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The memories. They were too much. I clenched my fists as I began to regain consciousness. Her .
Heart Rate spiking. Running with her. Was this a drill? Then the memories started to fizzle out along with my consciousness. Black settling to the edges of my vision. Heart Rate evening out.
Silence reinstituted.
Bang.
My eyes shot open, and I instinctively punched forward. No mercy. Glass shattering as it hit the floor. She couldn’t be dead. Green liquid poured onto the floor and steam settled. She couldn’t.
The fear in his eyes as I smashed the head of the first G.U.N soldier into the ground. I didn’t care.
They all needed to GO!!!
Blood coated by black and red quills (not that you could tell). She couldn’t be gone just like that. Five more bodies hit the ground.
SHE COULDN’ T!
The final soldier hit the glass so hard, it cracked. Blood trickled down. I teleported out of the confined space. Too much. Too many thoughts. I ran across the water to the closed mainland and swore revenge.
She didn’t deserve to die.
All the deep darkest part of my heart went in that punch I had for that Commander Walters. He’d stood by and watched her die and locked me away. And did NOTHING! That was an unhealed scar I’d felt for as long as time itself. Releasing it right into his chest almost gave me a sense of triumph.
I heard bones crack.
Good.
He deserved what she had felt. Worse even. Stooping over, I picked up the forgotten key card. Revenge would be so sweet.
Till the disguise was lifted. The satisfaction dissolved into the familiar sensation of regret.
I’d gone and done the exact thing that G.U.N soldier had done to me. Then Sonic appeared, the pit in my stomach fell deeper. The way he begged his father figure to wake up was oh so familiar.
I couldn’t stay for much longer. At this point, I was holding back flashbacks of her dead body lying motionless on the dirt floor. Red coating his her pristine blue-
A bright white flash overtook my vision as the familiarly triggering situation swapped to metallic grey walls.
Calm and calculated.
My whole life depended on this one moment.
One shot to make everything right. Revenge was at hand.
One chance.
I drew a deep breath and ran. Ran like the void in my heart would consume me too. Memories flashed through my head.
Faster. Faster.
The only reason I exist is because of her.
Faster. The gunshot should’ve killed me. I am accountable. She was so young and innocent and they had to take that AWAY FROM HER! All this is my their fault. Faster. They’ll pay.
They’ll all pay. For you, Maria.
Orange lightning flickered and flowed off my quills like water. I let in the flashbacks. Opened the top off the bottle. The anger, the grief, the anguish.
My now shattered world.
I should be used to the pain by now. I should be numb. I’ve done this countless times.
But trauma seeps through the cracks in my heart keeping that eternal flame lit.
Exhaustion is catching up but even that goes numb. Adding fuel to the fire I guess.
I’d give my life to bring her back.
Anything!
All for her.
The fight with Sonic was understandable.
He was battling grief just like I was. I was so ready for him just to end it. “Go ahead. Finish it!” I screamed at him.
I couldn’t do this anymore.
He looked so angry.
Flames lit up his burning ruby red eyes.
It was almost like looking in a mirror. He raised his hand for a final punch.
I gave him a challenging look.
He never could resist a challenge.
I pointed to my heart for emphasis but that seemed like the wrong thing to do.
His hard cold distant stare fade
d into something almost nostalgic. Empathetic. He’d backed out entirely. Understanding.
We made a truce.
Working together was something I’d never even thought about but here we were. We fought together. Robots exploding into nothing. It was exhilarating. That freedom. Both working in symphony, together.
Adrenaline rushed fast through both of us.
Both of us holding back a world destroying weapon.
Then just me. It was never meant to last.
Alone again. Weapon against weapon.
Fighting alone in the dark reaches of space.
Revenge wasn’t the way. It was never the way. She would never have wanted it. All this was for her after all.
So tired…
I’d hoped Sonic and his friends had survived.
If I couldn’t destroy all life on earth, then I might as well save it.
Unclipping my inhibitor rings was like releasing a lead on a dog.
Pure uncontrolled uninhibited chaos energy pulsed through my very being.
White light surrounding me was now brighter than before.
Liquid fire burning through my veins.
The only light in this dark abyss. The trapped was now free. Fifty years. Fifty long years of relieving her death in that cage . Never again. It hurt until I could hurt no longer.
Nothing. I felt nothing. Emotion spent.
I was dead to pain now. Nothing mattered apart from this. My fate was decided when I chose to pursue this quest.
Death was inevitable.
I wasn’t the only one though. The self-proclaimed Dr Eggman had been willing to push past his ego to help me and was going to sacrifice himself in the process. I wondered what was going through his head right now.
I focused all my strength into pushing the eclipse cannon away. Muscle tissues burning into nothing.
My strength along with my energy was waning.
The cannon had almost passed the earth. The timer was almost complete.
Despite the looming presence of death and the current situation, I smiled for the first time since her death.
Silence.
“All for you, Maria.” I whispered into the void as it swallowed me whole.
"All for you."
Black.