The tree's shadow wrapped Sonic in its embrace as he watched the scene in the distance. The small crowd had long since dispersed, leaving alone the closed casket that encased the girl filled with too much life to be dead. The muscles in his legs had frozen beneath him so he couldn't run away, even if he wanted to.
No more running away, nothing to run toward. Sonic remained still as time moved around him.
"I didn't think you'd be far."
Sonic turned only his head at the sound of Tails's voice. His little brother didn't even attempt a smile, but his eyes widened with warmth. Sonic winced at the sight of Tails's arm in a sling, but still the sight enabled him to breathe. Now, not only did Amy haunt his dreams, but so did Tails, his body as broken as it might have been had Sonic not reached him in time. Injured arm was better than dead.
"You could have come to her funeral, you know," Tails said. He stepped closer but still kept several feet of distance between them.
"Probably best I didn't," Sonic replied, eyeing that space. While the word of Knuckles and Tails had cleared his name legally, he still had a world of damage to answer for.
Neither of them spoke for a minute, not even Tails to protest Sonic's point. Birds called to each other from the tree branches above their heads. "Are you okay?" Tails asked finally.
Sonic squeezed his eyes shut. "I mean, I know you're not," Tails added quickly. "I just meant…" He sighed and didn't finish.
"It's all my fault," Sonic whispered, his shoulders falling, his eyes still closed.
"You couldn't have stopped it, Sonic," Tails said firmly. "Amy didn't tell you what was going on; you couldn't have done anything."
"But Metal Sonic was made using my lifeform data," Sonic said tightly. The hand he had planted against the tree's trunk to hold him upright balled into a fist. "It did it so I could have."
The truth of it killed Sonic. It burned like a curse inside him. He could see exactly where that lifeform data made Metal a serial killer; Sonic's trademark cockiness waited in the wings like a dark smog until it could explode and turn Sonic into the same manipulative monster.
"No," Tails whispered. "Sonic, no. You couldn't have. You almost got killed trying to protect Knuckles and me when Metal tried to kill us."
Sonic spun to face Tails. He struck his hand against his heart. "But that's still inside me, Tails. I could go into a frenzy like that too!" I almost did, he thought but didn't say.
Tails's eyes glistened, and when the tension in Sonic's body fell away, Tails shook his head. "You couldn't because you couldn't kill Amy. Losing her…" He looked out to the casket, and Sonic followed his gaze. The sun warmed the casket's wood into life, the rich hues seeming so wrong for what lay inside. "…it's been impossible, most of all for you."
Tremors ran beneath Sonic's skin. He wished he could run away. He knew he should wait, be patient, take his time, but he just wanted a way out. Knuckles had held firm on their deal that Sonic get help. But all he was ever told there was that it took time. No, there was no way to tell how much.
No, whatever he did would not bring her back.
A million thoughts swarmed his mind every moment. She deserved so much more. How could I not have noticed how scared she was? I wish she'd never met me. But he kept them all locked inside his head. Tails would try to protect him with kindness, soften every blow to his broken glass so it didn't shatter.
The image of Metal crashing through the window and into the water tore through Sonic's head again. Some magnet in his chest tried to pull him back to that place. What if it's not over? What if Metal's not dead? What if—
"Sonic?"
Sonic blinked away his thoughts until he could see Tails again. "Yeah?" he said once the haze backed off.
"You're staying with me tonight, right?"
Sonic swallowed. The look on Tails's face shallowed his breaths. He wanted to brush away his brother's fears, stand in front and take the bullet meant for him.
But Sonic was the bullet. And he desperately needed Tails to take it.
"Yeah," Sonic said in a small voice.
He turned away to stare at the too-small casket. He'd seen Amy after, he'd seen her body, knelt in her cold blood, but the casket in the sun-filled cemetery somehow made it more real than her corpse. Soon she'd be in the ground with a small stone to be remembered by. How could her life be summed up in something so small?
Her letters scratched at his hand inside his glove. They were nearly unreadable now, sliced by Metal and saturated with Sonic's blood. But even if Metal had corrupted them by making them a piece in the game he played, these were all Amy was now. Not her body, not her empty home, but the words she left behind.
"I talked to Cream," Tails said suddenly, stepping closer to Sonic now. "I remembered how in one of the letters you showed me, Amy mentioned she left one with Cream."
Sonic's head snapped to Tails in an instant. Tails held out an envelope. Sonic's heart stopped, then accelerated. "I don't know…if they'll mean anything," Tails admitted. "It might just be another clue she left you, but…it's better than nothing."
