Sonic's eyes shrunk as he saw the chameleon ready to do something with the gem. All he did was pull up his guard. He already knew he wasn't ready.
"CROSS!" Espio swung his hand across his body, as a strip of light came out as an arc, flying at Sonic with incredible speed and force.
Without any time to react, the arc almost immediately hit him. And when it did, a small crater formed on impact. An explosion came out, the force of it sending Espio back out into the dirt roads again. The emerald followed him too, as it dug into it.
When the smoke cleared, the dust was still there. Sonic was scratched up and minorly bleeding as he laid there, knocked out.
Espio slowly got up as he picked up the emerald and observed what he had just pulled off. He had won. "Hmph." The purple chameleon walked away from the hedgehog, the emerald tightly in his grasp.
Tails was far enough away from the events that happened that he didn't hear or see anything. The road went back to pavement once more as tall skyscrapers, and mostly only those with not many small buildings and more people heading in and out of the city became visible. People were rushing in too, people could see the lights, though they were much smaller. Tails found a safe spot on the sidewalk to trot. He didn't know this place. And he didn't know where to go.
"I really hope he's okay.." Tails spoke, walking along.
•|——————•——————|•
The fox was lost, mostly not feeling as such only due to the fact there were so many places he could sit himself down and try to figure out himself. His worry was undeniable, but he had to try his best to make sure it wouldn't get to his head. After all, he was only waiting for his friend, right?
After searching for a while, he spotted a cafe. It was a local one, being a mix of clean and fancy and having that urban feel. Tails opened the doors and looked around. Somehow, it made him feel a little bit more comfortable. A nice, warm place like this always had.
With the bit of change he had, he placed an order for a basic lunch, a sandwich and, well, a dark roast. He didn't get enough time to have the caffeine he'd get on days like this. He was seated near a window, which gave him that nice view of Starlight.
In reality, he didn't know why he'd always feel so calm in places like this. Maybe it was the fact that places like these have always been designed to be relatively cozy. Maybe it was the fact that the food was mostly warm. He couldn't find an answer, but nor did he care. He was in what he considered his happy place, and that's all that really mattered to him.
He finished up the last bit of his meal, and left the tiniest tip he could that wasn't insulting, as he left the place with a bit of a smile, as he opened the door to leave outside.
Tails was trotting around the sidewalk. He took his time watching the city move. So many people, doing so many things. He wondered just how many people were leaving for these emeralds..
Another hedgehog, this time pink, wearing a red skirt and a headband, was heading in Tails' direction, and she was seemingly asking around for something. At a certain point, Tails noticed her, and she noticed him. As they came closer, their irises started to glow a little, their visions getting a little sharper, stopping at talking distance. They stared at each other, feeling like they were familiar people.. Knowing that they for sure weren't.
The pink hedgehog shook her head before she began to speak. "O-oh. Uhh-" she took a second before sighing and continuing. "Do you know anything about the lights in the sky?"
Tails was wondering if he should say anything about the emeralds. Did he want anything to do with getting someone else hurt to hunt them down? He tensed up a bit before shaking his head, walking by with a bit of pace.
The pink hedgehog looked over as he passed by, giving an intrigued look. She turned away and kept walking. "He knows something for sure, but I couldn't pressure him."
Meanwhile...
Sonic's eyes slowly opened. The heat of the sun wasn't too bad, but the light would have blinded him, if not for the trees and branches above him. He attempted to move, but was hit with the pain of the now bloodied and beaten body he was in. He wasn't deathly leaking out blood, as it began to dry by the time he woke up again, but it still hurt. He crawled back into a limping, standing position. He was able to try to find a kind of hospital, but before that, he looked around for Espio. Nothing. He was way out of the woods at this point.
The blue hedgehog began to stumble back onto the tracks, looking up to the sky as some kind of calming. This was the closest he had been to death, even if it wasn't too close. The pain was almost too much to handle.. Why did he get himself into that fight?
The last moments of the battle kept replaying in his mind. At this point, Espio would have been able to harness the abilities of the emerald.. He wasn't going to win the next battle at this rate. He had this impulse to protect his friend.. That he had only met today. Why did he care so much? That chameleon wasn't worth it. He thought he should have just run away if he wanted to be true to keeping himself a side character. So why? Why did he fight?
He shook his head. These questions can't keep going.. It happened already. He can't fix it, and now he feels ultra-dedicated to fighting this battle. And for some reasons unbenounced to him, he was willing to die to protect the people around him.
