Chapter 18
The next few days were chaotic, Alan moved into the new freedom HQ and has been harassing Saya day in and day out. None of them thought that Alan would continue to be so headstrong and determined to get Saya to love him like Amy did to Sonic in the past, but apparently they were wrong. It was starting to make some of the other Freedom Fighters very irritated. "Saya! Let's have lunch together!" Alan ran into the kitchen, Saya jumps out of her seat, her old instincts kicking in.
"That's okay Am…Alan, I just finished, gotta run." Saya turns around to leave but Alan starts following her,
"C'mon Sonic!" He rushes over trying to embrace her, but she leaps into the air like a frog jumping out of the way.
"No thank you!" Saya runs down the hall faster that any of them could stop her.
"She got away again," Alan pouts,
"Maybe you should give her some space? You're coming off kinda strong." Kolt said sounding irritated, it bothered him how much Alan kept bugging Saya.
"What I do with my Sonic is none of your business." He said as Kolt quickly stands up,
"Your Sonic?" Kolt said as the rest of them could feel the sparks flying between Alan and Kolt not knowing who might throw the first punch.
"Both of you calm down," Caroline said getting between them,
"I get that you're still trying to sort through your old memories. But that doesn't give you an excuse to harass Saya." Sophia said sounding defensive, he was starting to annoy her as well. Alan's gaze turns to her, he glares for a moment then looks away.
"I don't know how else to act around her…" He said,
"Sophia had trouble knowing how to act around Saya at first too." Brandy teased,
"I…I did not!" Sophia protested as the others laughed, "If you all remember correctly, she forced herself into my life." She crosses her arms and looks away feeling embarrassed,
"You act like she was a bother." Alan said,
"She was…" She stops, thinking how to best describe it. "She was very… overwhelming… but that's one of the things I grew to…"
"I must speak with you all…" Tikal appears taking them all off guard,
"Whoa! Can you do that everywhere?" Alan asked,
"Only on base Amy," Tikal said with a smile,
"It's Alan…"
"Give it up, she only sees our souls, so she'll just keep calling you that." TK whispered to him,
"What did you need to talk to us about?" Brandy asked,
"It's the Dark Chaos… I can no longer feel it's presence…" She said,
"What?" Sophia looked concerned; she didn't like hearing that.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Caroline asked as Tikal shakes her head,
"I fear that now that all seven Chaos Emeralds are together it is only hiding it's presence… You all must be careful." She said,
"There a reason you didn't want Saya in on this conversation?" Kolt asked, This was the second time Tikal had asked them to keep something form Saya.
"I fear telling her that the Dark Chaos is masking itself might frighten her into not transforming…" she explained,
"We'll keep an eye on her." Sophia said as Tikal smiles and disappears,
"Do you really think Saya would stop transforming?" Alan asked,
"You don't know what Eggman did to her… it was awful…" Caroline said as they all remain silent.
"I can smell cookies!" Saya bursts into the kitchen, they all jump not expecting her to show up so quickly.
"Oh! Yes, they should be cooled off now." Caroline said with a smile walking over to the counter.
"Why are you all just standing around? Are you having a secret meeting without me?" She said crossing her arms with a teasing grin looking suspicious. None of them knew what to say,
"They were giving me advise on how to win your heart." Alan said turning towards her with an alluring grin. Saya was thrown off by the comment and her face starts to turn red.
"Red is a good color on you." Sophia smirked as Saya makes eye contact with her face turning more red becoming flustered not knowing what to say. Caroline walks over with the plate of cookies.
"Here you go!" She said as Saya quickly grabs one of the cookies.
"Thanks for the food!" She yells running away. They all pause there for a moment in silence…
"TK… was she embarrassed?" Brandy looked at TK with disbelief. Both Alan and Kolt were in a daze as if they also didn't believe what they saw.
"I… I think so… I should go check on her." TK said as Sophia raises her hand up gesturing her to stop.
"Since it was my comment that made her bolt, I should go." Sophia said,
"I volunteer!" Alan said,
"No!" Everyone yelled as Sophia leaves the room.
