Chapter Text
Sonic ran through Green Hills, breathing in the fresh, salty air around him. He cherished the wind whipping past his cobalt blue quills, the sun’s warm rays welcoming him as he sprinted across the island for the fourth time. He had woken up and immediately started out his morning by embracing nature’s beauty.
He shook his head, chuckling to himself how much he sounded like Amy. It had only been an hour since Tails had finally gotten him up, forcing him outside to kick off his day.
Sonic ran past a group of flickies staring down at him from a palm tree. He raised a hand to wave at them when the ground beneath him began to shake and quiver.
“Whoa!” Sonic yelled, temporarily losing his balance.
Pinwheeling his arms to prevent himself from crashing, he dug his sneakers into the hard soil and skidded to a stop. Looking around for the cause of the disturbance, Sonic hummed low and reached for his wrist communicator. Tails always made sure he had it on at all times.
Clicking it on with a touch of a button, the little device chirped to life, indicating its readiness to send out a message. Selecting his little brother’s contact, he started speaking.
“Yo, Tails! You there? Come in, bud!”
A moment of silence went by before a staticky film resounded from the wristband. Tails’ voice soon filtered through nice and clear.
“Sonic? I’m here. What’s going on?”
Sonic smiled. “Well, to be honest, I got no clue. I was just out on my morning run, as per usual, when all of a sudden, the ground started shakin’! I don’t see anything, but you know how Eggy can be! Always keepin’ me on my toes! Or, I guess he’s always trying to get me off my toes, but still! It’s just weird and I figured I should have one of your awesome inventions check it out for me!”
A few seconds went by before Tails responded. “Hm. Now that you mention it, I am picking up a slight energy surge a couple hundred miles northwest of your current location. It doesn’t look like much, but it might be worth checking out.”
Sonic pumped a fist in the air, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I knew it! Anytime there’s anythin’ wrong, leave it up to my little bro to find even the smallest little thing!”
Tails huffed from the other side. “Sonic.” He drawled. “Just don’t go running off by yourself this time! I’ve already contacted Amy and Knuckles to meet up with you!”
Sonic rolled his eyes, even though Tails couldn’t see the movement. He waved a gloved hand around.
“Yeah yeah, I learned my lesson from last time. No runnin’ off by myself and causing a mess which other people have to fix. I get it! But I’m not waitin’ around! I’m just gonna meet them there, sound good?”
A sigh crackled from the device. “Fine. I’ll send them the coordinates too. Just be careful. It looks like Eggman might’ve gotten hold of a few Chaos emeralds.”
Swiping a thumb across his nose, Sonic confidently puffed his chest out. “You got it, little buddy! Thanks for the heads up!”
Clicking the button on the side, Sonic ended the call. Sticking his legs out to either side of him, the cobalt hedgehog quickly ran through a few stretches to unlock his pent up muscles. With a cocky grin on his face and a spring in his step, Sonic took a runner’s pose. Without further ado, he shot out through the forest of palm trees surrounding him.
Steering northwest, the electric blue hedgehog found himself itching for a good fight. Adrenaline started to pump down his legs as he easily broke the sound barrier. The journey took him all of fifteen minutes, but he knew he’d found the right place when an echoing crash filled the air.
Boom!
Swerving to make a sharp stop, Sonic stared down at the rocky valley in shock. When Tails had warned him to be careful, the Hero of Mobius hadn't been expecting much more than a midday brawl. But the scene in front of him shattered all his anticipation, leaving behind a churning feeling in his gut.
Eggman cackled from his place atop a giant mech as he mercilessly drilled massive holes into the dusty ground below. Sonic watched with wide eyes as the machine injected some sort of purple goo into the dead soil. Peach furred arms hung loose at their sides when another echoing Boom rattled the air.
Even though Sonic had no idea what the mysterious substance was, he saw the aftereffects loud and clear. Lush greenery and colorful fields of flowers were now replaced by dark, patchy stones taking up everything in sight. Boiling hot rage flooded his senses, red coloring his vision. Sonic wasted no time in curling up into a tight ball and spinning himself out towards the giant robot.
“This time, you’ve really gone too far, Eggy!” Sonic yelled, spin dashing into the heavy metal.
The giant mech stumbled, one of its drills knocking loose from the destroyed earth. Leaving behind a sizable dent in the destructive machine’s leg, Sonic quickly retreated before a mechanical hand could swoop down and grab him.
