Author's note: Oops, that was a bit of a delay. My bad. Super thankful for reviewers 000Marie198, E-Rank, and Noonui! Your support has been wonderful and encouraging, as always. :3
Chapter 16: Not With a Bang
There was a lot of talking at once, though none of it seemed very useful.
"No no no—"
"Three months?!"
"He has to be lying."
"How could he even know—"
"There's no way he could—"
Tails was pulling up data files faster than Sonic could even read (like it mattered). "I can't connect at all! There's definitely some sort of time dilation causing this, but I have no idea if he's telling the truth."
Knuckles shook his head. "If you can't connect, then how did he—?"
"It's because he's gaining distance from the dilation," Tails cut off. His typing was loud, and Sonic recognized the aggravation emanating from it, despite the fox's focus on the information flashing across the screen. "It probably doesn't extend much beyond the ARK at this point. At least, not with whatever the Artificial Chaos did to contain it."
Sonic couldn't help but mutter, "However long that lasts…"
"What about another escape pod?" Shadow questioned.
"There … there aren't any."
"There just happened to be one functioning pod remaining here?" he barked.
"No," Tails shot right back, already opening another obscure data set from what Sonic was convinced was an electronic maze of them. "Eggman said he had been up here previously, when he was first studying the Artificial Chaos and doing whatever he did to unleash their power. I think he brought a few ships here early on, during that research, and..." he sighed as he checked another file, "well, he launched all of them when he left just now."
Sonic harrumphed. "Well, that ain't very charitable."
"We need to get off this blasted ship," Knuckles growled, slamming his fists together. "If Eggman finds Angel Island—"
"Red, I think you're missing the bigger picture, here."
"We can't leave," Tails agreed. "This blackhole will destroy our world if we don't find a way to—to—"
His sidekick fumbled with his next words, so Sonic tried to be helpful. "Destroy it? Reverse it? Lock it in a cage and throw away the key?"
Tails let out a frustrated growl. "None of those are possible. None of this is possible!"
"And yet here we are," Rouge mockingly stated, arms crossed.
Sonic glared at her briefly, before jumping off his perch on one of the empty computer desks. "All right, killjoys, let's recap. We apparently have a blackhole on the ARK." He started pacing as he held up one finger. "It's probably getting bigger or smaller, who knows, but definitely not good in either direction."
A peek at Tails nodding confirmed Sonic's statement. He held up two fingers as he continued to count their order of facts. "The Artificial Chaos were trying to help, in their very weird and not outrightly helpful way." He glanced sideways at Shadow as a third finger went up. "And now they're gone, but the damage is done and it's a matter of—uh, something—to save the world."
He was greeted with a bout of silence as the others watched him expectantly. Sonic cleared his throat and planted his hands on his waist. "What, no takers?"
Knuckles stomped away, grumbling something not-so-nice that Sonic didn't pick up. Rouge opted to only roll her eyes, turning towards one of the far windows in the rundown room.
Shadow stopped paying attention to him completely, checking the screen that Tails had been working on.
And even his little brother—the resident genius of the team—just shook his head sadly at the hero.
It had admittedly taken longer than the rest, but Sonic was beginning to feel the gravity of the situation hit him. It felt like a punch to the gut.
The hedgehog's arms went up into the air exasperatedly. "Ugh. Somebody give me some good news."
Tails had not returned to the computer, but did raise his hand hesitantly, as if attempting to answer a trick question in class. "Well … the Artificial Chaos were in the process of diverting the ARK out of orbit."
Shadow frowned at the fox. "Would that work?"
He shook his head again. "No, it's not fast enough. Not unless the Artificial Chaos were able to indefinitely contain the anomaly."
"Then why do it?" Knuckles spoke up. "And why bring the emeralds here?"
No one had an answer, given the awkward hush that followed. Sonic felt a twinge of regret crop up as the vivid memory of Artificial Chaos stabbing Chaos 0 surfaced to the forefront.
Well, he had thought it was stabbing. But even if it wasn't, it was a rather uncouth way of communicating, if that had been the creature's intent.
Those visions, however ... brief as they were, they were still as haunting as a nightmare fresh upon waking.
