A Slice of Sonic

~This story takes place after the video game "Sonic Superstars". It is recommended you play through it first!~

Trip the Sungazer sat alone in the fields of Bridge Island Zone. As she had many times before. The stars seemed so clear without her helmet on. Those foggy goggles were gone, and she could smell the nighttime air. "Trip! Trriiiiiiii-i-iiiiip!" Amy Rose called from behind her. Trip leapt to her feet, startled.

"Amy…" Trip mumbled, backing away. "Hey, sorry for slithering off from the party. I— I wasn't used to all the commotion." Amy smiled understandingly.

"That's okay. Neither am I. It was fun, though," Amy replied. She teetered around. "You can go back over there, now. The party's pretty much winding down." Trip let go of a breath she had held onto for too long. It came out shaky and whiny and… oh no… a little annoying maybe?!??!?!

"Alright, so… what now?" Trip asked, putting on a smile. Amy seemed caught off-guard. "I mean, you guys beat Doctor Eggman, I went and stopped Fang's encore all by myself, and then we sealed the Black Dragon! What do we do now?"

"Oh… Trip, sweetie, we're leaving," Amy mumbled. Trip's eyes widened.

"Amy! You better hurry if you want a wing seat!" Tails called from the Tornado. Sonic was making silent, frantic gestures with his hands for Tails to stop talking. Trip was trying to control her breathing.

"In a minute, Tails!" Amy cried back. Trip shuddered at the loud noise.

"Aww, you're telling me you don't want to be next to Sonic for the whoOooOOle flight?" Knuckles laughed. "I might just take your spot!"

"Ew, dude. That just sounds wrong," Sonic hissed. Knuckles got all flustered.

"Ehm… I should go. You don't want to see the boys fight," Amy said, stepping away as Sonic and Knuckles began shouting and trampling Tails to throw hands with each other. Trip reached out for Amy, but her hand was shaking so much that she wasn't sure if she could grab Amy's arm. "Trip, are you—?"

"Please don't go, Amy," Trip squeaked hoarsely. "Not yet…" Amy smiled warmly.

"Oh, Trip. It's okay! We'll come back to visit someday, all five of us," Amy replied, holding Trip's convulsing arms stable in her hands. Trip glanced to all her other friends in their airplane.

"F–f-f-five? Ther-r-re's only—" Trip gasped for air, sniffling and trying not to let the tears out.

"You're coming with us, right?" Amy asked, pulling Trip along to the Tornado. It sounded wonderful to Trip… more adventures with all her friends! It was everything she could've ever asked for. She wondered if the Chaos Emeralds would be involved. She wondered if she'd get to use them to swim up waterfalls, or slow down time, or even turn into a mighty fearless dragon.

"NO!" Trip shouted, yanking her arm out of Amy's grasp. "I can't, I'm… It's not safe." Trip looked to the ground, as tears fell from her face and landed on the grass. "Besides, this is where I live. I'd hate to bother you or..." She couldn't bear to look up at her friends. She couldn't see their concerned faces. Amy and the others could only watch as Trip wept. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled, I—"

"It's okay! It's all just fine. Trip, you were so brave. I DOUBLE-promise we'll see each other again," Amy said, backing away. Then jogging off towards the plane. "Byeee, Trip!" Tails hesitantly started the engines, and then flew off into the night sky. Trip fell to her knees, watching them leave. Waiting every moment for them to maybe come back…

Trip awoke to a bright light overhead. Could it be the sun? As she opened her eyes, she saw that couldn't be the case. It was… Doctor Eggman?! "Aah!" Trip cried, tripping downhill and banging her head on the grass.

"Trip?" Eggman asked, hopping out of his Egg Mobile. "Hrmm… what are you doing here?"

"Doctor Eggman, sir, this is…" Trip bounded to her feet and put her arms to her sides. "Where I live."

"Really? I'd never have guessed with all your floundering around in the Mural Temple. Fang gave reports that you rebelled, I was wondering…" Eggman grinded his teeth together. "WHAT you were THINKING!" Trip squeaked, before fidgeting with her hands.

"Fang was… being really mean to me," Trip mumbled. Eggman raised an eyebrow, as a squad of Buzz Bombers and Egg Robos approached. Trip gulped. "You understand, don't you? You were nice compared to him! I mean, you did take me hostage and all and forced me to serve the empire. But…!"

"Fang… what exactly did he do?" Eggman asked, kneeling down. "I've had some very nasty encounters with him as well, I don't doubt that he'd be so petty." Eggman frowned. "If he really pushed you hard enough to force you out of the empire, I must know EXACTLY what transpired." Trip clasped her hands together, and frowned.

…

"And he… kicked you?" Eggman mumbled, with a concerned look on his face. Trip nodded. "All that mistreatment… it simply shall not stand! Say what you will about the Eggman Empire… but my subjects stick together no matter what!" Eggman grumbled something to himself.

"Are you going to get Fang in trouble?" Trip whispered, looking up at Eggman with big awestruck eyes.

"Oho! Yes, of course!" Eggman exclaimed, shooting his hands into the air. "I still have the Metal Fighters, I simply won't make a Metal Fang. And…" Eggman let his arms fall to his side as he stared blankly at the rainbows in the distance. "I suppose I won't commission him again for a good while. Oh well." Trip jumped for joy.

"Hooray!" Trip cried out, smiling wide. Eggman forced his joyful laugh into a more evil-sounding one. "And… and you'll leave the Northstar Islands alone, right?" Eggman averted his eyes.

"After the Black Dragon showed its ugly mug and you destroyed my one time machine capable of controlling it? Yeah, deal," Eggman said. He reached out his hand, and Trip shook on it. "It'll be difficult leaving. To be honest, I got rather attached to the Trio of Trouble. It's hard for me to make connections like that outside of my robots. I…" Eggman sniffled. "I'd be so proud to someday have a kid like you." Eggman hopped into his Egg Mobile. "Adios, Trip the Sungazer." He flew off.

Maybe it was just because it was Eggman instead of her friends this time, but somehow, Trip felt more okay with this goodbye.

The End.