ARAAT2: Eclipse - Part 1

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A Rose And A Thorn 2: Eclipse

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Yes, Cutie Pie, the name Little Pink Rose does sound familiar. I’ve reviewed lots of her stories, and she consistently makes the same mistakes – her writing has all the emotion of a brick wall. Her spelling and grammar are surprisingly good for someone whose first language is not English though. And I am not a flamer. A flamer says…

“GOD YOU SUCK BITCH YOU SUCK, YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE, YOUR WRITING IS SUCKY, WHY DON’T YOU GO HANG YOURSELF YOU FUCKING ASS-BANDIT…”

Froggy: And so on. Insert incorrect spelling and leet to taste. If Harley was a flamer, you’d get a lot more than ‘you’re crap’, I assure you.

Harley: Okay, now that’s dealt with, it starts getting nasty. Not as nasty as it will get. But pretty nasty all the same. My apologies, Cutie Pie, for what we do to Sonic in this fanfic. But it was written some months before you reviewed.

Froggy: Oh, and Antwerps Rule… don’t ask questions you won’t get an answer to.

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Chapter Three: Punishment

Drip.

A tiny spot of red on the carpet, another small punishment. But it felt good. So he did it again, slowly drawing the blade across his arm.

Drip.

He didn't cut deep enough to do any real damage; it was the pain he was after, not a release from living. Sweat trickled down his face; there was a slightly manic look in his eyes as he guided the blade.

Drip.

Sonic the Hedgehog was sitting alone in his house, with the lights out and the curtains drawn, cutting himself with a sharp razor. Punishment. He deserved to be punished for all he had done. If nobody else would do it, then he would do it himself.

Tails ran down the garden path, his sneakers kicking up clods of dirt from the overgrown, badly maintained path. He skidded to a halt at Sonic's door, his tails wagging furiously, and pounded on the door, "Sonic!" he shouted, as he banged on the door, "Sonic! Open the door!"

Sonic froze for a second, and then leapt into action as fast as only he could, putting the razor blade back in its hiding place under the sofa cushions, washing his arm, wiping his face clean of sweat, and throwing on the leather jacket that he seemed to wear everywhere those days. He took a deep breath, and walked to the door, opening it to greet his friend.

Sonic had changed a lot in the last five months. He didn't get out as often, and when he did, the cheerful gleam in his eyes and his cocky grin seemed absent. He had replaced his red sneakers with black boots, his white gloves with dark, fingerless biker gloves, and there was the black leather jacket, of course, keeping the many light scars on his arms hidden from the world, "Oh, hey there, Tails. What's up?"

"Sonic, Amy's just had her baby!" Tails shouted, "He's a boy!"

Sonic smiled. It didn't have quite the warmth it used to, but it was obvious that he was genuinely pleased by the news, "That's cool news, buddy. Everything went well?"

"Yeah!" Tails shouted. He peered past Sonic into the darkened house. Sometimes he worried about his friend. Sonic seemed more tired nowadays, less social. Nobody else seemed to care, and that wasn't right, he felt. Sonic had done something bad, but he was sorry for it, right? But nobody else seemed to recognise that, "You okay?" he asked Sonic.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he reassured the fox, "How are Amy and Shadow doing?"

Tails managed to hide his worry about Sonic quite well, "Well, they both look really happy. They called everybody to see-" he stopped, feeling stupid.

"Except for me," Sonic finished. An uncomfortable silence followed, "Well," he said, breaking the silence, "I'm not surprised, and I can't blame them."

"Well... maybe they just forgot in their excitement," Tails said. This was hardly likely, since Big and the entire Chaotix Crew had been there, "I was gonna go over again, later today. You want to come with? I mean... you should get to see him too."

Sonic swallowed. Facing those two again was not exactly something he looked forward to... but he felt that he had to for this, "Alright... alright, I'll do that."

"I just feel you shouldn't have to miss out," Tails explained. He looked past Sonic, into the house. There was a strange smell on the air. If he'd been Shadow or Knuckles, he'd have recognised the smell as being that of blood - but Shadow and Knuckles never came to visit Sonic.

"Yeah, I know... thank you. When are we leaving?" he asked.

"Well..." Tails sniffed again, "Something smells funny," he said.