He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice the fact that he was on his knees at this point, shaking and with tears in his eyes. The pressure got to his head. This moment in his life wasn't something he ever expected, and to a degree something he didn't want. Yet, the more he kept trying to resist the feeling of wanting to fight, the more that feeling became stronger. His sobbing was very audible and noticeable.
An armadillo was traveling the dirt tracks of the woods, before noticing the blue hedgehog, looking to the sky, badly hurt and crying. Not only did they notice that, but they also noticed something else. They felt a strange sense of familiarity, but they didn't know each other at all. Both Sonic and this other person noticed their vision sharpening and their irises slightly glowing.
The armadillo couldn't bear to see someone like that, and with that in their mind, they neared Sonic, the hedgehog pausing and turning to them and noticing that familiarity. They both stopped.
Sonic spoke out shakily. "W..Who are you?"
The armadillo responded with a hand out. "Mighty. And I'm here to help you recover."
The hedgehog looked to Mighty for a few seconds before grabbing his hand. Mighty pulled him up, and got Sonic to lean over his shoulder. "You're gonna be alright."
This sense of comradery coming from once again, someone he only met today. He didn't know how, but Sonic felt like he could trust Mighty.
As they walked along, they were both wondering why they felt the way they did about each other. Sonic had theorized that maybe it was another one of those people who had received the message. He didn't know if he should ask, however. If he was wrong, he'd be really embarrassed. Mighty, on the other hand, had no idea about the chaos emeralds, not much, nor about the reason why he felt like they were close friends that hadn't met in years. He only knew that he needed to get this poor guy to a hospital.
At this point, Sonic's tears were dried, and they were nearing a town off to the side.. Mushroom Hill, a smaller village that had a medical center down the road. Mighty sighed.
Sonic was wondering what to say. "M-Mighty?" He began. "I'm Sonic. The Hedgehog. I know I didn't say much.."
"I don't need you to say much, I just need you to stay conscious for long enough. We're almost there," Mighty responded.
Sonic was caught a little off guard by that statement. "W-well... Still, it's a little rude to know someone else's name and for them to not get yours, right?"
"To me, in this case, no. You were a little too emotional for me to force that out of you. It'd be ruder to force someone in a breakdown to answer questions that can be answered later."
Sonic was beginning to like what Mighty was laying down. He made it super understandable too- and he felt comfortable around him. Like he was a supportive person. With that in him, he finally decides to ask the big question. "Mighty? Did you.. Did you see the lights earlier today?"
He nodded. "I think I know what you're gonna ask next, and yes, I did hear it. I don't know if I want to follow through, I hate that kind of greed and.. I'm assuming you ended up like this due to it."
Sonic went silent. He did. "... A guy named Espio. He has the yellow emerald now."
"How many are there?"
"Seven. And they aren't just valuable gems, either. They have the ability to give people literal superpowers.. I don't know Espio's goals, but it's better safe than sorry, and I don't want the world to be taken over or something like that."
Mighty took in what Sonic was saying and thought. Thought hard. This hedgehog is serious about this.
"I don't intend to look for these, but if it's necessary, I will aid you, and that's a promise."
They arrived at the center, and as they approached the front desk, the person there put them on priority, noticing the marks and scratches on the hedgehog's body. It didn't take too long to get him into a room, though Mighty had to stay outside for them to do the basic things that they do.
While the armadillo sat outside, he wondered more and more about this guy's situation. It sounds like the guy he was up against trumped him. What kind of people were searching for these things, and why? He couldn't understand why people were so full of greed as to hurt others for things like this? He knew that he couldn't say for objects- these did more than just provide value, but he also didn't understand why so many people searched for this power.
To clear his mind, he looked to the small table near where he was seated and took a magazine. He opened it to scam over whatever page he had opened, with a sigh.
Meanwhile...
Espio was in Starlight. He was able to blend in easily with the crowd, but he could easily bump into someone else and reveal that he was camouflaged. He stayed low, so nobody would notice the gem seemingly floating above the ground. He had to be really careful with this. He found an alleyway to uncover for a bit, hiding behind a dumpster as he looked around.
He needed to plot a way to find his place. The only issue with that, was that he wouldn't have the time. An alley crawler noticed the chameleon with the shiny gem, and knowing about what he was holding, they were nearing him slowly, before they swung their fist at the back of his head, the emerald flying out of his hand.
He was tossed to the ground, watching as they immediately ran away, Espio catching a glimpse of them in the sun. A purple weasel. He immediately got up and looked up to the roof of the building he was leaning against, and found the emergency ladder that went to the stairs that would go to the rooftop, climbing it swiftly as he dashed up the stairs until he reached the top.
