I still don't own anything SEGA related.
OOC? Hopefully not too much.
Dedicated to anyone who's ever been unfairly flamed...
"Sonic, the mail's here!"
The blue hedgehog cracked open one of his emerald eyes, the call from Tails ending his midday doze. He swung his feet off of the kitchen table and shot from his chair out to the front door where the little fox was sorting through a handful of envelopes.
"Is there anything for me?"
His brother laughed. "If there wasn't, would I tell you the mail's here?" Not waiting for a reply, he handed him four envelopes and set off to distribute the rest of the mail to its proper owners.
Sonic grinned as he tore into the first envelope, feeling silly at being so excited over pieces of paper. The first two were letters of gratitude for stopping another one of Dr. Eggman's attacks about three days ago, congratulating him in succeeding before he managed to wipe out the local day care center. The third was from one of the kids at the day care center, a crayon drawing of himself standing on top of Dr. Eggman with his fist raised high as the doctor cried in defeat underneath him.
"That one's going on the fridge for sure," he remarked to no one in particular. The last envelope was opened and tossed aside while the paper was unfolded with gloved fingers. It was another letter concerning his last tussle with Eggman, but the tone was completely different than the first two he had received.
Sonic the Hedgehog - who do you think you are?
He frowned, immediately not liking the tone of the message.
You do realize that the trouble Doctor Eggman causes is because of you, right? If you and your mutant freak friends had never shown up to Station Square, Eggman wouldn't be attacking us at every opportune moment.
"Now wait just a second!" he cried, shaking the paper. If it wasn't for him, Eggman would have taken over Station Square by now! And if he hadn't been victorious in the last battle…those kids… Sonic shuddered, not wanting to think about it. He breathed in deeply through his nose and turned his attention back to the infuriating letter.
You must think you're so high and mighty because you saved a day care center from being wiped out. But the fact is, they would have never been in danger if you weren't around. Think about it - none of the people in Station Square were ever at risk until you came and began to stick your nose into everyone else's business. Consider all of the people you've hurt or almost hurt because you and Eggman decided your battle arena would be our city.
Blue-furred ears drooped slightly. Was that really what people were thinking? Sure, fighting Eggman was dangerous, but he never intended for anyone to get hurt…
Don't worry, there are some people who appreciate your sense of justice and wanting to put Eggman in his place, while there are others of us wish you and your kind had never shown up at all. The longer you're here, the more at-risk you put the innocent people of our city. Your presence has changed the mood of Station Square from being safe and care-free to one of suspicion and anxiety. So please, do the city a favor and leave, because until that happens, we'll never be truly safe again.
There was no signature at the end of the letter, but who sent it wasn't important; their message was quite clear. He stood quietly for a while, the writer's words tumbling around in his brain and bringing him down a little more each time. It was just one stupid person; why should their silly little rant bother him?
He was lost in his thoughts, trying to fight the negative emotions swirling around inside of him when Knuckles walked by. "Hey Sonic, what're you doing to that paper?"
"Huh?" Sonic looked down to find the letter had become a crumpled mess in his fist. "Oh, it's nothing…just some jerk who sent me a rude letter."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Let me see it then."
Not willing to pick a fight about it, he handed the echidna the letter. With care, he smoothed it out and read it through quickly, his violet eyes scanning over each word printed on the page. When he finished, he gestured towards it. "And this is what's got you upset?"
Sonic bristled indignantly. "I'm not upset over some dumb letter!"
"Sure you're not. So you mean to tell me that you were hunched over and frowning because the letter made you happy, right?"
The hedgehog held up his hands. "Ok, so I was a little upset."
"…"
"Fine! You're right, ok? It upset me a lot!" He turned away from Knuckles, who was studying the letter once more. "It's just a piece of trash that someone sent me! But in all the time that I've been battling with Egghead, I've never had someone tell me that I was just a nuisance who put innocent people in danger. It really doesn't matter in the long run, but still, the ner-"
Knuckles waved his hand, cutting him off. "You're right."
Sonic furrowed his brow and glanced back at the echidna uncertainly, unsure if he had heard him correctly. "I'm right?"
The guardian shrugged. "So there's one idiot who decides to send you a mean letter. Big deal. Like you said, it doesn't matter."
Sonic turned back to face Knuckles as he continued, "You fight Eggman because you believe it's the right thing to do. You also fight him because you want to protect people from getting hurt." He pointed a spiked hand at Sonic. "One person shouldn't decide whether you're going to get out there and fight him or not; it's all up to you. You protect these people because you want to, and more importantly, because they need you to."
Sonic nodded as Knuckles added one last thing, "Besides, you have a ton of support behind you; what's one person to the hundreds of friends and fans you already have?"
Sonic's trademark grin slowly spread across his face. "You're right Knuckles. One bonehead isn't gonna keep me from bringing Eggman down!" An explosion punctuated his statement, and both heads turned toward the window as the wail of police sirens began to fill the air. "And speaking of which!"
He sped out of the house and into the city streets, the letter forgotten and his confidence restored as he smashed robots and began to taunt the fat doctor.
Don't ever stop writing because one person decides to rain on your parade; a rude response shouldn't determine your worth as a writer. Write because it's what you love to do, and never let anyone tell you you're not good enough.