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You roll like thunder when you come crashin' in.
Town ain't been the same since you left with all your friends.
You roll like thunder when you come crashin' in.
Regattas in the wind, that's why you're visiting.
You act like fucking Mr. Brightside when you're with all your friends.
But I know what you're like when the party ends.
It had taken almost an entire week. A week of a near constant convincing, persuading, nagging and not to mention arguing. But at last he'd done it - Sonic had finally managed to get Knuckles' butt off of the Island. Of course Sonic had been forced to swear an all but blood oath not to leave the Master Emerald unattended for so much as a single minute. And this was all really just a test within a limited time period, namely a couple of days, to see if Sonic was cut out for the job as 'temporary guardian'. Aaand… Knuckles had also made sure to state it crystal clear that if anything were to happen to the Emerald while he was gone, he would hunt him down to the ends of Mobius and back.
Still, the stubborn echidna's butt was off the Island nonetheless.
Leaving Sonic all alone up on the grandiose floating Angel Island.
By himself.
Cut off from the mainland.
With no means of communication with the rest of the world.
And to his initial surprise, Sonic found that he enjoyed the solitude life upon the Island quite more so than he'd thought he would. Although to be fair, there wasn't much that he needed out life to find himself comfortable. He had plenty of food to eat, fresh water to drink, and such a vast majority of different zones to run around that he would hardly get bored all too quickly. Sleeping outside in the open, underneath the watchful gaze of stars, also wasn't anything apart from the usual, which either way wouldn't have been a problem since as of these days Sonic probably hadn't slept as much in years.
It had now been little over a week since Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy had returned home from their adventure upon the Starfall Islands aboard the Tornado. And during that time a lot of changes had happened, seemingly all at once… Because almost as soon as the Tornado had touched ground at the Mystic Ruins had it set off again with its eager pilot steering the course to yet unknown adventures. Adventures that Sonic were to take no part in.
At least Amy had taken a few days to re-collect herself - her thoughts, her plans, her feelings… But no sooner than Sonic was prepared for had she turned up on his doorstep, bidding him goodbye with suitcase in hand and an awaiting car behind her. It turned out she had indeed decided to go on that road trip she'd previously talked about doing, after all. A spontaneous pleasure cruise on the road with her two closest girlfriends - no boys allowed.
And now, with Knuckles recently gone off as well, Sonic came to realize that he was truly left on his own for what felt like a decade.
Left behind…
No. No that wasn't it at all.
Tails, Knuckles and Amy would all come back in time.
The three of them had just taken some time to be by themselves for a while - to travel… to reflect… to grow…—
—apart from him.
No… wait—
"Hey, Big Blue..!"
Sonic's eyes snapped open. He'd fallen asleep on his stomach upon the sun- warmed stone steps of the Master Emerald altar, with his mouth having hung agape, having caused some drool to slide down his cheek. Yet as soon as he heard the incoming voice, he instinctively sat himself up and scanned his surroundings in search of the person having just called out to him. A snowy white bat with eyes like teal marbles and a coal black hedgehog with piercing red eyes stood before him, the former one peering curiously at him while the latter merely glared. Neither of them appeared to be particularly glad to see him, though probably for different reasons…
Sonic, who was busy rubbing the sleep from his eyes, let out a vauge grunt of recognition at the newly arrived pair. Knowing he should be happy to get some company, he produced a somewhat passable smile, while really just feeling like laying back down and continue his afternoon nap.
"So, the rumors were true then…?" Rouge muttered, partially to herself and partially to the other two, while her gaze carefully swept across the vast grass field surrounding the shrine. Visibly disappointed to find that no adoringly fuming echidna was storming at her this very second.
"Indeed, I figured that the guardian would've first had to die before he ever put someone as him in charge."
"Hey, Shadow. Nice to see you too, dude." Sonic grumbled in response. He did a quick jump up onto his feet, and while he and Rouge were roughly at the same height, Shadow still towered over him by several inches. A fact which somehow gnawed at him each time they happened to meet. Today however, Sonic couldn't have cared less about it, feeling less put off by his old rival's presence than usual. Actually, he'd been feeling less about everything lately. Without the thought of asking what they were even doing there, he sauntered past them and headed down the steps to grab himself a handful of water that was kept nearby the large fire pit Knuckles had built besides the altar.
The two companions exchanged a glance amongst each other before wordlessly following suit of the blue hedgehog, catching up just as he swallowed his fourth mouthful of water. They then both simutaneously took a moment to really take in the full appereance of him as it suddenly dawned upon them both just how different he looked. The significant weight loss being the most glaring factor, but not a healthy loss, no, rather like he'd rapidly lost a lot of body fat under a very short time. Which had resulted in slight holes in his peach cheeks, and that his collarbones and hip bones stood in stark contrast to his flat chest and stomach. Deep purple, blue-ish circles had also formed underneath his eyes, making him look as if he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in weeks, and perhaps that wasn't too far from the truth. Then looking closer one could also detect fresh scars upon his naked skin, and as for his fur it appeared as if some small patches of fur were missing around various parts of his body, like something - or someone - had burnt him fairly recently.
