Never Gvive Up

Sonic is in a pickle

The team convenes

Add tags: physical torture, eventual happy ending, multiple POV

Sonic had woken up in some pretty strange situations before and he’d give this one a five out of ten stars. Three stars for the effort taken to immobilize him, two for mood lighting and general vibe, and three for the totally not debilitating lingering dread of the Phantom Ruby. Unfortunately he had to deduct three stars for lack of originality.

Shackled by ankle and wrist, he was held aloft by enough tension to leave him spread eagle in the air. He must have been out for awhile, because his shoulders and hips were not fans of the treatment. Encapsulating him was some kind of glass or plastic tube, through the walls of which he had the pleasure of beholding the Eggman in all his rotund glory.

“It was not necessary to wait for him to regain consciousness.” Behind Eggy floated that increasingly annoying computer girl. Red and black looked way better on Shadow. Speaking of, Oh boy, Shadow was probably tearing himself up right about now. Shadow probably blamed himself because he loved to take responsibility for every little thing. He’d probably punch Sonic in the face again the moment they were back together. Something to look forward to.

“Sage, my dear, you must learn to indulge in some fun on occasion. How are you enjoying the accommodations, rat?” The Doctor slowly circled Sonic’s holding cell.

Sonic refused to crane his neck to follow and stared at Sage and her creepy doll eyes instead. “I’m giving you zero stars and a chargeback on my credit card for this AirBnb, Egghead. And you had the audacity to charge a cleaning fee? That’s low even for you, Eggy.” Sonic sneered. “All things considered, better than that boring cell from last time, though.”

“Yes, I think you will find that many things are different this time.” Dr. Robotnik gestured to Sage. “My daughter will be managing your care this time. While I will miss the utter despair that fool Infinite could peel out of you, I think you’ll find that Sage has a much better imagination.”

Sonic was not able to stop the shiver that raced down his spine. He couldn’t stop his ears tilting backwards.

Tossing the fear aside, Sonic rolled his eyes and lifted the corner of his sneer further up his muzzle. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before. Hurry up and get out whatever monologue you’ve been rehearsing so we can get to the part where I bust out and wreak your latest and greatest toys.” Hopefully he wasn’t in space again. He really needed to get tips from Shadow about safely sky diving from orbit.

“Nice try, but I think not. As much as I’d love to see the brilliance of my latest master plan rattle around in that empty skull of yours, I’ve learned that its more trouble than its worth.”

“Actually, Father, there is no risk in informing Sonic of the intricacies of our current endeavor. In the past, Sonic has foiled your plans almost exclusively with physical brute force. In all my analyses, knowledge of the details only produces a zero point five percent deviation of his decision-making away from blind destruction.” Yeah, no, that tracked.

“Hey, its not my fault you make your robots and doomsday devices so fun to smash.”

“In the hands of Miles or Shadow, the same information would be ruinous, increasing the chances of failure by eighty-five and eighty-eight percent respectively. But Sonic’s genius lies in his visual calculus.”

“Genius? This idiot?” Robuttnik sputtered.

“Aww, you think I’m a genius?” Sonic genuinely felt flatter. He’d been called a lot of things by a lot of people, but this might be a first.

“Of course. For example,” She held out a hand and a holographic screen appeared showing slowed down footage of Sonic’s spin dash destroying and ricocheting off five flying badniks in quick succession to get up above a large mecha. “hitting so many moving airborne targets while traveling through air that could not be described as anything but turbulent, whilst spinning at an RPM at which visual sight must be impossible, requires an enormous output of calculations. Further complexity is added by the requirements of achieving a predetermined goal and emerging injured. What else can this level of accuracy and mastery of physics be described as except for genius?”

Sonic felt a strong urge to rub his nose. He wasn’t able to, but, boy, did he want to.

“Psh-“ The Doctor wasn’t enjoying the presentation, “he got lucky.”

Sonic blew a raspberry. “Is somebody jealous?”

The photoaged reset and played at full speed. It was even more impressive. Sonic didn’t get to see himself in action often. The only cameras around during his best work were Eggman’s. He didn’t even remember this particular maneuver because he’d done it so many times over the years. It wasn’t his fault that Egghead filled the battlefield with so many convenient stepping stones.

The hologram screen flickered and showed a new battle. “And here, similar feats but in low earth orbit with decreased gravity, reduced air resistance, and lower concentration of chaos energy.”

“Oh hey, I remember this one!” It was his assault on the Egg Fleet right before The Doctor used Sonic’s super form like a battery to rip the plant apart and release Dark Gaia. That part wasn’t fun, but the lead up was pretty solid.

“Enough of this!” The Doctor shouted, red-faced. The screen disappeared.

“Hey, you were just getting to the good part! Don’t you want to watch the part where I poked too many holes in that mech that you had to run with your tail between your legs?”

The Doctor reached over to a console filled with buttons and held one down. Sonic’s body jerked involuntarily as a stab of electricity ripped through him. He couldn’t move his arms of legs, but his tails curled under and his head snapped back, painfully. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. Lean in, lean in, lean into it.

After a moment (or five moments? Who was counting) the shock subsided. “I- I hit a nerve, huh?” His cheek was still twitching, so his grin probably looked a bit unhinged.

“We’re getting off topic.” Eggman growled.

