Chapter 25: Eggman Attacks

At the therapy, Sonic was talking to Dr. Lee about his depression and grieving about Shadow. His therapist, an Asian old man with a clean-shaven face and slick gray hair that had been neatly trimmed was leaning forward in his chair in interest. He looked like he was thinking about something important.

"I'm sorry to hear what happened," he said finally. "You were such a good friend. And you said you developed feelings for Shadow, right?" He glanced at Sonic who nodded. "And you started dating recently?"

"We weren't actually dating yet," Sonic said, rubbing his arm. "Shadow and I became enemies before we got together. And now, well…" He shrugged. "Now that I know how much Shadow cared for me, it feels like all the good times are gone. It's like I never knew him."

"And when did you meet him?" asked Dr. Lee, scribbling his notepad.

"That night, I met him at the street city where I was falsely accused of stealing Chaos Emerald from the bank. We started a battle against him one-on-one, but he warped everywhere. There was no way I could beat him, then he teleported until the cops arrived. And I was taken to Prison Island," Sonic continued. "2 days later, Amy found me there when I wasn't impressed. She always was looking for me and chasing me at all times," Sonic rolled his eyes.

Dr. Lee held his chin when he nodded, "Mm-hm. And what happened next?"

"When I was freed from the prison, get ready to fight Shadow again. I came back for round 2, we started to battle once again until we stopped fighting for a moment. Shadow walked to me and then he kissed me," said Sonic.

Dr. Lee stopped scribbling his notepad to look up curiously, staring into Sonic's emerald green eyes.

"Shadow kissed you?" he asked, incredulously.

"Um, yeah, I didn't know what was this about, but I felt kinda weird, and I didn't know if it was just because of his mind games or whatever." Sonic scratched his head.

"So, did he have feelings for you at any time during your relationship?" asked Dr. Lee, tilting his head slightly. "It may seem like he had feelings for you, but the real reason might be because he was trying to get close to you." His pencil tapping on his notepad, he leaned back in his chair.

Sonic looked down and twiddled his thumbs for a second. "Well, I thought he was going to kill me, but he kissed me. My very first kiss with Shadow," Sonic said. "I couldn't stop thinking about it afterward. He had so many different emotions at the time and I felt confused, like I really wanted to know him and loved him, but my brain still told me he was dangerous."

"And after that incident, you felt that way ever since? Did you see each other again?" Dr. Lee pushed his glasses further up on his nose.

"My team and I went to the Space Colony Ark, trying to stop Eggman from destroying the planet. And Shadow... he said he lost his friend Maria 50 years ago," said Sonic.

"Maria? A young girl? She died 50 years ago?" asked Dr. Lee.

Sonic nodded, "Yes. That happened 50 years ago, they were trying to escape from the G.U.N. army. Unfortunately, Shadow survived and Maria didn't make it. He was really devastated about her death. So that's how Shadow's story was sad."

"That's such a tragic story," sighed Dr. Lee.

"I felt bad for Shadow when he lost someone he loved. I understood how he felt. He became vengeful against humanity for taking away the one person he truly loved," Sonic said. "Shadow isn't evil. Just... complicated. But I understand why he acts the way he does." He looked up as Dr. Lee wrote in his notes.

"What else can you tell me about Shadow? Do you think he would ever hurt you? Would he ever try to destroy you?" asked Dr. Lee.

"No! No, of course not! He just lost it. He had a mental breakdown for a little bit after Maria died. It took us a while to fix things and calm him down," answered Sonic. "But he won't ever hurt me. Shadow was just an emotional hedgehog. I realized he was suffering from PTSD and depression after he lost Maria."

He looked down at his lap, frowning softly and chewing his lip. "I... I had always feelings for Shadow. Maybe it's just because Shadow is so lonely and depressed. And I was always there for him," said Sonic.

The therapist nodded, "Mm-hm, and what happened next?"

