' I'm so pathetic!' Was the thought than ran through the heads of two creatures, hundreds of miles apart but thinking a like. One, a hedgehog who had just been giving a deadly reality check by his old best friend, the other, a depressed echidna, hunched over in a wheelchair and on the verge of tears.
' All I ever had to do was pay attention to others around me, instead of thinking about myself all the time, and I would have realised that we all have problems. Perhaps others problems are even worse than my own, yet they don't go around complaining about it. Perhaps if I tried to help others, instead of moaning all the time, it will take my mind off what I did to Amy, what did to everyone'
' If I hadn't gone and wasted all my energy on saving Shadows son, my own would be all right! Who knows what Eggman has done to him? He's probably lying dead on the floor, his poor little body broken and beaten...no! Don't think like that! He's still alive, he's got to be! Oh but why did I have to be so stupid? I don't deserve to have a son, I don't deserve what the emerald did for me! I don't deserve Rouge. I don't deserve any family at all! Not if they all get slaughtered and murdered and I'm too weak to stop it. Perhaps I should go back to the old life, the one where I only ever had to take care of myself. At least then, if I messed up, it was only myself that suffered the consequences'
' I shouldn't be a mother, not after what I did to my poor twins. I knew I could have held on for longer, let them stay inside me for a little more, then they would be alive right now. But no! I had to be selfish and force myself into labour, now I've killed them both. And Draco, he won't look me in the eye anymore, as if he knows what I did. I don't think he even considers me his mother anymore. He just looks at me and thinks, murderer. And that's what I am, and everyone knows it, even Shadow, their just too kind to say it to my face, as if I deserve sympathy. But no, I'm a criminal, a murderer. I don't deserve anything.'
' Sonic? Where are you? I need you!'
' Perhaps I made the wrong decision. It was so selfish of me to laugh like that. But seriously, if I hadn't been in so much shock, would I have said yes?'
If you took something out, something that could listen to the thoughts of every member of the Sonic crew, you would hear nothing but pain and sadness and suffering in each and every one of their voices. It wasn't all caused by the same source, but many. A madman set loose, a disillusioned hero, the death of a child. But no matter what the source, it was clear that this was the deepest of depressions, and nothing would lift it. Nothing, but the greatest of good acts, one that could banish all the evil that had been set apon the land and their minds. Unknown to the others, a certain fox, determined to set right the wrongs his best friend committed and to sought things out with his girlfriend, had set the events in motion that would eventually lead to this great act. He had woken up the true hero in Sonic, and , for perhaps the first time, Sonic would be fighting for others, not himself.
Sonic himself, wasn't aware of the full consequences of his actions. Because of his assistance in letting Eggman escape from prison, both Amy and Seth were now his prisoners, as well as the reporters that had been following Knuckles around for a while. He also didn't know of Siberia's miscarriage, as he had left the house, because of his argument with Amy, before the news could reach him. He also didn't realise that Robotnic had begun to inject Amy with dangerous drugs, in an attempt to make the baby grow faster and stronger. But these chemicals had a worse effect on Amy, she was becoming more and more ill as the drugs increased. Worse could be said for Seth, Robotnic counted him as his second hand man, Sonic's child was first priority, so any drugs that were injected into Amy and through her, the baby, were first tested on Seth to make sure they were not too damaging. Needless to say, not every drug was safe, and Seth's condition was worsening every day.
But all this, would help him to turn his life around when he found out, knowing all the evil he caused just because he wanted a little fun. And so, after sitting on the same hill top that Tails had left him on, thinking his life through for hours, he finally came up with a plan of action. The first thing that he needed to do was make up with Amy. He just hoped she was willing enough to listen to him after he stormed out last time.
However, when he arrived at their house, he was shocked to find half of it torn down. Rushing inside, he began frantically searching for Amy, calling her name as he wondered, helplessly, through the broken house. There was no evidence that she had taken anything with her, or that she could have made it away from the house on her own with just her legs for transport. His worry increased when he realised Amy must have been getting up to six months pregnant, nearing the heavy stage and unable to defend herself properly. He felt a burning pit of regret ignight in his stomach, realising just one of the mistakes that he made by realising his arch enemy. He hoped against hope that Robotnics wasn't the one who had torn half the house down, because if he was, that meant Amy was in his custody, and Sonic didn't even want to think of what Robotnic was doing too her. He realised he had been missing Amy, covering up his misery with the adventure he insisted on dragging Tails on. But now that the fox had knocked some sense into him, there was no distraction from the terrible wrong he had committed.
