Chapter 5: Outgunned.
I am ironic among Sonic X fans, in the sense that I both pity Chris and feel anry with him. Chris's situation is undeniably sympathetic. His parents are wealthy enough, to where they can easily sell some furniture and then spend more time with him. However, Chris is also wrong for thinking his parents don't care about him at all, and for not valuing the other people in his life who spend more time with him.
I would say that the main moral of Sonic X (if there is one), is that while money can buy happiness, it is not the only thing you need to be happy. It appears that less rich characters in Sonic X, tend in general to be happier. Chris's friends Danny, Frances and Helen are not rich, but they seem pretty happy. None of Sonic or his friends are rich (they would be homeless beggars without Chris taking them in), but they aren't sad.
On the other hand, Chris is sad. Eggman, and his grandfather and Maria are all sad, despite Eggman having a robot empire, and grandfather Gerald having a massive high-tech space colony which cost billions of dollars to install.
Chris and Eggman both have one tragic flaw in common. They could easily be really popular if they just changed their ways to be nicer. Chris could be more grateful to his friends and servants. Eggman could build helpful and useful inventions, which don't destroy the world.
Knuckles is certainly me least favourite of the Sonic gang. He opposes them more often than not, and he doesn't learn from his mistakes of trusting Eggman, and other evil characters over Sonic, who has saved his life many times. He is also too quick to violence, despite Tikal (another Echidna like Knuckles) stating that at one point, the Echidna race was much more kind and reasonable.
The other Echidna's bacame what are now called "the marauders" as shown in Sonic:the dark brotherhood. A group of violent villains who just want to fight endlessly. If Knuckles doesn't change his ways soon, he might become like them.
Sonic and his friends fight too, but they don't do it unless absolutely necessary. They also aren't massive jerks when they aren't fighting.
Maria POV
"I'd love to explain everything." I quickly, yet sincerely stated to the now eagerly listening Frances. I had not had this much control over Helen's body since what seemed like a lifetime ago. Helen, truly was noble and so was Frances for being so understanding, and taking the situation so well and calmly.
"But right now, we need to stop those GUN agents before they surely take the lives of other innocent children."
"They have guns" Frances pointed out, with a playful finger wag. "We don't. They're grown men. We're little kids. Sonic's not here. So what now?"
"What now?" I angrily replied, almost raising my voice and blowing our cover. "What now!? You're Frances. You're not going to take this lying down. You have a grab-bag of deadly weapons to choose from. You don't need to fear these creeps. By the time we go and get help, the G.U.N agents will be gone too and who knows how many lives they will take away, before we find them again."
I clasped my hands in prayer as I closed my eyes, and a few stray tears slid down my cheeks. "Frances. I'm sorry I'm begging you to do this. But please, stop the G.U.N agents. I believe in you, and so does Helen. You have the soul of a warrior."
Frances POV
She was right. Very right. Dead right in her judgement of my astounding abilities, that often flew under the radar and were massively underrated.
I did indeed have a wide arsenal of weapons, with which to cause great harm if I so chose.
Punch in the face, Kick in the stomach, Knee in the groin and headbutt in the chest were just some of those dangerous weapons I had upon me at all times. Weapons that did not need to be carried, and therefore could never be taken away from me. Weapons that were invisible, until I needed them.
Now that I had grown a little, provided the target was small and light enough, I also had grab and throw. Which was exactly what it sounded like. I grabbed the other person, and threw them onto the curb or sometimes into yet another person, like a a living projectile.
No. I did not need Sonic. I stood alone with my own unique and useful attributes. I was far better than Chris in this regard, and I would prove it, here and now.
Sonic could go back to his world in peace, knowing this world was safe, thanks to me.. And Helen would never want for Chris's bad company that just made her feel more lonely, ever again.
"Leave it to me. Maria. You just stay here and take it easy." I whisper with a nod, as I sneak ever closer to the three men, just as they say their farewells and begin to go their separate ways. They say they will meet again later to discuss another plan. Little did they know, that their second meeting would never come.
Counting the seconds silently, until two men had gone a fair distance from the third, I sprang out and grabbed the necks of Macloed and Mcbride. They were heavy, but I was just strong enough with my element of surprise, and I butted their heads together with a sickening thud. Putting heads together was generally a very wise choice in life, but not when it knocked both men out cold, as they dropped their guns.
