Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Space has always been a place that Sonic never really had any fond memories of. There was the Interstellar Amusement Park, Space Colony ARK, the events with Dark Gaia, and what felt like trillions of separate Death Eggs - each time Eggman was up to something, Sonic just knew the mad doctor had a base somewhere in orbit. Of course, this never stopped the hedgehog from doing the right thing and shutting Eggman down before he could cause too much damage. There wasn’t much difference between now and every other time he’s had to leave the atmosphere. Except now it was very personal.

It seemed that this time Dr. Eggman was doing everything in his power to really get on Sonic’s nerves - violently destroying entire ecosystems on a whim through masive forest fires and pollution efforts, planting a bomb in three separate cities across the world that Sonic had next to no time to react to which completely pushed Sonic past his limits and knocked him out for nearly a week, capturing six of the seven Chaos Emeralds at every turn right in front of Sonic, forcing Knuckles to shatter the Master Emerald yet again , and least of all imprisoning everyone that Sonic deeply cared about in mobile robotization chambers that he had to go trapsing around the world to destroy.

With the help of G.U.N. as well as Rouge and Shadow, they managed to hold onto the last Emerald and locate Eggman’s newest base of operations - it was the last place they had left to look for Tails who was the only one left to find and rescue. The thought of Tails being turned into a mindless metal drone under the control of his archnemesis… he still had nightmares about Eggman’s abuse of Hyper-Go-On energy and when the Deadly Six seemed to have turned Tails into a pawn. His quills were bristling even just remembering it.

Regardless, here he was on a G.U.N. shuttle headed right for the construction site of the new Death Egg. Shadow and Rouge were piloting up in the front of the shuttle. Sonic wanted to do it himself, but neither of them would let him go alone. Shadow had the Chaos Emerald and used it to warp himself and Rouge inside the shuttle before Sonic could even run to the cockpit. Sonic had mostly been concerned since Eggman seemed to be up to something far worse than what he’d done before. He knew Rouge and Shadow could handle themselves, but Sonic didn’t know what was in store for any of them. After a few minutes of debate he finally convinced the two to at least stay behind and keep the engines warm. Just in case they needed to make a quick getaway.

In the back, Sonic sat and looked outside the shuttle’s windows up at the skeleton of the new Death Egg. Every single atom in his body felt some sort of mix of anxiety about how Tails was doing and a raw anger at Eggman for taking things just a bit too far this time. His heel was tapping rapidly with impatience - how much longer would Tails be safe? How much longer until Eggman lost his patience? How much longer until this shuttle was finally within Chaos Control reach? Not much longer, but it already felt like several decades to the Blue Blur just reaching this point. He could tell just how much his mind was racing, but he couldn’t help it.

His ear twitched at the sound of heels approaching him. Looking up, Rouge was approaching him. Sonic tried to still his bouncing leg, and though he succeeded it only fueled his internal anxiety. She sat down next to him, putting her hands on either side of her body and crossing her legs.

“Hey Big Blue. You doing okay?” she asked.

“Yeah! Doing just great.” Sonic replied, forcing a smile on his face - it felt forced and he hated it, but he absolutely did not want to worry anyone else.

Rouge only tilted her head with a slight frown. There was a beat of terse silence before she gave a neutral smile.

“It’s okay to be worried.” Rouge said. She didn’t even flinch when Sonic scowled and his ears flattened, “You’ve known Tails for a long time. I know I’d be worried if Shadow was captured.”

There was a slight scoff from inside the cockpit. Sonic could practically hear Shadow eye-rolling at Rouge even entertaining that scenario as a realistic possibility.

“In any case things are going to work out, Sonic. They always do when you get involved.” Rouge said.

“I don’t know if they will this time Rouge.” Sonic said quietly, glaring at the floor in front of him.

“Why’s that?” she asks, leaning forwards to rest her chin delicately on the back of her hand and fingers,

“Eggman’s not pulling out any stops. I can feel he’s got something up his sleeves but I can’t for the life of me figure out what he’s up to this time!” Sonic at this point stood up and started pacing back and forth, “Does he want to take over the world? Probably, but all the attacks are completely random, they don’t seem to have any connection aside from the Chaos Emeralds! There’s no grand plan that I can see! By this point I should have figured something out!”

“Maybe he’s desperate.” Rouge spoke calmly, watching the blue hedgehog pacing back and forth, “If he couldn’t finish his Death Egg in time for us to show up to knock on his door, then maybe there is no grand plan.”

