Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
by Martial Arts Master
Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters copyrighted by Sega, Nintendo, the original creators of Sonic X, and the Fox Box. This fic has Mr. Tanaka and Ella, the servants of Chris Thorndyke, play major roles at the very end, because they won't get much attention otherwise and I thought I'd give them some. This takes place after the episode that aired on December 13, 2003. Now, on with the fic!
***
It was another peaceful, sunny day. Sonic was off gallivanting around as usual, Tails was experimenting with machines, Cream the Rabbit was watching a little kids' show, and Amy Rose was...well, daydreaming about Sonic.
Chris, however, was thinking about the events of times gone by. You see, ever since our heroes helped destroy the base of the nefarious Dr. Robotnik/Dr. Eggman, they've been famous. That had a good side to it and a bad side to it. The good news was that they no longer had to hide from humans. The bad news: humans now stared at them wherever they went, like one incident where they went shopping.
One intolerant lady had even commented, upon Chris's bringing the gang to a private club, that instead of bringing them into the club Chris should have checked them into the coat room with the furs. Yes, this actually happened in the episode.
She hadn't intended to be mean, of course. It was just in her nature to be afraid of the unusual.
(Author's Note: The following also actually happened in the episode.) Some other ladies had wanted to take Cream's Chao, whose name was Cheese, away from her and play with it.
A kid had wanted to buy Tails as a toy.
And when people saw Amy Rose try on clothes, they ran far away.
All in all, the shopping trip hadn't gone very well, and to make matters even worse, Dr. Eggman/Dr. Robotnik...heck, let's just call him Dr. Eggman...hadn't given up even when his base was destroyed. He built a flying fortress and tried to attack our heroes once again. Luckily, Sonic had saved the day with a little help from the X-Tornado.
Chris, however, wasn't very happy, and it wasn't because of Dr. Eggman. Were his friends doomed to be treated as things to gawk at forever? If so, then maybe they didn't belong in this world. Maybe, Chris thought, he should try harder to find a way to get them back to their own world so they could be happy again, free from the cares of planet Earth.
The more Chris thought about it, the worse the prospects of his friends seemed. They'd been safe so far, but now that their existence was public, what if they got calls all the time for news reporters? What if they constantly got teased by kids because they were different? Chris lived in Japan, but he was originally from the United States of America, and although now America was tolerant of other cultures, it had a long and bloody history of doing exactly the opposite. The Salem witch trials...slavery...racism...sexism...the list was not good.
Chris didn't know Japan's full history, being from America, but he couldn't assume Japan was the pinnacle of tolerance either. Although come to think of it, a lot of their shows showcased other cultures, so maybe Japan wasn't that bad off.
Chris didn't realize that he was feeling a textbook case of depression, and that the solution was to think positive thoughts. Chris kept thinking about what might happen to his friends, and he began to cry.
Not hugely, mind you. Just a small tear, here or there. You see, Chris was one of those emotionally sensitive boys, despite his love for action. That was why he loved his parents more than he loved his money. Most other kids who were as obscenely rich as Chris's parents were would've stuck with the money and to heck with their parents.
But not Chris. His father, Nelson Thorndyke, was in charge of a major company, and his mother was a famous actress named Lindsey Fair. The combination of such prominent people made for an extremely rich family, but Chris would've gladly given up his money if it meant he and his family could always live happily together.
"What's wrong?" piped up a small voice from behind him.
"Ack!!!" Chris shouted, falling off the couch in a comical attempt to clear his eyes of the tears. Sadness gave way to embarassment as he saw none other than Cream the Rabbit standing behind him.
"Why were you crying?" Cream continued.
"I was not crying!" Chris insisted. "I was...laughing. Yeah, that's it. Laughing. I was laughing because I was thinking happy thoughts."
"You were laughing and tears were coming out of your eyes?" Cream responded. Not sarcastically, mind you. She was only six, so she was genuinely confused. "Maybe you were thinking of a wedding? I know people cry at weddings because they're happy."
At this, Chris began to laugh.
He couldn't help him. Sometimes Cream was funny thanks to her naivete.
"Um, yeah, that's it, I was thinking of what it must've been like when my mom and dad got married," Chris responded.
Being six years old, Cream bought it, and went back to watch TV.
chris sighed in relief at avoiding embarassing himself, and resolved not to think such depressing thoughts anymore.
Then he thought of what would cheer him up...he could go swimming! He had his own private pool! That's even how he met Sonic in the first place when he rescued Sonic from drowning in it.
He ran off to tell the others his idea...
***
Eggman, meanwhile, was not in a good mood. He'd been soundly defeated once again, and he was getting sick of it. This happened every time. He thought he'd won for sure, and then that accursed Sonic would somehow come back from the brink of defeat. And sometimes, Eggman never even had a chance of winning.
This he thought as he paced back and forth on the soil of a deserted forest. His robots, Boscoe and Descoe, were sitting beside him, looking as gloomy as robots could be. Even Bokkun was present, also depressed.
Eggman growled. He had to think of something. He had to think of a way to catch Sonic and his friends unprepared. He had to exploit some weakness of theirs.
"Wait a minute!" he said to himself, although his robots heard. "Weaknesses! That's it! I'll exploit their weak spots! But how to do it..."
This caused Eggman to think some more. What caused people to be weak? Money was sometimes a way to get rid of an enemy. You could just give the enemy money, and the enemy would care more about the money than you. But that didn't work on those determined to defeat you, and Sonic and his friends weren't likely to be bribed. If Eggman tried to give Sonic money, he'd probably get a foot upside the head.
Sometimes, you could get rid of an enemy with an attractive member of the opposite sex. Just get the person to offer to have sex with your enemy, and the enemy would be too distracted to notice you about to destroy them.
There were too many problems with that. First of all, it wouldn't work on the rabbit, because the rabbit was too young even know what the bloody blue blazes sex was. It wouldn't work on the Chao, because Eggman wouldn't be able to find another Chao, and he couldn't tell one gender from the other.
Oh wait, he remembered, the Chao were all the same gender anyway.
It also wouldn't work on Amy Rose, because she was too attached to Sonic. It wouldn't work on Sonic himself, because he'd never settle down. Tails also hadn't hit puberty yet, so he was out. Same for Chris.
So that offer was out of the question.
Then, Eggman thought of something...fear.
That was it---fear.
Almost everyone feared something. Exploit the person's worst fear, and you would reduce the person to a helpless baby, personality-wise. Eggman knew how to get ahold of one fear...water, for Sonic. Sonic couldn't swim, so he feared the water. But Eggman didn't know what the rest of the gang feared, and they certainly would never tell him.
But if you could make your enemy thinking he was experiencing his worst fear...
