"I was expecting you two to be friendly..." The bee said, looking between them with a mildly miffed expression. "What are you guys even doing here?"
Ray stood between Cream and the stranger, an attempt at protecting her – she was sure, but she didn't appreciate the squirrel moving closer to the danger. "I could ask you the same thing."
The young bee folded his arms, unimpressed. "Well, I asked you first."
"And I'm asking you now."
"Please stop-" Cream interrupted the two, pleading. She stepped closer and addressed the boy. "We aren't here to harm you or steal from you – or anything like that. So if we could just… go our separate ways-"
He kept a pout on his face, but quickly glanced around as he considered options. "I didn't think you were out to fight me, alright? As I said, I hoped you guys were going to be friendly." He said surprisingly, causing Cream and Ray to exchange a look.
"I'm not even here for much of a reason to be honest." The kid went on. "I just… travel around, you know? Looking for an adventure-"
"An adventure? When the world's like thi-?"
"Well, let me let you in on a little secret-" Ray cut in, shifting his gaze around. "Promise not to tell?"
The lone bee nodded in agreement, and Cream's anguished and desperate stares were not enough to stop her companion. Cheese floated beside her head, folding his tiny arms and shaking his head in slow disapproval. Even the chao knew this was a bad idea, the chao.
"Alright - well... we're after these things called Chaos Emeralds. They're emeralds... obviously. But they like- have a bunch of power in them." Ray leaned in closer. "We're gathering them so we can take down the Empire. For good."
The other boy leaned forward as well - with a wide-eyed expression. "Woah - you're like, legit?" His eyes shone with awe, a smile creeping up on his face. You've like... you've got more room in your crew, right?"
"Of course, man!" Ray said, already giving the bee a playful shove on the shoulder - as though they had been friends for years. "Welcome to the team! You seem cool."
"Great! But uh-" The boy's expression faltered. "You guys are on your own, right? No dumb, over-protective adults following you around?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Nope, just us." Ray smirked. "We used to be with a bunch of adults but, they do a lot of standing around and waiting - and those that are doing things - aren't very good at it." He admitted. "But just because we're kids - we haven't been allowed to help out with anything! So we thought, you know what? Grown-ups aren't always the ones in the right, kids are just as good - if not, smarter! So we're about to gather those emeralds faster than they could ever dream of!"
The bee snapped his finger, grinning widely. "Now that's the answer I wanted to hear! Count me in!"
"Awesome!" Ray exclaimed excitedly, bouncing on the tip of his toes. "I'm Ray, by the way."
"Charmy!" The kid finally introduced himself, holding his hand up. Ray promptly gave him a high five, after which both of them almost looked as though they were ready to literally jump up and down in existence.
"And over here is my assistant, Cream-" Ray indicated to the rabbit behind him.
She felt as though she might faint. These two, with how loud and excitable she could see they both were - they were going to be absolutely terrible for each other? How was it going to be possible to keep them both hidden from the robots?
Charmy rose a brow. "Is she okay...? She looks pale, and like- she's on the verge of tears..." He mentioned awkwardly.
"Hm?" Ray turned to glance at her briefly, then shrugged at Charmy. "Meh, she's always like that."
Charmy also shrugged. "If ya say so." He was quick to change the subject. "So, where we lookin'?"
"Everywhere and... everywhere!" Ray told him. "We aren't leaving a stone unturned! We have to be 100% sure that the emerald isn't here before we can move on anywhere else."
The bee nodded with approval, letting out a soft hum. "You know... I know a little about detective work and the like, so now that I'm here - this investigation is going to take half the time."
"Then why are we standing around? Let's get to it!" Ray announced, turning around and beginning to walk out of the alley and heading toward the open streets - with Charmy following behind, letting out soft buzzing sounds due to his wings. Wait, where were those two even going? Did they even know?
Cream looked at Cheese, her gaze helpless. The chao's expression softened with sympathy as he pressed himself against Cream's cheek in comfort.
"Thank you, Cheese..." She told him softly. Looking ahead at the two boys, she took in a deep breath - and forced herself to drag her feet along, tailing right behind them. Even though her job had gotten significantly harder, it was still the same - she had to protect Ray.
Espio pointed the tip of his kunai blade at the girls. "I'm going to ask this once." He clenched his teeth. "Where is Charmy?"
"Charmy...?" Tangle held up her hands, immediately surrendering - after all, she didn't want a fight. "I don't have any clue who that is." She told Espio sincerely. "I'm sorry I don't have the answer you're probably wanting- But please, let''s not-"
Espio disappeared.