“It’s never that easy with Eggman. You, Shadow, and I all know this.” Sonic replied.

“True, but has any of that stopped you before?” Rouge countered.

Sonic grew quiet at this, only putting his hands on his hips to stare out the window again at the Death Egg. His foot started tapping again to try to soothe his nerves.

“Look, Blue, I get it.” Rouge started after a moment of silence, “This is freaking everyone out, but constantly running your thoughts in circles like this isn’t going to help things. Think of it like this: Eggman’s only two trump cards are the six Chaos Emeralds and Tails. He can’t do anything to risk losing either of them. As long as you have the last one and get in reach you can use that Super form of yours and wreck shop. At worst you’ll have to trade the last Emerald for Tails’ freedom - at best this’ll all get solved within the hour.”

As Rouge talked, it made more sense to think of it in terms like that. Even though he was still haunted by the handful of times that Tails has been used against him, he just needed to keep a cool head. It didn’t make him any less anxious, but it did at least keep his thoughts from racing any farther out of control.

“Either way, you just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forwards, right?” Rouge finished with a coy smirk.

“Heh, yeah you’re right.” Sonic replied without missing a beat. He was already feeling a lot better and could feel a bit more like his usual self, this time giving a genuine smile, “I dunno why I’m letting the old Egghead getting under my skin this time. I’ll crack his plans wide open and stop him no matter what!”

“ That’s the Blue I know.” Rouge said.

There was a sudden shudder in the shuttle as something impacted from the front. There was a brief flash of light before Rouge could get to her feet, followed by another impact.

“Eggman’s trying to shoot us down.” Shadow said through gritted teeth as he did his best to maneuver through the sudden laser fire that was raining down on them. Rouge got into the other seat to help as Sonic also approached from behind.

“Looks like he’s rolling out the red carpet early!” Sonic spoke up, “Are we within Chaos Control reach?”

“Just about.” Shadow said not even bothering to glance at Sonic as he pulled out the green Chaos Emerald from his quills, “Think you can do it without falling down to Earth?”

“I think you need to worry about that more than I do, Shadow.” Sonic quipped back quickly as he snatched it out of the other’s hand.

“Remember, we can only give you five minutes before we have to turn the shuttle around and return. Let us know over communications if you’re going to be late!” Rouge said as she yanked hard on the flight controls to swerve out of the way of an incoming robot.

“I’ll be done in three!” Sonic replied, clutching the Chaos Emerald tightly. The familiar tingle of its energy flowed through him as he focused deeply, looking at a very small opening in the distance.

“Chaos Control!” Sonic yelled as the energy washed over him, filling all of his senses.

Time and space expanded around and within him before collapsing into nothing. This singular moment became an eternity and nothing at all as Sonic felt all of his senses go into overdrive to accommodate the sudden shift in his position within the universe. It was frightening sometimes as he still wasn’t used to the sensation without all seven emeralds within the core of his being to ensure that he was safe. He pushed through with every bit of his willpower, focused on one singular task - reach the Death Egg and save Tails.

In the next moment he found himself within a finished hall of the Death Egg. Space always had a way of making things just a little too quiet. Even as he looked outside to see the shuttle he was just inside, the lack of any noise except for the dull hum of the lights above him made Sonic feel like he was the only being left alive. That was probably the worst thing to him - he could handle black holes, the vacuum, the lack of any solid ground, and the cold of space. It was the absolute silence and isolation that he knew would break him if he was left in it for too long.

Thankfully, Eggman chose at this time to speak through a nearby speaker.

“Ah Sonic! You’re a little ahead of schedule!” Eggman said, “And here I am without a finished Death Egg for you to run though! It’s of no consequence though.”

Sonic wasted no time running down the length of the hall, smashing any robots that dared to get in his way. It only took seconds before he burst through a reinforced door into a larger room. Across from him sat Eggman in his Egg Mobile.

“Welcome Sonic!” Eggman was grinning from ear to ear, as if Sonic wasn’t just moments away from tearing him apart.

“Alright Eggman. I want to see Tails! Now!” Sonic snarled, all of his quills standing on end as he glared at the madman.

“Testy today aren’t we. Don’t worry, the furry little nuisance is just fine.” Eggman pushed a button on the Egg Mobile. To the left of Sonic, a panel opened up in the floor, and rising from it was a robotization capsule that contained Tails. He looked relatively unharmed but absolutely terrified, though that switched to one of hope and joy upon seeing Sonic. He was banging on the door, trying to say something - but just like the other capsules it was soundproof.

