[DC] Sonic Forces: Dark Future Legacy

Chapter 7 ~ Recovery

Gadget found himself in a pitch-black void, floating in suspended animation. It was cold, this void, almost to the point where he was only able to look and think but not see was beyond him. As he stayed there, in place, he sensed something approaching him. Something... evil. Coming out of the darkness was a triangular glow... then an eye... then, in the blink of an eye, the figure rushed at Gadget...
... waking him up from his dream.

- - -

Gadget sat up straight in his bed, breathing quickly and heavily. Geez, that was a rough nightmare. And... ugh, boy did his head hurt. Everything hurt, really, but his head was in the most pain out of everything-
Wait... Gadget was in his bed? In the Resistance base? When did he get moved? And how? Many questions floated around inside his head as he slowly but surely got out of bed. Chaos, it was good to be home.

Opening the bedroom door and walking down the hall, Gadget found his friends waiting in the main area of the base. With open arms and big smiles, everyone came to him and gave him an enormous group hug.
"Great job, rookie!"
"Good work, kid!"
They all said. They all were congratulating him, but... what did he do to deserve this? He had no recollection of what he could had possibly done. Either way, Gadget embraced the hugs he received before everyone went back to where they were. Finally able to get a good glimpse of his friends, he noticed that someone was missing. He couldn't place who it was, but he knew someone was missing.
"I thought I'd make you this," Amy said, bringing a box to Gadget, "it's my way of saying thank you."
Opening the box, Gadget found a mini figurine of him standing proudly over Infinite, who lay on the ground in a somewhat over-exaggerated defeat.
"Do you like it?" Amy asked. Gadget nodded his head yes, trying to hide the confusion that was going through his mind. Why was Infinite defeated by him? He hadn't beaten Infinite before. The only thing that came close to beating Infinite was the time in Capital City when his Phantom Ruby prototype saved him from being beaten up badly after barely leaving a dent in Eggman's plans.
"That's great!" Amy said, breaking Gadget out of his train of thought. Before she went back and sat down, she gave Gadget a kiss on the cheek. Man, whatever he did to Infinite really got the respect of his friends. Putting the figurine in one of his pockets, Gadget joined his friends in the party, unaware of the battle at the Eggman Empire fortress.

- - -

The sun was setting upon Green Hill Zone in a melancholic sort of way. Tails approached Sonic's lone grave, ready to break into a fountain of tears. Setting down a bouquet of flowers, he managed to utter "Sonic..." before falling to his knees and crying his eyes out.
"Sonic... why did you have to leave!?" he shouted, his voice breaking from the crying. "Infinite wasn't that strong, was he!?" Tails looked up to Sonic's grave. "Was he..?" He said, quietly, before slamming his fist on the ground and resuming his fit of tears.
While Tails was knelt down on the ground, a saddened blue spirit Hedgehog watched from behind, thinking about the grief his friend was going through. He wanted to say something to comfort him, but whenever he tried to speak, nothing came out of his mouth. Defeated by the limits of the spiritual world, Sonic the Spirithog faded away with a blue twinkle.

Having grieved enough for that day, Tails stood up, unaware of what happened behind him moments ago. Taking a deep breath, Tails said:
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Sonic. I really am.

"I guess I just wasn't fast enough."

Turning away, the depressed and emotionally drained fox marched down the hills of Green Hill, his mind occupied by only one word:

Sonic.

- - -

Returning to the Resistance base, Tails found all of his friends waiting for him to come back, greeting him with open arms. Grouping together, they all gave him a hug in an attempt to comfort him and let him know that things would be fine. As much as he wanted things to be fine, he knew deep down from an analytical standpoint that nothing would be okay. Nothing ever was. Even still, Tails embraced the group hug and felt a sense of happiness he hadn't felt for am entire year.
After everyone dispersed throughout the base to clean out their rooms, a few people like Amy and Silver approached Tails and asked how he was doing. With them being closer friends, he was a bit more open with them but didn't give them the entire truth. He didn't want to burden them with the depression that he was suffering. It wasn't fair to them.
After finally finding a moment where he was left alone, Tails went to his room in the base, both mentally and emotionally exhausted. Opening the door, he immediately saw something thin on his bed. Approaching it, he lifted the blanket to find a giant paper heart made out of many different letters from fellow Resistance members, letting him know that everything was going to be fine. While Tails was reading through all of the letters, Knuckles approached the doorway and said:
"I told everyone that you were going through a bit of a rough spot while you were gone. I guess they all wanted to make you feel better."
Tails turned to Knuckles, holding the heart.
"Yeah... they really do..." he said, looking up from the many letters attached.
"If you need someone to talk to, you know who to go to." Knuckles said before heading to his room. Tails stared to the now empty doorway, thinking about the last sentence Knuckles had said. It was a relief, knowing there was someone he could talk to.
Tails approached the table he had in his room, setting down the heart. Carefully folding it in half, Tails slipped it into one of his table drawers before closing his door and climbing into bed. He was ready to get some well-needed shut-eye, especially after everything that happened. Finally, after months of fighting, after fighting so many battles, Tails could sleep peacefully for once.
He started closing his weary eyes, ready to put himself in dream land. He relaxed all his muscles, no longer needing to move them for a while.
With a deep sigh and a final thought passing through his head, Tails fell asleep...
... but only for a minute, because he was woken up by Vector yelling an alarming question:

"HEY! WHERE'S THE ROOKIE!?"

- - -

To be continued in "Search".