Ctrl Z

by SmudgeTheDummy

Summary:

Don't you ever want to just hit Ctrl Z and undo the things that have never been in your hands?
_____

What happens when someone from our world wakes up as an organic Metal Sonic with no memory of who he is? Will his origins ultimately decide how he is viewed? The Resistance sure seems to think as such.

Notes:

• Inspired by Metal Body by S3ruma
• Inspired by Recursion Error by Writer's Domino

Chapter 1: Prologue

It was a dark, stormy night. Thunder roared across the sky, gray clouds covering up the stars. The occasional lightning strike lit up the surroundings for a few moments, before plunging them into darkness once again. 

 

On this night, Doctor Ivo Robotnik was in his base, working on a new project of his. His usually completely lit up laboratory was dim, the only light source being the red chaos emerald he was using as an energy source for this new project. 

 

One might assume The Doctor was making another robot, as he always does. However tonight, was different. 

 

Eggman, instead of building a new metal creation of his, was looking into a glass container with a microscope. He occasionally poked at the seemingly empty dish, unusually focused. 

 

His two robot assistants, Orbot and Cubot peeked from outside the room. The round robot turned to his much more cube shaped counterpart. 

 

"The Doctor seems highly focused on an empty dish for some reason, quite odd isn't it?"

 

Cubot nodded eagerly, "Yeah! And it's weird too!"

 

Orbot was sure if he could make the expression, he would be deadpanning. Instead he opted for face palming. 

 

He looked up afterwards "Well, it's probably best if we don't bother him while he's working, you know how he can get-" Orbot turned to where Cubot was, only to see en empty space. 

 

"Hey boss! What're you doing?"

 

Cubot jumped up next to Eggman, getting way too close to the evil genius' personal space. 

 

Eggman, grumbled in annoyance. He pushed the yellow robot away off-handedly, not even bothering to look at him, "Not the time."

 

However, The Doctor was actually quite strong with his push, shoving Cubot away with such a force that he practically slammed into one of the machines inside the laboratory with a loud clang. 

 

 This machine in particular was the prototype of a device that could travel through dimensions. Eggman had stopped working on the idea a while ago due to him changing his focus towards destroying the resisting forces against his rule. Plus, he'd never properly gotten the device to work anyway. 

 

Orbot floated towards Cubot, helping the more angular of the two up. He tilted his head at Cubot as if to silently ask if he was okay, to which Cubot just blinked, confused. 

 

Through the muffled sounds of thunder and the noises of the other machinery in the room, none of them noticed the dull hum of the dimension travel prototype. 

 

You may be wondering, what is Eggman doing anyway? Well, The Doctor was in fact observing one singlular body cell, trying to adjust the amount of chaos energy that was being transferred to the container in an effort to make the cell start multiplying itself. He'd been at this for what felt like hours at this point. However, right at that moment it felt worth it. 

 

He had succeeded. At just the right amount of chaos energy, the cell started multiplying, again and again. The rate at which they were experiencing mitosis was truly incredible, increased by the chaos energy affecting them. Eventually the number of cells grew so much that they became tissue. It was small, a piece of flesh, but not just any flesh. Laboratory created, organic flesh. 

 

Eggman stood up abruptly throwing his head back, booming with almost maniacal laughter. Finally.. He'd done it! Orbot and Cubot looked up at the tall figure of their creator, Cubot tilted his head while Orbot placed a hand on where his chin would be if he had one. The two robots seemed confused. The red machine floated closer to Eggman, putting his hands together. 

 

"Oh, what has your evil genius accomplished this time, sir?"

 

Eggman looked towards his red creation, grinning darkly. He turned towards the door, his steps making light clanging noises against the metal floors. 

 

The Doctor chuckled to himself, "Follow me you two!" 

 

As the mustached man left the room, Orbot and Cubot both turned to each other in confusion. Orbot shrugged and went after Eggman, Cubot following him close behind. 

 

They quickly caught up to the genius in the hallway. Eggman was walking in such a way that he had a clear idea of where he wanted to go. Once he noticed his robot minions had caught up to him, Eggman started talking off-handedly. 

 

"For years.. I've been dealing with those retched pests." The Doctor's eyes narrowed at merely mentioning them, barely restraining a grimace. 

 

"They've been such a pain in my neck..fighting against my rule, rebelling against me. Like the animals they are." Eggman huffed in annoyance, "What was it they called themselves? Ah yes.. The Resistance.."

 

"Time and time again, I've sent robot army after robot army and yet.. They come out on top each time."

 

Orbot sped up a little in order to get his creator's attention, turning to Eggman, speaking with the half-hearted intention to reassure The Doctor.

 

"Well you know what they say sir, winning the battle doesn't mean winning the war! Although in your case you haven't won either.. But uh, I'm sure destroying all those robots is irritating to the rodents. That's a victory no matter how big, is it not?"

 

Eggman stopped walking, and turned to glare at Orbot with a look that urged the red robot to shut up, shrinking into himself as he backed up a little. Seemingly satisfied by this, The Doctor continued walking. Cubot wagged a finger at Orbot, "Tut tut.." Orbot just stared at him in silence, and then they both continued following Eggman. 

 

"Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted.. Those pests somehow manage to gain the upper hand every time." The Doctor stroked his mustache a bit while walking. 

 

"However, using my superior intellect I eventually realized, I'd been doing the same things and still was expecting different results. The textbook definition of insanity."

 

They stopped in front of a steel door, which opened automatically with a sharp hiss. Eggman walked into this room, his creations walking in behind him. 

 

The room was filled with scrap metal, tools, prototypes and blueprints. A large computer sat in front of the iron wall opposite to the door. Although Orbot and Cubot couldn't smell it for obvious reasons, the place was covered in the strong smell of oil. 

 

This was Eggman's workshop, while he did most of his research and planning on the laboratory, this was where all the production and building was done. The Doctor stepped towards the computer, moving to start typing something quickly. The red and yellow robots peeked at the large screen from behind the genius. 

 

"So, I decided to try a..different type of approach this time. The answer to my problems. Something those filthy rodents won't expect.." A hint of dark satisfaction could be picked up in Eggman's tone as he spoke, causing the robots behind him to glance at eacher worriedly. 

 

Finally The Doctor found what he was looking for. An image of a blueprint came up on the screen. At first glance it could be brushed off as any blueprint, but this was no ordinary blueprint. 

 

This was the blueprint for a hedgehog. Not a robot one, a regular hedgehog. All the internal and external organs were drawn with perfect detail, notes added to them on the side of the blueprint. 

 

"..Something organic."

Notes:

When will chapter 1 come out? No idea >_

Chapter 2: Chapter 1

Notes:

Phew, finally done with this chapter sucks that I can't use any names at the moment but hey, that'll change in future chapters

Thanks to my good friend dxuki for beta reading this chapter and helping me out^^

Chapter 2 will get released.. Sometime idk

Also, 'text', means thinking

The first thing he noticed after waking up was the odd sight of absolute darkness. The dull silence was occasionally interrupted by a low thumping sound, his heart beats holding a lulling rhythm that was almost trying to put him back to sleep. Only after waiting to come back to his senses did he realize that he'd reflexively closed his eyes. 

 

'No wonder I can't see anything..' the newly woken being thought. 

 

His limbs felt sluggish, like his entire concept of self was covered in a thick blanket, whoever he was or used to be muffled by the fast beats of his heart. Where was he, who was he, maybe even what was he? Questions of certain importance, however they were blocked out for now by the nauseating static filling his head. 

 

Wherever he was stuck in wasn't stimulating. Warmth would heat you up,give you the comfort of the Sun in a small dosage that would surely leave you yearning for more,more and more. 

 

The cold would bite at you, leave you shivering, crying, begging for the warmth to return. Eventually you'd fall numb, you'd become sleepy and merge with the cold. But at least you would know, you would be aware that once upon a time you were alive, that you were so much more. 

 

But this? This was something else. The muffled sounds of every single thought that could ever come to one's mind, all echoing through his head like a choir. Never loud or clear enough to understand, but never quiet enough to ignore. It was frustrating, it was maddening, it was underwhelming in the most overwhelming way it could've ever been. 

 

The muscles beneath his skin throbbed, not from exhaustion but from clear disuse and time. Just how long had he been here, lying, waiting, floating unconsciously? Where even was here? He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He could keep his eyes closed, his body unmoving and let himself rot here. Rot away and get turned into compost for the inevitable cycle of life, but do it while feeling the false sense of security he would feed himself. It sounded comforting in a way, in the midst of the cacophony of everything and nothing. 

 

He curled into himself, feeling the light brush of whatever substance it that was he was submerged in against himself. Despite his own protests to stay this way, the being slowly pried his eyes open. The harsh green of the material he was in hit him hard, attacking his fragile and newly opened eyes with no mercy as they struggled to adjust to such a saturation change. Eventually it stopped trying to fight against him, becoming much easier to take in with bare eyes as he adjusted to the light. 

 

He looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings. It was difficult to see anything beyond the verdant substance, but he could make out the frame of what he assumed was machinery. Such an unnatural situation to be caught in that nothing even felt real to the creature. His eyes wandered around aimlessly, searching desperately for something to cling onto to get himself out of this mental state of disorientation. 

 

Maybe if he felt around whatever thing he was stuck in, he could get a rough idea of how much room he had to work with. He could've been asking how it was possible for him to breathe while fully covered in this green sludge, but the scattered thoughts floating around in his head could hardly even stick together to form a barely coherent thought. So, that wasn't exactly the priority at the moment. 

 

He reached an arm forward sluggishly, pressing up his fingers against the curved glass in front of him, letting out a breath of relief through his nose at the new sense. It was something simple, just the touch of glass against his fingers, but it was a breath of fresh air from the numbing lack of sensation. In the metaphorical sense of course. 

 

He felt calm, calmer than before at the very least. That, however, didn't last long. As his eyes wandered toward his outstretched hand and saw fur. 

 

The creature froze. His eyes widened in shock and he gasped sharply, immediately starting to choke as verdant substance rushed into his throat. He let out a guttural noise at the feeling of wrongness. His body reflexively tried to repel the foreign material via coughing, which only served to do the opposite. 

 

He had half a mind to shut his mouth, barely surpressing the urge to start coughing again. He shut his eyes as tight as he could,as if that would magically warp everything to return to how they'd always been, the sensation starting to disorient him after a while. But he kept his eyes shut, for he feared that what he would see would be more terrifying of a reality to deal with than the isolation of him, himself and his thoughts.

 

After some time, he decided to open his eyes again. Maybe the thing he saw was just a figment of his imagination, made up by his mind in the midst of the haze of teetering on the edge of awareness and unconsciousness. Those were clear lies that he was telling himself, and yet he continued to feign believing them in the hopes that the comforting untruth would become his reality. 

 

Through the green tint covering his environment, he couldn't make out it's exact colour, but what he saw was what he feared. An arm and a hand, covered in little blades of pigmentation. It was sickening,where there should be skin being replaced by something so animalistic..it was grotesque in every meaning of the word. Perhaps on something else it wouldn't be, but on his body? It was painfully disgusting, just staring at it was making his stomach churn in disdain that carved deep into his soul. 

 

His eyes wandered hesitantly to his other arm, then his legs, then his chest. All the same. Fur. Fur! FUR! 

 

'No.. No! I'm human, I'm human so why am I so nauseating?!' He thought, his terror stricken eyes were unable tear away from the sight that made him want to tear off his skin so heavily, no matter how much he tried to pull his gaze away.

 

The creature's breath started picking up speed. It felt like the substance around him was closing in on him, constricting around his ribs, cruelly crushing his lungs so he couldn't breathe. Faint tremors wracked through his body almost uncontrollably and he continued staring at those grotesque, shaking limbs. 

 

The thumping of his heart was all he could hear around him THUMP THUMP THUMP it was screaming at him, groveling to flee out of this body he couldn't call his and yet he could do nothing but float helplessly despite the bloodcurdling screams of his innards. 

 

Was he dead? Was this hell? Was this horrific state the consequences of something he had done when he was alive, human, and could take his flesh and bones for granted? Perhaps he was a rotting corpse, forced into a state of consciousness to entertain the cruel fantasies of something above his comprehension. That had to be why his insides were crying out at him, right? 

 

The maggots. It had to be the maggots. He knew somehow that when a decomposing body was left for too long, maggots would appear, using the remains of the abandoned soul to nourish themselves. Were there maggots in him? Crawling, digging, cutting under his flesh, feasting on organs and viscera? 

 

He shuddered at the thought, he could almost feel his skin bulging, filled to the brim with squirming, wiggling bugs trying to tear out. They wanted to eat anything and all things left of him,he was sure of such a terrible fate. 

 

He instinctively brought his animalistic hands to his head, clutching at his skull like a lifeline,curling more within himself as he tried to ignore how queasy it made him. He needed to calm down.The creature took a shaky breath through his nose. 

 

Since he could breathe, he couldn't be dead. He just had to think of some way to calm himself down and deal with whatever was going on with a calm mind. 

 

'Okay, okay just think of simple things. Like... Like.. ' He squinted his eyes a bit, what could he use to settle this seemingly never ending storm brewing within his chest? 

 

'Right! Stuff about me.. My name is-'

 

He stopped, not that he was moving, but it felt like he had ceased all subconscious movements, as if his limbs were locked into place. 

 

'My name is..?'

 

He tried to remember anything about himself, his name, his age, nothing. There was a gaping void left, like everything that was his own, everything building up his sense of self was ripped from him by the cold, cruel hands of fate, torn violently to shreds as he futilely tried to grasp at anything that was left. 

 

The realization washed over him like ice cold water.Those horrendous limbs that had were previously rigid went slack as his eyes, glossed over by the terrifying reality of losing yourself, dulled. 

 

It felt like every single painful thought squirming into his brain was muffled out by the shock of such a revelation. It hurt, it hurt too much to think, to make sense of this senseless truth. 

 

So he let his limbs float on their own, let his eyes stare thoughtlessly outside at the warped shapes of whatever was on the other side of this glass prison. Get let his mind and body go numb to anything and everything going on around him. 

 

Eventually, he stopped thinking, and if he didn't, he'd have hated how much he was okay with that. 

_____

 

His senses were rekindled at a sudden and unexpected change in surroundings. He blinked, confused as the gel-like substance started draining from beneath him. The material was disappearing unnaturally fast for something of that density, but he didn't have the energy or the will to question it. 

 

As the substance holding him up was taken away, his weak limbs staggered and he collapsed onto his hands and knees. The creature took a gasp of fresh air and started coughing out the verdant gel he had inhaled in his moment of surprise, barely registering that the glass around him was gone. 

 

He wiped his mouth with his arm, his breaths labored as he suddenly became hyper aware of the environment. It was as he had assumed, gray walls covered from top to bottom with intricate machinery. The dull hums of the machines working shouldn't have been much of an issue normally, but it felt like the noise was buzzing away in his head, hammering away at his skull. 

 

He gritted his teeth, desperately rushing to cover inhuman ears in an effort to block out the painful cacophony of noise. 

 

Even through his disoriented state, he felt the slight vibrations of something moving closer towards him, recognising them almost immediately as footsteps. Trying to push past the sounds of the machines, he wiped the excess substance off of his eyes with his arm, blinking them a couple of times to unblur his vision. 

 

The first thing he saw and noticed were a pair of what seemed to be fairly human boots, as he turned his gaze upwards towards the figure towering over his disheveled self he started almost recognizing the outfit this person was wearing. It seemed.. awfully familiar, in a way.

 

Regardless, the figure had a crimson coat, fitted with silver buttons, almost like it was a mad scientist from a cartoony reality. Even as his eyes met the wide, toothy grin making his stomach twist with dread that the mustached man had plastered onto his face..he couldn't shake off the tug that he somehow knew who this guy was.

 

His eyes suddenly widened with recognition as he stared at the face right above him. Could it be..? Was it really..? 

 

'...'

 

'IS THAT EGGMAN FROM SONIC?!?'

Chapter 3: Chapter 2

Notes:

I decided to change the thought text into italics, I'll edit the previous chapters according that as well

People told me that I needed to make Eggman more expressive, so I hope I did better here

I'm not too proud of this chapter honestly, but I think it does it's job well

Eggman stared back at his wide eyes filled with confusion at the situation he'd found himself in. It simply made no sense all, how on Earth was he in front of a fictional character?! 

 

Was he.. perhaps somehow, by some twist of fate, taken to the Sonic universe? Normally he would probably brush such a ridiculous thought off.. Or well, he assumed he would, the painful reminder that he had no memories of his identity shook through him in a cold wave that he dared not show to the evil doctor. 

 

But, with everything he'd experienced since he'd been rudely awakened into a verdant abyss, it could've been plausible.. The tube, the green liquid, the monstrously freakish limbs that he was too scared to look at.. It all pointed to something so illogical and insane that it could be the truth of his new reality. 

 

"Ohoho! My genius has once again given me the brilliant and delicious fruits of my work! Welcome to the great Eggman Empire, my creation!"

 

His attention was abruptly pulled from his thoughts and back to the man, his voice clearly laced with venomous motives as each word slithered out of Eggman's mouth, drawing an unintentional shudder from the creature. 

 

'Wait.. Did he just say creation?'

 

He continued staring at The Doctor blankly, wracking his brain to try and understand how Eggman, a character that was notorious for building advanced machinery for the sole purpose of crushing all opposing his rule, had apparently formed a functioning organic body all on his own. Not any body, from what he could make out by The Doctor's words, but his current... Less than ideal form. 

 

A looming dread settled deep into his veins as the realization truly hit him, Eggman didn't make his creations just for the sake of it. 

 

No, if what the evil genius was saying was true, his body was built specifically with the intent of being a weapon to destroy innocent lives, and he hated to admit it but..that scared him more than the freakish sight that plagued his vision every time he dared glance at himself. 

 

This wasn't the same type of fear that plunged his sanity deep into the cold, biting waters of not recognizing yourself or losing all that he might have ever been though, this kind of fear crawled deep within his monstrously animalistic shape, covering all of what it could reach with the same lurching dread of vulnerability and not knowing what would become of him. 

 

However, he didn't have much time to think this through as a pair of gloved hands abruptly held him up from the his arms. 

 

Startled by the sudden and unexpected contact from Eggman, the creature instinctively started squirming, trying to get away from the man holding him. For now, his distasteful new body could be ignored for the sake of getting as far away as possible from someone like the evil genius. 

 

Unfortunately for him, the only thing he was met with was the immovable force that was Eggman's hold and a chilling grin. It didn't even seem like the malicious edge to The Doctor's expression was directed at him but.. It was unsettling nonetheless. 

 

"Now now, stop making a fuss! I know you must be overjoyed that such a brilliant man is your creator, I couldn't blame you for such a natural reaction of course!"

 

The smugness that he could hear in Eggman's tone was so infuriating that it could be compared to the noise of scratching a chalkboard with nails. All that he felt like doing at the moment was ripping off that mustache off of the genius' face, along with wiping that stupid grin away. 

 

Of course, he forced himself to stay put despite the painstakingly hard to control urge brewing within him. He did his best to ignore how aware he was that such a reaction was born out of fear, like a rabid animal that was cornere-

 

He took a deep breath, eyes narrowing as the pungent smell of the substance he was still covered in hit him. Ergh. Whatever.. 

 

He wasn't stupid, he knew The Doctor's confidence had foundation, Eggman truly was highly intelligent if his knowledge of the Sonic franchise wasn't failing him. That, paired up with his entire body feeling like jelly meant that the being could do nothing except play along to whatever was happening. For now at least. 

 

"And you.. You, are the key, my answer to finally ridding this world of those Resistance scum!"

 

He bit back a grimace at Eggman practically confirming his suspicions that h-this form he was stuck in, was made as a living weapon.The creature couldn't stop his ears from flattening back against his head though, the unfamiliar sensation sending a shudder through him at the reminder of his new body. 

 

The Doctor chose to ignore this, humming thoughtfully, "Although.. I suppose you're a bit mucky at the moment."

 

Seeming dissatisfied with this very obvious fact, Eggman turned his head towards the two robots who were still lingering in the room. They were staring at the newly awoken creation with an odd amount of interest for some unknown reason. 

 

"You two! Go fetch a bucket of water and some towels."

 

Orbot snapped his head towards the evil genius, nodding immediately. He grabbed Cubot, who seemed confused, by the arm, "Of course! Right away sir!" 

 

The red robot dragged Cubot into a hallway that led to the room they were all in, the both of them disappearing from the creature's view as they turned a corner. 

 

He was fairly sure he would've gotten uncomfortable from how the two had been staring at him if it wasn't for the very simple fact that he was being held by a mad genius who claimed to have created him. An evil genius who was trying to take over the planet to rule over it with an iron fist! It really didn't get much more uncomfortable than that, especially considering his form was made to be a weapon for the man! 

 

And yet, through all those annoyingly serious and important worries, he was wondering something so small that it almost brought him shame to think of it while he had just awoken to find himself in a new, disgustingly deformed body, well deformed from his original one at least.(Regardless of whether he actually remembered how he looked or not.) 

 

Why didn't Eggman just get those robot assistants of his to clean this substance off of him? 

 

As the robots went off to their way, Eggman turned back to him much to his disdain, and as if the genius had read his mind, the creature got an answer as Eggman shook his head and sighed, "Ah.. I'd usually never engage with my creations like this, however you're too essential in defeating those rodents. I don't trust those bumbling idiots to be able to do anything right."

 

'Huh. That makes sense I guess- WAIT no! Nothing makes sense right now! What the actual hell is going on here??' 

 

The creature huffed at the thought. He just.. Needed to focus on something before he started spiraling again. That was something he could fully experience later when he wasn't in the vicinity of Eggman. 

 

Luckily the two robots came back soon enough, Orbot holding a few multi-colored towels and Cubot holding a comically large metal bucket filled to the brim. 

 

It was going to go wrong without a doubt, Cubot being the one holding the bucket was an obvious sign of that. Oh well, at least he'd get a little entertainment in this terrifying situation he'd gotten caught up in. 

 

And just as he expected, the angular robot's grip on the bucket faltered for a few moments, just enough to slowly tilt the metal container so that it toppled and spilled the clear liquid all over Orbot and the floors. 

 

Orbot froze in place, looking down at the towels in his hand which had gotten absolutely soaked, and then looked back up at Cubot, staring silently before letting out a mechanical sigh. 

 

He turned his eyes back to Eggman, The Doctor's face had turned into a light shade of red, it was almost cartoonish to the point where the creature had to hold back a chuckle. No wonder Sonic always seemed to have fun annoying this guy, it was hilarious. 

 

The genius quickly put him down on the metallic floors before immediately turning and yelling at the two robots. 

 

"You numbnuts! Can't you two do a simple task?! I should have you two turned into scrap metal for being such incompetent minions!"

 

The creature felt his frown grow as he sat on the floor, staring at this. It was funny when Cubot spilled the water, but this was just sucking the fun out of everything, he scoffed lightly to himself. 

 

'What is this guy's deal..? Well, I know his deal. He's an egotistical megalomaniac who's consequentially a jerk. Still though, seeing him treat those robots like that is annoying.'

 

And yet he couldn't bring himself to do anything. Weakness and wrongness circulated through his being, in his blood, in his lungs, in the air he was breathing. He couldn't do anything. Nothing that would actually matter. 

 

"Clean this up, get new water and towels, and if you mess this up I'll turn you two into my new toaster!"

 

Orbot seemed to shrink back while Cubot turned to the red robot as if he had understood something he hadn't previously. 

 

"Ohhh! So that's where Mecha Mark III ended up!"

 

Orbot chuckled nervously, starting to push Cubot into the hallway again as Eggman's glare met them. 

 

"Aha..Come along now Cubot! Let's get more water..Although er, perhaps I should hold the bucket this time."

 

_____

 

The two came back again not long after, the items they were holding were switched now though. It was probably for the best, for their sake. 

 

They delivered the bucket of water and the towels to Eggman, afterwards going off to start cleaning up the mess on the floor. 

 

This meant that the evil genius' undivided attention was all on him for now. The Doctor kneeled down in order to be able to reach the creation better, submerging one of the towel into the water. Eggman took the cloth out again, squeezing the excess water off. 

 

Eggman reached for the being, starting to roughly wipe off the green substance off of him with the towel. 

 

"Truly, my genius is almost incomprehensible! Those pests won't even know what hit them!"

 

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man as the green gel was getting scrubbed off of his form.

 

'Ugh, does this guy ever shut up about himself? It's getting annoying..'

 

He was about to tune out Eggman's ramblings before The Doctor said something of interest within his words.

 

"I mean, really, few people could modify genetics in such a way! With your speed and strength engineered specifically by a brilliant mind such as myself, you'll get rid of those animals in no time I reckon!"

 

Genetic engineering?? Strength and speed modified?? Well, it was probably to be expected considering he was made with the intention of being a weapon.. This sounded awfully similar to him though. 

 

As Eggman continued rambling, using scientific terminology that he had never heard before, the creature eventually stopped listening to The Doctor in order to think about his situation. 

 

'Okay, what do I know? I'm... In a body that isn't normal, somehow I might have found myself in the Sonic universe and this body is apparently made by Eggman. So where does that leave me?'

 

'Well, it's definitely not going go good if I stay with this guy.. He's literally a villain, and I don't wanna have my face kicked in by Shadow or something.The guy's got metal shoes and a nasty kick, like I saw the clip of him kicking Silver in the head, I'd rather not be on the receiving end of that.'

 

'Actually, thinking of Shadow, I guess this situation is a little similar to his backstory. Maybe if I escape here and find The Resistance that'll make things easier for me.. Yeah, I should try to find The Resistance for sure. Good thinking me!'

 

At least he'd found a goal to work towards, that would probably help him ignore the state of his body. 

 

And yet, as he reached a feeling of accomplishment in finding something to work towards, there was one little thing he'd noticed that was.. A little unnatural. 

 

Differing from how Eggman usually acted and talked, there was one major difference in the Eggman that was in front of him. 

 

He hadn't even mentioned Sonic once. 

 

Chapter 4: Chapter 3

Notes:

This chapter was a bit difficult to get through, but hopefully y'all enjoy it:)

Thanks to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma discord server for helping me get through this chapter

He looked down at his arms, holding himself from grimacing at the blue fur. All the foreign substance had been cleared off of him by now, and he had to admit, he did feel a lot better. Although, for some reason his limbs still felt unnaturally difficult to move, like they were completely drained of energy, which was pretty weird if you asked him. 

 

'Wasn't I in some phase of inactivity for a while? Is this just my limbs being slack because they haven't moved much? Hmm..'

 

Eggman stood up, dropping the towels in the bucket and pushing it aside dismissively with the side of his foot. The Doctor turned to his robotic assistants who had just finished cleaning the floor a few minutes ago, a hint of annoyance crossing his face at the sight of them lounging around now.

 

"You two!", the two robots looked up from where they were floating, seemingly startled by the sudden voice of Eggman. 

 

 "I'm going to bring something here now that all of the muck has been removed, make sure nothing happens to my newest creation because if anything goes wrong I'll dismantle you both, understand?! He's my most promising option to strike those pests with something they aren't used to fighting, so absolutely nothing bad can happen!"

 

Orbot stared blankly at Eggman, not moving or saying anything. Right, Orbot didn't quite like being told what to do by Eggman, did he? 

 

'Man.. Out of any information I could've remembered, it just had to be anything but the valuable stuff like who I am.. Ehh, well Sonic lore could come in clutch in this situation actually, so it's not completely terrible I guess.'

 

"Sure boss, well take real good care of him! Right Orbot?", Cubot exclaimed, an additional tint of excitement to his mechanical voice. He pulled Orbot closer to himself, he yellow robot looking up at the evil genius. The creature was sure that if he could, Cubot would be grinning because for some unknown reason the robot seemed thrilled.

 

"Er, right, of course."

 

Eggman looked back and forth between the red and yellow robots, narrowing his eyes, "There's something with you two.. Hm, well then. I'll be right back."

 

Eggman left the room, and as soon as he did, the creation found the two robots standing next to him. He blinked in surprise at them suddenly appearing at such a close range, gaze darting between the two. 

 

Cubot was practically vibrating with excitement, turning his head to Orbot he spoke with a mechanical voice,"Hey Orbot! Isn't this awesome? We have a big bro now!"

 

Orbot gestured towards the creature, speaking in a tone that practically oozed with the desire to correct Cubot, "Well, actually he would technically be younger than us as he was made after us. Wouldn't he?"

 

"Then why do I have the urge to call him big bro if he's really our lil bro?"

 

The round robot hummed, thoughtful, "Perhaps it's simply because it's a gag in a fan written work meant to reference other media?"

 

"..Or it could be because he's physically larger than us."

 

Cubot stared at the being, pretending to wipe a tear from his optic, he sniffled, or well, made a sound akin to it. 

 

"This is the happiest moment of my life ever since I got built! Come here lil bro!"

 

He bristled in alarm as the yellow robot came towards him, arms open, maximum speed. He quickly lifted an arm in order to stop Cubot from reaching him. Despite how shaky the limb felt, he somehow managed to halt the robot that was basically a projectile at that point. 

 

'Huh, well Eggman did say he modified my strength..'

 

However, Cubot kept pushing against his hand, eventually causing his grip on the robot's angular was to falter for a second, long enough for cold metal arms to wrap around him in a moment's notice. The temperature difference caused his the fur to stand on it's edges as he shivered at the contact. He tried to pry Cubot off with what strength he had, but to no avail. 

 

As if this wasn't bad enough already, Orbot clung to his arm as well. He huffed, giving in to the two robots holding onto him. He sat back, letting them do whatever. 

 

'I mean I guess this isn't that bad. Hopefully Eggman doesn't come back soon though.'

 

Footsteps were heard echoing through the hall, the two robots immediately scrambling away from the creature to stand at the sound. 

 

The creature sighed, 'Speak of the devil. Or would it be think of the devil in this case? Ehh, who cares? It's Eggman.'

 

Eggman stepped into view, bringing in something that was covered by a sheet. It was something flat, that part he could tell. Maybe it was some kind of robot considering the grin the evil genius was wearing on his face. 

 

The Doctor turned to him, gesturing at him with his hands, "Ohoho, stand up my creation! I have something for you that I expect you will be thrilled to see!"

 

'That just makes me think whatever's under that sheet won't be something I'll want to see.'

 

Regardless, he stood up. A wave of fatigue and lightheadedness washed through him, but he took a breath and continued standing, eventually moving towards the covered object. He stood in front of it, waiting. 

 

With a dramatic flair, Eggman pulled the cloth off of the object. The sight of what lay beneath made the creation's blood run cold, he froze in place, it was as if all the muscles in him had locked up completely because of what was in front of him.

 

It was a mirror. 

 

Horrified crimson eyes swept through the sight, there he stood, but it wasn't him. It couldn't be. He wasn't supposed to look like that. Humans weren't supposed to look like that. 

 

But he wasn't human any more, was he? 

 

Blue, crescent shaped quills were bristled up as if what he was staring at was a threat, as if it wasn't him. He shakily reached up to touch the fluffy muzzle that shouldn't have ever been on his face, flinching away as his hand made contact. 

 

He looked down at his chest, at the tan fur, an oval, except it was almost like someone had taken a slice out of it at the top. A shudder went through him, this was wrong, this was all so wrong. 

 

He clenched his fists, claws digging into his palms harshly. It took all of his willpower not to scramble away from the mirror, like a frightened animal. It was sickening, how primal instincts and fear took over someone so fast. 

 

He felt his ears lay flat against his head again, and that just made everything so much worse. Faint tremors wracked through his body, he could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision. 

 

Suddenly, his legs gave out beneath him, letting the creature collapse. He let out a shaky gasp, looking down at the floor to keep Eggman from seeing the unshed tears that threatened to flow from eyes that he didn't want to believe were his. 

 

Everything was muffled again, thump, thump, thump, it was like his heart was beating in his head, but hammering inside his chest all the same. The blue hedgehog shut his eyes, gritting his teeth. 

 

'No.. No.. NO! NO THIS CAN'T- I CAN'T- I'm really-? I can't be! No!'

 

Eggman finally pulled the mirror away, staring at him with an odd expression. He narrowed his eyes, speaking with an uncertain tone. 

 

"..I'd have thought you'd be overjoyed by seeing the results of my brilliant work."

 

The Doctor's face lightened, he waved his hand dismissively, "Oh well, I'll just assume you got too excited! No matter, you must be hungry."

 

Something was thrown down near the hedgehog, hitting the ground with a slight noise. He barely registered it, focusing on trying not to break apart in front of the mustached man. 

 

"Now, I must set some things up in order to truly monitor your biology. In the meantime you can eat that. You two!" The evil genius called to Orbot and Cubot, who had been floating there the entire time. 

 

"Come with me, you'll help me set up the equipment."

 

Eggman went towards somewhere else. The blue hedgehog didn't care right now, his crimson eyes dull and unfocused. He heard the faint hum of Eggman's robotic assistants moving to follow The Doctor. 

 

He didn't catch the way Orbot hesitated, looking back at him before inevitably leaving the creature on his own. 

 

Slowly pulling himself to a sitting position, his gaze slid to the side. A food bar of some kind lay next to him where Eggman dropped it. Sluggish limbs moved to pull it closer, struggling like they were moving in mud. 

 

With shaky hands he brought it up to his face, hesitantly putting it in his mouth to take a small bite. Maybe to try and distract himself from this twisted tale that fate forced upon him. 

 

He couldn't even have that, he spit the food, if it could even be called that, out the moment he tasted it. The hedgehog gagged, it was disgusting, to say the least. Something that was made to try and imitate something healthy, and ended up as artificial and fake as those it tried to suppress. 

 

The bar was put on the steel ground and pushed away from him, 'I didn't have an appetite left anyway..'

 

The hedgehog pulled his knees closer to his chest, burying his head between his arms with a shaky sigh. What had he done to deserve something like this? Turning into a creature so far apart from humanity.. 

 

'Don't cry don't cry don't cry'

 

He felt wet spots in the fur under his eyes. The hedgehog shook with quiet cries, muffled by his arms. His breath came in short uneven gasps. 

 

So he sat there, his frame trembling with muffled sobs and tears shed for a cause he didn't even truly remember. 

Chapter 5: Chapter 4

Notes:

Chapter 4,woo!!

Thanks to my friend dxuki and the S3ruma discord server, they've helped me a lot for this fic

His head snapped upwards with the hiss of a door opening. The blue hedgehog quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand with a sniffle, crimson eyes darting towards the sound. 

 

Eggman walked out, looking down at the creature. A glint of amusement decorated The Doctor's face, sending a shiver up the hedgehog. How could someone look so threatening and unthreatening at the same time? 

 

"Now that everything has been set up, come along my creation! We still have yet to test you after all!"

 

He bit back a sigh, forcing himself to stand up. He stumbled, eyes widening as he barely managed to catch himself. Letting out a relieved breath, he went to Eggman's side, dragging his feet on the way with a pout. 

 

The evil genius entered the room beyond the closed steel doors, off-handedly beckoning for the creature to follow. 

 

He slumped in place, for walking felt like such a chore. Like trekking through old mud, constantly having to physically push his body to do something as simple as moving on his feet. Alas, the hedgehog complied with a low sigh, following Eggman into the room where he was immediately hit with an extremely strong hospital smell. If there was one word that could describe the scent viciously attacking his nose, it would be 'sterile'. 

 

It kind of tickled, actually, in the way that it made him realize that he was just about to sneeze because of how much the smell irritated his nose. 

 

With a sharp sound the creature sneezed, seeming surprised by the noise that came out of him. He blinked, staring at himself with slightly widened eyes. 

 

'Oh, right... This is kinda the first time I'm hearing myself. Wacky.'

 

He looked back up, scanning through the room to see what it contained. Medical equipment of all kinds that he couldn't name were scattered across the place. Both the floors and walls were white, and the lights were just barely too bright to look at without feeling overwhelmed and dizzy. 

 

'Huh. This really does feel like a hospital, I guess. I think I remember seeing people mention all of these details about hospitals and hospital rooms and.. Stuff.'

 

His face drooped a bit, 'Man.. I wish I knew that through my own experiences, but I can't even remember something as stupid and simple as my own name.'

 

In the middle of the room was a large machine, it kind of looked like an X-ray , but larger. Behind it was a computer, clearly some advanced technology, but that was to be expected since he was dealing with Eggman here. 

 

Orbot and Cubot were next to the device, Cubot inspecting it all around. He turned to the red robot, tilting his head. 

 

"Ooh! Maybe we'll use this to take a family photo Orbot!"

 

Orbot floated closer to him, slightly shaking his head, "I don't think this is something to take those kinds of pictures with Cubot."

 

The yellow robot blinked, putting his metallic arms on his sides, leaning towards Orbot, "Oh yeah? How would you know?"

 

The round robot took a glance at the large complex machinery, optics narrowing as he stared at Cubot. 

 

"..Just a hunch."

 

Eggman went up to the robots, pushing them away from the X-ray device angrily, "Get away from the machine you numbnuts! I don't want you two messing up the scans!"

 

The hedgehog followed next to Eggman, and suddenly found himself being pushed towards the machine, but couldn't find the strength to resist. So there he stood, barely keeping himself up. 

 

"Now stay very still as I do this.."

 

The evil genius got behind the computer, barely looking up at him, a few seconds passed with the creature doing his best not to get down to the floor and curl up. Eggman let out a satisfied hum, it seemed like the X-rays were done. 

 

"Wonderful, wonderful indeed! Your bone density is higher than that of a normal Mobian. Do you know what this means my wonderful creation?"

 

He didn't know, but to be frank the blue hedgehog really did not care. Of course, Eggman answered his own question regardless. 

 

"This means that I was successful with enhancing your strength! That's expected, of course, my brilliant mind is above such mistakes of planning."

 

The creature rolled his eyes, feeling irked '...Egotistical jerk.'

 

Eggman stepped away from the computer, going over to a counter nearby. The Doctor picked up something that he couldn't see from where he was standing, gesturing towards the hedgehog off-handedly. 

 

"Sit down."

 

The creature immediately obliged, maybe he could've persisted out of spite, but then again, he did feel tired and that far outweighed the desire to cause problems for Eggman. 

 

'Psh, well I ain't gonna say no.. Actually I'm not going to say anything at all, I don't exactly wanna converse with the evil guy. Especially since he wants to use me as a weapon, hell no.'

 

The Doctor walked over to him, kneeling down and suddenly grabbing the hedgehog's arm. His azure quills bristled in alarm when he felt something thin enter his flesh. 

 

His ears pinned back against his head, heart beating faster. He tried to pull away from Eggman's grip, but to no avail as the man kept him in place, a hint of annoyance crossing his mustached face as he grumbled. 

 

"Cease these struggles."

 

The hedgehog let out an instinctive hiss, thrashing in the hold. There was absolutely no way he would stay still here when a needle was randomly stabbed into his arm. His breaths grew erratic, something animalistic growing inside him. 

 

'Leave me alone leave me alone LEAVE ME ALONE-'

 

He started using his free hand to try and claw at the man's face, only to find his wrist caught in the harsh grip of a gloved hand. Eggman seemed.. Less than pleased, to say the least. 

 

Suddenly the object was ripped out from his arm, eliciting a yelp from the creation. His crimson eyes darted to the syringe filled with his blood in Eggman's hands. 

 

The Doctor eyed the scarlet liquid and shoved the syringe into Orbot's hands, "Put this into the coolant. I'll attend to it later. "

 

As Orbot went to do that, the hedgehog clutched to his arms like a lifeline, hugging himself. 

 

'What the hell was that..? Why did I hiss? Like.. Like a..'

 

'Like an animal.'

 

Disgust churned within him, disgust at himself, people weren't supposed to hiss! That was for cornered and stuck animals who were desperately trying to make themselves seem threatening when in reality they were the ones in danger! 

 

And yet, he had succumbed to such animalistic, such primal instincts. The desire to retch taunted him with the fact that there was nothing he could get out except stomach acid if he did. He shivered, trying to suppress the feeling inside him making him queasy. 

 

Eggman took his arm, pulling him up, "Get up, we still have yet to test your speed."

 

The hedgehog hung his head, practically getting dragged away to another room. They entered a small chamber with a contraption that looked similar to a large, advanced hamster wheel.

 

Once the two were close to the machine, the evil genius started hooking him up to some wires, all attached to the device of course. The creature didn't resist. He couldn't find the strength to.

 

After setting everything up, Eggman went to the side of the room separated from the rest by a wall of glass, skimming over the data he was receiving on yet another computer. 

 

The Doctor looked up, pressing a button to make his voice heard through the glass barrier, "Now then, run as fast as you can go!"

