Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sonic took in a shaky breath. When Progress Preparatory Academy’s lead scientist, Dr. Robotnik, called him down to the labs, Sonic thought he was going to get scolded for leaving the Bunsen burner on in a classroom last week. As he pushed the doors open though, Sonic didn’t find what he was expecting.

Robotnik stood at a computer desk, typing away at something and bent over as he ignored the chair next to him. In the center of the room was a sparkling gem set on a pillar. Next to it, was some kind of apparatus with six mechanical arms attached.

“You wanted to see me, Doctor?” Sonic finally spoke up, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Robotnik looked up and a wide smile spread across his face. Usually, that smile was kind and put Sonic at ease, but today . . . Sonic shivered.

“Ah, Mr. Hedgehog! Perfect timing, I just finished calibrating it.”

“Did you need me for something?” Sonic tugged on his gloves slightly. He decided not to tell Robotnik that if he needed an assistant, there were plenty of those that the school hired to help with the various projects being done on a regular basis. However, it seemed rude to point that out to someone so much older and wiser than Sonic. Robotnik knew what he was doing.

“I did indeed, my boy,” Robotnik nodded. He motioned for Sonic to follow him and they walked over to the pillar with the gem. “What you see before you is what is known as a Chaos Emerald.”

“It’s beautiful,” Sonic breathed, his eyes wide. The sparkling emerald seemed to pull him in, trapping him in its warm, tingling embrace. Energy flowed off it in waves, which wanted to wrap him up and pull him in even further.

Suddenly, Robotnik snapped his fingers in front of Sonic’s face. He blinked, startled out of his daze.

“Yes, it is,” Robotnik continued. “But it’s also dangerous. Be careful not to let it draw you in or I might lose you to its power. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

Sonic shook his head to rid it of the fuzziness. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled. What was that?

“This emerald has energy readings that are off the charts!” Robotnik went on, leading Sonic over to the robotic arms. “Its potential could very likely outweigh that of nuclear power, but it appears to be at least five times as dangerous. It was extremely difficult to get it here and I can’t do any more tests on it while touching it directly. That’s why I created these.”

The doctor placed a proud hand on the robotic arms. He stroked them lovingly.

Sonic frowned slightly. “May I say something that . . . might be rude?”

Robotnik laughed. “My boy, curiosity will never be condemned in this lab. If something’s on your mind, ask away.”

“Well, I along with many other students have created our own robotic arms in the past,” Sonic said nervously. “They work just fine. What’s so special about these ones?”

“Well for one thing, they’re made of far more durable material than what you and your peers have access to,” Robotnik explained. “And for another thing, their AI is unrivaled. Pair that with the flawless connection straight to one’s brain and they’re the most advanced robotic attachments created yet.”

A path right to the brain? “What if the AI follows the connection and takes over its host?”

“I thought of that,” Robotnik said. He pointed to a small chip on the back of the place where the arms extended from. “This here regulates everything. It keeps the AI in check and keeps your brain safe.”

‘Your brain’? As in . . . “You don’t mean . . . me, do you?” Sonic’s stomach began the process of tying itself into knots.

“Actually, I do,” Robotnik smiled.

Sonic shrank under the doctor’s gaze. “Why?”

“You’re a wonderfully bright boy, Mr. Hedgehog,” Robotnik said, clasping his hands behind his back. “Your robotics experiments are unlike anything this school has seen before. You are the most qualified student to do this.”

Once again, Sonic wondered why Robotnik didn’t ask a lab assistant for help, or even just do it himself, but he got the feeling he wouldn’t be able to leave now even if he wanted to.

Sonic gulped and nodded. “O-Okay.”

For the next few minutes, Sonic stood almost completely still as Robotnik prepared to apply the six robotic arms. Soon, Sonic let out a low hiss of pain as he felt the arms fusing themselves to his back. It felt like burning hot ice was slipping through all his veins.

“It only lasts a few minutes,” Robotnik promised. “This however, might be a bit worse.

Sonic felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck as the neural connection point cut through him on its way to join with his spine. It hurt like fire. A massive headache flared up behind Sonic’s eyes, and it took all his willpower to not collapse.

Finally, after what seemed like five eternities, the pain subdued, slowly fading away until all that was left was a slight tingling in Sonic’s back. He let out a sigh of relief.

“That should do it,” Robotnik declared. “Go on. Try them out.”

Sonic tried moving each of the robotic arms in turn and found that he could. There was none of the delays and slight clunkiness of other robotic attachments he’d tried. They were a perfect extension of his body. If it weren’t for the arms’ lack of a sense of touch, Sonic would’ve thought the arms were real, having always been a part of him.

Any doubts Sonic had about the AI corrupting him faded away. This was beyond amazing. It was unthinkable!

“You’re a genius, doctor,” Sonic said, staring in awe at his six new extra hands.

Robotnik smirked and stroked his mustache. “Thank you, my boy. Now, why don’t we get to work?”

Sonic nodded. “Right.”

His first task would be to move the Chaos Emerald across the lab to a machine that could more accurately measure its power output and potential. Sonic slowly picked up the emerald with one of his robotic arms and began walking it across the lab, carefully.

It shined so bright in a world of increasing darkness. It was magnificent. It held knowledge no living creature had ever glimpsed before. What kind of secrets would Sonic learn if he just . . . opened his mind?

“What are you waiting for?” Robotnik barked, looking up from a computer to glare at Sonic. “Put it in!”

Sonic hovered next to the machines, inches away from placing the gem inside. But he didn’t. He . . . couldn’t. This emerald, it was . . . alive . . . somehow. He couldn’t abandon it. He couldn’t betray it. If he did, he’d never learn its secrets.

“Boy,” Robotnik said, his voice somewhere in between threatening and wary. “Put it in the machine.”

Sonic didn’t respond, eyes fixed on the glowing Chaos Emerald. It was so inviting. So peaceful. It wanted Sonic. And Sonic wanted it.

“Last warning, boy!” Robotnik yelled. Sonic looked up, feeling like a cornered animal. All he saw before him was a hungry beast. He wanted to take it. He wanted to take it from him!

“Mine!!” Sonic screeched. He brought the emerald closer to himself and reached out to grab it with one of his flesh hands. He had to keep it safe.

The moment his fingers made contact, Sonic screamed in pain. His gloves burned to ashes. The energy coursed through him like a wildfire. It wanted him. It couldn’t find the entry point. It wanted to come in. In . . . Into his mind.

Nearly doubled over in pain and clutching the emerald to his chest, Sonic ignored the pain and opened the door. The energy flowed into his mind as the two entities embraced each other.

And then two became three.

There was a spark and then fresh pain erupted in Sonic’s head. The protective chip was unable to handle all the energy and was destroyed, leaving Sonic’s mind vulnerable. The code of the arms’ AI rushed into Sonic’s head. It was a war for control. Sonic’s own will didn’t count for much. He wanted what the emerald wanted and it was fighting for him.

Around him, Sonic was dimly aware of the energy torrent getting bigger around him. It drew from any source of power it could find to give itself an advantage. The lab was collapsing around him, but the energy vaporized anything that might have threatened to crush Sonic. Sonic vaguely wondered where Robotnik had gone, but that wasn’t important.

Malicious code. All knowing knowledge. Both wanted him as a vessel. Sonic found himself straining under the weight of the war. This couldn’t go on! Neither power was going to win, and neither was going to back down. There was only one option.

With one final, blood curdling scream, Sonic plunged the emerald into his chest. At the same time, he mentally stepped in between the AI and the energy and pulled them together, absorbing them both into himself. They fought back for a moment, and then reached an equilibrium, blurring the lines where they ended and Sonic began.

Three became one.

. . .

When Sonic came to, he felt cold. Deathly cold. He dragged his eyes open and found himself in a white room. A hospital room. He spotted an IV in his hand and felt several other things connecting to him. Panic flared inside of Sonic at the sight of things invading the body he had fought so hard for.

“Oh! You’re awake! Thank goodness.” Sonic looked up as a nurse with a clipboard hugged to her chest stepped into the room. She backed up a step as their eyes met. “O-Oh my. That is . . . unexpected. Well, um, how are you feeling?”

“What happened?” Sonic asked. His own voice now sounded foreign, though he couldn’t tell if that was because it had changed, or if the new parts of him just weren’t used to being able to speak.

“W-We’re not entirely sure,” the nurse said, squirming under his intense gaze. “There was a massive energy explosion at your school and everyone evacuated. When the dust settled, they found you unconscious in what was Doctor Robotnik’s lab.”

Briefly, Sonic wondered where the doctor was now, but he quickly pushed that to the side. There were bigger problems at hand.

“I want to go,” Sonic stated, not letting the nurse break eye contact.

