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theflashdriver · 7 months

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Sunflower Suffocation

Green surrounded Silver on all sides, engulfing his sight and full imprisoning him. His breaths were shallow, his chest was aching, but the hedgehog knew he had to move. The symbols upon his palms refused to glow with their usual lustre, their shine could scarcely even light the dark that surrounded him.

His clawed fingers grasped and tore at the wall of great stalks before him, they fell easily but battered past him only to reveal yet more stretched before him. Leaves scattered with each effort, soaring for his face as if attempting to blind him. He pushed and punched and kicked; every action seemed destined to reveal a fresh blockade. Countless great stems in all directions and leaves that swirled like blades flourishing. Endless plants spanned all directions!

Every movement seemed to sap him more, yet he found himself no closer to the light. The stalks would fall time and time again; was new growth sprouting just beyond his sight?! It was endless, where was he?! If only he could fly, if only he could soar up, surely they didn't stretch to the stars?!

Silver's arms were growing heavy, his head was spinning, a whistle carried on each panting breath. The psychic found himself stumbling, arms flew wide as he tried to mentally stable himself. Cyan light flared but shattered upon contact, he grasped for the great stems but they snapped under his weight. Face down, Silver found himself choking and hacking into the dark; his arms coiled around his core as he felt something shift within.

Stillness came after what felt like hours, the writhing within him reduced to nothing more than the pounding of his heart within his chest. Fingers found purchase in the dirt as he struggled to his knees. He hacked and heaved, eyes still to the ground, yet he could not see the foot of stems before him. Had he done it? Had he cleared their end?

The hedgehog looked up only to find shining starlight above, made to look like countless shooting stars due to the blurring and twisting oh his vision. He rocked back and forth, his lungs stung as his gaze gradually began to solidify. Reality above was clear, now he had to look to his surroundings.

His stomach lurched as he stood, finding a wall of green before him once again. Something was different this time though, he could see the sky, things had changed. A wind was blowing at his back.

He turned to find a clearing behind him; had he forced it into existence as he pushed through? No, this was wider than what he could have made. Something must have-

A figure was stood at the heart of the clearing, their back to him and their gaze to the sky. A tall ponytail crowed her head. The hem of a long coat framed her legs.

"Blaze," A cough cut him off, he sounded so weak, "How did we get here?"

The cat didn't say a word, instead she simply turned to face him. With no more than a curl of her fingers the hedgehog found himself stumbling toward her. The field they were in seemed so much more normal now; a night time scene, they stood at the heart of a great crop circle. Topping the tall stems were the faces of sunflowers; all staring inward and toward the pair of them.

Silver found himself before her, "B-Blaze," His voice was no more than a wheeze.

Amber eyes warmed and soothed the pain in his chest just as her fingers found the soft fur above his heart. All of a sudden he was even closer, the hedgehog found himself lost in his companion's softness. No he wasn't lost, he knew where he was. His lips had found hers, his arms were coiled around her back. Every touch was softer than the-

A stabbing soreness filled Silver's throat, as if some foreign object had expanded to fill his windpipe. Blaze stepped back and he fell forwards, crashing to the ground at her feet. Spital fell from his throat but the cause of his gagging was not loosed. Something was wedged in his windpipe; a mass that he could not shift no matter how he coughed!

Silver's vision was torn from his partner's shoes, all of a sudden he was flipped onto his back. He could not see the stars above, for they had been replaced. Now the faces of a thousand sunflowers, their petals and dark seeded cores combined, filled the sky above as an endlessly writhing kaleidoscope. He couldn't even see the massive stretching stems that had surrounded them for the descending faces of the encroaching flowers!

He tried to call out to her again but now he could feel something in his mouth, he was choking! Hands grasped at his throat as he tried to breath, but coughing hacks were all he could manage. Was he about to die?!

Blaze leaned into his vision, obscuring a portion of the sky. At first he'd thought she was going to help him, to lean down and save him, but then he saw her eyes through the dark. The amber warmth he had once sought now framed a dark interior. Sunflowers had taken the place of her eyes. Silver croaked and spluttered until the world was truly black- all of a sudden he was falling!

Now his weight was on his elbows, pain shot from his forearms to his shoulders. Silver found himself enclosed in darkness, still choking but now against a wooden floor rather than sprawled atop a leaf-littered ground. Something more than spittle fell beyond his lips, dirtying the timber. As more of the obstruction left him, breathing became so much easier... but its passing up his gullet had felt so putrid.

It had been a dream, a nightmare. Just another nightmare.

Silver rolled onto his back, thankful to not find a sky filled with sunflowers above. Instead he stared upon a roof of corrugated metal with wooden beams occasionality crossing it; his view half obscured by a lightly swinging burlap hammock. The very bed he had just fallen from. His breaths were still shallow. Despite his vomiting, a mass still filled his chest.

Eyes cascaded down to find leaves of green and yellow petals beside him; though psychic light didn't offer clarity, he was certain that they'd come up bloodied like last time. His hand and found his forehead and his thumb his temple, Silver's teeth clenched as he tried to regain control of his faculties. He spat yet more petals toward the ground and wobbled his way to standing; looking out into the space they had claimed as shelter for the night.

