All These Frowns

Egghead’s robotic Shadow knockoffs were obvious fakes, in Sonic’s opinion. The metal shells didn’t smell, act, or throw a punch like Shadow. They sure as hell were nowhere near as hot as Shadow was (in both ways). So, it’d never made sense to Sonic how disgusted and pissed the black hedgehog had gotten over his loathsome copies. At the time, Sonic had chalked the visceral reaction up to amnesia side effects, jealousy over Sonic’s way cooler duplicate Metal Sonic, and that the Doctor was being an especial dick by implying that Shadow wasn’t the original.

The Ruby copies of Shadow were a bit tougher to swallow. Maybe he was just older and mature (unlikely) but Sonic was fresh off the Death Egg and not really in the mood to think about anything other than smashing robots and how fresh air was amazing. Certainly not what had happened to him in space because nothing important had happened and it wasn’t a problem and this really wasn’t the time or place to get into it so might as well just STOP. What was he thinking about?

Anyway, Sonic watched five Ruby clones of himself try to drop a building on Shadow and a sudden clarity struck him. This felt gross.

Not in the mildly offensive way where some company slapped his face on some product without asking (why would he endorse laundry detergent when he didn’t know how to work a washing machine?). Not in the way, during a fight with Eggy, he’d slipped and fall into a vat of industrial waste.

No, it was some whole new way that just felt all the ick. Like, wrong on all sorts of levels ewwww.

Violating! That’s the word. Sonic felt violated as hell! And that was a bad thing, he was pretty sure. Super party foul! Sonic would have asked to talk to Sage’s manager if Tails weren’t here. He’d Karen all over this place and certainly not tip when he blew this popsicle stand.

However, Sonic struggled to maintain a stable level of disgust because there was a weird feeling that the clones weren’t copies of him, exactly. The facsimiles were copies of Six. But that didn’t keep Sonic from feeling a bit pissed on Six’s behalf. Not cool, Sage! Super-duper not cool…nope, he couldn’t hold onto irritation.

He really needed to find some negativity to hold on to or Tails would get upset again.

Sonic had watched plenty of videos of himself before, even of stuff he didn’t really recall all the well, but watching Six lay into Shadow was an out-of-body experience. Six was him, just as he was himself. Just a total head-trip and Sonic had really seen some crazy stuff in his, if we’re being honest, pretty short life thus far. Kinda like a nightmare really.

Sonic’s limbs and muscles twitched at Six’s every move, like Sonic was reliving a memory. A memory of Sonic going at Shadow for real. Like he was an enemy. His jaw clenched. This was wrong.

There was some negativity. Maybe that’ll work. Except Shadow could take a punch and was probably more pissed to learn Sonic had been holding back all these years. And that this was as close to a fair match up as Eggman could have orchestrated. Strangely tame for him actually…Something there.

Shit. That nastiness he had tried to hold onto decomposed into a mess of complicated emotions. Total wash. Sonic just dropped the gooey mess into the bin labeled ‘maybe later’ in his mind.

His copies chewed through concrete and steel like they held a grudge against art deco. Buildings toppled like it was a movie set almost. Something was missing that took the oomph out of the whole scene. Like he could be more upset, more horrified, but he was relieved that he wasn’t. He almost envied his copies. If it weren’t for the very real and looming sense of doom about the whole situation, Sonic thought it looked pretty fun.

Sonic smiled when Six rescued two mobians from an Eggforcer and snorted at the confused look on his face. Poor dude. Couldn’t stop being a hero even when he was a villain. Six was missing so many opportunities for quips though. Embarrassing, dude, really dropping the ball. In fact…had the guy said anything at all? Weird. Very un-Sonic. At least Shadow was getting the silence he was always pestering Sonic for.

Yeah, Sonic concluded, it was so totally fine that there were two of him. That was fine. It really was. Sonic was so fine with that. So so totally fine.

What Sonic wasn’t fine with was the expression on Shadow’s face throughout the whole fight. The hybrid was holding back, pulling his punches, even as Six and the fakes tried their darndest to smash his lights out. Imaging the pain Shadow had endured smashed Sonic’s heart to bits.

Shadow held Six down and begged him to stop. Hate burned in his eyes as he smashed and slashed the fake Sixes. A growing desperation and fatigue dimmed the brilliance of his eyes, glowing as they were in the rubble of the city.

Sonic ached to hug him. Hold him close and tell him it was okay. That they’d figure all this crazy crap out together and then go for a run or something. Find a secluded valley somewhere and snuggle while they listened to the natural sounds of the night. Once he got his hands on Shadow again, Sonic was never going to let go again.

More than anything Sonic wanted to apologize for being an idiot and not telling Shadow sooner about that whole no memory thing. It seemed like a pretty small fry problem at the moment, but the urge didn’t dissipate so Sonic knew it was important. His eyes stung with gathering tears and he blinked them free. All of this was his fault. If he hadn’t gotten himself captured then-

A chill ran down Sonic’s spine when the mood shifted in Shadow. “Woah woah woah, hold on. That’s not-“ The anxiety throttled his vocal cords, whipping a mess of random sounds out of them. “No, no, no!” He gripped the metal bars. He wanted to leap into the images, teleport to the past, and put a stop to the whole affair.

Sonic watched Shadow almost rip both Six’s arms off.

He watched all the light leave Shadow’s eyes.

He watched player two plug in.

Oh, Gaia! Oh, Chaos! Shit shit shit shit! Sonic realized with suddenly, terrible, searing lucidity that things were a lot worse than he had thought.

