If you're strong, you can fly, you can reach the other side of the rainbow…
It's all right, take a chance, there is no circumstance that you can't… manhandle? Oh geez, this isn't going to work…
Uh, hi there. I'm Mina, and I guess this is my diary. Or at least the latest one. Sometimes I write so fast, I end up going through five of them in a week! Honestly, even with me being so fast and all, that isn't something I would've pegged from me because I never really have a lot to say. But with everything going on, I guess there's a lot to talk about.
I guess we should start from the top? I've been a Freedom Fighter for a while now. It's a group of resistance fighters trying to take down Doctor Eggman even though there's a pretty good shot we're all gonna kick it. I mean, I don't really care too much. That is, I do care, but I'm not really sure I've really done a whole lot with my life that's meaningful, so if it's gonna end, I might as well end it doing something worthwhile. Or at least that's what I thought.
See, I've been with the FF for a while now. Least a couple months. Long enough for this island to finally get a full militia and take on Eggman head on. According to Sally, this means the Freedom Fighters can finally start attacking the Chemical Plant and any other strongholds in just a bit. And that's on top of getting close to finding Chuck's ring. Or rather the blueprints. We think it's some sort of device he was working on and that it must be one of his old databases somewhere, so all we've got to do is hack into the right one and go from there. And never mind having a shot at finding Sally's father.
We've also got some intel on Robotropolis and some of what Eggman's been working on, though far from everything. But we've got enough to start locating the generator for the city's shield and beat the crap out of it. We're still not sure who's sending the intel, but we can't afford to pass it up. Or so Sally says.
But me? Honestly, when I first heard the news, I didn't really know what to think. I wanted to keep on helping, I really did. Especially since it seemed like there was finally an end goal, you know? But I wasn't really sure what I could do. I wasn't all that helpful against Shortfuse, that was for sure. I mean, everyone else was doing their part, Shortfuse was taken over by some killer AI, and everyone was on the ropes. But I didn't even make a dent. All things considered, I was pretty useless.
Thinking about it, fighting wasn't my real passion anyway, you know? As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to sing. And when I got old enough, I wanted to write. Being the second fastest thing alive was never really something I asked for. Though I still loved it anyway. Still do. Just being able to run circles around an entire city, to skip across the lake without a care in the world? I wouldn't give that up for anything. But I don't love it as much as the other stuff.
Like I said, singing was always my real passion and it's always what I've been really good at. Sometimes I wondered about just sticking to that. About leaving all of this behind and helping out where I'm needed. Traveling the land and spreading my songs to whoever wanted to hear them, you know? And whoever needed to hear them most. Except I was stuck in some war that I wasn't even sure I deserved to be in. I just wasn't sure what I was gonna do.
I needed to talk with someone about all this. Someone I knew. Someone I could trust. And Manic and Sonia fit the bill. Ever since we've met, we've always gotten along great! I even managed to talk them into joining a band! I mean, it was never much of a band, but it was a band. And speaking of being a band, we were scheduled for some last minute practice in just a half hour. So there was nothing stopped me from just zipping on over and waiting for them to show up.
Or at least that's what I thought. Turns out there's all sorts of things that can get in your way when you're just running around. Like, say, a Mobian. I guess I was so lost in thought that I just didn't know where I was going. Next thing I knew, I'd just tripped over something or someone and we were tumbling through the forest like a giant tire! Lucky for us, all the leaves on the ground helped slow our momentum and give us some friction, eventually bringing us to a stop. Thank Gaea.
It was only when the two of us were finally sitting on the ground just trying to catch our breaths that I knew who I'd brought along for the ride. "Sacre bleu!" Antoine rubbed his blonde toupee as he tried to keep it on his head, moving it to the center whenever it showed any signs of falling to either the left or the right. "Mina, is it not? Please, ma'am, watch where you are going! I do not wish to be a coyote pancake!"
"Oh crap! Sorry!" Honestly, I was kinda embarrassed. Mostly because I just bowled someone over like a bowling ball. "Really, sorry about that! Mind if I help you up?" Sure enough, I stood up before he could blink and did just that.
