Tails woke up to flowers.
They looked like sunflowers, if sunflowers had leaves shaped like lightning bolts and petals in technicolor pink and blue. Each was taller than he was, and they all bobbed merrily to some unheard tune. Tails stared up at them blankly. Where was he? Where was Sonic? How had he gotten here? An alien chirp nearby brought it all flooding back. The Wisps. Planet jumping. The impostor. Tails gasped and sat up in the grass, staring around wildly.
No attack came. No badniks. No Eggman. No monster wearing his brother's face. Just grass and flowers as far as the eye could see, broken up by checkerboard paths and waving palm trees. The scenery reminded Tails of Green Hill, but the plants were far more alien than any he'd seen on South Island. Alien. That was it. More than Green Hill, this place looked like Tropical Resort. But there was one key difference: here, the world was alive. Birds sang, insects chattered, and even the plants seemed to dance, all in tune to some inaudible melody that pricked at the very back of Tails's mind. Here the Wisps playing among the plants seemed far more at home than they had on any of the dead planets, their chirps and flitting movements blending seemlessly into the song and dance. Perfectly in tune.
"Where are we?" a familiar voice asked nearby.
Tails rose fully to his feet, looking more closely around him. Sure enough, Blaze was sitting up among the flowers a little ways away from him, while on Tails's other side, Silver was rubbing his head with a grimace.
"I don't know. It looks like one of the planets Eggman was terraforming, but…" Tails looked around, taking in the serene landscape again. No garish decorations, no loud announcements, no Egg Pawns tearing up the natural scenery to make room for Eggman's ostentatious themepark. "…there's no Eggman." And it's alive.
"I think…" Silver said slowly, getting to his feet and studying their surroundings. "I think we're on the Little Planet."
Tails blinked in surprise. "You know about the Little Planet?" At Blaze's questioning look, he explained, "It's a small planet—more of a moon, really—that appears in the sky over Earth once a year."
Silver nodded. "It's the same in my time. The Never Planet, some call it. It's the original home of the Time Stones."
"I guess it makes sense it would still exist in the future," Tails mused. With how removed Little Planet was from Earth, it may have escaped the catastrophe that created Silver's future entirely.
Blaze frowned thoughtfully at the flowers around them. "We have something like that in my world as well, though we call it the Miracle Planet. It appears in our skies once a year, just like yours."
"So who's Little Planet is this, then?" Tails wondered aloud. He pulled out his Miles Electric, trying to get a read on where they were, and frowned at the results. "That… can't be right."
"What is it?" Blaze asked, coming over to look at the screen.
"It says we're… nowhere." Tails refreshed the device, his frown deepening as the results came back the same. "That can't be right. If this is the Little Planet over any of our worlds, it should say where we're located."
"The Planet only appears for a few days once a year," Blaze pointed out. "Who's to say where it is the rest of the time?"
They all looked up at the green-blue sky above them. Though it was bright as day, there was no visible sun or stars. Nothing to indicate where or when they were… or if they were anywhere at all.
"That doesn't matter now," Silver said abruptly, breaking them from their reverie. "What are we going to do about that… thing? What even is it?"
Tails's ears flattened. He'd been trying to avoid facing what happened, but Silver was right. They couldn't just ignore it. He spoke slowly, trying to put the pieces together. "I think Eggman's machine used Sonic's Gaia energy to… invert him, somehow. To switch his morality. Make him see his enemies as friends, and…" he swallowed. "…his friends as enemies."
Blaze folded her arms. "So he's under Eggman's control."
Tails shook his head. "Worse than that. Before, Eggman was forcing him to obey. Sonic was resisting him, I'm sure of it, and he even broke through to me at least once. But now…"
"Now, he wants to obey Eggman," Silver said darkly. "We have to take him down." At his companion's matching glares, he hurriedly raised his hands in appeasement. "I'm not saying we have to kill him, just, you know… stop him."
