8/12 Edit: We are currently reworking this story's plot. All possible plot points including Nick have been changed as we've decided to go in a different direction. The semi-OC is no longer apart of the plot, and the whole story has been shifted to focus completely on Sonic and Tails. That being said, most of the story is still the same, so any returning readers will not notice any major differences (besides the second section in this chapter, which has been completely rewritten). To any new readers, consider yourselves lucky that you do not have to adapt.

When All is Lost, Hope is Born
By: Hikami42 – Hikari-san42 and Yami-sama42
Rating: T
Summary:Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Mobius, is dead. But, no worries! He's still very much alive in spirit, literally. His soul is attached to his shoes because of his reluctance to transfer to the afterlife, and he is allowed to follow and talk to whoever is wearing those sneakers. Luckily for him, Tails is a sentimental little fox. But, things are turned upside down for the duo as Robotnik finally takes over the planet, and they are forced to go underground. Now Sonic must adjust to his newfound state of being and master his new abilities in order to help free the world of Robotnik's tyranny.
Pairings: None
Warnings: Character death, though you won't miss him. He'll rear his annoying head soon enough. Also, cursing.
Notes: Hikari: Oh gosh… I have no idea how to get started with this… Well, this story is very spur of the moment, but it has a lot of meat to it. It starts out a little depressing, but I promise that it ends up being a comedy. We just have to get through the dull and depressing exposition so the funny can be brought to you. That being said, we are playing with stuff here that isn't light in the least, and we'll try to keep it from getting too dark, but still heavy enough for the subject manner.
Yami: We've discussed something similar several times, but never before have we considered this. This is, until Ashley over there thought it up. Her brain cooked it up and her mouth (or fingers, if you wanna get technical about it) delivered it, hot and ready to be served to my own equally creative mind so that we could stir our collective thoughts and stew on it until we could think of something utterly delicious for you all to read! We think we've really got something here, so we really hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Neither one of us would try to claim the Sonic franchise. Ever. Especially after seeing the trailer for Sonic Generations. Chances are, we'd screw it up and everyone would hate us. So, all recognizable material belongs to SEGA and its affiliates. We're just borrowing, and we have the intention to return with only a few minor dings.

5 o'clock; Late Afternoon, Early Evening

Undisclosed Location

o0o

Suffocation means to stop breathing, or to prevent somebody or something from something else.

It also means to die from lack of air.

One thing that most people don't know is that I am terrified of water. I may try to dumb it down a bit by saying something stupid like I'm just a bit 'uncomfortable' around it, but in truth, nothing scares me more.

Kind of ironic, coming from the guy that fights robots and mad scientists on a nearly daily basis.

Yeah, sure, I have some OTHER major fears, like Eggman winning, never being able to run again and my friends getting hurt or even killed because of me or my crazy exploits or my fight against the doctor. But I've never really thought about what would happen if I died. And I don't think anyone else did either. We really should have, honestly. It would've saved soooo much trouble.

Well, it doesn't matter anymore, because that's exactly what they're doing.

As for myself, well… I can tell you how it all played it. It's a bit gruesome, sure, but this is war. (Such a scary word… I shudder to think about it…)

So, pull up a chair and cop a seat. Lemme tell you all about it.

For this story to start, another needs to end…

o0o

Underneath the water, there is no air. As land dwellers, people need oxygen to survive. Water is the substantial life-giving substance that all living creatures need to continue their existence.

But water is also deadly, dangerous. Water is used for recreation, life, and also death. If one can swim, it is a great joy to take a cool, refreshing dip. But for those who cannot, being trapped without a flotation device can become deadly.

This is where the story begins.

He kicked and flailed as hard as his powerful limbs would let him, eyes squeezed shut. His lungs and throat burned as if by putrid acid, the cool liquid around him sending feelings of pins and needles ripping through his nerves like wildfire. Shiny golden buckles, dulled in the dim, and blazing red shoes plowed through the mass around them, struggling to find purchase in the nonsolid. All around him, nothing, nothing but the darkness below and the sunlight above. The surface taunted him, laughing at his misfortune. He was alone, utterly alone, no backup coming, no savior on the horizon.

Fate was cruel, he realized, and no one, especially not him, had luck that ran forever.

Black tinged the edges of his vision, the precious air he had left tasted stale, the sweet necessary poison completely encompassing him. Fatal attraction described his in-resistance to danger and trouble followed him like his fate's shadow, much like a lost puppy.

He tried his hardest to force himself upward, but to his horror, he just sank lower, faster. He tried not to open his mouth to release the wail of desperation growing within his chest, as he knew it would just kill him more quickly. As it was, he was down to his last wind, the home stretch, so to speak, and the realization slowly sank in that this time, he wasn't going to make it.

