"Okay, for the life of me I just can't remember the word. Help me out here man."
"What word?"
"There's a word that fits ya to a T. Perfect description. I wanna be able to tell ya but I'm having a bit of memory loss here. Toss me some suggestions."
"Uh, kay. Weird, but kay. I got this. Lemme see, what do the others call me... Brave, heroic, caring, thoughtful,"
"No no. Not any of those. Oh! That's it! I remember now! Pathetic."
"What?!"
"Pathetic. What else would ya call someone who's fallen so far?"
"All right now I'm even more confused. I haven't fallen, whatever ya mean by that. And I'm not pathetic!"
"Oh. Ahahahaha! That's rich, dude! We both know that's a lie. A hero who can't save the day isn't a hero at all. You were wondering all this time why they haven't come to rescue you. Ever realized why? If you couldn't save them, why would they ever bother saving you? I'll say again. Pathetic."
"No. That's not true. I tried my best and that's all anyone can do. And they're my friends. They'll come for me eventually. I'd do the same for them."
"But you didn't. Because you couldn't. Because you're pathetic. Ya know what, I'll take ya back to the beginning. I'll show ya why it happened. Then maybe you'll see the truth. You're no hero after all."
It was a weird dream and that's putting it lightly. Well, what little I can remember was weird. It faded kinda quick. Eh, oh well. Time to move on. Let's see, oh crap I was supposed to meet Tails in the workshop an hour ago! Stupid alarm clock letting me oversleep.
I'm down there in a flash. Single staircase plus superspeed equals less than a minute eta. See? Math isn't that hard. "Yo Tails! Ya in here?"
The kid steps out from behind my biplane and pulls his goggles onto his forehead. "I see you've finally awoken. What happened? I set your alarm for you last night. How can you sleep through something that loud?"
I shrug. Obviously wasn't loud enough if it didn't get me up.
He sighs that little 'I'm annoyed but not enough to be angry' sigh that I've come to know and love, then gestures with a wrench toward the Tornado II. "If you'd gotten up on time we might've finished the repairs by now, but as it is the left wing is still a wreck."
I glance over at the damage. Yeesh. Egghead's ships can sure pack a punch when he actually tries. "Ah, no worries. We'll get it fixed before the day's out." I zip over and inspect it personally. Well, this plane's been through worse and made it out okay. 'Okay' meaning not a complete and total un-savable wreck, but you take what you get. It's not too bad this time.
I catch Tails smiling and putting his goggles back on. Well, time to get to work.
"Is that you?"
"Is what me?"
"I keep hearing a voice. Oh, no wonder. I think I sat on the tv remote."
We both pause as he grabs the remote and tries to turn the tv off from across the room. No luck. That thing's always hated us though. He has to walk over to it, but when he does he stops, which sends me following after. I mean, you don't just freeze nearly midstep for something so mundane.
He points to the tv. A newscast is on, and Egghead's the star of the show. "Seriously? He tries again so soon? Doesn't he know he's just gonna get his but handed to him again?"
I have to laugh at that. "Yeah well I say we teach him. Obviously hasn't learned it yet."
The plane may be out of commission for now but transport by foot happens to be my specialty.
Figures he'd attack a city. More people to hold hostage until I showed. I send Tails ahead to check on Amy while I taunt Eggy. She lives here after all. Yeah she's annoying sometimes but she's a friend and I don't want her hurt again. So while he's making sure she's safe, or at least not attempting a solo butt-kicking, I'm heading to the doc's ship.
Someone calls my name and I skid to a halt. Not a voice I recognize. The person steps out from behind a lamppost. A young lady. White hedgehog. Seems afraid. "You're Sonic, right?"
I nod. "Yeah, that's me! Listen, I gotta go take care of a mad scientist, so I don't really have time to chat. I'll meet ya back here when I'm done." Fans are cool and all but I got somewhere to be right now. I start to leave again but she grabs my hand.
"I advise you be careful."
"I always am, no worries. Look I really gotta go. Promise I'll be back to chat with ya though, kay?"
She doesn't respond except to let go of my hand. I speed off down the road. Ship's within a few blocks. Only takes a few seconds to get underneath, then it's up the side of the building and jump. Easy. Now where's the bridge on this thing?
Oh, there it is. Quick run, a knock on the window. Honestly, after all these years I can read Egghead like a book. He's angry about me showing up, but at the same time I know he's glad I did. It's like a game, the two of us. He hates my guts but I also entertain him. Vice versa goes too.
And there's Tails. With Amy. Figures. I make a face at Eggy and get a robot after me in return. Okay, off the ship now.
I can't tell if it was the jump from at least five stories up, but I'm not feeling so good anymore. I stumble. I can see more robots pouring from the ship, but none are a big deal. Tails and Amy are beating them down like nobody's business.
My stumble costs me my balance and a bot catches me off guard. I'm punched through a window. Glass hurts when you shatter it by flying through it. Just thought I'd get that out there. Aw crap. The noise must've gotten Amy's attention. I can see her sprinting after the bot that hit me. Tails rushes in to help me up, which is nice but he shouldn't of left the street undefended.
Wait, scratch that. Amy is a force to be reckoned with.
Sometimes. This bot sends her flying too, and right into me and Tails. We're all knocked into a display stand. Guess it was a department store I got thrown into.
It's a display stand of flatscreen tvs. Tails and Amy's combined weight cracks the one they hit.
Mine doesn't crack.
It ripples.
I fall in.
