Oh. My. Chaos.

GUYS.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN?

Wait, you don't have our outline. Nevermind. I'll freak out at the end of the chapter.

But since I'm so excited, we're going to skip the reviews for today. Sorry y'all!

Knuckles' POV:

I can't remember another time I'd ever had this many visitors to Angel Island.

There was Sonia, Tails, Amy, Cream, Shadow, Rouge, and Manic. And to be fair, that isn't exactly what I would call a lot of people. But when the average population is one- not counting the god of Chaos and His spiritual emissary- then it's not too often that you see anything remotely resembling a crowd.

Then again, it didn't look like it was going to stay that way for long.

"My answer is final, Guardian. Your constant pestering will not change that."

Tikal was floating just above the Master Emerald, gazing down on me with a coldness I had gotten used to over the last few months. I glared back up at her, biting back a sharp retort; Chaos, if she would only listen to me...

"Look at him, Tikal," I seethed, gesturing down to where we had laid Sonic. The doctors had him on a heavy sedative that left him barely conscious, and we had taken this opportunity to take him up to Angel Island. We had hoped that by seeing him, Tikal might change her mind about healing him. We were wrong.

"What about him?" she answered coolly, crossing her arms.

My fists tightened as I fought the urge to punch something. "You know better than anyone what's the matter with him. Sonic's mind is nearing total collapse. He needs your help," I growled, holding my arms stiffly by my sides. "He has saved this world more times than I can count. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Oh, he's saved this world?" she murmured, her voice having gone quiet and dangerous. A faint green glow surrounded her and suddenly, she had nearly doubled in size, her face white with fury. "THAT RECKLESS, FOOLHARDY IDIOT ALMOST DESTROYED IT!"

Somewhere behind me, I heard Manic cursing under his breath. I felt like joining him.

"Tikal… Please, listen–"

"No, you listen to ME, Guardian!" Tikal's glow died a little. A little. "Yes, Sonic has saved this planet from extensive – but very repairable – damage. Has it been dangerous? Yes. World-shattering? Yes. But capable of destroying every living being on this planet with no hope of restoration? NO."

"Seriously?" Tails piped up from the back, sounding skeptical. "The planet breaking into pieces and Dark Gaia rising up to destroy literally everything was something someone could survive?"

Tikal's gaze was even, "Yes. It's something that has happened since the dawn of time." She was now breathing heavy and her glare had cranked up to eleven. "Half the planet would have survived the ARC, Perfect Chaos would have eventually faded away, the Lost Hex would have faded back into its regular dimension–"

"I'm sorry, dimension?" Tails remarked. (He was ignored.)

"–and Robotnik's tyranny would have been thoroughly unpleasant, but certainly not planet destroying. Anyone who says otherwise is giving that man far too much credit.

"But him?" Tikal pointed down at Sonic's limp body. "His actions could have killed everyone and everything– and they almost did," she spat, staring down at the hedgehog in disdain. "Do you have any idea just how much dark energy was released into the Chaos field when he revived the lot of you? That level of corrosion is almost beyond repair! It will take me centuries to restore the damage Sonic has caused!"

For a moment Tikal looked like she had something else to say, but instead folded her arms across her chest, turning away. "Chaos and I both recognize all the good he's done. I will not deny it. But he chose his fate when he disobeyed the natural order of Chaos. Therefore, I will do nothing. Good day."

Tikal began to fade back into the Master Emerald and for a second, I considered stopping her; if everything she had pointed out wasn't horribly, logically, mind-numbingly true, I might've kept arguing the point.

Leave it to Manic to throw logic out the window.

"'Natural order?'" he snorted, raising an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but how can Chaos be orderly? He is literally called the god of CHAOS. Where's the god of Order?"

Tikal turned back around; she smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. "Oh, but there was, once upon a time," she said, her tone a little too cheerful than it ought to be. "A millennia ago, the goddess of Order decided to pick a fight with Chaos. She lost. She used to be known as Aurora- maybe you've heard of her? After all, Her remains are still splattered across the northern skies."

Manic's mouth opened, then closed as he took a step back. Good to know he was familiar with what a threat sounded like.

