Prefer to Live or to Die

Summary Extended

The famous blue hedgehog is having nightmares and prolepsis (flashbacks but in future tense) and is now concerned for his friends' welfare. Not only is the signs showing him what he thinks he will become, also the death of everyone he loves and cares about, are being played back, showing the murder is out there. Soon Sonic will have a choice, will he live or will he die to save the ones he loves before it happens. This story contains Sonic/Amy romance and slight Knuckles/Rouge. The characters are also slightly older, playing 5 years after the last episode of Sonic X. If you don't know how old they are, I will post the ages down at the bottom for you.

Enjoy.

Chapter One - Nightmares and the Master Emerald.

"I shall ask you, would you prefer to live…or die? That is a hard choice, you're down in rock bottom and yet is there any reason why you should live? You're powers are draining and my ability is improving. There is no way you can survive this anymore, you are over. You hear me…OVER!"

My heart, I can feel it, slowly pumping in my chest. I try to grip it, feeling as if it would stop the gruesome pain. But now I'm crawling desperately on the cold stone floor, my legs are weak and arms are barely able to carry me across to the corner of the room. Why am I so weak? I hear the echoes of the dark voice and a sudden light spot, shining down over the other side of the room. It catches my attention, making me turn lightly to stare up at a small innocent body, hanging down from the ceiling by a thick rope. As I study the body, I resist the tears that urge to come from my eyes. My brother, my young best friend hanging, dead. His yellow fur was stained red from his own blood and his opened wide eyes show the lifeless suffer he had before his killing.

"Why, why would you do this to me!" I wailed, "What did he ever do to you" at this point, all I hear laughter, edging me closer to misery and disappointment. I could have saved him. But I didn't. He could still be alive, but he's not. Why should I live? I struggle across over to a small table in the centre of the room, where lied a pistol with 1 bullet left. I grabbed it shakily in my grasp and pointed it to my head, staring gloomily at the silver lining metal casting. I prefer to die.

(Sonic's POV)

Panic! I leaped from my bed at the shot of the gun striking, ringing heavily in my ears, and crouched onto the floor, before hitting my head on my nightstand. This had created a loud bang, awaking up the friendly yellow fox next-door.

"Sonic? Are you ok in there?" I heard the fox call out, worried for me. I didn't answer, instead I gripped my chest and looked for my heartbeat, hoping that the sight that I had imagined, was all a dream. Merely yet, a nightmare. "Sonic? Everything alright?" at this point, he was stood outside my door, knocking softly.

Rubbing my bump on my head, I sat up, looking at my surroundings. I was in my room, on the floor, beside my bed. Slowly I rubbed my eyes and brushed my nose before getting up and answering to Tails, who was insisting on a reply.

"Yea' sorry…fell out of bed"

"How did you fall out of bed?" the fox asked curiously, as he waited outside my bedroom door. This was obviously a clueless morning question, which he didn't think through. How else would someone fall out of bed?

"I rolled over" I said dumbly, picking myself up properly. "That's how most people fall out of bed Tails" I remarked, irritable from my sudden awakening. To this I got no reply, but the small shadow from under my door had gone, making me suspect that he had either gone back to bed, or gone downstairs for breakfast.

Now that I was fully awake, I decided to freshen up in the bathroom and make my way down the stairs into the kitchen, where Tails was preparing his bowl of cereal.

"Morning" I greeted, watching him take his seat at the table. He nodded back, too tired to respond. As I watched him, it brought me back to my dream. The thought of Tails dead would break me, he was like my baby brother who I needed to protect and look after. There was a special bond between us, he was the only one I could really talk too, express my troubles too. Though, I highly doubt I would tell him about this dream, especially with him dying in it, I don't think he would be so sure on me.

"What are you still doing here?" the fox asked, catching my attention. My ears perked as I stared down at him, confused. "You're never here for breakfast…you're normally on your run now" he was right. I never stayed for breakfast, even if the breakfast was chilly-dogs, I would still refuse. The thought of being up first thing in the morning and sitting down to eat was rather unsettling for me; I prefer to be up running around the fields and hills, enjoying the fresh air. "Well? Are you staying for breakfast or not?" the fox groaned, he was obviously irritable from me waking him up from my fall this morning. I'm not surprised.

"Chill your beans, I'm going" I said with a cocky grin on my face. "See ya later kiddo" with this, I pushed the backdoor open and charged out, creating a flash of blue behind me. As I raced off, I began to take quick glances around me, the trees were waving in the wind, the sun was out shining and reflecting back from the river, flowers were out and showing off their bright coloured petals. It was a nice summer's day, perfect for me to go and wind Knuckles up.

Taking my route, I ran to Angel Island, where my red echidna friend was, humming and waving his arms in front of the Master Emerald.

