58 - Oh, The Sky Is Pink
It felt like a dream.
Like it was all just, a crazy dream.
...Chaos.
The fact that they survived all this crap was a miracle in itself, Tails thought to himself. Things were, unsettling to say the least after everything that's happened. Nobody even realized what was happening until Hyper Sonic and Super Shadow just chaos controlled in front of them, with dead people beginning to stand and walk on their own. The entire world came back to life, and it was a miracle. No, it was beyond a miracle, it was definitely divine intervention. But considering how powerful Hyper Sonic is, maybe that wasn't too surprising. No one can say things went back to normal, not completely. For Moebius, it would never return to it's glory days. It's been too many decades since the genocide of it's people. For No Zone, they got off extremely lucky. More than ninety-nine percent of the entire population was alive and kicking. Everything was fixed and restored, and considering the small amount of casualties they did suffer thanks to Scourge sneaking around before he was caught, they practically came out of this scott-free.
And then came Mobius prime. Sigh. Where should he even start? After a few days since Sonic's return, everyone all over the world reported their casualty numbers. After adding up all the numbers, getting some rough estimates before accurately collecting an enormous amount of information, Tails concluded that only sixty-percent of Mobius' population was restored. There were roughly seven billion people in their world, but only about four billion survived. Which meant that they lost nearly three billion lives thanks to Scourge, and Hyper wasn't able to bring those people back. They had been dead for too long. When Sonic returned home the night he and Shadow came back home, he confessed to Tails that he needed rest and he needed to be alone for a while. Granted, he realized how selfish this sounded, since this was the first time in months he's seen his big brother after all that horror. So to be fair, Sonic and Shadow along with the rest of their friends spent the night in Tails' home. But the next morning, both hedgehogs were gone. Sonic left a note on his desk, saying that he was sorry for leaving so quickly, but he needed time to himself right now.
To an extent, Tails could understand why. Sonic had just killed someone, he wasn't able to bring back an insane amount of people from the dead, and he blames himself that any of this happened. The only person who could comfort him in a way Tails never could, was Shadow. News reporters were going nuts about Sonic's presence and desperately wanted to know what happened, GUN was in shambles, and law enforcement every where was being stretched thin to help those in need. Right now, Amy was helping locals in Station Square, Rouge was back at GUN to help out, Vanilla and Cream were handing out meals, and Knuckles could finally return to Angel Island to keep the Master Emerald protected. They all split up yesterday. Again, Tails couldn't blame them. Now wasn't a time to celebrate, not yet. They still had a lot of work to do.
Alone now in his workshop, Tails was tinkering around with something while listening to the radio on some earphones.
Every so often, he heard both joyful and devastating news of survival and loss. Mass funeral ceremonies for large amounts of people who died, along with reporters announcing good news of businesses running again. How the world dropped any of it's global disputes and came together to heal the world and aid each other, with international food banks and doctors assisting the many Mobians in need. Despite Hyper Sonic restoring everything, that didn't mean people could just go on with their lives. People still remembered what happened before they died, some people went insane and some were emotionally destroyed from the tragedy they went through. Hyper's power was not an absolute, it could only do but so much. News anchors are calling the incident "The Calamity," an event so horrible, so despair-inducing that the world would never be the same again. They had recordings of Scourge's public antics before people lost their minds, and they kept playing it on repeat.
Well, this was what he wanted. He got it in full, the bastard.
As for their allies, Tails and the others made some phone calls and they were able to conclude that all of their other friends and allies were alive and well. The Chaotix were fine, the Babylon Rouges were fine, everyone was accounted for. Fiona and that weird anti-Shadow were gone, and nobody knows where they went. That was slightly alarming but at the same time, what could they do? Scourge was dead. Now as for their new No Zone friends, well...
Let's just say, they're going to be staying in Mobius prime for a while.
As Tails worked on his desk with his many monitors sitting in front of him, one of them cut to his front door. They were his camera monitors. Tails looked up from what he was doing and noticed this. That's when he began to smile, someone he recognized was there. He placed down his work and pulled off his earphones. He got up from his seat and rushed upstairs from out of the basement. Making it to the ground floor, he ran to the front door and swung it open. "Zonic!" He exclaimed cheerfully.
A returning smile greeted him, along with a casual salute. "Miles prime, a pleasure to see you again." The familiar blue hedgehog placed his hands behind his back. "Are you ready to scout?"