“Let him go.” Sonic demanded, taking a step forwards.

“Not yet.” Eggman responded, his look becoming gravely serious, “Not until you hand over the last Emerald.”

“Let him go first, then you’ll get the Chaos Emerald.” Sonic firmly moved one step closer.

“Want me to do this the hard way? Fine.” Eggman growled as he slammed another button on the console.

The Robotization chamber lit up with a hum, as Tails face pulled into one of panic before he tried to spin dash out of the container. Before he could slam his body into the door, electricity crackled on the inside and his face contorted into agony.

“No!” Sonic shouted in absolute horror.

“Hand over the Emerald or I’ll have my newest robot tear you apart.” Eggman sneered.

There wasn’t even a single moment before Sonic caved, “Okay! Okay. You win, Eggman.”

He pulled the Chaos Emerald out as he spoke. He had to resist every single bit of his being to not absolutely kill Eggman. There were a few more button presses before a central pillar rose, showing a slot to put the Emerald in.

“Put it there, then back away - slowly.” Eggman demanded in a low tone, not even daring to look away for a second.

Sonic did as he was told. He hated this. He hated Eggman. He felt so fueled by the absolute rage that was in him that he felt his entire body shaking. Once Tails was free, Emeralds or no he was going to absolutely destroy the Doctor this time. One step back, then two steps-

There was a sudden low hum as energy tingled around him. Before he could react, familiar purple energy rings pinned him in place. Sonic thrashed and struggled, grunting and yelling incoherently. The energy kept his spine from curling inwards and lifted him just off of the ground enough to keep his toes from touching the floor. He was completely captured. Flashes of Dark Gaia ran through his head - how could he have fallen for this trick again?!

Eggman cackled loudly as he proudly stood with one foot on his dashboard. Arms outwards and fingers curled up as he reveled in what Sonic could only presume was his master plan this entire time. Sonic looked over to Tails helplessly. The energy inside was still crackling and he could see part of Tails’ face slowly turning into metal.

“Finally! I’ve caught you after so long! And this time I’ll make sure you never interfere with my plans ever again!” Eggman jeered at Sonic. The doctor seemed unable to stop grinning at this turn of events.

“So what now?” Sonic growled, “You’re gonna turn me into a robot then? Is that it? Is that why you tried to robotize my friends?! To make an army to take over the world?”

“Actually this entire time I was just getting you angry enough to get trapped and going to permanently get rid of you by vaporizing your entire body with the power of all seven Emeralds - but that’s a splendid idea!” Eggman said, pausing only a split second in his rambling to take a quick breath.

Sonic’s blood ran cold at the thought. He wished at that moment he didn’t say anything. Even as Eggman continued to cackle and make preparations, Sonic thrashed and struggled. It looked like even now he wasn’t going to make the five minute mark - and he couldn’t even contact Rouge or Shadow. Distantly he could hear them over the communicator on his wrist, but in the moment the rush of adrenaline and panic was making him unable to focus on anything other than the current situation.

‘Tails… everyone… I’m so sorry.’ Sonic thought to himself as he felt the will to fight start to falter within him, ‘Looks like this is where it all ends. If there’s anyone or anything out there listening… I could use some help.’

There was a slight pause between that singular thought and what happened next. It was a moment when Sonic had lost all hope, where the very real threat of Eggman winning had already come to pass. The darkness and despair of this moment threatened to swallow Sonic’s spirit up entirely.

There was a shimmer of light just below him as a crack formed beneath him. It radiated with an energy that Sonic was unfamiliar with. For a moment, Sonic thought he was seeing things out of desperation, but he hear Eggman stop laughing. Rainbow light filtered through the crack within, glittering at the edges. There was a rumble as the crack grew in length, the electricity within the Death Egg flickering before a sudden surge of energy burst every light in the room and broke every machine with an explosion as the crack split wide open to reveal a fiery landscape below. There just above where he was there was a castle situated around lava.

Sonic could barely react as he fell through the crack in the sky to the other world below watching the chaos unfold in the Death Egg before the crack in the sky sealed itself shut. Sonic flipped around and used what little time he had to curl into a ball and break through the ceiling of the castle.

Chapter Text

Sonic burst through the ceiling of the castle, feeling the weight of the stone even through his spinball. It was enough to make him unfurl and land unceremoniously on his face on the floor. Pain shot through his body as he pushed himself up from the ground - he counted it as a blessing. He was at least alive, and it didn’t feel like he broke anything important. Except maybe his pride. Looking around he appeared to be in some sort of throne room, and judging from the black clouds, sweltering heat, and what he saw through the rift, a castle situated in some sort of volcano - or at minimum an area with magma bubbling just below the castle.