Tail's workshop was a structure they had reclaimed when traversing various apocalypses- it was a fortified location, built to be hardy and endure attacks from Eggman, so it usually survived the end-times. The space was consistently littered with gadgets and half built trinkets which themself acted as evidence of what had transpired prior. Not infrequently, their presence had informed Silver of where and what to investigate next.

This time they had arrived to find the space a mess of different detector gadgets, various plants grown in terrariums for analysis, and scattered reports from across the globe regarding the world's deterioration and efforts to prevent it. Other useful goods ranged from solar powered heaters and fridges, to communicators, and countless computers. They could even try out the long abandoned tornado... that was, if either of them had learned how to fly or repair the craft- currently sat abandoned with its engine deconstructed. Having only arrived today however, exhausted from travel, they hadn't had much of a chance to truly investigate the rubble. Well, he was awake now...

The hedgehog's gaze landed upon a second hammock, hung on the other side of the workspace. His tumbling hadn't awakened his companion, she still lay perfectly still. Her rest was important, they'd planned a further expedition toward the fallen Angel Island tomorrow. Though there were no monstrosities polluting the planet, they'd fought machines left over from-

A cough shook his frame, a glance down revealed a dark stain on his glove's palm.

Blaze surely had her suspicions by now, she'd always been able to read him; who was he to think he could hide this disease? Did she know how far it had progressed? Had she noticed that he was hacking up blood yet?

Despite his struggling, the cat hadn't so much as coughed in his presence. He'd wondered if her immunity was born of her origin, deriving from another dimension, but that seemed too fortuitous. Silver suspected that, in actuality, she was simply better at hiding the corruption than him.

His eyes shut tight as he swallowed another cough, the signs were obvious. If she had noticed his decline, then she hadn't dared to broach it... probably because it would be wrong to without revealing her own state, or would at least prompt him to question her. Would he have the strength to ask her about it tomorrow?

He turned to lean against his hammock, much too awake now to return to sleep. His eyes fell upon the spot he had fallen; a scattered collection of sunflower petals, seeds, and leaves. He knew what was growing inside of him, as it had surely grown through all of their friends before. It was surely the cause of this world's damnation, a cause which seemed set to claim him too.

He pointed down with a single finger, psychic light spread out to gather all he'd choked up into a single crude clump. The hedgehog took the mass in his palm and turned to make for the doorway. Even if he was going to tell her about his condition, he wasn't going to show her that he was-

Something had caught his eye, a light he wouldn't have noticed without the aid of night's true darkness. Something was shining in the cockpit of Tails' long abandoned biplane, its light was consistent- like a monitor frozen on a single screen. None of the fox's countless monitors had been glowing upon their arrival- no others were lighting the dark now...

The hedgehog hobbled over to the plane's side, using a slight psychic boost to clamber up and peer into the cockpit. Inside was a device Silver had seen in the young fox's hands before, a vaguely rectangular yellow computer pad with a pair of electrodes at its top and buttons to the right of the screen. The pad seemed to be intact, not a single crack present on its glowing display.

A sigil was glowing at the centre of the screen, it almost looked to be a circle but was broken at the bottom and had a flat line mirrored on both broken sides. The symbol looked familiar to Silver, but he could not place where he had seen it before. The words beneath it however, those Silver could discern.

"Aid required, homing beacon initiated," Shined the screen.

Silver wasn't overly sure how to use the device, but decided pressing the big cyan button amongst the pad's arrow keys wasn't a bad idea. Almost immediately the screen changed, now depicting a map of the surrounding area. That same sigil from before was now a small pip, contrasted by a simple blue circle with an attached arrow that the psychic presumed depicted his own position. He'd seen the world from above so many times... he knew, whatever that symbol was, it was close. Did the fact it was transmitting now suggest its originator was alive? Or had a recovery device been abandoned, like the receiver he'd just-

Silver flinched, he looked up from the screen. A single cough had sounded from Blaze; her hammock swayed, but it quickly passed. His mind was immediately on fire, thoughts of panic exploded in all directions. Was it some passing flem, or was she infected to?! She might not have been as far along as him, was she even sick? If this world had been destroyed by this bizarre plague, then what hope did they have of surviving? This was no monster or machine they could beat back! Despite the reports that had littered the workshop, there had been no indication of a cure or anything more than rumours as to the disease's origin.

This beacon was all they had; whether it led to an ally, new clues, or no further data. His body wouldn't hold out long enough for them to find another lead, he was sure of it! What would she do if he deteriorated further?!

He lowered himself from the tornado, pad in hand, and made for one of Tail's workbenches. Silver claimed a pair of headsets from the metal worktop, pressing the button near their microphone and watching as they lit up. He had no idea how long the aged batteries would last, hopefully the youngster had built them well.

As quietly and gently as he could, the hedgehog snuck over to Blaze's side and laid one of devices on her chest. He made sure his own microphone was set to mute, not wanting to risk waking her with all he was about to do... but if she did awake and worry, he had to give her a way to reach out. For as foolish as he was about to be, Silver wasn't so stupid as to fully leave her in the dark.

