The Phantom Wind

by hero_of_lightning13

Summary:

Three months after the fall of the Eggman Empire, the Resistance has been focusing on rebuilding and reconstruction. After a short solo adventure, Gadget now lives in Sunset Heights, working with the Resistance in their HQ in the city. Searches for Infinite were abundant after the war, but stopped after a while. However, recently the searches have been continued. One day, Infinite wakes up in a forest near the city. After his Phantom Ruby Copy, which had been keeping him alive, disappears right in front of him, and Eggman rejects his plea to rejoin him, he now fully realizes that he is alone. But after a chance encounter, his life, along with Gadget’s, goes into directions that no one, even themselves, expects.

Chapter 1: The Day Before Two Lives Changed

Chapter 1 : The Day Before Two Lives Changed

 

Infinite’s vision was blurry as he woke up. He seemed to be laying on the ground of some forest, which was covered with wide, green leaves. 

Where am I?

He tried pushing himself up, but fell back immediately from the pain in his muscles. A pulsing headache seemed to form.

Why am I so sore? How am I even alive?

He pushed himself up slowly this time, and looked around at his surroundings. He was in some forest, that was clear. He couldn’t hear any people around him, so he judged that he was alone. As he became fully awake, he immediately started to form some type of plan in his mind, a habit from his mercenary days. 

This time he gently pushed himself up and observed his surroundings, trying to get an idea of where he was. The only sounds near him came from nature, as he couldn’t hear any voices or footsteps. Soon, he was fully alert, despite the pain in his body. He tried activating his ruby to levitate him up, but nothing happened. He couldn’t feel any surge of the ruby’s energy flow through him. Panicking, he grabbed his chest, trying to feel for his ruby, but he felt only skin. “No!” he said with wide eyes, as he started taking in fast, shallow breaths. He was scared to look down, desperate to believe that his senses were playing tricks on him.

After a while, he looked down, and the ruby was gone. There was only a white scar of where the ruby was implanted in him. He tried to stand up, but the pain in his body forced him to sit back down. With a deep breath, he inspected his surroundings for the ruby. A leaf in front of him seemed to be higher than the others, potentially hiding something. He lifted the leaf with a shaky hand, and he smiled.

The phantom ruby was there, about a foot in front of him. However, his smile disappeared after seeing the ruby broken into five pieces. 

He grabbed the pieces, trying to feel for the ruby’s power. A familiar, but very weak, surge of energy rushed through him, making him smile again. “It’s still there. I can bring this to the doctor, surely he can fix it and restore its energy,” he said, starting to laugh. He still had a chance, he thought. Even though he didn’t know what time it was and whether the Resistance actually won, he was glad that he could potentially reign over others again. Soon, he would become unstoppable, he thought. However, his fantasies of destruction ended as the pieces started glowing and floating away from him. 

Resisting the ache of his muscles, he tried to grab the rising pieces. However, he felt a resisting force against his hand, making it impossible to grasp them. The pieces’ glow became brighter, and his scar glowed as well. A cool sensation emitted from his scar, and he could feel the pain in his chest lower a little. After a few seconds of this, the glowing from his scar stopped, but the pieces still glowed. He kept trying to grab the pieces, but the resisting forces overpowered his hand each time. He stared at the rising pieces, furious that he couldn’t grab them. Before he could let out a scream of frustration, the pieces suddenly started vanishing one by one.

“No!” he screamed, trying even harder to grab the remaining pieces, but his strength was not enough. There was only one piece left now, and after a long second, it vanished without a trace. He stared at the space that the ruby occupied, as tears welled in his eyes. He remembered when Dr. Eggman explained to him how the ruby originally came from another dimension, and everything crumbled within him as he realized that the ruby was most likely not in this world anymore.

Any hopes that he had for regaining his power were gone.

He laid back down on the ground. 

He wished he had his red sword on him, so that he could just end himself. There was no point to living anymore. But he was too weak at that moment to even kill himself. Silently, he stared at the branches above him that were shading him from the sunset. He hoped that death would take him in his sleep.

 

Gadget was walking to his house in the outskirts of Sunset Heights. He had just left the headquarters of the Resistance, now officially known as the Restoration. Many people, out of habit, still called it the Resistance. 

It was around 6 P.M, and the sun was starting to set, giving off a warm orange glow throughout the city. Sunset Heights started to get a little lively around this time with many Mobians walking around, alone and in groups. At this time, restaurants and bars were usually filled. Sunset Heights had probably gotten the most impressive reconstruction after the war. For it only being 3 months after Eggman and Infinite were defeated, the city had been mainly fully restored. The Resistance moved their headquarters to Sunset Heights recently, about a month ago in August.

Gadget’s job at the Resistance was mainly tech-related, but he also helped around whenever he could. His official title was “Tech Specialist and Co-Administrator,” and he worked alongside Tails in the technology department. If Tails was out with Sonic on an adventure, he would be the “unofficial” administrator for that department for the time.

Gadget was very well-known and trusted in the Resistance. After all, he did play a major role in defeating Eggman and Infinite, along with Sonic and some smaller version of Sonic that he still didn’t know much about. He still couldn’t believe it, with how the heroes who he looked up to his whole life were now close friends and allies of him. Before the events of the war, he never would have expected himself to be where he was now.

The sunset was his favorite part of the day. He enjoyed the cooling temperature and serenity it gave him on his walks home. He was the last person to leave the base that day. Since it was a Friday, most members of the base left early. However, he stayed at the base for a little longer, working ahead a little so that his workload next week wouldn’t be as much. He usually did this every Friday, and he enjoyed the solitude from 4-6 P.M of working in the base, as most people would leave around 3 P.M, in comparison to leaving at 4 or 5 P.M on Monday to Thursday. 

He reached the trail that led to his house, and finally, after a minute of walking the trail, he reached his house. His house was located in a grove near the city. He enjoyed the peace and chance to be around nature. As he closed his door behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief from the 20 minute walk. He set his work belt and fire wispon on the dining table in his kitchen, and took his shoes and gloves off and left them near the door. 

In his home, the kitchen was near the entrance on the left. To the right of the entrance was the living room, and there stood two couches, one L-shaped and one horizontal, along with a papasan chair. Further straight from the entrance was a hallway, with three doors in it. One door led to his room, which had a bathroom attached to it, and the second door was a study, where he worked on small projects and tinkered with stuff. The third door led to a small bathroom. This house was originally destroyed after the war, but it was rebuilt. Gadget decided to take the house.

Usually after work he decided to relax. After setting his stuff down in the kitchen, he took a warm shower, and then dried himself off and sat on his couch. He grabbed the remote and thought of what he wanted to watch that night. Normally he would put on some drama, or a documentary. After scrolling through channels, he groaned as he turned the TV off. There was nothing good on. 

“Guess I’ll just lay here and sleep,” he said. After staring at the ceiling for a while, he fell asleep. 

Eventually, he woke up in a dark house lit by moonlight. Grumbling, he turned the kitchen light on and prepared some leftovers from dinner the night before. As he was eating, he checked the clock on the wall and saw it was 11 P.M. That surprised him, since he didn’t take naps often, especially ones that long. With a sigh, he continued his dinner and cleaned up the kitchen afterwards.

Even though it was late, he decided to work in his work room. Lately he hadn’t been enjoying working on his own things, compared to when he first moved in. After a lot of coming home from work and fixing a bunch of objects, he just wanted a break from tinkering with tech. It conflicted with him, as he always had a fascination with objects such as wispons and weaponry and gadgets, but doing it as a job made it only see it as work.

That night, he worked a little on some small projects, which eventually became a 3 hour-long pursuit on fixing his lightning wispon. He smiled to himself, proudly putting the wispon down before heading out of the room to go to bed. That particular wispon was special to him, since it was the first wispon he fixed himself during the war. That was one of the first times the members of the Resistance started to truly recognize his abilities, and he often carried it around on his missions. Unfortunately, it broke down near the end of the war, and he had a hard time trying to fix it until that night.

As he laid down in his bed after getting ready for bed, he thought to himself about his day. He felt overall accomplished, and soon fell asleep, wondering what would await him the next day.

 

Notes:

I've edited this chapter, so if you've read this before the change you may notice that it looks different. I edited it because it felt sloppy to me, and I posted it straight after finishing it pretty much. I hope y'all enjoy the edited version!

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Meeting

Summary:

Infinite tries to form a plan of what to do. Gadget has a nice Saturday, and decides to take a relaxing stroll in the forest when he gets back home. Both don't expect to see who they see in the forest that evening.

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Meeting

 

Infinite woke up, his eyes barely adjusting to the clear sky of the morning. He was in the exact same location, which disproved his wish that what had happened the previous day was a dream. Shaking hands scrambled in desperation for a ruby on his chest, but they froze as they only felt a white scar where the ruby once was. With a sigh of remorse, he pulled himself up, wincing at his sore muscles. The only good thing in this situation was that his muscles felt slightly better, compared to last night, he thought.

“No point in just wallowing here, I guess,” he murmured. He tried to form a plan on what to do. Before he could carry out revenge on certain people, he had to make sure his basic survival needs were met. His stomach grumbled violently, making him wince. That prompted him to stand up and start walking around, in order to get a sense of where he was. During his observation, he recognized a familiar pattern of oak trees in the distance. Something clicked as he realized that he had to be near Park Avenue. Confirming his theory, he squinted his eyes to see the faint outline of some sort of city, which resembled Park Avenue, from what he remembered of it in his attack on the city.

“So this is some forest on the eastern outskirts of Sunset Heights,” he mumbled. “Oh! The doctor had a base near here! May be some resources there I could use.” He decided that he would visit the base and see if there were any reserves or gear he could obtain. 

The way to the base started with a ten minute walk up north from his current location. After ten minutes of walking north, one would have to walk for about five minutes east, until a trail came into view. Going down that trail would lead to a clearing, where the small base would be. During the war, the doctor showed him a map of his bases at the time, which is how he remembered the likely abandoned base being near. He wasn’t expecting the doctor to be there, because of his nomadic nature in relocating bases.

Infinite started walking towards the base, taking in the calm forest around him. During his walk, he thought about his current circumstances. He reasoned that the war had most likely ended, since based off of his last memories at the the doctor's Empire Fortress before he was absorbed into the real Phantom Ruby, the Resistance looked like they were getting close to victory. It would take him a while to get used to there being no war anymore. And furthermore, it would take him a while to get used to being powerless again. All he knew for the last few months was the near-omnipotent power he had with the ruby. Now he would have to rely on his skills from his time as the Ultimate Mercenary.

As he approached the eastern part of his trek, he tried to think about where he had been since the Mega Death Egg Robot was destroyed. The only memories he had between that and the previous day were random moments of consciousness, before he would fall back asleep from exhaustion, and an abrupt awakening once soon after he was absorbed, which he assumed happened when the Resistance destroyed the Phantom Ruby in the doctor’s defeat. A tingling ran through his white scar on his chest, which only served as another harsh reminder of his current state. 

“How am I even still alive?” He felt the skin of his chest, thinking about what the ruby was doing the whole time he was unconscious. “I guess its leftover energy was keeping me alive,” he sighed, “it should've just left me dead.”

Soon, he came across a trail. A small base came into view after he walked down the trail into the clearing. The base contained only a short entrance hallway that led into a warehouse-like room. He assumed it was used for storage. Overgrown vines and foliage covered the bottom half of the base, only adding to the abandoned appearance. As he hid behind a tree, he saw an active Egg Pawn guarding the entrance door. Just an Egg Pawn…this shouldn’t be hard at all.

Looking around, he found a thick and long branch that had some weight on it. It would get the job done, he thought. With a rock, he sharpened the tip of the branch the best he could, so that it could puncture enough to destroy the robot. He knew how Egg Pawns were designed, since he created phantom copies of them before, so their weak spots were obvious to him. As the guarding robot looked to the other side, it was time for the raid to begin.

Infinite ran towards the robot and stabbed the back of its neck with the sharpened branch. The branch pierced the neck of the robot, releasing some small, jumbled sparks. The robot stumbled, and attempted to swing behind him, but it missed. Infinite stabbed its neck again, but this time at a higher angle, aiming to puncture near the core of the robot. He was successful, and the robot fell down, defeated. After shaking off pieces of wiring on his branch, he quietly opened the manual doors, wincing from the rattling hinges. 

He creeped inside, quickly analyzing his surroundings. Two dim lights lit the short hallway, one of each side of the wall. At the end of the hallway stood a rusty metal door, whose handles glowed from the light coming in from outside. He flicked the air in front of him like a madman as he walked into a giant cobweb. More cobwebs lined the corners and walls of the hallway. This base must’ve been abandoned for months. I’m surprised the robot was still functioning. Nothing was in the hallway, except for a dusty cardboard box. As he peeked inside, his eyes widened from the sight of a familiar red sword.

My sword! How? It’s just been sitting here this whole time?!

Placing the branch down quietly, he picked up the sword. He blew off dust, which flew away into the air, and marveled at the still-strong shimmer of the blade. As the sword turned in his hands, a reflection of the mask on his face startled him. He had forgotten that his mask was on, since he barely took it off.

When he had agreed to let the doctor implant the ruby in him, he had decided to stop using his sword in order to fully get a feel for the ruby’s powers. The last memory he had of his sword was him storing it somewhere in his room at the doctor’s base at the time. He assumed that the doctor put it in some random base for storage purposes as the war progressed.

With his sword, Infinite felt a tinge of confidence for the first time since he had awoken last night. He crept towards the door and looked through the small window. It was another dimly lit room, with what seemed like deserted robots cluttering the ground. During his inspection, he heard a familiar voice in the room, which made him crouch down.

“Okay, good. Now look towards the left corner please.” There was a short pause. “I know, I know, this is boring. But I need to get images of this base! I just need to make sure there isn’t anything valuable for me here so that I can mark this base as completely abandoned.”

Is that…the doctor?  Cautiously, he rose up and looked through the window again, this time seeing the faint outline of a blue robot with glowing red eyes. The robot was examining the corner away from the door. That can’t be…Metal Sonic? I made that copy of him during the war. I’m not in any state to fight him now. Damn, I hope they didn’t hear me opening that door earlier.

“Good. Now, could you look near the door? I feel like I remembered leaving some blueprint of something in that area, last time I was there.”

Infinite tried to duck in time, but the red eyes seemed to move at the speed of light towards the door, and a sound came from the robot. Shit. 

“Wait, open that door. My infra-red filter saw something. There should be no one else there.”

With unexpected speed, the door flew open right as Infinite attempted to open the outside door to escape. He froze, and turned around, his heartbeat rising as he peered into the piercing red eyes of Metal Sonic.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting this at all, ho ho! To see Infinite, on some random day three months after the war, what are the odds!” cackled the doctor.

Infinite’s fists tightened. “Help me, doctor. My ruby copy disappeared, and I’ve just been walking around here. I don’t know what to do. If you have any projects, I’ll be your test subject, I just need some sort of power again!” he pleaded, his chest tightening at the even louder laugh from the doctor.

“Oh, well this is funny, isn’t it? A mercenary, who failed to protect my base at Mystic Jungle, and failed my empire, and led to my defeat because you failed to defeat Sonic and that red wolf, is now asking to serve me again? Were you honestly expecting me to say yes, and help you?”

“I-I,” he stammered, not knowing what to say. His hands started to shake.

“Well, the answer is no, ho ho!” Metal sonic shook his head in disapproval, only adding to the mockery. “Why would I spend energy trying to train someone weak like you?” he said, now serious in his tone.

“Weak? I am not-”

“Let’s think about this, Infinite. Your ruby copy is gone, as is the Phantom Ruby too. And clearly, your skills as a mercenary failed a long time ago. You have no use for me anymore. Now please, get out of my sight. You should be lucky that I’m letting you go.”

Infinite could only take shallow breaths, as he replayed the doctor’s words again and again in his mind. “That’s how you treat someone who played a reason in why you almost conquered the entire fucking planet?!" he screamed. "After all I’ve done for you, this is how-”

“You mean, after all I’ve done for you ? Without me, you would be nothing. You would still be living a meaningless life conducting raids. You failed at your task, and it’s simply too risky to invest in someone like you again.”

“Nothing?! I was the-”

“The Ultimate Mercenary , yes, I know,” he sighed. “The Ultimate Mercenary, who failed to defend my base against Shadow, and failed their own squad.”

“You…I fucking hate you!” he snarled, almost dropping his sword from how hard his hands were trembling. As white-hot anger erupted in him, tears almost escaped his eyes, but he would rather die than cry in front of the doctor. As pure fury clouded his logic, he charged towards Metal Sonic, aiming to pierce his chest with a shaky grip. He missed by a long shot, and Metal Sonic tackled him and held him with a firm grasp. He tried pleading and protesting, but he couldn’t fight back at all. The soreness of his muscles, plus the weight of what the doctor had said to him, had seized all of the energy from his body. 

“Just drop him off somewhere. Don’t waste energy in trying to kill him.”

Metal Sonic, while holding Infinite in a tight grasp, flew out of the base through the doors, kicking them open. He dropped Infinite on the ground, the impact making him gasp. Shortly after, he flew away towards the sky.

Infinite could only lay on the ground, in shock, before he quietly cried to himself. He ripped the mask from his face and threw it at a tree near him. He was too tired and sore to move anymore. He simply stared at the leaves of the oak tree above him that was shading him from the setting sun. Like a cruel joke from fate, he was in the same spot he was last night.

 

Gadget woke up in his warm bed, adjusting his vision to the rays of sunlight that brightened his room. His room was a cozy-sized space with a nightstand near the bed, a door leading to his bathroom and closet, and a desk in the corner. Feeling well-rested, he got out of bed, yawning and stretching his arms, and went towards his kitchen.

“Hmm…Guess it’ll be coffee and toast this morning,” he said to himself, holding back a yawn. He started his coffee maker by refilling the water and adding a scoop of light-roast. While the coffeemaker was going, he took two slices of bread and put it in his toaster. While his breakfast was preparing itself, he turned on the TV to the morning news.

“Good morning Sunset Heights! Here is your forecast for this beautiful Saturday! Expect blue skies and a nice 70℉ today. Near the evening, around 8 P.M, you can expect the temperature to drop to 55℉. Now onto the coming events with our reporter in Park Avenue,” said the meteorologist.

“That’s good to hear,” Gadget muttered to himself. He thought to himself about what to do that day, until his communicator, which was sitting on the kitchen table, rang. It was from Amy. He answered it, putting it on speaker mode.

“Hey Amy, how ya doin?”

“Great! I was wondering, you want to go to the mall today with me? To be honest, I just want to get out the house and look around, but I may get something!”

“Sure! When do you wanna go?”

“Well, I’m actually already ready, but anytime is good for me! Just call me when you’re ready, I can hear your coffeemaker sound like it’s dying so I know you’re making breakfast right now,” said Amy as she hung up.

Amy liked going shopping and going to the mall. However, from Gadget’s experiences, she usually would only buy a few things, while saying probably a hundred times that something “looks cute.” Usually she would go with Cream or Sticks, but she also went with Gadget sometimes. Many Mobians didn’t expect this about him, but he actually loved going shopping, especially with Amy. She was very fun to hangout with. 

His coffee maker finished at the same time his toaster did. He slabbed some butter on his toast, a little extra more than usual since it was a Saturday, and made himself his cup of coffee. He turned his TV off and turned his radio on, tuning it to the Resistance channel. Every morning, Cream and Vector would run a morning show, where they would inform the city of current projects and news about the Resistance, while also hosting interviews and playing music and comedy segments. This morning, they spoke about some news in other countries. They spoke about a city-state called Soleanna, where a big festival was going to take place soon. Gadget remembered Sonic talking about that place once.

Gadget soon finished his breakfast, and washed his plate and cup. After cleaning his kitchen a bit, he got ready and called Amy to let her know he was on his way to the mall. On his walk through the city, he noted how the city was very lively that day. Many Mobians occupied the streets and businesses, some alone and some in groups. Park Avenue was a busy district of the city, home to many public gathering places such as bars, shops, and a subway. 

After struggling to get past a crowd of Mobians, he saw Amy at the entrance of the mall, which was conveniently called Sunset Mall. They saw each other and waved, and Gadget caught up to her.

“I’m surprised I got here before you!” teased Amy, with a smirk.

“My coffee wasn’t strong enough, I guess,” laughed Gadget. They walked through the mall, stopping at shops and looking at clothes, food, and all sorts of stuff. Whenever they went shopping together, Amy always tried to ask him about the status of his romantic endeavors.

“So…Any updates on, you know, crushes or any sort?” said Amy with a grin as they were looking at some clothes on a racket. “There has to be someone you like! You’re always like ‘no, not any at the moment’.”

“No, not any at the…Yep, it was like that before, and it is still,” laughed Gadget.

“Boring ,” she snorted. “Have you ever been in a relationship at all? You have to at least have something to say for that!”

“Nah. I had a crush on some random guy before, when I was younger, but I haven’t had any in months. To be honest, the war’s been all I could think about.”

“I know it’s kinda recent, since it’s only been three months, but you can’t keep letting it stress you.”

Gadget looked to the side in thought. “Well, I don’t really let it stress me out anymore.”

“Now, we both know that’s a lie,” she laughed. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” he sighed. “Sometimes I still think about Infinite,” he said, picking up a jacket, before putting it right away as soon as he saw the price tag. “I wonder if he’s still out there. Knuckles started the searches again, which makes me wonder if he’s gotten some information on him.”

“I doubt it. He probably just got some random burst of hope that we could catch him. He’ll end them after two to three weeks. But about Infinite, I don’t really know. We destroyed the ruby, and its power source at the fortress, so there’s no way he would win against us.” She picked up a cardigan from the rack, and inspected it.

“You know, sometimes I wonder, if he was still alive, what would he do? Knowing Eggman, he probably wouldn’t use Infinite again since the ruby was destroyed, and Eggman was his only ally, now that I think about it.”

“Well, he would definitely have a hard time trying to come back to society. And that’s his own fault. But I can’t deny that I wonder what he would’ve been like too, had things been different. He seemed lonely.”

“I agree. But the only thing we can do is speculate, I guess. We’ll never know for sure,” he muttered. “Are you thinking of getting that?” He pointed to the ivory cardigan.

“Hmm, maybe. The price isn’t too bad, and I like the color. Oh, I was gonna say before I got distracted thinking about Infinite, you should really stop worrying about the war. I know it’s easy to say, but I’m just worried for you. I can see how you stress yourself out at the base sometimes.”

She was right. At work, it was easy for Gadget to stress himself about his job. If he couldn’t fix all of his assigned objects before the end of shift, he would feel anxious and start worrying about letting them down..

“You’re right. To be honest, I’m mainly worried about letting y’all down. I’m still in that rookie mindset, and even though I rose through the ranks, and it was deserved, I still feel like one sometimes.”

“Really? I honestly didn’t know you felt that way,” said Amy, tilting her head. “You don’t have to worry about letting us down at all, Gadget. We all like you and support you. And even so, there’s nothing wrong with making a mistake or not fixing something in time sometimes. Just know that we all got your back, especially Sonic. If someone hurt you we would definitely handle them, maybe with a little force,” she said, laughing.

Gadget smiled. “Thanks. That makes me feel better about it.”

They inspected a few more racks in the store, before deciding that they were done with looking around anymore in that particular store. Amy decided to get the cardigan. After some more shopping, they went to get something to eat and call it a day. 

They walked together out of Park Avenue, until they reached the city square fountain. “That was fun! I’ll see you on Monday!” she said, as she waved at him, walking away towards her place. Gadget waved back, smiling, before heading back to his place, satisfied with how his day had gone. On his way back to his house, he enjoyed the calm of the woods and the orange glow of the sunset. He decided that he would take a short stroll through the grove near his house once he got home.

 

Infinite was laying in the same spot, replaying the scene in the base repeatedly in his mind.

“Without me, you would be nothing.”

“The Ultimate Mercenary, who failed to defend my base against Shadow, and failed their own squad.”

As he was about to play it over again, his ears perked at the sounds of someone walking in the distance. “Oh, great, he sent someone to finish the job,” he scoffed. He stood up, resisting his aching muscles, and hit behind a tree, with his sword in hand.

Soon, the outline of a red wolf came into view. His eyes narrowed, and panic set in as he wondered why the wolf, out of all places, would be approaching his location. Did the doctor, no, that cursed Eggman let the Resistance know about me?

Gadget was enjoying his walk through the grove. A smile formed on his face at the sight of the sunset reflecting off leaves on the ground. He continued walking until he heard the sound of leaves rustling, making him pause. “Is someone there?” 

There was no response. He cursed himself for not having any wispon on him, but he hoped that a wire attack would be enough to defeat someone stalking him. He looked around and saw the figure of a black jackal holding a red sword step out from a tree. Both of their eyes met, and they stared at each other. Gadget noticed heterochromatic eyes, and a white scar going down the right eye. For some reason, the jackal looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t picture why. As he kept examining the figure, he recognized long, familiar, white hair, which could only belong to one person.

“Infinite?” gasped Gadget. He raised his hands and prepared to shoot out his grappling hook for an attack.

Hearing that name made Infinite's stomach churn. It only reminded him of Eggman’s words from earlier, which already made him feel queasy. If he heard the name Infinite again, he would probably throw up. As he thought about everything in his life that had led to his current point now, he decided that that name would have to go. 

Infinite accomplished nothing.

Seeing that the wolf had no weapon on him, he dropped his sword, which got a quizzical look from the wolf.

“Yes,” he sighed, “I am who you speak of. But please call me Zero.”

Notes:

This is the revised version of this chapter. I didn't change any major plot points, but I felt that the prose and dialogue, especially in Infinite's section, was kind of sloppy, so I wanted to go through and revise this. Plus, I want it to match more with the tone and ideas I've set up in the more recent chapters. If you notice that this chapter looks different, that's why. I hope y'all enjoy this revised edition!

Chapter 3: Facing Reality

Summary:

After finding each other in the forest, Gadget takes Zero back to his house. He helps him and gives him food, water, and somewhere to sleep, to Zero's surprise.

Chapter 3: Facing Reality

Gadget couldn’t believe it. He had found Infinite! Or Zero, as he said earlier. Out of all places, he didn’t expect to find him near his house in the grove. Gadget stared at Zero for a while in shock. He didn’t know what to say, or even do . Part of him didn’t trust Zero, as he could've been giving him a false sense of security. Even so, Gadget was outmatched. He didn’t have any weapon on him, while Zero had a full-on sword .

“Are you just going to stare?” sneered Zero. Zero’s comment brought Gadget out of his trance.

“I have a lot of questions, but I don’t know if you feel like answering them,” said Gadget, folding his arms. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, though. This was the first time he saw Zero without his mask, but that wasn’t it. There was something missing about his appearance. Then, he finally noticed it, his eyes widening.

“What?” asked Zero, annoyed.

“The ruby, what happened to it? Is it gone?” said Gadget, pointing at Zero’s chest. He noticed a scar on his chest where the ruby was before.

“Yes,” said Zero, dryly. He noticed how Gadget’s body language changed. Gadget was more relaxed now. “Now what? I’m assuming you want to kill me?”

“What? Of course not!” said Gadget, with a surprised look on his face. Gadget was still in a small state of disbelief. He was trying to process many things at that moment. Zero was surprised as well at his answer.

“Even after everything I’ve done? All the destruction I’ve caused, and now you get the opportunity to finally get your revenge, and you decline the opportunity? I’ll even give you my sword, at least I’ll die somewhat ‘honorably’.”

“No,” said Gadget firmly. He couldn’t bring himself to do something like that. Even though the Mobian standing in front of him was a war criminal, and someone who’s tried to kill him in the war, he couldn’t do it. Killing him wouldn’t fix the issues he’s caused. Zero’s stomach growled loudly, and he grabbed his stomach with his free hand. His body was in pain. He was starving. He was thirsty. He was sore.

“Come with me to my house, it’s only 2 minutes away. You need something to eat and drink,” said Gadget. Zero was confused.

What? Why is he helping me? He thought. 

“Why? What are you getting from helping me?”

“Nothing, it’s a basic mobian thing to do. Now, you can just stand here and starve to death, or come with me.”

Zero was taken back. He was so used to Gadget being the fearful wolf who ran away from him at their first encounter. He forgot that now he was the “weak” one. He was almost scared of him. And he absolutely hated feeling like that. But what other option did he have? He knew that no one else around there would help him the way Gadget was offering to.

“Fine.” 

They walked back to Gadget’s house in silence, at each other’s side. They made it to his door, and Gadget let Zero in first, surprising him with all of the hospitality he was showing him. When Gadget came inside, he closed the door behind him and locked it. They removed their shoes and put them near the entrance. Zero stood near the kitchen, unsure of what to do. He placed his sword on the dining table. Gadget noticed, but he didn’t say anything.

“I need to patch up your wounds and wash them. First I’ll wash them, and then I’ll patch them up,” said Gadget as he went to the bathroom to get his medkit supplies.

“I don’t need your help for that. My wounds will be fine. I’ll take some food and water of course, but no more than that is necessary,” said Zero. He honestly felt embarrassed to receive so much assistance. He hadn’t had to receive help like that in a long time. It only further reminded him of how low he’s fallen in terms of power. Of course, he and his jackal squad looked out for each other, but that was the last time someone in his life really made sure he was fine. He foolishly thought Eggman had cared for him, but he was proven wrong just earlier. He hated it.

Gadget sighed. “Do you realize how you look? Maybe if you look in the mirror you can see-”

“No. That will not be necessary.” The last thing he wanted to do was see his own face at all. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen his face in months. He hated seeing his own face. It only reminded him of what he used to be. Weak. “Worthless.” He decided to look down and take a good look at his body, and he was shocked at what he saw. He had cuts and bruises all over his body, along with some scars. He felt his hair, and it was tangled and unkempt. There was also dirt on his body. Gadget saw him doing this.

“See?” said Gadget, with a concerned look. Zero looked up at Gadget, turning away immediately afterwards. He couldn’t stand to see someone pity him. It made him feel sick.

“I’ll just wash myself!” said Zero as he started walking towards the bathroom. However, his leg suddenly cramped and he started to fall over, but Gadget rushed over and caught him. His muscles harshly reminded him just how sore his whole body was. Gadget pushed Zero’s arm around him and helped him to the bathroom. Zero would’ve usually protested and pushed him away, but he was just too tired and defeated.

“You’re too sore and exhausted. Just let me do it, it won’t even take long,” said Gadget as he helped him sit in the bathtub. Zero just gave in and allowed the wolf to do what he wanted. There was no point in fighting back anyway. Gadget washed the dirt off of him, before drying him. Then he applied an antibacterial gel on the cuts, which made Zero groan from the stinging sensation. Afterwards he put bandages on the cuts.

“Is this it?” asked Zero, hoping this was over. Part of it had to do to him feeling embarrassed that he would need any help, and another part had to do with him starving.

“No, I need to wash your hair.” Zero groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Do you really have to?”

“Yes, because after eating you’re just gonna want to sleep, so I might as well do this before.”

Gadget got a comb from the sink counter and ran some water on his hair, before applying a little bit of shampoo. After getting Zero’s hair full of suds, he rinsed it off, and then applied a bit of conditioner in order to make the detangling process a bit easier. He knew this would be rough, but he had to do it. He took his time combing through the matted hair, which ended up taking 30 minutes. Finally, he rinsed the conditioner out of the hair. As he turned the water off, he heard some light breathing. He looked at Zero and noticed him sleeping. He would feel bad for waking him up, but he needed to eat something. He gently shook Zero awake, and his eyes slowly opened.

“Where…Oh, I forgot. You’re still working on this?!” said Zero with an annoyed sigh. Gadget knew that Zero was exhausted. It was half the reason he was acting so cranky.

“I just finished, I’m drying your hair. I’ll fix you something to eat and then get you a blanket for you to sleep on the couch. You need help moving?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Just go ahead and fix something, I can make it to the kitchen myself,” asserted Zero, trying to do something that didn’t require Gadget’s help. Gadget skeptically looked at him and stood up. Zero tried getting up from the tub, and while he was successful, he had to grab on the wall to walk. “I’ll be fine!” asserted Zero again, giving Gadget an annoyed look.

Gadget gave a small grin as he walked to the kitchen. He fixed a plate of the tofu, lentil, and dark green dish he made and heated it up in the microwave. He looked in the hallway and saw Zero slowly walking towards the kitchen, holding on to the wall for stability. Gadget felt bad for him. He looked so tired, and dispirited. The microwave’s beeping interrupted his thoughts, and he fetched the plate and put it on the dining table alongside a fork. He also fixed a glass of water for him. Zero walked slowly to the chair at the dining table, grabbing on different things for stability. He plopped down on the chair, and started tearing into the food. He didn’t know how hungry he was until he started eating. He was eating so fast he wasn’t even aware of half the food falling off of his fork every time he picked it up. The food tasted good. It made him want to cry, finally being able to eat something good in so long, but he held it in. He couldn’t show himself crying in front of the wolf who beat him in the war. He drank the glass of water in one swing.

He finished the food, and looked up, seeing Gadget leaning against the counter looking at him.

“You aren’t eating anything?” asked Zero.

“That was the last portion of that meal,” said Gadget as he grabbed his plate and fork and started washing them. Zero was shocked. 

He gave me the rest of his dinner? And he’s just acting like it’s nothing special!

“I put a blanket and pillow on the couch. You need help getting to it?” 

Zero would’ve interrupted him as soon as he mentioned helping him, but he was still thinking about what he said earlier. “No, I’m fine.”

“Sounds good then, I’m gonna go to bed myself then soon,” said Gadget, leaning against the counter. Zero was confused.

“So you’re just gonna let me sleep here?”

“Yea.”

Zero looked away. What could he say to that? His previous foe was now housing him, giving him hot food, and giving him a place to sleep. He couldn’t believe it. He slowly walked to the couch, laying down and putting the blanket over him. Gadget turned the lights off.

“Good night, see ya in the morning!”

“Night.”

Gadget walked to his room and Zero heard the sound of his door closing. Zero was simply confused. So many things just happened in the last hour. 

I’ll just think about this tomorrow. He thought. He fell asleep within a minute.

Gadget was laying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was surprised at himself for doing what he did. He didn’t really know why he was helping Zero. If it was anyone else in the Resistance, they would’ve turned him in. He probably should’ve done that. But he just couldn’t not help him. Part of him saw something in him. Maybe he could change. Maybe he could become a new person. Sure, it was risky. He even blocked his door with the drawer just in case Zero had the idea to kill him in his sleep with his sword. But maybe, just maybe, he could help Zero become someone great.

“Tomorrow’s going to really be something,” he said, as he closed his eyes, falling asleep soon after.

Chapter 4: Gazing Towards the Future

Summary:

Gadget and Zero think about their plans and what to do with their new situation.

Chapter 4: Gazing Towards the Future

 

Sunlight filtered through Gadget’s windows, lighting up his room. His eyes slowly opened, adjusting quickly to the natural light. He felt overall well-rested. He laid in bed for a few minutes, allowing himself to become fully awake. He sat up, stretched his arms, and yawned, while thinking about his plans for the day.

“Breakfast…I guess toast…Hmm, I need groceries. Should be it,” he said to himself, voicing out his thoughts, a habit of his. He got out of his bed and walked towards his bathroom in order to use the restroom and brush his teeth. After doing so, he grabbed his glasses from the drawer near his bed, and set out to head out of his room, until he noticed the drawer blocking the door. Initially, he was confused.

Why is this here? Did I move it? Maybe I-Wait.

He had totally forgotten that Infinite, no, Zero was there. Suddenly the memories of last night came flooding back to him. Everything that happened, with him giving him food and cleaning his wounds, seemed to not even register to him until this morning. He was mainly acting on instinct last night. However, he still stood by what he did. Even though Zero was effectively a war criminal, he still felt like it was the right thing to do. It would go against his morals to just leave him in the forest to starve and die.

He sighed to himself, unsure, before moving the drawer. He knew that the next few days were going to be unpredictable. Part of him was expecting to not even find Zero in his house, thinking he might rather try pathetically going back to Eggman. He felt guilty for thinking that though. He took a deep breath before opening his door.

The creak of the door seemed to be loud this time. He really needed to fix that creaking. He checked the hallway before stepping out of his room, and he saw that it was empty. He carefully walked down the hallway and into his living space area. It was quiet. He didn’t hear any snoring or deep breathing. He looked at the couch, and sure enough, Zero was there. He was laying on his back under the covers, with his arms crossed. Gadget could barely see that his eyes were open, staring at the ceiling.

“Are you just gonna keep staring at me?” scoffed Zero, still facing towards the ceiling. Gadget broke out of his trance, unaware he was even staring at him. 

“Sorry. To be honest, I thought you would just leave in the middle of the night. I wasn’t expecting to still see you here,” said Gadget, as he went towards the kitchen.

“Well, I’m still here. Plus, I’m not exactly in a state to be going on some unplanned journey at night,” said Zero, groaning from his sore muscles as he sat up on the couch. He felt slightly better, but he was still sore throughout his body. He thought that he pushed himself too hard the evening before in the base. While his muscles felt slightly better, he was still in a small fatigue. He thought about how utterly exhausted he was last night. He also felt like he was in some haze. He was trying to process many things about his life and feelings, while dealing with being “average” again. It was all too much. But of course he couldn’t show that to Gadget.

“You want anything for breakfast? I don’t have much, only 2 slices of bread left, and some coffee.”

As much as Zero wanted to feel like he didn’t need help, it would be stupid of him to refuse free food, especially in the state he was in. 

“Sure, I’ll take some toast, please. No coffee for me.”

Gadget prepared two slices of toast in the toaster. Afterwards, he turned the tv on and started his coffeemaker. Usually on Sunday mornings he would watch Cream and Vector’s show, who ran a live broadcast of their show on Sunday mornings on the news channel. He checked the clock and saw that it was a little past noon, way past the show’s runtime, as it ran from 8-9 AM. He usually woke up around 8 in the mornings every day. 

Damn, I guess I’ll just have to ask them at the base what happened. I must’ve been exhausted just like Zero last night. He thought.

He turned the tv off, and shortly afterwards the toaster went off. He prepared two slices of toast with some butter on them on a plate, and a cup of coffee to his liking. After gathering everything, he went to the living room area, gave Zero the plate of toast, and sat down on the other couch, setting his cup of coffee on the coffee table. Zero started eating his toast, putting his plate down after eating one slice.

“Do you usually eat anything for breakfast or do you only drink coffee?” asked Zero.

“I usually have toast and coffee, maybe some fruit if I happen to buy some.”

He did it again, giving me the last of his food. He thought. He put his plate on the coffee table.

“You finish this then. You didn’t even eat dinner last night. Why do you do that anyway?”

“Do what?” said Gadget, confused. He started eating the toast, finishing it quickly since he realized he hadn’t eaten since last afternoon. Zero was surprised he didn’t even notice.

“This is the second time you’ve given me the last portion of some food in your house, deciding to not eat so that I can have a bigger portion.”

Gadget shrugged.

“It’s just what I do. You need it more than me. If you try to analyze all of someone’s acts of kindness you’ll just end up crazy,” said Gadget, smiling as he put the plate back on the table. He grabbed his cup, taking a sip. Zero looked down at the ground, not knowing what to make of everything. Suddenly, he remembered something important he had to talk about with Gadget.

“So, we should probably plan all of…this,” said Zero, gesturing with his hands. “What is your long term plan for me? How do you plan on going forward? You can’t just house a war criminal without thinking about it seriously.”

Zero was right, Gadget thought. He took him in, partly by instinct and morals. He had to think about what to do with him. But first, Gadget had to know what Zero wanted to do and be.

“Well, before I answer and think about that, what do you plan on doing in the future? I don’t mind helping and housing you from now on, but it depends on your goals. I will say this, if you just plan on going back to Eggman and trying to get any form of power again, you can leave. But if you’re willing to try becoming a new person and look beyond your past…I’ll help you with that, however much it takes.”

“For one thing, you don’t have to worry about me going back to that damn Eggman,” sneered Zero as he glared at Gadget. “And, to answer your first question, I don’t know exactly what I want to do. Keep in mind, I expected myself to just be dead after the war. I wasn’t planning my life ahead, like most other people were.”

“You don’t have to know right now. Really, as long as you don’t plan on turning against us, it doesn’t matter.”

It annoyed Zero that Gadget seemed to think that he had these urges to become evil again. He could tell that Gadget did not fully trust him, but it made sense. However, it hit him that most people from now on would view him like that. Like someone who just has to try so hard to repress their urges to want to cause havoc. Gadget could tell something was bothering Zero.

“Oh, are you ok?” asked Gadget, empathetically.

“Yes. Don’t worry about me. Now, as for you, how do you plan on doing this while dealing with the Resistance? I’m pretty sure there’s some bounty out for me.”

Gadget hadn’t thought about that. It was true that there was a bounty out for Zero, or Infinite, right after the war ended. However, after a month of aggressive searches around the entire country, Knuckles had ordered for the searches to stop, even though he had continued them again recently. There were more important things to do than waste time searching for someone thought to be dead.

“There was a bounty out for you right after the war, but just about everyone thinks you’re dead now.”

“Hmph, makes sense I guess. If I was caught, what would the Resistance do?”

“Hmmm, they would probably execute you.”

Even though Zero was expecting something like that, it still sort-of shocked him. The awareness of everyone wanting him dead started to weigh on him. After a brief pause, he spoke up again.

“Well, why don’t you just turn me in? It’ll make things easier for you, and me.”

“What do you mean, ‘and me’?”

“It’s what I deserve anyway. Most people want me dead, hell, even Eggman doesn’t care about me anymore. Plus, you won’t have to worry about keeping a secret from your squad,” said Zero solemnly, as he laid back down on the couch, staring back at the ceiling. Gadget was surprised he would feel that way. He wondered if something happened between him and Eggman recently, but he didn’t want to ask right away.

“No. I can’t do that. I’m not turning you in,” said Gadget, as he grabbed the plate and empty cup and went to the kitchen to wash them. Zero sat up on the couch, his ear perking up.

“What? Why? You’re going to make things so much harder for yourself if you keep letting me stay here,” he said sternly, looking at Gadget.

Gadget finished washing the two dishes and put them up on the dishmat, before leaning on the counter and looking at Zero.

“It would be hard if I kept you here, you’re right on that. But…I don’t want you to die. I think you have potential to be someone great. I want to believe that. So no, I’m not turning you in, and you will not turn yourself in,” he said with a smile.

Zero had to look away. It was too much for him. He had to change the topic, before Gadget would see him shed a tear.

“Anyways,-”

Gadget’s communicator, which was lying on the kitchen table, was ringing. Zero laid back down, staring at the ceiling. Gadget checked his communicator and saw that it was Tails. Tails was on some adventure with Sonic at that moment, so they must’ve had some downtime, Gadget thought. 

“I’ll be outside, let me know if you need anything,” said Gadget, walking outside as he answered his communicator. Zero didn’t respond, simply laying in silence. He could hear the wolf walking outside, speaking with Tails. It seemed like they were just chatting. He could tell that this wolf was chatty, which made him groan. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to deal with that level of chattiness in the future. Soon he fell asleep without meaning to.

 

______________________

 

Gadget walked back in, the sound of the door closing waking up Zero. He checked the time on the clock on the wall and saw that it was 4 PM. He had spent about 2 hours talking to Tails, and he had gone to the base to do a few things. He set his communicator on the kitchen table and walked in the living room area.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Yes, but it’s no problem,” said Zero, looking at the ceiling.

“Well, I’m about to head out and get groceries for the week. Is there anything specific you want?”

“No, don’t buy me anything. Just don’t think about me when you’re in the market.”

Gadget laughed to himself before walking out. Now it was just Zero, alone again, with all of his thoughts. He didn’t like how he was surrounded by his thoughts and feelings now. He just wanted to suppress them. He felt as if he was trying to stuff all of his feelings into a box and close it, but the box was overfilled and wouldn’t close. He didn’t understand him, this orange wolf. He was scared that the wolf was just tricking him, or maybe the wolf secretly hated him and was waiting for Zero to get comfortable so he could kill him on the couch during a peaceful sleep.

He absolutely hated feeling like this. It reminded him of when he was in Mystic Jungle. He hated feeling scared. He felt hypocritical, since he loved making others feel scared during the war. He loved seeing the fear on people’s faces and watching their bodies tense up as they tried to run. Hell, his first encounter with the wolf was like this. He remembered seeing the wolf try to shoot him with a weapon, before running away in fear. And now the same wolf was basically keeping him alive. Life had to be playing some cruel joke on him, but he deserved it, he thought.

He laid back down and stared at the ceiling, until he closed his eyes. 

Maybe if I just sleep, again, these thoughts can go away.

 

_____________________________

 

After finishing some things at the base, Gadget walked to the grocery store, which was about a 10 minute walk away. 

“So I need: Bread, I’m still good with butter, I’m good with coffee, hmmm maybe I should get some apples, tofu, beans, maybe some peppers…I should’ve made a list,” he said to himself.

He reached the store. The store had a lot of people in it, which made sense since a lot of people in Sunset Heights did their grocery shopping on the weekend, especially on Sundays. He didn’t want to leave Zero alone for too long. It wasn’t that he thought Zero would tear up his house, but he wanted to keep an eye on him. He felt bad for him. He could tell many things were bothering him, but he also knew that Zero would probably rather die than tell him. He would have to ask him after some time, if he ever felt more comfortable. He hoped that Zero would feel more comfortable around him one day.

He grabbed a basket near the entrance and made his rounds in the store. He decided to grab two loaves of bread this time, along with two packs of tofu instead of one. He also got a 1lb bag of beans, and a bag of some bell peppers. He thought about making some beans and rice for the week. On his way to the checkout line, he saw the outline of a red echidna in the line in front of him. He looked for other lines to check out in, but they were full. He decided to bite the bullet and go to the line he was in.

Shit. He’s probably going to ask me why I’m buying a lot of food…

As he approached the line, Knuckles noticed him.

“Ah hey Gadget! How ya doin?” asked Knuckles. Knuckles was also carrying a basket filled with stuff. He must have been doing a grocery run too, Gadget thought.

“I’m doing fine, just the usual,” said Gadget, with a shy smile.

“That’s a lot of food you got there! You planning on bulking up a bit?” asked Knuckles, grinning.

Hmm, that’s definitely not the plan. What should I tell him?

“Nope! I’m really low on food, I didn’t really get much last week anyway. I also came here hungry, which definitely explains some of this,” said Gadget with a laugh.

“Sounds all good to me.”

They chatted a bit about things until Knuckles paid for his stuff. He left the line after some waves and goodbyes. Gadget paid for his stuff, and made a small mental note to himself that he would have to budget more tightly after seeing the price of his food. He left the store, carrying three brown paper bags full of food. The sun was starting to set.

“I should make it back before it gets too dark,” he said to himself.

_____________

 

This isn’t working.

Zero tried to just fall back asleep right after the orange wolf left for the store, but he couldn’t do it. He felt a little tired, but apparently he wasn’t tired enough to sleep. He had his eyes closed for a while, until he thought to himself.

Maybe if I just take a short walk around here, I might feel a bit better.

He thought about how long the wolf would be out. He didn’t really know the layout of Sunset Heights, even during the war, so he didn’t know how far the store was from the wolf’s house. Maybe just 5 to 10 minutes, he thought. He stood up from the couch, stretching his arms upwards. While his muscles were still sore, they felt noticeably better. He could walk without having to support himself, but he had to walk carefully and slowly. As he thought about which path to take around the house, he remembered something.

My mask…

He remembered throwing it at a tree near him, after Metal Sonic had dropped him on the ground. At the time, he had been so angry that he needed to throw something. However, something in him wanted the mask back. He didn’t want it so that he could wear it again, but rather so that he could have a relic of himself. He couldn’t just throw his past away.

He walked out of the door, enjoying the fresh air. It felt nice to be outside again, he thought. He was used to being outside a lot, whether it was camping somewhere with his jackal squad, or going out for missions from Eggman. He liked that the wolf’s place was near nature, partly because it was quiet and around nature, and also because he could go outside without worrying about society seeing him. He wondered how he would ever reintegrate into society again, but he quickly pushed that thought away and simply told himself he would worry about it later.

He made the 2 minute walk back to where the wolf had found him, and sure enough, there it was. The mask was sitting on the same spot where he had thrown it. Zero picked it up, examining it closely. It felt strange to him. He felt like he was holding a part of himself. After a minute of him looking at the mask, he decided to just walk around. He had to take a break from being in the house. He ended up walking around for a while, sometimes sitting down to take a break. It had been a while since he just explored nature. The last time he did that was when he was probably a kid, he thought. He decided to head back for the house as he noticed the sun starting to set.

As he reached the area near the entrance of the house, he saw a figure at the door carrying 3 large brown paper bags. It was the orange wolf. The wolf noticed him, glancing at him as he tried to open the door.

“Oh, it’s you. You scared me a little there,” said Gadget with a laugh, his small smile fading when he saw the mask. “Why do you have your mask with you?”

“I don’t know why exactly. I just wanted to get it back,” said Zero, looking down at the mask. Gadget didn’t know exactly what to say. He wanted to ask more about it, but decided against it.

“Interesting. Could you help me with the door?”

After the both had gone inside and settled in, Gadget started putting up the groceries, with Zero standing nearby.

“Is some of this stuff for me?” asked Zero.

“Yea! I have to make sure you eat well,” said Gadget, smiling.

“You sure are caring, that’s for sure. Are you like this for everyone?”

“I try to be. I was always raised to treat strangers, or well, anyone in your home well. I guess you aren’t a stranger anymore,” he said, with a small chuckle. Zero looked down.

“At least you seem to be raised well. If I ended up at anyone else’s house I probably would’ve been awaiting my execution by now.”

“That’s probably true. My friends in the Resistance have told me that I’m too trusting and naive sometimes, and true, it’s a risk, but with risk comes reward, right? Some people just need someone to believe in them for once,” said Gadget as he was putting the groceries up. He left out a block of tofu and some peppers. The wolf’s words hit something in Zero deep, but he dismissed it quickly. He stayed silent, watching Gadget prepare the food. He seemed to be preparing some quick stir-fry. “I’m surprised you aren’t as snarky as I expected you to be,” said Gadget, breaking the silence.

“What is there to be snarky for? You expected me to treat you like shit and insult you all the time?” said Zero with an annoyed look on his face. Gadget grinned.

“I mean, clearly you would know why. I did take part in defeating you.” Even though Zero obviously knew that, it was still like a harsh reminder to him. It just further reminded him of how much power he lost. His annoyed face quickly transitioned into a solemn one. Gadget could see that this was bothering him, so he tried to change the topic. “Hey, if you want you can watch TV. It’s gonna take me about 15 minutes to make this. I’ll let you know when it’s ready,” said Gadget softly.

Without saying anything, Zero walked back to the couch he was laying on and turned the TV on. The news happened to just come on, as it was 8 PM. The broadcasters spoke about basic things going on in Sunset Heights, such as new projects and updates about the Resistance. It was weird seeing the sign of the Resistance. The last time he saw that was during the war, and now the sign was everywhere, representing their victory. He was going to have to get used to being reminded that he lost, he thought. Gadget’s words from earlier stung too, even though it was the obvious truth. Soon enough, 15 minutes went by.

“It’s ready! Your plate is already on the table.”

Zero walked slowly to the table. He took a short look at his sword before sitting down. Gadget fixed himself a plate and sat down opposite to Zero. They ate their meals silently. The overall aura felt solemn to Gadget. He could tell that Zero was having some issues about everything. While he wanted to help him, he knew now wasn’t the right time. Maybe in the future, he thought. He still had to think about what he would do with Zero, especially since he had to work at the base the next day. He, for the most part, trusted Zero to be by himself. He could tell that he was too occupied with his personal issues to do anything bad. 

“Thank you. This was good,” said Zero, as he put the dish in the sink as he’d seen the wolf do. He was about to walk back to the living room area before a thought stopped him. He wanted to know the wolf’s name. He couldn’t just keep calling him “the wolf” in his thoughts. Gadget noticed him stopped in his tracks.

“You ok?” asked Gadget. He must’ve been standing there for longer than he thought.

“What’s your name?” asked Zero as he turned to look at Gadget. He remembered hearing some members of the Resistance call him “rookie” during the war, but that was just a title, unless the wolf’s parents had some weird sense of humor. Gadget gave a light smile.

“I’m Gadget, short for Gadget the wolf.” Zero silently nodded in response.  He went to the restroom and shut the door. Shortly afterwards, Gadget finished his plate and washed both of the plates and forks that they used.

At least he cares enough to know my name. Maybe he has some semblance of something in him.

Once he finished washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen up, Zero came out of the restroom and made his way back to the couch. On his way, he noticed a small bookshelf with some books in it. Gadget noticed him checking it out.

“Oh yea, if you ever want you can read them. They’re mainly about technology and such though, since that’s what I’m into.” Zero saw a thick one titled On the Wisps . 

Wisps? I feel like I’ve heard of these before… He thought. He took the book and laid on the couch, reading it. 

“Well, I’ll be in my work room if you need me,” said Gadget as he went towards his so-called “circuit room.” He worked on some projects in the workroom for a while, working on making some small fixes and tweaks on the wispons he had. Soon enough, two hours had passed. Time usually went by fast when he was engaged in his work. He noticed that his passion for gear had started to come back a little. He decided to leave his workroom and go by the living room area to check on Zero. As he was going through the hallway, he heard a light snoring sound. He went near the couch and saw Zero, asleep, with the book sitting on his chest. He seemed to be in a deep rest. Gadget smiled to himself and turned the light off in the living room area before going to his room.

As he was preparing himself for bed, he thought about his day, and the upcoming week. He was surprised at how quickly he got comfortable with Zero living in his space. At first, he was scared since he believed Zero still had some nefarious ideas, but after speaking with him more, he could tell he had no plans on doing anything like before. In fact, it seemed like Zero had no plan for anything, he thought. 

“Hmmm, I need to think about tomorrow. I can visit back on my lunch break to check up on him…” said Gadget, voicing out his thoughts. He turned his lights off, put his glasses on the nearby dresser, and laid in his bed.

This week's going to be interesting, he thought, as he fell asleep.

Chapter 5: New Routines

Summary:

Gadget goes back to work, while Zero thinks about what to do when Gadget is away.

Chapter 5: New Routines

 

Gadget’s alarm clock on his nightstand rang, waking him up . He checked the alarm, and saw that it was 8 AM. With a groan, he groggily got out of his snug bed and opened the blinds on his windows, letting the sunlight fully come into the room. After opening up the blinds, he got himself ready for work, struggling to keep his eyes open while doing so. He normally woke up feeling well-rested, but this time he felt tired, and he didn’t know why. Maybe the weight of housing Zero and what that meant for both of them was starting to get to him, he thought. Brushing the thought aside, he left his room and went to the living room, where he saw Zero sitting up on the couch, holding his head in his arms.

“You ok?” asked Gadget. Zero looked up at him with a tired look on his face.

“Yes. You have a loud alarm clock.”

“Oh, you had me worried,” said Gadget with a small laugh. 

“Are you about to go to the base?”

“Yep, I gotta be there at 9 in the morning. I’ll leave here in about ten minutes. What do you want for breakfast?” asked Gadget, as he started his coffee machine. They had coffee machines at the base, but he didn’t like the type of coffee there. He just took his own portable cup with him.

“Toast is fine,” said Zero. Gadget prepared two slices of toast, one for Zero and one for himself. He leaned on the counter as both of the kitchen appliances were working. “What do you usually do at the base?”

“Honestly, I basically just help around. My main job is tech-related, since I fix appliances and wispons, but if there isn’t anything that needs to be fixed, I help around with stuff,” said Gadget. Zero remembered the word Wispon from the book he read last night. It must have been those weapons he saw Resistance members using, he thought. The machines beeped near the same time, and Gadget prepared his cup of coffee to his liking, with two spoons of sugar with a little bit of milk. He prepared the slices of toast on two plates and brought Zero’s plate to him. Gadget sat on the chair facing the couch and they both ate their slices. 

“So, are you feeling better?” asked Gadget.

“My muscles are still pretty sore, but I feel noticeably better. It’ll probably take a week or two for my soreness to go away. I still feel fatigued, though. Don’t know what I can do about that,” said Zero, as he finished his plate and set it on the table in front of him.

“Well, you just have to give your body time to fully recover. Your body’s been through a lot, after all,” said Gadget, putting his finished plate in front of him. Zero nodded in agreement. 

“When do you usually get back from work?”

“Usually around 4 or 4:30, or 5. Some time from 4-5,” said Gadget as he gathered both of the plates and started washing them. He checked the clock on the wall and swore to himself when he noticed that it was 8:40. It was a 15-20 minute walk to the base. He would be late if he didn’t leave now. He did once use his grappling hook to fly around the city when he was almost late one time, but he was told to not do that again. To be honest, most of the high-ranking members in the base were always a little late, but he himself always tried to be on time. “Oh yeah, and don’t forget you can watch TV if you want, or read those books if you get bored,” said Gadget, grabbing his communicator off the table, and putting his gloves and shoes on before walking out. “I’ll catch you later!”

The door shut, and Zero was alone again. He looked out the window, seeing Gadget running down the trail. Gadget’s speed surprised Zero, but he reasoned that all the time he spent running with Sonic during the war forced him to learn how to run quickly. He sighed as he thought about what he would do. Gadget wouldn’t come back until 4 or 5, which left him 7-8 hours of being alone. He thought about seeing what was on the TV, until a thought came to him as he remembered his sword.

That’s it! I can train. I should train anyway, he thought. He stood up from the couch and stretched. His muscles were still aching, but he was able to walk better now. Some training would probably help him recover faster, he thought. He walked to the kitchen table, where his red sword was lying. While he was holding it, he took a moment to carefully inspect the sword. The gleam of the blade still held strong, reflecting the sunlight that came into the house. As he turned the sword around, the reflection of the blade showed his face, almost making him drop it. After stabilizing his hands, he made a mental note to himself to not turn the blade like that again. Even only seeing his face for half a second in the bright shine of the blade made him feel queasy. The thoughts came rushing back to him, which made him quickly leave Gadget’s house and go into the woods. As long as he could keep a specific routine while Gadget was gone, he could keep those thoughts away.

 

______________________

 

Gadget reached the base at 8:55, catching his breath as he walked in. He only ran for a little bit, but he ran like he did when he was running alongside Sonic. While he could sort-of keep up to Sonic’s speed, doing that exhausted him quickly, and plus, he hadn’t done that consistently since the war. He walked into the main room, which held a big table in the center along with a big TV on the wall at the front, which usually displayed current information about things going on in a slideshow. Most people were already here on their way to their tasks and rooms. Amy was sitting at the table, drinking her cup of coffee before she noticed Gadget.

“Morning!” said Amy with a cheerful smile, which turned into a concerned look when she noticed Gadget panting. “Are you ok?”

“Yep! I left a little late, so I had to run a bit,” said Gadget, in between breaths. His breathing was starting to calm down. 

“You know, there really isn’t a huge need to tire yourself out just to make it here on time. Some of our most important people are late most of the time, even the fastest ones,” said Amy as she glanced at Sonic in the corner with a grin on her face. Gadget didn’t even notice him there, since he thought he and Tails were still on their journey.

“Ehh, it’s fine,” said Sonic as he shrugged. “Just as you said, there isn’t a need to tire yourself out to make it here on time.”

“Oh, you’re back already?” asked Gadget.

“Yea! It wasn’t really anything special, we just received a signal that a Chaos Emerald was somewhere near this wild area near Soleanna. We didn’t find it though. We’ll probably be back one day,” said Sonic. Tails came flying into the base, landing near Sonic.

“Wow, you usually beat him here!” exclaimed Amy, setting her finished cup of coffee on the table. 

“Ehh, there was a problem with my Tornado this morning, so I had to fix it. We had a bit of a rough landing here,” said Tails, nervously laughing.

“But we made it back in one piece, and that’s all that matters!” said Sonic, right before he ran out of the base, everyone’s fur rustling from the wind. Sonic usually helped around with the reconstruction around the country, easily getting around due to his speed. Knuckles glided in, landing behind the center table. Shortly afterwards, Rouge flew in, hovering in the air.

“Oh, you’re working here today?” asked Amy towards Rouge.

“Yep, G.U.N has me off today. I actually asked for the week off, I need a short break from them. I love them, but god have they been tiring me lately,” said Rouge, dramatically making a fainting pose. Gadget laughed to himself. “Oh, and by the way, I need you to fix some sensors for me, dear,” she said, looking at Gadget.

“Just put them on my table and I’ll get to them,” said Gadget, nodding towards the tech-room. Rouge flew into the room and came right back, flying into the communications room. She worked with G.U.N most of the time, but she also helped out with the Resistance when she could. She worked as a Communications Specialist, alongside Amy, who was the Communications Leader. After some small talk between everyone, everyone went into their respective rooms to start their work. Gadget worked alongside Tails in the tech-room, which was to the right of the main TV in the center room. 

The tech-room was a large room with one side dedicated to fixing and building tech, where Gadget and Tails worked, and the other side dedicated to storage, which usually contained wispons and other appliances that were either finished or in need of repair. It was overall pretty unorganized to everyone except for Gadget and Tails, who knew which objects were for what. On Gadget and Tails’ side, there were two big tables that had objects and blueprints scattered on them. Gadget usually repaired things, while Tails mainly built objects. There were a few windows on the ceiling which let some natural light in, along with lights on the tables that could be adjusted.

Gadget walked in and saw Tails picking up some parts. It looked like he was making some new grappling hooks.

“Making some new grappling hooks today?” asked Gadget.

“Yep, Knuckles asked for some new ones. I guess he’s training some new recruits. I’ve always wondered how you all use these things, I tried it once and it felt weird. I’d rather just fly.”

“I’m sure I’d be wondering the same thing if I could fly too,” said Gadget with a small grin. He looked at the sensors that Rouge placed on his desk and inspected them. There were 3 of them, and the light on all of them was off. He checked the back of one and removed the layer that covered the wiring. He instantly saw the problem, as the blue and red wire that were supposed to be connected had become unconnected. This wouldn’t take too long, he thought. “I wonder what type of sensors these are,” he said, voicing his thoughts.

“Hmm, probably some gem sensor. From my understanding, I think they pick up on certain frequencies from the waves that some gems give off. If that’s true, then they should work like my sensors do,” said Tails, as he put all the parts he needed on his table.

“Interesting. What type of waves do the emeralds give off? I’ve always wondered about them,” said Gadget, as he gathered some wire connectors.

“I don’t even know myself. It might be some type of wave that doesn’t originate from this planet, since none of my sensors have recognized the energy.” Tails had started to pull the grappling wire into the bracelet.

“Oh, you think they come from another planet?” Gadget fixed the first sensor, and then opened the back of the next sensor, noticing the same issue.

“Yep. But that’s only my theory. What do you think?” Tails finished pulling the grappling wire through the bracelet, and started putting clampers at the points where the start of the wire connected to the bracelet.

“Well, I’ve never interacted with them, or seen them, but what you said makes sense. Their energy seems limitless, from the stories I’ve heard about them.” Gadget gathered another wire connector from the table.

“They definitely have a lot of energy. I’ve used them before to power up my creations, and they work great. I’ve even made a fake copy once, to try to fool Eggman with it, but that failed.” He finished putting the clamper on, and started attaching the end of the grappling wire to the wire exit of the bracelet.

“Oh wow, I never knew that. You and Sonic have all types of stories. It’s no wonder I always looked up to y’all and your feats when I was growing up.” Gadget fixed the second sensor, and moved on to the third and final sensor. As he took the back cover off, he saw how this sensor was totally damaged. Most of the wires were unconnected.

“Sometimes I think about what would’ve happened if I never followed Sonic when I first met him. Things would have been very different,” he said with a laugh. He finished attaching the end of the grappling wire to the wire exit and fastened it, completing the bracelet. He only had 9 more of these to make.

“I think of something like that too, of where I would’ve been if I didn’t run into y’all. Actually…I was the sole survivor of that attack in this city, now that I remember properly. I guess I would’ve been dead.” Gadget gathered 5 wire connectors and started connecting the wires. Tails put the bracelet down and looked at him.

“Well, you made it in one piece, and that’s what matters! No point in worrying about hypothetical situations, even though it’s fun to think about it sometimes, or, well, I guess not fun,” Tails said, looking down. Suddenly, he perked up. “You ever wonder what happened to Infinite? Every once in a while I think about him.”

Gadget froze at Tails’ words. For a split second, he almost gave away what was going on. He just had to act normal, he thought. Tails noticed how Gadget’s hands stopped moving.

“You ok, Gadget?” asked Tails, with a concerned look. 

“Oh yea, sorry. I wonder the same thing. I remember us searching for him, but he never turned up. He’s probably dead.” Gadget started working on the sensor again, more aware of himself now.

“Yeah, that’s probably most likely. It’s a shame really. Even though nothing excuses what he did, I could tell he was lonely. I wonder what he would’ve been like if he had someone who really just befriended him. Just like I said before, even though I had no plans on destroying the world or anything, Sonic befriending me changed my life.” Tails had started working on the next bracelet, already half done with it. Gadget thought on those words hard.

“I wonder too, but unfortunately we won’t ever know,” said Gadget, wincing. He didn’t like speaking about Zero as if he was dead, or missing. It made him feel off. He was starting to truly feel the burden of having to keep Zero’s existence a secret. He already didn’t like keeping secrets from people, especially from his friends at the base. He felt like he was betraying them. 

After some more conversation, they stayed in a comfortable silence as they worked on their tasks. Gadget finished the last sensor and brought the working sensors to Rouge in the communications room, who was very pleased to have her sensors working again, showing her appreciation by blowing him a kiss. When he came back into the tech-room, he worked on fixing two lightning wispons. Tails was halfway done with the bracelets he was assigned to make.

“What time are you taking lunch today?” asked Tails.

“I’m gonna leave here about 12,” he said, looking towards the clock. It was 11 at that moment. After some time on fixing the wispons, it was already 12. Whenever he got into a flow at work time usually went by quickly. He put his things to the side and got ready for lunch. 

“Where are you going for lunch today?” asked Tails.

“I’m going home for lunch today. I forgot to take my lunch back with me today.”

“You don’t go home much for lunch usually. Must be something really good you forgot to take back!”

“It was, I made this really good stir-fry that I need to eat soon before it goes bad,” said Gadget as he gathered his portable cup that held his now-drunk coffee. “I’ll be back here about 11,” he said with a wave. Right after he left the base, he let out a sigh.

“Now to see what he’s been doing,” he said to himself quietly.

 

________________________

 

Zero walked around the woods near Gadget’s house, searching for a spot to train. He was looking for a more open area that would give him space to move around freely. After a few minutes of walking around the grove, he found a clearing with a good amount of space in between two distinctive big oak trees. This was perfect, he thought, as the trees from the side provided a decent amount of shade from above. There was also a stump in the middle of the space between the two trees. Now that he had found a spot, he now needed to come up with a routine.

Ok. First, warm-up. Then, speed training, he thought. Part of him was training his speed for practical reasons, but another reason had to do with him wanting to be able to run as fast as Gadget could. Who knew, maybe if he just kept practicing running he could reach that speed. Once he did both of those he would decide on what to do next. Before he started his warm up, he put his sword on the stump. Then, he did some jogging in place. His muscles still felt sore that day, so he decided to take his training easy for that day. After a minute of jogging in place, he got in a push-up position and managed to only do 3 push-ups before collapsing in exhaustion, panting. 

This sucks.

After laying on the ground for a minute, he pulled himself up. He realized that he would have to take this slower than he wanted to. He looked at his red sword and decided he would practice his swordsmanship first. That wouldn’t be as hard on his muscles, he thought. He was about to look down on the sword’s gleam until he realized that it would show him his face again. Instead, he took a firm position with his right foot in front of him and both of his hands held the sword. He took in a deep breath, and raised his sword, before slashing down vertically at the air. He repeated this a few times before experimenting with different angles and combinations. Before he knew it, he was jumping and running around, slashing around in the air. It all came back to him.

It felt so good to Zero, just leaping around in the air, slashing his sword. He hadn’t done this since his mercenary days. The breeze blowing against him, the feeling of having to plan your next move in a flash, he had missed it so much. After a while of this, he put his sword down on the stump and sat down, catching his breath. His fur was slick with sweat. A small breeze was coming in, which he appreciated. It was about 70 degrees that day, which was welcome to him. He wondered what time it was, as he had completely lost sense of time. After catching his breath, he decided to do some light jogging for his speed training that day, since the soreness in his body was starting to really catch up to him.

He left his sword on the stump, and decided to take a short jog along a path he made in his mind. He planned to jog for a minute, and then back, and repeat this process until he couldn’t anymore. After some deep breaths, he started the jog, counting to himself. After only one minute of jogging, he was starting to feel exhausted. But he had to push himself, he thought. At least one more minute to get back to the stump, he hoped. Each second on the way back to the stump felt long, and they seemed to get longer and longer. His vision started to narrow as he was pushing himself to his limits. 

Just 10 more seconds, I can see the two trees!

 

5…

 

4…

 

3…….

 

2…….

 

1.

 

He reached the stump, falling on the ground from exhaustion. He caught himself with his arms before rolling over on his back. The shade from the tree blocked the sun’s harsh glare on him. He was panting hard, and his chest started to hurt a bit. His muscles felt tired, along with his overall energy. But it was worth it, he thought. He even smiled to himself. It felt so good to be active in nature again, he thought. He hadn’t really used those skills since his mercenary days, as when he was a vessel for the ruby copy, he mainly levitated and used projectiles for offense, compared to melee attacks.

He laid there for a while, taking in the atmosphere of the grove. The smell of the grass and leaves was pleasant to him. He calmly listened to the wind going through the trees and leaves. That was definitely enough training for the day, he thought. Now he had to think about what he would do for the rest of the day when Gadget wasn’t there. He thought about the book he had started reading the night before. He had found it interesting, but he didn’t understand most of what the book was talking about. Maybe he could ask Gadget about it, he thought. After a few more moments of laying in the grass and leaves, he got up, groaning at the ache of his muscles. He started to return to Gadget’s place.

He had to walk carefully. He had a few dizzy spells on his way back. He didn’t know what time it was now, but he hoped that he was out there for at least 2 to 3 hours. Slowly but surely, the outline of Gadget’s house came into view, along with the outline of someone walking up the trail to the house. He froze, until he noticed that the shape was Gadget. 

Is he already back from work? Was I out there that long? He thought, as he approached the entrance of the house. Gadget was already at the entrance and noticed him.

“Oh! Are you ok?” asked Gadget as he saw Zero’s state, looking Zero up and down. Zero’s hair was frizzy and had some grass and leaves in it, along with some spots of his fur looking unkempt. Gadget then noticed Zero’s sword, and was confused. “Where were you?”

“I was out in the woods training,” he said, looking towards the woods he was just in. 

“Training? For what?” asked Gadget. Zero shrugged.

“I just wanted to. It was something to do that didn’t involve laying on a couch all day. Plus, it’ll probably make me recover faster.”

“Interesting. Well, I’ll be here for about 20 minutes. I’m on my lunch break,” he said, as he opened up the door and walked in, leaving it open for Zero. Zero walked in, closing the door behind him. He placed his red sword back on the table. 

“You definitely smell like outside,” said Gadget with a laugh, as he leaned on the kitchen counter. 

“I’ll shower soon. I planned on doing so anyway.” He checked the clock on the wall and saw that it was 12:18. So he was out for about 3 hours, he thought to himself. “What will you eat?”

“Hmm…Actually I don’t know,” he said, folding his arms. He realized that he never actually thought about what he would eat for lunch. He started going through his fridge and cabinet, looking for something quick he could make. He decided that he would just have an apple for lunch, before grabbing a knife to cut it into slices.

“Do you usually come to your house for lunch? It seems like it’s a good walk away.”

“I usually get something in Park Avenue for lunch.”

Zero thought about that. He wondered why he would come back home for lunch without anything prepared, until he reasoned that Gadget probably came back to check on him. 

“You came back to check on me, didn’t you?” 

“Yeah,” said Gadget with a sigh, “but I didn’t come back because I didn’t trust you or anything like that, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I didn’t want to leave you here alone for 7 hours.” 

Zero was looking down. It was hard for him to maintain eye contact with Gadget in moments like this, since it would just make his thoughts come back. 

“You definitely are caring,” he said, with the slightest hint of a grin. The endorphins from his training had clearly kicked in, he thought.

“I’m glad you notice,” said Gadget with a small smile. He finished cutting up the slices and started eating them. He checked the time, and it had already been 7 minutes since he got there. He would have to leave in a little past 10 minutes. “What do you plan on doing for the next few hours?”

“Probably sleeping. If you can’t already tell, I’m exhausted.”

“Make sure you don’t push yourself too hard. What did you all do?”

“Just some conditioning training. Nothing really special.”

“Did you practice with your sword?”

“Yes. But again, just some conditioning.”

“I’ve never used a sword before. I’m only used to the wispons for weapons.”

“Oh, I wanted to ask you about some of those terms in that book I was reading.”

“The one about the wisps? Oh yeah, I would love to explain that stuff to you! I could after work, when I get back.”

After some more talk about their day, Gadget had to leave. He left the house, leaving Zero alone again. He watched Gadget walk down the trail through the window. He seemed to be more relaxed this time, in contrast to his run this morning. Once Gadget had disappeared from sight, he decided to shower. He avoided looking at himself in the mirror as usual, and picked the leaves out of his hair and fur before stepping into the shower. The warm water felt good on his fur, mixing with the suds from the bar of soap that he rubbed on his skin. He rinsed his hair and turned the water off, drying himself with a towel after stepping out the shower. Once he had dried his hair and fur off, he laid on the couch, getting under the blanket.

