Looking for Heroes
Part 1
Chapter 1: Walk This World Alone
-
Dear Diary (2-9-2008),
Hey. Welcome to the wonderful world of me: Mariette, your normal, average, fourteen-year-old girl. Of course, you can just call me Marie. Not that I can hear you anyway, but it's what everyone else calls me. Anyway, I better stop rambling. Mom tells me that all the time—"Stop rambling, honey, you're gonna talk your lips off." Ugh. But I can't help it—my mind thinks fast; thus, I must talk fast in order to get everything I am thinking out. But she's gotta point. There's really only two people who are used to my rapid talking. Speaking of which, one of them has been gone a while… But it's only been two days. He's probably sick. What do I know? He gets sick a lot. Anyways, I gotta go—mom's calling me for dinner. Write to ya tomorrow, Diary!
-
"ACK! Look out, Rouge!"
The called girl quickly turned the control stick on her Nintendo Gamecube controller to dodge the oncoming attack.
"You fluff-ball—why didn't you warn me earlier?!" 'Rouge' barked, deep, turquoise eyes locked onto the screen. Her fingers were in a frenzy as she tried to regain control over her kart, as they were playing Mario Kart: Double-Dash.
A viewer from the couch chuckled—his deep voice resonating in his throat. "Fluff-ball…you should remember that one, Rouge. Rare that you should think of such a good nickname for our blue friend."
"Naw, shut up," the said 'blue friend' retorted. "We've almost got first."
And it was true. The 'blue friend' and Rouge had teamed up to see if they could win the all-cup tour grand prix on Mario Kart: Double-Dash. So far, things were looking good. They had gotten remotely high places, and it all came down to this last race—the final lap of the sixteenth course, Rainbow Road.
"C'mon, c'mon…" the blue one urged. "Can't you make this kart go faster, Rouge?!"
"Then why don't you drive?" the 18-year-old replied. Her name wasn't really 'Rouge' (it was really Chelsea)—it was just the nickname given to her after the infamous bat video game character she had been named after. In fact, she wasn't a bat at all. She was an American—from New York City—who had such bright blonde hair, it was often mistaken for white. She, like many others who lived where she did in Japan, were orphans and were used to base video game characters off of for a company that called themselves SEGA.
However, there were some that lived with her and the other orphans that were not humans…
Like our said blue friend.
"I would drive, but you're the one who was threatening to destroy my Legend of Zelda video game collection!"
Yes, quite odd that the trademark of SEGA was a fan of Nintendo games. But throw in the fact that our hedgehog friend has no clue video games were ever made off of him, and that he lived only because of the hospitality of Yuji Naka and others, and you can't really blame him.
At this, Rouge grinned, still focused on the screen. "I can't believe you're actually obsessed with that series, anyway…"
"Look who's talkin', Orlando Bloom's girlfriend wannabe!"
Rouge immediately paused the game, turning to face her partner, eyes flashing. "How did you know that?!"
The viewer behind them, on the couch groaned. "Here we go again…" But taking it as casually as ever, he took a sip out of the Diet Coke can in his hand. Needless to say, it wasn't uncommon for the blue hedgehog and Rouge to get in fights like this. The two were always at it. Bicker-backer here; punch-kick there…
It was almost like a daily routine.
The blue one grinned, letting the controller fall from his hands and then bringing them together, putting on a purposely-lame impersonation of a girl.
"…oh, Diary, he's just so cute! I know he's 31 or something, but he's still so hot. Oh, Diary…"
"Sonic!" Rouge roared, now knowing he had gone through her personal stuff. "Okay, now, you're gonna get it!"
Sonic just laughed as the two commenced into a fight. It wasn't a matter of winning or losing for him. The thrill of it all was just to see her get mad.
"Shadow, you'd better come and help me!" Rouge called upon the viewer on the couch. But her childhood friend—also from New York City and an orphan—did not budge. He, too, was 18, and had black hair with permanent red streaks in them (which he did himself in the days that he told no one about—the 'dark days' as another hedgehog, Amy, nicknamed them).
"Shadow!" Rouge whined.
