God, he has to stop, but he can't.

It's a weighty kind of pain, for something called cyber corruption. He's so cold it burns. The worst is right at the edges where his body ends and the erosion starts, a place that changes several times in the span of a breath. It doesn't give him time to adapt.

Sonic is overcome momentarily by a wave of crushing sadness.

Is this the miserable feeling Knuckles talked about experiencing when he was trapped in the pod? Sonic already took on more corruption when he freed his friends. Did he take their anguish, too?

Good. Better me than them. Just gotta stay tough.

"Ahh…" The pain catches, and that's when Sonic knows he's going down. He braces himself on his hand and stays that way. He doesn't want to sit down all the way. He just needs a minute. He'll be fine. Gotta keep going.

He can see the glow of dark red overtaking his body. It's behind his eyes when he squeezes them shut.

He keeps thinking about his friends. All the catching up they've done here, and the way things just feel right between them. He doesn't have to think about all the beautiful views he's gotten to see, because there's one sprawling before him now as he straightens back up. Rhea Island is green and grand from the top of the second tower.

How can life hurt this much and be this beautiful at the same time?

Sonic smiles. It's forced but not fake. He finds the joy within himself and brings it up to the surface with the pain.

He's not sure how he's going to go on like this. Just that he will. He has to get through this moment to get to the next. Even if the next is worse.

But this has always been the price of a good adventure, hasn't it? There's always some kind of struggle or challenge. That's part of his path. He accepts that.

One moment at a time.

That's a bit slow, for his taste. Hah. He'll just have to make up for it later.

"How can you smile when you can barely stand?" Sage asks him.

Oh. Where did she come from?

Sonic feels oddly vulnerable knowing that Sage is seeing him like this, watching him responding to his pain privately. It's not exactly a moment meant for an audience. But he finds he doesn't mind that he has one. He's been trying to get her to see that life is something more than clearly defined meanings. There's stuff in between that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Stuff like this. Like smiling for no real reason, smiling through agony even if no one is around to see.

Well. Not no one, obviously.

He knows she's watching now, so he pushes forward. He won't let her see him stop. He's proven her wrong at every turn and he plans to keep doing that. He wants her to get it, this elusive thing that exists between the lines and between her calculations. He wants her to see.

But he can't do that work for her. He can only be himself and hope that's enough.

Something visceral shoots through his body again, building, and dread hollows out his stomach.

Yeah, whatever. Get it over with. Do your worst.

Anger is easier than fear. But the corruption isn't an entity that acknowledges anger. It's just there. And it's hard to be angry when he chose this. He knew what he was getting into.

Right, then. Ride it out, Sonic.

It passes relatively quickly, this time, leaving flickers of green in its wake. It leaves him aching.

Tails had told him to be careful. Sonic isn't sure how he can be. He can't control this. He has to endure. He doesn't have a choice anymore; he's made his choices. Now it's out of his hands, and that's scary.

Sonic's corruption had flared up when they reached this island, too. Tails had reached for Sonic's hand. All Sonic had wanted in that moment was to be able to accept Tails' small comfort. He wouldn't have been too proud to take his hand, if only he could have.

His friends look at him like they think he puts on a brave face just for them. Maybe he does sometimes. But it's just as much for himself.

He wants to be brave.

The corruption flickers white and green again. Actual visible feedback of his response? Huh. Maybe he's doing something right.

Sage's color flickers too. For a moment, Sonic feels a connection between them. A burst of empathy not even Sage can hide.

She sees his pain. He sees hers too.

Sage just shakes her head, like she just can't wrap her mind around it. She's still stuck on the question she showed up to ask him. And Sonic wants to tell her.

He smiles because his friends are no longer suffering the misery of the pods. He's not glad his friends suffered, but he's glad he knows that they did. It makes living with this easier. Because there's no world in which he would've made any other decision but freeing them – and freeing them as soon as he could. They're all stable, and Sonic hurts more for their comfort. But if this pain is a symptom of his friends being okay, then he wouldn't have it any other way.

He smiles because this is oh so familiar, he's been through worse before, and maybe some small part of him likes having to fight like hell once in a while. It's just in who he is, isn't it? He knows why he's doing this. He's still finding himself in a lot of ways, just like Tails. He's young. He's changed and changed again. But he knows who he is right now and he likes it.

He smiles because he's going to keep moving forward and he knows someday this is all going to be over, the good and the bad. And until then he will be okay for however long he can find it in himself to smile through the pain.

He can't explain this all to Sage, so he just hopes that whatever she sees in him, whatever keeps making her come around… it plants a seed. He hopes that one day she'll understand without the words.

Keep coming around, kid.

Maybe you'll get me at my best next time.

When he turns to look, she's already gone.

1-1-1

A/N: Hope you enjoyed; comments always encouraged! This may get a part 2 where Sonic gets some time with Tails to rest and recover before taking on the rest of the towers, if anyone's interested. See profile for updates about other stories I was working on. My tumblr is chaoscorrupt if you want it, because Sonic Frontiers gave me too many feelings and I need an outlet lol. Please for the love of god come scream with me about Frontiers or something. I forgot how hard it is to try and get (back) into a fandom.