Chapter 31
The following day after lunch, TK goes to see how Saya and her parents are doing after the previous scuffle with Elias. She walks up to the infirmary seeing Sophia still in front of the door. "You're going to burn yourself out if you keep this up." She said as Sophia lifts her head. TK could see the dark circles under her eyes.
"I refuse to take any chances." Sophia said stretching her arms, she was starting to feel sore from standing for so long, but she wasn't going to tell anyone that.
"Have her parents left yet?" TK asked as she shakes her head. She enters the room to hear them mid conversation with Saya.
"I really should stay here." Saya said as she notices TK walk over towards them, "Hey bud! What do you think my parents should do?" Her parents asked her if Saya wanted to come home, but she knew that wouldn't be possible. She also didn't want her parents to uproot their lives.
"Well, it's not like you can quit your jobs and hide in a bunker until this is all resolved. We don't even know how long fighting Eggman is going to take…" TK said,
"But they can't just keep putting you all in danger." Mr. Hedge said,
"They aren't putting us in danger, we chose this. Besides we're the only ones that can stop him." Saya said,
"You're looking better but try to take it easy." Dr. Q said to Kolt, finishing her checkup.
"Will do Doc, thanks," Kolt gets up and stands next to TK listening to the conversation,
"Why? Because you have these abilities?" Mrs. Hedge said, "I'm sure the military has weapons stronger than you all."
"Really? Kolt is stronger than a tank, TK is a genius, Caroline has super hearing, Brandy can control fire and Sophia is the Ultimate Lifeform. Plus, I'm the fastest thing alive so tell me exactly what this military weapon is I'd love to see it." Saya said sarcastically, Kolt was taken off guard for a moment hearing Saya use his actual name. He wanted to ask her about it but now didn't seem like the right time given the tension building in the room.
"You don't need to talk back to your mother." Mr. Hedge said,
"I'm sorry but you're both not seeing the big picture here. I was tortured, broken, experimented on, almost robotisized and made into a human puppet." She felt as if she was reliving everything that had happened, flashes taking over her thoughts. "I won't let that happen to anyone else…" They could all see her start to shake uncontrollably. Her breathing quickened to the point of almost hyperventilating, the memories of what happened taking over. Dr. Q rushes over recognizing what was happening and pushes everyone away.
"Everyone give her some room. Saya, I need you to think of something else." Dr. Q said as Saya grasps at her chest. It felt so tight like something heavy was squeezing her.
"Why… can't I… Breathe?" She gasps for breath, looking panicked.
"You're having a panic attack, we need to ground your thoughts… Think of something that relaxes you." Dr. Q placed her hands on Saya's shoulders to try and help the shaking.
"Like… what?" Saya asked,
"Running!" TK said as Dr. Q looks at her with a smile and nods.
"Alright, envision yourself running." Saya closed her eyes and tried to focus. "Fell your feet making contact with the earth. You're slowly gaining momentum. Feel the wind against your face as you run wherever you want unhindered." She said as Saya's breathing slowly calmed down,
"How?" Mr. Hedge asked looking shocked at how quickly she was able to help her,
"I'm not your ordinary Doctor." She said,
"Thanks Doc." Saya said with a weak smile still catching her breath, the tightness in her chest subsiding.
"It's why I'm here, now I'm going to ask all of you to leave for the day." Dr. Q said, "Saya needs rest and causing a panic attack is doing the opposite."
"We'll come by another day and check up on you." Mrs. Hedge said, she kisses her daughters forehead before Saya lays back down her entire body began to feel sore.
"Please let Elias' men protect you," Saya said,
"We will for now." Mr. Hedge said as they leave the infirmary.
"We'll escort you." TK said walking with Kolt as Saya's parents follow.
"We shouldn't have pushed so much…" Mrs. Hedge said,
"What did she mean by robotisized?" Mr. Hedge asked them. Kolt and TK glance at one another partially not wanting to scare them.
