THE SEVEN

Act II: THE FALL

Track 14: Go Your Own Way

︎Amy threw her head back, sniffing and rubbing her nose frantically as the cocaine flew through her veins.

"How you feelin' Central City?!" Sonic yelled to the crowd onstage, earning an uproar of love from fifty-thousand people.

Amy rubbed her eyes, her entire body shaking as she allowed the cocaine to rack through her body. She had no fucking clue what Sonic's deal onstage was. It was confusing, scary, and eye-opening all at the same time.

She stormed back onstage, her long, white shawl-cape flowing behind her like an ethereal angel, allowing it to swallow her body whole.

"I'd tell you how I was feeling tonight, but I always end up saying the wrong thing," Sonic said, earning another roar of applause as Amy took her place, shooting an anxious side-glance to Sonic.

Silver stared off into space, without a trace of emotion in his eyes. His mouth was drying and hung open, fiddling quietly and gently with the strings of his bass. He couldn't will himself to look at Blaze, and yet he could feel her eyes piercing into him.

"This is Wordless."

The crowd roared, allowing for Shadow to start the song with his clean guitar picking, and Blaze's underlying organ, combining beautifully with Rouge's violin.

Silver was simply going through the motions, without a trace of life in his playing.

Blaze watched him from behind her keyboards, her cheeks lined with tears. She had been crying softly the entire show, praying that no one in the fifty-thousand person crowd could notice. Her hair blew in the wind, taking a look at the moon above the stadium.

Her sigh was shaken, and she took one more look at Silver, feeling another piece of her heart crack and fall apart.︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎

12:54 PM

Silver followed Blaze onto the elevator, turning and pressing their floor as he stood by her side with a quick sigh. He buttoned his orange waistcoat, stealing a look at Blaze, who held her arms over her leather jacket.

The door closed, and Silver pressed a kiss to her head. She smiled softly, and as he pulled away, she immediately felt her resolve begin to crumble.

She exhaled deeply, feeling her breath shake in uncontrollable anguish. Silver immediately felt his eyes whip to her, raising an eyebrow and rubbing her back.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Blaze turned to him, pursing her lips tightly. She let her eyes roam his face, taking in every crevice of him once more.

His golden eyes.

The tufts on his muzzle.

The way his white and greys mix.

"Have you – have you thought more about it?"

Blaze didn't answer, clenching her jaw and swallowing. Silver rubbed the back of his neck, stealing a look at the door.

"I mean, I know it's sudden, but I think we can make this work, you know? I think-"

"Silver."

The hedgehog stopped, his face falling slightly at Blaze's interruption, staring hard at the wall. Silver frowned, squinting as he attempted to read Blaze's expression, seeing tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"I can't. I can't marry you. I'm sorry – I can't do it."

Silver nodded, watching as Blaze's face scrunched up, tears threatening to cascade down her muzzle at any moment. It didn't take long for Silver's own eyes to be filled with tears, nodding with a hung mouth as he stared at the elevator doors. He felt his heart split in half, unable to meet Blaze's face, knowing as she sniffled that she had begun a quiet sob. Silver couldn't will himself to be anywhere near her now.

She had ripped his heart out.

And yet he knew her own heart was torn in half.

As the elevator opened, Silver stormed off, leaving Blaze to watch forlornly as he left. She lowered her head, closing her eyes tight as the tears began to form. Silver had run out as fast as he could, and now she stood alone, crestfallen and devastated.

︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎"I'm wordless now that I've fallen into your eyes,"

Blaze let Sonic and Amy's harmonizing voices fill her ears, attempting to drown out the torment of her own mind as she sat on stage, letting the crowd's singing flood into her senses.

"There ain't words for this feeling when you're around,"

She stole a look at Silver onstage, watching his eyes closed tight as the lights shone above him. She couldn't stop looking at him, and it destroyed her how harshly he refused to return such a gaze.

