Sonic: Sketchy
Concept by M.C. Griffin
Written by Sean Catlett and M.C. Griffin

Wednesday

Da Da DAAAAAA!

Welcome.

‘Thank you. Things have not been very pleasant around here. It’s hard to get Ideas. And all things considering, I’m surprised the Knightopians haven’t been taken by the Wiseman. It’s hard… so hard.’

They are approaching. Time is short. The Wiseman and Jackal are coming closer. Speed up.

‘I’m trying.’

It is not enough.

‘It’s too cloudy.’

Fly.

‘But how can I help the Knightopians if I can’t get Ideas?’

It is vital. Nights can do it. Nights knows how. Nights is Reala. Reala is Nights.

‘How can I fly if I can’t see?’

You don’t need eyes to see. Just Ideas.

‘But I can’t get Ideas if I can’t see.’

Fly.

Wait a minute. This doesn’t make any sense. What is going on? Why is he black? Is he talking to me? Am I Nights? How can I be Reala if I am Nights? I thought I went through this already. It’s confusing when you’re made in the middle of something else. Someone please explain this to me…

Suddenly, the color red appears.

‘There is no Nights.”

**********

FUCK!

Like I said, I hate it when that happens.

I bolt up in bed. Sweat pours down my head and the marijuana fabric is soaking wet. I put my hands on my cheeks and try to calm myself. Whatever happened, it disturbed me.

Shit.

That was one crazy dream. Oh, fuck. There were towers upon towers, in the sky, and clouds surrounded me. The person, who I think was me, stood atop one of these towers. I talked to the grassy sky, and it talked back. And colors are apparently understood.

And already it’s fading away. I can’t remember much anymore. Details are sketchy.

Okay.

So, here I am. Awake again. I can still wake up. And it’s one of those mornings where I know I’m going to be teased. So, I wait for it.

I wait.

Still happy.

I know where I am now.

Still happy.

I am in Knothole village.

Still happy.

I am in a hut…

Wait for it…

I lean against the wall behind me and at any moment the waves of feeling used and beaten are going to flow over me, like always.

Then, I look over to my right and see her smiling face.

There she is, her lips curled back in a small, cute smile, her hair tossed and untended to, her eyelids shut tight. Her arms still wrapped around me.

Oh yeah. I remember now.

And yet… I’m still… happy.

Happy.

The word echoes in my head, over and over again. This is such bullshit… but… I really am happy.

For the first time, ever, I smile without having to fake it. A meaningful smile that actually has depth, that actually means that it is how I feel.

I made Sally happy last night. I had sex with, or fucked, her, depending on how you look at it. It seemed to be the first time she’s ever truly liked what she was.

It sounds weird, but it’s like I could feel her elation, her total ecstasy. It was in her sweat, her tears, her fur. And I got off on it. It was my money, it was my sex, it’s my unlimited power. Other people’s happiness makes my life worth continuing.

Despite the fact that I know that my own happiness is short lived, I keep smiling. I enjoy it while it lasts, while everything is still good, while nothing else in this fake world matters. While not even the oncoming battle can faze me and my joy. While, for at least this moment, I can enjoy what’s happening and not worry about anything. While nothing is chaotic or changing or decaying.

Still good.

Still good.

Shit, I gotta pee.

Still smiling, I carefully get up from my position on the bed and walk outside.

In the forest, outside of Sally’s hut, it’s biting cold. The air seems to have little teeth of its own, all chomping away at exposed flesh. It’s the kind of cold that itches, that make your pores pop. The kind of cold that I hate.

Fog is beginning to roll into the trees. The forest of the Green Hill Zone has an air of quieted content. The calm before the storm.

I walk around to the side of the hut and to the same tree I pissed at the day before. The same old oak that needed to be either fed or cut down. Continued living or mercy killing. Pull the plug or force feed.

How it looks now is more decayed than it had been the morning before, and more depressed than ever. It’s like it knows it’s a part of a fake world built for the exploitation of creatures, and still… it’s home, and it can’t escape from it.

It’s not like I can’t relate.

So, I start peeing on the tree and I immediately feel pain in my lower midsection. To keep from crying out, I lean up against the tree and bite my lip.

I’m pissing red.

Only now it’s very red.

And to think, this used to be my favorite color.

With a small cry, I pull back and force the rest of it out quickly, putting more pressure on my bladder. The pain is so unbearable that I bite harder into my lip on purpose to try and distract myself. But… it’s useless. Exercising futility.

I’m broken.

There’s something broken within me, but it’s not that that I’m uncomfortable with. What bothers me is that for the first time, I can’t get it fixed, whatever it is, and the only person who can help me is the one I’m running from.

**********

Robotnik hardly ever slept anymore, and the previous night was no exception.

With all the things that had been going on lately, the project, the newly completed Sonic models, and the power problem, it was almost impossible to shut his eyes. And besides, since the zone had been shut down for the past four years, the doctor wanted to relish every minute of it. It felt good to see the obstacles in action again.

Shadow jumped on a giant spring and was catapulted into the air.

The Doctor smiled and watched from his clear window perch overlooking the entire Spring Yard Zone. Shadow looked absolutely graceful in performing all of these moves. Sheer perfection.

His eyes looked briefly to the ground floor to the left, where Snively was in his Pseudo Sonic suit, controlling Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic. He let loose a small laugh when Silver missed a spring and clattered to the floor with a clang. Mecha Sonic stopped moving its legs and came to a complete halt. The Doctor heard Snively groan over the com system.

“I’m starting to have second thoughts about this, sir.”

Robotnik grabbed the microphone and pressed the com button. “Quit chittering, you dolt. You signed on for this.”

“Sir, it’s a little hard to concentrate on controlling two ‘bots at once, let alone keep myself out of danger if the situation does arise. I doubt this provides any practical use at all.”

“Snively, what you don’t understand is that our target has considerable resources at their disposal, not to mention our little runaway,” Robotnik’s metal hand unconsciously tightened its grip on the microphone. “It’s hard for you to control them because you aren’t used to the battle mechanics. Give it time.”

A sigh came over the com speaker. “Very well. By the way sir, have you dealt with our power problem yet, or do I have to shut down the sun again?”

“I don’t know how may times you’ve asked me that, dear boy, but it’s starting to wear my patience thin.” The hand gripped tighter. “Last night, I received the very thing I needed to correct our problem. Now I suggest you stop worrying about the power and start worrying about your inability to control your new position.”

“All I’m saying, sir, is that we at least shut down some zones to prepare ourselves. We should do it to be sure that we have enough to take off and start the attack. Possibly… The Star Light Zone.”

Robotnik just stared at the speaker in disbelief. His hand loosened on the microphone.

“Sir?”

But the Doctor was lost in thought, blank silence across airwaves. Shadow stopped moving and looked up at the window from her position and wondered what was taking her creator so long to answer. If it was her choice, she would have smacked Snively across the face and beat the shit out of him. But no, her beloved Eggman was benevolent to his subordinates.

Above, the Doctor just stared, remembering the red skin, the white upon white teeth, the shapeless, unidentifiable form, and the eyes.

Oh the eyes, how they seemed to stretch on forever even though they had a discernable end. How the eyes were so full of evil that it hurt the Doctor to look at them for too long. How he could hear the creature’s thoughts echoing in the core of his own mind, faster and more chaotic than his, and how he understood and loved every bit of it.

Robotnik finally snapped out of it after the fifth or sixth “Sir!”

“I’ll… I’ll take it under advisement.”

Below, Eggman saw the Pseudo suit shrug its shoulders and turn to the two ‘bots in the distance. Both Silver and Mecha Sonic came back to life and continued their awkward training.

The Doctor, his collar covering his mouth entirely, turned back to admire Shadow some more, and was surprised to see that she was already staring at him.

And smiling.

Robotnik smiled back, and waved slightly. She extended her black furred palm and blew him a kiss. Then she continued onto the next spring.

And both training sessions went on. For the next few moments, there were no interruptions. Just perfection being studied by its creator.

Then the com rang.

The Doctor picked it up and raised it to his ear.

“REQUESTED ‘BOTS HAVE REACHED THEIR LOCATIONS. AWAITING NEXT ORDERS,” the robotic voice droned at him.

“Any opposition met is to be dealt with extreme force. Nothing that attacks lives. Confirm?”

“CONFIRM. PROTOCOLS DISABLED.”

Robotnik stared at the com switch for a long time, remembering his recent lapse.

“Cancel that order. Instead, I want any animals that are running for door 002 to be captured and brought to me. Confirm?”

“COMFIRM. NEW ORDERS SET.”

“Also, I want any ‘bots on patrol to be called back. Check traps before leaving, and any isolated animals in range are to be captured and also brought to me.”

“CONFIRM.”

“Out,” The doctor released the com trigger and switched back over to the loudspeaker.

“Snively, how far are we behind on power?”

A few seconds before his reply.

“Last time I checked, sir, 9,000 short and climbing,” a strained voice came. “Why, you’re not getting any ideas, are you?”

“Inspiration cannot wait, dear Snively.”

An exasperated “shit” came over the line before Robotnik terminated the signal. With that, he walked out of the room.

**********

At this time, Nack woke up and immediately sat up in his silk bed.

He knew what was coming, and didn’t want to wait around for the trouble to start. Prostitutes can get mean if you give them a reason for it.

Despite the fact that the Doc had told him next to nothing about what was going to happen, he still knew it was bigger than it seemed. So, just to make sure, he wanted to be as far away as possible. Maybe he would check out the neighboring holding pen. Those retarded animals had always made him laugh.

Nack got off of his mattress and walked to his fucking huge wardrobe that he couldn’t remember how he got. Rouge stirred in bed and looked at the clock.

“It’s five in the morning, you stupid shit. Why are you getting up?”

“Shut the fuck up, bitch, I’m goin’ for a walk.”

Rouge just stared at him in the dark. His skinny ass weasel body looked silhouetted, like his shadow. The arguments always started this way, because of her. Immediately, she regretted calling him a stupid shit and getting him all riled up. He was always real grumpy in the morning. She stared at him in the dark.

“Don’t give me that look, alright, I can feel your look,” Nack said as he crossed the room to find his pants and ended up tripping over the mirrored night stand and fell out of Rouge’s sight. “FUCK! OUCH!”

Rouge did her best to keep from laughing, but a couple of snickers burst out. From the floor, Nack looked up over the edge of the bed.

“I’m glad you find my pain so goddamn funny. Where did I leave my pants?”

Rouge shrugged, and the blanket covering her fell to her waist, making her look fetching even in the dark. Sort of a jungle princess, unspoiled by the evils of civilization. A little paradox all her own.

Nack, of course, had too much on his mind to realize this. He got up from the floor and continued his search. He found his pants sprawled on the floor right next to the piles of cash and the handcuffs.

Rouge groaned then threw the covers back over her head, frustrated at him, but mostly at herself. “Fine. I’m going back to sleep, then.”

Nack put on his shirt and his vest. He was walking out, but then looked back at Rouge. He started to say something to her, but decided against it and walked out of the room and into the casino.

**********

At the same time this was happening, Bunnie woke up and realized her headache was gone.

**********

At the same time this was happening, Robotnik was in his laboratory in the Death Egg, so high above the ground that it could be called heaven, drawing up schematics for a new Sonic model. He looked out the window despite the fact he knew he would only see clouds.

**********

At the same time this was happening, Snively had Silver execute a perfect tuck and roll maneuver over and under a spiked chain and jump on a spring, while Mecha dodged two giant stone balls spinning on an invisible axis.