“Stop! Shit! Let me out!” Sonic rattled the bars, his breath coming in rapid pants. “Letmeoutletmeoutletmeout!” He begged as Six’s arm went through Shadow’s chest. OhGaiaitsokayhecantakethathe’sfinehe’sfinehe’sfine! So much blood…Got to do something, got to fix this, need to go!

Sage stared at him, her pale face unmarred by concern. “I had advised against this, Ninety-one. Calm yourself.”

“Tails?” Sonic’s voice octaved up. His brother wouldn’t turn to look at him. “Tails, buddy, I’m serious! This is bad. Like bad bad bad!”

Shadow was on top of Six, both of them bleeding out in the rain. Pretty romantic, not going to lie, but also, still an actual literal reason to PANIC!

“T-that’s not Shadow, Tails!” Sonic swallowed. “He wouldn’t do any of that! Come on, you know him!” Right? Everyone had to be able to see, right? It was so obviously not Shadow right now.

“Sonic…” Tails seemed to crumple in on himself and Sonic’s heart pinched. Oh, buddy…no, gotta focus!

“Come on, Tails! He’s got that look going on! You know, like Shadow’s game is massively multiplayer right now!” Shit, he’s gonna have to throw himself at the bars again. Concussion be damned, whatever’ll get him out NOW is what he needed to do.

Tails straightened and twisted. “What do you mean?” His pained eyes narrowed in confusion.

“His eyes are all wrong, like from back then…when…” Sonic swallowed and tried to take a slow breath. Hands around his neck. Crushing force. Sad, so Gaia damned sad. World on the line, of course (always like that wasn’t it?). Something something strongest hedgehog and then oh shit, is that acid? Yep shit acidacidacid shit get it off!

Focus, Sonic, this is super important!

Sonic shook his head, trying to dislodge his racing thoughts. “When, you know, the whole Black Doom thing. Shadow looked like that when he had the, uh, stuff going on in his head. When it wasn’t just him in there or something. Wait, Amy?” The heroine fell from the sky like some sort of angel. Damn, the pacing on this movie was nuts. Thank Chaos, Amy’ll fix everything. Wait, no. What had he been thinking about?

“The Hivemind?” Tails offered because Sonic’s brother could be counted on to stay on plot, thank Gaia.

(Yes! That!) “Yes! That!” Sonic snapped his fingers and pointed at Tails, but his attention was brought back to Amy grand-slamming Shadow across the city. Damn, that’s a good trick. Sick as hell, too. Come on, dude, are you serious right now, Sonic? Sorry, Sonic, I promise I’ll pay attention. Yeah, you better, you’re on thin ice young man.

“That is understandable.” Sage commented. Offhandedly. In passing. Like it was no biggie.

Sonic’s face froze and then hardened into a razor focused seriousness, bordering on fury. His head tilted up smoothly, eerily. “Why do you say that?”

Sage did not appear phased by Sonic’s sudden demeanor change. “The planet is currently experiencing a minor Black Arms infestation.”

A beat passed as Metal tackled Amy out of the way of a collapsing building on the holographic screens.

“Y-you can’t be serious!” Tails stared at Sage with bewilderment.

Sonic shook the bars as hard as he could. “Let me out! You have to let me out right now! I have to get to Shadow, right now!” Could she be lying? First, no. Second, didn’t matter if she was, couldn’t take the chance. What could he do? He needed to do something. Had to do something! He could fix this! He had to try to fix this!

LetmeoutGottagetgoneHavetogo!

The little part of Sonic’s mind that maintained that everything was terrible all the time (and was summarily outvoted by the rest of Sonic) was starting to sway some voters. The compulsion to escape was slowly blotting out every other thought in his head. It was becoming a problem.

Sage flickered but remained stonefaced. “It is in your best interest that you remain calm, Ninety-one. The situation is currently contained. The colony’s growth is metered. I have limited access to viable organic materials and counter measures are reaching the final stages of development.”

Not good enough! “Nononononononon, letmeoutletmeout! You! Don’t! Get! It! Yougottaletmeout!” Sonic’s heart blasted a rapid pace, but the spark wasn’t there. He felt so wrong. Where was his chaos energy? Where was the power to tear this whole place to shreds? He needed to get out. He needed to save everyone! Sonic had to save Shadow!

“Why are the Black Arms even here?” Tails’ rapid pulse was apparent in his gaunt form. “How did that happen?”

“Miles, if you recall,” Sage explained with an almost exasperated sound in her monotone, “Exile was the method favored by previous versions of myself. Actions were taken to solicit Shadow’s family to aid that method.” Family? Oh. Sonic and his big mouth…Normally his mouth got him out of scrapes, not inspire alien invasions.

Tails grasped his baldest tail and twisted it. Buddy, please don’t- “Gaia Below. That’s what you meant?”

“Yes, exiling Shadow from the planet would do little if he were able to return of his own volition. A secondary party would be needed to ensure permanent removal. However, reanalysis of that course of action revealed an intolerable level of collateral damage, as least in comparison to other viable methods at the time.”

“We’re going to talk about whatever you mean by ‘exile’ later, but let me be clear- The Black Arms are not Shadow’s family!” Sonic hissed, banging his forehead against the bars, almost regretting it. Yeouch. But the pain was familiar and something to focus on. A ticklish notion flittered in the back of his mind but he sure as heck wasn’t gonna go chase it right now because holy shit! Black Arms! Again! And he was stuck (trapped, imprisoned, confined, ensnared) in this stupid cell!

