Sonic is reckless, there's no way around it. Always jumping in front of danger blindly and doing impulsive actions at the drop of a hat, considering just as good solutions as the methodical ones. Peril and the hedgehog go practically hand in hand, making it impossible to be related to the hero in anyway and not be presented with robots chasing him every other week. Of course, said hero isn't exactly complaining. Not at all; he in fact relishes in the moments that have him preparing for an ambush, bubbling adrenaline within his veins. The feeling is something precious to him, a handy tool in making everything he does while under the spell much unaffected by any kind of damage, regardless of what classification. It's a surge of energy that has him exhilarated and excited, one that makes him feel so much more alive than he always feels. It's a combination of happiness and joy, brewed with the chance of having yet another adventure, why on earth would he complain? Sure, there's the odd chance of getting hurt, but what good is negative thinking? He can take many hits, hits that would permanently injure any normal Mobian, and come bouncing to his feet not long after. Every mistake can be fixed sooner or later, what's important is living in the moment.
..That's the case when only he is at risk, anyway. Opinions and stances switch whenever it's someone else who may be subjected to any injury. The possibility of a scraped knee or a small bump to the head are nothing, sure, but when it's on a bigger scale? Huge factories filled to the brim with giant killer robots, traps just waiting to be set off by the shortest of breaths, the chance of dropping a couple thousand feet into an incinerator (who knows where Eggman got that from)? Yeah, no, he's not allowing anyone but himself to cross that sort of stuff. Teamwork is something he's entirely for, but Sonic is not ready to risk that much if he himself can do it just fine and ten times as fast.
He had hoped his reply to Cream's request of tagging along inside would suffice. The young girl is a helpful companion, and has proved that she can very well manage herself in perilous situations, but that doesn't mean he's all for putting the rabbit in danger. Had it been a mission of lesser risk then maybe, but with the one they're facing now? Chaos knows he is not going to let Cream come near any of that. bringing Knuckles along was less of a weight to carry on his shoulders because the echidna is both older and more experienced. Cream would have to sit this one out. Sonic's tone at the time had been as calm as he could manage, but the firmness within his words is not one to easily ignore. When Sonic gets serious to this degree, it's not smart to defy him, because whenever he does it means something really is looming over their heads with not-exactly good promises of what's to come.
And yet that is exactly what Cream does. Perhaps its the fact that the messages currently being exchanged between the hedgehog and echidna team and the other pink hedgehog and yellow fox outside of the base were not inspiring much hope. Though both of the fighters within the factory were stubborn and refused the idea of needing some sort of back up (matching egos, the ones they've got), the deafening explosions and heavy crashing of metal against solid ground and hopefully no living bodies told a different stories. They had been in there for a solid thirty minutes, far too long for a fight that involved Sonic. The fact that said blue blur is remaining silent through it all did not help the onlookers. Both Amy and Tails were starting to get very anxious, the former demanding that they storm in to help them and the latter struggling with reason, that if they were to waltz in who would guard their only method of escape and the load they've managed to recover , and what his own emotions are pushing him to do, to go in a help his friends form certain doom. While this was going on, and the two were arguing, they never noticed the lack of a certain bunny and her Chao.
Sharp eyes he may have, but when said eyes are too focused on the millions of robots surrounding him in the pretty restricted breathing room, meaning much less space to pick of speed and barrel into them, it's hard to multitask and notice the quickly arriving pale figure. It's already tough for Sonic to do more than one thing at a time, this is only making it worse. Once he does manage to spot the faint silhouette, his wandering attention makes him slow down to a point where the robots are able to nab him from behind. The hedgehog lets out a grunt, immediately curling into a spindash that wrecks the drone's hand. Yet not even a second before he hits the floor, another robot is after him. It doesn't settle for merely grabbing him though; it charges into the blue blur and smashes him against a wall with a loud thud on its end and a cut off cry on Sonic's own. Though now he's allowed to fall to the floor and with a second or two to get his bearings, winded as he is, another mechanical menace is loading its gun. Almost tauntingly, it does so with the slowest of passing seconds, the low whirring like laughter. Knuckles, who is in a much similar case to Sonic's of being whacked against the titanium wall multiple times and left with many bumps on the head and and a fleeting conscious, manages to spot the scene and calls out to the other to move. And though Sonic hears this, and is very much aware of the buzzing of the laser pistol, every time he attempts to stand he just ends up falling back onto his side (which is aching A LOT).
