Sonic the Hedgehog

Confidence

It's no secret to all, including the blue blur himself, that there have been many close calls in his life. In the last four days alone, he's come close to meeting his maker on eight separate occasions. A number that doesn't begin to scratch his overall count. And yet, nothing has ever made his heart drop deeper than what he saw once he sped back to the underground vault.

In front of him, beaten and battered, are his three friends. Knuckles lies against the left-side wall, rubbing his throbbing head. On the bright side, he doesn't look anywhere near as bad as he did in Grand Metropolis. Though, in fairness, any worse than that and he would be knocking on death's door. Amy stands next to the agent from earlier, who looks unscathed, which unfortunately can't be said for her. And that's especially the case for the bruised, two-tailed fox both of the Mobians are currently tending to.

"Tails!" Sonic yells, alerting the four to his arrival.

"Sonic?" Amy says, curious about why he came back.

Sonic doesn't hear her. He runs to his little buddy, with his only concern being the state of his health. The agent backs away, making space for the group, having just placed a bandaid on Tails's forehead.

"Sonic... what are you doing here?" Tails asks. "I thought you were on your way to Station Square?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," Knuckles joins in, approaching the other three.

"Forget about me, what happened here?!" Sonic questions, noticing the decimated walls around him. "Are you guys okay?!"

"Our opponents were more capable than expected," Knuckles confesses. "You should be proud of these two. They fought bravely, despite their devastating loss."

"I wouldn't call it 'devastating...'" Amy mumbles.

"This is my fault," Sonic says. "I never should have left you guys alone with those jerks."

"Don't say that, Sonic," Tails says, standing up. "We chose to fight. To stand up for what we believe in. For who we believe in."

"Tails..."

"He's right," Amy supports. "This is no one's fault. The only thing that matters is we're all okay!"

"And that the emerald is safe and sound," Knuckles adds. "Speaking of which, where is it? Did you drop it off somewhere and come back?"

Just the look on the hedgehog's face alone is enough to alert the echidna that something is up. He crosses his arms, awaiting what better be a good explanation. Sonic scratches his head, choosing the several next words to leave his mouth very carefully.

"Well, I WAS on my way to Station Square..." he begins. "But I got ambushed by my creepy robot twin. As you know, he was after the emerald too."

"Mhmm... so where is it?"

"I was getting to that. You see, he took this woman hostage, and I couldn't let anything happen to her. BUT I also couldn't let Robuttnik get the emerald. So, I threw it in a trash compactor, destroying it so he can't complete his plan."

"You finally had one of the seven chaos emeralds... and you threw it away?!"

"...Exactly!"

Knuckles grabs Sonic's shoulders and pulls him close.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" he screams. "WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!"

"Look, I'm sorry Knuckles," Sonic says, holding up his hands. "I didn't want to, but there weren't many options. But just one should be enough to keep your home afloat, right?"

Knuckles sighs and releases his grip.

"No, Sonic, that's not the issue here," he says. "The chaos emeralds have existed for centuries. Maybe even a millennia. They're ageless artifacts that have stood the test of time, and are told to hold infinite power. Whatever it is you call a 'trash compactor', it won't be enough to destroy them. Nothing will ever be. They're indestructible."

Everyone in the hallway stands still, each coming to the same, dreadful realization.

"So, that means..."

"Eggman has it," Tails concludes, finishing Sonic's sentence. "That's his five to our zero. And he's on his way to the sixth."

Tails turns to the agent standing to the right of the team, who's petrified upon hearing the news.

"Excuse me, sir, do you know anywhere that might contain any motor oil, metal, steel, engine parts, or anything along those lines?"

"Um... I think so, yeah," the agent answers, unsure of what the fox is getting at.

"Tails, you're too banged up to be building a plane," Sonic says, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You need rest."

"While Eggman is getting closer to the next emerald?" Tails asks rhetorically. "Sonic, I can do this! I just need you to trust me."

Sonic opens his mouth for an instinctive counter-argument, but nothing comes out. Tails gives him a confident wink. The expression he wears is one of unbreakable determination. It's become clear the little boy he embarked on this quest with has changed. Instead of arguing, Sonic returns Tails's enthusiasm with a thumbs up.

"If you're looking for plane parts, kid, just give me the full run-down of what you need," the agent says, everyone turning to him. "Me and Starlight's agencies will be more than happy to gather them for you. Especially if it means the very survival of the peace we've fought so hard to protect."

...