Chapter 29 – When Rabbit's Roar.
A/N: As ever, I am humbly grateful to my reviewers:
Komodo – Don't worry about Dimitri; you'll see what happened to him next chapter, and besides Sega's already got a Ridley character; I am of course referring to Metal Sonic. How many times has he had his rear end handed to him by the whole team collectively? And he still just keeps on coming; man I want to know his insurance company details.
TH – (Author points finger of doom at his cast, black lightning sparking at the tip) I didn't want to do this, but you've forced me; Secret Author Power number three: Instant Character Insertion – I choose…(there's a flash of black lightning to the floor and a split-second later, a much reviled figure appears)…Omochao! (Author raises hands above his head and every last drop of Red Bull that was brought down in the waterfall rushes up into the sky). Upgrade to… (the caffeine rich drink forms a stream that is forced down Omochao's neck, causing him to swell like a beach ball)…Hyper Omochao! Now TH, run for it! (Author heads for the hills before Omochao can start talking, stuffing his fingers in his ears to keep out the awful babbling. At a safe distance, he stops). Right, hopefully he'll put them in a coma, and I'll have enough time to get them into shape for the finale. (Author looks down and smiles evilly at TH); now, next time you introduce Red Bull to my stories, I'll introduce Seraph to yours!
The light flickered overhead, but she was still so sleepy; Rouge was tempted to just ignore the light that hung irritatingly overhead and concentrate on going back to sleep; with this foremost in her mind, the bat took a huge yawn – that buried the idea of her sleeping any time soon.
A jet of white-hot pain burst into her brain as her badly bruised jaw was stretched by the sudden movement; eyes wide with this unexpected shock, she half-sat up in the bed she found herself in, clapping both her hands to her mouth and squeezing as though trying to rip the agony off her face. She gave a muffled moan as it subsided slightly, gradually relaxing her taut muscles as her injury settled down again, leaving her feeling drained and strangely weary, almost as if she was too tired to sleep. So she simply lay there, looking up at the weak light that hung over her bed as though it could put her in a trance and let her nod off eventually. It could have been seconds, minutes or several days before she heard the voice that floated in through the darkness,
"Ah I see you're awake Rouge", she recognised it as belonging to Sabre, though he sounded tired and ill, "good, you've been out longer than expected". Bracing herself for the effort and soreness that were sure to follow, the bat mustered the effort to speak,
"What happened?" Not as bad as I thought; she winced as dullness tingled through her jaw, though it was more than bearable. Her super-sensitive ears detected movement from her left and she genteelly turned her head to face the shuffling footsteps; the pain from her sudden gasp forgotten as she saw Sabre come into the circle of light above her.
The echidna surgeon looked dreadful; exhaustion was saturating every inch of him and he looked like he wanted to do nothing more than collapse. His pale, gaunt face looked up towards her and he managed to dredge up a very weak smile out of somewhere, speaking in his breathless, feeble voice,
"I know I'm not much to look at; forgive me but I can't take questions right now", he didn't even have the energy to raise a hand to forestall her questions; it looked to her like it was all he could do to shake his head, "I'll inform my grandson you're awake, and then I must rest". Rouge nodded, her face in as much of a look of concern as her injury would allow before she managed to mangle a few words together,
"You look terrible; go sleep". Without answering, his eyelids already drooping, Sabre turned away and shuffled back out of her line of vision; she settled herself back down and waited, hearing a door open and then close again; Sabre must have left the surgery.
In the few quiet moments after he'd left, the bat tried to remember what had happened; she definitely remembered Amy beat the mad echidna and set them all free, but she'd not let them get near her, holding them all back and even knocking Sonic out to make sure he couldn't break through. Then Sojourner had done something; they'd ended up on what felt like a mountainside, but from then on it got a little confusing; there was a jet of fire as one of the volcano's erupted and then…how did this happen?; she felt her jaw ache more and gingerly inspected it with the very tips of her fingers; it was a large swelling mass that seemed to have spread from her law to halfway up her cheek and halfway down her neck. It was a bit of a blur beyond that; there was definitely something yellow involved but she couldn't tell more than that. Growling in frustration, the bat tried to settle down but found she couldn't; Sabre had said Knuckles would be coming to visit her and, suddenly child-like, she couldn't wait, her pain drowned out by excitement.
Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long at all; she heard the door Sabre must have exited through open again, more rapidly but still as quietly as possible it was shut, then there were footsteps, quick and light, leading up to her bed; a second later, Rouge smiled despite the agony that shot along her aggravated jaw as Knuckles burst through the curtain of light, worry on his face as he dropped to his knees next to her and clutched her closest hand,
"Rouge, are you okay? Sabre said you woke up before he fainted; I ran him to the nearest bed and came straight here; I'm so glad you're awake, you gave us all a shock". Rouge gave the echidna's larger hand a reassuring grip before looking at him hard,
"Sabre fainted; is he…?"
"He's fine", Knuckles waved away her question like it was an annoying fly, "he's just exhausted; he's apparently been working non-stop since he arrived here, patching up the other two and…" Rouge sat straight up, suddenly heedless of the pain that blossomed as she questioned furiously,
"What other two; who's hurt?" Knuckles clapped a hand to his forehead, angry with himself as he tried to use his other arm to push her back down,
"Listen, just sit back and try to relax; you'll hurt yourself more if you don't. I've got to explain what happened after Sonic put your lights out".
