It was a nightmare.
Amy couldn't believe it. Or rather, she refused to believe it.
She refused to believe her hero was gone.
He was Sonic the Hedgehog, the brave, the fearless.
The immortal.
But Death does not make exceptions. In Death's eyes, hero and villain are equal- souls whose time is up. They are no longer among the living, and thus are the same.
And now Sonic the Hedgehog had joined their ranks.
It's just a dream, Amy hoped. I'm going to close my eyes, and when I open them again, I'll be back at my apartment, and he'll still be alright.
He'll still be alive…
She closed her eyes, clinging desperately to a lost hope. She knew Sonic was gone, but she didn't want to believe it. She opened her eyes, and she was still on the Egg Carrier, surrounded by robot debris, the body of the only man she ever loved lying next to her. She sighed. She should've been used to this by now, having somebody who cared about her die because of her. But it just hurt more each time. Sonic was really gone.
And it was all her fault.
"If I had just listened to Sonic, if I had just stayed with Tails….." But Amy couldn't think about what could have been. Sonic was dead, and nothing she could do would bring
him back.
She had to find help. Somebody, anybody who could help her now…Station Square was a big city, there had to be somebody willing to help her. With a heavy heart, Amy picked up Sonic's body and left the Egg Carrier, hoping that somebody would be able to help her say goodbye.
He knew something was wrong.
It was….a disturbance. A tear in the natural order of the universe. Like a light had burst, and now the world was surrounded by darkness.
He knew that Sonic the Hedgehog was dead.
Shadow the Hedgehog sighed. He had always known this day would come. Sonic had always been cocky and reckless, but he had never feared death. Shadow had always assumed that he had never feared it because he never thought he would experience it.
But Shadow knew that even stars died. Sonic had lived recklessly, and now he had paid the price.
But that wasn't what was wrong in Shadow's mind. There was another disturbance.
An endless wave of sadness that haunted the corners of his mind.
He knew people would be upset over Sonic's death, but he didn't know anybody who would mourn for the hero forever.
And then he knew. Amy. She loved Sonic, and would never be able to accept his death. He understood why, though. It had taken him over 50 years to accept Maria's death, and he still missed her.
She was coming.
She needed help.
She needed him.
"Help….please….somebody…anybody, please help me…" Amy wasn't sure how long she had been wandering the streets of Station Square for. She had been pleading for help for what seemed like hours, but there was nobody there to even give her a passing glance. She knew that it was supposed to rain today, so most people hadn't gone out. And anybody who had been out had probably ran off when the Egg Carrier showed up over the city.
She was scared and alone, and nobody was there to help her.
It started to rain, and Amy sighed. She thought about giving up, because nobody was going to help her. She was alone, and nothing was going to change.
And then she ran into him.
"S-s-shadow!"
He looked at her. She was tired, and scared, and had clearly been crying. Then, he looked at Sonic's body. He was badly injured, but his injuries didn't appear to be serious. It didn't make any sense to Shadow. How had Sonic, the fastest thing alive, the greatest hero on the planet, died from such minor injuries?
Because he was mortal.
He had paid the price for challenging the gods.
Shadow and Amy stared at each other for a moment, silent.
"You can cry if you want, you know. You don't have to hide your feelings from me."
Amy stared at Shadow for a moment, and then, the tears she had been fighting back came out, and she cried. She cried, and she didn't care if anybody saw her. Shadow held both Amy and Sonic in his arms, and he just held her as she cried. Neither of them was how long they were there, standing in the rain. But Shadow knew that they couldn't stay like this forever.
"Come on, Amy. We need to go and tell the others."
"This had better be important, Amy. Just think of what could be happening to the Master Emerald while I'm gone!"
"Knucklehead, your stupid emerald will be fine for an hour. Now shut up and let Amy speak!"
Amy smiled slightly at Rouge. "Thanks…" She gulped as she looked at her friend's happy faces, knowing that her grim message would crush them forever.
"So, Amy, what exactly did you want to tell us?" Rouge asked. Amy sighed again. It was now or never.
"Earlier today, the Egg Carrier was spotted over Station Square, and Sonic went to go see what Eggman was up to. He told me not to follow him….but I did."
"He's dead."
Everybody turned and stared at Shadow, who was completely emotionless despite what he had just said. Rouge, who was sitting closest to Shadow, turned and slapped him.
"Shadow, don't talk like that! Sonic wouldn't go and get himself killed by Eggman, right Amy?"
Amy looked away. She didn't have the nerve to tell them any more.
"…Right, Amy?"
But her silence spoke more than words ever could. And, slowly, the others realized that their greatest fear, their darkest nightmare, had come true.
Sonic the Immortal had fallen.