There is a flash of light, and the laser is shot.. just as a small figure careens into it, with another more diminutive companion. The robot is knocked to its side with the force of the impact, but two of its comrades are at the ready to point and shoot at whatever has hit it, almost as if startled and done as a defense mechanism. A screech comes from who ever it has hit, a body hitting the floor not long to follow.
The hedgehog's ears catch the sound and he's immediately driven to sit up, heart caught in his throat. He hopes the familiarity of that voice is only due to his hazy conscious and not what he thinks it is. Even the robots surrounding him have gone into silence, though this is most probably due to their confusion of the entrance of a third party. Luckily for the first two parties, the robots that had been holding onto Knuckles end up letting go of him, and the echidna wastes no time in scrambling over ot the scene of a curled up rabbit laying on the floor and a hedgehog zipping over to her with what bit of adrenaline this has managed to spur on. He's finally managed to focus his sight enough to clarify his hypothesis.
" CREAM?! "
His voice is jagged, pure shock making his blood run cold. But he should be relieved that he still has most of his blood inside his body to run cold; unlike the six-year old he's facing. The robots that had reacted to the ambush has not been equipped with laser cannons, but rather ordinary guns with bullets. As such, their job is a messier one in terms of bleeding and it's not exactly a sight for sore eyes. But if the wounds and bleeding are bad, which they are, they pale in comparison to Cream's face. Still, completely devoid of her usual gleeful and cheerful disposition; completely EMPTY. There's nothing in that blank stare that gazes into nothing eyes rolled back halfway and mouth parted from her last cry.
Sonic is frozen. The sigh is a terrible one, and he wants to look away, but he can't. He's rendered useless, staring aghast at the remains of the young girl. His pupils have shrunken and turned into pinpoints, his mind reeling with complete and utter shock. He can't feel his heart beat, his body has gone numb, the breath has been robbed off his lungs. Still there is complete silence, broken by the thudding of Knuckles' feet next to Sonic. The Guardian is in a similar state to Sonic for moments, before he snaps out of it and picks up the frail Cream in his arms. He barks something at Sonic, but the addressed can do little more than stare at the bloodied spots in the ground with shallow breaths.
Anger. That is his first thought. He knows robots aren't the brightest of the bunch and most have no option of what commands they act out.. but do this to a kid? There are lows that many villains wouldn't reach, and the good amount of the ones Sonic has met in the past abide by the 'killing a kid is going too far.' Apparently, Eggman doesn't think so. That.. That..
" AGH! "
" D'ya have ANY idea of what'ya just did?! Ya' killed a KID! Eggman, there are lows n' then there is this! Complicated guy my spines! "
Those words are the only noise Sonic produces for a while. The rest of the three or so minutes of silence that he gets are spent with the hero being teh victim of emotions he wishes he really didn't have.
That feeling is coming back. It's been years, but it's coming back. That twisting in his stomach right before his heart drops from his throat to accompany the knots. The shortness of breath, the tightness of his chest, the pure disbelief that, no, this can't be happening. This can't happen, how did this happen, why did this happen. His mind is a blur, thoughts that he's long wanted to keep in the backburner coming to stick their heads where they don't belong. Grief, sadness; his life long enemies that he had been sure he wouldn't need to see agian, because he would do everything in his power to avoid any situation like this.
And yet, here he is. Emerald gaze hooked now on the floor beneath him, ears against his head as he tries to keep his composure and emotions rake through him. Chaos, he had always remember this feeling as nothing short of detestable, and he had been right. He wanted to be wrong, for that memory to be so terrible purely due to the kid lenses he had seen it through.
But that is not the case.
