Sonic tried to run but he was too worn down. Every part of his body was aching, his limbs felt like they were full of cement, begging him to stop. The most he could muster was a jog, which was infuriating, especially in a circumstance like this. It was near impossible to see in this storm and his normally instantaneous reflexes were sluggish, causing him to bump into trees and other obstacles as he made his way through the forest. Each accidental hit hurt more than it should, but he kept going, not letting it slow him down even more. All that mattered was Amy.
He followed to where he felt the emeralds presence, albeit guardedly. He did not have time to register everything that had just happened but he definitely knew he had a newfound weariness of the magical gems. Sonic felt like he did not trust them anymore.
But as he got closer, he realized there was one missing. With only six, he cannot utilize them the same, their powers aren't as easily accessible, which gave him relief. Sonic didn't have the strength, mentally or physically, to resist them. When the emeralds are all together and there is zero interference, Sonic doesn't need to call out to them, their power floods into him far too easily on their own accord. And he couldn't afford that.
"Amy?!" Sonic began to call out, sensing he was near the emeralds. The thunderous rain was monstrously loud, pelting down so hard it almost began hurt. He tried calling out again, louder this time, with no avail.
Stopping, he looked around as best as he could. He could sense the emeralds, they should be here. Taking a few steps forward, he tripped over something, catching himself at the last second before falling. Looking down he saw it was a sack of some sort. Sonic crouched, peaking in to see the glimmering gems.
His heart sank, panic quickly rising. If the emeralds were here…Then where was she!?
"AMES!" he yelled into the night, searching around the area as best as he could. The faint smell of something burning wafted towards him, catching his attention. He followed the smell, finding a large tree split, half of it having fallen over, the smoke barely existent due to the downpour. Then he saw pink.
He quickly slide down the slippery, muddy slope to get to her as fast as possible, bits of stone and rogue sticks cutting into his skin as he descended down. As Sonic skidded to a stop beside her, he put one hand on her cheek and the other on her shoulder.
"Amy, Ames, talk to me, talk to me!" he shook her gently, frantically scanning over her body to see if he could see any injuries. He noticed that she was stuck under the tree, the trunk pinning down her left leg. He scurried down to the end and crouched, grabbing the trunk with both hands. His first attempt to lift the log did not go well as he barely got it off the ground, his muscles screaming in pain against his efforts. Sonic paused, getting in a few deep breaths before trying again, a loud yell bursting from his lips as he poured every ounce of energy he had into it.
He managed to lift it high enough in the air to toss it to the side and as he did so he fell down to his knees, his chest heaving from exhaustion. Every breath hurt. He crawled to Amy, inspecting her leg the best he could. It was possible it was broken but he didn't know for sure. Sonic collapsed onto his back beside the unconscious pink hedgehog, his chest still heaving, feeling the rain wash over his body, the heavy sheets of water acting almost as a wet blanket. His eyes felt so heavy. His body felt so heavy. Everything was screaming at him to rest, the sweet release of sleep threatening to take over any minute.
But another flash of lightening lit up the sky and an incredibly loud bang of thunder followed milliseconds behind. They were in the eye of the storm. Sonic needed to get her to safety. The fact he even entertained the idea of resting here for any amount of time was foolish. He peeled himself off of the ground, going against what his body was pleading he needed, and got onto his feet, crouching over her. Carefully, he put an arm under her legs and one around her shoulders. With a heave, he lifted her, being cautious not to move her wounded leg too much.
Letting out a shaky breath, he began his way up the muddy slope to where he had left the emeralds. A few times he slid, almost falling, but always making sure Amy would not be the one to take any hits, especially her leg. It was exceedingly difficult as with each slip he contorted his body so she would be protected, making it harder for himself to recover and keep going. He felt like he was a walking example of the saying 'one step forward two steps back', but it was more so 'two steps forward one gigantic slide back.'
Sonic continually cursed into the night air - cursing at the lightening, cursing at the rain, cursing at the mud, cursing at himself. Not that anyone would be able to hear him through the storm anyway; he felt like he was talking into a void that swallowed his voice up whole.
But finally, he got to the top and made his way to the gems. He clumsily crouched down and grabbed the makeshift bag, using what little use of his hand he had to fling it up towards him. It landed on Amy's stomach and with how Sonic was holding her combined with how heavy the bag was, there was a good chance it would stay secure.
