Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I’m so close. The thought rang through his head over and over. I can’t turn back now, I can’t go back.  

The snow beat down on his face, covering his goggles faster than he could wipe it off, blocking out any semblance of light that made it through the thick clouds. 

I’ve come too far to go back empty handed. It’ll all be worth it.

He stumbled forwards, slipping as a spray of icy rock flew out from under his boot. He pulled himself back up, holding the jacket he was wearing closer to his body, as if that could help preserve heat any better than it already was. 

I’ll show them. I’ll show them all.

He wiped his goggles clear, giving him a few seconds to look up at the mountain in front of him, before being once again covered in snow. He shook his head and pushed forwards. 

Finally, after the days of arduous travel, he entered the cave. Now sheltered from the storm outside, he took off his goggles and gloves, pressing his hands together and rubbing to generate some heat amidst the frigid hellscape. 

He looked around the cave. The dark stone walls contrasted against a glowing block of ice, standing on a crystal pedestal in the center.

At last. He slid his backpack from his shoulders, guiding it gently to the ground. He undid the string that had been so neatly tied around the top, retrieving his pickaxe. 

He walked over to the brick of ice, which was a perfect cube, nearly opaque, with only a hint of something inside. Holding the pick tightly, he brought it over the block, carefully aligning the pickaxe with the center of the cube. 

And in one quick motion, he brought the pickaxe up, and slammed it down on the ice, splitting it in half. 

A large shockwave exploded from the icecube, sending him back towards the entrance of the cave. He swung the pickaxe out, catching on the entryway, and stopping himself from flying out. He pulled himself back inside, clearing his vision. 

In the center of the split ice block floated a dark blue flute. 

I did it. He started chuckling. I actually found it. 

He hastily sprinted over and grabbed the flute. It was freezing cold, but at that moment, he couldn’t care less. 

He walked out of the cave, not bothering to put any of his gear back on. He lifted the flute up towards the sky and called out, “Soon will come a day, when nobody, not the eldest or the youngest, will not know the name… 

“ Neige the Fox!”

With that cry of triumph, he brought the flute to his freezing lips, and played out the melody he’d learned so long ago. 

With the notes soared a cascade of clouds, exiting the flute and flooding the sky even more, flying in every direction. 

Once completed, he reentered the cave and put his gear back on, ready for the trek back down the mountain.

Chapter Text

Sonic woke in his hammock, a strange chill cast over him. He shook his head and got up, swinging his legs over the side and yawning. He walked over to his window and pulled up the blind, revealing a light snow falling from the sky and slowly accumulating on the ground. 

“Snow..?” Sonic opened the window and stuck his hand out. Sure enough, his hand was greeted with snowflakes. He redacted his hand and shook off the flakes of snow. 

He quickly grabbed his gloves and checked Tails’ room. Empty. He must be out in his workshop. Pulling on his gloves, he made his way into the workshop through the connecting door to the house. 

Tails was in fact there, standing at his table and staring down at a dish. 

“Hey, uh, Tails?” Sonic walked over to his desk and leaned against it. “Is there some kind of cool, sciencey reason as to why it’s snowing in the middle of Summer?”

“I’m trying to figure that out.” Tails was leaned over the dish, which Sonic could see contained a few snowflakes. “This stuff is weird, it isn’t melting.” 

“I’m sorry, isn’t melting? What do you mean it isn’t melting?” Sonic also leaned over the dish. 

“Look.” Tails picked up a snowflake on his finger, where it remained in perfect shape, resting as if it had landed on the ground of a freezer. 

“Woah…” Sonic stared at the snow. “Is that possible?”

“No.” Tails put the flake back down. “At least it shouldn’t be…”

“Well then how is it not melting?”

“I don’t know!” Tails sounded exasperated, as if he’d been pondering this long before Sonic woke up. “It shouldn’t be possible. The molecules-”

“Okay, I’ll spare you the time because whatever you’re about to say would go right over my head. But you’re right, it doesn’t make sense.” 

Suddenly, a call emanated from Sonic’s communication watch. 

“Sonic?” The voice that came through was crackly, but not unrecognizable as Knuckles. “Angel Island is covered in snow. It never snows here. What’s going on?”

“We’re trying to figure that out ourselves, pal, hang tight.” 

“It must have something to do with Eggman.” Knuckles’ voice sounded convinced. “Who else could have done this?”

“Now, let’s not jump to conclusions, Knux.” Tails leaned over to the watch. “I just need to run a few more tests, we’ll get back to you, alright?”

There was a pause on Knuckles’ end, followed by a sigh. “Fine, but I’d still bet all my rings on this being his doing.”

Without another word, Knuckles ended the call, leaving Sonic and Tails in the quiet workshop. 

“I should probably make sure everyone is staying calm, huh?” Sonic stretched his arms over his head. 

“You do that.” Tails grabbed the dish and walked over to another point on the workbench. “I’ll keep running some tests. There has to be some kind of scientific explanation for this…”

Sonic left the workshop, grabbing a bagel on the way to the door. He threw on his shoes, and stepped outside, immediately being hit with the chill that had only barely penetrated into his home. He shivered. “Ugh. I’ve always hated the snow, but I hate it even more when it was nice and sunny yesterday.”

Luckily, the snow was still light, and little had accumulated on the ground. Sonic shook his head and took off towards the village square. As predicted, not many people were around. Sonic looked around the square. Not many of the businesses had opened their doors yet. There were a few here and there, but they weren’t getting much attention. 

“Sonic!” A voice sounded from behind him. He turned around to see Amy Rose, bundled up in a fluffy coat and jogging towards him. She slid to a stop in front of him. “What’s going on? It’s snowing-”

“Yeah, it’s snowing in the middle of Summer, I got that.” Sonic rolled his eyes. “Tails is trying to figure it out.” 

Amy looked Sonic up and down. “You aren’t wearing a coat? Are you serious? It’s freezing out here!” 

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.” 

“It’s still cold!” Amy crossed her arms. 

“Look, I-” Before he could finish his sentence, a large explosion sounded from behind them. They quickly spun around to see a large robot coming out of the ground. 

“Oh, come on!” Sonic exclaimed in exasperation. “I’ve got bigger things to deal with right now, Egghead, beat it!” 

The robot charged them, and they quickly readied to fight.

Chapter Text

The robot was large, painted with red and gold accents. Atop it sat a sphere, dotted with indents, seemingly a speaker. 

Robotnik’s voice boomed the sphere on top of the robot. “Listen here, rodents-” 

“I’m not in the mood to deal with this garbage right now.” Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I do not care about your mood, I-” He started once again, only to be cut off once more. 

“Amy, are you willing to hold off the weather talk for, like, a few minutes so we can dismantle this thing?” 

Amy nodded. “Of course.” She grabbed her Piko Piko Hammer, seemingly out of thin air, and swung it in front of her. 

“Would you listen to me for one damn second!?” Robotnik sounded exasperated. 

“I don’t think you have anything I want to hear.” Sonic readied himself to spindash at the robot. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” 

Sonic shot forward, slamming into the robot and sending it flying into a nearby boulder. 

“Gah! I cannot stand you blasted hedgehogs!” 

Sonic sprinted behind the robot, once again smacking it away, this time towards Amy, who had her hammer ready. She swung, hitting the robot back at Sonic, who lept in the air, only to crash down on top of it, seemingly dismantling its functionality. 

It laid on the ground, surrounded by dirt and snow after being slammed into the ground. Sonic ran over to Amy, and they shared a quick high five, before approaching the robot. 

“That was easy.” Amy commented. 

“Yeah, too easy.” Sonic squinted his eyes at the bot. “He didn’t even try to fight back.” 

Crackling began to emit from the speaker, followed by Robotnik’s voice, which was very distorted. “That’s because I just wanted to talk!” 

“Really? To talk?” Sonic sounded unconvinced. 

“Yes, about the snow!”

“Wait, you’re wondering about the snow too?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be? It isn’t natural!”

