Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fear ❯ Ugh, What Happened? ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Shadow took a long, deep breath as he became aware he had a body. But which body was it? He had to know. So he slowly sat up, every single muscle in his body protesting loudly. He opened his eyes and looked down.

"Damn it," he muttered as he stared at the peach and blue fur.

"Oh. So you're still Shadow. Or are you Knuckles now?" Amy asked.

Shadow turned to see her sitting beside his bed, a book in her lap.

"Shadow," he said hoarsely then coughed hard. He was handed a glass of water, which he drained in ten seconds. "Thank you."

"No problem." She paused and looked down. "Shadow, I have a question. I need to ask while it's just us."

"What is it?"

"Those things you said to me up on the roof that night. I don't know what to think of it."

"That's not a question, Amy."

"Shadow, please," Amy begged, her eyes holding vulnerability.

He nodded, understanding what she needed. "Do you remember what I promised to you that night?"

"Not really."

"I said to you, 'I can swear that these are the true thoughts and feelings of Sonic the Hedgehog, who just hasn't found time to slow down and tell you.' I meant that Amy. And Sonic was standing right there watching us. He told me to kiss you. I did it only because you thought I was him, which was also the only reason he told me to do so. He loves you, Amy. He loves you dearly. But all those things I said were Sonic's thoughts and Sonic's feelings. I should know. I've had to live his life twice. You've got to believe me, Amy."

"I don't know what to believe anymore," the pink hedgehog said brokenly.

"Then believe me, Ames," said a weak voice as Sonic sat up, still in Knuckles' body. "I really do love you. I'm just a big coward who couldn't tell you because I thought if I did, you wouldn't want me anymore."

Amy stood and approached him. "Promise?"

Sonic smiled warmly, pulling her close to kiss her cheek. "Promise."

She blushed. "I'm going to hold you to that, Sonic the Echidna!" she teased.

"Ugh. Don't remind me," Sonic muttered.

"So I'm still Shadow, right?" Knuckles growled, sitting up.

"Unfortunately," Sonic replied.

"Great. Just great," Knuckles snarled, crossing his arms moodily.

"I'll go get Tails. You need food," Amy said, squeezing Sonic's hand.

They lay back down, waiting for their nourishment. Tails, Amy, Rouge, and Omega came in, the three organics carrying food. Tails brought Knuckles a bowl fruit. Shadow was given two cheeseburgers, while Sonic was given two chilidogs. Knuckles smiled.

"I appreciate the thought, but Sonic cannot eat that. He'll throw up. Give him the fruit."

"Yes," Shadow said. "And give Knuckles the burgers. I'll take the chilidogs."

They were met with confused stares. "But…that's not like you at all, Sonic. And Knuckles eating meat?" Tails said in surprise.

"I know. But this isn't my body," Sonic sighed wistfully. "This is Knuckles' body. And Knuckles' body has asserted very clearly that it will not eat meat of any kind, on threat of a violent purge. So give me the stupid fruit."

Tails slowly approached and handed the bowl to Sonic, who immediately plucked up a grape and popped it in his mouth. He very clearly enjoyed it.

"On the plus side, fruits and vegetables taste absolutely amazing to me now. Even carrots," Sonic said lightly.

"But you hate carrots!" the yellow fox gasped.

"I know. But not in this body. Knuckles is more weirded out than I am though."

"Why?" Amy asked.

Knuckles harrumphed. "Because I actually ate meat. Ugh," he groaned. "But it tasted wonderful! I don't know what to believe anymore."

"I don't like chilidogs," Shadow stated quietly. "Yet they were quite good."

There were more stares of confusion even as the different foods were given to the proper body. Silence reigned as they ate then their temperatures were taken. Tails frowned.

"It's too high. For all of you. Way too high. I'm surprised you're not delirious."

"Eh, we could be," Sonic said with a shrug. "Because I feel absolutely fine."

"That is a little strange," Shadow murmured, looking at himself. "Knuckles? Any ideas?"

Knuckles looked down, frowning. "We'll have to ask Tikal and the Master Emerald. We need to get to Angel Island."

"Is it imperative?" Tails asked.

"Yes. The Master Emerald will know what to do," the black hedgehog declared then added mentally to Shadow and Sonic, "I hope."

They nodded and moved to stand, but they were all grabbed and forced back down. Sonic batted Amy's hands away.

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"Not one of you is to do anything until I pinpoint Angel Island and get the transporter ready," Tails said firmly. "And that is an order!"

