It was a rather tranquil and rainy morning. Sonic the Hedgehog was lying on his side in his bed, somewhat awake. Despite getting plenty of sleep last night, he still felt extremely tired and drained, which, unbeknownst to his closest friends, was not an unusual feeling for someone like him. Little did people know, the blue hedgehog's well-known cocky, fearless, and optimistic nature was nothing more than a front. In truth, he was just like any other teenager: naïve, insecure, and full of self-worth issues. For many years, Sonic was successfully able to suppress these negative feelings from those around him, for he believed that any visible instance of supposed weakness or vulnerability would make people think less of him. However, as of late, the blue hedgehog had been struggling to conceal his true feelings and emotions. And so, he would often go for daily walks or runs through the forests nearby, hoping that this would make himself feel better. For a while, this worked, but eventually, he lost the desire to go for walks or runs. And so nowadays, he would instead lie in bed all day and keep to himself, only for him to fail at bottling up his emotions and then end up crying himself to sleep. Today was no different from those days. Even though Sonic kept his bedroom door closed, Hunter the Lab would come by his house every now and then to knock on the door and check on him.

"Sonic?" Hunter would say from the other side.

"What?" Sonic would groan.

"A-Are you okay in there?"

"I'm…I'm fine."

"Can I come in?"

"N-No."

"O-Okay. I'm just checking in. Let me know if you need anything."

"Th-Thanks."

By the time the yellow Lab was gone, Sonic would continue to brood. Why does HE of all people care about me? he thought to himself. I'm nothing but a stupid thorn in his side! Before Hunter came into Sonic's life, everyone—Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Sticks, even Shadow—looked up to and revered the blue hedgehog. Nowadays, it seemed as if Sonic's own friends saw him as nothing but a mere afterthought. To Sonic, the Zeti Hunter himself was everything he always wanted to be: smart, confident, and truly dauntless. He was absolutely perfect in every way, and it made the blue hedgehog wonder why he even lets him tag along with him to begin with. He's not afraid of water, but I am. He's cautious, but I'm not. He's intelligent and experienced, but I'm not. Why does he need me? Sonic thought, tears forming in his eyes once more. All I do is cause problems for everyone. I will never forgive myself for nearly getting Tails killed by the Deadly Six all because I stupidly decided to knock the Cacophonic Conch out of Eggman's hands, and I certainly will never forgive myself for all the trouble I caused for everyone during the Metal Virus pandemic. The blue hedgehog then buried his face in his pillow. "I'm a mistake. I really am." he sobbed. "He doesn't need me. My friends don't need me. Nobody needs me." He then fell asleep.

A few hours later, Sonic woke up to the sound of another knock on his door. This time, the door creaked open, prompting the blue hedgehog to hastily pull his blanket over his head. "Hey." came the voice on the other side. Ugh, Sonic thought, it's him again.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asked, a sound of concern in his voice.

"I'm fine." Sonic grumbled. "I'm just…I'm just tired."

"Sonic, this isn't like you. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

After a brief period of complete silence, Hunter spoke up again. "Well, it's almost the end of the day, so we're going to get some dinner. You're welcome to come, if you want." Sonic did not respond. "If not, I'll just bring you some chili dogs. Would you like that?" "M-Maybe." the blue hedgehog mumbled. "I'm honestly…not hungry right now." "Okay…" Hunter sighed. "Let me know if you change your mind, okay?" Once the Lab closed the door and walked away, Sonic went back to sleep.

