not Maria

Y/N: who’s Maria

Shadow: if you even care about

Y/N : I do care about it

you saw the black hedgehog had tears in his Eyes

Y/N: are you okay

Shadow: why do you care about me

Y/N: because it hurts me to see you sad also looks like you need hug

Shadow: why are being so nice to me

Y/N: because I care about you even if I don’t know you or your name

Shadow: sigh my name shadow shadow the hedgehog and yes and you’re right I do need hug

You and shadow hug each other

Y/N: everything is going be okay

Shadow: thanks be nice to me

Y/N: no problem I should probably get back to my friends and sonic also the sun is almost setting so I guess I will seeing you around by Shadow nice seeing you

When you are back to your friends shadow was watching you run and he smiled because he has someone who cares about him five years later

Sonic: come on shadow can just leave me alone

Shadow: I don’t think so

Sonic: why are you always so angry all time

Shadow: it’s none of your business

They both did a spin dash and kept running around green hills and fighting each other until shadow ran to you and tails

Shadow: Y/N

Shadow stops and tails was protecting you

Tails : leave Y/N alone

Sonic: don’t you dare touch her shadow

Y/N : guys it’s okay I know him

Sonic and Tails: you know him

Y/N: yeah sonic do you remember on happen on the day when he crash here

Sonic: yeah wait you wack him up

Shadow: actually I wicked up on my own when I wack up I didn’t know I was at but I actually glad she was there because she new I needed comfort and she came me hug it made me so much better that’s when we became friends we been friends for five years

Sonic and Tails: what!

Sonic: wait you been friends with him ever since we first found him and you never told us

Y/N : yeah because didn’t know what your reaction will be if you know

Shadow: nice to see you again Y/N

Y/N: it’s nice to see you to

You and shadow hugged each other Sonic and Tails eyes were wide

Sonic: why are you guys friends he’s been fighting me for two years

Shadow: It’s not my fault

Sonic: yes is

Shadow: no it’s not

Tails: are guys ever going to get along

Sonic and shadow: No

Loud explosion came from behind you and one of Egg-mans robots got you in a cage shadow eyes widened and his Eyes had tears in his eyes he had know you for five years and he see you getting kidnapped right in front of him

Shadow: Y/N LET Her Go Egg-man

Egg-man: I don’t think so because you’re friend has something very important

Shadow: what is so important about her

Egg-man: because she has a connection to the prism

You were about to have a panic attack when Shadow sines you having panic attacks shadow all ways been there for you

Shadow: oh No she’s having panic attack

Sonic: that’s not good let her Egg-head

Tails: yeah let her go

You tried to calm down because you never got kidnapped before but you realize there’s was like a rainbow glow from you

Y/N: what is this why am I glowing

Egg-man : cannot believe

Y/N: what do you want Egg-man

Egg-man : HaHaHa

Shadow: Egg-man let her go NOW!

Y/N: Egg-man let me out of this cage now

Egg-man : haha l don’t think so

Then Egg-man flew away and with you to you reach your hand out of the cage and called out to shadow you see shadow had tears running down his face

Sonic: shadow are you

Shadow: Y/N

Shadow ran to were Egg-Man was heading

Tails: man shadow must really care about her

Sonic: yeah didn’t know she was that important to shadow

Shadow: hang on Y/N on my way

Be counted

[sage-nebula]

⭐️

“Ooh, look!” Charmy exclaimed, and he zipped around behind Sonic and Tails before anyone could stop him, snatching each of Tails’ tails in both of his fists. “He’s got two tails!” Time slowed. Charmy pulled Tails’ tails into the air, strands of fur poking up and over his gloved fingers, to show them off to Vector and Espio across the room. Tails’ hackles pulled into a full snarl, the light catching on his bared fangs, and he spun on the ball of his foot to carry the weight of his backhand to Charmy’s head. Charmy released his hold on Tails’ tails, and dodged up and out of the way of Tails’ strike. A barely audible whistle rent the air; the knife spun in a perfect, precise spiral as it flew from Espio’s hand, and Sonic caught the handle just before the tip impaled Tails’ eye. Time resumed. “Whoa!” Charmy flew back around to the middle of lobby, whether to put more distance between himself and Tails or to look at Sonic better, Sonic wasn’t sure. “How’d you catch that, mister? No one’s ever caught one of Espio’s knives before!”

— Beyond Oblivion, ch. 3

I don't know if I succeeded, but my intention here was to recreate the "bullet time" that we see in movies and television, something popularized (maybe even pioneered, though I'm not sure about that) by The Matrix way back in the '90s. Bullet time is a film technique used to emphasize when a character is reacting to something faster than the speed of sound or light; it's called as such because of the way Neo uses it to dodge bullets in the aforementioned movie and its sequels. We see this in action in other films too, such as during Quicksilver's scenes in the X-Men movies, or even in the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie itself, in the bar scene.

Sonic can canonically break the sound barrier, and some games have him talking about moving faster than the speed of light as well. Thus, the idea of bullet time moments occurring for him is not out of the ordinary. In particular though, I wanted to employ it in a scene that would have emotional resonance for him, sort of like his instincts kicking in during a moment of high emotional tension, or one that his brain subconsciously recognizes it as important even if he himself doesn't realize that until after the fact. Miles nearly being stabbed through the eye in a fatal strike by one of Espio's knives is one such moment, so I tried to slow the moment down to capture that as best I could through text, though I'm not entirely sure I succeeded.

[spiinsparks]

HC MEME / @galaxofmuses /  ACCEPTING !   ↳   Send me a symbol and I will write a headcanon about…

☼ : My muse’s first memory. (Where it was, who was with them, how this memory makes them feel, e.t.c.)

        Sonic  has ... many firsts. It depends. Who are you? And what do you want to know? If you’re a friend, and you ask, well... he’ll tell you all about the day he met his little buddy, Tails. Regale you, with the details of the West Island forest and fauna, the daring heroics of a young eleven-year-old hedgehog who decided, today, this day, he might need to consider putting treasure hunting officially on his resume. Of fox children who bullied a little guy who was perhaps a little too small and a little bit odd. How such a small moment in time - and a rather impromptu spur of the moment decision (of righteous fury) earned him one of the best friends a guy could ever ask for.  (  because THAT’S WHEN HIS LIFE REALLY BEGAN , right? when he found his first friend. When he met what would soon become only the first puzzle piece of a small found family.  )

       OR MAYBE you meant something else. Well, he can gladly tell you all about the day he first met Doctor Ivo Robotnik. The critters that were forcibly taken from their homes. The dust and smog that clouded the air and stank the wind that should blow free and clear. And Sonic, so young - barely even seven... maybe eight years old, he had lost track at the time - found that SUPER SPEED was rather handy. He could scout out the weird bases and the robots couldn’t touch him. He could whisk away the little critters who deserved better than red cages to the green and lush earth where they belonged. SOMEHOW , SOME WAY , he ended up being EXACTLY THE HERO THOSE LITTLE CRITTERS NEEDED. Not because he was trying. Not because he had SET OUT to bust some heads. Just... by being around, at the right place, at the right time. (  something of a LIFE-ALTERING COINCIDENCE , WAS IT NOT? )

      No? That’s not what you wanted to know either? Well, he’s only got so many stories you know, and those, he thinks, were pretty exciting.  ( but what about before ? what about long ago , before the wanderlust and the heroics? before the little amber fox flew right at his side ? what about then? BEFORE the first of firsts? )

             ....  Well.

        He guesses he was born on an island that was small.         In a village that was even smaller. He supposes. He thinks.

        There isn’t much else to it than that. 

       What was it like?        oh. you know. trees and valleys. critters of all shapes and sizes. the usual. whatever you’d expect on an island. (  faint echoes of laughter / of mobian children he doesn’t remember the shapes of / a breeze / the smell of saltwater sting in his nose. but he won’t tell you that. )

              AND WHAT ABOUT HIM?              WHO WAS THE HERO , BEFORE HE WAS A HERO? 

                He pauses.          DOESN’T THAT RUIN THE AIR OF MYSTERY? he asks, and he laughs. Dons a smile you think is supposed to be charming , and it is charming —  but it’s a smile that’s tight , you notice. It doesn’t quite seem to reach his eyes , you think.  IT’S LIKE HE SAID, he reiterates. HE’S ONLY GOT SO MANY STORIES TO TELL , AFTER ALL.

           ( and besides , he considers , quietly , in the silence that follows ... perhaps it’s not all that important for you to know. about thunderstorms and crashing waves / of the day he got the tornado off the ground / of meeting flickies that taught him to make his bed in the trees / or the small blue scrap of fabric tucked away where even tails won’t see. / you don’t need to  know about the ghost of a melody he hums that bears no name and has no words.  )

       IT’S NOT ALL THAT INTERESTING.       AND HE’S GOT PLENTY BETTER STORIES TO TELL.

[quxxn0fhxarts]

Sonic Senior Year - 4. Blackbourne Manor

Photo Made with Bing AI AN: Hey, Guise, thank you so much for your patience. I cannot write much for this series, and I had mega writer's block, but I love it. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I have edited the past chapter, formatted settings with made-up cities and states, added some sentences for context, and added AI photos! Check it out!

September 6th, 2014 9:19 PM

Blackbourne Manor, Ghost Hill, Mystic Heights

   "What is this?" Shadow asked as Tails had left him alone with his sketchbook while he had to use the restroom. It was a tiny black and yellow box with a red LED face.

   "That is what I have been working on all summer. I can get the CPU right, but I will try starting over. That is his design,"

   "What is it for?"

   "He is going to be my assistant. I programmed him to have more intelligence than me. He can read 100,000 web articles a second and give me the most logical or factual assessment," Tails explained. He was still combing his tails because there was just so much static electricity in them. He would have to shower and dry off for his fur to lay down like normal again.

   "Does it have a name?" Shadow asked, and Tails froze slightly.

   "Omega," Tails said nervously. Tails had never met another Omega, so he was making an AI with the mindset that he could have a friend. It would also be his therapist because he was stressed and depressed later. His friends wouldn't understand what he is going through. He isn't a girl, but he isn't a guy either.

   "Kinky," Shadow smirked, and Tails gulped. Is it going to have the amenities of an Omega?" Shadow teased, but Tails didn't reply.

   The fox raised his eyebrows and looked at Shadow, 'Does he not know that I am an Omega?' Tails thought. It was obvious just by how he was built, but he has been taking heat suppressants and wearing scent blockers since he started showing signs. This is why he wanted to keep the name from Shadow. Guys are pigs when they talk about his kind.

   "I love Omegas," Shadow said, twirling the pencil around his fingers.

   "You do?" Tails perked up an ear and quickly corrected himself, "I mean... me too, but you have met one before?" He tried to say without sounding too interested. Omega's make up 10% of the population and 1% of that 10% are Intersex Omegas, overall, they go into the sex industry or live a life of lies.

   "I've met one omega before. She was beautiful. I was on vacation in Sunset Park last summer," Shadow lied, trying to seem cool to Tails. He only ever watched porn with them in it. They both wanted to change the subject, "Why don't we make a bigger version of Omega for our project? He is pretty cool looking,"

   "You think so?" Tails smiled, and Shadow nodded emotionlessly. He didn't  want to give to much credit to Tails for making such a cool design. "Okay, sure, I do have to make a few tweaks to the sketch we just worked out... since he will be bigger, then I can find more hardcore processors for him," he said, already working on it.

   "We have been at this for a while now, so I ordered some dim sum," Shadow said when they heard a doorbell. Now that Shadow had said something, Tails was pretty hungry.

   When they got to the door, the delivery bird barely let Shadow hand him the food before he shoved it in his arms and quickly flew off. It's one of the first times Tails ever heard Shadow laughing that wasn't about torturing someone. Shadow hasn't bullied anyone in a couple of years. He does, however, like to tease them. 

   Seeing the fear in the bird's eyes was enough to make him have fond memories of those times. There were many rumors and gossip about Ghost Hill, such as that demonic cults resided there or that there were were-creatures and evil deities. The only 'scary' thing here is ghosts but most are harmless. They are just roaming around aimlessly, trying to discover what happened to them.

   "Thank you, Shads," Tails said as Shadow put the food on the counter. Shadow was slightly confused by the nickname, but he brushed it off. He had never had a nickname before. Well, Sonic calls him E-Boy, but he hates it.

   "Don't mention it... I heard your stomach growling earlier." Shadow told him he wanted to lounge around this weekend and be lazy, but Tails became fixated on something when he put his mind to it. Tails would often forget about using the bathroom or eating when he would get like this.

   "Shads... are you going to eat?" Tails asked, and Shadow shook his head, "Are you sure... you bought it and everything..." Tails said, and Shadow placed his hands in his house coat pockets.

   "You're worried about the vampire rumor, aren't you?" Shadow smirked, and Tails gaped, "Thought you would have been more intelligent than that,"

   "No, Shadow... I want you to eat with me,"

   "I don't like people watching me eat..." Looking down at his feet, Shadow said, "The orphanage I was in... they were strict with food. They would shame me with it since I was heavy back then. So, I eat... but not in front of people," Shadow said, looking away from Tail's look of sympathy and worry.

   "Shadow..." Tails said, putting a hand on his forearm, "I am sorry that happened to you..." Tails told him.

   "I'm fine, don't feel sorry for me, it's pathetic," He grumbled.

   "My mom would lock me in my room for a couple of days when I did something to upset her. She would only give me kibble to eat," Tails said, knowing the only way to comfort Shadow was to tell his trauma.

   "Kibble? Like what they feed prisoners?" Shadow asked, and Tails nodded. "I... am sorry," Shadow knitted his eyebrows together. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

   "I don't know..." Tails sighed.

   "I will eat with you..." Shadow sighed, walking down the hall, "Are you coming?" Shadow called out, and Tails trotted behind him. They walked down into the basement and down a couple more hallways. "This is my favorite room in the Manor," he sighed, opening a door.

   "Woah..." Tails said in astonishment, "Are... those squids?"

   "Yeah," Shadow said, sitting on the couch with the takeout at the coffee table. He grabbed a remote and lowered the TV down. He was about to hand Tails the remote, but the fox kneeled to look at the squids.

   "Where does the pool lead to?" Tails asked, seeing that the deep end was open.

   "The house was built near a spring. My parents had the worker's tunnel to connect to it. It leads out to the ocean over there," Shadow pointed to the right. "Sometimes squid will visit, and other times, sharks or fish will check things out.

   "Cool..."

   "Yeah, there will be more fish to visit at midnight. There is an automatic feeder that goes off every several hours," Shadow explained, getting his food and pushing Tails' dim sum to the side before the fox remembered he was hungry. "Do you know how to swim, or are you a numbskull like your friend?"

   "Can you not talk about Sonic like that?" Tails huffed. Look, let's just keep him off limits, okay? I won't talk about him if you won't," Tails said, and Shadow rolled his eyes with a nod. "And yes, I can swim," Tails skipped back to the couch and ate. He kept in mind not to look at Shadow while he was eating to not make him uncomfortable. "Can you swim?" Tails asked.

   "Yes... it's best not to have any weaknesses so people can't extort you," Shadow said, and Tails rolled his eyes, "What was that, Fox?"

   "Not everything is doom and gloom, Shads. Do you ever just kick back and relax?" Tails asked, and Shadow scoffed. You are so on guard even when you sleep."

   "It's what will make me get ahead in life or save my life, Fox... and look who the hell is talking, you're always tinkering with something,"

   "That is how I relax," Tails shrugged, "All of my creations are my friends. I like spending time with them. In return, they distract me from daily life." Tails said, looking up at the TV. "Do you think you can turn it to anywhere but the News?"

   "Why?"

   "Because I hate that News Anchor..." Tails muttered. "He is my new stepfather," Tails muttered, and Shadow raised an eyebrow. He looked Tails up and down before changing the channel to the weather channel.

   "Is the weather channel okay?"

   "Yep... There is a large storm coming. It's better to be prepared for it," Tails shrugged. Are you going to be okay with that?"

   "The storm?" Shadow asked with a glare, "Of course, I will..." he scoffed.

   "Alright... you were pretty noisy with the thunderstorm the other night," Tails said, and Shadow grumbled, "It's okay to be afraid."

   "Are you afraid of my fist in your face?" Shadow said through gritted teeth, and Tails gulped.

   "Sorry, Shads... I'll shut up now,"

    "Yeah, that's what I thought..." Shadow grumbled. For some reason, this didn't make him feel like it usually did. Shadow was a sadist, so when he made people afraid, it gave him a high, but Tails's fear of him made him feel bad. Please vote, comment, add this story to your library and read list, also share this story with a friend:)

AO3

Sonic: Senior Year - Chapter 4 - quxxnofhxarts - Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types [Archive of Our Own]

Wattpad

Sonic Senior Year - 18+ - 4. Blackbourne Manor - Wattpad

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: Chapter 9.4

Xiao was sick to his stomach.  The idea that Childe turning out to be an ally to the group disgusted him--and don't get him started on the thought of Zhongli possibly falling for that act a second time.  It would be an understatement to say that he wanted nothing to do with that harbinger ever again.  But of course he just had to deal with him for awhile longer, and it was for your sake only.  

"You mean..."  Aether was still processing Zhongli's confession alongside the yaksha.  "You tricked us?  Again?"

"You're just as bad as Childe if you lie this much!"  Paimon huffed in obvious disappointment before poofing out of the conversation.

"Forgive me for not informing you sooner; I made a grave mistake for trusting him the first time, but I will not leave you in the dark for a second."  The former archon bowed his head in a deep apology after revealing what really happened in Fontaine all those weeks ago.

"And you knew of this, Xiao?"

"He informed me in a dream while I was still unconscious."

"I-I'm still wrapping my head around this," uttered the boy.  "And now Childe is making the same move again?  What're you going to do?"

"I think it's time to make our final move."  The archon eyed the couple of Fatui agents walking past their table, careful to keep his voice lower than usual.

"As much as I want to, you can't join us.  You'd be breaking your own contract.  Isn't that a problem?"  Zhongli didn't answer, so the traveler then turned to Xiao.  "What do you want to do?"

"I..."  The yaksha averted his eyes.  I want to rescue her, he thought.  I want to, but if she's not in contact with me, she won't be affected by my karma.  Zhongli noticed the sour expression on Xiao's face and piped up.

"We do not need to decide our move right at this moment.  A situation so dire cannot be approached lightly."

"She should stay where she is," Xiao muttered under his breath after Aether and Paimon ran off to do some commissions.

..............

"Are you just gonna stare at me or what?"  

You were sitting with your back against the far wall of an unfamiliar cell while your hands were carefully placed on your lap to avoid touching the scummy floors.  On the other side of the cell bars stood what was probably the shortest of the eleven harbingers.

Scaramouche didn't answer you, electing to deepen his scowl instead.  His glare fell to the vision at your hip like he was trying to understand why the Tsaritsa refused to give him the order to confiscate it.  Your gaze followed his until the faint glinting of the vision's glass was all you could focus on.

Why didn't she take it this time?

And that wasn't the only thing that was different about your second imprisonment.  Your cell was painted in what you assumed to be anti-adeptus sigils like Xiao's cell had been.  Maybe this was to prevent you from calling for Xiao; the threat of his capture seemed to weigh heavily on your shoulders, but something about this cell felt off and you couldn't put your finger on it.  Why take this precautionary measure if she knew you wouldn't call for the yaksha for his own safety?

That question was answered a little too-quickly for your liking.  One of Scaramouche's underlings brought in what looked like a toolkit, only to reveal a plethora of presumed torture objects inside.

"Is this really appropriate for you, my Lord?  We can take over from here; you don't need to participate in an activity that would insult y--"

The harbinger shot him a dangerous look.  "I don't remember asking for your input.  Get out."

"Y-yes, sir.  Excuse me!"  The guard doubled over in an apologetic bow before scrambling out of the prison as fast as he was able to.  Then Scaramouche's glare returned to you as he reached into the bag.

....................

I'm gonna kill them all.  I'm gonna kill them.  They'll all fall at my hands.

A blood trail tailed behind you as Fatui guards escorted your weakened body into the frigid throne room for the third time this week.  They threw you to the tile floor, while your vision clinked unhappily against the hard surface.  She still hadn't bothered to remove it; it was like she was taunting you with the illusion of power, and she shot you down every time you thought you'd take her by surprise.

I'm going to kill her, Xiao.

The coldness of the unwelcoming floor seemed to welcome you into your repeating nightmare while the hot blood that pooled in your mouth dripped onto the surface.  Unlike the other times you were dragged in here, Childe wasn't present.  It was a shame that the one who so badly wanted to be involved in the brawl was about to miss out.  The tapping of a fingernail against metal prompted you to push yourself up to your knees.

She'll fall at my hands.

"Bow before Her Majesty, the Tsaritsa."

You just coughed up more blood without obeying.  Twitching fingers were the remnants of Scaramouche's torture.

"The perseverance of humans truly is something to witness," the cryo archon muttered in distain.  She had run out of patience; you were nothing more than a nuisance if you refused to work with her any longer, and it was a miracle that she put up with you longer than she would with her own men.  "Very well.  You'll die here.  Any last words?"

"Y-You threatened them."

"If you wish to be heard, speak up."

"You threatened them," your voice raised loud enough for everyone to hear despite the fact that your throat was sore from the amount of screaming Scaramouche managed to get out of you.  A small groan left your lips as you forced yourself to your unsteady feet.  Blood coated your lips and chin, and soaked into your tattered shirt.  "You threatened my friends, you've threatened Xiao, and you're ultimately responsible for my Granny's death.  Your crimes against us and the people of Teyvat will never be forgiven.  What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Hm."  A hint of a wry smile was quickly overshadowed by hatred and disgust.  She had heard enough of your disrespect, and it was clear beating you into submission wasn't working.  

You caught the subtle twitch in her hand before she flicked her wrist and hurled an attack in your direction.  Defiant feet remained planted, and a counterattack almost as quick as the Tsaritsa's was thrown her way.  You didn't feel the blast of her magic reek havoc against your body, but  subconsciously heard the sound of shattering glass right before you initiated your counterattack.

The Tsaritsa waved off the guards that readied to restrain you while hiding the beginnings of fear from her face.  She'd kill you herself.  The temperature dropped lower and lower until the entire room froze over and your fingers began to go numb.  Of course, this wasn't because of your magic; you could drop the temperature below zero, but this was on a completely different scale.

"You've earned your friends' deaths as well!"  The archon raged and stood from her seat with the intent to kill you on the spot.  Shards upon shards whirled around her before shooting at your frail exhausted figure.  "Morax's yaksha will join you in death for your disobedience.  Thus is the punishment for disrespecting the will of your master!"  

"You will not harm anyone!"  

BOOM!  The palace walls shook violently as the force of a shockwave ran through them--with you at the epicenter.  A brilliant light shone from your eyes for a split second, though it made no difference in your tunnel vision of determination.  This time, you were the one to lower the temperature.  A growing layer of frost enveloped your skin in a warm embrace.  Your power was a mix of ice and stormy gales that tore through the throne room at a vicious speed, sending Fatui agents and harbingers alike running for cover as the palace became an unstable battlefield.

............

Two days before.

"What kind of a suicide mission is that?!"  Xiao growled out to the open night air with frustration, though he knew you couldn't hear nor feel his response.  "This recklessness will be the end of you!"  He took a deep breath to regain his composure and his gaze fell to his hands, which were enveloped in the fine black mist that was his accumulated karma.  He couldn't keep his thought process of protecting you from himself if you were practically asking to be killed by the cryo archon. He wouldn't let that happen no matter what risks his karma may bring.