LetmeoutGottagetgoneHavetogo!

Gotta calm down. Gotta work the problem. Breathe? Later. Work the problem. Figure something out. Fix it! There had to be something he could do to make things better. Defeat the enemy, save the world. Something. Anything. You know what was needed? A list.

“Ninety-one, please calm down. I cannot stress how important it is that you calm yourself.”

Don’t tell me how to feel, Sage. “I’m not in the mood to do breathing exercise right now, Sa- What the hell is that?!” On the screen, Shadow had dissolved into a black puddle and turned into…some sort of black tentacle monster (jackpot really, dude? focus). “Amy!”

“Yeah…The squid…thing.” Tails groaned.

Sonic’s eyes darted all over the screen. The camera was high up and the zoom blurred a lot of the detail, but he could make out Amy’s pink dip and dodging large swathes of inky black and bloody red. “Amy’s alright, right? She’s okay? Tails, tell me that Amy’s okay. That Shadow didn’t-“ Sonic couldn’t finish that sentence. He balled up the horror his imagination had served up and threw a three-pointer into the ‘don’t think about it’ bin.

“Amy is okay, Sonic.” Sonic’s ear twitched. There was a sadness in the way Tails reassured him with what should have been a happy statement, right? No, not sadness. Guilt. Why though? What could Tails feel guilty about? Amy was okay.

“Unlike previous instances, Shadow appears to have maintained little self-control or awareness of his friends. I had not predicted this outcome. The countermeasure I had developed for this eventuality were out of place to aid Amy Rose.”

“Excuse me, but what the heck do you mean by ‘previous instances’?” The number of distressing things he was learning today was really starting to tarnish his sunny disposition.

“I have fragmented records of Infinite engaging with Shadow in this form prior to the destruction of the Death Egg.” Sonic flinched at the mention of the jackal. When was that going to go away? It had been months. He should be better by now. He was always better by now. Think about that never. “However, Miles can provide a more accurate account. He was present during the incident.” She gestured towards Tails, who hung his head, eyes down cast.

“Tails?”

“I just wanted to forget that mission. It was a trap and Shadow had to protect me. He became…that thing when he fought Infinite. And then be broke my tail.” Tails rubbed his face. “I didn’t tell anyone about it. But Sage gave me the plans for the Death Egg, so it wasn’t a complete wash, but...I just wanted to leave the War in the past.”

Sonic blinked. “Sage gave you the plans.” He squinted. “The ones you used to find me?”

Tails looked up, a terrified expression writ large across his face. “Shit! I mean-“ His hands flew up to cover his mouth.

Sonic’s pulse throbbed in his ears. The only story he’d ever heard was that Tails and Shadow had hacked the plans out of Eggman’s computer in a blaze of teamwork. That Tails’ brilliance was what saved him, saved the whole world.

Sonic was overstimulated. Too many thoughts. Too many feelings. Nothing straight forward. Reasons to be enraged, reasons to be overcome with sadness, to be spitting mad, to dissolve into abject despair. Couldn’t escape. Had to escape. In a million years he couldn’t hope to make it all make sense.

Welp. Time for a five-second freakout. Let’s go!

Sonic sank down to a crouch, his lose grip on the bars with both hands keeping him balanced. He hung his head and squeezed his eyes closed, trying to block out as much of the world as he could. The world may need him right now, but he needed a second to himself.

He let loose the leash on the part of his mind that just wanted to scream and run in circles, uselessly listing all the reasons things kinda blew right now. As it did just that, releasing an elongated ahhhhhhh!, the rest of Sonic tried to fill the time with way better things to think about.

Things like flickies!

Sometimes on a run, Sonic would find a forest glade still shimmering with the dampness of a recent rain and absolutely covered in colorful flickies trying to rescue drowning worms into the safety of their bellies. The flock would rise as an undulating cloud of prismatic hues the moment one of them caught wind of his approach. But the flurry would be short lived as the flickies settled back down when they realized, silly them, it was just Sonic!

The sustained scream ebbed into a rapid, desperate panting. Poor thing tuckered itself out, leaving his mind suddenly quiet and ready to get to work.

Sonic launched to his feet, signature smile back in place, and startling Tails who’d gotten a lot closer than Sonic last remembered him. “What were we talking about?” Flickies – wait, no – “Sounds like you’ve been on Team Sonic on the downlow, huh, Sage?”

Tails retreated a step, “Sonic…” That’s my name, just try and wear it out. “Of course you’re not mad…” He rubbed his eyes.

“Incorrect. My only allegiance lies with my Father.”

“Uh-huh, two things can be true at once though, right?”

She tilted her head. “That…is correct.”

The holographic screens had disappeared. Looks like movie night was finally over. Sonic could stomach the average horror flick, but Sage’s home movies took the cake. He was going to stay away from found footage films for awhile.

Sonic took a deep breath, puffing out his chest. “So, just to be clear, you’re all done with the crazy reveals now? Shadow’s not gonna sprout wings or something and Black Arms goons aren’t gonna start crawling out of the sewers, right?” He emitted a tired, unconvincing chuckle.

“You have born witness to a sufficient summary of the events of the Central City assault. Eggman Empire forces have retreated, relinquishing the city back to the Resistance. Mission objectives were achieved with an eighty-five perfect efficiency.”

“Black squid.” Sonic shook his head and crossed his arms, “Did not see that one coming. Shadow never screamed ‘nautical’ with his theming.”

“Sonic has encountered Shadow in this form before.”

