Chapter sixteen: My Worst Nightmare: Sonic VS Tails
I sighed, looking over the wall that protected New Mobotropolis. The sun was setting over the horizon and for some reason I was watching it.
"Enjoying the view?"
I looked over my shoulder to the sound voice, and smiled at who it was.
"Hey Sonic."
"Something up?" Sonic asked, walking closer.
"Just getting my first good view of a sunset." I replied sadly.
"What you mean?" Sonic asked, now standing next to me.
He looked much taller then me since I was sitting on the ground, hunched over and my arms over my knees.
"Well, where I live, there's a hill on my street, I live at the very base, and there's a bunch of woods, it's to the west, and kind of hides the sunset."
Sonic nodded his head, interested.
"I'd rather it be the way it was in the book, The Outsiders, that way, I could see it clear as day. Maybe, even the stars too."
"The stars?" Sonic asked, looking down at me.
"Yeah, on one side of my town, there's a BUNCH of stores, with street lights in the parking lots, car lights, and such, even the highway runs through it. And on the other side is a city, which are lit twenty-four seven. My town even has some streetlights, not as many as the city, but with all of those lights put together, you can barely see the stars at all, usually less then twenty, depending on where you're looking. Most of them are so dull that you can barely see them, the only thing you really have a chance at seeing is the moon."
Sonic remained quiet for a minute before saying,
"You know, you can see the moon here, even during the day, because it's so clear."
"Yeah, the same back home as well." I informed him. "Usually it's only a small white sliver, but you can still see it, all the same."
"Yeah, it's kind of weird."
I smiled softly at Sonic. It was hard to believe that some time soon he would be fighting his best friend.
'Cosmo was right.' I thought, letting a calm yet happy feeling flow through me. 'Sonic and his friends ARE very special, because they can make friends with just about anyone. Having Sonic here, makes me feel, not so alone anymore.'
I heard Sonic move a bit, and was soon sitting right next to me.
"Shelby, what was your home town like, you know, where you grew up?"
"Well, it was somewhat like Knothole was." I answered, trying to put it to words.
"Do you wanna go back?" Sonic asked, in an almost sad voice.
"Well my family's there and my few friends that I have. I have to go back."
"But do you want to leave?"
"Hm…Well, I'm happy here, happier then ever was there."
"Why's that?"
"…I'm different from everyone else at my school. We all have A.D.D., A.D.H.D. or something of the like. I have A.D.D., so I'm calmer then some, but I'm more prone to emotional release to emotions like anger and sadness, so they all pick on me."
"Don't your friends do anything?"
"I have hardly any friends there. Nick is the only one I really hang around, but he's much softer then the others boys, and I sometimes have to stick up for him. And with hardly any girls in the school, I'm mostly out to defend myself. There's one other girl in my class but we don't usually hang around each other because she's more of a valley girl then I could ever be. She talks very fast, and hardly anyone picks on her."
"What about the teachers?"
"The guys get small punishments but they don't seem to learn their lesson. One off them, Chad Boyd, was actually arrested, or so he says but I'm not surprised with how he acts. He's one of the guys who picks on me all the time. The other is Brandon Witfeild, and they never stop."
"What do they do?"
I paused before responding.
"There was a school shooting not too far away from where I go to school. Our homeroom teacher asked us to write a paper about how it made us feel. I wrote that things like that are chemical reactions, usually the ones that do the shooting, are kids who were picked on and bullied, like me. It's usually out of revenge, or they think that punishments given to the bullies weren't enough. I also included some lyrics from one of my favorite songs that relates to it."
"What are the lyrics?"
I paused again before singing them, exactly as I wrote them.
"No one sits with him, he doesn't fit in.
But we feel like we do when we make fun of him
'Cause you want to belong,
Do you go along?
'Cause his pain is the price paid for you to belong.
It's not that you hate him or want him to die,
But maybe he goes home and thinks suicide.
Or he comes back to school with a gun at his side.
Any kindness from you might have saved his life."
I paused again, because these next lines related to me a lot.
"No one talks to her, she feels so alone.
She's in too much pain to survive on her own.
The hurt she can't handle overflows to a knife.
She writes on her arm,
'Wants to give up her life'.