He guessed that it was probably due to the endorphins from his training, but he truly felt satisfied with himself. He knew that he would feel it in his muscles soon, but that was okay with him. As he laid on the couch, he thought about his current situation. He noticed how comfortable he was starting to feel around Gadget and in his home. He was still in a small state of disbelief in how caring and thoughtful Gadget was to him. He noticed the small things that Gadget did for him, such as giving him the last of his food, or coming back to check on him. While he was still reserved around him and still felt unsure of his future, he appreciated the current stability he had with Gadget. Soon, he fell into a peaceful sleep.

 

_________________________

 

Gadget made it back to the base a little past 1 PM. Most of the members in the base took their lunch breaks at 1, so for the next hour the base would be quiet. He spoke to some members who were heading out on his way to the tech-room. When he entered his workspace, Tails was still there, just finishing the last grappling bracelet.

“How was the stir-fry?” asked Tails, spinning his chair towards him. Gadget had forgotten that lied to Tails about what he planned on eating.

“Oh, it was fine. It wasn’t as good as I was expecting,” he said, sitting down at his desk.

“Well, there’s always next time.”

“You taking your break at 2?” asked Gadget.

“Yep, I’ll probably fly over to my workshop like normal. I’m just having some fruit today for lunch,” said Tails, as he flew over to the storage side of the room to grab some parts. After he had completed the grappling bracelets, he was assigned to create 5 new fire wispons for the recruits. He grabbed 5 base fire wispon models, along with some parts for the cannon exit. Gadget returned to his work on fixing the two lightning wispons that laid front of him. Before his lunch break he managed to connect the misguided cords in one of them, and now he had to redirect the flow of the hyper-go-on energy in the wispon. This was always the hardest part of fixing wispons, as redirecting the broken flow of energy in the weapons was like a puzzle with multiple layering steps. 

He started with the first step, which was putting the shape of the flow into a square. This involved moving the channels into the right base paths, and in every wispon, this would always result in the base paths flowing in a square shape. This step usually took 30 minutes for Gadget. While he was working on redirecting the energy flow, he thought about Zero. He could tell that Zero was in some sort of good mood after that training. He was even interested in Gadget’s tech, which surprised Gadget. Even though it had only been 2 days since Zero had moved in, he was already starting to feel slightly comfortable with him. Part of it had to do with knowing that he was stronger than him. If Zero, for some reason, tried to fight him, he knew that he could easily overpower him. But that couldn’t be the entire reason, he thought. He could really sense something in Zero, something sincere. He wasn’t worried about Zero returning to Infinite again, that was for sure. 

Soon enough, he finished putting the flow into a square shape. He checked the clock on the wall and noticed that it took him 45 minutes. He was mostly in a rhythm when he fixed wispons, doing things from muscle memory. He reasoned that it took him longer since he was thinking about some things. After directing the flow into a square shape, he started directing the corners of the square into the respective channels that went into the circuits of the wispon. This process also usually took about 30 minutes. 

After some time working on the wispon, he noticed that the clock was a little past 2. At this point he had already finished redirecting the energy flow into all the right parts of the wispon. The only thing he had left to do was to replace the energy exit cannon, as on this particular wispon the cannon was worn down. As he got up from his seat to gather a new cannon part, he waved to Tails as he took his lunch break. He would be alone for the next hour, or so he thought, until Espio came into the tech-room and leaned on the wall.

“Oh hey Espio,” said Gadget, sitting down at his desk with the new part.

“Hello. Do you think you’ll have any free time before your shift ends today? Me and Silver could use some help with something,” he said.

“I think I will, I just need to fix this other wispon and I’ll be on my way. It’ll take me about an hour.”

“Sounds good. Just meet us in the diagnostics room whenever you’re available,” he said, walking out afterwards. Every once in a while, Gadget would work with Espio and Silver in the diagnostics room. Espio worked with diagnostics, helping plan out future projects and reconstruction. Silver worked alongside him. He always liked working with them, since they were very down to earth and calm. He felt like he matched their energy, for the most part. Sometimes Espio could be intimidating at times, either unintentionally or intentionally. Silver was also fun to work with, as he was very nice. Similarly to Espio, he could also become scary out of nowhere, usually unintentionally.

Gadget started on the next lightning wispon, beginning with the same process. This wispon had the same problems that the other one had, so this wouldn’t take too long, he thought. He started detangling and connecting the wires that ran through the wispon, before redirecting the energy of the wispon. Fortunately, in this wispon the energy was already arranged in a foundational square shape, so Gadget only had to direct the energy into the channels. While he was working on the wispon, he thought about what Zero was doing at the moment. After all that training, he figured that he may be asleep. He did look tired. Soon, he finished the wispon, and checked the time, noticing that it was a little past 3. Tails flew in, finishing the last of a strawberry.

“Hey, I’ll be working with Espio and Silver, probably for the rest of the shift,” said Gadget as he cleaned up his workspace. Tails nodded in response, still eating the strawberry. He left the tech-room and walked over to the diagnostics room, which was on the other side of the main center room. As he walked in, he saw Espio and Silver sitting at the table in the middle of the room, with a bunch of unorganized papers sitting in front of them. The diagnostics room was smaller than the tech room, and consisted of a main table in the center, with a TV on the wall. There was an electric kettle in the corner on a desk, which Gadget assumed that it was used by Espio. There were two large file cabinets on the wall, which housed files for members, projects, and other things. Since there were two large windows on the ceiling, Espio and Silver often kept the light off, preferring to work in the natural light. From the sight of it, Gadget assumed they needed help with a new plan for something tech-related. Silver and Gadget waved at each other.

“So, this shouldn’t take too long, since I know you typically leave around 4. We were asked to come up with a new budget for wispon parts, and naturally, we two don’t know much about those. Knuckles wanted to increase the budget and make the divisions for the parts more clear,” said Espio, looking at a blank form before handing it to Gadget. It was a budget sheet, one that he’s seen before. A pen, which was surrounded by a cyan aura, floated towards the sheet on the table. When it came to things such as budget, stock, and other official matters with their tech, Gadget handled those. He always met with Espio and Silver once a month to come up with the monthly budget for tech, but this was the first spontaneous budget he had to do. A week ago, he set the monthly budget for September.

“Ok, so is this just expanding on the budget I set last week?” 

“Yes. He didn’t raise it by a lot. Also, he mentioned that he wanted us to focus on getting more base models, whatever he meant by that,” said Silver, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“Okay, this shouldn’t be too hard then.”

Gadget, along with Espio and Silver, worked on the budget sheet for around 45 minutes. It would usually take Gadget at least an hour to work on the monthly budget, but since this was only a budget update this didn’t take as long. Once they finalized everything, they signed the paper off and put it in the “out” file that was hanging on the inside of the door.

“Finally. I hate financial-related things, they’re so time-consuming,” said Silver, laying his head on his arms on the table.

“And yet it’s one of the most important parts of business,” said Espio, after taking a quick sip of green tea. “I take it you’re about to end your shift?”

“Yep. I’ll clean up my area in my room and then head out.”

“You have any plans for the rest of the day?” asked Silver.

“Nothing special. I’ll probably just be at the house,” said Gadget, thinking about Zero. It felt unnatural of him to lie so casually to his friends. If it wasn’t a war criminal who they had fought against a few months ago, he would’ve told his friends by now. He would just have to wait for now, if he would ever tell them in the first place. That idea made him feel sick. He knew that at some point in the future he would have to come out with it. “You?”

“Same as you. I may eat out somewhere either tonight or tomorrow.”

“You eat out too much. It’s much healthier to cook your own food,” said Espio, sipping his green tea. 

“Well, being healthier can wait after tonight or tomorrow,” said Silver, grinning to himself.

“On that note, I’ll see myself out. See y’all tomorrow!” said Gadget, as he stood up from his chair and left the room with a wave. He went to the tech room and started organizing his table for the next day. His table was always disorganized, but his meaning of “organizing” mainly meant just setting his table to what it looked like before he started working on something that day. Tails was in the room, doing the same thing. Tails usually left a little after Gadget, around 4:30. Once he finished, Gadget checked the time on his communicator, noticing that it was 4:07. 

“You headin’ out?” asked Tails.

“Yep. Got everything done for the day. I’m ready to get home and kick my feet up.”

“As soon as I get back to my workshop I’m starting on this new idea I have.”

“All the power to you, I’ve used all my energy for tech for the day. See ya,” he said, waving at Tails before leaving the room. After some waves and goodbyes in the main center room, as a lot of people were starting to finish their stuff and head out, he finally left the base, making his way home.

 

__________________________

 

Gadget reached his house around 4:30. While it usually took him 15-20 minutes to go from the base to house, he took a slower pace than usual this time. He wasn’t in any rush, he thought. He unlocked the door with his key and entered, closing the door behind him and locking it. He took his shoes and gloves off, leaving them at the door, and checked around for Zero. He noticed the red sword laying on the kitchen table, indicating that he was home. After looking around, he saw Zero laying under his blanket on the couch, rubbing his eyes.

“Oh, did I wake you up?” asked Gadget, as he set his communicator down on the kitchen table. 

“Yes, but don’t concern yourself with it. I needed to be up anyway. What do you usually do after work?”

“It depends. Sometimes I put the TV on, sometimes I read, it depends on my mood. What’ve you been doing after my break?”

“Exactly as you saw. Sleeping,” said Zero dryly. Gadget went to his room to use the restroom, leaving Zero alone for a minute. Zero thought about what he would do for the rest of the day. Even though he took a 4 hour nap, he still felt pretty fatigued. While the training he did earlier definitely played a part in that, his general fatigue seemed to not get any better. He would just have to get used to it, he thought. At least it was better than the pain when…he pushed that thought aside. He couldn’t think about that now. Gadget returned and turned the TV on.

“Do you, or have you ever really watched TV? Anything you like in particular?” asked Gadget.

“Of course I’ve seen TV before. It has been a long while since I’ve really watched it for entertainment though. Just put it on something you like, don’t worry about me,” said Zero, as he got up from the couch and stumbled to the bathroom. Gadget wondered exactly what “training” he did. He decided to put the TV on some drama that he’d been keeping up with lately. Zero came back and sat on the couch, looking up at the TV displaying a scene between a couple arguing.

“What is this?” asked Zero.

“A drama. I used to not enjoy shows like these, but now I do. I don’t know, something about them just really keeps me invested. It’s a nice break from my work and things,” he said, leaning back in his chair.

“So it’s just about two fools in love who fight over nothing?” 

“I guess you could say that. But it’s entertaining.”

“I suppose.”

The two watched the hour-long episode in silence, with occasional moments of Gadget reacting and Zero scoffing at the show. Once the episode ended, Gadget got up and started preparing for dinner.

“So, what did you think about it?” asked Gadget grinning, already knowing what Zero would say.

“As much as I think it’s dumb, I can’t deny that it’s entertaining,” said Zero, as he got up from the couch and leaned on the wall near the kitchen.

“See? That’s what I thought at first. And now I can’t get enough of it.” Gadget started to get some vegetables out of the fridge, Zero silently watching.

“What are you making today?”

“A vegetable soup,” said Gadget in between pulling out peppers, potatoes, greens, and vegetable stock mix. Zero was surprised at the amount of food that was laid out on the counter

“Damn, are you cooking for the base?”

“Nope, just for us. I usually cook large meals that last for days, so I hope you’re ok with eating leftovers a lot for dinner.”

“Leftovers is better than nothing. Do you need any assistance?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.”

Gadget turned on the radio before preparing the vegetables. The two existed in a comfortable silence between each other, while Gadget worked on the food and Zero leaned on the wall nearby, save for a few comments. Zero mindlessly watched the grove through the window, looking at the trees move from the wind. It was around 6 PM at that moment, and the sun was about to start setting soon. After Gadget had put the cover over the pot and let it start simmering, a question came to Zero.

“Did anyone at the base say anything about me?” said Zero. Gadget thought about Tails’ words from earlier. 

It’s a shame really. Even though nothing excuses what he did, I could tell he was lonely. I wonder what he would’ve been like if he had someone who really just befriended him.

Gadget didn’t want to tell Zero all of what he said, since he was worried about how Zero would respond.

“Tails mentioned you. He asked me if I ever wondered about what happened to you, and that he thinks about it every once in a while. I just said that I wonder too.”

“Interesting. That was the yellow fox, right? I never really interacted with him much.”

“I was thinking earlier about how I would have to keep all of this a secret from them. I hate lying to them, but it’s the only option for now.”

“You’re the one making this harder for yourself. I told you that I could just turn myself in.”

“No, I don’t want to do that. I’m sure I’ll come up with something. I just…need time I guess.”

“Your decision,” said Zero, as he returned to looking out the window. Gadget noticed this.

“Do you have a thing for nature? I’ve noticed that you seem to like spending time outside.”

“Well, yes. Part of it is because I can’t necessarily just go out into society, but…I’ve always liked nature I guess. And you? You chose a house in the woods, so I assume you do too,” he said, looking at Gadget.

“I do. It was part of the reason I chose this house, along with it being more isolated. I like being able to walk outside and enjoy the smells and sights of the grove.”

After 20 minutes, the soup was ready. The sun had set by now, and the night sky was coming in. Gadget fixed Zero’s bowl first, along with a glass of water, before fixing his bowl and drink. They both ate their soup in a comfortable silence, enjoying the savory taste and heat from the soup. It was one of the best things Zero had had in a while. The food in Eggman’s bases was ok, but it was never something to look forward to. He hadn’t had good, homemade food consistently since his jackal squad days. He sincerely appreciated this about Gadget, even if he didn’t know how to say it. Soon enough, they both finished their food.

“Thank you for that,” said Zero.

“Of course! Now we have dinner for the rest few days, and I don’t have to worry about cooking for a bit,” said Gadget as he gathered the dishes and started to rinse them.

“Do you not like cooking?” asked Zero, slightly worried.

“Nah, I like it. It’s just that sometimes I’m tired and don’t really feel like cooking a large meal. But overall I enjoy cooking, especially cooking for people.”

Zero suddenly remembered that earlier he asked Gadget to explain that stuff in the book to him. While he still wanted to ask him that, he was worried that Gadget was tired enough from work and cooking dinner. He decided that he would just keep on reading the book and ask Gadget about it the next day. Gadget finished washing the dishes and getting the kitchen in order.

“Did you still want me to explain the stuff in the book to you?”

“You don’t have to tonight, I’ll just keep reading it,” said Zero as he went towards the couch.

“Well, just ask me whenever you have a question or anything. I’ll be in my workroom if you need me,” said Gadget, walking towards the hallway.

Zero sat on the couch and grabbed the thick book. Last night, Zero had only managed to read 10 pages before he fell asleep. He had to reread it multiple times since he didn’t have a clue about what it was talking about. He had never heard of wisps, and once the book started showing formulas and equations he started dozing off. Tonight, he decided that he would start again, and see if he could at least understand one thing on his own. He laid down and started reading. So far, things made more sense than last night. However, once he got to page 7, the jargon and formulas started coming in. This time, he really tried to understand it, putting all of his focus on the explanations. And before he knew it, he was asleep.

Gadget was reading a book in his workroom. It was a book about the chao and their origins. He was going to work on one of his junk wispons but he decided to take a break from anything tech-related and read instead. He had a pile of books sitting on the shelf in the room, collecting dust. As much as he told people that he liked to read, which was true, he didn’t read that much. He hadn’t really been finding as much enjoyment in his hobbies like he used to. He didn’t know exactly why, but one thing he noticed was that ever since Zero was living with him he had started engaging with his hobbies more. He also didn’t know why that was making him return to his hobbies, but he didn’t question. After an hour of reading, he decided to check on Zero, kind of expecting him to be asleep. And sure enough, as he walked into the living room area, he saw Zero asleep under the blanket, with the book on his chest. With a smile, he turned the lights off and went to his room, taking the book about chao with him

Gadget read the book in his bed for another hour, with only the lamp on his nightstand lighting up the room. After closing the book and putting it away, he got ready for bed, soon laying in his bed after putting his glasses on the nightstand and turning the lamp off. He thought about how the next few days would be like. The burden of having to keep Zero a secret would catch up to him soon, he thought. He knew that he had to come up with some sort of plan. It would just have to wait for now, he thought to himself, falling asleep soon afterwards.

Chapter 6: Flowing into Routines

Summary:

Zero and Gadget become established in their routines, along with more plans about their future.

Chapter 6: Flowing into Routines

Zero opened his eyes, studying his surroundings. He seemed to be standing in a ruined city that resembled Sunset Heights. Cracks littered the concrete ground, and small flames were burning out of them. Smog filled the air, clouding his views of some buildings. The center fountain, that once stood flowing and pristine, had now been destroyed. Buildings that once stood tall had now fallen, only adding to the piles of rubbish everywhere. He looked around, trying to understand why he was there. He also noticed how eerily quiet it was, the only noises there being the crackling of the flames. As he observed the ground near him more, he gasped as he noticed lifeless bodies littering the ground. What the- What happened here?! His chest tightened from taking in the grim scene around him.

He cautiously walked around, making sure to avoid stepping on fallen soldiers and civilians. The damage and ruin just seemed to get worse the more he explored this city. He walked over to the rear side of a ruined café, about to leave until he heard quiet sobs behind him. The sobs seemed to be coming from a self-made fortress that was made of rugged wooden boards. As he approached the source of the sound, he saw a familiar figure of an orange wolf hiding. 

“Gadget! What are you doing here? What happened here?” Zero walked over to him, crouching down. Gadget slowly looked up at him, fear woven all throughout his face. He couldn’t say anything. He could only look behind Zero, suppressing a whine. Zero stared at him, confused, until he noticed that Gadget was staring behind him. As he turned around, he fell back from the sight. It was him, but as Infinite. Infinite was levitating, surrounded by crimson energy that contrasted with the all-too-familiar mask. Zero stared at the glowing right eye that was staring at him back from the mask, unable to speak. Sweat built up on his fur from the stress and anxiety that had been developing in him the moment he opened his eyes in these ruins. He crawled back, soon reaching the wall of the building. No, he thought, This…This fear! 

Before he could think about his fear, Gadget had pulled out a wispon near him with a shaky hand. He aimed it towards Infinite, who only crossed his arms and laughed. Zero felt absolutely sick to his stomach and felt like throwing up at the familiar scene. But instead of Infinite allowing Gadget to run away, he summoned a red blade and shot it towards Gadget. The blade punctured his chest, making his sharp breaths instantly go quiet. 

Zero heard the harsh sound of the wispon hitting the ground, as Gadget’s body went limp. As the phantom blade faded away, a heavy stream of blood flowed down from the wound. Gadget weakly looked over to Zero, and attempted to reach his arm out towards Zero, until all life faded from his eyes as he collapsed on Zero’s lap. Zero desperately checked for any signs of life, but stopped when he felt no heartbeat on his neck or wrist. Tears welled up in his eyes, before he glared at Infinite, who was laughing maniacally. 

“Why are you doing this?! This is…This is just disgusting!” he screamed, choking up at his words. Infinite only cackled harder at his words. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, hearing, and…smelling. A strong metallic smell came from beneath him. He checked Gadget’s body and turned him on his back, revolted by the obscene amount of blood that had left the wound. It was too much. He had to leave this cursed place.

He gently laid Gadget’s body down before getting up. After taking one more look at the fallen resistance member, he started running away past Infinite. He didn’t have any goal in mind, he just had to get out of there. He managed to run only for a few seconds before Infinite teleported in front of him, still laughing, making Zero halt. Without hesitating, he ran the other direction, but again, Infinite teleported in front of him after a few seconds, laughing. After a few times of this, Zero fell on his hands, gasping for air.

“Just let me go! Please! I promise I’ll leave you alone, please just let me go!” he pleaded, holding his stomach, as the sight and scene of everything made him feel sick. Infinite suddenly stopped laughing, which put even more fear in Zero.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Zero.”

Zero tried running away again, but he was again stopped by Infinite. This time, he ran towards Infinite, trying to swipe him. However, Infinite teleported slightly behind from where he was, dodging the attack. Zero tried again and again, but Infinite would only teleport away, laughing. He fell to the floor in exhaustion, before sitting on the ground, sobbing. “Why won’t you leave me alone?!”

Infinite teleported behind him, grabbing Zero and forcefully lifting him up and turning him around. As Zero tried to stabilize his footing, Infinite grabbed Zero’s throat with his hands.

“I can’t leave you alone Zero! You can’t run away from yourself!” he screamed as he put his face right in front of Zero’s, his claws drawing blood from Zero’s throat from digging in his skin. Suddenly he took his hands off Zero’s throat and put them on his shoulders, grabbing them hard and shaking Zero roughly. Zero could only scream in fear, before everything faded to black. Something was still shaking his shoulders, and he opened his eyes, gasping when he saw a very worried Gadget looking over him.

“Zero ! Please say something! Are you ok?” Gadget stopped shaking him when he saw that he had woken up. Zero was panting, staring at Gadget for a few seconds before he got sense of his surroundings. He was on the couch in Gadget’s home.

“I…I’m fine,” he said in a weak voice. He still hadn’t fully woken up, as he was trying to process everything going on. He noticed that his eyes were wet and felt puffy, and felt wet lines on his face. He sat up, holding his face in his hands, trying to calm himself down. His body was still shaking, but as he took in some deep breaths the shaking dwindled down. 

“Were you having a nightmare?” he asked softly. He had sat down on the short end of the L-shaped couch.

“Yes. I usually don’t get them, and they’re usually not as bad as this one was.” Zero took his face out of his hands and looked outside, appreciating the sight of the grove. “I…I wasn’t screaming out loud, was I?”

“You were. At first, I heard some whines, and they got louder and louder until you started screaming. That’s when I rushed over to you and shook you to wake you up. I was preparing breakfast by then.” Gadget wanted to ask him what his dream was about, but he decided against it.

Zero sighed down, leaning against the side of the couch. “I was in a ruined version of Sunset Heights. It looked like it was during the war. I ran around, trying to find someone, but it was just dead bodies everywhere. Then, I found you, and you were hiding behind some building. And then…Infinite attacked.” It felt weird, speaking of his recent past self as if he were a different person. “You tried to attack him with your wispon, but he killed you.” Zero almost choked up on those last words, as he remembered the face Gadget showed him after the phantom blade stabbed him. It made him want to start crying, but he suppressed it. “I tried to run away, but he just kept appearing in front of me. Eventually, I tried fighting back, but he just dodged me, and finally, he choked me, and then…I woke up.” Zero decided to leave out what Infinite had said to him at the end of the dream. The room became quiet, and Zero looked up at Gadget, who was looking at the floor. He noticed a tear falling down Gadget’s face. 

“That sounds horrible. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Gadget felt sad for Zero, but he also felt a small twinge of resentment. What Zero had described in his dream was, for the most part, a grim version of their first encounter in the war. Gadget was the sole survivor of the attack on the city, and Infinite had killed his friends that were guarding the district with him. He remembered grabbing a wispon that had come from one of his fallen friends. It all started coming back to him: the shakiness of his hand as he grabbed the worn wispon, the smoke in the air, the bodies on the ground, and Infinite. He was so afraid at the time, so afraid that he couldn’t even shoot the wispon. He remembered the chilling laugh from Infinite, and how he let him run away. 

Both of them stayed in silence, not knowing how to address each other. Gadget looked at the clock on the wall, and his thoughts from earlier about his first encounter with Infinite vanished as he saw it was 8:55. 

“Shit! I’m going to be very late!” He looked at Zero, and said, “I’ll be back here around 12:20.” He got up from the couch and grabbed his gloves, put his boots and work belt on, and left the house with his portable cup of coffee. Zero looked outside and saw Gadget running down the trail. He sighed to himself and got up, stretching his arms up. The only thing he wanted to think about now was his training.

 

Gadget finally made it to the base, panting and wiping off some sweat on his brow. It was 9:08, and most members were already in their respective rooms and areas. Amy was sitting at the center table, talking over some documents with Rouge. They noticed him as he put his hands on the table to rest himself.

“Oh, Gadget! I was getting worried about you. You okay?” asked Amy, putting the documents and her cup of coffee down. Rouge also had a look of concern on her face.

“I’m fine, I just had a bit of a hectic morning. I overslept, and I…it was just one of those mornings,” he said, nervously smiling. 

“We all have our mornings. Mine today was almost the same, since I forgot about a report for GUN I had to file by this morning. Good thing I know how to work quickly, even though the report wasn’t my best writing. Oh well, you have to do what you have to do,” she said, getting up before stretching. “I’ll be in the room,” she said to Amy, before turning back to Gadget and saying, “Oh, and thank you again for fixing those sensors! That was a lifesaver!” She blew another kiss at Gadget before flying into the communications room.

Amy finished her coffee and got up also. “Well, guess I’ll be seeing you sometime later today.” She followed after Rouge into the communications room and closed the door. Gadget finally caught his breath, and he went inside the tech room, where Tails had already started working on the 4th fire wispon he had been ordered to create the previous day. As he walked in, he looked at the items that had been placed on his desk for repairs. There were three fire wispons, five grappling hooks, and four communicators laid out on his desk. He took in a deep sigh as he sat down, knowing to himself that he would be busy that day. 

“Oh, hey Gadget!” said Tails, smiling as he spun around in his chair to face him. He was about to ask him how he was doing until he noticed the sullen look on his face. “Are you okay?”

Gadget looked up at Tails and instantly put his normal pleasant look on. “I’m fine. It was just a bad morning.” He grabbed the grappling hooks and arranged them in the center of his desk, pushing the other items to the side. He hated lying like this. While it was true that his morning had been a little hectic, he hoped that his friends would  just assume that it was due to oversleeping or something related. He couldn’t tell his friends at the base that a war criminal, who he was housing, had a terrifying nightmare. On that thought, he pondered the nightmare. The way Zero described it, it sounded horrifying. And while he genuinely felt for Zero, he also felt guilty since those feelings of resentment were starting to come back. 

“Gadget?”

Gadget looked up at Tails, who looked worried, before realizing that he had frozen and was staring at the grappling hooks in front of him. He felt his heartbeat raise, as he became aware of how strange he was acting. It’s only Tuesday, he thought. “Sorry, I didn’t even realize I spaced out, ha,” he said with a shy smile, trying his hardest to act normal.

“It’s fine,” he said skeptically. “If you need to talk about it just let me, or anyone else know.” He spun back towards his desk. Gadget had started working on a grappling hook, trying to just focus on his work. Now he was glad that he had a bunch of items to repair, since that would take his mind off some things. The first grappling hook he grabbed had a puncture in the side, which would cause air to leak in, resulting in the hook not coming out accurately. He would have to sew in some fabric, something he often did when it came to fixing grappling hooks. He grabbed some fabric, a sewing needle, and some thread from a drawer connected to the desk.

The two worked in mostly silence for the next two hours. Sometimes they asked each other for a part, or a question about something related to the Resistance. Usually they weren’t chatty when working, due to the nature of their work, but every once in a while they would have good conversations when they both had light workloads. Tails could tell that something was off about Gadget that day, but he didn’t want to prod. Everyone had their bad days, he thought. By the time it was 11, Gadget had finished fixing the five grappling hooks. He put them in a box on a table right outside the door to the tech room, which held repaired items and allowed for whoever needed them to grab them. Tails finished one wispon and had started working on the next one. 

Gadget moved on to the communicators that he pushed to the center, and pulled one from the pile. Broken communicators usually had unconnected wires and burned SIM cards. Replacing these would be easy, he thought. He estimated that he should’ve been able to finish them by 12, and then he could take his break and check up on Zero. He was worried about him. Since his workload was light for the next hour, and Tails only had to arrange the wires together, he decided to try to stir a conversation that would keep his thoughts off of Zero, but Tails beat him to it.

“Have you heard about the new project? Knuckles announced it this morning.”

“No, I probably was still running here when that was going on, what’s it about?”

“He wants to build another base. With the new base we could manage things better, he said. If it goes on board we’ll start the process with it soon.”

“Huh, that sounds interesting. But shouldn’t we put more resources on reconstruction? Sure, Sunset Heights has recovered well, but there are other cities and places that still need major work, such as Mystic Jungle.”

“You’re right. It was more of an idea, to be honest. By soon I meant probably in a few months.”

Gadget opened the back of the communicator and inspected the wiring. The SIM card was burnt, as expected, and some wires had become disconnected. He grabbed some wire connectors from a drawer and started putting the wires together. “Well, if we can do it it would be good for us.” Tails grunted in agreement.

“Are you going home again for lunch?” 

Gadget started thinking about Zero again. “Yep,” he sighed, “I’ll probably start going home for lunch more often now.”

“What made you switch?” 

“I enjoy the walk to and back from my home. It gives me a break from everything, especially being able to walk in the grove near my house.” That part was true. Gadget enjoyed the peaceful walk, often using it to clear his mind. Of course, he couldn’t tell Tails that another part had to do with checking on Zero. 

Tails smiled. “I love that grove around your house, it looks so beautiful. I can tell you’re a nature person.”

Gadget nodded, while replacing the burnt SIM card with a new one in the communicator. “That’s true. I’ve always loved it. Sometimes I work on things outside, if the weather permits.”

“I do the same thing, depending on the object. I usually work on my Tornado with the garage open. Something about the sunlight and breeze makes things easier.” Tails flew off his chair to grab a cannon part from the other side of the room. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, could I come over today after work? I have some spare parts I want to give you.”

Gadget froze for a second. “Sure, what time? I’ll probably be getting home around 5.” He silently prayed that Tails would not come right after work. He needed time to warn Zero and hide him.

“Hmm, maybe 6? I’ll let you know when I leave my workshop. I’ll fly over in the Tornado.”

Gadget quietly let out a sigh of relief. “That sounds good then.” He put the fixed communicator in an open spot on his desk, before working on the next communicator. Opening it, he saw the same issues. He hoped that all of them just needed new SIM cards and wire connectors. They worked in comfortable silence, with Gadget working on the communicators and Tails making adjustments and fixes to the fire wispon he just built. Gadget was looking forward to Tails finishing the wispon, because that meant he could test it out. Testing out new wispons was always fun, and kind of dangerous. They had to be tested so that they could ensure the weapons wouldn’t give out on new recruits.

After Gadget had finished all 5 communicators, he checked the clock on the wall, noting it was 11:45. Tails finished applying the last part on the wispon and leaned back, marveling at his work. He sent a knowing look at Gadget, who just grinned back.

“Well, you ready? I know you look forward to testing these out,” said Tails as he grabbed the two wispons. Gadget got up from his seat.

“Yep, let’s go!”

They walked to the large courtyard which was behind the base. The courtyard was used to test weapons, train recruits, and sometimes host events. On one side there was a space that held training dummies and wooden pillars and walls to train recruits’ weapon and grappling skills. On the other side was an open area, which Gadget typically used to test out new wispons. Some new recruits were being trained by Knuckles in the training yard. They were using the grappling hooks that Tails had made the previous day. After saying something to them, Knuckles glided over from where he was standing on top of one of the wooden pillars. 

“Testing out the new wispons?” he asked.

“Yep! We’re starting with this one.” Tails motioned to the one Gadget was holding, which had a tag hanging off of it. The tag was numbered 1 , showing that it was the first one Tails had made. New wispons were tagged for organizational purposes, and the tags were removed once the weapons had passed testing. Gadget took a few steps forward, and angled the wispon at the sky. Fire wispons had to pass 3 tests. The first test ensured that the wispon could send out a stream of fire for 3 seconds, without moving the wispon. The second test involved making sure the wispon could fire throughout a 180° circle in front of the user. The final test ensured that the wispon could do the previous tests in immediate succession, along with firing it in a circle. If there was a problem, it usually was related to the first and second test. Rarely, the wispon would go overboard with energy, which was usually due to a mistake in lining the energy flow. If that happened, Gadget would have to throw it away far before it would possibly explode. Fortunately, that’s only happened once.

“Alright, here we go. First test.” Gadget pushed the trigger button and the wispon spewed out a straight line of flames. He held the button for three seconds before releasing his hold, stopping the flames. 

“Second test.” He aimed the wispon straight to his left, and then activated it, spraying the flames in a semicircle in front of him. 

“And, final test.” He aimed the wispon towards the sky and repeated his first test, following it with the second test again. Finally, he shot the flames around in a circle. 

“It all looks good?” asked Knuckles. He was familiar with all the testing protocols at this point. Gadget nodded as he came back to them, giving the wispon to Tails.

“We can put that in the ready pile. I’ll test this one now.” Tails gave him the wispon that was tagged 2 . He inspected it, making sure everything looked good on the outside. After it passed his check, he took some steps away from Tails and Knuckles and started the tests. The wispon passed the first two tests, but on the third test the stream of flames randomly stopped while Gadget was aiming around in a circle. Gadget tried shooting out the flames again, but nothing came out. “Flames aren’t coming out, probably some transfer error with the energy around the cannon channel.”

Tails sighed, sure he had made it without any mistakes. “I’ll fix it then. We can test it out again after your break.” Tails took the wispon from Gadget, inspecting it himself.

“No big deal, I’m sure it’s just some small issue. But I don’t know anything about this stuff, other than that you push a button and stuff comes out,” Knuckles laughed.

“For the fire wispons, yes, but some of the other ones are a bit different. Also, we should train new recruits with other types of wispons. I’ve noticed that recently you’ve taken a liking to the fire ones,” said Gadget, as he looked over at the recruits who were getting used to using the grappling hooks.

“They seem the most efficient. And easiest to use,” he said as he shrugged. Knuckles looked back to the recruits, before sighing. “I forgot how hard it was training recruits on how to use those grappling hooks. How did you learn it so quickly, Gadget?”

“Well, I already had experience with them. Even before the war, I liked creating things and repairing junk. I would actually go through trash piles during the months Sonic was taken, looking for things I could repair in my free time, and one of those was a grappling hook. In my spare time I learned how to use it. It took some time though before I got comfortable with it.” 

“Yeah Knuckles, you just need some patience for them,” teased Tails.

“Yeah, yeah, I got plenty of that,” he said, walking back over to the recruits. Tails could see a grin on his face.

“Welp, just one small thing to fix,” said Gadget, looking back at Tails. 

“Yep, it shouldn’t take too long. By the time you get back from your break we should be able to test it.” Tails checked his communicator and saw that it was 12:02. “You taking your break now? It’s noon.”

“Yeah. I’ll catch you back here around 1,” he said, leaving the courtyard. As he left the base, he thought about Zero, and hoped that he was doing okay.

 

Zero closed the door to Gadget’s house and went down the trail he took the previous day. His training that day would definitely have to be lighter, since his muscles felt very sore. He thought about starting off with some dynamic stretching, before practicing his swordsmanship. He knew that he didn’t have the energy to do speed training, so he decided that he would just take a short walk after his sword training. When he reached the spot from yesterday, he put his sword down on the stump and started with some stretching and warmups. His muscles felt extra tight that day, making him grimace with some of the stretches. After a few minutes of warming up, he decided to go ahead and start his sword training.

He grabbed his sword and got into a defensive position, before striking out at the air. His arm muscles felt like they were screaming at him, making him slow down after a few fast first ones. He decided he would focus on his movement and agility, since that would be easier on his muscles. He walked around in between the two trees, making sure to analyze the space around him. He experimented with using different angles and positions, thinking about how he could dodge and get around an opponent. After some time doing this, his whole body felt like it was about to give out on him. The cool grass was calling out to him, and without much hesitation he put his sword down and sat down on the ground, moving his tail in front of him and grabbing the fluffy end. He sat there for a while and pondered on what to do, as his fatigue started overtaking him.

This is so frustrating . He sighed as he held his face with his hands. The loss of his powers and strength was really starting to get to him. He didn’t necessarily miss the ruby and the powers from it, as much as he missed the overall strength he had. There was a reason he used to be known as the “Ultimate Mercenary.” And now here he was, sitting on the ground in a forest near his former enemy’s house. After a day or two of being housed by Gadget he got over the fact that his former enemy was helping him. He was determined to be a different person, which is why he went back to his old name, Zero . Infinite was merely a name he took in order to create a new persona for himself, and now that person was dead, not only in the general public’s eyes, but in Zero’s eyes as well. However, there was a nagging thought in his mind every time he thought about this. The Zero he was now was different to the Zero before the war. But he couldn’t just come up with a new name, it wouldn’t feel right to him. 

These thoughts bothered him, and they just kept banging at his head over the last few days. He didn’t have the energy or desire to confront them. Suddenly, an idea came to him. Meditation . He thought about that for a while. It almost sounded contradictory, since meditation would involve him having to be in his mind, something he’d been trying to avoid. However, it could teach him how to make his mind quiet when he wanted to. With a sudden drive of motivation, he sat against the stump and closed his eyes. The gentle breeze running against his hair, and the smells of the grass and air seemed to become sharper. A sense of calm rushed over him, and he could feel his muscles relax slightly. This feels good…Almost a little too good.

After a while, Zero’s eyes opened, blinking a few times to get used to the light. The sunlight was out in full force, and it felt good on his upper back. He smiled to himself as he enjoyed the scenery. Flickies flew in the air, chirping with each other. He moved his tail in front of him and stroked the fur. Everything felt so peaceful…until Zero realized why had sat there in the first place. 

I was supposed to meditate, not fall asleep.

After a few more strokes of his tail, he got up and decided to go ahead and return to Gadget’s house. He grabbed his sword and made his way back. His soreness seemed to be even worse, and the fatigue was back in full force. With a sigh he cursed to himself about everything. As he got near the house he heard the sound of a door closing. Is Gadget back? He saw him on the porch putting his work belt on as he approached the entrance of the house. 

“Oh, hey! Were you training?”

Zero nodded, his head slightly leaning to the side. His sore muscles, plus his fatigue, made him suddenly exhausted. Gadget’s pleasant smile faded into a concerned frown as he noticed how tired Zero looked.

“You okay?” Gadget started walking over to Zero, who looked like he was going to collapse at any minute. 

“I’ll be fine, I’m jus-”

As Zero tried walking towards the front porch he tripped. Gadget caught him and put his arm over his shoulder. Zero was surprised at how easily his body gave out on him.

“I’ll help you in.” 

“Don’t you have to go back to work?” he grumbled.  “I don’t know what time it is, but I’m just assuming.”

“I was here for my lunch break. I was about to leave until I saw you. Don’t worry about punctuality, it’ll be fine,” he said with a small laugh. Gadget helped him inside and closed the door. With some very uncoordinated steps, Zero was able to make it to the couch and plop down on it. He gently dropped his sword on the ground near the couch and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 12:45.

“You’re going to be late.”

“It’ll be fine.” Gadget filled a glass with water and put it down on the coffee table near the couch. “I’ll be back here in about four hours.” With a wave he left the house, leaving Zero alone. He looked out the window and watched him speed-walking down the path, which made him chuckle to himself. He grabbed the glass of water and drank it all in one gulp, not realizing how thirsty he was. The silence of the house, plus the sounds of nature outside calmed him. For some reason his fatigue was worse compared to the previous day. He stared at his legs, wondering why his body was so weak now. Surely he didn’t put his body through so much during the war, he thought. It was too much to worry about now. He laid down on the couch, easily letting sleep take him.

 

Gadget made it back to the base a little after 1. As expected, the base was quiet around this time. Some people were already walking out as he was coming in. He went into the tech room and saw Tails, who was working on something on his desk, which seemed to be some communicators. He assumed that Knuckles asked him to make some for the new recruits. 

“Those for the new recruits?” Gadget sat down on his desk and pulled one of the fire wispons to the center of his desk. Tails nodded.

“Yep. He wants five of them built. You ready to test the 2nd wispon again? I found the issue, it was a mistake with the energy pathways.”

Gadget had forgotten about that. “Oh yeah! We can do that now.” The two went to the courtyard, and this time they were by themselves. The new recruits, along with Knuckles, were nowhere to be seen. They were probably on break, he thought. Tails handed Gadget the wispon, which was tagged 2 , and Gadget did the normal procedure. After Tails flew back a few yards, Gadget aimed the wispon towards the sky and held the trigger for three seconds. He then did the 2nd and 3rd test, and the wispon passed them all. “It works great!” 

“I’ll put this in the box then!” Tails flew back inside, with Gadget following him. 

The two returned to their room and continued their work as normal. Gadget knew he would be busy with the three fire wispons for the rest of his shift. The next hour went by smoothly, and he finished one of the wispons in that time. By the time he had started working on the next wispon, Tails waved him goodbye as he took his break. Soon enough he finished all three of his wispons, and noticed that it was 4:30. After putting the three wispons in the “repaired” box, he started gathering his things and organizing his desk. 

“Heading out?” said Tails.

“Yep.” Gadget finished organizing and started leaving, stopping at the door as he realized Tails was going to visit him. “What time you wanna drop those parts off?”

Tails scratched his chin as he thought. “I’m about to leave as well. Just send me a message when you get home, and I’ll fly over.” Gadget nodded, and after a few goodbyes and waves he was on his way back home. 

 

Gadget made it back home at 5, locking the door behind him as he took his gloves, shoes, and work belt off. Zero was sitting on the couch and reading a book, which Gadget recognized as the one about the wisps. 

“How was work?”

“It was fine. I got to test out some new wispons today, which was fun.” Gadget grabbed an apple from the fridge and cut it into slices. “Also, Tails will be over here soon, probably in a few minutes. I need to hide you somewhere.”

Zero looked up from his book, alert. “Why is he coming over?” He put the book down on the coffee table.

“He’s dropping some spare parts off for me. I just sent him a message that I just got here, so he’ll be here soon.”

“Where should I hide? You don’t plan on giving him a whole tour of your house, do you?”

Gadget laughed. “Of course not! Just hide in my closet. He’ll only be in the living room and in my workroom. He shouldn’t be in my bedroom, but stay in my closet just in case.” Gadget’s communicator buzzed, and Tails had messaged him back, saying that he was on his way. “He’s on his way.”

“You’re gonna have to show me where your closet is.” 

“Oh, right.” He silently prayed that his closet wasn’t a mess as he led Zero to his room. His room wasn’t too dirty, but his closet turned out to be messy. There were some clothes, some clean and dirty, along with some random parts and items on the floor. “Sorry for the mess,” he said, cringing at the pile of dirty clothes in the corner.

“It’s fine.” Before they could say anything else they heard a knocking at the front door. 

“That must be him. I’ll come back here once he leaves.” Gadget left and disappeared into his room, as Zero closed the sliding doors of the closet and sat down. He looked around Gadget’s closet. He saw some jackets, a suit, one tie, and two button-up shirts. On the floor stood random parts and things. One of them was a broken grappling hook, which had half of its wire laying out. He thought about the grappling hook, remembering Gadget's use of it during the war. He could tell that Gadget was very proficient with the tool, using it as a way to basically fly. Since he couldn’t fly anymore, due to not having the ruby, he considered learning how to use them in the future, if he was still alive.

Gadget walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. As he went towards the front door, he checked his space to make sure nothing looked suspicious. During his inspection, he gasped as he saw Zero’s sword laying near the couch. He thought to himself about what to do, until another knock sounded from the door. He decided to kick the sword under the couch until it wasn’t visible, and then hurried to the door and opened it. Tails was standing outside, holding a cotton tote bag, which Gadget assumed carried the parts. He could see the Tornado parked down the wide path in front of his house.

“Hey! Come in!” Gadget moved to the side, letting Tails come in, and closed the door. Tails took his shoes off and left them by the door. “How was the trip?”

“Not too bad. Better than my first time landing here.” 

Gadget laughed as he remembered. “Oh, that was too funny! I remember hearing the crash and wondering what in the world was going on.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t laughing. At least at the start. Good thing you could help me fix it, cause if it was anyone else’s place I would’ve been stuck there for the night.”

“So, you want anything to eat or drink?”

“No thanks, I just had some fruit.” Tails looked over at the table and noticed the white collar. “Is this yours?”

Gadget tensed up as he saw the collar, cursing at himself for forgetting to move it. He thought quickly on what to say. “Oh, it was something I bought at the mall during the weekend. An impulse buy. I might wear it, but I don’t think it’d look good on me.” He hoped that Tails wouldn’t remember that Infinite wore it during the war. The mask concealed most of the collar, and Tails never got too close to Infinite, so he reasoned that he would be fine.

“I think it would look good on you. After all, you did buy it. You spend too much money shopping anyways,” he teased with a grin. “So, ready to go over these?” Gadget nodded, and they both went to his workroom. 

Zero leaned against the wall. He could hear them talking, and groaned as he realized that he would be here for a while. Gadget is too damn chatty . After a sigh, he closed his eyes, wishing he had his book with him. At least that would give him something to do, even if he couldn’t understand the content. He was still working on the first ten pages. Soon, his body relaxed, and he decided to let himself take a short nap. As he got close to falling asleep, his eyes shot open.

My sword! He cursed to himself and ran his hands over his face. He had left the sword near the couch. From what he knew of Gadget so far, he had a feeling that he wouldn’t notice it. Hopefully Gadget moved it, for his own sake, Zero thought.

And now I can’t fall asleep, great.

“This looks great! Thanks so much for these!” beamed Gadget.

“Of course! I’m excited to see your progress on your custom fire wispon. What do you plan on modifying about it?” 

Gadget grabbed the wispon and inspected it. “I want to add a projectile to it, something like a fireball.” He unfastened the cannon and showed it to Tails. The cannon had two holes on it instead of one. “Currently, I’m designing it to be two chambered, with one for the normal flames and one for the projectile. But this is just the prototype.”

“Let me know about your progress on it, I’m very curious about it.” Both of them left the workroom and went by the door. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at work,” he said while walking out the door. 

Gadget waved. “Be safe on your way back!” Tails responded with a nod, and flew out as the buzz of the Tornado came on. After making sure he was able to leave, Gadget went back inside, locking the door behind him. He hurried to his closet and opened the door, seeing Zero sitting against the wall. Zero looked up at him with an annoyed expression.

“Are you always so chatty with everyone?” he said as he got up, groaning from his muscles.

Gadget grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “According to you.” He looked down again on the mess that was his closet. “Sorry that you had to stay in this mess, but it was the safest place.”

Zero walked past him into his room. “I’ve been in worse places.” He stopped in place as he remembered his sword. “Did you move that sword? I forgot to move it myself.”

“I did. I noticed just as I was about to let him in. I did forget to move your collar, but I was able to explain my way out of it.”

“Would’ve been easier to explain a collar than a sword, I suppose. Where did you put it?”

“I just kicked it under the couch.” 

“Kicked it?” Zero looked offended. Gadget’s ears drooped as he felt guilty. 

“Sorry, Tails was waiting and I didn’t want to look suspicious by taking too long!” 

Zero sighed and looked away from Gadget. “It’s fine. It’s probably dull anyway.”

“If it’s dull I could probably sharpen it. I don’t have experience with traditional weapons but I’m sure I could find a way.” 

Zero looked up at Gadget, surprised. “You would do that for me?”

“Of course! I know it’s important to you. I’ll see if I can find a way to do that sometime in the next week or two.”

Zero nodded in response, and the two left Gadget’s room and went into the main living space. It was 6:45. Gadget decided to turn on the TV, searching for something interesting to watch. Zero was lying on the couch, hoping that he wouldn’t choose one of those “dramas” again.

“Hmm, nothing good’s on. Just reruns. Guess we’re watching the news tonight.” Gadget leaned back in his chair. The news would come on at 7, so they had some time to relax before then. 

“What do they usually show on the news here?”

“Mainly just information about what’s going on around here. Probably won’t be anything special tonight.” Zero grunted in response. Gadget wanted to ask him about his training, but he wondered how Zero would respond. He did seem to be guarded about it, but it wouldn’t hurt to try, Gadget thought.

“What’ve you been doing with your training?” 

Zero looked over at him with a neutral expression. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious,” he said smiling. Zero figured that, at this point, there was no reason to hide things from Gadget. After all, Gadget hadn’t shown any ill-intentions or ulterior motives towards him. Admittedly, he was already starting to get comfortable around Gadget, and he would only get more comfortable from here.

“I focus on a mixture of overall fitness training, swordsmanship, and speed-training. However, since my fatigue and soreness is so bad now, I can’t get as deep into my training as I want to.”

“I find it interesting that you’re training your speed. What made you decide to train that?” 

Zero hesitated to tell him that it was because of him, but he figured, again, that there wasn’t a reason to hide things from him. “Well, it was because of you. I saw how fast you ran down the path yesterday morning, and…it made me want to run like you.” 

Gadget smiled at what he said, almost getting a confidence boost from it. “Well, you’ll get it. I was able to almost keep up with Sonic during the war from a lot of training. I could help you with that too, maybe this weekend when I’m free during the day.” Zero frowned at the mention of Sonic’s name, but quickly brushed it off as another question came to him.

“What was that blue energy dash you and Sonic used? I remember seeing him use it a few times, but I never understood how it works.”

“Sonic called it ‘boost.’ From his explanation of it, and my experience using it, you start running aerodynamically while gathering energy around you. Then you use the energy to boost you forwards, which gives you a massive speed boost. After running with Sonic a lot on missions, I learned how to do it on my own, but I can only do it for a second or two, and it exhausts me. Also, my energy field is white, instead of Sonic’s blue.”

“Interesting…”

By soon it was 7, and Gadget turned the news on. There wasn’t anything special or interesting that was announced, as Gadget had thought would happen, and afterwards they prepared dinner and ate it. As it started getting late, Zero went ahead and decided to go to bed. Gadget started reading his book about Chao again in his room. After an hour of reading, he decided to get ready for bed. 

The events of the day played out in his head as he laid under the sheets in the dark. 

“Well, today wasn’t too bad…Work was fine…Those parts will come in handy,” he said, voicing out his thoughts about his day. He frowned as he thought about Zero's nightmare. Those feelings of resentment started coming back, and he felt guilty. It was true that he genuinely wanted to help Zero, but he would have to figure out a way to get over his resentment towards him, along with coming up with some sort of plan on what to do with him. He didn’t want to tell Zero about this, but at the same time, he disliked bottling his feelings. 

“I thought I simply got over everything, guess I was wrong,” he muttered to himself, as he fell asleep shortly afterwards.

Zero woke up to a quiet house. The blinds on the windows were closed, except for the one near the kitchen. As he sat up on the couch, he checked the clock on the wall and saw that it was 9:04. He was surprised that he didn’t wake up from the sounds of Gadget getting ready for work. His muscles, while still very sore, felt noticeably better than the previous day. However, his fatigue was still present. Groaning, he forced himself to get up. He grabbed his sword and collar, and went out to his usual spot to train. After a disappointing training session, which ended again in accidentally falling asleep during meditation, he came back to the house. This time, it was 12:50, so he knew that Gadget was on his way back to the base. He decided to take a shower and then rest.

Gadget returned from work at 5, waking Zero up from the sound of the door closing. Zero sat up and rubbed his eyes. “How was work?”

Gadget sighed, “Just the usual, at least the new usual. Knuckles has been giving me a lot of work lately.” Zero recognized that name, remembering him as being the commander of the Resistance during the war. “How did your training go today?”

“Bad, just like yesterday,” he scoffed. “I’m so tired of my body limiting me.”

“You just have to give your body time to recover. Don’t push yourself too hard.” Gadget sat back on his papasan chair in the living room. He felt tired from work, which was rare. On top of having to repair what was given to him, he was also asked to help around a lot that day. Part of it was his fault, since he let himself put down his own work so that he could help others. 

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep in the chair, fully relaxing into the soft cushion. Zero decided to work on the book about wisps while Gadget was asleep. After around 30 minutes, Gadget woke up. The drool on his muzzle made him wide awake as he tried to wipe it off, hoping that Zero hadn’t noticed. 

“Must’ve been a good nap,” said Zero with a small grin. 

“I wasn’t snoring, was I?”

“You were, but only very lightly.” Gadget groaned to himself. Not only was he drooling in his sleep, he was snoring too! He usually didn’t drool or snore, only doing so when he was very tired.

By night, the two had watched some TV and ate dinner. While Gadget was washing the dishes, Zero decided to ask him for help regarding the book. He finally got past page ten, and was now on page 20, but he still wasn’t understanding anything.

“I have some questions about the book.” Gadget grunted in response. “First one, what the hell is a wisp?”

Gadget couldn’t help but chuckle. He finished the dishes and sat on the couch next to Zero, who was holding the book. “Doesn’t the book explain that?”

“For one paragraph, yes. Haven’t you read this?”

“I did months ago, but I’ve forgotten how it was structured. To answer your question, wisps are alien species that come from a planet called, uncreatively, Planet Wisp. Sonic once explained to me about his whole adventure with them, but basically, that’s why some of them came down to Earth to live with us and help us, since Sonic helped them.

“Ok…Now for my next question. What is hyper-go-on energy?” Gadget chuckled to himself again. “What’s so funny?”

“That’s going to take a while to explain.”

“If it’s even hard for you to explain I might as well give up,” he said while closing the book and putting it away, before Gadget grabbed it.

“Nope! You asked!” Gadget spent some time explaining the basics of the hyper-go-on energy to Zero. Most of what Gadget was saying flew over Zero’s head, but he still tried listening. “You get it?” 

Zero looked at him with tired eyes. “No.”

“Welp, I’ll just have to try again tomorrow.” He laughed at the look on Zero’s face. “Trust me, it takes some time, but you’ll get it one day.”

“And that ‘one day’ could be 10 days, 100 days, 1000 days…That’s if I’m even still alive.”

Gadget frowned. “Of course you’ll still be alive. And plus, you just did a series of powers of ten! That was something mentioned in the book!”

“I guess,” he said as he got up to brush his teeth. “I’ll be seeing you in the morning.” 

Gadget nodded and left the living space area, closing the door to his room as he got in. After some reading, he also got ready for bed and was soon asleep.

 

The next day, Zero was awoken by Gadget’s noises in the kitchen. It was 8:30, and Gadget was fixing himself a plate of toast and preparing his coffee. As he noticed that Zero was awake, he asked him if he wanted something to eat, which got a nod from Zero. The two shared toast in the living room, before Gadget had to leave for work. Zero watched him go down the path from the window, and after Gadget had disappeared from sight, he got ready to do his training.

Gadget came back at 5, surprised to see Zero sitting at the kitchen table staring at the window outside. 

“How was work?”

“I guess like usual? I didn’t have as much work as I did yesterday, thankfully. And your training?”

“It was better than yesterday. My fatigue feels slightly better today. But only very slightly.”

“Hey, that’s better than it not improving at all.” Zero grunted in response.

Once it had become night, Zero turned off the light and laid on the couch after saying good night to Gadget. As he got under the covers, he thought about the last few days. Soon, it would’ve been a week since he’d been living at Gadget’s place. Even though it had only been a few days, he was already feeling comfortable around him. For the most part, he felt that he could trust Gadget. While he still wouldn’t blame Gadget for turning him in if he had to, he appreciated what he had at the moment. He was starting to ever so slightly look forward to Gadget coming back from work, along with getting used to Gadget’s quirks. Soon enough, he fell into a deep rest.

 

The beeping of an alarm clock shook Gadget up. With a heavy fist, he turned the alarm off and started getting ready for work. Zero was already up as he walked into the kitchen, and after a quick breakfast together, he was off to work.

As Zero came back from his training, Gadget was inside snacking on some apple slices. He offered him some, which Zero took. 

“How’d it go?”

“Fine. My soreness is getting better, but the fatigue is still very present.”

“Well, at least your soreness is improving. I was wondering if you wanted me to help you with speed training tomorrow?”

“If you don’t mind, I would like that.”

As the clock turned 12:40, Gadget left back for work, while Zero got in the shower. After his shower, he took his normal rest after training.

The base was quiet as usual when Gadget came back. Once he sat down at his desk, he returned to the wispons he was assigned to fix. Gadget became lost in his work, and soon it was already 3:30 as he finished the next wispon. Only one more to go, and I can leave early today! Right as he was about to inspect the problems of the wispon, Knuckle’s voice sounded over the speakers in the upper corners of the walls. 

“Executives, please meet in the conference room. Again, executives, please meet in the conference room.” Gadget and Tails sent each other a worried glance. Knuckles rarely called for all of them to go to the conference room during work. He only did that for emergencies or…when he got a signal that Infinite was seen somewhere. Gadget’s stomach turned as he realized that this was probably a meeting for organizing a search. Even though Knuckles had stopped the searches a month after the war, in the last month he started conducting them again.

“I wonder if it’s a call for a search,” Tails said, groaning. “He has to be dead at this point, I don't know why he started the searches again recently.” Gadget tried not to worry about Zero and took a deep breath. 

“It probably is. I guess we’ll see soon.” Both of them left the room and joined the crowd that was heading towards the conference room. 

Eventually everyone made it into the conference room, and Amy shut the door behind her as she was the last one to enter. Knuckles was sitting at the head of the table, holding a report in his hands. Once everyone had gotten situated in their seats, he started going over the report.

“So, as all of you have probably guessed by now, we’ve gotten a report about Infinite being seen. Someone filed this very recently, meaning that we need to leave soon,” said Knuckles as he leaned back into his chair. Gadget’s mind was racing, praying that the filer hadn’t seen him near his place. He reasoned that Zero should be asleep by now anyways, so there was no logical reason for him to be out and about anyway. However, he couldn’t be sure, he thought.

“Where was he sighted?” asked Gadget, his body tense. Knuckles looked at the report again.

“He was seen in the western outskirts of the city. We need a party of 5, including me, so who’s gonna go?” Gadget breathed a quiet sigh of relief to himself. He lived in the eastern part of Sunset Heights, so there was no way that Zero was actually sighted. Everyone was silent as they looked at each other, mostly thinking the same thing. Rouge decided to break the silence.

“We all know at this point that he’s dead. It’s been 3 months, and countless searches have turned up nothing. We probably won’t find anything, as expected,” she said, emphasizing the last part. Knuckles sighed and crossed his arms.

“Look guys, I know. But we can’t take any chances. Imagine if we were able to find him! We could give him the justice he deserves, and everyone would be happy…We just have to keep trying. Now, who’s going?”

Everyone looked around again, waiting for someone to go first. 

“I’ll go,” said Gadget. Everyone looked at him in surprise, since Gadget stopped going on the searches after the first few. At the time, he told them that he had to stop going on them since it was too much for him, which was true. After the war had ended, he wanted nothing to do with Infinite, and the searches only reminded him of the pain and stress he had caused him, especially with their first meeting. This time, Gadget wanted to go since he had to make sure Zero wasn’t actually sighted, even though he was certain about it.

Vector, Espio, and Amy also decided to go. Those who decided to stay left and went into their respective rooms, leaving only the 5 who were planning on going. 

“What’s our plan?” asked Espio.

“We will make our way to the area and split into 3 groups: Gadget and Amy, Vector and Espio, and me. You already know the procedure, search the area and come back to the meeting spot. If you find him, capture him and bring him back.” Knuckles got up and pushed his rolling chair back under the table. “Once all of you are ready, meet me at the base entrance,” he said as he left the room. Espio sighed.

“Do you all believe we’ll actually catch him?” he said.

“Hey, you never know! We might actually catch’em this time!” bellowed Vector, who got up from next to Espio.

“You say that everytime, and then we don’t find him. It’s just a waste of time at this point.” Espio also got up, and started walking out with Vector.

“Welp, guess I’ll just have to see when we get there,” said Vector, grinning. Only Gadget and Amy remained in the room.

“Do you think he’s dead?” asked Amy, who looked over at Gadget. Gadget stared at the thick oak table in front of him and gulped. All the talk about Infinite, who he knew as Zero, being dead was really bothering him. He just wanted to tell them that he found him himself, and that he was doing okay, but he knew that wouldn’t go over well. He knew that they would just capture him and execute him if he did that, and no matter how much Zero would say that was fine, he would not let them do that. He didn’t want Zero to die. He wanted to give him a second chance, as ridiculous as it sounded. It was what his heart told him.

“No…Yes, I don’t know, to be honest. If he’s alive he’s probably somewhere far away from here doing his own thing. If he tried to come back he would’ve done it by now.”

Amy stood up. “I agree. These searches are pointless, but what can we do? Knuckles is still so dedicated to finding him. I help him with these cause I know it makes him feel better, but I don’t know how much more I can do.” Gadget stood up as well, and they started walking out the room. 

“This is probably the last one I’ll do. Hopefully this is the last one we all do.” 

Amy nodded in response. “I hope so too. I’m surprised you decided to go.”

“I’m surprised myself too. I think I just want some type of closure for these, if that makes any sense.” They stood at the door.

“I understand,” she said, looking back at the conference table, sighing. “Well, you ready?”

Gadget nodded with a weak smile. “Let’s get this over with.”

Notes:

For the update schedule, expect a new chapter every two weeks. This is about what I was doing already, but from now on, these chapters will take me about two weeks to write.
Also, the chapters from now on will be near this length. I wasn't expecting chapter 5 and this one to get as long as they did, but they did. I started outlining my chapters in detail since the 4th one, which probably explains why they've gotten longer compared to the first three chapters.
I will also be editing and rewriting some parts of chapter 1 and 2 in the future. I won't change any big parts, but I will just go through them and touch up on some passages and dialogues.
Thank you to everyone who's been reading and supporting this story! I really enjoy planning and writing this story, and all of your support means a lot!
Note: I changed a little near the end, since I realized I had a continuity error. In chapter 4, I wrote that Knuckles stopped the searches a month after the war ended, and I forgot about this when I wrote this chapter. So, right near the end I added a few things to remedy that continuity error.

Chapter 7: Onward into Someone New

Summary:

Gadget comes back from work after the search, and Amy decides to hang out with him at house that Friday evening.

Chapter 7: Onward into Someone New

The western part of Sunset Heights was the calmest part of the city. Most lively districts and areas were in the central or northern parts. The small forest that laid next to the western outskirts of the city led right into the much larger Luminous Forest, which itself was a part of the Mystic Jungle. Luminous forest was a popular place for hiking, due to trails that allowed people to see the ancient ruins that once stood there. No one knew much about which civilization the ruins belonged to, even though many had tried to come up with theories about it.

The group of five made their way to the western outskirts, receiving worried looks from Mobians on the streets. Most of the time, Mobians in Sunset Heights assumed that a search for Infinite was active whenever Knuckles was leading a group of Resistance executives through the city. However, at this point, most Mobians in the city stopped believing that Infinite was alive after two months post-war. After a long trek through the streets, they finally made it to the entrance of the forest. 

“Alright, so we’re gonna split into three groups and search the area. I’ll go north, Espio and Vector will go west, and Gadget and Amy will go east. In 30 minutes we’ll all meet back here at this spot. If you see him, capture him and take him back with you. See y’all in 30,” said Knuckles, as he ran up the north trail. 

“I guess I’ll see you two in 30 minutes then,” said Espio. He and Vector went in their assigned direction, leaving Gadget and Amy alone. 

As Gadget and Amy took the eastern trail, they marveled at the beauty of the forest. The sky was clear that day, illuminating the green leaves of the trees around them. Since most Mobians were working at the time, the trails were mostly empty. Gadget and Amy made sure to inspect the forest at their sides, listening for any suspicious sounds. After five minutes of walking down the trail, a loud rustling from a bush to their left side made them stop.

“Did you hear that?” whispered Amy. Gadget nodded. They went off the trail and followed the rustling, which kept moving further and further away from them throughout thick bushes and foliage. Once they had surrounded a bush where the rustling was sounding , they pulled out their respective weapons. “Whoever’s there, come out!”

After a few long seconds of only hearing the wind blowing through the trees above them, they flinched at the sight of a family of flickies flying away into the sky.

“This is stupid. What’s the point of this?!” exclaimed Gadget, who slumped against a tree.

“I know, it’s dumb. But we can’t really do much about it. Knuckles is already stubborn on his own, so there’s no way we can convince him to end these,” sighed Amy, who sat down against a tree. “I don’t know about you, but I propose that we just rest here and join them in about 20 minutes. I’m already tired, and I don’t feel like doing this anymore.”

“I will take you on your proposition,” he said grinning. For the next ten minutes, they rested and chatted, taking in the beauty of the nearby Luminous Forest. At least they got to take a short hike through a beautiful forest, he thought. 

“When was the last time you came here?” 

“Hmm, maybe a month ago? I don’t hike here often, but I should. I want to visit Mystic Jungle as well, I haven’t been there since the war.”

“Really?” gasped Amy. “You should visit there sometime! It’s so pretty! I took Cream with me once there and-”

A whizzing sound came from above them, making them silent. Ten metallic-gray Egg Pawns surrounded them out of nowhere.

“Eggman robots? What are they doing here? I thought we took care of all the rogue robots here” he said, groaning. They stood up and took their weapons out. 

“We can find out once we destroy them first!”

With a nod, Gadget turned around and jumped in the air. He shot his grappling hook at an Egg Pawn, and pulled himself towards the robot while aiming his feet at it. The force of his kick knocked the robot far, malfunctioning it. He did the same with another robot, kicking it into another Pawn. With only two Pawns left, he took out his lightning wispon and activated it, which made the tip of the wispon glow with a yellow light. He swiped the wispon, causing an electric whip to crackle and fly out in front of him, easily destroying the two Pains. 

Amy swung her hammer in front of her, demolishing the Egg Pawn who was running towards her. As a Pawn ran over and tried to punch her, she dodged the attack and destroyed the Pawn with her hammer. Three pawns surrounded her, and they each went after her at the same time. She jumped above them and swung her hammer down on a Pawn, the force of the impact bringing up in the air again. She repeated this two more times, landing gracefully after all of the pawns were defeated.

“Is that all of them?” asked Gadget. A small bit of sweat was starting to form on his brow.

“I think so. Weird that some random Egg Pawns would be here. We should let Knuckles and them know.”

After using the next few minutes to relax, they returned to the meetup spot. They were the first ones to get there, shortly being joined by Espio and Vector, and then Knuckles.

“I’m assuming we all found nothing?” sighed Knuckles, defeated. Everyone nodded.

“We didn’t find Infinite, but we found something more relevant. A small group of Egg Pawns attacked us,” said Amy.

Everyone stared at them, surprised. “Egg Pawns? Didn’t we already destroy all the rogue robots?” said Espio, as he raised an eyebrow.

“I thought we got most of them, but I guess we didn’t. We need to survey Luminous Forest and make sure there aren’t any left wanderin’ about,” said Vector, receiving a nod from Knuckles. After the war, the Resistance had to survey areas in order to make sure that any leftover badniks from the war were destroyed. 

“I’ll do that now then. Could you help me, Vector?” said Knuckles. Vector nodded, and joined him as they started walking away from the group. “You three can go back now. Espio, make sure you make a report of the search.”

They left the forest, returning to the base a little after 4:30. The base was very quiet, as most people had left already. Some members were walking out as they came in. Gadget saw Tails organizing his things as he walked into his workroom.

“How’d it go?” asked Tails.

“You already know. We didn’t find him. We did, however, find some Egg Pawns. Knuckles and Vector are surveying the area now to make sure no more rogues are wandering around.” 

“Huh, that’s weird. Anyways, I’m about to head out, I’ll see you Monday!”

With a wave, Tails left, leaving Gadget alone in the room. He scrambled to clean his desk and gather his things so that he could leave. He wanted to get home to make sure that Zero was okay. As he closed the door to the techroom behind him, he saw Amy enjoying a snack at the center table.

“You about to leave?” she asked, receiving a nod from Gadget.

“What are you gonna do the rest of the day?” 

Amy sighed. “Nothing,” she laughed. “What about you?”

“Just like you said, nothing,” he said, smiling.

“Well, would you want to have some tea at your place? I bought a new type of tea and I’ve been wanting to try it out with someone.”

Gadget’s eyes beamed. “Sure! Does 6 sound good?”

“Yeah! See you then!”

As he left the base, he made a mental note to himself to warn Zero about her visit. He was looking forward to Amy’s visit, especially since they hadn’t had as many chances to talk during the week like normal. They usually tried to hangout at least once a week, so that they could catch up on things. He thought about what type of tea she would bring this time on his walk back home.

 

Zero was reading as he checked the clock on the wall and noticed that it was 5:10. He was starting to feel slightly worried, since Gadget always came back before 5. Before he could think about it any longer, he heard the door open and saw Gadget walking in.

“You’re a little later than usual.”

Gadget sighed and flopped on his papasan chair. “You can thank Knuckles for that. You didn’t happen to take a stroll in Luminous Forest earlier today, did you?”

Zero raised an eyebrow. “No, I wasn’t there. Why, did someone claim to see me there?” 

Gadget nodded. “Someone filed a report, claiming that they saw you there. We searched the place afterwards and found nothing, like always,” he huffed. “I’m so sick of it. Everyone for the most part believes you’re dead! In the last month he’s been so damn headset on finding you lately, and I’m just tired of it.”

“I thought he stopped the searches.”

“He did, but within the last few weeks he started them again. No one knows why.”

“Well, what’s stopping you from telling him the truth of my location?”

Gadget looked up at him, furrowing his brow. “Why would I do that? He would capture you! Of course I can’t let that happen!”

Zero looked down, sort of expecting Gadget to say something like that. Part of him wanted to make sure that Gadget hadn’t changed his beliefs. He was still okay with being captured, even considering at times throughout the week about turning himself in. But, since it would obviously make Gadget very upset, he decided to let him keep him alive. It would only be polite, since Gadget had been trying so hard to take care of him, he thought. 

“If you’re truly dedicated to keeping me here, you really need to form a plan. Especially with how often your friends seem to like coming here, it’ll be inevitable that I’m discovered one day. Plus, I can tell you aren’t a good liar.”

“What?” said Gadget, as he stared at him dumb-founded.

Zero chuckled. “I can tell you wear your emotions on your sleeve. From my experiences in the war, and from my experiences living here.”

Gadget smiled a little, feeling caught. It was true that he was very expressive, and trying to hide his feelings often resulted in failure. “Well, that is true. You know, you’re oddly perceptive.” 

Now it was Zero’s turn to stare at him dumb-founded.

“Perceptive?” he said, taken aback.

“Yeah! You’re good at reading emotions.”

“Well…,” he hesitated, closing his eyes, “You would have to be good at that as a fighter. Knowing how to read your opponent’s feelings is important.”

“Well,” he mocked, “I’m a fighter and I’m not good at reading emotions. So you’re saying I’m not a good fighter?” He made a mock-sad face.

“What? Of course not! I didn’t say that! How did you even reach that conclusion?” he said, slightly flustered. Gadget started laughing, leaning back in his chair. Shaking his head, Zero couldn’t help but grin at the silliness of it all. Gadget’s laughter stopped as he leaned back a little too far, which caused the chair to start falling back.

“Oh shit!” 

He couldn’t stop the momentum of the chair. He tried getting up as the chair fell, but he lost his balance and fell on the floor, barely catching himself with his hands. With a shocked expression, he looked up at Zero, meeting his eyes. Zero looked concerned at first, but after two seconds of silence of them processing what had just happened, he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Zero burst out laughing, trying to cover his face as he laid down on the couch. Gadget burst out laughing too, and the pair both filled the room with contagious laughter. After a minute of uncontrollable laughing fits, they both caught their breath. 

“You’re so ridiculous…,” he panted. “Are you okay though?”

“Yeah,” he said in between snickers. The sound of Zero’s laugh made him feel happy. It was rare for him to see Zero even smile. He continued to lay on the carpet, staring at the ceiling with a smile.

“Are you just gonna keep laying there?”

“I think so. Wait,” he said, sitting up, “what time is it?”

Zero checked the clock. “5:30.”

“Okay, good. Amy’s gonna be here at 6, so you’ll have to hide in my closet again. I’m gonna clean the kitchen so that she won’t judge me too harshly.” He got up from the floor and started working on cleaning the dirty dishes that laid on the sink. “I’ll clean my closet up a bit before she gets here.”

Zero got up from the couch and leaned on the kitchen counter. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Your closet really isn’t that bad, I’ve seen worse anyways. How long will she be here?”

“Hmm, probably two to three hours? We’re gonna have tea together.” Gadget chuckled at Zero’s groan. “Oh, and make sure you take your sword and collar with you. And a book or two, so you don’t get bored.”

“She isn’t as equally chatty as you, isn’t she?” 

“Yep, actually, even more!” He laughed at the even louder groan from Zero.

 

Zero was sitting against the wall in Gadget’s closet, staring at the wall. Gadget had just left him, and he could hear the front door open, along with muffled speech. I’m gonna be here for a while…

After leaving his room, Gadget heard gentle knocks at the front door. It was 6. Right on time . He opened the door, seeing Amy, who was carrying a brown paper bag that seemed heavy.

“Hey! You can just put that on the table,” he said, letting her in. She left her shoes at the entrance and set the heavy bag on the table, making Gadget flinch from the sound. “Damn, what did you all bring with you?”

“I bought some baking supplies too!. I felt like making cookies here, so I just bought my own stuff since I figured you wouldn’t have all the ingredients. I didn’t have any chocolate chips, so I hope you have some!” She started fiddling through the bag and took out some flour, baking powder, baking soda, and some vanilla extract. “Oh, and I hope you have sugar and milk, which you do right? Any normal person would have those.”

“I have milk. I should have sugar…Let me see.” Gadget rummaged through his pantry and found a crumpled bag of sugar. “I got about a cup of sugar, think that’ll be enough?”

“Enough?” she mocked, “Only a cup of sugar for a whole batch? It’ll have to suffice, I guess” she sighed. “But first, tea! So, I bought some lavender tea from the market the other day.”

“Lavender tea? Didn’t know that was a thing. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything lavender-flavored before.” He pulled out his kettle and poured some water in it, putting it on the stove afterwards. “So, what’s been going on with you lately?”

“Ugh, definitely a lot of work,” she groaned. “He’s been piling work on us this week. Isn’t it the same for you? He’s been giving you and Tails a bunch of assignments too.”

“Yep,” he groaned. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. He increased the budget for  the wispons, did you see that? I had to go over it on Monday.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I feel bad for you, having to go over budgets, ugh. Sounds so boring,” she laughed.

