aw yeah chapter 10 babey! tbh not my fav chapter, but essential to the plot nonetheless. enjoy :)
X.
before (bəˈfôr)
[noun]
a time earlier than.
Knothole was really kind of amazing, Gadget thought. He couldn't help but gape like an idiot at it, taking in his surroundings sluggishly and simply marveling. It was spectacular. It was safe.
Maybe it was just his inner-straggler speaking. He hadn't found himself to behold any form of community or security in months. Even back before he met Miles, when he'd been staying with the others in the college dorms, everything felt on edge. The walls were only so thick and they were right in the heart of the city, constantly stirred awake from explosions and crashes of metal and the distant chants of patrolling Egg Pawns. Then, it had only been a matter of time until they were found and—and the rest of them slaughtered.
And then even when he had found Miles, only just a few days ago, they still stalked the streets of Westopolis in hesitance, in fear. They still had nothing but canned food and homemade weaponry. They still nearly encountered death on multiple occasions, with the Egg Emperor, with Infinite (with Zero).
But now—now he was here, in this quaint, unassuming little village. There were makeshift walls that were undoubtedly formidable wrapping around the vicinity standing nearly twice as tall as the buildings. He could hear calm, jubilant voices strewn about because the people here actually felt comfortable enough to just lounge around and exchange small talk. There was a windmill whirling steadily in the back of the town, like a guardian angel watching over them all. In the center of Knothole was a massive pavilion filled with tables and chairs and a random assortment of other furniture, and just beside it, a large bonfire that surely had seen its fair share of fun, lazy cookouts.
Now, as Gadget stood in the entrance to Knothole, he felt like he could breathe again. He felt like he'd been drifting aimlessly for weeks on end, living on old packs of ramen and cans of peaches and raw adrenaline for far too long. Here—here he got to exhale, got to feel the relief wash out of him. He got to smell grills cooking fresh meals, and hear the distant laughter all around him, and feel his shoulders slacken for the first time in an eternity.
The rabbit—Bunnie, he'd quickly come to learn—chuckled jovially and draped an arm over both himself and Miles, respectively. "You boys look awful hungry. Let's find ya' some grub."
Gadget exchanged a fleeting look with the fox. It was instantly laced with this tension that made his stomach churn and throat close up. The kid looked—ashamed? Upset? He couldn't tell, but it wasn't good.
Tails. His name was Tails. Vaguely, the wolf could recall the name in passing on the television, but—but he'd never been very interested in Sonic the Hedgehog or his antics in the past. As long as the guy kept the planet safe and did his own thing, Gadget couldn't have cared less.
But now he just felt kind of stupid. He'd been venturing about with a celebrity? With the sidekick to the world-renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog? How blind was he?!
(In his defense, Miles—fuck, Tails—wasn't nearly as famous as the blue blur. He wouldn't have ever guessed, probably, unless somebody had just told him, point blank, that this kid was a superhero. Which, uh, did happen. About five minutes ago.)
Gadget cleared his throat. The aroma of freshly cooked meat and vegetables teased his nose flirtatiously and he could instantly feel himself salivating. "Hungry is an understatement."
Bunnie laughed again. Her joy was kind of contagious. "Perfect! Lunch isn't for a few hours still, but we'll make an exception for y'all."
"Thank you," Miles said. When the wolf attempted to steal another glance at him, the fox looked distracted and downcast. His eyes were busy studying the architecture of the village.
With a nod, Bunnie guided them into a building that looked more grandiose than the rest. The first floor was filled with china cabinets and prestigious conference tables and tapestry. They headed upstairs and entered a more humble office. There was a picture of the chipmunk girl—Sally—and some other chipmunk, a male who looked pretty similar to her, propped up on the desk.
After taking a moment to insure the chairs were comfortable enough, the rabbit stepped back. "Sal will be here in a minute. I'm gonna go get y'all some food."
And then they were alone.
