Chapter Text
Knuckles and Amy ate nothing grand, apples from outside in fact, as so much of the food has gone bad. So bad that it confused them both, as they look with puzzled faces at what might have been a potato once. They decided that was tomorrow work and pulled out a cot for one to pass out on, the other taking the couch.
Sure, time felt different on the islands, sure, sometimes they blink, and the day became night, sure. But, perhaps subconsciously, they have been using Sonic has a biological clock.
Considering he never stopped, they could have guessed three days - But considering his collapse and plummet towards the ocean from two hundred feet in the air, it might have been longer.
But food doesn't go this horrendously bad in a week.
They woke early that morning.
While it was gross work, being able to pick up things again was nice as they cleaned the now ruined pantry. While putting her hair up, Knuckles had to think if her hair always reached her shoulders.
They save what they could, mostly sugars, oats and flour. Amy insisted on taking the rest of the haul to be buried, Knuckles tried to help, but she was already doing the task. Saying it’s part of their thanks to let them stay with him, even if they know Knuckles would do this no matter what.
Defeated by the pink hedgehog’s kindness, he went to pick some fruit for them all, an activity he never thought he’d miss.
Early morning light shining through the trees, the beauty in its brief existence. A cooling wind rustled the leaves, the sound almost a lullaby. The sweet scent perfumed on the wind washed over him.
He grabbed a basket and went into the bountiful orchard, hitting the trees with enough force to knock the fruit loss. Chao flew around him as he made the apples easier to get, one was diving in his basket to steal some.
Knuckles, with no strength, swatted at the troublemaker, “Get out of there, you little bugger.” he called with a smile and laugh woven in. The Chao, newly nicknamed, ate the fruit while flying around the red echidna’s head. Knuckles gave another gentle swat as the Chao flew away with its stolen prize.
Exiting the orchard, in view of the cabin, he saw a black and red spot among the blue sky.
Considering it was coming rather fast, he saw that it was Rouge, Shadow and Omega. He placed the basket inside just as they landed.
When he radioed Rouge, she… didn't say a lot. Quiet and answering in only one or two words. He knows he never really called her before, let alone radioed her, but he doesn't think it was that big of a deal. He just told her they were back, and ended it.
They've only been gone a week, they had longer adventures over the years.
Rouge flew off before Omega hit the ground, heading right for Knuckle’s face.
“You better have a good reason for this.” She wasn’t angry, but she wasn’t happy. Which confused him more because then got the angriest hug from her, and she has never given him a hug before.
By the time anyone around them could process it, just as Rouge let go.
“Wha-!” Knuckles started, but it got caught in his throat.
“Quiet.” Rouge demanded. She sounded calmer over the radio, even if her answers were short and stiff.
“Where have you been?” Rouge started to interrogate, Shadow told Omega something before the robot went to station himself near the edge of the island.
Rouge was waiting for an answer, Knuckles rattled his brain for the name that was his prison for a time, “Starfall.”
“That’s where Sonic, Amy and Tails took off to before disappearing from the Resistance’s raider.” Rouge gave her knowledge, it’s her business to collect intelligence along with everything shiny in the world, “They were tracking Chaos Emeralds to those islands, just before landing they were whipped from the face of the earth. When they had the idea to contact you, you didn't answer.”
Rouge pauses a moment, “Everyone is looking for you guys. People are starting to get nervous. You need to come back with us to the Resistance Base, Jewel needs to document this.”
Knuckles stared at her, confused at her words and behaviour. He finally racked together enough thoughts and focus to say, "It's… only been a week."
Rouge stared at him with brows knitted incredulously, Shadow even breaking his constant, stoic expression to look surprised. Eyes ever so slightly widening.
In their silence, Knuckles heads inside, leaving the pair at the door to peer in, but not enter.
With the red echidna not blocking the view, they looked down the modest and rustic hallway. The curtain at the end evidently was covering an archway with a window, glowing with morning light and a moving shadow. When Knuckles pulled the curtain back, they mostly saw pink, nodding along to whispered words.
Pink formed into Amy as she exited the curtained room, they spotted an eye-catching blue before it was covered by the falling fabric.
“Oh, you’re here.” Amy said pleasantly, even if it’s her friends, she still fixed her clothes the best she could before approaching them. Always a lady.
They just nod to her, letting her approach with a kindly smile. Said smile faltering when they don’t do the same.
“So,” she tried to be a bit more chipper, “How was the week we were gone?” she asked, innocently enough.
