#oh my GODDDDDDDDDDDDDD | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

son1c · 1 year

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turbulence? no way!

falling stars fic masterpost

Gunfire illuminated the room. Omega's shots were wild, and his bullets flew everywhere. They ricocheted off the walls, floor, and ceiling, and they shattered the empty pods lined up against the back wall. They turned the computer console in the middle of the floor into swiss cheese. They almost hit Rouge, but her reflexes were better than the robot's aim, and she managed to dive behind a bulky generator before anything bad could happen to her.

She started thinking about what she could do to stop the robot's rampage.

Sonic wasn't thinking about that at all though. He was too preoccupied with dodging Omega's shots to worry about it. He spent all of his brainpower on his jumps. Jump onto a wire, jump down to the floor, jump behind a metal box. Anything to avoid getting punched full of holes. His expression was troubled, but not because of the dire situation he was currently in; he was worried about Omega.

"If I'd known about this ice cold reception, I would've brought a jacket!" Sonic quipped in between machine gun rounds.

"A JACKET WOULD NOT SAVE YOU FROM MY WRATH," Omega said, his heavy metal arms clicking as his weapons reloaded. "NOW STAND STILL SO THAT I MAY REPLACE YOUR BONES WITH LEAD."

Sonic didn't stop moving. He was zigzagging his way closer to Omega, careful to avoid the robot's frenzied gunfire. However, right as he was about to leap onto Omega's shoulders, the robot managed to miss a shot so badly that it flew three feet over Sonic's head and pierced the base of the pod that Shadow was sleeping in.

Sonic pulled a 180 immediately. He heard the hatch unlock before he saw it start to open. His feet slipped on the liquid that drained out of the pod in a waterfall of green slime, but he kept going, scraping his claws against the slick floor stubbornly. Shadow blinked awake a second later. The dark hedgehog pushed open the hatch and looked over at Omega, but before he could take a step toward him, Sonic snatched him and they both rolled behind the computer console together.

Then, Shadow sat up. Despite the stressful situation he suddenly found himself in, his month long nap had left him feeling good, and so it was with a clear mind that he took in his surroundings. But it didn't last long. With one look at Sonic, his headache returned. "Blue?" he said, the name sounding almost hesitant as he voiced it. Like he wasn't sure if the hedgehog in front of him was really his friend or not.

"Hey, Stripes," Sonic said. "Sorry I’m late. But here, I got something that'll make it up to you!" He removed the inhibitors from his wrists, grabbed Shadow's hand, and pressed the rings into his palm. Then, he grinned. "Unfortunately, Egghead turned out to be a quack. The good news is he was lying about everything, not just the good stuff!"

Shadow stared at Sonic. He stared at him very hard. "What happened to you?" he asked quietly.

Sonic's grin didn't waver. "Well, for starters, I got a job. The uniform kicked, but that's about it."

Shadow frowned. "Your eyes," he pressed. "They're glowing."

"Heh. I guess I finally thought about it hard enough!" Sonic rubbed his nose. Under his hand, his grin faded. "Look," he said, pressing the rings firmly into Shadow's hand with both of his own, "I'm still me. The doc tried to change that, but I couldn't stand it. Following him around was way past boring!"

Shadow looked down at their clasped hands, and the rings pressed in between them. He ignored them completely. With his voice steeped in frustration, he asked, "The Doctor stripped you of your free will?"

"Technically," Sonic said, a little uncomfortable now, "he didn't strip me of anything. He gave me a new leg, and force fed me some code. I'm not gonna thank him for that, though, since it was all a bunch of pro-Ivo propaganda!"

A coil of anger burned in Shadow's chest like a snake. "He won't go unpunished," Shadow said darkly. It hurt him to think that Sonic had suffered because of his own eagerness to take Eggman's hand. And Sonic's laissez faire attitude only served to fuel his vengeful heart.

Sonic watched the fire in Shadow's eyes burn with concern. "It's okay, dude. There's no need to keep your foot on the gas. All that's gonna do is run us in circles." The blue hedgehog smiled. It was a peace offering. "I dunno about you, but I'd rather take the fast track to freedom, and leave this place behind."

The viper in Shadow's chest continued to hiss and spit. He wouldn't let go of his grudge so easily. However, when he saw a hint of tiredness flicker behind Sonic's electric eyes, he resolved to put a pin in it. For later.

Finally, Shadow snapped the inhibitor rings onto his wrists. His headache vanished. The bubbles in his blood cooled. He let out a breath, feeling truly centered for the first time since waking up in the crater all that time ago. With a small nod, he said sincerely, "Thank you."

