Chapter Twenty-One: On Edge
The warmth of Chaos Control bathes the surface of my skin but only the surface. I'm cold at my core. The core made of salt water. The core made of all the tears I'm not crying. Am I freezing or melting? Somehow both.
This can't be real. That can't have been Sonic. Even though I know it was.
And Cosmo…is she…
The light evaporated but Tails still had to blink rapidly to clear the clinging sparks from his vision. Even as the light faded, he still saw it superimposed over everything, making reality less real. How could this reality be real?
"Tails!"
The cry was somewhere between panic and relief. A hand took his and tugged him up into a sitting position, but even that hand didn't feel fully real. The last of the blurriness cleared from his eyes so that he could see the worried face of Angel looking back at him. For a second, her edges were indistinct. But he blinked again, and she looked solid.
His racing heart skipped a beat.
"Angel, how are you—" he started to exclaim.
But Angel held up a hand. "Don't worry; I'm still a Time Whisperer."
Only when a cold wave of relief poured over Tails did he realize that the possibility had even existed that Angel might have returned to them mortal and prepared to undo her own existence. But no, as long as she was still a Time Whisperer, it sounded like her fate was not the same as C2's.
Tails twisted around to confirm Amy too had made it through Chaos Control with him. He gasped a relief when he found that, yes, behind him, C2 hauled Amy to her feet on the other side of the infirmary. Amy's hand still wrapped around the Chaos Emerald that saved them.
The Chaos Emerald that reminded him of the nightmare in which they remained.
"Where's Chris?" Tails demanded. He scrambled to his feet, his twin tails tangling around his ankles in the midst of his exhaustion after using Chaos Control. But Angel's hand was already waiting to catch him when he started to fall.
"He's not with you?" C2 exclaimed.
Amy slurred, "Clearly not." She stumbled, and C2 caught Amy against her side.
"I left him while he was negotiating at the shop," Tails explained quickly. That felt like a lifetime ago. How could this be the same day? "The Chaos Emerald sensed another, but then Sonic—"
"I know," Angel said, cutting him off. Like it was too much even for the Time Whisperer to hear about what had happened to her once-father. "The timeline stabilized enough that the Time Whisperers could see a few moments. That's why I'm here."
"Against regulations, I expect," C2 muttered. Her eyes narrowed with flat lack of amusement. "Considering it took you more than an hour to gain solidity and you're still not all the way there."
Now that C2 mentioned it, Tails realized Angel's edges weren't entirely solid. He thought it had been a trick of the delirium overwhelming him as he came out of Chaos Control, but Angel's form truly was diffused at the edges, like she was wrapped in the thinnest halo of light.
Nonetheless, Angel rolled her eyes. "I like to think of rules more as suggestions. I'm still Sonic's daughter, after all. Speaking of which, we have much bigger problems at the moment than my disobedience. Or does fixing time mean nothing to you?"
C2 pressed her lips together and did not argue the point further.
Amy stumbled through the couple steps she took toward Angel, even with C2 supporting her, before she got her feet beneath her. "You have a plan then?" she asked Angel.
Angel held her hand flat out in front of her, twisting it at her wrist in a gesture that said 'sort of.'
"Right. Sonic's daughter," Amy deadpanned.
Angel grinned in response. But after she made sure Tails was steady on his feet and pulled her hand away, she replaced her jovial expression with something more serene. Her eyes became glazed, almost passive, as if she was some distance from a physical existence bound by time.
Which, after all, she was.
"I've seen fragments of the nearterm timeline," she explained. "Not enough to get a full and clear picture but enough to know what tragedies needed prevented." Her eyes moved from Tails to Amy to C2, in turn, then a bit beyond them. When Tails looked back over his shoulder, he saw Shadow standing at Nova's side, one hand of his wrapped around hers resting on the sheet.
And Nova's eyes were open.
Just slits, a little bleary, but silently fixed on Angel standing before them. The whole of Nova was tiny and fragile, like she was a breath away from shattering to pieces. Cheeks hot with fever, IV in her arm that was strapped down to the bed to prevent her jostling it, heart rate monitor indicating that the whole of her body was fighting inside her. But awake. And alive. Still alive.
A shred of hope blossomed in Tails's chest.
Tails turned back to Angel. The delirium of Chaos Control evaporated from him and his mind sharpened to the narrowest of focus. "Give us what you've got and we'll play the rest on our feet."
So…the usual.
-X-X-X-
Amy's View
Once upon a time, Amy had played the damsel in distress. It seemed the appropriate part for her to play, after all, when she wanted nothing more than to follow her hero into the most dangerous situations she had no business involving herself in. But as time had gone on—or not, given all the doubling-back they'd done—Amy found herself almost accidentally shifting out of her tried and true role. Which led her to now, where she played the hero to Chris's damsel-in-distress.
Amy's heart beat faster than her feet beat against the ground as she raced through the woods back for town. Her hammer slipped and slid in her grip as sweat from her palm soaked her glove. She listened intently to the forest surrounding her. She wished—and not for the first time in this timeline—for her headset. Then Tails, back at the Blue Typhoon trying to track Sonic via Chaos Energy, could offer her a warning if he could tell the Metarex that Sonic had become was near her. Instead, she had to wholly count on her own instincts.
