Sonic the Hedgehog
Beautiful Day / Matt Darey
Sonic inhaled deeply. The sun was just peeking above the horizon and the air was still cool. Not cold, just cool. And contrary to Tails’ opinion, it was possible for him to be up this early. He just had to have a good enough reason. And with the roads finally dry from the rains of the past two weeks, he had a good enough reason.
He jumped off the roof and started running down the side of the skyscraper. About halfway down he leapt off and hit the side of the interstate. Literally. Panicking for just a second, he grabbed the barrier and held on for dear life.
He hung there for a moment to catch his breath. So he couldn’t execute perfectly every time. Big deal. With a grunt he hoisted himself over the barrier, stretched his legs for two seconds, and took off. This early in the morning there wasn’t much traffic to speak of, so he was essentially free to be as fast as the wind would let him.
* * *
I’ll Give / Smalltown Poets
Sonic looked at his shoes. He hadn’t worn them in days, and he wasn’t that surprised. And that in turn surprised him. Normally he’d be chomping at the bit to take off for another run, but lately it hadn’t seemed as important to him.
For a flash he was scared. This wasn’t like him at all! What on earth could possibly be more important than running? Than beeing as free as the wind? Than not having a care in the world except for the next adventure? What could be different?
His eyes caught a picture of him and a purple cat. And it all made sense.
* * *
Smoothie Song / Nickel Creek
“Come on, Amy,” Tails said.
Amy sighed. “Eh, I just—”
“Not an option,” Tails said with authority and a smirk. “Besides, there’s no steps to this dance.”
Amy raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound logical. You feeling all right, Tails?”
Tails grinned. “Do you honestly think I’m that predictable? Now come on, you’ll never feel better if you’re just sitting around moping.” He walked over to her and took her hands. Reluctantly, she allowed herself to be pulled up.
“So what do I do?” She said.
“Just move your feet like this—no, mirror me. So when I move this foot you move—that’s right!”
* * *
Ambler / The Echoing Green
Shadow stared out the space colony window. No matter how much he shared with Sonic and his friends, this place always did seem like home to him. And yet…
Slowly, he took his last walk around the colony. Every broken panel, every dust bunny, everything was exactly as he had left it. It was as if his memory was outside of him and he was walking around it, no longer responsible for keeping it alive. It could take care of itself here. Every conversation with Maria, every exercise with Gerald, every tense moment waiting for the soldiers…
He stopped. He really was just living in the past.
“Maria,” he breathed, “I will… give them a chance.”
He walked into the eclipse cannon core. It had been charging for the past month. Not enough for any serious damage, except to destroy itself. With a silent prayer, he pressed the button and teleported away.
* * *
Awakening / Switchfoot
“Sonic, I can’t keep up!”
Sonic rolled his eyes and slowed down. “Come on, you were going faster than this when it was a competition!”
Blaze glared and the tip of her tail released a tongue of flame. “I thought you said you didn’t want to compete.”
“I don’t!” Sonic said, fighting down exasperation. “Just run! For the heck of it!” He started to speed up, but Blaze wouldn’t let the topic die.
“Why?” she shot.
Sonic stopped. Blaze overshot him, but doubled back. Sonic simply stood there tapping his foot.
“What, now I’m too fast?” she said.
Sonic just looked at her. “Don’t you ever do something for fun? Just try it.” And he took off.
* * *
Word 2 da Father / dc Talk
“Tails, you did excellent work on the stereo,” Sonic yelled.
“Thanks,” Tails yelled back, “but did you have to turn it up so loud?”
“Yes!” Sonic said, starting to groove with the music and making his way into the middle of the room.
Tails just smiled and kept working on his drink as he surveyed the crowd. As far as housewarming parties went, this was going very well. Blaze (of course), Knuckles, Cream (seriously?), Big, the Chaotix, and… Amy.
Crap, eye contact! She made her way over to him. “Wanna dance?” she mouthed.
Tails put his drink down and walked over. “I don’t think the dance steps will work here,” he said straight in her ear.