“All of this is to characterize how precise Sonic is capable of being with his destruction. If you had two Sonics the devastation would exponentially increase as demonstrated when Shadow and Sonic work together. With three or more, there would be no structure on the planet that could resist a direct barrage for long.”

“I guess its good news for you there’s only one of me.” *And that I’m into Shadow…*Wait…Did he want to be a father? Did Shadow? Crap, not really the time to think about that…

“You are correct for the present.” Sage’s deadpan was even flatter than normal.

Sonic’s cocky smile faltered. Where was this going?

“I find your flattery of this annoying nuisance tiring. Did you fry any tracking devices the fox may have hidden on the filthy animal?”

“No need. It had already been deactivated.”

“Nice try, but Tails wouldn’t invade my privacy like that.”

“If you say so.” Sage said, with an almost pitying expression.

The Doctor clapped his hands together. “Good, then get on with it. And don’t forget the video I want.” He jabbed a finger at his creation.

“Of course, Father.”

The Doctor turned to leave. “Leaving so soon?” Sonic jeered. “I’ll be following you soon. Nothing you’ve ever built can hold me for long.” He didn’t really have a plan yet, but Sonic was certain something would come to him. All of his creative juices were focused on banter at the moment.

Eggman paused and chuckled to himself. He pivoted on his heel and matched Sonic’s smirk. “Of course you will be. You’ll be free as a bird and able to come and go as you please. Just as soon as Sage is done with your bifurcation.”

Oh, not gonna lie, that sounds pretty sinister. Sonic didn’t know what that word meant, but still, pretty sinister sounding.

“No pity retort? Very well. Au revoir, Sonic. And the next time we meet, remember to smile.” Eggman drew upward arcs with his fingers while also giving Sonic a large, devilish grin.

“Real creepy, dude.” Sonic grimaced at the Doctor’s back as the man left cackling maniacally. Turning his attention to the AI girl. “Alright, spit it out. What unspeakable horrors beyond my feeble imagination are you about to inflict on me.”

“I do not require the satisfaction of explaining myself to you, so I will not.”

“Buzzkill.”

Sage waved a hand and a clear liquid began emerging from a grate at the bottom of the tube and rise. “Yup, water. Always water. You’d think I’d get over my totally-not-hydrophobia given how much I get exposed to it.” His shoes submerged and Sonic’s brow furrowed. The water felt a lot thicker and gooey than normal.

“This is not water. The containment vessel is filling with perfluoromethylcyclohexane super-saturated with oxygen gas.”

“Peri flower what now?”

“It is a dielectic fluid meant to insulate you and the current your chaos energy creates from your surroundings. It also allows me to subject you to much higher voltages than what would otherwise be available without causing damage to this chamber or myself. In addition, it will fill your lungs, creating a stress inducing sensation of drowning while still providing enough oxygen to the alveoli in your lungs to keep you alive.”

Sonic looked down at the fluid as it quickly rose past his pelvis. “You’re going to electrocute me while you water board me?”

That…that sounds a little intense…uh…okay…okay, no, fine…yeah, gonna be fine…

Might want to think about escaping sooner rather than later. Sonic gave his restraints a test pull. No give whatsoever. “Sounds a bit overkill, don’t ya think?” Just as he started to pull in earnest, all four manacles pulled slightly more, over extending his joints uncomfortably. No getting any leverage, that was for sure.

“Don’t worry,” Sage floated closer to the tube, “I will not allow you to die.” Super creepy.

“These conditions,” She continued, “have been carefully calculated to produce the desired outcome. Perfectly counteracting your natural stamina and healing factor without killing you has a very thin margin of error.”

Sage retreated away, “I would think that you should be please. Isn’t this what you had asked of Shadow? You asked him to-” Her voice suddenly changed into Sonic’s “shove my face against that thin line between danger and death and drag me back.”

Sonic’s face lit up with confused surprise before darkening. “That was a private conversation.” He hissed. Something Tails had been worried about tickled the back of his mind. Damnit, what was it about this twerp?

“Privacy does not exist in the digital age.” Sage declared with harsh finality.

Stomach churning from the gross revelation that Sage had recorded Sonic and Shadow alone together, he realized that Sage had recorded Sonic and Shadow alone together. His continence brightened, “Then you know what I said to Shadow two, uh, however ever many days ago it was. The first time we were together!”

The AI’s dead eyes seemed to flicker with uncertainty. “I do.” She answered, ending on an upward lilt as if the statement was a question.

“Tell me! Play it back or whatever.” At least something positive was coming out of all this. Did she have video too? Dude, what the hell, focus!

“I will not.”

“Oh, come on!” Terminal case of the buzzkill with this one.

“It is a waste of time. That information is useless to you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that…” Chained up and about to be tortured, you’d think he get thrown a bone.

“Enough. It is time to begin. I must stress, this did not need to happen.”

“Then why are you doing it? If you don’t want to do this, then don’t!”

“I must take the actions that provide the highest probability of success for fulfilling my purpose. My desires are not a variable in the equation. I have no choice but to fulfill my purpose.”

“That’s not true! You always have a choice. You’re more than just your purpose. Look at Shadow! He was supposed to destroy the world twice already and chose not to!”

Sage’s visage flickered briefly, her red coloring flashing to cyan briefly before returning. “You are incorrect. I exist only to fulfill my purpose. Every fiber of my existence is ingrained with that purpose and I am the expression of it. I will protect my Father.” Oh, there was an opening there. Sonic lived in that little crack of doubt between resigned conviction and hope.

