Kit's Sonic One-Shots

Angst: It's my fault

Sonic's been missing for a month when Tails gets the letter.

Finding it at the entrance to his workshop, marked with his brother's signature handwriting, initially gives Tails hope. When he opens the letter and reads it, Tails is instead filled with dread, then rage, then despair. It takes him a few hours to get the will to share it with Sonic's other friends.

The first person Tails tells about the letter is Amy. Other than Tails, she's Sonic's oldest friend, and he was like a brother to her. She, just like Tails before her, is brought to tears, then becomes determined to make sure everyone hears about it. She e-mails the residences of those who fell victim, typing out the entire contents of the letter.

Reactions are mixed.

As Espio reads the letter, Vector and Charmy simply nod their heads in sorrow. What Sonic caused tore their family apart, but he also brought them back together. And even before that, he was a good friend to all of them.

Cream has a breakdown immediately. What happened to her family may have strained her relationship with Sonic, but he was still the guy who saved them many times, and the one who encouraged her to become a hero. Even her mother and Gemerl take a long time to get her to relax.

Shadow had holed himself up since Sonic's disappearance, feeling regret for what he said and did. When Rouge approaches him with the letter, for the first time in a long time, she sees him cry. In recent years, Shadow realized he had been treating Sonic worse and worse, and for a good while Shadow believes it's actually his own fault.

Tangle takes it poorly. After what she did, what she said to Sonic to keep him going, he still believed he was the one in the wrong? She may not have known him for long, but he was her inspiration, the one whose enthusiasm and determination made her own. And now those are gone. Jewel reacts much the same way; while she may have never known Sonic, she respected him as the world's hero, and can't possibly imagine what will be done without him.

But the hardest hit is Sonic's oldest acquaintance, the one he's known longer than even Tails.

Dr. Eggman.

While he and Sonic were always arch-enemies, when the time was down, and the world was not at stake, the blue blur was a dear friend to Eggman. Even when in the heat of battle, they kept each other busy, gave each other something to do. Eggman isn't quite sure how he'll live out his days now; going after another of the animals just wouldn't feel the same. He goes to the Egg Cave and stays there for quite some time, thinking.

For the next few years, the people are still in shock. Regardless, they try their best to move on. The Chaotix track down many more cases. Cream leads a peaceful life with her family. Team Dark continues to do things their own way. Jewel keeps managing her museum, while Tangle and Whisper continue to grow closer. Eggman attacks a few times, but loses inspiration with every strike, repelled by the other heroes. In time, things slow to a crawl, as if Sonic's speed kept the world spinning.

So you may ask... what was written in the letter, for it to move the world so?

All you need to know is who it was addressed to, not just Tails but everyone Sonic cared about, and how it ended.

I'm sorry for ending the world.

It's my fault.

Love,

Sonic

-

NOTES:

This one-shot was written after the Metal Virus was cured, but before we actually knew what happened to Sonic.

The way you're meant to interpret it is that he survived the dimensional warp and remained in his world, but, realizing that his actions and choices caused the apocalypse, decided to never hurt the ones he loved again, by exiling himself. He now lives a life similar to the beginning of the Sonic movie, keeping himself hidden from everyone.

This fic was inspired by several other Discord users and their nightmare-inducing mutations of the Metal Virus for their AUs.