"Sure am!" The small fox grinned and saluted as well. "Yes sir!"
A small blush appeared on Zonic's cheeks, and he made a chuckle.
They also noticed, though the skies were thundering earlier, there were no clouds in the sky.
As the blue hedgehog in black military garb marched down the pavement, Tails walked beside him as they carried a conversation. They were walking through the streets of Station Square, eyeing their surroundings to see that people were acting relatively normal here. "So," The fox began. "You guys are staying in Mobius?"
The soldier shook his head. "Negative. It is unwise to have the majority of our military in another reality, however, we are staying to do a few investigations."
"Such as?"
"Well," Zonic stopped in front of a street, the traffic light above them turning red as cars drove by. "For instance, we need to make sure there are no stragglers of Scourge's plans. We also need to validate that he is indeed dead. My partner and I have retrieved his remains, but we're testing it to make sure it stays that way." The light turned green, allowing the two to walk across the street. "We're also still searching for Fiona Fox and the anti-Shadow, who disappeared the instant Sonic prime returned. We tried searching in anti-Mobius, but alas, we couldn't find them." As they continued to walk, he saw the fox slow down a bit in front of an ice cream stand. Zonic stood by and saw that the fox was buying two cones. Then after purchasing the cold-sweets, the kitsune flew back to Zonic's side before offering him a chocolate cone. "I-Oh my." He blinked.
"I heard you like sweets so, here you go."
Zonic blinked. "I...But you didn't have to-"
Tails shook his head with a smile. "I insist. Besides, I already bought it, haha."
Feeling flattered, Zonic hesitantly took the cone and awkwardly took a lick. And after registering the taste for a few moments, he realized this was the best thing he's ever had in his mouth in years. Why the hell weren't No Zone cones this good!? "Astounding." He mumbled breathlessly, making Tails giggle. "Erm," Zonic tried to continue with a more professional air. "Anyway, there's also one thing my superior and I agreed to survey heavily before we leave." As they walked forward, Tails realized where they were going and what Zonic meant. "This GUN agency, we are going to investigate it thoroughly. After examining whatever results we receive, we will determine whether or not to exterminate this agency, or have it ran by a deployed No Zone elite."
"Woah," Tails paused in eating his ice cream. "Exterminate it? How come? And why are you investigating GUN at all?"
"For one, GUN has been a severe thorn in Shadow prime's side since his creation. I've vast knowledge of everything you all went through the second he was discovered, and Lieutenant General Zhadow and I have noted that they're partially responsible for putting you all in a bad place before and after the world fell into chaos." His face grew a bit irritated. "A leader who shoots himself? That is a cowardice beyond my comprehension. This Overlander Tower has an obvious prejudice against you all, especially Sonic prime and Shadow prime, and it is my job to keep them comfortable. They've done nothing but give you all a hard time, and I fail to see how they're doing their jobs as governmental soldiers." He aggressively slurped up a chunk of ice cream. "I will never acknowledge a corporation who values themselves over their duty to protect others."
Tails nodded his head a few times. "Yeah, that's true. They've never really been helpful, and they've usually made things harder for us. I think even the president doesn't trust Tower. I think he even tried to assassinate Shadow personally before. But," Tails paused a moment to take a lick. "But what are you and Zhadow going to do? I mean, are you guys even allowed to step over them like this?"
Zonic scoffed. "As Grand Overseer of all Chaos Born, I have authority that goes beyond any type of law or military enforcement. The No Zone military is small, but it is stronger than most armies I've ever surveyed in other realities, including GUN. Even if they didn't take a liking to our presence here, they've no chance to retaliate and nobody wants another war right now. Least of all with us." In a few more minutes, he finished his ice cream and began crunching on the cone. Wow, that was fast. Tails was kind of impressed at how fast he ate that. Didn't he get brain freeze? "Not to sound hypocritical, but I don't like the idea of Overlanders having strong control over the government of my Champion. Overlanders have every right to rule or have authority, as they are people as well and are related to the very beings that we spawned from. However, that was then, and this is now. Though this racism problem isn't rampant nor too obvious, I find that even more dangerous. To see a government ever so subtly make moves against a race in the shadows, is deplorable."
Wow, he sounded like a politician. He had to admit, Tails liked the sound of that. GUN's been nothing but a pain in the ass and they really showed their true colors this time. If that's how they acted during a crisis, then they could never be trusted again. "Have you heard from Sonic or Shadow?"
