Work Text:
There were quite a lot of robots active today, Sonic noted. They had varying levels of wear and tear, roaming aimlessly around the forest. He grinned as two nearby clanged into each other inelegantly, knocking one to the ground as they mulled about.
That settled it. Definitely Eggman’s work.
“Okay,” he decided softly, backing up with a nod. “Backup it is.”
It was easy to get Tails in on the plan. The little fox seemed so eager to join, almost more so than Sonic felt was healthy. But still, just the mention of robots and adventure had him loading up his gear, tugging out laser guns with glee.
It was rarer to get Knuckles, since he refused to leave Angel Island for anything short of a world-ending catastrophe. But today the robots were edging ever closer to the current location of the master emerald, and somehow that was enough to convince Knuckles to join them.
Sonic pumped his fist in the air, elated. Knuckles was a big softy under everything, despite his many arguments to the contrary. When the Echidna saw him celebrating, he narrowed his eyes, mouth opening to say something scathing.
“All right!” Tails cheered brightly, throwing his hands in the air. Just like Sonic had, the hedgehog realized with a warm feeling in his chest.
Silently, Knuckles shut his mouth, though the glare didn’t ease when Sonic grinned triumphantly.
Sonic was free game, but he wouldn’t mock Tails. The big old softy.
They arrived back to the robot-infested forest without much delay, and finally he got a good look at the scene. It seemed as if the smaller robots were scouting the area for something, scanning and moving around without slowing down. In the middle, some of the larger bots, huge and clunky and strong, were shuffling around what appeared to be a pit in the ground. Those same models were, nearby, were sawing down trees and dragging them to the edge of the pit.
“Whatever they’re doing, they aren’t programmed to do it very effectively,” Tails murmured next to him, the namesake tails swishing behind him in thought. “I was better at making code when I was four than he is now.”
“Trust me, we know,” Sonic assured him teasingly, tugging on his goggles for a moment. “There’s what, thirty of the scout bots out here?”
“That we can see, yeah.”
“We can take thirty,” Knuckles rumbled, folding his arms. “Good thing you called me in, though. You couldn’t take more than ten on your own.”
“Hey! They’re probably looking for me as we speak,” Sonic shot back, rolling his eyes. “I can definitely take more than ten.”
“You can have the twelve big ones, too,” Tails said, eyes just a shade too innocent to be real. “All yours.”
“Pass. Thanks for the offer.” Carefully, he stepped to the side, stretching a bit as he went. “We’ll be home before lunch. Tails, check the pit and make sure Robotinik isn’t trying to pull a fast one. We’ll take care of the scouting robots, you try to stealth it. After we know what’s down there, it’ll be easier to destroy the big bots.”
“Sure thing, Sonic!” Tails said brightly, saluting. He lifted off a moment later, laser guns at the ready.
Sonic glanced over at Knuckles, who was still wearing that challenging gleam in his eyes. “Whoever destroys the most wins?” he asked.
“Your defeat will be swift and merciless,” Knuckles intoned gravely, though Sonic could just spot the hidden smile in the words.
“Okay,” Sonic decided. “We go in three-“
And immediately, he shot down the small slope, ramming into a robot as hard as he could.
“Cheating!” came the loud call behind, before suddenly a red blur was crashing next to him. Knuckles raised a hand, pummeling the chest of a nearby bot.
“Security alert: Sonic the Hedgehog located,” the staticky voice of the destroyed robot announced. Suddenly, the robots in the area turned, eyes glowing red, to face the duo.
“This is gonna be fun,” Sonic cheered, before rushing off.
It was going pretty well, all things considered. The smaller bits were flooding the heroes, being smashed in waves. It wasn’t too challenging, all things considered, and as the fighting began to slow down, Sonic stood from his latest attack and tapped his wristband.
“Fourteen!” he crowed triumphantly, snarking at the littered robot parts around. He was a little winded from the amount, but definitely not the worst he’s had. “What’s your number?”
“Twelve,” came the response. Sonic could barely make out the shape of the echidna across the clearing, dusting himself off from all the wires and scraps. “Im pretty sure you counted wrong. There’s no possible way you’ve gotten more than me.”
“I’m almost above that big hole,” Tails reported, voice a little distorted from the wind. If Sonic squinted past the sunlight, he could spot the orange blob in the air. “And one of you had to miscount, then, because I only shot three on the way over here. Someone .”
“Ha! Victory is mine!” Knuckles declared, already jogging over. Sonic tilted his head, picking up speed to meet Knuckles halfway. Knuckles laughed as he approached, boisterous as ever. The two set off towards the forest area where the sawed trees and giant robots were.
