A/N: Before we start this prompt, I'm issuing a WARNING for bullying and a potentially distressing moment in this prompt, hence the theme. If anyone here is too squeamish, stay tuned for tomorrow's prompt.

Without further ado, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the prompt!

7 Reviews

toantakeri

Thank you for your review! The reason humans can't use Chaos Control (or any other Chaos Emerald related abilities) like Sonic and Shadow can is because they don't have any natural Chaos energy in their bodies.

In my headcanon, certain Mobians, such as Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Blaze, have a tremendously abundant amount of Chaos Energy in their bodies, and when they use the Emeralds to use Chaos Control, Chaos Blast, or turn super, the Emeralds pull from the Chaos energy in their bodies. As a result, they may feel tired when they return to normal.

Normal Mobians have only a little Chaos energy. They can use basic Emerald abilities like Chaos Control or Chaos Blast, but it makes them feel super exhausted, so it's very rare that they would do something like that unless they're in an emergency. And of course, they can't turn super either.

Humans, on the other hand, have no Chaos energy whatsoever, and if one tries to use the Emeralds, while they are able to use Chaos Control or Chaos Blast, the Emeralds pull from their life force instead, which would effectively kill the human within a matter of hours or days. That's why humans never use the Emeralds.

Super duper waffles

You're welcome! I would say it's half-canon to Chaos on Earth, because while it would make sense for the planets to exist in both universes, other planets like the ones in the Metarex Saga don't exist in Chris' universe. So I'll just chalk it up to it being undiscovered planets in the same galaxy.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably include whether the chapter is canon in my future reviews.

Guest

Nope! Counting this day, Chris still has to deal with 22 more days of Whumptober! We're just getting started! :D

Surprisingly, I haven't come across too many fanfics that truly bash Chris, and I've been writing with him for 6 years!

Super duper waffles

No worries, it doesn't bother me at all, in fact, I love answering your questions!

Chaos on Earth spans the years 2021-2023, and while I haven't shone too much focus on the President or the rest of the government (outside of GUN) in Chaos on Earth, I would say Remerson is in his first term. It would also line up with Jerome Wise being obsessed with making Remerson look good for his re-election campaign.

MrGoodWriter96

It's all good, and I will admit, slice-of-life is one of my weak points as a writer, which is kinda why it felt like I cut to the chase there.

I too hope Chris will be okay...

thor94

Pretty much XD

CreativeKitty975

Fortunately this prompt was more my speed, even if it means stepping outside my comfort zone a bit. But then again, Whumptober has been full of stepping outside my comfort zone, but it's really broadening my horizons as a writer!

Day Ten: Blow To The Head
Prompt: Blow To The Head

"Hey Chris."

Chris paused in his tracks. This was the first incident he had during his walks to and from school since the semester started. He couldn't say he cared for the way the person said his name.

Looking behind him, he saw an older student walking toward him. He was at least a few years older than him, most likely in high school.

"Oh, hey Keith."

"So tell me. Is it really true that Sonic the Hedgehog is living with you?"

Normally Chris would be too nervous to answer a point-blank question like that, but it did recently become common knowledge that Sonic and his friends were living with him. However, he didn't like the undertone of scorn that was dripping from Keith's tone.

"Yeah…?" He blinked in confusion. "Why?"

Everyone knows that by now, he added to himself, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.

"You must be pretty lucky then," Keith said, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "He chose to live with you and no one else in the whole world. You ever wonder why?"

"Actually, I do," Chris said, keeping his voice even, although his brain was screaming at him to get out of there.

"Then tell me," Keith demanded. "I wanna hear it from you."

Chris glanced around him, realizing he and Keith were alone about a block away from his home, before he hesitantly spoke.

"Well… Sonic fell in the pool one night and… and I dove in and rescued him, and he became my friend after that. And now he and all his friends live with me. Um… N-No offense, but didn't you see the interview?"

"Don't give me that garbage!" Keith snapped, and Chris flinched and took a step backward. "Yes, I saw the interview, you're basically copying what they said. You just admitted that Sonic owes you because you rescued him, and he became your 'friend' out of pity."

"Don't say that!" Chris said, matching Keith's tone to a lesser degree. "Sonic is truly grateful that I rescued him, he told me himself. And he even rescued me when I was in danger! He would save you if you're in danger, you know."