She knew she'd be able to find Saya in the gym. She always went to run the track when something was on her mind. "Saya?" Sophia calls out as she sees her running the track finishing off the cookie. Saya makes eye contact and her face starts to go red again. She quickly turns around and starts to run away. "Hey!" Sophia yelled running after her. "Where are you going? Stop running!"
"No!" She continued to run as Sophia notices Saya was slowly gaining speed.
"You want to go full speed huh?" Sophia said feeling challenged as Saya looks back and sees the determination on her face.
"C…C'mon Soph… I just want to be left alone." Saya said as Sophia starts gaining on her,
"Not going to happen!" She gets close enough to grab her as they both trip and fall. "It was just a joke; I didn't think it'd bother you this much." She said pulling Saya back up to her feet as Saya quickly covers her face, "Why are you covering your face? Alan's been hitting on you for days now"
"It… just threw me off…" She said through her hands which was starting to annoy Sophia,
"Don't cover your face," She grabbed Saya's wrists and pulled her hands away. Her face was flushed, she had never seen Saya like this and part of her wanted to continue teasing her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Saya asked avoiding eye contact. Sophia hadn't realized she had leaned closer to Saya's face. Saya jolts suddenly feeling uncomfortable from Sophia still holding onto her wrists and their foreheads impact hard. "Ow!" Sophia lets go as she rubs her forehead as Saya does the same to hers.
"Geez you have a hard head." Sophia said trying to joke around to change the mood.
"TK's been saying that for years." Saya chuckled, "Um… I'm going to go back to running…" She said turning away. Sophia wanted to grab her hand but stopped herself. Did she really just try to… she shook away the thought.
"See you at dinner," Sophia said as she leaves,
TK headed to the computer room after Elias called for her, she admires the new computer room as she enters. Being assets for the government have its perks. "Good Afternoon TK," Elias said,
"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked,
"Unfortunately, I'm not blessed with the power to heal so my arm's going to be braced for a while." He joked, "I'm actually glad you're here, I have something to show you, follow me." She followed him to hangar bay to a side door. "This is for you, instead of just spending all of your time in the hangar bay I thought having your own space would be a nice change of pace." He opened the door to a room that has a computer with three monitors and a large work bench and supplies to create blueprints along with a white board to write formulas.
"Elias this is amazing! Thank you!" TK said looking at everything in amazement.
"There's something I want to ask you, especially now that we know what happened to Saya…" He said as she turns to him, "Is there a way to turn Spira back?"
"In our past life I helped a friend create a device that reversed the Roboticization. But it will take me time to remember exactly how I did it." TK said, "And Saya getting Metal Spira's arm will help me determine if it's possible,"
"I think finding a way to reverse Spira's situation will help Saya, and you all won't need to limit yourselves while fighting." He said,
"I'll get to work right away! After I show everyone of course." She said with a smile,
"Yes, I think your friends should know where to find you when you forget to eat." He joked,
"You heard about that huh?" TK looked away feeling called out,
"I'm glad you like it; I need to get back to work but please let me know if you need anything for your research." He said walking away as TK goes to show everyone her new lab.
"This is way past cool TK!" Saya said looking around,
"Right? Elias wants me to figure out how to Derobotisize Spira." She said,
"Do you think you can?" Sophia asked,
"I did it in the past… but it's going to take some time to remember exactly how…" TK said as she started to think of possible experiments she could run.
"If anyone can do it it's you." Saya said with a smile,
"I'll work hard!" She said smiling back at her,
"We're never going to see you again are we." Kolt teases,
"Oh she better come out to eat." Caroline said as she smiled but they could all feel the malice coming from it as they back away.
"I… I'll come eat… I promise." She said.
"Good, cuz it's dinner time." Brandy said as they walk to the kitchen and have dinner,
"Do you think Elias will mind if I bring some plants? This place is kind of… dull…" Alan asked,
"I think that's a great idea." Caroline said,
"There's not a lot of natural light in here though so be careful." Saya said as they all noticed her look distant at that comment,
"Yeah, I have some ideas." Alan said, as they continue eating,
"Hey, Sophia. Wanna spar later?" Saya asked,
"What?" Sophia asked looking surprised given what happened earlier was still on her mind,
"I'll spar with you," Kolt said as Saya pouts,
"But you're too slow…" Saya said
"Don't insult me!" He argued as they all laugh,
"I got an idea," Tk said, "Why don't we all spar?"