There, Eggman got an idea. He had always been a fan of action shows, studying the villains' plans to see if he could make use of them. Most were worthless. But Eggman remembered watching one show called "Power Rangers Ninja Storm", and in one episode, Lothor the space ninja had created a monster who, using magical chokers, made people believe that they were experiencing their worst fears. It was all illusion...all in their heads.
But Eggman used robots, not monsters. And Eggman had no magic to get ahold of. Therefore, he decided to build a device that would allow him to manipulate the brain waves of Sonic and his friends so that they would, through their own minds, experience their worst fears and be rendered helpless. Then, Eggman could destroy them, and begin building his glorious Eggman Empire.
Eggman cackled to himself evilly, and then explained his plan to the robots...
***
Well, Chris's idea had been a fun one, and the others had quickly agreed.
"Hey Tails, catch!" Cream shouted, tossing a beach ball to Tails.
The two-tailed fox caught the ball, and then tossed it to Amy Rose.
They were all having a good time in Chris's swimming pool, so Chris was enjoying himself too.
"I only wish Sonic were here..." Amy Rose pouted, catching the ball. "I deliberately picked the skimpiest bathing suit in the store just to attract his attention."
"If master Sonic were attracted to you because of your bathing suit, you would always wonder to yourself whether it was you Sonic liked, or your suit," Tanaka the butler called to Amy Rose.
When Chris went swimming, and his parents weren't home, Tanaka and Ella always supervised him, just in case. Chris was a good swimmer, but when parents are away from their child most of the time, they want the child to be safe while they are gone.
Anyway, Tanaka's comment made Amy Rose feel better.
"Here, Chris, catch!" Amy Rose called, tossing the ball to Chris.
That, however, is when the ball was blasted into pieces by a laser shot.
"What on earth?!" Cream shouted as everyone turned around.
Eggman was flying around in his own personal craft, holding a laser gun in one hand and a huge device in the other.
"Sorry to interrupt your swimming fun, kiddies, but playtime's over!" Eggman shouted. "I'm going to get rid of you once and for---"
Then Eggman paused.
"Hey, where's Sonic?" he asked.
"Sonic's not here!" Amy Rose shouted. "He's off gallivanting as usual. So pblbllbtlbt!"
That last noise was made with Amy Rose's tongue.
Everyone, meanwhile, including Amy Rose, was getting out of the water and quickly shaking the water off, getting ready to fight.
Eggman let them do so. He wanted them ready when he activated his fear device.
"Tanaka! Ella! RUN!" Chris instructed the servants.
"Not without you, Chris!" Ella said loyally.
"It would do you a great deal of disservice to leave you at the hands of this madman," Tanaka commented.
"Shut up, blowhards!" Eggman fumed.
Eggman aimed multiple laser blasts at the feet of Ella and Tanaka, boring a hole very deep in the ground and trapping Ella and Tanaka.
"Now that the idiots are out of the way..." Eggman began, but he was interrupted when something knocked the laser gun out of his hand.
"What?!" Eggman screamed, and then saw none other than Sonic the Hedgehog, standing not more than two feet away from the aircraft!
"Perfect, now you're all together...except maybe that red freak Knuckles, but then again, I can always trick the gullible fool into working with me later," Eggman chuckled, and then turned on his fear device.
There was a slow rippling motion in the air and suddenly, everyone clutched their heads, wondering what the heck was going on.
They soon found out, as the nightmares began...
***
Cream the Rabbit found herself in a clearing, and there were dozens of scary monsters surrounding her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Cream screamed, running out of pure fear through the legs of one monster.
She soon had multiple monsters chasing after her.
They were hideous to behold...hideous to us, anyways...all covered with tentacles, claws, eyes, and most of all huge scary teeth!!!
Cream found herself wailing as the monsters chased her throughout the clearing.
Cream had the worst fear of a lot of children...that of monsters wanting to eat them.
"Help me! Somebody help!" Cream screamed.
Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, but no one answered her call.
In fact, she noticed that Cheese was gone.
"Cheese! Cheese! Where are you? Please help me! The monsters are going to eat me!" Cream shouted, and then one monster covered with tentacles pounced on her, holding her down.
"No!!! Please!" Cream pleaded. "Stay away!"
In desperation, Cream slapped the monster, and it withdrew.
Cream did not realize that the monster had intentionally allowed her to keep it away, for if the monsters actually did something to her, the nightmare would end.
And so the monsters continued to chase Cream...
***
Tails also found himself in a clearing, but there were no monster's around like Cream's worst fear.
Instead, the sky was covered with dark, stormy thunderclouds.
Lightning struck the ground near Tails's feet, causing an explosion that threw him backwards.
For you see, lightning was Tails's very worst fear. He was terrified of it. (Author's Note: If you don't believe it, watch the videotape Sonic: The Movie, which admittedly does not take place in the Sonic X universe.)
After all, lightning could kill.
Another lightning bolt struck the ground behind Tails, also just missing him.
It was then Tails realized, as he began to quiver, that the lightning was aiming for him.
The lightning was deliberately trying to kill Tails, who feared that one day lightning would strike him, killing him.
"HELLLLLLLLLLP!!!" Tails screamed, but no one answered.
Now lightning began striking multiple times, forcing Tails to run.
But there was no cover. The entire clearing was flat. There was no place to hide.
Tails had to keep running from the lightning bolts, absolutely terrified...
***
Amy Rose found himself in a clearing just like Tails and Cream.
However, there were no monsters, and the day was perfectly sunny.
But standing in the middle of the clearing was Sonic the Hedgehog himself.
"Sonic!" she cried joyfully, racing towards him.
She hugged him, saying, "I love you! I love you so much! I've loved you ever since you saved me from Metal Sonic on the Little Planet!"
Angrily, Sonic shoved Amy Rose away.
Amy Rose gasped.
"Stay away from me!" Sonic shouted. "You're an annoying pest!"
Amy Rose was heartbroken.
"Sonic---" she began, but the fear-constructed Sonic cut her off.
"Why do you always chase after me like I'm a celebrity to be fawned over?" Sonic shouted at her. "Don't you have a life outside of me? Have you ever thought of what would happen if I didn't return your affections?! Well surprise, surprise, I don't, so get your own life, you lousy female dog!"
Amy Rose started to cry.
"But Sonic, I only love you because I admire your character," Amy Rose told the fear-constructed Sonic.
"Liar! You don't love me at all!" Sonic yelled. "You love my heroics! You have this sick fantasy of me saving you and sweeping you off your feet! Well news flash, Miss Girly Girl. I...don't...love...you...and I will never love you!"
Amy Rose continuously tried to plead with Sonic, not realizing that this was simply her worst fear---that of not only Sonic rejecting her one day, which she could deal with, but rejecting her worth overall...
***
Sonic the Hedgehog should have been so fortunate as to have a clearing in his own little fear-construct.