"Eggman has a machine that can turn living organisms into robots." TK said,
"And that almost happened?" Mrs. Hedge said sounding horrified,
"We should have never allowed you girls to come here." Mr. Hedge said sounding regretful for giving Saya permission to be here under the false pretense of being protected,
"If I may sir," Kolt said, "You're blaming the wrong people. This is Eggman's fault and no one else's. He would have come after Saya even if we weren't here. He came to my school before I even knew I was Knuckles."
"Besides, Saya would have continued fighting regardless if she was here or not." TK added, as they walk into the computer room. Elias turns towards them after hearing them enter.
"Come to punch me again Mr. Hedge?" Elias asked,
"Not today, but we would like to leave." He responded trying not to sound angry,
"Very well, my men will escort you home and while you are there, we will have four men posted at your house, two assigned to each of you and they will protect you while you are at work or running errands so you don't have to worry." Elias said,
"Won't that bring more attention to ourselves?" Mrs. Hedge asked,
"You're already famous with Saya's miracle recovery so it'll be easy to play it off as security to keep the paparazzi away." Sally said as some solders escort Saya's parent's home.
"TK, you look troubled," Elias noticed her worried look,
"It's Saya… She just had a panic attack…"
"Saya's been through a lot, a panic attack should be the least of our worries. But Dr. Q will take good care of her." Elias reassures her and she nods before leaving the computer room,
That night Saya wakes up disoriented and confused, she couldn't remember where she was. She climbs out of the bet feeling panicked not seeing any windows to tell her where she was and walks towards the door. She opens the door to see Sophia standing there leaning against the wall.
"Sophia?" Saya said feeling relaxed seeing a familiar face as she remembers that she's back at Freedom HQ. Sophia wakes up from dozing off hearing her voice.
"Saya? What are you doing out of bed?" She turns towards her with a yawn.
"I could ask you the same thing, it's the middle of the night." Saya said,
"I… You first." Sophia said noticing she was deflecting.
"I was hungry?" She shrugs as Sophia looks at her with disbelief, "Actually… I could really use some fresh air," She looked away avoiding eye contact knowing she wouldn't like that response, Sophia lets out a sigh.
"C'mon, we can go to the roof." Sophia said, "You okay to walk?" She stands straight and waits for her response looking her over intently,
"Oh yeah, I feel perfectly fine." Saya smiles closing the Infirmary door. Sophia turns and begins to walk down the hallway as Saya followed after her. "So, you going to answer my question?"
"Nope," She said as Saya pouts, they get to the ladder and Sophia waits for Saya to climb up first. She didn't really believe that Saya was fine, they both climb up and get outside. Saya takes a deep breath as she sees the stars immediately feeling relaxed.
"This is way better than staying in a windowless room." She said sitting at the edge with her legs dangling over the side. "Going to be honest I was starting to feel trapped." Sophia sits next to her still watching Saya closely,
"That's understandable," Sophia said, "Just remember that you're not trapped here."
"I know, just under guard," Saya looked at her with a teasing grin, Sophia looks away from her feeling rather called out by that comment. "Worried I'll turn into Dark Sonic?"
"No…" She turns back, "That you'll disappear." Saya looks shocked at how open she was being with her.
"I'm so sorry that happened." Saya remembers Sophia's tear-filled smile just before Eggman snatched her away again. "But I promise I'm not going anywhere," She smirks remembering all the times Sophia had yelled at her for being reckless. "And you can finally lecture me about being right. I should have been more careful."
"I don't need to say anything, I think you've learned your lesson." Sophia smirked back, Saya leans over to her and nudges Sophia with her elbow.
"Definitely!" She chuckles,
"We should go back, if anyone notices you're not in bed the whole base will panic." Sophia said pulling Saya to her feet.
"How much longer do you think Doc will keep me on bed rest?" Saya moaned as they climbed down the ladder."
"Forever if we're caught." Sophia teased,
"Race ya back?" She smiles,
"You shouldn't be running yet." She said as Saya walks backwards in front of her,
"Oh c'mon, don't tell me you're afraid to lose." Saya egged her on,
"Once you're cleared by the Doc, we can race all you want." Sophia sighs,
"Fine!" She rolls her eyes as they get back to the infirmary, "You going to come in or just stand at the door?" Saya opens the door waiting for Sophia to walk in with her. She hesitates for a moment then enters the infirmary with her.