"That'll be really chaotic." Caroline said,
"It'll be six on one. All of us against Saya," TK said
"What? Why me?" Saya asked,
"You were extremely powerful as a villain and we need to be prepared for anything." TK said as everyone except Saya's expressions change.
"That's a great idea TK!" Saya said seriously, looking at her determined. "We'll start in the morning," She stands up picking up her plate and putting it away, "The challenge is to defeat me." She leaves sounding determined.
"What the heck was that TK?" Brandy asked,
"I've wanted to do this since Alan arrived. If there's ever a chance Saya could turn back into Dark Sonic, we need to be able to restrain her." TK said,
"Why do you have to think of everything methodically?" Kolt asked,
"Because that will keep her alive." TK said,
"Could we stop being so serious… I know there's a lot on our shoulders, but we could try to keep a smile, just like Saya." Alan said,
"He's right." Caroline said,
"But we can't stay ignorant, now that we know Dark Chaos is hiding its presence, we have to be cautious." TK said,
"We get it TK, you're super serious." Brandy joked,
"This isn't funny to me… I won't lose my best friend again." TK said as they all stop, she has known Saya the longest and cares for her deeply. More than any of them can imagine.
"Hey, calm down. We all feel the same way but if we're too serious we'll lose sight of ourselves." Sophia said snapping TK out of it.
"Sorry…" TK said finishing her food, "I've gotta get to work on the Derobotisizer. We should think of a strategy in the morning." She said leaving.
"There's so much going on now, it's hard to keep up with it all…" Kolt said,
"I know what you mean." Alan said, they were the newest members and hadn't been there at the beginning.
"We should get some rest. Saya is not going to go down easily," Sophia said leaving. She knew she had to be stronger, so Saya would never have to go through what she did ever again. Eggman was to blame for all of it. But Sophia knew last time they clashed they both died. She wasn't going to let that happen. To protect someone she cares about she will do whatever it takes… even take down Eggman herself.
That next morning they all ate in silence, none of them knew what to say to one another and they could all feel the uncomfortable tension. Saya stands up and heads towards the door, "I'll meet you all in the training room," She said leaving,
"This was the most uncomfortable breakfast ever…" Alan said letting out a sigh as if he was holding his breath,
"Are we sure we want to fight Saya?" Caroline asked,
"Like TK said, Saya's powerful and we should be prepared just in case that small chance Dark Sonic does take over." Brandy said as Sophia nods in agreement,
"What if she gets hurt again?" Caroline protested,
"Saya can take care of herself, I'd hold back… but she'd know right away and take advantage of it." Kolt said as TK nods in agreement.
"We need a plan." Sophia said,
"We give it our all. We may only be fighting in our regular forms but Saya still has access to her abilities through her Chaos Emerald meaning even though there are six of us, she still has the advantage." TK said as they all nod,
"Most of my abilities are fire so I don't know how much help I'll be." Brandy said,
"You may not be able to use fire, but you are still skilled. You have high agility that will help against Saya's speed." TK said,
"I'm going to be honest, I'm not much of a fighter… More of a lover" Alan joked,
"That's okay, you're still getting the hang of it and this will be good for you to see how we all work together." TK said,
"This isn't going to be easy…" Caroline said,
"If it was, we wouldn't be doing this." Brandy said as they all nod,
"I can match her in speed, so I should be the one keeping her attention." Sophia said,
"If we work this right and take her off guard Kolt or Alan should be able to restrain her." TK said,
"We should head over there." Kolt said as they all nod heading towards the training room,
"I'm not sure I can do this…" Caroline said,
"You've sparred with Saya and me plenty of times, you got this." Sophia said trying to reassure her.
They enter the room to see Elias, Sally and Dr. Q sitting on one of the benches, while Saya was on the other side of the room stretching while looking distant.
"Didn't realize we grew a crowd," Brandy said,
"I'm here to make sure none of you hurt yourselves." Dr. Q said,
"We just wanted to watch." Sally said with a smile. TK watches Saya looking more and more distant. As she starts to move to go talk to her Kolt grabs her by the shoulder and shakes his head,
"She's trying to stay focused; I think this is harder on her than we realized." He said as they all look at one another.