"... Fight." She trailed off with a sigh. "Sorry for this, Whisper."
"Don't apologise for the actions of your adversaries." The wolf said, grabbing hold of her weapon.
"Now, where did he-? AGH-!" She was toppled to the ground as Espio kicked into her from behind. He pinned himself on top of her, and with a swift move - dug one of his blades into her shoulder blade.
She yelped loudly, and Whisper wasted no time in using her gun as a battering weapon. She swung at Espio as hard as she could, managing to knock him off of her. He rolled on the ground briefly before vanishing from sight once more.
Whisper got ready to shoot in the direction she last saw him, but gasped as a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her body. They tightened their grip on her, squeezing her painfully as they lifted her off the ground. She quickly figured out that whoever had hold of her was significantly larger than her, and much stronger.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a mouth filled with sharp teeth. She could feel his breath against her ear when he spoke.
"One of you is going to tell us where Charmy is!" Vector growled. "Or I'm not letting her go!" He gripped hold of her even tighter, her shoulders all bunched close to her body - it was getting difficult to breathe with all the pressure applied against her body and chest, and she began to gasp for air.
She dropped her heavy gun onto his foot, and he didn't even flinch.
Tangle shook her head desperately. "We're not lying! We don't know who Charmy is!"
Whisper felt as though she might burst any second - unable to take any more pressure.
Tangle desperately scanned her surroundings for something that might help, if talking wasn't going to make them stand down - then what could she do?
Her expression steeled with determination. At an incredible speed, she suddenly shot out her tail to grab hold of Vector's leg - and then yanking to unbalance him. The two fell over, causing Vector to loosen his grip - and allowing Whisper just enough room to deliver a punch to the bottom of his jaw.
As he yelled in pain, Whisper scrambled away - making sure to quickly grab onto her gun in the process before running to Tangle's side.
The lemur opened her mouth, but then Whisper fired her gun at something behind Tangle. The laser seemed to collide with the air, but as soon as it did - the body of Espio flickered into view as he was sent flying backwards into a tree.
"Woah..." Tangle let out. "How did you know how to aim when he was-?"
She couldn't finish her question as she realised both Espio and Vector were standing back up. Tangle and Whisper were back to back, Vector and Espio positioned a few feet away on either side of the pair. Whisper kept twisting her body around, aiming her gun at both of them. "The next person that moves - I will shoot."
They were locked in a standstill.
For a moment, it looked as though the mercanaries were about to stand down.
They should have known better.
Vector charged towards them, and Whisper shot out a laser. The crocodile proved himself to be surprisingly nimble, swerving to dodge it. He reached for her weapon, and as soon as he was able - he tossed it aside as far as he could before delivering a punch to Whisper's face.
The wolf hissed, stumbling back and blocking her face to protect herself from further punches.
Tangle stretched her tail out to retrieve Whisper's gun, but Espio had other plans. Once again appearing from nowhere, he grabbed hold of her tail, swinging it around like a lasso and then sending it back at her. The end of her tail slapped the lemur in the face and she grimaced, then Tangle quickly reduced the size of it so Espio couldn't think of using it as a weapon aganst her again.
She took a second to glance at the brawl between Whisper and Vector. The lemur knew Whisper couldn't be weak, especially considering the fact she lugged that gun around all the time - but every kick and every punch seemed to do nothing to Vector's body. The crocodile seemed to decide he'd finally had enough, and gripped on to the top of Whisper's head - lifting her in the air.
The wolf kicked her legs, thrashing around - but the effort was futile.
The other girl immediately wanted to help, but suddenly found a blade pressed against her throat, Espio's arm reaching from behind her. "You're terrible at keeping your eyes on your opponent." He remarked.
"It's kinda hard to when said opponent keeps turning invisible." She argued bitterly.
"You should have thought about that before you harmed him."
"Who?! What are you talking about?!" Tangle exclaimed in frustration.
"I understand you seek revenge for that night, but bringing a kid into our fight is inexcusable!" Espio raised his voice, and Tangle could see his hand trembling in anger.
Even with Whisper's squinted eyes, she could tell the girl was looking at her.
"What?" Tangle breathed out. "I'm not... I'm not seeking revenge for that..."
...
"You two put on an impressive show." The armidillo smiled at them pleasantly. "Mind if I get your names?"
"Oh! Heh, well - my name is Tangle! I uh, I fight things! And this super awesome lady here is Rouge!" She pointed to the bat.
"Nice to meet you. How long you two been working together? Since the war started?" Mighty asked, allowing the small squirrel companion he had with him to hide behind his legs. He wasn't forcing the kid to come out.
