November 22nd, 4:00 in the morning.

Green Hill Zone, Mobius.

Sonic's Dimension.

"Baby, I'm home!"

The call echoed around the foyer of a giant mansion, nestled grandly into the southern part of Green Hill Zone, not far off from Station Square. It was private and it was luxurious, with great, sweeping spiral staircases and polished granite flooring. Portraits of Sonic and his various family members lined the walls, and a giant fireplace burned in the left wall of the foyer, though the heavily cushioned loveseats around it were empty.

The front door slammed shut and Sonic strolled into the living room, a ridiculous grin on his face and smudged lipstick against his cheek. He poked his head into one of the many bedrooms of his mansion, hoping to find his current girlfriend. He had been hoping she would be here waiting, thrilled for his victory and ready to do just about anything for him.

"Babe? The party's over, there aren't any more cameras! I—" he paused, noticing a shadowy figure walking across the balcony above him. "Rouge?"

There wasn't any reply. Cocking an eyebrow, he grabbed onto the banister and ran upstairs, two stairs at a time. He put on his most charming smile and leaned against the doorway of the room he had seen her slip into. "Come on, baby. Whatcha hidin' for?" he asked, chuckling, though he had to blink several times to peer through the darkness of the room. "You know I won't bite. Unless you want me to, of course," he added, chuckling again at his own joke.

There was a few seconds pause until the woman in the room decided to answer. "…I'm not hiding from anyone, Sonic," came the whispered but harsh reply from within the dark room.

Sonic's smile turned to a grin. "Of course you aren't. That's uncharacteristic of you," he said softly but slyly, obviously trying to create a reaction. Every girl he had ever been around loved being complimented by him, whether it was an actual compliment or just a side comment. He was sure Rouge was no different.

But tonight she was. He knew this by the tone of her voice as she answered, "Turn on the lights and see for yourself."

But, this was just a joke, of course. Of course. Still, though, he didn't understand the humor. Flipping on the light switch, he rolled his eyes. "Aw, come on now, what is this? Some kind of jo—" He was unable to finish his sentence, as his eyes laid upon the articles of clothing scattered across the floor, the shattered glass sprinkling the rug, and the bat rummaging through the closet, tearing down clothing articles and carefully placing them into a suitcase. The suitcase was sprawled across the bed, already about three-fourths full of thousands of dollars worth of shoes, blouses, and lingerie.

"…Rouge, what are you doing?" Sonic asked, trying to convince himself that he truly didn't know what she was doing. But he did. He'd seen this picture before. Those green eyes of his, the ones that had never ceased to hold their luster, even after all of these years, followed her as she walked from closet to suitcase and back.

Her voice managed to stay strong as she answered him, though he could tell she was in quite a state. "You're well aware of what I'm doing, Sonic. I'm leaving," she said matter-of-factly, though her fists were clenched.

Sonic's eyes moved across the room again, surveying exactly how it had been changed. He'd designed the furniture of this room to fit her personality specifically, and now it seemed like it was backfiring on him. Plump crimson pillows had been thrown to the side in haste and the gorgeous maroon bed with the satin lace and horribly expensive lining was undone and messy, with Rouge's various items littering its surface. He noticed a portrait had been taken down from the wall and was lying broken, which would explain the shattered glass. Finally, he turned to look back at the bat herself, and replied just as matter-of-factly, "Why?"

This seemed to make her angry, for some reason Sonic couldn't begin to imagine, as she turned on her heels and penetrated his own irises with ones that were just as brilliant. "Of course you don't know why. You can't possibly conceive the fact that someone might not appreciate being used by you. You think the world's all just your little plaything."

"Plaything?" Sonic raised an eyebrow, standing fully upright from where he had been leaning against the wall and forcing a bit of a chuckle, but he was becoming irritated. "No, Rouge, I don't think you understand. You see, I gave up just about every—"

"I just can't take this anymore," Rouge interrupted, continuing her previous monologue as she continued to pack her suitcase. "You, being gone every night, having sex with some girl whom you think I don't know about. You, constantly at the bar, followed by cameras. You, on ever y magazine cover from here to Blue Ridge, with one swimsuit model or another," she listed. Then she stopped, turning to face him, her eyes fierce but sad. "You. Never really caring about me. You just needed somebody to help you get Blaze out of your mind. And I actually thought I could help you. I thought I could get you to love me, if not because of my personality, then because of my body." She glanced down, biting her lip in agitation or distress or some other womanly emotion that the hedgehog wasn't able to comprehend. At least, not until she rose her face again and said hotly, "But, Sonic, I was horribly wrong."

The blue hedgehog had begun to advance towards Rouge in anger, but these last few sentences had taken him by surprise. He stopped in his tracks, a sliver of glass cracking beneath the weight of his heel.