Gadget shrugged. “Well, yeah it is sometimes. But it’s a part of life, having to do boring stuff you don’t want to sometimes, you know?” The kettle started to boil, giving off a whistling sound. It was his signal to take it off the stove. “So, how long should the tea bags steep?”

“It says for three minutes,” she said, while inspecting the instructions on the back of the bag. Gadget prepared two mugs, while she took out two tea bags and put one in each mug. The color of the water slowly turned into a light amber color as he poured the steaming water into the mugs. “The lavender leaves look so pretty!”

“I know, right? It’s always been one of my favorite plants.” After three minutes, they took out the tea bags, and took a sip of the tea. To Gadget, the tea had a light floral taste, with hints of a rosemary-like flavor. He liked it more than he thought he would. “How is it?” he said, laughing at the disappointed look on Amy’s face.

“It’s alright. It looked so pretty, but it tasted weird. Maybe it’s just an acquired taste.”

They sipped their tea in peace, with the occasional comment. While they were drinking their tea, Gadget thought about Zero, and how bored he probably was, which made him smile a little. Once they had finished their tea, they started organizing the baking supplies around the table. 

“You should get your aprons out! I don’t feel like getting flour all over my fur,” she said, making dusting motions on her dress.

“They should be in my closet. I’ll get them real quick.” At least he could speak to Zero for a bit, he thought. The last time he had used those aprons was when Amy was there a month ago, also baking something. Now that he thought about it, he only really baked when Amy was over. 

As he opened the sliding door of his closet, he saw Zero sitting against the wall, reading. 

“Are they gone?”

“No, she’s gonna be here probably for another two hours,” he said, stepping in and scurrying around piles of clothes for the aprons. “Did you happen to see any black aprons in here?” 

Zero raised an eyebrow at him. “Aprons? Are you making something?”

“Yeah, we’re making cookies. I’ll try to leave some for you.” He started going through another pile of clothes, before they both froze at the sound of footsteps in his room.

“Who are you talking to?” Amy laughed. Before Gadget could do anything, she had come into the bathroom. “Wow, you really need to clean your closet! It looks even worse than last time!” Zero had managed to scurry into a corner outside of view, and Gadget stepped in front of him, trying his best to cover him. “Could you find them?”

“No, I don’t know where they are. They’re supposed to be in here,” he said, his body frozen. 

Amy stepped into the closet, looking around. Zero prayed that she wouldn’t go through the pile of clothes that hid his sword, but fate had turned its back on him that day, as she went through that exact pile. With wide eyes, he saw as the hilt of his sword became exposed.

“What the?” she said, as she uncovered the sword, “What is this? Since when did you get a sword?” 

Gadget forced a smile. “Oh, that, um, I found it somewhere and decided to keep it. I mean, hey, a free sword? Anyone would take that, right?” 

Zero shook his head as best as he could in his limited space. He’s really bad at lying.

Amy looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Um, I guess? I never knew you had the sudden knack for swordsmanship? You’re acting weird.  Are you hiding something from me?” she said, grinning “Oh, come on, we’ve got nothing to hide from each other!”. 

She further inspected his closet, trying to see if he was hiding anything else weird. As she looked near him, she saw thin, white tips of fur sticking out behind Gadget’s right foot. 

Gadget noticed her looking at the space behind him, and tried to move his foot to cover Zero ‘s tail, but it was too late. 

“Who’s behind you?” she said, her grin disappearing into a concerned look.

“What?” he said, staring at her dumb-founded. “No one’s behind me!” He tried forcing a laugh, but it only made him look even more suspicious, he realized. 

“Ok, you’re acting really strange now. I can obviously tell you’re trying to hide someone, or something .”

Shit . As thoughts of Zero being taken away intruded his mind, they halted as Zero spoke up.

“This is foolish, Gadget. Just step away, there’s no point in trying to hide me anymore,” he said with a sigh. Gadget and Amy stared at each, shocked, and it took a few seconds for Gadget to move out of the way. Zero stood up, and looked at Amy.

“You…You look familiar…wait! No, it can’t be! Infinite? Is it really you? Gadget, what’s…” Amy said, taking a few steps back. “Has he been…Where…”

Zero felt repulsed at the mention of Infinite. “First, please call me Zero, and second, Gadget will explain everything.” He wasn’t expecting for this to happen at all. At first, he wondered why Amy was casually walking around in Gadget’s room and bathroom. Then, he hadn’t expected what he said earlier about Gadget being a bad liar to be so painfully true. 

Gadget looked down, his ears drooping. “I’ll explain everything, Amy. Let’s just go to the kitchen,” he said, defeated. From what he saw, Amy looked more confused than anything, but she reluctantly followed them into the kitchen.

Once they had all sat down at the table, Amy took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll ask one question at a time. First one is, how long did, no, why, no, how did you, ugh, I don’t know! I don’t even know what to say!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain things one at a time. But first, can you promise that you won’t tell anyone at the Resistance about this?”

Amy looked at Gadget, as if she didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know, Gadget. This is…”

“Just promise me, please? I hate to burden you with a secret like this, but…I don’t want to let them know yet.”

“But…why? We’ve been looking for Infinite, or Zero, for months. And you finally find him, and now you don’t want them to know?” she sighed. “I’m not trying to attack you or accuse you of anything, but I need to know why, and what’s going on here.” 

Gadget looked at Zero, who was looking down. “I’ll explain from the start. I found him a week ago on Saturday, near here in the grove. It was right after I got home after we hung out. I decided I wanted to take a stroll around my house, and then I found him.”

“What happened when you found him?”

“Well, at first, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. And honestly, at the very beginning, I did consider turning him into the Resistance.”

Zero looked up at him. “You did?”

“Yeah,” he said, feeling guilty, “but that was only at the start! Once you came here I was focused on making sure your wounds were tended to.”

For some reason, Zero felt a little betrayed. It was only logical, he reasoned, but with how Gadget hammered it into him that he wanted to keep him alive, he pondered on what Gadget’s true feelings for him were.

“So, he’s been living here since?” 

“Yeah. I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t want him to get captured. He’s been so respectful to me, and I truly believe he isn’t the person we knew during the war.”

Amy just stared at him, but Gadget couldn’t read her face. “I want to believe you Gadget, I honestly really do. But, this is just so…unexpected and…I don’t know. I need to hear it from you, Zero. Why should we not take you in?”

Zero’s hands were starting to shake from the tense mood in the air. He was trying to keep his composure, but his thoughts started attacking him as well. “Well,” he stammered, “I wouldn’t mind turning myself in, but Gadget won’t let me.”

“Of course I won’t! You deserve another chance!” 

Zero could only look back at him, but Gadget’s concerned face and words did not help with his worsening trembling. 

“But,” she said, glaring at Zero, “what’s stopping you from betraying us or going back to Eggman? Hell, you have a whole sword with you, you could’ve killed Gadget with it in his sleep! And I just know that you’ve thought about that at least a few times.” 

“What?” said Gadget, eyes widening from Amy’s sudden shift in mood. “He would never-”

He was interrupted by the sound of Zero’s chair squeaking as Zero stood up and grasped the edge of the table.

Memories from the nightmare invaded his mind, making his shaking worse. Images of Gadget in the dream dying kept on playing in his brain. All of his thoughts came rushing, as his face started twitching in anger. The table rumbled from trembling arms, before he slammed it with his fist, making them both flinch. 

“Is that really what you think of me? A damn fool who would kill someone taking care of him, just so I could get captured and killed? Someone who just can’t control themselves?”

“Well, I-” she stammered, looking stunned.

“The only person I care about killing is that damned doctor! I don’t ever want to work for him. But I’m not even in the state to kill anyone! I’m so damn weak, my body is sore all the time, I can barely train without getting exhausted in a few minutes!” he screamed, trying to catch his breath. 

“I just want to be someone who doesn’t fail someone. The last two lives I’ve lived were just failures. As the Ultimate Mercenary, I was too damn weak to keep my squad alive, and they died as a result. And as Infinite, it didn’t matter anyway since I failed to defeat you all, and I lost every ally, including the damned doctor. I don’t give a damn about any of you, except for Gadget, since he’s been taking care of me. And the fact that you…” He tried catching his breath again. “You think I thought multiple times about killing him in his sleep? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Zero, it’s okay! She didn’t-”

“No, I know full well what she meant! It’s pointless Gadget! Everyone wants me dead! You can’t stop people from believing that! You’re the only person who wants me to stay alive! What can you do against everyone else? It’s hopeless! But even then, even then, I know it would hurt you to see me captured. So that’s why I still keep on living. But for people like you,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Amy, “Know that I don’t give a damn about you all. I don’t care about fighting you all. I don’t-” His voice started breaking. He closed his eyes and looked down, trying to keep himself from crying. 

Shallow breaths from Zero were the only sound that filled the dead silent room. Gadget and Amy could only look at each in complete shock. 

Amy got up from her seat and walked towards Zero, before putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

Zero slowly looked up at her, not knowing what to say, or how to feel. He knew that he was a few seconds away from breaking down, and ran away from them, going back to Gadget’s closet and shutting the sliding door as he sat in the corner in the dark. Tears started falling down his eyes, as he buried his face into his knees. Memories of his past started coming in full-force, and he could feel something break within him as he sobbed. 

Amy sighed and looked down. “I feel bad. That was awful of me to say.”

“No, you just felt concerned for me,” he said, looking away.

“No, Gadget, that was rude of me. Yes, it came out of concern, but that was awful of me.”

They sat in silence for the next minute, looking away from each other.

“You know, he would never kill me. He’s been nothing but respectful to me,” he said, looking up at Amy now. She turned away at his gaze.

“I know, I know. Please forgive me for saying that, I’m just…This whole situation is so much for me. The last thing I expected today was to find Infinite, sorry, Zero, at your house. We even had a search for him earlier! I’m concerned for you, you know it won’t be good if Knuckles found out about this.”

“Yeah…But I don’t know what to do. I can’t just keep him here for months.”

“Well, with your horrible attempt at lying earlier, that’s definitely true.”

They laughed, the somber mood lightening up a little.

“Well, we can only move on from this for now. I’m sure he’ll come out later. But dwelling on this won’t do anything for us.” A mixing bowl found itself in front of Amy. She looked up at Gadget, who was smiling. “Shall we make these?”

They spent the next fifteen minutes mixing the wet and dry ingredients in their respective bowls. Amy knew the recipe off the top of her head, so she called out the measurements while Gadget gathered the ingredients and put them in the bowl. After combining all of the ingredients together, the dough turned out to be soft and firm, and now it was time to put in the chocolate chips.

“You have chocolate chips, right?” she asked.

Gadget scratched his chin as he thought. The last time he used any chocolate chips was the last time he baked, which was a month ago. He checked the pantry and found the same bag that he used last month, only a cup of chips left.

“Is that the same bag? You really don’t bake unless I’m here, do you?” she said, laughing. 

Gadget could only shrug. They put the chips in the dough and sectioned pieces into balls, which were put on a baking tray and into the oven. Once they set the oven and timer, they started to clean the now-dirty kitchen. Small piles of flour and sugar littered the table, and random drops of milk were scattered across the counter. While they were cleaning the kitchen, Gadget thought about Zero, worrying whether he was okay. Amy could see his ears drooping. 

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just worried about him.” He took the mixing bowls and started washing them in the sink with a sponge and hot water.

“Well, maybe if you offer him a cookie he’ll cheer up?” Gadget’s ears perked up at that idea, and a small smile formed on his face.

“That sounds like a good idea!”

After they spent 30 minutes waiting on the cookies to be done, they took the tray out once the oven timer had beeped. The fragrant, warm smell of cookies filled the house. They looked plump and soft, yet firm. “These look so good! You need to send me your recipe one day.”

“I will. I got this recipe from Vanilla. She has amazing recipes.” Once they had let the cookies rest for five minutes, Amy tried one. Her eyes widened at the texture and taste. “You have to try these, like right now.”

With a smile, he tried a cookie, and had the same reaction. This would definitely cheer him up, he thought. “I’m gonna bring one to him.” Amy nodded, and he went to the closet with two cookies in his hands.

Zero was sitting in the dark in Gadget’s closet. After sobbing for a few minutes, his tears slowly subsided until he was just staring at the wall in front of him. HIs heartbeat had calmed down, along with his tremors. The smell of fresh cookies did improve his mood a little, but he still felt awful. Before he could ruminate on everything that had happened again, he heard footsteps coming into Gadget’s room. The smell of cookies became stronger, as he saw Gadget come into the dark bathroom, holding two objects in his hands.

“Hey, can I sit with you for a bit? I bought some cookies with me.” Zero grunted in response, which rang as a “yes” to Gadget. He thought about turning the light on, but decided against it and sat next to Zero. “You want one?” 

Zero looked at the cookie for a second, before taking it. He took a bite and savored the sweet and balanced taste. This was his first sweet in months, and it did not disappoint. He appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet. They both ate their cookies in silence, until Gadget finished his first. Zero was taking small nibbles at a time.

“So, how you feeling?”

“Like shit.”

Gadget couldn’t help but chuckle at the dry, and expected, answer. “Well, I know she’s already apologized, but she really meant it. She’s nice, she was just worried about me.” Zero didn’t respond. “Is it good?”

“Yeah.”

Gadget smiled. “I’m glad.”

“I need to ask something from you.”

Gadget’s smile shifted into a curious look of concern at the sudden mood shift. “What is it?”

“How do you feel about me? And be honest. No more lying, no more sugar coating. Tell me the truth.”

Gadget looked down, thinking about what to say, until he was interrupted.

“No, don’t think about a ‘nice’ way to tell me you resent me.”

“Well, you would be right on that. But…” he hesitated, “I feel bad about it, cause, well, you’re not the same person anymore. It feels like I’m holding a grudge against you for no reason.”

“But there is a reason. I killed your friends in Sunset Heights. I caused you and your friends pain and fear in the war. You resent me for this, yes? Right? Or hate me? Or despise me?” he said, looking at Gadget next to him.

“Why are you so insistent on this? We already talked about this, there’s no point in dwelling on it.”

“Gadget, do you hate me or not?! I need to know, especially since you talk so much about wanting to keep me alive even though you wanted to turn me in at first.”

“What? Is that what you’re fixated on?” he questioned.  “I already said earlier, I stopped considering that once you started living with me.”

“Just say yes or no! I can’t tell if your beliefs are consistent or not! That’s why I need to know!”

“Okay! I guess,” he sighed, “I do resent you! But it’s really not that important!”

“It is! Do you just not think about our past?” His hands started trembling again. “How can you just push everything that I’ve done to the side? I’ve literally killed your friends, do you just ignore that and forget about them?”

“I don’t,” he sniffled. Zero looked up at him and saw tears falling down Gadget’s face. “I think about it a lot. Of course not all the time,” he laughed weakly, “but it crosses my mind at times.” He could feel himself getting sad, and tried to hide it, but that failed as it always did.

“You know, I really miss those friends who volunteered with me during the war. And sometimes I still get nightmares about the war, from some of the stuff I saw. Every once in a while, in my bed at night, I cry about those friends. They were great people and awesome friends to me, and yet they were killed right in front of me!” His sniffling was getting dangerously close to sobbing, but he managed to compose himself.  

“But you getting captured, or killed, wouldn't change anything about this. It wouldn’t undo all the damage you’ve caused for me, my friends in the Resistance, and everyone else. Even if you died, I would still miss and cry for those friends.”

Zero couldn’t think of a way to respond. Gadget’s words had cut him deep, making him shed tears again. That dreaded emotion, that he feared the most, sprouted in him. Guilt. But this guilt only extended itself to Gadget. He honestly did not feel guilty for how his past actions affected most people, but he hated seeing the person who had been so nice and forgiving to him break down. He didn’t want to admit to anyone, even himself, but Gadget had started reminding him of someone in his jackal squad. Deux.

“So what then?” he said, almost whispering. “If killing me doesn’t change anything, what will you do?”

Gadget looked up at him with a weak smile. “Like I’ve said plenty of times, I’ll find a way to keep you safe. As hard as it can be sometimes, I forgive you. I can easily tell that you’re not the same person who was my enemy in the war. You’re just Zero the Jackal now. And that’s what matters to me. I’m not asking you to become a hero, or, hell, even to be ‘good,’ I just want you to be someone new. Someone who’s willing to look towards the future and become a new person. 

Zero had to stop himself from crying again. The pure acceptance and forgiveness from Gadget was overwhelming him. “I don’t deserve this. Everyone wants me dead, and it’s only right that they do,” he said, looking down.

“You’re right that most people want you dead. And I understand why they do. But I don’t, along with Amy.” 

“Even her?”

“Yeah! She’s really nice, I promise. You have a strong heart within you, and I don’t care if other people can’t see that. You deserve another chance at life. Please, just,” he took a deep breath, “just accept my forgiveness.”

“I…will,” he said, his voice breaking.

They sat together, taking in the tranquil mood that had grown between them.

“You wanna come back to me in the kitchen?”

“I think I’ll stay here. I just need to be alone for a while. I need to gather my thoughts.”

Gadget got up. “I understand. If you want to join us, just come on out,” he said, smiling. He left the closet and rejoined Amy, who had turned the TV on. 

“Is everything alright? I could hear loud, it sounded like one of you two were yelling or something” she said, her face growing even more concerned as she noticed tears on Gadget’s face. 

He smiled. “More than alright. He’s good. He may join us later, but he told me he needs to gather his thoughts for a bit.”

“I’m glad.”

They sat on the couch together and flipped through some channels. The new episode of the drama Gadget watched earlier that week was about to come on, and they got a plate of cookies to eat for the show. Both of them liked talking with each other about the show. Once the show ended, Amy started gathering her things. 

“I’m gonna leave soon,” she said, as she started packing up her ingredients that she bought. Gadget helped her, and soon the only thing left was the cookies. “How many do you wanna keep?”

There were ten cookies left. “Let’s do half for each.” Amy nodded, and she wrapped five of them and put them in her bag. Gadget checked his clock, noting that it was 9. “You want me to walk you back to the city? It’s dark out.” 

“Yeah, that would be nice. I don’t have my hammer with me.”

“Okay. I’ll let Zero know real quick.”

“Wait, you should ask him if he wants to walk with us. Has he been out of the grove at all since he’s been here?”

“No, he’s just been here. Maybe that would make him feel better. I’ll ask him.” 

When Gadget came back to the closet, he squinted to see Zero sitting in the same position, with the closet light still off. “Hey, Zero?”

There was no response. He turned on the bathroom light, and now he could see Zero more clearly. As he got closer, he could see his chest lightly rising, along with hearing soft breaths. He must be asleep.  

“Hey, Zero,” he said, this time shaking him lightly. A part of him felt guilty for disturbing his slumber, but he wanted to give him a chance to go out.

With a grunt, Zero’s eyes slowly opened. The light from the bathroom made his eyes squint, as he tried to adjust to the new brightness. Once his vision was fully clear, he could see Gadget kneeling next to him, with that same smile. 

“What time is it?” he asked, groggily.

“It’s 9. I came here to ask if you wanted to walk with me and Amy to the city. I’m just walking her home, we’ll stop once we reach the city limits. I thought that maybe you’d like to be able to get out of the house for a bit.”

Zero pondered on that idea. Gadget was right that he would like that, but surely he couldn’t just casually reenter society, he thought. “Well, I wouldn’t mind that, but I can’t just go out so easily. People would recognize me.”

“People only saw you in your mask though, no one knows what your face looks like.”

“If I didn’t have long, distinctive, white hair then maybe that would be true.” 

Gadget scratched his chin, realizing that he was right. “Well, maybe you could wear something to hide it? I have a big jacket in here.” He turned the light on in his closet, which made Zero cover his eyes, and found a black jacket. “Here, you could wear the hood and that should cover your hair.”

Zero still doubted the idea, but he decided to go with it. He put on the jacket and tried his best to cover his hair with the hood, which was harder than he imagined. “I feel ridiculous in this.”

Gadget couldn’t help but laugh at his appearance. He was kind of right, that he looked funny. 

“You’ll be fine. Plus, it’s a Friday night, and people on the streets will probably be drunk at this point so they’ll look ridiculous too!”

“Well, if you say so,” he said, hiding a grin. Gadget left the bathroom, and Zero hesitated for a moment, but he eventually followed him. As he passed the mirror, he considered looking at it for a split second, but decided against it and followed Gadget. They made it to the front door, where Amy was waiting.

“Is he coming?” she asked Gadget.

“Yep! We’re ready to go.”

They left his house, after Gadget had locked the door. The temperature had cooled down, leaving a gentle breeze in the air. Zero felt worried about leaving Gadget’s grove. He was okay with the idea at the moment, but going down the path now made him want to go back. Memories of Gadget talking about the search from earlier came into his mind, making him even more worried. He didn’t want Gadget’s house or space getting searched or investigated. His thoughts were interrupted as Gadget spoke to him.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Honestly, I’m worried for you. What if someone sees me?”

“That’s why you’re wearing that jacket.”

“You’ll be fine, Zero. No one would be out here in this area. And, when we reach the city limits, I’ll leave, so we won’t get near any people,” said Amy.

Her words made him feel a little better, but he still worried nonetheless. The three left the trail that led to Gadget’s house, and were now about to approach the city limits. Buildings and  bright lights started to come into view as they got near an avenue which would lead into the city limits. In the distance, Zero could see people walking on the streets. 

His heartbeat rose as they reached the avenue. While no one was in the avenue, the Mobians in the city were becoming more clear. Some were walking with friends and laughing, while some were eating or drinking. It was a strange feeling to him, seeing the city he once took part in destroying now being a city full of life and optimism.

Once they came close to the end of the avenue, Amy and Gadget stopped. 

“I’ll leave here, since we’re about to get into the city. Thanks for walking me, you two.”

“No problem. I’ll see you on Monday then!” After a few waves and goodbyes, Amy disappeared into the city and Gadget and Zero started walking back towards the house.

“See, that wasn’t too bad!” said Gadget, as he nudged Zero’s arm with his elbow. 

“Easy for you to say. If you two had went any further I would’ve started walking back. On a different topic, I’m surprised to see Sunset Heights so…restored,” he said, taking a look back at the lights which were getting less visible, “it was just rubble last time I remembered it.”

“We spent a lot of time and resources on it right after the war, especially once the Resistance moved their headquarters there. It’s sort of become a symbol for our pride and optimism for the land’s restoration.”

“I see.” As they were walking, he took a moment to appreciate the stars in the sky.

“I would love to show you around the city one day. It’s really pretty.”

“Well, in order to do that you would have to introduce me out into the world again. And we both know how that would go.”

Gadget frowned, thinking about their conversation from earlier. “I promise, I’ll come up with some type of plan by next week. I just need some time to think about it.”

“Don’t rush yourself with it. I’m not trying to pressure you about it, it’s more for your sake anyways. The longer you wait, the worse the reaction from everyone will be. You know that.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Just give me some time.”

They reached Gadget’s house, and came inside, leaving their shoes at the door. 

“I can finally take this cursed thing off,” said Zero, as he hastily removed the jacket and appreciated having his hair free again. Gadget laughed, catching the jacket from him. Zero sat on the couch, releasing a big sigh afterwards. “It’s been a long day.” 

Gadget sat on the other end of the L-shaped couch. “It really has.”

“I can’t believe I reacted like that earlier. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Don’t worry about it. When we hold in thoughts and feelings like that, eventually they come out in some way. And now, I’m glad that you were able to do that. Keeping in stuff like that will only harm you and make you feel miserable.”

“I could say the same for you.”

“I know. Look, I’ll try to be better about that. I have a bad habit of keeping stuff in, but hey, that’s one thing we have in common.”

“And one thing we don’t have in common is the fact that I can at least tell good lies.”

Gadget covered his face in his hands, thinking about earlier. “Oh god, that moment will probably haunt me for the rest of my life,” he said, groaning. 

“That was the worst attempt at a lie I’ve ever heard,” he said, chuckling.

“Well, who knows, maybe it’s good that I’m bad at lying. Oh, and by the way, don’t forget about our speed training tomorrow morning.”

“Oh god, I forgot about that,” he groaned, getting a chuckle from Gadget. “I guess there’s no backing out now.”

“You know there isn’t,” he said, grinning. “Anyways, I’m about to clock out for the night. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Gadget left for his room, and Zero decided that he would get ready for bed too. After turning the lights off, he laid under the blankets on the couch. His fatigue had come back after his short nap in the closet. While he told Gadget that he had to form a plan for him, he had to form a plan for himself as well. For the last few days, he had been expecting himself to be dead soon. And, a part of him still felt that way. But now another part of him believed that maybe, just maybe, he could become some new, as Gadget had said earlier. He fell asleep as his fatigue overtook him

Gadget was lying in bed, struggling to sleep. He looked at the moonlight coming in from the window. All he could think about was what he would do with Zero. He wanted him to be able to live in society again and experience new things, but how would he do that? Ideas came to him, one at a time, but only one really made sense.

I could have him work with me in the Resistance…

But that would involve having to introduce him directly to the Resistance, and he knew that wouldn’t go well. But, as he thought about it some more, anything that he did wouldn’t go well. Every option would be difficult and involve receiving pushback, along with a potential loss to his respect. He contemplated that.

But it was worth it, he thought, soon falling asleep afterwards.

Notes:

Wow, this chapter was fun to write! To be honest, this chapter went in a different direction than I was planning before. But I loved how it turned out. I hope all of you enjoy it! I really appreciate all of the support I've gotten on this story, thank all of you!

Chapter 8: The Calm before the Storm

Summary:

As the next week progresses, Gadget comes up with a plan for Zero.

Chapter 8: The Calm before the Storm

 

The sound of clattering pots and pans made Zero shift, until he woke up to the sight of Gadget cooking breakfast. While he was getting adjusted to his senses, smells of sautéing vegetables and coffee filled his nose. Some speech was coming out of the radio in the kitchen, but it all sounded mumbled to him. Once he had fully become awake, he noticed that he felt well-rested for the first time since he woke up in the forest last Friday. 

“You got up just in time. The food’s almost done,” said Gadget, as he stirred sliced vegetables on the sizzling pan. The ring of the toaster went off, and he made a mental note to prepare the slices once he finished cooking the vegetables. 

“And that’s all folks! Thanks for tuning in to our morning show, and we will see y'all tomorrow at 8 AM!” sounded the radio, shortly being turned off by Gadget afterwards as the next show began to introduce themselves.

Zero had gotten up and leaned on the kitchen counter. “What was that?” he said, gesturing towards the radio.

“It’s a morning show that Cream and Vector run every day from 8-9.” He turned the heat off the stove and gathered two plates. From taking a look at Zero’s face, he figured that Zero was wondering who Cream and Vector were. “Oh, you wouldn’t know Cream, but Vector is a large green crocodile, who you may have seen sometime during the war.”

Zero grunted, remembering the crocodile at the big fight at the Eggman Empire Fortress. Trying to push any thoughts of the war away, he took a glance at the food Gadget was laying on the plates. “What did you make?”

“I just sliced some vegetables and sautéed them, along with toast and coffee. On weekends I usually cook actual meals for breakfast, since I have more time.” He finished putting butter on the toast and put both plates on the kitchen table, getting back up to prepare two glasses of water for them. Zero sat down on the opposite end of the table, and took the glass of water from Gadget, who sat down afterwards. 

They started to eat their food, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the house. The house was brightened by the natural lighting of the sun, and birds filled in the sounds of outside. It was slightly windy that day, which was evident by the sound of wind blowing through the branches outside. Zero found himself fortunate that his former enemy’s house was in such a tranquil location. If Gadget had lived in the city, things would’ve been much harder for the both of them, he thought.

Soon, both of their plates were empty, and Gadget sat back in his chair, releasing a satisfied breath. 

“I enjoyed this. This was really good,” said Zero.

“Aw, thanks! I’m glad that you like my cooking,” he beamed. “How’s your fatigue feeling?”

Zero looked to the side as he thought. “It actually feels noticeably better this morning. In the last few days, I could always feel it after waking up, but today, I just feel…rested, I guess.”

“That’s great,” he said, gathering up their dirty dishes. He was about to start washing them, but he was interrupted by Zero coming up to the sink and grabbing the sponge from him.

“Hey, let me wash them. It’s only fair, since you cooked after all.”

Gadget was taken aback at the sudden offer, but he nodded and went after the kitchen table instead, wetting a washcloth in order to clean the surface. Sounds of water against dishes and surfaces rang together in harmony, until both of them finished their respective chores. Gadget was inspecting the table, checking for any dirty spots until he noticed just then that Zero’s sword wasn’t there. “Did you leave your sword in the closet?”

“Oh, yeah, I did. But we shouldn’t need it for today anyways. I’ll just get it later. When did you want to start our training?”

“Hmm, I’m ready anytime. We could go now if you want.” After a nod from Zero, they left Gadget’s house.

 

Zero guided Gadget to where he had been training for the last few days. As September went on and Autumn was approaching, more and more leaves littered the forest floor. It was a warm and clear day, which was accompanied by a gentle breeze. They reached the wide clearing that had a stump in between two large oak trees.

“So this is where you’ve been training?”

Zero nodded. “I guess you could call it training, but it’s been wildly unsuccessful, as you know. I get tired too quickly. But hopefully it’s better today, since I don’t feel as fatigued this morning.”

“No form of training is unsuccessful. Even if you could only do a few minutes at a time, that’s still better than nothing.”

“I guess,” he scoffed, walking over to the stump. “So, how are we gonna do this?”

Gadget scratched his chin as he thought. “I’ll teach you tips that I’ve learned. Most of everything I’ve learned has been from experience.” He walked over to one of the large oak trees, and Zero followed him. “So, I guess the first thing would be to relax your shoulders when you run. Any tension in your upper body will just slow you down and break your focus. I typically allow my arms to go back when reaching high speeds, since that helps with keeping my shoulders lax.”

“Can I see how you run? I can get a better idea if I see it.”

“Sure.” Gadget readied himself, before breaking off from the oak tree. His arms flew behind him once he reached the stump, and he made it to the other oak tree within seconds. Instantly, he ran back, this time reaching full speed earlier and returning even more quickly, grinding himself to a halt at the tree. 

Zero was stunned as met Gadget’s gaze. He remembered his high speed during the war, of course, but seeing it in action again, especially months after the war, really made him realize just how fast he was. It was also another harsh reminder of how little power he had now. “I guess I’ll try then,” he said, eyeing the path to the other oak tree.

“I’ll run with you for the first few times.”

Zero’s stomach turned at the thought of having to run alongside him. Even though he had asked for Gadget to help him, he now realized that Gadget would be able to see just how weak he was now. Pushing his worries away, he emulated Gadget’s starting position, and started running in the same direction. He tried to focus only on his running, which was broken by the sound of footsteps next to him. It was immediately obvious that he was much slower than Gadget, but he tried to not let it bother him during the run. He reached the tree stump, and remembered to let his arms go behind him, which seemed to increase his speed a little. Finally, he reached the other oak tree.

“That was good for a first run!” panted Gadget, who leaned on the tree.

Zero shook his head, while he tried to catch his breath. “No, I was so slow. It took me almost a minute to get here, while it only took you about 10 seconds.” 

“You think I instantly started off being able to run like this?” he breathed. “It took me a while to reach my speed, and I’m still behind a lot of my friends. They’ve simply had more experience than me.”

“Whatever, let’s just run back.” Without waiting for Gadget to respond, he started running back. This time, he felt even slower, and his lungs were working overtime to keep him sustained. As he reached the stump, he pushed aside all other thoughts and forced his legs to carry him as fast as he could. His vision became narrow. After some time spent running, he realized that he had gone past the oak tree, and saw a large spruce tree in front of him that was about to collide with him. It was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself in time, so he tried to steer himself to the side, but he felt himself lose his balance at the sharp turn. 

He braced himself for impact, before a red-furred arm grabbed him. He was suddenly leaning to the right, but his footing was somehow steady. Dizziness began to overtake him as he saw his vision flip and shift. He saw Gadget to his side, who was using his grappling hook, which was attached to a large tree nearby, to drift them. They were able to stop their momentum and slow down, before Zero collapsed on the ground, rolling over on his back.

“You need to be careful! You could’ve broken a bone, or worse if you would’ve hit that tree!” scolded Gadget, who sat next to him. Zero’s vision was spinning, and he grabbed his forehead and covered his eyes to try to stop himself from throwing up. Shallow breaths escaped him, until he was able to take deep breaths and calm down and relax. However, his fatigue had returned, and he felt as if he was chained to the ground.

“Why?” he groaned, “I swear, I can’t do anything without collapsing in exhaustion! You don’t understand, Gadget! I’m trying so hard to just obtain some of the strength I had before, but I can’t do shit without my fatigue kicking my ass,” he shouted at the sky.

Gadget, who was also catching his breath, laid down on the ground next to him. “I wish I could do something about that, I really do. But you have to give your body time. Think about it, for three months you’ve been in a coma-like state, and your muscles are probably even more weakened since you used your powers to fly and levitate all the time. There’s nothing you can do, but to be patient.”

Zero wanted to scoff at those words, but he knew that Gadget was right. They lied down for a few minutes in silence, enjoying the cool forest floor against their backs and wind against the sweat on their brow. A large spruce tree nearby shaded them, providing them relief from the sun’s harsh rays. “What do I do then? I’m basically…” he hesitated, “nothing without my strength.”

“What do you mean?” asked Gadget, who turned his head to look at him.

“I’ve always been defined based on my strength. Both of my former titles reflect that. As the ‘Ultimate Mercenary,’ I had a reputation for being strong. My raiding group was well known; we caused fear in people. And then later, as Infinite, one thing that anyone could say about me was that I was powerful. My whole life, it’s always been about my strength. And now, I’m nothing. I’m barely even a shadow of who I once was,” he sighed. Zero looked to the side at Gadget, but he had to turn away at the sight of pity on Gadget’s face. 

“I feel sad for you.”

Zero turned to look at him again, this time with confusion. “Sad?” he questioned.

“Yeah. That’s a sad way to live, because then you just feel like a tool. If you’re always defined by strength, then what happens when that strength disappears? We all have points in our lives where we lose power, or such,” he said, sitting up. “If you define yourself on your power, then you’ll just be used as a tool.”

Zero pondered on those words. “I disagree. I guess that would be true with the doctor, but at the time I was fine with being used as a weapon, if it would give me strength. However, I didn’t expect him to treat me like one still, later on,” he huffed. “But that was not true with my squad!” he countered, sitting up. “Maybe to outsiders, but my squad members saw me as more than a damn tool. I was a companion to them, just like they were to me.”

“I believe that, don’t get me wrong. I just…I can’t ever understand that way of seeing life like that.”

“Then, how do you define yourself?”

Gadget looked down, his ears drooping. “I guess I define myself based on not being a failure.”

Zero was not expecting him to say that. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking up at the leaves which were flying through the air, “I hate failing people. During the war, when I was volunteering, I intentionally was a watch guard since I was too scared to fight. I didn’t want to fight, and lose, and fail my allies in the battle. And then, when I joined the Resistance officially, after the attack on Sunset Heights, I was so afraid of failing them. I didn’t want to fail a mission, and cause them to lose, or be the reason someone died.”

“I guess I could relate to that. At first, I defined myself on my strength as a mercenary since I didn’t want my squad, or I , to be seen as weak. But later it was because I wanted to keep my squad safe. That wasn’t until a certain member joined the squad. He really brought all of us together,” he said, smiling softly on the memories of the first night after Deux had joined.

 

A year ago.

 

“Ah, this is gonna fetch us a good price!” boasted Uno, who threw the raided robot parts into the group’s large rucksack.

“Hey, don’t be so rough with ‘em!” shouted Trois. “Broken parts don’t sell as well! If we get a reduction on the bounty, we’ll sell your orange hat.”

“You would never, jerk,” she laughed. “This right here,” she took off her hat and gestured to it, “is pure gold.”

“Maybe in your dreams,” said Quatre, who was dusting off her dark green vest.

“You know, you shouldn’t be a mercenary if you’re afraid to get your vest dirty, princess,” said Trois. 

Quatre only grinned at him. “I can be a good mercenary and elegant at the same time. Maybe you should learn that second part, since you almost gave our spot away earlier, dimwit.”

“Doesn’t matter, we still won. Plus, these new orange gloves and boots look nice, don’t they? Took these from the closet in the base.”

“You mean to tell me you wasted time searching for damn clothes? Tch, typical of you I guess,” scoffed Zero, who was grinning. “Hey, Deux.”

Deux looked up at him, fixing his green bandana around his head. “Sir?”

“You don’t have to call me sir, I would actually prefer if you didn’t,” he laughed, “but seriously, good job today. We definitely made a good choice hiring you.”

“Yeah, you were kickin’ ass today!” hollered Uno, who was twirling her hat around her finger.

“Thanks, all. I really enjoy working with y’all. Y’all are fun to be around with,” said Deux, who fixed a bowl of soup from the pot above the campfire.

“We’re the best damn group of mercenaries you’ll ever work with,” said Zero.

“Zero?” Gadget tapped him on his shoulder, which made Zero flinch.

“Oh, sorry. I spaced out.” He tried to stop his memories of his squad from overwhelming him.

“It’s fine. How did he bring your squad together, if you’re comfortable explaining?”

Zero hesitated for a moment, before deciding to explain. He figured, after last night, there was no point in keeping everything away from Gadget. “Hmm, I don’t really know how to explain it, he seemed to just bring out the best of us. He kept the mood friendly, and really made us start seeing each other as companions , rather than just co-workers. He really loved that green bandana he found on our first mission,” he laughed. “And then of course, he…never mind.” Zero would’ve explained that he was the first body of his deceased squad that he saw, but he couldn’t find the strength to say the words. His memories were coming back in full-force, and he had to find a way to deflect the focus from his past. 

Gadget could tell that Zero was getting antsy, so he decided to drop the subject of his squad. “Well, I guess we share that way of life, don’t we? We don’t want to be failures, to someone or something.”

“I guess we do.”

They sat together in silence. Only the sounds of nature and their breathing were present. 

Zero stood up, stretching his arms upwards. “Ready to go back?” 

“Yeah.” They walked back together, using the walk as a way to take in the tranquil atmosphere of the forest. A lot was going through both of their minds, as they both thought about their life before the war.

After they returned to the house, Zero decided to take a nap after showering. Gadget was sitting on his bed, looking outside at the trees through the window. It was approaching noon, and he thought about what he would do for the rest of the day. His thoughts were interrupted by his communicator on his nightstand going off. It was a call from Tails.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Just working on some stuff at my workshop here. I was gonna ask, you got some small metal boards? I just ran out, and the storage at the base is out. I just need a few.”

Gadget attached the communicator on his wrist, before heading to his work room. “I think so, let me check real quick.” He scavenged his part drawers and found a large pile of them. “I got some here, how many do you need?”

“I think about seven would be good.”

“Okay, I’ll bring some over. Give me about 30 minutes and I should be there.”

“Sounds good! Take your time, I’ll just be waiting here.” The communicator turned off as Tails hung up. He put seven of the boards in a cotton bag and gathered his gloves. Zero was still asleep, and he didn’t want to wake him up, so he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote on it, If I’m not here when you wake up, I’m out doing stuff. I’ll be back this evening. He left the house, locking the door behind him.

 

The trip to Mystic Jungle from his house took around 40 minutes. First, he had to get to Sunset Heights, and then go through Luminous Forest. The city was lively that day, with many Mobians walking around and hanging out on the streets. Seeing the streets full of life made him think about last Saturday and his time spent hanging out with Amy at Sunset Mall. He found it interesting just how much his life had changed in the span of one week. If he hadn’t decided to take a walk in the grove that day, life would’ve been just like before. Waking up, working, hanging out with friends, cooking, sleeping…and he didn’t mind that. While the adventure and chaos during the war was fun in some ways, he was glad to settle down for a little.

As the lush Mystic Jungle came into view, he took the familiar path to Tails’ workshop. The workshop was a medium-sized house, and while there was a small kitchen and master bedroom, most of the house was dedicated to his projects and works, save for a guest bedroom, which at this point should’ve been renamed to Sonic’s room. He reached the workshop and saw Tails, who was eating some fruit in the open garage.

“Hey!” beamed Tails.

“Hey, how’s your Saturday been so far?” asked Gadget.

“Eh, normal I guess? I actually overslept this morning, and then Sonic was over and had the random idea to make pancakes from scratch, which turned out to be a disaster, and now I’ve been making some fixes to the Tornado.”

“Sounds like a normal day in your life,” he laughed. “Anyways, I got the parts right here,” he said, handing over the bag.

“Thanks so much! I can’t believe I ran out of these, it’s always the simple parts you run out of first, huh?”

“Yep, same thing happens for me,” he chuckled. “What’ve you been working on with the Tornado?”

Tails walked over to where the Tornado was raised and gestured towards an open part. “I’m just making some quick repairs. It’s still functionable for short trips, but I noticed that some of the boards of some parts could use a replacement.” A few rusty boards were laying on the ground near him, which Gadget assumed to be the old parts. “How’s progress with the custom wispon?”

“I haven’t really been working on my wispon lately, but I have been reading a lot. I might head to the bookstore soon and get some new books.” He walked over to some work-in-progress projects which were sitting on a shelf and inspected them, trying to get some ideas for his own stuff.

“You’re doing better than me, I need to read more. Oh, I was gonna ask, do you have any plans later in the day? I was gonna take a short trip to Angel Island to see Knux, if you wanna come.”

Gadget considered the idea. It sounded nice to him. He had been there a month ago with Tails and Sonic, and it gave him a nice break from the city. However, concerns about Zero took priority, and he decided that he would pass this time. “I have some things I need to do today, so I’ll have to pass this time.”

“No problem. I’ll probably leave as soon as I replace these boards. I won’t hold you then, since you said you got things to do. See you on Monday!” With a wave, Gadget left and made his way back through Luminous Forest into the city. Even though it was only an idea at first, he decided that he would visit the bookstore and buy something new. It was a Saturday, so why not?

The bell above the glass door of the bookstore rang as Gadget entered. The store was packed with a bunch of Mobians checking out the shelves, and a long line had formed at the checkout counter. The bell rang again as Gadget left. Nope, that can wait another day.

 

The sound of keys fiddling around and the door opening caused Zero to wake up. It was later in the evening, he noted from checking the clock, and a white piece of paper on the coffee table caught his attention. After struggling to read the note, he looked up and blinked in confusion as he saw Gadget, who had just sat down on the other couch.

“Just got back. I had to drop off some parts at Tails’.”

“Oh,” he said, laying back down on the couch. The fatigue improved slightly after his nap, but it still lingered. “I was confused for a bit, and this damn fatigue doesn’t help.” He turned to the TV as Gadget turned it on.

“I’m gonna watch some TV for a bit, if that’s fine with you.”

“I don’t care what you do.”

Gadget laughed, before flipping through the channel list. For a Saturday, not much was on, at least something that he would like to watch. After searching through the channels for a few minutes, he decided on a cooking show. Maybe that would give him some ideas for dinner, he thought. 

Zero had been hoping he wouldn’t choose one of those dramatic shows again, and this time, his prayers were answered. However, he wasn’t expecting for him to choose a cooking show of all things. At least that was better than watching a show about couples arguing over dumb things, he thought. 

After some time spent watching the show, which was strangely relaxing to him, he was about to ask Gadget a question about something on the show, until he saw that he was asleep. For the first time in a while, he truly felt peaceful. The sight of Gadget looking so comfortable, along with the relaxing cooking show, and calm forest outside, all combined together to create a serene mood within him. It made him feel content that Gadget was comfortable enough to sleep in his presence. He knew how vulnerable one was when sleeping, since his squad always had to keep watches at night and make sure they didn’t sleep in too open locations. 

The cooking show ended, and a break came on. Zero grabbed the book on wisps and started to read, to pass the time. Eventually, Gadget woke up.

“Ugh,” he yawned, “can’t believe I fell asleep watching TV. That usually doesn’t happen.” He laid down on the couch.

“Well, if I had cooked breakfast, ran around in the forest, walked over to Tails’ workshop, wherever that is, and walked back, I would’ve been tired too,” he said, closing the book.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Later in the evening, Gadget cooked a meal that would last them for that night. After having dinner, Zero read a little more, until falling asleep, and Gadget worked on his wispon for a while, until he eventually fell asleep as well.

 

The next day, Gadget prepared another large breakfast for them both, using the same ingredients. A little past noon, Sonic called Gadget on his communicator, and they caught up over some things outside, while Zero decided to train again, this time on his own.

After a few laps of running in between the trees, Zero collapsed against the stump in exhaustion. He had managed to run two laps this time, compared to his measly one from yesterday. After reflecting on his conversation with Gadget in the forest the previous day, he had decided to focus on training his stamina first. There was no point in learning how to run fast if he collapsed after one lap, he thought. Then, once he would build up stamina, he could ease in speed-training.

As Zero returned from the clearing, Gadget was making something in the kitchen.

“What are you making?” he inquired, leaning on the counter.

“Some grilled cheese for us. I already made yours, it’s on the plate there.”

Zero looked over and saw a plate that had a toasted sandwich with bright, yellow cheese oozing out from the sides. “What is this? I’ve never had something like this before.”

“You’ve never had a grilled cheese?! Well, you’re gonna love mine, I have the best recipe,” he boasted.

Zero picked up the hot sandwich and spread the diagonally-cut pieces apart, surprised at the strands that stretched between the pieces. After taking a curious sniff, he bit into the sandwich, and made a satisfied nod. “I won’t lie, this is good,” he mumbled, shortly taking another bite afterwards.

A smug grin crossed Gadget’s face, before he took his sandwich off the stove and put it on a plate. Once they both finished their sandwiches, Gadget gathered his keys and gloves.

“Where you going?” 

“To the grocery store. I need to stock up on stuff for the week.” He took a pen and piece of notepaper out of a drawer and started to write a grocery list. “Hmm, you like mushrooms?”

“I’ll eat anything you make.”

“But do you actually like mushrooms?”

Zero crossed his arms and looked to the side. “Well,” he paused, “I actually don’t, but if you want them you can get them, of course.”

Worries about whether Zero had been secretly disliking what he had been cooking formed in Gadget, but he tried to push those thoughts away. “Okay, I’ll just separate my portion. I’m making pasta tonight.” Once he finished his grocery list, he left.

 

Zero was sitting at the kitchen table, thinking about what he would do for the next hour. Usually after some sort of training he would take a nap, but this time he wasn’t feeling tired. Then, an idea came to him. Maybe I could watch TV, if something worthwhile is on . He sat on the couch and looked for the remote on the table. All of the buttons and words under them made him tilt his head in confusion. Emulating from how he saw Gadget do it, he pointed the remote at the TV and pushed the red button, which sparked the TV to life. A random show came on, showing live footage of some sport. 

Fiddling with the remote some more, he pushed a yellow button, which was underlined with the abbreviation COM . What does this do? A ringing sound came from a source near the TV, which sent shivers down Zero’s spine. The sound from the show stopped, and a sign, which said Calling…Please change to HDMI-5 for video , appeared on the top of the TV. 

“Shit, shit, how do I stop this?!” he panicked, scrambling to look for a button which would end this. “Did I just call the damn Resistance?!”

Gadget was walking around the store, carrying his basket which had gotten full with groceries. As he was about to grab his last item, which was the box of pasta, his communicator rang. His brow furrowed as he saw that it was coming from his house. “Good thing I bought my headset,” he muttered to himself. Taking a short look around to make sure he was alone, he tapped his headset, and stammered out, “Hello?”

“Oh, thank god it’s you,” Zero sighed in relief. “I thought I accidentally called the damn Resistance.”

“How did you…” he wondered, before remembering about the time he set up his TV to where someone could call him from it. “Oh! I totally forgot I did that! I’ll explain when I get back.” 

 

The door opened, and Gadget came in, setting two large brown bags of groceries. Zero helped him put up the groceries, while Gadget left out the ones he would use soon to cook dinner. 

“So, what happened earlier?” asked Zero.

“I once set up my TV to let someone call me from the house. I did it in case I had a friend over and they needed to contact me, in case they couldn’t otherwise. I forgot about it though, since that hasn’t been used in a while.” 

“Well, I’m glad it only called you. I thought I was about to be taken away.”

“Now that I think about it, you could use that to call me if you ever need to while I’m away. I always have my communicator with me. So, if I’m at work, and you need to ask me about something, or anything else of that sort, just use that.”

Zero nodded, now glad that he had accidentally called Gadget. “Speaking of work, have you come up with something to do with me?”

Gadget had started preparing the vegetables on his maple cutting board. “I have an idea, but I need to give it some more thought. But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure it’ll work.”

“Hopefully it does, for your sake,” he said, while sitting down at the kitchen table. 

Dinner was done an hour later, and after a savory meal of pasta they both fell asleep later that night.

 

Raindrops pattered against Gadget’s umbrella as he walked through misty fog to work that Monday morning. It was slightly chilly, so he was wearing his green jacket. Light gray clouds covered the sun, adding to the melancholy mood of that day. As he made it to the base, he rubbed his shoes against the carpet to get the water off from beneath them. Amy was sitting at the center table, finishing her coffee while chatting with Rouge.

“Hey Gadget! Hope your walk here wasn’t too bad,” said Amy.

“It was fine. Wasn’t expecting it to be so chilly though,” he said, shivering.. 

Until lunch, it was a normal work day for the most part. He was assigned to repair some random pieces of technology, most of them being communicators and grappling hooks from the new recruits. When the clock hit noon, instead of going back to his house for lunch, he decided to grab something in the city. As he was walking back to the base with his meal, his communicator rang, showing From: House . 

“Z?” he whispered.

“Z?” scoffed Zero. “Are we using codenames now? Anyways, I was just asking if you weren’t coming back for your lunch break. I assumed so, due to the weather, but I just wanted to be sure.”

“Yep. I’ll be back at the usual.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be sleeping then.” The communicator beeped as Zero hung up.

Aww, the tough mercenary worries about me, he thought while grinning.

 

After lunch, while he was working on his assignments, a random idea came to him. He knew that Zero couldn’t just always carry his sword out in the open, and, with his current plan of what to do with him, he thought about how if Zero was to go out in society again, or on missions, he would need something to cover and protect his sword. A scabbard! As he thought about it again, he frowned as he wondered how he would get one, or even make one. Surely the base had some random scabbard in its storage, he wondered. They often confiscated or kept things from surveys or battles during the war, so Gadget hoped that maybe once they found some sheaths or scabbards. While there was a parts storage area on the other side of the techroom, the other storage area was in a closet in the infirmary. He tried to form a plan on how he would look for a scabbard of all things, without looking suspicious.

Later in the day, it was 4:30, and most people had left the base. Tails had just left, leaving Gadget alone to finish his last assigned communicator. His plan was to look in the infirmary’s closet once the center room was clear. No one should’ve been in the infirmary, he thought, so he would search for a scabbard in there and try to leave without anyone seeing him. If he was caught, then he would say that he was looking for some first aid supplies to bring to his house, which he had done before.

He finished organizing his desk, and closed the door to the techroom behind him. The center room was clear, so he creeped over to the infirmary, and sure enough, no one was in there. He trailed past the unused white beds, and opened the door to the closet, the antique wooden door creaking as it turned. Cringing at the sound, he looked behind him to make sure he was still alone, which he was. 

Next, he rummaged through the boxes which contained the confiscated objects from battles. Most of the items were worn, and consisted of gloves, junk robot parts, and other random items. The first box he looked through contained no scabbard, so he moved on to the next one. Still having no luck, he was about to look at the fourth box until he froze at the sound of the infirmary door opening.

“What are you doing in there?” a familiar voice laughed.

He let out a massive sigh of relief as he turned around and saw Amy. “Looking for a, um, “ he lowered his voice, “scabbard for Zero.”

“A scabbard for him?” she whispered. “Would we have something like that?” she said, as she looked through the boxes.

“There’s all types of stuff in these. I just thought that he would like something like that, and this is the best way I could find one that wouldn’t look suspicious.” He searched through the fourth box, and was about to give up until a brown leather object revealed itself under some worn gloves. “I think I found one!” he gasped. He pulled out a long brown leather scabbard, feeling across the worn material. “It’s a little worn, but it’s leather, so it’ll work. Looks like it fits his sword well too.”

“Well, I’m glad you found one. Good thing it was me who came in here, because if you tried explaining to someone else why you had the sudden interest in learning swordplay, that wouldn’t go as well,” she laughed.

After some small talk, they left the base together, wincing at the humidity of the air. They separated in the city, and Gadget made his way back home.

 

Zero was considering calling Gadget again, since it was 5:20 and he still wasn’t home, until he heard the door open and saw him enter.

“I found something at the base you may like!” he beamed, scrambling to take his shoes and gloves off. He put the scabbard on the table.

Zero’s ears rose in anticipation of what Gadget had for him. He walked over to the kitchen, where Gadget was still putting his things away, before stopping at the sight of a scabbard on the table. “Is it this?” he inquired, pointing to it.

“Yeah, I thought that you would want some sort of sheath for your sword. I don’t know if it fits, but you can grab your sword from my closet and try it.” 

The scabbard found itself in Zero’s hands, which were feeling it for its design. “It’s a little worn, but it should work. All scabbards eventually become worn anyways.” He got his sword from Gadget’s closet, and came back in the kitchen to try the sheath out. It was a snug fit for the sword in the sheath, but there was a little vertical space left at the end of the sheath once he put the entire blade in. “Hmph, it’s not perfect, but it’ll definitely work for now. Thanks for this, this means a lot to me,” he smiled.

Gadget couldn’t help but smile anytime Zero smiled. “Of course! I’m glad I was able to find one. Oh, and I have some spare work belts in my workroom, so I’ll attach it to the belt sometime later this week so you can wear it.”

“I would really appreciate that. This is actually pretty well made, you know, how did you even find this?” he said, feeling across the rough, but somehow soft, patches. 

“In the base we have a storage unit which has random things found during surveys and battles from the war. I guess they found this at some random battle.” He started to fix himself a plate of fruit, offering some to Zero, who took some.

“I wonder where this came from. Maybe if I find the signature of the maker, I may have an idea,” he said, while eating a grape.

Later that evening, they had dinner together.

“How’s the progress on your plan?” asked Zero, who was swirling spaghetti on his fork.

“I think I’m going along with it, but I just need one more day to finalize it. Just trust me. I think it’s our best option. I just need time to weigh it with the other choices. I’ll let you know once I’m certain of it.” He was sure that the best option would be to introduce him to the Resistance and have him work alongside him, but he needed one more day to be certain. After dinner, they went to bed after watching some TV.

 

The next day, Zero had just woken up from his nap as Gadget came back from work. The weather that day was significantly better, as it was a sunny and clear day outside. Zero had managed to run four laps earlier that day, and his fatigue finally seemed to start to improve. While it still weighed him down, he could feel it get better ever so slightly.

“How was work?”

“The same.” Gadget plopped down on the couch. “And your training?”

“Good. I was able to do four laps today, before the fatigue got the best of me.”

“That’s good! I’m glad that your fatigue is finally getting better.” Zero grunted in response. “I finally have the plan ready.”

Zero sat up, fully awake now. “Okay, what is it?” he asked, holding his breath in anticipation.

Gadget hesitated for a little, before sighing, “I think the best way to go forward is to introduce you to the Resistance and have you work with me.”

Zero looked down. “I was expecting something like that,” he exhaled.

“Are you okay with that?”

“Of course,” he said, shrugging. “What other way is there?” he mumbled, crossing his arms as he looked to the side.

Gadget raised an eyebrow. “You don’t look so happy with it.”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t want to be out in society again. Honestly, I’m,” he paused, “worried about,” he paused again, “how they would treat you about it.”

“Are you just scared of seeing them again?”

Zero looked up at him, before huffing, “I wouldn’t say scared, but I have worries about it. Don’t worry about me though, your plan sounds good. When do you plan on doing this?”

“Uhh, I think on Friday. That way, we won’t have to immediately see them again the next day. I’ll call the meeting on Thursday, and arrange that only the executives, which includes me along with Sonic and his friends, will be present in the meeting. Right before the meeting, I’ll come back here, and take you with me to the base.”

“Sounds good then.”

Silence occupied the next minute. Gadget could tell that Zero was apprehensive about his plan, but he decided that he wouldn’t prod him about it. 

“Are you scared?” asked Zero. 

Gadget looked up at him, before looking to the side with his ears drooping. “Yeah, I am. I’m scared they’ll take you away without even listening to me.”

“And what if they do? I know you don’t want them to, but if they did, would you stop them?”

Gadget contemplated that for a few seconds. “Yes.”

“Even though it could cost you your job? Or your respect?”

“Yes. Do you think I’m about to turn you in? If that’s what your scared about, then-”

“No, I’m not worried about that,” he interrupted. 

“Look,” Gadget sighed, “I can tell you’re afraid of them. You play it off as just being worried for me, and I know that you’re genuinely worried for me, but you can’t ignore your own fears.”

“Fears? I’m not-”

“You don’t have to be strong around me. It’s just me,” he said, pointing to himself. “You can be honest about your fears with me, I won’t tell anyone.”

Zero looked down, struck by those words. He could feel his eyes getting wet, but he quickly stopped himself from shedding a tear. “Well, I am…afraid,” he stammered. “I’m not ready to see all the hatred in their eyes, and their scowls. But I’ll never be ready, even if I waited months. Don’t worry, this is the best way to do this. You should go forward with it,” he murmured.

Gadget simply nodded, not wanting to press Zero about it any further. “I’ll set the meeting up on Thursday then. Hopefully it goes the best it can.”

After dinner, they fell asleep, each with the added worry about Friday.

 

The next day, Gadget had come back inside the base from lunch. He went back home for lunch that day, since the weather was clear. As he came in, he saw Knuckles and Vector at the center table talking over a cardboard box. 

“Oh hey, haven’t really been seeing you much lately!” said Knuckles as he noticed Gadget.

“Yeah,” he laughed, “we’ve both been busy lately. What do y’all have here?” He pointed towards the box.

“We surveyed Mystic Jungle again, since someone reported seeing some rogue robots. We found some things and took ‘em for safety. Mainly just robot parts and other random junk,” grumbled Vector, who grabbed some junk parts for emphasis.

As Gadget inspected the items in the box, he stopped as he saw a worn, fading, green bandana that had a random patch of a different shade sewn in. Could this be…Zero’s squad member’s bandana? “Could I take this?” he asked, grabbing the bandana.

Knuckles shrugged. “Sure, I guess. I don’t know what you would do with it, it’s all just junk to me.”

“I may use it as an ornament on a project I have. It just gave me an idea for it.”

“Hey, it’s all yours. Like I said, this here is all trash to me. You and Tails can take these parts too if you two can find any use for them.”

He gently stuffed the bandana in a pocket on his work belt. The rest of his workday went like normal, with added anxiety as he thought about the upcoming meeting he would have to plan. 

The clock turned to 4:30, and he put aside the wispon he was working on for the next day. 

“Oh, I don’t know if anyone told you,” said Tails, who was cleaning his desk, “but me, Sonic, and Silver will be out on a mission tomorrow and Friday. I got another signal of a Chaos Emerald on my scanner, so we’ll be investigating the area. It was in the same spot too, so Silver’s coming with us this time.” 

“Oh okay. When are you leaving?”

“We’re gonna leave after work tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure you knew.”

“Yeah, I hadn’t heard. Thanks for letting me know.”

 

Tails had left with his stuff, with Gadget following suit afterwards. He made it to his house around 5, opening the door to see Zero watching something on TV.

“How was work?” 

“Fine.” In truth, he spent most of his shift thinking about how Friday would go. “I found something that you,” he hesitated, “may want to see.” His hands trembled as he unfastened his pocket to pull out the bandana.

Zero walked over to the kitchen, wondering why Gadget sounded so somber. His eyes widened as he saw Gadget pull out a bandana from his pocket. “No…Is that? Where did you get that from?” he sputtered out.

“They surveyed Mystic Jungle and bought back random things they found, and this was in the box. I remember you mentioning that member’s green bandana, so I thought to keep it just in case it was his.” As he looked up at Zero, he was surprised to see a tear falling down Zero’s face, which was staring at the bandana with heavy eyes. He pushed his hand forward, letting Zero take the bandana, who held it gently and stared at it with wet eyes.

“This was Deux’s,” he quavered. “I can tell it was, cause the bandana had that random sewn-in patch on it after it got damaged in a mission once. Of course they found it in that damn Mystic Jungle!” he sniffled. He tried to stop himself from crying anymore, but as memories from that night returned, the tears fell down even harder as he started lamenting at the loss of his companion. All he could do was stare at the bandana in his hands with irritated, tear-stained eyes, which only served as a reminder of his past failures. He was so preoccupied with his memories that he didn’t even think about the fact that he was sobbing right in front of Gadget, with no effort to hide his tears. 

As his memories were overtaking him, he was surprised to feel a pair of red-furred arms wrap themselves around him and hug him. A tear fell on his shoulder, from Gadget, who was hugging him in a gentle, but firm embrace. A warmness enveloped him, and from his eyes flowed even more tears as he hugged Gadget back and mourned the loss of his trusted companion.

After a minute of mourning, he caught his breath and gently stepped back from Gadget. “Thank you so much for taking this to me. You don’t know how much this means to me,” he sniffled. 

“Of course. I’m glad that you have some part of him with you. I know how much it means to have a remnant of someone,” he said, almost whispering, as he thought about the tattered work belt he possessed, which belonged to one of his best friends who died in the attack on Sunset Heights. 

After a while of silence, Zero walked over to where his mask had been collecting dust at the corner of the living room and gently laid the bandana over it. Gadget sat down on the other couch. 

“Why have you been so nice to me? Just…why?” he stammered, looking towards Gadget with pleading eyes, which were desperate for an answer.

“Like I said before,” he said with a weak smile, “if you try to analyze every act of kindness someone does, you’ll just end up crazy.” He turned on the TV, leaving Zero to finally understand the meaning of that phrase.

Later that evening, they finished the rest of the pasta. While Gadget was washing the dishes, he thought about how Zero’s dinner tomorrow could be the last meal he would ever have at his place, but he tried to brush those types of thoughts away. As Friday was approaching, his anxiety over the whole situation became worse and worse. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen to him if they captured Zero, or worse, executed him. If that happened, then he felt like he would have failed him.

They watched some TV, and as it got late, they both got ready for bed. As Zero laid on the couch in the dark, he reflected on how much his life had changed within the last week. A week ago, he wouldn’t have minded being captured. While part of that had to do with him believing that it was only logical, another part had to do with him wanting to die. Since his ruby had disappeared, and his only ally left him, he had no desire to continue surviving.

But now, things had changed. At first, he didn’t want to be captured for Gadget’s sake, since it was only the polite thing to do after receiving such nice treatment and hospitality from him. However, a small part of him now wanted to stay alive for himself. He wanted to make a new impact on the world, and avenge his squad, but this time not with violence. 

He wanted to become the proper leader that his squad never got to see.

 

As Gadget was working the next day, his stomach kept turning at the thought of Friday, which was only a day ahead. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep wondering about how Zero’s introduction would go. It seemed like everyone at the base could tell that something was bothering him, since he was acting antsy and noticeably different than usual. When the clock turned 3, he decided that it was time to schedule the meeting.

“Hey, I’ll be back. Just need to talk to Knuckles about something.” Tails nodded, with what seemed like a look of concern.

Gadget knocked on the thick, sturdy door of the meeting room, where Knuckles was filing some reports. “Come in!” sounded Knuckles through the door. The creak of the heavy door only added more tension to Gadget’s body as he walked in and closed it behind him. “Hey, what’s up?” he said, smiling.

Gadget took a deep breath. “I need to schedule a critical meeting tomorrow. I have some very important information for the Resistance.”

Knuckle’s smile shifted into a concerned frown. Critical meetings were rare, and were only used for very important concerns that would affect them all. “Okay. I can do that. Sonic, Tails, and Silver won’t be there, since they’ll be out on their mission. What time do you wanna schedule it?”

“Tomorrow at 3. I want only executives in the base at the time, please. You could send out everyone else early.”

“Okay. I’ll let everyone know,” he sighed, leaning back in his chair. “You doing alright? Looks like something’s been bothering you today..”

“I’m fine. I’m just worried about the information.”

“What type of information is it?”

Gadget hesitated. “I want to tell everyone at the same time.”

“Okay, then. I understand. I won’t lie, you have me really worried,” he laughed nervously, “but I guess we’ll all figure out tomorrow. I’ll let everyone know.”

“Thank you,” he said, before almost running out of the office and back to the techroom. A few minutes later, a signal came from all of the executives’ communicators, which was a message from Knuckles about the meeting. 

Tails looked up at Gadget, after taking a worried look from his communicator. “Did you schedule this?”

“Yeah. I’ll call you after it, since you’ll be on a mission, to let you know what happens. I have something really important to tell all of you.”

“Okay…Is it about Eggman? Did you find some plans of his?”

“I want to tell everyone at the same time. Just trust me,” he pleaded.

“Okay, I will. I’m just really worried, especially with how you’ve been acting today. But I trust you that it’ll be fine.”

“Thanks.”

They worked together, not saying another word. Gadget waited until everyone else left, before organizing his stuff and leaving the tech room. The last member left at the base was Amy, who was sitting at the center table.

“Is it about…” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m terrified,” he said, as they were walking out together.

“Well, the only thing I can give you advice for is to be truthful and speak with your heart, I guess. But I’ll be real with you, it’s gonna be hard.”

“I know. But this was the best way to do it.” 

They reached the fountain, their usual split-off place. “See you tomorrow,” she said, waving.

As he walked back to his house, all he could think about was how Friday would go.

Notes:

I'm so excited to write the next chapter! Gadget and Zero have a very big day coming up.
A note: I mentioned in an earlier chapter that the clearing had 15 feet in between the stump and two oak trees, which I realized was pretty small as I wrote the training section. So, I made a small edit to that part in that earlier chapter, and now just imagine that the clearing is big enough to train one's speed. It's probably something that only I noticed, but I just wanted to make sure things were consistent.
Also, around the time of posting this, I edited and touched up on chapter 2. I didn't change any major plot points, I just touched up on the prose and dialogue. I would highly recommend reading the revised version, since it matches up a lot more with the tone and character of Zero that I've been setting up lately.
Thanks to all for the support on this story! Feedback is very appreciated.

Chapter 9: After a Storm, Comes a Calm

Zero heard the door slam as Gadget came back from work. He was reading the book on wisps, as Gadget placed his gloves and shoes near the door. A loud sigh escaped from Gadget as he plopped down on the couch.

“You scheduled the meeting?” 

Gadget simply nodded, staring at the space in front of him. The only thoughts occupying his mind were what-if scenarios of the next day. “I’m terrified,” he muttered, after a while. “I can’t stop thinking about multiple ways it could go wrong.”

Zero closed the book, sighing, “If we’re being honest here, you know that it’ll most likely be difficult. Who knows, maybe they’ll be understanding and accepting, but that’s only in our dreams.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Oh, and also, Sonic, Tails, and Silver won’t be there. They’re out on a mission.”

Zero grunted. “Well, my first encounter with that gray hedgehog almost led to his death, so it’s probably for the best he isn’t there. Same with the other two.”

“Honestly, it’ll probably be worse since Sonic won’t be there,” he said, turning to look at Zero.

“Really?” he inquired. “We fought multiple times.”

“True, but Sonic is very forgiving, even more than me. He always gives people a second chance. Hell, Knuckles, Silver, and Shadow used to be his enemies, and now they’re his friends.”

The mention of Shadow made Zero almost flinch. “If you say so, I guess.” Footsteps heading towards the kitchen made him turn his gaze, seeing Gadget take out ingredients from the fridge. “What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Something special. Well, as special as I can make it from what I have.” Since it may have been Zero’s last night at his house, Gadget wanted to make it at least memorable in some way, and the best way to do that would be to cook something amazing, he thought. He pulled out multiple vegetables and placed them in a metal bowl he would use to wash them. A bag of rice landed on the counter, along with multiple metal measuring spoons and cups. The door to the pantry opened, revealing different seasonings that he would use.

“You’re really going all out with this,” said Zero, who sat at the kitchen table. He was expecting a grin or smile from Gadget, but instead received a downward look. Trying to prevent the melancholy atmosphere from developing any further, he softened his voice and said, “hey, you don’t have to come up with something special for me. I don’t want you stressing yourself out even more about me.”

Rushing water flowed over the vegetables, and was rinsed out of the bowl afterwards. The vegetables then found themselves on the maple cutting board, before being sliced into strips by a knife. Gadget shook his head, muttering, “No, I have to. If this is your last day here, I wanna make it at least memorable.” He forced himself to smile as he turned back to Zero. “Please, just let me try something special.”

That strained look of positivity made Zero feel queasy, but he decided to just let it go. It was admirable to him how Gadget could make himself smile and try to find some resemblance of hope in even the most dire situations. With the ambience of the sounds of vegetables being prepared and ingredients moving around, he sat back in his chair and let the trees’ branches swaying in the wind outside take over his thoughts.

After about 45 minutes of cooking, the food was ready. Gadget pulled the dish out of the oven, using his trusted blue oven mitts, and placed it on the table. It was a vegetable rice bake, with toasted strips of vegetables on top of firm, but soft fragrant rice. 

“That smells good,” commented Zero, whose mouth was watering as he examined the warm food. Without saying a word, Gadget prepared both of their plates and drinks, and sat down, along with Zero. The only sounds present in the house were forks grabbing rice and vegetables, along with the impact of cups being put on the table.

They finished their food, both of them sitting back in their sturdy, wooden chairs. 

“Thank you for this,” said Zero.

Gadget only nodded, not saying anything. 

Zero started to shift, feeling his skin prick at the tense atmosphere which seemed as if it was swallowing them. While he was used to silences with Gadget, this one was different. Neither of them wanted to address the elephant in the room, but Zero decided that he would have to say something.

“Please, I know you’re worried about tomorrow, but at least…I don’t know,” he admitted, trying to lift up the stale mood of the air. He wasn’t used to having to be the optimistic one of the two.

“Sorry. I just,” he exhaled, “I can’t stop thinking about it. It just keeps playing in my head, and I worry about what I should say, or what I should do, and how I should walk in, or how-”

He paused as he felt a hand grab his shoulder, and looked up to see Zero who was smiling down on him.

“Hey, I know it’s hard, but don’t worry about it, okay? I’m,” he closed his eyes and took a breath, “scared too. Stressing out about it won’t do anything, though. Whatever happens, happens. If this is my last night here, then…know that I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

Gadget had to look down, before a tear would leave him. “Okay,” he said, forcing a weak smile. 

“I’ll help with the cleanup.” He grabbed their plates and ran some hot water and soap in the sink, looking back to see Gadget sitting in the same position, ears drooping. With a sigh, he put the plates and cups in the steaming water and took two minutes to wash them, putting them on the dish mat afterwards. The orange glow from the sunset filtered through the window, amplifying the red strands of fur on Gadget’s ears. He took a moment to gaze at him, thinking about what Gadget had said earlier. If this really is my last night here, then...at least I can say I made one true ally since the war.

“Oh! I told you that I would make that sword belt for you, right? I can make it tonight,” beamed Gadget, who got out of the chair with a newfound vigor.

Zero would’ve protested, thinking that it wouldn’t be necessary, but he decided to just let Gadget make it. Anything to occupy their mind would be good, he thought. He followed Gadget into his work room, taking a moment to inspect it. Metal parts and tools lined the shelf on one side of the room, and a messy desk with random blueprints and parts sat on the other side. There were some spare work belts on one of the shelves, and Gadget took one off and sat at the desk, putting it alongside the scabbard.

“How will you do this?”

“Hmm, I think I’ll try to sew it in. Or actually…” He took out another belt, and used scissors to cut off half of it. Then, he wrapped it around the top of the scabbard, and took out a sewing needle and some thread, aiming to connect the wrapped top to the work belt.

“You know, you’re pretty handy. Guess I should’ve expected that.”

“Yep,” he said, finishing one side of sewing in the scabbard, “not just with tech, but with a lot of household stuff too. I learned how to sew from a friend I used to know.”

You should teach me one day , almost left Zero’s lips, until he realized that it would bring that solemn mood back again. 

“And...done! Let’s get your sword and try it on.” Zero grabbed his sword and laid it on an open spot on the desk. He put on the work belt, and noticed the snug fit around his waist. The scabbard didn’t feel like it was in the way as he walked around a bit to get a feel for it. Then, he put his sword in the scabbard, and walked around, drawing his sword out a few times.

“This feels pretty good. For a makeshift sword belt, this is decent.”

“I’m glad. I was worried that it wouldn’t turn out good at all,” he laughed. As they were walking back to the living room space, he said, “So, what do you wanna do for the rest of the night?”

“We could watch TV, I guess.” For the next hour or two, they spent some time watching TV, until it was midnight. Then, they got ready for bed, and went to their respective areas to sleep.

Gadget was sitting on the side of his bed in the dark, planning out his introduction.

“Okay, so when I walk in, I’ll say, ‘thanks all for,’ no, too informal. But it isn’t really formal...Whatever, I’ll just start with, ‘thank you all for coming, as sudden as this was.’ That sounds better,” he muttered to himself. The next hour was spent planning, until tiredness began to seep in. He stared at the floor under the window, which was lit by moonlight. Part of him wanted to stay up, worried that for some reason, Zero would be gone in the morning. But heavy eyes took priority, and he was knocked out after a minute of sprawling out on his bed.

 

A dark room filled Zero’s vision, as he shifted on the couch. The glowing numbers on the clock indicated that it was 4 in the morning. Groaning to himself, he laid back down under the covers, trying to fall back asleep again. It was rare for him to wake up in the middle of the night. It didn’t help that it was officially Friday now, a day that would decide his fate. Earlier, he had taken a while to fall asleep, staring at the ceiling while thinking about his introduction to the Resistance. The only scenario he could imagine in his mind was it going horribly. If Amy, who was supposedly Gadget’s best friend, initially distrusted him about it, how would the others react?

