Now What?

My eyes dulled back to their normal intensity. I stood in awe as I watched the flames consume him, barreling at me and sweeping me away as well. Somewhere in the back of my mind fear stung at me. Yes, even I am capable of feeling fear when my--life--is in danger. But it was more than fear. It was also shock. I do not think either of us had seen this coming.

The world seemed to swirl by in slow motion, and as I was thrown I suddenly found myself thinking of odd moments during my existence. It was... strange that I would even think of some of these events even in idle passing. Perhaps the intense heat had been causing my processor to malfunction? Regardless, soon I found myself slamming hard into the ground as the explosion continued to tear at my back, jarring me into stasis.

The inferno faded away, and after a few moments my eyes lit back up as my systems reloaded. I was laying face down against the ground, and quickly I ran a diagnostic scan. Aside from a singed paint job and a few dents, I had survived unscathed.

Then the last image I had seen before the flames consumed me returned with a stunning prospect. Quickly I pulled myself to my knees, my eyes darting around in frantic search of the other victim of that blast.

I spotted him. If I had breath, it would have caught.

Instantly I was too my feet. Wary, yet also strangely... worried. Only moments before we had been locked in battle. It was not the first time we had found each other in this situation, and as we exchanged blows, my frustration and anger fueling me, I was convinced that this time--this time--I would prove myself superior.

I was convinced.

Now I had been met with a... truly surreal sight. I was not sure how to react.

He was laying on his side, apparently unconscious. Much of his fur had been singed right off.

"Sonic?" I called out. No answer.

Perplexed, but still cautious, I approached his prone form. Dark thoughts crept into my mind, but I suppressed them. I hated him, loathed him even, but there would be no glory in striking my enemy when he was already down.

"Sonic." I said again, more firmly. He did not stir.

Cautiously I knelt down, my talon reaching out and nudging him. It was strange to see him this way. Almost humbling. Even the mighty hero whom countless times cheated death was not completely infallible.

My train of thought stopped dead within its tracks.

"Sonic!" I barked again with more force, shaking him harder. I wanted to frown in dismay - if only I had a mouth to do so. I looked around in confusion, looking for some answer in the landscape of what I should do. In reality, I should have been taking him back to my master as a prisoner. But somehow through the haze of my bewilderment that realization failed to don. My talon drew back, and finally I realized there was one small detail about his form I had initially missed. Something vital.

He was not breathing.

Confusion added to confusion as the revelation of this occurred. I bit back any further thoughts on the subject however, unsatisfied. Instantly I began to scan over his body, checking over his vital signs.

The results caused me to stumble backward and fall onto my behind.

"S-Sonic?!"

No heartbeat. No breathing. No anything. The body was limp and loose. I shook my head and blinked. That could not be true! My scanners must have obviously been damaged!

Obviously.

I paused.

"Wake up! Wake up you insolent little rodent!" I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him violently in a desperate attempt to stir him from his slumber. I wanted to grab him around the neck and strangle him. I wanted to throw him onto the floor and kick and stomp at him until he screamed in pain and begged for mercy. How dare he toy with me like this! How DARE he! After a moment I forced myself to drop him. I was literally beginning to shake as my systems began to overheat, my eyes flashing rapidly as the grim realization forced itself to settle.

He was... dead.

Sonic the Hedgehog was dead.

I glanced down at him, then at my talons, then my gaze settled itself somewhere off in the distance. Slowly I began to straighten.

Dead. He was... dead. That phrase kept repeating several times in my mind. It sounded so foreign. So... surreal. I knew what death was. The end of life, the end of thought and existence. It meant oblivion, and it was the thing that I feared most. And now I was staring at it in my worst enemy. Sonic was dead. He was dead? How could he have died? Why did he die? He could not die! He was Sonic! Sonic could not die! Would not die! Never! NEVER! NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER!

. . .

Yes. There were one or two times when I wanted to be the one who stole his life from him. Generally, however, I never wished that great a harm on him. I wanted to hurt him, yes. I wanted to prove that I was better. It was why I was created, and it was why he drove me mad. I wore his identity and I hated every moment, but at least if I could defeat him... If I could prove that I was superior... it would at least validate my existence, would it not? It would at least be some comfort of mind? Indeed, I wanted a lot of things. But yet in spite of all that I desired, outside the heat of battle, I never wished to kill him.

And yet now I was kneeling over his lifeless body. His death was not even my fault!

I am not entirely sure how I felt. The data was before me, but my processor refused to accept it. I was angry to say the least. Angry, confused, worried, panicked, frustrated...

... . . .  .  .  .

... Mournful.

Slowly I pulled myself back to my feet, my back rigid. Eyes still settled somewhere in space. My head tilted slightly. I was... utterly speechless. I actually felt sad. I did not think it was possible for me to care about him. And yet now I was faced with the realization that I was never going to see him smirk at me again, blurt out a witticism and attack me, and... I felt sad. Yes. I actually felt sad about it. I... I felt as though a piece of myself, a vital piece of what made me who I am, had just been forcefully ripped away.

I never liked to be compared to him. I hated it in fact. I was my own individual, yet I was forever and relentlessly doomed to stand in his shadow. Everything from my shape, my abilities, even my name was copied from him. It was why I wanted to prove myself superior so badly. Even if I were only a shadow, a replica, at least I would have the satisfaction of knowing I was his better. And yet now... now I felt as though half of me was missing. I would never admit it, but... perhaps we were more alike, more closer to each other, than I would ever dare admit.

For a long time after that I continued to stare that way. No one else came to bother us. I assumed it meant that no one else knew we were here. I did not mind. It allowed me to mull my thoughts. Slowly I lowered my gaze, lifted my talons, and turned them over as I flexed and studied them. Through the panic, confusion and all of the other emotions vying for dominance, a pressing thought began to tug at my mind.

... Now what? ...

I had been created for a specific purpose. My purpose was indeed to eliminate his threat. Well. Threat eliminated. Now what?

I turned my gaze back to his lifeless form. Was I anything without him? Did I even have a place anymore? What would happen to me now?

What indeed. I do not think I had ever once considered the potential of what would happen if my objective were ever fulfilled. What I would do. Now it... was like slamming into a brick wall at high speed. My mind was reeling.

Slowly my talons clenched. It took a great effort of mental strength, but I bit back the confusion, the worry and the frustration. Lifting the lifeless hedgehog into my arms, I began to walk off.