Chapter 34
Reasons Enough
The black night began to swirl around him as he sped down the mountain. Sonic was happier this was a descent rather than an ascent-it was going much faster this way. Stupid echidna had been fooled again-Knuckles probably thought he was dead or something. Now, it was clear sailing to the other mountain, once he got through the… "Whoa!" Sonic yelled as he screeched to a halt, taking a quick gasp of air.
In front of him, carved in the middle of the mountain range, was a massive…city was probably the best way to describe it. Yes, a metallic, futuristic city of some sort. The only reason he referred to it as such was because long, black roads led outward from the city like midnight snakes slithering along the canyon floor. Of metal or of asphalt, Sonic did not know, as he had not run along them yet. He looked down at his feet clad in crimson high tops, resting on the chocolate colored ground. The first road rested just a foot away. Slowly, Sonic inched towards the road, as if fearing he would fall into some everlasting pit if he touched it.
BOOM! The ground shook violently underneath him. Sonic barely kept his balance as his body swung to and fro. Finally, the rumbling tapered off until it ceased. The hedgehog took a second to gather himself, then took another step forward.
Flash!
A bright jade light encompassed the area, blinding Sonic, followed by another round of tremors. This time, Sonic could not stay up, and only stayed off the ground after he jutted his right arm out to break his fall. Panting, he closed his eyes as he kept his hand planted on the rock solid floor, as if feeling the strength of the tremor, trying to sense its power. Eventually, the shaking again died down. But just as Sonic thought it safe to rise, the aftershock hit. The heaviest of rumbles nearly broke his arm. Soon, he could hold his own weight no longer. His arm gave out beneath him, and he collapsed to the ground. His eyes still shut, his face wrinkled and his fists clenched as he tried to vain to move, to try and get up, but to no avail. He had taken quite a beating in the past three days without much rest. Usually, this had not been a problem, because someone had helped him out, helped carry the load. But now, he was exhausted. Sweat pumped from his body like running water. Eggman had already stripped him of most of his allies, and he did not know where Amy was right now. And the bounty hunter-he wasn't too far behind, and he had been in good enough health to taunt him in the cave. Plus, the government, the military, those guys from Carnival Island, and even, even Tails…it seemed that everyone was against him. Yep, this was basically him against the world, now that he thought of it. Everyone was against him now, and those who were not could not help him now. Obviously, he had to keep going-there was no arguing that. The true question was, could he stop the doctor again? Was he strong enough?
But why? Even if he did defeat the doctor, even if he did save the world, it wouldn't matter. Everyone would simply think Sonic had gone on another murdering spree and killed Ivo Eggman, candidate for mayor of Capital City, and when they found Amy's dead body, they would accuse him of that as well. There was nothing left. Nothing left at all. No reason to go on. Every turn was simply more trouble. He would have to go into hiding. There was no point in that, either. He could do nothing.
The heavy weight of failure suddenly slammed down on his back all at once. It was over. All over. But was this truly the way it was to end? He was Sonic the Hedgehog, the miracle worker, the savior. Could this possibly be the way he was to be defeated? But could he think of any reason at all to avoid defeat?
Amy.
A faint image of the pink hedgehog began to run in Sonic's mind. What was going on?
A flashback of the first time they had truly gone together somewhere. Back on Mobius. Home, home…
"Sonic, where are you going now?"
He looked over his shoulder at Amy, racing hot on his heels.
"To Never Lake," he called back.
"Why Never Lake?"
Sonic slowed down a little so he could explain. "Ever heard of the Little Planet?"
"Isn't that the tiny world that orbits around Mobius?" Amy asked. "The one with the special stones that alter time and change everything around them? I heard that the planet's full of places that are completely ignored by the passage of time!"
"Yeah. On the last month of every year, the Little Planet appears over Never Lake. It's that time now, and I'm going to check it out. I bet space travel will be exciting!"
"With all those Time Stones, I bet you'll try to outrun time itself!" Amy sighed.
Sonic didn't reply. He just smiled, eyes gleaming.
But what evil had happened next? The real reason they knew each other so well?
When they arrived at Never Lake, the Little Planet was there as expected. But something was wrong. Where there should have been tall trees and bright flowers, there was nothing but dry sand and jagged rocks. The Little Planet was tethered to a rock with a huge chain, and its surface was covered with twisted, gleaming metal.
"What happened?" Amy wondered.
Before Sonic could reply, something whooshed over them. Amy shrieked as she was snatched up, and she and her captor vanished in a blue streak of light!
"What the -- AMY!"
It didn't take long for Sonic to realize what had happened. "Eggman!" he cried as he watched a robotic version of…himself?…fly away from him towards a massive battleship.