He was met with three dark glares, but he ignored them and gestured for the others to follow. The yellow fox lingered in the doorway for a moment as Knuckles asked a question.

"Can we at least talk?"

"Sure," Tails said with a smile then shut the door.

"So…" Sonic said, sitting up with a grin. "What are we going to talk about?"

"Oh…nothing in particular," Knuckles chuckled.

Shadow smirked and they bowed their heads, their thoughts syncing up as they 'talked' to the Master Emerald. "M.E.? We are awake and have questions for you. If you would be so kind as to beam us up to you, we would be grateful. Thank you."

There was a buzz and when they opened their eyes, they sat in front of the great green gem. They attempted to stand so they could approach, but they found out in less than three seconds why Tails had ordered them down. They were in some serious pain whenever they attempted to stand. Their legs didn't feel strong enough to support their weight, not even Knuckles' body with his immense strength or Shadow's body with his increased healing factor. And after they fell to the ground, their arms gave way when they tried to stop from hitting the dirt. They lay there in pain, trembling hard and whimpering. Warm, green light surrounded them and they were levitated and brought over to lay beneath the large jewel. Tentacles of light attached to their chests, and they were drawn into the relieving bliss of the emerald.

"Easy there," Tikal said softly. "You three should not move too much. Even if it has been two weeks, your bodies still have not recovered."

"Two weeks? We've been unconscious for two weeks, Princess?" Knuckles asked, horrified.

There was silence. The Master Emerald finally spoke directly to them.

"She is reluctant to say what I am about to tell you. You three have been out of commission for two weeks and three days. But I am afraid you have not been unconscious the whole time. You each raved like madmen for about two hundred hours total in that time, swearing and cursing at those who tried to help you. You threatened their lives and their families' lives if they laid their hands on you. You bit and punched and kicked when they tried to strap you down. The hedgehogs were too fast for them to catch, and the echidna was much too strong to be tied. You utterly destroyed all of the equipment Tails brought in that he was going to use to help you. You destroyed every piece of technology you could get your hands on in that lab. Everything is decimated. Tails has started to rebuild, but it is slow going, because only seven hours ago, you destroyed everything again."

Sonic sobbed hard and covered his face. "No! Not his lab! Oh, by the emeralds' power, what have I done?!"

"No, Sonic," Shadow said soothingly. "You were not alone in this. We all did it."

"Wow," Knuckles said numbly. "Tails has nothing now. Nothing. Wait…What about the Tornado?"

Sonic hiccupped as the Master Emerald replied. "I am afraid that you three destroyed it. And all of the plans that he had from each one he'd built. He has to start from scratch. Luckily, his large transporter plane was somewhere else, so he still has it."

They went silent as they cried. Sonic's pain was greater than what they felt, but their minds were linked so intimately that his pain was their own. Tikal sang songs to them to try and help them curb the torrent of feelings. The Master Emerald filled them with warm pulses as it tried to ease their hurt in its own way. They cried themselves out about an hour later then just lay there basking in the emerald's power. There was a pulse that was different from the ones it had used to comfort them, and they were shocked as their own bodies sent out pulses in response.

"Oh, yes." The Master Emerald was clearly pleased.

"M.E.," Tikal said warningly. "This is not the time to experiment."

"But I want to."

"Then ask for permission first. They are tired and weak and hurt. If they say no, I want you to wait until they are ready."

"Very well, my love. I shall do as you wish. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow?"

"Yes?" they asked.

"I wish to experiment with the magic you possess. Do I have your permissions?"

"Magic?" Sonic asked blankly. "We still have magic?"

"Yes, you do, Sonic."

Knuckles and Shadow were just as confused and their minds asked the same question. "But Fear took it back, right?"

There was silence for a minute. "I do believe they have repressed the memories, my love," the Master Emerald said thoughtfully.

"I am not too surprised. They were in more pain individually than has been felt by any being in many, many, many ages," Tikal said gravely.

"The question remains, should I help them to remember?"

"They will relive it. But I suppose it is their decision."

"Would you like to remember?"

"I want to know what's going on, great one," Knuckles said solemnly.

"Same here," Shadow replied.

"Help us, M.E.," Sonic implored.

"Very well. Relax and I shall start it out." The Master Emerald paused then brought back the last thing they remembered.