"Thank you, Madam Mina. That said, may I inquire as to why you were in such a hurry that you did not bother to look where you were going? Or were you merely trying to ascertain how many people you nearly trampled over? Because you certainly trampled me."
I started to rub away some sweat from the fur on my forehead. Not that I needed to 'cause my fur would just soak it up anyway, but sometimes I just make things more complicated than they need to be, you know? "Sorry about that, really!"
"Please, there is no need to apologize! Besides, perhaps I should have been doing a better job of looking where I was going. It is just that there has been so much on my mind."
"Oh. Sorry."
"What did I say about apologies?"
"Oh, so— uh, I mean, yeah." In case you couldn't tell, I'm something of a people pleaser. Whether or not it's something that started recently or that's just how I've always been, I'm not really sure. Maybe a bit of both? "Uh, wanna talk about it?"
"I appreciate the thought, I truly do. Though I am not sure if there is much you can do to help." And yet he kept on talking anyway. I guess he just wanted to get it all out. "I am still shall we say conflicted over the loss of my father. It has actually been a few weeks since he has passed, but with all that has been going on, I have not had much time to mourn. And now that I at last have the leisure of doing so, I am not sure what to think."
"What's there to think about? He's your father. I mean unless he was some sort of abusive monster or anything—"
"Do not even dare suggest such a thing! My father was no saint, but he never once laid a hand on me outside of practice."
"Okay, okay! Sorry I asked." Truth was, I really was sorry. No sarcasm or anything whatsoever. Guess I really was a people pleaser.
"It is alright. The truth is in spite of that, he could still be stern. And frightening. Mostly frightening." Antoine began to shiver like he was in the freezing cold, though he did his best to cover it up. "He meant well. But there were times that he made me feel as though he did not want a coward for a son."
"Hey now! Don't go saying that! If he didn't want you as a son, he would've said so! Like, 'I have no son!', or something like that! Maybe?"
"Well, I am not saying that it was what he truly thought. I am only saying what he led me to believe. In fact, it was not until the…"
"Not until the what?" Antoine was starting to choke up, almost like he could barely think about what happened next. Like it was just too close or personal to share. Not that it stopped him from sharing it anyway.
"…until the last day that he spoke to me. I still remember what he told me. Almost as if it were yesterday."
'But it is true that everyone is afraid of something, and has something that they need to overcome. For many people, this could be a struggle of infinite magnitude. But you, Antoine. You are not most people. You are a Coolette. As such, I am completely confident that you can find it in yourself to overcome your fears and become one of the greatest knights this Kingdom has ever seen.'
"Those words stuck with me. And they showed me that despite how distant he may have seemed, he still truly believed in me. That is part of why I am not curled up in my cabin as we speak."
"Well, it seems like you've already got that part all figured out. There's something else bugging you, isn't there?"
Antoine's eyes started to well up with tears, though he did his best not to let it show. "As I said, he believed in me. He believed in me as much as a father could. And yet, I could not live up to his expectations."
"I don't know. Seems to me you're doing a pretty good job."
"A 'good job'? A good job?! I allowed my father to die! How is that a good job?!" And then the floodgates opened wide. Honestly, looking back, I should've known what Antoine's problem was. It was staring me right in the face. But I was too wrapped up in my own stuff to see it. Kind of makes me feel terrible thinking about it.
"Whoa, hey, I'm sorry, really! I didn't mean to upset you or anything! But, uh, don't you think you're getting a bit too worked up about it?" Bad move. Again.
In any case, Antoine seemed about ready to rip me a new one. Not that I wouldn't deserve it. "'Worked up?!' My father is dead! And I am the one who is responsible! I let him die!"
"Okay, look! I said the wrong thing and I'm sorry, I really am! But you shouldn't just go beating yourself up about this! There wasn't really anything you could do, right? If you didn't deactivate the tracker, we all might've been dead by now! To be honest, if it was my dad, I don't know if I could've made that choice."
I guess for once in my life I managed to say the right thing after all. Whether I did or didn't, it must've done the trick, because Antoine was finally starting to calm down. "Perhaps. But it does not change what I have done."