He closed his eyes, and used what he had learned from his failed meditation training sessions to try to will his thoughts away. For the first time, those skills came in handy, as sleep overtook him.

A loud buzzing from the alarm clock sent Gadget into alert, before quickly disappearing as he slammed the clock with his fist. Groaning, he walked into the kitchen to see Zero still asleep, which surprised him. The sounds of an old coffeemaker rang through the kitchen, which was accompanied by the sounds of covers moving on the couch.

“Surprised I woke up before you.” Gadget prepared two slices of bread in the toaster, while Zero walked over and sat at the kitchen table.

“Barely slept last night. I woke up in the middle of the night twice.”

The coffeemaker finished, and he took out his portable cup. “I had a hard time sleeping too. To be honest, I kept planning how I would do the whole thing.”

“As much as I like making plans myself, trying to come up with some sort of script for this won’t work. We have no way of knowing how this will play out.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he sighed, “it just gives me some sense of security, even if it’s just an illusion of it.”

Gadget prepared a slice for Zero and one for himself, and sat at the table to eat it, since he had a few minutes before he would have to leave. Once they finished their breakfast, he gathered his items and left for the base.

Zero watched him walk down the path, wondering if that would be his last time ever doing so.

The base was oddly quiet once Gadget came in. Anytime he entered a room for something, everyone would look at him with what seemed like fear, and any conversations would end abruptly. That only added to his anxiety over the upcoming meeting. Since Tails was out for a mission, at least he could work alone that day, which was the only relief he had during his shift.

As the clock turned to noon, a small pit formed in his stomach. Usually, his lunch break was something he looked forward to, but this day, it only reminded him of what was approaching. He decided to go home for lunch.

As he returned, he saw how the clock turned to 1 PM. Only two hours away.

After a long hour, the clock approached 2 PM. It was time to fetch Zero.

The walk back to his house was oddly serene. Yes, he was worried about the upcoming meeting. Yes, he kept playing different versions of the scenario in his head. But it was a release of two weeks worth of stress, doubts, and worries. Having to keep Zero hidden started off as a small burden, but as time went on, it always occupied his thoughts in some way. If someone wanted to come over, which his friends often did, he had to hide him. Whenever his friends mentioned him, he had to lie and pretend he was dead, which he hated doing the latter. At least, after this situation, he wouldn’t have to hide anything anymore.

 

Slowly, he opened the door. The usual quiet of his house felt eerie and hollow. He saw Zero on the couch, who was reading.

“You ready?” asked Gadget.

Zero looked up at him and nodded. “Should I wear something to hide myself when I’m walking through the city?”

“That would probably be a good idea.” He walked over to his closet, gesturing for Zero to follow him. Looking through the closet, he found a black cloak under a pile, something he forgot he had. “Try this on, I think this will work. The hood should cover up your hair.”

Zero tried the cloak on, fastening it around him. It flowed down to his legs, covering up most of his tail. When he put the hood on, it managed to cover most of his hair, only revealing the front. “I guess this will work. I can take the hood off when I get inside the base, right?”

“Yeah.” 

They left the closet, and as they reached the living room area, Zero grabbed his sword belt and sheathed his sword in the scabbard, which got a look of concern from Gadget. 

“It may be best if you leave that here. If they see that you’re armed, it may just make things worse.”

“Just in case things go bad, I’ll be able to defend myself, and you. Don’t worry, my cloak will hide it.”

Gadget wanted to argue against that, but time was approaching, and he didn’t want to be late to the meeting that he called for. As they reached the front door, he hesitated to open it. But after a deep breath, he opened the door, guiding him and Zero into an unknown future.

As they approached the city, Zero’s heartbeat steadily increased. He was already anxious over having to face a group of his former enemies, but having to pass through the heart of the city only added to his anxiety. The end of the avenue, which would lead into the city, came closer and closer, feeling as if he was about to enter his new prison. Finally, they reached the limits of the city, and Mobians were now right around them. Some Mobians paused to look at them, seeming as if they were wondering who the cloaked individual was, or worse, recognizing him. Ignoring their stares, Zero took steady, deep breaths to calm himself down, letting himself be guided by Gadget. 

Soon, they arrived at the doors to the base, which looked more intimidating than ever to both of them. It was 2:58, as Gadget checked the time on his communicator, and with a final, steady breath, they entered the base.

The center room was empty. Total silence awaited them, their slow footsteps being the only audible source in the room. As expected, Knuckles had made all non-executive members leave early, due to Gadget’s request. 

Now, they approached the heavy door to the meeting room, where all of the executives were waiting. 

“Is this the room?” whispered Zero. 

Gadget nodded. “I will enter, and start the meeting. Just stay out here, and when I’m ready to bring you in, I’ll come out.” He checked the time, and it was 3. “Alright, here I go,” he sighed.

Zero stood to the side of the door, as Gadget entered the room. The heavy wooden door closed, leaving Zero alone in his former enemies’ headquarters. 

 

Everyone’s chatter grinded to a complete halt as Gadget entered. He could feel everyone staring at him, waiting for what information he would give them.

“Thank you all for coming, as sudden as this was. You can start the meeting now,” he said, looking at Knuckles, who nodded and signed a time on a document, which was used as a record for meetings.

“Okay, the meeting officially has begun,” he said. “All formalities aside, what’s going on, Gadget? You have us all really worried.”

“Yeah, is it Eggman related? Did you find some plans of his to reconquer the world, or unleash a wide-scale attack on the city?” asked Vector.

“If so, we need to know so I can contact my agency about it immediately,” said Rouge, her usual nonchalant look now serious.

“Guys, just let him tell us. Bombarding him with assumptions isn’t helping anything,” said Espio. 

Everyone went silent and stared at Gadget, waiting. As he glanced around at everyone, his eyes held Amy’s gaze for a second, before she looked down at the table. In his ears, his heartbeat seemed to get louder and louder, made worse by the muffled acoustics of the room.

“Okay, so I’ve found something very important, that we need to take direct action on,” he said, before mentally facepalming himself. Of course, that’s why you scheduled the meeting, idiot! Before anyone could respond, he explained, “To answer everyone’s worries, I have found…”

Zero. Wait, no, Infinite. The word could not escape him. Whenever he tried to say it, his body tensed and he could only stutter. “I have found…I…”

“Hey, it’s alright. Just tell us, we’re not interrogating you. You won’t get in trouble, if anything we would appreciate it since it’s important to all of us,” said Knuckles, whose face softened.

“Yes, sorry. I…I have found Z-Infinite.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the news, except for Amy, who quickly feigned surprise. 

“Really? Where? When did you find him?” sputtered Knuckles, who grabbed the table as he got up from his seat. Gadget’s focus was overloaded from questions that bombarded him from everyone.

“Wait, everyone! Let him explain!” pleaded Amy, which calmed everyone down for a moment, as they once again turned to Gadget for a response.

“I found him…near my house.”

“Wait, where is he now? Is he still there? If so, we need to go there and immediately search the area! Everyone, let’s go ahead and-”

“Wait! I have him with me! He’s outside the door.”

The room became quiet.

“Bring him in, please. I’d love to give him some choice words,” said Vector, grinning. Everyone nodded in response.

Without saying a word, Gadget opened the door, which seemed heavier than before, and walked out into the hallway. 

“Hey, we’re ready. I need to bring you in now,” he whispered. For the first time, he felt as if he could see fear in Zero’s eyes, before Zero steadied himself and walked in, accompanied by Gadget, who closed the door behind him.

Zero’s fur bristled at the sight of everyone staring and sneering at him. The floor became his sight of vision, as he tried to ignore everyone’s piercing gazes on him.

“Gadget, this is great! You managed to find him! We’ve been trying so hard to find him for the last three months, and you just casually captured him for us!” cheered Knuckles. “Why were you so nervous to tell us? You should be proud!”

“I must explain, and confess something. But please, just let me explain everything before you make any judgments.” 

Everyone’s smiles and smug grins shifted into curious frowns, and Amy continued to avoid Gadget’s eyes. 

After a deep breath, Gadget started to explain the situation. “I found him almost two weeks ago, in the grove near my house. It was a Saturday, and I found him during a walk around my house-”

“Wait, two weeks ago? Why didn’t you report him then and there?” asked Vector.

“Let him explain everything first,” said Amy. Everyone turned to look back at Gadget.

Gadget stared at the table in front of him, before explaining again, “So, when I first encountered him, I initially thought of that. But his body was covered in cuts and bruises, and he looked so defeated, and I just had to at least make sure he was okay, or healthy at first. So I took him to my house, and tended to his wounds. And then…and then he’s been staying at my house since.”

“Wait…so you’ve been housing him for the last two weeks?” asked Rouge. After a shaky nod from Gadget, she questioned, “but why? You do know that he’s a war criminal, right? We’ve been looking for him for months now, why would you hide him from us?”

Avoiding her sharp gaze, he sputtered, “Well, I-”

“Hold up, I think I know why,” said Knuckles, who attempted to smile. “You wanted to make sure his health was good before we captured him, am I correct? Maybe it just took two weeks for his wounds to heal. I mean, we would’ve taken care of his wounds anyways, so you didn’t have to do that, but I can see why. You’re very kind, after all. Even towards someone who…never mind. It’s fine, everyone! It doesn’t matter, because we can finally capture him here and now and end these searches and speculations!”

Everyone turned to Gadget, waiting for his response.

“I did want to make sure his wounds were tended to, and that his health was fine, that is true. But…but…eventually–”

“Gadget, we can go ahead and capture him, right?” pleaded Knuckles, who leaned forward on the table.

Gadget’s tongue was frozen in place, unable to form any words, before he blurted out, “I don’t want him to be captured!” He stepped back, flinching as stepped back into the wall. Everyone could only gawk at him, their stares making Gadget wanting to run out of the base and never look back. The silence was broken by Knuckles sitting back in his seat.

“You don’t want him to be captured,” he repeated. “You don’t want him to be captured, you know, Gadget, I’m going to need a good reason for why you believe this. Could you please explain to us why?”

Knuckle’s suddenly calm and stoic tone made Gadget’s fur bristle. After taking a short look at Zero next to him, who was still staring at the ground, he tried to defend himself and Zero, saying, “Since he’s been with me, I’ve gotten to know him, and he’s changed! I can tell, he’s not the same person anymore! I know it sounds crazy, but-”

“Because it is crazy!” shouted Knuckles, the volume of it making Gadget flinch. Taking a deep breath, he said in a softer tone, “Gadget, you can’t possibly believe that someone like him is suddenly a hero now, can you? He was our former enemy, for crying out loud!”

“I know, but…weren’t you a former enemy of Sonic?” he said, forcing a small smile. “And Shadow, and Silver, you three used to be Sonic’s enemies but all of you have come around!”

“That is not the same thing. Yes, we did used to be Sonic’s enemies, but in our cases, it was due to completely different circumstances! Hell, Eggman tricked me into thinking Sonic was my enemy. Infinite actively tried to kill us, but not because of any misunderstandings, no, it was intentional! He willingly worked under Eggman, I mean, have you forgotten that he tried to drop a phantom copy of a sun on us? If it wasn’t for you, none of us would’ve been alive.”

Knuckles’ gaze seemed to pierce through Gadget, who could only stare at the table. “I know, I know, but he’s told me he wants to be different. He wants to be someone new, someone who isn’t like his past.”

“And how do you know that’s true? His phantom ruby copy could be making illusions of him saying that,” said Espio. “And speaking of that, before he can summon any clones, we should restrain him-”

“He doesn’t have his ruby anymore! He’s not even a threat now! S-Show them, Ze-Infinite!”

Zero looked up at Gadget with shallow breaths, before moving a part of the cloak aside and exposing his chest, revealing the white scar where the ruby once laid. Everyone focused on the spot, gasping at the absence of the ruby.

“Even then, that doesn’t mean what he did didn’t happen. For all I know, he’s lyin’ to you and is just using you!” scolded Vector.

This is going terribly, Gadget thought. He couldn’t think of something to say to counter that.

“Think about this, Gadget, really think about this. Imagine the general public, and them seeing that we found Infinite and decided to let him stay free and live. Think of the troubles that he’s caused for so many of the people living here, hell, think of what he did to you . I remember you coming to us, as the sole survivor of the attack on this city. You told us what he did, he attacked your squadron, and even let you live, just to laugh at your fear! Do you know how weak we would look, letting someone like that stay free?” said Knuckles.

“So you’re concerned with the image of the Resistance, rather than the fact that you’re taking the life and freedom of someone who’s decided that they want to be better?” accused Gadget.

“No, Gadget! You’re missing the point!” exasperated Knuckles, who leaned back in his seat, sighing. 

“This is foolish,” said Zero.

Everyone turned to look at him, including Gadget, concerns from earlier ignored at the surprise of hearing Zero speak.

“Gadget, just let them take me,” he said, his voice quivering. “Trust me, I really, really, appreciate everything that you’ve done for me. I appreciate the food you cooked for me, the shelter you gave me, the conversations we had, but at the end of the day, there’s no redeeming me. Just let them take me,” he pleaded, trying to smile at him.

Everyone’s words and shouts had been overwhelming him. A small part of him wanted to live and hope that his introduction would go well, but it was hopeless, he thought. All of the hatred in everyone’s eyes and words against him made his heartbeat seem to spike, and ending this would just make things easier, for both of them. He was disappointed, but it was just how things had to go, he believed.

“I never thought I would have to say this sentence in my entire life, but Gadget, you should listen to Infinite. Just let us take him,” said Knuckles softly, a light smile forming on his face.

No . 

This is not how it should’ve gone.

“No,” he asserted, looking Knuckles directly in the eyes. “I can’t, not after all he’s said to me. I can’t, I just can’t! It would just be so fucking disappointing to me!” He could feel his eyes starting to get wet, but he suppressed the urge to shed a tear.

Without a word, Knuckles sighed, and stood up. He looked over to Vector and Espio, who nodded towards him and also stood up. Gadget realized what they were trying to do as they turned to start walking to Gadget’s side of the room.

Gadget ran to open the door, grabbing Zero’s wrist and taking him into the hallway. 

“What are you doing?!” gasped Zero, who absent-mindedly followed Gadget’s hurried steps into the center room.

“We’re leaving! I’m not letting them take you!” 

“Get Infinite!” ordered Knuckles, as Vector and Espio ran out of the meeting room.

Gadget and Infinite ran to the door of the base, opening it and stepping outside. Hearing the quick steps of Vector and Espio, he knew he only had seconds to do something, as Zero wouldn’t be able to run at his pace. 

“Hold on!” yelled Gadget, as he grabbed Zero’s side and held him close, before extending his grappling hook and grabbing onto a building, using it to fly across the city. 

“What the-!” yelped Zero, trying to adjust to the sudden motion. They landed at a building away from the base, and saw the forms of green and purple getting closer to them. Gadget grabbed Zero again, and used his grappling hook to fly through the city. He was acting totally on instinct, not bothering to think about where he would go. The only thing he could think about was not letting them capture Zero. After flying around a corner, they landed in an alley, which ended at the tall wall of a large building.

“Shit!” exclaimed Gadget, realizing they were trapped. Turning around, they saw Vector and Espio catch up to them seconds later and stop at the entrance of the alley. Knuckles and Rouge glided in, and Amy joined them shortly afterwards. They all walked up the alley, stopping a short distance before the pair as Gadget shot out both of the grappling hooks to the side, blocking anyone from getting past him.

“Gadget. Please let us take him,” sighed Knuckles. “I really have no clue why you’re acting like this, I don’t. This is ridiculous.”

Gadget could only shake his head, trying to catch his breath. 

Zero was in disbelief from all that had happened in what seemed like a flash. He saw Knuckles nod towards the purple chameleon, furrowing his brow as he saw the chameleon disappear.

“Please, dear. He’s a war criminal. I know that you’re a very kind person, better than I could ever be, but he’s not forgivable,” said Rouge, her gaze and voice soft and full of concern. 

Gadget shaked his head again, turning to look at Amy, who could only stare back at him. He noticed tears forming in her eyes, which only made him closer to shedding a tear himself. “I…I can’t-”

His grappling hooks retreated back into his gloves as he felt transparent hands grab his arms and shove them behind his back. Vector started walking forward, as he noticed the hands turn purple. Before he could respond, Zero grabbed the purple hands and forced them off Gadget, moving Gadget behind him and moving his arm out to prevent anyone from getting to him. Espio pulled out a shuriken in response, readying it, as Vector froze in his steps.

“Wait, everyone! Calm down, please!” pleaded Amy. Everyone froze, looking at each other, waiting for someone to make the next move. The tension in the air was sharper than any blade. Gadget looked at Zero in shock, who took a short glance at him before turning to meet the executives’ eyes.

“No one needs to put any hands on him,” he ordered. 

“What is going on here? Are you two working together? I just don’t get it!” groaned Knuckles. “Gadget, be honest with me, are you working with him against us?”

“What?! No! He hates Eggman, he doesn’t want to work for him anymore!” 

“But how do we know that, coming from you? I-”

Everyone’s communicators went off, and an alert was present on the screen. Robots Seen: Spotted in Parkland Avenue.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” huffed Knuckles.

Gadget hurried to say, “We’ll take care of–” 

“No! You two aren’t going anywhere. Both of you will be supervised during—Hey! Where do you think you’re going!”

Gadget had grabbed Zero and used his grappling hook to fly over the executives and land at the end of the alley, noticing Mobians running away from the avenue in the distance. “Let’s go!” With haste, they ran towards the avenue, avoiding panicking Mobians, and ignoring the steps of the executives after them. They reached the avenue, and enough Mobians had cleared the area to reveal a bunch of Pawns marching into the city. 

“Nothing special, just Eggman releasing a batch of robots on us and testing them. We can definitely handle this, with just the two of us,” said Gadget, who pulled out his burst wispon, as Zero threw his cloak to the side and unsheathed his sword. As they were about to charge towards the Pawns, they heard familiar voices from behind, yelling at them to stop.

“You two stay here! We’ll take care of this, and I’ll watch you both!” said Vector, who was storming towards the pair. After taking a short glance behind them, Zero and Gadget ran towards the Pawns, without giving the group behind them a chance to react. Vector was about to run after them, until a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Just watch them from here. No one should go after them. They could be involved in this, so just stay back,” said Knuckles. “Man, I can’t believe this,” he sighed.

Gadget charged towards a group of Pawns in a corner, and jumped in the air. He shot out his grappling hook and aimed his feet towards one as the hook propelled him forward, knocking it towards another one. As three other Pawns ran towards him, an intense line of flames knocked them out. Looking to his left, he saw a Pawn charging at him, and destroyed it with the flames from his wispon as well. Taking a quick glance at the destroyed Pawn, he noticed sharp, metal claws coming out of the three holes of the right hand. He’s added claws to these, that’s what he’s testing on us.  

Zero observed his surroundings, getting a good idea of where he would have an advantage. Looking to his right, he saw an approaching Pawn raise its right arm, attempting to claw him. He sidestepped and slashed his sword down, cutting off the arm, before thrusting the sword at the Pawn’s eyes, which pierced the head of the robot, making it go limp from dysfunction. He could hear footsteps from a  Pawn charging at him from behind, so, with the robot still hanging on his blade, he swept it around and knocked the Pawn out with it, releasing his sword free.

Rouge gasped as she noticed Zero fighting the robots. “He’s fighting them…”

“But why? He was Eggman’s ally,” said Espio.

“Maybe what Gadget said earlier, about him not working for Eggman, was true,” said Amy. 

“Even then, that doesn’t mean he’s on our side. We should still be cautious,” advised Knuckles, who also seemed surprised at Zero’s assault on the robots.

Gadget continued his relentless assault on the Pawns, easily destroying them. But as he continued to fight, thoughts about the whole situation started overwhelming him.

Why, just why can’t they understand?! 

As a Pawn approached him, instead of firing his wispon, he let the Pawn swipe at him and miss, and slammed the robot with his wispon, knocking it down in one go. Seeing more Pawns coming at him, he did the same with them, hitting them with his wispon. He was about to ready his wispon to fire at one, which was coming at him from a distance, until he saw Zero stab a Pawn with his sword to the left, making him flinch.

“Don’t get reckless. Not that many more Pawns left,” said Zero calmly, before he ran away after a group of Pawns. Zero jumped off from a bench, slicing at one Pawn and quickly turning around to stab another. One robot was coming at him a few yards away, and he gathered a stone near him and threw it at the robot, making it fall back. His fatigue was starting to affect him, but he ignored it, trying to not let it hinder him. Soon enough, after destroying a Pawn with his sword, he looked around and saw that his area was clear. 

Gadget homed in on a robot with his grappling hook, knocking it into a bench. 

It’s so simple, he’s different now!

He ran towards a group of Pawns and dodged their swipes, knocking them down with his wispon afterwards.

Why won’t they just fucking understand?!

His vision narrowed, and he charged towards a group of Pawns in the center of the avenue, knocking them down. As he cleared them, he stepped over a destroyed Pawn and shot at it with the flames from his wispon, desiring only total destruction of the robots as anger overtook him. He did the same with the other Pawns that laid near, burning them with the relentless flames of his wispon. The only thing he was concerned with was seeing that the robots were totally decimated.

Zero checked another part of the avenue to confirm that they were clear. As he turned back to the center, flames reflected in his eyes as he saw Gadget smoldering the robots. Before he could say anything, he saw one Pawn charging towards Gadget, raising its right arm and readying its claws.

“Gadget!” he screamed, trying to reach him in time, but his fatigue caught up to him, making him sluggish.

Zero’s scream took Gadget out of his trance. He looked up to his side and saw a Pawn approach right in front of him with its arm raised. Realizing it was too late to attack it, he tried to protect himself, but it was too late for that as well, as the Pawn swiped its arm down and clawed the left side of his face, making him scream in agony as a searing, stinging pain overwhelmed him. As he fell down, along with his glasses, barely catching himself on his hands before he held the left side of his face, he saw Amy run in and kick the Pawn down, before Zero arrived immediately afterwards and thrust his sword through the Pawn’s head a few times, which made the robot go limp.

“Gadget! Are you okay?” asked Amy, who kneeled next to him. In his blurry vision, he saw the outlines of the others become clear as they approached him. Everything was overwhelming him. The cuts on his face stung sharply, and he could taste blood that dripped down from the wound onto his mouth. Tears were flowing down, from the pain of the cuts and the anger that was still brewing in him. All he could do was take in quick, shallow breaths, trying to calm himself down.

Zero placed his hands on Gadget’s shoulders, noticing his breaths becoming more consistent. “Hey, calm down as best you can,” he said, sitting next to him. “Let me see.”

Gadget slowly moved his left hand, letting them take a good look at the wound. He saw Zero suppress a gasp, which made his stomach churn in fear. “How bad is it?” he asked, his voice breaking.

“That’s gonna scar. We need to take care of that immediately, the bleeding doesn’t look good. Does the base have any medical supplies?” asked Zero. Everyone looked at him blankly.

“Yes. In the infirmary. Infinite, you work with Gadget from now on, understood? Both of you meet me first thing in the morning on Monday. This meeting is over,” said Knuckles, who walked away. The others watched him leave, seemingly not knowing what to do, or say.

“I can take care of him, I know how to take care of wounds like this,” said Zero. At those words, everyone but Amy took one final look at the pair, before walking off as well. After a few seconds, only Amy remained of that group there.

“I’ll lead y’all to the base,” she said.

Zero helped Gadget up, while Amy grabbed his glasses, wispon, and the cloak, and carried them with her. After a minute, they reached the doors of the base. She guided them to the infirmary and took out a kit of first aid supplies, while Gadget sat on one of the beds.

“I got it from here. Thank you,” said Zero. 

Amy nodded. “No problem.” She set Gadget’s glasses on the bed next to him, along with his wispon. “I’m gonna call tomorrow to check up on you,” she said, before she left them alone in the infirmary.

“Okay, I’m gonna clean these cuts first.”

Gadget nodded and moved his hand down, taking off his left glove shortly afterwards. He winced at the wet cloth that gently wiped at the wounds, removing blood and grime. Zero then applied pressure on the wound, to make sure that it stopped bleeding for the moment, following it with an application of antiseptic ointment.

“Fuck, that hurts,” winced Gadget, who jerked his head from the stinging of the ointment.

“I know. Just a little more.”

He finished applying the ointment, and applied gauze pads on the cuts.

“All done,” he sighed, closing the first aid kit. “You’re lucky those claws barely missed your eye.”

Gadget only looked down, looking at the small puddles his tears had left on the bed. “That went the worst it could,” he huffed. “Why did you give up like that?”

“Give up?” he questioned. “You must mean when I asked for them to just capture me in the meeting room earlier. Well, I couldn’t take it anymore. Their looks, them calling me ‘Infinite’ over and over again, it was eating at me inside. I mean, honestly, what else could I’ve done?”

“I guess you’re right. I was too optimistic about this, I guess.”

They sat in silence for the next moment.

“You’ve sacrificed a lot for me today,” said Zero.

Gadget looked up at him with a blank expression. “Yeah. They probably think I’m a lunatic,” he laughed. “And that’s fine. I wasn’t about to just let them take you like that.”

“I’m serious, Gadget. Things could’ve gone really bad. He started to think that we were working against him; you could’ve been taken too! If Eggman didn’t unleash some robots on us, I probably wouldn’t still be free. I guess that allowed my actions to speak to them.”

“True.”

“And not only that, but your respect and recognition is gone as well. I’m worried for you, honestly. I know this is what you wanted, but it came at a lot of costs.”

“I know. I knew that something like that could happen,” he said, absentmindedly feeling the gauze pads on his face. “But I made peace with that a while ago. I’m satisfied knowing that I didn’t fail you.”

Zero’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You were worrying about failing me?” he said, thinking of their conversation that last Saturday.

“Yep. If they managed to capture you, I would’ve seen it as me failing you. I’ve seen the work you’ve put in yourself, and your drive to be a different person. So there was no way they were gonna take you.” He got up from the bed, putting his glasses on, and hopped on the floor. “But it’s fine! We managed to get past this, that’s what matters!”

Zero took one last look at Gadget, sighing, before getting up from his chair as well. “I guess so. On a different note, we need to find an eyepatch. Your left eye is swollen.”

“The pharmacy here should have something like that. They close in an hour, so we should go ahead and go there. I’ll guide us there. At least you won’t have to cover your hair this time.”

After gathering all of their things, they left the base and headed towards the pharmacy, which was two blocks away. Mobians on the streets often stopped to take a short look at them, seeming as if they recognized the figure next to Gadget. He could tell that people were staring at them, but he paid it no attention. The only thing on his mind was that Zero was safe.

In the pharmacy, they stood in line behind the counter, finally reaching the cashier, who kept switching glances between the eyepatch, Gadget, and Zero.

“Um, sir, are you alright?” she asked, her eyes widening as she looked at Zero. “Wait, um…”

“Yep! I’m all good! Just had a bit of an accident,” said Gadget, who was honestly feeling nothing weird about the situation.

After getting a black eyepatch from the pharmacy, they headed home.

 

A few hours later, they had just finished eating dinner.

“Ugh,” groaned Gadget, “I’m so tired.”

“Same here. Before you go to bed, I need to reapply those gauze pads. They need to be replaced.” 

“Might as well do that now. I’ll take a chair into my bathroom, I have supplies in there.”

Zero wanted to argue against that, but it was too late, since Gadget had started walking to his room. Reapplying the coverings in his bathroom would mean that the large mirror would be facing him, revealing his face to him. Trying to brush it aside, he followed Gadget into his bathroom.

Gadget had pulled a chair from his desk into the bathroom and sat on it, using the moment to look at himself. The gauze pads were stained by a dim red. He saw Zero coming in, ducking his face and positioning himself to the side of the mirror, with his back towards it. “The supplies are here,” he said while pointing under the sink. Still ducking his head, Zero grabbed some gauze bandages and ointment. While he started to remove the pads, Gadget asked, “why do you make an effort to not see your face in the mirror? You’ve been doing that ever since you’ve been here.”

Zero paused, staring blankly at him, while he tried to come up with an answer. “I haven’t seen my face in months. After I lost a certain fight in Mystic Jungle, I made a conscious effort to not see my face ever again, since it only reminded me of how pitiful and weak I thought I was at the time.”

“So that’s why you always wore your mask?”

Zero nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, what’s stopping you from seeing it now? I mean, no one’s here to fight you, it’s just me. Your face doesn’t even look bad, it actually looks…” he paused, staring at Zero’s blue and golden eyes , “nice? It looks fine, that’s basically what I’m saying!”

A small chuckle escaped Zero’s mouth, which made Gadget laugh too. “You have a point. I guess there’s no rational reason to keep myself from seeing it, but I’m…”

“Scared?”

“I guess,” he huffed. “You know what?” Zero took the last gauze pad off, and took a deep breath. Swiftly, he turned around and stared at himself in the mirror. A strange feeling ran through him at first, but it quickly dissipated. He had been expecting himself to still see that weak and worthless Mobian in the mirror, but instead, he just saw Zero. He still looked the same as always.

“See? That wasn’t even that bad!” laughed Gadget.

“Yeah. It’s just strange, seeing that I still look the same. I don’t know why I expected any different,” he remarked. “Hmpf, doesn’t matter anyways. And speaking of faces, how do you feel about yours, now that you can see the cuts?”

Gadget inspected the three stripes that ran down his left side of his face, with the center stripe going down his eye. The appearance of the stripes made it even more obvious now that it would leave a scar. “Hey, I get to have a cool scar like you now,” he said, smiling.

“You think my scar is cool?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Yeah! I always wondered how you got it.”

“Tch, it’s been so long. I honestly forget that it’s a scar and not just something I was born with sometimes, since I got it so long ago. It was one of my first ever raids, and I was fighting very recklessly, which resulted in this,” he said, pointing towards the scar. “Funny how we got our scars the same way. And speaking of recklessly, why were you fighting like that earlier?”

Gadget sighed, before explaining, “the whole situation was overwhelming me. All I could eventually feel was anger, towards them, and you, partly. I usually don’t let emotions control me, or my fighting, but I was so angry about everything at that time.”

“Please don’t let something like that happen again. I’m serious. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt,” he scolded, looking Gadget right in the eye. 

“I know, I know.”

Zero finished applying fresh gauze bandages after putting antiseptic ointment on the stripes again. With a deep breath, he leaned on the bathroom counter, while Gadget laid his head down. A buzzing went off, and, with a groan, Gadget checked his communicator and noticed a message from Knuckles that was sent to everyone.

Important Information: Gadget has found Infinite. We have decided to force Infinite to work with us, actively rebuilding and helping with the destruction he has caused. More information will be revealed on Monday.

“Hmph, I don’t remember them forcing me,” scoffed Zero.

“Well, he had to come up with a good reason as to why we didn’t just capture you. I’m glad he put that part in actually.” His communicator rang again, this time showing a video call from Tails. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked, after answering.

“Hey–Wait, why do you have bandages on your face? And who is that—Wait, is that…” 

“Yeah, I found him. Can I explain the whole situation to you tomorrow? I’m about to go to bed. I’m exhausted.” He looked at the screen and saw a bewildered Tails, with equally confused Sonic and Silver in the background.

“Um, sure, I guess. Actually, we’re coming back tomorrow morning. I’ll visit at noon, if that’s fine.”

“Sounds good, see ya.” He ended the call, and laid his head again on the counter again. “Man, I’m so tired. I could sleep right here.”

“You’re just gonna sleep right there?”

A mumbled mm-hm came from Gadget, which made Zero shake his head, glad that he couldn’t see his grin. “Come on, your bed is right there.” There was no response. Zero could hear quiet breaths coming from Gadget, and lightly shook him to see if he was asleep.

“Bed’s too far,” he mumbled, still laying his head down.

“Sleeping like that won’t be good for your posture or wound.” Gadget didn’t respond. “Well, guess I’ll just have to move you then.”

Gadget was about to ask what Zero meant, until he felt warm arms turn him around and carry him away from the chair. His vision bobbed as he was carried to his bed, and laid gently down on it. Blue and golden eyes met his gaze, a soft grin forming on Zero. 

“Make sure you get good rest. You’ll need it for the skin to heal the best it can. Night,” he said, before he turned off the lights in the bathroom and room, and closed the door, leaving Gadget alone.

Exhaustion quickly returned, washing over the shock from what had just happened. He took his glasses off and put them on the nightstand near, and moved himself under the cover. As he was heading to sleep, a small part of him thought about the warmth he felt a moment earlier, almost desiring to feel it again.

Notes:

This chapter was so fun to write! I've been looking forward to writing his introduction since like chapter 4. I hope all of you enjoy this! Thanks all of you for your support on this story, it means a lot! As always, feedback is very appreciated.

Chapter 10: Under New Expectations

Summary:

After catching up with Sonic, Silver, and Tails about what happened in the meeting, Gadget and Zero spend their first week working together at the base.

Sunlight filtered through the windows, bringing a distinct calm to the living room space where Zero was sleeping. The increasing light in the house made him shift on the couch, eventually waking him up. Stifling a yawn, he sat up.

While he was taking a moment to adjust his senses, memories of the day before played in his mind. It all felt like a dream, or nightmare, and part of him wondered if it was still Friday, and he would have to go through it all over again. His wonder was disproven as he heard the door to Gadget’s room open, and saw him walk into the space. The gauze bandages and eyepatch were a bittersweet reminder to him of the costs of his freedom, which he didn’t even bear.

“Morning! Did you sleep well?” asked Gadget, smiling as he sat on the other couch.

Zero looked to the side in thought, before he responded. “I guess so. I fell asleep soon after I left your room. You?”

“Oh, I slept great. For the first night in a while, I went to sleep without worrying about something.”

“That something being me?”

“Yeah,” he said guiltily, “basically every night for the last two weeks I was thinking about someone finding you, or taking you, or this, or that. But it’s all fine now!”

Zero smiled slightly, still admiring that positivity Gadget could seemingly pull out of anything. Before, it would’ve annoyed him, since at the time he saw it as him ignoring important issues, but now, it gave him a sense of comfort. That smile from Gadget could make even the grumpiest person at least lighten their frown.

As Gadget entered the kitchen, an idea came to Zero and he walked over there. “Could I help with breakfast? You always cook everything alone, I feel bad for not helping.”

Gadget shrugged. “If you want to, sure. Don’t feel like you have to help me out of guilt, but if you wanna help me, I wouldn’t mind. Today I’m gonna make an omelet, so I’ll be using some vegetables and eggs.”

Zero opened the fridge, noting it was the first time he had done so since he had been living there, and bought out ingredients that Gadget called for, which were mushrooms, for Gadget’s omelet, peppers, tomatoes, and the eggs. After he washed the vegetables, he prepared the pan while Gadget cut the vegetables. 

“Have you cooked a lot before?” asked Gadget.

After turning the stove on and placing the pan on it, Zero replied, “when I was with my squad, I did. I often did the cooking. We had a trusty pot that we carried with us, and we did just about everything with it.”

“What type of food did you usually make?”

“Hmm,” he paused, remembering back on those days, “soups and stir-fries usually. We would take certain ingredients or reserves from places we raided.”

Gadget wanted to ask more about Zero’s past and why he was a mercenary, but he decided to save it for later. He didn’t want to make the mood somber, since they were both in good spirits that morning, so all of his focus went to the omelets. After a few minutes of sizzling and clinkering from the pan, they prepared their plates and cups and sat at the kitchen table, ready to tear into their meal until they heard a knocking at the door.

“Oh! I forgot that they were visiting today. But wait…” He checked the clock on the wall, noting it was 10 AM. “They said they would be here at noon.”

“I’ll check the window. Don’t open the door yet.” Zero creeped over to the window over the couch where he had been sleeping, and peeked through the blinds. In his inspection he saw three figures, two he recognized as Sonic and Silver, and a light orange fox, who he remembered as Tails. “It is them. It’s safe to open the door,” he whispered as he sat back at the table, taking in a deep breath.

Hoping his omelet wouldn’t get cold, he got up from his chair and slowly walked over to the door. The door opened to a crack, and he peeked his head through and said, “um, hey! How’re y’all doing?”

Sonic smiled, after a look of concern from seeing the eyepatch. “We’re doing good. Can we come in?”

With a nod, Gadget invited them in, and they closed the door behind them after they had taken their shoes off and left them by the door. Their pleasant and polite smiles disappeared once they saw Zero, who was staring straight at his omelet. “We just finished cooking breakfast, so we’ll be eating while we all talk, if that’s fine.” Nodding, the three sat on the couch in front of the TV as Gadget got his plate and cup, gesturing to Zero to do the same, and sat themselves on the L-shaped couch.

“So…How was the mission?” asked Gadget.

“Eh, it was okay,” scoffed Tails. “We found nothing, again. I don’t know why I keep receiving signals there, it’s really frustrating.”

“Yep, even I couldn’t find anything off,” admitted Silver. “But that doesn’t matter anyways. We need to talk about,” he gestured towards Gadget and Zero, “this.”

“Don’t worry, we’re not interrogating you! And I’m sorry we’re early, we didn’t factor in the time difference. We’re honestly just concerned, and admittedly, curious.” said Sonic.

After taking a bite out of his omelet, and marveling at the pleasant flavor, Zero said, “Ask away.” From looking at their faces, him talking seemed to surprise them.

“So that’s what you sound like without that mask filtering your voice. Interesting…” said Tails, gasping as he saw the dusty mask in the corner. “Oh, you still have it?”

“Yeah, he still does. Wanted to keep a relic of his past, he said,” said Gadget, looking at the bandana above the mask with somber eyes. He hoped they would move on to a different topic.

“Well anyways, has he been living here?” asked Silver.

Gadget took a bite out of his omelet. “Yeah, he’s been here for two weeks.” Their faces shifted to looks of surprise, giving away their next question, which Zero decided he would answer.

“I came here exactly two weeks ago. The Friday before I came here, I woke up fully for the first time after the war. Then, the next day, I tried to…” he paused, not wanting to give away the fact that an abandoned Eggman base was in the area. He didn’t want Gadget’s area being searched. “I tried walking around, trying to find some food or water. Eventually, later that evening Gadget found me, and took me back with him to his house.”

“What made you decide to take him?” asked Sonic, tilting his head.

Gadget put his finished plate on the table. “At first, I thought about turning him in. But that idea vanished when I saw how battered up he looked, and his stomach growling so loud sealed it. So, I took him back with me to take care of him. And then, next thing you know, he’s been living with me. First, I was just acting on instinct and making sure he was okay, but now I’ve gotten to know him, and honestly? I truly think he’s changed.”

The group of three looked at each other at Gadget’s last sentence, seemingly sharing looks of doubt and thought. Silver broke the silence and said, “you can’t change someone like that, Gadget.”

Zero’s fur bristled at the change in atmosphere. I just wanted to enjoy this morning…

“I know,” said Gadget calmly. “I know I can’t change someone. But from conversations and experiences we’ve had together, I know that he has his own desire to be different now.”

Not letting the group of three have a chance to respond, Zero added on to that. “And that is true. I have no desire to fight any of you. There’s no point. I just want to…Well, to be honest, I still don’t know exactly what my purpose is now. But I have no desire to turn on any of you, understand that well.”

Sonic leaned forward, his face neutral. “What about Eggman? What’s stopping you from going back to him?”

Calmly, but firmly, Zero replied, “The only person I would have any desire to fight is him . I hate him. So no, I’m not going back to him. Anything else you want to know, to get more proof that I’m not some foolish enemy who would attempt to fight people who would easily best him since he struggles with fatigue and has lost a lot of his power?”

“I believe you,” said Tails, his statement somehow removing the tense atmosphere that had grown in the room. “I won’t lie, this is still all new and weird to me, and it’ll take me a while to forgive you for taking part in keeping Sonic captive for six months, but you seem to want to be better.”

Sonic nodded, adding, “I think I agree with Tails. You seem different. What do you think, Silver?”

“I guess. It’ll take me a while to get used to it as well,” he said dryly, looking down.

“Whew! So, now that that’s out of the way, what on earth happened yesterday? We visited Knuckles on Angel Island on the way back, and he seemed very off today. Told me to just ask you about what happened,” said Sonic, leaning back on the couch.

Gadget took a deep breath. “Long story short, I got to the meeting, I told them I found Zero, they wanted to capture him, I told them I didn’t want him to be captured, they tried to take him anyway, I ran out with him, we got cornered in an alley, robots attacked, me and Zero fought them off, I was distracted thinking about everything, a robot clawed the left side of my face, Zero was allowed to be free, and…yeah,” he exhaled.

“That’s rather eventful. So that’s why you have bandages there. I won’t lie, I thought he was the reason why,” said Silver.

“Oh no, he would never! Actually, he’s very protective of me!” he said, smiling towards Zero, who could barely return his gaze.

“Uh, well, of course. It makes sense. It’s what I would do for an ally.”

“See? It was actually my fault I got clawed, since I was fighting so recklessly.” He started to unravel the bandages, receiving gasps and looks of concern from them once he took them off, along with the eyepatch.

“Oh my god! That must’ve hurt so bad!” said Tails.

Gadget shrugged. “True, it did. But at least I get a cool scar now.”

“I won’t lie, it does look cool,” laughed Sonic. “Well, at least things are all cleared up now.”

“Wait, I have a question. Why do you keep calling him ‘Zero?’” asked Tails. 

“It was my name before I started working for Eggman,” said Zero, receiving curious looks. 

“So Infinite isn’t your real name?” asked Silver.

The mention of Infinite made Zero’s skin prick. “No. My real name is Zero. When I started working for Eggman, I decided to change my name, for reasons I will not discuss. I would prefer for all of you to call me Zero, if that is within your ability.”

Silver crossed his arms, leaning back into the chair. “That’ll be hard for me, but I can try, I guess.”

“Got it, Zero,” said Sonic, standing up. “Guys, I think we got everything all clear now. We’re gonna go ahead and go and leave y’all be.” As they were walking out the door, Sonic held a hand out to Zero, who hesitantly grabbed the hand, and made a small handshake. “Looking forward to working with you and having you with us, Zero. Keep safe, you two.” 

Zero was stunned for words, only being able to watch them hop in Tails’ plane and leave. Gadget put a hand on his shoulder, and said, “See? He’s nice. So is Tails. Silver too, I promise he’s friendly, it may just take him a while to warm up to you.”

“It’s understandable. I did almost beat him in a fight in the war.” He walked back inside, and Gadget followed him, closing the door behind him. Letting out a sigh of relief, he sat at the kitchen table. “Ugh, I’m glad they’re gone. I felt like I was in an interrogation room.”

“Well, you and me both are gonna have to get used to answering questions, I suppose. I thought I would be done with that after yesterday, but I guess I was wrong.” He started to wash their plates and cups, thinking of the upcoming Monday while doing so. “So,” he said, looking at Zero who was leaning on the counter near him, “how’re you feeling about Monday?”

“I’m not too worried about how they’ll treat me, honestly I’m more worried about them treating you differently.”

“Oh, you’re worried about that? Pff, I don’t care about how they treat me.”

Zero rolled his eyes, sighing. “Now, Gadget, we both know that’s a lie. Didn’t you tell me before that you worry about not failing them?”

The last plate that needed to be washed was put on the dish mat. “Well, yeah. It is true that I still care about the way they treat me and view me, but since you’re safe now, it’s not as important. Having to see Knuckles will be interesting, though. I know he isn’t happy with me.”

“So do you care about how they treat you.”

“Okay, okay, I do, perhaps.” He laughed as he noticed Zero’s grin. 

The trees outside the window captured Zero’s attention. “You know, for someone who tells me to be open about feelings and to not worry about looking strong in front of each other, you don’t seem to follow your own advice.”

“What? Well, I mean…” he flustered, trying to find a way to respond. Zero gave a low chuckle, which only flustered Gadget even more. 

“Anyways, ignoring that, I do have a question about the type of work I’ll be doing. You work with tech, right? If I’ll be working with you, what will I do? I’m not exactly well-versed with that type of stuff.”

Gadget scratched his chin in thought. “I can teach you how to do basic repairs, and you’ll learn as you go through with it. I’m assuming he’ll want you to be supervised all the time.”

“Of course,” he scoffed. “Guess it’s better than being captured.”

Later on that day, Amy called while Gadget and Zero were reading in the living room. 

“Hey, how’re you doing?” she asked. 

“I’m all good. Sonic, Tails, and Silver came to talk about what happened since they were on their mission during Friday, and that went fine. The wound will scar, but so far it’s healing alright.”

“Whew, I’m glad things are better. Yesterday was a real doozy. It almost feels like it was some type of dream.”

So I’m not the only one , Zero thought. 

“I know, right? Looking back on it, I was acting so…differently. I don’t know what got over me,” said Gadget.

“Anyone would’ve done the same thing. It was hard for all of us, really. But at least you got through it. I was worried sick throughout that whole thing, for both you and him.”

Her statement made Zero pause in his reading. She was worried for me?

“I could see it in your face,” he laughed. “But anyways, how do you think Monday will go? Do you know anything about what they’ll assign him?”

“I actually visited Knuckles today, while Sonic and them were there. While I could tell he was still spooked from the whole thing, and he told them to visit you to learn about what happened, I stayed a little afterwards and he told me that Zero will be working with you, and that he had some new assignment for both of you. I guess on Monday you two will learn more about it.”

A sigh left Gadget. “Hopefully it isn’t too bad. I have a feeling he’ll give me, or us, more work. Guess that’s the price to pay for this.”

“Maybe it won’t be that bad. But I am slightly worried for Monday, I won’t lie. Hopefully it’ll go well,” she said. “Anyways, I just wanted to check up on you to make sure you were good.”

“Appreciate it, I really do. See you on Monday.” After a farewell from Amy, he hung up on the communicator and laid back on the couch, releasing a big breath. “Man, so much is going on. I can’t escape worrying about something. First, it was about the Resistance knowing about you, and now, it’s about how they’ll treat you.”

Zero closed his book and put it on the table. “You worry too much. We don’t know what’ll happen until it happens.” He grinned at the huff from Gadget, who did not have any desire to start a debate about worries again. After a few minutes of him reading again, he took a short look at Gadget, seeing he was asleep. Maybe a nap wouldn’t be too bad for me as well.

Later that night, they had dinner and went to bed, both of them thinking about Monday. The next day, Gadget helped Zero with basic tech repairs, adding the worry of being able to do basic functions at his new Job to Zero. And finally, that dreaded day came.

 

Zero was sitting at the couch, putting his white collar on as he was watching Gadget fuss around in the kitchen. It was 8:35, and he had just put the slices of bread in the toaster.

“There won’t be enough time to eat, it’ll be fine,” pleaded Zero.

“We can eat it on the way! Oh, and I’ll get a new work belt for you to wear. I don’t think it would be a good idea to carry a sword around former enemies.”

Grunting in response, he took the new work belt, which had pockets like Gadget’s, and put it on, adjusting it to fit his waist. The bing of the toaster went off, and in a hurry, they put their gloves and shoes on and left the house, the slices of toast in their hands. Fortunately, it was a sunny day, and he enjoyed the rays of sunlight warming his fur.

“Ah, I’m glad it’s still warm. With it being the first of October, it’ll start getting chilly soon I bet,” said Gadget, who took a look at flickies flying across the trees. “Oh, and speaking of chilly, I need to get you a jacket sometime soon. I only have one.”

“Maybe next week we can find one.”

As they came near the avenue which would lead into the city, Zero could feel his fur starting to stand up from the sight of Mobians in the distance. He would just have to get used to this, he thought, still feeling like he was in enemy territory during a war. Strange looks were directed at the pair from curious Mobians on the streets. Trying his best to ignore them, he focused on just following Gadget to the base.

After what seemed like the longest walk in his life, they reached the heavy doors of the base. With a deep breath from Gadget, he opened the door and was greeted to the sight of a very lively base. Zero held his breath from seeing a bunch of workers chatting away and walking around as if nothing unordinary was happening. Gadget grabbing his arm took him out of the trance he had found himself in.

“We need to see Knuckles. He’s in the meeting room, the room we were in on Friday.”

With a gulp, and nod, he followed Gadget to the room, trying to ignore the hushed words and looks of surprise that were sent their way as they went past workers, some of which he recognized from Friday. I liked this place better when it was empty . 

Exactly at 9, the heavy doors to the meeting room opened, and they walked in, closing the door behind them. Knuckles was sitting at the chair at the end of the table, his back facing them. It felt like the introduction all over again to them both.

After turning around in his chair, he leaned back, and said, “good, right on time. Take a seat for me, please.” Once the pair had sat at the end of the table, he continued. “So, first things first, let’s get some things out of the way. Before I finish your file, I need to know, do you go by Zero or Infinite?”

Barely meeting his stoic gaze, Zero said, as calmly as he could, “Zero, please.”

“Okay. Sonic told me you also went by Zero, so I just had to be certain. So, Zero, next thing.” He leaned forward on the table. “If you show any signs of working for Eggman, or turning against us, we will not hesitate to imprison you. Understood?”

“Yes.” His heartbeat became louder and louder in his ears, helped by the stuffy and quiet acoustics of the room.

“Good. Now that that’s out of the way, here’s how things will go. Zero, you will be working with Gadget, and you must always be with someone, whether that’s Gadget, or someone else. However, I would prefer if you two stayed together. Also, both of you will help with reconstruction and cleanups around the area, starting today at 1. I want both of you to help clean up Park Avenue, since there’s a bunch of scrap sitting around that we could not get to on the weekend. Any further reconstruction assignments will be explained to you in the future. Sounds good, both of you?”

They nodded. 

“Good. You two can go now.” As they were about to open the door, Knuckles said, “please, please, don’t make me regret this decision, Gadget. That’s all.” 

They closed the door behind them after they walked out. The center room in the distance was quieter now, as most members had gone to their respective rooms and assignments. Two figures were sitting at the table, which Gadget recognized as Rouge and Amy.

Amy was finishing her cup of coffee, and her conversation with Rouge ended as she saw the pair coming in. “So, how’d it go? He wasn’t too hard on y’all, was he?”

“It went fine,” said Zero, who looked up to see the white bat inspecting him.

“Hmm, so you two will be working together?” she asked.

“Yes,” he responded.

“Well, I have a first assignment for you. One of my sensors broke.” She took out a broken sensor. “If you would, I would appreciate this being repaired and being brought back to me.” Gadget tried to take the sensor, but Rouge pulled it back. “No, I want Zero to fix it, dear. A small test, if you will.” She smiled towards Zero, who simply walked forward and grabbed the sensor.

“I will have it done.” Did Sonic tell everyone about my name?

“Great! I’ll be expecting you,” she said, before flying away to the communications room. Amy shrugged, and followed after her.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” said Gadget. “Let’s just go to the tech room, before someone else comes in here.”

As they walked in, Tails was busy gathering parts from the other side. It seemed as if he was grabbing parts for a grappling hook. There was an extra chair placed in front of Gadget’s desk, as well as some broken wispons and grappling hooks on the desk.

Gadget pointed towards the chair. “Is this meant for him?” 

“Yep. He put it there this morning.” To Zero, he asked, “how well-versed are you with tech repairs?”

“Gadget taught me some basics yesterday. I think I should be able to make at least some basic repairs.” Placing the sensor from the bat on the desk, he sat on the left chair at the desk, being joined by Gadget afterwards. Tails finished gathering the parts and started working on them on his desk. Turning towards Gadget, he asked, “So, who was the bat, who gave me this?”

“The bat? Must’ve been Rouge. She gave you a sensor to fix?” asked Tails.

Zero moved the sensor around in his hands. “Yeah. Oh, did Sonic tell everyone about my name?”

“Yeah! He sent us messages and told us all this morning. But it was all out of good intentions, he didn’t mean-”

“No, I’m actually glad. Tell him I really appreciate him doing that.”

Tails smiled. “I will.”

Gadget breathed a sigh of relief, glad that everything was going well so far. Now he appreciated the fact that they came over on that Saturday and cleared things out. It would’ve been more awkward trying to explain things at work, he thought. 

Whispering, Zero asked, “so, how do I fix this again? I know you mentioned this last night, but you mentioned a ton of things and I can barely remember them.”

“Check the back. Here, use this screwdriver.” Gadget gave him a small screwdriver and watched Zero slowly go through the screws holding the back of the sensor.

 After a minute, the back came off, and Zero tried to find the issue. Looking through the weave of wires and circuit board, he noticed two wires that had become unconnected. “Is it this?”

“Yep. Now, you remember how you fix it?”

He thought about the lecture from yesterday, and remembered Gadget taking out a clamp-like tool. “That tool, uh, the wire-connector?”

“Yes. There’s some in the second drawer on your side.” 

Zero opened the drawer and took out one connector. Returning to the sensor, he grabbed the two wires and attached the connector in between. “Is that it?”

Gadget looked over, and saw the connector had been properly attached. “Should be. Put the cover back on it and turn it on, to make sure it works.” While Zero was busy with that, he asked Tails, “making some grappling hooks?”

“Yep. We got some new recruits, so I have to make some for them. He’ll be training them this afternoon, after he sets the tech budget.” 

“Wait, after he sets the budget?” Taking a short look at Zero, he saw him push the button to turn on the sensor, and a beep emitted from it as the screen flashed on. “Nice, you did it! You can take it to her now.”

“But Knuckles said I must always be with someone. Wouldn’t be wise to not follow directions on the first day.”

Gadget sighed. “Oh, right. I’ll come with you. We’ll be back,” he said, leaving with Zero. They came to the door of the communications room and knocked, shortly being greeted by Rouge. Amy was in the background, discussing assignments with members out of the base through her headset. 

“Oh, that was quick. And it works, too. Nicely done, Zero. I appreciate it,” she said, giving a small grin before closing the door.

“I don’t understand her,” said Zero, as they were walking back to the tech room. “For someone who said I’m not forgivable, she’s acting real nice to me.”

“She’s…interesting. I don’t get her sometimes either.”

Sitting back in their seats, Gadget grabbed a broken grappling hook and started guiding Zero through how to fix it. “So, you mentioned earlier that he’s setting the budget, right?”

Tails pulled a sturdy wire through the ring on one hook, before explaining. “Yeah. I know that you usually do it, but he’s changed it to where he’s doing it now.”

“Wish he would’ve told me,” he muttered. “But why? I’ve always set it, and there’s been zero problems, at least none that have been bad to the point where it needed a redo.”

While Zero was untangling a wire in one broken grappling hook, he started to feel guilty. He knew why. Sighing, he said, “it’s probably because of me.”

Gadget paused, fixating his gaze on the hook. He had not wanted it to be true, what Zero had said on Saturday about his recognition and respect. But with how formal Knuckles had been to him earlier, plus him having to work with reconstruction, a task usually given to low-ranking members, and the loss of his task as the tech budget setter, it all clicked within. And this was only the first day.

“I guess so,” he admitted with a low voice. Seeing that Zero had finished untangling the wire, he guided him in how to pull it through the proper way. “Okay, let me see.” He inspected it for a few seconds, before nodding and placing it on the other side of the desk. “Looks good. I’ll let you do the next one on your own, while I work on this wispon.”

Until noon, they all worked quietly. Occasionally, Zero asked questions related to something he was repairing, and Tails asked for a part or two. However, when he was not responding to them, Gadget stayed silent, only being able to focus on what Zero had said earlier. As noon approached, the upcoming lunch break was one positive thing they could look forward to.

“Where will y’all eat?” asked Tails.

Gadget stood up from his chair. “I think we’re gonna go on the roof.”

“The roof?” questioned Zero. 

“Yep. I actually used to eat up there all the time. There’s stairs in a storage room that leads up there.”

“Well, I’ll see y’all in an hour then,” said Tails.

Leaving the tech room, they left the base, adjusting to the much livelier city. More Mobians lined the streets now, alone or in groups, with many completing errands or getting something to eat themselves. A few took curious glances towards the pair as they walked past the base.

“Anything you have a taste for?” asked Gadget. He started to walk ahead, shortly being followed by Zero, who hastily tried to keep up with him. 

“Um, I don’t know. I don’t really care, anything you get I’ll get.”

“Well, I hope you like pitas, cause that’s what I’m feeling today,” he said, grinning. From taking a look at Zero, who looked confused, he asked, “you don’t know what that is?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Well, you’ll find out when we get there. You did say you’ll get anything I get, so no backing out of it now.”

Partly regretting his earlier statement, he followed after Gadget, who knew the way to the place. While he enjoyed most things that Gadget liked and cooked, he wouldn’t bother to prevent him from getting something just because he didn’t like it. They spent a few minutes walking through the street, after leaving the circle. Many buildings stood near them, making the long street feel more crowded than it actually was. Chatter on the streets filled Zero’s ears, which felt discordant against the quiet he had gotten used to at Gadget’s house. He stopped as Gadget halted in front of him and turned towards a door to his left.

“Here it is,” he said, walking in. 

After Zero took a glance at the blue sign above the door of the place, he came in. A bell rang as they entered, softening the sound of the door closing behind them. The place wasn’t too busy, since only a few Mobians were standing in line in front of the counter. Everyone made double takes towards them, after recognizing the black jackal to be someone familiar. Trying to ignore piercing gazes on him, he stood behind Gadget and tried to only focus on the floor beneath him.

“So, what are you getting?” he asked. 

Gadget scratched his chin. “Hmm, I think just a classic vegetable pita. Or, make that two, since you said you’ll get what I get.”

Zero grunted in response, daring to look up from the floor. Fortunately, everyone had stopped staring at him, this time only taking short, indiscreet glances and making hushed talk. “Do you come here often?”

“Not too often, but if I can’t think of anything else, then I usually come here. The food is pretty good.”

After waiting a few minutes in line, they finally made it to the register. In only a few minutes, both of their pitas were ready and they returned to the base, the streets just as lively as before. 

Zero followed Gadget into a dim, dusty room that contained boxes and documents, and turned a corner to see stairs leading up somewhere. Gesturing to follow him, along with a smile, Gadget climbed the stairs, with Zero behind him. They reached a door, which led into the roof.

“Ah,” breathed Gadget, “I haven’t been out here in a while.” The roof was mostly flat, with short walls that rose from the edges. The door they came out of was part of a small cube that contained the floor which led to the door. On one side, the walls were slightly higher than the others, which allowed a large shade to come in on one spot. He pointed to the shaded area. “That’s where I liked to eat a lot.” He walked to that area, stopping at a wall nearby and looking over the city. “Doesn’t it look pretty?”

Zero joined him, taking in the sight of the streets below them and the buildings across the landscape of the large city. A gentle breeze had blown through, ruffling the furs on their ears and Zero’s white locks of hair. “Yeah. It looks cool, from this viewpoint.”

After taking one more look at the city below, they walked to the shaded spot and sat down against the cool wall. Gadget started to unwrap his pita and immediately started eating it. Zero slowly unwrapped his, and inspected the food. He took a small bite and found it was surprisingly tasty. 

“It’s good, isn’t it,” said Gadget.

Zero nodded, continuing to eat. “Yeah. I see why you like this place.”

“It’s so peaceful, just the sounds of wind and chatter below. Kinda reminds me of being home. Gives me a break from everything, especially needed today.” He put his half-eaten pita down on his lap. “How's the first day feeling so far?”

Putting his pita down as well, he sighed. “Better than how I thought it’d go, I guess. People are at least being polite to me. Wish I could say the same for you though. I feel guilty.”

Gadget looked down and crossed his arms, exhaling. “No, it’s not your fault. We can’t do anything about the fact that they can’t get over shit that happened months ago.”

“Hey, that ‘shit’ was a war. Don’t let your experiences with me blind you. I’ve been living at your house for two weeks, and in that time you've gotten to know me. Plus, you still had clear resentment against me at that time, so it would only make sense that they do.”

“But, I just don’t understand. They’re being so stubborn about it.”

Zero shook his head, and looked over to Gadget. “I do understand. Think about it, the last time they saw me was during the final fight at the Eggman Empire Fortress, when I was their enemy, and vice-versa. You must give them time. As they see my actions, and how I stay loyal to them, they’ll get around to it, hopefully.”

Gadget’s ears drooped, and he covered his face in his hands. “I know. Sorry, I’m just, ugh,” he sighed, “I’m being irrational about this. It’s just hard for me. I’ve seen the effort you’ve put in yourself, and I hate seeing them ignore that.”

“It’s okay, I get it. They haven’t seen it, but hopefully, and eventually, they will. We’ll just both have to be patient, I guess,” he sighed. In truth, he hated seeing his ally being “unofficially” demoted and lose his former recognition, but something like this was inevitable, he reasoned. Any way of keeping his freedom would’ve been a hard path for the both of them.

They spent the rest of their break enjoying the wind blowing against their fur, and the natural ambience around them, with occasional comments. Gadget checked his communicator, and saw it was 12:50. They would have to leave after five minutes, he thought.

“I forgot, we have to help clean up that avenue,” he groaned. 

Zero shrugged. “It’s whatever. Speaking of that, how’s your scar feeling?”

He felt against the bandages covering the stripes. “The pain is a lot better. How long am I gonna have to keep reapplying them?”

“Probably another week or two. If we do everything right, it should heal nicely, albeit leaving a ‘cool’ scar,” he said, smiling.

Returning the smile with one, Gadget took off his eyepatch, enjoying the wind against the now-exposed eye. “Whew, feels good to take this off for a bit.”

“Your eye isn’t as swollen anymore. You won’t have to keep wearing that for too much longer.”

“Good, cause it was kinda cool at first, but now it’s gotten annoying,” he laughed. He stood up and stretched. “We should probably get going.”

With a groan, Zero stood up and followed after Gadget. After they came inside the roof exit floor, they stepped down the stairs and threw their wrappings away in a dusty trash can. Walking inside the center room, which was quiet around this time, they saw Knuckles and Vector standing next to the main table, talking. As they noticed Zero and Gadget, they stopped chatting and turned toward them. They were holding trash bags and pickers.

“Good, right on time. Vector will lead you there. Try to clean up the area of robot parts and trash as much as you can. When you get there, he’ll leave you two be, but when you’re ready to come back, signal us and he’ll come back to supervise your return. Any questions?”

With a defeated nod, they left the base and followed Vector to Park Avenue.

On the way to the avenue, Vector explained their task in more detail. “Nothing hard, just collectin’ trash, I reckon. Those Pawns sure did make a mess. We were gonna clean it up on the weekend, but we were busy with stuff.”

They didn’t respond.

After a few minutes of walking, they reached the circle of Park Avenue. Scrap and junk robot parts littered the ground, along with some rubble. Some robot parts had burn marks on them, some darker than others, reminding Gadget of his reckless assault.

“Well, I’ll leave y’all to it. Signal us when you’re done.” He walked away, leaving them in the circle. 

Gadget sighed, and after looking back to make sure Vector was far enough away, he said, “man, this is stupid. Can’t believe I’m collecting trash. Clearly more important than fixing their broken items, or, I don’t know, setting a damn budget for incoming parts and tech.”

“Well, it is important. We can’t just leave robot parts sitting here. I know it sucks, but it’ll be easier the sooner we get this done. We can rant about it when we get home this evening.”

Replying with a grunt, Gadget went after a pile of junk parts near the fountain. The parts were covered with dirt and dust, along with some droplets of water, and broken wiring accompanied them. These parts had no burn marks on them, making him think that he must’ve used his wire attack on the robots these parts once consisted of. He turned the trash picker around in his hands, inspecting the tool while pushing the button, which closed the metal grabbers at the end. Sighing, he started grabbing the parts and dropped them in the bag, following suit with another pile.

Zero had built up a sweat, after an unknown time spent picking up parts. Harsh sunlight on the circle brightened the metallic gray remnants. Some parts had cuts and puncture marks on them, which reminded him of his fight against them. 

Time flew by, the two both sweating and enjoying the breeze against their skin. After what seemed like an hour or two, the circle had been mostly cleaned of parts. They had filled up multiple bags with scrap parts and wiring. One bag was reserved for the remnants of the claws, in order to prevent sharps from mingling with other parts. The eroded and useless claws only further reminded Gadget of that moment, not helping his already agitated mood. Finally, they deemed their work good enough, and Gadget sent a message to Knuckles, indicating they were done.

“At least people can walk through here now,” said Gadget. He was fanning himself with his hand.

Zero nodded. A few minutes later, Vector and Knuckles showed up, helping them with some of the bags. 

“Y’all did a good job. People can finally walk through here safely,” said Vector, studying the circle. With a grunt, he turned around, everyone else following him.

When they arrived at the base, they put the bags in the storage room, where they would be sorted later that week. The cool interior of the base felt refreshing to them. Gadget noted it was a little past 3 as they returned.

“Oh, before you two go at 4, see me in my office, please,” said Knuckles. Barely nodding in return, they went back into the tech room, looking forward to a more relaxing form of work.

Tails was humming to himself as he was working on something. “Oh, you’re back. What did he have y’all doing?”

“Picking up the robot parts in Park Avenue from the attack on Friday,” said Gadget. He plopped on his chair and leaned his elbows on the desk, sighing. “I’m assuming he already set the budget.”

“Yeah,” said Tails, who avoided looking at him. “Just finished it before he left to grab y’all.”

Trying to focus only on the wispon in front of him, he worked on repairing it and the others for the next hour. Zero worked on the remaining broken grappling hooks and on some broken communicators which had been placed on their desk while they were out. Soon, the clock pushed 4, and Gadget stood up from his chair.

“Oh yeah, whenever I’m ready to go I clean up the desk, or organize it,” he said towards Zero. He pushed unfinished objects to corners of the desk, organizing them by type, and put tools and parts back in their respective drawers. “And that’s it. Nothing special. You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” 

Tails looked up from his project. “See y’all tomorrow!” he said, smiling. His smile made Gadget smile as he waved back, the first time he did so since his break.

They approached the meeting room door, which seemed to loom above them. After knocking and receiving a response, they walked in and closed the door behind them. 

Knuckles turned around in his chair. “So, I’ll be honest, I was expecting today to be chaotic with you two, but it actually turned out pretty well. If future days look like this, I think we can all get around to this. Good job on the cleanup, and also expect some cleanup and reconstruction work in Mystic Jungle later this week. Any questions you two have before you go?”

“Why am I not setting the tech budget anymore? Was something off or bad with the previous one I set?” asked Gadget. Zero looked at him, his furs standing up from a mixture of guilt and worry for Knuckles’ response.

“I think it’s best moving forward, for now,” he sighed. 

Deciding against protesting it, he replied, “I understand. We’ll see you tomorrow.” He went after the door, gesturing for Zero to follow him. 

“Be safe on the way home. See you.”

They left the base and reached the end of the avenue which led into the grove. The setting of nature helped Gadget collect his thoughts, and he slowed his pace down as they were surrounded by forest.

“You seem mad,” said Zero, looking forward.

“Yeah.”

Deciding to talk about it when they would reach his house, Zero stayed quiet for the rest of the walk, using it to collect his thoughts as well. Eventually, they reached his house, both of them letting out sighs of relief as they closed the door behind them. After he had taken his gloves and shoes off, Gadget sat at the kitchen table and removed his eyepatch, enjoying the air on the open area. Zero leaned on the counter nearby, enjoying the sight of nature outside the kitchen window.

“So, how’d it go? A full day of working with the Resistance,” asked Gadget.

“Not bad. Like I said earlier, people were polite to me. I can definitely get used to it. Better than being holed up here, as much as I like your house.”

“That’s good.” Gadget leaned back on his chair, fiddling with his glasses. “You weren’t lying about my ‘respect and recognition,’ you really weren’t. I wasn’t expecting to be reduced to a damn rookie basically.”

That dreaded feeling of guilt returned in Zero. He looked to see the sunlight reflecting off Gadget’s ears, amplifying the red on them. “I truly hate that for you, I do. I hate seeing them treat you like that, but it’s the best outcome for now. Any other way would’ve involved me being captured, which both of us didn’t want.”

“I know,” he sighed. “It’s all bullshit, I swear. But it’s whatever. I don’t care.” He smiled.

Zero raised an eyebrow. “It seems like you do.”

“I don’t, really. If they wanna treat me like a rookie again, that’s fine. I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me. You’re still safe, so that’s all that matters.”

At least that part hasn’t changed about him. Still can’t tell a good lie . Zero rolled his eyes, trying to stop himself from chuckling. “It truly doesn’t bother you?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t. I may have complained earlier, well not ‘may,’ I did, but it doesn’t matter, it just doesn’t, okay? I’ve decided I won’t let small things like that bother me and worry me anymore, and if I let it get to me, I’ll just look fearful and weak in front of them.” His smile disappeared, and he looked at Zero, his eyes pleading to keep that false confidence.

“Okay, I believe you.” For now. He decided he wouldn’t prod him anymore about it. “I’m gonna go do some training nearby, if you wanna join.”

“I’ll stay here. I’m about to shower.”

After a nod, Zero left the house and started walking towards the clearing. The fresh air helped to clear his thoughts of the day, especially of the moment right before. While he presented as calm and obedient throughout his shift, he could admit that keeping that calm look was difficult at times. The interaction with the bat, or Rouge, as Tails had said earlier, still confused him. Even though everyone had been polite to him, their shifts in attitudes and moods were obvious to him anytime he entered an area or had to interact with them. And not to mention, he noted how Gadget had been acting differently throughout the shift, and even later at home.

He reached the clearing, and decided to allow plans of training to replace his thoughts of the day. If there was one positive thing he could say of the day so far, it would be that his fatigue was noticeably better.

Gadget was laying on the couch, watching TV, as he heard the door open and saw Zero come back. “How was it?”

“Not bad, same as last time. Could only do four laps. The fatigue took longer to set in though, so that’s the only improvement,” he said on his way to the shower.

“Better than nothing!” 

Later that evening, Zero helped Gadget prepare dinner, a large meal which would last them for the next three days. Afterwards Gadget showed Zero some more tech functions in the work room, until he looked to see Zero asleep in the chair next to him. A small smile formed on his face, and he lightly shook him.

“Hmm?” groaned Zero.

“It’s late anyways, we both need to go to bed. Gotta be up by 8, it’s a little past midnight.”

“Mmpf,” he mumbled, tilting his head back and keeping his eyes closed. The day had caught up to him, striking him with an exhaustion he had not expected.

A thought came to Gadget, making him grin mischievously. “Guess I’ll have to move you then.” Zero didn’t respond, or make any motion that he had. “Damn, you’re really knocked out. Can’t sleep like that though, since that can’t be good for your posture .”

Still no response. He shrugged. “Oh well. Won’t be as fun as I thought this would be.” He stood up from his chair and picked up Zero. All of that training he had to do for the Resistance months ago came in handy, since Zero didn’t feel too heavy. For a split second, he studied Zero’s face, his eyes still closed and his breathing even. The peace he seemed to be in made Gadget feel pleasant. Steadily, he carried him to the couch, gently placing him on it. As Zero was laid on the couch, he slightly shifted, but still remained asleep.

As he walked towards his room, he took one last look at Zero, before turning off the lights, and shortly falling asleep himself afterwards.

 

The next day, Zero and Gadget were sitting on the roof of the base, enjoying the solitude away from everyone. They decided to get pitas again that day. Like the day before, the weather was warm, with gentle breezes flowing through the city. 

“I can’t believe I fell asleep in your work room last night,” said Zero, a small grin forming on his face. “I didn’t realize just how tired I was last night, from everything that happened yesterday.”

“Well, I tried to fall asleep in my bathroom because I was so tired from the introduction, so I guess we’re even in falling asleep in weird places,” he laughed.

“Oh, speaking of that, how did I get to the couch? I remember being sleepy on that chair in the work room, and then I woke up on the couch.”

Gadget tilted his head, mocking a thoughtful pose. “Hmm, someone may have carried you there. Sleeping like that wouldn’t have been good for your posture .”

A hearty chuckle escaped Zero. “You’re funny, you know that?” He looked at Gadget, seeing the wind ruffle the furs on the back of his head, before placing his tail in front of him and feeling the white tips.

“I think I do,” he laughed. He watched Zero absentmindedly play with his tail. “Must be nice having such a fluffy tail.”

“Eh, honestly it isn’t. Gets in the way sometimes when fighting.”

“Still. Seems fun to have. I just have this short thing.” He wiggled his tail a little, which got a snort out of Zero. “I’ve noticed you like to play with your tail a lot.”

“Yeah. It’s a habit, something I do when I’m relaxed,” he sighed. “I would never do this around someone I don’t know well. Makes me look weak.”

Gadget raised an eyebrow. “Weak? It’s just a thoughtless habit. No one would think you look weak from that.”

Zero put his tail away and looked at Gadget. “I guess. You do the same with your chin, scratching it and feeling the fur.”

“True,” he chuckled. “But I don’t think it makes me look weak. You still aren’t trying to always look strong around me, are you?”

Zero grinned. “No, at least not consciously like I was doing before. Can’t say the same for you though.” Before Gadget could respond, he added, “it’s probably about time to get going. At least we don’t have any reconstruction assignments today.”

It was 12:55, as Gadget checked his communicator. He didn’t want to go back to his work. Sly thoughts of just flying away with his grappling hook towards home formed in him, but he brushed it off, standing up and following Zero back inside. Fortunately, the rest of the shift went fine, almost feeling like the atmosphere he was working in last week.

 

“After your lunch break, you two will assist with cleanup of Eggman’s casinos and structures in Mystic Jungle today,” said Knuckles.

Suppressing a groan, Gadget left the meeting room, being followed by Zero. 

“Mystic Jungle out of all places,” muttered Zero under his breath. He sat near the desk, as Gadget did, and started working on a broken grappling hook that had been placed on his side. 

Tails looked up from a wispon he was building. “Y’all have an assignment there today?”

“Yep,” said Gadget. “Gotta help with the reconstruction going on there. We’ll be on cleanup duty.” He took some parts out of a drawer and began working on a broken burst wispon.

