Chapter Text
It’s loud.
“-Don’t look at me like that, freak!”
His head hurts.
“-I know what you’ve been doing, Jules!”
He doesn’t know where he is.
“-I think he’s waking up-!”
“-You dare talk back to me, boy!?”
Someone touches him. He flinches away. Raises his quills - a hedgehog’s best defense.
“Hey, it’s okay,” one of the voices says. They sound far away. Then, “- Get away from me, you demon child! Henry! Henry! He’s after me!”
He’s shaking. He doesn’t know what is real and what isn’t. All he knows is that he’s somewhere , and he doesn’t think he’s safe. Where’s Nana?
“ You see what you did, you brat!?”
Oh, right.
“Sonic, hey, it’s okay, it’s just us-”
“-He doesn’t know us-”
“-Do you have any suggestions, then?”
He’s so scared. It’s not just his head that is hurting. His whole body does.
“-It’s alright, Sonic, do you think you can open your eyes?”
He- He can’t. What if…
“You run. You run far away, as fast as you can, and you never come back, you hear me?”
…
Ollie opens his eyes.
Several Hours Ago…
Today, like most days in the recent year, Station Square was being attacked by robots.
Humans were screaming, police sirens were blaring, and chaos was quickly spreading across the city. Glass shattering, dogs barking, cars honking their horns as the streets became rapidly overwhelmed by the mass of robots that swarmed the metropolis. It was a metal warzone.
Above it all, cackling madly from where he watched on his Eggship TM , Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik pressed a button on his control panel, and five dozen more robots were sent out to join his army.
“Ohohohoho! Let’s see that pesky hedgehog try to stop me now! He won’t stand a chance against my powerfully indestructible servants! Just look at all this destruction! I’ve surely got him now!”
The (probably) human maniac laughed some more, rubbing his Perfectly Shaped mustache in glee as he watched the chaos rain down on the citizens below. He could already see it. The inevitable end of this worthless town, no - planet , with all seven emeralds in his possession (he’s already got four!) and that annoying hedgehog’s resolve crushed. Speaking of that hedgehog, there he was, a blue speck bouncing from skyscraper to skyscraper, the tiny, mechanically inferior aircraft that infuriating friend of his piloted trailing after him. If Ivo looked closely, he could just make out the forms of those other nuisances. Three figures - yellow, pink and red, strapped to that plane.
‘So, they decided to bring the girl to war this time,’ Ivo thought to himself. ‘No matter, I’ll squash them all, right after I catch that hedgehog!’
Try all he might to create a machine that could handle his nemesis’ powers, Ivo was still plagued with the losses of several of his robotic warriors; that damned hedgehog finding all the weak points - er, hollow spots - of his army in less than a second. Ivo watched with a gradually growing pit of frustration in his belly as that blue rat tore through his army like they were made of paper. However, Ivo noticed he looked a little dazed after taking out a few, having to shake his head a bit before returning to the fight.
‘As he should,’ Ivo thought. ‘I used titanium for this! Fifteen inches of tough, impenetrable metal barrier - not even the strongest machine gun could manage to put even a scratch on it! It should leave him dazed!’
It should leave him more than dazed. But Ivo knows his arch-nemesis, annoyingly persistent and even more annoyingly powerful. And that was even without using that fancy golden glow up of his! It’s irritating , but at the same time, it is exhilarating. And once he gets his hands on that power…
“Your time is up, Sonic!” Ivo shouts, deciding to begin a banter. It’s always fun in the midst of battle. “I’ve upgraded my army with the toughest shields known to earth! Your silly little spin attacks may knock out a few of them, but there’s plenty more where that came from!”
Another push of a button, and another three dozen robots join the battle. Even past all the wind, Ivo can still hear the red one’s frustrated yell. He chuckles to himself as the echidna jumps down from the plane against the cries of his friends, and joins Sonic on the ground.
They say something to each other, standing back to back as the red one punches and kicks and Sonic bounces from robot to center to robot again and their friends in the plane provide aerial reinforcement, but he’s tiring, Ivo can tell. All of them are.
It’s been over an hour of this. Ivo went all out.
Sonic yells something at him, “Y’know, I’m pretty proud of you, Egghead! You really did get an upgrade! You must feel pretty good about yourself, huh?”
Ivo laughs with glee while the red one clocks his friend upside the head, probably for saying he was proud. Then, the hedgehog continues.
“It’s too bad I’ll have to destroy them all, they looked like hard work! How long did it take for you to come up with all this? One month, two, at the drawing board?”
Ivo began to frown. Sonic smiled, wide and cheekily enough he could see it across the battlefield. “I mean, come on, Eggy, really - robots again ? I said I was proud of the shields but on second thought it’s not really all that inventive, if you ask me!”
A burst of anger. “Excuse you, that titanium was incredibly hard to gather, you insufferable rodent!” A beat. “And it only took two days to plan!”
Another one of his robots got taken down. Sonic stood atop the wreckage, running a hand through his quills. “ Ugh , once again, you call me ‘insufferable’. When are you gonna call me anything else? Like, ‘chill’, or ‘cool’, or ‘extremely talented and totally better than you?’ You’ve gotta get some new nicknames for me, dude!”
Ivo grit his teeth. “Well, w-why are you always calling me ‘egghead’, hm?!”
Sonic blinked up at him. “Um, cause it’s your name , isn’t it?”
