Meeting in the Middle

Knuckles lowered his defenses and went to hug the armadillo, who reciprocated

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you again and in one piece, my friend!" exclaimed the euphoric echidna as he patted his comrade's back.

"Same here, Knux! Same here!"

"But..." Knuckles braked the hug. "What are you doing on this ship with these people...? And how did you know I was here?"

"We've been following a trail for weeks that's led us to these vermin who call themselves the 'Babylon Rogue'. Their last appearance under the clouds was in a small village where, as we discovered, a certain 'Red Beast' and his allies had also been, leaving along with the Rogue. I had a hunch you were that Red Beast everyone was talking about in the wasteland, and I assumed you'd been captured. Though from what I can see, you don't exactly need rescuing."

"Certainly not. The Babylons and I have a temporary alliance while they help us reach a settlement in the Southeast."

"It seems things have gotten a little more complicated than expected..."

"What does your mission consist of?"

"Recover and... uh... exterminate, like... everyone?", Mighty said sadly, as if he were ashamed of what he was saying or doing.

Knuckles regained some of his caution.

"Who are you serving that demands something so extreme?"

"Our Queen: Blaze, the Second Dawn"

At first, Knuckles didn't seem to understand, but then he remembered, and a bitter realization hit him. The last time he'd seen Blaze seven years ago, when The Union had happened, the princess wasn't "herself." The reserved, formal, and cordial cat friend of his had become a raging mass of blind, fiery fury, as suffocating and brilliant as the sun itself... In that sense, "Second Dawn" made sense, although it impressed him that she was now a queen, and even more so that Mighty was one of her subjects.

"Has Blaze regained his sanity?" The echidna's question was answered with ambiguity and uncertainty, a bad sign. "And why are you serving her?"

"Many things have happened..."

Knuckles knew that very well; he could hear in Mighty's voice the same sorrow that he had felt all these years.

"I doubt a massacre will solve anything for anyone. Amy and Sticks must be fighting with your allies now too..."

"Is Miss Amy alright?" The armadillo's eyes lit up again, and a smile spread across his face. "And crazy Sticks too... Wonderful!"

"Definitely. If we go with them and wait for Sonic to return, maybe we can reach an agreement."

"I doubt that..." Mighty froze for a moment, as if his mind could barely process the information. "Is Sonic still alive...?"

Knuckles just smiled and nodded.

"Incredible... Incredible!" the armadillo began to laugh. "This is good news! Excellent news! For everyone! I'm sure if we take them to the queen, she'll be delighted!"

"Two-steps, Trippy! cut their throats an' throw them overboard, they be in our way!", A woman's scream was heard in the distance. Mighty's joy faded, replaced by annoyance as he rubbed his face.

"What was that?" Knuckles asked.

"Our 'Captain'...", the armadillo seemed fed up with everything.

The pirates surrounded Amy and Sticks while Trip and Ray exchanged glances, unsure what to do.

"Marine, this is too much-!"

"Captain Marine," the raccoon corrected.

Trip sighed, exasperated.

"'Captain Marine'... this is too much! We know these people, they're our friends, and friends of Queen Blaze. She won't be pleased to learn that her friends were killed in her name."

"Be ye implyin' that there ye know the queen better than I do, Trippy? Do I need to remind ye that there she 'erself put me in command o' 'er entire Celestial Navy?" Marine thrust her saber into the ground, her smile vanishing. "I yay to yer comin' cuz it been blaze's offer, but I know very well that there yer loyalty to the queen isn't genuine, an' this here insubordination confirms it."

"W-we're loyal! I swear!" Ray retorted, sounding especially desperate. "It's just..."

"Prove it by obeyin' orders, now."

"You're overstepping your bounds again, 'Captain' Marine," Mighty was heard saying as he landed on Marine's ship by swinging down with Knuckles' help.

"Now Shelly too," muttered the raccoon, glancing sideways at Mighty. "What? Was they waitin' to start a mutiny against me?"

"Mighty, Mighty, look!" Ray shouted, trying to get the armadillo's attention. "It's Amy, Miss Amy is...! Is that Knuckles?!"