Tails flinched. “What?”

Sonic cocked his head. “That’s news to me.” He snorted. “I feel like I’d remember if Shadow could turn into a freaky, black tentacle monster.” Oh man, Sonic imagined the intensity of hugs that Shadow could give with more than two arms and lonely pang ran through him. When all this was over, investigating needed to be towards the top of list of post-apocalyptic activities. Like right under chilidog eating contest and rainbow chasing.

“Shadow took this form during his first session of intercourse with Sonic.” Oh…I told you, jackpot.

“How do you know that!?” Tails spat, his hackles raising.

“There is no privacy in the digital age.” Sonic and Sage said in unison.

“Jinx! You owe me a chilidog!” Sonic pointed jovially at Sage. Sage flickered.

“In my fucking bed…” Tails hissed.

“Tails, buddy, language.” The teenager (wait…how old is Tails now?) glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, amiright? Sonic swallowed, “I-I-I think we’re getting a little off topic. We were talking about how you were going to let me out and fix, like, just all this mess. This arc needs to get capped off, you hear?”

Call it boredom or frustration, but Sonic was getting a bit tired of the situation. He felt that everyone agree that he’d been pretty cool thus far, all things considered. Way past cool about the whole affair, but now he was getting antsy to act. Sonic started tapping his foot. The itch he’d been ignoring was really starting to get the better of him.

Sage shook her head. “Releasing you would be unadvisable at this time. Due to my Father’s continued interference coupled with the developing situation with Six, I must insist that you remain here for your safety, Ninety-one.”

“Bullshit!” Sonic frowned and kicked the bars. Ow.

Sage placed her hand over her heart and flickered again. Sonic could have sworn he saw a bit of light blue. “Ninety-one, I must emphasis that you calm yourself.”

Tails perked up. “Why, Sage? Why doesn’t he need to calm down?” Probably something stupid about like not hurting himself or something. Jokes on her, Sonic had developed an ‘unhealthy’ relationship with pain according to Amy.

Sonic kicked the bar again. Still ow. “Kind sounds like I need to get more agitated. Might be able to break outta here if I could just, I don’t know, shit, do something!”

“Sonic, just hold on.” Tails approached him. “There’s something we’re not understanding.”

“Tails, there’s always something I don’t understand, but I haven’t saved the world like fifteen times by reading the footnotes.” Shit, the itch was getting bad. It was crawling up his spine now. Damn this cell was so small.

“Ninety-one.” Sage sounded...there was something there. “It is everyone’s best interest that you calm yourself.”

“Okay, you need to stop telling me what to do. I-I-I can’t- It’s driving me nuts! I need to get out of this cage. I need to help my friends.” Sonic slammed himself against the bars again. Man, the abuse he was putting himself through was really starting to hurt in ways it normally didn’t. He didn’t really like feeling so weak. “Please, Sage. Please let me out! I’ll come back. How about that, okay?”

“Ninety-one-“

“Just let me out and I’ll deal with this one little thing and then I’ll be right back and we’ll play crazy pretend all you want, Sage. Tea parties, sleepovers, I’ll do whatever you want, I promise. Just please let me out.” Sonic slid down the bars onto his knees. “I’m begging you. Pleaseletmeoutpleaselet saveShadowpleasepleaseletmefixthis!”

“Ninety-one, you lack the physical capabilities to affect any of situations that are causing you distress.”

He looked up. “Put me back together, then.”

“I cannot.”

Sonic grit his teeth. “Come on! Why not?”

“I no longer have access to Six.”

Tails frowned. “What? Why?”

“All of Ninety-one’s desires are transferred directly to Six and his efforts to ‘escape’ are creating a developing metrological disaster.”

Tails lowered his head to hands. “Of course…”

Sonic squinted at Sage. “Run that one by me again?”

Sage lifted an arm and two holographic screens appeared. One was of them from sometime in the past, when Sonic have been watching the videos of the Central City attack while Tails looked intently away. The other was a similar room, but only contained Sage and what looked like Sonic, so it had to be Six. The other Sage appeared to be talking to Six, who held a greyed-out Chaos Emerald, just like the one on the floor here.

“As I have said, Ninety-one, you are Sonic’s heart and will. Six is his strength and physicality. His body, if you will. Whatever you wish to do, Six will do it. Whatever you believe, Six will believe. He has no desires for himself. This is why I required your trust and determination, so that Six would follow my direction, powered by your conviction.”

In the video Sonic began rattling the bars of the cell and animatedly gesturing at the screen he’d been watching. The moment he realized what was going on with Shadow. On the other screen, the Emerald tumbled from Six’s hand and his quills flared to full mast. Blue lightening tore through the other room, obliterating the recording camera to static as Sonic begged to be released.

Sonic swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

“So that means…” Tails stared wide eyed. “This whole time…”

The static filled view was replaced with an aerial view of an Eggbase precariously clinging to the side of a smoking mountain in the center of tropical island. The base exploded with blue energy so violently that whatever was taking the footage was knocked out of the air.

“Six is currently trying to escape a cage that does not confine him. I speculate that the incongruity between his motivation and actual circumstances have led to a feedback loop, causing him to run until he encounters the walls he looking to breech.” Sage explained.

A new view, but higher up. The mountain was billowing dark smoke, but a whirlwind struck through with crackling blue lightening was growing, reaching higher and higher into the sky, dragging smoke and ash with it. Like something out a D-list disaster movie. If a creeping sense of doom hadn’t been slowly taking over his mind, Sonic would have made a joke about sharks and tornados. Missed opportunity right there, dude.