"I just don't know what to say, babe,

The rains come here and washed our voices away,"

As Sonic and Amy finished the first verse, the pink hedgehog turned, allowing the rain to wash her face. She looked at Blaze longingly, seeing the devastation the cat was clearly in.

She had never seen Blaze so…broken.

Sighing, she sauntered towards Blaze, her long white cape flowing behind her. She approached her keyboards, earning a confused look from Blaze. Amy smiled softly, taking a seat next to her as Sonic began singing the next verse.

She leaned her head on Blaze's shoulder, who used one arm to wrap it around the pink hedgehog. Amy rested her head on her shoulder, letting Blaze use her free arm to hold her close, leaning into Amy's head.

She studied Blaze's hands on the piano, nuzzling her nose into Blaze's neck, who rubbed Amy's arm absentmindedly. Amy could feel Blaze shivering in the rain, holding Amy close and tight. When the song ended, Amy lifted her head, giving her a soft smile, and leaning into her ear with a whisper.

"I love you. Thank you for everything."

Blaze smiled, her lips quivering as she let one tear roll down her cheek. The crowd was cheering, yet all Amy and Blaze could think about was the warmth of their touches, and Blaze gave Amy the tightest hug the hedgehog might have ever received.

All under the rain, and that is when Silver finally looked over, his own tear rolling down his cheek.

︎ ︎ ︎1:25 PM

Amy sat at the grand piano in the hotel ballroom, staring off into space as she let her hands move freely across the keys. She was destroyed, sure, yet the only thing she could think to do was sing.

All by herself.

If it made anything feel somewhat better.

"Affection's put you in your place,

My painting leaves you empty-eyed,

And I'm that woman,

Who will always see your soul,

Lock with my own…"

She knew Sally had entered the room, yet she couldn't quite meet her gaze. She continued to allow her hands to move across the keys, staring off into space with a distraught expression. When she finally stopped, she looked to the ceiling, quickly swallowing a lump of tears before turning to meet the chipmunk.

To her surprise, Sally gave her a soft smile, though her eyes were surely reading forlorn.

"He's telling you the truth, you know?" Amy said, turning to face her, "There's nothing going on between us."

"Do you need help?"

Amy was stunned for a moment, leaning back on the bench. "Wh – what do you mean?"

Sally sighed, crossing her arms tight across her chest, looking at the floor. "I think – I think you know what I mean, Amy."

Amy's breath was shaking, watching as Sally could see right through her. This wasn't a conversation about Sonic like she had anticipated.

No, Amy knew exactly what Sally was talking about.

And she knew the answer.

Almost dying on the shower floor.

Almost collapsing on stage.

Trying to find an escape.

Amy sighed, and immediately two tears streamed down her face. "Yes."

Sally nodded, walking towards a refreshment table, pouring a small cup of water and grabbing a handful of napkins. Amy's tear-ridden eyes followed the chipmunk all the way to the piano, scooting over to allow Sally to sit next to her.

Sally's finger plucked a G, letting it ring through the auditorium.

Amy plucked a G on the bass end, watching as Sally began to play a soft melody.

Amy joined in on the bass.

"Sally, I'll be okay, though. I'll be okay," Amy said in a cracking whisper.

"You won't."

Amy sighed, looking at Sally, whose eyes were locked on the piano in front of her.

"Amy, he loves you. You know that he loves you. At least, I think you know."

"But it's not like that."

"So, what do you think it's like?"

"I don't know," Amy whispered, "But it doesn't matter, right? He'll choose you every time. I just have to live with that."

Sally sighed, continuing to play the solemn melody. Amy's bass keys ramped up slightly, contrasting darkly to Sally's breezing melody.

"I'm not going to give up on him, Amy. He's not going to leave me because…I've never given up on him. When he was struggling with his sobriety, and the fact that he's still struggling every single day, I'll have to see him through it. I can't give up. It's bigger than you and him. It's even bigger than him and I. It's for his life. That's the fight I signed up for."