Pure sorrow is radiating off of him, figure now slumped. Sonic isn't aware of the shaking of his body, but to everyone watching it's a very obvious thing. Heavy and short breaths come in and out, head shaking left and right because, no, Cream can't be dead. Sonic told her to stay away, why didn't she stay away? Her desire to help others just ended with her demise! What, didn't she think that maybe this wasn't a good idea? That Sonic hadn't told her to stay put for a reason? He had, why didn't she listen?! Did he have to be more demanding to get her to reason?
It's not a conscious act, the way he raises his fist and slams it against the ground. Sonic lets out a choked grunt, sucking in a breath to level out his emotions. He's never been one to cry, but if he was? There would definitely be a few tears present.
Silence, and then h finally brings himself to his feet. The hero's head is low, hands curled into fists and spines bristled and sticking out behind him. He's operating on what can only be described as an auto-pilot now, his expression foreign and uncharacteristic of what practically everyone expects of the fastest things alive. Still, the robots remain silent, until the hedgehog breaks that with the sound of his feet immediately carrying him forwards. He runs in circles in front of the bots, the drones taken by surprise at the sudden movement. Sonic calls out to Knuckles to get out of the place as he runs, his voice carrying a tone that made it obvious arguing with him in this state of mind would not be wise at all. Even the echidna realizes this, and makes his way out of the factory. Just as the robots are trying to chase after him, the sound of collapsing robots and breaking mechanical parts breaks loose, along with the skidding of feet on the floor. Sonic's previous exhaustion is all but gone, replaced with fury and adrenaline, but not of the kind he loves. He's not enjoying this, not when the image of Cream's body is imprinted on his mind. This is both to give the damn robots what they deserve and to let out this energy that he has tp get out somehow, lest he throw a tantrum as soon as he stops.
He meets Knuckles outside of the base ten minutes later. With his ears flat against his head and face hidden, he merely stands rigidly next to the Tornado. He can't hear the weeping coming from Amy nor Tails' mournful cries, and this is something that he is very grateful about. Dealing with all that inside the structure left him not exactly as the 'it's okay, it'll be okay' type of comforting person he usually is in these situations because he himself isn't having those thoughts. His hands clutch at his arms, teeth gritted. He hates this. He hates how much time he's spent sweeping these feelings away and just how quickly they can come back uninvited. He hates feeling like this, he feels WEAK and HELPLESS. He's no crying, sure, but that does not make his grief any less.
It's minutes later that his presence is acknowledged. Tails, eyes looking up at Sonic with tears dripping down his cheeks and ears down, walks up to the hedgehog as he clutches his namesakes within his gloved hands. Sonic can't bare to make eye contact with a loos as sorrowful as that, much less coming from his little brother, but he tries. He tries to put up the facade of the strong hero that is undeterred by anything, the hero who laughs in the face of sadness and emotional turmoil. Yet his smile is as fake as any mask, though stable at the end very small and given away by the look in his eyes.
The fox knows better than to say anything. Sniffling, he lets go of his odd extremities and envelops his arms around Sonic. The older one of the two is still for a while, before closing his eyes and stroking the back of his little brother's head. He hopes this is taken as more a sign of him trying to help tails rather than the other way around, No, he does not need help, he is fine, he is not..
Eyes wander and land on Amy clutching the body of her best friend close to her chest, crying freely into her fur with Knuckles solemnly standing next to them. Sonic wishes he hadn't done this and concentrated on Tails instead, because he despises the way his heart stope again when his gaze lands on Cream's face.
How could he let this happen? He shouldn't have let that robot bash him against the wall, then Cream wouldn't have needed to hit and and derail the shot. Cream is such a sweet and caring and helpful girl, and this is how he ends up repaying her? All those times the shoes have been reversed were for nothing, were they? The poor rabbit is dead and he wasn't able to protect her, like he always does..
" ..Ya' could'a listened, n' then you'd be okay… But I could'a reacted faster, n' gotten ya' outta this mess. "
" I'm sorry, Cream. "
And Tails looks up to the hedgehog, who's hand is shaking against his ear. The blue blur hasn't realized he spoke all that.