The world ended. I realised that long ago.
But, just as I've always thought, people still fought on. They didn't halt in their tracks. They continued, on and on, trying to fix this broken world. It doesn't surprise me even now. The world's inhabitants are, sometimes, reckless and unique in their decisions, but they have the strongest will around, even so.
It seemed bleak for me. Imagine your family vanishing from sight and sound. It's heartbreaking, it's... despair-inducing, God forbid. I couldn't register anything when it happened. My mind was in a rush, unable to slow down. It had been, even after my meeting with Sonic the Hedgehog, completely drained of motivation and reason...
My optimism, however, was another story in itself... It was the glue needed to keep me together, the glue needed to make me push on. I'd met someone in this empty world, and another. So perhaps, the others lived... I contemplated the scenario of evacuation-even if it excluded the logic of me being left behind, and the idea comforted me, just a little.
So I kept believing in it.
I was sat near a tree... At least, that was the only thing I could use to specify my location. Everything else was just... so unrecognisable. I just didn't remember the layout... So I came to the conclusion that I'd never been there before... But I kept being nagged by the constant question in my head: 'Where am I?'
I hated getting lost... Or being in such a unfamiliar place... Thankfully, I could adjust easily to a layout, memorise it easily, if I could... But the nerves apart of that memorisation still lingered.
That blue hedgehog... He said he'd come back... after he dealt with Eggman...
It was a typical Sonic situation... I understood that perfectly well. I wrote stories, countless stories, and plotted them each and every day. It was... in a way, my obsession. Everyone had them... A majority, anyway... Or something they really like.
Sometimes, I wondered if I liked it too much. If this obsession was unhealthy... But it was my passion. Something only a fan of something would probably understand...
And there was my passion, right there. The downside (being the end of the world) just didn't allow me the joy of seeing one of my favourite fictional heroes... My family were gone, the neighbours had vanished, and the world had been obliterated... How could I feel happy?
I sat there, contemplating the mystery of my missing mother and sister... I never felt I was depressed; I never thought I was sad enough to be that... I had good grades, good friends... even if I had responsibilities left and right... I always tried to be optimistic, even if that was the hardest thing on the planet to do sometimes...
I looked up suddenly. I heard something... a strange sound... one I'd never heard before. At least, realistically. Turning my head slowly, my gaze drifted to a nearby clearing with torn wired fences. At that, my whole frame froze; something had chewed through that fence quite easily... and it looked recent...
I stood up slowly, my hands cautiously leaning against the trunk of the tree, my breath hitched and my expression beyond tense. I thought I imagined it... but of course, that was not the case... Swallowing, I glanced at a nearby wrecked building, then around my radius. Where was Sonic when you needed him...?
"...!"
Something snapped at me; I say something because I had no idea what it was. I recoiled immediately, scrambling back and looking at the source in horror. Definition of nightmare fuel...
It was white and small... and it had teeth the size and sharpness of razors.
"What the-?!"
I yelped immediately, pulling myself to my feet and turning heel as it leapt again, dodging to the side. It bit at the ground, and my panic increased when this chewing session stopped. It was at that point that my legs decided to listen to me, and finally fulfill their function.
My feet hit the ground consecutively as I turned heel and ran, breaths sharp and anxious.
I needed something... A weapon, anything...
...!
I noticed a plank of wood to my left, up ahead, next to a building, and at that, I put more power into my sprint. However... due to focus on intellectual activity and not physical, I was progressively slowing down, the cold air of the world circulating my system. My insides hurt, but I didn't let it stop me. I leapt for the board, and picked it up. At that exact moment, I swung it behind me, and it hit the creature just as it was metres away from my head.
It flew like a baseball, hitting the ground a few feet away. I stared at it, and then backed away slowly, knowing going near it was a bad idea. And I was right to.
Immediately, it shot up again, heading in my direction.
"...crap. Welp, time for plan B."
I turned and ran.
"HELLLLPPPPPPPP!"
Whoosh!
"...what're you screaming about?"
"...eh?"
I stopped and blinked, turning my head.
