Chapter Text
As the sun set on the paradise that is Green Hill, a golden being levitated in the sky. A familiar presence to most, Super Sonic gazed upon the horizon, past the hillside and across the open ocean. There was a gentle breeze with few clouds in the sky. The blues were deepening into a calming orange. Despite the peaceful atmosphere, Sonic himself was anything but relaxed. He was deep in thought, looking back. Back to the day he changed his life forever.
Sonic and his friends, Tails, Amy and Knuckles, were once again in a fight with their nemesis, Dr. Eggman. Seaside Hill had taken damage from all the Eggpawns and other badniks, which most were now destroyed by the heroes. The ground covered in scorch marks and broken metal. It was another fight for the Chaos Emeralds, nothing new. But today ended up being different.
“How many times do we have to go through this, Eggman?” Tails shouted as he dodged a blast from the Egg Walker. “You know you won’t keep the emeralds for long!”
Tails had a point. Already, the gang had managed to take back six of the seven mystical gems. Eggman was planning on using them to power seven new giant super badniks. Each one an enhanced version of previous mechs, then have them combine into one. Luckily, he hadn’t gotten around to installing the last one. Probably got distracted by something with Sage. Who knew parenthood would have that kind of impact on the doctor to not finish his schemes? Well, it worked in the heroes’ favor.
The mad doctor huffed in frustration. “Shut up, you two-tailed rodent!” (Eggman knew foxes aren’t rodents. It’s just an insult.) “I will take what’s mine! I will use the emeralds however I see fit! They’re mine!”
At that moment, the Egg Walker was hit by Sonic and Amy’s croquet bomber combo. The impact caused Eggman to lose balance momentarily, just enough for Knuckles to come through the ground and land a blow on one of the legs. Despite that, Eggman still maintained enough control to counter with a few missiles. Knuckles managed to punch most away, but one still landed close to send him flying. Sonic sped over to ease his friend’s landing. Thankfully, while a little smokey and sore, Knuckles was still standing.
“I’m getting real sick of this,” the echidna complained.
Sonic raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? We always deal with Egghead’s mechs. A stray missile or two isn’t that bad.”
“That’s what I’m saying! We always have to stop Eggman or some other psycho from using the Chaos Emeralds for some takeover the world plan! I’ve had enough of it!”
“Well, it’s not like there haven’t been plans for world wide takeovers that didn’t involve the emeralds,” Sonic replied, trying to ease the tension of his hotheaded friend. “Eggman didn’t use them for his interstellar amusement park, or the Phantom Ruby army. We took care of those by ourselves.”
Knuckles sighed. “I’m just saying, can you think of one time we had to use the Chaos Emeralds when someone else wasn’t trying to use them first?”
Okay, Knuckles had Sonic there. Was there a time when that happened? Before Sonic could come up with an answer, an explosion caught his attention. Amy and Tails managed to destroy the Egg Walker, Eggmobile still intact, and snagged the final emerald. Tails tossed it to Sonic so the hedgehog could go super and destroy the rest of Eggman’s robots.
“Grr! This isn’t over, Sonic!” Eggman was livid with rage. “Just destroy everything I worked so hard to achieve! It doesn’t matter! I’ll get those Chaos Emeralds again! No matter how many times or how long it takes! No matter if they scatter to all corners of the globe (which doesn’t actually have corners), THEY ARE MINE!”
With that, Sonic paused for a moment. Even when the Chaos Emeralds dispersed like always, somebody, whether it be Eggman or someone else, will just find them again. Use them again. Eggman was right, Knuckles was right. Ever since Sonic discovered them all those years ago, it has been the same. This was just an endless loop of power. Even centuries from now, it would be continued by someone else. The Chaos Emeralds, which were once considered myth, were now known the world over. Always showing up when something was about to happen. That would lead to trouble, and put countless lives in danger, then they’d be used to fix the problem they inherently caused, then scatter to the wind. Rinse and repeat. It needed to end. But how? The only time the emeralds were ever beyond anyone’s reach was when— suddenly, Sonic had an idea. A risky play. One that would change his life forever. It even scared him a bit. But if he didn’t do this, then this endless loop would continue forever. His life was always about adventure and helping people. Now was the time to make a sacrifice for the latter.
“You’re right, Eggman,” the blue hedgehog finally spoke. This got a head turn from everyone. “You always come back for the emeralds. And even when you don’t, others will. So,” he took a deep breath. “I’m ending that.”
Sonic closed his eyes as the Chaos emeralds circled around him. This was standard super transformation. But this time, Sonic did something else.
“The servers are the seven Chaos…”
Sonic never spoke when he went super, not like this. Knuckles, of course, realized what his friend was up to. He knew plenty about the emeralds and their connection to the Master Emerald to understand.
“Wait! Sonic!”
“Chaos is power…”
“This isn’t what I meant! Stop!”
“Power enriched by the heart…”
“What’s going on?” Amy asked as she ran to Knuckles’ side. She could sense something was happening, she had a sixth sense for this kind of stuff. It wasn’t the normal transformation. It made her nervous.
Tails soon arrived. “Why is he saying the chant? He doesn’t have to do that.”