At the restaurant, Hunter discussed Sonic's current situation with a handful of Sonic's closest friends. "That's very odd." Knuckles commented. "Chili dogs are a sure-fire way to get him to do anything you want." "It's very unlike him to not want them." Tails remarked. "He loves chili dogs! He could eat them for breakfast if he wanted to!" "I know." Hunter somberly spoke, shaking his head. "I just don't know why he's been acting so strange lately." "Same here." Amy agreed. "One time, I overheard him saying something about feeling like a burden to everyone." Shadow spoke up. "Why would he say something like that? He's important to all of us, even me." "I don't know." Hunter wondered. "I think all of you are valuable allies. I honestly can't imagine how things would've been without you guys." "Why, thank you, Hunter." the black hedgehog responded, grateful. "Maybe you should try talking to him again." Silver suggested. "Not tonight." Hunter sighed. "He wants to be left alone. I want to be respectful of that." "Then try again tomorrow." the snow-white hedgehog reassured. "Maybe he'll be a little more receptive by then." "Alright." Hunter responded. "I'll try that."

The next day, Hunter woke up and went to go check in on Sonic once again. Just like last time, the yellow Lab knocked on the door. "Sonic?" he spoke. However, there was no response. "S-Sonic?" Still, no response. Hunter then proceeded to open the door, only to find that the blue hedgehog was not in his bed. "S-SONIC?!" he shouted. Immediately, Hunter began to frantically search the house for Sonic, eventually grabbing Shadow's attention.

"Hunter?" the black hedgehog asked, bewildered. "What's going on?"

"He's not here!" Hunter replied, a sound of panic in his voice.

"He's not here?"

"YES! He's not here! Do you see him anywhere in this room?"

"I don't."

"Well, where do you think he could've gone?"

"I have no idea, but I do know that he likes to go for runs in the nearby forest."

Immediately, the yellow Lab paused his frantic search, got up, and turned to Shadow. "I'll go there then." he calmly spoke, gripping the black hedgehog's shoulders while directly looking into his eyes. Hunter then released Shadow and proceeded to march out of Sonic's house to go look for the blue hedgehog. "I'll come with you!" Shadow shouted, following the yellow Lab.

After less than a minute of sprinting through the forest at blistering speeds to try and search for a quiet, isolated place to weep, Sonic finally found an empty stone cave in the heart of the forest, far away from civilization. Upon entering the cave, the blue hedgehog sat against the wall, buried his face in his arms and knees, and began to bawl, unable to bottle up his feelings and emotions any longer. I'm no hero! he thought. They don't need me; they have Hunter! Such thoughts would echo through his head until eventually, they became too much for him to handle. Unable to take it any longer, Sonic, in a fit of rage and sadness, began aggressively punching, kicking, and chucking stones at the walls of the cave and screaming his lungs out, all before finally collapsing to the ground on his knees and then his side from exhaustion. The poor blue hedgehog began to bitterly cry once more, tears filling his eyes and completely blurring his vision. At this point, it mattered little to Sonic that his massive meltdown possibly ended up alerting the entire world. It mattered little to him that people were likely going to have a low opinion of him upon his return. It especially mattered little to him that people were going to continue viewing Hunter the Lab as the superior hero. Nothing mattered to the blue hedgehog. Absolutely nothing.

"Did you hear that?" Hunter asked Shadow. "Hear what?" the black hedgehog replied, confused. "It sounded like screaming. Not only that, but it also sounded…familiar." the yellow Lab remarked. Suddenly, the two had an epiphany. "SONIC!" they both exclaimed simultaneously, looking at each other. Right away, Hunter and Shadow began sprinting towards the source of the blue hedgehog's bloodcurdling scream. "Hang in there, Sonic! We're coming!" Hunter shouted. Eventually, the two arrived at a stone cave situated somewhere deep in the forest. Upon seeing the blue hedgehog lying in the fetal position on the floor of the cave, Hunter's heart sank. Oh Sonic. the yellow Lab thought. What did you do to yourself? His heart continued to sink once he realized that the poor thing was crying. "Wait here." Hunter whispered to Shadow. Quietly and carefully, he crept into the cave and kneeled beside Sonic. "S-Sonic?" the yellow Lab cooed, gently placing his hand on the weeping blue hedgehog's shoulder. Moments later, Sonic weakly turned his head to face him, only to then turn away from him and continue to cry. Eventually, however, he did speak.