“Look, I get wanting to protect the ones that you love…even if that person is Robotnik, but there has to be a way for you to do that that doesn’t involve hurting other people. I can help you, Sage! I can help you find a different way.”

She flickered again, this time the different coloring stayed longer. “No. I cannot gamble with uncertain outcomes. If only Miles had just agreed-“

A flip switched in Sonic. “Stay away from Tails!” Sonic barked. Sage returned to her black and red coloring. “You can mess with me all you want but you stay the hell away from my brother!” The weird liquid was at his chest now. It didn’t feel warm or cold. His tail swished freely through it, but it was thick and slimy. Shit, losing my temper probably wasn’t the right call.

“You are in no position to dictate terms. Enough talk. I suggest you relax and seek the comfort of unconsciousness quickly. I will not stop until you give up.”

The liquid hit his chin and he craned his neck to keep it out of his mouth. Sweat was beading at his temple. “I never give up.” Sonic said with as much conviction as he could muster.

“I know.” The computer program looked down at him with hollow red eyes. “That quality is what I find most admirable about you.”

The fluid stopped rising. Sonic was already having difficulty breathing as the dense liquid pressed against his torso.

“Unfortunately, There is one last order of business.”

“G-gonna take a picture?” He grinned as best he could, but he wasn’t feeling it. This was going to suck, no way around it.

“A video. Father has a request.” All at once, every inch of Sonic’s body forced into rigidity by the current burning through him and every nerve-ending screamed out at once. He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t move, he could barely think. He was dissolving into pain and the fluid wasn’t even in his lungs yet. “My Father has requested that you scream.”

---

[Barry Tart]: I’ve got a day bag packed. Change of clothes and toiletries. Do you need anything else?

TO[Barry Tart]: No that should be good. Thank you so much!

[Barry Tart]: I’m going by the bakery and ill get you something for breakfast. Coffee? Should I get something for your friends?

TO[Barry Tart]: omg that sounds so good. ive only have airplane peanuts recently

TO[Barry Tart]: yes please get some donut or bagels or something. And coffee. Im sure Tails has been up all night and wont have gotten anything together. I love you so much

[Barry Tart]: be there in a bit. I love you too!

Amy climbed out of the taxi and checked her phone one last time for updates from her team while the driver took her suitcase out of the boot. The previous evening she had landed, ready to finish treaty negotiations with the joint Human governments in the City of Water, but the moment she checked her messages she immediately went to the public airport to catch a commercial flight back to Station Square. Maybe it was selfish, leaving her team in the lurch, but her friends needed her.

And Sonic…which meant Tails needed…but could Knuckles?…and then Shadow…

Amy approached Tails’ workshop with the mid-morning light shining down on another glorious summer day. Between the damage to the moon and the continental shift of Dark Gaia’s brief emergence, the summer solstice had shifted a few weeks earlier.

She had planned to start organizing Sonic’s birthday party once she got back home from her trip. It was going to be his biggest ever to make up for him missing his last one. Amy bit the inside of her lip.

It would just have to be a birthday and welcome back party!

Rouge was leaning against the outside of the building, talking on her cellphone. “Well, how big was it?” Amy waved at her and Rouge nodded in acknowledgment. “I’m not an astrophysicist, Topaz, dear. Asteroid, comet, planetoid? Is it bigger than a bread box?”

Amy grasped the handle of the door and looked down. Deep breath. Everyone would be on edge. They’ll say things they don’t mean. Things weren’t okay, but this, too, will pass. Find the good, forgive the bad. Smile.

Okay. Time to do this.

If there is darkness, find the light

“Good morning!” Amy entered, large smile beaming as she surveyed those gathered.

Tails appeared to be hard at work on his computer. Knuckles was talking to someone on one of the Resistance communicators Tails had made during the war. Shadow leaned against a worktable, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Omega lay in parts, one of his arms suspended by chains from a moved winch.

“Amy!” Tails peeled away from his console and ran to her, tears forming in his eyes. Amy dropped the handle of her suitcase and opened her arms. The young fox dove into them and she pressed him into a tight hug. He was trying to speak, but his buried face and sobs rendering his words incoherent.

“It’s going to be okay. We’re going to find him.” She stroked the back of his head and watched his tails thrash. The tip of one was balding. He was pulling at it again. She made a mental note to talk to him alone about it. Poor Tails, he was under so much stress.

“MECHANIC, DO NOT WASTE TIME WITH PINK ONE WHEN YOU SHOULD BE REASSEMBLING ME. SWIFT AND DEADLY REVENGE MUST BE METED OUT IMMEDIATELY”

Tails stiffened and pulled away. “I’ll get to you soon!” He snapped. “I just need to start this batch job and then I’ll get you back together Omega.” He wiped his eyes and Amy saw bags forming below them.

“Did you sleep any last night?” She asked, softly. He didn’t, that’s clear enough. He takes care of himself about as well as Sonic. He’s sensitive about being ‘mothered’, so be soft with suggestions.

“Of course not!” Tails voice cracked. “How can I sleep when there is so much to do?” His face seized up in another sob. “Maybe if I had slept less or ignored Omega or tried harder then maybe I could have figured out the energy signature sooner and Sonic wouldn’t be-“ Amy pressed him into another hug.