Each day she goes on is a day that she's brave,
Fight the lie that giving up is the way,
Each moment of courage her own life she saves,
When she throws the pills out, a hero is made."
I paused again to wipe a tear from my eye, trying not to cry and continued.
"No one talks to him about how he lives.
He thinks that the choices he makes are just his.
Doesn't know he's a leader with the way he behaves,
And others will follow the choices he's made.
He lives on the edge, he's old enough to decided.
His brother who wants to be him is just nine.
He can do what he wants, because it's his right.
The choices he makes change a nine-year-old's life."
Another pause, and Sonic put his hand on my back before I continued.
"Little Mikey D. was the one in class who everyday got brutally harassed.
This went on for years,
Until he decided that never again
Would he shed another tear.
So he walked through the door, grabbed the four-four out of his father's dresser drawer,
And said, 'I can't take life no more.'
And like that, life can be lost.
But this ain't even about that, all of us just sat back and watched it happen.
Thinkin' it's not my responsibility to solve a problem that isn't about me.
This is our problem.
This is just one of the daily scenarios which we choose to close out eyes,
Instead of doing the right thing.
If we make a choice
To be the voice
For those who won't speak up for themselves,
How many lives will be saved, changed, rearranged?"
I finished with a sigh.
"What happens after that?" Sonic asked.
"Well, I read mine to the class, and then Brandon said that he wasn't comfortable around me any more. I ignored that, but when he read, it got under my skin. He said that, that the gun man deserved to die, and that people who kill themselves are idiots."
"So why are you sore about it?"
I looked to the ground, ashamed, but I finally answered.
"I'm…slightly suicidal." I said, now picking at the grass beneath me.
"You're what?" Sonic asked in surprise.
I looked away, feeling the tears build up.
"Do they know about this?"
"Yeah right, like I want them to know that of all things. It'll only get worse with comments like: Go kill yourself, and: I got a knife for you."
"Do the teachers know?"
I shook my head.
"Do your parents at least know?"
"No." I said.
"Why don't you tell them. You must trust them at least."
"Oh, I trust them…I trust them to tell the school board, and them to tell the teachers, and then someone will either over hear them talking about it, or one of the teachers will announce it in an attempt to stop it, but to have backfire."
"So no one knows?"
"Other then you and me, no."
"It's not fair. Just because you're different doesn't mean it's your fault."
"But that's what it means to be different: Nobody trusts you, you're always the first one to be blamed, and it is always, always your fault!" I said so harshly that it even surprised myself.
"Then why do you want to go back?"
"It's not so much as a 'want' as a 'have to'."
"What do you mean?"
"Sonic, all of your enemies would jump out of their skin if they ever found out everything I knew. I have no idea as to how powerful most of them are. At least one of them may have the power to force me to tell the truth, and use that information to hurt you, or one of the others. I have to go back before any of that happens, otherwise, I'd never forgive myself if any of you got hurt."
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.
"If someone, like say Mammoth Mogul, were to get any information out of me, he could use it against you."
There was a long silence. I could only wonder what he was thinking.
"C'mon, it's getting late." Sonic suddenly said, standing up.
I nodded my head once, stood up, and followed him down the dirt path to his home. However, I was unaware of the turmoil that was all over.
---
Tails was stomping through town, tears starting to sing his eyes. This day was going from bad, to worse. He was sure that his face looked horrible he was so mad.
"I can't believe he said that!" Tails hissed under his breath. "Of all the stubborn, arrogant, naïve, little- AAAAARRRRRGGGGGG!"
Tails reached down, picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could. It crashed loudly somewhere in some trashcans nearby. Despite that, Tails was still extremely upset.
"I see you're upset about something." A voice said.
It was completely new to Tails, so he never suspected the danger that he was walking right into.
"Who's there?" He asked.
"…A friend."
A dark figure slinked out of the shadows glowing green eyes were all that could be seen.
"Who are you?" Tails asked again.
"My name is of no importance." The figure said darkly. "Now, tell me: What is troubling you?"
Tails was so upset, that he just burst out, and told him everything at once. It all came like a waterfall, but somehow the stranger understood it all.
"I see." He said darkly. "You know, I think I might just be able to help you."
"How?" Tails spat harshly.
If Tails could see his face, he'd have seen a smirk curl its way onto the stranger's face.
