A/N: I came up with the layout for this at the last second, so it might be a bit confusing unless I lay it out for you:
First part before first divider/beginning (that goes for the one-liner lead up to the end as well): refers to Sonic SatAM-universe.
Second part after first divider and before second/middle ("same"): refers to Sonic the Movie/OVA.
Third part after second divider/last ("same"): refers to Sonic X.
If you didn't get that, it goes in three unconnected phases (one for each of the series, basically, at a time when they hear Sonic's voice after they think they've lost him): SatAM (beginning phase); Movie/OVA (middle phase); and Sonic X (last phase). Then, after these (if you scroll down, you'll understand better), there will be a one-liner leading up to the ending in the same order as these sections went: SatAM, Movie/OVA, and X. And the very end (after one-liners) brings all of them together.
Though this fic is named after a Christian song (sung by Sarah Reeves) and the lyrics fit well with it (I think), this was not meant to have Christian undertones (though if you'd like to see it that way, be my guest).
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or the song, "Sweet, Sweet Sound." SEGA and Sarah Reeves, respectively, do, as well as anyone or anything affiliated.
Sweet, Sweet Sound
"Sonic! Sonic!" a young voice cried, breaking the silence of what had been the battlefield outside of Knothole.
He knew to step gingerly, and he didn't focus on what lay before him.
The ground was littered with robot parts and soldier limbs, entire bodies and severed heads. Blood dampened the grass with every step he took, though Tails knew from vast experience—though the grown-ups, including Sonic, tried to shield him from this reality as best they could—that it would soon be soaked up by the soil and grass.
He saw these things, of course; he wasn't blind or ignorant, after all. Rather, he took it in all at once and stored it away for later, dealing with such grim subject matters in his own mind in his own time. He was only a child, yes, and that was why the others did their best to keep him as innocent as possible, but it would never work—never had.
That was the price of being a Freedom Fighter. He knew this well.
So no, he wasn't unsympathetic or callous at all in his brisk way of doing things. It was just that he was looking for someone.
He trekked past a face-down hare, one of Bunnie's estranged relatives that had recently joined them, if he remembered correctly. Pausing for just a moment, Tails' eyes went misty with tears as he looked upon the broken body—literally stabbed in the back with only the bloodied hilt visible—before moving on.
Staying for too long served no one well. It got to a person after a while, and there was nothing worse than watching a survivor go mad. Tails had seen such a horrible thing occur first-hand.
Sally and Rotor were tending to some of the lucky ones—if they could be called as much, what with having to live another day in this Hell—across the way, but they neither saw nor heard him. They had more important things to do, after all. He could find Sonic on his own.
Then, looking ahead again, he saw a twitching mass of dark gray fur, and in moving closer he saw that it was none other than Rachel, one of the smallest squirrels in the Freedom Fighters, though her fierce bravery made up for her small stature.
Her wide, unseeing eyes flashed to him for a split second before moving in all directions at lightning speed as they had before his appearance, her last few breaths mere rasps. Tails, however, was more than used to this and so was undeterred, instead reaching forward to take her paw in his tiny hand and stroke it soothingly. She wasn't alone here, somewhere in her dying mind she knew that, and as she gave the boy's hand a feather-light squeeze in perfect time with her final breath, Tails smiled through his tears and bade her eternal rest as she let go.
Rising and drying his tears with the back of his hand, Tails continued onward. Sonic was here some—
Wait…
Sonic had gone after Metal and there hadn't been a thing they could do to stop him. Besides, they'd been ordered to stay back. And really, the fox and echidna mulled, this was Sonic's fight by all rights.
After all, he was fighting himself.
At first, Tails had fought his authority and tried to follow when Sonic had really looked to be in danger, but Knuckles had made him see reason. They'd gone back to South Island—"home base," Knuckles had jokingly called it in a noble, but futile effort to lighten the tense mood—to fix up the Tornado and work on the technology needed to sabotage Metal's programming, and now they were watching the epic battle from the sidelines.
They hated this, watching their friend fight and not being able to do anything about it. And while Sonic and Metal's personalities, minds, and fighting styles might be exactly the same, they prayed one thing would come through for them like it always had: Sonic's heart.
It was Sonic's heart that drove him to battle Robotnik day-in and day-out, though Sonic himself would argue he did it mostly out of boredom; it was his heart that had possessed him to bring Tails back to Knothole that day so long ago, that had possessed him to take the kid on as his little brother; it was his heart that levied him all of the friendships he'd ever made, all of the love in Sara's heart, and all of the carefree resilience that allowed him to carry on every day as he did.
It was his heart that Metal had, and they could only hope it would be their saving grace this time as it always had been before.
Suddenly, the President's newly-arrived airship crashed into one of the thin ice-crossroads, locking the man inside as he screamed for help. The lava gushed from the area surrounding the impact, and smoke rose from the ship. It would explode any moment, and the President would no doubt die. Not five seconds later, before any move could be made, Old Man Owl's aircraft went down at the smoking ship's back, and the situation grew even more urgent.
Tails quickly worked to mess with Metal's technology, but his interference was halted in its tracks as Robotnik used his laser gun to destroy the device.
Suddenly, the President's ship blew, and when the heroes' cries were left unanswered, the worst was feared.