Then Sonic began the journey of finding some sort of shelter. He pushed forward, trying not to think of how sore he was, how tired he was, how hard the terrain was to walk in. He tried to focus on Amy, in his arms, and bringing her somewhere safe.
The wind picked up around them and the rain began to blow aggressively sideways, hitting directly in his face, making it even harder to see. He tilted his head down, shaking it occasionally to get the rain out of his eyes. His legs began to tremble with each step.
C'mon Sonic, just keep going.
He tuned out the clashing of thunder, he stopped registering the lightening cracking above and became numb to his surroundings. His mind began to shut out everything that wasn't his quest for shelter. He was going into survival mode - all that mattered was his destination.
But eventually, after what seemed like eons, by sheer luck he came across a cave nestled into the side of a mountain. Sonic stumbled in, placed Amy down as carefully as he possibly could manage and then collapsed beside her, everything going black.
Sonic awoke hours later from a clap of thunder that seemed to shake the very ground he was on. He groggily sat up, instantly regretting it – it felt like his body got run over by a bull dozer. He looked around, a little disoriented. The storm was still raging on outside, no sign of letting up anytime soon. Looking at Amy, he shuffled over to her.
"Hey, Ames? Can you hear me?" he gently shook her shoulder.
"Ames?"
No response. She was breathing normally but still knocked out cold. A nasty gust of wind blew into the cave, causing an instant chill to run down his spin. Sighing, Sonic rubbed his one eye tiredly. He would love to lay back down but he knew better. If they were going to be stuck here for a while, he needed to get to work.
With a grunt he stood up slowly, groaning as his body ached against his movement. Sonic did his best to ignore and walked to the back of the tiny cave, inspecting what he had to work with. There wasn't much, mostly just rocks, but he supposed that was to be expected. He began to pile the medium sized ones in a circle, creating a makeshift fire pit near where Amy was laying. The rocks would provide good blockage to the wind potentially blowing in.
Walking to the mouth of the cave, he stood for a moment starring at the relentless rain still pouring down from the sky. Sonic shuddered, knowing what needed to be done.
God he hated water.
He took a step out into the cold storm before his mind had time to talk him out of it and began inspecting the nearby trees. One by one he felt them, noting if the bark was loose which was an indicator that the tree had died. And if a tree was dead, it meant even with this torrential rain, the wood inside would be dry enough to start a fire with. Sonic found a couple that would be good enough to use and he broke off as many thick branches as he could carry.
Once back in the cave, he dropped his supply on the ground and shook what rain he could off of his body. He then walked further into the cavern, proceeding to look for the sharpest rock he could find.
A loud bang made him jump in alarm, his eyes instantly darting towards Amy and then to the mouth of the cave. Realizing it was just the storm, he sighed and relaxed his fighting stance. It was going to be a long night. Hell, it already has been.
Sonic eventually found a sharp enough rock and sat where the fire wood was, across from his sleeping companion. One by one, he stripped the wet leaves from every piece of wood and using his sharp rock as a splitting tool, he broke each of the thick branches into halves, and then into quarters, making the dry wood inside exposed. He then took his sharp rock and he shaved some of the dry wood off into smaller kindling.
He positioned the wood in a teepee shape, placing the kindling on the inside, and began smashing two rocks together quickly, creating sparks each time he did so. Eventually, the sparks ignited onto the kindling and produced a flame. Sonic leaned close and began to blow softly toward the tiny flame, the extra oxygen causing the fire to slowly grow, crackling and popping with success.
Growing up, Sonic was often alone in the forest, so these skills came as a second nature to him. Couple that with many of his adventures often also leaving him stranded in all sorts of different landscapes, he had no choice but to figure out how to survive, and creating a fire in wet conditions was one of the first lessons he was forced to learn.
He looked to the side of his wood pile where the large, curled up leaves laid scattered about. He figured they were too wet to serve any purpose but after second thought, they might be useful after all. Gathering a few, he layered them into two piles, creating two makeshift bowls. Sonic put them outside of the lip of the cave, placing a stone in each one to hopefully keep them from blowing away. If his plan worked, they would have some water for drinking in no time.
Sonic dragged his feet over to the fire and sat down, leaning his back against the wall opposite to where Amy was laying. Finally he was able to convince himself there wasn't much else he could do at the moment other than wait.
