Chapter Text
Mail days were always a huge pain.
Sonic had entered into an agreement with the post office so that the mailman would only come once a week, leave a big bin full of letters, and take back the emptied letter bin from the previous week. So at least he didn’t have to handle it too often.
Sorting through the overflowing bins was quite a task; sometimes there would be a couple letters for Tails, increasingly there were letters for Amy and Tekno, but the majority of the box got dumped in Sonic’s room. Which was great, he wasn’t complaining about the handwritten letters of praise and thank yous and “Sonic you inspire me to be a hero too”s. Not even about the work requests, tips on new Eggman facilities, pleas for rescue from badnik squads. He was always happy to rush on an adventure to help out his fellow Mobians.
It was the replying that got to him.
He’d promised Amy he’d write back to all the adoring fans—if badnik activity didn’t force him to meet them in person—with something nice, even if it was short. And Tails would always rat him out if he didn’t, and then she’d always get this look in her eye… ugh, what a pain. What a huge pain.
Tails peered over his shoulder at the thank-you he was working on. “Hey,” he squeaked. “Your penmanship is looking really nice, Sonic! That’s a fun way to write ‘A’s.”
What’s wrong with his A’s? He’s literally just writing the letter how he learned it. Stupid. His A’s are fine.
“Don’t you have your own letters to reply to?” Sonic snapped. He turned away and began skimming through the letter he was replying to, looking for how this person wrote A’s. Oh, hmm… He erased some of what he’d written so far and tried again.
“Um, no…” Tails sighed. “I just got junk mail this time.”
“Yeah, I thought so,” he huffed. His handwriting was fine the way it was.
Tails made an uncomfortable whine and turned to leave. Sonic set down his pencil and sighed. “Wait…” He turned in his seat to look at him. “Do you want to help go through my mail instead?”
Tails’ ears perked up. “Don’t you want to read it yourself?”
“Pssh, yeah, but I can read them later. Plus answering will go faster if you help.” He almost said “since you write so much faster than me,” but Tails didn’t need that kind of praise to go to his head. “We can get ice cream later when we’re done, my treat!”
“Okay!” Tails bounced up at the bribe and excitedly dug into the letter bin. “I’ll just save the best ones for you to do.”
Sonic almost told him to just do those ones too but, eh, maybe the best letters should get the real deal writing back…
The pair worked quietly for a while (normally the quiet would drive Sonic insane, but he needed all his attention to write down “thank you for the letter it’s always great to hear from a fan” over and over and over) until Tails hopped up and held a purple envelope up to Sonic’s face. “Oh, hey!” he squeaked. “This person says they know you.” He scanned further down the page to find the signature, Sonic eyeing him with mild disinterest.
“’Kindest regards, Ebony.’ Hey, that name sounds familiar, did we—?”
“Give me that,” Sonic snapped, grabbing the letter from Tails. The fox kit folded his hands behind his back politely and waited for him to read.
Sonic frowned. “This is that magic lady that brought Super to the chaos emeralds.”
Tails seemed to shrink. “O-oh. What does she have to say?”
“Well you would expect ‘sorry,’” he snorted. “But it doesn’t look like it.” He scanned back over the letter. “She says she wants to talk in person.” Sonic sneered. “Maybe that’s how I’ll get an apology.”
Tails peered over the edge of the paper to get another look at the letter. “You really think that’s what she wants to talk about?”
“Well!” Sonic whirled around and kicked out of his chair. “Only one way to find out!”
The hours listed on the café door, in delicate white font, said that the Groovy Train closed at 7 today. It was 6:50 now, although Sonic could only approximate that it was “something like 6 or 7 or 8:30.” Keeping track of timezones was difficult, so he just didn’t do it.
A soft bell chimed as he pushed open the door. Peering into the dim, he could see a pair of baristas wiping down the tables and stacking up chairs. The larger of the two—a lanky black bear—stopped what he was doing and looked up at Sonic.
“Sorry, we’re just about closed,” he said. “Boss just hasn’t locked the door yet.”
Sonic strolled in anyway, waving the envelope around. “Yeah, well, Ebony sent me this invite. Didn’t say anything about business hours. This is just the time I have free.” He hopped up on a bar stool and leaned back against the counter. “You know when she’ll be around? I’m a pretty busy guy.”
The bear glanced over to his coworker—a wolf, maybe?—and cleared his throat. “Uh, she’ll be down in a minute—.”
“I’ll get her,” the wolf said, nodding. He quickly disappeared into an “Employees Only” door at the back.