"What is it, Master Emerald?" he chanted, holding his hands up to the shining rock. "Tell me, show me" he begged. The emerald glowed brighter and brighter, but made no attempt in showing Knuckles the reason it was glowing in the first place. Causing him to have a tantrum. "Why will you not show me!" he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "I am the guardian, and I beg you to show me what is wrong" he shouted.

"Talking to the rock again?" I asked, coming from hiding. "It won't reply back to you" I did a few footsteps towards the altar, but was stopped dramatically.

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" he raged, charging down the steps at me. "The Master Emerald has been acting up, I'm not sure why…it's refusing to tell me" this made me cock my eyebrow at him, with suspicion.

"Well, let me speak to the stupid rock then" I urged him back up the steps, as I made myself go forward.

"She is not a rock…she is a powerful stone emerald that-"

"Blah, blah, blah…Knuckles, think about what your saying…it's like your married to the thing" I laughed at this, but Knuckles continued to hold me back, keeping me away from the Master Emerald.

"I am its guardian, I can't risk anything to happen to it, it is the energy of the island, it's what keeps it afloat, you have to stay away" the more Knuckles pushed me away, the more I had the urge to wind him up, so I skidded past him and made my way up, with Knuckles chasing after me with a worried expression. "Sonic! Wait…no!" he reached his hand out for me, as I reached the shining rock. As I gleamed with pride, something didn't seem right. A burst of energy surrounded me, taking me by surprise. "Sonic! What did you do!" Knuckles roared, as he reached out for me. Suddenly, I watched Knuckles' shocked look across his face, as I was taken back, dragged by the energy of the Master Emerald, into its core. "Sonic? Sonic!" I heard him yell.

Suddenly, my vision blurred and my hearing vanished. I could no longer hear Knuckles' shouts, or a twinkling sound of the energy that had taken me. I heard nothing. It was like I was dead?

"Father, where did Uncle Knuckles die?" said a childish voice. It was a young girl's voice that sounded sweet and innocent. As I opened my eyes, my vision began to come back, showing something that looked slightly different to what it was. I was still on Angel Island, but it wasn't surrounded by thousands of trees, only a few dead ones, and the grass wasn't green, it was a dry dust of mud. Everything was dull, unhappy and dead. I kneeled up from the ground, dusting myself off before turning to the altar, it was cracked and half of the steps were missing, like it had been bombed.

That's when I saw a little blue hedgehog, in a white dress, skipping along in front of the altar, along with her father. Who looked a lot like myself. As I stood up, the girl began to sing to herself, twisting and jumping over the rocks and dried mud.

"Is this it father? Where he died?" the little girl said softly, as she stopped beside the altar. She pointed to the top and stared hopelessly back at the taller hedgehog. Who looked up, ashamed.

"Yes Amelia, that is where he died…" the hedgehog replied. "Be careful, this place can be very dangerous" he watched as his daughter skipped across, and up the few steps of the altar, climbing up higher and higher. "Amy! Come back here" the father shouted, realising where she was running off too. Amy? I watched as the little girl reached the top, and smiled proudly.

"Daddy, I made it…come and look" she waved down at him, jumping around happily. But the father didn't look impressed.

"Amy! Get back down here now…please" he called up, looking worried. I stared frightened. I could feel something bad was going to happen, especially to that little girl named Amy. She was gloating happily, like I was when I made it to the top. She must have been my daughter, and I must have been that father, calling her down.

"Father, I don't see his body…I don't see Knuckles' body" she stated, looking around at the top. I stared blankly. Why was she looking for Knuckles' body, how did he die?

"Amelia, please…" the father began. He brushed his face and sighed deeply. "We should of never came here…I told you it was too dangerous"

"But father"

"No! GET DOWN HERE… NOW!" he shouted.

"But"

"NOW!" I looked at the father, me, the older version. His eyes were glowing red and his rage was kicking in. It was like he was in some kind of trance, a deadly one. "Amy…Amy get here now" he shouted, panting hard. "I don't want to hurt you" he called up to her. My eyes widened. Hurt her? Like I would lay my hand on my own child?

"Yes father" the child whispered. At this point, she looked scared, but like she was used to it. As I watched her climb down the steps, I noticed a hand print shaped bruise on her arm as the sleeve was pulled up. It was mine. That handprint…it belonged to me. As she made it to the bottom step, the father grabbed her and pulled her down to the floor sharply.

"I warned you…do not test me child!" he snapped, snarling at her. This frightened the little girl, as he raised his hand up, ready to smack her. Now my heart was pumping. I watched as it came down to hit her, just as I ran towards him, to prevent it.

"Hey!" I shouted. I grabbed his arm, only for it to go straight through me, like I was some kind of ghost. I turned round, and the impact echoed as the hand hit her hard in the chest.

