Chapter Text
Sonic stretched and sighed heavily before taking off. Scenery blurred past as he ran; not that he was really trying to pay attention anyway. Things had been pretty quiet lately. He supposed that was a good thing, but it had him on edge. Not hearing something from Eggman for this long only meant he was working on his next scheme. Though Sonic would be lying if he said the MIA doctor was the real root of his unease right now. Oddly enough it was the emeralds that had him on edge. He came to a quick stop on a hill that overlooked the zone he’d found himself in. Huh, he’d run all the way out to Emerald Hill.
During his last fight with Eggman he’d had to use the emeralds, and things started out how they normally did. Sonic went super; trashed Eggman’s toys; and proceeded to throw some sass his way before, during, and after the beatdown. Things were different though when he expelled the emeralds. They seemed to almost resist, or something did at least. It was pretty quick to forget in the heat of the moment though, and under normal circumstances it was something he probably would have forgotten.
Still though the odd feeling continued to bug him. With the doctor gone, for now, he didn’t have much to distract him from his thoughts. It was easy for his mind to keep coming back to the odd event. As many times as he’d used the emeralds at this point they had never done anything like that. Wracking his brain, Sonic tried to remember if Eggman had done anything to them, but no Sonic had brought the emeralds with him. Had Eggman done anything to him? Again no. This most recent plot had been pretty simple, no ancient gods or other force Eggman couldn’t control involved. Just build a big, “undefeatable” robot. Yeah maybe Eggman had been running out of ideas, but if the doctor hadn’t done anything to him or the emeralds then what happened?
Tapping his foot impatiently he sighed. This train of thought wasn't going to get him anywhere. Maybe he should go visit Tails. His little bro might have some insight on the situation. At the very least the visit would take his mind off things for a bit. With a nod, Sonic sped off in the direction of Tails’ workshop. Yeah the visit should help; at the very least he could spend some time with the fox outside of stopping Eggman’s plots.
Sonic skidded to a stop in front of the open garage where Tails was working on something. “Knock knock.” Sonic said as he knocked against the frame of the garage. Tails flicked an ear in his direction and smiled as he caught sight of Sonic. Putting down the tool he was using and what he was working on, Tails walked over smiling. “Hey Sonic! What brings you here?”
“Just checking in on my best bud. As far as I know nothing world threatening is going on.” Sonic shrugged, smiling.
Tails chuckled. “Well that’s good at least. It’s been nice to have some quiet lately.”
Sonic nodded. Ah maybe he’d hold off on asking Tails for advice; the fox seemed pretty relaxed right now and Sonic didn’t wanna ruin that. This could wait he was sure. “Yeah, so what are you working on?” Sonic asked, wandering over to the workbench that Tails had abandoned to greet him.
Perking up Tails joined him and picked up the object he’d been working on. “Oh! Not much. Just working on improving the emerald radar. Just to make things easier whenever we need to gather the emeralds.” Tails rubbed the back of his head as he placed the radar down.
“Ooooh nice.” Sonic nodded appreciatively. “Chaos knows we collect the emeralds a lot.” He chuckled.
Tails nodded. “Yep! And I’ve had enough experience tracking them at this point to feel confident improving on my design.” Tails’ namesakes fluffed up proudly.
“Well don’t let me stop you from working on it.” Sonic shot Tails a lopsided smile. “I’ll just hang around and watch you for a bit. Enjoy the peace.”
Tails nodded and got back to work. Sonic didn’t really know what he was doing, but he was sure his brother did and that’s what mattered. Eventually Tails slowed and finally stopped in his work, turning to look at Sonic. The fox gave him an appraising look. “Not that I’m not happy to hang out with you but are you sure there wasn’t any other reason?” The fox gave him a look.
When had Tails got so good at reading him? Well suppose there was no way around it now; Sonic might as well tell him why he actually came. Sonic’s smile turned sheepish. “You got me bud. I guess…” Sonic took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well that last time we beat Eggman something weird happened with the emeralds. They seemed to resist? After I tried to send them off. Was just looking for another perspective on things. Been bugging me is all.” He shrugged.
Tails hummed and tapped his chin. “That’s odd. They’ve never done anything like that before, right?” Sonic shook his head. “Huh.” Tails scratched at his ear. “I’m honestly not sure what might have caused that. Maybe… if we had an emerald I could take a look at it and how you react to it? I mean there’s no guarantee that anything will happen, but it might help.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Plus I can test out if my upgrades on the radar are working.”