For a while, he couldn't help but linger- scanning her resting face. There was no blood on her lips, nor the white fur of her muzzle. No petals, leaves, or seeds littered her body or bedding. The only oddity was the presence of ash, surely born of their conflict with the remaining Eggman machines that still roamed the land. He could find little comfort in that, the suspicion that she was infected still clawed at his brain.

She looked so peaceful, the gentle rise and fall of her chest gave no indication of the same corruption that ached in his chest. He knew that her body was a honed weapon; for as lean as she was, the cat was stronger physically than Silver could ever hope to be. Did that fitness mean she was better equipped to fight the disease than him?

There was a couch in here that they could have shared, as they had so many times in the past. It would surely have been comfier than their individual haphazard hammocks, but when he had strung his up, she had done the same. He had hung his hoping that sleeping separately would help to obscure his choking from her. Had she done the same not out of reactive symmetry, but that same want? Was there a fear that, if she'd lain on the couch, he would feel the need to join her as he so often had before?

"Please be okay," He softly begged into her empty ear.

She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. Blaze had braved countless post-apocalypses despite her royal status, she fought for a world that was no longer hers without hesitation. If it wasn't for her, not only would he have died a dozen times but the world would have fallen into permanent ruin. She had given her life to save this world when he could not. He could not risk leaving her world without it's hero; even if that meant leaving her side tonight.

"I'm going to fix this, no matter what it takes," Silver insisted both to her and himself, "There's got to be a way, there's always been a way."

He could hear the wheeze on his breath again, an undeniable reminder that time was running out. Crushing what he'd coughed up before into the palm of his hand, the psychic finally turned away, picked up Tails' abandoned tablet, and trudged out of the workshop. The night was humid and starless, it was a cloudy summer evening.

The workshop sat at the edge of a high cliff, the view from which was rather representative of the planet as a whole. Sunflowers, the same as those now growing in his chest, had spread to overtake the land. They hadn't found proof of how it'd started, nor how this occurrence had spread, but across the world countless people had found themselves choking on that specific type of flower- impossibly growing within their bodies. It did not seem to spread through contact with pollen or the plants themselves, nor did it impact everyone equally, but soon enough of the population had succumbed to the disease that societies collapsed. Some groups had endured for longer than others, but now all was lost through pestilence, conflict, and a lack of resources. They hadn't seen another person on this world; only their bones twisted amongst the roots of the flowery fields.

He tossed the bloody petals and seeds to tumble down and mingle with their fully grown kin. They'd scorched clear so many fields but the one beneath the workshop was simply too massive. Additionally, though Silver had tried not to think about it, he was almost certain that their friends bodies were down there and did not want to risk unearthing them. It was no wonder he was having nightmares...

Silver shook the thoughts from his head, glancing down to the pad in his hands. He was going to have to fly across Greenhill to reach this apparent homing beacon. If he was in a good state, the flight would have been quick and easy. Blaze was going to be angry with him for leaving regardless, he knew well enough to limit her aggravation. It would be better if he returned before she awoke.

Cyan light flared around him, spreading weightlessness across his form. As he took to the air, Silver felt something spasm in his chest in response to the exertion. No matter how much he wanted to soar quickly, his body almost wasn't up to the challenge. Even pushing this gently was shifting that foul plant within him.

Flying low, he found himself just above the tallest of the stalks. What was he expecting to find at the end of this trail; some sort of miraculous cure? The best he could surely hope for was a Chaos Emerald, but if that hadn't been enough to save his friends-

"No, I need to stop thinking like this!" He berated himself, "I need to explore every possibility, every clue and trail, I'll do..." He could feel petals in his mouth again, "I'll do whatever it takes. I can't have Blaze take this back to her kingdom. I need to find a cure!"

After what felt like hours, but could surely only be minutes, Silver saw a change in his surroundings. A glance beyond the tablet that was guiding him revealed that the sunflowers had been felled in the vicinity. Amongst them crumpled metallic forms caught the weak glow of his psychokinesis. He came to land before one such pile, sighting the shredded remains of a once orange machine- what had once surely been an Eggpawn. The beacon on Tails' tablet was close; whoever had sent the message was plainly a powerful, but that truth gave Silver pause. The flowers hadn't grown to recover the ground where the machines had fallen, this damage was recent. Whoever was sending the help signal had either been here recently or they was still alive...

His pulse pounded. Silver strode forward, his yellow eyes cutting through the dark to scan for movement. The wasteland before him grew more littered with metal corpses the closer he drew to the beacon's source. The remains were bizarre; destroyed in a variety of ways.

Some had been melted to grey slag, others were riddled with holes, though most looked to have been torn apart by great metal claws. None of the husks looked to be complete; at first he thought that was simply a result of the combat, but some with theirs chests torn open and various key parts littering the ground convinced him otherwise. Whoever this surviving fighter was, they were either looking for something specific or stealing parts to build something...

It was as he stood over a particular trashed eggpawn, intact save for a missing eye and a few holes in its chest, that a sound spun Silver around. A figure had appeared uphill from him, reflecting the light of Silver's sigils. The harshly angular form of a familiar looking robot had arisen to stare down at him with mismatched eyes. Their body was almost as wide as it was tall, with clawed fingers that gleamed in the dark at the end of its bulky arms.