"Oh, pssht - no. It's only been a few weeks actually." Tangle admitted with a smile. "But I already think we make a pretty good team! Wouldn't you say?" She asked Rouge eagerly.
"Mm." Rouge shrugged.
"You're the one, right?" Mighty tilted his head at her.
There was a brief pause. "Would be real useful if you elaborated." Rouge told him.
"The bat that blew up the factory in Central City?" Mighty's smile remained relaxed, his gaze easy and inviting. In fact, he even seemed amused as he spoke of the incident.
"What's it to you?"
"Well... I can tell you two are one of the few still left that are willing to rise and fight. If we want this world to survive, people like us need to band together - and protect what life remains. No one can take down an empire by themselves, we need to band together and become a fighting force that Robotnik can truly fear." Mighty said, his tone serious - but somehow simultaneously soothing.
"I'm sure I don't need to lecture you, you want him dead as much as anyone else - but we stand a better chance at ending the tyrrany together." He held out a hand. "So, what do you say? Mind helping me out?"
...
Overcome with memories, her heart felt heavy - like a stone in her chest. "You think I have something to do with a kid of yours? That I... that we harmed them?"
"Admit it!" Vector snapped at her. "You're desperate to get back at us - so you kidnapped Charmy!"
"We're... we're literally rebels! The good guys!" Tangle argued, trying to get them to listen to her. "We don't do that sort of thing!"
"Rouge is a psycho. It's exactly the type of scheme she'd try to pull." Espio glared.
"Rouge? Guys! She left our group!" Tangle pointed out to them, watching as their eyes widened in surprise. "There's no scheming going on, okay? In fact, the reason we're down here is because we're looking for two kids of our own! So maybe before you start fighting people, you should get your facts straight!"
The two of them were dumbfounded, and while it was hard to read Whisper's face - Tangle could feel the wolf's gaze watching her closely.
Vector let go of Whisper abruptly, letting her drop to the ground. Espio took the blade away from Tangle's neck, and stepped away from her. Tangle wasted no time in rushing to Whisper's side. "You okay?" Tangle asked.
Whisper's voice was even quieter than usual, making it impossible for anyone else to hear. "Mhm. Are you?"
"Not really... these guys just... I'll tell you later." Tangle whispered back.
When Whisper nodded in understanding, and Tangle was certain that the wolf was telling the truth and needed no urgent care - she looked up, flitting her gaze between Vector and Espio. "Charmy, right? Thats who you're looking for?"
The way they both awkwardly looked away gave her a clear enough answer. "It's possible the kids could have all bumped into each other." Tangle said finally with a sigh. "So... what's the point in fighting, again?"
...
"MIGHTY!" Tangle screeched, trying to push past the bat. "Mighty! No, no, no! This can't be real, Rouge! This can't!"
...
"Wouldn't it make more sense to work together?"
Knuckles stopped once he reached the edge of the rooftop. "I don't get it... how have they moved so far ahead already?" Knuckles asked. Although he was mainly talking to himself, he was surprised that Sonic had no comments to make. "I guess the hedgehog warped them to wherever they needed to be..."
Silence.
"Where do you think they're even going?"
Still nothing.
"Are you listening? ... No?" Knuckles sighed.
As Sonic didn't answer any of his questions, Knuckles turned to figure out why – only to see the hedgehog staring down at the communicator device that the fox had given him.
"You're not… actually considering taking up Miles' offer, right?" Knuckles asked sternly, folding his arms – he didn't even want Sonic to think about it.
"Of course not." Sonic replied quickly. "I'm just thinking… if there's anything I know about Miles, this device probably has a tracker in it or something." He said, far too relaxed for the echidna's liking.
"You mean, Miles knows where we are? If that thing is tracking us, why do you still have it in your hands?" Knuckles asked, frustrated.
"Well, I don't think it's an entirely bad thing…" Sonic contemplated, placing a finger up to his chin. "In fact, this could be useful for us." He spoke in a manner that seemed to imply he was still mostly in his own head – talking to himself.
"Useful?" Knuckles couldn't see how. "Having that fox on our trail is the last thing we need right now."
"Eh, something tells me that Miles isn't gonna be that much of a problem for us right now." Sonic shrugged, much to Knuckles' surprise. "What I'm getting at is… I think we can use this thing to our advantage." Sonic shook the communicator slightly in his hand, showing it off to Knuckles.
"You're saying… you have an idea?" Knuckles tilted his head.
Sonic nodded with a sudden eagerness, a grin appearing on his face.
"Hmph." Knuckles folded his arms. "Pass."