Ivo fires his blaster. Sonic laughs as he dodges, because of course he does. He always dodges, always laughs, always manages to win some way with the power of - of friendship , or whatever. Well, not today! Ivo is determined to finally have him within his clutches, drain him of his chaos energy, and become the all-powerful overlord he was always meant to be! He will not have some tiny, blue child defeat him once again!
“ Woah , feeling feisty today, aren’t we?” Sonic yells as he lands smoothly, kicking away the arm of one of his robots that tried to fire at him, without even looking . Ivo feels rage settle in his core, but he refuses to let panic take over. He will win, he will .
He still has his new weapon to test out, after all.
“Y’know, I’ve been noticing you’ve had some ‘anger issues’ for a while, Egghead,” Sonic begins as he springboards off the supersized fist of his echidna ally, double-flips and tears through two of Ivo’s robots in one supersonic second. He’s breathing heavily now.
“And, I’m no head doctor, or whatever, but it- it seems to me like you could really use that anger in other, totally better ways. Have you ever thought about using that big, passionate brain of yours to, I dunno, donate to charities or find a way to stop global warming? Huh? Y’know, strive for some variety every once in a while.”
“What,” Ivo blinks.
“Are you really trying to psychoanalyze this bastard, Sonic?” Knuckles calls, irritated. Sonic sticks his tongue out at him, does another flip into a spin dash, this time from a pole, and slices the blaster-arm off of robot #7.
“I know, I know, you read one psychology book and suddenly you think you’re a licensed therapist, but - hey, come on, I’m clearly right. Dude’s got some issues, we all know it,” Sonic continues, crossing his arms and looking up at Ivo with his stupid, smug little grin.
Knuckles is grinning too, albeit reluctantly. Ivo can even hear that young fox giggling from his plane.
Ivo decides, at that moment, that that’s that.
“Actually, my idiotic and dearly detested enemy, I have done things other than work towards building my empire,” Ivo begins.
“Oh, really?” Sonic cuts in, actually seeming surprised. How irritating. As if he’d underestimate his long-time arch-nemesis. “Like what?”
“Well, did you know that it was I who created one of the strongest materials known to Mobian kind? Its elements are not present here, on Earth, but I’ve since been able to ‘recreate’ it, as you see now, albeit in its beta stage. Once I figure out the proper elements to include in my formula, I will have once again created the strongest material on Earth. And it is with these metals that I will redefine modern infrastructure, making sure that my future empire-” Ivo drops his voice to a mutter, “-and those who stand with me-”
Sonic rolls his eyes.
“-shall stand strong until the end of time itself! How’s that for using my big, passionate mind?”
Sonic stares at him blankly.
Ivo continues on regardless. “I really am not that bad, Sonic - I really do have everyone’s best interests at heart! The Eggman Empire will be the safest, most assuredly architecturally-sound empire in the world! One day you will all understand, but until that day, I will stop at nothing to obtain those chaos emeralds, so that I may begin the work necessary to forge my Empire!”
“... Wow , that- that is not what I meant, like, at all,” Sonic says after a minute, clearly fighting back a laugh. “Guess you really do have a one-track mind.”
“And I’m going to fire my laser again,” Ivo declares. Sonic yelps as he dodges out of the way, but before he could use his superspeed, a large piece of metal shrapnel manages to trap him before he can get too far, pinning his legs and lower torso underneath it. Ivo grins widely, beginning to almost bounce with joy. He’s got him now!
“Sonic!” Both plane and grounded echidna fly/run over to where their friend lay prone under the rubble. There’s another laser, but this one does not fire a blast. It just stays, a red beam targeted to Sonic’s forehead. Sonic eyes it warily.
Ivo types as fast as he can, his heart pounding, his four captured emeralds sparking in their holsters, but he’s just a moment too late to complete the final step, for just as he finishes entering the last piece of code, the red echidna manages to deadlift the rubble, freeing Sonic, who quickly scoots away, rubbing feeling back into his legs. But the laser follows him.
Thanks to that, Ivo remains successful. There’s a flash of red, purple, white and yellow, harnessed through the red tracking laser honing in on Sonic, and suddenly, everything is a little different.
“Are you okay?” Tails calls from the plane, but his voice is awkwardly slow, and his plane, which is swooping low now, moves as though it is flying through molasses. Sonic gives a thumbs up, slowly, and Ivo watches all of this with fascination building in his core.
‘It worked. It worked! I’ve done it!’
Time has just slowed down, right before his very eyes.
‘I’m using Chaos Control!’
His control panel flashes a green ‘ready’, and that’s all Ivo needs to recontinue his dastardly plan. He’s winning! Just one more thing to do…His heart is racing, hands sweating as all he feels is a blooming triumph for his soon-to-be victory.
“Say goodnight, Sonic!”
Ivo slams his hand down on the button for his final step, turning it on. The EggshipTM sparks a wicked red, then a blinding white, as the catalyst for his ultimate weapon merges energies with the Chaos Emeralds.
Ivo now has all the power in the world.
“Aaaaand, fire !”
Shocked green eyes, a head turned much too slow, and a blast of power so strong it creates shockwaves, destroying the ground beneath his target’s feet. The blast sends him flying across the city, crashing through the window of a nearby parking mall. All of this in slowed motion, easy for Ivo to see just how devastating his weapon truly is.
