Unworthy

So... 5 minutes before The Union...

When Sonic regained consciousness, he gasped for air, as if his lungs were desperately demanding oxygen. He opened his eyes abruptly, but found only more darkness. Much of his body was numb, his legs asleep, and he felt an intense pain in his back and head. He raised his arms to feel his surroundings, sensing rocks that were a mix of damp and dry. Debris, though he couldn't remember where it came from. Claustrophobia was slowly taking hold, so he began to breathe deeply and slowly. He could sense movement from the lower part of his body, his own foot twitching on its own due to impatience. He tried to shift to create more space, and slowly felt his legs awakening, a tingling that intensified into an intense prickling sensation before turning into pain. It hurt terribly, but at least he could feel his legs again, so he put them to work. He kicked the ceiling of his enclosure several times, hearing the rock crack, fall, and roll. The cramped space filled with dust and what sounded like water. After one last kick, a large boulder rolled down, several stones tumbled, and then rain began pouring from the opened hole. It was a heavy rain, too heavy. Sonic was being submerged rapidly, his breathing becoming more labored. The hedgehog did his best to slide down until his head was below the opening. Sporadic flashes of light entered the gap like lightning, and after the sound of the rain came the roar, not of thunder, but of catastrophic collisions, as if two hurricanes had collided. Sonic crawled through the narrow opening as the rain pounded his face and the flashes blinded him. Finally, he managed to raise a hand to the surface and pull himself out. He was free, He was outside, He was... on the ruins of Angel Island.

Finally, He was able to remember what had happened and panicked.

"Knuckles! Tails!" he began calling as he struggled to get back on his still-shaky legs.

He pulled back the sleeve of his left glove and checked his communicator watch. A blinking indicator on the device's screen told him the Tornado was out of range. Sonic tapped the screen a couple of times, but it didn't change.

"Knuckles!" called the hedgehog again. "Hey Knux! Answer me...!"

A misstep sent him tumbling from the enormous pile of rubble where he stood. He fell several meters, crashing into various rocks, until he landed on what looked like a beach. The tide was violent, the waves crashing angrily against each other, and saltwater splashed the hedgehog's face. Sonic struggled to his feet, his muscles trembling with exhaustion. He looked around for Knuckles and Tails, tried to call out to them again, but a bright flash distracted him. When he looked up at the sky, he saw them both.

Shining like a raging, wrathful sun, Blaze soared through the sky, spitting wild flames, her fur golden and bristling, her gaze crimson and thirsting for violence. On the opposite side of her was Surge. The tenrec's green fur had also turned gold, her body surrounded by a tangle of uncontrolled lightning, but the whites of her eyes were completely blackened; something was controlling her.

The two girls, imbued with limitless energy, collided mid-flight. The impact unleashed a massive shockwave that momentarily halted the rain, parted the sea, and caused the mountain of debris behind Sonic to collapse. The hedgehog ducked, pressing his body to the sand. Although he managed to avoid being blown away, he was dragged several meters across the sand. The light from Surge's lightnings and Blaze's flames vanished, having flown to a distant location. Even so, Sonic could feel his body trembling, no longer from pain, but from fear. The hedgehog punched the sand, his frustration overwhelming him.

Then he felt something else, something external on him. Upon examining himself, he pulled out the Gray Sol Emerald. A halo of fire formed around the gem, and a beam of light emanated from it, extending deeper into the jungle near the beach. Sonic got back to his feet and followed the path indicated by the gem.

By circling several mounds of rubble and hiding whenever Blaze and Surge fought nearby, venturing into the vegetation, the hedgehog was able to find a clearing where the shattered remains of an echidna statue was, and at the base of it, Knuckles laid unconscious.

Sonic rushed to his aid, sliding toward him and calling insistently to the echidna, but he didn't respond. Sonic pressed his ear to Knuckles' chest; he couldn't hear anything, not even his breathing or heartbeat. He immediately began CPR, applying rhythmic pressure to his chest and giving rescue breaths through his mouth. He did it once, then a twice, a third time, a fourth time, a fifth, a sixth...

The echidna spat out a large amount of mud. Sonic tilted his head so he could expel it all and catch his breath. Knuckles didn't regain consciousness, but he was breathing again, with difficulty, and his heart was beating once more.

