Chapter 7: Mistake
Silence fell across the cave again. That was partly because of how everyone's ears were still ringing. Even so, Alan was pretty sure he heard what Sonic said correctly, giving him a second reason for being silent: total paralysis.
His first instinctual thought was that Sonic, even if he hadn't really betrayed him, had lied to him, had hidden things from him, and had him running a risky undercover op without giving him the full information he needed. Ideas like obstruction of justice and even being an accomplice floated around in his head.
Yet as Alan quickly sorted through his memory, he realized that there had been signs from the start. Bits and pieces. Sonic had said several things relevant to this, but one quote in particular stood out. I believe in giving others a chance.
But then Alan realized he was never actually aware of the reason Sonic was like that. Or rather, that there even was a reason for it. Once again, he felt the urge to know. It was his job, after all.
The ringing in his ears finally stopped. Slowly, Doherty got back onto his feet. When he was finally standing again, the look on his face, aimed at the hedgehog, was one of suspicion and confusion.
"Sonic, you better have a very damn good explanation for this." he said softly as he holstered his pistol, trying to sound emotionless. "You…you were one of them that caused him to…be like this?"
"No," Sonic replied firmly, shaking his head, but he stopped abruptly. "Well, maybe yeah, in a way. I really was there…but not how you think."
"Oh, really?" Robotnik spoke up in his trademark bossy tone. He didn't seem like someone who just avoided getting shot in the head. "Sonic the storyteller, eh? This should be interesting. Let's see whether I gain or lose reasons to kill you."
Alan noticed Tails wasn't saying anything. "Tails, let me guess, you knew about this also?"
Startled at being addressed at first, the fox slowly and reluctantly nodded. "I…I'm sorry. But Sonic told me I shouldn't tell anyone."
Alan didn't know what to say to that. Perhaps it wasn't so surprising. He turned to face Sonic again, arms crossed. "What happened?"
Sonic the Hedgehog sighed out loud as he started talking about the moments that changed everything in his life.
The young hedgehog was only four years old. Just a few months ago, Sonic had discovered to his absolute delight that he could actually run pretty fast. Faster than his adopted parents, other kids at the school, in fact, just about everyone he knew. There were no side-effects as far as he could tell. In fact, reaching these speeds usually made him feel happier and freer than ever.
But no one else knew about it. Not yet. For that, he wasn't ready. He didn't know what to do, as he was worried about what others would think. As far as he could tell, no other mobian ever moved this fast. Was this natural? Would he make more friends because he was different? Or less?
Sonic continued to wonder about this as he stood on the dirt path in the woods. It was best to enjoy his ability in secret for now. It was much easier that way. After looking around to make sure no one else was nearby, he began to move. He walked at first, but gradually broke into a run at the same speed as most mobians. He picked up even more from there, and soon he was running twice as fast as most athletes at their best. And he wanted to exceed even that. Something inside told him that it was indeed possible.
The dirt path was winding to the left ahead. Woah! Sonic slowed down to make sure he could turn properly without crashing or going off-course. He still only knew how to run this fast in straight lines, but he planned on practicing.
The hedgehog was grinning as he exited the corner and picked up the pace again. He felt happy to have such an ability. Maybe what others thought wasn't important at all.
His thoughts about this lasted until his ears picked up something nearby. A commotion of some sort. Slowing himself down to a complete stop – which was also something he had to work on – Sonic checked his surroundings. The sounds were coming from the village just over there, behind the trees.
As he listened more closely, he realized they sounded like people laughing. Not to mention, this laughter didn't sound like the kind he was used to hearing. People normally laughed when they saw or heard something funny. This one wasn't like that.
Sonic slowly walked through the small bunch of trees to check out what was going on. He was not prepared for what he saw.
A large group of mobians, mostly teenagers and adults, had gathered in front of a steel cage, their backs facing the hedgehog. Here, Sonic could also now hear that they were not just laughing, but also making rude remarks while poking long objects into the cage at its sole prisoner.
The person in the cage was of a species Sonic had never seen before. He wore clearly worn-out clothes, possibly a white jacket and trousers. He was much fatter, probably taller as well, than most of the crowd, though the latter was harder to make out as he was seated in a fetal position, clearly suffering. His arms were raised, barely covering his crying face while trying and failing to defend himself from the public humiliation and poking.
"What an ugly freak," a middle-aged male remarked, clear condescension in his tone.