"Him and I are alike in that way," Amy whispered.

"What do you mean?" Sally replied, changing the chord.

"We both need something to save us, right?"

"I do. But I think you know it's not all there is to you two."

Amy sighed, playing solemn, steady chords as Sally breezed around the top keys. "I wish Sonic didn't love someone else, and…I wish I didn't understand what you two have."

"Do you - do you understand it?"

Sally smiled, laughing quietly. Her mind immediately locked onto a certain lynx.

"I do. But…I decided that I don't need a perfect husband, with a perfect kid, with a perfect marriage and a perfect life. I want my life. I want my love, my husband, my kids, my life."

Amy sighed, changing the chord to a minor chord, allowing Sally to do the same with her melodic line.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just don't understand what it's like to want that, Sally."

Sally turned to her, "How come?"

"Because…because I've never known that. I don't think I'll ever know that. I've never known a perfect life."

Sally stopped for a minute, playing between a B and an E-sharp.

"It's not ever going to be perfect. I don't expect that. I'm never going to be perfect, and neither is Sonic, and neither are you. But things don't need to be perfect to be strong. However, if you're waiting around hoping for something to break here, I have to tell you it's not going to be me. It's not going to be Sonic, either. Which means…if you're waiting for something to break, eventually it'll be you."

SONIC: Amy and I were passion. Passion is like fire. Fire is a great thing, you know? There's so much beauty in fire. But…you need water to live. You always need water to survive. Sally was my water. My family was my water. I would choose my water every single time. [He pauses, swallowing]. I needed Amy to find her water, because it couldn't be me.

Sally sighed when Amy broke down into sobs, the hedgehog hunching over with her hands on her face, wheezing quiet sobs into them. Sally grabbed the napkins, leaning over to dab them on her tears. Amy looked up, her red eyes stained with tears, watching Sally lean into her with the warmest smile.

"Amy, I don't know you all that well, but I can tell you're an incredible person with an incredible heart. I mean, goodness, my daughter wants to grow up and be you someday. That's what you do for people. You inspire them to dream, to be different, to break molds – you're a shining star, Amy Rose, and I've always been your biggest fan."

Amy scoffed, her lips quivering uncontrollably. Sally smiled, looking down at the piano keys.

"I don't want you to get hurt, Amy. I don't want you to fall. I want you to be happy, and I want you to do great things. I don't know – you probably don't think I mean that, but I do. I can't just watch you and Sonic torture each other. I don't want that for the man I love. I don't want that for my family. I don't want that for you."

Amy sighed, "I don't want that for me either."

"Then…I think you need to leave the band, Amy."

Amy chuckled dryly, wiping a tear, "Funnily enough, Tangle said the same thing earlier."

Sally smiled, "Maybe she's right? Look, if I'm wrong and you're already moving on, then you don't need to listen to me. But, if I'm right, I think you'd be doing yourself, and your future, a huge bowl of justice by going to get clean. Not only yourself, but everyone whose lives you've made a mark on, and trust me, it's a lot."

Amy nodded, wiping her mascara-stains from her cheeks.

"You'd be doing it to yourself, and, yes – you'd be doing Sonic a service as well. More then that, you'd be doing our family a service."

Amy was quiet for a while, attempting to process all of Sally's words. It was a hurricane of thoughts, plans of action, or even ideas of what she could possibly do – yet, she knew the right answer all the same.

"I'm rooting for you, Amy. Look, it hurts to know Sonic loves you like he does. It…hurts like a bitch, Amy. If I didn't understand it, maybe it would hurt more, but it doesn't hurt any less than it should. Maybe you think I'm being selfish, I don't know, but I only think it would be better for you both if you did this. I'm rooting for you to lead a happy life. I'm rooting for you to get clean. I want you to take care of yourself."

