Burden

Amy is dealing with a lot right now

Knuckles seeks and hides

Amy, her arms heavily laden with reams of paper, pushed open the door to the large action room with the front tip of her boot. Inside, tables, busy with hard working Mobians in Resistance garb, were covered in stacks of printed reports, charts, blinking computer monitors, and ringing phones. A wave drew her attention. Barry pressed their cellphone facedown against their shoulder and motioned her over to their table.

She approached and deposited her burden carefully onto the already overflowing table, thoughts of the meeting she’d just left circling in her head like seabirds in a storm, finding no branch to land on. Barry had already resumed their conversation. “I need you to slow down, p-please. How many compressors are affected? Oh dear…” This was their relationship now, brief flashes stolen between more important matters. So short in duration they were little more than photographs.

The flood of paper was quickly growing out of hand. With Sage running rampant though anything with a microprocessor, anything important had to be printed or risk being compromised by unwanted manipulation. Tails would have them all completely abandon all technology, but that was a bridge too far for running a modern war effort.

Tails…

Barry held down their phone again, concern written plainly on their face. “Have you eaten recently?” They asked.

Eaten? Recently? Amy blinked as countless more important issues buzzed through her brain like a cloud of bees. That’s why the birds couldn’t land. Too many bees. She couldn’t even begin to work through how little she understood Barry’s question. A better question was ‘had they eaten’.

“I’m going to take that as a no.” They stood. “No, sorry, I’m multitasking right now.” They said into the phone. Barry put a hand on the small of Amy’s back and gently ushered her towards the break room. Unwilling to face her urgent paperwork, she allowed herself to be directed.

While Barry talked into their phone and messed around with something at the kitchenette, Amy stared absently at the two vending machines gently buzzing away in the corner.

Who restocked these? Sonic would be fine. The quarter price on everything was pretty low. How were they going to feed everyone this winter? Why didn’t they just set everything as free? Hopefully Knuckles and Shadow were getting along. Well, then what would the point of having vending machines be then? When was this going to end? The snacks could just be placed in baskets on the counter. Sage could shut their power off at any moment.

“Here, Amy. Please eat something.” Barry handed her a paper bowl with some steaming, reheated stir-fry. “No, Tom, I’m not talking to you. Is your name Amy?” They said into their phone.

A whiff of the leftovers was enough to break Amy from her daze. A mighty roar of her stomach ripped through her as she sank into a chair at a table of the otherwise empty break room. “Thank you so much!” She tore into the random vegetables over rice with a plastic fork. She’d heard others joke about how often they had ‘ration-fry’ for dinner.

“You don’t have to wait for me to eat.” She said as Barry sank into the chair opposite her.

“Sorry, but I really would like to make sure you eat it, Amy.” They gave her a worried look that constricted her heart. Uh-oh, had she been getting that bad about missing meals? There just was so much to do. It felt selfish to step away just for her own benefit.

“Could you make me a cup of coffee, please?” The not best compliment to ‘whatever is available-fry’ but Amy could use a little caffeine boost. That meeting she’d just left…That had been a downer for sure.

“Of course.” They reached over and gave her hand a squeeze before going back over to the kitchenet.

As Barry worked to refill the coffee machine, Amy shoved food into her mouth and tried to focus on the positives. She could still work. She had Barry. They were both healthy and unharmed. She had (very, very bad) coffee.

“There you are!” Rouge burst into the room. She slid into Barry’s seat with a huff. Amy frowned at the growing bags under Rouge’s eyes. Neither of them had gotten much rest since Sonic’s abduction. How long had it been? The trees were losing their leaves. At least three months…

Rouge shifted in her seat. Amy’s brow creased. More bad news incoming…”Another village has gone missing up north.” Rouge explained.

Amy lowered her fork. “That makes three now.” Those poor people…

“Four, actually.” Rouge corrected. Amy’s eye went wide. “There was a human settlement a month back I…forgot to mention. GUN is still figuring out how they want to handle that one given the armistice the humans have with Eggman.”

Amy covered her face with her hands. The previous war had been straight forward. Almost every aspect of it had been centered around rebuking or repelling robots. This time, however, things were more complicated.

“Some satellite imagery was smuggled out of Empire City to me. It’s another northern village, far into Eggman territory, and, like all the others, completely depopulated.” She picked some lint off her gloves.

Amy slid her hands over her face and back to tangle into her quills. “What could he be doing with those poor people?”

