"Sonic."
Amy's voice echoed in the dark chamber Sonic found himself in, realising quickly that he was dreaming. Peaceful nights simply weren't an option, it seemed.
"Sonic!" She called out, voice growing more desperate.
The hedgehog grunted, the fur on his back raising as a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. He felt a face bury itself into the back of his shoulder. "Oh Sonic, I've missed you so much..."
A clock was ticking in the distance, despite a visible one being nowhere in sight.
Shivering, Sonic felt her cold tears against his body. The blue one could not bring himself to comfort or reach for her, finding himself frozen in place.
"Missed you... so much..."
Tick. Tock.
It was a struggle to even turn his head to face her, facing an invisible resistance as he slowly twisted his neck back.
"Why?"
Tick tock.
Instead of the familiar face he knew most, his eyes laid upon the new, twisted version of her. With her sleek, shorter bob and pristine uniform, she looked well put together - but it was all outward cosmetics, distracting from her tired, empty eyes.
"Why weren't you there?"
He did attempt to respond to her, but no sound came out.
"Why did you let this happen to me?"
Her ice cold breath drifted into his ear as she whispered. Despite his best efforts to get away, it was as though he was rooted to the spot, held down by an invisible force.
"Nothing to say?"
If he hadn't been frozen, he would have immediately jumped out of the way as soon as he saw a dagger blade being pressed against his neck. Somehow it was no longer Amy that had a hold on him, it was Rouge.
The Rouge he knew from his own timeline, yet the tone she spoke in he could only imagine being used by the new one.
"Some chosen one, aye? How did you let it all get like this?"
Her giggle echoed, Sonic desperately wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. 'It's not my fault! It's all Eggman's!"
Yet his voice refused to work. He could feel the pressure of the knife, threatening to pierce his throat open any second.
Then the blade faded to dust; she faded to dust.
Tick. tock. Tick. tock.
Ahead of him, Sonic saw something glow a bright cyan blue - like a little spark. It expanded in size, beginning to form a swirling pool of energy.
A portal.
Still unable to move, the only thing Sonic could do was narrow his eyes to inspect it. Why this was suddenly a part of the dream? Not that dreams made all that much sense anyway...
For a brief glimpse, Sonic managed to spot a shape in the middle of it. It was a silhouette, one that was quite distinct, all things considered. He only knew one thing, or rather, one person - who resembled it.
Silver?
"Wakey-wakey~!" As soon as he opened his eyes, Tangle's face was right above him
Sonic scrambled into a sitting position on his bed, almost hitting the poor lemur in the process. "Whe-?! Wha-?!" He gasped out.
Tangle leaned back to avoid him, and almost fell over. "Wow-! I did not expect you to get up that fast!"
"Sorry-" Sonic sighed out. "Just wasn't expecting your face being right in front of mine as the first thing I saw today-"
"Well, at least you're awake now. You overslept, you know! The rest are all out finishing up their breakfasts-" Tangle seemed to have pulled a fruit bowl out of thin air, putting it in front of the hedgehog's face. It was a dish of that was colourful and bright, a little bowl of cheery sunshine. Everything on Angel Island had been such as welcome change of pace - it was peaceful and safe. "Knuckles made everyone fruit salad! Gotta say, it took a lot of self control not to eat yours too while you were sleeping like a baby." She teased.
Sonic found himself able to chuckle lightly. "Thanks for your restraint." He said, taking the bowl from her.
There had been quite the conundrum last night when the resistance had sat down to eat their dinner and realised they didn't have cutlery. Knuckles, being brought up in the way he was away from a civilised culture, ate with his hands - never having a need for it. Everyone didn't mind doing the same if they had to as well, after all they were hungry and tired - more focused on getting food in their bellies in the first place, rather than how it went down. However, other people brought up how much useful equipment they had left behind in their haste to evacuate from the old base.
The hedgehog wondered if the Chaotix and Hooligans had crawled their way back after initially being scared by Knuckles. If that was the case, then they had most likely stolen a lot of the things that were there. He had requested Knuckles warp him back to have a look - but surprisingly, they found out that the base had been untouched. His own speed combined with Knuckles' warping skills allowed them to quickly move anything from crates, blankets, and beds to smaller objects like books and cutlery. Everyone else got to work setting everything up.