But Shadow pretended not to hear, instead closing on eye to peek into his soda can. He frowned. "There's none left…better go get some more…" And with that, he got up and sauntered over to the basement stairs to return to the first floor of their 'home'.
"Shadow—what are you doing?! Shadow!" Rouge screamed.
But the black and red-haired one paid no heed to her calls, whistling, in fact, as he jogged up the stairs. Her voice, getting more urgent, only faded away the farther he got. He smirked.
It was upstairs that he found the other members of his 'family' (each considered everyone that lived there a part of it; they had no parents—why not?). 10-year-old Tails, a kitsune and a weird alien creature like Sonic, was reading some sort of instruction manual on the lazy-boy. Amy, who was 12-years-old and a pink hedgehog, was working on dinner. 16-year-old Knuckles—a red echidna—was busy snoozing on the couch (rather loudly, Shadow noted). Little Cream (nobody knew her real name; she was too young when she appeared to remember), the youngest of the family (a human) and 8-years-old, was busy helping Amy with dinner. And then there was 25-year-old Elise, who was currently gone working on probably some new video game with the other SEGA employees.
Shadow smirked, walking over and throwing his trash can away before opening the refrigerator for another one. Only he and the other human children here knew the fact that they were the basis of famous video game characters known throughout the world. Their four alien creature friends, however, did not. In fact, the aliens weren't even aloud to leave the house—which was really just a two-story apartment in the SEGA headquarters in Japan. Every once in a while, they would be granted entrance into some of the other halls. But that was it. They knew nothing of the 'outside world', as they called it. It was kinda sad, actually. They didn't know what a 'sun' looked like—Sonic and Amy could only remember a vague, large, bright object, while Knuckles could remember it a little better, but it was still mysterious to them. They hadn't ever seen grass, breathed fresh air…no, they remembered nothing of whatever world they came from (besides that vague picture of the sun, remember). All they knew where the confinements of their small apartment home, which had no windows and many lights.
Taking a sip of his new Diet Coke can, Shadow realized it was kinda funny how it all started, really. One scientist man—Dr. Ivo was his name (guess which character was based off of him)—was up late at night, working on a teleport system that would dematerialize an object successfully and then rematerialize it correctly in the other capsule. On one of his tests, there was a bright flash of light and when he looked, there in the capsule were two little alien children—Sonic, at that time 5, and Tails, at that time barely a year old.
Dr. Ivo showed his best friend, Yuji Naka, the mysterious creatures. After all—the freakiest thing was, they looked exactly like the creatures for a video game that Yuji Naka created himself. That was in 1999. A year later, Dr. Ivo was trying to figure out what caused Sonic and Tails to appear, when yet another already-imaginated creature appeared—an 8-year-old Knuckles.
That made things get even weirder. And then, the next year, the last creature appeared—Amy, at that time, being 5.
It was also faintly recorded, Shadow remembered, that there was a black hole somewhere off in distant space. How astronauts figured that out was beyond him, but sneaking suspicion told him that the appearance of the four aliens and the black hole had a connection…
But again, who was he to figure such a crazy thing out?
"Shadow! Stop drinking so much Coke! You're not gonna be hungry for dinner!" Amy scolded.
The teenager turned to face the pink-furred creature. Her blue-green eyes were fierce, hands on her hips. Despite her small appearance, she could really glare hard. But such things didn't get to Shadow.
In fact, he grinned, chuckling. "Have you forgotten—I'm the ultimate life form?" Of course that wasn't true, but since the character that was based off of him was, couldn't he say it as a joke?
But Amy didn't get it, as it was evident in the way her hands fell limp at her sides and she gaped at him with one eye brow raised. Little Cream, behind her, giggled, understanding it. Shadow chuckled.
"Don't hurt yourself, young one. Such things are far beyond what your petty mind can comprehend," he smirked, walking away nonchalantly and taking a sip of his Coke.
Amy's face flushed red with anger—but really, you could only tell the difference of color in her light tan muzzle. "I do not have a petty mind! Let me remind you: just who makes our meals everyday?"
Shadow grinned, although no one could see it. "And who eats them…?" It wasn't as if proving that they ate the food—it was as if saying, 'No one eats it.'