That morning Kolt goes to check on Saya, he never got to ask her how she knew his name yesterday because he wanted to let her rest. He enters the infirmary to see Saya asleep in her bed and Sophia was asleep in the chair next to her. He sees Dr. Q wave to him and presses her finger against her lips as they both quietly walk outside not to wake them,
"Man, TK wasn't kidding when she said Sophia won't let Saya out of her sight." Kolt said quietly,
"I tried to get her to go to bed last night but she wouldn't budge. At least I know she got some sleep, and that Saya stayed put." Dr. Q said with a sigh. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, I just wanted to come see how Saya was doing." He said,
"I think we better let them sleep a little longer. Maybe one of you can convince Sophia to leave Saya's side for a bit and eat some food after she wakes up." She said going back into the Infirmary. Kolt lets out a sigh followed by a nod and heads to the kitchen where the others were setting up for breakfast.
"Good morning Kolt," Caroline said with a smile, he could tell they all had a pep in their step.
"Morning,"
"Have you seen Sophia?" TK asked,
"She's in the infirmary with Saya, guess she decided to watch over her all night." Kolt said sitting down,
"All night?" Caroline asked surprised giving Brandy a look,
"I knew she was worried about Saya, but to think she'd be this frightened to let her out of her sight…" Brandy said,
"We weren't there when they raced, she looked really shaken up when we caught up to her." TK said,
"Should we be worried?" Kolt asked,
"Only if someone tries to hurt Saya," Brandy jokes as they start to eat,
"Should we bring Sophia some food?" Caroline asked,
"No, Dr. Q wants her to step away from Saya for a bit, I'll see if I can convince her to come eat if I keep an eye on Saya for her." Kolt said,
"That's a good idea," TK said,
Kolt finishes his food and heads back to the infirmary. He opens the door to see Sophia awake watching over Saya. He waves her over as she stands up and walks over to him.
"What?" Sophia asked quietly trying not to wake up Saya,
"There's food in the kitchen, I can keep an eye on Saya while you grab something to eat." Kolt said,
"I'll pass," She turns to go sit back down but he stops her.
"Hey, I don't think you've eaten since we got back. Let us help keep her safe." Kolt said as Sophia notices Dr. Q give her a look. She lets out a sigh.
"Fine, I'll be right back." Sophia said leaving, Dr. Q silently words to Kolt a thank you as he sits next to Saya.
Sophia walks into the kitchen with a quiet huff, Caroline notices her right away and smiles as she hands her a plate of food.
"Morning!" She said,
"Morning," Sophia responds, Caroline could see the dark circles underneath Sophia's eyes,
"I'll make some coffee." Caroline said walking over to the coffee pot.
"Thanks," She said sitting down and starting to eat, "Where are the others?"
"TK went to tune up the Tornado and Brandy went to go talk to Tikal." She said,
"Sounds good," Sophia said continuing to eat.
"You should try to get some more rest, I think Kolt can keep an eye on Saya." Caroline said. Sophia was quickly piecing together that they all were wanting her to ease back.
"Seems everyone thinks that…" Sophia said with a sigh, "Fine but only for a few hours." Sophia understood that she probably seemed overbearing but out of anything she just wanted to keep Saya safe.
"That's all I ask."
A bit of time passes and Saya stirs awake, she turns towards where she remembered Sophia was sitting to see Kolt instead, "You're not the broody hedgehog that was sitting there before." She said waking up with a stretch and a yawn,
"Did I disappoint you?" He joked,
"No, was just expecting her to never move." She sits up, "Oh, I guess we finally get to introduce ourselves. I'm Saya," She smiles
"I'm Kolt… But you already knew that didn't you?" He asked feeling a little awkward bringing it up,
"Yeah… Egghead kinda let it slip." Saya said looking away. "Can I ask how you know each other?"
