I got the title inspiration from How To Train Your Dragon, a song from the first movie called: Where's Hiccup.

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The next thing you saw after falling through the green portal was green grass. Dazed, you failed to notice your fall was comforted by a body below you.

"EY EY EY! Get your muggled web paws off of her." A large black dragon raced through the crowd towards you as you lay on whatever was below you, some chest breathing up and down as it rose and fell. As your eyes flickered open, you saw maroon and white... a little bit of gold... 'EWW NO!'

You scrambled to your aching legs, throwing your arms out like a startled cat (unless you are one of course), and raced on all fours out of the way and off of Dr. Starline. With that awkward dismount, you rolled into Gante standing above you. He grabbed your hand and held you behind him, protecting you from the villains.

You growled at first, knowing you could very well protect yourself, but- you appreciated the dragon's stark protection of you. The freedom fighters probably heard about what happened, Gante- he must be traumatized... You were all he had left. Sonic was right, he really did want to protect you as a father figure. It made you smile.

As the heroes surrounded the tumbled villains, someone grabbed your arm to pull you up. Whoever it was, was way too strong with their grip, and spike from their gloves tried not to poke you.

"Are you ok Ma'amm— WHAT." He dropped you, jumping back. Shaking his confused head, the red echidna blinked and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "(N/n)-"

Your eyes widened- "WH- KNUCKLES? BUT_ I- what... I thought I watched Wolf kill you?-"

"I thought you died too until the freedom fighters told me you were being released from prison. I don't like you being here but they trust you so- I guess it's fine then." Knuckles shrugged, turning and tilting his head away.

(Optional) He opened one of his eyes to look at you, the new you from 5 years of change. Knuckles finally turned around, "Nice scar though."

(Optional) You placed a hand on your forehead where your famous scar was. That's right. Knuckles gave you that during the final fight aboard Wolf's airship. You chuckled, "Hehe, Thanks." winking at the warrior. Now that you were on the good side, Knuckles had more respect for you and your experience in battle.

"Ooouhhhh... boy...." Eggman was rubbing his head, a cartoonishly large bump forming on his bald head. Starline was still laying on his back, but his eyes were open in a panic as freedom fighters began to loom over him. Metal, however, zoomed in front of Eggman as Sonic approached the doctor.

"What are you doing here Eggman- You're got something up your sleeve even if theres no army here. Why's that HUH!? You better tell me or I'll infect you myself." The hero stuck a finger out at the villain, threatening him with his own dangerous creation. Amy was close behind, holding her hammer with glowing eyes, angry and not wanting to give Eggman even a chance.

"WELL! Pea-brain over there..." Eggman pointed over his shoulder to Starline, who managed to finally get up and dust himself off. The platypus narrowed his eyes in suspicion when Eggman called him out. The Dr. continued his story, that, "-decided to let the Deadly Six onto the Faceship. And now they've taken it over."

You and Knuckles stepped forwards, listening to Eggman's ramble. Knuckle's eyes watched and he listened in suspicion, but you stepped forwards.

"I can corroborate Eggman's claim since I was taken there after- the incident at Barricade Town..." You gestured to Eggman, (e/c) eyes narrowed in anger to those events.

"So can I." A voice called out through a microphone, Rouge- who had infiltrated into the Faceship. Tails bounced forwards and showed the group her little spy mission currently in progress. "I just got in right as Starline teleported your trio out. Come on, fox boy can pull up more details on the rescue ship."

. . . . .

Back on the rescue ship, the entire cast sat watching Eggman argue with Tails, Sonic sat a little too close to one of the volunteers, Gante, Espio and Knuckles were guarding Starline, and even Gemrel was staring down Metal Sonic.

You stood behind them, holding yourself and looking around with soft and confused eyes as things calmed down. Everyone was busy... Whisper and Cream were nowhere to be seen. Olive was- gone...

Olive.

'Why did Starline do that-' Your claws gripped at your own arms in anger towards the platypus henchman.. You could just kill him. Your dagger eyes glanced over to him, and he was already staring at you. It caused your breath to hitch as his thin ruby eyes kept on looking over to you. If he ever flinched, his trio of guards would take a step closer to him, to cut him off. His bill formed to say the first syllable of your name before someone else called it out-

"(Y/n)."