Zero thought back on the last time he had been there, remembering his fight against Silver and Sonic. The memory was clear in his mind, the dark sky and the long, giant snake that Sonic ran on during their fight. That was the only positive memory he had of that place, since the other memory involved finding his squad killed and being beaten by Shadow. He shook his head, trying to focus only on his work.

Later that day, they walked over to the reconstruction site, where other members and Mobians moved around, picking up pieces from Eggman’s former casino, while some were rebuilding the ruins and structures of the jungle. Another team of Mobians were replanting trees and plants, which had been chopped down and destroyed by Eggman. A member wearing a green cap, who the pair assumed to be the site leader, nodded towards Knuckles, who led them to the site.

“They’ll be helping with the cleanup. I’ll come back to get them at 3,” he said.

The site leader looked them up and down, frowning as he stared at Zero. “Got it. See those over there?” He pointed towards an open area in the distance, where the bulk of the ruins of Eggman’s casino littered the forest floor. “We’re focusing on that area today. There’s bags and tools over there. Get to it, I don’t want any trouble from you, jackal.”

Only giving him a sidelong glance, Zero followed after Gadget. The quicker this goes, the sooner we can leave .

Fortunately for them, time flew by. The cleanup consisted of them picking up parts and deconstructing them the best they could, before throwing different parts in their respective bags and piles. At first, the other Mobians on cleanup duty threw dirty looks at Zero, and confusion at why Gadget was helping them, but work soon overtook any priorities and questions they had. As Gadget was moving broken lights to a bag, he felt Zero’s hand on his shoulder, stopping him. 

“Knuckles is here. We’re ready to go.”

Later that evening, they were relaxing in the living room space together, enjoying the sunset’s light which had let in an orange glow. Zero was laying on the couch, flicking the tips of the furs on his tail, while Gadget stared at the ceiling. 

“I’m already tired of all this cleanup and reconstruction duty they have us doing,” he groaned, taking off his glasses and putting them on the table. “I get that it’s important, and the work that they do is great and really helps us. It’s just that I know why he’s making me, or us, do it.”

“Well,” Zero sighed, “not much we can do about it. Give them time.”

“I guess. I won’t let it bother me anyway.”

Zero would’ve protested that, but there was no point. 

 

The next day, Tails was adding finishing touches on a wispon he had been assigned to make.. Gadget looked over and smiled, anticipation forming in him.

“Are we about to test it?” 

Tails’ look of pity, instead of an expected smile in return, made Gadget frown. “Sorry, I should’ve told you earlier, but he’s having me test them now, with him supervising.”

“It’s whatever. I get it,” he said, taking a deep breath. I don’t get it.

“I’ll be back, shouldn’t take too long,” said Tails, who flew out of the room with the wispon in hand.

Guilt sprang again in Zero. “I’m assuming you were the usual person to test them.”

Gadget gave a quick nod, still looking down. “Yep. It’s whatever.”

Not wanting to make the air anymore tense, Zero focused on his work.

 

The next day, they finished organizing their desk as they prepared to leave. They went into the meeting room, to see Knuckles before they would leave.

“All right, you’re both good to go. Have to say, this has been going a lot better than I expected. Keep up the good behavior,” said Knuckles, who smiled at them for the first time that week.

“Thanks. See you next week,” said Gadget, who left the meeting room with Zero.

As they reached the beginning of the forest to his house, Gadget let out a large sigh of relief, catching a leaf that had been falling down from a tree.

“Finally! I’ve been looking forward to the weekend,” he beamed. “So, how was the first week of working with us?”

Zero looked over to Gadget, enjoying the return of his usual positive and beaming mood, made even better by the warm weather and sunlight reflecting off his smile. He smiled as well.

“You know, I have to say, not too bad.” 

Notes:

It was really interesting writing Zero interacting with the others and how he has to get used to being in the city now. My favorite scenes in this chapter to write were probably the rooftop scenes.

A few notes: First, I have the rest of this story outlined! According to the current outline, the story is planned to go up to 19 chapters. However, this may be subject to change, since sometimes chapters end up going in different directions, or I get new ideas, or I have to add a chapter for pacing, etc. But the main thing to take away from this is that I have everything planned for the rest of the story.

Another note: In the beginning, I don't mention Sonic as being tortured while he was captured. This is because him being tortured was actually added to the English localization of the script of Sonic Forces, so I only mention that he was captured.

Thanks for all the support on this story! As always, feedback is very appreciated!

Chapter 11: Anchored Senses

Summary:

New skills come in handy during a weekend following another week of Zero working at the base, along with a new awareness.

“See ya next week!” said Tails as he flew out of the room and left the pair alone.

It was 4:12, and the end of their shift signaled the end of a second week of working at the base together. Gadget was in a rush putting away scraps and parts into designated corners of the desk. On the other side of the desk, Zero took the task of putting tools into their respective drawers, each part going in gently. As he finished organizing all of the tools, he grinned at the sight of a fussed Gadget hurrying to clean up their desk.

“Why are you in such a rush?” he asked, his voice a mixture of amusement and concern.

“Cause,” breathed Gadget, “the weekend’s coming up! And I’ve been really looking forward to it.”

“You always look forward to the weekend.” 

Gadget finally finished cleaning the desk. “I sure do. But this one will be special, cause…” He walked over to Tails’ desk and took two grappling hooks, presenting them out. “I’m gonna teach you how to use these!” he beamed.

Zero furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “You’re gonna teach me how to use grappling hooks? Would Knuckles be okay with that? And plus, aren’t those for the recruits?”

“Yes, I’ll teach you. He’ll be fine with it, I don’t see why it would bother him, especially since I’m doing this outside of work. And, some of the recruits dropped out, so we have some extras left over. They would just go to storage and collect dust anyways.”

“Hmph, well, I won’t lie, I’ve been thinking about how you use those grappling hooks. Guess it would be cool to learn.” 

Once they gathered their stuff, they left the base and made their way home. As autumn had been approaching, the leaves on the trees had changed to different shades of red and orange, adding spectrums of colors to the landscape. The crunch of leaves under their steps provided a relaxing ambience to the pair, who used the walk back home as a way to return to their comfortable space. The upcoming change in season was also reflected in the temperature, as the weather had been getting slightly chilly. Since Gadget only had one good jacket, they planned to buy a new one for Zero sometime soon.

The clink of a door handle sounded out, and closed with a thud as they went inside, leaving the changing climate behind them. With sighs of relief, they removed their gloves, belts, and shoes, placed them near the door, and took a moment to relax in the kitchen. Despite the cool temperature, the sun’s shine still came through headfast, allowing for some extra warmth inside. Like usual, Zero leaned on the kitchen counter, closing his eyes and using the opportunity to decompress, with Gadget doing the same by sitting at the kitchen table.

“What’s on the table tonight, chef?” asked Zero.

Gadget leaned back in his chair, looking towards Zero, and smirked. “Oh, ‘chef?’ I like that word. We’ll be having pasta, and it’ll be $20 plus tax.”

Closed, relaxed eyes opened wide at the mention of the price. “Damn, your prices are high. I’m gonna have to find a different restaurant,” he laughed.

Joining his laughter with his own, Gadget responded, “All jokes aside, just the normal pasta tonight. Gotta have good energy for tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, the grappling hooks.” He took a curious glance at the grappling hooks sitting on the table.

“I’ll attach them to your gloves tonight.”

“Sounds good,” he yawned. “I’m ‘bout to shower and lay down for a bit.”

After Zero had gone to the shower, Gadget stayed at the kitchen table, reflecting on the week. That week, they still had a bunch of reconstruction assignments to do, but he could sense everyone being slightly nicer to Zero. While there was still a lot of work they would have to do with navigating everyone’s relationships with him, they seemed to have moved past the initial stage of distrust and skepticism. Two weeks of working for the Resistance seemed to have given them the push to start seeing him as more than a former enemy.

However, Gadget’s unofficial deduction in rank was still very clear, and seemed like it would not be going up anytime soon. As much as it made him want to scream in frustration, he only wanted to move past him and not wallow in it. 

That night, after enjoying a nice dinner with Zero and watching some TV with him, he inserted the grappling hooks into Zero’s gloves. Seeing that they worked well, after some quiet testing in the work room, he prepared himself for bed.

A serene stillness filled his room that night. The only sounds audible were chirps of crickets outside, swaying of leaves from the wind, and his heartbeat. He was sitting up on his bed, looking outside through his window. Moonlight illuminated a spot under the window, making him stare at it absentmindedly, while he reflected on some past memories. Most nights he was able to fall asleep quickly after laying down for a few minutes, but on this night, all he could think about were memories from his time volunteering for the Resistance during the war. One memory stood out in particular, and it kept playing in his mind. It was the day before the attack on Sunset Heights, the day before his friends were killed by Infinite and he ran away to join the Resistance as a fighter at their HQ.

 

Months Ago

“Finally! Damn, I can’t stand having to carry those things,” said a brown hawk Mobian, who was standing next to Gadget.

Gadget put his final chunk of wood down at the pile and wiped his brow, which was covered in beads of sweat. “I know, they really have us working hard today.” A hand slapped his back, making him flinch and grin.

“Hey, what’re you doing tonight? We’re getting off kinda early,” said a gray cat Mobian, who took off his work belt.

“Hmm,” hummed Gadget, who was scratching his chin, “I don’t have anything planned.”

The whizz of a wire flew above the group, and a black-furred fox Mobian landed in front of them, startling him and the brown hawk, while making the gray cat laugh from their reactions. “I know! Teach them how you use those hooks! You keep saying you’ll do it one day,” he laughed.

“Oh, did you teach him? Before us?” accused the hawk, grinning.

“No, I didn’t!” laughed Gadget. “But I’ll teach y’all tomorrow, for real. I know I keep saying it, but I promise this time.”

“Sounds good. Now, let’s get something to eat. I’m hungry as hell,” said the gray cat.

 

A leaf hitting his window made him flinch, putting him back into the space of his room. In his blurred vision he reached for the bottom drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a worn and battered work belt. Why, why am I doing this? It happens every time. I pull it out, and think I won’t cry this time, and I still do.

A tear landed on the fabric of the belt, temporarily staining it. 

I was never able to teach them.

But the stain would eventually disappear, just like all of the other tears that had fallen on the belt. Usually, he could smile or laugh at something from a memory of them on nights like these, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so that night. That belt was the only remnant he had of his life before he joined the Resistance, and the only physical piece of his friends’ memories. 

He put the belt away in the drawer, and forced himself to lay down. In the next few days, he would try again. 

Zero’s vision was filled with the sight of a lit and peaceful living room as he woke up. Sitting up on the couch, he looked around for the sight of Gadget, or any signs of activity in the kitchen, but there were none. Outside, it was pretty. Leaves littered the ground, and sunlight peered through inside and outside, providing a comfortable warmth. He stood up and walked around the kitchen, making two slices of toast for him and Gadget. Maybe he’ll be here in the next few minutes. As expected, he heard the door to Gadget’s room open, and saw Gadget come out a moment later. 

On noticing Zero, he smiled and joined him in the kitchen. “Morning. How did you sleep?”

“Fine, I guess,” he grumbled. “ Nothing really special. You?”

Gadget thought back on his night, the memories of holding the belt returning to him. “Same. Just a normal night, I suppose.” His smile had shifted into a thoughtful look, which was not unnoticed by Zero.

“Doesn’t sound like a ‘normal’ night.” He sighed. “Honestly, you’ve been worrying me a bit lately. I feel like you’re keeping a lot of things away from me.”

“I…Well, some things have been going through my mind lately, I won’t lie. But it’s really nothing big. I’m fine…I promise.”

Zero looked at him for a moment, a look of concern written across his face. He couldn’t read Gadget’s face this time, which was unusual for him. “Fine. When do you want to train today?” He slightly smiled at the return of Gadget’s cheerful look.

“Right after breakfast.”

The door closed behind them as they walked out of the house. With a hearty meal, and some coffee for Gadget, they were energized and ready to learn how to use their hooks. On the way to the clearing, Zero was inspecting his gloves, examining the newly attached grappling hooks.

“So is this where the hook comes out?” He pointed to the metal bracelet which housed the wires.

“Yep.” The crunching of leaves seemed louder than the day before. Taking a look below, Gadget took a short moment to grab one red leaf, before continuing. “Aren’t these so pretty?”

Zero looked over at the leaf, and nodded. “They are. I have to say though, Fall and Winter aren’t my favorite seasons. I hate being cold.”

“I get that. I like Fall and Winter for their beauty, but I don’t enjoy the cold temperatures. I like the heat as well.” He let the leaf fall away from his hand, watching the swaying motion of the leaf falling down in the wind.

A few minutes later, they reached the clearing. The sunlight was strong that day, providing a much-needed warmth that competed against the chilly breeze that ran through the air.

“Okay! So, here’s the plan. We’ll use that tree to get the basic concepts down first.” He pointed to the tall oak tree on their right, the same tree they started with on their first speed-training session. Zero nodded, prompting Gadget to continue explaining as they walked to the tree. “First, since you’re right-handed, and you may have your sword or another tool in your dominant hand, you’ll mainly be using your left hand to shoot out your hook. However, I attached hooks on both gloves, since sometimes you might need two hooks.”

“Cool. So how do I shoot it out?”

Gadget pulled his left arm out and gestured towards it. “First, make sure you activate it. You do that by double tapping the button, and after doing that, you’ll see the spot, where the hook comes out, extend. To make it shoot out, unleash your hand out with your palm facing up, like this…”

Gadget double tapped the button on his hook, and a click sounded while an orange cone extended out a little. Then, looking upwards at the tree, he flicked his hand out, and the hook shot out, whizzing past the pair, before attaching itself to a high spot on the tree. He grabbed the base of the wire with a firm grip.

“Now, you have two options. You can keep grabbing it, and the wire won’t fling you. This can be helpful, for example, if you need to use the wire for stability purposes, such as drifting at high speeds. I’ve done that a lot. The other option is to flick your wrist towards you, or pull it towards you, and…”

With a soft motion, he flicked his wrist towards himself, and with a whirl he shot up towards the spot on the tree, landing there. Opening his palm, which disattached the hook from the tree, he gradually climbed down, making a soft jump near the end. 

“Not too bad, isn’t it? Just takes a lot of practice. Now, your turn.”

Zero shot a nervous look towards his left hand, raising it up slowly. “So, first I activate it.” After receiving an encouraging nod, he pushed the button twice, and a click activated, along with an extended orange part. “Okay, I guess I’ll shoot it at the same spot.” He aimed at the same spot Gadget had shot at earlier, and after hesitating for a moment, flicked his hand towards the spot, palm facing up. The whirl of the wire made him jump, and he eyed the wire with suspicion. 

“You want me to fling myself?” he asked, partly hoping Gadget would say no.

“Of course!” beamed Gadget. His smile made Zero feel slightly more comfortable.

After a deep breath, he grabbed the wire and pulled it towards him. A long half-second passed, and then he found himself flying through the air towards the tree. The force and speed of his journey through the air had surprised him, and he braced himself and tried to land in a way he could grab the tree. Finally, he made it to the tree, and used his feet and legs to stabilize him. After a few deep breaths, he let himself lean off the tree by using the attached grappling hook as an anchor, and looked down at Gadget, who waved up at him, the notion making him smile.

“See, that wasn’t so bad!” shouted Gadget. 

Zero unattached the hook and climbed down the tree, appreciating the ground once he made it. “Easy for you to say, you’re used to this. I guess it’s not so bad, just takes a lot of getting used to.”

Gadget walked around a bit, kicking some leaves around. “The main thing is, you gotta trust yourself. It’s scary, but just have that confidence. And plus, you’re already pretty agile and athletic, so you should get used to it pretty quickly.”

“Is there anything more to these?”

“Oh, there’s a lot more. It’s a simple motion, but you can do so much with them. For example, you can use the momentum for many things, or you can use it to stabilize yourself midair, and so on. But getting the basics down is key, so that’s what we’ll focus on today. I want you to repeat what you did a few more times, to get used to the feeling of going through the air.”

Zero did the same process again, this time feeling slightly better about it. After a few more tries, he found that he was getting used to it faster than he thought he would. And surprisingly, it was really fun. The feeling of the air against his fur and hair, and climbing up and down the tree made him feel like his old self again, as if he was on a raiding mission, or running through nature to get to the mission location. 

“Seems like you’re really enjoying this.”

Wiping some sweat off, Zero breathed, “yeah, I am. This is a lot more fun than I thought it’d be. Reminds me of my old days.”

“I’m glad. Well, since you’re getting the hang of this, I think you can handle this next task.” He grinned at the curious look Zero shot him. “Catch me!” He shot at a different tree near and unattached the hook midway, before shooting it at another tree, the momentum carrying him far.

“Oh shit!” blurted Zero, who started running after Gadget’s direction. “How am I supposed to get you?” he shouted.

“I believe in you!”

I’m not letting him win this. Zero shot out his hook at a tree, landing at the top. He stayed at his position, using it to look for Gadget’s location. It was quiet. Only the sounds of nature were present. Then, a red blur flying past him broke his confusion. Following his direction, he shot his hook out towards the big oak tree, and decided to do what Gadget had been doing. On his way to the tree, he unattached the hook midway and used the momentum to shoot his hook at a tree past, barely landing on it. I don’t know how I did that.

Another blur went by him, and he shot towards a tree in the distance. I can’t catch him like this, I’m gonna have to use a different method.

A few minutes passed of him chasing him around, losing his location, being surprised at Gadget flying past him, and repeating the process again. He decided to shoot at a tree behind him, and wait at the bottom, to see if he could catch Gadget. Climbing down the tree, he took a few breaths to collect himself. Beads of sweat had formed on his brow, arms, and chest. In the distance to his right, he saw the sight of Gadget flying towards the tree he was at. He hid himself near a bush, and saw Gadget climb down the tree he had been on. He noticed him looking around a bit in confusion, and decided to take advantage of the moment.

He sprang out of the bushes and grabbed Gadget’s arms, right as he was about to raise them to shoot. Gadget jumped, before grinning. 

“Got you,” panted Zero. 

“Gotta say,” he breathed, “that was smart. Didn’t even expect that.”

Zero was still holding his arms. They were both grinning and catching their breath. He looked up and met Gadget’s eyes with his own, and, for a moment, he took in the sight of those orange eyes, the sight of them almost keeping him chained there.

Gadget stared at blue and golden eyes in front of him, which began to have some enchanting effect on him as well.

For a moment, everything was still. Only the wind was audible.

Then, Zero let go of his arms and looked down. “You wanna sit down by a tree?”

“Yeah.”

They walked to the big oak tree in the clearing, and sat down together next to it. The moment earlier imprinted itself strongly in Zero’s mind. For some reason, those eyes, Gadget’s face, and his wind-ruffled furs sparked a small warmth in him. He had to say something to think of something different.

“I really enjoyed this. This was so fun, I really did not expect to love this as much.”

Gadget looked over at Zero. “That makes me really happy. Seriously.” A short silence came, them enjoying the wind against their sweat. He fiddled with a leaf in front of him, inspecting the intricate details of it. As he sat there, thoughts from earlier reappeared in his mind. That image of Zero earlier, when he was staring at his eyes, made him feel pleasant, and happy, in a way. The more he thought about it, the more it overtook other thoughts going through him at that moment. 

“You know,” he said, “it’s kinda funny how different you are compared to you during the war.” 

Zero shot a curious look towards him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you know, at the beginning I had this idea you were this tough, all-business, guy. But now that I know you better, you really seem to just be this normal dude.” He hesitated for a short moment, before running a hand down his face. “Ugh, sorry, I know that sounds weird, but you know what I mean, right?”

A small chuckle left Zero, who grinned. “Yeah, I get it. At the end of the day, we’re just all trying to get by, pretty much. This is pretty much who I was before the war, albeit a little different.”

“What were you like before the war, as a mercenary?”

He looked up towards the sky, staring at a large branch that was shading them. “I’m not too different from what I was. I guess you could say,” he paused in thought, “I was a little more ‘gruff’ and violent. The way I saw how to solve a problem? By force.”

“Interesting. So you weren’t the ‘cold, calculating’ person like you were during the war?”

“No, I was much more the ‘beat their ass and take the things without much thought’ person. It’s not like I was some hero before the war, I was very much violent and heartless, you could say. If we’d met during that time, you wouldn’t have liked me.”

Gadget turned to look at him. “Really? I guess so. You aren’t suppressing your true self around me, are you?” 

“Of course not,” he laughed. “What you’re seeing is what you got. People change, after all.”

“I just wanted to make sure you don’t feel like you have to hide stuff from me. I want you to feel comfortable around me.”

That warm feeling started to grow even more in Zero. “Trust me, I’m very comfortable around you. You’re the closest person I’ve been with for a while, ever since my squad really. Honestly, I hope you feel the same way around me. Lately, I can tell you’ve been acting differently, ever since I’ve started working at the base.”

Gadget sighed. “I’ve been going through some things lately. It’s just things I’ve been reflecting about. Trust me, it’s really no big deal, it’s…” He paused for a short moment, looking down. “I’m fine.” He had to change the topic, but while he was thinking of something to say, he saw and felt a black hand feel against his scar, making him look up at Zero, who was smiling.

“It’s healing good. At least you don’t have to wear that eyepatch anymore,” he laughed.

“It looked cool though, didn’t it?” 

“I won’t lie, it did,” he chuckled.

Zero removed his hand, the area where it had been feeling a little cold.

Gadget scooted forward and laid down with his arms back against the tree. “Man, I could just lay like this for a bit,” he exhaled, enjoying the cool earth against his back.

Zero looked down at him, that warmth kindling in him, from the sight of him on the ground. A sea of red, brown, and green leaves surrounded Gadget, whose red furs swayed and ruffled against the wind that blew through them. He looked so peaceful and content. His trance was interrupted from Gadget taking off his glasses and putting them to his side.

Yawning, he mumbled, “damn, I’m getting kinda sleepy. You wanna head back?”

“You look so peaceful, I don’t wanna make you get up. Actually, you know what…” Zero scooted forward and laid back as well, next to Gadget. “I may take a short rest here too.”

Internally, Gadget appreciated that, since he was genuinely sleepy out of nowhere. With the knowledge that Zero was right alongside him, he quickly fell into a restful slumber. Zero joined him in sleep as well.

Gadget awoke to the sight of an overcast sky. Clouds had come in and blocked the sun, leaving a cooler temperature in the air. Yawning, he sat up, moving his back against the tree. Gentle, consistent breaths rang to his right, and he turned to see Zero asleep on the ground, surrounded by shades of leaves. In the middle of his sleep, Zero had turned to his side, facing Gadget. He smiled at the sight, enjoying the fact that they both were able to get a good nap, especially after their successful training session. As much as he wanted to allow him to keep on sleeping, soft thunder in the distance made him reconsider that. He lightly shook Zero, receiving a light grunt in return.

“Hey, it’s gonna rain soon.”

He opened his eyes and slowly sat up, allowing his senses to adjust to being awake. “Okay, give me a minute and I’ll be ready.”

Once he was ready, they left the clearing. The grove had become quieter as clouds turned darker in their walk. It seemed as if the whole grove had gotten sleepy as they were earlier. Their walk back to the house was mainly spent in silence, them simply enjoying each other’s presence. Right as they made it to the door, raindrops had begun falling on the ground, adding clear shades to the leaves and branches that littered the earth.

Walking inside, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. After their routine of leaving their shoes and gloves near the door, Zero gazed outside the window, looking at the raindrops that were pattering it. He noticed his fatigue beginning to return to him.

“Thank you so much for today,” said Gadget.

Turning around to face him, he responded nonchalantly. “Well, I enjoyed it, like any training session we do together.”

“I know, but being able to teach you how to use grappling hooks really means a lot to me. I know it sounds a little silly, but it…” He paused, taking in a deep breath. “Before the war, I–” He stopped, looking down. He couldn’t put out the words. 

Before Zero could respond, Gadget stepped towards him and hugged him. After an initial surprise, he hugged him back, wrapping him in tightly. They stayed in each other’s embrace, allowing the ambience of the rain and dark interior to surround them. Zero felt something wet drop against his back.

“Are you okay?” he asked, gently rubbing the fur on Gadget’s back with his hand, and wrapping his tail around him.

After a short moment, Gadget stepped back, turning his face away. “Yeah, sorry. I’m good, it was just–”

“You’re obviously not ‘good.’ What’s going on? Please, it’s concerning me,” he protested. He put his hand on Gadget’s shoulder, receiving a distressed look.

“I’m fine! I…Sorry. Look, we all have things we go through sometimes, and that’s happening to me now. I promise, it’s nothing big, just trust me, please,” he sighed. “I’m gonna be in my room a bit, let me know if you need anything.” Gently removing Zero’s hand off his shoulder, he walked to his room, each step feeling loud against the floor, and quietly closed the door. 

Zero was standing in the same spot, watching the hallway where Gadget once was. 

The rain had become heavier, thuds of water splashing the windows around him.

He took gentle steps to the door to Gadget’s room, making it halfway there until he decided to just leave him alone. With a defeated breath, he went to the bathroom to take a shower. The steam and hot water made him feel slightly better.

Once he had finished drying off, he laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling. So many thoughts were running through his mind, but instead of trying to drown them out, he tried to grasp at them. After some time spent reflecting on the day, there was one thing that was clear.

This is frustrating . Every time Gadget downplayed his worries, or bottled something right in front of him, it nagged at him. And it seemed to get worse, and worse. He wondered why Gadget couldn’t just tell him, or let him help with whatever was going on. Does he not trust me? After some internal venting, he came to a conclusion. He would give him more time. Gadget was nice enough to not prod Zero at the beginning, when he was going through the same matter, so why couldn’t he do the same? It should've been logical, right? 

But something was missing, and Zero thought he had a reason why. Their relationship was different. Before then, they were still mostly strangers, after passing the stage of being enemies in the war, and then they grew to start becoming closer to each other and eventually call each other an ally and friend. But could he really just say that Gadget was only a friend to him now? 

I can’t.  

He reflected on that moment earlier, where he had stared at Gadget’s eyes for what seemed like a while, and the warmness that had brewed in him, and the sight of his smile... There was no logic in denying what it meant. 

He picked up a book nearby. This was exhausting, made worse by his returning fatigue.

Warm cotton sheets wrapped around Gadget. He was laying on his side, taking looks at the raindrop-painted window nearby. As dark clouds had covered the city, it had gotten dark earlier, which reflected itself inside the house. With his blinds open, only a dim, gray light had entered the room near the window, giving him the perfect environment to reflect.

He had come close to almost letting everything out. As he was about to explain to Zero, a pit had formed in his stomach, seemingly getting bigger by every second. It was so difficult for him to just open up, and come forth with everything to Zero, and really, to himself. It was true that he trusted him, and he’d talked about vulnerable things before to him, but ever since Zero had been working with him at the base, and his role and status had changed there, something was different in him. He felt like a rookie again, as if he had gone back to stage one all over again, with the baggage that had been there present again as well.

Trying to ignore and move past that, he tried to think of something else. The next thought he grasped out of the air was of the training earlier. Something was different about that session compared to the other ones they had done, and it was clear to him why. Recently, it seemed like he had been noticing more features of Zero than before, such as the tips of his fur on his jaw, the furs on his ears, the dark shades of the colors on his eyes, and more. Anytime he saw Zero smiling or joyful, it kindled some sort of warmth in him. All of this seemed to start out of nowhere, but at the same time, it felt natural.

He sighed. His thoughts were racing, and they wouldn’t stop anytime soon. “Maybe I should just take a short nap,” he mumbled to himself. He shook his head. “No, I need to leave my room.” The more he stayed in his dark room, the more his thoughts would race around. Plus, being able to be near Zero would be comforting. 

Leaving his room, he took quiet steps down the hallway, almost trying to appear unnoticed in his return. As he reached the living room area, he saw Zero reading, who looked up to notice him.

“Hey.”

“Hi. Mind if I join you in here?”

Zero laughed. “Of course, it’s your house. I’m just reading.”

There it goes, Gadget thought. That warmth returned. Returning to his room to grab a book, he laid down on the couch with one of his own. This is a lot better than my room.

They spent some time enjoying the natural ambience from soft raindrops which drummed on the house, which was made better by each other’s presence. 

 

The next day, as they were watching TV around noon, Gadget’s communicator went off.

“What’s happening?” asked Zero, who stood up from the couch.

Gadget rushed over to the kitchen to check the device.

 GRAY ALERT: ROBOT ATTACK IN WEST SUNSET HEIGHTS. PRESS “JOIN” TO JOIN EMERGENCY GROUPCALL

“It’s an alert for a robot attack, I’m about to join the call.” He pushed the green join button, and was greeted with background noise of what he assumed to be the city. Sounds of people running and screaming filled the room, along with orders from a voice he recognized as Knuckles.

“I need a report on who’s all on! If you’re on the call, say your name,” ordered Knuckles.

“Rouge here.”

“Espio and Vector here,” came from the device, along with a muffled voice, which said, “and Charmy!” A mute icon showed on their display afterwards.

“Sonic here! Tails is here at the workshop.”

“Gadget here, Zero’s with me.”

After a few seconds of only the background noise from Knuckles’ icon, he spoke up again. “I’m assuming that’s everyone. I need any form of help as soon as possible. A bunch of pawns are marching into the city, and some new robot seems to be leading them.”

“A new robot? Do you recognize it as something you’ve seen before?” asked Rouge.

“No, I’ve never seen something like it. I don’t have time to explain, however. If you can make it, please get here. I can’t handle this on my own. If we don’t handle this soon, they could cause a bunch of damage to the city. Out!” Knuckles left the groupcall, leaving everyone else.

“Me and Zero will be there in a few minutes.”

“Give me a few, I'll be there,” said Rouge.

“We may be a bit late, but we’ll try!” said Vector’s voice. Everyone left the call. 

Zero had already gotten his sword belt and gear. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

With a nod, Gadget went to fetch his burst wispon, and gear, and they headed out for the city.

They were able to reach the western section of Sunset Heights in a few minutes, thanks to speed-training and grappling hook training sessions. Upon arriving, a grim scene welcomed them. All civilians had been evacuated from the area, who the pair had run past on their way there. A large number of two flanks of Egg Pawns were marching in, some stepping over fellow Pawns which had been destroyed by Knuckles. However, the new robot that Knuckles had been talking about was nowhere to be seen. They hurried over to him, who had just defeated a group of Pawns.

Noticing the pair, he wiped some sweat off his face. “Good, you’re here. Rouge is on the way. Sonic and Tails’ signals cut off out of nowhere, so I don’t know about them. Chaotix will probably be late, but I think we four can handle it for now.”

“Where’s that new robot you mentioned?” asked Zero.

Knuckles pointed over to the distance. “It’s in the back of the force at the entrance to Mystic Jungle. I saw it as I glided here from Angel Island. It’ll probably come out once we put a good chip in the numbers. I’ll handle the left flank, since they’re the clawers, you two handle the right flank.” He jumped onto a wall, and glided off of it into the left flank of the marching battalion of Pawns. Internally, Gadget appreciated not having to face those again.

Unsheathing his sword, Zero ran towards the right flank alongside Gadget who unhooked his burst wispon. “Remember, don’t get reckless. I’ll focus on the outer forces, and you storm in and blaze them with your thing. That sound good?”

“Yep!” He shot his grappling hook and flew across a few buildings, flying right above the heart of the flank, a gray mass of Pawns right underneath him. In the distance, he could make out the black blur of Zero, slashing away as robots fell in his direction. As he saw a good spot to drop in, he shot his hook onto a building a few feet above the heart of the mass, receiving blank looks from the robots, who raised both of their arms and readied an energy blast. Opening his palm, he jumped off the side of the building and did a wire attack on a few Pawns, aiming to create a short open space he could land in, barely dodging energy orbs that were headed his way. As a small clearing was made, he jumped in and opened fire in a circle around him, creating an even bigger clearing as the pure force of the flames decimated any Pawns that had made the unwise decision to stay near him. 

That was the main flaw of the Egg Pawns. While they were easy to mass-produce, and in big numbers they were genuine threats, they could only do basic functions, which involved finding a target, and then attacking. 

Zero was slashing away at Pawns as they came near him. He had to be extra careful to avoid the energy blasts, since he had to get up close to them to attack. Usually, a Pawn would approach him and ready its blaster, using the close distance as a way to give their target less time to dodge. To counter this, Zero made sure to keep a good distance away from them, and used their cooldown period from shooting a blast to slash and destroy. To maintain or refresh his positioning, he also used his grappling hook to fly from a building to a new area, in case he got overloaded in his spot.

So far their current plan worked well. Gadget did well on lowering numbers in the center, leaving more room for him and Zero, and Zero was able to focus on the outside, overall weakening their force. 

Gadget took a short glance to the other flank, noticing Knuckles, who was seemingly starting to struggle against the forces. “Zero! Help Knuckles, I can handle this flank by myself now!” he yelled over the rubble.

Understanding, Zero ran over to the left flank, stabbing a robot that was approaching Knuckles at his side. 

“Thanks,” breathed Knuckles.

“No problem, I’ll assist you from now on. Gadget can handle the other flank for now alone.”

“Sounds good. Let’s just charge forward with our might, I think that’s the best idea for now.” 

With a nod, Zero ran towards the group of approaching Pawns, adapting to the now-physical enemies. He noticed that these specific models had claws on both arms, instead of claws on one hand only. Knuckles joined him in his assault, the two destroying any robots that dared to attack them. Once they had a decent space in between them and the approaching Pawns, they took a short moment to breathe.

“Man, where’s the others!” exhaled Knuckles. Right after saying that, they saw a shadow fly over them. Looking towards the direction of that shadow, they saw Rouge, flying in the air, throwing a few spherical bombs with hearts on them towards a big group of Pawns. The bombs exploded, reducing the group into junk pieces.

“Haven’t used those in a while. Sorry for the wait, loves, I ran back to get some of my heart bombs after seeing the numbers,” she said, flying down to their spot.

“Have you seen the Chaotix?” asked Knuckles.

“I contacted them on the way, they’re coming. Late, as usual.” She turned to look at Gadget fighting the other flank. “Wow, seems like he’s doing great against them. There’s still a bunch left though, they’re marching in from Luminous Forest. Some Egg Walkers are in the back.”

“Did you see the robot Knuckles mentioned earlier?” asked Zero.

Rouge looked back in the distance, her mouth tightening. “Yes. We definitely need to be prepared for it.” A group of approaching Pawns, along with Egg Walkers now in the visible distance, were coming nearer. “No more time for chatter, I suppose. Zero, I think you should join Gadget now. I can help Knuckles.”

“Got it.” Using his grappling hook, he flew over to where Gadget had been standing, who was taking a short moment to breathe. 

“Rouge is here now, and the Chaotix, whoever they are, will be here soon. Egg Walkers are coming.”

“I saw,” he breathed. “Let’s do this.”

“Don’t forget me!” a cheerful voice exclaimed. They looked back to see Amy approaching with her hammer in her hand. “Sorry I’m late, some things were happening.”

“Better late than never!” shouted Zero, who ran off towards the flank. “Amy, help me with the Walkers! I think Gadget can handle the Pawns on his own!” 

“Good idea. I’ll take these Pawns on!”

With Amy running past the Pawns into the group of Egg Walkers, Zero used his grappling hook to fly past the last big pocket of Pawns and land in the clearing that stood in between the battalion of Pawns and Walkers. Two Walkers scurried up to him, attempting to kick him. He dodged their kicks, and sliced both legs of one of the Walkers off. Going through emergency functions, the Walker attempted to shoot missiles at him from its launchers on its sides, but Zero aimed the launchers to shoot towards a group of Walkers away from Amy. The missiles shot out, taking out a group of Walkers, and Zero stabbed through the core of the robot, its red eyes going blank. 

In the distance, Amy dodged missiles and kicks, taking out Walkers with one, or two swings of her hammer. She was able to keep a good rhythm of bouncing through the air by using the force of slamming her hammer down on the Walkers. 

Since the group of Walkers was small, indicating that Eggman focused more on his Pawns on this assault, Amy and Zero decimated the battalion quickly, helping Gadget out afterwards. With the combined might of the three, they finished the entire flank soon. 

“That robot still hasn’t come out, it seems,” said Gadget, who was looking at Knuckles, Rouge, and the Chaotix finishing their entire flank also. 

“We should join them,” said Amy, who received nods in return. They set out to assist the other members with their assault. Once the left flank had been cleared, they all took a moment to rest.

“Where’s Sonic and Tails?! With their help this would’ve been a lot easier!” complained Vector.

A loud sound came from Luminous Forest, which made all of them turn their heads. 

“They may be there. That robot I saw was in there when I flew over here. They may be fighting it, and while that pair makes a strong force, they’ll most likely need our help against that thing,” said Rouge.

“Let’s go then,” said Knuckles.

All of them set out towards the lush, dense trees, which gave them no idea of what they would be heading into. On their way, a few rogue Pawns and Walkers tried to attack them, but they were easily defeated by a quick shuriken, or a wire attack from Gadget, who would quickly join them back. As they made it inside the forest, sounds of branches rustling and clangs on metal became clearer. They reached a large clearing in the beginning of Mystic Jungle, and finally saw Sonic and Tails, along with a large robot. Gadget understood why Rouge seemed hesitant to mention it earlier.

The robot was easily larger than the Pawns and Walkers they had been fighting earlier. It stood about two and a half Egg Walkers tall in height. It was more Mobian in shape, and carried a trident in its right hand, and had a launcher on his left hand. Metallic wings extended from both sides, which Gadget wondered if they were there for show or actual use. Its head was in the shape of a bird, resembling a phoenix. The armor was mostly in shades of red, with orange outlining the exterior lining. A large icon of Eggman’s face was printed on the chest plate.

“Sonic!” cried out Amy. “Are y’all alright?”

Sonic and Tails were standing a distance away from the robot, their chests rapidly rising up and down. Their fur was ruffled, signaling that a great fight had been going on. After a deep breath, Sonic responded. “Yeah, especially now that y’all are here. This thing is tough, a lot harder than I thought it’d be.”

“I’ve tried scanning it to get some information from it, but I had to join Sonic in the fight. Only thing I picked up in the quick scan was its name, which was engraved on it. The ‘Egg Cherubim-P.’ It’s a prototype,” said Tails. The robot raised its blaster, readying a shot. “But I can explain more later, we need to take this thing out!”

A quick energy blast came from the blaster, aimed towards Sonic, which was narrowly avoided by him jumping. Everyone scattered around the robot.

“Surround him! And try to find a weak spot!” shouted Knuckles. 

Rouge flew above and readied a few bombs to throw, as the robot was focused on Sonic and Tails. “Everyone, bombs coming, extend out!” After everyone had created some space in between themselves and the robot, she threw a handful of heart bombs towards it. To her surprise, the robot sidestepped and thrusted its trident towards the bombs, exploding them in midair, and away from it. “What?” she gasped.

“This thing is different. We can’t fight this like it’s an Egg Pawn, it's smart,” said Tails. “Our best method seems to just be brute force, but it’s durable!”

An idea came to Gadget, who ran closer to Zero. “I got an idea! We can trip it by using our grappling hooks to tie it up! We would have to use both of the gloves for that.”

Zero continued running around the robot, as everyone else was. “I’ve only used these for a day! How can I do that?”

“You just gotta try! I think it’s our best way. Trust me in this. I believe in you! Just follow my commands when we do it!” After that, he used his hook to run forward to land near Knuckles. “Hey, I have a plan. Me and Zero use our grappling hooks to take it off its balance, make it trip, and everyone goes in for a big attack on it. Sounds good?”

After a second or two of him seemingly considering the idea, he nodded. “Sounds good. Everyone, we have an plan! Gadget and Zero will wrap it with their grappling wires, and make it trip. When it does that, be ready to go all in! Got it?”

“Yes!” replied everyone, who all slowed down to a halt and readied themselves. 

Gadget ran over to Zero. “Okay, here’s the plan. We’ll wrap around its legs. Watch me do it first, and then you do it, okay? Here we go, remember, I believe in you!”

Not giving Zero any chance to back down, Gadget waited for the robot to ready a shot towards Sonic and Tails. As the robot was focused on them, he hooked his wispon to the belt on his waist, and double-clicked the buttons on both of his gloves. He shot one hook at a tree that was past the robot, in front of him. Keeping that hook attached, he shot another hook at a tree in a diagonal direction, and let that hook pull him in. As he landed at the tree, and while he was still holding on to the wire of the first hook he shot, he unattached the second shot and shot it at a tree in the distance. Repeating this, he made it back to his original position, now with the wire of his first shot wrapped around the legs.

“Now, Zero!” he shouted.

After a deep breath, standing on the opposite side, Zero shot out the first hook, keeping it attached like Gadget had done it. His hands were shaking from fear of failing in front of everyone. With a huff of false confidence, and stubbornness, he shot the second shot out. He made it to the other tree, his first wire now partly wrapped around the legs. He looked up and saw the robot staring at him, now raising its blaster and aiming it at him. Panicking, he shot his next shot at the other tree, stumbling as he made it. 

One more shot . He shot out at one more tree, before returning to his original spot, and holding on to that first wire for dear life. Realizing what had happened, the robot tried to jump out of its position, but as expected, it tripped on its back.

“Now, everyone!” shouted Gadget and Zero together, pulling on their wires.

Knuckles glided in and pushed the long trident out of the robot's hands, and Vector smashed the blaster arm down, preventing it from doing anything. The robot squirmed under the wire’s grasp. Everyone jumped in, readying their attack, and unleashed one final attack on the Egg Cherubim prototype. Tails took out his energy blaster, and shot a blast of energy towards the head, making the robot violently shake under the wires’ grasp. Rouge flew down, unleashing a strong kick on the head, which exposed a small opening in the wiring. Espio threw some shurikens at the openings on the robot, while Charmy flew down and pierced an opening with his stinger. Amy swung her hammer down on the chest, making a large piece of metal fly off, leaving a large opening, which exposed networks of wiring. Finally, Sonic grabbed the trident and jumped up in the air, landing with the three tips going down the opening, which released bright sparks, along with a scream from the robot.

The pull on the wires became lighter, and its head lopped to the side. A few seconds passed, everyone with anticipation of the robot possibly coming back to life, but nothing happened. Slowly, everyone stepped off from the robot, and Gadget and Zero returned their wires to their gloves.

“Great work, everyone,” breathed Sonic. 

“Gotta say, that wire thing y’all did made it a lot easier,” said Vector, who kicked a scrap of metal away.

“Chaotix, can you help me survey the area? Gotta make sure no rogue robots are wandering around,” asked Knuckles. 

“Yes,” replied Espio. 

As they and Knuckles were walking away from everyone into Luminous Forest, Knuckles added on, “everyone, we need to meet at the base to discuss this. Let’s meet there in 30 minutes, alright?” After replies of affirmation from everyone, they disappeared into the dense woods.

Rouge picked up some scraps, inspecting them. “Gosh, I was not expecting this on a calm Sunday evening. If it was just some normal robot attack, then whatever, but this is concerning.”

“This is only the prototype, too. So he’ll only refine this model and make it even harder for us to fight it,” said Tails. He grabbed a plating off the lifeless robot, and read the engraving out loud. “ Egg Cherubim-P, Property of the one and only Doctor . Wow, he really thought someone would copy this?”

“It’s Eggman you’re talking about,” scoffed Sonic. “Man, I was just enjoying a nice run in Green Hill. Oh well, we beat it, that’s what matters.”

“I was having some tea with Vanilla, that’s why I was late,” explained Amy. “Her place is a little out there. Oh, I wanted to ask you Zero, where did you learn those grappling hook skills from? You did great!”

Zero looked to his side to see Gadget grinning. “Learned it from him yesterday. You can thank him.”

“I’m a good teacher, aren’t I? But all jokes aside, you should give yourself credit. You picked this stuff up way faster than I did at first,” said Gadget.

Shrugging, Zero kicked some scraps. “And I was able to do that with a good teacher.”

“Zero, did you ever see this model when you were with Eggman in the war?” asked Rouge.

A small pit formed in his stomach from thinking back to those days. “No. I’ve never seen any models like this, this is totally new. It’s a bit different to his style as well. I don’t know what his goal is, but he seems to have some sort of plan with this.”

“You’re right.” She sighed. “Well, I guess we should take some scraps and go ahead to the base for the meeting. See all of you there, loves.” After grabbing a few pieces of scraps from the robot, she flew away to the base.

“Well, guess we’ll be joining her soon,” said Tails. “I’m gonna take a few of these to my workshop before I join y’all.” He grabbed some scrap parts and flew over in the distance.

After a while spent gathering parts which looked interesting or useful for them, Gadget and Zero, along with Amy and Sonic, walked over to the base. Everyone else was waiting for them in the center room, except for Tails, sitting at the center table chatting. Knuckles was standing at the end of the circular table, holding some papers.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. Tails will be a bit late. So, the goal for today is to just document things to get an official report going on. Rouge, have you told GUN about this yet?” said Knuckles.

“Yes, I’ll have a report for them by tonight. So far, just from immediate responses, they’ve told me they haven’t seen anything like it, at least not recently.”

“Okay. Well, I guess there isn’t really anything we can do for now,” he sighed. “Everyone’s dismissed then. I’ll stay here with Tails, when he gets here, so he can run some scans on our computer.”

Everyone got up from their seats, and stuck around a bit to chat with everyone. Amy approached Gadget and Zero.

“What do y’all have planned for the rest of the day?” she asked them.

“Nothing really,” said Gadget. “Probably just chilling, and getting ready for work tomorrow.”

“Same for me. I may rejoin Vanilla, since my tea appointment was rudely interrupted by some doctor.”

Zero stood around Gadget, playing with his nails. He was ready to leave already. While he had enjoyed the thrill of the fight against the robots, his fatigue had started to set in. His fatigue issue had improved a lot over the week, as his stamina had been ever so slightly increasing, but fights against robots, or using the grappling hooks, seemed to bring the fatigue on faster. And plus, he just wanted to be around Gadget without all of his co-workers around.

“Oh, Zero, how’ve you been lately? I haven’t really been able to talk to you much lately,” she asked.

“I’ve been fine. Just the same with me, work, sleep, help around, train.”

“That’s good! Well, I’m about to head out, I’ll see y’all tomorrow.” With a wave, she left them. 

After some goodbyes, and a short talk with Tails since he finally arrived, they left the base and made their way back home. The walk back to the house was well appreciated, since they could finally stop worrying about robots and Eggman. The strong sunlight of that day had dried the mud and puddles that had formed the evening before, leaving light, dry mud and wilted leaves on their path.

“Didn’t expect that to happen today. Pawns, Walkers, and some new robot that required all of us to defeat it? Talk about something unexpected,” yawned Gadget. He scratched at his scar, the sweat from earlier making it itch.

Zero kicked some leaves out of his path. “Yeah. You sound tired.”

“Eh, kinda. Honestly I just wanna take a quick shower, and then nap on the couch.” He stretched his arms up, taking in a deep breath.

“You know, that sounds pretty good,” he chuckled.

Soon, they reached the house, and later, after a nice, hot shower, enjoyed a nap in the living room area with each other’s presence.

Notes:

This chapter was really fun to write! Things are starting to get interesting, it seems, with a new, mysterious robot from Eggman, and mysterious feelings for each other as well. I'm really excited to write the next few chapters, I think all of y'all will really enjoy them!
Thank all of you for the support on this story, I really appreciated it! As always, feedback is appreciated!

Chapter 12: Currents and Cascades

Summary:

As Gadget and Zero gain more information on the Egg Cherubim, they also reach deeper understandings about other things.

A week had passed since the large attack on Sunset Heights.

The Resistance had been working tirelessly on trying to get any signals or more information related to Eggman and his plans, but they had found nothing. Rouge had contacted GUN and written a full report on the incident, but GUN had not been able to find anything as well, even with Shadow and Omega’s help. Everyone in the Resistance was told to report any signs related to Eggman, or the Egg Cherubim Prototype, at first sight, but Knuckles had not received any reports from members of the Resistance and from civilians. 

In the week following the attack, Gadget and Zero had been tasked with assisting with the cleanup. Piles and bunches of dull, tattered robot parts had littered the streets and blocks of the western area of the city. Most of the rubble in the city limits had come from the Pawns, while remnants of the dark purple Egg Walkers had been scattered across the entrance to Luminous Forest. Fortunately, there hadn’t been too much damage to the city, since the Resistance had been able to keep their focus, but some signs and bricks had fallen onto the ground during the fight. It took the whole workweek for the cleanup crew to restore all major damages to the area, leaving a clean and safe area for civilians again.

On one day of that week, particularly that Thursday, the pair stepped out into the city, leaving the base after calling it a day. A light, but sharp chill flew through the air, giving Zero a light shiver. Neither had their jackets with them that day. The temperatures had started to consistently stay in the lower numbers, since November was approaching. Their fur did help to keep them warm, as it often did, but since Zero had grown up in a warm, arid desert, and his fur was relatively shorter than the other species around him, the lower climate was beginning to bother him. 

As they were walking through the city, Gadget noticed Zero holding his arms together. “You’re getting cold already?” he laughed. “It’s just starting to dip.”

“It’s cold enough to bother me. My fur isn’t as thick as yours, and I’m used to warmer climates. I grew up in a desert, afterall.” He tugged on his white collar, as if it would give him some warmth.

“Well, while we’re in the city, let’s get you a jacket. We’ve been meaning to do that anyway. Follow me.”

Gadget made a sharp turn to the right, instead of going straight through the block like they usually did on their way home. Mobians had begun to fill the streets, since most were getting off work at that time. During their walk to a clothing store, Gadget appreciated that the harsh stares and hushed talk at them whenever they walked through the city together had stopped. It seemed like everyone had gotten used to Zero’s presence, and understood that he would not be leaving anytime soon. Now, the only stares he received were related to his new scar on his face, he assumed.

After a short walk through two blocks, they arrived at a decently-sized store and walked in, the chime of the door ringing behind them. A large number of Mobians were inside peeking through racks and holding clothes and jackets in their arms. We aren’t the only ones in need of winter clothes , thought Zero. A few curious looks were thrown in his direction, but he had learned to ignore them over time.

“Oh, they’re having a sale right now. Two jackets, one for full and the lower priced one for half-off. Not bad, I may get one for myself, then. See any you like?” said Gadget. He moved some jackets around a circular rack.

Zero looked at the line of different jackets on the rack, unsure of which one to get. “I don’t really know. I don’t know what color I’d want.”

“What about black? You seem to like that color,” he suggested. He pulled a plain black jacket off the rack and held it in front of Zero.

“Hmm, I do like that one.” He grabbed the jacket and tried it on. The fabric fit comfortably on his fur, and within a few seconds he felt warmer.. “I think I’ll get this, I like it a lot.” He looked up to see Gadget smiling at him, him returning with one of his own, as usual. “What is it?”

“It looks good on you,” he said. “What color do you think fits me?”

“Some darker shade of Green? You seem to like that color, it would match your shoes and gloves too.”

Gadget nodded. “That’s true. Hmm…” He went on the other side of the rack, stopping once he saw a jacket that matched the shade of green with his shoes and gloves. He held the jacket up. “You think this one would be good?”

“Yeah, try it on.” 

Gadget tried on the jacket and shrugged. It was around the same thickness of Zero’s jacket, and brought a noticeable change in temperature. “So?”

“It looks nice. It really matches with your accessories,” he said, smiling.

“Then it’s settled!”

That Thursday, they made it to the house with two new nice jackets, which was brought alongside warmth that only came from within.

 

Another week had passed since then. The Resistance still had not received any signals or information from Eggman, even with the help of GUN. Tension and fear seemed to rise ever so slightly in everyone, as another attack could happen any second.

That Sunday, directly two weeks after the attack, Gadget and Zero were sitting in the living room, enjoying a cozy evening with each other’s presence. They had been graced with a sunny, warm day. Gadget had started reading a book, the book on Chao and their origins, but eventually he spaced out, the ceiling keeping his attention as thoughts of the attack were circulating throughout his mind.

From taking a short glance at Gadget, Zero put his book down. “Gadget?”

The mention of his name made him blink, until he sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry, I don’t know what happened,” he sighed. 

“You’ve been acting weird today, honestly. I would ask what’s going on, but I already know what you’ll say.” He stood up and walked into the kitchen, staring out the window. Throughout the day, Gadget had been quiet, his cheerful mood absent. Frequently Zero had caught him spacing out, staring at nothing with an intense gaze, and the tension that had been building up in him had started affecting Zero too. He took a few deep breaths. The sight of the quiet grove outside from the window helped calm him down a little. 

“The attack, I can’t get it outta my mind.” Joining Zero in the kitchen, he decided to wash the dishes to distract his thoughts. “We just have no information on it. Of course, we’ve gotten random robot attacks from time to time, but that one was different. If we weren’t all there, who knows how much damage that damn Cherubim, or whatever it was called, could’ve caused.”

Zero watched him washing the dishes, the sunlightened red furs further helping to mellow his frustrations down. “You’re right on that, it’s frustrating, and weird. Usually, from my experience working with him, he isn’t this secretive.” As he reflected on the attack, and on Eggman, an idea came to him.

He finished washing the last plate, and put it on the dishrack next to the other dishes. “Yeah. But what can we do about it, you know?” 

“Actually, I think we might be able to find some information somewhere near here.”

Gadget shot his head towards Zero. “Wait, really? Where?” 

After taking a seat at the table, Zero explained. “So, I haven’t told you this, but the first day we met in the grove, I had actually gone to an abandoned Eggman base earlier, which was a few minutes away in the grove. When I went there, I found Metal Sonic there, who was there examining some things in the base there for him. He also kicked me out and threw me out, but that’s not important. Maybe the base has something related to the Cherubim, wouldn’t hurt to see.”

“Huh, so there’s a whole Eggman base near my house. But why didn’t you tell me, or anyone else?” He sat down at the table.

“Well, at that point I didn’t trust you enough, and later, I didn’t want to tell anyone in the Resistance about it since I didn’t want them investigating you, your house, or your land. Especially not right after you introduced me to them.”

“That makes sense, that’s actually pretty considerate of you,” he said, a small smile forming. 

“Finally, you smile for once today,” chuckled Zero.

Gadget stood up, gathering his gloves. “Well, I finally get some hint to this attack that’s been bugging me for two weeks, so of course I’m gonna be happy about that. I mean, today’s been kinda rough for me, I don’t really know why. I know I’m usually cheerful, happy, all of that, but I have my days.”

“I can’t expect you to be happy all the time, I know, but I really do like seeing your smile,” he said, getting up to gather his sword and gloves. 

“I like seeing yours as well. I remember seeing you laugh for the first time after like, a week of being here almost?”

“Oh, when you fell off that chair,” he laughed. “Man, that was hilarious. Sometimes it just pops up in my mind. You know, you don’t even have to try to be funny, it just happens.”

Opening the door, Gadget said, “oh, whatever, your embarrassing moment will come soon. Let’s go.”

With a grin, Zero followed after him.

 

The air outside was crisp and chilly, but fortunately without a strong breeze. The evening sun helped to alleviate the cool temperature, lighting up the pair’s fur with heat and color. As autumn had arrived in full, the ground floor, which was covered in colorful leaves, crunched under their steps. As they reached the area where they had first seen each other, Zero, who was leading the way, stopped.

“So, from here, we need to walk about ten minutes up north,” said Zero, pointing in the direction. “After about ten minutes, then we walk five minutes east until a trail comes into view.”

“Ok. Sounds good.” They started walking up north, Gadget using his communicator to gauge how much time they would spend walking. “How did you know about this base in the first place?”

“Eggman had a map of bases that he and I used. I remembered one being in this area after I woke up.”

“He won’t be there, right?”

Zero moved a branch that was in the way above him. “No, it’s abandoned. I don’t see any reason why he’d be there.”

A few minutes passed of them walking, mainly in silence, with a few comments. Gadget checked his communicator and noted that it had been nine minutes since they had started walking. “It’s been almost ten minutes, should we go ahead and turn?”

“Yeah, I could feel it being close. Let’s go ahead and turn here.”

They spent another five minutes walking eastward, until the leaf-littered view of a trail came into view. Gadget could see the faint image of a large clearing in the distance at the end of the trail. 

“This is so interesting. I never knew an Eggman base would be within thirty minutes outside of my house,” murmured Gadget. He followed Zero on the trail, stopping alongside him as they reached the edge of the clearing. 

They hid behind a large pine tree, peeking at the base to make sure no one was outside. Vines and other foliage decorated the walls and roof of the metal walls, and tall grass covered the base of the base. Laying in front of the entrance were the rusted remains of an Egg Pawn.

“Huh, it’s still there,” chuckled Zero. 

“What’s still there?”

“When I was here, I used a sharpened stick to destroy the Egg Pawn which was guarding the entrance. I’m surprised Eggman didn’t take the remains with him.” He stepped out from the tree. “Oh well, the coast looks clear. Let’s go in.”

They arrived at the rusted entrance door, which was opened to a slit. Stepping over the robot remains, Gadget opened the door, cringing at the noisy creak from the door’s hinges. After a short moment of silence, he deemed it safe to enter. 

The interior looked the same as Zero remembered it to be. Cobwebs dotted the corners of the hallway, and dusty, empty cardboard boxes lay on the ground, some of them folded. The dim lights were still on, their luster dimmer from before. The door that led to the warehouse-like room was open, with one door hanging from the upper hinges. The light from outside illuminated rusted, broken remains of Pawns and Walkers on the floor, along with scattered papers.

“Hmph, nothing’s changed here, except the door to the room is open,” said Zero. “You got a light? I didn’t think about bringing a light source. The light from outside won’t help us see everything on the sides and corners.

“Yeah, I’ll use my communciator’s flash option.” Gadget took his communicator off from his arm, and turned on the flash mode. A bright light emitted from the back of the device.

As they started to head to the room, Zero stopped. “Since you have a light, I’ll close the entrance door just to be safe.” After he had done so, wincing at the high, discordant creak of the door, they resumed their search inside.

The pair walked to the left side of the room first. Gadget’s light revealed mostly uninteresting items, those being robot remains and crumpled up pieces of paper. Even when they unraveled the papers, they only turned out to be scrambled notes. As they investigated the upper left corner of the room, his light showed an ivory-colored back of a large paper.

“Hmm, what’s this?” asked Gadget. 

Zero grabbed the item and turned it around, his eyes squinting as he tried to read the writings. On the right side of the paper, a detailed drawing of a robot was above more writings. “Must be a blueprint for the Egg Walker. It’s not what we’re looking for but we should still take it. Let’s check out the other side.”

The right side of the room was about the same as the left side in terms of interesting finds. Near the upper right corner, the most interesting thing there was a calendar of the previous year with odd notes, one saying, The Pawns suck, but next month, yes! I know! Upgrades! Hmm, yes, I know.  

“What the…this doesn’t even make sense,” mumbled Gadget, who was reading the notes.

“Ah, I remember that one. He was ranting about how he lost a big number of his Pawns in some fight, and about how he would improve their model. It was kind of funny, I won’t lie.” Am I really laughing about a memory about working with Eggman?

In the lower right corner, they were about to give up their search until Gadget saw the tip of a large piece of paper under robot remains. He kicked the parts away. After the small cloud of dust disappeared, he grabbed another paper which was the size of the last blueprint they had found. He blew off dust as he turned it around. Skimming through the writings, a word caught his attention, making him gasp.

Egg Cherubim-Prototype.

“Is it really…” he said, looking all over the blueprint.

Zero scanned the paper. A grin crossed his face as he saw the drawing, which resembled the robot they had fought two weeks ago exactly. “Yep, this is it. We found the blueprint.”

“Nice. Now let’s get out of here, this place is dusty.”

 

The click of the doorknob sounded behind Zero as he shut the door to Gadget’s house inside. With accompanying sighs of relief of being in a clean, sunlit area, they left their gloves and shoes by the door. As they had arrived at the house, the sun was already starting to set, with only about an half hour left of sunlight for the day. The forest was quiet on their way back, the only clear sounds present being their comments on the dusty blueprint. 

After laying the Egg Cherubim blueprint on the living room table, and putting the Egg Walker blueprint in his work room, Gadget grabbed an apple from the counter and started slicing it. “After this snack, I’m gonna call Knuckles and let him know about this. You want some slices?”

“Yeah, I’ll take some.” 

Gadget put the slices on a plate and placed it on the kitchen table. “Let’s just share this.” He grabbed a slice, and while chewing it, mumbled, “I wonder what he’s doing right now. Probably just chilling next to the Master Emerald.”

“The Master Emerald? Why would he be right next to it? Isn’t that a sacred and powerful object?” Zero took a slice from the plate.

“He’s the guardian of it. Surprised you didn’t know that, I supposed Eggman would’ve told you that when you were with him.”

Spitting out a seed, he said, “seems like the more I think about it, he really didn’t tell me much about all of you, besides Sonic. Oh well.”

A few minutes passed, and they had finished eating the slices, with Zero taking the last slice. After washing the plate and placing it on the dishrack, Gadget grabbed his communicator from the kitchen table and called Knuckles. The phone rang for a while, until he answered.

“Hey, Gadget. Everything alright?”

Gadget walked over to the living room and stood over the blueprint, examining it. “Hey, I called to tell you I found something related to the attack two weeks ago.”

“Really?” he gasped. “What did you find?”

“I found the blueprint for the Egg Cherubim, with a sketch, details, everything.”

“That’s…That’s great, Gadget! If you’ve really found it, then send me a picture of it, okay? I’ll arrange a meeting tomorrow where we can all discuss it and details moving forward.”

Gadget stared at the communicator screen, which only showed Knuckles’ name and icon, call length, and buttons. “Sounds good. See you then.”

“See you tomorrow.” He hung up the call, leaving only silence in the room.

Walking into the living room, Zero turned on the light, as darkness from outside had been slowly seeping in. He stood above the blueprint, checking out details on the sketch, and took a sidelong glance at Gadget, who was still staring at the screen. “Gadget, you spacing out again?”

“No,” said Gadget, his response surprising Zero. “Just wondering why he doesn’t believe me. ‘If you’ve really found it,’ seriously? This is what I get? Almost makes me wanna, whatever,” he breathed, “I’m just gonna take a quick picture and get this over with.” Almost makes me wanna throw this fucking communicator across the room.

Zero took a heavy look towards the floor. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but if you think about it, the last time you bought super important information to him, like my status, it went…wrong.”

“I know, I know. See, if it’d been a few days after that, sure, that makes sense. But a whole month? Of us doing everything he asks for?” His hands tightened around the communicator, until he took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes for a moment. As much as their short journey to and from the base helped calm him down, he was back to how he was feeling earlier that day. 

“Let me guess, I’m gonna ask if you’re okay, and you’ll just say the same thing, ‘oh, I’m–”

“Please, not now, Zero. Please,” said Gadget, shooting a sharp look towards him.

A small twinge of guilt ran through Zero, who sat down on the couch. “Sorry. But…nevermind.”

Gadget plopped down on the couch, releasing a large sigh afterwards. He had just sent the picture to Knuckles. Throughout the house rang silence, and he and Zero simply stared at the blueprint in front of them. Neither of them had anything to say, and they stayed silent until his communicator beeped. It was a reply from Knuckles, saying he received it and that he would send out information to everyone later. A moment later, another buzz came from the device, this time displaying a message sent to everyone.

Important Update: Gadget and Zero have found important information related to the October Sunset Heights Assault. We will discuss this tomorrow at 4 PM.

“He just told everyone. The meeting will be at 4 tomorrow,” grumbled Gadget, who pushed the communicator away on the table and lay down. 

“I guess we’ll just drop it by his office when we get there.” It was now dark outside, and Zero started to cover the blinds on the windows, except for the kitchen window. He took a look at Gadget, and for a short moment, considered confronting him about everything. A small seed of frustration had been growing inside after about two weeks of denial from Gadget, and he didn’t know how much more of it he could take. That day especially, it seemed as if he couldn’t stop Gadget’s tension and irritable mood from grasping at him too.

“I’m gonna be outside,” said Zero, gathering his belt and sword.

Gadget sat up on the couch. “Where you going?”

Looking back, he responded, “I need some fresh air. I’ll just be near the front porch, I’m not going anywhere.” He walked outside, and the crisp, chilling air instantly helped alleviate his mood. He stood outside and simply allowed for the air to occupy his thoughts.

Now alone inside, Gadget took a deep breath. He looked over the blueprint, trying to find anything that stood out to him. It would help to occupy his thoughts, he thought. As he was inspecting some numbers on the left side, Knuckles’ words from earlier began to play in his mind. 

If you’ve really found it…

If you’ve really found it…

If you’ve really found it…

He walked over to the kitchen and stared outside the window there. Zero does this all the time, so maybe it’ll help me . The darkness made it hard to see details of the trees, so Gadget could only make out vague outlines of tree trunks and branches. The sight of them cooled him down slightly, at least enough to stop Knuckles’ words repeating in his head. Deciding to start dinner to further keep his thoughts occupied, he took to the fridge and began pulling out random vegetables.

Later that night, as Zero was laying on the couch in the dark living room, he moved on his side. The hanging edge of the blueprint caught his gaze, and he sighed. The thing almost felt cursed.

 

The next day, the pair was walking through the familiar path of the grove to the base. Zero was carrying the rolled up blueprint. Marking the 1st of November, both of them had donned their newly bought jackets to counter the chill of the air.

Gadget was kicking crisp leaves off the ground as he walked. “I wonder how it’ll go. I’m pretty sure Tails will be able to give us a lot of information from it.”

“Yeah, seems like he’s good with that type of stuff.” Zero unraveled the blueprint and examined it again, looking to see if there was anything he had missed. 

“Definitely. I’m not well-versed with this type of work, but he is. It’ll be interesting for sure.”

Rolling the blueprint back, Zero nodded. That morning, Gadget had been way happier and more cheerful compared to the previous day, a change noted by Zero. As much as he wanted to appreciate it and embrace it, something felt forced and sudden about it.

Throughout the work shift, everything was normal for the most part. They repaired broken parts and equipment, enjoyed a nice lunch on the roof, and fortunately had no cleanup assignments afterwards. While the peaceful workday was appreciated by Zero, a latent wariness made itself present in him at all times during the shift, almost as if he was expecting some type of act to drop at any moment. 

And unfortunately, his wariness was there for a reason.

The clock struck 3, and Tails had just returned from his break. As he came back to working on his assignment, Gadget asked, “oh, I wanted to ask, Knuckles hasn’t set the budget already, did he? It’s the first of the month, so I just want to be sure.” The instant look of pity on Tails’ face sent a chill through him.

“He did, this morning. I was gonna tell you earlier today, but I forgot, sorry.” He returned to working.

Gadget stared at the broken communicator in front of him, his hands frozen. After a sigh, he started to work on the broken wires on the device again. “Ah, well, no big deal. Just wanted to know,” he said, his voice low and dry.

Zero’s wariness had grown, and he was now almost scared of Gadget. From a month and two weeks of living with him, and learning about him, he could sense something in him, something fragile. As he gazed at the rolled-up blueprint under the table, that feeling from last night returned. It was as if the blueprint was mocking him, as it dragged the both of them under its curse. 

An hour had passed, and right as the clock hit 4, Knuckles sounded over the intercom. “Executives, please meet in the meeting room.”

“Well, time to see what y’all found,” said Tails with a smile. “See ya there.”

Waiting for everyone else to get inside the meeting room, Zero and Gadget left the tech room with the blueprint in hand. They walked inside, with Zero closing the heavy door behind him. Like usual, the air felt stuffy, made even worse from his nerves over the blueprint. As he scanned the large table, a dark, familiar figure, who was sitting next to Rouge and had a red streak across his quills, almost made him flinch. Their eyes met, and a look of surprise flashed across the figure’s face.

“Alright, now that everyone is here, I’ll let them explain what they found,” said Knuckles.

Gadget unrolled the blueprint and spread it out on the table, receiving wide eyes on the paper and gasps. “We found the blueprint for the Egg Cherubim, at least for the prototype, complete with a sketch, details of material, and future plans.”

“Huh, nice,” said Rouge. “Where’d you find it?”

“Turns out there’s an abandoned Eggman base from the war in the grove near my house. Zero knew about it, so we searched it and ended up finding this. A pretty lucky find, considering most of the things there were dust and rusty robot parts.” 

Tails looked over the blueprint, his eyes squinting from skimming the text. “This is great! If y’all could give me some time tonight to do a thorough read through this, after the meeting, I’ll be able to get a lot outta this.”

“Wait, so going back on the base part, Zero, how did you know about the base’s location?” asked Knuckles.

Zero looked up as he was about to explain, but Shadow’s seemingly blank, piercing gaze towards him made him look back at the blueprint. “When I was working with Eggman, he had a map of bases that I used. I remembered one being in the area near Gadget’s house. It’s totally abandoned, the blueprint was the only valuable thing there.”

“Interesting,” commented Vector. “Makes me think of other abandoned bases and what we could maybe find in ‘em.”

“Anything interesting you see from just reading it, Tails?” asked Sonic.

“Yes. The material says that the prototype is mainly made of steel, but under the future notes section,” he said, pointing towards it, “he says he wants to include some titanium parts.”

Espio inspected the sketch. “I would guess that he would place them in vulnerable areas, such as the neck or chest. We did, after all, manage to destroy it from those areas.”

“Right,” nodded Amy. “I think we need more time to really get a plan out of this, since we still don’t know what Eggman himself plans to do.”

“Amy’s right,” said Rouge. “Without knowing about Eggman’s plans, we can’t do much. All we know is that he’ll definitely use this model in the future.”

Tails looked over the sketch. “After my investigation, I’ll be able to give a time estimation on how long it would take to build one of these, after looking at the makeup and materials used.”

“That would be really helpful,” said Knuckles. “Rouge, Shadow, could you two send a picture to GUN? They may be able to get something out of this too.”

“Of course,” said Shadow.

As Zero was about to ask a question, Knuckles’ communicator rang. Everyone looked in his direction.

“Hello?” He put the communicator on speaker mode.

“Hello, Commander. We have an emergency! As I was wrappin’ up shifts for the crew in Mystic Jungle, they reported robots attacking them, specifically those near the abandoned base deeper in the jungle! Please send some executives over! They said it was a lot, and only half of ‘em were Pawns, as the others were some other types. Please, we need assistance!” cried the site leader.

“We’ll send someone immediately. Has anyone been hurt? Is everyone safe?”

“Yes, I rounded up everyone. We’re in the city now. No one got hurt fortunately, but those robots should still be dealt with. That base is supposed to be abandoned, so Eggman has to be up to something.”

Knuckles stood up. “Understood. We’ll send someone, you and the crew focus on going home. We got this handled. Thank you for making sure everyone was safe.”

“Thanks for sendin’ someone, I appreciate it.” The site leader hung up the phone.

“Me and Zero will go,” said Gadget.

“Okay. Rouge and Shadow, follow after them. We don’t know how many robots there are.”

Amy stood up. “Why not send everyone? We shouldn’t endanger them if it turns out to be a large gathering.”

“We need some to stay behind to protect the city, just in case. Plus, if they need backup, they would let us know. Also, Rouge and Shadow, I want you to arrive a little after Gadget and Zero. If Eggman is truly there, we could throw him off by making him think only two members were sent. Last point, Gadget and Zero, let us know if Eggman is there, or if there’s just robots. Even if it’s just robots, I still want Rouge and Shadow to assist.”

“Got it. Let’s go,” said Gadget. “I just need to grab a wispon real quick.” The pair rushed to the tech room, and Gadget grabbed a burst wispon near his desk. As they were about to leave, he stopped.

“What’s wrong?” asked Zero.

“You don’t have your sword. Here, take this wispon, I’ll grab another.”

“Don’t worry about that, we don’t have time. I’ll manage. Plus, I don’t have experience with using those things.”

After a short hesitation, he left the base, Zero following after him. The sunset had begun, illuminating the city under its orange light. The pair ran towards the western side of the city, passing by the avenue where they had fought against the robots two weeks ago. A large number of the cleanup crew were still hanging out together near the entrance to Luminous Forest, talking amongst themselves about the robots and Eggman’s plans. 

Soon enough, they reached the beginning of Mystic Jungle, where the first cleanup site was. Many tools were laying on the ground in a clearly disorganized fashion, evident of a rushed evacuation. They ran past the site, and into the more uncharted territory of the jungle, now reaching the untouched ruins of Eggman’s casino. The familiar water flumes appeared in Gadget’s view.

“It’s so weird being here again,” said Gadget. He shot a grappling hook towards a tree nearby, using it to swing forward. The momentum propelled him through the air, and after another shot from a tree, he landed in a small cave which led upwards.

Zero followed after him, landing in the cave. “Same for me.” He felt uneasy towards the idea of returning to that base, not to mention Shadow being there as well. 

As they ran through the cave, they grinded to a halt at the end of it. A strong flow of water was running over the end of the cave, and through the blurry view forward, a large, wooden pipe extended itself out into the distance. The strong current flowed onto the pipe, its crashing waves loud in their ears.

“This again. I’ll go first, and then you follow me after a few seconds, that way we don’t ram into each other while going down these pipes. Sounds good?” said Gadget.

Zero nodded, and Gadget took a deep breath before running out and jumping into the dim cascade. Cold water splashed all on him as he jumped past the waterfall and into the current. The strong current moved him down the large, wooden pipes faster than he expected. Going through the current, ruins of Eggman’s casino stood proud among the pipes, with broken lights and cables hanging off the pipes. Under the pipes lay the vast, open Mystic Jungle in its full glory, along with a large river that flowed through the jungle.

