Chapter Fifteen

This isn't easy.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I mean I've run tired before, but this just feels so different. I'm trying to run, but I keep falling down because the world won't stop spinning. At first, I stop when I get dizzy. But after a while the dizziness doesn't go away. I need to keep going, and I can't afford to waste any more time.

I'm not sure trying to keep going is any better than stopping, though. I'm still spending more time on the ground than I am in motion, since any time I spend running makes the dizziness worse. It gets so bad that I don't realize that I'm lying on the ground instead of running.

I need to get back… I need to hurry… Eggman has, at most, the rest of today, and maybe tomorrow morning. But God, I'm tired. And everything hurts, my legs most of all. I can barely see. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how I'm going to make it.

I have to make it. Someone's life is in my hands. If I don't make it… I'll never forgive myself. I need to push harder than I've ever pushed before. I must save Eggman.

I lie down on the ground for a minute. I don't know which zone I'm in. I close my eyes and breathe in slowly. I got this. I can do it. I do shit like this all the time. It's my job. My life.

I push myself up, make myself stand. My hands are shaking so I clench them into fists. C'mon, Sonic. Don't break now. Not when you're so close. Not much longer, not much farther.

But I'm so tired…

Not now. I have to get up, have to keep going. I fix my eyes on the horizon in the distance, far as I can see, and start running. The world spins harder, and I start tripping over my own feet, but I keep the point fixed in my mind, and I think I more or less end up going straight.

I never want to do this again. I have never felt so bad in all my life. Not only am I horribly dizzy and nearly sightless, almost every inch of me hurts. I can't believe what I'm putting myself through to save the life of someone I don't even like. I must be totally insane.

Wait. Stop.

Where did my peace of mind go? Come on now, Sonic. It's done. It's over. I just gotta run the last however many kilometres, and I can go home. Yeah, I don't like the guy, but it's the right thing to do. And that's why I do any of this, ever. Because it's the right thing to do.

So I'm just gonna close off those negative thoughts and keep on going. Because what's the use of all this if I don't finish the job? I know this is right. I know it. I focus on getting to Tails's workshop. That's all I need to concern myself with right now. Getting to Tails's workshop, and pulling the last Chaos Emerald out of his new plane.

After an eternity of running, I finally stumble through the doorway of Tails's workshop and immediately trip over something. He's got his toolbox on the floor. Really, Tails? The one time I need you to have your stuff put away, it's on the floor? I pull myself back to my feet using a random drawer handle, but while I'm doing it the drawer comes out in my hand, and I fall down again. The drawer falls on top of me and I angrily push it aside. Thankfully, it's full of blueprint rolls, and not screws or something. That'd have hurt a lot.

After quickly eyeing the workbench for anything that might come down on top of me, I grab that instead and hoist myself onto the bench. I rub my eyes. I ran all night. I need to get some sleep soon before I collapse, I really do. I slept yesterday, yeah, but I've got a backlog here. And I have zero energy right now. All I wanna do is lie down on this bench and go to sleep, even though I'd probably fall off the thing while I was sleeping and wake myself up.

Reluctantly I push myself back to my feet and walk over to Tails's plane. He's trying to build some supersonic jet that outdoes the one the army has. I have no doubt he can do it, but part of me wonders where the heck he got that sort of ambition from. What kid his age spends his nights figuring out how to build better planes than professional engineers?

It looks like a stealth fighter, like those ones you see in movies going off to fight secret missions. The ones that leave trails in the sky long after they've already left. I don't see those planes a lot, but when I do I can't help but race them. I like being the only guy around who can break the sound barrier, but sometimes I would like someone to be able to keep up with me.

I climb up onto the wing of the plane and look into the open cockpit. It's all black inside, with stuff I don't want to touch because it looks breakable. I spot the Chaos Emerald in some sort of dock underneath the… well, I'd call it a dashboard, but I'm not sure planes have dashboards. I try to pry it out with my fingers. No dice.

I sit there and stare at it for a minute. I'm so close to my goal I can taste it, and technology is about to thwart me. Go figure. Come to think of it, technology is what caused this whole thing. Damn red button.

I hop off the wing and go to find Tails's computer. Hopefully he wrote the instruction manual already.

Wait a minute.

I turn back to look at the plane.

Tails is a nerd. He'll have one. And it'll have to do with the Chaos Emerald. In case of emergency or something.

For a second I manage to forget how horribly sore and dizzy I am and jump back onto the wing of the plane. My sudden movement changes that, and I fall off the wing as soon as I get on top of it. What I don't understand is why I haven't broken anything yet.

