Sidekicks

It was the usual- the heavy feeling of being so close to death hid underneath of his laidback, no-sweat, guise. It worked so well for him that sometimes he forgot that he was actually worried, and that anything could go wrong. He relied on past experiences, but in his mind he admitted that each time was different. There was no guarantee.

But, hey, he wasn't alone. He looked around him, as the blurry surroundings dimmed in his sight, and he saw his friends were still there. Still running, flying, leaping, behind his force field of speed. He smiled to himself. It would be okay.

Tails was flying closest by, eyes focused on the towering machine ahead. Knuckles was running not too far behind him, fists swinging as he moved. Amy, who had her hammer at her side and her eyes on Sonic, was running beside the echidna. Cream was trying her best to keep up with Amy, somewhere between using her ears to fly and her legs to run at the same time. Rouge was flying, wings flapping violently to maintain speed, in skeptical hesitation of the battle ahead. Shadow was skating behind Knuckles' procession, not pleased to be there but deciding to tolerate the idea evidently. Blaze was beside the dark hedgehog, fiery eyes glowing at the near destination. Silver was using his telekinesis to fly next to her, his blue aura enveloping him in its shield. Vector was behind the telekinetic, still able to get a view of the machine with his own height, though he seemed to stumble rather than walk. Espio was by his side, running in his usually slick manner. Charmy was flying between the two, somewhere between determined and excited.

All of them together, in just the moment he looked back, stirred Sonic to belief- belief that it would work out. Their teamwork always worked, after all. He smiled wider.

He felt the rhythmic pattern of the robot's machine claws drawing near, and like a pro he jumped onto the leg and climbed his way to the shoulder. He knew exactly where to hit, and nothing could stop the feeling that things were going perfectly. So he hit into the large red spot on the chest of the machine, and watched as it shuddered. The rush of satisfaction was enough to keep him going. And so he did.

He fell back to the ground and prepared the next attack. Simple. A piece of cake. His smile was at its widest, its most confident. He sprang into action, and that was where he made a mistake.

The robot had suddenly changed patterns, and it grabbed him in its metallic claws and shoved him into the dust. The impact was something he was used to, and it barely phased him. What phased him was that it didn't drop him after that, it didn't release. It kept holding on, pushed to the ground. It was as if it was stuck. He panicked for a second, moving in any way that he could to free himself. Nothing seemed to budge him out.

At last, he remembered his friends. They were there. They could help him out of this. He turned his face to the side, and saw them all standing there, close by. "Hey, could ya help me out, one of ya?" He smiled in expectation. That was his second mistake.

"Hmm? Oh, Sonic! You can get out, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Everyone else resounded.

That was the moment that Sonic's smile turned into a shocked frown. "What do you mean? I've tried. I really need your help."

Amy giggled. "Come on, Sonic! You'll never get to be my sweetheart if you don't move!"

"Come on, Sonic. Put some muscle into it," Knuckles exclaimed.

"Mr. Sonic, I hope you'll free yourself soon…" Cream said, Cheese chirping in return.

Sonic's eyes grew wider. "Guys?"

"Hmm, I thought you could do this," Shadow muttered.

"My, Big Blue, you've got to pull a bit harder," Rouge commented.

"You can do this, though it might be tricky," Blaze continued.

"Come on, Sonic! Keep trying! It'll be okay!" Silver exclaimed.

"But…I need your help…" He couldn't think of another way to get their attention. He couldn't think of a reason they'd act so oblivious.

"Come on out, man. You're nearly there," Vector replied.

"Focus a bit harder," Espio said, as if to add to the other statement.

"What's taking so long? You've gone through worse before!" Charmy exclaimed.

"But what about team effort?" Sonic asked. He began to feel rather ignored, rather joked on.

"This is team effort. We're cheering on your efforts!" Amy explained.

"I mean, this is Team Sonic," Tails added.

Sonic began to feel the metallic fingers digging deeper, cutting sharper into him. There was no way this was happening. No way. "Guys, please help me out. This- this hurts."

"But we're your friends, Sonic," Tails replied. "What are we supposed to do?"

His mind began to blur. There was something missing. In their movements, there had been a faint silhouette of their past selves. Why had he ignored it? He wanted the old them back- he needed the old them back. Because they weren't just his friends, they weren't just his sidekicks. They were themselves, they had different abilities, different personalities, different lives. They couldn't just be his friends.

It was ironic how all at once he had been teaching teamwork, but he had forgotten who his team really was.

The panic took him over, as he continued to struggle against the force, still begging the others to help out. Yet they wouldn't move.

He awoke with a start. The sheets were thrown to the side, and he was breathing heavily, but it was a dream. It was only a dream, and that was all that mattered.

A/N: I wish I could wake up to find that Sonic's 'friends' were back to their usual, more-than-one-dimensional selves. Do you feel me?