Chapter Text
Sunrise was in full-swing by now.
Sonic had passed out really almost as soon as he dared close his eyes, in his friends' arms. And frankly he didn't even know how long he was out for. It could have been just the night. Or maybe a whole day. By the time he woke up they were under a makeshift tent made with the help of the Tornado's wing, as he and Tails used to do before they owned any workshops. It was nostalgic. It was reassuring. He just laid there for a while, soaking in the smell of wet grass, but also of wet fur. Of sweat. Of other people. Because he had his friends with him.
But eventually someone shifted beside him. He blinked, and sat up himself, trying but failing not to jostle Tails and Amy awake. He looked back at Knuckles, who was looking at him, purple eyes already more aware within a minute of waking up than he was from being awake for an hour.
"Are you good?" Knuckles asked him, quietly, but Tails was already sitting up. Compulsively Sonic tugged the fox kit close, which earned him a protest that was not really meant, and he tried to fix Tails' messy, messy bangs with his fingers. Knuckles continued. "I mean this kindly: You look like shit."
"Remind me who taught you swear words?" Sonic returned, with a chuckle. "You like using that one to describe me."
"Because it is true." Knuckles insisted, but he sounded relieved. Sonic had passed some check then, by replying like he did. Some proof that he was not any more broken than he would usually be.
"I just need a good shower and a chili dog." Sonic assured, and finally let go of Tails. There wasn't much improvement with his bangs. Honestly he'd probably made it worse. They were all caked in mud from sleeping on the soggy grass.
Tails rubbed at his bangs. "I think we all do. How long have we been here?"
Sonic shrugged. Amy, who had not yet sat up, but was watching all of them, hummed thoughtfully. "Like… a week? Or something like that. It felt that way."
Tails and Knuckles nodded their replies. Sonic choked a little.
"What?" Tails asked, alarm creeping into his voice. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Sonic scrambled to offer. "I just— Man I lost track of time. Totally. We gotta check a calendar when we get back."
A week. Gaia. Good Gaia it was not a week. There was no shot it was only a week. Even if it was he'd been here so long— But his friends didn't know that.
He made to crawl out from under the tent, and stand up. He heard his friends behind him, and that was good, because when he got up his legs buckled on him, and he would have hit the ground if Knuckles didn't suddenly have a hand under his shoulder, and helped steady him.
"…are you sure you are alright?" Knuckles pressed.
Sonic sucked in a sharp breath. It was made even harder to calm his suddenly racing heart when his eyes landed on Tails and Amy, now up and at his side, watching him with those worried, so worried eyes.
His feet were killing him. He knew why, of course.
"I— yeah." Sonic managed, shifting to allow Knuckles to help support him because he wasn't going to be able to play it off as nothing. And if he tried to just walk it off everyone would press for more because he was being stubborn. "I think I might have overdone it a little with all of the running around."
"…overdone it? With running?" Tails asked, concerned.
"I don't think it's been a week." Sonic offered in turn, as an explanation.
"It hasn't."
All eyes snapped to the new voice. Sonic tensed a bit but then immediately forced himself to relax when his eyes landed on Star. Because now he remembered they had promised his friends an explanation. He just didn't know what the heck the explanation was.
He couldn't tell them the truth. They would hate him.
"It's you!" Amy called, with a gasp, stepping forwards. She looked from Star's face, then down to his Koco, and really took him. She got more confused the longer she stared.
Knuckles shifted his hold on Sonic. "Hedgehog, what the hell is that."
"Um." Sonic managed eloquently. Knuckles seemed the most surprised of them all. Because right, he wouldn't have seen Star in all of that madness.
"Who are you?" Tails asked, gesturing between Sonic and Star. Turning to Sonic. "Sonic, who is he?"
"…His name is Star." Sonic explained. He looked to Star at the same time all his friends looked at him, and managed to decipher enough from those eyes to at least finish this part confidently. "He's… the result of the Cyber Corruption fully taking hold. A… copy of me was made."
