From "Friends" to "Parents" (Sonic the Hedgehog)

With you to the end

Sonic wasn't sure when Tom and Maddie had gotten there.

He remembered falling off the bridge. Darkness. Waking up. Seeing the Master Emerald nearby. Trying his absolute hardest to get to it, crawling, limping, anything because he couldn't run.

Just a little closer, just a little closer.

He'd gotten the Emerald. And no sooner had he picked it up than a pair of arms had scooped him off the ground and hauled him into a vehicle. Immediately afterwards, he'd heard a massive crash and felt the world shake, like something big had smashed into the ground where he'd just been.

It took him a minute to understand what was happening; his senses were still foggy. The arms that had picked him up were still holding him close. He was being held in someone's lap. Maddie's reassuring voice calling "We've got you." He felt the tip of her chin on his head, like she was clinging to him as closely as she could, making sure he was safe.

He vaguely heard Tom's voice yelling to hang on. Maddie's arms tightened even more around his chest and suddenly the car was flying, tilting, rolling, crashing. As if he wasn't in enough pain already.

Then they were crawling out and hiding behind the car. He dragged himself to the makeshift wall and rested back against it for just a moment, and then opened his eyes to see what was truly happening.

Ruins. Smoke. Dust. Surrounding them, as Maddie peered over the truck to see where the giant robot was and Tom fumbled to get to Sonic's side.

Remembering the weight in his hands, something suddenly clicked in his brain and sparked a bit of hope. "I got the Emerald, we can still defeat him!" he rattled out, still a little shaken. He stared at the giant green stone, tilting it this way and that. "How does this thing work? What do I do?" Robotnik had simply grabbed it and immediately absorbed its power, but Sonic had been holding it for several minutes and nothing had happened.

Then, to his absolute horror, cracks began to web their way through the Emerald. "What? No!" The cracks continued their way until the entire Emerald lost its brilliant green color and fell apart to pieces, leaving only small, multi-colored gems lying in their midst. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

Just as quickly as his hope had appeared, it faded away.

And as if that wasn't enough to plunge his spirits down into despair, it was then that a giant blast of fire shot down around the truck, trapping them in a circle of searing flames.

A circle that was the same size as the foot of the metal monstrosity that Robotnik was controlling, ready to crush them.

Fear filled his heart as he began to grasp just how bad the situation was. He'd hurt his leg; he couldn't run away, much less bring Tom and Maddie to safety. The Master Emerald was broken. He couldn't crawl his way through a wall of flames. Robotnik was all but on top of them.

There was no escape.

"Y-You have to get away from me," he pleaded to the two humans, who'd both sat down on either side of him. "I'm the one he wants!"

Because while he didn't want to die, didn't want to let Robotnik win and take over the world, Tom and Maddie didn't deserve to go out with him. They were such kind people. Even before they'd taken him in, he'd watched them look out for each other and the people around them. He'd watched them make sacrifices for the sake of others. And they'd done so much for him. They'd given him the most beautiful room in the world. Provided him with meals, a home, a loving family.

They were his family.

And yet, both of them looked mildly shocked at his words. Like the very suggestion of leaving for their own safety was absolutely absurd.