"Right, because he owes you!" Keith shrugged indignantly, ignoring Chris' last sentence. "And why would he want to live with someone he's in debt to? Are you guys his landlords or something?"

Chris was briefly taken aback by the insult, but he quickly regained his composure.

"I'm not his landlord!" Chris snapped. "I'm his friend!"

"Out of pity, right, you finally get it," Keith smirked. "Did you make all your other friends out of pity too? That's not how friendship works, even I know that."

"But–"

"So what I'm basically saying is you don't have any friends. Zero."

Chris felt himself getting mad, and tears were lurking behind the corners of his eyes. He felt trapped, and he wanted to run back home so badly, but he knew deep down that Keith was faster than him and would catch up to him in a heartbeat, and he didn't even want to think about what would happen after that.

But he decided to try it anyway.

He turned and sprinted back toward his house, but sure enough, Keith caught up to him in seconds.

"Oh, we're not done yet," he called, cutting in front of him and grabbing his arm. "You think you can run away from the truth by running from me? You're not getting out of this one so easily."

"Leave me alone!" Chris exclaimed, trying to pull free from the older teen's grasp.

"Leave me alone!" Keith repeated in a mocking tone. "What, are you some whiny kid who can't stand up for himself? No wonder Eggman captures you all the time. No wonder your 'friends' have to fight all your battles for you."

There was a tense pause in the air as Keith finally let go of Chris' arm.

"Don't get me wrong, I hate Eggman too, but you need to see the big picture. You only see the world from up on your high horse. And when I say you don't have friends, I mean it. They only like you because of Sonic. Why? Because you were just the only child of parents who are never around for you, and then Sonic came in and made you famous, and now everyone suddenly likes you. Oh, what's that? You're already famous? Is that why Sonic's living with you instead of anyone else, because you're famous? And here I thought you couldn't be any more spoiled."

"I'm not spoiled!" Chris snapped.

"Aaaand the truth comes out," Keith said sarcastically with a chuckle. "Only a spoiled brat would say that. You have this gigantic mansion, for crying out loud. You have a butler. You have a maid. You have more money than you know what to do with. You probably use it to clean the bathroom for all I know. You only see things from your perspective, from your throne. You don't see the struggles of the rest of us middle-class people. You get to see Sonic on a daily basis. We don't get to see him at all unless he wants to show up on his own. So get off your high horse and look at the world like a normal person. And stop hogging Sonic to yourself just so you can be famous."

Out of the corner of Chris' eyes, he could see two other teens approaching, probably Keith's friends… or rather, accomplices.

His heart sank even lower.

"Ew, is that Chris Thorndyke?" one of the teens said with an air of disgust.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, more like Chris the Money-Hog," the other said with a laugh.

"Hey Connor, Justin," Keith said with a nod of his head.

"I'm not hogging Sonic," Chris said, trying to keep his tone even. "He CHOSE to live with me, he wanted to be friends with me. And he was the first friend I ever made."

"Can't say I'm surprised," Justin said.

"Oh, is he replacing Danny, Frances, and Helen?" Connor sneered. "Is he like your new BFF of the week?"

Chris couldn't answer, he was too scared, plus he realized he may have said the wrong thing, even if it was the truth.

"I guess so," Keith said with a nod in Connor's direction.

"U-Um… I-I meant to say–"

"Nope, too late, you already said what you said," Keith said.

"Give me your phone," Justin said as he took a step toward Chris, his arm extended out.

Chris gasped. "What?"

"Give me your phone," Justin repeated with a nod. "We wanna see who else you dropped from your contacts."

"I'm not gonna give you my phone!" Chris exclaimed. "It's private!"

"Just like how Sonic is private?" Keith said. "Look, just give us your phone, kid. It'll only take a second."

"I just wanna go home!" Chris pressed.

"You can, after we go through your contacts," Keith said.

"I'm gonna be real honest here," Justin said. "We're tired of you. You're super whiny, and you have to rely on Sonic to save you all the time. Not only that, but Sonic is always running around, so you spend all your free time with Tails and Amy instead. Can't blame Sonic, he probably wants to stay away from you."

"What he said," Keith said. "Now give us the stupid phone before we take it from you the hard way. Either way, we're getting your contacts."