"Eh, I don't smell it. Probably nothing," said the blue hedgehog, trying to drive his friend away from that subject, "So how have you been lately?"

Tails shrugged, "I hacked Eggman's files last week," he grinned, "Man, you should see the shit he hides in My Pictures..."

"Eggman works with Windows? No wonder his machines suck!" Sonic laughed. Chuckling softly, he asked casually, "And what kind of pictures did you find?"

"Pictures of Furries," Tails answered, "Girl Furries. I'm not experienced, but I know they sure can't be much older than Cream."

Sonic snickered. Eggman as a pervert seemed very fitting to him. It gave him some taunting ideas for the next time he and the mad scientist met.

Tails nodded, "He must be hitting 50," he smirked, "I guess it must get pretty lonely with just a bunch of robots to talk to."

"Maybe he should look into some 'pleasure bots'," Sonic chuckled. Smiling, he reached down and ruffled the fox's head fur. Their friendship wasn’t like it had been, but at least Tails hadn’t abandoned him, "Here's an idea: delete them and put in some other pics. That ought to piss him off."

"What sorta pics?" Tails asked. The little girl furries in the pictures had creeped him out quite a lot.

"Don't worry about that, I'll find them for you. They probably would gross you out, little bud." Sonic's smile turned wicked; he still did get enjoyment out of pulling pranks on the round one.

"We can go to the hospital right now, if you want," Tails suggested, "Amy's still there, they're keeping her for observation a couple of days extra. It's not every day the Ultimate Lifeform has a kid."

Sonic took a deep breath and released it slowly, "Alright then. Let's do this."

"Race ya!" Tails grinned suddenly, "I've been practicing too!" He took off, an orange blur spinning his tails for extra speed.

Sonic gave a lopsided smile and then took off running after the two-tailed fox. Tails certainly had been practicing, that much was obvious. The little kit was good competition... but still not quite good enough.

When they arrived at the hospital, Sonic was a good few meters ahead of the kit, who was panting and sweating. Still, he'd done well to keep up, "You win again, Sonic," he gasped.

Sonic was leaning against the side of the building, acting like he was looking at a watch, "You're getting better, little buddy. Keep it up and you'll beat me soon."

Tails brightened up, and they stepped into the hospital together, signing in and heading to Amy's room.

Sonic found himself wringing his fingers as they neared the room, and he forced himself to calm down, "Oh boy..." he sighed to himself

"I'll go in first, if you like," Tails said, seeing his friend's discomfort.

"Um... sure, you should do that," Sonic said. He was afraid that Shadow would try to kick him out instantly if he stepped in without warning.

Tails stepped into the room. Amy's face brightened up when she saw him, but froze when Sonic stepped in after him, not sure what to say. She’d seen Sonic around, but she hadn't talked to him since Shadow had gotten out of hospital five months ago.

Shadow's eyes narrowed angrily as soon as they came across that familiar shade of blue. Sonic forced himself not to wince, smiling sheepishly and giving them both a little wave, "Hey... Tails told me the good news..."

"I asked him to come with me," Tails said quickly as he saw Shadow's expression.

"What are you doing here?" Shadow growled at Sonic as he got to his feet, barely hearing Tails' explanation. It sounded like he was saying, ‘What is a thing like you doing here?’

"I just wanted to see how you two are doing, and I'd like to see the baby."

Shadow crossed his arms over his chest, "So you can erase any lingering doubts that the child is mine? Oh trust me; he's my boy. And we are both fine, thank you."

Amy looked between them; she could almost feel the tension building in the room. Sonic didn't look like he wanted a fight; his request sounded perfectly genuine. But Shadow was tense, and ready to kick Sonic's head in as soon as he was given the slightest reason. After a long, uncomfortable moment, she rearranged Eclipse in her arms, and held him so that Sonic could see him, "This is our baby boy," she said simply, "Eclipse." The black and purple baby hedgehog looked at Sonic with a similar expression to the look he had given Vector - sheer curiosity.

Sonic looked back, growing amazement in his expression. It certainly was Shadow's child; he could tell that from the baby's eyes, "Eclipse..." he said quietly. The blue hedgehog smiled, "Cute little guy."

