A/N: Hello! A short story if you will. It's a bit sad, but I was bored. Shows you what I do when I've hit rock-bottom in boredom. Anyway, I do not own Sonic, SEGA does. I do however own Dawn, who is a fan character that I made up for the upcoming sonic story that I'm considering putting up later on in 2011.

I didn't really have time to scan over and edit anything, so any mistakes are my doing.

Enjoy.

Too Slow

He was nearing the entrance to where she was being kept. Sonic narrowed his eyes as he pushed forward, willing himself to go even faster. It was hard enough to go get past all the robots that Dr. Eggman had set up as a diversion, not to mention all the secret and dead-end passages that the blue hero had stumbled into. He didn't have time to be distracted or lead astray, not when so many lives were held in the balance.

Especially Dawn's, he thought as momentum grew.

The scenery was nothing but a blur to him, but it wasn't anything that he hadn't experienced before. Going at 'sonic speed' tended to do that to you. However, the sounding of clanking footsteps and guns cocking at the ready made him skid to a halt. A grimace was met on his face as another hoard of the Doctor's minions made there presence known. He shook his head in disbelief and impatience. "This is ridiculous! I don't have time to play with you guys!" he called out as he jumped into the air quickly and tucked in his knees and head securely before using his signature homing attack.

Exploding debris could be seen as he landed safely on the ground, crouched. More robots were seen as Sonic began to rev in place and rushed to his opponents. Gunshots cascaded towards the blue hedgehog as he dodged with his fierce speed and dashed with all the more drive, finishing up the welcoming committee. Gasping slightly, he looked for his exit. Green eyes focused on a door as he made haste towards it and the others that followed.

The hallways and corridors were seemingly endless, though it didn't stop Sonic from pressing onwards. 'Have to save Dawn. Before Eggman goes too far,' he thought in worried anxiety. After finishing off yet another batch of robots, Sonic reached his destination. A door, taller and much sturdier than the others that he saw before opened. Open arrival, the hero's eyes widened in horror at the sight.

It looked like one of Eggman's many labs that were in the fortress. However, this one appeared to have been through quite the ordeal with its' busted windows and ransacked ingenuity. The faint sound of a monitor was heard, and his ears immediately picked it up while he walked cautiously into the ruined lab. Glass crushed beneath his shoes as a fleeting thought crossed his mind.

"Just what happened in here?" He said aloud, knowing full well that no one was there to answer. No one. Sonic halted and quickly looked around. Dawn. Was she gone too? Panic coursed through him as he willingly hid it behind his brave farce. "Dawn? Dawn can you hear me?" he called out, hoping that she would answer. But that wasn't the case. He looked in small cabinets for hints or clues to what happened. He called out to her once again. "Dawn! If you can hear me, make a sound!" He was greeted with a small, forced out and pained groan.

Ears picking it up, he rushed to a small area that looked to be another room. Since the door was already off its hinges and windows were bust, he simply walked in. A frail teenaged girl was the first thing he saw as he went to her side. Her body was bruised and marred, clothes ripped and bloodied. She lay on the ground, trying to breathe evenly as she looked at him with pained and glassy hazel eyes. She tried to will her body to sit up, but a pain-staked groan was all she could give as he knelt beside her. Sonic laid her back down, shaking his head.

"Try not to move so much. I'll get help," he began as he started to stand. Dawn reached (with difficulty) for his gloved hand. Sonic stopped and looked back at her. She shook her head. "It won't matter. I don't think it will help now," she said, her voice raspy. The hedgehog grasped her hand reassuringly. "No it's not! What did I say about thinking negatively! Tails'll fix you right up. You'll be back to your normal, stoic and cynical self in no time," he said, giving her a smirk from his little joke. Dawn however didn't smile back. He didn't expect her to, seeing how any small emotion would trigger her ability. But still, he knew that his humor made her feel better in this situation.

Dawn tried to move her hand to the left side of her chest, where her heart was. "No Sonic. Eggman… He took… My… powers. I won't… last long…" Sonic finally understood why she didn't want him to leave. He looked down at the ground, guilt coursing throughout his entire body. He should have been faster. Then this wouldn't have happened.

