Chapter 35
The next few days were chaotic, Alan moved into the new freedom HQ and has been harassing Saya day in and day out. None of them thought that Alan would continue to be so headstrong and determined to get Saya to love him like Amy did to Sonic in the past, but apparently they were wrong. It was starting to make some of the other Freedom Fighters very irritated.
"Saya! Let's have lunch together!" Alan ran into the kitchen, Saya jumps out of her seat, her old instincts kicking in.
"That's okay Am…Alan, I just finished, gotta run." Saya turns around to leave but Alan starts following her,
"C'mon Sonic!" He rushes over trying to embrace her, but she leaps into the air like a frog jumping out of the way.
"No thank you!" Saya runs down the hall faster that any of them could stop her.
"She got away again," Alan pouts,
"Maybe you should give her some space? You're coming off kinda strong." Kolt said sounding irritated, it bothered him how much Alan kept bugging Saya.
"What I do with my Sonic is none of your business." He said as Kolt quickly stands up,
"Your Sonic?" Kolt said as the rest of them could feel the sparks flying between Alan and Kolt not knowing who might throw the first punch.
"Both of you calm down," Caroline said getting between them,
"I get that you're still trying to sort through your old memories. But that doesn't give you an excuse to harass Saya." Sophia said sounding defensive, he was starting to annoy her as well. Alan's gaze turns to her, he glares for a moment then looks away.
"I don't know how else to act around her…" He said,
"Sophia had trouble knowing how to act around Saya at first too." Brandy teased,
"I…I did not!" Sophia protested as the others laughed, "If you all remember correctly, she forced herself into my life." She crosses her arms and looks away feeling embarrassed,
"You act like she was a bother." Alan said,
"She was…" She stops, thinking how to best describe it. "She was very… overwhelming… but that's one of the things I grew to…"
"I must speak with you all…" Tikal appears taking them all off guard,
"Whoa! Can you do that everywhere?" Alan asked,
"Only on base Amy," Tikal said with a smile,
"It's Alan…"
"Give it up, she only sees our souls, so she'll just keep calling you that." TK whispered to him,
"What did you need to talk to us about?" Brandy asked,
"It's the Dark Chaos… I can no longer feel it's presence…" She said,
"What?" Sophia looked concerned; she didn't like hearing that.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Caroline asked as Tikal shakes her head,
"I fear that now that all seven Chaos Emeralds are together it is only hiding it's presence… You all must be careful." She said,
"There a reason you didn't want Saya in on this conversation?" Kolt asked, This was the second time Tikal had asked them to keep something form Saya.
"I fear telling her that the Dark Chaos is masking itself might frighten her into not transforming…" she explained,
"We'll keep an eye on her." Sophia said as Tikal smiles and disappears,
"Do you really think Saya would stop transforming?" Alan asked,
"You don't know what Eggman did to her… it was awful…" Caroline said as they all remain silent.
"I can smell cookies!" Saya bursts into the kitchen, they all jump not expecting her to show up so quickly.
"Oh! Yes, they should be cooled off now." Caroline said with a smile walking over to the counter.
"Why are you all just standing around? Are you having a secret meeting without me?" She said crossing her arms with a teasing grin looking suspicious. None of them knew what to say,
"They were giving me advise on how to win your heart." Alan said turning towards her with an alluring grin. Saya was thrown off by the comment and her face starts to turn red.
"Red is a good color on you." Sophia smirked as Saya makes eye contact with her face turning more red becoming flustered not knowing what to say. Caroline walks over with the plate of cookies.
"Here you go!" She said as Saya quickly grabs one of the cookies.
"Thanks for the food!" She yells running away. The all pause there for a moment in silence…
"TK… was she embarrassed?" Brandy looked at TK with disbelief. Both Alan and Kolt were in a daze as if they also didn't believe what they saw.
"I… I think so… I should go check on her." TK said as Sophia raises her hand up gesturing her to stop.