"Sonic"; yes, that's it – he had the yellow emerald in his hand when he swung at me, because I tried to stop him running at where that explosion went off; a little more comfortable now she knew the cause of her injury, the bat gave a rueful smile and rubbed her sore spot, suddenly carefree despite the grim circumstances,
"Good punch that one; better than anything you've ever hit me with". Unusually, and to her eyes, concerningly, Knuckles didn't join in the joke, he offered a fleeting smile before speaking again, not relinquishing his hold on her hand all the time he talked,
"Sonic ran off towards the explosion; I've never seen him go like that either", he favoured her with a look that spoke of renewed respect and deep fear, "I saw his face when he hit you; it was like he was possessed; he just took off. Shadow went after him before I could really react, all I saw the flame from his boots. It was quiet for a few minutes then there was a yellow light around us", his eyes locked onto hers and she caught the impression that he was trying hard to think of a decent way to explain this, "it was Shadow; he'd done a Chaos Control".
"Really?" The bat turned that over in her mind; if he'd unlocked that secret, there was always a chance for more, "what else, did he say anything?"
"Not at first; we were all too busy with", Knuckles cut off, unwilling to court the image he had of that awful moment of confusion and doubt; I wasn't sure if they were alive or dead – I don't want to put Rouge through that. She saw his face fall and reached up, gently tracing one of her fingers across the soft fuzz on his cheek, speaking softly,
"With what Knuxie; tell me, I can handle it". Taking a breath, the echidna steeled what courage he had left and then quickly blurted the words out as though they were toxic,
"With Sonic and Amy", her eyes widened dramatically and her jaw fell open as he finished, "Shadow brought them back with him; Sabre looked at them and brought them here with Sojourner; they're both alive".
Rouge fell back onto her blanket, limp as a rag doll with relief for that mercy, repeating it over and over in her head that both were still alive, that was the most important thing. Allowing her time for this to sink in, the echidna fell silent, resolving not to speak until she made the first move.
"Are they here?" That was quick;
"Yes, they, er, they're over there as a matter of fact", Knuckles pointed a way over to her right and opposite where she lay; as soon as she saw the direction, the bat pressed her hands to the blanket on the side of her and pushed upwards, determination drowning her pain. Knuckles gave a low bark of alarm and tried to push her back,
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Gonna see them", Rouge pushed harder, throwing back the nausea the movement generated with force of will, "you all have right?" Knuckles, seeing her idea, suddenly changed his grip, sliding his hand around her back and gently supporting her rather than trying to push back; slowly, she made it to a sitting position and closed her eyes, letting her breathing even out gradually as her injury and resultant unconsciousness combined to give her a spell of dizziness.
"You sure you're feeling up to this Rouge?" Belated doubts were beginning to crawl, maggot-like, over Knuckles as he saw just how much that lucky strike had taken out of her; sensing his worry, the bat put a brave face on things and nodded,
"Yeah, just give me a sec", she probed the inside of her mouth with a tongue, "I gorra hoss toof". Knuckles knitted his brows as he tried to decipher the muffled speech,
"Come again?"
"I've got a loose tooth; damn he hit me hard", the bat's eyes flared with temper as she set her sights on the darkness opposite, "he thinks he's hurt now, just wait 'til he's well enough to take a pounding. Come on, I'm over it now but I'll need to lean on you". The echidna raised an eyebrow,
"Moral support right?" She gave sickly sweet smile and offered a hand,
"Something like that, now on three; three!" With a heave and catch motion, Knuckles swung Rouge up and up onto her feet; she collapsed against him and clung there, no longer awkward in such a situation as she took her time and gradually found her feet. Releasing his grip by increments, the echidna let her support her own bodyweight by degrees, though he remained close at hand just in case. When she gave him the nod, he dropped slightly behind her, though she was sensible enough to take the journey steady so the fall he was dreading never arrived.
The bat was scanning the way ahead of her with her natural sonar sound, alert for unseen obstacles that could hamper her in this darkness; the last thing she'd need now would be to fall and belt her jaw again. She therefore saw it coming and reached her hands forwards, gripping onto the bed rail as it sidled up in front of her, letting her take the strain off her legs. As she supported herself on her arms, she tried to will her eyes, well used to operating in dim light, to see what lay before her. It took a few endless minutes, but slowly, almost as thought what was there was ashamed to be seen by her, a shape took form; a bed stripped of its covers, with a single stunted figure on top of it. Night vision is monochrome, so it was only when she looked up, towards the head of the figure, that she could tell that this was Sonic. She sagged forwards, well aware of Knuckles standing just behind her in case she should fall, but the only thing that fell were her tears; what happened to you spiky? How could this happen to you?
The blue hedgehog she had come to know and respect was lying face down on the bed; the only way she could tell it was him was because the quills at the top of his head were still present, not flattened with the bandages that swathed the rest of his back. Every inch of his normally blue fur was covered by the white bandages and his breathing was shallow but strong. The bat hung her head, trying to reassure herself that this was only temporary, that soon Sonic would be back on his feet, not an invalid in this hospital ward. Rouge looked up once more and glanced to her left; she realised she couldn't see Amy, not now, for her echolocation had shown two strange, spindly figures, one either side of the bed next to her, standing like proud, stern sentinels; drip feeds. The bat pushed herself backwards and upright, feeling now more unsteady than she had moments ago in the wake of this new horror; this shouldn't have happened, not to them – they didn't deserve it.