He rested his head back, looking lazily at the fire. As he watched the fire his mind went blank for a few moments, his drive to keep moving forward finally subsiding after such a long time. Sonic's eyes drifted to Amy as she laid peacefully, the reflection of the fire dancing across her features. A pang suddenly stung his heart.
He lifted his head, continuing to stare at her, confused. His chest felt tight, there was a pit in his stomach and he didn't know why. Something was wrong but his memory was foggy. What even happened?
His small moment of peace ended quickly as this was the first moment that Sonic had time to reflect, the first moment where he wasn't solely focused on fighting or surviving.
Fighting. The fight.
He pulled his legs up and rested his forearms on them, leaning forward in deep thought. He remembers fighting Eggman. He remembers getting badly injured. He remembers Tails and Amy getting captured. Knuckles was missing…
And he went Super.
Or did he? His right hand trailed down to his hurt side as he winced. He definitely had a few broken ribs… But if he did go Super, how come he wasn't healed? The emeralds always healed any injury after he transformed.
Sonic eyes trailed to the back of the cave where the sack that held the emeralds laid. He could feel them buzzing, reacting. It almost felt like they were whispering to him, tugging at him in a very odd way. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel like how they usually 'spoke' to him. He looked on wearily, trying to remember.
Think Sonic, think!
He felt a sudden jolt, the vague and strange feeling he was getting from the gems suddenly shaking his memory clear.
It felt like he was watching his memories via a third person's perspective. As if it wasn't himself. As if he was watching someone else control his body, control his words, control his actions.
But it was him. He knew it was. As savage as his actions were, it's what he wanted. And it felt good. He could feel it in his heart that it's what he choose. It was what he had desired.
He had enjoyed it.
Sonic sat there, horrified. He brought his hands up to his head, trying to make sense of it all. His memory was patchy; some parts were hazy but other parts were as clear as day. Like Amy. He definitely remembered Amy. She snapped him out of whatever crazed rampage he was on.
Sonic looked to the pink hedgehog across from him, sleeping soundly. He stood up and walked over to her, starring for a few moments. He hesitated before sitting down beside her head.
Amy…
He brought his hand up to her face and gingerly moved her bangs to the side, clearing the obstruction away. His fingers traced down along the side of her face until he was lightly cupping her cheek. What happened?
He remembers her yelling and screaming at him to stop. But he just ignored her. Time and time again.
And then….
Sonic struggled to remember, watching the light dance softly across her face. Suddenly the memory slapped him, the lick of the flames mimicking exactly how the green chaos power pooled in and around his hand.
He jerked his hand away from her cheek as the realization hit.
He almost killed her.
Sonic stood up quickly, taking a few steps back, his chest tightening again. He felt dizzy, disoriented, like the world was caving in around him. He stumbled backwards to the other side of the fire, his back slamming into the wall roughly as he stood there in utter shock.
He almost killed her. He almost killed her and he barely remembers it.
Sonic slid down to a sitting position on the ground, his heart drumming loudly in his ears. His mind raced, attempting to recall the past.
He stared intently into the fire, his eyes desperately searching for answers at something that could not provide them.
Ow.
That was Amy's first thought as she began to stir from her slumber. She could feel her wet, cold clothes sticking to her as she groggily sat up. Pain throbbed again, in both her head and her leg. She bared her teeth, shutting her eyes tightly in response. Damn, she must have gotten hit real good.
Thunder rumbled loudly outside making her open her eyes. It was still storming out, she could hear and smell the rain. Amy glanced around her surroundings, taking in where she was. The fire beside her was low, it had clearly been burning for a long time and was reaching the end of its course. The small flame that was still flickering didn't help her sight very much but she could tell the cave she was in was relatively small. Other than that, she was surrounded by darkness. What time was it? What day was it?
Where was Sonic?
She heard a shuffle outside and snapped her head towards the mouth of the cave on high alert. A figure stepped through and quickly approached. She saw Sonic's outline but with such little light, he looked as black as the shadows surrounding her. Her anxious mind flashed to the battle; his dark fur, those vicious eyes, the uncontrollable rage.
The fear.
Instinctively she jolted backwards, her heart beat spiking, until Sonic came into full view in the dim light of the fire, the darkness fading away. He immediately dropped whatever it was he was carrying and crouched down to be at her level.