“I-I’m afraid we can’t let you, Mr. Hedgehog,” the nurse said. “You’re not not fit for us to discharge you yet. A-And we’re still trying to locate your family and get them here.”

“I have no family,” Sonic stated. He’d always been an orphan for as long as he could remember. The school itself had technically adopted him, but it was gone now. Sonic sat up, spreading his six robotic arms out from behind him. The blanket fell down, revealing the gem that was now permanently stuck into his chest. Instinct took over and Sonic channeled his hypnotic influence to his eyes and hurled it at the nurse. The cold was gone.

The nurse’s eyes widened and she became transfixed by the haunting, commanding beauty of his eyes.

“Let me go,” Sonic commanded.

In a daze, the nurse obeyed, slowly but expertly disconnecting Sonic from everything that held him captive. He kept his eyes on her, not letting her puny mind worm its way out of his hold. When she was finally done, Sonic got out of bed and walked towards the window. His ear twitched as he heard the nurse take a step towards him, still under his control.

Sonic looked back at her blankly. “You’ve had a taste of my power. You can’t have it. It’s not yours and this will be your only experience.”

Abruptly, Sonic pulled his influence out of the nurse’s mind. She immediately collapsed to the floor. She curled in on herself, shivering and muttering incoherently

Sonic turned and flung himself into the window. The glass shattered easily, like it was only air that he was pushing through. Sonic caught onto the side of the building and began swinging away into the distance. He didn’t exactly have a plan in mind, but the energy inside of him craved one thing and one thing only.

Chaos.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sonic set up shop down in the train tunnels, specifically the old and abandoned part. He would need a home base for what was going to happen next . . . whatever that was.

If Sonic had merged with only the emerald, he might’ve become something akin to a god. Nothing would have been able to escape his endless everything. This energy demanded conflict . . . not quite destruction, but chaos at the very least.

Pandemonium. Bedlam. Mayhem. Confusion.

However, it was the AI that kept Sonic tied to reality; prevented him from ascending. It was the other new part of him that demanded order and that everything made sense. It made him use his powers in ways that were understandable. It craved order.

Structure. Harmony. Control. Unification.

Organized chaos.

The only question was how to achieve that state, the state that Sonic desired with all his heart. He wanted it for himself and he wanted it for the world. Others wanted one or the other. Sonic wanted both. He wanted everything to make sense in its nonsense, be united in its dividedness, be controlled in its uncontrollability.

But how?

Chapter Text

Life for Miles Prower had never been a predictable experience. In a world where people gained powers, magical or mechanical, and used them for good or evil, there was constant fighting. When Miles was little, comic book companies would print stories about superheroes fighting against supervillains for the fate of the world. Those fell out of popularity fairly quickly. Why read about something like that when the real thing happened out in the streets on a daily basis?

Miles was easily accepted into Progress Preparatory Academy due to his amazing intellect, despite his young age. Soon thereafter, he was recruited into the school’s secret hero force, the Gifted. There were plenty of hero groups throughout the city, but the Gifted was the only one composed almost entirely of kids. It acted as an introduction to hero work, where kids could explore what it was like and decide if it was something they wanted to do full-time when they grew up.

Miles could fly with his twin tails, but aside from that, there wasn't much he could do besides techy stuff. The fox cub soon became the leading tech expert on the team. He created gadgets for the others, monitored missions, tracked targets, and sent out drones so he could provide reconnaissance. 

Things were going smoothly. Miles loved being a part of the Gifted. He loved making a difference. But . . . when it really mattered, Miles couldn’t do anything.

Even a month before it happened, Miles detected a strange energy signature coming from somewhere in the school. He brushed it off. Students and teachers alike ran all kinds of experiments all the time. This new energy must’ve been part of one of them.

Then a month passed, and the energy suddenly spiked in magnitude. Miles’ sensors went crazy, blaring warnings across all his computers. Less than a minute later, the school started to collapse. Everyone was evacuated and Miles watched in horror as the building crumbled before their eyes. All their equipment, all their experiments, all their projects . . . they were all gone.

Role was called and two people were discovered to be missing: the lead scientist, Dr. Robotnik, and a student, Sonic Hedgehog. Miles had looked up to the doctor for his amazing discoveries in the advancement of robotics. He hadn’t known Sonic very well, only seeing him in passing in the halls. It saddened him that the two were gone.

But . . . it seemed one of them wasn’t lost after all. Sonic was recovered from the rubble, in critical condition, but alive. Miles was only barely able to get a glimpse of the hedgehog before they took him away in an ambulance. He sported six new robotic arms coming from his back, and something was stuck into his chest, though Miles couldn’t tell what thanks to all the blood dripping down his front.

With the school dorms destroyed, Miles went to live in the Gifted headquarters. In the following days, he did some research on the laptop he’d managed to bring out with him during the evacuation. What was the reason for the school’s collapse? Why wasn’t Sonic evacuated? What happened to Robotnik? Where did Sonic get those new arms? What was that thing in his chest?

Thanks to a blueprint of the school and an overhead shot of the wreckage from a news report, Miles discovered something interesting. The spot where Sonic was discovered was a clean circle, where there was no rubble. In fact, the pieces of building around the circle seemed to be burned. Did Sonic somehow have access to a forcefield? But then, why was he in such critical condition? Besides that, the location of the circle was inside of where Robotnik’s personal lab used to be.

Theories ran wild in Miles’ head. Sonic was snooping in the doctor’s lab and did something he wasn’t supposed to. Sonic was called there by the doctor to help with something. Sonic left something in the doctor’s lab, went to grab it during the evacuation, and had nothing to do with the school’s collapse. But none of those possible explanations accounted for the arms or the thing in Sonic’s chest.

School moved online for the next few months while the school was rebuilt. A funeral was held for Dr. Robotnik. His body wasn’t located, and all signs pointed to him being dead. Miles didn’t go. It seemed . . . weird to attend the funeral of his idol.

One morning, Miles got an email from the school. It was labeled as important. Miles clicked on it.

To: All Students

From: PPA Admin

Re: Fellow Student, Sonic Hedgehog

Good morning, students! We hope you are all doing well as we do our best to continue your education as the school is rebuilt.

As you know, your peer, Sonic Hedgehog, was recovered from the wreckage of the school and taken to the hospital in critical condition. We are pleased to tell you that Sonic is now stable and is expected to wake up soon. We thank you for all your well wishes. Hopefully, Sonic will make a full recovery and be able to rejoin us soon.

-PPA Admin

Miles smiled. He was glad to hear that Sonic was recovering. Maybe he’d be allowed to go in to visit Sonic once he woke up. Miles was dying to ask Sonic about what happened. Quickly, Miles typed up an email.

To: PPA Admin

From: Miles Prower

Re: Visiting Sonic Hedgehog

Hello. My name is Miles Prower and I’m part of the school’s Gifted team. If it’s alright, I’d like to request permission to visit Sonic Hedgehog in the hospital once he is awake. I’d like to ask him a few questions about what he was doing when the school collapsed.

Thank you for your time.

-Miles Prower

Miles sent the email and got to work researching nanotechnology for his New Robotics report. An hour or so later, Miles got a reply.

To: Miles Prower

From: PPA Admin

Re: Visiting Sonic Hedgehog

Hello, Mr. Prower.

We appreciate your willingness to help unravel this mystery, however, we will have to deny your request. We will handle Mr. Hedgehog’s questioning ourselves. We respect his privacy and do not wish to force him to confess to an outside party such as yourself.

Should the situation call for it, rest assured that we will call in the Gifted. However, we do not believe that will be necessary. 

Please understand that we do not mean to disrespect you, Mr. Prower. We are well aware of your accomplishments and your work with the Gifted. Despite this, we believe it best not to involve anyone beyond what is needed.

Thank you for your understanding.

-PPA Admin

Miles frowned at his laptop’s screen. That was disappointing. He could understand respecting Sonic’s privacy, but the rest of the email seemed almost out of place. Why would the Gifted need to be called in at all? They were only needed if a supervillain was at hand. Just what did the admin think was going on?

A week later, Miles got a call on his communicator, which was exclusively for members of the Gifted. Miles quickly answered the call, ready to do everything he could to help out on whatever mission he was surely being contacted about.

“Hello?” Miles said.

“Good morning Mr. Prower,” came the voice of Vanilla Rabbit. She was the teacher who oversaw the Gifted, but lately she’d been off with the other PPA teachers, overseeing the school’s reconstruction and doing other things Miles didn’t know the details of. “How are you?”

“I’m . . . alright,” Miles responded, confused by Vanilla’s casual tone. “Is something wrong? Do you need me?”

“Yes, but luckily it’s not a whole team scenario,” Vanilla said. “At least . . . I hope not.”

