by Kris
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I know nothing. No suey.
Author's Note: I have absolutely no idea where this came from. Maybe a half remembered dream. Perhaps while I was reading that story where Mecha, Espio, and Robo Knux kill everybody but Amy and Tails...you know which one I'm talking about. In any case, I haven't the foggiest where this originated. I'm actually starting to creep myself out, though. I mean, come on. From humor and romance to this? I really scare myself... Ah, well. Rated pretty highfor violence and death scenes. But no worries, folks. All's well that ends well...(smiles mysteriously)
Please review and tell me if I should raise the rating. I don't want to have this deleted, or to hurt any young kids. Thanx. ;)
XX
A bright light beckoned him. A warm feeling filled him from head to toe, and it felt great. That light was the source of this feeling, and the closer he got, the more the feeling grew.
However, years of fighting troublemakers held him back, made him wary. So, while he still followed the light trail, he hung back, watching for anything suspicious.
With a sudden inside snap, he couldn't stop himself. He ran full tilt for the end of this tunnel. He knew, somehow, that once he reached the end of this, he would be free. Free from everything.
But when he reached the end of the tunnel, the light disappeared, as did the warm, fuzzy feeling, leaving him cold and empty. Barren.
This sudden transition, of course, momentarily confused him. But he regained his bearings and found himself in a small, dark, dank, gray room. He knew this only because of a lantern hanging on a nearby nail, shedding its light on things five feet away. Everywhere else was pitch black. No windows, no lights other than the lantern, nothing. Shuddering due to the lack of lighting, he reached for the lantern, lifting it off the nail and waving it about. He saw nothing and decided to investigate. With something like this, something is somewhere.
He decided to walk with the wall close at hand, just to be on the safe side. For a while, the lantern showed nothing but the dreary gray walls, until he stumbled over something. Regaining his feet, he moved the lantern to see what blocked his way- and nearly dropped it in horror.
The unmistakable figure of his friend and long-time rival, Knuckles, blocked him.
Sonic set the lantern on the ground and knelt at Knuckles' side. "Hey, Knux? Yo, Knucklehead?" He poked the Guardian in the back. "Hey, Sleeping Ugly, wake up." He figured the red echidna couldn't resist waking, even from a much-needed sleep, if he knew he had reason to knock Sonic's lights out. But the figure remained still. Sonic muttered something about 'that crazy 'chidna' being able to 'sleep through a hurricane' and rolled the prostrate form over. He reeled back in disgust and horror.
A long thin blade had, sometime ago, impaled the former Guardian's forehead. The owner, however, hadn't seen it fit to retrieve the knife, and so it remained there. His lifeless violet eyes stared up at Sonic. The cobalt hedgehog turned away, holding his stomach.
After his body rid itself of his lunch, Sonic wiped his mouth with the back of a glove stained with Knuckles' blood. He bent to retrieve the lantern and stole a glance at the body. Unsure if the murderer was still around, he reached over and (not without an ugly grimace, mind you) pulled the knife out. After he removed the weapon, he stood there for a long moment, just staring in unbelief. Knuckles is the strong one. How could this happen?
The Guardian did not allow anyone too close. Exactly why, only he knew. But everyone guessed the main truth: it was to protect himself, so if anyone he knew got hurt or killed, he would remain unaffected. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depends on your perspective) it hadn't quite worked out that way. He and Sonic, despite early rivalries, became friends, and the ruby echidna had come to look upon Tails as a younger brother, albeit one with a huge IQ, which unnerved him from time to time. And he and Rouge came closer, him taking her out on dates and her introducing him to kissing.
As for Cream...he never came out and said it, but Sonic caught him reading stories to Cream and Cheese. Simple, childish stories to which the Guardian had never been introduced as a child, so the reading thing had a two-way benefit: Cream and Cheese would get a story read to them for only the hundredth and first time, and Knuckles would discover the wonders of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. He seemed to care quite a bit for the cheery rabbit girl, and whenever he came to Station Square, 'Uncle Knux' would have a bag of candy hidden back until he could give it to her. It never ceased to amuse Sonic and Tails.
Shadow gave silent regard to the Guardian whenever they happened to meet. Both seemed fiercely protective of anything and anyone they cared about, which is why they got along without many quarrels. He seemed to regard Amy Rose the same he did Tails: as a little sister who only wanted to see him smile. 'Just one itsy, bitsy smile, Knuckles! Just one!'
He never gave much attention, though, to Midnight, the mysterious black cat that lived with Rouge and her friends. But he always gave her a polite nod, and she would return in kind.
Despite all this, in all his 'uncharacteristic' kindness, all his living and fighting, there were things he'd never experience now. So many things.
There's so much you haven't done Knux...so much. Getting married, becoming a dad... Sonic wiped away the unconscious tears that had gathered in his eyes, threatening to spill over. He took a deep breath and turned away, following the wall again, the lantern in one hand, and the stiletto in the other, ready to slash at anyone that approached. His emerald eyes turned hard as diamond in the faint light. When I find who did this, Knux, I'll kill them the way they did you...
It seemed like hours until Sonic came to a dark brown door, bearing a lion head knocker, which sported bared teeth and a ferocious look. Cautiously opening it, (and giving the knocker strange looks) he then stumbled backwards at the bright light that shone from it. Blinking, he carefully stepped inside, trying to accustom his eyes to the brightness faster.