"Since it was my comment that made her bolt, I should go." Sophia said,
"I volunteer!" Alan said,
"No!" Everyone yelled as Sophia leaves the room. She knew she'd be able to find Saya in the gym. She always went to run the track when something was on her mind.
"Saya?" Sophia calls out as she sees her running the track finishing off the cookie. Saya makes eye contact and her face starts to go red again. She quickly turns around and starts to run away. "Hey!" Sophia yelled running after her. "Where are you going? Stop running!"
"No!" She continued to run as Sophia notices Saya was slowly gaining speed.
"You want to go full speed huh?" Sophia said feeling challenged as Saya looks back and sees the determination on her face.
"C…C'mon Soph… I just want to be left alone." Saya said as Sophia starts gaining on her,
"Not going to happen!" She gets close enough to grab her as they both trip and fall. "It was just a joke; I didn't think it'd bother you this much." She said pulling Saya back up to her feet as Saya quickly covers her face, "Why are you covering your face? Alan's been hitting on you for days now"
"It… just threw me off…" She said through her hands which was starting to annoy Sophia,
"Don't cover your face," She grabbed Saya's wrists and pulled her hands away. Her face was flushed, she had never seen Saya like this and part of her wanted to continue teasing her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Saya asked avoiding eye contact. Sophia hadn't realized she had leaned closer to Saya's face. Saya jolts suddenly feeling uncomfortable from Sophia still holding onto her wrists and their foreheads impact hard. "Ow!" Sophia lets go as she rubs her forehead as Saya does the same to hers.
"Geez you have a hard head." Sophia said trying to joke around to change the mood.
"TK's been saying that for years." Saya chuckled, "Um… I'm going to go back to running…" She said turning away. Sophia wanted to grab her hand but stopped herself. Did she really just try to… she shook away the thought.
"See you at dinner," Sophia said as she leaves,
TK headed to the computer room after Elias called for her, she admires the new computer room as she enters. Being assets for the government have it's perks. "Good Afternoon TK," Elias said,
"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked,
"Unfortunately, I'm not blessed with the power to heal so my arm's going to be braced for a while." He joked, "I'm actually glad you're here, I have something to show you, follow me." She followed him to hangar bay to a side door. "This is for you, instead of just spending all of your time in the hangar bay I thought having your own space would be a nice change of pace." He opened the door to a room that has a computer with three monitors and a large work bench and supplies to create blueprints along with a white board to write formulas.
"Elias this is amazing! Thank you!" TK said looking at everything in amazement.
"There's something I want to ask you, especially now that we know what happened to Saya…" He said as she turns to him, "Is there a way to turn Spira back?"
"In our past life I helped a friend create a device that reversed the Roboticization. But it will take me time to remember exactly how I did it." TK said, "And Saya getting Metal Spira's arm will help me determine if it's possible,"
"I think finding a way to reverse Spira's situation will help Saya, and you all won't need to limit yourselves while fighting." He said,
"I'll get to work right away! After I show everyone of course." She said with a smile,
"Yes, I think your friends should know where to find you when you forget to eat." He joked,
"You heard about that huh?" TK looked away feeling called out,
"I'm glad you like it; I need to get back to work but please let me know if you need anything for your research." He said walking away as TK goes to show everyone her new lab.
"This is way past cool TK!" Saya said looking around,
"Right? Elias wants me to figure out how to Derobotisize Spira." She said,
"Do you think you can?" Sophia asked,
"I did it in the past… but it's going to take some time to remember exactly how…" TK said as she started to think of possible experiments she could run.
"If anyone can do it it's you." Saya said with a smile,
"I'll work hard!" She said smiling back at her,
"We're never going to see you again are we." Kolt teases,
"Oh she better come out to eat." Caroline said as she smiled but they could all feel the malice coming from it as they back away.
"I… I'll come eat… I promise." She said.