They nodded and approached, each holding out their right hand. Fear melted into a black mass and dashed over to them, wrapping tendrils around their wrists. There was a pull toward him that wasn't physical followed by white hot pain. Then came the forgotten. They screamed and could barely hear Tikal ordering Fear off of them. To their horror, he screamed that he couldn't get off of them. There was a tug of war going on, and every time the three linked beings began losing, there was a feeling that they were being peeled apart. They fought in a brief eternity with Fear, who was crying out just as loudly as they were. There was a burst of energy that suddenly went through them, sending the agony up by ten notches at least. And it steadily increased afterward as burst after burst of energy passed through them.

"Do not give up!" the Master Emerald roared into their minds. "It will be over soon! He is weakening!"

"No!" Fear barked. "I will not die like this!"

"You have no choice, you foul beast! Together they are stronger than you!"

"No!" Fear shrieked, tugging as hard as he could.

They felt stretched to the limit, but then whatever it was ricocheted off of something and slammed into them with more force than even Knuckles could ever hope to achieve. The pain reached a level that none of them had ever experienced, so hot and all-encompassing that they all prayed earnestly for death. There was a scream from Fear and then…it was over. They sank to the cool ground and lay there, hardly able to breathe, let alone think. There was an almighty bang as the Chaos Emeralds scattered, phasing through the walls and hiding themselves again. The Master Emerald floated down, hovering above them. They couldn't see this even though their eyes were open, but they knew it from the gentle pulses flowing through them.

"Rest. Rest, my precious ones. You have done well. I shall go home. You will find me there when you wake."

There was a pop and the emerald's power was gone from the room. They heard a sliding noise then Amy's voice rang out, calling Sonic's name. One of their bodies was touched, though which one, they weren't sure. They heard the female hedgehog crying.

"They're dead! They're dead!"

"No they're not!" Tails exclaimed. "Look, they're still breathing! We have to get them back to my lab!"

Eggman spoke. "I will give you a transporter to get them there. It hovers, so there should be minimal jostling."

"Why are you still helping us?" the yellow fox asked suspiciously.

"They day is not over. For the moment, we are still allies."

"Alright, Mr. 300 IQ. What just happened?" Rouge demanded.

"Yeah!" Amy growled. "That thing was here one second and gone the next."

"I don't know for sure," Eggman replied. "But I have a thought-out guess."

"What is it?" Omega queried. "This whole situation does not compute."

"Because you are not programmed to fully understand magic," Eggman replied. "You heard Fear say that they stole his magic, correct?"

"Yeah," Tails said. "So?"

"Well, enough time has passed that the magic had settled into their bodies. It took on their ideals, not Fear's, so when Fear tried to reclaim his magic, it resisted him because of the absolute opposite end differences. Then the magic recognized itself and tried to fully inhabit either Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow or Fear. I assume that it was painful, as they were all screaming bloody murder. Fear was not strong enough to gather all his magic back, or even disconnect from the three of them. His magic was an intimate part of his being. Take it all away, and you have no more Fear. His body became a part of the magic and was sucked inside of them. So they now contain a massive amount of ancient, powerful magic." Eggman paused. "But that's just a guess."

"Will they wake up?" Amy asked.

There was silence then Eggman sighed. "I don't know. If that's really what happened, there are two options. The magic will settle inside of them and become a part of them, or they will die from the overwhelming quantity of power. The chances of both are equal, as they absorbed the other part of magic with ease, though it had a few side effects. However, it is just as likely that they will die. That much magic is staggering. Physical bodies, even those as gifted as the three of theirs are, were not made to contain that much raw power at all, let alone from as violent a transference as that. Flip a coin. Heads they live, tails they die. It's up in the air at this point. Now, if they live, they're going to need medical attention. Monitor their heartrates closely, and their temperatures, too. They will have fevers then chills. They will be delirious if they become conscious. Take care of my arch-enemy, Tails. If anybody's going to kill him, it will be me."

"Sonic wouldn't have it any other way, Doc," Tails said, his voice holding a smile. "Now, Omega, get Shadow. Doc, grab Knuckles. Amy and I will carry Sonic."

They were picked up simultaneously, and they felt their stomachs clench as pain shot through them. There were cries of disgust, but the ones carrying them continued to move. Several steps in, the pain overwhelmed them and they lost consciousness.

The three beings gasped as they came out of it, shivering. The Master Emerald was there to soothe them. They lay there and regulated their breathing for a good five minutes then sighed.

"Wow," Sonic said quietly. "I…I don't know what to say about that."

"How about 'ouch'?" Shadow asked with a grin.