She shrugged. “So what?”
* * *
Deepest Blue / Deepest Blue
The sunset combined with the storm out at sea made the horizon look as if it was on fire. It fit, Sonic thought.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said.
Sonic chose not to say anything. The way the sun could light up someone who was already on fire was one thing. The fact that her usual unreadable expression was gone, that she was genuinely enjoying the moment gave Sonic hope.
He almost shot back with a “not as beautiful as you,” but thought better of it. “So are you happy you came along?” he said.
She blinked. “Yes,” she said simply.
And it was gone.
Sonic sighed. How could he be such close friends with Tails but she was still keeping him at arms length? It took him several seconds to realize it: Tails had opened up to him. Same with Knuckles. And even Shadow at one point…
He took a deep breath and looked out to the horizon. “You know,” he said…
* * *
Flood / Jars of Clay
Stay calm, the Master Emerald said inside his head.
“There’s water…” Super Sonic said out loud.
You will not drown, The Emerald said. My power flows through your blood. Gravity will not pull you and the water cannot hold you. Do not be afraid.
“Right,” Sonic muttered. He finally dared to look up at Perfect Chaos, towering over the city. “Think we can do this?”
The creator of all holds us in his power, The Emerald said. And no enemy can stand against Him.
* * *
Army / Ben folds five
“I just don’t know anymore…” Amy said, leaning back in her chair.
Tails leaned against the table. “How so?”
Amy shrugged. “I mean, I’ve been chasing him for all this time, I don’t know what else to do. I’ve got ideas…”
“Like what?”
“Well, I could go back to school…”
“That’s good.”
“Try and get a job somewhere…”
“Not bad.”
“Maybe join the army…”
Tails blinked. “You’re high.”
Amy grinned. “Just seeing if you’re paying attention.”
Tails groaned. “Am I really that predictable?”
Amy nodded.
* * *
Boy on a String / Jars of Clay
Tails stopped himself. The robot was almost done. All he had left to do was wire in the A.I. But he was struck with a sudden conviction. Why?
He forced himself to step away from the terminal. As much as he tried to deny it, he wanted another friend. That was his whole motivation. Someone to spend time with when Sonic wasn’t around. Which was a lot, these days.
He sighed and turned off the terminal. Under no circumstances would he allow himself to stoop this low.
* * *
WALL-E
Suffer (EFA 128 Mix) / The Echoing Green
Captain McCrea had said his words, and yet he was the last to leave.
How was this possible? He had brought them back to earth, the plants were growing, the population was thriving, so why…
He hadn’t even known her. Doris McLendon, the oldest passenger aboard the Axiom. So naturally she would be the first to die.
Somehow it seemed WRONG. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Everything was supposed to be right once they had returned.
No, he reminded himself, that’s not the case. The plants still required work. People still got sick. They still died. Things were better, but they weren’t perfect.
Yet.
* * *
Cosmic Transformations / Adhesive_Boy
Leroy walked through the forest, accompanied only by a notepad and an E.V.E. probe. Not the EVE probe, mind you, but one of the others.
“That,” he said, pointing at an odd growth on a tree. The EVE hovered over to it and scanned it.
“Recorded,” it droned.
Leroy nodded and scribbled in his notebook. He then looked up at the giant redwood.
“It’s strange,” he said. The EVE looked at him.
“Strange?” it parroted.
“Yeah, strange,” Leroy said. “It’d take hundreds of years for it to grow this big. But we only found plant growth twenty years ago, right?”
“Affirmative,” the EVE said.
Leroy smiled. “I wonder… have they been growing all this time? And we didn’t find them…” he closed his eyes and sat down.
“...didn’t find them until we were meant to.”
* * *
When I Look At the World / U2
“Eve-a,” WALL-E said patiently, holding out the lighter.
EVE glanced at it and shook her head. “Wrong,” she said. “All wrong.”
WALL-E sighed. He rolled over to her and tried to take her hand. She slipped out of his grasp and floated to the other end of the truck. “All wrong,” she said again.
