Damages

Planning them Unknown

  --Apartment 519—

Crimson streaks of a luscious black hedgehog were being enlightened by the afternoon sun which stretched its arms of light through the transparent windows of the apartment. But the marvelous sight was not what was to be told, instead, the emotions of the ultimate life form were filled with hatred, pain, rejection, and blood lust. The same emotions he had after Maria and her grandfather were annihilated and removed from both the Space Colony Ark and people's memories. Two important people of Shadow, but no one really cared for them. Now, the one he cares more than his own life, is cared by millions; maybe even thousands of worldwide fan girls and boys; whether for attraction or simple likings. He had been pondering for about an hour and had begun to wonder about Silver. As a check-up, he decided to call him.



--Inside Shadow's Black Hummer—

Singing Christmas carols on the radio like a youngster Silver was; he suddenly focused on the vibrating phone nearby. In the interior was a device that enables Bluetooth while driving. A gloved hand turned the nozzle to the left; the music lowered in sound. Then it moved over to the neon switch and pressed it softly. "Hello?" he answered. "Silver! Where are you?" Shadow questioned. "Over near KFC, why?" A black eyebrow raised in confusion. Why would Silver be near a restaurant? He could be hungry. "If you took my car, you better not eat in it!" The white hedgehog nodded, "No sir! I'm near it, but I'm actually pursuing Sonic and his lawyer. With those words said, he noticed that the ebony one grew silent. Imaginary thoughts filled his mind. 'Is he proud of me for doing this? Will he reward me? Is this going to help him? Oh! I hope he likes that!' While on the other line, Shadow had forgotten about his love's trials and was going to command Silver to watch over what he says.



"Silver..." he responded, but halted. "Y-yes?" asked the young hedgehog, who was awaiting a compliment while watching the road. "I can't say how proud I am of you. Y-You, are doing exactly what I was going to ask you to!" Power was increasing inside the hedgehog, "Just doing my job sir." "Well done Silver. But, make sure he doesn't recognize you. Find out everything you know!" "Yes sir!" he responded proudly and a beep was made. Shadow closed the line.



--3:21 P.M. inside courtroom—



Cold expressionless faces were everywhere in the jury's section and of the few people in the audience. Emerald eyes faced downward, but his mind escaped all barriers that people put him in. This was quite rare for him to do because he usually unaware by the things that caused him to become the turtle inside the shell with Shadow. He couldn't help imaging how after this case, he would be able to grab Rudy and take him far away with him. Where no one will find either of them and live happily ever after. He saw Rudolph as a kind hearted male that was misplaced in the worst punishments. He was sad also that Rudy may never see the sun set, the sky becoming different shades, the monsoons, and other little things people never appreciate.



He shook his head slightly. 'No, my love is special. He shall not die unless I know when. He will stay alive until I get out so I can pay for his exit!' Near the front rows was the adoptive mother of Scourge; giving the evil eye to Sonic. Our hero felt somewhat uncomfortable, but understood her motives. She misunderstood the situation, and what really happened will be told in front of everyone. It's quite a pity though that neither the truth, nor the screams of a thousand helps would be heard, but silenced forever.



The judge came in, bold as a stone, his hair resembled the fluffiness of cotton candy or a spider web decorating fabric. The old man's face was smudged somewhat together like metamorphic rocks that even the eyes were hard to locate. Dressed in a gown of jet black as the light touched it; made the blue hedgehog uncomfortable when he sat down next to his lawyer and recalled the fur that resembled the cloak. Next to him were two stands and a sturdy microphone. The stands of both the judge's and the questionings were neither too high nor low, but painted in a beautiful shining wood varnish. Next to the stands was a bulky man in a police uniform and on the other, a female of the same status.



The people were closing in. Sonic had begun to felt somewhat claustrophobic by the presence of the people and nearly blurred his vision from such confusion. The people stood up straight; with shoulders back, and heads high; except Sonic. He had lost all hope and pride that would be present, but little still remained for at least the prosecution of Scourge would be over. In the back row stood a male in a coffee brown button coat in black and psychedelic blue. His golden eyes remained focused on the actions of both the trial and the hedgehog.





--Sonic's P.O.V.—

For every sin, there is a punishment. For every praise, there is a gift. Why do the guilty at times never get caught? Doesn't anyone understand how difficult it is to recall such devastating events when you're trying to recover from it? I guess we will find out! I'm watching the judge pounding on the spot underneath the gravel, which creates a hollow sound. His hand removed from the handle and the Pledge was said. Even with great sadness, I spoke the words aloud, "I Pledge of Allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America. And to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, Indivisible and liberty and justice for all." A deep man replied to us, "You may sit down." The trial was ready to start; with the prosecutors ready to take action, and Scourge's mom with the scary ass eyes of madness. Seriously, she must be mental! I mean seriously! Her eyes look like their going to pop out of her skull and eat me! Just turn to red and I would scream for my forsaken mother!