Days of grueling torture unlike anything you've faced before haunted his ears.  He could tell that you never meant to pray to him these past several days, but somewhere in your delirious state of mind, clouded by pain, you called his name.  Not for him to come and rescue you, no.  That was a trick you weren't going to fall for and he wasn't rescuing you out of respect for your wishes.  

But hearing your cries, you sobs, was a torture method in and of itself to Xiao.

After the first three days your agony turned to resentment, then to rage.  You plotted.  You schemed.  You planned until you settled on what was probably the dumbest 'solution' to your problems.  And Xiao heard every word.

"FOOL!"  Overcome with frustration yet again, Xiao impaled the nearest tree with his polearm.  The winds whipped violently through its leaves until he let out another aggravated sigh.  He looked down to Liyue Harbor and the sunrise that began to chase away the shadows.  Yelling would result in nothing and it was immature of him to do so.  He would go to Zhongli, and summon Aether.  There was no time to waste.

............

What awaited them at Zapolyarny Palace was nothing short of stupefying.  They were met with a stampede of shaken guards that were so disorganized and distraught, they didn't even notice that intruders had broken into the palace.  The three of them exchanged knowing glances before Zhongli led the way to the throne room.  It was then that a powerful shockwave--loud enough to be a sonic boom-- nearly threw them into the wall behind them as the doors flew open.

"You will not harm anyone," muffled words reached the ears of the intruders.  "Not me, not Zhongli, not Aether, and certainly not Xiao!"

It took a moment for Xiao to process what he was looking at; the snowstorm that raged on was barely contained in the throne room, and white obscured the battle for the most part.  He didn't need a clear image of you to pick up on your words.

A new light appeared above you and this time you caught sight of it.  Six star-like objects lit up a similar color to Xiao's hair and connected to one another.  You paid no mind to it, as it disappeared as quickly as it came.  The storm grew violent, and much like your most recent confrontation with Childe, your power was harming yourself.  Icicles shredded your worn-out garments.  The wind turned so sharply that it bit into your skin.

"That shouldn't be possible," Zhongli's widened gaze lingered where those stars had appeared above your head.

"So you saw that too," Aether mumbled in bewilderment as he also stared at the same empty air.  I thought the people of Teyvat needed Stella Fortuna to unlock their constellations?  He snapped out of his daze quicker than Zhongli.  "Let's go, we need to help her!"

Xiao blocked their advance with his polearm.  "Wait."

"You think we should wait?"  Paimon hissed.  "She needs our help!"

The yaksha ignored their hesitance and kept his narrowed eyes on the blurry image of you in the distance.  Rely on me.  Call out my name.  If he was allowing himself to be vulnerable with you now, risking your safety from his karma, then it was your turn to do the same.  Call out my name, and I'll be there when you call.

"DIE!"  The Tsaritsa waved her hand through the air and summoned a glade of ice that was meant to slice you in two.

"I won't succumb so easily!"  A blast of wind erupted from your side, and it cut the ice in half before it could reach you.

Wind?  Anemo?  Zhongli sent a glance to Xiao's figure.  Could this be...

You pushed off the ground with the aid of the wind, and a flurry of snow hurled towards the Tsaritsa.  She shot shards through it, and they impaled the ceiling after clearing the fog.  You weren't there.

The archon spun around and was met with the devilish amber eyes of an adeptus and the cocky grin of her weapon of war.  This power--The wind kicked up the accumulated layers of snow from the floor and blocked her line of sight again.  A sharp pain sliced through the backs of her knees, and she crumpled to the ground.  The speed of your movements was unlike anything your friends have seen from you before.

You landed before her and relished the feeling of having a literal god kneeling at your feet.  Maybe you weren't so unlike Childe after all; if this sight made you feel that good, then one could understand the harbinger's obsession with battle.  The three friends behind you--who you had yet to notice--took note of the Childe-like expression on your face.  You summoned your iced polearm.  Or...tried to.  A quick glance to your hand confirmed it was still empty despite your attempts.  Instead, a cold breeze playfully weaved between your fingertips.  Huh?  Did I exhaust myself?  I feel fine...

"Ha...haha...Hahahaha!"  A wicked cackle sent chills down your spine, and you returned your attention to the god that was hunched before you.  "You may have picked up on my Childe's arrogance, but you wield it like a weakness."  You anticipated her next move from the growing of sheer cold, but with your current position, there was no way you'd be able to dodge it in time.  She swung her arm out to you.

The name fell from your lips without thinking.  "Xiao-!"  WHOOSH!  The blast of air knocked you onto your butt, and your vision cleared to view an unsettlingly-silent battlefield.  For several seconds, the cyclone calmed.

"Tch."  The sound of a struggle made you look up.  There was your yaksha, neck-at-neck with the cryo archon.  He held his polearm in a blocking position, and it rattled uncomfortably against the force of the ice sword that pushed against it.  The pair were staring daggers at one another.  

"Xiao!"

"Took you long enough.  Leave the killing to me.  Leave, now."

"There's no way I'm leaving you by yourself!"  You pushed yourself to your feet and ran towards them.

Xiao picked up on the sound of your footsteps, and glanced back at you for a split second.  "Get back!"  He could almost feel the grin that spread on the god's face as you got closer.  "Move!" Panicked, Xiao pushed back against the Tsaritsa before dashing through the air and pulling you with him just in time to avoid what would've been a devastating blow of the god's power.

The sharp movements made your stomach do a flip or two, but you didn't have time to puke.  The Tsaritsa levitated towards the two of you, who were now standing side-by-side with Xiao's hand placed lightly between your shoulder blades.  Your eyes met his, but you couldn't tell what he was thinking.  Instead, you nodded in encouragement just in case he wasn't on-board with you still being here with him.

The yaksha seemed to understand on some level, and nodded back before returning his eyes to the god above you.  "Now."

[magnetothehedgehog]

Dimension’s Ridge Announcement!

Hi everyone, With all the rise in Sonic media and the great releases coming up, such as The New sonic game in 2022,the sonic movie 2, sonic prime, and literally anything Idw has been releasing including their new side series “Imposter syndrome”, I am challenged to up my game and release information on my long running project in the works. Especially Since sonic prime and Idw is literally gonna blow out all the spoilers before I do if I don't start releasing stuff first. Since its been happening constantly, I gotta be a step ahead.

So, without further ado, I introduce you to the World of Dimension's Ridge.

Dimensions Ridge is My personal Alternate Universe that seeks to combine all aspects of sonic media. In fact, its super similar to the upcoming Sonic prime, archie and Idw Comics in this regard, with it possibly being a bit more ambitious, or at least equally as ambitious as Idw.

The Series will follow a number of favorite canon and non canon characters alike, but will also their universal counterparts and alternate universe selves.

The Main overarching plot line is that a Existence level Threat is putting everything in jepoardy. This Creature Known as an Existence Eater spreads its influence to a planet by releasing its minions into it, then after enough time, it comes to absorb the planet, thus erasing it from existence entirely, as if it had never been there in the first place. This has been happening for quite a while, until a few people caught onto it. They began leaving messages and warnings to others in a attempt to save them.

Being an existence level threat, this will take the combined effort of every Version of Sonic,Tails,Sally, Eggman and everyone else if they want anything to be left in the multi-verse. This Story is about how they all come together to do just that.

However that is the main plot. The story follows many minor or sub plotlines and stories that all connect and weave into this ultimate narrative. For Stories featuring Sonic and friends, Stories start off in the classic area and work their way into the modern area as the characters develop and mature, so we get to see and live their journey alongside them. For older characters and parents, I wanted them to have a  more staple involvement in the series, even if only at the beginning. Their Adventures as the World slowly slips into chaos can be read in War on Mobius.

While there are Prequels to the beginning of the story, such as the “Rift War.”, the main storylines that kicks off all the other starts is one of my current productions “War on Mobius.”This follows the economical and political collapse following the Recent End of The Rift War and begins the Egg Empire's rise to Power.I would like to mention that The Egg Empire Now consists of the collective versions of Eggman all working together as a family. Egg Fam for short. But we have Great additions such as boom eggman, Ova Eggman, Aosth Eggman, Satam Eggman, Russian Eggman,Eggette, and a few custom additions such as Omelette and Scramble.

Things That happen in War on Mobius will be seen effecting or influencing the states of things in my Classic Era Story “Classic adventures.” and others ones such as “The Freedom Fighters.”

Alongside canon appearances of less known or scrapped characters and designs, such as Tiara and Honey the Cat, Readers can expect appearances of my own characters, both as counterparts to main characters, and also as people who drive the story forward and show interesting and dynamic opinions of their changing world. A few Such ones would be “Tribal Ties” Focusing on the Tribes of Echidnas, Bayblonians and Pangolins Tribes, all of which play a part not only in Mobius history, but also will play a vital part in its future.

After Classic adventures, comes one of my long running claims to fame and a personal favorite of mine from my early script writing days. Zone Runners. This takes place after the Events of Classic adventures and as the world has been influenced by the political unrest in War on Mobius. It follows the Group of People on the East Side of the World as they try to fight back against the Egg Empire, Newly risen Oscillators Group, and The Very lack of Sonic and Freedom Fighter there. This series will also begin unraveling some of the mysteries behind the existence eater and the ultimate narrative. Originally this concept came from the Fleetway comics, and ever since I've been completely inspired to incorporate this into my own series. If anyone was ever on Sonic Amino, they might have seen me post things related to it back in the day.

I also wish to be a more character focused series as a whole, one who focuses on the people collectively as opposed to just Sonic himself. I want it to as if each character us actually a main character and can save the day, and that the day is only won because everyone has done their part, whether powerful or powerless.

To that End, I have many characters stories intertwine, or lead to one another. Some characters will have branching off stories, while others will be closely intertwined, and always interact with each other, regardless of who the story is currently focusing on.

A few I'd like to notable mention is, Shadow's Ark, Silvers Sanctuary, and Heir of Sol. Focusing on the characters Shadow, Silver, And Blaze Respectively.

While I have a lot of other Titles for the stories respectively, I'd just to touch on a few more before I close.

Worlds collide finally answers the question in sonic media about two planets and the dimensional connundrum of sonic rush and sonic 06. While also bringing together multiple characters who were on their own paths, for the collected purpose of setting up how everyone will be needed much later.

Dimension Forces is, a reimagined Version of Sonic Forces, including a whole new team of villains to take on the heroes from our prior stories. I call them: Forever Force. The Main Three Hitters Being the Villains Infinite, Eternity, And Enigma. In this Story we'll get to see Whispers team in action, and also get to see new stories involving Gadget and His Brother Widget, and a host of other rising heroes soldiers and returning cast members.

I also had this Idea that the wisps were able to use their abilities on their own, except in smaller weaker versions then when they had a mobians help.Thus you could call in drill air strikes and other things to help you in battle, and the flew alongside you rather than in containers. I had these idea way long ago, but what do you know Idw beat me to the punch again in rise of the wisps. However I would just like to say before they do it too, that I had the idea of the wisps combining their powers, as if anyone played Sonic simulator, you would know you can actually combine wisp powers. If its the same type, its twice as strong with a bonus effect. If its different, you can combine the strengths of two different powers. Think how eggman used cube with laser in the boss nega wisp armor.

Speaking of Sonic Simulator! Thats another Story I have plans for. Following alongside the events of Sonic colors, Sonic simulator follows the group of hedgehogs abducted from Mobius and sent to eggman's interstellar amusement park as part of an organic experiment to take out sonic. Suggested by The Leader of the Oscillators, These hedgehogs will now have to work together to prove their worth to Eggman and as worthy adversaries of Sonic! But what of their past memories? What will happen if they remember? And if they do, can they escape? Find out! Also its follow up story leads to sonic lost world.

I'd also like to talk about the Idw Verse Mini series I have been working on! Getting Art from the Talented CatRage and getting to voice my Ideas to My Friends as well as My sister, I present my own Miniseries! Mimic's misadventures!

This story takes place between  the events of Idw's Bad guys, and follows mimic's operations and struggles as he tries to complete his missions, and deal with people of similar caliber to himself. Will this mercenary manipulate his way easily out of another situation? Or has the Octopus finally met the one group who will send him back to the ocean? Find out!

Currently, this miniseries has 5 canon issues and one undecided.

1.Ghost Of The North.

2.Into the Spiders Nest

3.Hunt is on

4.Jaws of a Predator

5.Belly of the Beast

undecided: 6.Seaside Escapade.

Currently I am writing the script for Part 1 of Ghost of the North and hope to finish up the Audio drama reading for it soon.

So this is all the stuff I've had in production for the past few years! Along with my co writer Pinky heart.

Please, Please! Reblog or retweet this. It would mean the world to me. Also please! Ask as many questions as you'd like. I'll answer as many as I can, and would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions, as well as questions and inquires involving the series.

[bimboamyrose]

On The Scarlett Sea - Part 1 / 2

A ~Pirate~ Metamy Fanfic -  [Link to Part 2]  - [AO3 Link]

Synopsis When the world learns of a secret pirate treasure plundered from the Knuckles Clan’s ancient ruins over 300 years ago, Knuckles enlists the help of his friends, Amy and Tails, to retrieve and hide its most powerful artifact- a mysterious mirror that allows the user to become their most desired self. He isn’t the only one after the treasure, however; As Metal Sonic discovers the existence of the mirror, he forms his own crew of “pirates” to take it for himself. Along the way, he separates Amy from her friends and convinces her to help him make his greatest dream a reality- but what is that, really?

In collaboration with @mmm-asbestos​ & their pirate Metamy AU  Merry Xmas / Happy holidays and stay well~

Part 1

There were few things Knuckles regretted more in life than meeting the self-proclaimed “World's Greatest Thief,” Rouge. As such, Amy knew she was in for a rant the minute she answered his call at the crack of dawn and heard him utter the bat’s name.

“Rouge is in the news!” he yelled into the receiver.

“Wha…” Amy rubbed her eyes. It was still dark out.

“Haven’t you seen the papers this morning?”

“You get newspapers on Angel Island?” she yawned.

“Turn on the news! This is important!”

“Alright, calm down...” Amy slid out of bed sleepily, still yawning as she flipped her living room TV on and threw herself onto the couch groggily. A news channel was running a segment on an archeological discovery that seemed to be making waves. Amy turned it up so Knuckles could hear on the other end.

“The centuries-old hiding place was found by none other than world-famous treasure hunter, Rouge the Bat. The former jewel thief was hired for her skills-”

“Former jewel thief?! Where are they getting their sources?”

“Quiet, I can’t hear!” Amy raised the volume further to drown out his yelling.

“- the discovery of a lifetime! We had an exclusive interview with the mastermind who helped find this historical treasure. Here’s what she had to say:”

Footage of Rouge sitting in a lavish armchair next to a roaring fireplace followed. “Well, you’ll be interested to hear that this isn’t the famed Captain Scarlett's treasure. It was a personal stash of journals and letters her wife left behind.

The camera cut briefly to a reporter sitting across from her. “And we understand that a possible map to the famous pirate’s real treasure was hidden among this?”

“That’s correct. I spent some days analyzing the documents and discovered they contain instructions on how to reach Captain Scarlett’s treasure. There are some hints as to what’s contained at the site as well. I’ll be sailing there with a crew in a few days!”

“Can you give us an idea of what you believe to find there?”

“Untold riches, of course!” Rouge gave a breathy laugh. “And perhaps some old artifacts- I understand she had an interest in ancient cultures,” she waved dismissively. “We’ll find out soon enough- I’m confident it’ll take no time to navigate there.”

“And we’ll be here on land waiting with bated breath for the historical discovery! Now back to-”

Amy muted the TV, her eyes finally adjusting to the dim early morning light. “So she was hired to find some old pirate treasure? Is that what you’re upset about?”

“The treasure she was hired to find happens to contain an ancient Knuckles Clan artifact! You need to get the others and come to Angel Island right away-”

“You’re mad about the possibility that Rouge will find some antique?” 

“Antique! Amy-” she could hear him trying to restrain himself. “Listen to me, if this ‘treasure’ falls into the wrong hands, it’s going to be a mess to clean up. Get Sonic and Tails and come here as soon as you can. They’re not answering my calls and we need to speak in person.”

Amy groaned. It was far too early to be thinking about a new dangerous adventure- especially when they’d just stopped one of Eggman’s plots less than a week earlier. “Fine… at least let me have some breakfast first.”

“Make it quick!” he hung up.

“And they say I’m bossy,” Amy grumbled to herself. Before long, the sun’s rays shone brightly throughout her house and sleeping in no longer sounded comfortable. With a sigh, she got ready for the unexpected day ahead.

-----

“I never knew there was a catacomb under the altar…” Amy held a lantern out in front of her as she climbed down the steps.

“That’s ‘cause it’s a secret,” Knuckles responded gruffly. “Come on, I shouldn’t have to tell you to hurry it up!!”

Sonic and Tails trailed behind in a sleep-deprived state. They’d stayed up until morning playing games and were just getting to bed when Amy pounded on the lab door to retrieve them. She still wasn’t sure how Tails managed to land the plane on Angel Island. “Relax, Knux…” Sonic rubbed his eyes as he followed behind Amy. 

“I’m gonna fall asleep in here…” Tails yawned.

“No sleeping!” Knuckles sealed the entrance and rushed ahead, leading the way. The rest of the group groaned in unison as they followed. 

As they went, Amy noticed a ladybug had hitched a ride on her shoulder. “Aw, wouldn’t want you to get lost down here.” She picked up the small insect on the end of her finger and continued after Knuckles. After coming down a winding staircase and navigating a series of dark corridors, the team arrived in a small room with walls lined with scrolls and small relics with a hard wooden table in the center. Knuckles lit the torches on the walls and sifted through the contents of a stone shelf. 

“I have a flashlight, you know,” Tails remarked.

“No flashlights! You’ll damage the texts.”

Tails mumbled under his breath. “I suppose lighting them on fire is better…”

“Quiet- look at this.” Knuckles brought out a large, yellowed scroll and a wooden box. Spreading the scroll across the table revealed what appeared to be a map of the ocean. “This is a map to that treasure Rouge is after.”

“Wait,” Amy interrupted, “You have one, too?”

Knuckles nodded. “This is Captain Scarlett’s map.”

Sonic leaned over the scroll. “Scarlett? Isn’t that the famous lady-pirate? Why do you have that?” 

“Because,” Knuckles continued, “300 years ago, that damned pirate plundered the Mystic Ruins for its treasure. This map was found by an Echidna scholar over a century ago and it’s been here ever since.”

“So, this isn’t the first time someone finds part of Scarlett’s treasure?” Tails asked.

Knuckles scoffed. “Hardly. My people have been after that stash of letters that Rouge found for decades. We’ve been trying to keep the contents of ‘Scarlet’s’ treasure a secret since it was discovered what it contains- The Stone Mirror.” The others stared blankly at him, the object he was referring to having no meaning to them. He looked at each of them irately before continuing. “Really? Argh, fine; The Stone Mirror is a powerful artifact that can turn the user into their ‘most desired self’- whatever that means. Apparently, old Scarlett used it 300 years ago to become the world’s best pirate or something.”

“So… you want us to help you look for a magic mirror in the middle of the ocean?” Sonic asked.

Knuckles’ brow twitched. “Did you not just hear what I said? What if Eggman got a hold of this thing?!”

“What’s the big deal? We should be able to fly there-”

“No flying. This map is meant to be navigated by sea. Besides,” Knuckles opened the small box to reveal a compass and a crystal eyepiece. “This map only goes so far. We’ll need these once you get to this point to guide the rest of the way.”

“Let me see that,” Tails took the compass in his hands and waved it around the room. “Does this thing work? It doesn’t even point north.”

“It points to where it has to point once you get here,” Knuckles poked at a red X on the map.

“That literally makes no sense.”

“It’s what the scholar wrote down when she discovered this map!”

As they bickered, Amy carefully picked up the map and held it to the light. As it passed in front of a lantern, writing could be seen across one side of the scroll. The little ladybug that had ridden in on Amy’s shoulder flew onto its surface and crawled around. “Guys, look! There’s something written here.” The boys went silent as they leaned in to get a closer look at the neat cursive script. Amy read it aloud. “Hand in hand we sailed to the horizon that faithful evening. I looked into her glassy eyes for guidance as the sky above turned, Scarlett.”

Sonic shook his head. “This lady sounds lost.”

“Maybe,” said Knuckles, “But our best hope is to follow this map and figure it out from there. And get that bug off the map, would ya?” Amy allowed the little red insect to crawl back onto her hand before replacing the map on the table.

“Yeah, all I’m hearing is we’re gonna get ourselves stranded in the ocean. Count me out.”

“Are you serious?!” 

“No way I’m getting on a boat just to get stuck in the middle of the sea,” Sonic crossed his arms stubbornly. “I’ll stay here and look after the Master Emerald.”

“No fair, why do you get to stay?” Tails complained. “I don’t wanna be on a boat, either!”

“I think it sounds fun,” Amy said, watching as the ladybug crawled around on her palm.

“This isn’t a pleasure cruise!” Knuckles yelled.

Tails’ ears drooped. “I’ll say. Sonic’s right, we’re gonna get lost. Don’t you have that scholar’s notes, Knuckles?”

“No.”

“But you know a little about what she wrote; where are they?”

Knuckles grumbled as he crossed his arms. “There was… a small fire…”

“No kidding,” Tails frowned.

“Bah- Will you help me or not? We need to get on a boat ASAP to beat that bat over there- she has all the same information in those documents she found!”

Rolling his eyes, Tails turned back to the map. “Fine. We can take my boat. But I need to take a better look at this map in some proper lighting.”

“Deal,” said Knuckles. “You in, Ames?”

“You can count on me! I already have our costumes planned out,” Amy giggled.

“Costumes…?” It didn’t feel like much of a deal to Tails, who’d just been roped into steering a boat for the next several days in whatever outlandish outfit Amy would choose for him. He rolled up the scroll begrudgingly and gathered the other trinkets into their box. Knuckles turned out the torches as the team spilled out into the corridor and followed him back up to the surface. They all squinted harshly as the mid-morning sun burned their eyes. 

“Here you go,” Amy told the ladybug, placing it on a small flower. “Hope you find your way back home okay.” She watched it crawl around a bit before spreading its wings and buzzing away happily. She smiled as it flew off, pleased that it was able to make it back to the surface with her help. Once it was out of her sight, Amy joined her friends in making their plans to sail off in the next few days.

The shiny little insect flew and flew, ascending far higher and speeding up to a far quicker pace than any ladybug reasonably should. It continued off the edge of Angel Island, floating high above the land, the sea, then the clouds. It didn’t take the ladybug very long to reach its destination, flying into a tiny steel vent and into a cold, metallic fortress. Once aboard the Egg Carrier, it made its way into a small lab where it landed on a steel desk, ready to address its master.

“It is about time you returned…”

The ladybug spread its wings once more, this time flying into the minuscule port on a computer that topped the desk. A video appeared on the screen that took up the wall ahead, displaying a first-person view from the bug’s perspective. It flew toward Amy Rose, landing on her shoulder just as she descended into a secret passage.

A young boy’s voice was heard. “I’m gonna fall asleep in here…” 

“No sleeping!” a gruff voice responded.