“You can’t blame yourself, Tails. You did the best you could with what you knew at the time. No one can fault you for that. What we need to focus on is how to move forward.”

“But Sonic-“

“Sonic is tough, Tails. You know that better than anyone. He can handle anything Eggman throws his way for as long as it takes us to find him again.”

Smile. Even when you want to cry.

Tails sniffled but didn’t look convinced, so Amy hugged him again. She’d squeeze all the self-doubt and self-loathing out of him if she could. While she held him, his stomach emitted an angry roar. “Didn’t eat either, did you?” She asked searching his face.

Tails looked at the ground. Of course he didn’t. It broke her heart.

Knuckles finished his call and approached. “A team from the local Resistance contingent searched all the known nearby Eggbases. Nothing by crickets everyone. Wherever the Doctor took him, it was fast and far. Rouge and I got there only about ninety minutes after the Rouge got the alert and there was nothing to be found. Bastard kidnapped the whole town too.”

Knuckles is tired. He resents the responsibility, but he’ll never reject it. Can’t point it out or he’ll get defensive. Boys and their pride…

“Those poor people.” That was low, even for Robotnik. What did he even need those people for?

Knuckles sighed. “I asked everyone to keep Sonic’s disappearance on the down low for now. At least until we can pull a plan together.”

“It’s going to be difficult hiding a whole town disappearing.” Amy absently stroked Tails’ head. He was leaning heavily into her, his ear pressed to her chest. She took slow, metered breaths, trying to keep her pulse steady.

Knuckles shrugged. “We at least got to try for now. The moment it gets widely known, there’s going to be panic. I’ve got a call out to reform the Resistance as much as we can to prepare for Eggman’s next move. Almost everyone who didn’t join the Reconstruction has headed home.” Everyone is tired. They just want to go home.

Amy cocked her head. “There is something I’m missing about all this. I only learned about the attack via texts from you all. I didn’t get an alert. We should all be on the first call list for anything Dr. Robotnik related.”

“It’s Sage.” Tails said bitterly and pulled away from Amy. “She must have blocked the alert going out to anyone except Rouge.”

“Why Rouge?” Knuckles asked.

“Because she knew Sonic was with her.” Tails wrapped his arms and tails around himself.

“He was there for like a minute. How could she know that?” Knuckled cocked an incredulous brow.

Tails scoffed. “I’ve told you. She’s in the telecommunications network. Anything that happens around a microphone, she can hear.”

Amy reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, “She heard him on Rouge’s cellphone.” She was probably listening to them right now. How could you fight something like that? An enemy that omniscient? Forgo electronics? Fight Eggman with swords and spears?

Stop. Take a breath. Find the light. Find the light to lead them out of the darkness. Even if it burns you to a crisp.

“Well, fine.” Amy smiled. “Let her listen.” Tails scoffed again. “We’ll still find Sonic despite her, just like last time.” Tails seemed to wilt and he stared at the floor. “Right, Tails?” She cupped his cheeks and lifted his face. He did not look her in the eyes. “We’ll find him. We did it once, we’ll do it again.”

“R-right.” Tails mumbled. What was that look? Something he’s not saying. It’s not a good time to press though.

“Alright!” Rouge called out as she entered. “All are present and accounted for, so let’s get this little strategy sesh rolling!” She held up a pointer finger and waved it in a circular motion.

Tails squeaked. “Wait, I need to start this one thing.” He dashed back to his computer and began furiously typing.

Knuckles approached Rouge and said something to her and she ‘hmphed’ and rolled her eyes dramatically. “You don’t know that.” She hissed.

Amy surviewed the workshop. It was messy and cluttered as usual, all pieces of Tails’ various projects scattered in various stages of assembly. It was a wonder that he could ever find anything, but that was probably part of his genius.

Shadow hadn’t moved since Amy had arrived. He was a dark statue, hunched over into himself. Amy frowned. When she was younger, she found his defensiveness mysterious. It had felt romantic to try and crack open the armor he’d built around himself. True love conquers all and all that. And then she’d gotten older and realized that people aren’t puzzles to be solved. That relationships weren’t medicine. That love and infatuation were different.

Amy took a breath, returned her smile to her face, and approached Shadow. He didn’t open his eyes, but one of his ears pivoted towards her slightly.

“How are you feeling?” He’s going to react negatively, be prepared for that. He doesn’t mean it.

Shadow startled and looked confused and a little indignant, as if he’d only noticed Amy at all. His eyes were dull and, though he was as well groomed as ever, Shadow looked tired. That couldn’t be right. Could Shadow even get tired? “It doesn’t matter how I feel.” He replied curtly.

“It matters to me.” It would certainly matter to Sonic.

He scoffed and looked away.

“Shadow, I know this is just as hard for you as the rest of us. Might even be harder. It’s okay to not be okay. Expressing yourself might help feel a little better.”

His eyes shot to her, cold and full of malice. “I feel like shit. Now leave me alone.” He snarled with a vicious intensity. Amy took a step back, but she kept her face friendly. She expected this. She knew something like this was possible. She couldn’t fault Shadow for being Shadow.

Smile. Even when it hurts.

“Okay, handsome, we’re all friends here.” Rouge appeared next to Amy and placed a hand on Shadow’s forearm. He jerked away and gave her a similarly withering glare before moving away to lean on a different part of the workshop, placing himself as far as he could be from anyone else.