There was a suffocating silence that caught them like helpless fish in a net far too big and overwhelming for them to ever escape, until Gadget broke it by shifting slightly in his chair to look at Miles.
"So," he said, cautiously. The fox refused to meet his eyes, instead staring absently ahead with this strange focus. Gadget felt like he was trying to diffuse a bomb. "Your name—"
"I'm sorry," Miles said, and the wolf faltered because he was expecting a lot of different outcomes from this conversation but it was definitely not that. The fox took a moment to find his words. "… Look, back when we first met—"
"Hey guys!"
The pair froze and turned in their seats. It was Sally. They shared a silent look of, we'll continue this later. Secretly, Gadget felt relieved. He wasn't sure if he was quite ready to talk about… whatever the hell this was just yet.
The chipmunk made her way to her desk, completely oblivious to the awkwardness. She laced her fingers intricately on top of the table and gave a gentle smile.
"Bunnie will be back soon with some food. In the meantime, I figured we'd get to know each other."
"I'm Gadget, and this is…"
Miles spoke before he could fumble for an answer. "I'm Tails."
Sally grinned. "So I've heard. I've also heard you're rather intelligent. There's a resident here who's been working on a project for a long time now with no luck. We thought maybe you could help him out." As payment for us letting you stay here, went unsaid. Miles—Tails swallowed.
(It'd be okay. They seemed to trust them enough—thanks to Gadget saving Ray's life that morning… Now, if that hadn't happened, then they might have been in a different situation.)
(But they were here, and it was fine, and they were safe. That's what mattered.)
"And I, uh," Gadget started, unsurely. "I'm not nearly as smart as him, but I'm willing to help out in any way I can. We're—We're very grateful for your hospitality."
"We're glad to have you," Sally replied. "So, as soon as you get some food in your stomachs, I thought I'd show you around and introduce you to everyone else. Plus, you gotta meet the guy working on the emerald tracker in the first place."
When Gadget looked at Miles all he could see was a brain busy at work, conjuring up a million questions and solutions in a matter of seconds. He supposed he couldn't help but relate. He had a lot of questions too. For starters, what the hell did they mean by emerald tracker? Although it seemed even the fox knew the answer to that question.
Behind them a door creaked open and all three mobians turned their attention to see Bunnie return. She bared a sheepish smile as she balanced a few dishes and cups, precariously making her way to the desk before settling them down before the ravenous-looking boys.
If Gadget was being frank, he had no clue what he was staring at. Some sort of stew, it seemed, with chunks of ambiguous meat and beans and other miscellaneous ingredients. In retrospect, he probably should have been more cautious, given they were in foreign territory with people they didn't know if they could trust yet. Miles certainly looked wary as he prodded at the stew with a slight frown.
Gadget, on the other hand, indulged. He was too hungry to concern himself with the hypotheticals.
His stomach did not object.
The workshop was a wonderland for Tails. Granted, it was in a state of shambles and wasn't nearly as splendorous as his own, back in Mystic Ruins, but it had been months since he had entered such a familiar atmosphere as this. He could smell the oil and sizzling circuitry; he grinned lightly upon noticing the scraps of paper and metal strewn about.
It was small and bare-bones and just about anything but the luxuries of his own, but Tails felt comfort in here.
A figure rounded the corner, beads of sweat dripping down his face as he cradled some large, blocky contraption and fiddled with the controls on it. From beside himself and Gadget, Ray giggled and bounded forwards.
The stranger gasped and nearly dropped the thing when the squirrel wrapped himself around his waist, before something fond came over him and he smiled warmly, running fingers through Ray's golden fur.
"Hey kiddo, what's up?" he asked. He was an armadillo, Tails deduced, from his bright red shell. His fur was thin and black beneath it, and he fashioned a mostly leather getup consisting of fingerless gloves and combat boots. From beneath the hood of his red armor, blue eyes twinkled with charisma and almost pride.
