Choices

Epitaph One

"Eggman is dead."

Silence. Painful silence. After all, isn't this what we wanted? Countless times he'd had his chances. Countless times he'd claimed he was "a changed man." No, this isn't what we wanted. Not like this. Not when the blood of a life was on his hands.

I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. You've probably heard of me once or twice. I've saved the world, transformed into a werewolf, tasted unlimited power. Oh yeah, and I'm the world's fastest living creature. Well, he might not agree about that last one. I didn't want to think about him just then.

"What? That's...that's impossible. Are you sure? Did you see it? This can't be...but how? Who?"

I can't really place exactly who was asking me what questions. I'm not even sure if they remember themselves. Well, those who are still alive that is. Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Cream. Why had they all been at my house when I stumbled through the door? I didn't think to ask. The next day was a blur. We held a funeral service. Who else would remember the doctor? His robots? Of course there was no body to bury. Just a simple grave, in a remote grove on angel island. I wonder how the good doctor had envisioned his demise? He probably didn't.

"Sonic!"

Ouch. A sharp jolt of pain brought me out of my daze. Black and crimson flashed in my mind as Shadow withdrew his fist from the right side of my face.

"What the hell was that for!?" I yelled, as a rush of thoughts came into my mind.

"You weren't responding."

Tch. He looked so calm. How could he after what had happened?

"You could just tap me on the shoulder like a normal hedgehog."

"I've been violently jabbing you with my forefinger for the last 5 minutes. Do you even know where you are?"

I examined my surroundings. I was on the edge of a cliff. I had no idea how I'd gotten there.

"...To be perfectly frank, I was afraid you were considering suicide. That pink stalker of yours would turn homicidal on me, and I can't have that."

"You're one to talk about homicide."

"That, my blue friend, would be the reason I came--"

"We aren't friends."

"You're right. We're more then that after the choices the good doctor made for us."

"Don't talk about Eggman. Like you have any right. Murderer."

And with that, I sped off at top speed.

But I'd forgotten that he was the only creature who could keep up.

"Sonic, we need to discuss this further."

BOOM. Speed of sound. I was used to that.

"Leave me the hell alone Shadow. I need time to think."

"I've given you two weeks to think about what's happened. Isn't that enough!?"

Two weeks? Impossible. It felt like 15 minutes. The scenery was blurring. Twice the speed of sound.

"I saw you MURDER someone, Shadow. That's not something you just 'discuss' over tea and biscuits."

"Things aren't always black and white Sonic. I had my reasons."

Reasons. Hah. I have "reasons" not to clean my bedroom. You don't just have "reasons" to kill people. You do or you don't. My body began to ache. It wasn't the running.

"STOP SONIC!"

BOOM. Two objects moving at the speed of sound colliding to the ground. Poetic. Not to mention painful.

"Get. The Hell. OFF ME."

"ONLY if you agree to discuss--"

It was then we heard gunshots. Two of them. Alongside an earth-splitting scream I'll never forget.

"Amy." We both said in unison.

A/N: This is my first fan fiction. I've always enjoyed reading Sonic the Hedgehog fiction and I decided I'd take a whack at it. I'm incredibly open to constructive criticism!