(AN: Merry Christman everyone! Time for some Christmas Eve despair as we get deeper into Chapter 6! This one is a bit shorter this time, but next part will be larger and more action packed! Hope you enjoy your holidays everyone!)

An unidentified hand opened a plastic tupplewear set, a glass of ice water next to them, and a fork, knife, and spoon sitting atop a napkin. As the hand opened the container for the person to heat up their food, Egg Robo looked up at the person, no food in sight.

"It's come to my attention that some of you all prefer when there's murders and a trial," he said. "To that, I say first: You're sadistic. And second, so am I, so I'm in total agreeance with you!"

Egg Robo lay on the sand, hand on his head. "I'm sure you probably think of my playhouse as nothing more than an appetizer. Something very small and minor which has no significance. But what happened when that appetizer is better than your main course? Think of me as a sauce you add to something like a meat. Yeah, I can be insignificant, just sitting on a plate with no purpose, but think of me as a sauce that adds to the flavor. I'm a sauce where no meal of hope, friendship, or youth is complete without my presence that adds to that tang of despair that lingers in your mouth and keeps you talking about it for months."

He bowed in front of a black background. "Please, come with me and enjoy dinner. It's on the house, and you have no choice anyway."

I shivered as I held my blankets up to my arms, hearing Egg Robo's morning announcement. No, I wasn't scared or anything, far from it. Instead, my throat felt scratchy and I had a hard time swallowing. Back home, my parents said I had a bit of a snoring problem, and usually, my throat would be dry and scratchy, almost as if I were sick, for the first hour of me being up but I'd feel better once the day went on.

This, however? This wasn't such an occasion. I felt sick.

I tried to breathe in but found that one side of my nose was clogged up.

"Ugh, I hate it when that happens…" I said to myself, getting up from my bed and trying to swallow, only to make a face as I grabbed my throat.

"Nothing…" I said, coughing a little bit. Come on, I was NOT getting sick in a place like this. What kind of germs would even be here?

Oh right, Egg Robo. That's who.

TheHunterPersian presents…

Despair Hill Zone

Chapter 6:

A Painful Dash, A Painful Spiked Wall, A Painful Life Loss

DAILY LIFE 2

As I left to head to the dining hall, I couldn't get over how terrible the pain was when I swallowed. This was always the worst part of getting sick. That, and the eventual fatigue you get combined with that feeling like you're not getting any better.

Things didn't turn around when I arrived in the dining hall, where I promptly buzzed in and put my head on the table.

"Good morning, Charmy!" Tikal said, happy until she noticed me. "Oh, Charmy you don't look okay! Is everything alright?"

"I'm not feeling so hot…" I said.

"So that's why you're late," Wave said. "Regardless, A. that's not an excuse. And B… don't get your sickness on me."

"Uh oh! You better get some medicine quick, Charmy! There's nothing I hate more than getting sick!" Amy said.

"I'll try to remember that…" I said.

"Maybe you should rest first," Tikal said, but I shook my head.

"No no, it's fine. I should be out searching with your guys, not cooped up in my room all day."

"Charmy, for all intents and purposes, I really think you should stay in bed today."

"I already did that yesterday, Tikal…"

She sighed. "Very well, but at least let me take care of you a little bit. I know plenty of homemade remedies that should help you get back to tip top shape. In fact, wait right here."

Tikal got up from her seat and ran towards the kitchen. About a few minutes later, she came back with a glass of lemon water.

"Lemon water?" I asked.

"No no, this is warm lime and saltwater! Be sure to gargle it when you can!"

"It'll work?"

"Of course it will! It takes out all the bad germs in your body that way! You'll need to do it multiple times per day and until you're not sick anymore for it to work."

"Oh… okay… thanks…"

"I wanna prepare you a breakfast too, but before that…" she placed the glass in front of me. "Where's Vector? I haven't seen him all day."

"Yeah, I wonder where he is? It's not like him being late!" Silver added. "It's like being late for your graduation or something!"

"Maybe he's mad about yesterday?"

I looked to Wave, who turned her head away from me. She might have thought I blamed her for Vector not being here, but… I knew why he wasn't here. I just couldn't tell anyone.

"Well, whatever the reason, I would like to know. Vector doesn't seem like he'd be the indoors-y type," Wave said.

"Right, you have his key, don't you?" Silver asked. Before the swallow girl could pull it out of her pocket, Egg Robo suddenly popped up in front of her. I could watch her reel back in surprise.

"Are you all looking for Vector?" he asked.

"How did you know?!" the silver hedgehog said.