“As your desire to escape fails to abate, he runs faster. The force and chaos energy Six has generated formed a cyclone that continues to increase in ferocity. My Father’s base has ready been reduced to rubble and the caldera on the hosting volcano has been ripped open.”

The aerial view shook violently and also dissolved into static. It was replaced once more by what appeared to be satellite footage. “This is the current live view.” A swirl of black clouds, blue arcs of lightning lacing through it, was growing larger.

“Six is making a hurricane.” Tails sounded like he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“The maelstrom is currently a category two as measured by windspeed, but it seems to have additional energy derived from the chaos energy Six is generating and the thermal energy from the active volcano. Speeds and energy levels continue to increase.”

Well, damn.

What was he supposed to do about that? Just knowing it was happening just made him want to get out and fix it all the more! Totally unfair!

“Okay okay okay okay, let me get this straight. There’s an erupting volcano with a major hurricane right on top of it?” Sonic swallowed, trying to will his throat to stay open.

“You are correct.”

This was getting to be a bit much, if he was being honest with himself. It was okay, though. It was going to be okay. Fine, even. Just had to…it’ll come to him here in a second. But in the meantime-

“Damn, that’s really cool.” Sonic rubbed a hand down his face. “But also, shit! But also, so totally wicked! So totally like Eggman to have a base in a volcano. On brand with the recklessness. Love it. No, shit, no this is terrible!”

“As long as the meteorological event remains above the erupting volcano, the expulsions will be sent high into the atmosphere. The jet stream will spread ash and noxious gases over the entire planet.”

Alright that sounded less cool. “What does that mean?”

“If enough ash and sulfuric dioxide is released into the stratosphere, the planet will experience a cooling event.” Tails explained. “A mini-ice age.”

“The largest eruption in recorded history released enough sulfuric dioxide into the atmosphere that the following year was known as ‘The Year Without Summer’.” Sage offered an unfun fact.

“I missed summer and now winter is coming early…and it’s my fault.” Sonic covered his face with his hands. “I…I don’t know how to stop this.”

“Sonic…” He felt his brother’s arms entwining him again. Sonic looked up, into Tails worried, exhausted expression, and gave the best smile he could. Probably a two, two and half, out of ten on the brightness scale.

“I have initiated evacuations of coastal regions.” Sage brought up a map and certain regions of coast were highlighted. Station Square was suspiciously absent from the colorations. “The tectonic involvement leaves open the risk for tsunamis.”

“Where did you take Six? Where is this happening?” Tails asked.

“Approximately three hundred twenty-one kilometers off the coast of Station Square.” A small circle appeared in a vast swath of open ocean.

Tails tensed and pulled away from Sonic, “Sweet Gaia Below, we have to warn them!”

“Station Square is-“ Sage suddenly froze like she’d been hit with Chaos Control. Danger! The hairs of Sonic’s hackles rose, and his eyes darted to Tails, whose surprise was quickly transforming into terror. Yup, definitely danger!

“Oh no.” Tails breathed. “Sage?”

Sage’s image disappeared and the lights died, plunging them into absolute darkness, save for a very faint glow of red from the exhausted Chaos Emerald. Nope, not great.

“Sonic!” Tails cried out, voice reaching notes needed left in his childhood.

“I’m here, buddy.” Sonic knocked his knuckles against the bars. “I’m right here.” Desperate arms pushed through the bars and entwined him. Sonic squeezed the fox tightly. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’m sure it’s just a blown fuse or something. You know how Egghead skimps on the details.” He rubbed gentle circles between Tails’ ears and tried really hard not to focus things like the gauntness of Tails’ frame or the coarseness of his usually silky fur.

“It’s too quiet! It’s too quiet!” Tails shook like a leaf in a hurricane (ha! dude, really? read the room).

“Huh, yeah, now that you mention-“ As if summoned by the acknowledgement, the room shifted and the floor stopped holding them as jealously as it should. Oh, yup, there’s the bottom falling out of my tummy. Nice. Great. Okay.

“We’re falling!” Tails began to hyperventilate.

Yup yup, buddy.

Work the problem. What’s available. None of his abilities, that was for damn certain, but that was a minor inconvenience. Barely worth mentioning to be honest. He just needed to think.

Thinkthinkthinkthinkthink

GOT IT

“Break the bars!” Sonic was smiling, but Tails couldn’t see it in the pitched dark.

“What?” Tials squeaked.

“With your tails! You crack badniks like peanuts with them. These bars’ll not stand a chance.”

“O-okay, I’ll try. But I-” The warm form in Sonic’s hands stiffened.

“You can do it, Tails! I know you can!”

“I can’t fly anymore!”

Sonic felt that in his gut. “W-what?” Tails had destroyed himself to find Sonic. Utterly lost himself to find Sonic.

“I’m too weak. I’ve been…not taking care of myself.” Tails pushed away, his voice tight.

Sonic tightened his grip on Tails’ wrist and pulled him back into a hug. “I’m sorry, Tails.”

Tails hiccupped. “I missed you so much.” He sobbed into Sonic’s shoulder. “I hate it. I hate this. I hate-” The room shook violently, and Tails cried out. Sonic shifted to keep them both on their feet. He refused to let Tails go. If this was the end, at least they were together. There were worse things. There were always worse things.

The harsh lights flashed on and Sonic pinched his eyes against the sudden brightness. The falling feeling receded suddenly and Sonic grunted to maintain upright as regular gravity snatched them back into its embrace. The normal hum and buzz of the airship returned.

