Author's Note: Looksie! It's the spinoff of Lifeline! Believe it or not, this was completely spur-of-the-moment. I wrote it at work Friday when I had nothing to do. XD I've written part of the first chapter already too, but I thought you might enjoy a little bit of a teaser. Not sure exactly where I'm going to go with this, but meh. We'll see. I have some ideas brewing around this insane little head of mine. And I know the other thing I just came out with hasn't been well received, but that's fine. I didn't expect it to be. Just cause an author likes an idea, after all, doesn't mean the audience will. ;)

Hopefully you'll like this one though. And I know it's short – but it's a prologue. XD

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters herein. Too bad. But I do own a brand new Mp3 player :D

Prologue

My life is . . . so different from what it used to be. If you can really call it that – a life, I mean. I say that mainly because life, to me, has always been freedom, and independence, and – and running. Man, the running! But I don't have any of those things anymore.

Maybe I should . . . I dunno, explain a little better? I don't know why I should bother – it's not like anyone else would ever read this, or care even if they did. Who cares about a fallen hero like me anyway?

Heh. If Amy saw that, she'd lecture me until my ears fell off.

About . . . three months ago, I guess, I had to make a choice that would affect not only me, but the lives of everyone I knew. It was one of those no-win situations, you know? The ones where you have to pick between two equally bad options? Well, I made my choice.

And destroyed my life.

But . . . it was either mine or Amy's, and I just did what any hero would do. I can't say I don't wish it had happened differently – not that I would have chosen the other option; just that I wish I hadn't been dumb enough to go in without backup.

I guess one good thing that's come of all this is that I can see all the times my vanity got the best of me.

I have all the time in the world for introspection now, after all.

I'm getting off the topic, though.

My choice cost me everything I've always thought was important – going anywhere and everywhere, just because I could, making my own decisions and never needing anyone's help, and, well, you get the rest.

Now I'm lucky if I get to leave the house by myself.

Not that I want to.

My friends have been trying to help, but they don't really understand. Except for Amy, that is. She understands.

But no matter how well she understands, it doesn't change anything.

It's . . . kind of strange, really. I'm not dead, but I don't feel alive.

I'm just . . . here. It's – it's just a halflife.

That's the only way I can describe it.

- Sonic