As Gadget weaved his way through the pipes, he tried his best to control his direction in the clashing waters. Water frequently splashed on his face, making him often spit out water. By changing his position slightly, he was able to drift around, which helped with staying within the pipes on sharp turns. Every once in a while, he was able to take a short glance towards the jungle below. Finally, as the pipe bent downwards, the view of the jungle floor on a cliff among the river underneath came into view. There was a large distance between the end of the pipe and the jungle floor, but fortunately the Resistance had placed springs at the end of the pipe during the war for members to get through the area. Once Gadget had reached the end of the pipe, the spring set him off far into the distance, and he landed at the edge of the cliff.

A few seconds after Gadget had jumped, Zero ran and jumped towards the cascading pipe after taking a deep breath. His body tensed at the cold water that was clashing against his body. Going through the pipes started to make him feel queasy, which was not helped by his former memories of this place. A sudden sharp turn made his stomach twist. After what felt like a while going through the rushing water, the distance of a jungle cliff came into view. He could see the downwards-leaning pipe end and started to panic. Before he could think about what to do, the strong force of the spring pushed him through the air, and he barely landed with a steady foot behind Gadget.

“Ugh, I forgot how much I hated going through those damn pipes,” exhaled Zero. He followed after Gadget, who was running forward through the cliff.

“I found it fun at first, but…I don’t know if I do now.” They reached the end of the cliff shortly, and stopped at the edge. “Last pipes to get across. I’ll go first again.” After a short nod from Zero, he jumped onto the pipe below, which was flatter and wider compared to the previous pipe he had gone through, but it soon diverged into three pipes which extended into different directions. One went up and curved and the other two went downwards. However, every pipe would lead to the same location: the base. Gadget decided to take the middle path. Compared to the first voyage through the pipes, there were a lot more curves and turns. 

Zero jumped onto the pipe and decided to take the left path. The abundance of sharp curves made his stomach knot and twist, and he wished for the pipes to end soon. As he came to the end of the pipe, a placed spring sprang through the open air, and he could see the river more clearly now. By using his grappling hook to fly towards the jungle floor where the base was, he arrived at the base’s location, where Gadget was waiting for him. The base was located on the lower altitude of the jungle that met the river. He took a glance behind and noticed the high cliffs of the jungle behind him and the network of the pipes that ran through them.

The pair had no time to talk, as a horde of robots were waiting for them. The horde consisted of Pawns, Walkers, and Eggrobos. The robots gleamed under the moonlight and light from the ancient ruins totems.

Gadget took out his wispon. “Knuckles was right to send some backup. I don’t see Eggman though.”

“Wait, there he is!” said Zero. He pointed towards the far distance into the sky, where the vague outline of Eggman’s Flying Egg could be seen flying away. 

“Damn, he got away! Oh well, main priority is taking care of these.” He called Knuckles on his communicator.

“Hey, have you made it there yet?” he asked.

A Pawn, a model with claws on the left hand and a blaster on the right hand, started to approach him. “Yes, we just did. Eggman’s Flying Egg was seen in the distance. Robots are approaching, so I’ll update you once we take care of them!”

“Okay, Rouge and Shadow will be there in a few. Call if you need any more backup.” He hung up the call.

Zero grabbed a stone from the ground. An Eggrobo flew towards him and aimed its energy gun at him. He threw the stone at the robot, which broke its focus, and conducted a wire attack on it. The force of his kick made the robot drop its gun, which Zero grabbed. He shot an energy blast towards the robot, which destroyed it.

The approaching Pawn ran at an unexpectedly fast speed towards Gadget and raised its claws to attack. His body tensed and his hands shook as he aimed the wispon towards it, and blasted it with a stream of intense flames. More running Pawns came after him, and they were destroyed with shaky bursts of flames.

“Zero, can you please take care of these Pawns? I, I just can’t deal with them, my aim is shoddy towards them,” he pleaded. 

Zero ran towards him, readying his energy gun. “Yeah, no worries. I’ll take care of them, you focus on the Walkers and Eggrobos.”

After breathing a sigh of relief, Gadget chased after the large crowd of Egg Walkers. He dodged the missiles easily, now that he was facing easier foes. As he was fighting the robots and destroying them one at a time, thoughts from earlier reappeared in his mind. A sudden burst of anger rose in him, making him stop suddenly in his assault. After taking a brief moment to collect his breath, he narrowly dodged an energy projectile from an Eggrobo, destroying it shortly afterwards. 

Please, just get through this fight. As an Egg Walker fell in front of him from his flames, he could see a large crowd of more robots in the distance. A flight of Eggrobos were flying towards him and he was readying his wispon, until his focus was broken by his mind playing Tails’ words from earlier.

“He did, this morning. I was gonna tell you earlier today, but I forgot, sorry.”

“He did, this morning. I was gonna tell—”

He jumped backwards, dodging an energy projectile. “Get it together,” he muttered to himself, readying again his wispon. Yellow arrows of energy struck the flight, destroying them all. Shadow landed above him, and the faint voice of Rouge could be heard above.

“We got this crowd over here and beyond! You two focus on the crowd near the cliff edge!”

“Got it!” Gadget ran back towards the cliff edge, where he and Zero had arrived from the pipes. 

Zero had managed his area well, his use of the energy gun quickly becoming habit. Most of the Pawns were destroyed, and now he focused on the crowd of Walkers behind them. Eggrobos were flying in from different locations, more flying towards Shadow and Rouge’s side.

Together, they were able to eventually completely decimate the robot numbers in their area. After Zero had destroyed the last standing Walker with an energy shot, the pair took a moment to breathe.

Zero looked in the distance to see Shadow and Rouge handling the robots. “Looks like they’re doing good,” he breathed. “This gun isn’t too bad. How you handling?”

“Honestly…not good.” Right as he stopped fighting, Gadget’s thoughts had come rushing to him. “I’m gonna join them.” He bursted off towards the direction of Shadow and Rouge, hoping that more fighting would clear his mind. 

Looking after him with concern, Zero sighed, and followed after him at a slower pace. His fatigue had begun to set in. Once they had reached the other crowd of robots, they saw Rouge kick a Pawn towards an Egg Walker, which destroyed both of them. The last robot standing was a lone Eggrobo, who fell after an energy shot from Zero from afar.

“And that’s all of them,” said Shadow. “Rouge, can you scout the area for any more robots?”

“Will do,” she said, flying off into the now dark sky.

The breeze and the sound of Gadget and Zero’s breaths were the only sounds in the jungle at that moment, after the frenzy of robot parts clashing among each other and energy blasts. While the run towards Shadow and Rouge had managed to clear Gadget’s mind, the thoughts immediately came rushing back. He turned to focus on a nearby tree and took deep breaths to calm himself down.

Now that the assault had ended, Zero thought of his memories of the jungle. Due to the rush of everything, the meeting, the rushing water, the assault, he hadn’t even been able to comprehend the fact that Shadow was there. It only took a moment of calm for the memories to come back, and his fists tightened.

Shadow turned around to them. “I’m going to go to the cliff’s edge and examine the robots. I would appreciate help.” He walked past them in that direction.

Thinking that maybe he could confront him about everything, Zero followed after him. Initially, Gadget stayed behind, but eventually Zero heard his footsteps behind him. He reached the cliff’s edge and saw Shadow inspecting the claws on the Pawns.

“Claws? Since when did the doctor put claws on these?” he questioned, feeling the hard metal.

Gadget scanned the parts on the ground, focusing hard on keeping his mind occupied. “Ever since about a month ago.”

“I’m assuming that scar came from one of these.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t fun,” he said, forcing a laugh. He kicked a part near, hoping that something interesting would show up. It would help him focus on anything that wasn’t his thoughts. He walked a few feet away from them, taking deep breaths again to calm himself down.

Zero watched Shadow walk over near a totem pole, where a fallen Eggrobo lay. He was about to confront him then and there, walking towards him until Rouge flew in above them and landed near.

“No robots in the area,” she said.

“Good. I already updated GUN. I’m examining these parts and seeing if there’s any important details,” he replied.

“Okay.” She looked over to where Gadget was standing. “Hey, Gadget, you alright?” 

As Rouge approached him, he was still taking deep breaths. “Yeah, I think I just need to be alone for a bit. I’ll just be over there.” He walked away, disappearing into the jungle nearby.

Rouge’s communicator buzzed. “Oh, I forgot to update him,” she sighed. “Hey Knux, we got the robots all taken care of. It was a large crowd, so that backup was definitely needed.”

“Good. Tails will inspect the blueprint tonight, so we’ll have a meeting tomorrow about it.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be seeing you then.” She hung up the call.

While everything had been going on, Zero had only been able to focus on Shadow, who was inspecting the parts. Everyone’s words had felt like white noise to him. Shadow was in the same spot where he had once left Zero to lay there after taking a brutal beating. What angered him the most was how Shadow was acting completely normal about the situation. He stood there, thinking about what to say, until a haunting thought sent a chill down his spine.

Is this what Gadget felt when he saw me in that grove for the first time?

Suddenly his anger washed away, replaced with an emotion he couldn’t name. It was a sense of guilt, self-disappointment, and confusion. He looked around for Gadget, but saw him nowhere. Worry started to seep in. As Rouge and Shadow were talking, he waited for a break in their conversation to ask where he was.

“Hey, Rouge, do you know where Gadget went?”

“He went over there,” she said, pointing back. “He did tell me that he wanted to be alone, though.”

He hesitated for a moment, but started walking that direction. “I don’t care. I need to talk to him.”

“But…nevermind,” she mumbled. 

Zero walked through the path where fallen robots littered the ground. “Gadget?” he asked out into the air. There was no response. He continued walking the path, which became denser with trees and foliage. “Gadget?” he asked, his voice louder. Again, there was no response. The more he walked through the trees, the more he felt as if the darkness was enveloping him. “Gadget! Stop avoiding me!” he yelled. Seconds later he came across a figure leaning on a tree.

“Gadget? Is it you?”

A loud sigh left the figure. “Yes. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to avoid you, I just had to leave the scene for a bit. Honestly, I think I need to be alone for a little while.”

Zero approached him, now able to make out his face under the moonlight. “Why? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He forced a laugh. “Trust me, I just—”

“I’m so sick of hearing you say that.”

Gadget stood away from the tree. “What?”

“Stop lying to me. Please, just tell me what’s going on,” he pleaded.

“No, no,” he breathed, “please don’t bring this up now.” His mind began to feel overwhelmed by everything, and started taking deep breaths again.

“I will bring it up now. I just don’t get it, why? Do you not trust me?” 

Gadget looked away at the distance. “No, I do trust you.”

“Then why can’t you tell me what’s going on?”

Like a twig getting dangerously close to snapping, he replied, “It has nothing to do with you, it’s me. Please, Zero, I can’t talk about this right now, seriously.” He closed his eyes, hoping it would ease him, but hands on his shoulders made him flinch. Blue and golden eyes stared at him.

“Let it out. It’s just me,” he whispered, concern written all across his face.

Gadget stepped back, and his mind went blank. It was too late to stop it now. As his thoughts came rushing at him, attacking him one by one, he felt his eyes well up, but the last thing he wanted to do was cry. Scanning for a target on the ground, he grabbed a pine cone. His hands twitched, before he crushed the cone, ignoring the wooden fibers scraping against his hands. WIth the crushed cone, he threw it against a nearby tree, while yelling. Heavy breaths left him.

Zero watched him with concerned eyes at first, but the outburst seemed to set something off in him as well. “Why was it so hard to just tell me? To trust me?” he demanded.

“Because you don’t understand!” He grabbed another pine cone and stared at it in his hands.

“But I came to you about my issues, I showed you my vulnerable side, I trusted you enough to do so, which wasn’t easy by the way. Why can’t you do the same to me?”

“Why do you even care?!”

Zero’s tension disappeared as anger left him and a form of sadness washed in. “What?” he murmured, his voice breaking. 

The pinecone fell from Gadget’s hands. “Sorry, I didn’t mean–”

“I care because I care about you. I hate seeing you sad, I hate seeing you angry, I hate seeing you so distraught. Especially when it’s over something that I could help you with. I let you help me, and I want to do the same for you.”

Gadget was unable to stop his eyes from welling any further, as the intense emotion washed over him. Tears stained his eyes. “I swear, I just cry about shit all the time,” he sighed. 

“And what’s wrong with that?” questioned Zero. As Gadget had started crying, he rushed forward to hug him, wrapping his tail around him. The hug was returned with welcome arms. He stroked the fur on Gadget’s back, enjoying the warmth against his fur. He breathed in the smell of his fur and sweat from the earlier assault, the familiar scent comforting him. 

Gadget stepped back, and after taking a short look at Zero, sat down on the grass. Zero sat down next to him. “I need to tell you something, I owe you an explanation” he sniffed. “I actually almost told you this after our first grappling hook training session, but I just couldn’t. Anyways, when I was volunteering for the Resistance during the war, I had a big problem with courage. I was always too scared, even to the point where I was a watch guard intentionally, so that I could avoid the front lines. But I was determined at some point to be strong, to stand out in the face of fear. Eventually, Sunset Heights was attacked, and it was me and my friends in that square. We all had our wispons with us, ready to attack, and then, Infi–, you approached us. When I saw you, any determination I had to be courageous and strong went away. My friends asked me what to do, and all I could do was look at them in fear and hesitation. It was too late. They got killed, leaving just me.”

Zero couldn’t think of any way to respond. 

“So, for a while I had guilt over that. And I decided to be strong, and face fear, even when it was dangerous. Even when it meant ignoring things that could harm me. After the war, I, for the most part, felt that I had gotten over that whole thing. You know, I had no problems being vulnerable and emotional. But then, ever since you started working with me at the base, and I’ve lost my trust and recognition from some friends, I don’t know, it brought it all back.”

“You thought admitting the way they were treating you bothered you would make you look weak?” 

“Yes, and well, it was deeper than that. As dumb as it sounds now. I had to stand strong, even when I knew myself it would just eat away at me inside. I don’t like bottling my emotions, but I straight-up could not bring myself to confront it. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

Another weird emotion ran through Zero. That seed of guilt grew again, but it was now added with disappointment. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ve already forgiven you.”

“What do you really see in me? I mean, I’m the reason you’ve struggled so much, during and after the war, hell, this whole issue is my fault!” Tears slowly left his eyes.

“I thought we’d already gotten through this,” laughed Gadget. 

Zero looked over at him. “I’m serious.”

Gadget smiled. “I see someone strong, who’s in tune with themselves and their emotions. I’m proud of you honestly, you’ve changed so much. And I don’t mean in a ‘now you’re a good guy’ way, but you’ve reflected on things and made an honest effort to improve yourself.” Gadget wrapped an arm around Zero’s shoulder, and he leaned in on Gadget’s shoulder.

For a while, they stayed in that position. A tranquil sense embraced them, and each other’s presence, physical touch, and sounds of breathing bought a sense of unmatched comfort. 

“Where do we go from this?” asked Zero.

Gadget stroked the black furs on his shoulder. “I’ll try to be better at telling you things in the future. Honestly, letting all of that out makes me feel a lot better for now.”

“Please do." After a moment of silence, he said, "I know it wasn’t the best way to confront this.”

“Yeah. But sometimes it takes a bit of a push, you know?”

Zero grunted in response.

After a moment of quiet, Gadget’s communicator rang. “Oh, it’s Rouge. She’s probably worried about us,” he chuckled. “Hey.”

“We’re about to leave, we’ve just finished our investigation. Are you two alright?”

“Yeah, we’re good. Y’all can go ahead and leave, we’re gonna leave here soon.”

“Alright then. Be careful, dear.” She hung up.

Gadget put his arm around Zero’s shoulder again. “I guess we should probably head back.”

“As much as I want to stay in this position, that makes sense.”

Reluctantly leaving the warmth of Gadget’s shoulder, Zero stood up and joined Gadget on the walk back after he had gotten up. They took a path back upwards the cliff which went past the network of waterslide pipes. The way back was not as long as they had expected it to be, learning afterwards that the pipes were basically a quick way of reaching the lower level of the jungle. The path back led to a path in the trails of Luminous Forest, which then led back to the familiar sight of Sunset Heights. The night was illuminated by street lights and shop signs, along with groups of Mobians on the streets. It was busier than normal for a Monday night.

Eventually, after a long trek back, they reached Gadget’s house.

“Oh man, a hot shower is gonna feel amazing after going through those freezing waters,” said Gadget.

Zero put his shoes and gloves near the door. “Definitely. I’m about to take one.”

“I’ll warm up the leftovers then.”

After they had both showered, they were sitting at the kitchen table eating their dinner.

“You know,” said Gadget after eating a forkful of rice, “I kinda feel bad about instantly making us go to the jungle. I forgot about your past experiences there.”

“It’s fine. I’m kinda glad we went, now that I think about it. Not only did we gain some clarity on some things, but I also was able to self-reflect a little.”

“That’s good, I’m happy to hear that for you.”

Zero took a sip out of his glass of water. “Eh, the self-reflection only made things more complicated, but I’ll have to figure it out.”

“Well, talk to me about it if you want to.”

“I’ve never told you the full story of what happened there, haven’t I?”

Gadget finished his plate of food. “No, only thing I know is something bad happened there,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s true,” he yawned.

“You sound exhausted. You don’t have to tell everything tonight, since I know you’re tired.”

After putting his dishes in the sink, he leaned on the counter. “I am tired. I’ll tell you tomorrow, deal?”

“Sure, sounds good. Whenever you’re comfortable.”

Later that night, as Zero was laying on the couch, he thought of that moment with Shadow earlier. That realization he had earlier still managed to make his furs stand on edge whenever he thought about it. He had hoped to gain a clearer understanding of Shadow and that event, but only ended up making things even more complicated. He sighed. 

He just wanted to lean on Gadget’s shoulder again.

Notes:

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I took about a 3 week break from writing, it just kinda happened. But it feels good to be back in writing again! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it. As always, I appreciate all the love and support for this story! Feedback is always welcome.

Chapter 13: Unexpected Partners

Summary:

Gadget and Zero go on separate missions with unexpected partners as more information is found about Eggman and the Egg Cherubim.

In a moonlit room, Gadget huffed and rolled onto his side. After a somewhat pleasant dream of running in a base-looking location for some type of mission, his eyes were greeted to the sight of a dark room in the middle of the night. He rarely woke up in the middle of the night; at least it was rare after the war had ended. The alarm clock read 4, the green number almost laughing at him as he stared at the device. He closed his eyes and tried to fall into the deep slumber he had once been in, but after a few minutes of being unsuccessful he sat up on his bed.

“Shit, now I feel awake,” he grumbled. “Hmm, maybe if I walk around a bit that’ll get me tired again.” Throwing the warm covers off him, he walked to the window. Soft chirpings of crickets outside rang throughout the forest, accompanied by the swishing and swaying of leaves in the wind. As he let himself be lulled by the sight of the forest, he suddenly remembered the events of last night. A smile formed from the memories of feeling Zero’s head laying on his shoulder, and his arms and tail wrapped around him. The warmth, the smell of his fur, and the sound of his breathing had brought his mind to ease. 

His mind drifted to images and thoughts of sitting and laying next to him. He turned towards the door and thought about going into the living room to see if Zero was awake. No, come on, are you really gonna risk waking him up just to bother him? After a moment of internal conflict, his ears perked up to the sound of a cough or two from the living room. It justified his desire to leave his room, and he gathered a blanket and set off.

As he slowly opened the door, the dark outline of the hallway came into view. Wrapping the blanket around his shoulders, he tip-toed down the hallway, stopping once he entered the living room. He could barely make out a figure sitting up on the couch in the darkness.

“Gadget?” mumbled Zero.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he took relaxed steps towards the other couch and sat on it. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

Zero lay back down under his blanket. “No, I woke up a few minutes ago,” he sighed. “Guess the same thing happened to you.”

“Yep,” he chuckled. “Just woke up out of nowhere in the middle of the night, and I just could not go back to sleep. For some reason I thought maybe coming in here would help me sleep.”

Zero grinned. “‘For ‘some reason,’ huh.”

“Oh, come on,” he said between laughs, “I mean, I thought being near you would help me sleep, even if it sounds dumb.” He wrapped his blanket around himself and leaned back on the couch.

“Well, I can say the same for me.” With his eyes closed, his body relaxed and the familiar drowsiness returned. “Night.”

“Night.”

In the still room, those familiar, gentle breaths rang through Zero's ears, and for a moment, his worries and concerns for everything vanished until sleep caught him again.

 

A crisp breeze pierced the air as the pair was walking through the path in the woods towards the city. Gadget’s communicator buzzed, showing a message from Knuckles that was sent to everyone. 

Meeting at 1 PM today. We will discuss information related to the blueprint.

“A meeting right after our break. Guess that’s not too bad,” said Gadget.

Zero brought his arms together under his jacket, trying to further shield himself against the lowering temperatures. “Since it’s at 1, I’m assuming most people will take their break earlier.”

Later that day, as noon approached, he found he had been correct. As they were organizing the items on the desk to prepare for their break, Tails was doing the same. 

“You heading out too?” asked Gadget.

“Yep, I wanna be able to have a little break before the meeting, especially since we may be sent out on a mission afterwards.”

Putting his jacket back on, Zero asked, “oh, did you find something critical?”

“Yeah, basically, I found a lot of information. I’m excited to tell everyone,” he beamed, flying out of the room afterwards.

The pair decided to get pitas that day for lunch, and headed to the familiar spot on the roof. Even as the climate had gotten cooler, they still liked eating up there. They sat in a sunny area and pulled their food out.

Zero took a bite out of his pita. “I hope Shadow won’t be at the meeting.”

“You know, I noticed you were acting strange when you saw him. I was so occupied with what was happening that I didn’t think to say something about it. Did something happen between y’all?”

“Yeah, it’s related to the whole Mystic Jungle thing. Long story short, when me and my squad were working for Eggman, one day, they were asked to defend the base at Mystic Jungle.” He placed his food down and leaned back on the cool concrete railing. “On that day, Shadow went there, I guess as a mission from GUN or something, I don’t know, and killed all of them. I was late arriving there, and by the time I got there they were all dead. I tried to fight him but he easily beat me, leaving me with some choice words.” 

The memory played in his mind, still clear as day. The cold water that was stuck on his fur had been dripping off him as he had rushed through the pipes, desperately trying to reach the base in time. Worries of his squad’s safety had rushed to replace any worries for disappointing his boss, Eggman. And the bodies of jackals, who once had been standing alive and breathing, who were supposed to greet him like old times whenever he would have met them during a mission for Eggman, had lain there on the sharp grass and old dirt floor of the jungle. 

A month ago, this memory would have made him angry. It would have wetted his eyes. But now, that feeling of bristiling anger and thirst for revenge has vanished. Confusion and disappointment had taken its place, only adding more internal questions.

“Wow, I’m sorry that happened,” said Gadget in a soft voice.

Looking to the side, Zero replied, “eh, no need to pity me. I used to feel angry about it, but now I’m confused. Last night, before I ran to find you, I was about to confront him about it until I realized, isn’t that what you felt when you first saw me after the war?”

Gadget, with furrowed eyebrows, looked at Zero, before looking down and thinking. The concept had never come to him. “I…I never thought about it like that. I guess you’re right? But even then, you’re still allowed to feel angry and grieve over it, even if you’ve done the same to others.”

“But am I, truly? Tch, this is confusing,” he scoffed.

“I see why you said it made things more complicated,” chuckled Gadget. “Even when I think about it it fumbles me up a little. I guess the best way to go about it is to give it time. Things like that take a lot of time and experience to process. Hell, I deal with the same things, I have things I don’t know how to feel about.”

Finishing up his pita, Zero wrapped it up and laid it on his lap. His attention was brought to a warm arm wrapping around his shoulder, which he leaned into. “Yeah. This helps a lot too.”

That brought a laugh out of Gadget. “I’m sure it does.”

They stayed in that position until the meeting came approaching. Reluctantly leaving the warmth, they left the rooftop and went to join the others who were heading to the meeting room. With a minute till the start of the meeting, they had been the last ones to join. As they sat at the long meeting table, Zero looked up to see Shadow sitting right across from him, which made him immediately avert his gaze. Fortunately, this time, Shadow wasn’t looking back at him.

“Well, everyone’s here, so we can start this meeting. Tails, take it away,” said Knuckles, who leaned back into his chair.

Tails walked over to the wooden poster stand and unrolled the blueprint on top of it. “So, last night I was able to find some details and make some evaluations on some things, which I think will help us a lot. First, for the materials it seems like the final product will be made of a mixture of steel and titanium. Steel will be used on the limbs and wings, while titanium will cover vital areas.”

“Makes sense,” said Espio. “Do you know what areas in particular?”

“I’m guessing, but I’d say the neck and chest area definitely. I found some cameras under the eye covers, so he got a good view of how we defeated the thing.”

Tapping her chin, Amy said, “since it’s titanium, I suppose fire won’t be useful against it.”

“Yep, at least not as a main weapon. So the best wispon against will probably be the lightning one. The metal would resist the drill. Also, from my estimation on how much metal he would use and how long it would take to create the finishes, it would take about three weeks.”

Sonic counted his fingers. “So, if the attack was two weeks ago, that means this thing will be done next week! We barely have time to prepare!”

“That’s just the metal finishes, right? That wouldn’t include programming it and making the trident too,” said Rouge.

“Right. And one needs to consider that this isn’t the only thing the doctor is doing. He has to focus on making other robots as well. Just sending this robot alone would be dumb, but this, combined with an army of Pawns, Walkers, Eggrobos, and so on would be dangerous,” said Shadow.

Tails pointed at a spot on the blueprint. “Exactly. With all of that combined, that would add another week probably.”

“But we don’t know for sure what he’s doin’. For all we know, he could already have the army prepared, and have been spending all his time on the Cherubim!” said Vector.

Spinning around in his chair and gathering a documentation sheet, Knuckles said, “That’s right. It’s best to assume the worst in this situation. Any other observations, Tails?”

“I found another thing related to the wings. When the robot arrived at Mystic Jungle and fought me and Sonic, it glided in. From studying the wings, I could tell they were primarily made for gliding. However, the final product will have the wings work like normal ones, so this thing will fly.”

“Ugh,” scoffed Sonic. “So it’ll be even more annoying to deal with.”

“I do have a question,” said Zero. Everyone turned to look at him, and the sudden silence made his fur bristle. “Um, since we defeated it by making it trip with me and Gadget’s grappling hooks, is it possible that Eggman would make it immune to that sort of thing?”

Rouge leaned back into the cushioned chair. “That’s a good point. Eggman does watch the footage from his robots, so I’m sure he would. He could program it to be extra aware of the grappling hooks.”

“I mean, he did add those claws to those Pawns, and that clearly worked in his favor. I don’t see why he wouldn’t do something similar to the Cherubim,” said Gadget.

Some of them seemed to be trying to avoid looking at his scar. Tails spoke up and said, “We should consider that. Besides that, I don’t have anything else new. It took me a while to come up with all those estimations, but I’ll keep researching it and let y’all know if I find anything new.”

“Speaking of new information, I’ve found something,” said Rouge. As everyone turned their attention to her, she continued. “GUN Intel, along with my findings,” she said, emphasizing the second part, “have found that the Network Terminal plant has been active recently. They also found active signals from the computer room there, so there’s some valuable information we could find there.”

“Huh, that sounds like it would be useful. But if he’s there, how would we get access to the room?” asked Espio.

Shadow took out a communicator-like device and laid it on the table. “We got intel this morning. He was sighted in the Spaceport ruins. Very recent activity there, so he will most likely be occupied there for the day.”

“So that means a mission to the Network Terminal plant today?” asked Knuckles.

“Yep, I’m going there today. Already told GUN and everything,” said Rouge.

Amy crossed her arms. “By yourself? You’re strong and all, but with the recent activity is it the best idea to go there all alone?”

“She’s right. I’m not doubting your abilities, but that’s a risky move. If you need backup, it would take a while for it to arrive since that plant’s up far north,” added Knuckles.

“Oh don’t worry about that loves, because I thought about that already. I’ve handled a bunch of missions solo before, but going solo in this would be rather dumb of me, so I’m taking a partner with me, and I’ve already chosen who. Zero, I want you to come with me.”

Everyone’s looks shifted to various forms of surprise, Zero’s included, as they looked towards him. “Me?”

“Yes. I figured you would be good in a stealth mission, and from watching you fight, you could handle yourself if things go awry.”

Gadget turned to him, a look of uncertainty written on his face. Zero looked back and forth between him and Rouge, before letting out a sigh. “I’ll come. I’ll need to head back to Gadget’s house in order to get my sword.”

“That’s fine. We don’t leave until a little after 2, so we have time.”

“Well, Shadow, you mentioned the Spaceport ruins and his activity. Are you going there today?” asked Knuckles.

Shadow nodded. “Yes. But I’m also taking someone with me, for safety. Since the doctor may be there, there may be a larger presence of robots there. Gadget, could you come with me? The burst or lightning wispon you use would be useful if any large crowds are over there..”

“Oh, um, sure. When do we leave?”

“We leave at 3, and we’ll meet here at the base.”

Knuckles wrote some things on the documentation sheet and looked up. “Okay, so two missions going out today. Anything else?” After a moment of silence, he continued. “Okay, I guess we can conclude the meeting then.”

After everyone had left the room, Gadget and Zero were about to leave the base to get things from the house until Amy ran up to them. 

“Hey, can I join y’all on the walk to the house? I need to talk to you both,” she asked.

“Sure, is it okay with Rouge and Knuckles though?” asked Gadget.

She scoffed. “I haven’t taken my break yet, so I’ll just take it now then. Plus, they’ll be alright anyways.” After a shrug from the pair, they headed out on the way. She was dressed in a fluffy cardigan over her red dress, and held it tight around her. “So, how are y’all feeling about the missions?”

Zero kicked leaves on his path. “Strange, that’s what I’d say. I feel like there’s some motive behind her invite, if you could even call it that.”

“I can see that. It may be a test of some sort,” she wondered. 

“But why would she want to test him?” asked Gadget.

She shrugged. “I dunno. Even as a close friend of hers I still don’t understand her sometimes,” she chuckled. “I’m also interested that Shadow wanted you specifically to work with.”

“I know. I wasn’t expecting that.” He moved a branch out of the way. “Now that I think about it, this will be the first time we’re really separated,” he said towards Zero.

Zero thought to himself for a moment. “Huh, you’re right. At least separated while we’re both with someone else.”

“That’s funny. I didn’t even think about that, but y’all are together all the time.”

“Well, Knuckles wants him always with someone. You know, I thought he would’ve been over all of this already, but he still has some gripe about it,” grumbled Gadget.

Amy tugged on her cardigan. “You gotta give him more time, you know how he is.”

Gadget kicked a leaf. “Yeah, I guess. I thought a month would be enough, but maybe he needs even more confirmation.”

Eventually they reached the house, and ran inside to gather their things. Zero grabbed his sword and sword belt, while Gadget grabbed his custom burst wispon that he always left at the house. While he would’ve been okay with using a normal one, he thought about testing out the fireball function he had built into it. Afterwards, they returned to the base to see Rouge leaning on the wall near the entrance.

“Good, just in time,” she said. “The helicopter will be here shortly, so we need to leave in the next minute. Meet me outside the door.” She walked outside.

Zero turned to Gadget, feeling wary. “Welp, I guess I’ll see you later tonight.” As he said those words, Gadget’s words from earlier sounded in his mind. Slight worry ran through him at the thought of being completely by himself without Gadget near, since all he had known for the last month was being in his presence. 

“I can tell you’re worried, but you’ll be alright. Plus, those two plants are somewhat near each other so I won’t be too far away,” said Gadget.

“Yeah, you’re right. Alright, see you later.”. 

 

Zero pushed the heavy-looking doors of the base open and saw Rouge waiting outside. It was strange saying goodbye to him. 

Once Rouge had noticed him, a sly smile spread on her face. “Alright, the agent’s just told me the helicopter will land in a minute. It’s near the entrance to the Red Gate Bridge, so we should go ahead and head over there.” She started to walk in the direction of the bridge, not looking to see if Zero was following her.

The Red Gate Bridge was located in the northern part of the city, and it led out of the city. The first part of the bridge was located at the outskirts of Sunset Heights, which contained forests and hills, and later on it stood over a sea. Over the distance the famous Green Hills could be seen. Past the sea, the end of the bridge led to the northern region of the land, which was laden with a cold and frosty climate. Many of Eggman’s chemical plants were stationed in this region.

Zero and Rouge made a hasty pace towards the northern outskirts of the city. As they got closer to the helicopter landing spot, the swooshing of fast-moving blades penetrated through the air. Eventually the helicopter came into view, standing in a clearing near the beginning of the bridge.

“Ah, here we are,” said Rouge. The helicopter was black with white lines on the top and bottom. It was larger than Zero had expected. As they approached the helicopter, the sound of the blades spinning softened as they became slower. 

A brown cat Mobian, wearing a dark black suit, opened the door and stepped down onto the ground. “Good evening, Agent Rouge. Are all preparations ready?” 

“They are, Agent Aurum, as always. Once we get in we can go ahead and go,” said Rouge, still with that sly smile.

Aurum responded with a sly smile on his own. “Of course, step on in.” He made a graceful motion towards the helicopter.

Following Rouge, Zero stepped inside the helicopter after her. The interior was larger than he had expected. There was a lot of room to stand around inside. A cockpit was in the very front, and a decently-sized room lay behind it, with a wall with a small opening dividing both rooms. Four soft chairs were set into the back room, along with a window on each side. 

Once they had taken a seat, Aurum came back inside. “Alright good people, you can expect a thirty minute ride to get to the landing spot.” The sound of an engine flared up, and the blades of the helicopter sprang back to life. After about thirty seconds the blades reached their top speed, and the helicopter lifted off the ground, setting off towards the north.

Rouge was leant back in her chair, looking outside the window at the sea underneath them. “You’re awfully quiet,” she said, turning towards him.

The sly smile on her face, which seemed to never go away, did not help with Zero’s unease. “I’ve never been in something like this before,” he muttered.

“That’s the great part of working with me, I always try to get the best trips for missions. Be glad you didn’t get chosen to work with Shadow, he’s rather boring with stuff like this,” she chuckled. 

The thought of having to work with Shadow made his furs stand up. He felt sorry for Gadget now. But as much as it was nicer, as she had said, to work with her instead of Shadow, something was still bothering him. She wasn’t readable to him. Even after a month of working with the Resistance he still couldn’t understand her. Maybe no one could, he thought. 

“So, any questions for anything? I’m surprised you haven’t asked any. You still don’t know what the plan is once we get there.” 

“Why did you choose me for this mission? Is this supposed to be some sort of test, or something of that matter?”

Her smile disappeared for a moment, shifted into a look of surprise, until it returned quickly. “Well, it just makes sense. From watching you fight, you’re a good fighter, and plus, you’ve worked with Eggman before, so you have an extent of experience and knowledge that none of us have.” Her face transformed into a pensive look. “You know, I’m not your enemy.”

The answer seemed somewhat truthful to him, but there was still something he was missing. “What do you really think of me?” he asked, keeping his face and tone neutral. He expected her sly smirk to return, but was surprised at the pensive look staying.

“Well, that’s a complicated answer,” she laughed. “So that’s what you wanted to know all along. Anyways, if you want a truthful answer, then it would be that I don’t know. Last month, when Gadget introduced you to us, I, among everyone else, was mad, and confused. Mad at you for believing, at the time, that you had somehow manipulated him, and mad at him for letting his naivety get to him. But now that you’ve worked with us, and shown no signs of being against us at all, what reason do I have to still resent you? And of course,” she said, her smirk returning, “if you, out of all people, can win that boy’s heart, then surely there’s something in you.”

His thoughts on how to respond were interrupted to a screeching halt on her last statement. The idea of someone else catching on his feelings for Gadget brought a cold sweat onto him. “Win his heart? What do you mean?”

A hearty laugh left her. “Oh, come on, you know what I mean. Don’t worry, it’s pretty subtle, and I happen to have a good eye for things like this. I’ve seen the difference with him lately.”

As much as he wanted to deny it to her, there was no point to it as he thought about it more. Of course he knew himself about his feelings towards Gadget, and recognized and embraced those feelings, but he felt reluctant to share it. “Well, yeah, I guess you could say my bond with him is more than one of friendship.” Saying those words out loud evoked a strange feeling of certainty in him.

“I could definitely say that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not teasing you—well, I am—about this in a mean way. I truly meant those words from earlier about how I felt about you.”

Zero sighed. “I don’t understand you.”

“A lot of people don’t,” she laughed. “When you work as a spy and an agent, you kind of have to be that way. You know, you remind me of Shadow a bit.”

Any pleasantries in his mind from thinking of Gadget earlier vanished. “Chaos,” he scoffed, crossing his arms, “I hope I don’t.”

“Oh? I just meant it in the way that you’re pretty blunt like he is.” 

“If I resemble Shadow in any way, then there’s clearly something wrong with me,” he grumbled. 

Rouge raised an eyebrow. “Well, he's not perfect for sure, but deep down, he's a good person. He’s worked hard on defending the world, and remains doing so.”

“I guess,” he mumbled. “Just because someone defends the world, doesn’t make them some sort of hero.”

“We have different definitions of a hero then.” She sighed. “Oh well, as much as I would like to continue our great conversation, we have a mission to discuss. We’ll arrive there soon.”

Zero stared out of the now-foggy window. Greenery was now underneath them. “Where are we landing, and how will we infiltrate?”

“The helicopter will land on a clearing in a forest nearby. We’ll approach the entrance of one of the metal platforms, and then split to get inside the plant. You’ll have to take the route which uses grind rails, the same one Sonic used during the war. I’ll take a path in the air. It’s best to go different paths to reduce visibility. We’ll go through the same pipe which will lead us to the interior. Sounds good?”

He thought of the last time he had to grind on rails. It was a skill he had gotten good with during his mercenary days, but he had seldom used it during his time with the ruby. If all else fails, he still had his grappling hook to use if he fell, he reasoned. “Sounds good. When will we arrive?”

Rouge asked for an arrival time, to which Aurum responded, “In about five minutes. It took shorter than I thought to get there.” Eventually they felt the momentum of the helicopter shift as their elevation slowly lowered down. “And, we made it.” He stepped out, without turning the helicopter off, letting them out. Once they were both outside, he returned back to the cockpit, saying, “good luck on the mission, you two. Update us on your status once you’re done.”

“Will do,” replied Rouge. With a nod, the door closed and the helicopter left them alone in the frigid north.

The air felt a few degrees colder than in Sunset Heights. In the distance the massive plant stood tall among the coastline and over the waters. Tall, metal pillars and pipes were arranged over the sea. As they headed towards the plant, an octagonal cargo entrance, high up in the air and attached to a metal pillar that stood on the outskirts of the coastline, came into view. Short carriages of cargo were moving along the rail.

“We’re gonna hop on one of those,” said Rouge. 

Grunting in response, he followed after her. Once they had approached the metal pillar, Zero used his grappling hooks to climb up it as Rouge flew upwards. He shot onto a cargo carriage and landed on top of it, right as Rouge landed on it. Darkness fell around them for a moment as the carriage entered the octagonal tunnel. From the light at the end of the tunnel, two narrow, metal pipes curved into each other forward. The metal pipes wore a dull yellow on the top and a dark blue on the sides. As the end of the tunnel approached, the carriage descended. Increasing light made the metal pipes that stood in front of them visible.

“Now! Let’s hop on that path!” Rouge sprinted off from the carriage and landed on the metal pipe, the clink of the metal under her heels ringing throughout the corridor. Zero followed after her, and they ran through the pipes which curved upwards and downwards. Eventually the sunlight greeted them as they reached a metal platform which extended all around the plant. “This is where we split. I’ll see you in the interior.” She flew off in the distance.

After taking a deep breath, he ran forward on the platform. His boots pattered against the cold, dull metal. As the metal pillars were closer in his view, he could make out the more complicated designs of them. A pit was approaching, but he remembered how the left rail extended to the next platform. He jumped on the rail and steadied himself as the momentum carried him along the rail, and onto the next platform. While he ran on the platform, memories of the plant’s design came back to him. He had spent a lot of time at the plant when he had worked with Eggman, so the layout was entrenched in his brain. 

Soon the end of that platform was approaching, and he jumped up in the air. A yellow cargo line stood above him, and he shot his grappling hook towards it. A lone, long rail was underneath him. His grappling hook shot towards the start of the rail, and it carried him steadily onto it. The rail curved down, which gave him a big speed boost, evident from the sharp breeze rushing against the jacket over his torso and the sparks coming from underneath his boots. After the curve, the rail straightened out, and another lone rail lay next to it. Seeing that this rail was about to end, he squatted down and then hopped onto the other rail. That rail was also about to end, but a cargo line stood high in front. 

This cargo line had a zipline handle on it, which he grabbed. The handle moved him along the line before throwing him forward. He landed on a rail, and suddenly his stomach churched as the rail curved in a loop which led left. I forgot about that . Going through the now-straight rail, two rails appeared on his right. Remembering that the rightmost rail was a shortcut, he hopped onto it. The rail curved right, and he leaned slightly to balance himself. The next rail’s above me . A tall metal pillar was left to him, so he used his grappling hook to climb up the pillar until the upward rail was in his view. 

Before he jumped off, he took a short moment to breathe. Looking at the dull, cold sea under him, it reminded him of what would await him if he was careless.

With a deep breath, he landed on the rail from his grappling hook. He jumped onto another rail which led rightwards, and it ended onto a yellow metal path. That path curved downwards and upwards, so he jumped on the middle path which went straight. At the end of the path, he jumped and landed on a middle rail among three from his grappling hook. Another zipline on a cargo line afterwards, and it threw him off onto a rail. His eyes widened as he saw forward loops in front of him. Fortunately the momentum from the zipline kept him attached to the rail. 

Finally, he barely jumped off the rail after the stomach-churning rail loops and started falling through the large, open pipe. He spread his arms and legs out and used the air resistance to slow his fall down. Eventually he landed somewhat gracefully and was now inside the interior. Looking around, Rouge was nowhere to be seen. After a few seconds of looking around the limited space, a soft clink came from behind him.

“Feels good to be out of that cold,” she said, letting out a short shiver. “I’m surprised you beat me.”

“I remembered the layout, so I knew where the shortcut was,” he said nonchalantly. 

“See what I said about your experience being useful? Anyways, let’s continue on.”

A yellow metal floor awaited them ahead, surrounded by a large, clear glass pipe. As they took slow steps forward, the glass showed them sights of metal pipes that seemed to stem from layers and layers of the Earth below. Inside the plant seemed even bigger than from outside. Other glass tubes could be seen in the distance, most likely used to transport materials. Half of the lights on the pipes were on, while some were blinking in erratic patterns.

“He clearly hasn’t been here for too long, I mean it looks halfway abandoned still,” said Rouge.

A large clank sounded in the distance, which made them freeze in their steps. A piece of one of the metal pipes fell off somewhere. “He still has a bunch of work to do. Even from my memory of being here during the war, it was in a bad state when he started working here. Who knows how old this place is,” said Zero.

“Oh well, it just makes things easier for us. I’m assuming there won’t be too much security here, beyond a bunch of Pawns maybe.”

They continued past the pipe, and a metallic gray wall was forward. A large hole was under it, which seemed to lead into the labyrinth of the interior. Slowly, Zero used the grappling hooks to climb down the vast shaft, while Rouge flew behind him. They landed on a yellow metal platform, and the large space of the interior was fully in sight now. An orange light stemming from underneath illuminated vast networks of pipes and pillars. Outside of the series of yellow platforms which lead to some sort of way forward, mazes of metallic machinery dotted the interior landscape. Some spots on the pipes were painted with specks of dark rust.

Walking forward on the platform, Zero had a question for Rouge. “Have you been here before? You seem to know the layout of this place.”

“It’s been a long time,” she said. “Before the war, I once came here to investigate the plant when it was still abandoned. After Sonic found the computer room during the war, I came here again too. I remember the way to it well. Should be an easy mission, since Eggman never puts a bunch of effort on security.”

“Should we destroy any robots that attack us?” Zero shifted his step to avoid a piece of some platform which had fallen from somewhere above.

She turned towards him. “Definitely. His robots do dumb things all the time. And just as an extra layer of security…” She grabbed the metal piece and threw it at a Pawn on a platform underneath them, which destroyed it. “We blame it on the plant. And if we happen to kick a robot off a platform, then it just somehow happened to fall off, the poor things,” she said with a sly smile.

A small grin formed on Zero’s face at the thought, though he turned away to not show it to her. “Sounds good then.”

They continued on the platforms, sometimes having to jump upwards or downwards onto other ones. A few Pawns stood on some platforms, walking in set paths. Some of them were destroyed by a piece of metal laying around, or kicked off, but they intentionally left some standing to keep a low profile. Eventually they reached a set of three platforms which were attached to a tightly-placed ball and held with a chain. They made sure to jump off of it quietly to not let the chains rattle. As they landed on a platform, in the distance a wide, gray bridge became visible, along with a large circular door.

“And there it is. As much as I like a challenge, it’s nice to have easy missions every once in a while,” said Rouge. “How will you get over there?”

“With the grappling hook.” Immediately he shot off towards it, shooting at a pillar near before shooting at the ceiling. By climbing forward with the ceiling he shot towards the bridge as it came into reach of his hook and landed. Rouge landed behind him afterwards.

Walking forward, she said, “you know, you’re really good with those grappling hooks. The only person I know who rivals those skills is Gadget.”

“Well, he did teach me, so that’s probably why.”

“Oh yeah, you did mention that before.”

A beep emitted from the door as it split open, revealing a hallway ahead surrounded by a clear pipe. A light blue light surrounded the pipe, and only metal walls filled with circuits and plates were seen. Past another circular door, the large, vast computer room was now within reach. A large black, metal bridge, which split into two paths before combining back into one, was the only thing between them and the computer. A few Pawns were walking among it.

“Damn, he has some robots here. If they’re destroyed, he’ll definitely know we were here,” said Rouge.

An idea came to Zero. “Let’s distract them. If we cause a noise in the pipe hallway, that could draw them towards it and then let us go forward.”

“That might work. But then what do we do when they come back after realizing that nothing was there?”

For a moment, he thought of what to do. “We’ll have to be quick then. It should give us a few minutes. How long will it take to get the information?”

“Shouldn’t take too long. I know how to hack into his stuff, and I got a drive to store it,” she said, taking it out. “Let’s hope that the Pawns take their sweet time. One of these should take their attention for a while.” She pulled out a heart-shaped bomb.

“Those are those timed bombs, aren’t they? Could you place two, and schedule one to explode a few minutes after the other to keep their attention for longer?”

She smiled. “Ah, I never even thought of that! See why I chose to take you?” As she walked back to the bridge, she inputted a few codes into the bombs, and took out a piece of string.

“Why are you using string?” asked Zero.

“I don’t want to cause a bunch of destruction. If I hang it down just low enough…” After attaching one bomb to a string, she hung it down a good distance. She did the same to another bomb as well. “It won’t cause any noticeable damage. I’ve set them on the lowest strength possible. Now the first bomb will detonate in a minute, so let’s find a good spot.”

They returned to the computer room. Rouge flew up and stayed on a wall, while Zero shot his hook up to do the same. Eventually, a loud bang came behind them, and the Pawns' eyes turned a sharp red as they rushed to the bridge, leaving the bridge empty.

“Finally,” she breathed. They strided on the bridge, finally reaching the multi-screen computer. A mainboard in front of them housed five keyboards, each of them handling certain screens above them. Most of the screens were surveillance cameras of the plant, showing each part except for the computer room.

“These cameras are going to show that we were here,” said Zero.

Rouge began typing something on one of the keyboards, and a white desktop background appeared on the screen in front of her. “They won’t. These cameras haven’t been fixed during the war. They just show still pictures of the plant. Shows that he doesn’t think about security.” She moved her fingers on a touchpad, which brought out a cursor. After clicking on certain icons and files, her eyes lit up and her smirk deepened as she put the drive into a usb plug. 

“Here we go. Egg Cherubim folder downloaded. Next folder, Metrics and Programming, November . And that’s all we need. Now…” After taking the drive out, she did a few functions, and finally closed out the screen, returning it to its static image. 

“Programming? How will that help us?” asked Zero.

She pointed towards the drive. “That basically gives away his plans. If he programs his robots to group together all on a certain day and march, that basically means for us that he’s gonna attack. Things like that. I’m sure Tails, after analyzing this, will spell out what it means for us. That poor boy, he’s going to be real busy with that blueprint and with this drive,” she laughed.

Another muffled bang came out behind them, drawing their attention. “Looks like we didn’t even need the second one. Better safe than sorry, I guess.”

As Rouge was gathering her things and preparing to leave, Zero thought about how Gadget was doing.

 

Right after Zero had left, Gadget returned to the tech room to get back on his work. After the meeting everyone had gone back to their rooms and stations. Tails flew in and laid the blueprint under his table. Time seemed to pass by slowly as he sat at the desk, working on fixing a burst wispon. It was a weird feeling working without Zero sitting next to him. The room felt colder, as if it was missing something. 

The upcoming mission with Shadow sparked some type of dread in him, especially after hearing Zero’s story about what had happened in Mystic Jungle. Before, Gadget would have had no qualms with working with Shadow for something. It was rare that he would, since Shadow only showed up a few times to help around with things, but it was always pleasant. He was quiet, straight to the point, and efficient, which he could appreciate. But now, especially with Shadow knowing about him helping Zero, he was worried with how Shadow would view him.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. “Gadget, if it’s possible, I know that I mentioned earlier we would leave at 3, but do you think we could leave now? I think it would be better if we did.”

“Oh, sure. Just give me a minute to organize my desk.” With a nod, Shadow left. While organizing his desk, all he could think about was the mission, and how Zero was doing.

Shadow was waiting outside the base as Gadget walked out. His jacket shielded against the chill that ran through the city that day. 

“We’ll get there by using my buggy. It’s parked near the Red Gate Bridge,” he said, moving in that direction. 

Gadget followed him, grunting in response. As they walked through the city, the streets felt cold and dull. Not many people were out at that time. It felt as if he was walking through a new ghost town. Shadow’s presence only made the city seem even more dull. A few minutes later, a black, armored buggy came into view, sitting in a clearing right next to the entrance of the bridge. Behind a small glass windshield were two seats. There was a gun mounted to the driver’s side. Without saying a word, Shadow hopped in on the driver’s seat, Gadget joining him on the passenger’s side.

“It’ll be about a thirty minute drive,” he said, starting up the engine. As the buggy flared to life, he turned it into the bridge and drove on it.

The sight of the Green Hills on the horizon helped to brighten Gadget’s mood. He had only hiked across them one time, which was right after the war. An idea of going there with Zero one weekend came to him, but his thoughts suddenly stopped as the buggy made a sharp turn.

“Sorry, there was a large pothole. This bridge still needs a lot of work,” he said, eyes laser focused on the road.

Gadget noticed rough sides and holes on the road. “That’s true. We haven’t really focused on the bridge as much lately.” Looking back to the side, he now saw the glistening sea under him.

“Could I ask you a question?”

Some of his red furs stood up. “Sure, go ahead.”

“How did you find Zero?” 

He let out a deep breath. “He was stranded in the grove near my house. I just happened to find him.”

Shadow turned to avoid a pothole. “I wonder how he got there. Interesting.”

Gadget tried to let the sea take his full attention. Fortunately, Shadow didn’t ask anymore questions for a while. They made it past the bridge after a while, and were now driving on a path through some woods. As they came closer to the frigid region, some snow dotted the trees nearby. There was only a slight temperature drop. 

“How exactly will we do this mission? Are we just going through the ruins to confront Eggman?” asked Gadget.

“Yes, basically. From the intel, he should be at the end of the port, where the launchpads should be. If he’s there, we fight him. But be prepared, there will most likely be some resistance. I think that the Cherubim may be there, so prepare for that as well.”

Nodding in response, another silence took its place between them. The layout and memory of the Spaceport was fresh in Gadget’s mind. He could still remember the fear of failing that mission, since, at the time, the fate of Sonic was possibly in his hands. The thought of returning brought a mixture of a familiar thrill and fear, this time a fear of the unknown. If only Zero was with him, he wouldn’t have been so worried, he thought.

After a few minutes, Shadow slowed the buggy down as they came across the outskirts of the icy coastline. A long, metal ramp was in the distance, which led to icy, yellow and blue, curving pipes. Once he had parked it, he jumped out of the vehicle, Gadget following suit. 

“Alright, ready? Let’s go,” said Shadow, bursting off towards the ramp. 

Gadget ran after him, the familiar clinks from the metal underneath him ringing through. Shadow kept a steady pace in front of him, skating among the cold metal. Gadget ran along the curving yellow pipes, using the downward curves to gain speed. The pipe ended onto a metal platform which extended forward. Dark gray blockages were scattered on the ground. He shot his grappling hook on a crane near, using it to land past the piles of blockages. As he landed and bursted off towards the path, Pawns and Walkers scattered across the platform in the distance. Why are so many robots here? A few rays of yellow energy flew out ahead of him, destroying groups of the robots.

“Careful, robots are here! I’m going to head further, we’ll meet eventually at the launchpad!” said Shadow, using his rocket shoes to reach his full speed and disappearing off into the distance.

Gadget’s shoes pattered against the rusted and light icy blue platform. Metal pillars and crane pipes stood to the sides, rust dotting the pipes. With his grappling hook, he reached a platform high in the air and landed onto it. The light from outside came closer from the exit of the large corridor ahead. At the sight of Pawns among the platform, he let loose his flames from the wispon while running forward, destroying any robot that foolishly stood in his way. Climbing up a metal wall afterwards, he ran out on a yellow platform which looped forwards. He used the loop to gain speed and jumped off, now flying through the cold air.

He used his grappling hook on a pair of curving yellow pipes, looping around it to make a steady landing on a narrow metal platform underneath him while keeping his momentum. His flames destroyed robots that were in the way. As he reached the end of the metal tunnel, he was suddenly on a rail that extended forward. He leaned to stay on balance as it curved leftwards, and jumped off onto the series of platforms. Icy and rusted metal pipes and pillars were all around him. As the platforms ended, he shot off from a crane, which fell after he flew from it, and landed on a train track.

This was when I almost died to that damn train. Shaking the memory off, he ran to where the end of the track was, and shot upwards. As he was in the air, the sound of wheels turning against a track made his heartbeat spike. A train was approaching. Thinking quickly, he shot at a large rusted pipe high up in the air, and then shot at a pillar, using it to land on the next series of platforms. After going through the yellow platforms, destroying any robots on the way, he flew high up in the air and used his grappling hook to land on a rail. There were lone rails on each side, and he had to keep jumping between them as some of them fell off in the middle.

Finally, he made a large jump off the middle rail, and used his grappling hook on a metal arc, which landed him on a large, circular platform. Shadow was waiting there. The previous boxes of cargo and storage were mostly gone, leaving a frail emptiness to the plant. A barren landscape greeted them, absent of the large ships and vehicles that once stood proud. Only a few were left, and they were all broken down and rusted. One lone train car was stationed on the large track to the right.

“Is he here?” asked Gadget, wiping off some sweat. 

“He’s supposed to be. I don’t see any trace–” His head shot up as a familiar, circle-shaped vehicle flew in out of nowhere. The glass came down, revealing Dr. Eggman.

“Ah, I had hoped they would send a squadron of their trainees to come here,” he grumbled. “They did the same thing during the war, they made for easy targets, well, except for you,” he said, pointing to Gadget.

Gadget pulled his wispon out and was about to release the flames, but Shadow put a hand on his arm. 

“Wait, see what information we can get first,” he whispered. Returning his attention to Eggman, he said, “what are you doing here?”

Eggman pulled on his mustache, a dark smile forming underneath it. “Why, a few reasons, oh, ho. First, it was easy bait. I mean, you don’t really have a choice, do you? It’s either come here and risk your life, or risk not coming here and risk the possibility of me coming to you . Plus, I was actually doing important things here anyway, so it’s just all benefits for me!”

“But you’re by yourself, we could easily kill you right now,” said Gadget.

“No, you can’t actually. I’m not by myself. Why not use those glasses and actually see what’s around you?”

Confused, the both of them looked around. Gadget’s eyes widened as he saw groups and groups of robots marching all across the runways. The groups consisted of Pawns, Walkers, and Eggrobos, the size of them seeming to create one gray and purple mass. Behind them, massive groups of Eggrobos slowly flew in, each of them raising their laser guns. The wicked cackling from Eggman caught their attention.

He fell back in his seat, laughing like a fool. “Oh, the looks on your faces! That’s the best part, I was looking forward to that today! And this is great, because I get to take out the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog, and you, uh, whatever your name is.”

“It’s Gadget,” he spat out, “and what is this? What about the Cherubim? Where is that?”

The laughter stopped. “It’s not ready yet. But don’t worry, if you wanted to see a famed robot so badly, I have one just for you! Metal!”

From taking a quick glance towards Shadow, his face appeared to show fear and unease. That was the first time he had seen Shadow look afraid. A whizzing sound sounded above them, and a metallic blue hedgehog levitated next to the Flying Egg.

“Shit,” mumbled Gadget. Genuine fear grasped at him. He took a shaky step back.

“Oh, I’m going to think about this day for years! Even better for you, Gadget, half of these Pawns are equipped with sharp , piercing claws.” He tapped his fingers together, and made a slashing sound. 

“Enough of this foolishness, Doctor. Tell us about the Cherubim!” yelled Shadow.

Eggman leaned forward in his seat. “But why would I do that? You both will die anyway. And like I said, it’s not ready yet. That’s enough information.”

I need to alert Rouge. But if he knows I’m calling her, he’ll know that she and Zero were at the Network Terminal, and may send some robots there. Quickly thinking, he subtly tapped at the screen of his communicator, trying to reach Rouge’s contact.

“Your friends won’t be here in time to save you, wolf,” he sneered.

Making sure the device was on silent mode, he clicked on Rouge’s contact, as the communicator rang hers. When it showed that she picked up, he cried out, “Damn, there’s no service here!” While Eggman gave a hearty laugh, he furiously tapped at the screen, to make the lie seem even more genuine. “You can’t do something like this, surrounding us with a bunch of robots, even bringing Metal Sonic! It’s not right!”

Eggman sighed, leaning back in his seat. “But I can, oh ho! Before I unleash them on you two, any last words?”

 

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” said Rouge, packing up her drive. “I’ll give Aurum a status update.” As she was about to call him, a call from Gadget showed up on her communicator. “Oh, it’s Gadget. Guess he’s giving me an update.” After answering, she said, “Hey—”

“Damn, there’s no service here!” A tapping sound was heard from the screen.

“What—”

Rouge held a finger to her mouth, before pushing the mute button. “I know what he’s doing, he’s trying to call me secretly.”

The sound of Eggman’s laughter made Zero’s heart race. 

“You can’t do something like this, surrounding us with a bunch of robots, even bringing metal! It’s not right!”

Zero’s fur bristled across his entire body. 

“But I can, oh ho! Before I unleash them on you two, any last words?” The call then cut out, leaving a dead silence.

“He’s surrounded by robots, and Metal Sonic's there…” he said, not wanting to believe the words.

Rouge started walking back to the main interior. “There’s a Flying Egg machine here. We’re gonna use it to get there.”

“But won’t he then know that we were here?” asked Zero.

She stopped in her steps, looking back at Zero with a heavy look. “He will. And that won’t be good for us, since he may change up his plans or become more aggressive. But their safety is more important. Shadow and Gadget are strong, but they’ll be able to only hold out for so long. If we don’t get there in time, that may mean their death.”

The idea of Gadget dying made Zero feel sick, especially since the possibility was now real. Usually he could handle intense situations with ease, but a situation that meant the possible death of someone, who he cared deeply for, almost paralyzed him with fear. A flashback of the nightmare he had a while ago appeared in his mind, making his stomach twist. 

“I wouldn’t want him to die without ever hearing how you feel about him,” she sighed. 

Those words made the reality of the situation. 

“Let’s go.”

They set off back to the main interior of the plant against a ticking clock. For a while, Zero’s fate had been in Gadget’s hands. Now it was up to Zero.

Notes:

The Zero and Rouge mission part was really fun to write. I watched the Network Terminal and Spaceport level videos a bunch to make the run through them accurate lol, so I hope the description of going through them is good! As always, thanks for the support of the story. Feedback is always appreciated!

Chapter 14: New Formations

Summary:

The fight at Spaceport continues, and extra details are discovered.

“Huh, no words? I guess you both will go out in silence,” chuckled Eggman. “Metal, I’ll let you take it from here.” The glass shield covered the Flying Egg, and Eggman sped off into the distance away. 

“I’ll take care of Metal, you focus on—” Metal Sonic burst towards Shadow, who instantly warped a few feet away, leaving behind a flash of an afterimage. 

Using the opportunity to get out of Metal Sonic’s way, Gadget shot off towards the field in front. An army of Pawns, who had been marching while Eggman had been talking, now started running in Gadget’s direction as he landed. From the distance he could see that these Pawns were equipped with claws on the right hand, and an energy blaster on the left. The lightning wispon’s gonna be the best for these.

He took out the yellow wispon and readied it in his hands. The Pawns were now getting closer, their speed still surprising him even after the fight at Mystic Jungle. As they just came into distance of the wispon’s reach, he swiped the air in front of him, and a whip of lightning emerged from the wispon, destroying the front line of the robots. Out of the smoke emerged an upcoming line of robots, which were destroyed with another swipe. His ears perked at a whizzing sound behind him, and he jumped out of reach from a barrage of lasers from a group of Eggrobos. While he was in the air, a short glance towards Shadow’s location showed an equal fight between him and Metal Sonic, indicating that Gadget would have to deal with all of the other robots alone.

After landing on the ground, he took a quick look around him to understand his surroundings. In front of him, the army of Pawns was still approaching. To his front right, the flight of Eggrobos was flying in the air. Behind him, there was a blurry image of a group of Egg Walkers far away. Another whizz sounded, making him jump away just in time from another barrage of lasers. This is a lot, I don’t know how long I can hold these off on my own. A Pawn had sprinted away from the group towards Gadget and attempted to slash him with sharp, metal claws. He barely jumped out of the way, shortly finishing the robot off with a spark-filled punch.

His heartbeat was racing, and the group of Pawns steadily kept on approaching. Eventually he took part of a jittery and shaky dance that consisted of swiping at a line of Pawns, dodging lasers from Eggrobos, and so on. It was too risky to do a wire attack on an Eggrobo, as it would leave him open to a laser from a robot in the flight. To combat that, every once in a while he brought one down when a robot was low enough to be within reach of his lightning whip, while also using a dropped laser gun against them. As he was getting into a consistent groove in the fight, an ever-growing sound of something flying in the air halted him. Fearing the worst, he used some of the Pawns to shoot forward with his grappling hook until he landed on a train on the large track.

The sound of an explosion was heard from a missile striking the spot where he had just been. The Egg Walkers were now in distance. Loud, shaky breaths left him. The flight of Eggrobos were flying towards him already, preparing their lasers. I don’t know how much longer I’ll last!

 

Quick steps could be heard against metal platforms as Zero and Rouge raced among them. Any Pawns that were in the way were dealt with by a kick or a slash, as urgency had taken place over being discreet. After they had left the computer room, Zero had been following after Rouge since she knew the location of the machine.

“Down here!” she shouted, taking a downward path of platforms. After a short hallway which was surrounded by a glass pipe, it led into a large storage room which housed a bunch of machines. A Flying Egg could be seen at the end of the room, along with a large octagonal tunnel which seemed to lead outside, evident from white light which dotted the tunnel’s entrance. They dashed towards the machine and jumped into it. 

A wide panel of buttons and switches was in front of them, along with a steering stick. Rouge, after a moment of hesitation, pushed a red button, which caused the engine to flare to life, making the spherical machine rise up from the air. She tapped on the gas pedal, and steered the machine until it aligned with the tunnel. Afterwards, she floored it, sending them past the tunnel and into the open air. The chill from outside felt even harsher as they flew against it.

“How long until we get there?” asked Zero, urgency in his voice.

“If I could find the damn rocket button, hopefully no more than two or three minutes,” she spat out. There was a good distance between the two plants, even though both were situated on the coastline.

Zero cursed under his breath. In a situation such as this, anything could happen in a minute. While steering, Rouge started pushing random buttons on the console, making Zero’s eyes widen. “Don’t do that!”

“Why?” she shouted.

“These things have self-destruct functions! I don’t remember exactly what causes it, but I don’t want to find out accidentally.” 

She let out a deep breath. “Okay. Look, I’ll focus on steering, see if you can find the rocket switch. And…if you find the self-destruct button, or switch, let me know. We may be able to use it against them.” Her eyes narrowed as she focused on steering the machine along the coastline.

He studied the console. While he had never been in a Flying Egg, Eggman had explained to him about the machines, including about the special functions, such as the self-destruct function. Searching through his memories while scanning across the wide panel, he remembered one time when Eggman had sped off in the machine after pushing something on the right side. As he searched through the right area of the console, his focus stayed on a blue button. Above it, a switch was under a glass cover. 

“I think this is the rocket boost,” he said, gesturing towards the blue button. As he pushed it, the engine roared, and the side of the machine reflected orange light from two flames which emerged from behind. The sudden increase in speed pushed them against their seats from the roaring air. “And under the cover, I think that’s the self-destruct switch. I remember now!” he gasped. “He said that after pulling it, it would explode in five seconds. You should hear them in beeps.”

“Good!” she shouted against the loud, whistling wind. “When we get there, I’ll let you jump off first, and then I’ll land it in a group of robots, before pulling the switch and jumping out.”

“That’s dangerous, especially if they prevent you from leaving the area in time!” he yelled.

She sighed. “I know, but trust me, I’ll be fine. I’ve been in a spaceship that was once headed towards the Earth, so this isn’t that much riskier.”

Soon, the image of the Spaceport came into view. Zero prepared himself to leave at any moments’ notice. As they entered the plant, Rouge turned the boosters off as she carefully, but quickly, navigated through the metal labyrinth. Finally they flew out into the large field, and both of them gasped at the view below.

Gadget looked up to see a gray, spherical machine flying above the field, which had caught the brief attention of the robots. Dread consumed him at the sight as he swore. He’s back?! That could only mean…even more robots?

“Oh my, this is obscene!” marveled Rouge. “I was expecting a good amount, but this is an entire army!”

As they were flying above the metal masses, Zero grabbed the side of the machine as he saw a red blur standing on the train. “I think I see him!”

Rouge looked where he was looking. “Thank the emeralds, he’s alive. I’ll fly over there so you can jump off.” She steered the Flying Egg towards the entrance to the field and lowered it to a point where he could jump off. Once she had braked it, Zero shot off onto a pipe, and then onto the train where Gadget was standing.

Gadget screamed from the sound of something landing on the train. He readied his burst wispon and shot a glance to his left, and sudden relief overflowed him at the sight of Zero. “Chaos, you scared me,” he breathed. “I thought some Pawn had jumped up here. Do you know what Eggman is doing back here?”

Zero walked and stood next to him, putting a steady hand on his shoulder. Worry consumed him from the shaking he felt. “That’s not Eggman, that was us. We stole a Flying Egg and used it to get here. Rouge is steering it now. 

Gadget smiled in awe, among shaky breaths. “Wow, that’s cool!” He looked out towards the field, and the robots were still focused on the flying machine. 

Once Zero had jumped out, she steered the machine upwards and towards the massive mass of robots. “I think they think their master is back,” she whispered to herself. Once above a large crowd which consisted of a mixture of Walkers, Pawns, and Eggrobos, she opened the glass case. Taking a look towards the launch pad, Shadow and Metal Sonic were seen, still fighting, which brought a look of worry on her face. In the distance, Metal Sonic looked back and then turned his body towards the machine. “If I can time it by the time he flies back here…” She lowered herself to avoid the robots noticing the imposter driving the machine as she lowered the Flying Egg slightly. 

“Now,” she hissed. She pulled the switch down, and a beeping sound emitted from the speakers. Quickly, she moved the gear shift into neutral, and jumped out as it fell towards the ground. By then, Metal Sonic had sped off towards the machine at first, but stopped himself halfway through at the sight of Rouge. She flew off into the air, trying to get as far away from the Flying Egg as possible, dodging a few lasers in the process. The fourth beep sounded, and then the fifth beep.

Gadget and Zero saw the machine explode in a burst of flames and smoke, shielding their eyes at the bright light. Dismantled robot limbs and parts flew in the air, some flying past them. After the smoke had cleared, a good chunk of the robots were now absent in the army. Metal Sonic had flown back towards Shadow, who had sent a chaos spear after him. Rouge, who was high up in the air, gave a thumbs-up in Zero’s direction before flying towards Shadow’s location. Now, the robots turned their attention back on Gadget and Zero. A few flights of Eggrobos came from the plant, along with new groups of Walkers.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” said Zero, unsheathing his sword.

Taking his lightning wispon out, Gadget responded, “let me deal with the Pawns.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah. I can’t just avoid them forever. Plus, this,” he said, gesturing to the wispon, “is good against them. You seem to be good with those laser guns that drop from the Eggrobos. If you could get one and handle them, I think we could make this work.”

The flight of Eggrobos readied their guns, aiming at the pair. “Got it,” said Zero. He and Gadget jumped out of the way from the lasers, and went towards their prospective positions. Zero grabbed a piece of metal that was laying on the ground and threw it at an Eggrobo that was within distance. The robot whizzed out of the way, and shot a shaky laser towards him. He used the opportunity to do a wire attack on the robot after dodging the laser, and immediately jumped out of the way from other lasers that were headed his way. The robot he had attacked dropped its gun, and rushed to grab it from the floor, but Zero had grabbed it just in time, butting the confused-looking robot with it afterwards. 

After jumping back into a more open position, he looked up to see the flight of robots eerily still. After a short moment of waiting, the robots dispersed and surrounded him in a circle. Now with around twenty Eggrobos surrounding him, they shot their lasers each at random times. Zero ran away in order to get out of their circle, but they kept flying to him faster than he had expected, staying in the same advantageous circle. He was fully focused on getting out of the circle, while dodging random and unpredictable lasers. 

If I stay on the ground they’ll eventually tire me out and win. He instantly pushed away a worry about his fatigue coming to strike him at the worst time. As an idea came to him, he ran back towards the train he had once been standing on, and jumped on it. The robots flew to his spot and while they were flying upwards to keep the altitude distance the same, he shot his grappling hook at a robot, using it as an anchor to fly up in the air. While in the air, he shot at the robot under him, and kept using his hook on the robots to stay in the air. Sometimes, he had to use the train or a pipe to keep his position in the air. Eventually, once only five robots had been left, he grabbed another fallen laser gun and used a barrage of lasers to destroy the rest of the flight. As he took a moment to catch his breath, he saw two more flights approaching in the distance.

After he had run past Zero from the train, Gadget swiped away at the mass of vicious, sprinting Pawns. His first few swipes were shaky, accompanied by quick, shallow breaths, but as long as they were in distance, he was able to get into a consistent rhythm. Missiles from the still group of Walkers in the distance made him have to jump out of the way every once in a while, and after dodging a few missiles, he realized that whenever the Walkers shot a missile, the Pawns stood still and away from him. Using it to his advantage, he took out his burst wispon, and fought the Pawns at a much closer distance, using the lightning wispon for range, and the burst wispon for Pawns that came close. 

His plan worked for a while, but the sound of a few missiles made him shoot his head back. He was about to jump out of the way, until he noticed that the spread-out missiles were at a more upright angle this time. Making a risky move to stay on the ground, he shot his burst wispon around him in a circle to get rid of Pawns that had been getting close, and while doing so saw the missiles flying above him. If I had jumped, they would’ve hit me. Were they really anticipating that?! He jumped out of the Pawns' way and ran back to the train, jumping on it. The Pawns and Walkers simply stared at him, staying still.

Looking upwards, he saw Zero fighting Eggrobos in the air, seemingly dealing with them well. As he looked towards the launch pad, Shadow and Metal Sonic were still fighting, while Rouge was keeping a group of Walkers, Pawns, and Eggrobos away from Shadow. Thoughts and ideas ran through his head. The Walkers seemed to avoid shooting missiles whenever he was near other robots or on Eggman’s items, such as the train. They, along with the Pawns, were also anticipating and working with each other. We can’t just fight these the same way like before, we need a new plan. I need to fetch Zero. Right as he saw Zero finishing up a flight near him, he yelled out, “Zero!”

Zero felt a chill run through him at the sound of his name. Fearing for the worst, he rushed towards the train where Gadget was standing. “What’s wrong?” 

“I’m fine, I need to talk with you about these robots. They’re different. They’re working with each other, even using formations and strategies now,” he spat out. Looking back at the robots, they were still staring at them.

“I noticed that. The Eggrobos were circling me and even shooting sporadically. If we fight them one-on-one, they’ll just tire us out, especially since they just keep coming.” 

The robots had now turned towards the launch pad, where Shadow and Rouge were, and started marching towards them. 

“They’re headed towards Shadow and Rouge!” shouted Gadget.

“Let’s go then!” Zero ran across the train, and was about to jump off until he noticed how there weren’t any steps following him. As he looked back, Gadget was standing there. “Gadget? We need to help them!”

“Actually…I have an idea. You go after them, I’ll stay back. Trust me.”

Zero hesitated for a moment, but there wasn’t any time to ask questions. He rushed off towards the launch pad.

While he was running away, Gadget thought out his plan. The army of Pawns and Walkers were getting closer to the launch pad, and were now intermingling with each other. Lines of Pawns and Walkers crossed between each other, making a new mass of gray and purple. The flights of Eggrobos were above the army. Perfect, all grouped together. Now…

Shadow jumped back and shot a chaos spear at Metal Sonic, who flew back from the impact. Rouge kicked a few Pawns away, using a dropped laser gun against the flight behind them afterwards. She gasped at the sight of the mixed army now in front of the launch pad. A small flank were on the sides of the pad, and a few flights of Eggrobos were behind them. After the impact, Metal Sonic had flown back a little, now standing in front of the army. Zero jumped on the pad, warily looking around him.

