Goldilocks Zone - Act 1

"Cases of the Graying Pandemic have slowed down over the past two days. But this is no time for celebration or carelessness," the mayor of Station Square announced. "Now more than ever, we must stay aware and safe throughout these uncertain times." Cherry the Ladybug watched from atop a nearby skyscraper, staring into the mayor's eyes as he was distracted by camera flashes. "The Graying Pandemic is not gone. It could strike again at any moment, and—" The mayor's eyes suddenly widened. The crowd erupted in screams as soon as they saw the color drain from his face. The mayor dropped, as good as dead.

"Hmm… a powerful and authoritative personality may suit me well…" Cherry mumbled to herself as she gained the new Persona. As soon as it entered her mind, she suddenly experienced an overwhelming sense of fear and insecurity. She felt the pressure of an entire city on her shoulders. She jolted back, nearly falling over. "NOPE! Too big of a responsibility." She exclaimed. She covered her mouth, realizing she had yelled that loud enough for everyone below to hear loud and clear. She turned to sludge and slipped away behind a statue of Robotnik before they could spot her. She held the Persona in her hand. It looked like a heart with an arrow jabbed through it. This one was black, just like the mayor's eyes. "This one isn't right. It's not perfect. My personality needs to be perfect." Cherry pocketed the Persona and jumped down into an alleyway. "It's one of the biggest cities in the world. There has to be somebody out there with a Persona that is just right for me."

Cherry walked through Station Square, painting the populace gray. She quickly realized something was wrong with everyone there. Most of these people… had no individuality. They were all drones to the empire. They may as well have been Silhouettes before Cherry got there. There were very few meaningful Personas to steal. And even then…

"Too energetic," Cherry mumbled. "Too tired. Too sad. Too stupid." She pocketed all the Personas, because if she let these Silhouettes have their hearts back, they would most certainly tattle once they became whole again.

Cherry's mind wandered all over the place, but no matter where it went, it always came back to one certain Persona. The one Persona that was just right for her. When she stole Sonic's heart, she had felt it resonate with her own. It just felt perfect. Back then, she let it go out of… necessity… and had not taken it when they met again for her own reasons. If she could pinpoint the location of Sonic, or Nikki, or whatever he was going by, she could have another shot at it. Provided she caught him where nobody could see. But it was hard to track someone who wasn't even a documented citizen.

Cherry was catching her breath, hiding between two dumpsters in a dark alleyway. When her lungs finally stopped aching and she felt like she could go for another round of heart-stealing, she heard a familiar voice. She poked her head out and saw Nikki walking down the sidewalk. Peni wasn't there. "You must really like her," Peni stated over some kind of communicator. It seemed like the chip in Nikki's glasses was the source of the audio. "You were talking about her in your sleep again."

"Hey! I don't like her… not like that… She's just on my mind a lot," Nikki hissed.

"Yeah," Penumbra replied. Cherry turned to sludge and followed close behind Nikki, stalking him from under cars and atop buildings.

"Stop making it weird," Nikki groaned. "Magic! She must have used magic to make me think about her a bunch. Yeah… that's it," Nikki lied. Cherry squinted at him confusedly, a certain feeling in her stomach that she wouldn't be able to express if asked about it. She couldn't imagine Nikki knew many women, so…?

"The only magic at play here is loooove," Peni teased him. "But seriously, don't let it distract you from finding the Phantom Thief. When they struck the mayor, it really screwed things up around this city. Deputy Mayor Fink took over, and I never personally agreed with his takes." Cherry threw a random Persona onto the ground behind Nikki and hid away behind another statue of Robotnik. There were more littered around the city than she expected. "It looks like you're around the area the last batch of Silhouettes were spotted, so—" Nikki stopped in his tracks and turned around as the Persona bounced towards him like a basketball.

"Oop… hold that thought," Nikki told her, cutting her off.

"What is it, Nikki?" Penumbra asked. Nikki approached the Persona. This one was dull blue. Nikki cautiously reached out for it, before he heard a voice emanate from the strange object. Nikki stumbled backwards, startled.

"Hey! Is someone there?! HELP!" The Persona shouted.

"What's going on? Is someone in there?!" Nikki asked, a cold sweat running down his face.

"Yeah… M-my name's Emily. Please get me out of here!" The Persona shouted. Nikki picked up the Persona.

"It's okay Emily," Nikki said. "Can you explain what happened?" Nikki heard a swoop sound behind him.

"Oh no… it's HER!" Emily exclaimed. "She's the one who did this to me. RUN!!" Nikki turned around, and his fears were confirmed as he saw Cherry once more.

"Hey there… 'Nikki'," Cherry muttered. She opened her eyes, and Nikki felt Emily get pulled away. He tried to hold on, as he too was dragged towards Cherry. He turned around and ran, but before he could muster up any speed, Emily turned to pure light and phased right through him. She went back into Cherry's eyes, seemingly unable to even scream. "This is mine."

"Not you again!" Nikki groaned. He lunged towards Cherry, but she turned to sludge and slipped the other way. Nikki landed in a Drop Dash, and rolled away from her.

"Nikki? Is everything okay over there?" Penumbra asked as Nikki rolled right up to the roof of a skyscraper. He looked down to the streets, and saw that Cherry wasn't there.

"Darn! The Phantom Thief was right there," Nikki exclaimed. "Listen… do you remember what happened yesterday?" He paced around nervously.