“Aw, wouldn’t want you to get lost down here,” Amy could be heard saying before the view changed to  atop her finger.

“Interesting.” Metal Sonic locked his fingers together, resting his chin over his thumbs as he leaned in to listen closely. “What are our little heroes up to now?”

----

The following morning, Eggman raised a brow as he enjoyed his coffee with the early news. A field reporter was live from a marina where a crime was committed earlier that day. The spot at the docks where a historic pirate ship normally floated was empty.

“They just sailed off in her!” a frantic man said on TV. “We had a wedding planned there for this afternoon! What are we supposed to do now?”

The show cut back to the news anchor. “The historic Royal Fortune, the antique pirate ship that still operates tours and events to this day, was stolen early this morning as the thieves marooned the crew on a nearby sandbar. The criminals are described as armored and wearing black hooded cloaks. If anyone has news regarding her whereabouts-”

“Hmm…” Eggman muted the show as he heard a loud, metallic clanking forming from the corridor.  Metal Sonic strode in from outside the floating fortress with two Silver Sonic Prototypes close behind. All were mysteriously clad in black hooded cloaks as the small minions each carried oversized boxes above their heads.

Eggman leaned back in his chair to look out through the open doorway. “Metal, where were you so early?”

The three robots stopped in their tracks as Metal Sonic turned around to address him momentarily. “Out.” He continued forward without another word.

“I gave you the ability to talk so you could use it, you know,” Eggman grumbled. He took another sip as a loud doorway could be heard opening and shutting down the hall. With a sigh, the old man shook his head, wondering what the dark cloaks were about. Why would they hide their identities to steal the stupid ship? What is he even up to? he asked himself before going back to his coffee.

Once in the privacy of Metal Sonic’s lab, boxes were ripped open and long capes were thrown aside. Metal Sonic stood in front of a full-length mirror examining his freshly painted armor, glittering gold accents reflecting the dull fluorescent lighting. Each of the pint-sized prototypes had received chromatic silver paint jobs as well to differentiate them from the dozen or so other identical bots that performed various tasks around the airship. They both sorted through the boxes, throwing various period garments about the room haphazardly.

Clothes were strewn everywhere by the time Metal Sonic noticed the mess they were making. “I told you two to find me something to wear, not wreck my lab!” The identical minions looked at one another blankly. One of them picked a pair of stays up from in front of him and held for his master to observe. Metal snatched the undergarment from the smaller robot’s clamps and threw it aside. “That is not what I meant!” He picked up a nearby book and ripped it open to a page containing an illustration of a pirate captain. “Find me this,” he pointed at the pirate’s jacket gruffly.

His claw made a loud CLANG against his forehead, saluting Metal before stretching an extendable arm across the room to retrieve a navy coat with gold accents that had been tossed aside. Once in his possession, Metal Sonic draped it over his shoulders and examined his reflection once more. “Hmm… A bit restrictive. H3, scissors.” The other lackey robot took the command, fetching a pair of scissors from a drawer and presenting them to his master. Metal proceeded to chop the coat up into little more than an open vest adorned with golden epaulets draped with tassels at each shoulder. He belted the reconstructed jacket around his waist and stared at his reflection. “What do you think? Missing something?”

The two henchmen examined the book’s illustration again. One of them shot up and dove into one of the boxes, returning with a tricorn cap. He extended his arm and placed the hat atop Metal Sonic’s head while the other clapped his bulky claws together. 

“I don’t know…” Metal rested his hands on his hips pensively. “What are you two wearing?”

H3 and his counterpart, H4, looked toward one another with a shrug. They dug through the pile, each digging out a solid-colored scarf. H3 wrapped his blue one around his head like a bandana while H4 tied a red one to his waist. They looked each other up and down for a few moments before deciding in unison to switch their color choices, H3 snatching the red bandana from his brother and pulling it over his head while H4 made a belt of the blue one after ripping it from atop the other’s head. They high-fived to commemorate the decision, their little clamped hands rattling together as they made contact.

“Fine, fine…” Metal waved them off, glancing back at the book once more. The captain sported a sword at his waist. At the bottom of one of the boxes rested an antique cutlass that resembled the one in the drawing, but dulled at the edge. “Yes… This will do.” He picked up the weapon and brandished it ahead of his body “If Sonic’s friends are dressing for the occasion, so shall we!” he cackled. “H4, make sure this gets sharpened,” he barked as he thrust the sword into the minion's hands. “H3, clean up this mess. I have work to do.”

With that, each of the minions loudly saluted Metal Sonic before attending to their tasks. Metal leaned over his desk as the video of the heroes reappeared on the large screen ahead. He was disappointed to learn that he wouldn’t be facing his rival, Sonic- the coward had decided to stay on land. Metal looked from one of their faces to another before settling on Amy Rose’s cheerful expression. “Yes… She will do.” Metal concocted his plan, reveling in the knowledge that once he obtained the Stone Mirror, he would manifest into a form that not Sonic nor his friends could hope to stand a chance against.

Metal had spent much of the last year spying on Sonic and his friends, waiting for an opportunity when he could be one step ahead. He had grown to resent Eggman and his half-baked plans over the years, existing only as an obstacle to the heroes who always seemed to be prepared. Eggman understood this, or at least knew that Metal had begun taking his own initiative when it came to plotting against his rival. When he caught the robot surveilling the team, he made the decision to encourage him, wanting to take advantage of the part of Metal that could think just like his rival. Soon, Metal had been outfitted with a lab of his own and two henchmen to command. Eggman had upgraded him with the ability to speak and emote more expressly not long after, which Metal found both vexing and enthralling, now taking every opportunity to put his thoughts into words.

But Metal ultimately resented this as well as he had no desire to lean on his master. What he yearned for most greatly was to have the independence and autonomy to act on his own. Though Metal wasn’t disloyal to him, Eggman’s incompetence ironically prevented him from accomplishing his objective of eliminating Sonic. Since then, Metal took what he’d been offered as if a birthright and accepted nothing more, opting to source his own necessities. Everything from research to obtaining materials was to be accomplished by him personally- a task he did not take lightly. And because this was the first- no- the only time he would need to defeat his foes, it only made sense to do it in style. 

Perishing the thought that whatever deep-seated programming compelled him to these theatrics was likely due to Eggman’s own influence, Metal had gotten to work studying the life of pirate legend Captain Scarlett. Metal did a poor job at hiding the excitement that befell him as he read everything he could process that regarded pirating. Perhaps it was the high stakes and endless freedom the seafaring criminals seemed to command- and what a very “Sonic” thing to be attracted to. He laughed to himself about his organic counterpart’s apparent fear of the ocean.

Then again, it was probably just the dramatic aesthetics.

The old pirate captain had a flair for the dramatic herself. Metal’s research showed that she often left secret messages in her documents such as the one discovered by Amy Rose in that map of theirs, as well as the letters that had been uncovered. Many of the “mysteries” uncovered through time appeared to be rudimentary puzzles really, it was bewildering how the treasure had remained hidden for so long. Still, he didn’t have a map of his own, and tailing the heroes would only get him so far. Metal knew from past experience that the bubbly girl was rather sympathetic. A savior complex, he thought as he studied his past interactions with her. She was the perfect pawn to manipulate into leading him right to the Stone Mirror. 

The video was paused on a frame of Amy and her sunny smile. He recalled their first meeting when he captured her and how helpless she had been; But the girl had grown strong over the years, impressing even him with her combat technique. Amy decidedly wasn’t one to be taken lightly anymore, and he would have to be cautious. The compassion she showed towards most creatures was her real weakness, one that was easy to take advantage of. He played back a compilation of videos he’s taken of Amy Rose; her beaming complexion, the charismatic giggle in her voice, the tender pleading in her eyes…

None of that matters! He shook the thought from his head. What he really needed to understand were the driving factors behind her empathy. What could he use against her? He fast-forwarded to a scene of her and the rest of the group reminiscing about past adventures.

On-screen, Amy sat between Sonic and Tails in the sand, all enjoying an afternoon together at the beach. Knuckles could be heard off-screen. “Yeah, I still can’t believe Amy convinced that robot to let her go! What was it called again?”

“His name was Gamma. Honestly, he was able to think for himself after we became friends- it didn’t take much to convince him that he could disobey Eggman if he wanted to.” she twirled the front of her spines bashfully.

Sonic laughed. “Well good thing you made friends with him! I nearly turned him to scrap metal.”

“Come on, he did a lot of good before… you know.” There was some sadness in her eyes.

“Yeah,” Sonic agreed. “Hey, maybe you could convince Egg-head to do some good for once, too.” 

Metal paused the video as they laughed together. “He did a lot of good.” Yes, Metal knew exactly how to get the sweet girl on his side- he was confident it wouldn’t take much convincing on his part, either. 

The lab door was suddenly slammed open. “H4, what have I told you about-” Metal paused, faced not with his lackey but with a very animated Eggman.

“Metal! I just saw H4’s new paint job- excellent work! We should outfit all the prototypes with it,” he bellowed. 

Narrowing his eyes, Metal turned back toward the screen to brood silently.

Eggman took a few steps into the room before continuing. “Tell me, though, what’s with all the pirate outfits? You putting on a show?” he feigned ignorance over the stolen ship and nudged the box closest to him with his foot. H3 popped his head out from the pile of clothes within with a clanky salute. “This one too, eh? I like the look.” There was no response from Metal but the quickening hum of his turbine as he grew annoyed at the interruption. “That hat will probably impede your hearing, though…”

He continued taking steps into the room, stopping just behind Metal to join him in looking at the screen ahead. It was still paused on a still of Amy looking cheerful. “Studying our heroes again, are we? You sure seem to like this one... She’s pretty cute.”

Metal whipped around to face him once again, this time with blazing eyes. “What are you-”

“I bet you could kidnap her again easily,” Eggman interrupted with a grin and a snap of his fingers.

“Get out!” Metal roared, rising from his seat.

Eggman laughed heartily. “Alright, alright- tell me if you need anything for your little production!”

As the scientist turned on his heel and made his way back toward the open door, H4 was scuttling in with the now sharpened cutlass held carelessly above him. He came to a skidding halt at the sight of Eggman, bringing his hand up to his forehead and dropping the sword noisily on the steel floor in the process. The man cackled at him, bending down to pick up the weapon and examine it. “Nice sword, not that you need it. Teach your lackeys to be a little more careful with sharp objects, hm?” Eggman tossed the sword to Metal, who caught it effortlessly, rolling his eyes.

“... Fine.” he finally responded before taking his seat again and swiveling back toward the giant monitor. He shut off the program that played back the videos.

“Atta boy.” With that, Eggman made his way out of the room. H4 shot out his arm, slamming his claw against a button that shut the door behind him.

The sword gleamed in the harsh lighting as Metal held it up to inspect. Eggman was correct, of course- Metal didn’t need a weapon- he was one. But the added flourish couldn’t hurt, he thought as he swung it through the air, a small WHIP whispering across the room each time he waved it. Metal wouldn’t admit it even to himself, but his creator had a point about his interest in Amy Rose, as well...

An alert flashed on the screen ahead before he could be forced to think about it. “GPS Tracker Activated”. A map popped up showing a blinking red dot, indicating the location of Tails’ boat.

“Finally…” Metal stood, raising a foot on his chair and brandishing the cutlass proudly. “Prepare the ship- we sail at dawn!”

-----

Amy yawned as she got dressed the following morning. The TV was tuned to the news, where a reporter was commenting on the authorities’ inability to find any leads in the case of the Royal Fortune’s theft. “Weird…” Amy remarked to herself out loud. She was tying a blue ascot around the collar of her dress- a white, long-sleeved piece with blue stripes at the hem and cuffs. She had purchased the sailor suit impulsively with the hopes of going sailing leisurely with her friends, but she supposed a maritime mission was occasion enough. 

Hearing the whistle of a boat in the distance, she quickly pinned on her hat and slung her duffel bag over her shoulder. She lived on the beach and the boys had agreed to meet her there before sailing off. The whistle howled once more and she hurried out of her little shack, running toward the shore. “I’m here already! Quit hollering,” she grumbled. A steel ladder was lowered and she tossed her bag for Knuckles to catch before climbing her way up.

The boat was nothing like the pirate ship she’d seen on TV that morning. It was a sleek white vessel with blue chrome accents that glittered in the early sunlight. The small yacht was equipped with every manner of boating technology that Tails could cram onto it. A door beneath the elevated helm opened to reveal a set of stairs leading down to the main quarters. Knuckles lugged Amy’s bag over his shoulder, beckoning her to the opening.

“Wait! Before you put that away…” Amy unzipped the front pocket.

Knuckles grumbled. “Before I put it away?”

“Yes, thank you for that,” she chuckled, pulling out a pair of themed hats- a sailor’s cap similar to her own, and a white service cap with gold accents. “I figured you guys would prefer these to clothes.”

“Hmm,” Knuckles examined the headwear as she unfurled each one and held them up. “I suppose a captain’s hat would be fitting…” he reached out to take it from her when Tails suddenly interrupted.

“Uh, my ship- If anyone’s captain, it’s me.”

With an incredulous look, Knuckles turned his chin up to address him. “My mission, my hat- I’m captain. You’re navigating.”

“Oh and I suppose this boat’s gonna steer itself?” Tails said in a mocking tone.

“You think I don’t know how to drive a boat?” Knuckles was yelling now.

“Like I’d let you even if you could.”

“Alright,” Amy interrupted, “That’s enough- we have to be on this boat together for the next week. You two better get along!” 

“Fine,” Knuckles crossed his arms. “Who do you think should be captain?”

“Tails,” she responded without hesitation.

“What?!”

Tails snickered from above. “Do you even have a boating license, Knuckles?”

His expression of rage quickly turned blank. His teammates both watched as the gears seemed to turn in his head. “... No.”

Amy and Tails both broke out into a fit of laughter. Knuckles snatched the sailor’s cap from her hand and stomped down the stairs with the duffel bag, grumbling choice words under his breath. “Here you go,” she tossed the captain’s hat up to Tails.

“Thank you,” he smirked triumphantly. “We’re ready to go- let’s let Sonic know before we sail off.” Amy made her way up and stood by him as Tails made a video call on a tablet. Sonic appeared on it a moment later.

“Yo,” he winked. “Looking good, guys.”

“Thank you,” Amy giggled bashfully.

“We’re about to sail,” Tails interjected before she could start chatting. “Everything good on your end?”

“Yep, just me and the Master Emerald. Pretty boring…”

“Don’t let Knuckles hear you say that.”

The three shared a chuckle before Amy and Tails waved to Sonic and signed off. The boat’s ladder ascended from the sand as Tails made the final preparations to sail. Knuckles reemerged from the doorway below as the vessel began moving, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand.

“Where’s your uniform, skipper?” Tails chortled, noticing that he hadn’t donned the white and blue cap.

“Watch it,” he threatened, eyes fixed on the horizon.

As the boat slid away from the shore and into the open ocean, Tails and Amy chuckled to themselves, ready for the adventure ahead. Unbeknownst to them, however, they weren’t the only ones tracking their whereabouts.

Back at the Egg Carrier, Metal and his lackeys were getting ready to mobilize.

The three bots snuck out of the lab and through the steel corridors, making sure to fly to keep noise to a minimum. It was dark- Eggman either wasn’t up or was too fixated on his work to notice them anyway. Once they reached the outdoor deck, each landed on the edge for a moment, H3 and H4 awaiting commands. “We will stay off their radar by remaining some distance away, and intercept them at this first meeting spot,” Metal explained. “But we need to catch up. Now, to the ship!”

But before he could lift off, a mechanical squeaking caught Metal’s attention from behind. He turned his vision to the distraction, claws outstretched in case someone was trying to stop him. His gaze was met by that of another Silver Sonic Prototype, who then imitated the awkward saluting motion the other two greeted their masters with. Metal narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously but lowered his guard. “What is the meaning of this?”

The small robot seemed to pull a yellow bandana from out of nowhere and quickly tied it below his muzzle, looking back up at Metal Sonic with his permanent sly grin. Metal scratched his chin pensively. “You wish to join us?” The prototype’s joints squeaked as it bobbed its head quickly and violently, causing Metal to slap his hand atop it like he was hitting a switch. “Enough! You’ll alert the others. Hm… State your serial number.” He lifted his right foot to reveal a string of numbers written on the sole, the last of which were “H1.”

“Ah, the very first…” Metal processed the unexpected interruption for a moment. He didn’t know how the robot had discovered his intentions, but there wasn’t much time to lose. At this point taking the additional support with him would at least keep word from getting to Eggman if H1 made a fuss. Metal supposed he could just deactivate him and toss him overboard, but…

“Very well, you may join me... But your outfit needs work. I’ll brief you on the ship- move!” 

H1 threw its hands in the air with excitement, the four of them taking off. Metal Sonic lead the charge to the ship anchored about a mile away as they shot down through the high clouds. 

-----

“Are we there yet?” Amy groaned from a lounge seat on the upper deck. The excitement from that morning had slowly turned to a boring exhaustion as the day dragged on. It was impossibly hot- the sun’s rays intensified by the inescapable humidity. The sun would be setting in another hour and they’d all been up since dawn, but Amy was the wariest.

“You know this is gonna take days, right?” Tails yawned. He had joined her on the deck while the boat was on auto-pilot, not intending to change direction for some time.

“I thought this first place was supposed to be close…”

“Yeah, it’s only a 12-hour boat ride,” he shrugged sarcastically. “But who knows how far the actual treasure is?”

“You two need to stop your belly-aching, you’re already getting on my nerves.” Knuckles was seated cross-legged on the roof of the helm. The others were sure he’d bake to death.

“Easy for you to say, all you do all day is sit around!” Amy huffed. 

Tails checked his tablet, which he’d equipped with a navigator. “We’re actually pretty close… We’ll be coming up on these coordinates in about 20 minutes.” 

Amy stretched her arms in an attempt to liven herself up. “Great! Then we have to figure out this weird puzzle…”

“I’m sure it’ll be obvious once we’re there,” said Knuckles. Tails couldn’t help but think he sounded awfully confident for someone who had no idea how to navigate.

“Hey, what is that…?” Tails hurried to take a pair of binoculars from his equipment and ran to the bow, staring into the horizon. The others listened in, Amy sitting up in the chair and squinting her eyes ahead. “Uh, there’s another boat over there… a big one.” The team all scrambled to the front of the boat, trying to look through the binoculars at once. A bright white ship could be seen in the distance- at least three times the size of Tail’s boat but just as modern. As they inched closer, some of the crew could be seen pacing around the main deck.

“Give me those,” Knuckles snatched away the binoculars for himself, zooming in on the ship’s bow as close as he could get them to focus. “You have got to be kidding me…”

“Rouge.” The woman he considered his arch-rival was sauntering about the bow of her ship, the stitched-together map in hand as she conversed with some crewmates. Two men each lugging a huge camera over their shoulder stood on either side of them. Amy and Tails groaned upon hearing Knuckles utter her name with disdain, knowing the squabbling that would come next. He watched as she squinted in the direction of their boat once they were in view of one another.

Tails brought his vessel in close to her ship, which towered above theirs. Rouge had to lean over the side railing to look down at the team. “Oh my, what is it you want?” she frowned.

Knuckles raised a foot to rest on a railing of his own. “We’re after Scarlett’s treasure, and you’re in our way.”

“I mean, they’re not really in our way,” Tails grumbled. “Can you take your foot down from there?”

“Quiet,” Knuckles held a palm up to him, chin still pointed up at Rouge.

One of the cameramen leaned over next to her, pointing his recording device directly at Knuckles. Rouge continued with a smirk. “It looks like we have some competition- not that they stand a chance at finding it before I do.”

Knuckles squinted. “What’s with the cameras?”

“Cameras?” Amy skipped over next to him and waved up at the ship. “Are you guys making a movie?”

“A documentary,” Rouge nodded. “And you look so cute. What do you think of this?” Rouge batted her wings and flew up to hover just above the railing, the camera following her as she did. She wore a brocade bustier over a lacey flared-sleeve linen blouse and fitted black trousers tucked into leather boots. She looked like a true pirate.

“Oh,” Amy beamed, “Gorgeous!”

Knuckles raised his voice as his vexation grew. “What the hell is happening? Why are you dressed like that?”

“Aesthetic,” she shrugged. “And how did you find this place, anyway? Are you tracking us?”

“I’ll have you know that treasure you’re after contains sacred Knuckles Tribe artifacts, and we have Captain Scarlett’s original map.” Knuckles crossed his arms confidently.

“No kidding?” Rouge pouted. “Well, good luck- we’ve been here for hours and can’t figure out where we’re supposed to go from here.”

“Typical!” Knuckles shot back.

“Hmph- If you’re so knowledgeable, hotshot, let’s see you navigate from here!” Rouge flew off out of sight with the cameraman on her heels.

“Whatever-” Knuckles marched up to the helm where Tails had already begun studying the map. “So... where do we go from here?”

“Beats me…” he shrugged.

“Are you serious?”

Amy joined them, picking up the crystal eyeglass and bringing it to her eye. She expected it to magnify things, but it didn’t appear to be a telescope. “Well, this has to have something to do with it. Hmm…” 

“Don’t forget the compass.” Tails brought it up to eye-level. “It’s pointing south by south-west. Weird.”

“What did the map say again?”

Tails held it up to the light, reading aloud. “‘Hand in hand we sailed to the horizon that faithful evening. I looked into her glassy eyes for guidance as the sky above turned, Scarlett.’ Whatever that means…”

“‘Sky above turned’... Like, turned to night?” Amy raised the eyepiece up high. The soft blue sky turned an intense shade of cobalt when viewed through the glass. “Ohhh, how pretty,” she remarked. “Glassy eyes…” Amy turned to tails with a gasp.

“The eyeglass!” they said in unison.

“But do we have to look up at the sky during the nighttime then?” Tails scratched his chin.

“I don’t think we’ll see much at night with this thing- it just turns everything blue.”

Knuckles took it from her, glancing through it with one eye. “What’s this even for?” 

“I thought it was a spyglass, but it doesn’t magnify anything. It’s just a blue glass at the end.”

“That’s useless…” The three of them pondered on it as the sun neared the horizon. It would be dark soon- they didn’t want to be stuck there trying to figure it out overnight. Both teams were so deep in contemplation that they hardly noticed a third object approaching on their radar until it could be seen in the distance.

“Is that a pirate ship?” Rouge could be heard from her ship’s deck. She flew up to get a better look through a telescope. “Do you guys have anything to do with this?” she accused.

“Uh, definitely not” Tails answered, glancing through his own binoculars. He zoomed in as far as the lenses allowed. A lanky figure with a spiky head could just barely be made out. “Is that… Sonic?”

“What? Gimme those,” Amy yanked them away from him to look. “Hey- isn’t that the pirate ship that was stolen yesterday?” 

“You’re right!” Rouge shouted. “And that does look like Sonic…”

Amy gasped in realization. “That’s not Sonic… That’s Metal Sonic.” 

“Oh great, now we gotta deal with Eggman, too?” Knuckles groaned. “What could he want?”

The ship was fast approaching. Rouge shouted orders at her crew, instructing them to ready their weapons. The TV crew scrambled around frantically, trying to catch all the action. Amy and Knuckles looked at Tails expectantly, not having anticipated getting into a battle at sea.