"He, no, it looks abominable!" another woman cried out.
More and more voices loudly joined in as if engaging in a competition to see who could make the worst slurs. The crowd drew even closer to the cage, blocking Sonic's view of the man inside.
The four-year old Sonic didn't have to be a philosopher to feel that this simply wasn't right. The crowd seemed to be bullying this guy, wherever he came from, only because of his appearance. He remembered that his adopted parents had taught him about never judging others because of that.
He also remembered that he could run pretty fast.
The urge to bring about justice, even if he didn't know the word, caused Sonic to tap the ground, ready to move and spook the crowd away. They would have been the first mobians to witness Sonic's speed if it weren't for something else he saw that countered his urge.
Two of the people among the crowd nearest to the cage, visible to Sonic as they were standing to the side, were none other than Sonic's own adopted parents, the two hedgehogs poking and jeering at the victim inside like the rest. Their expressions were not the kind and loving ones they normally had towards Sonic.
Sonic found himself frozen. His adopted parents loved him very much. They told him that this was wrong. But now this…he struggled to understand. Why were they doing what they told him never to do?
The confusion quickly led to fear. If they were willing to engage in this bullying because this person wasn't a mobian…what would they do to their own adopted child if they found out how fast he could run? Sonic knew about orphans. Young kids forced to live by themselves with no grownups to take care of them. He had been one himself. He didn't want it to happen again.
His desire to remain someone who had people that cared for him - despite the troubling disconnect between their words and actions – ultimately won out over his desire to help care for others. At least for the moment. It pained him to do this, but he couldn't help this man now. He had to go home.
Slowly, Sonic stepped away from the ugly scene, back onto the dirt path, before turning around and darting back towards where he came from. For the first time, he did not feel happiness as he ran. He had to slow down a bit, as the flowing tears were starting to obscure his vision.
It was the middle of the night eight hours later. The young hedgehog had come back to the same spot on the dirt path, having quietly sneaked out of the house just now.
His adopted parents had not talked to him about anything throughout the day other than the usual stuff, like "How's my big boy doing?" or "Are you hungry?". They showed no indication of having done anything out of the ordinary that day…unless what they did already counted as such. Sonic didn't want to know.
Sonic stepped through the same trees to the same place where he had observed everything. Unfortunately, it was immediately clear to the youngster, despite the lack of light here, that he was too late.
There was no one around the cage, but neither was there anyone in it either. The man inside had disappeared, and the open cell door was swinging lightly in the wind. Did he escape? Did someone else help him? Sonic couldn't tell.
Regardless, Sonic felt a sense of despair. He wanted to show the man that there was at least one person on this planet who would treat him differently. To help. But there was nothing he could do here now.
It was getting cold. Sonic turned around to run back home, unhappy that he had to do so without doing the small deed that he had sought. He could only hope the best for the man, wherever he was now. He vowed not to speak a word of this, whether of his speed or the man, to anyone, at least until he was older…or unless the man somehow reappeared.
The five-year old hedgehog was on a dusty path in an open grass field, heading home from school. The distance wasn't very far, so Sonic was allowed to do it alone, which meant he got to practice running. As a result, it seemed to become shorter and shorter each day.
He didn't want either of his adopted parents accompanying him here anyway, and it was not just so he could run in peace. His hidden feelings about them had remained conflicted for a year or so now. He didn't know who he could tell about it.
Sonic's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed certain distinct shapes in the bright afternoon sky. He stopped to look, and found it very interesting. Airplanes hardly flew over this place, especially advanced ones like these. As they flew closer, Sonic noticed they didn't seem like the kind to carry people. He was right. These planes were carrying something else entirely.
The planes screeched over Sonic, causing him to cover his ears. They suddenly banked hard to the right, flying roughly towards where Sonic was going as well, to the small town where he lived. Then, in the distance, the planes seemed to drop certain objects over the settlement. Many of them.
Sonic let out a small cry of shock as he watched big fireballs appear and consume what seemed like the entire place. The explosions were loud enough to be heard even from here. Above it, the jets turned and sped away, having performed their hit-and-run.
Feeling very concerned about his parents and the people there now, Sonic ran full speed towards the attacked town, not caring if anyone was left alive to look. It took only twenty seconds. As he came close to it, he saw not just crumbled, burning buildings, but even a few burning people as well. Some were already lying dead on the ground. Others who had miraculously survived unhurt were frantically trying to carry less fortunate ones, many heavily wounded, to relative safety.