Of course it is devastating. He’s just merged Chaos energy with Nuclear energy. He’s a genius! An all-powerful genius!! Why hadn’t he done this years ago!?
There is a pop , a spark , and Ivo’s weapon quietens. The Chaos Emeralds flicker weakly, drained, and Ivo’s nuclear energy core flashes a red warning. It is out of power. One, brutal blast was all it took for his weapon to fizzle out of juice. No matter. He’ll just have to make sure the next time he uses it, he supplies a more sturdy battery.
He’s done what he wanted to do. If all went well…
“ Sonic!!! ”
The Tornado surges forward, its wings swooping down to pick up Knuckles, who’s picking himself off the ground, shaking dust off of himself. He quickly hops aboard. They’re moving at normal speeds again. Time has, apparently, gone back to normal.
But that’s what Ivo expected.
Tails maneuvers the plane to fly right by the parking mall, Amy and Knuckles jumping down to run into the crash site. The fox lands his plane on the ground, then flies with his tails back to his friends. Ivo presses some buttons, and he, too, flies over there on his ship, wanting to see the destruction up close.
“What did you do to him!?” The pink hedgehog yells as Ivo nears the building, clutching her hammer and glaring at him with such hatred in her jade green eyes. Ivo chuckles softly, impressed by her attempt to scare him. What a foolish little girl. Didn’t she know she’s already lost?
“Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead,” the fox is muttering as he aims a diagnostic scanner around the building. Knuckles is full-on lifting rubble up, looking under them for any sign of his blue friend.
“It’s too late, you useless twerps, that blast did exactly as I planned,” Ivo states. “And before you panic too much, no, he’s not dead.”
“But what did you do !?” Amy shouts, looking about ready to bash him with her hammer.
Ivo swerves out of the way. “I used Chaos Control.”
Three pairs of shocked eyes.
“You… what ..?” Knuckles says, aghast.
“I used Chaos Control,” Ivo repeats, proudly. He also begins to run diagnostics on the building, searching for his nemesis’ heat signature. “I merged Nuclear energy with the Chaos Emeralds, hopeful that it would be what allowed me to tap into the emeralds’ power - and it did! I’ve created a way for non-Chaos Energy-imbued beings, such as myself, to use the emeralds, just as I’ve dreamed of for years! This is a massive breakthrough! A game-changer!”
“..You…you used Chaos Energy…with nuclear energy…?” Tails murmurs, voice shaky and tails twitching.
Ivo clears his throat. “Why, yes, I did, I just said that. Do you all need to clean out your ears?”
There’s a loud thud , and Ivo, Amy and Tails spin around to face Knuckles, who has dropped quite a large boulder on the ground, leaving a dent in the concrete flooring.
“...Knuckles? Do you think-?” Tails begins.
“Eggman…” Knuckles says, voice low. “You…..are…..an idiot !”
A blur of red. Ivo is suddenly being held by his shirt, Knuckles’ spiked fists wrapped tightly around the fabric. Blazing purple eyes glare at him harshly, much more violent than Amy’s, and much more deadly.
“ Do you have any idea what you’ve just done !?” The echidna shouts, throwing spittle onto Ivo’s goggles. “ You could have caused a time paradox, or, or erased time itself! Outsiders harnessing the power of the emeralds always comes with a cost - it never works the way the ‘user’ intended, you absolute buffoon !”
Knuckles slaps him, hard, across the cheek. Amidst the ringing in Ivo’s ears he hears Tails and Amy gasp.
“ And you used them with nuclear energy !! You are a disgrace, a moron - the stupidest person alive for even thinking you could trick your way around the emeralds’ limitations! Nuclear energy-! You’re lucky you didn’t cause a planet-wide explosion!”
“I-I was- concise-! I thought everything through-! I knew it would work the way I intended-!”
“ SHUT UP! Just shut up! The emeralds are not to be used by those unworthy! And certainly not in tandem with otherworldly energies! You have- you have no idea what you’ve just done.”
Knuckles’ voice quietens to a whisper. He looks at the ground, eyes unseeing.
“You…you could have killed him. Sonic could be dead. You don’t know that he isn’t.”
Knuckles looks back up at him. Malice haunts those violet eyes.
“And it would have been all your fault .”
Amy begins to sob. She falls to her knees. Blood rushes through Ivo’s ears, panic building itself within his chest. That…that wouldn’t be what he wanted. He just wanted to drain Sonic of his energy, not…not kill him. He just wanted power, not to be Sonic’s murderer.
Chaos …what…what has he done ?
Twin beeps. Ivo raises his head. Knuckles jumps off his Eggship, bounding over to Tails. Ivo eyes his tracker and - and it’s spotted something. Deep below the rubble, several floors down in a pocket of air just barely protected from being crushed by the debris, there was a single heat signature.
“It’s him!” Tails shouts, running towards the massive hole in the floor, where the signature trace is leading him. Knuckles and Amy run after him. Tails flies down the hole, the beeping of his tracker fading as he runs further away.
Ivo breathes deeply in the sudden silence.
After a few moments, he follows them.
___________
Ivo’s own tracker leads him to the signature just moments after Knuckles, Tails and Amy arrive at the scene. Ivo hovers silently, dread curling icily in his chest. Tails’ mutterings from just minutes ago repeat itself in his mind.
‘Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.’
Knuckles yells suddenly, bending down in a flash and deadlifting the largest boulder with a determined cry. Tails and Amy lean forward. They gasp.