"I was hoping you'd ask that." He grinned.
Tails watched as the figure slowly approached, but he still couldn't see a thing.
"This is what you have to do…"
Not another soul could hear the dark figure's voice other then Tails. Had anyone been watching, they would have noticed a black mist coming from the stranger, and slowly binding Tails. The young fox never suspected a thing…
---
I smiled as I watched Sonic strum his guitar. He was much better then I had ever expected.
"YEAH!" He cried as he finished a song with a power-slide.
"That was great, Sonic!" I happily said, jumping from his bed.
"Think so?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah, you're much better then I am, I can tell ya that." I replied.
"Oh, you play?"
"Some." I said, blushing.
"How long have you been playing?"
I thought for a moment, trying to sum it all up.
"I'd have to say about two and a half years."
"You must be good." Sonic said, sitting on his bed.
"I could be better though. Compared to you, I'm just a beginner."
"Well I wanna hear." Sonic then held the guitar in my direction.
"Alright." I said, grabbing the guitar by the neck.
I sat back down on the bed and placed the guitar on my right leg. I carefully looked at the second fret as I placed my middle finger on the sixth and fifth strings. I then began to play those two at fast pace, getting in eight strokes in four beats. I then did the same thing on the fifth fret, but I slid my fingers down the strings, rather then lift them back up. I then slid my fingers to the seventh fret, and then the tenth, playing the same two strings the whole time. I then returned to where I started, but instead of going to the fifth, my fingers went down to the third fret, then I continued to the seventh fret, to the tenth, and I was done.
Sonic whistled before saying, "You're pretty good."
"Thanks." I said, handing him back the guitar.
"What song was that?"
"This Machine, theme of Team Dark from Sonic Heroes." I proudly stated.
"Whoa, you can really play one of the theme songs?" Sonic asked in shock.
"Well not the melody, but I can if I were to play it in a concert." I said, almost sure that I was blushing.
"So who all's on that "Team"?" Sonic asked, placing the guitar back on its stand.
"Shadow, Rouge, and E-123, Omega." I told him with no hesitation.
"Omega?" Sonic asked.
"The last of the E-series in the video games, I'm not all too sure that he's here though." I answered.
"So why'd you learn that song and none of the others?"
"I was only playing for a year when I learned that song, it was the easiest. The others are harder, I'm not that advanced yet."
"I see." Sonic said. "So, where do you suppose it'll take you?"
"Depends on what you mean by that." I said, not quite getting it.
"I mean, do you think you'll have a future with music?" Sonic said, sitting on the bed.
"I'm not sure. I could never come up with a song if my life depended on it." I said, almost certain I was now blushing.
"I don't think so." Sonic said.
I heard him shift slightly on the bed, and felt something barely touch my fingers. I looked, and saw Sonic's own fingers barely touching my own. My cheeks felt like they were burnt at this point.
"Shelby." Sonic said.
I looked at him, feeling the burning fade.
"I've been thinking about what you said to me earlier, and I've decided that you can tell me anything, and I won't tell a soul. I think you need someone to tell all of this to."
I looked at Sonic in surprise. I couldn't hold myself back. I broke out crying into his arms. He carefully stroked my head. He was soft to the touch and yet he was strong.
"I'll be your secret keeper, alright?" Sonic asked, lifting up my chin.
I nodded, my eyes still filled with tears.
"I'll only tell someone if I think it's for the best. Like Dr. Quack, he might be able to help you." He said, stroking me some more. "I want to do anything I can for you while you're still here."
"Sonic, if I could, I would stay here. This life is what I've always wanted, but I could never get it. It always seemed like a wild, far off dream, so close yet still out of reach." I said, wiping a tear from my eye. "I've always needed a friend like you, maybe an older brother like you, but it was something I could never reach."
"If you ever need it, I could be a big brother for you when you need it. Just let me know when you need to talk."
Sonic held me close as I continued crying. I knew that I could tell Sonic anything and he would keep for the rest of his life. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.
---
Sonic wrapped his arm around Shelby, he felt sorry for her, and he didn't want her to go through all that pain again. He stroked her gently. She had fallen asleep, that was no surprise. The whole day had worn everyone down, he was just glad he still had her around.