And then he followed Ray's gaze and noticed Tails and Gadget. Instantly, his entire demeanor shifted. He set the machine (which he had, miraculously, managed to balance effortlessly in one hand) on a table beside him, and pushed Ray behind him. Warm blue eyes became clouded in ice and malice.
"Who are you?"
"T-T-They're friends, d-don't worry!" Ray assured. The armadillo did not waver in the slightest, though.
Gadget held up his hands in surrender. "We met Sally and Bunny," he explained, slowly. "They're letting us stay here—you can ask them yourself."
"On the condition that we help create an emerald tracker," Tails elaborated. He tried to keep himself as steeled and unyielding as the armadillo was, but it proved to be a difficult feat. "We're here to help."
The armadillo narrowed his eyes, before drawing his brows together, almost in confusion. "Wait, are you-? You're that kid, aren't you? Sonic the Hedgehog's sidekick."
To his side, Gadget sighed wearily, a quiet thing. Tails' heart panged with guilt, but smothered the feeling and nodded.
That seemed to change things. Any lingering aggression fled the armadillo, and he smiled at them, wide and sure, extending out a hand. "It's an honor to meet'cha, Mister Tails. The name's Mighty."
Tails regarded the hand in vague bemusement before accepting it. Mighty's grip was strong and made his fingers twitch in pain.
"Just Tails is fine."
Gadget cleared his throat. "So, what exactly is an emerald tracker? I feel like I've missed something."
The fox nearly explained, but Mighty was already piping up. "It's a device that's supposed to be able to pick up on the energy signals that Chaos Emeralds emit. You can use them to, well, track emeralds." He looked to Tails, sheepish. "I, uh, actually got inspired by your inventions to make this bad boy! You're pretty damn smart, kid. I still can't even figure out how you make these things."
The teen looked at him incredulously and felt his lips twitch at that. People were actually inspired by him?
"Um," he stammered, jarred by Mighty's words. "Well—Well let's start working, yeah?"
Mighty nodded eagerly and gestured the two boys to come over and take a look at his contraption.
Gadget suddenly seemed to feel very out of place, because he squirmed uncomfortably and started for the door. "Maybe I'd be more helpful elsewhere. Mi—Tails is the mechanic, not me."
Seeming to consider this, Mighty nudged for Ray to join the wolf. "That's fine. Ray, go with him to see if Sally has any jobs for him. We can use all the help we can get, even just gathering some more firewood."
With a nervous nod, Gadget left with a giddy squirrel in tow.
Tails swallowed thickly and focused on studying Mighty's device. Every second that passed just made him feel even worse about Gadget, but there were more pressing issues at the moment. Like the emerald tracker.
It was exponentially more bulky and slow than his own models, and it was nowhere near completion, but it was a start. Tails started opening the back of it and observing the wiring.
"So what brings you here to Knothole?" Mighty wondered, watching as the fox dissected the machine.
Tails shrugged. "We landed on the beach last night to rest, and we happened to meet Ray. He's the one who brought us here."
Mighty shook his head in disapproval, but there was a smirk playing at his lips. "That kid," he muttered. "I always tell him to stay away from strangers and never wander alone, but—"
"But he never listens?" the kit filled in, looking back to the armadillo.
"But he never listens."
The thought stirred something warm and tender in Tails' gut. It made him reminisce of when he was just as young as the squirrel, and equally as reckless. He thought of Sonic (perhaps the first time in months that the very name didn't make him nauseas), and all the times the hedgehog had been overprotective of him on their adventures. Even the mere gesture of Mighty hiding Ray behind himself was precisely something Sonic would have done.
His heart ached something melancholy, and he immediately snuffed those thoughts out. "So you guys are…?"
"Brothers," Mighty said, automatically. He was transfixed on the tracker. "Well, not biologically, obviously. But we grew up in a foster home together. After the war, we ran away together and came across this place." A pause. "What about you? You're part of a team, right? Where's Sonic and Shadow and all those other guys?"
Tails nearly choked on his own spit. "They—um. Sonic never lived to see the war."