**********

At the same time this was happening, Shadow completed the entire course flawlessly and in record time.

And smiling the whole way.

**********

At the same time this was happening, Manic and Ashura walked outside the casino and wondered why the sudden burst of ‘bots in the vicinity.

**********

At the same time this was happening, the waves and waves of ‘bots guarding door 002 in the Marble Zone finished setting up a defense perimeter. Setting up the plants and burning them.

And were waiting, with eyes trained on the level of hills in the distance.

**********

At the same time this was happening, Antoine, the ugly as hell fox\wolf half breed, living proof of genetic compatibility, poster child for stopping Robotnik, sat upright in attention and woke the others up.

**********

At the same time this was happening… fuck it.

**********

I look at the morning sun behind me for the millionth time and I keep walking through the forest. Light trickles down through the trees and slows everything down to a crawl. The fog has lifted its shroud and clear fields await us.

Hopefully, Antoine is awake and diving for the valves.

Awhile ago, everyone from Knothole woke up and immediately got every weapon they could find and gathered them in a big pile. Then, the placing of weapons on flesh until the original animal itself was no longer recognizable.

Heh, there’s that déjà vu again.

Then, at the river, the one that ran out from the Labyrinth Zone whenever it emptied itself, the one where the fish ‘bots came up for air every once in awhile, the one where all of the animals had once tried to escape but ended up drowned and washing to shore, the very river that was so choked with dead bodies that the stench hung in the air indefinitely, this is the river where the animals reached into the death stricken ground and brought up handfuls of mud to rub on themselves, on their faces, as war paint. It must’ve been symbolism or whatever, like in a way, their family and friends that had realized the lie before they did would finally get their revenge in the oncoming battle. They would be with them on the front lines tearing up ‘bot after ‘bot and making a break for the unknown freedom.

You’d think that death would be the end for someone, but hoards of people putting their atoms on their faces seems to imply a messed up resurrection.

The crowd looked up at me and Sally, both covered with mud like them, as we addressed them before the big moment, when life is a big question mark put on blood soaked paper.

I looked down at the ground and started talking.

“Today, you will all learn a different side of life. You will learn pain, and become its best friend and best enemy. You will learn what it feels like to be an empty calorie, a sucked up lake of water, a stretched out tendon, a broken bone. I’m not promising life. I’m not guaranteeing death. But for sure, this will be disastrous,” I paused and looked up at their stone metal faces. “Prove me wrong. I dare you.”

Sally spoke up. “I want you all to know that I’ve forgotten titles. Everything in the past is buried. I no longer care what right I have to be your leader, so, anyone who wants to take my place can step forward now and take command.”

Predictably, nobody made a single move.

“Okay, then,” I walked over to the left. “The door is behind a big stone wall on top of a hill. If Group Two has succeeded, the lava flow will be off. If not, you can easily spot where it will be. It’s the stone with the red water cascading up from the ground. Robotnik isn’t a stupid fucker. He’s going all out on this one. Opposition is going to be at its maximum. Despite this, though, you will all keep fighting until the flow’s off, and then you make a break for it. And for God’s sake, avoid any traps and lava rivers.”

Right here I thought of all the questions I wish the crowd would just ask me. All the things eating away at me that I wish I could just tell them.

“Nobody gives up, you hear me? If I see anybody giving up I will drag you back to the death and destruction, kicking and screaming, and throw you into the fray.”

Will we make it out alive?

“Once we reach the site, we will come up with a battle plan, a coordinated attack.”

What happens on the outside?

“You can figure out for yourselves what to do when you make it.”

Aren’t you coming with us?

“Let’s go.”

I walked over to Sally and handed her my gun.

“Remember what I taught you,” I whispered to her.

She nodded, and then our group set out.

Now I keep looking at the sun over my shoulder and hoping it wasn’t a mistake leaving Antoine in charge. If he fails, we have nothing and we’re just fighting for no reward.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not going with my group of freedom fighters. They can handle themselves. Right now, my goal is to get these animals liberated so I can hurry up and fight my fucking creator. And as much as I hate to admit it, I admire Robotnik for his ingenious ideas, and his ability to keep an area this big under control. Well, until now, that is. Until he made me and allowed me to malfunction.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still gonna kill him. Oh, in the worst way. But…

Even the end of the world can be a thing of beauty, a gorgeous sight to behold. You can’t blame evil for what it is. Sure, you can hate it all you want, but you can’t ignore the significance of it.

Some think death is beauty. Some think life is. A boy in a plastic bubble will think a deck of cards is the only pure thing in the world. A bird beholds the sight of a clear sky.

This is a hard lesson to learn, that this place is full of different ideas, different feelings about different things. That it’s always moving and always chaotic. It’s too unpredictable to define clearly.

My point is that no matter how much you think that you are right, there is always something that proves you wrong. An opposite force set so you can look at yourself in a new light if you choose to.

Anyway, shit, I’ve gone way off track. My group of about thirty has reached the edge of the forest, and over the next hill was the Marble Zone. We have to cross yet another grass field first.

It seems in this green upon green field of redundant grass that everything is fine. In a few minutes, the sun would be high enough to start its chemical reaction and produce enough food to survive. At least we have a common goal, even if we do it differently.

We’re all walking through the field and it’s serene on all sides. Besides the slight roar coming from over the next hill, it’s silent and unmoving.

Then, the marble stones came into the fray. Animals are stubbing their toes on them and falling to the ground in pain, squirming. The stones are burning hot, after all. They’d get up and wonder what the fuck happened just then, how it made little sense.

Thermal equilibrium. Big words just to impress you.

Like coagulation.

A distinct smell creeps into my nostrils.

We keep walking and I already miss the cold feel of the gun. I start to crack my broken knuckles. I rip off every marijuana patch off of my body and throw it to the ground. The wind carries behind the pieces of me back to the trees.

I look down to check my shoes. The red is a little faded and the small patches of when Tails fixed them are still glued to the holes. I wiggle my toes and move my feet left and right.

I look up at Tails, over in the middle of the group. Out of all the nameless faces and names, she’s one that I hope will make it. Well, okay, her and Sally. They are the only ones that shouldn’t die today.

Gotta be a fucked up God to do that.

It’s funny. Sally and Tails are making all of this worth while to me. They are the rewards, or they seem like it for some reason. It’s like… they’re the only real animals.

No, really, it’s funny.

I move my head side to side and both hear and feel the skeleton popping tiny air bubbles in the empty spaces. I keep walking as I stretch my arms out in front of me and extend them to the furthest extreme. All of this as me and my group come over the final hill and see our opposition.

I motion for everyone to get low to the ground, beneath the grass where we can’t be seen.

The burning hill in the distance is bathed in the red glow of burning lava running in all directions from under the ground. Marble as stone structures, the way a city would be if it was even inhabitable for a period of an hour before fur and skin would catch on fire.

This means the battle must be quick.

I didn’t tell anyone this, but the Marble Zone is a praying ground for the animals of the Emerald Hill Zone, the second holding pen that is within sight. Chances are, this entire battle will be witnessed by the hoards of believers in blind faith. I’m hoping this will serve as inspiration for them to escape as well.

Surely, by now, any witnesses would have seen the groups of ‘bots on top of the hills, milling about, setting up stalks of…

I sigh. “Shit.”

They’re putting up marijuana plants on the hill and setting them on fire.

The memories of memories of memories of fucking déjà vu better quit.

**********

Excerpt from Sonic’s Survival Tips:

Every ‘bot has its own stupid name to go with it.

Buzzbombers are the ones that fly around with the same blank expression on their faces. Sometimes its antennae will droop and it will look like it’s frowning, but the important thing is that it has a huge stinger coming out of its ass that can impale you if it hits right. This stinger can retract and the orifice becomes a grenade launcher. A good way to kill these guys is simple once you got them on the ground. The ass of a Buzzbomber can curl about 45 degrees to its front, at which point it either dives or shoots a grenade. They’re fast little shits, but once you got a hold of them they’re pretty much yours. I saw this one walrus dude take on four at once, so consider these almost minimal threats compared to the others.

Motobugs are basically big ass hunks of metal with gun emplacements. Yesterday I was shot by one of these and it hurt like a bitch. No exception for you, except maybe the shit caliber bullets will go right through you. These lumbering ‘bots also have these pincers on their front just in case the thousands of bullets they’re firing don’t hit anything and they need actual battle proficiency. I’ll be trying to take these out, but in case you do come across one, get either behind it or on top of it, rip the metal panels off, and start cutting wires. Me, I can do this in about five seconds, so it would be best for you to avoid them altogether. I know it was a piece of cake killing them last time, but that’s because they weren’t programmed to kill you. It’s no fucking doubt that they are now.

Crabmeats you’ve already met. Grenades shoot out of their sharp claws. You can pretty much rip these guys apart with no problems. They’re vulnerable everywhere their hands aren’t pointing.

Neutrons… shit. Neutrons are these camouflaged bastards that hide in the grass and rocket towards anything that comes in its detection radius. They can go fast enough to reduce you to a pile of sweating blood meats if they happen to hit you. I hate these little shits. The only way you guys could kill them would be if you got on their back and worked from there, but even there you have to land after it shorts out. Robotnik really likes those. Avoid them if you can.

Caterkillers can be killed by focusing your attacks on their head. The rest of the body is a weapon it uses. Simple enough, right? Oh, and hit it on the tail first and it shoots its body parts in all directions. Right, that may be important info.

Now, somewhere on the battlefield is a generator providing all these ‘bots extra power. It’s a giant metal container most likely in cover. Look for places that seem impossible to reach and chances are that’s where it is. What it does is traps animals inside and draws power from them. If you find it, give me a holler and I’ll come running. I can destroy it and you’ll be well on your way to leave. Just don’t try to open the door on the front.

The traps originally put in the zone are most likely still active. It wouldn’t be a good thing to get caught in these. Take my word for it.

Remember, you can pick up a ‘bots severed weapon at any time, and by simply pressing the button on the side it becomes your own little weapon of destruction. Welcome to the way things work.

Watch the enemies and how they move. Plan each attack carefully, and as soon as the lava flow turns off, make a break for it.

Any…

**********

… questions?

Pocky raised his hand.

“Where are we going?”

Antoine was leading the animals he had across the sands of the ruined Chemical Plant Zone to the Oil Ocean valves, and he was still scared of the place. Any minute he was expecting something to jump out and take him.

Cut to yesterday, when Antoine was putting a grenade into a power core, when everything seemed to be perfect and unstoppable, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, dropped the grenade to the ground, and ran out screaming. It was a good thing the grenade had rolled into the cell network and exploded, else the tubular silo would still be standing.

Antoine has had the same dream ever since he was a kid. The sky would be red and dark. There would be purple clouds floating low enough to be fog. He would be walking along the body of a giant metal God and a blue snake, its body made of perfectly round balls, would jump out at him.

He would always wake up screaming and sweating.

From then on, anything blue meant danger to him. And he still believed he was not very far off.

He answered Pocky’s question, but he was only barely understandable. What he meant to say was:

Sonic said to go to the black water, and that is where we are going.

This group was trudging through the remains of the Chemical Plant Zone. Besides the tipped silos and the dying fires, a clear purple fluid soaked everything in sight and was steadily rising and bubbling to the surface on the outskirts. Bodies of the ‘bots who guarded the zone were seen everywhere floating lifelessly on the surface. Sonic had explained that Spine ‘bots and Grabber ‘bots were not made to function under any kind of liquid, especially this. Sonic had explained that below, the ground pipes and such transported the fluid, called Mega Mack, lower underground. Each day, more and more would come in from the artificial landscapes of Robotropolis and were collected and forgotten here. A bi-product of a bi-product. Sonic said that any prolonged exposure to this Mega Mack and you wouldn’t need to escape from life when you can easily achieve death by sitting there motionless.

