Heart Bleeds

Cherry wobbled around through the darkest alleyways of Robotropolis with a splitting headache. She could hardly think. She leaned against the wall, the voices in her head getting louder and less coherent. She could tell they were upset, all the Personas of all the people she had stolen the hearts of were screaming at her to be let out. However, one voice cut through the restless orchestra of cacophony and came to the very forefront of Cherry's mind. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Sonic's Persona asked. "Give up, turn back. Let us out. This isn't right."

"Shut up, you has-been," Cherry growled as she took a deep breath. "This is what's right for me. Not what you want? Eat your heart out." Cherry continued on, holding her forehead to mitigate the pain.

"You're making a big mistake," Sonic muttered. "Sooner or later, you'll find out you can't get through life just by taking from others."

"Others used to take from me all the time," Cherry replied. "It's only fair that I make them pay. If you were in my position, you'd do the same thing."

Sonic didn't respond so fast this time.

"I see what's wrong with you now. You have my personality, but you still retain your same old behaviors. You do these selfish things that I've grown beyond. You're doing an impression, nothing more," Sonic replied. Cherry growled something under her breath. "You might be right… a little bit. I would have loved to be in your shoes, able to take whatever I want to no end. Back when I was stupid and bitter over what happened to me in this country. But you… you still need to move past that. You still need to learn you can't make your problems go away at the cost of others." Cherry looked to the ground as she limped forward. Eventually, she found the Freedom Fighters waiting at the exact spot Sally texted her to meet them at. There was someone else there, a Freedom Fighter Cherry didn't recognize.

"Phantom Thief! There you are," Sally whispered, in the trash heaps outside Robotnik's Fortress.

"Shh, don't say it so loudly," Cherry hissed, looking at all the Worker Bots that were once Silhouettes, now roaming the wasteland doing Robotnik's bidding.

"Relax sugar, we're the Freedom Fighters. Nobody in Robotropolis is gonna hear us," Bunnie Rabbot said.

"Analysis: a codename for the PT might be in order," Nicole stated.

"Oui, a codename!" Antoine followed up. "But whatever should it be?"

"'Velvet'? You look like a Velvet," Sally suggested. Cherry thought on it.

"Well… as long as it isn't my real name," Cherry said. "Velvet… 'Velvet'... I could get used to it."

"Okay, Velvet… here's the plan," Sally said. She gestured to the new guy in the mech suit. "Rotor… codename 'Boomer', is going to pry the doors to the fortress open with Bunnie… codename Scarlette." Sally gestured to Antoine and Sticks. "Antoine, also known as 'Tony', will scout ahead with Sticks, codename Jed. They will take out any Badniks or Worker Bots patrolling the area. Then you and I will make our way to the cams. Robotnik will check them eventually, you'll stare at him through the screen, and then… mission accomplished." Velvet nodded. "Alright… let's go, Freedom Fighters. The Eggman won't know what hit him." They all charged forward.

Boomer and Scarlette used their metallic limbs to pry the doors open. "Are you sure you want to go through with this…?" Boomer asked Scarlette. "After spending so much time locked in here to test the Roboticizer…"

"Why wouldn't I?" Scarlette asked in turn. "I hate this place, but I sure ain't scared of it…" With a grunt, they forced the doors open. Tony and Jed rushed ahead. "Can't wait to tear this fortress down ALONG with the Roboticizer."

Tony stabbed a Swatbot in the back in unison with Jed throwing her boomerang and decapitating a few more. "Hah… These Swatbots are no challenge for me!" Tony exclaimed confidently. "How are you holding up, Jed?"

"Never better! We're actually invading Robotnik's fortress, and SURVIVING! It's too good to be true! Pinch me if we're in a simulation!" Jed exclaimed. They ran forward, with Velvet and Mona following not too far behind.

"Okay, Velvet. Which way to the computer room?" Mona asked, summoning some holographic blades from her bracelets. She slashed away at an Aquis Badnik that had slipped by the two scouts. Velvet scoured Sonic's memories of the fortress.

She saw many things. She felt many things. She pinpointed the exact directions to the computer room quickly, but still dug deeper in a trance. A part of her wanted to keep delving through the maze-like tunnel system of Sonic's brain, a part of her knew she should stop and focus on the present moment. But as she continued to read his thoughts, especially those pertaining to Sonic's own outlook on life, she nearly began to understand them. It was now easy to see why he was in love with Amy, why he had rejected Cherry, and how in the world he moved past the same selfish feelings that Cherry had let consume her. It all made sense to her now. But she still didn't agree.

"Velvet! Snap out of it!" Mona exclaimed, snapping her fingers in front of Velvet's eyes. "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah… this way," Velvet replied, a little shaken up. She guided Sally to the computer room.