“Then why did you send a giant robot to tell us that?” 

“This is my messenger robot, or, if I may rephrase, was my messenger robot before you two destroyed it!” 

“Why the hell would you make your messenger robot scary? No offense, but when I see a giant, lumbering robotic beast, I don’t assume it’s just here to talk.” 

Robotnik paused. “What do you mean it’s scary? I made that one cute!”

“What do you mean you made it cute?”

“I put a sticker on it!” 

Amy walked around the robot, scanning. Before long, she found a little sticker of a cat. “He did, yeah.”

“Look, I’m sorry that my priority when I saw it wasn’t looking for the random cat sticker you put on it. So you wanted to talk about the snow?” 

“I feel like I have some information your group would be interested in. Meet me at my laboratory.”

The audio cut out, leaving a faint static still playing.

“Sonic,” Amy began. “I’m not so sure going to meet him is a good idea. I mean, this just screams ‘trap.’”

“Yeah, I know, we don’t exactly have the best history, but he says he knows something about the snow. I’m sure Tails would like any information he could get his gloves on. Him and I will go down to the lab, hear what Eggman has to say, and go from there.” Sonic started back towards his house, before turning to Amy again. “Oh, and good work on that robot today. Even if it wasn’t meant to be a fight.”

“Oh, that?” Amy swung her hammer over her shoulder. “That was nothing. I’ll see you later, and you’d better be wearing a coat!” 

***

Sonic walked back into the house, quickly making his way to Tails’ lab. When he entered, Tails was in his robotics area, seemingly welding something. 

“Whatcha workin’ on?” Sonic leaned over Tails’ shoulder. 

Tails jumped. “Sonic! You shouldn’t surprise me like that, I’m holding a blowtorch!” 

“Yeah, yeah, my bad.” Sonic chuckled and leaned back. “Speaking of, why is that? Working on some new, crazy invention?” 

“No, but I feel like you should see this.” 

Sonic looked at the sheet of metal, where some snow was gathered. 

“Stand back, please.” Tails brought down his welding mask with one of his tails, and held the blowtorch out. He ignited it, covering the snow in flames. After a few seconds, he disabled the torch. 

The snow remained where it had been, perfectly intact, moreso moved by the air the torch was blowing than the fire itself. 

“Woah…” Sonic stared, astonished.

“Yeah, woah.” Tails set the torch down and took the mask off, returning to his workbench. “This stuff can’t melt. Nothing melts it.”

“Yeah, but at least it isn’t snowing so heavy out there.” Sonic added, trying to find a silver lining. 

“It doesn’t show any signs of stopping either.” Tails looked out his window. “We need to figure out what’s going on.” 

“Oh, well then I have some good news, and some bad news.”

“Go on.”

“Good news, I know someone who might know something about this.”

“Sonic, that’s great! What’s the bad news then?”

“It’s, uh… It’s Eggman.”

Tails rolled his eyes. “He probably doesn’t even know anything, then. Just another way to ambush us.”

“But think about it. As much as we’d both hate to admit it, he’s a pretty smart guy. I mean, to make those robots that fast?”

“I’m not saying I don’t think he’s smart, I’m saying he’s the least trustworthy guy we know.” 

“Yeah, but if push comes to shove, we know we could beat him. Might as well take this chance to get some info, right?”

Tails put his hand to his chin, thinking. “Fine. Maybe you’re right. We can go see him about it. Just give me a bit to clean up here.” Tails looked around his lab. “I really made a mess of things.”

“Okay, I’ll wait at the door.” Sonic’s minds flashed to what Amy had said before. “Actually, first I’ll grab our coats.” He walked over to a coat hook in the lab, which held his and Tails’ coats. He grabbed them both, before exiting the lab and waiting in the common area.

Chapter Text

The two friends made their way to Robotnik’s laboratory, slightly slower than anticipated. Sonic couldn’t seem to get traction on the icy ground, meaning running wasn’t much of an option, unless he wanted to fall on his face. 

They walked up to the door, which was made of heavy steel. Sonic looked it up and down.

“So, uh, do we just knock? Announce ourselves?” He glanced over to Tails.

“I don’t know, it feels weird being here in the first place.” Tails shivered. “Jeez, it’s chilly.”

Just then, the door swung open, revealing a blue robot, shaped in Sonic’s likeness, pointing a mechanized cannon that was affixed to his arm at the two. 

“Metal, no!” A voice was heard from inside. Robotnik quickly ran up from inside. “I’ve been expecting them.”

Metal Sonic’s cold, unfeeling eyes stayed fixed on Sonic and Tails, but he lowered the blaster. 

“Please, do come in.” Robotnik ushered the two of them inside, Metal following slowly behind as the doors shut.

“We don’t want to be here any longer than we want to.” Sonic said as he walked next to Robotnik. 

“Likewise.” Robotnik snarled. He led them to a computer, which had many files pulled up. “This is what I felt I should show you.”

Tails walked up first, looking at the documents and photos. There was some kind of flute, encased in a block of ice. “What is that?” He asked curiously.

“That, fox boy, is the Flute of Hail. It was last seen on top of Mount Sleetrock. I knew the moment this snow started falling that it had been put to use.” 

“Why do you know what that is? And how? And-”

“Don’t you think I’m always on the lookout for items to destroy you mangy beasts with? Sometimes I pass up on relics, and this one looked stupid. But now,” He gestured back to Metal Sonic. “My poor creations can hardly move in this weather. Metal just hasn’t been himself.” 

“So you want to enlist us to go on some perilous adventure so that when we come back, your robots can fight us again.” Sonic asked with a smirk.

“Precisely. And not only that, I hate seeing my babies in this state.” He walked over to Metal Sonic, bending down to look the robot in the eyes. “It just isn’t right. And as much as I despise you lot, you frustratingly have a good record with this kind of work. I know from experience.” He stood back up.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Tails asked. He’d been reading the desktop while Robotnik and Sonic had been talking. “I don’t see anything here about how to reverse the effects.”

“That’s because so little is known about the accursed thing. But I believe I’ve found a way.” He sat down at his desk, and pulled up some statistics. “From my analysis, I believe that Chaos Energy can reverse the effects. The power of the emeralds alone should be able to melt away the snow, and once you’ve done your fancy shmancy, endlessly irritating glow-up, you can track down whoever did this and destroy the Flute.”

Tails looked over the statistics. “This doesn’t make much sense… I don’t see how-”

Robotnik cut him off. “Well, which of us has a 300 IQ and which of us is still in Elementary School, hm?” He chuckled. “I know what I know. Don’t test your intellect against mine unless you’re looking for humiliation.”

Tails crossed his arms and turned away. 

Sonic walked up next to Robotnik. “So all we need to do is find the Chaos Emeralds, right?”

“Exactly.” Robotnik replied with a grin. 

“Then we have a deal. Better have your next bot ready for next week, Eggman.” 

“Oh, I intend to. Metal!” He snapped his fingers. “Show our guests to the door.” 

Metal walked up to the pairs and started walking them to the door. Once outside, the doors to the lab slammed shut again. 

“Sonic, I don’t trust him.” Tails admitted. 

“Well neither do I, but I don’t see how the emeralds wouldn’t help anyway.”

“But his stats, they were all nonsense. Like he just threw them together so that you wouldn’t know. I don’t think he expected me to be with you.” 

“Relax, buddy,” Sonic assured him. “Whether his statistics are right or wrong, the emeralds are still crazy strong, right? Even if they don’t melt the snow, I’d be able to find who was causing it, and convince them otherwise. You know I have a way with words.”

“Okay.” Tails still sounded unconvinced. “I’ll work on some nicer jackets. I feel like we’ll need something a bit higher duty.”

“I’ll try to find some other guys to come with us, so hold off on that until I can get you a list.”

Chapter Text

Sonic knocked on the apartment door. He’d gained access to G.U.N. 's headquarters on account of looking for a few agents to help on his mission, knowing that it was where they chose to reside. 