"I don't know Eggman, I knew his reincarnation, Professor Ivo. He was my science teacher in college." He explained,
"Dude, that's rough…" She said,
"Yeah, it was a shock when I first transformed." He said as she turns towards him waiting expectantly for him to tell her the story, "You really want to know?"
"Hey, I'm on permanent bed rest until told otherwise." Saya said giving Dr. Q a look.
"If you stay in bed and I don't see any changes, you'll be allowed to go later today." Dr. Q said, coming over to draw another sample of blood. She notices the Saya tries to stop herself from flinching away from the needle. She takes the sample quickly and walks away.
"See? Now you have to keep me company, so this day goes by faster," Saya said with a smile as he lets out a sigh and begins telling her the story.
They all keep to themselves for the majority of the day, Kolt stayed with Saya telling her how his start here took some taking used to and how they were able to complete the Master Emerald. After Lunch, Dr. Q comes back after testing a sample of Saya's blood to let her know the results.
"It looks like all of your bloodwork has come back normal," She said, "You're free to go, but you're only allowed to train. You can't go on missions for a bit." Saya jumps out of the bed the second she said she was free to go."
"No missions, got it." She said,
"And I want you to go talk to Tikal, she wants to check on you." She said,
"Can do doc, anything else?" Saya was literally hopping in place wanting to move around.
"Daily checkups."
"Daily checkups?" She slumps her shoulders then rolls her eyes, "Fine!" She walks towards the door.
"Mind if I tag along?" Kolt asked,
"Not at all!" She said with a smile as they walk towards the Alter room, "Think we should tell the others I'm out of the infirmary?"
"We can tell them after you see Tikal. I don't think this will take too long." Kolt said opening the door as they enter the room.
"Hey Tikal!" Saya called out as they walk up to the Master Emerald,
"Sonic!" She calls out as she appears and hugs her taking Saya by surprise being able to feel her,
"Whoa! I didn't know spirits could give hugs." Saya joked, But she also knew there was no real warmth coming off of Tikal. Just the presence of Chaos energy.
"It's because the Master Emerald is whole again." Kolt said,
"I'm so glad you're back." Tikal said,
"You and me both. So what's up?" Saya asked,
"I wanted to make sure you were okay." She smiles,
"That's it?" Saya looked confused but also a little skeptical,
"No, I want to make sure you're free from the Dark Chaos. To give you some peace of mind." She said,
"How did you?" She pauses, "Right, you see us by our souls. Well? How do I look?" She does a little turn showing her signature grin that makes Tikal giggle.
"At least I know your sense of taking things seriously hasn't changed." Kolt teased shaking his head. After what he saw happen to her yesterday he was worried she wasn't the bright light he first met in Eggman's underwater base that had captivated him.
"What's the fun in being serious? I leave that to Sophia." She smirked as Tikal looks Saya up and down,
"I do not see any Dark Chaos energy within you, but I want to try one thing. Would you mind transforming?" Tikal said as Saya stops spinning,
"Transform?" Her face goes white as the fears of turning into Dark Sonic start flooding her thoughts.
"Hey, if you're not ready to transform you don't have to." Kolt said noticing her discomfort fearing that she might have another panic attack. She snaps out of it and shakes her hand.
"No." She clenched her fist fighting the fear she started to feel bottling up inside her, "I can't let this stop me. The longer I wait the more difficult it will be. But we should grab the others…"
"I'll message them to meet us here." Kolt said taking out his phone, Saya lets out a sigh as the door bursts open taking them all by surprise. Sophia was at the door with a concerned and angry look.
"Well, don't have to message one of them…" Saya chuckles as Sophia storms up to her,
"You didn't tell anyone you left the infirmary." She glared,
"Dr. Q gave me the green light and we were going to go find you after, Tikal wanted to talk to me." Saya said slightly hiding behind of Kolt as Sophia lets out a sigh,
"Others are on their way." Kolt said,
"Why?" Sophia asked,
"Tikal wants to make sure the Dark Chaos is completely out of me… but to do that I need to transform, and I don't want to take any chances… just in case." Saya said as the others walk into the room.