Not yet giving up hope, he sprinted over to Shadows house, hoping that somehow Amy had been rescued and was staying over with those three. It only took him a minute to get there, even while sprinting somewhat slowly. He rung the doorbell, hoping to get a warm welcome from Amy and perhaps relief from Shadow that he was back in town. He tried to look friendly as Shadow opened the door, despite his growing feeling of disgust for himself. But any friendliness that managed to be displayed on his face when Sonic saw the look on Shadows. The black hedgehog looked furious.
" Hey?" Sonic said shyly, knowing now he was in trouble. The other hedgehog stared at him darkly, unblinking, then replied in a threatening tone.
" Hey". However, before Sonic could say anymore, Shadow leapt forward with a burst of incredible speed and smashed his fist against Sonic's jaw. The hedgehog flailed and feel against the ground from the shock of the blow, but Shadow wasn't done. He jumped on top on Sonic, digging his knees into the hedgehogs chest sharply, knocking away his breath and proceeded to beat the hell of out the blue animal. Sonic felt he deserved some beating for what he had done, knowing now that Shadow was probably aware of the fact that he had freed Robotnic. However, when his head, chest and just about everything else that Shadow had decided to beat to death began to pound with pain, Sonic decided enough was enough and threw Shadow off his chest, righting himself with a quick flip of his feet. The dark one charged at his again, but Sonic wasn't going to waste his time anymore, and caught Shadows hands in his own, let go of one, and twisted the other behind the hedgehogs back.
" Shadow! Listen to me!" Sonic commanded, pressing Shadows wrist in a way that caused him pain. Shadow calmed and stopped struggling, so Sonic let him go. He sighed and said in a tired voice " Is Amy here?" He questioned, looking at Shadow with a serious face. Shadow still looked as if he despised the hedgehog, but managed to hold it back enough to answer Sonic's questions, with a considerable amount of spite thrown in for the sack of it.
" Amy isn't here. She's with Robotnic. Thanks to you, she's been captured, along with Seth". Sonics shoulders slumped in depression. He already had a feeling that Amy had been taken, but when it was confirmed, he found he couldn't take it.
" Man...Seth too?" Sonic said to no-one in particular. He sighed and said in a deflated voice. " Knux is gonna' kill me..."
" Yes, he is" Shadow said, regaining his calm and some sympathy towards Sonic, who actually looked generally upset and worried. Suddenly, Sonic realised just how long he had been away, he realised Shadows sons may have even been born now. What if Eggman have found them too? He thought, shocked.
" Shadow. What about your sons?". Shadows face grew darker as he lowered his head. Sonic thought it best not to press the subject, but some how found himself asking more any way. " And Siberia. Is she all right?" Sonic temporarily forgot about Amy, wanting to know the full extent of the damage he had caused he forced himself to consider everybody. From Shadows face, he knew something else had happened. The dark life form sighed and replied, without looking up.
" Draco is fine" he said in a flat tone. Sonic foolishly pressed him further, asking about his before unborn children. " Tobious and Typhone didn't make it" he stated, sounding dead in his voice. Sonic felt a sudden bolt of shock rush through him, fearing the Eggman had killed them both, maybe even Siberia too? ' What have I done?' He thought to himself, his heart seemingly turning to cold lead and sinking to his stomach. Shadow guessed his train of thoughts and adding, much to Sonic's relief " Siberia had a miscarriage a few days before Robotnic took Amy and Seth, neither twin made it". Sonic immediately felt a different type of sympathy for Shadow. He put his hands on Shadows shoulders and, in an as horrified and saddened voice that he could muster, he said
" Shadow, I'm so sorry". Shadow shrugged, showing no emotion about the event but obviously feeling uncomfortable discussing it. Sonic , although he could see now he was seriously close to getting punched again, needed to know the full extent of what he had missed. He only had one more question. " How is Siberia taking it?". Shadow frowned even harder, then said an a wavering voice.
" Not good, I'm afraid for her...". Sonic felt a desire to help, even though Siberia's depression was no fault of his own. He stepped forward and, tacking advantage of Shadows momentary weakness in character, put his arms on the hedgehogs shoulders and said
" I swear Shadow, ill help her". Shadow looked taken aback by Sonics promise, and didn't saw anything, simply raising an eyebrow instead, wondering what Sonic could possibly have in mind. " But first, you gotta' help me rescue Seth, Knuckles is gonna' rip my head off if I step foot on angel island, I'm gonna' need you to convince him to kill me". Sonic paused, removed his hands then gave a coy grin " Besides, I can always use the help of the ultimate life form" he finished.
Shadow was momentarily lost for words. The mention of his old title set alight old memories in his mind and in that moment he began to feel the flicker of the flame that Sonic had been running off for so long. The flame of a thrilling adventure. And although him and Sonic would never be best friends, he felt a certain connection and understanding towards the hedgehog, finally realising why Sonic had been so stuck in the past.