It was quite a quaint little camp, much more homely to him than the underground chambers of Mystic Ruins. It hadn't been a bad location at all, but there was something much more comforting about being able to see the sky.
Eagerly, he tucked into his fruit salad. Angel Island's fruit and vegetables were always perfectly ripe and flavourful, and frankly he had been craving something sweet. As he begun to shovel it down, Tangle took a seat on his bed next to him.
"Knuckles said there's a lot of produce here, and that it grows quickly. There will be enough to make sure we're all fed. Last night was amazing... I hadn't felt full in so long, I forgot what it felt like." She admitted with a weak smile. "I'm so glad we're here now. I always felt bad when I went out to try and get food for the others... and came back with basically nothing. I've never been that good at stealth... stealing food crates isn't the easiest thing for me. But now it's just... here. Everything we could possibly need. I'm so grateful for that- it's like- everything got worse when we were attacked but now everything's suddenly ten times better!" Light shone in her eyes, and Sonic couldn't help but be infected by her optimism. "Are you sure I wasn't killed in that attack and ended up in heaven?" She asked with a smile.
"If that was the case, I'd be dead too." Sonic pointed in amusement. "This is very real, Tangle. You may have gotten used to a lot of failures, but I'm telling you now - things are only going to go up from here." He assured her.
Tangle nodded. "Yes, as you said - we've finally gotta get a revolution underway. A proper revolution-" She repeated it to let it sink in. "We have a good base now, it's high in the sky - but where do we go from here?"
Staring into his bowl, Sonic wondered how much longer he could afford to withhold information from his 'new' friends. It would be hard to get them to have any faith in him if he kept telling them what to do without giving them a reason why.
However, Knuckles had provided a perfect reason to now tell the truth of his origins. It was clear the Master Emerald thought he was special, so now if he were to say that he came from another timeline - he imagined they were much more likely to believe him as the supposed 'chosen one'.
"I have a plan." He smiled at Tangle. "I wanna tell it to you, Rouge, and Knuckles - speaking of which..." Sonic peered over to the bed that Tangle and Rouge were supposed to have shared last night. They were all housed in a small stone structure the size of a large room, the girls had shared a bed while Sonic had gotten one all to himself - which he felt a little guilty for since their bed looked quite small and cramped. This morning however, he realised the bat was nowhere to be found. "She already up?"
"Hm? Oh yeah - she was up way before I was apparently, since she left this-" Tangle reached into her pocket and then handed Sonic a small, crumpled piece of paper with Rouge's handwriting.
'Went out for a walk xx'
"Went out for a walk?" Sonic said questioningly.
"Yeah..." Tangle sighed heavily, the hedgehog watched as her shoulders drooped down. "She's probably gone back down to the surface for some reason or another. She always does this. Disappears and then doesn't explain where she went... I tried to tell her she should communicate more or have someone go with her but she kept ignoring that- So, I stopped trying to tell her what to do. She always comes back safe at least..." A groan escaped her lips. "I should have tried harder really, she might get herself seriously hurt one of these days..."
"I don't know - with how tired you sound about the whole ordeal, you probably tried hard enough." Sonic gave her a pat on her shoulder before standing up off of the bed. "Not a whole lot you can do about stubborn people, only they can teach themselves after experiencing the consequences of their own actions." Faces like Knuckles and Shadow's couldn't help but spring to mind.
"It seems like they only learn when the worst thing possible that could happen to them, happens. You're like 'Hey, don't fight that massive horde of robots!' and they're like: 'You can't tell me what to do!' - and then they come back to you missing all their arms and legs and say "Woops, guess I should have listened to you in the first place.' - Like, what are you supposed to do after that?!"
"Trust me, I get it." Sonic told her. "But Rouge, from what I can tell, has a good head on her shoulders. I think she knows how to get out of a situation that's too dangerous for her."
"Maybe so- yeah." Tangle agreed with a slow nod, and then gave an expression that was more determined, ready to place faith in her friend.