--Original P.O.V.—

A tall business man in a dark colored coat stood in defense of Scourge's mother, Dolores Illingworth Estrada. She was sitting down with cold bold eyes facing towards the blue hedgehog. Her skin was pale with freckles. Hair, the color of autumn's fading red leaves but frizzy like if she was zapped by an electric ray. The woman seemed cold within her soul. But, who could tell her the truth even if it was being said right under her nose. Her mind was so clogged up with hatred and sadness, who wouldn't want immediate punishment for someone they think, is responsible so that they can move on in life? Anyhow, she continued with the negative expression. Her lawyer, John Carder was a serious straightforward and tough adversary. He had a knack for influencing people, which of course was selected by an uneasy budget. It seems that Mary-Ellen knew this and was very aware that this case was not going to be easy. The trial was ready to begin.



"Good Afternoon everyone." he presented with a foreign accent from Old English. "My name is John Carder and I am here to show you all," he spoke with strange hand motions, "That Miss Dolores proves correctly over the murder of her adoptive son, Scourge." The room was silent. "Scourge, he was a lovable child. He ran and played like any other. He was curious and intelligent in his own knowledge. This boy, who could have been like anyone's child..." Carder pointed to Sonic with darting eyes and soon a finger. "Who this, hero decided to take the life of someone for simply interfering his space." Hero... the way he said it made the name sound embarrassing. "This can be found as paparazzi understanding. But to kill a CHILD," the man was cut off by a jolting voice of a woman, "Objection, my client has not yet been proven of murder and therefore should not be justified to killing!" The old judge looked at Mary-Ellen to confirm. "Sustained." "Allow me to rephrase what I meant to say." John took a second to ponder, "But the possibility of hurting a child seems all too exhilarating and unfair way to respond." In the man's arms, he carried an envelope that held documents that would be presented soon.



After those words were spoken, he released the large envelope that was held firmly under his arm. There, he pulled out long wide photographs. The first photograph he revealed was of Scourge. His eyes were bright blue crystals and his fur was painted like a meadow green. Basically, to put it to a few words, he looked like any other innocent child. John walked around the room presenting the picture to everyone in the courtroom. "This is Scourge before he went to his old home and before the attack." He said as he walked around slowly and continued, "This picture was taken just 6 months ago." After the lawyer reached the last person seated as the jury, he removed the picture and held up another. Suddenly, the expressions shown on the people were filled with disgust and sorrow.



Again, he went around the room with another photograph, but this one was more recent and gruesome. "This is Scourge when he was discovered by authorities." He paused as he looked around for reactions. When the picture was presented near Sonic, his emerald eyes locked on it. 'Why did he do this? H-How could he?' he thought before revealing blue eyelids into shutting his vision with the darkness of loneliness and shame for not being able to save him. "This child, who you see, is Scourge." He paused for further reactions and then continued. "Here he is, lying dead only because the defendant over there," he pointed, "had no heart for this child or anyone who approached him." This picture had the young green hedgehog bleeding from open eyes, burnt arms and legs, and a bullet hole though him that leaked crimson.



The pictures displayed gruesomeness of torture and pain. Something that can be very much comprehensible to Sonic. He was already the first victim and only true witness of the occurrence. Thoughts entered the blue hedgehog of memories of what happened to him. The pain...rage...and confusion. "I'm standing here for a child. Who could have been any child in the world. He was not selected because of specific reasons, so I am here to prove to you all that Scourge died by the hands of a hero," he pointed his finger toward the blue hedgehog and continued, "A hero who we've all trusted for so long. With our lives, children, and world!" the lawyer ended by dropping hand down with his index finger with it. This hand was the unoccupied one that did not hold the photograph. The envelope was clutched tightly under his arm. When the jury and judge glimpsed at the photograph well enough to upset their stomachs and almost remove their breakfast, John retrieved the picture to it's place. "First, I would like to bring my client to the stand.







Scourge's mother, pale and sad like a zombie holding a grudge was what she seemed to be to our young hero. Shocked inside but ignorant on the outside, his emerald eyes moved away as she stood up out of her seat and onto the nicely polished wooden stand. The microphone was set by one of the officers to reach her lips length so her words could be heard. Both Mary-Ellen and John took out a pen for notes. Sonic stared at the floor and begun to wonder what his cell mate must be doing. And while thoughts were becoming mempries, eyes were peering through the door of the enterance. This created a disturbing sound in the courtroom. Eyes connected to turned heads faced the sound. The brown coat dude was just entering. Sonic too looked back. He recognized the man, but did nothing since his true identity was still hidden.