He could hear Amy growl behind him, but he was soon in his bedroom with the door shut behind him before he could hear a word Amy retorted to him.
"Ah…this is the life…" he sighed contentedly as he lied down on his bed. Everything seemed so happy every day—and that was an improvement from what his old life used to be. He had a family, now (but he would never say it aloud). He didn't have to go to school. It…it was really amazing. Life was perfect. Simply perfect.
But that would all change.
Very.
Very.
Soon…
-
(So it is written, and so it will be…)
-
Elise stumbled through the door, hands full of groceries. But her grin was a mile wide.
"Hey, guys! I'm home!"
After dumping the bags on the kitchen counter, she was instantly bombarded by a hug from Cream, the little one's light brown hair flying. The child never spoke much, preferring to be silent, but that only made the few words she did speak every so often the more beautiful.
Elise laughed. "Hello to you too, Cream," she replied, understanding the gesture.
Tails rushed over as well, sky blue eyes wide and excited. "Hey, Elise! Did you learn anything new today?"
Elise's smile remained, her own bright sapphire eyes twinkling. To their little 'family', she was considered the 'mother'—and not even Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge or Shadow thought of her differently. When they were down, she cheered them up. When they were in need, she gave to them. When they were crying, she held them. It was really the most beautiful family you would ever see—made of mismatched kids and a 25-year-old mother. Who would've thought?
"Yes. I learned something especially cool that I think you might like to see," Elise replied. Tails was always eager to learn whatever Elise wanted to tell him. She never really pressured her 'children' to listen and learn. If they wanted to lend an ear, she would give them her words of knowledge and that was that, no matter how unwise.
It was then she noticed the three missing members of their 'family.'
"Where's Jake, Chelsea and Sonic?" Elise asked. She usually didn't call Shadow and Rouge by their nicknames. For her, it was easier to just call them by their real names.
"I'm here. Rouge and Fluff-ball are downstairs in another fight," came the voice of Shadow (or 'Jake') as he walked back into the living room/kitchen, and throwing away yet another can of Diet Coke.
Elise raised an amber eyebrow at the term 'fluff-ball', but didn't make a comment of it. Instead, she silently made her way to the basement. Yet another fight to be settled between the two…
Amy shook her head, sighing. "They just don't quit, do they?"
Cream giggled a little bit, arms clasped behind her back and shaking her head.
Tails' sky blue eyes drifted over to the open doorway to the basement. "I wonder what punishment they'll get this time…" he murmured faintly.
Shadow shrugged. "Last time, the fight wasn't so bad, so Rouge just got limited to 10 minutes in the bathroom to groom herself and Sonic got a limit of 30 minutes to play video games."
"Yeah, but they were only fighting because Sonic stole one of Rouge's bobby-pins," Tails pointed out. "…what are they fighting over this time, anyway?"
"Obsessions," Shadow said simply, once again (to his dismay) out of Diet Coke.
But everyone knew what their teenage friend meant. Sonic and Rouge, when not having anything possessive to bicker about, would often fight about obsessions. It was just the way they were. A troublesome, active hedgehog did not mix with a sly, conceited New York teen. It was like jelly in tomato sauce—or mushrooms and ice cream. They just didn't go together. And yet they could be the greatest team when playing together on video games…
It was at that moment that Elise came up from the basement, pulling Sonic and Rouge up as well by their ears. Both were muttering, 'Ow…ow….ow…ow…' and shooting glares at each other whenever permissible.
The others did not make a sound.
"…Rouge you are grounded from texting on your cell for this whole week, and you Sonic—no, don't think that just because you have a bloody nose you're gonna get exempted from any punishment. I am the head of this household and you will be banned from your track excursions for the next couple trips. Is that clear? Rouge, no texting. Sonic, no running. Now I don't wanna see neither of you two's faces until dinner. Go straight to your bedrooms now."
Rouge grumbled, but did as told—making sure everyone knew she was angry by stomping until she came to her room and slamming the door shut behind her. Because Shadow and Rouge were 18, each had their own bedroom whilst Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails bunked in the same room and Amy and Cream bunked in the same room.
