Morning comes as a shock to you, the sun assaulting your senses as it crests through the trees. How long were you out? Between the chilidog dinner and the straining fight against Espio you had been exhausted, and that's not even considering the power plant fight and explosion prior-
You stretch your back and stand in the treetops, limbering up as you survey the small village. It was hardly bustling, a few folks out and about seeming to be going about their usual morning habits. Mostly elderly and a few older adults moved under the yellow-gray light. It must have been no later than 9am or 10am. Perhaps a disguise would be suitable? It would certainly make moving around during daylight hours easier without risk of anyone recognizing you.
You hesitate for a moment, would it really be an issue if anyone knew who you are? The only one with notable combat ability here was likely Amy. Unless the rest of the Chaotix was based here as well... They were known to move their operations around to keep business coming in so it wasn't unreasonable... Espio said it himself, he's a detective. Should they get involved it could complicate things... Very well then, for now stealth would have to suffice. You look around your surroundings, unimpressed with the underbrush and what you could feasibly turn into a decent disguise... Which was nothing.
Jumping down from the tree you slink into the blind spots of the spattering of people outside, dodging and rolling behind boxes, shrubs, houses, anything you could as you observed the town. Town hall, residential mushrooms... but no they were all too small- unlikely that the space could accommodate a family plus Amy... A mail house- Wait.. A school house. The mushroom houses all blended together after a while, the only real clue you could pick up on is that the further out you got the bigger the mushrooms seemed to get.
Then you see her. On the outskirts of town you duck into a bush, eyes peering out intently as Amy is walking with an older rabbit woman. They seemed to have baskets of flowers, a crown of them adorned around Amy's head. She looked to the woman with joy, the bags under her eyes almost invisible as they depart into town. She didn't seem to have the belt on her, hopefully the time you spent yesterday to antagonize her put enough disgust in her to leave it behind to... Forget about you for a few hours. You slip past their gaze and proceed up the path, a large mushroom house sitting atop the small hill.
Looking through the windows there wasn't anyone in immediate eye shot as you slip your fingers forcefully under the glass, sliding it up and slipping through. You stand at height and survey the room, varied bits of furniture arranged very open concept. Several pictures hung from the walls, the woman and her child smiling in front of several overly colorful arrangements of wildflowers and greenhouses. You go back into analysis mode, narrowing your eyes and piecing together the bits of the scene you could as time rewinds.
The cushions on the couch look lightly used, likely for sitting and talking late last night before bed. Too unused to have been bedding- Amy slept somewhere else. The other two chairs are similar- no. One of them is the same, the other looks as though someone lighter was sitting in it- likely the woman's child. The table has a smear spot on it, seems to be water... Someone spilled- no.. Someone had a cold drink and picked it up... The table has no water damage so it could've been the woman or her child, most likely the kid if she was busy consoling the pink hedgehog.
You move to the kitchen, quickly doing a once over and seeing that it hadn't been used yet this morning. It was too clean for the child to have been through, meaning they probably already went to school. The dining room showed some use from the night before but nothing of note. You glance up the stairs cautious of moving anything or leaving impressions on the carpeted stairway.
A bedroom... The woman's bedroom. No signs of my belt or any of the hedgehog's stuff..
You move to the next room, your eyes lighting up as you look in and spot your utility belt tossed in a trashcan, Amy's hammer lying against the wall beside the freshly made bed. You rush in and grab your belt, immediately strapping it to your waist as you breathe a sigh in triumph. Checking through your pouches it seemed that most of your stuff was still intact, some of your knives missing but that was no big deal as long as- as... Where was the radio!? You pat yourself down a few times desperately searching before your eyes drift back to the trashcan. Small pieces of metal and plastic rested inside, their appearance almost like pebbles as you gaze down. Oh.. I guess I found it...
It wasn't a big deal, you would find your way to one of Eggman's bases and report in. With your tools it was child's play to travel til you found a landmark or one of the doctor's hidden call stations. Sonic and Tails would likely come looking for you so it would be better to leave while you had the chan-
"Who are you?" A little rabbit girls looks up at you with big eyes, holding onto a chao plushie and still in pajamas, a giant chao face on those as well.