Realisation finally struck the hedgehog, "It's you…"

E-123 Omega turned to face Silver; though the hedgehog had not often encountered the machine, he could recognise how time had changed him. Parts scavenged from the crumpled forms of Eggman's machines had plainly been used to repair the rouge robot's chassis. One of his glowing red eyes had been replaced with an ill fitting blue bulb, his right leg was a mass of navy steel with an overlarge ankle joint, and his left shoulder pad now had the distinct polkadot patterning of a moto-bug shell."Movement detected," A crackling deep voice blared, "Target acquired!"

Muzzle flash lit the night, a banging cacophony sounded as the robot unleashed a barrage from the massive cannons built into its arms. Silver threw up his hands, psychic energy halted the incoming projectiles and revealed their nature. Bullets weren't flyings his way, Omega must have ran out of ammunition over the centuries. Pieces of scrap-metal, stolen from his foes' fallen forms, had been crudely mangled to make new munitions.

"Omega!" He screamed over the gunfire, "I am not your-

Flowers caught in his throat, Silver felt himself instinctively hunch as he hacked and spat. Something had shifted inside him, be it during the flight over or as part of his current exertion. His gullet was trapped in an endlessly forced state of upchuck; somethings was scratching at his insides!

His grasp slipping, the hedgehog threw his will outwards as he dove to the ground; sending both the shrapnel he'd halted and that incoming back at the iron warrior. The resounding impacts rang out, sparks lit the night and in their wake the gunfire ceased. As petals and seeds tumbled from Silver's jaw he managed to glance up only to be blinded by a wave of fire flooding toward him.

Tumbling even further back, riding on a psychic wave, the time traveller crashed into and then over a great pile of scrapped machines. The hedgehog found himself staring into the lightless eyes of an eggpawn, riddled with holes. Even as his shoulder ached, Silver found some small relief that the flames were now passing above him and only catching the surrounding pile. A quick scan of his surroundings revealed a variety of eggbots and badnicks, partially mangled but mostly intact. Were these metal corpses the surviving robot had gathered for harvesting?

The flames suddenly ceased, "Target isolated, destruction inevitable."

"Listen to me Omega!" His voice was weak, he couldn't hear himself over the robot marching closer, "I don't want to fight-

More seeds fell from his throat, the taste of iron now lingered on his tongue. His wants didn't matter here, they never had. Silver knew what he had to do; but his broken body wouldn't let him fight as normal. Improvisation was a necessity; he also knew that fully destroying Omega would mean this effort was all for nought!

"Alright, you want something to fight?" Silver wheezed, "I'll give you something to fight!"

He set the tablet down and pressed his hand to the broken robot in front of him, allowing psychic energy to encase it. Psychokinesis flooded inward, leaching through the machine's vents and injuries alike; popping out dents and reinforcing its internals. He found that the rotund robot had no weapon to hand, but that would not matter. The fists attached to its bendy grey arms would more than suffice.

The moment Omega's stomping ceased, the psychic threw his hand into the air. Silver's puppet eggpawn jumped to its feet, fists flailing wildly. Metal clanging on metal filled the air, Silver heard E-123's massive form stumble backwards.

"Eggpawn identified, second target confirmed!" Omega blared.

Gunfire restarted, the hedgehog willed his own machine to barrel past the attacker. Metal again clanged against metal, evidently he'd used the machine as a battering ram. The sensation of psychic might being scraped and shot at played in Silver's mind but he pushed his marionette further away and higher into the air. Sure enough, he heard the gunfire follow it and turn away from his shelter.

"Target's movements are outwith identified parameters, bizarre energy levels detected," Silver rose just as the gunfire suddenly ceased, "The threat will be neutralised!"

Omega was pointing one of his machine guns skyward, his left hand had been retracted back to take the form of his clawed hand. Was he running out of ammunition? It was foolish to make such an assumption!

Silver jumped back just in time to watch Omega swing his right hand toward the pile of scrap that the hedgehog had been hiding within. Flames rushed from the automaton's palm, Silver once again threw himself backwards; using his own might, as his psychic will was purely focused elsewhere. He tumbled and spun back over the thinning pile of steel.

"Flanking tactic identified, a mediocre strategy developed by poorly constructed scrap!" The machine blared, now firing on the floating eggpawn.

Psychic power responded with his fear; the eggpawn raced down towards Omega, fist first. Silver could not see for the wall of flames between them; again he just had to feel out the battlefield. The great flat footed machine wasn't quick, he'd stand strong like a tower!

Silver willed flailing fists to hammer against Omega, throwing countless blind punches with all the might he could muster from so far back. As the flamethrower flailed wildly Silver knew he had struck true; he took advantage of the moment began to limp his way closer once more. The elder robot was only metres away, but Silver was certain he didn't have the might to quickly close the distance. Every jumping escape had filled his mouth further with blood soaked petals, now his vision was starting to blur. This battle couldn't drag on, he was falling apart.