"I have. Well more from Shadow than Sonic prime, but I have. They are doing fine, living in Sonic's prime remote home. Sonic is still very out of it, he still needs some time to himself to recover mentally."
Finally finishing his ice cream, they both stopped in front of the Station Square GUN HQ. Many No Zone soldiers were standing by the perimeter of the building, shooing people away and even escorting some Overlanders out. Some Overlanders were just shocked by what was happening, while some yelled and shouted for them to let them go, and that they couldn't do this to them. Oh boy. Zonic gestured for Tails to continue following him, and they both walked by the No Zone soldiers guarding the door, who stepped away in respect with a salute. They made their way too Tower's office in mere minutes, with Zonic waltzing in as if he already owned the place. He shut the door behind him as Tails walked around the table and saw Rouge. He waved hello before sitting on the boardroom table. Rouge stood beside Tower, who was sitting slumped in his chair, his hands over his face in stress.
"Hey hon, you got another visitor." The bat said sensually.
The old human didn't move to respond. "..."
Zonic just figured he'd speak, then. "I assume you know why I'm here. I've assessed your capabilities as a leader through the crisis of The Calamity, and I've determined that you are not at all fit to rule this corporation any longer. I find it humorous that a twelve-year old with no prior knowledge of military leadership, did a better job of guiding Mobius prime's survivors than you." To this insult, this made Tails blush and grin sheepishly. "Sonic prime was to trust you in his absence that you would do your jobs and protect the world's people. However, you all did no such thing. In Spagonia, the GUN leader retreated to their bunker and never left. Even as the world was restored, he still refuses to leave the bunker and denounced his status in shame. In Chun Nan, the GUN leader of that country's HQ did what you did, and committed suicide with a blade. Unlike you, she was willing to bleed out in pain instead of going out quick and easy. When she was revived, she killed herself again, wasting Sonic prime's efforts."
As Zonic grilled him, Tails saw more No Zone soldiers march in the door. They were rolling in box carts, and they were starting to go around and raid the room. Opening cabinets, breaking locked drawers, whipping out documents from shelves, and tossing them all in classified boxes. Rouge even politely began to hand the soldiers incriminating pieces of top secret information, handing files out like candy. She had a big smirk on her face too.
As they stole everything Tower worked on, Zonic continued. "In GUN HQ Mazuri, the ruler went mad and massacred his entire force before Scourge's power hit the country. They were terrified of their impending zoom, and took things into their own hands. How gutless. He is imprisoned and will never see the light of day. Of course, these are only a few examples of how your company internationally failed the world all at once. And you know something? Half of your HQ leaders were fellow Mobians. How ironic. However, after talking with your trusted agent Rouge of Team Dark," He glanced at the bat favorably, who gave him a wink in return. "I know now that you had them in your pocket, and they followed you like puppets. Virtually, they were only figure heads of your command. Well," He snapped his fingers. "Today, that ends here."
Six No Zone soldiers held up military grade firearms, and aimed them at Tower's desk. They fired, spraying bullets all across his office. Rouge kicked down some cabinets while holding a pile of papers in her hands. Those papers were documents that allowed Towers to be recruited into GUN. And just like that, she spread out her wings, flew over a metal tin can, tossing them inside. A No Zone soldier walked beside her with a lit lighter, and dropped it in. The papers went up in flames, ashes floating in the air almost immediately. Tails watched all this in amazement his baby blue eyes having stars twinkle in them. Zonic was so cool!
"As of now, I have not reached a decision on whether GUN should be globally destroyed, or to just have you fired and deploy Station Square's GUN HQ with a new force. I need my superior to return to me with the results of our investigations first-"
A new set of footsteps echoed in the room. Tails looked over and almost laughed at the sight. It just wasn't Tower's day, because now standing in the room was Lieutenant General Zhadow and his two colonels, Zespio and Zector. The colonels saluted Zonic, before stepping back and allowing Zhadow to walk beside his partner. He had a large envelope tucked in his arm, and he looked rather pleased. "I've the results of the investigations."
Zonic smiled. "Ah, right on time. Let us look over them."
Zhadow opened the envelope, and spread documents all over the table. Meanwhile, Tower had already shoved his forehead against the surface, while Rouge just chuckled along with Tails at his misery. The two hedgehogs nodded a few times as they whispered to each other, pointing at certain words of the documents, or making hand gestures about their plans. With around five minutes of silence passing, the two made a vocal agreement. "Alright," They both announced.