Blue and yellow light fading into each other...
Shadow and a young human girl, side-by-side in a hospital room...
An older male human, fastening inhibitor rings onto an unconscious Shadow's wrists...
Shadow jerked up from his leaning stance, throwing Sonic out of his digressive thinking.
"Chaos Control."
Even Shadow appeared stunned from his own words, staring off into the distance when he spoke them and scowling at nothing in particular. He certainly managed to get everyone else's attention.
"What?" Knuckles and Rouge demanded simultaneously.
Tails practically flew to the computer, sharing in Shadow's realization. "They were planning to Chaos Control the ARK!"
Sonic raised a suspicious brow. "Boy, that sounds familiar."
"Look, they mapped the course for it here," Tails half-typed, half-pointed at the screen. "It was clear they were aiming to get it away from the planet. But by Chaos Controlling it farther along the path…"
"They could have gained enough distance to spare Mobius," Shadow finished.
"Why would they needed the emeralds for that?" Sonic grilled. "They were made of unlimited negative energy."
That earned the hedgehog some blank faces. "I mean, they had no problems zapping in and out of existence, right?"
It wasn't everyday that Sonic was the one asking the tough questions. He supposed, if there was one silver lining in all of this, it was that he wasn't the only one at a complete loss.
For once.
When the disquiet dragged out, Tails shrugged and replied, "I guess it doesn't work the same?"
Knuckles was massaging his temple. "Of course it doesn't. That would be way too convenient."
"Okay then, so now what?" Rouge challenged. "We keep the ARK on this path away from Mobius and hope for the best?"
"What about doing Chaos Control?" Tails offered, directing his question at Shadow.
"Impossible," Knuckles interrupted. "The emeralds are gone. Scattered."
"But we have the Master Emerald," Sonic argued, a tinge of hope in his tone. Someone had to be the eternal optimist.
The echidna sharply focused on Sonic, his expression one of uncertainty. That made the hero a trite concerned. "Right Knux?" he pressed when he didn't get a response.
The Guardian let out a sigh, closing his eyes and head downcast. Sonic felt another figurative punch of worry in the gut. "Knuckles?"
"It's draining."
"What is?"
"The pull of negative energy, it's—it's getting stronger."
Tails' ears tilted down, his own fear evident. "Then that means the barrier on the blackhole is weakening … and the time dilation is worsening."
Shadow growled. "Then we need to act now."
"And do what, exactly?" Knuckles snarled, hiding any uneasiness with his more characteristic temper.
Shadow ignored it and pointedly stared at Sonic. "Chaos Control, as we've done before."
Sonic balked. "Say what now? You want us to Chaos Control this entire ship to the edge of the solar system? And then Uber us all back to Mobius?" He let out a sarcastic laugh. "Do you hear how insane that sounds?"
Eternal optimist or not, that idea was heading right off the deep end.
"We've teleported the ARK before."
Sonic snorted. "Yeah, back into orbit, which was what—a hundred miles, at most? And didn't you nearly die from doing that?"
Shadow was obnoxiously persistent. "What choice do we have?"
"There's not enough power," Knuckles stated, shutting both of them down. "Not even for one of you." His voice lowered, a brief moment of discomfort flashing across his face. "I feel it."
That silenced the group. Seconds stretched before Sonic cautiously asked, "Feel what?"
Knuckles' fists tightened at his sides, his gaze on the floor. He didn't answer. Sonic looked towards his sidekick, who watched the echidna with large eyes.
"Tails?"
The fox blinked and turned his attention to Sonic, trying his hardest to hide the despair in his voice. "The Chaos energy in us … the world … is disappearing. It will be completely neutralized if we don't get rid of this negative energy."
"What does that mean for Red, Blue, and Black, then?" Rouge spoke up.
Sonic groaned. "It means we'll be pushing up daisies without it."
Rouge frowned. "I get that it's the source of your talents, but … seriously?"
"It's inherent energy," Tails responded. "For those that have a large amount of it, they're typically gifted with extraordinary abilities. But … that comes with a price, when it's taken away." He was still standing next to the computer, but was studying the ground and twisting his hands together anxiously.
Mobius, pure in pale yellow luminescence, receding into darkness.