There was no response to the knock, and, ever impatient, Sonic knocked again.

Nothing.

Again.

Nothing.

Sonic groaned. “Come on, it’s past noon, there’s no chance they’re still sleeping.” He began knocking incessantly, repeatedly moving his fist back and forth, so fast that it began to blur. He hardly even noticed when the door swung open.

“What? What is it?” Rouge the bat stood in the doorway, her eyes drooping, and clad in a pink bathrobe. She rubbed her eyes and allowed them to focus. “Oh! Sonic! Didn’t expect to see you here, Blue. What brings you to our humble abode?” She leaned against the door frame. “If I’d known you were coming, I’d have made myself a bit more presentable.”

“Yeah, maybe a heads up should’ve been in order, but there’s been a bit of a situation.”

“Oh.” She yawned. “Do come in, then.”

Sonic walked into the apartment. The place was spotless, at least upon entry. Rouge sat herself on the sofa, which was clearly well broken in. “So what’s the deal?”

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Sonic walked over to a blind and lifted it up, revealing the light snow coming down from the sky. 

Rouge’s eyes widened. “Snow? At this time of year?” She got up and walked over, looking outside. “Are you serious? I was going to drag Shadow to the beach this week!”

“I don’t know if that really should be your top concern, but regardless.” Sonic opened the window and stuck his hand out, catching some stray flakes in his hand. “This stuff doesn’t melt. Robotnik discovered that it’s because of some weird flute thingamajig. So, I was hoping to request your team’s assistance.”

“Really going formal with this one, huh?” Rouge smirked at him. “‘ Request your team’s assistance.’ Really? Since when do you talk like that?”

“That’s besides the point.” Sonic shook his head. “That point being that someone got that flute, and that this is likely only gonna get worse from here. So, uh, where is your team?”

Rouge rolled her eyes. “Omega gets his own place, down in the weapons hold. Poor boy couldn’t fit through our door. Trust me though, that doesn’t mean we didn’t try.” She sighed. “And Chaos knows where Shadow is or what he’s up to. He left last night, I thought he’d be back by now. I’m sure G.U.N. must have some idea of where he is. You can go ask them while I get ready. This weather requires a bit more than a bathrobe.” 

With that she walked away from the window, into her room. Sonic sighed. So she doesn’t even know where Shadow is. That makes my job a bit harder.

He left the apartment, making his way down the hallway. He eventually arrived at the Commander, Abraham Towers’, office. The man was standing out the window facing away from the doorway, but still picking up on Sonic’s entry. Sonic decided to knock on the doorway anyway.

“Uh, sir?” Sonic cleared his throat. “I’m sure you’re aware of the… situation, out there. If it isn’t a bother, I was hoping to take Team Dark with me to resolve the issue, the only problem being… Nobody has any idea where Shadow is right now.”

Towers turned away from the window to face Sonic. “Have you learned what has caused this?” 

“Yes and no.” Sonic forced a smile. “We know what’s happening, but we don’t know who’s doing it. I want to take some friends to figure that out. I’m sure you trust that they’ll get back just fine.”

The older man sighed. “Of course.” He reached into his desk and grabbed a small device. “This is connected to all our agents. We had them all installed with a tracking device, to be safe. You should be able to find Shadow with this.” He handed Sonic the device. 

Sonic gave a small nod. “Thank you, sir.”

Towers nodded back. “I’ll send Rouge and Omega to your dwelling when they are prepared.”

“Great.” Sonic smiled. “I’ll be off then.” 

The Commander simply nodded his head in understanding, and returned to pondering the window. Sonic quickly left the headquarters and searched for Shadow on the device. 

He was located somewhere on a hill, and hadn’t moved for a few hours. “That’s bizarre.” Sonic muttered, before turning to his watch and contacting Tails.

“Hey bud, just so you know, Rouge and Omega are gonna be on their way sometime soon.”

“What about Shadow?” Tails’ voice crackled through before becoming clearer. 

“I’m about to go find him.” Sonic chuckled, once again looking at the device. “Knowing him, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see me.”

Chapter Text

“The hell do you want?”

“Well it’s great to see you too.” Sonic smirked. He’d followed the G.U.N tracker that he’d received to locate Shadow. Despite his best efforts to remain silent, Shadow had heard him remarkably quickly. 

Shadow sat on top of a hill, overlooking a now frozen over lake. Clearly he had been there a while, considering the layer of snow that had accumulated along his quills. “I’m not in the mood.” Shadow spoke without turning to look at Sonic, his eyes still fixated on the lake. 

“I haven’t even asked anything yet.” Sonic walked over to him.

“I don’t care what you’re going to say, I’m not in the mood.” Shadow stood up, brushing the snow off of himself. 

“Oh, for the love of Chaos, when is he ever in the mood?” Sonic whispered to himself, before speaking up so that Shadow could hear him. “I know you wouldn’t exactly consider us friends, but there’s an issue at hand that I feel like we could use your help with.”

“Yes, the snow.” Shadow turned, finally looking at Sonic. “I am aware of its presence.” 

“I mean, I’d kind of expected as much, but same difference. There’s clearly something up with it, whether you know that or not, outside of the time of year. I was hoping that you and your friends-”

“Associates.” Shadow cut in.

Sonic rolled his eyes. “You and your ‘associates’ could help fix this.” He air quoted associates. 

Shadow remained standing at the edge of the hill. “Why, you don’t think your sorry crew can handle it?”

“Do you always have to be such a prick? I’m just asking for help, Shads.” 

“Don’t call me that.” 

Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh for the love of- Fine, whatever. My offer still stands. Rouge and Omega are already onboard, so-”

“You consulted them without me?” Shadow’s gaze narrowed. 

“Well I was planning on asking you all, but someone wasn’t home. What are you even doing out here?” 

Shadow turned back to look out at the lake. “I come here to think, to reflect after missions.”

“What, you can’t do that from your apartment?” Sonic walked over, joining Shadow in watching the lake that mere hours ago would have been warm enough to swim in, but was now frozen enough to skate on. 

“No, Sonic, because I have class.” Shadow shook his head. “This is just a calming place. Clear with a view.”

Sonic squinted his eyes. “Eh, I guess I can see that. I’m much more of a ‘reflect on the go’ type of guy myself, y’know?”

“That’s the issue. It’s always on the go. You can never be bothered to stop and really think.”

“Look man, I’m not here for a psych evaluation, okay? You and me, we live two different ways. One doesn’t have to be the right one. If you wanna buzz off and do who knows what while we save the world, you do that. I’m just checking you off the list.”

Shadow remained focused on the lake below. “You know, I always thought I’d like the snow.” 

Sonic raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. 

“From the ARK, it looked so beautiful. You can see mountains from up there, you know. But now that I’m actually here on Earth, it isn’t as spectacular. Nothing is as grand as I’d expected.”

“I don’t know where you’re going with this, pal.”

Shadow sighed. “What did you think of the snow?”

“Come again?” 

“When you first saw it.”

“Shadow, I don’t think we really have the time for this kind of discussion right now. I’m here to ask if you want to come help, not what you think of basic weather.”

Shadow finally took his gaze away from the lake. “My mistake. Sometimes I reflect back to what I thought the Earth was before I got here. What I expected it to be.” He brushed back his quills, seemingly recomposing himself. “I will join you on this expedition, so keep your rambling to a minimum.”

Chapter Text

Sonic walked up to his house, tapping the coat of snow off his shoes before he stepped in. Despite the fact that it wasn’t snowing very heavily, the fact that it wasn't melting meant it was accumulating quickly. By tomorrow it could very well be up to their heels. 

Sonic set his shoes to the side and walked inside. He made his way over to Tails’ workshop and stepped inside. Tails was hard at work on designing coats that could, at least in some way, counteract the effects of the weather. He paused when Sonic walked in. 

“How’d it go with Shadow?” He asked, quickly returning to his work. 