Sonic was too worried about his parents to be horrified by the sight, and continued towards his home, completely ignoring the heat from the fires around him. It wasn't located near the concentration of buildings in the center of the town, so there was the chance they were spared.
But it was not to be. Up ahead, Sonic saw that the small house, like many others in the area, was no more, reduced to a dark hole in the ground. Next to it on the grass was a struggling adult hedgehog bleeding from multiple wounds. Sonic got closer, and realized he could barely make out a familiar color pattern on the mobian's dress. It was mom!
"Mommy!" Sonic cried out as he knelt down and cradled the dying woman. Shrapnel from the bomb that destroyed their house had penetrated her abdomen and hurt her elsewhere. She suddenly started coughing out blood before turning to face Sonic. Her eyes were locked with his, and they had a look that suggested sadness and regret.
"Sonic," she spoke weakly before taking in a sharp breath. "Sonic…I've always known about…how fast you could…" She turned away to cough up more blood before looking at him again. "…run. We both…did."
"Mommy," Sonic called again, tears streaming down his face. He actually felt a bit of comfort to know that his adopted parents knew. He only wished this revelation didn't have to come out like this. "I'm sorry I hid it from you, I really am!"
"Don't be. After…what we did…" Another cough. "…it was only natural for you to…to hide it from us."
"Mommy, please," Sonic continued softly, "I don't care about that, I care about you, I don't want you to die!"
"I love you…too." She inhaled again and stared harder at her adopted son than ever. "Sonic…you have a great gift. You must…use it wisely."
"Mommy, I…I promise. I will."
She took in one more breath and paused to savor it, for she was sure she would never have another. "Always remember…don't…don't repeat…my mistake."
And with that, Sonic's adopted mother fell limp, and her eyes closed forever.
"Mom…" Sonic tried shaking her, but she did not wake up. The young hedgehog did not exactly understand the concept of death, and yet was now forced to do so in such an abrupt manner. Because of what she did. Because of what he himself did.
Wishing that his parents, adopted or not, imperfect or not, had always accompanied him on the way to and from school, Sonic the Hedgehog let the tears loose, not leaving his mom's side for over an hour as he sobbed. He would have stayed there even longer if it weren't for the interruption by a certain familiar figure.
Sonic stopped sniffling and turned around as he heard the survivors screaming in fear and horror, some of whom were pointing upwards. Four jets were hovering side-by-side in a straight line, accompanied by a floating mechanical platform of some sort in the middle, hemispherical in shape with a seat in it. And the person sitting there controlling it was none other than…him.
The fat man Sonic had seen a year ago was laughing loudly, in the exact same way the mobians that tormented him did. He was now bald, sported a pair of circular sunglasses, dressed in a fancy red suit. Completely unlike the last time, he looked very much like he was in charge. "Hello, people," he announced into a loudspeaker after bringing himself under control, though he still had a large grin. Then he asked with a softer but darker voice, "Remember me?"
Sonic froze up, his grief already tossed aside as the man continued to speak. On the ground, the survivors reacted similarly, becoming too afraid to move.
"This is what you get for what you did to me. Now, if you don't want to end up like the rest of the town here, I will give you a choice. Just like I was your slave, you can all be my slaves. The more you help me take over this planet, the better the treatment you receive."
"Go to hell, murderer!" Someone shouted. After a brief pause, everyone started defiantly shouting similar, as well as increasingly ruder, epithets.
"Fine!" the man said loudly in response, shutting the crowd up as their resolve quickly melted away and their horror resurfaced. "In that case, know this as you have chosen your only other punishment: my name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik."
Sonic was young, but that didn't mean he didn't understand what was about to happen. No one noticed when he started moving. An idea popped up in his head as he remembered that he didn't just have his speed, but also sharp quills. And there was a small hill next to where his house used to be…
"Say hello to your friends and family!" The people below started screaming, and there were explosions. But they weren't occurring on the ground.
Instead, Robotnik noticed the explosions were coming from his right. He looked and watched in shock as his hovering jets disintegrated like they were made of cardboard. The gasping townsfolk were just as taken aback by this twist.
"Down here, down here!" a young male voice cried out. Sonic's trajectory after launching himself off the hill was such that he could knock out the two jets to the man's right, but after that gravity kicked in and he dropped under Robotnik's craft. The hedgehog kept moving in the same direction the moment he landed, sprinting harder than ever. "Come after me, come on!"