“Still one short of winning, buddy, even if you crushed that other one.” Something felt…off, though. And while he wouldn't normally worry too much, Sonic’s intuition was rarely wrong. “We we’re both keeping pretty close score, though, because we were competing.”
“It happens,” Tails said, echoing on both their wristbands. “Kind of a hectic fight, anyway. You can try again when you break these bigger bots. Oh! I can see in the pit!”
More wind, like readjustment.
Sonic paused, looking to the tree line ahead. He and Knuckles were hiding in the trees about a fifty yards off from the hole, that he guessed was about twenty feet across. The worker robots had to be at least eight feet tall each, hacking into trees and dragging them around. It was…
It was too calculated. Too easy, but too planned.
“Something feels wrong,” Sonic said suddenly. Knuckles glanced over, confusion and concern written across his face.
“You’re telling me!” Tails said. The noise startled both of them, Sonic immediately scanning to spot where Tails was in the air. True to his job, he was hovering about forty feet above the pit and the robots.
“Sonic, there’s nothing in there! It’s just a big empty dirt hole. I guess they must have dug it out first, and then started on the trees. And they’ve got dozens of trees they’ve chopped down lined along the outside edge too. It’s kind of creepy! They’ve been…sharpened? Like giant pencils.” There was a brief pause before, “Uh, Sonic? There’s more of those pointed trees in the pit. Um. Pointy side up. And boy, there’s a lot of them too! It’s really…scary.”
Something like fear rushed through Sonic’s mind. The scouts, looking for something but easily broken. The pit, set up in the open to look suspicious.
“It’s a trap,” Knuckles said sharply.
“Tails, get back here,” Sonic blurted, taking half a step forward. “We need to regroup and make another plan.”
“On it!” the fox answered immediately. Sonic could see him clearly start to turn, moving in the direction they were hiding, when suddenly he froze.
“Uh,” came the elegant response over the wristband. “I think I found your last robot. Did, um, did you know they can fly?”
“Oh chaos,” Sonic muttered, craning his neck. And sure enough, there the metal piece of junk was, flying just in front of Tails and blocking his path.
“Target located: Miles Prower,” it announced. “Initializing capture protocol.” Tails immediately yanked up his ray gun, firing, and the thing didn’t have time to dodge. Moments later, it dropped out of the sky.
The damage, though, was already done. All the large worker robots on the ground looked up, eyes locking onto Tails. Suddenly, as one, they all reached for the tree trunks surrounding the pit.
It was enough to catch Sonic off guard. Tails was the target? It wasn’t him? It didn’t make sense, how were they planning to catch something that could fly-
And the first giant robot threw the sharpened tree at Tails.
They didn’t need the wristbands to hear his shriek of terror, darting just out of range as it rushed past. “SONIC!” the fox screamed.
Sonic was already moving, though he didn’t remember choosing to do so. In moments he’d already cleared the distance to the nearest robot, charging for a strike. It impacted with a loud thud, throwing the bot backwards, but even though the metal was dented, it was still standing.
These were made sturdier, he realized. It would take longer to defeat.
No, Sonic thought, watching in horror as the other robots started to throw their own trees. No, no, no, not his little brother.
“You have to dodge, Tails!” Knuckles yelled nearby. When Sonic took a step back, he caught a glimpse of the guardian wrestling the tree out of another robot’s grip. It was incredible, a testament to Knuckle’s true strength, and Sonic couldn’t bring himself to care. “You cannot fall into that pit!”
“I’m trying!” Tails yelped. He was racing through the air, ducking and spinning and avoiding whatever he could. “I can’t get out of range, it’s like they were programmed to keep me in the middle.”
“That’s what it is,” Sonic said with realization. “They’re all working together to keep you from leaving. Knuckles, we have to take some of them out to give him an escape path!”
“Working on it,” Knuckles grunted. There was a loud noise again, followed by the distinct sound of metal crashing into the ground.
Sonic spun to face his own robot again, determination burned into his stance.
Tails was going to get out of this. He would make sure of it.
This round of fights were messier. The robots were able to take more damage, to give as good as they got. Sonic was faster by a long shot, of course, but he still couldn’t avoid every one of the hits.
By the time he was on the fourth robot, he was pretty well littered with bruises and scrapes, and he was even starting to feel tired.
The robot, designed with a broad chest and already armed with a sharpened tree, glanced over just in time to see Sonic approaching. So of course, it swung the tree.
And Sonic could dodge a lot of things, but a huge pole made of solid wood was apparently not one of them. It cracked into his side, hard enough that he saw stars. Moments later, a metallic fist collided with him, sending him flying across the way.
Straight into, apparently, Knuckles.
“Ow,” Sonic groaned, rubbing his head and glancing up. Knuckles, knocked to his butt, shook his head and winced.