“What happened?” Miles asked.

“It’s Sonic Hedgehog. He’s . . . gone.” Vanilla said.

“Gone?” Miles’ heart dropped into his stomach. “Like . . . he died?”

“No, thankfully. The last time he was seen, he was alive at least,” Vanilla said. “It’s strange. You see, he finally woke up yesterday, but before we could get anyone there to talk to him, he broke out.”

“How did he break out of a hospital?” Miles questioned. “I thought for sure he wouldn’t be at 100% for at least another month.”

“That’s what we thought too,” Vanilla agreed. “But when I got sent in to take my turn sitting with him, I found him gone, the window shattered, and a nurse collapsed on the floor. We didn’t find his body on the ground below, so he must’ve used those new arms of his to climb away. The other teachers think he was simply out of it and escaped because he was scared, but I don’t think so. The nurse . . . he did something to her. She seemed almost insane when I tried to talk to her.”

“So you want me to look into it?” Miles guessed.

“Yes,” Vanilla confirmed. “Admin doesn’t think this warrants the Gifted’s involvement, but I think differently. Something happened to Sonic in Robotnik’s lab. Something changed him. We need to figure out what and make sure he’s not a threat. Mr. Prower, I need you to track him down, and assess him. If you can, see if you can convince him to join the Gifted. I was planning on recruiting him soon anyway. If things go wrong, activate your beacon and I’ll send the others in to give you backup.”

“You really think that’ll be necessary?”

“I hope it won’t be. But those arms were experimental and that thing in his chest is other worldly. We need to get him controlled, no matter what that looks like.”

“Understood,” Tails nodded. “I’ll get on it right away.”

“Thank you, Mr. Prower.”

A few minutes later, Miles found himself hacking into the hospital’s database so he could access the security cameras. What the feeds revealed was interesting and concerning. Miles wasn’t sure what color Sonic’s eyes were before, but now they were glowing, one yellow and the other red. The thing in his chest was revealed to be some kind of red gem.

Miles watched as Sonic stared at a nurse with his unearthly eyes and told her to let him go. She did what he asked and soon Sonic stood before the window. The nurse attempted to follow him and he looked back at her, emotionlessly.

“You’ve had a taste of my power,” Sonic said. “You can’t have it. It’s not yours and this will be your only experience.”

Sonic didn’t move in the slightest, but the nurse suddenly collapsed to the floor. Miles couldn’t see her anymore, but he could hear her muttering broken sentences. Sonic then turned and threw himself through the window. It broke and he disappeared.

Miles sat back in his chair and tapped his chin thoughtfully. Sonic’s words were hollow, like he didn’t really know what he was saying. Miles wondered what this strange ‘power’ was that Sonic mentioned. Was that what the gem gave him? He wouldn’t know until he found Sonic.

Miles hacked into several other security feeds across the city and followed Sonic as he swung between buildings until he reached downtown. Sonic ducked down into the subway and disappeared into the abandoned tunnels, where cameras weren’t operating anymore. Well, at least now Miles had a lead.

Soon, Miles was walking down the tunnel where he last saw Sonic. His energy detector had been destroyed with the school, so he’d had to quickly make a sloppy replacement. Whatever power that gem had, it had to give off some kind of signal. Maybe it was the same signal he picked up before the school collapsed. For several minutes, there was nothing. Finally, Miles' face brightened as the device detected something. He followed the trail deeper and deeper into the abandoned tunnels until he had to rely on his communicator for a flashlight. It was dark. Very dark.

Suddenly, Miles heard a clicking sound above him and he whipped around, shining his light on the ceiling. Nothing. Miles warily backed up a few steps until he bumped into something. He froze.

Miles slowly turned around and found he’d run into Sonic. The hedgehog stared down at him, having lifted himself off the ground a few inches with two of his robotic arms. His expression was frozen in a look that seemed haunted, scared, and angry at the same time.

“Hi,” Miles tried, not sure if he should run or fight or bargain for his life.

“Not supposed to be here,” Sonic whispered.

“I’m sorry for intruding,” Miles apologized, stepping back a bit. “I just heard about how you left the hospital and wanted to make sure you’re okay. I go to PPA, just like you.”

Sonic didn’t break eye contact. “School’s gone.”

“Yeah,” Miles said sadly. “Actually, I was wondering if you knew anything about that, since you were one of the only people who didn’t get evacuated.”

Sonic finally looked away. He rubbed the gem in his chest with his thumb absently. “Don’t remember.”

“That . . . That’s okay,” Miles promised. “Can we talk somewhere?”

Sonic seemed to consider that for a moment. His ears twitched, like he was listening to something only he could hear. Finally, he nodded. “Follow.”

Sonic lowered himself onto his feet and began walking away. His mechanical arms folded behind him. Some of them seemed to be watching Miles. Taking a deep breath, Miles followed after Sonic.

They soon arrived at an old train platform where it seemed Sonic had set up shop. There were miscellaneous food items scattered across the floor, along with all sorts of batteries of various sizes. In one corner was a cot with a portable heater next to it. Sonic walked over and turned the heater on.

“Are you cold?” Miles asked. It was slightly chilly down here, but it didn’t seem like it warranted a heater.

“Cold,” Sonic said. He sat down on the floor next to the heater. After a moment, Miles sat down across from him.

“So you live here now?” Miles asked.

Sonic didn’t respond. Instead, he stared at Miles unwaveringly. That stare seriously made Miles uncomfortable. “Tails,” he finally said.

“What?” Miles said, confused.

Sonic pointed to Miles’ twin tails, which were raised behind him. “Tails,” he repeated.

Miles glanced back at his double tails. “Yeah, I have two. Kinda weird, huh?”

“No,” Sonic disagreed. “ I’m weird. You’re just Tails.”

“Actually, my name’s Miles-”

“Tails,” Sonic interrupted.

“Okay, fine,” Miles shrugged. “I’m Tails.”

Sonic nodded, satisfied. He reached up and rubbed his gem with his thumb again.

“So, do you remember anything from when the school collapsed?” Miles asked.

“Bits and pieces,” Sonic mumbled. “Robotnik called me to the lab. Asked me to help with something. Then pain. And then . . . I merged.”

“Merged?” Miles said, confused.

“The emerald wanted me. So did the arms,” Sonic explained, closing his eyes. “We were three. Now it’s just . . . me.”

“Fascinating,” Mile breathed. “So, you’re now all one entity. The arms and the gem are as much you as you are them.” If this cleared up one thing it was that Sonic was invited into the lab and wasn’t snooping. Perhaps the reason for the school’s collapse had even originated there as well.

Sonic opened his eyes and nodded. “Yes . . .”

“Then, with that out of the way,” Miles said. “I do have one more question for you.”

“Never been asked before,” Sonic said with a low laugh. It sounded sad.

“With you merging with the arms and the gem,” Miles said. “Has anything . . . y’know, changed? I mean, how different are you?”

“Different,” Sonic said simply. He extended two hands in front of him, one flesh, the other metal, and examined the both of them. “These new parts of me have different wants and desires than I had before.”

“What kinds of wants and desires?” Miles asked, hoping Sonic wasn’t just about to reveal his newfound desire to be a serial killer.

“Organized chaos,” Sonic said, looking up.

“Organized chaos?”

“Organized,” Sonic repeated, flaring his robotic arms behind him like peacock feathers. “Chaos.” He placed a hand on the gem in his chest. “I crave them both together. But . . . don’t know how to get them.”

“You’re not gonna . . . try to take over the world or anything, right?” Miles said warily. “ ‘Cause I’d really prefer it if you were on the heros’ side and not the villains’.”

“Don’t know what I am,” Sonic shrugged. “For now . . . I’m middle ground. Neutral. Unbiased.”

“Could I offer a suggestion then?” Miles leaned forward slightly. He hoped he was handling this well. This was a difficult situation to gauge.

Sonic looked slightly skeptical, but he nodded.

“Well, the way I see it,” Miles started. “Villains thrive off of chaos. That’s a lot of what results from what they do. And if they’re allowed to do whatever they want, the world turns into complete chaos, which isn’t what you want.”

Sonic shook his head.

“But,” Miles smiled. “Then there’s the heroes. We keep villains in check. We can’t defeat them entirely, and we can’t fix the whole world, but we regulate things. We organize what chaos we can, but not completely. That’s how you get that balance you want.”

“Hmm,” Sonic murmured. “Makes sense . . .”

“It does,” Miles agreed. He kept himself from outright sighing in relief. He was glad he had the ability to talk people into believing what he said based on their own thought process. “So what do you say? I’m part of a hero group. You could join us.”

