Chapter 20: Losing Hope

The fight was on.

I was slowly starting to lose hope in myself, even as I was punching and kicking the man in the coat with all my might. I couldn't let Sonic die, not after the other three victims that I failed to save; Elise, Maria and Cybil.

Especially that he's a huge part of my life...

"Do you really think that you can stop me?!" The man sneered, dodging my every move and socking me in the stomach.

I let out a groan of pain and glowered dangerously at him. "That blue hedgehog is my idol! And I'm not going to let you kill him, ever!"

My friends had apparently heard my words and gathered around me in an attempt to help. Manny immediately swooped in and whacked Sonic's assailant hard with his trunk. "Stay away from the kid!"

"Her?" The man demanded, pointing at me. "Or him?" He then pointed a bony finger down at a bruised, injured and battered Sonic who was struggling so hard to breathe.

It tore my heart into pieces just looking at the state he was in. So much, that I just wanted to pull my idol into my arms and comfort him the best I could. I quickly wiped away any incoming tears and connected my fist with the man's jaw, sending him flying until he hit the floor.

"Both of them!" Manny answered, glaring at him.

Meanwhile, I grabbed the man by the collar and socked him in the stomach, like he did to me. Afterwards, I continued punching and kicking, delivering blows that did some severe damage, due to the man's moans of agony. "You! Stupid! Piece! OF SH*T!"

I have to stop him, I have to!

Suddenly, my efforts were cut short by the man forcefully grabbing my left wrist and pulling me towards him. I screamed in pain as he twisted it roughly with that menacing grin of his. He then did something that shocked all of us, he lifted an arm back and connected it with my stomach, sending me off my feet and flying until my back hit against the wall with a hard smack.

"Megan!" Peaches yelled in fright.

I was breathing heavily, struggling to get back up on my feet as Manny was joined by Diego and Shira in attacking the man. Unfortunately, their attempts were thwarted by the man sending them flying and landing next to me. I sprinted towards the man again, completely taken over by boiling rage and delievered a blow that forced him to fall to the ground. Just as I was about to connect my fist with his jaw, he grabbed my wrist again and kicked my legs, making me fall down.

NO!

The man laughed and wrapped his strong hands around my throat, cutting off my air supply. "Now, you can join your friends in hell."

"That's not happening buddy!" Manny shouted, whacking him with his trunk for the tenth time with a mighty grunt.

Our target chuckled coldly and took hold of a silver knife which glimmered in the sunlight coming from the living room windows. "Ooooh, yes it will."

I didn't have any time whatsoever to react as he plunged the weapon deep into my arm, forcing a loud blood-curling scream out of me. "You mother—"

The next couple of seconds were a complete shock. The man got beaten again by Manny, Diego, Shira and even Buck, making him drop his bloodied knife in the process. Just as the assailant was about to choke me to death again, he let out a horrified scream.

Whaaaaat?!

I looked over to my left and my eyes widened. Sonic had just enough strength in him to grab the knife and plunge it deep into the man's shoe. We both stared at each other, not taking our eyes of one another. I was pleasantly surprised, so much that I let a small appreciative smile crease my cheeks.

Thank you, Sonic.

He responded by weakly giving me his signature thumbs up and smiling back. All the man could do was leave in defeat and disgust.

Thinking quickly, my panting increased its' speed as I pulled myself up to my feet and immediately grabbed the phone. "C'mon... C'mon..."

I jabbed the number '999' and waited anxiously for the woman on the other end to pick up. She needed to fast, because we didn't have much time. "Answer the phone, goddamnit!" I whimpered quietly, becoming more and more desperate to prevent Sonic from suffering the same fate as Elise, Maria and Cybil did.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"H-Hi. Um, I have an emergency here. One of the residents in our apartment building has just been attacked and he's in really bad shape, please please please! Can you send an ambulance?!" I begged, looking down at Sonic with crystal tears threatening to escape.

