The Last Resort (A Sonic / Teen Titans Crossover)

XXXI. Sonic the Hedgehog

You could say that I was stressed. I kind of wanted to run away so that I not only would be able to get away from those stupid Emeralds and be able to make sure no one would get hurt. For now, anyway.

I almost did, too. The day that Robin and Raven went up to talk to our 'prisoner,' I was sitting in my room, thinking. I didn't want to, but I needed to get some of the stress out. Ever since the second fake Emerald got here, I just felt so uptight I could have exploded. I don't know if it was the Emeralds or myself, because there were definitely things to be stressed out about. But I never really got stressed out. I usually tried to let things pass over me. Maybe it was also because I was stuck in that stupid tower all day every day.

I must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes I was staring at the ceiling. I had only closed my eyes for a few seconds, but I had been tired. I sighed.

"Sonic!" I jumped as my communicator beeped. Robin's face was on the screen, along with Beast Boy's fingers making bunny ears on his head. "We have some good news! You should get down here!"

The screen went blank. Apparently, he didn't want an answer - he just wanted to drop in and check on me, probably.

I took a look out the window, then turned and went to the door. I waited for a minute, just staring at it. Did I necessarily want to leave the protection of this room...?

I shook my head. This wasn't like me. I needed to be more composed. Sometimes just being around people made me confident, but I felt like I wouldn't even want to be around me now. I smiled, my spirits lifting by themselves. I went out the door, feeling a little better than I had been.

I went downstairs, and I saw everyone except Cyborg and Tails in the room. "What's going on...? My birthday isn't for a while..."

Robin chuckled. "It's nobody's birthday. Maybe this is better than birthday cake: Raven found a way to get rid of the hex."

I felt myself lighting up even more. "Really? What are we waiting for? Let's get started!"

Robin chuckled, and Beast Boy went to the fridge. Starfire looked at me a bit sadly, which was strange.

"Calm down," Raven said. "Stand still. Take in a deep breath, and stay very, very still."

"Okay, okay," I sighed. I took in a deep breath and tried not to really move at all. I waited for something to happen, and it seemed like she was waiting for something. Then, she looked at Robin, and they nodded at each other.

As soon as she turned her head back to me, a giant purple circle appeared on the floor under me. It looked a bit like what Jinx's looked like, but bigger and somehow less threatening. I was about to turn my head to look at it, but remembered that I needed to stay still. I ended up only moving my eyes to look all around me.

I felt a tingling that ran up through my legs and up my chest to my head. It got worse and worse, like a foot falling asleep. I thought I was going to fall over, but it stopped. The circle disappeared and the tingling slowly went away.

"That's it?" I asked. "That was quick."

I was suddenly happy. I felt like a huge burden had been lifted. I didn't have to worry about falling every two seconds. 

"It will be a few hours before the hex completely goes away," Raven explained. "Try not to fall down the stairs again."

"Thanks!" I shouted, running around the couch to test it. "It already feels like it's gone!"

"Stop!" Raven shouted, and I skidded to a halt. Last time she got annoyed with my running around, I thought she was going to suffocate me.

Robin was smiling. He seemed happy for me. Starfire still had that same, sympathetic smile on her face. In the very, very back of my mind, there was a hint of doubt that something malicious was going on.