"I know", Knuckles' voice was soft and grave, "it looks bad, but Sabre's sure they'll, both be all right given time". Rouge gingerly wiped her eyes and shook her head,
"What happened? How did they get like this?"
"I'll tell you in a minute; first let's get you back to bed. You're not really supposed to be up and about – if Sabre finds out it'll be my neck". Rouge tried to turn and deliver the quip that was on the tip of her tongue but as she made the sudden spin on her heel, she felt the world twist suddenly and her legs gave way. She was going down when there was a rush beside her and suddenly she was quite literally swept off her feet; smart enough to realise she wasn't going to be steady enough to walk, the bat put her arms around the echidna's thick neck and held on as he paced his way across the room,
"Easy batgirl; don't worry, I had a lot of practise getting you here". She felt his come to a stop and removed her arms as she asked,
"Practise?" She heard his gruff chuckle and the slight scrape of a stool being pulled up by the side of her bed,
"How do you think you got here; I carried you from the blast site, but anyway that's not important", in the semi-darkness, Knuckles missed the look of almost wonder that passed over Rouge's face, "Shadow told us as we walked back; he arrived in time to see the base just before it caved in on itself. He said Amy was already unconscious; Sonic had thrown himself on top of her as the ceiling started to come down, the falling debris made a hell of a mess of his back".
"Is there anything serious?" Rouge asked concerned; she knew enough about anatomy to know that damage to the back could easily turn to spinal injuries,
"Sabre doesn't think so", she breathed a little easier, "but he admits he spent most of his time on Amy; her legs got badly burned by something and he needed to get them sorted or she could have been crippled for life. He reckons he got most of it, but there may be a little lasting damage, nothing too serious though". Rouge let out a heartfelt sigh of relief, so like the one that everyone else had unleashed when Sabre, bone-weary but triumphant, had emerged from his surgery and told them the news; there hadn't been any celebrations as everyone had been too exhausted. The bat was so wrapped up in her relief that she only caught the tail end of Knuckles' next line,
"…talk to him?" She glanced around confused, managing to ignore the pain in her jaw,
"Who?"
"Shadow", the echidna repeated himself, a little irked that she hadn't been listening, "I think you might need to talk to him soon; you know him better than I do". Rouge propped herself up on her elbows, looking intently into the guardian's face,
"Why; what's wrong with him?"
"It was something he said, just after he did that Chaos Control – he was shattered by doing it as well", he added before looking the bat square in the eye, "Charmy asked how he did it and he said something about them deserving a chance for happiness; you thinking what I'm thinking?" Rouge nodded, her sharp mind drawing instant conclusions that may have a devastating impact on the back hedgehog's amnesia,
"Maria?"
"yeah, but I didn't say anything; he asked me not to, said the most important thing was getting the two injured safe, brave of him if you ask me", he turned his head to the side and let out a huge yawn; it was only at this point she realised the huge bags under his eyes.
"Why are you so tired?" The yawn broke down into a snort of laughter as the echidna smiled at her in amusement,
"Because I, unlike you, had to walk for several hours to get home, carrying, I might add, a burden that proved to be a little heavier than it first looked", he took time to lean back from the slap Rouge sent his way, her bruise preventing her from the full, majestic scowl she had planned and making her mouth twist lopsidedly,
"Cheeky swine; I'm just grateful you weren't Code, I'd have arms like a gorilla after dragging you back to Haven. But anyway, you all walked back?"
"Yeah, we just walked, it was strange", Knuckles let his chin droop onto his fist as he pondered it, "we should have all been knackered, but no, we all made the journey fine. When we got here, we all saw Sabre looking like death warmed up and that was it, whoomph, lights out city; I think Vector nearly passed out on the spot. We all dragged ourselves to whatever bed we could find and crashed out". Rouge examined his face and raised an eyebrow,
"You don't look like you've slept well". The guardian smiled and looked down at her meaningfully,
"Been catnapping".
"You look dog-tired", the bat quipped before she shuffled over on the bed and patted it, "come on; we both need some shut eye". Knuckles made to start arguing when he caught the glint in her eye and though better of it – pushing the chair backwards, he flumped down next to her, not bothering with the blanket as it would have been too hot. For a second both treasure hunters were content, then darkness rose up and claimed them both, dragging them into unconsciousness as they were swept aside by the tiredness that seemed to saturate the air of Haven.
XXX
"Ahem". If I ignore it, it'll go away – I need a few more hours;
"Ahem"; the voice was a little more insistent this time and with a snarl of annoyance, Knuckles realised it wasn't going to go away. Grudgingly, he blinked one eye open and tried to read what the blurry picture was trying to tell him. He saw a vague blob of red and tried to focus on it; a couple of seconds later than he would have liked he saw his grandfather, hands on hips and smiling broadly, looking down at him in a manner that spoke of light-hearted reproof. Wonder what…?; it was as he looked forwards, trying to see what was causing the wind on his cheek, that he immediately realised what Sabre was smirking at – with a yelp, he pushed himself backwards from Rouge and just narrowly avoided skidding off the bed, arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance, aware of Sabre's amused eyes tracing his every movement like a crosshair.