Red fists clanged harder and harder against the android's barrel chest, making impact but surely doing little in the way of damage. Silver could only watch, slowly stalking, as Omega's flaming metal claw spun around to slash up the front of the revived droid and send it hurtling backwards as a burning husk. A hand with a cyan symbol reached out, recapturing the corpse before it could hit the ground again and yugged it back toward Omega.

Its round body bounced off of the darker robot and spun him; the husk was pulled to stand in front of Silver as both shield and sword. This wasn't working, he was in worse condition than the shell he was controlling. Time was running out! Omega had plainly been broken over the ages; his shoulder, leg, and eye. If the machine had done those repairs himself, out here, then they were surely imperfect, surely?!

Machine gun fire resumed; Silver widened the psychic glow surrounding his puppet to both give its frame some more protection and have it act as a better vanguard. He pushed forward; every shot against his psychic wall came with a slight flinch which had, until now, gone unnoticed. Every sudden move tore something inside Silver; though his muscles tightened, there was no defending against those internal shifts and the writhing of the plant rooted within him.

"Now!" Silver growled, shoving his tool into the fray.

The puppet's arms became a blur, sending fist after fist hurtling in Omega's direction. The bullets sprayed wide under the close quarter's pressure; Silver watched from behind as Omega brought up his left arm only to have it battered aside as well. Though every blow made contact none were breaking the surface. Had he even left a single scratch on Omega's body? Would anything less than heavy munitions?

"There!" The hedgehog spat blood as he pointed.

An uppercut tore away the moto bug shell that was the dark robot's left shoulder. A joint was exposed, a mess of wiring, pipes, and pistons. The next punch came from the left, a spinning blow that rocketed against that exposed joint. It wasn't clean, sparks flew, but E-123 didn't have the mobility to dodge.

Omega's left limb held on by a crumpled mass of copper, but his right swung true. Silver's cheeks filled, crimson and flora spilled past his lips as he fell to the ground. The corpse of his forced ally machine landed on his left, claw marked from it's rotund centre to the top of its head. He looked up only to be met with blue and red glowing eyes staring down at him.

Four claws glimmered in the dark, drawn back in preparation to thrust. Silver threw his hand forward out of instinct- the head tore from the red body and launched towards Omega. Shrapnel tumbled through the air, spiralling not to block but to strike. It was just a piece, but the mass was still great enough. The chunk blew through E-123's replacement right leg, not certainly destroying it but doing enough to drop Omega to one knee and for his stab to fall short.

Rasping breaths scraped at Silver's windpipe, "Please-

"Remaining target must be eliminated!" Fire flashed at the corner of Silver's vision.

"End it!" Silver felt the seeds clatter against his teeth as he commanded.

The headless corpse of the eggpawn rushed forward as Omega raised his burning right hand. Silver felt the heat on his muzzle as the lifeless figure threw its full metallic weight behind a final punch. A fist made contact with a glowing blue eye as fire lit the night.

With a cacophonous crash Omega fell as Silver crumpled himself to the left, avoiding the flailing flames that came in the wake of that collapse. His ears rang as he lay there, vision blurry and heart pounding. He could feel every beat but now they did more than echo in his chest. It felt like something was pushing back against his heart, vying for room in his chest.

"I hope I didn't break you too badly," He wheezed into the now still quiet of night, rising to look down on the other combatant, "Are you alive, Omega?"

"Inferior eggpawn ocular devices have now been found to inherently register individuals as adversaries based upon an ineffectual criteria. This will be accounted for this in future reconstructive efforts!" The machine buzzed loudly, his remaining red eye glowing, "Prior target now identified as Silver the hedgehog... your presence suggests my internal timekeeper is malfunctioning. Further repairs are deemed necessary."

Relief flushed his form, Silver shut his eyes and heaved a swallow. By the time he'd got over the grossness and reopened his eyes, the massive machine lurched to sit up only to immediately return to his prior fallen position. Hopefully this trouble wouldn't all be for nought.

Bluntness reigned in Silver's mind, "What happened to the world Omega, I need to know."

The machine attempted to rise once more only to fail, "Inevitable societal collapse was induced by an abnormal chaos energy wavelength which spread through all people. Effects varied but most often manifested in the growth of sunflowers throughout fleshy individuals' internal organs."

"Chaos energy?" Silver blinked, "This isn't a disease? The flowers aren't a parasite?"

"Negative," Omega announced, "Though the wavelength which carries them does indeed behave in a manner paralleling many parasitic creatures."

"Where did this start?" The hedgehog asked, "I need to-

Something shifted in Silver's gullet, forcing another splutter from the hedgehog. He put his hand to his mouth, choking and hacking. A mess of petals and seeds filled his palm; more than he'd seen before. He was running out of time.

"Origins unclear," Omega began, "The early demise of Knuckles the Echidna suggests a corruption of the Master Emerald was the origin of the nefarious chaos wavelength, however this is unconfirmed."

"Knuckles was one of the first to die?" Silver scattered his upchuck into the dark.

"Affirmative. Rouge discovered him, perforated by roots and sunflower stems. Her fate soon matched his," Something of a pause hung in the air after that claim, "It was only after the echidna was found that the wavelength became prevalent worldwide. Most of your allies were eliminated by the sunflowers' growth."