The memory of that final image flashed in Sonic's mind once more, making him grimace.
The Artificial Chaos had been warning them all along.
Guilt began to rise steadily. They had misunderstood the creatures' intent, and preemptively used the Chaos Emeralds to utterly destroy what was possibly their only way of saving Mobius.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. Sonic glimpsed over at his rival. Shadow had been the one to destroy the Artificial Chaos, and he had accomplished it with negative energy.
The same energy destroying their very existence.
Sonic's previous optimism hadn't just simmered down; it had been snuffed out like a candle.
"The loss of Chaos will not affect me," Shadow commented into the tense quiet. His brow furrowed when he added, "Not with negative energy a part of me, as well."
Knuckles had looked up at Shadow's words, before exchanging a worried glance with Sonic.
"So then … now what?" the hero asked, though with a lot less enthusiasm for any promising answer.
"I … I'm going to try and find any data in here about what Eggman did to the Artificial Chaos, to make them pull in unlimited negative energy," Tails answered. "Maybe it can be reverse engineered somehow ... or something."
There was not an ounce of enthusiasm in that statement, and even Sonic realized that it was a lost cause. Reversing the negative energy would not undo the blackhole sitting snugly inside the ship; not when the doorway of that negative energy had been quite literally vaporized.
He nonetheless smiled encouragingly at his sidekick, who offered a small twitch of a grin before setting to work.
The others were not as optimistic and said nothing.
The ARK - 50 Years Ago
Maria's eyes sparkled, despite her frail appearance in the infirmary bed. "You don't believe Grandfather."
Shadow let out a puff of air, barely masking his annoyance. "Of course not. Time travelling Chaos energy? From what, a wormhole?" He paused, gaze trailing down. "Even if it is true ... I have no control of it." His arms shifted, emphasizing the inhibitor rings he was now glaring at. "Not without these."
Her smirk did not falter. "You misunderstand your gift."
He peered up at her with disbelief. "Gift?"
"Chaos energy is everywhere. And you can touch that power, wherever or whenever it is."
The Ultimate Lifeform considered her words quietly, but gradually felt a distinct bitterness rise up. "Even so, it doesn't matter. None of it does, because it cannot help you."
Her smile became melancholy as she rested her head against the pillow. Shadow's hand was holding hers, but her focus went to the nearby window, and the never-ending blackness beyond.
"I wouldn't say that," she finally broke the silence, attention returning to the hedgehog. "During the trial, when I absorbed the negative energy..." she took in a shaky breath, and Shadow felt inexplicable anger rise at the flash of fear that passed through her expression.
The look vanished before he could comment on it, and was instead replaced with thoughtful consideration. She finished the statement with, "I saw something."
"What?"
"I saw ... you. With friends."
He couldn't help but let out a snort at that. She lightly laughed at his reaction, but shook their intertwined hands to stop him. "It's true. And you saved the world."
The idea was ludicrous, but her laugh was infectious. A hint of a grin formed when he probed, "How did I do that?"
She was staring at him wonderingly, as if she expected him to explain her next sentence: "By existing in two places at once."
The ARK - Present Day
It hadn't been that long.
But considering their current predicament, that wasn't saying much. Sonic didn't want to even think about how much time could've passed back home.
Tails was working diligently at the sole functional computer in the room, and as he devoted his full attention to that, the rest of the group didn't have much to do other than hurry up and wait.
Shadow and Rouge had lingered the longest next to the fox, reviewing the data and occasionally murmuring something about it, either to each other or to Tails directly. Whatever was said was not very promising, given their manner and tone.
Eventually they distanced themselves from the fox, probably having exhausted whatever knowledge they were able to impart.
Knuckles spent his time brooding or meditating on one far side of the room; it was always hard to tell with the echidna. But his eyes were shut and he sat motionlessly upon the edge of a dilapidated desk, ignoring the rest of the group.
It was an aloof attitude that Sonic was accustomed to with his older friend, but the troubled expression on Knuckles' features was unsettling. Of course, any attempt at conversation had led to a brief yet succinct request to be left alone, and Sonic gradually (if not begrudgingly) obliged the echidna.