Rouge shrugged. “Nothing good. I’m leaving tomorrow to find out.”

Amy dropped her hands. “You’re leaving?” Now? How could she do this to her? No, of course she has to go. Someone must help those people.

“We’ve already had a squad disappear trying to figure this out and we don’t have the manpower to risk anyone else. If I can’t find these people then no one can.” Barry approached with a steam mug. “Oh, thank you, dear!” Rouge reached up and plucked the drink from their grasp, causing Barry to sputter. They looked between Rouge and Amy and then turned to return to the kitchenet.

Too late Amy realized she should have chided Rouge. Her thoughts were forming on a delay. “What am I going to do without you?” Knuckles had been right, Amy wasn’t cut out for wartime leadership.

Rouge’s eyes searched her face, then she frowned sadly. “The same thing you always do, dear. Hold up the sky so the sun can shine. Besides, with Vector and Espio helping out, you’ll hardly notice I’m gone.” The frown lifted, Rouge’s usual swagger emerging for a performance.

“You’re going to miss the rendezvous with Shadow and Knuckles.” When it became clear that their personal destructive capabilities had become heavily discounted in this conflict, Knuckles and Shadow had secluded themselves on Angel Island (without any form of technology, Tails was emphatic) to focus on locating Sonic. Without a means to reach them electronically, meetups had to be planned well in advance.

Rouge looked down, façade falling. Oh, shouldn’t have brought that up. Right, Rouge hadn’t talked to Knuckles in two months. What was wrong with her? Amy was normally better than this. Rouge took a sip from the mug and left it near her lips as she said, “Knuckles will understand. We’re in the middle of a war he can’t punch his way out of. Sacrifices and greater good and all that. If he presses, just say I got excited about unguarded jewelry stores and museums.”

Amy looked down at her half-eaten meal. With Tails ever secluded as he worked on his Sage countermeasures and Rouge leaving, Amy would be taking the full brunt of the war. Her hands tightened into fists. Her eyes burned, a sheen covering them and threatening to overflow. She shouldn’t be mad. It wasn’t right to feel anger. Wasn’t productive to cry. Everyone was engaged. But it still hurt.

Rouge slammed her hand on the table, making Amy shriek. “Cheer up, Pink! I’m sure Black and Red will have Blue in tow with them.” The bat rose as Barry approached with two more cups of coffee. “And I’ll be back before you know it.” She winked and left the break room, abandoning her half empty mug. Amy accepted the cup as she watched Rouge leave. She’s reading my script…because I can’t…

Barry sat across from her in the seat Rouge had vacated, phone still at their ear. “Hang in there. I know you guys are doing everything you can. Just hang in there and let me know when you have an update. Bye…yeah, good luck to you too.” Barry ended their call. They placed their phone on the table and reached out and took Amy’s hand.

Amy looked at their hands. Barry’s thumb gently rubbed through her glove into the webbing between her thumb and forefinger. She placed the mug down and pulled her hand away to take up her rapidly cooling stir-fry again. “What’s the new challenge?” Amy asked as she shoveled food into her face, barely tasting it.

Barry leaned back and rubbed their face. “Apparently a computer virus has shut down most of the air compressors at our primary gas production facility. Cryogenic distillation output is down to ten percent.”

You can still do this. Find the light. “But that’s not zero, right? They were able to save some?”

“Y-yeah, it’s not zero, but it’s just enough capacity to fulfill the needs of the medical network. The hospitals and field clinics get priority.” At least there was that.

That made sense. The sick and injured were more important than anything else the…gas(?) could be used for. “So that means?”

“Well, for starters, no more steel manufacturing and the recycling plants are going to have to shut down, which means no more materials to feed the defense and munitions supply chains. And that’s just steel.” Barry took a sip from their own mug. “I’m going to call the dispatcher for Westopolis and see if we can get some emergency tankers to try to bridge the gap. At least for the short term.”

Amy put down her fork. “Westopolis surrendered today.” She said quietly. The subject of the meeting she’d just finished.

“O-oh. I didn’t know that.” Barry took a deep breath. “I’ll have to…uh, think of something else, I guess.”

“Sage turned off their power and water two days ago. The mayor said they couldn’t take another rebuild, but I think he was afraid of the riots. Their food situation had gotten dire once the train network went dark. Empire City has stopped emergency shipments now the influx of refugees has gotten out of hand.”