"Oh, I spy. It seems ye be all mates, aren't ye? that there explains everythin'"

"Don't make such serious accusations so lightly. I will not tolerate you questioning our loyalty to the Queen when it is not your place to do so, 'Captain' Marine."

The raccoon looked at the armadillo with revulsion; she could sense the thin layer of sarcasm in the word "captain" that made her blood boil. Marine took a breath, drew her saber and sheathed it, then walked over to the figurehead.

"I be merely fulfillin' the 'oly designs o' our benevolent queen. I be nothin' more than an avatar o' 'er will, a tool fer 'er purposes, which I 'ave made me own." her voice resonated with strength and conviction, like a priest saying mass in a church. "I do not do this here willingly... But if it be what our Second Dawn demands, it be me duty, the duty o' all 'er faithful, to fulfill it..." Marine filled her lungs to the brim. "For the Queen is wise!"

"The Queen is fair!" all the pirates shouted in response, like a general roar.

"The Queen is fair!" Ray shouted with fanatical exaltation.

"The Queen is fair," Trip also said, though more quietly.

"The queen is fair..." said Mighty, though through gritted teeth and almost by force.

All the pirates erupted in a frenzied and furious fervor, repeating over and over, "The Queen is Wise, the Queen is fair!" raising their weapons, filling the air with an unsettling clamor. Even from a distance, Amy and Knuckles could exchange glances and agree that something was terribly wrong with all of this.

"Excuse me, uh... Captain Marine?" Amy stepped forward. "I admit I don't know who you are or what your intentions are here, but I do know Blaze very well. It's been a long time since I last saw her... But, if I could speak with her one more time, perhaps..." A strange sensation interrupted the hedgehog's train of thought; something damp had gathered on her ankles.

Without hesitation, with a swift movement of her hands, Amy encased Sticks and Knuckles in bubbles. Shortly after, she was completely submerged in a large body of water.

"Oh, my second-in-command's finally here!" Marine exclaimed happily at the sight of the water, and when she looked up at the sky, she saw a grim figure descending from the storm clouds, its crimson eye gleaming ominously. "About time, Kitty!"

When the blue fox touched the deck floor, its terrifying facade disappeared, giving way to an embarrassed young man.

"Captain... I already told you not to call me that in front of everyone..."

“Oh, there's no use feelin' ashamed! the raccoon said, putting her arm around the fox. "Yer plan worked perfectly. Look 'ow we took these fools by surprise!"

"There were certain factors I didn't take into consideration, but I'll correct them now," the fox began to increase the water pressure around Amy, slowly crushing her.

"Now that's the attitude!" Marine cheered.

"You damn little brat! Let go of Amy right now and fight like a man!" Knuckles demanded angrily as he punched the walls of the bubble.

"Kit, stop!" Mighty demanded.

"Kit, please don't do it!" Trip begged.

"You don't give me orders, I only listen to the captain."

Suddenly, Kit felt a strange yet familiar sensation, as if he were running out of breath. Turning toward the figurehead, he saw Sonic sitting atop the sculpture, his cold gaze fixed upon him, the bracelet glowing brightly on his right hand. Kit immediately covered his mouth and nose, as well as Marine's. He pulled the raccoon away from the figurehead and positioned himself in front of her as a shield. All around them, the pirates began to faint from suffocation, including Mighty, Ray, and Trip.

As the fox plotted his next move, Marine compulsively patted his hand and pointing in Sonic's direction. It seemed she wanted to talk to him. Kit was debating what to do when Sonic took a more relaxed stance and withdrew his aura until it vanished.

"Mighty, Ray, Trip, long time no see," he said casually. "I'm sorry to drag you into this, believe me, if I could have, I would have avoided it."

"Blue! Hi Blue!" Marine shouted excitedly as she struggled to break free from Kit's grip. "It be been ages since I've spied ye! everyone insisted ye'd kicked the bucket! I be so glad ye 'aven't! look, I be a real Cap'n now!"

"I'm glad, Marine, really..." Sonic ran a hand through the quills of his hair, looking quite annoyed and irritated. "Look, let's put this reunion on hold for a moment while you convince our friend Drippy here to let the pretty cute pink hedgehog go before I..." He raised his left hand, ready to snap his fingers. "...make a mess of things."