Robotnik saw the blue little runner for the first time. "What the-why you little-" His shock at seeing a mobian run so fast and anger at how there was any resistance to him at all caused him to shift his attention from the townsfolk and onto Sonic. "You two, go after him!"
Which was exactly what Sonic wanted. He took a quick glance behind to see the two remaining jets and Robotnik's floating platform turn towards him, ready to follow. Glad that the plan was working so far, Sonic turned left and ran off towards the hills opposite the town, heading for a small valley in between two of them.
As Sonic got closer, he heard several sounds behind him, new ones that weren't just the humming from the jet engines. He stole a glance towards the back and realized that they were missiles. They were catching up pretty fast.
Trying not to panic, Sonic quickly scanned ahead for something that could help. Directly in front, at the end of the valley, was a steep and almost vertical rock formation that stood out among the grass.
Glancing behind one more time to make sure of the position of the aircrafts and the missiles, Sonic acted. He leapt up onto the rock wall, concentrating hard on his own movement to make sure he would only go upwards, not down. Just before the missiles hit the wall just below him, Sonic bounced off and curled into a fetal position as he spun himself through the air. The explosions were just far away enough to not be damaging, but close enough that the pressure wave actually propelled Sonic faster.
Sonic's quills took care of the rest as he tore through the jets, one behind the other. Realizing what was behind that one, Sonic got out of his fetal position to land properly on Robotnik's platform. More precisely, straight onto his face.
"Gah!" the fat man cried out, both in pain and shock. Sonic tumbled to the side of the craft as Robotnik clutched his nose. Incredibly, his sunglasses were still in their proper position. "Get off, get off!"
Sonic knew very well he could get revenge on Robotnik right here, right now. The man had killed his parents and a lot of other people, and would kill more if others didn't do what he wanted. He was, as Sonic could not find another word for it, evil.
Yet Sonic also knew very well the reason Robotnik had turned into this vengeful beast. Why he turned evil. Sonic recalled his mother's last words. Did killing him now count as 'repeating' her mistake?
Sonic quickly realized that if he truly wanted to kill Robotnik, he would have remained in his fetal position earlier and just shredded through Robotnik and his platform rather than land on it. But he had done the latter instead, and he wasn't sure if it happened consciously or not. Regardless, he had to carry on from there. Sonic made his decision.
"I don't wanna kill you," Sonic said as he held on tight to the platform's rim, sounding timid yet concerned. "I know my mommy and daddy were bad to you, but I don't want you to be bad too because of that. I wanna help you to be good, please!"
Robotnik simply stared at the small hedgehog, looking more confused than angry now. There was a pause as the fat man seemed to consider Sonic's words. Then his expression changed to dark indifference. "I don't care."
With no real space to move around, Sonic was unable to do much as Robotnik suddenly brought his hand forward and forcefully shoved him off the platform. Fortunately, the hedgehog, despite his surprise, was able to land on the grassy slope more gracefully than Robotnik intended, and it wasn't very far down anyway.
"Your people treated me as a freak," Robotnik spoke indignantly through the loudspeaker as Sonic got up. "So I'll show them how it feels. All of them. You're cute, kid, but there's nothing you can do to help me. You may have thwarted me today, but you won't be so lucky next time. I, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, will not rest until Mobius is mine!"
Before Sonic could respond, the platform covered itself with a glass dome, also hemispherical in shape and hidden within the vehicle's layers until now. Then it hovered higher and higher into the sky before zooming off over the hills.
Sonic slowly walked back to the town, expression downcast, no longer feeling the mood or urgency to run. He was greeted by the cheering townsfolk. "Hey, that was awesome!"
"You scared him off!"
"That'll show him!"
Sonic simply stood there humbly as compliment after compliment was piled on him. He knew Robotnik would come back soon, and he would be ready for him. Not just to stop his schemes, but to try and bring him back to normal. To make for what his fellow mobians did, and what he himself didn't.
No matter how many times it took. No matter how long.
"Okay, let me try to understand this," Doherty first spoke after Sonic had finished. "You regard fighting him repeatedly for many years as…therapy?"