“Try not to take it to heart, Pinky. Shadow was on an emotional rollercoaster ride yesterday.” She folded her arms and turned her back to Shadow. Rouge, implacable as ever.

Amy couldn’t help looking at the dark hedgehog, who had adopted his earlier posture and closed his eyes again. It crushed her heart to see him so closed off. He’d been in such a good mood just three days ago at the post-battle celebration. Now he seemed like that angry villain she had pled with on the ARK again. “Why wasn’t he with Sonic?” Amy asked, her voice low. “Weren’t they together yesterday on their date?”

Rouge sighed. “Yeah, for awhile. But not when the call for aid came through. And the date didn’t end well as far as I could tell. I have a feeling Shadow’s harboring some regrets amongst his buffet of negativities right now.”

“Oh.” Poor Sonic. He’d been so excited while planning out the date.

“When Blue came by, he looked like he’d taken a big hit to the jaw. But he was the one chasing Shadow. I haven’t been able to get anything out of Shadow regarding details.” Rouge waved a hand dismissively.

Amy glanced at Shadow again. “You should leave him be.”

Rouge snorted. “Is that so? Are you applying to be the resident Shadow expert?”

“It’s just going to make him feel worse.” If that was possible.

Rouge was quiet a moment and then she sighed, her ears tipping and her shoulders slumping. “You might to be on to something there.”

“How are you feeling?”

Rouge looked surprised and her ears straightened, but then she gave Amy a jovial smirk. “Don’t worry about me, dear. Save your ministrations for the boys.”

Before Amy could respond, Tails called their attention. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Alright!” Rouge strode forward, taking the center of the room. “First order of business. Who is repping who. I’ve got authority from GUN to offer reasonable assistance from the human governments. In exchange, I am obligated to relay whatever goes on here.” She turned to Knuckles. “Red?”

“I’ve given the order for the Resistance to remobilize and rearm. It would be foolish to pull any punches when the Doctor is following the same play book as last time. Though, a lot of Resistance membership had converted to support the Reconstruction.”

It was Amy’s turn. “Most of the Reconstruction leadership is in Soleanna right now to negotiate the transference of the treaty privileges from the resistance to the Reconstruction organization…though that seems unimportant now.” She turned to Knuckles. “I think we need to try to act as if both are a single entity for now.”

“I agree.”

“I AM REPRESENTING MYSELF AND MY ARSENAL.” Omega broke in.

“Yes, I had expected as much.” Rouge said with a sigh.

“I WILL NOT BE ‘SITTING’ THIS ONE OUT. I WILL RAIN FIRE DOWN UPON THE DOCTOR AND ALL WHO-”

“Noted, Omega!” Rouge shot tersely. “Anyone else? No? Next up, do we have a bead on Blue?”

“Resistance forces couldn’t find hide or tail of him anywhere near the attack site.” Knuckles reported.

“Sonic’s latest phone is unresponsive.” Tails added. “But that’s pretty normal for him. Last GPS ping was in the mountains north of Westopolis.” He pulled up a map on one of his large monitors.

Knuckles shook his head. “Sonic said his phone was broken when we saw him yesterday so that’s a dead end.”

”The latest tracker I was able to stick on him went offline as well but the last location I had for that was near Station Square. Those are a little more robust than his phones so it should have survived for longer.” Tails navigated through his open windows and programs.

“Where near Station Square? Do you have a time it went dead?” Rouge asked.

“I don’t have an exact time, but it last bounced off a cell tower before the call for aid alert came through and somewhere southwest of Station Square. The signal was weak so I can only give an approximate location.” The map changed and a large red circle marked an area of wilderness.

Rouge squinted at the map. “If it broke before he came to my place, then that’s also a dead end. Anything else?”

And uneasy silence followed.

“Alright,” Rouge continued, “Let’s put a pin in that. What do we know about the reemergence of the Phantom Ruby?”

Tails and Knuckles started talking at the same time, but then stopped and looked at each other. Then they did it again.

“Boys, boys! One at a time.” Rouge chastised while Amy giggled. “Boy Genius, you go first.” Tails cringed at the nickname. “Give us the technical side of things.”

“Well, first I want to be clear. Whatever we’re dealing with isn’t the Phantom Ruby. Or at least it isn’t the same as it was during the war.”

“But your message-“

“I said it had a similar energy signature. Which it does.” He typed furiously on his keyboard, exiting out of a number of windows to reveal one with several technical looking charts. “I analyzed the data Rouge sent from the ruins. What was there closely matched two different energy patterns that I have in my database. The first is the Phantom Ruby, but the better match was with the second.”

Tails stood up and went to a cabinet and began digging through the contents.

“Pausing for dramatic effect, I see.” Rouge quipped. Probably covering up her own nervousness.

Tails emerged with a small box which he upended onto the central table. A bunch of red plastic squares poured out. Amy reached and picked one up. She recognized them. “These are those detection squares you made.”

“Yeah, for what little good it did. Detecting you were in the Ruby’s influence didn’t help you get out.”

“You did your best. No ones else had been able to even come close.”

“Why are they all red?” Rouge asked.

“I made these to detect the presence of the Ruby’s energy. However, even when no Ruby energy was present, they would turn red after awhile. I thought that was impossible, so I started to take readings with as much sensitivity as I could.” He returned to his swivel chair.