However, that was when things began to shift.
Metal flew through the haze of black smoke and reaching flames and deposited both the President and Old Man Owl, each clutched in his steel grip, out of harm's way (though some would say otherwise as one of the 'cushions' happened to be Knuckles' head).
Just then, Old Man Owl's ship exploded, and Metal flew backward with the force of the blast.
Rushing forward immediately, Sonic more or less carefully slid down the steep side of one of the many lava pits that had been created during the fight. Bracingly crawling toward Metal, Sonic steeled himself against the intense heat and the calls of his desperate friends, who were no doubt being held back by the President, Sara, and Old Man Owl—otherwise, Tails would have been clutching him around the middle and Knuckles would have been striving to keep his stubborn legs still.
Once Sonic had gotten close enough, once Metal had made the effort to get as far away from the liquid-fire as possible (though it looked like his legs would not be saved), the Blue Blur reached out with one hand and begged his android-self to take it in order to save his life.
Yet, his movement of compassion was shot aside with what was perhaps Metal's first and only moment of genuine, unbridled emotion. A curious ringing filled Sonic's ears, and as a very electronic voice echoed in his mind, Sonic swore he and Metal were the only two on the entire planet.
As Metal lowered himself into the lava, the rest of what could have been a friend was devoured, and while Sonic's anguished mind-scream was the last thing the machine 'heard,' it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever known.
Twenty seconds later, a black silhouette became distinct beyond the smoke—
Wait…
The fire from the robot's demise burned brightly, flickering flames spitting embers into the air. Smoke rose high into the sky, and everything from the center of the downtown district to a third-mile out was rather torn up.
A few feet away from the waiting Knuckles, Tails landed the X-Tornado, which Mr. Tanaka had brought too late to be of much help due to bumper-to-bumper traffic, but the fox was just glad it had been brought at all.
Indeed, the tide of this particular fight-which had essentially caused the traffic jam-had not been in Team Sonic's favor.
The whole gang, including Chris and Chuck, had ventured downtown to investigate a Chaos Emerald sighting reported by Sonic's friend, Helen.
But just like always, trouble awaited them.
After making sure Sonic and Knuckles were plenty preoccupied with an abnormally aggressive, speedy robot, Eggman had sent a second one as back-up to ensure the successful retrieval of a Chaos Emerald.
Tails, with the X-Tornado at home, had been torn between guarding the others and trying to help. Only when Chuck had assured him he would find a safe place for the younger ones did Tails agree. Finally free of any distractions, Tails had assessed the situation at a glance and could think of only one plan of action.
Flying forward as quickly as possible, Tails had blocked the path of the second robot and tried his best to distract it, leading it away from the echidna and hedgehog to give them as much time to win as needed.
The fight had seemed to be going in his favor...that is, until Sonic was temporarily dazed after being punched ten feet into the ground. Tails, having been distracted by his adoptive brother's brutal beating, was the next to take a hit, sailing a good twenty-five feet backward and skidding across the asphalt.
Standing shakily, the stubborn fox had moved in again, distracting the hunk of metal without letting himself get sidetracked again; after all, Sonic had taught him to keep fighting no matter what went on around him, and the kitsune had a feeling that meant even if Sonic himself were hurt.
Finally, after ten minutes that seemed like an eternity, an explosion went gone off behind Tails. He may have only been eight, but he had known that sound well enough to know what it meant: one down, one to go.
Smirking, the fox had backed up until he was standing between Knuckles and Sonic. Putting their strengths into play first one by one and then all at once, the three were on their way to defeating the android when Robotnik had smirked evilly and pressed a button on the control-board of his hover-craft.
Immediately, a horrid boom had shaken and split the street down the middle, and with it there came a sudden blast. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, each on separate sides of the robot, had been thrown in different directions when the bomb inside the robot had gone off. Sure they were done for after arrogantly—and therefore, poorly—inspecting the results of his handiwork and not finding any survivors, Robotnik had cackled and flown back to his base.
Knuckles, having recovered the quickest, had run around the blaze, worriedly calling out his friends' names. Finally, his face gave an inch in relief as he'd spotted Tails struggling to sit up two yards ahead. Rushing to him, Knuckles had knelt down and gently helped his friend into a full sitting position, making sure he was all right before tentatively agreeing to help him stand so they could look for Sonic together.
That had been fifteen minutes ago, and even with the X-Tornado's help, they still hadn't found Sonic.
By now, Tails and Knuckles were immensely worried, as the others probably were if they had any clue as to what was going on. Some of the neighborhood kids had offered their help, and while touched by their kindness, the two had no choice but to turn them down to keep them safe. A moment ago, the fire department had arrived to put out the fire, but that did little to calm the fox and echidna's nerves.
What if Sonic were seriously hurt somewhere, lying prone to an Eggman spring-attack? What if he had been unable to escape the flames, and then, what if only charred remains were to be found? What if—
Wait…
Crawling from the forest depths, out from underneath body after body—
/\/\/\
Stepping through the black smoke with tear stains streaking his cheeks—
/\/\/\
Walking away from the very mass of flames that had sworn to take him—
/\/\/\
And with a wink, smile, and thumbs up—
"They don't call me The Fastest Thing Alive for nothing!"
—This was their warrior.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!