Speaking of Sonic, the blue hedgehog was currently holding a gloved hand under his nose. Steadily, the glove was getting redder and redder from his wound.
"Can't I have this cared for, first…?" he asked, looking up with as-innocent-as-can-be green eyes at Elise.
The 'mother' rolled her eyes. "Fine. Come."
And with that, she led the blue one away.
There was silence in the kitchen after that. A few glances were shared, but no sound made. Well…except for the snoring Knuckles. As if on cue, everyone in the room turned to him.
Amazingly enough, throughout that whole ordeal, he had not awoken.
-
(The coming of Chaos…)
-
A few hours later found the little family around the dinner table, all eating the meal Amy had made. Unlike what Shadow's previous comments had said, the pink hedgehog really was a fine cook. Everyone would testify to that.
But today, there was silence around the table as people ate. No usual lively talking or playful banter. Just…silence.
This was bothering a certain two-tailed fox the most. He was one to doubt that people were happy if they weren't talking or smiling. For him, he always needed assurance of someone else's content. Thus the silence wasn't helping with that, needless to say.
"So…what happened today at work, Elise…?" Tails asked hesitantly. To him, it seemed like his voice had an odd ring in the air that would only make the silence worse. But it didn't.
The red-head smiled faintly. "Well…the usual. We've got more complaints than ever now about some of our new products…but there's hope for the newest one that's to be coming out this fall."
Of course, the whole 'products' thing was a code. Shadow, Rouge, and Cream understood what she meant by those phrases—she was talking about the video games SEGA made. But Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Tails only knew the literal meaning of what she said. They often questioned her what she meant by the vague word 'products', but she never gave them a direct answer. So, unwillingly, they had to go with what they knew.
"What about you guys? What did you do all day…?" Elise asked.
Cream's eyes lit up with unspoken enthusiasm, but Amy was the one to announce it. "Blaze came by today!"
'Blaze' was another nickname for a friend of theirs. She was a seventeen-year-old Japanese girl, who was one of the few 'Outsiders' that knew of their existence. She was a very calm girl, not one to speak her feelings much. But she had that quality about her—that essence—that made people just love to be around her.
"That's awesome!" Elise exclaimed. "So what did you guys do while she was here?"
Sonic, finally, lifted his head up from where it was hanging, grinning. He looked weird with a few Kleenexes wrapped around his nose, but no one made a teasing comment about it. Not while Elise was there… "We played video games, some other games, but the best part is: she even helped fix Tails' computer!"
Now that was news.
A few weeks ago, the poor fox's computer crashed. He had been reading manual after manual on how to fix it. Once, even, he had thought he got it working, but it only crashed again. It was fantastic news to hear it working again.
"Tails, that's wonderful!" Elise said, truly excited.
Of course, for fear that he would discover the truth, the little fox knew nothing of the internet. He only used the computer for the vast other things it was useful for: keeping record of working formulas, scanning architectural prints for new machines, playing a new flight simulator game he got for Christmas…
Ah yes, he was quite content with what he did have.
Rouge looked up at Elise. "Hey…El…? What day is it tomorrow?"
Elise thought for a minute. "I believe its Saturday…you know what that means."
Numerous groans could be heard around the room. None of them liked going to 'church' (which was really just a small assembly room with one stained glass window in it; only they attended it with two or three workers at SEGA; Christianity was a minor religion in Japan). It meant they had to dress up and look nice just to hear one person ramble on about a guy in the past. How did that concern them, anyway…?
But only one person, besides Elise, at the table didn't groan.
Surprisingly enough, that was Shadow.
He believed in the words spoken every Saturday at their little 'church'. That there was Salvation, and a life after death. It was what made him change, really.
Elise smiled gently, sharing a glance with Shadow. They could remember it well…
"Do we have to go?" Sonic whined, breaking both of their trains of thought.
Elise rolled her eyes. "Yes, Sonic."
"But why? It's so boring…" he groaned, lolling his head back.
Elise sighed, shaking her head. Crimson strands of hair fell from behind her ears with the movement, and she pushed them back as a small smile made its way onto her face. "Someday you'll understand…and then you'll be thanking me I ever made you go at all…"
"Yeah right…" Sonic mumbled, crossing his arms.