Knowing Mclean was already reaching for his own pistol in his belt, I quickly cartwheeled to the left as bullets struck the grassy ground where I had been standing. Knowing from father's military experience, that this handgun held six bullets per round, I counted each shot carefully.
When I counted six, and Mclean briefly had no choice but to reach down to reload, I jumped back hastily and grabbed the now unconscious Mcbride's pistol which slipped easily from his numb hand. I knew how to use it. Just take aim, and fire. Nothing could be simpler.
So I fired, nailing Mclean on his left shoulder, just inches away from his chest, just before he could raise his gun again at me. His last look as he passed out, was neither grief, nor pain, nor regret. It was a dumbfounded stare of amazement, that he had been killed by a twelve-year old child.
Though thankfully, as Helen would later point out, his wound was not fatal and he would live to recover, and continue his causeless hatred of society.
"Dial 911." I ordered crisply as I stepped back to the grove and handed over my phone to Helen. "We don't have much time before these men come to, and I do not want to put more blood on my hands than I already have."
Helen, or Maria, I didn't know which, quickly nodded and did as I said and explained the situation. It would be a hard sell to convince the police to let me go this time, since I had just committed vigilante justice, but I knew deep in my soul that I had done the right thing. At least Helen would be let go with no hassle.
"Now. Maria. Answers please. What do these bad men want? Why are you so afraid of them? Why are you living inside my friend Helen and why didn't she mention you to me, earlier?" I asked, as gently as possible. I was really doing it, I was holding an interview just like mum often did on TV.
I was finally following in Scarlet Garcia's footsteps.
"I will tell you everything, Frances. It's the least I can do, after you've saved me so many times without even knowing who I am." Maria promised.
"Where do you want me to start?" She asked.
"How about at the beginning?" I suggested, keeping a wary eye at the men lying in the grass, to make sure they stayed down.
Maria, in Helen's body. Took a deep breath. It was clear this was her first time giving such a heavy and emotional explanation to anyone.
"It all started. when I was born with an incurable disease called NIDS. Which forced me to stay on Space colony ARK because Earth's atmosphere and gravity were too much for me to handle." She began.
Amy POV
The greatest hell, is to be just out of reach from heaven. So I tell myself.
I'm not ridiculed, derided and mocked the same way Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are by the people of this brave new world. Unlike the male anthropomorphic animals on my home planet, I do wear clothes in the same way Cream the rabbit my young female friend, also wears clothes. The so-called humans, the dominant species of this planet called Earth, place great emphasis on clothes.
To be more precise, I wear a long and simple red dress with white edges, with a slight opening at the top of my thin, athletic back. Not as formal and conservative as Cream's orange Sailor Fuku uniform with the tight blue neck bow, nor as uncomfortably revealing like Rouge the bat's strapless black unitard (like a Leotard, but different). My clothing choice sat at a comfortable middle ground, between the modest politeness of Cream, and the inconsiderate near-nudity of Rouge.
Fit to live and walk around in human society, without being deemed as unusual or weird.
My clothes helpfully covered up my ugly pink pointy tail, which could actually be hidden from view unlike Rouge's wings or Tails's two tails. Poor little buddy Tails. I'm so sorry people have to make fun of you for something you couldn't even control, since you were born with it. My pink spikes were far-less messy and pointed than Sonic's, on the account that I spent a solid hour every week carefully grooming myself.
By simply cutting off my top spikes that made a bang on my hair, I had adjusted myself to appear almost completely humanoid. It helped that I had a patch of skin around my muzzle, which was peach-coloured just like a Caucasian man or woman's. Unlike certain other animals such as Knuckles the Echidna, I had bald patches with no fur and only skin on both my arms.
If I removed my gloves, my hands were basically indistinguishable from that of any typical young human girl's. From appearance to texture.
If only it wasn't for my conjoined green eyes, and my big and pointy pink ears which stuck out from my forehead like two sore thumbs. Without those two hedgehog characteristics, along with my misshapen and inhuman black nose, it would have been easy for me to pretend I was a normal 12 year old human girl.
But alas, it could have been far worse. At least my ears weren't as blatantly oversized as those of poor little Cream the rabbit's ears, so I could simply wear a hat to pretend they didn't exist. I could also hide my two connected eyes with sunglasses, and was planning to do so soon.