“I got this. Everyone get close!” Amy gathered the map, eyepiece, and compass and held onto them tightly as they scurried together at the helm. Tails entered a set of commands and the boat began to separate in two, bisected vertically to make way for an enormous cannon that rose from beneath the deck. The helm was raised up and back, a shield forming around it like a cockpit. “Knuckles, cannon. Amy, be on the lookout from the starboard and stem. I’ll keep an eye on the port side while I steer.” 

“Roger!” they shouted in unison. 

Metal Sonic’s ship approached from the south, circling around both vessels as it came close. “Ahoy!” his voice came shouting out of a speaker. He cackled as his opponents all seemed to look to one another with bewilderment.

“Could he always talk?” Tails asked his friends. 

Amy shuttered. “Not always…”

Rouge’s voice was amplified by a megaphone as she flew above her ship’s bow to address Metal Sonic. “Tell us what The Doctor is up to!”

“‘The Doctor’ has nothing to do with this. I’m here for her,” he extended a long, spiked claw to point directly at Amy, who jumped at the announcement. 

“Wh- Me?” 

“Yes, you. Now come, join my crew!” His hand closed into a fist as he made the demand. No one was more dumbfounded than Amy. At a loss for words, she looked incredulously at Metal Sonic. “Well, come on, I haven’t got all night.”

Shaking her head of the confusion, Amy finally answered. “Uh… no thanks?”

Everyone turned their attention back to Metal. He narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms behind him authoritatively. “Are you sure?”

All eyes shifted back to Amy. She was red as a tomato at all the attention. “P-positive…”

“Hm, very well.” Metal took some steps back onto the deck of the Royal Fortune, turning away from the others. Rouge held a hand back to her crew, a few of whom stood on the deck behind her with rifles. Tails and Amy glanced at one another while Knuckles held his fighting stance. Then, Metal spoke again. “We’ll do it the hard way, then.” 

Without warning, a cannon exploded in the direction of Tails’ boat. The three hit the deck as the cannon fodder made contact and shook the vessel. Rouge’s crew opened fire on Metal Sonic’s ship, making bullet holes in the old wood but leaving the robot unaffected as the ammunition bounced off his body. He gave her a look of boredom.

The sun began to set as it all unfolded, casting a deep ruby light over the environment. Amy struggled to find her balance and retrieve the eyepiece and compass that had rolled around the floor at the collision. The compass slipped out of her grip, too, sliding down the deck just beside the glass. She moved to snatch both pieces up but stopped when she noticed something glowing upon the compass in the light that reflected from the eyepiece. Picking them up carefully, Amy brought the spyglass up to look at the compass through. Drawn across the arrow was another arrow, pointing in the opposite direction. It illuminated as she looked at it through the glass and disappeared otherwise. “‘Sky turned…’ Oh! Scarlett!” The intense red light cast from the sunset had combined with the blue filter on the glass to reveal the otherwise hidden image. Upon turning the compass around, Amy found some text on the back in the same glowing lettering. 

“Amy, move!” Knuckles shouted from behind. She didn’t have time to react before she felt a metallic coil snake around her waist and pull her backward. It wasn’t a cannonball that Metal Sonic had fired, it was one of his minions, H3 with his extendable arms. Amy screamed as she suddenly lurched away.

“Hang on-” Tails commanded, turning the cannon sharply and causing the vessel to shutter again. H3 struggled to maintain his balance until Knuckles came up on his side and smashed a fist into his head, sending the bot flying off the side of the boat. He released Amy instinctually, using his arms to latch onto the railing instead.

Amy landed on her feet, the artifacts still in hand. “Tails, the compass! Look!” 

“Little busy!” Tails was turning the wheel at the helm frantically, trying to swing the cannon back around to fire back at Metal Sonic. 

“We have to hurry before the sun goes down! We need the red light!” She ran back to the safety of the helm, where the shield protected them from the front. The cannon charged as she scrambled to read the inscription aloud in the dimming light. “‘The Mirror’s bloodlust was nothing to me, for I’d have bled myself dry for you.’ Huh? Hey, this mentions the mirror-” 

Tails pulled the trigger then, expecting some kickback from the blast. Instead, the entire front of the vessel was launched upward, the shot deflected into the sky; something had come up beneath them, turning the boat up and threatening to sink it. Everyone aboard lost their balance as the boat listed back. Tails managed to hold on by the helm and Knuckles by a side railing, but Amy was sent sliding down, shrieking as she rolled overboard off the stern. 

Metal Sonic looked on in a panic as it unfolded. “Nooo!” his eyes blazed down at whatever had emerged from the sea to cause the collision. A huge steel submarine sat with its nose just under the front of the boat. “Aaaaargh!” he roared in realization. The logo plastered on each side of it gave it away- it belonged to Dr. Eggman.

“Attack!” the command could be heard coming from the half-submerged vessel. Two oversized badniks emerged from the water, a crablike robot that crawled up the side of the submarine and began blasting at Rouge’s ship, and another shaped like a torpedo made to resemble a shark which hurdled itself toward Tails’ boat, causing it to shake and list further.

“Amy! Knuckles!” Tails shouted. He was able to kick himself off and fly, taking the map as he looked for his friends.

“Over here,” Knuckles called. He reached up for Tails’ hand. “Where’s Amy?”

As she finally emerged from the water, Amy coughed and waved her arm up frantically. Spotting her, Rouge flew overhead. “I’ve got her!”

“No, you don’t,” Metal Sonic flew into Rouge’s side, kicking her out of the air and into the water with a grunt. He made his way to Amy, lifting her by the arm out of the murky water. She coughed and sputtered, but clutched onto both the compass and spyglass with her other hand. He pulled her up further to hold by the waist at his side as he circled his way around to pick up H3, still dangling off the side of Tails’ boat. He narrowly missed a direct hit from the shark badnik when it leaped out of the water for another hit.

“Be more careful! You are not to hit Metal Sonic!” Eggman’s voice screeched from the submarine.

Metal flew over it on his way back to the ship. “Why are you here?!” 

Amy had begun struggling under Metal Sonic’s grip, threatening to hurdle herself back into the ocean. “Let me go! I don’t want to join your weird crew!”

“Stop your squirming! Do you have a death wish?” Just as he finished the statement, Amy wormed her way out from under his arm and fell headfirst toward the water. Thinking fast, Metal chucked H3 toward his ship with a CLANG and dove for her. He was just quick enough to catch the girl before she fell in again, supporting her back and legs against him tightly; she wasn’t going to get out of this one so easily.

“What do you even want with me?” she yelled, trying to push away from him in vain.

Metal looked down at her, forcing eye contact. “... I need you.” He tried to sound sincere.

“What-” 

Bullets began raining down on them now that they were directly across from Rouge’s ship. Metal pulled Amy’s body in, deflecting the fire. “Is anyone here sane?!” Amy actually made an effort to cling to him now, drawing her knees as close as she could muster.

“Stop firing, you idiots, he has the girl!” Rouge wailed, finally hovering up and recovering from her run-in with Metal Sonic. “Are you trying to get her killed?!” She landed on the front of the submarine and swung her leg down on the crab robot’s face, splitting it in two. Meanwhile, Knuckles threw his fist into the side of the other badnik and rendered it useless as it flopped back into the water. Tails carried him up to the deck of the ship with Rouge not far behind. 

Metal flew into the hole in the side of the ship from which the cannon stuck out, allowing him to take them out of harm’s way faster. He dropped her harshly on her behind once they were inside. “H4, H1, make sure she doesn’t escape,” he commanded before flying up toward the main deck. 

“Ouch! Hey, wait- what do you want with me?” Amy got on her feet and was ready to chase after him when a pair of snaky appendages started winding themselves around her. “Not... again!” she wiggled out an arm, summoning her hammer; but another clawed hand shot out and knocked it from her grip, confining her before she could retrieve it. There was no squirming away now. “Metal! Get back down here and tell these things to let me gooo!” she screeched before one of H1’s arms coiled over her mouth like a muffler.

On deck, Metal Sonic hoisted the sails and began navigating away from the battle. Eggman had stuck his head out of the top of the submarine, waving at him. “Great work, Metal! I’ll hold them off.” the old man just barely dodged one of Rouge’s bullets before scurrying back in.

Enraged by The Doctor’s presence, Metal was tempted to disobey and continue fighting out of spite- but he had what he’d come for. Resenting the “help,” he blasted “Stay out of this!” at Eggman as his ship sailed into the darkening horizon.

-----

 In the aftermath of the battle, Rouge tramped around the ship shouting orders with cameramen on her heels. Eggman escaped once Metal Sonic had enough of a lead. Now, one of the ship‘s engines was badly damaged and engineers were sent down to make what repairs they could while Tails and Knuckles were given towels to dry off with. They sat in the enclosed cockpit discussing their next steps.

“I can’t believe they sunk my boat…” Tails was sitting with his head in his hands sorrowfully, lamenting the loss of his tech. “All that equipment…”

Knuckles sat with his arms crossed, grumbling. “Yeah, and now we have no chance of getting to the treasure before Rouge…” She marched into the room just then, slamming the door behind her and locking out the camera crew with a huff. Raising a brow, Knuckles addressed her. “Speak of the devil…”

“Don’t start!” she shot back at him. “I just saved your sorry behinds from being stranded at sea. I’m dropping you off at the next port-of-call, so don’t get too comfortable!” Rouge had a towel draped over her shoulders but hadn’t changed out of her wet clothes. She was getting goosebumps in the cool, air-conditioned room.

“We’re stopping? But we need to get to that treasure before Metal Sonic and save Amy!” Tails protested.

She marched up to the helm and pointed at several flashing indicator lights. “We can hardly go anywhere right now. Half the ship is under duress and we need to stop somewhere for repairs. I’m waiting for a tow.” Crossing her arms, she turned away from the pair. “And you are not part of my crew- we’re leaving you ashore.”

“Like hell you are!” Knuckles stomped over to her, placing a gruff hand on her shoulder. She was not amused, slapping it away from her.

“Hands off! Or would you rather we throw you overboard now?”

“And you’re fine with just abandoning Amy, then?”

With a gasp, Rouge whirled around again, hiding the shame on her face. “What do you want me to do? The ship’s barely operational, and I have a crew to think about…”

Knuckles grumbled but didn’t have a response. He hated to admit it, but she was right- they needed a ship to catch up to Metal Sonic, and theirs wouldn’t make it far.

“Can I take a look at the damage, Rouge?” Tails chimed in. They both looked back at him, then at each other.

Rouge shrugged with a slight shiver. “Fine- you probably know better than my best engineer anyway…”

“No doubt,” Knuckles retorted. “Go change, would ya? You look like you’re freezing.” 

“Hmph!” she glared at him. Picking up a microphone, she pressed a button that called the engine room. “I’m sending another engineer down, you are to do what he asks.” Once she received confirmation, Rouge slammed her own compass and eyeglass on the counter atop her map. “And figure this out!” With that, she was off, out a side door and into her quarters. The door shut harshly behind her.

“Hm.” Knuckles leaned back on the wall. “Now the question is, where do we go from here?”

“We’ll need a red light to find out. Come on,” Tails snatched up the items she’d left behind and beckoned his friend to join him in the engine room.

“A red-? Huh?”

Ignoring their questions as they went, Tails and Knuckles weaved around the camera crew that still lingered outside the room and headed down into the ship’s depths.

Some miles away, Amy’s muffled yelling could be heard below the deck of Metal Sonic’s ship. He descended the stairs slowly, stopping in front of her. He made a motion as if to clear his throat and addressed the girl. “Apologies for the restraints. I thought you might be liable to tear the ship apart otherwise.” He signaled for H1 to unwrap his arm, allowing her to speak freely.

“I’ll tear you apart first!” she writhed under the metal coils to no avail.

“If you don’t settle down, we will just have to wait for you to tire yourself out,” he shrugged. “And you’ll find there’s nowhere to go at sea but down- so I’d be careful about threatening the captain.”

Amy huffed and puffed but couldn’t get out from under the weight of so many restraints. Panting, she finally relented, raising her intense glare at him. “What do you want?”

Metal let out a mechanical “sigh,” as if exasperated. He stood with his hands at his hips, leaning forward slightly. “I do not wish to harm you…” It wasn’t a lie- not yet, anyway. “I’ll cut to the chase: I am after the Stone Mirror-”

“And why would I help you with that?”

“Silence!” he commanded. Amy scoffed, turning her head away. “Now... Why don’t we speak in private, hm?” With a snap of his metallic fingers, the heavy arms all snaked away from Amy, putting her down on her feet gingerly. She gazed from bot to bot with caution. Metal pointed at the wooden staircase with both arms. “After you.”

“Hmph!” Carefully, Amy made her way past each of Metal Sonic’s minions and then himself. They began up the stairs while he followed her closely. He looked away for a moment to signal something to the others; Amy saw an opening. In an instant, her hammer appeared in her fist as she swung around to smash it into the side of his face, knocking him off the third step and onto the floor. 

Metal Sonic shook his head violently as the light in his left eye flickered. Unfortunately for Amy, it didn’t actually impair his vision and he managed to catch up to her in a manner of seconds. H3 was already whipping his arms around and charging at Amy when Metal Sonic came up from behind to restrain her. “H3, stop at once!” The small henchmen dove onto his back at the sudden command, sliding across the deck with his extended arms dangling behind. He crashed into a beam feet-first, causing it to rattle. 

Kicking and flailing, Amy was only able to bring her weapon down behind her, repeatedly hammering the top of Metal’s head. “Let! Me! Go!”

“What do you even plan to do once you ‘destroy’ me? I told you, there’s nowhere to go- And stop the incessant hammering!” He pulled one of his arms away from her, seizing her hammer and chucking it overboard. The repeated hits to the head finally took out the LEDs in his left eye as it went out completely. He pushed her away and she turned back to him. To his surprise, the giant mallet was already back in her grip when she did. “What- How? Why?!”

Amy was breathing heavily, holding her hammer to her front defensively. Realistically, she knew he was right- even if she managed to take him and the others out, she’d just be lost at sea. Maybe he really wasn’t trying to hurt her… he had asked that smaller robot to stop attacking, after all. But Amy couldn’t see what good giving him access to the Stone Mirror would do. “What do you want with the mirror, anyway?” she asked, doubting he’d give a straight answer.

Metal Sonic straightened up into a neutral pose, smoothing down his lapel. His glare softened as an eyelid cast down over his functioning eye. “I shall tell you… After you stop dripping all over my deck.” Amy winced, realizing how sopping wet she still was from her dip in the ocean. Saltwater dripped from her quills and dress and had begun to puddle at her feet. “There’s a change of clothes in my quarters. Will you stop being combative and listen?”

Lowering her hammer- but not putting it away- Amy nodded reluctantly. “You first this time.”

“... Very well.” Metal Sonic led the way across the elevated deck to a set of double doors, opening one and motioning for Amy to enter. She hung back suspiciously. Metal rolled the eye he had left and entered first, allowing her to close the door behind them. Once inside, he plopped down on a large armchair, propping his feet up on the wooden table in front of him. “I’ve set something out for you there,” he pointed at an antique screen in the corner of the room. “Try not to take all night.”

Amy’s glare didn’t stray until she was safely behind the screen, when she put away her hammer. There was a frilled white blouse and ankle-length maroon skirt hanging beside some black stockings and red boots. A towel hung over the screen. Is he serious? She hesitated for a moment, wondering how she ever ended up in such a scenario, playing dress-up for one of her worst enemies. But the situation was hopeless if she didn’t comply. She just had to play along and wait for backup for the time being…

After 10 minutes of waiting, Metal grew impatient. “Do you need assistance?” he mocked.

“No!” Amy emerged a moment later, awkwardly shoving the bottom of the shirt into the bell-shaped skirt. She’d slipped the compass and spyglass into each of her sleeves in the absence of pockets. “Thanks for the clothes or whatever, but why this?”

Ignoring her question, Metal stood and approached her. She took a step back. “Hm… Needs accessories.” His heavy steps clopped against the hardwood floor as Metal strode to another box of costumes. He dug out a set of square scarves and made his way back to where she stood, as non-threateningly as possible. Standing silently, Amy crossed her arms over the front of her body; she didn’t know what to expect. “Would you try these on?”

Amy was in disbelief. What did he want with her that required such a costume? She took the large square of fabric from him and examined them, unsure what she was meant to do. “Uh…”

“Allow me.” Metal held out an unassuming arm. The annoyance on Amy’s face was clear as she placed them back in his hand and brought her hands up to her hips impatiently. “Lift your arms.”

“What?”

“These go around your waist. Now, lift your arms.”

She did what he asked with a grumble, gasping as he tightened each of them around her and tied the ends into forceful knots. Metal took a step back and admired her outfit. “Yes, very ‘pirate,’ don’t you think?” He motioned to a floor mirror across the room.

“I guess…” Keeping his reflection in her sights, Amy walked over to it. She was incredibly weirded out by his insistence, but supposed it could have been worse…

Her captor’s reflection grew nearer as he came up next to her, examining his face. “You really did a number on my eye; I’m impressed. But I wonder if it’ll affect…” 

“Hrm- I put on your silly outfit, now will you tell me what you want?”

The single burning eye on his face shot at her briefly. Rather than frightened, the girl seemed irritated at the situation. He measured her heart rate- it was consistent with that of a person at rest now. Her behavior was almost admirable. “It is only fair,” he said, taking a seat back at the table. “Sit.”

 “Is the word ‘please’ in your vocabulary?” she spat back.

Another eye-roll from Metal. “Please… sit.” Amy complied. She squirmed a bit as she sat, feeling restrained by the many layers around her midsection. She wondered silently if that was part of his plan. “The Stone Mirror. It allows one to become their ‘most desired self,’ is that correct?”

There was no way Metal Sonic should have known that. “I don’t know what you’re on about.”

His eye narrowed at her. “Fine- I will be honest. I know this only from spying on you and your friends. I have nothing to hide.”

“Is admitting it supposed to make it better?”

“No… I suppose not.” He leveraged himself against the table to stand. That glowing eye followed Amy as he paced around the perimeter of the table until he stopped at her side. “I know what the mirror is capable of, and I would like your help to retrieve it.” Leaning back on the table, he pointed at the cuffs of her sleeves. “The compass, if you will…” 

“You still haven’t told me why you kidnapped me.”

There was a silent pause. Metal locked his gaze with hers and softened his tone. “You are a compassionate person, Amy Rose. I believe you will understand my need to obtain this artifact.”

“Which is?”

He feigned another sigh. “I am growing tired of being under The Doctor’s command. He has given me some freedom, but…” Looking up, he crossed his arms defensively. “What I am most interested in is my autonomy.” His “acting” would have been impeccable if what he was saying was at all a lie. He hadn’t gotten around to his scheme yet.

“Okay…” The frown on her face told him she was listening, but still wary.

“I do not believe I will be able to achieve that in this form, you see.”

“So, what form are you trying to take? Another giant monster?”

“An organic form,” he responded simply.

Amy was taken aback. “A… A what?” Metal’s engine hummed in the quiet air. He began moving again, circling behind Amy, who didn’t take her eyes off him until he stopped on her other side. She wanted to stare at him intensely, to show that she wasn’t letting her guard down, but there was an impossible longing on his face. It was hard to look directly at him.

“It’s simple- I am a robot. I have an advanced AI far beyond that of others like me, but… There is something missing. This body, although immortal and perfect in design, seems to weigh me down.” He knelt down beside her so he was no longer looming, believing it made him appear more humble. “I wish to think for my own… to feel.” 

The moment was uncomfortable. Amy recoiled slightly when he’d come down, trying in vain to avoid locking eyes with him. He sounded so sincere. How could it be possible? “Wh- Why didn’t you just take the compass and run? Why did you have to bring me?”

“I took you so your friends wouldn’t attack me directly and spoil my plans.”

“So I’m a shield?”

“Not quite. I could have taken anyone- I chose you because,” he reached a hand out, gently taking hold of one of hers. She snatched it back with a glare. “Hm. I chose you because I believed you would understand my need and if the necessity arose, you could help me convince your team... I suppose I was mistaken,” he pushed himself upright.

“Wait,” Amy felt like she would regret it, but her good nature didn’t allow her to walk away from someone who seemed so desperate to change for the better- especially an enemy. “Can you… really not be free like this? You seem to have your own will…”

The trap was working. Metal found it easier to keep up the charade than he originally thought. “My thoughts and feelings are simulated. Would you feel ‘free’ if someone could reprogram you and take your memories at any moment?”

“Does… does Eggman do that?”

“... He has.” That wasn’t a lie.

“Oh,” Amy breathed. She held onto her wrists tightly, feeling for the compass and spyglass. This could all be a trap, she could be walking to her doom, and yet… “How do I know you’re not just gonna turn around and transform into something horrible?”

“You don’t. But…” he loomed over her chair slightly. “I will get what I want. You can either help me, or be stranded on the first remote island we come across until your friends rescue you. As it stands, you are only added assurance. The choice is yours.” 

So he was back to threatening her. Amy thought about it- he really didn’t need her. If he had evil intentions, Metal Sonic could have just as easily taken what he wanted from her and locked her up, or worse. Instead, he asked for her help. It was unprecedented. Then again, Amy thought she could at the very least stall him- pry into his plan and see if she could discern whether he was being truthful... And it was either that or become a castaway.

She turned back to him with resolve on her face. “Fine, I’ll help you.”

The first phase of the plan was officially a success. Now, all Metal needed to do was keep up the act and use her presence to his advantage should her friends catch up to them. Better not to celebrate, yet- he didn’t want to sound too confident. “Thank you, Amy Rose. I knew I could count on you.” He extended his hand once more, this time waiting for her response. She stood up and shook it with a nod.

“Just Amy is fine. And I hope this means you’ll start thinking for yourself instead of blindly coming after us.”

“Cutting words, Amy…” He may have held her in that handshake a bit harder than necessary as she couldn’t hide the slight wince in her eyes. “Now, the compass.”

A sly smile spread on her face. “No ‘please’?” 

Cheeky. Perhaps, Metal thought, she would be more interesting to keep as company than he thought. “Please,” he said in a low growl, drawing her in closer with a harsh tug. 

“Ugh,” Amy yanked her hand away from him distastefully. “Here, weirdo.” She pulled the compass from her sleeve and tossed it to him.

“Hm. I believe the next words are ‘thank you.’” Metal examined the compass front and back. “Perhaps you think you’ve stumped me without the little spyglass in the sunset, but…” A purplish glow came from his eye as he cast it down on the navigation device. “I am still a robot, after all.” 

With a scoff, Amy crossed her arms. She’d hoped to buy herself some time by not sharing the “solution” with him, but of course, he had a sharp eye. If she wasn’t able to trick him, she’d just have to get in his way.

“An inscription and all. So theatrical,” Metal chuckled. “Even back then, one could simply shine a red light upon this and use the glass filter…”

“You’re one to talk about theatrics.” She wasn’t sure if she should nod toward his outfit or the entire ship.

He let out a metallic laugh. “And here I thought you’d be entertained by all this. Come, we can finally navigate.” 

With that, Metal Sonic led Amy out onto the main deck. She followed him cautiously, taking note of her surroundings. Each of the little henchmen clinked their clamped hands to their heads as their master passed. They were cute in their strange little way, their wide smiles making them look silly for the most part. Amy couldn’t help cracking a smile at the one who stood under the roof of the helm.  She gave him a little wave and he reacted by springing his arms to the side and doing a handstand. “Pfff!” Amy cracked up.

