Running on Eggshells

Sonic was out in the middle of nowhere, scouting around on Chaos Island. Filling out a mental map of the place. "Sage was right, this island couldn't have been a town…" Sonic groaned, rubbing his hands together for warmth.

"... It's either way too cold or way too hot. Those poor Black Arms." Sonic suddenly stopped in his tracks. He heard something behind him, it sounded like an engine overheating. He instinctively leapt out of the way, as a mechanical, spiked arm was thrown towards him.

The broken limb hit the ground, kicking up rocks before falling off the side of the mountain. Sonic turned to see see what shot at him. A Titan…? No. A Guardian…? Still no. It was far too humanoid. Far too small. Far too adorable. 

"Father! Are you okay?" Sage asked, bolting towards him and grabbing the ends of her sleeves. "I'm sorry, I did not intend to activate the Battle Egg's weapons. I didn't even know they still worked."

"Sage, what did we talk about? You shouldn't touch Fallen Star tech anymore," Sonic sighed, wiping the scrape going along both his knees.

"It's not… Fallen Star tech," Sage stammered.

"Really? What is it, then?" Sonic tapped his foot sternly, looking past her at a giant wrecked robot. On a second look, it didn't seem to hold any resemblance to Fallen Star machinery. It was colorful, personable… err, creative?

"Fine. I suppose I owe you an explanation after… that…" Sage grunted. "It's a mech suit created by Eggman. It was originally used as a defensive unit for his E.G.G. Station satellites, but somehow, this Battle Egg has made its way here to Chaos Island." Sage glared at the Battle Egg. "It wasn't a crash landing, there would at least be remnants of the satellite it guarded. I couldn't find a pilot in the cockpit either, not even one's body."

"Weird. Do you think it was flown out here on purpose?" Sonic asked. Sage seemed to be caught off-guard. She began to shiver, huddling her arms together. "Aw, hey… what's wrong, Sage?" Sonic approached her, bending down a little to her eye level. "Need a hug?" Sage sniffled.

"I think so," she squeaked, rubbing her eyes. "Sorry… it would appear volcanic embers flew into my corneas." Sonic wrapped her in his arms, RED-CODE became visible on them. He couldn't feel the embrace, not physically. But the positive emotions that came with the hug were there, almost… amplified? "Do you suppose he was looking for me?" Sage sobbed. Sonic let go, and stared at the Battle Egg. He then zoomed over to it. Sage flowed to his side, looking over his shoulder.

"You activated the weapons with this thing, right?" Sonic asked, pressing the power button on the console hooked up to the Battle Egg. It asked for a handprint in return. Sage cautiously floated forward, and lowered her shaking hand to the monitor. A sharp feeling appeared in Sonic's head. "Be careful," Sonic grunted. Sage didn't listen. She slammed her hand on the touchscreen, and a green bar began to fill up on the top left corner. Sage's breathing grew heavy. She was hyperventilating. Sonic instinctively held her hand and tried to take it off the screen, but as he lifted it, he found it was attached to the screen by tiny strings of RED-CODE.

He stopped pulling.

"Ow—!" Sage hissed. Sonic backed off. He looked to the monitor, the bar was 35% full. "Father, it burns!" Sage stared down at the monitor. "Father, I just needed— I just wanted—!"

"Sage, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—!" Sonic cried. The ground began to rumble and crack, exposing the magma underneath. Sage remained hooked to the screen, gritting her teeth as red flowery foam seeped out through the cracks. The Battle Egg was consumed by molten rock. The wires to the terminal caught fire. "Sage? Can you hear me?!" Sonic noticed the download was at 98%. It was then that he lost his footing. With her other hand, Sage caught Sonic by the arm before he could stumble into the lava.

"Auugh… thanks for the save," Sonic wheezed, as Sage hoisted him onto the metal platform. With their hands locked together, the two leapt over the festering lava pit and landed on solid ground. "What was THAT all about?"