"A week," it sounded like a question, before Rouge added her timeline, "It's been over five months."
It was Knuckles and Amy’s turn to look surprised. Knuckles never liked being confused, but this felt too strange.
"I could only guess," Shadow finally spoke up, flat, but his face shifted enough to show concern, "That time moves differently on these Starfall Islands. But how?"
Knuckles thought. The Chaos Emeralds are capable of time travelling, but it had to be initiated. The Containment holding the Emeralds might have enacted this, through some kind of program.
Cyberspace was also a good explanation, it scrambled their memories and could make them feel like only seconds went by, when in reality it was hours.
But there was another power there, another prisoner, holding them.
The End.
An infinite and consuming cosmic being, using Sonic to open their cage. At least, that's what he gathered from hearing the Voice talk and monologue.
It's… too much for Knuckles alone. His head is starting to hurt from all the technical.
He didn't invite them in, not wanting reality to pierce the solitary bubble anymore, telling them to wait outside.
He left the door open, however.
They watch the two of them take the information in, then try to process it.
Amy steps back to drop on a chair at the little dinner table, staring and thinking. Knuckles crossed his arms, leaning back against a wall, looking lost and trying to find a path in his mind.
They were quiet.
Rouge stares for a second, then closes the door, takes some steps back. She doesn’t know how to feel now. They, apparently, had no idea how long they’ve actually been gone, adding a new layer of unknown feelings to the situation. She looks at Shadow, tilting her head towards Omega before heading to said robot. All of them need to digest everything.
_
After some time, Amy opened the door with a paper in hand.
Rouge, ever the businesswoman, goes straight to it, “So, will you be coming back with us?”
Amy slightly shook her head, “Can we… Stay ‘missing’ for another week?”
It was Shadow that protested first, “You can’t-”
“Or until we’re ready.” Amy cut in, Shadow’s protest died.
“Please.” Amy begged, “We’re tired.”
She looked at him with a hard yet begging face, the usually light voice was breathy.
Shadow, eventually, nodded. Rouge followed, “We can’t keep quiet, but they should leave you be.”
As the bat and robot were preparing to leave, Amy gently grabbed Shadow’s arm before he turned to join. Looking back to her.
“Can I ask a favour?” the pink hedgehog handed the black hedgehog the paper she brought, upon reading it he finds it to be a supply list, “Since Knuckles will never ask.” she muttered.
“There’s not enough here for all of us,” she explained, “and Knuckles’ own supplies has… gone bad.” she reasoned, trying to convince him, even if he has already made up his mind.
He nodded to her, “I’ll be back tomorrow.” and turned to join his team. Amy smiled and waved them off.
_
Upon returning, Knuckles appeared from the door. When he spotted her, he opened the door more for her before retreating back inside.
Jogging back inside, she sees the curtain pulled back, a sleepy fox just waking up and rubbing his eyes, yawning. Beside the fox, green eyes flutter and blink open, moving.
He was pulsing red and black, his eyes looking down, dead and unmoving.
She had a passing shiver she paid no mind to.
She sat in the chair by the bed, Knuckles, arms still crossed yet relaxed, leaning against the wall. Tails just finished rubbing his eyes, smiled as Sonic was awake, his teeth seem sharper.
Sonic rapidly blinked to adjust to the late morning sun, looking around as he does, seeing it shine off of his friends. A smile crawled on his face as he looked at them, “Morning,” with a deep nose inhale, he pushed himself up to sit up to the backboard on pillows.
His friends gave him soft eyes and gentle smiles, happy and relieved to see him awake. Even if he looks ready to pass out again.
He pulled the blankets off himself, more slowly then any of them are use too. Swinging his socked feet over the side, stretching, and standing. He wobbled some, smiles faltered.
Smiles turned to frowns as he stops halfway through the short corridor to lace to a hand on the table, heavily leaning against it. While his face was turned away, they all heard the laboured breaths he was trying to suppress. Subtle movements of his head showed him looking down, to the door, around the room, before turning halfway to them.
“Hey, where are my shoes?” He asked, with as much of his usual self as he possibly could.
He did not like the absolutely zero replies he’s gotten.
He raised a brow, turning fully towards them. He asked again.
Tails made a slight shrug and shook his head, confused. Amy had her eyes not on Sonic, and Knuckles huffed a sigh.
“We hid your shoes.”
“What? Why? C’mon guys, give them here.” Sonic grinned, wanting to think this was just a joke.