Amy sighed, finally meeting Sally's eyes. "Why do you care what happens to me? I'm in love with your husband. I'm a fucking homewrecker, Sally. That's all I am to you."

Sally shook her head, "Regardless of the connection you two have, that doesn't change how I feel about you. Remove yourself from this connection for a minute and think about you. I care about what happens to you. I think everybody on this planet cares about you."

Amy shook her head, "No, they like me – they don't care about me."

Sally sighed, grabbing her hand. "You got that wrong. You know what my favorite song from the album is? It's A Hope for You. It…reminds me of someone I loved. Someone who I met not too long ago. I thought that maybe, in another life, we'd be everything I dreamed of and it would never break apart. But…it did. It shattered, and maybe it's for the best that it did, but it was still agonizing to watch it explode. I thought I was moving on, but every time I hear that song, it puts me right back in that place. The heartbreak, the hope, the tenderness, the pain? You made it feel real again. You did that. You wrote a beautiful song about wanting something you know you'll never be able to have, yet wanting it so desperately anyways. I see you as not only an incredible writer, but someone who suffers in the same ways Sonic suffers. You two might think you're these lost souls fumbling together in the dark, but I think you're what everybody has been looking for all this time."

Amy let her words sink in, watching with heartbroken eyes. "That song is not about Sonic. It's about wanting to have a family, and knowing you'll only fuck it up in the end. It's about feeling like you're too much of a fuck up to deserve that, but wanting it anyway. I look at you, knowing it's everything I want, and still knowing it's something I can never have. Something I can never be."

Sally shook her head, giving Amy's hand a squeeze. "Remember what I told you back in Knothole, Amy?"

Amy's eyes fell to the chipmunk's hand in her own.

"I told you not to count yourself out just yet. Amy, you're so many things you don't even know yet."

It rocked Amy's world even more in this context. It shook the very foundation she stood on.

There was still hope for her, and a woman like Sally Acorn could see that.

Sally thought she was worth saving.

Before Sally could get up to take her leave, Amy stood up, stopping the chipmunk in her tracks.

"I'm sorry that I fell in love with him."

Sally turned around, shrugging. "How couldn't you two fall in love? It's something written in the stars. None of us can control that. What you can control – is what you to do to pick up the pieces, Amy."

Amy watched as Sally left, letting the foundation of her entire world split in half, realizing that Sally had made the decision for Amy that she had already known she'd make for herself.

The decision that would upend everything she had done here, and yet, it must be for the best.

If it's not for the best, it's the best for her.

That's the only thing that counted now.

Sonic reclined on the couch in his room, lightly strumming his guitar. His mind was a maelstrom of thoughts, all colliding and crashing in brilliantly devastating fashion.

He stared at the fretboard as he played, allowing his mind to wreck and ravage himself.

As far as he was aware, Sally had left him.

Now, he could only feel himself slipping further and further into the void he had tried so hard to crawl out of.

It wasn't just heartbreak, no, he truly felt dead.

He felt like his life had now slipped into a state of disrepair, and he was ready to lock himself in the tomb.

He didn't even realize he had stopped playing, and he didn't even realize when he stood up, slamming the acoustic guitar in half as it broke.

It wasn't out of anger whatsoever. It was out of pain. It was out of the knowing feeling of certain death, and only guessing there was no way out of it.

When a knock was placed at the door, Sonic's jaw hung open, rushing towards it, praying to whatever God was up there it was Sally.

His face fell when he saw Knuckles, whose eyes were full of hurt.

Sonic sighed, opening the door to let the echidna inside. Knuckles stumbled in, taking notice of the smashed guitar. Knuckles' brow furrowed, moving his gaze to Sonic.

"What happened in here?"

Sonic sighed, taking a seat and pinching the bridge of his nose. "It – it's nothing, Knuckles. What's up?"

Knuckles sighed, stumbling softly onto the wall. Some of the alcohol had faded, and yet even still intoxicated, his mind was made up.

