It's getting harder and harder to remember where I'm going, or why I'm still running. Why did I even start running in the first place? Was someone chasing me? I wish I knew. All I know is that I need to keep going, as far as I can, and never turn back.
But even if I know that I can never stop, there's this nagging feeling in the back of my head that I need to. It feels like a freight train is tied to me, moving in the opposite direction of me, slowing me down every step I take. I try and try to ignore it, but the train keeps getting new, heavier passengers all the time. There's no untying the knot it's created in my heart. At least, that's what I had thought before I had met him.
I was making my way through a city, trying my hardest to avoid the chaos that parked itself around every corner. I just wanted to leave and escape to the endless expanses Mobius has to offer. I just wanted to get out of here, as quickly as possible. But I ran into someone, someone I wish I had ran into sooner.
He was a genius scientist, and he seemed pretty spry, too, especially considering how old he looked to be. He said his IQ was just 300, give or take a few. Said he'd lost count over the years. He then started to show me his inventions, including a flying transportation machine shaped like a sphere. But, there was one he had been working on for a while that he needed a test subject for.
"With your natural speed, I'm sure you would be a great match to these sneakers," he had told me. He spoke with an air of certainty, the same kind of certainty that's in a kid's voice had they just solved a math problem and shouted it out in class first.
"Sneakers?" I asked, perplexed.
"Yes, sneakers!" The inventor reached into a bag he had near him, a bag that seemed full of small things. I could hear the clinks and clanks of metal objects hitting each other, the sound of which kept going until he had brought out of his bag a pair of red and white sneakers. "Try them on, if you will," he said to me. I, reluctantly, agreed, and started fitting the shoes onto my feet.
They weren't the most comfortable, but I'm sure I'd be able to get used to them at some point. I did think that they looked pretty fashionable, however. The yellow on it contrasted wonderfully. ...Where did I get this fashion sense from?
"S-so?" the scientist asked me with a sense of wonder in his voice. He really wanted to know what I thought of his invention. I wanted to tell the truth, but I couldn't just tell him that all I thought was, 'fashionable.'
"They… They had a use other than looking good, right?" I said to him, trying to avoid answering entirely truthfully. I did like them, but they were starting to feel strange from my ankles downward, as if there was some sort of energy flowing through the shoes themselves.
"Yes they do, my boy! These are my newly designed Hover Shoes- and I can bet you already tell what they do just by the name. If you were to reach speeds higher than the average running speed, the mechanics in the shoes will allow you to hover across the ground, enabling a sort of glide when running!" The man was talking like a mad doctor. I got a little intimidated at first, but I quickly realized that he was very excited about what he was saying, so I should be too.
"That sounds... amazing," I said to him. "It truly does sound amazing. I wish I'd be able to keep them, but I must be going. I don't plan on coming back here, and I wouldn't wish for you to lose your precious items."
The man smiled at me. "Nonsense, child! You can keep the shoes! I have no need for them- I simply made them to benefit others in these trying times. But, before you leave this old man, might I ask your name?"
My name? I thought to myself. I wasn't sure I could tell him that, seeing as I didn't remember it. Is there anything I did remember?
"Well, boy? Do you have one or not?" He kept the wide grin on his face at all times.
"I…" I then remembered why I was running. The one who was chasing me, the one who was tugging on me and pulling me away from my destination. My, "Shadow."
"Shadow, eh?" He spread his arms out, holding that toothy smile. "Well, lad, you've made yourself an acquaintance today with the magnificent Dr. Ivo Robotnik!"
That name… Why do I feel some sense of nostalgia and… pain, from hearing that name?