The hero inevitably grew impatient with nothing to do, however, and at one point zipped around the accessible levels of the ARK. It was a short trip, since a lot of the corridors were sealed off due to ruptures in their exterior walls, but of the areas he did peruse there wasn't much of anything to explore. Between the torn walls, ransacked supplies, and sparking electronics, disrepair seemed to be the theme of the abandoned space station.
On Sonic's way back he'd become more tired than usual, slowing down to a jog (at least by his standards). It took a while for him to realize why, and when he did he felt that third, heavy weight of the situation settle onto his shoulders.
How much time did they have, before the Chaos energy was drained from him and Knuckles?
What exactly would happen, when it occurred?
Sonic's jog stuttered to a walk by the time he made it to the control room. Only the team's downhearted aura awaited him, telling him that nothing had changed during his departure.
He wasn't exactly killing it with the optimism, perhaps, but his team could've benefited from a crash course on the word. Just entering the room had taken the wind right out of his sails.
Tails' fur was sticking up in random patches on his head, a sign of irritated fingers occasionally grabbing and pulling at it. He was alone at the workstation, typing one second and clicking the next. His appendages were agitatedly whipping about behind him.
Sonic approached from the side, watching for nearly a minute before speaking.
"Hey bud … how's it going?"
The fox let out a prolonged breath, attention still glued to the screen. He typed another few lines of code before even bothering to speak. "The regulator on the A.C.s are similar to Shadow's inhibitor rings, which means that's more likely what those things are in the first place."
He paused, shaking his head to himself as he backspaced something and typed another line of random letters and slashes. "But knowing how Eggman broke something on the A.C. tech isn't exactly helpful in learning how to undo it, never mind try and inverse the settings related to negative energy release." He stopped again, long enough to minimize a window taking up most of the view and instead opening a recording that showed the Artificial Chaos. "And whatever the creatures were doing obviously wasn't logged anywhere. All there is to go off is this vague video footage, with terrible resolution and no sound, which is about as helpful as a 1920s horror movie, and every second here twiddling our thumbs could possibly be hours down on Mobius—"
"Whoa, hey—"
Tails' hands bunched into fists and he pushed away from the desk, eyes glossy when he peered up at the hero. "Three months is a long time, Sonic."
The hedgehog sighed, one of his hands coming to rest on his sidekick's shoulder. "I know, kiddo. But we're going off Eggman's word, here."
"But even so, now he's down there and we're here, stuck with his mess, and he could be destroying cities and kidnapping our friends and—"
"Hey," Sonic interrupted, this time both hands grasping the little fox's shoulders. "Chill, big guy. One step at a time, yeah?"
Tails took another deep breath, scrutinizing the floor as he quickly wiped some errant tears away with his arm. A few moments later he nodded and softly said, "Okay."
"We'll get through this," the hedgehog added when the kit finally made eye contact.
"I just don't know what to do," Tails admitted, turning towards the computer. "The ship is at full throttle and the path is set to break orbit, but it'll be ninety minutes before we do that, and who knows what will happen by then…"
The fox's voice trailed. He stared at the screen for a second, rubbing his face tiredly, before drumming his fingers on the edge of the table. He must've been reading again, as he mumbled something incoherently. Sonic tilted his head, ready to question it, when Tails exclaimed, "The numbers are changing—"
This time the kit's voice cut off abruptly, his knees buckling beneath him.
"Whoa!" Sonic instinctively caught the fox's arm, slowing the fall. He bent down with Tails and shook his arm-hold worryingly. "Hey, are you okay?"
Tails' free hand came up to grasp his head as if he were dizzy, before glancing over at the hero. The normally blue irises had dulled to a grayish color, making Sonic's blood run cold.
"You're not looking so hot," the hedgehog had trouble getting out.
"I'm fine," Tails replied, not sounding it at all. He reached for the edge of the table to stand up. Sonic didn't let go, and had to practically lift the kit to accomplish the feat.
When the fox's legs wobbled again and Sonic adjusted his handhold under the arm to give support, Tails added, "Well, I think I am. Just tired, I guess."
The hero and sidekick duo had ran on fumes before. There had been countless times where they went far too many days without sleep; none of that was unusual. But never had either of them collapsed from it.