It didn’t take long for the wolf to return, trailing a tall black cat Sonic recognized as Ebony. He’d only seen her once before, but somehow the visual of her in her flowing, witchy clothes had impressed itself so well into his mind that seeing her for the second time in a button-up and flared pants was a little jarring. At least she matched the décor.
She strode over to him with her arms wide and a careful smile. “Sonic! You got my letter.” She paused when she reached him, then sat on the stool beside him with her hands in her lap. “I wasn’t sure you would come, since—.” She glanced at the employees finishing their cleaning, then stood again. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“You got any pop?” He asked, popping the p and drumming his hands on the counter batabatabatabap .
Ebony hummed and walked checked behind the counter. “I think all I’ve got right now is diet.”
Sonic wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue. “Ech. Fine, got any green tea?”
“That I can do!”
Sonic got a chance to really…appreciate the décor while he waited. Dim lights in the rafters supplemented even dimmer lava lamps and green atmosphere lights. Bright patterned tapestries covered the walls, behind novelty seats that hung from the ceiling, solid green tables and chairs, a small wooden stage in the corner. He stared at the color-cycling light underneath the bar counter and tried to decide if the linoleum floor was pink or yellow.
By the time the hot drink was in Sonic’s hands, the two workers had finished up, disappeared in the back briefly, and come out waving goodbye to Ebony. She cheerily saw them off and then quietly locked the door behind them. She’d made herself a drink too, and she sat down with it cupped in her hands, a friendly smile that looked more than a little forced.
Sonic slurped noisily on his tea and watched her, unblinking. Her smile wavered but didn’t drop. No way was he going to be the one to break the silence; she’s the one who called him out here.
Slpspssipsipslp. He could do this allllll day. Not really, but he could probably do this long enough to make her uncomfortable.
Ebony cleared her throat. “So.” See? Long enough. “Have you been well? Since that whole mess with…with the emeralds?”
Ugh. Smalltalk. “Back in the hero game, as usual. Haven’t had to deal with Super at all since you put him back in my body.”
She flinched. Whatever. “I didn’t get a ton of opportunities to practice that spell beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if there would be any…” She looked down at her drink. “Side effects.”
Sonic barked out a laugh. Boy, was she in for a surprise! “You have nothing to worry about.” He drew her attention to the thin cable necklace buried in his fur, lifting his chin to show off the small electronic clasp. “Tekno designed it. Neat, huh? We already had to figure out how to lock a super state before—long story, don’t ask—so we just-. Did it again!”
He waited with a smirk for her amazed reaction, but got a more apprehensive one instead. Ugh, some people…
Ebony leaned forward and reached out tentatively to feel the device. “And you’re sure this works?”
Sonic shrugged. “Well even if it doesn’t. I’m not letting myself go super ever again. It’s easier to have this thing on, but I can control it myself.”
Her hand fell away and she gave him another cautious look. “Y’know—.” She stopped herself, then started again. “I thought you didn’t do it on purpose. It just happened.” She shifted in her seat and kept looking at him in a way that was starting to make Sonic’s brain itch.
“Yeah, well.” He rolled his eyes and turned to look at the big mural behind the counter. Colorful bubble letters that said “free love and $2 coffee.”
“It used to happen when I’d—y’know—freak out. But after what happened to Johnny,” he stumbled over the name, the meaning of it, “I’m not going to do that anymore. Can’t afford to.”
“You aren’t… going to be afraid?”
He snorted. “Who said I was afraid?” A pause. “But yeah. I figured out how to keep it from happening.” He knocked on his head and smirked. “Ol’ murderbeast isn’t getting out anymore!”
“You’re sure?” She looked almost…disappointed?
“Obviously. What, do you want him to come back?”
From the way she startled upright, maybe she did. At least she had the decency to not say as much outright.
“Well, I didn’t think you would be so…” she searched for the word, “prepared. I thought it might be a good idea to double-check. Pyjamas—my friend—wasn’t with us when we traveled to the emeralds, but she’s a world-class psychic. She could tell us if he- if you two are joined correctly.” Ebony stood expectantly.
Sonic didn’t trust this lady any farther than he could throw her. And given she was well over twice his height… “A psychic huh? What would she have to do?”
She straightened up with a gleam in her eye. “It will only take a few minutes. PJ can tell you the specifics, but it shouldn’t be an inconvenience. Wait here while I go get her.” And before Sonic could object, she whirled away and rushed back through the “Employees Only” door.
