Light of Hope

XII. Mega Man

The Metal Sonics were just as vicious as I remembered, programmed to do one thing and destroy anything that got in their way - murder Sonic.

After Sonic managed to take the attention of a few Metal Sonics away from us, it was much easier to team up and take the other two out. Silver and I teamed up against one with Rush while Sally, Amy, and Antoine took on another. Bunnie went to inspect something in the ship after a big explosion sounded from it. I stayed with Silver after as he sat on the ground catching his breath, watching as Sonic came up and talked to Sally. Something was wrong, though; he immediately bolted to the ship. I was curious, but didn't move until I saw her.

Tempo.

I left Silver, forgetting he was even there when I saw the familiar green of Tempo's armor. I ran to her, speeding up when I saw that she was being supported by Amy and Antione. I hoped it wasn't serious, but as I got closer, I realized that something was wrong. I saw the wires sticking out of her chest, her feet dragging along the ground.

"Tempo!" I cried as I saw her. I took the weight of her from Antoine and Amy; they were both sore from the battle and needed rest. Plus, she was really heavy.

Tempo's smile would have eased me if she had been able to walk. "Maybe Tails and Rotor can fix you up," I said.

"Who is..." Tempo frowned. "I remember Tails, but not the other."

"He's another of Sonic's friends," I told her. "Both of them are pretty handy. How'd you get hurt?"

"I was helping Sonic fight," Tempo said, her face distorting with worry. "How is he?"

"I only saw him for a second," I replied. "He looked fine to me. I think."

"He was not like I remember him," Tempo sighed, putting her feet on the ground. She managed to stand on her own, though had to lean on me to keep from falling over when she walked. "He was unhappy. What happened to him?"

I scratched my head. I had no idea where to start. Obviously, the loss of the fight had been hurting him. But when I had seen him that morning, he had looked defeated and broken beyond repair. It was clear his memory of what had happened came back. He stared at the table, lost in thought, something haunting him like a murderous ghost of the past. I had never seen him so still before, even his feet motionless against the floor. His eyes were small, his ears slightly flattened against his head; whether it was fear or sadness, I couldn't tell. It hurt to recall all of that.

"I... he's hurting," I finally admitted. "He's been off for a while now. It's been a tough couple of weeks for him."

"I wanted to press him," Tempo said, "but he was upset enough."

"I'm glad you didn't," I chuckled darkly. "He's close to his breaking point. I wish we could have given him more time to heal."

"As long as he doesn't get angry like he has the past two times we met," Tempo grumbled, standing up on her own.

"He just gets hit with a lot," I sighed, knowing he would be upset if I was feeling sorry for him. "It hasn't been an easy few weeks, that's for sure."

I followed Tempo as we silently made our way up the stairs into the ship. The only people I saw inside were Bunnie and Rotor, who were talking in low voices. It was obvious that something drastic had happened.

"Is Tails around...?" I asked after a moment, hesitant to interrupt their conversation.

Their faces dropped as I spoke, and the air became awkward. I didn't feel good as I waited for their response.

"Tails is out of commission," Rotor finally said.

I froze. The first thing I thought of was Sonic. Every day seemed to get significantly worse for him. I scanned the room again, but saw no sign of him. We couldn't win if Sonic wasn't able to get his head in the fight, and each day that looked more like a possibility.