"I'm right, aren't I? You really wanna know where Vector is?"

"Well, DO you know where he is?"

"It's a bit hard to say…"

"So, you don't know?"

"He probably doesn't and just wants to prod us for information, dorkfest," Wave crossed her arms.

"Hey, don't you hate it whenever you're watching a video online and you suddenly come across something in a language you don't understand? Can you imagine what the video would sound like?" the robot said, changing the subject.

"He just changed subjects like that!" Amy said.

Him changing the subject was just what I needed for this awful morning. This made me realize that Egg Robo hadn't realized what Vector and I had planned last night. I thought back to what Vector said about the mastermind not being able to look at the cameras and control Egg Robo at the same time. Was that true?

"Anyway, you guys can't find Mr. Vector, no? Any idea where he could have gone?"

"I couldn't tell you," Wave said.

"Besides!" Tikal said, teeth gritted. "It's not like we'd tell you where he was!"

"Hm… I see…" the robot said. "Well, no use dwelling on it. Wherever he is, he's probably being annoying as all hell and not worth my time! Anyway, just go about your day as usual! And Charmy? Get better, will you? I need someone to annoy!"

Egg Robo vanished as I put my head back on the table. "Ugh, I wanna die…" I mumbled.

Tikal sighed. "So not even Egg Robo knows where Vector is."

"Where the heck is he?" Silver asked.

"Don't you think we should all go out and look for him?"

"Yeah, Tikal's right! Who knows where he is?" added Amy.

"Look, I get you're all concerned, but if not even Egg Robo knows where he is, how do you expect us to find him?" Wave asked. I looked up to see the others glancing around at each other.

How was it possible though? How could Vector be in a part of the zone that not even Egg Robo could find him? And where exactly could that be?...

Regardless, when I started coughing, Tikal looked at me.

"Go on Charmy, take your water…"

"Alright, alright…" I said, grabbing the glass and buzzing over to the sink in the kitchen, gargling the water and trying my best not to swallow it. I mean, warm salt lime water? Delicious, no?

I felt a bit weird after that, not so much more snotty, but my throat felt a little odd. I guess since I'm not used to it, I imagine it would feel a little different. When I finished up gargling and returned to the dining hall, I could see everyone getting up.

"Where are you all off to?" I asked.

"We're out exploring, bee," Wave replied.

"Wait, hold on-"

"Oh no, no no no no!" Tikal said, shaking her head. "You're sick, mister, and you should be resting."

"B-But!"

"No buts! Go back to your room and I'll give you some breakfast."

"Geez, when did you get so motherly?" Silver asked.

"I care about when my friends are ill, Silver. Do you?"

"Uh…"

"Case in point."

"We'll be fine without Charmy, right?" Amy asked.

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Wave replied. The others walked off as Tikal headed into the kitchen, leaving myself to brood back on to my room.

"This sucks…" I said, buzzing back into bed and pulling the sheets up to me. "I should be out there looking for Vector, not stuck in here not doing anything…"

After tossing in turning in my bed for about twenty minutes, not able to get back to bed, I could see my door open from where I was. Tikal walked in carrying a tray of various foods, causing me to raise my body up. She placed the tray right on top of where my legs were.

"Tikal, you didn't need to do that…" I said.

"Don't worry about it, Charmy! It's fine!" she replied. "Okay, so from what I remember grandma telling me… I prepared you the best and healthiest meals for when you're sick. First, we have a bowl of oatmeal with sliced bananas, then a cup of applesauce, some whole wheat toast with no butter, and some saltine crackers. Finally, to wash it all down, there's some peppermint tea with honey."

"Okay, now I REALLY need to tell you again that you really didn't need to do this. This is just… it's way too much!"

"Don't be silly, you need to get better! Besides, it's not like I'd be of much help for the investigation."

"You wanna stay here all day? I don't want you to get sick."

"I guess you're not wrong. With us not knowing what kind of bacteria could be around, heaven knows if its airborne or not. Here, tell you what, I'll go leave to do the investigation, but later I'll come back and serve you lunch."

"Tikal…" I whined, but she drowned me out.

"No buts. What did I say?"

"Fine…"

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be off. Don't get out of bed, and uh… Charmy?"

"Yeah?" I asked, reaching for the crackers.

"…when I come back with lunch, tell me how the breakfast was, okay? I've… never really done anything like that for a boy."

"Oh sure, no problem."