“How do you think it went with Shadow? He saw me, got irritated, and eventually agreed. Pretty standard interaction.” Sonic took a seat at the extra chair Tails kept at his table, looking over at Tails’ work was coming along. 

“I can’t find any way to really destroy the snow. No heat, water, nothing that would usually work.” Tails sighed. “The only thing we can try to control is keeping ourselves warm. I’ve been working on some special coats,” He held up some roughly sketched designs. “I know I don’t have an eye for fashion or anything, but they seem practical.”

Sonic took the pages, looking them over. “Hey, they don’t have to look good. As long as they do their job, I don’t mind looking a bit goofy.” 

The coats that Tails had sketched out were bulky, with fluff around the neck and along the bottom, and likely more out of sight from the sketch, lining the inside of the coat. 

“That’s just a base,” Tails commented as Sonic looked them over. “I’m hoping to cater each one to every members’ particular strengths.” 

“How are we getting enough coats? Are you gonna make ‘em all from scratch?”

“No, I had Amy run out and get some second hand.” Tails spun his chair so he was facing Sonic. “I’ll modify them once I’ve got a proper idea of what I’ll need to change.”

“And how long would you presume that to take..?” Sonic asked tentatively, setting the pages back on Tails’ desk. 

“Well I’ll need to get everyone’s measurements. That’ll be tomorrow, when they get here. Shouldn’t take longer than a few hours with my tech and abilities.” Tails rolled his chair farther down the desk, grabbing a pen to get back to work on his designs. 

“Full of yourself today, huh?” Sonic ruffled the fur on Tails’ head in a joking manner, eliciting an annoyed groan from Tails and a swift smack away.

“I’m being logical. It’s what I’m good at. I promise, we’ll be out of here by noon tomorrow.” Tails paused, rethinking that statement. “Maybe two thirty.” Another pause. “Or four. Regardless, I’ll get it worked out. Speaking of the rest of the group, you did tell them tomorrow, right?”

“Right, yeah, about that. So I, uh, didn’t exactly… do that…”

Tails pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Now wait, wait, wait,” Sonic held up his hands. “I figured we’re on a time crunch, and that we wouldn’t want to wait around, so I told them to show up whenever.” 

Tails looked up at the clock on the wall. “It’s late now. They probably decided to wait anyway. Thank goodness. Our house is not big enough for people outside of you and I.” 

“Speaking of it being late,” Sonic made his way around Tails’ chair, leaning back against the desk and looking down at him. “You need to get to bed.” 

“No, I do not.” Tails was back to drawing, his eyes locked onto the page. “This is an important enough task to spend the night working on.” 

“Every task is an important enough task for you. And by important enough tasks, you mean excuses. You need to get some sleep-”

“I need to finish these designs.” Tails motioned towards the pages. 

“Yeah, but what good is that if you’re too tired to put them together tomorrow? You are too young for all-nighters-”

“I’ll drink coffee-”

“ And too young for coffee. The designs can wait, your sleep can’t.” 

“Yes it can!” Tails looked back down at the pages.

“Miles,” Sonic said sternly, although keeping at least a slight joking edge. “I’m invoking the big brother rule. If I’m saying it’s important, it’s important. Bed.”

Tails rolled his eyes. “I hate the big brother rule.” 

Regardless of his complaint, Tails got up from his station, no longer hiding the yawn he’d been suppressing now that he knew he was going to bed regardless. 

“Perfect. Take a shower, and off to bed. I’ll tidy up your desk.”

“You don’t know where everything has to go.” 

“I’ll figure it out. Off with you.” Sonic chuckles, tapping Tails on the head and gesturing to the workshop door.

Tails trekked away, keeping an irritated look on his face as he left the space.

Sonic turned back to the desk and cracked his fingers. “Okay, organization. He’s probably got everything labeled anyways.” 

Sonic got to work putting back various tools. Wrenches, gears, scrap metal and saws. Sonic picked up a torch and looked it over. “Wow, aren’t I a responsible older brother? Letting him work with torches and saws, like any normal eight year old.”

His prior assumption had been correct, all of Tails’ tools were labeled and delegated to specific drawers, as listed on a bulletin board above his desk. There were a few odd inventions here and there that Sonic felt were best to leave, not knowing where they went or even what they did.

There were a pair of mechanical looking rings, of what their purpose might be, Sonic had no clue. The occasional robotic limb here and there, all par for the course with Tails.

Sonic made his way back to the door, flicking the lights in the workshop off, and going to make sure that Tails had adhered to the big brother code. 

Sonic knew it was important to be well rested for tomorrow, and he knew that Tails knew it as well. 

For a mission like this, being well rested was only the first of many steps for the rest of the plan to go smoothly.

Chapter Text

Sonic was awoken by a loud knock on the front door. He frantically scrambled out of his hammock, nearly falling onto the floor in the process. Sonic got to his feet and made his way over to the door, pulling his shoes on as he hopped over. He paused at the door, quickly caught his breath to compose himself, and opened it.

Outside stood Amy Rose, tightly clutching a coat around herself. The snow had clearly gone all night, well past her ankles and seeping into the house through the door.

“Oh thank goodness, I was about to break the door in.” Amy swiftly pushed inside past Sonic, cupping her hands over her mouth and blowing into them. “It’s freezing out there.”

Sonic shut the door behind her. “Uh, yeah, I can tell. What are you doing here…?”

“For one, ouch, I should be allowed to visit whenever I want without interrogation, and two, Tails said I could come along.”

“Well he didn’t relay that to me.” Sonic crossed his arms. “Any other secret team members I should know about?”

“Did he tell you about Knuckles?”

“No, he did not tell me about Knuckles.”

“Well he invited Knuckles-”

“Yes Amy, I inferred that when you asked if he told me about Knuckles.”

Amy crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring his agitated pose. “What’s got you in such a mood? I’m the one who had to walk her in the freezing cold, and I’m at least being civil.”

Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, I’m sorry, I’m just… I just woke up, and I’m a little on edge.”

“A little?”

“I’m very on edge. This whole thing isn’t sitting right with me, I mean, what motive does someone have to freeze over all of Mobius? Other than Eggman, I mean.”

Amy thought, trying to come up with any plausible reason. “I really don’t know. This doesn’t really benefit anything, or anyone.” She took off her jacket and hung it up on the rack that Tails had installed. “Do you think it’s someone we’ve dealt with before?”

“I never rule out the possibility of a salty loser coming back for revenge, but this isn’t personal in any sense. Most guys whose butts have gotten kicked come back gunning for me, not looking to screw over an entire planet. That would be on Eggman’s level, but I can’t think of anyone else who’d come back with such a vengeance.”

“Then it may very well be someone new. There are loads of jerks out there who haven’t gotten their time in the spotlight, maybe this guy just decided to step up.” Amy plopped herself down onto the couch. 

“Unfortunately.” Sonic grumbled, starting into the kitchen. “You want something to eat?”

“No thanks, I ate before I came over here.”

Breakfast wasn’t anything special, just some cereal and an apple, which Amy critiqued as not being a very sustainable breakfast. Sonic’s argument was that he didn’t have time to wait around to cook something. 

By the time he’d finished eating, Tails was just leaving his room. With hardly any greetings, he made his way back to the workshop to finish up his plans for the jackets. 

Sonic didn’t stop him, immediately registering that he was set on completing the task. He’d give him something to eat in a bit. 

“So what’s his plan?” Amy’s voice brought Sonic back into the conversation.

“Well, the snow can’t melt in any way whatsoever, so Tails is focusing on keeping us warm. He’s gonna use the jackets you got and enhance them.”

“How long is that going to take?” Amy inquired. “It’s already snowing like crazy out there. The sooner we leave, the better.”

“He said it might take a bit, and that he needs to get everyone’s measurements.”

“If it’s not going to be completed for a while, are we planning on heading out today? I feel like it might be a little counterproductive to leave when it’s already getting dark.”

“That’s true… I’ll have to ask him. But right now, he’s locked in. If I snap him out of it, I’ll never hear the end of it and it’ll take even longer.” 

