Ancient Secret, Inner Emerald

The Eighth Emerald

The next morning was filled with tired groans and the smell of pancakes from the moment he woke up.

He briefly took the time to wonder where Amy had gotten the mix for it before his sleepy brain decided it wasn't relevant.

They had Sonic's emerald, they had the Tornado, and they had Knuckles. He was ready to get his brother back.

It's times like these when he wonders if he was ever even meant to leave his side. The moment they're apart it's like something bad happens to Sonic.

Maybe they were just cursed. Maybe Gaia had created them to be at each other's sides and whenever they were apart it would cause a catastrophe.

But that wasn't very scientific of him. He knows how odds work, but sometimes with a pattern like this he starts to wonder.

"Y'know," Knuckles mumbled, stuffing another massive chunk of pancake in his mouth, "there's still time to-"

"Nope." Amy and Tails answered in unison.

"Not happening." Amy said, setting down another plate.

The echidna mumbled under his breath grumpily.

Tails was getting tired of having to deny his request of trying to chaos control with his brother.

"Okay but hypothetically-"

"NO."

. . .

"I called Rouge and let her know we wouldn't be able to handle Eggman for a while!" Amy shouted over the wind. "Team Dark should have it covered!"

"You didn't tell her why, did you?" Knuckles asked fearfully.

"No, even if I did I'm sure she wouldn't be interested in stealing Sonic." She replied

"You don't have to worry about her showing up to tease you." She added with a smile and giggled as the echidna made a poor attempt to hide his embarrassment.

He shuffled the gem closer to his body.

Knuckles had explained his plan to them, it was a decent one, but he was starting to worry about what they'd do if they ended up needing a backup plan.

"Angel Island! Dead ahead!" Tails called to his passengers.

Tails safely let the tornado down on an open field. He wasn't a fan of Eggman, and he especially didn't appreciate what he had done to Angel Island so many years ago, but he was grateful to be able to land without hurting any of the wildlife.

Angel Island was as beautiful as ever. The trees were more green than any on the mainland, the water was crystal clear in a way that made it seem unreal, and the air was crisp and fresh completely void of any pollution.

Knuckles immediately started to march down the path to the Master Emerald the moment they touched down. Tails helped Amy out and they followed closely behind.

They reached the shrine and all three of them were all startled when Sonic's emerald form suddenly popped back into existence.

Knuckles looked at him nervously for a moment, his iridescently colored form hovered silently and stared unnervingly, before continuing forward.

There was something so deeply upsetting about seeing Sonic like this. Blank, a complete clean slate.

Sonic was always running around, making faces, being obnoxious, refusing to shut up. Everything that made him the most incredible person he'd ever met. And then there was... This. He just floated silently, eyes wide open and unblinking. Not a single thought behind them.