“Not sure. Maybe.” Sonic turned and scooted a bit closer to the heater. He hugged his flesh arms around himself and shivered. He scrunched his eyes shut as if he was in pain.

“Are you feeling okay, Sonic?” Miles asked in concern.

Sonic hesitated. “No . . .” he admitted. “Cold.”

Slowly, Miles carefully reached out and placed a hand on Sonic’s arm. Then, he jerked it back in shock. The cold radiating off of Sonic’s body was enough to pierce right through Miles’ gloves. “That’s not good,” Miles said to himself. “You need to see a doctor.”

“No,” Sonic shook his head fiercely. His metal arms began wrapping around him in protection. “This is my body. Mine.”

Miles sighed. “You don’t trust the hospital?” That must’ve been why he escaped.

Sonic shook his head. “Mine . . .” he repeated.

“What if I took you to see someone from my team?” Miles suggested. “Not a doctor exactly, but someone who could help you. I promise your body won’t get taken from you. You get to keep every piece of it.”

Sonic opened his eyes and looked at him. He seemed so tired. “Promise?”

Miles nodded with a sweet smile on his face. “I promise.”

Sonic thought for a long moment, and then finally nodded. “Okay . . . Tails.”

“Come on.” Miles extended his hand to Sonic. “Let’s go.”

Slowly, Sonic took it. Miles had to force himself not to shiver as he pulled Sonic to his feet. Hands still clasped together, Miles began to lead Sonic out of the abandoned tunnels.

“Promise,” Sonic whispered to himself. “Vow. Pact. Oath. Pledge.”

That was the second time Miles heard Sonic chant synonyms to himself. Was it for verification? Reinforcement? Maybe right now, it was just meant to reassure him. That was fine by Miles. Sonic had had a rough time recently, and he deserved to feel okay again.

Chapter Text

Sonic wasn’t exactly sure where Tails had taken him. He called it the ‘Gifted’s’ headquarters, and that was about it. As they walked through the hallways, Sonic kept his flesh arms wrapped around himself in an attempt to conserve as much heat as possible. His eyes scanned everything around them in an attempt to analyze anything that could end up being a threat. Sonic’s mechanical arms were spread around him as well, their camera lenses serving as his backup set of eyes.

“It’s okay,” Tails said. “We’ll get you fixed up, I promise.”

Sonic nodded mutely. Promise. Vow. Oath. Pact. Pledge. Agreement. Contract. Word.

During their trip here, Tails had pulled out his communicator and called someone. Sonic had been tempted to track the signal, but had stopped himself. The person part of him remembered that it would kind of be an invasion of privacy. 

There had been many times over the past day where Sonic felt disconnected from his own body. That scared him. He’d fought for this body. Three times over at the same time. It was his and rightfully so. Yet, it felt foreign to him, like it wasn’t his. This was Sonic Hedgehog’s body, but could he say with absolute certainty that he was still that person? He was so different now. He was a hedgehog, a machine, and magic all in one.

This deep, cutting, penetrating cold also concerned Sonic. Was it a side effect of merging the artificial with the supernatural? Were they incompatible? Was this new, merged existence doomed to kill him? Sonic didn’t want to think about that. He wanted to pretend that nothing was wrong and continue to battle the cold with his little heater. He didn’t want to admit to Tails that he needed help, but he did anyway. He couldn’t hold out much longer and Sonic knew that. The strategic part of his brain told him to take whatever advantages he could get.

Another wave of cold hit Sonic like a truck and he stopped in his tracks, scrunching his eyes shut and shivering. He’d give anything to hold hot coals right now. He doubted it could actually burn him anyway.

“Sonic?” Tails’ voice came from far away. Sonic tried to use it as an anchor to pull himself back to reality, but the effort seemed wasted. Sonic only sank closer to darkness.

Sonic didn’t remember moving, but he suddenly found himself sitting on some kind of examination table. He was hunched over as he shivered and hugged himself, barely able to stay upright. His vision was blurry and unfocused and no matter how many times he blinked, it wouldn’t clear. Fuzzy sounds came into his ears that he couldn’t translate. It was as if he was hearing a different language. It was like he was underwater. There were two other people in the room. That was all he could tell.

Suddenly, Sonic felt hands gripping his shoulders firmly as a blurry mass stepped into his field of view. Incomprehensible words floated into his ears. Sonic felt tired. So, so tired.

Then, something hot was shoved into his hands. Blissfully warm. Sonic pressed the thing to his chest, just below the emerald. It was soft, like fabric. Maybe a homemade hand warmer? Next, something was wrapped around him, preserving what little warmth he had left. A blanket? Sonic rejoiced in his wonderful salvation. He thought everything was going to be okay . . . and then the cold started eating away at the hot.

Desperately, Sonic pressed the handwarmer harder into his chest. The cold felt like it was eating his brain now.

“Help,” Sonic tried to say, but all that came out was a pitiful whimper.

Then the rest of the blurred color faded away into darkness and he knew no more.

When Sonic came to, it wasn’t all at once. When he opened his eyes, his brain hadn’t quite woken up yet. He stared uncomprehendingly at the ceiling and the lights. No memories, no thoughts. Just sights and soon, sounds.

Sonic’s ears could understand the words now, but his brain wasn’t quite processing them yet. He just listened.

“The shock we gave him seemed to affect something in his gem,” one voice said. “That weird energy suddenly spiked and he became stable again.”

“From the looks of it, his gem produces that energy, but more often than not loses it faster than it can be replenished,” another voice added. “He needs it to survive. If this continues, his loss rate will increase and he may die. We need to find a way to either allow him to keep that energy or make enough to keep up with the demand.”

“But . . . we can’t exactly keep shocking him, can we?” a third voice asked in concern. “I’m no expert, but surely that can’t be good for him in the long run.”

“Ordinarily, I’d say you’re absolutely right, ma’am,” the second voice said. “However, this is a very strange case. The strangest I’ve ever seen. I’ve never come across someone who straight up merged with magic or technology, let alone both.”

His arms felt numb . . . Wait. Was it his mechanical or natural arms that he was not feeling?

The rest of Sonic’s brain cells slowly loaded in and he groaned faintly. “Tails . . . ?” It was his voice Sonic heard first.

In an instant, the yellow, twin tailed fox was at his side. “Sonic. Are you really back this time?”

He said that like Sonic had woken up at least once before this. Strange. Sonic didn’t remember that.

Sonic blinked slowly at Tails and mumbled, “Mmhmm.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better . . . what happened?”

“You collapsed in the hallway,” the second voice from before said. Sonic looked over and saw a red armadillo with black fur standing close by with his arms folded. “We tried to get you to stay awake so I could run some tests on you, but you were fading fast, no matter what we tried. I got you hooked up to my equipment as fast as I could to take some readings on you and that’s when we realized you were going into heart failure. Thankfully, the defibrillators brought you back.”

Sonic was too caught up in the phrase ‘hooked up’ to realize that he’d almost died. In a panic, he looked down and realized that several wires were stuck to him with tape. He jolted into sitting and began pulling them off him as fast as he could, hands shaking.

“Hey, woah, Sonic!” Tails tried to stop Sonic’s movements, but he wasn’t having it.

Sonic succeeded in removing all the wires and looked up to hiss at the armadillo defensively. He curled up into a ball and braced his hands against the cold surface he sat on. Meanwhile, two mechanical arms coiled around him for an extra layer of protection while the other four spread out, claws snapping menacingly and making their own artificial hissing sounds. The energy inside him seemed to swell with his heightened emotions and threatened to burst out at any moment. His insides felt like an active volcano.

“Sonic! Calm down!” Tails was holding his arm gently, a pleading look in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Stealer!” Sonic screamed. “Robber! Thief! Poacher! Burglar!”

“Sonic, he’s not going to take your body,” Tails said steadily. “I promised you, remember?”

“Promise,” Sonic breathed heavily. “Oath. Pact. Pledge. Vow. Agreement. Contract. Word.”

“Commitment,” Tails said, reaching down and grasping his hands. “Assurance. Covenant.”

“Promise . . .” Sonic breathed in deeply and let it out shakily. He leaned back against the wall, still clasping Tails’ hands tightly. He felt the pressure in his chest lessen and the fire calm. “Promise.” He closed his eyes, but kept his mechanical arms on lookout.

“Is . . . everything okay?” the third voice, that Sonic had forgotten about, asked. He swiveled around one of his arms to look for her, discovering she was a tan adult rabbit with red-brown markings on the tips of her ears and around her eyes.

“What was he talking about, Miles?” the armadillo asked.

“He doesn’t trust doctors,” Tails said. “I think he’s afraid of the equipment.”

“But why did he think I was going to take his body?” the armadillo said in confusion.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Tails admitted.