"What part of it?" Penumbra asked. Nikki inhaled sharply in shock as someone kicked him from behind, knocking him off the skyscraper. He formed an Enerbeam and grappled onto the edge of the building, dangling around stories above the pavement.

"Don't say another word," Cherry whispered so that her voice wouldn't be recognized. "Remember our deal? By all means, continue if you want a one-way ticket to the iron maiden." Nikki reeled himself in with the Enerbeam and spun, grazing Cherry's cheek with his sharp spines. She clutched it, and stepped back.

"Wasn't part of the deal that you wouldn't take my heart?" Nikki asked, muting the call with Penumbra and jumping from building to building as Cherry followed.

"I changed my mind," Cherry replied. "You're special, 'Nikki'. I cannot settle for the Personas of the masses. I need yours."

"Why's that?!" Nikki shouted as he reached Speed Highway. He rolled down into a series of shuttle loops.

"You're the person I've always wanted to be," Cherry stated, jumping through the loops and Air Dashing right towards Nikki. Nikki sped up as she Triangle Jumped from building to building. "You're confident, charming, and have a certain unique edge that I can't find in anyone else."

"Uhhh… thanks," Nikki mumbled. He took a right as she took a left, but eventually the road converged. Nikki and Cherry's eyes met for a split second as Cherry and Nikki almost blasted right off of the road. Nikki jumped and grabbed onto a rocket. Cherry lunged for him, and grabbed onto his ankles. Nikki couldn't do much of anything as Cherry climbed up onto the top of the rocket and peeked down, staring into Nikki's eyes. Nikki felt that draining feeling again. For exactly one second, before the rocket crashed into a storage building and broke the window open. Nikki felt the little bits of soul return to him as Cherry's focus broke. Nikki and Cherry both tumbled onto the carpeted floor of a hotel as the rocket fell to the ground, the machine puffing out smoke but unable to fly after the impact.

"I won't give you up. I won't let this opportunity slip through my fingers again," Cherry hissed. "A personality like yours is vital to my happiness. I need it." Nikki looked confused, as Cherry limped towards him. Nikki couldn't even get up.

"No…" Nikki whispered, closing his eyes tightly. Cherry knelt down by him, and brushed his loose glasses onto the floor. She grabbed at the tips of his eyelashes and tried to open his eyelids. Nikki, with the last of his strength not focused on keeping his eyes shut, grabbed her wrist tightly. He pushed it away.

"Don't try to fight it. I'll take good care of you as a Persona," Cherry muttered, grabbing his hands and pushing them to the floor.

"Not happening," Nikki whispered.

"This whole entire 'Graying Pandemic' will be over," Cherry offered. "I will stop taking people's hearts once I'm satisfied with yours, Sonic. Won't you take the fall for the rest of this garbage rock and spare them their own Cores?" Nikki closed his eyes tighter.

"Why are you doing this?" Nikki asked.

"Simple. The world did me dirty. When I was born, I was diagnosed with Shadow Anomaly, a rare condition that takes away a certain amount of your personality. For me, it was nearly all of it. For 19 long years, I merely accepted that I would never be granted this right," Cherry replied. "But one day, I snapped. I delved into a dark magic that allows you to steal the cognitions of others, and used it to my advantage. Now I'm on the verge of finding the right Persona, and you're denying me my personality in order to save yourself. You're denying others their personalities in order to save yourself." Nikki inhaled sharply. "But that can change. Open your eyes, Sonic. And save the day." Suddenly, Nikki heard a phone ringing. "Oh geez…" Cherry mumbled. She hopped off of Nikki and turned her back to him. She pulled her phone out of her top hat and answered the call. "Li'l?" She asked. A few seconds elapsed. "Oh yeah. That was today…? Shoot. Sorry, I got wrapped up in something else." Nikki struggled to get to his feet. He limped away as quietly as he could towards a hiding spot. "Nikki, you still there, sweetie?" Cherry asked. She turned around, her eyes now covered by those shades again. Nikki stopped in his tracks, and stood his ground. He did not turn to her.

"Kate?" Nikki asked, just loud enough for his voice to be picked up by the phone. "Hey! We're at the old warehouse by Speed Highway. Would appreciate if you could pick us up." The pounding of Nikki and Cherry's hearts were audible to each other despite the distance. Cherry held the phone away, muttered something under her breath, and set it to speaker.

"Hey! Nikki! Is that you?!" Kate exclaimed. "What are you doing in Station Square? That city was just hit by the PT."

"Aha, funny you ask. We were…" Nikki put his arms behind his head. "... Flying rockets. Into buildings. It's neat how things explode." Silence.

"Nikki, you're very creative. That's why we need you on tour, I guess," Kate replied. "I'll come pick you up. Gang's all here, but I'm the only one with a license… Pfft, hahaha! Not really! I have a fake license and a really good poker face. Just wait in the building. Stay safe, I'll call you when we get there." The call ended. Nikki glanced to Cherry. His eyes darted away when he saw her looking back. Her eyes were now gray like usual.

"Looks like it's just the two of us for a while," Cherry stated, sitting down against a large shelf of boxes and scrolling through her phone. "Don't run off. This means a lot to the band."

"Sure. But if you turn me into a Silhouette any time soon, they'll know who you are," Nikki replied. Cherry sighed.

"You think I don't know that?" Cherry asked. "That's the only reason why I'm not gonna. For now." Cherry lazily slid down the shelf until her back was on the floor. Nikki glanced to her as she stared off into space, and he sat down just around the corner from her, waiting for the band.

Waiting was never Nikki's favorite activity, but somehow, this was the worst wait of his life.