Disclaimer: Ahem. Sonic the Hedgehog does not belong to me. It belongs to SEGA. Lucky devils.
It was the dead of night, and if you looked at the streets, the phrase might have taken on a literal meaning. Not a single living thing was outside; no humans, whether gifted with a home or not; no rats, no dogs, no birds, no nothing. I was cold, the pavement, buildings; the motionless cars were all cold, offering no light to the emptiness. The street lights shone dully, casting a dark orange glow to these abandoned, empty streets.
He didn't notice.
A van drove down these streets. There was nothing odd about this van; dark blue, a license plate, a few dents in the doors, nothing unusual, except perhaps for the windows. They were blacked out, save for the front. The orange hue filled the front of the van, yet it did not brighten it. In the driver's seat sat a man. This man was most unlike his van; although he too was clad in a dark blue, he was not cold. In fact, he was quite warm; the air was very humid around him. He seemed to be damp, and had some bright blue liquid dripping off of him, each drop creating an aura of color around them that danced and warred with the dull orange glow of the light. Stubble had colonized on his face.
The man had plenty of reason to smile, things were going his way, yet, he would not. He refused to, not now, not so prematurely. He would not smile until his task was done, only then would he show any signs of joy, and sense of victory. Soon, very soon….
He drove down the cold, dead streets. He was close now, very close. He had been driving for days, looking for this place. His goal was upon him now; he could almost taste it, but not yet! We would not breathe in his success until it was all around him, in the very air, saturating him. Yes, very soon….
The van drove until it reached a bridge that crossed over a large lake, a black lake at the moment. He veered sharply towards the right side of the bridge. He drove over.
So close! Almost, a few more seconds, and it would be his! The inky blackness of the water waited. The waters in this lake had always been dark, as though a cold, dark void where light did never play, where all that existed was the darkness. No life, no light. No love. It filled his vision now, this sign of his victory. It spread its arms out to swallow him whole.
He let out a single, dark grin, and a tongue snaked out to taste the air of the victor. The front of the van touched the blackness.
The van exploded into a fireball of fluorescent blue.
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It was the middle of the morning, and the streets were alive. Well, not they themselves, which was a shame. In their stead, people. Going to work, meetings, breakfast, Hell, wherever, people were moving. The sun shone down, giving light to these people. Some drunk it in, others found themselves to busy, and others still stupidly shunned it because there eyes got in its way. One, however, treated it as a companion.
This one was different from the rest, a hedgehog, one Amy Rose. She sat in the currently idyllic park under a shaded tree, the sunlight lapping at her boot-clad feet. She treated it almost as a pet that had jumped up onto her lap; she shifted her feet through it, acknowledged it, yet did not give it her full attention. Instead, she mulled over her problems. A blue hedgehog becoming out of character, distracted and distant. A red echidna with a deep, moaning loneliness she could vaguely relate to. A young orange kitsune with more burdens than one his age should have to bear, a white bat with an obsession and a potential love that warred with it, and the cold, metal threat that loomed over them all, at any time. These were the states of people she vaguely considered friends; they she didn't normally talk much to them. However, this had changed after the past two weeks. They had run into each other more often, save Knuckles, who said he'd visit when he had the chance. Apparently he hadn't yet.
She felt like she should help, but how? Sonic wouldn't talk about whatever was bothering him, Knuckles was basically inaccessible, Rouge was nigh impossible to find, and Tails….
"Hi."
…. was right there.
"Hi" Amy responded.
"Mind if I sit down for a minute?"
Amy smiled, and nodded. Tails sat.
A pause, and then.
"You're worried about Sonic, aren't you?" Amy was especially concerned about Tails, perhaps because of his youth, or perhaps because she just saw something in him.
"Of course." He said, not taking his eyes off a leaf that had fallen into a patch of light.
"So am I. He-"
"He seems haunted by something," Tails said, as though he was speaking more to himself than Amy, "He told me he keeps seeing a dream that's real, but it isn't at the same time."
Amy's eyebrows slowly raised "A dream…."
"Yeah. Not his exact words, but close. I'm worried. He's been getting more and more reclusive, more edgy, its like he needs to find something soon, and he can't let anyone know he's looking for it."