Eclipse nuzzled up to his mother again. Amy nodded, "So... how's it going with you and Rouge?" she asked.

Sonic’s smile disappeared, and the fresh cuts on his arms started to itch. That familiar, sick feeling settled in his stomach. "It's not going at all..."

"Ah. Um," Amy swallowed. The words ‘I told you so’ didn't seem appropriate, “Well... what happened? You two seemed just right for each other,” she said. There was a slight underlying malice to her words.

Sonic caught that little maliciousness in her statement. He deserved it, "I don't know, really. Everything was going well..."

"Okay," Amy sighed, "Well... I hope you can get over her. She's probably already over you. Probably," she added, because she could see the unhappiness on Sonic's face.

"Yeah... probably," Sonic admitted. It was amazing that their relationship had lasted as long as it had, honestly. He just didn't want to admit it. Shadow's angry glare took on a smug appearance.

Tails shook his head, seeing this, "You want to go now, Sonic?" he asked him.

"Yeah, we should get going now... Congratulations to the both of you," he said to the two new parents, forcing a smile. Then he turned and left the room with Tails. Once they were far enough away, he let out a long sigh.

"What exactly is wrong, Sonic?" Tails asked him.

"Nothing..." Sonic answered. It was a lie. He just didn't want to talk about it.

"Anyway, it's not your fault," Tails partially lied, "Shadow's always been like that around you."

"Yes, it's my fault. And I don't blame Shadow for how he treats me. You don't rape a guy's girlfriend and expect him to be nice and cheerful around you," Sonic muttered, his voice tinged with bitterness. Mostly directed at himself.

"I was just trying to make you feel better," Tails answered.

"I know, Tails. Thank you..." Sonic sighed again. "What's wrong is that my life has become a fucked-up mess, and it's all my fault."

"Well... you don't get out so much..." Tails admitted, "Maybe if you went out more, thought about other things..."

"Maybe..." Sonic admitted. Suddenly, he felt the urge to draw the razor again, "I should have just stopped and talked with Amy instead of running from her all the time. I should have tried speaking with Shadow rather than fighting him. I should have trusted my friends more..." Sonic shook his head and looked down at his friend. Possibly his only friend at that point, "Now, the only trustworthy friend I have left is you, and I don't deserve you, Tails. You're too nice for your own good... and I'm thankful for that."

Tails smiled, "I guess you're not the best role-model any more, Sonic... but that doesn't change that you're a good guy who just made a bad mistake."

Sonic couldn't help but smile back. The fox's cheerful attitude could be contagious. The smile disappeared, though, as the blue hedgehog spoke, "Don't you ever make my mistakes, Tails. You're too good to screw your life up like I did. Someday soon it will be your turn to be the big hero, the one everyone looks up to. I've always known you would be, and I've done my best to help you get there. You've made me proud, little buddy." Sonic had never before said such a thing to Tails. He had always treated the two-tailed fox as the little side-kick, never as an apprentice to take his place.

A huge grin spread across the kit's big, honest face, as he absorbed Sonic’s words, "You mean that?" he asked Sonic, "You really mean that?"

Sonic smiled again, "Of course I mean it!'

Tails continued to grin, "Thanks, Sonic! And you are still my best friend, and don't you forget it!" With that, the fox turned, and sprinted away, pausing at the corner of the street to wave back at Sonic, before he continued jogging back to his lab.

Sonic smiled and waved back, feeling just a little bit better about telling the fox that.

It didn't take long for him to return home, once again closing himself off from the world, away from the eyes of the world. He did feel better about letting Tails know of his confidence in the kit... but the pain was still there, constantly tormenting him. His failure to protect Amy from himself... his big fallout with Rouge...

Sonic threw his leather jacket to the floor, pulled out the razor blade, and gave himself a few more light cuts, watching the blood trickle down his arms. He sighed in relief, barely feeling the physical pain that he had grown quite used to over the last few months, only the brief release from the emotional agony.

Sonic needed help, whether he wanted it or not.

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Harley: Now get to Chapter Four!

Froggy: Yay! We fucked Sonic up good! Uh, sorry, Sonic lovers...

Harley: Yeah, somehow him cutting himself as an emotional release is far worse than him trying to commit suicide.