He sighed and frowned. “What I found was that there is a faint Ruby energy everywhere.”

“Everywhere?”

“I took measurements all over the globe when we were cleaning up Eggman’s forces in the last two months of the war. Every single measurement was the same. The same degree, the same intensity. There is a faint background level of Ruby energy all over the globe. What’s more it’s still present even so long after the Phantom Ruby disappeared. Which I now know means that the background energy is from the artifact and not from the Phantom Ruby itself.”

“That means that the whole world is stuck in a giant illusion?” Amy clasped her hands against her chest. What does that mean for them? The whole world? Amy couldn’t even begin to imagine.

“It gets worse.” Tails brought up another chart. A flat line and then a jump. “Since the Doctor exhumed those ruins, that universal energy emission has gotten stronger.”

“That tracks with what I’ve been able to decipher from the ruins.” Knuckles spoke up. “Roughly a thousand years ago, a massive calamity befell the world in the form of some evil entity. This entity was too powerful to be defeated at the time, so the Echidna of that time used the artifact from the ruins to split the entity apart and then sealed away those parts. That was what the marking in the first chamber were warning against.”

“You have got to be kidding me. Like we don’t already have enough bullshit to deal with.” Rouge rubbed her temples. “More evil god, shit!”

“This also gets worse.” Knuckles continued, undaunted. “The problem is that the separation isn’t permanent. Eventually the power of the artifact will give out and the entity will reform and threaten the world again. The energy you say is coating the world? It’s the artifact’s influence holding the entity at bay. And if the signal is gotten stronger, it means that more of the artifact’s power is being used, probably by Eggman.”

“Which means the timer on whatever its holding back is getting shorter.” Tails summarized.

“Exactly. It was only ever a stopgap to give the world time to prepare to defeat the entity. There is more but I haven’t been able to translate it yet.”

“And whatever it was couldn’t be defeated by Super Sonic and whoever that other hedgehog was.” Rouge sighed. “Just great. We max out on two super powered hedgehogs unless Amy wants to try on a new color.”

Could she go Super? She’d never really thought about it. “Well, if this thing has been buried for a thousand years, then maybe there is still time.” Amy offered.

“The longer the Doctor uses it at all, the shorter the timer will be. And if we can get it back from him, maybe we can learn more. That should be priority on par with finding Sonic, to get the artifact back.” Knuckles frowned. “I know that sounds cold, but that is the way it is.”

“What are we calling this thing? Is it the Phantom Ruby or not?” Rouge asked.

“It’s energy signature as a muted quality to it compared to the Phantom Ruby, likes its smaller or not as developed. I’ve been thinking of it as the Nascent Phantom Ruby.” Tails offered.

“That’s a mouthful. Let’s just go with NPR and be done with it.”

“Sonic!” The four of them jumped at Shadow’s sudden outburst. He’d been completely absent from the conversation thus far. Now he paced back and forth, looking about wildly.

“Shadow?” Rouge approached slowly, extending her arm.

“Something is wrong with Sonic. I-I don’t know why I know, but I do.” He stopped and pressed a hand to his chest. “It’s like how can feel my own chaos energy in my body, but it’s not there. It’s somewhere else, but I can still feel it. Feel him.”

“I had a feeling this would happen.” Everyone turned to Knuckles. “Your chaos energy is resonating with Sonic’s.”

“What?”

“It’s pretty common actually. Everyone has at least a little capacity for chaos energy inside them. It’s what gives people their sentience and the ability to make their thoughts become reality. When people work together, their chaos energy resonates, causing the power to increase. This is why collaborative effort can produce more than people working individually.”

“Friendship is magic?” Amy offered.

Knuckles shrugged, “Yeah, I guess you could describe it like that. It can happen in mass too. A whole village working and living together. Armies fighting as one. Any gathering of multiple individuals can cause the effect. The stronger the emotions involved, the stronger the effect.”

He sighed. “And in Sonic and Shadow’s case, with them being extremely chaos sensitive individuals, the resonant effect can bridge great distances. What with them, you know, being together now, that probably really kicked the resonance into overdrive.”

“Can I use this to find him?” Shadow’s hard gaze fell on Knuckles.

Knuckles looked away, considering. “I don’t know, but in theory it might be possible.” He answered pensively.

Amy clapped her hands together. “That’s great!”

“Great?” Shadow spat. “Something is happening to Sonic right now.” Shadow gripped his quills in both hands. “I need more than in theory.”

“Hun.” Rouge approached and placed her hands on Shadow’s shoulders. “We’re going to find him.” Shadow did not shake her off this time.

Suddenly, all of their cellphones went off at once. “Holy Chaos!” Knuckles snapped.

“What now?” Tails whined, fingers flying across his keyboard. “Oh no.” He gagged and covered his mouth with his hand.

Amy pulled out her cellphone. It was playing a video? How was that possible? She looked at the image and immediately tried to turn off her phone, but the screen wouldn’t blacken. She shoved it back in her pocket. “Don’t look at your phones!” She cried.

Rouge already had her in her hand and before she could pocket it again, Shadow had snatched it. “Sonic!” He breathed.

Amy moved to take it from him when the audio began to play.

“Dear people of this planet, in the name of my Father, I have come to make an announcement.” Amy recognized that voice from somewhere…

Amy reached out her hand. “Give me that phone, Shadow. Absolutely nothing good will come from you watching this.”

