I: Rise of Chaos

We stood at the front of the evolutionary anomaly that was The Twisted Planet Egg. Shadow and I figured it out right away; there was no way we wouldn't have! We were always at the front, keeping the enemy off the backs of our friends. How would we have not seen what was coming?

Cosmo would have to die.

I knew what would have to happen, dammit! I knew and even then… I kept my mouth shut. I wanted so badly to say: "To hell with the Galaxy! There's no way you can ask my best friend to do this. HE'S ONLY EIGHT!" No one ever saw my fists clench so hard, I almost felt the skin beneath my gloves tear. They were too busy staring at the tree Cosmo made. Even still, I kept quiet as the little girl who grew up right beside my little bro asked Shadow and I to shoot her.

I looked at the tree that had taken over the blackened Planet Egg and knew that there was no way to save her.

No way to save him.

No way to remain the hero he looked up to.

Because when you've got a little brother, it's so easy to love doing all the easy things for him. It's easy to teach all the life lessons. It's so easy to cherish watching them grow up as everything they've ever learned begins to shape and define them. It's so ridiculously easy to look into their eyes and see the admiration and secretly know that even though you taught them, you know that everything that's best in them is what keeps you the man you are.

Yeah, all that's easy. But then… no one talks about all the hard stuff.

I'm not talking about the disagreements. I'm not talking about the bro fights or spitting contests over who gets what. No… all you older brothers know what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the hard-knocks lessons.

I'm talkin' about the lessons about what to do when a girl breaks up with ya or the lessons about shitty friends that leave them wondering what they did wrong. Or the bullies who give 'em the good ol' once over and send them home crying to you.

Death and sacrifice are the hardest ones to explain to 'em.

Because even when you think you're the Big Man on Campus and you've got the Secret Sauce to Life's Mysteries, I guarantee you that no lesson's more humbling then when they come home and you get 'em with that lost look in their eyes. You pull them aside and ask them what's wrong and you get this:

"Bro, someone in my class died today."

When that hits you, I promise ya that unless you got nerves of steel and you're a real man of the world, you aren't gonna know what to say to 'em. Because then you're gonna know… you're gonna know that no matter how hard you try and keep 'em innocent, good ol' Life himself'll sit there and say: "Alright, this one's had the easy pass long enough, time they got hit with a Acme-grade dose of reality."

At this point, you know you gotta sit there and explain that it just happens to everyone. As they ask you questions, you sit there with the most solemn look. 'Cos you know, don't you? You know that the questions they're askin' are ones you can already see coming. Questions you dread answering because you know with each one, you're gonna peel away another onion-thin layer of their innocence. With each answer you flinch because you know. Despite not wanting 'em to know yet… despite wanting to keep 'em protected, it's gotta be done. Because if not you then who; some bully that'll teach them in the worst way?

Trust me on this… you don't want that.

So you tell 'em. You tell them the truth about it. Everyone's got a number and no matter who you are or what some shady businessman in a suit tries to sell you for your soul, everyone's got their place and date set in Death's Little Black Book.

As the despair sets in and they ask the old standbys: "Am I going to die? "Was it my fault?" Or my personal favorite: "Will all of you die and leave me all alone?" You assure them that they've got plenty of life left to live , their friend loved them up until the end and no force in Heaven or on Earth is gonna take you away from them.

Not yet, at least. Not for a long time.

You give 'em their moment of comfort because if you're a good brother, you know there's a time to be tough and a time to wear your heart outside for all to see. This would be one of those times.

As you tell them you love them and hold 'em to your heart, you can feel it in your heart: You can feel that they know you're lying; that you don't know the day of their death any more than they do.

Still they smile and after the drama, life gradually goes on.

But sacrifice… oh, that's one even I don't know how to tackle.

How do you look 'em in the eye when someone they love says to end their life? For me, my friend, I didn't have time to think about that. I told myself; I said: "Sonic, this sucks and even though you don't want to do it, you know you have to."

Despite how I must've seemed to have bled out with solidarity and determination, I wanted to scream and rage with Knuckles.

I wanted there to be some secret, backdoor plan Eggman had that I was missing. I was cycling through what he could've been planning but in the back of my mind, I knew that there was none. Eggman was innocent for once.

The irony of it was that when the Galaxy was in most need, I, who'd always tried to do what was right, had to be the villain for the sake of everyone else.