"Well, if it did come from chaos energy, did they try to use the emeralds to neutralise the wavelength?" Silver questioned.

"Affirmative. Sonic the hedgehog, suffering the incursion of sunflowers within his body, did attempt to harness the Chaos Emeralds to rid himself of the blight," Omega relayed, "The result was inverse to the intended effect. The influx of chaos energy rapidly accelerated the sunflower's growth and almost claimed his life."

The hedgehog shuddered, again the mass had flexed in his chest. Of course it wasn't as simple as using the Chaos Emeralds, that would have been their first thought. If their energy was the problem, would the Sol Emeralds work to neutralise things? No, wait, there was more to this story; something Omega wasn't telling him!

Silver grit his teeth, "You said the flowers almost claimed his life, that implies they didn't! What happened to Sonic?"

"Many were claimed by the disease but not all. There were many rumours regarding supposed cures, all of them illogical," E-123 tied to rise for a third time, "Silver the hedgehog, you are nearing the final stages of the-

"I need to help Blaze," Silver cut off the robot, "I don't care if it's too late for me! Tell me everything you know, now!"

Quiet reigned for a moment, each passing second built more frustration to the forefront of Silver's mind. He could feel himself sweating and taste metal in his mouth. What if his body gave out before he could relay all this? Blaze would never find him out here!

"Not all people were affected by the wavelength; some were abnormally unaffected, despite Shadow detecting the rogue chaos energy within them. It appears that the wavelength alone did not induce the sunflowers' growth. A secondary trigger was required. Hypotheses as to the..." The robot's communication trailed off.

"As to the what?" Silver leant closer, "Say it!"

"I find the answer you are searching for illogical. I must highlight this to you before you return to the past with such false hope," Omega continued to delay, "The origin for the supposed cure derives from the claims of Amy Rose."

"So?!" Silver wheezed, "Tell me! I need to know!"

"She proposed that," Again the automaton hesitated, "Those impacted are those who feel romantic love for another. Those who do not feel such emotions were unaffected, as were those already engaged in a forthright mutual relationship. Later she elaborated that unrequited love, even if admitted, did not remove the..."Another pause! "She illogically referred to the chaos corruption as a curse. A curse induced by romantic pining, only cured by a mutual profession of romantic intent. An unrequited claim would still result in the death of the inflicted, no matter how honest it was or even if the other individual lied as to their feelings."

"W-Why did she think that?" Silver pried further.

"In what were thought to be his final moments, Sonic professed his infatuation to Amy Rose- a sentiment she was more than willing to verbally return. They went on to successfully recover from the ailment, having previously been on the brink of death. Both went on to live long lives, eventually disappearing into obscurity. Current status unknown, presumed perished of old age if not other causes," The robot claimed, "Their recovery, especially Sonic's following Chaos Emerald experimentation, was purportedly miraculous. Others made similar claims, but this caused further conflicts," Omega continued, "My limited understanding is that if one seeks love out of greed or a want to survive, it is harder to successfully... achieve the true mutual infatuation which Amy claimed was the cure for the curse. Though that is sure be an excuse for a poor theory, such an antidote to chaos corruption is fanciful at best," More details seemed to load, "This truth did not stop some societies and groups attempting to induce such romantic occurrences. All were seen as abject failures. Those few who were unaffected were not enough to maintain society, all collapsed as the wavelength spread."

Silver's pulse was pounding; he couldn't blame Omega for thinking this was nonsense... but what if it was true? Love as a cure seemed like the type of fantasy he'd read in a novel rather than experience first hand; but, similarly, he had fought otherworldly entities that would but the dragons in such tomes to shame. The Chaos Emeralds made wishes reality; the thought that their energy could both induce and be unmade by the impossible was, in a strange sense, plausible. But wouldn't someone have had to wish or will the curse into existence in the first place?

"If you believe this foolish hearsay, your unwise fixation on your companion may well be the cause of your diminished state," The robot harshly sounded, "But, it may also offer a cure... presuming your emotions are mutual."

His head was spinning, how much blood had he spat up? Was this some sort of delusion? Blaze had chastised him for baring his emotions too plainly before, was this what she had been talking about? Of course he loved Blaze, but in the same way as Sonic loved Amy? Was that even possible?

The faster his heart pounded the more his head and chest hurt. How many times had they shared the same bed? How often had he held her close? Her words had so often calmed him; he couldn't imagine another he cared for as much as he did her. He felt so useless without her!

But that was just how they were; that was how things had always been. He had always relied on her just as she relied on him. Whenever one was injured, of course they cared for the other. This was just how they were... but evidently he hadn't realised what that meant for him. He'd been suppressing these feelings, scarcely realising them.

It was foolish to think Blaze's cough tonight had been anything more than a response to the ash on her body tickling her nose. No; these feelings had dwelled in him for years now, bubbling to the surface on occasions she'd snorted at and dubbed naive. Her laugh could warm his muzzle and heart alike! There was no reason she would have changed her view of him during this most recent effort, let alone since he'd become impacted and started to distance himself. The pining surely wasn't mutual; she would be on death's door if it was, just like him. Their infection would have occurred near simultaneously to his. His fate was sealed.

