screams n yells n howls i have SOOOOO MANY THOUGHTS on this franchise n lore
an ee ways betaed by my kickass worstie in law sky
{Originally posted to AO3 on 2022-02-12 for Febuwhump 2022}
Rebuilding was boring. Sonic was terribly bored through the majority of the process. The actual physical action of rebuilding would not have been as bad were it not for the constant meetings and conferences that seemed to expand for hours upon hours throughout the days. After the fall of Robotnik's Empire it was practically a madhouse around the Castle of Acorn and Knothole. Mobians of every corner attempting to find the answer to the number one question: "what now?" While the Freedom Fighters attempted to help get cities and kingdoms back in running order before the real chaos were to erupt.
Keeping people safe was easy. Fighting robots and monsters and gods? A breeze. But politics? Truly were to be the end of the poor blue blur.
Sonic sat at the large table, full of other Freedom Fighters and stuffy old world leaders. The current discussion of the Kingdom of Mobius was the last meeting Sonic wanted to be at. However, as an heir it was required. If it was any other place on the planet there might have been a chance of getting out of it. But here? There was no hope.
Sonic tilted back his chair as he heaved out a sigh. The sound of discussion blurring to nothing but static in the background of his mind. He absentmindedly ran his gaze among the rest of the group. Finally landing on his elder pink sibling across from him.
Sonia met his gaze with a glare of her own. She held up four fingers before giving a sharp down point. Her message was perfectly clear.
Sonic groaned under his breath and let the front two legs of his chair fall back to the ground. The sound caused a few to look in his direction; which he ignored. Instead, he plopped an elbow onto the table before him, his cheek easily fitting into his hand. He sat like that for a good moment before he felt another hand gently take hold of his wrist.
He looked up to see his mother, giving him a gentle smile accompanied with a reprimanding raised brow. She moved his arm off the table and placed it back into Sonic's own lap. She gave the top of his hand a pat before putting her attention back to the conversation.
Sonic bit back a sound of frustration. He snapped to attention when he caught the sound of snickering and easily traced it back to his younger brother. The green hedgehog beside Sonia stifled his humor with a hand over his muzzle, clearly having seen the previous interaction. Sonic retaliated by sending Manic an avian finger gesture.
His insulting hand towards his brother was cut short by the feeling of a hand hitting his arm. Sonic snapped to look at Sally on his other side.
"Can you please behave for five minutes?" she hissed out at him.
Sonic opened his mouth to defend himself but quickly shut it again as Sally's glare turned venomous with warning. Instead, he crossed his arms and fell back into his chair with a huff. He momentarily questioned if running away to the woods was still an option.
After another long, agonizing moment of whatever the hell conversation was happening around him, Sonic noticed a castle worker walk in with a tray of drinks. He watched as they placed a cup to each person at the table before exiting in silence.
He took no real thought to the action 'til Sally took in her own drink. Only a moment later Sonic noticed her place her hand to her head. Her fur looked as though her skin was paling underneath.
"Sal?" he whispered to her, attempting to both grab her attention and silently question the action.
Her eyes moved to him. The rest of her body seemed to attempt to stay still but began to waver. She shook her head as if trying to clear it. "I… I'm fine just… Dizzy all of a sudden," she responded. Her voice sounded tight.
Sonic reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't even get halfway before she was swaying right out of her seat. Sonic reacted fast, grabbing her by the waist over her chair. "Sal!" he yelled in surprise. The chipmunk's body was limp in his hold. Her eyes open but dazed and foggy.
The rest of the room was shocked into motion. Most of them gasping or sanding in surprise.
Sonic pulled Sally backup and into her chair, pulling it out from the table so he could kneel before her on a knee. He took her face gently into her hands to steady her head. "Sal, hey. Can you hear me? Say somethin' Sally," he urged, hoping to get any sort of response from her.
The only response being a sound of pain and a weak hand grabbing at his arm.
Behind them, Nigel and Aleena were quick to rush over. Followed by Bunnie and Antione.
The sound seemed to come back tenfold as everyone in the room began to talk and shout. Sonic forced himself to tune it out best he could, the suddenness of everything becoming overwhelming. He didn't snap back to the conversations till the word 'poison' slapped into him.
Sonic snapped to look over to his mother. Aleena stood with Sally's cup in her hand, Sonia reaching for it herself.
"What?" Sonic hissed out to them. Wanting so badly for it to have been a mishear.