 

The creature blinked slowly at Eggman, directly staring at him, and laid down on the floor of the contraption. He curled up on the ground. Run? When he could barely find the energy to walk? No thanks. He shut his eyes, trying to ignore the sense of discomfort as he felt the fur on him. 

 

Eggman stuttered, seeming baffled. The Doctor's face turned red, his voice laced with frustration as he spoke through gritted teeth. 

 

"Wh-Do as I say hedgehog! Get up or I'll make you get up!"

 

He slowly opened one eye, seeing the evil genius' angry face. A hint of amusement crept into his face, but only for a moment as he forced himself to stand up again. 

 

'Hah, no wonder Sonic seemed to always have fun beating this guy.. He's fun to annoy. Man.. I really don't want to run. But this is Eggman, and I don't want to risk becoming stew, I guess.'

 

With an exhausted sigh, he started running on the wheel, ignoring the protests of his Iimbs. He grit his teeth, forcing himself to move. 

 

'..Huh. I'm not unnaturally fast like I expected to be, weird considering how Eggman was talking about 'enhanced speed' or whatever.. '

 

As he continued his movements however, he started speeding up. Not a whole lot, but enough that he could feel a difference. Something flickered within him, something he hadn't felt before. It was strong, continuously growing, and yet he didn't feel afraid or confused. It just.. Felt right. 

 

And suddenly, he felt a rush of air fly past him as the hedgehog ran with a burst of speed. It was exhilarating, almost freeing in a way, but it was short lived as his legs gave out beneath him soon after. 

 

He fell forwards onto the ground, groaning as reality hit. A wave of fatigue washed over the creature and he didn't even have the energy to move anymore. 

 

Eggman intensely stared at the data he was getting through the screen, in fact, surprise tainted his features as he observed the received information. 

 

"Fascinating! You're generating large amounts of Chaos energy at a near constant rate! Oddly enough, I'm detecting Chaos energy spread out through the room instead of specifically from you.."

 

"The direction of the energy.. It seems as if your body can't contain the energy you produce and it practically drains from you. Hm, that could end up being problematic for when I send you to annihilate those vermin.."

 

The hedgehog wasn't listening to Eggman at this point, all that he could think about was that the floor was interestingly comfortable to lay down on. His eyes drooped, it was as if his entire sense of self was replaced by exhaustion. 

 

'..I'm tired.'

 

That was his last thought before crimson eyes shut. The beckoning of rest was drowning out the noise of Eggman speaking, and the hedgehog finally succumbed to sleep. 

 

Chapter 6: Chapter 5

Notes:

I don't like this chapter very much, it feels kinda mid.. Oh well

Once again, thanks to my friend dxuki and the S3ruma discord server !

The subtle sounds of machinery humming in a disorganized harmony, that was the first sounds the hedgehog heard once he woke up. He kept his eyes shut, sealing his vision in an almost comforting darkness. 

 

He couldn't feel the wires on himself, which probably meant that he wasn't inside the wheel room anymore. The creature slightly opened one of his eyes, peeking at the place around him. 

 

Seeing a large, glass tube with some sort of dried up substance around it, and a bucket to the side, he remembered he currently was. 

 

'Looks like I'm back here again..'

 

The hedgehog brought his arms to his side, using them to push himself up so that he was sitting. Despite his slumber, he somehow didn't feel any less exhausted. He yawned, groggily stretching his limbs with some hope to relieve his aching muscles a little. 

 

His head snapped towards the door as he heard the hiss of it opening. Orbot and Cubot floated inside, seemingly lost in conversation before they realized he was awake. 

 

"Of course, however-Oh!"

 

Orbot stopped what he was saying as Cubot suddenly darted towards the hedgehog in a yellow blur, his metallic arms wrapping around the creature in an almost comically motion. The sudden movement was enough to fully wake the blue hedgehog up, his crimson eyes blinking with surprise at the angled robot. 

 

"Good morning little bro!" 

 

Despite the situation the creature was in, he supposed this wasn't too bad.

 

'I guess it's kinda nice that I'm not here just with Eggman. It would be unbearable otherwise..'

 

Orbot approached the two, clasping his hand together. His optics narrowed as if he was smiling,

 

"Oh hello! I hope you had a good sleep! The Doctor wished to see you, and I believe he may even have a present prepared for you!"

 

Well that was enough to sour his mood. Seriously, Eggman was the last person he wanted to see, especially with what happened the last time he was awake. The mention of a gift caught his interest though. 

 

'A present, huh? Couldn't be anything good if it's from Eggman. Or, well it could be. Unless my only detailed memories are failing me, he gave Infinite the prototype Phantom Ruby right?'

 

'This could mean that whatever that gift is, I could potentially use it to run away from this place..'

 

He winced as he felt his muscles beneath the azure fur he tried to ignore throb painfully, '... Maybe not RUN away, actually.'

 

Prying the yellow robot off of him, the hedgehog stood up with a groan, slumping in place. He tilted his head at Orbot as if he was asking where to go. 

 

"Right, of course! You can go through the door and continue to the right, after a few hallways you'll surely find The Doctor there. We uh, would asssist you but-"

 

"The boss told us to CLEAN THIS ROOM!", Cubot screeched. He grabbed Orbot's shoulders, shaking him frantically, "IT'S THE WORST FATE A ROBOT CAN HAVE!!"

 

The blue hedgehog shot a glace at the tube, grimacing as he truly took in the sight of the dried up gel-like substance. Poor bots. Trying to avoid looking at the limb, he lifted an arm and pat Cubot's shoulder in a half hearted attempt to reassure him. 

 

He then forced himself to walk to the door, ignoring the protests of his aching body. The steel door hissed open and he walked out into the hallways. 

 

Cubot tilted his head at Orbot, "How come we never get gifts?"

 

The red robot just shrugged. 

______

 

'Why the hell is walking so exhausting?!'

 

He leaned up against metal surface of the wall, trying to catch his breath. It really wasn't a long hallway, and yet he still had to take multiple stops just so he wouldn't collapse. 

 

Maybe he could just, not go, stay here forever? Sure Eggman was annoying, and it made him want to claw The Doctor's face off, but Orbot and Cubot were alright.. 

 

Shaking his head, he quickly pinched himself with sharp claws. 

 

'No! Get yourself together- oh right, I don't remember my name, and Eggman still didn't give me one. I should find a new one for myself soon..'

 

'Not the priority though. I need to get out of here before Eggman either ends up turning me into a weird mutated creature or uses me as a weapon which he WILL do.'

 

Pushing himself off the wall, he forced himself to walk, finally finding himself at the front of where Eggman supposedly had a gift for him. 

 

He took a deep breath, and walked in. 

 

'Well, here goes nothing..'

 

When he entered, the stench of oil him immediately. He narrowed his eyes at the strong smell, at least it wasn't as bad as that other room.

 

'Again? Did my sense of smell get stronger or something- oh. I guess it would make sense if it did, huh?'

 

Eggman turned around, seeing the blue hedgehog. The evil genius grinned toothily, a grin that made the creature very uncomfortable. 

 

"Greetings my creation! Considering you're here, I'm sure you're bursting with excitement at the thought of the wonderful products of my brilliant engineering, made specifically for you!"

 

"Hoho! Well, let's not keep you waiting, behold!"

 

With a grand, dramatic gesture of his arms, The Doctor revealed.. A pair of gloves and boots? Any hope for something cool that would get him out of here diminished instantly. 

 

The hedgehog hesitantly walked towards the table with the items, picking up one of the boots. It was red, not as rich of a red like his new eyes though, and had a white stripe running around the base of the boot. The material seemed flexible but it still held some weight. Some kind of reinforced rubber maybe?

 

Eggman spoke with a bored tone, "That's just a normal boot, try it on. My real genius is in the gloves."

 

'Oh. Well then.'

 

He picked the boots both up and knelt down, putting them on. He had to admit, they were very comfortable, they were definitely made with speed in mind. 

 

'I mean, yeah obviously Eggman would make these like that, but these are really nice to wear actually.'

 

After checking the firmness of the boots a little, the hedgehog looked back up at Eggman, who was now handing him the gloves. Inspecting them more closely, he was able to see that they seemed to be just some regular Sonic gloves, except they both had a yellow square shaped device embedded on the backs. 

 

"These are Chaos Stabilizers!", The Doctor proudly announced, "They will help the circulation of your Chaos energy stay contained inside you so that you aren't leaking Chaos energy everywhere! I know, I know, I'm the most brilliant genius here."

 

The creature has to physically stop himself from groaning at the smug tone of the mustached man. 

 

'Does he ever shut up about himself? Probably not actually, but still..'

 

Gently, he picked up the gloves, staring intensely at the devices. With some hesitation in his form, he started to slowly put them on. 

 

'I hope this doesn't end up electrocuting me or whatever, seems like something Eggman would do.'

 

However, when he put on the gloves, an immediate sense of rejuvenation washed over him, and suddenly he didn't feel like he was forcing himself to keep standing with difficulty. In fact, for the first time since he had opened his eyes in this familiar yet unknown world, he felt some semblance of being alive. 

 

Eggman, who hadn't noticed when he was very clearly panicking, somehow noticed this new feeling on the hedgehog's face. His grin widened as he got closer to the creature. 

 

"Well then, I suppose a new test is in order."

 

______

 

So, it turned out that with the devices, he could truly go fast. Of course, he wasn't dumb. He didn't go all out because, well, if Eggman ended up following him he'd need an advantage. 

 

Following him where? He wasn't exactly sure, but anywhere away from here was good. In fact, he'd been planning for the past few days, practicing with running, observing the nightly routine of the base, and of course planning out how he was going to get out. 

 

He tiptoed without a sound through the now barren hallways. He'd seen Orbot and Cubot at their charging ports out of the corner of his eye before he left the room he had initially woken up in, so that was one less thing he had to worry about. 

 

The hedgehog looked to a door on his right, peeking inside. He could see Eggman in his bed, snoring loudly. Seemed like the evil genius was caught deeply in rest, all the better for him. 

 

Getting back on track, he continued traversing the steel hallways. The only problem that could arise now was that since he didn't know exactly where the exit was, due to not being able to scout it out earlier, it could take him a while before he found his doorway to freedom. 

 

'Oh well, I've got plenty of time. Shouldn't be a huge issue.'

 

Suddenly, something out of place caught his eye. He turned curiously to the object he had seen, walking over to it and picking it up. 

 

It was the blueprints of some kind of complex machine, not anything he'd understand. The hedgehog deadpanned at the sheet of paper, had he really gone out of his way just for some mechanical gibberish? 

 

Just as he was about to put the blueprints down, a few words made him stop. 

 

'Blueprints for the prototype of a dimensional travel device?'

 

Crimson eyes rapidly skimmed over the text written around the sheet, traveling to other dimensions, the act of pulling other consciousnesses from them... Was this it? Was this the thing that brought him here, and if it was, could it take him back? 

 

There was an odd, zigzag shaped object drawn near the main machine which, according to the notes he was currently reading, was an activation key for the dimensional travel device. 

 

'Wow.. These measurements for the key are awfully specific, and apparently it HAS to be these measurements, or else it won't work?'

 

'Psh, that's dumb.. What if the key gets slightly damaged? Do you just have to make another one?'

 

Wanting to be able to look more carefully at the blueprints, the blue hedgehog leaned up against the wall, staring at the object in his hands. He heard a faint click as he did so, and before he could even react.. 

 

Alarms started blaring. 

Chapter 7: Chapter 6

He looked around frantically at the sudden burst of noise. Alarms continued wailing and red lights started flashing everywhere, hurting his eyes. 

 

Looking back at the wall in a panic, the hedgehog cursed under his breath seeing a red button, probably what caused this in the first place. How could be so careless!? 

 

The hedgehog quickly stuffed the blueprints into the crescent shaped quills on the back of his head. He heard a slight ripping noise through the alarms, but ignored it, hoping that the damage to the blueprint wasn't catastrophic. 

 

Getting ready to get out of there as soon as he could, he knelt down so that he could gain more momentum. 

 

That was, until he heard a whirr to his side. His head snapped to the direction of the sound, crimson eyes widening at the sight of badniks. His heart started pounding inside his chest and his legs suddenly felt like they would give out at any given moment. 

 

They were so much more terrifying in person. Metal creatures that looked almost goofy at times when he was still human were now machines of war, each time his gaze met those razor sharp claws and laser guns attached to their bodies was another reminder that they promised pain.

 

Falling over, he quickly tried scooting away from the horde, ears pinned flat against his skull. His limbs shook with a panic, his breaths stuttering with each movement the robots made. 

 

'I need to run, NOW!'

 

He turned to the other side of the hallway planning to run from there as fast as his legs could take him, but those hopes of escape were crushed immediately at the sight of more badniks. 

 

Quite a handful of expletives went through the hedgehog's mind at that moment. He tried to still his shaking hands, yet it was quite difficult when there was machines specifically built to attack, near him. 

 

'Okay- okay well now I have two options, accept my fate or fight. Both seem inviting but damn it, I'd like to die as a human, not a hedgehog!'

 

Pulling himself to his feet, the creature barely took his eyes off the machines, alternating his gaze between the two sides. 

 

Then the robots started moving towards him and he immediately started shrieking. 

 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH GET AWAY GET AWAY GET AWAY!!!!"

 

He stomped on a motobug that was near him, crushing it as he continued his panic induced attack with his legs. The hedgehog's eyes widened with the realization that he had managed to take out one of the robots. 

 

'Huh. Maybe I can actually do this?'

 

A sharp pain shot across his thigh. Biting his tounge to muffle the cry of pain he let out, the hedgehog turned to see the sharp claws on one of the machines plunged inside his thigh. Blood was already trickling down, staining the gray floors with it's slow dripping. 

 

With a sudden movement, he grabbed the robot's arm, and punched it away with a surprising amount of force. So much so that it literally tore away from its metallic limb. 

 

Sparks flew out from wires torn open and the actual machine itself fell somewhere with a loud clang. He quickly looked down at his leg, grabbed the arm and ripped it out from the flesh. 

 

Of course, he immediately realized how bad of an idea this was when he nearly collapsed from the pain. He grit his teeth, tears welling up in his eyes as he tried his best to recover in what short time he had. 

 

His ears twitched at a slight buzzing sound from behind him. With a sudden motion he swung the bloodied makeshift blade and plunged it inside of the badnik's head through an optic. 

 

A laser shot through the air, the hedgehog stumbled back to avoid being burned by the projectile, jostling his wound in the process. He grunted in pain, barely keeping his composure. 

 

His eyes locked onto the large robot that had shot the laser. He swung his blade again, chucking the smaller badnik remains on it towards the larger machine. However much to his dismay, the metal parts bounced off of it. 

 

And suddenly he was vulnerable again. All the confidence of being able to defeat some badniks gone in an instant. His hands gripped the bloodied claw tightly like a lifeline, mind racing for ways to get out of this situation. 

 

'Dammit what do I do now?! How did Sonic fight robots?! ...He spindashed..Of course..'

 

Did he know how to spindash? No. But what better time learn than when you're fighting killer robots right? 

 

As the robot continued firing lasers, he tried his best to avoid the projectiles. He crouched down swiftly, and attempted a spindash. 

 

He found himself laying flat on his back, face to face with another robot, the same type who had stabbed him. A stabbing motion came towards his face which he barely dodged by moving his head with a squeak of fear. Then another, this time the claw got stuck inside the steel floor. 

 

Not wasting any time, the creature grabbed the machine while it was trying to get unstuck, and flung it towards the bigger robot. Just like the other one though, it bounced off.

 

He say up into another kneeling position, crouched down and spindashed. With a loud bang, he slammed into the robot. The attack didn't pierce through the metal, the first spindash he'd ever done was naturally not as strong as it could be. However, it did leave a large dent, enough to distract the machine for a few seconds. And for someone who could run unnaturally fast, those few seconds would be enough. 

 

There was a slight opening in the hallway, one that wasn't there previously. He perked up at the sight, and ran through there immediately. 

 

At that point, his fight or flight instincts had kicked on fully, and the only thing he was focused on was getting out of that place. That was why he pushed past the blazing agony of his wound, the sensation dulled and much more easier to endure in this situation. 

 

Air flew past the hedgehog, he breezed past hallways in a blue blue, trying to find the exit that seemed to not even exist.

 

He screeched to a halt after seeing a wave of badniks again. Frustration bubbled up, he'd just gotten out of a fight with badniks, he didn't want to deal with more! 

 

"Ugh, screw you!"

 

He knelt down, eyes narrowing and he spindashed again, mowing through the horde in a brutal fashion. Quickly getting up, he continued searching for the exit, his desperation growing with each turn and failure. 

 

Finally, after all that time, a door closed shut. It wasn't like the other doors. No, it was large, almost covered the entire wall, thick steel firmly holding it up. This was the exit door, and he could almost cry at the sight of it. 

 

He ran over to it and tried to push it open, but it didn't move. Huffing in annoyance, the hedgehog tried to pry it open, again and again, but to no avail. 

 

Trying to push down the desperation clawing at his mind, he tried to see if he could break it. Body slamming himself against the metal served no purpose but hurting him though. 

 

He took a few steps back, crouched and spindashed at the wall. When that didn't work, he spindashed again, but he didn't do much damage. 

 

His blood ran cold at the whirring sounds behind him. 

 

Shaky looks trailed towards the other end of the hallway, meeting a dozen or more of the lasered badniks. There was no way for him to take them all out. Not in his current state. 

 

Now with an additional reason to flee, the creature turned to the door, grabbing the latches on the middle of it, trying to force them to open if just a little bit so that he could just GET AWAY! He pushed them away from each other as hard as he could, heart pounding in his ears as the loud metallic steps and whirrs got closer and closer to him. His gloved fingers felt like they were going to snap at the rate he was forcing them to pry, and he kept going anyway because there was no certainty of what would become of him or his new freakish body if he failed. 

 

Then, a creak. And the door opened ever so slightly, just enough for him to barely fit his frame past. So he pushed through the door, finding himself outside and ran as fast as he could. 

 

The cool night air grazed him, the moon dimly lighting up the surroundings. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, fueling him, to get as far away as he could. He ran, and ran, barely registering the somewhat polluted landscape around him. 

 

He'd done it, he'd gotten out of that place, he'd made it out, one step closer to getting to his real home. To his real body. 

 

Eventually, the hedgehog stopped in a forest, collapsing onto his knees, panting. Adrenaline begun wearing off, and he was not so gently reminded of the fact that he'd been stabbed in the leg. 

 

Grunting at the resurged pain, he scooted over to a tree, leaning against it. He couldn't see well in the dark, and he didn't want to touch the wound itself. From what he could tell though, blood had stopped flowing, which was probably good. He gently huddled the leg closer to himself, hissing as he accidentally touched the injury. Maybe keeping it closer to himself would lower the chances of it getting infected. 

 

'Do infections even work that way? Whatever, who cares. Maybe I should, but I really don't. Not right now at least.'

 

He took a few breaths of the fresh air, feeling the full weight of his exhaustion now with the adrenaline gone. The hedgehog tilted his head upwards a little, crimson eyes staring at the star ornated sky, it was almost hypnotic in it's beauty, at least to him. 

 

It was worth it. 

Notes:

THIS WAS BY FAR THE MOST DIFFICULT
CHAPTER TO WRITE
Fight scenes are so hard, please comment your feedback if you have any

The boy has talked for the first time, truly a moment

Thanks to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the s3ruma discord server for helping me with this chapter!

Chapter 8: Chapter 7

It turned out that he could heal pretty fast. 

 

He'd realized this, when the warm morning sunshine gently caressed his now sickening face, and yet he felt little to no pain in his leg, which was odd, since he'd been stabbed. Naturally the hedgehog had checked the wound, grimacing at the dried blood stuck to the blue fur on his legs. However the actual injury itself had mostly healed. 

 

The hedgehog stood up, stretching his limbs. He winced a little as a slight flicker of pain shot through his leg, but it went away soon after. 

 

'Man... I still can't believe I actually got out of there. Now then, what's my next step?'

 

Blue ears twitched towards the dulled sound of rushing water. He wasn't sure where he knew this from, but water always seemed to lead to good things, like civilization right? 

 

Stepping over fallen branches, the creature started walking towards the direction of the sound, letting his feet carry him through the uneven terrain. 

 

'I guess I should try to find The Resistance. Somehow.'

 

'Actually, maybe I should wash this blood off of my leg first.'

 

The river soon came into view. Water streamed through, leaving faint white bubbles as the liquid hit some rocks on it's path. Sunshine gently reflected off of certain parts of the water, it was.. Beautiful. 

 

The hedgehog slowly walked over to the edge of the river, sitting down on a rock that wasn't covered with moss, unlike most of the others. 

 

'I wonder if these Chaos stabilizers are waterproof, probably, but couldn't hurt to check right?'

 

Gently dipping a gloved finger into the water, the hedgehog let the liquid drip from his finger onto one of the Chaos stabilizers. When nothing happened, he dunked an entire hand inside the river. 

 

'Well it's waterproof, nice.'

 

Just then, the hedgehog caught his reflection. Crimson eyes stared back at him, seemingly frozen in place. He shut his eyes tightly, a chill shuddering through him. 

 

Turning his face away from the water, he took out his hand and started scrub his bloodied leg. When he was finally satisfied with the result and the glove itself didn't look.. Extremely dirty, he decided to just stop. 

 

The sun was warm on his face, and the gentle sounds of the forest and the river, were calming in a way. He exhaled through his nose, closing his eyes to listen better. After all the intense moments he'd had the past week or so, this moment of peace was very valuable to him. 

 

Until heavy footsteps disrupted the calm. 

 

The blue hedgehog's eyes snapped open, alert. Had Eggman found him already? Had he sent a robot after him? 

 

His eyes locked onto a nearby tree, he darted from the riverside towards it and grabbed the bark, pulling himself up onto one of the branches. He held his breath with fear that whatever was the source of those footsteps was hostile. 

 

The footsteps came closer and closer until there was something finally in view, trying to stay unnoticed, the hedgehog tried to get a glimpse of who or what it was. 

_____

 

Shadow slowed down into a walking speed, something he normally wouldn't do, especially when patrolling a forest area. 

 

Earlier that day, Amy had asked of there were any volunteers for that day's patrol. Usually, Shadow was too busy. With the threat of Eggman, the ebony hedgehog spent most of his time at the temporary Resistance base training. 

 

However, there was something that had been bothering him for a few days. Like there was something important, something soon then erupt. Not knowing what it was frustrated the hedgehog, something important could mean something dangerous. So he'd taken up the patrol that day, just in case. 

 

Scarlet eyes narrowed at the sudden sound from a nearby tree. It could've been a startled flicky considering that his air shoes, due to the material they were made from, were quite heavy. Although, there was something off about the sound. 

 

Shadow continued traversing through the forest, his steps lighter than before so that he could hear everything just in case. 

____

 

The blue hedgehog let out a relieved sigh at the sight of Shadow, immediately shutting his mouth as Shadow looked around at the sound. 

 

'Okay, okay this is a great thing. Shadow is at the very least associated with The Resistance. The Resistance could help me get back to my original home. Therefore, Shadow is my way to The Resistance!'

 

However, as he thought more, he realized that there was.. A slight problem.

 

'If I show myself now, Shadow might think that I'm an enemy trying to ambush him or whatever.. And I know for a fact that I can't beat Shadow in a fight.'

 

'I guess my best option for now could be to just follow him around without getting noticed? Maybe I'll get lead to The Resistance. It's a stupid plan but at least it might lower my chances of getting pummeled to the ground by Shadow.'

 

So when Shadow continued through the forest, the blue hedgehog started following him, trying to quietly keep up by going from tree to tree. 

_____

Shadow wasn't dumb. He could tell when he was being followed. The slight rustling of leaves everytime he passed by another tree were a dead giveaway on that. 

 

But, who would follow him inside a forest?

No one except for The Resistance was supposed to know that the ebony hedgehog was there, unless.. 

 

Shadow scowled to himself, it had to be Eggman. Not The Doctor himself, but one of his metallic beasts or allies. Well. He'd play along for now. See what would happen. 

_____

 

'Honestly I thought I'd have been caught by now.'

 

It was pretty weird that Shadow hadn't noticed him yet. Wasn't Shadow a G.U.N. agent? Shouldn't he have some kind of training on this? 

 

The blue hedgehog moved to another tree branch once again, 'Oh well, if it saves me the beating of my life then I'm not going to complain.'

 

Suddenly the slight clanking of air shoes stopped as the ebony hedgehog stilled. The creature tilted his head in confusion, but continued watching. 

 

Shadow's eyes locked onto his from the ground, and horror dawned upon the creation's face as the ebony hedgehog disappeared.

 

Shadow had known the entire time. 

 

'Oh F-'

 

Pain erupted from his back as something heavy slammed into him from behind, sending him sprawling to the dirt. 

 

He groaned in pain, rolling onto his back to see what, or more likely who, had dealt the powerful blow. 

 

As expected, it was Shadow. Standing on the branch that the blue hedgehog was previously on before getting kicked to the floor, he had a scowl on his muzzle. Ruby eyes almost pierced through him with the glare the ebony hedgehog was sending his way. 

 

Shadow dropped down from the tree, walking over to the other hedgehog still in pain on the ground. The ebony hedgehog put a single foot on his torso, the other letting out a slight grunt of pain. 

 

He leaned down, eyes stone cold with efficiency. 

 

"Talk."

 

'Great. A confrontation with Shadow. 'Talk', what, does this guy expect intimidation tactics to work this early? How am I even supposed to convince him that I'm not evil? Do I talk about the power of friendship or what??'

 

After getting no answer, Shadow narrowed his eyes, putting more pressure on the other hedgehog's torso. Being stuck between the ground and Shadow's foot felt trapping, in a way.

 

Just like when he first woke up, and his movement was restricted by the gel around him, containing him. Something flared up in the back of his mind, it was suffocating, he needed to get this guy away from him! 

 

"Get off of me!"

 

Attempting to kick out Shadow's leg from under him in an irrational moment of thought, the blue hedgehog was quickly humbled as the ultimate lifeform grabbed the limb where the mostly healed stab wound was. 

 

The creature hissed in pain and was promptly flipped and thrown to the ground again. He quickly looked up, seeing Shadow about to charge at him, and scrambled to the side with his super speed. 

 

Shadow looked visibly unprepared to see that the other hedgehog had dodged. His head snapped towards the blue hedgehog, eyes wide with surprise. 

 

"What? How did you-"

 

Not wasting the one single opportunity he had to land a hit, the creation used his speed and body slammed into the ebony hedgehog, catching him off guard. 

 

Bouncing back after the hit, the azure hedgehog stood, carefully watching Shadow immediately get up after the attack. Shadow seemed more serious now, gaze locked onto the others' crimson eyes.

 

"No matter. I'll find out anyways."

 

Suddenly, he found himself caught in a chokehold-like grip, black furred arms gripping him tightly. The blue hedgehog struggled against the grip, but to no avail.

 

He tried to elbow Shadow in the stomach, only for his arm to get caught by the ebony hedgehog, and twisted in a painful way. He found himself thrown towards the side, and it felt like Shadow was everywhere. Calculated punches were thrown from every direction at immense speeds. The creature tried to retaliate with amateurish hits back, none of them hitting his target as he took hit after hit. 

 

The barrage of punches finally ended as a harsh hand grabbed his quills, slamming his face down to the ground, dragging it through the dirt.

 

Barely having time to process what had just happened, he got pulled to his knees by the hold Shadow had on crescent shaped quills. The azure hedgehog grit his teeth at the stinging feeling on his face. 

 

The grip on his quills didn't falter at all, and pulled him back slightly, before slamming his face into the side of a tree. 

Notes:

Finally, a new character!!

Y'all know the drill, shoutout to dxuki, who beta reads this fic and gave me the motivation to finish this chapter, and the s3ruma discord server

Chapter 9: Chapter 8

Blood slowly trickled out of his nose, trailing down his muzzle. The blue hedgehog shut his eyes against the rough bark of the tree, trying to recover from the harsh impact. 

 

His head was then suddenly tilted slightly sideways in a way that he could see Shadow, but was still pressed up against the tree. Shadow got closer to his face, scarlet eyes narrowing. 

 

"Why were you following me?"

 

The creature blinked blanky at Shadow, gritting his teeth at the slight throbbing of his head, "Dude..you just slammed my face into a tree.. Give a guy some time to come to his senses before questioning him."

 

Shadow scowled, pressing the blue hedgehog's face harder against the tree, eliciting an irritated growl from him. 

 

"I'm not going to ask again. Why were you following me?"

 

His ears pinned back as he exhaled, the metallic smell of his own blood filling his nose. A realization struck through him in that moment, this wasn't just anyone that he was looking at. It was Shadow the hedgehog. The ultimate lifeform, and the fact was that Shadow could wipe the floor with him easily, and actually pretty much had done so. 

 

But, he could've done worse. The only memories the blue hedgehog had in his head other than the past week were reminders that Shadow wasn't someone that he should risk annoying. Not right now at least. 

 

"..I was trying to find The Resistance."

 

Shadow's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing once again, his scarlet eyes locked onto the other's face as if trying to pierce through him.

 

"Why were you trying to find The Resistance? Do you work for Eggman?", the ebony hedgehog practically growled, his voice filled with disdain. 

 

Azure quills bristled up at the thought of Eggman, just the idea of working with such a person made his skin crawl. But, how was he supposed to explain that he was actually from another dimension and was normally a human? There was no way that Shadow would believe he was being serious, and if his first impressions of this world were correct, people wouldn't trust him if he said something so unbelievable. 

 

'I guess I'll have to simplify my reasons, it might make me seem more trustworthy.'

 

"What, no! I don't work for Eggman!", a hint of desperation tinted the blue hedgehog's voice, "And I don't have any malicious intent with finding The Resistance either!"

 

"I was just trying to find them because.. Uh..I was looking for help and wanted to join The Resistance as well."

 

Not seeming convinced, Shadow pressed further, "You were reluctant while answering me."

 

He let out a nervous laugh, voice getting quieter, "Haha.. Ah, yeah uhm..Good observation.."

 

'Damn it I really thought I could slip by with that.'

 

"B-but I really am telling the truth! I do need refuge!", he stammered out, and it's wasn't really a lie, he did absolutely need somewhere to go. He was just trying to convince Shadow of that, which proved to me more difficult than he'd have thought it would be. 

 

Staying quiet, Shadow's eyes sharpened, inspecting the other's face, trying to find any sign that he may be lying. 

 

A hint of irritation crossed the creature's face at the prolonged silence. He was quickly starting to get frustrated at this whole ordeal. 

 

'I wake up with no memories, have to deal with Eggman and his robots, and now THIS guy?! Can't I just catch a damn break?'

______

 

Shadow wasn't sure what to think. 

 

The other hedgehog seemed sincere, but he couldn't be sure. Not only were some people barely detectable when lying, but this blue stranger was deliberately following him in the forest. He could've been working for Eggman, and if he truly was telling the truth, it was an extremely stupid thing to do. 

 

So, why was Shadow still debating what to do? He should deal with this person who was most likely just another enemy on The Doctor's side. 

 

And yet, a small part of him was unsure, remembering the undeniable feeling something important was going to happen that he had felt earlier. What if that feeling was somehow connected to this new hedgehog? 

 

No. He couldn't risk bringing the enemy right to them based off on a feeling.

 

Or at least, that's what he would have thought, until he truly looked carefully into the other's eyes. The ebony hedgehog's eyes widened, although his indifferent expression didn't change a lot. 

 

Those crimson eyes were filled with the undeniable sense of familiarity. There was a saying, "The eyes are the windows to the soul." which Shadow firmly believed in. You could tell a lot about a person just by their eyes. The way they looked at the environment and people around them, the way their eyes narrowed and widened based off of what was going on.. They were all signs that one could use to understand a person, at the very least to a vague level. 

 

Looking at this stranger's eyes now, memories of a while ago, back when he had first woken up after 50 years had resurfaced. Something akin to what he was feeling back then tainted those eyes. 

 

Shadow hesitated, perhaps the blue hedgehog was telling the truth. Maybe this truly was someone who was seeking refuge from The Resistance and just ended up making (undeniably) foolish choices. 

 

After all, the way the other fought was amateurish. Of course, from a purely objective standpoint he most likely wouldn't have had much of a chance against the ultimate lifeform regardless, however it was painstakingly obvious that he had little to no experience. And well, Shadow doubted that The Doctor would send someone who couldn't fight on a mission to find The Resistance. 

 

So, Shadow made a choice. A choice that when looked at by anyone would seem ridiculously stupid, but sometimes risks were necessary. High risk meant high reward, especially when fighting The Eggman.

_______

 

After a prolonged silence that seemed to never end, the blue hedgehog was pleasantly surprised when the hand pinning him against the tree was lifted. He immediately pushed himself away from the tree, trying to ignore the light throbbing of his head. 

 

He looked up towards Shadow, seeing the ebony hedgehog with his arms crossed, holding an expression that was unreadable. 

 

"You make foolish choices hedgehog."

 

The creature blinked, not sure what to say at what seemed to be a sudden change of Shadow's thoughts about him. 

 

"Uh.. Yeah.."

 

'What was that entire silence about? Was he having some kind of inner monologue with himself? I mean, I guess it would make sense, maybe he contemplated my believability or something.'

 

Shadow looked at the other's disheveled form up and down before lightly gesturing to his own arm, "Hold onto my arm."

 

"Wait wait wait, what?", the azure hedgehog was visibly dumbfounded. 

 

Shadow's face twitched in slight irritation, "I'm going to Chaos Control to The Resistance's temporary base, unless you want to stay in this forest, I would suggest holding on."

 

He stepped closer to Shadow, face still full of confusion, he tilted his head slightly, "Does- does this mean that you trust me now??"

 

Ruby eyes narrowed, the ebony hedgehog's expression darkening, 

 

"Tch, trust is out of the picture for now. I am simply willing to give a chance to your words."

 

A finger was jabbed into the blue hedgehog's chest, "You better use that chance carefully and prove yourself, because if I find out that you were lying.."

 

"I can guarantee you that you'll regret every untruthful word that came out of your mouth."

 

Blue fur stood on end at the vague threat, there was no doubt that Shadow would follow up on his words. He wasn't lying, not really, however he also hadn't told Shadow about being made by Eggman, even if it was just his new body. The hedgehog definitely wouldn't be happy about it once he eventually found out, but that was a problem for future him. 

 

"... R-right.."

 

Once the finger was lowered and Shadow started looking at him almost impatiently, the blue hedgehog tentatively reached out a hand and held onto the other's arm. 

 

The last thing he heard before the forest disappeared around him was the faint sound of whirring. 

______

 

"I think I'm gonna throw up."

 

It turned out that Chaos Control, especially when experiencing it for the first time, had some not very fun effects. 

 

He stumbled a little bit to the side, barely noticing Shadow glancing at him. Once the initial nausea wore off, he finally looked around himself. 

 

The temporary base was located at the edge of the forest. There were tents scattered around the area, most likely to stay in. Storage boxes were piled on top of each other, filled with things that he couldn't make out. 

 

A makeshift room of some kind was placed next to a river, presumably the one he had seen before, but he couldn't be sure. Curtains were hung on poles around it, giving the illusion of four walls. 

 

Mobians were around the place, talking to each other, carrying boxes, eating food..They were all familiar to the blue hedgehog, of course. It was the only thing he truly could say he knew.

 

And yet, seeing them here, casually doing things was.. Uncanny. People who were once only fictional characters to him were doing regular people things. It didn't seem normal, but really, nothing was normal right now, was it? 

 

Waking up as a hedgehog inside a tube when you were normally a human certainly wasn't. 

 

Soft crunching of grass snapped him from his thoughts, eyes turning towards the source of the sound. 

 

"Shadow, you're back already? That's fast, even for you."

 

Purple eyes turned to the azure hedgehog, only having noticed him now as he was standing a bit to the side. Knuckles raised an eyebrow, taking in the sight of his clearly disheveled form before turning his attention back to Shadow. 

 

"Shadow," The red echidna spoke with a measured tone, "Who is this?"

Notes:

Sorry if Shadow seems weird, this is my first time writing him, he'll get better with time though!!

Shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma discord server

Chapter 10: Chapter 9

Well, so far his life, or the one single week he could remember of it, had been very interesting. Not the good kind of interesting for the most part. He'd woken up as something inhuman, found himself in what used to be a mere fictional universe, had gotten stabbed in the leg and was pretty much pummeled by Shadow the Hedgehog. 

 

Now? He was standing in the edge of a Resistance camp, his blank stare turning from Knuckles to Shadow, and then back at the echidna again. 

 

Shadow shot a glance at him before turning back to Knuckles, arms crossed,

 

"I realized that he was following me during my patrol. Apparently he was looking for The Resistance. Initially I assumed he was working for Eggman, however after fighting him, I'm unsure."

 

Knuckles took a deep breath, "Right, okay, but WHO is he?"

 

The ebony hedgehog didn't speak, settling for a thoughtful hum at which the red echidna seemed to be baffled at. 

 

"You don't even know his name-?!"

 

Knuckles turned to the blue hedgehog with a sigh, gesturing to him with a spiked hand,

 

"What's your name?"

 

"Uh..."

 

His mind hit a blank, trying to come up with a response quick. With all the intensity of the past week, he'd had no time to think of a new name for himself after forgetting his old one. 

 

'Okay I gotta think of something fast.. I kind of look like Metal Sonic, at least uh, quill-wise right? What can I do with that?'

 

'Wait, didn't Metal Sonic have a transformation called Neo Metal Sonic? I'll just use that!'

 

"Uhm... I'm Neo."

 

'Hah! That's an actually good name, good job me.'

 

The echidna seemed to accept this, nodding his head and turning back to Shadow. He clasped his hands together, gripping them tightly. 

 

"Shadow. You better have a damn good reason as to why you brought Neo, who you thought could be working for Eggman, right to us."

 

Shadow lifted his head slightly upwards, eyes faintly turning to Neo. 

 

"I had my reasons. It would be a waste of time to try and explain them to you, so I believe you could call it..a 'feeling', so to say."

 

Clearly seeming almost completely fed up with this, Knuckles took a deep breath again, his eye twitching as he spoke through gritted teeth. 

 

"Listen Shadow, I usually trust your judgement, but we're fighting with Eggman. You can't just risk our entire operation based off of a gut feeling!"

 

Shadow nodded slightly in acknowledgement, uncrossing his arms to gesture with one hand towards the blue hedgehog, 

 

"In the worst case scenario, I will take responsibility of the consequences. Additionally, this does not mean I trust him, echidna, I am not so naive as to fully put my trust in an unsure cause. I am simply trying to get us a possible advantage in this war."

 

Knuckles' face twisted. His hands tensed with bubbling frustration at the hedgehog's words. There were so many lives on the line, so many lives they were trying to protect from the clutches of The Doctor. So many lives depending on them.

 

"What good does taking responsibility do if your so called 'possible advantage' ends up being one of Eggman's lackeys?! You ever think about that? You can't risk the lives of hundreds of people by bringing someone who you aren't sure is on our side Shadow!"

 

"We've been fighting The Doctor for how long now Knuckles? If we do not speed up our progress against Eggman, what happens if he eventually gets bored-"

 

"That's what we're trying to figure out! But guess what? We can't do that if we get destroyed from the inside-!"

 

The two started bickering, although he tried to listen and keep up, eventually Neo got sick of watching them argue about him and Eggman. 

 

It wasn't really like he could blame either of them, from what the blue hedgehog could tell, this was a pretty serious situation. He just wished that his believability (and because of that, him being able to stay with The Resistance) wasn't the topic at hand. Plus, it was really damn annoying at this point. 

 

He leaned against a nearby tree, faintly remembering the blueprints he'd stuffed inside of his quills during his escape from Eggman's base. What better time to inspect them than when he was standing on the side of something that was borderline an argument, right?

 

Reaching into his crescent quills, Neo dug around for a little bit, eventually taking out the slightly crumpled blueprints. He straightened the paper out a little, tuning out the still ongoing dispute between Knuckles and Shadow. 

 

Immediately he noticed that a piece of the blueprint was missing, he faintly recalled hearing something rip while he was frantically storing the paper. The blue hedgehog grimaced at the sight, hoping that nothing too important had been lost. 

 

Unfortunately for Neo, the part that had been ripped off was the exact part which had the key and it's measurements. His expression fell suddenly, the key had a very unique shape that was easily recognizable, however without the exact measures it would be near impossible to recreate, and thus near impossible for him to return back to his original world and body unless something else happened. 

 

Trying not to let his hopes get dulled too much, the blue hedgehog returned the blueprints to the back of his head. He looked back up from the tree he was leaning on, seeing Shadow start to walk away. 