"Nothing happened" he blustered, cheeks as red as his fur as he finally managed to stand up; Sabre's eyebrow almost threatened to usurp his monocle as it shot up as high as it could go,
"Just as well", he said jokily, watching his grandson squirm and knowing he couldn't help himself from making it just that little bit worse, "this ward's surgery, not maternity; now go dunk your head in a bucket before your cheeks give your shoulders third-degree burns". Knuckles ran for the door, not meeting his grandfather's eye as Sabre had to exert every iota of his seven year training not to wake up his other patients by breaking down laughing.
"And what was all that about the Hippocratic Oath?" Sabre looked up from where he'd just finished washing his hands; Rouge was looking up at him from the bed she'd recently shared with Knuckles with a huge grin on her face, fighting not to laugh just like he had. Sabre brought the towel to his arms as he answered,
"Well, he was violating hospital etiquette; visitors should not rest on patient beds, it's unhygienic. Now", his eyes fell on her, scanning her face like an X-ray, "how are you feeling?" She took a few seconds to answer, working her jaw minutely and seeing if she still felt dizzy,
"I, er, I think I'm all right; I tried moving last night, I was a bit unsteady on my feet but otherwise I was fine. Now be honest; how do I look?"
"Probably a lot better than Dimitri does" Sabre answered, his face falling as he unconsciously sent a look towards the bed that must have contained Amy, the two drip feeds dangling bags that snaked tubes towards the occupant. There was a second of solemn silence before Rouge dared ask the begging question tentatively,
"Will she be alright?" To her eternal relief, Sabre nodded
"Yes, there shouldn't be any long-term effect save maybe a very slight limp for a while. She must have been stood on the Bloodstone when she was draining from it…"
"Standing", with concern for the two hedgehogs, Rouge had nearly completely forgotten about the red ruby that started all of this, "what did she do with it?" Sabre flashed out a very sharp look,
"She destroyed it, utterly. It's dust now; she must have ripped out so much energy that it weakened, then directed all her power back into it, blasting it to powder. That abomination of the Master is gone forever; we all felt it go, it was the explosion that destroyed base alpha". Rouge blinked as that didn't sink in,
"Amy, destroyed it?"
"Completely; grandfather Spectre can fill you in more if you need to, but now if you're feeling up to it, I must ask you to leave", he gestured towards the door before pointing at Sonic, "I'm hoping to heal some of the damage to his back; he may or may not regain consciousness as I do, and I may need to test if his memory had been damaged by the rain of rocks that knocked him out". Rouge nodded and slid her legs off the edge of the bed, testing her balance and weight as she levered herself up. No, feeling fine; she gave a smile to the surgeon and made her way towards the door, trying not to look at any reflective surfaces in case she gave herself a nasty shock.
"Head for the centre", she paused as Sabre spoke again, his tone kindly, "it's a bit chaotic, but when I left most people were there and in good spirits". The bat waved a hand in thanks and left the surgery, not seeing as Sabre slid his spurs underneath Sonic's bandages and, making peace with the Master, made the first cut to the pristine wrappings.
XXX
"Going for my look Rouge", Espio spoke acerbically as he saw the bat enter the centre of Haven, "needs to be a bit of a lighter purple for that". A larger scaly hand swatted the back of the ninja's head as Vector shook his head and nodded at the former spy,
"Sorry Rouge, but that's about as close to a joke as Espio's ever likely t'get; you feeling better, and seen red around?" The bat had to quickly stifle a smile; I saw his tail as he legged it around the surgery door, but that was it; she took a seat next to him as everyone else who was present waved and moved to see her; within a few seconds, she had a small audience as she had come from the hospital area of Haven,
"I'm feeling a lot better, but", she held a spoon up to see her face more clearly and grimaced as the livid purple of the bruise Sonic had given her sprang into clear relief, "I'm not going to be winning any beauty contests any time soon".
"It'll go down eventually", Vector spoke consolingly as Tails brought over a bowl of what appeared to be porridge and set it down in front of her, looking up expectantly,
"Have you seen Sonic; how is he, and is Amy going to be all right?" A little taken aback by the rapid fire questions, the bat eventually shook her head,
"I didn't get a good look at Sonic", almost without meaning to, she saw the concerted slumped of shoulders as everyone who was listening, Tails smacking a fist into his palm and looking frustrated with worry, "but Sabre says he's going to be working on him for today and he might wake up". The foxboy smiled at this, Shadow also raised an eyebrow as he raised a glass to his lips,
"Just as well, need him to sign the rent with me". There was general laughter at this as Rouge rolled her eyes and absent-mindedly brought a spoon of porridge to her lips. The way her face seemed to implode on itself caught attention from a rather unwanted quarter as Athair, dressed up for cooking, swept over the table towards her, delight in his innocent eyes as he ladled some more of the strangely grey mush into her already full bowl,
"Oh goody, someone to finish this relish; I found the secret – a dash of Tabasco sauce you know, gives it a bit of a kick. Now eat up, there's another pot on the stove as we speak". With that, he arrowed off and, after a great deal of cajoling and bribery, Rouge forced herself to swallow the mouthful she'd just taken, feeling it settle on her stomach like a concrete bowling ball.