"I'm leaving the band, Sonic."

Sonic's brow furrowed in shock, tilting his head. The news surely shattered something inside, but his mind was already gone.

"Wh – what? Why?"

"I – I can't do it anymore, Sonic. It's – this is destroying me. I thought it was fun, right? I thought – I thought the drinking was fun, the drugs, the parties…I loved it all. Now though…I don't even recognize who I am. I'm lost."

Sonic sighed, looking at his feet. "Knuckles, we can help you, right? You don't have to leave."

"If I don't – I'll only kill myself in the end. Rouge is right, I'm a fucking lost cause right now. I'm telling you because…I don't know, I guess I thought you'd understand."

He did.

Now he knows where Knuckles is heading, and unfortunately for Sonic, his water was gone.

His water left.

So did Knuckles'.

"I do, and I left, but I came back. Can't you just…take time and come back?"

"No, I can't. This life…it's not what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to be, I don't know, a doctor or a fucking banker. This isn't what I was meant to do."

"That's bullshit. Did your parents say something to you?"

Knuckles' gaze fell, causing Sonic to stand up, looking at the echidna right in his soul.

"You do deserve this. You're a damn good drummer."

"I don't even care anymore, Sonic. I deserve it, or I don't, I can't do it. Rouge is gone and she can't help – the only person that can help is me. I'm sorry. After the tour's done, that's it for me. I hate to be the one who's leaving, but it has to be me. I have to go."

Sonic shook his head, rubbing his temples in a slight hiss of pain. He turned to Knuckles, crossing his arms.

"Rouge left you?"

Knuckles nods, feeling a tear run down his cheek. He sat down on the piano in the room, leaning against it. He sighs, shaking his head.

"She's the only person I ever felt comfortable with seeing every part of me. She told me she didn't understand everything going on in my head, but god damnit, it really felt like she did. It's fucking miserable, man. I don't know what to do anymore. All I know is that I have to leave. I can't lose myself anymore."

Sonic stood up, grabbing Knuckles by the shoulders and giving him a slight shake.

"Knuckles, I think you should get help too, but listen to what you're saying. You are ready to throw away something that I know you started wanting too. You want it! You still want it! The fucking naysayers are wrong, and they always will be. You are everything you've ever wanted."

Knuckles sighed, standing up. He shook his head. "I love you, man. I've always loved you. I just – I can't do it anymore. She's gone, and soon, I'll be gone if I don't."

Before Sonic could say anything, Knuckles wiped a dry tear, walking towards the door and leaving. Sonic held his head, biting his lip as he choked back tears, watching his drummer walk away.

︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎"Turn around and hold me close tonight!

Turn around and hold me close tonight!"

Sonic sang into the microphone passionately, staring out at the rowdy crowd in the massive football stadium. Amy stood at her microphone, shaking her head back and forth in a frenzy as she joined with him.

When the instrumental section started, Sonic turned back to Knuckles, watching in a pained expression as the echidna hung his head low, simply going through the motions.

Sonic was impressed at how well he was playing, despite everything. He felt his eyes move to Rouge, seeing how she never once stopped looking at him.

It was brutal to watch. He turned to see Amy, flapping her arms slowly like a hawk, her long white cape flowing in the wind like a massive ocean wave.

Yet, for once, he didn't stop looking at Knuckles, seeing the echidna playing without an inch of soul in his eyes.

︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎2:28 PM

Amy took a long drink from her wine bottle, setting it down in front of the mirror on the table. She bent over, staring herself dead in the eyes through the reflection, attempting to steady her breathing, inspecting the amount of tears still lingering in her sight.

When she finally looked down, she noticed the letter from her mother still lying on the table. She sighed, shaking her head as she inspected it once more.

It took a lot of strength for her not to open it, despite how badly she still refused to do so.

