Chapter 0: His Regret
September 24, 2017. That was the day Sonic the Hedgehog died.
I remember that day very well. It was also the day I lost everything.
My friends. My purpose. The girl who I considered my best friend. The one I considered the love of my life.
And it all happened because of Infinite.
Fuck Infinite. He ruined me.
Why did the Phantom Ruby have to ever exist? Why did nothing stop it from unleashing its full power?
Why did it have to claim so many innocent souls?
Amy, Vector, Rouge, Ray and so many others who were fighting so hard to protect Mobius, wiped out before any of us could blink.
Blaze… the power of the Sol Emeralds couldn't even protect her from that devastating blow...
...why couldn't it be me?
This all happened because I allowed it. This was entirely my fault.
Only Blaze and I knew what would happen. And I, personally, was too scared to stop it from happening. I was a coward.
I didn't want the perfect future that I lived in to be destroyed, simply because I stopped a friend from dying.
I was selfish. Naive. A worthless prick.
Sonic, however, wasn't any of though he knew he barely stood a chance, he chose to fight against the odds. Yet I didn't support him. All I did was watch in the sidelines, as Sonic and Shadow turned Super to challenge Infinite's might.
I could only watch the events unfold before my eyes.
Watch as Sonic mustered all his strength to finally defeat Infinite.
The scenes afterward were painful for me to watch. Sonic, battered, bruised, bloody, laying in a pile of rubble, clearly struggling to breathe. His friends surrounded him, desperately telling him to stay awake.
And yet, the idiot still tried to lighten the mood:
'Will you guys stop frowning already? It's over, we did it. We can all smile now…'
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'I never attended the funeral. I'd seen too much. Still in unexplainable pain, I returned to the present, and destroyed the red rings that allowed me to travel, once and for all… Alright, I'm too thirsty to continue. Did you get that all down?'
His guest, a young, bespectacled sparrow, was staring at him, mouth ajar. He grunted to himself, and took another can of beer. He proceeded to expertly gulp it down in less than five seconds. After letting the resulting numbness envelop him, he said to the sparrow:
'You came here looking for an interview, didn't you? Well, it's over now. Pack your stuff and leave kid,' he said.
The spearow, having come back to his senses, said:
'But sir, I've only asked you one question-'
'-and that's all you're getting,' he interjected. 'And if you tell a single soul you interviewed me, the consequences… are dire.'
'B-but sir, the report requires me to cite the actual source of-'
'Enough! I don't want to hear any more of your jabbering! GET OUT!' And with that, he used his powers to force out the unfortunate sparrow.
Later on, as he heard the sound of wings flapping outside, he sighed. The sparrow didn't deserve that, he thought, but if he asked any more questions about the past, the pain would kill me. He looked around his surroundings. There was the familiar, ever-growing pile of beer cans, accumulated for over 5 years now. Food delivery boxes were strewn everywhere. The furniture was unused and collecting layers of dust, and the lights were flickering, as if it was screaming for long overdue repair.
He's used to this. After all, it's been his daily life, since the day he lost it all.
Silver Maria Juan Vasquez once thought that if he maintained a good future, he wouldn't need to regret anything.
Talk about irony, the hedgehog thought to himself, as he staggered over to the battered mattress laying in a corner.
And so, Silver sang himself to sleep, hoping to never wake up the next day.
Just like yesterday.
And the day before.
And all those other days for the past 6 years.
No matter what he did, the pain would never stop.
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A/N: Well, here we are. As you might've observed by now, I've deleted the original prologue and the original first chapter. This is the new, freshly rewritten prologue.
Hope you guys enjoy it.
Genesis The Writer Slayer