“This is ridiculous,” she breathed. “We should’ve called for backup. They may have been able to get here on time. Where’s Gadget?”

“He said he had some plan, but there wasn’t enough time for me to ask him,” he sighed.

She raised her communicator to her ear after pushing a button. “Aurum? Spaceport, backup.” 

“GUN won’t get here in time,” said Shadow. 

“Aurum may have been back at the landing area, anticipating that we’d be done with our mission. If he’s still near, we may be able to retreat.”

“Retreat?” asked Zero. “But….” The idea of retreating and giving a victory to Eggman made him feel angry.

Rouge crossed her arms together. “And what’s better, staying and dying? I don’t care about looking weak or whatever, my life’s more important than that.”

“I think what’s more important is the fact that none of them are moving,” said Shadow. 

Metal Sonic’s eyes flashed red. “Yes, because I wanted to speak to you,” came out a voice from the robot. “Before I let these robots finish you off, I need confirmation. Rouge and Zero, did you happen to be at my Network Terminal plant?”

A chill ran through Zero. Would it be better to lie, or tell the truth? The main question was, which option would give them more time? Gadget, whatever your plan is, I need you to come through with it .

Gadget had run back down the track, enough to give him a big distance between him and the back of the army. Fortunately none of the robots noticed him. Aligning himself to be straight behind them, he readied himself.

“I haven’t done this in a while,” he muttered. “Man, I hope this works.”

He started running. He completely focused on running, and his speed. His hands went out, arranged in the best aerodynamic position. After what felt like a while, a familiar energy grasped at his fingertips.

His speed increased. White lines of energy formed around him, their shape slowly spreading. His speed became even faster. The back of the army was getting closer and closer.

He could feel the energy about to reach its breaking point, before he would eventually burst off at the speed of sound. Right before the energy broke, he jumped as he approached the back of the army, and took his burst wispon out. TIme seemed to slow.

Zero, Shadow, and Rouge’s eyes widened as they saw him, in the distance, suddenly appear over the army. Metal Sonic turned to see what they were looking at.

By flipping a switch in the handle, the chamber changed to “projectile” mode. His hands tightly grasped the wispon, guiding the white energy towards it. The weapon glowed brightly, and as the energy kept him afloat in the air, he used all of his strength to push the trigger.

The energy broke, but instead of it causing him to break off at the speed of sound, it transferred mostly over to his wispon. A glistening, white, massive fireball left the wispon, and hit the mass of gray and purple under and in front of him at, what felt like, the speed of light. A massive explosion of white flames destroyed a huge chunk of the army in front of him. As he landed below, completely surrounded by robots, he transferred the rest of the energy to his lightning wispon, and swiped around himself in a circle. A white, cackling whip came out of the weapon, much longer and wider in size. Half of the entire army was now the remains of electrified and burnt remains of robots. He collapsed on the ground afterwards, catching himself with his hands.

“What?!” shouted Eggman from Metal Sonic’s speakers. As the robot was distracted, Shadow shot another chaos spear at him, making the robot fly back. The flight of Eggrobos behind them started shooting a barrage of lasers at them, which they all avoided. 

While Rouge and Zero finished off the flight with their taken laser guns, she said, “me and Shadow can handle this group. Check up on Gadget.” After he had left, she turned around, looking for Metal Sonic. “Where did Metal go?” 

After destroying a Walker with a kick, Shadow frantically looked around for the blue robot. He saw him looking towards Zero’s direction, and preparing himself to fly over there. “He’s headed towards Zero!” A group of Walkers and Eggrobos then jumped in front of him and Rouge, taking their attention.

Zero had rushed over past the army. He rushed past chunks and parts of robots scattered across the ground, while dodging a few standing flames as well. Past the rubble, Gadget was on his hands and knees on the ground, panting.

“Gadget! Are you okay?” He kneeled down, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he breathed, “I’m just…exhausted. I haven’t used that in a while.” He looked up at him with a smile, which quickly turned into a frown at the sight of Metal Sonic flying towards them. “Zero, Metal!”

Zero shot up and braced himself, taking his sword out. Metal Sonic changed his angle, flying upwards above and quickly turning back, aiming for Gadget. Zero used his grappling hook to conduct a wire attack on him, kicking him down on the ground. “Gadget, go to a safe spot!” Metal Sonic stood back up and tried to dash away, but Zero grabbed his arm, and the two resisted against each other.

Gadget stood up with effort, and tried to walk away. It was a snail’s pace, as walking any faster would make him trip. If he could get close enough within distance of the train, he could shoot towards it and make it on top.

Metal Sonic pushed Zero, and punched at his chest, making him gasp with air. Ignoring and pushing past the pain, as well as the fatigue which had started to set in, he grabbed at Metal’s leg, which caused the robot to lose its balance. While Metal was regaining his stability, Zero slashed at his chest, making the robot cry out in some robotic screech. Metal steadied himself quicker than Zero had anticipated, and kicked at Zero’s stomach, making him fall back on the ground. The robot was about to punch him again, until a ray of energy came out of nowhere and knocked the robot down. Shadow dashed past him and did a series of punches and kicks on the robot, finishing off with a double-fisted overhead swing, which knocked the robot down, near Zero, who had slowly gotten back up. Using the opportunity, he pushed past all the pain and fatigue, and slashed his sword down with all of his might, cutting the robot’s left arm off.

Sparks flew off the robot, and its eyes sporadically flashed red, right before it dashed back towards the launch pad. As Shadow and Zero ran back to the launch pad, Zero keeping up with him barely, they noticed the robots retreating. Eggrobos were flying away, some of them falling from good shots from Rouge, and Pawns and Walkers were attempting to run away. 

The voice of Eggman could be heard screaming. “Leave, you fools! Quicker than that! This was not how this was supposed to go! You will regret this, all of you!” Metal Sonic flew away in the sky, dodging some lasers from Rouge, until he disappeared in the horizon. Shadow and Rouge destroyed the remaining Walkers and Pawns, until the air was silent, leaving the wind.

Shadow leaned against a pipe near, while Rouge sat down, both of them breathing hard. Zero, after finally making it to the launch pad, sat down as well, his legs feeling like dead weight. Weak, faint steps were heard on the launch pad, and they all looked up to see Gadget walking towards them, using railing and pipes to support him.

“Is it really over?” asked Rouge, in between breaths. “It almost feels like Eggman will fly in any second from now and leave us with another army to deal with.”

“It has to be, especially since Metal is in critical condition,” said Shadow. 

For a moment, they sat in silence. Zero looked behind him, taking in the sight of a sea of rubble. Purple and gray limbs, parts, and chunks littered the landscape. The bright light from the sun left a dull shimmer across the rubble. 

Rouge contacted Knuckles on her communicator. “Hey, Knux, got a status update for you.”

“Okay. Is your mission over?”

“Yep. Things went a little haywire, we fought off an army of robots and Metal.”

Gasps and questions came out from the background audio. “Wait, what? An army? Metal?!”

“Yeah. I got the information though, from the computer room. I’ll explain everything tomorrow in a meeting, or later this week, whenever. It’s a lot to unpack.”

“Okay, but you’re all safe, right?”

Rouge stood up, stretching her legs and arms. “Yep, we are. I’ll catch you later.” She hung up the call.

Gadget caught up to them, sitting right next to Zero. Exhaustion was taking over him, especially once the fight had ended. He leaned on Zero’s shoulder, letting his body fully relax. “It’s gonna be interesting explaining all of this,” he weakly laughed.

Initially Zero tensed up from the warmth that had leant on him, but eventually eased into it. Looking up, he saw Rouge grinning towards him, making him immediately avert his gaze, while trying to hide a small grin himself. As he was processing everything, Shadow’s footsteps towards the field gave him an idea. He had to talk with him and address everything. It may have been his only opportunity for a while, he thought. After checking that Rouge wasn’t following him, he got up, gently laying Gadget, who was now asleep, against a rail.

Shadow was kneeling on the ground, inspecting the remains, his back towards Zero.

He collected his thoughts and took a deep breath. “Shadow. Why did you save me?” he asked in a calm voice.

“Because Metal would’ve killed you if I hadn’t come in. I don’t see why you ask,” he said, still inspecting the parts.

“You know why I’m asking.” He sighed. “I just want to know, why did you have to kill them like that?”

Shadow put a part down and stood up. His back was still facing him. “I’m sorry.”

Zero’s brows furrowed, his mouth slightly agape. Out of all the words he could’ve responded with, apologizing was not what he had been expecting. He had expected an insult back, or some disregarding remark. “Do you really feel guilty over it?”

“I guess I could say I do. It’s been so long, you know.” He turned back, facing Zero. “It was all a mission to me. I came in, raided the base, and had to do it by any means possible. I’ve done this type of thing for so long, that at the end of the day, it’s just a task.”

“But…did you have to kill them?” Sadness and guilt washed over him. 

“I don’t know. Their job was to defend the base, was it not? They did their job, and unfortunately they defended the base with their lives. Same with you. What about the civilians and soldiers that died from defending cities against you? I don’t say this to blame you, but rather for you to understand my point of view.”

He’s right . He stared at the ground, reflecting on his past. Guilt overwhelmed him at the thought that none of his squad would’ve been dead if they would’ve never worked for Eggman in the first place. It had been his idea, and as the “captain,” they had no choice but to follow him. 

“I’ve lost someone close to me. They were killed. I know what it feels like. And I’ve also killed people, who were close to someone, for missions. So can I even feel grief about it? I used to struggle with that question for a while, but now I can confidently say that I’m allowed to.”

“Yeah. I guess there’s no satisfying answer to this,” sighed Zero.

“There isn’t one. The only thing you can do is move on, as hard as it can be.”

Zero stared to the side. Before, he had thought that talking with Shadow would resolve all of his feelings related to the incident, but in truth, not much had changed. His image of him was the only thing that changed, but nothing excused the fact that what had happened, happened. 

“Do you still think I’m pathetic?”

“No. I had my doubts, at first, when I saw you had joined the Resistance. But seeing you fight today has removed any. I can see your strength.”

Hearing Shadow, out of all people, call him strong, brought a sense of serenity to him. 

“Provided you don’t do anything foolish, can I say, with truth, that we fight on the same team?” he asked, taking his hand out.

Zero gazed at the hand for a moment before responding, “Yes.” They made a firm handshake, and Shadow immediately returned to his inspection on the robot parts. He walked away, leaving him alone. On his walk back to the launch pad, his mind felt calm for the first time in a while. As he returned, Gadget was still asleep, and Rouge was walking around, inspecting a fallen laser gun.

Noticing Zero had returned, she said, “you should take one of these with you and keep it. You seem to be good with these.”

“Eh, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Keeping one at the house may be a good idea,” he said, picking one up.

A soft, but growing whirring sounded from above, drawing their attention. The helicopter was seen flying above, and it landed at a spot in the field that was free of robot rubble. Rouge’s communicator rang.

“Agent Rouge, this is Agent Aurum. I’ve landed at Spaceport field. I wasn’t able to bring any other backup, for that I apologize. It seems like the situation is cleared already. Are you safe?”

“We got it all in control. Me and Zero will be ready to leave in a few minutes. You think we could take an additional member?”

“Yes, we could. To confirm, we’re landing back at the spot near the bridge, correct?”

“Yep. We’ll meet you in a few.” She hung up and then turned to Zero. “Gadget’s gonna come with us. I know Shadow’s gonna be here for a while, inspecting all of these parts,” she sighed. “Saves me a bunch of work. Can you wake him up for me?”

Nodding, Zero went towards Gadget and kneeled, gently shaking him. His eyes slowly opened, and a smile crossed his face at the sight of Zero.

“We’re about to leave in Rouge’s helicopter. Shadow will be here for a bit, so you can come with us.”

Gadget yawned, nodding. “Okay. Think you can help me walk?”

“Of course.” He helped him up, and slung his arm around his shoulder. The added weight, plus the slugging fatigue, made him almost trip at first, but he managed to find a pace that worked for them. “We’re ready,” he said, looking at Rouge.

A sly smile spread across her face at the sight. “Both of you are about to collapse on the ground,” she laughed. “Here, let me help.” She got in between them and helped both of them walk towards the helicopter. “This isn’t too bad, I’ve had to carry Shadow and Omega when flying once, so I’ve had much worse.”

They climbed inside, and the warm cushioned seats felt amazing in comparison to the cold, hard ground outside. As Rouge stepped in, the door closed, and the helicopter lifted off in the air. Gadget instantly fell asleep, and Zero found slumber as well afterwards.

 

Gadget’s eyes slowly opened, revealing the interior of the helicopter. It was quiet, and voices could be heard outside, along with some steps moving outside. Yawning, he stretched his arms up, and saw Zero next to him knocked out cold. He gently shook him, seeing his eyes open as well. Through the window, the outline of the Red Gate Bridge appeared outside. 

“Are we back?” yawned Zero.

“I think.” As his senses were returning to him, steps coming into the helicopter alerted him. 

Rouge handed him his and Zero’s jackets. “You’re finally awake. Here, both of you left these at the Spaceport. Would be a shame to leave expensive-looking jackets at some shanty plant.”

“Thanks,” said Gadget as he took his jacket, handing the black one to Zero. They climbed out of the helicopter and saw Knuckles and Aurum, along with Tails in his Tornado, outside. 

“It’s good to see you safe,” said Knuckles. “We’ll have a meeting tomorrow about this. Make sure you get good rest, you both seem like you’re about to collapse any minute now.”

“We will,” said Gadget with a small smile. 

Rouge handed Knuckles a report sheet. “Oh, I called Tails to take you two home. No way you’re walking all the way back like that.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” said Zero. The short nap helped a little with his fatigue, but it was still very present. 

As they were walking towards the Tornado, Knuckles stopped Zero. “Oh, before you leave, I wanted to give you this.” He handed him a communicator. “I know we should’ve given you one sooner, but better late than never.”

He held the device in his hand, marveling at it. “Thank you.”

“Of course. See you two later.”

 

The Tornado landed in front of Gadget’s house, a sight more appreciated than ever. The sunset was slowly shifting into night by then. 

“Thanks for the ride,” said Gadget, hopping out of the plane, followed by Zero.

“No problem! See you two tomorrow!” With a wave the Tornado flew off into the sky, leaving them alone. 

“Damn, it feels so good to be back here,” said Zero. 

They walked inside, relieved at the warmth and familiar. After leaving their shoes and gloves at the stand near the door, Gadget sat at a chair at the kitchen table. 

Zero put the laser gun on the table before leaning on it with his hands. “I’m gonna take a shower.” On his way to the restroom, he felt arms wrap around him, stopping him. A light sniffling could be heard, which concerned him. Gadget’s head lay on his shoulder, and he stroked the fur on the arms that were in front of him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to say thanks for saving me,” he mumbled against the soft black fur. 

“Of course, honestly if you didn’t do, whatever that crazy fireball was, we likely wouldn’t have won.”

They swayed a bit, Zero leaning back slightly onto Gadget.

“True,” he laughed. “But honestly, I thought I was going to really die twice today. At first when it was just me and Shadow before y’all arrived, and later when Metal was coming for me. I felt hopeless.”

“Well, we survived, that’s what’s important. I was scared that you would’ve been dead when me and Rouge were flying over there. But enough talk about death,” he chuckled. “I’m gonna shower, okay?”

Gadget leaned off of him. “Guess I will too.”

Later that night, as dusk had come and darkness had enveloped the grove, the pair were in the living room, relaxing on their respective couches. Gadget had a book in his hand, while Zero was staring at the ceiling. The only light on was a lamp in the living room.

“You know, I talked with Shadow after the fight.”

Gadget put his book on the table. “Really? How’d it go?”

Zero sighed. “In a way, it’s given me closure. He’s not who I thought he was. I was expecting him to be mean and arrogant, but he spoke to me with respect and a type of softness to his voice.” He fiddled with his nails. “It’s not really something I’ll ever get over, but just something I’ll have to accept. It happened. They’re gone, and I can’t bring them back.”

“I’m glad you and him were able to talk. You’re right that it’s something you can’t really get over. That’s how I feel about when my friends died. I still cry over it and stuff, but afterwards, I move on.” He looked at the worn green bandana that was sitting above the dusty mask. “I’m sure with time you’ll be able to figure everything out.”

“I hope so.” He sat up on the couch, catching a short glimpse of the bandana and mask. “I can’t believe I wore that mask all the time.”

Gadget laughed. Exactly, since it hides your handsome face . “I won’t lie, it kind of looks cool. But not cool when someone wears it because they’re insecure about their face.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Now it sits in the dust, where it belongs. Who knows, maybe I’ll find some use for it again.”

After a calm moment of silence, Gadget stood up. “Guess I’m about to head to bed.”

Something came over Zero at that moment, a sense of longing tugging at him. “Could I…” He sighed, before fully stammering it out. “Could I sleep with you?”

A bright smile flashed across Gadget’s face. “Of course!” His short tail started wagging, which he tried to hide. 

Zero smiled, before standing up, his tail starting to move on its own as well. A form of pure happiness, something he hadn’t felt in a long time, blossomed somewhere deep within him. He followed Gadget into his room, and after they had turned the lights off, he climbed into bed with him after putting his glasses on the nightstand.

They lay under the sheets, and as they got on their sides, Gadget wrapped his arms around Zero, bringing him into a tight grasp. Warmth seeped into him, and soft, consistent breaths fell against his back. Eventually, his heartbeat steadied after the initial wave of joy that surged through him. He gently caressed the fur on Gadget’s arms that were holding him. Total peace surrounded him. After a while, he felt the arms relax a little, making him assume that Gadget had fallen asleep. That night, it was as if the world had fallen asleep as well, as slumber held Zero within its grasp.

 

Sunlight touched upon the pair in the sheets. The room slowly unveiled itself to Gadget’s eyes, alongside a black mass of fur, accompanied with long, white locks of air laying on his chest. He gave a warm smile at the sight. His stirring caused Zero to shift, eventually making him roll around onto his back.

“What time is it?” mumbled Zero.

Gadget looked at the alarm clock. “7:58. I’m surprised we woke up before it.”

He grunted, rolling back onto Gadget’s chest. “Two more minutes then.”

Stifling a laugh, he held him tightly onto him until the alarm clock cried out, grumbling afterwards at having to get out of the comfortable space. That morning, as they each got ready to head to the base, a peaceful mood was situated in the air.

As they arrived at the base, Amy and Rouge were chatting at the center table, Amy finishing her cup of coffee. It was just them and the pair, since everyone had gone into their respective rooms and areas already. 

“Morning, you two,” said Rouge. “Hope both of you got good rest.”

“We did,” said Gadget. “Were you up all night writing the report?”

She sighed, wiping off imaginary sweat. “Oh, please don’t remind me. I tried to get Shadow to do it for me, but he wouldn’t. And GUN wants every detail too, Chaos.”

Zero hid a small grin. Out of everyone there, he believed she had the best sense of humor. 

“Oh, I’m dying to learn about what happened,” said Amy, taking a sip of her coffee. “I was shocked when Knuckles just casually told me that y’all fought off an army of robots, along with Metal!”

“You’ll find out soon, dear. I’m sure you’ll enjoy every minute of our story,” said Rouge. 

“I’m sure I will,” she said, walking to the communications room with a grin. As Zero and Gadget headed off to the tech room, she tapped Zero’s shoulder, making him pause and turn around. She whispered in his ear, “you have some red furs on your face and chest.”

Zero’s eyes widened as he looked down on his chest, seeing a few lone red furs. He frantically swiped his hands over his face and chest, as the skin under his fur started to itch from embarrassment. “Are they gone?” he whispered back.

“Yep. Be more careful next time, “ she said with that sly smile, laughing on her way to the communications room. 

After he had turned back, Gadget was watching him from near the door with a concerned look on his face. “Are you alright?”

Scanning Gadget’s chest and face with his eyes, which brought a confused look in return, Zero replied, “some of my furs are on you.”

“Oh, you had me scared for a minute!” he laughed. He casually plucked the furs off of him and walked into the room, being followed by a red-cheeked Zero.

 

Knuckles signed something on the documentation sheet. “Alright, let’s begin. First, we’ll have Rouge, Shadow, Gadget, and Zero explain what happened yesterday, then Rouge will explain what she found from the computer room, and finally Tails will give us more information on the blueprint. So,” he breathed, “I’ll let you four take it away.”

All four of them looked at each other, wondering who would begin. Gadget broke the silence. “When me and Shadow arrived at the Spaceport, we noticed a large number of robots in the plant, enough that we could tell they weren’t just rogue ones. Eggman was waiting for us at the launchpad at the end of the plant.”

“Did he say anything related to the Cherubim?” asked Espio.

Shadow shook his head. “He only spoke nonsense. He wouldn’t give out any information related to it, the only thing he said was that it wasn’t ready yet.”

“Typical Eggman fashion,” said Sonic. “I heard about an army of robots, where did they come from?”

“A bunch of flanks and groups started marching out of the field, along with a bunch of Eggrobos coming in behind us. Then, Metal Sonic came out of nowhere,” said Gadget.

“Hmph, he was probably expectin’ y’all. Knowin’ him, he saw it as some type of act, and orchestrated for them to come out at his call, or something,” grumbled Vector. 

Knuckles sat back in his chair, resting his knuckle on his chin. “Rouge and Zero, how did you two find out they were in danger?”

“Gadget called us, but pretended that the service wasn’t working. Eggman wasn’t expecting any help to arrive, I believe,” said Zero. “It seems like he truly thought that he was going to take them out.”

“They would’ve, if help didn’t arrive. Without Metal, we could’ve handled it both by ourselves,” said Shadow.

“Another important thing to mention,” said Gadget, “is that the robots were acting differently. They were strategizing with each other and working with each other.”

Everyone, out of the four, looked at him with surprise. “Eggman’s robots working with each other? That’s a first,” said Tails.

“Really? How were they?” asked Amy.

“I mainly spent time fighting off the Eggrobos, and they made a circular formation around me, making sure to keep a specific altitude as well. Their shots were inconsistent and unpredictable,” said Zero.

“Also, the Walkers even anticipated me jumping out of the way to dodge their missile, by shooting it upwards so that I would jump into them,” said Gadget.

Knuckles sighed. “We’ll have to change our approach towards them in the future. Brute force won’t be the best way anymore. How did all of you manage to win? It sounds like everything was against you.”

Rouge nodded towards Gadget. “Just like before, he saved us again. I don’t know how the hell he did it, but he did.”

Laughs filtered through the room as a small smile formed on his face. “What did you do exactly? I was wondering myself too,” asked Shadow.

“I used the boost technique, but right before the energy carried me to full speed, I transferred it to my wispon.”

“That’s really impressive!” beamed Sonic. 

“Huh, so it gave your wispon a hyper energy boost, it seems,” said Knuckles.

Gadget nodded. “Yeah. My attack destroyed half of the army, which allowed us to defeat the rest. But don’t just give me credit, Zero’s the reason Metal Sonic will be out of commission for a bit.”

Everyone shot curious looks towards him. “It was nothing special, I just slashed his arm off. If it wasn’t for Shadow saving me in the first place and knocking him down I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

“I won’t lie, that sounds sick, the idea of you slashing his arm off,” said Tails.

“Well, I’m glad that you’re all okay,” said Knuckles. “This may buy us more time. Having to replace and make a bunch of new robots should at least halt the progress on the Cherubim. Rouge, what information did you find?”

She placed the drive on the table. “I downloaded two folders, one related to the Cherubim, and one related to his metrics and programming. I spent a lot of time on the report for GUN last night, so I was only able to skim through them, but I saw one interesting thing. In the Cherubim folder, I saw one document titled: Commander Position . Just a hypothesis, but since the robots at the attack were more in sync with each other than before, this robot may be commanding them in the next major assault.”

“Hmm, that may be true,” said Espio. 

“I’m going to need more time to get a good understanding of everything though. I’ll look into it tonight,” she said. “Also, something important to mention, Eggman most likely knows that we were in the Network Terminal plant.”

“Alright, we’ll have to monitor that over the next few days. Tails, any new information?” asked Knuckles.

“A few things. One, I saw on the text something called Trident Position Signals . It was under the plan section. From what Rouge said, it may be related to the “commander” thing. Also, when I studied the design of the blaster, I saw three modes mentioned under it. That’s all I got, though, so I don’t know what modes do what.”

Knuckles sat back in his chair. “Well, seems like that’s everything for now. For now, the best course of action seems to be preparing and learning as much as we can. I’ll try to come up with some strategies and plans we could use. As long as no one has any new information for now, this meeting is over. We’ll meet tomorrow at the same time.”

 

On the way back to the house, a sharp breeze blew through the air.

“I’m glad I’m not Rouge or Tails. When they get home they have to look at and analyze stuff all night. That type of stuff isn’t for me,” said Gadget, huddling his jacket on.

“Same for me. There's a lot of stuff going on. Feels like the city could be attacked any minute now,” sighed Zero.

Gadget nodded. “I know. I worry for them, and the people of the city. I don’t want Sunset Heights to be destroyed again.”

“It’s worrying, for sure. But I think ultimately, we got it. Hell, if you guys could all defeat me and Eggman before, we can all handle this thing,” he laughed.

He smiled. “Yeah, that’s a good point.”

They walked through the path, and the house came into view.

“What’s for dinner tonight, chef?” asked Zero.

“Oh shit, I didn’t even think about that. Actually, I forgot! We need to go by the grocery store.”

“Can’t we wait until tomorrow? I’m sure we have something to eat for tonight, it’s too damn cold to walk all the way back.”

Gadget stopped to think. “Yeah, we can. Wait, there’s supposed to be a snow storm tomorrow, right? I got an alert for it.”

“Welp, I guess we should go today then,” grumbled Zero. 

“Since we’re close to the house, you can just chill there while I get them. That way you’ll be warm.”

Zero looked towards the house, and then shook his head. “I don’t want to leave you out here in this cold by yourself. I’ll come with you.”

He tried to hide his short tail wagging softly. “Sounds good then! You’re gonna have to help me come up with a list.”

Zero feigned a groan, the both of them laughing afterwards as they headed back into the city.

Notes:

This was fun to write. A note: I've changed the chapter count from 19 to 18. This is because I removed a chapter which I determined to not really affect the plot in any major way. This story will most likely be finished within the next two to three weeks. I may post the next four chapters by uploading twice a week, instead of once a week/two weeks like I've been doing. Since I'm gonna be busy in February, I wanna at least have the story finished by then, so that all I gotta do is edit and then post.

As always, thanks for the support! Any feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 15: The Icebound Truth

Summary:

As Gadget and Zero undertake a risky mission, they find that even harsh conditions can't take away their hope.

The ringing of an alarm clock brought Gadget out of a peaceful rest. His head lay on the black and white furs that covered Zero’s chest. Overnight the temperature had dropped considerably, which was reflected in the chill that had seeped into the house. Him turning over to turn the alarm off caused Zero to stir, and his eyes to open. The idea of having to leave the furnace that was Zero and the sheets, and get ready to go outside to work, almost gave him a shiver.

“Do we really have to get out of bed? Just five more minutes,” groaned Zero, rolling onto Gadget.

He stroked the furs on his back, lightly smiling. “We have to get out at some point.”

“Just five more minutes.”

Five minutes passed. “Alright, we gotta get up.” He gently moved Zero over as he stepped out of bed, stretching his arms up. Zero, with great effort, slowly got out of the bed, holding his arms together. “Even I’m starting to get a bit chilly. I’ll turn the heat on before we go.”

“That would be very appreciated.”

Later, as Gadget was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, he turned the radio on, tuning it to Cream and Vector’s morning show. 

“And now, a quick break before our next segment.”

“Everytime I turn it on…always going into a break,” he grunted. A few minutes later, after Zero had emerged from the bathroom ready, he placed the plates of toast and bowls of oatmeal on the table. As the radio show came back on, he was putting sugar and cream into his coffee.

“Alright good folks, here’s ya weather for today! Make sure to stay warm, since an ice storm will be hittin’ us hard this evenin’! The weather folks will update y’all with more information later.”

Zero groaned after taking a spoonful of oatmeal. “I was hoping the storm would’ve gone away. That’s probably why it feels so cold today.”

“Knuckles may let us off early, so that’s a plus. But we still don’t know when the storm will strike.”

With a few minutes to spare before they would have to leave, they finished their breakfast, heading out afterwards. The chill was even more pronounced once they had stepped outside, evident from their breaths being visible in the air. The grass and leaves felt dry and rigid under their steps. Branches were starting to lose leaves one by one, and a few trees had already begun the process of dormancy. Sunlight was bare, being covered by groups of light gray clouds.

Arriving at the base, a blast of heat ran through their furs. After they had spoken to Amy and Rouge, who were sitting at the center table, they walked over to the tech room. A few hours later, at 1, they joined everyone in the meeting room.

Knuckles signed off something on the documentation sheet. “Alright, we can start. I hope everyone’s been able to keep warm today. Rouge, were you able to find any new information on the files?”

She nodded, pulling out a sheet of notes afterwards. “Yep. I sent the files to Tails as well, and he looked over Cherubim’s files, while I looked over the Metrics and Programming. Basically, he plans for this thing and the other robots to fight with a certain strategy and formation. The Cherubim will have three “modes,” them being Commander, Ravager, and Synergist. Certain swipes of its trident will be used to signal the other robots.”

“What do all of those modes do?” asked Amy.

“From my understanding, the Commander mode focuses on directing the other robots. Ravager mode seems to focus on offense and joining the robots in an assault, and Synergist mode focuses on supporting them. The robots will be programmed to recognize the mode switches, and act accordingly to them.”

Sonic leaned back in his chair. “I can’t believe it, Eggman’s robots fighting with actual strategy now. I guess that means we should come up with some strategy system ourselves.”

“We definitely should. If he unleashes a major attack on the city, with the same scale, or even larger, of the army we fought, alongside Metal and the Cherubim, then our usual strategy of just brute force won’t work. Not to mention, the civilians as well, and getting them to safety,” said Gadget.

“Right. I feel like we need more information, though. For example, when will he attack? Did the files mention anything related?” asked Knuckles.

Rouge shook her head. “Not really. The closest thing I could find related to that was something mentioning, “75% Completion Mark,” and it was set earlier that day in the computer.”

“Hmm, Tails mentioned this Tuesday that theoretically, the Cherubim would be done this upcoming Sunday. But could it be possible that since he suffered a major loss of robots, and damage to Metal Sonic, that it may be pushed back?” said Espio.

“Could be. But we really have no information on that, and the stakes are high here. A wrong guess could cause a lot of damage, deaths, and who knows what else,” said Tails.

Knuckles sighed. “Best thing to do, it seems, is to assume the worst for now. I’ll come up with some strategy plan for us and the city, so that way we know what to do if he attacks unexpectedly. Tails, did you find anything new?”

“Yes! So, I was able to get confirmation on the makeup of the robot. It’s true that he will use titanium on the vital areas, and the trident will also be made out of steel. There will be two sets of wings, so we should expect it to fly. The blaster will have different modes too. It’s a lot, so I have it all written on a report which I’ll send to everyone.”

“Wait, if Eggman knew y’all had infiltrated his plant, wouldn’t he change things up?” asked Vector.

“Most likely. He’s probably changing aspects of their strategy as we speak. But, it would be too late for him to change the buildup of the robot, since that would cost too much time for him,” said Shadow.

“True. At least we can be sure of that. Any new intel?” asked Knuckles.

Shadow and Rouge shook their heads. “Nope. None for today,” sighed Rouge. Everyone’s eyes were averted to a sudden beep in their direction. A grin spread across her face as she looked at her communicator. “Well, speak of Black Doom, an agent just sent me something interesting. Apparently, Eggman was sighted at the Mystic Jungle base today, and activity on some network there has been sighted. He may have moved his “information base” there.”

“It’s nice that we have new intel, but am I the only one who finds that a little odd? Mystic Jungle is pretty close to us. I don’t see why he’d store important information there,” said Gadget.

“I was thinking the same thing. Maybe he was just using the computer there for something random?” said Espio.

“It could be anything. But when you think about it, shouldn’t we be able to find something useful just from him using a computer at all?” said Amy.

Knuckles leaned his chin on his hands. “You have a point. My question is, what’s stopping him from deleting it? If he knows that someone infiltrated a base of his before, wouldn’t he be more protective of his information?”

Rouge peered to the side. “Oh please, this is Eggman we’re talking about. He isn’t invested in any form of his security.”

“Even then, it’s something we should think about. If we’re going to investigate this, we would have to go today. The longer we wait, the higher chance the information may be gone,” said Shadow.

“But is it safe to go there? There’s supposed to be an ice storm later today,” said Amy.

“I forgot about that,” sighed Sonic. “It may be too risky to check out.”

Zero thought for a moment, before taking a deep breath. “I wouldn’t mind checking it out.” Everyone turned to look at him.

“Really? But it’s risky. What if you get caught by the storm?” said Amy. 

“If we can get more information on his plans, then I think that the risk is justified. The storm won’t hit until about three or four hours, I believe, which should be enough time for me to return safely.” While in truth, the idea of doing another mission in the cold almost brought a chill in him, the reward for doing so was worth it in his eyes.

“You’re not thinking of doing this alone, are you?” asked Gadget.

Those orange eyes seemed to stare straight into him. “Well…If it’s the safest option, I will. I think I could manage it alone, and I wouldn’t want to endanger anyone else.” 

Knuckles leaned back in his chair, looking deep in thought. “If you’re truly okay with that, then I won’t stop you. You should probably leave right after this meeting, to beat the weather. Give us frequent status updates as well.”

“I’m coming with you,” said Gadget. 

“Trust me, I can manage it.” What he didn’t want to say out loud in front of everyone was his concern for Gadget’s specific safety if he came with him.

“No, I’m still coming,” he insisted.

“You should probably let him come with you,” said Rouge. “Even if something happens, it’s a lot easier for two people to fix something than one.”

Zero hesitated, before letting out a defeated sigh. “I understand.”

“I’ll send the code to hack into the computer after the meeting,” she said.

After a short moment of silence, Knuckles spoke up. “Well, that seems like that’s all the new information for today. Meeting is over, I’ll see everyone tomorrow at the same time, hopefully.” He muttered the last word under his breath.

Everyone left the room, speaking with each other their thoughts on the situation. As Gadget and Zero were preparing their things in the tech room, Tails flew in after having had a conversation with Sonic outside. 

“How will y’all go get to the base? I’d hopefully assume not through the water pipes,” said Tails.

“We’ll have to hop through the Jungle, it seems,” said Gadget. He made a small smile, feeling slightly optimistic about the mission. 

“Please be careful. This is really risky, you know.”

Zero grabbed an Eggrobo laser gun from the back of the room. “We will. I’ll make sure to keep us safe. Ready?” he asked Gadget.

Gadget attached his burst and lightning wispon to his belt, and zipped up his jacket. “Yep.” As the pair were heading out of the base, about to enter the cold world outside, they heard a voice calling out for them behind them. Gadget looked back to see Amy waving for them. 

“Hey, I just wanted to say, give us, or me, an update when you get to the base, okay? Just to be extra cautious,” she said. Her face was full of concern.

“We will,” said Zero.

She nodded. “Alright. I’ll see y’all later,” she said, sounding uncertain.

 

They walked outside, the doors to the base closing behind them. The streets were bare, with only a few Mobians walking about. The temperature felt as if it had dropped a few degrees in the past few hours. Dull, gray clouds only added to the melancholy atmosphere. A sharp breeze made Zero huddle his arms together. They kept a good pace through the city, saving their energy for when they would reach the base.

“I wonder what we’ll find. It has to be something useful,” said Gadget.

Zero kicked a branch out of the way as they entered the outskirts of the Luminous Forest trails. “I hope so.” The cleanup site came into view, a few tools laying on the ground. They entered the jungle, this time taking a side path instead of going through the pipes. Sounds of rushing water were heard in the distance.

“I’m surprised the water’s still going through,” said Zero. 

“Same here. I guess it would take a while for it to freeze, but who knows. I’m not a water scientist.”

The jungle was eerily quiet as they hopped down cliffs and trekked through. Flickies were huddled up in their nests high upon the trees, barely making sounds. Branches that were losing their leaves made little rustlings in the air. The grass underneath their steps was soft. The breeze that seemed to be amplified from the foliage near brought a small shiver onto them.

Eventually, after a while of going through the jungle, the familiar gray door to the base came into view. A lone Pawn was guarding the door. They crouched in a bush nearby.

“Should we take it out?” asked Gadget.

“He’ll know we were here if we did. Maybe I can distract it for a while.” Zero thought on what to do. He decided to shoot the laser gun away on the path going away from the door. At first, the robot only looked at the direction of the laser, before returning to its idle position. Zero shot a few times more, and this made the robot leave its position and walk on the path. Once the robot was far enough away, they broke off for the door. Gadget turned the rusty wheel on the door, and it swung open. They walked in, before quietly closing the door behind them.

Inside, they found themselves in a cold, dimly lit hallway, with a right turn into another hallway at the end. Cobwebs dotted areas of the hallway, some hanging off by loose threads, evident of some type of recent quick clean-up. There was a small breeze coming from some unknown spot inside. A quiet hum emanated from some source somewhere.

“Damn, this place has no heat at all,” said Gadget, shivering. “Do you know the layout of this place?”

“No, I’ve actually never been inside. He never sent me here, and even if he did, I would’ve probably refused to come anyways. Hopefully we can just get what we need and then go. It almost feels colder in here than outside.”

As they turned the corner, a group of four Pawns were standing away, their backs to them. At the end of the hallway, past the group of robots, were two doors that seemed to lead into a big, warehouse-like room. Zero hesitated on what to do, until thoughts on being discreet faded from his mind, and he shot a bunch of lasers towards the robots, knocking them down. 

Gadget glared  towards the door, expecting more robots to come out any second. “Aren’t we trying to be quiet?”

“Sorry. It’s just, this cold, and I’m worried about your safety, and this storm…” He sighed, taking a heavy look down.

Gadget put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, we’ll get through this. It’s just another mission, albeit a little riskier than normal. Even if the ice storm hits when we’re in here, we have shelter, and we can call for help. Oh! I forgot.” He called Amy on his communicator.

“Hello? Did y’all make it?”

“We did, we just got inside. I’ll update you once we’re leaving.”

“Got it. Be safe.” She hung up.

Some of Zero’s worries washed away at his previous words, but there was still a nagging at the back of his mind. He nodded, pushing his worries aside as he started walking towards the door. The thick doors opened easily, and revealed a large room. It was lit well from bright lights on the sides and ceiling, brightening the dull, white walls. In the center stood a wide stand with a large computer on top. Groups of Pawns marched around the stand, keeping a steady pace. Chairs and desks dotted the sides of the room, along with piles of equipment and robot parts, some of which were rusted.

One Pawn stopped in place as it noticed the pair, and it started charging towards the pair. A quick shot from Zero’s laser gun brought it down. Gadget pulled his wispon out, but suddenly hesitated as he thought about the fact that they may damage the computer, or any wiring of the room. Instead, he planned to do a wire attack, but noises from behind interrupted his thoughts. Before he could react, he jumped as he felt hard, sharp claws tear the back of his jacket, ripping the seams apart. He used his grappling hook to fly up to the wall, and stood in place on it.

A set of claws tore into Zero’s jacket as well, making him instantly find somewhere to reset his position. Seeing Gadget on the wall, he shot towards it and used the hook to anchor himself on there. The cold air hitting the now uncovered skin on his back made him shiver.

“What the hell was that! I thought they were dead,” he breathed.

Gadget took a deep breath to steady himself. A few Pawns readied energy shots towards them, but quick, shaky lasers destroyed them. Eventually all of the robots were dead, Zero making sure afterwards. Gadget hopped down, examining the fallen robots.

“What do you think happened?” asked Gadget.

Zero looked at a burnt mark on a Pawn. “I think my shots on the Pawns near the door hit some non-vital area, which made them fall, but didn’t kill them, at least two of them. Damn, and now both of our jackets are torn,” he grumbled. The Pawn had torn the back of his jacket in half from a spot near the top, leaving a wide gap underneath. Gadget’s jacket was in worse condition, as the back had been totally ripped apart.

“Let’s just get this information and leave,” he said, hopping onto the stand, joined by Zero shortly afterwards. As he turned the computer on, a faint tapping noise could be heard from somewhere. They looked up, trying to find the source.

“What is that?” asked Zero. “It wouldn’t happen to be…” He didn’t want to think about the fact that the storm could have already started.

A short chill ran through Gadget. “This place is old, it may just be some pipe or something. We should be able to leave in a few minutes.” He opened a program, and typed in the code that Rouge had sent him in order to hack into it. After a slow-moving bar, it flashed green, and a different desktop appeared. Clicking on the file icon, he moved through a bunch of files, trying to find any that could be useful. One file caught his eye, a file named Timeline . He put in the flash drive that Rouge had given him, and transferred the contents. To be safe, he also transferred all of the other folders into the drive, since the computer only contained a small amount of them. 

“And that’s it. Let’s get the hell outta here,” he said, putting the drive into his pocket on his belt. As they walked off the stand and were about to head outside the two doors, the base suddenly went dark, accompanied by a low, “shutting-off” sound. A set of dim emergency lights came on inside, weakly brightening up the place. The faint tapping sound was now much louder.

 

Outside, a Flying Egg flew in from the trees, landing in front of the old door. 

“Alright, get to work!” shouted Eggman. A group of Pawns carrying a log marched towards the door. Carefully, they placed it right in front of the door. Another group came in, placing a smaller log in front. 

A red-headed robot rose from the crowded seat. “Doctor, when can we leave? It’s rather cold.”

“Oh, stop complaining, Orbot! Don’t worry, we won’t be out here for much longer. The two fools have already entered, so all we have to do is cut the power line, and drill the holes. If I can’t kill them with these useless robots, then I’ll let mother nature do it for me instead.”

A yellow, cube-headed robot leaned back in the seat. “What a marvelous plan, doctor.”

“Ah, no need to compliment me, Cubot. This is easy work. It’s so easy to fool GUN and them; they’re so desperate for any information they can get from me. Oh sure, you’ll find some valuable information, but what’s the point of having it when you’ll just die at the end? And they can’t send it to anyone. And then, after their deaths, their morale will be crushed, and it’ll be an easy victory for us!” he cackled, leaning back in his seat from laughter.

A few drops of rain pattered against the windshield of the machine.

“Oh, it’s starting already?” said Orbot.

“Yes. I knew the storm would come earlier than they had said. Let’s see here, less than 30℉ inside, freezing ice rain coming in from outside, no one to contact, oh I wish I could see the look on their faces! They don’t have a chance. And if the logs move anyways, the hatches on the door will be frozen anyway. They call me doctor for a reason,” he laughed. “Now, let’s add the finishing touches, and then get out of here.”

 

Sweat started to bead on Zero’s forehead as all types of concerns ran through him. “It’s rain, it seems. Probably freezing rain.”

Gadget ran towards the door, Zero following after him. He tried to push the door open, but the hatches wouldn’t budge an inch. “It won’t open!”

Zero tried kicking the door, but no matter how hard they attempted to force the door open, it wouldn’t budge. “We’re trapped,” he stated, the words not feeling real to him. “The door’s probably frozen.” Hard, icy rain pattered against the metal door from outside. “Wait! Your wispon! Maybe that can melt the ice on it.”

“But there’s a risk that it, or something near, could catch on fire. Plus, it may be a better idea to stay inside. Trekking all the way back in this freezing rain, especially with our jackets ripped apart, sounds worse than just waiting out the storm here. I’ll see if I can contact someone.” He turned his communicator on and tried to call someone at the base, but the call instantly failed. An icon displaying No Service at the top caught his attention, and made his furs rise. 

“What is it, is it not working?” asked Zero, trying to hide panic in his voice. 

“No service,” he said gravely.

Zero tried calling someone on his own communicator, but got the same response. “It was just working earlier, when you called Amy, wasn’t it?”

“It was. Either the storm knocked some line down, or…well, I don’t know what else.” He sighed, before turning back into the hallway. “Best option is to just wait the storm out.” Zero followed him back into the large room, and they sat down at an open corner, the cold ground making them tense. They huddled together, trying to keep warm the best they could.

Feelings of guilt washed through Zero, him feeling responsible for this. It was his idea in the first place, he thought. The frigid temperature inside grasped at them, making it difficult to think about anything else. The breeze from earlier seemed stronger, touching at them every once in a while. There was a faint plop emerging from somewhere around the room, but the cold inside kept them from even acknowledging it. Hope was all they could manage, but even that was running short.

 

“We did, we just got inside. I’ll update you once we’re leaving.”

“Got it. Be safe.” Amy hung up the call, leaning back in her chair. Her headphones sat on the large desk in front of her, above which a TV depicting various locations and sites of the Resistance stood. 

Rouge looked over towards her. “So they just got there. I hope they’re quick.”

“I can’t help but feel worried.”

“I know, I feel the same. Zero’s pretty good though, so I’d like to think the two of them can do it. And if they need assistance, I’m sure they’ll let us know.” 

Amy put her headphones back on. “Yeah, let’s hope so.” She tuned into a site in another city. “Communications from Sunset Heights here, what’s the status over there?”

“I’ve let them off early. The sky isn’t looking good, plus the temperature dropped a good bit too quickly for my liking,” spoke the site leader. 

“Alright, I’ll let Knuckles know. Stay safe.” A while passed of her tuning into different stations and keeping note of what was happening in the area around. As she got into the groove of work, her attention broke from seeing Rouge staring at the ceiling with widened eyes. She took her headphones off and was about to ask what she was staring at, until the sound of heavy, icy rain hitting the roof hit her ears.

“It’s started already?” asked Rouge. “Did they call you?”

She checked her communicator, hoping to see a missed call or message, but there was none from them. “No. No messages, nothing. Oh, Chaos. I’m gonna call them.” After clicking their contact name, the device only rang for a second until it ended, giving the message Call Failed . 

Rouge’s brows furrowed from the screen. “Why would it fail? I’m gonna try mine.” She received the same message. 

The roaring sound of wind outside got their attention, making some of their furs stand up. “I’m gonna let Knuckles know.” Amy left the room to see everyone else gathered up in the center room, sitting at the center table. Knuckles was coming in from his office.

“Amy, Rouge, did you get any updates or calls from Gadget or Zero,” he asked.

“No, none of us did,” said Rouge gravely.

 

Time passed.

The cold seemed to get worse the longer they stayed there. Plops sounded from around the room, later revealed to be drops of freezing rain coming in from openings on the ceiling. They had moved to the stand with the computer, powered off to be secure. As the cold had tightened its grasp on them, their energy lowered. They had tried calling someone again, but had given up when they still had no service.

Earlier, Gadget tried using his burst wispon’s flames to unfreeze the hatches on the door, but even then, the door wouldn’t budge. After they had exhausted all of their options, they huddled together on the stand, their hope slowly waning.

“You know,” sputtered Gadget, suppressing a shiver, “I didn’t think I’d die like this.”

“Please, don’t talk about that,” said Zero.

“But it’s true. Unless, by some miracle, someone realizes that we’re trapped and comes to save us, I don’t see a way out of here.” He sighed, his breath forming an icy mist. “I thought that maybe, I’d die like some hero. Or by old age, or whatever. But nope.” Tears formed in his eyes, and he tried to stop himself from crying. As many times he had faced death in his eyes, it was a totally different feeling knowing that death was for certain, rather than it being up to how well he fought.

Zero held him tightly. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have even offered to go here. I didn’t want you to come since I knew it was dangerous.”

“Don’t blame yourself. No one knew the storm would come early.”

“But still…” Tears started falling from his eyes. “This is just so disappointing. I’ve actually started looking forward to life, and the future, especially being able to spend it with you, all for it to end like this.”

Despite the despair that had consumed him, a soft smile spread across Gadget’s face. “I was also looking forward to…our future. I guess it’s obvious, isn’t it? I love you.”

Zero smiled warmly. “I do too. I was scared when I first realized it.. Everyone I had formed a close connection to died in some way, like my squad. So I didn’t want to experience the same thing. But,” he sighed, “even though you, may, die, at least I can be with you in the end.”

A moment of silence passed, as a sense of tranquility washed over the pair. 

“Thank you for coming into my life,” said Zero, suppressing tears. He stroked the furs on Gadget’s shoulders. “You’ve done so much for me, and helped me so much. I don’t even know how much I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything. I wanna thank you for coming into my life too. You’ve helped me with a lot of things, even if you may not know it.”

“That makes me happy.”

They held onto each other, total peace replacing any worries that had been in their minds earlier. Slowly, they were accepting death. 

 

Knuckles slammed his fist on the table. “Damn it! I should’ve stopped them.”

“We didn’t know it would come early, and they may have found shelter there,” said Espio. “They’re smart, I’m sure they would have figured something out.”

“Still, something just isn’t right about this,” said Amy. “There should be service there. The storm hasn’t knocked out any stations or whatever anywhere else. I was able to contact all of the other sites.”

Sonic tapped his fingers on the table. “You wouldn’t think Eggman…I don’t know, maybe did something? Maybe he messed with the signals, or some power line?”

“That wouldn’t make any sense, he was only sighted earlier this morning. He shouldn’t be there,” said Rouge.

Everyone looked around, trying to think of something to help the situation. 

“We should go there,” said Tails.

“But it’s really dangerous out there. That ice rain is relentless,” said Vector. “I really want to check up on ‘em, and make sure they’re good, but no point in us dyin’ tryin’ to save them.”

“He’s right. It’s a mess out there. I don’t know what to do,” murmured Knuckles. He started pacing around. 

Rouge put her communicator up to her ear. “Aurum? You there?”

“Yes. Is everything alright?”

“Could you send a helicopter here? We need one urgently.” Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, a small light of hope seeming to form in them.

“In this weather? What do you need one for?”

“Remember Gadget and Zero? I think they’re trapped at the Mystic Jungle base. They went there to investigate the intel we got earlier, but they haven’t responded since. If they’re trapped there, we don’t have much time before the cold gets them!”

“Okay. I’ll try to get over there in a few minutes. I’ll land behind HQ.”

The phone call ended. “Is he sending one?” asked Espio.

“Yes. He’ll be here in a few minutes. He’s landing in the back. Who’s gonna come?”

“I will,” said Amy. 

“I’m coming too,” said Knuckles.

Sonic and Tails stood up. “We’re coming.”

Espio and Vector looked at each other. “As much as we would like to assist, it would be too dangerous for us to go out in this weather. We’ll watch the base behind.”

“We understand,” said Knuckles. 

The four walked to the back door, waiting for any semblance of the helicopter’s arrival. Every minute felt like hours, and the longer they waited, the more it seemed that they would find two frozen bodies in the base. The sound of roaring blades invigorated them, and they walked outside into the courtyard, facing the brutal cold and rain against them. With haste, they hopped into the helicopter.

The helicopter rose from the ground, and immediately set off towards Mystic Jungle. The rain and mist clouded up the window, making the trip slower than they wanted it to be. Trees eventually appeared under them, and the machine lowered carefully throughout the jungle, making sure to avoid hitting cliffs and the pipes. After finding a good spot to land, Aurum made a hasty, but precise landing right in front of the base.

Inside, Gadget and Zero were holding onto each other. The freezing water coming in from the holes had made a pool of water in the room, which was approaching the stand. Their energy had been totally sapped, and now they sat, waiting for death to take them. 

“I’ll stay in here and keep the helicopter on,” said Aurum. The others nodded and hopped off the helicopter. 

Knuckles’ eyes narrowed at the sight of two logs blocking the door. “What the hell? Let’s move this!” Combining their might, they rolled and pushed the logs away, leaving the door vulnerable. He tried to turn the wheel to the door, but it wouldn’t move.

“It’s frozen!” shouted Sonic through the heavy rain. 

“Let’s grab the log and ram it!” yelled Amy. They all grabbed the smaller log, and on the count of three, they jammed it into the door. The door dented from the impact, and a part of the door came flying off. Amy tried opening the door, and with great effort, the door burst open. She jumped back from ice-cold water coming out from the floor inside.

A loud clang made the pair jump. “What…What was?” slurred Zero.

“ Gadget! Zero! ” screamed Amy, who ran inside, everyone following her. Water sloshed against their steps. Looks of horror flashed upon their faces at the sight inside. In the dim lighting, they saw Gadget and Zero shivering and holding onto each other.

“Is it…really?” slurred Gadget. Everything seemed like a blur. Lethargy had fully overwhelmed him. Shapes and voices came towards him, and he could feel someone carrying him. Eventually, everything went black.

 

Zero’s eyes slowly opened, revealing a bright ceiling above him. Soft, white sheets covered him. He was on some type of bed. As his senses were coming to him, he felt something on his wrist. He saw that he was hooked to an IV. There were also other beds in the room, each one a plain, white bed. The heavy pattering he had been hearing earlier was now gone. The cold from earlier had been replaced with heat.

“Where am I?” he asked out loud. He tried to sit up, but a heavy fatigue kept him down.

A familiar voice spoke out, making him flinch. “Finally, you’re awake, thank the emeralds.”

“Rouge?”

She got out of the stool she had been sitting on and stood next to the bed. “Yep, that’s me. You’re in the base’s infirmary. Gadget’s all safe and sound, don’t worry.”

Relief flooded him. He turned to look at the bed next to him and saw Gadget asleep, also hooked to an IV, along with his and Gadget’s shoes next to the bed. “What happened? Last thing I remember, there were voices, and then, I don’t know. I feel tired just thinking about it.”

“We rescued both of you. You both passed out when we carried you.”

It almost felt as if he was dreaming, and that in any second he would wake up back in that cursed base. “Huh. How did you even get there?”

Amy walked over from sitting on a stool next to Gadget’s bed. “We used a helicopter.”

Zero pushed against his exhaustion and sat up in his bed. He turned to the side of the bed and got off the bed, almost tripping. He felt a gentle tug on his arm from where the IV was attached.

“Where are you going?” asked Amy.

“I know where,” said Rouge, who grabbed the IV stand and moved it next to Gadget’s bed. He hopped onto Gadget’s bed and lay next to him. At that point, he didn’t care what anyone would think. 

“Oh. Would the nurse be okay with this?” she asked.

“I think so,” said Rouge. 

The door to the room opened, and a red fox Mobian nurse came inside, holding a clipboard. He came to the side of the bed, a short surprised look appearing on him before a professional, neutral look took over. “Are they awake?”

“Zero is. Gadget hasn’t woken up yet.”

He checked something on the clipboard. “Okay. I did some tests earlier, they seem like they’ll be fine. They need plenty of rest and fluids. Call me if anything happens.” He left the room.

Gadget shifted around, everyone’s eyes on him afterwards. His eyes slowly opened. “The base?” 

“Yep. You’re in the infirmary,” said Amy.

He looked to his side, a soft smile forming from the sight of Zero asleep next to him. “How did y’all save us?”

“We used a helicopter.”

“That’s cool.” He sat up in the bed, pushing against fatigue. “Where’s everyone else?”

“In the center room. Since the ice rain stopped and now it’s just snowing, they’re probably about to go,” said Rouge. “It is 5, so I know they’re itching to go home. Knuckles is investigating the area with Sonic and Tails.”

Concern flashed through Gadget. “But isn’t it dangerous there?”

Amy shook her head. “Not anymore. It’s just snow now. They’re trying to see what happened, with the two logs, and water inside.”

“Logs?” asked Gadget.

Rouge nodded. “Yes. Two logs were placed in front of the door. And they found holes in the ceiling, drilled ones. We also think Eggman messed with a certain power line as well, which would explain why we couldn’t reach you two with our communicators.”

A chill ran through his spine. The idea that someone intentionally trapped them brought out anger and fear in him. “That makes sense. I tried using my wispon’s flames on the door, and even after that we couldn’t open it. Damn, that makes me feel sick.”

“Same with me. Both of you were very close to dying. The nurse said earlier that if we were a few minutes later, both of you would’ve been dead.” 

Amy shivered. “Ugh, it brings a chill through my spine when I think about it. But at least it’s all over now. And enough talk about death and such, what I wanna talk about is…this.” She gestured towards them, a smile spreading across her face.

Gadget looked back at Zero, still asleep. “Well, I guess you could say we had a honest conversation with each other about some things.”

“Which included?”

Gadget laughed. “Well, we love each other.”

“Finally!” she beamed. “I was waiting for the day you’d find someone.”

“Oh please,” scoffed Rouge, a smirk crossing her face. “I called it before you did, so much for the person who’s all about love.”

“I was thinking it, but of course I wouldn’t say anything,” she shot back. “Anyways, Tails should be here soon. He’s gonna fly y’all back to your house.”

 

The Tornado landed among the snow in front of Gadget’s house. The pair hopped off, taking slow, steady steps towards the door.

“Thanks for the ride,” said Gadget.

“No probs! Stay safe!” He flew off into the night sky.

They helped each other walk. Standing right in front of the door was a basket, which contained some food and drinks. A note was on top, which said: 

Please get some good rest for all of us. Take a rest day tomorrow, we’ll send you all the new details in a message. Stay warm. 

Signed, HQ

Gadget’s eyes became wet at the message. He grabbed the basket and walked inside, helped by Zero. He set the basket on the table after closing the door behind them, and left their shoes and gloves near the door. A large sigh left him, as gentle tears started falling from his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” asked Zero, putting his arm around him.

Gadget looked back at him with tearstained eyes, as a warm smile formed on his face.

“Nothing, I’m fine. I’m just so glad we’re alive.”

Notes:

It feels so good to have this chapter out! Since near the beginning of the story, I've been looking forward to this chapter. I will say, the original idea I had for this scene/chapter is totally different compared to what ended up coming out, but I think this is much better than what I had originally planned.
I will most likely have this story finished written by the end of the week. I'll try to post chapter 16 later this week, and 17 and 18 will come out next week by the latest. Thanks for all the support for this story! As always, feedback is appreciated.
Little note: I wonder if anyone will get the small reference from the modes' names on the Cherubim.

Chapter 16: Counterstrategy

Summary:

The Resistance comes up with a strategy against Eggman.

A thin layer of snow dotted the landscape that surrounded the grove. After the heavy snowfall from the previous day, a large amount of it melted overnight, leaving behind gentle remnants. The freezing temperatures from the storm had now changed into a gentle chill, an appreciated change from everyone in the city. Nature had returned from its quiet, restrained stance during the storm, now with the sounds of flickies abundant in the air.

Under warm, cotton sheets lay Gadget and Zero, holding onto each other. After enjoying some of the food and drinks in the basket that the Resistance had given them, they had crashed onto the bed, as exhaustion from the dire situation from earlier had consumed them. 

The cozy world of Gadget’s room slowly revealed itself to Zero’s eyes. A light stir from his side got his attention, and he looked to see Gadget rolling to the other side and sitting up. He slowly sat up next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

“What time is it?” he asked, gently swaying onto Gadget.

After looking towards the nightstand, he replied, “10:34. Damn, I wasn’t expecting to sleep for so long.”

“Oh shit, we’re late,” he yawned. 

“They told us to take today off, remember? They’ll send us any information from today’s meeting.” He stretched his arms upwards.

A sigh of relief left Zero. “Oh, right.” They leaned into each other for a moment. “I was so tired last night, I forgot. Everything from yesterday feels almost like a blur. I’m still a little tired.“We’ve been through a lot recently. Three missions right after another, and, about three near-death experiences? It’s been too much.” Gadget put his arm around Zero, stroking the short, black furs on his side. The warmth and gentle caressing put Zero into a tranquil state, almost making him fall asleep again. He wrapped his tail around them. 

“Yeah,” muttered Gadget. They sat in the same position for a moment, a soft rhythm forming in their swaying. 

“You know, I’m scared.”

Gadget looked over towards him. “Of what?”

“Of this, or us, I should say. It’s true that I love you, but I’m worried for you. I don’t have the greatest past behind me, and I don’t want people judging you because of you being with me.”

“I’ve accepted the fact that people may look at me differently for choosing to support you a while ago, even before the idea of falling in love with you happened. I don’t care what those people think.”

“But do you really? You said that when the Resistance started treating you differently, when it was really eating up at you inside.”

He held Zero tighter. “Well, it’s true that in some way I care how people see me. But I really mean it when I say it now. If someone wants to judge me for being in love with you, then I don’t care what they think, cause that would mean they don’t really know me, and you. And plus, my friends at the base know our situation a lot better, compared to a month ago when I introduced you.”

Zero grunted, allowing himself to fall onto Gadget’s fur completely. 

“Trust me, I really mean it this time. And if a doubt about it ever enters my mind, I’ll tell you first thing. I can promise you that.”

A small smile fell upon Zero at the words, feelings of security taking over him. For the first time in a while he felt certain of his future, something that he had been trying to understand ever since he woke up after the war.

They left the bed and went into the kitchen. After walking around, remnants of exhausation from the previous day had returned. Gadget only had a small amount of it, but it still had a strong hold on Zero. After they had come into the kitchen, Zero turned the TV on, while Gadget started preparing some breakfast. There were some leftover pieces of bread from the basket they had received the previous night, so they ate that with some butter, along with hot bowls of oatmeal, which felt great against the cold from outside. 

That morning was spent watching a lot of TV and eating warm foods, while they snuggled up on the couch together. After a few minutes of asking each other what they wanted to watch, they eventually settled on a cooking competition show that happened to be on. Time passed, and rest caught up with them in the afternoon. The soft audio from the TV had become simple background noise against the gentle breaths that came from each other. 

A buzz from Gadget’s communicator on the table caused him to stir awake. Struggling against a knocked-out Zero holding him from behind, he managed to grab the device. A message from Rouge was on the screen, along with a file.

Hope you two lovebirds are doing alright. Here’s the contents of today’s meeting. Thanks to you two, we managed to get some critical information. The gist of it is, Eggman’s gonna give it his all in an attack on Sunday against the city. We came up with a strategy plan, which is outlined in the file I sent you. Tomorrow we’re gonna go around the city and prepare for it. When you can, let us know how you both are doing. Stay warm.

Gadget instantly became awake from seeing the news. His stirring caused Zero to wake up, a low grumble coming from him.

“You good?” mumbled Zero, averting his eyes from the light from the screen.

“Yeah. Rouge just sent me the contents of today’s meeting. Eggman’s attacking on Sunday.”

Zero’s eyes shot up, and he sat up halfway. “Really? It is gonna be a small attack, like the one from two weeks ago?”

Gadget placed the communicator back on the table, and sat up alongside Zero. “Nope, from what Rouge said, he’s gonna ‘give it his all.’ I’m assuming that means we’ll have to deal with the thing, the Cherubim.”

“Oh, great,” sighed Zero. “Can’t catch a break, can we?” He stood from the couch and stretched his arms. Walking to the kitchen, he said, “if I’m being honest, I’m just tired. This week’s been too much. I’m still feeling fatigued from yesterday.”

Gadget followed after him, taking a look outside the kitchen window. “I know. Trust me, I really get it. I was actually looking forward to us doing something maybe this weekend. But I guess we should’ve expected something like this. We’ve been able to do a lot against him this week, so probably out of desperation he’s launching a major attack against us.”

“Well, at least, if we manage to win we won’t have to deal with him for a while.” Zero leaned in front of the sink, taking in the sight from outside.

The communicator buzzed again, this time ringing. Upon running to see who it was, a soft smile flashed across Gadget’s face from seeing Amy’s name. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I should be asking you that,” she laughed. “But I’m doing good, you?”

“Yeah, just really been sleeping all day. I’m glad it seemed to warm up a little. Also helps when you sleep next to a furnace.” He took a short glance over to the kitchen to see a small grin on Zero’s face.

“Well that’s good. So, I got some news from the meeting, some good, some bad. I saw that Rouge sent you the contents, so I don’t know how much you know already, but the main thing is that Eggman’s gonna attack on Sunday, and I mean really attack. From the data we collected, which by the way, you two are honestly heroes for gathering that data, we saw that he’s gonna unleash the thing on Sunday, alongside a huge army of robots and Metal himself.”

Zero walked to the living room and sat next to Gadget. “Do we know when exactly? Like will it be during the morning or evening?”

“At noon. That’s what the file said. So we’ll have to be ready by that point. And, GUN will be surveying the area nearby, so if he comes earlier than expected we’ll know. Knuckles came up with a strategy and plan for us and the whole city, and tomorrow we’re gonna all meet up and set everything up. Do y’all think y’all could come? I hate to ask since y’all have gone through so much yesterday and are still recovering.”

A faint sigh escaped from Gadget. “Yeah. I’m still feeling a bit fatigued, but nothing too bad. When is it tomorrow?”

“We’re gonna meet in front of the base at noon. Knuckles will send out more information later today to everyone.”

“Sounds good then.”

“Nice. Well, I just wanted to check up on you and give you that information. I know you got a message about it, but it’s nice to hear about it sometimes. Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See ya.” The call ended, and he put the communicator back on the table. He leaned back on the couch, seeping into the soft material. Zero lay down away next to him, putting his feet across Gadget’s lap. “How you feeling?”

His eyes fixated on the ceiling, he replied, “still pretty tired. That fatigue’s been kicking my ass today, and that cold from yesterday seemed to make it even worse. I’m sure it’ll get a lot better soon, hopefully, but it’s really getting me today.”

“You know, I’ve always wondered where your fatigue’s been coming from. Have you always had problems with it?”

“Nah, never had anything like this until after the war. I think it’s some type of consequence from how much of the ruby’s power I used and the toll it took on my body. It’s gotten a lot better since then, as you know, but nevertheless it still gets me. It may be something I gotta deal with for a while, but I’d take an annoying fatigue over death.” 

“Yeah, I would too.”

Later on that day, they threw a quick meal together, something that would last them for that day and the next one. The hot soup felt great against the mild chill that had slightly permeated the house. That night, as they were relaxing in the living room, both of their communicators buzzed. Zero grabbed his and saw a message from Knuckles that was sent to everyone, which said: 

Everyone, here is the outline of our strategy. As we know, the assault will begin on Sunday. We will meet in front of the base at noon, and go through the plan. GUN will begin surveying the area tomorrow, and they will update us with any information if something comes up.

“Is it the plan?” asked Gadget.

Zero opened the file, revealing a detailed, drawn-out map of Sunset Heights, and a bunch of arrows and labels around. “Yep,” he said, his eyes not knowing where to even begin. On the bottom were lists of names, which depicted where everyone would be stationed. Both of their names were under the South Flank list, along with Rouge and Shadow’s. “It’s weird, you know, that this basically decides everything. It’s basically the first fight of a war.”

Putting his book down, Gadget replied, “I guess you could see it that way. But we’ll beat him, I’m sure of it. All of us, plus the Resistance soldiers, and GUN, should make easy work of him.”

“I hope so.” He put the device back on the table, and sighed. “I’m not trying to doubt us, don’t get me wrong. I just feel like he has one last trick up his sleeve, and we won’t find out until the worst moment possible.”

“Well, that may be true. But the best thing we can do is just prepare. I haven’t skimmed through the plan yet, but I have full faith in Knuckles’ plan. He’s led us good before.”

Zero looked towards the dust-collecting mask in the corner as he sank back into the couch. Tiredness was seizing him. His arms and legs felt like a dead weight against the couch. He was unsure of where the sudden doubt and fear for the fight was coming from, but he simply willed it away. After all, if Gadget was confident about it, why shouldn’t he be?

Soon, they found themselves in the bed, holding onto each other. Gadget had fallen fast asleep, his soft breaths falling light upon Zero’s neck. But Zero’s eyes stayed open, staring towards the wall across the room. A soft breeze flew through the grove, evident from the soft rustling of the branches outside. Usually, that, along with the sound of Gadget’s heartbeat and breathing would lull him to sleep, but those doubts from earlier had returned, softly attacking his thoughts. He couldn’t shake the feeling of something going bad. Eventually, he fell to sleep’s grasp, but not without worry.

 

Sunlight from the window lit the kitchen table as the pair were preparing breakfast. That morning it was difficult for them to leave the bed, moreso for Zero. Only a small sliver of fatigue still had its hold on Gadget, but Zero woke up with a light fatigue already, and it would only stay there for the day. He was sitting on a chair by the table, leaning back on it while watching his partner prepare the food.

Gadget took a small glance at him while grabbing something from the fridge. “You doing alright? You’ve been kinda sluggish this morning.”

“Just a bit tired. Not as bad as yesterday, but it’s not a good sign when I wake up with it. Doesn’t help that we’re supposed to defend the city tomorrow, and I’m still trying to recover from Thursday.” He ran his hands down his face, as he let out a large sigh.

Turning the radio on, he replied, “I’m sure it’ll be fine by tomorrow. And even then, you’re strong. Not even some dumb exhaustion can stop Zero.”

A small smile crossed Zero’s face. It would never get old being complimented on his strength. After a few seconds of static from the radio, it landed on a morning show, one that was different to Cream and Vector’s. A news reporter was heard giving out a safety plan to all of the civilians of the city, in relation to the attack the next day. 

“This is an emergency announcement, to all of the citizens and inhabitants of Sunset Heights. Eggman will be attacking the city tomorrow, with a large army to boot. In order to ensure the safety of everyone, we ask all of you to please stay in your homes, or in any safe building you can find. The Resistance is offering its HQ and barracks as a place of safety, but please only go there if that is the closest safe place near you in a time of emergency, as space is limited. Find a durable and closed off room in your house, or building, and keep a protective item with you. More information will be given out later. We ask no one to leave the city until the attack is over.”

As Gadget was putting two bowls of oatmeal and two glasses of water on the table, Zero said, “imagine being a normal civilian here and hearing something like that. I can’t imagine how afraid they must be. We can defend ourselves, but most of the people here can’t.”

“Yeah. I just hope no one gets hurt, or even worse, killed. But I’m positive that Eggman is focusing on us. After all, killing a bunch of civilians won’t do much for him, but if he ever managed to kill some of us, then that would make things worse for everyone.”

Zero took a bite out of the creamy oatmeal, savoring the warm taste. “Well, let’s hope this goes like our previous fights with him; victory with no losses.”

After their breakfast, time went on, with the pair preparing for the plan meeting at noon. They watched a bit of TV, and the emergency announcement was present on every channel as a red line on the bottom of the screen. Even the morning news had spent its whole time discussing the attack and what to do, with Knuckles making an appearance and giving out advice for when the assault would come. Eventually it was 30 minutes before noon, and they gathered their tools and weapons before leaving the house.

Thanks to the sunlight, the chill outside wasn’t too bad. A light breeze came through every once in a while, but the weather was pleasant. It was still cool enough to justify wearing a jacket, but nothing as bad as the weather near the ice storm. Any snow left from the storm had melted, leaving behind sparkling blades of grass as the leftover morning dew remained. As flickies and other small animals chirped and squeaked, along with the picturesque sight of the grove, one would think that this was any other ordinary, beautiful day.

The walk to the base was quiet, accompanied by some chatter. As they entered into the city, the eerie quiet stood out to them. Almost no normal civilians were on the streets. The only people that could be seen were Resistance members. Some patrolled the streets, which reminded Gadget of his lookout days during the war, while some were stationed at certain spots, each one holding wispons and weapons. A few avian Mobians, who sported black suits and clothing, were on the top of some buildings, looking out for any signs of information. Zero assumed they were a part of the GUN squadron that was sent to the city. 

Eventually they reached the front of the base, where everyone else was waiting, including Silver. As they were approaching, they heard Sonic talking to Silver.

“So, how was your little trip?” 

Silver shrugged. “Nothing too special. I hope I didn’t miss too much in the last few weeks.”

Tails flew above them. “You did, but we filled you in with everything today.” As he saw Gadget and Zero approaching, his eyes lit up. “Oh hey! How’re things going?”

“A lot better,” said Gadget with a smile. Zero nodded.

“That’s good to hear,” said Knuckles. “Well, now that everyone’s here, here’s the plan for today. I want everyone to go their positions and study the plan I sent out. I’ll fly around and help out, when needed. Of course, call each other if you need to. Alright, let’s do this. For the north spot, I want Vector, Espio, and Charmy to come with me. For the west spot, I want Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Silver there. And finally, I want Gadget, Zero, Shadow, and Rouge to head south.”

Everyone went in their respective groups, leaving those for the southern position standing in front of the base. Rouge spoke out, saying “alright, let’s go then.” As they were walking towards the southern part of the city, she explained to Gadget and Zero, “so, from my understanding, we’re just focusing on keeping our side protected, right?”

“Yes,” said Shadow. “At least, until the Cherubim strikes. We don’t know from which side it’ll advance, but whatever side it does will have to deal with it. Our priority is to destroy that thing. Dealing with the other robots will be a lot easier once it’s destroyed, and we will basically win at that point.”

“But wouldn’t it be easier for us all to attack the Cherubim at the same time?” asked Gadget. “After all, it took all of us to defeat it last time, and that was just the prototype.”

Rouge pulled up the plan that Knuckles had sent. “Yes, but the idea is to weaken the army a bit first by dealing with them in our positions, and then once it’s enough for just the Resistance soldiers to deal with, then we all focus on the Cherubim. And, for example, if the Cherubim enters through the south, then we’ll focus on keeping its attention.”

Zero scratched his chin as he thought. “But what if it flies in and attacks in the middle of the city? Did he plan for that?”

“Yes. If that happens, then Rouge, Silver, and Tails will deal with him, and try to keep him in the air,” said Shadow. 

They continued to walk to their position. During the trek, Zero couldn’t help but doubt the strategy, but whether because it was actually flawed, or whether he just didn’t know enough about it was unclear to him. Eventually, they reached the southern outskirts of the city, where a bunch of Resistance soldiers were patrolling and were stationed. To the south of Sunset Heights were the southern areas of the Green Hills, and also parts of the Emerald Hills. Some soldiers and lookouts were seen in the entrance of the trail that led to the Green Hills. A hawk Mobian, who wore a dark blue hat, indicating that she was a commander, approached them as the four came near.