The halls got darker and darker as Cherry kept walking. "Hey, does your phone have a flashlight? Mine's dead," Cherry asked Sally. No response. Cherry looked behind her, and gasped. She didn't see Sally. Instead, she saw someone far too familiar in her reflection on the metal floor. "Greed. Long time no see."

"Ah, Cherry. How's it going, my friend?" Greed asked. His appearance had changed from its Zeti facade to look more like a ladybug. "Let me tell you! This new form? Total game changer! I think the whole demon thing freaked some clients out. I'm glad my new number one customer… and my muse… is a ladybug, and not a spider. Or a crocodile. Those also freak people out, and it was a close call lemme tell you! I believe you know them, the other contenders for who I would shape my new form around after that broad of a game show host dropped me a few weeks ago."

"E for effort on the form, I guess. Never thought about it much until now, but I guess Peni and Vector do fit the "greedy" bill," Cherry replied. She felt Peni's Persona nod inside her head. "What are you here for, Greed? I don't want whatever you're selling. You see, I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"I gotcha, Cherry. I just want to give you a little tip. Free of charge," Greed replied. "You see, I'm in your head. So is the creator of that 'InterNav' app you've been using. I read his Persona's mind, and found out that it can not only bring people through the internet… but also signals. The app's practically a backdoor to the entire WWW. If it were to fall into the wrong hands (ours), it could do some real damage."

"What are you getting at?" Cherry asked.

"As a manifestation of your greed and addiction to stealing from others… I can tell that this desire didn't completely go away when you got the Personas of Madonna and that hustle-hater, Sonic," Greed explained. Cherry looked away in slight shame. "You want more. I want more. We ALWAYS want more, girlfriend. With this tool… we won't just take out the Eggman, we can broadcast your pretty li'l peepers to every system with a router backing it up." Cherry's eyes widened. "The world's Personas can be yours. Will you take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?" Cherry grinned.

"I think I just might," Cherry accepted, turning and walking off as the darkness faded. "Thanks, Greed. Pleasure doing business with you, as always."

"You're welcome, chum," Greed replied, fading into the distance. "Enjoy."

As light returned to the room, Cherry saw Sally walking alongside her once more. "You okay, Velvet?" She asked. "You've been really out of it since we got here."

"Oh? Yeah. I'm just fine," Cherry replied. She rounded the corner. "Here's the computer room. Stay outside, just in case something goes wrong."

"What could go wrong?" Sally asked.

"Well, if I somehow fail to take his heart, we don't want Robotnik knowing you're here too," Cherry answered.

"True enough," Sally replied. "Don't be long." Cherry walked into the computer room, and locked the door behind her. She roamed through the halls of monitors, before reaching the console dictating the security cameras. She then severed the wires. She destroyed the console, smashed it to pieces. The security cameras went down across the whole fortress. The Freedom Fighters were the only allies she had left. She couldn't afford to have them get spotted as she figured out how to make the machine work in her favor. Besides…

She had everything she needed right in her hands.

She pulled up the camera app on the Tails Electric, and pulled up a list of apps to share the footage with. She then scrolled to the InterNav icon. This was it. This was what she wanted all this time. She tapped on the icon, and smiled for the camera.

With her face in the video now being broadcast across the whole internet, it popped up on every computer, every television, every cell phone. "Citizens of Erius… Look to me," Cherry said. Hook, line and sinker. As everyone across every city with a wifi connection looked to their devices, the population all across the planet turned gray. This went way beyond Lord Robotnik. Cherry felt Personas flood in by the hundreds. It gave her an indescribable rush of adrenaline she never believed possible as the Graying Pandemic reached its peak.

"Finally… I've WON!" Cherry thought to herself. However… with all the new personalities entering her mind, screaming and shouting and wriggling inside her skull, she felt the headache grow worse. She inhaled sharply. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She staggered backwards, still holding the Tails Electric. She screamed. She was on the verge of blacking out. It felt like she was going to die. "Wait… no… This isn't how it was supposed to—!" Cherry fell down, as her breathing came to a painful stop. The hearts kept flooding in.