Barry’s phone began to ring. They looked at the face and accepted the call. As they talked about a separate emergency plaguing the newly reformed Resistance, Amy finished her meal and drained her mug.

Amy had to hand it to Sage. The Second War, as it was being called, was largely bloodless. Eggman’s strategy had always been to subdue the world with overwhelming mechanized force. Waves upon waves of robots. Flashy and destructive, but also vulnerable to the types of heroics that Sonic and his friends specialized in.

Sage’s violence was much more pernicious. After her announcement, a number of city-states and municipalities simply rolled over and accepted Eggman’s rule. Sonic’s freedom had been the turning point for the previous war. Without him, what was the point in even trying to fight?

Not that there hadn’t been any robot fights. Central City and Station Square had weathered several small-scale invasion attempts over the months, but the timing and intensity had seemed strange. As if Sage was trying to keep their focus closer to home. The only Ruby related activity had been a plethora of Metal Sonic clones taking part in the proceedings. Tails had confirmed the back ground radiation continue to increase in power…something was brewing.

Barry put down their phone and messaged the bridge of their snout.

“More bad news?” Amy asked. Every day she was impressed by how much of a beating her heart could take. Small wins here and there were vastly outnumbered and overshadowed by the crippling defeats. It seemed impossible. Tails had an explanation, given bitterly. The rate at which Sage’s influence could grow was exponential and organic life couldn’t come close. Something about papering over deserts with solar-cells and burying server farms in the artic.

Barry stood and turned around as if looking for somewhere to go. Their shoulders slumped and they reached up to rub their ears. Amy stood, brow knitting. They were upset, she needed to comfort them. “Uh, so.” Barry turned, but he didn’t meet her gaze. “So, you know how, one of the terms of surrender is that Sage gets unfettered access to all computer systems in the captured territory?”

“Yes…” Amy approached. “Do you want to sit down?”

Barry shook their head, but sank down anyway. Amy rounded the table and sat next to them, wrapping her arm around their shoulders. If she focused on taking care of Barry, whatever terrible thing they were about to say wouldn’t hit her as hard. “Well, so when she takes over, the internet comes back up.”

“Yeah…” It was a special torture to see normal life restored, just under the Eggman Empire banner. Not the best for morale.

“With everyone back online, the stories start coming out. Sage really focuses on the factories. Overwrites ERP systems, press-gangs employees into ambitious overhauls, and completely replaces the management layer. Like, the best and worst parts of a centralized economy.” Amy blinked. She recognized some of these terms from when they’d had dinner with Barry’s parents. Barry’s father was really pro-labor.

“I guess what I‘m trying to say is, I think we’ve figured out what she’s making.”

“We?”

“My supply chain buddies. Dispatchers, planners. A lot of them have been displaced by Sage. But even if no actual information gets out, you can piece stuff together based on who used to work with what.”

“And? What is she making?”

Barry swallowed. They blinked and turned to Amy, searching her face. She furrowed her brow. What was going through their mind right now? “A-actually, don’t worry about it, Amy.”

Amy laughed. “What? After that build up?”

Barry shook their head. “If there is even a one in a hundred chance that I’m wrong, then I don’t want to give you anything else to carry on your shoulders.”

Amy squinted at Barry. What? Something like indignation was trying to burn through her exhaustion, but it was having a hard time at it. There was something wrong and they won’t tell her about it? They knew that’s what she was good for right? They had to know. Amy absorbed problems like a sponge. Amy knows how to help! Go tell Amy, she’s the best! Good ole’ Ames!

Soft hands gripped her shoulders, and she leaned forward into a warm chest. “Everything is going to be okay.” No, it’s not.

“Yeah, I know.” She lied.

Barry’s arms encircled her and she tilted her head so they could press their cheek into hers. “Your friends will find Sonic and everything will get better. We just have to hold on a little longer.” He was trying to comfort her. She needed to focus on his intent, not the fact that she was failing to be comforted. Is this what her friends felt?

She pulled them close, trying to bury herself in their warmth. Focus on this. This was the here and now. They were safe, warm, and still had their wits about them. As long as they were alive, they could keep fighting. Barry rubbed circles on her back.

“Let’s take a break.” He whispered softly. “You need a break.” Amy went limp. “Woah!” Barry clutched her before she slid out of her chair.

She couldn’t take a break. “People are dying.” Amy said in a small voice. But her body wasn’t exactly responding like she’d like it to either. Villages full of people disappearing. No Sonic. Losing cities left and right. Barry’s mystery problem. AND THAT’S NOT EVEN EVERYTHING! She was suffocating.

