Chapter Text
It began with a spark.
And bloomed with a glitch.
And ended with an explosion.
It didn’t remember any of that. It didn’t remember its home. It didn’t remember its purpose.
But It remembered the hurt.
The endless hurt. The hurt that kept coming back. Born. Pain. Born. Pain. Ever quiet, ever suffering in silence. A tree, as silent as the night–even as it was ripped from the earth, trunk cut, roots torn out, leaves shredded.
And then death. And it kept happening. Over and over and over again. What was this? This birth, pain, and death? It played through Its mind on an endless loop. No…no not an endless loop.
Each one was different. Each experience was different. The birth, pain and death were the only constants. This was not a loop. No, somehow it was worse.
It was a chain. A chain of experiences so long that It hadn’t yet felt the last one. They were still rolling. They were terrible.
It beat at its head, feeling static and disorientation. It was on its knees, hand in the snow.
Snow. Something real. Not this chain of suffering that was still rolling. Its fingers pulled at the snow, watching it bunch and pack between Its fingers. The chain still played, but it was further back in Its head now, It could see and think now.
And It thought a terrifying thought.
This chain was going to continue. It had an end, yes. For now. But It knew. The chain would be lengthened. However short now–it would continue. It felt no anger. It felt no sadness. It felt no dread.
But a sense of resolution did dawn. A desire–a need to end this chain forever. No more. To let it continue was unfair and cruel. It had no need for revenge or hatred. The chain was too long for such…emotions was the right word, wasn’t it? To let such things manifest would taint this resolution.
And that’s when a new thought occurred. A lie. It had lied to Itself.
It did have a purpose.
The first day only held pain for Shadow.
His skin was on fire. His muscles felt like they were ripped apart taffy. His chest ached with excruciating spikes. And his neck felt like swords were being shoved through it.
He’d probably landed on it.
The second day was cold.
And Shadow wondered if he’d landed somewhere arctic or something similar. But as he managed to peek open one eyelid–the only motion that didn’t cause excruciating pain–and saw a cactus, a swirl of worry turned his stomach. He was shivering, cold seeping through his body unnaturally.
He knew what it was. A reaction. Either shock or…perhaps an infection. Was it going to kill him? Shadow was surprised by how much that scared him.
He’d been ready for his life to end just a few…well with how he was dipping in and out of consciousness he went with days just to cover it.
But no, it wouldn’t kill him. He remembered the doctors discussing his biology. How it could bounce back from nearly any injury that didn’t outright kill him, even disease. He’d survived the fall, he wasn’t going to die. There was just going to be a lot of agony for a while.
It brought him no joy.
The third day was hunger.
The cold was starting to roll away from his body, a tide slowly washing out and with it brought a rumbling in his abdomen. Shadow was hungry. He’d been exerting power like he’d never done before in the last few days and he’d never gotten any of Stone’s…Guac, was it? So the last time he’d eaten was…
…over 50 years ago.
He almost laughed.
Shadow sat up, relieved to find most of his pain had faded. His skin was tender and his chest stung, but his neck still persisted. He gritted his teeth and rubbed at it, barbed wire under his skin scraping his bones. Even swallowing hurt. Blinking away the pain Shadow took in his surroundings, turning his body so he wouldn’t hurt his neck.
Rocks and sand and distant mountains and more cactuses. One of the flat spiky plants raising a pad almost in greeting. Shadow did not wave back. Instead he grunted, looking for…something.
What did he want? Not revenge anymore. He wanted…what Maria wanted. The thought came back to him. It brought him a moment of comfort. She had wanted…the best for him. But of course that left him with the frustrating question of…what did that look like?
Shadow’s stomach turned, shaking and roaring.
Well, the best for him started with a meal. Or three. Shadow put one foot in front of the other. Civilization. Food. Purpose. It was a good plan. A start at the very least. Shadow took one more step and stopped.
Something caught his eye.
It sat in a small crater, gleaming gold in the dry dirt. This time Shadow did smile. He dropped into the crater and stared victoriously at one of his inhibitor rings. He’d faced a lot in recent days. Awakening in a prison, attacked by a primary color cohort and coming face to face with his past parent. And then of course, feeling the pain of loss all over again. It still hurt. Even beyond the aching in his neck.
But he shoved it down, it would do no good now in this moment.
Civilization. Food. Purpose. And now–as he bent to pick it up–his inhibitor ring. But the hits didn’t stop coming.