Metal…
Sonic stood on a rock and thought. Eggman had control of the Little Planet. He had Amy, and soon he would have the Time Stones...
His situation looked grim then, but nothing compared to now, or anything before that. Like with Chaos…
"Sonic!" Amy shouted as she chased Sonic down the sidewalk by the casino. A small, cyan canary followed not too far behind.
"Uh…Amy…" Sonic stammered, walking backwards.
"What's wrong with you anyway?" she demanded, as if he had committed some cardinal sin. "Listen," she continued, "this birdie seems to be in trouble. So you have to be his bodyguard for a while." "WHAT?!?" replied Sonic incredulously. "You must be joking!" "If you don't," teased Amy, batting an eyebrow, "we're just gonna tag along anyway." "Sure," Sonic groaned. "Whatever. Just follow me," he told her, waving a hand towards his face.
A split second later, he was gone, racing back to Station Square. From behind, Amy, persistent as ever, followed as fast as she could. "No fair!" she shouted from behind. "You too fast!" "Man, that girl is such a pain," Sonic mumbled to himself.
A pain. That was what he thought of her.
And with Shadow…
A loud clanging sound!
Something dropped down from the ceiling. Sonic whirled around, breaking his usual trend of pacing around his cell.
"Amy?" he cried, bewildered.
"Shh!" she hissed, putting a single finer to her pursed lips. "Keep your voice down!" Then, she proceeded to prance around the room in a triumphant way, giggling, "Have no fear, Amy Rose is here!"
God, she was annoying.
"How did you get in here?" He had to hear this. "Well, if you have to know…I got a ride from Tails," she admitted.
Figures.
Her face perked up again. "Are you sure you don't need my help?" she said in a sing-song voice, waving a card that looked like some kind of membership. "It looks like you could use it." "The reason I'm in here," he explained, running in place and throwing jabs into the air, "is because of that fake hedgehog."
"Oh you mean that black one?"
"Yeah, when did you see him? Get me outta here!" "If I do, will you marry me?" "NO WAY."
"I thought I had you this time," she sighed as she swiped the card. The cell door flew up almost as fast as Sonic ran out of it. "I saw that black hedgehog outside with Dr. Eggman." "So, Eggman's in on all of this too, eh?" But Amy had already devoted her attention to the wall in Sonic's old cell. It was covered in complicated math problems and scientific theories.
"What're all these markings? Did you do all these, Sonic?" No answer.
"Sonic?" She turned to face the steel wall behind her.
"Wait for me, Sonic! He's such a brat sometimes," she added to herself.
Now that Sonic thought of it, he and Amy had been through a lot together. And, in some ways, he owed a lot to her. Of course, he had more than repaid the favor, but still…
And all that time, all the times Amy had been chasing him…all the time, it had not been for naught. It was some crazy crush. But she was much more mature now, not some bubbly little girl, but almost a grown woman. But her feelings for him had obviously not changed. That was evident from earlier.
And, as much as he hated to admit it… He still couldn't believe he was saying this, even to himself… He returned the sentiment.
And that, his optimism told himself, was the reason to avoid defeat.
Slowly but surely, his brain told his arms to push. Push himself up, get up you lazy fool! Even slower was his general movement upward. But soon, he was, in fact, up. His legs barely holding him up, he shook his head and tried to regain his vision. Did he have the heart? Not necessarily, but he did have imagination. Here's the deal, he told himself. Amy's being tortured by Eggman and every villain imaginable inside that base. No one likes you, but if you save her, you'll get eternal happiness. From what, you aren't sure yet, but you will.
Clouds gathered in the sky, creating a darker blanket on top of an already dark sky.
Please start a thunderstorm, Sonic begged, get the mood going!
BOOM! Not from an earthquake this time. Yes! Thunder.
Flash! Lightning! Oh yeah, this was awesome!
Now, just imagine that Knuckles is chasing you with the killer instinct, and you can't kill him, just run.
GO!
No movement.
Oh come on, you stupid feet, run! This time, they did. But slowly. He planted one foot on the road in front of him, the road he had started at for oh so long and wondered what it had been made of.
No clang.
Asphalt. Good, easier to run on, not as loud.
Now, cue in some dramatic music. Sort through your mental music library…Linkin Park, how about? "Faint," that was a good one. Play. Get ready to run, wait for the violin to run its course.
"YEEEAARRRGH!" Sonic spun his head around. A green…
"KNUCKLES?" "DIE!!!"
Okay, now at least he didn't have to imagine Knuckles anymore.
Hup, the violin's done! Run!