 

"There are much more important things to attend to than bickering about this. We shall discuss this once more at a later date, after observing his activities. Of course, unless you want to go against The Resistance's 'rule' of giving everyone a chance."

 

Knuckles' expression was a mix of uncertainty and bafflement, "What more important things do you have to do than discussing the fact that you might be putting The Resistanc-"

 

His words were cut off as Shadow took the green Chaos Emerald out of his ebony quills, "I am done with this conversation. I hope you will try to understand my reasonings, echidna." 

 

The hedgehog disappeared, leaving Knuckles to blankly stare at the spot he was previously standing at before sighing and turning to Neo. 

 

"I guess he has a point. We can't really know if you're working for Eggman."

 

He reached a hand out towards the blue hedgehog, "You probably already learned it while I was talking with him, but I'm Knuckles and the other hedgehog's Shadow." 

 

'Well, I guess at least he's willing to hear me out. That's better than my other start..'

 

Neo shook his with a firm grip, a blank expression on his face despite clearly being there mentally. Knuckles either didn't notice, or decided not to comment on it. 

 

"Well, you probably should introduce yourself to the other members of The Resistance too huh? One more thing before you do though."

 

Neo tilted his head slightly before the grip on his hand suddenly tightened almost to the point where it was starting to hurt and Knuckles pulled him a little closer. 

 

"I'll be keeping an eye on you, so don't try anything funny, got it?"

 

The blue hedgehog shrunk into himself, nodding. Knuckles made a sound of acknowledgement and let go of Neo's hand. 

 

"Well, off you go then."

 

Neo rubbed his hand and started walking towards the camp itself, he spared a glance back at Knuckles for a moment, thinking about that whole interaction. 

 

'..Something feels off about all this. The way they act is similar to how I remember, but it's different. Although I guess it could just be the way they're acting towards me specifically. I am someone new after all.'

 

'On the bright side, I guess at least Knuckles didn't borderline threaten me, it was more like a warning.'

 

Eventually he found himself standing in the middle of the camp. Neo looked around, seeing the Mobians just doing their things. He felt.. out of place, naturally. His job would probably be much easier if he actually went and introduced himself, but going up to random strangers and talking to them sounded way too awkward of an interaction. 

 

He continued standing there, unsure of what to do when suddenly he was startled by someone tapping on his shoulder. Neo turned his head towards the person who had tapped his shoulder immediately, alert. 

 

Amy Rose stared back at him, a hint of curiosity in her expression. She stayed silent for a moment before straightening her dress and smiling, 

 

"Hello there! Sorry if I startled you, I've just never seen you around here so..are you a new member of The Resistance?"

 

Neo fully turned around, "Uh, something... Like that.. I guess."

 

Emerald eyes brightened up at that, "Oh that's wonderful! It's great to see new.."

 

The pink hedgehog trailed off, her expression dropping to a more worried one as she fully took in the sight of Neo.

 

"Um.. Are you.. Alright?"

 

No, he really wasn't. He had lots of problems right now which included something he could only describe as memory loss, he was in a different freaking universe and also he had been attacked twice (once by Shadow, once by badniks). But he wasn't about to tell her that of course. 

 

"Why wouldn't I be?"

 

"It's just that.." she grimaced slightly, "..You look a bit.. Uh.. Scuffed up."

 

With that, the blue hedgehog was suddenly made aware, once again, of the state he was in and the now dried blood sticking to his muzzle. He hastily wiped it off as best as he can and tidied his quills a little. 

 

"Oh- uh I'm fine, I heal fast."

 

"Are you sure? We have medical supplies if you need them."

 

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine.."

 

She looked unsure, but ultimately decided to drop it for now. 

 

"Well.. I'm Amy Rose, I'm the leader of The Resistance actually! What's your name?"

 

Neo stayed silent for a bit before responding, "..Neo."

 

Amy nodded at that, "That's a nice name."

 

Neo muttered a quiet 'Thank you' to Amy as she turned around to face one of the piles of storage boxes. The blue hedgehog somehow must not have paid attention and missed them while looking around. 

 

She lifted the lid off of one of them, "I know you said you were fine, but I didn't want to not do anything." The pink hedgehog pulled a red apple out of the crate, turning back towards Neo and holding the apple towards him,

 

"At least eat this, it'll give you some energy!"

 

He took the fruit, it was a regular apple but an apple had never looked so good before. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it could be the fact that it was something truly familiar to him specifically when everything else was.. Not really like that. 

 

Slowly, Neo took a bite out of the red fruit, and his eyes lit up at the flavour. He was melting at the familiar taste, the feeling so amazing that he could cry tears of pure joy. It was like he was in an apple induced trance.

 

'I remember people joking that the meaning of life was 42..but I think it might be this apple..'

 

A sudden sound snapped him from his state of pure bliss, "Neo? Neo!"

 

"Wh-huh?" He looked around as the feeling of clear-headedness returned to him once again. Amy stared at him with a confused and a slightly concerned expression. 

 

"..You zoned out for a minute there."

 

Neo looked down at the apple in his hand, and then back up at Amy with a sheepish look. 

 

"Oh, uh, sorry.."

Notes:

The boy finally has a name!! Woo!!

Also, AMY YEAHHHHHH

Shoutout to my friend and beta reader Dxuki and the s3ruma discord server

Chapter 11: Chapter 10

"So, what made you join The Resistance?"

 

Neo hummed thoughtfully, leaning back against one of the storage crates. Unlike Knuckles and Shadow, Amy was pretty easy to talk to, though he wasn't exactly sure that was a good comparison considering..well, they're Shadow and Knuckles. 

 

The blue hedgehog continued chewing on the apple Amy had given him. He swallowed the fruit and turned back to the pink hedgehog. 

 

"Oh, uh..Eggman I guess."

 

'By all means that is absolutely the truth. Although she'll probably understand it a little differently than what I mean.'

 

Amy laughed softly at that, "Yeah, that's a pretty valid reason."

 

He tilted his head, gesturing towards her with his hand which was holding the apple. It was a pretty awkward gesture, which felt a little uncomfortable to do since he used the hand that was on the opposite side of the pink hedgehog. 

 

"Um..what about you? Why'd you form The Resistance?"

 

"Oh! I wouldn't really call it forming The Resistance actually," She twirled some of her quills around her finger, "I just grouped people together!"

 

'I'm.. Fairly sure that is what forming The Resistance is. Whatever, I'll go along with it. Not in the mood to discuss that, no thank you.'

 

"Right, well, why did you?"

 

She seemed thoughtful for a few moments before replying with a slight chuckle in her tone. 

 

"My reasons also include Eggman, of course, but ah..I also wanted people that might need it to have somewhere to go."

 

The pink hedgehog turned her face towards Neo's, "Does that make sense?"

 

Subconsciously starting to dig into the dirt and grass below with his boot, the blue hedgehog took a moment to look up at the sky. Perhaps it was good that he ended up here, even if was through..interesting means. Running away from Eggman and not having anywhere to go could have gone horribly wrong, he was absolutely aware of that. Maybe he should be feeling a little more grateful for being at the camp.

 

'Okay I still am stuck in another universe in this icky body though so.. Well, it's good this place exists at least.'

 

Clouds lazily floating through the air reflected off of crimson eyes as he stayed silent for a bit before answering. 

 

"Yeah. It think makes sense."

 

They stayed silent for a while. It wasn't the uncomfortable silence where the air felt like it could be cut with a knife, but the kind of silence which felt right. 

 

The sudden sound of grass crunching caught Neo's attention. He glanced at Amy, seeing her looking towards where the sound had presumably come from. The blue hedgehog turned his eyes to where Amy was looking. 

 

A red wolf trotted up to Amy, barely sparing Neo a glance. He pushed his glasses, which had tilted slightly, back into their proper place before addressing the pink hedgehog with a straight posture. 

 

"Commander Rose."

 

Amy's expression turned more serious as she faced the wolf, 

 

"Gadget. What happened?"

 

"We have gathered intel about an abandoned Eggman base to the south. Tails requested your presence in order to discuss investigating the building."

 

She nodded, briefly turning to Neo, "Sorry about cutting our conversation short. If you want to meet more people, The Chaotix should be nearby."

 

The blue hedgehog nodded, waving awkwardly at her. Amy turned away, walking with Gadget towards the 'room' Neo had seen when he first got to the camp.

 

He didn't really want to introduce himself new people. It just seemed way too exhausting, but alas, necessity calls.

 

Neo sighed, eyes scanning over the site before landing on the colorful trio, 

 

'..Maybe The Chaotix won't be too draining to talk to?'

 

'Nevermind, who am I kidding? Better to just get this over with.'

 

Chucking the rest of the apple into his mouth, Neo dragged himself near the trio. The first person who noticed him, and immediately came up to him, was Charmy. 

 

The bee seemed a little surprised but mostly excited by the sight of someone new. Charmy buzzed over to Neo, way too much into his personal space really. 

 

"Hello! Are you a new member of The Resistance?"

 

Neo blinked, managing to mutter out an exasperated reply, "Uhm, yea-"

 

His hand was suddenly grabbed by the small bee and shaken vigorously in a way that only a child could do. Charmy's face beamed at the hedgehog's words and after letting go of Neo he started flying all around him.

 

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Charmy! What's YOUR name?"

 

The hedgehog tried to follow the bee's movements but just ended up getting dizzy from trying to track the hyperactive kid. 

 

"Charmy, settle down."

 

Charmy stopped in front of Espio, wings still fluttering rapidly behind him, keeping him airborne. He huffed slightly as if he was frustrated that the purple chameleon didn't seem as hyped up about this occasion as he was. 

 

"But Espio! We never ever get a new person showing up here!!"

 

Vector pulled Charmy closer to himself, holding the small bee. 

 

"What Espio said, settle down! Although I guess I can't blame ya too much for getting excited.."

 

Vector turned to Neo, Charmy still squirming in his grip, and held out a hand to the hedgehog. 

 

"You can call me Vector, that is Espio and Charmy already told ya who he is. We're The Chaotix!"

 

Charmy spoke up from where Vector was holding him, "Yeah! We're detectives you want on your side!"

 

'Ah. References. That's... Awesome..'

 

Neo shook the crocodile's hand, slightly surprised at how large the other's hand was compared to his, but he supposed it made sense. 

 

".. Neo."

 

Espio nodded, arms crossed as he spoke, "It's nice to meet you Neo. Apart from being a detective I also happen to be a ninja." He had a slight smirk plastered onto his face, surprisingly not in a way that made Neo want to punch him though. 

 

Charmy, who had somehow managed to escape Vector's grip flew behind the chameleon, chiming in, "He also happens to be full of himself!"

 

The blue hedgehog pulled away his hand, only to see a business card for The Chaotix in his palm. He deadpanned, looking up at the larger Mobian.

 

"In case you ever need detectives, we'll handle any case, big or small!"

 

Espio glared at Charmy, letting out a small, almost offended huff. 

 

"I am not full of myself. I am merely confident in my abilities."

 

Charmy studied the chameleon's face closely with a thoughtful hum, "... Nah."

 

The ninja's hands twitched slightly, "... 'Nah'?'

 

Flying a little bit higher, Charmy nodded, his movements serious except for the mischievous grin on his face. He giggled slightly, "Yeah, nah. Buuuuut.." The bee's voice took a more teasing tone as his eyes turned to Vector, "..at least you're not as boring as Vector, so you've got that going for ya!"

 

"WHAT?!"

 

Charmy looked down Vector, putting his hands on his hips as he flew, "Yeah! You never let me play, Boring Mcboringface!" and proceeded to blow a raspberry in the croc's direction. 

 

Vector gritted his teeth, hand swiping towards the back of the younger detective's shirt, "WHY YOU-"

 

Flying out of Vector's reach, Charmy began making silly faces at him, mocking Vector in a sing-song voice, "You can't catch me! You can't catch me!"

 

Neo watched the scene unfold with vaguely interested crimson eyes. This was.. Almost cartoonish, in a way. Like something you might not specifically search for, but once found you couldn't take your eyes off of it. 

 

'Well I guess it makes sense. These are originally fictional characters anyway. It's a little uncanny to watch them in like.. Real situations though.'

 

Suddenly, the hedgehog felt a presence behind him. Blue quills and fur stood on edge as his eyes widened with something he couldn't quite make out. His breathing grew a little shaky as the presence stood unwavering, but out of sight. 

 

Slowly his gaze crept towards the side. And then, suddenly, a glimpse of black. It was enough to make him jump to the side with a shriek of fear. 

 

There stood Shadow, staring at the frightened hedgehog with the same indifferent expression. It could've been a trick of the light, but Neo could swear that there was an amused glint in Shadow's eyes. 

 

The others stopped what were doing to see what had happened. Once he saw Shadow, a weird noise escaped Charmy, like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. Shadow didn't even spare a glance at the bee, turning his eyes towards Espio. 

 

"Espio."

 

"Greetings, Shadow."

 

Shadow crossed his arms as he spoke, "There is a certain.." He glanced at Neo, narrowing his eyes slightly at the fellow hedgehog before turning his gaze back to Espio. "..matter, that I must discuss with you." Shadow shot a look at the other detectives in their vicinity, "Privately," he emphasized. 

 

The chameleon nodded, "Of course." He turned slightly to Vector and Charmy as he got closer to the ebony hedgehog, "I will return after talking with Shadow." And the two disappeared as Shadow Chaos Controlled them away. 

 

Neo put a hand on his chest, feeling his heart still beating erratically. The blue hedgehog exhaled slowly, trying to calm the rapid thumping in his ribcage. 

 

'Wow. Who'd have thought being jumpscared by the guy that pummeled you to the ground would scare you? What a surprise, huh Neo?'

 

He turned his head towards Charmy as the bee made a disappointed sound, the bee looked upset, until his expression turned angry and the young detective pointed towards Vector. 

 

"I bet it's YOUR fault that Shadow didn't take us along!"

 

Vector looked baffled, "How is it my fault? Besides, they're probably talking about something that doesn't involve us."

 

Charmy crossed his arms, looking unconvinced, "I bet they're gonna talk about a super cool secret mission and Shadow isn't taking us along because you're so un-cool that it's affecting me! I can't believe you'd ruin my chance to be on a super cool mission with Shadow!"

 

"Wh-EXCUSE ME?"

 

Neo sighed to himself as the two started going back and forth. He shook his head, exasperated, 'I've been here an hour at most, why the hell have I witnessed two seperate arguments? It can't be the fact that these people are just naturally like this, because I know for a fact they aren't. So is it just a me thing then? I mean I wouldn't be surprised if it was.'

 

A red figure caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. As expected, it was Knuckles, leaning against a nearby tree, staring at him. Leaving the others to bicker, Neo walked towards the echidna. Knuckles said nothing, just raising an eyebrow slightly. 

 

"What are you doing?" Neo asked bluntly, his face was expressionless, however his voice had a tinge of annoyance in it. 

 

"I'm observing. What Shadow said makes sense, so I'm keeping an eye on you. You got a problem with it?" 

 

Neo took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing slightly at the echidna's indifferent voice. "..Not really.. A problem per se, but like.. Come on, you have to agree it's kinda creepy that you're watching me dude."

 

Knuckles stood his ground, eyes carefully assessing the blue hedgehog, "As creepy as it may seem, it's necessary for the safety of The Resistance. If you're truly here with good intentions, I'm sure you understand.

 

The hedgehog sighed, "Okay, yeah I kinda see your point Knuckles, but be so for real right now." He let out a low breathy chuckle, "Do you really think I'd be so dumb to reveal myself in the first stages of a plan? That'd just be stupid."

 

Crimson eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said, stumbling over his words as the echinda just stared at him with a certain expression. "Okay- wait- I didn't mean it like-" he laughed awkwardly, "I-I meant it like-like a hypothetical situation, y-you know?"

 

Knuckles looked skeptical, slowly repeating Neo's words back at the blue hedgehog himself, "..'Hypothetical situation' you say?"

 

'Nice job Neo you fumbled your damn words and now he thinks you're evil way more than he did before!'

 

Neo wanted nothing more than to just melt into the ground at this very moment. The way those purple eyes pierced through him were probably enough to do that though. Just as he thought he would definitely, physically blow up from the pressure, a voice called out from near where they were. 

 

"Knuckles, there you are!"

 

Sounds of movement slowed down as Tails approached them. He was clutching a few unorganized papers in one arm, namesakes moving slowly behind him. Something that briefly caught Neo's eye about them was that they seemed to be hanging lower than he remembered them being. 

 

"I was looking for you everywhere! There was an abandoned Eggman base that we discovered. Amy and I were looking through the blueprints of the building I managed to scan, and she said that it would be good to have your input on a plan to check it out."

 

Before the echidna could reply, Tails' ears perked up as he saw Neo and he extended an enthusiastic hand towards the hedgehog. 

 

"Oh! Hi there! You must be the new Resistance member, Amy mentioned you! Neo, right?"

 

Neo glanced at Knuckles one again before gently shaking the fox's hand, "Uh.. Yeah."

 

Blue eyes widened with curiosity and intrigue as Tails realized the presence of the two Chaos stabilizers. He turned Neo's hand around, inspecting the yellow square embedded on the back of the glove. 

 

"This is a really interesting piece of technology! I've barely seen it but the metal is really strong, that's for sure! What is this?"

 

An awkward silence filled the area and Tails eventually let go of the hedgehog's hand after a few seconds, "I'm so sorry, that was really rude of me! I just get really excited when I see machinery!"

 

Neo stared at his glove before making a dismissive motion with his hand, "It's fine, don't worry about it. These are uhh.. Chaos stabilizers," he said, trying to recall what Eggman had talked about back in the room with the wheel, "My Chaos energy is kinda.. Unstable I guess, this helps with the circulation and stuff."

 

Tails mumbled under his breath, "A piece of technology that can temper with the circulation of Chaos energy.. That's simply brilliant!"

 

The blue hedgehog blinked, he didn't really understand why the fox was so excited about this, but his knowledge about the Sonic universe told him that this was probably important in some way, so he slightly lifted up his hand, "You can take a closer look at them if you want.."

 

The kit's eyes lit up at those words, going right back to studying the devices with his eyes. Knuckles cleared his throat, "I thought Amy wanted to work on the planning with us?"

 

Tails, still inspecting the devices replied back, "That's true, but I rarely get chance to look at new technology! Plus, I'm just looking over the general layout of the parts based off of the plating, it shouldn't take too long!"

 

As the fox continued looking over the stabilizers, his expression eventually twisted into one of confusion, and then to one of concern. 

 

"Hey.. This manufacturing style looks really similar to that of Eggman's machines-!"

 

Suddenly, Tails' words were cut off by the sound of a nearby explosion from the edge of the Resistance camp. 

Notes:

Writing this chapter was hell, I don't even have the energy to read this again

By the way, first time writing The Chaotix, (wow a lot of first times in this fic huh?)

We hit over 20k words!! Milestone!!

As always, shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the s3ruma discord server!

Chapter 12: Chapter 11

Tails immediately covered his ears, his tails puffing up in alarm. The fox's blue eyes were wide with something akin to shock, just like Neo's and Knuckles' were. The echidna had his fists up on guard and Neo's quills had risen and bristled up at the sudden loud noise. 

 

A looming dread filled the blue hedgehog for reasons he couldn't make out, 'This can't be correlated to me, can it? I mean, it could be just a random thing that happened? Maybe an invention gone haywire? Er, actually maybe not that one, Tails is already here so..'

 

"What was that?" Tails was the first one to speak, his tone carrying a sense of urgency. 

 

Knuckles' eyes narrowed, looking at the direction the explosion had come from, "Not sure, but it might be an emergency." He looked at the fox, who was still slightly covering his ears, "Are you alright?"

 

The fox nodded, taking his hands off of his ears, "Yeah, I'm fine Knuckles. We should see what happened, it could be urgent!"

 

Making a sound of acknowledgment, the echidna grabbed Neo's arm and started going over towards where the sound had come from, dragging Neo along the way. Tails seemed confused, but followed him anyway. 

 

Neo stayed silent for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened before tilting his head towards Knuckles

 

"Dude! What are you doing? I know how to walk you know!"

 

Neo tried to pull away from the grip but, unsurprisingly, failed due to the sheer strength of the echidna. However the hedgehog's efforts soon ceased as Knuckles sent an accusatory glare his way before silently continuing. 

 

The hedgehog's eyes widened in realization, 'Oh. He definitely thinks this is somehow related to me. I hope it isn't actually, because that would uh.. Cause a LOT of issues for me.'

 

Eventually they came to a stop and Knuckles finally let go of Neo, but still stayed close to him. The hedgehog looked around, seeing a tent that was currently on fire. 

 

'Probably where the explosion came from then.. Doesn't seem like anybody's hurt though, so that's good.'

 

Neo looked a little bit towards the side, and he froze. In a single moment, it was as if all the air had been sucked out of him. He could feel the blue fur on his arms standing on edge at the sight. 

 

In front of him, just barely out of the camp's reach, were about two hundred badniks. 

 

"W-what the hell..?"

 

The hedgehog barely registered the other members of The Resistance arriving at the scene as well. All of them could feel how the air felt heavy from the growing tension within them at the sight of the robots. Amy was at the front of the group, hammer already in hand. She looked determined, but her expression had a hint of uncertainty that anyone who was facing so many killer robots would have. 

 

Tails hesitantly went over to the pink hedgehog, his fur still slightly puffed. 

 

"I think I can manage to collectively override their systems to trick the AI into a shutdown, it'd shut off any other electronics in the area for a bit as well. But I would need time to get it done"

 

Amy nodded, expression serious. Her eyes softened when they turned to Tails, and she held her hammer with a firmer grip. 

 

"We can cover you, don't worry Tails. You just do what you have to do."

 

Tails gave a determined nod, "I'll get my supplies!" He started running towards the camp and Amy turned to everyone else. Lifting up her hammer, the pink hedgehog spoke in a commanding tone. 

 

"Everyone! Protect Tails while he shuts down the badniks and do not let the robots enter the camp!" She pointed her hammer towards the robots approaching them, "Now go!"

 

Suddenly, Neo found himself in the middle of a battle, dragged in by the sudden motions the other Resistance members had made. He looked around, confused as to what was happening. 

 

Something suddenly zipped by the blue hedgehog, causing him to take an abrupt step back as a badnik was dragged through the air at a high speed by a grappling hook right through where he previously was.

 

Somewhere to the right, Knuckles punched one of the bigger robots, his spiked fists tearing through metal plating like it was nothing. The echidna smashed through a badnik which was trying to attack him from the side, sending it's pieces flying.

 

He saw Shadow ruthlessly piercing through the robots, the ebony hedgehog managing to cave in the steel with nothing but his kicks. Of course, this was all expected, he was the ultimate lifeform after all. After a long barrage of attacks toward the robots, Shadow sent a certain look towards Knuckles, which the echidna reciprocated. 

 

Meanwhile Neo was trying, and failing to actually take out any badniks at all. It wasn't that he was struggling with them, he'd gotten out of Eggman's base all by himself after all. But the way everyone else was fighting? It was really messing him up. They were just so coordinated with each other. Sure, that was an advantage for them, it would make them a tough challenge when fighting, however in this case it meant that any robot Neo tried to destroy was destroyed before he could even get to it. 

 

He finally saw a few badniks grouped up together. None of the others seemed to be targeting them and Neo, wanting to have a way to defend himself when this fight was over, crouched down low and got into a spindash, zipping by the members of The Resistance. 

 

The hedgehog crashed into the robots, ripping through the metal with his quills. He came to a halt, locking his eyes onto another badnik that was trying to hit Charmy, who was in the air, with it's lasers. Neo took a deep breath, this was fine, he was fine, it was gonna be fine. He ran towards the badnik with the intent to destroy it, but came to a sudden stop when Shadow suddenly appeared, ramming into the robot from the side. 

 

Shadow turned his gaze towards the blue hedgehog, their eyes meeting. Suddenly, everything around felt like it was going in slow motion just like in a movie. Shadow narrowed his eyes at Neo, something terrifying in his usually indifferent expression. And just like that, everything continued normally, Shadow moved on to another robot and everyone around kept fighting. 

 

Neo stood there, dumbfounded. He let out a shaky breath with realization, 'He thinks I lied, he's trying to keep me here. I'm..I'm not trying to escape, but.. Should I try to? ..No, it would be pointless, and it would not help my case.' He sighed, 'How did I get into this situation? Whatever, I just hope I don't end up getting crippled after this.'

 

Something shiny flying through the air caught his attention. The projectile plunged into one of the robots, seemingly messing up it's internal circuitry. It seemed to be a shuriken, definetly thrown by Espio then. 

 

While he was distracted, he ended up bumping into Vector, Neo immediately looked towards the detective, stumbling back slightly, "Uh- sorry-"

 

The hedgehog turned back to see what else he could do, and collided face first with a large striped tail. He stepped backwards trying to get the taste of fur out of his mouth. 

 

As he was doing that, a badnik approached behind him, unnoticed by Neo. It brandished two large blades on it's arms, a bit like a praying mantis. The robot leapt forward, planning on slashing through the unsuspecting Neo. 

 

Suddenly a hand pushed Neo. The blue hedgehog, not expecting it, fell to the ground, surprised. Amy swung her hammer at the badnik, destroying it into tiny pieces. She stood over the scrap metal, a determined expression on her face. 

 

'Woah.. Was Amy always this cool?'

 

Neo looked up at the other hedgehog who had saved him, eyes holding a tone of admiration. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, they were still in a fight after all, no time to wait around. Quickly standing back up, he brushed off the dust on his fur. Amy glanced faintly at him, almost as if she was checking if he was okay, before going back to action, attacking the badniks. 

 

The blue hedgehog stretched the muscles in his hands, dashing towards a motobug. He grabbed it with efficiency, hurling it towards another badnik. In a blue blur, he appeared in front of the two robots. Lifting his fist, he punched the larger robot with great force, cracking it's screen. 

 

Using these new abilities of his had become much more natural to use for him, how he wasn't exactly sure. Perhaps it was some kind of subconscious thing, considering that the most prominent memories he had were about Sonic.

 

It seemed that the force of the punch he had thrown hadn't been quite enough, or hadn't hit any critical areas, because the next thing Neo knew was that he was laying on the ground. The badnik's hand transformed into a buzzsaw, and it swung it's arm towards the blue hedgehog. Neo's hands shot out, barely grabbing the arm with the buzzsaw just centimeters away from his face. 

 

His ears pinned back against his head, but he pushed against the metallic limb, all his focus fixated on not getting his skull split in two. Neo gritted his teeth, trying to force the weapon away from him with all of his might. 

 

Eventually, he heard the sound of something creaking. The arm seemed to be struggling due to the pressure both sides were applying. Neo's eyes narrowed, and he started applying most of his strength towards what he believed was the weak point in the arm. 

 

The metallic limb finally started caving in, and the blue hedgehog didn't waste his only opportunity. He pushed the arm to the side, managing to rip the part of the arm with the buzzsaw off. Neo immediately leapt towards the badnik, and plunged the saw into it's head. He dragged it down, and ripped it out with a swing to the side, bringing a large chunk of the robot along with it. 

 

The badnik collapsed backward, and the hedgehog dropped the metal arm to the ground. Tremors ran through Neo in waves but he tried his best to suppress them. 

 

'Calm down, calm down man. It's fine, you're still alive, you're fine. Get yourself together.'

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Neo noticed that he had ended up next to where Tails was working on a strange rectangular device, adjusting certain parts with finesse. The two tailed fox's face lit up as he called out to the others, "I got it!"

 

Suddenly, the badniks powered down. The sense of relief washing over the area could be felt by everyone, although the air still smelled like oil and smoke. 

 

Amy walked over to the fox, "Great job Tails!" Tails smiled at the pink hedgehog, fidgeting with his hands, "Thanks Amy, it was really nothing though.."

 

"Don't downplay yourself, you did great!"

 

Neo was watching the two talk when the familiar sense of fatigue hit him. The hedgehog forced himself to keep standing, confused on what had happened. He looked at the Chaos stabilizers on his hands, weren't they supposed to stop this feeling? He suddenly remembered what Tails had said before they started fighting the badniks. 

 

"I think I can manage to collectively override their systems to trick the AI into a shutdown, it'd shut off any other electronics in the area for a bit as well."

 

'Right..these are technically electronics as well, aren't they?'

 

Neo sighed, slightly annoyed at the returning tiredness, 'Hopefully they activate again soon, I really hate being left vulnerable like this.'

 

Everyone else seemed to be fine, of course. They were checking each other over, making sure everyone was alright. In the midst of all this, Neo had almost completely forgotten that there was something certainly unpleasant waiting for him. 

 

That was, until a certain someone slammed into him from the side. 

 

 

Notes:

Wow this was hard to write, but I think I'm getting better at fight scenes, let me know what you guys think!

As always shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma discord server!

Chapter 13: Chapter 12

Neo staggered back, barely keeping himself standing. Two hands grabbed him, pulling him forward with force. Shadow glared at the blue hedgehog, eyes filled with fury. He spoke with a gritted tone, baring his teeth, 

 

"I told you that you would regret everything that came out of your mouth if I found out you were lying."

 

Staring at Shadow with wide eyes in his grip, Neo stumbled over his words. Azure quills bristled up out of instinct, he had to convince Shadow that this was a coincidence. He had to. 

 

"I-I wasn't lying-!"

 

Shadow shoved Neo, eliciting a yelp from the other hedgehog, while keeping his grip firm. He pushed Neo in the direction of the now powered down machines, emphasizing his point, "Then explain this!"

 

The blue hedgehog's voice raised to a more desperate tone, "I had nothing to do with that!"

 

Yanking him back closer to himself, Shadow practically growled, his scarlet eyes piercing through Neo's whole being. 

 

"Oh really? You had nothing to do with Eggman's robots finding the camp?"

 

Neo nodded frantically, ignoring the slight lightheaded feeling it was causing him, "Ye-yeah! That's what I'm telling you!"

 

Scarlet eyes narrowed as Shadow shook Neo back and forth, shaking him rough enough that the blue hedgehog let out a squeak of fear. Once he finally stopped, he forcefully jabbed a finger into the other's chest. 

 

"I'm giving you one last chance hedgehog. Tell me the truth, or I'll get it out of you myself."

 

'It doesn't matter what I say. If I tell him the truth, he won't believe me. If I admit to what he wants to hear, he'll treat me like he would an actual enemy. I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't!'

 

"I AM telling the truth! I didn't have anything to do with this!" He pleaded, but to no avail as Shadow's face darkened. 

 

Shadow raised a fist, his other hand still holding Neo in place. Chaos energy crackled throughout the ebony hedgehog's hand as he made a sudden motion towards the other. Neo flinched, shutting his eyes, but the punch never met his face. 

 

He opened an eye in confusion, seeing Amy holding back Shadow's arm. A sense of relief filled the blue hedgehog at the sight. 

 

"Shadow! What is the meaning of this?!"

 

Shadow ripped his arm away, seeing that by now the other members of The Resistance had started stopping and watching them with confused expressions. 

 

The ebony hedgehog stayed silent for a bit, eyes narrowing slightly. He roughly pulled Neo to a place where Amy could see him more clearly. 

 

"I found him when he was following me during my patrol. I suspected he could be working for The Doctor, and not even one hour after he arrives the camp gets attacked.", Shadow spoke sharply, "Does that answer your question?"

 

Amy's eyes widened as she stared at Neo. Even she looked doubtful of him, something cold starting to settle on her expression. 

 

'But who wouldn't doubt me right? I'm genuinely at a disadvantage here.'

 

Much to Neo's dismay, Shadow's attention turned back to him. Without warning, a knee hit his stomach, knocking the air out of the blue hedgehog. Shadow dropped him to the floor where Neo immediately curled up, holding his stomach on the dirt, breathing erratic. Crimson eyes filled with desperation stared up at the ultimate lifeform, who looked down at the other hedgehog with an annoyed expression. 

 

Neo gritted his teeth in pain, narrowing his eyes, 'Why is HE the one annoyed??! I'm the one who got kneed in the damn stomach!'

 

The ebony hedgehog stood above the other, watching him squirm on the ground. Something akin to disgust crossed Shadow's face, "You're the one who's supposed to be risking The Resistance? This is pathetic. The Doctor's standards truly have lowered."

 

That hurt. Those words weren't even true, he wasn't even working with Eggman, and they hurt. 

 

"Just admit it. It will be easier for both of us."

 

'I might be on the ground but I still have some dignity as to not admit to something I didn't do.'

 

"I'm not working for Eggman!", he gritted out, still clutching his stomach. Shadow looked much more annoyed now. The ebony hedgehog lifted up his foot and pressed the tip of his shoe into Neo's side, eliciting a pained grunt from the fellow hedgehog. 

 

"You have the audacity to lie to MY face not once, but time and time again?", he pressed harder, directing the pressure specifically towards Neo's ribs, "After I told you what would happen if you would? You must truly be foolish to make such a mistake."

 

Neo tried his best to blink away the tears welling up in his eyes that were blurring his vision. At this rate, considering Shadow's raw strength, the pressure that was being inflicted upon him could easily at the very least crack his ribs. He attempted to ease some of the force by pushing against the metal shoe. 

 

'Was Shadow always like this? Did I end up somewhere with a more violent Shadow? Am I even thinking clearly?'

 

"Shadow! This is just cruel! There's no need to drag things on, if you're going to do something just do it!"

 

Amy had her hands on her hips. Despite the doubtful expression earlier, she still seemed upset about how Shadow was going about what he was doing. 

 

Shadow's expression remained unchanged, "I'll take care of him, I can assure you of that. I want him to admit to it first."

 

"Shadow this is ridiculous! At least give him a chance to explain himself."

 

"Tch.. He's had plenty of chances to explain. But fine, I'll humor you." Shadow let up the pressure on Neo's ribs, lifting his shoe off of the blue hedgehog. He pulled the other up again, staring at him. 

 

"Go on. Explain."

 

"I-uh- I was..", Neo stammered. It was as if the pressure on him hadn't lifted at all. What was he supposed to say? That he had come from a different world where they were all fictional? When he barely remembered anything about the real him? If Shadow didn't believe him about not working for Eggman, would he really believe that? 

 

Shadow yanked Neo closer with a growl, " You were what?"

 

He felt trapped, limbs weak, mind unable to come up with an answer, just like when he first woke up. He could even feel his heart thumping inside his chest like it wanted to escape, and maybe it did. Neo's hands trembled, 

 

"I-I was m- I was.. "

 

"You were what?" Shadow's voice raised, he was getting impatient. More impatient than before. 

 

"I was.."

 

They were all watching him, watching how he struggled. Was it like how curious people would flock to see something interesting? Was it how a spider would look at a fly stuck on it's web, struggling, only to end up more trapped than it had begun? Or was it both if that was even possible?

 

"I was made by Eggman, okay?!"

 

A silence settled over everyone, a silence that sneaked it's way into every crevice of their surroundings, making the air so cold that Neo shivered. But he wasn't sure if he had shivered because of the air, or something else. 

 

"YOU'RE A ROBOT?!" Charmy's voice came from somewhere to the right. Vector, who was standing next to him quickly pushed the bee down to silence him, causing Charmy to stare at him angrily. 

 

Shadow's eyes widened slightly. He stayed silent for a moment before speaking, in a much quieter voice than Neo had ever heard coming from him, "What?"

 

Heavy footsteps neared them, Knuckles had come closer. The echidna certainty didn't look happy, "I told you it was a bad idea to bring him here! You brought something made by Eggman to the camp, and we got attacked! Do you know how bad things could've gone!?"

 

'WOW, thing? Really? That's just plain rude..'

 

'Wait did I actually just tell them that Eggman made me?'

 

"I swear I didn't come here with any bad intentions! I just.."

 

'I feel a bit bad about what I'm about to say, but I gotta do what I gotta do.'

 

Neo looked towards the grass, lowering his voice, "I just wanted to be more than a weapon.." It wasn't exactly a lie, but he had still said it because he knew that it could make Shadow crack, and that way he could get out of this situation. And by the way Shadow had slightly tensed up, he could tell that it worked. 

 

Knuckles looked him up and down intensely, "I don't buy it. You're hiding something." Panic surged throughout the blue hedgehog. How could Knuckles see through him so easily? Luckily before anything more could happen, Amy spoke up. 

 

"I believe him. If robots like Omega could break free from Eggman, I think that it would be much more likely that he's telling the truth."

 

"Amy we just got attacked by a group of badniks-", the echidna begun to protest before getting cut off by Amy. 

 

"Remember Knuckles, we help everyone who needs it! We can't just make an exception for him."

 

Knuckles sighed heavily, rubbing his temples,"I don't like this, but fine. Eggman does know where we are now though, we might have to change locations."

 

The pink hedgehog nodded, "That's true. We should set up a route to move the camp." She turned towards Shadow, "Shadow, can you put him down?"

 

Without replying Shadow dropped Neo, maybe a little roughly. He turned away, fists clenched and disappeared, Chaos controlling somewhere. 

 

Not much long after, things calmed down. Neo, who was sitting on the ground, got startled when his Chaos stabilizers crackled and activated one again. 

 

'Oh NOW they activate. Really nice timing.'

 

The blue hedgehog sighed, putting his face in his hands. 

 

______

 

The sounds of aggressive footsteps clanking against metal echoed throughout the gray hallway. Eggman's face was red, his teeth clenched. He was furious. 

 

Orbot hesitantly followed the evil genius, a porcelain cup in his hands. The cup had pink flower patterns, something clearly very fancy. It directly contradicted the anger spewing out from The Doctor. 

 

The red robot approached his creator, his optics narrowing to form a nervous smile. 

 

"Er.. Perhaps some chamomile tea to soothe you, sir? I've heard it's very calming."

 

Eggman smacked the cup out of Orbot's hands, causing the robot to shrink into himself with a yelp. The porcelain slammed against the wall, shattering into many pieces and staining the steel with tea. 

 

Orbot scampered to pick up the pieces as The Doctor continued into a room, the automatic opening and closing behind him with a hiss. 

 

Cubot came up to Orbot, gesturing towards the room Eggman had walked into, "..He looked angry."

 

The red robot let out a mechanical sigh and shook his head, inspecting one of the pieces of the cup with a melancholy look. 

 

"What a shame, that was my favorite cup."

 

Meanwhile inside Eggman's workshop, the mustached man slammed a fist against his desk with a loud bang, knocking a few tools off of it from the sheer force of the impact. Footage of Neo fighting his badniks with The Resistance played on loop on the large computer. 

 

"How dare my own creation go and betray me!? And to join those vermin above all! I'm the reason he exists, he should be more than grateful to me! Oh where did things go wrong?"

 

Grumbling, the man clicked open a file on one the monitors. It was a digital blueprint, made for something far more advanced than what the evil genius normally made. 

 

"It just goes to show how much superior machines are. Organic creatures are unpredictable, luckily since I am the most brilliant mind on this planet, I made a back up plan."

 

Eggman started writing code vigorously. Minutes and hours passed by quickly, however The Doctor paid no mind to the passage of time, only focused on his goal. 

 

Orbot and Cubot checked on him occasionally, but each time they decided that it was not worth risking their safety to properly bother their boss while he was in the middle of something so big. 

 

Once done with the coding, the evil genius moved on to the actual building of whatever mechanical monstrosity he had come up with this time. Clanking and clattering noises spewed out from inside the workshop, interrupted only by the occasional cackling of Eggman. 

 

Eventually, the robot was done. Eggman's face twisted into a toothy grin as he stood up, securing the energy source into his metal creation. 

 

"Ohoho! This time those pests won't know what's coming to them, and the failed hedgehog will face my wrath for his betrayal!", Eggman returned to the computer, setting the last requirements. When everything was completed, he pressed the red button he had built into his desk. He could've just used his computer, but buttons were always much more dramatic, and Eggman was one for flair. 

 

Electricity surged through the workshop, lighting the room with it's crackling movements. The battery inside the robot started to gain power, starting to resemble something made out of lighting with the glowing coming from it. 

 

Loud whirring sounds started coming from both the computer and the mechanic creation. Suddenly, as quick as it had begun, the electricity ceased. 

 

All was silent and nothing was happening, so much so that Eggman started to wonder if there had been some kind of malfunction.

 

Until two green optics flickered on.

Notes:

Yeesh this one was more difficult to write than I thought it would be, Shadow is really hard to write, sorry if he's too OOC

As always shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3runa discord server

Chapter 14: Chapter 13

"..And that's our plan! Any questions?"

 

Amy stood in front of her fellow Resistance members. Not all of them were there of course, however most were.