Overall, the blue hero looked as if he'd just been through hell and back.
Having satisfied his dry throat for now, Sonic right about caught the shameless staring of the pair before hastily averting his gaze to the side. Biting his bottom lip for a brief moment. "Hasn't anyone ever told you guys that it's rude to stare?" He soon inquired, lifting his eyes back up to stare right back at them.
"You look…—" Rouge began to say before pausing, trying to find the right word.
"—Like shit." Shadow ultimately completed the sentence with. Just as blunt as ever.
"Gee, thanks. Was that all?" Can I go back to sleep now?- Being what Sonic would've liked to add but decided against at the last second.
"Quite honestly though, Big Blue, have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?"
Sonic snorted, but even so he couldn't keep his hand from instinctively running through his spikes as soon as those words had left Rouge's lips. "No. I mean there ain't a lot of mirrors around this place. The good ol' echidna tribe didn't think to instal too many of them, I guess - probably wasn't at the top of their priority list either." The joke fell flat though as none of them could muster any will to laugh. Making Sonic let out a tired sigh under his breath, before suddenly changing his expression into one of apparent amusement as he with renewed force continued— "Look, not that it isn't good to see you, uh, but Knuckles gave me pretty clear orders to not let anyone - not a living soul, if I remember it right - to trespass upon the sacred land of Angel Island. So… state your official business or whatever, or else I'll be forced to personally escort you to the depth of the ocean floor below. And so on, and so on - yada, yada, yada…" Sonic recited in a feigned tone of authority while simultaneously blabbing along with his right hand that was supposedly meant to represent his guardian friend.
As a last touch, Sonic gave them a dumb smirk while also rolling his eyes. Signaling that he wasn't truly being serious… but maybe a little.
Not that he believed Knuckles would somehow be able to sense that either of them had been present while he'd been away… yet still, who knew? He guessed that if there ever had been such a thing as a list of Knuckles top most unwanted guests upon the Island, Sonic had a pretty good hunch that Rouge was somewhere above vandals and thieves. Although, Shadow might just be below himself on such a list so perhaps it balanced the whole thing out a bit. As of right then, neither of them looked to be about to rob him, at least. For a brief flash of a second, Sonic Imagined himself having to run around town putting up missing posters for a mystical, thousand year old, all mighty powerfu giant emerald. And despite himself, the thought actually made him chuckle.
Almost instantly, Shadow sent him an incredulous look. "Something funny to you, Faker?"
"Nope… Well, I doubt you'd understand, see that would require you to have a sense of—"
But before Sonic had a chance to finish, Rouge quickly cut in, stating loudly— "Anyway..! To answer your question, we were actually just dropping by to see how the dear Knucklehead was fairing. Seeing since it was an unusally long time since the good old Doctor stirred up any chaos around here. You know, G.U.N. protocol and all that - someone's gotta keep tabs on the guardian of the most powerful artifact in all of Mobius."
Sonic could at first only blink in response until it finally dawned upon him that no one, aside from him, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Doctor Eggman - and apparently also Big to an extent - had the slightest idea of what had occurred during these past couple of weeks. Far away upon the Starfall Islands… About the events that had taken place there… About how it had almost been The End of all they knew… The pain. The fright. The constant feeling that time had been running out. That no matter what he'd done it was too little, too late. His friends ripped apart from him… Tails'- and Amy's voices pleading for him to save them over and over again, to make them whole again. He'd been forced to push himself again and again… Find the emeralds… Free your friends… The immense pain he'd been forced to endure… again and again…
The sensation of his skin and fur being set on fire. That burning, mind-numbing agony that had at last consumed his entire being - all that he'd ever been.
Sizzling…
Scorching…
Burning flesh…
His mind empty.
He hadn't even been able to remember his own name…
"Sonic?"
"It looks as though he's about to black out…"
At the very last second, Sonic caught himself before falling over and instead pretended to have merely been in the process of sitting down. Placing his bum on the soft ground underneath him and picking aimlessly at the grass whilst he tried to calm the violent spinning in his head. "I-I'm fine… I'm fine." He breathed forth the same second that he felt Rouge place an uncertain hand upon his shoulder, immediately making her withdraw it again. "I just… got lost in thought there for a sec. And I also realized that you guys don't know what's been going on."