In other words, pack your bags for the afterlife.

Sonic also gave sage-like advice.

Antoine was still struggling to wrap his brain around all of this newly acquired knowledge. He longed for a time when it was bliss trying to fuck the leader behind a hut, bliss when he would go to the mount and take deep breaths while the Monsignor’s voice would drone on in the back of his head, and bliss before he was dying faster by stepping through a purple fluid he didn’t know existed just two days prior.

Still, though, Antoine was sure that the outside would be sheer pleasure. Better than his old life. Twenty-four hours of getting stoned and getting laid.

At least, that was the idea.

Trudging through Mega Mack death water and shutting the valves was risking life so you can have more. It’s an entrance fee. It’s admission price.

And Antoine didn’t want to have to ask for a refund.

Or fuck up.

So, everything must go according to plan. Or, at least, that’s what he meant to say to everyone.

Don’t fuck it all up for me, he means to say.

Death means we fail, he means to say.

This is the first time he is leader of anything, and already it comes naturally to him. Commanding others is what he was born for, and even with the speech impediment he can command a group. He is admired by the animals for his strictness and courage.

But not for his voice.

Sounds like a eulogy.

The group walked silent, except for the splish splash of each footfall as their feet were soaked with the Mega Mack fluid. Somewhere in between the fur and calloused skin it was soaking into their pores and causing some debilitation they would later figure out. Sonic had insisted it was the most direct way to the valves, and anything that happened could probably be fixed on the outside.

Quite an incentive. Fail and live, and your feet are fucked for the rest of your life.

Which means you better succeed.

Pick up the pace, he means to…

**********

… say?”

“I wouldn’t know, sir,” Snively said as he got out of his Pseudo suit. “Where have you been?”

“Working.”

“Yeah, same here. Mind telling me what you were working on?”

“New model of Sonic.”

“I fucking knew it!” The exasperated Snively pounded his bare feet once on the ground in frustration. “Sir, with the ‘bots out in the Marble Zone sucking up power continuously and the constant running of all non-essential systems, I don’t know how long we’ll last.” Snively was all the way out of his suit and wiping the sweat from his forehead. He picked up his clipboard from the bench where he left it and consulted it. Robotnik remained a few feet away with his arms crossed, still in a good mood from his time in heaven. “It says here that you also ordered Patrol Crawlers in the Casino Nights Zone. Might I ask why?”

“Picking up cargo.”

“Don’t give me that shit, sir, tell me what the hell you’re doing with our power?!”

Robotnik paused. “Fresh…

**********

… troops?!”

“Bitch, what do I look like, their fucking biographers?!”

Manic and Ashura had ran and hid behind a wall to their left when they saw the lines of ‘bots. The lights of the Casino were bouncing off the ‘bots, bathing them in a menacing red. The shield the Patrol Crawlers held at their sides were high and in a protective stance. Although it seemed like they hovered in place, you could hear the footfalls of their every step, in unison. Their always angry faces were straightforward and looking at the doors of the casino. They didn’t seem to notice Manic and Ashura off to the side as they advanced.

“Alls I know is it’d be best if we got the fuck outa here!” Manic said looking side to side, making his jewelry hooked on his face jingle.

“Calm down, I’m sure there’s a reason for this shit,” Ashura also looked left to right.

“Should we wake up the pussy?”

“Dude, I’m sure that’s not what they’re here for. Not everything is a movie, ya know”

Manic shrugged as they slid back into the shadows. “You never…

**********

… know?”

“Know what?” Rouge said back to Bunnie.

“That my headache would be gone in the morning?” She was working her way into the soft purple silk satin dress that Robotnik loved so much.

“Just a guess.” Rouge gave a wry smile as she was also slipping into her work suit.

Both of them were in a group of prostitutes, in the back dressing room perfectly secluded from the noise of the casino.

The last stop for peace for the next sixteen hours. This has become a popular hangout among the girls, because it was their last chance to be themselves before they became what people paid them to become something else.

And every one was there, including Sera.

She was staring at everyone getting dressed, pushing themselves into bras, into leather pants, into thin silver panties. The ambient lighting in the room seemed to suggest a very professional, non personal environment, yet at the same time having nothing to do with work. A type of environment that made one forget that in the room on the left were where the sex toys and lubricants and beds and on the right are hundreds of horny men, maybe women, with money cupped in their hands.

Rouge finished when she noticed Bunnie sitting on the couch putting the rings on her fingers. She walked over and sat down.

“You better get dressed, girl.”

Bunnie held up two fingers, both with two rings on them. “I am.”

“And that’s all you’re gonna wear?”

Bunnie laughed. “Of course not, that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?”

She turned her right hand over and over. The lights of the room reflected tiny pinpoints of light around the ring.

“It’s been my experience that if a customer sees you with a lot of money, they subconsciously think that I’m a popular girl, and therefore will choose me first.”

Rouge sighed and shook her head. “Right, you must be a blonde if you believe that this works.”

“Oh, believe me, it does.”

“But even so, why worry about money so much? We get a room for free, and pretty much any expense can be paid with minimal cash, otherwise we can just sleep with the bastard. So, why all this trouble?”

Bunnie paused. “This has been bothering you for awhile, hasn’t it?”

Rouge nodded, and looked over her shoulder to check on Sera. She had noticed her best and only friend, Amy, and walked out of the room with her. They spent most of their time in the closet together, talking about whatever.

“Well, I never told anybody this, but I’m sort of a compulsive gambler. I take most of my money that I earn and I put it in the slots.”

“Oh, so this is why you never come with us for a lunch break.”

“Right, I’m most likely playin poker. Sometimes the guys will pay for me, sometimes they say they’ll pay if I fuck him, but the outcome is always the same.”

Bunnie looked at the direction of the door. It sounded like there was some commotion outside, but that wasn’t too unusual around here.

“Sometimes I get up so high it seems like I can’t go any further, but you always can.”

There was metal clanging resounding in the hallway.

“But, I lose it all eventually, every time, and the cycle repeats.”

They sounded like footsteps.

Bunnie sighed. “It’s really hard to find a good nitch in life, ya know?”

“Tell me about it.”

They both paused, and realized that the room was completely quiet, save for the clangs of approaching metal. And they were all looking at the door.

It didn’t swing open. It didn’t explode outward. It just opened very slowly and an angry red Crawler came into the room.

“BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK, THE FOLLOWING LADIES ARE TO COME WITH…

**********

… me?”

“Not yet. I have a sort of plan.”

“But-”

“No buts, Tails. It’s better this way, and you know it.”

Hurry up.

We’re still on the hill, and I’m explaining myself. “We have what, twenty grenades left? I’ll use what I can to destroy the Motobugs and Neutrons to clear a path. By then, debris will be scattered all to shit and it should be easy to pick up a gun.”

I’m waiting.

“Guns are simple. Hold a severed piece of a ‘bots weapon in your hand. If you’re not sure what a severed weapon would look like, then just look for a small button.” I pointed to Sally’s gun. “Then, hold it like she is and pick your target, and pull the trigger like mad. You’re bound to hit something.”

Shit, man, I want some blood.

This has happened before, the voice in my head being overly eager, interrupting me while I’m trying to talk. It’s getting a little too loud, like it’s not just taking up space and actually doing some damage.

Too powerful for slaves position. As you can imagine, this is a little hard for me.

“Sally…”

I pick up the bag of grenades and I pop my neck one more time.

“Tails…”

I look at the ‘bots and the burning marijuana and the flowing lava cracks and the door obscured by yellow and red.

And I look at the sun.

And the somewhere hidden egg prison.

And the Death Egg.

And Sally.

And Tails.

“I’ll be right back.”

And I take off, towards an uncertain…

**********

Future.

Past.

Present.

Whatever. The pain is a different color when it dries anyway.

So, it appears that I am done.

Done.

This little movie is over, you can all go home now. No, really, you can leave.

Heh.

Just as I thought. You can’t leave. You’re trapped. Just like the birds. Just like the animals. Just like Robotnik and Sally and Tails and the raccoon. And me.

It’s not like you can escape, either. Like you would realize it anyway, and like I would tell you.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy being a slave. Because it’s all hopeless anyway.

Because it’s all gone pretty soon. Everything you see will be lost one day, and no one will remember it. Anything you do is insignificant one hundred years from now. But like I would tell you this. Like it would help you any.

Face it.

No, really, face it.

**********

It was easy for Nack to get from the Casino Nights Zone to the Hill Top Zone. It was a short, ten minute walk down a semi-steep hill and into grass fields, like all the holding pens. The pens are usually on mud, because of their ability to suck up resources, but Nack didn’t bother to wear his shoes.

This was like a vacation. Messing with the animals’ heads. Telling them to drink the black water and stand on their heads for two hours.

It was fun.

Nack was careful not to fall and he jumped down to the ground. He was now in the Hill Top Zone. The grass came up to his knees and he walked towards the village.

Then, he raised his eyes to the Oil Ocean.

Then to the Chemical Plant Zone…

Wait.

Nack stopped dead in his tracks. He kept his eyes locked at the same point. Then he started running forward.

It wasn’t supposed to be a smoldering purple ruin, was it?

Nack ran as fast as he could, his overcoat flapping in the hot wind.

It was supposed to be standing, wasn’t it?

He kept running and ignored the fact that he was ruining his pants by stepping in puddles of water.

It was supposed to be visible, wasn’t it?

Nack ignored the mud squishing under his feet as he entered the Hill Top Zone village, called Little Planet because the animals are idiots.

This isn’t good. In fact, this is downright bad.

Nack ignored the animals greeting him.

“Hello, Mr. Funny Head.”

Nack ran through Little Planet as fast as he fucking could and he skidded to a stop right at the edge of the Oil Ocean beach and looked across the black water, the stained pipes, and the bubbling surface across the horizon.

He still couldn’t see it all too clearly, but it was definitely a cloud of smoke coming from the Chemical Plant Zone. And the fact that the silos were no longer visible.

“Oh shit.”

He ignored the gathered animals around him.

For two seconds, he stared at it, then about-faced. He pushed a retarded cross-eyed slave out of the way and ran back to the semi-steep hill. He reached it no problem and clambered up it in a hurry.

Nack was breathing heavily and saying ‘Shit’ over and over again. His pants were getting dirty, as were his hands. The grass was wet with dew and there was mud underneath. Slick and slippery.

Nack had to reach the Casino before it was too late to call the Doctor, before whatever he thought he saw disappeared. He ignored his brain telling him that he wasn’t ready to return, for the ‘bots were still collecting his beloved prostitutes.

This might turn out to be more important.

Much more.

Nack was at the top of the hill when he lost his footing and tumbled back to the…

**********

… bottom.”

“Why would he grab her there?”

“I dunno.”

Amy and Sera, talking just outside of the changing room. “I really don’t see what the big deal is.”

“Me neither. I mean, his hands went there first.”

Amy nodded. “I see it all the time. It’s either there or the boobs.”

“Yup.”

Amy cocked her head and listened. In the next room, there seemed to be a sort of struggle going on.

“Hey, you think someone’s doing it again?” Sera said, excitement in her eyes.

Amy scoffed. “Yeah, like I care. All the guys here are ugly anyway.”