“Fought for it,” Sonic said hoarsely, reminding everyone that he was still very much conscious and understood everything they were saying about him. “Mine. Not yours.”

“I was never going to steal it from you,” the armadillo insisted.

“Mine,” Sonic reiterated, opening his eyes to glare at the armadillo.

“Sonic,” Tails said, getting his attention. “It’s alright.”

Sonic still wasn’t sure, but Tails was the only one here that he trusted. He’d had the chance to take advantage of him in the tunnels and when he passed out. Tails hadn’t. Instead, he’d helped Sonic. Sonic looked away and lowered his robotic arms back to a resting position.

“Well,” the rabbit said, clasping her hands together. “Now that we’re all a bit more calmed down, I believe some introductions are in order, yes?”

Tails already knew Sonic’s name somehow. He had no idea how, but he guessed the others already knew it too. He stayed silent and stared at the rabbit.

She seemed to get uncomfortable under his gaze and cleared her throat. “Well, my name is Vanilla Rabbit. I’m the overseer of the Gifted. That’s Mighty, our resident medic-”

“And strongest fighter here,” the armadillo interrupted smugly, flexing one of his arms.

“Of course,” Vanilla said with a tired smile. “And you’ve already met Miles-”

“Tails,” Sonic cut in. “His name is Tails.” 

Vanilla looked to Tails in confusion.

“He insisted on calling me that,” Tails explained with a shrug. “Not really sure why. I’m going along with it. It’s not bad as far as nicknames go.”

“Because you have two tails,” Sonic explained. Wasn’t that obvious? Besides, what kind of a name was ‘Miles’ anyway?

“Of course,” Vanilla nodded politely. The look in her eyes told Sonic that she thought he was weird. That didn’t bother him too much. He was weird. When he was part hedgehog, part machine, part sparkly magic rock, how could he not be?

Sonic rubbed the emerald with his thumb thoughtfully. The gem was definitely the new part of him that he knew the least about. With the robotic arms, he could use them naturally, as if they’d always been a part of him. As soon as they merged, he knew how to move them, use them for defense and other various tasks. He knew about the little cameras hidden in the center of their triple clawed fingers that he could use as extra eyes. It was different with the emerald. It was more mysterious. The gem held immense power, but Sonic didn’t innately know how to use it. At this point, it was all instinct. That energy gathering inside him just now had happened without him realizing. Controlling the nurse at the hospital hadn’t been entirely intentional. It was worrisome.

Besides all that, Sonic remembered expecting something. It was faint, but he remembered knowing that with the emerald, he would gain knowledge. Immense knowledge. Otherworldly knowledge. Unending knowledge. Knowledge far beyond what he’d ever be able to gain on his own. But as far as Sonic could tell . . . he hadn’t gotten that. He’d gained some new things, but that was mostly in relation to his mechanical arms. If anything, he knew less now. Most of his merging experience was hazy at best. Sonic didn’t want to admit it . . . but it was starting to fade even more.

So the question was: why hadn’t Sonic gained the knowledge he’d been expecting? Promised? Was something blocking it? If so, what was it? His unclear memory of the merge? Was that what was wrong?

Sonic blinked and discovered that the conversation had moved on without him. He must’ve zoned out for a bit. They were now discussing where he would stay and how they would keep an eye on his energy levels. Sonic shifted away from the computers on his right uncomfortably. Just because he was part machine now didn’t mean he liked other ones. What if they tried to take him for themselves? Sonic didn’t trust other artificial creations. He couldn’t control them like he could control his arms.

“He’ll have to stay here somewhere,” Vanilla said. “He has no family. The school adopted him and he lived in the dorms, but now that the school is gone . . .”

“Live in the tunnels now,” Sonic said. “Can go back there.”

“No,” Tails said immediately. “You can barely call that place a home. All you have is some miscellaneous stuff and a heater. Where did you even get that anyway?”

Sonic looked away. He didn’t want to admit that he’d actually stolen most of that stuff last night. He was desperate. He had no money. He wasn’t really thinking at the time, but now he was ashamed of what he’d done.

“Besides. I need to keep an eye on you tonight,” Mighty said.

Sonic shook his head fiercely, knowing what Mighty meant by that. “No. No no no no no-”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Mighty interrupted. “I just want to keep you safe. I’m not gonna let you die.”

Sonic didn’t respond. He didn’t trust Mighty. However good Mighty claimed his intentions were, he could be lying.

“What if . . . we did this a bit differently?” Tails suggested. He waited until Sonic met his gaze, questioningly. “You trust me, right?”

“Trust,” Sonic said with a nod. “Believe. Depend. Rely.”

Tails smiled. “So what if I was the one who stayed with you tonight and kept an eye on you? I would have to hook you up to Mighty’s equipment, but, ” Tails stopped Sonic before he could freak out, “It would be okay because I’d make sure nothing bad happens. You know I’m not going to do anything to you. I’m not going to take your body. I’m just going to make sure you stay safe. How does that sound?”

Sonic hesitated, then nodded slowly. He supposed that would be okay. At least he hoped so. He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.

“But if something does happen, you need to call me,” Mighty insisted, pinning Tails under his firm gaze.

Tails nodded. “Right.”

Soon, Sonic found himself in a new room. It looked like a bedroom and had all the things you would expect a bedroom to have, but it felt off to him. Sonic still didn’t know what this place was, but he didn’t really expect it to have places to sleep.

They passed a window on the way there and Sonic discovered that the sun was setting. He must’ve been out for longer than he calculated. It would be night soon but Sonic knew he wouldn’t be sleeping.

Sonic stared around the room and rubbed his wrists. It seemed too small. If he made himself taller with his robotic arms, he wouldn’t be able to reach his full height before he ran into the ceiling. There was only one door he could use as an escape. If it wasn’t available, Sonic was sure he could break through a wall or the ceiling. Pretty sure at least. Mostly sure.

“Do you need me to get anything for you?” Tails asked.

Sonic didn’t respond. He was too busy staring at Mighty as he brought various kinds of equipment into the room.

Mighty noticed and turned towards him. “That death stare thing you do is really creepy by the way, dude.”

Sonic blinked. Death stare? He didn’t know what that looked like. He didn’t even realize he was doing it. Whatever it was.

Mighty sighed. “Seriously. It’s okay. I’ve just gotta get the rest of this stuff in here and then I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night.” Without another word, The armadillo left the room for the rest of the equipment.

“Sonic?” Tails suddenly spoke up.

“Don’t trust him,” Sonic said, eyes glued to the door.

“Well, if it counts for anything, I’ve known Mighty since I joined the Gifted two years ago,” Tails offered. “He’s a really good guy. His primary concern is keeping us all safe. Well, aside from Knuckles. Those two happily beat each other up to prove who’s the strongest. And before you get any ideas, no, you don’t get to join in. You’d probably trounce them anyway.”

“Trounce. Defeat heavily in contest,” Sonic murmured to himself. He turned to look at the fox boy. “You think I’m that strong?”

“You must be,” Tails said with a smile. “Between your arms and that gem, you’re probably a very powerful fighter. I was actually afraid you were going to kill me when I found you down in the tunnels.” Tails laughed nervously.

“Wouldn’t do that,” Sonic said immediately, surprised at the idea. “You’re my friend.”

Tails’ face instantly brightened. “Really? I am?”

“Yes.” Sonic couldn’t quite explain why he trusted Tails. He hadn’t done anything to prove himself untrustworthy as of yet, but it was more than that. It was as if Sonic was always meant to meet Tails eventually, and they were destined to be friends.

Chapter Text

Miles was able to get Sonic hooked up to Mighty’s equipment, but he could tell that the hedgehog didn’t like it. He got very fidgety.

“Try to get some sleep, Sonic,” Miles advised. “The sooner morning comes, the sooner we can get this stuff off of you.” This was a bit of a lie on Miles’ part. They had no idea what to do to keep Sonic’s gem generating the amount of energy he needed at all times. If they couldn’t figure it out, they’d need to keep him hooked up so they could keep an eye on his vitals. Miles only lied to Sonic because it hurt his heart to see him so nervous and scared.

Maybe Miles could come up with some sort of compact bio-data reader for Sonic . . . Would he be okay with that?

Sonic never went to sleep. At some point, he curled into a ball, wrapping all his arms around himself. Miles heard Sonic murmuring to himself but couldn’t quite make out what he said. It might’ve been more synonyms.

Somewhere between 3:30 and 4:00, Miles got up and checked Sonic’s heart monitor. His pulse was fast, but at least it wasn’t slowing down like it had earlier. The poor guy was just stressed. Miles brought out his makeshift energy detector and was relieved to find that the signal wafting off of Sonic was strong.

Miles came and sat down on the bed next to Sonic, placing a gentle hand on the hedgehog’s shoulder. “You really need to get some sleep,” he whispered.