"Nice of you to join us Mr. Wumperfield." spoke the judge sacastically. The man nodded in a reply and sat in the back where he was neither detectable of spying his boss' prize nor any other thing that anyone would worry about. "Let's continue on shall we?" the judge continued and took out his hand to move the trial forward. "Starting with the first question Miss Dolores, according to the documents of child care, your son, Scourge was adopted right." Fish eyes looked at the lawyer, "Yes." she peeped and cried a bit more with a tissue in her bony hands. "How long have you had him?" he asked.



Her eyes looked up to control the tears and zoomed back down, "Ever since he was three years old." She blew her nose onto a overly filled tissue. "How long have you lived in the house on the moor?" "Two years. It was really dirty and broken when we moved in. Pretty ancient, but we bought it becuase he wanted to. It was also very cheap." "Cheap as in how much?" "Twenty thousand dollars. Along with the farming tools." "Where did you move to afterwards?" "Southern California of course. It was a quiet, beautiful, neighborhood." "Do you still live there or did you move somewhere else?" "We stayed there and we were going to move closer to the house on the moor because he missed his friends." Dolores cried a few more tears, "That's when..." The woman burst into tears in front of the audience. She continously murmured "Oh God."






Slowly, responsible actions were coming to Sonic. He felt as if he should have done something. Scourge saved his life because he wanted to ! How was he to say that? Dolores recovered herself as a mature woman who wants justice, "He was, murdered..." she squealed the last word and pointed at the defendant. There, she screamed, "BY THAT THING!" The police nearby held her down by whispering for her to calm down and holding her by the wrists and pushing her down. Sonic looked back with fearfully shamed eyes. 'If only she knew the truth.' he thought. "Settle down Miss Estrada. We know this is difficult for you." Dolores did as instructed and asked for a tissue box to have with her. Of course, she was happily granted one.




Continuing on the questioning, John brought up another quote, "What do you recall when you were heading to the house?" She stuttered a bit but contained herself, "I-I saw the road was rather quiet and c-calm. But it was cold, so when we got there we rushed inside. Almost everything was the way it should have been." "Has anyone moved in after you to that house?" "Not that I am aware of. The landlord said that he might demolish it." "Then what happened when you entered?" Her eyes moved up to show recollections. While speaking and facing up, she said, "Scourge ran upstairs to what used to be his room. I stayed downstairs where there were many boxes." "Boxes of what?" "Old lamps, antiques maybe?" she responded looking back at her lawyer and nodding. "I never looked inside, but we used to always move them around when they got in the way." "So the boxes were there before you owned the house?" "Yes sir."



Yellow eyes watched dull blue fur. Sonic had been resisting showers ever since he witnessed a man who dropped the soap in the room. His fur was covered in small splotches of dark blue areas that marked his bruises. "When did you go upstairs to see the boy?" asked Carder. The mother gulped her nervousness with inner pride, 'When I heard the screaming of my boy. The stairs were broken so I fell a few times before I could get up there. But when I did, I..." she paused. "You what? Miss Dolores?" "I saw a dark figure coming at me. It's shadow was just like Sonic's! Exactly like it!" "What else happened?" "The shadow looked at me with these scary eyes that I still have nightmares about!" she cried a bit more, "They were horrible crimson eyes!" she bursted out to tears. The man looked down on the floor and then back at the judge with his last words being, "No further questions."




The judge looked over a copy of the documents that each lawyer possessed in their hands. "The defendant may now proceed." Mary-Ellen stood up and walked over to the center of the room in full audience centered voice. "Hello everyone. My name is Mary-Ellen Key and I represent the hero, Sonic the Hedgehog." Her sea colored eyes looked from corner to corner. "As current evidence of his own case AND of this case, I will prove to you all that this was mearly a misunderstanding." She turned around and looked at the cold woman. "According to what you've said about the description of your attacker, have you ever questioned yourself whether it being Mecha Sonic(Metal Sonic) or some other resemblant figure?" "Well, it was him! I saw his eyes turn from green to red." "But even in his dark form, his eyes remain green. You're saying he had red eyes and a dark color? Have you ever considered it to be Shadow?" Dolores banged her fist down in frutration, "I knew it was him! He fucking killed my son! I also saw his shoes!" "You saw his shoes?" "Yes!" The two remianed quiet.


"I would like to bring Sonic to the stand." "Permission granted." replied the judge. Sonic looked up, 'Aw crud! I must remember to not mention anything about Shadow!" His SOAP shoes clicked when his heel touched the floor. He walked over to the wooden stand seriously and without a smile for the croud. When his butt reached the seat, his eyes looked at Key. "Where were you 2 months ago?" "I was at the farm house on the moor." he answered honestly. "Were you already there for sometime?" Sonic hesitated for a response which left a 2 second moment of silence. "Y-Yes." "What were you doing there?" Gloved hands were carressing against each other behind the stand and in front of the blue hedgie. "I was with someone." "Was it your attacker?" "Yes." "What was he doing at the time?" "Sleeping I guess?" "Getting more to your case Sonic," she paused, "where was your attacker when Scourge was killed?"