And at that mere hint of information, Rouge's interest was peaked as her eyes lit up and she wildly gestured for Shadow to sit down. "Do you mean to tell us that things been brewing in secret around here without our knowledge? With what exactly - the Doctor? The Master Emerald? Knuckles?"
Sonic grimaced slightly as he sat himself up straighter upon the ground, keeping his head up with the help of his arms that were placed upon his pulled up knees. He knew he'd reached the point where he would have to recount the events of his latest adventure, possibly in close detail due to Rouge being one of the listeners. She would try and squeeze every last drop of scoop out of him, and for a moment he almost regretted having opened his mouth about it. But maybe… maybe talking about it could actually make him feel less heavy, less burdened and less… alone. Alone with all the thoughts that had been eating away at him in the back of his mind for a number of days now. Perhaps coming out at the other end of it would be somewhat therapeutic.
And so he settled on telling them the whole story.
From start to finish.
Only omitting certain details that he felt were either too private… —
"—Sonic… am I a burden to you..?"
"—It reminds me that I'm the last echidna. That I'm alone."
"—Even though… it may take us far apart."
— Or too… sore. Things and feelings he hadn't even began dealing with himself yet, or even so much as scratched the surface of. Yeah, he would definitely need to get around to that sooner or later.
Preferably later - as of right now anyway.
Late afternoon had turned to early evening once Sonic was done. Having answered all the stray question either of them, but mostly Rouge, had cut in with now and again, and laid out all the major events and consequences that could possibly arise from this latest endeavor of his. Neither of them had reacted with too much of a shock when he'd disclosed that the entire planet had once again been threatened, and that he'd been forced to engage in a life-or-death battle with a supposedly thousands of years old entity that had destroyed multiple worlds before. Still, considering who he was talking to and that indeed weirder things had happened in the past, it probably wasn't saying much. Sonic himself had pretty much accepted the notion that basically nothing in life was ever as it appeared to be, and that anything could be thrown his way at any time.
Rouge was the first to speak after a brief moment of contemplating silence. "The Starfall Islands…" She mused aloud while tapping her upper lip with her index finger absentmindedly. "I don't think I've ever heard of 'em, to be honest. Perhaps it would be appropriate for G.U.N. to investigate further into the matter - to decipher the ways of their civilization and find out what type of technology they were using. It might turn out beneficial for our part, so to say - wouldn't you agree, Shadow?"
Cryptic as ever, Shadow simply nodded his head slowly and sent his partner a meaning sideways glance. "Perhaps so."
At hearing this, Sonic immediately turned suspicious and said with somewhat of a force behind his voice— "Hey, not that your top secret agent stuff is any of my business, but I'll tell ya' both this… These islands aren't some sort of free-for-all dig out or exploitation ground for G.U.N.'s latest research, but a mere scarred place with a plagued history where terrible things once happened. And I'd say what it really needs is time to heal from it all, and that is something of my business, aight?" He expected an equally forceful reply, however Rouge only gave him a rueful look.
"Heh. Still the same hero that defends poor little woodland critters from the big and the bad, eh Blue?"
Unsure on whether to take her comment as a compliment or an insult, Sonic settled for a half-hearted—"You betcha."
"Speaking of the big and the bad… Seeing as Knuckles isn't here, you wouldn't mind me taking a closer look at the Emerald, would you? I promise I won't get too handsy…"
"So long as you swear to not brag to Knux about it when you see him again..-" As he said that, Rouge drew and invisible cross over her heart while holding her right hand up. "—… I guess I could grant you some one-on-one time with the old rock."
"Rouge, perhaps we should—" Shadow began to mutter, but was quickly cut off by the bat.
"Oh, I'll only be a minute… or two."
Thus the trio soon wandered up the many steps of the altar, with Rouge practically skipping ahead and a mosey Sonic bringing up the rear. All the talking had drained him more than he'd thought i would and even though it had felt good to lighten his chest, his mind had taken a beating by recounting his latest adventure. The stone steps he trudged up for looked awfully comfortable all of a sudden, beckoning him to lay his head to rest upon them. Yet, since his two visitors surely weren't too far from leaving now, he tried to keep his head up just a while longer. And perhaps he ought to eat something as well, since he now couldn't recall the last time he'd done so - which no doubt was a bad sign.
The sun was well past set, still one could see the contours of the clouds that had gathered above and around the isalnd. During the last two hours the air had turned humid as a chilling thickness had aslo filled the atmosphere, indicating that the weather might soon take a turn for the worse. Sonic had once pondered on whether Knuckles ended up living above the very rain, but found that the answer was actually both. The plain area surrounding the Master Emerald shrine seemed to always stay in the clear even though the rain might be pouring down at somewhere else at the same time in another zone around the island.
However, the murky sky and the tingling sense in the air told Sonic's instincts that a nasty thunderstorm was soon to be expected.