Mighty fell silent. "Oh. I'm sorry about that. He… He must've meant a lot to you." He processed this information for a moment, eyes blown wide as he stared into nothing. Infinite killed Sonic just before the bombings, just before Eggman took over for good. Since then there hadn't been any way for news to travel; people either lived in hiding or as slaves to the empire—or they were executed for the slightest sign of treason. There were no other options.
And it wasn't surprising how shocked Mighty seemed, really. Sonic was a symbol of hope to the world. To hear he had died—and so unceremoniously, so soon—was a sickening thought and a painful blow to whatever remnants of faith people were still clinging onto.
Uneasy from the whirlpool of emotions stirring within himself, Tails cleared his throat. "… This tracker isn't a bad start," he said. He tried to ignore the way his fingers trembled ever so slightly. Luckily, it seemed the sound of his voice managed to stir the armadillo from his own state of shock. "But—"
"I know, it's pretty bad," Mighty frowned. "I'm not too good with this kinda stuff."
Tails pursed his lips. "Then why are you trying to make this in the first place?"
He shrugged. "We used to have a real mechanic here—Rotor. But he… passed a few months ago. I was basically his assistant though, so I'm the most qualified out of the others to creates something like this."
"But," the fox started. Things weren't quite lining up. "But why are you trying to—do this at all? What do you want with the Chaos Emeralds?"
"I wanna help," Mighty said, simply. Tails eyed him oddly. "I mean—I know there's some sort of resistance out there. And—and here, in Knothole? Sally just wants everyone to be safe. Which is fine, of course, but all we're doing is just hiding and waiting for someone else to save us. I'm tired of waiting. I wanna do something, contribute. I wanna be my own kind of hero."
Tails could empathize. That was his same thought process all those years ago, when he first became Sonic's sidekick. The way Sonic had just—put himself out there, taken action, was awe-inspiring for anyone.
With a fond smile, Tails got to work.
The group they elected to venture out to Capital City was decidedly Sonic, Shadow, Rouge, and Espio—the stealthiest and fastest members of the resistance. With a parting call of Amy ("be careful, guys!") and a cocky remark from Sonic ("please, we'll be back before you know it"), Shadow warped them away in the blink of an eye.
Left in their wake was the rest of the resistance, whose job was just to hold down the fort until they got back. Vanilla and Cream went back to preparing meals as the mother attempted to salvage any form of normalcy in raising a child in the middle of a war. The Chaotix resumed guarding the base, with the assistance of Silver and the rest of the miscellaneous resistance members. Amy and Knuckles found themselves back in the chamber that held the Master Emerald.
Knuckles sighed, a long and heavy thing. He was sat right before the Master, eyes closed as he tried to break through whatever barriers were blocking him off from Tikal and the Special Zone. The red crystallization that clung to it like a parasite acted like one too, rapidly spreading and quickly gaining strength. The poor connection he had with the Master was feeble and exhausted; he could feel just how drained it felt by merely concentrating on its strained energies, and it made him quiver from exertion. He wished, so badly, that he could just tear the red right off of the M.E.—but the others refused to let him take such a risk again. Last time he touched it, he went into an induced coma.
A ginger hand landed on his shoulder, and he lethargically opened his eyes to look at the newcomer. Amy watched him with something unreadable in her wide, jade eyes. They simply stared at each other for a few moments, before she smiled hesitantly and lifted up a clump of fresh grapes for him to see.
"Brought you a snack," she said, her voice quiet. She was well aware of his pounding headache and the mere fatigue settled in his bones. "Figured you'd need one."
The guardian looks at the fruit in unspoken awe, before taking one and popping it in his mouth. With a single bite there was a burst of flavor, sweet and tangy, dancing frivolously along his tongue. He hummed in delight, savoring the grape, before frowning at her.
"Where'd you find these?" Fresh food was hard to come by, nowadays. Anything that wasn't dead or deserted was too dangerous to approach.