Ivo wrings his hands together.
‘Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.’
“Sonic!” Amy cries, reaching into the now-open space. She grunts, shifting, her tail twitching in frustration. “I can’t reach him! Tails, help me!”
Knuckles drops the boulder. It rattles the building and makes everyone jump.
There’s a squeak.
Everyone blinks.
“...Was that..?” Tails begins, before grabbing Amy’s hand and ascending into the air. He hovers her over the hole. Amy reaches down, muttering for him to lower her down. She drops into the hole and, finally, she lets out a cry of success.
“I’ve got him!” Her voice is shaky. “But, guys, there’s something wrong!”
Ivo was beginning to feel relief, but at those words, that icy dread came shooting back. He flies forward, hands clutching tightly at his controls.
“What - what is it? What’s the matter!?”
Knuckles whips around, eyes blazing. Tails frowns at him.
“As if you’d care,” the two-tailed fox says, wiping his eyes. “You’re the one that caused this.”
“Guys-” Amy begins, but she’s quickly cut off.
“It’s not like I wanted this to happen! All I wanted was to freeze Sonic within time! That’s all!” Ivo replies, defensive.
“Regardless of your ‘intentions’, you still almost killed him!” Knuckles says, snarling. “And- and what exactly were you planning on doing after you ‘freezed Sonic within time’?”
Ivo crosses his arms. “Well, drain him of all his Chaos Energy, of course.”
Knuckles’ eye twitches.
“ That would have killed him! ”
Ivo blinks. “Oh.”
“Guys!” Amy tries again. Tails flies back to her and gasps.
“Oh my gosh! Sonic!”
He joins Amy in the hole. Ivo can hear the girl’s heavy, panicked breathing from here. He flies forward, Knuckles at his side. The two of them peer in, expecting the worst - expecting blood, expecting death. Ivo’s knuckles turn white with how hard they’re holding onto his controls.
Amy holds up a tiny bundle of blue, barely bigger than her arms. The four of them stare down at it, eyes wide and unbelieving. Knuckles mutters a dark swear.
Sonic the Hedgehog shifts in his unconscious sleep, unaware and unknowing that his very energy has been tampered with in the worst way possible.
“He’s….a child ,” Ivo breathes.
There’s a beat.
“Shit. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Several Weeks Ago…
“Does anyone remember what they were like as a kid?” Chris asks the room, a thoughtful expression on his face. Tails looks at him, an eyeridge raised.
“You still are a kid, though,” he says.
Chris laughs softly. “Yeah, I know, I meant, like - a younger kid. What were you all like when you were, I dunno, several years younger?”
Tails puts his finger to his chin, looking upwards in thought. “Hmm, I don’t think I was all that different. I mean, before I met Sonic I was a lot more shy, but I’ve always been the same ol’ me.”
“What about you?”
Chris laughs again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh, I think I was a menace as a kid,” he grins, and Tails, Amy, Cream and Sonic lean in to hear more of his embarrassing tale. “I was always tailing after Ms. Ella, Grandpa, Dad, Mom, whenever they were around. I was a constant chatterbox, too; always talking, always exploding everyone’s ears off with all my stories.”
“Guess this means you haven’t changed,” Knuckles adds. Cream rounds on him.
“Mister Knuckles! How rude!”
Chris laughs them off, shaking his head. “No, no, he’s right, I walked into that one! Yep, I am still unnecessarily chatty! Never gonna change!”
The group laughs together. Amy clears her throat then, and all eyes focus on her.
She giggles. “I think I was rather shy too, like Tails. Although I think that was just because the world felt like such a big, scary place. Then I kept being saved by Sonic here, and I realized that the world wasn’t so scary so long as I had my friends around.”
“And your hammer.” Sonic adds.
“And my hammer.” Amy echoes, smiling.
“What about you, Knuckles?” Chris asks, making the aforementioned echidna freeze from where he was digging into the popcorn bowl. “What were you like as a kid?”
Knuckles shrugs, continuing to dig for popcorn. “I dunno, probably angrier, I guess.”
Sonic whistles. “You must have been absolutely shaking with rage, then. Amazing how you’re still standing here.”
Knuckles throws a popcorn kernel at him. Sonic manages to snatch it from the air and eats it, grinning. Chris, Tails and Amy laugh.
“Anyway,” Knuckles sighs, “I was angry. Angry at the world, at my people, for leaving me alone to protect the Master Emerald. It wasn’t always all that bad, but, yeah, I was a pretty ‘rage-filled’ little kid.”
“That sounds lonely, Mister Knuckles. I’m glad you’re here with us, now.” Cream tells him. Cheese chirps in agreement.
Knuckles grins softly. “As am I.”
Chris hums. “It kinda sounds like we all have Sonic to thank for our experiences in life. We all got a little braver, a little less lonely, thanks to him.” Now all eyes focus on the blue blur. He rubs his neck in the same manner Chris did, grinning sheepishly.
“I wouldn’t say that-” he begins, but Amy interrupts him.
“Now, don’t you dare try to be humble about this, Sonic, you know it’s true,” Amy berates, though there’s a soft smile on her face.
“And this is the only time we’re allowing you to be humble,” Knuckles adds. “Just don’t let it go to your head - your ego’s big enough as it is.”