Sneaking into an apartment complex at 9am in the morning probably sounded like a stupid idea on the surface, but there was a method to Rouge's madness. Security was always heightened at night, at least in Empire City - it would be less of a hassle to sneak through the streets in the daylight.
Sure, someone with less skills in the stealth department might find themselves struggling not to be spotted in the midst of daytime, but Rouge was no novice. She knew how to traverse the places that no one turned an eye to.
So few people bothered to turn their attention to the skies, and that's where Rouge operated best. She flew to a window right near the top of the building, on the side of it that faced the dark alleys rather than the bustling city life.
If you lived in one of the few places like Empire City, you could almost convince yourself life was normal. It was the hub of luxury for Empire citizens - made for Robotnik's worshipers and helpers, those that helped him and funded him into the position he was in today.
It was enough to make you vomit.
However, there was some form of sanity to be found hidden away in these parts, like a diamond in the rough.
She knocked a soft rhythm upon the glass of the window, just loud enough for the people inside to take notice, but not anyone else unwanted.
A grin crossed her face as she saw the curtains on the other side being pulled apart, and then the window sliding open.
"But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief-"
"No, we aren't quoting Romeo and Juliet." The always impatient and huffy sounding purple swallow gave her an unamused look, but stepped back to let Rouge climb her way into the room. "We aren't even on a balcony-"
"Am I not allowed to enter with some dramatic flair, Wave?" She questioned with amusement at the bird, having fully stepped into the room and closing the window for Wave right behind her.
"You just sound like an idiot." She told her frankly. Rouge appreciated the Babylon Rogues and their straightforward nature. At least with them, you knew there would be no false niceties. "Now hand Jet the payment-"
On cue, the green hawk was leaning against the doorframe that led to their kitchen. He had a smug expression as he beckoned Rouge over with a hand gesture. "Haven't seen you in a while, bat. Hope you've got something good with ya."
"I think it will satisfy you just fine~" She uttered confidently, matching his expression as she held out a decently sized brown sack.
Jet quickly took it from her, surprised at the weight he felt within it. "Hmph." He undid the string tying it shut, and poked his head inside to have a look. Rouge's smile only grew as Jet's head stayed there for a few moments as he examined everything inside, finally lifting up his head. "A surprisingly good haul." He said.
"I always get good treasure for you, actually." She pointed out, taking off her jacket and revealing the dark tank top she wore underneath. She also took her glove off of her metal arm, allowing the full thing to show and glisten in the light.
"Yeah, yeah whatever - I'm just wondering where you manage to get half this stuff from-" Jet said, pulling out a golden crown from the midst of treasure. It was unlike a traditional crown worn by monarchs - it was this odd abstract shape that Rouge couldn't put a label to, but it was heavily decorated with sparkling green and purple gemstones. Unsurprisingly, Jet put it right on top of his head.
"My sources are for me to know, and you to find out." Rouge shrugged, but found herself being abruptly being shoved into leather recliner by Wave.
"Good to know." The swallow remarked sarcastically. "Now stay here, will you? I've got something I wanna try."
Now, that did peak some of Rouge's curiosity. What trick up her sleeve did Wave have this time? Wave disappeared off through the door she knew led into her little workshop, and the bat was left sitting opposite to Jet, still admiring his new crown.
"Oh, Rouge is here?" A grey albatross appeared from the kitchen, holding a plate of cookies and observing the bat cautiously. "I suppose the timing worked out well-" There was a small table in the centre of their living room that the tall and muscular bird decided to place the cookies. "Now we can all eat together and make sure there's no waste-"
"Storm." Jet turned his head impatiently to the albatross. "How am I supposed to eat cookies without milk?"
Storm immediately grew flustered, red in the face. "S-sorry, boss! I'll get the milk-!"
Rouge chuckled and shook her head at the same time. "You're a brat, you know that?"
"I just have my preferences." Jet replied. "And standards."
Causing everyone to jump, Wave almost kicked the door of her workshop down as she made her way to Rouge, carrying a case in one of her hands. "This ain't gonna be the usual check up, alright? I'm planning to upgrade your arm here."
"Upgrade?" Rouge rose a brow.