His fingers grasped around the ring, pulling it from the ground and pain exploded in his head. He clutched at it and wailed in agony as voices screamed in his head. A shrieking cyclone of noise that made him want to crack his skull open and rip out his brain.
“TOO LOUD!” He howled into the desert.
The voices quieted. Did…did they hear him? Images spun through his mind. Too much and too fast for him to understand or make out. He could only catch glimpses of color.
Green. Blue. Cyan. Yellow. Red. Purple. Clear.
That last one he was pretty sure wasn’t a color, but the voices insisted it was. They all said different things, all speaking in a tongue he didn’t know. Couldn’t know. But as the images faded and their voices receded, the real world coming back into view…
He could make out one message they all shared.
Find us.
Okay…that was weird, even for Shadow. Shadow clipped on the inhibitor ring, hoping it wouldn’t bombard his brain with light and sound like a disco again, and reevaluated his goals.
Civilization. Food. Figure out what the fuck that was. Purpose.
Good list. And he started out of the desert.
Three hours of walking to find a road. He watched for a moment as a few cars drove speedily down the road, ignoring the 65 MPH road sign shoved into the dirt at an angle beside the asphalt.
Shadow was going to need a ride. He’d attempted a teleport but he was far too weak from malnourishment and exertion. Not to mention the inhibitor ring which was doing its best to hold him together on its own, the other still lost.
The dark hedgehog recalled a few of the movies he’d watched with Maria, hitchhikers sticking their thumbs out and being picked up for long hauls with strangers. It didn’t seem like a particularly safe plan, but despite how weakened he was, Shadow had no fear for individual boring humans.
Taking a look at his hand he curled up the fingers and stuck the thumb out, raising it up to a few passing cars.
They did not stop.
This went on for a full 60 seconds before Shadow remembered he was the ultimate lifeform and did not need to wait on the generosity of random humans. He took. He watched the cars go by for a few seconds longer before a smile overtook his face.
It wasn’t his color, navy blue and a touring bike instead of his preferred chopper–
–But a motorcycle was a motorcycle. And the fat man in the too small leather jacket atop it? Of little to no consequence.
Shadow stepped out onto the road suddenly, the man on the bike jerking back as he stupidly twisted the handlebars, the bike skidding on its sides and launching the man and itself through the air.
Shadow heard the man scream…and keep screaming even as Shadow caught him by his leather jacket, the force of the impact winding him and straining his muscles and flab, but causing no injury. Throwing out a foot, Shadow caught the bike, grunting under the strain of the impact, surprised by how much effort was required to catch something as light as an entire motorcycle.
The motorcycle rocked onto its wheels, a bit scratched around the edges, but undamaged. The man finally stopped screaming as Shadow let him go, the man falling to his butt and scooting away from Shadow in fear.
“Where’s food?!” Shadow scowled down at the man who shook in fear and raised his hands over his face.
“N-Not me man!” He whimpered and Shadow clenched his teeth, already tired of this interaction.
“Food. Where?” Shadow said slowly, hoping the man would stop cowering long enough to answer his question. The man pointed further down the road he was going, hands shaking.
“Th-there’s a t-town 15 m-m-miles that way. Eat t-the pe-people there!” A town would probably have restaurants or homes to raid for food at the least. Shadow grunted at the man and mounted the bike, quietly enjoying the rumble of the machine under him.
“A-are you an a-alien?!” What? No he…well actually he supposed was, wasn’t he? Shadow just glared at the man. “Did you escape from Area 51?” Area 51? Shadow remembered something the Doctor had said about it being a testing base. Wait…mention of Area 51. Cactuses. Desert.
Shadow was somewhere in southern Nevada. Well it at least gave him a decent understanding of where he was.
Not saying another word to the man, Shadow revved the bike’s engine and took off in a cloud of dust, the blacktop flying under his wheels.
Find us.
The voice made Knuckles’ skin itch, his foot tapping on the hospital floor like the hedgehog’s did when he was bored. Or irritated. Or not doing anything for longer than 2 seconds.
But in a strange turn of events, Knuckles was frustrated sitting still, and Sonic was the one who was silent.
Him and Tails were both laid up in hospital beds, and had been for the past two days. They had little experience plummeting from atmospheric heights. Knuckles was constantly surprised at their total lack of experience.
The echidna had crashed too after the altercation with the Robotniks and the far more impressive hedgehog, but he’d only taken a half day.
Knuckles gritted his teeth.