"'Drippy'? Oh, Yer talkin' 'bout Kitty! Sure, sure!" Marine tapped Kit on the head a couple of times. "Kitty, ye 'eard Blue, let go o' Strawberry Shortcake."

"But Captain...", Kit tried to protest, but seeing Marine's smile and bright eyes, there was little he could do.

The fox released his grip, the water prison collapsed, and Amy fell to the ground, struggling to catch her breath. Trip and Ray rushed to her aid. Meanwhile, Sticks and Knuckles' bubbles popped.

"Is she ok?" the hedgehog asked the lizard and the squirrel. They both nodded in response, and Sonic let out a sigh of relief. Then he turned his gaze to Kit. "Thank you, 'Kitty,'" Sonic said, injecting all the sarcasm his body could muster into the last word.

"You don't have the right..."

"I do not care. Anyway..." Sonic jumped from the figurehead onto the deck, took a few steps forward, and turned around to look all. "Can someone explain to me what's going on? Marines, how on earth did y'all make the Ocean Tornado and all these other ships fly?"

"Oh, that's it—Hey Kitty, let go of me! That's thanks to Tails- I mean! M-Miles."

"Is Tails... alive...?" Amy asked with difficulty.

"Hell yeah he is! Although now 'e prefers to be called only by 'is borin' name Miles. 'e won't even let me give 'im a cooler nickname, like Nine or somethin', even though it would suit 'im perfectly."

"And why did Tails help you create the flying ships?"

"He's the Royal mechanic, he single-handedly built the entire Celestial Navy."

"Yes, it's obvious now that I think about it."

"With that cleared up," Jet shouted from behind everyone. "I'll ask the next question..."

Sonic sighed before turning around. Beside the hawk stood an injured but furious Storm, a nervous Wave, and at least a hundred of their boys mounted on their Gears, armed and ready to fight.

"Can you tell me why you thought attacking us was a good idea?"

"They suspect you stole something from them," Knuckles replied.

"Suspect! Nononono! We're more than sure they did it!"

Marine rummaged through her robes, pulling out a brilliant blue emerald. As if reacting to the gem's revelation, the storm grew more violent.

"Look at that," Sonic said to himself.

Tempting, Hedgehog? , Sonic's mood was already bad enough without having to endure Feist's comments in his head

"Our queen blaze entrusted us with the sacred mission o' recoverin' one o' the Sol Emeralds from these thugs an' makin' them pay a thousand times fer their transgressions. That be why she gave us these emeralds as guides."

Mighty pulled the Yellow Sol Emerald from his yellow hood, Ray had the Green one, and Trip had the Red one. As the gems were revealed, they all formed a small halo of fire around them and released four beams of light that converged on the Nest.

"You have a Sol Emerald?!" Sonic muttered furiously through gritted teeth at the Rogues.

"It's none of your business!" Jet snapped.

"It sure IS right now!"

"You don't understand," Wave interjected. "That Emerald is the heart of the Nest. Without it, we'd collapse."

"Bah, I couldn't care less what 'appens to ye!" Marine snapped. "What the queen commands be law, an' if the law says ye 'ave to become pancakes, well..." The raccoon gave a malevolent chuckle that was echoed by the rest of the pirates.

The storm raged on, the air thick with tension, and the rain intensified. Sonic swallowed hard and impatiently tapped his foot. It would be easier to take the less friendly route, but it would also be far more chaotic and disastrous. As useful as Meta-Quartz were, they weren't Emeralds. Facing three people with Sol Emeralds in their hands was something to fear, and even more so to regret when they were friends. Whoever won the fight, everyone else would lose.

"I did it!"

Everyone turned around when they heard the pink hedgehog's slightly hoarse voice. She was still coughing and spitting up some water, but despite that, she remained firm and determined.

"If anyone has to pay for stealing the Sol Emerald and handing it over to the Rogues, it's me."

Even the Babylons looked at her confused, but Sonic knew what she was doing, and he smiled.

"Us," the sprinter added. "I mean, I love you Ames, but you're not going to take all the credit for the robbery of the century."

"The plan was mine," the pink hedgehog replied.