" Let's go then" he said coolly, not mentioning his thoughts to Sonic. Nether the less, the hedgehog looked relieved that Shadow had agreed to easily, obviously expecting to have to fight for his help. He stepped aside and to let Shadow walk through the door, but before the hedgehog did, he turned his face back into the house and yelled
" Siberia, I'm going with Sonic to save Seth and Amy. Will you be all right on your own?" He called anxiously. There was a little sound that was similar to a surprised sob, then a little gap between that and hedgehogs reply.
" Just go..." She said, in a voice so flat it seemed she didn't care about anything anymore. Shadows face softened to a point it looked like he would break, but then he regained his strength of character, and followed Sonic out of the door. He took one last look back in regret, before turning to Sonic and saying
" Knuckles is going to be pretty upset. I suggest you try to be as polite and helpful as possible. Remember, for all we know, his son could be dead" he said in a calm yet stern voice. Sonic looked at him in all seriousness and nodded, understanding exactly the weight of the current situation. A little more guilt was piling up in side him as he thought about the fact that he may have been the cause of a babies death. Then he thought of his own, he thought of Amy and at that moment it struck him that she may not be alive...
He found himself unable to speak, so simply gestured to Shadow to follow him, and started running in the general direction of angel island, hoping that the depressed father and friend had the kindness in his heart to forgive him.
During the run, he found himself thinking further into the complicated issue that was all his fault. It darkened his mind further and further, but, during that time, he found himself becoming even more determined to set everything right. Before Robotnic was beaten, before they were married and before they had their children. He would find a way to change their lives for good and return them to their former glories while enjoying the joys of families. At that point, it seemed impossible, but he knew he had to find a solution. If he didn't, he knew either life could drive him insane.
Meanwhile, deep in the caverns of Eggman's desert base, in the corner of a metalic cell, Amy was weeping, curled in on herself and trying to stop shaking. It had only been a few days and already she was begging with Eggman to set her free. He had begun to inject her with drugs, claiming they would make the baby grow quicker and stronger. But Amy was sure these were having disastrous effects on her. She couldn't sleep at night and her muscles shook almost constantly throughout the day. Sometimes, she would have particularly violent spasms when she couldn't even talk. Eggman had noticed this once or twice, but hadn't bothered to do anything about it. But Amy wasn't sure if it was Eggmans medicene that was causing the illness in her, or the fact that she was just frightened, frightened that Sonic would never be coming back. When she wasn't shaking, she cried, and each time the baby kicked, it grew more powerful and this made her even more upset, for she knew that Eggmans chemicals must have been working.
" Sooooo. How we gonna' get up there?" Sonic asked as he stood at the edge of the sea, looking out to angel island where it floated magnificently high with the dark clouds. The sun was setting again and Sonic knew he didn't have much time before Knuckles and Rouge would be asleep. And following Shadows advice, waking up someone when they were sleeping wasn't exactly polite.
Shadows red eyes were fixed on the island too, his face devoid of emotion. He pulled out a chaos emerald, its sparking red heightened by the setting suns rays and stated
" We could use chaos control". Sonic turned around to look at him, raising an eyebrow and saying in an annoyed voice
" Why couldn't we have just used when we were at your house?". Shadow turned his attention to Sonic's staring eyes and replied in a cool tone
" I figured you needed some time to think". Sonic opened his mouth to argue, but didn't say a word. He closed his mouth after a few seconds of gaping and thought about what Shadow had said. He must have known that Sonic liked to think on his runs and he was correct, Sonic had thought a lot of things through during the journey. He looked at Shadow and nodded, understanding the wise hedgehogs logic, then held out his hand. Shadow reluctantly took it and activated his chaos control, teleporting them up to Angel island.
Knuckles was sitting at the very edge of the island, his dreads dancing in the breeze of the seas, looking out into the ocean and watching the suns lavish rays paint their pictures of the rolling seas. But not really watching, thinking. Thinking of everything that had happened in the recent weeks. It wasn't a nice thing to do, and although he couldn't help it, he kept thinking of his son, lying dead on Eggmans steel floor, the heat draining away from his tiny body. His wheelchair discarded, he sighed into his large hands, growling at himself. He felt like the most pathetic being in the whole world and he knew that if Seths life ended, his would soon follow. The sea bellow looking awfully welcoming to him at that point.