"Because of Aurora's impudence," Tikal said pointedly. "Chaos has since taken over Her share of the cosmic balance, despite it being against His nature– for, without Order, there can be no Chaos. So yes, Manic, there is a natural order to things. For something to be given – your lives, for example – something else must be taken away. Which, in this case, would be Sonic's sanity and his place as a chosen one of Chaos."

Tikal jutted out her chin defiantly, looking satisfied. "Now, if that's all, I'll thank you to leave me in peace–"

"Wait!"

I glanced behind me in surprise as Sonia pushed her way forward, a look of desperation etched onto her features. Tikal rolled her eyes, but didn't disappear.

"What if..?" Sonia bit her lower lip, wringing her hands. "What if we do this in the natural order of things? Give up something so Maurice can be healed?"

"Well… I–" Tikal stuttered, looking surprised. "You do realize you are asking for the restoration of a mind. The sacrifice required must be equivalent."

"...A mind for a mind," Sonia murmured, staring over at Sonic with a faraway expression. "That's…"

"A fair and orderly trade," said Tikal, shaking her head.

Tails stepped forward, fists clenched. "I… I'll do it."

Tikal glanced down at him, impassive. "Unfortunately, that would be impossible."

Tails glared up at her, looking taken aback, "W-what? Why not?"

"You are not one of Chaos' chosen," said Tikal, sounding very matter-of-fact. "You, Amy, Rouge, and any other person who has not been selected and gifted by Chaos are automatically disqualified from such a thing." Her voice softened, if only slightly, "What Chaos would demand is simply more than any of you are able to give."

A small burst of hope rose up in my chest, "Then I can–"

"Absolutely not!" Tikal growled. "If you seriously think Chaos is going to hinder one of his Guardians, then perhaps he does need to pick a new bloodline for his future protectors."

A wave of anger washed over me and I clenched my teeth; of course she'd bring up that old threat.

"Chaos can do that?" Rouge asked hands on her hips.

Tikal pinched the bridge of her nose, flustered. "In extreme circumstances, yes. He prefers not to, but in certain cases, it's necessary."

"Then I will do it," said Shadow, stepping in front of me. "My mind is more than capable. I…" he swallowed, pursing his lips. "I can manage. "

Tikal was shaking her head before he even finished, "Your work, Ultimate LIfeform, is far from over. Chaos needs you for much more in the future and will not have you crippled for the sake of a fallen Chosen. Besides that, the abilities you possess were given to you artificially."

"What does that matter?" he seethed.

"It matters because Chaos wasn't particularly happy with your creation in the first place. The only reason He hasn't outright destroyed you, if I may be so blunt, is because you have proven yourself to be vastly useful. Consider yourself lucky that Chaos didn't cast you off as an affront against nature the moment you arrived on this planet."

Shadow looked like he wanted to summon an energy spear and impale Tikal through the chest, but for once, even his glare was outmatched. He looked away, his eyes darkening as he crossed his arms.

Tikal sighed, the creases in her brow softening. "Look, you're all very noble to offer, but I'm afraid that if Chaos is to repair a mind so far gone, He will require a mind that is far more gifted than the average Mobian's, and unfortunately, no one of you will suffice. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

I felt like someone had hit me with a wrecking ball; that was it. She could do nothing. We could do nothing. It wasn't like this was just her being angry with Sonic, these were the ancient laws of the cosmos we were talking about. I had figured that Chaos would be wanting some sort of compensation for healing Sonic, I just… never considered the possibility that we'd fail to pay the price.

"What if it wasn't just one?"

Sonia's voice was small, almost inaudible, but I heard it loud and clear. I whipped around to face her, but she seemed too lost in thought to notice.

"Pardon?" asked Tikal, raising an eyebrow.

"You said…" Sonia mumbled, staring off into space for a moment before meeting Tikal's eye. "You said that 'no one of us' could give Chaos what He wants in return for healing Maurice. What if… what if more than one of us sacrificed something?"

Tikal didn't appear to have an answer for that. She paced around in the air for a minute, muttering under her breath about something or other.

I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to stay calm. After a few dozen circles around the Master Emerald, Tikal looked up at Sonia. "What do you have in mind–" she raised a hand, stopping Sonia from speaking for a moment "–taking into account that everything I have said up to this point still stands?"

