Tails was sad to see the alternate version of Sonic go. He had become oddly attached to the kid. He chuckled sadly, looking to his friends. Amy put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The young kitsune looked over his sea of friends. They were the Resistance. They were his family. As if The Other Sonic's departure was a sign it was finally over, they all started to smile, laughing and hugging each other.
Tails, however had to frown. Where was Sonic? His Sonic, not the one that had just left of course. His eyes scanned, and when he finally found the blue blur, he had to gasp.
"What is it Tails?" Amy turned from the group, to Tails who was gaping. He tried to find the words to say. "Tails?" She was worried, he had to say something. Closing his mouth, he lifted his hand, pointed. Green eyes followed the direction, and Amy too gasped. Now both of them stood gaping, and the pink hedgehog was close to tears.
Finally, Knuckles noticed their absence from the main group. "What's wrong?" He asked, still smiling. His question seemed to set Amy off, who buried her face in her hands. The fox sighed, tears threatening to spill, and pointed.
When Knuckles saw what he was pointed to, he gasped, but this time audibly let his disbelief fly, "Sonic!? What the hell happened!?" His voice was a mix between anger, shock, and a touch of melancholy. The rest of the group, startled by the echidna's yell turned to the hedgehog in question.
"What? What's wrong?" Sonic who had been blissfully quiet, lost in thought, raised an eyebrow. The group started on in disbelief at him.
"Sonic- You're- You don't look-" Tails' voice broke as tears began rolling down his cheeks in waves. Sonic was a mess. He looked like he had been ran over with a train. There were dark circles under his eyes, a mixture of sleep and injury. He had many bruises covering him, head to toe. Bandages were wrapped around his waist, but whatever wound was there had been reopened recently, as dried blood had soaked through. His right ear had a tear in it, and his quills looked like they had been falling out.
His famous red shoes looked like they were half melted. The golden buckle was gone on his right shoe, a large hole going through to his foot in it's place. The hole didn't stop at the sock, but looked deep, and it looked like the blood was fresh there.
Sonic smiled awkwardly, not knowing what they were gawking at. He rubbed behind his neck with one hand, revealing he had put a brace on it at some point. "Do I have something on my face? Heh…"
He looked like he had taken a vacation in Hell.
"Sonic...you...you look terrible." Rouge said finally. She had been a GUN agent for a long time, and had seen many horrible things. Yet...this was one of the worst things.
Sonic furrowed his brows, "Well yeah. I was tortured. Did you guys forget that part?" He joked, tugging at the ear without the tear. When listening to his voice, he sounded a bit more rough around the edges.
"But- You didn't look like that two seconds ago!" Amy gasped through tears; she looked like she wanted to hug him, but was too disgusted at the same time to even bare the thought.
Knuckles had gone as white as a sheet, and looked ready to throw up, and he wasn't the only one.
"You mean," Sonic examined their faces, "I looked normal to you guys?" The rest of them nodded. It was questionable whether some of them could talk without puking. It's one thing seeing someone as injured as that. It's another when that person is a good friend.
"The Phantom Ruby." Tails said suddenly. "It had to be. The last illusion."
"So you guys didn't even see when I put bandages on, or the brace?" The blue hedgehog questioned, ignoring Tails' thought.
"Maybe it was a bit of kindness in Infinite's heart, so that Sonic could fight with dignity." Amy said, still sniffing, and pointedly not looking at Sonic.
"Or maybe it was the last part of the torture. No one could keep Sonic from fighting when he looked fine." Shadow said finally after a bit of silence, then looking to his faker, "How did you do it?"
Sonic looked about to say something, opening his mouth and shutting it again. "I-" He paused, formulating his thoughts for a final time, "I fight so no one has too. This is my fight."
"No it's not." That was a new voice. The owner of the voice, Gadget emerged from the back of the group. The silent Rookie. "You're not alone. This was our fight." He came over to Sonic, looking him straight in the eye. Then silently he held his fist out. Sonic had a sly smile cross his face as he returned the fistbump.
The azure hedgehog then turned to the rest of the group. "It's not me who just needs healing. It's the whole world. Now. It's gonna take a lot of work. But if we can save the world. We can heal it too." Then embarrassed he said, "I might have to take the sidelines for a while though."
He was right, of course.