His line of depressive thoughts was halted when he heard footsteps from behind him. He blinked to try and banish the red in his recently crying eyes and turned to see Rouge approaching from behind, her head lowered and her shoulders drooped. Knuckles turned once he had seen her and continued to stare out into the sea as she sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him, clinging to him as if he would float away if she didn't. He felt her strong grip and his spirit lifted a little, knowing Rouge still loved him even though he failed to save there son. There was silence for a long time between them, while the only sound going into their ears was the soft whisper of the wind and the soft churn of the sea. It was peaceful and Rouge almost began to forget their troubles, until Knuckles spoke up and killed off the peace.
" I'm so pathetic Rouge. I'm a weakling and I don't deserve to be a father. Seth is probably dead and its all my fault and ill understand if your gonna leave me coz of it" he said in a self hating tone, voicing to her what he had been thinking a thousand times over. The expected shock came after from Rouge, but her answer was not what Knuckles expected.
" Its not your fault Knuckie, we both failed. And I wasn't even handicapped by a lack of energy like you were. Besides, I saw how the doctor left. Blood and scratches all over him. I certainly didn't do all that, so it must have been you. You beat him up better than I could even without your energy" she said, understanding his feelings because they were equal to her own. A nagging worry still lurked in her mind though.
" But I still couldn't save him..." Knuckles said in a defeated voice, slouching over further and avoiding Rouges eyes. The bat frowned and her worry increased, although she knew now would not be the best time to mention it, she thought Knuckles needed a little ray of hope, one which she could perhaps provide.
" Knuckles?" She said in a little voice, nervous. She received a tired grunt from her partner and took that as a signal she could continue, getting very good at reading the body language of Knuckles. She paused, considering her words, then said " I just want you to know that its not all lost". Knuckes looked up, surprised, then raised an eyebrow as if to ask what she meat. " I know this probably isn't what you want to here right now...but...I'm three weeks late...". Knuckles stared at for a second, forgetting what she had meant by that. It took a little while for him to remember Rouges lessons to him, but when he finally figured it out, his heart sank.
" Oh no..." He mumbled in grunts. Rouge eyes widened and she began to worry.
" But, this is what you wanted, wasn't it? Even if Seth is gone, we'll still have a child..." She said, in a voice that was almost begging for Knuckles approval. The echidna turned his face away and didn't answer for a while.
" I'm sorry Rouge. Its just, I don't want to just give up on Seth and replace him like that, it's not right. Every time I will look at our child I will remember Seth and how we tried to just abandon him...". Rouge felt shame in herself for thinking in the way she did, but both her and Knuckles thought that there was no way on earth they would get their son back, that was however, until Shadow and Sonic appeared in front of them.
" Shadow!" Rouge said, startled at his sudden appearance. She immediately untangled herself from Knuckles and stood up, while Knuckles didn't make a move to stand, but did raise his head to look at the two.
Sonic would have made some kind of sarcastic comment about Rouge seemingly not seeing that he was there as well, but remembered his promise to be polite and decided that rude remarks were not the things the grieving parents needed right now. The hedgehog had expected Knuckles to jump on him and pound him into the ground the second he arrived, but strangely, Knuckles didn't move. Sonic felt relief because of this, but didn't realise just what was occupying the echidnas thoughts. " What are you two doing here? And you, how dare you show your face!" Rouge asked then snapped at Sonic, putting her hands on her hips. Sonic jumped in reaction and proceeded to explain rapidly.
" God Rouge, Shadow filled me in about Seth and I wanna' make up for it. I swear I never had any intentions of anything like this happening! I swear!" He said, trying to look as honest and upset as possible. Rouges expression didn't soften, but when she spoke again, she wasn't shouting, but talking in a warning tone. Perhaps a better sign, but perhaps worse.
" Well, It did happen didn't it? Now if all you wanted was to apologise then I suggest you finish and go home!". Sonic looked a little worried at her menicingness, but carried on and stood his ground.
" No! I came to help! I know were Eggmans keeping Seth, I came to help you rescue him!" Sonic announced, feeling better about himself now that he was actually helping people. He expected a grateful response from Rouge, but instead, she completely ignored him, instead going back to Knuckles and saying in a gleeful voice.
" Did you hear that Knuckles? We can save Seth! Its not to late!". Knuckles seemed to wake up after that. He broke out into a small grin, simply nodded to Rouge in reassurance, then giving Sonic, out of the corner of his eye, an evil look. Sonic didn't mind, he expected far worse.
" all right!" Announced Sonic , the old feeling of triumph and confidence back in his voice " Let's go rescue Seth!", and that settled to matter.
Authors notes
You know what, I could apologise about the lateness of the chapter again, but really, its getting to be a commen occurance, because I'm loosing steam in this story. Possibly, I'm going to cut it down from a trilogy to a two parter. Geez I don't feel too good...urgh...Anyway, all my time has been taken up by sonic riders, which, despite what everyone says, does not suck, I throughrully enjoy it. Sega lives on!