Sonia swallowed and took a deep breath. "Me," she pointed at herself before jerking her thumb behind her, "And Manic."

...what. "No. No, no, absolutely not, just… no. You can't… you can't do that."

"Why not?" said Sonia sharply, narrowing her eyes. "Look, both me and Manic have chaotic abilities. I think that sort of power counts for something."

"You could die!"

"If I remember correctly, you offered to sacrifice yourself barely five minutes ago. You could die too!"

"That… that's different!"

"How is that different, Knuckles?" she demanded. "He's my brother!"

"All the more reason you shouldn't do it! Sonic's already lost you once!"

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Manic piped up from the back.

I turned to him. "You shouldn't do it either! BOTH of you could die!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with Knuckles on this one," said Tails, nervously fiddling with his glasses. "This is… this sounds way too risky."

Rouge hummed in agreement. "The kid's right. We've got no idea if any of this'll work."

"What choice do we have?" Sonia shouted, her voice cracking. "Maybe it'll work, or maybe it won't, but I'd rather do something than give up and do nothing–"

"ENOUGH!" Tikal bellowed, so loud the ground seemed to shift under our feet. The rest of us went silent.

She sighed, pinching her nose in exasperation. "Sonia and Manic… Chaos gave you both great power for a reason, but neither of you are the preferred Chosen Ones of Chaos, so… maybe. There's a chance it could work. But I cannot guarantee that Chaos will accept it."

"How much of a chance?" Sonia asked quickly.

Tikal hesitated, "It's… well, I'm not sure. However, assuming it does work and Chaos accepts your sacrifice, I don't know what kind of damage it will do to you. It may be something minor like chronic headaches, some memory loss, or it might affect your hearing or eyesight," She pursed her lips, "Or it could be major, like complete, irreversible amnesia. You could lose some bodily functions like walking or talking… both of you could go insane, or even die." She shrugged, "Simply put: even if you do manage to save Sonic, it's very likely that you'll have two corpses on your hands instead of one."

"That's a terrible trade-off!" I turned to Sonia. "Absolutely not. We'll find another way."

"There is no other way, Knuckles," said Sonia, stubbornly pouting her lower lip.

I glared at her, "Sonic would kill me if I let his sister sacrifice herself for him."

"Oh, if you let me? You don't own me, Knuckles–"

"You know what I mean–"

"I'm doing this to save him–"

"You don't even know if it'll work–!"

"HEY!" Manic shouted, startling us out of our argument as he stepped between us, looking disgruntled. "I think both of you are forgetting that this ain't just Sonia's decision. Right, Sonia?" he asked, side-eying her with a frown. Sonia mumbled something I couldn't quite make out, but whatever it was, it seemed to satisfy Manic.

He sighed. "Look, I ain't gonna lie, I really don't wanna end up crazy, or with amnesia, or… not being able to walk or something. None of that sounds particularly appealing. But…" he swallowed, staring blankly up at the Master Emerald. "Sonia's got a point. We ain't got a lot of options here, and giving up sure ain't one of 'em. I mean, it's worth a shot, right?"

No one responded to that for a moment; it was Tikal that broke the silence. "If that's what you both want, then… I suppose I can't stop you," she said, looking like she had swallowed a lemon. "But don't blame me if Chaos rejects your sacrifice, or takes more than you thought He would."

Sonia and Manic exchanged wary glances before nodding. Tikal gestured over to the Master Emerald, closing her eyes and muttering a prayer under her breath. The faint green glow of the Emerald suddenly magnified tenfold, shining so brightly I had to squint to make out anything. Tikal turned back to Sonia and Manic, her expression solemn.

"Touch the Master Emerald, both of you," she instructed, "The rest is up to Chaos. Good luck."

My breath hitched and I wanted to pull them back, make them step away from the glow of the Master Emerald, nothing good was going to come of this, I just knew it–

The two of them looked over at one another before clasping each other's hand. Sonia closed her eyes and Manic took a deep breath; in almost perfect unison, they each brushed a finger against the surface of the Emerald.

Sonia gasped, her eyes flying back open to reveal a stunning white glow identical to Manic's. For a moment I thought they were about to fall backward, but their hands stayed firmly planted to the Master Emerald, like they had been glued there.