Sonic's hand visibly shook as he accepted the envelope. He stared at it in his palm rather than making a move to open it. "I can go, if you want," Tails whispered. "I'll just…see you tonight, okay?"
Sonic nodded, at first absentmindedly, then lifting his head to nod intentionally. "Yeah…yeah, I'll be there, Tails. And if I'm not…" He squirmed. "…call G.U.N."
Tails offered him a tiny sideways smirk, and that small warmth sparked a fire in Sonic's heart. "I can do that," he agreed. "Come sooner if you need to."
"I will."
And then Tails wrapped his big brother in a one-armed hug, his body at an awkward angle to avoid putting pressure on his injured arm. Sonic returned the gesture. He ached to pull his friend close and refuse to let him go, but if he squeezed any tighter, he'd hurt Tails. So instead, he loosened his hold and let Tails walk away.
The envelope yanked Sonic's attention back. His hands started shaking again, and he took several steadying breaths before he felt confident in his ability to open the envelope without tearing the letter inside.
It held too much power. This wasn't her. This wouldn't make him whole again. But still Sonic had to lower himself to the ground before he was able to unfold the letter and read the last words he'd ever hear from Amy:
Dear Sonic,
He's been following me, Sonic. Everywhere I turn, I see him. I think he's finding these letters. I also don't think he cares that I'm leaving them. It's all just a game. I think maybe I should just tell you everything. But you're not around a lot, and whenever you are, I lose my nerve. What if he doesn't know who you are? What if your name isn't enough to tell him? What if he finds my letter writing funny and pointless so it keeps your name off the list?
I can't risk telling you until I'm gone.
I'm leaving this with Cream because maybe the killer won't find this one. I told you it'd be close to home, but maybe the clue's vague enough that he won't know where to go. I haven't seen him around so maybe he doesn't know I'm here.
So…maybe I can just be honest right now.
I love you, Sonic. You know that. The whole world does. But I do. And I don't want to leave you. But maybe…just this once…I can save you.
Maybe I can sacrifice myself, and you'll still be able to save everyone. Everyone else.
I'm going to miss your light, your laugh, your carefree stunts that have stopped my heart more than once.
Wow, now it sounds like you're the one dying.
All right, I've got to go try to find the next girl on the killer's list, see if I can warn her. She lives in this tiny town to the west of Central City, way west, almost closer to Seaside Hill. I'll leave my letter there.
Write again soon.
Always,
Amy Rose
Sonic read through her words once, twice, a third time, only getting a few phrases each time through his blurred vision. When he finally lifted his head again, his eyes fixed on her casket and he couldn't pull them away.
Nothing she wrote was news, and yet, his world quaked. That was it. The end. She was gone.
Sonic patiently refolded the note and slid to back inside the envelope. He didn't fold it up tiny to fit inside his glove but instead pressed it to his heart. When his legs finally felt steadier, he pushed himself to his feet and took careful, measured steps down the hill, across the street, into the cemetery, until he stood next to her casket.
Flowers adorned the top, but they looked like those you'd see at any funeral. The hole was already dug out behind the casket where Amy would lay forever. In the distance, he heard kids, families, lovers visiting graves, some people laughing even.
Sonic pressed his hand to the wood, knowing Amy wasn't inside, knowing she was. Knowing he would never be okay again,
knowing he would.
He released a shuddering breath. "Rest now," he whispered.
And then he withdrew his hand, took a careful step back, and bolted home to Tails.
Take a deep breath.
Okay?
To be honest, I can't believe this is the end of Frenzy. I (and all of you, I imagine) truly thought I would never finish this story. But when I started writing chapter 25 back in March, I could not stop until I wrote through to the end. This story ended up being a huge growth opportunity and these last few chapters made me more emotional about writing than I've been in a while. And they were hard. It's hard to write a murder mystery, knowing the whole time that your focus is on the effects of grief, on the monsters that live inside us, and on how we live without closure. But I loved writing this and having the chance to share it with all of you. I hope this meant something to you as well.
I can't even begin to thank all of you, whether you read the story, or even went so far as to favorite, alert, and review! Your reactions mean more to me than you can know and every time I read a review, I couldn't stop smiling for hours. So thank you, thank you, thank you!
I am posting another multi-chapter story right now with both Sonamy and an emphasis on the darker secrets of Sonic. If you're looking for some of that, check out Metarex Rule. If you want something that focuses more heavily on Sonamy, check out Runway Takeoff. I'm also working offline on a couple more Sonamy fanfictions so keep an eye out for those.
Thank you so much for being with me on this journey. I'd love to hear any feedback you have anytime, and I hope to have more writing for all of you very soon!