The creature was nowhere to be seen... All that remained were specks of glowing lights. I looked near it, and there was a figure, walking up to me. It was a girl, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing this... weird outfit.
"...are you a cosplayer?" I asked, looking confused at her get-up.
It was something Japanese-esque... Long sleeves, a petal-like dress, and long boots... And overall, had a deep red theme... and one of roses...
Hated to overanalyze, but both of those were usually omens in literature... Maybe I was over thinking it...
There was a whip in her hand, too... was that her weapon out here, against everything big and nasty?
The girl glared at me. "...no."
"Then why-?"
"I'ma' Hero!"
I blinked. "...Hero?" I paused. Perhaps questioning weird things was a bad idea since I met a talking blue hedgehog a while ago... But this was very confusing.
The girl sighed. "I help with the Vertex..."
"...Vertex?" More words I didn't understand. "I'm sorry... I just... found out about what's happened... and I don't even know what those are... It sounds like Maths... IS IT MATHS?! YOU CAN'T SUBJECT ME TO-!"
"It's not Maths... As for your statement... Cos they only seem to be about specific places." She rubbed the back of her head. "See, there's meant to be a reality that mirrors this one, Shinju-outside a boundary where they are, but... Often they try to invade that boundary and if they get in, then... They try to destroy this world, which is why Heroes like me stop them!" She grinned proudly.
"...okay." I nodded slowly. "...no, not okay. What?!"
"It's a bit too much to take in, I know. But it's not that hard." The girl seemed cocky at that statement...
"I think it is!" I snapped in response, pouting and folding my arms. "Ish very confusing!"
"...ish?"
"It is... Shhh, I speak like this to the interweb friends, no judgie."
"The lack of Wi-Fi is hella' annoying because of that..."
"Tell me about it. Wi-Fi is love, Wi-Fi is life! It is why we must fight for the world! WE SHALL BE POM AND SHIBE ON OUR HUNT FOR WI-FI! ...uhh... if you want to, that is..."
"..."
The girl cocked her head slightly, a questionable look in her eyes. She chuckled slightly.
"You have a... unique personality..."
"...err... Not sure what to say to that... Just a bit..." I looked down sheepishly. "Melodramatic, I guess..."
"Really, you seem so quiet at first..."
"I'm antisocial."
"Welcome to the club." The girl grinned.
"...unless I'm with people I..." I trailed off. "... Hey, we haven't introduced ourselves yet and we're knee-deep in conversation! Can't have that!"
"Oh, yeah..."
"Name's Toxic! T-O-X-I-C!" I held out my hand to shake. "Nice to meet you... I hope anyways. For all I know, you could be a psychopathic murderer or..."
I blinked. She was staring at me, with a lost expression.
"...ermmm, I didn't mean it... T'was a joke..."
"That's not your real name, is it?" the girl asked, looking sceptical.
"Ah... That... No... No, it's not..." I cleared my throat. "'Toxic' is my pen name..."
"Pen name?"
"It's for a forum... er... fan... fiction website..." I trailed off bashfully.
"No need to look so nervous. I get it." The girl smiled. "I actually write a bit too, so..."
"You do?! Er, anyway, my real name is off limits; only le awesome G probs knows it... or other peeps, I dunno. Just keeping Mondo undercover. Inter webs and all."
"But this is reality-"
"Shhhh!"
The girl stared at me blankly, then thought for a moment. She seemed to be recalling something I had said, possibly...
"Okay then. If we're going by pen names... My name's Darky!" The girl shook my hand, that was probably definitely dead by now.
"Darky?" I asked in confusion.
"Yep! Short for Girl of Darkness10!" The girl responded chipperly.
"WhhhhaaaaAAAAATTTT?!" I yelped, jumping back in shock. I almost fell over, actually. What?
"Hey, Toxikku." Darky smirked, folding her arms.
"Wha-how-what-YOU'RE MEANT TO BE IN ARIZONA AND WHAT-" I babbled jibberish. "Why didn't you say?! KEEPING ME IN IN THE DARK LIKE THAT, OF COURSE, YOU'RE DARKY. EVIL PEEP."
