Chapter Text
“How could you be so mean?!” Those words seem so distant now.
“We’re supposed to help everyone!” Charmy buzzed around Vector’s face, a finger pointed accusingly at the crocodile.
“I’m doin’ the best I can.” Vector retorted with- admittedly too much of a grumble in his voice, but could you blame him? His entire city was being destroyed around him, and all he had to show for it was a minuscule group of survivors in comparison to the city.
The metal virus. First it infected Sonic and now…
He can’t let the city where he grew up fall too, even if that means he has to contain the infected as they appear in the crowd. Much like that poor cat woman.
“B-but…” Charmy’s sputters entered the crocodile’s ears as he kept moving.
“We’ve got as many uninfected people as we can get to safety!” The croc began, moving through the crowds with a scowl on his face…but all the same. Soft eyes looked back to the bee. “If we’ve got time, we’ll come back for the sick.”
Charmy hovered in place, dumbfounded, before Espio appeared next to him, trudging forward, looking determined as ever, sharp eyes looking forward, not even giving a glance back to the bee. “We do not have time to debate; I know it's hard, but we need to follow Vector’s lead.”
Charmy’s face contorted before he flew after Espio, keeping speed with the ninja effortlessly, “Fine. But I don’t haveta like it.”
“None of us do, ESPECIALLY Vector.”
And now here they were; Charmy watched as Vector beat the metallic zombies back with a stop sign, the metal slicing through their bodies like butter.
Charmy hovered in place, wings beating furiously. Vector was shouting over the commotion- something about how they’re in the home stretch now, but all the same, Charmy started ahead. “One thirty five….one thirty six…We have so little people…” he caught himself saying after he finished the headcount, words trailing off.
They got all the healthy people…but now?
His mind kept wandering back to that poor woman, the one Vector had to trap between 4 different cars- she needs help too!
He can barely remember his boss’s and coworker’s orders now as he zipped off, one goal in mind. He didn’t know about Espio’s attempt and failure to rope him back in with a kunai, unaware of what was to come.
“I’m back!” The hyper bee cheered, bounding over one of the cars with ease, “Don’t be afraid, we’ll get you to safety!” However, what met him wasn’t the Mobian left between several cars. The devilish eyes of a zombot gleamed back at Charmy, snarling and growling. “YAUGH!” The boy yelped, stumbling back just to notice the horde below him, clawed hands reaching up to grab him.
No.
The zombots grabbed at his shoe, pulling him down desperately, a mindless attempt to get more under the control of the infection.
No, no, NO!
“Vector, Espio, SOMEBODY! HELP!” Tears stung his eyes as he looked up to the sky, desperately kicking at the horde below.
But one six year old is no match against an entire horde. The virus was ice cold, seeping through his fur and chilling him to his bones.
He should have listened. He wasn’t a hero for doing this. He squeezed his eyes tightly closed, scared to face the zombots when his wings inevitably gave out, and he was pulled down into the horde.
He was no chaotix.
Just some dumb kid.
Then…
“GOTCHA!” A familiar voice shouted. Charmy opened his eyes to see Mighty and a moth woman with bright pinks and yellows to her fur, wings beating as she lowered the armadillo down. Charmy couldn’t say anything, looking down at the horde as the armadillo kept pulling. They were persistent, but…
There was a feeling, not a sound but a feeling, as Charmy was finally pulled from the horde. Like something was shifted beneath his skin, followed by a pop- leaving a pit in his stomach like something was definitely TRULY wrong.
Then the pain hit, deep and demanding. The kind of pain that demanded your attention no matter the circumstance, the kind of pain that trumps everything- that no words can do justice to just how much it hurt.
The kind of pain no child should feel.
Screams echoed through Charmy’s ears as Mighty pulled him close, the texture of some non-breathable material being what met him instead of fur.
“You’ll be okay, kid. Just stay with me, okay? Breathe- MELODY GET BACK TO THE BLIMB!” Mighty’s voice sounded so distant; he was so tired.