Emerald eyes dropped cold. 'Oh fuck. How do I answer that.' he thought. He swore to tell the truth, so he took a deep breath and spoke, "He was... around." "Did he see Scourge get slaughtered?" "Yes." "So you're saying there were two people involved as killers?" There was a large pause. Tears fell from blue eyelids that closed up tightly. "I only knew Scourge for that time! he and I were playing with marbles until one of them fell out of reach and...oh god!" he poured tears onto gloved hands. Sonic sobbed quietly but without care. He was already broken on the inside, he was dirty and a criminal. There was certainly a point of there being that his ego was destroyed ever since the news spread about his imprisonment.



She waited until he recovered. But unlike Dolores, Sonic was a hardcore victim of much more than she could have ever been which almost broke his love for life. "Sonic, did your attacker kill Scourge?" Emerald orbs locked onto his surroundings. 'What if Shadow was here?' he thought. He quickly looked around. for any sign of his attacker or apprentice. Over on the far side, he saw a familiar face, but was fooled by the famed Matt Wumperfield alias. "I don't remember. It was so dark." "Can you tell us what your side of the story is then?" Sonic closed his eyelids and tried to remember only what was necessary to be told and not the whole scene. "I went to get the marble that was rolling away until someone came over to me." "Could you provide more details?" Sonic opened his eyes, "He, grabbed me and had begun to beat me really badly and Scourge got on him so he could let me go." He stopped for a moment and continued. "But when I got away, he tried not t leave any evidence behind and shot him." "So what you're saying is that someone tried to injure you but Scourge tried to protect you; that resulted to his death?" A yes was taken as a response with nodding.


"Is there any evidence that you know that may have been able to prove this?" "Yes. It was taped by a white hedgehog. I've seen him very often, but I never knew his name." "He taped you?" "Yes." it took our cerclean hero to find out that the information he was giving was like walking on a highwire to cross two buildings. She paused for a moment. This was big because if there was a tape, then there should be evidence to both crimes! "Are you saying that someone has been recording you from your own case attacks as to also of Scourge?" "Yeah, I think he was with the same guy who attacked Dolores' son. I'm not sure though. Maybe there were two guys and he was working for both!" Mary-Ellen nodded. "Understood. There are no more questions your honor." The judge nodded back, "Thankyou Ms. Key."


"Would John Carder like to question the defendant?" "Yes." replied John to the judge. "Permission granted." The senior replied back and watched the opposer's lawyer come to arise. "Sonic, according to the information given in this trial, you were victimized by someone in the farm house way before Dolores and her son came. Is that correct?" The blue one gulped nervously, "Yes." "Your attacker tends to have an assistant. Or do you not know?" "I'm sure he does. He videotapes me all the time when he's around. I'm just not sure if he was also with the other guy that came to kill Scourge." "But you don't know if there was a different guy." They both had begun to raise their voices to a tightening conversation. "I am aware of that, but the last time I was in contact with him, he was asleep."



Carder took out a file which was a copy of Fred Grayson's notes. "Really? because it says here that you said that your attacker was always aware of where you were." There was a short pause. 'Shit! Now you're screwed!' Sonic rubbed the inner cold that rushed through his body; just recalling the memories. "I..." The lawyer smiled. "Someone's withholding a lie." "I am not!" he yelled back in quick anger. Somehow, the hero had snapped after those words were spoken. "If you had any idea what I've been through, you wouldn't be pressuring me so hard for the truth. Do you have any idea what it's like to hide in a room all day?! Do you know what it's like to never know what's going on because of extreme paranoia? Tell me! If you haven't, then why are you making this so hard for me?" The judge smashed his gravel. "Settle down Sonic!" A female voice stood from the crowd. "Objection! My client is being stressed out by his voluntary speech." The old man looked over at the woman with a serous face. "Sustained." "Allow me to rephrase for you, sensitive one." proposed the rude man and continued, "If there is no evidence for a statement, how do you intend to back up what you are saying?"


Sonic looked down at his feet. He had promised himself multiple times to never reveal the truth of what occurred so many months ago. But a thought ran through his mind like the rush of the wind. 'What would your friends want? Weren't you always the one who's destiny was to keep peace and bring justice? His eyes were strong as he faced the crowd. Unknowingly of the consequences, he spoke out. "I knew the killer. He was my friend from a long time ago until he tricked me and has been torturing me ever since! He tried killing Scourge and his mother as a way to block off witnesses. He killed my friends!" Blue eyelids closed down and released a waterfall of tears.


At the back of the courtroom, the brown coat dude watched with a smirk on his face. "My, my, what will Shadow do when he finds out what you've done