A fact not many people or animals knew about, was that Sonic was 15 and I was just 12. This fact usually didn't come into play much, but it did mean that I could always claim to people who said I was a little small, that I had a huge growth spurt coming soon.
It was also one of the many reasons Sonic came up with, about why we could and should never be romantically involved with each other. But 3 years wasn't much. Tails was 8, and Cream was 6. That was a 2 year age gap, just a year short of mine and Sonic's. Yet no-one batted an eyelid when those two hugged and kissed like the adorable couple they were. Not even the responsible and concerned Vanilla rabbit, Cream's attentive parent.
No. It was my fault. All my fault. I drove Sonic away with my overzealous clinginess, and selfish dependency on him. I treated him like a toy, a tool, an addictive drug and not like his own hedgehog with his own thoughts, goals and ideas. I tried to force closeness with him, and was rightfully punished with separation.
I accused him of being immature and cowardly, when it was I who was the immature and cowardly one. On a stifling ocean liner ship filled with completely uncaring old citizens, and surrounded by his worst fear of water, Sonic had every right to complain and feel miserable. Yet I harangued and nagged him like I was his mother, something I had no right to claim to be, Queen Aleena's steady touch and gentle calmness, was nothing like my hot head.
She would have every right to slap me in the face before throwing me into the palace dungeon, if she were by my side during that cruise. I would have protested not. A part of me wished that Queen Aleena was standing right by her dear son's side, so she could duly dole out my well deserved discipline.
I tried to smash him to bits with my hammer. Piko Piko hammer. I was treating him like one of Eggman's killer robots. I was sick and messed up in the head on that ship, and Sonic had every right to disown me afterwards, as he had done now.
I needed to accept the harsh truth. That Sonic belonged with Sally Acorn the squirrel, with Blaze the cat, with Vanilla the rabbit or one of the countless better, less mean and nasty females he could easily acquire for granted. It was this realization that I came out of Station Square about a fortnight ago, to finalize to myself.
I walked from the Thorndyke mansion at the dead of night, and took one of the few underground lines that were still running at the late hour, not even bothering to check which stop it was heading for. I honestly didn't care. I just wanted to get away from Sonic, so he could be left in peace forever. Without the egotistical and megalomaniacal Amy Rose, me, to bother the greatest hero that ever lived and would live.
I was a Rose, but I had far more thorn than flower. Sonic's beautiful garden didn't need an unsightly weed clogging up the space of his more attractive bloomers, that deserved his attention as their gardener. We were done. Never, ever, ever getting back together.
My thoughts ate me alive as the underground took me from one dim and empty platform, to another. I walked out after a number of platforms which I had long lost count of. Everything around me looked blurry. A nearby yellow service light, flickered on and off. A large rat scampered past me, with a frightened squeak, causing me to recoil back in shock. I hated rats.
It was as I stood there breathless, battling to regain control of myself, that I heard a quiet and weak cry of pure sorrow. It seemed to come from the left tunnel, on the tracks where the platform ended. A highly dangerous place to be, with how blazing quickly the underground trains zoomed by.
Curiousity mixed with sympathy got the better of me, and I hastened down the dark tunnel as quickly as I could bring myself in my weakened state. I had not slept for two nights, and had refused food all day in my sleepless sadness. I had two massive bags down my eyes, and I could not go more than a few steps without a loud yawn.
The next train according to the electronic timetable, was just two minutes away.
I could already hear the roaring shriek of the next train's engine, and the metallic clanging of its wheels, by the time I made out the faint outline of a desparately weeping black-haired boy in blue jeans and red shorts through the darkness. He was wiggling helplessly at the thick rope that bound him to the track, and he cried out in wordless anguish as a pair of flickering white lights shone in the distance.
Everything was too much for me in my fatigued state to bear. I wasn't the super speedster like my beloved hero Sonic, and I had trimmed my spines and nails to the extent where they could no longer be used like a blade any longer. All for the sake of being able to make the false claim "I'm only human.", for an attempt at fitting into this new world whose atmosphere and citizens I had come to rather enjoy.
It was all I could do, to duck into an alcove in the wall that was just big enough to fit me. Most likely the remains of a service tunnel, or ventilation passageway that had been incompletely filled in. That poor human boy was going to die. Sonic was right. Rouge was right. Eggman, yes, evil Eggman was dead right. I, Amy Rose, was a useless coward who could help no one.