"But the execution is what matters."

"Honey, if it had been up to you, we'd both be fried hedgehogs."

"Phew! What's that lack faith, Woman...!"

"It is true that we don't know for sure who the original thief was...", Mighty chimed in, catching on and playing along.

"Uh... Y-yeah!" Trip chimed in too. "I mean, I doubt those birds are fast enough to do something like that. It makes more sense that Amy and Sonic did it."

"You're insolent lizard...", the hawk muttered under his breath.

"Enough, everyone!" the captain interrupted, drawing her saber and slicing through the air. She pointed the weapon at Amy, then at Sonic. She raised the saber until the tip was just below the hedgehog's chin and looked directly into his eyes. "Let's just say I believe ye... Do ye intend to hand o'er the emerald without a fight?"

"Of course," said Sonic.

"Of course not!" replied the hawk.

"JET!!" Amy and Sonic shouted at the same time while giving the bird a murderous glare.

Knuckles stepped forward. The pirates surrounding him tried to persuade him to stop, but the echidna advanced undeterred until he reached the border of the ship. He signaled to Sticks, who immediately understood. From her clothing, she pulled out a cloth bag and threw it to Knuckles.

"The problem is you need the power of the Emerald, right?" the echidna said to the Rogues while rummaging through his bag. "I think I know how to fix that."

From the bag he took out a quartz stone. Wave put her hands to her mouth when she saw it.

"That's an Upsilon Meta-Quartz! Where on earth did you get it!"

"In my search for the pieces of the Master Emerald, I came across several clandestine quartz mines that used slave labor. Don't ask me where they are now; I destroyed them all, down to the foundations, Sticks can confirm. That said, I did manage to acquire a few of their discoveries, and this one in particular struck me as especially interesting. They used it as a power source, though the way they recharged it was... reprehensible. But perhaps it will come in handy now."

The quartz began to glow with an intense red aura, but it remained contained around the stone. Knuckles began to exert himself; it was visible how the energy flowed from his body into the stone. Little by little, his red quills lost their color. The echidna fell to one knee. Sonic and Mighty rushed to help him, but Knuckles pushed them away while maintaining a firm grip on the quartz, until he could hold on no longer. He released the stone, and it bounced down onto the deck.

"I think... that will be enough...", the echidna managed to say before collapsing.

Sonic felt his heart in his throat. Mighty pressed his ear to Knuckles' chest to check for a pulse... But then the echidna started snoring. Sonic and Mighty sighed in relief; he just needed a little rest.

Wave approached the stone. She activated her holographic bracelet and scanned the quartz. She let out a long, impressed whistle.

"How can that echidna store so much Chaos Energy? I think... I think it could be useful to us for..."

"For what?" Jet interrupted. "No way am I giving up a super-powerful Emerald for that cheap knock-off. If that's what you're after, then..."

The hawk fell silent as he saw Sonic, Mighty, Amy, Sticks, and even Wave all sharing the same murderous glare. When he turned to seek support from Storm and the boys, they looked at him pleadingly, begging him with their eyes to stop. Jet clicked his teeth and turned away, giving them a nod of approval.

"I suppose that settles things," Marine said, raising the Sol Emerald in her hand, which shone brightly. Gradually, the storm clouds dissipated until they vanished completely, revealing a star-filled night sky; dawn seemed imminent.

Wave performed the exchange between the Gray Sol Emerald and the Upsilon Meta-Quartz, personally delivering the Emerald to Marine. As a gesture of goodwill, Trip and Mighty ordered their men to help unearth the harpoons embedded in the Nest. Amy helped Ray search for the pirates who had been thrown overboard during the fight; they were suspended in the air by ingenious flying floaties marked with Tails' logo. Once everything was relatively under control, Marine allowed the Rogues to withdraw, and they disappeared over the horizon.

"Don't be fooled, Blue," the captain told the hedgehog as they were alone greeting goodbye to the Babylons. "I know ye an' yer pink lass lied to save the birds' feathers."

"Well, it's not like we went out of our way to hide it."

"I be playin' along because I know ye can be o' 'elp to the queen."

"In what sense?"

