Chapter Text
Harsh light shines through the bars of the cage, mostly serving just to blind its occupant, obscuring the room he sits in as his eyes struggle to adjust.
The only potential comfort in the cell is the amount of space, which only truly serves to make it feel emptier than it already is.
Outside lay a long corridor, and below it what seems to be an arena. Neither of which are accessible from the cell, electronically and heavily locked, without a key.
Back inside, the sole occupant, Sonic the Hedgehog...
Is bored out of his damn mind.
It's been a month since he got captured, and nothing's happened.
Other than a brief moment of excitement - glee, honestly - that he got when he managed to convince Orbot and Cubot to give him some disinfectant and bandages for his wound, and the occassional Badnik giving him nutrient paste and tasteless "protein bars", nobody's come to visit.
On the one hand, he's not particularly bothered by this. To put it simply, the Resistance just doesn't have enough horsepower to break orbit, so it's not like anyone could come searching for him.
On the other, he doesn't like it at all.
Eggman's planning something.
Well, obviously, duh. Eggman's always cooking up some scheme or another.
But everything about this specific time feels different.
The egghead's never tried to kidnap him before. Never succeeded, either.
There's something else going on here. Something bigger than Eggman...
Or maybe someone?
Before he can ruminate for much longer, a screen comes out of the ceiling.
Weird...
It moves itself so he can see it, stays blank for a few seconds more, then lights up, prompting Sonic to blink at the sudden bright.
On it, it shows a live feed of...
"Tails?"
They're on the surface, gripping their Miles Electric like a lifeline. Too busy with whatever's on it to care if they might be in danger - which, if Eggman's able to watch him, they absolutely are.
They walk through the empty streets, sticking close to buildings but never slipping into them. Not even considering that they should be trying to hide, keep themself safe...
Sonic frowns. That's not like its little bro at all. Sure, they can be a little reckless if they get too confident, but they're usually at least careful enough to match that recklessness.
So what the hell're they thinking?
Suddenly, the camera zooms in, showing what Tails is looking for.
Access to the Eggnet.
The location of the Death Egg.
The presumed location of Sonic.
Well, that's sweet, but they still should be thinking of themself! He's more than fine here, even if he's stuck in a tiny, kinda gross cage. Tails is the one who's in danger.
Furrowing his brow, tapping his foot, Sonic stands up and walks closer to the screen.
Then, he notices...
Tails is shaking.
But it's not with fear, Sonic catches that instantly. If they were afraid, they'd be a hell of a lot more cautious than they're being now.
No, they're shaking with...
Grief?
...Oh, shit.
Tail falling, ears flat against his head, Sonic continues watching as realization washes over him.
Tails must think he's dead.
Beaten to crap, taken by Eggman, and then the Death Egg just disappears? No sight of hide nor hair for months, especially with his injuries?
But... they'd never give up on him. They haven't given up on him. They still got hope.
But it doesn't look like hope's what's propelling them forward as they feverishly input hundreds of passwords, desperately trying to get into Eggman's systems.
No, they're not running on hope.
They're running on desperation.
A gasp from the kit perks Sonic's ears back on, and his eyes widen as he watches the screen.
Several egg-droids advance on them, and they growl at the interruption.
Strapping the Miles Electric to their waistband, they turn to the opposition and revv up a spindash, more than ready to fight.
They destroy each of the droids with ease... except for one, which they simply disable, ripping its limbs apart and leaving it unable to move or attack.
The hell?
Instead of doing the, you know, logical course of action, and going to tell the Resistance about the attack, or even trying to find somewhere a little safer so Eggman doesn't send literal swarms of droids their way, Tails sits down, rips the disabled droid open, and shoves some sort of plug into some part of its circuitry.
They sit next to the droid, leaning against it as if it'd somehow give them some cover, and resume their work.
Sonic takes one last, forlorn look at the kit...
Then turns his face away.
"Yeah, I, uh... really don't get what you're trying to go for, here, Egghead," Sonic says, pretending to pick his nose to really show how unamused he is, "I mean, I appreciate the chance to check up on my baby brother, but..."
Ear flicking, he continues, humming.
"Y'know, just, remind me, what's your angle here, again? 'Cause I can't really critique your ideas if I don't even know where you're coming from."
Eyes lidded but brows raised, it scoffs as it hears an all too familiar "OOOOH-HOH-HOH!" through a mic somewhere in their room.
"Tell me, Sonic, do you not feel terrible, knowing your little brother is so willing to sacrifice his own life just to have a chance at saving yours?" Eggman laughs, "Doesn't it just tear you up inside? Torture you?"
Well, yeah, duh. Seeing Tails like that left a pit in his stomach, deep and gnawing, and it took practically everything Sonic had to not scream, beg for them to hear him, to know that he's here, he's okay-
But it's sure as hell not gonna tell Eggman that.
"Not really," he lies, more than convincing enough regardless, "Tails can take care of themself - it is themself, by the by. You're nowhere near earning the right to just call them whatever you wanna."
Hilariously enough, this gives Eggman pause - seems he didn't realize being archenemies for years doesn't automatically make you friends.
"Nevermind the brat's pronouns!!!" Eggman yells, minding the brat's pronouns, "Showing you their state was only phase one of my plan! I'll get to you soon enough, Sonic! Just wait and see!"
"Yeah, the only thing getting to me is the quality of the grub here, it's awful," Sonic grins, not threatened in the slightest, "You're super-rich or whatever, right? Can't you hire a chef, or something?"
"I've heard the food in the Resistance is quite good," Eggman smirks, "Why don't you tell me where it is, and I'll kidnap one of its chefs for you?"
"Yeah, not a chance," Sonic yawns, "Convo's boring now, so I'm gonna take a nap. You don't mind, do ya, eggface?"
Eggman grumbles, but at least, to his credit, he does turn the mic off, letting silence fill the room.
Letting out a contented sigh, Sonic plops himself down on the prison bed he'd been resting these past few nights, rests his arms behind his head, and...
Doesn't sleep.
His mind's full of thoughts of Tails. His little bro.
Are they still with the Resistance, or did they run off? Were they alone, or did someone insist on accompanying them, to make sure they wouldn't get hurt?
Why they hell couldn't they think of themself for once?
Why'd it have to be about him and not them?
Sonic doesn't let an ounce of emotion grace his face.
He won't give Eggman any fuel.
But his spikes puff out, and he shakes a little, fighting the urge to curl up into a ball, clutch his chest fur and pretend it's the little brother he selfishly left behind.
He's gotta get out of her. And quick.
Good thing speed's just his style...