A shrill scream halted his efforts, and he looked about, searching for the source. Finally gazing upwards, he saw, to his horror, Mecha Sonic holding a sobbing Amy in his claws. "Let her go, you tin can faker!" Sonic yelled.
His metallic counterpart used his new StretchMetal mouth to grin malevolently, and he gave Amy a mock throw. The pink hedgehog screamed again, tears streaming down her face as she looked to her blue hero for help.
Sonic stared helplessly above at the scene. What can I do? He looked around, searching for something that'd give him altitude. But though nearly illuminating on its own, this room gave up nothing more than the other he'd just left. He looked back up at Mecha, praying the robot wouldn't hurt Amy. A sudden thought staggered him. He must've killed Knux! Sonic gritted his teeth as he stared upwards. The robot stared back down at him, his mouth stretching into a sneer.
"I won't let you kill her, too!" Sonic yelled defiantly. "You won't claim another victim!"
Mecha's smirk only grew with each word. "Really? And what are you going to do to stop me? Fly up here?" He laughed tauntingly. Amy Rose clung to Mecha's metallic chest, her eyes clinging just as tight to Sonic. "S-Sonic," she stuttered in fear, "help!"
Mecha looked down at the hedgehog in his arms. "Are you blind as well as stupid?" His gaze moved back to Sonic. "Your precious hero can't save you this time."
Sonic took a step forward, one hand forming into a fist. His emerald eyes snapped in anger as they shot daggers at the sneering metal faker. His mouth curved into a smirk identical to Mecha's, though tinged with anger. "I think you forgot something, Faker." He showed his fist to the robot, who stared at the glowing yellow emerald in his grasp. "Let her go," the hedgehog repeated firmly. "Don't make me come and get her."
Mecha's glowing eyes flickered slightly as his gaze moved from Sonic to Amy and back again. His mouth twisted slightly. "All right, then. I guess I have no choice...but to let her go." The smirk appeared again as he looked at Amy. "Farewell, Amy Rose." The words came in a hiss as he flung the terrified girl to the ground.
"No!" Sonic ran to catch her, but even with all his speed, he was too late.
She lay, broken and bloody on the hard floor. Amy gasped slightly as the pain wracked through her body. Her hero knelt beside her, tears of disbelief clouding his vision as he gathered her into his arms. "Amy..." he whispered. The girl moved her head a little to gaze into his eyes.
He swallowed, helplessly watching as blood flowed from a wound in her chest. "Ames..." his voice broke when his eyes met her. Amy tried to smile, her lips wavering slightly. "Sonic...I-I always...loved...you..." Her words became slurred and her eyes closed. A sob wrenched from Sonic's throat. "I love you, too, Amy." He buried his head in her shoulder, the tears spilling onto his cheeks.
Mecha watched this with a grim smile of delight. Sonic looked up, anger flowing through his veins, drying his tears and focusing his eyes upon his enemy. "You," he said in a low voice, the single word sounding like a threat. He laid Amy down gently and got to his feet. His hands fisted, the right one clutching the emerald tightly. "You will die," he muttered, his green eyes flaming bright. "And I'm gonna be the one to kill you."
He held the emerald before him, clutching it tighter. "Chaos Control!" A blur of color attacked Mecha, who screamed and fended off the attacks as best he could. The blur attacked repeatedly, again and again. Finally Mecha, worn out and sizzling sporadically, pulled a Black Shield before Sonic could hit again.
"You're...good..." The robot's eyes blared brighter. "But...not...as good...as...me..." A bolt of light started from Mecha's outstretched finger and hit Sonic square in the stomach. Reeling back, the hedgehog gasped in pain. He collapsed on the floor, feeling every muscle contract painfully.
His mechanical counterpart hovered above, gloating. But the robot's end came. His last words came slowly, as if speaking pained him. "You...thought you...won...but you...were...wrong." The last words became slurred, and the powerful engine powering him began shutting down. His hover system gave out, sending him to the ground not four feet from Sonic's feet. The red eyes flashed slightly, daring death to come, then blinked off.
Sonic stood silently, wincing slightly at the lingering pain, staring at the head of his dead nemesis. It's time... Bending down, he buried the knife in the hunk of metal, and then picked it up. He stared into the optical ports, where the 'eyes' were located. "This is for Knuckles." Grunting with effort, he chunked it far across the room.
Feeling somewhat better, he slowly approached the head again. As last time, he held it in both hands and stared into the eyes. "And this is for Amy!" He threw it at the opposite wall.
Staggering toward Amy's body, he looked at the innocent pink hedgehog. But for the blood, she could be asleep, dreaming peacefully. He fell to the floor, gathering her body to him again, and let his tears wash away the blood drying on his fur.
In his grief, he did not see Mecha's head roll right through the wall...
(laughs nervously) Um...what can I say? R&R?
Amy Fans: BOO! (throw tomatoes)
Knuckles Fans: Boo! Down with Midnight! (throw grapes)
(dodges fruit) No, no, you don't understand! It's just a- (gets hit in the face by a tomato) Aw, forget it. You can just wait until next chapter. (storms off the stage)
Catrina: (peeks out from the sidelines) Don't worry, guys. Everything's gonna be just fine. Trust me.