Tikal walked away with a smile as I got started with my breakfast. After digging into the crackers right away, I grabbed the spoon on the tray and began to eat the oatmeal. I'm not the world's… pickiest eater, especially nowadays, because I used to be a big one as a kid, but oatmeal was kind of an always 'eh' dish to me. Usually, when my dad prepared it, it was bland, but mom knew how to add other things like berries or cinnamon to it to make it taste better.

This however? This was on a completely new level. This was… delicious! I never tasted anything like this but… man, now I want this to be the oatmeal I get served from here on out. Even the rest of my breakfast was great, and the tea tasted delicious. As I sighed, getting into bed and feeling my body flow with warmth from the tea, I doubt I was gonna get better but… hey, it's not like I'd be cured in one day.

LATER

I was interrupted by someone knocking on my door. I wasn't having a dream of any kind, but it was just annoying being interrupted from precious sleep time. My attitude changed however, when I saw Tikal walking into my room, holding another tray. She pulled up a chair next to my bed and set my breakfast tray down onto the floor and placed the lunch tray on my nightstand.

"Well? How did you like the breakfast?" she asked.

"It was great," I smiled. "I loved it. What's for lunch?"

"Well, I prepared you a big bowl of chicken noodle soup and some ginger ale."

"Oh man, my favorite."

"Really? It's your favorite meal?"

"Nah, it's honey, but I always love having this when I'm sick. Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome," she smiled as I grabbed the tray and placed it on my lap.

"How did the investigation go?"

"Not so well. Wave's been up on the roof all day trying to figure out if there's some way to get out based on the fact that we're on a roof but she worried that she'll crash through something."

"Yeah, that does sound awful if it happened. What about you?"

"I've been looking through the first and second floors but… nothing. It's such a shame… if only Ditz was with us, or… or Vector…"

I grabbed my spoon and began to eat some of the noodles from the bowl. "Yeah, I've been conflicting on that all day. Oh man, not to change the subject, but this is delicious. Is this homemade?"

"Of course. When Grandma was sick, I learned to make my own homemade chicken noodle soup to help her get better since no one was doing anything for her. She really appreciated it a lot, and I even make it for… for father too…"

She grew uncomfortably silent when she mentioned him.

"Hey, Tikal? Last time we had a talk like this, you said your dad was kind of… well, kind of a dick. Did you still wanna talk about that, or nah?"

She looked at me and turned her head away. "You know.,. maybe I can talk about it, just a little…"

I looked at the echidna, knowing that if I already felt like I hadn't gotten closer to her before, I was getting closer now.

"Did he ever… hit you?"

"No just he was… very, verbally abusive…"

"How bad was it?"

"Very bad… I don't want to get into the specifics, but let's just say, having him confront you after going to a rally with grandma was horrifying at five years old. Heck, he wasn't even sad when grandma died."

"He WHAT?!"

"Yeah, can you believe it? He simply saw grandma as nothing more than an indoctrination machine, and he felt like it worked on me. He saw gran in me and took it out on me. I'd come home from school, bullied all day by my peers, only to come home to him berating me for setting up my next protest. 'You can never go anywhere in life being a special snowflake' was his favorite thing to say to me, and he'd often destroy signs I'd make. He wanted me to drop my ideals of pacifism, become nihilistic, and think that echidnas are a superior species over others, and that our ancestors were wrong for leaving Angel Island and how echidnas should have their own homeland."

"That's awful. Do you still live with him?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm trying to move out soon, but over the years, I've become much more numb to what he says. It still makes me sad knowing that our family has been torn not only since mother died, but also since gran died too. I think he does that because of grief but-"

"You shouldn't excuse him regardless."

"I know… I just… I wish he'd realize the error of his ways."

"People like that, they can't change their mind. They think that their way of thinking is right, and they choose to believe whatever 'facts' they hear, either from their mind or what they hear from others, no matter how many people debunk it. I mean, who even disagrees with pacifism?"

"Many people."

"Huh?"

"My father is one person, but the amount of online abuse I've suffered is beyond unreal. I've suffered things such as name calling, leaking of my personal information, to even… death and rape threats."

"Over pacifism?!"

"I thought people like my father were only one person but… as it turns out, many people think like him too."

"And you don't get scared because of that?"

"People who do stuff such as that are weak. They want to present an image of being tough to others, but they shake in the face of others who stand up for basic rights and need some way to show displeasure."

"That's incredible…"

"I don't know if I mentioned this before, but… my biggest dream for this world is that we can live in a paradise where we all treat each other with respect, where we can co-exist with nature and care for our environment, and make sure that no man, woman, or child goes hungry or lacks something as basic as a warm, soft bed to sleep on."

