Genesis

Death of a friend

Here's another story bye meh!

---------------------------------------------------------

Sonic stood atop the tall building, wind blowing through his quills, gazing down at the people below going about their everyday lives. He closed his eyes, deep in thought. Lately, something has been on his mind, gnawing away at his thoughts, he just couldn't shake it. The whole hero thing had been really annoying him over the past few months, the constant fights with Eggman has lost their adventurous appeal, it didn't hold the same adrenaline rush affect it had before, it just seemed more of a tiresome chore. That wasn't nearly as bad as the round the clock press coverage though, he was sick of the cameras following him everywhere, watching his every move, scrutinizing his every mistake.

And he did make mistakes, not often, but he did, and when he did, it was all over the front page the next day. After all, he was the hero, he can't make mistakes, he has to be perfect...but he wasn't perfect. He closed his eyes and sighed. He just wanted to get away from them all, even if for only a short while, a little vacation, but...it wasn't going to happen, wherever he goes, the cameras go.

He was so caught up in his deep train of thought, he almost didn't notice the huge explosion on the streets below. He opened his eyes, and saw a huge pillar of smoke coming from another building across the street, and people running and screaming in all direction to get away from the flames engulfing the first few floors of the building.

He sprang straight into action, despite wanting to get away from all his hero work, he couldn't leave people to suffer.

'I'll just check it out' he told himself, 'I'll only help if I'm really needed, I'm sure the authorities will have it under control.' Of course, as all the other time he'd told himself this, his resolution was broken as a swarm of reporters crowded round him, camera rolling, waiting for a valiant heroic feat. His ears flattened on his head and he looked round at them. 'Oh well, looks like I'll be helping out after all.' Just then he heard the anguished cry from the second floor of the building.

He looked up to see a familiar two-tailed fox, pounding desperately on the glass, trying to breathe through the thick cloud of smoke and escape from the flames raging behind him.

"Oh god, TAILS!" Sonic was at the entrance of the building in a split second, and he raced up the stairs, narrowly missing several burning beams around him. He could barely open his eyes in the black smoke, searching for any sign of his friend. "TAILS?" He called out again, hearing a muffled response from the furthest room along the hall. He set off towards it instantly, but just as he did, the roof of the hallway collapsed in a burning mass in the room, blocking any hopes of the azure hero getting past.

Sonic leant against the wall, chocking on the dense smoke trying to think a way out of this mess when he felt two red-streaked arms wrap round him and help him stand.

"Come on Sonic, you have to get out of here," Shadow's deep voice told him. Sonic shook his head.

"No...Tails...trapped..." he protested weakly before passing out.

Sonic woke up hours later in a hospital bed, greeted by the concerned faces of his friends which were slowly turning into smiles of relief.

"Oh thank god, you're OK Sonic!" Amy cried as she wrapped her arms round him in a tight embrace. Sonic looked around in confusion as it slowly came back to him, the smoke, the fire...Tails. He took her arms off him and looked at his friends nervously.

"Wh-where's Tails?" Everybody seemed to try escape from his gaze as they turned their heads, Sonic slowly looking at all of them trying to get an answer to his question. There was a deadly silence among the group until Knuckles finally stepped forward.

"I'm sorry Sonic, the fire, Tails, we couldn't get to him, the hall was blocked, and, I'm sorry," the echidna said, looking at Sonic with pitying eyes. Sonic spaced out as he slowly realised what Knuckles said, lost in his track of thought.

'Shouldn't I be feeling sad, angry, Something?' He thought as his friends awaited his reaction, thinking the same thing. When he continued to show no reaction, Knuckles gently shook his shoulder.

"Say something Sonic." Sonic met Knuckles' eyes.

"Wha-what?" Knuckles took a deep breath.

"Tails is dead Sonic." Sonic nodded.

"So he is." he remained emotionless as he pulled off the bed sheets and put on his shoes. "I'm just going home, see ya later." With that he was off, leaving his bewildered friends behind. They exploded into a burst of confused conversation, trying to figure out what just happened. Shadow however, was lost in his own thoughts.

'That was strange, I expected Sonic to burst into tears or, something. Maybe I should keep an eye on him, maybe he's just trying to straighten this out in his head.' He agreed with this conclusion, and sped off in a golden blur, the others not even noticing their quiet friend's disappearance.

Sonic went to the kitchen, thinking a drink might help him clear his head. His got out a cup and juice and tried to pour himself a drink, but his hands were shaking violently, and no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't seem to get the liquid into the glass. After the third attempt, her threw the glass into a nearby wall in frustration and stormed off to his room where he sat on the bed, glaring at the ceiling. It was only then that he finally seemed to understand what Knuckles had been saying, his best friend was gone, he'd never see him again.

"Tails is dead," Sonic realised out loud. This time he felt something, a deep ache in his chest, and he couldn't stop the tears. He curled up into a ball on his bed, sobbing loudly until a familiar pair of arms hugged him softly. Shadow held Sonic as he cried, wondering what made him want to do such a thing.

'Why do I care? I wouldn't usually do something like this, maybe it's just because I can relate, I lost someone I loved too.' Shadow settled on this explanation and kept his soft hold on the crying ball of fur in his arms.

Eventually, Sonic uncurled from his defensive ball, and lay out on the bed, silent tears falling down his peach muzzle and he had cried himself to sleep. Shadow covered the blue hedgehog with a quilt and went to sit on a chair in the corner of the room.

'Maybe I should stay here, he shouldn't be left here alone, who knows what he'll do.' Shadow closed his eyes as he too, fell into a troubled slumber.

---------------------------------------------------------

Tails... noooo!!!
Please comment and vote!!
Byeeee