Instead, he was in the middle of the ocean. The waves which would have been pleasant to us were cold and forebidding to one who couldn't swim.
"Hey! Someone get me out of here!" Sonic shouted, but no one answered.
He flailed about in the water helplessly, and began to sink.
Since fears can't physically hurt you, Sonic didn't actually lose air as he sank underwater flailing, but Sonic didn't realize that he could still breathe. All he focused on was the fact that he was in the middle of not only water, which he hated, but the whole ocean!
Sonic screamed bloody murder, wishing for something to save him, like a boat, or land, or even Chris Thorndyke himself like last time.
He couldn't stand it! He continued to flail about in the water...
***
Cheese the Chao found himself in a graveyard, instead of a clearing like Amy Rose, Cream, or Tails, or the ocean like Sonic.
Yes, Cheese the Chao, despite being less intelligent than a human or his animal friends, was still very intelligent, as Chaos are. He had about the intelligence of a little child, as most Chaos do.
Cheese found the graveyard very dismal and forebidding.
He shivered as he found skeletons everywhere, and gravestones where the skeletons were or weren't.
Cheese could only read some of the names on the tombstones, and didn't recognize any of them.
Then, the sight that greeted Cheese next caused Cheese's heart to pound, and Cheese wanted to throw up, or cry, or have a tantrum, or both.
For it wasn't the graveyard that Cheese feared.
You see, lying in a grave in front of Cheese was Cream the Rabbit!
Cheese couldn't believe it. His best friend was dead.
Cheese's very worst fear was that one day his friend Cream would die. And it looked like his fear had come true.
He ran over to Cream and, in Chao language, begged Cream to wake up, begging for it not to be true, begging for Cream to smile and laugh and say it was all a bad joke and she was sorry, begging for her most of all to be alive.
But Cream was totally silent, being a fear-construct and being dead.
Chao started to wail, although no one could hear him. This was unimaginable for him, and the unimaginable had been realized...
***
Chris Thorndyke, however, didn't even have a setting.
All he knew was that wherever he was, it was totally pitch-black, and nothing could be seen, not even Chris's hands in front of his face when he held them up.
But the dark isn't what Chris feared.
"H...h...hello?" Chris called.
But no one answered.
Chris laughed uneasily.
"Okay, Sonic, if you're playing a joke, ha ha, very funny, big laugh, now come out!" Chris called.
No one answered.
"Tails? I want to look at your inventions!" Chris called, hoping for someone to talk to him.
But no one answered.
"I'll even settle for Knuckles! Somebody! Anybody answer me!" Chris called.
Again, this was futile.
Chris started to get very, very scared.
Ever since Chris realized that sometimes his parents would have to be away for long periods, his worst fear is that someday, somehow, Chris would be left totally alone.
And now, he was totally alone, with no one there for company.
"Noooooooooo!!!" Chris screamed, hoping someone would hear him, take pity on him, and keep him company.
But no one was there.
Chris was alone, without his friends, without his servants, without his parents...
Chris was beginning to get edgy. Now he'd even settle for a perfect stranger, anything not to have to bear the burden of total and utter loneliness...
Chris eventually curled up into a ball and cried...
***
Meanwhile, Tanaka and Ella were trying desperately to come out of the pit Eggman had made with his laser blasts, but with no success.
"This isn't working..." Ella muttered. Then she got an idea.
"Tanaka, stand on my shoulders and climb out!" she told Tanaka.
Tanaka climbed up, and, of course, since Ella was huge, the idea actually worked.
It was no trouble of Tanaka to avoid the fear device's range and get a ladder to help Ella climb out, although Tanaka at this point didn't know what the device was.
Then, Ella and Tanaka saw a sorry sight.
Chris and his friends were all moaning and wailing. Some were huddled on the ground, crying.
"What on earth is wrong with them?!" Ella wondered. "They remind me of puppies who've been abandoned by the roadside."
"What?!" Eggman roared, turning to look at them. "How did you get out of the pit?! Anyway, it doesn't matter. You'll never foil the fear device! The fear device makes its victims hallucinate their worst fears! The only way to reverse its effect is for the victims to conquer their fears!"
At that, now knowing exactly Ella and Tanaka turned and whispered something to each other.
Then, they nodded.
"What's going on?" Eggman asked warily.
Suddenly, Ella sprang into action.
Running surprisingly fast for a woman of her girth, Ella ran around behind Eggman, sighing in relief when her suspicion was confirmed that the fear device didn't work on those that were behind it.
"No! Wait!" Eggman called, but it was too late.
Ella climbed in behind Eggman in the aircraft, and produced a frying pan from her apron that she carried around with her in case she needed a weapon.
"No! Stop!" Eggman cried.
"You, sir, are sick!!!" Ella cried, repeatedly braining Eggman with the frying pan. "Little children always have nightmares, and they're reduced to tears! And you actually made my master's friends have nightmares! How could you be so heartless?"
Ella kept smacking Eggman with the frying pan, and Eggman was begging for mercy.
Meanwhile, Tanaka, after hearing that to reverse the fear device's effects, the victims needed to conquer their fears, moved in close to his master's friends...
***
Cream was still being chased by monsters, and she was still crying.
They just wouldn't leave her alone. They kept chasing her around like a cat playing with a mouse before it kills it. Cream tripped once, and the monsters almost caught her, but she got up again and kept running.
"Please, I didn't do anything!" Cream screamed at them. "I just want you to leave me alone!"
"Cream? Cream, can you hear me?" Tanaka's voice suddenly rang out, causing the monsters to pause momentarily.
"What? Tanaka?" Cream asked, confused, looking around.
"Cream, listen to me," Tanaka's voice instructed. "Tell me exactly what you are experiencing."
"I'm being chased by monsters!" Cream shouted. "They won't leave me alone and they want to eat me! I don't know what to do!"
"Cream, listen, the monsters aren't real," Tanaka explained. "They're most children's nightmares. Many children think monsters are in the closet, or under the bed. That's how they get you, by fear. If you realize the monsters aren't real, and confront them with that fact, they won't harm you."
Cream gulped, and then nodded.
The monsters had resumed running, but now, instead of running away, Cream turned to face them.
"You're not even real!" Cream shouted.
The monsters stopped, appalled.
"You're just the boogeymen people make up to scare kids into being good!" Cream continued. "You're not real! Fake monsters can't hurt people! If I touched you, you'd probably disappear!"
At that, the monsters indeed began to disappear, although Cream hadn't touched them.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! It's true!" the monsters moaned. "We're not real! We don't exist!"
Then, the monsters disappeared completely, and Cream found herself back at Chris's swimming pool...
***
Meanwhile, Tails kept dodging the lightning, and he kept wondering, admist all his fear, when the lightning would hit him.