As the last of his air ran out, he finally stopped his struggling. Blinded, numb, and with the feeling of every nerve and respiratory organ burning with the strain of continuing to search for what wasn't there, the fire of his pain overshadowed the fire of his will to go on. He slowly gave in to the inky black comfort of unconsciousness, never to leave the dark clutches of death's black wings. Emerald eyes dulled and darkened, the flicker of life dying in their eternal depths. On a last remaining shred of strength, gloved fingers reached towards the light of the late daylight.

The last thing that ran through his mind was thoughts of his friends and his little brother. How they would fare. How much he would miss running, the wind blowing through his quills.

He was gone before he had the chance to say goodbye, even if only to himself.

o0o

Early Evening

Hill Top Zone General Hospital

o0o

At that exact moment, Amy Rose, nineteen years old and fully bloomed into womanhood, was rushing around the crowded halls of Hill Top Zone's only hospital, dodging doctors and her fellow nurses. She was clad in standard issue hospital scrubs, though hers had the added bonus of having Sonic's smiling, chibi face on them, while her hands were gloveless, the peach fur too-pale in the harsh industrial lights. Her long quills were pulled into a tight ponytail style, allowing her forest green eyes to shine without anything blocking them.

Quickly, she slid around a corner, slithering into a room with practiced ease, the door barely making a swish as she went. The patient inside was an older man, a withered dog with cancer, if her memory was correct, and she sent him a sunny smile as she glanced at the machine keeping track of his heart beat. He looked at her with sad eyes, unaffected by her happy demeanor, and simply grunted when she offered him a chirpy greeting.

Ever impervious to the depression of her patients, the young nurse simply hummed a simple rhythm under her breath, taking care to explain to him what she was doing as she worked. Carefully, she logged all of his vitals and checked his IV before asking him how his meals had been. When he didn't answer, she sighed and took the time to glance over his menu choices, scowling.

"Mr. Palant, you can't just order jello and expect to stay strong," she admonished, brushing a hand across her forehead. "I'm going to suggest to the head nurse that they supply you with a more rounded diet, alright?"

"Fine," the old man answered, somehow managing to sound exactly like a teenager.

Amy sighed and finished her work before backing out of the room, making sure to remind him off the call button as she left. Quickly, she padded down the hall to her next patient, shooting a smile at another nurse as they crossed paths.

Amy had been working as a nurse for the past few months, her natural caring nature allowing her to quickly become attuned to the sickly environment, and she was like a ray of sunshine to the otherwise bleak building. Her life had been a rocky one, as she had never finished school when she had been a girl, instead choosing to globetrot after her first and only love, Sonic the Hedgehog, and she had only recently decided on her path in life. Luckily for her, she was very adept at her studies and she managed to graduate from nursing school fairly quickly.

She adored her job. Being able to help people when they needed it filled her with an extreme sense of self-satisfaction, as if she was somehow helping Sonic along with his cause in her own way. In the past, she felt like a third wheel, unable to honestly do anything to help her hero and crush beside bash enemies over the head with her patented Piko-Piko hammer, but now, she was actually useful, something which she couldn't help but be thankful for.

Still though, because of her place of employment, she barely got to see any of her friends, least of all Sonic, and, sometimes, she dearly missed them. But, she had already made plans to head up to the Mystic Ruins this weekend for a surprise visit with Sonic and his adopted little brother Tails, and she only had a few more patients to check on before her shift was over and she could dart to her apartment and grab her things before catching a train to Metropolis and then a plane to Station Square.

"Amy! Amy!" a female voice called as the hedgehog had just reached to grab the knob of her next patient's room. The young woman turned to look and was greeted with the image of her closest friend here in Hill Top Zone, a doctor named Renae. She offered the cat a smile as she approached, noticing that her lab coat unbuttoned and askew, as if she had been in the process of taking it off before she took her mad dash toward the pink Mobian.

"What's up, Renae?" Amy asked, leaning all of her weight onto her left foot and placing her hands on her hips. "I haven't seen you rushing around like this since that volcano erupted last month."

"I…was leaving… and I got… a call. My friend is a paramedic," she said in between heaved breaths, placing a hand over her heart. "He just got a call, and he knew that I knew you – said I should tell you immediately."

For some reason, Amy's heart dropped a little at these words and she crossed her arms in front of her chest in a feeble attempt to comfort herself. "Tell me what…?" she asked after a few seconds of tense silence.

"It's Sonic," the cat answered, reaching out and placing a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Brad said they found him… in Aquatic Ruin Zone…"

o0o

11 o'clock PM – One day later

Tails' Work Shop, Mystic Ruins

o0o

Tails was numb.