I had a bad feeling about this. "Tikal–!"

"Don't," she hissed, pursing her lips in severity. "They must not be interrupted. Chaos has accepted their presence– pulling them out of their trance now would only offend Him."

"So… what are we supposed to do now?" asked Amy timidly, chewing on her lower lip.

Tikal stared over at the hedgehogs, glancing them over with a look that seemed almost… sad. "We wait."

Sonia's POV:

I thought that maybe I had blacked out, only when I opened my eyes, everything was white.

My head and hands felt totally numb; after a moment, the feeling began to seep back in, but that didn't do anything to distract from the endless, stark white landscape.

That is, until I looked up.

I had to force myself from gasping out loud in amazement; a massive expanse of brilliant, shimmering blue stretched out as far as the eye could see. Something about it felt… hypnotizing. The longer I stared at it, the more I noticed; colors flowed by like a river, swirling together in some strange chaotic harmony. I narrowed my eyes to get a better look and I could've sworn there were faces forming in the current–

Manic gave a low whistle, snapping me out of my transfixiation. "Okay, that's pretty cool."

Suddenly the ground rumbled beneath us, knocking the two of us off-balance. "COME FORTH, CHOSEN VESSELS."

"Holy–!" Manic shrieked, whirling around in a panic. The rumbling grew in volume, getting so loud I thought I was going to go deaf; suddenly, I felt the familiar sensation of rain drizzling down on my head. I looked up– the giant mass of blue was dripping down to where Manic and I stood, but somehow, I didn't feel very wet–

"Uh… S-sonia?" said Manic, his eyes wide as dinner plates as he stuck out his arm in front of me. Besides the unusually large raindrops resting on his skin, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary… until I noticed that the raindrops were moving.

I tilted my head back and for the first time, felt a stab of fear. The swirling mass of colors seemed to convene together in one giant mass above us, and instead of raindrops, enormous globs of shimmering blue away from the rest, cascading down to where we were standing. The drops on our skin and clothes quivered for a moment before zooming towards the growing heap, as if attracted by some invisible magnet. I grabbed Manic's hand and dragged him away just as the last of the glop fell in front of us, forming tentacle-like limbs and swinging them in no particular direction. The glob rose up at least ten feet before two glowing green eyes appeared at the top.

Manic stared up at the being, his mouth agape in shock. "Holy…"

"...Chaos," I finished, nodding in stunned agreement.

I bent down on my knees and bowed my head, yanking Manic down next to me. My throat was dry. I tried to swallow but to no avail. "Um… hello, um, your majesty?– I mean, your mightiness? I-I'm Sonia," I said nervously, trying to keep my voice from shaking too much. "We… you and I, that is- we spoke a year ago when you, um… possessed Tikal? Um… so, we… we've come to ask–"

"SONIA ALEENA HEDGEHOG. MANIC CHARLES HEDGEHOG. CHILDREN OF JULIAN HEDGEHOG AND ALEENA HEDGEHOG. CHOSEN VESSELS OF MINE." Chaos' voice didn't have any defining traits. It was loud, that I could nail down. But men's, women's, and children's voices mixed together, each in different octaves and intervals.

"Oy, I'm nobody's vessel," Manic grumbled under his breath. I slammed my elbow into his side. Now was not the time.

"Oh, Mighty Chaos," I began again, feeling a bit more confident. "We've come to bargain for our brother's life."

"MAURICE JULIAN HEDGEHOG." Chaos shifted its form, forming very clear pictures of Maurice. Images of childhood with us, running with Tails, fighting Robotnik, Dark and hundreds of others flashed by too quickly to fully process. The image froze on the current state of him, lying on the ground outside the emerald. "HE HAS CHOSEN HIS FATE."

Manic looked like he wanted to say something, but instead stared down at the ground, a dark look crossing his face.

I didn't like that look. "Let me do the talking," I whispered, nudging him in the shoulder. He shrugged, pursing his lips in resentment.

I gathered my thoughts before launching into my last hope. "Chaos, Your Mightiness– Maurice has done so much for Mobius! He helped you break free from Robotnik, and he's restored your seven servers many times and has never abused the abilities that you have, er, graciously blessed him with," I pleaded, careful not to say something offensive.

