Hey everybody! Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, with the Christmas season, I've had my time pretty full! Let's get going!

Wedgely: He's a very cool headed person, not really letting his emotions or panic get in the way of having some logical thought! He's been very fun to write!

Obliviblur: You'll have to read to find out what happens! What ever it is, hopefully it's enjoyable!

That's everything!

Waves

Survivors Guilt

Sonic was naturally angry about being told off. He cared for Tails' health just as much as they did. The kitsune was his life, and knowing that all their memories with each other had potentially been erased, it made his normally impenetrable exterior crack and allowed pure raw emotion shine through.

Currently the hedgehog paced back and forth across the shared meeting room. He was trying to get his mind off Tails, but doing so was proving to be exceptionally difficult. He sighed, it wasn't any use. Regardless of what came to mind, his thoughts of the kit weren't too far behind. He hated being powerless to do anything to help him, even if he did understand why Rotor didn't want him moving the kitsune.

It wasn't that he didn't care, it was that seeing Tails in the state he was with no freedom of his own was so painful to the hedgehog. He tried to keep his mind off of the topic of Tails' leg as best as he could… Sometimes however, it would manage to break through and he'd be forced to acknowledge the extent of his injuries. Tails wouldn't walk again… Even if he did, there would still be a long period of time where he would have to get used to a bionic limb. It was going to be a long and tedious process, one that he wasn't sure anybody here was prepared for…

As he continued to pace, the door opened and Bunnie peeked her head in, "It's getting late, you ought' to start getting to bed."

"I will, just give me a second…"

Bunnie, sensing his unease, agreed and gently closed the door behind her. Sonic continued with his nervous pacing, but eventually grew tired himself. He retired to his bed, not prepared for the horrors that awaited him there.

Sonic found himself amidst Robotropolis' buildings. Not thinking much of it at the time, he charged into the city and began to destroy every machine that got in his way. Anger began to consume his thoughts as he grew closer and closer to Robotnik's chamber. The tyrant would pay for what he had done…

As he approached, the throne room. Things began to change, the walls began to give way to brown tree bark, and gray clouds began to converge overhead. Sonic suddenly found himself in a clearing in the Great Forest, or at least what he assumed to be the Forest. A powerful thunderstorm had picked up, completely showering the place in rain as bolts of lightning flashed overhead.

The hedgehog slowed down to a walk, he was a bit confused by exactly how he had gotten here, as he looked around. He made a very sudden realization. These trees didn't occur in the Great Forest, or at least, any part of it he was familiar with…

As he thought it over a bit longer, he came to a rather startling realization. He wasn't in the Great Forest, in fact, he wasn't even on the main land.

Sonic had somehow found himself back on Westside Island…

Panic began to overtake the hedgehog's thoughts. As it did, the storm seemed to worsen, with the wind quickly picking up.

With nowhere else to go, the hedgehog decided to see if he could find a way out of this, he went to dash off but as he did, he felt something… It almost felt as if he was being watched…

As the hedgehog slowly turned around, he found himself face to face with Tails, but not as the hedgehog remembered him… The fur on his chest had been stained a deep crimson, he was covered in scars and dried mud, his mouth area had several red stained spots around it, and his leg appeared mutilated almost beyond recognition; dried blood lined the wound, and the kit's muscles and bone were visible beneath the black infected splotches and orange fur. As he took as step back, the fox took one towards him, the kit's leg muscles visibly tightening through the gaping holes in his skin. As he did, the kitsune spoke, "Sonic? Why are you here?"

Paralyzed with fear and horror at the almost zombie like figure before him. He found himself searching for a response, before he could give one however, the kit spoke again. "Why did you leave me? Why didn't you want to help me? Why did you let this happen?"

Sonic tried his best to tune it out, but was unable to tear his thoughts away, Tails was like this because of him… It was all his fault that Tails was the way he was.

"Buddy…" He began, "I didn't mean for-"

"I know you didn't, but it still happened, didn't it? I'll never be able to walk again because of you, do you have any idea how important that was to me?" After the kit spoke, several coughs made their way out of the kitsune's mouth, each one carrying blood with it.

"I do Tails! It's just-"

"You've never understood! You only care about yourself and how you look to others, isn't that right!? Because of that, you've let your best friend get hurt, just so you could look like a hero!"

"Th- That's not true! I never wanted this!"

"What about your promise!? You promised me that you'd never let Robotnik hurt me, now look where I'm at!"

"I know, and I'm sorry!" The hedgehog responded, his tears mixing with the rainfall.

"Sorry doesn't cut it! Saying sorry won't fix anything! I trusted you! Is this what my trust gets!?"

Sonic wasn't sure what to think, completely overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, he wasn't sure where to go as the pit in his stomach only got worse. He ran off into the trees and after what felt like hours, the familiar grey walls of Robotropolis returned. He burst through the first set of doors he could find, only to come face to face with Robotnik. Behind him stood the robotic forms of the other Freedom Fighters. Tails was notably absent, but Sonic was secretly thankful for that as he was still unable to get the images of the horrifically injured kit out of his mind.