What I saw next, or rather who I saw next, changed everything about my perception of the human race. Dr Eggman, our arch-enemy, included.
In the blink of an eye, a beautiful young teenage girl just slightly taller than the strung-up boy appeared before me. She had long and silky pink hair that fell to her shoulders, with a slightly spiky bang at its top fringe. A navy headband with a silver metal piece bearing the ancient Japanese symbol of fire in pitch black, on her forehead.
I was able to deduce the symbol, only from a tarot card I had read long ago. Perhaps before I even met Sonic.
Black shorts, and oak brown boots with sandal openings for her foot digits, rounded out her attire
But these were not the most distinguishing features of this mysterious maiden who'd basically come out of left-field. Not to me at least. It was her long dark pink dress that also ended in white up at the collar and down at its bottom, that really accented her appearance. Just like my dress, with only tiny differences that could easily be ignored.
By itself, it would have drawn no notice from me whatsoever. But in conjunction with her slightly spiked pink hair, which almost matched the exact shade of my spikes, this young pale-skinned lady made me feel out of this world.
It was as if I was looking straight into a mirror. Even her fierce, yet simultaneously gentle expression that she briefly regarded me with as she turned round to face the trapped boy, made me feel old and full of nostalgia. My expression when I first met Sonic. My face before each subsequent battle against Eggman and any others who would threaten my dear Sonic's safety, along with all others that I held dear to me.
As the train drew ever closer, she drew from a pocket in her belt: a small but sharp metal tool with a round handle and a diamond-shaped tip. A kunai. An elegant compact cutting device, from a more civilized age. Which made this woman: a ninja. And I thought the Japanese empire banned ninjas when the Meiji restoration, and gunpowder came to Japan, rendering swords and Kunai obsolete.
Or in my world of Mobius, ninjas were made illegal after the eighth dynasty of King Lorenzo Swift. Queen Aleena's several times great cousin once removed (which made him quite closely related, since once removed meant removed by very little on a family tree).
Don't judge me. I liked Ancient History. In this world and universe, or any other. Being a skilled fortune teller as I tried to be, meant being well-versed in past, present and future.
The female ninja clad in the dark pink qipao dress of far-east Asian style, cut the ropes holding the boy to the railings in one smooth stroke. Then she grabbed the boy's right hand in her left, and then jumped nimbly up and grabbed tightly with her right hand onto a long metal bar that hung from the ceiling and covered the entirety of the train track, from start to finish, saving herself and the boy in one fell swoop as the train sped past them below them.
The train threw fierce gusts of wind at me from my hiding place, and caused me to shake and shiver uncontrollably. But the human ninja dangling onto the metal scaffolding on the ceiling, was devoid of such fear when she dropped back down onto the railing after the roar of the train had died away and it was silent once more.
"Th, thank you f, for saving me." The boy managed to stutter feebly.
"You're welcome. And no need. I was happy to help." the ninja replied, her voice far more soft, high-pitched and melodious than her somewhat fearsome appearance might suggest. I had seen illustrations of ninja's in feudal Japan. They came in blue, yellow, red, and sometimes black. But a pink ninja, who did not even cut her hair for the sake of making combat easier?
That was something different altogether. It was unique, and I loved it.
"Who tied you here, if you don't mind telling me? It's okay. I won't force you. You don't have to say it if you don't feel comfortable." The ninja inquired, in soothing tones that invited confidence without demanding it. It certainly made me feel a billion times better already, just by hearing her speak. Her words had a healing, therapeutic effect.
For a second, I thought the boy would be too young and frightened to speak about it. It was already bad enough that such a small child had nearly just lost his life to a speeding train. He was not obligated to say anything. But his hesitation was only momentary, and he was able to answer the woman in a slightly broken voice.
"A group of big men in those fancy suits you see at all the posh offices, where mummy and daddy work all day." The boy gulped. "They called themselves G.U.N, whatever that meant, and they told me, I could not live to tell their plans to anyone once I had seen them. That's all I remember."
"And what's your name? If you don't mind telling me?"
"Randy."
"Well. Take care Randy. Keep away from any more of those people if you see them, and I'll make sure they don't bother you or anyone else ever again. Try to get some sleep and watch yourself." The ninja patted the boy on his head and regarded him with a reassuring smile, not even watching me in the process.
