The Turning-Back-Time Machine
ONESHOT! Based on Sous la Lune Rose by ladyamalphia. I hope you don't mind! I had to get rid of my nightmares after reading that story, because I don't like it when someone good dies. So, I'm going to write this. Ladyamalphia, don't flame me! Read Sous la Lune Rose BEFORE you read this so I don't have to give a fricken summary. Idea credit goes to ladyamalphia and character credit goes to SEGA, as always. Sigh. Anyways, enjoy!
~pantedgieQueen13
Sonic entered the lonely tool shed at the top of one of the many mountains on Ocarina Island. It was sorrowful to have seen so many deaths and not being able to anything about it. He still felt powerless, even though it was all over now.
Yes, things would go back to normal. The remaining Chaotix would go back to doing their detective work (Sonic couldn't help but glare at Vector all the time now), Amy would go back to hugging him, Knuckles would go back to mope on Angel Island, Rouge would go…wherever she went, Cream and Cheese would go back to Vanilla, and he would go home. Alone.
He sighed as he pushed open the tattered, splinter-ridden door to the old tool shed he and Tails had once shared. He sighed again and looked down at his feet, still bare. Hugo and Rodney were still destroyed, and it made him wonder how many loved ones he could lose before his heart would break.
Not that it wasn't already broken, that is.
Captivity, Sonic thought, did something to him. It made him sit still long enough to think. It forced him to keep himself entertained. After Shadow's untimely death, he'd thought long and hard about the word "time" without actually being conscious of the thought. As Sonic passed by one of the hallways, he turned on the television camouflaged on the wall and shuddered as he saw a crocodile pull a buffalo off the shore and into a river. He still remembered the little fox creature that once had been Tails being devoured by the crocodile Vector.
Even though Vector was not at fault, Sonic, as stated before, couldn't help but give him the evil eye after things were once again settled. And, the fact that Vector was complaining about his headphones sank Sonic's already-rotten mood into a deeper downward spiral, like a plane about to crash.
Yeah, that was what this old shed felt like. That panic you get just before your life is about to end…or, that sense of eerie calm before you die. A shiver reverberated down Sonic's spine, all the way to his toes, and he resented being both hungry and thirsty. A bolt of lightning touched one of the taller trees outside, lighting up the lab in which Tails had so often fled to work.
Plagued by curiosity, Sonic entered the dark lab. Taking a flashlight revealed by yet another bolt of lightning, he scanned over the massive computer screen, the many keyboards with various symbols on them, and sketches galore with the awkward, girlish handwriting of his now-deceased best friend scrawled over them. Sonic growled, as the television conveniently reminded him of what had happened to his dear friend.
"As the male crocodile," droned the television, seeming bored itself with the choice of programming, "devours its meal, we see how the buffalo had no chance in this…"
Sonic gripped the flashlight tightly in hand and threw it at the monitor, shattering it to pieces. It sparked and sputtered before dying forever. Sonic nodded, obviously pleased, and turned back. He saw his glowing eyes reflected in the black computer screen, and, for a moment as more lightning flashed, he thought he saw Tails standing beside him. But, when darkness returned, he was gone.
Sonic bit his lip and wiped a tear from his eye. As his hand brushed over the papers scattered in an organized mess, he came across one on larger, thicker paper. Cardstock. Tails only ever put anything on cardstock if he was actually in the process of building it. As his sweeping had knocked it to the floor, he stooped to lift it up again, and did so as if he feared it would break. His gloved fingers traced over the thick pencil lines, some graphite rubbing off upon them, adding to whatever other crap his unwashed gloves had encountered.
"Ornella," he whispered as he read the title Tails had given the machine. His eyes scanned the fairly simple language. It was written in words he could understand, as if Tails had wanted him to find this and read it. "Directions for operation, how to fix something if it goes wrong, its all here. Wonder what she is…" Sonic mused, automatically adjusting to the name Tails had given the machine. "Ornella…" he squinted.
