Chapter 11
Someone was falling down a steep mountain. It was a girl – no – a hedgehog, and she was rolling down, landing on razor sharp rocks. And the whole time she never let out a scream. Rouge watched from behind the dense trees at the top, and watched the unknown girl fall. Rouge wanted to yell for help, but somehow, she couldn't. The bat had seen what happened and it was no accident. She had observed in horror as someone pushed the girl down and laughed mercilessly. Rouge, in a rage, marched over to the person who pushed the girl and turned him around, and let out a blood curdling scream when the person who faced her had no face at all. Instead, a bloody mask stared back at her.
Rouge sat up in her bed screaming. It was a while before she could tell herself to calm down and that it was only a dream. She sat there, petrified, and tangled in the sheets in a clammy sweat. Rouge closed her eyes and tried to remember every detail, but the bad dream was slowly slipping away from her mind, and she was glad.
But something kept nagging her in the back of her head. Rouge knew that she had seen this girl before…but who was it? The bloody mask was just another story. It gave her chills just thinking about it. The bat tried to shake off the cold feeling of uneasiness, but it never left her. So the bat slipped her feet into some black, fuzzy slippers, pulled on a leopard-print robe, and crept into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. She sipped from the glass and slipped back under the covers, placing her water on the bedside table, when the phone started to ring. Rouge let out a groan – she had just sat down! She was NOT getting up again. A recording of her voice echoed through the silent house as the answering machine croaked,
"Hey, it's Rouge. If you're a friend, leave a message! If you're a salesperson, I suggest you hang up before I come over there and strangle you with that phone cord, I swear." BEEP!
And an anxious young voice came over the speakers – but Rouge was already asleep:
"Rouge! It's Tails! Mel's telling us that something's happened to Amy…and Sonic is going to look for her. And he says that Amy's in big trouble! We're all going out into the storm to find them…oh, Rouge! Get out of bed and help us NOW!"
Click.
Rouge tossed and turned in her sleep. She dreamt that same dream over and over. Again and again the girl was pushed down the icy mountain, and again and again the bloody mask faced Rouge and laughed bitterly. The girl kept falling, and calling out her name, and the mask laughed. The nightmare would never end.
The night seemed endless. All Sonic could feel was the blistering cold against his back as he shielded Amy from it. He couldn't sleep, though it was pitch black facing the back of the cave. Sonic could barely move his frozen muscles, but risked that to rub his hands fervently against Amy to keep her warm. The only time he heard her "say" anything was when she sneezed, and then fell silent again. Sonic felt as though he had been lying on that cold, hard floor for a year – someone was messing with the sun. It just didn't want to come up.
As he rubbed a hand against Amy's back, keeping them both warm, he thought about the next day…the day he was scheduled to leave for Shia and become the king…seriously, who is a "king" anymore, anyway? Still…Celicia told him she knew his parents, and his father despised him. It just made him more frustrated. And what hurt him the most (in more ways than one) was that Celicia had an antidote for that horrible pain in his back and that it was on the other planet. It would be such a relief to finally be rid of that ripping sensation.
But still.
He was leaving all his real friends behind, even when, try as he might, to forget them all to feel less obliged to stay. He thought about Knuckles…always losing his temper for being isolated for so long, always jealous of Sonic's carefree lifestyle.
Carefree? Ha.
And Cream and Cheese were just so adorable, like his little cousins or something. He'd never had a cousin…
Maybe my family is on Shia…?
Rouge cracked him up. One minute she's threatening you in the most cool, laid back sort of way that makes Knuckles put up his fists in anger, the next, she's beating the snot out of you.
I'm gonna miss getting beat up…
Shadow…well, Shadow was cool. A little isolated, but cool.
No comment.
Tails was always like a little brother to him. It made Sonic smile the way Tails' face would light up at the mention of his inventions, the black grease that stained his face, always bearing a big smile. He loved the cookies Amy always made on cold days…with candy cane hot chocolate by the fire. Sonic could almost hear him calling out his name.
"Sonic! Sonic!"
Sonic sighed loudly, remembering his little brother and how he may never see any of his friends again…
"Hey, Sonic, is that you?"
The blue hedgehog sighed again and closed his eyes. He must have had a creative mind; he could hear Tails so clearly above the wind…
Wait – wind? In a dream?