Great, I guess I won't be getting much sleep tonight either.
Slumping against a stone pillar, Sonic then proceeded to idly watch as Rouge went full on gaga over being so close to the Master Emerald as she graciously slid her hand across ever last inch of its smooth surface. The green glow reflecting in her brightly lit teal eyes, that never left it for so much as a second during several minutes. "Oh, it's so magnificent… Just imagine how wonderful it would look in the grand hall of my apartment…" Rouge bemoaned whilst a most deep and longing sigh escaped her lips. Shadow, who stood leaning against a pillar opposite Sonic, had his arms crossed and eyes closed and merely grumbled something inaudible in response. Clearly he wasn't as taken as his partner, nor did he seem to want to spend another minute longer upon the island than necessary now that he'd accomplished what he'd came for.
Turning her attention to Sonic instead, Rouge teasingly said— "I don't suppose I could just borrow it for the weekend. I mean, after all, what Knucky doesn't know won't hurt him…"
"Sorry, no can do. He would skin me alive if he ever found out. Plus, I don't wanna cause another tidal wave or something." A flash of the Station Square incident from a few years back popped into Sonic's mind as he said that, and he cringed at the mere thought of causing such a total disaster a second time. No, Angel Island did best in staying up in the sky where it belonged.
"We don't know for sure that would happen…" Rouge countered, trailing off slightly at the end.
"What part - me being skinned, or Station Square being submerged in water?"
"The city destruction part, obviously. Knucklehead would no doubt make a nice rag outta you, but that's a risk I'm willing to take." But no sooner had Sonic given her an incredulous look by raising his eye ridge, at which Rouge sighed in defeat. Patting the Master Emerald one last time before declaring—"Fine. Better luck next time, my beautiful darling." However, she soon brightened up again as her eyes swept around the altar, noticing the empty pillar that surrounded them. Slowly a most mischievous expression formed upon her face. "Heey, Hero Boy? You said you turned Super during your last battle with that whatever-it-was, right? Does that mean that the Emeralds are—"
"—All scattered again? Yup." Sonic confirmed with a nod, his eyes getting somewhat clouded at the mention of the Chaos Emeralds. Being forced to gather them all up multiple times in order to even have the slimmest of chance at beating the Titans hadn't exactly been a smooth sailing each time. Plus, the added strain of turning in and out of such a powerful and draining state of being several time under a short period of time apart had exhausted his body - as well as mind - more than he'd first realized. It wasn't natural, and nothing he'd ever done before. Usually it passed quite a while in between each time he used the Emeralds, but now he'd turned Super four times in the lapse of two weeks… And it had undoubtably taken its toil on him. Speaking of which— "To be honest it wouldn't surprise me if Knuckles is taking some time out of his sightseeing to go hunt some of 'em down."
"So that's what the old brute is doing, eh? Sightseeing? Having himself a pleasure cruise, see the best of what the world has to offer, hmm?" Rouge questioned after a rather sharp click of her tongue. For some reason it seemed as if Knuckles absence offended her in some way, a way which perhaps was too personal of a business for Sonic's liking. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in whatever relationship issues transpired between the two of them. It really wasn't his forte…
Although, Sonic also felt compelled to come to his friends defence. Even if he couldn't be completely sure about the true nature of Rouge's insinuations. "Uh, well, if you count rock climbing and camping out in the middle of Mobius' wilderness as the best, then I'm sure Knuckles is really living it up down there."
That seemed to do the trick as Rouge almost immediately lightened up again. And if Sonic wasn't totally mistaken he even thought he heard a stroke of fondness in her voice as she then said—"Oh, well… he is funny like that. He probably wouldn't know what a proper vacation is even if it hit him square in the face. He's far too much of a natural man, too… pure."
"Yeah, I doubt he's exploring the men's department at the Station Square mall or gobbling down pizzas at Twinkle Park right now."
They shared a brief moment of laughter at the thought of it, before Rouge continued curiously— "Say, what was it that made him decide to finally leave after all this time, anyway?"
"Honestly, I don't know. We were really just talking about some stuff that had been on his mind and the subject came up. I can't tell you everything but - bottom line was that he expressed a sense of longing. A longing to get out every now and then, to get a taste of freedom… So I told him that perhaps it was time do just that, to get off the Island for a while. To just… do it, you know, live a little."
"Maybe I could…"
Knuckles… he'd actually sounded quite… hopeful.
And wasn't giving his friend that hope worth more than his own discomfort?
Perhaps even more than the rock he was guarding?
If the roles had been reversed… he would've done the same for me, right?