“It’s not going well,” Knuckles admitted, looking back. “I’ve only taken out four. You?”
“Three,” Sonic replied, gingerly holding one side. “Chaos, these trees pack a punch. Another hit like that-“
“Hey guys, I could really use some help,” Tails panted, tone strained. “I know you’re busy but I don’t know how much longer I can-“
He was cut off by an aborted screech. Both boys’ eyes shot up to where Tails was still flying. Apparently, the kit was using one tree as a springboard to avoid another, pushing himself back and flying again to dodge. The robots around started another volley, all aimed at the exhausted fox. Even from here, it wasn’t hard to see the way his tails were slowing, dodges getting sloppier as he ran out of energy.
“We don’t have a choice,” Sonic said, standing suddenly. He held a hand out to Knuckles who, after just a beat, took it. “Together, this time. Tails needs us.”
Knuckles nodded, serious as ever, and turned to face the nearest robot. “Let’s go.”
Sonic raced up to meet it, feigning left and darting right. While the robot stumbled, trying to track his movements, Knuckles took the opportunity to march straight up and charge his fist directly into the middle. To Sonic’s surprise, the punch tore through the metal chest and into wires behind it, effectively ripping apart the internal circuits. It collapsed instantly, while Knuckles slowly shook out his hand.
“Stupid robots,” he grunted, before glancing at Sonic. “Four more. Let’s go.”
Sonic nodded, stepping forward to prepare for a run, when suddenly a huge shadow fell over him. He didn’t even have time to turn before something heavy and fast cracked into his side.
The world blurred for a moment, colors mixing together over the high-pitched noise in his ears. Ringing, he realized, as the colors faded to grey. His ears were ringing, and his head hurt, and his side felt like it was on fire-
“GET UP, IT’S COMING BACK!”
Knuckles voice was loud and urgent, in the way it really only ever was when the Master Emerald was in danger. Slowly the scene came into focus again- sideways, when had he fallen down? - to see a red echidna standing over him, muscles flexing as he held-
Knuckles was swinging his own tree trunk at the robot. Granted, it was probably the smallest tree, but chaos. He was holding a tree.
“SONIC, I COULD USE SOME HELP HERE,” he yelled. A figure approached, and it had to be a robot because it was huge and Knuckles was already smashing the tree trunk into it.
Knuckles needed help. The world was kind of confusing and half-formed, and Sonic couldn’t exactly remember why they were here, but if Knuckles needed him, he needed to get up.
It took too long to get his feet under him, and standing up was agony - maybe there was a tree stuck in his side, too - but after a few seconds, he’d accomplished it. Sure, his vision was hazy and the near-deafening ringing hadn’t stopped, but still, progress.
“We can take this one,” he decided, trying to make sure the words weren’t garbled as he said them. Knuckles took a step back, standing next to him, as the skewered robot approached, tree lodged in its metal casing.
“That was a heavy blow. Are you alright?” Knuckles asked, glancing over with obvious concern in his face. Sonic tried to focus his eyes a little better.
“As soon as I figure out which Knuckles to look at, I’ll let you know,” he snarked lightly, with an attempted smile. “Running is a bad idea, but I can still distract it.”
Suddenly, the robot they’d been fighting stopped. It made a soft clicking noise, sparks flying around the tree sticking out of it, and it stepped to the left.
And another stepped up beside it.
“Please tell me that’s just my double vision,” Sonic groaned, swaying a little on his feet.
Next to him, Knuckles visibly braced himself. It wasn’t hard to see the ripping on his gloves, or the scratches covering his arms from punching metal. Sonic winced at the pull on his side, trying to ignore the way his skin felt like lava. They needed to keep fighting, they had to make it out. But the robots were bigger, and it was hard enough to take on one at a time, much less two-
The sound of shooting filled the air, and little rays rained down in front of them. Sonic startled backwards, dragging Knuckles with him despite the flare of pain the move caused. Ahead, the robots took shot after shot, finally falling with metallic whines at the damage.
“Got ‘em!” called voice from above. “Leave them alone, I’m the one you want! Up here, tin cans!” The realization hit Sonic like lightning.
“Tails!” he gasped, spinning to look up. Sure enough, there was the fox, still hovering with his ray gun tugged out. His shoulders were drooping, looking worse for wear, but there was a determined undertone to his posture. “What are you doing?” Sonic demanded.
“I’m not gonna let them hurt you,” Tails answered shortly, already adjusting to aim for another one that was moving in. He fired a few more times, and Sonic felt mesmerized by the power, by the capabilities, by the essence of his little brother. “You’ve destroyed most of them, I just need to take out this one-“
“Look out!” Knuckles bellowed suddenly, pointing behind Tails.