Tails was absolutely terrified. His fur was standing completely on end, and his heart was pounding a mile a minute.
"Please! Someone! Help meeeeeeeeeeee!" Tails screamed.
"Tails, calm down," a voice rang out. "It's me, Mr. Tanaka, the butler."
Tails kept running, but he felt a little calmer.
"What's going on, Tails?" Mr. Tanaka's voice asked.
"Lightning! Lightning! It's going to electrocute me to death!" Tails shouted. "And it won't leave me alone!"
"Tails, just remember this," Mr. Tanaka said calmly. "The chances of you actually being struck by lightning are slim. Planet Earth is full of tall objects, and lightning tends to strike the tallest object in view."
"But I'm in the middle of a clearing!" Tails protested as he dodged another lightning bolt.
"Also, lightning strikes lots and lots of places," Mr. Tanaka said. "The chances of you actually being struck by it are slim."
As Mr. Tanaka said this, Tails began to believe it.
Soon, the lightning began to strike other places than near Tails, and Tails's surroundings disappeared.
Tails found himself back at Chris's swimming pool...
***
Meanwhile, Amy Rose was still trying to plead with the fear-constructed Sonic not to insult her.
"Sonic, even if you don't love me, tell me I still have worth as a hedgehog!" Amy Rose pleaded.
"You do not," Sonic said coldly. "You are an arrogant pest. You're no help in a fight. You have a hammer and you still need saving most of the time. You just get in the way. You are unworthy of my love."
"No I'm not!!!" Amy Rose screamed. "Sonic, I'm not that bad! You can't think that!"
"Shut up!" Sonic said, slapping her in the face.
"Amy Rose? Amy Rose, are you listening?" Mr. Tanaka's voice asked.
Amy Rose and the fear-constructed Sonic looked up, confused.
"Yes..." Amy Rose replied.
"What are you doing at the moment?" Tanaka asked.
"Sonic's rejected me!" Amy Rose moaned. "And even worse, he's insulting me! He hates me! He thinks I'm worthless as hedgehog. And he just slapped me!"
"Do you really think that's how the real Sonic would behave?" Tanaka asked Amy Rose.
"Maybe..." Amy Rose replied.
"Amy Rose, do you remember when you made that pink shell bracelet for Sonic?" Tenaka asked.
Amy Rose nodded, still whimpering from the pain of the fear-constructed Sonic's slap.
"Wasn't he about to take it?" Tanaka continued.
Amy Rose paused...and then nodded. Yes, Sonic had been about to take the pink bracelet when Eggman smashed it by mistake.
"And think, would Sonic ever save your life if he hated you?" Tanaka pressed on.
Amy Rose thought a minute...and then shook her head. She then realized what Tanaka was getting at.
She turned to what she now knew to be a fake Sonic.
"The real Sonic might reject me, but he wouldn't insult me!" Amy Rose steamed. "You're nothing but a fake Sonic, meant to terrorize me! The real Sonic values me as a friend, and that's why he saves my life all the time! And I know something else..."
Amy Rose took out her hammer, causing the fake Sonic to quiver...
"One thing I hate is you!" Amy Rose screamed, hitting the fake Sonic over the horizon. The fake Sonic then disappeared.
Amy Rose's surroundings also disappeared, and Amy Rose was soon back at the pool...
***
Sonic, meanwhile, was still flailing about in his own private hell of an ocean, with no one to save him.
He was desperately looking around for some means of escape, and found none.
He had somehow managed to kick his way back to the surface, but was still flailing about, and he was getting pretty tired. He thought that if he didn't get some respite soon, he would drown to deatdh.
"Somebody...please..." Sonic moaned, "help me..." "Sonic, please calm down," Tanaka's voice rang out. "What exactly is happening?"
"I'm drowning!" Sonic screamed.
"Are you breathing?" Tanaka's voice asked.
Sonic, who had sunk underwater by then, answered..."Yes..."
That caused Sonic himself to gasp. If he was drowning, how could he be breathing?
That's when he realized it was all an illusion, and that's when he found himself back at Chris's pool...
***
Chris, meanwhile, was still utterly, completely alone.
He was still crying when he heard the sound of Tanaka's voice, saying, "Young master Chris? Young master Chris?"
Chris looked up joyfully.
"Yes!" he shouted. "Yes! Finally! Someone's talking to me! I felt so alone!"
"Why, exactly, do you fear being alone?" Tanaka's voice asked.
"Because my parents are always away," Chris answered. "I'm worried that one day they'll be away for good, and I won't have anyone..."
"You'll always have me and Ella," Tanaka answered, "even if something horrible did happen to your parents. But the chances of that are very slim. I'm sure your parents love you deeply, and madly wish to spend time with you."
"I know..." Chris said, wiping his eyes. "It just hurts sometimes."
Tanaka chuckled.
"But I will help you through whatever hurt you experience, and so will Ella," Tanaka said in a comforting tone.
Chris felt a lot better, and then found himself back at his pool...
***
Well, now almost everyone had woken up from the horrible nightmares they had.
Meanwhile, Ella was still beating up Eggman, and Eggman finally decided to leave, taking his craft and flying far, far away.
However, there was still a big problem.
Cheese had not conquered his fear, and was still under the effects of the fear device.
"Cheese? Cheese wake up!" Amy Rose said, gently shaking Cheese.
However, Cheese was still crying.
"I wish I could understand what Cheese was saying," Tanaka mumbled to himself.
"But Cream can understand him!" Sonic exclaimed, smacking his fist in his hand in the "I've got an idea" gesture.
Sonic walked over to Cream.
"Cream," Sonic explained, "Cheese is still experiencing his worst fear. We need to find out what it is. Please help us."
Cream nodded and walked over to Cheese, listening to what he was saying.
"Oh no! Cheese thinks I'm dead!" Cream exclaimed.
Then, Cream gently shook Cheese.
"Cheese, I'm not dead," Cream reassured Cheese. "I'm not dead."
Cheese's expression then turned from sad to happy, and he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Besides, you have a shorter life span than I do, because you're a Chao," Cream explained. "You're the one who's going to die before I do."
At this, Cheese felt relieved, and he finally woke up.
"Whew, glad that's over," Tails said, speaking on behalf of everyone.
"Tanaka, you deserve a medal!" Amy Rose said, kissing Tanaka's cheek, causing him to blush. "If it weren't for you, most of us would still be paralyzed by fear."
"Well, Ella also helped," Tanaka muttered modestly. "She chased off Eggman."
"Well then, three cheers for Tanaka and Ella!" Sonic exclaimed.
Amid three shouts of "Hip! Hip! Hooray!", Tanaka and Ella smiled.
For once, they had stopped Eggman themselves.
Yes...sometimes, servants can be more useful than just being servants...