"And in the Kocos choosing to give Sonic a 'good luck' gift." Star cut in, gesturing at his own Koco. "They gave me something to control."
Tails stared at him. "…you're a… digital copy of Sonic?"
"Basically." Star agreed, with the same kind of smile Sonic would have given Tails, which to Sonic felt so uncanny to see because he'd never seen Star be so kind. "I'm the exact same thing as all of the Kocos on these islands. A digital backup of someone. Except that I haven't been corrupted beyond recognition by time."
"I don't get it." Amy managed. "Where… why… How come we only saw you until the final battle? We'd been running around for days by then."
Star shrugged. "I was busy. Because I'm actually in the system, I have more clarence to access Cyber Space than Sage does. I was basically playing middle-man for the Ancients the whole time, getting Sage necessary data to keep advancing the plan. I only showed up then because we needed to get moving."
Tails shrunk a bit. Star beamed. "Hey, you did great, buddy. And I'm sure other me appreciates the concern you showed."
Sonic blinked. All eyes were on him again. He was hearing Star's explanation for the first time along with his friends and so he was not ready for eyes to turn to him, expecting a reply. "I… Yeah. All of you guys did great, during that whole mess. Without you…"
He wouldn't have made it. He knew this.
He was too weak to do it on his own.
Amy's gaze softened. Tails sniffled a little, but he was a big boy. He didn't even tear up. He just nodded, and Sonic made a note later to grill it into him that he did good once he'd cleared up with everyone what even happened, because spots of the fight were fuzzy in his mind.
"I just… wanted to say hi." Star finished, scratching at his ear. It felt uncanny to watch Star do it. All of those mannerisms. The nonchalant routine he'd built over the years. It was wrong because he hadn't seen any of it on Star before but he did it so well. It made him feel sick. Because was it really such a big lie?
Sonic didn't even know himself.
"Before any of you get worried about me, and start offering to bring me along." Star jumped ahead, and he laughed, and smiled. "Because I know how we all are, yeah? I'm… going to stay. Because I want to. I don't know what would happen if I got too far away from whatever's hosting Cyber Space, and whenever it goes dormant, I'll go with it anyways. The Ancients already offered to keep me company until that happens anyways. They said dormancy isn't bad at all."
Amy made a strangled noise. "Wait, I'm sorry? That— That sounds horrible, though. Staying here until… until you die?"
"It is not like you." Knuckles said. Sonic looked to him. Knuckles considered, then corrected. "It is not like Sonic. And you say you are a copy of him."
"But I'm not Sonic." Star said. Met Sonic's eyes, then. Gaze sharp. Sonic got the impression that he was the one being left to die, not Star. Which was, of course, correct. Star continued. "I… I know it's hard to understand? It's hard to explain. I don't really get it myself, to be honest. I'm sure one day you guys will. But I'm not Sonic. And… I want to stay."
Tails' namesakes lashed anxiously. "Are… are you sure? We've only just met you and… And we'd just be leaving you behind."
Star smiled, softly. "I'm sure, bud. 'sides. You haven't just met me." He gestured at Sonic. Sonic kind of just stared at it. "You have me right there. And you're all really lucky you do."
Sonic snorted at that, immediately on the defensive because that comment was reckless and Star knew it. Playing it down. "It wasn't that bad, come on. With friends like these at my side, how could I have ever not made it?"
He said it and he smiled at his friends, and they smiled back, but he could see there, the seeds of doubt, of worry, planted. He looked back at Star. Star was smiling as well. But in his eyes. He could see it.
Something. Discordance. They weren't on the same page.
"Anyways, you guys should probably go soon." Star offered. "Egghead already left with Sage in tow. And a storm is coming soon so if you don't leave before that, you'll have to wait it out before you can take off."