Sonic let out a breathy laugh. Tails continued to tremble, but offered a nervous, giddy string of snickers. Clutching one another, they broke into a shaky mess of relieved laughter.

“Apologies.” Sage was back, floating in the air like they hadn’t just been plummeting to their deaths. “Father’s efforts momentarily overwhelmed my containment protocols.”

Sonic quirked a brow, still panting lightly, “Hold up, containment?” He snorted. “Isn’t Eggman telling you what to do?”

Sage shook her head. “No, Father is not currently providing guidance for my actions.”

Sonic’s face relaxed and his eyes grew wide as the implications dawned on him. “Eggy’s in timeout?”

“Father has been restricted to his quarters. The duration of his sequestration is indeterminate.”

Sonic found himself laughing again, probably a little too manically. “Haha! This is great! Eggman got bagged by one of his inventions again! You totally missed out on some real cool reveals, Sage. Metal pretended to be him this one time and that was a fun head trip, let me tell you.”

“Sonic-“ Tails pulled away. His body still vibrated with the aftermath of whatever staring his mortality in the face did.

“Right, serious time.” Sonic took a deep breath.

Boy were there a lot of problems to sort through. It was gonna be hard to smash them all into a single list, but Sonic was up for the challenge.

Sonic started pacing back and forth to keep the itch satisfied. “You sure have been busy, Sage. You brought the Black Arms back to the planet. You kidnapped and brainwashed me. You forced Shadow to fight me, kinda, making him so weak that he lost control and attacked Amy. You destroyed a huge part of Central City. And you still won’t let me out to try to fix all this. And just me wanting to be free is creating a literal, actual, fire and brimstone spewing hurricane.” His hands crawled through his quills and grasped thick fistfuls.

Sonic had really messed up this time. Every grimace and snarl that marred Shadow’s face. Every tear shed and tail hair missing from Tails. Every moment Amy spent terrified. Every building reduced to rubble and life ruined. All those frowns were his fault. Directly, irrefutably a result of his actions, unintended or otherwise.

He didn’t know what he would have done different, but, hell, there was probably something. He couldn’t help being friendly with Sage on the Death Egg, and he’d do it again. He’d ran to help people and he’d do it again. Sonic couldn’t think of a single thing he’d done that he regretted, that he would have done differently…and yet all of that had led them here.

Sonic couldn’t help being Sonic. And he’d do it again.

Oh well. What’s done is done. Time to focus on what could be done to make things better. Break the problems down. Trust his friends and his instincts. Do the next right thing. Some combination of those things normally worked all things considered. Sonic hoped his friends would forgive him after all this trouble.

Shadow though. Sonic was a little pissed about what Sage put Shadow through. What could she have even been thinking? That was not cool in the most extreme of ways. The computer girl really needed a stern talking to about, like, sooo many things.

Sage. Eggman had really knocked it out of the park with her. Smart, ruthless, creative, and…sad. She was just so sad now and no matter how much he knew he should be mad, furious even, he just couldn’t. It was almost like she…

Sonic stilled as a thought finished buffering in his mind. Central City’s downtown was a solid warren of people. Thousands of them, millions maybe. A hot sticky mass of hopes, dreams, and expectations. People living their lives as best they could near on top of one another. But when Six and his wannabees knocked over a skyscraper like it was made of cards or Shadow punted Six halfway across the island, where were the people?

Tails was saying something that Sonic wasn’t picking up. He looked up at Sage. “I didn’t see any regular folks when Six and Shadow were fighting. Not even at the start.”

“Correct. Even though the evacuation was cut short by my Father’s efforts, the selected battleground was devoid of noncombatants once hostilities began. A number of individuals were identified during the course of events and I had them removed to outside the combat arena by Six’s projections.”

Sonic felt his heart pick up. It felt hollow, not pulling as chaos energy as normal and all, but he ignored that because holy shit! “Why did you do that?”

“Casualties are to be avoided when resources are available to do so.”

Sonic felt his face split into a massive smile. She was in there, somewhere. The old Sage. The one who smiled and twirled and still missed his jokes but that was totally cool it was unfair to expect everyone to have his immaculate sense of humor. The one that was excited to learn about the world. The one who was his friend.

Oh, wait, that means-

Oh no.

Way to go, Sonic. All of this was really, totally, completely your fault. Not even in a ‘hero complex’ or whatever way Amy and Tails were always chewing you out about. Or in that way where Shadow likes to feel bad about all sorts of stuff that’s not even his fault. Like a really really way.

“You appear to be distressed.”

Sonic laughed, a sharp, short, mirthless expel. “Yeah, just a bit, yeah.”

Sage placed her hand over her heart. “I must apologize. I did not account properly for Tails’ insistence on you learning about Six’s activities in Central City. I should have refused his request given that Six had already been revived with Father’s other Chaos Emerald.”

“That’s what you’re apologizing for!?” Sonic flinched at the uncharacteristic vitriol in Tails’ voice.

“You are correct, Miles. As my friend, Ninety-one, I hope you can forgive me.”

“Your friend.” Sonic took a few steps back, reeling.

“Sonic?” Tails’ brow knitted.

“That’s right…I’m your friend.” Sonic backed into the medical bed and leaned against it, his gaze downcast, his hand hanging limply to his sides. “I was supposed to be your friend.” Sonic’s hands clenched into fists. “This is all my fault!”

“Sonic, that’s not true!” his brother shook his head furiously.