"Uh, well, it's embarrassing to say..." Sonic rubbed his arm nervously. "Shadow and I... started to have sex in the Space Colony when my team caught us making out and Eggman flipped out for wasting our time to save the planet."

Dr. Lee stopped scribbling his notepad once again and stared at Sonic with wide eyes. Sonic flushed red and averted his gaze. He was used to people laughing at him when he admitted his sexuality and feelings, but he'd hoped that Dr.Lee wouldn't react badly.

After a long silence, Dr. Lee asked, "And you're still attracted to Shadow?"

"Um, yeah, I guess... I'm still confused. I mean... I never stopped loving Shadow. It's just that lately, I've been wondering what we could have been if we had more time." Sonic said. "It's confusing to say that after all this time, I still love him. I love Shadow."

"And how did Shadow die?" he asked.

"I don't know how, exactly, but he just used too much power at that point, and he sacrificed himself by using the Chaos Emerald." Sonic shook his head sadly. "That was the last time I saw Shadow alive. Then, the next day, Shadow was gone. The only thing that remained of him was an empty shell. And I was left alone to deal with everything." Sonic frowned. "I missed Shadow so much."

The therapist tapped his pen onto his notepad and hummed. "And after that, how did you feel about Shadow after you realized you were still attracted to him?"

Sonic paused, thinking over how to respond. "It's hard to describe it. I loved Shadow, and he loved me… but when he was gone, I'd never felt so depressed before in my entire life. Everything hurt, and I was so mad at myself for not saving Shadow." He swallowed thickly, closing his eyes.

"Well, Sonic, you're attracted to Shadow that you are homosexual, and he was emotionally invested in you and you returned his affection," said Dr. Lee firmly, "and you know what? You don't regret it. Now that you are aware of the depth of your feelings, what do you want to do about them?"

Sonic opened his eyes and sat up straight, blinking at Dr. Lee. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"If you're gay, what do you want to do about your feelings?" asked the psychiatrist.

"Well... I wish Shadow was here..." mumbled Sonic.

"Hmm, well, I think that's enough for now," he said as he stopped writing his notepad and reached over to pick up his pen and write down some more information. "I'll set up the next appointment for next week. If you feel better at any point, please contact me."

"Okay," said Sonic as he stood up and headed towards the door. "Thank you so much, Dr. Lee."

"You're welcome," smiled the doctor as he waved goodbye to Sonic.

As he exited the doctor's office, he walked to 7-11 to buy a chili dog, Prime Hydrating Drink, and chili Fritos for himself. The cashier scanned the snack and placed it inside the plastic bag, leaving money on the counter. As he turned around to leave, he went to the park sat on the bench, and ate his chili dog while he watched cars zoom past the nearby streets and the kids were playing in the playground and sports. He was eating alone in the park which was nice since no one bothered him, but that also meant no one could interrupt him. He finished his chili dog while reading a book on his phone. He felt something rolling to his feet, it was a soccer ball. The kids ran toward the blue hedgehog and apologized for it.

"Heh, sorry, mister," said the boy with a short dreadlocks.

"It's okay. I wasn't paying attention to where I was looking," said Sonic, smiling up at the young kids. He scooped the ball up and gave it to him. "Here you go, kiddo,"

"Thanks," said the boy.

"Hey, you wanna play with us?" asked the boy with his hat backward.

"Huh? Me?" Sonic pointed to himself.

"Yeah!" he laughed. "We play soccer all the time, you can join if you want."

"Uh, sure, why not?" Sonic shrugged and began walking through the park with them. "Do you guys have names?" he asked.

"Yep! My name's Mike, and this is Luke," said the boy wearing the hat.

"Nice to meet you, Mike, and Luke. My name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. You two seem really nice," said Sonic.

"So let's play soccer!" exclaimed Mike, bouncing around excitedly.

They ran around the field, the kids were kicking soccer balls back and forth and screaming and shouting in excitement. They were having so much fun, and Sonic joined right along, feeling happy being able to play with children again after so long. Eventually, everyone ran out of breath, panting and smiling at each other.