With anger taking over his actions entirely, the hedgehog charged the tyrant. The robotic bodyguards moved forward to protect their creator, almost instantly they were sawed in two. Sonic thrust the man to the ground, and was met with the deep, gravelly voice of Robotnik.

"Look at what you've become Sonic, someone who's willing to throw aside their friends, family, and morals just for the slightest hint of revenge… Look at what you've done to your friends!"

"You did this to them! You're at just as guilty as I am!"

The scientist smiled, "Well… Then where does that put you?"

Sonic's vision went red and without hesitation, he retrieved a metal shard from one of the destroyed robots and plunged it into the man's chest. He howled in pain as the weapon was driven deeper inside his skin until eventually, everything went silent.

In shock, the hedgehog stepped back and gazed down at his hands, his gloves now soaked with blood. "What have I done…" He thought aloud, he had killed his friends, and now had murdered Robotnik in cold blood. He had thrown himself away for vengeance and now, he had nothing to show for it...

As he fell to his knees in sorrow, he spotted the glint of the weapon in Robotnik's chest, he pulled it out, still dripping with fresh blood. As he stared at the weapon, a gruesome thought came to his mind. He turned the blade so that it faced himself, hesitated, and plunged it into his own stomach. Pain completely took over as he felt his strength leave his body. His vision blurred as he collapsed, gasping for air. Blood slowly poured out from the wound as he smiled to himself.

"I'm sorry, everyone… I'm so sorry…"

With that final sentence, everything went black…

-X-

While Sally wasn't quite sure how to approach Tails' memory loss, she knew there was no harm in trying, and because she was tasked with staying with him tonight, she figured she could maybe get at least a little progress.

The kitsune still appeared rather fearful of his surroundings and all in all, rather timid. He hid behind his namesakes for just under half of an hour after he had been left alone with Sally. Though he slowly began to warm up to her.

"S- So, you're Sally. Right?"

"You're right Tails! You're doing better at this!"

The kitsune blushed, "I mean, if you say so…"

"You still don't remember any of us, do you?"

"Not really… I mean, you all feel familiar, but I don't know from where…"

"That's progress, which is good. You'll have your memories back in no time!"

There was a comfortable silence between the two of them for a moment, Tails continued the conversation. "So where are you from? How do I know you?"

Sally thought over her answer for a bit before continuing, "Well I'm the princess of the kingdom we're in right now. But ever since a man by the name of Robotnik took over, I've been trying to get the people to fight back, and to tell him that we're not just going to let him take it."

"Is that why we're all here? So we don't get found by this Robotnik?"

"Exactly, he's also how you got hurt. He's made a lot of enemies, and one of these days it's going to get back at him."

"That's really cool! I wish I could help out!"

"You already have, you just don't remember it. In fact, you're probably one of the most talented out of us."

Tails felt a sense of pride and embarrassment wash over him, along with strangely, a faint pain in his head. As he noticed it, it seemed to get more and more powerful, so much so, that he threw his hands to his head, clutching his skull.

"Tails?" Sally asked, concern and fear tainting her voice. "Are you alright?"

Slowly but surely, the pain subsided. The kitsune stared blankly for a moment before seemingly coming back to himself, as he looked over at Sally, he smiled. "Aunt Sally?"

The other Mobian instantly had tears in her eyes as she pulled the fox into a hug. "Tails! Thank goodness you're back! What do you remember?"

"A lot more then before, I remember you, and how I got here… But I can still tell there's some things missing."

"It's improvement! I've got to tell Rotor and everybody about this, they're not going to believe it!"

She jumped to her feet and dashed out of the room and toward the main gathering area and kitchen As she turned the corner however, her excitement instantly turned to shock and horror. Here eyes went wide as she took in the scene before her, hoping and praying that what she currently had her eyes on wasn't true.

Sonic was on the floor in front of her, a knife stuck in his chest and a pool of blood had gathered around him. As her shock wore off, she quickly ran toward the living quarters and burst through the door, complete panic taking over her emotions.

Rotor was instantly on his feet, "Is Tails alright!? What happened!?" He frantically asked.

Sally tried to speak, but the lump in her throat prevented her from saying anything more than a single word, "Sonic!"

Rotor rushed out of the room, followed closely by Antoine, whom had heard the commotion. Bunnie had stayed in a attempt to console the distraught princess. As the walrus rounded the corner, he had shock overtake him as he suddenly knew what Sally had been trying to say. He quickly rushed over and examined the hedgehog. The stab wound looked bad, and as much as he didn't want to say it, the inevitable thought broke into his mind… This was intentional, and with nobody else around, there was only one conclusion…

Sonic had attempted to commit suicide…

Alright everyone, I know this is a bit more of a gruesome chapter, but I figured that it was about time we had another one. Please let me know your thoughts, until next time.