“H1- stop fooling around. The sails need turning,” Metal demanded. H1 kept Amy giggling as he curled into a ball and rolled down the deck. “I will never know why they are such clowns…”

“Aw, lighten up! They’re fun. Well, when they’re not trying to strangle me.”

Metal ignored her, instead using the compass to navigate. “It seems we just have to go in the opposite direction from where this points. The glowing arrow is hardly necessary.” 

“I guess,” Amy shrugged. “Looks cool, though.” She appeared much more relaxed after the quick laugh. Supporting herself on a rail, she looked out into the dark waters. “You can’t see anything out there…”

“Well, you can’t.”

“And pretty soon neither will you. Might wanna start getting acclimated.”

The proud attitude Metal took toward his mechanical body was probably best hidden for the time being. He made a note to dial down the cockiness. “I suppose you have a point. We will light some lanterns, then.”

The great vessel turned gradually in the correct direction as the other minions brought out antique lanterns from the ship’s displays. They did little to light the ship’s way, but Amy at least had a way to see where she was going aboard. Metal Sonic gave her free access to its entirety, but she was more interested in watching the stars from under the unspoiled sky. He observed as she cocked her head up and around to capture what she could with what he only assumed was a much narrower ocular scope than his own. Still, her curiosity was interesting as it unfolded before him. Amy had surely seen the night sky before, yet she craned her head to stare up at it so intently. It was… cute. That word seemed to be thrown in her direction a lot.

Grumbling in her stomach caused Amy to turn her attention to her hunger. She worried there wouldn’t be anything to eat on a ship manned entirely by machines. “Hey,” she called out to him from the lower deck, “uh, do you have any food? I haven’t eaten in a while…”

Food. It hadn’t crossed his mind. Of course, organics liked to- no, needed to eat to survive. He scolded himself for the oversight. “We… did not bring any aboard.”

“Seriously?”

Surely, there had to be something on board as the vessel was operating just two days prior. “The galley, perhaps? Follow me.”

Metal descended the steps that led from the helm and beckoned for Amy to join him in the lower guns. He kept the layout of the ship in his vision as they navigated most of the way into its belly, finally reaching the kitchen down below. Luckily, there was a light switch and Amy was able to put down her lantern as she took in the sight of the huge space.

“Woah… That’s no galley…” she stepped inside, admiring the stainless steel countertops and modern, oversized refrigerators and industrial ovens. “This must be the catering kitchen,” she concluded, opening a fridge. It was full of food just waiting to be prepared.

“Ah, yes. I believe there was to be a wedding here until I commandeered the ship…”

“You took someone’s entire wedding venue?” Amy asked in shock. “I thought you were evil before…”

He supposed that was meant to be a quip, but he didn’t find the humor in her words. Metal walked calmly to one of the stovetops and tested the switch, which was working normally. “It appears everything here is operational. I’ll leave you to it.” He turned on his heel and made for the exit, byt stopped. She would need a place to sleep, too. “I suppose you’ll need sleeping quarters, as well- find me when you’re through and I’ll assign you a room.” 

“Uh-huh,” Amy answered half-heartedly. She was too busy deciding what to cook for herself and trying to figure out how to split the huge, catering-sized portions for one. 

It took some creativity, but she managed to make something that would last her a couple of meals. Amy didn’t feel great about all the stolen food, but beggars can’t be choosers. Once she’d eaten and cleaned up, Amy picked up the precarious lantern and began her way up the many steps to the main deck. There are modern appliances here and they couldn’t be bothered to get me a flashlight? Amy still didn’t understand what the pirate charade was about, but she had to admit how cute she looked in the historical outfit. Pirates were definitely cooler than sailors; she wished she’d thought of it.

She finally reached the floor below the upper deck to find Metal Sonic sitting at a table in the corridor, wiping and inspecting the blade of a sword. It was creepy. “Hey… I’m done eating.” She held up the lantern awkwardly.

“Have you ever used one of these?” he flicked his wrist, brandishing the sword above him.

“Uh… can’t say I really have.”

“Would you like to?”

Amy clicked her tongue impatiently. “I would like to take a shower and know where I’ll be sleeping.” 

The tip of the sword found its way quite startlingly into the wooden table-top as Metal stood. “‘Lighten up,’” he mocked her. 

“Are you gonna be this good at copying people when your programming disappears?” Amy did her best to look unphased, but her heart jumped when he stuck the sword into the table. It was beating a bit quicker now.

A monocular, dead-pan stare met her eyes. “Will being organic make me as dull as you?”

Even after years of intense battles and struggling bitterly against him, Amy never wanted to wack Metal Sonic harder than she did then. The whole situation was unbelievably annoying- trapped on a ship with a cocky narcissist. A dangerous one- the thought ran through her mind. Amy had to take a step back- once he changed, if he changed, he would be much less of a threat. If she wasn’t staying aboard for him, she hoped, she was at least doing it for the greater good. That at least gave her some comfort. “Just tell me where it is, I’ll go myself.”

Metal leaned an arm on the table with disinterest. “Down two floors and down the hall to your right. It will be hard to miss.”

“Hmph,” Amy took off, trodding back down the stairs. Other than a short temper, he was impossible to read. She had to find a way to learn more about his intentions.

Amy followed his instructions, arriving in a dark corridor. Amy squinted in the dim light, groping for a light switch. Once she found it, she was in awe. Ornate molding lined the ceiling and fine art hung from the walls. It must have been part of the wedding venue.

She admired the paintings leading down the hall until reaching a door with a gold handle. Bridal Suite was printed on a plaque that hung next to it. Entering, Amy found a bright white room furnished with a canopy bed and vanity, among other lavish furniture. Her irritability quickly melted away as she took in the luxurious surroundings. Maybe staying aboard the strange ship wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

-------

Hi yall so I’m taking a break from writing Unfamiliar as I outline the last few chapters. It’ll be back early 2021 ❤️

ALSO I meant to finish this in time for @metamy-ship-week prompt 7 (free day) but it ended up a lot longer than I expected - hope you don’t mind me tagging it!

Part 2 of this should be up in the next few days! Love yall besos 

[kibybun]

Hi. Can I ask you to write about Aizawa or Hawks and their darling, who constantly joked about death and eventually she committed suicide, please? I love your writing💞 You are so awesome and talented and cool. Thank you so much for your work💕

Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I hope you like it!💞💞

Platonic Yandere Hawks x suicide joking reader

Tw: Yandere, suicide, self harm, angst

Enjoy!

💛Hawks first met you at the sports festival, showing off your quirk and demonstrating power. You caught his attention rather quickly.

💛Not only were you adorable but intriguing as well. You wore long sleeves, even though you looked uncomfortable in them, and you seemed oddly quiet compared to everyone else, shying away when they come up to talk to you.

💛Another thing that stood out to him was when you were doing the calvary battle. No one came to ask you to join their team, but you didn't go out and ask to join either. You just stood there until a purple hair guy came up to you, most likely getting you to join his group.

💛Though, you seemed to change. Your fighting style and the way you use your quirk changed.

💛It bothered Hawks the whole calvary battle but he was put at ease when some kid with a tail backed out due to the other guy brainwashing him.

💛You end up backing out too, much to Hawk's dismay.

💛Even though you weren't fighting anymore he still keeps his attention on you, not seeing your other classmates or students.

💛He watched you zone out and silently cheer for your classmates, finding it adorable as you watch in awe at some of the battles.

💛The sports festival ends and he follows you home, only to make surd your okay. Once he got home he quickly put in a request for you to come intern with him before going to bed.

💛When you went back to school you were excited to see if anyone wanted you to intern with them, knowing you wouldn't get as many requests like Todoroki or Deku.

💛... two. Only two requests.

💛It hurt to look at the board and see that you one of the most unwanted students in class 1-A. You thought you did really well and maybe impressed more than two people.

💛You get your list of hero agencies and sink deeper into your self pitty when you realize that one of the agencies werebt even specifically asking for you. All the students got requested by them.

💛That leaves Hawk's agency.

💛You didn't know much about him and his work so this was going to be awkward.

💛When the day came to board the subway and head off to your internship, no one wished you goodbye. All the groups and clicks were together, walking each other to their respective trains while you again, stood alone. You ere used to it though.

💛You board the train and zone out, nearly missing your stop.

💛Right as you get off the train your vision is filled with red feathers. Low and behold the pro hero who requested you.

💛His charisma hits you as you instantly feel welcome. He makes witty remarks about the train being too slow as he begins walking with you in tow.

💛Along the way you ask him why he wanted you to intern with him. He smirks and responds with a "Why wouldn't I?" That didn't answer your question.

💛He walks you to his agency and introduces you to all his other interns. After that he shoves you towards the bathroom, telling you to change into your hero costume.

💛He sure didn't waste time as the two of you begin patrolling the city. It seemed very rushed and eager but you prefered it over having to sit in class and do quizzes.

💛During patrol Hawks starts questioning you about school and life almkst like an uncle or brother would. It was very odd to you, considering you never get asked questions about yourself.

💛You felt so pitiful not being able to tell him your birthday, you had forgotten it, but somehow he was so understanding and kind about it.

💛It wasn't long before all of his fans flocked to the two of you, shouting questions and begging for autographs. You didn't like how all the people were surrounding you and Hawks could tell.

💛He uses his wing to shield you and hastily shoos the crowd off. After that he asks if you're okay and checks to make sure you didn't get hurt.

💛His intentions weren't to sleep with you, no. They were pure. He almost saw himself in you, alone and blocked off from the world. He just wanted to protect you and make sure you knew you weren't alone.

💛It was working too.

💛In the short week you were with him you had laughed the hardest you had in awhile and smiled more. You even considered him your bestfriend.

💛The one downside of your friendship was he couldn't see your cries for help.

💛While one roofs or flying with him you'd make jokes about how easy it would be to fall and die or how fun it'd feel to free fall.

💛He'd only laugh these off, thinking it was some kind of dark humor, because if something was wrong he'd trust you to tell him.

💛When the internship was over you had to hold back tears as he hugged you goodbye. Of course he gave you his number to keep in touch but it wouldn't be the same as sneaking away from work and eating fried chicken.

💛The second the train left you felt how alone you were. You didnt want to text him right away because that would feel too needy. Should you even text him? Was he doing it just to be nice or did he actually care?

💛You leave those thoughts behind as your phone buzzes. It was a text from Hawks. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

💛Your mood brightens as the two of you continue sending dumb chicken jokes, memes, and puns, with the occasional "dark humored" joke from you.

💛You make it home and your texting slowed, mainly due to Hawks having to work. You didn't know he was actually flying outside your house, making sure you were okay before flying off to buy you a dumb looking teddy bear.

💛Slowly, your mood begins to brighten with the constant reassurance of Hawks being there. He knew the right things to say at all times. Self conscious about your outfit? Incomes a barrage of compliments and confidence boosters. Nervous about a test or presentation? Boom, paragraphs about how amazing you are and how you can do it.

💛It almost made the emptiness inside go away.

💛Problems don't just go away, and it really shows.

💛Whenever you couldn't text or call Hawks your loniness sinks in. You had no other friends besides him. Your parents weren't the beat either with their comments about what you're doing or what you're wearing.

💛It only reminded you of all the reasons for the scars on your arms.

💛But before you could act on those reasons he was there. It was always magicly when you were crying in bed or fumbling with a sharp object.

💛Over time Hawks picked up on your thoughts and feelings, causing him to watch over you every second he could. He loved you so much, he couldn't lose you.

💛The amount of cute gifts he gets you griw over time. More stuffed animals, more snacks, more little trinkets. Anything to make you happy.

💛And again, it worked. The nights you spent crying or staring numbly at the ceiling slowly decreased. You also threw away the razors you had hidden, determined to stay clean.

💛When the work studies came you were the happiest you've ever been. You got to be with Hawks again.

💛Upon seeing him you were greeted with the best hug you've ever gotten along with fried chicken for lunch.

💛But something was off this time. He seemed a little more paranoid walking around the city with you, more eager to be inside at night, and disappearing at night.

💛It worried you, making you overthink the hole situation tenfold.

💛What if he was trying to avoid you? Where you being that annoying? Maybe he was tired of you. You should just leave him alone.

💛He hugs you goodbye as you leave, still conflicted.

💛Sadly your thoughts only grow stronger as time goes on. His texts become shorter and less frequent, making you think he was tired of you. His constant gifts had stopped as well

💛Hawks couldn't control his lack of contact with you. He wanted to spam you with memes at two am like he normally did but he was given a mission that couldn't be compromised, even at the expense of your friendship.

💛You fall back into your dark place without him. You were reminded of how forgettable you were to everyone, how you had no friends beside him, how your parents were disappointed in you.

💛What's the point in living in pain?

💛You start cutting again, just wanting to feel something again. You stop sleeping and eating, not feeling the need for it anymore. You completely passed out during training due to this.

💛One weekend you ride a train away from your town and into the one where Hawk's agency was. You were looking for him, a sign, anything, to tell you to stop.

💛The streets were empty and he was no where in sight.

💛You fight yourself at the top of a business building, hands trembling as you sent a final text to your only friend. You told him how much he ment to you, how grateful you were to him, how sorry you were for being annoying and taking up so much of his time, how this was goodbye.

💛You got to feel the wind rush past you. You were right about it being fun to free fall.

💛Hawks was talking to Dabi when his phone buzzed. Thinking it was the commission he checked it.

💛Dabi watched as Hawk's smug demeanor turned to confused then broken. He watched the pro hero fall to his knees and clutch his phone, nearly cracking it.

💛Dabi didn't even have a chance to ask what was wrong as Hawks flew at super sonic speed away from him and up into the sky.

💛He first scanned the buildings looking for you, wiping the tears from his eyes to try and see better. When he couldn't find you he swoops down low to the streets to see if he could catch you before you hit the ground.

💛He stops when he sees the splatters of your body of the ground.

💛He collapses next to you, sobbing as he looked at your remains.

💛It was his fault. He should've been there so much more. He should've watched you more carefully than he did. He should've killed those fuckers who thought they were better than you.

💛You should've lived.

💛Hawks lays there crying, going over all the things he did wrong and how it should've been him to die.

💛The morning comes and police officers tape off the area, pulling a now broken man away from you. They clean the area and leave.

💛Hawks mindlessly sits in the spot you were in, hoping this was a nightmare.

💛Night falls and Dabi managed to find him. He tells Hawks that he saw the news. It was odd for him to feel sympathy for a hero but here he was.

💛Hawks stands and grabs Dabi's hand, placing it on his face before begging him to set him ablaze. He didn't want to live in a world without you.

💛Dabi backs up, retreating his hand and looking at him stunned. What exactly did you mean to him?

💛Hawks continues to beg and pleas but Dabi continues to refuse. Too bad Hawks would do anything to die at this point.

💛Hawks shouts out his plans to spy on the league, to manipulate and destroy them from the inside. How he would kill them all in secret if he could. How it would be the best feeling ever to watch them die in betrayal.

💛Dabi falls for his trap. Rage was the only thing he could feel as his fire engulfed Hawks, semding him to the grave in a firey blaze.

💛He ran from the scene, leaving another body in the same spot.

kiby~💚

[cutegirlmayra]

I love your jealous Sonic and I think the most canon one is boom, so may I ask for Boom!Sonamy with jealous Sonic? If you need a more specific idea maybe Amy gets a pet like a puppy that takes up all her attention so Sonic feels left out and in competition and feels the dog doesn't like him and doesn't want to share Amy.

You can find me talking about this prompt at 21:16 on the Pajama Blogs!

Hehe, jealous Sonic, it would be more canon in Boom, you’re right. I agree and share your opinions lolol but I think this would be cute and I hope I do it justice!

PROMPTS ARE ON SHUTDOWN! Sorry, you missed the grand opening and will have to wait till next time :( You can still ask questions though! But they need to be in accordance to the blog rules~<3

Prompt:

Comedy Chimp was in a hysteria of panic, the news had just announced the most popular celebrity pet: Tinkle Dipples, to be housed in Hedgehog Village while preparing to shoot a cameo in the famous Tommy Thunder movies.

Eggman and Amy compete in a tournament/competition to win the right to take care of Tinkle Dipples for the shooting, since his manager is going fangirl over Tommy Thunder, she doesn’t want to care for him and instead, has Amy--the winner of the tournament--sign some legal documents and take off to pursue her hero.

Sympathizing a bit with the manager but more excited about the cute, idol puppy, Amy takes her job very seriously as Eggman whines and complains about his loss and plans to do something about it..!

“I knew I should have played Dynamite Dalmatian but she had Rover Clover on the field, you can’t EXPLODE ROLL WITH MAXIUM LUCK ON YOUR OPPONENTS TEAM!” he wept and tossed his arms about as they wacked against his bed.

Orbot and Cubot just looked to each other, unsure how to comfort him. “Sir, perhaps scheming against Sonic and his friends while one of their prominent members is distracted could prove useful and make you feel better?” Orbot stated, as the two held up a pen and some graph paper, “Scheming always puts you in a better mood for evil...” He encouraged again.

Collecting himself and rubbing his massive hands under his glasses, he sniffled as he took the paper and started sketching. “Ohh...hoo... hoo...oh-ho? Oh ho! Oh-ho-ho-ho-wha-hahaha!!!” with soft cries that suddenly turned manic with evil, he scribbled more furiously and immediately cranked his back and threw his arms to an angle in his signature laughter.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were playing beachball when Sticks poked her head out of the local garage dump, “Heeeey, wait a minute!” she threw a banana peel off her head a second, “Volleyball and Beachball are the same things! Why are they called differently!? Do they respond to the same name!?”

“Guess you could call it Beach Volleyball.” Tails shrugged, “Though, technically, beachball is the thing you use to play volleyball...” As he continued, Knuckles spiked and knocked him down while he was contemplating it.

“Haha! Snooze you loose!” Knuckles mocked, throwing his arms down to point at Tails.

“Grr... Knuckles! We’re on the same team!” He spat out sand and dusted himself off.

“Oh.” Knuckles then gestured to himself, “Well, then I was awake and quaked!”

Tails shook his head, “Sonic, do you have to play on your own team?”

“What? I’m fast enough for two!” Showing off his amazing speed, Sonic zipped around the court to where it looked like Sonic was literally playing by himself, “I could even play all teams!” He snatched the ball from the ground and pushed--or lightly placed--Knuckles and Tails out of the field to then play the game by himself.

“Still seems a bit unfair, though.” Tails pouted, folding his arms.

“No, no. Shh!!! I wanna see which team wins!” Knuckles became excited, “Woo! Go, Left field Sonic! Ah! No! Watch out, Right field Sonic! Nooo..!!! Oh, phew... Wait-Sonic!” Knuckles went through typical spectators reactions, gripping his head, tugging on his hair, before cheering yet again, “Yeeeahhh! Good forward arm there, Left field Sonic! Rooted for your along! ... Hey, which one’s Sonic again?” he looked to Tails.

“At least you got the fields right.” Tails side-commented before stepping back up to Sonic. “Is this because Amy wouldn’t come down to the beach today?”

“Yeah, we can’t help it if I’m too good for the two of ya.” He twirled the ball on his finger, “Besides, Amy can’t--and won’t--part with that Tinkle... Dinkle... Winkle... whatever his name is!” Sonic fanned a hand out, masking his own opinions on it. “Amy’s obsessed with that thing...”

“Huh, I always thought Amy was obsessed with y-” Tails seemed to panic and jumped up to cover Knuckles’s mouth.

“Knuckles-!” he cried out, then lowered his voice to whisper down to him, clinging to his head and shoulder. “We’re supposed to pretend we don’t know anything about that...”

“Anything about what now?” Sonic was still doing tricks with the volleyball.

“N-nothing!” Tails waved his hands out and flew a moment in the air. “An-anyway, I don’t think I’m really in the mood to keep playing. I’ve got uh... some... some engineering stuff to work on! Bye, Sonic!” He waved and took off.

“Engine-erring!?” Sticks spat out a flat tire that had been thrown away that she was gnawing on to find the trapped gerbil that she believed made the car’s wheels turn and free it from it’s imprisonment at last. “Oh no, you don’t!” she jumped out and rushed after him, barking as he flew up and in a bit of surprised fright, tried to dodge her but she jumped and grabbed his foot. “You aren’t making nothing to torture these gerbils anymore!”

“W-wha-what are you talking about!? Le-let goooo!!!” The two flew off and seemed to crash somewhere.

“I-uh... better check on that.” Knuckles saw Sonic offering to share the ball with him but decided to check on his friends first. “Sticks! Wait! I’m sure that nice village of Gogobas are still safely in their pity parties!”

Sonic sighed, “Oooh...” And let the ball go to kick it, letting it roll as a Eggman spybot was hit out of a bush and flew up.

“Guess I’ll check on Amy then...” Sonic took off towards her house.

“Hehehe-huhuhu...” Eggman rubbed his hands together, sitting happily in front of his screen in his evil lair. “There we go... I’ll snatch Mr. Tinkle Dipples the second Amy’s distracted by Sonic!” He roared confidently in laughter. “My machine is almost complete! Orbot! Cubot!”

“Yes, Doctor?!” Cubot nervously saluted as Eggman turned around to face the two in his spinning chair.

“Make sure my robot pooch is fully operational!”

“Yes, doctor!” The two took off...

Sonic raced to the door, but before knocking, looked himself over in the reflection of a window and adjusted his quills, then tightened his bandana. He choked, loosening the bandana again and grumbling to himself something but the only audible line one could hear was--”Never learned to tie a tie...” before rushing back to door and knocking this time.

“Busy!” Amy cried from within.

His entire confident air deflated, and he drooped forward with his arms hanging down, “Oooh... Uh, it’s me! Sonic! ... Sonic The Hedgehog!” He puffed himself up just a little bit more, calling and leaning more towards the door. “Hero extraordinary! ... So much better than a puppy...” He folded his arms and mumbled the last bit to himself.

“Oh-oh... C-coming!” Amy seemed to scramble but Sonic could hear multiple layers of locks, chairs, wooden-door stoppers and more start being cleared away like a construction site. She peeked open the door, “Come in!” she chimed, “Quickly, quickly, quickly..!” She then rushed him in and put one single lock back on the door. “Eh, I’ll take of that later.”

“Woah, what’s with the, uh... high-end security arrangement, Ames?” Sonic thumbed-back to the door but Amy rushed over to a stool with a soft pillow on it, making the little puppy look like royalty as his tongue hung out and he drooled.

His eyes grew intensely large like in anime and shined, trying to such Sonic into his cuteness as Sonic felt the pull but leaned away.

It shone with heavenly aura as it’s eyes kept growing bigger but Sonic about-faced and turned to Amy, “Uhh... How’s the pooch-sitting coming along-” he was surprised to see she was completely captivated by the puppy and already squatting by the stool, gawking and taking pictures as her own eyes looked bigger than normal.

“Aww, cute puppy! Sweet boy! Look over hereee~” she cooed and coddled as it continued to pant, it’s eyes normal to Sonic now. “Who’s the cutest, wutest, sweetest, squishiest cheek boy ever?~” she then scrunched up his cheeks and played with them as they jiggled and wobbled to her touch, spraying drool everywhere...

“Oh.” He realized he was being ignored. “Alright, no worries, just the most dashing man of the hour in your house... No need to over-celebrate.” He frowned and pushed his arms straight down again. “Dumb dog.” he muttered under his breath.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?” Amy’s big, sparkling eyes went right into his face, as though a brainwashed-slave to this puppy as he shook his head in intimidation at her creepy smile.