WALL-E collapsed himself. She noticed this, startled. Slowly, he pulled himself back up, pulled one of his eyes back out and back in. Then he held the lighter back out and lit it.
Slowly, EVE understood. She had no reason to lose hope.
* * *
What If I Stumble (DoubleDutch Remix) / dc Talk
Captain McCrea paced back and forth on the old bridge. The whole ship had been deactivated years ago, but he still came here once in a while. It was the last place anyone would expect to find him, given all the horrible memories associated with this place.
Slowly, he ran a hand across AUTO’s soulless eye. What if he did the same thing AUTO did? He was the leader. The one in charge of the remnant of humanity. What if the power went to his head? What if he made a poor decision? What if something happened, would he ever be able to forgive himself? Or be forgiven by the others?
There was movement by the doorway. “Jared?” a familiar voice called.
His heart leapt. At least she would forgive him.
* * *
I Am Free / Newsboys
Eve took off. She weaved through the garbage mountains and skirted the ground of the abandoned freeways and monorail tracks. Once she was clear of the city, she tucked in her arms and shot west, breaking the sound barrier.
She soared over the plains, some of which were beginning to show life. It was much spottier in this area, as none of the WALL-E bots had been able to touch this area. The thought saddened EVE slightly.
Silently, she resolved to find a way to get rid of the garbage. She was free of her directive, and she had to make sure WALL-E would one day be free of his.
* * *
Like Rubies / Fold Zan
The child flipped through the pages. “Did everyone have books, Mom?”
“Not always,” she said. “When your father and I grew up, no one had books.”
The child looked horrified. “But, what did you do?”
She laughed. “Well, we sat in chairs, and talked to screens. We didn’t even see each other most of the time.” Seeing the child still horrified, she smiled at him and picked him up. “It’s okay, though,” she said softly. “WALL-E came to rescue us.”
“And he brought books?”
She pondered for a moment. “No, but he helped us find them.”
* * *
King / Tree 63
“I’m concerned about what I’ve been hearing,” the captain said, addressing the crowd that was what remained of humanity. “There’s been talk of going back into space.”
“Why not?” someone in the middle of the crowd yelled.
The captain did his best to maintain his composure. “Why not? Why not?” He calmed himself. “No, I can see why you would ask that. In space, we had every need catered to us. We had no responsibility. We had no work. And now…” He allowed himself a chuckle. “Now, life isn’t so easy.”
He turned and looked the crowd straight in the eyes. “But tell me this, can any of you say that you were alive on that ship?”
* * *
All Bow Down / Chris Tomlin
WALL-E was just a little worried. This was the first storm to come around since the humans had returned. But so far it didn’t look as severe as some of the ones he had experienced. In fact…
He glanced again at EVE, and she nodded, her eyes smiling. No thunder, no sand, just pure water falling from the sky. WALL-E looked out at the settlement and saw a few of the older children running around in the rain.
EVE hovered over to him, and they held hands and looked up at the sky. It was as if the planet was welcoming them back home.
* * *
Dead Hearts (Delta-S Further In Mix) / The Echoing Green
John stood in the doorway staring at the floor. “I…” he stumbled. “I… Can you forgive me?”
Mary’s glare softened. “It’s not that simple, John.”
John’s head shot up, his face desperate. “Please? Look, I know what I said was wrong, and I—”
“John,” Mary interrupted. “I’ll forgive you if you forgive me.”
John smiled. “How could I not?”
* * *
With Or Without You / U2
Captain McCrea trudged home. Overseeing was work, even if it wasn’t with his hands. All he wanted was to get back to his tent and sleep.
So why was he taking the long way home?
He stopped. He noticed he had stopped in front of a very particular tent. He wondered why he did it. He knew exactly why.
A figure appeared at the entrance. She noticed her visitor and smiled a knowing smile. “Lost again, Jared?”
The captain took off his cap. “‘Fraid so, Sarah. Mind if I come in and catch my bearings?”