You turned to behind you as someone approached you. Roman.

"Roman?- Wow you- you made it." You muttered. You were glad to see a friend alive and well, but your mode for the ladder was still incredibly low. The tan hedgehog wasn't a fan of contact, but he placed a hang on your shoulder.

"Me and Kat, we're- fine... But you- I... saw what happened." His serious voice died with the memory of his best friend.

It was enough to make you cry. Tears filled in your eyes and you decided to let it out, Roman close by to at least try to comfort. You cried for a few minutes, unsure of what to think of this feeling you've lost so long ago. Sadness. Sniffling, you brought yourself back after some shoulder pats.

. . . . .

Starline took a deep breath as he could hear your sorrow. He knew what he did, but didn't have it in him to bring it forwards. He was your villain. He was not officially your greatest enemy. He wasn't allowed to apologize or even try to justify himself.

. . . . .

Back to reality, you thought about what he just said... "Where is she... Where's Olive, Roman?..." Your sadness induced red eyes looked to his naturally red ones, wanting to know what he meant.

"I jumped from the rescue ship once I saw the flames and the Endurance on the ground... I found her (Y/n)-"

You could choke on your own tears, trying to contain yourself as he walked in front of you, now placing both hands on your shoulder and helping you to the ground. Your legs were weak from the shaking...

The boy ran to the ship, panicked to see his friend in trouble. Olive... She had been hit by the skewer, pinned to his seat and unable to escape. Roman's story was brutal but you needed to hear it... He left her with a fire blanket over where she laid to rest... He closed her eyes for her, holding her hands until she was gone...

"Before she was gone, she told me something I think you'd like to hear?-"

You sighed and nodded, preparing for some- big secret or- maybe just a sweet message.

Roman sat flat on the floor and pulled you close, muttering that, "You've become the best Freedom Fighters when you've learned to forgive."

Tears began to fill in your eyes again. Her final message, it was moral as hell and you loved it, but why?... Was it because of Sonic? He forgave Eggman and he's a great hero, even if Eggman came back. You knew you could never forgive Starline and neither could Roman... So why were you a great hero now?...

Wolf...

Deep down, after all he had done. You hated him, but he was still a loyal friend till the very end. You couldn't be mad at him, not any more.

But for Roman?- It had to be Starline. Dots connected in your head and you realized that he must of loved her too- He was on the path to becoming a Freedom Fighter and this was a massive test to him... How much pain he must feel to lost a rare person that meant a lot to him- just like that.

Without his permission, you lunged to the side and hugged the tan hedgehog. He was startled but gave in moments later. He didn't allow himself to cry, just squeeze that anger and sorrow away.

. . . . .

Starline narrowed his eyes at the sympathetic attention you got from the boy, unaware that he was just your friend. Gante walked in front of the platypus to block his view, huffing with a small chuckled, "Jealous are we?- Duck..."

Starline spat back, "No- you all just got in the way of what she could have been. A true villain to rival Eggman and a great conqueror like she almost was."

The three guarding Starline laughed at him, Knuckles adding, "You wish. I just met her but I can tell she's a strong girl with a golden heart. Perfect for this team to stop YOU."

Before the group could continue to argue Tails screamed.

RECAP: Eggman, Starline, and Metal Sonic have all been tossed onto Angel Island thanks to the henchman's warp topaz. (Y/n) gets to meet up with Knuckles for the first time! When she worked with Wolf, (Y/n) actually thought Wolf killed him, so she was shocked to see the echidna alive and well. You were also glad to see Roman made it out, but you were both deeply saddened by the loss of your best friend. Roman managed to find the wreckage where Olive told him something before passing... "You've become the best Freedom Fighters when you've learned to forgive." What could that mean??? Now, we leave off with Silver confirming that the metal virus caused his future.

Man... I really just killed off my author insert. OH WELL, gotta get some conflict in there. RIP. Also, Starline kinda acting sus and idk how to feel about it.

Chapter Length @1730 Words