The Last Resort (A Sonic / Teen Titans Crossover)

XXI. Sonic the Hedgehog

I had had nightmares all night, and I couldn't wake up from them. All sorts of things happened, but most of them included Tails. Terrible things happening to poor Tails, and I couldn't even so much as get close enough to see him when I was in Slade's stupid lab. It didn't even matter if it was my fault or not. It was my responsibility to get him back, and responsibilities are heavy.

When I finally did open my eyes, I was in the room the Teen Titans had made for me, as if nothing had ever happened. I scratched my head. Was the whole thing with Robin a dream as well? His blood all over my gloves, the dark veins traveling up my arm as if they were trying to kill me... It certainly was strange like all my other dreams.

I threw my head back on my pillow, the whole thing throbbing to the beat of my head. I was still incredibly tired. I scowled as I thought of Slade. This was all his fault. Everything that happened. Slade. I didn't want to do anything else until -

I sat up. Robin was the one obsessed with Slade, not me. Yet there I was, thinking I wanted to study his every move he had made in the past twenty four hours. I didn't even know how to do that! This was a side effect of what had happened. After all, I had been in his mind. Raven should have warned me. 'Oh, yeah, you'll start to think like Robin. Sorry.' I still would have done it, but... it would have been nice to know.

The anger that ran through me made me shake. I was probably only half as mad as he was, and I could barely handle it. He wanted to know how I handled my issues; now I was curious about him.

With a deep breath, I stood up and went downstairs. I was starving. Maybe no one would be downstairs. Why would I want to sulk by myself? Robin, why don't you make any sense?!

The sounds of shooting made me aware that everyone was downstairs watching a movie. Without looking at any of them, I went straight to the fridge and looked for something to eat. There was cereal just above me, and milk in the fridge. The bowls were in a cabinet barely within my reach, so after I got everything, I sat at the table Raven sat at every day. Yay, eating cereal in my socks and sulking about pointless things.

Next thing I knew, I had barely started to eat and Starfire was next to me. Luckily, there were a few things I hadn't gotten from Robin's mind. "You seem to be troubled."

"Of course I am! We're fighting against like three different people, and one of them almost just killed Robin, and..."

She smiled and listened, as if that was her job. I had just yelled at her, yet she continued to smile.

"Sorry, I'm just tired." I picked my words carefully. I didn't want to sound too much like Robin.

She sat in the chair across from me and looked into my eyes. "We will get through this and find your friend. And we will do it as friends. Slade is not the only one responsible."

I frowned. I didn't know how she knew how I was feeling. Maybe Raven already knew what had happened. "Robin being too peppy and optimistic over there?" I asked, stirring my cereal.

"Your personality did not trade to him, if that's what you are asking. Raven assures me it will wear off within a day or two."

I scoffed. "That's something, at least. Sorry, sorry." I paused. "That's good."

She grabbed one of my hands. "Try not to worry if you can."

She got up, leaving to go back to the movie with Robin and the others. I slurped down my milk and left the bowl there. Maybe I would go for a quick run around somewhere. I headed outside, glad to feel a breeze against my face. I still hated the sea, and we were surrounded by it, but it was the only bit of outside they had.

I shrugged and opened the huge door that led outside, looking back at the giant tower. I couldn't even imagine how much work it had taken to put it together. Back home...

I shook my head and headed a bit toward the sea. There were rocks that let the waves crash against them, and a little ways away was where Robin had been stabbed. I walked over it, like I wanted to investigate it. But there was nothing to look at, except some dried blood. I sighed, then sat against one of the rocks.

The waves curled through the rocks like they were determined to get further, but they always failed, crumbling back into the giant blue ocean. The rocks were a long wall that kept the water out, keeping the tower safe. It was like every time the Teen Titans tried to find Slade; whether or not they found him, they were always pushed back by him.

I clutched my head. Is this what Robin always thought about?! Waves and Slade and penetrating him through rocks by the sea? It was too much. With my thoughts trying to take over Robin's dark, determined mind, and Tails still missing, and people trying to kill me and take the Chaos Emeralds, I shouted out to the ocean and let tears fall down my face, as if the sea was listening to me.

But I knew we'd find Tails. And we'd find him alive. Maybe we could even find him before we had all the Chaos Emeralds.

I backed away from the rock I was on. I was surprised I had been that close to any body of water. I turned my head to the blood again. It was just normal, red blood. I looked to the sky. No Blackfire today, or at least so far.

I yawned. It was late afternoon, and I was tired. A whole day was wasted away because Robin was injured. I shook my head. No, that was okay. He needed to recover. Besides, now we knew how powerful Blackfire was with even a single Chaos Emerald. She needed to be taken down, and we needed the Emeralds.

Then something hit me. That wasn't the only Emerald we were missing. My shoes were with Slade, that slimy... But he also had the Emerald that had been in one of my shoes. I stared absentmindedly at the sea, my stomach feeling sick. We needed one Emerald. Just one. That would give Starfire or Raven more than enough firepower to maybe turn the tides in our favor. Still... I didn't even know where to look. Chances were, the remaining five weren't in the city, so we would have to go somewhere else to find them.

With a sigh, I walked back inside. There was still so much work to do before I could go home.

As if to rebel against Robin's mind, the first thing I said was, "I need new shoes."