Tails's ears drooped. "I don't even know how. The machine was completely destroyed, and even if we could reconstruct it and reverse its effect somehow, this… Nega-Sonic still has all of Sonic's abilities. He won't go down without a fight." He looked at Blaze and Silver in turn. "You weren't able to beat Sonic when you first met, Blaze. Neither could you, Silver. And this time, Sonic knows you're coming after him. He'll be prepared, and he'll have Eggman's full force to back him up, too. The three of us aren't enough to stop him." Tails stared at the ground. "This is my fault. I let him down; I let everyone down."
Blaze knelt in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's as much our fault as yours, Tails. We all should have seen something was wrong. But it's not over yet." He looked up to meet her eyes, and she returned his gaze steadily. "If there's one thing you two have taught me, it's that you are masters of the impossible. We will find a way to bring your brother back, Tails. I promise."
A soft chirp made Tails turn. Yakker, the Wisp Sonic and Tails had met when they first started this journey, bumped against his shoulder, warbling encouragingly. Six other Wisps flew to join her, all of them familiar. The cyan Wisp who'd guided him on Tropical Resort; the yellow Wisp from Sweet Mountain who'd helped him fight the pirate ship; the grey Wisp from Starlight Carnival who'd seemed so mournful when Tails was researching its planet; one of the purple Wisps who'd rescued Tails at Asteroid Coaster; "Theox" the indigo Wisp who'd helped with his translator at Aquarium Park and told him Sonic's mind was being overwritten; and the jade Wisp who'd risked leaving its fellows to beg for his help on Planet Wisp. This whole time, the Wisps had been trying to help Tails, warning him that Sonic wasn't Sonic and guiding him on his quest to stop Eggman's scheme. He'd ignored them, Tails remembered guiltily, even resented them, but despite all that they'd doggedly continued to help him. And now they were still here, trying to comfort him over one loss even as their entire worlds were slowly enslaved and roboticized.
Tails got to his feet, something new burning in his chest— something, he imagined, like what had driven Sonic to begin his fight against Eggman all those years ago, back when he had no one to stand beside him and didn't even speak the Doctor's language. Sonic hadn't given up once in the time Tails had known him; he wouldn't want Tails to give up now. But even if he had, Tails knew he wouldn't be able to walk away from this. The Wisps needed help. Eggman needed to be stopped. This fight wasn't Tails's or Sonic's alone.
"Even if—even if we can't turn Sonic back to normal," Tails said, forcing the words past the lump in his throat, "we can't give up now. Eggman is enslaving entire planets, and soon he'll start on mine." He looked at the Wisps, then turned back to Blaze and Silver. "I have to free the Wisp planets."
"I'm with you," Blaze said, eyes glowing with fierce determination. "Eggman is going to pay for what he's done."
Silver nodded, his hands clenched into fists. "I'm with you, too. What's the plan?"
Tails took a deep breath. "I think the first step is getting my Wisp translator working. Then they can help us make a plan for how to deal with this."
Blaze turned towards the horizon, eyes narrowed. "While you work on that, we can explore the planet. The Wisps must have brought us here for a reason."
Silver nodded and rose into the air with his telekinesis. "Perhaps the Time Stones are here." He smiled slightly. "Maybe we can go back in time to before this whole mess started."
Tails smiled back. "Maybe."
"Good luck, Tails," Blaze said, and shot off through the waving flowers. Silver took off in the other direction, leaving Tails alone with a mob of weird aliens who didn't even speak his language. He found he didn't mind.
"Alright," Tails said, turning to the Wisps. "Let's get started."
Blaze's shoes pounded a rapid rhythm on the surface of the strange planet. "Little Planet" was an apt name; she'd probably be able to run the whole thing in a minute or less, given enough room to build momentum. But she didn't run full speed. There was no point scouting out the planet if she was running too fast to notice anything important. Besides, she wanted the chance to be by herself, to process everything that had happened.
Sonic… Eggman had done something terrible to him. Blaze tried to believe what she'd told Tails, that he really could be saved, but the cruelty in those purple eyes lingered in her mind. There'd been no sign of Sonic's warm and friendly spirit in that gaze. There was no sign of her friend in that leering face.