"What do you want?" he sobbed, sounding both angry and sad.

"I was…I'm worried about you." Hunter somberly spoke.

"Why does my well-being matter to you?"

"Because…because you mean a lot to me, and I care about you."

"Why? I've been nothing but a burden to you and everyone else. If anything, you're better off without me."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because…I'm a reckless idiot who one time nearly got his own best friend killed and another time nearly got everyone turned into a Zombot!"

"Sonic…"

"I'll admit it, I'm not brave, and I'm not confident; I pretend to be those things because I don't want people to think of me as soft and weak!"

"But…you are those things."

"No…I'm really not. Meanwhile, you ARE brave, and you ARE confident. You've done amazing feats that have earned you the admiration and respect of everyone around you, including my own friends. You're…the perfect hero."

Seconds later, Shadow came over and kneeled next to Hunter. "Sonic," the black hedgehog softly spoke, "Hunter's anything BUT perfect; he's had bad days, just like everybody else. Trust me." Hunter nodded in agreement. "So what?" Sonic sobbed. "That STILL doesn't change the fact that he's everything I've always wanted to be." The blue hedgehog then sat up and faced Hunter and Shadow. The poor thing had a tired, melancholic look in his dull green eyes from hours of crying. "I'm not important. I'm really not." Sonic groaned, wiping tears away from under his eyes. He then turned to Shadow. "You can easily take my place as the Fastest Thing Alive. You have both my speed and the ability to use Chaos powers whenever you want to, whereas I only have my speed. Nobody needs me when they have someone like you." The blue hedgehog then buried his face in his hands and continued crying some more. Hunter let out a somber sigh. My poor, poor boy. he thought. He just feels so undervalued and lonely. I'll make sure he doesn't feel that way from now on.

After a few minutes of silence, save for Sonic's crying and the sound of rain outside of the cave, Hunter placed a hand on the blue hedgehog's shoulder.

"Hey," the Lab softly spoke, "you ARE important. You're, quite frankly, one of the greatest allies I've ever had."

"Why do you believe that?" Sonic groaned.

"Because you are, and you know it."

"You're just saying that."

"No, I'm serious."

Hunter then took a brief moment to recollect his thoughts. "Sonic," he sighed, "to tell you that truth, there have been days where I wished I could be like you." The blue hedgehog perked up. "Wait, really?" he asked. "Totally." Hunter responded. "Your carefree and optimistic attitude, the way you inspire hope in those around you, the fact that you enjoy doing what you do; all of those things…are truly admirable. I envy you sometimes for having these traits." "But…why?" Sonic wept. "I only act this way to hide my insecurities! I don't want people to think of me as weak for showing any sign of vulnerability!" "They won't, I promise." Hunter calmly assured the blue hedgehog. "It's absolutely normal to have feelings of self-doubt. People understand that. We understand that. I understand that." "I…guess you have a point." Sonic sniffled. "If you're ever feeling down, don't be afraid to talk to me." the Lab spoke. "I'll listen." "Th-Thanks, Hunter." Sonic replied. He then scooted over and tightly embraced both Hunter and Shadow, prompting the two to embrace him in return. As Sonic bawled his heart out, Hunter gently caressed the poor soul's head. "Shh." he whispered, comforting the blue hedgehog. "It's alright."

After several minutes of quiet comfort, Sonic finally calmed down. With that, he, Hunter, and Shadow proceeded to head home. Midway through the walk, Hunter made Sonic promise something.

"Sonic?" the Lab firmly spoke.

"Y-Yes, Hunter?" Sonic weakly responded.

"Promise me that you'll NEVER scare me like that ever again. I know you wanted some time alone, but you could end up getting yourself hurt or killed."

"S-Sorry."

"You were lucky that Shadow and I were able to find you at all. If it weren't for your screams of agony, we wouldn't have found you."

"I-I know…"

"So, do you promise you'll never disappear like that ever again?"

"I…I promise."

"Good."

THE END