 

A large base, covered in various metals stood tall above them, casting a large shadow. Despite the well-kept condition most of the building was in, it was clear that this was an unused, abandoned one, obvious by the large red mustached logo on the steel with it's paint starting to chip and peel away. Eggman never would let his active bases have a damaged logo of his face, the evil genius' ego wouldn't allow it. 

 

"Yeah, just one.", Knuckles spoke up, gesturing off-handedly towards Neo, "Why did we take him along with us and not someone else?"

 

Neo stammered at himself being mentioned, looking almost offended. He crossed his arms, annoyed. For the past few days The Resistance had been in the process of changing locations since their previous position had been compromised. Of course Knuckles was trying to catch something off about him as much as he could during that time, but the echidna rarely had enough time considering he was working with Amy to plan routes.

 

Of course he never could catch anything, there was nothing to catch. Neo was starting to get pretty fed up with the constant skeptics of Knuckles though. Something else to note about the previous days was that surprisingly, Shadow hadn't bothered him much the past couple of days which the blue hedgehog was still very confused about. 

 

Amy tilted her head towards the echidna, squinting her eyes, "Knuckles, is this about Neo being made by Eggman?"

 

"Well yes, I mean we still can't be sure he hasn't been lying to out faces! I'm telling you, he's hiding something." Knuckles continued, "Not only that, but we're looking at an abandoned Eggman base, if something goes wrong here he might not be able to protect himself. What happens if we can't either?"

 

"I'm gonna have to interrupt you right there," Neo interjected with a slightly irritated tone, "I might be very new to this whole.. Thing, but I've saved myself from a bunch of situations before. I'm not defenseless or anything."

 

Vector nodded at the blue hedgehog's words, "Now that I think about it, you were holding yer own pretty well when those badniks attacked." The crocodile turned swiftly towards Charmy who was buzzing speedily behind him, giggling every so often in excitement. 

 

"Charmy! Quit wasting your energy, save it for when we enter the base!"

 

"See Knuckles?", Amy put a hand on her hip, " Plus, Tails' scans say that the defense systems won't activate unless Eggman knows we're here. This is the perfect setting for Neo to get familiar with Resistance missions! Tails, Tangle and Whisper have already done these tons of times before and with how many people we are this'll be quick. Then we can go back to the new camp and continue helping set up a new temporary base!"

 

Knuckles sighed heavily, "Okay, fine. But I have a real bad feeling about this."

 

The bee halted for a moment, solely to pull a silly face towards Vector, sticking his tongue out at the crocodile. 

 

"Blehh you can't make me do anything!!"

 

Vector groaned as Charmy started laughing while continuing buzzing around. He rubbed his temples with a sigh, 

 

"Kid you're such a pain in my tail sometimes.."

 

"Don't worry Vector, I believe that Charmy's plentiful energy will be enough for when we enter the building." Espio commented with a smirk on his face, arms crossed. 

 

"Okay everyone, remember," Amy clapped her hands to get everyone's attention again, "We're going to split up into groups of two and meet up on the other side. Pick up anything that could be useful, especially if it is metal parts, Tails could find a use for those."

 

"Vector and Charmy, you'll be one group. Shadow, Neo you two will be the second group-"

 

"Actually Amy," Eyes turned to the purple chameleon, "If it's not a problem, I'd like to be paired up with Neo instead."

 

Shadow raised an eye at that, but stayed silent regardless. Amy blinked, pausing for a moment before speaking again, "Uh, sure? Alright then, Espio you're with Neo. So you're going to be a group with Knuckles, Shadow. I'll be with Gadget."

 

The ebony hedgehog nodded at that and Neo internally thanked Espio for saving him from the third wrath of Shadow. 

 

They finally entered the abandoned base as the cool air swept over them. The building itself however was damp, reeking of mold beginning to form. Neo coughed at the smell, quickly realizing that he was the only person who seemed to be that affected. 

 

'Aw, seriously? Looks like my sense of smell IS stronger than average. That's gonna be annoying.'

 

_____

 

Knuckles and Shadow walked through the dusty hallways. There was a door to their left. The two exchanged glances and entered the room, the door hissing open and shut behind them. 

 

The inside of the room was filled with old metal scraps, as expected from one of Eggman's bases. It was cluttered, and with the large room it could take a while to search thoroughly, so it was a good thing there was two of them. 

 

Shadow turned to Knuckles, "I will search this side," he pointed to the right half of the area, "Do not get in my way. There are many rooms to look through so we must work quickly."

 

The echidna shrugged as he went towards the other side of the room, "Right, we should be quick. Every second we save is another advantage we have against Eggman.The quicker we are, the quicker we can defeat him."

 

Pausing for a second, Shadow sent a glance at his way, "Are you just saying that so you can go back to guarding the Master Emerald?" 

 

"That is a part of it, yes. The Master Emerald being safe is absolutely a priority. But I'm aware that for such a thing to happen, especially in this state of the world, we need to defeat The Doctor."

 

"He's going to pay for everything he's done."

 

Shadow nodded, acknowledging Knuckles' words before turning back to start his search. Knuckles also started looking at his own side, rummaging through a pile near him. 

 

Minutes ticked by in awkward silence as the two searched around the room. Eventually Knuckles couldn't keep ignoring the elephant in the room. 

 

"Shadow." The sudden break of the quiet caught the hedgehog's attention, "We need to talk about Neo."

 

The ebony hedgehog was quiet for a few moments before carefully replying, "What about him?"

 

Knuckles stopped his search, "I don't understand how you can trust him."

 

"I don't. I believe I made that very clear."

 

"Right, right, I meant, do you really believe what he's saying? About him having good intentions?", Knuckles corrected himself quickly. 

 

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Shadow crossed his arms, turning to the echidna, "Only time will tell after all."

 

The echidna seemed frustrated, his tone tense, "If only time will tell, why did you bring him to The Resistance immediately?!"

 

Shadow sighed, "We have discussed this before, echidna. There is no reason to stay stuck on this topic."

 

"Shadow you brought someone made by Eggman, by Ivo Robotnik to The Resistance."

 

Scarlet eyes narrowed, "So the problem is that he was made by a Robotnik?"

 

"I-what? That's not what I was-" The echidna looked at the ebony hedgehog up and down, his eyes widening with realization as he raised his voice, "No. You cannot be serious. Are you seriously letting this slide just because you and him are similar?!"

 

"Must I explain every decision I make to you?" He sounded annoyed, fed up with this conversation. 

 

Knuckles threw his arms up in frustration, "When the things you do could be potentially catastrophic, then yes I expect you to explain! Putting The Resistance at risk puts the whole planet in danger of Eggman! That's the exact kind of thing we're trying to prevent!" The echidna lowered his hands, pointing at Shadow. 

 

"That's the exact kind of thing you promised to prevent."

 

The hedgehog grabbed Knuckles' arm harshly, pulling him closer. Shadow's voice dropped to a cold whisper as his eyes, filled with barely contained anger bore into Knuckles' own. 

 

"Don't you dare cross that line echidna." He hissed out, "Don't you dare use that against me."

 

Knuckles stayed silent before sighing and pulling his arm out of Shadow's grasp. The echidna took a step back to give the other space. He knew he should probably de-escalate the situation at this point. 

 

"I admit, that was uncalled for." Knuckles took a deep breath, "..We have more important things to do than fight each other."

 

Shadow was quiet, his eyes still filled with anger, but he nodded stiffly. 

 

_____

 

"Why would Eggman randomly abandon this base? It looks fine other than the stuff that came after it got abandoned."

 

Neo walked side by side with Espio. So far since they'd split up from the group, there wasn't a room nearby so they were still searching. 

 

The chameleon let out a thoughtful hum, "I'm not sure. The Doctor has many bases across the planet, he may not have had a use for this one anymore."

 

"Could be. It could also just be that he's weird as hell." 

 

The blue hedgehog snorted at his own remark. Espio chuckled softly, keeping his eyes on Neo, "Perhaps."

 

The blue hedgehog tilted his head at Espio as he walked, not really paying attention to his surroundings. The area was similar to the base he had woken up in, so Neo wasn't too worried. "Um, why'd you want to group with me anyway? Don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful you did because uh, well, if you hadn't I would be stuck with Shadow.. So.."

 

"Well you are a new member of The Resistance. I figured that getting to know you better would be good as it could help in the future as we are allies now." Espio spoke very calmly, that was something Neo noticed. He spoke like this was a calculated move. The hedgehog ignored this, after all Espio was a ninja and from what he could remember the chameleon was always more of a collected person anyway. 

 

"Oh, I guess that makes sense then."

 

A silence settled around the two, but it didn't feel awkward or wrong. 

 

'I'm glad it doesn't feel uncomfortable with the silence. This smell is already making me feel way too weird..'

 

'You know, I haven't really had time to think about it but.. I've still not seen Sonic anywhere, and no one has even mentioned him! Isn't that weird considering I'm in a universe that's supposed to be focused on Sonic?'

 

'Hmm.. Maybe he doesn't exist in this universe somehow? It could also be a complete coincidence that I haven't seen him. I'll need to figure this out somehow.'

 

Espio cleared his throat to get Neo's attention, "I apologize if this is an intrusive question but what was it like with The Doctor?"

 

"Uh, hmm.." Neo thought carefully to his time in Eggman's base. He wasn't there for more than a week of course, but the things he could remember at the moment were mostly negative. A grimace settled on his muzzle as he started subconsciously scratching at the cuffs of his gloves. His voice was slightly tense, like he really didn't want to talk about it. 

 

"I mean, it wasn't really.. Good. As I said he was weird, like the creepy kind of weird. I still don't understand how he could look so threatening while looking like that!"

 

Neo stopped walking in front of Espio, turning to the chameleon to properly collect his thoughts while talking. 

 

"I guess Orbot and Cubot were fine. It was..interesting that they insisted on calling me, and I quote, 'lil bro', though."

 

Something on the ceiling caught Espio's eye. He looked up, his eyes widening at the certainly unstable ceiling, probably about to collapse by the way it was cracking. 

 

"Neo watch out!"

 

The hedgehog looked up in confusion, "Huh-?" Letting out a yelp as he saw the part of the ceiling he was under suddenly falling towards him. He pushed himself away from the area, managing to not get hit by the pieces due to his sheer speed. 

 

He stared at the collapsed ceiling that was where he was previously standing, ".. Well that could've gone really bad."

 

Espio looked at the collapsed ceiling, then back at Neo, who was now standing next to him. The chameleon's eyes were wide as he stared at Neo. Eventually he collected himself, "That was impressive. I did not realize you were that fast."

 

'This is my chance! I can find out if it really is a coincidence that I haven't seen Sonic!'

 

"Ah, it's nothing really." Neo played it off as something small, "I'm sure you've seen faster people."

 

"I have only seen similar speeds matched by Shadow, although I rarely see him go all out with his speed, so I'm not sure. I do happen to also have very fast reaction times, however I was trained for years. How long were you with Eggman again?"

 

'Oh. I guess Sonic doesn't exist. Or they haven't met him. That's.. A shame. If he was around I guess my life would be so much easier. He's such a cool guy, he could've been a major help.'

 

With his mood diminished, Neo responded. His voice was flat, almost tired now, a sudden change. "Uh, let me think." He looked at his hands, staring a bit too long as he counted. Neo eventually looked up, answering Espio's question. 

 

"I wasn't there for very long. About.. A week, I guess."

 

Espio raised an eye at that. He seemed confused, and his voice reflected that emotion. "A week? Were you at another facility most of the time then?"

 

Neo sighed, fiddling with his gloves again, "No Espio. I'm literally like, chronologically two weeks old. It's-it's weird, okay?"

 

The purple chameleon looked bewildered at the revelation. He followed with quick steps behind Neo as the other begun walking inside of the hallway again, the exit of the building faintly noticable in the dim hall. 

 

"Neo what do you mean you're two weeks o-"

 

A room caught the hedgehog's eye. It was the first they'd seen since entering the base, which also meant that it was the perfect thing for Neo to change the topic with. "Oh hey look, a room. I think we should search it instead of talking about my age. Wouldn't you agree Espio?" He sounded slightly ticked off for no apparent reason. Even Neo himself wasn't exactly sure why he felt annoyed, but he supposed emotions were like that sometimes. 

 

As Neo moved towards the mechanical doors Espio followed, his gold eyes were concentrated. "Well, I.. Suppose so."

 

The doors hissed open as they entered. Neo immediately began looking around, like he wanted this to be over already. Maybe he did. Espio begrudgingly started doing the same, searching around the room. 

 

'I'm so sick of this. I just want to go home, but where the hell am I supposed to go when I don't even know where home is?! How am I supposed to go home when I can't even remember who I'm supposed to be?!'

 

Neo barely registered his hands starting to tremble in frustration. He had a new body, a new name, but he didn't want to be a new person. And he tried his best to prevent that, but how could he? How could he know if the 'person' he was now is who he's supposed to be? 

 

'And Sonic probably doesn't even exist. Why am I so upset about this? It's such a stupid thing but.. Damn it, can't I have just one thing!?'

 

Just then, a glint caught his eye. It was probably just a piece of scrap metal, but something pushed him to investigate. Going over to where he had seen the object, he picked it up, sighing in disappointment as it turned out to just be a tiny piece of metal. 

 

The hedgehog was just about to put it back down when he noticed something. He brought the metal closed to his face, inspecting it carefully. Crimson eyes widened as he realized what this was. 

 

'No way. Is this- it doesn't even look scratched or dented!'

 

It was the key. The key to the Prototype Dimensional Travel device. The one he has seen marked with such specific and detailed measurements. It's shape was too familiar to not be able to recognize. He had a chance. He actually had a chance to go back. 

 

He stared down at the metal, staring it like it had saved his life. And perhaps it would, he couldn't know for sure. 

 

Gently closing his fists around the key after seeing his stomach churning reflection on there, he carefully put it into his quillls, making sure Espio hadn't noticed. He debated if he should tell The Resistance the truth about himself now that he had the key, but ultimately decided against it. 

 

'They already don't trust me, I'll just have to wait until they do. That way it'll be a much easier conversation.'

 

Something crossed his mind suddenly, he glanced off-handedly at Espio, his mood much better now, "Hey, don't you think it's a little weird that we haven't seen any badnik parts around here? It's like they were never here, which would be weird since this is Eggman's base, abandoned or not."

 

Before Espio could respond, like on cue a mechanical voice blasted through speakers as a siren started blaring through the base, making Neo flinch out of instinct. 

 

"[INTRUDERS DETECTED. DEPLOYING SECURITY MEASURES.]"

 

Espio and Neo shot a single glance at each other before rushing out of the room only to see badniks appearing out of holes in the walls that previously weren't there. Neo immediately looked tonthe exit door, noticing it was starting to close. A panic settled inside the hedgehog, his quills bristling in alarm. He pointed towards the exit, "We need to get out of here, NOW!"

 

The chameleon nodded and they took off towards the exit. Neo, despite how desperately he wanted to zip out of there, ran slower than he wished to since Espio probably wasn't as fast as him. They got closer and closer to the exit, but the door was equivalently getting closer to well, closing shut. 

 

Right as they were about to make it, Neo noticed that Espio wasn't directly behind him anymore. He turned back, seeing Espio kick off a badnik that had grabbed onto his leg. With the way the door was going, he wouldn't make it out. 

 

Not unless he had some help, of course. 

 

Neo glanced between Espio and the door, suddenly shooting off towards the chameleon. He grabbed Espio's arm and ran back to the door as fast as he could, barely getting himself and Espio through the door as it closed. 

 

They landed into the grass, falling in their backs. They both stayed there a few seconds to catch their breath before Espio sat up. 

 

".. Thank you."

 

Pushing himself up on his forearms, Neo stayed quiet, just nodding. Espio stood up as he saw the other Resistance members. 

 

"Looks like everyone else got here before us."

 

"ESPIO!!!"

 

Charmy charged towards Espio, wrapping his arms around the chameleon. Espio remained calm, responding back with a simple "Hello Charmy."

 

Vector came up to his fellow detectives. He looked the same, but there was a hint of relief in his eyes. "Heya Espio, glad to yer okay. We haven't been here for long but you were the last ones to get out."

 

Espio nodded at the crocodile, "I can say the same about you two, Vector."

 

Meanwhile Neo actually sat up in the grass. He rubbed his face, sighing quietly before hearing footsteps crunching in the grass towards him. The blue hedgehog looked up, seeing Amy. Well, at least it was her and not Shadow or Knuckles. 

 

She kneeled down to his level, her face compassionate, "Hey. Not the best first mission, huh?" Amy had an awkward smile now, even looking a little bummed that his first mission had gone awry. 

 

"Yeah, I guess."

 

"Did you find anything in there?" She asked, "Gadget and I found a bag of metals that we could give to Tails."

 

Why was her voice so soft when she was speaking to him? He didn't mind of course, but it felt.. Different considering how other people acted to him. 

 

".. We didn't get to search a lot." He replied dryly, and it wasn't technically a lie either. "I'm still not sure how the security measures got activated. How could Eggman have known we were here..?"

 

"You'd know that better I assume." A gruff voice replied to his rhetorical question even though he wasn't even involved in the conversation. Neo glared at Knuckles, suddenly standing up. From a purely objective standpoint, Knuckles wasn't really in the wrong for being suspicious. After all, this had happened two times now. But Neo really wasn't happy with being accused, especially since he knew himself that this wasn't his fault. 

 

"Dude, I had NOTHING to do with this and I'm really getting tired of you acting like this. So please, be quiet for just two seconds because I'm really not in the mood to deal with your bull-"

 

Neo's words were cut off as the sound of thrusters coming to a halt filled the area. A mechanical laugh came from the source of the noise. A laugh that was so familiar to Neo, but oh so wrong in the way that it sounded. It formed a pit of dread in his stomach, his eyes widening in horrible disbelief. 

 

"Aw, started the party without me? Well don't worry, I came anyway. Wouldn't want to miss out on all the fun now, would I?"

 

Well. It seemed that his theory that Sonic didn't exist was wrong. 

Notes:

I hope you all enjoy these chapters because it's getting really difficult to get these out every week. I had a crash out about this chapter while writing it

As always, shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki as well as the S3ruma discord server

Chapter 15: Chapter 14

'No. It can't be. This is even worse than Sonic not existing.'

 

Crimson eyes locked onto the metallic figure that had landed near the group. The robot was clearly shaped after a hedgehog, a coat of blue paint covering the metal making up the body. Two green optics were scanning them, perhaps both metaphorically and literally. Subtle sounds of humming spread through the air from the robots's core, blue energy crackling within the middle of it's torso. 

 

The lopsided grin plastered on the robot's face was unmistakable despite it's clearly malicious undertones, a chill ran through the blue hedgehog. Neo couldn't deny it no matter how much he wanted to. 

 

This was Sonic. 

 

Everyone was tense, staring at the uninvited newcomer with cautious glances. The robot hedgehog chuckled mechanically, although there was only cold contempt in his tone. 

 

"Why so tense? I thought we were all friends here!"

 

Amy took out her hammer, gripping it firmly. She sent a brief, uncertain look towards Knuckles, speaking in a low voice which directly reflected how tense the air was. 

 

"What is that?"

 

Knuckles stayed silent, analyzing the robot hedgehog while keeping his guard up. His fists were ready to hand out blows if needed, but there was a clear uncertainty in his posture. This was something unfamiliar to him after all. 

 

"..It's one of Eggman's plans, I'm sure of that."

 

The robot scoffed, feigning shock, " 'What is that'? Not who? I'm offended!" He cackled, opening his arms with a laid back attitude, not seeking worried at all despite being face to face with The Resistance, "I'll go ahead and introduce myself, the name's Sonic." Sonic pointed a clawed finger at himself, a cocky expression on his metal face, "Sonic the Hedgebot, fastest thing alive!"

 

The echidna narrowed his eyes, keeping his fists up, he replied with a cold and certain tone, "You're not alive."

 

A sudden blur of blue whizzed by him, tapping Knuckles on the shoulder, his tone was light, like he was almost bantering with his enemy, "Wow! That really breaks my heart, oh wait it can't, cuz I don't have one."

 

Knuckles spun around immediately after realizing the hedgebot was right behind him, swinging a punch towards his face. The echidna staggered forwards, eyes widening with surprise as the attempted hit missed and his fist was met only with air. 

 

A metal foot kicked him hard in the back, sending the echidna tumbling to the floor. Sonic laughed, his green optics brightening up with entertainment. "Too slow!"

 

Just like that, as if a switch had been flipped, everyone got into action. Amy leapt towards the robot, wildly swinging her hammer as she advanced closer to him. With each failed strike that Sonic dodged out of the way of, the more frustrated the pink hedgehog was starting to get. Of course, Sonic's endless taunting wasn't doing anything to help the matter. 

 

"You call that a swing? It's like you're not even trying!"

 

"Haha, okay, how about actually aiming for me next time, slowpoke?"

 

"Would you be quiet already?!" Amy gritted out with an annoyed tone of voice in the midst of yet another swing of her hammer. The hedgebot leapt out of the attack's way yet again, grinning shamelessly as he did so. 

 

"How about nah? It's part of my personal charm! Bet you've never met someone like me before!"

 

The pink hedgehog swung the hammer in her hands in an uppercut-like motion as she yelled out, "Yeah, but not in a good way!"

 

Something suddenly wrapped around one of Sonic's metallic limbs. Some sort of rope. He looked up at where his analytics showed the rope had come from, seeing Gadget holding onto his grappling hook in an attempt to hold Sonic still. 

 

Hah. As if that would ever work. 

 

A smug expression settled comfortably on his metal face as the mechanical hedgehog yanked the red wolf towards himself in a sudden manner. Gadget yelped as Sonic swung him via the rope directly towards Amy. The two Resistance members collided, crashing backwards. 

 

The hedgebot laughed, pretending to wipe a tear from his optics. 

 

"Oh, this is too good."

 

The hedgebot stepped to the side, catching the kunai that had been thrown towards him between two claws with an almost bored expression. He let the weapon drop, glancing towards Espio. 

 

The chameleon sent a kick in the robot's direction, face determined. Sonic dodged of course, but was quickly struck as Espio somehow managed to land a punch. He lunged towards the ninja, faltering as another kunai came at him, hitting his screen causing a crack to form. 

 

Espio emerged from behind Sonic, slamming an elbow to the side of the robot's head. Sonic staggered back, chuckling. His systems detected a wooshing sound coming from behind him and the hedgebot just barely dodged Vector's tail by activating his thrusters. Two of them now? How interesting. 

 

"Heh, you want a piece of this too big guy?"

 

Sonic flung himself backwards, straight at Vector who was behind him. He pushed himself forward, using Vector himself as a platform to build momentum, pushing the crocodile to the floor in the process. 

 

Using the new momentum, the hedgebot leapt towards Espio, grabbing a hold of the purple chameleon's own tail suddenly. With a surprising amount of force, Sonic pulled Espio by his tail and slammed him on the ground again and again with a grin until finally throwing him somewhere to his right. 

 

Before he could start gloating again, something slammed against his mechanical torso, leaving a dent in it. Shadow appeared above him, expression as indifferent as ever like this was just a regular battle, bringing down his foot on the hedgebot's head just as he had done to his torso. Metal clanked against metal, causing a very unpleasant sound. 

 

Sonic flew backwards via his thrusters, opening his claws apart and lunging downwards towards Shadow, who was now on the ground, with a manic grin. He swiped the razor sharp claws towards the ebony hedgehog, but Shadow got out of the attack's way. The ultimate lifeform uppercutted Sonic, although the robot seemed to barely be affected and retaliated by kneeing Shadow in the gut. 

 

Sonic pushed Shadow to the floor, landing a few punches with the same amused look on his face, even with a cracked screen. The ebony hedgehog grabbed Sonic's arm, using the metallic limb as a way to push himself upwards, gripping one if Sonic's paint coated quills. He pulled the quill in such a way that they switched positions. 

 

The two struggled on the ground for a bit before Sonic stopped, looking up at Shadow with an expression like he knew something the other didn't. He spoke in that mechanical tone of his, voice dripping with amusement. 

 

"Yeesh, you're grouping up against me, I'm just one hedgebot! Talk about unfair. Luckily, I know all about playing unfair!"

 

A noise, at an ear piercing frequency started playing from Sonic. Shadow immediately recoiled, covering his ears with his hands with gritted teeth. The other Resistance members did the same thing as well, looking physically pained at the sound. 

 

Eventually it stopped, but this time, there was another problem. 

 

The steel doors of the base that had been closed shut once they had left it, reopened, all of the badniks trapped inside of the building flowing out of it. 

 

Sonic suddenly punched Shadow under the chin while he was distracted, chuckling as he did so. The hedgebot activated his thrusters, taking flight as badniks started attacking the group. 

 

His left arm started changing with a click, forming a blaster-like structure I instead of his hand. He charged the energy, pointed down at the Mobians below who were fighting the other robots, and started firing energy beams. The hedgebot watched as they tried to dodge the projectiles while fighting, as if they were there to entertain him. They almost acted like bugs in a way, at least according to him. Like when a child would trap a bug, slowly plucking the animal's limbs off one by one as the insect thrashed, trying to get away. 

 

In the end, the bug would be crushed, and all its efforts would be in vain. 

 

He wasn't directly aiming for them, not really. What was the fun in that? Of course he was here to destroy these insignificant pests, but he could have fun while doing it, couldn't he? 

 

His systems detected a faint whizz through the air, yet Sonic pretended not the notice. Not until the bee got close enough to the hedgebot while trying to sneak up on him. What was he trying to do? Clearly something stupid like stopping him from firing lasers. 

 

Sonic grabbed the bee, holding him tightly by the wings. Charmy made a squeaky noise in surprise, glancing at his wings nervously. The hedgebot grinned at that. 

 

"Well well well, what do we have here? A little bug I see."

 

Vector noticed the kid in Sonic's grip, his face dropping as he felt mortified at the sight, "Charmy!" Then, an enraged look crossed the crocodile's face, he was practically fuming. 

 

Charmy tried his best to keep still, his wings were fragile and he didn't want to imagine what Sonic's claws could do to them. The robot laughed at the frightened expression on Charmy's face, changing the colour of his optics to be red. 

 

"Yes, that's right. I'm the evil, scary robot! Ooooh! Now then, since you're a bug, which of your limbs shall I tear off first?" 

 

Sonic spoke in a forced 'evil' manner, cackling at Charmy's yelp of fear. He was having a great time messing with the bee. Who knew tormenting children was so fun? 

 

He glanced at Vector, if looks could kill, the hedgebot would've been powered off long ago, that was for sure. The blue hedgebot shouted at the crocodile, his voice unserious as ever. 

 

"Hey! You! Think fast!"

 

Sonic launched Charmy through the air down at the ground at a speed where the bee wasn't able to open his wings. Charmy cried out with fear as he was falling, closing his eyes as he got closer and closer to the floor. 

 

Vector dived in the direction Charmy was going, catching the kid right before he hit the ground, but getting knocked to side and rolling a few times in the process. 

 

Meanwhile, Neo was trying to help with the wave of badniks. He punched the optics of one of them, throwing it towards another of the same type. 

 

'Man, this day is really not going well. Now we have to deal with an evil robot Sonic. I would've just preferred the blue blur to NOT have existed, cuz like, an evil Sonic is not a Sonic I wanna face. The only things I know for sure are the facts about Sonic's universe and they all point me to one thing right now; DO NOT FIGHT SONIC.'

 

He sighed, frustrated at this whole situation. Eggman just had to mess things up at any available moment huh? The blue hedgehog spindashed into a robot, tearing it apart with his quills. 

 

Bouncing back, he found himself next to Amy. She had a serious look on her face, a look that reminded you that despite how she acted with people she knew, she was still the leader of The Resistance. 

 

She slammed her hammer down on an unsuspecting badnik, crushing it into tiny pieces. Neo kicked another one away, still not that used to his new strength. 

 

'I guess at the very least I seem to be getting better at this fighting thing.'

 

"Do you fight so many badniks usually?"

 

Amy swung her hammer at a row of badniks, destroying them with no issue at all. 

 

"No, not usually. Not until you came around."

 

Neo sighed at that, muttering under his breath, "How very lucky for me.."

 

He looked up, seeing a bee badnik. An idea crossed his mind, he had never tried using the homing attack, had he? Learning it could be useful, especially since he was fighting a lot more than he had ever fought before. Well, he assumed so at least, he couldn't be sure. 

 

The blue hedgehog locked his eyes on his target, and jumped up, only to fall back on his feet, wobbling slightly. Amy sent him a confused look to which be responded with a simple, "I'm trying something."

 

How did the real Sonic describe the homing attack again? 'Don't think; roll'? He crouched down again, pushing himself to the air, a slight curve in his posture so that he ended up spinning slightly and hit the badnik, albeit falling on his face right after destroying it. 

 

He celebrated this small victory internally before getting back up, noticing that Amy wasn't near anymore. 

 

The pink hedgehog had ran up to Knuckles, the echidna turning to Amy with a confused look after absolutely turning a badnik to junk. 

 

Amy pointed up to Sonic, who had begun firing lasers as he laughed yet again, she gripped her hammer firmer, a sort of rage building up within her, "Knuckles, I need you to throw me up there!"

 

Knuckles nodded at Amy's commanding tone, crouching down as to give her some leverage. He launched her upwards, Sonic right in her trajectory, before turning back to help out with the badniks. 

 

Amy swung her hammer down at Sonic, leaving him with a crooked arm and eliciting a genuine gasp from him since he was too busy shooting to pay attention to his surroundings. Her victory was short lived however as Sonic got a hold of her hammer, and her hammer only. 

 

Holding onto the handle for dear life as he stared down at the ground far below her. Sonic rolled his eyes, which had returned back to their original colour, faking a yawn.

 

"Eh, how predictable. This kind of thing JUST happened."

 

He snorted, looking at her, at the ground and then finally at the hammer. His optics brightened up with some sort of sick amusement and he started speaking with a slick tone of voice. 

 

"Hey, I just realized. If I drop you and the hammer right now, directly below, the hammer will crush you! Just like what the rest of you are doing to my fellow robots.", he laughed, "Well, it's not like I really care about them, but you know what they say! An eye for an eye."

 

He shook the hammer a little, causing the pink hedgehog to cling to it tighter before suddenly shaking it with such vigor that Amy started falling, dropping the weapon after her. 

 

He stared down at her, sighing, "I swear if someone saves her, I'm going to kill them personally."

 

Unluckily for Neo, he ended up being the one who saw Amy's descent. He obviously rushed towards her in a blue blur, holding her bridal style, getting her out of the hammer's way with time to spare. 

 

The weapon crash down behind them as Amy looked stunned. A silence settled between them, before Amy spoke up quietly. 

 

"..You saved me."

 

She stared directly at Neo, who just gave her an awkard smile in return as he put her down, "Uh, of course I did, why wouldn't I?"

 

She cleared her throat, walking over and taking her hammer in her hands. "I wasn't aware you were that fast."

 

A near crash rang through the air, Neo's quils raising up at the sound, "Hey, just an idea. Let's talk about this after the killer robots are defeated."

 

Amy impaled a robot coming up to her with the back of her hammer's handle, nodding, "Agreed!"

 

Neo was about to turn back to his own share of badniks, ignoring the strange way Amy had looked at him, when suddenly Sonic swept down at him. His left hand had reverted back to his claws. 

 

Neo leapt backwards, ears tilting towards his skull. Sonic seemed annoyed, which probably was not a good sigh at all. Green optics looked onto him, making it clear that Sonic was intentionally, specifically going after Neo. 

 

A looming sense of dread filled the blue hedgehog, he swallowed his own spit, breathing picking up oh so slightly. He couldn't fight Sonic, not only because of his capabilities being far lower than his, but because Sonic robot or not, was important to him. 

 

'Well, maybe I can fight this guy,' he thought as Sonic came towards him in order to swing again, 'I just have to think of him as a fake Sonic.'

 

Neo spindashed under the hedgebot, only to go back in his direction, placing a foot on the metal being's back. He grabbed the robot's right arm, pulling it backwards with his back as the leverage. 

 

'Think of him as a fake Sonic, remember that Neo. The real Sonic is a hedgehog, not a hedgebot.' Trying to reassure himself, he pulled harder with a newfound anger that settled, seething within his chest. How dare this robot tarnish the real deal's image like this? 

 

Sonic grunted, optics narrowing as Neo kept pulling with such a strength that the arm would come off any second now. The hedgebot turned his left arm in to a laser blaster with a mechanical Huff once again, directly pointing it at Neo. 

 

Crimson eyes widened as he dropped down with a yelp, an energy beam going directly through where his head was a moment before. In the process he'd let go of Sonic's arm, to which the hedgebot, who was clearly not pleased with his arm almost getting pulled out, immediately kicked him up in the air. 

 

Sonic began attacking him left and right with barrages of punches, only serving to push the hedgehog higher in the sky. Eventually he kicked Neo away, hoping that maybe he'd fall to his death. 

 

Neo naturally didn't want to die, so despite only performing the homing attack once, he decided to give it another shot. Luckily he managed to hit his target and grab onto the hedgebot. 

 

He let out a brief sigh of relief at not dying before relentlessly punching Sonic's already cracked screen to the point where half of his screen was just a bunch of coloured lines. 

 

Sonic finally grabbed a hold of Neo's arm with a low growl, keeping it in place firmly. He looked Neo, who was trying to get his arm out of Sonic's grip, up and down like he was judging the hedgehog. Sonic made a sound like one would by clicking their tounge. 

 

"..Dude, seriously? YOU'RE what The Doctor made to fight The Resistance?"

 

Neo blinked nervously, opening his mouth with an unsure expression, "Uh, I gue-"

 

He was cut off by Sonic's condescending laugh, which went on for too long. The hedgebot sighed mechanical after his fit of laughter, a slight smile on his face which was anything but kind. 

 

"Ah, no wonder I'm the better option. Not only did you betray The Empire, but you're also pathetic as hell! Seriously, you're a total amateur at fighting, and this is my first fight!"

 

"Makes you wonder why The Doctor even put killing you as a seperate objective than wiping out the Resistance scums."

 

Sonic pretended to think for a moment before cheerfully continuing talking, "Oh yeah, probably because he's way too embarrassed that you're his creation!"

 

He chuckled, bringing his blaster arm next to Neo's face, "Well this was fun, but I'm starting to get bored. I'll just end you and get back to your friends."

 

Neo started kicking and thrashing more against Sonic, but to avail as the weapon charged. Right as it was about to fire a direct shot that would end with Neo's certain death, Charmy of all people grabbed the arm, pushing it suddenly so that it was pointed at Sonic's face instead. 

 

Sonic's remaining optic widened in horror, "Oh, oh no-"

 

The blast hit Sonic directly, pushing him backwards as he cried out, voice glitching. He dropped Neo in the process, who was luckily grabbed by Charmy by his arms and carefully brought to the ground whereas Sonic plummeted. 

 

The hedgebot wasn't even given a chance to hit the ground before Knuckles punched him, hard, sending him to the side where Amy stood with her hammer, slamming the weapon against the damaged robot, sending him flying off with a trail of smoke behind him.

 

Neo stared after him, feeling pleased at the sight, 'I guess now I know why the main cast felt off, it's because they didn't have a Sonic.'

 

The adrenaline of the fight eventually started wearing off as the bruises Neo had gotten from Sonic started aching. He winced, rubbing his arm, now thinking a little more clearly that the high had worn off. 

 

'I.. Do have to wonder. The robot hedgehog of Sonic's universe was Metal Sonic, and I remember discussion about him getting redeemed. In fact, it even happened in Archie with Shard.'

 

'So could this version of Sonic switch sides as well? Should we have tried a different approach to this?"

 

Neo sighed, rubbing his temples. 

 

'Whatever. I'm too tired and achy to think about this. Maybe later.'

Notes:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

That's how I feel right now

Shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma Discord server

Extra extra shoutout to dxuki for saving this chapter, thanks bro 🙏🙏

Chapter 16: Chapter 15

Steel doors opened up with a hiss, metal clanking against metal as Sonic walked inside. His steps were unstable, probably due to the damage on his right foot from his rough landing after being hit away by those Resistance pests. 

 

He clenched his fists at the mere thought of them, walking silently through the barren hallway. How could he have lost, not only to The Resistance, but to that damn traitor?! 

 

Every wobbly step he took infuriated him more, half of his vision still gone. His screen crackled with static for a second before returning to it's previous state of only partly working. He let out a mechanical sigh, seeing Orbot and Cubot in the hallway. They seemed to be discussing something, before realizing his presence.

 

Orbit looked up towards Sonic, squinting his optics and putting on a smile as he clasped his hands together, Cubot looking at him only with a few moments of delay. 

 

"Oh! Sonic! I see that you've returned from your missio-" Orbot let out a shriek in unison with Cubot as he finally processed what he was looking at. The two robot minions clung to each other, continuing their frightened screaming for a prolonged amount of time. 

 

Eventually they stopped. Sonic crossed his arms, although it looked odd considering one of his arms was crooked due to Amy's hammer. The half of the hedgebot' face which had been blasted by his own laser was partly melted, the barren endoskeleton below the steel clearly visible. Wires of all kinds were stuffed beside it, some poking out of the gaping hole in Sonic's face, crackling occasionally as electricity ran through them. 

 

He spoke with an annoyed voice, strained with a static undertone, narrowing his one remaining optic, "What? Have you two idiots never seen an endoskeleton before?"

 

Orbot let go of Cubot, hesitation lacing his tone, "Well, only in the blueprints really." He turned to Cubot, who was still clinging on to him, shaking the yellow robot until he eventually let go. 

 

"I'm assuming your mission, er, didn't go as planned?"

 

Sonic glared, silent, but Cubot didn't seem to get the hint as usual. He threw his hands up, voice not changing at all from how he usually spoke. 

 

"Not go as planned? Are you kiddin'? Our bigger little bro must've really taken care of our littler little bro!" Cubot narrowed his two optics, lowering his voice to a whisper-shout, "And not take care of in the good way!!"

 

"First of all," Sonic spoke up, bringing a fist down on Cubot's head with a clank, a slight smirk appearing on his muzzle at his own action, "I'm a higher authority than you, so don't call me little bro. Secondly," The hedgebot lifted up a a claw, "This was a one time thing. Of course those pests aren't gonna be able to keep me, Sonic the Hedgebot, down!"

 

He chuckled, his grin eery on his muzzle amongst all the damage around it. Sonic cockily pointed to his wrecked face, "Once I get fixed up and get my handsome face back I'll beat those guys to the ground, Sonic style!"

 

Orbot made a cheerful gesture, his voice as upbeat as he looked, "Of course, no doubt of it Sonic! Speaking of, perhaps you would like to visit The Doctor for your repairs?"

 

"Oh, yeah sure." Sonic waved dismissively as he began walking, or more accurately stumbling, to his destination. While he didn't exactly know where the evil genius was, he had a pretty good guess. 

 

The hedgebot walked up the entrance of Eggman's workshop, the automatic doors sliding open to let him in. As he had expected, his creator was in here, watching what Sonic could only assume was the footage recorded on his optics during his clash with The Resistance. 

 

Eggman barely glanced up from where he was sitting, watching the footage. Sonic stood behind him for a little, before getting impatient, starting to tap his foot.

 

"I see you've returned. I must say, I was.. Not pleased with your performance."

 

The Doctor turned around in his chair with a sigh, "I suppose this can be looked over just this once as it was your first official mission, however-"

 

He suddenly seemed bewildered at the actual sight of Sonic, at how much damage he had sustained. The hedgebot hadn't run a diagnostic yet, so Eggman hadn't gotten any data about the damages themselves. 

 

Eggman stood up, grabbing Sonic's face frantically with an expression that was akin to but not quite concern. 

 

"What have those animals done to my marvelous creation?! I can't believe thos ragged beasts! They wouldn't know a masterpiece if it punched them in the face!"

 

Sonic snorted, his one remaining optic glowing dimly. He didn't seem that bothered about his loss, not at the moment at least. Of course, on the inside he was still bubbling with rage and disbelief at how he was defeated by The Resistance, but the thought of getting fixed by his creator had begun to cool the rage down to a simmer. 

 

"Pft, I guess I should've punched them in the face then! I'll keep that in mind for next time though, don't you worry Doc!"

 

Eggman grumbled about something, turning back to the computer. The mustached man started typing furiously, focused on what he was currently doing. 

 

"I must analyze the footage captured from your optics to deduct the weaknesses of those Resistance pests, especially The Project's. Since he was specifically designed by my brilliant mind, he might cause some.. Trouble to The Empire." 

 

The man let out a humorless laugh, a toothy grin forming on his face filled with some sense of confidence, "Ohoho! But of course, against my cunning intelligence, he will be crushed by The Eggman Empire just like all the others."