“N-no-nothing! Just how cute the puppy iswh! Is-!” he almost mimicked Amy’s baby-talk on accident. “Ehem, Amy, I normally would never do this under typical and honorable circumstances but in this case-” He shoved her hands to his cheeks, “I think you see my point.” he beamed.

“...Uh, I guess?” Amy took her hands off his cheeks, “You hungry or something?”

He deflated yet again, his eyes just saucers of white. “N... No.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“...Yes.” He shrugged down, and as she went to the kitchen, he glared and clenched his jaw at the puppy. He zipped over to it, “Listen you, I don’t know what fame has done to your head or anything, but I’m not here to stand for your pompous treatment of my friend!”

The dog continued to drool, one eye blinking.

“But I’ll have you know that I’m the big shot in these parts! And Amy just happens to be madly in love with me!” He pointed to himself and then picked up the constantly panting dog. “Not you. So you can wag your little tail and stick out your tongue somewhere else!” He dashed to one of Amy’s bird cages and shoved the dog in, causing a minor yelp from it but it wasn’t hurt, just surprised as Sonic tarped it and headed back to Amy.

Sitting at the counter, he then crossed his legs, “So-ho-ho~ Amy~ Have I told you about the one time I-”

“Yep.” Amy continued to work on the food.

“I-I didn’t even say it.” Sonic squinted his eyes in suspicion at her.

“Uh-huh.”

“...Are you even listening to me?”

“All done!” she poured something into a bowl.

“Awesome! You’re cooking, might I say, is way better than Meh Burger when it comes to the ol’Sonic engine!” he rubbed his stomach and licked his chops before Amy swiped the bowl away from him as he went to bite down. “H-huh..? What just happened...” he spoke with his mouth open, mid-bite again, before he saw the puppy had mysteriously wound-up on the pillow stool again, Amy bringing the deluxe dog food over to him.

“Here you go, Mr. Tinkle Dinkles~ Yes, who’s hungry? Who’s the biggest star in Hedgehog Village and the world? And the whole wide wittle world? You are~ You are, you good boy~” she petted him as he leaned his head back, thumped his leg at her praise and loving scratches, and then flopped over her lap to gorge himself in her home-prepared dog food.

Sonic leaned against the couch, narrowing his eyes at the sight as he muttered more curses for the dog under his breath...

He had a thought bubble that then showed a chibi-version of Amy and the pooch, her scratching his belly and loving on him but the dog faded and a Chibi-Sonic replaced it. Snickering and cackling as Chibi-Amy continued her smothering but the Dog was now whining with it’s tail between it’s legs, trapped in a Meh Burger costume with a sign that read: ‘Will pee for attention’.

Sonic continued to snicker to himself before the doorbell rang again.

“Oh?” Amy lightly placed the dog back on his stool and used a finely made napkin with ‘Fuzzy Puppy Buddies’ logo on it to clean up his mouth before heading to the door. “Who could that be?”

While Amy was distracted, Sonic sped over to the dog, grabbed it, pulled back the window and tossed the dog with a under-handed swing out the window. It hung in the air a moment before going,��“Oof?” like a little woof and fell straight down...

Into Eggman’s hands...

“Hehehe, hohoho..!” Eggman placed a mechanical dog down, doing the exact animations as the dumb little creature in the first place. “Now you’re coming with daddy sweetie~ Who’s a big, bright, beautiful star? You are~ You are Mr. Tinkle Dipples~ Uncle Eggy has a nice place set up just for you~” he wiggled his finger to the puppy and continued to adore it secretly while sneaking away.

“I’m gonna miss Metal Pooch.” Cubot wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “Such beautiful destruction he caused...”

“Yeah... The steel heart mends, Cubot. Give it time to rust.” Orbot patted Cubot and helped turn him away from the sight.

When Amy closed the door again, she turned around with a shriek, panicking and tearing her house up looking for the dog. Sonic tried everything to get her to turn her attention to him, even momentarily throwing away his pride and setting up a floor-lounge with candle-lit setting with a rose in and across his mouth,... but she was too busy searching to see.

He spat out the rose and it hit her on the back of her head, “Ah! Sonic! We don’t have time for-...” Her eyes shrunk at the scene, and it might have been enough as their eyes met and romantic music started playing as he lifted up his foot and clicked a radio with his heel.

“Who’s a good boy..?” he flirted, but suddenly...

“BARK. BARK. I AM BARKING LIKE A CUTE, WITTLE BOY. BARK. BARK.”

“Oh my stars!” Amy raced to the window, “Mr. Tinkle Dipples!? What are you doing out here?” she had big, anime eyes again... as though love was blinding her from seeing the fakeness of the dog.

She cradled it in her arms after reaching down the window to get it.

“BARK. BARK. I AM THE GOODEST OF BOYS.” It’s robot voice was a dead giveaway, but Sonic was amazed to see that Amy kept caring for it, spoon-feeding it as it took the food but lifted its tail to dispel it out the other end.

“Ohh~ Did Tinkle Dipples make a wittle present-mess-le?” Amy put her hands to her hips as Sonic couldn’t take it anymore.

“HE’S A ROBOT!” He spindashed the Eggman robot as it powered down.

“Ohh... Goodest of b-b-boys...” and shut down.

“NNNOOOO!!!” Amy freaked out, crying and holding him in her lowered arms.

“Amy! Snap out of it! It’s a decoy!” Sonic put his hands on her shoulders and shook her, and her eyes returned to normal. “H-huh? Sonic? When did you get here?”

He lowered his eyes in agitation, but then the news came on.

“This just came in, T.W Barker is suing Amy Rose for a violation of her contract, that’s right, MR. TINKLE DIPPLES IS MISSING! AHH!! THAT POOR, INNOCENT BOY! AHH! AHH, THE AGONY! Amy’s reputation is ruined by the way and the world will never forgive her awful crime of LOSING THE MOST ADORABLE PUPPY IN THE WOR-RL-RLD!!!” The eagle was losing himself in his grief, as Amy’s eyes twitched and she brought out her hammer, looking ready to murder Sonic.

“Wait!” He dodged, “Amy, listen to me! YIKES!” he had to dodge Amy all the way to Eggman’s, where they defeated him to get the puppy back, who was still as still and in a loop-animation as ever, but wagged its tail and licked Sonic’s face when successfully brought to the manager.

Amy’s reputation was spared and Cubot and Orbot got Tails to fix Metal Pooch, leaving him to a happy life with Mombot.

She sat and stroked him, “THERE. THERE. WHO’S THE GOODEST BOY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD BESIDES MY TWO OTHER EVIL BOY SONS?”

Metal Pooch continued the animation cycle, “I AM. I AM GOODEST BOY OF YOUR TWO EVIL SONS. BARK. BARK.”

Eggman frowned, watching from a window, “Ohh... Wait, how’d he end up there!?”

Cubot still visits to give him screws as a treat.

Amy looked to her friends, “Huh, I guess the moral here is to not let celebrities take over your lives and make you forget about your real friends...” She opened her arms up to everyone but instead, T.W Barker popped up, shocking everyone.

“And always keep your contractual obligations~” he winked to the camera with a sly grin. 

“Evenwhenabluehedgehog,that’sbeentheloveofyourlifeforwhoknowshowlong,isflirtingwithyoujustbecausejealousyisapartofacopingmechanismoftennotprescribedwithourcompany’sproductremembertobrushyourteethandsayyourprayerssuckersthisistotallylegitmarketingschemes.” 

he muttered under his breath as though the legalities at the end of a radio or t.v commercials.

END.

[seizethecringeofproduction]

Flashpoint 2: Advent Solaris - Chapter 4

AKA the chapter with the “Take that!” trope pulled against people who made a movie I highly dislike

And also where a bunch of elitist government people get what you wish they’d get in our world.

Enjoy the escapism!

With everything that was going on in and around Soleanna - as well as the time stream for that matter, it was easy for one to forget one of the people who the events seemed to center around. That person being the young, no older than fifteen in fact, Princess Elise III of Soleanna. Kidnapped twice by Dr. Eggman in the span of just a few hours, the auburn haired teenager sat alone in a cold metallic cell. All she had with her was the clothes upon her body, and the thoughts within her head.

Even as she looked down at her lap, even as her face frowned and her arms folded, she remained strong. She did not shed a tear. Even in this, one of her darkest hours yet, she reminded herself of when she was a young girl resting her head upon her father's lap. His words, his voice, repeated in her head:

"Be a strong Duchess, Elise. Don't cry, no matter what happens".

"Be Brave…"

It took all the strength within her to not cry remembering her father again. She was sure that if he were still upon the earth, Eggman would not have dared kidnap her.

However, there was nothing she could do to change the fact he was gone.

Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on memories that didn't bring her to the verge of tears. All she could get into her mental imagery however, were the events of the previous hours - Sonic. The blue wind. Not quite the knight in shining armor that one would expect to save a kidnapped princess, though Elise was not one to complain. She remembered being first held at Eggman's impromptu outpost in the various ancient ruins in Soleanna's great Dusty Desert, with Sonic and Tails arriving to save her, having the perfect opportunity to do so due to the Egg Carrier needing to land in order to be properly refueled.

She remembered watching Sonic square off against that massive, black robotic dog that the mad roboticist had sent after him and Tails. The robot was more than incapable of matching Sonic's speed - and was outsmarted by the Hedgehog simply grabbing hold of the horn atop its head and forcing him to ram into the walls and statues of the impromptu arena that they fought in. Elise watched all of it with awe, and smiled hopefully once the robot was finally successfully vanquished.

Watching the one-headed 'Egg Cerberus' fall to the sand-drenched stone beneath it as it short circuited and succumbed to the damage Sonic gave to it was satisfying to her - not because of the robot's fall, but because it meant Sonic had managed to at least temporarily rescue her from Eggman's clutches.

The best part of her temporary time being rescued was what came after though. Sonic whisking her through the desert, giving her more thrills than she ever had in her entire sheltered life as he destroyed any robot that came after them - Tails successfully holding a larger armada of them off, and eventually taking a 'pit stop' in a beautiful plain of lush, green grass and winding hills. Her and Sonic had a good laugh about it as their excitement calmed down, before she took notice of a minor cut he had on his arm.

"You're hurt!" she had said to him, though he was quick to brush it off:

"Oh that? Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

"Don't say that! Here, let me fix it" with a slight chuckle, she insisted - and he relented, as she cut off a small portion of her white dress and used it as a makeshift bandage for Sonic's arm. It was the least she could do, after all he's done for her so far. However, she couldn't help but feel guilt for the small cut, as small as it was, it would not have happened if not for what she held inside of her - "I'm sorry" she said as he remained kneeled down to Sonic's eye level, "It's all my fault."

"Hey" Sonic said to her, gaining her attention, "Smile!"

Looking at her, he wagged his finger as if to say that her frowning was not what he had signed up for, though his nose soon became the brief resting spot for a butterfly as he did this. Both he and Elise froze and looked at the small winged creature so delicate and silent. So a smile, Elise reached out a hand to the creature - though it flew away from the two once she did. There was then soft laughing from both of the two, as one does with such small yet lovable moments in life. They watched it as it flew off into the sky above the grass-covered hills, following the breezes of the wind to wherever it's next destination was.

That was when Sonic commented:

"Your smile, that's all I need."

As Sonic began to walk casually away from Elise, the princess softly chuckled once more before following after him - the two walking side by side at a 'normal' pace, enjoying the clear blue sky, bright sunlight and peaceful breeze while Sonic finally had enough time to get some important questions out of the way:

"Eggman mentioned something about the 'flames of disaster', is that why he's after you?"

"Yes" Elise explained, "The name of the sun god our country honors is Solaris, it is told that Solaris' rage would destroy the world. His wrath comes in the form of the flames of disaster. 10 years ago, we almost faced the full force of his fury" she then stopped as she attempted to recall the events of ten years ago, all she remembers was her five year old self standing before her father, moments before he jumped onto her as a white flash enveloped them both, her only explanation for Sonic though was a softly spoken "I was a child then, so I don't remember it very well…...I lost my father then…."

It was her last few words which made Sonic stop and look at her as she looked down at her hands, struggling hard to grieve without tears. However, Elise managed to collect herself as she said to Sonic:

"And now that man is trying to cause the same disaster again, what can I do?"

After a moment of her bowing down at the ground below her, soon she felt something - someone - grab onto her hand. It was Sonic, whisking her away to run with him across the hills. Of course, he body did comply with his silent urging - though she had to remind him:

"Sonic! Sonic wait, I can't run that fast!"

Though he ignored her. Thankfully he was not going anywhere near his top speed, instead merely running with her at a slightly above average pace, as to not hurt her. Even so, Elise proved to enjoy the sensation of running with Sonic, just as she did during their trek through the desert ruins. The breeze against her hair and face, the rush and thrill of it all. The fact that they were now running through a much more peaceful environment helped as well. Stopping at a hill about a mile or so away from the one previously were standing on, Sonic said to the princess as she laid in the grass, gazing up at the beautiful sky:

"Feels great, doesn't it?"

Panting as she caught her breath once more, Elise replied:

"Yes, I, I never ran that fast before!"

"Nothing starts until you take action!"

Nothing starts until you take action...

In the present, as she remained sitting on the cold metallic floor, those words continued to echo through her mind. So far, all she has been is a damsel in distress - a princess to be constantly kidnapped, and constantly rescued. She had hoped that her being rescued in the desert would have been the only time she needed to be rescued, though that ultimately turned out to be quite the wrong assumption.

Once her and Sonic had returned to the Soleanna Castle Town district, walking straight through one of the open plazas on their way to where Elise could safely be transported back to her castle, the two's walk was interrupted by a single green ball of energy that exploded at their feet, making them both jump back with Sonic holding an arm out to protect Elise. Down from the sky descended their attacker - a white, golden eyed hedgehog with black-green boots and gloves with a mysterious cyan symbol on them - both his gloves and boots were more futuristic than most contemporary fashion - and he had several leaf-like quills protruding from his forehead while only two large quills extended from his head.

Pointing directly at Sonic, he said in a menacing tone yet not-so-intimidating voice:

"I've been looking for you, you're the Iblis trigger. Your actions will condemn us all!"

Iblis…

Elise felt a shiver down her spine hearing that name, and felt it again while recalling the events. She had never explicitly heard that name in her life, though something about it - something in her mind if not her very soul - made it feel familiar as though it were a close friend or an even closer enemy.

Still, in that memory, she could recall Sonic standing in front of her in a protective manner - asking of the strange newcomer:

"Who are you?!"

To which, the white Hedgehog responded:

"My name is Silver. For the future of the world, I will destroy you!"

What followed was a battle between Silver and Sonic, the blue blur and the soldier of the future. Sonic, needless to say, made Silver seemingly hopeless on the ground - as Silver was incapable of reproducing any more than average walking and running speed. However, as Sonic dashed to the back of the plaza and then charged at Silver both he and Elise soon discovered Silver was far more a deadly threat than first estimated: with the sheer power of his thoughts he surrounded Sonic in a cyan aura and lifted him into the air - stopping all of his speed and momentum as well.

"It's no use!" Silver shouted at Sonic, before sending him flying into the tables and chairs scattered around the plaza with just one more shout, "Take this!"

With a loud thud and several crashes, Sonic was now in the middle of several debris - chairs and table parts mostly. However, now levitating in the air Silver was approaching him. Realizing he had to think of an actual strategy to use against him, Sonic bought himself by running around the plaza in a circle - making sure to keep distance between himself and the white-furred attacker. Elise though, screamed as she soon was caught in the middle of Silver telekinetically lifting up a virtual army of tables, chairs and even assorted barrels into the air and beginning to hurl them like rapid fire missiles at Sonic's speed-powered blue wind. There was nothing the princess could do besides keep a safe distance between herself and the conflict - while praying she would not get hit in the crossfire considering how much debris was flying around as the objects hit the stone floor at a velocity comparable to Sonic's running speed.

Elise could hardly keep track of what was going on - all she could see was Sonic's blue wind, and Silver stationary in the middle of the plaza, attempting to use virtually every object in the entire plaza as an aerial projectile against Sonic. Sonic, for his part, was trying to get a surprise attack against Silver. He did get at least one in when he slid on the floor from behind Silver - managing to trip Silver onto the floor and force him to drop all that he was carrying in that moment.

However, Silver fired another psychic energy ball at Sonic - forcing Sonic to do a flip to avoid it in time before contact - and the battle resumed immediately. Elise, watching this, only wanted it to end. Yet still, as she looked at Silver - she couldn't help but feel as though this white hedgehog was familiar in a way. Even as she recalled him in her memory, she felt as though the two had met before the battle took place - though that couldn't be, she doesn't remember a Silver the Hedgehog outside of this battle.

Even in her recollection she had little time to ponder Silver's identity however - as soon enough she recalled the end of the battle, when Sonic was successfully caught again by Silver's telekinesis following a failed surprise attack and was promptly flung directly at one of the surrounding building's stone walls. Miraculously Sonic survived the blast, though fell to the ground in short order. As Sonic struggled to catch his breath, Silver approached him and expressed condescending disbelief in him:

"Hmph!" the Hedgehog huffed, kneeling down to get a good look at the panting blue Hedgehog as he continued to arrogantly mock him, "Is this a joke? How could something like you cause the destruction of our world?"

Unbeknownst to both Hedgehogs, a family set of large mechanical hands was appearing just behind Elise - Elise herself could only hear their mechanical whirring sounds far too late to react to them, just as Sonic responded to Silver:

"What...do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter" Silver shook his head, "For the sake of the future, the Iblis Trigger must be destroyed!"

Just before Silver could attempt another direct hit to Sonic, both Hedgehogs were distracted by Elise's loud scream as Eggman's hovercraft yet again grabbed her. The last thing the princess could make out from the distance as she was Silver managing to make Sonic trip to his feet, and a pink colored figure heading towards them - though nothing beyond this point was audible for her beyond the sound of the hovercraft's engines and Eggman's laughter.

Such was the story of how she ended up in her current place of imprisonment - this large, metallic base situated near the snow-covered peak of Soleann's White Mountain. She wasn't sure if this base was built by Eggman or by her own people, though if it was the latter she had never heard a thing of it - not that her 'regent' ever seems to inform her of anything.

Aunt 'Mairie'...

That name.

The regent of Soleanna, Lady Mairghread of House McLoch from the far-off land of Lochland. The closest surviving relative of Princess Elise due to her father having no siblings, necessitating the arrival of her maternal aunt to rule as regent for Elise's minority following the man's death. Arriving to Soleanna when Elise was only five years old, it was in truth Mairghread who held the true power in Soleanna for the past 10-11 years - and Elise doubted that her aunt would begin rescinding such power when her 16th birthday would come a mere two months from the current time.

Mairghread was also, legally, the heir to Soleanna's throne should anything happen to Elise herself. Though the woman was well in her later 40's, Soleanna's succession laws were not gender-restricted like that of Lochland's - and Mairghread was Elise's oldest surviving relative.

Elise did not like being the only remaining royal of Soleannan blood, as though it gave her popularity among the people she cared to protect so deeply it also placed a severe amount of stress on her - if she didn't feel that fire inside of her whenever she was urged to cry, she likely would have had a mental breakdown years ago. Aunt 'Mairie' as she liked to be called, was no help in that department either.

Though she was only five years old at the time, Elise still remembered vividly the day that her aunt arrived in Soleanna. The current castle had not been built yet, as the decision as to what to do with the massive, practically imperial stone castle situated as the epicenter of the 'Kingdom Valley' hadn't been quite made yet. Elise remembers waiting at the altar at the cliffside of the forest area, her five year old self protected by mustached prime minister and mayor Lord Regis alongside a small squad of at least seven royal guards. Not to mention the priests that were behind the lot of them.

Still silently grieving for her father, let alone the mother who she lost even before that, Elise stood silently while awaiting for her aunt to arrive. It took a fair few hours for her to materialize in the distant horizon.

Escorted by not only at least seventeen Lochish musicians, complete with plaid kilts and bagpipes, but also by ten armed Lochish guardsmen and what appeared to be a young sheep woman dressed in a professional though now outdated business suit, was Lady Mairghread herself. Elise could back then see elements of her mother in the woman, or at least what she could remember her mother looked like. Her most prominent feature was her bountiful, naturally curly red hair that glistened in the sunlight like fire all those years ago. Elise had inherited the color, though not the curls. The arriving lady also had a thin, hourglass figure. Her hips swayed elegantly as she walked, and she always seemed to hold her head up high - as though she considered herself well above all others around her. She certainly dressed that same part, always wearing extravagant clothing in various rich and exocit colors such as tyrian purple, garnet red, or other specific shades of dark, emerald green. While the outfits she wore were no longer specifically remembered by Elise, she remembered her aunt usually liked to have long, almost whip-like drapes from her shoulders in addition to the addition of veils and golden jeweled crowns - even though she was neither a queen nor even the duchess. Though many in Soleanna would comment that she looked more like an empress with the way she dressed.

Still, there was the matter of her first meeting her niece. Being five years old, Elise did not remember much of what was specifically said that day - except for one thing, the first thing she remembers ever being spoken to her by her aunt:

"Greetings, Elise" she spoke in her soft Lochish accent, almost as though she was trying to conceal her heritage to sound more 'royal', "I am your Aunt Mairghread, though I prefer you call me Mairie, so long as you do we'll get along just fine."

Elise remembered the look on her face. The smile she said while looking down at the five year old. Elise did not trust it. The look in her cold eyes, there was something about her aunt that sent shivers down Elise's spine - as beautiful as the woman had been ten years ago, the fact that way she said 'fine' always struck Elise as strange. She also did not even give Elise the curtsey as traditional custom, even though the young girl gave her one out of respect. Instead, 'Mairie' simply stood though, with a lit cigarette in her hand - puffing it's smoke in the direction of Lord Regis who coughed whenever she did so.

Their relationship did not get better over time.

Elise remembers various quotes from her 'beloved' and 'respectable' aunt, said to her throughout her youth at various times. One specific moment, from only a mere week after their first meeting, remains one of the most vivid conversations she had with her aunt, taking place directly in the old Soleanna throne room itself:

"But I don't want a new castle!" the young princess had shouted, upset upon hearing Mairie's idea of constructing a new castle, with the various priestesses around Elise desperately trying to keep the girl from crying as he continued, "The old one is just fine!"

Mairghread, still smoking in one hand, looked to her niece with a virtually remorseless look as she said directly at her:

"This castle is about as old and dead as your father, princess! And what's dead, is dead. Everyone must learn to move on with life sooner or later, might as well start young!"

The priestesses around Elise all gasped, and stared at their duchess almost frightened at what would come next - while Mairie herself only continued puffing away at her cigarette, ever the chain smoker.

It took every fiber in her being for the young five year old girl to not burst into tears at what had been said to her. Shaking with both rage and sadness, Elise actually clenched her fists and only muttered but one response, the only thing she could force herself to say that wouldn't be seen as madly disrespect to her aunt:

"I'm not a princess, I'm a duchess."

"Excuse me?" her aunt suddenly became angry, approaching Elise as though she intent to do bodily harm to the young child for what she had been told - though one of the hooded priestesses instinctively kneeled down in front of the duchess in silent effort to protect her if the worst did happen.

"I am a duchess" Elise bravely repeated, "I am not a princess!"

To do this day, she remembers precisely what her aunt said to her:

"We'll see about that, 'duchess'."