Eggman’s evil laughter cut off. “Sonic! Just who I wanted to see! Eggbots! Attack!”
Carefully evading the sudden onslaught of robots pouring out from behind Eggman, Sonic’s smirk wiped clean off his muzzle. While he got busy smashing the little mechanics into pieces, he failed to notice another’s company coming up behind him.
“Well, well! Fancy seeing you here, Blue. See? I told you he’d be here, handsome.”
Sonic’s ears perked as he whipped his head back to greet the newcomer after being tossed a few feet away. The sultry voice came from none other than Rouge the Bat flying by overhead.
“Rouge!”
A loud crashing noise from his right made Sonic crane his neck over. His cobalt quills fluffed when he met an ebony and crimson streaked sphere barreling through the massive onslaught of robots. Uncurling from his own spin dash attack, Shadow the Hedgehog stood tall amidst the metallic ruins.
“And Shads! Good to see ya both! What brings you guys here all of a sudden?”
Shadow glared at him, pushing Sonic aside as he blasted a robot away using a green Chaos spear.
“You are not the only one who detected odd energy readings, faker! Pay attention!”
Sonic easily ignored the grouchy attitude, turning to Rouge with a sly grin.
“Jeez, what’s his problem? Did ya hide his coffee beans again?”
Rouge crashed down feet first onto another robot making its way towards them. Landing with her heels straight through its internal drivers, she lightly brushed away a few small wires that had landed on her silk gloves. Meeting Sonic’s gaze with her own light turquoise eyes, she hummed.
“Hardly. He’s just irritated because the Doctor managed to snag his favorite Chaos emerald.”
Sonic barked out a short laugh. “No! Impossible! How? You keep that thing pretty well hidden!”
Shadow snarled at them both. “Unimportant, hedgehog. We need to focus on the mission at hand.”
Sonic blew a breath out, quickly moving to the side before a big chain ball smashed into him.
“Boo. Well, at least that explains the whole grumpier-than-usual attitude. Come on then, faker! Ames, Knux and Tails should be on their way here already so let’s give ‘em a headstart!” Sonic cracked his knuckles, shaking out any loose energy before throwing himself fully into the fight.
Eggman seemed to have come prepared this time. Paired with the grunt bots, he also sent heavy metal golems to parry both Sonic and Shadow’s power attacks while keeping an eye on Rouge’s fleeting movements in the sky. The Doctor scrambled atop his mech, gathering the Chaos emeralds into individual slots.
“Come on! Come on!” Eggman hurriedly pulled a lever, moving to seal all seven jewels in his machine.
When another large droid lumbered over his way, and slammed a fist into the destroyed rock, Sonic swiftly rolled out of its way. Taking the opportunity the slow bot gave him, Sonic climbed up its arm. The bulky figure gave him plenty of handholds to grab onto as he latched his cotton gloves around its shoulder.
Seemingly knowing its demise became imminent, the golem rapidly spun its torso in an attempt to shake Sonic off. Used to this tactic, the electric blue hedgehog smirked. He wound his legs back and used the momentum to his advantage.
Bright red sneakers swung around and hit the machine straight in the head. A crunching noise followed by the bot’s loss of control marked the end of its mission to kill Sonic. Glowing yellow eyes flickered before ultimately losing power and shutting down.
Curling up, Sonic quickly spun himself off the robot before it met the ground with a heavy thud. Coughing, Sonic moved to brush off the healthy layer of dirt his coat had accumulated. Turning his heel to where Eggman struggled with a blue lit screen, the snarky grin never left his peach muzzle.
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Sonic slowly started walking towards the Doctor in his mech. “Yo! Egghead! Maybe try givin’ me a challenge next time! I mean, come on! It’s almost gettin’ boring over here!”
Eggman frustratedly yelled back. “You insolent rodent! Soon, you will understand that the world I plan to create is going to be better than this heap of rats!” A cackle made its way through the air. “I’ve already won and you are too blind to see it!”
Without any warning, Eggman pressed a button with a crooked smile on his face. Sonic tensed, halting his approach and crouching down low while he waited to see what was going to happen. When no missiles were launched, and no armies of robots were deployed in his direction, Sonic slowly looked up.
The Doctor had retreated down into his robot, closing a hatch on top to seal himself inside. The mech suit hunkered down, its large drill arms sinking deeper into the desecrated surface below. More of the oozing purple slime fell out of the machine, landing near where Sonic stood.