"Live a little?" Shadow's voice echoed as if he could hardly believe his own ears. The dark hedgehog sat quiet for a few fleeting seconds, before staring Sonic straight in the eye, speaking forth the following in a harsh, steady stream of carefully picked words—"Well, no matter that he's the sole living guardian of the most powerful artifact known to modern time, an artifact that could both be abused and used to conquer the entire free world should it fall into the wrong hands. No matter that millions of lives depened on its safety. What is any of those factors worth when compared to a single individual's sudden need of doing a bit of soul searching?" The biting, icy sarcasm certainly didn't fly above Sonic's head, and yet… he could neither deny or protest against the admittedly truthiness behind Shadow's words.
"Oh lighten up, would ya', Shadow?" Rouge said, dismissing his concern without a second thought. "I honestly think it's sweet that our stubborn stiff of a friend has finally started to learn to put his trust into others, once in a while."
Sonic found himself genuinely smirking at that. Hid old rival had actually been more open with him during his time on Ares Island, even asking him for help was a big step for someone as selfreliant and headstrong as Knuckles. And now he'd entrusted Sonic to guard the single most important thing in his life, something he valued above all else… admittedly only for a short number of days, but still. Maybe their friendship had indeed come quite a long way since first meeting each other all those years ago. The realization actually made Sonic feel a warmth spreading in the pir of his stomach as he also sobered up from his exhaustian a bit. "Maybe I wouldn't go as far as to say he'd be willing to let me guard the Master Emerald every other week - that threat of him skinning me alive was very much real - but, yeah… I guess you're right. It is, uh, sweet." A chuckle slipped out from under his breath as he slowly shook his head in spite of himself.
For some reason it felt as if a pretty heft load, he didn't know he'd even been carrying, had just suddenly dropped from his shoulders.
Casting an eye out towards the darkening ocean and distant horizon, Sonic silently wished that - wherever his old friend was at that very moment - he was happy.
He was more than well deserving of a break…
But Sonic's own momentarily peace of mind wouldn't last long as Rouge unknowingly shattered said peace by uttering one simple question—
"So… Where's your little genius brother at?"
"When this is all over… I think I need to go it alone for a while…"
Tails… I never fully realized just how fast he was growing up.
He's on his way to becoming more of a hero than I ever was, and I'm so proud of that… of him, in general…
But, when the day comes when he no longer needs me…
Will I lose my bestest friend…— my little bro?
A deep, internal sadness unlike any other washed over Sonic at that point.
"Tails? Well, he—" A moment of hesitation passed. He'd been on his way to say that his little brother naturally was back at his workshop, tinkering at some new invention or coming up with new ways on how to improve his biplane the Tornado. But then he remembered that the workshop was closed shut. Neither fox nor plane were inside to fill it with that comfortable familiarity that Sonic came to seek out every now and again. A sense of home.
But now that home stood empty.
Dark and abandoned.
Just like himself.
No, Sonic mentally corrected. No that wasn't true and he hated himself for even suggesting that that was the case. Tails hadn't left him, or anybody else for that matter. His little brother had merely come to the same conclusion that every regular kid eventually came to - that it was time to find his own way in the world. To deviate from the footsteps of his older brother and embark on an adventure all on his own. Because no one could grow in the shadow of another. Everyone needs time and room to blossom in the sunshine, and to become who they are meant to be.
Sonic had already acknowledged as much to Tails on Chaos Island, and he still stuck by his word.
However, the reality of living with the aftermath of it was… another thing altogether.
He would never in a million years ever want to hold Tails back from reaching his full potential, still, a part of him couldn't help but mourn the fact that his once so small and defenseless little brother didn't really need him anymore. Not like before, anyway. When he'd needed Sonic to read him bedtime stories to fall sleep at night, or carry him piggyback when he grew too tired from flying behind for so long, or hold him in his embrace when he got scared during a lightning storm. Back then when Sonic truly could honor the title of "big brother" and he'd taught him everything he knew, protected him from bullies and even given him all that he'd owned at the time in form of the Tornado. And sure, Tails had always been growing and gotten more independent at the years had gone by, but during these last couple of years Sonic had been too blindsided to grasp the now fully extent of it. It was simply too hard to wrap his head around.
Where had all the years gone?
For someone who appreciated living his life in the fast lane - Sonic found that maybe life itself had outpaced him this time.
And in his little brother's maturity he was reflected to that of his own aging. His own growing maturity. Was he mature? He was soon to be pushing the age of seventeen, and yet it only felt like yesterday he sprinted across the fields and running head first into the loop-de-loops of Green Hill Zone. When in reality so very, very much had happened in his life since those days.