Amy nodded, knowing how invested Tails could get in his work. “Fair enough. What about the others? When are they getting here?”

“Funny story, uh… I have no clue.”

Amy sighed. “I hate that that doesn’t surprise me.”

Sonic held up his hands in mock defense. “Hey, they know it’s time sensitive, they’ll get here when they get here.”

“Right, it’ll just happen to work out like it always does.”

“Exactly. Luck clearly isn’t sick of me yet.”

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Sonic excused himself and made his way over, opening it to reveal Shadow, Rouge, and the as yet unseen Omega. 

Sonic smiled at them with an air of teasing. “Ah, how kind of you to join-”

Shadow pushed past him and walked into the house, not exchanging a word. Rouge sighed as he pushed inside. “Don’t mind him, I think the cold’s getting to him.”

“Right, ‘the cold.’” Sonic chuckled, using his fingers to make air quotes. 

Rouge stepped inside and handed her coat to Sonic. “Nice place you got here. How come you never invite us over?”

“Are you genuinely asking that?” Sonic fumbled with the large coat Rouge had shoved into his arms, hanging it up next to Amy’s. 

Omega, still standing outside, analyzed the door. “Issue detected: My frame cannot fit through your inferior doorway.”

“You’ll have to go in through the workshop, big guy. There’s a garage door.” Sonic patted Omega’s metallic body. “Just don’t give Tails a heart attack when you do.”

“Affirmative.” Omega turned away from the door and started walking in the direction of the workshop. 

Rouge was walking around the living room, tracing her hand along any surface she came into proximity with. Shadow had taken a stand by the window in the kitchen, looking outside at the falling snow. “Is everyone accounted for?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Just waiting on Knux.” Sonic made his way back over to Amy, standing behind the couch she was sitting on.

“Knowing him, we’ll be waiting for days.” Rouge had ceased her pacing. “I don’t think the words “timely manner” are in his limited vocabulary.”

“Well,” Sonic clapped his hands together. “We’ll just have to get started with who we’ve got.”

Chapter Text

The group had congregated in Tails workshop, all around his desk. Sonic had taken his usual seat that Tails kept in the workshop, meaning all their guests had to stand. Tails had finalized his blueprints, and had handed each person the design they’d get, explaining as they read.

Sonic’s had been designed with the goal of being as out of the way and aerodynamic as possible. It was sleek, and noticeably less bulky than the others. Tails had decided to compensate for the lack of stuffing that could be fit in the suit, it would be much better to focus on heat retention, and, as a precaution, he’d line the suit with heating pads that could be easily rechanged by Sonic’s speed.

He’d designed Shadow’s similarly, although with one noticeable change. During their time on the Ark, Tails had discovered a plethora of old files and schematics that had been used during Project Shadow, including the blueprints for Shadow’s inhibitor rings. Using these designs, Tails planned to lace the suit with the components of the rings, so that Shadow could have even more autonomy over his Chaos Control.

The design for Amy’s suit didn’t cater very much to any specific ability, mainly prioritizing warmth. He had, however, included an extra pocket on the side for easy access to her hammer.

When it came to Rouge’s and his own, he’d reached a sort of barricade. They needed their wings and tails respectively to fly, but covering them would inhibit their abilities. He’d decided on adding extra heated pouches that they could easily slip their appendages in and out of to keep them warm, and quickly take them out for use. 

Omega didn’t get a suit because… come on.

And finally, Knuckles. His suit was the most basic. Durable for being able to throw punches without ripping, and well insolated. 

“...And that’s about it.” Tails sighed after explaining all his plans.

“He says as if this isn’t the coolest stuff ever!” Sonic ruffled the fur on Tails’ head. 

“I just need to get everyone’s measurements, then I can start modifying the coats.”

Tails quickly got all the needed measurements, barring Knuckles, of course, before getting to work with the construction. Shadow and Rouge had returned to the main part of the house, leaving Tails with Sonic, Amy, and Omega, who could only fit in the workshop, as the door into the house from there held the same problem as before. 

“So about being out of here by four…?” Sonic prompted.

“I’m sure I can get the modifications done in time, but without Knuckles here, we can’t leave.” 

“Of course we can’t. Sometimes I just can’t with that guy.” Sonic groaned, leaning back and spinning in his chair.

“I’m sure the snow is just slowing him, that’s all,” Amy placated. “It’s a tough trip down, even tougher when he can’t see two feet in front of him.”

“I know, I know.” Sonic sighed. “Doesn’t mean I don’t wish he’d show up sooner.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Amy’s mind returned to her earlier query. “Are we sure we’re even going to want to leave today? I mean, if this isn’t even going to be finished by four, it’ll be late getting out.”

Tails weighed the options. “I guess that’s true… My main issue is that the snow is only getting worse. The amount falling per hour has almost tripled by yesterday's statistics.” He tapped his pen against his chin. “But you have a point. We don’t want to get out too late. We’ll all already be tired, and it’ll be getting dark. Yeah, that makes sense. Tomorrow morning. That gives me time to fine tune everything, and gives Knuckles time to show up.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Sonic nodded. “We get a good night’s sleep tonight, and take off in the morning! And, uh… where are we going?”

“Looking for the Chaos Emeralds, remember?” Tails rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I knew that, but they aren’t all out there. We’ve got one, Shadow’s probably got one. We need to take inventory.”

“Fair enough. They all put out different energy outputs. It’ll make tracking them easier if we can rule a few out.”

“Cool, I’ll go check.” Sonic grinned, clearly glad to do anything remotely exciting, even if it was just checking who had any Emeralds. 

He dashed back into the living room, sliding to a stop next to Shadow. “Hey Shads.”

“I told you not to call me that.” Shadow grumbled, leaning against the kitchen island. Rouge had sprawled herself out on the couch, clearly bored as well. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, no fun nicknames.” Sonic teased, putting on a deeper voice in an effort to mimic Shadow’s. “But I actually need to check something with ya.”

“Go on.”

“Before we go, we want to take stock of what Emeralds we’ve already got kicking around. Considering you need one for your cool lightning-y powers-”

“Chaos Control.” Shadow corrected with a scowl.

“Right, yeah, that. I figured you’ve probably got one to do all that, huh? Am I right?”

Shadow sighed in exasperation. “Yes, I do.” He produced the green Emerald from his quills. 

“Perfect. Tails and I have been holding on to the blue one, so that’s covered. Two down, easy peasy.” 

Just then, the front door slammed open, and Knuckles staggered in, shivering. “It’s freezing out there!” He shook snow off of himself, sending it flying onto the walls. 

Rouge snickered, putting a hand to her mouth. “Didn’t anyone tell you it’s impolite to barge in without knocking?”

Knuckles stared daggers at her. “Didn’t anyone tell you that- well- if you- Gah, shut up!”

Rouge threw her hand over her forehead. “Oh, he has such a way with words.” 

“Regardless of manners, we’re glad you made it, Knux. Go see Tails, he needs to get your sizing.” 

Knuckles stomped his way out to the workshop, still glaring at Rouge until he was through the door. 

“Okay then…” Sonic chuckled. “So, we’ve opted to head out tomorrow instead.”

“That sounds like a waste of time. We should leave as soon as we can.” Shadow crossed his arms.

“Right, waste of time or whatever, but it’s better for morale. We can’t all leave exhausted, we’d be off our game for the whole trip. It also gives Tails time to refine the designs and track the Emeralds.”

“I don’t see the issue.”

“Of course you don’t see the issue, because for you it isn’t an issue.” Rouge rolled her eyes. “Just because you don’t need to sleep a full eight hours doesn’t mean we don’t. We aren’t all perfectly engineered like you are.”

Shadow scowled at Rouge, but didn’t respond. 

“So, it’s settled then.” Sonic proclaimed. “Tomorrow morning.”

Chapter Text

The window’s tinted dark as night began to fall. Tails was still out in his workshop, working away tirelessly at finishing the suits. Most of the others had found places around the house to sleep.