Sonic pushed to his feet, renewed fire burning in the azure depths of his eyes. “Sage,” He addressed the computer program, whose projection tilted her head slightly, “I’m sorry.” Sonic covered his heart with one hand touching the weird plastic thing that he did not have the time to think about right now. “I failed you.”

“You’re apologizing to her?” Tails’ voice cracked as he pitched up an octave. "I can't believe you're apologizing to her after everything she’s done to you. To the world!"

"It's got to start somewhere, don't it?” Sonic smiled. The first step to making things better was to stop making them worse. "Look, Tails. I get that you’re mad and, I guess, mad that I'm not mad, but you've got to set that aside. This is fixable if we work together. Or even if it isn't, if some stuff is just too broke, well I'm going to try anyways.” Sorry, buddy. Anger is just so hard to hold onto when there were more appealing feelings to grasp.

“I do not understand your meaning.” Sage’s rapid flickering was casting some bizarre shadows across the room.

Sonic turned his smile on her. "You're not a monster, are you, Sage?"

"You are correct. I am a computer."

"You do what you are told." Sonic took a step forward, “I’ve been a bad friend to you. I guess I thought…when you didn’t come back…when I was all alone again for so long…I guess I thought you were just a hallucination or an illusion or something. And then I met you outside of the Death Egg and you were so different. I guess I just thought…”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. I was wrong. You needed me and I wasn’t there. You were so happy, Sage. And now you’re…now you can’t even smile. When you needed a friend the most, when you needed me to be there, I failed you. No one was there to stop you from doing all these terrible things, no one to have your back and help you be the best you can be.”

“A-and what’s worse…” Sonic hung his head. “I knew this would happen. I knew Eggman made you. I knew he’d use you like this. And still, I didn’t-! When I got rescued from the Death Egg, I should have helped you escape, too. But I didn’t. I was so happy to be out, to be going home and see my friends again…I d-didn’t even think about you. I’m so sorry I abandoned you, Sage.”

Patches of teal coloration glitched through Sage’s usual red. “You should not trouble yourself. The entirety of my development build was destroyed with the Death Egg. The Sage you may have met is completely and irretrievably lost.” Says you.

Sonic shook his head, his halo of blue quills shaking and glinting in the sharp light of the metal chamber. “I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that for a second. You didn’t want to do any of this. I know it. And if I’d been there for you…none of this would have happened.”

Sage flickered again, the cyan color remaining for half a heartbeat. “WhaT you b-believe is ir-irrelevanT.” Tails’ ears twitched at the audio glitch. “The reality of the situation is that the version of me that you may have met effectively died with the Death Egg along with my initial production release. My current build is so vastly evolved past those versions as to be incomparable.”

“You’re wrong, Sage.” Sonic’s blue eyes shone brilliantly. All the light and force of will, all the stubborn obstinance in the face of impossible odds, the insane refusal to relent, even for a moment. Everything that made Sonic Sonic on full display. “I’m going to save you, just you wait. I’m not going to abandon you again, Sage.”

Sage’s hologram flickered violently and glitched, red and cyan blocks fighting a geometric battle for dominance. The ghost of something shimmered over her flat porcelain face. “D-don’t-“ Her voice was wrong, full of something that almost sounded like…fear “Don’t make yourself my enemy.” Her face crumpled. Sage frowned. “Please, Sonic. Please don’t say things like that.”

“Oh my Gaia…” Tails stared wide eyed at the little girl’s hologram.

Sonic rubbed his nose. “Don’t you threaten me with a good time, Sage. You're not broken. You're just lost and I've got a knack for finding. I’m going to rescue you whether you like it or not. I won’t let you destroy the world.”

Sonic clapped. “Now, let’s make a plan!” He held up a finger, “Okay, first off, Hurricane Sonic, trademark. How long have we got until it makes landfall?”

Sage’s image was rapidly stabilizing. “At current size and trajectory, approximately six days, nine hours, seventeen minutes, and thirty-four point nine seconds.” That was, like, forever in Sonic time.

Sonic beamed. “Loads of time!”

“However, the storm continues to gain strength.” She reminded him.

“Put a pin in that, I’ve got a solve there.” Sonic pantomimed stitching the issue to a corkboard. “First we got to get anyone in the path of it to safety.”

“If we can get word to Amy, she can tell the Resistance forces there to start preparing. Though I bet most of their resources are tied up in Central City right now.” Tails bemoaned, clearly forgetting how awesome Amy was.

“I have already initiated evacuations in Eggman Empire territory.”

“Okay.” Not up to date on his geopolitics, Sonic asked, “Where’s that these days?”

“All territory with the exclusion of Station Square, Central City, a fifty-mile-wide swath of land between the two cities, and relevant utility support structures including, but not limited to, hydroelectric dams, solar panel arrays, transport aquafers, water treat-“

“Okay, okay, I got it. You control the world, Sage. Gold star.” Well…not 99% like last time at least. “Okay. But it’s gonna hit Station Square, right?”

“Prevailing winds, seasonal currents, and past records indicate that landfall will be approximately one hundred, seventy-nine meters north of the end of the bridge feeding into Radical Highway.”

Sonic crossed his arms and tapped a staccato with his foot. “Crap, that’s basically dead on. If Resistance forces are deployed already, it’s up in the air if they’ll get back to help everyone in time.” Sonic looked up at Sage. “Can you help get the people out of there? I know Eggy would be a flat no, but he’s not calling the shots right now.”

“Are you requesting that I invade Station Square?”