"I only just figured it out, okay?" She asked, huffing. "Your first red flag was your personality, then your name, Toxic, then G made it really suspicious. After that, it was obvious, especially given your reaction. Of course, you're Toxic. Dramatic person."
I pouted. "Really..." I looked down, blue lines going down my face. "...it's so obvious?"
"Pretty much. Don't get uber depressed, though, Toxikku. Nothing to worry about, though, right?"
"Ah, no... Ish fine!" I grinned sheepishly. My face softened. "But... the end of the world isn't..."
Darky frowned. "Yeah. Sucks we met in this situation... Typical of life."
"You're helping out, then?"
"Yep! The Vertex are somehow getting into the real world physically..." Darky looked thoughtful. "I wonder how..."
"I'm more concerned about being eaten..." I grumbled. "Oh... Thanks for that, by the way, Darky."
"What?"
"I cried for help, and you came to my rescue."
"I thought it was a cat..." Darky blinked.
"...eh...?!"
I faceplanted.
"Darkeh..."
"Kidding!" Darky chuckled. "Nah, you're welcome, Toxic."
"...I wonder if my assumption of people being psychopathic murderers is valid now..." I muttered to myself. "...or for other people, anyways..."
"What was that?" Darky asked, squinting.
"Nothing! Never mind! Absolutely nothing!" I sweatdropped, picking myself up. "...? What's that behind you?"
"Huh?"
Darky looked down at her leg. It was a small animal; it looked like a rouge deer with big brown eyes and ribbons around its ears.
"Oh, this little girl? She's my friend. She protects me and stuff. It's epic." Darky looked proud.
"It's so kawaiiiiii-"
"No, Toxic."
Darky stopped me before I could glomp it. I flailed my arms for it, wailing,
"I WANT THE FLUFFEH! LET ME HAVE THE-...ooh, fine..." I sighed.
Darky chuckled. "You could probably convince everyone it wasn't the end of the world like that..."
"Not really..." I looked down modestly. "Besides, people would probably assume I'm bipolar or something weird like that if society found out..."
I looked elsewhere.
"I act stupid sometimes... just to cheer people up... I don't think others would get that... It's the end of the world, anyway. It's not the-"
"If you think about it, it's the best time. Think of this like... Danganronpa."
"What about it?"
"Gotta' have Hope, don't you?" Darky asked, tilting her head.
"And end up like Komaeda..." I grumbled. "No offence to the epic character..."
"But if you go to the emo corner-stay out of it by the way, it's mine-then nothing gets done."
"But-I will go in your emo corner if I want to, Darky-angsssttt!"
"Don't matter about angst-no, you won't-you have to survive!"
"If you say so...-okay, fine, please don't hurt me-But... I can't really do anything useful about it... I'm as useless as Chris Thorndyke..."
Darky glared at me.
"...ehehe... I mean... Not that Chris is useless or anything... Season 3, you know... he... ah..."
"Hey, guys!"
Sonic skidded to a stop.
"Sent Eggman on a wild goose chase in some cave, and-who're you?"
"Darky."
"Okay, nice to meet you, but I kinda somehow peeved off a bunch of weird creatures running past them and now they're heading this way..."
I gave a deadpan expression. "Trying to be optimistic is REALLY hard sometimes."
"Toxikku, you head to that building over there. I can take these guys. Probably Vertex. Sonic can help too. If he wants."
"You kidding? Why wouldn't I wanna'?" Sonic grinned.
"BUT THAT BUILDING IS OBVIOUSLY CREEPY, DARKY! AND ITS MASCOTS ARE CREEPY AS-"
"-hell, I know. But you need to be safe!"
"But going alone is the number one thing NOT to do in horror films!"
"Why don't you ask Sonic if he can go with you?"
The hedgehog glanced at me, then gave a friendly smile.
"Won't mind, ya' know."
"...errr, no! Ish... You know... Ish fine! I'ma' go!"
'THIS MUST BE FAR AWAY FROM A SHIPPING FIC! D:'
I quickly walked to the building, that had animal mascots on the front...
Sonic blinked. "Was it something I said?"