Knuckles had taken the beaten up old couch in Tails’ workshop, which was where he usually slept on the odd occasion he spent the night, and disregarded the much nicer couch in the actual house. Sonic liked to joke that it probably reminded him of sleeping on Angel Island, with how uncomfortable and exposed it must be.

Rouge, on the other hand, had actually opted to take the main couch. It was far from luxurious, but her options were limited. Omega was just staying in the workshop. He didn’t need to sleep, but Tails had wired up a makeshift charging station for him, not that he needed it. His battery could last for up to a year under ideal circumstances, at least according to Rouge.

Amy and Sonic had gone back on forth on who got the hammock, each arguing that the other should. Sonic’s argument was that Amy was the guest, and that he’d be fine to sleep wherever. He’d slept in places worse than the floor. Amy’s argument was that it was Sonic’s hammock, as well as his house, so he should get first dibs on where to sleep. 

“Okay, fine, I get first dibs. The floor. Now look at that, there’s this lovely hammock that I’m sure you’ll just love.”

Amy sighed in exasperation, but gave up trying to convince him. She was currently hauled up in his room, trying and failing to figure out how he found the hammock comfortable. 

That left only Tails’ room free, but Sonic doubted the fox would be getting much sleep, if any. Still, he left that room clear in case Tails actually did get a chance to get some shuteye. 

Shadow was still standing in the kitchen, looking out at the falling snow. Not only had it accumulated quite a lot, it was also falling even harder now. If they were outside, it would be nearly up to their knees. Sonic walked up next to him, crossing his arms and staring outside as well. 

“Lot’s of snow out there, huh?” He commented, watching as the snow cascaded down at a rate that was hardly perceptible.

“Is that supposed to be new information?” Shadow grumbled, irritated by Sonic’s obvious statement. 

“I’m just trying to strike up a conversation here, man.” Sonic chuckled, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the counter. “I get what you said about it being beautiful though.”

“It was beautiful, but it holds no merit anymore. Being here with it doesn’t feel the same. It doesn’t feel as grand as it did, nothing does.”

“Oh, come on, Shads, it can still be beautiful.”

“And yet, here it is, the source of all of our problems. Nothing can ever be just beautiful. There’s always some kind of catch.”

Sonic sighed, not fully in agreement with Shadow’s argument, but not looking to instigate anything serious. “Right. So, where are you going to sleep? The whole place seems booked.”

“I’m not.”

“Come again?”

“I’m not going to sleep. I feel fine.”

“Right, Ultimate Lifeform or whatever. Doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a nice nap, though, does it?” Sonic joked lightheartedly. 

Shadow responded with a muted glare, before walking away to join Rouge on the couch.

“Nice talking to you, too…” Sonic mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Sonic decided to go check up on Amy, to see how she was holding up in the hammock. When he got to the doorway, he could see her tossing and turning, trying to get herself into a position that didn’t feel like she constantly held the risk of falling.

Sonic snickered from the doorway. “Comfy?”

“Does it look like I’m comfy?” Amy rolled her eyes playfully. “Honestly, I think you lucked out with the floor. It’s probably better than this.” 

“You just aren’t used to it, that's all. I prefer it to a bed, it feels more freeing.” Sonic walked over to the side of the hammock.

“I’m not disagreeing with that, it just feels a bit… too free. I’d prefer to not have the constant feeling of being on the verge of falling.”

“Guess it’s not for everyone.” Sonic shrugged. “We could probably work around it somehow. Maybe… you take Tails’ bed, and if he actually does get a chance to sleep, he can just have the hammock.”

“No, that’s just… That’s way too complicated, Sonic. I’ll survive at least one night in this deathtrap.” Amy adjusted herself, rolling over to face Sonic. “Oh, actually, I think I just found the perfect spot.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, much like she had a few moments before. “Right, yeah, you’re just suddenly comfortable when you’re looking at me. Subtle.”

Amy giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “Would it be possible for you to sleep in here? I mean, you’ve got plenty of floor to choose from. Plus, we can stay up and talk like we used to at those group sleepovers, except it’s just us.”

Sonic smiled softly. “Yeah, I’ll sleep in here. Just give me a few minutes to finish my rounds, and I’ll be right back.”

“Cool. See you then.” Amy nuzzled against the pillow.

Sonic stepped out of the bedroom and made his way out to the workshop. When he stepped in, he was immediately hit with a wave of cool air. The workshop was not as well insulated as the house, meaning it was pretty cold in there. Tails was already finished with his own coat, and was wearing it now, seemingly having prioritized it so he could keep working without shaking from the cold. Knuckles was laid out on the couch, not wearing his specialized coat, even if it had already been completed, alongside Sonic and Shadow’s. 

Sonic walked over, staring down at him. “Knuckles.”

“Hedgehog.” 

“Seriously, can you just call me Sonic?”

“I call you what you are. Be thankful I don’t use any other unfavorable adjectives.”

“So you’re telling me to count my blessings. Fine, whatever. Why aren’t you wearing your coat?”

“A true Echina Warrior does not fear harsh weather. This is tolerable.”

“I don’t know why I even bothered.” Sonic walked over to Omega, patting his metal frame. “How are you holding up, Bot Boy?”

Omega whirred to attention. “Assessment: Model is ‘holding up’ well. There is little to destroy here-”

Tails quickly cut him off. “There is nothing for you to destroy here, I told you that!”

“I have detected four pieces of Eggman tech within this area. Therefore, there are four items to destroy here.”

“I’m studying those, Omega, just leave ‘em be!” Tails sounded exasperated, as if he’d been listening to this argument all afternoon, which he very well may have.

“I just wanted to see how everything was coming along. Are you on pace to get some sleep tonight?” Sonic padded over to Tails.

Tails quickly shook his head. “No way. If I keep up at this pace, I should just make it. I just gotta keep pushing on.”

“Spoken like a true warrior.” Knuckles praised from the couch.

“No, not the time, Knux, not the time.” Sonic sighed, looking back to Tails. “So there’s no way? I don’t want you to be worn out for tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine, Sonic. I’ll just… ride on Omega’s back or something if I’m too tired.”

“I did not permit you to mount me.” Omega’s loud voice sounded throughout the workshop.

“Just an idea!” Tails called back, before continuing to Sonic in a more hushed tone. “I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright…” Sonic muttered. “Then I’m going to go get some sleep. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Sonic waved to the group, before heading back to his room.

Chapter Text

Sonic slowly roused from the floor, arching his back as he sat up. Despite his insistence on Amy taking the hammock, waking up this sore almost made him wish that she’d convinced him otherwise. Tails had been right about the fact that their house wasn’t meant for this many people, but that was hardly his main concern now.

It had been three days since the snow had started falling, and as Tails had predicted, it had only gotten worse. The snow would easily reach up their shins, getting ever closer to their knees. They had to start acting fast.

Sonic hopped up from the floor, seeing that Amy was no longer in the hammock. She’d seemingly woken up before him and snuck out while he was asleep. Sonic stepped out of his room, seeing that Tails’ door was still open, and his bed was still made. Clearly, he hadn’t gotten to sleep last night. 

He made his way to the living room to see that everybody else was already awake, absently chatting amongst themselves. The coats were all made and prepared, laid out on the coffee table. 

“Did everybody sleep well?” Sonic asked as he walked through the living room to the kitchen, grabbing an apple.

“As well as I could on that stone you call a couch.” Rouge shuttered, holding a mug of coffee. It was obvious that everyone had made themselves comfortable, considering the fact that they had all grabbed at least something from the kitchen, except for Shadow.

Knuckles was sitting atop the kitchen table, Amy in an actual seat, and Tails drowsily leaning against the kitchen counter. With everyone accounted for, barring Omega, who still couldn’t get into the main house, Sonic made his way over to Tails.

“So, how goes those energy readings?” He questioned with a chuckle, masking his concern for the fox’s lack of sleep.

