Sonic Anarchy

Chapter 23

"I guess this all started back when I first found this world." Richard said, hardly making eye-contact with Maverick, "See, i'm what some people call 'cyber omnipotent' meaning I have the ability to do anything, and I mean anything I want, but only in the cyberverse. My powers weren't natural at first but with time I learned how to use these abilities to bend the game's physics, hacking if you will, only this wasn't hacking, I was there, physically in the game. It was fun while it lasted but I grew tired of that game and moved on to the next, and the next, and the next, until I found this game, 'Sonic the Hedgehog'. At first I thought it was some game that a small group of game designers made just to kill some time, but when I found out about the enormous fanbase, boy was I excited. I practically ruined the website when I was done, all the stories were mashed up and people seemed to notice, but then, as I was jumping from page to page, I found this little fragment of a story, 'Sonic Anarchy'." Richard turned and sat at the edge of the platform, "It was only a simple name before I got here, before it was an action packed, cliche ridden fiction, now it's quite the opposite. It's a story about...well I haven't gotten that far yet I'm only 23 chapters in and we haven't even introduced that echidna yet." Maverick walked over to him and sat down beside him, "You weren't always this shy and uncomfortable around others, true you were depressed but you were a leader, that old story was so overused that I had to change it, only...the story never even started..." Richard looked at Maverick and put a hand on his back, "This world was altered because of me, and now that I'm directly involved in the story, I can't go back until the story's finished."

Maverick couldn't understand what Richard just told him, his entire life...was a lie? Richard stood up and floated into the air, defying any sense of logic in the process, "I can't leave until the story ends, so I guess we'll keep going right?" He said, and with a snap of his fingers, Maverick was back outside the orphanage, it still looked the same as before but there was something different about it this time, there were people here, and they looked familiar. "Guys?" Maverick said, wishing it would be them, and sure enough it was, Amy ran towards him and wouldn't let go, "Maverick!" she said with relief, "Where were you? Where are we? Who was that guy?" Tails and Sonic came from behind her and joined her, not in the hug but in the question asking process. Maverick finally managed to break free from Amy's grip and sighed, "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I?"

Tails managed to find a lantern in the shed beside the orphanage and lit it, it was starting to get dark, the four sat down and waited for Maverick to explain his life. He told them everything he could remember, answering questions in between sentences, he told them about the house fire, he told them about his time at the orphanage and the two girls he was friends with, he told them about how he became a 'cybrid', and finally he told them about Richard and what he really was. They sat in silence until the moon was visible behind the clouds, Tails was the first one to speak, "Wow..." He said taking in all the information, "That is...wow..." Tails couldn't find the words and neither could Sonic or Amy, Maverick reached into the pocket of his jeans and took out a small red fabric pouch, he opened it and took out a green pepper shaker. "This is all I have left of them..." Maverick said with sadness, "...I...I wish I could see those two again...I miss them..." Sonic spoke next, "Do you remember their names?" He asked the traumatized hybrid, he shook his head in response and said no, Tails finally thought of something to ask, "So...Richard is a god-like being that...I don't understand a single thing you were talking ab..." Maverick cut him off by standing up and walking back to the doors of the orphanage, he wish he had never told them, he just wanted to leave this world and never come back, he sat down on the front steps leading to the doors and stared at the ground. He didn't know what to do now, Richard was probably gone and won't be back for a while, and now...who knows what will happen know.