It was already too late. There was no time to react, to turn or dodge or move. Even the warning wasn’t enough.
I missed one again, Sonic thought, just as the tree hurtled into Tails.
The robots weren’t apparently aiming to kill, judging by the trajectory, or they just weren’t programmed with good aim. Whatever the reason was, the pointed end of the tree hit exactly where it would disable the flying fox; right in his tails.
Tails let out a scream of pain as it rammed into him, knocked into flip midair. Then he was falling, straight down towards the pit of spikes.
Time moved in snapshots. Sonic was moving without ever having made a conscious plan. He didn’t remember throwing the echidna on his back, or sprinting towards Tails. Didn’t remember explaining what to do, or telling Knuckles to glide. But somehow, as he rushed to the edge of the pit and leaped, the wind caught them, going faster and faster and-
Tails, still tumbling and flailing, collided hard into Sonic’s chest. He clung to his little brother, grip never wavering until they were spilling onto the ground on the other side of the pit.
Knuckles was grabbing both of his arms, trying to pull him upright again, and bless his heart Tails was on his feet instantly, shakily firing his gun at the remaining robot. Sonic glanced between the two of them, barely understanding what he was seeing, until finally it registered that they were okay. He took one long minute to be so, so achingly relieved that his best friends were fine.
That’s when the pain kicked back in.
Someone was saying his name, with too much emphasis to be casual, and Sonic knew he should probably get up to help them with the fight, but his body felt leaden, and his side was on fire, and his head was so fuzzy, and even breathing hurt now. And Tails was safe now, wasn’t in danger, and Knuckles could protect the little guy if he needed. But he still had to try - he just needed to sit up a little-
It felt like electricity shooting through his spine. With a choked scream, the world went dark.
—————
When Sonic came to, it was to the sound of rings.
Which was weird. He didn’t remember being on a run, where he usually found them. Didn’t remember much of anything, to be honest, and trying to think about it too hard sent a stab of pain through his head.
“Quit groaning,” came a gruff voice beside him. Knuckles, he realized belatedly. “You’re lucky you’re not dead, because then I’d have to throttle you until you woke up.”
“That’s not even close to how that works, Knuckles. And I’m not sure if he can even understand us right now, after how much he’s been through.”
Battle. That’s right, there was some sort of fight. Robots? Probably something with Eggman.
There was also a sense of urgency in his mind, the more he considered it. Something important, something he was forgetting. He couldn’t quite place it.
“I think he’s brain-dead, Tails.”
Tails.
Tails was in danger.
Sonic shot up, fast enough that he collided with a figure just overtop of him. The world swam in a haze around him, trying to clear up, and-
And then there was pain. So, so much pain. It stole his breath for a moment, trying to make himself calm down when all he wanted to do was get up and start looking for his little brother. His side throbbed, his head throbbed, but Tails-
“Woah! Sonic, stop, it’s okay! All the robots are gone, they’re not gonna hurt you anymore!”
He blinked, processing the words, before a large hand pushed gently at his chest. He let himself be guided backwards only because that was where Tails’ voice was coming from.
The world went fuzzy again, like he couldn’t fully track what was happening, and then his head was laying on something soft, looking right up ata
“Tails,” he breathed, relief rushing through him so quickly it nearly hurt. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Tails answered immediately, smiling. “I may have bruised my tails a little from the tree, so I can’t fly for a few days, but honestly I’m okay! Right Knuckles?”
“It’s true,” Knuckles responded solemnly. “Though you’re the one we worried about. You’ve been out of it for hours now. It’s a good thing there were some rings nearby, otherwise who knows how long you’d be down.”
Sonic raised one hand, clumsily wiping at his eyes. Good. They were okay. Good.
“Knuckles and I got the last robots. Still no idea why they were after me, though,” Tails went on. “Maybe it’s something to do with the technology? Or Eggman’s next scheme could include flying, which makes me a threat if I can match him.”
He was only half listening, content with his friend rambling on. There was no time to stop and feel terrified when Tails was falling into the pit, but now he could practically feel the stress. He was so close to losing one of his brothers, and he didn’t know how to handle that.
It was worth a little pain to save them. It always would be worth it.
“You should rest some more before we go,” Knuckles cut in smoothly, his serious face creased as he examined Sonic’s form. “I’ll keep watch.”
His bones ached, and his side was in painful agreement.
“I can move,” Sonic answered, hiding his wince when he shuffled. “I’ll be fine.”
“Oh, but Sonic, my tails still hurt,” Tails started. He was never a great liar, Sonic thought fondly. “Could we stay just a little longer? Please?”
He wouldn’t have agreed, but his vision was already starting to fade out, and well. They could probably use another break.
He was unconscious before he thought to ask why he was laying on his tails if they hurt so badly.