Without Wings

Thud-thud-thud.

The rhythm pounded out rapidly, quickly changing from separate beats to one continuous note as the feet sped into a blur. Their owner was running, zigzagging across ever-changing landscapes, in an effort to get away from his pursuer.

Sonic the hedgehog was very determined not to get caught.

His vision was tunnelled, but he knew he was still being followed, from the ground ahead of him occasionally bursting into flames as unnatural red beams of light hit it. He leaped to one side mid-run to avoid another inferno, and pushed forwards, rocketing through a mountain village at breakneck speed, and shattering a good amount of their windows with the trailing sonic boom, before running up a pathway around the edge of a higher peak.

A much louder boom mimicked his, showing that his follower was getting bored of letting him evade the shots. Sonic turned his head to catch a glimpse of him...

...And promptly overshot the curve of the road.

Sonic swore particularly loudly as he heard the person that had been following laugh cruelly, then decided that instead of swearing back it would be a good idea to figure out just how he was going to land without breaking anything after a few thousand foot drop. Spinning would only accelerate his decent, but there was nothing else on the way between himself and the floor for him to grab otherwise.

He spread his arms out, fully aware that his streamlined body was not going to help him learn how to fly. But hey, he figured that if he was falling he might as well try.

Emerald eyes shut, and all he was aware of was the wind rushing past his ears.

Then a sudden lurch as something caught him under his arms, stopping his fall.

He snapped back into full awareness again, and twisted, to see...

"Super Sonic?!"

Sonic was equal parts surprised and petrified. The person who'd been following, playing with his life, and laughed as he'd made the stupid mistake that had sent him off the road...

...The spiral-eyed demon had caught him.

Sonic instinctively tried to free himself, to which he got claws buried into his arms where they were held.

"Stop wriggling or I'll drop you!"

A blunt sentence? Sonic hadn't spoken to Super often, but when he had, normally it had been a cruel joke or incredible sarcasm. This had just been blunt and matter of fact.

"Why are you...? Put me down!"

"Not until you agree to stop wriggling!"

Sonic noticed the altitude increasing, and his heart leapt to his throat as they rapidly burst through the lowest cloud layer. The cobalt hedgehog was soaked through from the floating vapour, whilst his ragged golden counterpart seemed entirely unaffected.

"You trying to freeze me to death?!"

"Heh, no. That's too slow. I'm just trying to show you something."

Sonic frowned up at the powerful creature who currently held his life in his hands. Super was taking him ever higher, and Sonic started to feel light headed from the lack of oxygen. He had the foreboding feeling in his gut that Super would drop him from this much higher; and much more difficult to survive a fall from; altitude. But the grip didn't falter.

Maybe it was the dizziness acting, making him less weary, but he wanted to know what Super was on about.

"See?"

Sonic turned his attention from Super's ever twisting gaze, to see what he was on about. The wide expanse of clouds below them, the views of oceans and mountains. Birds and dragons flitting in and out of view. Sonic's jaw dropped, and he watched the changing patterns of light on the ground far below. Super's grip shifted slightly, so Sonic looked up, seeing... a smile.

Not a cruel, toothy grin, but a regular, pleased smile.

"I wanted you to see this too..."

"...Why?" Sonic hardly noticed how hard it was to form the words, nor did he notice the thin layer of ice forming over his fur. All he saw was that smile.

"Because it's the reason I don't want you to chase me." Super looked directly at him, and Sonic caught a hint of sadness for a brief moment. "You would lock me away, you'd never let me fly. I love this view, Sonic."

"... You're... evil though..." Sonic cringed as the expression turned into a glare. "... Right?"

"I am what you made me. I..." Super's glare softened again, the spirals slowing slightly. "... I can't help who I am."

Sonic was silent. He hadn't expected Super to respond like that, he'd expected to get a faceful of laser. Super threw him upwards slightly, digging his claws into his ribs instead. Sonic felt the hissing, hot breath on the back of his neck, melting the ice on his fur.

"I hate you for that."

And then Sonic was falling, plummeting like a stone toward the ground below. His senses refused to work properly, as did his limbs. The altitude had affected him, and now, he felt, that had been Super Sonic's plan.

Falling seemed to take forever, though Sonic knew that it didn't. He closed his eyes once more, bracing his mind for the inevitable impact.

A warmth surrounded him, and the fall stopped once more. Did he dare to open his eyes? Why had he not hit? Or had he hit, and not felt it?

His patience, or lack thereof, ran out in the end, and his eyes opened. Super Sonic grinned like a shark ahead of his face for a moment, then that soft smile showed up again.

"Why didn't you let me..."

"You're where my life began... And you'll be where it ends." Super let go of him, and Sonic dropped the last couple of feet to the ground, landing slightly awkwardly and getting winded in the process.

"...wha?" Sonic flinched as Super Sonic leaned over him, flexing his claws a matter of inches in front of his face.

"And with you around, Sonic... Although I haven't wings... I can fly..."

The claws retracted, and Super Sonic hovered above him, smirking. Sparks fizzled in the air around him, and Sonic blinked dazedly up at him.

"Don't chase me any more."

The golden hedgehog burst back up into the sky in a streak of light, leaving a very bemused, cold, and dizzy Sonic alone amid a field of gently swaying grass and flowers...

"... Who is he..."

end

A/N: Lol, I dunno. Needed to write something Sonic/Super but also didn't want to de-canonify them XD Rather difficult that lol.

Plus, writing at one o'clock in the morning is not a good idea. Ah well.

Thoughts? Views? Catch the not-so-subtle song reference? XD