I get back up there, more carefully this time, and look around. There, right next to the Emerald, there's the button I'm looking for. I push it and the Emerald falls out, onto the floor of the plane. I snatch it up. Yes! Sonic: 1, technology… well, who's keeping count, anyway.

I swing my legs over the side of the plane again and barely keep myself from crashing onto the floor. Okay, no more climbing. I'm obviously not capable of handling being two feet off the ground right now. I open the door to the house and step through it. I'm going to drink some water before I go. Dehydration is probably a big part of my problem.

I walk into the kitchen. I feel like I've been on vacation and haven't been here in months. There's a stillness to the air and an overwhelming emptiness. I don't like it. I need to get Tails and come back here, bring the place to life again.

I wonder if it feels like this in Eggman's base, if Eggman knows what this feels like.

I feel sorry for him.

My hand hurts for some reason and I look down at it to see why. I'm surprised to see that I'm holding the Chaos Emerald in some kind of death grip.

I need to get this done.

I put the Emerald on the counter and pull a glass from the cupboard. I quickly drink some water and then pick the thing up again. Even though it's in my hand, as I leave the room I keep looking back at the counter to make sure I haven't left it there. Well, stranger things have happened, and I really don't think I want to get to Star Light only to find out I'm missing the last Emerald.

I walk out the front door. Not much farther. I'm almost done. I feel a bit excited. Yeah, this was freaking hard, but it's gonna be that much more rewarding when I get it done. I'm so close. I take a breath and start running. It hurts. Everything inside me screams at me not to run anymore, that I can't take it anymore. And honestly, I'm a little scared. I listen to my body, because it knows better than I do what I need. And to go against it when it's telling me like this that I shouldn't, that won't turn out well. I hope I can hang in long enough. Of course I can hang in long enough. I always do.

When the fortress is finally in sight I want to start cheering or something. After a few more minutes I stumble through the doorway and fall down, but I don't care. I did it! I made it! I got all the Chaos Emeralds, the week's not up yet, I'm still in one piece and I'm on my way to let Tails's machine do its thing. After a minute I realize I've started laughing. I don't know why. I just…. I'm just so relieved… I go to stand up.

A stabbing pain starts between my eyes and I grab for the wall, but I miss and I collapse onto the floor again. No. No, not now. I can't handle that right now. Why why why does my headache have to come back NOW, of all times? Between having to squint through that and trying to walk straight through the dizziness, I don't know how I'm gonna get through this dark fortress in a reasonable amount of time.

I slowly stand back up and press my thumbs into the spot it hurts the most. Sometimes that helps, but right now it has no effect. Funny how the closer I get to my goal, the worse I feel. Almost like something's trying to stop me from doing this.

My legs hurt. They hurt so much. And I can't breathe. I don't know why. I don't get breathless while I'm running. I know how to run. Only people who don't know how do this.

I need to compose myself a bit, so instead of starting to run again, I just start to walk towards the centre of the base. I can't let Tails see me all stressed out. The walking though makes me more aware of myself, and I realize I'm shaking like crazy and I've got this horrible chill running down my spine. I wipe the sweat off my brow. After doing so much running I'm not quite used to walking, and as a result my steps are a little wonky. The shorter strides are throwing me off. And even though I'm not moving very fast, I still get the impression that I am. It's freaky and I don't like it at all.

I finally get to the centre room, and the first thing I notice is that the machine has been moved. I suppose the kid had a good reason, but that doesn't stop me from wondering what it was.

The second thing I notice is the lack of Tails himself.

"Bud? Where are ya? I got the rest of 'em!"

He doesn't answer.

I take out the Emeralds I have and put them down with the other ones, on this table the machine has been put on. My hands are shaking so badly I can barely do this simple task. I drop the last one, and it goes rolling off into a dark corner of the room. Damn it. Reluctantly I go to get it.

I kneel down and go to pick it up, but my hand stops before it touches the Emerald and it won't go any farther. Confused, I try again, but the same thing happens. It's like there's an invisible shield around it.

But that doesn't make any sense.

"I take it you're looking for this?"

The sound of that voice, of HIS voice, paralyzes me in a way I never thought possible. I fight it off and look up to see the glint of Eggman's glasses and the white curve of his smile.

I back up a little. I can't wrap my mind around it. I can't reconcile this Eggman with the one in the chair who couldn't even speak to me. He couldn't. He couldn't do something that nasty. That's beneath him. It has to be.