A piece of popcorn flies through the air, hitting Knuckles in the muzzle. Knuckles blinks - Sonic grins cheekily, there’s a second or two pause, and at the next moment the two are a blur of red and blue on the floor. Cheap insults and fists are dealt - but it’s playful; the two are still smiling even while duking it out like it's a death battle. Or like any other normal Tuesday.
Barely anyone bats an eye, aside from Chris subtly covering Cheese’s eyes with his hand while Cream watches on, eager to learn some battle tips. She frowns in disappointment when Amy covers hers. Tails whistles as he erases the ‘one’ on a dry erase board hanging on the attic wall, which he replaces so it now says, “it has been 0 days since Sonic and Knuckles got into a fight.”
The one right next to it said “it has been 11 days since Eggman attacked”. It’s one of his best streaks.
Sonic and Knuckles don’t ‘fight’ for very long, and no clear winner was made this time. The two sit back down (well, Sonic all but flops back onto his beanbag chair), still glaring at each other but without any real heat. A movie has been booted up in the time it took for them to duel it out, a relatively new one about a ‘magic house’, or whatever, and Tails turns off the lights once he notices the fight has ceased.
In the sudden darkness of the room, Sonic lets out a breath he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding, ever since Chris started that short conversation. He’s…relieved, he realizes, as the movie’s opening plays, though he’s not completely watching. He’s glad that no one, especially Chris, turned that question onto him. It was a very near thing.
(It’s not a pointless battle if it served a purpose - thank goodness for the art of redirection.)
See, the thing is: Sonic doesn’t like to think about the past. If he pretends it didn’t happen, that none of… that happened…then it didn’t exist, and he was free to live as contently as could be. It’s how he’s managed for years now, and it’s how he’ll continue to do things, likely till the day he dies. He’s someone who likes to live in the present and go with the flow, not dwell on things that don't even matter anymore.
Although…Due to Chris bringing it up, now it’s on his mind again, and that’s stupid . Why now , of all times, is he thinking of this?
It’s stupid; he’s stupid.
( Closed doors, loud voices, stay quiet, quiet, quiet)
He shakes his head, shivers, throws those thoughts away. Tails tosses him a blanket, assuming he’s cold. Sonic wraps it around himself, pretending it’s a shield against all the things he doesn’t want to focus on. Eyes on the movie, think about that instead. It helps, somewhat.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wonders what he would say, if Chris or anyone else had aimed the question towards him. It’s a nagging thought, and something he’s admittedly thought of several times before. If he’d find the courage, or reason, to tell his friends, his brother, what he’s been through.
(He knows Tails would understand. They’d all understand, and he knows all they’d want to do is help, but…)
But.
It just doesn’t matter.
He’s over it. He’s fine.
(What would he even say? How do you tell someone these things?)
And he doesn’t want the pity anyways, because, while they’d understand, he doesn’t think he’d be able to face the looks in their eyes once they knew the truth.
(...What would they say?)
So. He’s fine. It didn’t even affect him all that much, honest! He’s as happy and as unburdened as can be. And he has to be. Heroes don’t cry, after all!!
(He watches the movie and he shoves down that tiny part of himself that screams for him to tell someone. Anyone. The part that begs him to seek comfort, to let it all out, to fall apart, in the arms of someone who he knows will care.
He doesn’t. He won’t. He won’t be a burden.
Because it doesn’t matter.
Or so he keeps telling himself.)
Present Day
“He’s so… tiny ,” Chris breathes, staring down at the bundle in Amy’s arms. Amy smiles softly, her teal eyes absolutely shining with warmth. At least she’s happy about the situation - or, at least, now she is, after she’s had a moment to let it sink in.
Tails keeps himself from rolling his eyes at her. Of course she was over the moon, the “love of her life” had gotten turned into a baby, and now it was “her job” to take care of him. He’s pretty certain she’s daydreamed of this exact scenario. Probably more than once…
Still, Sonic was pretty cute at this age, Tails thought, even though most of him was still tense with nerves. And Chris was right, he really was tiny. Baby Sonic probably wouldn’t even come up to Tails’ waist if he were standing, and Tails himself was pretty short.
“I think he’s been de-aged to somewhere around two or three years old,” Tails says, voicing his next thoughts. “Though we won’t know for certain until we run a scan on him.”
Amy coos some more, hugging Baby Sonic closely - yet delicately, as if afraid he might break. Sonic continues to sleep on, curled up tight in a soft green blanket that probably once belonged to Cream, due to how it was small enough to wrap around him nicely - and not leave too much excess. (Wouldn’t want to lose him, after all.)
“Any way to tell when he’ll wake up?” Chris asks next, looking at both Tails and Chuck - the latter of which is still busy prepping the scanner. Tails watches him do so, though normally he would be helping along.
“Not exactly, our scan here won’t measure his brain waves,” Tails informs, reaching over to place his hand on Sonic’s forehead, but he hesitates. Amy smiles softly at him and shifts, holding the bundle out closer to him as if giving him the go ahead. Tails continues, and feels his heart melt when Baby Sonic leans into his touch.
“Still,” Tails says after a moment, “it’s important that we make sure he’s okay. We don’t know what that blast did. And this is the first step to finding out how to reverse it, too.”
“Tails is right,” Chuck says, straightening up from bending under his desk and popping his back with a crack Tails hears even while several feet away. “Who knows how much Chaos Energy Sonic has absorbed. Not to mention Nuclear Energy, which in my understanding might be even more dangerous, even to you Mobians.”