"Saya!" TK calls out as she runs up and hugs her,
"Hey guys!" She smiles,
"It's good to see you walking around," Brandy said,
"You all knew Doc couldn't keep me in the infirmary for long." She laughs,
"Saya are you sure you're ready for this?" Sophia asked, pulling her back to their conversation. Sophia wanted Saya to have her confidence in transforming returned… But she was also worried Saya might turn back into Dark Sonic.
"Nope! But I can't let fear hold me down. I have to keep moving forward." Saya said,
"We've got your back, no matter what happens." Kolt said as Saya nods to him. TK lets go of Saya as she takes a long deep breath.
"The seven servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart, the heart is the controller, the controller serves to unify the Chaos. Chaos Control." She said, she's engulfed in a warm blue light as she transforms into Sonic. They all look closely at her eyes as she opens them to show their Emerald green color.
"How do you feel?" Caroline asked,
"I feel great!" Sonic smiles looking relieved that nothing bad happened, Tikal flies around her looking at her closely, "Well Tikal? Don't keep us waiting."
"I don't see any Dark Chaos." Tikal said with a smile,
"Sweet!" Sonic jumps for joy, "Hey Red, wanna see who's the strongest?" She grins looking at Kolt. Tt took him a moment to remember that was one of the many nicknames Sonic gave him.
"Ha! You're on Blue!" He said transforming,
"Meet you in the training room," She said as she's gone in a blink.
"Hey! I can't run that fast!" Knuckles said running after her, the others are about to follow when Tikal stops them.
"What's wrong?" Brandy asked,
"The Dark Chaos is gone, but her soul…it's almost like it has an echo… as if something was behind her." Tikal explained but looked puzzled herself.
"What does that mean?" TK asked,
"Will it hurt her?" Sophia asked,
"I do not believe so, but I fear informing her about it will give the echo a life of its own." Tikal said,
"Another secret? This is what got us into this mess." Brandy said,
"I know… but if that echo becomes more present, it might destroy her from the inside. I need time to see into her further. But the echo only appeared after she transformed." Tikal said disappearing,
"What do we do Sophia?" Caroline said,
"First, I tell Elias and Dr. Q. Then we act like nothing's wrong, as long as Saya doesn't know about the echo she'll be fine." Sophia said leaving the alter room and reading to go see Elias. She found him in the Computer room talking to Dr. Q as they watched the security camera on the training room where they could see Sonic and Knuckles sparing.
"They're being a little rough don't you think?" Elias asked sounding concerned watching Knuckles throw Sonic across the room.
"Saya needs to feel comfortable as Sonic again, to think she was able to transform so quickly without incident is a good sign," Dr. Q said, they see Sonic on the screen get back up to her feet with a cocky smile on her face as she spin dashes Knuckles into the ground.
"Good, you're both here." Sophia said,
"Everything alright Sophia?" Elias said,
"We need to talk about Saya." Sophia said explaining to them what Tikal just told her,
"We'll do what Tikal said for now," Dr. Q said, "But if it is only around when she's Sonic it'll be harder to keep an eye on."
"For now she's not allowed to go on missions." Elias said,
"Wait what?" Sophia said sounding surprised, "Are you sure that's wise?"
"Seeing Eggman or fighting in a real battle this quickly might do more harm than good, I would like for her to at least sit out the next mission." Dr. Q said, "I had already informed her she's not allowed to go on missions, and she seemed fine with it."
"I don't think that will last for very long." Sophia said, "She already feels trapped," She also didn't like the thought of leaving Saya here without her.
"When did she tell you that?" Elias asked,
"Last night, I caught her trying to leave the infirmary."
"Why that little!" Dr. Q looks angry, then takes a breath. "We can't blame her for that, she's been through a lot."
"For now we keep with the plan, if Saya starts getting stir crazy we'll figure out how to make that go away. Let's just focus on keeping her safe." Elias said as they all look up at the monitor watching Sonic and Knuckles spar with smiles on their faces.