Zonic glanced at his men. "All previous GUN agents shall be investigated, and they shall be arrested should they show any signs of treason as well. Anybody who you fire or incarcerate is to be replaced with a low ranking No Zone officer. Now arrest him." He ordered casually before looking back at Towers. "Abraham Towers, you are hereby under arrest for treason and treachery. According to my authority, your incarceration will take place in No Zone, an intergalactic prison that houses the worst of the worst the universe has to offer. You are not the first Overlander we've ever arrested, but you are the first GUN soldier we've housed." Then, Zonic made a cruel smirk. "We hope you enjoy your stay." No Zone soldiers wrapped their arms around the Overlander, and held him up from his seat. They began dragging him out as he held his head low, a deep grimace on his face. Special No Zone branded cuffs were locked onto his wrists from the back, and soon, he was gone from their sight.
Rouge snorted another laugh. "My, I haven't seen a roast that bad since my high school days." She looked over at Tails. "Honestly sweetie, did you see the look on his face?"
"I know right!" Tails grinned. "What a loser." He turned to Zonic and scooted off the table. He then hugged his waist, his arms firmly wrapped around the hedgehog. "Thank you so much for that, Zonic."
With a startled gasp, Zonic looked down in surprise at the kitsune's affection. "I-I...Well...Um..." He kept stuttering, he didn't even know what to say. This child was so sweet, no wonder Sonic prime adored him so much.
Zhadow chuckled at his partner's embarrassed silence. "Flustered again rookie?"
"Q-Quiet, you." Gently, Zonic grasped Tails' arms to pull him off. "Miles prime-Or, would you rather me call you Tails?"
The fox nodded. "Of course!"
"Well, Tails, my men shall be cleaning out this entire building from top to bottom. In the meantime, Zhadow and I were going to continue scouting and check on your allies. You and miss Rouge may join us, if you wish."
Rouge shook her head and waved them off. "Sorry sweetie, I've got a date with Rad Red up in the skies. But," She walked over, bent down and kissed Tails on the cheek. "It was nice seeing you, sweetheart. You be safe. I'll let you know if I hear anything from Big Blue and Mr. Sunshine." She walked away and waved them all goodbye as she pulled open a window. "Sayonara~" She sung as she jumped out, her wings spreading to help her soar into the sky.
Zonic then put a finger to his chin. "Huh. She's similar to counselor Zouge, only not as air headed."
"Rookie, are you positive this is a good idea?" Zhadow asked with narrowed eyes at his partner. Zonic just rolled his eyes at him and placed his hands on his hips.
"Of course, I'm sure. Miles-I mean Tails is as skilled a flyer as an elite No Zone Air Force colonel. You and I both know that after reading his profile, the child is a natural at flying." He then looked over and smiled at the sight before them. A large black VTOL sat atop GUN HQ's heliport. Violent winds from the aircraft blew in their faces, forcing them to speak loudly. As they bantered, Tails climbed inside of the VTOL with a large grin on his face. He got in the pilot's seat and began looking over the dashboard in awe. All the hedgehogs heard next were little giggles and gasps of joy. "I mean just look at him, look how happy he is."
That's when Zhadow made a smirk. "Oh, I see what's going on."
Zonic frowned. "What?"
"You're taking a liking to him. Thinking of him as another brother of yours, rookie?"
His commander immediately became pink in the face. "I-I never...! Of course not! I just...I just respect him is all! He's a very mature young man and he had to deal with so much on his own without Sonic prime-"
"Yeah sure. Just admit it, rookie."
"Admit what?"
"You care for him. Immensely, just as you do Sonic prime." He watched as Zonic made an angry pout and looked away steaming. "You look as if you want to adopt him yourself. Am I wrong?"
Zonic crossed his arms and continued to grouch. "...Quiet."
"It's fine," Zhadow said as he walked over and leaned forward to kiss the corner of his mouth. "Your secret is safe with me."
"I just," Zonic lowered his voice since he was close enough to hear him over the VTOL. "I never got to meet our version of him. Aren't you curious? What our reality's Zails was like? We don't even know if he exists, only that he should exist." A somber frown fell upon his face. "All I ever had was you, Zector and Zespio, but...I often wonder what it would be like," He looked over at the VTOL with a sad smile. "If I had someone like him. If I did, maybe I wouldn't have pushed myself as hard as I did before I met you. Maybe I would have been happier, or more responsible with my studies. I don't know. He's basically Sonic prime's child and, I wonder if the same would have played out for us?"
