The Creatures Neon

Chapter 1

Sonic the hedgehog had lost the ability to run. The very thing that defined him, his blistering speed - his capacity to break the sound barrier on foot - was gone. Now, he sat confined to a wheelchair beneath a willow tree, bitterly recounting the twists and turns of his life that deposited him here in such a sorry state.

He watched the world as though through a veil. Mother nature had lost her luster. Had the sky always been this gray? Had the birds always sung so out of tune? Had the sun ever warmed his skin? Oh, how he wished to be taken back to that fateful day; how he longed to influence its outcome...

He had drifted into a fitful sleep beneath that willow tree when the echidna made his entrance. Crunching up the gravel path Knuckles looked out over the mountains and lakes of the Swiss Alps. Undoubtedly they were beautiful, but as with Sonic the sights and sound of the Earth had little effect on him. How small and frail Sonic looked as Knuckle's crimson mass drew up beside him. The echidna looked down and made to speak.

"Son- ",

But before he could finish, he was cut off.

"Leave me."

The wind wound its way through the wispy branches of the willow. Knuckles closed his eyes and turned his head away. anguish making itself no stranger on his face. Sonic didn't open his eyes.

"Sonic, I- I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

A long moment passed,

"If you were truly sorry, if you truly cared about my well-being," He opened his eyes and turned his focus on Knuckles, "Then you would leave me. Leave me in peace to die."

A tear rolled down Knuckle's face and he opened his mouth to speak once more, but the red rimmed challenge from his friend stole the words from his mouth. Those were eyes, not of the sad hedgehog, but of the hateful hedgehog. Knuckles turned back down the path and broke down in tears. Waves of emotion rocked him as he bent over clutching his heart. He had never felt a pain like this. It was not physical, but something far more severe. A wound of the soul.

A hand squeezed his shoulder. He turned his head and Amy Rose swam into focus. She moved in to hug him but he shrugged her off.

"Don't you see Amy? This is all my fault! If it wasn't for me Sonic wouldn't be- ", his voice faltered as another wave of emotion crashed over him. "And Tails... Poor, sweet Tails..."

"No Knuckles. You don't put this all on yourself, do you hear me?" Amy stood in front of him, both her hands on his shoulders. "We all knew what the risks were. We all knew there was no guarantee that we were coming back."

Knuckles sniffed and looked Amy in the eye before straightening and rubbing his eyes. Amy was right. She was always right. But Sonic's words had cut him to the core, and when he spoke again the words were barely above a whisper.

"He tells me he wants to die."

Amy faltered.

She looked to the ground and bit her lip to hold back a wave of grief. Her body trembled as the swell crashed over her, but she let forth not a whimper. Not this time. She had to be the strong one now.

"Sonic's time is not up yet." she said flatly.

She knew there was nothing she could say to Knuckles to ease his pain. She sighed and looked up towards the willow tree and that sad creature sitting beneath it. Had it not been so long ago that the four of them were laughing together on their yacht in St. Tropez? How much simpler life seemed back then; Long summer evenings, cool drinks as the sun sunk below the horizon, and lazy toasts to other celebrities passing by in their own yachts...