"Oh right a storm is coming." Sonic remembered, and looked up at the sky. It felt weird to be so sharply aware of the weather, but he knew Star wasn't lying about that. It didn't look it at all, but…
"Are you sure?" Amy asked. "There's barely even a cloud in the sky."
"Cyber Space's weather pattern prediction is surprisingly still very accurate." Star excused.
"All the more reason to leave." Knuckles decided. "We have all been here too long already as is. We should get somewhere safer and take a moment to recover. And I need to get back to the Master Emerald."
Sonic snorted, and playfully elbowed Knuckles, which probably didn't earn him a punch only because Knuckles was currently busy making sure he didn't end up on the ground and that would defeat the point.
"And after that you're off to somewhere more than your floating rock, right?" Sonic asked, with a laugh.
Knuckles rolled his eyes. But he was smiling. "Yes."
"Then… I guess… let's pack up and go." Tails decided, taking a deep breath. He turned back to Star one last time. "Are… are you certain you wanna stay?"
"I'm sure." Star assured, and smiled, the edges a bit sad. "All of you. All of you are going to do great. I know it. Get out there and see the world and see what you find with it. You're the best friends a hedgehog could ever ask for."
That was pointed. It hit Sonic hard but didn't damage. It mostly numbed. So much so that he kind of didn't really hear them bidding goodbye to Star. The undertone of that message was clear and it made him feel sick, and made him want to cry, but he was safe in his friends' arms, and Star was right, of course. Amy and Knuckles helped him get up into the passenger sit of the Tornado. He couldn't have managed the wing right now, and they wouldn't even let him try so he was glad because if they had he would have had to do it. What little had been brought out to make the tent was packed up. Tails got in his seat, Amy and Knuckles perched on the wings, and before long, they were off.
Sonic looked back.
And knew then that he would never truly leave the islands.
They touched down on one of Tails' workshops. The one at Mystic Ruins.
By then they were all tired and sore and starving. Sonic got off by himself despite Amy's protest and zipped first thing to his garden. It… wasn't doing good. But at least it wasn't like when he messed up the second—
No. No no he didn't want to think about that attempt.
The garden was doing fine. It was fine. He could salvage it still.
With that checked he punched in the code to unlock the lock, popped in the key, and then pushed the door open. He dramatically flopped on the couch for his friends to see, when they finally caught up. Knuckles huffed and just picked him up to make room on the dusty cushions.
Tails stepped in and bee-lined for the kitchen, and Amy sat down beside Sonic, after he sat up to make space for her.
"I'm going to need a whole week off after that." Amy said, sounding as exhausted as Sonic felt, and leaning back against him. He let her. He honestly didn't have the energy to maintain any dumb childhood keep-away teasing right now. They were way past that anyways.
"Yeah." He agreed, quietly. A week off sounded good. A week before they left. But they had to leave. Because he would cry if they didn't. So a week sounded good.
"All the food's gone bad!" Tails suddenly called. He peered out of the kitchen, squinting at his Miles Electric. "I finally got this de-tangled from Cyber Space. We've been gone for like two months."
Amy sat up like a bolt at that. "Two months? I gotta call my parents! They're probably worried sick."
She pulled out her phone. Sonic got a look at the screen, and understood why she quickly grew frustrated. It said it was connected to Wi-Fi. But also that it wasn't. And also it wouldn't disconnect. Not to mention the battery was basically dead.
"Tails—" Amy started calling, but Tails was over in a second, taking the phone from her.
"Yeah this is what I meant." He explained. "My Miles Electric was connected to Cyber Space. Let me see if I can get this fixed."
"I think I left my phone here." Sonic offered, to Amy. "Probably on a shelf somewhere? Take a charger from the wire cabinet and you can use mine to call."
Amy managed a soft breath. "Okay. Thank you, Sonic."
She stood up, and went to search for his phone, while Tails kept tapping away at hers.
Knuckles huffed. "I frankly do not want anything to do with technology for a while. That was too much."