It suddenly seemed like a very good idea for Sonic to know the exits of this place. He tried to nonchalantly lean back on the counter as his eyes darted around the room.
After the whole ordeal with the chaos-drunk Drakken monster, after Sonic had swallowed down the fizzling fiery sensation of Super deep into his chest and forced its evil out of his breath, he’d asked Knuckles about Ebony. She had hung around just long enough to confirm the spell had worked before she awkwardly made her exit, bundling up the cloak Super had worn and holding it close to her chest.
“I’ve seen her before,” Sonic hissed to the echidna, pulling him aside. He didn’t particularly care if the others heard, but they wouldn’t be of help. “When the Kintobor computer picked up Super’s signal in the city. I followed it to her .”
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. “And you let Super be?”
He shook his head emphatically. “No, the reader must have glitched. The signal disappeared. But now I know she must’ve been hiding him.” He jabbed a finger at Knuckles’ chest. “You said you met her before.”
Knuckles grimaced. He grabbed Sonic’s hand and slowly put it back at Sonic’s side. Whatever. “Yes. Once. She and her friends were protecting a sacred site. They seemed like good people.”
Sonic narrowed his eyes and Knuckles rolled his with a sigh.
“I do not know how or why she would be harboring someone so dangerous. Maybe she really believed he’d changed.” He shrugged. “Maybe he tricked her.”
Sonic snorted. “For that long? There must’ve been some sort of—” he struggled to form the word with his hands “agreement. Or truce or something.”
Knuckles hummed. “She is a very talented witch. Or sorceress, I don’t know the distinction between the two.” He seemed oblivious to Sonic’s impatience. “Maybe his powers were of practical use to her.”
“That must be it!” Sonic hissed with a snap of his fingers and a conspiratorial glance over his shoulder in the direction Ebony had left. “So that’s why she brought him here then. To charge him up like a battery.”
Knuckles gave him a look that made Sonic want to kick him. “We have no reason to think that. It’s only speculation, and she really did seem like a nice—.”
But Sonic hadn’t bothered listening after that. Just thanked him quickly and rejoined the group.
Now, sitting in the witch’s restaurant (her lair? Her trap??) he couldn’t help but remember that conversation with growing tension in his shoulders and nervous energy in his jittering fingers and kicking feet. He’d been in too many of the Egghead’s stupid traps before to fall into another one now. Especially not one set by some crazy lady trying to get everyone killed with his Super form.
The door at the back swung open and Sonic’s eyes flitted back between it and the door at the front. No, play it cool. He balled his hands into fists to still them and watched Ebony lead an older woman into the room. Sonic had met her before too, at the same initial incident. She was a head shorter than Ebony and looked even squatter with the way her shoulders hunched and the way she shuffled on her worn slides. Ebony pulled a chair off one of the tables and sat it down for her.
“This is Pyjamas,” she said. She set down a second chair and beckoned. “Come here, she needs to be close for it to work.”
Pyjamas’ stern frown underneath her curly mop of hair did not inspire confidence. But, well, if things went sour he could probably take an old woman in a fight. Wordlessly, Sonic hopped down from the bar stool and strode stiffly to offered chair. When he sat down, his feet still dangled above the floor.
“Calm down,” the older woman rasped, patting his knee. “Do you remember anything from Fleet?”
Sonic narrowed his eyes. “Who?”
“Ah…” Pyjamas turned to look up at Ebony—who was leaning against a nearby table with her arms crossed over her chest—and was given a sad smile. “I see.” She looked back at Sonic. “Well he went through a lot more than you will this time. Nothing invasive, I’ll just be feeling around for the presence of Fleet’s energy. That will tell me all I need to know.”
“Are you talking about Super?” He narrowed his eyes. “We already know he’s in there.”
“Yes, but Fleet feels different when he’s dormant.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Call him Super if you’d like but I’ve poked enough holes into his head to know that there’s a distinction between his states.” If that was an in-joke, Ebony must not have understood it either because Pyjamas was the only one that chuckled.
“And this is going to tell us if he—it will ever become active again?”
Sonic couldn’t see her eyes underneath her curls, but from the way she tilted her head, he guessed she was glancing back at Ebony. The other woman was fidgeting with her collar and putting on a thin smile.
“Yes,” Pyjamas finally said. She turned back to Sonic. “Now lean forward. I’ll just be touching your forehead.”
He spared one last glance around the room and leaned into her reach. Her fingertips settled between his quills and remained still. Her breathing slowed and he began to feel a dim headache pulse between his eyes. He glanced to the door again and told himself if it got any stronger, if things started to go wrong—.