The girl squealed and the father continued, not stopping his attack to the poor child. I tried to stop it, but my efforts made no contact towards them. I couldn't bare it, it was making me sweat and tear, watching as this poor child was beaten to death by me, her own father.

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" I shouted at him. But it continued. Soon the hand became a fist and the more the girl cried out, the more I felt sick. Until soon enough, the father stood up, looking down at the body.

His red eyes suddenly dropped, changing back to green and his fist soon fell back to his side.

"Not again… Amy! Amy…speak to me!" he fell to his knees, and picked up the body, holding her close to his chest. "Why! Amelia…I'm so sorry…please…are you still with me?" he stroked her face, with his hand, tears rolling down his face.

I watched with misery, as the body he was holding was dead. There was nothing he could do, nothing to bring her back. My own eyes were watering. How could I do that to a child? My own flesh and blood. As tears fell down my cheeks, my vision became blurry once more. Taking me back to reality.

"Sonic? Can you hear me?" it was Knuckles. "Sonic!" his loud voice made my eyes shot open, to see him staring down at me with deep thought. "What did the Master Emerald do to you…you look pale" he stated, studying my face.

"Huh?...I" I tried to sit up, but my body disobeyed. It didn't like the idea of me getting up any time soon. "Amy?" I mumbled, trying to remember the child's name. "Amy!" I cried. Knuckles glanced at me, confused.

"Amy? What about her?" the echidna questioned, standing up from me. Amy? She must have been named after my good friend Amy Rose…maybe there was a connection. "Sonic? Is Amy in some kind of trouble or something?"

I sat up, pushing my torso up and looked forward.

"I don't know…" I said softly. "There was a girl…her name was Amy. She was my Amy" I muttered. It was hard for me to speak it out, without sounding like some kind of freak, claiming that Amy was somehow my daughter, and I beat her up.

"Your Amy? Did the Master Emerald suddenly give you a love potion for Amy?" he joked. I shook my head, re-thinking the memory through. Did that mean…I killed Knuckles too? I looked at him, his eyebrow lifted in wonder, curious to what I was thinking. "Sonic…what happened"

"It showed me…the future I think, I had a daughter…named after Amy and I…I…"my eyes became watery once more, but I tried to keep them back. "I beat her to death…punched her so many times…I hurt her…killed her"

At this point, I was merely in my own mind. But Knuckles seemed slightly confused; maybe he was thinking why the Master Emerald showed me such a dramatic future memory, knowing that I would never do that in the future. Or maybe he was trying to fit the pieces together.

"Sonic…I think you should go home, you are obviously having some kind of mucked-up nightmare that is affecting you. Just go home" he told me.

I nodded at this, standing up and taking small steps till I reached the bottom of the altar. I looked at the spot, where she was brutally attacked and passed it, not turning back. I needed to get out of here. I needed to be somewhere calm and safe.

(Knuckles' POV)

Maybe he was having a bad time. This is what I thought when I watched him walk off into the distance. To confess to beating someone to death…surely that wasn't right. The Master Emerald must have made a mistake. The Sonic the hedgehog, beating a child to death, I highly doubt that. He and I may have issues, but even I know that he would never officially hurt me like that, or kill me.

I turned back to the glowing Master Emerald and sighed, placing my hand softly on her. I wanted to know what was wrong with her, why she was playing up and glowing the way she was. But nothing I did or said made any difference.

"If only you could tell me…what is wrong with you? Maybe I could help you" I told her. The emerald flashed once more, before dying down completely, making me sigh heavily.

Whatever was wrong with the Master Emerald, it must have something to do with Sonic. It just has too. Why else would she show something to him and not to me? I am her guardian; I protect her and care for her, like a father to a daughter. And yet she resists telling me anything at all.

I sighed again, brushing my hand across the front of her.

"Is it that you are scared to tell me? Is it something about me and Sonic?" I tried to think more into it, maybe the reason why she wasn't showing me anything is because she is frightened to show me, to show me my future that involves Sonic. I should ask her, comfort her. "Master Emerald, show me my future…does it involve Sonic?" I pressed my palm against her, and breathed, feeling an electric shock come from deep within her. With this, came my future. Flashing before my eyes.

As I opened my eyes, I stared back at her with fear. That was why she didn't want to see it. Now I understand my future, my life, my death. It was him.

As promised. The ages of the characters -

Sonic the Hedgehog: 20 years old.
Knuckles the Echdina: 21 years old.
Miles 'Tails' Prower: 13 years old.
Amy Rose: 17 years old.
Cream the Rabbit: 10 years old.
Rouge the Bat: 22 years old. (I think)

No more characters will be included at the moment, until they appear in the story.

Thank you.