Tails grimaces, his namesakes twitching at the reminder. He rubs his thumb over Baby Sonic’s soft little cheek - Baby Sonic yawns, little fangs visible - and though half of him is still struck by how small and cute his older (now younger) brother has become, the less-hidden other half is nearly petrified with fear.
Fear for him .
(Now’s not the time to think about all his concerns…Get a grip, Miles.)
“What the hell was that twisted doctor even thinking?” Knuckles tsks , as he twitches in place while Ms. Ella tends to his wounds. “‘Draining him of his Chaos Energy’...How can he call himself a genius if he didn’t even know that that would’ve killed him!?”
“He may be smart but he’s also an idiot,” Chuck declares, while Knuckles gets reprimanded by Ms. Ella for fidgeting too much. “A reckless, insane idiot, which is quite the dangerous combination if you ask me. How you’ve all been able to handle him all these years…” Chuck trails off, shaking his head in dismay. Tails, Amy and Knuckles glance at each other with tired, tired eyes.
“We have no idea.” Tails states. Chris pats him on the shoulder in sympathy.
“Sonic’s been dealing with him for a lot longer than any of us,” Amy says, glancing down at the boy in her arms. “Actually, that’s how we met.” She blinks. “Hold on, isn’t that how all of us met? Through Eggman, and his schemes?”
“Yes, yes it is,” Tails sighs, thinking back to when he first met Sonic. He’d just been a little kit, just a little bit bigger than the boy sleeping in his friends’ arms. He was running from bullies, and then cornered by badniks, and before he knew it, Sonic had been there, a blue blur that tore apart the robots and drove away his tormentors. He’d held out his hand, unaware of the one robot he’d missed sneaking up behind him. And as though he’d been possessed by some sort of super-being, Tails himself had destroyed that badnik in the blink of an eye. In an instant, the two had saved each other. And they’d been like a team - like family - ever since.
“At least something good came from him being around,” Chris says, wistfully. “I never would have met any of you guys.”
Amy nods. “He may be awful, but he’s the reason we’re all friends. That’s kinda funny, actually! Our sworn enemy being the person who brought us all together…”
“Now that’s ironic,” Chuck says under his breath. He then clasps his hands. “Well, everyone, I think that’s it. The scanner’s ready to go!”
Amy nudges Tails, and holds out baby Sonic to him with an expectant expression. Tails takes him slowly, even more delicately than his pink friend held him. (Tails is momentarily stunned by how absolutely light Sonic is - he hardly weighs a thing , is that normal???) Sonic shifts in his arms, and for a moment, Tails wonders if he’s waking up, but the child in his arms continues to doze on. It’s a tad bit concerning, but he tries to tell himself not to dwell on it too much.
Just bring him to the scanner. Get it all going. For all he knows, Sonic is completely fine! There really shouldn’t be anything to worry about!
(He tries to ignore the fact that everyone else also looks wary and concerned. A thick fog of uncertainty hangs in the air, sprinkled with nervous energy. He forces himself to remain as calm as can be.)
Tails places the bundle in his arms on the table as Chuck readjusts the scanner above their ‘subject’. Knuckles, Chris and Amy join them, Amy lacing her hand around his for comfort. Tails gives her hand a squeeze, and as Chuck turns the scanner on, he untangles Sonic from his blanket.
Now, Tails hadn’t exactly seen this new, younger version of his brother without that blanket around him. Well, he’d seen his face , but the rest of his body had been obscured by his position in Amy’s arms, unseeable even without the blanket. (And that just went to show how small he was now…) Without it, Tails can see several things he hadn’t been able to before:
For one, Baby Sonic was wearing clothes. Now, this wasn’t all that shocking, and, technically, in Mobian culture, Sonic was always wearing proper clothing (as even though gloves and shoes alone wouldn’t count as a full outfit for humans , it sure does to Mobians, so no, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles and everyone else with their fashion taste weren’t running around half-naked, stop trying to shame us, Chris!) but what was shocking was the state of the clothes. Baby Sonic had on knee-length overalls, but they were scruffed, torn in places and had mud caked on the jeans. There were holes and loose threads and one of the pant legs was even ripped off a bit at the end. Underneath the overalls, Sonic wore a striped white and blue tee shirt, but it too looked worn and dirty. To finish the look were a pair of deep brown hiking boots - or, Tails assumed they were a dark brown; they, too, were covered in mud and dirt. All in all, this young version of his friend looked like he’d just frolicked through a swamp.
He was injured too, but the strange thing was, they didn’t look like wounds caused by an explosion, which would have been easily explainable and exactly what Tails would have expected. Rather, these injuries were mostly cuts, scrapes and bruises, not burn marks, the origins of which were unknown. A whole smattering of bruises were peppered around all of Sonic’s tiny little limbs, all looking to be in different stages of healing. He had several painful-looking scrapes on his lower legs, though thankfully none were bleeding severely and most were already clotted over. He had a large cut running down his outer right arm, which was more concerning, although it didn’t look too deep. Still, Tails is wondering how no one saw that until now.
(What was most concerning though was the ring of purple bruises around Sonic’s neck, oddly shaped, and Tails prayed the origins of those weren't what he thinks it is…)
That wasn’t even the worst part, though. Dear Chaos . As Tails looks further, he notices something that sends that wave of concern rushing back.