Sonic's eyes softened. His smile got warmer. "Don't mention it," he said. "Besides, it's not like Mr. Ivo was gonna make good on his promise." Sonic's expression shifted to something in between annoyance and relief. "I'm just glad that lady showed up when she did. Without her, who knows what would've happened!"

"Are you boys talking about little old me?"

Sonic and Shadow looked up. Towering over the computer console, they saw Omega staring down at them with Rouge on his shoulder. She had her legs crossed and a smug look on her face. "The name's Rouge, by the way," she said. "While you two were having your reunion, I took care of the problem. Omega here is on our side now. You're welcome."

"BLUE HEDGEHOG," Omega said, "THE BAT HAS INFORMED ME OF YOUR DEFECTIVE HARDWARE. I HAVE UPDATED YOUR STATUS TO 'ALLY.' DO NOT EXPECT AN APOLOGY FOR MY PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO EXTERMINATE YOU."

Sonic's eyebrow twitched at Omega's comment about his hardware. The way he saw it, him taking orders from Eggman was the real bug in his system. But Omega's bluntness wasn't intended as a means to aggravate him, and Sonic recognized that. It was just a shield to deflect from his feelings.

"It's cool," Sonic said. "It's my fault for draggin' my feet, anyway. When I got zapped by that Build-A-Robot machine, I stopped thinkin' about why I'd come here. It made me forget all about it--about Stripes, and about you. And it took awhile for me to remember." Sonic stood. Then, he winked at Omega. "Thanks for waiting up."

"I HAVE REMOVED WAITING FROM MY EXECUTABLES. NEXT TIME, I WILL BRING THE WHOLE BUILDING DOWN."

Sonic laughed. "If it's another bad guy's lair, I say go for it!"

Shadow, now standing, added, "You'd be doing the world a favor."

Rouge said, "Well, this heist turned out to be a total bust. I looked everywhere, but couldn't find a single gem!" She tapped her nails on Omega's shoulder. Then, her mouth tilted upwards. "But at least I won't be walking away empty handed. This makes us a team, boys!"

Sonic's ear twitched. He turned his head toward the door, but there was nothing there.

Shadow asked, "Hear something, hedgehog?"

Sonic said, "Nah. Must've been my imagination."

Rouge hopped down from Omega's shoulder. With her hands on her hips, she gestured at the door with one of her wings. "Let's beat it. As long as we're here, the deck's stacked against us. I'd rather not give Eggy any more leverage than he already has!"

With that, the four of them left the (now severely damaged) basement stasis room. Omega nearly went ballistic when he saw the buzzy bomber waiting for them in the hallway, but Sonic was quicker on the draw than him, and explained, "Think about it! You defied your programming, right? What's stopping the rest of Egghead's robots from carving their own paths too?"

Omega wasn't happy about it, but he had to admit that Sonic had a point. He stared intensely at the buzzy bomber hiding in Sonic's quills. His red eyed gaze was daring it to prove Sonic wrong. But it stayed there, its mandible slowly opening and closing as if to say, Truce?

Omega lowered his arm cannons. "THIS IS ACCEPTABLE. BUT THE ICE ON WHICH YOU SKATE IS THIN."

Immediately, the wasp robot perked up. It chittered smartly, and it took every ounce of Omega's willpower to not start blasting. Sonic snickered.

Then, the group continued on through the basement with Sonic leading the way. It wasn't long before they reached the lift. After piling into it, they began the long ascent to the ground floor of the facility. Thankfully, the levels came and went quickly. Sonic watched them pass by through the window, distracted.

The lift arrived at the ground floor of the Brain Bowl with a light ding. Everyone stepped out, except for Sonic, who was still staring out the window. The buzzy bomber tapped him on the forehead with one of its arms. Blinking, Sonic smiled apologetically at the wasp robot, and then followed everyone else out of the lift.

But he didn't get very far. After taking a few steps out into the hanger, he suddenly froze, and his eyes went wide.

Eggman said, "You didn't really think you'd be able to escape me that easily, did you, rodent?"

Sonic looked around, but Eggman wasn't there. He was hearing the voice in his head, projected from somewhere else, as a side effect of the botched de-Roboticization he'd experienced.

"I'm afraid I'm not done with you yet," Eggman continued. Sonic could practically hear the evil grin on his face. "Our confrontation is long overdue. I understand you're on your way out, so if you're in need of motivation, I've gathered your pathetic little friend here to watch your inevitable defeat!"