I could not tell if it was because she was disappointed in my failure to rescue the boy, or simply didn't view me as a threat to her and his safety. I sincerely hoped it was the latter. I had failed enough others in my lifetime.
"Thanks. Nice lady. And what about your name? I would love to know the name of someone as trustworthy and nice as you. Most grown-ups aren't nearly as good to me like you are."
Her reply to Randy's innocuous question of childlike innocence, hit me right in my feelings where it hurt most. It made me feel like every star had fallen from the sky, and every last heart in the world had broken. Like every ship was going down, but it was going to be alright.
Ninjas as a rule, did not reveal their names lightly either, being cutthroats of the shadow in the night as they were. When they did, it was usually only their first name, so that their core identity remained secret from the emperor and shogun's bounty hunters.
"Sakura Haruno." The pink ninja girl confidently replied, cracking a smile and folding her arms. As if to say she was honoured that someone asked her for her name.
"Thanks for saving me. Sakura. Have a very good night." The boy quickly stated as he dashed away, realizing he was still on a train track.
"Hai. A pleasure to be of service."
I couldn't go to school young, but I knew from the one episode of subtitled Japanese Anime that I watched, that "Hai" meant yes in Japanese.
This girl wasn't just a ninja. She was a ninja waifu. A waifu translating roughly, as a girl or woman that would be a perfect romantic match for the main protagonist of any given book or film. Yes. I was what Sonic and his friends could call, an Otaku weeb.
Listening closely that there were no more trains incoming, I hastily stepped from the hole in the wall to head back to the platform. My sharp hedgehog ears, whose ugliness i despised, told me that the ninja was following me in light footsteps. Fortunately, I also heard the metallic sound of her Kunai sheathing back into its pouch, so I had nothing to fear. So I hoped.
Sakura Haruno. That was her name. Once again, my Japanese was rusty at best, but I knew well what a Sakura flower was. I loved to grow them back at home in Mobius. They fit right into my carefully tended little garden, right next to the roses. How their petals fluttered in the wind when they bloomed. They looked so pretty, but they were gone so soon. Roses and Sakuras. Two vibrant flowers of unique exoticness.
Just like Sonic's fleeting attraction for me, which burned out long before my mutual love for the blue blur of Mobius. The brightest flames burned only half as long. The most pretty Sakura flowers were the first to be gone with the wind.
I dared not look back until both feet were safely on the platform, well behind the yellow line, and just by the doorway leading to the escalators going back up to the station entrance. Both because I feared being smashed by the next train, and because I could sense the ninja waifu still silently judging me from behind.
The boy told her that a large man in a suit was the one who tied him to the track. I wasn't a man, I didn't wear a suit and for good measure: I wasn't even human. I prayed that these differences between him and me, would at least persuade Sakura the ninja to give me the benifit of the doubt.
I got far better than what I bargained for. Her tone was choked full of admiration when she next spoke, and in a dusted glass mirror: I could see she was all smiling. Those emerald tinted eyes of hers, as green as the master emerald of Angel island. They were just like my own emerald eyes, or what I wished my eyes would look like so that the humans stopped discriminating against me for being a hedgehog.
"Wait a minute. Please. I have no intention to harm you. I come in peace." Sakura gently soothed, putting both her hands up, to show she was harmless. Well, as harmless and peaceful as a ninja fleeing from justice, could possibly bring themselves to be. Sheathing her razor-sharp Kunai away had already convinced me of her noble goals, but this submissive gesture really took her unparalleled benevolence to another level entirely.
"Yes. What do you want? If you're asking about the boy, no I didn't tie him up. I promise. I wasn't even here until a few seconds before I saw you save him. You were so brave back there." I responded, all tension gone and all my heart in her delicate hand. This was not another hater, like the men in black who harassed me and Sonic endlessly during our first days, in the wretched human settlement of station square.
"I believe you. Amy Rose. National hero who saved our pure land from Eggman's robot armies, countless times. Well met. It seems generous souls, really do attract each other after all." Sakura replied, with a bow as I finally dared to look away from the mirror and back at her in her eyes. Her shining green orbs that made me jealous and yet proud.
