Another funny chapter with hints of Sonic Forces plot! I think I might've started making jokes about the game itself along with the logic a bit x3
Sanctum and Steel are wonderful characters and I hope to see more of them in the future ;w;
Please look at their DA and Tumblr!
5courgesbestbuddy
With a faint groan, honey colored orbs peaked out from closed pale lids. Staring at the...ceiling? Carefully, Steel winced as he tried to sit up to look around; only to flop back into...the bed? "What….the-"
"Easy, you went and over exerted yourself." a familiar baritone hit his ringing ears as Sanctum came into focus. "...Whahappun?" Steel mumbled, shakily raising a hand to press the ball of his hand to his eyes in hopes it would ease the dull throb.
"Well, you fell unconscious after throwing us out of the void, the sun came up so no more night time scares.." Ebony took a seat on the bed as he crossed his arms over his chest, the rubies crinkling in study before sighing.
"You know, you missed Scourge jumping out of his skin when we found some team in the city ruins."
"...A what?"
"Some group of revolutionaries I suppose. They're fighting against their version of Eggman here." Sanctum shrugged before leaning down," We had to tell them we were from some group out near the northside for them to let us come back to a spot where you could rest it out." he whispered before perking up.
"Oh good, you're back."
"Meh…" Scourge waved it off as he looked over the youngest of their group in his approach, looking a bit tired of the people he had to 'talk to'," Steel, can you breathe now?"
"I...never stopped-"
"Good, because your headache is about to get a whole lot worse." The emerald hedgehog plopped into a chair beside the bed.
"No….Guys please…" Steel winced as he settled back into the pillow out of faint spite towards his consciousness.
"Hey, we made a cover story, Steel."
With a sigh, the time traveller looked wearily up at the armored teen, silently asking 'why' before he merely gave into his fate.
"...Fine…"
"Right so, Sanc, did you tell him about the team we ran into?"
"A little…"
"Alright, so, there's this whole war happening here."
"I got that part," Steel sighed softly, wincing under the mildly pouting glare from Scourge. "...You're lucky your brain is fried right now or I'd meet your sass….Anyway," Scourge sniffed as he crossed his arms," Turns out the people here don't know who we are, so it's a different continuity universe for sure. This 'freedom resistance' are fighting their doctor-"
"Already covered that part." Sanctum rolled his eyes slightly, though smirked when the small glare came his way.
"..Right..So these goons are fighting that jackal guy too. He's apparently part of the reason this world's Eggman successfully took over the place."
"...," Steel looked up with a cringe, clicking his tongue against his teeth," Really? Him?"
"I know, it's tragic."
"But...he can't dodge.."
"I know Steel."
"And...Really?"
"Yep, this joker is intense. From what these clowns have been saying, that gem he's got in his chest is what gave him the edge on top of his edge." Scourge snickered as the teen finally managed to sit up.
"...And they told you guys this because…"
"We apparently came out of where a 'safe house' was originally and they thought we were a part of another group," Sanctum reaffirmed, smirking a bit at the growing confusion and disappointment on the teen's face.
"But…"
"And they told us how they were gonna storm the place to stop the doc from finishing the job!~"
"...This world cannot be this asinine."
"Oh but it is, and it's hilarious if you know how to play the 'game'." Sanctum began to snicker with the scarred up teen.
"...I'm going back to sleep." Steel deadpanned with a grumble, pointedly laying back down in the medical bed as the two older hedgehogs burst out laughing.
Much to the dismay of the telepath.
"No, we got business to take care of, you can chill when we get home."
"I swear you two better not bug me when I take pizza to my room for a while with a game and nap." Steel sighed, glaring as he begrudgingly slowly sat up.
"Fine so...what's the plan?"
"Well, we're going to go 'fight the doctor' of course," Sanctum rested back against the wall," After all...that jackal will be there. Might as well rip that glitch causing canine apart in front of the doctor just to prove a point."
"Oh, and I guess he's actually called Infinite?" Scourge let his chin rest in his palm," And these people are actually afraid of him?"
"...REALLY?"