Sonic watched from inside Cherry's mind as other Personas covered the red and black space around him in a blast of colors. "Whoa!" He cried as the platform he was on began to crumble along with Cherry's mental state. He jumped to an opposing piece of land as the island he was standing on before fell apart. Sonic ran along as the pocket dimension in Cherry's head collapsed in on itself. "Cherry! Can you hear me?" Sonic called, hoping she was still conscious. His best guess was that she was going to die if she kept taking in Personas. "Cut it out! There's too many Personas for you to handle!" No response. Sonic ran around a loop-de-loop, only to be bombarded by a wave of humanoid figures as their Personas were thrown into the dimension with him. "Gah!" Sonic exclaimed, rolling under a Persona as it went rocketing his way. He had to dodge many others as they flew at him. "No WAY that was just a coincidence…" Sonic mumbled as the wave of stolen hearts washed out. "Whoever's out there targeting me, come out and fight me yourself!" There was a loud and deep drone. Its soundwaves shook the entire realm, knocking Sonic to the ground with nothing but its sheer force.

Sonic, breathing heavily, got up as the earsplitting sound came to a stop. Floating there in front of him, was a figure both familiar in shape and unlike anything he had ever seen. It was almost entirely made up of hearts, or rather, Personas. "Cherry!" Sonic exclaimed, recognizing it instantly. "It's time to stop this! You're gonna kill yourself if you keep this up!"

"More, I need more…" the Unmasked Cherry moaned lifelessly.

"Why? You got what you wanted, you got me!" Sonic shouted.

"Hahahaha… I'm addicted," Unmasked Cherry mumbled. "I need hearts like I need air. Greed has bought me out, and there is nothing left to do but enjoy this high while I can still feel it." Sonic gritted his teeth.

"So that's it? You're gonna take us all down with you?" Sonic asked. "There's still time for you to turn your life around."

"That's just what you think," Unmasked Cherry replied. Sonic then got an idea. He remembered Zor being in Sloth's head back on the Lost Hex, being able to change his mind from within…

Sonic sped forward and jumped towards Unmasked Cherry. "Well then I'll show you just why I think that! Your reign of terror over yourself and those around you has gone on long enough. I know you are capable of more. I know you want better and bigger things for yourself. So are you going to waste your precious time feeding a pitiful addiction? Or will you do whatever it takes to get what you truly wish for with a burning desire that rivals the very flames of Hell?!" Sonic exclaimed. Sonic Homing Attacked into her head, as she tried to swat him away. "After all, I am thou. Thou art I. I will create for you the will to live a life without regrets!" He performed an all-out attack on her, shooting at her from all sides. With Unmasked Cherry's entire body now debilitated, Sonic pierced the shining crack on her head with an Enerbeam. He was pulled along by the Enerbeam, and grappled deep inside Cherry's open skull as it bled Personas. Even Greed was forced out of Cherry's mind.

"Heh. What a surprise! Sonic screws everything up again!" Greed exclaimed, being carried along in the Personas as they made their escape back into the real world. "Oh well. Plenty of fish in the sea, y'know what I'm sayin'? Later, hater!" Sonic ran against the force of the Personas draining out, on towards a blinding light.

Cherry then woke up, her eyes blue and green once more. Her headache faded. She felt Sonic's spirit and personality heal the wounds in her heart. It was as if his presence in her mind was stronger than ever before, because instead of his personality just being another stolen heart… he had granted it to her in its entirety. "Sonic? You… saved me. But why?" Cherry whispered. Her eyes then widened, as Sonic gave her the truth. The truth she never knew she was waiting to discover.

He did not tell her a thing. Instead, a rush of feelings coursed through her heart and mind at unbelievable speeds. Feelings that triumphed over the lies she had been telling herself for years. These new feelings told her that she's special, and she's important. And even though she thinks she can't be happy, and thinks she doesn't have a place in the world, that's not something for her condition to decide. The truth was, she would never be completely free from the Shadow Anomaly. It would follow her throughout her whole life, but that doesn't mean she has to curl up and fall victim to the effect it has on her. It doesn't mean she has to break others down to feel happy. It wasn't a case of "get over it, get better". It wasn't a case of "give up". It was a case of "be as happy as you possibly can no matter the horrible things holding you down, things that are outside of your control". And then, Cherry understood. She understood it all.

"My heart… it feels… whole now," Cherry mumbled. She only then realized she was crying. She let the tears run down her face. She let them fall down onto the floor and splatter. "And now…" She sniffled, as she held Sonic's Persona in her hand. The last one she had left after her many heists around the world. She held the blue-green heart close to her. "Now it's time to let go of it." As she held Sonic's Persona in the air, she focused on the feeling she had right then and there. The Persona gave her this feeling of belonging and acceptance. But she couldn't keep it. She could keep these feelings, but the Persona wouldn't be able to remind her to feel them anymore. They would be hers to carry on her own. To the grave.

She let go of Sonic's Persona, watching it shoot away into the distance.

