Glory Days

Chapter 1

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Amy, and Shadow were all chilling in Tails' apartment with ice cold beers listening to music, just to celebrate how Eggman was finally locked up for good. They had him in a high security mental asylum, no-one had ever escaped. "I think we should make a toast," Tails said, standing up. Everyone followed this action. "We toast today to someone who has a sharp mind, but even sharper spikes, to Sonic!"

"Oh come on," Sonic laughed. "It's not all me, we have to toast to someone else, who made this last mission such a great success, the Eggman himself!"

"To Eggman!" everybody laughed and sat down.

"Well, that went well, didn't it." Amy said.

"Yup. You know, it's kind of weird to think that we'll never have to fight Eggman again." Knuckles sighed.

And then Tails said something which really shocked everyone as it dawned on them. "Yeah, we may never have to fight again."

There was silence as everyone realised that Tails was right. Apart from Eggman, nobody really ever went up against Sonic and everyone.

"Oh my god," Sonic sighed. "We may never fight again. Ever. Does that make us retired?"

"No- I mean not- Well I mean- I- I just don't know." Knuckles babbled, the very thought of it too horrible to speak of.

"Well, what are we supposed to do now? Settle down?" Rouge said, shaking her head.

"I guess so," Amy said, looking at the floor. "What else are we supposed to do?"

"But, we're too young." Sonic argued. "I just turned 20, I can't settle down now, I haven't finished having all my fun."

"Maybe I could go to uni, I've always wanted some qualifications, and, Rouge, we've been dating for a while, why don't we move in together?" Knuckles smiled, giving the whole thing some serious thought.

"Yeah, I could always do a PHD, I've always wanted to," Tails agreed. "I mean a masters in physics is great, but I want to be in the big leagues, and I guess I've got a girlfriend, why not make it serious with Cream?"

"Wait up, you guys can't seriously be considering this-" Sonic looked around frantically.

"Yeah. . ." Shadow said, clearly considering it and weighing up his options. "I mean, I know I don't know much about my past, but I do know that I have an obsession with literature, I should really pursue my dreams. . ."

"And me," Amy nodded. "I've always wanted to fly, I should really look into that, yeah. . ."

"And well, if I move in with Knuckles, I may as well go to uni myself, I could do some kind of art. . . I do love a splash of culture. . ."

"What? This is nonsense! There are still bad guys left. . . we could fight them- and- and- come on you guys, this is ridiculous!" Sonic desperately tried to convince them, but they had obviously made up their minds.

"Sonic, maybe you should think about what you want to do with your life," Tails said. "You can't be a hero forever, you have to think realistically.

After that, Sonic drove Amy home in his Porche. "Sonic, I know it's hard for you to grasp, but Tails is right, you need to move on and do something with your life. Sonic, we need to grow up. I'm 18, I have my whole life ahead of me, I need to take positive steps in my life, you know? Maybe you and me could move in together. I mean, I want to get married some day, settle down, have kids, I just want to be normal, and with Eggman locked up, this is the perfect opportunity. How can you not want that too?"

"Because, Amy, I love what I do now. I'm a hero. Everyone looks up to me, I'm famous, I have money. I was given a Nobel Peace Prize. There are five different movies about me. I don't want to lose all that." Sonic said.

"Yeah," Amy shrugged. "But don't you want a family, why does it matter that you're the world's hero, you'll always be my hero-"

"I just- I can't give it up. I don't want to get serious, I just want you to be my girlfriend, nothing more, I'm happy, you're happy, everyone's happy, I don't get what's wrong with that. Why change something when it's finally perfect."

"So. . . you never want to get serious with me?" Amy asked, he voice quiet and sad.

"Well, no-"

"Then I'm sorry, I can't stay with you. . ." Amy got out of the car when Sonic stopped at the red light, and walked home. . .

Sonic got home and threw his keys on the sofa beside him as he collapsed onto it. Sonic turned on the T.V and watched it for the rest of the night, until 3am when he finally went off to bed. His whole life was crumbling around him. His job, his girl, his friends, everything. There was nothing stopping him from going alone like he did in the start, but times had changed, the world was a much harsher place. Sonic found it difficult to sleep, but he eventually dozed off. . .

The next morning, his doorbell rang and Sonic, still in his pyjamas, opened it to see Amy looking solemn. "I brought all your clothes from my apartment. I won't be needing them any more, I guess."

"So, this is really it? This is really the end of us?" Sonic asked, the harsh reality being too much for him to bear.

"Yes, Sonic. If you want to waste away in your faded glory for the rest of your life, that's fine, but I refuse to be dragged down with you. It's not too late for you to change your mind. . ." Amy looked at Sonic hopefully, but Sonic only said;

"My glory isn't faded. It's not over Amy, I'm still the fastest hedgehog in the world and I'm still a hero. I'll prove all of you wrong." Sonic said.

"Oh and Sonic," Amy's voice was breaking now as she started to cry. "Here." she handed Sonic three keys. One for his basement, one for his house, and the last for the little love chest they'd bought together in Spain.

Amy walked away, and Sonic stared at the keys in his hand for a while before he shut the door.

Sonic sat on his sofa and went through the box of things Amy had given back to him, and at the bottom was the love chest. He opened it and saw all the pictures of them together, the ticket to the ballet that Amy had dragged Sonic along to, which he actually found quite good in the end. There were all sorts of memories inside. Sonic felt a little sad, but he didn't cry. . .

He turned on the T.V and watched the news, almost hoping for some great crime for him to go and stop. . .