"I think you can reach that dream."

"You do?"

"Of course. After all, you're the Ultimate Pacifist. You can reach there."

"It's true… but it'll take more than words to convince people."

"How so?"

"That's why I'm practicing becoming a maiden. Perhaps… perhaps once I master that, I can finally learn the answer to that question."

I smiled. "No wonder. I always didn't know why you'd wanna become one but, I guess I know now," Turning back to my soup, I took a bite out of it only to make a face.

"Is there something wrong?"

"My soup… it's cold."

Tikal began to giggle. "Oops! I guess we got a little too carried away with talking, didn't we? Hold on, lemme take this back to the kitchen and I'll get this warm for you, okay?"

"Okay, mom."

"Oh, cut that out! I'm not ready to be a mom yet!"

I smiled as I watched Tikal leave the room.

LATER

After my lunch and spending some more time in bed, some cough syrup and cough drops on my nightstand, I still wasn't feeling much better, but I guess it was to be expected. Getting up from bed, while knowing I wasn't the hottest, I decided I'd get something to eat before I'd sleep in early tonight. On my way to the dining hall, I encountered…

"Oh, you," Wave said when I stepped out of my door and into the hallway.

"Wave," I said.

"Yes, it's me. What do you want?"

"I was just on my way to get something to eat. Di-" I began to cough as Wave took a few steps back.

"Don't get me sick now."

"Sorry. Did you eat?"

"Of course I did. Pacifist girl told me that she's been taking care of you. How are you feeling?"

"Still not the same? I guess?"

"Well then you need to start getting better now. The sooner you get better, the sooner we can continue the investigation, for as much as I don't want to admit it, you're a valuable resource."

"Huh, look at you complimenting me. That's a rare sight.

"It's almost LIKE you want me to hit you across the head or something."

"Do it when I'm feeling better."

"Fine."

We both looked at each other for a bit before I smiled.

"Did… did you wanna join me as I get something to eat? I'm sure you probably wanna discuss anything you wanted to find, right?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, bee. We haven't found much but, I guess I might as well bask in your presence. Not like I have much to do besides that anyway."

And so, Wave joined me as I decided to have just a cup of yogurt for my dinner. She even noted how it was a bit odd, as dairy probably wouldn't be the best for me, but I blew her off. Besides, tomorrow I should have some more soup, that and just, I really like yogurt.

As we sat in the dining hall, unwrapping my yogurt cup, I looked at the swallow.

"You know, you don't seem to talk about your history," I said.

"I already revealed to you I like parfaits. What else do you want to know? What shampoo I use to shower with every morning?"

'No… thank you. No, I mean like… how did you find out about your heritage? And how did you get your love of mechanics?"

Wave slouched in her seat. "I mean, it's nothing really too special. When I was a kid, my parents noticed that the minute I could start holding things on my own, I really liked the toy building set my father bought me. He was also a mechanic too, and he thought that having a daughter who'd be into mechanics would be impossible. Assuming that I'd be into stereotypical girl things, he told my mom he was beyond ecstatic when he saw me with that. And then growing up, he'd make me miniature things for me to build. I'd say it helped me not only get started with my roots in mechanics, but also helped me develop skills such as patience and perfection."

"Did he know you all were Babylonians?"

"Actually, no. Apparently, that was actually hidden from my parents' life for as long as they lived, until a man named Tempest came to our door one day to reveal the truth of their lineage. And when he saw me, he realized I was the next in line to lead his group: the Babylon Rogues. At first, my dad didn't want me to get involved in that. He heard about them in passing but only knew them to be thieves. But I… I grew curious."

"How so?"

"…defying what my parents wanted, I'd sneak out at night once I learned about Extreme Gear to practice using them. I began to think about the Babylon Garden not just in my thoughts but in my dreams. Was that the place where we all should have been? Should I be there living my life with mom and dad? I know they didn't want that, but I did. I wanted to see that garden, and I wanted to ride. And when I began to regularly sneak out, guess who I met at an Extreme Gear park?"

"…Jet?"

"…when he saw my skills, he said he knew why his dad wanted me. With a mechanic and someone in charge with creating Extreme Gear, Tempest felt his son would lead the Babylon Rogues into a new age: the age of the Babylon Garden. But we still weren't complete, we needed a right-hand man who was loyal, and Jet said that his father might have found a match, in a small travelling circus currently touring in Soleanna."

"That was Storm, right?"

'You guessed it."

"Did your dad ever find out?"

"He did."

"And what did he do?"