Aleena and Sonia looked back to him and the others crowding around Sally. "Her drink has been poisoned."
The information spun around Sonic's mind for a millisecond before she shot up to his feet. His knuckles white from anger. "That castle worker."
Before anyone could make another move, Sally's form quickly began to fall without Sonic's support. He rushed forward to catch her again. He held her against himself for a moment with a sigh. Much too close. A concussion would not do anyone any good. He set her back up, this time keeping his hands on her shoulder to steady her.
"I have to go after him. He has to know something about it."
Nigel stepped forward this time. "No. You have to take my daughter to Doctor Quack. You're the fastest of us all."
Sonic moved to argue only to be cut off by Manic, "we got the worker dude. Just hurry!" The command was clearly enough to set the whole room into motion. Everyone began to run into their own task of finding the perpetrator as Sonic hoisted Sally into his arms.
He looked down at the princess. Her head lulled weakly into his chest. Sonic only pulled her closer into his hold before shooting off.
In the castle infirmary, Sally laid on the examination bed as Dr. Quack moved around at his tables. Sonic had no possible idea as to what the Doctor was doing but didn't dare bother to ask. The better focused Dr. Quack stayed, the better off the situation would be, Sonic decided.
He was told to watch over Sally and the Doc. He was told to be there if they needed him and keep on standby. He looked over to Sally. His hands balled to tight fists in his lap. He hated being on standby. He hated just sitting there feeling helpless and useless. He should be out there finding that bastard that tried to pull this stunt in the first place. He should be with his mother and siblings and the King to make sure none of them are targeted next. He should be-
Sally's head fell to the side to look over at him. She was still awake, but barely. He met her gaze as she reached out a heavy, trembling hand to his arm. He put his own hand over hers, keeping it steady. With a sigh and a forced smile he whispered, "I'm fine, Sal. You're the one that's on the gurney."
Her eyes squeezed shut before forcing themselves back open. Sonic's chest tightened at the sight. They'd been in worse jams than this and she wasn't dead yet. That was by far enough hope to latch onto for him. His hand tightened over hers for a moment before placing it back beside her.
"Well," Dr. Quack started up; catching Sonic's attention. "It doesn't seem like she's going to die." The duck turned to the other, a notebook in hand. "Whoever made this attempt on her life clearly had no idea what they were doing." He sighed and put the book back down on the counter. "Which can probably rule out the possibility of any major threat backing it."
"If this isn't Egghead's hand then why would someone come for her life in the first place?" Sonic hissed out angrily. He bit his tongue so as not to lash out at the Doctor. He wanted nothing more than to be pointed towards the correct reason for his anger to take it out on them instead.
"You of all people should understand how citizens tend to be," Dr. Quack said with a disinterested wave. "I've definitely seen enough Wanted posters with your mug on them during the empire's height."
Sonic crossed his arms. "Yeah 'n' most of those were ordered by the 'Buttnik himself. I don't see how that connects."
"Maybe so, but you still had a poor reputation in the view of the populace." Dr. Quack leaned back against the counter. "Unfortunately, there will continue to be a decent group of people who believe that staying under Robotnik's rule is better. Whether because they believe it's safer or more prosperous."
"Prosperous?" Sonic shouted out in anger, jumping to his feet. "The planet was half dead! Healthy forests were fewer and farther between than ever." Sonic threw out his hands and arms as he spoke. Getting louder and more upset as he went. "Most waterways were so polluted areas that relied on fishing were practically abandoned! The sky still looks like a constant storm cloud! How the fuck is that prosperous or even safe!" Dr. Quack raised his hand, stopping the blue hedgehog from continuing.
Sonic dropped his arms only to cross them back over his chest.
"You're missing the point," he started, dropping his hand back against the counter behind him. "Not all Mobians are like you and the others. In fact, a lot of them aren't. They want what is safest for themselves and their families. Other consequences aren't particularly in their minds. If being under the tyrannical dictatorship of Dr. Robotnik means a chance of survival, they're willing to go along with it. Some are even willing to go further," he said, gesturing to Sally. "Even your parents faced similar hardships in their days as the resistance."
At the mention of his parents, Sonic's form slacked some.
"It's part of the reason your mother is disbanding her kingdom entirely. Though," he added, "There is much more to that choice than just the unruly crowds. Even so, this transition is going to be very difficult. The empire is gone but putting everything else back in place is not going to be easy."
"Why am I not surprised," Sonic mumbled, falling back to his seat and looking back to Sally.
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