"Ye'll see..." The captain started to retreat, shouting orders to her men, but Sonic stopped her

The hedgehog cleared his throat, brushed the dust off himself, and stretched his arms out to the sides.

"Marine, long time no see!"

The raccoon smiled and jumped to hug the hedgehog.

"My goodness, how you've grown! And how heavy you are!"

"Pure muscle, blue! did ye see that there I be a Cap'n now? did ye see it?"

"I see it, I see it. I'm so happy for you. It suits you perfectly."

Someone cleared their throat behind them. It was Kit, who was eyeing Sonic suspiciously.

"All the preparations are ready, Captain. We can depart now."

"Cool! Kitty, please escort our 'guests' to their 'VIP rooms,' please," Marine said, turning to Sonic. "Sorry, blue. Prisoners are prisoners."

"It can't be helped" the hedgehog shrugged.

Kit bowed to say goodbye to Marine, and then only he and Sonic remained.

"If you were to do anything to the captain, I would not leave the slightest trace of your miserable existence."

"Ha, funny. That's exactly what I thought when you had Amy trapped," Sonic grinned.

To the east, the sun was beginning to rise. Sonic's reflection was visible in Kit's eye, and Kit's reflection in Sonic's eyes. The arid desert wind began to blow, dancing between them. Kit simply turned around and started walking; Sonic just put his hands behind his head and followed him below deck.

Inside the cell were already a sleeping Knuckles, Sticks settling into a trash can, and Amy playing with her indigo orchid. Outside the cell, Mighty and Ray were waiting. The squirrel waved to Kit, but he didn't respond and just walked away. Before Sonic could enter the cell, Mighty stopped him.

"The bracelet," the armadillo requested as the squirrel held out a bag containing Amy's necklace and Sticks and Knuckles' bracelets.

"B-but... But I only got it today..." Sonic protested, devastated.

"W-we want to k-keep breathing, thank you," joked the squirrel.

Reluctantly, the hedgehog threw his bracelet into the bag and went into the cell pouting, sitting down roughly next to Amy.

"Aww, at least you had fun with your new toy, sweetie?" Amy joked in a motherly voice.

"I only got to use it for about 10 minutes, it's not fair..."

"Oh, there, there," the hedgehog put her arm around the speedster, let him lie down on her, and began to stroke his head. "They'll give it back to you later, and you can have aaall the fun you want. Okay, sweetie?"

"By Gaia. You behave like this and then wonder why people think you're a couple," the badger complained from her trash can.

Sonic and Amy exchanged glances.

"Didn't you tell her?" Sonic asked Amy.

"I thought you'd already done it. Didn't you tell Knuckles when you talked at dinner?"

"Of course not, I thought you had already told him."

"Tell what?", Sticks demanded.

"We're dating now," the two hedgehogs said at the same time.

"NO WAY!!!", the badger jumped out of the trash can like a spring.

Mighty spat out the coffee he was drinking in Ray's direction, the squirrel covered himself with a saucer. They both stared at the hedgehogs, mouths agape.

"M-Mighty, Amy did it!"

"By my stars, she finally did it...", babbled the armadillo as he cleaned himself.

"What do you mean 'finally'?" Sonic muttered.

In the distance, the crash of Trip falling down some stairs could be heard, then running until she burst into the cell area and buried her face between the bars.

"NoWayNoWayNoWayNoWay!! Seriously?! Am I imagining things?! Did you finally did it, Amy?!"

"Are you okay, Trip? That sounded painful...," the pink hedgehog asked worriedly.

Everyone crowded around the couple, excited and curious. As they chatted, they didn't seem like jailers and prisoners, but like old friends reuniting and catching up after years apart.

Meta-Quartz No. 20: Upsilon

Symbol: (Y υ)*

The second of the "Complex Fuel" type Meta-Quartz, that is, quartz whose particularity lies in its ability to store energy and be reused indefinitely. Commonly used institutionally, it serves to power schools, banks, hospitals, and similar establishments. If the energy is used optimally, a full charge can last up to six months. This quartz is one of the fundamental pillars of the Kingdom's energy infrastructure

(extracted from a propaganda pamphlet of the Kingdom of Acorn prior to the Union)