“No, he’s dooming himself! We have to stop him!” Knuckles words caused Tails and Amy to freeze for a second as the echidna ran ahead, but soon ran as well. They were a few years away, running to stop whatever Sonic was planning.
“The controller is the one…”
“SONIC!!!” They all screamed.
“…that unifies the Chaos!”
With that, Sonic was enveloped with the familiar golden light. He screamed. Sonic had never done that in his transformations. But this was different. He wasn’t just taking the Chaos Emeralds into his body. He was infusing them into his very soul. Every nerve, every fiber of his being was alit with the energy. Only this time, it would never end.
As the light dimmed slightly, there stood Super Sonic. A presence all too well known by the group before him. But somehow different. He seemed more aglow, his quills seemed to have a wave of a lighter pattern moving across them, like the wind on a field of tall grass. The tips of his quills were also lighter. His eyes, which were normally red in this state, were glistening in seven colors. Just like the Chaos Emeralds. His pupils wide and white. Everything about him seemed ascended.
Super Sonic then flew off, making quick work of the giant improved Egg Dragoon Eggman never got the chance to power up. Man, ol’ Eggy really liked this model. He had to admit, it was one of the cooler mechs. Any wayward badniks around were also atomized as golden hedgehog dashed around. Almost all of Eggman’s creations were gone. The energy emitted also spread into the earth, rejuvenating the damaged landscape. Yet another win.
“This is over, rodent!” Eggman screamed. “Just you wait! Next time I get my hands on the emeralds, I’ll be—“
“There won’t be a next time.” Knuckles’ tone was solemn as he interrupted the doctor’s rant. All eyes turned to him, apart from Sonic’s, who was still high in the air. “The Chaos Emeralds can never be used by anyone ever again. Because they don’t exist anymore.”
Tails’ eyes widened in dread at his friend’s words. “What do you mean?! Once Sonic powers down, they’ll disperse again.”
“Sonic ISN’T powering down! He can’t!” Knuckles didn’t mean to yell at the fox. He was just frustrated. How could he not be, though?
“What do you mean he can’t?” There was genuine fear in Amy’s voice. Sonic has always used the emeralds for good, but to hear such a thing made her worry.
Knuckles sighed, pressing his face partially into his large mitt. “By inciting the Chaos Prayer while using the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic has merged them into his body, permanently.”
“He’s right.” Amy, Tails, even Eggman, all turned to the sky as Super Sonic descended. “This was an endless cycle. Far too many times have the Chaos Emeralds been used for the wrong reasons. This way, they’ll be safe, and so will the world.”
His friends did not share Sonic’s relief. In fact, they looked almost horrified. Eggman has lost all his anger. He was just as shocked.
“Damn it, Sonic,” Knuckles shouted. “When I said I had it with people using the emeralds… this isn’t what I meant! I should have just kept my trap shut!”
“This was my decision, Knux,” Sonic reassured him. “Honestly, it’s been kind of weighing on my mind for a while. I mean, I love an adventure and a challenge, but all this throwing the world into danger when up until a few years ago, no one knew these things were even real has been getting out of hand for a long time. It even attracts the attention of other universes. Remember Darkseid? It’s better this way.”
“But what about you?” Amy pleaded, tears building in her eyes. “Always in this one state. We don’t even know if there are any long term side effects.”
“I-I could run some tests back in my lab,” Tails interjected. “Study the energy readings. Maybe it’s not permanent. Maybe we could—“
“Guys,” Sonic raised his hand to stop this. “I appreciate the concern, you know I do. But there’s nothing that can be done. I can feel it. I… I can hear it.”
Tails furrowed his brows. “Hear it?”
Sonic shrugged, looking down as to examine his hands. He was glad his gloves and shoes were still there. It almost felt like the fusion could have burned them away. “You know how Blaze can ‘understand’ the Sol Emeralds? It’s kind of like that. I think I could always hear it, I just never really paid attention to it. They’re telling me this can’t be undone. But I promise, I’m fine.”
The trio clearly weren’t convinced. Seeing one of your closest friends fully take in so much power, forever with it, was unnerving. It was clear from the way Knuckles grimaced that he thought it was a bad idea. Amy and Tails didn’t hide their sadness and worry. But in all that happened, they forgot about Eggman. Well, except Sonic. He knew the doctor snuck away to the remains of his walker to take off in the Eggmobile. He had to get home somehow.
“Hey Eggy,” the Blue -err- Gold Blur called out. “Leaving already? Mad that I took your favorite playthings?” But Sonic was not met with the normal banter. Eggman just turned slowly to look back. Even with glasses, it was clear how resigned he was. Almost as if he had pity.
“This is what you have chosen, Sonic. If I ever want to stand a chance against you now, I must take many more precautions. Know this, I do not envy what you have lost today. And for that, I am truly sorry.”
And that was that. Eggman had hardly shown himself since that day. With all the recollection, the sun had gone completely down. But it was not dark, at least not around Sonic. It was never truly dark around him anymore. He was constantly glowing after all.
Eggman said he didn’t envy what Sonic lost. It took some time to understand what he meant. He was still alive, but he could no longer live the life he had before. For the safety of others, Sonic gave up a part of himself that he valued most. His freedom.