He watched over as he saw the weasel running roughly past the people on the sidewalk, as Espio followed from the side, jumping from building to building, as he made sure to keep out of sight by going into camo.
Tails was looking to the ground, walking along as he wondered what to do before someone shoved him out of the way. It was the weasel, and they were holding something. The yellow emerald. He stood there for a few seconds before he began to chase the weasel, before something hit him.
SONIC! Tails thought. He would be here if he won, and he would have the emerald too. But he didn't win. That chameleon did. As soon as he realized this, he looked to the rooftops of the buildings he was running by, assuming the chameleon was after this weasel, and the camo had worn off just in time, showing Espio startled by the fox being here again.
At this point, the weasel had noticed the fox, and stopped for a second and tripped the off-guard kid, Tails flying forward as he hit the concrete.
People were beginning to call the police, seeing the physical harm this purple weasel had just done, and especially due to one thing. He was no ordinary criminal. He was world renowned. And he was after these chaos emeralds.
Not only were people noticing that, they noticed that he was holding an emerald too. Some pedestrians tried to swipe the gem as the weasel swung by, but he was a little too sharp to let that happen.
Espio took his chance and jumped from the top of the nearest building that this weasel was running towards, stopping both the fox and the weasel from passing through.
Without words, he swung at the still running weasel, busting his cheek as he flew back, the emerald flying back too.
With it, though, the trajectory headed towards Tails, who caught it, as he turned around and ran the other way, Espio being caught off guard as he scrambled to reach the fox again.
Tails, who was full of adrenaline, was pumping his legs as fast as he could, the chameleon still slowly gaining on him. He thought and thought, he needed to do something to get him off of his tail.
"WHY YOU-" The chameleon pulled back a fist, as Tails turned around. Before Espio could land a hit, however, the weasel had kicked him out of the way. Tails used that as an advantage to sprint even harder.
His legs were beginning to hurt, but he had to keep going. He was pumping his legs as fast as he had ever in his life, as he held the emerald in his hand as he thought of what to do. Then he looked behind him.
Police officers were beginning to chase Espio and the weasel down, and Tails didn't know whether to feel relieved or afraid. He kept running, not knowing what to do before Espio gained on him again.
With nothing else to do, he tried to dodge the hit Espio was launching at the fox. Only by a few hairs, he was able to sidestep the punch as he slugged the side of the chameleon's head with the gem in his hand. He kept on running, knowing now that he might have just made the police start to chase him. Then, he was hit into an alleyway.
He dropped the emerald he had in front of him, as Fang and Espio began to near him. Tails scrambled to grab it, as he tried to back away, but on the other side stood the police officers, with guns. This was life or death, and he was terrified of one.
"FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Shouted an officer from a loudspeaker. The sirens were wailing.
Fang and Espio kept nearing. Tails kept backing up. He stared at the emerald.
"WE WILL HAVE TO SHOOT IF YOU DO NOT FREEZE!"
The fox stopped. He closed his eyes as he tightly gripped the gem in his hands, hoping for this to end. He didn't want this. He just wanted to investigate this island. He didn't want to fight street thugs for power. He didn't want to make a friend to lose.
The world fell away in Tails' mind. He could only think of if he was going to make it out alive. He didn't care if he went to juvenile detention. He just didn't want to die like this.
Then, he felt warmth in his hands. Tails opened his eyes to see the emerald glowing, as he felt a weird sensation rising in him. Espio and Fang tried to dash at Tails, but officers from behind restrained them as they both jumped for the child. His breath went from rapid to slow, as he took in the energy of this one stone. His vision sharpened, his irises began to glow as light surrounded him, singularly focused to the point where he didn't recognize the fact he was floating in the air a bit as everyone around him watched in awe. The glow blew off, as Tails touched the ground, the emerald slightly emanating light as he stood, feeling stronger.
He felt lighter, faster, and stronger, and his vision was sharper. He swiped the emerald from the air, as he stood, ready for a fight this time. Espio took the officer restraining him off guard by camouflaging, then slamming him against the wall as they let go. Espio dashed towards the fox, Tails stepping to the side and holding his hand to his back.
What happens next surprised even the chameleon. From his hand, a ball of wind forms, as he blasts it into the chameleon's back. Espio slams into the concrete, the officers pulling up their weapons.
Tails puts his hands up. "It was only self-defense, officers."