"And now, he has given his mind, his life, to lock away your greatest threat." I hesitantly got to my feet. "If Maurice's mind continues to deteriorate, then you will lose a valuable servant. I… I understand he made a mistake, and I understand that your power comes at a price. But he saved your Guardian, ensuring a future for your island sanctuary. There must be something you can do."

Chaos shifted, remaining silent for several minutes. He sunk down, swirling around us, pulling up directly in front of my face. My head was bowed down, but my hands were shaking.

"LOOK AT ME, CHILD."

As slowly as possible, I lifted my eyes to find its own glowing green orbs.

It's hard to describe what happened. I felt a surge of electricity run through my veins, a flurry of images flashing through my mind. Hundreds, thousands of memories flooding my senses, coming and going too quickly for me to process… it was a moment before I realized that Chaos was looking through my life. My hands shook, but I refused to look away; something told me that if I did, I wouldn't like the result.

Chaos suddenly dropped back into its bloop and I dropped to my knees, feeling drained. Chaos crawled over to Manic, forming up again. He said no words because Manic was already looking at him. He stiffened and his hands shook, but he didn't even blink.

Then Chaos pulled away again, sliding back into its ten-foot form. "IT WILL BE ENOUGH... IF YOU ARE WILLING."

"Willing… willing to do what?" Manic asked as he struggled to his feet, his voice small.

"IF YOU WISH TO SAVE YOUR BROTHER, THEN SACRIFICES MUST BE MADE."

I swallowed. Hard. "What kind of sacrifices?"

"Are we gonna live?" Manic demanded, his hands shaking.

Chaos sounded annoyed. "DO YOU WISH TO SAVE YOUR BROTHER?"

"I mean," Manic said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah." He turned to me, "Sonia?"

I nodded. "We do."

There were no more words from Chaos– in a heartbeat, He grew ten times in size, towering over us like a skyscraper. Instinctively, I reached out for Manic and met him halfway in a hug, clutching him in terror; he had just enough time to let out some choice words before Chaos suddenly collapsed on top of us and we were plunged inside the god's watery form.

I felt myself scream as it flooded my senses, the colorful waters scorching my skin like acid. I felt something drag me under, yanking me down into the heart of the swirling energy; my insides burned and a searing pain flashed through my head, my chest, my hands, starting out small before exploding into such excruciating agony I almost felt numb. I opened my mouth to scream but any sound I made was swept away in the current.

Water filled my lungs and something like lightning rippled through my blood; my muscles seized up in protest, but they did nothing to stop the rapidly-growing pain in the middle of my chest. Splashes of clouded memory formed and disappeared as quickly as they came, overloading my senses; what was happening to me? Where was this coming from–? There was too much information, too much, too much, too much–

Voices.

I tried to open my eyes, but could do hardly more than quiver my eyelids; they were just too heavy. I moaned softly, wishing the voices would stop... couldn't they see I was trying to sleep? My head was killing me…

"–on me. Come on, Sofi, focus. I need you to wake up."

Knuckles.

I moaned again but still couldn't open my eyes. Too heavy…

A hand came behind my head, helping me sit up as a cup of cool liquid was pressed against my lips. I drank, grateful for the relief; when had my throat gotten so dry? A minute ago, I was… wasn't I… what?

"Sonia, open your eyes. Please."

I tried again. This time, I managed to crack my eyes open before slamming them shut again. The light was too bright, too sharp–

"You're almost there," said Knuckles, his voice echoing dimly in my skull. "Come on, Sonia."

"Mmm…" I pressed my eyes opened. They fluttered, trying to clear out the light. A reddish blob came into focus… and that blob looked like a very familiar – if worried-looking – echidna.

I cracked a smile before wincing. I couldn't remember ever having such a painful headache. "Hey, handsome."

The worry slid into relief as Knuckles helped me sit up. "I'm never letting you do that again."

"Oh, don't worry, you won't have to stop me," I reassured him. I looked around, suddenly feeling concerned. "What, um… what happened to Manic? Where is he?"

"He's... fine." Knuckles moved so I could see my brother lying on another cot. He was staring blankly at the ceiling, muttering something under his breath. Except for the occasional finger twitch, he was totally motionless. Weird.