But there was much truth to the girl's words, for the only thing she ever made them do turned out to be the one thing that saved them all.
-
(Finally, the period of imprisonment has ended…)
-
It started the next day.
Sonic's vigorous tapping of the foot had not been unnoticed throughout the sermon. He had been as bored as bored could be. He was so bored, he even looked at the single stained glass at the front of the small assembly hall, wondering what the picture was supposed to depict. For him, that was the sign of ultimate boredom: thinking. Although his mind always wondered—often as fast as his feet—he usually didn't ask himself questions that would take longer than 5 minutes to answer. If it did, he'd shrug it off and move on to something else. But then, he had nothing else to move on to. So he was stuck. Thinking about a stupid stained glass picture.
Ugh, it was so annoying…
But 14-year-old Sonic soon learned, right after the sermon, it was even more annoying to be pulled back from his 'family' and requested to be talked with the pastor.
"…Sonic…" the grey-haired man tried to catch the ever-wandering-attention of the hedgehog. They were the only ones left in the assembly hall.
Sonic jumped slightly, as if woken from a dream. "Eh…? Say what?"
The pastor sighed heavily, hanging his head slightly. "You're hopeless, aren't you?"
Obviously, this hadn't been the first time he had taken him aside to talk with him about the seriousness of the things he said every Saturday. In fact, this was more like the millionth time, and the old man was beginning to get tired of these constant discussions…
"I wouldn't say that," Sonic grinned cheekily, arms crossed over his chest and foot on top of the pew in front of him. "I can defend myself pretty well. I usually win with the fights between me and Rouge—"
"That's not what I meant," the old man said, his breath coming out exasperated. "You don't understand…" this he added with old, winkled hands rubbing against his equally old and winkled face.
At this, Sonic frowned. He hated not understanding things—or not knowing things, for that matter. His nose, better from yesterday's injury, huffed out an arrogant puff of air as he spoke, "Well, if you'd tell me, I might."
"Sonic, that's what I've been trying to do…but you just don't listen…"
Sonic stood up abruptly, palms facing the older one. "Hey," his voice was defensive yet light, as if trying to put the blame on another. "Here's a tip or two from me: make your 'sermons' a little more exciting, and just maybe I might listen." He shrugged, eyes open and waiting to hear what the other would say. "It's a suggestion…"
The reaction was faintly what he had expected.
"What's more important—your place in eternity, or just a few seconds of thrill?"
See, that's where the part about it being faintly what he had expected, came in.
First of all, he had not expected such an old man to suddenly stand up with incredible speed. Second, he had not thought the old geezer to actually consider all that stuff about Heaven and Hell to be real. Third, he didn't take into account that just maybe the old guy would burst his ears off with the level of volume he used. And fourth, he had not thought that the pastor would include something about eternity in defense of his sermons.
"Well geez, if it means so much to you, then sor-ry," Sonic put his hands up, turning away and crossing his arms across his chest. His voice was light and careless.
There was a long, cold silence after that.
Sonic had not thought that he could ever feel unnerved by just silence. But he was then. In fact, he was a little bit afraid. Had he pushed it too far…? Well, he was speaking the truth, right? After all, even the pastor himself said saying the truth was better than lying…
But somehow, he had that little inkling that maybe he had told the truth the wrong way.
"What does it matter…I tried…but you only turn it away…" There was a pause after that. But the next few words—abrupt, out of place, and surprising—shocked Sonic. "…you're not like us, anyway."
The hedgehog whipped around like lightning, bright green eyes blazing. "What do you mean by that?" he barked. Ears were laid flat against his head, although he couldn't deny he was more curious than angry.
"You can't possibly be serious. You don't believe you're human, do you?" the pastor asked. Somehow, his voice seemed colder than before, when he spoke to everyone else—even Sonic earlier. But now…
Sonic's cheeks flushed with quiet anger, although there was little change in the fur along his muzzle. "I'm not dumb. Of course I know I'm not human! But what's so special about being a human, anyway? I'm just like you guys—I walk and talk and breathe and eat. What makes me different?"