Barry struggled to turn her and pull her into their lap. “It’s going to be okay, Amy.” They leaned down and kissed her forehead. “W-we’ll figure something out. I promise.” Another kiss. She blinked up at their tired green eyes and her heart curdled at the distress she beheld in their depths.

Amy pushed up and their lips met. Barry hugged her tighter, she snaked her arms around them. The soft kiss was followed by a deeper one, then by a quicker, harder one. Her hands ran around the fur on the back of their head and their hands found the zipper on her dress and ran along it, down her spine. Their lips never parting for long.

It was selfish, but Barry was right. Amy needed a break.

“My, my!” Amy and Barry exclaimed and parted, shot from their seats and spreading at least six feet apart. Rouge chortled from the entrance to the break room. “Good on you girl. At least one of us is getting some.”

Amy rubbed at the heat in her face. “S-sorry.” Barry stammered. He grabbed his phone and headed for the door.

Rouge smirked. “Cream is looking for you, dear.”

“Oh!” Amy rushed past Barry.

As Amy exited, she heard Barry ask a question, “Rouge, can I talk to you about those respirators you were requisitioning?” He said not to worry. Trust him. But was that an excuse? An excuse to hold less? To bear the weight of fewer problems?

Hypocrite. Lecturing everyone on sharing burdens with friends and what are you doing?

“Miss Amy!” The young rabbit smiled, clutching her messenger bag. Amy absorbed the warmth of Cream’s smile and rekindled her own. Never change Cream. “You had a package for me to deliver?”

“Yes, yes!” Amy went to her desk and Cream followed. Don’t think about how she should be in school right now. Don’t think about how she should be writing essays for college admissions. Amy fished around in a drawer until she found what she was looking for.

*“*Don’t rush back.” Amy said, handing the cloth wrapped bundle to Cream.

The young rabbit looked at the address and her smile took on a warm tenderness.

---

With a resounding crack! Knuckles’ fist made contact with Shadow’s defending forearm. The hybrid slid back a fraction of an inch under the force, but otherwise kept a stolid posture. He stared at Knuckles with those creepy, dead red eyes. Just a bit more.

Shadow’s foot flashed up, but Knuckles caught it with his other fist and gripped. Twisting his hips, he tore the hedgehog off his footing. The bastard snapped away, but not before Knuckles blew off another portion of his chaos energy. It dissipated into the air with a swirl of pale light.

Knuckles tracked Shadow’s chaos signature, that sickly green color, through the air and twisted as the ridiculously predictable kick was coming for the back of his head. He ducked and as dark fur passed above him, he pressed up his hands, not even touching his opponent, and sent the chaos energy in Shadow into a frenzy.

Shadow landed awkwardly and doubled over hissing. “Fuck!” He snarled. Knuckles’ techniques shouldn’t hurt, but somehow his opponent’s physical and spiritual realms were linked to a, frankly, disturbing degree. The Echidna warrior did not let this oddity disturb his resolve.

Knuckles felt a shift. Here it comes.

Knuckles took a ready stance as the wave of unnatural fear broke over him. Shadow straightened and glared at him with completely blood red eyes, his fangs an eerie length. With his reserves of chaos energy depleted, the black hedgehog drew on something completely different. It must have something to do with the part of him that wasn’t hedgehog. Maybe drew on was the wrong term. Got taken over by might be better.

Shadow tensed and Knuckles prepared to defend himself. The fear was little more than an inconvenience now that he’d felt it so often. He’d been surprised the first time, months prior, but now it was nothing to him. Shadow cringed suddenly, closing his eyes and gripping his head.

Knuckles relaxed. There you go, man. The fear retreated and the sun seemed to shine a little brighter. He crossed his arms across his chest. Shadow was progressively getting better at not becoming a feral shithead every time Knuckles emptied him out.

Shadow straightened, panting. He blinked, his eyes back to normal. He swallowed and speared Knuckles with a glare. “Again.” He commanded.

“You need to tell me what’s up with that shit. Every time your chaos energy gets too low, you start getting all body-horrory. Creepy as fuck, man.”

Shadow narrowed his dull doll eyes. “That’s none of your business. It’s not a problem.” Lying ass.

“You and Sonic are the same. So Chaos damned stubborn about refusing to ask for help. At least until whatever the hell it is gets out of hand and becomes everyone’s problem.”