With a more serious expression, Zhadow furrowed his brows. "You want a child?"
Zonic flinched. "Goodness, no. Neither of us would be able to take care of one thanks to our schedules. Not to mention I don't want to start another reproduction cycle, not yet. Not with me. You know how I feel about that. I don't want the spirits looming over my offspring."
Zhadow nodded at this. "Right, of course. Sorry for asking."
"No, it's not you, I-"
"Hey guys!" Tails shouted from the VTOL. "You comin' in or what!?"
Zhadow held out a hand to Zonic. "Shall we, my commander?"
With a blush and a small smile, Zonic nodded and took his hand. "Let's."
Zhadow was genuinely impressed, his rookie was right. The fox was an expert at flying and rivaled those of his best air force soldiers. They soared over Station Square, making turns and spirals across the sky. People would look up and point from down below, appearing as small ants. Both No Zone officers were extremely pleased by the sights they were seeing during the ride, noticing how great everything looked after the travesty that happened just a few days ago. Overlanders were no longer endangered, Mobians were up and about, and while a sense of despair loomed over everyone due to the severe loss of people, there were still essences of hope shining through the citizens of Mobius.
As they flew, Zonic asked Tails where he was taking them. The fox said he wanted to check on all of their friends individually. Since everyone was so busy, he said it'd be nice to go to them directly. He explained that the first stop would be the farthest, Angel Island. They would see both Rouge and Knuckles, and check up on the Master Emerald. Having never seen the ginormous gem in person despite watching over Sonic, Zonic was rather excited about seeing it up close. Zhadow was interested as well, as he was curious to see what the people of the ancient Echidna tribe's civilization looked like. After all, they were the people who took over the responsibility of holding the sacred artifacts of the Chaos Born.
It only took them less than fifteen minutes to arrive after pushing the VTOL's speed higher. As the aircraft rose over the floating island, both Zhadow and Zonic gasped with widening eyes. It was just as magnificent as they saw from the monitors, if not even more so. Tails made a safe and professional landing in a clearing, shutting the mechanical bird down and announcing where they were. "Alright guys, this is Angel Island." He said. "The altar's just up there, Knuckles' bunker is right around the-" He stopped as he climbed out of the pilot seat, noticing shadows growing closer towards them. "Hm?"
Zhadow got out of the VTOL first, then helped Zonic step out by holding his hand and guiding him down. Once they got on the ground, they looked up and turned their heads all around to glance at the beautiful wonders of nature. Vast towering mountains, crystal blue water falls that shimmered in the sunlight, circling clouds rotating in the sky, illustrious bright green forests and wildlife covering almost the entirety of the island from head to toe. It was a wonder of the world, and absolute spectacle of miracles. It was something that shouldn't exist, yet here it was. This was definitely a paradise away from the world. They were so busy being amazed by their surroundings, that they didn't notice Tails trying to get their attention.
"Hey, guys?" They blinked and looked down at their third party member. Understanding that they were obviously taken aback by the island's beauty, Tails smiled. "Heh, right, this is your first time here in person. It is a nice place, huh? Anyway," He turned and pointed to the right. "I was trying to say that Knuckles and Rouge are right over there." Then he waved at the two he was referring to. "Long time no see!"
The bat and red echidna walked over to greet the fox. Rouge gave a smile to Tails. "Hey sweetie, and no kidding. Just saw you less than half an hour ago in Station Square, isn't that right?"
"Yup. You flew up here pretty fast. Your wing must have healed up good."
"Sure did, honey." She turned to pose while making her dark wings flap a little. "These bad boys are stronger than ever." She then look a gander at the two taller people beside the small fox. "You two again? Ah, wanted to see Angel Island up close, huh? Can't say I blame you, I try to crash here at Rad Red's place every now and again just so I can stay and marvel at everything. Ooh," She clasped her hands together with a giddy smile. "But seeing this place at night is an absolute dream. It's romantic, let me tell you, best place for a date."
Zonic nodded, allured by her words. "I can only imagine, I'd love to spend a night or two here."
Zhadow bent down to feel the grass between his fingers. "Even the grass seems irregularly healthy. This place truly is amazing."