"Yes, that is what I just said-" Wave huffed in annoyance, placing the case next to the cookies. "You're my first experience with bionic limbs and now I'm sure I've got it down... I can expand into adding some weaponry-"
Before Rouge could say anything, she was interrupted. "I'm back, boss! With the milk-" Storm almost tripped over himself trying to get back into the living room with the milk, it was a wonder he didn't spill it. Jet quickly snatched a glass off of him.
"About time-" Jet grunted, taking a gulp. "We'll get Rouge sorted and then we're back to work."
"You got it!" Storm gave an enthusiastic salute.
The bat had admittedly phased out of their conversation, instead focusing on the warm, sugary scent of the cookies that drifted to her nose. Honest to God, she couldn't remember the last time she had some chocolate chip goodness. She couldn't help herself, immediately reaching for one - if she waited for much longer she might have started drooling.
It was so unfair how everyone in Empire City lived a life of extravagance compared to everyone else. She had lost count of the nights she had gone hungry or figured out how to survive as long as she could on a single dumb can of beans. The feeling of an empty stomach was an aching annoyance on its own, but when she felt everything in her middle go numb - that was her first true experience of starvation.
Yet up here, all the cookies, soft recliners, luxury highway shops and activities a person could ever need - and all the citizens had earned their place in paradise via corruption and greed.
"This shouldn't take too long Jet, if the measurements turn out wrong then she'll just have to come back some other time-" Wave finally produced a metal arm from the silver case. It looked very similar to the one she already had, aside from the odd blue circle on the palm of the hand.
"You three seem to be in such a big rush. What's the matter? Do you hate me that much you already want me gone?" She teased.
"No..." Jet sighed tiredly. "Since Robotnik decided to push his annual Empire celebration way earlier - we have less time to prepare for the performance."
"Huh?" Rouge narrowed her eyes. "When's it happening?"
"Three days from now."
"What-? Since when?" She immediately asked.
"Since a few days ago. You're usually on top of this shit, aren't you?" He squinted at her.
"I've had... things to deal with."
"Typical." Jet scoffed.
"Hey, can you learn not to chew and speak at the same time? You're getting crumbs sprayed in my face. Were you never taught etiquette?" Wave grumbled to Rouge. The bat was purposefully looking away from the swallow during the conversation. Rouge knew she had bent down and was now attaching this new arm, but Rouge was not at all interested in seeing the process.
"If you were in my position, you'd be scarfing your food down too." Rouge answered back.
"Boss?" Storm interjected, standing awkwardly in the midst of it all. "Didn't you say that you wanted to speak to Rou-"
"Yes!" Jet suddenly exclaimed with a snap of his finger. "Yes, I did. Now we have more details on the celebration, I have some news that you might want to hear."
Rouge leaned forward with intrigue before being chastised by Wave. "Hold still-!" She was mostly ignored.
Jet continued on. "It's taking place in Station Square, you're pretty close to there right?"
Was - but that had changed when moving to Angel Island. However, Rouge didn't intend on correcting him to past tense. "That's right."
"Turns out the big man himself is gonna be there. Out in the flesh." Jet smirked. "Of course, he'll be surrounded by his usual lackeys but there'll be plenty of distractions. Us Rogues are putting on a performance with our extreme gear air tricks, leaving behind colourful smoke trails and all that nonsense. We're planning to make things... flashy." It was now Jet's turn to lean forward. "You wanna kill Robotnik, don't you? It's your perfect chance, all eyes will be on us - you can take your shot."
Rouge almost had to stop herself from physically gasping at such a perfect opportunity. It almost sounded too good to be true, all the pieces in place to allow for a perfect kill... was it truly possible? Her eyes were now filled with a starry-eyed hope. "You damn genius." She smirked.
"I know~" Jet flicked his feathers smugly. Wave stepped back from the bat, and Rouge finally looked back over at her shiny, metallic arm - now new and more easily manoeuvrable as she rolled her shoulder a few times, they did tend to get stiff after a while so she was glad for the chance to have a new one.
"And I've got something to help you with that." Wave said, a smile beginning to show itself on her own face. "Come on, let me show you how your new laser works."
Was he truly doing the right thing?
It didn't feel like it. Not when he woke up in the morning, and some of the island's treasure had already been stolen.