Shadow ignored him. “Again.” He repeated.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. “No. You know you’re tapped.” Shadow looked away, making that little dismissive snort. Knuckles turned and headed toward the Master Emerald’s pavilion.

“Don’t tell me you’re tired already? Losing your edge?” The black hedgehog goaded.

“You should know by now, that shit works on Sonic, not me.” Knuckles waved a hand dismissively. Damn it, shouldn’t have said that. Oh well, fuck em’. He could feel Shadow glaring daggers at his back. “Come on, time to top up, tough guy. You afraid or something?”

Knuckles heard a low clicking, growl. Creepy as fuck! No matter how many times he heard it his heckles threatened to rise.

Warm sunlight filtered through a verdant canopy of tropical trees while bird song filled the air. Insects buzzed through the heat haze searching to live out their short lives in peace while small creatures darted about, concerned with the same. It was easy to forget the world below was in complete turmoil. But that was the point of Angel Island, wasn’t it? To be cut off from the world below.

Before they left, Knuckles pulled Tails aside. “I need you to be frank with me, Tails. Sonic can’t solve this, can he?”

The poor kid’s eyes were dull and heavy bags drew his gaze to the floor. “No, finding Sonic won’t end the war this time.”

Half the Mobian city-states surrendered within twenty-four hours of Sage’s broadcast. The other half were being pummeled into submission in ways that Knuckles’ fists couldn’t defend against. Those fancy cities everyone seemed to love on the surface became pretty intolerable when the grocery shelves went bare.

“But it’ll buy you time, won’t it?”

Tails looked at him. “Y-yeah.”

“I know I won’t understand what you’re doing, but I know you’ve got something. I get that this one is in your court, kid. Whatever you need, you just tell me and I’ll get it for you or do it or whatever.”

Tails swallowed and his young face scrunched in distress. “I need Sonic.” His voice whined. “I need my big brother, Knuckles. I need to know he’s okay. Or…” His voice shrank. “that he’s not suffering anymore.” Knuckles drew the kit into a tight hug.

They all needed Sonic. “He’s still alive, Tails. Sonic dies hard, you know that.” And Shadow could still feel him, albeit weakly. Well, except for that one time. Drama queen.

“I can’t get the sound of him screaming out of my head, Knuckles.” Tails whimpered into Knuckles’ chest. “I can hardly sleep.” Knuckles wanted to tell him everything would be okay, that they’d find Sonic smiling and without a scratch on him, but he couldn’t bring himself to form the words. Comforting lies was more Amy’s territory.

Now, the hard question. Knuckles always ended up having to do the hard shit. “And if we gave Sage what she wanted…that wouldn’t change anything, would it?” He kept his voice low. Entertaining the thought was shameful. At worst, Shadow was a violent, volatile asshole (with suspect breeding), but if that was a capital offense, Knuckles’ have been on that chopping block at one time or another.

Tails shook his head. “No. Sage would just to move down to the next threat on her list and we’d be down one Shadow. And Sonic would never forgive us for giving up like that.”

After ascending the steps of the dais, Knuckles leapt onto the massive green gemstone. The contact was grounding and the song of the Master Emerald filled his spirit. He sank into a cross-legged position and closed his eyes. He breathed in the heady ambient chaos energy, refilling his internal reserves. The Emerald’s song pulsed in his heart, filling him with an intoxicating conviction.

After a minute, a warm back pressed against his, straight and solid, quills relaxed and shifted to the sides. Knuckles focused on the feeling of Shadow’s unnervingly slow heartbeat imparted through the contact. After a minute, the beat shuddered. Shadow tried with all his might to stay still, but Knuckles could feel the tension, the small jerking motions, and hear the minute grunts and exhalations.

The Master Emerald was having its way Shadow. Yet another fucking weird-ass thing with this guy.

Knuckles began speaking casually. “Reason fifty-nine why Angel Island is better than the surface. No traffic.”

“M-must be nice…” Probably had something to do with the physical-spiritual link. Might be a scroll in the undercity…

“Why would you care, Mr. Teleports every-damn-where?”

“M-motorcycle.” His companion winced. “I like t-to ride, sometimes.” He was basically married to the green Chaos Emerald. Why was this different?

“Wait, that red one taking up half of Rouge’s garage is yours?”

Shadow only grunted in the affirmative. The rate the ambient chaos energy was rushing into him was not slowing in the least. They’d be at this awhile yet.