Reasons Enough
The black night began to swirl around him as he sped down the mountain. Sonic was happier this was a descent rather than an ascent-it was going much faster this way. Stupid echidna had been fooled again-Knuckles probably thought he was dead or something. Now, it was clear sailing to the other mountain, once he got through the… "Whoa!" Sonic yelled as he screeched to a halt, taking a quick gasp of air.
In front of him, carved in the middle of the mountain range, was a massive…city was probably the best way to describe it. Yes, a metallic, futuristic city of some sort. The only reason he referred to it as such was because long, black roads led outward from the city like midnight snakes slithering along the canyon floor. Of metal or of asphalt, Sonic did not know, as he had not run along them yet. He looked down at his feet clad in crimson high tops, resting on the chocolate colored ground. The first road rested just a foot away. Slowly, Sonic inched towards the road, as if fearing he would fall into some everlasting pit if he touched it.
BOOM! The ground shook violently underneath him. Sonic barely kept his balance as his body swung to and fro. Finally, the rumbling tapered off until it ceased. The hedgehog took a second to gather himself, then took another step forward.
Flash!
A bright jade light encompassed the area, blinding Sonic, followed by another round of tremors. This time, Sonic could not stay up, and only stayed off the ground after he jutted his right arm out to break his fall. Panting, he closed his eyes as he kept his hand planted on the rock solid floor, as if feeling the strength of the tremor, trying to sense its power. Eventually, the shaking again died down. But just as Sonic thought it safe to rise, the aftershock hit. The heaviest of rumbles nearly broke his arm. Soon, he could hold his own weight no longer. His arm gave out beneath him, and he collapsed to the ground. His eyes still shut, his face wrinkled and his fists clenched as he tried to vain to move, to try and get up, but to no avail. He had taken quite a beating in the past three days without much rest. Usually, this had not been a problem, because someone had helped him out, helped carry the load. But now, he was exhausted. Sweat pumped from his body like running water. Eggman had already stripped him of most of his allies, and he did not know where Amy was right now. And the bounty hunter-he wasn't too far behind, and he had been in good enough health to taunt him in the cave. Plus, the government, the military, those guys from Carnival Island, and even, even Tails…it seemed that everyone was against him. Yep, this was basically him against the world, now that he thought of it. Everyone was against him now, and those who were not could not help him now. Obviously, he had to keep going-there was no arguing that. The true question was, could he stop the doctor again? Was he strong enough?
But why? Even if he did defeat the doctor, even if he did save the world, it wouldn't matter. Everyone would simply think Sonic had gone on another murdering spree and killed Ivo Eggman, candidate for mayor of Capital City, and when they found Amy's dead body, they would accuse him of that as well. There was nothing left. Nothing left at all. No reason to go on. Every turn was simply more trouble. He would have to go into hiding. There was no point in that, either. He could do nothing.
The heavy weight of failure suddenly slammed down on his back all at once. It was over. All over. But was this truly the way it was to end? He was Sonic the Hedgehog, the miracle worker, the savior. Could this possibly be the way he was to be defeated? But could he think of any reason at all to avoid defeat?
Amy.
A faint image of the pink hedgehog began to run in Sonic's mind. What was going on?
A flashback of the first time they had truly gone together somewhere. Back on Mobius. Home, home…
"Sonic, where are you going now?"
He looked over his shoulder at Amy, racing hot on his heels.
"To Never Lake," he called back.
"Why Never Lake?"
Sonic slowed down a little so he could explain. "Ever heard of the Little Planet?"
"Isn't that the tiny world that orbits around Mobius?" Amy asked. "The one with the special stones that alter time and change everything around them? I heard that the planet's full of places that are completely ignored by the passage of time!"
"Yeah. On the last month of every year, the Little Planet appears over Never Lake. It's that time now, and I'm going to check it out. I bet space travel will be exciting!"
"With all those Time Stones, I bet you'll try to outrun time itself!" Amy sighed.
Sonic didn't reply. He just smiled, eyes gleaming.
But what evil had happened next? The real reason they knew each other so well?
When they arrived at Never Lake, the Little Planet was there as expected. But something was wrong. Where there should have been tall trees and bright flowers, there was nothing but dry sand and jagged rocks. The Little Planet was tethered to a rock with a huge chain, and its surface was covered with twisted, gleaming metal.
"What happened?" Amy wondered.
Before Sonic could reply, something whooshed over them. Amy shrieked as she was snatched up, and she and her captor vanished in a blue streak of light!
"What the -- AMY!"
It didn't take long for Sonic to realize what had happened. "Eggman!" he cried as he watched a robotic version of…himself?…fly away from him towards a massive battleship.