"Shelby, while you're here, I'll protect you, no matter what." He whispered.
---
An hour had passed since Shelby had fallen asleep, along with most of the population, but some were still active, and these two had big plans.
"Are you sure you should do this, my love?" The female asked him.
"I'm sure, don't worry, we'll get him out." He said in response as he carefully landed her on her feet.
He ran to the door and opened the section near it, allowing him to take apart the security system. His heart was pounding, as was hers, but this wasn't the time to worry about that. He was just about finished when the doors opened, and a certain holographic computer programming stepped out.
"I would advise against trying to break into the prison's- YOU!" Nicole cried when she saw the male's face.
She never had the chance to finish her sentence because the male pulled out a wire, causing Nicole to vanish.
"Don't worry," the male said. "I'll protect us."
---
VOOOOSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!I was snapped awake by Sonic running past. I was back on the couch, but I was now sitting up, looking to the door where Sonic had left the tiny hut.
"Man, haven't we had enough "fun" to last for a week today?" I asked myself as I rubbed my eye.
I lied back down to go back to sleep, not really putting much thought into it…that is, until Nicole came.
"SHELBY!"
I snapped my eyes back open. I hadn't even been able to go back to sleep. This had better been important.
"Nicole, it's almost midnight, what do you want?" I asked groggily.
"You have to stop them!" She said, grabbing my shoulders.
"Stop who?" I asked before letting out a yawn.
"Sonic's gone to the detention center, they're trying to break out Amadeus!"
That woke me up!
"WHAT? It's already happened?!" I cried, throwing the blankets from my body and ran to the door to get my shoes.
"What do you mean 'already happened'?" Nicole asked.
"This whole thing was in the comics! It wasn't meant to be so soon!" I said, struggling into my sneakers. "What about the riot? It didn't-"
"Actually, it did. You were with Rouge trying to escape Scourge when it happened." Nicole informed me.
I was cursing every word in the book in my mind as I pulled on my other sneaker.
"I've gotta stop this!" I said, now running out the door.
"Why, what's going to happen?" Nicole asked.
"Exactly! The attack earlier, in the comics Eggman managed to use the Egg Grapes on Charmy before he was saved! For all I know, it'll turn into a bloody battle!"
"I don't quite understand."
"You know something: I understand it just about as much as you do."
"Really?"
"Yes. Now listen: When Elias tells you not to wake his parents, wake Sally up instead, and do it as fast as you possibly can! I don't care how you do it, just get her in there before someone gets seriously hurt!"
"What will you do?"
"I'm going to the prison! I've go to find a way to stop the fight before it begins! And if I'm lucky, Elias and Amadeus won't fight at all!"
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, you may or may not believe me but the comics have shown me everything that's supposed to happen. However, since I arrived, nothing had been as accurate as it should be. Nicole, just let me do this. If I don't, I could never forgive myself."
"Very well then."
And with that said, Nicole faded away, probably going to the castle to warn King Elias.
"I just hope I'm not too late." I whispered under my breath.
The prison was just ahead of me. The gates were still wide open from when Sonic entered most likely.
'Come on Workman, if you don't make it in time, Sonic and Tails may never make up!' I thought.
I took another step when I saw something beneath me. It was the same transport like pad that Nicole had sued to send Mammoth Mogul and his goons to the prison earlier. I smirked.
"Thanks for the lift, Nicole!" I said happily.
And before I knew it, I was in front of a fleet of stairs leading downwards.
"Time to stop something before it begins." I growled and headed down.
However, I was already too late. I saw two figures coming up the stairs.
"Sonic? Tails?" I asked hopefully.
No such luck.
"You!"
"Amadeus! Rosemary!" I snapped.
I didn't even bother thinking before I did what I did. I charged Amadeus and pinned him to the wall.
"Where-are-they?" I demanded.
"Where is who?" He asked.
"Sonic and Tails! Where are they?" I yelled, now thrusting my hand over his throat.
"Release him!" Rosemary snapped.
"Not until one of you spills about where they are!" I snapped again.
There was a long pause.
"They're down the stairs." Rosemary admitted.
"Good." I hissed and dropped Amadeus. "I'll be back for you two later."
And I ran down the stairs to face my worse nightmare: Sonic VS Tails.