Derailing from his train of thought, Sonic was abruptly reminded that he'd frozen in the middle of a sentence as Rouge loudly cleared her throat while sending him a mildly confused look. "He what?" She asked with a tone that suggested she probably contemplated whether she should start to take a concern for his mental stability. Her eyes' continous pending between the blue hero and her partner increasing somewhat. Although she received no satisfactory reaction from either of them as Shadow's face had turned to stone whereas Sonic's expression suggested he was just waking up from an unusually disturbing daydream. But then, in the blink of an eye was the distress exchanged in favor of a most defeated and weary look that left him looking as if he was close to collapsing again.
Just how tired was he really?
Soon after though, Sonic seemed to regain his senses as he continued speaking as if there had not just been an extensive, and not to mention awkward, period of silence. "—he is just off on an adventure with the Tornado. But he'll be back soon." That was a lie, since he actually hadn't got a clue on when Tails was planning on coming back.
If he ever does decide to come back at all, that is.
Stop.
"Sonic… do you think I can… change?"
He'd played it off as a joke, but of course - of course Tails could change, and he already had.
Much farther beyond his years.
"On his own?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, I see…" Rouge said, before an idea quickly brewed up in her mind. She felt obligated to at least try to raise the spirits of the blue blur, seeing as there currently weren't any of his dearest friends around to do it. And maybe she knew just what buttons to press in order to achieve her goal. "Maybe it's for the best. I mean It's about time that lil' squirt went off on his own. After all, they have to leave the nest some time, amirite?"
"He's ten."
"Yeah well, you know, kids these days…They gotta grow up fast. Besides I imagine you'd done a lot more by the time you turned ten."
Fair point, Sonic mused to himself.
"—Probably already taken down a great deal of killer robots, and when was the first time you thrashed Eggman?"
"I think I might've been seven or eight the first time around…" He admitted, scratching the back of his head slightly until his eyes slowly narrowed in determination. "But Tails ain't me, and I ain't him. There's a ton of stuff that he can do that I can only dream about ever doing - he's a genius, a brilliant mechanic and the greatest friend one could ask for. He's more of a hero now than I ever was at his age, and I'm proud of him for it."
Rouge smiled. Knowing she had gotten Sonic right where she wanted him.
"Of course he is - you raised him, didn't you?"
It was clearly meant as a rethoricaol question, but sometimes Shadow just couldn't take a hint. Causing Rouge to face palm internally as soon as her brooding partner decided to voice his opinion on the matter—
"I'd say, with that fact in mind, I think we should all consider ourselves fortunate the boy didn't turn out worse. I reckon he might as well have become a criminal mastermind growing up under such influences as his." Shadow sent a pointed glare Sonic's way, who felt it as if he'd just been punched without really being punched. "You're more than welcome to take all of that personally, by the way, Faker."
The comment could've almost been comical had it not been for the genuine tone the insult carried.
And normally it would've possibly riled Sonic up, however today he felt too broken to give his rival a well deserved kick to the chin. It felt… childish and utterly pointless all of a sudden. Shadow disliked him with a passion, so what? What else is new?
"Duly noted." Being the half-hearted comeback he ultimately settled for, as he didn't even bother meeting Shadow's piercing eyes. Instead he brought a hand up to massage a particularly sore spot in his neck as he was flooded with a disarray of flashing images— How his body had been flung across the air only to make impact with a steep cliffside. How he'd hot stomped, beaten, thrashed and squeezed multiple times during his showdowns with the titans. Not to mention getting almost eaten alive by one of them, as well. Each aching muscle and each bruise he traced his fingers across brought forth a new painful flash before his inner eye - a titan's strike mixed with each of his friends in various scenarios upon the Islands.
! Amy sitting alone in a slope full of blooming poppies.
! Knuckles blocking Sage's blast with his bare hands to protect him.
P o w ! Tails making a notion to grasp his arm, only to faze right through instead.
Again, Sonic groaned and grasped his head tightly in his hands as each vision appeared more rapidly, and more intense than the one before. It felt like being hit with a burning hot iron to his temple, as he was flung futher and further down an abyss. Neither of his hands able to shield himself from the assault or grab onto a ledge to keep him from falling. He couldn't breath for if he did, he'd be inhaling the toxic fumes that swarmed all around him.
It's not real.
Nothing's real anymore…
Nothing's changed… I'm still just trying to figure my way out of this…
"—I worry he's right and that I haven't changed at all."
The anxiousness of his little brother's voice had been nearly devastating to hear.
And that was when Sonic's initial disgust for himself grew tenfold in size. His own insecurities would not be allowed to affect Tails. No way! And no amount of bitter cold sadness in the world would ever meassure to that of the golden warmth of pride Sonic felt for his little brother. In an instant sense of relief, the beating stopped and Sonic could finally breathe again. His vision found focus again, leaving Rouge and Shadow to tread forth in the murky light of reality once more. This time around, neither of them seemed to have taken any notice of his distress as they remained perfectly neutral and looked at him with growing apathy. Perhaps they'd accepted his strange new behavior as normal or simply waited for him to knock himself out…
Or maybe it were all just in his head.