***
The End
E-mail all questions and comments to [email protected]
by Martial Arts Master
Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters copyrighted by Sega, Nintendo, the original creators of Sonic X, and the Fox Box. This fic has Mr. Tanaka and Ella, the servants of Chris Thorndyke, play major roles at the very end, because they won't get much attention otherwise and I thought I'd give them some. This takes place after the episode that aired on December 13, 2003. Now, on with the fic!
***
It was another peaceful, sunny day. Sonic was off gallivanting around as usual, Tails was experimenting with machines, Cream the Rabbit was watching a little kids' show, and Amy Rose was...well, daydreaming about Sonic.
Chris, however, was thinking about the events of times gone by. You see, ever since our heroes helped destroy the base of the nefarious Dr. Robotnik/Dr. Eggman, they've been famous. That had a good side to it and a bad side to it. The good news was that they no longer had to hide from humans. The bad news: humans now stared at them wherever they went, like one incident where they went shopping.
One intolerant lady had even commented, upon Chris's bringing the gang to a private club, that instead of bringing them into the club Chris should have checked them into the coat room with the furs. Yes, this actually happened in the episode.
She hadn't intended to be mean, of course. It was just in her nature to be afraid of the unusual.
(Author's Note: The following also actually happened in the episode.) Some other ladies had wanted to take Cream's Chao, whose name was Cheese, away from her and play with it.
A kid had wanted to buy Tails as a toy.
And when people saw Amy Rose try on clothes, they ran far away.
All in all, the shopping trip hadn't gone very well, and to make matters even worse, Dr. Eggman/Dr. Robotnik...heck, let's just call him Dr. Eggman...hadn't given up even when his base was destroyed. He built a flying fortress and tried to attack our heroes once again. Luckily, Sonic had saved the day with a little help from the X-Tornado.
Chris, however, wasn't very happy, and it wasn't because of Dr. Eggman. Were his friends doomed to be treated as things to gawk at forever? If so, then maybe they didn't belong in this world. Maybe, Chris thought, he should try harder to find a way to get them back to their own world so they could be happy again, free from the cares of planet Earth.
The more Chris thought about it, the worse the prospects of his friends seemed. They'd been safe so far, but now that their existence was public, what if they got calls all the time for news reporters? What if they constantly got teased by kids because they were different? Chris lived in Japan, but he was originally from the United States of America, and although now America was tolerant of other cultures, it had a long and bloody history of doing exactly the opposite. The Salem witch trials...slavery...racism...sexism...the list was not good.
Chris didn't know Japan's full history, being from America, but he couldn't assume Japan was the pinnacle of tolerance either. Although come to think of it, a lot of their shows showcased other cultures, so maybe Japan wasn't that bad off.
Chris didn't realize that he was feeling a textbook case of depression, and that the solution was to think positive thoughts. Chris kept thinking about what might happen to his friends, and he began to cry.
Not hugely, mind you. Just a small tear, here or there. You see, Chris was one of those emotionally sensitive boys, despite his love for action. That was why he loved his parents more than he loved his money. Most other kids who were as obscenely rich as Chris's parents were would've stuck with the money and to heck with their parents.
But not Chris. His father, Nelson Thorndyke, was in charge of a major company, and his mother was a famous actress named Lindsey Fair. The combination of such prominent people made for an extremely rich family, but Chris would've gladly given up his money if it meant he and his family could always live happily together.
"What's wrong?" piped up a small voice from behind him.
"Ack!!!" Chris shouted, falling off the couch in a comical attempt to clear his eyes of the tears. Sadness gave way to embarassment as he saw none other than Cream the Rabbit standing behind him.
"Why were you crying?" Cream continued.
"I was not crying!" Chris insisted. "I was...laughing. Yeah, that's it. Laughing. I was laughing because I was thinking happy thoughts."
"You were laughing and tears were coming out of your eyes?" Cream responded. Not sarcastically, mind you. She was only six, so she was genuinely confused. "Maybe you were thinking of a wedding? I know people cry at weddings because they're happy."
At this, Chris began to laugh.
He couldn't help him. Sometimes Cream was funny thanks to her naivete.
"Um, yeah, that's it, I was thinking of what it must've been like when my mom and dad got married," Chris responded.
Being six years old, Cream bought it, and went back to watch TV.
chris sighed in relief at avoiding embarassing himself, and resolved not to think such depressing thoughts anymore.
Then he thought of what would cheer him up...he could go swimming! He had his own private pool! That's even how he met Sonic in the first place when he rescued Sonic from drowning in it.
He ran off to tell the others his idea...
***
Eggman, meanwhile, was not in a good mood. He'd been soundly defeated once again, and he was getting sick of it. This happened every time. He thought he'd won for sure, and then that accursed Sonic would somehow come back from the brink of defeat. And sometimes, Eggman never even had a chance of winning.
This he thought as he paced back and forth on the soil of a deserted forest. His robots, Boscoe and Descoe, were sitting beside him, looking as gloomy as robots could be. Even Bokkun was present, also depressed.
Eggman growled. He had to think of something. He had to think of a way to catch Sonic and his friends unprepared. He had to exploit some weakness of theirs.
"Wait a minute!" he said to himself, although his robots heard. "Weaknesses! That's it! I'll exploit their weak spots! But how to do it..."
This caused Eggman to think some more. What caused people to be weak? Money was sometimes a way to get rid of an enemy. You could just give the enemy money, and the enemy would care more about the money than you. But that didn't work on those determined to defeat you, and Sonic and his friends weren't likely to be bribed. If Eggman tried to give Sonic money, he'd probably get a foot upside the head.
Sometimes, you could get rid of an enemy with an attractive member of the opposite sex. Just get the person to offer to have sex with your enemy, and the enemy would be too distracted to notice you about to destroy them.
There were too many problems with that. First of all, it wouldn't work on the rabbit, because the rabbit was too young even know what the bloody blue blazes sex was. It wouldn't work on the Chao, because Eggman wouldn't be able to find another Chao, and he couldn't tell one gender from the other.
Oh wait, he remembered, the Chao were all the same gender anyway.
It also wouldn't work on Amy Rose, because she was too attached to Sonic. It wouldn't work on Sonic himself, because he'd never settle down. Tails also hadn't hit puberty yet, so he was out. Same for Chris.
So that offer was out of the question.
Then, Eggman thought of something...fear.
That was it---fear.
Almost everyone feared something. Exploit the person's worst fear, and you would reduce the person to a helpless baby, personality-wise. Eggman knew how to get ahold of one fear...water, for Sonic. Sonic couldn't swim, so he feared the water. But Eggman didn't know what the rest of the gang feared, and they certainly would never tell him.
But if you could make your enemy thinking he was experiencing his worst fear...