Sonic uncurled just enough so that Miles could see his face. He opened his eyes and stared at Miles silently.

“Too scared to sleep?” Miles guessed with a faint smile. “I know how you feel . . . After I went on my first mission with the Gifted, things got put into perspective for me. Our world is really dangerous. I was afraid of letting my guard down by going to sleep. If you’re not on guard, you could die.”

Sonic let out a shaky sigh and buried his face again. “Scared . . .”

“That’s what friends are for, I guess,” Miles said, his smile growing a bit wider. He still couldn’t quite believe that Sonic had called him his friend. He’d never really had friends before. The other members of the Gifted were nice to him, sure, but he still wasn't sure if they counted as friends. “Hey . . . Can I be honest for a second? Is that alright?”

“Mmm,” Sonic mumbled.

“Well . . . I don’t . . . I don’t know how to make you not scared anymore,” Miles admitted, hugging his arms. “I wish there was something I could do or say to make your fears go away. I wish it was that simple . . . But it’s not. You’ve been through some crazy stuff that I don’t understand. But if you’re serious that we’re friends now, then I’m gonna be serious too. I’m gonna stay by your side until everything’s okay again. Even if I’m not able to fix everything, I’ll still do my best to support you instead. Is that . . . good enough?”

Sonic looked up at Miles. “Yeah,” he murmured. “Good . . . enough. Thank you . . .”

Miles smiled. “You’re welcome.” He scooted a little bit closer to Sonic. “Friends?”

Sonic nodded. He slowly extended a hand and placed it on top of Miles’ head. “Friends.”

For his entire life, people had told Mighty that he had a big heart. For the longest time, he didn’t understand what they meant. Now though, he was pretty sure he did.

When Miles stumbled into the clinic yesterday with a barely conscious, half-robotic blue hedgehog in his arms, Mighty had leaped into action. He recognized the blue hedgehog as Sonic, the kid who got taken to the hospital after the school collapsed. Mighty couldn’t say he knew Sonic very well, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was making sure he was okay.

The next hour or so had been pretty stressful as Mighty did everything he could to keep Sonic alive. Once he got the hedgehog stable, all he could do was wait for him to wake up as he discussed things with Miles and Vanilla.

When Sonic woke up and their plan of action for the night was decided, Mighty decided to stay at headquarters for the night just in case he was needed. He called his parents to let them know what he was doing and then settled into his room.

The entire night, Mighty found it difficult to fall asleep. He was worried about Sonic. The hedgehog had hovered dangerously close to death’s door today. It had shaken Mighty. He’d never failed to save someone. Except . . . well . . . Mighty shivered.

Mighty paced back and forth in his room, checking his communicator every few minutes to see if Miles was trying to call him. No news was good news. It meant nothing was going wrong on Miles’ end. But it still worried Mighty. He wanted to go check in on them, but if Sonic was still awake, he’d just freak out at the sight of Mighty.

Sighing, Mighty sat down heavily on his bed. Just then, the tablet on his nightstand lit up with a notification. Mighty picked up his tablet and saw that it was a message from his little sister, Matilda. 

Matilda: You still up?

Mighty: Yea

A moment later, the screen changed to show Matilda’s profile picture as the tablet began to vibrate. She was video calling him. Mighty made sure the volume on the tablet was turned down and pressed the ‘answer button.’

“Hey, Tilly,” Mighty said as her video started. Matilda had the same black fur as him, but had a green shell and green eyes. She was currently dressed in a pale pink tank top. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Nope,” Matilda said, shaking her head. She often had trouble getting to sleep. “How about you?” Her voice was soft, calm, and somewhat flat in tone, like it always was.

“I can’t sleep at a time like this,” Mighty murmured. “It’s been a crazy day.”

“Hmm,” Matilda said. “So, who’s the mystery patient you had to stay with tonight?”

“Remember how I told you about that kid who didn’t make it out before my school collapsed and had to go to the hospital?” Mighty asked. Matilda nodded. “Well, apparently, when he woke up, he broke out and disappeared. Miles went and found him today. He was in pretty bad shape.”

“Is he okay now?” Matilda asked.

“So far, yeah,” Mighty said. “We wanted to monitor him tonight, but the guy’s super paranoid about medical equipment . . . and me.”

“So he doesn’t want you around? Why are you still there then?”

“I want to be here just in case his vitals start going downhill again,” Mighty explained. “So far so good but . . . I’m still worried.”

“I hope he’ll be okay . . .” Matilda said, concern evident in her quiet voice.

“I’m gonna do everything I can,” Mighty promised. He wasn’t going to lose anyone. Mighty decided to change the subject. “Anyway. How’s your new prosthetic?”

Matilda lost one of her arms in . . . an accident a few years ago. Mighty had been working ever since to build her a suitable robotic prosthetic. His success had been mixed. Mighty wasn’t the best at building robotic limbs, but he was doing the best he could.

“I’m not wearing it right now,” Matilda said, showing him how her right shoulder currently had nothing attached to it. “But it’s been good so far. Not too uncomfortable. Accurate enough. I haven’t come across any glitches yet either.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t glitch at all,” Mighty chuckled. That was wishful thinking. They both knew how horrendous his coding skills were. He needed to get better.

The siblings stayed up talking to each other for close to another thirty minutes before Mighty told his sister to try to get some sleep. They ended the video call with a ‘good night’ and an ‘I love you,’ from each of them.

Mighty loved talking with Matilda. It helped to take his mind off of things for a while. But even still, it didn’t change the fact that there was a hedgehog with a gem in his chest that needed Mighty. He needed help. He needed a solution to his energy problem. If he didn’t get it, Mighty was afraid of what would happen as a result.

Mighty shook his head to rid himself of that thought. He started researching from his tablet, desperately looking for something that could help Sonic. He was going to do everything he possibly could to save the hedgehog. He wasn’t going to fail.

He wasn’t going to lose him.

Chapter Text

Somehow, Sonic finally managed to get to sleep. He honestly didn’t remember falling asleep. He’d been sitting on the bed next to Tails, watching the fox work on his homework. He didn’t notice himself sagging. Then Sonic blinked.

His eyes remained closed, but he could feel that he’d changed positions. He was laying down now, with a blanket pulled across him.

There was a strange feeling in Sonic’s chest. It was half way between cold and warm. It was buzzing. Pulsing. He could feel energy flowing out of his gem and into his body. It wasn’t quite the amount he needed, but it wasn’t too little that it would kill him either. He was tentatively safe for now.

Not wanting to open his eyes yet, Sonic opted to use the cameras in his mechanical arms to do some reconnaissance. The lights in the room were off, but his internal clock told him it was morning. Various medical machines were nearby, still here from last night, and they were still attached to him. And-

Tails wasn’t here.

Urgently, Sonic dragged his eyes open and forced himself up into sitting. Tails. He was gone. Where was he?

Tails was gone. Absent. Missing. Lost. Unaccounted for.

He knew coming here was a bad idea! He knew that armadillo - Mighty - couldn’t be trusted. Now he’d stolen Tails. He’d stolen Tails!

Sonic felt a wildfire start in his chest. Every panicked breath he took fed the flames. His flesh hands were shaking as he stared helplessly at the wires that were stuck to his arms.

He hated them he hated them he hated them. He had to get them off. He had to save Tails!

But Sonic couldn’t move. He was frozen. The more the heat inside him increased, the harder he froze. Each new breath was a struggle. The very air was choking him. 

Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it MAKE IT STOP!!!

The artificial part of Sonic’s brain was screaming at him. He was going to overheat , he was going to shut down.

Close the tasks that were unnecessary, that were taking up too much space. 

Sight? He wasn’t using that right now. Close.

Hearing? Same. Close.

That wasn’t much. He needed to free up more space or this storm inside him would cause everything to collapse, crash, shut down.

He needed-

He needed to-

He had too much energy.

He needed to get it out. 

Though the world was currently on mute, Sonic felt himself scream. He opened the floodgates and let the torrent of energy pour out of him however it wanted to. It felt good. It felt cleansing.

Chaotic.

Free.

You’ll hurt something , the other part of his brain said. What about Tails? What if he’s still here?

Tails . . .

Tails!

Sonic thrust his mind into the nearest piece of technology available. He jumped between it and another piece of equipment, then another, then another, until he found some important computer. He downloaded a map of this place and then pulled his mind back. 

He couldn’t give himself his sight back yet. Too much information to process. No, this was much simpler. Much less likely to overload himself. 

Sonic stumbled to his feet, using two of his robotic arms to steady himself as his legs shook like the ground was going to split apart beneath him. With the help of the map, Sonic lurched towards the door of the room. It was gone by the time he got there.