"Maybe not, but there's still plenty you can do, you know? Besides, your father wanted you to be one of the best there was, right? And you can't really do that if you're dead. I think if he'd known what was gonna happen, he'd understand. But you're right about one thing. It doesn't change what you've done. So I guess you just need to think about what you're gonna do from here on out and what he'd want you to do rather than just moping about it, you know?"
Honestly, I probably could've said that better. But I guess it didn't matter. Not really sure why, but it seemed to get through. "You might have a point. What is done is done. So perhaps I should spend less time moping and more time thinking about how best to honor his memory."
On the inside I was breathing a sigh of relief. I guess I was just glad I didn't make him want to stab me with his sword or something. But also that maybe I wasn't a total screwup. "So we good?"
"You could say that. Thank you, Mina."
"Not a problem!"
"Although, it seems to me that you might have some problems of your own. If there is anything on your mind, I am more than willing to listen."
And now the shoe was on the other foot. To be honest, I really hadn't planned on talking with Antoine about, well, anything really. But I guess it would've just been rude to turn him down. So I talked. "Thanks. And yeah, I guess I do have a lot on my mind."
"Well? What is it that is bothering you? If you do not mind my asking?"
I sighed. Part of me still didn't really want to talk about it, but if he was gonna open up his soul, then I guess it'd only be fair to do the same. "It's, well, it's just that I've been here for a while now, you know? I've been trying to chip in, do my part, but I just don't know if it's been good enough. I wasn't any good when Shortfuse was on the fritz, that's for sure."
"Neither was I. In fact, I was not even there! At least you were able to be of use."
"Maybe, but I still don't think I was very useful. Plus, well, I'm just not sure if this is where I should really be. Or at least where I want to be."
"And where do you want to be?"
"I don't know. I guess what I really want to do is just make music, you know? Music that can make other people happy! I think that's what I'm really good at to be honest."
"Then why are you still here?"
That was the question, wasn't it? "Because I'm the second fastest thing alive, that's why. Or maybe third? Sonic and maybe that Swifty guy are the only others who have anything on me, but I'm still faster than just about anything else. And I think I'd just feel awful if I didn't stick with it when I know I could help!"
"What seems to be the problem then?"
"Well, I mean, it's just that fighting, beating up the bad guys? I know that there are so many other people suffering and that I should be doing what I can to help them because I've certainly got the power to do it. But sometimes I think I could be doing more with my music, you know? Cheering people up, inspiring them, doing something to make a difference in their lives. Whereas I couldn't do a thing against Shortfuse. Not without slicing him in half."
Antoine started pinching the bridge of his nose as I went on and on. I wasn't sure if he was starting to get bored or fed up or what. Or if maybe he just didn't care. "Perhaps. But let me ask you this. If Sonic were there and not you, what do you think he would have done?"
That was a good question. What would Sonic have done? For whatever reason, that wasn't something I'd really thought much about. But maybe I should've.
"Uh, well, maybe he could throw a rock at him or something?"
Antoine didn't have a word to say. Not that I could blame him.
"Yeah, that's pretty stupid isn't it?"
"If Sonic were in your position, he would probably have been in the same boat you were. The only way he would have been able to defeat him short of suicide was slicing him in two. And I am not sure if that is something Sonic would do." Looking back, he was right. This really was pretty stupid, wasn't it?
"Maybe not. But even then, I'm just not sure if this is the right place for me, you know?"
"You can still make music here, can you not? In fact, you are supposed to have your first concert here tonight."
"I know. But it's not like most people are gonna hear it."
"Then I can only see three possible paths for you to take. Either you continue helping out where you can and make music here in Knothole, or you abandon the rest of us and attempt to reach a larger audience."
None of those were very encouraging. At least to me. "And the third one?"
"The third being that you do the first, but leave Knothole after Eggman has been defeated and continue making music. Isn't that what you were doing before all of this started?"
"Maybe. But we don't even know if we can beat Eggman! I mean, what if we never break into Robotropolis? What if we never get past that forcefield? What if we—?"
Antoine suddenly started shivering again like a vibrator, though it didn't last long. Maybe he was getting better. "Please, Mina! You are going to give me a heart attack!"