"Yep, really," Scourge gave a shrug to their youngest member," Sweet world right?"
Steel looked between the two before sighing with an angsty frown," So what? Play 'revolutionaries' until we find him and actually put the smack down on him?"
"It's the only seeable option since they allowed us to rest for a few hours and make sure you didn't start flailing or floating while you were out cold." Sanctum gave a mild shrug before casting a glance to the main planning room.
It was a short walk from the 'medical bay' and he could feel his...copy staring at them.
"...We'll make it a quick thing."
"Oh yeah, definitely," Scourge scoffed as he scratched his cheek," This world has two Sonics I guess. One that's from the past and the other that brushed off half a year of trauma from the doctor. I really don't want to go near that or deal with that."
"..Scourge weren't you in prison-"
"Yeah but the difference being, I ain't smiling and acting like it didn't happen~" he gave a strained smirk," That hedgehog ain't right. And I'm getting a twisted vibe."
For a moment, the scarred hedgehog recalled a being from his time in the No Zone prison; a hedgehog that was muzzled with swirling red eyes, that cackled happily at the slightest attempt of pain on his person. He...wasn't that alright either..
And he was starting to feel that faint vibe here.
"So, can ya stand Steel?"
"I think so?"
"Well try it kid, we gotta move before this world's Blue comes over and tries to-" Scourge gave a mild cringe," Hero speech us."
"Trust us, it was bad enough during their 'last hoorah' of a plan," Sanctum rested a hand on the albino youngster's shoulder with a pat before standing.
"Wait so are we 'sticking' with them, or not? I'm- you guys are being confusing and I'm still dealing with all- this," Steel frowned as he gestured around his head with a sigh.
"Just walk about with the others and we'll tail till we see the jackal~" With a wink, Scourge smirked to himself as he peered around the box like base; his eyes narrowing at the odd little 'start garden' in one of the halls.
"Now, come on. I'm pretty sure Sanc's double wants to start shit."
"Ugh, alright, I'm moving.." Steel tensed as he twisted on the bed, his body protesting at the movement before he moved to his feet.
"On second thought-" Steel felt his body get raised as Sanctum slipped his hands under his arms and pulled him over the bed. His amber orbs blinking dumbly for a moment before he realized how fast Sanctum was walking out of the door," He's staring, and the blue one is trying to hold him back-"
"Wait is he-," Scourge whistled with a sly smirk, something that made ebony bristle and flush," Dang, Blue's got game!"
"Shush you, there is a minor present-"
"I mean, I can do that way better," Scourge smiled 'innocently' to the slightly taller hedgehog, quickly dodging away from the swipe at his head," I can prove it~"
With faintly wild crimsons, Scourge merely gave a coy wink to the genetic before dashing ahead; the younger of the trio looking at the two older with a bewildered expression before he deadpanned.
"...You two are gross."
"You're gross, you threw up."
"I- can't help that- You two are probably doing gross old people stuff-"
"Enough!" Sanctum used his leg to push the emerald teen out of the door, mindful of the frowning teen in his arms as he pointedly ignored the concerning flirting pair behind them.
"Wow, there are….a lot of people in this resistance."
"I know right?!" Scourge laughed a bit as they melded easily into the crowd," How the hell all these people fit in that tiny HQ?!" he curled over on his side to cackle to himself, a faint wheeze leaving him as Sanctum sighed faintly," Can we focus please?"
"I just- this whole thing is so- Why?" Steel looked more exasperated than anything.
With a roll of his eyes, the genetic scanned the sky for the floating jackal; his body tensing as an arm slipped over his shoulder," You wanna punch him really hard, don't you?~"
"...Perhaps," Sanctum sighed softly, flushing a faint pink as he pushed the green menace away by the face.
"Don't worry, we'll take turns-"
"Woah, their Eggman legit looks exactly the same," Steel pointed, ice blue and vicious crimson flicking their attentions up to the sound of cackling and a whir of a floating device.
"That's...kinda disappointing-"
With a mild flinch, the mass of people began screaming and cowering; covering their heads to...something?
"Uh...what's….happening?"
