Chapter Text
Surge was in a world of pain.
Everything felt too bright, a continuous onslaught of shining white that failed to let up, only being interjected by a sharp, beeping noise.
Slowly, she began to come to, slowly taking in her surroundings. She was lying on a bed in a medical room of sorts. The only thing that stood out was the large mirror, clearly one way, a door at the far end of the room, and her usual outfit, folded neatly on a chair next to her bed.
She recognised the sharp beeping noise as a heart rate monitor next to her, near an IV drip that was connected to her arm. Surge suddenly felt uncomfortable, exposed even. Almost as if she was acting on muscle memory, tore the IV line out of her arm, before haggardly yanking off the patches off her chest that connected her to the heart rate monitor, causing it to blare out desperately.
Surge wanted to run, rip off the gown in exchange for her proper outfit and then run as far as she could. But to her surprise, she couldn't. She just felt too… drained. Like something important inside her was now vacant.
As she lay there, trying her best not to panic as her breathing increased rapidly. A million thoughts raced in her mind, trying to make sense of what happened. But in this mental cacophony, only one thought was painfully consistent. One that screamed louder than that damn heart monitor next to her, or the haunting laughter of Starline she swore was lurking in the background.
Where the fuck is Kit?
Her answer came in an unexpected form, as her door was slammed open, and a tall, sender figure burst in. It was a lime and gold mantis mobian, about 5ft; she was dressed in green medical scrubs, with sharp looking limbs that protruded outward. Limbs that included most prominently a pair of elongated, multi-jointed serrated arms ending in sharp fingers. A bright axe pendant that hung around her thin neck complemented her bright, intense wide eyes that curiously stared at Surge.
The mantis barely seemed to notice her distressed form, her mouth shifting into an almost too eager grin, “Wowsers! So you really are not dead! What a ‘shocker’! Guess I really am that good of a doctor hehehehe!”
Surge just stared back, now both confused and startled.
The mantis twitched, then squawked loudly; “EY BOSS! That spikey girl is not flatlining and is totally alive and well, thanks to yours truly!"
“Thanks Minerva, that will do.” Jewel smiled as she walked into the room, leading a pensive looking Kit, sipping a juice box, "Although your bedside manner could do with some more work.”
Minerva looked hurt, “Was it the pun I made? It wasn’t that bad of an icebreaker right?"
Jewel politely shook her head.
Surge immediately sprung to life upon seeing Kit, who grinned in return, “Kit!” Surge yelled, “You’re okay! Quickly, we gotta blow this craphole and fast! Grab your backpack, wherever it is and let’s go!”
“Slow down Surge,” Jewel interjected, “There’s been some.. unexpected developments.”
“Yeah yeah yeah Gemstone I saved the world, kicked Clutch’s scrawny ass, everyone is probably cheering me on and you want an autograph, big whoop. But me and Drippy got bigger fish to fry like upstaging that blue brat!” Surge rambled before suddenly seething in pain, “Damn it why do I feel so drained, it wasn’t this bad when I used that freaking dynamic thingy…”
“Dynamo Cage, ma’am.” Kit corrected. Surge nodded rapidly as she doggedly stood up.
“Surge,” Jewel asserted firmly, walking over to the tenrec, “This is serious. You’ve been out for three days. It’s because of your powers, they’re-”
“They ain’t gone for good gemstone,” Surge cut in, “They’ll come back. They always do after some major scrap. I just need some R&R and then I’m good, right?” She turned desperately to Kit, “Right?”
Kit just shook his head.
Surge was beginning to panic again, “Gemstone, Mine-whatever: They are definitely coming back right? When the hell are they coming back?” She practically screamed.
Jewel swallowed, “We don’t know,” She said quietly, “You absorbed so much damage… it could be anytime. A day, A few days, A week, A year: we just don’t know. And considering the potential amount of strain you put on your enhancements.... It’s not looking good.”
Surge went numb.
Jewel continued talking about welcoming her to the restoration or some shit, but the world just began to fade into static.
Her powers couldn't be gone. It just made no sense.
This had to be some cruel joke. Maybe Squinty was getting back at her for all that crap with the dynamo cage? Or maybe it was that lemur gal was pulling an extra cruel prank?
No. Something felt very, very wrong.