The doctor paused to cackle maniacally. The noise bounced around inside Sonic's skull like a twisted tennis ball.

"Better hurry. I can't guarantee its safety if you dawdle!"

Sonic was mad. Eggman had already wasted so much of his time, and now he was going to waste even more? The blue hedgehog scowled and turned around on his heel. He knew where Eggman was. It was like the coordinates had been beamed into his brain. However, before he could start moving toward it, he felt a hand grasp his shoulder.

It was Shadow. The dark hedgehog was looking at him with his usual serious expression, but there was a touch of concern in the way he pursed his lips. "The door is the other way," he said. "Now isn't the time for detours."

Sonic turned back around so he could face Shadow. "Something came up," he said vaguely. "I've gotta take care of it before we split. You go on ahead--I'll meet you guys outside."

Shadow folded his arms over his chest. "I won’t accept that. If you’re going after the Doctor, it won’t be alone.”

The voice of Eggman spoke in Sonic's head again. "Haven't you left yet? It's not like you to waste time, Sonic."

Scowling, Sonic shook his head. To Shadow, he said, "Take the badniks and get outta here. There's a stash of planes in the next building over. Should be on the first floor, just grab the one that looks like a manta ray--it's got the keys in the ignition."

"We're not leaving without you," Shadow said. "Whatever it is you're about to do--"

"Clock's ticking, Sonic," Eggman interrupted. "I wonder which part I should remove first? An antenna, perhaps?"

Sonic stepped away from Shadow. He ignored the looks Rouge and Omega gave him as he began to run toward the backdoor. "Just trust me," he called back over his shoulder. "And remember: first floor, manta ship. I'm countin' on you!"

Without stopping, Sonic kicked down the Brain Bowl's backdoor. He burst through the other side with a roll, and then jumped back up to his feet, still running. He was outside now, with his sights set squarely on the tall transmission tower at the far end of Scrap Brain Base. He weaved around commuting badniks and bounced over steel obstacles in his path, but it wasn't fast enough, he wasn't fast enough.

Eggman's voice came to him again. It was mocking him now. "Holding back at a time like this? Your limits must've changed since your fall if this is really your top speed!"

Sonic pushed himself harder. The red light at the top of the transmission tower peered down at him, a tiny dot in the sky, still so far away.

And then Eggman must've held the microphone up to the motobug, because Sonic heard it beep fearfully.

And he couldn't take it anymore.

After everything Eggman had put him through, after tricking him and Stripes into falling for his scheme, turning him into a robot, and making him do his bidding… Sonic went fast. Really, truly fast. So fast he rippled the air around him, and created a deafening boom so powerful it knocked out the power to the Base.

The gears ground to a halt and the badniks shuddered. Something in Sonic's head fizzled and popped, but he kept going, faster and faster.

He cleared the winding stairs of the transmission tower in the blink of an eye. He crashed through one of the top floor windows before another second could pass. The glass shattered, and fell in a flurry around him, but his quills kept him safe. Then, he rolled to the middle of the floor and uncurled, leaping up onto his feet with a scowl.

Because the power was down, it was dark inside of the transmission tower. Only the emergency lights were still functional, and they cast the whole room in an eerie red glow.

"Very impressive," Eggman said. Behind him, the motobug with the star on its head was parked. It shook like a leaf in the wind. "But now it's time for the final act," Eggman went on to say. "Honestly, I never expected you to stay under my thumb forever. One way or another, I knew you'd wriggle your way out of my control! Which is why I started working on something… something I'm sure you'll find quite familiar! Oh-ho-ho!"

Something heavy suddenly dropped down next to Sonic.

It was… Shadow?!

All of the fur on the back of Sonic's neck stood up. He took a step back, away from his friend. But it couldn't be his friend. It looked like him, but something was off. Wrong. The way its arms hung limply at its sides was uncanny. And when the thing lifted up its head to stare at Sonic, the blue hedgehog realized why.

The Shadow standing in front of him was a fake. Its eyes were a black screen, illuminated by two glowing orange irises. A copy, made by Eggman, presumably while the real Shadow had been fridged in the basement. Worst of all, it said nothing. It just stared at Sonic with that horrible, unnerving gaze.

Sonic said, "What kind of horror show are you runnin' here, doc?!"

"One powerful enough to take down even you!" Eggman replied haughtily. "This is it for you, Sonic. You'll soon find you've met your match with my Shadow Android!"