"Hey, hey- you're okay, it's okay." He spoke gently, looking at her with a worried expression.
Amy's eyes searched his own in panic for a moment before she realized he was still normal. His fur was still that beautiful shade of blue, his eyes were still soft and reassuring. She just nodded to him and tried to make herself relax but her heart was still adjusting.
He gave her a small, sad smile, allowing her to calm down. She noticed how soaking wet he was – he must have been outside for a while, the water was still dripping down his face freely.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you. I didn't think you'd be awake, you've been out for a long time now… How are you feeling?"
They stared at each other for a long moment, both silently knowing Amy's reaction wasn't because she thought he was some sort of intruder or an Eggbot. Amy didn't have to say anything for him to catch on to that.
He watched her movements carefully as she slowly brought her hands up to his face, gently wiping away some of the rain droplets. Her eyes welled up as she starred at him.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you…" she whispered. In one smooth motion her hands dropped down to his neck and she pulled him in, wrapping her arms further around him in a hug.
Sonic stumbled forward onto his knees from the movement, having no choice but to lean into her. He couldn't help but smile softly into her neck as he held her back.
"Ditto.." he replied quietly. Sonic felt some solace with her response. He did not expect this to be their first interaction and he was extremely relieved that he was wrong. They remained like this for a long while before he began to pull away.
She instantly let out a quiet 'no' and resisted, not wanting to ever let him go again, but he gently persisted. As his body moved away his one hand remained resting on her arm. His thumb moved back and forth, caressing her softly as he made eye contact with her.
"Just let me get this fire going and I'll come right back, ok?"
Amy nodded, wiping a tear away as she watched him go over to the pile of wood he had dropped. Sitting down he began his process of methodically splitting them all. She watched in silence as he worked smoothly, his entire focus being on the job at hand. She often forgot how good Sonic was when it came to stuff like this.
Sonic on the other hand, did not need to put his full attention into such a menial task. He could do this with his eyes closed, but needed the distraction. He didn't know how to even begin discussing what happened. How to approach it, what he would say. What she remembers, what she knows that he doesn't. What she thinks of him now…
Amy watched Sonic feed the fire, the flames greedily consuming the new additions being added to the pit. As it grew she could feel the warmth begin to take hold of her surroundings, the cold draft in the air becoming weaker and weaker.
While he worked, she couldn't stop looking at him. It was just so comforting to see him back to normal. She wiped another tear away, so overcome with relief that it was hard to stop crying. They both made it out of that nightmare alive. They were okay.
He was okay.
She wanted to say something to him but she honestly didn't know where to start. So she just remained silent, watching.
Lost in his own thoughts, Sonic didn't realize how quiet the cave was until he had to reach for a farther piece of wood, causing him to pause his momentum. He looked up to see Amy staring intently at him, her eyes immediately locking onto his. He nervously shifted his gaze back to his task, the log splitting in half with ease.
"So, you never answered my question. How are you feeling?"
Amy blinked a few times, not at all expecting him to be the one to speak first.
"I'm okay…"
Sonic gave her a skeptical glance, his look calling her out on her answer.
"Alright, maybe I'm not totally okay, but I've been worse."
Deciding the fire was large enough for now, he stopped tossing pieces in and made his way back over to her. He kneeled down by her foot.
"How's the leg? Have you tried to move it yet?"
Amy attempted to and a loud whimper escaped her lips.
Sonic frowned, "I'm going to try and take off your boot, okay?"
Amy nodded and braced herself as he gently as possible began to unzip and remove the footwear. She bit her lip as he slid it off, fighting the urge to scream. Sonic's eyes continuously flicked between her face and her boot, doing his best to do it as painlessly as possible.
With the boot finally off, Amy threw her head back and let out a pained moan. Frowning further, Sonic delicately inspected her foot and ankle before turning his attention to her leg itself.
"Your leg seems okay… Your foot isn't looking too hot. Can you wiggle your toes?"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean much. Even if I had broken anything, I would still be able to wiggle my toes believe it or not."
A hint of a smirk creeped up on Sonic's lips at her response, "Ah that's right, how could I forget that you're the expert on this stuff." Attempting to advise Amy on anything medical would be like him attempting to out build Tails with a better invention.
Amy, despite the throbbing pain, managed to produce a tiny grin at him. "Yeah, but you were doing such a good job though, I didn't want to interrupt and burst your little bubble."