Pyjamas huffed. “Boy, I can’t see anything if you won’t relax.” When he didn’t immediately melt into his seat, she turned to Ebony with a sigh. “Dear, go unlock the door and prop it open. He won’t be able to settle if he feels trapped.”
Ebony started with an “oh right” and moved briskly to do as she was told. Sonic eyed the old woman cautiously, no more relaxed than before. She patted his knee again. “Fleet didn’t do well with closed rooms. Thought you might not like them either.”
Something pulled at his stomach but he ignored it. He must look so stupid being made nervous by an old woman.
Sonic sucked in a steady breath and sat upright with a nod. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Pyjamas echoed. She set her hands back on his head and he closed his eyes and matched her slowed breaths.
Fragmented memories floated into his mind, quick and broken, none complete enough to hold onto. He felt something shuffling through them like a deck of cards, searching. And then it was black and empty, no memories or thoughts, just a dull pressure. He could still feel the old woman’s hands on his head and his feet dangling off the seat, but no memories were brought to his mind.
Sonic’s eyes squinted open. The old woman was frowning deeply in concentration, frustration.
He felt flashes, glimpses of déjà vu at the vague edges of memories, some familiar, some strange. Watching Pyjamas expression and feeling the insistent tugs of memory, he was prompted to imagine the psychic was trying to handle a wet bar of soap.
Finally the pressure abated and she lifted her hands from his head with a sigh. Pyjamas turned to look back at Ebony, who was once again leaning against a nearby table, arms folded, tail sweeping behind her, gaze fixed on Sonic.
“Ebony,” Pyjamas said quietly, and Ebony’s attention whipped over to her. Pyjamas shook her head.
“Oh…” Ebony’s grip on herself tightened. She whispered a choked “excuse me” and hurried around the table.
“Does this mean I won’t have to worry about going Super again?” Sonic pointedly did not look at Ebony as he heard the “Employees Only” door open and shut again.
Pyjamas turned to him with a soft smile and tapped his metal collar. “It means you won’t need to worry about wearing this, yes. Even if you were able to use the emeralds to transform again, it wouldn’t be like before. There’s not enough of him left in you to form back into a person.” She patted his knee one last time and stood.
Sonic raised an eyebrow. “You mean—? That the monster was destroyed? Did she do the spell wrong or something?” He felt goosebumps on his arms as a bright feeling swelled in his chest.
“Not quite. I could see pieces of his memories but…” Pyjamas glanced back to the door. “His energy is far too scattered. I don’t believe you two reunited quite the same as before.” She looked about to say something else but sighed and did not continue.
Sonic couldn’t help a giddy laugh. “Wow!” He patted himself, as if he could feel his own wholeness. “Wow! That’s great!”
The older woman nodded slowly. “You’d better go now. I’ve got to take care of Ebony.”
Sonic hopped down from the seat. “And that’s it?”
Pyjamas nodded. “That’s it.” She gestured to the door, then flapped her hand goodbye. “It was nice meeting you. Tell your friends we said hi too.”
Sonic glanced at the “Employees Only” door, then back to Pyjamas. The bright feeling in his chest twisted at the edges thinking about Ebony’s reaction. He nodded. “Will do. Thanks for the, uh, the checkup I guess.” And he got out of there as fast as he could.
He let the cool evening air fill his lungs and clear away the rotten feelings from the encounter with Ebony. Sonic wandered through the bustle of the city, letting the movement occupy his body so his thoughts could settle on the fact that he was… he was cured . Of that thing in him, that infestation of evil and cruelty that turned on his friends and attacked innocents. During the battle he’d promised Tails he’d take responsibility for Super, he’d shoulder that burden for everyone. But now… now he could easily imagine the spring in his step and the lightness in his chest came from that burden being lifted right off of him, blasted to smithereens by that witch’s reckless magic.
He laughed aloud and skipped into a run, zig-zagging between affronted pedestrians and honking cars, springing off a mailbox onto a lightpost and flinging himself up to bounce off verandas and patios and gutters to the rooftops. He’s Sonic the hedgehog , hero of Mobius! And like a real hero he had no evil monsters or alter egos or anything hiding in him, no darkness to hold him back, no villainous reputation to ruin his title.
He raced across the city skyline, letting the wind carry far from the café that shrunk on the horizon, the dark and cold little space that disappeared into the bright and loud bustle and busy of a better world.