Then, the echidna crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brows with a firm scowl. "If you're all done treating my island like an open house," He began sarcastically. "I'd like to ask why you two are here. It can't just be to sight see, isn't No Zone all about business?" His tone was grumpy and not at all inviting, what's new? Both Tails and Rouge sighed tiresomely while face palming. Why was he so stubborn? Oh why?
Attempting to keep peace, Zhadow tried to level with the echidna. "Excuse us for our intrusion, but we genuinely wished to see the island for ourselves. It's a different experience from watching it on a screen versus seeing it in real life. And I must say, your home is heavenly." No pun intended. He then brought up a fair point. "We weren't invited, your friend Miles Prime-" He corrected himself. "Tails, decided to fly us here so he could check up on you. If we are not welcomed, we shall leave immediately."
Both Tails and Rouge gave Knuckles a glare, who didn't catch it. However, he found Zhadow's tone rather respectful, and his expression softened a bit. "It's," He made an exhale. "It's fine. I just don't like just anybody walking through my home. But, you're Sonic's friends, and I can't say you all didn't help us when we needed it. It's fine with me. And," He glanced at Rouge. "We're doing fine." To this, Rouge made a warm smile back. "If Tails wanted you two to be here, then I can't really argue with that."
This made the two officers mentally sigh in relief. They both saluted the guardian and bowed, with Zonic making a small grin. "We appreciate your hospitality, Knuckles-"
"However," Knuckles cut him off with a rougher voice. This made Rouge and Tails give each other a miserable stare. He was so close, so close to being civil. The echidna punched his fist into his own chest twice, before extending his fist outwards towards Zonic as a gesture. "You still rub me the wrong way. I can tolerate your partner, but you," He narrowed his purple irises at the commander. "I don't trust you. Call it unfair, but after Scourge, I can't find myself trusting any Sonic lookalike ever again. So to remedy this," He slammed his fists together and cracked his namesakes. "You and me right now, let's go."
"What!?" Rouge and Tails shouted in unison.
Zhadow flinched at the request, before awkwardly glancing between Zonic and Knuckles. "Err, I...I don't believe that's...necessary?"
More confused than offended by the proposition, Zonic just squinted his eyes. "I'm confused, what's happening again?"
Knuckles growled. "You. Me. Right now. Let's go. If we do this, I can get a better understanding of you."
Tails stepped in quickly and blocked Zonic from Knuckles' view. "Knuckles, are you insane? You can't go around fighting Sonic's friends! Why are you giving him a hard time anyway? You just said how much of a help he's been! Without him and Zhadow, Sonic and Shadow would be dead, and so would we!"
Rouge concurred. "Red, he's right. Being barbaric all the time isn't always the way."
Still, Knuckles wouldn't listen. "No, neither of you understand." He gave them a serious look. "Tails, do you know why I fought with Sonic so much in the beginning of our friendship? It wasn't just because I didn't know if I could trust him, it's because I wanted to."
"...What?" Tails asked. "What do you mean?"
"I knew Sonic was a good guy, but I didn't know that for sure. My way of assuring that was to spar with him. Any man who fights fair and square while still holding their own, is someone who's trustworthy to me." He placed his fist against his chest where his heart was, the white crescent sitting on his chest reminding him of old days. "Just like Sonic and you, I was alone in the world when I was a kid. No one else was there for me. Honestly, all I knew was to be a barbarian and constantly fight with wild animals to survive, being tasked with guarding some ancient rock from intruders. We're different from feral animals, but Mobians still have a primal instinct about them, which includes trust and respect. When people fight, they show their true colors, and that's why it's my way of seeing whether or not I can find someone trustworthy." He turned to Zonic. "Trust and deceit are two sides of the same coin. So, prove me wrong, because I want to be wrong. After everything we've been through, show me that I can trust someone else that looks like him."
Hearing his words loud and clear, Zonic's confusion lifted. He was right, this was pretty primitive, but he understood his principles. And frankly, he respected them. He then turned to his superior. "Sir, permission to engage?"
With a short silence, Zhadow nodded. "Permission granted."
Tails began freaking out. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! This is crazy, guys! Let's just slow down for a minute and-"
"Alright," Rouge put her hands on her hips with a smirk. "I'm game."
The fox gawked. Wasn't she just on his side? "W-What do you mean?"
Rouge flagged off his worries. "Honey, it's simple." She grasped Knuckle's arm, then moved over to grab Zonic's. "Instead of fighting to the death and ruining such a serene environment, how about we settle this with arm wrestling?"