Perhaps it was paranoia that had prompted him to search the important corners of Angel Island before the sun had even risen, but it would have plagued his thoughts all day if he hadn't. Knuckles had spent a fair amount of time across his life gathering gemstones and other artifacts from the history of his people, collecting them in a small worn-down alter a fair distance away from the Master Emerald. When Knuckles had gone there, he knew immediately that some things had disappeared.
Necklaces had seemingly vanished into thin air, and a crown worn by a very old clan chief had supposedly erased itself from existence. Except that wasn't the case was it, objects didn't just disappear for no reason. Someone had stolen it.
"Is this what you wanted?" Knuckles had found himself asking the emerald afterwards. "You said to help Sonic in any way possible... was it right to allow him and his people here?"
He had been met with silence, as he so very often was. Sometimes, although he hated to admit it, the temptation to throw the Master Emerald into the ocean could often be quite potent. It just refused to give any sort of answers.
He supposed he could just stomp up to everyone else and demand that they give his treasure back, but... he kept making excuses for himself otherwise. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway, right? What if causing a fuss put him in conflict with Sonic - the emerald didn't want that, right?
Damn it, what was wrong with him?
He had spent years longing to just see another face - whether it was friend or foe, to hear the sound of another voice that wasn't his own. He was most certain he had been driving himself crazy when the blowing wind began to sound like whispers.
Now, he had finally gotten his wish - and all he wanted to do was hide away. The thought of getting near everyone else caused his heart to pound like a hammer in his chest, and when someone looked in his direction he found himself bringing his dreads over to hide his face. His stomach twisted uncomfortably when he thought about having to make conversations with them, even Sonic - it was a wonder he hadn't yet vomited.
The moment of his reveal played like a rewinding record - he recalled all the voices crying out - not believing that he could even exist. He remembered their eyes staring at him, the way their shouts of disbelief echoed-
Oh, what a baby he was being. He bit his lip, reminding himself of the person he was supposed to be. His ancestors were men of pride, brave warriors who were never phased by the horrors of the battlefield. Yet here their last descendant stood - scared of... what, being stared at weirdly? Having a conversation?
Maybe that's why the Master Emerald gave him such little information, it knew he was helpless too.
"Hello, hi!"
Knuckles grunted, his heart rapidly being faster - was this a heart attack? He looked down the altar steps and saw none other than Sonic and the rather loud lemur on the step that the echidna had previously set as the boundary.
"Hi, Knuckles!" The lemur said. "We were wondering if you wanted to join us for some training!"
The answer was frankly no, he began praying that the emerald would just warp him somewhere else. "No, thank you." Knuckles finally breathed out.
"Ya sure?" The hedgehog added on. "We thought it would be a good way to catch you up on what's been happening on the surface."
He had a point, damn it. Knuckles supposed that if he were to be of use, he needed to know what the hell was happening - since he still honestly felt quite out of the loop. "I- then, yes-" Knuckles said, feeling awkward now he was backtracking.
"Awesome!" The girl exclaimed eagerly.
"Guess we need a nice open spot. You got a good one in mind?" Sonic smiled.
"Hm." He found himself only able to make a sound, words alluding him. Why did he have to be so useless, on so many levels? He walked past them and made a hand gesture for them to follow, and at least they seemed to understand.
"Everything changed three years ago."
Sonic was just as intently listening to Tangle as Knuckles was, after all - he was still lacking in knowledge of a lot of the finer details. They were all stretching their muscles as a group, an essential part of a good training session.
"There was a massive attack on G.U.N's headquarters, unleashed by Robotnik, Sonic calls him Eggman though and I find it more fitting so I will refer to him as such from now on so - yes! Eggman launched attack on the HQ of our military with a massive robot army and airships. That wasn't the only attack that took place either - everywhere from Chun-nan to Shamar found themselves facing off against his massive fleet of machines. G.U.N.'s commander and main forces were all killed that day... so that was that, some brave individuals stood their ground but - everyone had no choice but to surrender to the man. Then he was able to create the Empire... it all happened very fast. I don't know how he managed to make and build everything he's got now." She admitted.