"I guess, sort of." Sonic shrugged, and looked downwards again. "But yeah, now you see why I didn't let you know, much like I don't let the world know. Why I didn't send Robotnik to New Mobius, because I know they're itching to kill him as soon as possible." The hedgehog walked over to Tails and put a protective arm over the fox's shoulder. "And why I got Tails here by my side. I saw what was happening to him, and, well, I knew I just couldn't let that happen again. No way."
Tails smiled sadly at his friend, remembering that day pretty well, which he still regarded as the happiest in his life. When Sonic revealed why he saved him a year or so after being together with him, Tails had wondered if he really would have used his skills to take revenge on the world rather than save it if they had never met. The idea had shuddered him then, which only strengthened his bond with Sonic even more.
"And also why you saved me in the beginning," Alan observed. It all made sense.
Sonic nodded. "Yep, that too."
"Oh, what a sad, heartwarming story!" Robotnik remarked mockingly. "I'd be all crying and repenting right now – if I were still capable of that." He chuckled and grinned in his usual unsettling fashion again. "I'm sorry, Sonic, but it's really too late for that. I'm not changing my mind."
"Neither am I, Eggman," Sonic responded simply as if he expected such an answer. "I'm not giving up." He walked towards the cave entrance. "Anyway, it's really late. Time for us to go home – to our own ones, I mean."
No one wanted to make extra trips despite the Tornado's limited passenger capacity. The proposed arrangements were therefore somewhat awkward – Sonic would pilot the Tornado himself to fly Robotnik off to another one of his bases, with Robotnik showing the way, and Tails would personally airlift Alan, all two-hundred and ten pounds of him, plus his gear, back home. Both had left Doherty totally incredulous, but he wasn't in the mood to argue.
Fifteen minutes later, Tails placed Alan in front of the familiar home after carrying him by his upper arms, and then landed himself. He had of course been unable to fly at his usual speed while carrying such weight, but it was still faster than going on foot.
"You sure you don't feel strained?" Alan asked, curious and concerned.
"Nah, I'm fine," Tails answered as he shook his head, "it's how I usually lift heavier stuff. Though if you asked me to carry Robotnik, that'd be a different story." Then he yawned. "Well, a bit tired, but it's not because of carrying you. It's just…everything that's happened today."
"Didn't know Sonic knew how to fly the plane."
"He does. Actually, it was his before he met me. Some nice people gave it to him to go after Robotnik more easily," Tails continued as he unlocked his front door and opened it. "He just left everything related to it to me since then. Good thing too, since his piloting skills are way better than his maintenance ones. Even then though, he asked me to add an autopilot system just in case, since the plane's very different from before I joined him."
They both entered the house before Doherty spoke again. "Still can't believe Sonic's actually taking Robotnik to another one of those places." He shook his head.
Tails shrugged. "That's Sonic for you. That's always been his plan - we just keep stopping Robotnik's plans until he runs out of bases, robots, or, well, evil. See which happens first."
Doherty was silent for a moment, arms crossed. "I don't know…I'd say more, but I guess that wouldn't be very fair. You and Sonic never judged me for how I do things. I won't judge you either."
"Glad you understand," Tails replied. "Though you wouldn't be alone if more people knew. It's not exactly usual." He walked over to his room door. "Anyway, Knuckles said the Emeralds should all be ready by tomorrow morning, maybe noon."
"Wait, if all seven Emeralds are with Knuckles, what's powering the Tornado?"
"Oh, I can extract energy from the Emeralds and keep some in the plane as reserve use. It's finite, but it should still be able to outlast conventional fuelled planes by several times, at least in theory. I only managed to do it quite recently, so I haven't really tested it enough yet. So far I've just kept the Emerald plugged into the plane to be on the safe side."
"So this extracted energy is like fuel, or a battery, or what?"
"More like a battery, so that's it's easily portable. Still a lot needed to be done about it, but I hope it can be mass-produced one day."
"Damn. Imagine if Earth scientists actually managed to figure out how to do that. Just when I thought I already knew everything you could do. Seriously, that's amazing."
Tails blushed a little as he placed a hand behind his head, smiling awkwardly. "Thanks. It's not all me though. I needed a lot of help from Knuckles. I simply applied what he told me scientifically."
Just then, a low rumbling came from below the ground. "That's gotta be Sonic," Tails said, opening his door before quickly proceeding to the hangar entrance. Alan followed.
