Sonic bolted for the captain's quarters, and sure enough Mimic wasn't at the wheel like he should have been. The lanterns outside the cabin were unlit, but Sonic banged on the door frantically, then looked back to find Whisper—no, Mimic—running after him, already reaching the staircase. "Shadow, Amy! Emergency!" Sonic shouted.
The moment those words left his mouth, Shadow appeared next to him, only wearing a white shirt. "What's wrong?" he demanded quickly.
"That's not Whisper!" Sonic shouted, pointing at Mimic.
"Nightmare," Mimic said in Whisper's voice, pointing at Sonic. "Woke up screaming."
Shadow raised an eyebrow at Sonic, who shook his head vehemently. "No, he's lying!" he said. He reached out and snatched Mimic's hand, lifting it, and he knew Shadow had seen the suction cups before Mimic managed to wriggle out of his grip. Whisper's mask slipped up and revealed a snarling canine mouth.
Amy opened the door and emerged sleepily, clad in a nightgown, and Sonic thrust Mimic's mirror into her hands. "Hide this," he told her. "I'll explain later."
She nodded and retreated into the cabin, shutting the door behind her and leaving the three of them outside. Shadow stared at Mimic's hands, then at Whisper's face. "You," he said venomously. He grabbed Mimic by the neck and raised him off the deck, his feet dangling as he fought for release. "Drop the act," Shadow snarled.
Within moments, the disguise melted away, revealing Mimic's true form, still wearing Whisper's mask. "Happy now?" Mimic spat. "Give me back my mirror."
"Fat chance," Sonic said. "I know what you were using it for, squid brain."
Shadow turned to Sonic with a questioning look. "He's been spying on us for Martin and Infinite," Sonic explained. "He's been talking to them with that mirror. And I have a sneaking suspicion he hasn't actually been taking us back to South Island."
"How do you know all this?" Shadow asked.
"Infinite was trying to talk to him when I found it."
Mimic's eyes widened as Shadow tightened his grip around his neck. "So it was you," Shadow growled. "You're the one who brought Sonic on board… and you disguised yourself as Rose to do it."
"It was… good money," Mimic choked. "Kintobor was gonna pay me so well I could actually afford to live onshore. I didn't think you'd give a shit until he started making eyes at you. You're a greedy bastard aren't you."
Shadow growled as he slammed the octopus into the cabin door. "Leave him out of this or I will end you," he snarled. Then he dropped him onto the deck, where Mimic lay gasping and choking for a moment. When he regained his breath, he looked up at Shadow with a look of murderous rage and launched himself at him.
Shadow dodged and kicked Mimic in the back of the head as he came around, knocking him face-first into the door. But Mimic recovered quickly, getting back on his feet and morphing into Tangle, using her tail to reach over and grab the rigging. He swung himself around the mast and came back towards Sonic with high speed and heavy momentum. In a flash, Shadow's door was open, and Amy emerged with her mallet raised, slamming it into Mimic as he came around. He fell into the sea, and he didn't surface again.
Sonic whistled. "Nice save," he said.
Amy smiled. "Can't let you two have all the fun, now can I?" she joked, and she let Shadow pull her closer and kiss her on the top of her head.
"What's going on?" came a voice from below. Tangle had emerged from below deck, her eyes still bleary with sleep. "Where's Whisper?"
"I haven't seen her since she sent me into the hold with Ghost," Sonic said, dread settling in his gut. He ran back over to the mast, finding a sleepy Tails on the deck near the bottom.
"What's all the commotion about?" Tails asked, but Sonic didn't respond, darting back and forth around the ship in an effort to find any sign of Whisper. Tangle came over to the mast, worry speeding her movements as she searched the area.
After a moment, they both heard a soft whimpering coming from the floorboards beneath them. Tangle's eyes went wide as she hurried over to the loose floorboard Whisper had hidden her wisps beneath, Sonic helping her as she pried it open with her tail. Whisper lay there breathing hard, crying out when Tangle reached in to pull her back up. The wisps were fluttering around her frantically, crying in their squeaky voices. Several of them emerged from the tiny space and fluttered around the two of them as they stood there, almost as if screaming for them to help.