"Are you all ready?" Saya said seriously as they all walk to the center,
"A real fight doesn't give you a chance to be ready," Sophia poked fun at her seriousness,
"Right…" Saya chuckles then sighs. In the blink of an eye she's in front of TK tripping her feet as she falls to the ground. Kolt swings at her as she jumps back. Caroline runs up and helps TK to her feet,
"Call me slow huh?" Kolt said taking another swing at Saya as Alan tried to join the fray but Saya jumps out of the way causing Kolt and Alan to collide. Saya didn't say anything, she was focused. If they broke her focus she wouldn't be able to fight her friends. But they could all see the slight smile on her face. Sophia runs up to Saya and kicks at her side as she blocks with her arms. The others started to have trouble seeing how they could intervene in the fight.
"TK, how do we throw her off?" Brandy asked,
"While she's focused on Sophia try to find an opening to make her lose her balance." TK said trying to stay quiet so Saya didn't hear their plan,
"I'll be defense, if she grabs TK or Caroline we're done." Kolt said,
"Wait, why would we be done?" Alan asked confused,
"If she gets a hostage, she wins." Kolt said, as Alan looked shocked but his expression changes to serious. Saya breaks out of her scuffle with Sophia and jumps in between the others. She kicks Kolt and Alan out of the way leaving Brandy, Caroline, and TK.
"C'mon, we can do this." TK said as she takes a swing at Saya, but she grabs her by the wrist and spins her around then throws her at Sophia right as she was running up. Caroline was afraid to fight, but she knew she had to try. Brandy jumps in front of Saya and begins blocking her attacks. Sophia and TK get back to their feet as Kolt and Alan do the same slowly starting to surround Saya. Saya starts to look around thinking about her options but she didn't realize that Caroline jumped at her feet grabbing her by the ankle.
"I got her!" Caroline cheered, but is quickly lifted in the air as the others attempted to tackle Saya. She had jumped into the air taking Caroline with her. She flips around and catches Caroline in her arms before landing on the ground.
"Looks like this round goes to me." Saya said as they all sigh,
"Dangit." TK said flopping onto the ground out of breath,
"Sorry about that Caroline, you okay?" Saya asked as she looks at her, Caroline's face was white and she looked like she might puke,
"Dizzy," She said as she puts her down,
"You definitely took me off guard there for a sec," Saya chuckled,
"I did?" Caroline asked,
"Was not expecting you to go for my legs, I was expecting that from Kolt or TK." Saya said as Caroline noticed Saya was shaking. She quickly looks at the others who were still getting to their feet making eye contact with Sophia showing an expression that they need to stop.
"We should stop here for today. I need to train more before we try to take you down again." Sophia said as Saya turns to her looking confused, as the others begin to catch on.
"Yeah, I hate to admit it… but I need to get faster…" Kolt said,
"I still have no idea what I'm doing…" Alan said with a pout. Caroline grabs Saya's hand and smiles.
"It's okay." She said as Saya realizes they all notice,
"S…Sorry…" She said whipping tears she could no longer hold back,
"I should be the one saying sorry, I shouldn't have suggested this." TK said going over and giving her a hug.
"I guess I also need to get stronger…" Saya said,
"Our next big thing is saving Spira and the Zarkon," Sophia said as Saya looks at her shocked,
"Yeah!" Saya said with a smile as they all leave to get a cup of tea together. Saya trying not to think about the things she's done.
The next week was quiet, everyone did their own thing. Sophia went on a mission with Team Dark while Brandy and Caroline tried to create a new recipe. Kolt spent most of his days in the Alter room with Tikal and Alan tried to find a balance with his and Amy's memories trying hard not to overwhelm Saya. TK spent her time in her workshop trying to figure out how to Derobotisize Spira. Saya bursts into the workshop. "TK! Caroline wanted me to come get you for lunch." Saya said with a smile.
"Give me two seconds, I just need to finish this formula…" TK said writing things down in her notebook. "There, all good."
"How's it been going? You've been super quiet about your progress." She asked as they both head to the kitchen.