"Wow, you guys must be really good at soccer!" grinned Sonic.

"Yeah, we are. We got pretty good at it during our summer camp when our coach made us take turns playing a game of soccer in the field every afternoon," said Mike.

"That sounds like fun. How about you, Luke? What sport do you play?" asked Sonic.

"I play soccer, as well. I'm kinda a good kicker. Like, good," said Luke.

"I see. I play baseball and rugby," said Sonic.

Mike looked at him curiously, "Are you a pitcher or a catcher? What's your favorite position?"

"I'm a batter, actually. I can hit a home run pretty fast," he replied with a smile.

"That's cool," said Mike.

Sonic stood up and stretched, yawning widely. "Well, I gotta get home now. Your parents must be worried about you," he said.

"Oh, yeah. Well, see you later, Sonic! We'll play again next time!" called Luke.

"See you around, Sonic!" added Mike.

With that, Sonic waved goodbye to Mike and Luke and then walked off home. The sun was starting to set, he ran through the city with a blue streak behind him. He was exhausted from playing soccer with the other kids. He had quite a lot of fun to help him to cure his depression, and make him forget about everything that had happened. He felt a little better.

'Oh, man. I felt a little better. That was really fun that I was playing soccer with them, and I haven't felt that good in months!' thought Sonic happily as he jogged the rest of the way home.

Sonic heard a scream in the distance, and he slowed down his jog, looking around. 'Huh? Who would scream like that in the middle of the night?' wondered Sonic. He then spotted the robots attacking the city. 'Those robot bastards again?! What is with these idiots attacking us?!' he growled angrily.

He ran off to defend the city, and he noticed more robots than usual patrolling the city. One of them grabbed Sonic's ankle, causing him to fall backward on the ground.

"Ah!" yelled Sonic. 'Ugh, these stupid things keep grabbing me.' he groaned, pushing away the robot and getting back up.

Sonic looked down the street to see if there was anything he could use to destroy the robots, but there weren't any convenient weapons lying around. He sighed and began running, hoping there was someone who needed his help.

"Hohohohoho!" an evil laughter echoed through the streets. He turned around where the evil laugh came from. Eggman lowered his Eggmobile and stood up, laughing evilly, "Well, well, well. If it isn't my old nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog." he chuckled.

"Eggman!" Sonic growled. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded.

"This city is mine. I can come whenever I want without anyone stopping me," he replied smugly.

"Then why did you attack us?! You don't give up, do you?!" cried Sonic furiously.

"Because this city belongs to me, and I need a reason to attack a place," answered Eggman confidently. "Besides, you ruined my plans to kill you, so I figured it was only fair that I return the favor by taking care of your precious friends," he gestured to Sonic's friends who were trapped inside the glass bubble.

Sonic's eyes widened in horror. The team desperately tried to break free but it was useless. No matter how hard they struggled, there was nothing they could do. They were crying out for help.

"Guys!" He cried to his friend, then he angrily turned to Eggman. "Why are you doing this!? Let them go!" demanded Sonic, gritting his teeth.

Eggman chuckled, "You still don't understand, do you? This city belongs to me. I've been planning revenge ever since the moment I first laid eyes on you, Sonic the Hedgehog." he cackled maniacally. "It doesn't matter what kind of hero you are. All that matters is power. Power means power over the universe. And what you have given to me makes me very powerful."

"What're you gonna do to them?" demanded Sonic.

"Just watch," grinned Eggman, raised the remote to his hand, and pressed the button to electrify them, sending shocks through their bodies to paralyze them. They collapsed into helplessness.

Sonic gasped in shock and anger, tears coming to his eyes as the electricity continued to pulse through their bodies. After a few seconds, Eggman stopped pressing the remote. "There. Now you can stop interfering."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! LET MY FRIENDS GO!!" he yelled in rage, his blue electricity surged through his body and his glowed blue with fury as he clenched his fist tightly. He charged at Eggman with rage yelling and ready to punch him.