"He wasn't pleased but… I promised that I wasn't doing any kind of thieving, and when I brought home part of my prize money for them, they thought that the group was fine, as long as I wasn't doing anything illegal."

"And you were, right?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"Hey, Jet dodged the question when I asked him."

"Let's just say, myself, Jet, and Storm probably have our faces somewhere in a police station's gun range."

My eyes grew wide. Not even into your 20's and you're a wanted criminal… Is Ultimate Crook a title or something?

"Anyway, I've devoted enough of my time to you. Eat your little yogurt and get to bed, I better see you better by tomorrow," Wave said, getting up and leaving the dining hall. I mean, that's not how illness' work, but… okay.

When I returned to my room, I was suddenly overcome with a feeling of nausea. As I heeled over, holding my stomach, my nausea was paired with chills, dizziness, and I even felt a little faint.

"Ugh… I need to get to bed now… I feel so awful…" I said, buzzing over to check the time. "Good, it's not night time yet."

Going into my bathroom, I grabbed some toilet paper and turned on the sink, getting it wet as I placed it on my forehead, using it as a makeshift rag. I got in bed as quickly as I could as the lights became dim, pulling the covers to my neck. I could feel my throat in pain as I coughed multiple times, my body incredible sweaty. Never have I experienced an illness like this before… I took my jacket and helmet off, but it really didn't help. I tried to fall asleep, but I'd end up coughing or I'd swallow only to be hit with that usual pain.

Eventually however, I was able to finally go to bed, only…

I dreamt.

I began to dream about a black room with nothing in it.

"I…"

I wonder who said that?

"I under…"

?

"I understand…"

Huh?

Is that… me?

I was staring at myself. My mirror image began to melt into a puddle until I was staring at an image of myself through the transparent look of water.

"I understand everything now," my doppelgänger said. "My goal was never to leave here. It was to stay for the rest of my life."

What? What was I saying?

"Hope… I do this for hope. I do this to be a hero… I do this, to inspire hope onto others. That's what being a hero is all about, is it not? Inspiring others to do good?"

I shook my head, only for my mirror image to vanish as… shapes, overcame everything. I… I didn't even know how to describe them at this point. They were just… shapes… shapes of all different sizes, with no colors to set them apart, began to overcrowd me. I didn't know what this meant…

And when I woke up, I still felt just as ill and just as lost as I was when I was sleeping. I slowly opened my eyes, coughing intensely as I swore I saw something in the shadows of my room.

…

Wait a minute…

Saw?

I looked up and opened my eyes wider as I saw… someone, in a white lab coat wearing some kind of cracked diamond shaped mask standing over me. When they saw that I noticed them…

…they brought out a knife.

My eyes widened. Fuck…! Did I forget to lock my door?! WAS I GOING TO DIE HERE?! I tried to scream, but it just came out as nothing more than a weak gasp and a major amount of coughing. As the masked individual brought down their knife, they were suddenly stopped by a large hand grabbing their arm. My vision faded in and out, but I could make out someone in the darkness using their other hand to slam the masked individual to the ground. I could feel the knife fall closely next to me as there was a clear struggle going on in my room. Soon, I heard footsteps leaving my room as I tried to scream again. What happened? Was that person going to grab the knife and kill me right here and now?

My fears were confirmed when I saw a white glove grab the knife next to me. I tried to run, but I was paralyzed with fear. I tried to make out who that person was who stopped the masked person, but all I saw was… green.

It was only when I squinted my eyes harder that I saw it was… Vector, standing above my bed and looking down on me.

"V-Vector?..." I whispered, as not to ruin my voice. He simply continued to stand over me, knife in hand. He simply walked over to my nightstand and placed the knife in it again. I tried to call out his name, but… nothing. No response, and no mentions as to what happened.

And soon enough, no sounds came from me as I finally gave into exhaustion.

Ladies and Gentleman, it's now time for...

THE EGG ROBO PLAYHOUSE!

Egg Robo stood in the middle of a stage, a light shining on him as he bobbed his head back and forth.

"Do you happen to remember that quote from Sonic Adventure 2? The one that goes, 'What you see is what you get! I'm a guy with a love of adventure and a need for speed!'? The reason I bring that up is because when you think about it, what would life be without adventure and speed? Would it be a life worth living? Or would it be a life where you look at everything and think, well, guess I'll die! It sounds certainly exciting when you think of it like that, but if you're always adventuring, that means you're always going fast, and if you're going fast, you don't have the time to realize what's most important to you: that bowl of rice you left home that's currently burning."

The light turned off, and the curtains closed.