"It's slow… I'm not entirely sure if it's possible…" TK said looking defeated,
"If anyone can reverse Eggman's weapons, it's you." Saya said with a bright smile.
"How have you been feeling?"
"Good, really happy we have that outdoor track. And the view of the mountains back there is super pretty." She said, "Not going to lie, I've debated sneaking out to go run through the mountains at full speed." She chuckles as TK gives her a look,
"Sneak out?" She glares,
"Hey, I didn't! A least give me points for restraint." Saya shrugged,
"And how long is that going to last?" TK said,
"You got me there." Saya chuckles as if she had already gotten caught doing something she shouldn't. They enter the kitchen where everyone was eating. Saya looks around and notices Sophia isn't there. "Doesn't look like Sophia's back yet,"
"Why does she work with another team?" Alan asked,
"Covert stuff that Saya's not allowed to do." Brandy said,
"I'm too loud." Saya said with a shrug, as she sits down,
"At least you're honest about it." Caroline said with a smile.
"Kolt, I need your help to run some tests on the Master Emerald later if you don't mind," TK asked,
"Not a problem, but let's not overdo it like last time. Don't need Dr. Q chewing me out again for overusing Chaos energy." He said,
"Probably a good idea," Saya chuckled,
"Hey Saya, would you mind sparring with me as Sonic? I want to practice using my abilities." Alan asked,
"Want to go all out huh? Sure why not?" Saya said with a smile, as Alan's eyes sparkle with excitement.
"I'm going to go meditate." Brandy said coldly walking away, as they all look confused then turn to Caroline,
"Is she okay?" TK asked,
"Yeah… She's just been feeling off balanced. Meditating helps." Caroline said,
"Anything we can help with?" Saya asked as Caroline shakes her head.
"I think having all the Chaos Emeralds in close proximity is reminding her of the Soul Emeralds and it's been getting to her." She said,
"Now I feel bad." Alan said,
"She'll get past it; It'll just take some time." Kolt said patting Alan on the shoulder. "C'mon TK, let's do this." He stood up and walked out of the kitchen with TK,
"I just need to grab something from the workshop." She said as they walked out of sight.
"That's our que, wanna come watch Caroline?" Saya asked,
"No thanks, I'm going to wait for Sophia to get back." Caroline said,
"Sounds good," She said as they walk towards the training room.
Caroline finished up her food and heads to the computer room to see what Sally and Elias were up to.
"And you're sure that's the scroll that was stolen?" Caroline overheard Elias talking to Sally,
"Yes…" Sally said,
"How did Eggman discover its existence? It wasn't even on display at the museum…" Elias said sounding frustrated.
"There's a lot of things he shouldn't know…" Sally said, "I'm going to continue my research on it."
"Fine but keep it quiet." He said as Caroline realizes she heard something she wasn't meant to hear. She decides to play it off like she was just walking in.
"Hello," Caroline said as they both turn to look at her,
"Hello Caroline, how can we help you?" Elias asked, trying not look surprised that she walked in,
"I wanted to see how Team Dark's mission was going." Caroline said,
"They just finished, and Sophia is on her way back now." Sally said,
"Were they checking Eggman's other base?" Caroline asked,
"Yes, we were hoping to find clues about the Zarkon, but no such luck. We did however find their ship." Elias said,
"Really?" Caroline said looking surprised,
"It's damaged but it's being transported here. I thought TK could take a look at it and see if anything can help her with her project." Elias said,
"I hope it can help her; I'm going to go wait for Sophia in the hangar bay." Caroline said leaving the computer room.
In the alter room TK was setting up monitors and readers to collect and process data on Chaos energy. "So what do you need from me?" Kolt asked as he transforms into Knuckles.
"I need you to focus Chaos energy on this point. Will you be able to hold it for five minutes?" She asked,
"Piece of cake." He said as he begins chanting as Chaos energy flows into the device,
Sonic and Amy were in the training room sparring together. "You're gonna have to swing faster if you want to hit me." Sonic said as she jumps up and lands on top of Amy's hammer,
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea… you're way too fast." He said swinging her off the hammer as he catches his breath.
