CHAPTER 18: Last Respects

Four days had passed since Espio had been murdered. When Amy, practically in tears, had told Vector(Charmy hadn't been around), he almost cried. He hadn't known how to react when she gave him the kunai and told him that Espio had asked that it be given to Charmy. When Charmy finally found out and Vector gave him the kunai, he DID cry. In fact, he had cried so long and hard that he finally just passed out from exhaustion in the middle of the night. All of five people turned up for Espio's funeral, besides the preacher: Sonic, Tails, Amy, Vector, and Charmy. Tails really hadn't even known Espio, but he'd saved Amy's life and that was enough for him. No one was really hearing what the preacher said, as they were all grieving in ways of their own. Charmy was sniffling and tears were flowing down his face(but he wasn't sobbing); Vector had his head bowed and was praying to a god he didn't really believe in to take good care of his friend; Amy was also sniffling with tears flowing; Sonic had a comforting arm around her; and Tails had his head bowed, remaining silent. Espio's body lay in his coffin, lid closed, on the stand set to lower the wooden box into the ground with the turn of a small crank. As the preacher knelt down to begin turning the crank, Charmy seemed to snap. He ran forward, crying his eyes out, and threw himself on the coffin.

"COME BACK ESPIO!" he cried out. "I PROMISE NOT TO FIGHT WITH VECTOR ANYMORE! I WON'T TOUCH YOUR KUNAI ANYMORE! I'LL GO TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY! JUST COME BACK! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO!" No one made a move to stop him for a minute, to allow him a minute to let it all out. Finally, Vector stepped forward and gently pulled him away from the coffin. Charmy didn't try to fight him; rather, he flew up and buried his face in Vector's shoulder, still crying for all he was worth. Vector just patted him on the back a few times, at a total loss for words. As the preacher lowered Espio's coffin into the ground, Amy managed to say her first few words in several hours.

"Thank you Espio," she whispered through her tears.

"I have taken out the secondary target, Master," said a robotic voice, kneeling in the light behind the chair of the dark figure who seemed to control everything at some level. The voice belonged to the old man who had murdered Espio four days before by shooting him in the chest. "I apologize for my lateness making my report, but as you know, I had to lie low for a little while before returning, lest I be followed."

"Very well, Sturges," grunted the voice in the chair. "However, I did NOT order you to attack the primary target, did I? And yet you wounded him in the stomach!"

"I am sorry Master!" Sturges cried out. "I had to wound him to get him off my tail! He has recovered from the wound! The worst he will have is a scar! I had to do it, or I would not have been able to return!"

"Oh, Sturges, you misunderstand me," the dark figure said as it began to type "Sturges" on a small keyboard using one hand. "You were not meant to return. It was a suicide mission. I planned for you to be destroyed out there so that everyone would see your emblem and know it was I who sent you to kill the pink hedgehog's guardian. Goodbye, Sturges." The figure pressed a small red button on its keyboard, and Sturges's head suddenly exploded as several implanted charges were detonated. Blood and chunks of skin were sent flying several feet in every direction, as well as chunks of hardened metal and some computer hardware. His fake eyes landed with a plop right behind the chair. "Fool. Well, in the very least, my Cybernetic Warrior program is a success. Of course, once I have some other objectives completed, I will not require them." Sturges's real eyes faded and burned out.

"I'm so sorry about this," Amy said to Vector after Espio's funeral was over. They were still at his grave, even as it had begun to rain slightly. Charmy had thrown himself on the fresh grave as soon as Vector had let go of him, still crying his eyes out.

"I told you before, I don't blame you for it," Vector said to her, his voice devoid of the energy it usually carried. "You didn't know this would happen. No one did."

"I couldn't even catch the guy that did it," Sonic said glumly. "Wish I had, it would've helped to pound his head in, I'm sure."

"Speaking of that, how's your stomach?" Amy asked.

"I'm okay," Sonic replied. "The doctors managed to get the bullet out without a problem. It didn't hit anything important, so they let me go the day after the surgery." A particularly loud sob from Charmy caused them all to look over at him pitifully.

"Poor kid," Vector said. "He would never have admitted it while Espio was with us, but he thought of him as an older brother. A bit harsh and sometimes even hostile one, but a brother nonetheless."

"I feel just the same about Sonic," Tails said, opening his mouth for the first time in hours. "I know how that goes." Sonic had already known this, and didn't show any signs of surprise.

"You guys need a ride?" Amy asked Vector.

"No, that's okay," he said. "I think we'll stay here for a while, and let Charmy get everything out of his system. I'm not really sure how much is a proper amount of grieving time for him, so I figure I'll just leave it up to him. We can catch a cab or a bus later on."

"Alright," Amy said. "I guess your job is done now. Not much point sticking by me now that they're onto you."

"Guess not," Vector said. "Don't mean to sound rude, but I don't think this is the best time or place to discuss business."

"I guess not," Amy said. She looked down at thr ground for a minute, then looked up and suddenly asked, "Could you excuse me?" She didn't even wait for an answer, and left rather more quickly than was necessary. Sonic and Vector looked at each other.

"What's eating her?" Vector asked.

"Don't know," Sonic said. "I'll find out." He ran after Amy, and caught up with her at her car. He immediately asked, "What's wrong, Amy?" Amy sighed.

"I'm starting to think I'm too dangerous to be around, Sonic," she said, sounding depressed. "That lady at the diner was killed because she looked like me, then Espio was killed because he took down that robot trying to kill me. I can't stand the thought of someone else dying because of me!" Sonic was appalled that Amy could even think that way.

"Amy, don't say that!" he said. "You know it's not true!"

"Prove it!" she retorted. Sonic hesitated; he couldn't think of a valid argument for the lady in the diner or Espio. They actually both WERE related to Amy in some way. Of course, Amy saw this and looked down and to her left, avoiding Sonic's eyes. "See? You can't prove they didn't happen because of me."

"Knock it off!" Sonic suddenly burst out. "Look, I admit I can't say that Espio and the lady in the diner's murders weren't related to you, but they were NOT your fault! You did nothing to cause them! NOTHING! That lady was killed because she looked like you, which was something no one could do anything about. Espio was killed because he took down that robot, unless the guy in the theater was lying when he said that #34 was avenged! You may have had some connection to both murders, but they weren't anything you could help! Do you understand me?" At first, Amy didn't reply, at least not verbally. Instead, she looked up at Sonic, right into his eyes, before throwing herself on him and hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her as well. Finally Amy found words to express what she was feeling.

"I just don't want to see you or any of our friends killed because of me," she said.

"Amy, what did I just say?" Sonic said. "Nothing's going to happen to anyone because of you. Just remember that. If something happens to me, it's because of something I did, not you." Amy didn't say anything back, but she didn't need to. Sonic could feel her response: she understood.

Well, bit of an interesting one, wasn't it? .....I always say that. I need new material. Anywho, this was a bit of an angsty chapter, if you hadn't noticed. Personally, I felt a little depressed while I was typing it out. Guess I got a little into it. Of course, that's what happens when you suffer from an inability to keep mental images out of your head, showing what your writing would look like if you were there watching it unfold. Anyway, in case you didn't guess, the guy that killed Espio was a cyborg. And he did a bad thing: he shot Sonic in the stomach to escape from him. Sonic survived and made a full recovery in less than 3 days, but the cyborg's master(who is it? That's for me to know and you to speculate) informed him that he wasn't supposed to come back, and killed him. This should provide a bit of satisfaction for Espio fans. Anywho, R&R please. As usual. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find something alternative to say besides "Interesting, wasn't it?".