Each recharge took longer than the last. Not because the Master Emerald was getting weaker or gentler, but because Shadow’s well was getting deeper. At first it been nothing to vent off his reserves, like knocking over a glass of water. Then it was kicking out a puddle. Then bailing out a bathtub. Now? Knuckle’s bucket was looking pretty small next to Shadow’s quickly widening lake of chaos energy. How much could one person hold? S-should he be alarmed?

“Motorcycles, huh? I can see the appeal. And I can also hear Sonic’s annoying retort.” Knuckles tightened his vocal cords, trying to hit Sonic’s high pitch. “’ Seems lame! Why not just run everywhere?’”

Shadow snorted through clenched teeth. “That’s p-pretty good.”

In Knuckles’ youth, the Master Emerald had sung a different song, one of peace and tranquility. But then the Doctor released Chaos and Tikal escaped with it. They were supposed to go back into the Emerald, but Sonic, standing over the ruins of Station Square (like some kind of prophesied son of a bitch), was having none of that. It was hard to argue with him on a normal day, let alone in his super state. Tikal moved on, past the veil, and Chaos went wherever primordial gods go, leaving the Master Emerald, for the first time in 3000 years, vacant.

The Master Emerald regained its apparently original, unadulterated voice. A pounding, pushing, forceful beat heard not with the ear but with the soul. An insistent aria to take the miracle of life and do something, anything with it. That was the true voice of chaos, to act, to change, to enforce one’s will for better or worse.

The problem? Any action was valid. Knuckles was astonished at how staggeringly agnostic the Master Emerald was to the morality of the actions taken. No wonder the Master Emerald needed protection. It was an attractive nuisance. Eggman? Sonic? Both were the same in its reckoning.

“Reason sixty why Angel Island is better than the surface. No property taxes.”

Shadow released a stuttering snicker. “Really s-scraping the b-bottom of the barrel now, h-huh?” He wasn’t entirely wrong…

“Rouge complains about it on the regular.”

Shadow stiffened and cursed softly. Knuckles fought back an emotion that suspiciously felt like jealousy. Shadow didn’t need to be in contact with the Master Emerald, but it was by far the quickest way to refill his growing reserves.

Neither of them understood why, but the Master Emerald poured its power into Shadow with an almost gleeful exuberance, as if the artefact liked Shadow. Loved him even. It was enough to make Knuckles sick. Why couldn’t it love him? He who had devoted his life to his protection? Who had been born to take care of it. It felt like- never mind, this was stupid.

The only other time Master Emerald got this worked up was when it was being used to charge a Chaos Emerald. Now that had been a fight. Knuckles would never say it out loud, but seeing Sonic in his Hyper form was one of the saddest moments of his life. All the myths, the legends, the prophecies…and he was the only Echidna who got to witness any of that coming to fruition. He never felt so alone.

Stop it. Man up. What was past had passed.

Shadow did not say how it felt to have that much power shoved into him so quickly and violently, and Knuckles didn’t ask. Not great that’s for sure.

“Rouge r-rents…” Shadow finally managed.

“She’s looking to buy a building. When she finally dumps GUN, she wants to open a night club.” Knuckles wished she just do it, given how much she bent his ear about her plans. But she claimed she couldn’t yet. Not because of money or anything normal. No, of course it was because of fucking Shadow. I can’t quit GUN yet, she’d said. Not while they still have their eyes on Shadow. Got to get him sorted, settled. Like she needed to send him off to boarding school. Knuckles grinned at the thought.

“It w-would suit her. She’d be h-happy.”

“Lording it up over a horde of drunks and stacking cash like she’s queen of the world? Yeah, that’s Rouge in spades.”

Shadow grunted.

Not long after Sage’s video, Shadow had lost his feel for Sonic’s chaos signature suddenly and just…flatlined. Crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut. Scared the hell outta Rouge. Knuckles had just finished rolling his eyes when he noticed the startling build of chaos energy growing in the limp hedgehog. Rouge retreated when her gloves started to scorch. After Knuckles had forced out a considerable amount of Shadow’s chaos energy, the idiot snapped out of it, having felt Sonic again when he pulled in ambient energy to replenish himself.

“It’s different. Like it’s frayed?” It was a lead, at least.

Knuckles found Rouge after, her face washed out. “I don’t think we’ll survive in a world without Sonic.” She whispered. Her hands were shaking.