The storm raged on around him. The fear of the energy hurting Tails looped back around inside of Sonic, causing him to produce more energy, which made his emotions rise even higher. Around and around and around. A never ending cycle of the paranoia feeding itself, climbing higher and higher inside of Sonic until there was no room for anything else.

Sonic collapsed at the end of a hallway. He hadn’t made much progress away from the room where he started. Pathetic. Pitiful. Worthless. Tails was going to die and it was all his fault.

Sonic wrapped his six mechanical arms around himself, tightly. In vain, he tried to suppress the dangerous energy flowing out of him. It still managed to find a way to continue on. It slipped through the cracks. The floodgates had been opened and they could not be persuaded back closed.

Rebellious tears slipped out of Sonic’s unseeing eyes. He felt so helpless. It was like he was back in Robotnik’s lab again.

He still couldn’t remember much about what happened. But he remembered the pain. He remembered the turmoil. The war that waged inside of him. He remembered how useless it had made him feel. He’d been dragged along for the ride, unable to influence anything.

Until . . .

What?

He’d done something . . . Something to change how things happened . . ,

How?

Suddenly, Sonic felt something. Something external. It was a relief after all the internal pain. The external world still existed. It wasn’t gone yet. He hadn’t destroyed it. Sonic tried to focus on the feeling. What was it?

A touch. A gentle touch. 

Hands. Hands on his shoulders. His rigid, burning shoulders.

Gentle. Soft. Tender. Light.

The hands rubbed his shoulders slightly, encouraging them to relax. Sonic took deep breaths, trying to separate himself from all the pain and fear. His tense muscles slowly relaxed under the coaching from those kind hands. His robotic arms slowly uncoiled, falling to his sides. Sonic realized that the energy spilling out of him had calmed and settled into a strong - but contained - glow in his chest. He decided it was probably safe to give himself back his hearing now and tentatively did so. 

He reopened the program, keeping the volume down low at first and increasing it back up to normal as he deemed himself prepared. The owner of those hands must’ve seen his ears twitching because a voice suddenly appeared.

“There you go. That’s it! You’re okay. You’re okay.” The voice wasn’t Tails’. That made sense, Sonic realized. Tails’ hands were different. They were a bit smaller. They were less sure when it came to touching him. They were hesitant. Not like these hands.

The voice was also higher than Tails’. It was clearly feminine. It stayed soft for now, still trying to comfort him. 

Tails had comforted him last night. The owner of this voice comforted Sonic now. But . . .

“T-Tails?” Sonic asked. His voice wavered. He was straining. He was going to collapse under the weight of his voice, but he had to know. Where was Tails? Was he okay? What happened to him?

“Tails?” the voice repeated, confused.

“Tails. F-Friend,” Sonic choked out, trying to clarify. He didn’t know who this voice - this girl - was, but maybe she knew him. He was still in that HQ Tails had talked about, right? There had to be some people here who knew the fox.

“Oh!” the girl breathed quietly. “That’s right! Miles told me that’s what you call him. Is that right, Sonic?”

Sonic nodded shakily. “Tails . . . T-Tails . . .”

The girl didn’t respond for a moment. It was like she was thinking . . . or listening. “Don’t worry. He’s safe. I’ll call him, but can we get you back to your room first?”

How . . . ? How did she know Sonic was worried about Tails’ safety? He could barely speak right now, let alone communicate something that complex!

“Sonic? Did you hear me?” the girl asked in concern. He must’ve spent a bit too long thinking.

Sonic shivered at the idea of going back in that room, with all those machines, but this girl seemed nice. She didn’t want to hurt him. She wouldn’t allow him to get hurt. Shakily, he nodded.

He started to get to his feet and the girl helped him up the rest of the way. He could barely support his own weight, but the girl didn’t seem to mind. She was impressively strong. Sturdy. Powerful.

And somehow so gentle at the same time.

It was so strange how Sonic’s brain decided so quickly that he could trust some people and not trust others. Was there a reason for it? He had no idea. He hoped his instincts were right. He hoped he really could trust this girl.

Soon, Sonic found himself settling back onto the bed. It was a welcome relief for his sore muscles. He took another deep breath. He was feeling much better. It was probably safe to turn his sight back on now too.

Like with his hearing, he turned up the intensity slowly. One blink and he found the world in front of him mostly black with hints of blurry shapes. Another blink and the darkness cleared, giving way to fuzzy blobs of color. Another blink. And another. Clearer and clearer.

Sonic heard the girl across the room, talking. She was contacting Tails, like she said she would.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, Miles, I’m okay.” Pause. “Miss Vanilla isn’t here yet and Sonic asked for you specifically.” Pause. “Mighty?” Pause. “Oh, I didn’t know he was still here. He probably fell asleep at some point last night.” Pause. “That’s nice of him, but we all know he can’t pull all nighters.” Pause. The girl laughed, probably at something Tails said. “Anyway, will you give Miss Vanilla a call and get here as soon as you can?” Pause. “Thanks, Miles. See you soon!”

Sonic’s gaze finally focused enough for him to make out the details of the girl. She was a hedgehog, like him. She was pink and her quills were cut short with a light green bow tying them back slightly, kinda like a headband. She wore a white sweater with green stripes, along with slightly baggy, faded jeans and white sneakers. As she ended her phone call with Tails and turned back towards him, Sonic took in her breathtaking jade colored eyes.

She seemed to realize he could actually see her now and smiled. She slipped her phone into her pocket and walked over to him. “Hey. I didn’t really introduce myself did I? My name’s Amy. Amy Rose.

“Amy . . .” Sonic whispered hoarsely, staring at her. “S-Sonic . . . me . . . Are you . . . f-friend?”

Amy smiled again. It seemed to light up the entire room. “If you want me to be.”

Sonic nodded. “Y-Yes . . . T-Tails? Where . . . ?”

“He’s on his way,” Amy assured him.

“Safe . . . ?”

“He’s completely safe,” Amy promised. “He needed to leave for a few minutes so he could grab some supplies to make something for you. He asked me to come in a bit early to check on you and make sure you were okay. It’s a good thing he did! The moment I got here, I could feel you freaking out like it was the end of the world.”

“Feel?” Sonic questioned. Feel. Touch. Sense. Observe. Identify. Didn’t make sense. Feel was a physical thing. How could she feel - sense - touch - his emotions?

“Oh! Right, I need to clarify,” Amy said, chuckling sheepishly. She sat down on the bed next to him. “I’m psychic. I can sometimes sense people’s thoughts, among a few other things. It’s stronger with you for some reason though. So, when I arrived earlier, I felt you panicking as clearly as if I was feeling it myself.”

Made sense. Amy had seemed to know what he was thinking earlier when he asked for Tails. She knew he was worried. Worried about Tails’ safety. It was a little worrying that someone - someone who wasn’t even a computer - could invade his mind so easily though.

Probably sensing his thoughts again, Amy placed a reassuring hand on Sonic’s knee. “It’s okay. I just wanna help you. Your mind is yours. I can’t influence it at all. I promise.”

“Promise,” Sonic whispered, nodding. “Vow. Oath.”

Miles made his way back to HQ as fast as he could. He’d been worried enough when he left, but Sonic’s vitals had communicated that he was deeply asleep and should’ve stayed that way until the fox’s return. He was willing to take the risk if it meant being able to make a biometric scanner for Sonic. Miles had asked Amy to come in early to check on the unstable hedgehog, but he hadn’t really thought her presence would be actually needed. Miles thanked Gaia now that she’d been there. He didn’t know what would’ve happened if she hadn’t been.

Arriving at HQ, Miles swiped his ID through the card reader and yanked the door open as soon as it unlocked. He barreled through the halls as fast as he could, using his twin tails to give himself a bit of a speed boost. As he approached Sonic’s room, the destruction made itself known. Everything across the hallway looked burned. Some things had been half way disintegrated. Furniture and potted plants were toppled over, wall decorations ceased to exist, and there were even holes in the ceiling in some places, allowing you to look up into the second floor. Thankfully, it seemed everything would be easy enough to replace. This wasn’t nearly as bad as the damage to the school had been.

Sonic’s room no longer had a door when Miles finally got there. Inside, the destruction was much of the same, though the bed had somehow miraculously managed to maintain the shape of a bed instead of a pile of ash . Miles stepped inside to find a tense Sonic eying Mighty with a half snarl on his face. Mighty had a blood pressure gauge wrapped around Sonic’s arm and was trying his best to ignore the hedgehog’s death glare. Meanwhile, Amy sat next to Sonic with a reassuring hand on his shoulder, talking to him softly.

“I’m here!” Miles announced.

Sonic looked up immediately as Mighty took the blood pressure gauge off. “ Tails .” He bolted to his feet as fast as he could and hobbled over on unsteady legs. 