Written between the letters of "Ornella" was the word "time machine".
Sonic gasped, his eyes flooding with tears of joy. "A time machine!" He exclaimed. "I can bring them all back! Oh, Ornella! Oh, Tails! Thank you so, so, much my friend! I love you!" Sonic danced around a little bit, than paused. What were the three words he'd just uttered?
I love you. "I love you," Sonic repeated cautiously. Was that true? Did he love Tails more than a brother?
It gave him a headache to think about it, so Sonic went on to other matters. "Where are you, Ornella?" He asked, as if he expected the machine to answer.
As if in reply, a sound like laughter echoed throughout the shed and white light flashed conveniently over a trapdoor with a rope handle disguised by a few papers. Sonic beamed and, taking the plans with him, descended into the hole with one last statement.
"Thanks, Tails."
Looking back at me, I see,
That I never really got it right.
I never stopped to think of you.
I'm always wrapped up in,
Things I cannot win.
…You were the antidote that got me by,
Something strong,
Like a drug that got me high.
…I never really wanted you to go.
So many things you should have known.
I guess for me there's just no hope.
I never meant to be so cold.
Cold by Crossfade
Sonic wiped the sweat from his forehead. Finally, after fourteen days of working straight, with only three breaks to relieve himself, he'd finally completed what Tails had started.
Ornella looked like a giant, silver ring. Sonic remembered his own gold one he'd used to help him escape and sighed like a proud parent. She was beautiful, her bright lights twinkling in the dim lighting of the trap door. Sonic's pupils were so wide, the green was invisible, but he was pleased anyway and strolled over to the keypad.
What day had he been walking with Tails? The one with all the hail, beating down on his head…it had to have been winter…
"That's it!" Sonic remembered Tails saying he had to mark the calendar before they'd left that morning. How had the fox been so smart?! Sonic dashed up the stars, still barefoot but uncaring, and found the calendar among the papers on the cluttered desk. He paged through it, looking for traces of the fox's girlish handwriting. "There!" He panted from overexcitement as he found the date.
Friday, January 13, same year. Sonic dashed back down into the basement, slowing to a jog down the last few steps. He was lightheaded from hunger and dehydration, but at this point, that was minimal. He stepped up to the keypad and tortured the keys with his rapid typing. "I'll make it so it never happened," he told himself, grinning madly as he finished.
Ornella gave a massive roar and brightly colored circles began to spin dizzyingly inside of the gigantic silver ring. The machine even shuddered a little bit. Sonic ran his hand down its side, distracted by the colors momentarily. "Easy girl, easy," he soothed. "Everything's all right." Then, he stepped back like a bull about to charge and took a running start into the blinding circles of color.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Sonic and friends were walking along, talking as they always did. Rouge and Knux were butting heads, Charmy and Cream were babbling to everyone about anything they could wrap their minds around, Amy was trying to hug him while walking at the same time unsuccessfully, Vector was bopping to his music, Espio was being very still and quiet, Shadow, as always, had an emo-like silence about him.
And Tails, talking about his "new" invention. Never had Sonic felt so elated to hear the fox talking about something he couldn't follow. "It's called Ornella!" He was saying to the hedgehog excitedly. "It'll allow us to travel back in time."
Sonic grinned knowingly. "Yes, I know."
Tails gave him an odd look as they neared a perfectly normal-looking clearing. Sonic stopped the party. A wave of déjà-vu flashed over him, for he was the only one who still remembered the events long past, longer erased…
"Hey!" Knuckles shouted over Vector's scream-o music. "What's the holdup?"
"…Nothing," Sonic said quickly, his face turning rapidly in another direction. "Let's go this way instead."
And with that, they all turned their backs on the accursed hole that only Sonic still remembered existed.
I thought it was pretty good. Well, it relieves my nightmares anyway… (I'm not good at oneshots, -_-'') Please review! Thanks!
~pantedgieQueen13