Pediophobia

Chapter Two: Depression

I breathed in the scent of pancakes cooking as I trudged into the kitchen, dragging my feet as I was doing so. I was struggling with what I am for a while now, since I spend every night crying myself to sleep and waking up screaming from that same damn nightmare that I keep having about that toy factory. I was frustrated at the fact that my old self kept escaping my grip no matter what I have tried to tie her down so that I could stop her from interfering with my plans once and for all. I don't know how that blue blur knows of my comfort foods, but he often cooks instead of letting me shovel a bowl of cereal down my face. "There is no way in Chaos that I will let my own beautiful daughter starve herself to death." He always scolded me when he drags me out of bed. But what Sonic doesn't know that at night, I'd watch some Supernatural just to have something to laugh at during my crappy predicament. My personal favorite Dean quote has to be "What the hell is wrong with you?!" (My response to that is everything except the kitchen sink).

"Alison! Are you even listening to me right now?" Sonic hissed in my ear as "Numb" by Linkin Park played in my head... again. I guess that song secretly became my theme as I was dealing with the hatred, I had harbored hatred for that human who used to be me. I look at my memories and realize that I was pretty horrible to Sonic. I flinched at the volume of Sonic's voice in my ear, realizing that Sonic was talking to me. I wasn't even paying attention to what he was saying to me since my mind has been in a haze for a while now.

"Yes?" I asked in a sheepish manner, running a hand through my quills in embarrassment at the fact that I wasn't paying attention to Sonic again. I could never get used to the fact that there are sharp, spiky, blue things on the back of my head, my back, and my butt. I often saw myself as ugly, freaky, scary and just plain frightening. "What is it?" I asked, covering up the fact that I was distracted by my own self-hate.

"What has gotten into you? You spend your nights crying yourself to sleep, and you wake up screaming as if something is about to attack you. What's going on? You are kind of worrying me right now, kid." Sonic demanded, one gloved hand on his hip as if he was a stern parent catching his kid out of bed. His green eyes narrowed as he asked suspiciously, "Is your old self causing you trouble in your head? I was sure that she was gone the minute I made you an elite." His mouth was slightly downturned at the thought of my old self causing me unnecessary grief.

I whipped my head up to meet his emerald-green eyes. Sonic has a weird way of getting straight to the point. "Yes. She's not very happy about being a hedgehog. I'm working on taking care of her once and for all." I muttered, kicking the floor with my sneaker. I know that she does not take kindly to being a hedgehog at all and that she was grieving over the loss of her appearance. But now come to think of it, I've been spending a lot of time crying and asking Sonic to leave me alone. He generally agrees to what I've said, but when he decides that I've had enough alone time, Sonic would let me know by entering my room, glaring at me and talking until I get up. Most of the time, I end up feeling pretty depressed and annoyed by his words. I get that he is trying to cheer me up, but it's not really working.

"Alison. This could be easily remedied. I don't like seeing you this unhappy." Sonic pointed out, his voice cracking from the emotions that he was trying to hold in. I bowed my head, knowing full well what he meant by what he said: he could wipe the memory of the girl I used to be away, leaving my head blank and empty. He added, "Why don't you tell me about your nightmare?"

I bit my lip. I don't think that Sonic was ready to hear about my bad dream. I muttered, "It's a long and very ugly story, Daddy."

Sonic ruffled my quills with a short laugh. Almost immediately, I felt a little flutter of something in me. Why am I so depressed? I would think that I'd be happy to be his daughter. I pondered, fidgeting with my quills. "A ring for your thoughts, Ali May?" Sonic asked, guiding my face towards his impossibly green eyes. He held a golden ring in one hand as he spoke.

"I'm not really thinking of anything." I lied. I was trying to figure out why I was so unhappy in the first place. Sonic had been nothing short of kind to me as far as raising me goes.

"Alison, I know when something is on your mind. You tend to run your hand through your quills when you're thinking hard about something." Sonic pointed out as I got up to clear my place. I blushed, knowing that I had just been caught. Sonic grinned at me in a mischievous manner, as if he knew exactly what I was going to do. He added, his tone much more stern, "Alison. No hedgehog should be sleeping as much as you. So now I'm going to send you on a mission of sorts."

I whipped my head up at this. Sonic never sends anyone on a mission. If he does, then that means that he needs help. "What kind of mission?" I ask, now intrigued.

"There is a company on Earth called Playtime Company. I suspect Eggman owns it but under an alias. I need you to head inside and see exactly what he's hiding in a vault." He informed me, then he sighed. He grumbled, shoving something in my hands, "This tape came with a note that said that everyone thinks that everyone disappeared ten years ago. Read the note in its entirety. I suspect that a student ran away, as well. Investigate. Learn things." He ordered.

I read the note, which read, They think the workers dissapeared ten years ago. Wer'e still here. Find the flower. I grumbled, "Dyslexia much?"

Sonic whipped his head and growled, "I don't treat this sort of thing lightly. Spelling errors, a drawing of a flower? Sounds like a kid in trouble. Hopefully, this mission gets you out of this funk of yours." His pointed ears were laid back, a sure sign of a problem.

I memorized the name of the company. It sounded so vague, yet so familiar. I wonder what my human self knows of Playtime. I rationalized. I called to the deepest part of my mind, Hey, human me? What do you know about Playtime?

I hear my old voice respond weakly, My last daddy used to work at Playtime Company before I was born. He left due to shitty policies and the fact that one mascot creeped him out. The mascot called himself Hugging Buddy or something like that. The mascot always called Daddy his favorite employee at Playtime. It sounded stupid and weird even before Sonic adopted me. I wonder if there is a grain of truth? I was not particularly fond of that sick idea.

I was about to leave when I felt something slide on my finger. I glanced down to see myself as a human girl again. I squealed, wrapping my arms around me, "Whoo! I'm back! I'm-!?" I cut myself off when I saw Sonic's mirror. Instead of a human gazing back, I see a Sonic clone staring at me. "What...?" No, goddamn it! I don't want to be a hedgehog again! I silently begged.

"This is not just an infiltration mission. It's also a rescue mission. Eggman sent me this." Sonic added, cutting off my frantic thoughts. I took the note from Sonic's gloved hands and read it. I have your grandchildren, Sonic. As long as you do as I say, I won't unleash the monster inside of Playtime on them! The note read. I saw the logo of Sonic's mortal enemy, and I snapped out of my depression. That son of a bitch has my children! I thought angrily, seeing red. Then I realized something else: my situation is a lot worse than just a Change in appearance.