The blue hedgehog could never remember regretting a question as simple as that one. For the next sentence spoken sliced him to the core. No, it was like ice that gripped at his heart, spreading to his chest, then his arms, then his throat, suffocating him…
"Since you don't believe in what I try to tell you, I'll tell it to you in a way you'll understand: Heaven isn't open to aliens like you."
Sonic's mouth was agape with unspoken shock. In fact, he even surprised himself when he found the breath to exclaim, "What did you say?"
But the pastor's glare was hard, unmoving and unrelenting. "You heard me," there was a little bit of malice in his voice—a bit over-doing the anger, Sonic thought faintly—as he said that. But he didn't stop talking. "You creatures don't have a choice. You can't go to Heaven—you're animals, for Pete's sake. Animals. And animals don't have a mind…"
There was a quiet pause after that, but even Sonic could tell he wasn't done talking. The air was tense, as it seemed every minute dragged slowly on; it was as if even time was waiting for the old man to finish his sentence.
Remember how earlier, Sonic thought he felt like he was being suffocated by what the old guy said? Scratch that. After what the pastor said next, he felt he was stabbed in the heart and murdered to death by a cold, twisting knife.
"…they don't even have a soul."
That did it.
"Shut up!" Sonic yelled. He felt ready to punch to old guy—anything! How could he say such a heartless thing? And he said everyone deserved a chance at God's love…
How hypocritical.
In fact, Sonic was surprised to see his fist was about an inch away from the man's face when the next incredible thing happened…
The doors to the hall slammed open.
Both Sonic and the pastor then froze, turning to see who the unexpected visitor was.
It was Elise.
All three stood still in the awkward silence. One with a fist just a centimeter away from their head. One feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. And one just completely flustered and embarrassed of it all.
And then…
"So-nic!"
-
(I…)
-
The air was uneasy around the 'household' that night. Nobody wanted to bring up what happened earlier that day. Elise had been mad. And when she was mad, it made everyone else feel bad.
Shoot me for the corniness of the rhyme, my dear reader, but it was true.
Amy sat on a stool by the kitchen counter, hands around a mug of hot tea, her thumb slowly stroking it. Cream sat on another stool beside her, watching her legs dangle and having a vacant expression on her usually cheerful face. Tails was pacing slowly and quietly on the living room carpet, feet shuffling as if in depression. Knuckles was lying on the couch, facing the ceiling and hands over his stomach. Shadow stood beside the couch, watching the fox that walked back and forth slowly across the room. Rouge sat at the end of the couch, leaning forward, and hands folded in front of her.
It was very still.
But Knuckles then abruptly shattered the silence nonchalantly by saying, "He deserved it."
Shadow shrugged. "Even if he did, it's not like him to on impulse want to attack the pastor. Something had to stir up his anger."
"Maybe he was just tired of all the times the guy wanted to try and get him to convert," Rouge offered. She was siding on Knuckles with this one (which was a first, for she nearly got in as many fights with Knuckles as she did with Sonic), although it was mostly for revenge. "After all, it seems like every Saturday he was pulled back to be talked with…"
"Actually, this is the first time in a while that the pastor has wanted to talk to him about it," Tails spoke up.
Amy was quiet while the others continue to talk about the said subject. It had saddened her so much when she had seen how Elise dragged Sonic. It wasn't by the usual 'you're in trouble, and now you are grounded' pull. It was the 'you are dead' pull. Elise rarely did that pull. The last time she had done it was when Knuckles had walked out of the 'house', deliberately ignoring Elise's protests—and that was 3 years ago! Cream turned to look at her friend, her chocolate eyes questioning if she was all right. It was a minute, before Amy smiled hesitantly.
"I'm all right, Cream," she replied softly, hugging her dear 'sister' gently. "I'm just worried about Sonic, that's all…"
Cream nodded, empathetic. But she still did not speak a word.