Sonic snorted, quietly. "Y'and me both, knucklehead." He watched Amy leave the room, with his phone and charger in hand, heading upstairs to find somewhere more private from where to call from. "Y'and me both."
"Do you want to order some food, Sonic?" Tails asked, suddenly. He gestured at the kitchen with his namesakes, not looking up from where he'd taken a seat on the floor by the coffee table with the Miles Electric plugged into Amy's phone. "Since the food's all gone bad. I'm starving."
"Oh my Chaos yes." He was upright all at once. "I need three chili dogs in my system like right now. Is everyone good with chili dogs? I'll go get them."
Knuckles huffed. Hooked an arm over the arm of the couch to pull open a plastic cabinet that was within reach, pulling out a pair of spare gloves and tossing them to Sonic. He caught them easily, blinking at his bare hands because he'd entirely forgotten about that.
"Do you think you can manage the run all the way there and back?"
"Honestly if I can see some people on the run I think I could lap the planet." Sonic returned, already getting to his feet. They still hurt something nasty. His whole body felt shaky and feverish. But the promise of something, anything, that could wipe the after-taste of those stupid seeds from his mouth and maybe dispel the nausea was empowering enough.
He walked to the stairs. "Yo, Ames! Y'down for chili dogs!?"
There was a moment of silence. Then a reply. "Can you stop by my parents' bakery too?"
"Y'got it!" He called back. He rushed to the door, took a moment to stare at familiar surroundings that were not island of the Starfall variety, and then nodded to himself, looking back. "I'll be back in a sonic second! Hang tight! And… try to clean the kitchen while I'm gone?"
Knuckles nodded, and stood up. "Get me some grapes while you're at it too."
"And some mints please!" Tails added.
"Will do!" Sonic saluted, stepped outside, closed the door, and took off at a sprint.
Grapes and mints were found easily enough in a grocery store. He got drinks, as well, because he knew the chili dog stand often sold out of those, and didn't have Knuckles' favorite grape soda. He didn't even know how late in the day it was anyways. He was kind of just going.
Then to the chili dog stand. The stand was owned by a couple. Doug and Manu. Sonic had been buying from them since they first started selling, basically, and quite confidently declared they were his favorite chili dogs in the worlds. They got to put that on the side of their cart. He liked them. Sometimes only Doug was there. Sometimes it was only Manu. Sometimes they were both there. He was their most loyal customer. He liked to believe they appreciated that.
Today, by some miracle, they were both there. He stopped all at once, and Manu put down the sign he'd been spinning after one last toss and twirl, and Sonic whistled, beaming bright.
"Hey, you're doing it for reals now?" It surprised him. He remembered Manu had mentioned wanting to try to learn to spin a sign like that, but that had been like last time he was here.
…which was two months ago now. Something that he was reminded off when both Manu and Doug went wide-eyed at the sight of him.
"Sonic!" Doug exclaimed, already moving to pull out some sausages to start grilling. "Where have you been?"
"Oh you know me." He smiled. Hearing Doug's voice was grounding, in a bizarre way. Mundane. It was mundane. A reminder that the adventure was over. Had he even gotten a chili dog during the one attempt that—
No no no don't go there, Gaia damn it.
"Some new adventure?" Manu asked, looking him over.
"A long one." Sonic agreed, with a smile that he hoped was not as tired as he felt. He set down the bag with the grapes, and soda, and mints, stretching as if that would help the soreness and shakiness he felt any.
"The usual?" Doug asked him, but they both knew the answer because there were already sausages on the grill.
"And three more for my friends." Sonic confirmed. He took a step back. "Is it chill if I leave these things here real quick? I gotta go pick up something, I think. I'll be back in a flash to pay and go."
Manu nodded, and gestured for him to go. "Of course, Sonic. Just be fast!"
It was said teasingly. He snorted, and started backwards. "Y'know who you're talking to?"
That got a laugh out of both of them, and Sonic felt a smile himself.