"Good, cuz it's dinner time." Brandy said as they walk to the kitchen and have dinner,
"Do you think Elias will mind if I bring some plants? This place is kind of… dull…" Alan asked,
"I think that's a great idea." Caroline said,
"There's not a lot of natural light in here though so be careful." Saya said as they all noticed her look distant at that comment,
"Yeah, I have some ideas." Alan said, as they continue eating,
"Hey, Sophia. Wanna spar later?" Saya asked,
"What?" Sophia asked looking surprised given what happened earlier was still on her mind,
"I'll spar with you," Kolt said as Saya pouts,
"But you're too slow…" Saya said
"Don't insult me!" He argued as they all laugh,
"I got an idea," Tk said, "Why don't we all spar?"
"That'll be really chaotic." Caroline said,
"It'll be six on one. All of us against Saya," TK said
"What? Why me?" Saya asked,
"You were extremely powerful as a villain and we need to be prepared for anything." TK said as everyone except Saya's expressions change.
"That's a great idea TK!" Saya said seriously, looking at her determined. "We'll start in the morning," She stands up picking up her plate and putting it away, "The challenge is to defeat me." She leaves sounding determined.
"What the heck was that TK?" Brandy asked,
"I've wanted to do this since Alan arrived. If there's ever a chance Saya could turn back into Dark Sonic, we need to be able to restrain her." TK said,
"Why do you have to think of everything methodically?" Kolt asked,
"Because that will keep her alive." TK said,
"Could we stop being so serious… I know there's a lot on our shoulders, but we could try to keep a smile, just like Saya." Alan said,
"He's right." Caroline said,
"But we can't stay ignorant, now that we know Dark Chaos is hiding its presence, we have to be cautious." TK said,
"We get it TK, you're super serious." Brandy joked,
"This isn't funny to me… I won't lose my best friend again." TK said as they all stop, she has known Saya the longest and cares for her deeply. More than any of them can imagine.
"Hey, calm down. We all feel the same way but if we're too serious we'll lose sight of ourselves." Sophia said snapping TK out of it.
"Sorry…" TK said finishing her food, "I've gotta get to work on the Derobotisizer. We should think of a strategy in the morning." She said leaving.
"There's so much going on now, it's hard to keep up with it all…" Kolt said,
"I know what you mean." Alan said, they were the newest members and hadn't been there at the beginning.
"We should get some rest. Saya is not going to go down easily," Sophia said leaving. She knew she had to be stronger, so Saya would never have to go through what she did ever again. Eggman was to blame for all of it. But Sophia knew last time they clashed they both died. She wasn't going to let that happen. To protect someone she cares about she will do whatever it takes… even take down Eggman herself.
That next morning they all ate in silence, none of them knew what to say to one another and they could all feel the uncomfortable tension. Saya stands up and heads towards the door,
"I'll meet you all in the training room," She said leaving,
"This was the most uncomfortable breakfast ever…" Alan said letting out a sigh as if he was holding his breath,
"Are we sure we want to fight Saya?" Caroline asked,
"Like TK said, Saya's powerful and we should be prepared just in case that small chance Dark Sonic does take over." Brandy said as Sophia nods in agreement,
"What if she gets hurt again?" Caroline protested,
"Saya can take care of herself, I'd hold back… but she'd know right away and take advantage of it." Kolt said as TK nods in agreement.
"We need a plan." Sophia said,
"We give it our all. We may only be fighting in our regular forms but Saya still has access to her abilities through her Chaos Emerald meaning even though there are six of us, she still has the advantage." TK said as they all nod,
"Most of my abilities are fire so I don't know how much help I'll be." Brandy said,
"You may not be able to use fire, but you are still skilled. You have high agility that will help against Saya's speed." TK said,
"I'm going to be honest, I'm not much of a fighter… More of a lover" Alan joked,
"That's okay, you're still getting the hang of it and this will be good for you to see how we all work together." TK said,
"This isn't going to be easy…" Caroline said,
"If it was, we wouldn't be doing this." Brandy said as they all nod,
"I can match her in speed, so I should be the one keeping her attention." Sophia said,
"If we work this right and take her off guard Kolt or Alan should be able to restrain her." TK said,
"We should head over there." Kolt said as they all nod heading towards the training room,
"I'm not sure I can do this…" Caroline said,
"You've sparred with Saya and me plenty of times, you got this." Sophia said trying to reassure her.