There, Eggman got an idea. He had always been a fan of action shows, studying the villains' plans to see if he could make use of them. Most were worthless. But Eggman remembered watching one show called "Power Rangers Ninja Storm", and in one episode, Lothor the space ninja had created a monster who, using magical chokers, made people believe that they were experiencing their worst fears. It was all illusion...all in their heads.
But Eggman used robots, not monsters. And Eggman had no magic to get ahold of. Therefore, he decided to build a device that would allow him to manipulate the brain waves of Sonic and his friends so that they would, through their own minds, experience their worst fears and be rendered helpless. Then, Eggman could destroy them, and begin building his glorious Eggman Empire.
Eggman cackled to himself evilly, and then explained his plan to the robots...
***
Well, Chris's idea had been a fun one, and the others had quickly agreed.
"Hey Tails, catch!" Cream shouted, tossing a beach ball to Tails.
The two-tailed fox caught the ball, and then tossed it to Amy Rose.
They were all having a good time in Chris's swimming pool, so Chris was enjoying himself too.
"I only wish Sonic were here..." Amy Rose pouted, catching the ball. "I deliberately picked the skimpiest bathing suit in the store just to attract his attention."
"If master Sonic were attracted to you because of your bathing suit, you would always wonder to yourself whether it was you Sonic liked, or your suit," Tanaka the butler called to Amy Rose.
When Chris went swimming, and his parents weren't home, Tanaka and Ella always supervised him, just in case. Chris was a good swimmer, but when parents are away from their child most of the time, they want the child to be safe while they are gone.
Anyway, Tanaka's comment made Amy Rose feel better.
"Here, Chris, catch!" Amy Rose called, tossing the ball to Chris.
That, however, is when the ball was blasted into pieces by a laser shot.
"What on earth?!" Cream shouted as everyone turned around.
Eggman was flying around in his own personal craft, holding a laser gun in one hand and a huge device in the other.
"Sorry to interrupt your swimming fun, kiddies, but playtime's over!" Eggman shouted. "I'm going to get rid of you once and for---"
Then Eggman paused.
"Hey, where's Sonic?" he asked.
"Sonic's not here!" Amy Rose shouted. "He's off gallivanting as usual. So pblbllbtlbt!"
That last noise was made with Amy Rose's tongue.
Everyone, meanwhile, including Amy Rose, was getting out of the water and quickly shaking the water off, getting ready to fight.
Eggman let them do so. He wanted them ready when he activated his fear device.
"Tanaka! Ella! RUN!" Chris instructed the servants.
"Not without you, Chris!" Ella said loyally.
"It would do you a great deal of disservice to leave you at the hands of this madman," Tanaka commented.
"Shut up, blowhards!" Eggman fumed.
Eggman aimed multiple laser blasts at the feet of Ella and Tanaka, boring a hole very deep in the ground and trapping Ella and Tanaka.
"Now that the idiots are out of the way..." Eggman began, but he was interrupted when something knocked the laser gun out of his hand.
"What?!" Eggman screamed, and then saw none other than Sonic the Hedgehog, standing not more than two feet away from the aircraft!
"Perfect, now you're all together...except maybe that red freak Knuckles, but then again, I can always trick the gullible fool into working with me later," Eggman chuckled, and then turned on his fear device.
There was a slow rippling motion in the air and suddenly, everyone clutched their heads, wondering what the heck was going on.
They soon found out, as the nightmares began...
***
Cream the Rabbit found herself in a clearing, and there were dozens of scary monsters surrounding her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Cream screamed, running out of pure fear through the legs of one monster.
She soon had multiple monsters chasing after her.
They were hideous to behold...hideous to us, anyways...all covered with tentacles, claws, eyes, and most of all huge scary teeth!!!
Cream found herself wailing as the monsters chased her throughout the clearing.
Cream had the worst fear of a lot of children...that of monsters wanting to eat them.
"Help me! Somebody help!" Cream screamed.
Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, but no one answered her call.
In fact, she noticed that Cheese was gone.
"Cheese! Cheese! Where are you? Please help me! The monsters are going to eat me!" Cream shouted, and then one monster covered with tentacles pounced on her, holding her down.
"No!!! Please!" Cream pleaded. "Stay away!"
In desperation, Cream slapped the monster, and it withdrew.
Cream did not realize that the monster had intentionally allowed her to keep it away, for if the monsters actually did something to her, the nightmare would end.
And so the monsters continued to chase Cream...
***
Tails also found himself in a clearing, but there were no monster's around like Cream's worst fear.
Instead, the sky was covered with dark, stormy thunderclouds.
Lightning struck the ground near Tails's feet, causing an explosion that threw him backwards.
For you see, lightning was Tails's very worst fear. He was terrified of it. (Author's Note: If you don't believe it, watch the videotape Sonic: The Movie, which admittedly does not take place in the Sonic X universe.)
After all, lightning could kill.
Another lightning bolt struck the ground behind Tails, also just missing him.
It was then Tails realized, as he began to quiver, that the lightning was aiming for him.
The lightning was deliberately trying to kill Tails, who feared that one day lightning would strike him, killing him.
"HELLLLLLLLLLP!!!" Tails screamed, but no one answered.
Now lightning began striking multiple times, forcing Tails to run.
But there was no cover. The entire clearing was flat. There was no place to hide.
Tails had to keep running from the lightning bolts, absolutely terrified...
***
Amy Rose found himself in a clearing just like Tails and Cream.
However, there were no monsters, and the day was perfectly sunny.
But standing in the middle of the clearing was Sonic the Hedgehog himself.
"Sonic!" she cried joyfully, racing towards him.
She hugged him, saying, "I love you! I love you so much! I've loved you ever since you saved me from Metal Sonic on the Little Planet!"
Angrily, Sonic shoved Amy Rose away.
Amy Rose gasped.
"Stay away from me!" Sonic shouted. "You're an annoying pest!"
Amy Rose was heartbroken.
"Sonic---" she began, but the fear-constructed Sonic cut her off.
"Why do you always chase after me like I'm a celebrity to be fawned over?" Sonic shouted at her. "Don't you have a life outside of me? Have you ever thought of what would happen if I didn't return your affections?! Well surprise, surprise, I don't, so get your own life, you lousy female dog!"
Amy Rose started to cry.
"But Sonic, I only love you because I admire your character," Amy Rose told the fear-constructed Sonic.
"Liar! You don't love me at all!" Sonic yelled. "You love my heroics! You have this sick fantasy of me saving you and sweeping you off your feet! Well news flash, Miss Girly Girl. I...don't...love...you...and I will never love you!"
Amy Rose continuously tried to plead with Sonic, not realizing that this was simply her worst fear---that of not only Sonic rejecting her one day, which she could deal with, but rejecting her worth overall...
***
Sonic the Hedgehog should have been so fortunate as to have a clearing in his own little fear-construct.