 

Sonic walked over to where The Doctor was, leaning on the currently unoccupied chair, "Yeah yeah of course not. But what about my repairs?"

 

"Well you have the ability to repair yourself, do you not? It's a part of the new system I implemented in you, this is the perfect opportunity to test out if it works as intended! The parts necessary for your repairs are right over there."

 

The hedgebot stayed silent for a little bit, walking towards the parts. He picked one up, inspecting it. Sonic seemed.. disappointed in a way, before perking up and glancing at Eggman. 

 

"Hold on, my thrusters are damaged too! I don't have the authorization to perform any modifications on my thrusters."

 

Eggman waved him off, "Ah, I will attend to those later. Go repair yourself first in the repair room, I will see how well you perform and then fix you myself. For now however, I shall use my marvelous intelligence to find new ways to crush The Resistance!"

 

Grabbing the parts, Sonic lifted them up, something cold filling his chest. It was probably just the metal he was made of, or that's what he tried to convince himself it was. 

 

"Right.." He made his way back towards the door. The hedgebot glanced back at The Doctor, perhaps hoping that he'd change his mind suddenly. Of course, as expected, Eggman wasn't even looking at the blue robot. 

 

The doors hissed open once again to let Sonic out, closing behind him as he left. Orbot and Cubot were outside of the room, staring at him. He stared back, an idea forming in his head. 

 

Sonic dropped the metal parts on Cubot, "Oh no. My crooked arm has given up." The hedgebot was clearly amused, seeing Cubot struggling to hold the pieces. While they were no problem for Sonic to carry because of his strength, they were pretty heavy when in the hands of someone like Cubot. 

 

Orbot rushed to catch falling pieces as the tower of parts wobbled and ended with some parts dropping to the floor. Luckily, the round robot caught all of the parts, however just like Cubot he was struggling to keep them up. 

 

The hedgebot smirked, putting his hands behind his head before starting to walk away.

 

"Ah you guys wanna carry it for me? How kind of you! I'll be in the repair room, make sure not to damage any of my replacement parts!"

 

He chuckled at the collective groans the two other robots made, but his sly grin disappeared the moment he got out of their sight range. Sonic dropped his arms to his sides, fists clenching once again. 

 

"This is so unfair! I'm the one who got half of his head blown off! I deserve to be repaired by him, why is he giving his attention to that damn project?!"

 

Before he knew it, Sonic slammed a fist into the wall beside him, causing a small spider webbing crack on the steel surface. 

 

The hedgehog pulled his fist back, staring at his claws. He sighed mechanically, continuing his way to the repair room. 

 

"I gotta calm down. Clearly this is a one time thing, I'm his marvelous creation! Of course The Doctor prefers me over that blue furbag."

_____

 

Eventually, Orbot and Cubot managed to get to the repair room. The doors hissed open and they both entered, looking exhausted despite being robots. 

 

"We brought the parts Sonic!" 

 

Sonic walked over to Orbot, looking at the parts in his hands before smiling. 

 

"Aw shucks, what a shame, I found some spare parts in here! You can put those over there though!"

 

The two robots sighed, placing the metal parts nearby. Meanwhile the hedgebot looked over at his crooked arm, deciding that fixing the metal limb was something he should do before working on his other damaged areas. 

 

He gripped the arm, claws curling around it in a tight hold, before pulling it to the side, slowly bringing the limb back to it's regular position with a creak. Sonic let go of the arm, looking at the previously crooked part. It wasn't perfect, but it would do for now. 

 

"One of you hold up a mirror, I'm going to reconnect these wires."

 

Orbot handed Cubot a mirror, which the yellow robot held up to Sonic's face. The hedgebot grabbed a tool nearby, bringing it to the side of his face which has the gaping hole. He took one side of a broken wire, then the other one, bringing them closer to each other. The two pieces of metal started reattaching to each other as Sonic turned on the machine in his hand, a small flame welding the wires together. Then, he moved on to the next one, continuing this process until all of the wires were reconnected. 

 

Feeling pleased with himself, the hedgebot took a plate of metal from the so are parts he'd found, holding it up in front of the hole. He pushed the plate against his face carefully, making sure everything was aligned right before starting to melt the metal together with himself. 

 

He put down the tool once he was done, reaching for an already opened can of paint. Sonic squinted his optic at the label, making sure that it was the right type of paint so that it wouldn't look weird against his current coat of paint. Once that was confirmed, Sonic took the paintbrush inside of the can, painting over the gray hue of the metal, checking over his accuracy frequently in the mirror. 

 

Putting down the can of paint, along with the paintbrush once he was done, the hedgebot leaned down to try and fix the dent in his foot that was making his stance unstable. However the second his hand reached over to it, Sonic recoiled, his systems harshly alerting him that he was unauthorized to modify that area. 

 

Sonic sighed in annoyance, there were thrusters in his feet, yes, but he wasn't even trying to access them! Well, his systems detected it as such anyway. A faint doubt echoed at the back of his mind, why was he even unauthorized to access his thrusters? It was his body, wasn't it?

 

Thhis question was quickly pushed away by the blue robot as he decided that he should fix his screen instead. Although he wasn't going to modify his thrusters regardless, they were mostly fine. A little beat up, but he had managed to use them to get back to base, so they were probably fine. The Doctor would fix them soon anyway. 

 

"Orbot, hand me the B7000 adhesive and a new screen."

 

The round robot scurried around the room, handing said items to Sonic with a smile and a squint in his optics. 

 

"Here you go Sonic!"

 

Sonic stared at him strangely, like it was weird that he was so cheerful, which was a little odd overall. Regardless, the hedgebot shrugged, applying the adhesive to the back of the unused screen carefully before putting down the glue, holding the screen with one hand. He reached the claw of his other hand towards his current screen, gently prying it off and putting it down. 

 

Of course now he wasn't really able to see, but his scans acted as his sight. Sonic flipped the new screen, now holding it with both hands, careful that he claws wouldn't crack this screen either. The hedgebot brought it up to his face, pushing it against it. 

 

He let his hands stay there for a minute before finally pulling away. Two green optics flickered on again and Sonic, now having regained both his optics, grabbed the mirror out if Cubot's hands, inspecting himself. Sonic grinned, finger gunning his reflection. 

 

"Well, lookin' good there handsome!"

 

His voice had become fully clear again, no sign of the previous static-y sound. He pushed the mirror back in Cubot's hands, looking extremely proud of himself. 

 

"I think my amazing work here deserves a reward! I can use organic materials to provide extra fuel for myself, so I'm going to make something to do that!"

 

Cubot chimed in, "Oh oh! Can we help? Pretty please!"

 

Sonic though about it for a second before grimacing and replying back with a quick "No." Cubot looked especially disappointed, Orbot coming next to him to comfort his fellow robot. Of course, Sonic truly couldn't care less, and left the room, making his way to Eggman's kitchen. 

 

The hedgebot opened a random food generator, he was a robot after all, so it would be the most logical thing to do. Plus, he was feeling a little adventurous. 

 

The generator finally settled on a type of food, and Sonic seemed very intrigued about it. 

 

"A chili dog, huh? How interesting."

 

_______

 

Sonic leaned on the kitchen counter, ignoring the mess that he had caused during his quest of making a chili dog. Although he didn't seem bothered, quite the opposite really. 

 

The hedgebot took a bite of the chili dog he had made, optics brightening up at the taste. 

 

"Oh, wow yeah, this is really good!"

Notes:

I don't feel good, but the update schedule does not wait
Yay, Sonic focused chapter.

Shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki, and the S3ruma discord server

Chapter 17: Chapter 16

A wave of tranquility swept over Neo as he came to be. He was lying in something soft, face turned up against the sky. His breaths were soft, almost as if he was sleeping. But Neo was awake, despite his eyes being closed. 

 

He slowly opened his eyes, being met with the sky, clear as day. Neo sat up, looking at his surroundings. It seemed like he was in a field, daffodils which he could've sworn weren't there before sprouting all around him. The hedgehog wasn't panicked or surprised at this, instead greeting the new flowers with a calm smile. 

 

His fingers brushed against the delicate yellow petals of a flower next to him. He took his time sitting there, enjoying the sole company of the plants. 

 

Finally, he stood up, rubber boots rustling the grass beneath. There was a house in the distance, no, a home. Without thinking, Neo started walking to it. Something was familiar about it, something was calling to him. 

 

Eventually, he reached the front of the door, eyes scanning the walls as if he was searching for something he himself didn't know. Neo reached his hand toward the doorknob, twisting it open when the air around him stilled. 

 

The room was dark as he entered, nothing seemed to visible. Neo let go of the door, but when he looked back at where it was supposed to be, it was gone. 

 

Lights suddenly turned on in the room, revealing hundreds upon hundreds of mirrors lined up in the walls, all showing reflections of him. But it wasn't really him, was it? He wasn't a hedgehog, he wasn't! 

 

Neo clenched his fists, trying to avoid looking at those reflections, but he couldn't close his eyes no matter how much he tried. Then, the hedgehogs in the mirrors started shifting, changing. Their eyes became bloodshot, bulging like they were about to pop. It was sickening. 

 

They started reaching out towards him, fingers elongating as they reached out of the mirror, their faces turning grotesque as those bulging eyes started melting. 

 

Whispers flooded Neo's ears, but no matter how much he tried to understand, he couldn't make out what they were saying. 

 

Thump. Thump. Thump. 

 

The sounds got louder, Neo covered his ears desperately, closing his eyes, trying to shut out the incomprehensible sounds, but to no avail. 

 

'I wanna leave, I wanna be somewhere else! Please-just please!'

 

And suddenly, the whispers stopped. Everything stopped. He slowly opened his eyes again, chest heaving with heavy breaths. Neo was back in the field again, except there were no daffodils around this time. Well, that was fine he supposed. At least he was away from the mirrors. 

 

He spotted a blue figure nearby. Neo narrowed his eyes, trying to make out who this person was before realizing that it was Sonic. Not Sonic the robot, but the hedgehog himself! Crimson eyes lit up as he rushed over to the hedgehog who had his back turned. 

 

Neo tilted his head in confusion when Sonic, who had to have heard him, didn't react at all. Well, maybe he was just deep in thought. Neo reached a hand towards Sonic when suddenly his wrist was grabbed in a harsh and painful grip. 

 

Neo gasped as Sonic turned around, revealing the robotic face he'd seen just a few days ago. Green optics narrowed in cruel amusement, a malicious expression settling on the robot's face. 

 

Metal claws swiped towards Neo, plunging into his torso before he could even react. Neo let out a choked noise, watching in ever growing horror as blood started dripping from the wounds. He looked back up at Sonic, something on the other's torso catching his sudden attention. 

 

In the middle of Sonic's chest was his core, of course that was normal, but what wasn't was the blood that had started dripping from it, almost at the same rhythm as the blood coming out of where he had stabbed Neo. 

 

The blood dripped, and dripped, and dripped. Sonic didn't seem to react to it, still focused on Neo himself. The hedgebot's smile widened. He suddenly ripped his claws out of Neo's chest and-

 

Neo woke up with a sharp gasp, clutching his chest with panicked movements. His ears were pinned back, azure quills already bristled up. The hedgehog frantically looked down at his torso, letting out a shaky sigh as he saw that he was fine. 

 

'It's okay, you're okay. It was just a nightmare..'

 

He brought his hands up to his face with a still heaving chest, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a tired expression, 

 

'I know I've been thinking about what happened back at the abandoned base, but have I really been worrying about Sonic this much?'

 

The blue hedgehog sat up, wiping some sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Neo pulled the blanket off of himself, zipping the 'door' of his tent open

 

Grass crunched softly under Neo's boots as he stepped out, taking a moment to stretch his limbs. He rubbed his eyes, looking up at the sky, squinting as he tried to adjust to the sunlight. 

 

He could hear two voices not too far near him, and so after letting out a yawn, Neo looked towards the sound with a curious expression, able to properly see his surroundings now that his eyes had gotten used to the light. He saw Amy and Tails talking, the two tailed fox had a clipboard in his hands, showing whatever was on them to the pink hedgehog near him.

 

"These Chaos energy signatures are really unusual Amy! I think we should investigate at some point. If it's anything that could be useful to us, that would be great, especially if it's an energy source!"

 

Amy nodded along, seeming intrigued by Tails' words, "Oh wow! You're right Tails, there's definitely something there at least, that's for sure." She let out a thoughtful hum, "Although we're going to need to wait to see what it is. After all there's still things we need to set up around here. Great job detecting the signals Tails!"

 

Tails grinned sheepishly at Amy's words, seeming a little embarrassed. Meanwhile, Amy glanced upwards for a moment, her face brightening as she saw Neo. 

 

"Oh, good morning Neo!" She called out to him, waving the blue hedgehog over. Neo walked over to the two, morning grogginess still etched into his face. 

 

"Uhm, good morning Amy, good morning Tails."

 

Tails replied with a short 'good morning', namesakes lowering just a tiny bit. Amy smiled, tilting her head slightly. 

 

"How did you sleep? Also, you must be hungry, if you'd like there's some food crates right over there!"

 

Neo stayed quiet for just a beat too long before answering, hesitancy clear in his tone, "..I slept fine, and uh..I'm not that hungry right now.." After that nightmare he didn't have any appetite left, not at the moment at least. Amy looked confused, maybe even a little concerned, but seemed to be willing to accept that answer. 

 

'I don't think I'll be able to get my mind off of that nightmare anytime soon..Might as well ask if there's something I can do around here, it would distract me for a while at least..'

 

The blue hedgehog cleared his throat, "So, uh is there.. Anything I could do around here like.. Helping out or something.." He internally cringed at his awkward phrasing and tone, there was no way he just messed up on a simple question. 

 

"Oh! Hmm..", Amy turned to Tails, her green eyes meeting the fox's blue ones, "Do you need any help at your workshop Tails?"

 

Tails shook his head, it could've just been a trick of light, but Neo was sure he'd shaken his head just a tad bit too fast, "Ah..Not really." The fox probably didn't want to be around him too much, but really who could blame him? After all, not even Neo himself enjoyed his current situation. 

 

"Alright, in that case.." The pink hedgehog thought for a few moments before speaking up again, 

 

"Oh right! Tangle was going to categorize and carry some crates, you can help her! She's a lemur, you'll know it's Tangle when you see her." She chuckled. 

 

Neo nodded at her words, "Okay, I'll go find her then. I'll see you two later."

 

The blue hedgehog started walking away, feeling a lingering state of being watched. He looked back at Amy and Tails, but the two were back in their discussion, not looking at him. Neo shifted uncomfortably, deciding to walk over to the river. 

 

He plopped himself down at the edge of the water, seeming deep in thought. Neo squinted his eyes at the water, rubbing the underside of his muzzle as if he was thinking about the most sophisticated things. 

 

'If I wash my face with the water from this river will I get sick..?'

 

'..Eh, I'll be fine.'

 

Cupping a handful of water from the river, he splashed it onto his face, trying to wake himself up properly. Neo brought his hands down to his sides, water dripping from the fabric in a slow rhythm. The hedgehog caught his reflection in the water, instinctively turning away at the sight of his face. 

 

'.. I have a feeling that we'll see Sonic again. I wonder if I could try to get him to our side next time..'

 

He reached into the back of his head, rummaging through the quills and taking out the oddly shaped key. Neo stared down at it first a while, almost like he was trying to ground himself. Taking a deep breath, the hedgehog put the key back. 

 

'..Just a little more time. When they finally trust me, I'll be able to go home and return to being human again.'

 

'No, scratch that, I'm still.. I'm still human. I just look different, but I'll look human again soon enough.'

 

Neo stood up, brushing off excess dirt that had found it's way on his legs. He wiped his gloves on his sides before walking back to the center of the camp, looking around for Tangle. Finally he saw the lemur, who seemed to be checking some of the crates right now. 

 

'I wonder how I never saw her around. Actually, if she's here, that means Whisper is too. And that means that I'm in IDW! Or well, an alternate IDW I guess. I probably could've gotten that from The Resistance, but hey, at least I figured it out eventually.'

 

He walked over to Tangle, who stopped what she was doing to see who he was. Neo waved awkwardly, "Uh..hey?"

 

"Hi!" The lemur smiled widely, extending her tail towards Neo, "Neo, right? I'm Tangle, Tangle the Lemur, nice to meet you!"

 

"Yeah..nice to meet you too." He stared at the extended tail, looking puzzled. An awkward silence stretched between them before Neo eventually realised this was supposed to be a sort of..handshake. 

 

"Oh! Uhm, how do I-" Neo lifted up his hand, unsure how to properly..shake someone's tail.. "I'll just..do this.." He shook the end up Tangle's tail before pulling his hand away. 

 

"Any reason in particular that you're here? Maybe to meet me, or maybe even to..", she brought her hands up, making a big gesture, beaming, "..be the first member of The Official Tangle Fan Club?"

 

Neo stayed silent, looking unimpressed. Tangle nervously laughed, bringing her arms down next to her sides. 

 

'..Wow I still cannot get used to the way these guys act.'

 

Tangle cleared her throat, "So, what are you actually here for?"

 

The hedgehog lightly scratched at the cuffs of his gloves, "Amy sent me to help you out with the crates."

 

A moment of silence passed between the two, then the lemur spoke up again, "Well if Amy sent you, then come along!"

 

Neo followed Tangle as she went next to one of the crates, putting her hand on the top of it. 

 

"I've just finished categorizing these based off of what they have inside, so now we just need to bring them where they belong."

 

Moving next to a crate, Neo reached down to pick it up, "Careful while picking that up, it might be a little heavy-" Before Tangle could finish, Neo yelped, stumbling with the crate in his hands, barely managing to find his balance. 

 

"..This is actually pretty light.."

 

"Huh.. Well, let's get going then!" Tangle cheerfully picked up one of the crates, supporting it with her tail. She started walking somewhere, and Neo followed suit. 

 

"So what's it like being so fast? You could carry all these crates super fast if you wanted to, right?" A mischief look crossed Tangle's face, though the hedgehog didn't react at all. 

 

Neo's expression changed to that of a thoughtful one before answering, "I guess it's pretty cool. It's come in handy for me, especially considering I'm new to..all this stuff."

 

"Speaking of, how's being in The Resistance for you? I feel like our experiences are going to be.. Different, to say the least."

 

Tangle grinned, eyes lighting up, "It's great! There's usually exciting stuff to do. Not only that, but we get to fight against Eggman and help people! Although I'm still pretty new here actually. I met Amy during an attack on my village, badniks of course. But I handled them all real nice, you could even say they got.. tangled up!"

 

Neo let out a barely stifled laugh, "That's not funny." He said, though his expression completely betrayed his words.

 

The lemur raised an eyebrow, smirking cheekily, "Ah, but you're laughing!" Neo just chuckled at Tangle's words. 

 

"I would ask you how you joined The Resistance but, well.."

 

The blue hedgehog's face fell as he grew silent before rolling his eyes at the memory, "Oh yes. Shadow was kind enough to announce it to everyone." His tone held a sarcastic and bitter edge, although it very clearly wasn't directed towards Tangle herself. 

 

'I do kinda see what his point was, but cut me some slack! I'd just gotten out of Eggman's base and because of Shadow I had to reveal something that made everyone start doubting me.'

 

Tangle winced at his tone as she stopped walking and put the crate in her hands down. 

 

"Okay then, let's change the subject.."

 

Time ticked by as the two continued moving the crates, chatting along as they did so. It was mostly Tangle carrying the conversations, but Neo couldn't help but enjoy their talks as well. Eventually all of the crates got moved to where they were supposed to be. 

 

Tangle stepped back from the last crate in the pile that she'd just now put down. She put her hands on her hips, smiling proudly. 

 

"..And that's the last of them!"

 

She turned to Neo, "You know Neo, you're actually pretty cool. It was fun working with ya!"

 

'Ouch, that felt like a back-handed compliment.'

 

Before the hedgehog could respond, he was rudely interrupted by his stomach growling. Neo's face flushed in embarrassment and he started stammering, trying to find something to say. 

 

Tangle laughed at his reaction, "Chill out, you just did all that labor, it's natural." She cracked open the create near her, revealing pre-made sandwiches inside. 

 

She grabbed one for herself before taking out another one and offering it to Neo. The hedgehog took the sandwich with slight hesitation, mumbling a quiet 'thank you' before biting into it. 

 

It tasted.. Fine. Not bad, but not overly good either. Like the sandwiches that would be sold in gas stations. 

 

'..Man, even sandwiches are making me feel homesick..'

 

Suddenly Tangle gasped, yanking Neo out if his thoughts. She started walking over somewhere, gesturing for Neo to follow her. 

 

"Come on! I have someone I want you to meet!"

 

Neo stared at the sandwich in his hand, then at Tangle, before sighing and following the lemur. 

 

The two walked up to Whisper, who was sitting underneath a tree, cleaning her Wispon. The beige wolf looked up, her posture tensing up at the sight of Neo, she relaxed slightly once she saw Tangle, though still keeping her guard up. 

 

"Hi Whisper! I know you know who he is, but this is Neo!" She gestured towards Neo, "And Neo, this is Whisper!"

 

Neo waved awkwardly at the wolf, who after some silence, let out a short and quiet 'Hello'. 

 

"So, you know how we go and train to improve our aim? I was thinking, maybe we could bring Neo along next time!"

 

Neo let out a surprised sound, eyes widening,"I-What-?"

 

Whisper stayed quiet again, looking up at Tangle's hopeful face with squinted eyes. Eventually she let out a sigh, "..Maybe."

 

Tangle beamed at that, pulling Neo closer with her tail, "Ya hear that Neo? You can join us next time! Isn't that great?"

 

'I don't think Whisper said 'yes', but okay..'

 

"Uh, right.."

 

Even after all this time, meeting Tangle and now Whisper, there was something that was still bothering Neo, persistent in it's stay. It hadn't left for a moment since he'd felt it.

 

The lingering sense that something was watching him. 

Notes:

New characters🤑🤑

As always shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki, and the S3ruma Discord server

Chapter 18: Chapter 17

"..And then he got hit in the face with his own laser!"

 

Charmy giggled, buzzing proudly around an exasperated looking Vector. The crocodile didn't respond to his words, so Charmy got closer to his head, yelling out with an angry expression. 

 

"HEY! Are you listening to me?"

 

Vector pushed the pouting bee away with his hand, letting out a small growl through his teeth. 

 

"Yes Charmy," he gritted out, "I was listening to you. I've been listening to ya the twelve other times you've told me this."

 

Crossing his arms, Charmy looked away with a petty 'hmph', his wings keeping him in the air with rapid movements. He subtly glanced at Vector, sticking out his tounge at the crocodile. 

 

"I bet Espio would listen way better than you though!"

 

Vector sighed, rubbing his snout with closed eyes before he realized something. He opened his eyes, looking at the younger detective.

 

"Say, where is Espio anyway? I've barely seen him these past few days."

 

The hyperactive bee stopped, an overly thoughtful expression settling on his face. His scratched his head, antennae twitching slightly. 

 

"I don't know. He's probably doing some ninja stuff."

 

Just then, Vector spotted Neo walking nearby. The blue hedgehog was looking down at the floor as he walked, seeming very deep in thought. 

 

Vector went up to him, "Heya Neo!" Neo's startled first reaction to Vector's unintentionally loud voice was to jump back with a small shriek, spreading his gloved claws like a cat. 

 

The crocodile raised his hands up in front of him, eyes wide in surprise. "Calm down, it's just me!" Neo sagged with a relieved sigh, holding his chest with his hand. 

 

"Vector. Please warn a guy before you do that dude, you just-" The hedgehog took a deep breath, inhaling, and then exhaling with a big, almost comedic, puff. His crimson eyes, which had previously narrowed in his poor attempt of 'defense', had returned to normal.

 

"You scared the daylights outta me.."

 

Charmy giggled next to Vector, "I can't believe you got scared by him!" 

 

Neo's eye twitched in slight irritation, but he said nothing since not only was Charmy a child, Vector was here, and Neo knew that he shouldn't poke a stick at a bear. Or well, at a crocodile in this situation. 

 

Rubbing the back of his head, Vector spoke with an apologetic tone, "My bad, didn't mean to scare ya."

 

Neo cleared his throat, standing up straight once again. The blue hedgehog waved his hand dismissively, like he hadn't been startled just a moment ago. 

 

"Uh, yeah it's fine I guess. So what were you gonna tell me anyway?"

 

"Right! We're just here to ask if you've seen Espio recently."

 

The blue hedgehog thought for a bit, straightening the tufts of fur on his muzzle while he was at it. After some time he finally spoke again. 

 

"I.. Don't think I've seen him around."

 

"I see.." Vector shot a glance at Charmy before smiling at Neo, "Well, thank you for yer help anyway! And don't forget, if you ever need detective work, you've got our business card!"

 

Neo replied with a dry tone as Vector started walking away, "Right.. Thanks.."

_____

 

The blue hedgehog stretched his limbs, still staring blankly at where Vector and Charmy had walked away to. 

 

'Huh, I wonder where Espio actually is. Usually he's with those two, so I guess he must be doing something important.'

 

Grass crunched behind him, Neo's ears twitching at the sound. He turned around to see who it was, seeming a little disappointed once he saw Knuckles. 

 

"Neo." The echidna's voice didn't seem to have any kind of annoying suspicion in it, at least not yet. Still, Neo was slightly annoyed with him despite that. 

 

'It's not a good thing to hold a grudge, but this guy immediately ticks me off by just being here. I know why he's been doubtful of me, but it's just so frustrating!'

 

"Yep.. That's my name. What are you here for Knuckles?"

 

Knuckles crossed his arms, sighing, "You're very direct. Very well. I'm here because.. I have a feeling that Eggman's planning something. Something big. Do you have any information about him or his plans that could aid us?"

 

Neo's eyed widened at that. This was serious, very serious, so he had to see if there was anything he could provide for The Resistance. 

 

"In that case.. Let me just think for a bit.."

 

The hedgehog's face filled with focus as he thought back to the week he had spent with The Doctor. There wasn't much he could remember about the evil genius or his plans as during that time, he was much more focused on getting out of there. Neo shrugged, an apologetic expression settling on his face. 

 

"..Sorry, I don't think I have anything."

 

Knuckles raised an eyebrow at that, looking unconvinced, "Really? YOU, have no information?" His voice was filled with the same annoying skepticism once again. 

 

Neo started tapping his foot, trying to conceal the illogical amount of irritation bubbling up inside him, "Yes." He replied sharply, perhaps even a little too sharply, "I don't."

 

"I just doubt that you have nothing after the time you must have spent with The Doctor."

 

The hedgehog clenched his fists, his voice laced with frustration, "Knuckles I don't know if you know this, but I became conscious THREE weeks ago." He raised his voice to a higher pitch, talking in a mockingly sweet manner, although there was some clear aggression in his voice. 

 

"And guess what? I've been with The Resistance for TWO WEEKS! That means I was with Eggman for just a week. Does that put more explanation to my words Knuckles?"

 

The echidna stayed silent for a moment, processing this information before clearing his throat. 

 

"..Do you not have any information from that one week?"

 

Neo's voice was filled with frustration as he started fidgeting with the cuffs of his gloves, "No Knuckles, I don't have any information that can help you!" 

 

Purple eyes widened for a second before narrowing, "So you do know something?"

 

The hedgehog let out a loud sigh, "I mean.. I guess?? Eggman used a Chaos Emerald in the process of making me but that's about it-"

 

"WHAT?!" He was suddenly interrupted by Knuckles' abrupt yell of both panic and disbelief, "Eggman has a Chaos Emerald?! And you've been hiding this from The Resistance?!"

 

Neo put his hands in front of himself, "Woah woah woah, don't antagonize me! I haven't been 'hiding' anything!"

 

Knuckles started pacing around, holding his head in his hands, "I can't believe this." The echidna looked up, pointing at Neo, "I can't believe you!"

 

"I assumed you guys knew that!" The hedgehog retaliated, "Sorry for thinking that The Resistance knows things!"

 

"Well how are we supposed to know things if people with information don't tell us?!"

 

Going up to Neo with a look of barely contained anger, Knuckles jabbed a finger into the hedgehog's chest, putting emphasis on his words to really drive in his point, "Don't keep information from The Resistance!"

 

The echidna then pulled back his arm, not even glancing at the annoyed look on Neo's face. He quickly started walking away, muttering something to himself with a certain concerned edge in his tone. Seeing Knuckles walk away, Neo slumped in relief, mumbling under his breath. 

 

"..Finally.."

 

Neo could feel the invisible pressure and tightness in his chest that was crushing him begin to disappear. The blue hedgehog shuffled his foot around the ground idly, rustling the grass that the rubber of his shoes touched. 

 

'Hm, I'm kinda tired... I don't wanna interact with anyone else today.'

 

Neo sighed softly, rubbing his eyes before starting walk in a random direction. Maybe he'd reacted a little too.. Weirdly to Knuckles. To be fair he really did think that The Resistance would know this stuff. 

 

'Meh, oh well. Nothing to do now. Might as well try to clear my head a little.'

 

The sudden crunch of grass yet again unfortunately yanked Neo away from his thoughts. He bit back a sigh as he turned around to see who it was this time. 

 

"Hi Neo! What a coincidence that we're here at the same place huh?"

 

Neo stared at the pink hedgehog with a tint of curiosity on his expression. They were staying at the same base, it wasn't really that huge of a coincidence. It was actually expected if anything. But Amy spoke again before he had time to respond. 

 

"Well, I was gonna eat dinner as you can tell from these sandwiches." She held up two sandwiches that she had in her hands with a cheery attitude, "I have a spare one and I was wondering if you wanted to join me!"

 

'..Maybe I can afford one more interaction.'

 

"Uh.. Okay."

 

Amy enthusiastically grabbed Neo's hand, and started taking him somewhere. The blue hedgehog seemed surprised, almost bewildered, but said nothing in return. 

 

"Okay, come on then! I know a great place!"

 

Neo let her guide the way to a small hill, sitting down beside her as she sat down in the grass, adjusting her dress as she did so. The pink hedgehog handed him one of the two sandwiches in her hands before biting into her sandwich. 

 

"So.." Neo spoke, bringing his knees towards his chest, "Not that I'm judging, but do you usually carry spare sandwiches around?"

 

Amy's eyes suddenly widened and she started stammering unusually, "Wh-what? Uhm, yeah! Of course! There's no specific reason for why I happened to have a spare sandwich with me when I saw you!"

 

The blue hedgehog narrowed his eyes in confusion before shrugging, "Okay then.

 

'Huh. I wonder why she reacted that way. Did I accidentally embarrass her? I hope not.'

 

The two sat there in silence, munching away at their sandwiches. Neo seemed completely fine with this situation, it was a nice change of pace. 

 

"Lovely view, isn't it?"

 

Neo looked up, staring at the sun that had started dipping into the horizon. It was a pretty good view, the sunset was nice, but he hadn't even realized that it had gotten this late. 

 

"Yeah, I guess."

 

"By the way, I totally forgot to ask but how have things been here for you? How was working with Tangle?"

 

The blue hedgehog let out a hum of thought, swallowing the bite of sandwich he'd eaten before responding, "It's been okay. Tangle was nice. She's very energetic."

 

Amy chuckled a little, brushing some quills away from her face, "Yeah, she's actually pretty new here as well, although I'm sure you knew that, didn't you?"

 

Neo nodded, "Yep. Since you asked me I should ask you too.. How have things been for you?"

 

"Ah.. You know, it's been good! Setting up things for the new base was a little stressful but that's to be expected!"

 

"Speaking of stress," Amy continued, "I didn't want to immediately ask you this but you seemed a little.. out of it when I saw you. What happened?"

 

"Oh." The blue hedgehog's voice was a little more serious now, "I talked to Knuckles earlier."

 

Amy looked slightly concerned at that, "Did something happen with him? I know he acts the way he does towards you, but Knuckles is really just.. Trying to help in his own way."

 

"Yeah yeah, I know." Neo sighed, "Uh, he said he had some suspicions about like.. Eggman planning to do something big. He asked some information from me but I couldn't really think of anything so he started pressing me and then I got annoyed and.. Bleh. You know how it is."

 

"So anyway, eventually I tell him that Eggman used a Chaos Emerald while making me, which I thought you guys knew about that Chaos Emerald-"

 

"Eggman has a Chaos Emerald?!" Amy wasn't just concerned now, she was fully worried. The pink hedgehog suddenly stood up, "Sorry to cut this short Neo but this is really serious! I have to settle on what to do, I'll see you later!"

 

Neo watched as Amy quickly made her way somewhere, an urgency flowing throughout her movements. He glanced back down at his half-eaten sandwich, taking another bite before looking up at the sky. 

 

'.. Man, this sandwich tastes nice.'

Notes:

Dunno what to say here, this chapter was boring to write. Except Knuckles' part. Knuckles is great.

Shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma Discord Server!

Chapter 19: Chapter 18

Darkness. 

 

The first thing he saw after awakening yet again was darkness. 

 

It seemed ironic, at least a little bit. This was a familiar situation, wasn't it? The density surrounding him, the hushed thrums of the open void, whispering almost beckoningly. 

 

It was just like the first day he'd came to be. 

 

But his eyes were open, so why was it like this? 

 

Slowly something started appearing, a quiet burst of light inside the endless bounds of the inky dark. It wasn't shaped clearly, more like a blob than anything. Seemed quite far away to be completely honest. 

 

Then another appeared, and then another. They kept appearing, filling the void with a contrast that inexplicably seemed comforting to him. Slowly, what once used to be an empty darkness was decorated with small bursts of light, almost like stars. 

 

But something about them was off. Once he truly focused, he could see that they were lined up carefully, forming an almost crack-like shape inside of the void. 

 

Strangely enough, he felt nothing at the sight. He was floating inside of this beautiful emptiness, why should he care? 

 

Looking down he realised that he couldn't see himself. The feeling of existence was there, remaining, despite the body not being there any longer. His being, his soul, his self, it was alive. That was what mattered, wasn't it? But he wasn't sure if he was really alive. And yet, he continued floating, lazily glancing at the light shining through the vast infinity. 

 

A soft, gentle scent of something sweet filled his senses. He lifted his gaze up just a little, confusion and uncertainty etching itself into the corners of his current existence. There was a figure, a shape even.

 

It seemed humanoid, almost familiar. No, not almost familiar. He was certain this was someone he'd seen before, but the details were blurry. Two eyes, a mouth, those were features most people had, and yet he couldn't make the clear form of them out. That was the most frustrating part. He could see that there was something that resonated deep within him about this entity, but nothing other than the most basic properties was revealed to him. 

 

He hopelessly reached towards the figure with non-existent hands, something inside of him trying to usher him back to the calming but endless, inexplicable darkness. 

 

But he was tired. He was so, so tired. And yet, the only thing he'd done was float around in this void. Something needed to change. He knew something had to change. Otherwise this persistent exhaustion pulling him back would be meaningless, right? He had to push for change, reach out to the entity, if he didn't, he'd continue floating aimlessly, wondering if he'd missed the one single opportunity given to him. 

 

The figure stared back at him, mumbling something incoherent. He tilted his head, or what felt like his head. After all he didn't really have a presence in this weird emptiness, did he? 

 

It spoke up again, voice glitchy, staticy even, but louder, more clear this time. 

 

"Acceptance is the only way."

 

What? What did that even mean? Acceptance? Accepting what? The figure got closer to him, opening it's arms. He embraced it, like it was an old friend, like it was someone he could trust. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. 

 

It repeated it's words, "Acceptance is the only way."

 

He whispered back, quietly, uncertainly. His voice was unrecognizable, even to him. That didn't make sense. He was himself, why didn't this voice reflect that? 

 

"How am I supposed to accept something if I don't know what to accept?"

 

The figure hummed softly. It wasn't even a melody, it wasn't even anything major so.. So damn it why was he feeling like he was about to cry?! 

 

"You'll understand eventually, won't you? Accepting it is the only way to find out."

 

"That's-" he sniffled, trying to make sense of what was going on, "That's so stupid. I can't accept something if I don't know what it is."

 

The figure stayed silent, continuing to hold the presenceless being, almost in a protective manner in the midst of the shattered walls of reality. It's grip tightened on him, not saying a word. 

 

"Accept it. Let it go. Gripping a shard of glass, no matter how much you like it, is going to hurt you."

______

Neo suddenly sat up in his tent, barely stifling a gasp. Judging by the fact that he could only see traces of shapes inside of his tent, it was still dark outside. The hedgehog sighed, bringing his legs closer to his chest, rustling the sheet on top of him in the process. 

 

'Well. That was a weird dream. I wonder if it had some kind of actual relevancy.. Don't dreams like, pull stuff from your subconscious? Is that a thing? Hm.'

 

He reached a hand towards his face, tiredly rubbing his eyes. The hedgehog stopped suddenly at the feeling of something wet staining the fabric of his glove. Neo's eyes widened in confusion, as he finally realized that he was crying. 

 

The issue was that he had absolutely no idea why. Sure, it was a weird dream and sure he felt like crying inside of the dream, but there was no obvious reason as to why he was crying right now. He wiped his face, sighing. Maybe he could just go back to sleep, or at least he could try to. 

 

Hours passed by, and the sun finally started illuminating the land with it's rays. Even after all that time, Neo hadn't been able to go back to sleep. The others would start waking up soon, he reckoned. In fact, they might have even woken up already. 

 

A sudden mechanical humming sound hit his ears. Neo jumped up, startled. The hedgehog looked around, trying to see if that sound was coming from around him until he finally realized that the source of the noise was most definitely outside. 

 

He listened carefully, hearing the sounds of some commotion outside. Neo cautiously opened up the entrance of his tent, stepping out before getting hit with a large gust of wind, dust getting into his eyes. The hedgehog instinctively brought his arm up to his face to protect it, an uncomfortable expression settling onto his face. 

 

Eventually, the wind died down back into a gentle breeze. Hesitantly, Neo lowered his arm, surprised once he saw the rest of The Resistance members that were in the camp crowding around something, or someone. 

 

Neo started walking towards them, stopping and sneezing on the way. He sniffled, rubbing his nose with a hint of annoyance in his face. 

 

'Must be the dust.'

 

He approached Tails, the fox had his back turned, looking at whatever it was they were crowding around between the other Mobians. 

 

'Are they even Mobians? This is IDW right? Whatever, who cares.'

 

Neo tapped Tails on the shoulder to ask what was going on. Tails practically jumped out of his skin at the unexpected contact, fur puffing up. The hedgehog took a step back as Tails turned around, trying to look as unthreatening as he could. 

 

"Woah, calm down, it's just me!"

 

The fox's fur went down slightly, "Oh, hi Neo." He chuckled, an awkward tone in his voice, "Sorry about that, what's up?"

 

"Uhm, it's fine. What's going on?"

 

"Ah, some, I guess you could say, friends from G.U.N. came here. I'm not sure why.."

 

A perplexed look settled on Neo's face. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, ".. Huh. From G.U.N. you say? Interesting."

 

'If they're from G.U.N. and 'friends' like Tails said, then that means they must be Rouge and Omega, I don't think the commander would visit a Resistance camp. Wait, does that mean that Shadow doesn't work for G.U.N.? In hindsight that's the only logical option.. I guess not having Sonic around changes things, but I knew that already.'

 

'If G.U.N. is getting Rouge and Omega involved, this must be important. Something like a Chaos Emerald maybe? I remember overhearing Tails and Amy talking about weird energy signals, so they could be here for that.'

 

"Er.. Neo? Are you okay? You've been staring blankly at me for uh, some time."

 

Neo snapped out of his thoughts, face clearing up a bit as he looked at Tails. The hedgehog nodded, lightly scratching at the cuffs if his gloves. 

 

"Hm? Yeah I'm fine just.. Thinking. Uh, thanks Tails."

 

The blue hedgehog looked towards where everyone else was looking, seeing Rouge and Omega. Rouge seemed to be waiting for something, and Omega.. Well Omega was expressionless, so Neo couldn't really tell. 

 

"Oh! Rouge, Omega, hi." Amy approached the two, looking understandably confused. 

 

"Well hello there," Rouge replied. Neo was almost sure that saxophones would start playing in the background, but obviously they didn't. She turned to Omega, "Omega, say hi."

 

The large robot stayed silent for a moment before speaking with his usual, robotic voice that lacked any enthusiasm at all, "GREETINGS."

 

"This is.. A very sudden visit. Is there something going on?" 

 

"It's nothing to be worried about." Rouge started slightly pacing around the pink hedgehog, her expression just a tad bit more serious than previously. "There was a detection of some unusual energy signals around here, so they sent me and Omega to investigate."

 

She flapped her wings, floating up next to Omega's shoulder, "It could potentially be.." There was a mischievous edge on her voice, and a glint in her turquoise eyes, "..A Chaos Emerald. If it is, we wouldn't want to risk Eggman getting his hands on it, now would we?"