“Hey! Nack’s not ugly!”

“Oh, yes he is. He’s too tall and skinny.”

“You’re just saying that cuz you’re a hat hog or something.”

“I am not!”

“Are so! Listen, mommy always told me that you have to settle for less than what you think is perfect. She says that nothing is ever as good as you want it to be, and she says that someday you have to realize this, Amy.”

“Whatever.”

The commotion in the changing room was getting louder. “Wow, they’re really going at it.”

“Sera, don’t be a ditz. There’s no action in the changing room. You‘ve been listening to Manic too much.”

“Well, what is it, then?”

They both listened intently. They both heard Bunnie’s voice saying:

“Get your fucking hands off…

**********

… ME!”

The Patrol Crawler ignored Bunnie’s cries and kept a firm red grip on her arm. She was the last to be led out of the room. Rouge and whoever was left followed, trying to find out why this was happening.

In the main casino room, it was pure chaos. Between the protests of the prostitutes and the whirring of the Crawlers, there was screaming and running and clanging. The Crawlers seemed to want to take everyone they could. Men were even being brought out of the sex rooms in mid climax. Some were brought from the bar, some from the slot machines. Most of them were putting up a fight and getting hit in the head with the giant shields.

And the ones who weren’t taken were picking up the piles of rings that were dropped.

But, you see, this is part of a plan.

‘All animals isolated are to be brought to me for…

**********

… Robotosization.”

“And you actually think it will work?”

“It’ll work if I get most of the animals out of the casino. Oh come now, Snively, you knew as well as I did that they were a reserve.”

“I completely forgot.”

Robotnik grinned under his collar. “And, just to prove a point to you, I also sent for most of my beloved girls as well.”

“Sir, you surprise me.”

“Yes. This should bring us above our quota, don’t you think?”

“It should, sir, just as long as you don’t have any other ideas, or there aren’t any other complications.”

“Just as long as a certain little runaway doesn’t give me any more…

**********

… Trouble!”

Manic and Ashura just stared at Nack, at the back of the casino, covered in mud, and they were laughing their heads off.

“This ain’t no fucking joke!” Nack grabbed Manic around the neck. “I gotta call the Doc!”

And with that, he dropped Manic and ran off. He got up off the ground and shrugged. “What’s his problem?”

“I don’t know, but I haven’t seen him like this in awhile.”

They both looked over to where Nack had come from. The Hill Top Zone. “Now what?”

Ashura thought for a second. “We can see what he’s babbling about. You still have that telescope?”

“Uh, actually, I… I sold it.”

Ashura groaned. “Great.”

“Well, we can always steal it back.” Manic smiled.

“Good idea,” Ashura smirked a little, but he still wasn’t relishing the idea of stealing. Not his style. “Okay, who has…

**********

… it?

At least, that’s what he meant to say.

Pockey nodded.

They were all standing at the location they thought was correct. Sonic had made them memorize the drawing he made in the dirt.

It was at the very edge of the Oil Ocean, where the sand met with the black sludge. The purple death fluid stopped coming awhile back, but was no doubt still advancing. Antoine kneeled down and focused his sight on the silos set in sludge.

Let’s begin, he meant to say.

At his side, he brought the bag of grenades to his front. He reached in the bag and brought out a Crabmeat claw and pointed it as best he could at the silo, just like he practiced a day or so before.

And he fired.

It sailed in an arc to the nearest support tube of the silo and collapsed it. The group of ten took a step back and watched as it tipped over…

Over…

And it splashed into the black void. It started waves of rolling oblivion towards the group. They ducked down to the ground when the wave hit the sandy shore.

Like Sonic said, the important thing was not to worry. “The black water would be catapulted straight into the air and back down. You may get small amounts on you, but just don’t catch on fire and you should be okay. Also, as soon as the silo tips, the oil will catch fire. The place you need to go for the valves is one of the only places not burning.”

And he drew a map in the dirt.

Yes, it was catching fire, alright.

Yup, it was advancing to the shore.

Yessir, it sure was hot.

This was the sign that it was time to find the valves.

Antoine meant to say ‘Let’s go,’ and everyone…

**********

… Left.

Then he darted to the right.

Sally, Tails, and everyone else, the hard assed men and the pregnant women, were watching Sonic dart over the green and the red throwing grenades. Every time his foot hit the ground a small fire appeared.

At first, the ‘bots were taken by surprise, then they fired. All shots were concentrated at Sonic, at the one blue blur. This blur ran up to the stone structures where the Motobugs were, and threw grenades at them. They fired back, and he barely dodged a hail of bullets as he dove for cover. When Sonic stayed at a point for too long, the grass caught fire.

You can never dodge a bullet every time, but you can try.

He ducked and rolled faster, almost faster than the eye could follow. Crabmeats and Buzzbombers could be faintly seen launching grenades at Sonic, and exploding behind him in a linear line. These were hundreds of ‘bots converging on one point, throwing grenades at a blue blur with red running underneath him.

The crowd gasped when a grenade exploded near Sonic and made him tumble down a small grass hill, but thankfully out of any Motobugs’ range.

He was still. The ‘bots were closing in. The crowd held their breaths.

They cheered and applauded when he got up. And he started running again.

Sonic pulled a grenade from the sac and threw it at the closest cluster of ‘bots. Then he was running again.

From a distance, the crowd was in an uproar, cheering Sonic on.

He dodged a grenade and threw one back.

Debris rained from the sky, and all of the marijuana plants were knocked over.

Sonic jumped on top of a Neutron rocketing towards him He took control and aimed it towards some Motobugs still on the knoll with the Marble structures. He steered the ‘bot to one and jumped off at the last second.

They collided, and parts flew everywhere.

Sonic hit the ground rolling and threw some grenades behind him. Not once did he look back.

He was running back to the group, and as he did he picked up some debris and kept going. Many grenades were lobbed his way and he came out of their range. He dived over the hill and landed on the other side, in the midst of the cheering group.

**********

Well, that sucked.

Over the hill, Buzzbombers are surely heading this way. The Crabmeats and the Caterkillers are still on the Marble hill.

“Here,” I distribute the guns, the first one going to Tails. Everyone grabs one and looks at it for a sec, searching for the button on the side. “This is it, people. Let’s… aww, fuck it, let’s just go.”

I jump over the hill and hit the nearest frowning Buzzbomber I see. It rockets somewhere to the grass out of sight. I hear the sound of whirring pistols behind me.

I look around.

About… ten of them.

Spread out in a whatever formation.

I need help on this one.

I jump into the air and rabbit-punch the nearest one. A shot of pain goes through my wrist.

A Buzzbomber reels in, ready to strike with its stinger. I jump over the top of him, at the last possible second.

Any time now, kids, you can start helping me.

I lean back and catch hold of the ‘bot’s head. I fall straight back, snapping its neck.

Die, Buzz bitch.

As I get up to the ground, I catch a glimpse of the broken ‘bot. A piece of the animal inside flops out of the orifice in the neck.

I turn away to the next one who wants to fuck with me. It’s a Caterkiller.

Excellent.

I bend my knees far so I almost touch the ground, and I rocket into the air.

Then I finally hear it. Gunfire. The group is shooting at things. This is good.

I allow myself a look below. They appear to be doing a good job of killing everything in their sights. There’re in no immediate danger.

Unless you count the heat.

I roll into a ball and came down hard on the Caterkiller’s head. Through the metal I feel fur, and bone.

And blood.

And most of all, I feel like puking.

Suddenly, I hear whirring. Loud whirring, from a big machine.

I look ahead of me, to the marble hill. A single Motobug, slightly scorched, turning to fire on the group.

Shit. I missed one.

“Get under the hill!”

And the firing starts. Everyone dives to the ground and points guns in the air.

I duck low and run to the cowering group. They’re sweating from the heat. I risk getting shot in the face and I look over the hill.

Buzzbombers and Crabmeats, closing in on us.

“When I start running, everybody go the opposite direction! DON’T STOP MOVING!” They’re all breathing hard from the heat, the searing, unbearable, trying heat that tested your faith, and your resolve.

I stand up and run to the left, running distraction.

I have to take this one on by hand, alone. He seems to be the last Motobug left.

And he’s out in the open.

I keep running in an arc, up the hill. Fire beneath my feet, bullets running in a line behind me. Clumps of burning grass fly up and hit me in the back.

Cauterization.

You see, my feet pound on the ground hard when I run. The ground here isn’t very strong. It sinks and catches fire by the lava underneath.

A couple years ago, there was an accident here. The flame from the lava backed up into the valves and almost got back to the Oil Ocean. It was at a critical moment that the Doctor fixed it, lucky that the flow stopped when it did.

The price is the Marble Zone becoming hell.

A Buzzbomber flies in front of me and I pound it with my broken fist. It crumples to the ground. My knuckles twist to the side, and it hurts.

I realize that I probably shouldn’t hit them as much anymore, and to get back to the basics.

I run my hand across my back, and I smile, and I keep running.

I arc around to the last standing Motobug and roll into a ball.

Déjà vu as friction goes all around me.

Déjà vu as I land with one hand on the ground.

This is fun.

More fun than it should be.

I look behind me and grenades hail over the small hill. The group of animals are running in a straight line.

“Spread out!”

Boom. A grenade explodes behind me. Marble flies everywhere. And suddenly I’m on my face a few feet forward.

The sound fades.

The light fades.

Shit no. No no no no no no no no. Don’t pass out. Don’t do it.

Get up.

Get up you little shit.

Stop being a little bitch and start doing some fucking damage.

I groan.

The sound and the light comes back.

Only about halfway. The background is blurry and so are the animals.

I see the Crabmeat that threw the grenade at me.

And my switch flips to automatic.

I grab his eye stock with one hand and rip as hard as I can. It comes away easy. I lift my foot and bring it down on his face.

100 points.

And he was done. A small furry hand pokes out.

So I move to the next.

This one took a chunk out of me, but I can ignore it now.

Time for pain later.

I do the same for the next one.

It’s much simpler now. I can only see behind me and in front of me. Everything is squished and easier to control. So two dimensional and closed-minded. Excellent.

And I do it to the next.

Then the next.

And I can feel the voice smile at me, even though voices aren’t supposed to be able to.

**********

“So, sir, why are you so confident about everything?”

“Well, my dear boy, you know I’m always in a good mood after I design something new. So, I’m just being optimistic.”

“Sir, I keep forgetting to ask. How are you handling the runaway?”

“Heheh. I have a surprise for him, Snively. Since he’s trying to escape with those subjects of his, I decided to be rougher with him.”

The com…

**********

… rang.

Once.

Twice.

Then a busy signal.

“Come on, come on, HURRY UP!”

Nack, in the middle of the casino, ignoring the miles of customers looting everything in sight. The ‘bots had left a short while ago with the subjects. In a sense, his plan had succeeded.

Depends on how you look at it, really.

He was trying to call the Doctor on the com line near the blackjack tables. The ‘bots there stared at the rings being looted off the table as if it was normal.

“Have a nice day,” They would say. Funny, that’s exactly what the prostitutes inside would have said.

Nack hit the wall.

“Fuck!”

He tried…

**********

… again.

Shadow had beaten her own record. Her smile got bigger.

She stretched her legs a little and leaned against the wall.

Then the intercom clicked on.

“Shadow,” the Doctor’s voice came on. “Get up here. I have something for you to do.”

As if it were possible, her grin grew wider.

She started to walk out of the room, when she spat on the floor.