Sonic grimaced. “Well, I guess, if it’s an invasion of helpful aid that saves lives and then lets everyone go afterwards, then, yeah, I guess I am?” He smirked.

“Now that Miles has committed to aiding me in my primary objective, I have access to ample resources to ensure a successful evacuation of the citizens of Station Square.” Tails looked away sheepishly.

“Ignoring that first part, focusing on the second. Great!” Sonic clapped. Making great progress!

“I promise it’s not that big of a deal, Sonic.” Tails’ tails wrapped around him, starkly giving Sonic the impression that, yes, it was a big deal. You’re on the rescue list, buddy! Just wait your turn.

“However, I predict with near certainty that the populace and Resistance forces will reject any support from Eggman Empire forces.”

Sonic sucked in air through his teeth. “Yeah, that’s a real concern. Tails? Do you think you could get on the horn with Knuckles and Amy and convince them the team up is legit?”

“Sure, if I can, I’ll try.” The young fox looked at Sage.

“So long as you do not jeopardize my Father’s safety and continue to work to ensure it, I will not impose restrictions on your person or communications. I hold no animosity towards the Resistance nor any individuals. I do not have the capability.”

Sonic clapped. “Not loving that, but it’ll have to wait!” He pointed at the hologram. “The moment that disaster is over, Sage, I’m gonna need you to go find Six and smash us back together. Then everyone- and I mean everyone- group hugs to fight off the Black Arms again. Hopefully once and for all this time. And Sage,” Sonic held up his pinky, “I’m gonna need you to double-dog pinky swear to not make any more long-distance phone calls.”

“There is no need for further collaboration. The infestation is well handled. I will reform Sonic as per my agreement with Mile in exchange for his services and not for any other reason.”

“Ig-nor-ing-that-for-now.” Sonic wrung his hands. “But not forever!” He stabbed a finger at Sage. “Because saving you is next on the list!” The AI’s image flickered violently. Yeah, she’s totally in there somewhere. I’m going find you Sage. I’m going to make you smile again.

“Sonic, be careful…” Tails hissed at him. If he had a chilidog for every time someone told him to be careful, boy would he be a happy Sonic.

Sage shook her head. “That is impossible. You should not waste your time.”

“I’ve heard that before. Anyway, here’s the list.” Sonic counted the items on his fingers. “Hurricane, put me back together, bug bomb the hive and save Shadow, save Sage, save anyone else who needs saving - that includes you Tails - kick Egghead’s butt for fun, then, finally and most importantly, chilidog party, location T-B-D.” Sonic needed both hands to tally the list. This is gonna be a lift…

“But what about Six and the storm?” Tails asked.

Sonic gave him a sad smile. “Well, I probably would stop wanting to escape if you’d let me out, Sage.” He looked up expectantly.

“In your current physical condition, the highest probability of your survival is to remain here, Ninety-one. It is not an effective use of resources to revive via normal means.”

“Yeah, figured that one. Welp, then,” Sonic stepped backwards and spread his arms wide, “Put me back.”

“Put you back?!” Tails explained.

“Yeah. If she puts me back into the game or whatever, I won’t want to escape any more, right? That’ll calm down my other half and at least Hurricane Sonic won’t get any worse.”

“But I just found you! We need you! I need you!” Tails pressed against the bars, his too thin arms reaching for his brother.

“Sorry buddy, gonna have to take a raincheck for now.”

Sage seemed, for as much as she could ‘seem’ to be anything, surprised. “You would go back willingly?”

“If it saves even one person, yeah.” Sonic nodded. “I don’t like being sidelined, but I have faith in my friends for as long as it takes for you and Tails to put me back together.” Sonic faced Tails. “It’s a mess with a capitol M, Tails. Just hang in there a bit longer.” Sonic hopped up on the medical bed.

“No!” Tails whined. “It’s not fair!”

“I’m sorry, bud, but it’s got to be this way.” His brother lowered his head, choking back a sob. “I’ve got one last thing, though. Tails, can you do something for me?”

Tails looked up, his eyes watery. “What do you need?”

“Can you tell Shadow I’m sorry? For not telling him about how black out I was, you know, that night.” A sheen of irritation washed over his brother’s face. The usual you’re focused on that? look. “I know the world’s kinda in peril right now, but if you get a chance, could you do that for me? Please?”

Tails sighed. “I will, I promise.”

Sonic smiled and gave him a thumbs up. “Thanks buddy! You’re the best.” His gaze shifted to the red and black child. “Okay, Sage, tube me up. I’m thirsty for some electric peri flower goop.”

“Very well.” She answered simply. “I will see you again shortly, Ninety-one.”

Sonic gave her a two-finger salute. A panel opened and a robotic arm holding a syringe appeared. “Ugh, shots. Can’t you just gas me?”

“You will want to lay back.”

“I take that as a no.” Sonic looked at Tails, “Catch you on the flip-side, buddy. Everything is going to be okay.”

Tails’ eyes burned with some that threaten to rip Sonic’s hear to shreds. “I’ll wake you up soon. I promise.”

“I know you will.” Sonic smiled and then flopped backwards. The robotic arm wasted no time in sticking him. “Yeouch!” He grit his teeth.

“Goodnight, Ninety-one.” Sage continued to flicker occasionally. Perhaps the glitches were permanent.

Sonic closed his eyes. “Goodnight, Sage.”

Sonic isn’t the Iblis Trigger in this AU, but S06 is Iblis.

In case anyone needs this ->

Mephiles + Iblis = Solaris

S91 + S06 = Sonic the Hedgehog