 

"I WAS PROMISED INFERIOR UNITS TO DESTROY IN CASE OF AN EMERALD." Omega added, sounding unusually excited. Rouge just patted the robot's shoulder in retaliation. 

 

Knuckles stepped forward, arms crosssd with an expression of doubt that was now very familiar for Neo. "Something smells fishy about this, what if you just take the emerald for yourself? The Doctor has an emerald already after all."

 

Descending down, Rouge stepped towards Knuckles, "Now now, why would you ever assume I would do something like that? Plus, even if I did, it would be in safe hands."

 

 She paused momentarily, taking a second to think about something, "It certainly is an issue that Eggman already has one of those beauties, but we should prevent him from obtaining more, obviously."

 

"And it'll be an even bigger issue if you take this potential Chaos Emerald and lose it to Eggman!"

 

Rouge placed her hands on her hips, seeming offended by Knuckles' words, "Hmph! I can't believe you'd say such things to me! I would never lose something as valuable and gorgeous as that, you're unbelievable!"

 

The echidna deadpanned at that, shaking his head disapprovingly. "I can't believe that you take more offense to the claim of you losing something than stealing it. But I can't say I'm surprised, knowing you.."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

 

Knuckles looked away, raising his head slightly, "It means whatever you think it means!"

 

Amy stepped in between them, "Okay let's all just calm down for a second. I'm sure we all have better things to do than argue."

 

"I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE OBSERVING THIS CONFLICT." Omega interjected, to which Amy just sighed. 

 

"Amy is right. There is no point in continuing this unnecessary argument." Shadow's voice came from behind Neo, which consequently caused Neo to instinctively jump back with a shriek, quills bristled. 

 

"Dude you have GOT to stop doing that.." Neo said, his tone tired despite he himself not being so as Shadow walked towards the others. 

 

"There you are Shadow, I was wondering where you were." Rouge seemed to be happy that Shadow was here, which wasn't a shocker to Neo since they were supposed to be friends. Or at least, that's what he knew from his Sonic knowledge that had been carrying him this entire time. 

 

Shadow nodded at her, then at Omega, acknowledging their presence before turning to Knuckles, speaking with a matter of fact-ly tone.

 

"The Resistance and G.U.N. have an agreement about such situations, echidna. Rouge and Omega are here on behalf of G.U.N., so I highly doubt they will break this agreement."

 

Rouge gestured towards Shadow, "Does hearing it from another Resistance member make you feel better?" To which Knuckles just grumbled something under his breath. 

 

"Oh, and," Turning her gaze towards Neo, Rouge tilted her head, "Who might you be? I don't think I've seen you before."

 

Crimson eyes widened, Neo hadn't really expected that although he definitely should have. He pointed a finger at himself, as if to confirm if this was directed at him. It obviously was, since there was no one around that it could be directed to. 

 

"Uh- I'm Neo. Hi."

 

Rouge stayed silent, her turquoise eyes scanning him up and down before finally speaking again, "Well, Neo, I'm sure you already know who I am as you've been watching us converse, but a little introduction doesn't hurt. The name's Rouge, " She pointed at her face with her entire hand, before gesturing towards Omega. 

 

"And this little guy over here is Omega-."

 

"CORRECTION," Omega interrupted, "I AM NEITHER "LITTLE" NOR A "GUY". I AM THE MOST POWERFUL ROBOT OF ALL TIME."

 

The large robot approached Neo, looking down at him, "INQUIRY: WILL YOU GET IN THE WAY OF THE ERADICATION OF THE WORTHLESS CONSUMER MODELS?"

 

Neo blinked, unsure of how to respond to that. He narrowed his eyes, hoping that his words would satisfy the robot. "Uhm, I don't plan on it."

 

Omega stayed silent for a moment to process this before replying, "THEN WE WILL GET ALONG MOST EFFICIENTLY."

 

"Oh. Well that's good to hear."

 

'Omega is fine with my presence, that..is absolutely awesome.'

Notes:

I don't know how to characterize Rouge but I tried my best💔

Shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma Discord server as always!

Chapter 20: Chapter 19

"Okay, so.."

 

Tails was standing in front of his workshop, which actually turned out to be the makeshift room that Neo had seen when he had first came to The Resistance with Shadow. The fox turned around to Shadow, Rouge, Amy and Omega, holding the Miles Electric. Neo was also there, but he had just come along because he was curious and there was nothing else to do. 

 

Flipping the device so that it would face the others, Tails pointed at the blue and red dots on the screen that were distanced away from each other. His tails moved almost excitedly as he begin talking, 

 

"The blue dot represents the energy signals, and the red one represents where we are now. Rouge, Omega, I'm sure you two were informed about this but the signals coming from this location are actually almost identical to Chaos energy!"

 

Shadow raised an eyebrow at that, "Almost identical? It's not Chaos Energy then."

 

"It could be!" Tails replied, shuffling his feet around, kicking some dirt in the process, "The signal seems to be coming from underground, so the detected energy could just be a little..different from what it really is."

 

A glint appeared in Rouge's eyes, one that immediately showed that she was definitely thinking about the emeralds, 

 

"In that case," Putting a hand on her hip, she took a step closer towards Shadow with grace and tilted her head ever so slightly, a small smirk on her face, "It could very well be a Chaos Emerald."

 

The ebony hedgehog narrowed his eyes, an edge to his voice, "Or it could be a trap set by The Doctor."

 

The two stared at each other for some time, enough that the awkward silence was felt by the others. Neo watched as they continued looking at each other, squinting his eyes in confusion. 

 

'..Is this like a communication thing? What is this? Are they talking by staring at each other like people sometimes do in media? I didn't know you could have a whole conversation like that..'

 

He glanced at Amy and then Tails, who both seemed confused as well. Tails looked over to him, silently questioning what was going on, to which Neo just shrugged. 

 

"I WILL ANNIHILATE ALL OBSTACLES THAT EGGMAN MIGHT HAVE PLACED. IT IS NOT OF CONCERN." Omega's voice finally got Shadow and Rouge to break eye contact. Rouge turned to the large robot, gesturing towards him. 

 

"Wow, it's a good thing we have you on board then, isn't it, Omega?"

 

"INDEED. I AM VERY EFFICIENT IN THE DESTRUCTION OF OBSTACLES."

 

Shadow looked at Amy, crossing his arms, "If we knew about these energy signals, why did The Resistance not investigate a potential Chaos Emerald?"

 

"Oh! Well we were planning to, but we figured that we should properly er.. Set up the camp first." The pink hedgehog replied, clasping her hands together. 

 

Lifting up his head, Shadow let out a 'hmph' sound before responding, making it clear that he disapproved of this choice. 

 

"It was foolish to leave what could've been a Chaos Emerald alone. The consequences of that could have ended up being catastrophic."

 

Amy winced slightly at Shadow's reaction, but gathered herself quickly. She scratched the back of her head, pushing back some quills in the process. Clearing her throat, Amy spoke up again, "Yeah, that's true. But it doesn't matter now! After all you guys are going to check it out, so all is solved!"

 

He stayed silent for a few moments before uncrossing his arms, sighing and nodding. 

 

The pink hedgehog glanced at Neo, suddenly seeming to be thinking hard about something. Her face brightened up as she suddenly pulled Neo closer, eliciting a shocked noise from the other hedgehog. 

 

"Hey, you were worried about this being a trap, right? Why don't you just take Neo with you as well? More help means that you'd have less to worry about."

 

"HUH?!" Neo took a step back in surprise, crimson eyes widening. He was visibly startled, looking back and forth between Amy and Shadow. 

 

Tails lowered his namesakes slightly, "Uhm, Amy, are you sure this is a good idea?"

 

"I AGREE WITH THE FOX" Omega added, "I AM MORE THAN CAPABLE OF DESTROYING ANY THREATS."

 

The twin-tailed fox started fiddling with his Miles Electric, "Not what I meant but- yeah I guess that's right."

 

Amy grinned, waving dismissively, "I'm sure it's fine! And Omega, I'm not saying you're incapable, I'm just saying having more help wouldn't hurt."

 

She glanced at Shadow, then looked back at Neo, "Plus, I know you two didn't have the best first meeting. This could be a great opportunity to break the ice. After all, if we're on the same side, we need to be able to trust each other, right?"

 

"I guess that makes sense.." Neo mumbled under his breath. 

 

'Ughh I really don't want to do anything mission related, but I guess if it makes Shadow trust me a bit more, maybe Knuckles will stop pestering me..'

 

Rouge turned to Shadow, seeming more curious than confused, "Not the best first meeting, huh?"

 

Shadow stayed silent for a second, "I'll explain it later. Let's focus on finding the energy source first."

 

_______

 

"Well, here we are."

 

Rouge stepped closer towards the metal doors that were in front of them, doors that Neo immediately recognized from their design. Clearly the source of the energy was inside of one of Eggman's bases, an active one from what they could tell. 

 

"OBSERVATION: THIS IS THE ENTRANCE TO AN EGGMAN BASE. I WILL ENJOY TEARING THIS AREA APART."

 

"We're here to find the source of the energy signals. Completely destroying the place might cause problems. We should try to be discreet." Shadow crossed his arms, eyes narrowing as he glared at the steel doors, almost like he was trying to destroy it with just a stare. 

 

Letting out a thoughtful hum, Rouge glanced at Omega, "I'm not sure if being discreet is an option Shadow. You know how Eggman designs his bases, just Omega walking is loud enough."

 

"I mean.." Neo instinctively paused for a moment as the other three looked towards him, Omega letting out a small whirr as he turned his head. The blue hedgehog scratched at the cuffs of his gloves before continuing, "There's probably gonna be a bunch of badniks in here anyway, so it'd be pretty hard to be discreet even if we were quiet."

 

Rouge chuckled at the blue hedgehog's words, "Oh, you underestimate me. Regardless.." She walked right up to the doors before suddenly kicking them open in one swift motion. While the other two didn't seem to be surprised at all, Neo just stared with wide eyes. 

 

'...I totally forgot Rouge was this cool. Well, she is the world's greatest thief and a spy, so I don't know how I forgot.'

 

"You know what they say, ladies first!" She said, stepping into the base. Shadow and Omega followed suit, and Neo gathered himself before he went in after them as well. 

 

The hallway that greeted them was nothing special. Much like most of the hallways Eggman's bases had, it had steel walls and floors. This one stretched on quite long though, which seemed a little odd. But then again, it was made by Eggman. 

 

As expected, each step that Omega took let out a sound that echoed throughout the hall. Rouge seemed to be the most bothered out of all of them, which made sense considering her ability to hear well as a bat. 

 

They walked for a while, at some point it got boring in fact. Neo let out an exaggerated sigh, "Man.. How long is this hallway going to stretch? There aren't even any rooms or anything, isn't that really weird?"

 

Shadow replied without even looking at the blue hedgehog, "Perhaps. But I wouldn't put it past The Doctor to do something such as this to throw someone off."

 

"I AM STILL WAITING FOR INFERIOR MODELS TO ANNIHILATE." Omega announced, an impatient edge in his robotic voice.

 

"Relax Omega, I'm sure some will pop out eventually." Rouge dismissively waved the large robot off. Just then, small compartments inside the walls of the hallways started opening, revealing numerous badniks. 

 

Shadow slightly lowered himself, getting into a fighting position, "Looks like they were waiting for you to say that, Rouge."

 

Opening up her wings, the bat stared at the robots coming their way with a small smirk, "Well, I can be pretty convincing."

 

With a hasty click Omega switched his hands for his weapons, saying "THIS WILL BE ENJOYABLE." before immediately charging towards the other robots with vigor, guns blazing. 

 

'Great, another fight with badniks. Is this getting repetitive or what?'

 

Following Omega, Rouge went airborne, leaving the two hedgehogs to cover the rest of the badniks on the ground. Shadow glanced back at Neo for a moment, an uncertain look on his face, before locking his eyes onto a group of nearby badniks and quickly leaping towards them, focused as always. 

 

Trying to ignore the weird feeling the look Shadow sent him caused, Neo stretched, lowering himself to floor level. 

 

'Might as well make myself useful at least.'

 

He rolled into a spindash, slicing through a couple of motobugs that hadn't been utterly decimated by Omega's guns. Neo softly smiled to himself, the slight feeling of accomplishment welling up in his chest. He'd really gotten better at this, hadn't he? 

 

Crimson eyes caught a small, flying bee badnik. It seemed to be charging it's lasers, vulnerable. Neo jumped towards the remains of one if the motobugs he'd destroyed, using it as leverage to jump up. 

 

'Remember Neo, don't think, just roll. That's how you do a homing attack.'

 

The blue hedgehog rolled into a ball mid-air, making a sharp curve towards the robot, the impact breaking the bot into pieces. Neo fell back down to the ground, definetly not gracefully, but hey, at least he didn't fall on his face this time. 

 

He pushed himself back up, turning around to see how the others were holding up. Omega seemed to be enjoying himself.. Maybe a little too much? The large robot was absolutely destroying any badnik his weapons came in contact with, and if any of them got too close, he'd enthusiastically slam them into the nearest wall. 

 

Meanwhile, Rouge kicked another flying badnik away, her expression serious. Their crumpled metal bodies lay one piles on the bottom parts of each gray wall, so she was clearly doing very well. She made a sudden descent, kicking downwards at an unsuspecting motobug. The metal shell of the machine immediately crumbled as her leg made contact with it, and the entire badnik fell apart in two wholes. 

 

Neo stared in awe at the sheer strength of the kick. Of course he'd seen this at the entrance of the base, but he couldn't help but get starstruck at sight yet again. Could he do that? It certainly would help him out.. 

 

'Maybe when I return to my normal world, I'll remember what happened here and be able to replicate it. Although I guess I wouldn't be this physically strong normally. Hm.. I mean, returning home is what really matters, right? After all I'm just trying to make things easier for myself in here. Yeah.'

 

Shadow grabbed a badnik, hurling the machine towards another. He narrowed his scarlet eyes, suddenly appearing in front of them and aggressively delivering a swift punch through the two robots. 

 

A sudden pang of fear hit Neo as he saw one of the clawed robots he'd during the time that he was escaping Eggman's base. More specifically, the type of badnik that had stabbed him in the leg. He could almost feel the phantom pain of the now healed injury, wincing unintentionally. 

 

Realistically, he could probably destroy this robot like all the others. He should destroy it like the others. But a twinge of hesitation was holding him back. The badnik stopped, staring directly at him. Neo held his breath, too unsure to even breathe. That was of course, until the machine turned around, heading for the distracted Shadow. 

 

Normally, Shadow wouldn't even be worried about a singular badnik, but he was occupied, distracted with fighting other robots. A stab wouldn't really do that much damage, or at least it would heal quickly considering Shadow's regenerative abilities. But it would surely hurt. 

 

Neo sucked in a breath, trying to stuff down the fear trying to pull him away, glancing at Rouge still ruthlessly attacking flying badniks with her kicks. The blue hedgehog clenched his fists and ran towards the clawed machine, jumping up and kicking downwards, just as he'd seen Rouge do. Surprisingly, it worked pretty well, especially considering his other first attempts at certain moves. Not as well as Rouge of course, but it did the job, destroying the robot. 

 

Eventually, the four of them managed to take down all the badniks that had come out at them. So they continued forward. After some time of walking, they reached a certain point where the hallway split into two ways. 

 

Rouge turned to the others, gesturing off-handedly at the two halls, "Looks like there's two ways we can go now" She said, thinking out loud more than anything. 

 

Shadow's eyes went back and forth between the two halls, narrowed in concentration, trying to figure out where each of them went. Unfortunately just like the one they were in now, those hallways were long as well, so there was no way to figure out what they led to other than actually going in them. 

 

He sighed, almost like he was annoyed at this situation, "We should split off in two groups, we don't have any time to waste."

 

Neo's expression shifted slightly in confusion, why were they suddenly on a time limit? Despite not understanding, he stayed silent, tapping his foot as he waited. 

 

An opportunistic glint appeared in Rouge's eyes at Shadow's words. She strutted over to the ebony hedgehog with a sly smile, taking his arm in her hand lightly. 

 

"Shadow and I will go right, Omega, you go left with Neo. When we're done, we can meet up back here."

 

"UNDERSTOOD."

 

Omega slowly turned his head towards Neo, "WE SHALL ERADICATE MANY BADNIKS."

 

The blue hedgehog nodded, giving Omega a thumbs up. The two groups started going their own ways, with Rouge waving a little at Neo and Omega. Shadow glanced back towards him, narrowing his eyes at Neo in a glare, almost like a warning. Despite the feeling of his fur starting to stand on end, Neo just rolled his eyes at Shadow, a hint of irritation building up inside of him. 

 

_______

 

"So," Rouge begin as they walked, hands clasped behind her back, making sure that they were out of hearing distance for the others, "What's the deal with Neo?"

 

A beat of silence passed between them, finally Shadow spoke, his tone having a careful edge, "It depends on what you're asking, Rouge."

 

She stared at him a certain way, "I've noticed the looks you give him. And Amy said you two didn't have the best first meeting. So what's the deal with you and him?"

 

Shadow's face held a thoughtful expression as he chose his words carefully, turning his head towards the bat, "Neo.. He is.." The ebony hedgehog paused for a moment, "Similar to me, in a way."

 

Rouge's eyes widened slightly but she stayed silent, letting Shadow continue. 

 

"I 'met' him during a patrol. He was following me, or at least, was trying to. It didn't end up well, I'm sure you can imagine."

 

He sighed, "I'll get to the point. Neo was made by Eggman."

 

"Oh? I assume you're not sure about his trustability then."

 

Shadow nodded at Rouge's words, "That's right. Amy seems to trust him, but I'm unsure of what to do, after all this situation is..quite strange. I haven't met someone with origins similar to mine before."

 

Letting out a thoughtful hum, Rouge got closer to Shadow, "Well.." She crossed her arms, a low smile finding it's way into her face, "G.U.N. sent me and Omega here to investigate the energy signals, but they gave us more than enough time to check things out. I'll see what Neo's up to in the time that we're here, if it brings you some peace of mind."

 

Shadow lowered his head ever so slightly, appreciating Rouge's words, "I trust your judgement, Rouge. Thank you."

 

Rouge smiled back, making sure Shadow saw that she acknowledged his words before uncrossing her arms and holding up a hand towards the ebony hedgehog, "Don't get too sappy with me now, we've got a job to do." To which Shadow lightly snorted, mumbling a 'Right.'

 

After some time of continuing to walk, they suddenly stopped at the sight of the remains of some badniks. The two sent a look at each other before walking up to one of them. 

 

Rouge kneeled next to the broken machine, inspecting in with a keen eye. She turned back towards Shadow, a serious expression on her face. 

 

"It doesn't seem like this was done intentionally, it's almost like something sharp hit these on it's way somewhere else."

 

She pointed at the marks on the robot, "Looks like whatever slashed through was going unusually fast based on these impact marks."

 

_______

 

"Hey, Omega, don't you think it's uhm, a little odd that we haven't come across any more badniks?"

 

Neo walked alongside Omega, slightly frowning. They'd been walking for a while, but there weren't any other badniks that had tried to stop them. 

 

"IT IS A SHAME." Omega spoke, his voice as robotic as ever, "I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO DESTROY MORE CONSUMER MODELS."

 

"Well, it looks like we're at the end of the hallway anyway."

 

There was a door, yet another one made of steel like everything else. The two got closer to it, entering as the door opened up with a light hiss. 

 

The room was large, various machinery working with low thrums, embedded in the walls. There was a podium-like build in the middle of the dim room, it looked like it was made to hold something. But it was empty, and standing next to it was-

 

"Heh, just the hedgehog I wanted to see. The large hunk of junk wasn't in my plans, but hey, I'm a flexible guy!" Sonic stood there, thrusters keeping him afloat a small bit above the ground. He seems a little irritated at the sight of Neo, directly contradicting what he'd just said. 

 

The worst part however, was the fact that Sonic was holding the yellow Chaos Emerald, the powerful jewel glowing lightly as the hedgebot threw it up and caught it in his hand, an obnoxious grin on his metallic muzzle. 

 

Neo stared at the metal hedgehog with a blank look, a dread settling deep within him. 

 

'Oh dear.'

Notes:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Sorry for posting this two minutes later than usual, the AO3 writer's curse has started catching up to me
Shoutout to my friend and beta readers dxuki and the S3ruma discord server se

Chapter 21: Chapter 20

Omega immediately lifted up his hands, almost enthusiastically bringing his weapons into use with a click, shooting out a projectile towards the hedgebot before Neo could stop him. 

 

"TARGET LOCKED. DEATH TO ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS."

 

Sonic quickly dodged out of the way, the room shaking slightly as the projectile collided with the wall, exploding on impact. Laughing snidely, Sonic tilted his head, mocking grin on his muzzle.

 

"Ooh, rowdy one, ain't ya?"

 

Omega turned his hands towards Sonic yet again, shooting once more, then again and again with even more vigor as the hedgebot kept dodging. Sonic cackled, clearly amused by seeing Omega get visibly more and more frustrated every time he missed his target. 

 

"CEASE YOUR FUTILE ATTEMPTS AT SURVIVAL, INFERIOR UNIT"

 

A bark of mechanical laughter echoed throughout the room, Sonic stilled for just a moment to cockily point a sharpened metal claw towards Omega, "Wow, inferior unit? Really? You can't even hit me once!"

 

Another explosion rocked the room which Sonic barely glanced at before narrowing his optics in an almost disgusted way, completely conflicting the grin on his muzzle, "Oh. You're that rogue robot that betrayed The Eggman Empire, aren't you?"

 

His green optics locked on to Neo for a moment, "Tch.. I guess birds of a feather really do stick together."

 

Neo looked back between the two frantically. He wasn't sure what to do here, not at the moment at least. If he interfered with Omega, the large robot would most likely continue doing what he was doing ignoring his words, but if he tried to attack or immobilize Sonic, it might completely ruin any chance of trying to persuade him to the side of The Resistance. Of course that was assuming that Sonic would listen to Neo at all. 

 

Before the hedgehog could make a choice, Sonic ran right behind Omega, disinterestedly tapping the large robot on the shoulder in a from behind. The larger robot swung his arm at Sonic, but the hedgebot swiftly got out of the way just like he had with every other attack. 

 

"Wow! You really are too slow!"

 

And with that one sentence, Omega's frustration boiled over. He spun around to face Sonic, switching his hands between weapons and finally stopping on his machine guns. Sonic's optics brightened ever so slightly, a malicious edge appearing on his face like this was exactly what he had wanted to happen, and maybe it was. 

 

The loud sounds of the machine gun rang through the room. Sonic flew backwards towards the wall, letting his thrusters carry him away from the way of the bullets as they followed him. The hedgebot flashed a grin before starting to move towards the side, sticking towards the wall as bullet holes filled the space he left behind. It was.. Strange, to say the least. Sonic could go faster, he had gone faster. Neo was sure of that so why-? 

 

Before Neo could finish that thought, a blur of blue slammed into him from the side. The hedgehog gasped, groaning in pain as he made contact with a metal wall and slid down. He lifted himself up, faintly recognizing the feeling of blood dripping down his face, staining the fur with crimson. 

 

He saw Sonic at the edge of his vision once again with Omega unleashing his weapons against the hedgebot. Azure quills bristled up suddenly as Neo stepped back, on guard. Sonic was getting closer to him again, his razor sharp claws outstretched on the hand not holding the Chaos Emerald. 

 

Neo's panicked eyes locked onto the bullets still following Sonic for a second, realizing that if he tried to fight Sonic while standing still, he would most likely end up getting torn to absolute shreds, and not just by Sonic. 

 

The blue hedgehog shot off in the opposite direction, and with a widening grin, Sonic followed suit, trailing behind Neo from the air. Neo shot increasingly frantic looks up at the mechanical hedgehog, who in return dove downards, aggressively slashing his claws towards him. 

 

Neo stumbled trying to dodge the swipe, just barely finding his balance and continuing to run. At that point Sonic had gotten closer to the ground, now just behind Neo. Activating his boosters with an unnatural screeching sound, Sonic sped up to the point that he was in front of the clearly panicky hedgehog, leaving Neo between the bullets and Sonic. 

 

Sonic dashed up to Neo, winding his arm back and swiftly throwing a punch towards him. Neo lowered his head with gritted teeth, ducking right under the hit. 

 

"Sonic-"

 

He leaned back slightly as he ran, trying to get away from another slash to the face from Sonic's claws, 

 

"We don't have to fight-!"

 

"Aw, already resorting to these tactics? Are you getting tired? I can't blame you! You can't keep up with the fastest thing alive!"

 

Neo clenched his fists, "This isn't a tactic! Sonic, just listen to me-!"

 

The hedgehog cut himself off with a yelp, ducking under yet another punch. 

 

"Psh, why would I listen to someone like you?" Sonic sneered, his mechanical voice filled with contempt. 

 

How the hell was Neo supposed to try bringing Sonic to their side?! The original Sonic wasn't exactly known for compromising, so trying to change a Sonic that was working for Eggman would not be easy. Especially in this hellhole of a situation! 

 

'Freedom! Even if he's a twisted version of Sonic, he has to prioritize some sort of freedom, right?!'

 

"Just listen! You like freedom, right? Working with The Doctor, regardless of if he made you or not, is going to limit your freedom!"

 

Sonic lifted himself slightly higher, looking like he was thinking, "Hmm, I do like freedom.."

 

Despite the situation that he was still in, Neo's face lit up, it was an unrealistic thought that he was getting through to Sonic already, but he ignored this blatant fact solely to give himself hope. Hope that this version of someone that he idolized would actually listen to his words. 

 

The hedgebot's face twisted into a cruel grin once again as he lifted up his leg, suddenly bringing it down towards Neo, "The freedom to kick your a-!"

 

His words were cut off as Neo, having no other choice against the steel limb that would surely give him a concussion at the very least, grabbed Sonic's surprisingly scratched up leg, tossing him forward with effort. After all, Neo still didn't want Sonic, whether he was a hedgehog or a robot, to get seriously hurt. 

 

Sonic reactivated his thrusters with yet another unusual screeching sound, stabilizing himself in the air as he clutched the yellow Emerald against himself. He was actually starting to look annoyed, no longer hiding his irritation under that obnoxious grin. 

 

Neo sped up slightly, looking up at Sonic again as he ran, the hedgebot still in front of him, "Look, Sonic, Eggman may have told you to come here and do what you're doing but-" Neo cut himself off, blankly staring at Sonic's uncomfortable expression. 

 

Crimson eyes widened in realization, "..Eggman didn't tell you to come here, did he?"

 

"You can do things outside of your programming! You don't have to stick with Eggman, Sonic! " 

 

Neo practically pleaded, his voice desperate. His legs were starting to burn from running around the room, Omega's bullets still right behind him despite their target not being Neo himself. The blue hedgehog wasn't used to running so much at these speeds as he had rarely had to run, even though he was quite literally built to endure through such things. 

 

The hedgebot's optics widened slightly, a look of hesitation finding it's way onto his metallic features. But just almost as soon as it arrived, it disappeared, replaced by a fury that seemed to come out of nowhere. 

 

"JUST SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME!" Sonic yelled out at Neo, interchanging his open hand with his laser blaster. He lifted up the metallic limb, pointing the barrel towards Neo. Unexpectedly though, he charged right towards the hedgehog. Neo let out a small surprised sound, beginning to actively look around in order to find a way to get out of Sonic's trajectory. 

 

Neo barely had time to react before Sonic was right by him. The hedgebot started charging his blaster, relentlessly trying to land a hit on Neo as he did so. Neo frowned at the enraged expression on Sonic's face, this all just felt so wrong. 

 

While trying to dodge the attacks, Neo suddenly felt a harsh blow hit him on the side of the head. He let out a pained sound, instinctively shutting his eyes as he lost his balance and fell. 

 

He clutched his head with gritted teeth, pushing himself up slightly. Neo looked up, seeing Sonic moving towards him, his laser blaster pointed directly at the blue hedgehog. Neo forced himself upwards, glancing worriedly at the bullets still behind him. Taking a deep breath, he turned right towards the approaching mechanical hedgehog. Suddenly, Neo jumped forwards with determined eyes, putting force into his leap in order to get to the height he wanted. 

 

'I refuse to accept a death like this!'

 

Green optics opened wide at the action as Neo jumped above him, they locked eyes for a moment and Neo couldn't help but think that even after everything, the hedgebot had a spark in his optics, a spark that Neo was oh so familiar with. 

 

Figuring that Sonic would catch himself with his thrusters anyway, Neo pushed the robot backwards with his foot, gaining momentum to keep going. Sonic flew backwards, stopping right above the wave of bullets. He shook his head, narrowing his eyes, but before he could do anything else, his thrusters stuttered with a horrible creak, before malfunctioning completely, letting the hedgebot fall. 

 

______

 

Meanwhile, Shadow and Rouge stood inside of an empty room, carefully inspecting the steel walls. There was a door on the furthermost side of the room that led to more hallways, but nothing else was inside. 

 

"Doesn't seem like there's anything in here." Rouge spoke, frowning slightly at the barren walls. 

 

Shadow let out a thoughtful hum, glancing at her, "I suppose that means Omega and Neo found something then."

 

Rouge chuckled slightly, about to say something when she suddenly stopped on alert. The ebony hedgehog stared at her, his guard going up at the sight of Rouge being so focused. 

 

"There's commotion the way that they went. Something's going on."

 

Staying silent at Rouge's words, Shadow sent the bat a look that she reciprocated. By the expression on her face, it was clear that there was most probably something going wrong. 

 

______

 

Sonic curled up around himself as he fell into the waves of bullets, trying to protect the core parts of himself with his limbs. He hit the ground hard with the loud sound of metal hitting metal. 

 

Neo skidded to a halt at the noise, immediately looking back in confusion and seeing Sonic on the ground, limp. His limbs had wires sticking out of them, fizzing and crackling in a way that certainly should not have been happening. The Chaos Emerald had rolled out of his hand on to the ground a few meters next to him. A low beep came from the hedgebot, lasting only a moment. 

 

Omega stopped shooting and for a second Neo foolishly thought that the large robot was done, however he quickly realized that Omega hadn't stopped, he was just reloading. A sudden panic came over Neo, his eyes widening. Without giving it a second thought, he ran back towards Sonic, stepping in between him and Omega. The hedgehog could faintly see out of the corner of his vision that Sonic was shakily raising his blaster at him, but before he could do anything to harm Neo his arm gave out, collapsing next to his body. 

 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OUT OF MY WAY SO I MAY DESTROY THE INFERIOR MODEL." Omega sounded annoyed, not sure why Neo was doing this. Sonic spoke up from behind the hedgehog, a sharp edge in his tone. 

 

"Yeah, what the hell are you doing?"

 

Neo held the palms of his hands facing towards Omega, "I don't think we need to kill him, he's already immobilized, that should be enough."

 

"YOUR OPINION IS UNNECESSARY. GET OUT OF THE WAY."

 

Sonic snorted condescendinglty, the hedgebot clearly keeping up his snark despite his situation, "Psh, wow you're an idiot. No wonder I was made.." But his words sounded empty, hollow, like he was just saying them to keep up an act. Neo certainly noticed it, but kept quiet about it. 

 

Before Neo could say something back to Omega, the sounds of the entrance doors hissing open caught the attention of everyone inside. All heads turned to Shadow and Rouge, who both looked at the scene in front of them with unreadable expressions. An unnatural silence filled the air for a few moments before Rouge spoke. 

 

"Well," She slowly lifted up a hand to her cheek, "This is certainly an interesting situation."

 

Deciding to use this moment, Neo grabbed Sonic, who let out a low growl at the contact, and hoistered him right next to himself, supporting the mechanical hedgehog with his arm much to the other's disdain. 

 

"I still don't see what you're trying to do." Sonic hissed out, glaring at Neo. 

 

"Well you came here without Eggman telling you to. You have a spark, I think.. No, I know that you can be better." Neo spoke in a hushed tone. 

 

The hedgebot stared at Neo for a few moments, scoffing and rolling his eyes. "Not only are you an idiot, you're insane as well." To which Neo just sighed, frustration imminent in his exhale. 

 

Rouge flapped her wings, flying over to the large robot still pointing his weapons at Sonic, and by relation, Neo. She placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression curious as she looked towards the blue hedgehog as she spoke. 

 

"Omega. Put your weapons away for now."

 

"I MUST DESTROY THE CONSUMER UNIT." Omega began protesting. 

 

"Ooh I must destroy the consumer unit!" Sonic repeated Omega's words with an annoyed expression, speaking in a higher tone in order to mock the larger badnik. 

 

"YOUR IMITATION IS PATHETIC, I DO NOT SOUND LIKE THAT."

 

"You totally sound like that."

 

Neo narrowed his eyes at Sonic, "Maybe don't antagonize him."

 

Shadow stomped over the the two, glaring at Neo specifically. Neo shrunk into himself, feeling like the ebony hedgehog was towering over him despite being roughly the same height. Making a sharp gesture towards the mechanical hedgehog, stepping almost threateningly towards the other hedgehog. 

 

"Neo. What's the meaning of this?!" He practically growled. 

 

"I-uhm- well.." Neo stuttered, he hadn't actually thought this far, he was just focused on trying to persuade Sonic. 

 

"Give me a clear answer, hedgehog!" Shadow raised his voice, which Sonic seemed to think was the perfect time to snicker at. 

 

'Okay, Neo, you obviously can't tell him that Sonic is a character you really like in another universe or dimension or whatever. So we need, excuses, believable ones.'

 

'Maybe I can use morality as an excuse, it's definitely a lie, but it might help me, so..'

 

"He's sapient, Shadow. It would be pretty messed up to let him get killed, even if he is..an enemy."

 

'That came out so horribly. I might as well just bury myself in the ground from the embarrassment. Hopefully he bought it though.'

 

Shadow stared at him silently, scanning the blue hedgehog up and down before letting out a gruff sigh. He rubbed his temples, looking more irritated than usual. 

 

"Okay, well what do you plan to do with it then, Neo?" He gritted out, like he was forcing himself not to do anything brash. 

 

Sonic frowned with slight annoyance in Neo's grip, "Here we go with the 'It' stuff again.."

 

"I guess I never really thought this far.."

 

Suddenly out of nowhere, the ceiling of the room started opening up. A large drone-like robot, painted with a red Eggman logo, dropped down a magnet tied to a rope in the midst of everyone's confusion, It started getting closer to Sonic, pulling him out of Neo's grip as he stuck to the magnet. 

 

The blue hedgehog snapped out of whatever shocked trance he was in, staring at Sonic, who was now getting pulled closer to the drone-like machine. The hedgebot seemed content with this, for the most part at least. There was something else in his gaze as he stared down at Neo, something that he couldn't make out. 

 

As the drone-like machine disappeared out of view, Omega approached Neo clearly not happy. He towered over the blue hedgehog, quite literally this time. 

 

"I DID NOT GET TO OBLITERATE THAT EGGMAN ROBOT BECAUSE YOU WERE IN THE WAY."

 

Oh. Omega was definitely not happy with Neo. 

 

Neo chuckled nervously, mumbling out a 'sorry' when Shadow not so surprisingly joined Omega in being upset with Neo. 

 

"So then, what was the whole point of that in the end?" He spoke sharply, jabbing a finger into Neo's chest, "Seems to be just a waste of time. Now he's going to end up being a problem in the future."

 

Biting back a frustrated groan, Neo turned around, walking right next to the yellow Chaos Emerald. He picked it up with one hand, showing it to the others with a slightly fed up expression. 

 

"Look, we got the Emerald, didn't we? That's what matters."

 

A sudden unexplained wave of dizziness hit Neo as he continued holding the Emerald, starting to feel queasy. It shouldn't have made him feel like this, but right now he didn't really have the energy to care. 

 

"Urgh.. Actually on second thought you guys can hold onto it.."

 

He tossed the Chaos Emerald into their direction without realy aiming, and Rouge caught the jewel. She stared at it in awe, eyes sparkling as she stared at the shiny gem. 

 

"Wow, it's been a while since I've seen one of these! It's so wonderful and precious.."

 

"Rouge." Shadow's voice cut through Rouge's trance, "Don't even think about it."

 

She crossed her arms, pouting slightly, "Oh you're no fun! I wasn't even doing anything."

Notes:

RELEASE ME
I don't know how well I did with this chapter I can't lie 😟

Shoutout to my amazing pal dxuki and the S3ruma discord server

Chapter 22: Chapter 21

Neo awkwardly stood in front of Tails' workshop. The blue hedgehog tilted his head, narrowing his eyes slightly since there wasn't really a door that he could knock on since it was just a makeshift room. Deciding to use his common sense for once, Neo came to the conclusion that the next best option was the wooden frame that kept the fabrics up. So he knocked on them, careful not to accidentally and stupidly knock over the entire thing. 

 

'Can't believe I'm actually doing this, but I need to know why I felt so icky when I held that Emerald. It's an artifact that has a bunch of power, so that's absolutely not normal!'

 

'..Actually my entire situation isn't normal but I feel like I've already gone over that.'

 

"Come in!" Tails' voice came from inside, a bit muffled due to being behind the curtains. Hearing the confirmation, Neo pushed the fabric away, stepping inside of the workshop. 

 

It looked much more like an actual workshop from the inside, that was the first thing Neo realized. There was obviously some machinery placed around, some on the ground and some on the wooden table inside. Tails seemed to be working on something, his movements focused. After hearing the shifting of the fabric, he put down the wrench he had been holding on the table with a light clank, turning around to face Neo. 

 

The fox's eyes widened in curiosity as he saw that Neo was the one in his workshop, not anyone he would normally expect like Amy. His tails moved slowly behind him as he spoke, his voice having a certain degree of uncertainty in it, "Oh, Neo? What are you doing here?"

 

Neo gave Tails a small wave, "Uh, hi Tails." He cleared his throat, lightly scratching the cuffs of his gloves, "So, I was talking with Amy earlier and she said that they gave you the um, the Chaos Emerald to hold on to?"

 

Tails stayed silent for a moment, as if trying to analyze why Neo was asking him about the Emerald, "Are you..asking to take it? Because-"

 

The hedgehog interrupted him, taking a reflexive step forward. His voice was filled with a frantic edge, caused by not wanting to get into another misunderstanding, "No! No, I'm here because that Emerald made me feel kinda weird, I guess?"

 

Realizing that he'd unintentionally raised his voice, Neo quieted down for a little bit, almost embarrassed as he stepped back. 

 

"When I was holding it, I mean. I figured that since you have tools that can measure Chaos Energy and stuff, maybe you could help me figure out what's going on with that?"

 

Tails let out a thoughtful hum, confusion etched into his features. He scratched his chin, looking back towards Neo with slight concern in his voice, "Well, I won't lie, that sounds a bit..worrying."

 

"Chaos Energy is inside of everything that's alive, in some amounts at least, so a Chaos Emerald shouldn't be having a negative impact on anyone. Quite the opposite in fact."

 

"Unless..something is wrong."

 

The twin tailed fox frowned, his expression getting more uneasy the more he spoke, "It might be better if you spoke to Knuckles about this. I may have my machinery, but he has a much stronger connection to Chaos Energy."

 

Neo squinted his eyes, grimacing slightly as he shifted. His voice had a certain level of hesitation, carefully choosing his words when talking to Tails, "Yeah, I know but uhm, I'm sure you realize that Knuckles doesn't exactly trust me."

 

The blue hedgehog snorted, although there was no humor in his tone, "Honestly I don't even think he likes me...which, those two are actually most definitely connected." 

 

"But anyway, uh, I'd much rather not talk to him unless I really have to."

 

Tails nodded, but kept his brows furrowed at Neo's words, "I..see. I guess that makes sense, but Neo, you really should consider talking to him. For your sake."

 

Neo sighed, pushing down the groundless irritation trying to squirm into his words, "I'll.. Think about it."

 

"Well then, I need to set some things up for the Chaos Energy detector, this'll just take a few minutes."

 

The hedgehog let out an acknowledging sound, standing silently as Tails began setting things up. He looked around, trying to see things that he hadn't originally noticed. However Tails spoke up soon after, trying to make small talk with Neo. 

 

"So, you guys got the Emerald from the mission I believe. I haven't heard what happened, but I assume it went well?"

 

Smoothing out his quills, Neo replied to the fox, sucking in his breath through his teeth, "I wouldn't say it went..amazing. We kinda came across Sonic again, so that was uh.. Interesting."

 

Tails hummed thoughtfully, "That's the robot you guys fought when you were at the abandoned Eggman base, right?"