And they were truly just her own. It was only Amy going after Chris still in town. After all, Chris had no Chaos Energy to speak of; he was unlikely to be a target of the Metarex and so it was unlikely Sonic would attack him. The Blue Typhoon, on the other hand, needed all the protection it could get. At some point, that was where Sonic would end up, or so Angel had foreseen in her brief glimpse of the timeline when it stabilized. Shadow and Knuckles couldn't both protect the Blue Typhoon against Metarex-Sonic and serve as Amy's backup. Which meant Amy, if she ran into Sonic, would have to handle him alone.
Maybe the focus demanded by the task at hand would be enough to dull the pain of what felt like a bleeding gash at the center of her chest. Her eyes darted this way and that. Every twitch of movement at the edge of her vision drew her attention. But it was just a breeze catching the leaves. Or birds taking flight. Or some small woodland critter dashing from cover into cover once more. But none of that could stop the
aching
stabbing
black chasm of pain
that her heart had become. The pain was enough that it pressed against her lungs and choked off some of her oxygen. Enough that it forced her to slow down. Which just reminded her how already too-slow she was, how she had always chased after Sonic but had never been able to catch him. And now, and now…
She swallowed.
Amy ran on despite the pain in her chest and the tears in her eyes. Because, even though she had failed to save Sonic from the Metarex back on the way-station, maybe she could at least protect him from killing those he loved.
-X-X-X-
Tails's View
"I'm still bad at this."
Tails wished he could swap places with C2, who was off prepping the Blue Typhoon to get off-planet as soon as they got Chris back on board. But Angel's plan instead placed Tails elsewhere. Tails could use the Chaos Emeralds, after all, and using his own Chaos Energy to track Sonic's might be their one chance of surviving the day. Especially since Angel couldn't interact with Chaos Energy until she was fully solid in the timeline, and based on the pace of that so far, she wouldn't get there in time.
Angel offered Tails a wry smile that would have looked just as much at home on Sonic's face. "I know. Why do you think I'm risking the wrath of Time Whisperers to be here?"
Tails frowned at that. While Angel kept mentioning she really wasn't supposed to be helping them, she still hadn't offered up why. And as she was now part of the beings that protected time itself, the rules those beings put in place probably meant something significant for her. Was she risking not only the wrath of Time Whisperers but the wrath of time itself?
"And why does any of that mean you need to be in here?"
Knuckles grunted his derision from where he leaned against the metal platform that bore the shattered remains of the Master Emerald at the center of the engine room. Tails stood just a little apart grasping a Chaos Emerald.
"Because it will help the process, the Chaos Emerald and the remains of the Master Emerald both," Angel said, unperturbed. She shifted her gaze back to Tails. Her eyes softened from bright, Sonic-like mirth to something much older. Wiser. A look so foreign on Angel's face that Tails wondered if he would ever get used to it. "Close your eyes, Tails."
Tails did so. He felt his eyes twitching restlessly against his eyelids. His adrenaline still ran hot from his encounter with the monster the Metarex had made Sonic, and that stress warred with the counterintuitive demand to close his eyes. But Tails just clenched his teeth behind closed lips.
Hands wrapped around Tails's own. His shoulders shot up in momentary panic before the logical part of his brain recognized Angel's touch, physical but more like a liquid than a solid. She guided his hands together so they both wrapped around the Chaos Emerald. "I know everything is in chaos right now, Tails," Angel whispered, sounding decades older than she looked. "But remember the Chaos Emeralds respond to the call of your heart. It will help guide your connection to Sonic, but only if you let it."
Tails nodded, even with his eyes closed. He took in a deep breath and released it as slow exhale. It shook, but it would have to do.
Angel removed her hands from his. He heard her take a step back from him. "Start by diving into the core of the Chaos Energy within you. It should feel almost the same as the Chaos Emerald in your hands."
"Like when I trigger Chaos Control?" he murmured.
Angel hummed thoughtfully. "Sort of? Except you don't want to trigger the Energy within the Emerald. It's your guide, not your tool."
Tails released another slow exhale. Angel's metaphor didn't help so much as it gave him a headache. Technicalities would make this whole thing easier to understand, if only because he had a technical mind. But even Tails realized Chaos Emeralds were more magic than science. Not to mention this was their best chance of a Metarex-Sonic early warning system. He had to try, no matter how hard this felt.
And so Tails started to plumb the depths of his technical mind to uncover the Chaos Energy beneath.
-X-X-X-
Sonic's View
He saw her.
Only a couple trees separated Sonic from her. He passed her side so fast that he doubted she noticed. Probably assumed the swift breeze he left in his wake was nothing more than natural.
He cut off his thoughts of her before her name cut across his mind. He wasn't entirely certain if the Metarex could hear his thoughts. But he could hear theirs. And if they knew he ran past her, they might change his path. Force him to intercept her and then—
No.
