Author's note: It's getting hard to write this now..., there are a lot of ideas coming into my head. And I don't really know whether I should use them. But, well, here is the next chapter.
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Chapter 6: Regret
4 hours later
Sopher sat miserably on the stone bench, looking at the digital timer that grimly counted down the seconds of the day's final hours, with his red eyes.
7 hours 28 minutes and 19 seconds
The timer was starting to prove itself as an instrument of torture to Sopher. It told him how slow time had become, how long each second trudged along the line of time... He had gone through this for 2 months, today should be fast.
It wasn't to be.
Sopher looked like he was going to snap very soon, there was just too much happening, and there was just too much pressure on him, too much stress. Another sudden increase of that and... No.... He took a deep breath in, and another one out, telling himself that he could still keep his sanity, and that he could get past today, the last day of his life. Ah yes, that was a nice thought, the last day of his life...
He stared at the timer again.
27 hours 28 minutes and 0 seconds.
No!
Driven by rage, he subconsciously groped for one of the many rocks on the cell floor, and threw it, with much force, into the timer. A shower of glass scattered itself onto the grey floor.
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Right now, Sonic was already about 450 miles away from Knothole, sitting on the ground, munching on a chili dog. Bored of going around the village in circles, and patrolling the Knothole's outskirts, searching for the so-called assassin. A long, refreshing run was what he needed, not some boring patrol. The poison may have been potentially lethal, and so on, but he knew Tails was going to be fine. After all, Robotnik was gone, nothing seriously wrong could happen now...
Time for another run... Sonic carried his haversack and, making the same promise to himself to run just a little more north to explore for the 4th time today, he dashed off.
Unknown to him, what was over the ridge 5 miles away would shock and terrify.
The motives of Dr.Robin that drove him to allowing guests to go into Tails' room was unclear; he usually wouldn't allow that, but he gave some hints as he stood at the corner of the room, shaking his head, as he watched Tara, Sally and Bunny try to talk to his patient, who was at the moment, struggling to breathe, even through the oxygen mask. How should he break the news?
"Erm, sorry to interrupt, girls, but I'm afraid your friend here has a 50-50 chance of not surviving through the night. I'm really sorry. Now I'll have to leave now, it's the end of my shift." He said, trying hard to sound sympathetic.
"Mister…., is there anything else you can do to help Tails?" Tara asked, looking emotionless.
Robin shook his head. "The most you can do now is to hope for the best. If Tails survives through this night, his body can recover and fight the poison enough to ensure his survival. But now, it's too soon..." After saying that, he went through the doors and went away.
There was silence for a while as the three stared into Tails' red, half-open eyes and listened to his irregular breathing.
Suddenly, Sally started to stoke the poor fox's pale fox's face as she started to cry. "Tails... I just want you to know that we… love you, normal or not, and that I, Sonic, Bunny, Rotor, all the freedom fighters...., we have forgiven you long ago. If you're going to die, I just want you to forgive yourself, Tails... ok?"
Bunny gave a ghost of a nod, as she, without anything to say, helped Sally out of the room, as tears rolled down her cheeks. Tara however, stayed inside the room, still staring at nothingness, not knowing what to do now.
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In anger, sadness and disbelief mixed together, Sonic stared blankly at the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of robotosized slaves carving at the rocks, extracting the minerals inside them.
Robotnik... He... was still... alive...
Seeing this, his carefree mindset had immediately been completely crushed. Everything he had believed for the past year that Robotnik was finally dead was gone. Instead, it was replaced by pure rage and anger.
"Robotnik! How could you?" he shouted, own voice echoing across the valley.
His judgment clouded, and without a second thought, Sonic ran down the ridge, aiming to destroy every SWATbot that he could find.
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"Bad move, Sonic. Bad move." Robotnik muttered as he watched Sonic slice apart one of his robots.
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Author's note: Oh no. I think I'm losing it. I don't know whether this is part of a downward spiral or this is good, so please send in reviews. Oh, and a happy new year. Note that my school days are starting tomorrow, so, erm, updating will be a problem. ) Wakakakaka.