 

"Yeah. I'm not entirely sure how he managed to find where we were because he wasn't-" Neo suddenly cut himself off. 

 

'..Would it be a bad idea to mention he was doing this without Eggman's orders? The others knowing he's doing this because he wants to could be a problem, how I'm not sure, but it could be. Ugh, I don't know..'

 

"He wasn't what?" Tails questioned off-handedly, still working on setting up the devices. 

 

The blue hedgehog snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head lightly, "Ah, nevermind. I guess I was just spewing out words at the end there."

 

"Hm."

 

A still silence settled in between the two, and Neo began looking around again. After carefully observing the entire workshop, the hedgehog realized that there were an unexpected amount of medical supplied on one side of the table. 

 

He raised an eye at that, perhaps he should've expected something like that considering The Resistance probably had to fight against Eggman often, but he had a feeling that these equipments weren't just being stored in Tails' workshop. 

 

"Hey Tails? I don't mean to be intrusive, but uh, I noticed that there's a lot of medical stuff in here. Are you like..the person that handles that kind of stuff here, or..?"

 

'WOW NEO. That sounded even more awkward than in your mind, great job.'

 

The fox smiled, one ear twitching slightly as he worked, "I guess you could say that, but mainly only in the camp. We have medical staff in the main base! The others here know first aid as well, but I'm the one that manages the more complicated machinery at the moment."

 

"Oh. That's.."

 

It was worrying, that's what it was. Neo knew that lots of things were different in this universe, hell, things about this universe were all that he remembered properly. And yet, the fact that Tails, this kid, had so much responsibility on himself was just..not right. But what was there to be done? At the end of the day, this was still a war against Eggman, and war was never fair on anyone, was it? 

 

"..Impressive" He forced himself to say, because facing the reality of the situation, the thought of hearing himself actually say it brought a bad taste to his mouth. So he ignored it, pressing that problem down.

 

"Ah, no, it's nothing really." Tails said, chuckling.

 

"You're able to make and operate machines. You also handle medical things. And you're still well..a kid.. You really don't need to be so humble." Neo leaned on the table a little, careful not to accidentally mess up Tails' work. 

 

The fox's face fell a little, his namesakes lowering, "Seriously, it's the least I can do, especially considering.." Tails didn't finish his sentence, but he glanced, if only for a second, at his tails. 

 

Neo's eyes widened as he sputtered, pushing himself up right, "I- Huh- You can't be serious!"

 

'That's right..Sonic never existed in this world before I did, so Tails never had someone to save him from those bullies, at least not as early as he would have had.'

 

"Do you really think just because you have two tails that makes you any lesser than anyone else?!"

 

Tails shuffled uncomfortably, "Well-I mean, it has to be a little weird having to put up with me.."

 

The hedgehog let out a deep, guttaral sigh, rubbing the top of his nose, "Tails, please tell me you're messing with me. In what world does you having an extra tail mean that you're someone that has to be 'put up' with?"

 

He gestured sharply to the fox's namesakes, frustration imminent in his face, "Seriously, you can fly with those! That doesn't make you any less credible."

 

Seeing that Tails was still not convinced, Neo exhaled, walking closer to the twin-tailed fox, his voice much softer now, "Listen. I don't know why you think of yourself this way. Maybe you had bad experiences with people that I don't know of, but I can tell you with no doubt that no one here thinks you're any different because of your tails."

 

"In fact, those just make you even more capable! You're a smart kid, Tails, you're already doing more than enough. So don't beat yourself up about something like that okay?"

 

The fox, sniffled, turning to Neo with a smile, he seemed to be tearing up, which made Neo think that he had done something wrong for a moment. Tails quickly wiped his eyes, his tails not so low anymore. 

 

"Uhm, thanks, Neo."

 

"Yeah it's...no problem." Neo mumbled back, not sure what else to say. 

 

Tails cleared his throat, trying to change the subject, "Anyways, everything should be all good to go now." He leaned down, taking the yellow Chaos Emerald out if where he had been keeping it. Holding the Emerald with one hand, he handed Neo a piece of wire with a plastic bit on the end, attached to the machine he'd been setting up, with the other.

 

"If you could just stick the bit at the end on your arm, that'd be great."

 

Neo did as he was told, sticking the part onto his right forearm. Tails gave him the Emerald, telling him to hold it with his right hand. The hedgehog gripped the gem firmly, the instant he did, the dizzying sensation returning full force. 

 

He grunted, fighting the urge to put the Chaos Emerald down as Tails read the energy chart. 

 

"Do you still feel weird?"

 

Neo nodded, looking squeamish, "Urgh.. Yeah. This does not feel good."

 

Tails shook his head thoughtfully, glancing at Neo once again, "Okay, you can put the Emerald down now."

 

With a sigh of relief, the blue hedgehog placed it back on the table, the yellow glow illuminating the space around it. Tails looked away from the machine at him, "Maybe this has something to do with your stabilizers. Can you try it without them?"

 

"Hmm," Neo tried prying the Chaos Stabilizers off, but to no avail as they were stuck to his gloves. "They aren't coming off, is it like..weird if I take off my gloves? Cuz uh, I don't really know how this..stuff works."

 

"Not really, people mostly wear gloves because it's more convenient."

 

"Ah, okay." Right as the hedgehog began taking off his gloves, a thought hit him. 'Wait, I'm so dumb! What if the reason Eggman related things have been happening around me is because there's a tracker in these devices?'

 

"Actually, before I do, could you uhm, check if there's anything that can er..track my location in these? I know I should've asked way before but it seriously just came to my mind.."

 

The twin-tailed fox perked up, "Oh, yeah, of course. It shouldn't take long since I'm just going to scan the mechanism." He took the Miles Electric in his hand, pointing it at Neo's hands and therefore the Chaos Stabilizers. A few seconds passed by before Tails put the Miles Electric down. 

 

"There aren't any trackers in these, so you don't need to worry about that."

 

Neo let out a deep exhale, taking off his gloves, "Phew, okay. Thanks."

 

He stared at his bare hands, at his claws as the effects of taking off his stabilizers started showing. Neo could feel the energy quickly draining out of himself, starting to feel light headed already. The hedgehog took the Chaos Emerald in his right hand once again, regaining the lost energy immediately. He didn't feel dizzy or nauseous this time, so that was something. 

 

Tails stared intently at the energy readings, staring at the chart with deep focus. He glanced back at Neo once again, suddenly fully turning around frantically, eyes wide. 

 

"Uh, Neo? Are you okay?"

 

Neo tilted his head, looking confused, "Yeah? Why wouldn't I.." He stopped, cutting himself off at the feeling of something warm on his face. He brought a hand up to his face, pulling it back to see crimson blood on his hand. 

 

Neo instinctively threw the Chaos Emerald down towards the table with a yelp, stepping backwards with a panic filled expression. 

 

"What the hell?!"

 

Tails cautiously took the Emerald into his own hands, eyes filled with concern. He stared at it, then back at Neo, who had begun putting his gloves back on, looking shook. 

 

"I think I have an idea of what's going on," Tails began, "But we should get Knuckles here in order to make sure this isn't related to the Emerald itself."

 

Wiping his nose with the back of his arm, Neo narrowed his eyes, speaking with a sigh, "Is that really necessary?" To which Tails responded with a firm nod, trying to show the hedgehog that this was important. 

 

Neo begrudgingly walked back over to near the curtains, holding back a sigh, "Whatever, I'll go get him I guess."

 

______

 

"So, what really happened during the mission?"

 

Knuckles crossed his arms, staring at Shadow expectantly. The ebony hedgehog thought for a moment, considering the situation. 

 

"Are you asking about the mission itself or what Neo was doing?" He said sharply, like he knew exactly why Knuckles was talking to him about this in the first place. 

 

The echidna's expression twitched for a moment, "Both." He finally admitted. Shadow huffed, tilting his head upwards. 

 

"I suppose things were mostly normal on my side as we had to split up. It was Omega and Neo who-"

 

"You left Neo alone with Omega?!" Knuckles uncrossed his arms, stepping towards Shadow, "Why would you leave him to do whatever-"

 

"I'm not finished, echidna." Shadow hissed out, annoyance visible on his face. "Perhaps if you stayed put for longer than five seconds, you'd learn the information you want."

 

Knuckles growled at the remark, but ultimately stayed silent to let Shadow continue. The ultimate lifeform stopped himself from showing a smirk before speaking again. 

 

"As I was saying, they were the ones that were in the situation themselves. Of course, I talked to Omega about what happened. From what I was able to gather, Neo and Omega stumbled upon both the Chaos Emerald and Sonic. Omega began attacking the robot but Neo apparently did nothing of the sort."

 

"Eventually Omega was able to take him down, but Neo insisted on protecting Sonic. That was when Rouge and I joined them once again. Neo said that he didn't think killing something that was sentient was right, and then a large drone managed to take the robot away to most likely get fixed."

 

The echidna stayed quiet, contemplating what Shadow had told him. He narrowed his eyes in thought, uncertainty filling his purple eyes. 

 

"Well that certainly matches up with Amy's views. But Neo's only been here for around, what, three weeks? I guess its possible that he quickly adapted to morals like that but-" Knuckles suddenly stopped, eyes widening. 

 

"Wait a second, Shadow, something isn't adding up. Neo is roughly a month old chronologically."

 

Shadow nodded, "Yes I'm aware of that, what of it?"

 

"If he was- hold on, how do you know? Did he tell you? He doesn't seem the type of person to do that."

 

The ebony hedgehog shook his head, gesturing towards Knuckles. "Not exactly. Regardless of that, what were you saying?"

 

Knuckles scratched his head, looking perplexed if not a little questioning, "Neo came to the camp saying that he wanted to be more than a weapon, right?" The echidna ignored the way Shadow's hands clenched at the reminder, continuing to speak, "He spent around a week with The Doctor, and Eggman clearly isn't one to teach about good things. So how did he get the idea to change his ways in such a short time without even talking with anyone that could've convinced him? Don't you think that's suspicious?"

 

Shadow stayed silent at that, letting out a thoughtful sound. His indifferent expression wavered, but only for a moment as he made a gesture with his hands, speaking in a tone like what he was saying was obvious. 

 

"If Neo is like this after one month, then he was clearly designed to have full consciousness when he awoke. Conscious people think, a lot. Which could have led to him deciding The Doctor was not someone to side with."

 

Scarlet eyes softened for a moment as he continued, clearly thinking of a certain someone, "However I suppose some people are naturally born as good, regardless of their environment."

 

His gaze sharpened once again as he cleared his throat, "Although, we cannot know that about Neo."

 

Just as Knuckles was about to reply, the crunching of grass caught his and Shadow's attention, bringing their eyes towards the sound reflexively. Neo stepped forwards, closer to them. He most definitely didn't want to be there, but alas, he was. 

 

"Knuckles," Neo spoke with a sigh, "I'm gonna need you to come with me for a minute."

 

The echidna raised an eye at that, suspicion lacing his voice, "And why is that?"

 

The blue hedgehog glanced at Shadow, squinting at the way that Shadow seemed to be analyzing his movements. He crossed his arms, looking back at Knuckles, "Tails wants your help for something Chaos Emerald related."

 

"Oh. The Chaos Emerald from the mission you were on?"

 

"Mhm. He was testing somethings with the Emerald and told me that it would be good if you took a look at it too." 

 

"Wait.." Knuckles narrowed his eyes accusingly at Neo, tilting his head slightly. 

 

'Oh, here we go again.'

 

"He was testing the Emerald with you? Why were you interested in a gem with great power, hm?" His voice was sharp, filled to the brim with implied accusations that made Neo's eyes twitch in irritation. 

 

"Okay, why the hell are you acting like this Knuckles?!" He raised his voice despite not fully meaning to, "You keep acting like I'm going to betray you all on a whim! What have I done to make you still think this?!"

 

"Well I don't know, what happened with Sonic on your mission might be something." Knuckles huffed out, words tainted with the same suspicion as before. 

 

"What happened with Sonic-" Neo froze for a moment, thoughts running through his head before he exhaled through his nose, trying to make himself look confident, "I already told Shadow this. I don't think killing someone that has feeling is right."

 

"You can't 'kill' something that's not alive Neo." The echidna, looked him up and down firm in his words. 

 

"Oh?" Neo replied back, an aggressive edge to his tone, "Would you say the same thing if it was Omega?"

 

His words cut through the air, filling it with a still silence. Neo waited for a few moments, to see if either Knuckles or Shadow would say anything, but they didn't. 

 

"Tch. That's what I thought. Now, are you coming to Tails' workshop or not?"

 

_____

 

With a flap of the curtain, Knuckles and Neo entered the workshop again, one after another. Tails looked up, face brightening at the sight. 

 

"Oh, hey Knuckles!"

 

Knuckles smiled slightly at the fox, "Hello Tails. You needed me for something?"

 

"Ah, right!" Tails turned back to table, taking the yellow Chaos Emerald into his hand. He turned back to Knuckles holding out his hand towards the echidna. "Could you see if this Emerald is well..normal?"

 

Stopping for a moment, Knuckles' expression changed to one of confusion. He put a hand on his chin, staring at the Emerald, "Like, if it's fake or not? I thought you could tell it apart from a fake one from its energy signatures, Tails."

 

Tails let out a sheepish laugh, "No, no it's nothing like that. What I'm asking is if this Emerald has anything.. Off, about it. I have an idea of what's going on, but Neo said that it made him feel weird when he held it and other such things, so I want to make sure."

 

Knuckles glanced at the blue hedgehog, who had begun scratching at the cuffs of his gloves. Neo was doing everything but looking at him, not that Knuckles minded. He turned back to Tails, holding out his empty hand for Tails to give him the Chaos Emerald. 

 

"It makes him feel weird, you say? That's not usual, that's for sure. I guess I can take a look."

 

He closed his eyes with a focused expression, hand curling around the gem as Tails handed it to him. A few moments passed by in silence, until finally purple eyes opened once more and the echidna gave the Emerald back to Tails with a light shrug, "Doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the Chaos Emerald itself."

 

The fox furrowed his brows, "..I see. Well, thank you Knuckles. That was all, sorry for bothering you about this."

 

The echidna waved him off with a low grin, his face filled with lightheartedness, "Don't worry about it, I'm just glad to help. I'll see you later then?"

 

Nodding, Tails waved goodbye to Knuckles as the red echidna began leaving, "Yep! Bye Knuckles!"

 

Right as he left, Knuckles sent a glare Neo's way, almost like a warning, his expression dark. Neo rolled his eyes in annoyance, looking away as the echidna finally left the makeshift room. He stepped forward to Tails, keeping his expression neutral. 

 

"So, what do you think is the issue?"

 

Tails' ears dropped a little as he turned the screen of the machine that has the energy charts towards Neo. There was a green line that was near the middle, occasionally wobbling around before returning to it's original position, and a yellow line that seemed to be remaining down at the bottom with barely any change. The twin-tailed fox pointed at the lines, a hint of worry still present in his features. 

 

"The green line represents your own Chaos Energy and the yellow line represents the energy of the Emerald and as you can see the yellow line is at the bottom. This is the readings with your stabilizers on, so what I believe is happening here is that while your stabilizers help with the circulation of your own energy, it's blocking any external source of Chaos Energy from entering your body as well."

 

"This means that the Chaos Emerald is trying to brute force the energy into you, and failing, which is what's causing you to feel 'weird.'

 

Neo hummed at Tails' words, nodding along as the fox switched to another energy chart. This time however, both of the lines were all over the place, spiking and dropping down in a messy manner. 

 

"Now, this is what happens without your stabilizers and from what I can tell your energy starts draining without them. You can think of what's happening like a container of water with a hole on the bottom of one of the sides. The water will drain anyway, but the more water there is, the faster and more powerful the drainage will be."

 

"Since your body ends up holding high amounts of Chaos Energy and losing it extremely fast without ending the cycle, the difference in the amount causes some sort of energy whiplash. I believe that's what caused your nose to start bleeding."

 

"Right.." Neo squinted his eyes at the machine before gesturing towards it with intrigue, "So what does this mean for me?"

 

 

"Well the more energy that enters your body without the stabilizers, the worse the whiplash will be. There's a form, perhaps you're aware of it, called Super. It happens when someone obtains all seven Chaos Emeralds, and it's very powerful."

 

Neo nodded, listening carefully as Tails continued, "If you have all Emeralds with your stabilizers, nothing will happen except you probably feeling like you're about to throw up. However if you use them without your stabilizers, you will be able to use the form. Unfortunately, once you get out of Super form.."

 

The fox's eyes crept down to the floor, looking slightly grim, "..The whiplash could possibly kill you."

 

Crimson eyes widened at those words, Neo's breath slightly hitching. He took a few seconds before clearing his throat and smoothing out his quills, "I see.. I'm going to uh, have to think about this a little. Thanks for helping me, Tails."

 

Tails smiled sympathetically, his tails lightly moving behind him, "Take your time, Chaos Energy is something that's very delicate, so I understand. And it's no problem Neo, anytime."

 

The blue hedgehog walked over to the curtain to leave, waving a little at Tails, who waved back. He left the workshop, fresh air hitting him immediately. He started walking away, thinking. 

 

'Man, that's a shame.. But I guess I shouldn't be too sad about it. After all I'm probably not going to stick around for long enough to get a chance at going Super, right?'

 

He shifted uncomfortably, the thought making him feel wrong for some reason. Reaching out a hand into his quills, he pulled out the dimensional travel device's key, holding it gently in the palm of his hand, almost as if trying to ground himself. 

 

Neo stared intently at the metal part, drowning out the uncertainty trying to creep within him. He saw his reflection on the reflective surface, but it was warped and blurry as the key was just made of steel after all. And yet, seeing himself brought a frown onto his face. So he sighed, deep exhale that expressed so much more than he could with words, and put it back into his quills, and continued walking.

Notes:

My absolute GOAT Knuckles would not do ts I'm sorry he's acting like this guys it's for the plot

Also if the last parts are a bit weird, it's cuz I'm not feeling too good at the moment

As always, shoutout to my friends dxuki and the S3ruma discord server

Chapter 23: Chapter 22

"This is unbelievable!"

 

Eggman paced around his workshop, footsteps clanking angrily against the steel floors. Sonic was slumped over near the wall, looking up at The Doctor with barely hidden shame. He wasn't fixed, not yet at least, barely functioning limbs hanging limp by his side. The mustached man gritted his teeth, furiously ranting at his broken creation. 

 

"I have spent hours meticulously planning you, PERFECTING you, and this is how you repay me?! By going off on your own and getting yourself humiliated by those worthless creations?"

 

The man stopped in front of Sonic, face red. "If you cannot even defeat those mere pests, why have I even made you, hm? If you fail your primary directive and do whatever you please without your creator's knowledge, what reason do I have to keep a rebellious brat like you around?" Eggman's voice was aggressive as he stared down the hedgebot, who shrunk into himself the best that he could. 

 

"I- I just thought that if I could get rid of them-" Sonic stammered out almost desperately, his mechanical voice carrying none of the cocky personality he usually showed. 

 

"You are not meant to think! You are meant to obey my brilliance!" Eggman cut the hedgebot off, leaning down as he stared Sonic directly in the optics, "There were traps set for those vermin, mechanisms that can do what they're told, and you disabled them! Not only did you disable them, you completely failed in destroying your targets."

 

The Doctor stood upright again, continuing his aggressive but rhythmic pacing as he rubbed his forehead with an exasperated sigh, "What an utter waste of time and resources.."

 

Broken mechanical limbs twitched in place as their owner let out a barely audible sound, almost as if the words physically affected him. The blue hedgebot hesitantly looked back at his creator, optics duller in colour than before. Eggman continued his speech, or lecture, or whatever anger filled word vomit he was spewing at that moment. 

 

"Should I even bother to fix you?" The man gestured towards Sonic, "A badnik that doesn't use the logic implemented by my marvelous mind could certainly be a nuisance for my Empire."

 

Sonic lowered his head, a light creaking sound could be heard as he dug his metal claws into the floor, dragging them slightly. And yet, despite all of this, he stayed silent. It wasn't like he could do anything anyway with those damaged limbs, not that he wanted to of course.

 

Eggman brought a hand to his face, unnecessarily pushing back his glasses, perhaps just for show, "Hmm, although I do suppose you were quite capable in your first time fighting those Resistance scum. The Chaos Emerald in that base was a fake anyway, so nothing truly of value was lost."

 

The hedgebot let out a nervous mechanical laugh, a shaky grin on his muzzle that was clearly anything but happy, "Uhm. About that. You see Doc I may have.." He winced at the way Eggman was staring-no, glaring- at him, "I might have replaced the fake with the real deal for.. Extra challenge..?"

 

The Doctor suddenly paused before twisting around to face Sonic in a fit of rage, throwing his hands up in a wild gesture, "YOU WHAT?!" He grabbed the hedgebot sharply, bringing him up toward his mustached face. 

 

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" The man yelled out through gritted teeth, "THAT WAS AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL ASSET YOU MORON!"

 

Violently hitting the ground once again as he was dropped, Sonic grunted, watching his enraged creator start pacing around with more vigor than ever. He frowned, barely managing to bring his arms closer to himself as Eggman started rambling almost nonsensically.

 

"I should- I should scrap you for this! Repurpose those wasted materials to make something that isn't actively working against me!"

 

Sonic's artificial breath hitched, a ruse to make himself seem more alive than the metal hedgehog he was. His green optics widened as he spoke, voice tinted with an understandably desperate edge, "Doctor, I haven't been working against you! I've even been trying to do the opposite-!"

 

Eggman cut him off, clearly not interested in listening to Sonic, "Oh, quiet you, before I rip out your voicebox myself!" To which the hedgebot immediately shut up with a meek sound. 

 

"Of course you aren't working against me, you do not have the capacity to do as such! You can't do anything to deliberately harm me or The Empire so long as you're connected to the Eggnet!"

 

"The only reason I'm even considering to keep you intact is because of your performance against those pests!" Eggman gritted out, not even bothering to look at his broken creation, "Of course I still have four other Emeralds, but you still lost an immeasurably valuable object."

 

The Doctor let out a frustrated noise, anger still tainting his sound, "Unfortunately, keeping you in this state would not really be of any use." He stepped closer to the hedgebot, looking down at him with an unreadable expression, "I suppose you may go and get fixed by the Eggpawns while I think of what to do with you. If I do decide to keep you around, that would be more convenient for me anyway."

 

"What?!" Sonic protested, his mechanical tone almost offended, "But the Eggpawns that fix stuff only fix things like motobugs! That's not fair!"  

 

Motobugs were mass produced badniks much like the Eggpawns themselves, easily made and mostly only an obstacle for who ever they were fighting. They were easily replaced by yet another one in a fight after all. 

 

Eggman sneered, raising up his chin as he stared down Sonic, the shadows in the room making The Doctor seem even more menacing than he normally would have been to the blue hedgebot, "Perhaps you should consider what that means for you then. You should be grateful that I'm being so merciful!"

 

Green optics narrowed in a way that the blue hedgebot usually wouldn't do, especially towards his own creator, "The whole reason I lost the Chaos Emerald Is because of you! You didn't bother to properly fix my thrusters so they ended up malfunctioning and dropping me right into gunfire! I totally would've won otherwise." He scowled, practically growling out his words. 

 

The mustached man's face reddened even more in his anger, "You DARE speak to me that way?!" He yelled out, slamming his foot down harshly as he stepped closer to his creation, "You should feel lucky that I'm not taking you apart right this moment, you ungrateful brat!"

 

He suddenly turned his head towards a corner of the room, looking straight at Orbot and Cubot who, somehow unbeknownst to Sonic, had been in the room this entire time, "YOU TWO!"

 

The two small robots quickly floated their way over to Eggman with a yelp. Orbot looked up at the mustached man with a nervous look, squinting his optics, "Yes Sir?"

 

"Get him out of my sight!"

 

The red robot tilted his head slightly, "Uh, where do we-"

 

"NOW!" Eggman yelled out, causing his robots assistants to quickly scramble over to Sonic, lifting him up by the arms and taking him out of the room. 

 

The steel door hissed open and closed behind them as they left. Sonic lowered his head, arms slack, his metal legs dragging behind him limply, making a horrible sound as they scraped across the iron floors. The hedgebot stayed silent as he stared intensely at the ground, something almost akin to sickness crawling into every part of his circuits. It was an infection, like bacteria squirming and multiplying inside of him, covering his innards with a slimy, disgusting substance as the unfamiliar feeling grew more and more. His optics were dull, mechanical chest heaving like it was pretending to be alive. 

 

As the silence grew almost unbearable, Orbot spoke up, his words almost hesitant, "Wel, that certainly was..something." The red robot was stating the obvious, and he seemed to be aware of that, but anything was better than the deafening quiet, Sonic supposed. 

 

"Yeah, it was crazy how The Doctor was yelling at you little bro!" Orbot slowly turned his head towards Cubot, squinting his eyes in an almost disappointed manner. 

 

"Shut up! I told you not to call me that, idiot," Sonic snapped, although his words were more bark than bite as he was currently barely able to move. 

 

A sad look came across Cubot's face, his optics dropping slightly. "Sorry," he replied, sending an awkward glance Orbot's way as if to nudge him to ask what they both were thinking. Orbot would have brought his hands to his face, but they were too busy holding up Sonic, as well as he could at the very least. The round robot made a sound mimicking clearing his throat, 

 

"So uh, where should we take you, Sonic?"

 

Right. The hedgebot was technically a higher authority than those two, which brought back some semblance of confidence to him at the very least. Not much, however, seeing that he still had to be dragged around. 

 

"Uh," The hedgebot's voice was a lot more toned down now, like he was trying to force it to sound more like himself, "Just take me to the fixing room or..whatever."

 

Cubot's optics widened again as he spoke in a cheerful tone, like nothing had happened, "You mean the Eggpawns' fixing room?"

 

Sonic sucked in an irritated breath, exhaling as he spoke through his teeth, mechanic voice strained, "Yes, that one."

 

They continued walking, or more accurately, traversing through the hallway as none of them were actually 'walking'. The air was much lighter now, although tension still courses through the hedgebot's metal body like electricity through his circuits. 

 

Sonic looked up for a mere moment, locking onto a specific door near them. Green optics widened at the sight of the entrance to Eggman's laboratory, a nagging feeling forming inside of him. 

 

"Stop." The hedgebot commanded, lifting his head upwards the gesture at the general direction of the door, "Go in there."

 

The two robots came to a halt, looking at each other for a moment before complying. The doors of the lab hissed open to let them in, closing shut once they had entered. Machines hummed all around the room, research notes scattered in a way that one would think was unorganized. Sonic narrowed his optics with focus, initiating a visual scan to see if what he was looking for was in here. 

 

Eventually, he found a match, something that looked exactly like what he was searching for. The hedgebot glanced at Orbot, firmly nudging his head towards the desk near the wall. The two robot assistants brought Sonic near it, lifting him up so that he could get a better access to what he wanted to look at. 

 

And there it was. Two printed copies of blueprints, or whatever you would call these meticulously drawn 'charts', sitting there, right next to each other. Sonic let out a mechanical huff, inspecting everything on the papers with his advanced comprehensive capabilities. 

 

A blueprint, one with his exact shape and features, everything written down to the most miniscule details. Colour, shape, abilities, everything. There was a whole wall of text about each part, about his energy source, and how his inner mechanisms worked constantly to keep the power from overflowing. About his thrusters, the amount of input that was needed to keep him in the air, how much speed he could pick up in a single second and how much force he could output with a mere punch. 

 

There were notes about where each wire inside of him was placed, just like a regular nervous system, transporting artificial life through his metaphorical veins instead of blood. Notes on his AI, his systems, any detail one could ever think of about a machine's qualities was on there. 

 

On the other hand, the hedgehog's, what was it they had called him? Neo? It didn't matter. That failure's 'blueprints' were vague, the shape on the page wasn't even specifically of him but a generic Mobian hedgehog. The only notes around it were about how the organic one would be fast, strong, how he should be able to handle lots of Chaos Energy. Nothing but vague features, unlike his own. 

 

Sonic was perfected, wasn't he? His schematics showed as such taking into account that everything about him was planned. That hedgehog was a complete wild attempt, made with desperation for something to end The Resistance. By all means Sonic was the improved model, the one that should have had no problem at all. 

 

So why? No, the better question to ask would be how. How did he, a machine made by hands that weaved perfection and power into his metallic skeleton with each movement, manage to suffer defeat by hands which were unpredictable and limited? 

 

How dare that traitor of a creation force him into failure? How dare he be the cause of The Doctor's disappointment in him and still be something that should be lesser than Sonic was? 

 

Optics burned green with hatred, rage, and a mix of disfigured emotions that were impossible to describe. Sonic was seething with rage, staring daggers into the vague image that was supposed to be the hedgehog. He lunged suddenly, claws bared, with barely functioning arms. 

 

His sudden movements startled Orbot and Cubot, the two losing their grip on sonic with a surprised sound. A rip echoed inside the room as Sonic fell to the ground with a loud clang, unable to even lift himself up. 

 

A few moments passed before the two got themselves back together, going up to Sonic to lift him up again. Their questions asking if Sonic was alright fell on deaf ears as Sonic stared downwards, more focused on the blueprint that had fallen along with him. 

 

The blue page lay there, crumpled slightly by Sonic's impulsive attack. It was almost mocking the hedgebot, or at the very least trying to with it's mere presence.

 

But Sonic just felt empty looking at it, staring intensely at the middle of the page where the drawing of the hedgehog, now barely recognizable after being torn through with razor sharp claws, was.

Notes:

I think I did pretty well with this chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments if you'd like :)

Shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma discord server as always :D

Chapter 24: Chapter 23

Breathing through his nose, Neo stretched his limbs, looking up at the sky as he did so. The last bits of morning grogginess had begun fading away, leaving Neo feeling unusually calm. Staring at the blue cloudy sky, Neo put his arms back down next to himself. 

 

'Huh. I guess this is a nice way to start the day.'

 

He hadn't had any nightmares that night, actually managing to get a good amount of rest. The blue hedgehog wondered if this was a way for life to make it up to him after putting Neo through everything that had happened in the past month. Probably not, but if he could get a decently pleasant day, he wasn't going to be complaining. Crimson eyes turned their gaze away from the sky, focusing on their surroundings as Neo began walking. 

 

Tangle and by relation, Whisper, had invited him to the aim training they were talking about the first time he'd talked to them. He was a little skeptical about whether he wanted to go or not, but Tangle was nice enough and this would probably help him in the long run, so Neo had agreed. 

 

'I think the training area was somewhere around here,' Neo eyed his surroundings, 'I remember seeing it a couple of times.'

 

Suddenly coming face to face with Amy, the blue hedgehog stopped as to not bump into her. Amy's eyes brightened up once she saw Neo, giving him a small wave as she spoke, "Oh! Hi Neo!"

 

"Hey Amy." He said, his expression light despite not having a smile on his face like Amy did. 

 

"Are you searching for someone?" The pink hedgehog tilted her head, "You looked like you were trying to find something.

 

Neo shuffled his feet, his rubber boots squeaking lightly as he did so, "Uh, kinda." He said, "Tangle and Whisper invited me to some kind of training for uhm, aim and stuff. So I'm just looking for the training area."

 

Amy's eyes widened, but it wasn't in a bad way. In fact her voice had a noticeably more happy undertone to it now, "Well that's great! The training area isn't too far from here, it's on the left a little farther on."

 

She stepped closer towards Neo, clasping her hands behind her back as she leaned forward a little, "Actually, maybe we could train together sometime! It could be good for you to properly learn techniques."

 

The blue hedgehog stayed silent for a moment, thinking, before nodding at Amy, "Uh, sure."

 

Amy smiled, squinting her eyes just a tiny bit, "We can figure out the details of it later." She stood upright again, seeming almost relaxed in a way, "I have some business to attend to, but in the meantime have fun, okay?"

 

'It's.. Training. I don't think its necessarily supposed to be fun. Eh, maybe she just said that for pleasantries.'

 

"Yeah, I will." Neo said, watching Amy start to walk away. She looked back at him for a second, waving at him once again. Neo waved back, however much less enthusiastically. He turned around, continuing his way to the training area. 

 

He took in the fresh air, eyes instinctively sliding towards the left side of his vision in order to see the training area as he walked.

 

Tangle and Whisper were talking, or more accurately, Tangle was talking to Whisper. The lemur seemed to be speaking about something she was excited about, making large gestures with her arms. Whisper nodded occasionally, a soft smile on her face as she listened to Tangle. 

 

The lemur stopped once she noticed Neo's presence, stepping over to him with a grin. She extended her tail toward him, just like she had done before, "Hi again!"

 

Neo paused for a moment before shaking the end of Tangle's tail again. He stared at her with a light smile, trying and failing to make himself look energetic like she was. 

 

"Hello Tangle." The blue hedgehog said, tilting his head slightly to see Whisper more clearly. He gave the beige wolf, who no longer had the barely noticeable smile on her muzzle, a small wave, "Hello Whisper." 

 

Whisper in return nodded at him in acknowledgement. Neo took this as an opportunity to actually look around the training area. There were dummies, most likely made out of some sort of endurable material. Some had clear wear on them, which made sense considering they were training dummies. 

 

Neo took a step back, shuffling around awkwardly, "So, you said uhm, aim training right? How is this gonna work?" 

 

"Right!" Tangle pulled out laser blasters seemingly out of nowhere, holding them out enthusiastically, "These are laser guns we took from badniks. Tails tinkered around with them and made it so that they barely do any harm! We'll use these!"

 

She looked back at Neo to see his reaction, smile faltering at the sight of the blue hedgehog standing there looking puzzled. 

 

'Where the hell did she take these from?? They were NOT here before what???'

 

The hedgehog's expression was almost disturbed as he stared intensely at the laser blasters. Tangle waved a hand in front of his face, "Uh, Earth to Neo?" She chuckled, trying to play her words off like a joke. 

 

Neo shook his head, clearing his throat, "U-uh, sorry about that. You said er, Tails worked on these right?" He scratched the cuffs of his gloves lightly as he spoke, "Pretty smart kid, isn't he?"

 

"Oh, totally! It's pretty great what he can do with that brain of his."

 

"Yeah.." Neo gently took one of the laser blasters in Tangle's hands, turning it over in his grip to inspect it, "..I should let you know though, I haven't actually used one of these before."

 

Tangle off-handedly waved him off as she handed another laser gun to Whisper, "That's fine, we're just going to be working on aim anyway! Right Whisper?" The wolf confirmed this with a quiet sound, holding the laser blaster in her hands firmly. 

 

"Okay but aren't you supposed to uh, teach me about..gun safety?" Neo squinted his eyes, frowning at the laser blaster in his hands. 

 

The lemur paused for a moment, tilting her head in confusion, "..This isn't a gun though?"

 

"But the same principles probably apply here too, right? I feel like knowing how handle a weapon could be useful as to, well..not injure myself." Neo held the laser blaster in one hand, intentionally keeping it away from himself as crimson eyes turned to Whisper, "You can't tell me that this is completely safe."

 

Whisper didn't respond for a couple of seconds before speaking in her usual quiet tone, a subtle sharp edge in her voice, "Your priority will be to hit the threat if you have a ranged weapon. Being injured is less of a concern when not hitting your target could mean death."

 

'Oh. So that's the main point of this, huh? I guess it makes sense that Whisper's the one saying that considering what happened to her teammates.'

 

An awkward silence settled between them for a few moments. Tangle tried to lighten up the mood, gesturing with her hands as she spoke, "..Plus it's not that complicated! Just don't point it at anything or anyone that you don't want to shoot, pretty easy!"

 

Neo sighed, reluctantly accepting those words, "Uh, okay, sure.."

 

'I can't help but feel like they're downplaying this. Guns need to be handled safely, don't they? I mean, I guess it could be that it's not as dangerous here, after all this isn't my universe. Doesn't change the fact that it feels wrong though.'

 

"Anyway! Let's start." Tangle turned her head towards Whisper, "Do you want to explain things or can I?"

 

"You can." The wolf whispered, an unreadable expression on her face, her tail moving slowly behind her. 

 

Tangle beamed, giving Whisper a thumbs up, "Okay! You have more experience with this kind of stuff, so could you demonstrate while I explain it to Neo?"

 

Whisper nodded, raising the laser blaster in her hands towards one of the dummies, her movements precise as though they'd been practiced hundreds of times. They most likely had been practiced hundreds of times. 

 

The lemur took a step near Whisper, pointing to the way the beige wolf was holding the laser gun as she talked, an explanatory tone in her voice, "So! First thing, hold the laser blaster properly, just like what Whisper's doing."

 

Neo stered at the blaster in his hand with slight hesitation, holding it by it's handle. He turned his gaze to Whisper's hands, focusing on exactly how her fingers were positioned in order to replicate the grip with his own laser gun. The blue hedgehog lifted it up, a cautious tension in his arms. 

 

"Uh, like this?"

 

Grinning, Tangle gave him a nod, "Yep! Now the actual aiming part." She scooted herself closer to Neo, squinting her eyes as she quickly pointed at the dummy Neo was facing, specifically the target painted on it, "Most of this is just practice honestly, but focus on exactly where you want to hit and try to keep your aim stable when shooting the lasers!"

 

She looked back at Whisper expectantly, causing Neo to also turn his vision towards the wolf curiously. Before he could form any questions in his mind, Whisper shot at the dummy with her laser blaster three times, hitting bullseye almost effortlessly each time. It left Neo staring at the lightly charred spots on the dummy blankly. 

 

Tangle got near the beige wolf with an enthusiastic expression, her voice energetic as usual, "That was awesome!" to which Whisper smiled sheepishly. 

 

The lemur pointed at Neo, "Now you try! The more you practice, the better you'll be!"

 

Neo took a deep breath as if to steady himself, turning his focus towards the center of the target. He narrowed his eyes, waiting for a few moments before shooting with the laser blaster in his hands. 

 

Unfortunately, the blue hedgehog wasn't able to keep a steady grip on the laser gun, missing his target entirely. At the very least however, he grazed the shoulder of the dummy. Neo inhaled and exhaled, reminding himself that just like any other thing he'd tried, realistically he wouldn't be able to do this on his first attempt. 

 

He lifted his arm again, this time putting more effort into keeping his aim straight as he shot. Admittedly it was a better attempt, but not by a lot. 

 

And so Neo continued blasting lasers at the dummy, getting increasingly frustrated each time he missed. The blue hedgehog let out a low growl, quills bristling in frustration as he held the laser blaster with a tighter grip. 

 

'..I think I'm starting to understand what Omega was feeling back in the mission.'

 

His eye twitched in irritation as he breathed sharply. Neo lifted the laser gun again, more out of irrational spite against the training dummy, shooting one more laser. 

 

Contradictory to his own expectations, Neo's last shot finally hit the center after so many failed attempts. The hedgehog froze up for a moment, like he didn't believe that he had succeeded. It was short lived however as an uncharacteristically happy expression appeared on his face. He threw his arms up in the air, the rest of his body lowering slightly with relief. 

 

Neo laughed, with more vigor in his sound than need be, "HAH! YES, I DID IT!" 

 

"Yeah! That's great!" Tangle exclaimed, pulling both Whisper and Neo into a sort-of side hug with an almost off-handed manner, holding Whisper with her arm and Neo with her tail. Neo stopped, face twisting into a painfully uncomfortable expression. Whisper seemed more surprised than uncomfortable, awkwardly standing in the lemur's hold. 

 

A few moments of silence later, Tangle pulled herself away from the others, a nervous look on her face.

 

"Oh, er, sorry about that." Her voice carried a genuine edge to it as she apologized, shuffling her foot slightly. 

 

"Uh, it's fine I guess.." Neo smoothed out the bristled up quills on his head as Whisper nodded slowly at Neo's words to show that she agreed with the blue hedgehog. 

 

"Well uhm, I guess now there's nothing to do but keep practicing, right?" Tangle chuckled, clearly trying to change the uncomfortable mood. 

 

And she was right, there wasn't much to do. So the three of them started practicing their aim with the laser blaster, Tangle and Whisper understandably having better accuracy than Neo. 

 

Eventually they stopped. It was beginning to get dark. Of course they took occasional breaks, but still somehow managed to lose track of time. 

 

"So," Began Tangle, "I'd say that was pretty good, especially for your first training! We should do this again sometime! Of course not super close to now since well, it takes kinda long."

 

She turned to Whisper, putting her hands on her hips, "We should probably get some rest. Tomorrow is probably gonna be tiring after all!"

 

Neo tilted his head, confused, "Uh, what's tomorrow?"

 

"Whisper and I are going on a scouting mission to see if there's anything around this area that we could've missed!"

 

"Oh, then I shouldn't keep you waiting for long. You two should rest." 