Sonic let out a small laugh, "Well, thanks for that I guess." He looked back at her swollen foot, concerned. "For real though, do you think anything is broken?"
Amy leaned forward a bit, trying to assess her own injuries. "I think at worst I might have fractured something. For now the best would be to just stay off of it and drink lots of fluids."
Sonic let out an excited little 'ah!' and got up, leaving the cave for a moment before returning with the two leaf bowls filled with water. He handed her one with a warm smile, "Look at that, already ahead of schedule! You'll be better in no time."
Amy gladly accepted the makeshift bowl, a little impressed that Sonic had thought this far ahead. As she began to drink, her small sips quickly turned into big gulps. She had not realized just how parched she really was until the liquid graced her lips. Within seconds it was gone, natural instinct taking over as she greedily chugged every last drop.
Sonic hadn't had time to even sit down before she was done, but with seeing how fast she drained it he recognized that her dehydrated body needed more. Only having taken a few sips of his own, he offered the rest of his bowl to her. She reached for it but then immediately pulled back.
"Sonic, I can't.. That's yours-"
"You can. Just take it." he cut her off, placing the bowl into her hands. "It's still pouring out, I'll have plenty of time to collect more."
She paused only for a moment before the insatiable urge to drink more took over. Sonic watched slightly amused while she downed the second bowl; he'd never seen Amy drink something so aggressively before. Ignoring his own parched throat, he settled down beside her.
Amy wiped her lips with the back of her hand, placing the bowl down.
"Thank you…"
Sonic waved his hand half-heartedly, dismissing her needless gratitude. He picked up a stick and started to poke the fire mindlessly. How could she seriously thank him right now? How could he possibly say the words 'you're welcome' to her? After everything he just put her through?
Amy sighed, staring at her leg. "To think, after all of that, a TREE is what took me out. Unbelievable."
Amy smiled slightly, looking to Sonic and expecting a quip of some sort, but saw how rigid he was, her words putting him on edge. It was then she realized the implications of her statement, even if she meant it in a lighthearted way.
They sat there for a while in silence, both of them being uncharacteristically quiet, before Sonic decided he couldn't ignore the giant elephant in the room any longer. The tension in the air between them from ignoring the obvious was suffocating. He didn't remove his gaze from the fire when he spoke.
"Amy.. Can you tell me what happened?"
Amy looked at him, shocked. "You… Don't remember?"
Sonic shook his head, poking until a weak log collapsed under the pressure. "I remember some parts..." His stare glided to her, "But I want to hear it all from you."
Amy felt anxious suddenly; she couldn't quite read his expression.
"Well…" she started, adjusting her sitting position rather nervously. "I wasn't with you the entire time, there are parts I don't know myself. But I'll tell you everything I did see."
She began to tell him to the best of her ability the events that unfolded; from what caused the super transformation all the way through to what ended it. Sonic was deadly silent, his gaze never leaving the fire other than the occasional glance to her. Amy tried her best to be delicate with how she recited the events but it was hard not to react to her own words herself. She hadn't had any time to process anything and as she spoke, she relived it all, the emotions rocking through her. By the time she finished, tears were freely rolling down her cheeks.
Sonic clenched his fists, glaring into the fire as if it was the cause of all of this. Everything she had said was true. Her words helped him to recall some of the patchy memories and it was exactly how she said it was. He had been desperately hoping his mind had warped what he remembered, that it wasn't as bad as he thought, but it was. He could feel himself begin to spiral.
Sonic wordlessly stood up, making moves to head out of the cave and into the storm – to go do something, anything to quell this ever rising feeling inside him when he felt a hand grab strongly around his wrist. Looking back, there was Amy, her iron grip stopping his attempt to go any further.
"Don't go…"
The need to move was itching at him but it instantly took a back seat in his priorities when he saw her face. She was so distraught, how could he leave? He paused for a moment before sitting back down, his arms automatically wrapping around her as she leaned into him, burying her face into his chest.
She let out a quite sob, "I was so scared..."
Sonic jaw clenched while he held her, trying to provide some sort of comfort for something he caused.
"I'm so sorry Ames… I'm so sorry.." he whispered, over and over again into her ear, fighting tears of his own.
He had stayed thinking it was because she needed him, but as he cradled her in his arms, he slowly realized that in reality, it was him that needed her.