A light drizzle then began to descend upon the trio, quickly making Rouge curse to herself under her breath. "Drats..! My make up's gonna get ruined…" However, no sooner had she uttered those words before a wide umbrella had been placed above her head.
It was Sonic who had zipped over to Knuckles' scarce pile of belongings he'd left behind and grabbed the black umbrella that laid among it. If he remembered correctly, it was Amy that had once insisted on gifting him one, as she felt bad over the idea of Knuckles sitting all alone and unprotected during rainstorms. And surprisingly he'd only accepted it with a small hint of reluctance. "Here, take it." Sonic offered with a faint smile, handing her the handle of the umbrella. "Knuckles doesn't like people knowing it, but he actually does keep some normal stuff up here. For emergency purposes only, of course." Sonic added with a wink while simutaneously pretending to zip his mouth shut, lock it and throw the key away over his shoulder. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind you borrowing it, though."
For some reason, it helped Sonic's shifting mood to be able to joke at Knuckles' indirect expense. It was something that he normally would do, and therefore didn't trigger any unpleasantries to pop up.
Maybe if I just try to keep it light…
"Hah, I bet! Thanks, hon." Rouge said, taking the umbrella in hand and then edging her way over to Shadow in an attempt to shield him from the droplets, as well. The flirty eyes she gave him would've been enough to make just about anyone blush, but Shadow seemed to be immune to such advances. All he did was squint his eyes and frown as Rouge playfully suggested— "Wanna share the umbrella with me, handsome?"
The action didn't seem to deter Rouge's mood though as she merely let out a chiming, carefree laugh and turned her eyes at Sonic instead.
"How about you then, Blue?"
"Nah, I'm good." Sonic politely declined.
"Oh, right, I forgot - your Sweetheart probably wouldn't approve of it."
"My— what..?"
Clearly teasing, Rouge seamlessly continued, ignoring Sonic's confused query. "Speaking of which, where is that lil' girlfriend of yours anyway? Wait, don't tell me… She's gone and gotten herself kidnapped again, hasn't she?"
"Hello? Is someone there? Help me..!"
Amy… trapped. Scared and alone.
I gotta save her..!
I have to tell her that I— that I…
No. No, Amy's safe… She's safe. I rescued her. She's far away, but safe.
Too distracted by his own whirlwind of jumbled memories, Sonic didn't even bother to protest at the 'girlfriend'-part, but rather shook his head and sharply cleared his throat. His eyes getting noticebly downcast as he said—"Amy's gone, too. Not gone-gone, I mean she's fine and all, but she just… she, uh, felt like taking a road trip with some of her friends once we returned back home. And so… she did."
"Without begging you to come along?" Rouge inquired, raising a brow while a smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "Trouble in paradise, I presume?"
This time, the blue hero did react at the insinuation by letting out a huff and doing a dramatic roll of his eyes. "There's no trouble. And there's no paradise, all right? Amy is free to go wherever she wants, with whomever she wants, at any time. And after this entire thing, I don't blame her for wanting to go away for a while."
"And yet here you are, cramped up on Angel Island, stuck babysitting a rock days on end."
"Well, it's a change of scenery, ain't it? And besides, it wasn't me that was stuck in limbo during all that time."
"If you say so."
Thinking of Amy was very much a double-edged sword for Sonic.
On one hand she was one of his closest and most loyal of friends. A strong fighter with a heart of gold which he both admired and relied upon more than he probably knew. Not to mention that she's also clever, sweet and honestly very pretty- pretty funny, that is. But on the other hand, she was the girl who'd harboured strong romantic feelings for him ever since their first meeting. The girl who dreamed of them being together… getting married, forming a family, and ultimately growing old and sitting upon a porch somewhere. Walking hand in hand through a life which scared him like nothing else. The mere thought filling his mind with self-doubt and a sense of having a serious case of inferiority complex.
Furthermore, did his stomach not immediately well with the flapping of countless butterfly wings, but rather a lone butterfly that had been denied the time of day for so long that it barely made an attempt at stirring up his feelings anymore. His deepest, most private of feelings, that is. Instead his subconcious did the deed for him as Sonic seemingly out of nowhere found himself envisioning a particular pink sky that could appear just before sunset at times. Then a pastel painting's soft strokes upon canvas… Smooth-surfaced seashells drifting against the shore… A rosebud in the midst of blooming…
An umberella being shared underneath the pouring of a gentle summer rain - a frail hand grasping his, right before their fingers intertwined…
"Amy… I should've made up my mind sooner…"
Fortunately, not a living soul had been around to hear him utter those mere simple words. Words that had suddenly just snuck their way out of his mouth - out of his heart - in the spur of an unguarded moment during a most pressing time. Sonic couldn't tell what they had meant though, as he even now struggled to understand the full width and weight of them. But if he was being completely honest with himself he figured the reason he didn't know was because it related to something so deeply buried within him that he wasn't even able to put actual words to them. However, his heartbeats had significantly increased during his brief pondering, all while he felt a sudden urge to run several lapses around the Island. And wasn't the glow of the Master Emerald a bit more intense than just a moment ago?