He very quickly found out that he wasn’t alone. Several of what appeared to be anthropomorphized turtles in dark metal armor had spears of a similar color pointed at him in a defensive stance. Sonic couldn’t blame them, he did just kind of crash into the throne room unannounced from the sky. Sonic braced himself to fight or run as needed, though he felt severely weakened from the impact. Out of the frying pan and into the fire he supposed.

“STOP!” a deep voice bellowed from within the room, shaking the foundations.

The soldiers halted at once as thundering footsteps approached. Sonic looked up from his position on the ground to see where the source of all that shaking was. Soon he found himself face-to-face with a very large dragon-like turtle. He wore spiked bracelets around his wrists and arms, a spiked collar around his neck, and just beyond the fiery red hair and horns, Sonic could make out spikes along the green shell. Gold scales glossily reflected the light in the dismal red ambience of the area and claws at the ends of his hands and feet looked very capable of rendering Sonic into blue ribbons.

“Are you the one that is faster than the wind itself?” the beast’s voice rumbled low enough to vibrate Sonic’s organs. He could see the sharp teeth behind the large maw of this monster.

Even so, Sonic managed to force himself to stand and look the dragon-turtle-thing in the eyes, completely unafraid. “Yeah, I am. Who’s asking?”

There was a terse moment before the beast’s eyes seem to light up with hope. He looked almost on the verge of tears.

“Finally! My prayers have been answered!” he roared jubilantly, “Remove those spears from his face right now!” he added, addressing the armored turtles.

They obeyed, shouting in unison, “Yes, Lord Bowser!”

Sonic was slightly puzzled but thankful that he seemed to be in good company. Now no longer having his life in danger he looked up at the giant. He was just about the height of Eggman, except way wider with muscles.

“Er, sorry for crashing the castle.” Sonic said, “I didn’t really expect to be suddenly thrown into freefall like that.”

The giant waved his massive clawed hand dismissively, “I can have my subjects fix it later. Come with me, I’m sure you got a lotta questions.”

With that Lord Bowser, at least that’s what they called him, trudged off towards a doorway. Feeling more than a little lost and dazed, Sonic followed along. They meandered through a few corridors. As they walked, Sonic could see small brown mushroom-like creatures, more armored turtles, cloaked people with masks over their faces, and all sorts of other creatures moving to and fro within the castle walls. It was all a little overwhelming - and the stench of brimstone in the air didn’t help at all.

Finally, they came to what appeared to be some sort of wizard’s room. Within it there was another one of those turtle creatures, however she appeared to be far older and was dressed in purple robes. Her hunched form hobbled in the room as she seemed to be working. When she finally looked up to see Bowser and Sonic, she tripped and completely dropped an armful of scrolls that was in her arms. Without even thinking, Sonic dashed forth and caught all the scrolls to help her out before setting them down on the desk she was taking them to.

Sonic looked back to see both of their jaws had completely dropped. Sonic was confused for only a second before reminding himself that he was in a new world again - they probably hadn’t seen someone move at his speed before.

“Sorry about that. You okay?” he asked the elder turtle.

“Yes, I’m a lot more sturdy than I look, you know!” she snapped back him.

“Oh come on Kammy, show the guy a little gratitude!” Bowser spoke up.

The elder, Kammy, huffed before hobbling over to her desk. “Very well. Thank you, oh mysterious blue stranger.”

Sonic just crossed his arms and scowled. Just his luck that everyone except the gigantic monster-looking person was rude or ready to attack him.

“Ah don’t mind her. She’s just a little cranky right now.” Bowser spoke up.

“I would be in a better mood if we had our seven Grand Stars.” Kammy grumbled, “It took all of my energy just now to summon this blue rat that you so desperately wanted!”

“I’m a hedgehog, lady!” Sonic snapped back.

“Hey, hey both of you calm down!” Bowser interceded between them. “I had you summon this guy so he could help us! He was in the prophecy, right?”

“Yes. I suppose.” Kammy huffed.

“Prophecy?” Sonic arched an eyebrow questioningly. Already he knew where this was going, but… well, if this lady summoned him, she probably was the only one around who knew how to send him home.