Tails looks back and forth from Knuckles who said it, to Amy. Who was still looking away.
“Guys.” Sonic’s tone was dropping in casualty slightly, “C'mon, give me my shoes.”
“We’re not giving you your shoes,” Knuckles didn’t change his pose, calmly stating his fact. Sonic looked incredulous for a moment, “Why?” He stood more straight, crossing his arms back at Knuckles.
“Because you’re sick.”
“I'm not sick, just a little tired.”
“Well your ‘tiredness’ is gonna last for a little bit.”
“Oh? And how do you know?”
“From this morning.” Amy looks up at Knuckles as he said this, brows knitted. “Sonic, how long were we on the islands for?”
Sonic uncrossed his arms, hand returning to subtly lean on the table. He shifted his eyes a little as he thought, “Well, it didn’t… feel like that long, but, maybe a week? So what? We had adventures and disasters that lasted for way longer.”
“It’s been five months.”
Tails had clear shock on his face, showing that this too is new to him. He started mumbling to Amy in concern, while she calmly mumbled back.
“... Okay, longer than I thought.” Sonic admitted.
“And because of that, this little ‘sickness’ that you have is gonna be worse than I thought…” Knuckles said to himself more than Sonic, who wasn’t liking this talk one bit.
“What is going on?” Sonic questioned, hiding how heavy his breathing is getting. He thought he was over this. That red virus was cleared, and he was just fine when they left. All of this is giving him a headache, pulsing and crowding his head. He did his best not to show it.
“... So why hid my shoes?”
“Because we know you.” Said Amy this time, “Knuckles told me how this is gonna go, and it’s gonna take a while.”
“I’m sorry Sonic, but you NEED to rest. This will last for a good while, and you're not going anywhere until you’re better.” Knuckles, arms still crossed, said as he pushed off the wall.
“I’m fine! “
“If it wasn’t for that table, you'd be on the floor right now.” the echidna pointed out, blandly.
“You passed out on the plane.” Amy said, leaning forward, “You would have been in the ocean if it wasn’t for Knuckles.”
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Sonic…” that drifted over the increasing voice volume.
“This isn’t babysitting, we just want to make sure you’re okay!” she retorted.
“By keeping me here? By taking my shoes you know-!”
“We know! We know, that you need to run. But you're about to go through something that you never experienced before-”
“I ‘experience’ something almost every day! Why is now any different?”
"This is different-"
“How bad could it have possibly been?!”
“Sonic!”
“What!” Sonic whirled and snapped at Tails, immediate regret show clear on his face, frozen in horror.
Tails tenses in shock, staying like that for a few seconds, before composing himself.
“Just let them help you!” shouted Tails, his face set not in anger, but worry.
‘When you were rescuing me, you looked worse and worse every time I saw you… You were in pain and I know you hid the worst of it.” Sonic just looked at Tails, but was listening, “After you left the next time I saw you, you were still.” Tails was looking away with a frown, he quickly whips falling tears with his wrist. Bringing it down just as fast, sniffing a bit. All of this was upsetting him, but he admirably faced it.
Sonic calms down at Tails’ tears, pushing off the table and shuffling towards the Kit. All fight leaving him as he saw how upset he made him.
Knuckles uses this calmness to bring an arm around Sonic, telling him to come. That he’ll explain at the master emerald.
When they left, Tails turned to Amy, looking for the answers she will give.
-
Amy walked towards the Master Emerald shrine from the orchard, an apple in each hand. The closer she got, the more she could see of the blue hedgehog. He sat at the steps, hugging his legs and staring at nothing.
Amy goes to sit by Sonic at the master emerald, putting the apple between them. Sonic looks away, ashamed.
“I’m sorry I yelled.”
“Tails already forgave you.”
Sonic’s ears flattened at that, forgiveness conflicting with self-punishment.
“It’s okay.” Amy assured.
“It’s not, I shouldn’t have. I don’t know why everything became so… overwhelming just like that.” Sonic brought a hand to his head, remembering the pressure from an hour ago, unconsciously comparing it to the pain before the Red Place.
“You’re just going through this…thing right now, and I know that it's not pleasant.” Sonic’s ears dropped a little at that, not looking forward to any of this.
“I don’t want to yell at you guys… Even if you did take my shoes.” he put half his face between his knees, muffling the last part as he looks away.
“We know, that’s why we forgive you.” She patted his shoulder lightheartedly, he looked back at her, smiling.
“We’ll be here for you, until you're better.”