 

"Alright, we'll see you later then. Bye Neo!" Tangle smiled at him as she started walking away, Whisper right by her side. 

 

Neo waved goobye at the two as they started walking away, putting his arm down once they were far enough. He sighed, eyebrows furrowing, 

 

'...Would staying here be so bad? I mean, I have problems with Knuckles and Shadow, but other than that everyone is pretty nice. Plus I'm sure that those issues would be fixed eventually..I mean I don't even remember who I was in my own universe..'

 

He shook his head, resisting the urge to take out the metal key from his quills once again, 'Being tired must be messing with my thoughts. I should probably put this thinking off until I'm not exhausted because well..of course I have to go home.'

Notes:

Chat take gun safety seriously, firearms are dangerous

Sorry if there's any problems, I was kinda tired writing this whole chapter

Also, we have our first ever fan art!! Thank you so much to CJ_Loves_Griffins for making these amazing drawings, I'm truly honored! You can check them out here

As always, shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma discord server!

Chapter 25: Chapter 24

Sounds of quiet chatter filled the air. It seemed to be a mostly slow day, however one couldn't be sure as it was still relatively early. Amy stood near the edge of the temporary base, emerald eyes scanning her surroundings as she tapped her foot. 

 

A worried expression filled her face, it had been some time since Whisper and Tangle went off on the scouting mission, so the pink hedgehog was waiting for them to return. There was always the chance of an Eggman attack happening out there, which was the main reason that Amy was so anxious. 

 

Finally, Amy caught sight of the two, letting out a sigh of relief. She speedily walked towards the two, stopping and straightening out her dress once she reached them. 

 

"Tangle, Whisper! Welcome back!"

 

Tangle looked at the pink hedgehog, her tail upright. She smiled at Amy, a slightly exhausted undertone in her voice as she spoke, "Hi Amy!"

 

Amy's features shifted at the sound of Tangle's voice, but she stayed quiet about it, "How did everything go for you two? Did you find anything?"

 

"It went mostly okay I think. I mean..there was a situation with some badniks, nothing new. They couldn't handle us obviously!" The lemur stretched with a subtle chuckle, a proud tint in her movements which made Amy huff a little in amusement. 

 

Tangle's arms flopped back to her side after that, a more serious look settling on her face once she continued. 

 

"It was mostly empty around, but we actually found a small village north of here!"

 

Stopping for a moment, Amy's eyes widened just a little bit, "Oh?" She said, tilting her head with a new curiosity. 

 

"Yeah they were very kind to us!" Tangle awkwardly glanced at Whisper with a slightly concerned look in her eyes, the wolf also turning towards her. She shuffled her feet around in the grass, "They were pretty affected by the supply issues though, Eggman's bots have really been messing with things a lot recently."

 

The pink hedgehog frowned, a certain compassion and concern appearing in her eyes as she lowered her gaze. She pushed back a loose quill from her face, fingers fumbling around. 

 

"Oh no.. I've been contacting main base about this and how we can solve it. Resources are already limited because of what Eggman has been doing. Now with him trying to cut access to basic necessities I can't even imagine what all those people are going through."

 

"How far away was the village?" Amy suddenly looked back up at Whisper and Tangle, an urgent tone filling her words, "We have kits here, we can get them aid!"

 

The lemur nodded her head quickly, "Right! Uh.." She tilted her head upwards thoughtfully making gestures with her hands as she mumbled, thinking out loud, "So if we were there.. And then there.. And that took uhm... So it should be about.."

 

She looked back at Whisper, seeming unsure, "How long do you think it would have taken us to get to the village from here?"

 

Whisper paused for a few seconds to think before replying with a quiet, "An hour, I believe."

 

Making an approving gesture towards Whisper, Tangle turned her head towards the pink hedgehog, "Yeah, about an hour!"

 

"I feel like I should let you know, I actually told them that we'd get aid to them. So they should be expecting you!" The lemur stopped, tilting her head with an awkward expression, "Er, I mean expecting The Resistance, not you specifically. You- you get what I mean, right?"

 

"Oh, I see. Of course." Amy let out a hum, squinting her eyes slightly as she ran through whole situation by in her head. After a few moments of the silence, she spoke up again, adjusting her gloves with a raised posture. 

 

"Well, the process of giving the supplies to them will probably be a lot more smooth if they're expecting us, so that's good!"

 

Clasping her hands together, Amy let out a sigh, her green eyes subtly scanning Whisper and Tangle. She could tell from the lemur's posture that she was tired despite how energetic she may have seemed. Amy wasn't sure about Whisper, but the wolf was always better at keeping things out of sight, so it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say she was likely at the very least a little exhausted. 

 

"You two should rest up, I'm sure you're tired after your mission. I'll figure out getting the supplies to the village."

 

Tangle sent a look towards Whisper before responding to Amy, "Are you sure? We can help!"

 

The pink hedgehog made a gesture with her hands, "I've got it handled, don't worry!" She assured Tangle, "You've had a long day, get some rest."

 

________

 

'Why am I having doubts about this?'

 

Neo sighed, staring intensely at the zigzag shaped key as he leaned against a tree. He furrowed his eyebrows at the metal object, an unusual amount of uncertainty pooling up within him. 

 

He'd been stuck in this universe and gotten himself involved in a war that wasn't his, so why was he stuck staring at the key? At the start of everything he'd just wanted to go home, and he still should have felt the same. But he didn't, not really, and it was starting to scare him. Just thinking this hard about the situation was nauseating. 

 

His ears twitched at the sound of someone approaching, clear by the way the grass crunched nearby. Neo quickly but carefully put the key back into his quills, smoothing them out as he did so. 

 

Looking towards the direction of the noise, Neo saw Amy coming up to him. She had an unreadable expression, one that made him straighten up in curiosity. 

 

"Neo! I've been looking for you." The pink hedgehog stepped near him making sure not to get too close. 

 

Neo tilted his head, a confused look etching itself onto his face. He pointed at himself with one finger, "Uh, me?..What for?"

 

"Well, Tangle and Whisper came back from their scouting mission and they actually found a small village not too far from here. They're apparently in need of supplies so I wanted to see if you could come with me to get the aid to them?" Amy spoke quickly, looking expectantly at Neo. 

 

He frowned, eyes drooping slightly, "Why me? Why not Knuckles, or Shadow?"

 

Pausing for a moment, Neo realized what he had said, holding up his hands, palms facing away from him against Amy in defense, "Okay wait. That sounded kinda bad. Uhm, what I meant to say is, wouldn't it be more efficient if you got Knuckles or Shadow to help?" He lowered his arms once again, "I mean, Knuckles is way stronger than me and Shadow can literally teleport, so.."

 

Amy sighed, pushing back her quills as she spoke, "You have a fair point, but Knuckles is with Tails right now. He told me that he feels like something big is coming and that we need to be prepared. So they're looking at scans of Chaos Energy signatures from nearby to see if they can find any signs of a Chaos Emerald."

 

"And Shadow..well he's very good at making himself unfindable when he doesn't want to be found."

 

Neo let out a short hum, "Huh. Yeah that, uh, that makes sense."

 

"So does that mean you'll help?"

 

The blue hedgehog's eyes widened slightly, "Oh, um, I-" He stammered, scratching at the cuffs of his gloves. Finally, after a few seconds he let out a deep sigh, "...Sure. I'll help."

 

Amy's eyes lit up at that as she started slowly walking, waving Neo over, "Great! Come on then!"

 

Fully pushing himself off of the tree, Neo followed Amy, eventually getting to a point where they were walking almost side by side. 

 

"By the look on your face, I assume you don't know what Eggman's been doing?"

 

"I mean, I know he's trying to take over the planet, or something like that." Neo responded, his voice having an intrigued edge to it. 

 

"I see. Well, he's been getting his robots to destroy and limit access to necessities." Amy sounded slightly angry, not at Neo, but at The Doctor for doing something like this, "From what I can tell he's trying to force people into submission. We aren't going to give up, of course. There's no way we'll let the planet fall into hands of someone like Eggman!"

 

Her face fell, expression turning more melancholy, "But..with the limited supplies, people have been struggling. We try to help everyone we can, though sometimes I worry it's not enough."

 

"..Woah. That's uh," Neo shifted a little as he continued walking, speaking awkwardly like he was forcing his words out, "That's pretty bad."

 

'I shouldn't be surprised. After all, Eggman did make the Metal Virus in the original IDW. Anyone who's willing to spread an infection through the planet just for control would obviously be fine with doing something like that.'

 

"Well, it's good that you're fighting against him, both literally and by helping others. Any amount of effort matters, right? And I mean, you're literally the leader of The Resistance, you've done a lot! I'm just saying, you're doing more than enough. So don't worry too much about it."

 

Amy stared at the blur hedgehog for a few moments before smiling softly, giving him a subtle nod, "..Thank you."

 

"What for? I'm just telling you what I think.." Neo cleared his throat, trying to make himself sound less confused, "Uh, anyways, if we're only two people how are we going to carry supplies for an entire village?"

 

She stopped walking, now standing next to a few crates. Opening one up, Amy made a gesture with her hand, "With these, of course!"

 

Neo leaned over, looking inside of the crate. He slightly narrowed his eyes in puzzlement at the small, red cubes filling the box. Hesitantly he reached inside, pulling one out and holding it up with both hands. 

 

"Tails made the design for them. They're small and easy to transport, but inside they've got necesary things like food, water and medicine!" Amy explained, sounding very proud mentioning Tails. 

 

"..Inside, huh? How do you open thes-?" Neo pressed a bit into the center of the cube, causing it to open up suddenly, revealing the supplies Amy had mentioned. The blue hedgehog made a small squeak, a little startled by the motion. "..Oh, like that."

 

He closed it up once again, putting it back inside of the crate. Amy put the lid of the crate back on, putting some force onto it to properly close it. 

 

"Two of these should probably be enough." She said, crouching a bit and lifting up one of the crates. Neo followed suit, wrapping his arms around another one and picking it up with some struggle. It was heavy, but not unmanageable, though Amy was having a much easier time than him while holding the crate. 

 

"Tangle told me that the village was this way." She nudged her head in a certain direction, her hands occupied with holding the crate. 

 

Neo nodded, tightening his grip on the box, "Okay then. Let's go."

 

________

 

The village was certainly small, that was for sure. The two crates would definitely be enough, just as Amy had told him. It consisted mostly of a few humble one-story houses, however there was one building that was a bit taller than the others.

 

Neo, even from a distance could see the residents walking about, doing their own things within the village. However a turtle caught his eye, most likely because he was directly staring at them. 

 

The turtle was green, which one might have automatically assumed as such, although considering that Neo himself was a blue hedgehog, there was no way to actually be sure. And he was visibly old, holding a wooden cane in his hands as he looked at them. 

 

The two approached him, with Amy in the lead. The turtle smiled at them, speaking in a soft voice, "Oh hello," he said, "Are you here from The Resistance?"

 

Amy nodded, "Yep! We're here with the supplies!"

 

"What wonderful news!" The old turtle's voice was almost cheery in a way, "You can put those boxes to the side over there, those must be heavy!"

 

Going over to where he had showed, Amy put down the crate, Neo doing the same as well. She, along with Neo, went back to the old man again, who brought a hand to his chest, as he spoke again, 

 

"Oh dear! You've helped us, and I haven't even introduced myself! My apologies to you. My name is Gregor."

 

The pink hedgehog dusted off her dress, "It's alright, Gregor, we're just doing what we can!" She said, a smile tainting her muzzle, "I'm Amy Rose!'

 

Amy sent a look towards Neo, almost expectantly. He stared blankly at her for a few moments before finally catching on, crimson eyes widening, "Ah! Uh, I'm Neo."

 

Just as Gregor was about to say something else, the rapid sound of grass crunching cut him off. A small, pink wolf, clearly a child, ran up to the old turtle, standing behind him as she stared at Amy and Neo. 

 

She turned her eyes towards Gregor, speaking in a hushed tone, "Uncle Gregor, are they from The Resistance?"

 

Gregor gave a hearty chuckle, bringing one hand to pat the girl on the head, "Yes, Cassandra, these very kind people are here from The Resistance!"

 

The turtle pulled his hand away as Cassandra's ears perked up, like they were alert. She turned her head back towards the two of them, eyes wide with awe, "Woah..."

 

Without another word, she turned around, running off. Neo could see the girl going up to a taller wolf, who Neo assumed was her mom, and talking to her in an excited way. 

 

Gregor took a moment to glance at Cassandra before turning back to Neo and Amy, "Well then, I'm sure I can help get the village here for the supplies."

 

Amy clasped her hands behind her back, "Of course, that'd be great!"

 

_________

 

"I cannot thank you enough, truly."

 

The pink hedgehog smiled sheepishly at Gregor's words, waving him off, "We're just doing what we can, really, it's fine."

 

Gregor let out an unconvinced hum, "Well you're doing great things, that's for sure." A look came upon his eyes, as if he was staring at something beyond sight, 

 

"After The Doctor began tempering with the access to supplies, our village started struggling. We did what we could, of course, but I'm afraid we might not have managed much longer if it wasn't for you."

 

It had been some time since they'd handed out the kits to the villagers. Neo stood off to the side, watching as Amy spoke to them. He didn't really want to talk to people, especially people he didn't know yet, so most of the time he just..watched. 

 

He wasn't really interested int the conversations themselves, but found himself listening occasionally anyway. There was a young coyote, a painter, who had excitedly shown Amy paintings inspired by The Resistance's fight against Eggman. And a cat, who admitted that while he was scared of everything, he pushed and tried to be brave because of The Resistance. 

 

Realistically, Neo knew that The Resistance was influential. But actually seeing it with his own eyes was..a different experience. It felt odd, in a sense. 

 

Seemingly out of nowhere, Neo felt a touch on his leg. His eyes widened in surprise, head snapping towards the leg and seeing the small wolf that he'd seen earlier standing there, looking up at him. 

 

He turned around to face her, a mix of confusion and curiosity forming inside of him, "Oh?"

 

She stood there silently for a few moments before finally speaking a single word,

 

"Hi."

 

Neo tilted his head, looking puzzled "Uhm, hello."

 

The pink wolf took a few more seconds before continuing, her hands behind her back, "I'm Cassie."

 

He nodded, slowly, "Nice to meet you Cassie. I'm Neo."

 

Cassie brought one of her hands forward in an almost nervous way, extending it out towards Neo. There was a blue flower in her fist, the girl holding it carefully as to not damage the stem. Crimson eyes widened again in surprise as Neo stared at the plant, gently kneeling down to her level. 

 

"Oh! What is this?" 

 

"It's a flower." Cassie replied, gripping awkwardly onto the edges of her skirt as she shuffled, "It's a gift."

 

The blue hedgehog nodded, taking the flower into his own hands with delicate movements, "I see.."

 

"I picked it because it's blue like you!"

 

Neo's eyes hesitantly slid to his arms, smile faltering for just a second before he responded to the pink wolf, "Yeah, I guess it is, huh? Is there a reason why you got me a flower?"

 

She nodded eagerly, a bright grin settling on her face as she began swinging her arms next to her, "Uh huh! My mom says that people at The Resistance are really nice and they stop Eggman! You're in The Resistance so that's why!"

 

"Well, The Resistance does do that.."

 

Neo spared a momentary glance to Amy, who was still chatting to the people in the village. He looked back, a soft smile now on his muzzle, "Thank you, Cassie. I think you should give one to Amy over there too, though. She's actually the person who made The Resistance! I think it would make her very happy."

 

Huffing in an irritated way, Cassie crossed her arms, "I already gave her a flower!" She said, as if that was obvious. 

 

"Oh." Neo looked at the flower in his hands, then back at the wolf, "In that case, thank you again. I'll be sure to keep this safe."

 

"Are you gonna show it to all your friends at The Resistance?" Cassie asked with a genuine tone in her voice. 

 

He snorted, amusement lacing his words, "Uh, sure. Why not?"

 

At that Cassie chuckled, before suddenly running off again in a fit of giggling. Neo watched after her for a few moments before standing up again. He frowned, staring at the flower in his hands for a prolonged amount of time. An unsure expression filled his face as he stared, an uncomfortable knot forming inside his chest. 

Notes:

MICHEAL
MICHEAL DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ahh Smudge

Yeah I don't know, this is a chapter

As always shoutout to my friend and beta reader uki and the S3ruma discord server

Chapter 26: Chapter 25

"Okay, let's begin!"

 

Amy brought her hammer down, digging the handle into the ground in an almost victorious manner. 

 

It had been some time since she and Neo had gone to the village. The topic of training had come up again while they were returning to the camp, and so here they were, standing in the training area. 

 

A confused look appeared on Neo's face as he nodded, staring at Amy's hammer, "Uh, okay, sure. Why the hammer though..?"

 

The pink hedgehog paused for a brief moment before letting out a light chuckle. She bounced the hammer in her grip slightly, turning it over and now holding it with both hands. She glanced towards the pink and yellow weapon, an awkward grin settling on her muzzle. 

 

"Oh! Well it's just for flair really." She laughed, "I figured it might help you get more motivated, I guess?"

 

Neo narrowed his eyes, looking perplexed as his crimson eyes stared intensely at the hammer in Amy's hands, '...How is a hammer supposed to motivate me?'  

 

He quickly school the thought away after an uncomfortable pit formed inside of his chest, 'I guess the gesture is what counts, it was pretty nice of her.'

 

"You can try and take a swing at it before we actually start, if you want." She said. Amy relaxed her hold on the hammer slightly, extending it towards Neo like an offering. 

 

The blue hedgehog contemplated Amy's words for a moment, reaching his hands forward to the weapon. "Uhm," he hummed thoughtfully, "Alright, I'll try." His words were laced with an edge of hesitation as he curled his fingers around the handle, securing his grip with an unsure tension. 

 

Finally, Amy pulled her hands away, and the sudden weight of the hammer hit Neo. Crimson eyes widened as he frantically clutched onto the hammer, visibly struggling to keep the weapon in his hands. Neo grunted, his arms tensing with force, still holding on to Amy's hammer. 

 

"How-" The blue hedgehog cut himself off with a tensed sound, raising the hammer away from the ground with some difficulty in order to not let it fall, "How do you carry this thing?! "

 

Reaching out and taking the hammer back into her own hands, Amy tilted her head ever so slightly, staring at her hammer with an unreadable expression. Neo let out a guttaral sigh of relief once she did so, wincing as he felt his arms aching. It wasn't enough to truly hurt, but enough to be uncomfortable. 

 

"Well, it's all through hard work of course!" Amy smiled brightly, her expression having changed on a whim. She put the hammer away, stepping closer to Neo who was rubbing his arms, "With enough time and effort, anyone can do stuff like that!"

 

'..Does that even have anything to do with what I asked?'

 

Neo sucked in a breath, stretching his arms before speaking, "I mean, I guess." The blue hedgehog cleared his throat, the tone of his voice awkward, "So um, training huh?"

 

"Right!" Amy walked over to a nearby training dummy, putting one hand on its 'shoulder' as she continued to speak, 

 

"From the times that I've seen you fight, I noticed that you don't really use your hands while fighting."

 

"I usually don't need to," Neo frowned, scratching at his gloves again, "Using my speed seems to do the job well enough."

 

Amy let out a hum, nodding slowly, "That's true. But I think we should work on hand combat, after all you can never know what's going to happen!" Her face darknened slightly, her voice getting quieter, "Especially when we're up against Eggman."

 

"Uh, okay then?"

 

Clearing her throat, Amy gestured at Neo for him to come over to where she was, "Anyways! Let's start off simple, okay? How about you show me how you punch first?"

 

Neo walked over to the dummy and took a slightly hesitant look at his hand for a moment before raising his fist. His hand shot towards the training dummy, fist meeting the stuffed fabric with a low thud. Turning to glance at Amy, Neo pulled his hand away as he stepped back, waiting for what she had to say. 

 

Amy stayed quiet for a few seconds, her hand on her chin as she analyzed Neo's movements in her head with a serious look. Finally, the pink hedgehog moved closer to Neo, speaking. 

 

"Well, first of all," She gestured to Neo's hands, "Don't keep your thumb tucked in. If you do that, you might end up breaking something in your hand!"

 

Taking one of Neo's hands into her own, an action that visibly surprised the blue hedgehog, she closed his hand back into a fist, properly this time. 

 

"Like that! And keep your wrist straight too!"

 

Neo nodded, speaking with a determined voice, "Got it. Is there anything else on could uh, do?"

 

"Yep! Even if it's considered to be a simple move, there's a certain way to punch correctly and more effectively."

 

"If you want to really put some force into the hit.." Amy smirked, walking in front of the dummy with delicate and light steps before she stopped. She took a sudden step backwards and moved her entire body with purpose as she punched into it, the force of the hit loud and clear. 

 

She turned back to Neo with an innocent look, dusting off her dress cheerily, "..You need to put your whole weight into it, not just your arm! That's where the real force comes from!"

 

Neo blinked, staring at the training dummy for just a moment too long, "Woah."

 

Stepping behind the training dummy, Amy leaned over to the side, looking at Neo expectantly, "You should also hit like you're trying to punch through your target," She emphasized, "Although I guess since we're usually fighting badniks, you technically will be punching through the target."

 

"Anyways, try to punch again while keeping in mind what I've told you, okay?"

 

Neo let out a sound of acknowledgement, stepping back and raising his fist much more confidently than before. A sudden chill passed through the hedgehog, the feeling of being watched returning yet again. Crimson eyes darted around, trying to see what was causing this, but to no avail. With a sigh, Neo tried his best to shake the uncomfortable feeling away, focusing on the training dummy. He swung and hit the dummy, putting what Amy had told him to use. 

 

There was a clear difference in strength when compared to his previous hit based off of the feeling in his arm alone. He took a look at the training dummy, slightly surprised at the force he had put out despite having landed hits with more power. 

 

"Oh. That uhm, definetly does feel much different. Wow."

 

"See? This is helping already!" Amy put one hand on her hip, grinning at the mostly expressionless Neo, "But practice makes perfect, so let's keep going!"

 

________

 

"I can't feel my arms.."

 

Neo groaned in exhaustion, arms hanging slack next to him as he slumped in place. Like Amy had said, they kept on training his punches. But maybe it was a little too long, based on the numbness of his arms.

 

"I think that just means we had a good training session! Don't you feel like you've improved?"

 

Mumbling, Neo nodded dismissively, "I guess.." He sighed, rubbing his face, "I'm gonna go and maybe uh, lie down or something.

 

With a light chuckle, Amy spoke again, "Yeah, that's fair. Get some good rest, okay?"

 

The blue hedgehog made a tired sound of acknowledgement, waving Amy goodbye off-handedly as he walked away. Amy stared off at him for a bit, waving at him as well.

 

A sudden flap of wings from behind made Amy stop in alarm, turning her head towards the sound to see Rouge standing there, one hand on her hips. 

 

"Oh! Rouge?" Amy tilted her head, movements laced with some semblance of confusion. 

 

"Hello, Amy," Rouge took her hand off of her waist, adjusting her long gloves as she began speaking with her usual sultry tone, "That was some solid advice you gave there."

 

A faint smile tainted Amy's muzzle, "Aw, thanks Rouge!" She shuffled her feet, shifting slightly, "I was just-"

 

She froze, emerald eyes narrowing directly into Rouge's teals, "Hey, wait a minute, how long have you been-?"

 

Rouge waved her off dismissively, walking right up to the pink hedgehog with light steps. She put one arm around Amy in a calculated move, smirking, "That doesn't matter. So, Neo, right? Are you two..?"

 

Amy's eyes widened, her face suddenly heating up, "Wh-what?!" She stammered, sounding as embarrassed and flustered as she looked, "No! How did- how did you even get to that conclusion!?"

 

"Are you sure?" The bat leaned closer to Amy, a teasing tone in her voice, "I'm very good at reading people."

 

Gently pushing Rouge away, Amy covered her reddened face with her hands, mumbling, "I like spending time with him, okay?" She said, her words muffled, "That's all there is to it.."

 

"..Hey, hold on!" Amy spun around back to Rouge, pointing an accusatory finger towards the bat, "Are you just trying to distract me?"

 

Rouge pointed one hand at herself, a low smile still plastered onto her face, "Me? Of course not!" She chuckled, putting her arm down, "Regardless of that, I'm just here to tell you that Omega and I have to leave tomorrow morning."

 

"Oh. Did G.U.N. ask for you to go back?"

 

"Mhm. New mission, as far as I've heard of course." She slowly paced around Amy, wings spread behind her back as her light steps circled the pink hedgehog, "Just thought I should let you know."

 

Amy nodded, acknowledging Rouge's words. The bat stepped a bit further away that before, turning her head to glance at Amy, "Well, I have something I should discuss with Shadow. I'll see you tomorrow."

 

"Ah, okay then. Bye Rouge!"

 

As Rouge walked away, she had to barely restrict herself from stopping at the twitch of her ear. She slyly turned her eyes towards where she'd heard a sound. There was nothing in that direction, or so it would seem to most people. But Rouge wasn't most people. 

 

The shadows in a specific area shifted ever so slightly, immediately catching Rouge's eye. She smirked at where seemed to be nothing, and continued walking. 

 

__________

 

Shadow stared at the ground, leaning against a tree not too far off from the camp. He wore a convoluted expression as his eyes bore against the dirt and grass, scarlet eyes burning with intensity due to unspoken thoughts. 

 

His gaze shot towards the side at a sudden sound, muscles tensing up on instinct, alert. The ebony hedgehog relaxed slightly once he saw Rouge walking towards him. Pushing himself away from the tree, Shadow crossed his arms, observing the bat with his usual indifference. 

 

"Rouge." 

 

"Aw, not even going to bother with pleasantries?" Rouge brought a hand to her chest, her features twisting to feign shock although it was clear that she wasn't being genuine, "How very rude, I'm hurt."

 

Sighing in exasperation, Shadow shook his head, "What is it, Rouge?"

 

"Fine then." She huffed in amusement, spreading her wings and flapping once to float slightly above the ground, "I've been keeping tabs on a certain hedgehog, you know."

 

Shadow's eyes widened, ears perking up with interest, "And?"

 

Letting out a hum, the bat brought a finger to her chin, "He's an interesting character, thats for sure."

 

"Interesting how?"

 

Rouge chuckled, waving off Shadow with a smirk, "Calm down handsome, he's not planning on destroying the world anytime soon, I can tell you that."

 

"He is a little odd, but from what I've seen he's fine. What you'll do with that information is up to you, but whatever you do, I'll trust that you made the right decision."

 

The ebony hedgehog stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating the things that he'd heard. His expression was convoluted, like he was running through every single possible outcome in his head. Finally, he returned his attention to Rouge once again, uncrossing his arms. 

 

"..I see. Thank you, Rouge. I will...keep your words in mind."

 

"Anytime." Rouge smiled, her expression much more genuine than before as she looked at Shadow. She gently shook her head, trying to change the subject, "Aside from that, G.U.N. called me and Omega back to Headquarters for a mission. We'll have to leave tomorrow."

 

"They sadly didn't tell me about any details through the communicator, confidentiality concerns I guess." Teal eyes glinted and Rouge dropped back down to the ground, feet hitting the dirt with a low thud. Her voice had an excited edge to it as she clasped her hands together, looking like she was borderline daydreaming. "I'm hoping that there's something valuable that I can keep in the mission."

 

Shadow let out a low snort, amusement seeping through his usually expressionless exterior, a barely noticeable smile creeping onto his face, "Typical."

Notes:

Just for clarification reasons; no ship will actually happen in Ctrl Z, certain things may be implied but it's up to reader interpretation

Idk man do what you want

As always shoutout to my friend and beta reader dxuki and the S3ruma discord server

Chapter 27: Chapter 26

"Well, this has been fun, but Omega and I should leave now."

 

Rouge brought her arms to the side, stretching just a little as she spoke. Some members of The Resistance had come to wave her and Omega off as they were leaving. The bat wasn't a huge fan of things like this, though she figured it was only fair. 

 

Amy stepped forward with a small smile on her face, extending her hand out towards Rouge, who took the grip in a calculated handshake, "It was nice seeing you two after so long! I hope we'll have more opportunities to work together in the future."

 

"It's too soon to tell what could happen, but perhaps." Rouge nodded. 

 

"I AM HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED AT THE LACK OF OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE MY SUPERIORITY." Omega's blank stare swept across the few people around them, "THIS MISSION HAS NOT MET EFFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS."

 

Pulling her hand away from Amy's, Rouge turned to Omega, one hand on her waist as she smirked, "Maybe next time, big guy. We have a new mission to go on anyway."

 

"WILL THERE BE INFERIOR MODELS TO ELIMINATE?"

 

"Maybe, maybe not." With a flap of her wings, Rouge flew up next to Omega, her eyes shining, "Maybe there's even jewels that I can 'borrow'."

 

Off to the side, Knuckles scoffed with crossed arms, shaking his head, "I'm not surprised.." 

 

Hearing this, Rouge paused for a moment, huffing. She floated over to the echidna, pointing towards him with a sharp gesture, "There's nothing wrong with appreciating the beauty of such gorgeous gems," she turned her head away from Knuckles, frowning as she continued speaking, "Though I guess I shouldn't be shocked someone like you can't understand a concept like that."

 

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?"

 

And just like that, Rouge and Knuckles started bickering at each other again. Neo watched the scene with a bittersweet expression from the side, shifting around to avoid becoming stiff. 

 

'It's good to see familiar things again. With all the stuff that's been going on I almost forgot that everyone here is a Sonic character.' He furrowed his brows with uncertainty, 'Is Sonic character even the right word? Maybe in my own dimension, but here they're just Mobians I guess. Eh, no need to overthink all this though, right?'

 

"Come on, you two," Amy stepped next to Knuckles and Rouge, trying to settle down what was happening between them, "Don't do this now out of any time else.."

 

Lifting her head up, Rouge crossed her arms, dropping back to the ground as she turned her body to face away from the echidna, "Fine by me, I don't need to talk to him anyway." Despite her words seeming bitter, the bat had a soft smirk on her face, amusement seeping through the cracks of her facade. 

 

Meanwhile Neo suddenly froze up, eyes hesitantly sliding over to another direction as the feeling of being watched crept under his skin. Crimson eyes met Omega's optics, the larger Eggman creation staring at Neo in a way that almost seemed like a glare. 

 

Neo chuckled nervously, starting to fidget with the cuffs of his gloves, "Oh, heyy.." He forced out, the awkward tone in his voice infecting his words, "Uh, I hope your new mission goes, um, well."

 

Omega stayed silent for a while, his unwavering gaze consequently causing Neo to shrink into himself, grimacing. Omega didn't need to speak for the blue hedgehog to realize that this was about Sonic. He didn't actually feel guilty about protecting the hedgebot of course, but Omega's stare was unnerving and made him uncomfortable. Plus, it didn't exactly help that the robot was significantly taller than him.

 

"Um.."

 

Rouge tilted her head, watching the two for a moment before she heard the sound of someone appearing next to her. The bat didn't even need to turn around to know that it was Shadow, after all the time that she had known the ebony hedgehog, she had a way of recognizing him. 

 

She twisted her body, now facing Shadow, "Shadow. Did you come here to wish us good luck too?" There was a teasing tone in her voice as she fully turned towards him, although it was nothing that was meant to irritate.The ebony hedgehog lowered his head slightly, scarlet eyes locked onto Rouge. 

 

"..Wishing you luck would be unnecessary. I've known you enough to recognize you do not need luck."

 

"Aw, how flattering."

 

"Omega," Rouge put one hand on her hip, gesturing with the other as she addressed the large robot, "If you're done with your staring contest, we need to get going."

 

After a few moments of silence, Omega finally turned away from a now relieved Neo. 

 

"IF I CANNOT DESTROY CONSUMER UNITS IN THE NEWLY ASSIGNED MISSION, IT WILL BE MOST DISAPPOINTING."

 

"Well we'll just have to find out, won't we?"

 

Rouge spread her wings in an instant, flying smoothly right next to Omega. Putting one hand on the machine's shoulder, her eyes quickly scanned over the rest of them as she spoke, ready to depart. 

 

"Omega and I should leave now." The bat directed a small wave at everyone else, "Goodbye."

 

Amy waved back, a soft smile on her muzzle, "Bye Rouge, bye Omega!"

 

Once the of them had left and the rest of The Resistance left to do their own things, Knuckles approached Amy, his tone serious but not grim. 

 

"Amy. Tails and I've found the direction of what could be another Chaos Emerald."

 

Emerald eyes widened at Knuckles' words, "That's amazing news! What way is it?"

 

"According to Tails' machine it's on the path to the main base." The echidna's eyes hardened as he crossed his arms, frowning, "Something big is coming. I can feel it. We need to get to main base so that we can be prepared accordingly."

 

The pink hedgehog nodded, a determined look appearing on her features, "I see. I trust your intuition, I'll get everything ready."

 

________

 

It had been a some time since they'd started their journey towards the main Resistance base. The way they'd went hadn't strayed too far from the stream they were previously right next to. Normally, going from one place to another wouldn't take too long, however carrying the temporary base along had drastically slowed them down. 

 

"You know, I think I remember this place." 

 

Knuckles paused, holding two crates I'm his hands as he glanced at Amy, "How so?"

 

Amy lifted herself up on her feet, squinting her eyes at the horizon, almost looking for something, "I think the village Neo and I went to was around here somewhere. I'm just trying to see it."

 

After some time, the pink hedgehog froze, emerald eyes widening with horror fading in. She fumbled around, hastily grabbing binoculars out of what seemed to be thin air. Frantically bringing it up to her eyes, she continued staring at where she had been looking previously. 

 

The village was certainly there, she had known correctly. But she couldn't have predicted the current state of the small settlement, smoke bellowing up from several places in the village, damage that was vague yet clear enough to be seen. 

 

Something had happened. And it hadn't been good. Not in the slightest. 

 

_______

 

Entering the village alongside the rest if The Resistance, Neo couldn't help the sense of urgency and dread forming inside of his chest at the sight. 

 

To say the village was in bad shape would have been an understatement. Badniks parts littered the ground, scattering across the area. Housed had large holes in their walls, burn marks scuffing the surfaces like mold. 

 

Many of the Mobians he'd seen just a few days ago were slumped against the ruined states of their homes, some holding various places on their body that were injured. Eyes fixed on the ground, shoulders lowered, their entire world seemed to be crashing down all around them, and seeing the horrible state of their village, Neo couldn't blame them. 

 

The smell of ash, smoke and something with much more of an iron scent overwhelmed Neo's nose, just as the sight did his brain. He absentmindedly looked towards movement in the corner of his eye, seeing Amy hurry towards Gregor, who had fallen down, with a worried face. 

 

"Gregor!" Helping the old turtle up, she picked up his cane, handing it to him, "Are you okay? What's going on? What happened?" The pink hedgehog asked, despite having an idea of what had gone on. 

 

"Oh dear, it was horrible. Those blasted robots of Eggman invaded the village!" He shook his head, expression grim, "We tried to defend ourselves, but they caused great harm.."

 

Neo stood behind Amy, unsure of what to do or how to help. The pink hedgehog quickly turned her vision towards him, voice carrying a frantic edge, "Neo! I need you to get the first aid kits in Tails' workshop!"

 

"How many-?"

 

"As many as you can get!"

 

"Okay, uh, okay yeah I can do that." Right after those words, Neo whizzed by in a blue blur towards where they had left the base and equipment. He recalled the feeling of freedom and relief that he would usually get while running with high speed, but it was lacking in this moment for obvious reasons. 

 

Neo skid to a halt once he finally arrived, rubber boots scuffing up some grass under his feet. He sniffed, the miniscule sense of relief coursing through him as his nose cleared up. Speed walking to the cloth surrounded workshop, he entered, hurriedly scooping up every first aid kit he could find into his arms as the pit in his stomach grew with time. 

 

'I know I probably shouldn't be this worried about people that are from a fictional franchise but..they're in a real bad situation right now, what kind of person would I be if I didn't care?'

 

He pushed the fabric out of his way with his shoulder, scanning the surroundings before heading over to the village once again, in a slower pace this time as to not drop any of the medkits in his arms. 

 

Eventually arriving at the village once again, Neo carefully placed the first and kits on the ground, staring at Amy with uncertainty, "Should I get more?"

 

Amy quickly looked over the medkits before shaking her head hastily, "No, this should do." She bent down, picking up one of the kits and handing it to Neo, "We're searching for anyone that might have gotten trapped in rubble. You should too."

 

"Right. Okay." Neo took in a deep breath, tightening his grip around the first aid kit before going off into the village. 

 

He walked, didn't run because what if he missed someone? In the corner of his vision, he could see Knuckles, lifting up a piece of wood to free the cat Neo had seen before. The red echidna helped him up, putting one arm around the other to help support the feline. 

 

Injured people were everywhere, being tended by members of The Resistance. The sight was..nauseating in a way, seeing all those that were wounded because of one man.. Rage bubbled under the blue hedgehog's skin as he thought about Eggman. The Doctor had been blocking access to supplies for these poor people and many more that Neo couldn't even begin to fathom, and even that wasn't enough to satisfy the man. 

 

As he passed by yet another house, covered in char, a spot of colour suddenly caught Neo's attention. Turning around towards what he had seen, he felt his chest tighten in an instant with panic. 

 

It was the wolf child he'd talked to before. Cassie, that was her name. The little girl was lying on the ground, presumably unconscious. That wasn't the part that filled Neo with an alarming amount of panic though. The building right next to her, made out of wood and taller than the other houses was heavily damaged, leaning over and casting a shadow over the pink wolf. 

 

Neo dropped the first aid kit in his hands, rushing over and scooping up the child into his arms, bringing her away from the building. It seemed to be perfectly timed, as the moment he got out of the building's vicinity, it collapsed straight towards where Cassie had previously been lying. 

 

The hedgehog flinched slightly at the spins of the loud crash, but quickly shook it off, adjusting his hold on the small wolf. What mattered was that she was safe now after all. 

 

Or at least, that's what Neo thought. 

 

It didn't take him long to realize that there was something off about Cassie. The way she was so unnaturally still didn't scream good news to him. Maybe it was just because she was unconscious, right? But why was she even passed out?

 

'Maybe she got injured..'

 

Neo furrowed his brows, looking over the wolf in his arms with a concerned expression, checking for any large injuries that he obviously would've missed while saving her from being crushed under a building. 

 

He froze, eyes locked on to a specific area. There was a small hole on the chest of her dress, about where someone's heart would be, the area around it charred and- 

 

Red. 

 

Blue quills bristled up at the sight, Neo's ears pinning against his skull instinctively as he felt his breath stuck in his throat. 

 

No. Could it be? She was cold. Too cold. 

 

Neo hadn't saved her, no. 

 

She had been dead before he even got there. 

 

He was holding a corpse. 

 

The hedgehog started shaking, staring in horror at the dead body of the child in his arms. His breath came out in trembling motions, like his brain could barely comprehend what he was looking at. 

 

"Cassandra! Cassie!"

 

Crimson eyes forced themselves to look towards the sound, seeing the larger wolf, Cassie's mom, calling out, trying to find her daughter with desperation. It seemed that the two had gotten seperated during the attack. 

 

The searching wolf's eyes finally mer Neo's figure. Eyes widened as she rushed over towards him with worry. 

 

Oh. 

 

Oh no. 

 

"Cassandra!"

 

She came to a halt, intense worry coursing through every frantic word she spoke, "Cassie! My daughter, is she okay?!" She asked, her questions directed towards Neo. 

 

Neo opened his mouth, unable to make a sound. Any words he could've said, should have said, were drowned out by the disbelief he was experiencing. All he could do was lower his head, and gently extend the body to her mother. 

 

Holding her child in her arms, the wolf's look of worry was almost immediately diminished, replaced by an inexplicable amount of pain. 

 

Her breath hitched as she let out a choked sound, wide eyes staring at her dead daughter. 

 

A sob tore through her throat as she collapsed, tears streaming down her face as she clutched the corpse of her child against her chest. 

 

"CASSIE!" She cried out, her grief filled sobs wracking through her body, barely giving her time to breathe. 

 

"My baby- my poor baby.." She whispered out through her contrasting sobs, caressing the fur of her daughter in a way only a mother could. 

 

The blue hedgehog could do nothing but stand there, frozen in place as he watched, like he was a spectator in his own wretched body. A sense of shame and guilt filled his insides, infecting every molecuke of air he breathed in. 

 

He should be doing something. He should say something. How horrible would it be to not help a grieving mother? 

 

But he couldn't. He couldn't. 

 

How pathetic. 

Notes:

I'm sorry about this chapter
Feel free to punch me in your head

Shoutout to my beta reader and friend dxuki and the S3ruma discord server