Prompt: "It's alright, take a chance, 'cause there is no circumstance that you can't handle." –Sonic CD US Opening (Crush 40 vs. Cashcash Remix + Original Version)

The situation was dire. Wreckage was strewn across the wide, open grassy plains that had become their battlefield. Sonic stood among it all, dirty, injured, and exhausted. His friends lay around him, unconscious, looking worse than they had and in a long time. More robots marched toward him, toward them, moving in unison.

"Give up, Sonic the Hedgehog," they intoned, their many voices blending into one, loud voice that grated on his nerves.

But what to do? One move, and Eggman shot Cream, who had been taken hostage some time ago. He could still hear her crying, though she too had been knocked unconscious by the butt of the gun that now threatened her life. But, at the same time, if he didn't move, what would happen? Eggman would win, that much was certain. Sonic would likely die, given his current condition. Cream and his friends would die anyway, despite their efforts. Eggman would make sure of that. The Chaos Emeralds would be turned into weapons of mass destruction, something that was never intended for them.

The world, and everything in it, would die.

But what could he do? Act, don't act. Move, don't move. Give in, give up, or keep trying. Risk dying, or ensure that he and everyone else died.

Take a chance… or don't.

Over the speakers of the massive Egg Carrier about two hundred feet above him, he heard Eggman cackling. Sonic looked up. He could make it, maybe. He'd have to be fast, something his wasn't usually worried about, but then, he usually wasn't in such bad shape, either.

Take a chance or die.

Gritting his teeth, he put one foot behind the other, eyes locked on the ship. Despite Eggman's confidence, the ship had taken quite a beating earlier thanks to Tails and the Tornado. He could probably break through, despite his exhaustion. It would hurt, a lot, but he'd get through.

"Sometimes it feels like it's too much."

He closed his eyes, his mind drifting back to a conversation he'd once had with Amy.

"Sometimes it feels like I can't do it."

Amy looked at him, coming over to sit next to him. She dangled her legs over the edge of the beautiful ocean side cliff he was sitting on, her legs mere inches from his.

"Sonic, I know you, and this isn't like you. What's wrong?"

He gnashed his teeth together for a moment before looking away.

"Nothing."

It was silent for a moment.

"I know you, Sonic," she said again suddenly, "and I know you never give up. I know it may not always feel like it, but you're not in this alone. Me, Tails, Knuckles and the others… We're all here for you. And even if we weren't… Well, you can handle anything." She looked at him seriously. "You never give up," she said again. "It's one of the things I love about you." She smiled suddenly, so bright that he just had to look. "I know you can save the world."

His glaze slid across the battlefield to where she lay face-down in the dirt, looking like she'd just been beaten up by a gang of Kuckles clones. It made him angry for some reason he couldn't place, but not in the same way it angered him to see his friends hurt. It was… different somehow. Shaking that thought away to ponder later, if he ever got the chance, he focused his attention once more on the ship now directly above him.

He'd never gotten the chance to tell her how he felt.

His feelings for her and the knowledge of her pain firming his resolve, he bunched up his muscles, getting ready for the jump. He took the air with great speed, confident once more in his abilities and the things she might never know.