Elise had madly underestimated the sheer pettiness of that woman. In addition to increasing the taxes on residents in the New City district and drastically cutting the funding for the police force in order to gain the funds to construct the new and current royal palace as well as the ferry system required to reach it, one of Mairie's first major acts was a new constitution - one which she effectively forced a then freshly six year old Elise to sign, decreeing that the duchess was to drop her current title - demoting herself from a Grand Duchess to a mere sovereign Princess. Purely to win an argument with a child.

For years, Elise pondered why her aunt was able to stay in power for so long. Perhaps it was the fact that G.U.N. effectively protected Soleanna as a military force due to Soleanna having abandoned military pursuits in the modern era. Perhaps it was the fact that she was the heir to the throne. Perhaps it was the fact she surrounded herself with Solennans who only had their position because she herself had appointed them - such as Pietro the incumbent captain of the royal guard, to Mairie's personal bodyguards Ernesto & Matteo, not to mention her new assistant Christina. Elise never found out what happened to the sheep woman, though there was that lavish feast thrown upon the grand opening of the current royal palace. 'Lamb Chops' and Haggis were served among the various native delicacies of Soleanna.

Aunt Mairie…

Elise thought to herself, a mix of emotions she struggled to keep down continuing to rumble within her at the mere thought of that name alone.

Just like what's happening now, everytime something good happens that makes me smile, she comes along and ruins it….always...

And….I never take action….

Elise remembered but one incident in particular. A stroll by horse drawn carriage through the streets of Castle Town, protected and escorted by a small troop of Soleanna royal guards. This incident was fresh, as it had occurred just the previous year - and by then the years of unhealthy habits had taken their toll about Elise's once beautiful aunt.

Her age, now rapidly approaching 50, had brought with it grey streaks within her hair which she dried desperately to cover up with dye - though the chemicals she was using proved to be slowly causing her hair to fall out, evident by the once luscious mane having lost plenty of its weight in the prior 10 years. Her voice, once easy to the ears, now had become more hoarse and witch-like, her smoking having done a number on her 's not to mention the increasing amount of early wrinkles that were propping up on her face - and her various tax payer funded plastic surgeries to attempt in coring them, leaving her face an artificial mess.

Even still, she made Elise struggle to keep from coughing as she still ever had a cigarette within her hand. Her assistant and Soleanna royal press secretary, Christina De Paulis - an early-mid 30's native Soleannan woman of average physique who usually wore a face mask due to the aforementioned smoke, was also in the carriage alongside Elise's primary Lady-in-waiting Anna, who was known for usually wearing her large red skirt and pink blouse. She kept having to clean her glasses due to Mairie's smoke getting in them - let alone having to stifle her need to cough.

She snapped if we coughed in her presence...saying it was 'un-lady like'...

All in all, it was not a comfortable ride through the town.

At least, not until a faint sound of music had turned into a symphony very audible to Elise's ears. The unmistakable sound of an accordion, being played by the jolliest of plump, mustached men who inhabited the city - singing in the Soleannan native tongue that made Elise actually defy her aunt's usual orders:

"Stop the carriage!" the 'princess exclaimed, and the drivers complied to her orders. Mairie was visibly shocked, but did not have time to respond as Elise opened the carriage window so that she could get a better look at the jolly middle-aged man as he sang a most beautiful, operatic song in the most jovial of tunes - a song that made her for once in her life feel as though she was something more than just a political pawn:

"Oh, beautiful Princess Elise

Princess Elise, Princess Elise

Oh, beautiful Princess Elise

Beautiful beautiful Princess Elise

All of my love and all of my dreams are only for you

Oh, beautiful Princess Elise

Beautiful beautiful Princess Elise"

Elise was made happy by every word in the song, even making her softly sigh of happiness by the sheer fact the song was complimenting her. She was only ever called 'beautiful' by Anna and the other Ladies-in-Waiting or by the male guards around the palace, never by her aunt nor Christina.

However, there was the matter of the former, who quickly gained command of the situation with an angered yell at the carriage drivers:

"Drivers! Get a move on already!"

And with a rapid jolt of movement that almost sent Elise and Anna out of their seats, the carriage continued on its way - causing the accordion player's music to begin growing ever fainter once more. Then, came the moment when Mairie directed her words directly at Elise - her mouth still fuming out smoke as though she was a dragon:

"What do you think you are doing? You do not stop a carriage ride through the streets to gawk at filthy commoners!"

"He's not a filthy commoner, he's a citizen of my city!" Elise argued back, "And he was singing a song about me, the least I could do was listen to it!"

Her aunt was amused by what she said - laughing until her hoarse coughing kicked in before making moves to strike down Elise's moment of triumph with harsh words as she always did:

"Is that the best you can do? A lonely, fat, middle-aged accordion player who probably makes a single cent an hour? He's lucky I don't have some of my men snap his overweight neck and toss him into the canals like the garbage he is! A commoner's a death for a lowly commoner, not worth the time of royals such as me, and I suppose you as well, Princess" with another huff of smoke she continued as Elise bowed her head and Anna glared with silent fury at her, "It would be a fitting end for street trash such as him. He's not worth a noble death. No, a quick snap to show just how beneath the crown he truly is, how useless and meaningless as a person he is. Like the crap we dump into our toilets. Though, I suppose all things that are dead become meaningless, is it not true?"

That final quote made Elise once more shake, reaching the border of finally snapping. Had it not been for Anna stepping in, she would have:

"Okay, that is enough!" the Lady-in-waiting exclaimed, silence overtaking the carriage as she got her words in, "Madame McLoch, you are only to be regent until Duchess Elise is sixteen years of age, is this really the impression you want to leave when it is you who must listen to her for a change?"

Christina coughed nervously once the ensuing silence became near deafening.

There was nothing anyone of them could say, for once not even Mairie. The rest of the carriage ride that day had been silent, as was the ferry ride back to the castle.

Thank you, Anna

I hope you're still alright without me there...

Unfortunately for Elise, while she remained trapped within her cell at Eggman's base she had no earthly way of knowing if her absence had any effect on Mairie's way to torment Anna. Knowing the powers that Mairie had from her position as regent, she feared the worst.

Still, there were others that she worried about as well.

Not that long ago - only about an hour or so from the present time - she was standing with Eggman inside of some control room, overlooking a window into some circular chamber of sorts - Eggman did not mention what the purpose of this room was until well after the then-upcoming events had taken place. It was honestly hard for her to make much sense of her surroundings - all of it was metallic - clean and reflective, though cold and lifeless. Everything else was only a series of wires, panels, monitors and other various machines. Though it took some time, Sonic, Tails and the red-furred, purple-eyed echidna with two spiked gloved fists known as Knuckles barged into the room - their footsteps clanging against the metallic floors.

As the metallic door slammed shut behind them, Eggman spoke to the trio from the aforementioned control room far above them:

"You're late."

"Well" Knuckles snarked, "We had to deal with your little pets."

"Where's Elise?" Sonic was quick to demand, though as Eggman pulled Elise to be by his side, all the man said was an arrogant and somewhat callous set of words:

"My aren't we impatient?"

"S-Sonic!" Elise exclaimed, honestly feeling uncomfortable as the evil man laid his hands upon her, though there wasn't much she could do about her situation at all. As the three on the ground below got into battle stances, Eggman was quick to remark:

"Ah-ah-ah, you'd better not move" he 'warned', before making demands of his own: "First, the chaos emerald."

As Sonic held out the blue chaos emerald that Elise had tossed to him, Elise couldn't help shake her head at what was happening. She could not believe that what had just started as a regular festival, had turned into all of this. Yet here it was, all unfolding before her eyes.

From a circular 'dent' in the floor a cylinder appeared - with Eggman gesturing for Sonic to place the emerald upon said object. Though Sonic as well as Tails and Knuckles paused, with Elise trapped behind a thick, heavily reinforced plane of glass there was little else for Sonic to do besides comply with what Eggman wanted. Placing the emerald upon the cylinder, in an instant a glass dome encased the emerald and the impromptu container slipped back into the ground - the emerald completely in Eggman's clutches.

Eggman himself almost laughed, though for once managed to hold back on doing that - though he did push Elise away from himself as he extremely giddily slammed a single finger down on a button that evidently, he'd been wanting to press for some time.

In an instant, what had been thought to be a series of bright lights at the top of the room turned out to be part of some greater machine - as a field of bright pink energy emitted down from the ceiling and trapped Sonic, Tails and Knuckles inside of it. After the initial moments of confusion wore off, Knuckles attempted to punch the field - though was sent back via an electric shock. Eggman was quick to 'explain' to them:

"No no, it's no use" he said as menacingly as his now excited self could manage, "It's far too powerful for you to overcome. Now, all me to introduce to you my latest creation - this is the Solaris prototype."

Solaris, Prototype?

Elise could only look to Eggman with a horrified gasp. She had no idea what a 'Solaris Prototype' meant, though something about those two words together made her mortified, as though a dark memory that she kept locked away deep enough so that even her present self couldn't properly recount it. However, the events which were being remembered did not stop with that phrase, as Elise still strongly remembered the rest of what had happened as though it were mere seconds and not an hour prior:

With sinister, wicked laughter Eggman yet again pushed Elise away from himself, this time to step himself towards a small red liver. Frightened, Elise made sure to run to the opposite end of the room - though still all she had the power to do was watch as Eggman swiftly pulled the level and activated his so-called prototype:

"With this machine, I'll be able to control the flow of time itself!"

Within an instant Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were lifted in the air by the force of the machine - and sent barreling towards the ceiling as they could do little else besides scream. Just as quickly did they vanish, along with the pink energy - all in a flash. Watching this Elise had her hands on the glass as she slid down to her knees, the hopelessness setting in as her only would-be saviors had just vanished as though they were nothing.

Eggman, standing on the other side of the room, was quick to bluntly inform her of things which she wouldn't know otherwise:

"Rest assured" he 'comforted' her while standing with his hands behind his back as he paced around the room behind her, "They're not dead...yet. They've just been transported by my glorious invention to another time. Who knows where they'll end up? Could be in the distant past or far future. But my machine still requires some fine tuning."

Elise just bowed her head at the cold metallic floor, trying her best to not cry over the three heroes she had just lost. She could hear all that Eggman said, though she was not actually paying attention to her. It wasn't until he said his next set of words that she actually did so:

"In fact, what my machine needs in order to be complete is your power."

What? My...power? But, I have no powers...

"My...power?"

"Yes" Eggman nodded as Elise looked towards him, slowly building up to his usual gloating self, "I can finally complete plans, now that I have acquired even just one of the chaos emeralds - and you, the duchess of soleanna. I may have lost the scepter of darkness, but nevertheless all I need at this point is you to revive the flames of disaster! And with its power alone I will be able to control everything, and rule the world!"

It was then that he looked down at the teenager, still processing all that was going on in her world. The last thing he said to her before ordering robots in to show her to her cell was a rather cold:

"So, you would be wise to remain on my 'good' side."

And so, events were finally brought to the present. After two 'Egg Gunners' escorted her to her cell, there she sat. Alone. Cold, with only the facilities air conditioning and vent systems providing sound besides her voice. She sat on the floor, thinking over all of these past events repeatedly in her head as she processed all that was happening.

Of all the things she thought over in her memories, one thing rang the most true of all. Those words Sonic said to her in that grassy field:

Nothing starts, until you take action…

However, there still was reality to consider:

I just need to know what action I can take...

There truly wasn't much she could do, being as far as she was aware only a powerless human. Aside from the vents supplying her with the cold air surrounding herself, there wasn't much in the way of anything she could use to escape - the door being one to lock from the outside.

She could only sigh - though while her breath was still visible due to the cold, it should be noted she did not shiver. As though her body was not at all affected by the cold air around her.

There's nothing I can do...

Sonic's gone, and I can't even really save myself from this room at all….

What am I supposed to do?

That was when the vent far above her burst open, as though something had just punched or kicked it open. As the vent cover crashed to the floor out of seemingly nowhere, Elise gasped and stood to her feet. Though she soon heard the sound of footsteps clanging onto the floor from the vent, she saw nothing. That is, until before her eyes a figure materialized seemingly from thin air - a purple figure. Rather than fur, this anthropomorphic creature had scales that were purple in coloration - paired with golden eyes as well as a golden horn above two holes used for his 'nose'. This male figure's tail curled, and he had black-purple shoes with bandages around the top - in addition his gloves seemed to have the addition of armor once they reached his wrists. In addition to the black spikes along his back he did not have 'quills' per say, but his head mimicked the shape of three - one extending from the top, and two from the side.

The purple chameleon looked to Elise and gave her a respectful bow before addressing her in a manner akin to one of her courtiers:

"Princess Elise of Soleanna?"

Elise nodded, though she remained heavily confused by this sudden intrusion. She assumed he was here with heroic intentions, however.

"There is not much time to talk, but I'm here to rescue you from this base."

"I know."

"Then follow me before the alarms sound off, I will explain everything on the way."

Elise nodded in response - though just as she approached Espio, the chameleon's point revealed itself as the loud, blaring sounds of the base's alarm systems went off. Not wasting any further time as robots were sure to be in the cell soon enough, Espio held out his hands in motion for Elise to jump onto his hands. Though she was nervous about doing so, she complied. Amazingly, Espio was capable of lifting her and then tossing her towards the opening of the vent - allowing the 'princess' to successfully climb into the vents. Espio himself followed in after, using his tongue to latch onto the ceiling and climbing back into the vents like any ordinary reptile would.

By the time the robots entered the cell door, there was no sign of either besides the opened vent and the removed cover.

While the vents certainly were cramped and forced Elise to sacrifice much of her bodily mobility, at the very least Espio was crawling in front of her, showing her the way. All around the two, they could hear the alarms from outside. However, either none of the robots were capable of entering the vents properly - or more likely, they weren't aware that Elise and Espio were inside of them. Unless of course, some third option was occurring.

While Elise followed the purple creature through various, twists, turns and sharp corners with only the sounds of the alarms and their own movements surrounding them there was yet still the matter of some explanation for what was going on:

"Can I ask a question?" Elise spoke, "You said, you would explain on the way?"

"Yes ma'am" Espio replied, "Before they headed into the base, Knuckles informed me of what was going on - we agreed on an infiltration plan just in case things went wrong. Evidently, they did."

"Yes" Elise said as she sadly lowered her head, though still followed the reptile, "They did. Eggman, he, transported them into the future."

"The future?"

"Yes, that's what he said...Sonic's chaos emerald, let him do it."

"Sonic's chaos emerald?"

"Yes" Elise spoke with sadness in her tone yet she again restrained himself from tears, "He gave the chaos emerald to Eggman, letting him have one piece of the puzzle to his Solaris project."

"Don't worry" Espio remarked, turning to Elise while suddenly pulling out from the cuffs of his wrists something that shocked her - the blue chaos emerald. The same one that, as far as she knew, had been delivered to Eggman's clutches at least an hour ago.

"Wha-what?"

"We discussed a plan of action before the three headed to base. The one delivered to Eggman was a fake chaos emerald developed by Tails - it had chaos energy stored into itself, but can not generate for itself. We had been hoping to trick Eggman with it….I'm sorry."

"It's alright" Elise sighed, "I'm hoping they'll find a way back."

"It's not impossible, but we must keep moving. I was able to locate a hangar in the base where Eggman keeps various models of his airborne vehicles. We can acquire one and use it to travel to Soleanna faster, rather than traversing through the mountains."

Elise nodded in response, agreeing that it certainly was a plan. She placed her complete trust in Espio - and it was well placed trust. It did not take long for Espio to trace his steps and successfully locate the hangar, and promptly took out one of his shurikens to break the vent open.

Espio jumped out first, though extended a hand out upwards and gently assisted Elise by catching her once she jumped down, before then letting her gently onto the floor. Looking around, it was swiftly confirmed that they were indeed within the hangar that Espio was talking about - it was a large, spacious room constructed like a warehouse. Frost covered parts of the floor due to it existing alongside a currently open bay door - revealing the snow-coated mountains and valleys outside as well as letting in the piercing cold wind inside. Yet Elise still felt none of the cold.

Most importantly though, were the levels of the hangar. Though it was only one room, there were multiple floors worth of walkways and scaffoldings joined together by elevator lifts - with each caring various versions of flying vehicles Eggman is known to use on a regular basis. Elise and Espio had in fact made landfall on the top level walkway.

With the alarms still blaring throughout the base, there was no time to waste in deciding one particular model. Instead, Espio immediately took Elise's hand and led her to the nearest machine. It wasn't the same one as Eggman's current model - it lacked the hand extensions, was more old in design, and even had caution tape around the top of it's hull.

However, just as the two stepped inside of the vehicle and Espio made moves to turn it on and begin piloting it, the robots of Eggman's army entered the room in an effort to stop them.

Elise let out a scream as various Eggman robots began swarming the room - the white Gunners and red Stingers being joined now with brown ball-like robots that rolled in, until revealing they were more beetle-like robots that threw small bombs from their 'horns'. They were also joined by blue-green rhino bots which moved via a single wheel, having a range of attacks ranging from an electric field as well as 'bomb's from their 'flaps'.

Luckily, most of the rhino and beetle robots were crushed to pieces when Espio managed to get the vehicle to turn on and begin moving - the seventeen of them were largely crushed by it immediately. Though both Elise and Espio had to duck in order to avoid the gunfire from the Gunners.

Soon, after some tinkering with the buttons and levers, Espio found out how to speed up and properly steer the vehicle - thus the two were on their way out of the hangar doors before it could close.

A few squadrons of Egg Gunners were sent after them, though they were easily outrun by the flying speed of the vehicle. Once Espio and Elise peered their heads up and back at where the squadron was, they could see that all of the machines had disappeared behind the thick, freezing fog surrounding them.

Turning to Espio, Elise smiled of great relief:

"Espio…" she said, "Thank you, for saving me."

"We're not out of the woods yet, Miss Elise" Espio responded, "We still need to get you back to your castle, to safety."

"I know…" Elise nodded.

"Luckily, this vehicle has a G.P.S. system, so we should be able to-"

"AH!"

Both of them were shocked when suddenly explosions shook the vehicle they were commandeering, in the form of missiles rapidly striking the hull - causing significant damage to the machine and it's systems just as they were beginning to leave the fog of the snow-coated mountain peaks into the more temperate skies that made up the rest of Soleanna.

Robots had managed to catch up with the two - ones that were similar to the Stingers, though we're yellow instead of red, and fired missiles far more rapidly. It wasn't long before Espio and Elise's vehicle began to smoke and short circuit in addition to rapidly begen descending towards the ground below, just as the New City came into view.

As Elise screamed and braced for impact with the ground, Espio dispatched the robots using his shurikens, though to actually destroy them it took some effort as their armor was thicker than the usual models. As in, Espio's projectiles didn't work at all.

"We're going to have to jump!" Espio exclaimed to Elise as he saw that the machine was now either going to explode mid-air due to the yellow robots' constant barrages, or otherwise crash into one of the high-rises of New City. Elise however, could hardly even hear his words:

"What?!"

"No time!"

Espio quickly took Elise into his arms and jumped from the cockpit - just moments before the original model egg mobile was destroyed by the yellow robots' missiles. Elise held tightly onto the purple lizard and was sure that this was the end - though Espio instead landed on the rooftop of an apartment building, perfectly on his feet. As the debris of the destroyed vehicle rained down to the streets below, Espio knew the swarm of yellow-black robots was chasing after him and Elise and as such rushed for the door leading to the stairway inside of the building.

Of course, the robots' missiles still proved to be strong enough to burst through the apartment windows and walls alike - soon resulted in Espio and Elise being joined by human and anthro citizens alike, screaming and running as the robots forced their way into their rooms in their search for Elise and Espio. Not to mention setting off the fire alarm and sprinkler system due to the fact the fires from the explosions caused by them lingered.

There was little time to talk. With absolute chaos breaking out throughout the building, Espio focused completely on running with Elise to the first floor and from there out onto the streets of Soleanna's New City district. Most of the robot swarm eventually caused their own destruction due to the apartment building eventually collapsing due to the damage their missiles caused. Elise herself looked back with horror as she witnessed the building crumble in a cloud of dark grey dust. Her horror grew when at least seven surviving robots emerged from the dust and rubble to continue giving aerial chase to her and Espio.

There were Soleanna royal guardsmen, though all of them cowardly ran away along with the screaming civilians - none even seemed to consider checking if there were survivors from the building collapse.

My people...

Elise wanted to cry for any lives potentially lost in the collapse of that building, though for now there was no time to mourn.

Eventually, the seven robots that were chasing after Elise and Espio were defeated - though due to their thicker armor it was not by anything Espio himself had actually struck them with. Instead, it was through Espio outwitting them. He focused on traversing through the small alleyways that were too thin for the robots to force themselves through in bulk - due to the speeds at which they were flying they destroyed each other through crashing into one another or otherwise directly into the buildings of the city.

Only once the seventh one was finally destroyed did Espio stop, halting in the middle of a roundabout, right at the edge of when the New City actually started allowing the use of automobiles and began to become a metropolis better resembling what it becomes in the future. The two both panted as they recovered, having lost their breathes through all of the hectic insanity they had just been through.

"That should be the last of them" Espio commented as he recovered his stamina, "At least, for now."

"I hope it is the last of them, period," Elise remarked, to which Espio nodded. However, there was still work to be done for the two: namely taking Elise back to the castle. As such, Espio was quick to resume said objective:

"We still have to get you back to the palace."

"If you take me to the docks by castle town, one of the guards should summon that allows us to go to and from the castle."

"Why not use a bridge?"

"My aunt wanted to build the new castle on an island" Elise revealed to him, "She said it is a deterrent to any potential rebellion or revolution."

"I see" Espio did not linger on the thought for very long, "Well in any in case, we must be on our way before more of Eggman's army arrives."

Elise nodded, and was more than willing to take Espio's hand yet again as she was whisked away towards the doorway and tunnel to the Soleanna castle town, this time the run being rather uneventful. There were no further squads of robots sent after them, though there were many shocked and horrified pedestrians either running away from the mayhem or otherwise looking to see what precisely had gone so wrong.

Espio did not pay much mind to them however, his sole focus was getting Elise to safey.

Luckily, locating the ferry used to travel to and from the town to the castle was not hard to find. It was a simple run across at least two of the artificial islands of stone-and-mortar making up the castle town until it was visible parked by the city's docks with a large cave system leading to the Wave Ocean beach area visible in the distance behind it.

Elise could make out multiple figures on the large pleasure boat as her and Espio approached it - the same large boat she had been on during the interrupted festival though now in the light of the sun rather than the moon; those figures were none other than her prematurely aged aunt Maighread, royal press secretary Christina who now had no mask over her youthful face, a squad of at least five Soleanna royal guards including the captain Pietro, the still living Lady-in-waiting Anna, and even Ernesto - 'Ernie' - and Matteo - 'Matt' - , currently the ministers of the treasury and labor, respectively.

As Elise and Espio neared the pleasure boat, there wasn't much time to question why it was already in port. Mostly because Maighread immediately called gestured for Espio and Elise to stop in their tracks immediately before the former stepped his feet onto the boot itself, even saying to him:

"That is enough, lizard."

"Ma'am, I'm a-"

"I don't care" 'Mairie' took another puff from her cigarette, casting it's smoke into the air, "Thank you for rescuing our princess and returning her safely. Now your services are no longer needed, so you may go." - she even waved her hand, as if gesturing for Espio to leave her sight immediately.