Finally, Sonic sat up painfully and turned toward the cave's entrance. His stomach did a summersault – Tails stood at the mouth of the cave, dressed in a heavy coat and a hat (with a red pom – pom!) bearing a flashlight, nearly blinding him. Sonic shielded his eyes from the light, and thought he heard Tails turn away and say, "I found them! They're over here!"
It all happened so fast. Sonic felt so cold and weary, he thought he may still be dreaming. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and didn't seem like reality. He watched with his eyes slightly open as Knuckles first appeared in the cave, followed by Mel, Silver, Blaze, the Chaotix Team, and even Cream and Cheese dragging a tired-looking Rouge. They all shined their flashlights in his direction. Tails was the first kneeling by their side, dropping his flashlight, and helping Sonic sit up, the most worried expression on his face Sonic had ever seen.
"Sonic! Buddy!" he shouted, a slight shake in his voice. "Are you okay? Where's Amy?!"
With his last ounce of strength, Sonic pointed against the cave wall next to him. At first, no one could see anything, but when they all shined their flashlights in that direction, different emotions erupted from each person. Cream and Cheese began to cry and turned away. Mel shook his head sadly and held his hands in fists. Knuckles clenched his teeth and cursed under his breath, as Rouge let out a shrill gasp and grabbed Knuckles' arm. Vector fainted, Charmy joined Cream and Cheese's party in the corner. Tails stood rigid, eyes wide.
Everything else was a blurred memory. His eyes slid in and out of focus as his friends crowded around him and Amy.
Then he was out.
People were talking in hushed voices.
"It's a miracle he survived!"
"It's a miracle they found them!"
"It's a miracle he survived!"
"Um…I already said that, Midge."
"Oh, sorry."
Sonic blinked his eyes as the room came into focus. It was white and light blue and smelled like alcohol…
He sat up fast, while the three nurses who were talking flinched. They laughed nervously.
"Mr. Sonic!" one said rushing over to his bedside. "You're awake! We thought it would take longer, but apparently not…!"
"That's enough, Midge," said a deep voice. All three nurses spun around at the man in a white coat walked into the room. "You may leave now; I must speak to Sonic alone."
They giggled girlishly and left, waving to Sonic.
"Don't mind them," the doctor said, lifting Sonic's wrist and checking his pulse. "They've always been big fans." There was a hint of a smile in the old dog's eyes. He adjusted his tiny spectacles on his nose as if preparing to tell Sonic of his condition, which he did in full.
"Well," he began, "You've caught a little frostbite, but nothing too bad to make your toes fall off or anything"- Sonic shuddered – "And your back is in terrible condition, but Mr. Melgildur has informed us about that. You are deficiently dehydrated, but other than that, Sonic, you should be up and about in a few hours time to catch your flight in the morning."
Sonic barely heard this, a question was pressing on his mind.
"Where's Amy? How is she?"
The doc checked his clipboard and frowned slightly, his eyebrows meeting in the middle. He flipped the pages back and sighed deeply.
"I'm afraid…Miss Rose is in a terrible state. She is badly cut everywhere and is in the operating room now to stitch up her face…" he shook his head. "Awful frostbite, and a high fever and…" he stole a glace at Sonic, whose heart sank to a new low. "…we're not sure she will make it through the night."
If there was any doubt in Sonic's mind that he was not going to Shia, it was gone now. He didn't want to be around when the doctor announced her death…He fought hard as the tears pressed against his eyes. The doctor nodded slightly and slipped out the door to leave him alone. He laid his head back on this pillow and covered his face in his hands.
What have I done?
Moments later, a fuming voice was heard in the hallway. Sonic didn't recognize it at first, until it said loudly, "BUT WE'RE HIS BEST FRIENDS!"
"LET US IN NOW OR I'LL BASH YOU A NEW EAR, LADY!"
A scream was heard, followed by his door banging open and many footsteps stampeding into the room – Knuckles had his fists raised as if ready for battle. Almost everyone Sonic knew were now crowding around his bed and staring at him with large eyes. Tails shook the bed excitedly. "You're okay!" Everyone stared talking in unison – things that Sonic couldn't understand anyway. When they realized he wasn't showing any signs of acknowledging their existence, their chatter died down, and they were back to staring at him.