The Shadow Android shifted. Its arms no longer hung dead at its sides, and instead bent upwards, with its hands balled into fists. An attack position. It then shot forward, but Sonic sidestepped it easily. He had no interest in fighting the Shadow Android, because that was what Eggman wanted.

And he was sick of doing what Eggman wanted.

"Sorry, bolt brain," Sonic said, not sounding sorry at all, "but I ain't got time for a doppelganger deathmatch today! I've got a flight to catch!"

In a flash, Sonic ran behind Eggman and picked up his motobug friend. The Shadow Android followed after him, but Sonic was on his A-game now, and easily outsped the robot copy.

The emergency lights lit his path back to the window, and Sonic jumped out of it without looking back.

The Shadow Android, however, paused in front of the broken glass on the floor.

"What are you waiting for?" Eggman snapped. "After him!"

In the time it took Eggman to say that, Sonic had already made it back to the other end of Scrap Brain Base. He skidded to a halt on the runway in front of the manta ray ship, with Buggy held over his head. Shadow and Rouge turned to look at him.

"Nice of you to stop by, Blue," Rouge said. "You were right about the keys, but piloting an Eggman battleship is a little out of my wheelhouse. Omega was able to push this thing out of the garage, but that won't work for getting it off the ground, you know. So, unless you're saying you can fly it..."

Sonic grinned. "That's exactly what I'm saying!"

Shadow made a face. "You seem confident. Are you sure it's not unfounded?"

"Who knows! Maybe I used to fly planes. I've just got a good feeling about this!"

Shadow and Rouge looked at each other. Then, Shadow said, "We can't risk all of our lives--and all of these robot's lives--on a 'good feeling,' Blue."

Sonic's eyes sparkled, a little deviously. "You can if the feeling's good enough," he said. "Now hang on!"

After setting down the motobug, Sonic grabbed Shadow and Rouge by the arms, and carried them into the manta ship. When the motobug rolled in behind them, it tugged on the wire for the door, and the ship's hatch slammed shut.

Inside the ship, Omega was trying very hard to remain civil with the menagerie of badniks that had decided they'd rather kick it with Sonic than Eggman. He managed this by standing in the corner and facing the wall like he was in The Blair Witch Project.

The only badnik brave enough to get close to him was the buzzy bomber from the basement. It circled his head like a buzzard, but when Sonic passed them by on his way to the cockpit, the tinny voice of the wasp robot reassured him that everything was fine.

Omega loved compliments, after all.

Once they reached the cockpit, Sonic finally let Shadow and Rouge go. Irritated, Shadow began brushing himself off. He didn't appreciate being dragged through the hull of the ship like luggage.

Meanwhile, Rouge turned to Sonic and said, "Never. Ever. Do that again."

Sonic was examining the buttons and knobs on the ceiling of the cockpit. "Wouldn't'a done it without a good reason," he said. Then, still looking over the ship's controls, he pointed out the window. "See for yourself."

Shadow and Rouge looked out the window. Skating down the runway at a frightening pace was the Shadow Android. It had finally caught up to Sonic.

"Another trick of the Doctor's?" Shadow said, troubled by the sight of his robot doppelganger.

Sonic flipped a switch on the ceiling, and then sat down in the chair in front of the yoke. He grabbed it with both hands and said, "Whatever it is, it's not our problem anymore!"

The blue hedgehog eased forward on the yoke, his excitement showing on his face. Even though the manta ray ship was a prototype, Sonic knew it could still fly--Eggman wouldn't've bothered having him cart all that wiring over to the hanger while he was still a Robian if it couldn't.

"Got your seat belts fastened?" Sonic asked, obviously having way too much fun with this. "We're ready for takeoff!"

Shadow and Rouge gripped the back of the pilot's chair as the ship lurched forward. They watched as the Shadow Android continued to approach, almost on top of them now. But the manta ray accelerated quickly, and swallowed the fake hedgehog up underneath it. Then, the ship's wheels left the ground, and the manta ray lifted into the sky.

Through the clouds, everyone could see the ground, as well as Scrap Brain Base, quickly shrink into the distance.

Sonic let out a victory cheer. He didn't know that back at the transmission tower, Eggman had just tried and failed to contact him. It seemed as though the communicator in his head had broken along with the sound barrier during his earlier race to save the motobug.

Sonic continued racing the wind, unbothered.

#falling stars au #THIS PART IS SO LONGGGGGGGG OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDD #BUT IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE DONE WITH ACT 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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