Though he looked at the woman with severe distrust, Espio still turned to Elise and gave her a respectful bow, with Elise saying in a far more genuinely kind tone than her aunt:

"Thank you for rescuing me, Espio."

"It was an honourable duty, Lady Elise."

With those words having been exchanged, Elise joined her aunt and the others onboard the pleasure boat, while Espio walked away. Elise watched as soon enough, the castle town became further and further away with the boat's team of rowers not having any time to waste in pulling out of port and heading on their way towards the grand, opulent royal palace that rested so many miles away on its own smaller island.

Though the first few moments of the boat ride was silent save for the ambience of the waters and the jovial accordion player's music, Aunt 'Mairie' did turn from grimacing to smiling once said music was out of her personal earshot.

"Finally…"

"Aunt Mairie?" Elise asked, though when her aunt was 'forced' to look up at her suddenly the woman seemed not as pleased:

"Not you, 'dear'."

"Hm…" Elise honestly did not want to speak with her aunt anyway. Instead, she was glad when Anna approached her with more genuine happiness - leaving her aunt and her entourage to discussing things amongst themselves:

"Miss Elise, I'm so glad you are okay!" Anna and Elise even exchanged a friendly hug with one another, "But, what happened to the blue hedgehog?"

"It's a long story, I'd rather not talk about it…" that's when Elise gasped: she looked at Anna's hands and arms - noticing what appeared to be slowly healing but still fresh scars across them both. They resembled marks left by a whip or some similar instrument of punishment, and appeared to have been to Anna enough to actually inflict bleeding - though that had since dried by this point. Shocked to see this, Elise exclaimed to Anna, "What happened?!"

With a sigh and more saddened tone as she pulled her arm gently away from Elise, Anna explained:

"Madame McLoch did not take kindly to me being the one person in the country not afraid to stand up to her...she wanted to 'discipline' me once you were gone."

Elise's eyes widened with shock as she gazed upon what her aunt had done to one of the only friends she had. At first, she wanted to cry - as much as she knew she shouldn't do such a thing. What stopped her from doing so was the fact that she remembered well those words Sonic had told her many hours ago:

Nothing starts until you take action….

Turning her sadness into a form of fiery rage, Elise instead marched away from Anna and towards Mairghread, Ernie, Matt and Christina. Christina had to gesture to the regent in order to get the older woman to turn to face her not only angry but now most brave niece.

Not realizing, or not caring, why Elise was mad the aristocrat callously asked:

"Yes?"

"Aunt Mairghread-"

"Mair-"

"I don't care!" Elise almost screamed with rage, enough fury in her voice that Mairghread's own eyes widened and the entourage behind her almost stepped back in shock as Elise continued to vent her frustrations with her aunt, "Lady Mairghread of House McLoch, you have always been nothing but mean to me since the day we met when I was five! I'm the daughter of your sister, and I can see why my mother wanted to leave her homeland considering she had to put up with you all of her life! Not once have you ever even shown any sympathy or grief for her, you couldn't even be bothered to attend her or my father's funeral services! You might be my regent, you might be in charge of things while I am a minor and-or away, but that does not make you the Duchess of Soleanna! It gives you no right to threaten to have my people assasinated, and no right to torture my friends just because you want to feel more powerful than them! Once we return to the castle, I would be very happy if you rejoin the court of Lochland because you are no longer welcome in my country, and no longer will be my legal heir!"

The rowers stopped.

Everyone onboard the boat but Elise herself had their eyes widened as much as they could.

Even the gulls seemed to stop their noises, leaving only the sound of the sea's waves as ambience in the aftermath of Elise's words.

That is, until laughter broke out.

Specifically, laughter from Mairghread, Christina, Ernesto and Matteo. The rowers and members of the royal guard remained silent. Elise remained angry, though she was about as confused as Anna when Mairghread and her cohorts broke out into their fit of cackling - once more until the latter inadvertently broke out into a small fit of hoarse coughing. Upon recovering, all the amused Mairghread could respond with was more callousness:

"And how, my dear, do you plan to accomplish this goal of yours?"

"I am the Duchess of Soleanna" Elise proudly responded with her head held high, "It is completely within my legal right to dismiss you as my regent, and I'm sure the people will support my decision to relieve you from your status as heir."

"Oh really now?"

"Yes."

"Well, my dear niece, there is one detail that you are forgetting", Mairghread once more seemed to be holding back a witch-like fit of cackling as she sinisterly neared her niece. Elise remained fueled by fury in her voice as she replied:

"Like what?"

Suddenly, Elise felt a sting across her face as Mairghread's aged, boney hand slapped her hard enough to send her to the floor as the aunt coldly hissed from her yellow teeth:

"I own this country."

"Miss Elise!" Anna was about to run to Elise's side, though on Mairghread's gesture Pietro and the policemen with him drew their weapons,standard issue handguns, out on her - forcing her to immediately stop and raise her hands in fear of getting gunned down by them. Elise managed to recover nonetheless, though wasn't quite aware of the treachery as when she got up to her feet again she immediately directed her shouting to Pietro:

"Pietro! Guards!" she yelled, "Arrest this woman for assaulting the Duchess!"

Neither Pietro nor any of the guards made any response, only kept their guns aimed at Anna while their faces remained stone cold. Only Christina, Ernesto and Matteo laughed at how naive Elise proved to be. So naive she was that Mairghread had to explain it for her:

"Oh please, Elise. Your precious royal guards aren't going to help you, they're on my payroll. Have been for quite a while, actually. I could order them to kill both you and your friend right now if I wanted. There would be no witnesses. Christina could easily come up with the excuse of a robot doing it, and there would be no suspicion. If it wasn't for you being so beloved by the people, I would be the duchess already. Trust me."

Though Elise seethed with fury, there was little she could do. An immunity from the cold she did have, though not immunity to gunfire. Closing her eyes and clenching her firsts before opening them at her heartless witch of an aunt, she hissed out:

"What are you going to do, then?"

"Oh, me?" Mairghread chuckled at the thought, "I'm not going to do anything my dear! Though, I can tell you who is."

Before Elise could contemplate who this other person was, said person arrived on the scene in the form of their airborne vehicle descending right beside the boat with enough gunner robots to completely surround it. Complete with a sinister laughter now forever etched into Elise's mind, Eggman only said to Elise:

"I hope you enjoyed your walk, princess, but we really must get going now" Eggman then smirked, "And to make sure you don't get any ideas this time, allow me to introduce you to a bit of a 'blue wind' of my own."

It was then that Elise, who had turned to face Eggman, was stunned by what she saw. Flying into the air from behind Eggman's vehicle and landing on the deck of the robot right between Elise and Mairghread was a robot that was far unlike the others. It was almost like a robot version of Sonic - the exact same height, though with a three-spiked head akin to Espio. It's noise was as pointed as the sharpest of knives, and the same could be said for it's clawed hands. It's body was a miniature jet engine to allow for maximum speed to keep up with Sonic himself, and it's eyes were pitch black screens, with glowing red pupils. Elise, horrified by the arrival of this silent and uncanny machine only backed away from it in horror as Eggman introduced it:

"Meet Metal Sonic, dear princess" the roboticist proudly said, "He'll be helping to make sure this incident doesn't happen again. Now seriously, do come along, I haven't got all day."

Needless to say, Elise hesitated. Between her own policemen and now the robots aiming at her, she had not the faintest idea of what was going on. Even Mairghread was via her smile seemed to be suggesting Elise give herself up to Eggman. However, all Elise uttered was directed at her treacherous monster of an aunt:

"You're working with Eggman?"

"My dear are you dense" Mairghread almost rolled her eyes as she took another puff of her cigarette, "Yes, why do you think I got that emerald off of the black market for you? You didn't seriously think that it was some 'birthday present', did you? There wasn't any other way I was going to get the man to get into contact with me!"

"He's trying to release the flames of disaster!"

"Oh please" Mairghread carelessly remarked, "You think I honestly believe any of this country's ridiculous superstitions? Perhaps I should have told you when I put the 'scepter of darkness' up for sale on the black market, would have saved you the trouble of having to figure all of this out I suppose."

You….you bitch!

Elise had plenty that she wanted to say, though Eggman was quick to interject:

"I hate to get in between family discussions, though I have quite the busy schedule - so if you don't mind…"

"I apologize for your wait, Doctor" Mairghread responded, before turning to her niece and pointing towards Eggman and his vehicle, "I suggest you take your leave, my niece. Don't make this more difficult for yourself than it has to be."

Elise did not budge however, however two of the Egg Gunners did land immediately behind her - completely preventing Anna from approaching as well as Elise from even considering escape. With that set in place, she bowed her head in defeat. She could hear Ernesto, Christina and Matteo laughing at her misfortune in hushed whispers and murmurs.

With Elise bowing her head in surrender, Eggman then directed his attention to Mairghread herself:

"Oh, and Madame McLoch" he said in the most cordial of tones, "There is a matter I need to discuss with you."

"Yes, Doctor Eggman?"

"Well" Eggman explains, "I would like a refund of sorts, for the scepter of darkness. I won't go into too much detail but will say that it appears G.U.N. has become more involved in my plans than I was anticipating. Whatever you've been doing to stop them from interfering with my capturing of Elise, it does not appear to be full-proof."

"Excuse me?"

"You do realize that my glorious creations don't pay for their own production, do you not?" Eggman snarked, "Since I've lost the scepter of darkness to G.U.N. I would greatly appreciate assurance that I will get my money back, if you please."

There was yet again a moment of silence throughout the scene as everyone awaited for the regent's answer. Even Christina nervously walked towards her mistress and spoke in a soft, somewhat frightened tone:

"Miss Mairg-"

But Mairghread put out a hand in order to swiftly silence her, before turning to the guards and saying:

"It appears our deal with Eggman is now canceled" she said to the policemen, "Dispose of these robots immediately, and I don't care if you hit the princess or not."

The police, even Pietro, for once broke from their cold, tense looks and now seemed more frightened than anything else. They were not idiots. They were well aware that these robots would not be harmed by their pathetic handgun bullets - they looked at the regent as though she was completely demented for even suggesting it. Ernesto and Matteo though, were ever the loyalists and shouted at the guards once it was apparent that they were not responding:

"You heard the regent!" Ernesto exclaimed, "Fire, you idiots!"

"Take them out now!" Matteo yelled, "Your future duchess commands it!"

"That is my line, Matt!" Mairghread growled, before turning to the arrogantly smirking Eggman and continuing to bark like an enraged dog, "How dare you! You do not get to make demands of me!"

"It appears, dear Madame McLoch, that your guards would agree with me that I can."

"No you can not!" Mairghread roared as she directed her fury at Eggman - her damaged voice making it sound even more like one, "I am Lady Mairghread of the House of McLoch! Princess of Lochland! Future Duchess of Soleanna! You are nothing more than a mad scientist who still plays with childish toys! My money has better uses than catering to you and your frivolous, insipid plans! Do you know how much plastic surgery costs? Or how about bribing those in charge of G.U.N. to say out of my plans? The only reason I wanted you was to get my niece out of the picture, but now I am in the perfect position to do without you-AGH!"

In an instant, all on the boat were shocked. In her ranting against Eggman, Mairghread had not paid attention to Metal Sonic. The robot had grown quite tired of her voice and levitated himself in the air, within an instant having grabbed her by the neck - which he proceeded to snap and fracture within a matter of minutes. The sound of her bones cracking could be heard by all on the deck. After her dead muscles relaxed and her cigarette dropped from her hands, Metal Sonic discarded Mairghread's corpse by tossing it onto the floor of the deck as though she were nothing but trash - meaningless, worthless trash.

Eggman was the only one not horrified to witness the power behind Soleanna's throne be discarded like an everyday piece of garbage - in fact he was quite elated by it:

"Good idea, Metal!" he cheered, before turning to the rest of the robots surrounding the boat, "The rest of you, follow his example! Though do not harm the duchess!"

Right before the carnage began, Ernesto and Matteo callously screamed at Pietro and the police virtually in unison:

"Hurry!"

"Kill the girl before he kills us all!" Ernesto screamed in terror.

"She's useless to him dead!" Matteo added.

Their lack of humanity was rewarded with them being among the first to perish once the Egg Gunners began firing their machine gun bullets at all on the deck - both 'Ernie' and 'Matt' dying almost immediately to bullets in the head, meeting a similar fate to Mairghread in dying as though their lives held no significance whatsoever.

They were followed by captain Pietro and the rest of the guardsmen onboard soon after. Their handgun bullets were of no effect and merely bounced off the robots, and they themselves along with all of the boat rowers were gunned down in a blood-soaked massacre as bullets promptly descended into their bodies.

Elise could only drop to her knees, holding her head as she hoped with all heart that she would not be among the growing number of corpses aboard the boat.

The two Egg Gunners behind her, following their creator's orders, turned their attention to Anna. Backing away in fear, Anna was lucky as though bullets did graze the edges of her arms and legs the shock of it was enough to send her off the side of the boat and into the waters below. She lost her glasses as she screamed though none of her injuries were fatal by any means.

The same could not be said however, for Christina. While the Egg Gunners were mowing down Ernie, Matt and the guardsmen she screamed at the top of her lungs and ran straight for Elise. Slipping right past a seemingly idle Metal Sonic, she managed to take advantage of the two robots' distraction with Anna and grab hold of Elise:

"Ah!" Elise shrieked as suddenly Christina held her as one would a hostage - the once usually quiet assistant telling her in a panicked tone:

"Shut up you fucking bitch! I'm not dying because of you!"

However, she was quite wrong. Just like her mistress, she far too late realized that Metal Sonic's position had changed. Christina did not even have time to process that the robot was behind her until she felt a sudden, piercing sting at her waistline.

It did not last long, though it did completely eliminate her ability to speak or even move.

Within moments both her top half and bottom half fell to the ground - her body having been successfully bisected by a single slash of Metal Sonic's knife-like claws. Well before the Egg Gunners had the time to turn around to kill her themselves, for that matter.

My god…

Elise could only express horrified awe at how the most powerful, yet evil, people in all of Soleanna had been taken down in mere seconds by Eggman and his machines. Christina, Ernie, Matt, Pietro and Mairghread all lay dead on the deck of the boat as though they were completely worthless - the power they once held gone about as fast as their lives. Not even Eggman wasted time dwelling on their downfall:

"Excellent work my robots! Now, let's take our friend here back to the Egg Carrier, this vacation has gone on quite long enough!"

Anna…

Elise bowed her head in surrender as Metal Sonic lifted her with his cold, metallic hands and saw to it that she was placed in the cockpit with Eggman. The robot along with the others in the squadron wasted no time in flying away at that point, Elise only looking down at her feet during yet another ride as Eggman's captive.

She could only hope that Sonic truly would find a way back to the present time in order to rescue her.

While Elise was happy when she looked over to the side of the vehicle as it ascended and left the scene of the slaughter and saw a visual of Anna swimming back to Soleanna's docks - that did not change the fact that Sonic was still sent through time.

That did not change the fact she yet again felt hopeless.

Sonic…

I hope Espio was right….

[maggyoutthere]

I can't believe I actually fINISHED THIS HOLY SHIT-

The chapters are more than 4000 words long combined. I literally never wrote something this big damn. As much as this is supposed to be satire of bad creepypastas, this little shit found its way into my heart. I'll treasure it as probably the best thing I've written, like, ever XD

‼Tws for blood and body horror

First part here

Second part here

Sonic: Battle of Metal and Blood (Part 3 - Finale)

Synopsis: Local teen faces off against whatever is haunting this game and dies(?)

The game took a while to load again.

I was already making backup plans in my head in the case this didn't work. I could always ask people online if anyone had ever known about this game, even get my brother to help me record some clips of it to post on forums and sites. If that didn't work, maybe try and dump the file on my PC? That could be dangerous; if it was making the console crash and restart, I didn't want to know what it could do to my computer.

I was thrown in the same level. Well that was weird. It was the exact same jungle, or at least it looked like it at first. I could tell it was now supposed to be night time since everything had almost a dark blue filter over it, even Tails, who I was playing as this time. The night filter made the level a bit harder since I couldn't see some things properly, but it was still playable. It looked just like any Sonic game from that time, but I knew something was definitely up with it. I just flew over some badniks and made my way across the level (I missed smashing stuff with Amy's hammer so I just tried to escape that level as quickly as possible)

I entered the same clearing, fearing what would happen to Tails this time. Guy was 8, and I doubted SEGA would let their employees just kill off a kid on screen; but again, as far as I knew this game wasn't even supposed to be here. It could've been some unhappy worker or employee gone rogue making a statement. It wasn't helping to be honest. As I followed the exact same route as Amy, I found Metal Sonic again, still stepping on... something. It was too dark to see what it was. It just made squishy and disgusting noises as he pressed his foot on top of it. For an old game, the audio design was pretty unsettling and well done.

I didn't want to get closer to the guy, so I tried flying over him and getting to a checkpoint or something, anything besides confronting that thing. As soon as I made Tails take off from the ground, Metal came flying at him. I almost shrieked as I tried getting the little guy away from that thing, immediately making him land and sprint out of there as fast as possible. In all that panic, I didn't even notice when he tripped over whatever Metal was stepping on and fell on his face. No matter how many buttons I pressed or how hard I pressed them, Tails wouldn't get up. Metal catched up with him and the screen went black as soon as the two collided.

Those same red eyes were back on screen, staring straight back at me. I was with my face glued to the television from all the anxiety that little chase scene gave me, so I jumped back when the thing looked back at me. It felt like it was looking directly at me.

"I want ears like yours"

There it was again

"I want arms like yours"

"I want a mind to think and a heart to feel like yours"

I wanted to punch the screen; I had no idea what was going on. This was starting to get unsettling. Then, I was back in the main menu, the game's menu. It didn't crash this time, at least that. Tails was gone, like Amy. Now, Sonic was there, facing his metal faker. The two looked like they were about to punch each other in an epic pose. Visually it looked great, but then it hit me. "Battle of Metal and Blood"; did it mean faker versus organic? So the two were going to fight again? Maybe we could still get a happy ending of some sorts.

I didn't even flinch. I pressed continue.

The jungle was gone. I was in some facility  now, playing as the blue hedgehog himself this time. The level layout was much different this time; there were more loops, enemies, spikes and so on. Maybe it was only because I was playing as Sonic this time, so I could just speed my way through the level without having to worry about smashing enemies or flying away from them. I got through the level and ended up reaching an empty room; Metal Sonic was there.

I had never been much of a player myself; I'd rather stand by the sidelines and watch as more experienced people got through all the hard levels. Sure I played a lot when I was a kid but I hadn't carried that with me to adolescence. Now I had to do it myself. Hours of playing Sonic CD as a 12 year old, don't fail me now.

The boss fight music kicked in and a large door slammed shut, covering the way out. It was actually kinda hard landing a hit on the guy; I was supposed to dodge his attacks until he got tired and stopped, then parry on certain parts of the walls and spin dash at Metal Sonic as many times as I could while he was down. The thing was: I was awful at parrying. I sucked at anything that involved aiming, but I was somehow able to pull it off well enough to send the guy to his knees after around 20 minutes of dodging and parrying things.

When I hit him for the last time, it looked like I'd split his face in half or something. There were some pieces of Metal Sonic's shiny blue cover scattered around the arena. He just stood still for a while covering his face. Did I do it? Was he deactivating or something? My fingers were getting sore from holding the control and mashing buttons so hard. He wouldn't move on his own, so I just made Sonic approach him to maybe give the final blown.

As I got closer to him, Metal immediately lashed at Sonic again, trying to hold him down. You could see his face a bit better and… it was kinda red. What was that? Was he changing to another phase or something? The screen went black again.

Staring back at me were no longer those two red beacons; there was only one this time, as Metal Sonic did have half of his face completely torn apart. The uncovered half of his face was a bloodied, pulsating mess of flesh and wires. Coils, staples and stitches kept the mass of muscle and whatever else he had inside of him crudely stuck together. Two different colored eyes were shoved in one eye socket as the whole thing now oozed with blood and oil.

"I need quills like yours"

"I need a body like yours"

Was that… what Amy and Tails…

"I need an organic body like yours

to become the Real Sonic"

What… the fuck… I was too shocked to even move as it cut back to the game. Metal Sonic had successfully tackled Sonic to the ground and had started clawing at his face as if trying to rip it out of his "loathsome copy". As I saw a pool of blood appearing under them, I told myself that was enough and got up to pull the cartridge right out of the console. This was just sickening. As I got closer to the console to pull the memory card out, I realised something that made me start worrying about this in a different way. As I got a good look at my Playstation 2, I realized it wasn't plugged in. It wasn't receiving any power at all. It was only connected to the TV.

How had it been working then?...

I slowly backed away from the console, and when I looked back at the screen, that darned thing was looking back at me. It was looking at me as I was trying to stop it, peeking at the side of the screen as I went to turn off my Playstation. That thing knew I was there. No no no, this couldn't be happening. I started shaking as I realized there was something looking back at me though the screen. Its red eyes pierced into my soul, and I didn't know how to stop it.

"I WANT A SOUL… LIKE YOURS"

I shrieked as I finally pulled the cartridge out of the console, throwing it against the wall to my side in pure fear. The screen immediately went to static and the Playstation opened by itself, the Sonic Gems Collection DVD taunting me. That was NOT just a game. Whatever it was, whoever it was, I was terrified to even pick up the memory card. I put the DVD back in its box and turned off the console. I tried taking deep breaths and getting some sleep; it was late, I'd drank a lot of coffee. Maybe all the coffee I was having had created this fever dream. I begged for that to be the situation. Still, I got no sleep that night. My eyes were focused on the TV right in front of my bed, its bright red ON/OFF button giving me panic attacks each time I thought I saw it moving. If I didn't know better, I'd have believed the thing had been watching me all night.

Would it come for me next?

I ended up passing out around 5AM; I was constantly checking my phone to see the time and messaging my friends. I tried explaining the situation to them but they thought I was either messing with them or that I had somehow dreamed the whole situation. I was dead-sure I hadn’t though. I woke up around 2PM and, according to my brother, I looked like shit. Not even he would believe me when I told him what had happened last night; I couldn’t have dreamed the whole thing up even if I wanted to. There had to be something to prove it was all real… the memory card. If I played the game in front of him, he’d have to believe me. After getting breakfast, I pulled my bro back to my room to show him the game. I hesitantly went to pick up the memory card I had thrown against the wall yesterday, but it was no longer there.

“What are you looking for?”

“The memory card; it was right here! Help me look for it!”

“You mean this one?” he pointed at the Playstation.

The fucking cartridge had plugged itself back on the console. What was that thing, and how was it doing that?! The TV screen lit up with static as me and my bro jumped back; we looked at each other in panic and confusion as no one had even touched the TV. We could feel the electricity flowing through the air, giving us chills and making our hair stand up. My brother grabbed my hand as we saw the darned thing appear in front of the static, its shiny metallic cover still split in half. I froze in fear with my little brother to protect right there; I should’ve done more, I should’ve gotten rid of that cursed thing as soon as I unplugged it from the console last night. That thing placed its hands against his side of the screen, its fingers twitching as the blood made the metal hinges rust and creak. The edges of the screen leaked with blood as if he was trying to break this barrier that separated him from us. It looked at us the same way it looked at me; ready to take what he believed was his.

“I… WANT… SOULS LIKE YOURS… AND I WILL HAVE THEM…"