Sighing, she ripped it open, watching as a group of small photos poured out of it. Bending down, she began looking through them, all pictures of her as a baby. She winced at the ones with her mother in them, able to see evidently the amount of disdain her mother held for her even as a child.

She pursed her lips, her hands shaking slightly as she attempted to keep her tears inside. Panic raced through her veins, and it only took one reminder of her mother's disdain to cause her to separate a line of cocaine, and snort it right off the table.

How simple it was to make her crash right back into what she had been trying so hard to stop.

Pressing the last button on the phone, she held it to her hear, reclining back on the bed as she snorted another small powder of coke from her palm, listening to the dialing tone.

Eventually, it connected.

"Hello?"

Amy didn't answer for a moment, staring off into the distance. Her grip on the phone tightened, slightly shaking in her grasp. She swallowed, nodding as she allowed herself to finally speak after so much time.

"Hi, Mom."

"Amelia? Is that really you?"

Amy's face was dead, staring at the wall in a deep contemplation.

"It's really me."

"I was hoping you'd call. You got my letter, then? The pictures I sent?"

Amy sighed, "Hawaii Mondays. I still don't know how you managed to find matching outfits every week."

"And always pink ones to match our hair."

"Why did you send these to me?"

There was silence for a moment.

"I wanted to hear your voice, Amelia. I missed you."

Amy could feel that it was a lie. Deep in her gut, she knew there was no truth, no love, and no care to her mother's callous voice.

She closed her eyes, leaning against her phone.

"And now, here you are – on the news, and in all these magazines, making up stories and telling people you're an orphan?"

Amy's eyes were wide with tears, her mouth hanging open in a dry smile. She shook her head, biting her lips as her mother began slowly barking at her once again.

How she hated the sound of her mother's voice.

"You're not an orphan, you selfish little shit. I'm your mother. How about some credit for once?"

Amy scoffed in disbelief, her smile quivering as a small tear ran down her cheek. It was unbelievable, and believable all the same.

"You know, mom, sometimes I think…that there are a million strangers out there…who love me more than you ever did."

Amy's voice was shaking uncontrollably, the overwhelming emotion evident in her tone. It was a devastating phone call to make, and she needed to make it.

It needed to be done.

"Well, maybe, but – they don't really know you, do they?"

Amy nodded, her grin becoming sinister and callous, smirking with a slight chuckle as she pushed her mouth into the phone.

"Goodbye, mother. Next time you want to hear my voice? Try the fucking radio."

With that, she slammed the phone down.

Sonic approached Amy from behind, leaning in from around the back of her into the microphone. His breath was hot on her face, the pair singing into the same microphone as her back was leaning right against his rigid torso.

She felt all of him behind her.

She turned to them, the pair singing as their faces were mere millimeters apart.

"If you're gonna leave me, just make it feel easy,

If you're gonna walk away,

If you're gonna leave me, just make it feel easy,

If you're gonna walk away,"

Amy smiled at him, the tips of their noses touching as they sang into the microphone together. She was still nervous at the sight of Sonic the Hedgehog, yet she could never, ever deny the connection still remained.

And he had never been closer to her face as they sang together.

"Don't you dare tell me you love me while you're leavin,

If you're leavin' me now,

If you're gonna leave me,

Just make it feel easy,

If you're gonna walk away!"

Sonic and Amy's faces were pushed right against one another, singing with every ounce of passion they had left.

As they sang the last line, Sonic turned to her, their noses touching as his hungry eyes bore into hers. She smiled, shaking her head as she watched his eyes devour her entire being.

She had craved for just this much passion from him for so long.

The way he stared at her, consuming her heart and soul.

How close their faces were in front of fifty-thousand people.

Yet, instead of feeling love, she only felt fear.

She was terrified of what was standing in front of her.

As his chest pushed up against hers, she bit her lip, trailing down his neck to his chest, feeling her heart race as she saw it.

A streak of cocaine residue right along the buttons of his shirt.