Metal…
Sonic stood on a rock and thought. Eggman had control of the Little Planet. He had Amy, and soon he would have the Time Stones...
His situation looked grim then, but nothing compared to now, or anything before that. Like with Chaos…
"Sonic!" Amy shouted as she chased Sonic down the sidewalk by the casino. A small, cyan canary followed not too far behind.
"Uh…Amy…" Sonic stammered, walking backwards.
"What's wrong with you anyway?" she demanded, as if he had committed some cardinal sin. "Listen," she continued, "this birdie seems to be in trouble. So you have to be his bodyguard for a while." "WHAT?!?" replied Sonic incredulously. "You must be joking!" "If you don't," teased Amy, batting an eyebrow, "we're just gonna tag along anyway." "Sure," Sonic groaned. "Whatever. Just follow me," he told her, waving a hand towards his face.
A split second later, he was gone, racing back to Station Square. From behind, Amy, persistent as ever, followed as fast as she could. "No fair!" she shouted from behind. "You too fast!" "Man, that girl is such a pain," Sonic mumbled to himself.
A pain. That was what he thought of her.
And with Shadow…
A loud clanging sound!
Something dropped down from the ceiling. Sonic whirled around, breaking his usual trend of pacing around his cell.
"Amy?" he cried, bewildered.
"Shh!" she hissed, putting a single finer to her pursed lips. "Keep your voice down!" Then, she proceeded to prance around the room in a triumphant way, giggling, "Have no fear, Amy Rose is here!"
God, she was annoying.
"How did you get in here?" He had to hear this. "Well, if you have to know…I got a ride from Tails," she admitted.
Figures.
Her face perked up again. "Are you sure you don't need my help?" she said in a sing-song voice, waving a card that looked like some kind of membership. "It looks like you could use it." "The reason I'm in here," he explained, running in place and throwing jabs into the air, "is because of that fake hedgehog."
"Oh you mean that black one?"
"Yeah, when did you see him? Get me outta here!" "If I do, will you marry me?" "NO WAY."
"I thought I had you this time," she sighed as she swiped the card. The cell door flew up almost as fast as Sonic ran out of it. "I saw that black hedgehog outside with Dr. Eggman." "So, Eggman's in on all of this too, eh?" But Amy had already devoted her attention to the wall in Sonic's old cell. It was covered in complicated math problems and scientific theories.
"What're all these markings? Did you do all these, Sonic?" No answer.
"Sonic?" She turned to face the steel wall behind her.
"Wait for me, Sonic! He's such a brat sometimes," she added to herself.
Now that Sonic thought of it, he and Amy had been through a lot together. And, in some ways, he owed a lot to her. Of course, he had more than repaid the favor, but still…
And all that time, all the times Amy had been chasing him…all the time, it had not been for naught. It was some crazy crush. But she was much more mature now, not some bubbly little girl, but almost a grown woman. But her feelings for him had obviously not changed. That was evident from earlier.
And, as much as he hated to admit it… He still couldn't believe he was saying this, even to himself… He returned the sentiment.
And that, his optimism told himself, was the reason to avoid defeat.
Slowly but surely, his brain told his arms to push. Push himself up, get up you lazy fool! Even slower was his general movement upward. But soon, he was, in fact, up. His legs barely holding him up, he shook his head and tried to regain his vision. Did he have the heart? Not necessarily, but he did have imagination. Here's the deal, he told himself. Amy's being tortured by Eggman and every villain imaginable inside that base. No one likes you, but if you save her, you'll get eternal happiness. From what, you aren't sure yet, but you will.
Clouds gathered in the sky, creating a darker blanket on top of an already dark sky.
Please start a thunderstorm, Sonic begged, get the mood going!
BOOM! Not from an earthquake this time. Yes! Thunder.
Flash! Lightning! Oh yeah, this was awesome!
Now, just imagine that Knuckles is chasing you with the killer instinct, and you can't kill him, just run.
GO!
No movement.
Oh come on, you stupid feet, run! This time, they did. But slowly. He planted one foot on the road in front of him, the road he had started at for oh so long and wondered what it had been made of.
No clang.
Asphalt. Good, easier to run on, not as loud.
Now, cue in some dramatic music. Sort through your mental music library…Linkin Park, how about? "Faint," that was a good one. Play. Get ready to run, wait for the violin to run its course.
"YEEEAARRRGH!" Sonic spun his head around. A green…
"KNUCKLES?" "DIE!!!"
Okay, now at least he didn't have to imagine Knuckles anymore.
Hup, the violin's done! Run!