Sonic and Knuckles were supposed to be the ones feeling the effects of the negative energy. They were the Chaos-enriched.
But his sidekick's eyes were no longer blue, and that couldn't be ignored.
"It's happening, isn't it?"
Tails was struggling to remain upright, even with Sonic being his crutch. The fox held tightly to the edge of the desk, trying to maintain balance. He couldn't hide a grimace at the effort it took, but it did briefly change to puzzlement as he studied his brother. "You don't feel it yet?" he asked.
"Why are you?" Sonic countered, unable to hide the panic in his voice.
"What's going on?"
The two watched as Rouge and Shadow approached. The bat reacted first when she saw the fox's dull gaze. "Whoa, honey, your eyes—"
"Why is it hitting him and not us?!" Sonic butted in, the sheer injustice of it making his anger flare.
"He manifests less than us, so it makes sense that the loss will affect him first," Shadow answered, watching as Sonic opted to guide the weak fox back to the floor. He helped Tails lean against the desk before glowering at the black hedgehog.
"I thought it was only going to affect those of us that have powers from it?"
"What do you think his flying is?" Shadow retorted plainly. "He is young, but could harbor a Super state if he was inclined to do so."
Tails looked up curiously, but Sonic wasn't having it.
"By himself?" the hero incredulously asked. "He was able to go Super when we fought Metal Overlord, but I thought it was because I shared that energy with him."
"Not everyone can utilize Chaos energy," Shadow said, and Sonic swore he saw the mildest of flinches. "Even if it is gifted to them."
"That's true," Tails breathlessly added, his interest piquing regardless of draining lifeforce. "Dr. Gerald Robotnik's research with his granddaughter did confirm that..."
This time Shadow's flinch was plain as day.
Sonic still didn't care. "But he's never gone Super by himself. Shouldn't that mean he's not affected like this?" He knew the argument was pointless. But it needed to be said, if for no other reason than hoping that the fates themselves would listen and fix the current situation. Frustration had boiled over and the hedgehog stood up, fists clenched at his sides so tight that it hurt.
He whirled around, intent on accosting his meditating teammate, but stumbled at seeing Knuckles already standing beside him. Shaking off the initial surprise, Sonic stared down the Guardian while pointing at Tails. "Can the Master Emerald help him?"
Sonic was prepared for an argument. Asking anything of the Master Emerald was akin to asking the world on a platter from the echidna.
But Knuckles did not retort his request. His focus was on the fox as he gently bent down next to him. "I will try," he responded.
"Knuckles, don't," Tails said, waving him away. "Save that energy in case we can use it later."
"We need you to get us out of this hot mess," Sonic contended, kneeling next to both of them, "and you're not in any shape to do anything right now."
Knuckles didn't let the debate continue. He began to hum a low chant, his words hardly a whisper. The few bits Sonic could hear were unfamiliar, which meant he was speaking in ancient Echidnean again.
Slowly, the Guardian lifted one of his hands and opened it, allowing a small spark of green energy to dance across his palm. It swirled and expanded slowly, floating like smoke towards Tails.
It faltered briefly during its approach, blinking in and out of existence. Knuckles kept his eyes clenched shut and raised his voice slightly, the chant becoming more demanding.
The hero watched on anxiously, the path of energy becoming alarmingly sparse as it reached Tails. It continued to fade along its journey, green essence barely noticeable, before a flash of white erupted out of nowhere.
Sonic fell to the floor, a forceful wave of fatigue capturing his muscles. His limbs were nearly cement as he tried to hold himself up with his arms.
The light disappeared as quickly as it burst forth, and Chaos 0 appeared out of nowhere, standing next to Knuckles.
Gasping, the Guardian finished speaking, opening his eyes. Fighting the fatigue, Sonic inspected their younger teammate but saw no difference in his appearance or demeanor.
The hero frowned. If nothing had changed, then why had he been zapped of energy?
Chaos 0 slowly walked away as the echidna lowered his head.
"Knux..?"
"The Master Emerald had been feeding us this whole time," he answered without being questioned. "It is fully drained, now."
Tails' wide eyes met Sonic's.
"There is nothing else we can do."