In the underground hangar, Alan and Tails watched as the Tornado slowly taxied towards the end of the runway before stopping. Sonic was smart enough to keep the plane to the side so that it could turn around more easily next time. The engines deactivated, and Sonic hopped out onto the ground after opening the canopy.
"Sonic, how'd it go?" Tails asked, running up to him.
"Okay, I guess. Still hard to believe he could actually fit in the back. Though, he gave me this grin before I took off, after he looked at me and your plane. Like he already has something planned."
"When doesn't he?" Tails pointed out.
"So, uh," Sonic said as he approached Alan. "Guess this is your last night here."
"Yeah. Though let's just have the goodbye ceremony tomorrow. I'm done for today."
"Heh, Angel Island isn't really what I'd call a party spot, but we'll manage." Sonic's expression became a little more serious. "But seriously though, thank you. I know we think kinda differently, but it's great to have had you with us."
Doherty nodded. "Just doing my job."
Tails yawned again. "Well, let's call it a day, guys," he said while heading for the stairs, followed by the other two.
"G'night, Alan, see you tomorrow. And g'night, Sonic," Tails wished before closing his room door.
"Night. See you in the morning, too," Sonic said before closing his.
"Night." After that, Doherty headed back to his room, which he knew wasn't going to be his after tonight, and crashed onto the bed after stripping off his equipment.
Before drifting off to sleep, Alan thought over about the whole day's events. Seeing Robotnik's firepower, learning how he could get back home, his undercover op with Robotnik, discovering his prisoners and his ultimate plan, and-
Alan suddenly stood up after coming to that thought, eyes wide open. Ultimate plan. He recalled seeing something in Robotnik's base that he didn't say anything about, as he didn't understand it. Until now. It was all coming together.
Offsite backup complete. Robotnik mentioning he understood how the Emeralds worked very well. Tails mentioning he could extract power from the Emeralds and use it for the Tornado. Sonic mentioning that Robotnik grinned after looking at him…and the Tornado. Like he already has something planned.
Then Alan remembered how Robotnik said he no longer actually needed the Emeralds. That he planned on lifting his airborne fortress into the air while the Emeralds simply laid there on the table, not plugged into anything, unlike with the Tornado. And Tails saying that extracted energy from the Emeralds could be put into portable batteries.
The words on that computer screen came back to him again. Offsite backup complete. What else could Robotnik have been backing up to a different base? Certainly not more robots, was it?
His first instinct after getting off the bed was to warn Sonic and Tails about this. But then he paused before his hand reached the doorknob.
Resuming his thoughts about the day after this revelation, Alan came to how Sonic actually cared for Robotnik and could only stop him, not kill him.
Then Alan recalled the prisoners again. Robotnik wanted to turn the entire planet's population to become the same way.
Suddenly Alan was thinking in terms of worst-case scenarios again. Although he did not doubt Sonic and Tails' tremendous capabilities, they had only located Robotnik's base today because he was there to help. What if, after today, they got into another situation where they needed some other party's help to find such bases again? And they couldn't find one?
And finally, Alan almost jumped when he remembered what Robotnik said he planned to attack. Angel Island.
The whole matter now directly concerned him. If Robotnik destroyed Angel Island, Alan was not going back to Earth.
But the question that ultimately remained in his mind: Should I tell them?
If he told them, they could easily go and devastate yet another one of Robotnik's bases, not one hour after dropping him off there and Alan would get to go back to Earth. But they would still let him live, and the cycle would just keep going on and on. Sonic's plan to try and 'treat' Robotnik was understandable and noble…but was it worth always putting the world in danger? Even if he and Tails did always protect the latter?
Prevention was better than cure. Robotnik had a tragic backstory…but so did the many criminals and terrorists he had hunted down in his career. And Robotnik already had ten years. He'd made it clear he was not going to change.
Alan picked up something among his equipment on the floor. It was his FBI identification and badge. He held it tight as he reminded himself hard about how he got it. Why he got it.
Because he was sick of wanted criminals getting away. It had happened at least twice in his life. One of them involved his own mother, although the situation was rather different compared to what happened with Sonic's own. And here, Sonic was allowing it to happen. For understandable reasons or not, he was doing it with someone as dangerous as Robotnik.
"Sonic, Tails, I'm sorry," he muttered to himself. He had a plan in mind, and he had to admit it was probably just as foolhardy as Sonic's own regarding Robotnik.
But it was still less so compared to going home without having at least tried to make a real difference. That would be the real mistake.