Since she had left, few had ventured to say Blaze's name aloud to Sonic, knowing it was most likely he would boil over and go off on them, keeping a grudge for days on end. In fact, it had gotten to the point where he never went and talked to his old friends much anymore. He just didn't want to. He hated showing weakness, and whenever he was with them it seemed like that was always the inevitable scenario.

Rouge stared him down for a few more, long, drawn-out seconds, then turned on her heel and began packing again. "So I'm leaving, Sonic," she said, as she folded a dress gently into the suitcase, "and you can make out with as many girls as you want without being unfaithful. Not that you ever cared, anyway."

She clamped the suitcase firmly shut, turning to look at him one more time. She exhaled but kept his gaze, as she firmly said, "Blaze is gone, Sonic. It's time you moved on." She let this statement linger in the air for a few seconds, knowing how great of an effect it would have on him. She knew how Sonic made himself look invincible to his fans, but in reality, he was anything but. She had seen him cry. She had seen him drunk. She had seen him lock himself away for hours on end with nothing but himself and a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Rouge took a few steps closer to him, bringing her hand up to stroke his cheek, her thumb tracing the edge of his rigid jaw. "I hope someday you'll find someone, Sonic. I really do. I hope someday you'll be able to be happy again." She paused, glancing down for a minute, then leaned inwards and pressed her lips against his for a few brief but lingering seconds. "I'm sorry I can't be your hero."

And with that, she pushed by him and walked out the door.

It took Sonic quite a while to realize to its full extent what had just happened. He stood blinking at the now empty bed before him, the shattered glass causing strange light reflections on the wall.

He had been left. By Rouge. By his girlfriend and by the only secure thing in his life at that time.

He was alone.

Again.

November 22nd, 4:30 in the morning.

Station Square, Mobius.

Sonic's Dimension.

Tails was having trouble sleeping. But that wasn't anything unusual. In fact, recently he had found that most nights he was just staring at the ceiling, unable to keep that one undeniable fact out of his head: One of these days, he was going to have to build another machine, and this one would take Marine away from him. Forever.

He rolled over, trying to force it all out of his head. He didn't even want to think about it. But he knew the longer he kept her here, the closer he would become attached to her, and the harder it would be the let her go. Not to the mention that the longer she stayed here, the greater the rift in time and space would be, or at least that's what Shadow said. And Tails was sure the ebony hedgehog was right. After all, it made perfect sense. The fact that two alternate dimensions could be combined into one, causing a catastrophic rift, because one of its factors had made a trip between the two, made sense as long as you were willing to look at the variables. But, as we all know, we probably shouldn't look into the workings of Tails' mind, as they're far too complicated for most of us to comprehend.

The kitsune exhaled, blinking up at the wallpapered ceiling above him, and then across the room, where Marine was huddled under a bunch of blankets in her own bed. Tails and Marine had had to share a room together because of the limited space of the flat they stayed in, but neither of them really minded. It gave them a chance to see each other more, which they both knew was something to cherish, because who knew how long it would last?

Finally, he dared a whisper. "…Marine?" he said quietly, almost inaudibly.

"Yeah, mate?" came the almost instantaneous reply.

Tails was rather shocked that the raccoon was still awake, never mind the fact that she had actually heard him. He sat up slightly, asking, "Can't sleep?"

"Nah." She tried to answer as though she wasn't bothered, but Tails caught the slight twinge of sadness in her tone.

"Mmm..." His eyes moved to the floor.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the two of them listening to each other's breathing. Both were waiting for the other to fall asleep, but it didn't seem to be happening. Evan after a long night like last night, neither one of them were tired enough that they were going to slip into slumber that easily.

Finally, Marine broke the silence. "Tails, it's absolutely freezin' in here. Did Shadow forget to turn on the heater or sommet?"

Tails' lips stretched into a grin as he heard her say this. "I'm not sure," he said faux-contemplatively, as he pulled back his covers and stood up, earning a raised eyebrow from Marine, "but, if you're cold, that just won't do."

"And what do you mean by tha'?" The raccoon asked, watching him cautiously. He had that notoriously sly look on his face, the one that she secretly loved but pretended to be wary of.

"I guess," The fox continued, the smile growing ever larger on his lips, as he crossed the carpeted floor to her bed, "I'm just going to have to suffice for right now."

"Tails, what are you-" Marine began, but she was instantly silenced as Tails decidedly plopped himself down on the bed beside her and threw his arms around her, pulling her in. This caused the poor raccoon to yelp in shock at this overdone display of affection, which just made Tails laugh even harder. Marine clamped a hand over his mouth to try and shush him, hissing, "Shhhh, Tails, you bladdy moron, you're going to wake everyone in the house!"

"You're just so cute," he chuckled, pressing his muzzle into the fur on her head.

She pushed him away roughly, rolling her eyes. "Dan't you dare ever call me cute again," she told him, giving him a pointed look. Unfortunately, this look backfired, as it just made the vulpine's grin even wider.