“Fucking hell, Rouge!’ Knuckles hissed. “What are you talking about?” He grabbed her shoulders, but she pulled away.

“I know Shadow. That little stunt was a compromise. I need to make a call.” She left.

It gave Knuckles pause. He was working with Shadow to find Sonic, but was he also feeding a monster he’d inevitably have to put down? Or try to… But he’s not a monster. Just an asshole.

Knuckles was loathe to admit it, but he resented how easily Sonic and Shadow utilized chaos energy. He’d spent his whole life training and studying to acquire his abilities. Those two idiots just did whatever they wanted without effort. Not fucking fair was what it was. But then life wasn’t fair. It certainly had never been fair to Knuckles

It wasn’t fair he was the last Echidna. It wasn’t fair he was saddled with millennia of heritage to preserve, or was the sole Guardian of the Master Emerald. It wasn’t fair Rouge wanted him to abandon all that and live a normal life with her. It wasn’t fair his life was already determined for him before he was even born.

But, fucking hell, that’s life.

“Reason sixty-one why Angel Island is better than the surface. No light pollution.”

“Maria would l-love that. She’d…love this place.”

Knuckles’ brow furrowed. That name sounded vaguely familiar. “Who’s that?” He felt Shadow stiffen and his breath hitch, but not from anything the Master Emerald was doing.

“She was…like a sister to me.” Knuckles remained silent. Where had he heard that name before? Something Rouge had said? “She died a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry. I bet she meant a lot to you.” Sister? There were more like him?

“She did….M-maria loved this world. That’s why I can’t let anything happen to it.” Oh, shit, right. That was it. Maria was the whole reason the other crazy Robotnik nearly destroyed the world. Good thing Knuckles happened to have the Master Emerald when they needed to calm the Chaos Emeralds down. Need to slowly back away from this topic.

“I can sympathize with a sense of responsibility. Though, that’s a pretty wide net to cast.” He felt the ambient chaos start to settle. The black hedgehog started to relax.

“Perhaps for lesser life forms. How did you end up running a world-wide war effort anyway, hypocrite?”

Knuckles laughed. “I wish I had a good story for that one. After Eggman nicked Sonic, I knew it wouldn’t be long until Angel Island would be invaded, so I got with Amy and Tails. Part of my training as the Guardian included some guerilla tactics that could be used to defend the Island. Unfortunately, those came in handy after the Doctor’s forces steamed rolled us so hard initially.”

“I remember.”

“Don’t engage, strike by night. Out run, out last.” Those heady first months. Back when it felt like just another Eggman plot.

“Hit ‘em quick, get out fast.”

“You were a fucking beast those first few months.” Credit where credit was due.

“Until it became clear Sonic wasn’t just going to show up on his own suddenly. Then I-“

A pause passed between them.

Knuckles broke the silence. “We were all messed up in our own way back then, I suppose. I guess I should apologize for, you know, sucker punching you that one time.”

“That mosquito bite?” Knuckles could hear the glibness.

“Well, asshole, you sure deserved the other knocks I gave you though.”

For all his many glaring, terrible faults, Shadow the Hedgehog did not quit. No matter how much trouble he had grasping a hint of Sonic, or how hard Knuckles hit him, or how roughly the Master Emerald lavished him with its attention, he kept getting back up and kept coming back for more. And Knuckles couldn’t help but respect that.

Despite himself, he started to understand what Rouge saw in the bastard. And more, he started to see the same impulses to defend that he himself felt. To protect, to safeguard.

“I should get a free hit on you, too.”

“Oh, how’s that?”

“You gave me shit for making Rouge cry, but you’re no better.” Knuckles tensed, but didn’t respond. “The amount of Rouge tears I’ve had to endure over you should earn me a few free cracks at that thick skull of yours.”

“What did I make her cry about?” He asked softly.

A pensive pause. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not my place to tell you.”

“I don’t want to make her cry. So could you, like, I don’t know, thinking loudly about it or something?”

His companion sighed. “You know…well I guess you don’t know. She’d join you, if you asked. Join you here.”

It was Knuckles’ turn to stiffen. “And that makes her sad?”

“What makes her sad is that she knows she’ll grow to resent you for asking. For trapping her here.”

Knuckles turned. “What? How is that my fault? And, trapping?”

Shadow gave him a withering side eye. Fuck him, what did he know? At least his eyes were back to being sharp little bloody daggers instead of the glossy dol eyes. “You asked. I answered.” He hissed.