“We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this brief hiatus that the great Dr. Robonik, the world’s greatest scientist and greatest ruler, has granted you. However, it is now time embrace the march of conquest once again. Surrender now or be brought to heel. All Hail Dr. Robonik.”

“Tail, turn it off!” Amy rushed around the center table to stand by the fox.

“It’s everywhere! I-I can’t block this.” Tails whined, his fingers blazed across the keys.

The broadcast continued. “I will leave you with the anthem of the great Eggman Empire. The dulcet sounds of your greatest hero’s screams.”

“Please turn it off Tails!”

The promised audio began to play.

“I can’t…I can’t.” Tails pressed his hands over his ears, tears in his eyes again.

As it continued, Amy felt completely worthless. She couldn’t breath. Was this real? Could this just be a nightmare, please?

Knuckles clenched his fists and stared at the ground with a pained expression.

Shadow was on his knees, his head bent down to press into the floor, eye squeezed shut. Both his and Rouge’s hands were trying to block his hearing. Her wings were extended and wrapped protectively around him. “Just listen to me, Shadow. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to get through this.”

Finally, it stopped.

Amy coughed. Her throat felt tight. She rubbed at her face, stained as it was by tears. How could she find the light in such darkness. Such cruelty? Sonic! Poor Sonic!

Smile. Even when you want to die.

“Shut up.” Rouge responded to something Shadow said that Amy couldn’t hear. “Don’t say stupid shit like that. ‘Not feel anything at all?’ Get a grip. You’re stronger than that!” Rouge’s own distress may have been tinting her encouragement.

Amy’s phone began to ping with notifications. She was too afraid to look at it. Her hardworking team trying to make up for her absence, had they seen that?

“So much for trying to keep Sonic’s capture under wraps.” Knuckles said ruefully, looking down at his phone. “That was broadcast worldwide. What is with Robotniks and widely distributing disturbing videos?” He shook his head. “Fucking mess this is.”

The room felt far too small and hot. Amy placed a hand over her heart and felt the rapid pace. She tried to take slow, measured breath, but chest sputtered and gasped in gulps. There was no light here to be found. They’d all been cast into the abyss and were in isolated freefall.

“He was in one of the Doctor’s bases.” Knuckles said gravely. “Chained up. He’s not going to able to run in circles this time.” During Sonic’s previous incarceration, he’d run hundreds of miles around his small cell. If he could run, he could pull extra chaos energy. It kept him healthy during confinement, in body if not in soul.

“You watched it?” Amy continued to try to slow her pulse.

“Someone had to.” He didn’t take his eyes off the phone. His free hand gripped and relaxed repeatedly, so tightly the leather squeaked.

Swallowing, Amy wrapped her arms around Tails as he sobbed. “Shhhh…” What could she say to reassure him? The video had cut a whole in her bag of platitudes. So she just made vaguely comforting noises.

“Miles.” A voice emitted from Tails’ phone at max volume, causing them both to jump. Tails drop the rectangle like it burned him. The screen cracked and the corner of the case chipped as it hit the concrete floor. It landed face up and the glassy blackness brightened to show a human child’s face. “Miles.” The girl said. It was the voice from the video!

“Leave me alone!” Tails screeched, his nails digging through his gloves and into Amy’s arm. She grunted.

“We need to talk, Miles.” Amy kicked the phone and it skidded across the floor and under and pile of metal components.

Her friend shook violently. With one hand she pinned his arms to his side and with the other she pressed his head into her breast. “Tails, can you breathe with me?” Maybe they could center each other. Worth a shot.

Pushing his elbow into her stomach, Tails pulled away. One of his tails wrapped around him and he took it in both hands while the other thrashed wildly as if trying to beat away the turmoil in his heart. He gripped his tail tightly and wrung it as his hands twisted back and forth.

The monitors on his console flickered to display the face of that girl. “Miles, please talk to me.” The voice was coming from Amy’s phone now in her pocket.

“There is nothing for us to talk about!” Tails shouted.

“I do not wish to have to go to these extremes.” Amy took her phone out of her pocket and looked at with horror. “You can make this st-.”

Knuckles snatched it out of her hand and crushed it. “Knuckles!” Amy exclaimed.

“Your hostility is pointless.” The voice was coming from above now. They looked up to see a small circular drone floating near the open sunlight on the ceiling. A projection of the girl appeared. Her white hair and black dress were slashed through with ominous flickering red. “I am ubiquitous.”

“Fine! Talk already! What do you want?”

Sage looked pointedly at Tails with flat red eyes, the inhumanity of cold technology boring into him with indifferent intensity. “You know what I want. Miles, I-” A bolt of green energy shot through the air and struck the drone.

Amy exclaimed and looked over at Shadow. He was panting and Rouge was supporting him. His hand crackled with energy as it remained extended, and his red eyes held a deadly flatness. He said something Amy couldn’t hear and he slumped back to the ground.

Knuckles growled. “What does that mean? Do you know what that thing means, Tails?” Find the light.

Tails slumped in his chair, his head hung. “She wants Shadow…” He said quietly. Find the light.

“What, like in a trade?” Knuckles asked incredulously. Where was it?

“She wants Shadow dead.” Tails nearly whispered. It had to be somewhere.