"You're more hopeless than Sonic," she told him, exhaling irritably and turning away, trying to act as though she were angry at him, and failing miserably. In truth, she liked the fact that Tails' arms were placed around her waist far more than she cared to admit.

"No, I'm not," Tails countered playfully. He knew he was being overly careless, teasing her like this, but at the moment all he could think was 'damn the consequences.' He wanted to enjoy the silly little Aussie he was in love with for as long as he could.

"Oh, really?" Marine cocked an eyebrow at him, turning to look him in the eyes. "You're really going to look me in the eyes and tell me you're—"

She was interrupted by a sudden crash coming from downstairs. The two of them immediately sat upright, Tails throwing back the covers and running out of bed. He didn't even pause to slip on a robe as he ran out to the hallway, looking over the banister.

"Tailsss, God damn you! Where is it?!"

Tails' eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as he realized that the voice shouting his name was Sonic. The blue hedgehog was storming through the kitchen, throwing back dishes and searching drawers for something. Tails clutched the banister tightly, swallowing hard. Sonic was drunk, mad drunk; that was evident enough in his slurred and crazed speech. He was hard to deal with when he was drunk. But Tails was going to have to handle this calmly.

He made his way down the staircase, trying to keep his breathing even as he heard Sonic slamming shut one of the cabinets. Tails saw Amy out of the corner of his eye, the poor hedgehog's eyes wide with fear, and he beckoned for her to go back to her room. He would take care of this.

"Sonic." The fox said simply, quietly, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He didn't take his hand off of the banister.

"Where is it, Tails?!" Sonic whirled on him, and Tails couldn't keep the pang of guilt and fear from flashing through him as he saw Sonic's bloodshot, exhausted eyes. It made him wonder how much more the blue hedgehog could take.

"What are you talking about, Sonic?" Tails tried to answer reasonably, but his voice was slipping in and out of his control. "You just burst into my home and began tearing through my kitchen. What do you want, some cereal?" There was no humor in the kitsune's voice.

Sonic's teeth clenched. "You know what I want, Tails."

"No, Sonic, I don't. You haven't even cared to visit in months. I don't know what would make you do so now," Tails replied, his hands balling up into fists. This was making him angry.

"I want to see the God damn machine!" Sonic cried, grabbing Tails by the collar and slamming him into the wall. "The one you promised to make months ago!"

Tails winced, struggling under Sonic's grip. "I…Sonic…you're drunk, you're crazy, man, you-"

"I want you to know how it feels!" Sonic yelled, causing Amy to give a small shriek from where she was standing at the top of the stairs, watching. Marine was with her, the raccoon being held back by the hedgehog.

"Sonic, stop it!" Tails yelled back, trying to force the blue hedgehog back. "You need to go home, and you need to get some sleep. You're a wreck."

This caused a rude, forced, almost choked laugh to come out of Sonic's throat. "You think this is me at my worst? Tails, you haven't seen anything close to my worst," the hedgehog tightened his grip around Tails. "You have no idea what it's like to be at Sonic the damn hedgehog's worst."

Tails swallowed, his hands shaking. "Go home, Sonic. Clean yourself up."

"No. Not before you show me the machine. I want you...to feel…how I felt," Sonic's voice quivered with emotion as he pressed the poor fox against the wall. "How it felt…when I had to let go of the one thing that I thought really cared…really cared about me. Me, as a person. Not me, because I'm a hero. No, she loved me because I was Sonic Nathaniel. Not because I was Sonic the Hedgehog. I want you to know how it feels, Tails! To have to give that all away!" Sonic was shouting now, his nails digging into Tails' skin.

"Sonic, this is crazy! I'm your best friend!" Tails blustered, trying to wriggle out of Sonic's grasp. "You know it wasn't my decision to send Blaze back! We had no choice! If we didn't, the whole universe would be lost, because she was from that dimension—"

"And Marine is any different?!" Sonic snarled, baring his teeth.

Tails' eyes widened. How…how could Sonic know about him and Marine? Sonic was never around to see Tails, let alone around to see Tails and Marine together!

"I-I'm building the machine for Marine, Sonic," the fox replied, wrenching himself out of Sonic's grip and staring at Sonic with blazing eyes. "She…she and I…we aren't what you think-"

"You've always been a God awful liar, Tails," Sonic snorted. "Don't you think that after all these years I'd know you well enough to tell when you're telling the truth or not?"

"It wouldn't surprise me, Sonic," Tails retorted. "I don't even think I know you anymore."

Sonic turned away, gritting his teeth. "Build the machine, Tails," he said, as he started to walk away. "And don't think I won't be watching."

Author's Notes: Finally got around to finishing this chapter. I realize it's a bit shorter, but I'm afraid this story's chapters will be shorter than most of my other fiction's chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Do tell me what you think.

By the way, I do know that Sonic was OOC. That was on purpose. ;)