It’s hard to see, due to how large Sonic’s clothes were on him, hanging off his shoulders and hiding his form, but Tails is still able to notice just how absolutely thin Baby Sonic was underneath his clothes. He was very certain a child this young shouldn’t be this thin, definitely not thin enough you could see their bones .
It seems he isn’t the only one to notice this, either. To his left, he hears a sharp intake of breath, and Amy’s grip on his hand turns painful. The nervous energy in the room intensifies into a worry-storm.
(Well. Now Tails knows why Sonic felt so light…)
“Hands off the table as the scanner runs its course, please,” Chuck orders, and Tails backs away from the table, realizing he’s unconsciously been leaning over it. Chuck flicks the machine on, and a red beam of light materializes onto the tabletop, directly over Sonic’s sleeping form. Chuck presses some buttons, and the light began to move up and down the table. Connected to the main unit of the machine was a screen, and as the light traveled up and down Sonic’s form, the scanners’ readings were uploaded onto it. Several moments later, the screen showed a detailed depiction of Sonic’s body, albeit slightly digitized and lined in green.
“There we go,” Chuck says, as the scanner finishes uploading. The red light disappears, and Chuck moves the scanner away from the table. “Now let’s see what we’ve got. Tails, come take a look at this. Ms. Ella…please tend to our little friend, here.”
Tails fidgets with his namesakes as he walks over to the older scientist. He tries to ignore how serious and grim the man sounds. He’s followed by the others, and they all flank him as Chuck points to the screen, while Ms. Ella tuts over Sonic.
“Well, everyone, right off the bat I can say that our little friend here has actually been turned back into a five -year old,” Chuck begins, showing them where it says that on the screen.
“You’re kidding,” Knuckles says. “He looks like a baby.”
“I am not, our scanner doesn’t lie,” Chuck replies. “Those were the results, and the results say five. I…know it’s a little hard to believe, although I can’t exactly tell myself, being human and all.”
“Mobian five year olds are not normally that small, at least not Hedgehogs,” Knuckles explains, and Chuck rubs his chin in thought.
Tails has an inkling as to why he could be so small…His eyes trail back over to Sonic’s still-slumbering form, gazing at those frail limbs and that gaunt frame and the hollowness sunken into those cheeks.
He doesn’t like what he sees. Over and over his mind goes ‘why? How and why ?’ Fifteen year old Sonic was as healthy as can be, quills shimmering clean and eyes aglow with energy. He knows Sonic was hurt by that blast, yet the state of his younger body and the injuries he can clearly see do not align with what they should have been. Clearly, that blast didn’t just rewind his age, which was telling for just how exactly this was going to go, and so that meant…
“He’s not going to know us…” Tails realizes, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “He’s going to wake up, and he’s not going to know us.”
Chris fiddles with his hands, nervous. “How do you know that? He could still have all his memories…”
“I don’t think that’s the case…” Tails looks back and forth between the scanner and Sonic, mind a hurricane of emotions and thoughts. “Our Sonic wasn’t wearing clothes. He wasn’t hurt in the same way he is now. He wasn’t- wasn’t this thin - it just doesn’t make any sense. Obviously , both his age and state of being has been rewound back to when he was a little kid. If it’d just been his age that had been altered, and he still looked the same, just - you know, smaller - then I would believe he could still have retained his memories. But- as I said, that isn’t the case. Our Sonic is gone .”
And there it is. That nagging thought, that burning fear, now out and rampaging in the open. Somehow, the lab grows icy cold, as though someone had turned the thermostat down ten degrees.
“...I don’t know what to say,” Chris murmurs. “I don’t want to believe you, but the more I think about it…” The human looks at the ground, expression uncertain.
(“Wherever that hard-boiled bastard flew off to - into the sun for all I care - when I see him again, it is on sight, ” Knuckles deadpans. Ms. Ella nods in agreement as she applies disinfectant to Sonic’s cut arm.)
“We- we still don’t know!” Amy exclaims then, eyes glossy. “He still hasn’t woken up yet! We can’t know for sure - as Mr. Chuck said, "The scan doesn’t measure his brain waves”, so how do you know he’s not still fifteen mentally?”
“Amy is right, Tails,” Chuck tells him softly. “We won’t know until Sonic awakens, and that means we can still hold on to hope.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Chris pipes up, straightening. “And even if he is a child now, in both body and mind, he’s still Sonic. Just…a little different, now.”
Tails takes a deep breath. Lets their words envelope him like a soft blanket, soothing his concerns and driving away those horrid thoughts. “Yeah…yeah. And- and we’ll find out a way to reverse this, too. We will.”
“That’s the spirit,” Chuck says, clapping Tails softly on the shoulder. He turns back to the scanner. “And first things first, we need to see how much Chaos and Nuclear Energy our small friend has retained.”
The room grows silent again as everyone examines the scanner. Tails nearly facepalms - looking at these results are what he should be doing, not just thinking and theorizing about what-ifs and possibilities. Facts are his best friends, not the incalculable.
On the top right of the screen, there were two graphs, one for Chaos and Nuclear energy respectively. Interestingly (and very concerningly), the graph for Chaos energy seemed to be fluctuating, spiking at times between extremely high and extremely low values, as though it couldn’t decide what to choose - as though it couldn’t read it properly. The other one, however, was a blessed low level, meaning they really didn’t have to worry about radiation poisoning, or whatever Nuclear energy exposure seemed to do to people.