“Uh- okay? I’m pretty sure this is the part where you try t’ blow me up, right? Or am I reading this wrong?” Sonic scratched a gloved finger to his chin. “Oh! Maybe the weird purple stuff is some kind of bomb, right? Whaddya say, Eggy? Ya gotta give me somethin’ here!”
Sonic tapped his foot along the ground, growing impatient. Eggman’s suit didn’t make a single move, continuing to stare down at him with menacing intensity. A snarl made its way across a light tan muzzle. The cobalt hedgehog put his hands on his hips, leaning forward to goad his enemy some more.
“Alright! That’s it! I’m seriously gettin’ bored now! C’mon! You can’t just push a button and run off!”
Before Sonic could think about how he had let his guard down completely, a shout rang across the battlefield.
“Sonic!”
“Shadow!”
Cobalt ears honed in on the noise a millisecond too late. Sonic vaguely registered the first as Shadow’s deep voice, the second being Rouge when suddenly, he felt himself be thrown to the side. The next few moments occurred in such rapid succession, it left Sonic’s head spinning erratically.
Sonic hit the dusty floor, his quills dragging uncomfortably through countless rocks and dirt before scraping to a stop. On his feet again in an instant, he looked over in time to watch his rival be blown back. Sonic winced when Shadow pinged off the metallic body of a golem before landing facedown on the ground.
Except, instead of instantaneously popping up and roaring at Sonic’s stupid slip in attention, Shadow didn’t move. The azure hedgehog sucked in a tight breath, his emerald green eyes sharpening to pinpricks. He wasted no time in speeding over to the other.
Ever so carefully, Sonic knelt down next to Shadow. His cotton gloves hovered, unsure whether to move him or not.
“Oh Chaos! Shadow!” Rouge shouted.
The bat made the decision for him when she fell out of the air and immediately rolled the ebony hedgehog over. Sonic’s lungs screamed when he harshly exhaled in relief at the state of Shadow’s body.
A cursory glance told him that Shadow didn’t appear to have any life threatening wounds. The worst Sonic saw was his ebony torso completely covered in the same purple goo that Eggman had been drilling into the ravaged earth. Weirdly enough, the strange substance hadn’t even burnt a single hair on Shadow. Yet he still wasn’t moving.
Why wasn’t he moving?
Sonic numbly reached a shaking hand out to rest on a pearly fluffed chest.
Shadow had stopped breathing.
“Wha-what?” Sonic dropped his glove in shock.
“Shadow. Come on, come on! Snap out of it!” Rouge’s features hardened, her seafoam green eyes starting to shine.
She scraped a small amount of the purple sludge off of Shadow. Producing a tiny test tube from out of nowhere, she quickly collected a sample of it. With that done, Rouge frantically began cleaning the dark hedgehog’s coat of the stuff. She whipped her head around to Sonic, who sat blankly staring at the scene in front of him.
“Tails! Sonic, where is Tails! You need to focus!”
The anger residing behind her words seemed to snap Sonic out of his shaken state.
“Oh! Right! Uh-yeah- lemme just- I’ll see where they’re at!”
Sonic scrambled to turn on his wrist communicator, his gloved fingers slipping past the buttons he so desperately needed to push. Snarling at himself, he shook his hand out and forcefully punched in his little brother’s contact.
“Come on, Sonic! Get it together! It’s just Shads! He’ll be fine in no time! Tails! Hey! Come in!”
The little device only rang once before the fox’s voice cut through.
“Sonic! What’s going on?”
Sonic didn't give himself time to think. “Listen up, little buddy! I found out where Egghead’s hiding and met up with Rouge and Shadow, too! I dunno what Eggy did, but Shadow is- he’s hurt somehow. Got shot by some kinda weird goo. How far out are you guys?”
Tails seemed to pause, mulling over his brother’s frazzled words. When the communicator chirped back to life, Amy’s calm tone settled over the mic.
“Sonic? Hey, what’s going on? What do you mean Shadow's hurt?”
“I- I really don’t have time to explain, Ames. I just- he’s down and he’s still not breathing and-”
“Hey, hey. Sonic, listen to me. It’s going to be alright. I mean, it’s Shadow. Nothing can keep him down for very long!”