"Huh-?" Sonic blinked. "Come on, you haven't even heard me out!"
"Looking at your track record? I don't think I want to…" Knuckles said with unfiltered scepticism.
"Man!" Sonic raised his hand in dismissal, brushing off his concerns. "My ideas are only stupid like… 70% of the time."
"Only?"
"Which means 30% of those ideas are good ones." Sonic's grin returned. "And I don't know.. I feel like this idea falls in that 30% if you catch my drift."
Knuckles couldn't hide his confusion. "What kind of backwards logic-?"
Sonic cut him off by suddenly placing his arm around the echidna's shoulders. Knuckles' brain simply decided to shut off for a second – and he wasn't prepared for the flush of heat that would rise up in his face, tinting his cheeks with a red hue.
"Just follow me, and we will escape from this city." Sonic's voice carried its typical smugness. It was peculiar – arrogance wasn't usually something Knuckles found appealing, quite the opposite in fact. Yet, the smoothness in Sonic's voice was instead only alluring. Perhaps it was due to his eyes – always sincere and friendly, even when he was being cocky.
"Huh-?" Knuckles found himself unable to speak properly.
"At least, I think that's how that song goes? Eh, doesn't matter." Sonic let go and stepped away from Knuckles, but not before giving him a few firm pats on the shoulder.
Sonic took a few steps away before turning back to look at the echidna. "Look, we can sit around and debate the best path forward – or we can take a risk with my plan and catch up to Shadow way faster."
Knuckles glanced down at the ground – taking a moment to weigh his options. Would it be that wise to place his faith in Sonic yet again? When he looked back at the hedgehog, Sonic was smirking.
"Come on," Sonic held out his hand towards him, and gave a wink. "Trust me."
"Alright." Knuckles finally rolled his eyes. "Tell me what this plan is then, and I'll decide if it's worthwhile."
"This place gets weirder and weirder, huh?" Silver offered up a conversation despite knowing Metal Sonic couldn't respond to him. The robot had his arms folded, staring out of the glass window of the train, and Silver stood right beside him - and looked in the same direction.
Despite everything, the view was incredible. All around them was a vast sky - filled with dark purple and pink hues, all beautifully fading into each other in cloud-like shapes. Pale, twinkling stars were dotted and scattered throughout - while a large, bright moon shone and beamed down upon the train - lighting up the train carriage in a soft, warm glow.
There was nothing but sky, one could only assume they were in the air. But they definitely weren't flying, Silver knew there must be tracks. It was though the train were some distorted rollercoaster - one that went far too high in the air than it was supposed to.
Silver honestly couldn't tell what speed they were even travelling at.
"At least it's pretty..." Silver looked towards the robot. "Do you think it's pretty?"
Silver patiently waited, but was surprised by the response. Metal Sonic shook his head. "Really?" Silver questioned. "Do you... find anything... pretty looking?"
The robot shook his head again.
"Ah. I see." Silver said awkwardly. "You probably weren't programmed that way, then. I couldn't imagine not being able to see the beauty in the things around me..." The hedgehog admitted. He felt sorry for the robot...
Robotocization was already a horrifying concept, he didn't need a reason to fear it more - but it had certainly been given to him.
Maybe aesthetics and beauty were foreign concepts to him, but logic certainly wouldn't be. Silver's ears flattened as he decided he might as well be honest. Metal Sonic was the only person he could really talk to right now.
"I... have no clue what to do." Silver said slowly. "I've never seen Knuckles so upset, and I have no idea how to help him. And Tikal... I feel like she's trying to hide something from us, but I feel bad for thinking that because she's so nice and gentle- And now we're on this train, in goodness knows where - it's luck that we even managed to find Knuckles. How are we going to find the rest?"
Metal Sonic stared at Silver's tired face, and after a few seconds - tugged on his arm.
"Ow!" Silver winced. "Metal, your claws are sharp!"
The robot tugged and began dragging Silver behind him, walking down and heading through several train carriages at a fast pace. "Metal, jeeze!" Silver kept exclaiming. "Ow, ow, ow-!"
They traversed three of the carriages until they made it to the front of the train, and he realised what Metal was trying to show him. "Wait, I get it! I get what you're saying!" Silver suddenly said, and Metal Sonic stopped.
"If I wanna know what I'm doing, I've gotta start taking control of the things around me - and that starts with taking control of this train! Am I getting that right?"
In response, Metal Sonic shoved Silver towards the door, and they automatically slid open.
It certainly wasn't a sight that Silver had expected to see. There was quite literally nothing - except a single keypad in the middle of the area.