Sonic stood for a moment, trying to regain his composure as he looked at his friend, who was on the verge of death. Looking up, he saw a cloth bag in the distance, from which an unusual glow emanated. Sonic drew the Gray Sol Emerald again and saw that the beam of light it emitted was directed at the bag, so he ran to check it.

One, two, three, four... six. The other six Sol Emeralds were gathered there, making 7 with the one Sonic had with him.

There was another flash and impact between Blaze and Surge. The shockwave caused the palm trees bend so far over that their roots were exposed. Sonic threw himself over Knuckles to protect him, debris raining down on him. When the commotion subsided, the hedgehog stared at the bag of emeralds. He glanced at the watch beneath his left glove; the Tornado was still out of range. He tapped it a couple of times, called Amy... She still wasn't answering.

He took a long breath, then forced a smile.

"Okay, I can do this. I'm Sonic The Hedgehog, this is nothing. I've been through worse, I can do this. I'm Sonic..." he repeated to himself over and over as he stood up and took the emeralds.

When he gathered them all and placed them around him, they began to levitate. Sonic could feel an unusual heat emanating from them. He tried to touch one, but a small burst of fire burned his glove. He took another long breath, forcing his smile even tighter.

"I can do it, I can do it, I CAN DO IT", as he said this, he took the emerald with both hands and a sea of ​​flames completely enveloped him.

Perhaps he screamed, whether from fear or pain, but the roar of the wildfire, the rain, and the brawl between the two enraged demigoddesses rendered his cries inaudible. And then...

Now...

The mountains faded into the horizon, merging with the sky. The wind was calm, as was normal at such a high altitude above the clouds. The Ocean Tornado cut through the sea of ​​clouds as if it were crossing the real sea; the other sky ships spread out on either side, forming a V like a flock of birds.

Leaning against the starboard rail, Sonic watched the sun's behind the frenzied dance of the mainsail and let his thoughts and memories drift away. From time to time, he glanced down at the sky pirates going about their duties. The diligence with which they worked was both inspiring and unsettling, as if driven by a higher power... Sonic's gaze returned to the sun behind the sail.

A small clatter of cutlery to his right caught his attention. Looking down, he saw Kit. Time had also taken its toll on the gloomy fox; the tuft of fur covering one of his eye was longer, and his build was more robust, though he was still, shall we say, of modest height. This, coupled with the fact that in the three days the hedgehog had been on the ship, he had never once seen the fox with any other expression than the profound contempt he wore at that moment, made Sonic think that some things never change.

In his hands, the fox carried two plates of food, his lunch and Sonic's. All courtesy of Amy, who couldn't resist invading the ship's kitchen and intervening, much to the blue hedgehog's delight, as he was already fed up with eating the same bland, gray slop as always.

"Thank you very much, Drippy," Sonic said gratefully as he reached out to take the plate.

Kit moved the food out of reach, as if threatening to throw it overboard.

"You and your girlfriend should be locked up," Kit's voice was robotic, as if stating a fact rather than a threat.

"Don't you know that the best way to keep your prisoners healthy and happy is to let them stretch their legs once in a while?" joked the hedgehog, extending his arm even further and snatching the food from the fox. "Come on, Kit. Play along."

"I don't want to play along, and I don't want the captain dragged into your play."

"A little late to complain, Kiddo."

"It's never too late to end..."

"Kitty! Ay, Kitty!" Marine called from the other end of the ship, high up in the wheelhouse area.

The young fox's face softened at the sound of the raccoon's voice, and Sonic stifled a laugh. Marine leaped over the railing of the upper deck and ran across to Kit, her half-eaten plate of food in hand.

"'Ay kitty! give me one o' yer steaks!"

"What? Why?"

"I ran out o' mine."

"And why should I give you one of mine?"

"Cuz ye be cool an' I be likin' ye, an' ye like me, an' I be the Cap'n! 'urry to the sky, me grub's gettin' cold!"

"I'm just starting to eat, I'm not going to give you my food."

"You can have one of mine if you desire, me Captain," Sonic interjected, giving a small bow.