"Um, Tails?" The fox shot backwards with his arms upraised,
"No, no way and never; we've all done our bit now it's your turn".
"You all…"
"Yep", Vector broke in, rubbing his stomach as though trying to comfort a traumatised pet, "one bowlful each; something about Spectre giving him permission to cook a victory breakfast to take our minds off things just before he fell asleep last night. He managed that and then some; now all I'm thinking about is how much this is going to kill me tomorrow". Rouge felt her inside shrivel up as the slosh in her bowl seemed to glare up at her malevolently; now I know why Sabre wanted to make an early start – hope he's ready for a flood of food poisoning cases.
XXX
As the remains of the breakfast were cleared away, there was a definite increase in nervous tension; no-one save Shadow and Rouge left the centre of Haven, it seemed no-one could concentrate on anything bar what Sabre was doing and how Sonic and Amy would recover from their injuries. The most interesting thing that happened was Spectre expressedly forbidding Athair to ever go near a balloon whisk again in his life; the black echidna spent most of the morning giving private apologises to everyone who'd forced themselves to down a bowlful of the dreadful Guardian's Relish, stating that Athair had waylaid him just as he was half-asleep and not really paying attention to what his manic descendent was saying.
It was as he had managed to corner Knuckles privately, not realising that his seventh-son had only just plucked up the courage to face everyone, mortally embarrassed that Sabre would have told them about the way he'd been found earlier in the morning and had thus avoided the torment of the relish, that it happened. The chatter that had sprung up as everyone talked over digested what had happened (in rather more ways than one), died away instantly, the attention of everyone focussed on a single entrance into the heart of Haven. Unable to see through the press, Spectre used his telekinesis to lift himself up; with a lurch he saw Sabre stood there, facing down the crowd as Spectre almost saw his fifth-son's cogs turn to say this in the best way possible. As Sabre made ready to speak, a silence so thick it could have been cut up and stacked descended, unnerving him for a second before with a rush, the surgeon announced,
"Sonic's awake".
XXX
Tails heard the words consciously and his instincts took over from there; moving at a flat out sprint even before the echoes had died away, the smaller fox darted forwards and ducked past Sabre. He heard the guardian call him back but too late, he was gone around the corner, his keen nose picking out the trail of sterile, medicinal scents Sabre had left behind him as he walked back from the hospital wing, where Sonic now was. He was able to track it to the source, winding his way through Haven to Sabre's domain; this is it – hold on bro, I'm coming. Wrenching the door ahead of him open, Tails took in the scene in an instant; though his back was still heavily bandaged, Sonic stood out like a sore thumb, sitting in a chair at the side of his bed, looking down and facing away from him. A glorious feeling, like he was being buoyed up by lightness, swept up over Tails and he raced forwards, almost tripping over in his haste, as his voice preceded him,
"Sonic, I knew it, I knew it; are you feeling okay, did Sabre…?" Strange, he's not answering; the kit shrugged this off as a side effect of being under for so long; it was only when he pulled up level with the hedgehog and looked up that the truth hit him like a hammer. He watched on as Sonic, not moving his eyes, spoke for the first time, gesturing his arm downwards to where Amy still lay sleeping,
"What do you see there Tails?"
He didn't answer; the fox was far too busy trying to come to terms with the fact that this stranger was still his brother; this is not Sonic, this is someone else. The voice, so quiet and subdued, was only the final nail in the coffin; it had been the first glimpse of the blue hedgehog's face that had stopped Tails in his tracks. It was a real shock to his system; he had always known Sonic was older than he was, but never had he really given it much thought; if anything, the Sonic he knew looked younger than his seventeen years. Now though, his brother's face was so serious, so ingrained in deep contemplation, that it seemed he had grown far, far older, so much more mature. His eyes too, they had changed; the fire behind them had dampened down to nothing more than smouldering coals, his inner fire and thirst to be the best quelled by something nameless and terrible. As Tails stood still in shock, Sonic turned to face him, the light overhead highlighting every single one of the age lines that before now Tails had never even considered existing on his brother's face,
"What do you see?" Tails swallowed and took a nervous look, flicking his eyes down before choosing his words carefully,
"It, er, it's Amy, she looks like she's asleep doesn't she? Listen Sonic, I know this must be hard and…"
"I see my own stupidity", Sonic cut him off and Tails fell immediately silent, "I'm a fool Tails; a fool who couldn't see what was in front of him the whole time". The kit gave a weak smile and attempted humour,
"Knuckles has been trying to tell you you're a fool for years", he wetted his lips before making his brave effort, "come on, let's get you something to eat".
"I'm not moving". It was a statement; not loud or threatening, but somehow more definite because of that,
"But…"
"I'm not moving" and this time it was final; there was no more room to disagree with. Feeling hurt and confused, the kit backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off the blue hedgehog as he left; Sonic didn't spare him a glance as he quietly shut the door behind him. The fox was about to move when a shadow fell over him; he looked up to see Sabre smiling sadly at him,
"I tried to warn you but I forgot how fast you are".
"What's happened to him?" tears prickled the back of his eyes as Tails prayed inwardly that this was all just a twisted joke, "why doesn't he speak to me like he used to; it's like I was a complete stranger". Sabre heaved a sigh and squatted down,
"Listen Tails, this will be hard; Sonic's just had a really big shock – did you see his face when he asked me where Amy was, just before we saw the explosion", Tails sniffed and nodded, "well then he ran like the devil and if Shadow was right, he was willing to be buried with Amy rather than save himself. What does that tell you?"