"Not that I'm a train expert or anything..." Silver said, then pointed to it. "But I don't think that's how trains work."
"Why did I agree to this?" Knuckles sighed as he watched Sonic sift through the garbage that was left lying around the overflowing trash can. There was heaps of it - all useless junk and scraps.
"Because, Knucklehead, after I made my suggestion - you had no better ideas." Sonic reminded him.
"Even still, that doesn't make this a good one." Knuckles pointed out. "We can't even guarantee this will give us the results we wanted."
"Come on, think about it, Knuckles. It makes sense. Miles can't be the only one of Eggman's head honchos that has a fancy airship like that. If we make enough noise, cause enough chaos - it's likely an Egg Boss will come flying in one of those things trying to stop us. And then boom - we take it ourselves."
"Why don't we just use another plane like we did in Station Square?" Knuckles asked.
"Because plane slow - high-tech airship fast." The hedgehog simply explained.
"I feel like all we're going to get is an army of robots sent after us." Knuckles said finally, if Sonic somehow came up with a rebuttal - maybe he should just shut up instead.
"Nope." Sonic said. "All Eggman's badniks do is kill whoever they're told to, that's their function. But that's the thing - Eggman doesn't want me dead right now. He wants me to take care of his Shadow problem - that's why we were able to fight out in the open out on city streets." Sonic explained as he picked up a board of metal, likely from a larger robot or vehicle. "That's why, instead of robots, if I'm being enough of a nuisance he'd want to send someone with an actual mobian brain to take me into custody. And this-" Sonic showed Knuckles the device again that likely had a tracker. "- is going to make it all the more easier for them to find us."
Knuckles groaned, internally, but did decide to keep quiet.
"That's yours!" Sonic told him, sliding a metal board across to him.
Knuckles stared at it blankly. "What am I doing with this?" The echidna asked.
Sonic had one of his own of a similar size and shape, tucking it under his arm. "You ever ridden on a board down a road in the middle of one of the busiest streets on Mobius?" Sonic asked casually.
"No..." Knuckles shook his head.
Sonic smirked. "Would you like to?"
...
"This is... stupid. I could die. I could actually die." Knuckles concluded, staring down at the wide road and the steep dip of the hill - so Sonic wanted him to jump down there, get on a board - slip and slide across the concrete and somehow weave in between all those cars without dying?
"You'll be fine, Knux!" Sonic told him far too nonchalantly. "You snowboard in Ice Cap Zone all the time, right? You're more than experienced with a board!"
"First of all, how do you know what I do in Ice Cap Zone? Second, I don't have to worry about cars there." Knuckles told him, not even able to hide his worry and agitation.
"Look, there aren't actual people in those cars - okay? If you have to break through a few, no problem. Go wild!" It would seem Sonic was missing the entire point. "Also, I found spray paint cans in the garbage - thought we could spray some as we go because these cities need some colour." Sonic held out one for Knuckles.
"I think I'll be too busy not dying for me to be able to do... whatever that thing is-"
"You just press the top and paint comes out. Yours is purple!" Sonic smiled.
"Adorable." Knuckles gave an obviously fake smile. "I don't want it. Keep it. You can use it."
Sonic pouted. "Fine... no fun."
Knuckles rolled his eyes before looking down in fear at the road ahead again. Sonic decided not to be smug for once, and spoke to him genuinely. "It may seem daunting, especially to a guy who doesn't get out much - I get it - but trust me. This is going to end up being one of the funnest things you ever do."
"I don't suppose this is how you choose to spend your weekends?" Knuckles asked him sarcastically.
"Heh - no, no - the last time I did this, I was being chased by the authorities for a crime I didn't commit."
Knuckles stared at him. "So... instead of explaining that you didn't do the crime... you decided to run away?"
"Yep."
"... Okay-" That sealed it. Sonic was crazy.
"Anyways, more time we waste - the further Shadow gets ahead soooo, let's do this!"
"Sonic, wait-!"
It was too late. He leaped into the air as a little ball, as high as he could go before untucking himself and landing his feet on top of his board. Even though Knuckles could only see the back of him, he knew Sonic must be grinning like a madman. The hedgehog and the board finally made contact with the ground - and they were off. Sonic tilted his body, weaving in between all the vehicles - miraculously avoiding every single one.
And Knuckles was the one that had to make sure he didn't get killed. Knuckles clenched his teeth, and closed his eyes briefly. He opened them again, and much like Sonic - leapt into the air - boarding the piece of scrap metal. He'd had plenty of experience on Angel Island, just like Sonic had said - so this part was easy.