"I-" Knuckles hesitated before speaking up, "Robots...? I don't understand what you mean-"
Wow, he hadn't even seen a robot before here. This timeline kept feeling weirder and weirder. "It's a bit easier to show you than explain..." Sonic admitted. "But, it's like an inorganic person made of metal. Something with no heart and soul and just follows orders." Sonic of course knew there were exceptions to this, the faces of all his robot friends springing to mind, but he couldn't delve into that when Knuckles didn't even understand the basic concepts of AI.
"Yeah I'll- understand more when I see it." The echidna admitted. Was Knuckles shaking? It was a little hard for Sonic to make out.
"Mhm, yeah it'll all make sense then. So! Eggman turns most cities into factory wastelands and gives people the bare minimum they need to survive so they can work for him. Some places are kept nice though - for Eggman's wealthy friends, oh! And of course to house his theme parks... he really likes theme parks for some reason."
Well, that certainly hadn't changed.
"Also about like- I wanna say a year or two, no- a year and a half after Eggman became in charge of everything - these weird monster things showed up, seemingly with no affiliation to anyone. They cause problems sometimes..." She admitted. "Oh yeah there was also like this- alien invasion once but Eggman actually saved us all then! Wouldn't ya know it? I don't know how, no one knows how he did actually - but it's probably the only good thing he's done." Tangle shrugged.
Was she... was she referring to the Black Arms?
"But with everything becoming mechanical - Eggman has polluted a lot of the world's natural resources. He definitely doesn't care for organic life at all - as sometimes he uses roboticization to turn people into robots..." Tangle frowned.
Sonic felt rage boil beneath his skin.
"So there you have it!" Tangle forced herself to laugh. "The world is a mess-!"
"Having fun there?"
The three of them turned their heads and were surprised to see Rouge standing there.
"Oh, hey Rouge!" Tangle smiled and waved. "You're back in one piece!"
"Of course I am." Rouge shrugged off nonchalantly. "Filling in the echidna, I see?"
"Yep, he knows the basics of what's going on!"
"Good, because I have something I want to share with all of you-" Rouge began eagerly, but now Sonic had his opportunity, he wasn't about to let it slip from him.
"Actually, Rouge - I've got something important I wanna say too." Sonic brought up.
"Oh! Wow, got a lot of news - huh?" Tangle plopped herself down on the floor, crossing her legs. "Then let's sit and talk!" Everyone else sat down slowly in the same position on the dirt ground. Sonic remained standing.
"Take it away then, Blue." She allowed Sonic to take the stage, as it were. "Since you're so eager to share something."
"Right." Sonic nodded.
Here it finally was, the crucial moment where he could finally tell his new allies about his true origins. After everything now, they were much more likely to believe him now, surely? Yes, he was sure. Now he could establish a crucial trust and bond between the team, and let them know that the timeline they lived in was in fact just wrong - that there was a way to fix all this, and Sonic knew how.
"So... this might be a little hard to wrap your heads around at first but... you see, I'm not from here."
The other three tilted their heads,
"I'm from... another timeline."
Suddenly, his vision clouded over with a hazy purple smoke. Sonic gasped, unable to see anything before him or utter a word. Moving was also a futile effort, he was paralyzed. What he was seeing... it reminded him of that thing at his birthday party-
Sonic blinked and his vision had returned to normal.
"Oh! Wow, got a lot of news - huh?" Tangle plopped herself down on the floor, crossing her legs. "Then let's sit and talk!" Everyone else sat down slowly in the same position on the dirt ground. Sonic remained standing.
"Take it away then, Blue." She allowed Sonic to take the stage, as it were. "Since you're so eager to share something."
Wait, hadn't they just done this? He wasn't going crazy, right?
"Uh- well I-" Sonic spluttered. "Did none of you see that-?"
"Saw what?" Tangle tilted her head, concern showing on her face.
"I-" This was bad. "I just wanted to explain what might be very hard to understand but if you'd let me explain... I'm not from here, I'm from another timeline-"
The dark purple smoked swooped in to conceal his vision again, it looked just like that brute - what did Eggman call it, The Time Eater? That couldn't be a coincidence.
Once again he was powerless.