Tails dragged his hands over his face. "You cannot be serious."
Knuckles rose a brow. "That's not a bad idea."
Zonic shrugged casually. "Sounds reasonable."
Rouge's smirk deepened smirked. "Then it's decided."
After declaring the contest, they moved over to a nearby tree stump to where they could both kneel down against. Zonic knelt on the left side, while Knuckles knelt on the right. The echidna stretched out his arm and opened his palm for Zonic. He was determined and ready, not planning on losing. Zonic pulled off his military jacket, handing it over to Zhadow to hold. He then rolled up his sleeve and reached for Knuckles' hand to hold firmly. Once he rolled up his sleeve, both Tails and Rouge noticed that he was pretty toned. Well, not surprising for a military soldier. But if they didn't know any better, they'd think he was physically stronger than Sonic by default. Zhadow teased Zonic as they got ready. "You lose and I'll force you on a three-week vacation."
Zonic made a panicked expression and glared at him. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Lose and see what happens."
Rouge stood beside Knuckles and gave him a look. "You sure you wanna go through with this? This is another version of Big Blue we're talking about, and he's no push over. If you lose, I'm sure your pride's gonna suffer for it."
"Whatever," Knuckles grunted. "I'll win this no problem."
She shook her head at him. "Suit yourself." She walked towards the middle and knelt down to grab their fists. She held them down against the table. "Alright boys, ready?" She asked. Zonic made no expression, only patiently waiting for them to start. Knuckles meanwhile looked as if he was about to take the most difficult IQ test in the world. "One, two...Three...!" She let go of their hands. "Go!"
Both males grunted, their fists clamped around each other's as they began to push. Veins of their muscles pulsated, their arms lightly shuddering at the force of two muscles colliding. As they wrestled, Tails just sighed. He then looked over at Zhadow. "Think Zonic's gonna win?"
Zhadow shrugged. "Who knows? We haven't measured Knuckles' strength. We have it documented that he is physically a force to be reckoned with, but we've no idea specifically just how strong he truly is. This will be an informative experience. As for my rookie," He added. "With No Zone equipment such as our state of the art gauntlets, they can give the wearer permanent increasing physical strength the more they wear it. Zonic is a workaholic, meaning he wears it almost every single day and rarely takes them off. Though he weakens his body with purging, his constant self training has surely paid off. That beat down he gave the anti-Sonic is proof of that."
Tails blinked. Huh, that was true. Even if Scourge was weakened by Shadow during the war, Zonic freakin' destroyed him in that fist fight. "Huh, I see. So your saying it's anyone's game?"
Zhadow made a dark smirk. "Now, I didn't say that..."
With sweat beading on his forehead, Knuckles snarled and leaned forward to push his arm further. "Damn you, come on! You're just toying with me! Either go all out or piss off you fake-Sonic clone!"
An angry vein throbbed against Zonic's temple. A very ominous smile crept onto his peach muzzle, his expression darkening. "Understood." He replied calmly. He then squeezed his fingers against Knuckle's fist painfully in a death grip, before grunting violently and shoving his arm down against the tree stump. Once he slammed his opponent's fist down, Knuckles made a brief sound of pain and yanked his hand away. Now smirking as the victor, Zonic wrung out his hand. "Good game."
"...! Y-You bastard-!" Knuckles stood up and began to protest, until he cut himself off with an irritated sigh. He then looked down at his glove, seeing the small amount of dirt smeared on his glove from the loss. As he looked, he was reminded of that damned blue hedgehog. He then rose his gaze to Zonic, who was chuckling to himself as Tails hopped around him and cheering him on. Zhadow patted Zonic on the back, with a look of pride on his face. Rouge clapped her hands, saying 'Bravo'. Zonic looked both flattered and embarrassed all at once, his cheeks lightly reddened by all the attention and humbling explaining that it was just luck that he won. That's when the guardian noticed, underneath that classy stoic exterior, he was pretty jolly on the inside. But the difference between the first time he met him and now, he seemed a lot less scared to show this side of himself. He looked comfortable and right at home, as if he lived here and knew everyone for years. Knuckles concluded to himself, this meant that he could trust him.
With a small smile, he accepted his loss.