Knuckles muttered a prayer under his breath, just before the board touched down onto the road.
He shot down, immediately gathering high speeds. He felt the strong force of the wind beating against him, pulling back his dreadlocks and causing them to flow wildly behind him. The sensation was familiar to him, even pleasant - but it was ruined by his absolutely pounding with a relentless anxiety.
The echidna almost unbalanced himself as he dodged his first car, and he was very lucky to swerve out of the way of his second on the complete opposite side. Sonic looked behind him, and seemed to notice Knuckles was having difficulties.
"The more you worry, the more you're gonna overthink - and the harder it's gonna be!" Sonic called to him. "Relax! It's not as hard as you think it is!"
Knuckles wanted to yell back and argue, but actually seeing Sonic - it was clear the hedgehog was having no trouble at all. It looked so easy for him, he was barely even paying attention. Maybe if anyone had a point, it would be him...
So, Knuckles decided to breathe in slowly, and then breathe out - just... relax, somehow. Release the tension from his body.
Huh, that car was much easier to avoid this time. So was the next. When Knuckles easily slid past the third one, he actually smiled. The wind breezing against him, the speed, the knowledge that what they were doing was pissing off Eggman...
It was all... oddly enjoyable.
Sonic grinned and called out to him. "It's awesome, isn't it?!"
"It's... certainly new for me!" Knuckles yelled back, not wanting to give Sonic complete satisfaction.
Sonic chuckled. "I'm gonna take that as a yes!"
Damnit.
Sonic then held out the two spray cans. "Sorry if I get you in the process, Knuckles! Well, actually I don't think I will be that sorry..."
"What was that?! AAAAH-"
Suddenly, the air filled with a sea of green and purple cascading around them in streams. The colours splatted against eveything in the area - the cars, the road, the buildings - once just a swarm of grey, now able to suddenly pop brightly on the eyes. Knuckles gazed around him in wonder.
"HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, EGGHEAD?!" Sonic called out at the top of his lungs. "YOU'VE FORGOTTEN TO PAINT YOUR BUILDINGS, SO I'M DOING IT FOR YOU!"
Knuckles' smile became a little uneasy - hoo boy, they were definitely attracting the attention of the Empire now...
"Hey, hey! Green's a great colour on you!" Sonic complimented. "Really brings out your eyes!"
The echidna was confused momentarily before looking down and realising that his toga was now half-covered in green paint. It was... a special garment, one supposedly worn by many guardians before him - it was one of a kind, and yet...
Knuckles wasn't upset.
"Sonic, pass me the can!"
Sonic's eyes shone. "You got it!" He exclaimed, tossing it over. Knuckles caught it in his hand, it seemed simple enough to use - all he had to do was press down the top, right?
Knuckles pointed it at Sonic, and sprayed the hedgehog with purple paint. It was a way of getting back of him, but not because he was upset. No, he just- thought it would be funny.
Sonic laughed heartily, and when Knuckles stopped spraying - there was so much green on him that it almost made you question which was his fur colour.
"Green really brings out your... shoes!" Knuckles called.
Sonic tilted his head, then snickered. "That's... not- you know what, thanks!"
Oh Chaos, what was Sonic doing to him? First, leaving the island for the first time in his life to help him, second - encouraging him to rebel against authorative figures, and third - making him have fun.
It was against all the principles he had been taught - never leave the island, always do as your told, you have a job to do - there's no time for fun. Such ideals had been drilled into him, and while he did question it often in his head... he would never dare to out loud.
Was this what freedom felt like? Knuckles couldn't help himself - he laughed, loudly - harder than he had ever laughed before, so hard that tears were brimming in his eyes! He almost forgot he was supposed to be dodging cars but that didn't even matter to him anymore. He just corrected himself and then continued to laugh.
Knuckles finally needed to gather his breath, and as he did so - caught Sonic gazing at him. He didn't know how to describe the look - but, there was something about it. It felt warm and cozy - the way he smiled, for some reason, filled Knuckles with pride.
"Hey, Knux!" Sonic said. "You tired of dodging cars? Just throw one! Let's make it impossible for them to ignore us!"
"I'll do you better than that!" Knuckles told him, effortlessly picking up one of the cars as he passed it by - and when he chucked it down, the car launched into several cars in front, destroying them all in a domino effect.
"WOO!" Sonic pumped both his fists in the air. "VANDALISM!"
"Stop. Right. There."
A scratchy voice that sounded as though it were coming from a megaphone caused Sonic and Knuckles to realise that the fun times were over. They twisted their boards so that they could at last slow down, and skid to a halt - just as the voice requested.