"I don't know. But I saw something… I saw… an orange sky stretching into the darkness. It felt warm," Sage whispered, tears falling from her eyes. "He was looking for me… he wanted me back for SOME reason. Eggman was piloting this Battle Egg, he left memos in the code in case something bad happened, but they weren't what I was looking for." Sonic's heart sank. "I never even got the chance to speak to him on Ares. But we're out of a Portal Gear, the connection won't be strong enough here." Sage sniffled, clutching Sonic. "No matter how many simulations I perform, I will never know the truth! Why did he create me?! Why did he leave me here?! Will I even be able to leave with you?!" Sonic took a deep, concentrated breath. It came out all shaky.

"Why wouldn't you be able to leave these islands?" Sonic asked. He knelt down to Sage's eye level. "As long as we stick together, we'll overcome anything thrown our way. So what if the Guardians or the Titans stand between us and the rest of the world?! We WILL leave together." Sage, now a crying mess, nodded a little bit.

"I love you, father," Sage blubbered. She allowed Sonic to pick her up again.

"I love you too," Sonic sighed exhaustedly. "I won't EVER leave you behind like that Eggman jerk did. I promise. C'mon, let's set up camp somewhere and-"

Out of nowhere, a gargantuan spiked shield nearly sliced Sonic and Sage apart. Sonic tried dodging it like the Battle Egg's arm. Holding Sage tight, he tumbled downhill before scraping to a halt. Just before a cliff above a pool of lava.

"Sonic!" Sage cried, appearing behind him and helping him up. "Your leg… it's—!" Sonic rolled out of the way as the shield came back around. Now on his back, he could see an arm sprout from one of Chaos Island's many volcanoes to catch the shield. The island felt like it was careening.

All the way back on Ares, Knuckles watched as Chaos Island rose from the ocean. A large 10 billion-degree knife split the Starfall Sea down the middle. The impact could be felt all the way from Chaos to Kronos. Chaos Island stood up, a face appearing amidst the ash on the peak of the island as the entire landmass uncurled and twisted.

"Sage?! What's going on?!" Sonic shouted, not sure which way was up as his vision blurred.

"The island has turned into the TITAN; KNIGHT!" Sage exclaimed. With its legs that ended in wheels instead of feet, Knight did a series of 360-backflips on the half-pipe-like split sea, trying to shake Sonic and Sage off. Sonic held on for dear life as the whole world spun around him. Sage flew into the sky, now capable of viewing the whole Titan from a distance. It dwarfed Giganto and could've used Wyvern as a toothpick. "You will not hurt father. Kneel before me, beast!" Sage held her hands up to pacify Knight, but before she could do anything, the shield collided with her on its side, smacking her away with the noise of a large bell and a gross crackling coming from inside her head. The sky flashed red, Sage shooting down to one of the smaller isles surrounding Chaos.

"SAGE!" Sonic shouted. He dragged his disfigured, seared leg across Knight's shoulder as he tried to gain speed from his last remaining foot. His blood created an unwitting Cyloop on the ground as the friction caused his knee to scratch away down to the bone. Knight saw the RED-CODE trail leading across the mountainside making up his arm. Knight sent its shield flying towards the problem. To end it once and for all.

Sonic arrived at the end of Knight's arm, and hissed inwards. He tried to catch his breath, but his lungs dried up as he looked down at the island Sage had landed on. It was a good seven miles down. It didn't seem to be part of Knight's body, but it was still in range of his sword and… shield.

Sonic covered his head as Knight's shield came cutting through the air like a helicopter rotor. It razed the RED-CODE trail to ash. Strange, it seemed that it was more concerned with the trail than Sonic himself. This was an opening. A chance! Sonic looked down, gulped, kicked off of Knight and Homing Attacked into the isle below.

Sonic fell, hoping his forward velocity would be enough to let him reach the isle. It was that, or the ocean. Sonic spun around midair at a sound similar to an earthquake. He saw Knight raising his sword, ready to slice Sonic apart. Sonic smirked. Weaving a Cyloop around the shield, he caught a ride as it spun him around by the RED-CODE rope. Swinging off, he soared over the clouds and started to fall right towards the isle. He braced for impact with the ground. Certain he was safe from the cold, beast-infested Titanic Tides.

SPLASH!