"Don't be like that, we just need to focus on your skills." She said dodging another swing. "You're a heavy hitter like Knuckles…" She was thinking while dodging all of Amy's attacks, he couldn't believe how nonchalant she was while they were in the middle of sparing. "So instead of speed we should focus on precision." She runs close and kicks the hammer out of his hands,
"Hey!" Amy said,
"You'll have to learn to make sure you don't lose it." Sonic said as she catches it, but it slams to the ground too heavy for her to carry." "What in Chaos is this thing made of?" Amy snaps his fingers and the hammer poofs away.
"I don't need to worry about losing it," He said as he snaps his fingers again and it's back in his hands.
"Neat trick." She said with a smile, "I have some cool tricks too."
Sophia walks back onto base assisting with moving the Zarkon ship into the hangar bay. Caroline walks up to her as she's about to head to the computer room. "How was the mission?" Caroline asked,
"Fine, hopefully TK can get some assistance from their technology." Sophia said, "What are the others up to?"
"Brandy is meditating, Saya and Alan are sparing and Kolt is helping TK in the alter room." Sophia rolls her eyes,
"Does she ever stop training?" Sophia asked,
"Alan asked her to," Caroline said,
"Yeah, so he could spend time with her." Sophia said in an annoyed tone as Caroline looked at her confused,
"Does that bother you?" Caroline asked,
"W…what?" Sophia was thrown off by the question. "No," Sure Alan constantly pestering Saya was annoying but something about hoe Caroline phrased the question tugged at the back of Sophia's mind.
In the alter room, Knuckles stops his chanting and lets out a sigh, though he had not been doing it for long he could still feel the strain from controlling Chaos from the Master Emerald through his body. "You okay?" TK asked looking concerned,
"Yeah, this is nothing compared to Sonic's force field." Knuckles said as he places his hand on the Master Emerald for support as like a jolt of electricity a blast of Chaos energy pulsates through the entire base. Both Knuckles and TK's Chaos Emeralds glow brightly taking them off guard. The pulsating begins to ring in their heads as their eyes glow the same color as their Chaos Emeralds.
Brandy was meditating when she began to feel the pulsating as she tries to stand up but before she could cry for help her Emerald glows as her eye glow the same lavender color.
"Sonic… Somethings… wrong…" Amy grabs his head as his eyes glow light blue,
"Amy…" Sonic tried to move but it became too much as her eyes glowed a deep blue. As the entire base continued to resonate.
"Gotta… find the others…" Sophia fought though it as Caroline's eyes glowed white, "Caroline!" She called out but she couldn't fight whatever was happening as her eyes glow green.
The seven servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart, the heart is the controller, the controller serves to unify the Chaos…
TK starts to come to as she wakes up in the infirmary, she looks around and sees the others were all lying unconscious on the other beds.
"What happened?" TK said slowly sitting up as Dr. Q rushes up to her.
"I should be asking you that. One minuet everything was fine, then the power went out. After we got the lights back on, we found you all unconscious throughout the base." She said,
"My head's killing me…" TK said holding her head.
"You shouldn't move around too much," She said as Kolt starts to stir awake,
"Man my head hurts…" Kolt said as Brandy sits up.
"So we all heard it?" She asked,
"Heard what?" Dr. Q asked,
"There was a weird pulsating sound then everything went white." Brandy said,
"Yeah… I remember that…" TK said,
"Why are my ears ringing." Caroline said holding her ears as Alan also sits up.
"Feels like I dropped my hammer on my head…" Alan said,
"Tikal… what happened?" Kolt calls out as she appears,
"I'm sorry Knuckles, when you touched the Master Emerald that was the first time all the Chaos Emeralds were in close proximity." She said,
"What does that mean?" TK asked,
"Now that you are all together the bond between the Chaos Emeralds is getting stronger. Knuckles making contact with the Master Emerald jump started that." She explained as they all turn and look at Kolt,
"Hey! How was I supposed to know that would happen?" Kolt argued,
"No it was my fault; you were charged up with Chaos energy from helping Tails and it boosted your Emerald." Tikal said, "It was a shock to your systems, but it should be harmless,"
"Uh guys?" Alan tried to get their attention, "If this is harmless, why aren't Saya and Sophia waking up?" He asked as Dr. Q moves over to them,
"Nothing seems wrong with them…" Dr. Q said checking them over,
"May I try something?" Tikal asked looking to Dr. Q for approval,
"Will it hurt them?" She asked,
"No, I'm just going to wake up their souls." She said moving over next to Sophia and placing her hand above her head she reaches out to Sophia's Chaos energy sparking her soul awake. Sophia jolts up quickly looking around as they see her eyes were red as they fade back to their natural black color.