"Whisper, it's me," Tangle said, her voice gentle. "I'm here, you're safe."
"No!" Whisper shouted, startling Sonic. That was the loudest he'd ever heard her speak. "Mimic no! Get away!"
"Whisper, Mimic's gone!" Sonic said quickly. "He's gone. You're safe. Nothing else is gonna happen to you, okay?"
Whisper looked up, her slanted eyes moving back and forth between Sonic and Tangle, then she allowed Tangle to pull her up gently, collapsing into her arms when she was finally free. Sobs racked her body as Tangle held her, and Sonic turned away respectfully, sighing with relief.
He looked at Tails, who was staring back at him, his curious blue eyes wide. "What in Gaia's name is going on?" he asked.
"Mimic," Sonic replied. "He's the one who dragged me here. And he just stuffed Whisper in the… deck…" As those words left his mouth, their impact finally hit him, and he clenched his fists in rage. If Mimic were still on the ship, he would have pummeled him to the ground. He didn't know Whisper all that well, but no one got away with hurting his friends.
"Oh… Oh! That explains a lot!" Tails exclaimed. "I thought Mimic had been going the wrong way for the past few nights. And… And what Martin said! About Rosy smuggling you on board. But wait… why would he have contacted me if Mimic failed? That… that doesn't add up."
"Wait, wait, wait," Sonic said. "What do you mean Mimic was going the wrong way?"
"The stars were oriented wrong," Tails replied. "We were heading towards eastern stars instead of southern ones. If he'd kept going, we'd be halfway to Chun Nan by next week. But I wasn't completely sure, and I thought the captain would have known too."
"I didn't," Shadow replied, and Sonic jumped, startled to find the captain right behind him. "You," Shadow said, pointing to Sonic. "Come with me."
Sonic nodded and followed Shadow, still seething with anger.
They went back to Shadow's quarters, finding Amy humming with her eyes closed as she cast a spell on Mimic's mirror. This didn't have the same feeling as when she'd cured Tails of his cold. This melody was low, almost a warning. Sonic didn't know what kind of spell she was casting, but it certainly wasn't meant to heal.
A moment later, she finished, already looking drained. "Alright," she sighed. "That should keep him from being able to see us. But we'll have to destroy it somehow. It's full of… ugh… it reeks of Dark Gaia."
"Dark Gaia?" Sonic asked. "I thought there was only Gaia."
"There are two sides to Gaia," Amy said. "There's benevolent Light Gaia, whose energy is used by most witches, like me, especially for healing magic. They stand for warmth, and life, and are what most people think of when they think of Gaia. But Dark Gaia is also a part of Gaia, and some mages use their energy for dark magic. Most curses are cast with Dark Gaia's energy."
Shadow nodded. "Black Doom primarily used this energy in his work, though I don't think he used it for me. I've never had much affinity for Gaia magic."
"Huh," Sonic said. "Then what kind of magic do you use?"
Shadow just shrugged in response, and the three of them lapsed into silence. "That sneaky little–" Sonic began to mutter before Shadow cut him off.
"Don't," he said. "He's long gone. We need to focus on undoing some of his damage and getting back to shore. If he shows his face again, he will be dealt with. But we need to think, hedgehog." He looked at Sonic, and his voice softened a little as he said, "I know. But Whisper will be alright. Now tell us all of what happened."
Sonic nodded, the hot, fiery knot in his chest beginning to loosen just slightly as he told the entire story up until he banged on their door. Then, after a moment, a little bubble of amusement rose to his lips in a chuckle. "Nice to know you're willing to kill people who insult me though," he joked, remembering Shadow's words from earlier.
He saw Shadow's eyes widen just a little. "Oh," he said. "That. Uhhh…"
Just then, Amy yawned. "We should try and get some more rest," she said. She stood from her chair and approached Sonic and Shadow with a tired smile. "We'll figure out everything else in the morning. But it's late." She gave Shadow a kiss on the cheek and retreated to the cots in the corner, curling up on the one closest to the wall.
"She's right," Shadow whispered. "You look exhausted and tomorrow is going to be busy. You should get some more rest."