"Of course I can. Where are you both?"

"S-S-Silver Lake Apartments. Room 303. And it's on the third floor!" I replied, fighting hard to stop my eyes from welling up with emotion. "Please hurry!"

"Don't worry, it will arrive in five to ten minutes."

"O-Okay..., thank you!"

After that, I hung up and instantly knelt down to Sonic's level. Manny and the Herd just stood a few feet back, watching the scene unfold. Peaches wanted to come forwards, but Ellie decided to hold her back for some reason. She mouthed: "Are you okay?"

Why are you asking me if I'm okay?! WE HAVE SOMEONE IN PAIN HERE!

I shook my head with a worried frown and focused my attention on Sonic. I was silently praying to the gods that he was going to make it, he had to! His fans can't lose him, Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Shadow can't lose him! I ... I can't lose him and ... I'm sure Elise wouldn't have wanted our blue friend to suffer the same fate as her either!

"S-Sonic," I began, panting with panic surging through me. "An ambulance is on its' way, they're going to get you to the hospital and everything's going to be alright... You're going to make it, my friends and I believe you will..."

Memories of my childhood and time watching him started to flash repeatedly in my head. I saw a seven year old girl. Me. Laughing with amusement at Sonic's constant teasing towards Eggman. I saw her wrapping her arms around her plush toys which looked just like Sonic and his team with a bright smile on her face and giggling at the 'Baldy McNose Hair' line.

"H-H-Hey kid," Sonic breathed, reaching out and entwining his gloved fingers with my bruised and battered ones. "Thanks..."

I clenched my eyes shut and reopened them to calm myself down, whilst giving the injured Sonic a small nod. Don't even do it, don't even do it. Get right back in there tear!

"A-A-Are you...?" My idol was about to ask, feeling moved by my concern for him. I knew exactly what he was going to ask, since ... he probably didn't hear me say it aloud on the phone which was understandable.

Panting, I squeezed his hand in an attempt to comfort him. "Yes..."

Hearing this, Sonic smiled whist breathing heavily. "I-I-If you got time to worry, t-t-then run... T-T-This place... It's dangerous... You need to... Hurry... G-Get out of here..."

No... I can't bear to see you like this...

All we could do was watch as Sonic's eyes slowly drifted down as he passed out. My head fell into my hands whilst I struggled desperately to hold the tears back. Even though I knew that there was a small chance, my guilt was now at 100% painful. I was broken. Stuck in a nightmare and unable to rescue anyone who happened to be in danger.

Maybe ... Maybe this was someone's way of punishing me. Forcing me to watch so many of my loved one die...

Poor Sonic ... He didn't deserve this. Elise, Maria and Cybil didn't deserve this, either. The only person I felt who did was me, and nobody else. "Megan, we're so sorry." Diego said, feeling saddened. "But at least we managed to save him."

Slowly lifting my head up, I nodded. "Yeah, you might be right..."

...

I awoke to the sound of a loud ringing, signalling that something was wrong. Pulling myself up to my feet, I sprinted towards the window and looked out. "Oh, thank god..." I sighed with relief.

An ambulance was leaving the car park with Sonic inside, flashing it's red and white lights as it sped away through the crowds of traffic. I suspected that Tails and the others heard what happened and were on their way to St. Jerome's Hospital too.

"Okay, time for me to go." I whispered as I reloaded my pistol and hunting rifle.

After sorting out my arm injury, I threw open my bedroom door, clutched my weapons tightly and lifted myself up into the hole's entrance. I knew that if my idol was okay, the man would come after him, intent on finishing him off for good. I wasn't going to let that happen, not after everything the Herd and I have been through so far! "Alright, I'm coming to get you Sonic. If the guy in the coat wants to have a fight, I'll f*cking give him one."

With a strong sense of determination, I didn't hesitate to crawl further into the hole.

Sonic, please be okay, long enough for us to find you...