“Well, that’s good,” Chuck said, pointing to the Nuclear chart and voicing Tails’ thoughts. “It raises some questions, but we’ll get to that later. This one, on the other hand,”
Chuck points to the chart above it, the Chaos one.
“This is a little more mind-boggling. The last time I used this scanner to see everyone’s Chaos levels, it’s always been a solid value. Right, Tails?”
“Right…” Tails puts a finger to his chin, delving into thought. “It’s like it’s glitching. So either his levels are too high, or they’re too low…but our scanner can’t make it out. Do you think that has anything to do with his present state? Maybe his Chaos levels are too high, and the machine can’t calculate it properly.”
“That could be a possibility, one we should be wary of. Now, we’re not saying that makes everything our scanner picked up incalculable - yes, I know what you were about to say, Amy, and no, he’s most definitely still five years old.”
(Amy droops like her flower namesake, crossing her arms in disappointment.)
Chuck continues. “It only seems to be affecting our results for his Chaos levels, nothing else - thankfully . But this does mean we need to treat this carefully. From what you’ve explained to me about Chaos Energy, and its implementations into the health of Chaos Users, Tails - Sonic could be in great danger of either an overload, or a complete drainage of Chaos Energy, and neither of those sound very pleasant.”
“They aren’t,” Knuckles speaks up, drawing all eyes to him. “Both could make him very sick. His very being is tied to his Chaos Energy, more so than almost any other Mobian. It’s why he’s able to tap into the Emeralds and use their power the way he can. But to do so requires a stable level of that energy. It’s like it’s tied to his soul. He’s more connected to the emeralds than even I am…”
Knuckles trails off, staring at the floor. He shakes his head and continues. “Anyway, what I’m saying is, basically - Sonic needs Chaos Energy to survive. It’s like a second heart. And that heart needs to be healthy for him to be healthy.”
“Too much energy and he risks losing control and fracturing. Too little and he grows weak and immobile…It’ll be painful either way.” Tails explains, watching as the room’s occupants become ever more solemn.
“I’ve seen him be nearly drained of his Chaos Energy before,” Knuckles states. “He can do it to himself, like an idiot, if he uses too much of his powers at once. Like that time he tried to use a powerful Chaos Control ability. He hardly knows how to wield that side of his powers. He was down for days recovering his strength after that…”
“And now he’ll have to recover from this, as a little kid…” Chris murmurs. “I wonder when Sonic first learned how to use his powers properly…He might not even know what’s going on, if- if he didn’t keep his memories, that is…”
Tails freezes.
“That’s- another thing to think about,” Chuck says, grimacing. Tails shivers, clutching his namesakes ever tighter around himself. He hates the thoughts he’s getting now, of little Sonic, with half as much knowledge of his powers, suffering from an overload or a drainage that will leave him weak for days, like Knuckles said. No matter what it is - both , even, and wouldn’t that just be great - it won’t be enjoyable to witness.
That just means they’ll all have to be there for him, though. And find the emeralds, as quickly as they could, in the meantime. No doubt they’ve been scattered around the earth, once again, after that blast. But they’ll most certainly be vital in returning Sonic to his former state, Tails is adamant about that.
“Oh my!” Ms. Ella exclaims then. Tails’ heart flips, and he turns around to see what’s going on.
Little Sonic is waking up.
“I think he’s waking up!” Chris voices Tails’ inner monologue for him. He and Tails and the others rush to Ms. Ella’s side.
Ms. Ella had yelped because Sonic had twisted away from her, Tails realizes, seeing the line of bandages that were half-applied, and the roll that was in Ms. Ella’s hands. Little Sonic’s face was scrunched up - in pain or discomfort, Tails couldn’t know - and he was now curled into a tight ball on the edge of the table, having jerked himself away from Ms. Ella’s hands.
He was breathing heavily, seeming panicked. His sharp quills were on full display, puffing up through his tee shirt and making it impossible to try to touch him. Either he was having a nightmare, or Tails’ fears did come true…He shakes his head, focusing on what to do. Sonic needs to calm down, lest he fall off the edge of the table, or hyperventilate.
Tails makes his way to Little Sonic’s side. “Hey, it’s okay,” he murmurs, hand hovering over his brothers’ shaking form. He can’t touch him, but maybe…
“Sonic, hey, it’s okay, it’s just us-” Amy says softly, hovering in much the same way as Tails is now.
“He doesn’t know us.” Knuckles interrupts, arms crossed and eyes wide.
“Do you have any suggestions, then?” Amy counters, putting her hands on her hips. Tails just watches Sonic, feeling rather helpless to stop his best friends’ suffering. But he soldiers on. There must be something he can say that will calm him down.
“It’s alright, Sonic,” Tails tries. “Do you think you can open your eyes?”
And amazingly, that works.
It takes a moment. Little Sonic stays scrunched in a tight, spiky ball for another minute or two, breathing hard and wheezing and just watching this is tugging on Tails’ heart in ways he’s never thought he could hurt before. But it works. Slowly, Sonic’s quills lower - not all the way, just a little bit - and his head lifts from his arms, the right of which is bleeding now.
Sonic unfurls from his protective ball, looks at Tails with large, emerald green eyes, and then promptly falls off the edge of the table with one loud
squeak
.