"That's just what he's like though", Tails didn't quite grasp the point as he remembered back, "Sonic always runs back to save people".
"Yes, yes I know", a little impatience revved up in Sabre's voice as he tried to make the fox see, "but this time he was ready to die there; Shadow said he had shielded her with his own body. That tells me that he loves her and now, because Amy's still unconscious, Sonic's pining for her; he wants her to wake up and he'll stay there until she does". The surgeon saw the truth filter down into the fox's wide eyes and decided he had to leave it there; he made to move off when Tails' voce stopped him,
"Sabre?" He stopped and turned around,
"Yes?"
"Will they be okay?" Giving a sigh, the surgeon tried to give the best answer he could,
"Amy's strong and young; she's in good health and healing rapidly. I think she'll be waking soon and that'll be the crunch – if Sonic reacts to that, her waking up, I think he'll be fine as well".
"And", the fox's voice was a hoarse whisper, "and if he doesn't react?"
"Don't even think about that; pray that he does"; with that, Sabre left, his mind already filling with dire thoughts about his own third-father's fall into grief as Tails knelt by the hospital door, tears falling to the floor as he whispered a benediction with a child's fervour; for the love of everything Sonic, please, pull though this.
XXX
It wasn't something Tails could explain; he had to let the others see for themselves. One by one, the other Mobians went in see the awakened hedgehog; and one by one they came out looking more concerned than they had when they'd gone in.
"I don't get it", Charmy sat down in the hall, Espio and Vector nearby as, like always, the Chaotix had visited their pal as a team, "Sabre must be one of the best doc's I've met and he says she's going to be fine; why's Sonic sitting like doomsday's coming?"
"I don't know Charmy, but we've got to try and break him out of it" Thunderhawk's tone was severe and, for the first time since they'd been in Haven, possibly a little fraught with concern as he glanced surreptitiously at the seat where Sojourner normally took his repose. Locke licked his lips and then offered his suggestion,
"Right, I've got a plan – we leave him for a while, let him see with his own eyes that Amy's still okay, she's getting better, then we try him at dinner time, try to get him to eat. When he's there we can try and talk to him; every minute of contact helps".
It maybe wasn't much, but it was a plan; soon everyone dispersed to do whatever it was they wished to do, but always there was this restlessness, an anticipation that disrupted concentration and drained enjoyment from the tasks at hand. The sauna steam couldn't sink as deeply, the rubber lost its bounce, the dyes became dull and listless, book magic was nullified and katas were unable to hold attention within their twisting routines. The minutes snailed by, each as dreary and depressing as the last, the hands on the clocks barely seeming to twitch as glances were snapped impatiently towards it. Eventually, however, as it always must, time did pass and, after locking Athair in his training room to ensure he couldn't try to sneak a recipe onto the tray Sojourner was preparing, slowly a plot was devised,
"Right, I reckon it aught to be Shadow and Knuckles", Sabre advised, giving his reasons as he tried to put Tails' look of injury out of his clinical mind, "I don't think he can be reasoned with; you're going to have to fight to get him to take something on board. Remember, he has to eat or I'll have no choice but to stick him on a drip".
"That should do it; he hates needles" Shadow quipped gloomily as he hoisted the tray from Sojourner's arms, taking care not to spill any of the soup or the glass of mineral water the fifth-father had prepared. He and Knuckles made to set off,
"I want to come too".
It was Cream; the rabbit twiddled one hand in her ears as she smiled cutely, face blushing slightly as she was suddenly the centre of attention. Clearing her throat, she stuttered slightly as she gave her reasons,
"I, ah, all I want is to check on Rosie; I won't get in any trouble, I want to see she's fine and, you know, talk to here a bit. Is that okay?" The two couriers looked at each other and immediately saw their thought mirrored in each other's eyes; can you say no to a face like that?
"Er, sure Cream, you can come; long as you don't mind holding doors open". The rabbit shook her head and darted over to them, falling into step as the duo headed off towards the hospital wing; once they were out of earshot of the others, Shadow dropped his voice and spoke,
"Cream, you haven't seen Sonic since he woke up have you?"
"No, Tails said it was too upsetting". The black hedgehog raised an eyebrow and returned to the matter at hand,
"Well, it will be; just remember that Sonic's under a lot of pressure, so you have to let him get away with a little, er, rudeness?" Again she nodded and, as the door to the hospital area came up, she trotted forwards and pushed it open, letting Knuckles and Shadow precede her before trailing in their wakes towards where the blue hedgehog sat.
XXX
It seemed that this mission was doomed from the start; as they approached, Sonic straightened in his chair,
"I'm not hungry". For a second all three were halted in their tracks before Knuckles tried to brazen it out,
"Ah Sonic, don't say that…"
"I don't want to eat thank you".
"Maybe not but you're going to", Shadow's tone was firm as he positioned himself behind his flatmate's shoulder and offered the tray, "listen, you've gotta keep your strength up or you'll end up back in the bed you just crawled out from".