I had to kill Cosmo and break the heart of someone who I'd sworn never to hurt.

I turned back towards the Sonic Driver and flew into its shaft. I knew that for everything I was feeling, I knew I had to do it because if I didn't, everyone would die. How would that have been fair to anyone? There were countless other lives who wanted to live the experiences of being an older sibling, Father, Mother or other significant role model. They had the right to live their lives and shape their destinies.

A twinkle of light sparkled in the distance and in flash of light, Shadow appeared in his Super Form. One look at him and for some reason, I knew that I could do it. Don't ask me why his presence suddenly played a part but it did.

We spun and spun and as we felt power gather up, we knew that it was carved in stone:

There was no return.

Then, as if to show me I was right, the high-pitched whir of our spin-dashes silenced and to my horror, I could see Eggman and Tails as if I was watching them on T.V.

"FIRE!"

Tails—bless his heart—tried to still the trembling in his heart and repeated it to himself as he stared ahead with what to others would have looked like steel.

I knew better.

That "steel" was more like aluminum and with every second he thought of clicking that red joystick button, the more that "steel" bent and crunched beneath the disgusting truth of what had to be done for the sake of preserving life, his shaking became tremors as he willed himself to push it but it was as if there was an invisible block underneath, preventing him from doing the unthinkable. His shaking intensified and after a minute, Tails roared out it frustration then slammed his head on the console.

"Just as I thought, I can't do it." He paused for a minute. "No…" he said, his voice breaking, "I can't hurt Cosmo." "Wasn't it a promise?" Tails asked as his raised his head to glare at Cosmo and slam his fist on the console. "When all of this was over, you said you'd come live with us!"

"Tails," Eggman said sternly but softly, "do you want her sacrifice to be meaningless?"

"I can't do it," Tails said, shaking his head with tears spilling all over the console. "I can't shoot her."

"Do you know what she's feeling right now?" Eggman paused for a second and spoke normally again. "You've travelled this far with her, of course you understand!"

Tails struggled to push back the sadness that squeezed at his chest. He swallowed and slowly looked up at Cosmo's tree.

"Sure I know…" He whimpered, trying and failing to regain himself, …"but I don't want to."

There was a long pause and for a minute, I thought Tails was trying to think of more reasons not to shoot Cosmo but then his eyes went wide as dinner plates. It was like he'd just gotten punched.

"Cosmo…" He whispered, his face getting sadder with each word, "You never caused me problems! I was happy to help you!"

'Cosmo must be speaking through her thoughts.' I reasoned to myself.

There was another long pause and then all of a sudden Tails' eyes began to water over as he nearly broke down right then and there.

"I CAN'T DO IT!" Tails screamed, clicking the joystick button shut. He trembled and grit his teeth like he'd just bit his tongue really hard "Because…" Tails paused for a long time while shaking the hardest I've ever seen him and all at once, he shot his head up and screamed at the top of his lungs, sending his tears flying all over the place. …"I LOVE YOU!" Tails flipped open the switch and clicked the button.

Everything went white as the last thing I heard was the echo of that button's click over and over again.

I told you that I could never explain sacrifice to someone. I said that because it's true. How do you explain the need for someone to throw their life away? Everyone says that all the heroes did the right thing when you hear all the stories of the old martyrs but I don't think so.

How can you sit there and say: "It was right for my best friend to sacrifice his life so that others could live." Most say: "Because hundreds would be saved for the life of one."

Bullshit.

That doesn't make it right; it just makes it a necessary evil.

So the reason I could never explain that to someone is because there is no just reason for martyrdom. It's just something that has to happen sometimes for life to move on. Even so, I'll never say it's right… 'cos it ain't!

I know that there are others who'll hear the story of the day my friend had to kill the girl he loved and still call him weak.

To those people I ask: "Could you do it? Could you willingly kill the one you love to save the life of countless others?" I know that a lot of you would say yes and some of you would be able to do it.

But I know the number of you that wouldn't do it is bigger than the ones who would.

Don't worry; there's no shame in that. Because, to be straight with ya, I don't think I could kill Tails to save the Galaxy. Sure, he'd hate me for it but I could never do it.

Because no matter what you say and no matter how much it might be needed, martyrdom is never the RIGHT choice.

One more thing.

Even though my little bro is our tech guy, don't you ever call him weak. 'Cos I'll tell you right now: There's no one I know who's got more heart than Miles Tails Prower.