And Black. What about Black? Her heart clenched as she remembered the sight of him, kneeling defeated in Eggman's twisted machine. There'd been no sign of him in the rubble. What had Eggman wanted with him? Was he still alive? Was he lying even now, wounded and dying, thinking she'd abandoned him?
Blaze clenched her teeth, twisting her fingers in the fabric of the power-repressing shawl still safe in her satchel. She'd been so determined to prove Solaris wrong, and then she'd let Black walk to his death without even trying to stop him. He'd known; she'd seen it in the way he looked at Sonic when they met, in the look he'd given her before he walked into the jungle. She'd seen the truth in the slump of his shoulders, the way he held her gaze as the machine was activated. And even before that, he'd given her back the shawl, spoken to her as if it was the last time they'd see each other. He'd known this was the end, and yet he'd still gone to meet it, willingly. Why? Had he known something she didn't?
Blaze dug her heels into the ground, coming to a stop. Around her stood what looked like the ruins of an old civilization, much of it submerged in swampy water and overgrown with lush green plants and bright gold flowers. The air was fresh and cool, stirred by a gentle breeze. It might have been beautiful, had she been in the mood to appreciate it. Black would have loved it.
"You could have stayed," Blaze whispered to the wind. "You could have come home with us. You didn't have to go." What could have been so important that Black would give up his own life?
Something, warm and familiar, tugged at her mind.
Blaze whirled around, eyes widening. Then she took off, running through ancient corridors of ruins, splashing through cool, clear water. She slowed to a stop as she saw the glow lighting the room ahead of her like a beacon, drawing her onward. She stepped forward.
The Sol Emeralds rested amid the ruins as comfortably as if they'd been made for them. They were all there, all intact. Red, blue, green, purple, yellow, orange, white. They glowed as bright and warm as they always had, their presences closing around her like an embrace. It was almost as if they'd never been gone. Around them flitted Wisps in all the colors of the Emeralds, tidying up the area like priestesses tending to a shrine, but Blaze had eyes only for the Emeralds themselves.
"Why did you leave?" Blaze demanded, dropping to her knees. "Why come here?"
We were called, the white Emerald said. Her voice was like a cool breeze, and Blaze was reminded of the touch of the white Wisps, though the Emerald's energy was of course far greater. If the Wisps were drops of power, the Sol Emeralds were oceans. The Others needed us.
Blaze's ears flattened. "I needed you, too."
Not as much as you think, the blue Emerald said gently, her voice like ripples in a pool. You are strong, guardian-child. Stronger than us.
"I doubt that," Blaze said. She started gathering the Emeralds up, shooting an apologetic look at the annoyed Wisps. "I couldn't save him." She stared down at the purple Emerald, clutched tight in her hands. "I don't even know if he's alive or…" Her voice choked off.
The Wolf will not return, the white Emerald said. She'd never been one to mince words. Blaze's ears flattened, pain squeezing her chest. She'd suspected, but to hear it put so bluntly…
The Wolf may not return, the purple Emerald said, her voice so much like Ebony's. But the other is not so far gone as you fear.
Blaze's ears swung forward. She felt the impression of who they were referring to: a summer breeze, emerald green grass, sunflowers, a bright smile. "Sonic?"
Quickly, guardian, the purple Emerald said, urgency rising in her tone. He may yet be saved.
Silver walked. He'd already used his powers quite a bit, and he'd rather not have a pounding headache when they finally faced that… thing Eggman had created. The thing Eggman had created by killing White. Silver ground his teeth, rage and grief churning in his gut. Why hadn't he heeded Mephiles's warning? Why hadn't he been able to save White?
Something tugged at his mind, cool like the gears of a clock. Silver turned towards it, trying to focus on the sensation. Faint, but familiar. Hesitantly, he followed the feeling into a cave, walking past glittering quartz and defunct conveyor belts. An old mine, perhaps, overgrown with moss and plants. Ahead, Silver heard the drip of water and saw the glow of reflected light. He hurried forward to the sound of familiar chirps, echoing down the tunnel. An underground lake came into view, and with it a legion of Wisps—red, blue, green, purple, yellow, orange, black, flitting about the cavern and chattering to each other. And there, lying on the shore and surrounded by attendant Wisps, were the Time Stones.