When it seemed that no one could take the awkward silence any longer, the door crashed open and Melgildur stepped into the room, looking flustered. He gently moved Rouge and Tails aside until he could speak to Sonic without anyone hearing…or so he thought.
"Be ready in an hour's time, sir," he whispered and stood up straight to leave. But Rouge held out her arm to stop him.
"What? You're saying he's actually leaving?!" she raised her voice and stuck her hands on her hips. "He's not going if he cares about us."
Knuckles nodded in agreement. "We would all let him decide what he wants to do if we were good friends, but we know he doesn't want to go."
Tails nodded, but stopped abruptly and turned to his buddy. "Wait, you weren't being serious were you?"
Sonic answered with a hesitant nod, and the room erupted to howls of protest and sobbing, mostly by Vector, but we will not go into details. Sonic merely closed his eyes and laid his head back on the pillow, trying to shut them all out. He wanted to ask Melgildur more questions and get more answers, so he thought with all his might, hoping Mel could hear him.
Please, he thought desperately. I need to talk to you alone.
Almost immediately, a reply came from the telepathic hedgehog. These are you friends, am I wrong? You can't tell them what you are feeling and how much you'll miss them?
"NO!!"
The chaos abruptly stopped. Sonic hadn't realized he had said this out loud, and all eyes were turned on him. He had sat up again, teeth clenched. Mel was halfway across the room, standing with his arms crossed, and leaning against the wall. He shook his head.
Sonic looked around with an anger he didn't know he had in him. "WHAT?!"
They answered with their eyes, and in that fleeting moment, Sonic wished he had Mel's power to know what they were thinking. For once, even Knuckles was speechless and, oddly enough, didn't look the slightest bit angry. On the contrary, he looked downright sad. Even Rouge pleaded with her eyes, and her face was not masked behind a smirk and a raised eyebrow that said, "What's your problem?" No, she also looked sad, and was even clutching Knuckles' arm. Talk about being out of character.
Sonic's piercing glare made everyone flinch, but he couldn't get his anger under control. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION! YEAH, I'M LEAVING. AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! I'M GLAD!" He knew he should quit while he was ahead. "I WON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU LOT ANYMORE, WHINING FOR ME NOT TO LEAVE YOU ALL BEHIND SO I CAN JUST BE IGNORED! I CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT, AND YOU CAN JUST CRY ALL OVER YOUR DEAD FRIEND, TOO!"
Sonic knew that none of what he said was true, but he couldn't stop himself. "AND I WON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH AMY HANGING ALL OVER ME, NOT THAT I WOULDN'T IF I STAYED, ANYWAY! CELICIA…"
"YOU SHUT UP!!"
They all turned to face Rouge. Her eyes blazed with a fury no one had ever seen in her before. She had let go of Knuckles' arm and was glaring down on Sonic. Sonic couldn't help but wonder why in the world she still managed to put on her make-up this late at night.
"Don't you dare talk about Amy like that!" she exclaimed. The way she said it, it sounded like a curse. "She was the only one who cared for you when none of us did! She loves you more than anything and would do anything for you!" Rouge shook now, but stood her ground in defending her friend as tears streamed down her face, trailing black streaks of mascara along with them. "And she still loves you, no matter how rotten you are to her! And even me!" she pointed to herself. "As horribly as I act, she never fails to forgive me! You're such a jerk, Sonic! And DON'T you tell me to 'keep it down', lady!" (A timid nurse had walked into the room, but quickly vanished when the angry bat addressed her.)
Sonic sat up straighter and gritted his teeth. "What do you care? I'm the one who's leaving. Just leave me alone…Don't you think I just want to die - ?"
Suddenly, a hand struck him across the face so hard; he could swear he saw stars. Everyone gasped in unison.
"STOP THAT!" she screamed, hurting most of their ears. "STOP WALLOWING IN SELF-PITY WHEN YOU KNOW WE ALL CARE ABOUT YOU AND LOVE YOU! AND DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT DEATH!" Rouge broke down sobbing, but kept her eyes open and pierced on his, without even bending over to hide her face. But her voice toned down to a shaking whisper. "Don't you dare…"
Nothing was heard for a while except for Rouge's shaking sobs. Sonic's anger had melted away into regret, but he dared not show it. He stole a quick glance at Mel, who stood expressionless and boring holes into Sonic with his eyes. The blue hedgehog only hoped that this time, he couldn't read his thoughts.