"Dunno, let's ask that clown there," with a scowling point, Scourge narrowed his gaze harshly at the floating jackal, cubes twitching around him as the gem on his chest hummed softly.
"A mass illusion at work...Alright."
"Why aren't we being affected?" Steel looked to the older of them, something he learned early on; that Sanctum probably had a decent idea of whatever was going on in anything.
"Well, it could be because we three handled his illusion ability already and properly know how to handle them so we aren't as affected...Or we have a 'bullocks' detector...or he can switch his ability to affect certain people."
"You really think he's able to figure out all that, Sanc?"
"No, not in the slightest." the armored teen sighed as he watched a few of the 'stronger' members of this odd resistance rush forward and slam into something up front.
"This is- Seriously no one-"
"Nope!~" Scourge gleefully cracked his knuckles in his hand as he watched the jackal float away from the field and towards the inner city," Hmm...Seems the joker's gonna let the illusion work itself while he goes back hiding."
"Doesn't seem like he's going alone," Sanctum frowned as the doctor seemingly began to float backward to, along with some odd red wolf rushing forward to go after the 'threatening' jackal.
"Then come on, let's move it before he hides out in the damn city."
"I...seriously doubt he can do that. I mean, he couldn't dodge-"
"Apparently he's some high end mercenary too."
"WHAT?!" Steel turned sharply on the elder ebony hedgehog, his aura beginning to snap around him," AND HE DIDN'T EVEN-"
"Steel, you have to remember, anyone with that amount of power is set up to make stupid...painfully idiotic mistakes...that usually end with their faces getting caved in."
"And how~ Now come on, we can rag on him after we put him in another hole," Scourge snickered before rushing down the hill towards the fight.
"...This is so stupid."
"I know Steel."
"He- HE CAN'T BE THAT STUPID!?"
"We'll talk about it later."
"IS IT THE WEIRD GEM!?" The time traveler exclaimed in sheer exasperation, groaning when his question went ignored," THIS- I am so not dealing with anything when we get home…." With a sigh, he marched after the duo with a frown, ignoring the panicked screams and shouts of-
"...WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DOUBLES OF PEOPLE!?" Steel barely managed to dodge a swipe from some large red monster looking thing. "THERE'S LEGIT JUST FOUR GUYS-"
"Just fight your way through!"
"Pfft, quit whining and just break through!," Scourge grinned as he slammed a spin dash into a liquid creature; whooping madly when it collapsed into cubes.
"Sanc, take the bot ones! I'm not good with robots!"
With a mild eye roll, Sanctum let the crystal blue energy dance over his fingertips before he slammed a fist square into a blue; and oddly familiar; looking mech.
"Just break the line! We need to get to the city before we lose sight of him!" For a moment, the armored hedgehog felt a pair of eyes on him; the vivid crimsons peering over his shoulder to meet another pair of ruby.
Narrow and angered; far different from the emotionless doubles attempting to rush at him.
With a sharp tumble, Sanctum rolled back to his feet from the forced dodge," Quit looking at those jokers, they ain't 'our' jokers," Scourge frowned a faint pout as he ran alongside the lifeform.
" 'sides, I think that guy wants to punch you for NOT looking really much like him, eh?"
"Silence, I don't want to-"
"Relax~ Jeez, handle some teasing wouldya?" Scourge smirked before he leapt up and over a resistance fighter; a short bird; before looking back towards Steel," Come on kid!"
With a leap across the dipping soil, the trio landed on the cold metal of the platforms of the city. Giving a bold smirk, the emerald hedgehog grabbed hold of the red aura around Steel before bolting fast; pulling the future teen like some paragliding fiend.
Sanctum couldn't bite back the sigh at the startled shout from the youngest," Scourge, he literally just had to deal with being unconscious and over exerting himself, don't yank him along."
"Then hurry up old man~ That clown isn't gonna get decked himself."
"I AM NOT OLD! YOU-"
With a frustrated snarl of his own and his cheeks a faint red from the cheeky smirk shot his way; Sanctum followed the duo into the depths of the metallic city.
Hoping to find that odd jackal and make him pay for his illusions and the tampering of their ring.