"Eh, no promises," Sonic replied with a quiet chuckle. "I haven't slept all night. But I'll be fine."
Shadow frowned. "Why haven't you slept?" he asked, and Sonic thought he heard concern mixed in with the disapproval in his voice.
You, Sonic wanted to say. Wishing I hadn't had to tell you about my feelings for you. Hoping you don't tell Amy. Wishing I could let go of you both and Sally. The list went on. But instead, Sonic shrugged. "The brain just won't shut up, I guess," he said.
Sonic could see Shadow reading between the lines, the silence almost tense. "Alright," Shadow finally said reluctantly. "But you'd better be able to pull your weight tomorrow."
Sonic smirked. "Watch me," he said, then finally left the room, heading back up to his mast beam and lying down.
It wasn't for another hour that he fell asleep, and his dreams were as troubled as ever.
"I don't want to go back to that stupid island!" shouted a voice, waking Sonic up.
The sun wasn't even up yet, barely a pale line on the eastern horizon. Sonic turned with a lazy yawn to find Jet arguing once again with the captain. He sat up and stretched as they continued, figuring he wasn't going to get any more sleep, despite how little he'd gotten last night.
"Tough," he heard Shadow reply. "Because we're going. And you're going to cooperate with us to get there, am I clear?
"You know I'm gettin' real sick of being ordered around like a pet," Jet said, a warning tone in his voice.
"And I'm getting real sick of your damn attitude," Shadow fired back. "Keep it up and see what it gets you. I dare you."
Sonic held back a laugh at Jet's indignant expression, and after a moment, the hawk finally stomped away, grumbling under his breath. Shadow sighed with relief, then looked up at where Sonic still sat on his perch. "Good morning," he said.
"Morning," Sonic replied. "I see we've already got some more things to sort out?"
Shadow rolled his eyes and nodded. "I swear, if anyone tries to mutiny I'm going to blast them all the way to Apotos," he said. "I've had it up to here with his bullshit."
Sonic laughed, then dropped to the deck with a loud thud. "Yeah, me too," he said. "But you should have seen him the other day when I won in a race with him. His face was priceless."
"I would have paid to see that," Shadow said with a chuckle. Then he put his hand on Sonic's shoulder, sending Sonic's stomach into cartwheels as he wondered why he was doing it. Strangely, Shadow started pulling him a little closer, and Sonic froze in panic.
But then Shadow moved to the side and escorted him to a pile of ropes in a corner of the deck. He removed his hand, gesturing to the ropes. "Use these to trim the sails," Shadow commanded. "Tangle will be helping you with it."
Sonic nodded, both relieved and sad that nothing had happened, and he silently cursed himself. Feelings were stupid. He needed to get rid of them. But he forced a smile. "Aye aye, cap'n," he said with a playful salute, then grabbed one of the ropes to try and untangle it.
Shadow moved away, and Sonic heard him call Tails's name before Tangle came over, looking haggard yet cheerful. "Morning," she yawned. "Quite the night, huh. Whisper never really trusted Mimic but I still wasn't expecting it to have been him. I mean, he's—he was always practically glued to the helm."
Sonic nodded. "Kinda surprised me too," he said. "I was kind of thinking it was Tails up until that happened. But is she doing okay?"
Tangle's expression shifted, her smile fading a little. "She's still a little skittish, but she's okay," she replied. "She and Mimic didn't exactly have the best history to begin with. But it's not my place to tell you." She grabbed a bigger knot with her tail and brought it over, working carefully into the ropes with her hands.
"Fair enough," Sonic said. "I'm just glad she's alright."
"Yeah," Tangle said. "And for the record, I know Miles can act a little suspicious sometimes, but the kid's had a rough go of it. He's always gotten crap because of his tails, not to mention—did he tell you what happened to Martin?"
"No," Sonic replied.
"Oh, well, then I should probably let him tell you," Tangle said. "But after Martin and Infinite killed the royal family, Miles found the captain and our crew. I had to convince him to let the kid stay. He had nowhere else to go. And I mean it was just fine before the birds showed up. That was when he started spending all his time in the crow's nest."
"That explains why he was hiding from me so much at first," Sonic said. "But it still doesn't explain why Martin tried to contact him."