"Seems appropriate," Knuckles said with a chuckle. He then grew serious. "So how does this magic affect us, M.E.?"

The Master Emerald pulsed gently as it answered. "I am not sure. Which is why I want to experiment. If you let me do this, I will not harm you physically. Not on purpose, at least. I will only try a few things now to sate my curiosity until you heal and are ready for more involved tests. Do I have your permissions?"

Knuckles nodded. "Just be gentle. I hurt, M.E. I hurt a lot."

Sonic and Shadow agreed, so the Master Emerald gave that one pulse again. They returned the pulse. It pulsed twice. They did the same. Then the patterns started, and they grew increasingly complicated with each one repeated. They had just echoed a pattern that took an hour to go through just repeating it—the original had taken an hour as well—when the Master Emerald stopped.

"I am satisfied for now, my little ones. Tails, Rouge, Omega, and Amy are approaching on foot. They shall be here in a few minutes."

"What was the point of that?" Knuckles asked. "I mean, I know you have one, M.E., and I don't want to be rude in asking, but I'm curious and—"

The Master Emerald cut in. "There is no need for that, Knuckles. I know you respect me. There is no reason for you to explain yourself. I know your intentions with each thing that you think, do, and say. Do not feel as if you need to tell me."

"Yes, great one," Knuckles thought, embarrassment broadcasting through the link. "So what was the point of that?"

"Your magic is amazingly powerful. Just as powerful as mine. If it was weaker, it would have missed at least one pulse from that last round. It did not. The pattern was replicated perfectly. I will be pleased to teach you about your magic. But it will take time to master. Now, I shall be quiet and let your friends tend to you."

True to its word, the Master Emerald went silent just as they were spotted by the yellow fox. They were picked up by Omega, one by one, and deposited on the beds that were still there from before the adventure began. Tails checked their temperatures and looked surprised.

"Wow. They're only at about a hundred right now. They've gone down."

"Yay," Sonic said then yawned.

"Did the Master Emerald help?" Rouge asked Shadow, stroking his head gently.

"Yes."

"What did it tell you?"

"It renewed our memories from when we fought Fear," Knuckles said softly. "And it revealed to us that we have the magic of Fear inside of us. It wants to train us to use it, which means we're going to be on Angel Island for a while."

"Oh. Okay."

Tails frowned. "I don't care what it wants at the moment. You three are in no condition to be trained in anything!"

"It will wait, Tails," Sonic assured him.

"It better," the yellow fox muttered.

There was a musical feminine laugh as Tikal solidified and walked toward them. Their caretakers didn't seem surprised, which was…surprising.

"Why are you not surprised?" Knuckles asked.

"We saw her appear when you were in that room," Rouge said, studying the female echidna.

"How?"

"Eggman had tiny cameras in there, and we watched the whole thing go down," Tails said with a nod. "So this is Tikal?"

"Yes," Knuckles said. "Touch her and I will end you."

Tikal laughed again, skipping over to Knuckles. "Well, my dear child of black, how are you going to do that?"

"I will find a way."

Tails smiled at her. "You're pretty."

"Thank you. You are brilliant," Tikal replied.

Tails blushed. "Thank you."

"What am I?" Rouge asked, crossing her arms.

"Devious and alluring."

"And me?" Amy asked as the bat beamed.

"You, my dear hedgehog, are in love."

Amy laughed. "True!"

Tikal looked serious. "You must know this, though. If you marry Sonic, you are marrying all three of them. That is not to say that they will have the same privileges as your mate, but their minds will never be fully separate again. You must get to know all three of them quite well before you make your decision. Is this understood?"

Amy looked around at them. "If they're Sonic's friends, I will get to know them, too."

"Good. Now, I am here to help you and the others communicate with the Master Emerald. M.E. states that three," she looked at Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow, "are to sleep. You need it."

"Yes, Princess," Knuckles said tiredly.

"Wait!" Sonic said, his voice wavering. "Tails?"

"Yeah?"

"I…We're sorry about what we did to your lab. I know it was your life. We…It was…"

Tails' expression softened. "Sonic, let me tell you something. I love my inventions. I love my computer. I love my machines. But I love you more. You are much more important than any silly machine. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Even the tears. Because through them I saw the truth of what I just told you. Don't any of you worry about it one second more. I can rebuild what you destroyed. But I can't rebuild you."

"You're awesome Tails," Sonic sighed, closing his eyes as he was sucked into sleep. Shadow and Knuckles followed, and they all had smiles on their faces.