Silver stopped just short of them. Slowly he knelt and reached out to pick the black Stone up. Its presence hummed in his mind.
"You could have helped," Silver said, hot tears pricking at his eyes. "You could have saved him."
It was his choice, a voice—no, voices—hummed in his mind, and Silver jerked back, nearly dropping the Stone. Never had he heard them so clearly before.
He flattened his ears, glaring at the Stones. "That doesn't explain why you left, just when I needed your help."
We were afraid, the voices said, and that was more shocking than them speaking to him in the first place. So we hid.
"What do you have to be afraid of?" Silver asked. The Time Stones were powerful. More powerful than Iblis, perhaps even more than Argus and Iblis combined.
The Stones hummed mournfully. Many things. But that's not what you want to hear.
No, it wasn't. But what he wanted to hear wasn't what he needed to hear. And Silver already knew what he had to do.
The Lion cannot be saved, the Time Stones said softly. But there's someone else who can.
When Blaze and Silver returned an hour or so later—Blaze first, and Silver a little while after her—they didn't return alone. Tails stared in astonishment at the fourteen gemstones arrayed before him. The Sol Emeralds he knew, if from a distance, and though he hadn't seen the Time Stones before, he recognized them from Sonic's description. Tails knew the Time Stones typically resided on the Little Planet, but he hadn't expected Silver to find them just like that. And what were the Sol Emeralds doing here?
"The Sol Emeralds said they were called here," Blaze told him. "And they said that Sonic can be saved."
"The Time Stones said the same. Except them being called here, that is," Silver said. He nodded at the Miles Electric. "How goes the translator?"
"I think it's ready," Tails said. He smiled at the Wisps. "They all helped out." He looked back at the gemstones. "If these all are here, are the Chaos Emeralds here, too?"
Yakker chirped, and the Miles Electric buzzed.
{They were here,} the feminine computer voice translated in real time. Each of the seven Wisps who'd been helping Tails out had picked their own computer voice with the enthusiasm and clumsiness of children learning how to use a phone for the first time. It was kind of cute. {But they left when they were called. Now the nosey one orders them.}
The cyan Wisp—Ember, Tails had learned—hissed something that didn't translate. The meaning was clear regardless.
"The Emeralds were here," Tails said thoughtfully. "Why here? What's so important about this place?"
Theox—Thebes, actually, they'd found out—hummed lowly. {It is their home. Ours, too.}
"But I thought the planets Eggman was using were your homes," Tails said, bewildered.
Ember hissed. {Kamdara, other planets, they were home. But then the life was stolen.} The other Wisps hummed sorrowfully, a mourning song without translation. {Our planets are dead, now. But here are pieces of our old worlds, and here is alive.}
Tails had a lot of questions about that explanation, but he decided to shelve them for later in favor of focusing on what they needed to do now.
"Alright," he said. "So Eggman has the Chaos Emeralds and Sonic. The Sol Emeralds and Time Stones, um, say that Sonic can still be saved." He looked at the stones speculatively, then at the Wisps. "How did you know the Chaos Emeralds were here, anyway?"
{Some of us are connected to them,} the yellow Wisp from Sweet Mountain—Orkym-Ro, he called himself—said through the translator. {I can feel the presence of Eklektos—your yellow Emerald—and hear his call.}
{And I am in tune with the Melody,} Ember chimed in.
The other Wisps joined in with their own names for the various Emeralds. Always the Emerald corresponded to the color of the Wisp: Orkym-Ro and the yellow Emerald, Ember and the cyan Emerald, Syrax and the grey Emerald, Dax and the purple Emerald, Thebes and the blue Emerald, Jade and the green Emerald.
"Is that true for all of you?" Tails asked.
{Some are stronger than others,} Syrax growled.
{And some of us, like my people, are connected only to these, or to the other ones,} Yakker added, gesturing to the Sol Emeralds and Time Stones in turn.
"Okay," Tails said slowly. Pieces were beginning to click into place. "Okay, I think I have a plan."