Fallen Idol
Concept by The Tears of a Mad Man
Written by Sean Catlett and The Tears of a Mad Man
Chapter 1
I just hear stories.
Rumors. About how it happened.
This could or could not be true, I want to tell you right now. This could be a story that was messed up over the course of its telling and retelling. A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of someone he knows. Throughout its history it could have either been added or subtracted from, multiplied or divided.
So don’t take any of the following as fact. I suggest taking it like a fable, or a myth. I’ve always liked those.
So.
Take a seat, relax, pull up a chair.
Get comfy.
Now, where should I start…
**********
It’s the beginning.
Here, everything is bright and colorful and perfect. Everything seems like heaven…
And then… it happens.
Boom.
An explosion.
Suddenly, there is screaming and running crying and… so on. I’m not really sure, I wasn’t there to witness it. All I have are mixed jumbles of details from different people. Some of them say that the sky turned dark black and it rained fire and brimstone, others say all they noticed was the blood raining from the sky.
Either way, destruction. The end of the world.
This was apparently a new weapon of some kind, put to use on a city of high population, Station Square, to make an example of them by the creator of this weapon.
A slap in the face to the world. A ‘fuck you if you try and oppose me.’
Thing was, nobody knew who was behind it.
Well, technically, all who knew were either dying or running, but I’m going off track. The point is, in the midst of the chaos, in all the red, came a streak of blue and a streak of orange.
The heroes.
Saviors.
Thank God. Because even though there was destruction all around, the crowd let up a cheer and clapped their hands, cheering:
Sonic!
Sonic!
Sonic!
One flew a few feet in the air and one ran along the ground, both going at about the same speed. In the middle of the end of it all, they stopped and looked around.
Sonic at the sky.
Tails at the cheering crowd.
Sonic!
Sonic!
Sonic!
“Tails!”
“Sorry… what?”
“Get your head outa the dirt and get thinking!”
Pop.
“Any idea who’s causing this?”
The sound of someone cheering was cut short by the splatter of his body.
“Well, this isn’t Eggman’s style…”
Blood hit the back of Tails’ head.
“He likes using absurdly built robots and awkward battle mechanics with a background of some plot to take over the world.”
Sonic watched another person combust in a sea of fluids, and cringed.
“This seems like more mindless killing, and Robotnik never liked getting his hands this dirty. He would have preferred a laser or something…”
Then went another.
“But people here are just exploding for no reason.”
Because of years and years of battling, battling, and battling, Sonic and Tails seemed to have grown a hard exterior for this sort of thing. Sure, it was hard to watch, but they were somewhat used to it. Kind of like a surgeon or a corpse retriever. Something in the medical field.
“There’s got to be a reason, Tails, there always is.”
Tails flinched as he heard the sickening pop of someone else exploding.
“So, little buddy, what do we do?”
Tails looked at the cheering crowd.
Sonic!
Sonic!
Sonic!
Pop.
Frantically he searched through the crowd, looking from face to face, searching for an answer to present itself.
Pop.
The cheers faded a little.
Pop.
And suddenly…
“There!”
He saw him. A man, not cheering or afraid or running or anything, covered in tiny specks of blood, silent at the crowd. And although wearing a thick gray overcoat, his hands could be seen moving rapidly beneath his coat. In deep concentration. In thought.
In other words, suspicious.
Tails pointed in the middle of the crowd, and immediately the man’s hands stopped moving. He bolted and ran in the other direction.
“Where?!” Tails could hear Sonic behind him.
Not waiting for Sonic to see him, Tails lowered his arm and started twirling his tails.
**********
‘So, we saw the man dressed in the overcoat, not doing or saying anything, so we decided to go after him.’
There was the sound of a thousand clicks of automatic cameras capturing Sonic’s expression as he spoke. All of these reporters in the press room trying to get a good shot for the front page of the paper.
Title reads: Sonic Saves the City.
Smaller Title reads: Killer at Large!
Smaller title reads: Famous Actress Pregnant!
Even smaller title reads: Tails Injured in City Chase.
‘Sonic! Are you saying that you noticed the killer in the midst of a large and hysterical crowd, just by his appearance?’
‘Well… I guess…’
Small title reads: Hero of Mass Murder Case Modest Beyond Belief.
A different reporter raised her hand.
‘Sonic! After Tails’ failed attempt to subdue the killer, and his almost subsequent killing, how did you manage to save him?”
A thousand clicks.
‘Well, I just thought about what would happen if I lost my little buddy, and everything else came natural. I ran as fast as I could, intuitively guessing where he would be. I’m glad I was right. I don’t want to lose him to anyone, and I guess that’s why I’m overprotective of him at times.’
Small title reads: Sonic the Hedgehog Cries During Press Meeting.
Another raised his hand.
‘How did the killer get away?’
Silence.
‘Actually, I only managed to catch a glimpse of him rounding the corner of the alley, away from Tails’ body. This guy was obviously quicker than the average person, and I didn’t know how badly Tails was hurt. I guess I wasn’t fast enough…’
‘But you were fast enough to save your friend’s life, right?’
‘… yeah…’
A thousand clicks.
Title reads: Mass Killer Gives Slip to Sonic Sidekick, Tails.
Title reads: Sonic Saves Best Friend’s Life
‘Do you have any leads on the whereabouts of this mastermind?’
‘Not yet, but as soon as Tails gets better…’
‘Sonic! How does this event mark your career as a superhero?’
‘I…’
‘Sonic! How do you feel about Amy Rose?’
‘Sonic! When are you going to run in the Olympics?’
A thousand clicks.
Small title reads: Tails in Hospital.
**********
It was by the third or forth request card where I’m guessing Tails stopped giving a shit about anything.
In the hospital bed, he had awakened with a headache, due to the concussion, and he wasn’t in the mood for any adoration.
All he wanted to do was think about the case.
All he wanted to do was maybe get some sleep.
All he wanted to do was figure things out, yet again. And he wasn’t comfortable until he felt he actually did something.
But no.
The request cards and autographs came in. Not from any fans of his, not from his anonymous parents, but from the hospital staff, all wanting something from Sonic.
Once. Twice. Then, no care for anything.
As much as Tails probably tried to think about the task at hand, the reason people were exploding, and trying not to think about how he let the possible man responsible for his injury get away, he was nagged.
Nagged.
Nagged…
Until suddenly he was over the edge of his cliff.
‘That’s it. No more. I’ve had it.’
When Sonic came in, with a soft expression of ‘get better buddy’, Tails just glared.
When he explained how well the press conference went, Tails just glared.
When Sonic asked what was wrong, Tails just glared.
Then there was a long moment of silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Then, “I hate you.”