“Works for me.” Sonic nodded. It was something familiar, searching for the emeralds with Tails. Plus if it could shed any light on the situation Sonic was happy to take the chance. Worst that could happen was nothing right? After quickly grabbing anything they’d need the duo set off in the Tornado. After a short flight Tails’ radar had picked up an emerald. The hedgehog smiled at the pleased look Tails had at that. The fox took the two down for a smooth landing. It would be far easier to spot the emerald on foot than from the air after all.
Sonic had decided a race was in order once they landed and as Tails did his brother rose to the challenge. Now while the fox had certainly gotten faster over the years he’d been with Sonic they both knew he couldn’t beat the hedgehog. At this point it was just harmless fun and a sort of tradition between the two. Plus, it’s not like his brother was a pushover by any means. He certainly made Sonic work for a win.
Sonic glanced at his wrist, despite not having a watch on, as he waited for his brother to catch up. It wasn’t long till Tails burst into the open area and stopped in front of Sonic, breathing heavily and tails coming to a stop. “Nice one bud.” Sonic winked. “Almost had me that time.”
Tails rolled his eyes fondly, before smiling brightly at Sonic. “I’ll catch up to you one day. Just you wait.”
Sonic chuckled. “I look forward to it.” Sonic glanced in the direction where he thought the emerald was. “So, this way right?”
Tails pulled out his emerald radar and checked it before nodding. “Yep, shouldn’t be too far from here actually.”
Thankfully it wasn’t long before Sonic spotted a glint of red in the otherwise green landscape. With a grin Sonic sped forward and snatched the emerald. Tossing it up in the air and catching it he walked over to Tails who was watching him with a fond expression. Sonic held out the emerald dramatically. “For you my-” A jolt went through Sonic that caused him to drop the emerald. His breathing picked up as a fog seemed to settle over his mind. Was that… laughing? Sonic’s head whipped around, trying to locate the source of the noise. There wasn’t anything there except him and Tails, and yet…
His attention snapped back to Tails as the fox called out to him. “-nic? Sonic!” Suddenly the sound was gone. Only the sounds of the wildlife were left. Had he even heard anything in the first place..? It had all happened so fast. Had he just imagined it? He struggled to focus on the fox through the haze in his mind. Tails was watching him with a concerned expression. “We should head back.” Tails hesitantly suggested. Sonic felt too out of it to resist as Tails gently tugged him back towards the Tornado after picking up the fallen emerald.
The flight home passed by in a blur. Sonic idly noted the worried glances that Tails kept throwing over his shoulder but couldn’t really find it in himself to try and consol his brother. That laughing… honestly he wasn’t sure why it was sticking with him so much. It felt so real, but… clearly Tails hadn’t heard it. After landing Tails quickly stashed the emerald away somewhere in his workshop, honestly Sonic didn’t want to know where it was at the moment, and helped Sonic out of the plane. He didn’t fight it as Tails hooked him up to one of the many machines in the workshop. His brother’s tails idly flicked behind him as he watched whatever information was coming up on the screen.
“Well.” Tails started. Sonic perked up slightly; his head felt a bit clearer. “It seems like there was a spike in your chaos energy.” Tails placed a hand on his chin. “Which is weird because it seems like too big of a spike to be caused by only one emerald…” Frowning he glanced between Sonic and the screen. “At least we got some sort of reaction from the emerald but…” Tails mumbled to himself for a moment before looking back at Sonic. “How do you feel?
Sonic shook his head to try and clear away more of the fog. “I’m-” He glanced at Tails. “-well I’ve been better.” Sonic gave a weak grin. “But I’ve been worse too. I’ll feel better in no time!” Sonic tried to muster up the usual enthusiasm he had, but couldn’t quite do it.
Tails hummed, clearly not believing Sonic. “Well… I want you to stay here for a few days so I can monitor that spike. It seems to be slowly returning back to normal, but we don't know if it'll keep going down. Plus if the emeralds were behaving oddly before this might be connected.” Sonic nodded. Honestly he didn’t really have the energy to refuse. While he didn’t exactly like the idea of being cooped up for a few days he would live.
“Alright.” Sonic said, hopping off the table he was sitting on. Stretching he gave Tails a lopsided smile. Tails returned the smile with mild enthusiasm before detaching Sonic from the machine.
“Just… try and take it easy alright? While we figure this out?” Tails asked, eyes pleading slightly.
Wow, Sonic had to look away. Those eyes could be deadly weapons sometimes. Looking back and patting his brother on the head he nodded. “You got it buddy. I’ll do my best to relax for a few days.”
Tails slumped in relief. “Thanks Sonic, and don’t worry.” He perked up. “We’ll figure this out, together.”
“We always do. I know I’m in the most capable hands out there. If anyone can figure this out, it’s you.” Sonic said, confidently. He had full faith in his brother to fix this.