"With needles in your wrists" Knuckles added wryly Sonic turned and faced them for the first time; Cream let out a small peep of fear as that alien expression bored into her,
"Let them", he extended his wrists, eyes still empty, "I'll stay here, with her". Knuckles closed his eyes as if asking for patience before trying once more to force his obstinate opponent down,
"You can eat here, over there or in the bloody mess hall, just as long as you eat Sonic. Don't act more stupid than you already are". At this, Sonic simply turned back around in his seat, his eyes once more on Amy's prone, sleeping form,
"She can't eat; why should I? I did this to her, it's only fitting that I should…"
"DON'T BE SO BLOODY STUPID!"
It was as though something huge, powerful and possessing a large number of teeth and claws had ruptured some internal barrier and blasted out into her chest; seeing someone she loved almost as much as Rosie treat himself like this and then have the sheer gall to indirectly blame it on her was far, far more than even she could take. Knuckles found himself flailing for balance as Cream shoved past him, marching up to Sonic in a manner so reminiscent of Thunderhawk he was surprised she wasn't glowing green. Jumping up, the rabbit seized Sonic by an ear and dragged his face to hers, nothing soft in her usually loving brown eyes as she hissed right into his nostrils,
"What the hell do you think you are playing at? How can you, Sonic Hedgehog, sit there and let yourself fall apart like this? How do you think Amy's going to feel when she wakes up and sees you sitting there like a half-starved scarecrow; how's she going to react when you say you didn't eat because she couldn't? Nice plan Sonic", Cream dropped back down to the floor and gave a very nasty, ironic round of applause, he face creased into a menacing snarl before she continued, "nice way to make her feel good about herself, but you know what? I don't care about what you think you should do, I'm going to make sure you are in a fit state for when my sister wakes up". Without pause, she span and grabbed the tray Shadow was carrying, easily tugging it from his nerveless hands; Sonic had just enough time to vacate his hands from the table in front of him before Cream brought the tray slamming down with an ear-splitting crash. Without pause, she glared up once more, now looking positively murderous,
"I am going to watch you eat every mouthful of this, and believe me if I hear one cheep out of you", she raised herself to her full height; Knuckles was amazed there wasn't electricity sparking between her ears as she finished her dire proclamations, "I'll call my mother and you'll wish you'd never been born! Now get started!"
Even as her last command still hung in the air, Sonic slowly reached forwards and gripped the spoon on the side of the tray with exquisite care; with tenderness, he dipped it into the soup Sojourner had made and took a reluctant mouthful, Cream's diamond hard eyes tracking every inch of movement. Realising their presence was now definitely surplus to requirement, both the guardian and the ultimate life-form edged towards the door, not taking their eyes of a scene that, fifteen minutes ago, they'd have never believed could have existed. Their last glimpse of the hospital was the small rabbit standing erect with her arms crossed, monitoring the hedgehog's progress with a flinty attitude before she shot them a glare and they hastily slammed the door shut; there was such force and purposefulness behind that last look it was, as Shadow said, a miracle the door wasn't dented.
XXX
The two just stood there stupefied; what had just happened was so far out of the ordinary they just couldn't take it in. Cream shout at someone – it was as if Metal Sonic had started helping old ladies across the road. Neither of them could bring themselves to speak, just stared at each other with looks that yelled out loud incredulity and awe as they watched the door handle, ever so slightly nervous as to what it would disgorge when it was opened once more. Ears straining, Shadow suddenly stiffened; he heard footsteps from the other side and tapped Knuckles, watching intently as the handle slowly twisted and, by nerve-wracking degrees, the door inched open with a slight rattle and clink of cutlery. Balancing the tray on one arm as the opened the door with the other, Cream emerged complete with a spotlessly clean set of plates. The door swung shut and she leant against it wearily,
"Well, that should keep him going for a bit; he should get some sleep soon though, it looks like", it was at this point she must have noticed both her friends looking at her like she was about to sprout fangs and start throwing up pea soup; she cocked her head curiously, "what?"
"Cream", Shadow looked at her in undisguised awe, words failing him as Knuckles shook his head, dreadlocks swaying,
"Never knew you had it in you floppy". It was then she realised what they must have been driving at,
"Oh, yeah, that", she gave a shy, mischievous smile, "I don't like shouting at people like that but ohhh", she stamped her feet crossly, "he makes me so mad sometimes".
"Welcome to my world Cream, I live with him", Shadow broke into a light chuckling fit as he took the tray off her, "it's a show of my self-restraint I haven't buried him in the backyard yet". Now grinning broadly, Knuckles joined in,
"You think he's bad, try living with Rouge for a week; if you don't come out of it with grey hair you can say what you like". Cream smiled at him as they moved off,
"So how come you can?"
"Good hair dye".
"Oh, figures, now what's it worth Ms Rouge doesn't hear that?"
"I don't tie your ears in a knot and chuck you off the side of the island".
"Good deal; I'll take it".
XXX
"I am looking for the fuse", Shadow said as he emerged into the centre of Haven and realised he was getting a few awkward looks due to the fact he was examining the top of Cream's head quite closely, "this rabbit just blew up in Sonic's face; I think she's a faulty model". There was a little general laughter as Cream gave a victory pose, Knuckles holding up the cleared tray for all to see and pointing at her knowingly,
"You got him to eat?" Overwhelmed with gratitude, Tails rushed forward and caught Cream in a tight embrace, whispering into her ear, "you did it Cream; thanks so much". Slightly embarrassed but more concerned with the way the large, scaly thing that had recently clawed at Sonic now appeared to be purring in content, Cream reciprocated the hold,
"Er, no, ah, no problem"; it was at this point a wolf-whistle jerked them both back to the present; they flew apart, both blushing as Shadow clapped the young fox on the shoulder,
"I gotta warn you Tails; she's a real little fireplug, so tread careful on the first date".