Then, there was even a longer pause, before finally, Amy's blue-green eyes slowly drifted towards the closed door that she could partly see (this was because the other half was blocked by the wall that dipped down to the hallway of bedrooms. Shadow's was the only one that wasn't in the hallway, and stood in plain sight right across from the kitchen/living room). It was Sonic and Tails' room, where a certain hedgehog was being mercilessly ridiculed by a certain adult red-head…
Amy sighed quietly, shoulders slumping. She could almost hear Elise's loud voice yelling at the blue hedgehog…
It only reminded her how much she didn't want to get on her 'mother's bad side.
To have someone who you worked so hard to try and make proud of you, look down on you in disappointment and shame was probably one of the worst feelings ever.
With a cold feeling sliding up her spine, Amy decided she didn't want to know what it felt like.
-
(…am…)
-
"…how could you, Sonic? What did he ever do to you? You are supposed to respect your elders—not try and hurt them!" Elise's voice roared as she paced the room, arms flying.
Her face flushed with even more anger as she saw the hedgehog lying arrogantly with his back towards her, legs up to his chest, and pillow covering his head (although his spines were making that action difficult).
"Sonic!" In an instant, she roughly yanked the pillow away, glaring hard at the 14-year-old. "Are you listening to me?"
"Well you aren't listening to me, so why should I do the same to you?" Sonic yelled back, now sitting with his legs dangling over his lower bed on the bunk beds he and Tails shared. His emerald eyes glared fiercely into Elise's sky blue ones.
"I gave you a chance to tell your story—but you didn't tell me! That's your fault!" Elise shot back.
Sonic furrowed his eyebrows, but he was not daunted. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you!"
Elise furrowed her eyebrows back, glaring even harder. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you seem to trust that 'pastor' a lot more than you trust me," Sonic replied bitterly, turning around so his back faced her and that his legs were pulled up to his chest.
"Sonic I do trust you—you're not the one who's trusting me to believe you!" Elise countered.
"That's because I know you won't believe me!" Sonic exclaimed, still refusing to look at her.
"You haven't even given me a chance!"
"Fine!" Sonic turned back around in a flash, legs dangling over his bed again. His eyebrows were furrowed, gaze firm. "You want me to give you a chance? I'll give you a chance—he told me 'Heaven is not open to aliens like me.' And that's not all!"
Elise fell deathly silent after that, shocked and unbelieving. Her hands dropped lifelessly to her sides as she could only stare and listen at the teen in front of her.
"He also told me that that's because I'm different from you guys—I'm an animal. And he said animals don't have a mind—or a soul!"
There was silence.
Complete, utter, bare silence.
Sonic stared hard at Elise, and Elise could only stare limply back.
It was a long time before Sonic spoke, more quietly. "…there. Now you've heard me. Who do you believe?"
There was no movement for the longest of hours.
Emerald stared at sky blue. Sky blue stared at emerald.
And then…
All he could see for a reply was a simple, numb shake of the head, her amber hair dancing around her face, before Elise turned and left silently.
The 'click' of the door behind her seemed to echo around Sonic and Tails' room.
But more importantly…it seemed to echo and resound through Sonic's skull, who then and there decided he hated that pastor guy for tricking Elise to believe he was guilty, and Elise for not believing him.
He wanted this to all go away.
As he laid back down, putting his pillow back in its proper place and sliding under his covers, he mulled this thought over in his head. He didn't like being in trouble no more than the average, ordinary teen did. But the fact that Elise didn't believe him, and was mad at him for a motive that he didn't have…
It just wasn't fair how a guy that wasn't even a part of their 'family' had her trust more than he did! How was that possible, anyway…? He hadn't lied to Elise before…had…he…?
Without noticing, his eyes started to close as sleep slowly took over him.
His last remembered thought was, Maybe I could just run away…for a little bit…escape from it all…just for a while…--then a tired, small smile and--…I think I'd like that.
And later that night, that was exactly what he did.
-
(…free.)
-
Author's Notes: Ah. It's finished. Although not like I had hoped…ah well. It can't be helped. n.n It did turn out better than I expected…I've edited so many times. o.0 Anywayz, enjoy! I do hope you like this story that I am working-ever-so-hard-on:D lol Have a great day—and constructive criticizing is welcome. :D So feel free to leave me some suggestions! Thank you!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All characters belong to SEGA. Mario Kart: Double Dash…yeah, that belongs to Nintendo.