You freeze in place, your eyes wide as you try to think of anything to say... She was just a dumb kid anyways it probably didn't matter. "I'm the Eastern Dragon, and I eat children that ask me questions." You make Ooo's and Woo's with your mouth, your eyes at half mast.
"But you don't look like a dragon, you look like a (y/a). Lying's bad y'know." Your face contorts into a frown, an unimpressed stare all you can muster. She doesn't skip a beat, "-so is coming into someone's house without asking! Did mommy say you could be here?"
Oh geez, here we go..
"Yes, your mommy said I was allowed to come in and get my belt because she borrowed it." You go to walk away as she tugs on your tail gently.
"But Miss Amy brought the belt! She said she took it from a bad person that did mean things to people." The girl gasps to herself, covering her mouth. "Are you the bad person that's been doing mean things?"
Oh for the love of-
You sigh to yourself and drag a tired hand down your face. "Look kid, the world's full of bad people. Sometimes in order to protect yourself you have to do things that other people don't like." You get down on one of your knees so you're eye level. "People will say you're bad for protecting yourself but won't do anything to help no matter how much you need them."
She thought for a moment, tracing over your words. "But Mister Sonic is always helping people! He's probably really tired from running around so much but he can still smile and pick flowers with me! He's a hero!"
Everywhere you go, Sonic this and Sonic that- Rage bubbles under your skin as you recall all of your fights, your humiliations, your disdain and frustrations. It was always Sonic! He attracts like minded idiots that will follow him anywhere because they're too stupid to see that Sonic never solved problems, he only made them worse! Children, adults, it didn't matter! He could say something to make you feel special and promise he'd solve all the problems but did Eggman ever go away? No! So much fighting and so many failed attempts at stopping a tyrant for good. The number of times you risked your life to make sure that small villages would be spared Eggman's wrath when the heroes were busy elsewhere- The number of lives lost before any of them would arrive on the scene- The number of people you had to lie, cheat and swindle just so Eggman wouldn't take the information by force-! How many would it take if he couldn't even stop the doctor with the ULTIMATE LIFEFORM on his side!?
"SONIC IS A FAKE!" You bare your fangs as venom drips from your tone. "Sonic is a COWARD!" You stand back at height, towering over her. "If Sonic was really a hero then Eggman would be dead and you and your mommy and everyone else would never have to live in fear!"
She looks up at you quietly, her eyes glossing over. Oh fuck- I just yelled at a random kid... You look at her apprehensively, backing away slowly. "Sorry kid, I shouldn't have yelled at you... Its not your fault..." Your eyes drift away from her gaze, a pit in your chest. "I guess I'm a bad person after all..." Your tail wraps around your body, the quiet shame creeping in with every moment this kid got closer to crying. You run back downstairs and bolt out the window, leaving it open. The world a blur around you as your feet carry you back out into the surrounding forest, each step heavier than the last.
You finally collapse deep in the forest beside a small crick. Your legs are like jelly, a few emotions that you failed to keep in check slipping out as you stare into your reflection. Your features distort in the water, a wobbly reflection that captured your own emotions as you breathed deeply and tried to put yourself back together. That kid didn't deserve that... But it was so hard to hold it in.. She reminded you of yourself when you were small, believing in the promise of heroes and someone coming to save you. Maybe that's why it hurt so much to hear her say it, because it felt like the naive version of you reborn- The version of you that wished someone had told you the bitter truth from the beginning. You hadn't spoken to your parents in years, your siblings had become estranged and at the end of it all you had nowhere to go and no one watching out for you, waiting for you to come home...
Doctor Robotnik was going to conquer the world one day and you couldn't stop him. You weren't smart enough, you couldn't plan ahead enough... At least if you helped him you could have some say in what happens in the aftermath... At least you could save the people that couldn't save themselves... But that doesn't make you a hero, heroes are fiction. If the world believed in heroes... in fiction... then perhaps your actions really did make you the villain... Perhaps you really are the bad guy...