**********

“That com call was from the Patrol Crawlers. They got the new subjects and are escorting them to the Scrap Brain Zone.”

“I still can’t believe you would give up all of your ladies.”

“Not all, Snively, just most.”

“Still, it’s quite a gesture. But why did you call Shadow up here?”

Eggman smiled. The com rang again.

“I want her to see…

**********

… it.

It was at the center of the giant fireball. A control burn.

The only place that wasn’t on fire that they could see.

It was a black pool located around a small metal ring, protected from the oncoming heat. It was under a large tube, shielded from the sun. The area was unlit.

But not for long.

So Pocky was the first to say it. “Here I go.”

He took a deep breath, and smiled back at his friends.

“Wish me luck.”

He jumped into the muck and disappeared. Bubbles came to the surface and popped.

**********

Ashura smiled. “This was too easy. I’m glad those metal assholes took him, or else we’d be putting up a slight sweat stealing this thing.”

“Speak for yourself.” Manic shouldered the telescope. They were both walking up the spiral staircase to the roof of the casino.

“So, what exactly did you trade him for this?”

“One night with his girlfriend.”

Ashura laughed. “Like that one movie?”

“Yep, and that idiot never saw it either.”

“I suppose that’s a good thing.”

Ashura climbed the top stair and steered the scope over to the edge of the building. “There, I think we may be able to see the Oil Ocean Zone from here.”

“Okay, me first.”

Ashura set the scope down and put his hand on the lens. He kept his eyes lowered to the scope as Manic put his eye on the eye piece.

“Make sure you point it right this time.”

“I am, I am, don’t worry.”

He pointed it at the horizon.

“Okay, try it. Look for what that moron was bitchin about.”

“I can’t see shit. Did you leave the lens cap on?”

“Course not!”

“Then how come I only see black?!”

“Dude, you have to open your eye first. Stupid fucker…”

“It is open! All I see is black.”

“Oh… shit!”

Manic looked up to see Ashura’s gaze fixed on the horizon. He stood up. He looked with the less jewelry covered hedgehog.

And his reaction was pretty much the same.

**********

“Smoke… from where? … Are you sure? … What were you doing there? … I see… Right… No, it’s fine, I can deal with it… Okay, thank you, Nack, for doing this… Yes, I know it’s not your fault. Don’t worry… you will be rewarded. Bye.” Click.

“Who was that?”

“Snively, call the ‘bots guarding door 002 and tell them to go to the Oil Ocean Zone. Dispatch some cleaning ‘bots in a few hours.”

“Why, sir?”

“It’s on fire.”

**********

It was two minutes later when Pocky’s body finally floated to the surface. For a short time, nobody moved.

Then another dove in.

**********

The background is still blurry, and so are the animals.

But like that stops me.

Like it matters if I think different when I kick a ‘bots head in.

A Crabmeat comes at me and I totally annihilate it.

100 points.

Like it matters if I discover the meaning of life when I destroy it.

I hear the familiar sound of a Neutron popping from the ground and starting its rockets.

Here, I’ll tell you right now what the meaning of fucking life is!

I fall on my back and kick into the air. I connect and the Neutron flies into pieces. Blood hits my face.

The meaning of life is simply to live it the way you want to. If that means killing other things for you to be happy, then so fucking be it!

I get up and look around. The animals are a little more spread out. This is good.

Wait. No, that isn’t right.

Fuck you.

The knuckles on both of my hands are broken.

So, what is it this time? If I were the main character, I would have something good to say.

Fuck you.

That isn’t right because that’s the Doctor’s way of thinking.

So what?

I’m not like him.

How do you know?

… What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Nothing.

And suddenly, everything is clear again. I shake my head side to side to clear the bloody cobwebs.

Then I see it, hidden under a couple of stone blocks, but it’s still there. The sun reflected off the metal like a beacon.

Back to the spread out group of animals, Sally and Tails are holding guns and firing at Caterkillers. For being slaves all of their lives, they’re all putting up a very good fight. I don’t see anyone missing.

Sally.

Or Tails.

I need help moving this big hunk of stone out of the way. I can get to the Egg prison and slow down the ‘bots a little.

This way they can all leave.

Pick and choose, flip a coin. Sally or Tails. It’s not a question of which one I need. It’s a question of which one I want. Which one I’d rather be closer to.

Decisions, decisions.

“Hey, Tails! I need you for a sec!”

**********

Nack looked around the corner for the thousandth time. Rouge was nowhere to be seen.

So he stepped around it and kept looking from side to side. He walked forward and his eyes fell to his muddy suit. He sighed.

“I just got this washed…”

“WHAT THE FUCK!”

She always did that to him. Nack was still startled at her jumping out at him. He thought about where she managed to hide herself as he backed against the wall.

“Rouge, baby, what do you mean?” He tried acting innocent.

“What happened to everyone?! Why were they carried off by ’bots?!” Rouge moved forward, her hands balled into fists.

Nack kept silent as she moved closer to him, with fire in those bat eyes of hers.

“Answer me!”

Nack was still silent when she grabbed him by his collar. Her face was inches close to his.

“I know you’re fucking in on it, Nack! Don’t lie to me!”

He didn’t say a thing.

Rouge was breathing heavy and tightening her grip on his neck. Even though he was turning a little blue, his expression did not change.

A single drop of sweat fell down Nack’s forehead, but his expression did not change.

He was smiling.

“I love it when you get angry.”

His hand went to the back of her head.

The red faded slightly from her eyes.

“There are only five of us left. What the fuck is going on?”

**********

“We’re going to have to delay Robotosization until tomorrow morning. How far is this going to set us back?”

“I don’t know, sir. I don’t know what else you have planned.”

“Funny. Well, we should be okay.”

“If you say so, sir. After all, what do I know?”

“Shut up.”

The door opened.

“Ah, Shadow. I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

**********

Third try’s a charm.

Two bodies were floating on the surface when Irene, three months pregnant, dove in.

Three bodies were floating on the surface when Tom dove in.

Four when Agnes went.

Then the real trouble started.

**********

Manic and Ashura had ran as fast as they could, and managed to make it in four minutes.

“Holy fuck, man, this can’t be good.” Ashura had said while trying to slow down enough for Manic to catch up.

“Yeah, no shit.”

They both skidded to a stop at the half flaming Oil Ocean. They both thanked their creator that half of it was divided from the other, else the entire zone would be ablaze.

Like the Marble Zone.

Manic and Ashura stared at the burning zone, then took off running along the shore.

**********

Tails runs her hand across her forehead and gives me a look of sub-understanding.

“It’s simple.” Fire rages all around and beneath us. This is after we cleared the stones away and the Egg Prison stands in front of us, slightly moving from the struggle inside. “You give me a boost so I can get on top. You keep a lookout for any ‘bots. Got it?”

She nods.

My head turns so I can check on how my group is doing…

**********

A Neutron rocketed towards Sally. She calmly raised her gun and fired.

The projectile hit the ‘bot in the head and spun it out of control. It crashed somewhere in the grass to her left and exploded in a blaze of fire, metal, and blood.

An animal torso popped out.

Sally turned away and ran back to her scattered group of twenty. It seemed that all of the ‘bots were dead and in thinning numbers. Everyone was just mopping up now.

Sweat ran out of Sally’s fur and down her legs. She was tired, hot, and on the brink of dehydration, but ironically it was the best she ever felt in her life.

Sally allowed herself a smile as she came up to one of her acquaintances firing upon the corpse of a Caterkiller.

“Shit!” The walrus said wiping some blood off of his feet. Breathing very heavily, he turned and smiled at Sally. Giant drops of sweat hung from his chin. “Fucker took a chunk outa me.” He pointed at his feet. “Shoulda fired at his head first.” Spiked balls lay scattered around him.

Sally’s eyes fell to the corpse behind him. She quickly looked back at the walrus and forced a smile.

“Come on,” she said. Sally grabbed him by the elbow and walked away with him in tow. She decided right away not to tell him that he just killed his brother.

**********

They’re doing fine.

“Gimme a boost.”

Tails just stares at me for a second, then approaches me.

“Hey, what-”

Suddenly she slips her arms under my armpits and interlocks her fingers over the gun pressed against my back. She twirls her two tails in a helicopter motion and we lift off the ground.

How the hell does she do that?

The flap flap flap of the living blades cut the wind. Tails’ body is pressed so tight against mine that I can feel her heart beat even through the half blue plastic and my skin.

She sets me down on the top of the Egg Carrier. Another second passes before she lets me go. She takes a step back and she’s smiling.

“Not what I had in mind, but thanks.”

Her smile fades. “No problem, I guess.”

And she lifts into the air and flies back down to the grass.

Her sweat is all over my chest.

**********

The Egg Prison.

This is just the nickname, of course. There was a technical name at some point, but it was lost somewhere in oblivion.

Cut back to way earlier, in the past, back when I was still in some way content with myself with watching movies in Robotnik’s projector room.

We were watching… Lock Up, I think it was. A prison flick.

I remember trying hard as I could to get into the movie when Robotnik started talking in the middle of it.

“You know, I built a prison once,” he said.

“Really.” I wasn’t really that interested at the time. I just wanted him to shut up.

“Yeah. And much like the prison in this movie, this was the type of prison where you don’t go to be rehabilitated. You go to die.”

Distracting.

“This was the first thing I had ever patented, and even in those humble beginnings it was for the use of power.”

I leaned forward and strained my ears, but it was no use. The sound of the movie seemed to be on mute. The Doctor’s voice was the only thing I could hear.

“It was built out of the purest form of steel and had a fusion generator on the inside. Highly unstable. A small suction unit was built around the sides, coming out of several small holes. These holes were made large enough to suck in very small animals. You see where I’m going with this?”

Who cares? You brought me here to watch the movie.

“The air would be sucked through the holes in through a filter and back out again through the bottom. This way, you could push it along the ground, sucking up small animals into the main chamber.”

“Uh huh.” Yeah, sure, right, I’m listening. Fucker.

“In the main chamber, I built the fusion reactor to suck up energy rather than give it off. The resulting energy from the reactor could power anything nearby as long as it was hooked up to the port on the side.”

Next to the suction holes.

“Ten birds, for example, could power a mainframe computer for two weeks, without rest. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Sonic, but a lot of energy comes from living things.”

No, I’ve just noticed that a lot of noise comes from living things.

“My invention was not well received. Because of the controversy of sucking the life from those animals, activists managed to convince the professor to cut the funding to my project. I was the laughing stock of the scientific community. My associates coined the phrase ‘Egg Prison’ because of its shape, and I was called ‘Eggman.’ The machine was brilliant, an efficient power source that could be used on a global scale, but because of the thick headedness of some people, just because my machine took away the lives of living creatures, it was rejected.”

Touching story.

“I hate small animals,” I said, hoping that it would hint for him to shut up.

It did, but something was still bothering me. Nagging.

The sound hadn’t returned to the movie for me. Robotnik, ‘Eggman’, somewhere seated behind me in the pitch black room, was most likely staring at the screen watching the movie, but…

I had this… feeling… like he was staring at me. I could feel his eyes at the back of my head.

It was stupid, I know, but it was bothering the hell out of me.

And the movie was almost over.

So, I turned around.

His eyes looked like they glowed red.

“Why do you do all of this, then?”

Silence.

“I mean, you’ve already failed with trying to gain acceptance. And this place I know enough about to figure out that you’re obviously striving for something important to you. So, why?”

I could see the outline of his head lower, but his eyes remained in the same spot.