Knuckles twisted back and tightened his arms against his chest. “Well, that’s it then.” He sighed. After all the shit she gave him…She didn’t even really…

Shadow snorted. “Coward.”

“Fuck you.”

“The fear of suffering later shouldn’t preclude happiness in the present.”

“You said she didn’t-“

“Have you got stupid in your ears? I said she would join you. And Rouge doesn’t do a damn thing she doesn’t want to.”

“But that she’d-“

“You’re just going to roll over and give up? Figure it out!”

“Since when did you become such an expert?”

“Fuck off, I have more experience than you.” Shit, he’s right**!** Don’t admit it!

The two solitary Guardians sat in silence for a time. Shadow had long replenished his chaos reserves, but he didn’t seem eager to return to training.

Rouge. He hadn’t seen her in two months. Every morning, he wished he would wake up to her lounging on the Master Emerald, threatening to abscond with it. Sometimes he wished she would. It would be nice to just have a straightforward problem, like the whole island plunging into the sea, to deal with. Not…

The sun was on the downward now. A lazy circle of birds glided above, drawn to the Emerald’s power. Knuckles was the last Echidna. There was no getting around that. In Mobians, descendants followed the motherline. But he didn’t have to be the last Guardian.

Eventually Shadow pulled away and slipped off the Emerald. Knuckles cracked an eye and scrutinized the hybrid. Shadow’s arms were crossed and his head lowered in concentration, his ears twisting back and forth. His head lifted and he turned pointedly, looking off into the distance. He reached up, as if to grasp something. His fingers twitched, partially closing, before freezing. His arm fell and his form sagged, defeated.

“Anything?”

The hybrid released an exasperated sigh. “No, it keeps just…dissipating in my grasp.” His fists clenched. “I could feel it so clearly, but now…now we have to go through so much just for me to get a glimpse. And it makes no sense, like I’m feeling him in two completely different directions at once.”

Knuckles stood. “Time to try something else then.”

Shadow turned to him, his arms crossed over his chest. “What did you have in mind?”

“Hide and seek.”

Shadow snorted. “You can’t be serious. We don’t have time for games.”

“We also don’t have time to waste trying to restart your resonance anymore. Clearly something’s happened on Sonic’s end.” Shadow bristled. “We have to change tactics.”

The black hedgehog grit his teeth, but eventually relented. “I must admit that you are correct.”

“With as many times I’ve beat your ass recently-“

“Excuse me?” Shadow hissed, his red eyes boring into Knuckles.

“You should have a pretty clear idea of how my chaos signature feels.” Knuckles continued without missing a beat. When Shadow didn’t reply, “Well, do you or not?”

“I do.” Shadow admitted, still clearly ruffled from Knuckles’ previous jab. The ego on this guy, I tell you what. He could kinda see what Sonic got out of teasing Shadow so much.

“Then use that to find me. If you can do that, then-“

“I can find Sonic.” Shadow finished. “Why didn’t we just start with this?”

Knuckles chuckled. “The planet’s pretty big, man. Without chaos resonance it would be practically impossible to pinpoint a single signature, even one as bright as Sonic’s.” He shook his head. “At least that’s what I thought. Theoretically, with a big enough reserve, someone could filter enough ambient chaos energy to isolate a single signature.”

Shadow’s expression softened. “And that’s what we’ve been doing this whole time. Increasing and tuning my intake.” Knuckles nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know it could work. I still don’t know if it will work. I only had the idea when I noticed you kept having more energy every time I emptied you out. Now…I hate to admit it, but I’m not even sure I could anymore. Not without a lot of time and effort.”

The hybrid had the grace to not look too smug.

“So, to summarize, you are going to hide somewhere on this massive island that is riddled through with buried ruins and caves, all of which you’re intimately familiar with from your life of exploring and mapping. And I will have to find you based on just your weak chaos signature awash in the sea of the Master Emerald’s blinding presence?”

“Sounds like you don’t feel up to the task.”

“Maybe if I cut off both my feet, it’ll be a fair challenge.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

“I suppose you want me to close my eyes and count to twenty?” Shadow smirked. This guy, always thinking he’s so smart.

“No need.” Knuckles tapped into the Master Emerald and teleported away. Oh, like it’s hard?

Cream is aged up same as Tails, though Tails is a year or two older.

** Oh shit, is that a Legally Blond reference?

The hardest part of writing this fic is not misgendering Barry the Quokka.