Dawn let out a ragged sigh. "I can't go on… without them… my ability… It kept me… alive. Now… I'll regress to… my real age… and cease to exi-" Sonic grabbed her right hand with force.

"Don't say it! It's not… over…" his voice drifted off as he saw the evident disbelief in her eyes. She knew he was trying to lie, to make the matter better then what it was. That was how Sonic was, the cheerful, optimistic, adventurer. But Dawn was a realist, and had lived more lifetimes then he would ever know. She knew when something wasn't going to end well, and this was one of the situations. He sighed.

"There has to be something. Tails could make something for you to keep going on. You can't just give up Dawn." He felt his throat tighten as his voice started to shake.

"You can't."

Eggman had gone too far. To do something like this, just wasn't right. He had to pay for his crime. He HAD to. A small squeeze on his hand tore his attention away from his revenge momentarily. Dawn's eyes were getting even glassier by the minute. "I kept your promise. I… Didn't… give in. Even when… he was… draining it from me… I didn't give up hope." She closed her eyes as a long exhale came from her. Sonic began to panic before her saw hazel irises look into his green ones.

She tilted her head to get a better look at him. "Are you… proud of me?" she said, a small dose of humor in her tone. Sonic chuckled as he nodded. "Yeah." He didn't notice how his eyes were leaking until he felt himself inhale sharply. Looking down at the damp drops on Dawn's bloody jacket, he knew he was crying. Clearing his throat, he took his left hand (since it wasn't holding Dawn's), and wiped his eyes. A small sniffle made him look at Dawn. Light tears trickled down her cheeks as well though she tried to stop them with a failed effort.

Wiping them from her face, Sonic felt crushed. He had tried, he really did. But this was the one time where… "He's trying… to use… my power to… alter this time…" Sonic blinked as he heard her voice again. Sonic's reserve worsened when he saw her normal dark violet hair turn gray. It was starting. "He is?" he tried to keep the conversation going, knowing that she was seconds away from death's door. A nod was his only response. It was quiet for a moment before she added, "You have… to go… warn the others… about Egg… man." Dawn advised.

Sonic nodded in understanding, still not wanting to leave. Not when his friend was about to go. He couldn't live with the guilt of not seeing her off. "This was… fun," she said fondly yet faintly. Sonic quirked an imaginary eyebrow. "I didn't… Think I would be… friends with such… wonderful people… You all… made me life… so much fun…" she said, giving him her first real smile. The blue hero smiled back his signature grin as he willed to make this situation light. "That's what happens when you hang around us," he joked. Dawn also chuckled at the joke, showing Sonic all genuine emotions for the first and last time.

"You have a cool laugh. And a bright smile," he began. His eyes lowered in sadness. "Too bad it's under these conditions, huh?" He sighed grimly at the thought as he waited for Dawn to respond. When he was met with silence he looked up at her, seeing her usually youthful face old and wrinkled. Her eyes were shut but the smile still remained. He gently shook her shoulder, trying to get her to say something.

"Dawn? You okay?"

Again silence was his answer.

'No, not now,' he thought as he continued to shake her. Calling out her name, tears made their way to the normally upbeat hedgehog. "Dawn. Say something. Anything! Dawn!" he saw the hand he was holding slip from his grasp and fall limply to the side. It couldn't be. Sonic shook his head in disbelief, refusing to take this. "Dawn! Please get up!" he said, his voice now practically begging to lifeless body.

Sonic was usually a strong person who never held his fears and weakness out for the world to see. But then again, he wasn't one to witness a death of a close friend either. He had sworn to protect her, and show her the day when she could smile without worry of her powers getting in the way. But he never had expected that it be in this way. Helpless and now alone, Sonic wore his emotions on his gloves. Tears fell freely as he held the body close. Eggman had done what he thought was never possible. The genius had taken a life.

But that wasn't what was worse. Sonic had always thought he was the fastest thing on the Earth. That he could save any and everything. But for once in his life, he was meant with the terrifying truth. For the first time, the worlds fastest hedgehog around; Sonic the hedgehog, was too slow.