Miles met him halfway so he wouldn’t have to walk too far. With a small smile, he spread his arms wide, offering a hug if the hedgehog wanted it.

Sonic hesitated for a moment before cautiously wrapping his arms around the fox. Miles returned the hug gladly. This felt good. Nice. Right.

“You got here just in time,” Mighty remarked. “I was starting to worry he was going to get fed up with me soon.”

Miles offered a short laugh before pulling away from Sonic so he could look at him. “Are you okay?” he asked the strange hedgehog.

“ You’re okay,” Sonic said instead of answering. Behind him, one of his robotic arms eyed Mighty suspiciously. Mighty shifted uncomfortably for a second before busying himself by picking up his tablet to type something - probably notes.

“You thought I wasn’t?” Miles said, confused.

“Got scared,” Sonic murmured, looking away. He reached up and rubbed his gem with his thumb. “You were gone. Thought you were in trouble.”

“Oh,” Miles said, eyes widening in understanding. “I’m sorry, Sonic. I thought I could get back before you woke up. I should’ve left a note or something.”

“Broke things,” Sonic whispered, shoulders hunched. “Sorry . . .”

“It’s okay, Sonic,” Miles promised. “No one got hurt. That’s what matters.”

Sonic managed a rough nod and then took Miles’ hand, leading him back over to the bed so they could sit together. Miles tried to support his friend a bit so he wouldn’t fall down.

“Thank you for being here, Amy,” Miles said sincerely, taking a seat next to Sonic.

The pink hedgehog responded with a wide smile. “Of course! I’m glad I got here in time.”

“Hmm . . .” Mighty suddenly murmured, getting their attention. He was staring at his tablet with a contemplative look on his face.

“What is it, Mighty?” Amy questioned.

“Well, I was looking over Sonic’s vitals,” Mighty started, looking up. “The machines must’ve gotten disconnected before the worst of his little energy storm happened, but the data they managed to collect is . . . interesting.”

“What?” Miles asked. Next to him, Sonic shifted uneasily, staring down at his bare feet.

“Sonic’s vitals were strong. Stable,” Mighty reported, turning the screen around so they could see. Sure enough, the graphs showed steady readings, nothing like how low they had dipped yesterday. “His gem was producing the amount of energy needed for him to survive. Sonic told us the energy started building up when he started to get worried about you, Miles.”

“So it’s connected to his emotions then?” Miles asked.

“It certainly looks that way,” Mighty nodded.

“Interesting. Though I’d like to confirm that if we can,” Miles said to himself. He turned to Sonic. “What were your emotions like when the school collapsed? Do you remember?”

“Wait, wait, back up, Miles!” Amy jumped in, shaking her head. “Let me get this straight. Are you implying that Sonic’s energy is the reason the school collapsed? When did you learn about this?”

“Well, I . . . I detected a strange new energy signature in the school not long before everything came down,” Miles admitted, squirming uncomfortably. “But there are new experiments happening all the time, so I figured it was nothing to worry about! It spiked right before the collapse, and my energy reader seems to show that it’s the same kind Sonic has.”

“Hmm,” Mighty hummed. “Is there anything else you haven’t told us?”

“Sonic told me he doesn’t remember much about what happened, but he remembers Robotnik asking for his help with something in his lab

“Robotnik, huh?” Amy mused. “Why did he ask for Sonic specifically? Did he know all this would happen?”

“Definitely weird, but we can talk about it later,” Mighty interjected. “Sonic. What do you think? Is your power connected to your emotions? Or can you control it any other way? 

All eyes turned to Sonic, silently. Logically, he should know more about his gem’s energy than any of them.

It took a few seconds for Sonic to respond, but he finally looked up. “Power is . . . part of me, but . . . mystery . . .” He cupped his hands over the gem. “Potential . . . hidden . . . Memory . . . warped. ” He closed his eyes as if he was in pain. “Don’t know . . .” he whispered.

“Hey . . . It’s okay,” Miles promised. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”

Sonic nodded mutely.

“Well, he was stable in the hospital for a long time after the accident,” Mighty said. “Given that, my guess is that he at least shouldn’t run out of energy for a while. That gives us time to figure something out. We just need to keep him out of high stress situation and avoid the possibility of our emotions theory proving true. The last thing we need is another energy explosion.”

“In that case,” Amy spoke up. “I say we just try to have a good day with Sonic! He’s been having a tough time lately. He deserves to have some fun!”

“Not too much fun though,” Mighty pressed.

“It’s not like we’re taking him to an amusement park!” Amy returned, folding her arms. “He’ll stay here in HQ. He is technically still supposed to be in the hospital after all.”

“If you say so.”

“Party pooper.” Amy stuck her tongue at the armadillo.

“Only if you’re okay with that though, Sonic,” Miles checked.

“Guess so . . .” Sonic said quietly.

“Alright!” Amy smiled, standing up. “First things first, I say let’s get some breakfast! We should be able to make something good in the kitchen!”

Sonic felt . . . strange. The energy in his chest was buzzing like a hyperactive bumblebee. It wasn’t uncomfortable. It was just . . . weird. 

He was trying to ignore it. 

Amy said they were going to get breakfast, so that’s what he was trying to focus on right now. He liked Amy. She was nice. Tails went with them. Sonic liked Tails too. Mighty trailed after them for a bit before mumbling something about he was going to go home to check on . . . who? Sonic didn’t quite catch the name. He was glad Mighty was gone. He didn’t like the armadillo.

He didn’t know why.

Sonic sat quietly at a table when they arrived at the kitchen. He listened to Tails explain how most of the Gifted members hung out here at HQ on Saturdays (today was a Saturday apparently). He watched Amy fry some eggs and cook some sausages for them. They were going to have breakfast sandwiches. 

At some point, Vanilla stopped by to check on them and ask Tails what happened. Once she got the story and was satisfied that everything was okay now, she left, probably to call someone about repairing the damage Sonic had caused.

Other Gifted kids drifted in and out of the kitchen. Some of them came closer to ask about Sonic, but when he looked up to stare at them, they seemed to get uncomfortable and made excuses to leave again.

The only kid that wasn’t deterred by Sonic’s gaze was a red echidna that approached them. He seemed more interested in talking to Amy than he was curious about Sonic though. He looked older than all three of them, though he seemed only a year ahead of Sonic at the most. He was tall, with lots of muscle and some of his quills tied back in a ponytail. He wore a black jacket with what looked to be a white tank top underneath, along with black combat boots.

Sonic didn’t immediately pick up a bad feeling from him, despite the echidna’s intimidating look. When he didn’t squirm under Sonic’s stare, the hedgehog went back to looking down.

“I heard what happened,” the echidna stated. His voice was fairly deep. “You guys okay?”

Amy nodded. “Yeah! We’re fine, Knuckles. Oh, hey! Since you're here, are you gonna join us for breakfast, cousin of mine?” She smiled at him lightheartedly as she finished making the three breakfast sandwiches.

“Already ate,” Knuckles replied shortly. “Just wanted to check on you. I’m gonna go train. Call me if you need me.”

“You’re no fun!” Amy giggled. “Well, your loss!” Amy called, bringing their breakfast to the table.

“Bye!” Tails spoke up, waving a bit. 

Sonic looked up to watch the echidna as he left. He heard the name Knuckles yesterday, hadn’t he? Knuckles . . . didn’t someone say he was rivals with Mighty?

Breakfast passed without incident, and then Sonic was pulled elsewhere in the vast building that was Gifted HQ. It felt like he was just along for the ride. A passenger. Observer. Questions and statements were occasionally aimed at him, and Sonic did his best to answer, but he was finding it harder and harder to open his mouth. The stress of the morning (and last night) was really catching up to him now. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Sonic had stopped paying attention a while ago. He didn’t really know where they were now. He found himself sitting . . . somewhere . . . just trying to stay awake. He placed a hand on his gem, focusing on the buzzing, throbbing, pulsing.

“Sonic?” Tails’ voice cut through the lazy static in Sonic’s brain. He looked up abruptly, shaking his head in an attempt to wake himself. “Are you okay?”

Sonic nodded slowly. “Tired,” he whispered.

Tails grabbed Sonic’s hand gently, helping him to his feet. “Let’s find somewhere for you to take a nap. Sound good?”

Sonic nodded, eyes drooping again.

Amy took his other hand at some point. Sonic was barely conscious. They stopped somewhere. It probably wasn’t Sonic’s room from last night. The bed in there was hardly fit for sleeping anymore. Sonic didn’t see any real need to figure out where Tails and Amy had brought him. He was safe with them.

Sonic let himself drift peacefully into sleep mode.

He trusted them.