He was gone in a flash, tracing a familiar path to Amy's parents' bakery. His hunch was that he had to pick up something, most likely a box of pastries put together by her parents after hearing that she had almost died, again, by virtue of being with him. Sonic didn't know how they did it. Amy said they'd resigned themselves to the fact that she was going to be in danger half of the time and aspired to keep from overwhelming her with fretting via cupcakes, cookies, croissants, and any other baked goods that they could reasonably cram in a box.
They were good people. They just didn't have the heart for adventure that Amy had somehow acquired.
Predictably, when he entered the bakery, the bell-ringing over head, Amy's mom was already there, with a box in hand already. He took it easily, with a hello and a goodbye, and made to leave.
The smell of fresh bread was making the nausea worse. He didn't know why. He wanted out of there fast.
"Sonic, wait. Is Amy alright?" Mrs. Rose called to him.
He paused at the door. Held it open. The fresh air helped a bit, as he turned back to look. "Yeah. Just… tired."
"That's what she said." Mrs. Rose muttered, quietly. "…Make sure she takes a break before she does anything crazy? And you too. You look like you need it."
He chuckled, flicked an ear, looked outside, but then looked back inside. The box was warm through the bag as he let it rest limply against his leg. "Will do, Mrs. Rose."
He turned and ran. He went from a standstill to a sprint all at once, and it only really clicked he shouldn't have done that when he'd already stopped in front of the chili dog stand, when a sudden rush of dizziness hit him hard, and for a second the world spun, and there was a shout of alarm and he was on the ground all at once, and then the next seconds there were arms trying to touch him.
He jolted away. His head was spinning and yet he jolted away and back up to his arms and knees, and for too long he was just sucking in deep breaths, his head ringing, he couldn't hear anything and he felt too hot and too cold and his whole body was shaking and—
"…kid?"
"Not a kid." He managed to hiss out. The bleached sidewalk was too bright in the sun. He closed his eyes, then looked up squinting at—
Oh. He didn't like how Doug and Manu were looking at him. Concern. He didn't like that. Shit.
He got up to his feet. Manu was close the entire time and he tried to be mad at that but he felt for a couple of seconds that were entirely too many like he would not manage getting to his feet. So maybe having Manu there to keep him from eating concrete again would be nice.
"What's wrong?" Manu pressed.
"I'm fine." He returned, which wasn't exactly the right answer for that question. He fumbled to find the box with the bread, head pounding, and found it handed to him, as Manu tugged on his hand. It got his attention.
Manu looked so concerned. "Kid, you look rough."
"I'm not a kid." He snapped, bristling. Manu clearly didn't expect that, and took a step back.
He had to get back to the workshop. He needed out of the sun. He needed to lie down. He felt sick, the smell of the sausages made him feel sick. That wasn't right.
"…do you have your phone on you?" Doug asked, very slowly bagging the chili dogs. "You should call someone to come pick you up, Sonic. You're in no condition to run."
"I don't— J-Just—" He fumbled to get the bag that he'd left behind picked up. "How much for all that?"
He should know how much. But suddenly it felt like whatever had been holding him together came undone, when he didn't need it to, and he couldn't remember how much he usually paid for this.
"…on the house this time." Doug decided, stepping around the cart and putting the bag in his hands, which he wound up needing because of how bad his hands were shaking. "If you promise you'll go get rest right now."
"I will." Sonic managed, shakily. "I will. I'm going to go get a nap."
"Get rest." Doug corrected. "Not just a nap."
Sonic looked away. There was a moment of silence.
Then he took a step back.
And then he was gone.
Embarrassingly, he did not get to open the door himself and pretend he wasn't such a bad wreck. His hands were shaking too much to type the pin into the pin-pad when he got back to the workshop, and with all of the bags he was carrying, the most he could do when the nausea came back was just slump against the door to catch his breath, and he thought he was subtle about it except he was not because the door opened on him and he spilled all over onto the living room floor.
