STRANDED [ON HOLD]

Together

Yeah lol that ARC break did take a lot longer than anticipated and I'm sosososososo sorry but I promise you I will be finishing this book AT SOME POINT. It will not go unfinished.

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Vector's shuttle makes its way back onto the landing stretch of the base and everyone already on ground and those in the shuttle cheer as they land. Silver and Blaze run up to the metal doors that are opening to reveal their missing teammates and sigh in relief. Shadow carries a limp Tails on his back while Rouge holds all three of their bags, Sticks kisses the cement ground and Knuckles waves to the pair with a hand behind his back. Vector pulls the shuttle back into safe keeping, the makeshift garage on the side of the base.

"How was it out there? Were you guys lost for a while or just a little bit?" Silver questions. They all look pretty beat up. A black eye on both Sticks and Shadow, cuts and bruises on them all, and an arm wrap on Rouge. Not to mention an unconscious Tails.

"Horrible." Shadow rolls his eyes as he makes his way into the base. He tosses the fox gently onto one of the medic beds and Vanilla goes straight to grab supplies to treat Tails and the rest of the team. Blaze sits on the single bed next Tails's legs and sighs.

"How could this be happening to us? Why is this happening?" She furrows her eyebrows as she touches the fox's beat up shoe.

"I don't know, but we will get through it." Vanilla reassures the purple cat, who cracks a small empty smile.

"I sure hope so."

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"AMY!!!!!!" Sonic's eyes shoot open wide as he stares at the crumbling rocks beneath him. The debris gets into his eyes as he dives down after her. Dirt keeps kicking up into his eyes, but he doesn't miss a step as he hurls himself down. He catches a glimpse of her fear-ridden eyes and he reaches out to grab her and misses. He cracks his neck before he starts jumping from boulder to boulder and notices both of them nearing closer and closer to the rock-hard bottom of this abyss. Reaching once more to grab for her, he jumps towards her and grabs her slim body. Tucking her head into his chest he slides down he rock wall and holds onto her as they pant and pant. He opens his eyes he had closed shut and looks at the girl below him. He sighs as he looks at her. Her tattered quills and bent down ears, her malnourished body from the war they find themselves in, and he still finds her beautiful. The most beautiful woman he has ever laid his eyes on. Strong, independent, persistent. If he lost her, he wouldn't know what to do. He runs his glove hand through her knotted hair and sighs a breath of relief as he presses his forehead into hers. "I love you. I love you, Amy. If I would've lost you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

"I love you too, Sonniku." She smiles at the hedgehog and he stares at her with a look of pure bliss. He's always loved that nickname from her, but he would never admit it, especially not to his friends. Chaos knows that if he would even mention it to Amy herself, she would tell her best friend Cream, who would tell the world and more. He chuckles a bit before rolling over and laying on the cracked surface below them. It's a miracle they survived that fall. One wrong move from Sonic and they both would've splattered on the ground. The world doesn't need another Gwen Stacy moment.

A creaking noise is heard from the unstable walls around them. Sonic stands up first and helps Amy up with him as they try to find their way out of this horrid place they've been trapped in for days, and, of course, they lost Sonia as well, but she's probably doing well. She can take care of herself, as she already has done it for this long.

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"Ugh... what happened?" Tails's voice gives himself a headache as he holds himself up. Blurred vision and blobs around him is all he sees and where is that ringing coming from? Cream smiles at him and then to her mother, happy to see that Tails is finally awake once more. Tails looks around and notices Rouge sleeping on the chair across from his bed. Was she here the whole time he was out? He looks at his hands and lets out a small gasp before tears prick from his eyes. He's missing his ring finger on his left hand and his pinky on his right. What could've happened?

"I'm so sorry, Tails. I had to amputate your fingers off before the infection spread. You were going turn into a zombie and we would've lost you if not. I figured you would know how to create an invention to give you some working fingers to replace them." Vanilla purses her lips as she looks at the two-tailed fox. He sighs and nods his head, respecting her decision.

"I would rather lose two of my fingers than my life. I appreciate the heroic nature you have shown. It must've been very hard to decide." Tails shows her gratitude as she finds herself starting to cry softly.

"I tried everything beforehand. It was just too much to risk, hon." She reassures him and he nods.

"I just hope everyone else is okay." Tails sighs. As if right on cue, Knuckles walks into the infirmary. He unwraps the bandage around his fist and shows the group his injury. Vanilla gasps and Cream turns away. The spike on his knuckle is colored green and black, with some blood ready to pulse out. He grimaces before turning towards Tails.

"I'm... going to need a new spike." His mouth turns into a frown and Tails sighs and shows him his hands.

"I'm going to need some new digits. We'll work on it together." Tails gives a half smile and Knuckles has to fight the urge to let any tears fall. One of his youngest friends, one that always is ready to join in on the fight, finds himself with amputated fingers while Knuckles himself could've been there to help. What a pathetic joke he is.

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Sonia runs through the cave trying to find where Sonic and Amy ended up. She groans before tripping over a pebble and face planting on the ground. She rolls her eyes and stands up before finding a little bit of light shining through the area in front of her.

"Light?? LIGHT!!!" She whisper-shouts out, in order to not be found by any zombies near by, as she runs closer and closer to the light. She punches the weak wall and it breaks and in front of her is a green meadow. Long grassy fields stretch as far as the eye can see and she laughs as she spins around before jogging further. The grass looks soft but stands very tall, towards her waist, and she takes a breath before leaning towards the ground and falling onto her stomach. She flips around and does grass angels and smiles blissfully. Solid ground. Solid ground that is not dirt or mud or anything of the sorts. How much she missed it. How much she missed the smell of the planet around her. What a glorious smell.

"Sonia?!" A voice calls out to her. She shoots up to her feet, recognizing the voice immediately. It's her baby brother. She runs to the voice and before she gets too far she gets tackled from the side. Tears rush down both of their faces and they laugh as they lay on the ground. His body looks like that of a skeleton. He hasn't had enough to eat in days. His eyes are sunken in and you can almost see his spine through the front of his body. His rib cage is exposed through his green fur and his lips are chapped. Fortunately there is no signs of infection on him. Sonia's eyebrows curve and she grabs his cheek.

"I'm going to get us through this, Man. We're going home." She promises. Manic smiles, just happy to see his sister again, let alone anyone in the world that won't eat his flesh. He's glad it's her.

"Let's go home." Manic lets his feelings get the best of him before they stand up and start walking into whichever direction feels correct. Their guess is better than none.

Manic was found, what a great part of the story :)