"Oh! Wow, got a lot of news - huh?" Tangle plopped herself down on the floor, crossing her legs. "Then let's sit and talk!" Everyone else sat down slowly in the same position on the dirt ground. Sonic remained standing.
"Take it away then, Blue." She allowed Sonic to take the stage, as it were. "Since you're so eager to share something."
Okay yes, they had definitely went through this already. Time was... rewinding itself?
"I'm from another timeline!" Sonic desperately exclaimed.
The only reason Sonic didn't yell as his eyes were clouded up was because his vocal chords refused to work. He stood still as the hands of time were rewound.
"Oh! Wow, got a lot of news - huh?" Tangle plopped herself down on the floor, crossing her legs. "Then let's sit and talk!" Everyone else sat down slowly in the same position on the dirt ground. Sonic remained standing.
"Take it away then, Blue." She allowed Sonic to take the stage, as it were. "Since you're so eager to share something."
"Woah, Sonic? You okay?" Tangle asked. "You look a bit pale-"
Sonic's legs felt like jelly, and he felt unable to control his shakes and shivers as an unnerving cold swept over him. With an unsteady breath, he tried to find a way to quiver a response back to Tangle.
It was all flooding back - watching his friends scream and call out his name as they were turned to dust... all because of that fiend. All because of Eggman!
"I'm- fine! I'm fine!" Sonic snapped awkwardly. "Rouge, you just- say what you need to say-"
Rouge was staring at him awkwardly. "Oooookay... Right, whatever that is out of the way - I have managed to discover a perfect opening to kill Robotnik once and for all." She wasted no time at all getting to the point, grinning at the three of them - her eyes wild with excitement. "In three days it's the anniversary of the Empire. Robotnik's gonna be there. Out in public - with everyone distracted by the celebrations there's guaranteed to be a perfect window - we can actually end this!" She added eagerly.
"You... you really think we can do that?" Tangle asked, unsure of the prospect.
"It's a very real possibility. Our only problem will be his lackeys - but now the chosen one and an echidna guardian are with us - what kind of threat are they gonna pose exactly?" She asked smugly. "I can't believe how oddly perfectly it's worked out-!"
"Rouge..." Sonic spoke up. "I don't think we should do that."
"What?" She questioned him quickly. "Why?"
"I... think there's better ways to go about defeating the Empire. If we try and kill Eggman and we fail... you're risking everyone's lives. There's a way to take him down and that's with minimal fighting - if we can find the Chaos Emeralds-"
"The Chaos Emeralds?" Knuckles spoke for the first time in a while. "What do you propose to do with those?"
Sonic knew if he said something along resetting the timeline, he wouldn't be allowed as the time eater or whatever it was would just rewind time again. He was drawing a blank, truly unsure of how to explain why he wanted to use them so bad. "Because... chosen one... omnipotence-?!" As if the excuse wasn't flimsy enough, Sonic sounded like he was questioning himself. "Look, they perform miracles right? If we get all seven we could erase the Empire from existence!"
"So instead of... killing Robotnik and taking down the Empire now, you propose we go on a treasure hunt and then kill him." Rouge said dryly. "I'm a fan of the quicker option, personally. As much as I love treasure, I love my freedom ever so slightly more."
The hedgehog wanted to slam his head into a nearby tree. The universe had given him a massive slap in the face by refusing to allow him to tell his teammates the truth. How was he supposed to get anything done if he couldn't explain himself? How could he rally them together to find the emeralds if he couldn't even tell them why?
For now, Sonic couldn't think of a reason. Rouge had a plan that she could actually explain the reasoning for. It wasn't worth arguing about, not now. "Fine then..." Sonic finally sighed.
"I'll follow your lead, Rouge."
First chapter to hit 6000 words babyyyy.
The plot thickens! The babylon rogues are here! Sonic and Tangle bonding! Knuckles has got some bad social anxiety... and every time Sonic tries to tell the truth, time is rewound. The clock is counting down to the Empire Anniversary celebration...
Oh dear.
Ya'll the continued support this fic has been getting means so much - so thank you to all who have left their support. I love reading reviews so please feel free to leave them, but as always - I'll see ya later :)