"Sorry, Antoine. Still though, I just don't know if we're really gonna be able to do it. Sometimes it just seems impossible, you know? And even if it's not, I'm not really sure if I can make a difference."
"Neither am I. But I do know that there are people I must protect."
"Like Sally?"
"Of course. And perhaps one another." Then and there I wasn't sure just who he was referring to with that last one, but looking back, it's obvious it was Bunnie. Those two are pretty much inseparable at this point. Almost makes me wish I had a relationship like that. "As well as everyone in the Acorn Kingdom. I am a knight of the royal guard, even if there is currently not a royal guard to serve. And so I must do my duty as best I am able. What about you? Do you have anyone you wish to protect?"
For a while, I wasn't sure if I could give him an answer. To be honest, I didn't know if I even did have anyone to protect. I didn't have any real friends outside of Sonia and Manic, and they were fighting right alongside me. Both my parents were still overseas on vacation. Never had a boyfriend. Or maybe girlfriend? Still working that out. And I certainly wasn't part of the army. So what did I have to protect?
And that's when I suddenly realized that there was something to protect. "Honestly, I wasn't sure if there was anyone I wanted to protect, but I think there is. Like I said, I want to write music and sing. And I want everyone to be able to hear my music. But if Eggman gets his way, there might not be anyone left to listen to it. Or at least anyone who wants to. So I want to protect everyone here in the Acorn Kingdom and everywhere else. So that everyone can listen to my music. That's a bit selfish, isn't it?"
"Perhaps," said Antoine. "But if that is your reason, then that is all that matters."
"Thanks, Antoine."
"Only happy to help. Though if there is anything else bothering you, I would suggest talking to Councilor Rosie. She has been most—"
Suddenly Antoine stopped talking. His eyes sharpened and his ears pricked as he looked toward the bushes, almost like something was there. Course, I couldn't hear it at first. But as it got closer and closer, I could finally start to make something out. It sounded like a kid. A boy! And he was calling for help! "You hear that, Antoine?"
"Definitely, mon Cherie." His legs started knocking just slightly. Though you'd only notice if you'd been around Antoine for a while. If I hadn't known better, I'd say he was actually starting to be kinda courageous!
"If someone's in trouble, we've gotta protect them!"
"Indeed. But let us be cautious. Perhaps it is just me, but it seems awfully suspicious for someone to be wandering about in the middle of the forest. Especially with things as they are."
"Maybe. But if they really are in trouble, we can't just leave 'em. Come on, Antione!"
I took Antoine's hand and we rushed off towards wherever the voice was coming from. I barely blinked before we reached him. He was a bit old for a kid (thirteen maybe?), but still a kid. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a red and white sweater, and his brown hair was sticking out like a porcupine. But what really stuck out (and what really should've set off everyone's alarm bells) was that he wasn't Mobian. This kid? This kid was human.
That said, human or Mobian, he still needed our help. He was screaming at the top of his lungs as a motobug chased after him at top speed. There was no time to think. "Antoine!" I whirled Antoine around by the arm and flung him toward the motobug like a missile. Lucky for him he got the memo. His sword was outstretched right in front of him, and he sliced straight through that thing like chopping a coconut. He barely managed to stop his teeth from chattering, but he still managed to take it out in one shot.
We raced over to the kid. "Hey!" He tried to look around, but it was a bit late for that. Next thing he knew, he'd managed to slam face first into a tree! I dashed over, holding him in my arms before he hit the ground. "Careful there! You should really look where you're going, you know? Uh, what's your name?"
He was barely able to get a word out before he fell unconscious, but he was able to get out his name. "Chris…"
"We'd better get him back to Knothole," I said.
"Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but are you sure this is a good idea? Not many humans so much as set foot in Knothole, or even the Acorn Kingdom. And the last one that did—"
"Yeah, I know. But we can't just leave him here."
"Perhaps. But if we take him to Knothole, we will not be able to let him leave so easily."
"I know. But we don't really have a choice. For all we know, he might be hurt. Besides, I said I was going to protect people, and I still plan on doing just that."
"Fair enough. But do not blame me if this goes poorly." And with that, we were off. And all I could think to myself was that I really hoped Antoine wasn't right.