That drained feeling came back, yet more intense; she now felt like a void had opened up inside of her. She heard Starline’s laughter again.
She felt ill.
Surge was snapped out of her dissociation when she felt someone tap her shoulder. It was Kit. She hadn’t realised she had fallen to her knees. “Ma’am, are you okay?” He asked, innocently.
Surge blinked and stared at him, “What do you think?” She growled.
Kit recoiled. It was an instinct that Surge immediately regretted triggering.
Jewel approached her slowly, “I cannot imagine what you’re going through Surge. But trust me, it’s going to be okay.”
“Okay? OKAY? I’ve lost my fucking powers! The one thing that made me special is gone and I have nothing left to show for it! What am I supposed to do now, Huh?” Surge roared despairingly.
Jewel said nothing. After a moment she spoke; “You can stay with us. We can help you.”
Surge’s chest tightened, “No, fuc-screw off you guys are gonna hurt me or something.”
Jewel placed a hand on Surge’s shoulder. “No one is going to hurt you, okay? You are safe now. You’ve done so well for us.”
Surge flinched. “B-but, I did so much though. I-I have nothing to offer you.”
“That’s not true; it’s not too late to be a hero, and some people think you already are one.” Jewel said, “And we’ll be here for you every step of the way.”
Surge gulped nervously, looking at Jewel for any signs she was lying. Surge found nothing. She wanted to say no, but without her powers she felt like there was no better option, “Oh Okay, I’ll… I will stick around for now.” She blurted out.
Kit gave a thumbs up as Jewel slightly chuckled, “Welcome back to the Restoration! We’ve got your back!”
Surge said nothing else. She was still hyperventilating. Jewel embraced her, soothing and encouraging her, with Kit clinging to the tenrec’s arm supportively. Minerva just stood there awkwardly.
Eventually, Surge had calmed down to just a few sniffles.
Jewel spoke again, “Minerva here will take your diagnostics, and make sure you’re all set to go before you officially join us. I'll speak to you and Kit again soon okay?”
Surge said nothing. Kit merely nodded in response.
The beetle turned to leave. “Oh and Surge?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For everything.”
Jewel shut the door behind her. Mineva, still confused, walked over, using her segmented arms to hoist Surge onto the bed before reaching for tools to take Surge’s diagnostics. Kit had sat down next to Surge, playing with her quills while she lay there, still processing things.
“If it makes you feel any better buddy, I thought you were awesome out there in the races! And even powerless you still make for a fascinating specimen. I’ve never had the privilege of working on a cyborg before!” The mantis grinned earnestly.
Surge gritted her teeth before covering Kit’s ears, “Minerva, shut the fuck up. I need to think of an insulting new nickname for you.”
Lanolin stared from the other side of the mirror as Minerva enthusiastically got to work. If you were to ask her what she was doing, she could have said she was ‘observing this new powerful individual to see what her motives were now’ or something, but that wouldn’t be true.
The truth was, for the first (and hopefully last) time, Lanolin was killing time. With all the chaos that had happened recently, a moment of peace was a luxury, so she welcomed an excuse to go somewhere quieter.
Plus there was something else she was putting off. Something involving her team, a certain shapeshifting monster, and a dozen bad mistakes.
Jewel entered the corridor and walked up to the sheep, "That could have gone better.” Jewel sighed heavily.
“It was going to sting either way,” Lanolin pondered, “At least this way things are calm and… contained. We’ve got enough crap to deal with. Regardless I cannot help but feel bad for Surge. Can’t even begin to imagine what she’s going through.”
“No kidding,” Jewel agreed, “Minerva will help get Surge discharged, so we can move forward with her. I’ve already organised the paperwork for her and Kit to join us.”
“Good,” Lanolin responded, before continuing grimly, “That just leaves Tangle to speak too. And Silver. And… Whisper” Her breath hitched on that last mention.
Jewel looked equally grim, “This was gonna come up sooner or later. Even so, I feel so scared. Not when we’d spoken to Sonic earlier of course but, y’know…” The beetle trailed off.
Lanolin shrugged, “You and me both, let’s just get this over with,” She grumbled, clearly agitated from earlier.
To say Jewel felt worried was an understatement, but still she followed Lanolin, daunted but determined.