At a momentary loss of his own emotions, Sonic hastily shook his head to once again discard such thoughts for some other time. Like he'd always done.
The thunderclouds were now almost directly above Angel Island. Dark and threatening as the wind had also picked up quite a lot during the mere last couple of minutes. A storm was now most definately on its way, but it wasn't just any regular old storm - for this one felt strangely ominous. As if it knew that there already was an even bigger storm at present, raging inside the heart and mind of one mere mortal soul. Out of the three individuals upon the Island, Shadow was the first to raise his voice as he gave his partner a surprisingly calm, almost indifferent, look which matched perfectly with his tone of voice. "Rouge, unless you want us to camp out here for the night, we should be on our way now. It's high time for us to depart, anyway."
Clearly just as deep in though as Sonic had just been, Rouge flinched slightly once she came back to reality. Giving up a soft sigh while her eyes did one last sweep around the area, as if still secretly hoping to find the one person she truly had wanted to see coming here. Again, to no avail. "Not a chance, let's get outta here. I'm seriously craving a big cup of soy latte right about now." She answered, making a motion to walk towards her companion, before suddenly remembering the umbrella she was holding. At which she turned back to Sonic, heading for him while simutaneously being in the act of folding the thing back down. "I take it you're gonna be needing this—"
"It's okay. You keep it." Sonic assured sincerly, before a sneaky remark he'd been holding onto slipped out next— "Besides, that'll give you an excuse to come back and give it back to Knuckles once he returns. Cause, no offense, but that thing about you two simply stopping by for a friendly visit wasn't the least bit convincing, to be honest. And I know he's guliable and all, but come on guys… you can do better."
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Big Blue."
"Keep it that way."
"We'll see…"
With a last wink, Rouge then hurried back to Shadow's side, sneaking her arm around his as she probably prepared herself for Shadow to transport them back to the mainland via Chaos Control. The dark hedgehog only directing a curt, barely noticeable nod at Sonic, who gave him a tiny crack of a smirk in return. "Always a pleasure, Shads."
"Don't mess up."
"Heh, no promises..!"
Wiping away at an invisible tear, Rouge feigned a beaming grin at the both of them. "You guys are just too sweet..!"
Feeling that enough is enough, Shadow abruptly took a sturdy stance upon the stone floor, closing his eyes to focus all of his energy and mind to perform the transportation. Something which could be tricky enough even without a Chaos Emerald. However, just before the two agents disappeared into thin air, Rouge quickly called out—
"Oh, one more thing, Blue—!"
"Yeah?"
"—Just… remember to take care of yourself, okay? I'm sure they want to come back and find you with a big smile on your face."
"This is… this is for… My friends… This is for my friends, remember!"
He didn't want to forget…
Didn't want to be so cold…
Numb…
They were gone before he even had a chance to respond.
The smile upon Sonic's face faded just before his legs gave way underneath him and he collapsed onto the cold stone floor, landing on his side with his head facing upwards. Towards the darkening sky and the rain. The loneliness and the emptiness. The world around him regressed back to its monotone sounds, bleak colors and meaningless existence. As if none of what had transpired these last few hours had ever happened, as if he was already forgetting everything the second after it ended.
Rouge and Shadow… had they even been there at all?
He didn't trust himself enough to be sure about it.
Perhaps it had all been a dream - these last few weeks, too.
He felt so tired…
For his inner eye, Sonic envisioned how his friends came back to him—
But…
—Tails' laughter as he jumped out of the pilot's seat of the Tornado and came running up to him for a big, long hug.
How could one catch the wind?
Knuckles showing his appreciation by giving him a hard clap on the back while they chuckled at how beat up the other one looked.
How could one capture a lightning in a bottle?
Amy taking his hands into hers when she finally saw him again, as well as planting a gentle kiss upon his cheek. Her eyes practically sparkling with adoration.
How could one hold a moonbeam in one's hand?
He decided to believe that all those three things were possible. Believed it with all of his heart. Would hold on to it for as long as it took… for his life would have meaning again. Someday. And he would make sure to greet that meaning with a smile.
Drizzle soon turned into pouring.
And there, at long last, it came - the first clap of thunder.
"My name is…
My
name
is..?
Sonic.