"What's the matter with him?" I mumbled, raising an eyebrow.

Knuckles shrugged. "Dunno. He woke up just a few minutes before you did, but he hasn't said a word. Well, to anyone but himself, that is."

I had a bad feeling about this. I swung my legs over the side of the bed to stand up, but was stopped by Knuckles.

"Hey there, take it easy," he said, pressing a hand against my shoulder, "You just experienced a huge drain of Chaos energy from your system. It's going to be a while before you're back to full strength."

"Right…" I took a deep breath, trying to not think about how I felt like I was going to die. A hollow, gnawing feeling clawed at the inside of my stomach, making me yearn for something I couldn't put my finger on. "How's Maurice?"

"Still unconscious," Shadow reported, motioning to yet another cot in the corner. Tails was standing guard over the blue hedgehog, currently checking his pulse. Shadow answered my next question before I even asked it. "We are not sure if anything happened. After several minutes of your trance, there was a large flash of light. When it faded, you were unconscious and Sonic appeared unchanged."

I rubbed my temples. "Well, I hope we did something. Whatever happened took a lot out of me."

"Yeah, no kidding," said Tails, cracking a half-hearted smile. "You two have been out cold for almost an hour."

I rolled my eyes before running a mental checklist on myself. Still had my arms and legs with all appendages attached. As far as I could tell, there were no memories or brain functions missing. I could feel all of my limbs and my senses seemed to be in working order. Other than my major headache, everything seemed to be normal. "Uh… Manic?"

Manic flinched, looking surprised to have heard his name. He turned to me; he was… a lot paler than he usually was. "Yeah?"

"You, um… you feel okay?"

He paused, his eyes darting around the room. "I… I think so. I dunno. Uh… what about you?"

I sat up slowly, pulling my legs into my chest. Knuckles sat down on my cot, his concern returning. I bit my lower lip, "I think I'm alright, except for this headache. And I feel..." I shook my head, trying to find the words. "...hungry."

"Er– hungry?" Knuckles asked, perplexed.

"Yeah," I said warily. "But… not for food."

Manic slowly nodded in agreement, refusing to look me in the eye. Knuckles wrapped his arm around me. "We'll run some tests, make sure you're okay. Wiggle your fingers," he said, motioning towards my hands. I obliged, happy to see that Chaos had left my limbs working properly.

"Can you stretch out your legs?"

I nodded, pushing my legs into a straight line–

–then was hit in the head with a pillow.

"MANIC!" I growled, yanking the offending projectile off my face. "What the heck was that for?"

He didn't answer for a second. His eyes widened and he looked on the verge of a panic attack, which made no sense at all. Then he shoved it back down and very carefully got to his feet. "Sonia… think of a number between one and ten."

I blanched; he couldn't be serious. "You throw a pillow at me and now you want me to think of a number?"

"Sonia… you…" he swallowed. "You didn't dodge."

I blinked a few times, not understanding what he was trying to say. "What?"

"The pillow. You didn't dodge it." Manic took another deep breath. "I… I can't hear anyone's thoughts. Like, at all. It's like… like…"

Shadow's cold voice cut in, "Like you have no powers." He folded his arms. "I have noticed the significant reduction of Chaos energy in you both since you woke up. I thought perhaps Chaos had drained you… however, there has been no increase since Manic woke up. And I am getting the same feeling from you, Sonia." Shadow's arms dropped to his sides, "I believe, at the moment, it is safe to assume that Chaos–"

"–took our powers," I breathed out quickly, trying not to panic.

Knuckles' brow furrowed, "Two mental abilities in exchange for a mind." He looked up at me, his eyes full of sympathy. "It would make sense."

"I… I don't know what to think," I felt my hands start to shake. "I mean, I guess we never really needed them, but… I don't know. They were a part of me and… will they ever come back?"

Knuckles frowned, "Maybe..? If they did, I don't think it would ever be as strong or as easy to use them. And it would take time– years, maybe. Probably decades. And that's assuming Chaos didn't just rip them from you entirely."