Amy didn't say anything. Tails tore his gaze away from the light bathing leaf. He looked at the pink dreamer.
"You've stopped chasing him."
Amy nodded in response. "I know he doesn't love me. I've known for a long time."
Tails seemed surprised. "Really? But you-"
Amy cut in. "I was trying to hold on to a dying dream. Then I met…"
"Hmm?" inquired Tails.
"It doesn't matter. He… moved away not too long ago. I haven't seen him since."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." She responded with no conviction whatsoever.
"No, it's not, I can tell."
Amy just looked down, a despondent look on her face. "I can relate to Sonic more than I'd like too…" she whispered quietly.
Tails looked at her with sympathy and concern. "Amy…."
She looked at him, and smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."
Tails didn't look satisfied, but relented.
She sighed, and said, "Look, Tails, I think Sonic will sort whatever this problem is out. It's probably just coping with… you know…." She couldn't even say his name right then.
Tails shook his head. "I don't think Shadows the problem, at least not the whole problem." He continued. "I don't think he's just dealing with Shadows death."
A flash of pain went through Amy. iGet a hold of yourself!/i She thought.
Whether this pang of emotion went unnoticed by Tails or not is his knowledge alone.
"I guess not… well, I better go get some breakfast. Can you join me?" A friendly smile from Amy.
"Sorry, I actually came into town to get some parts, but thanks anyway." An apologetic smile from Tails.
"Oh. Alright then, I'll see you!" She hid her disappointment well.
"Kay, bye!" Tails answered as he ran off to get mechanical things which I know nothing of.
Amy sighed. She always ended up alone, save for things like this tree, and she had come to learn these things did nothing more than mock the little outcast, now that they could no longer patronize her.
The patches of light that made it through the leaves over her head did little to warm her.
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Somewhere, within a citadel of icy steel and black oil, a man brooded, hunched over, mulling over the familiar taste of defeat. Its dark mind tuned and twisted, a maelstrom of ideas and thoughts. Some were sent into garbled incoherency, while others became more solid, alive, only to be struck down and sent into the same pit as their brethren.
In short, Robotnik had hit strategists' block.
He just couldn't think of a plan that he knew the hedgehog couldn't foil, couldn't overcome. He searched and plumbed the depths of his mind, and nothing. He had to move, attack, now! Sonic was most likely shaken by Shadow's death to some degree, he knew him well enough to know that. He had to come up with something he could do, something the hedgehog would be caught off guard by! But, nothing. A golden opportunity was slipping through his fingers. Just as he was ready to pull his hair out (never mind the fact he has no hair) a noise grabbed his attention. A noise that sounded like a light breeze, a whisper, almost. He listened for it.
iIvo…./i
There! What was it!?
iIvo…./i
iI'm listening!/i he thought, iWhat is it you want to say!?/i
iYou in trac…/i the whisper punctuated the "trac"
"What?" he said, as though he were listening to his god.
…….
It was gone.
Robotnik slumped, and sighed. That voice, that whisper, it was something, important… yes, the key to his victory! And he could barely hear it, and what he could hear made no sense.
He would spend the rest of those waking hours, as day and night had no meaning in his metal cocoon, listening for that sound. It wouldn't come.
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And I myself mull over these events. The van means something, but what? Is it a trick, a trap by Disease or Madness? Where was Comfort, my sister? And the voices; a product of the Eggman's madness, and as such my enemies' concoction, would he use it? I had much I needed to learn before I could interfere. I continued to watch.
AN: And the funky dance begins! First of all, I would like to thank the two people who reviewed. You guys are awesome. I'm going to be picking Amy's brain throughout this convoluted mess, but through dream sequences more than her waking hours. And… expect updates… when I write something. Maybe weekly. Or not, I write when the muse whips me. I'll try to get something up at least bi-weekly, like this one. Once again, please review. I love reviews. Constructive criticism is also helpful. Flames, as I said before, will be fed to my raccoon girl with a large stomach.
Oh, and catalyst, I love your stuff; I'm just too lazy to review any of it (or anything for that matter). Keep writing, please!
All that said, I'm going to fly away now. Bai! *Explodes*