He honestly didn't feel anything.

He certainly didn't feel that huge hole eating away at his insides or the dry tear tracks on his face. He didn't feel his heart beating in his chest or his lungs heaving as he tried to take in air. He was out of touch as the Tornado was ripped apart, bit by bit, by his hands – the very same hands that had taken it apart and put it back together countless times with care. If he could feel, he was sure that he wouldn't have been able to function, completely cleaved in two, but, as it was, he was dead inside.

Dead, just like him.

His mouth was set in a permanent line, his blue eyes stormy with unshed tears. Slowly and methodically, the fox yanked out wiring and mechanics, throwing them across the room with a faint hatred. They landed with expensive sounds, but the teenager didn't seem to care. His black ears were folded low on his head, fluffy tails for once completely still.

This was a bad sign. The fox's tails were never not moving. No matter how bad a mood he was in, Tails never consciously stopped his tails from moving. If he was holding his tails still, then that meant he was seriously trying not to think about something, trying to distract his mind from a major event, something so monumental that his inner self had yet to acknowledge it as true… There was no way he could be gone.

The house was silent. Upstairs, one would find the kitchen in the same disrepair. Packets of hotdogs had been ripped apart and shoved down the disposable. Cans of chili met the same fate, while bags of hotdog buns had been torn apart and thrown out the open window, for the birds to eat. The living room looked similar, with a video game system laying, murdered and smashed open, in the middle of the floor. A look up the stairs was met with the same result.

Only one room was left untouched. The door was made of thick wood, painted an emerald green. The inside was in shambles, but one could tell it was from the person living in it, not kitsune rage. White gloves were scattered around the room, the bed was unmade, and random foodstuffs was hidden in corners. The room had been treated with an almost reverence by the fox, the young one simply closing the door and continuing on his rampage.

He was almost done with the plane. The front seat, the one he regularly sat in, was the only thing that stayed inside the skeletal shell that was left of the mechanical marvel, like a small monument. The rest was scattered on the floors of the room, cracked and broken. The fox was struggling to breathe at this point, too overcome with grief and denial and he couldn't be gone.

Not that he would admit it to himself.

He sank to the floor, finally allowing his tears to flow freely once more. Cracked sobs wracked his frame, sending shivers down his backbone and making his own body quake. He heaved in breath, his throat ragged from all of the sobs that ripped their way free, trying to break through the fog clouding his thoughts. His tails curled around his body in comfort, and he hugged one close to his face, wailing deeply into it. The sound was desperate, thick, and full of anxiety. It was the cry of a mourning friend, charge, and brother. The sadness was tangible in the room, hanging off every broken piece of machinery and cloaking the space with darkness. It crept around the fox, testing his boundaries, trying to get past the numb barrier he put up, and it slowly wormed its way through the small cracks, picking at his nerves. It laughed at him, his weakness and vulnerability, cackling as it confirmed what he was trying to deny, showing him images of a blue form floating in an endless body of water, unable to move, to run away.

He wasn't fast enough, the darkness hissed at him, snaking into his ears. He had no backup. He was ours before he realized it.

The fox could feel his sanity slipping through his fingers. He was gone, he whispered to himself in his mind, trying to shove the darkness away. His brother, his best friend, his hero was gone. Never to be seen again. Never to hug him, tell him how great of a builder he was, make him chili dogs, pat him on the back, protect him from lightning, buy him mint candy, fight with him, joke with him, celebrate another birthday with him, make another corny speech, ask him to distract Amy, help him annoy Knuckles, laugh with him, or just simply smile at him.

Sonic, hero to Mobius, symbol of peace, fighter of the good fight, Tails' one constant thing, who had promised him that he would always be there, no matter what, was gone. The whole world was in mourning, in shock and trying to come to grips with the fact that he wasn't around anymore. Most were surprised, puzzling over his… death, and wondering how it could have been so easy, quick, and unexpected. He was there one instance and gone the next.

Tails had withdrawn from the world, not wanting anyone else's sympathy. Everyone pretended they knew Sonic. They all cried over his death. They knew nothing! He was the one that had been beside Sonic for most of his life. He was the one that saved Sonic's life on countless occasions. He was the one that Sonic chose to hang out with! He was the one that felt like someone was constantly pouring salt into the gaping, seething wound now taking the place of his heart.

But now, Sonic was gone.

And he was alone.

Just like your hero was, the darkness hissed, so alone that all is lost.

Of course, he had Knuckles and Amy and the others, but they didn't compare. They didn't understand him the way Sonic had. Sonic knew that when he was upset all he needed was a hug and a few hours alone in the Workshop. Amy was constantly calling the house, trying to get him to come out and help her shop for the funeral. The funeral!