“Kid..?”
Just…a little nap…
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His head felt heavy, groggy and heavy- as Charmy opened his eyes, he immediately wanted to close them, antennae drooping with a grumble.
“Hm? Ah, you’re awake again,” A kind voice spoke as an orange and yellow moth approached, his own antennae twitching gently. He wore years of wrinkles and a kind smile, with deep black eyes; he was in a white coat buttoned up clearly just enough to be comfortable, with a small pair of glasses resting on his face. His wings were neatly tucked behind him.
“Again…?” Charmy questioned, shifting to sit up only to have a hand from the moth put infront of him. It only seemed that then Charmy noticed one of his arms was in a sling.
The arm that…
“Careful now, Charmy.” How did he know Charmy’s name? “That shoulder may be back in its socket, but I cannot in good faith recommend you use it for anything that isn’t light exercise. Belle, Peaches? Could you bring me Charmy Bee’s file?”
…Okay…this is weird, adjusting himself with his good arm to a sitting position and watching.
The moth introduced himself as Dr Atticus, and the reason Charmy isn’t infected right now. A wooden-looking doll made her way over, bright, eager eyes on her face with a- BADNIK?? Why is a Badnik following her?! It-seems nice?
“This,” Dr Atticus motioned to the wooden doll person-thing, “Is Belle the Tinkerer.”
“You…can just call me Belle…” She added, looking away before motioning to the Badnik who was staring at Charmy. She was a moto-bug, the only difference seeming to be she was slightly bigger than other motobugs, about Charmy’s size if alittle bigger, “And this…is Peaches. She’s a personal assistant- so to speak. She helps calm the patients down mainly.”
“You were in and out of consciousness for about a week, Melody, my daughter, and Mighty pulled you from a horde of Zombots and brought you here- we’re the Survivor Retrieval Unit. We save those who can BE saved. Bring them back here, and recruit them into our ranks. A less sophisticated version of the Restoration, if you will.”
Charmy was quiet, mind replaying all the events that led to this. The fact Vector and Espio left him behind.
Charmy remained quiet for weeks- despite Dr Atticus’ consistent checkups and Belle’s constant attempts to cheer him up…nothing would work. Mighty even visited a few times- only to earn a hate-filled glare from the child. Yeesh.
“Y’know…Charmy.” Atticus broke the silence on one of his checkups, taking the Bee’s arm out of its sling and checking its mobility. “Your shoulder should be okay for you to fly again, and we have a gym. Would you like to go for a fly? Give those old wings a stretch?”
Slowly, Charmy’s amber eyes turned to meet Atticus’. Watching him carefully. Without much of a word, the boy nodded and got out of bed, grabbing his helmet from next to the bed and hopping off down to the gym.
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The gym, an impressive sight, sure, a large open space with all manner of equipment for different species. Charmy’s eyes moved to the weight equipment, finding tears stinging his eyes again- but shaking them away quickly. No, no. You’re a big kid; big kids don't cry; they find their missing dads, but for now…
Charmy placed his helmet on his head, moving his hair out of his eyes so he could see before his wings began to beat quickly and the child took flight. As he zipped around, a genuine smile came to his face, imagining himself back in Station Square, giggling as Vector and Espio chased after him, yelling at him to slow down before her hurt himself.
CRASH!
The pillar was a reminder of those warnings, with Charmy being so absorbed in the memory he didn’t see it. He quickly took his helmet off with a grumble; he wasn’t hurt. That was thanks to his helmet… but
There was a large crack that spread right down the middle of the black and red plastic, and all he could do was stare. Vector and Espio weren’t here to scoop him up, Vector obsessively checking him for injuries while Espio chastized him for being careless. Neither were there to fix the helmet.
And neither were here at all.
He’s no big kid. Charmy cried. He cried like he’s never cried before, holding the helmet close as he screamed his lungs out in between sobs, curling in on himself.
He’s no chaotix.
And he’s definitely no hero.