"Oh, I was actually quite ill, there was no deception in THAT." I'm still staring at him like he just walked out of a painting or something, and I guess it was pretty obvious what I was thinking. "However, thanks to Tails's generous care, I've recovered enough to finish off this machine myself." He laughs and his smile widens. "I can't say the same for him… or for you, for that matter."

"What are you talking about? I'm not sick. I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me." But as I say it a horrible feeling of dread is washing over me. No, he can't be right. I won't accept it.

I can't be that stupid.

All of a sudden a jolting pain drives itself through my ribs as Eggman kicks me into the wall. I crash into it and my head throbs in a particularly nasty way. I try not to curl up, holding my head, but I don't quite manage it. Time is slowing down. No. I'm slowing down. Eggman actually hit me. Himself. Without a robot. Something's not right here. I still can't breathe. No. He's wrong. I'm tired, that's all. I'm tired. I'm tired.

My vision has gone all fuzzy, and only when I hear Eggman laughing like a maniac do I realize my hearing is out of whack now too. Oh my God, where's Tails. Where… what have I done? If I have it, he has it…

No. I don't have anything. I'm tired.

Eggman is still laughing, towering over me. "You silly little rodent. Even when confronted with the evidence, you still refuse to see the conclusion. Yes, Sonic. You've been duped. Congratulations on achieving a whole new level of heroism. Thanks for the help, by the way. "

"Tails…"

This floor is hard and dusty. Why does it feel so nice to lie on it?

"I haven't had the time to study it yet, obviously, but it seems that the emissions of certain robots in this base are toxic. Part of my new energy-efficient line. Well, now I have all the time in the world to perfect them." He straightens and walks away from me.

"I'm… you think I'm gonna let you do that?"

He turns his head to look at me. "There is no way in the world you are going to be able to stop me. Look at you. You can't even talk. And I know you don't trust your friends enough to have told them what you were doing. Of course they wouldn't have helped you if you'd told them, and would have probably locked you up in a padded room where you belong, but there's always a slim chance they would have understood, isn't there?"

My hand curls into a fist and I try to get up. But I can't.

Eggman shakes his head. "I knew you were predictable, Sonic, but I didn't realize you were incredibly oblivious as well. You really attributed all of those symptoms to fatigue? I would think that living with Tails would at least give you an idea of whether you were ill or not. Surely at some point he would have filled your ears with medical facts you didn't really care to listen to."

"Where is he… what have you…"

Eggman shrugs and waves his hand in the general direction of behind him. "Over there somewhere. Once I got him to show me how the machine worked, I had no further need of him."

"Tails would never show you how it worked."

Eggman smiles at me again. "Tails knew what was going on, Sonic. He knew he was ill, and that you were as well. However, he seemed to have been unable to contact you for some reason."

Because I dropped the handheld in the forest.

"According to his handheld device, which has laughable security by the way, he sent you several messages telling you to stay away from here, and get to a doctor as soon as possible. He was hoping you would have picked another handheld up from the workshop when you left here the last time, according to one of them."

That sounds like a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?

"Sadly, his own condition was too far advanced for him to leave himself." Eggman sneers and walks over to the machine. "It's touching, really. You brought him into a terrible situation, left him here alone, and his only thought was for your safety. He's nearly as foolish as you are."

I'm going numb. I can't handle any of this. Tails was completely right from the beginning. The only mistake he made was thinking that anything he did to help Eggman wasn't working.

"Now that you've brought me the Chaos Emeralds, I can use this device to finish the illness off and then use them for whatever I like. But do you know the very best thing about this, Sonic?" He walks back over to me, holding one of the Emeralds and kneeling down to look me in the face. "I didn't have to defeat you. You defeated yourself." He holds the Emerald in front of me, just out of reach. "I'll last a while longer without that wonderful machine's aid. Take one last look at the symbol of your failure, Sonic."

He leaves the room, taking the Emerald with him, and now that I can't deny that I actually am sick and none of it has to do with exhaustion at all, I can't move. There's no fight left in me. Eggman fooled me into helping him beyond what he needed, I might have… might have killed Tails with my selfish desire to be the hero who does the right thing no matter what, and even if I somehow manage to get up within the next… five hours and figure out how to work that machine, I've proved to all my friends that I don't trust them enough to be 100% honest with them. I thought they would refuse to help me. And maybe they would have. But I didn't give them the chance. I hate to admit it, but Eggman was right about that.

I close my eyes and try to keep calm. Panic won't help anyone now. I collected the Chaos Emeralds for the right reasons. Now I pray that they work their magic and stop me from doing the wrong thing.