Instead, he was in the middle of the ocean. The waves which would have been pleasant to us were cold and forebidding to one who couldn't swim.
"Hey! Someone get me out of here!" Sonic shouted, but no one answered.
He flailed about in the water helplessly, and began to sink.
Since fears can't physically hurt you, Sonic didn't actually lose air as he sank underwater flailing, but Sonic didn't realize that he could still breathe. All he focused on was the fact that he was in the middle of not only water, which he hated, but the whole ocean!
Sonic screamed bloody murder, wishing for something to save him, like a boat, or land, or even Chris Thorndyke himself like last time.
He couldn't stand it! He continued to flail about in the water...
***
Cheese the Chao found himself in a graveyard, instead of a clearing like Amy Rose, Cream, or Tails, or the ocean like Sonic.
Yes, Cheese the Chao, despite being less intelligent than a human or his animal friends, was still very intelligent, as Chaos are. He had about the intelligence of a little child, as most Chaos do.
Cheese found the graveyard very dismal and forebidding.
He shivered as he found skeletons everywhere, and gravestones where the skeletons were or weren't.
Cheese could only read some of the names on the tombstones, and didn't recognize any of them.
Then, the sight that greeted Cheese next caused Cheese's heart to pound, and Cheese wanted to throw up, or cry, or have a tantrum, or both.
For it wasn't the graveyard that Cheese feared.
You see, lying in a grave in front of Cheese was Cream the Rabbit!
Cheese couldn't believe it. His best friend was dead.
Cheese's very worst fear was that one day his friend Cream would die. And it looked like his fear had come true.
He ran over to Cream and, in Chao language, begged Cream to wake up, begging for it not to be true, begging for Cream to smile and laugh and say it was all a bad joke and she was sorry, begging for her most of all to be alive.
But Cream was totally silent, being a fear-construct and being dead.
Chao started to wail, although no one could hear him. This was unimaginable for him, and the unimaginable had been realized...
***
Chris Thorndyke, however, didn't even have a setting.
All he knew was that wherever he was, it was totally pitch-black, and nothing could be seen, not even Chris's hands in front of his face when he held them up.
But the dark isn't what Chris feared.
"H...h...hello?" Chris called.
But no one answered.
Chris laughed uneasily.
"Okay, Sonic, if you're playing a joke, ha ha, very funny, big laugh, now come out!" Chris called.
No one answered.
"Tails? I want to look at your inventions!" Chris called, hoping for someone to talk to him.
But no one answered.
"I'll even settle for Knuckles! Somebody! Anybody answer me!" Chris called.
Again, this was futile.
Chris started to get very, very scared.
Ever since Chris realized that sometimes his parents would have to be away for long periods, his worst fear is that someday, somehow, Chris would be left totally alone.
And now, he was totally alone, with no one there for company.
"Noooooooooo!!!" Chris screamed, hoping someone would hear him, take pity on him, and keep him company.
But no one was there.
Chris was alone, without his friends, without his servants, without his parents...
Chris was beginning to get edgy. Now he'd even settle for a perfect stranger, anything not to have to bear the burden of total and utter loneliness...
Chris eventually curled up into a ball and cried...
***
Meanwhile, Tanaka and Ella were trying desperately to come out of the pit Eggman had made with his laser blasts, but with no success.
"This isn't working..." Ella muttered. Then she got an idea.
"Tanaka, stand on my shoulders and climb out!" she told Tanaka.
Tanaka climbed up, and, of course, since Ella was huge, the idea actually worked.
It was no trouble of Tanaka to avoid the fear device's range and get a ladder to help Ella climb out, although Tanaka at this point didn't know what the device was.
Then, Ella and Tanaka saw a sorry sight.
Chris and his friends were all moaning and wailing. Some were huddled on the ground, crying.
"What on earth is wrong with them?!" Ella wondered. "They remind me of puppies who've been abandoned by the roadside."
"What?!" Eggman roared, turning to look at them. "How did you get out of the pit?! Anyway, it doesn't matter. You'll never foil the fear device! The fear device makes its victims hallucinate their worst fears! The only way to reverse its effect is for the victims to conquer their fears!"
At that, now knowing exactly Ella and Tanaka turned and whispered something to each other.
Then, they nodded.
"What's going on?" Eggman asked warily.
Suddenly, Ella sprang into action.
Running surprisingly fast for a woman of her girth, Ella ran around behind Eggman, sighing in relief when her suspicion was confirmed that the fear device didn't work on those that were behind it.
"No! Wait!" Eggman called, but it was too late.
Ella climbed in behind Eggman in the aircraft, and produced a frying pan from her apron that she carried around with her in case she needed a weapon.
"No! Stop!" Eggman cried.
"You, sir, are sick!!!" Ella cried, repeatedly braining Eggman with the frying pan. "Little children always have nightmares, and they're reduced to tears! And you actually made my master's friends have nightmares! How could you be so heartless?"
Ella kept smacking Eggman with the frying pan, and Eggman was begging for mercy.
Meanwhile, Tanaka, after hearing that to reverse the fear device's effects, the victims needed to conquer their fears, moved in close to his master's friends...
***
Cream was still being chased by monsters, and she was still crying.
They just wouldn't leave her alone. They kept chasing her around like a cat playing with a mouse before it kills it. Cream tripped once, and the monsters almost caught her, but she got up again and kept running.
"Please, I didn't do anything!" Cream screamed at them. "I just want you to leave me alone!"
"Cream? Cream, can you hear me?" Tanaka's voice suddenly rang out, causing the monsters to pause momentarily.
"What? Tanaka?" Cream asked, confused, looking around.
"Cream, listen to me," Tanaka's voice instructed. "Tell me exactly what you are experiencing."
"I'm being chased by monsters!" Cream shouted. "They won't leave me alone and they want to eat me! I don't know what to do!"
"Cream, listen, the monsters aren't real," Tanaka explained. "They're most children's nightmares. Many children think monsters are in the closet, or under the bed. That's how they get you, by fear. If you realize the monsters aren't real, and confront them with that fact, they won't harm you."
Cream gulped, and then nodded.
The monsters had resumed running, but now, instead of running away, Cream turned to face them.
"You're not even real!" Cream shouted.
The monsters stopped, appalled.
"You're just the boogeymen people make up to scare kids into being good!" Cream continued. "You're not real! Fake monsters can't hurt people! If I touched you, you'd probably disappear!"
At that, the monsters indeed began to disappear, although Cream hadn't touched them.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! It's true!" the monsters moaned. "We're not real! We don't exist!"
Then, the monsters disappeared completely, and Cream found herself back at Chris's swimming pool...
***
Meanwhile, Tails kept dodging the lightning, and he kept wondering, admist all his fear, when the lightning would hit him.