"We are not going out!" Both of the younger Mobians chorused, red in the face but smiling crookedly as the others tried with all their might to resist the temptation to make comments. Of course, there had to be one who didn't even bother to try,
"Aw, but you'd make a cute couple", Athair hovered just in front of them and, to their horror and everyone else's secret delight, proceeded to deliver the lecture he'd once given his son, "now, for the first date you need to go somewhere neutral, I'd recommend something like a day trip or a decent walk. Don't go to the cinema, it can get a bit seedy and you don't want to be tarred with that brush, no thank you. Take plenty of extra money just in case and remember, last thing, a peck on the cheek is fine, no frenching first time".
Kill me, kill me now; Tails just wanted to shrivel up and die; that had been absolutely tooth-curling and to make matters worse Athair had somehow managed to make every word sound deadly serious. Through the gap in his fingers, he saw everything he had dreaded; Rouge had been forced to turn her back and her shoulders were shaking, Knuckles was leaning on his father and pounding his shoulder, Sojourner had vanished in a flash of green just before he broke down and even Spectre was cracking a smile. With a flaming red face, he rushed forwards, running back to his room with Cream hot on his heels, whistles and clapping like whips of fire on his ego as he tore up the path; if Sonic ever finds out about that my life won't be worth living. With that thought, he sped around the corner and was lost to sight.
"Was it something I said?" Athair watched on bemused as everyone looked up at him in disbelief; he merely shrugged as Knuckles fell down at the table and chortled,
"We'll have to say sorry, but that was a peach, I'm sorry".
"leave Tails to me; I'll let his simmer down for a while than get him back in the lab, that ought to take his mind off things" Locke offered, not smiling as much as he glared up at his grandfather, remembering vividly the time he had been treated to such a speech; well, on the bright side, at least I never had such a big audience. Once more, the former guardian couldn't help but think about what Athair had done; on the surface he'd just embarrassed two of his friends like there was no tomorrow, but now, as he looked around where everyone was smiling, laughing or trying to deny they were doing either, he realised that in one simple step the flying menace had taken all their minds off the problem of Sonic. Sometimes; he regarded his grandfather once more, where he was now hanging from the roof in order to see his dreadlocks and retie a few loose bangles; I can't tell if you're really mad or if you can see things we can't.
XXX
The rest of the night passed without great incident, the humour seeming to speed up the flow of time once more until, almost before anyone was aware of it, the time for bed had come. As was his custom and his duty, Sabre was the last to retire for the evening; he had an extra duty first. He wasn't really expecting Sonic to have moved, so the sight of the blue hedgehog sprawled over the table by the side of Amy's bed, where he'd been sat all day, didn't come as a great shock. He was a little concerned that the position might aggravate some of Sonic's wounds and they may bleed in the night, but as he saw there were no speckles of red on the bandages he could see, his instinct told him that was an unlikely scenario. I don't think it's worth my while to move him; with that in mind, the surgeon tugged the blanket of the bed Sonic should have been resting in and draped it loosely over his shoulders like a shawl, giving a little extra insulation against the cold of the night.
Out of habit, the echidna concentrated for a second, letting the power of the Master Emerald infuse him and, when he opened them once more, he saw differently. The outlines of the two hedgehogs were still there, but rather than just plain blue and pink, he saw a myriad of colours, each one of the palette dictating something different. Sonic's green back was punctuated by ugly black and red smears, the marks of his injuries, while in his head, the gold glow that showed consciousness was dimmed, tuned down to the level of sleep. As I expected; Sabre nodded and turned his eyes towards his other patient; not what I expected; he had to take a long, hard look to convince himself his gift was not incorrect; not what I expected at all.
The pink hedgehog appeared to be in perfect health from the legs up, however, at about the level of the mid-thighs, the nice normal green was tinged and smudged with different shades of grey. The further towards the feet it was, the darker the stain; the soles of Amy's poor feet were completely black – Sabre well remembered having to cut her free of her boots, the stink of melted plastic acrid in his nose as he had realised the inside of the shoes had fused with the skin. Most of his work had been directed to allow regeneration of these most damaged tissues and, though it had been touch and go for a while, he was fairly confident he had succeeded. It would take time and maybe a little practise, but Amy would walk again. However, her physical condition wasn't what had caught his eye; it was the fact hat the golden thread of her consciousness that had this morning been as thin as dental floss was now almost as wide as a hemp rope. Even as he watched, it rolled around a little, touching different areas of her body as it rolled around like a drugged python. She's coming back then; judging the movements only he was privy to, Sabre made an estimate and nodded; withdrawing his power and readjusting for a moment, he silently exited the room, pausing just long enough for one last look and a final plea to the spirit of the Master Emerald that, whatever else may happen, Amy would find Sonic by her side when the time came.
A/N: Last chapter next folks; thanks for sticking it this far, I'm going to make a special effort for the finale.