Knuckles was staring down at him. "Sonic."
He chuckled weakly. The sun was all in his eyes from outside. It was making his headache worse. "Heya."
"Sonic?" That was Tails. He sounded concerned. He could hear footsteps. He groaned, but fumbled to right himself, something which was done quickly because Knuckles just picked him up and heaved him to his feet.
And his feet stung, and his head pounded, and everything was too bright and the touch burned and despite it he kind of just slumped against Knuckles, something the echidna clearly did not expect from the surprised grunt, and the way mittened hands fumbled to support him.
"Sonic?" Knuckles asked. Sonic didn't like the worry in his voice. But he couldn't play this off. Couldn't just say he was fine. He had to assure. Not dismiss.
"I'm wiped." He managed to mumble. "Can I go take a nap?"
"You don't even want to eat?" That was Amy. He blinked and she was beside him, holding in one hand the bag with the box from the bakery and in the other the bag with the chili dogs. She looked beyond worried.
He shook his head. The mere sight of all the food made him feel worse. The desperate desire for something, anything, that wasn't those stupid bloody seeds, it was gone. He just needed to close his eyes right now. He needed to not do anything right now. He just needed it.
There was a brief moment of silence. He didn't like the way Amy was looking at him. Then looking over him, at Knuckles, no doubt, some silent exchange, and then Tails walked past, holding the bag with the grapes and mints and soda, and he was in on it too, before gesturing for the stairs.
"You can take the bed today, Sonic." Tails offered, gingerly, almost as if afraid.
Sonic just hummed an agreement. Made to start walking. But not really. Knuckles followed practically right on top of him, awkwardly helping him up the very narrow staircase when his feet almost gave out under him multiple times. Somehow, he clumsily made his way into the crowded room. It was so small. It used to be a closet. He remembered that sharply as he just let himself spill over onto the race car bed that was now strictly Tails'. He closed his eyes for a blissful second.
"…are you sure you're alright?" Knuckles suddenly spoke up.
He groaned, softly, and blinked his eyes open, shifting a bit so he could actually look at Knuckles. "…m'not alright in the sense I'm gonna spring up and start doing laps. But…"
He trailed off. Knuckles stared. He didn't like how Knuckles was staring at him. He shifted more, rolled over to be on his back, to sit up with arms that shook in protest at that.
"I just need a rest, Knux." Sonic assured, quietly. He felt so tired. He felt so worn. He felt bitter and immediately felt guilty for feeling it. He was the one who could barely stand. Why was it up to him to be the stronger one here? Why did Knuckles stare at him like that? Sonic was so tired, he didn't have the energy to keep being alright— But Gaia, Knuckles didn't know that, and actually all of this was so selfish, why was he being so selfish, he shouldn't be— shit— shit shoot— His breathing stuttered a bit. He curled his fingers around the blankets beneath him.
"I've been running 'round for a month or two and I've only had those stupid seeds as the only option on the menu." Why did he have to keep being strong? He just wanted to stop being strong. He wanted to break. He couldn't. He was so selfish. Why was he being so selfish? "So I'm… a bit less than stellar? I'll be back up to speed in no time so long as I can get back to my regular naps-and-chilli-dogs routine, yeah?"
Knuckles was still staring, but eventually, slowly, he nodded, hand leaving it's resting spot on the doorway, reaching for the door. "…If you are certain. I will tell Amy to bring the chili dogs up to you when you awaken."
Sonic nodded, softly. Mustered a smile. "Thanks Knux. You're the best." Considered. And desperately added, but hoped that the way he was so tired hid the horror he felt. "Start thinking of where you want to go, yeah? I'll help you plan your trip!"
Knuckles paused. "I will."
Nodded, and after a moment, stepped aside and shut the door.
Sonic waited a second.
Then he let himself collapse backwards. Bit at his lip.
It didn't help him hold back the quiet sob.