As Marine's eyes lit up, Kit made a face that could have killed an entire army. Sonic bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Marine held out her plate to receive the meat, but Kit extended one of his water tentacles and took Sonic's steak, placing it on his plate, then took one of his own steaks and placed it on Marine's plate. The young captain and the fox sat down together on the ground to eat. Sonic watched them for a moment, intrigued and slightly touched.

"I imagine you two went through a lot together," the hedgehog commented while eating.

"It's not your-"

"Oh aye, absolutely!" Marine interrupted the fox, her mouth full of food. "Kitty, Tails... uh... Miles! an' Cosmo saved my skin years ago. An' Kitty has become my most loyal second-in-command ever since."

"Who is Cosmo?"

"None of your business," the fox stated categorically.

Sonic was irritated by Kit's response, but he also sensed a different kind of hostility than before, a more serious one. He decided to drop the subject for the time being, even though many questions were swirling in his mind.

He focused his attention on the scar that ran across the raccoon's face. It was a very unsettling contrast to Marine's jovial demeanor; she looked as if a wild beast had swiped at her in a rage. It was pure luck that her eyes hadn't been seriously injured. Sonic wanted to ask about it, but he thought he might get a similar answer to the previous one. He thought of something else.

"Hey Marine... From what I understand from what happened a few days ago, you can control storms with the Sol Emerald, right?"

"Aye! I command not only my troops, but the storm itself!" the raccoon replied triumphantly, raising her fork like a saber.

"How so?"

"No idea!" Marine was painfully honest, and a little too enthusiastic about it. "I think Trippy an' me queen 'ave somethin' to do with it. All I know be that there I be the only one worthy o' doin' it," she concluded with a swagger.

"And Trip, and Mighty, and Ray, and Lupe, and all the Queen's Apostles in general," Kit chimed in, and Marine nudged him.

"Don't know 'bout details," Marine added. "But me thinks that Black Onyx thingy from the Trippy's Tribe 'as somethin' to do with it."

"Don't share too much, Captain..." Kit warned.

"Look who's talkin'!"

"I see..." Sonic reflected for a moment. "The last time I tried to use the Sol Emeralds recklessly, things went... terribly wrong."

"Well, ye should 'ave asked permission!" Marine took the last bite of her food. "On to the third course! Kitty, when ye've finished eating, meet me in the Cap'n's office," and with a hop, the raccoon left.

Sonic and Kit continued eating in silence for a long time.

"Hey... Who is Cosmo?" Sonic asked directly, without trying to be hostile.

Kit simply finished eating, wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up, and before leaving, without turning to look at the hedgehog, said:

"If you truly care about Miles that much, never say that name in front of him."

As the fox swam away, Sonic was overwhelmed by more doubts than certainties. He sat down on the ground and leaned his back against the railing, eating without much enthusiasm. The sun was now peeking slightly over the side of the mainsail, and its sporadic glimmers bothered the hedgehog.

Then he felt someone sit down next to him and nudge his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw Amy with her lunch. Sonic smiled slightly.

"We're supposed to go outside to get some sun so we don't get depressed in our cage," said the pink hedgehog. "Why the long face?"

"Kit gave me a bit of his aura, I guess."

"Oh yeah. It gives me the creeps when I'm near him. Just keep eating, it'll surely lift your spirits after eating that gray stuff for three days straight."

Sonic tried to take one of Amy's steaks, but she hit his hand.

"No!"

"Oh come on. Kit took one of mine."

"But I gave you four steaks while I only served two to everyone else!"

"So why do I see you have 6 on your plate?"

"The one who divides the spoils gets the lion's share, that's how the saying goes"

"Look at you, whitewashing the abuse of power. Girls, they are all the same."

Sonic tried several times to grab a steak from Amy's plate, but she dodged or blocked him. Finally, the pink hedgehog took a steak, bit into it, and then fed it to Sonic. Then the hedgehog took another steak from Amy's plate, took a bite, and fed it to her. They both started laughing.

"I heard some people in the kitchen saying that tomorrow we'll arrive at the 'Novo Reino dos Sol', the New Kingdom of the Sun, Blaze's domain... What do you think it will be like?"

The sun's glare beat down relentlessly on the blue hedgehog's eye. Sonic stood up and moved to the other side of Amy, where the sun wasn't bothering him.

"I don't want to think about that right now."