"If this started on Angel Island, then Blaze will at least have that to work with," The psychic surmised, "If I can get her there before Knuckles is affected, she'll at least see how this begins. She can spread all the information we've gathered..."

"Affirmative, presuming she is not affected by the wavelength, that should, in theory, be possible," Omega confirmed.

Silver went to turn, "Hopefully she-

"Silver!" A familiar voice exploded in his ear, "Silver, can you hear me?"

He'd almost forgotten he was even wearing a headset, the hedgehog quickly unmuted it, "Blaze, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, are you okay?" He could hear her panic, "Where are you?"

"I'm," He tried his best to smother his pain, "I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Silver," Now he heard frustration, "If you don't hurry, I'm going to come looking for you."

"I'll be as quick as I can," Blood still lingered on his tongue, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

No response followed, had she put down the headset? At least he knew that she was safe, the only risk were the remaining roaming robots; but Blaze was more than capable of handling them. She'd be safe, he just had to make his way back to her before things got any worse. Would he make it to the dawn? I couldn't be long from now. Regardless, it seemed unlikely he'd reach another nightfall. He had to tell Blaze all he'd learned.

"Halt," The device commanded as he started to move, "I have a demand before you leave... on the off-chance that Amy's fanciful cure does somehow work."

Silver didn't look back, "I need to-

"Shadow was captured. He exchanged hands several times; his capacity to detect the malignant wavelength and its spread was sought," Omega claimed, "His last confirmed location was within a GUN holding facility due west of Spagonia University. Assuming the flowers have not entered his system, he is surely alive," After one more pause, he continued, "He may well harbour more information regarding the state of the world... but, imperatively, he has surely been trapped suffering for upwards of a decade."

"I'll do what I can," Weak psychic light flared to surround him as he drew up Tails' tablet from the robotic wastes, "I'll let Blaze know," The hedgehog took flight, "Where to find him and you."

He didn't look back, every second wasted risked a failure to relay more information to Blaze! Though there was no waypoint to guide him back; Silver knew the lay of the land. With the tablet in hand, despite how the sunflowers had tainted the landscape, he could navigate without-

"Silver? Are you still there?" Blaze sounded in his ear.

"Yes, Blaze. I'm here," He quickly responded, swallowing hard, "Are you okay?"

"When will you be back?" Was she panicking?

"Soon, I'm not far away," He quickly responded.

The cat seemed to pause, "Please be safe."

"You too, I'll be there as soon as I can. I promise," She already knew, now he was certain.

Had she found some of what he'd coughed up? His hammock and its blankets, surely some of his blood had lingered on the fabric. Perhaps when she'd gone to look for him, she'd found a red stain where his body had been. He'd worried her, he was going to have to explain everything.

The hedgehog rubbed a gloved fist against his mouth, finding a mark was left on the garb. He rubbed and rubbed, but the whole glove was quickly filthied and his face still felt unclean. Breaths came with whistled wheezes, his vision was blurring more and more.

He touched down at the very edge of the cliff the workshop sat atop. Lights were shining within the building, if she'd left a mess then he'd absolutely have seen in. The sun was starting to rise, the clouds were beginning to part. It looked like the last glowing sky he'd sight would be pinky-red.

Silver saw her in the window, panic filled her movements as she scrambled for the door. Silver tried to move closer only to rediscover the weakness of his knees. The hedgehog stumbled as the cat emerged from their stolen home.

His voice was still surely so weak, "Blaze, there's so much I need to tell-

"Silver, stop!" She grabbed him, "Where on earth were you?"

"I found Omega," Silver relayed with what strength he had, only to feel Blaze take him to ground.

"You foolish, naive, brainless hedgehog," She growled down at him, "Why didn't you wake me up! Wherever you went, we could have gone together!"

The psychic had ended up in her lap, staring up at the pyrokinetic. Even as his vision worsened, despite the taste of metal lingering on his teeth, Silver felt more at comfort than he had in days. He hadn't realised how cold he was; she felt so warm...

"I didn't want to risk you getting sick, you needed to rest," Already he was struggling to speak, "But now I know there's no chance of that," He wheezed a deep breath, "Please, listen to me, I need to tell you..."She looked so worried, "Everything Omega told me."

The moment he finished, she snapped again, "We can go find him again together, you don't have to-

"It's not a disease," He cut her off, "It's an abnormal chaos energy wavelength, it seems to have come from Angel Island, Knuckles was the first to..." A cough was smothered, "Rouge found him amongst the flowers. After that, the energy spread across the world and more people started to succumb," His voice was surely quiet, she'd leaned in close, "It doesn't affect everyone equally, that I know for certain, even if the why or how isn't as clear. That's probably why I'm like this while you're okay…"Had he really never noticed how pretty she was? That her lilac fur glimmered in the lowlight, that her eyes glowed so warmly, and her touch was so deeply comforting. The more he considered it, the more it all made sense. All those nights spent sleeping in a pile, every world they'd braved together, and every moment between, in this world and hers; it all come together to form an unbreakable bond. A connection he had, for so long, misidentified. Silver had been in love with his best friend for such a long time that he'd barely even noticed it; he'd certainly not until it was much too late.

