For how Long will the Red Rose Grow

Inconveniences

At first, the disease didn't really interrupt Sonic's life. His routine was altered to account for the occasional fit he endured to cough up petals, but that was pretty much it. He still had his morning runs, his lunch, and his chats with Tails as normal, with a bathroom break somewhere in there to dispel petals.

Overall, it wasn't too bad. There was an uncomfortable and annoying weight on his chest from the flowers, however, and it did impede on how fast and far he could run; he was more short of breath. Though, when the flowers were coughed up, it was easier to breathe and run faster, farther.

Green Hill Zone was a bit more challenging now, especially as Eggman tried to reaffirm his hold on the zone by dispatching more Badniks to wreak havoc. Sonic could have cleaned things up there easily, if not for the ever present weight on his sternum and the stems constricting his lungs. Now, dealing with the Moto Bugs and Crabmeats was still pretty easy, but Buzz Bombers and Choppers were much harder to deal with. His spin dash was very limited, and he felt like he was suffocating every time he did it.

Boy, was he not expecting Eggman himself to actually be there.

He was piloting some sort of new mech Sonic hadn't seen. It was sort of like the Death Egg Robot, but also not quite. Sonic definitely didn't need this today. Especially with the faint tickling in the back of his throat.

But, he wasn't gonna stand idle and let Eggman do what he wanted. No way.

"Cut it out, Egghead!" He called, his voice a bit weaker than he wanted it to be. He cleared his throat. "You won't get away with this again!"

Eggman scowled, growling as he turned his robot to face the hedgehog. "Not this time, you pesky little pincushion!" He sneered. "I'll get my hands on the Chaos Emerald here and smash you to smithereens!"

"Chaos Emerald?" Sonic echoed quietly and to himself. There's one here? I wonder why Tails hasn't picked up on it's energy yet. He shook his head and stood as tall as he could. "No way!" He shouted back. "I'll find that emerald and smash your robot to smithereens!" Sonic's voice has more volume now; a good sign. Maybe he could win this fight after all.

Then it was practically a race. Both Sonic and the mech fired attacks at each other as they hunted for the emerald. His feet never missed a beat as he zipped around the Zone, scaling loops and clearing ravines as he normally did. With Eggman watching, he couldn't show weakness.

But damn did those petals want their presence known. They tickled like hell, dancing with feathered graces at the back of his throat, threatening to send Sonic into a hacking fit.

He couldn't let Eggman see if he was to cough. He couldn't afford to cough anyway, it gave Eggman a better chance at finding the Chaos Emerald. He deftly swallowed back the twirling petals, increasing his speed.

When that mech came back into view Sonic launched that first attack, homing in on it and slamming into the glass with his heels. He felt the shock shudder up his legs, and a swift hop back saved him from the mech's large foreboding hand.

Sonic grinned when he saw a large crack in the glass, knowing if he could take Eggman down he might have a chance. His feet were flying faster than they had in quite a few days. His throat ached with the petals dancing their furious dance in hopes of escape.

He matched pace with the robot, slowing just a bit to try and get a homing attack off on the glass cockpit. He ran up the high ground, jumping off the ledge.

And he hit.

The glass shattered almost on impact, the force allowing Sonic to get boosted forward. He watched the mech strike the ground from the force of his strike, skidding to a halt when it had crashed. He was heaving more visibly than he would've liked, more short of breath today than he had been yesterday.

"Hah!" He breathlessly laughed. "Take that, Egghead!"

The rotund man growled with frustration at his latest creation's failure, freeing the Egg Mobile and flying off in it with an 'I'll get you for this' shouted back his way.

With the relief and knowledge that he was finally alone, Sonic gave those pirouetting petals their wish, coughing and hacking and wheezing to get them out. Luckily, it was just petals for now, so he wasn't there too long.

Sonic wiped his mouth, turning on his heel and running back through the Zone, searching it too to bottom for the Chaos Emerald Eggman claimed was there. Finally, he saw it; a faint white glimmer in a bush, buried under some dirt from their battle.

He picked up the emerald, thrumming with power, and carried it carefully back to Tails's workshop. It had been far too long since he felt the electrifying jolt of energy of a Chaos Emerald.

He knew the door would be unlocked this time when he arrived, so he just waltzed on in. "Tails!" He called. "Come quick! You'll never guess what happened on my run!"

——

Yoooooooooooo it's me again! I once again apologize for going dark like that! I graduated in May (thank the lord), and I've since then been working a job! I feel quite proud of myself for that, but I do regret not writing more, especially when I promised I would.

Honestly, life's only gotten harder after graduating, as there's so much shit to be done, and not enough time to do said shit. I've had this draft sitting half finished since a few days after I published the first chapter, and I never got around to finishing or publishing it 'till now. Once again, I'm sorry. I'll be I frequent with updates.

I've had a bit of a cold recently, too, so that's been hindering my creative juices with mind-boggling headaches and coughs. I know it's just a cold and not Covid, so no need to worry, I'm already almost 100% again.

I promise to try my hardest as an author and a writer to get better at holding my promises and writing more than short blurbs and posting them for shits and giggles. I'm so sorry again, just know I'm working to better my infrequent writing on this app (I write plenty on my Apple Notes, though, maybe I should use those).

Please stay safe out there, everyone, and I'll see y'all in the next chapter!
—SuperHedgies