Manic looked like he'd been stabbed in the back by his best friend. His fingers were drumming over his rapidly bouncing leg, and there was a panicked, hollow look in his eyes that seemed unnatural compared to his usual mischievous gleam. Tails seemed to have noticed this as well, sitting down next to Manic and quietly asking him if everything was alright. I couldn't hear the words mumbled, but it sounded like Manic reassured him he was okay in a voice that meant he was definitely not okay.

Rouge came forward, "I hate to interrupt, but what are we supposed to do now?"

"Sonic's sedative wears off in about twenty minutes," Amy said, checking her watch. "I say we wait and see what happens. Unless we want him to wake up on the plane."

Tails vetoed the idea immediately, "He'll want to run as soon as he sees anything resembling hospital room. We need to make sure he's… grounded, in a manner of speaking."

"AKA- stuck on a flying island," Knuckles chuckled. "That takes me back." He took my hand. "Did I ever tell you how I first met your brother?"

I shook my head half-heartedly. He must have noticed, squeezing my hand a little. "Let's wait 'til he's up. Then maybe he can defend his actions. How does that sound?" There was a message under the surface. One I caught loud and clear. You may have lost your powers, but your brother is going to be fine.

I felt a smile tug at my lips. "I can't wait."

Sonic

I was a little confused when I woke up in Knuckles's house for no reason whatsoever. I was even more confused when I realized Tails's hair was eight inches too long.

What the…?

I opened my eyes for ten seconds and was already wishing I'd kept them closed. "Tails?...What happened to your hair?"

The fox's eyes widened as tears welled up inside of them. He swallowed before speaking, his voice hesitant with a hint of hope. "Sonic?"

I frowned, confusion growing. "Tails, you're avoiding the question. Why's your hair so long? Are you wearing a wig? And, uh... what's with the glasses?"

Tails's eyes were now freely spilling tears as he threw his arms around me, actually knocking me back onto the cot. "Sonic!"

I frowned but gently patted the back of his head. "Uh...okay? It's okay. I'm fine."

My ears were suddenly filled with people cheering as I suddenly realized Tails wasn't alone. Directly behind Tails was Knuckles, holding hands with some pink hedgehog I'd never seen before. Tears were streaming down her face and she was smiling so broadly she looked like she was going to burst. Behind them were Shadow and Rouge, who was high-fiving some other stranger hedgehog. Cream was on the other side of Shadow, jumping up and down in excitement. Amy stood in the back, looking both stunned and overjoyed at the same time.

"Uh…" I frowned; this was starting to get weird. "Am I missing something?"

Tails pulled away, wiping the tears away from his face. "We're just… we're just glad you're okay."

My frown deepened, "Why wouldn't I be okay? It's not like this is the first time I've passed out after going super."

Everyone froze; Tails's smile vanished in a blink. "Sonic?" he asked warily, his eyes growing wide. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"That's a weird question–"

"Sonic."

"Okay, geez." I sat up a little straighter, stretching my arms out with a yawn. "We were fighting our evil robot selves, I went super, blew up Metal Shadow, and then... I guess I passed out? Everything sorta goes black at that point."

No one looked at me. Instead, they had a silent conversation with tilting heads and silent gestures, clearly panicked or something.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, looking around at my–

–what the heck happened to my friends? Cream looked taller than I remembered, and come to think of it, so did Tails. Amy's hair fell past her shoulders and she looked… well... a little more mature since the last time I saw her. Even Rouge and Knuckles looked a little different, although I couldn't put a finger on what had changed.

"Did something happen?" I asked, smiling nervously. "What, did 'Botnik get the jump on me or something? Come on, guys, you're kinda freaking me out here."

No one moved, but their eyes stayed locked on me. The tension in my body was getting worse; the part of me that wanted to run out the back door was growing stronger.

And to top it all off, there were two strangers staring at me a little weirdly for no reason whatsoever. One looked like some kind of ghetto punk and the other looked more like a girl you'd find at a prep school. "Oh yeah, and uh… anyone wanna introduce me to the random guests in back?"

I didn't like the way Tails was looking at me after I said that. Geez, it wasn't my fault they'd invited a bunch of random civilians over to Angel Island.

"Sonic?" said Tails shakily, glaring fiercely at the ground, his hands balling into fists. "We need to talk."

I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this conversation.

Well… this ought to be good.

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