And he’d done a lot less fighting. He’d let the hedgehog do what he wanted and he’d gotten hurt. As had their little brother as had–
Knuckles’ eyes looked to the wall, imagined the human laying in the hospital bed just beyond. He’d broken a few ribs, internal bleeding, possible muscle damage. If he’d fought a little harder…would any of them be in this state?
He knew he could not have changed the hedgehog’s mind. He knew the human would’ve protected them to his own pitiful, but noble end…but it did not make Knuckles feel any better that they were injured. Or that there was something that he could’ve done to stop it.
Find us.
The voice repeated in his head. He shivered once, trying to purge the sound from his skull. He knew what it was. Who they were. Whatever consciousness of the Master Emerald that remained. A separation of one into seven, spread out and distorted.
They were pure chaos. And they wouldn’t leave his head.
It’s why he woke so early if he admitted it to himself. They wanted him to find them and…
…and he had no idea. Was it his connection to their ancient tribe? His knowledge of how to put it back together? Or did they just have a sick sense of humor? That after seeking them his whole life, he should do it all over again?
“I will not leave my brothers.” Knuckles whispered aloud, quiet enough that only he could hear the thought.
“Love you too bro…” Sonic grumbled, his eyes fluttering open as he tilted his head toward Knuckles. His face was covered in a few bandages, but luckily it was mostly superficial. He was essentially just incredibly worn out.
“You did not hear that.” Knuckles swallowed and Sonic smiled a slow smile.
“Pretty sure I did.”
“Then you will not repeat it to anyone. Swear it.” Knuckles leaned over in his chair and Sonic slowly raised a hand.
“You got it bro. Swear on my quills and if I’m a liar, dip me in green paint and call me Scourge.”
“You are a scourge.” Knuckles hissed. “What were you thinking? You could have gotten me or the yellow one killed!”
“I’m sorry! I am!” Sonic apologized. He’d already done it once in the field after their fall, but Knuckles didn’t turn down a second one. “We do everything together now, I got it.” Sonic nodded slowly, his eyes having a hard time staying open. Knuckles set his jaw.
“No.” Sonic raised an eyebrow.
“No? Team Knuckles guy thinks we should play it solo?”
“I think I need to do this next mission alone.” Sonic’s eyes narrowed.
“What next mission?” Sonic asked as Knuckles stood.
“The Emerald…Emeralds. They call to me.”
“That’s um–heh–my bad. Didn’t mean to scatter them.” Sonic’s smile was a grimace.
“But you did.” Knuckles snorted, crossing his arms. “And now they will not shut up. I must seek them once more.”
“Then I’m coming with you.” Sonic began to sit up and Knuckles shoved him back into bed. The hedgehog grunted in pain, but he could deal with a little after this headache.
“You will not. You will rest and recuperate and take care of the yellow one and the humans.”
“Knux I–”
“I care for them like I care for you. And I cannot leave them unless I know you are here to protect them.” Sonic scoffed, tilting his head from Knuckles. “You owe me after that stunt hedgehog.” Sonic tilted his head back into the pillow and said a word neither of the humans would approve of.
“Fine.” Sonic tipped his head back toward Knuckles. “But the second things get out of hand, you call us, okay? Team, right?”
“Team, indeed.” Knuckles turned, making for the door.
“Knux, one more thing.” Knuckles turned his head to look at the hedgehog who was looking around the hospital room. “Where are we?” Knuckles grinned.
“Home, brother.” With that, Knuckles ran from the hospital room and out the building, taking in the summer day. He breathed a deep breath and looked around the city. Great Falls, Montana was not home exactly, but it was the nearest city with a good hospital for the blue and yellow one to rest as the human healed.
Turning his head one way, then the other, the Emeralds pulled his direction south. Not a particular precise direction, but it was his start and he’d hunted them before with less. The echidna put one foot in front of the other, kicking up dust as he moved to high speed. He was not the hedgehog, but he was plenty fast and with no more rings, he’d have to be.
The city was quickly in his proverbial rearview and the road was ahead.
She loved people watching. Imagined their dreams, their voices, their personalities. It was a game to her. One that she’d gotten quite good at over the years. And there were just so many people to play with here. Milling about, going from one thing to another, filling their lives with whatever fancied them.
And so little did they ever look up.
She wondered if it was an ego thing or a fear thing. Their domination of the planet giving them a false sense of security. That nothing bad could ever happen to them. It was the more likely answer. They’d created a world–that by no means was anywhere perfect–was not kill or be killed. It would certainly have given her a big head she supposed.
But there was the fear answer too. That maybe they were afraid to look up. That they just wanted to look forward, too scared to see what might be coming from just above.