“Right. Let me explain from the start.” Bowser said, clearing his throat, “So I’m the King of this whole kingdom, and well our kingdom is the best in the entire world! At least it was with our Grand Stars. Then this Mario jerk came and took all seven of them back to the Mushroom Kingdom - as well as taking my precious Princess Peach away from me and using the Grand Stars to put a curse on me and our whole kingdom! I had Kammy here do some divination and she had a prophecy where… uh. What did you say again?”

He finished at the end looking at Kammy.

She sighed deeply, “‘A blue knight, faster than the wind itself, will descend from the heavens when he is called upon at the kingdom’s lowest point and when the people are in their deepest despair. When all seven Stars are gathered, the evils in red and green will be vanquished from this land and restore the Koopa Kingdom to its former glory.’ That is what the prophecy foretold at least.”

“Yeah! And you’re blue, and really fast! So you gotta be the one in the prophecy!” Bowser looked at Sonic expectantly, “You have to help us! Please, you’re our only hope!”

“Another world in trouble, eh?” Sonic smirked, itching the bottom of his nose with his finger, “Since you asked so nicely, how could I say no?”

Bowser chortled heartily, shaking the entire room with his voice. “That’s great! Really, really great!”

“The only problem is that right now I have no idea where Mario and his brother Luigi have hidden the Stars.” Kammy said, “I was just about to get started in my search when the two of you barged in.”

Before Sonic could speak up, Kammy continued, “How’s about this - if you really are the hero in the prophecy, you’ll have no troubles rescuing our beloved princess from the Mushroom Kingdom. Maybe by then I’ll have a lead on where one of the Grand Stars could possibly be.”

“Sounds simple enough.” Sonic said, getting ready to dash out of the castle, “I’ll be there and back before you know it!”

“HOLD IT!” Kammy snapped, making Sonic stumble, “Do you even know where you’re going?”

“Uh…” Sonic had no clue, but almost certainly wasn’t going to admit it right away.

“Ah… hang on, I think I got a spare map here.” Bowser responded, pulling a scroll from somewhere inside his shell and handing it over to Sonic. “This is my kingdom here, and over here-” he points to the other end of the map, “-is the Mushroom Kingdom. I gotta warn you though when you get to the princess. That Mario jerk put a spell on her to make her think that I’m just some sort of evil guy!”

At that last sentence, Bowser looked like he was about to break into tears.

“Hey, don’t worry big guy.” Sonic patted him on the arm reassuringly, “I’ll be sure to grab her and bring her back so you can work on reversing the spell!”

Bowser looked hopefully at Sonic before scooping him up into a very tight hug openly sobbing. “Thank you! Thank you so much Mr. Hedgehog!”

“Urk… Sonic is just fine…!” Sonic wheezed through the vice grip. He could have swore he heard his spinal column pop…

After the whole ordeal and being given a small bag of strange items that Sonic could use to help him on his quest, Sonic found himself rushing across the world. Since he had a map with him, he had some time to take some detours and see the world a little more. While there were many similarities, there were also a lot of differences.

For one, the random floating blocks with question marks on them dotted the landscape was something that was entirely new to him. He was told he could hit one and get a useful item - if he didn’t have his homing attack or spin dash as options, these would be impossible to actually get to. He collected a few items along his travels and made sure that they wouldn’t fall from his quills or the bag he was given.

Secondly, there were a lot of things that had eyes. Hills, clouds, trees, the useful items… they didn’t seem to be sentient though as the eyes never followed him. Maybe that’s just how they formed in this world. Maybe someone carved them in. He supposed it didn’t really matter exactly how it happened, it was kinda cute.

Finally he took the time to try out one of those mushrooms he was given. It smelled sweet and was absolutely delicious as it melted in his mouth. Like an earthy marshmallow. Unlike what the coloring would have told him, the mushroom healed his wounds and a new strength flowed through him.

After an hour, Sonic decided to get back on track and head right for the Mushroom Kingdom. Blowing past miles and miles of rolling fields, he found himself not even a few minutes later just outside of a small, quaint town. Little people with mushroom-like heads were bustling around, going about their business. For a second, Sonic wondered if the mushroom he ate was one of them before realizing that the shape was just slightly off from their heads. That reassured him greatly.

It seemed peaceful here… Sonic had to look around to find this Princess Peach. He was given a photo to make his quest easier, so he could probably show it around in town and ask if anyone knew where she was. Heading down to the main gate with a walk, he passed through with no resistance. Though the two guards did seem to talk about him looking strange as he entered.

After looking around Sonic figured any stranger was good enough to ask and approached the nearest mushroom person.

“Excuse me.” Sonic spoke up.

The little person looked over to Sonic and looked startled for a second before answering, “Y-Yes? How can I help you?”