**********

“I wanted to do something great for my kind,” Eggman said. “At first they didn’t realize the method behind the ‘madness,’ but they just need a little push. A tiny shove over the edge. Then they will truly understand me, and soon I will finally get the respect I deserve…”

There it is again.

Funny. The last time I remembered him saying that I could of sworn it was shorter. Simpler.

I can’t even trust myself anymore. Anything I remember is probably buried under sardonic attitude and a bratty exterior.

Deal with it.

My fingers are under the metal paneling of the Egg Prison and I’m prying with all my might. Under it I’m looking for a giant red button.

I could tell you right now that I killed Robotnik and you wouldn’t know if it was true or not.

And yet…

Nah. Couldn’t be.

From below, somewhere in Hell, I hear Tails yell to me: “Come on, Sonic, don’t give up! Give it the old college try!”

Heh, shit.

My fingers inch deeper into the cover. The pain is fucking unbearable.

Can’t relate? Smash your hand in a car door, then try to pry open a… metal panel on top of an Egg Prison… Fuck.

Hold on…

Okay, I have one. Smash your hand with a hammer repeatedly, then try to jack off.

Um… yeah, okay, that’ll work.

Oh, what a paradox. That must be a total mind fucker. Jacking off with broken hands. Pain and pleasure so close together. The lines must be so thin at a moment like that.

Sometimes I wish I could feel like that more often. It would put things in perspective.

The metal plating is torn off. The red button stares at me.

Without hesitation, I press it.

**********

“So, wait… what?”

“I put two Egg Prisons in the Marble Zone.”

“Really… and just what do you hope to accomplish by doing this?”

“Oh, just throwing a curve ball at the batter, is all. One’s fake, one’s real. The fake one will alert the ‘bots hiding behind the hill. The real one is hidden much more expertly.”

Snively just stared. Shadow was grinning at her creator.

“As soon as they call, you can head down there, Shadow.”

Ring.

**********

Nack and Rouge sat across from each other in the changing room. Outside somewhere, were three nicely stacked prostitutes sitting in chairs waiting anxiously for someone to emerge.

Rouge stared daggers into Nack’s eyes.

He smiled. “Something on your mind?”

“Don’t fucking play games with me! You betrayed everyone, my closest friends! Bunnie! I was talking with Bunnie moments before they took her! Everything was normal, you asshole!”

“Okay, just chill out-”

“Chill out?! I should break your neck, you little…”

**********

… shit!”

“Now what’s happening?”

“Shhh!”

Sera pressed her ear against the wall harder. She strained to hear.

“Now mommy’s yelling more. Something about his fault that everyone’s gone… she doesn’t care that the Chemical Plant Zone is fucked up…”

“Boooorrrring.” Amy yawned. “Come on, let’s go do something else.”

“No, I wanna hear.”

Amy stared at Sera’s back. Something was wrong with her voice. “Why?”

Sera remained silent, trying to hear. Amy walked closer.

“Wait… you’re scared, aren’t you?”

A teardrop hit the ground. “I… just don’t want him to get hurt…” Her voice barely above a whisper.

**********

It was when Dulcy’s body floated to the surface when Antoine finally got pissed enough to yell at everyone.

Incoherently.

In the middle of his fit his eyes noticed a movement across the shore.

Two green blurs amidst the smoke, moving at high speeds. They stopped moving along the shore and looked his direction. Their eyes met.

The two green hedgehogs smiled, big, evil smiles, then started walking towards the group.

‘Shit!’ Antoine might have said.

The group of ten looked at the hedgehogs, then looked at their leader, waiting for an order of what to do.

Antoine couldn’t explain it, but he knew the two were no good. It was the way they were smiling, the way they walked, and the way they pounded their fists into their hands.

So, Antoine, ugly half-breed, poster child, brave retard, told the group, in the clearest voice he had ever spoken: “Attack.”

The last thing he saw before he dove into the murky void was all of the animals running at the intruders.

Then, darkness. And silence. Antoine didn’t breathe in as he kicked, kicked, kicked as hard as he could.

He had learned to swim at an early age, back when his life was simpler and he was high everyday.

Now, his feet hurt along with his lungs, and opening his eyes was futile since it would do him no good.

Let’s see… Sonic said to keep going down until he hit metal. It would take about two minutes.

It would be close.

Antoine sucked his cheeks in to use his reserve air.

He guessed that he was about halfway.

As oxygen deprivation soon started to kick in, thoughts roamed free in his mind.

Like how good Sally looked the last time he saw her.

Like how good she would feel pressed against him, breathing heavily.

Like how he sincerely thought about killing that blasted hedgehog and taking his place in her life.

Antoine would have grinned if he’d have thought it was safe to.

Suddenly, his hand hit metal.

He went right to work, following the information Sonic gave him. Turning the valves as hard as he could.

It scared him for a second to think that it was stuck.

And that he was running out of air.

And that he was running out of time.

He brought his chest closer to the hard surface of the valve and put his weight into turning it.

Slowly, it budged.

Then faster, and further.

Then he could do it with one hand.

As far as it could go, he turned it. Then he kicked off of it with his feet.

The long ride to the top.

Slowly, Antoine let out his breath. His lungs and feet felt like they were burning with the same fire.

But at least he completed his mission.

It was not much later that Antoine’s head broke the surface of the murk, and he got out of the oil.

He ignored somebody’s body that he bumped into and felt his way to the platform.

When he got on, he shook his head from side to side and fell on his back.

“Don’t forget to breathe,” Sonic had told him, and so Antoine took deep, quick breaths.

He wiped the oil out of his eyes and opened them.

An immediately he saw the two green hedgehogs, covered in blood, grinning over him.

**********

In death you can regain the peace you once had.

In death everything is either good or bad. Black and white. Simple.

Life is like Hell to me now, so would Hell be like Heaven?

Would Heaven be like Life? Would I want to die there, too? Would I get bored there… too?

Okay, now I’m rambling.

Finish your movie.

And don’t forget to breathe.

**********

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Yeah, there it is.

I’m teased again.

I guess I should hate the player and not the game, but right now I wish I was dead.

I’m sitting in the Emerald Hill Zone, on some stupid rock overlooking a small valley. Off in the distance, a river.

This is two hours after the battle. After it ended.

After it ended because of me.

My stupid mistake.

If I had a gun, I’d shoot myself.

I’m not kidding.

So, the red button was staring me in the face. It was inside the panel I ripped off, and, like I had said, without hesitation, I pressed it.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid.

Something I learned by memorizing the computer banks was that the prison was equipped with a self destruct button. This would insure that in case the fusion generator inside became too unstable, the entire metal casing of the outside of the prison would melt down and encase it in hard melted steel.

This button was only for emergencies, and any accidental pressing could be embarrassing, so a panel covering the button was made. It would only pop open if a meltdown was imminent.

Or if it was pried off.

This was my not-so-well-thought-out plan, standing next to my not-so-well-thought-out escape.

I pressed the button.

And instead of melting, the Egg Prison exploded.

And, oh, are you gonna love this part. This is my favorite part of the story…

Bat ‘bots flew out. The Egg Prison was a decoy…

I fell for a MOTHER FUCKING DECOY! How could I have been so blind?!

I was so close. We were all so close.

Well, the explosion knocked Tails down to the hot grass, and that was the last I saw of her before I was catapulted into the air.

I felt my back hit something pointy and rounded, then I blacked out as the reel emptied. I guess it was a good thing I landed on marble, else I’d fall through the grass to lava.

And it all went downhill from there.

When I woke up, I was still on the marble hill, only on the other side, where I could sit and think and see everything at once. The first thing I saw was a statue in front of me, looming tall.

My eyes fell to its top.

Robotnik smiled down at me. A smiling, fat, jolly, clown like image of my creator, his hands outstretched to me, lovingly. His dead eyes trying to convey sympathy and understanding. This time, nothing at all obstructed his face.

Oh, except my blood sprayed across it.

At the base, an inscription: ‘Follow me into paradise, where dreams are real and the day never ends. There is no night.’

I tore my eyes away and looked at how the battle was going.

Turns out the reinforcements were behind the marble hill, and also more were on the way to collect some animals. I could see them coming from the trees in a scattered formation.

My group of about twenty were surprised at the new amount they had to face. New Motobugs, new Buzzbombers, new Crabmeats, and the Bat ‘bots that dive at your eyes.

High score reached.

Some animals fired back, some went for cover.

And suddenly it was a group of about sixteen or eighteen. There were too many shit caliber bullets flying in the air for everybody to make it to cover.

They shouldn’t have fired back.

But they did. Seeing your friend blown to bits does something to you.

A friend and an ally, all across your face.

Automatic.

And everyone that fired at the ‘bots was fired back at. Me, I was running as fast as I could, but…

My leg was broken. Is.

I managed to get there when my group was scattered all over hell and it was a group of about fourteen or fifteen.

I dove in cover next to some squirrel guy. It was hotter than fuck.

“Help us!” and then he was shot in the head. His friend next to him started crying and rolled into a ball. Sweat poured off of his face like a waterfall.

As much as I tried to go automatic again, I couldn’t.

Can’t.

It was like it wasn’t real anymore. It was like a really bloody war movie.

I kept expecting myself to take up the flag and lead the group of about thirteen to victory. Just wanting me to do something other than nurse my broken leg and watch the dead Squirrel’s friend slowly burn. Something other than stare.

I imagine myself in Eggman’s theater, watching all of this and getting bored, yelling at the main character to quit being such a little bitch and start doing some fucking damage.

Get more points! Gain a continue! Save!

Only I looked different in the theater this time. I wasn’t blue. I didn’t have spikes along my back. I had…

Stripes.

On the battlefield, I did nothing. Just watched, just stared, just wondered idly whatever happened to Tails. If she made it like I did.

So I ran around, not worrying about the shots being fired around me. I tried to find the remnants of my group.

Some time later, I realized that the door to the outside was clear.

Animals were making it out.

I stopped running when I found cover and strained to see through the fire and the haze.

One.

Two.

My group of about ten.

Just two so far had made it, but others would follow.

Others would follow. They had to.

My work wasn’t done, but it felt closer to it.

So, I sat down on the stove of the grass.

I closed my eyes. And sighed.

I was about to lean back when…

Then, I looked over and saw her smiling face.

Sally, bolting for the door. Running as fast as she could. I watched her wipe the sweat off of her head and keep running. I watched her try to draw up that extra something to keep her moving. Then I watched as a Buzzbomber grabbed her.

Snap. Click.

There’s the switch.

Sally, finishing the question. Without her, I was an unfinished sentence…

She was being taken away.

Dot, dot dot.

I got up and tried to run. The broken bones in my leg pounded against each other and made grinding noises so loud I could hear them over her screams.

I tried. So hard I tried to catch up to her. But it flew up into the air and out of view.

Towards the Death Egg. To paradise, to live with the demigods.

Forever.

I can’t be sure, but as I pounded the soft ground in frustration, I may have felt a tear go down my face. Just to be evaporated by the heat.

Gone.

Oh well.

I turned around to look at the battlefield. Looked like all the ‘bots were cleaning up, looking for survivors. On top of the marble, I walked off.

I gave up.

Anybody left would be taken for Robotosization. Anybody left was as good as dead. Even if they weren’t captured.

I had long left the Marble Zone when I noticed where I was.

The Emerald Hill Zone.

And I sat on the rock. Overlooking the small valley. And the river.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid fucker…” And even that’s not enough. It’s not enough to just say that I’m a failure. It doesn’t help me. All I’m doing is wasting time on this stupid rock.

