digibutter.nerr

[Lord Krump]

It was a cold, wet night, as a shadowy figure, draped in ragged clothing and a dirty hood concealing his face, stumbled in to a local bar. Several men were sitting at the counter, drinking away, as the newcomer took his seat at the end of the long row of chairs.

"What'll you be havin'?" asked the bartender, aware of the newcomer's entry.

"What can this afford me?" asked the newcomer, as he laid a large, golden ring on the table.

"Nothing much, now that the S- wait a minute, who are you?" asked the bartender.

The newcomer pulled back the hood, revealing his face. He had bloodshot eyes, an unshaven mug, and most notably, blue fur. "My name's... Sonic..." replied the rugged creature, in a soft, solemn tone.

"Ah... decided to waste away your troubles, eh? I heard that your new game caused Sega to go bankrupt, and dissolve. I mean, Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight were bad, but your latest game, Sonic and the Straight-Up Gangsta REDEFINES the meaning of the word 'bad.'" replied the bartender.

After the bartender finished his words, Sonic jumped up, and grabbed him by the collar, yelling in his face. The bartender could taste Sonic's foul breath and unshowered odor. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, HUH!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I HAD IT ALL... I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO-" yelled Sonic, his speech cut-off by the bouncer who just hit him in the face.

Sonic laid on the ground, with a bloody face, and a few teeth scattered on the ground. "We don't have no room for types like you in this here bar," spoke the angered man who just knocked him silly. "Take your miserable ass OUTTA HERE."

Sonic reluctantly rose to his feet, and stumbled out of the tavern. Once outside, he walked down the nearby alleyway a bit, and fell to the ground, resting in that spot. He pulled out a bottle of fresh booze, that he managed to swipe from the bar while no one was looking, and put the bottle to his lips. He rested there, drunk and depressed, for a few hours. Eventually, he came to his feet. "I need to... hic... be alone..." he muttered, as he wandered out of the alleyway.

He walked for about half an hour, until he came to the doors of the free-entry museum, "The Videogames Hall of Fame." He slowly opened the doors, and proceeded in to the museum.

As he walked along the long corridors of the museum, he saw the portraits of many of the most famous gaming icons. Mario, Donkey Kong, Master Chief, Cloud, Link... all hanging on the walls, in an eternal state of glory. At the end of the long corridor was a large portrait. Sonic gazed, in a deep state of meditation, at the large portrait. The portrait was of himself.

He raised his gloved hand, and touched the portrait that immortalized his glory days. He closed his eyes, and began to remember days long past...

*Flashback.*

Sonic, wearing gold and fancy shades, was surrounded by his "escorts-" a group of lovely female forest creatures- as he made his way to Sega's meeting. He and the ladies took their seats among several corporate executives, as they waited for the president of Sega to begin his speech. "Good evening, gentlemen," began the president, "I am glad you all are here to hear this. It has been a long, interesting journey for us all. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast has not fared as well as we had hoped. I am here to announce that we will cease production of Dreamcasts indefinitely." At these words, Sonic's jaw dropped, and his escorts got up and left the chamber.

Sonic, in a state of shock and confusion, stood up, and spoke. "Wait a minute! How could the Dreamcast fail? It has two games by ME on it! ME, the world's most famous hedgehog! What happened!?" spoke the panicking hedgehog.

The president sighed, and replied. "It's just not working out for us. Do not fear, Sega will continue to exist, and your franchise will continue to exist. We will just exist as a third-party company; making games for other platforms."

This somewhat calmed Sonic's nerves, but he still had trouble understanding what this all meant. "Well, I'm still wary of what this all means. I mean, I'm worried about the future of my job, as well; we've been adding all these new characters to my games- which is fine- but could this be a signal at the decline of quality in Sonic Team?" inquired Sonic.

Just as he finished speaking, a game designer sitting elsewhere in the audience stood up, and addressed Sonic. "I'm the new head of Sonic Team; don't worry, Sonic. We'll have you covered. Your next few games will be the best Sonic titles ever made!" spoke the man. After he finished speaking, Sonic sat down, and remained quiet for the rest of the meeting. Just as he sat down, he heard a loud, gruff voice. "Move it, bum!" Sonic's flashback had ended.

"Can't you just... hic... wait, what're you doing to my portrait?" he asked.

A couple of large, tough men were grabbing the portrait from opposite sides. "We're movin' this picture." one spoke.

"To where?" asked Sonic.

"To the Videogames Hall of Infamy. We got an open spot for this painting in-between Crash Bandicoot and Bubsy the Bobcat." spoke the other.

Sonic's face grew expressionless, and he then walked out of the building. He fell down, at the edge of the street, and started crying...