Tails was absolutely terrified. His fur was standing completely on end, and his heart was pounding a mile a minute.
"Please! Someone! Help meeeeeeeeeeee!" Tails screamed.
"Tails, calm down," a voice rang out. "It's me, Mr. Tanaka, the butler."
Tails kept running, but he felt a little calmer.
"What's going on, Tails?" Mr. Tanaka's voice asked.
"Lightning! Lightning! It's going to electrocute me to death!" Tails shouted. "And it won't leave me alone!"
"Tails, just remember this," Mr. Tanaka said calmly. "The chances of you actually being struck by lightning are slim. Planet Earth is full of tall objects, and lightning tends to strike the tallest object in view."
"But I'm in the middle of a clearing!" Tails protested as he dodged another lightning bolt.
"Also, lightning strikes lots and lots of places," Mr. Tanaka said. "The chances of you actually being struck by it are slim."
As Mr. Tanaka said this, Tails began to believe it.
Soon, the lightning began to strike other places than near Tails, and Tails's surroundings disappeared.
Tails found himself back at Chris's swimming pool...
***
Meanwhile, Amy Rose was still trying to plead with the fear-constructed Sonic not to insult her.
"Sonic, even if you don't love me, tell me I still have worth as a hedgehog!" Amy Rose pleaded.
"You do not," Sonic said coldly. "You are an arrogant pest. You're no help in a fight. You have a hammer and you still need saving most of the time. You just get in the way. You are unworthy of my love."
"No I'm not!!!" Amy Rose screamed. "Sonic, I'm not that bad! You can't think that!"
"Shut up!" Sonic said, slapping her in the face.
"Amy Rose? Amy Rose, are you listening?" Mr. Tanaka's voice asked.
Amy Rose and the fear-constructed Sonic looked up, confused.
"Yes..." Amy Rose replied.
"What are you doing at the moment?" Tanaka asked.
"Sonic's rejected me!" Amy Rose moaned. "And even worse, he's insulting me! He hates me! He thinks I'm worthless as hedgehog. And he just slapped me!"
"Do you really think that's how the real Sonic would behave?" Tanaka asked Amy Rose.
"Maybe..." Amy Rose replied.
"Amy Rose, do you remember when you made that pink shell bracelet for Sonic?" Tenaka asked.
Amy Rose nodded, still whimpering from the pain of the fear-constructed Sonic's slap.
"Wasn't he about to take it?" Tanaka continued.
Amy Rose paused...and then nodded. Yes, Sonic had been about to take the pink bracelet when Eggman smashed it by mistake.
"And think, would Sonic ever save your life if he hated you?" Tanaka pressed on.
Amy Rose thought a minute...and then shook her head. She then realized what Tanaka was getting at.
She turned to what she now knew to be a fake Sonic.
"The real Sonic might reject me, but he wouldn't insult me!" Amy Rose steamed. "You're nothing but a fake Sonic, meant to terrorize me! The real Sonic values me as a friend, and that's why he saves my life all the time! And I know something else..."
Amy Rose took out her hammer, causing the fake Sonic to quiver...
"One thing I hate is you!" Amy Rose screamed, hitting the fake Sonic over the horizon. The fake Sonic then disappeared.
Amy Rose's surroundings also disappeared, and Amy Rose was soon back at the pool...
***
Sonic, meanwhile, was still flailing about in his own private hell of an ocean, with no one to save him.
He was desperately looking around for some means of escape, and found none.
He had somehow managed to kick his way back to the surface, but was still flailing about, and he was getting pretty tired. He thought that if he didn't get some respite soon, he would drown to deatdh.
"Somebody...please..." Sonic moaned, "help me..." "Sonic, please calm down," Tanaka's voice rang out. "What exactly is happening?"
"I'm drowning!" Sonic screamed.
"Are you breathing?" Tanaka's voice asked.
Sonic, who had sunk underwater by then, answered..."Yes..."
That caused Sonic himself to gasp. If he was drowning, how could he be breathing?
That's when he realized it was all an illusion, and that's when he found himself back at Chris's pool...
***
Chris, meanwhile, was still utterly, completely alone.
He was still crying when he heard the sound of Tanaka's voice, saying, "Young master Chris? Young master Chris?"
Chris looked up joyfully.
"Yes!" he shouted. "Yes! Finally! Someone's talking to me! I felt so alone!"
"Why, exactly, do you fear being alone?" Tanaka's voice asked.
"Because my parents are always away," Chris answered. "I'm worried that one day they'll be away for good, and I won't have anyone..."
"You'll always have me and Ella," Tanaka answered, "even if something horrible did happen to your parents. But the chances of that are very slim. I'm sure your parents love you deeply, and madly wish to spend time with you."
"I know..." Chris said, wiping his eyes. "It just hurts sometimes."
Tanaka chuckled.
"But I will help you through whatever hurt you experience, and so will Ella," Tanaka said in a comforting tone.
Chris felt a lot better, and then found himself back at his pool...
***
Well, now almost everyone had woken up from the horrible nightmares they had.
Meanwhile, Ella was still beating up Eggman, and Eggman finally decided to leave, taking his craft and flying far, far away.
However, there was still a big problem.
Cheese had not conquered his fear, and was still under the effects of the fear device.
"Cheese? Cheese wake up!" Amy Rose said, gently shaking Cheese.
However, Cheese was still crying.
"I wish I could understand what Cheese was saying," Tanaka mumbled to himself.
"But Cream can understand him!" Sonic exclaimed, smacking his fist in his hand in the "I've got an idea" gesture.
Sonic walked over to Cream.
"Cream," Sonic explained, "Cheese is still experiencing his worst fear. We need to find out what it is. Please help us."
Cream nodded and walked over to Cheese, listening to what he was saying.
"Oh no! Cheese thinks I'm dead!" Cream exclaimed.
Then, Cream gently shook Cheese.
"Cheese, I'm not dead," Cream reassured Cheese. "I'm not dead."
Cheese's expression then turned from sad to happy, and he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Besides, you have a shorter life span than I do, because you're a Chao," Cream explained. "You're the one who's going to die before I do."
At this, Cheese felt relieved, and he finally woke up.
"Whew, glad that's over," Tails said, speaking on behalf of everyone.
"Tanaka, you deserve a medal!" Amy Rose said, kissing Tanaka's cheek, causing him to blush. "If it weren't for you, most of us would still be paralyzed by fear."
"Well, Ella also helped," Tanaka muttered modestly. "She chased off Eggman."
"Well then, three cheers for Tanaka and Ella!" Sonic exclaimed.
Amid three shouts of "Hip! Hip! Hooray!", Tanaka and Ella smiled.
For once, they had stopped Eggman themselves.
Yes...sometimes, servants can be more useful than just being servants...
***
The End
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