Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team.

July 10th 1996.

The atmosphere was cold and unwelcoming, the ones participating seemed to share those feelings at the moment.

As Sonic stumbled his way on to the set of his new special, Sonic The Fighters, he was met with glares from a few.

After his downward spiral a little over a year ago, he had become even harder to work with, and of course the tabloids were having a field day with it all.

Countless lies were being printed and reported daily on the blue hedgehog and his co-stars.

The once admired hedgehog had now become a sleazy has been.

They showed no mercy as they reported all these statements, whether they be true or not, as long as it sold.

The headlines had stuck with Sonic over the time, constantly disturbing him at how outlandish they sounded to him.

"Sonic The Hedgehog cheats on Amy Rose with voice actress, Sally Acorn."

"Sonic The Hedgehog destroys car in intense chase."

"Sonic The Hedgehog sends former co-star, Knuckles The Echidna to the hospital."

This was getting ridiculous.

Though with that last one, it wasn't that out there that Sonic and Knuckles would've fought.

After Sonic's little tantrum at Knuckle's premiere, it had effected it beyond repair.

After the scandal broke, few had attended the film and those who did ranged the quality from meh to terrible, resulting in both a critical and commercial failure.

Knuckles and Espio turned away in disgust as he passed by.

Sonic finally made it to his chair, his coordination failing him, he crouched into the chair carefully.

Looking around he saw some old faces like Nack and Metal as well as some new faces, a bird and a polar bear.

"Wonder who they are." He thought.

Turning, he saw Tails talking to a mongoose woman he assumed was Mina as the two signed their autographs for a fan.

While their popularity was waning, Tails actually enjoyed moderate success with Skypatrol and Adventure.

Sonic had a little smile before two hands covered up his eyes.

"Guess who?" A voice asked.

Sonic's grin grew bigger as he recognized the voice.

Sonic got up and spun around quickly, bringing Amy into his arms.

"I missed you too." Amy said with a giggle.

Sonic never felt so relieved, but he still felt he needed to talk to her.

"Listen, Amy…a lot has happened since you've been away and I…" He starts to explain, only to be interrupted by Amy.

"It's okay, we've all made mistakes and besides that, I don't believe what all those magazines and or paparazzi's say, I trust you." Amy exclaimed.

Sonic hugged her again but when he pulled away, he noticed her saddened expression.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Sonic, you still have a problem." Amy pointed out.

"Look, Amy, you have to understand that it's been stressful dealing with all this, the media, the endless filming and having to argue with the execs constantly, it's driving me crazy." Sonic told her.

Amy sighed and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Please, just promise me that you'll slow down and stop doing this to yourself." Amy plead.

Sonic didn't know what to do.

He cares for her so much, yet it was his only way of coping with it all.

He simply nodded yes and the two continued to chat through there time on set.

Unfortunately for the both of them it would not be a promise he couldn't keep and just a week later, he would pay the price.

July 17th 1996.

Amy had gone out that night with her friends, leaving Sonic by himself.

They had managed to rid the house of all the bottles and substances.

She wanted to help Sonic as much as she could, so she had been trying to reach out to the people he turned away from.

Amy had been attempting to get in contact with his family.

She had managed to convince them to fly out there, but due to weather conditions, they wouldn't be able to make it until around the end of Summer.

Still, Amy agreed and hopefully it would help him.

As the night went by, they each bid their goodbyes and went on home.

As Amy approached the front door, she was surprised to see the lights were still on.

Amy turned the key, unlocking the door and entered.

"Sonic, I'm home." She called out.

No one answered.

"Sonic?" She asked.

Still no answer.

Amy growing curious, noticed something in the corner.

"Glass?" She thought, staring at the broken glass scattered about on the floor.

Then, she noticed the smell.

The smell she instantly recognized.

Rushing to the kitchen, she saw a sight she wish she could block from her memories.

Sonic lay there on the floor, convulsing rapidly, foaming at the mouth, groaning in pain.

Only in his hands, was an empty bottle.