In his defense, he was correct. It was mostly a reaction to the attack.
The policemen put their weapons down- they couldn't convict someone like that, especially not a minor. The weasel stood there, too shocked to move.
The chameleon stood up, bearing a bit of more of a lingering pain from the hit. "Y-You.." He begrudgingly backed away from the fox, before camouflaging once more, only to leave the scene. Fang was beginning to be pulled to the police car, and Tails kept the emerald in his hand, staring at it before putting it to his side. He walked out of the alleyway, the officers moving aside. He began to move out of view, and almost made it to a bench.. Until next to the pink hedgehog he spotted earlier, he collapsed. He didn't have much physical pain, but the hedgehog immediately checked his pulse.
It was regular. She gave a confused look, but she still decided it was best to at least get some transport. She decided to get the fox on her back as she tried to make it look inconspicuous. She got the fox to the bench it seems he was trying to reach, and let them lay on it. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, then she began to walk away.
In Tails' unconsciousness, he had what can only be described as terrifying yet reassuring.
The fox opened his eyes to a now night sky. He didn't feel like he was tired when he fell asleep, but now he felt especially awake. He looked around to see cars passing by, but then noticed something. He didn't feel the bench below him.
Tails swung around to see his body and what looked to be a silver teather attaching him to it. He looked in shock as he took a look at his hands. They were a light kind of blue, like he was some kind of ghost. He looked around in terror. Was he dead?
Then it hit him. When Tails and Sonic were researching the chaos emeralds, he looked over a page that mentioned that some oracles used to be able to travel to the realm of the afterlife for a short period of time. His eyes widened. He then observed his area. It looked like the same place, and cars kept passing by. Maybe this was something different. Or something similar, but not the same. Tails thought that maybe this was what oracles did, but this wasn't the exact realm, in which he was correct. But this place was an odd place to be for someone like Tails.
He tried to think of something to do, and his first idea was to search for Sonic. And with that thought in mind, the next time he closed and opened his eyes, what could only be his soul was there. At the hospital. Sonic seemed to be sleeping normally- his heart rate monitor was at a regular tempo. Many bandages were placed on the hedgehog, but he wasn't in pain. Then he saw Sonic's soul, off to the side, looking out of the window in awe. He saw the silver stream, and they turned to each other.
"S-Sonic?" Tails spoke.
"Tails?"
"Y-you're okay!" Tails ran and hugged.. Sonic's soul. The blue hedgehog was way taken aback by it, but accepted it. "I was so worried about you! That chameleon and some weasel person were fighting each other for the emerald- I thought you were d-"
"Why would you think I'd be dead? I mean, I am a pretty strong person to let myself go just like that- especially when someone expects me. Trust me, kiddo- I'll be okay. But speaking of that Chameleon, where did the emerald end up?"
"You won't believe this. I have it with me. I hope, at least. I had.. Man.. How do I put this?"
Tails began to explain the situation he had gone through with Espio and the Weasel, and explained how he had connected with the emerald, and gained some kind of ability. It was hard to describe.
Sonic gave the fox a smile. "Thank you. I didn't know you had the fight in you, ha," he spoke, as he pat his head. "Well, meet me tomorrow? I think you know the place now. I'm in Mushroom Hill, a friend named Mighty brought me here after he saw.." Sonic fell silent as he recalled the events of his battle. "Well.. I'd think you'd understand."
Tails nodded, knowing why he'd be in that kind of position. "I've been encountering this pink hedgehog a lot.. And for some reason-"
"She feels oddly familiar to you. That's how I was with Mighty. He explained that he had gotten the message we got. That girl must have gotten it too."
Tails looked around. "Do you think she'd be experiencing this?"
"Maybe." Sonic looked over to his sleeping body. "Maybe try to get to her tomorrow. If she's still around, that is. Meet me here, too. For now, I think we both know what we need to know for now. Alright?"
Tails nodded, as he closed his eyes. "Oh, and I think to go back into your body, you only need to close your eyes for long enough and just want to-"
In the next moment, his eyes shot open back where he was originally. He swung up from where he was laying down, and he noticed something. The emerald was gone. And this was no moment Tails was happy to wake up to.
~~End of Chapter 4~~
•|———💎💎💎💎💎💎———|•
6 Unfounded.
Hot damn! These chapters are actually super nice to write, I hope this one is also one of the more enjoyable ones! I'm so incredibly sorry for taking such a long hiatus, but since quarantine has hit us and I've been doing nothing I thought to come back to this series!
Thanks for reading~