Chris was extremely hesitant. If he gave the teens his contacts, they would mock him even more, but if he didn't, they would likely beat him up and then take his phone anyway.

He decided to suck it up. He fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Keith with trembling hands.

"No lock screen password, that's stupid," Keith mused as he unlocked Chris' phone and navigated to his contacts. His friends gathered around him, all the while keeping an eye on Chris to make sure he didn't run away.

"Guys…" Keith said with a snicker as he scrolled through the few contacts that Chris had. "I think we're onto something."

"I only see his grandpa and butler and maid in there, and a few other guys…" Connor said. "But I don't see Danny, Frances, or Helen."

"I don't see Sonic either," Keith said, before looking up at Chris. "You wanna talk, buddy? You wanna tell us why you're ditching friends?"

"Rich kid privileges," Connor spat.

"Only child privileges," Justin added.

"I'm gonna address the elephant in the room," Keith said, passing Chris' phone to Justin. "Sonic's cool, but we hate the Thorndykes. We hate how they hog all their wealth to themselves instead of getting kids like us out of the slums. We hate the Thorndykes. And guess what your last name is?"

Chris gulped.

"Exactly. We're gonna make an impression on society by making an impression on you!"

Right as Keith made the first swing, there was a blue blur that sped through the street they were on, but it was too late. Keith's fist made contact with Chris' chest, and he was sent flying backwards. To Sonic's horror, Chris' head made contact with the ground.

"Chris!" a new voice screamed through the air. Tails, who had just come from the hardware store with Sonic, dropped his purchases and flew straight toward the bullies.

"He's had enough, let's get out of here," Keith hastily told his companions as the three of them ran away from Chris. However, they were cut off by Sonic. The vengeful look on his face sent fear through their spines.

"All right, talk. Which one of you punks hit my friend like that, huh?!"

Tails caught up with Sonic, and his eyes were like fire. He looked like he wanted to beat up the bullies so bad.

"I got this, Tails," Sonic told him, trying to control his anger for his little brother's sake. "You take care of Chris."

"You're faster," Tails told him. "He needs urgent care right now."

One of the bullies tried to escape, but Sonic stepped forward in the blink of an eye to prevent him from going anywhere.

"You wanna do this, Tails?" Sonic asked him, and Tails firmly nodded. "Okay, but don't go too rough on 'em."

As Tails turned to the bullies and prepared to give them a piece of his mind, Sonic ran to Chris' side, where tears were filling his eyes, and he was trying his hardest not to cry.

"Chris…" Sonic softly said as he inspected the boy's injuries. There was a nasty bump on the back of his head, and blood could be seen staining his hair and dripping onto the ground. As much as he wanted to go back and deal with the bullies, Chris came first.

"I gotcha, Chris," Sonic said as he lifted him into his arms and raced him to the hospital.

"Sh… Shonic…" Chris said, his voice slurred.

"I'm here, Chris, I'm here," Sonic quietly told him as he sped through the streets toward the hospital.

"Are… Are you only f-friends with me… out of pity…?"

Sonic blinked in shock. "What?" Another wave of the now-familiar anger passed through him. "Did those kids tell you that?"

"Mmm…" Chris was in too much pain to answer. "I… I don't know wh-what to think anymore… I-I can't think straight…"

Sonic gritted his teeth and ran even faster. They were in his head, and Sonic had to intervene.

"Chris, if I was only friends with you out of pity, then I wouldn't be out there saving you all those times. I wouldn't even be living with you. You may have pulled me out of the pool, but that doesn't mean I owe you anything. I help you out because I want to."

"S… Sonic… I-It hurts…"

"I know, bud…" Sonic said, trying to make sure his voice was comforting for him despite the tenseness of the situation. "I don't need a reason to help out a friend. I don't even need a reason to be your friend– Chris…?"

He was about to say something more, but he noticed how Chris was slumped over in his grasp. He had passed out.

A/N: That concludes day 10! Shoutout to LivvyKitty1208 and elprovchico for helping out throughout this prompt! Elprovchico suggested an idea that I could add a new scene where I could focus on Tails dealing with the bullies, but even though the prompts focus on Chris, I could probably do something like that in a separate story.

I focused on the theme prompt "Blow To The Head", but I ended up more or less using all four prompts!

Tomorrow's theme is "Seeing Double!"