Sonic opened his eyes, as the color returned to his body. He was between two busted cars at the hotel parking lot in Robotropolis. Surrounded by people. Not Silhouettes, but living people. With a jolt, Sonic adjusted his mask, which turned him back into his Nikki alter ego. Luckily, it seemed nobody had spotted him in his true form.

"That really worked?" Nikki asked. "I wonder if Cherry's okay…" Nikki walked over to where the Chaotix were before. They were gone. "Oh no…" Nikki rushed off towards Robotnik's Fortress.

…

Nikki arrived just in time to see Cherry being taken away by Cop Speeders into one of their little cars. "Hey, wait! Don't!" Nikki shouted, running towards her. Cherry looked his way.

"Stop right there," Susie's voice said. Nikki skidded to a stop, and turned around to face Susie and Pico. "What do you think you're doing? That's the Phantom Thief of Hearts, real name Cherry the Ladybug. She's very dangerous, we want all citizens to clear out." Pico nodded.

"He's no ordinary citizen," Vector said, stepping forward with the rest of the Chaotix. "This is one of our own, Nikki Hedgehog." Vector gave Nikki a hearty pat on the back. "He was an MVP throughout the investigation. He deserves to be here."

"What? But I—" Nikki stammered. He looked to Cherry regretfully as she was loaded into the cop car. She averted her eyes. "Hold up, everyone. Let me have a few words with our culprit." Nikki walked to Cherry. She wouldn't even look at him. "Hey. Are you… are you okay with this?"

"Kind of," Cherry replied. "I caused a global crisis, got caught, and now I'm going to jail. I'll just be happy they didn't kill me on the spot." Nikki looked to the ground.

"Are you going to be okay in there?" Nikki asked.

"No guarantee. But regardless, I'm gonna try and do better," Cherry sighed. "I'll never forget what you did for me, but I need to take matters into my own hands now. I love you, Nikki. And… I want you to have this." Cherry whispered. She reached forward, and placed something into Nikki's hand. Nikki looked at it. The Heartless Harmonica. He hid it away in his pocket, and nodded.

"I'll take good care of it," Nikki replied. He held his arm.

He wanted to say something. He wanted to say "I'll miss you". He wanted to say "I hope you have a good life". He would have reciprocated that "I love you" if he could. But he didn't. He couldn't.

"You've done a lot of things to hurt others," Nikki sighed. "You've hurt me, you've hurt your friends. You've hurt everybody. You've even hurt yourself. If you want to do better… good luck. I wish the best for you. Never give up on that, you hear me?" Cherry nodded understandingly.

"Thank you, Nikki. I'm sorry. Tell the others I'm sorry to them too, and…" Cherry replied. The windows were rolled up by the Cop Speeders. Nikki saw her put her hand on the glass and mouth the words… "Goodbye." Pico and Susie walked towards the fortress to check on Lord Robotnik.

Nikki looked off into the distance. He saw the Freedom Fighters making their escape, failing their mission but living to fight another day. He then looked back to the Chaotix and 4D. "You were awesome out there!!" Charmy exclaimed, flying all around Nikki.

"Indeed. Your skills are commendable," Espio followed up.

"Hey, thanks! You three weren't half-bad either," Nikki replied, giving them a thumbs-up and a smile. "How about that rent? You guys gonna be okay?"

"Better than okay!" Vector answered. "We're rich! We can spend all our money on franchising out-of-country. We'll be sitting down with parfaits near Seaside Hill, enjoying our 15 minutes of fame!"

"That's not a good thing, y'know!" Espio and Charmy shouted.

"I'm worried about Cherry, for real," Kofi sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Think she'll be alright?"

"Yeah, I think she'll be alright," Nikki chuckled sentimentally. "About my place on the band… I gotta get going. I need to make sure my other friends are okay after what happened."

"Well, I won't try to stop you. It's just… we came all this way, but Def Big's never gonna take a band of just 3," Kate grumbled.

"Whoever said 'just 3'?…" Peni's voice asked. Everybody looked over. Peni had dyed her hair brown and her outfit red. "I think this makeover will help me not get spotted. Long enough to stick around and get the band recognized by Def Big!"

"Oh, WHAT?!" Nikki asked. "You can't just take my style!"

"Why not? I think it suits me," Peni cackled, wrapping an arm around Nikki. "After all, if it can work on you, I can totally pull it off."

"What's she talking about? 'Get spotted'?" Madonna whispered. "Is she a secret outlaw too?"

"Better not question it," Kate laughed, pulling out her phone. Everybody, even the Chaotix, gathered for a group shot. "Say 4D!"

"4D!!!" Everybody shouted.

SNAP…

"Hmm…" Kate sighed. "Feels like something's missing." She dragged a digital ladybug sticker onto the empty space in the photo. "Better!"