Dot, dot dot.

Then I feel it…

Someone behind me. That feeling you get when you know someone is looking at you and grinning. I turn around, looking at the rock behind me, where it’s sitting.

. . . . . . . . . .

Huh?

‘Hello.’

Um, hi?

‘If you’d have known how to fly, you could have saved her.’

Really.

‘Oh yes. But, you still can’t do it, can you?’

‘No sir.

Do you know why that is?’

‘Why?’

Because you need an Idea… yes. Now you see…

‘ . . . . . . . . . . Oh . . . . . my . . . . . . . . . .’

Get it now?

‘I…’

You will soon enough. Now I must go…’

‘… Bye.’

Bye, and take care of that leg of yours, Nights.

**********

Tails crawled out from behind the rubble and noticed that everyone was gone and replaced by Demig- er, ‘bots. She decided it was a good time to leave.

As she twirled her tails and tried to fly in the air, she wondered how long she had been knocked out.

And if Sonic had made it.

She looked over to the door. The lava was off. And yet, she turned away. Instead of leaving, she continued searching.

Searching… for the blue one.

And she ran off in any random direction.

When Tails found Sonic sitting on the rock, she didn’t register at the time the black, vague, indiscernible creature walking back to the Marble Zone.

**********

The Doctor smiled beneath his collar. He clasped his hands together.

“It’s over. The battle is done, and we have loads of new subjects, not including the Casino Nights prisoners.”

“Excellent, sir. I have dispatched cleaners to the Oil Ocean to try to contain the fire.”

“When that’s done, recall the ‘bots to the store room and power down.”

“What about Shadow’s HoverUnit?”

“It’ll be back long before then.”

“You’re not recalling it?”

“No, my dear boy. I highly doubt our runaway would have escaped, or else I would have known. The same with his death. And since he isn’t captured, he must still be loose.”

“I see, I guess.”

“Snively, if you’re bored, why don’t you go train below or something.”

“Fine, sir. Should I reschedule the Robotosization for earlier today?”

Pause, for thought. “No. Keep it on. Keep them in lockup until tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

**********

“Sonic, it’s getting late.”

“I know.”

“We should go.”

“I know.”

Tails started to walk away, but noticed Sonic was still staring at the river. “We’re free, you know. All we have to do is sneak past and we’re free.”

“That’s not what I want.”

She sat down next to him. “Well, what do you want?”

Dot, dot dot. “I want to feel as though I’ve succeeded in more than just killing everyone.”

Quick mental flash.

“I don’t want to fail anymore…”

Sonic stood to his feet. He looked down at Tails getting up.

“Look, just leave, okay? Leave while you still can… before you’re permanently trapped, like me…”

Tails was a little confused, but when she looked at the Death Egg looming in the horizon, it became clear. “You’ll need help.”

Sonic stared at her, and nodded. “Let’s go.”

“No pain, no gain!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

**********

Heh.

Shit.

Back into the lion’s den.

This river that I’m looking at, I know, runs from the Labyrinth Zone out to the Emerald Hill Zone. This is the only way we can enter the Death Egg without being detected.

We have to head up.

I walk ahead of Tails across the wooden bridge over the water runoff, where below, I can see Chompers coming up for air. We have to deal with them as well.

Oh, and these guys. These guys at the end of the bridge. These guys, holding sticks and grinning evilly. These guys, yelling something at us, halting us from crossing the bridge.

Oh. Here we go now. This is all I need.

“Halt! I say halt! You are heathens we will not let pass! You have sinned against your maker, and now you must pay the price! We saw all of those innocents you led to their descents into oblivion, and you shall repent before we send you with them-”

Still I cringe when I hit him in the face, silencing him. And there it is again.

Tails must have injured herself in the explosion, because she can’t fly after me as we ran away. Instead she stays on the ground running, and twirls her tails as best as she can to propel herself further. With my broken leg I’m slower, which is good for her and not for me.

We’re making good time to the river entrance, but I still don’t feel very good.

As the next couple of hills pass, we may actually, truthfully, be in the clear. So I start to slow down.

Then the next town comes over the rise.

The Emerald Hill Zone town was very much like the old Knothole: sex in the air, burning marijuana somewhere, and a… priest.

Coconuts. Sitting on a chair, relaxing, enjoying the sun, getting his dick sucked, or whatever.

Whatever.

This fucker is worse than Scratch, in the sense that if you exchange idiocy for idiocy, if you even know what that means. I guess you had to be there.

But we keep running. Even when all the people drop what they’re doing and notice us.

We keep running. Even when everyone glares at us.

Keep running.

Even when the rocks fly and the sticks are picked up. We zoom past them in a blur. Not stopping, not stopping for anything or anyone.

Before I know it, we reach the river, and, shit, with no hesitation, we dive in and start swimming.

Sound fades, light turns wavy, and breathing is now impossible.

Tails, right next to me, swims. Above us I can hear the muffled noises of rocks hitting the surface. Sploosh, sploosh sploosh.

And still I ignore my broken leg and swim as hard as I can and try not to breathe. Underwater I pull ahead of Tails and descend into darkness, because that is where we can enter.

Guilty by association.

I still think it’s a weird feeling being underwater. Like I always figured how “real” people get born. Womb and all that shit. Floating. Flying.

Right now, though, I feel like someone just tied a rubber band around my legs and I’m turning purple at the top from lack of… everything.

Some pain. Some enlightenment. Some… thing.

I don’t look back, not once, to check if Tails is still behind me. Somehow, I know she is. She’s stronger than all the others.

When it finally goes completely dark, I can feel the alveoli tissue burning within me, and the magma of spit in my mouth. Well, at least I know that I’m still alive.

Because I can’t hear anything. It’s dead silence, save for the rhythmic pumping of a heart. At Robotnik’s theater, the figure watching this movie falls asleep. He slumps in his chair and falls out of sight.

Fuck you.

It’s Wednesday, and that means low tide. The water level is at different points on the inside, and this day was just after a cleansing. So it would be rising steadily.

This means hurry up.

My hand is suddenly five inches from the surface. Vision returns in the form of green ambient lighting.

Four inches.

Behind me, I hope that Tails hasn’t drowned.

Three.

Two.

One.

Wake up.

Break.

**********

Devastation. Ruin.

Shadow smiled.

It was in the Marble Zone where she found all of the animals being escorted to the Doctor, her precious creator. Boy would he be happy.

But he would be even happier if she got that blue fuck back where he belonged.

And after running around for two minutes, she decided to have a small chat with the resident idiot of the Emerald Hill Zone.

**********

I emerge. I’m born.

Sputtering and breathless and covered in water. Now on hard, crystallized ground, I crawl a few feet, taking in breath after breath.

The water is at its lowest level, thankfully, else I would be dead.

She would be too, and instead of sputtering and coughing and almost dying right behind me, Tails would have been carried on the river, unknowingly reinforcing the animal’s beliefs that it’s not good to escape.

Her breathing is shallow as she presses herself flat on the ground, repaying her oxygen debt. Save for her panicked breaths, everything is deathly silent.

Except for…

Uh oh.

I quickly get up from my position and run over to Tails. Since she’s on her stomach, I have to wrap my arms around her from her arm pits.

I stand her up and yell, “We need to go, NOW!” Shaky and weak, she nods, and looks up.

The way the Labyrinth Zone is put together is that instead of water gushing down in one big water fall, it is regulated by the number of structures blocking its view. A stone awning comes out and slows everything down a little. Put a lot of these together and it’s a river, stupid.

What I heard that got me so uptight was the little click sound that happens to signal the flowing of a new tide. There’s a two minute warning and a ten second one. I don’t know which one I heard, but if I’m wrong then we’re in a bit of trouble. We have to start moving up, and fast.

It’s simple enough. Jump, move, jump, move, jump, move, bla, bla bla. Tails is moving with me after the first two jumps, but it’s not enough.

After the ten second mark, I listen for the water to start flowing from above, but I hear nothing. We have two minutes before it all comes crashing down.

Jump, move, jump again. It’s the tenth stone awning we jump on before Tails starts talking.

“Why did you choose me?”

Jump, pause, move. “What?”

“You chose me, back there, to help you with that thing. Why?”

Move.

Jump.

“I don’t know. Maybe because you were closest to me. You were my fastest option.”

Pause.

I hear her mumble something when I jump again. “What was that?”

“Whatever.”

Huh?

I look down at her, and I notice that we have already gone a long ways up. A real long ways up. I look above me, and about twenty feet is the first access route for the water to pour out.

“Keep moving!”

Then I hear it…

Time’s up. Speeds up. Move up.

So I yell to her to go faster. Up and on up we climb, fast as we can, since all we had were ten seconds. Speed counts now more than ever, agility close behind…

We aren’t gonna make it by the time it’s turned on, but at least we have a delay of a few seconds while the water flows to this point. It will be close. Maybe we’ll live.

Maybe.

Jump, move, pause.

And suddenly I’m staring the giant access panel in the face. It’s completely dark to the end of the tunnel, but the sound of water coming is deafening. I grab Tails by her arm and pull her up to the level with me, and, hard as I can, jumped. My broken leg almost crumbles under the pressure. My eyes shut tight.

And oh shit is it close.

My eyes stay closed and I enjoy the moment, for the split second before I realized that it probably would have been better if I died.

Wow, kinda like waking up.

I open my eyes and Tails’ eyes are so close to me. I’m pressed up against Tails on the ground, he chest pushing my up with every breath, air tickling my face. And she’s staring at me.

Cue trumpet sound.

“Ummm…”

**********

After two seconds of suspicious glaring, he finally responded.

“That way.” Coconuts pointed at the river from his throne. Off to the side, two women were standing at complete attention, the glazed over high look in their eyes. Their faces showing no emotion.

Shadow turned to the monkey on the chair and nodded.

Those white upon white eyes stared at each other. The monkey kept pointing. “They went that way, but it’s getting late. The tide’s coming in.”

Shadow stared, but didn’t nod.

“I’ll inform the Doc.” Coconuts waited for a response, then sighed and used the small com on his arm to radio to his ‘bot in the field. Through all of this, only he spoke.

Shadow thought to herself that he must’ve conditioned these animals heavily. Nobody that was around was talking. In a way it was admirable, but…

Fucking glutton.

She turned and ran in the flowing river’s direction, but not before she spat on the ground.

**********

And in short, we started moving again. Up, up, and up. Despite the fact that it would be awhile before the next batch would come on, we still need to outrun the water filling from below.

Which was coming fast.

Now, this may seem a little strange. Wait, I mean more than a little. Kind of a lot, really. This is where and Tails and I meet Ray.

He says, coming seemingly from nowhere, “You gotta take a running start first, then you jump. You can’t just lead off right away, because you’ll fall.” This little yellow squirrel’s eyes move wildly and he speaks in non-stopping sentences.

“Who are you?” asks Tails sweetly.

“Ray. Who are you guys, I’ve never seen you before. What’s brought you here? Are you fed-up with everything too?”

“Yes,” I say. “But we have to keep moving.”

“He’s right. The water comes up fast, very fast, and it sweep everything up in its path. It’s very easy to get lost in there. We can make it to the open area if we go really fast. Let’s go!”

Oh yes, the open area. I forgot. Besides the somewhat vertical passageways deliver the water, there’s the giant open area that connects all of them. You can go anywhere if you make it here. Well, almost.

So we climb as fast as we fucking can. We jump, we pause, we run, and my leg hurts like hell, but I don’t stop. We.

Up and up. Ray tells us his life story while we outrun the imminent water.