Tails held up a device that he’d used a few times in the past for the same purpose. He’d been meaning to implement the functions into the Miles Electric, but hadn’t found the time with everything else he’d been working on. “I think it’s bugged…” Tails responded with a yawn.

“Bugged?” Sonic took the device from him, looking it over. 

“Mhm.” Tails nodded, shaking his head to wake himself up a bit. “Look. It shows three readings from where we are, when we only have two here. It doesn’t make sense.”

Sonic looked down at the screen, and sure enough, there were three signals. Blue, the Emerald that he and Tails had, Green, the Emerald that Shadow held on to, and… Purple?

“Purple? I haven’t seen the purple Emerald in months.” Sonic scratched his head in confusion. 

“Last I heard, it was being held with G.U.N.” Knuckles muttered. “I understand that you wanted to spread them out, but I’d rather them stay as far away from ‘you-know-who.’” He shot a pointed glare at Rouge. 

“Knuckles, are you accusing me of having something so important to our mission, and not telling everyone?” Rouge put a hand to her chest in mock-offense. “And I thought you had more trust in me, after everything we’ve been through.”

“Well, do you have it?” Knuckles crossed his arms. 

“Yes, I do.” Rouge produced the gem from a pocket on her suit.

Everybody looked at Rouge in disbelief, aside from Shadow, who’d already known she had it. He knew that if it came to her trying to hide it, he’d have outed her, but he wanted to see if she’d do it herself. Although, the pressure from Knuckles had definitely aided her decision.

Knuckles stomped over to her and grabbed the Emerald from her hand, glaring at her the entire time. “You are ridiculous.”

“And you are so cute when you’re angry.” Rouge mocked playfully, earning a grunt of annoyance from Knuckles. He turned away and carefully handed the Emerald to Sonic, who stored it in his quills with the blue one. 

“What’s done is done, we have it now.” He shrugged. “That’s almost half of them accounted for, and proves that your device is up to snuff, Tails. If anything, this was a good thing.” 

Knuckles scoffed, turning away. Amy, sensing the tension in the room, quickly changed the subject back to the topic at hand. 

“So, if we have those three, and the tracker is working, where are the others?” She asked, peeking over Sonic’s shoulder to view the screen. 

“Well, if I’m reading it right, the red one is in Spiral Hill Village.”

“Isn’t that where Tangle and Jewel live?” Amy asked.

“Yeah, maybe we could get some help from them. Now that their team is disbanded, they’ve probably got some more time on their hands. Next up, yellow.”

Amy’s face dropped as she remembered something. “Wait, we were keeping that one at Restoration H.Q. before it went down…”

Sonic quickly tried to ease her concerns. “It’s fine, Ames, those Emeralds can withstand anything. We can still track it, so it’s probably in some dump where they tossed any of the rubble.”

Amy breathed a sigh of relief, but Knuckles was less than thrilled. “You’d been holding on to one of the most powerful relics in history, and just left it after the building went down? What if someone had stolen it!”

“I know, I know, but there were more pressing matters to deal with at the time.” Amy waved her hands dismissively. “Who cares if it was stolen anyways? If someone is hanging on to it, we can just kick their butts and take it back.”

Knuckles huffed, irritated, but knowing she was right. 

“Alright then, white. That one is in some cave. I’ve never been there. It’s pretty far away…”

“That’s Mount Sleetrock, where the Flute was stolen from. It’s been moved recently.” Tails leaned over and did some adjustments. Because of the Emerald’s strong energy output, there were still remnants of where it had last been, showing that it had moved from a field that was miles away from the Mountain.

“Seems like bait.” Shadow chimed in for the first time. “Whoever got that flute wants us to go get it. They probably know that the Emeralds are the only counter to their plan.”

“We don’t know that yet.” Tails added. “I don’t trust Eggman’s calculations, so I’m staying guarded on-”

“It’s fine, Tails, like I said. Even if it’s nonsense, going Super would be more than enough to convince most amateur villains to drop their nonsense.” Sonic tried to assure his young friend. “But I agree with Shadow, they probably want to lead us to it. We’ll go for that one last. That leaves only cyan, which is in… Robotnik’s base?”

“I told you we can’t trust him.” Tails crossed his arms.

“Well, maybe this can prove it to you. If he really is on our side for this, he should just hand it over willingly, no fuss needed, and if he isn’t-”

“We take it by force.” Shadow clenched his fist.

“Uh, yeah, exactly.” Sonic handed the device back to Tails. “So that’s all of our bases covered. I’d say we start with yellow, because it seems the closest, follow up with red, maybe get some help for our friends in Spiral Hill Village, grab cyan from Eggman, and finish it off with the one on Mount Sleetrock, assuming that’s where our big bad is hanging out.”

Everybody nodded, satisfied with that plan. Tails plugged all of that information into the Miles Electric. “Accounting for worsening weather, downtime, and potential conflicts, that’ll take us about… two days.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Sonic put his hands on his hips. “In two days, we can rid this snow goodbye, and get back to Summer as it should be.”

Chapter Text

“Alright team, let’s move.” Sonic nodded to them. They made their way into Tails’ workshop, putting on their gear, which consisted of their modified coats, as well as goggles.

Once everyone had suited up, Sonic led them back to the main door, before pushing it open. The snow outside made even opening the door tough, but Sonic managed, forcing it open and letting a pile of snow slide into the house. He’d worry about that later.

He stepped outside, immediately hit by the strong gusts of wind. Luckily, Tails’ gear was working, and he hardly felt the cold. The others followed, wading through the snow. 

Tails brushed off his device, looking down at the screen. “It says that the Emerald should be just about three miles from here. It says that it hasn’t moved since the Restoration fell, meaning it should still be around there somewhere.”

“That’ll take no time.” Sonic stretched his arms over his head. “I’m still the fastest thing alive, no snow is gonna slow me down.” 

“Well not all of us can get there in five seconds flat.” Amy crossed her arms.

“Right.” Sonic sighed. “We can figure something out. Tails and Rouge can fly, they’ll be fine to get over the snow and go top speed. Shadow and I can easily make it through, even if it’s a bit slippery. That leaves Knuckles, Omega, and you.”

“Don’t rope me in with them.” Knuckles grumbled. “I can just as easily make it there, just… not quite as fast. Still just a few minutes.” 

“I can manage.” Omega crackled. “My frame is durable, and my thrusters will not be deterred by this weather.”

“All’s well that ends well.” Sonic quickly scooped Amy up, a move he’d perfected over many missions. “We’ll see you guys there.” 

With that, he took off in the direction of the Restoration, or what was left of it. He’d made this commute so many times, that even with the snow blocking his sight and the paths he usually took, he still managed to find his way, even if it took a bit longer than he’d like to admit. Shadow skidded to a stop next to him, looking down into the pit that had once been a flourishing headquarters for the Restoration.

Amy dropped from his arms, looking down into the hole. Even if she’d left the Restoration in Jewel’s hands, she still cared for it, so it hurt to see it come to this. 

Tails and Rouge were the next to arrive, immediately tucking their tails and wings respectively back into their pouches in their coats. Finally, Knuckles and Omega found their way, having forced their path through the snow.

Amy, who’d been analyzing the remains, called out to the others, “Hey, guys, not everything was destroyed.” 

Sonic stepped over, peering down. Amy was right. Despite the great damage, there were still a few rooms intact. 

“There!” Amy pointed down. “The vault!”

Clearly, the Restoration had done a good job at protecting what they had. The vault was still together, the large, metal door still shut. 

“Let’s go check it out.” Sonic slid down the wall of the pit, landing with a light thud on the ground. While most of the walls were destroyed, burned or singed, there were still a few standing. Of course, it was no comparison to what had been before, but it was a relief to see that not everything was lost, barring the fact that it was all coated in snow. Sonic made a mental note to come back once all of this was over, to see what else could be salvaged and returned.

He made his way to the vault, flanked by Tails and Shadow. Tails held up his device to the door, scanning. “Yep, it’s definitely in there.”