He had disconnected the phone.

Now he sat in the darkness of the Workshop, screwdriver lying forgotten next to him. He stared at it, analyzing the yellow handle and chipped metal bit of it.

Sonic had given him that screwdriver.

Suddenly, it was mocking him, laughing at him for being so weak. Sonic wouldn't be crying if their roles were reversed. He would be up and out, helping Amy plan and plotting his next move afterwards. The screwdriver seemed to smirk at him, asking him what he would be doing after he formally told Sonic goodbye. Would he just come back here and wallow in self pity, waiting for Knuckles or someone to come and collect him – the fifteen year old child who couldn't take care of himself – and take him to go live with them? He knew that's what would happen. He was too fragile, too connected to the loss, unable to cope and heal.

Of course, it wasn't just his loss. It was the world's.

Suddenly, he had scooped the tool up and thrown it harshly across the room with a loud, insane sounding cry. It crashed into the wall across from him, but survived all the way to the ground, landing with barely a ping. He couldn't take it anymore. He stampeded into the house, throwing open the door and cutting across the kitchen. He was up the stairs seconds later, crashing through the door to Sonic's room and landing on Sonic's bed face first, burying his head in the covers.

The bed still smelled of his best friend.

That was too much. The tears were back; this time to stay. He cried silently this time, not able to make a sound. They burned as they left his eyes, pooling in his fur and staining it a dark orange. Inside his head, he asked Sonic why. WHY did he have to leave him?! WHY did he have to do something so stupid as go near water when Eggman was around?! Why? Why? WHY?

Why couldn't I do anything to save you?

There it was. The blame. It rested purely on his shoulders, like a thick blanket. It weighed down on him, making it hard to stay sitting up. It was his fault. He was the one that had told Sonic were Eggman was. He was the one that had intercepted the signal and translated it.

He was the one that didn't take the time to consider that it was a trap.

He was a horrible, horrible person. He had caused the death of everyone's hero. He wouldn't be surprised if the whole of Mobius woke up tomorrow morning, cursing his nam-…

"Tails…"

His ears popped up, thoughts careening to a halt. The darkness seemed to hiss at the interruption, but could do nothing to stop it. A familiar voice filled the room, filling him with warmth and peace. He opened his eyes, running a hand over them to clear them of any offending liquid, and blinked owlishly, sniffling a little.

The voice didn't come again, and he was sure that he'd been imagining things, his fragile sanity finally shattering as the darkness took over again.

He looked around the room, taking in the familiar mess and smiling wetly, trying to scold Sonic in his mind for being such a slob. However, he couldn't really make his inward chuckle come to the surface and it ended up sounding like another sob.

To keep his mind off crying again, he continued looking at his surroundings. The closet door was slightly ajar, being held open by something red and shiny…

Before he knew what he was doing, he was off the bed and in the closet, swooping down and grabbing whatever it was that was keeping the door from closing.

A pair of Sonic's sneakers.

He hugged the shoes close to his chest like a lifeline, forcing his heartbeat into the red surface. Slowly, he made his way back to the bed. He eased himself back down onto it, loosening his hold on the sneakers so he could look at them closer.

They were dinged, the red scuffed in places where Sonic had slid across the ground. They weren't worn in the least though; Sonic had always taken good care of his shoes.

These were Sonic. Sonic was these shoes. He was naked without his shoes. He was incomplete. He wouldn't go anywhere if they were missing, though they never disappeared unless Tails himself had hidden them out of spite. The shoes were the only material things that mattered to Sonic.

Now, just like everything else, they didn't matter.

The fox placed the shoes on the ground, and, acting on a whim, he slipped his own pair off. Then, quickly so he wouldn't think twice about it, he shoved his feet into the red sneakers.

They slid right in, and Tails prepared himself to be shot down. There was no way the gods would let him wear Sonic's shoes. Sonic, the chosen one, was surely rolling in his unburied casket.

However, nothing happened, and Tails wasn't sure exactly when he had started crying again, but suddenly he was aware of it. He bent down to buckle the shoes completely, finally feeling the huge hole in his gut shrink a little as the darkness dissipated completely, as if it had never existed.

Tears flowed freely down his cheeks, making his fur sticky and messy, but he didn't care. Thickly, he breathed in a sigh of relief, wiggling his toes in the shoes, and finally, finally feeling more put together than he had in what seemed like forever.

He was just about to get up and leave the room forever, when something stopped him.

Something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Hey, 'lil'bro, what'cha crying about?"

Told you he wouldn't be gone long.

Phew. This chapter is a doozy. We thank you for getting this far and dealing with the aaaaangst.

Please review? Please?