At least if he searched the trees for the massive Blue Typhoon, his once-friends had a fighting chance against the monster he'd become. Right? Right? He sought the biggest threat, even if there was a chance he wouldn't find it. Even if there was a chance he would lose against it. And then the Metarex couldn't say he hadn't tried and hurt Cosmo as his punishment.
It was saving one friend at the cost of another, unless he carefully traded all of their sacrifices for his own.
And really, was that such a sacrifice? He could still run as a Metarex—sort of—even if he couldn't feel the rush of wind against his skin. Metal embraced his every limb and he sweated within its cage. And it was the metal that moved his body, rather than the other way around. His mind controlled the metal's movement—sort of. The whole experience was akin to suffocating.
Hopeless.
Helpless.
But then.
One moment, Sonic was full throttle, straight ahead. And then his whole body snapped to a stop. His mind struggled to catch up. The movement occurred so quickly that he couldn't be sure if he'd given the command to his body or the Metarex had.
And either way…why?
A warmth blossomed in his core. Sonic tried to reach toward the sensation with his arms, but his body refused that command, unlike the previous one. The warmth grew hotter and hotter. So much so that he wanted to curl in on himself. To embrace the warmth? He wasn't sure.
Then, the warmth pulled him forward. Like a magnet pulling him toward an opposing pole. His feet stumbled beneath him. Like the movement was against the Metarex plan lodged in his skull. But he had no power to resist it. Like even the Metarex struggled to resist it. And a power like that, it could only be…
The Metarex control over him seemed to realize the truth at the same moment he did. The resistance pulling him back snapped all at once and suddenly he was throttling forward again.
The warmth in his core that for one moment felt so much like hope curdled. It was Chaos Energy. His own. A beacon and a magnet. Because it was being sought by someone, and in the cold of the Metarex control, it cried out louder than Sonic's own thoughts.
Before, he had been searching for the Blue Typhoon and praying he wouldn't find it. Now, Sonic knew exactly where his friends were.
Which meant he had to kill them.
-X-X-X-
Black Thorn's View
Black Thorn's eyes slid away from the monitor display in front of her and to the Metarex general standing a half-step behind her. "Remind me," she said as smoothly as her modulated voice allowed, "why a repetition of your past mistakes will lead to a different outcome?"
Silver Fir twitched, even as the Metarex clamped his hands behind his back and stood stiff as a soldier. The twitch was a strangely animalistic gesture for a Metarex, especially a Metarex as senior as Silver Fir. Black Thorn narrowed her eyes and awaited her general's response. Silver Fir hesitated longer than she had ever witnessed. Had the resurrection through time travel addled this Metarex's abilities?
Just as she was beginning to think Silver Fir wasn't going to respond at all, the Metarex gathered his thoughts enough to reply, "Operation Blue Seed was initially successful when first performed. We learned from our mistakes and instated significant stakes for the hedgehog. He will not fail."
"The failure of Operation Blue Seed had nothing to do with a lack of motivation on the part of the prisoner," Black Thorn snapped. She hesitated a beat, roping in her rage and smoothing out the wrinkles in the mask she presented to the Metarex around her. She rolled her shoulders back, ignoring the stroke of metal against bare skin, as she stood just a bit taller. She continued, more patiently than before, "The reason for the failure of Operation Blue Seed had nothing to do with Sonic the Hedgehog and everything to do with the meddling of his allies. And now that both Miles Prower and Amy Rose have unlocked their connection to the Chaos Emeralds, they pose an even greater threat than previously. And your current command to Blue Seed has him pursuing these individuals in particular."
Black Thorn tilted her head to one side so that her hair spilled over her metal shoulder. Without nerve endings there, though, she knew the way her hair arranged itself by past experience rather than the sensation of touch. But all that was nothing more than a passing thought as she asked Silver Fir, "Now tell me the advantage we gain with this plan of yours?"
Silver Fir stiffened to stand up even straighter. If not for being a Metarex, Black Thorn imagined sweat building up against his metal forehead. Certainly, it must be building up beneath the armor that hid Silver Fir's mortal form from view.
"Ma'am?"
Another Metarex voice interrupted the stare-down between Black Thorn and Silver Fir. Black Thorn's gaze didn't twitch away from Silver Fir as she snarled, "What news could possibly be worth interrupting me?"
"Our sensors are detecting a time disturbance in Blue Seed's path, ma'am."
Unlike the rest of the Metarex surrounding her, Black Thorn's lips were capable of curling into a smirk. And smirk she did, directly at Silver Fir. Silver Fir, it seemed, made the wise decision not to say anything. "It seems your plan may have some merit after all," Black Thorn told him. "You seemed to have drawn in the Time Whisperers."
Silver Fir still said nothing. Wise of him not to take the credit that she offered. Perhaps she wouldn't need to eliminate this Metarex after all.
Black Thorn spun away from Silver Fir and strode toward the doorway that led to the rest of the craft. "Ready my ship," she snapped over her shoulder. "I believe Blue Seed may finally be ready for my assistance."