"H, how do you know my name?" I stuttered, with a light blush. This was highly unusual of me, since I was usually very comfortable with any form of positive attention, but there was something in the way Sakura lightly smoothed her long and slightly spiky pink hair. Which took me back to a better time. While something else in her garish pink qipao dress, made me wonder if my eyes saw true beauty till now.
All this I was feeling for a human, not another hedgehog. Let alone a Mobian hedgehog from my home planet, and universe.
(P.S: I strongly recommend you now to go to Google, or Yahoo, or another online search engine, to search up "Sakura Haruno" right now. You will be stunned with amazement, especially if you next search up "Amy Rose").
"I've been following the adventures of you and your friends with great interest. The heroic actions of others inspire me to improve upon myself." Sakura seriously replied, looking me straight in my eyes to show she meant nothing sinister. "Don't feel down on yourself for not being able to save that boy from the train. You've already done plenty of good work and that train was coming very quickly. Simply consider this a favour, in which I helped you in return for you helping others."
As my miserable frown of self-shame began to slowly melt away, Sakura smiled at me with one hand held out in friendship.
"Congradudawations." She congratulated me. "You were great when you stopped Eggman and his robots from destroying America."
Her English was undeniably fluent, but it was clearly not her first language. Her adorable "Congradudawations" cemented her identity as an Anime character hailing from the glorious kingdom of Anime: Japan.
Not wanting to go back to Sonic or Chris yet, I nodded gratefully as Sakura stepped ahead to lead the way out. "Come on. Let's get out of here." She offered, as another train blazed past in the nearby tunnel we'd just exited.
"Where shall we go?" I asked, still in utter disbelief of the awesomeness I had just witnessed before my unsightly and ugly eyes.
"Somewhere nice, to blow off steam after a good night's work." Sakura sincerely said, as we came out of the unattended station and stepped out into the cool night air, hand in hand.
We made small talk here and there, mostly about how I needed to be proud of myself for saving the Earth from Eggman and the other criminals, instead of being mad at myself for feeling like I didn't belong. Before the conversation could really shift to her, we were momentarily deafened by the loud and lively music of the nearby building which Sakura had guided us to. A nightclub, complete with blinding neon light signs that split the night, and touched the sound of silence.
There was grafitti smudged all over its crumbling brick walls. Two large bins on either side of its entrance, was overflowing with disgusting trash.
There was no reception. No stingy money-grubber to demand payment into the establishment. There was just the dance hall, that was pitch black, until a blinding riot of coloured lights lit the room, from a quickly spinning disco ball on the tall ceiling.
And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening. People writing songs, that voices never shared. No one dared disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools" said I. "You do not know. Silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you. Take my arms that I might reach you." But my words, like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the well of silence.
On a nearby wall was a gigantic poster of the smugly smiling president, and his equally duplicitous and deceitful right hand man. There the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they'd made. And a sign flashed out it's warning, in the words that it was forming.
The sign said: the words of the prophet are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls. To be whispered in the sound of silence.
"Oh don't you dare look back. Just keep your eyes on me." Sakura playfully reminded me through the noise and flashing lights of confusion.
I said: "You're holding back."
She said: "Shut up and dance with me".
This woman. This ideal humanized version of myself, without my stupid tail, my pointed ears, prickly spikes and unbearable conjoined eyes. Was my destiny. I had seen it in my visions. I had seen it in my cards. The star sign "Gemini" which meant twin, had appeared six times in a row, when I shuffled the star sign card pack from Chris's mother Lindsey, which Chris didn't want. Gemini, was the sixth card in the deck and was used to refer to the month of June: the sixth month in the year.
We danced all through the night, until the sky was beginning to light up from outside and we could dance no longer. Various people came and went, and all kinds of songs were played. I cared only about one thing. Which was that eternity, was in Sakura's bright eyes and cute lips.
I had ruined many friendships before with my recklessness, but no more. The mean and nasty Amy who latched to Sonic like a bloodthirsty leech, would be no more. Gone was the helpless hedgehog girl who put Sonic, Tails and Cream in danger over and over again, when they had to rescue her from Eggman because of her own uselessness.
We headed back to Sakura's house at the crack of dawn, a temple-like structure with a Torii gate, a Shinto shrine in the front yard and Japanese Kanji symbols I mostly didn't understand, on every door. There were many bedrooms, and each was occupied by a happily sleeping child.