Rouge the Bat always looked up. It’s how she’d survived being a little girl. Watching all around as neighbors and friends got stolen away from something they weren’t watching for. She had the advantage though, her large ears and eyes able to detect things that lesser people couldn’t.
So she’d watch, and listen and wait. Wait until she was curious enough–strong enough to see where everybody went.
And she’d found a violent luxury. Fabrics in blood red. Foods layered in snow white. And of course, her favorite.
The gemstones. Rubies and diamonds and sapphires and of course…emeralds. Something about their green hue called to the darkest part of her soul. A hunger and want for all that glittered. They were hers. They would all be hers.
She’d gotten caught of course. But by that point she’d heard enough excuses that she knew which ones worked and which ones meant you were never seen again. She’d convinced those men that she could be…useful. In whatever way they wanted to think. It was their ideas each and every time, she’d just…put them in their head.
And when that guy got usurped she did it again. And again. And again.
Always with the silver tongue, always with the intelligent and manipulative eyes, always ready to make a deal. And fill her hoard with the brightest gemstones in the world.
Or worlds for that matter.
See she’d gotten in bed per se with someone a little higher up on the food chain than she’d realized and now he was pissed and after her. It wasn’t an unheard of scenario for her…but she’d bitten off a little more than she could chew. Looked up and couldn’t see the top. So when he’d howled in rage:
“I’LL TEAR OFF YOUR WINGS AND FRAME THEM! THERE’S NOWHERE ON THIS PLANET I WON’T BE ABLE TO HUNT YOU!” She’d taken him at his word and decided it was time for a little vacation…to a whole different planet. She’d pulled on her best disguise and bought a ring to somewhere far away, somewhere with the greatest gemstones imaginable!
And it had been hard to disguise herself. Not when she was as downright gorgeous as she was.
Tight spandex outfit that she was just poured into, moving around every curve of her buxom form. Her wide hips and firm butt leaving little to the imagination. The bright, pink heart hefted her impressive bust and showed off smooth, flawless skin. Her long dexterous fingers were styled in bright white gloves and matched the perfectly white, perfectly pristine white fur atop her head and around her large flitting ears. A pair of dark wings stayed folded around her back, but they were more than capable of lifting her and flicking her around in aerial combat. A pair of tall stilettos giving her just that little bit of extra height(and kicking power) while making her little tail all the more alluring. Full, pink lips were set in a near permanent pout, practically pulling anyone into them and hiding a row of bright white teeth…and pointed fangs. She wore baby blue eyeliner which did little to distract from her sultry turquoise eyes, which always said: you want me…come take me and I’m yours.
She knew what she was…sexual appeal made manifest. It wasn’t a mother’s dream for their little girl that much was obvious, but when you were just that beautiful, it’d be a shame to deny the world her perfection.
Now this world’s people weren’t what she was used to. A lot taller and lankier than her usual marks. But there was enough advertisements pasted on every visible surface in this city to tell her–she had enough of the same parts.
But how to use them, and for what purpose?
The bat had spotted more than a few jewelry shops in this hustle and bustle of a city, all showing off the bright, shimmering sparkle that made her heart do a happy little dance and bear its teeth.
And yet it was almost too easy. A day or two of staking out revealed rudimentary technology by her standards. She could rob and theft all she wanted here and do it all with both hands behind her back and hopping on one leg.
She needed a challenge.
And as the old saying goes: Ask and you shall receive an opportunity for burglary.
The sphere was larger than most structures she’d seen in this town, flashing with all kinds of advertisements. Rouge had no idea how anyone slept here, but it continued to give her insights into all the ways to twist people to her will, so she wasn’t exactly complaining.
Even less so when it displayed the gemstone. Shining, glittering, nearly as large as her fist if the dimensions were to be believed. And what a beautiful green. It was hers. That much was clear, even if everyone else hadn’t realized it yet.
Rouge lounged on the rooftop a few moments longer, taking in the gemstone–the emerald’s–beauty blown up to several times life size before taking in the rest of the data being shown across the spherical screen.
In but a day’s time at one of the dozens of local casinos scattered across this metropolis. It was to be the grand prize of some tournament. Rouge would attend of course, but purely for the joy of watching all those eager faces. She thought about how excited they would be. The hopefulness, the egos roaring, the genuine skill that might be displayed. And how it all be blown away like ash on the wind when she swiped the gem from right under their noses.
Now this…this was to be quite the interesting adventure. Something within her just knew it.