They enter the room to see Elias, Sally and Dr. Q sitting on one of the benches, while Saya was on the other side of the room stretching while looking distant.
"Didn't realize we grew a crowd," Brandy said,
"I'm here to make sure none of you hurt yourselves." Dr. Q said,
"We just wanted to watch." Sally said with a smile. TK watches Saya looking more and more distant. As she starts to move to go talk to her Kolt grabs her by the shoulder and shakes his head,
"She's trying to stay focused; I think this is harder on her than we realized." He said as they all look at one another.
"Are you all ready?" Saya said seriously as they all walk to the center,
"A real fight doesn't give you a chance to be ready," Sophia poked fun at her seriousness,
"Right…" Saya chuckles then sighs. In the blink of an eye she's in front of TK tripping her feet as she falls to the ground. Kolt swings at her as she jumps back. Caroline runs up and helps TK to her feet,
"Call me slow huh?" Kolt said taking another swing at Saya as Alan tried to join the fray but Saya jumps out of the way causing Kolt and Alan to collide. Saya didn't say anything, she was focused. If they broke her focus she wouldn't be able to fight her friends. But they could all see the slight smile on her face. Sophia runs up to Saya and kicks at her side as she blocks with her arms. The others started to have trouble seeing how they could intervene in the fight.
"TK, how do we throw her off?" Brandy asked,
"While she's focused on Sophia try to find an opening to make her lose her balance." TK said trying to stay quiet so Saya didn't hear their plan,
"I'll be defense, if she grabs TK or Caroline we're done." Kolt said,
"Wait, why would we be done?" Alan asked confused,
"If she gets a hostage, she wins." Kolt said, as Alan looked shocked but his expression changes to serious. Saya breaks out of her scuffle with Sophia and jumps in between the others. She kicks Kolt and Alan out of the way leaving Brandy, Caroline, and TK.
"C'mon, we can do this." TK said as she takes a swing at Saya, but she grabs her by the wrist and spins her around then throws her at Sophia right as she was running up. Caroline was afraid to fight, but she knew she had to try. Brandy jumps in front of Saya and begins blocking her attacks. Sophia and TK get back to their feet as Kolt and Alan do the same slowly starting to surround Saya. Saya starts to look around thinking about her options but she didn't realize that Caroline jumped at her feet grabbing her by the ankle.
"I got her!" Caroline cheered, but is quickly lifted in the air as the others attempted to tackle Saya. She had jumped into the air taking Caroline with her. She flips around and catches Caroline in her arms before landing on the ground.
"Looks like this round goes to me." Saya said as they all sigh,
"Dangit." TK said flopping onto the ground out of breath,
"Sorry about that Caroline, you okay?" Saya asked as she looks at her, Caroline's face was white and she looked like she might puke,
"Dizzy," She said as she puts her down,
"You definitely took me off guard there for a sec," Saya chuckled,
"I did?" Caroline asked,
"Was not expecting you to go for my legs, I was expecting that from Kolt or TK." Saya said as Caroline noticed Saya was shaking. She quickly looks at the others who were still getting to their feet making eye contact with Sophia showing an expression that they need to stop.
"We should stop here for today. I need to train more before we try to take you down again." Sophia said as Saya turns to her looking confused, as the others begin to catch on.
"Yeah, I hate to admit it… but I need to get faster…" Kolt said,
"I still have no idea what I'm doing…" Alan said with a pout. Caroline grabs Saya's hand and smiles.
"It's okay." She said as Saya realizes they all notice,
"S…Sorry…" She said whipping tears she could no longer hold back,
"I should be the one saying sorry, I shouldn't have suggested this." TK said going over and giving her a hug.
"I guess I also need to get stronger…" Saya said,
"Our next big thing is saving Spira and the Zarkon," Sophia said as Saya looks at her shocked,
"Yeah!" Saya said with a smile as they all leave to get a cup of tea together. Saya trying not to think about the things she's done.