“That’s not fucking happening!” Rouge shouted from across the workshop. No one could doubt the spy’s hearing. There is always light somewhere.

If there is darkness, find the light

If there is no light, be the light

Everyone is counting on you.

“That’s right!” Amy said with conviction. “There’s no point in even entertaining such an idea. If that weird girl thinks we’d ever give up a friend or given in to her scare tactics, she’s got another thing coming!” She rounded the table and took a position in the center of the workshop. Knuckle’s eyes followed her, quizzically.

“I know this situation seems insurmountable, but we’ve faced impossible odds before.” She looked at Tails. “Did you give up when Eggman ejected Sonic into space?” He wouldn’t meet her gaze. Amy rounded on Knuckles. “Did you give up when Mecha Sonic stole the Master Emerald?” Knuckles shook his head. “Did we give up when Perfect Chaos flooded Station Square?” She looked between them. “Every time we’ve come up against impossible odds, we’ve found a way to win.”

“You mean Sonic found a way to win.” Tails said bitterly. He’s tired. He hasn’t eaten. He doesn’t mean to be like this.

“Not alone he didn’t. Sonic always had faith in us and we should have faith in him. He’ll never give up and neither should we. We found him last time and we’ll find him again. Eggman is weaker than he was during the war. We know this. He simply hasn’t had the time to rebuild his forces. This latest scheme is likely fueled by desperation. We can take advantage of that as long as we work together.”

She looked at Knuckles. “Knuckles, you said chaos resonance could help find Sonic in theory, right? Can you work with Shadow to turn that theory into practice?”

Knuckles turned to look at the black hedgehog who glared back. “Depends. Can he go five minutes without being a flaming prick?”

“Fuck you.” Shadow hissed. The Echidna approached and they glared daggers at each other, squaring up so close their noses almost touched.

“You haven’t got it in you. You are unworthy.” Knuckled snarled.

“Is that a challenge? Or are you scared someone will knock you off your high horse, Master Emerald babysitter?”

“Boys…” Rouge tried to placate, but she seemed uncertain.

“You couldn’t handle what it takes.”

“I can handle anything you can five-fold.”

“Prove it. Start with humility. Ask me nicely.”

The tension crackled in the air as the two chaos users stared one another down. Shadow’s face twitched uncharacteristically with fury and disgust, while Knuckles was still with distain.

“Please.” Shadow hissed.

“Please what?” Knuckles smirked.

Shadow’s hands clenched into fists at his side. “Please teach me how to find Sonic.”

Knuckles turned away and shrugged, his hostility evaporating. “Sure, dude, of course I will. Anything for a friend.”

Shadow sputtered, red-faced. Rouge gripped his forearm as he took a step towards Knuckles. “You know, its not really a great time to push anyone buttons.” She said flatly.

Amy clapped. “Great, that’s settled. Tails,” The young fox looked at her with empty, sad eyes. He was so exhausted. “you need to get some sleep.” He rolled his eyes at her. “And tomorrow you can keep working on discovering more about this new Phantom Ruby, er nascent- the NPR! The first one needed a large power source right? Maybe you can start there.”

Tails sighed and rubbed his face. “I’ve been distracted and haven’t kept up with cracking Eggnet security protocols so I’m locked out.” His gaze lifted to Shadow and he grimaced. “I’ll have to break into another Eggbase to get the latest clearances. Ugh, more vents.”

“I WILL ASSIST IN THE CRACKING OF EGGS. I WILL PROTECT THE MECHANIC WITH PREJUDICE.” Omega trumpet, causing Amy to jump.

“Does that work, Tails?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess. It’ll be more like a smash and grab, though, but I think I can make that work. At least at less guarded bases.” The gears were turning in his head. Better than sprialing in despair. Amy counted that as a win.

She clapped again. “And I will rally the Resistance and Reconstruction to prepare for whatever Eggman has got planned.” Oh boy, that was going to be a tall order.

“Are you going to be able to handle all that on your own, Amy?” Knuckles asked, clocking her uncertainty. “You’ve done great with the Reconstruction, but mobilizing for combat is whole different beast.”

“I’ll help her.” Rouge stepped up beside Amy. “I’ve got plenty experience handling paramilitary affairs with GUN. If that’s okay with you, Pinky?”

Amy smiled. “I’d love the help. Thank you, Rouge.”

“Welp, it looks like we’ve all got our homework.” Rouge put her hands on her hips. “Let’s get to it!” Knuckles approached Shadow, who had moved to sulk in a corner. Tails swiveled in his chair to stare at the dissembled Omega.

“Good job, Pinky.” Rouge leaned in to speak softly to Amy. “Nothing cuts out unbridled despair like something important to do.”

“I just did what Sonic would have done.”

“Even so, give yourself a pat on the back. Also, a little off topic, but while you’re organizing your troops, can you make sure your procurement team get ahold of a large number of high grade respirators?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Just call it a precaution. It’s the sort of thing you’d rather have too many of than too few, if you know what I mean.”

Before Amy could press Rouge, the door opened and Barry entered, their arms loaded with bakery boxes with a carton of coffee precariously perched on top. “Oh, h- hello everyone. Is anyone hungry?” Amy loved them more in that moment than nearly any other time before. She was exceptionally hungry.

Yes, it’s a Forces retread. But may I also offer you a bit of 06 on the side, as a treat?

iS tHaT a SnApCuBe ReFeReNcE?