"Wha… What? Caroline?" Sophia looks around to see Caroline sitting in one of the beds,
"I'm okay," Caroline said as Sophia lets out a sigh of relief, but then she sees Saya laying in the bed next to her unconscious.
"What happened?" She asked sounding angry as Tikal moves over to Saya.
"Kolt did it…" Alan said pointing at him,
"Oh c'mon!" He complained as Saya jolts up the same as Sophia did but her eyes glowed green before going back to their natural brown color.
"Holy Chaos what happened?" She said grabbing her head looking dizzy,
"Long story short, we leveled up? At least that's how I interpreted it." TK said with a shrug,
"Did it have to be so painful?" Saya asked,
"Kolt's fault…" Alan said again,
"Screw you Alan!" Kolt yelled as they all laugh,
"You're all staying in here for the night so I can keep an eye on you." Dr. Q said,
"Aww man!" Saya flops back in the bed, "Was trying to see how long I could go without being put on bedrest." She pouts.
"Tikal, are you sure there won't be any side effects?" Brandy asked as she shakes her head,
"No but the Chaos Emeralds have become stronger. Your transformations should last longer now." Tikal said,
"That's helpful." Caroline said,
"I do not know the extent of how your powers will grow." Tikal said,
"What do you mean by our powers will grow?" Sophia asked,
"I've started to notice I've gotten faster." Saya said,
"My computers!" TK said with a gasp as she starts to get up. "I need to make sure my research didn't get fried."
"Absolutely not!" Dr. Q said,
"But we did all that work." She argued,
"And it will be worth nothing if you collapse again. Bed. Now!" Dr. Q demanded as she lies back down, and they all try to get some rest.
Sophia struggled to sleep that night; she didn't feel tired in the slightest. Her mind wondered as she thought of what Tikal said about their powers growing. She didn't understand what that meant, and that started to worry her. She notices Dr. Q motion to Kolt who was also awake to go to the hall. He follows her to the hall as Sophia sneaks over to the door to listen in,
"What's up?" Kolt asked as he stretched,
"I wanted to ask you since you have a better understanding of Chaos Energy. Why do Saya and Sophia have a different reaction to it than the rest of you? And if you make a comment about Sophia being the Ultimate Lifeform, I will smack you." She said with a glare,
"Well, that's technically the case for her though. She can channel Chaos energy a way the rest of us can't. She can go to the extent of channeling the energy into a weapon. And I assume for Saya it has to do with how she was previously poisoned with Chaos energy." Kolt speculated,
"Would what happen to Sophia after she removed her inhibitors have an effect similar to Chaos poisoning?" She asked,
"That could be possible, but to what extent it's bleeding through I wouldn't know." Kolt said
"This is twice now I've seen their eyes revert to their past selves." I'm concerned there will be other changes." She said as Sophia backed away from the door, she didn't like what she was hearing, and something was telling her that this was only the beginning. She shakes it off and climbs back into the cot trying not to think about it.
Morning comes and the second they are given permission to leave the Infirmary TK is running towards the Alter room to check her computers. Caroline and Brandy head to the kitchen to make breakfast. "Anyone want to go on a run?" Saya asked as both Alan and Kolt look at one another,
"I should go make sure TK doesn't need my help again…" Kolt said quickly leaving,
"Actually, I should probably go take a shower…" Alan said also leaving quickly,
"Was it something I said?" Saya asked Sophia with a shrug.
"I don't think they want to collapse after three laps." Sophia said as Saya chuckles,
"That's true, but they really should work on their stamina." She shakes her head, "What about you? Wanna join me?"
"No thanks," Sophia said. Saya noticed something was upsetting her, she steps closer and gives her a taunting grin,
"What? Afraid you can't keep up?" Saya said leaning closer to her face,
"I could run circles around you." Sophia said looking annoyed feeling insulted by the insinuation,
"Prove it." She smirks as Sophia smirks back, "Winner gets a prize."