“My parents were both loyal followers of Coconuts, blindly unquestioning, so it was real important that I be too. Ever since I could remember, all I’ve wanted to do was talk, but I’d get whipped every time I did. In the name of God, they said. Well, one day I met this person, this girl, that would take me away from those hot , hot praying ground and we’d do nothing but talk. It was my escape from everything, but I should’ve know it wasn’t meant to last, because soon enough she was carried off by the demigods. And I wanted to follow her. As much as everyone tried to stop me, I followed her.

“My parents dove in after me, swam as fast as they could, and even caught up with me. But being able to talk as long as I can gives me big lung power, I guess, because they ran out of air before I did. When I looked down at my father’s hand gripping my foot, I realized he was dead, and it was ten minutes before I could pry his grip from my foot. Sadly, despite the fact that he said he wanted to die with his wife, he didn’t. I don’t know what happened to my mom.”

Touching.

“And I found this thing too. Floating on top of the water as it receded. Know what it is?”

I’m so enthralled with his story that I don’t notice in time that the water is rushing two platforms below us. We have to scramble, but we make it. Barely. To the center of the world. Right as everything comes flooding in.

Then Ray departs forever from us. Swept away because I can’t hold onto him. Because I think Tails is much more important.

I’ll never see him again. We.

And I never mentioned to him that the thing he was carrying in his hand was a gun.

**********

If it was possible, Shadow felt like she threw a match down her throat and her lungs were on fire. But she knew she could last.

All she had to do was think of him… and smile.

Like she imagined that he would.

So she kept going. Blazing underwater.

**********

The reports tell me that I have to go this way. To the right.

Shit, but that was from the direction of Green Hill.

Now where do I go?

Sorry. We. I’m a little distracted because from all directions Chompers are coming for me. And still I have to worry about Tails getting enough air.

A safety feature built in the zone’s crystal structure, are plenty of generators pumping air in between cracks of stone so the least amount of ‘bots are killed. They can refresh themselves without the distance or energy.

With my arms tight around Tails, I swim with my feet kicking and bring us to an air bubble whenever I get lost. This place is like a fucking labyrinth…

Oh. I get it now. Ha ha. Funny.

Anyway, with the Chompers closing in behind me and Tails kicking and running out of air, I finally find what I’m looking for.

The way out. The way to him. The way to God and all his glory.

Kick kick kick.

The way it’s built is like a depressurization chamber with a steel door that you have to close on the inside. The outer is already open and the inside pushes out when you press a button. Quick as I can, I do this.

And everything comes washing out. Born once again, without the innocent.

Coughing and sputtering, we get out. The door closes.

Wait…

The Spring Yard Zone…?

**********

Robotnik was talking with Snively when the alarm for the pressure door sounded.

“What the fuck?!”

“Sir!”

Robotnik pressed his hands and face against the view pane. He smacked his non metal fist. “No…”

**********

Oh shit.

It just came back to me.

I had made a mistake.

I was trained here. In the Spring Yard Zone. I never wanted to see this place again, and yet… here I am.

Then, what was-

“So, Sonic, come back, have you?” Robotnik’s voice over the loudspeaker, echoing over the entire arena.

I lower my eyes. “Just thought I’d drop a line, stay awhile, kill you, then leave, if that’s alright.”

A short line of silence. “Remembering things, are we?”

Another short line of silence, but this time by me.

“It’s hard to keep track of everything at once, isn’t it, boy? With what you’ve got in your mind, I can see why-”

“Shut up.”

“Why, I’ll bet you don’t even remember half the things you’ve read in my database. And the files on you-”

“Shut up!”

“You don’t have a fucking clue, boy. You have no idea. Everything to you is this big mystery.”

“Shut your FUCKING MOUTH!”

Nothing. “So, in light of this fact, I will give you and your… companion a chance.”

I look over at Tails, still breathing heavily. I already don’t like where this is going.

“Complete the course. You’ll get the training and you’ll get through me for a short time.”

No.

“Beat the current record holder, too, and I may go easy on you even more.”

“I don’t want your fucking pity, Eggman!”

“This isn’t pity. It’s honor. After all, you deserve a break. Now, you’d better get going.”

“Wait, aren’t I the current record holder?”

Pause. “You wish, Sonic.”

That doesn’t sound good.

As I help up Tails and usher her forward to the arena, I whisper in her ear, “Be careful.”

Suddenly very determined, she nods, stepping up to the first spring on the agility course. With no further hesitation, she jumps.

From this angle, I can choose either to start halfway through the endurance course, or the entire double ballistics course. I make my choice, and just as I’m about to go, I hear water from the door rush into the room behind be.

And when I look… when I look…

Nope, no way, no fucking way.

**********

“Oh, this is good.”

“You’re an idiot, sir.”

“Shut up, Snively. You know nothing of the way things work.”

“Gee, I don’t? Well, excuse me if I say ‘fuck you’ sir. There is no logic in this whatsoever. How can you even consider doing this?”

“You’ll see…”

**********

I don’t think so.

I turn around and jump on the spring and into the training area. Double ballistics. The way the Spring Yard Zone is built is that it’s a complete area with obstacles and tracks and confusing flashing lights that spout random words.

Cpu.

On.

Up.

So on an so forth, testing every single aspect of the creation potential. There are springs that catapult trainees into the air. There are spiked chains that swing wildly in all directions. There are these bastard ‘bots that are hard as shit to kill because of the spines on their back. I forget what they’re called.

Last time I did this, I passed the course faster than any other of Robotnik’s creations. But…

This faker running behind me shouldn’t be shit, but she is. She looks sleeker, more efficient, everything that Robotnik couldn’t make in me.

He’s getting better. And I’m getting worse. No kidding.

Right behind me somewhere is this fucking faker that thinks it can be better than me, do better than me, and I’m not having it. It’s running as fast as it can, trying to catch up as I dodge a spiked ball and come down on the left platform. I hit the surface running, and so does she. Suddenly, we’re neck and neck.

Faker.

Liar.

She pulls ahead. About two inches, and gaining. Without breaking her speed, she turns to me and grins.

Fuck this.

I reach out and grab her by the neck. I stop running and try to break. Skid to a halt.

This causes us to merge to the left. This causes her to grab me by my head. This causes us to lose control. This causes us to fly over the side of the railing.

In mid air, I kick her away from me. I hope that she flies into a spiked pit or something. Bitch, liar, and faker, I hope you die.

With a loud smack, I hit the floor, and it’s a few seconds before a wake up again.

**********

Still teased.

I open my eyes and stand up. I dust myself off. Where am I? What’s going on? I’m safe for the moment, and that girl is nowhere in sight. Good.

Tails.

Frantically, I look around for her. God, it wouldn’t be right if she was crushed by a spiked ball already.

Then I see her.

Jumping on a spring. Gracefully.

Transfixed, I watch her do surprisingly well against the chain swinging in all directions. On. Up. Cpu. A prison within a prison within a prison.

I would have been happy if I hadn’t remembered Eggman. I look to the view screen somewhere up high, observing everything. The visual deck.

And I see him, not watching me, not watching his new creation, but watching Tails. Intently. Very intently.

No.

Then his eyes quickly look at me, as if he heard me.

And we stare at each other. And I shake my head.

No.

And he keep staring. That collar that always covers his mouth moves higher up.

And then he is gone. Out of sight.

That…

I turn back to Tails to watch her, but I have this feeling… this oncoming feeling.

Over at the ‘bots that Tails jumped over, and I realized that everything’s moving steadily slower.

Slower.

Slower.

Stop.

Heh.

It’s over.

**********

“Told you, Snively.”

“Oh yeah right, like you planned that the entire time. That was very pointless, sir.”

“Not so. It’ll pay off later, Snively, I guarantee it. Now, go get in your suit.”

“What? Why?”

“In order to capture him, idiot.”

**********

Tails was in the air when the walls came crashing down and into the floor. The surface was a fifty foot drop that she knew she couldn’t survive just falling, so she started twirling her broken tails. She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain, but couldn’t. As much as she tried, she couldn’t, and eventually in her descent to about twenty-five feet, she started falling.

It was a great feeling of relief after pure pain. The best she’s ever really felt. Just before impact.

**********

I catch Tails in my arms and jet across the empty Spring Yard Zone. It’s all over from here if we stay. The Doctor will have every ‘bot on our asses in thirty seconds.

Tails doesn’t have a chance in this place. I have to get her out of here.

There’s only one place to go.

**********

Shadow opened her eyes. Then she slammed her fist hard into the surface and growled. She gripped her head in pain.

In her fit of anger, she noticed that Sonic was running for the Labyrinth Zone exit.

Not again.

Groaning, she got up and started to run for it. The blue one reached the door and with a loud bang shut it behind him.

“Wait, Shadow.”

The intercom.

“Let’s see where he’s going first.”

**********

As I swim through the escaping labyrinth water, I cradle Tails in my arms and try to wake her up.

Tails.

Tails!

“Tails!”

“What?” she groggily asks. She hasn’t even noticed that she’s half submerged in water.

“It’s time for you to go.”

Her eyes shoot open and she’s suddenly very awake. Tears start to well up.

“I know, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten you involved. Robotnik knows who you are now. Head for the Marble Zone and get the hell out.”

“What about you?”

“I’m staying. There’s no time, you need to go. Now!”

She doesn’t move.

“Get going!” I push her away from me.

With tears in her eyes, she dives underwater.

**********

It’s too dangerous to go back to the Spring Yard Zone, and besides, you couldn’t drag me back there anyway, so I should somewhere else to go.

The Star Light Zone, the place I’ve never been inside of, the place where the Death Egg was constructed. The place where I am confused. The place where every time I try to think of a specific concrete memory I always think of the color red for some reason. My former favorite color.

So, obviously, I can go there.

After swimming past some Chompers and grabbing a quick breath of air, in I go. The same door principle applies.

I spill out onto cold metal. I catch my breath and stand up. I look around.

Around…

It’s a construction yard, set against a black canvas. Little pinpoints of light everywhere, and it looks like I’m in space. Dead in space.

Slowly, I walk. And walk.

And stop.

Oh…

And floating above me…

It’s . . . . . . . Him. The guy in the Marble Zone that I saw… except…

Red, not black. And instead of indiscernible, and vague, I can see every single detail. Especially the eyes. Empty, cold, and distant. And evil.

He’s hanging from a rope that stretched on and up and out of sight. The rope is tied around a wooden board that’s attached to the creature’s arms. His legs hang loosely and together.

Rope crucifix.

I shut my eyes tight and clenched my fists.

Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t freak out. Don’t. Freak. Out.

Somewhere in Robotnik’s theater, the striped version of myself is watching the screen intently and not noticing the whitening of his knuckles.

Somewhere inside me, a heart beats faster and faster.

And somewhere inside me, I hear the red creature’s voice, yelling my name.

‘SONIC!’

And I scream. Long and hard and haggard.

And I wrench my eyes open to see Eggman standing ahead in the distance, walking towards me. I can barely hear him speak.

“So, you’ve finally gotten here. The place of your conception.”

No.

And I’m still screaming when I can see the Doctor’s cheeks pull beneath his collar in a smile.

And I’m still screaming when I can’t hear the Doctor say something.

And I’m still screaming when I suddenly feel like I’m jacking off with broken hands.

And I finally stop when different versions of me jump from all directions and tackle me to the floor.

And all I can think of is the eyes and the color red.

Dot, dot dot.

**********

I think that went well, don’t you?

The End of Wednesday