“Do you know who this person is?” Sonic asked, showing the photo of the princess.

“Princess Peach? Who doesn’t know her?” the other person responded cheerfully.

“Well, I’m looking for her.” Sonic said.

“Oh, you just wanna head towards the castle!” the person helpfully points towards the castle to the north of the town, “It’s always open to visitors! Though I saw Luigi pass through not too long ago, so she’s probably talking with him!”

“Ah, I see. Thanks for the help!” Without waiting a second longer, Sonic ran past everyone and everything in town, making a beeline for the castle. In seconds he rushed through the front door and into the throne room. The decorations rattled with the wind and Sonic took a second to look around and see who was there.

In the throne room, he saw the princess and a man in green. Well, specifically, his sweater and cap were green, while his overalls were blue, his gloves were white, and his shoes were brown. He had a very fine mustache on his face. Just behind him was the princess herself. Even more beautiful in person than in the picture with blue eyes and a kind face framed in gold hair. And very clearly she loved the color pink if her dress was anything to go by.

Sonic identified the L on the cap and spoke up “So you must be Luigi, huh?”

“Well… yes that is me.” the green man spoke, “Who are you?”

“I’m Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!” Sonic replied confidently, “I’m here to rescue the princess from you and Mario!”

The two looked surprised, but Luigi pulled out a rather large hammer. Despite looking like it’d weigh a metric ton he was wielding it like it was nothing.

“Well, you’re going to have to get through me if you want to take the princess!” Luigi shouted, rushing forwards and swinging the hammer down.

Sonic merely side stepped with his speed and stared at Luigi with a confident smirk. Man this guy was slow! They must rely on magic a lot if they couldn’t even hit him.

“Wha-?!” Luigi looked over at him  incredibly confused, before getting a determined look and swinging the hammer again. Sonic yet again side-stepped the attack, this time yawning. This happened a handful more times, Sonic taunting him each time, before Luigi became exhausted from the effort. Even so, Sonic knew that even if he was determined, this guy was too slow to even begin to keep up with him.

“Well, this was fun, but it’s time to return the princess back to where she belongs!” Sonic ran over to the princess’s side and scooped her up bridal style.

“W-Wait a second-!” The princess started protesting. By the time she could get those words out, Sonic was already out of the castle and running back to the Koopa Kingdom. In order for the princess to not fall off, she clung to Sonic’s neck like her life depended on it. Sonic wouldn’t have let her slip out of his hands so easily, but he knew that this speed was likely new for her. It took less time for him to make it back, as he made a straight line from where he was to Bowser’s castle. The gates opened for him and as he ran back into the throne room he set the princess gently on her feet.

Peach staggered to her feet, dizzy from the sudden ride. “Where… am I…?”

The answer to her question was greeted with a now familiar laugh. “Welcome back princess! We’ve been waiting so long for your return!”

“B-Bowser!” She gasped, then huffed, “So this is your minion?!”

“Minion?” Bowser looked as confused as Sonic felt, “That’s a weird thing to call your rescuer. Eh, whatever.” He snapped his fingers and a few guards came running in, “Escort our princess to her room and make sure she’s safe and secure.”

With very little protest otherwise from the princess, she only held her hands close to her chest in a prayer and walked out with the guards. Somehow, the way this scene played out didn’t sit well in Sonic’s stomach. He shook it off - he just got here about an hour ago, so of course everything felt weird here.

Bowser looked over to Sonic contemplatively. “You are back faster than expected… Kammy still hasn’t reported back to me with anything.”

“I told you I’d be there and back before you knew it.” Sonic said, “I’m more than just faster than the wind - I’m the fastest thing alive!”

Bowser laughed, “I can see that! And you got a lot of life in ya! You’ll definitely be able to get those Grand Stars no problem! Well, as soon as Kammy knows where to start looking, that is.”

“I can keep myself busy.” Sonic replied, shrugging, before yawning and stretching. “I’m gonna go look for a place to take a nap, just call for me if you need me!”

Without waiting for Bowser to respond, Sonic dashed off through Bowers’ castle, quickly making a few loops to memorize the layout before finding a good, flat rooftop to perch and lay down on. The heat was very intense here, but Sonic had been through worse before. It still didn’t help he’d been up since he regained consciousness from his week-long coma - which was a few days now, and he’d been expending a lot of energy since then. After eating another mushroom - they were surprisingly filling for something that tasted like it was made of empty carbs and sugar - Sonic rested his head and began to snooze away.