“Executive Rouge, Shadow, Gadget, and Zero, nice to see you here.”

“Good to see you as well, Commander. Has there been any new information?” asked Rouge.

She checked her communicator, opening up a message. “Yes. Agent Aurum has informed me that he will be leading the sky unit during the assault. He will inform us of changes in position from the robots and Cherubim.”

“Ah, he never lets us down,” said Rouge with a small grin.

“Anything you would recommend for us to check out here, Commander?” asked Shadow.

“Yes.” She pointed to her right. “We set up some spots where we’re expecting the robots to come through from the Green Hills. I’d recommend familiarizing yourselves with those areas, same to my left.”

Nodding, he replied, “understood.” He started walking in the direction she pointed, being followed by the other tree afterwards. 

They reached the first area, where a squadron of soldiers were patrolling. A trail from the small forest led directly there, a perfect spot for robots to sneak through. While they traveled through the southern city, Gadget asked, “so, what exactly did y’all find from the information we got?”

Rouge marked a spot on a map on her communicator. “A lot of things. Mainly, we learned about his planned assault, including the dates, and the strategy. From the data he plans on advancing the armies of robots into the north, west, and south of the city. It didn’t mention any plans with the Cherubim, though. The only information we have on it is from the data we gathered at Network Terminal.”

“We also don’t have any information on the exact strategies the robots will use with each other,” said Shadow. “That’s something we need to watch out for, considering our experience at the Spaceport ruins.”

Quick flashbacks of the fight at the ruins played in Zero’s mind. Inside, he hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with a circle of Eggrobos flying around him again. Continuing to follow after Rouge and Shadow, they stopped at every marked spot where robots could come through, putting the spot on their maps on their communicators each time they arrived at one. Rouge explained to them that there would be a team of GUN agents and Resistance lookouts, who would notify everyone of any noticeable changes and activity in the marked spots.

Eventually, they made a full circle throughout the southern part of the city, returning to their position at the beginning. 

“So, who’s gonna be at what spot?” asked Gadget.

Shadow pointed to the left. “Me and Rouge will handle that side, and you two will handle the other. Soldiers will be fighting with us as well, so if a point comes where a flank gets weaker, or smaller, then move on to another spot.” He walked up to another general, discussing something with him, alongside Rouge.

Gadget nodded, studying the spots on his assigned side afterwards. He walked up to Zero and asked him, “which robots do you wanna deal with? I think you’d handle the Eggrobos good. My wispons should work well with the Pawns and Walkers.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.” He made a pensive look towards the city, taking in the sight of all of the soldiers, lookouts, and agents. It felt surreal. As thoughts ran through his head about the battle, an image of the destroyed city from his dream a while back caught his attention. The view of the rubble laying around, small flames peeking through cracks, and bodies on the floor occupied his mind. Faint steps behind him made him flinch, until he saw that it was just Gadget.

“You alright? Seemed to space out a bit.” He moved a fur that was sticking out on Zero’s ear, bringing a soft smile to his face.

He sighed. “Yeah. That dream came back to me suddenly. You remember, the one I had of my previous self attacking me?” To Gadget’s nod, he continued. “Yeah, it just came up. I got over it a while back, but now it almost gives me chills.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t let it get that way. We have everyone here, a good strategy plan, and plus, think about what happened on Tuesday. Just the four of us handled a lot of robots, and Metal. With everyone here, plus a bunch of soldiers and GUN agents to help us, we got this through and through. Are you still having doubts?

Zero looked to the side, avoiding Gadget’s gaze. “Honestly, yeah. I just don’t want the city to look like it did, when…when I attacked it.”

He put his arm around Zero’s side, bringing him in closely. “Trust me, it won’t. We’ll manage to win, we always do anyways.”

His optimistic words helped to brighten the skies in Zero’s mind a little, as all he could do was nod, still looking into the city. After a short moment, they parted off each other and joined Rouge and Shadow back at the starting position in the southern part of the city.

“Well, it looks like we got our area down pat in our minds,” said Rouge. As she was about to continue, her communicator ringed. “Agent Rouge picking up.”

“We got bad news, we’ve spotted armies of robots marching from the Green and Emerald Hills! They’ll get to the city soon!”

Everyone eyes’ widened at the news. A pit of dread formed in Zero’s stomach, making him feel empty.

“Are you serious?! But, but, the data said…” she spluttered.

“Yes, I know, it said Sunday. But it’s too late to worry about that now. Another agent is informing Knuckles about this right as we speak. Everyone in your position must mobilize now. Also, please–What is that?! Quick, move the helicopter down!”

She held her communicator in her hands, tightly gripping it. “Agent! Agent, are you still there?!”

“Yes, we barely dodged some sort of energy projectile. Some big robot is zooming through the air. There’s no more time, everyone has to get ready now! We’ll update you if anything comes!” The call ended abruptly.

For a few seconds, all they could do was stare at each other. “Fuck,” she whispered. Right thereafter, all of their communicators rang, giving out the distinct, harsh sound of the emergency alert.

“Robots are approaching! Everyone, get into position! The battle is about to begin! Pay close attention to your communicators during the fight! For the Resistance!”

“Well, I guess we’re off to our spots now,” said Shadow. “Stay safe.” He and Rouge dashed off into the distance, leaving Gadget and Zero. The commander nearby gave out orders, as soldiers started running to their positions. 

The two looked at each other for a moment.

“Let’s do this,” said Gadget. After a nod from Zero, they ran towards the right.  As Zero was on his way to his position, only one thought kept appearing in his head. This decides everything .

Notes:

So, I'm aware it's been a while. Originally I was gonna finish the story a week or two after posting Chapter 15, but a lot of stuff happened. In February I moved to another country for my study abroad semester, and things in general have been busy around that. It took a while for me to really settle in here. But now I'm back, and it feels really good to be writing again. I'm really excited to write the last two chapters!
Small note: If I'm being totally honest, I forgot about Silver after Chapter 11, like straight-up I just forgot about him. But I wanted him back in the final fight, so let's just say he took some sort of vacation and is back now.
As always, thank you for the support on his story, and for everyone's patience. Feedback is always welcome.

Chapter 17: Steel Against Steel

Summary:

Everyone fights to defend the city against Eggman's forces, as he unleashes his all.

Faint, efficient steps were heard dashing through the street, as Zero ran to his assigned position. His position lay at an area where a large trail entered into the city, from which one could see the beginning of the Emerald Hills in the distance. A squadron of soldiers were waiting, each one ready with their wispons held in front. A large array of weapons would greet the incoming robots, including drill, lightning, burst, and hover wispons, along with traditional weapons. 

Right as Zero arrived, a soldier, who held a white steel sword at his side, gasped after looking down the trail. “No way, that many?” His words made Zero turn towards the trail, and the sight made him curse to himself. In the distance, an obscene amount of robots were marching towards them. Hordes of Eggrobos were flying above the mixed group of Pawns and Walkers. An empty feeling emerged in his stomach at the sight, the feeling worsening as he thought about the fact that this was only one part of the entire force that would soon attack the city. The other positions would be getting the same amount.

“Is there a plan?” asked Zero, looking around the group. Blank expressions stared back at him.

“Yeah, sort of,” said a soldier, who was holding a burst wispon. “Those of us who got a burst and lightning wispon will try to take care of the walkers. Hover wispons will focus on utility, blowing away projectiles and sort, and helping with spacing. Melee users, so those with a blade and drill wispon, will focus on the Pawns.” 

The robots were becoming ever clearer. “Wait, that’s not what the Commander told us,” said another soldier, sudden worry all over his face. “And–shit! We never got our formations!”

“It’s too late for that now!” said the soldier in front. “We were supposed to go over all of that later today, but the attack came early!”

“We’ll just have to come up with one as we fight, but we don’t have any more time to talk about strategy,” said Zero. He started walking forward, and advancing towards the approaching army of robots. “We need to keep them in the trail! If we let them advance into the city, they’ll spread out, and it’ll be harder to deal with them!” Now he was running, not caring if he would have to go in alone. Right afterwards he could hear steps against the cold grass behind him. 

The sound of a laser caught his attention. Using his grappling hook, he shot at a tree and avoided the blue laser. Right afterwards, he shot at another tree, before finally landing a kick on an Eggrobo that was close enough in distance to his grappling hook. The army had caught up to the squadron now, evident with a group of Pawns and Walkers under Zero. The Eggrobo, who he had kicked, had dropped its gun as it had fallen to the ground. Zero would have landed down and grabbed it, but because of the robots under him, who were looking at him, he shot at the same tree he had shot earlier and landed right in front of the army.

The squadron had caught up by now. The soldiers with traditional weapons and drill wispons were at the front, attacking the unit of Pawns that formed the front of the army. Zero joined them in their assault. Sharp, steel blades rang against the cold metal that formed the Pawns, some of it clashing with their sharp claws. The drill wispons slashed and pierced through Pawns. As they slowly decimated through the front line of the army, Zero grabbed the laser gun which had fallen earlier. In his vision, dark purple shapes jumped high in the air, right before launching missiles towards the middle line of the squadron.

He jumped back a small distance and unleashed an array of lasers towards them, which destroyed a few in the air, but some of the missiles were unaffected by the lasers. Suddenly, green shockwaves came from behind him towards the projectiles, which deflected the missiles upwards, then exploding soon afterwards. Without any hesitation, the fleets of Eggrobos flew past the squadron, lining up in an outline around them. Flashbacks of the fight at Spaceport ruins appeared in Zero’s mind, and he moved from the melee unit at the front.

“Hovers, circle formation!” shouted a soldier, who held a hover wispon himself. Every soldier that had that type of wispon ran to form a circle around the squadron, some of which were right near the trees. As lasers ran down against all areas of the group, green shockwaves emitted from each corner, deflecting most lasers. A small unit of hover wispon soldiers stood near the melee unit, deflecting incoming missiles from the Walkers.

Flames from burst wispons and lightning whips struck out at Eggrobos that were just in reach. After a few of them had fallen, the rest flew upwards in order to avoid the reach of the wispons’ attacks. Zero flew into the sky by using the trees with his grappling hook, and kept his position in the air by periodically using Eggrobos and trees. He focused on using the laser gun to destroy them, while kicking one every once in a while. After one fleet had fallen down, he landed on the ground, looking for his next target, but his flow was interrupted by the sight of a large robot flying in the air towards the city. From the distance it seemed to have a phoenix-like head, and it held a trident in its hand. In its quick flight it thrusted the trident forward, and suddenly the eye color of every robot nearby changed to orange, in contrast to the dull yellow from before.

That must be it. The Egg Cherubim stopped its flight and looked back at the armies that occupied the south. In a quick motion it spun its trident around and slashed it diagonally, before flying back to the city. As Zero’s attention returned to the army, he noticed the Pawns and Walkers changing their formations. Walkers had integrated themselves more in front of the army, now fully mixed with the Pawns in a diagonal shape. The Eggrobos that were above the army had lined themselves up in varying levels of altitude in a criss cross formation.

“Everyone, we need to fall back!” yelled Zero, narrowly dodging a few lasers. He received a few looks of confusion in return, until the soldier with the white steel sword reaffirmed his thoughts.

“I agree. If we stay in the trail they’ll overload us. We need the space from the city.” He, along with a few other melee units, started running back. Everyone else joined them, all trying to dodge missiles and lasers. As the city was becoming clearer, Zero thought about how Gadget was doing.

 

The position on which Gadget was assigned had a more open field. A short trail led into a large field, through which a part of the Emerald Hills could be seen. His squadron consisted of soldiers who held burst, drill, and lightning wispons. 

“Any plan?” he asked.

One soldier shrugged. “We were supposed to get some later today, but of course they had to come early. Best thing we can do is just fight our best.” A faint hissing sound was heard from the distance, and everyone rushed to jump out of the way as they saw a missile heading their way. 

An explosion sounded behind Gadget, as he had jumped ahead towards the army of robots to avoid it. In the army there was a majority of Walkers and a small group of Pawns, who held two energy blasters for their hands instead of claws and stood in front of the Walkers. No Eggrobos were present, which confused him for a short moment, until he had to dodge another missile. For a while he focused on dodging a mixture of missiles and energy blasts, while thinking of a plan. We have to create an opening into the Walkers. They won’t blast us with missiles if we’re too close to them, and if we surround ourselves with robots.

“Drill units, could y’all charge up your wispons and dash into them? If we can make an opening into the Walkers, that’ll be the only way to deal with them.”

“Running right into them? It’s too risky,” yelled a soldier as he narrowly avoided an energy blast. “Unless the rest of you can protect us from any missiles, but we have no deflection units!”

A soldier with a drill wispon ran in front of the group. “But it’s the only way. If I gotta do it by myself, I will. Burst and lightning units, stay behind us and try to attack the missiles!”

Eventually, a few other soldiers, who carried drill wispons, joined the lone soldier in his rush. They split in a wide “V” shape, while the burst and lightning units ran to the open, exposed sides of the robot army in the field. Groups of Walkers jumped in the air, unleashing missiles towards the drill units, but the burst units jumped from the sides and spaced their wispons far enough, to where the tips of their flames would destroy the missiles. The lightning units dealt with the Pawns at the front and sides. 

As the drill units came close enough in distance, they charged up their wispons. The yellow of the weapons glowed a bright shade, and the drill started to spin. As the energy was about to release, the soldiers stuck the drill in front of them, and a vortex of yellow energy erupted from the tip of the wispon as it carried them forward at lightning speeds. Each soldiers’ dash left a line of destroyed robots in their wake, and most of the army that once was full of purple and gray shapes was now left jagged and out of position. Burst and lightning units raced towards the rest of the robots, which were a lot easier to deal with now that the sturdy formation of Walkers had been displaced.

After a short while of the squadron forming a good rhythm against the army, Gadget looked up to see a large robot flying towards the city in the air. Its phoenix-like head, golden trident, and four large wings instantly brought a feeling of dread to him, the feeling intensifying as it flew back slightly towards them. With a forward thrust, every soldier noticed afterwards how the eyes of the Pawns and Walkers changed to a deep orange. The Egg Cherubim spun its trident around before slashing it at an angle, flying towards the city afterwards. 

The rest of the army changed its formation. Walkers retreated and formed diagonal shapes, mixing with the rest of the Pawns. In the distance, reinforcements were seen marching from the hills. Right as Gadget was about to charge with the rest of the soldiers, an open call from his communicator distracted him. He picked it up.

“This is Amy speaking, we need some help! A bunch of reinforcements have arrived here, and Sonic and Silver had to leave to deal with robots coming into the city center! Me, Tails, and the squadron here can’t handle this for much longer!”

“Gadget here, I’ll be there soon!” 

Another voice rang on the line. “Me and some burst units will arrive there shortly.”

“Got it, thanks. We’re at the entrance of the Luminous Forest trails, but they’re pushing us back further into the city–”

The call ended abruptly, concern forming in him. “I’m gonna go help the western front,” he said to the soldiers near him.

“Alright, I think we got it from here. Stay safe.”

After a quick nod, he bursted off towards the city. There was a good distance between his former position and the entrance to the city, surprising him with how good their advance into the army had been. That feeling of confidence washed away once he had made it into the city. Signs of destruction were already imminent throughout. Some buildings had pieces which had fallen off or had been torn off from missiles and repeated lasers. A few small flames stood in the cracks of the rubble. From what he could see, the other positions in the south had been pushed back into the city. He saw the faint blur of Rouge fighting Eggrobos in the air in the distance.

Dashing into the center of the city, arrays of lasers stopped him in his tracks. Fleets of Eggrobos had infiltrated the city, causing chaos and displacing many positions throughout. He focused on dodging, since his goal was to make it to Amy and Tails as fast as possible. A large shape in the air caught his attention, and as the shape stopped its flight, it swung its trident around in the circle, giving off a purple glow afterwards. The eye colors of the Eggrobos around him changed to a dark purple, and the Egg Cherubim unleashed a bunch of homing energy rays that struck the Eggrobos.

Gadget stopped in his tracks, one eyebrow raised at the sight of a robot attacking its own allies.The Eggrobos, however, did not fall from the energy ray. Instead, a light purple glow emitted from them and suddenly, the robots started flying around in circles at a much faster speed than before. Their laser shots, now a light purple, came out at faster speeds and trajectories. He barely managed to dodge them, having to use his grappling hook on buildings to get out of their way. The robots dispersed towards different areas of the cities afterwards.

As he ran to the western front, all he could think was: what the hell just happened? Amy and Tails appeared in his vision, alongside a large squadron of soldiers fighting against the army. 

Amy took a short moment to breathe, a look of relief appearing on her face upon seeing Gadget. “Oh, thank Chaos you’re here. We’re not doing good.”

Tails shot a few energy blasts towards a running group of Pawns, destroying them, and joined Amy and Gadget. “It was fine at first, honestly, but the reinforcements just keep on coming! Plus, the Cherubim came, made some swipes, and the robots arranged themselves in a new position, which has been really effective against us. Now their eyes are purple, but I don’t know what it means.”

“I know what it means. Earlier, it shot some energy blasts at some Eggrobos, and it powered them up. They got a lot faster, with their speed and lasers.” A hissing sound came from above them, showing itself to be a few of the powered-up Eggrobos from before. They unleashed a barrage of purple lasers towards them, the three barely avoiding them. One of them hit Tails’ arm cannon, pushing him back onto the ground.

“Tails! Are you alright?” screamed Amy.

As he pushed himself up, all of their attention was brought to the light purple glow around his cannon, which now had a small crack on it. Without hesitation, he released fast, purple energy orbs that struck down a few Eggrobos, before finishing it with a short-lived energy beam that destroyed the rest of them. Everyone around him stared at him in awe.

“So this can be used to our advantage,” said Gadget. 

“Definitely,” reaffirmed Tails. “Since it powers up robots, it should power up any device we have.” 

Turning their attention to the incoming army of robots, they now fought with a new resolve, and glimmer of hope.

 

The position where Zero was assigned had now been fully pushed back into the city. A good portion of the army was now in the city, due to the narrow shape of the trail giving the squadron a disadvantage. All they could do was keep the army from progressing any more, as any moves that would work well in lowering their numbers would be too risky. The drill units proposed a plan, in which they would charge up their wispons and dash into the army, but it was deemed too unsafe because of the threat of the Eggrobos looming above them. 

The sight of the city instilled a constant sense of dread in Zero. He tried to keep his focus on fighting, but seeing the destruction around him, along with the fatigue starting to worsen, sewed seeds of hopelessness in him. 

A Pawn fell from a thrust of his sword, and he leaned back on a wall behind him, taking a moment to breathe. 

The soldier with the white steel sword walked up to him, a blue fox Mobian. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I just need a minute,” he said in between breaths. 

He leaned on the wall next to him. “Me too. Man, I’m not feeling good about this. I hate to be a downer, but honestly, unless we come up with something soon, we may not win this.”

“I agree. I don’t think fighting split up in different positions is helping us at all. We should all group up and just fight a unified southern front.”

As the soldier was about to respond, another soldier pointed to the sky and cried out, “Aster, look!”

Their attention was turned to the Cherubim in the sky, flying above them. The eyes on the army in front of them had changed to a dark purple. The robot shot out an energy blast, which hit a group of Pawns in front. Everyone stayed still in shock, not knowing what to expect. The silence was broken by a screech from the Pawns, who now glowed a light purple. They suddenly burst forward at a blistering speed, before jumping high in the air, their claws ready to kill. The soldiers scrambled to aim their wispons at the hyperactive robots, their weapons shaking in their hands, until yellow blasts of energy knocked them away in the air. 

Everyone turned to look at Shadow and Rouge running in. “Change of plans, everyone,” said Rouge. “We’re all going to meet up at the main position at the entrance of the southern city, and fight them all together.”

“Are your positions handling them well?” asked Zero.

Shadow nodded. “For now. But Rouge saw reinforcements in the distance, so we don’t have much time to rest. Another important thing to know is that I believe the Cherubim is powered by a Chaos Emerald.”

Everyone gasped at the news. “But how? We never received any signals of their locations before,” inquired Aster.

“We don’t know,” said Rouge. “But we’re certain of it. Shadow said that the energy from earlier felt similar to his own Chaos energy. But our main focus now is protecting the city. Follow us to the meetup point!”

Leaving the approaching robots behind, everyone followed Shadow and Rouge to the scheduled position. On their way, everyone’s communicators rang.

“Western front here, Gadget speaking. We’re not doing good, again. The Cherubim’s been bombarding the robots here with its powerup blasts, and it’s pushing us back even more. We need to knock that Cherubim down, or at least keep its attention!”

Rouge slowed her steps, which made everyone slow down. “Rouge here, leave it to me. I got an idea.”

After the call ended, Shadow said, “what are you planning to do?”

“We’re about to borrow a helicopter. Everyone else can go on ahead, except for you, Zero. I need you for my plan.” Shadow gave her a look of hesitation, before running off, everyone following after him.

“What’s the plan?”

“I’m gonna see if I can borrow a helicopter, and then attack it from there.” She rang up someone on her communicator. “Aurum, are there any spare helicopters?”

“No, unfortunately. Two of them fell down, so we can’t give any more out. Plus, we’re—ah! Damn, these Eggrobos are relentless! We haven’t been able to give out status updates because of these damn things! Anyways, so–ugh! Sorry Rouge, I can’t talk and focus at the same time. I gotta go.”

“Welp, that’s a shame. Leaves us with plan B then. Follow me.” She began to climb up a building, and stood on the roof afterwards, looking at the city below.

Zero followed after her, standing to her side. “What’s your idea?”

She followed the movements of the Cherubim flying around the western front. “While it’s focused on supporting the west, I’m gonna fly up to it and stick a bomb on its back,” she said, pulling out a heart-shaped bomb. “At the same time, I want you to attack it, so that way it focuses on your attack instead of my bomb. When it goes off, I’ll try to launch a kick down. Makes sense?”

After a few seconds of doubts, he finally responded with a quiet, “yeah.”

“I know, it’s kind of thrown together at the spot. But we have to get that thing down, in some way. Alright, I’ll carry you to it, and when I’m ready, I’ll launch you towards it. Ready?” After a nod from Zero, she flew in the air and carried Zero, holding his waist.

The Cherubim’s back was turned to them as they came closer. It was unleashing shots after shots of energy blasts, which powered up any Pawns, Eggrobos, or Walkers that were in its reach. During the flight, Zero looked down to see even more destruction. A few civilians running away into an open area made his stomach tighten up. By the second, the city was turning into the same city that was in his dream.

“Alright, in a few seconds, I’m gonna launch you.” Bringing his attention back to the fight, he took his sword out and braced himself for the attack. “And…now!” she hissed, launching him towards the robot. With his sword in front of him, he landed on the armored shoulders of the Cherubim, and slashed his sword down on its head, leaving a long slash mark. Right before he had done so, Rouge planted two bombs on its back. The robot thrashed around, which made Zero fall off. He shot his grappling hook and used the robot as a way to launch through the air. Then he spread his arms and legs out, falling slowly through the air, moving to the sides to dodge a few lasers. Finally he landed on the ground gracefully, and looked back to see what Rouge was doing.

After he had left them, Rouge was now facing the Cherubim. It slashed its trident at her a few times, which she managed to avoid, until one final swipe managed to grace her forearm, tearing through her white glove. Fortunately, her communicator blocked it from reaching her skin, but it broke in the process. She scampered back as the beeping of the bombs reached a still pitch.

An explosion appeared in front of her, each of the four wings flying off towards the ground. As the robot screeched, she unleashed a mighty kick on it, using gravity to assist her. The robot fell to the ground, leaving a small impact on the concrete beneath it. Almost instantly, it jumped up and dashed towards the city center, flames from its back propelling it forward. It ran past Zero, going further into the city.

Rouge joined Zero at his position. “At least it can’t fly high anymore.” Zero’s communicator ringing distracted them both.

“Knuckles here, the Cherubim’s been seen going into the city. Since the north’s been dealt with for now, I, and the Chaotix will keep the Cherubim’s attention. Everyone else, focus on dwindling the numbers of the robots for now!”

“Alright, I guess we can help those in the south for now,” said Zero. As they began to run towards the southern position, he thought back on how he only heard Knuckles’ message from his communicator. A quick look at Rouge gave him his answer, as he caught a glimpse of the broken screen on her device. “What happened to your communicator?”

“The trident got it. Protected me from a big injury, at least.”

With a grunt in response, they ran towards the united southern front in the distance.

 

The Cherubim dashed through the city, its eyes now light blue. It reached the city center, standing around in the fountain square. A few civilians were running away, trying to find any area that would be safe. It readied its blaster, and energy particles began to emit from the cannon’s end. The civilians noticed the raised cannon, and screamed at the light emitting from it. An energy blast shot out, hitting the ground near them, and the impact caused them to fly and hit the ground. It readed another shot, this time aimed right at them, until two rocks came flying from the air aimed towards it. The robot dashed out of the way, destroying the rocks with its energy blast.

“You will not harm any civilians here!” screamed Knuckles, who glided into the square. The Chaotix landed behind him.

“Charmy, go help the civilians and get them to safety,” said Epsio. Charmy flew away in the civilians’ direction, leaving just the three facing the robot.

Sparing no hesitation, the Cherubim shot blasts of energy towards them, each of the three jumping out of the way. Knuckles grabbed a chunk of a fallen piece of a building and threw it at the robot. The robot dashed backwards, destroying the piece of rubble with a thrust of its trident. Vector ran forward, letting out a mighty punch against the crimson breastplate which had a logo of Eggman imprinted on it. The force of the punch could be felt from small shockwaves which had emitted from the impact, but it only left as much as a dent in the armor. Upon seeing the robot raise its trident, he jumped out of the way, narrowly dodging a swipe.

The purple outline of Espio revealed itself in the air as he landed on the shoulder of the tall robot, which stood about two Egg Walkers in height. Two kunai made repeated strikes against the nape of the robot, barely leaving scratches in the metal. The Cherubim did a quick backflip, throwing Espio off of it. As Vector ran to his aid, he stepped out of the way of a barrage of energy blasts. 

Knuckles burst towards the robot as it had its attention on the two Chaotix members. Flames erupted from his fists as he unleashed a double-handed overhead swing. The impact made the Cherubim stagger for only a second, until it swung back with a trident swipe at a fast speed, hitting Knuckles and sending him flying onto the ground. Right afterwards it dashed towards him, and prepared to stab its trident down onto Knuckles as it raised it in the air. He barely managed to roll to the other side, avoiding the trident’s blades which had penetrated into the concrete. 

Espio was flying through the air, after having been thrown by Vector, with his kunai in front of him. He landed on the robot’s side, penetrating the armor by about an inch, and jumped off as the robot began to dash towards a wall, which would have crushed him. Vector landed in front of the Cherubim and clamped his jaws on its arm, which made the robot cry out. Knuckles jumped in the air, readying another flame-powered punch. The robot charged an energy blast and shot it at its feet, the impact making Vector and Knuckles fly away. Instantly, it unleashed more energy blasts, a few hitting the two on the ground.

“Stop attacking them!” yelled Espio, who shot out a bunch of shurikens. The metal stars stuck to its breastplate, only leaving small scratches on the surface. Flying past Knuckles and Vector, who lay on the ground, it swung its trident down on Espio, who blocked it with his two kunai. The Cherubim spaced himself at a distance where the trident’s prongs forced Espio to play the defensive. After a few rounds of blocking thrusts from the trident, he turned invisible and stepped back. He made a few steps to the side, staring at the now-still robot, right before throwing a shuriken at its face and running towards it, aiming to create an opening in the neck near the breastplate. The robot charged up another energy blast and aimed it at its feet, knocking a now-unveiled Espio back. 

Knuckles and Vector still lay on the ground, barely able to pull themselves up. The Cherubim flew a few feet above, aiming another energy blast, until it was interrupted by a green orb striking it from a distance.

“All of you, get to safety!” said Amy. “Me and Tails will deal with it!”

“It’s…It’s tough,” grumbled Vector. “We could barely make a dent on it.”

“We got it from here. If we need assistance, we’ll call for some!” shouted Tails, taking out a device. The Cherubim flew towards him, readying a swing from its trident. Tails held out a short, hexagonal tube in front of him, which shot out around him a boxing glove attached to a spring. The force from the potential energy of the spring deflected the trident, making the robot dash back and ready an energy blast towards him.

Amy burst towards the robot, ready to strike until it suddenly turned its cannon towards her. She halted her steps and blocked the blast with her hammer in front of her. Tails had run forward and unleashed another attack with the magic hook device, the robot barely deflecting it with its trident.

While Amy and Tails were keeping the Cherubim’s attention, Knuckles and the two Chaotix members had crawled out of the square, choosing to rest at a spot behind a building. 

“We need the others’ help against that thing,” panted Knuckles. 

Espio massaged his temples. “I don’t get it. Its reflexes and speed are top notch. It feels like a bigger, stronger, and faster version of Metal Sonic almost.”

“I think I know why. I believe a Chaos Emerald is powering that thing,” said Knuckles.

“A Chaos Emerald?! But how would’ve Eggman gotten one of those?” asked Vector.

Knuckles shrugged. “I don’t know. But I could feel Chaos energy from that thing. Probably explains why it’s kicking our ass.” He rang the group line on his communicator. “Knuckles here, we really need some backup in the city center. The Cherubim is extremely fast and strong. Amy and Tails are fighting it now, but they won’t be able to keep its attention for long. We can’t let it get to any of the cardinal positions.”

“Silver here, Metal Sonic arrived at the northern position, so me and Sonic have been dealing with hi—ah!” 

“Gadget speaking, the reinforcements and sheer might of the army at the western front is overloading us. Their fighting style has changed, along with their eye color; it’s blue now. Now instead of using strategy like before, they’re using brute force on us, and it’s working in their favor.”

“Zero on raid, same for us in the south. Seems like he’s focused a majority of the reinforcements on the south, and we have to stay here to keep the robots from reaching the center. Many squadron units had to find a safe place due to injuries, so our numbers are dwindling.”

Knuckles cursed under his breath. “Alright, thanks for the status updates. We’ll figure something out.” After ending the call, he sighed, looking at the city under attack. “We may have to organize a retreat.”

“A retreat?” questioned Espio. “I think we still have a good chance. As long as we keep the Cherubim dealt with—”

“But how? Everyone else has to stay in their positions. And we don’t have a chance of defeating that thing without all of us fighting it. But then the other robots would advance into the city, resulting in an almost instant loss for us. Either way, our chances of defeat grows by the minute. And I’m spent, that thing almost killed me; I can barely walk.”

Vector sighed. “I’m afraid you may be right.”

An energy blast was deflected by a green orb from Tails’ arm cannon, the same happening to more energy blasts from the Cherubim. It dashed backwards and shot out a bunch of homing energy rays which closed in on Tails. He flew into the air, dodging most of them, until one flew past him and curved back, hitting him and making him fall. 

“Tails!” cried out Amy, who used her hammer to jump into the air. She swung her hammer down onto the robot’s shoulder, tearing off a piece of the armor. A thrust from the trident forced her to guard herself with her hammer as she landed on the ground. She attempted to do another hammer jump, but the robot kept its distance with the trident, making her have to block thrusts from the trident. 

The magic hook device landed right in front of the Cherubim, a lightning-fast punching glove erupting from it right afterwards. The attack made the robot stagger backwards, and Amy used the opportunity to swing her hammer onto the robot’s side, which tore off a few pieces. A few green energy orbs hit the robot, staggering it further. As Amy was about to unleash another swing of her hammer, the robot dashed forward past them with a sudden speed, shooting an array of energy blasts behind it. The impacts of the blasts sent Tails and Amy onto the ground. The robot prepared to strike with its trident down onto Tails as he lay on the ground, but his magic hook’s boxing glove deflected the attack. Right as Amy stood up and readied an attack, a quick blast of homing rays sent her back onto the ground next to Tails.

The Cherubim prepared to make a horizontal slash. Fear burned in their eyes at the golden trident that was headed their way, until the sight of a blue fox Mobian, who held a steel sword out, was seen flying in the air towards the robot. 

The sharp, steel sword penetrated halfway straight down the neck of the robot, drawing out a large screech. Aster held onto the hilt of the blade, trying to push it down further, until the robot flipped in the air, throwing him off with the blade still in it. He landed on the ground, barely pushing himself up afterwards.

“Aster, don’t fight that thing by yourself!” yelled Zero, who had run after him. He helped Aster get up, and the both stared at the Cherubim, who was looking at them, not moving. “Help Amy and Tails get to safety.”

“So you plan on fighting this by yourself then?” countered Aster.

“No, he won’t!” shouted Gadget, who landed right behind Zero.

Aster looked at the two of them for a second, before nodding. “Alright, I’ll help them. My weapon’s stuck in that thing anyway.” As he ran to help Amy and Tails get up, the Cherubim charged towards the pair. 

Zero blocked a swing of the trident with his sword, jumping back afterwards. The robot fell back after a lightning whip struck it, leaving sparks on the small scratches and openings that had gradually built on it. Energy blasts were deflected by the flames from Gadget’s burst wispon, while Zero ran forward, aiming to create an opening in the chest. He slashed down on the breastplate, creating a deep scratch on the metal. The robot tried to keep its space from the two, using its trident to block Zero’s sword, and energy blasts and rays to keep Gadget in the distance.

With a sudden dash to the side, an energy laser aimed towards Zero struck him, making him fall onto the ground. Gadget rushed past him, using the lightning whip to wear the robot down. The robot used its trident to block the whip, and after blocking a few attacks, used the electricity that had built up in the golden metal to amplify an energy blast. Gadget dodged the blast itself, but the increased impact made him fall to the ground. He got up instantly, taking a quick look back at Zero, who still lay on the ground. There was no time to help him, as quick attacks from the robot kept Gadget’s attention.

Zero attempted to push himself up, but he could not find the energy to do so. His fatigue, which had been present since the morning, had now fully consumed him. It felt as if his limbs were covered by heavy chains. The sight of the city around him filled him with a dread that was on its way to devouring him. The hopelessness and dread only added to his exhaustion. By the second, it felt as if his dream from earlier was becoming real. He was half-expecting his old self to fly into the city at any point.

“Zero!” cried out Gadget in between dodging homing energy rays. “Are you alright?”

Gadget’s voice instantly brought him out of his slump. “Yeah,” he croaked. “Just give…me a second.” As he turned to look at the fight, a newfound energy surged within him as he saw Gadget flying back from an energy blast. He got up from the ground and burst toward the robot, slashing at a small opening at its side. “Don’t hurt him! You’re gonna have to deal with me first!” 

The robot flew back, before bursting forward, readying a trident swipe. With a newfound vigor, he parried the swipe, using the opportunity to do a wire attack on the staggered robot. Gadget shot out a fireball, hitting the phoenix-shaped head. The robot jumped back, letting out arrays and arrays of energy projectiles. Zero ran around, the projectiles hitting the ground right behind him, and shot at a nearby building, using it to launch himself in the air. As Gadget shot out another fireball, which the robot dodged by dashing to the side, Zero landed on its back, pulling out Aster’s sword, and thrusting his sword down that same opening, a few sparks emitting from the gash. He was thrown off, and the robot jumped away from them, shooting out more barrages of energy blasts afterwards. One of them hit Gadget, who fell to the ground, and Zero fell to one as well. 

As the robot readied another blast, a few squadron units appeared into the center, flying in from their grappling hooks. The Cherubim turned its attention to them, flying away towards the city center.

Even with the renown vigor from earlier, Zero barely managed to push himself up. Quick, deep breaths left him, as soreness began to show itself in his muscles. In the distance, he saw the Cherubim making easy work of the squadron units. They’ll only last a minute against it .

Gadget stood up, swaying. Any optimism that was left in him started to vanish at the grim site around him. Rubble lined the city. Flames dotted some buildings and cracks in the concrete. Some civilians were hiding in alleys, as their shelter had been destroyed or damaged. Behind him, the western front was being pushed more and more into the city. A heavy sense of terror formed in him, which seemed to make his limbs feel like weights were attached to them. He helped Zero up, and the two of them watched the scene in front of them.

“If they can’t defeat it, what do we do?” asked Zero. “May be time…time…to plan a retreat.”

“No.”

Zero shot a confused look at him. “We don’t have any other choice! As much as I hate to admit it, we aren’t winning this!”

Gadget stayed staring in front of them. “I have one more trick up my sleeve. Boost. And you’re gonna do it with me.” 

“What? But I can’t—”

Gadget grabbed his hand and started running. “I’ll transfer the energy to you. I’ll attack it with my lightning whip, and then you follow up with an attack.”

Even among the exhaustion and dread that had been keeping Zero in his grasp, he felt one last sense of vigor bloom in him. He forced his legs to move at the pace Gadget was moving at. Eventually, white streaks of energy formed around not just Gadget, but the two of them as a unit. Zero felt his speed increase, and the Cherubim started becoming clearer in their vision. Energy started to surge through his body, something he hadn’t felt since his days with the ruby. The flow became stronger and stronger, until it felt as if it was about to reach a breaking point. The white streaks of energy from before had now formed a vortex shape in front of them, which was composed of a white and gray color. The city felt like a blur past them.

“Now!” screamed Gadget.

The Cherubim turned back at the sound, before being met with a large, white, crackling whip which struck it multiple times. It screeched and staggered at each strike as electricity sparked all through it, parts of its armor falling off. Zero jumped in the air, preparing a sword thrust. Streaks of the white and gray energy wrapped itself around his blade, and as though he was flying at the speed of sound, he made a downward thrust at the opening at the neck, screaming as he put every single ounce of his energy in the attack. The impact of his thrust pushed the robot back a good distance, and his sword pierced through into the core-wiring in its chest. It dropped its trident, and emitted a haunting, shrill scream, forming a discordant harmony against Zero’s screams. Electricity began shooting out of the robot, and its eyes flashed different colors. 

As quickly as the energy had come through, it wore off, leaving him hanging off of his sword, all of which in the robot. Suddenly, the Cherubim grabbed him with its free hand, keeping him in a tight grip. With the sliver of energy he had left he struggled against it, but with his arms kept within the grasp, he couldn’t escape. A spot in the breastplate opened, revealing a hollow chamber inside. A green Chaos Emerald occupied the space, its glimmer shining from the sunlight now hitting it. It started to spin, and a beep emitted from the robot.

It’s undergoing self-destruction! A second beep emitted, and he kicked and squirmed in the robot’s grasp. 

Gadget had collapsed on the ground right after his lightning whip attack, turning on his back afterwards. “Zero!” he screamed, upon seeing him in the robot’s hand. He wanted to help him, but every single bit of energy had been seized from him. The beeps sounded familiar to him, his stomach tightening into a knot as he remembered what they meant. “No! Someone! Help!”

As the third beep sounded, Zero stopped struggling. He stared at the robot in its eyes. Tranquility began to surround his senses, and memories of his life were flashing in his eyes. He thought of his jackal squad, as quick memories from his time as a mercenary played in his head. Some memories of his time during the war appeared, but instead of willing them away, he welcomed them. He thought of everything that had happened from the time he woke up after the war, of his first encounter with Gadget in the words, of his first week at the house, of his introduction to the Resistance, of his first time leaning on his shoulder, of his first time holding him at night, and so on. 

The fourth beep sounded, and everything seemed to grow quieter. Time seemed to slow. Soft tears formed in his eyes, and while he would be sad to go so soon, after looking forward to a life with Gadget after their experience in the freezing base, he felt happy. Content. He felt confident that he could say he redeemed himself. At least with the robot destroying itself with him, no one else would have to get hurt. No one’s friends would have to die. And how poetic it was, he thought, that the same city he once destroyed, was now the one he would be protecting with his own life.

“Someone please!” screamed Gadget in between tears, as all he could do was look. “Please! Zero!”

Zero looked back at Gadget, smiled, and said, “Always know, that I love you!” 

The fifth beep sounded, and Zero closed his eyes, focusing on the quiet that had enveloped him. He ignored the sounds of rocket shoes, which seemed to grow louder. The sound of glass shattering took him out of his trance, and all he saw was a gloved hand, until suddenly he was laying on the ground, looking at the sky. A shape appeared out of nowhere in the sky, with a large explosion following right afterwards. Panting from nearby caught his attention, and he saw Shadow next to him catching his breath.

“Shadow? What…How did?” he muttered, his vision fading black multiple times. Shadow seemed to say something to him, but just sounded like noise. A few people ran to him, but all he could do was look at them in confusion. He saw a cyan shape flying around in the air, and that was the last thing he saw before he passed out.

 

Sounds of voices and footsteps gradually made themselves known to Gadget, as dimmed lights entered his field of vision. Instead of the cold, rough concrete that had been under him, soft, white sheets lay under his back. A source of warmth emanated from his side, which he saw to be Zero, sleeping. Around him lay soldiers in the other beds of the infirmary. Nurses and medical workers rushed around the room, checking up on soldiers and applying bandages and other forms of aid. 

A nurse walked up to his bed after seeing he was awake. “Gadget, how’re you feeling?”

“Fine, I think.” The hoarseness of his voice surprised him. He tried to push himself up, but in doing so all of his exhaustion and fatigue came back from earlier. His legs felt extremely sore. 

“Don’t push yourself too hard. I’m just going to check for any notable injuries.” Following a nod from Gadget, he inspected his arms and chest. “Do your muscles feel okay?”

“They feel sore, but nothing too bad.” As the nurse was inspecting him, he was shocked at the amount of cuts and bruises that lay on him. 

There was some dirt on his arms, which the nurse wiped off with a clean wet rag. “Alright, things look good. We checked Zero earlier, and he looked good as well.”

As the nurse was gathering his things and was about to leave, Gadget had one last question. “Wait, I wanna know, did we win? Is the city safe?”

A small smile appeared on the nurse’s face. “Yes, we did.” He left the bed, hurrying off to another bed. 

The soldier on the bed next to theirs laughed and sat up. “Oh, y’all passed out when they got to you. Guess I gotta explain what happened.”

Gadget turned to look at him, the blue fox soldier looking familiar to him. “How long has it been? Last thing I remember was seeing an explosion in the sky and hearing people rushing past me, until everything went black.”

“Hmm, I’d say that was about an hour ago. After the Cherubim exploded, we were all able to eventually finish off the robots. Some of them had started retreating by then, and overall it seemed like they were a lot more ‘lost’ without their general leading them. Now a bunch of folk are out there helping civilians and soldiers around. This infirmary got full pretty quickly, so the local hospital’s taking in a bunch.” He leaned forward and sighed. “I’m just glad this fight is all over.”

“Yeah, I feel the same.” Very slowly, he pushed himself up, letting out small gasps of pain in the process. “Are you feeling alright?”

The blue fox shrugged. “I guess I could say so. I’m a bit sore, and there were some cuts they had to patch up, but I’m fine now, I suppose. Some Pawns got the best of me after I’d helped Tails and Rose.” He pointed to his chest, which was covered in light-red gauze pads. 

“Damn. I’ve also gotten bested by a Pawn, on my face.”

A small chuckle left the fox. “Yeah, I remember. Our squadron was shocked when we learned about the Pawns having claws. It was nice when all we had to worry about was Pawns having some new feature.”

After a short moment of silence, Gadget felt a light stirring to his side. Zero’s eyes slowly opened, and he looked around, confusion written on his face. “Gadget? Where are we?”

He stroked his white, long streaks of hair. “In the base’s infirmary. We’re all safe now. The robots are gone, the Cherubim is destroyed, we won.”

“Destroyed? But I’m confused. How am I still alive? There was no way I could’ve escaped it.” He tried to push himself up, but exhaustion made itself evident at the attempt, holding him down like an anchor.

“Shadow and his weird Chaos tricks saved you. I saw him dash in, and suddenly you disappeared to another spot. Then the robot vanished, right before the explosion. I don’t know how he does it, but yeah. Silver caught any flying pieces with his telekinesis stuff afterwards. The damn thing had a Chaos Emerald out of all things in it. Probably why it was kicking our ass.”

As Zero thought back on it, it made sense. The quick, blue afterimages he saw only reaffirmed it. “Huh. I’ll have to thank him later. Wait, Aster, is that you?”

“Yup. Glad you’re still alive, man. I ran over there when I heard someone shouting, and honestly, I didn’t know what was going on until I heard the explosion.”

Sounds of heels clacking against the ground caught their attention. Rouge walked over to the front of their bed and stood here, a sly grin marking her face. “Well, if it isn’t the two heroes finally being awake. This is my third time checking.”

“Heroes?” questioned Gadget.

“Yeah, you heard me. You two defeated that thing. If you both had managed to not kill it, we most likely would’ve lost. Oh, and here’s your sword, Zero.” She pulled out the red blade. “I gotta give credit to whoever made this. It survived a Chaos Emerald-powered explosion pretty well.” She put it on a counter that stood next to the bed.

“How are the others doing?” asked Zero.

“Well, Espio, Vector, and Knuckles got pretty banged up. I just got back from checking on them in the hospital. Me and Shadow are doing fine, if you ignore a few bruises, and a broken, expensive communicator on my part. The rest are fine. Sonic and Silver handled Metal pretty well, and Amy and Tails got a little banged up, but they’re alright now. And you two? I won’t lie, I was pretty concerned when I saw the state you both were in earlier.”

Zero, with great effort, pushed himself up slightly. “Feels like chains are holding me down. But nothing serious, I guess.”

“Yeah, same for me. I feel like I could barely walk if I got out of the bed,” said Gadget.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank the emeralds. I was scared worse had happened. Anyways, Tails offered to fly you two home. Just send him a call when you’re ready. I’ll see you later.”

After she had left the room, Aster lay down on his bed and said, “ah, home. I envy y’all. I wish nothing more than to just be in my apartment right now. But I gotta wait for them to do another check-up, and with all of the people in here…yeah. But safe trip to y’all. Make sure you rest good.”

“Thanks, we will,” said Gadget.

 

The Tornado booted to life, and they took off into the sky, which had started to become dark.

“This is what, the third time you’ve had to fly us back? Talk about an eventful week,” laughed Gadget.

Tails smiled. “Yeah, it really has been one. But we can finally take a break for now. Of course Eggman will come up with some new plan in the future, but at last we can just rest .”

He enjoyed the feeling of the air flying past his furs. “I know. I’m about to get the best sleep ever,” he chuckled. Within a minute, they arrived in front of his house. They helped each other get out of the plane. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Of course. But please, get some good rest for us, alright? Y’all really deserve it.” 

With a nod in return, Tails flew off into the night sky. They helped each other walk, finally getting inside the house after a strenuous journey to the door. The door closed behind them, and they left their shoes and gloves near the door. 

Right after they had set all of their stuff away, Gadget wrapped his arms around Zero. “We did it,” he sniffed. Gentle tears formed in his eyes. He resisted his sore muscles and tightened his hug, holding onto Zero with a firm grasp. “It’s finally over, for now.”

Zero let himself fall into Gadget, his eyes becoming wet as well. It was weird, he thought, how his near-death experience with the Cherubim had felt. There were plenty of moments in his life, where he came close to meeting death in fights, raids, and missions. But none of them were as surreal as the one earlier. It made his love for Gadget run that much deeper, and he wanted nothing more than to just share a life with him.

Soon afterwards, they took a quick shower, cleaning off any dirt and grime from the battle. They got into the bed, the soft, homely sheets feeling amazing. Zero held Gadget in his arms, content and peace washing over him from the warmth that lay in front of him. A soft smile formed on his face, as he joined Gadget in a peaceful slumber.

Notes:

Wow, this chapter was fun to write. I've been looking forward to the final fight for a while, so it felt so good to just indulge myself in writing the fights and action scenes. I can't believe there's only one more chapter left! I've found that I really like writing and planning out fight scenes, especially in a universe like this where so many things are possible. I enjoyed pulling out the Sonic Battle moves for Tails. I wonder if anyone caught that.
As always, thanks for everyone's support on the story. Feedback is always welcome.

Chapter 18: Winds of Change

Summary:

The Resistance celebrates their victory over Eggman.

A few days had passed since the battle.

Gadget and Zero had spent the last few days just resting. The battle had taken a massive toll on their bodies, evident from the crushing exhaustion still felt a day or two later. But even despite the soreness that reigned over them, nothing beat the true sense of peace afterwards. They didn’t have to worry about any missions, meetings, strategies, or anything. Of course, Eggman would come up with some plan again in the future, but for now they could simply rest.

After a day in the hospital, Knuckles, Vector, and Espio were able to leave. Their injuries weren’t too severe, and they also spent the rest of the week resting. 

The rest were, for the most part, fine. A few bruises, scrapes, and cuts here and there, but it was nothing too bad. Sonic and Silver spent a lot of time afterwards helping with the cleanup, which was a monumental task that everyone was dreading to do. It would take a few weeks to bring the city back to its pristine status. The first major task was cleaning up robot remnants in the city, so that civilians could walk without any troubles through the city. As the week went on, there was still a lot of work to be done.

Miraculously, there were no casualties. A good amount of civilians and soldiers were hurt, and some even had near-fatal injuries, but thanks to the spectacular help from the medical workers, no one died. Overall, the morale of the city was at an all-time high. A sense of pride had fallen over the city, as everyone was proud of not only the fact that they defended it against Eggman, but also because they were all able to help each other recover. The streets were full everyday, as people reconnected with friends and family, formed new bonds with each other, and helped businesses get back on their feet.

On the Friday within a week after the battle, as the pair were laying on the couch watching TV, a knock sounded at the door, accompanied by a faint whizz sound.

“Huh. I wonder who that is,” said Gadget. He stood up, yawning, and walked over to the door. After opening it, surprise fell onto him at the sight of no one there. He looked around his porch, still seeing no one, until a letter on the floor caught his eye. A gray quill was on it, which he promptly brushed off after grabbing it.

“Who is it?” asked Zero, looking back.

He took the letter with him inside, closing the door afterwards. “No one. Got a letter instead.”

Zero walked to the table, inspecting the letter. It was a plain white letter with a circular red seal. On the seal was the symbol of the Resistance, the famous star. “That’s the Resistance’s symbol, right? I wonder what they’d send us a letter for.”

“Beats me. I guess we should just go ahead and see.” Carefully peeling the seal off, he took out a small card, which said:

We, the Resistance, cordially invite you to a banquet at the Resplendence Event Hall this Saturday at 6 PM. Due to our victory over Eggman's forces, we would like to celebrate our resilience and love for our city. We hope to see you there.

“Oh wow, a banquet! I wasn’t expecting this,” beamed Gadget. “This looks like Amy’s handwriting.”

Zero studied the letter. The confused look on his face brought a curious frown on Gadget. “Huh. That sounds nice, but…what am I supposed to do there?”

“What do you mean?”

He put the letter down and sighed. “I’ve never been to a banquet before, or any formal event really.”

Gadget smiled, leaning back on the table. “Well, it’s nothing complicated. You just go there, typically wearing something nice, like a suit or tux, and talk and eat good food. Trust me, it isn’t scary.”

“Well, if you say so,” he laughed. “But wait, don’t you only have one suit?”

“Oh, you’re right. It’s no problem though, cause I know someone who could help you find one.”

Zero raised an eyebrow. “You?”

A sly grin spread on his face. “Nope. Amy. I wanna be surprised. You and her can go tomorrow and find one.”

“And you won’t come with us?”

“Nah. Like I said, I wanna be surprised. You’ll be fine! I mean, if you could handle a mission with Rouge, I think you’ll be alright.”

While the idea of being alone with Amy sounded a lot better than being alone with Rouge, he still wasn’t used to being by himself without Gadget. He also hadn’t been shopping that much, so he didn’t know what to expect. But if it was what his partner wanted, of course he would do it for him.

 

It was around noon the next day, and Zero arrived at the fountain. Amy was nowhere to be seen, so he checked his communicator, hoping to see any status updates from her. As he was checking his device, the sound of quick steps towards him made him turn around, expecting to see a Pawn with its claws ready to strike. He instinctively reached for his sword, but after only feeling his fur, he remembered he had left it at the house.

“So sorry I’m late! I had a bit of a hectic morning,” said Amy. She took a short moment to catch her breath, before putting her usual cheerful look on. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” she laughed.

Zero couldn’t help but form a small grin. “It’s no problem. So, where are we going?”

She pointed down in the direction towards Park Avenue. “Sunset Mall. They have a nice men’s dress wear store there. Just follow me!”

They began their trek towards the mall. It was Zero’s first time in the city since the battle, and he noticed a massive change already in how it looked. Just about all of the robot scrap had been cleaned up, at least the scrap that lay in the city. There was still a lot more to go in cleaning metal remnants in the outskirts. A lot of the concrete that had major cracks and damages had been filled up. Some areas were off-limits due to the fresh cement needing to dry. Reconstruction was currently going on for buildings that suffered damages.

Fortunately, Sunset Mall suffered little damages. A few roofs and walls of the complex contained some cracks and holes, but those were actively being worked on as they reached the mall. It was a busy day for the city, as groups of Mobians could be seen everywhere inside shopping, walking around, and just hanging out. Shopping bags of all different colors were everywhere, being carried by optimistic-looking shoppers.

Amy stopped at the entrance of a store. From the entrance Zero saw rows of dress pants, dress shirts, and suits. It all felt so unfamiliar to him, looking at the formal-appearing clothing. A few Mobians were in there, scanning through the clotheslines. 

“Here we are. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this store before, but it looks nice. It’s what some people recommended to me,” said Amy, walking into the store. She stopped at a table which held different button-up shirts, all in different colors and patterns.

“So, what type of outfit are you planning for me?” asked Zero.

She pointed to the table. “First, we’ll find a nice shirt. And then, some pants to go with it. Finally, a nice suit and tie, and it’ll be done. So, which of these do you like the most?”

He inspected the array of dress shirts. On the top row lay shirts in plain colors, and a bottom row contained different patterns. Some of the patterned shirts had stripes, symbols that repeated in squares, and other intricate patterns that he couldn’t name. During his inspection, one shirt on the bottom row caught his eye. It was sky blue, and it had a floral print across the fabric. As he kept looking at the articles of clothing, he always came back to it.

“I think I like this one.” He picked the folded shirt up and showed it to Amy.

“Ooh, that looks pretty! Now we need to find some pants.” She started walking to another part of the store which housed the dress pants.

On their way, a Mobian accidentally bumped into the two, not seeing them because of a corner. After a quick apology from him, when he looked up at Zero, a small smile flashed upon his face before he left them. He was confused for a moment, standing in place until going to where Amy was. Two tables, on which many different types of slacks lay, stood in front of them. Most of them were in plain colors, and even then there wasn’t a big amount of variation. Different shades of gray, black, and blue lay in his sight. Out of all of them, he thought that the gray pants would match best with his sky blue shirt.

Afterwards, he inspected the row of suits that hung in front of them. In order to match with the gray pants, he decided on a gray suit of the same shade, along with a silver dotted tie.

“Well, this looks nice!” she admired. “I won’t lie, you have a better fashion sense than I thought you did.”

A small grin fell upon him. “Even though I’ve never worn a suit, or any formal wear really, I did learn how to get creative with clothes sometimes.”

“You’ve never worn one?”

“Yeah. There hasn’t been any event where I had to wear one. Formal events in general are something I’m not used to.” 

Amy had a curious look on her face. “Huh, interesting.”

As they approached the check-out counter, sudden worry formed in Zero as he thought about how he would pay for this. He hadn’t even thought to look at the price tags for everything. While the Resistance sent him a check every two weeks, as they did to all members, he hadn’t cashed any of them in yet. Surely Amy wasn’t going to pay for all of this, he thought.

“Wait, I don’t have my money with me,” he said, looking at his chosen outfit with a defeated look in his eyes. 

The worker at the counter chuckled, drawing a look from Zero. “Don’t worry about it, hero.”

“Hero?” he questioned. The word felt foreign to him, especially to be described that way.

The brown bear Mobian smiled. “You saved our city. You put the last hit in that robot, preventing it from causing any more damage. So, don’t worry about paying for that, which, by the way, nice outfit there.”

“But…”

“Look at it this way. The value of that outfit barely matches the value you’ve saved us all for the city, at least that’s how I see it. Trust me, it’ll be fine. You deserve it. Truly.”

As much as he wanted to counter the bear’s words, he held it in. “Thank you,” he said, heartfelt. 

As Amy and Zero were leaving the store, she suggested getting something to eat, to which Zero happily obliged. Afterall, he hadn’t eaten much for breakfast that day, so a pleasant lunch would be welcome. They stopped at a cafe on the second floor of the mall, had a nice lunch, and left the mall. 

As they stopped at the fountain, Amy said, “well, this is where I’ll take my leave. I’ll see you later tonight!” With a wave, she left the city square, leaving Zero standing at the fountain.

As he was walking through the city towards Gadget’s house, the moment with the cashier in the clothes shop kept appearing in his mind. It had felt so strange, and still did, to be called a “hero.” Along with the Mobian who had smiled with him, he wondered if people now started to see him as such. He was so used to receiving curious and cautious looks and glares. As the trail to his partner’s house showed up, he willed the thoughts away and focused on the event later that day.

As he opened the door, Gadget was in the kitchen preparing a small meal for lunch. 

“So, how was it?”

Zero set his bag, which held his outfit, on the table. “Actually not that bad. I even enjoyed myself a bit.”

“That’s good to hear. Now, I’m ready to see what you got!” He set his sandwich on the counter and looked at the bag with curious eyes, as if the bag was a treasure chest.

Zero couldn’t help but smile at the joyful look. “Ok, so this is the shirt I chose, and the pants.” He pulled out the neatly folded shirt and gray pants, which drew glowing eyes from Gadget. “And the suit and tie,” he said, taking out the gray suit and silver tie.

“Oh my! That looks so nice!” beamed Gadget. “Oh man, we’re gonna be the best looking pair there.”

“And what’s your outfit gonna be?”

“I’ll show you.” He started walking to his room. 

As they reached his closet, Zero chuckled and said, “still dirty as always.”

“Whatever,” he laughed. He moved a few hangers to the side, revealing a black suit and pants on a hanger. “I’m wearing this, plus a gray dress shirt, and a blue bowtie. So we’ll be matching in a way.”

After inspecting the suit, Zero nodded. “Yeah. I can imagine you looking really handsome in this.” After grinning at the soft blush that had formed on Gadget, he suddenly remembered the moment in the store earlier. “Oh, I wanted to tell you about something that happened in the store. The clerk didn’t let me pay for it, instead giving it to me for free and saying that I deserved it for saving the city, in his terms. He even called me a hero.”

“Oh, well that’s great!” Upon seeing an uncertain frown on Zero’s face, he became slightly concerned. “Aren’t you happy about that?”

He leaned on the wall, studying Gadget’s orange eyes. “Yeah. It just feels…strange, that’s the best way to put it. I don’t have any past that justifies the word “hero,” so it just feels weird to suddenly be seen as one.”

Gadget put his hand on his shoulder. “I get it. I guess my advice would be to just give yourself that credit. You did kill the Cherubim, afterall. Yeah, we all weakened it and beat it down, but you almost sacrificed yourself to defeat it.”

The self-destruction beeping almost rang in his head again. “Yeah, you’re right.”

After a short moment of silence, Gadget smiled and said, “so, we still have about an hour and a half til we gotta get ready. Wanna watch some TV?”

Following up with a smile of his own, Zero replied, “sure, after you finish your sandwich first.”

 

After putting the finishing touch on his silver tie, he left the bathroom, joining Gadget, who was ready, in the kitchen. He smiled at the look of awe that fell upon Gadget, slightly blushing at the orange eyes which seemed as if they were glowing.

“You look so…beautiful,” he marveled, taking in the sight of the gray suit and pants, which complimented his black fur.

A warmness washed over him at the compliment, as he slightly averted his gaze in flatterment. “You look great too.” He walked up to him and moved a red fur that was sticking up, receiving a soft blush in return. “So, you ready?”

“Definitely.”

Closing the door behind them, the pair walked out into the sunset. An orange sky greeted them, accompanied by waning sunlight that kept the air at a comfortable warmth, even among the colder season. Since Winter was coming, the dusk came out at an earlier time than usual. It was a welcome change of pace, however, to them. The glow from the sun made even the dormant, bare trees look like a scene from a dream. Crisp leaves crunched under their steps, alongside a pleasant breeze that brushed against their furs.

A hearty scene awaited them at the event center. Groups of Resistance members, which included soldiers, volunteers, generals, commanders, stood in a line to the entrance of the large building. A few GUN agents were there as well. Sounds of chatter and laughter were heard, echoing off the concrete. Music from inside could be heard as well, along with more voices. 

After waiting in line a while, they reached the entrance, where Amy was standing. She held a checkbook, checking off for every invited guest. She adorned a flowing, rose-red dress, along with a necklace that held a small, metal tarot card on its end. A look of amazement flashed upon her face as she saw the dressed-up pair. “Wow! If it isn’t the most handsome pair here!”

Gadget chuckled, brushing off the flattery. “You look great as well! I love that necklace.”

“Oh, thank you. No one’s complimented me on that yet, can you believe it? Anyways, I got you both checked in, so head inside. Y’all are gonna love the interior.” 

As they went inside, they were met with a large, ballroom-esque room. Rows of smooth-flowing ribbons were tied on marble pillars inside, alongside bow ties on each chair. White tablecloths covered each table. The floor was shiny, evident from just being cleaned. There was a small stage at the end of the room, where a small band of musicians played. To the right, a long table stood, housing pots and pans of steaming, aromatic food. Next to it was a drink stand, which held large pitchers of water, lemonade, and tea. A small dessert table stood near, where uncut cakes and pies lay.

There were already a lot of people inside, some sitting at tables, and some standing around with their group. Zero felt a little overwhelmed, but the infectious optimism and joy in the room helped to keep it at bay. There was a long table in front of the stage, where Sonic and Tails were sitting. As they walked closer to the table, folded, golden-colored name cards became clear in their vision.

“This must be the executives’ table,” said Gadget. He unfolded one card, upon which his name was spelt out in an elegant font. The card on the seat next to his had Zero’s name on it. As they took a seat in their assigned chairs, he left out a large sigh. “Wow, they really went all out of this.”

“Yeah. I can admire all the hard work this took,” replied Zero.

Sonic, who was sitting across the table, stood up and stretched. He was wearing a black suit and a white, dotted dress shirt, accompanied by a blue flower etched in the suit pocket. “Man, I’m ready for this to start already.”

“Gotta be patient,” teased Tails, who was sitting next to him. Tails had on a white suit and pants, with an orange bow tie. “I know it’s not your strongest ability, but—”

“Yeah, I know, spare me the lecture,” said Sonic, holding back a chuckle. “You two are looking sharp.”

“Thanks, same to you as well,” said Gadget. “Do you know if there’s some sort of schedule to this?”

Sonic shook his head. “Nah. They didn’t give us any. I’m sure they’ll tell us once they get everyone in, which hopefully will be done soon.”

After a while of conversing at the table, more executives showed up as the crowd of people inside got larger. Rouge showed up, walking with the most confidence and style Gadget hadn’t seen in a while. She wore a deep purple dress, which sparkled from the rows of gems on it. Instead of her usual white gloves she dotted long, black, lace gloves. Shadow was with her, wearing a violet suit and pants, along with a white dress shirt and gray tie.

The Chaotix showed up afterwards. Vector adorned a classic black suit look, with black pants, a white dress shirt, and a black bow tie. Espio wore an emerald green dress shirt with a floral pattern, which was accompanied with a white vest and black pants. Charmy wore a white dress shirt and black pants, which Gadget was surprised that they had found something for his size.

Silver then arrived, wearing a blue suit and pants. Underneath was a sky blue dress shirt with a checkered pattern. Knuckles came with him, wearing a brown suit and pants, along with a white dress shirt and a gray tie.

After everyone had arrived, Amy closed the entrance door and walked up to the stage. The band of musicians had stopped their playing after she had closed the door, and they walked off and sat at a table reserved for them. Everyone went quiet as the music stopped. She grabbed the mic, tapped it to make sure it was working, and then began. 

“I’m so glad to see everyone here! I want to thank everyone for coming. You all look so good in your suits and dresses!” After a short moment of joyful laughter from the crowd, she continued. “So, I will be your master of ceremonies for today. Don’t worry, I know everyone’s ready to eat the delicious food me and Vanilla helped to make, but it’ll come soon. We have a few things to go through first. First, I have some medals that we, the executives, have decided to give out in the name of honor, bravery, and courage. When I call your name, please come to the stage. I will hand you the medal, and then I will want you to stand on the stage.”

A few names were called, which were all joined by applause and smiles. There were only two left by then. “For our next person, this goes out to someone who isn’t officially a member of the Resistance, but has helped us so much during our struggle against the Cherubim. This Medal of Hope, known by us as a symbol of hope towards our future in making Sunset Heights and our land a better place, goes to Aurum the Cat!”

Applause rang through the room, with Rouge giving out a few cheeky whistles. The brown cat walked towards the stage, wearing a classic tux. He accepted the medal with a warm smile and joined the others who were waiting on stage.

“And finally, our last person of honor to receive a medal. This person has done something amazing for me, personally, as he risked his life to save me and Tails from the Cherubim, which was about to strike at us and potentially kill us. He jumped in alone, showing an amount of courage and bravery we could all look up to. I award this Azure Medal, to Aster Lilac!”

Aster walked towards the stage, a shy smile flashing on his face from the applause and cheer that was headed his way. He sent a short, quick nod towards Zero, which was returned. After the medal was put on him, he joined the others who were waiting. 

“Let’s congratulate these wonderful people once more!” After a roar of applause went through the room, she continued. “Those who received a medal, please group together for a picture.” She took out a camera and took a quick picture of the group, and the group dissipated back into the audience. “Now, we will have a statement from Knuckles, our beloved leader.”

Amy stood to the side as Knuckles walked up to the stage, among claps from the audience. As the noise settled down, he began. “I would like to thank everyone for their presence here, and it is such an honor to lead everyone here. I won’t be long, as I know we’re all waiting to try Amy and Vanilla’s amazing food. First, I want to just congratulate everyone on our victory. Everyone of you fought with courage, strength, and bravery against the enemy forces, and thanks to everyone, there were no casualties, and we managed to keep damages to a minimum. All of you continue to uphold the Resistance’s values in keeping everyone safe against anything that Eggman does.

“Now, onto my next point, I have a special statement I want to make. Zero, could you please walk up here?”

The soft smile on Zero’s face faded at the request. Everyone at the table looked at him with grins, which only added to his unease. Gadget was the only one who looked surprised at first, but he just nodded towards him with a smile. Carefully, he left the table and walked up to the stage, his steps in the silent room echoing from the walls. He stood next to Knuckles, facing him. He tried to put on a pleasant smile without showing any of the unease that had bottled up in him.

“You have shown us in your hard work in assisting us with things and going on missions for us, that you are a truly honorable man. You saved Sunset Heights from many potential deaths and even more destruction. I know that things were rocky at first when you joined us a month ago, and that our past with each other has been filled with strife, but I want to look past that now. I, along with everyone else, would like to officially welcome you into the Resistance.” He held his hand out.

Zero could only look with surprise, the feeling intensifying as he looked out into the audience and saw smiles towards him. A wave of emotions ran through him, and he could feel his eyes getting slightly wet. He shook Knuckles’ hand, giving him a firm handshake, and everyone applauded. As he left the stage, he discreetly wiped a tear from his face, before joining the table of executives.

“I will pass things back onto our master of ceremonies,” said Knuckles, who rejoined the table later.

“Thank you Knuckles. Now that we’ve gone through our statements and handouts, there’s just one thing left on the program, and that is: to please enjoy our food!”

 

A while later, everyone had plates of warm, flagrant food at their tables. Smells of spices, sauces, and food filled the air, along with sounds of laughter and chatter, on which one could almost hear the smiles that accompanied them. Gadget enjoyed a plate of roasted honey-glazed asparagus with creamy mashed potatoes and a bowl of stew, while Zero had roasted brussel sprouts, a slice of fresh sourdough with garlic butter, and mashed potatoes as well. 

Music from the band filled the air again. A flutist played a soft melody with the guitarist and violist providing accompaniment, while the percussionist provided a rhythm with their drums. It was just at the right volume and speed to match the aura of the room.

“When did you start liking broccoli?” asked Rouge towards Shadow. “I made it for you during that one mission and you claimed you didn’t like it!”

A small grin flashed on his face. “You overcooked it.”

“I did not! You’re just picky,” she countered, not able to hide her smile of amusement.

“You should head over to Vanilla’s house when she and Amy make stuff, you could learn a lot from them,” said Knuckles.

“Yeah, I’ve invited you before, but you’re always too busy,” said Amy.

Rouge held a finger in the air. “Well, you try working for GUN then. All of you have it easy. But you know what? I’ll try to come, next time you invite me, truthfully.”

Vector leaned back in his seat. “I need to learn from Vanilla some day. I swear, she uses magic of some sort in her cooking.”

“You love going to her house all the time, I’m surprised you haven’t learned anything yet. It hasn’t shown in your cooking,” said Espio, wearing a grin.

Vector crossed his arms. “Bah, I’ll show you! Next thing I make’ll be a recipe from her!”

“Oooh, make us a pumpkin pie!” beamed Charmy.

“Do you not remember the last time he made a pie?” said Espio.

“Why don’t you cook for them then, Espio?” asked Silver, grinning.

He fired back quickly. “I make breakfast and tea every morning. He makes dinner. I’ve never heard complaints about my breakfasts, unless a sudden one pops up now?”

“I’m sure anything’s better than that time Sonic tried making pancakes at my workshop,” said Tails.

Sonic covered his head with his hands, leaning back on his chair. “Oh, please don’t bring that up. I swear, something was wrong with your stove.”

“You know, why don’t we all have a potluck? We learn some recipes, if we need to, and make them,” suggested Gadget.

Amy pointed her fork at him after taking a bite of some pasta. “Yes! We should definitely do that. And everyone has to make something!”

“How good of a cook are you, Zero?” asked Rouge.

“Hmm, around the same level of Gadget, I would say,” he said, grinning at the sharp turn from his partner’s head towards him.

“Well, that’s bold of you to say. But we’ll see,” chuckled Gadget.

 

The night went on, and the party was only getting started. Many people were standing around now, chatting with friends or coworkers they hadn’t been able to speak to in a while. While Gadget and Zero were standing near a pillar talking, Aster walked up to them.

“What’s good?” he asked.

“Just enjoying ourselves,” responded Zero. “You?”

Aster leaned on the pillar. “Same for me, man.”

“Your wound been healing alright?” asked Gadget

He scratched his chest. “Yeah. I had to visit them a few times so they could check it and make sure it was fine, but they said I’m good now. Now I got a cool scar, I guess.”

“You should own it! Look at it this way, you have an instant cool story if someone asks about it,” said Gadget.

“Yeah, you’re right. Just gotta see the bright side of it, that’s what my mom always says. And she’s right.”

 

As all good things do, the banquet was coming to an end. 

As it was approaching late at night, people started saying their goodbyes and leaving. At a certain point there was only a quarter of the original crowd left. Tables and chairs were now being cleaned by the event building crew, helped by some attendants of the banquet. Just about all of the food was eaten, with only a few slices of cake and cookies left over.  

Gadget and Zero walked over to where Amy was standing next to the food table, alongside Cream and Vanilla.

“Do y’all need any help?” asked Gadget.

Vanilla shook her head, keeping a pleasant smile. “No thank you, we got it from here. I’m glad everyone enjoyed the food.”

Zero nodded. “It was amazing, truly.”

“You flatter me,” she chuckled. 

Amy grabbed two pots. “Cream, could you take these to the kitchen?”

“Sure!” she said, taking the pots.

Amy sighed, leaning back on the wall. “I’m glad everything went so well. It went perfectly.”

“We truly enjoyed it,” said Gadget.

“That makes me so happy to hear. Are y’all about to leave?”

Gadget nodded. “We’ll say our goodbyes to everyone and then head out.”

“Alright, stay safe then. And look out for information about that potluck you mentioned! I’ll try to schedule one soon.”

“Alright then, bye y’all!”

 

After saying their goodbyes to their friends, Gadget and Zero left the building. Even among the night that fell upon the town, the city was alive. They passed by laughter and cheerful groups on their way through the city, as Mobians were getting ready to hit up bars and other social venues.

As they reached the familiar trail to their house, Zero held Gadget’s hand, receiving a cheerful smile in return.

“I…feel happy,” he said, a smile crossing his face.

“You deserve it,” responded Gadget. 

As he was about to reply, a phantom wind brought a leaf onto his face. 

A month and a half ago, it would’ve made him angry. It would’ve set him off.

But now, he just laughed, the air filling with giggles. 

Life would continue on. And being able to share that with someone he loved only made it better.

Notes:

Wow, and that's that. I can't believe I've finished a whole story here. When I started writing this in September last year, I wasn't expecting it grow this way, but I absolutely love the way it turned out. It was so fun writing the banquet, as I've had this scene planned probably since November last year. So much has happened since I've started writing this story, and in a way, I feel like it's helped me become more aware of all the good things that have happened to me since then.
I'm so glad at all the support and love I've gotten with this. I love that people are enjoying a story I've put out and written. Writing this has really shown me just how much I love writing and stories, and it's really rebuilt that child-like wonder for stories in me.
Now, for some information on my future projects, I want to inform y'all that I'm gonna write a sequel to this. It'll take place after this story, and it'll basically be an action adventure story with Gadget and Zero being a badass and cute couple. I have most of it planned out, so I'll try to get the first chapter of that posted soon. However, for that story, expect slower updates than before. Since I'm studying abroad in a foreign country at the moment, I won't have as much time to write after this week (since we've been on break for a week). More information on that will be posted when I post the first chapter.
As always, thank you for the love and support on this story.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Winds of Crimson and Black