To tell her now would be wrong; she had her whole life ahead of her. It would taint the years they'd spent together, have her mind spiral. If she did look back on him with too much fondness, would the curse start to affect her? He couldn't risk that, he wouldn't dare put her in any more danger! That nightmare, that imagine kiss, it was the closest he'd come to professing all he'd just come to accept. There was no-

"I'm not okay Silver," Her words rang in his head.

"W-What?" He stammered.

"I didn't want to worry you, I could tell you were already struggling with the affliction and I thought I had my symptoms under control," The cat half-explained, refusing to be blunt until she caught his confusion, "I woke up this morning choking worse than I have before... this came up alongside some sunflower seeds."

She'd presented him a bloodstain, marking the centre of her glove, "But, you've barely been coughing, how-

Blaze set the tip of her forefinger alight, the flame swole until it was a plum sized orb. So very casually the cat opened her mouth and, with a flick of her finger, lobbed the orb into gullet. With a simple, highly emphasised, swallow, the light vanished from her mouth; surely delving deeper into her body.

"After I coughed up a petal for the first time, I tried this and it destroyed the plant within. I knew I couldn't share this cure with you, that it would only work for me," The cat relayed, guilt crossing her brow, "The sunflower inside me has been growing back faster every time I scorch it away. I burned it away last night and it had already fully regrown this morning, I've been spitting up ash instead of petals... until now. I didn't tell you because I knew you were already struggling, I didn't want you to panic about me too," Guilt evolved into frustration, "Not that it stopped you from acting so foolishly."

Realisation shook him to his core, she was suffering the effects of the curse! There was no certainty that Amy's observations were correct, Omega had thought them ludicrous, but something must have gone right after Sonic used the emeralds? If both he and Amy really did survive, then something had to have worked; had the pink hedgehog cracked the truth?! Did they stand a chance?!

Was he the one she was pining for? Could there be anyone else? It was more than possible, she was a princess, a guardian, she'd had adventures all over both worlds! Countless people looked up to her, they had all manner of amazing friends. The source of her flower could have been anyone, it could even have been some noble that he didn't know.

Omega had said that forcing love to save another had failed, explaining everything now would surely just panic Blaze more, if she even believed any of this insane theorising. He had to act, he had to speak; if Amy was right, a mutual profession was the only way to save her life! Even if he was wrong, even if this wasn't mutual and it took his last breath- if there was any chance this would save her life, he had to act!

"Blaze," She looked back down to him, "Do you love me?"

"W-What?" Her eyes widened.

"Sorry," He grunted through a mouthful of petals, "What I meant to say is that I love you," Her stare broke from his, "I think I have for a long time, but I never really understood it."

"You're delusional, you've lost too much blood," Blaze quickly rebuffed, "I need to-

"No," Silver reached up, his fingers hitched on her muzzle, "I'm probably just being naive," It was getting lighter, "Please, Blaze, I love you. I need to know the truth."

Pain flared in his chest as tears filled her eyes, he could feel himself shaking. This was it, the difference between life together and an awful decision that would taint their final moments. He felt every heartbeat and the seconds that dragged with them; a clawed grasp was crushing his heart, the tightness of its hold increasing with each moment. All other sensations were fading, even the feeling of Blaze's warmth.

"Of course I do," Blaze confessed, "I loved you before we parted; I would have lived happily among the flames of Crisis City as long as you were at my side. The moment I remembered you, I knew I couldn't leave you again. All of my time spent without you caught up with me at once; of course I love you, no matter how naive you are!"

His core instantly felt lighter, a whistle no longer hung on his breath. There had been no final splutter of leaves nor flash of chaos energy; simply a feeling of relief and release. He could still taste metal on his tongue, but the seeds and petals that had come to fill his gullet and moth were gone! There was surely healing to do yes, but the damage had ceased! Blaze's eyes had widened, her hand was at her chest; even after swallowing her flame, she must have felt the same!

It was like instinct to him; now that his lungs could withstand it, Silver started to laugh, "Amy was right! I can't believe that worked!"

"Amy?" He could barely process Blaze's confusion, "Silver, what happened, why are you-

A second compulsion surged through him; his lips collided with hers more than a little too roughly. He'd sat up from her hold, his arms tight around her shoulders. He pressed his grin into her without a care, adrenaline surging through him. Silver only realised what he was doing as Blaze's hands came to hold the small of his back. "Love was the cure! You're going to be okay!" He boomed, pressing his forehead to hers, "We can still solve this!"

"We've gone from whispering to shouting, and yet you're still not making sense," She grumbled, plainly flustered but relieved, "But now that you're clearly no longer in a hurry, I want you to rest. Even if what I think just happened has happened, you're still plainly exhausted, and I don't doubt that you're still injured," Her gaze slipped from his, he could see her blush in the early morning sunlight, "You're going to lie down on that couch we've been avoiding, and we're going to have a talk about... all of this."

His only answer to that request was to kiss her again.

#silvaze #silver the hedgehog #blaze the cat #sonic the hedgehog #e 123 omega #hanahaki #romance #fanfiction #blood #gore #disease

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