"Strays I took in from the streets." Sakura explained. "They had no home and no future. I hoped to change that. I wish to cause no more selfish effrontery to the heavens, than absolutely necessary. They cook, and clean and in return I feed and house them.
Here I stayed, for the previous fortnight.
I proved of excellent service to Sakura's makeshift hostel. The children had been getting sick of Sushi, Ramen soup, Bento, Sashimi and grilled fish cooked in far-east Asian fashion. Chilli dogs made in Sonic's personalized liking, went wild in the shelter. I had really spiced things up for the grateful orphans.
But we couldn't stay in the shelter all day. Not when violent gangs that hurt children, ran wild in the streets of Harlem away from the watchful eye of Station Square.
Sakura's day job entailed fighting such gangs, infiltrating their fortified hideouts and turning in the ruffians to the few authorities the area had. Not unlike what the ninjas of old would be paid by the Shogun and Emperor to do.
There was a catch. A big catch. A massive catch which I was thankfully able to alleviate with my presence, and my Piko-Piko hammer.
Sakura was a failed ninja from a lawless nadir of evil ninjas, called the land of fire. Where the strong lorded over the weak without mercy. Where sick sadists committed crimes of reckless abandon, without rhyme or reason.
Whereas all her old friends, namely Naruto Uzumaki (always right, never wrong), Sasuke Uchiha (STAY AWAY!), Hinata Hyuga (incredibly sweet, like milk and honey), Ino Yamanaka (Who was sorely owed a long overdue apology) and even Rock lee (underrated) all sported various powerful techniques called "Jitsus", poor Sakura had no Jitsu.
No Ninjitsu. No Genjitsu. Tragically unlike the already pretty unlucky Rock lee, no Taijitsu either. Sakura was born with a curse which prevented her body from producing or being able to contain the energy called chakra, needed to cast Jitsu's in the first place.
So while dear old chum Naruto Uzumaki in particular, could sponge hit after hit like nobody's business, Sakura had no such luxury. A soaring bullet could bury itself in Naruto's head, and he could laugh it off, and tap into his vast store of Chakra to heal the damage like it was nothing.
The same injury, would put Sakura in the obituary and make her yesterday's news. A light jab even with only a fist and no knife, could potentially do enough damage to put Sakura down. Rock Lee could run with the best of them, drawing upon his bountiful stock of chakra to empower himself to continue pumping his legs when any ordinairy human would have collapsed from exhaustion. He could even run across water, or up cliffs with no footholds.
Sakura ran out of breath after a few minutes. She worked out hard, so she wasn't unfit. But there was also no beating around the bush, that she was no superhuman either.
She was teleported to this world on the same day as me. When one final insult about her weakness, finally pushed her over the edge. She charged into the stronghold of one of the land of fire's strongest and most tyrannical dark-hearted dictators. Seeking to be slain in combat, as suicide or "Seppuku" in her world, was the ultimate dishonour. Sakura placed great emphasis on honour, as I did.
We both believed as Frances did also, in conducting ourselves as the rising sun. Powerful, and brilliant.
Her opponent's name was Pain, and he was proficient with every known Jitsu under the sun. But her simple technique of jumping around quickly, did a fine job of evading any Jitsu he tried to attack her with. It helped that she quietly sneaked into his stronghold, instead of noisily barging in like a bull in a china shop. She had no Jitsu of her own to counterattack, but throwing a sharp Kunai at her opponent did the job fine, as it still did with a little backup on my part here and now.
I could create diversions with my loud smashes of my hammer, while Sakura ambushed our distracted opponents from behind so that they didn't even see the hit that defeated them. Sakura was very good at delivering hits that wounded, but did not kill. Like me, she took her opponents down and not out.
Pain was fast and strong, but Sakura flicking out a foot to trip him nullified his advantages there too. In the end, despite all her disadvantages, she was the one who won the winner's laurels as Pain fell to the cavern floor, after suffering excessive pain.
He had paid the price for his misdeeds, as well as his part of turning Sasuke against her and everyone else.
"Not unlike Knuckles when he was easily duped into working for Eggman." I noted to myself. Poor Knuckles, but at the same time, silly Knuckles.