To their relief, they heard the sound of an engine. Sure enough, just as they had hoped - an airship of the same design as that of Miles' began to slowly descend onto the road before them. All the cars surrounding them had stopped in their place and had cleared out the landing area for the ship - they must have been programmed to.
The airship touched down, and Sonic blinked when the doors opened.
A tiny chinchilla stood, her face red and twisted into an ugly sneer. Was this one of the Egg Bosses?
"THIS IS A DISGRACE!" She snapped immediatley, both Sonic and Knuckles flinched at her screeching voice. "YOU HAVE DISRESPECTED OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR - EMPEROR ROBOTNI-!"
"Ugh-" Sonic let out. "Do you always sound this annoying?"
She ignored his question. "YOU DESERVE TO BE TORTURED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES-!"
"Cool, cool- anyway-" Sonic turned to Knuckles. "How do you reckon we get rid of her?"
"WHY AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"
"I've got something. Hang on." Knuckles told Sonic quietly. The echidna then began to step forward towards the chinchilla, and her face somehow got even uglier as she scowled.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Knuckles punched her in the face. That was it. She was out like a light.
Sonic's jaw dropped despite it being not all that shocking. After a moment, he found himself able to speak again. "You know... I don't get why I expected anything different." He said.
"I mean... if it works, it works - right?" Knuckles shrugged.
Sonic decided to nod. "Ain't wrong there." He agreed, then proceeding to suddenly dash ahead of the echidna, already entering the airship. He hung around at the doorway, bending down and stretching down a hand for Knuckles.
"Welcome to Sonic Airlines!" He announced. "We've had a budget increase."
Knuckles rolled his eyes, but smiled - and he placed his own hand in Sonic's, allowing the hedgehog to help him on board. "I suppose I should give you credit where credit's due - your stupid plan worked." He said. "But did we really need to do all that... Roadboarding? Wouldn't destroying a few things have been enough?"
"Eh, you're probably right." Sonic admitted, the two now stood in the cramped space of the airship as the door slid shut. There wasn't much room to stand in as most of the interior was taken up by a chair and a control panel. "But I wanted to..." For whatever reason, Sonic started to evade eye contact. "... Help you live a little. You've been on Angel Island your whole life sitting by a rock so I thought you might like to experience... something completely different."
"You... did all that... for me?"
Sonic's hand was warm, and it was only when realising this did Knuckles now recongise that they were still holding each other's hands. For an inexplicable reason, Knuckles felt as though he wanted to cling to it - he couldn't remember the last time someone had cared like he did.
Or, maybe Sonic was all smoke and mirrors. Maybe this was just an excuse for him to go wild. Knuckles hated how his brain always seemed to second guess things... but looking within Sonic's eyes, he wanted to believe Sonic really did care about him. Knuckles had wanted nothing to do with the idea before, but he had ended u[p having the time of his life - Sonic somehow knew it would be so, like he'd read his mind!
"Yeah, Knucklehead!" Sonic grinned. "You've been so tense lately, so it's been nice to see you loosen up a little."
"It... felt good to." Knuckles squeezed Sonic's hand insticively, and the blue hedgehog's cheeks begun to turn red.
"Yeah, I- Good to hear, good to hear- Hey uh, we should probably get to figuring out how this thing works..." Sonic released his hand from Knuckles' grip, and the echidna was surprised at the level of disappointment he felt the moment Sonic let go.
No, what was wrong with him? Why was he having all these thoughts? Sonic was still very much a crazy guy who was probably going to get himself killed. Just because he did one nice thing, that didn't mean he was going to-
He didn't want to finish that thought. Knuckles was certain he was blushing, so he turned away. "Yeah, that thing looks complicated-"
Complicated... much like everything else.
Boxes and boxes... she shouldn't have expected anything else from the ship, and she hadn't really - yet she still found herself disappointed by her surroundings. Just... rows and rows of containers and boxes to sit around with until they arrived at Shamar.
The Hooligans had surprisingly been the only threat waiting for them in Apotos. Boarding the ship had been stupidly easy as once again, not a single organic worker - just stupid bots that were miserably easy to sneak past.
She wondered how long this trip was going to be.
Shadow, once again, wasn't exactly a conversationalist - so she couldn't rely exclusively on him for entertainment. She found herself continously looking toward him, and finding herself continuously ignored. She liked men who were hard to get but this was... certainly something.
Despite his odd ways, and the questionable nature of his humanity, and that alien-demon side that liked to come out sometimes... he was quite charming and respectful. He had certainly been raised well, if nothing else. She wanted to know him more, but he made it so, so difficult.