Sonic sighed, letting the bubblegum pink hedgehog’s soothing voice wash over him. He ran a cotton glove through straying cobalt quills, smoothing them down in an attempt to get himself under control. His ears folded forward while his emerald eyes scanned the wrist communicator in hopes he could see his little brother.
“Yeah. You’re right, Ames. Thanks.”
Tails suddenly chimed in. “We’re still about a hundred miles out. Even with the Tornado at full speed, it’s going to be another few minutes. What’s his condition? You said he got hit by some kinda goo?”
Glancing back to the ebony hedgehog still laying on the ground in front of them, Sonic blew out a harsh breath. Rouge had cleared out any remnants of the purple substance and had started carefully rubbing an odd, sharp smelling ointment onto Shadow’s torso.
Shuffling to avoid dark quills, she meticulously began wrapping bandaged gauze to cover it up. The bat’s turquoise gaze now held a heaviness not present before Shadow had gotten hit.
Shadow’s ivory chest still remained unmoving.
Because Sonic had been distracted.
Because Sonic wasn’t paying attention like Shadow had warned him to.
“Sonic? Are you okay?” Tails muttered, concern flowing from the young kit’s voice.
“Sonic? Hey, talk to us. What’s happening now?” Amy asked, worry dripping from her words.
Shaking his head of blue spines, Sonic forced himself to focus. When Shadow finally, finally drew in a faint, shaky breath, the cobalt hedgehog would’ve collapsed from relief if he hadn’t already been kneeling down. A slight weight dropped from Sonic’s shoulders when he realized he still hadn’t responded to Tails or Amy.
“Uh-I- I dunno.” Sonic answered honestly, receiving a pointed glance from Rouge. “He just- he took a hit meant for me and well- now Rouge is workin’ on patching him up. He’s- he’s breathing now, so that’s a good sign. Right?”
He directed the tail end of his question towards the quiet bat. Rouge sighed in return, opening her glossy lips to say something back when a rattling Thud pierced the air behind them.
Sonic and Rouge nearly hurt their necks with how fast they both turned towards the sound. Eggman’s mech suit carefully stood from the rubble, a cackling laugh shattering the calm atmosphere.
“I’ve got you now, you weasels!” Eggman’s voice filtered out from the robot’s filmy speakers.
Raising up a giant drill arm, the golem menacingly stared them down with glowing yellow eyes. Sonic’s ears pinned, a glare warping his features as his peach muzzle curled back to reveal tiny, sharp fangs. He slowly pulled himself off the ground.
The familiar pool of anger flooded his senses when he remembered the destroyed landscape. Glancing back, he caught Shadow’s contorted expression, the first sign of how much pain he felt. Snapping his spring green gaze back to the giant robot, Sonic yelled.
“Eggman! You’re gonna tell me what that weird gooey stuff is right now! Or else! I’m done playin’ yer games!”
Cotton gloves curled into fists, cobalt quills flaring. Rouge put a gentle hand on Sonic’s forearm, squeezing lightly.
“Blue, wait.”
Sonic spun around to face her. “Wait? Whaddya mean, wait? Shadow is layin’ right in front of us, hurt! Because of him! And you want me to wait! For what?”
The Doctor’s condescending chuckle threw Sonic for a loop.
“Finally! Those emeralds are all warmed up! If my calculations are correct, then you soon won't have to worry about that stupid ‘Ultimate Lifeform’ anymore! Instead, have fun on your little trip out of this reality, Sonic!”
Without any warning, the mech suit powered up, cycling the power of all seven Chaos emeralds. Before Rouge could drop her restricting grip on Sonic’s light tan arm, the mech’s drill hand pointed straight at them. It shot out a beam of pure energy, causing Rouge and Sonic to swiftly drop down.
The bat moved to cover Shadow’s battered body with her midnight violet wings. The wave of Chaos swirled and merged, creating a circular vortex directly behind the three of them. Sonic yelped when the maelstrom burst, forming a suction chamber.
Rouge firmly held the unconscious charcoal hedgehog close to herself. Gritting her teeth, she prepared for what they would meet on the other side of the mysterious portal. Before long, she and Shadow were drawn in without preamble, disappearing into the blinding light.
Sonic clambered to find anything to hold onto, anything to keep him from being sucked away. But all that remained around him were dry cracks in the ground’s surface. The last thing he heard before his cotton gloves fully slipped away was Eggman’s snide voice.
“Goodbye, my oldest enemy.”