"What's the prize?" Sophia asked,
"Uhhhh, if I win, you have to spar with me once a week, if you win… um…" Saya thinks not entirely sure what Sophia would want,
"Then you owe me a favor that I get to use on a later date." Sophia said,
"Deal!" Saya holds out her hand to shake on it as Sophia takes her hand. "Bye doc!" Saya waved to her as they left the infirmary.
"Don't you two dare overdo it!" They hear from behind them as they head towards the track outside.
TK was able to salvage most of the data and with Kolts help was able to get the rest. He made sure not to touch the Master Emerald this time so nothing weird happens. They both head to lunch to see everyone except Saya and Sophia in the kitchen, "How's it going?" Brandy asked,
"Good, I think I might be close." TK said,
"Has anyone seen Saya? I haven't seen her since this morning in the infirmary." Alan said,
"Didn't she say she was going for a run?" Kolt asked,
"That was like four hours ago…" Alan said,
"Now that you mention it I haven't seen Sophia either." Caroline said,
"Should we go look for them?" TK asked as they start searching the base and eventually get to the outdoor track on the opposite side of the mountain and see Saya and Sophia running.
"T… they're still running…" Alan looked shocked almost to the point of feeling sick. Just thinking about running constantly for that long sounded exhausting.
"How?" Kolt's expression was similar he felt tired just seeing them run. Saya notices them all standing there and waves,
"Hi guys!" Saya said,
"Saya! What are you guys doing?" TK asked,
"Racing." She said with a smile,
"It's been four hours…" Brandy said,
"We can stop if you're tired?" Sophia said to Saya with a grin,
"Ha! Nice try Soph, I'm not letting you win that easily." Saya said this had been the first time they'd actually raced together and Saya had no intention of letting up,
"How long do you think they can keep that up?" Caroline asked,
"Half of me wants to throw something at them…" Alan said looking annoyed, he didn't want to say anything, but he was jealous at how Saya was smiling at Sophia,
"They don't even look like their tired…" Kolt said thinking back to his discussion with Dr. Q.
"Just leave them, they'll tire out eventually." TK said shaking her head with a sigh,
"No, Alan has a good idea," Brandy said, "Let's make their race more challenging," She said transforming into Blaze.
"Uh… Soph, I think the ante just got upped." Saya said,
"Let's see them try and stop us." Sophia said confidently as Kolt and Alan transform as well,
"You all have fun; I have work to do." TK said walking back inside. Blaze lights her hands as Amy gets ready to throw his hammer and Knuckles grabs weights to throw.
"This seems a bit much…" Saya said starting to assess their situation, as they all start throwing projectiles at them as they both dodge the attacks while still running the track. Kolt throws another weight and Sophia jumps out of the way. Blaze and Amy throw fire and hammer at Saya as she dodges. Saya steps on the hammer to jump forward but Amy calls back her hammer causing Saya to lose her footing.
"Saya!" Sophia jumps trying to catch her and they both tumble crashing into the wall,
"Crap! Maybe we overdid it…" Knuckles said running over, "You two alright?" he asked seeing Sophia holding Saya by the waist and shielded her from hitting the wall. Saya starts laughing, as Sophia does the same.
"We're fine," Saya laughs, "Guess I owe you one," She turns to Sophia with a smile,
"I'll hold you to that." Sophia said letting her go as Knuckles helps her to her feet. Saya turns around and helps Sophia up.
"You all could have hurt them…" Caroline said crossing her arms,
"They're fine, if we hadn't, they might have been here till nightfall." She said transforming back,
"I'm sorry Saya." Alan said running over,
"Just shows I need to keep an eye on my footing." She jokes, "Good throws," She said as Sophia starts walking inside,
"Going to go read my book," She said waving them off.
"She left in a hurry…" Kolt said,
"That's Sophia for ya," Saya shrugs, "But I do have to go call my parents, I'll talk to you guys later." Saya said waving them off. She had started to feel like things were starting to get to a new normal. Saya was confident that TK was close to a solution and then they can save Spira.