Thus, she had kicked open the storage boxes to dig around for anything mildly fun looking she could enjoy.
She seemed to have struck golden when she opened one filled with magazines. At last, something to read! She sat on the floor, and opened it up - and immediately gasped upon seeing the first page. The sound caused Shadow's ears to twitch as he looked towards her.
She grimaced. "Ugh! Robotnik in a swimsuit - first thing I see!" She announced, throwing the magazine away. It landed on the ground and slid, landing right at Shadow's feet.
The hedgehog looked down, and even his face twisted in disgust.
"I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight..." She sighed, shaking her head. "It's going to haunt my nightmares..."
Shadow begun to walk away again.
"Hey, Shadow-" She spoke up, and he paused in his tracks. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yes?"
"Am I annoying you? I know you said you don't talk much, but I do worry - because you talk so little and you always seem to phase out when I'm speaking - do I annoy you? Do I talk too much?"
"Yes to the latter."
Rouge was taken aback, admittedly... but she appreciated the honesty. "And... the former?"
"I'm not supposed to form opinions. I'm not a real person."
Perhaps she had imagined it, it was hard to tell - but it almost sounded like Shadow was jeering at her, mocking something she had told him earlier. But he also delivered it with suck a lack of expression and tone, just as though it were a fact. He was just so... difficult to read.
"Of course." Rouge said. "Don't know why I'm asking, really..."
"What's bothering you?" The voice asked impatiently - the voice of a raspy man.
"For the first time since creating this world, things have started to go wrong for me!" Robotnik snapped, addressing what appeared to be a cloud of purple smoke trapped within an hour glass.
"I fail to see how this has anything to do with me." He actually sounded rather bored.
"If Shadow destroys this planet, Knuckles is dead! What do you not understand about that?!" He slammed his fist against the desk.
"Shadow isn't going to succeed, the amount of chaos energy that flows in his veins is merely... a pathetic spark, a Guardian can easily overpower that. If push comes to shove, I guarantee that Knuckles' power will truly awaken."
Robotnik rubbed his chin. "So you're saying... if I want Knuckles to unlock his potential, I should just - let Shadow move along with his plans? No attempt to stop him, or use Sonic-"
"His powers are most likely to be triggered in the event of extreme desperation, I'm certain Shadow's little doomsday event would be more than enough to trigger them. He could kill Shadow with a snap of his fingers, he could move the ARK with a flick of his wrists."
"And to think... to think I thought this was a failure, an oversight. Turns out, Shadow breaking free from our control is one of the best things that could have happened!" His smile grew as Robotnik realised the opportunities that had just opened up. "I've been waiting for this for so long... it's almost unbelievable to think I'm actually getting close to it now." As his eagerness grew, he needed to make sure he remembered to check on everything. "How is the other realm?"
"Fine. I continue to fight with Chaos over control of the realm and it's resulted in.. bizzarre occurences throughout, but it's not like it matters. As for your former adversaries, I assure you - there is little to fear."
"Little isn't nothing."
They took a moment to respond. "The silver one is trying to gather the entirety of the group together - aided by your old robot, of all things. Knuckles has also witnessed the life events of Viracocha... to which I fear the others might be learning of the other pieces."
"Huh... does it matter that much if they know?" Robotnik asked. "There's nothing they can do about it."
"They have proven themselves capable of miracles before. Let's not take the risk."
"I suppose you have a point." The emperor straightened himself up. "But aren't we lucky? It looks as though all our problems are going to iron themselves out... you are dimissed, Pachacamac. As always, it's a pleasure to work with you."
The echidna didn't say goodbye, and Robotnik didn't expect it. He immediately turned around, and Orbot had to quickly hide himself behind one of Robotnik's golden statues.
What... had he just witnessed?
I've been looking forward to this one :)
Charmy and Ray are insta best friends, Tangle offers an alliance to the people that killed Mighty (I don't like writing Tangle when she's sad but she's sad here and it's just :( - my poor baby, Metal Sonic continues to be the most competent, meanwhle Sonic and Knuckles are gay as shit, Rouge shows a miniscule amount of self awareness, and...
Robotnik and Pachacamac are working together? How is that even possible? Why are they talking about Knuckles? And Orbot is the only one who knows about it.
This is it guys, this is where we start getting answers. This is where we start figuring out what's going on. This is it guys! I am SO looking forward to the chapters from here on out, eeeee
Excitement aside - leave your thoughts in a review if you'd like to! I love reading them :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I really look forward to seeing ya'll in the next one!