Amy grinned cleverly and tilted her head. "I went out for a little walk to stretch my legs. Found them by the old shrine."
He chewed on another grape. "You should stay closer to HQ. I know Angel Island is hidden but we can't risk anything."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Knuckles. The shrine isn't too far from here."
Besides, Angel Island was safe. HQ was tucked away in a small clearing on it, hidden by miles of thick forest and ancient ruins. And since the Master Emerald wasn't back in the shrine (too risky; who knew how the virus would react to that), it simply looked like a regular island just off the coast of the United Federation. As long as they didn't let it lift back into the air, Angel Island was totally invisible to Eggman.
Regardless, Knuckles grumbled in protest and closed his eyes again to resume his meditations. "Still dangerous. Don't be stupid."
Amy smiled and nudged his shoulder playfully. "Hey, don't get back in the zone yet. You still have to teach me more about Chaos—you know, 'cause you're my mentor, remember?"
He could spot her underlying intentions a mile away: she was just trying to get him to take a break from his stress. And under any other conditions, he'd immediately object—but she did have a point. He hadn't exactly had the time to train her, between finding the Master, and Sonic showing up, and rescuing Shadow.
"Fine," he grunted. The echidna eased her into sitting criss-cross, beside himself. Both of her hands rested on each leg, palms up. Absently, he placed a hand into hers, and his pulse instantly skyrocketed. He suddenly felt very hot and very nervous. "… Uh, close your eyes."
She complied, and Knuckles swallowed the knot in his throat. He was fine. This was fine. They were just—friends, he was training her, as a mentor. (Do not think about the kiss. Don't you dare.)
He took a steadying breath. "I'm gonna teach you a prayer. When you recite it, it helps you call upon the emeralds' power. But use it sparingly—it can drain both your energy and theirs."
Amy nodded, already relaxed and focused. She squeezed his hand and he tried to ignore the way chills raced down his spine.
"Okay, repeat after me." Knuckles closed his own eyes, and instead of meeting darkness, he was met with a dull green that he could feel permeating the air all around him. He tried to ignore the red that pierced through. "The servers are the seven chaos."
"The servers are the seven chaos."
"Chaos is power."
"Chaos is power."
"Power enriched by the heart."
"Power enriched by the heart."
"The controller is the one that unifies the chaos."
Amy let out a deep exhale. "The controller is the one that unifies the chaos."
The gravity seemed to shift around them, pulling them closer to the earth beneath them. Amy could feel heat running along her skin, almost scratching at her, desperately trying to claw its way in. It felt strange; good, in a way—alluring and ravenous and powerful—but scary. Lethal.
The energy began to burn her. She could feel it crawling down her throat and festering in her lungs, poisoning her, searing into her soul. It hurt. It hurt badly. She—she tried to gasp for air but her chest felt tight, like it was furling itself around her, suffocating her like a boa constrictor, sapping away all her strength till she was nothing, because she was nothing, nothing compared to—
"Amy."
Something fluttered inside her and she could breathe again.
"Hey, Amy, calm down. Open your eyes."
She did. Everything was swaying and blurred around the edges. She thought maybe the corners of her vision were tinted red.
Knuckles was there, though. He wrapped a strong arm around her and pulled her close, and Amy let him. She released a shuddering breath and burrowed against him.
"Sorry, shit, I should've—That was a bad idea. The Master is unstable right now, it isn't safe to draw on its energy. It's… It's too corrupted."
His words sounded so tired, so empty. Defeated.
Her skin still tingled with the residue of a scathing energy, and she hugged him tighter. The guardian rested his cheek against her forehead and let her relax in his hold.
When Knuckles looked back at the Master Emerald, he felt something cold and hard sink into the pit of his stomach. There was no longer a miniscule, unnoticeable fissure along its surface; no insignificant blemish.
Instead, it was a massive, wretched spider web of cracks stretching across green and glowing sickening, abhorrent, and red.