In what was supposed to be her finest hour, Sakura found the mysterious device that Pain had been planning to use in his next bid for unlimited power. The Chaos blaster, which was capable of harnessing Chaos into focused beams of destructive might. Knowing this weapon could not fall into the wrong hands again, Sakura smashed it.
Which caused the blasted thing to backfire, leaking out all its accumulated Chaos and creating a powerful ripple that tore apart the very fabric of space and time itself. Chaos, true to its name, was chaotic and unpredictable. I knew this, Sonic knew this and now Sakura knew this also.
A darn shame that Eggman the genius didn't know this. A pity. A tragic pity.
The ripple sucked her in, screaming. And spat her out just a few leagues away from Station Square. Which was here in Harlem slum. Or rather, Harlem housing project, since calling it a slum would be demeaning and insulting to its hapless residents.
"No. NO!" Sakura once cried out in anguish, upon finding the bandit leader of a local gang heavily armoured in thick kevlar, which her Kunai could not penetrate. He laughed and raised his shotgun. A second later, and his smile grew tenfold as he rolled his eyes, and he dropped to the floor, his skull shattered by my hammer. No amount of metal plating could shield Serpenter the robot made out of several other robots from me, and no puny Kevlar stood in the way of hammer time.
I could strike the bulky targets that Sakura's thrown blades simply couldn't smash, and Sakura could catch the quickly fleeing targets that I was too slow to catch up to.
Sakura often liked to replicate a simple, yet effective tactic. A tactic that separated the main characters in any given show, from the side characters. The elites from the cannon-fodder. She would slowly take the fight to a road, or railway while keeping the enemy distracted.
Then in the final second before the car or train came, she would jump up and grab onto a sign, a lampost, a bridge or some other tall object high enough to dodge the incoming vehicle. While her less agile opponent in the way of the quickly moving traffic, succumbed to plot and lack of attention.
I made this hit-and-run tactic more effective. I was far better at drawing attention than Sakura, and could easily take a good hit with my thick layer of protective spikes, courtesy of my species as a Mobian hedgehog. If the opponent tried to jump onto another tall object like Sakura, my huge hammer of heavy metal could easily knock them back down, forcing them to greet Truck, Train, Car or other such speeding vehicles. Reminding them of why they were not protagonists, while we were.
It was these memories that came clearly back to me, as we heard the tragic news on an electronic billboard. The news that the Thorndyke mansion had been ransacked. It's inhabitants sprayed with sleeping gas and taken away. A special poison known to be highly toxic to hedgehogs was used, making Sonic's speed useless.
We recognized the uniforms from Randy's account. Those were G.U.N agents, and they had my Sonic, as well as all my other friends.
I did not even need to ask, before Sakura immediately bowed to me once again in all her scrupulous politeness.
"You've done me many solids. I daresay without your help Amy, I would be dead many times over by now. You carried me, now let me carry you. Let me help your dear friends Sonic, Tails and Cream, realize this world is not all that bad."
"Sakura I..." I began.
"No need to thank me. Thank me later, once we've served justice to those uncivilized Ronin (master-less Samurai with no respect to the honourable warrior code of Bushido) and saved your friends. From what you've told me about them, they seem like excellent people."
So we headed back to Station Square. All the while I thought to myself, that I had finally found someone in this new world that I could really connect to. That someone, was not even of this world. Just like me. There was more than one source of chaos. More than one way to warp from universe to universe. Just like Blaze the cat and the Sol emeralds, from the Sol empire.
Some of the other universes, were parallel universes. Some of these parallel universes, were just an inch removed from ours. Some of the inhabitants from the different universes, were drawn and coloured by the same artists, and created in each other's image.
Like Sasuke and Shadow.
Like Naruto and Sonic, when he was in his super form.
Like Hinata the heroic, and Cream the caring.
Like Sakura and me.
Sakura was the sole reason, why I was happy to stay as a hedgehog. I was the reason, she was content to remain a human. I helped her appreciate her separated eyes, while she gave me great gratitude for my conjoined eyes.
She lovingly brushed my fur, while I delicately caressed her skin. She held me at night like a plushie toy. I never felt alone again.
I didn't want to head back to Mobius. Not now. Not ever. Not when I finally found another friend, who was not named Sonic so Sonic could no longer accuse me of being a creepy stalker with a crush.
...
Thank you for reading. Please review. Special thanks once more to Momijifan-low Ki.