After flying from Angel Island, Tails told the two hedgehogs that the next stop would be Twinkle Park. Amy was there helping local authorities guide people in a long line to get treatment inside of a clinic. Treatment for what exactly? To check if anyone had any negative chaos energy living in their brains from Scourge's severe mind control. Tails said he had to come here sometime today anyway, since this would require a couple of big brains to properly examine people. They were set up in Twinkle Park since it was the perfect space for large amounts of people, setting up medical and scientific equipment inside a tent. As Tails and the two hedgehogs walked through, Tails escorted them passed the many lines and was able to get in the clinic tent without difficulty.
Once they got in, they saw that Amy was just about to take her break, sitting down on a nearby stool as someone else walked out to take over her shift to get people checked in. She saw a flash of yellow in the corner of her eye, and saw Tails jogging over to her as a few nurses walked passed him. "Hey Amy!" His namesakes twirled cheerfully. "How you holding up?"
The pink hedgehog looked a little tired, but still raring to go. "Ehh, I'm alright. Thankfully we haven't found anyone with any negative chaos energy. Hyper might have been so powerful, that he wiped it clean from everyone's bodies."
"Yeah, I had a hypothesis about that. I'll help you clear out the rest of the line today so I can gather more data."
"Oof, thanks. We could use the help." She then rose her eyes at the two hedgehogs he brought with him. "Oh!" She blushed at the sight of Zonic. "Y-You're both here too? Nice to see you again."
They both saluted and bowed, with Zonic greeting back. "To you as well, Ms. Rose."
"Hey," Her expression brightened. "You two know about chaos energy better than anyone! Could you both help examine people, see if anyone has any signs of negative energy?"
Tails snapped his fingers. "Why didn't I think of that? That's a great idea, Amy!" He looked up at Zonic. "What do you say, guys? Wanna help out?"
They both gave each other a look, mentally asking each other if they were willing to help. Without words, they both agreed that this was the right thing to do. They nodded, and Zhadow vocally made their decision. "It would be our pleasure. We have equipment on our persons that would speed things along at an alarming rate."
"Awesome!" Tails cheered. "I'll make another line so you both can take on two at once." He flew away in the other direction, dipping out of the tent and announcing for everyone to move over to make another line to be checked out.
After a few hours, the lines that held up to about a thousand people were dwindling down rapidly. Now there were only a few dozen left, and the sun was beginning to set. Zonic and Zhadow were helping tremendously, using No Zone devices to check people's bodies of chaos energy instantly. Their nightsticks were equipped with an electronic mechanism that could sense corrupted or negative energy in an organism. All it took was a quick scan, and boom, they were done. As they checked people, Tails would write down information from the results of their findings. It wasn't much before, but as he talked with Zonic, he was figuring out a lot of stuff. How energy could be used as almost anything, and how it could even enter a person's blood and be used as plasma. It was quite an interesting experience. The nurses who needed help were now working even faster, documenting the names and information of the many people they checked in. Zhadow helped organize paperwork, while Amy would sometimes take over in using his nightstick to scan others.
In fifteen more minutes, they were finally done. The sky was now orange mixed with purple, and everyone was pooped. The nurses praised Amy and Tails for bringing Zonic and Zhadow to the tent, as they helped bring their work down to a minimum. They would have been all night if it wasn't for them. They thanked the two hedgehogs profusely, asking if they could be of service tomorrow as well. They helped clean up the set up for the outside clinic, and gave their goodbyes to the Mobian nurses. Amy was absolutely delighted by their help, and shook their hands graciously. "Thank you both so, so much! You guys are life savers."
Zhadow smiled at her gratitude. "We're happy to help."
Amy then gave them an offer. "Hey, Ms. Vanilla invited me over to have some pie after volunteering. I'm sure she won't mind if you all came with me. How about it? It's the least I can do to repay you for all your help."
Zonic's eyes twitched at the mention of baked goodness. "P...P-Pie?" He immediately grasped both her hands and gave her a serious look. "I demand that you take us there right now."
Tails laughed at this, knowing all too well how gluttonous the No Zone soldier could be.
As this happened, he briefly looked up at the sunset sky, and noticed how some of the shades of orange and purple...
...Were fading into pink.
END - 58
Arc 1 - Scourge's Return: Chaps 1 - 12
Arc 2 - No Zone: Chaps 13 - 27
Arc 3 - The Truth: 28 - 48
Arc 4 - Sonic VS Scourge: Chaps 49 - 61
Arc 5 - ?: Chaps ? - ?
...More fluff to come.