“And how do we get in there? If it was fortified enough to make it through that explosion, I’m not sure any of us can get into it.” Sonic walked over to the keypad, which hadn’t survived the blast, meaning there was no way of opening it, even if they knew the code. 

The others finally caught up to them, now acknowledging the issue. Shadow turned to Amy, a questioning glance in his eyes. “Did you defend this against Chaos Energy?”

“I don’t know, this was after Jewel took over.” Amy walked up, bruising snow off of the handle. “I have no clue what she put into place.”

“I need my Emerald back.” Shadow held out his hand to Sonic. 

Sonic, sensing that Shadow had a plan, pulled the green Emerald out of his quills, handing it back over.

“Stand back.” Shadow commanded. The group all backed away from him.

Shadow held the Emerald in one hand, pressing the other against the cold, metal door. In a flash of green light, the door was blasted clean off of its hinges, falling backwards into the vault.

“That was a lapse in judgement.” He shook smoke that was coming off of his Inhibitor Rings away. “Anyone who had an Emerald could have done that.”

“Noted.” Amy was astonished by his actions. “But it won’t really matter. I think this base is through.” 

“Then tell the others.” Shadow handed the Emerald back to Sonic, before pushing past the smoke into the vault. 

After a few moments, he returned, holding the glowing yellow Emerald in his gloved hand. He handed it over to Sonic.

“Great, that’s four down, easy.” Sonic grinned. 

“The next one might be a bit tougher.” Tails muttered, staring down at his machine.

“And why’s that?” Sonic walked over, also looking at the screen. “Isn’t it just somewhere in Spiral Hill Village?”

“Yeah, but right now… it’s moving.”

Chapter Text

This time, Tails led the group, walking as fast as he could. The Emerald was still on the move, and it was moving past Spiral Hill Village. Sonic once again glanced over Tails’ shoulder. 

“That’s weird. Why on Mobius would it be moving?” Sonic questioned, as if Tails could genuinely answer that.

“It’s moving because clearly someone’s taken it. We gotta follow ‘em.” Tails tapped the device with the palm of his hand, as it was getting jammed in the storm. 

“We’re still going through Spiral Hill, right?” Amy asked, walking up next to the pair. 

Tails shrugged. “We might as well. It’s not too much of a detour, and maybe Tangle will be around to mention if she knows anything.”

“I’m not sure she’d be focused enough on the goings on of something she wasn’t even asked to keep track of,” Rouge snickered at the lemur’s forgetful nature. “Although, it wouldn’t hurt to stop by and say hello. I don’t think she and I left off on the best terms.”

“Right, so we’ll make a quick pitstop, ask around, and take off,” Sonic nodded, confirming the plan with the group. 

The group trekked for an hour or so, eventually arriving in the Village, which for some reason, was looking surprisingly clear of snow. 

“So, where do we find this… ‘Tangle?’” Shadow asked, one of the few members of the group who hadn’t had much of a chance to interact with the hyperactive lemur. 

“That’s… actually a really good question.” Sonic pondered. He hadn’t been to Spiral Hill in a while, and a lot had changed, considering it wasn’t on fire and overrun with badniks. It was clear that the Restoration had done good work here, repairing the damages, and even helping to build some new places. “I have no idea where she lives.”

“Jewel has a museum,” Amy spoke up. “I’ve visited a few times for tea, it’s actually a really nice place.”

“That’s as good a place as any to start,” Sonic nodded to Amy, ushering her to the front of the troop. “Lead the way.”

Amy walked the group through the streets of the village, the sidewalks only dusted with snow, as if they’d been cleared off recently. They eventually found their way to the museum, with a sign on the door that read, “Closed for Weather.” 

“We’ve wasted enough time here,” Shadow grumbled. “I doubt your friend will even have any intel on where that Emerald is. She probably didn’t even know it was here.”

“Lighten up, Shads,” Rouge placated him. “This is the first place we’ve been that seems to have been missed by the snow. It’ll be the perfect spot to take a nice, short rest, even if the lemur doesn’t know anything.”

Shadow groaned, before moving to the back of the group, where Omega had been taking up the rear. 

Tails looked up at the looming door, before turning to Amy. “Does Jewel just run this place, or does she actually live here?”

“Judging by the lights,” Amy gestured to the windows, which were glowing softly. “I’d say she’s in there. Either that, or she’s gonna get a nasty surprise next power bill.”

“Then let us make ourselves known.” Knuckles walked up to knock on the door, before Sonic dashed in the way to stop him.

“ Woah there, big guy. Appreciate the sentiment, I’ll handle the knocking. I think Jewel would appreciate it if she could keep the doors of her museum on their hinges.”

Knuckles took a step back, slightly annoyed, but compliant. Sonic turned around, before sending a flurry of quick knocks onto the door. 

After a few moments, the door creaked open, revealing the small, blue beetle inside. “I’m terribly sorry, but we’re closed-” Jewel froze as she registered who was at the door. “Oh, Sonic!” She glanced behind him. “And you’ve brought company. A lot of company.”

“Yeah, sorry to drop in on you like this, Jewel, but we were wondering if we could stop by for a bit to ask a few questions.” 

“Oh, uh, of course!” Jewel stepped out of the doorway, keeping a nervous watch on Omega as he walked in last, just barely fitting through her double doors. “Just, please be careful. We have a lot of, um, delicate artifacts here.”

“Affirmative. I will tread with as much caution as my build allows.” Omega responded, updating his directives. 

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Jewel sighed, closing the door behind him. “Can I interest any of you in something to drink? Something warm, I’d assume, considering you’ve clearly been out in that storm for some time.”

The group nodded in sync, some of them removing the bulky coats now that they were inside. Jewel vanished into a different room, marked as "Employees Only.” After a few moments, she returned with a tray, which held a teapot and some cups, which she handed out and poured for everyone. 

Once all of them had their tea, Jewel set down the tray on her desk and pulled up her chair, sitting down. “So, what brings you here?”

“Oh, y’know, usual world saving stuff.” Sonic joked, setting the tea cup to the side. “We’ve got reason to believe that whatever is going on out there is the work of some new evil fella, and we're looking to track down the Chaos Emeralds to reverse the effects. That’s why we’re here.”

Jewel seemed to perk up at the mention of Chaos Emeralds. “Chaos Emeralds, you say? I think I know why you’re here then. I actually had one on display.” She got up from her chair and walked over to a podium, one that was much more fortified than her other ones, but was clearly empty. “Until about a day ago, that is. Someone snuck in and grabbed it.”\

“You had a Chaos Emerald on display? ” Shadow growled.

“Yes, I know, it certainly seemed reckless, but it was Tangle’s idea. She said it would be good for business, and she had one herself. Apparently she’d found it shortly after the Metal Virus and had been holding onto it as a keepsake, but she gave it to me. She said it would be a real money maker. And it was, while it was here.”

“Speaking of Tangle,” Amy interjected. “We actually came here to look for her. We thought she might know where it was, but clearly, neither of you do.”

“Unfortuantly, you’re correct. She’s out there with Whisper at the moment, using her tail to sweep off the streets.”

“So that’s why they’re so clear.” Tails was glad to have that put to rest. 

“She said she’d keep an eye out for any clues, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to ask her.” 

“Wait, hang on, Whisper’s here?” Sonic asked, slightly shocked at the mention of the silent sniper. 

“Yes,” Jewel confirmed, nodding her head. “Tangle brought her back with her after their fight with Mimic. Sounds like she finally knocked him off for good.”

“Wait, wait, Mimic is gone?” Sonic was even more dumbfounded by this revelation. “Wow, I’ve really been out of the loop, huh?”

“It is so strange to see Whisper like this, she smiles, her eyes are open. It’s really nice, actually. But regardless, they’re both out there. I can give you the area Tangle said she was sweeping up next. She’ll be around there somewhere.” Jewel reached over to her desk and quickly wrote down a street name, before handing it off to Sonic.

“Alright, next stop, Maw Street.”