The blinding light faded and Sonic's vision was filled with magnificent skyscrapers and bounds of endless, white steel. Capital City was a behemoth in its own right; simply standing in the midst of it made him feel puny and weak, even from the top of one of the buildings.
His ears were filled with the incessant noise of jackhammers and drills and whirring machinery as Eggman's bots milled around the city, mindlessly accomplishing their tasks. The monstrous, pristine towers were dotted with orange and purple and red mechs that flew and ran and climbed about. Sonic had a sudden itch to turn every single one of them to scrap metal.
Seeming to catch onto his jumpiness, Shadow grabbed his wrist and shook his head. "Don't get ahead of yourself. We need to be careful here; we have a mission."
Espio nodded in agreement, scanning the forest of metal keenly. "Can you guys sense where the emerald might be?"
Shadow closed his eyes and took a refreshing, deep breath. Crimson eyes snapped back open and he pointed in the distance towards a road suspended in midair, supported only by a few pillars. There were several roads similar to it twisting all about the city, each at varying elevations. In another world, it'd remind Sonic of some futuristic utopia, with all the pearly white skyscrapers and hexagons and domes and winding streets. But this place—here, in the middle of a war and brimming with sadistic robots, he felt like he was standing in the deepest depths of hell.
"Somewhere over there," the ebony hedgehog said, and he furrowed his brows. "It feels like it's… moving."
Sonic cocked his head to the side. "Being transported? Maybe there are some buzz bombers here or somethin'."
Rouge shook her head. "I dunno. A Chaos Emerald seems a little too important to be trusted with a couple of flying bees, but Eggman's a whack job, so who's to say?"
The blue blur snorted at that and exchanged a smirk with the bat, before Shadow stepped forwards to get a better view of the span of Capital City. His gaze seemed to catch on a particular outpost of badniks, large and brooding against the bright skyline. It didn't stand nearly as tall as some of the other skyscrapers, but the large satellite on its roof and plethora of wires and machinery running along its walls made it look particularly important.
"We should split up," he said after a moment. "Two of us will investigate the emerald, and the other two will head towards that outpost."
Sonic frowned. That tower was teeming with bots. "I thought we weren't supposed to draw attention to ourselves?"
"If we can't steal the emerald without avoiding contact, that outpost will be the first to know—and we don't need to fight more badniks than necessary." Shadow wavered. "But, as long as we remain incognito, all we'll have to do is keep an eye on it."
"I'll fly ahead and see if I can figure out where the emerald is," Rouge said.
Shadow nodded and gestured to their communicators. "Stay in touch."
The bat took off seamlessly, pushing off the ground and beating her wings with a force that made the three males stumble back and brace themselves. She glided through the air towards the road-bridge-thing until she was just a tiny speck in the sky, lost to the conglomeration of metal.
With an exasperated huff, Sonic hopped down to sit on the edge of the roof, dangling his feet over and pouting like a child. "Ugh. I hope this mission's more exciting than just spying on stupid robots."
Espio rose a brow at him. "Careful what you wish for."
Just then, their communicators hissed with static before Rouge's voice came through, muted and crackling.
"Boys, I think I found the emerald."
Sonic was instantly on his feet, preening over Shadow's shoulder to stare intently at the walkie-talkie. He vaguely reminded Shadow of a dog pawing at the door for his owner to return. "Where is it?"
"Uh, well." Rouge hesitated, and it did not bode well with any of them. "Metal Sonic is here."
Shadow shot Sonic a glare, as if he were to blame for jinxing them. "That exciting enough for you?"
Sonic found it rather difficult to feign the sudden feeling of terror that washed over him.
tensions are rising w gadget and tails! mighty's here! knuckles is dumb and in love! the master emerald is fucked and so is Team Rescue The Emerald!
ugh sorry this chapter was so short and mostly just dialogue/exposition/buildup. i promise next chapter will be a lot more exciting and hopefully a lot longer haha
drop a review if u enjoyed!