Tangle snorted. "He just does that. Martin ain't all there anymore. I have no idea why he does what he does. I think somewhere deep down he still cares about the kid, but I mean…"
"I think I get it," Sonic said. "I can't even imagine if that were to happen to Manic. Or Sonia."
"Older siblings?" Tangle asked.
"We're triplets actually," he replied. "Though technically I'm five minutes older than Sonia and eight minutes older than Manic." He smirked. "Drives 'em both nuts when I lord it over them. 'Specially Sonia."
Tangle laughed.
Just then, Tails walked by, led by the captain. They both went up to the helm, and Tails nervously gripped the wheel, but he focused resolutely on the horizon, the sails moving to catch the wind at a different angle. The ship turned around, the sails getting blown backward.
"Trim the sails!" barked Shadow, and Sonic and Tangle scrambled to obey. Tangle climbed up the rigging while Sonic jumped from beam to beam, securing the sails so they couldn't catch the wind and push the ship backward. Tangle did the same on the other side, swinging by her tail. Wave had flown straight to the top, tying the sails up calmly, almost as if she were bored. Between the three of them the job was done within minutes.
"Alright!" Tangle said, raising her hand for a high-five, which Sonic obliged. She kept it up for Wave, who merely ignored her as she walked by, her beak tipped high in a way Sonic could only describe as snooty. Tangle's smile faded into a confused expression. "What's her problem?" she asked.
"I think all three of them have sticks up their butts," Sonic said.
"Oi, I heard that," came a voice behind them, and they turned to find Jet glaring at Sonic, as per usual.
Sonic smirked. "You look like you've come to prove my point," he said. "Or are you still grumpy about going back to shore early?"
"Hardy har," Jet deadpanned. "In my opinion you should have been the one tossed overboard."
"Well that's kinda obvious," Sonic said with a snort of laughter. "Hasn't even been a week since you tried to drown me. How'd that work out for ya?"
Jet's feathers stood on end, and Sonic could practically see steam coming from his ears. "Watch it, hedgehog," he warned. "Or I might do it again. And hold you under."
Just then a familiar mallet appeared behind Jet, who barely managed to turn and look before getting slammed in the gut and thrown into the mast. Amy stood behind him with a furious expression. "No one threatens Sonic," she said vehemently, her cheeks flushed with anger.
The hawk looked dazed, and when he finally stood up, he staggered away with one final glare, retreating below deck.
Sonic finally barked out the laughter he'd been trying to hold back. "That was great!" he exclaimed. "Did you see his face?" He could hardly breathe, he was laughing so hard. Tangle was snickering too.
After a moment, Amy's mallet disappeared, and she huffed in the direction Jet had gone. Sonic finally managed to calm down and approach her. "That was totally unecessary, but thanks for worrying," he said, still giggling a little bit.
Amy's cheeks flushed again, and she smiled sheepishly. "Hey, I don't like my friends being threatened," she said. "Besides, Jet's been getting on mine and Shadow's nerves all morning."
"Yeah, I knew about Shadow," Sonic said. "They woke me up with their arguing."
Amy sighed. "I've just… I don't know… I've got a feeling he's going to try something. I think Shadow does too."
"What's he gonna do?" Sonic scoffed. "Knock Shadow overboard? I don't think he's going to do anything serious, Amy."
"You're right…" Amy said, though there was still a note of uncertainty in her voice. "But still, I've got a bad feeling…"
Sonic pursed his lips. "I'll try to keep an eye on him, okay?" he offered. "I'll see if there's anything serious going on."
Amy smiled gratefully. "Thank you," she said.
The two of them stood there for a moment, Sonic drinking in Amy's sunshine from her smile. Butterflies fluttered treacherously in his stomach as his heart tried its best not to crack in two.
This was getting out of hand, but Sonic didn't know how to pull back without losing a good—albeit new—friend.
Tangle patted Sonic and Amy fondly on the shoulders, snapping Sonic out of his thoughts. "If things get crazy, come get me. I'm always up for a little excitement," she said with a smile.
After that, Tangle walked off to do something else, and Amy waved a quick (and adorable) goodbye as she walked away to attend to other matters.
