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Love's Resistance	By : CearaIvory Category: +S through Z > Sonic Views: 1391 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic Underground, its characters, nor do I profit in anyway

Chapter List
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LR7
Reviews are appreciated and always answered (if they are signed). Looking for artists. Pm if interested.
This chapter and possibly the next will follow Bartleby through the last month or so. I will be repeating the death scene but through his eyes so that we can see what he was going through.
Love’s Resistance
Chapter 7
6 weeks ago
In the dark of the night, Bartleby Montclair wandered about his mansion in a daze. He was looking for something but he couldn’t remember what. He looked out his picture window at the grounds. He gasped when he saw Sonia standing there looking directly at him with a despairing look on her face.
“Sonia,” he ran out the front door. What was wrong? Why did she look so sad. He ran for her. “Sonia, what are you doing here? Whatever’s matter?” He asked grabbing her hands, meaning to draw her into a comforting embrace. As if she had never been there, she vanished from his grasp. “Sonia,” he looked around. “Sonia, where are you?” he called. Where did she go? Had she even been there? Was he losing his mind.
“Bartleby...” her voice called from behind him. “Come back to me...please...” The heartache in her voice made his own heart break. His beloved was crying for him.
He turned round and round but he could not see her.

“Sonia!” he screamed as he sat up in his large four-poster bed. He panted, putting a hand to his chest as his heart beat like it would burst from his chest. He shook and looked about, realizing that it was just a dream. He wrapped his arms about himself, wishing he had her to hold instead, as he tried to calm down. “Sonia...”
He got out of bed to go to the bathroom. As he reached the door, he heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot echo through his bedroom. He looked around and no one was there. Where had that shot come from? Was he is imagining things?
“Oh boy, no more rose wine before bed for me.” In the bathroom, he splashed his face as he thought about the dream and the gunshot. He couldn’t stop trembling. His Sonia had been crying in his dream. Even in a dream, he hated to see her cry.

Two nights later...
Bartleby waited in his favorite easy chair, watching out the window. It was their night and she would be there soon assuming a mission had not got in the way as they sometimes did. He sat up straighter as he saw a cloaked figure dash up towards his door. The shadows hid the form well enough but he knew what to look for. He stood up and hurried for the door just as the bell sounded.
He couldn’t open the door fast enough, longing to have her in his arms. As he knew, there she was, a cloak hiding her face quite well, but that smile was all her. It took all of a second to draw her close, savoring her scent. She didn’t wear perfumes, she didn’t need to, just the smell of her was enough to hold his attention.
“My darling,” he said as he kissed her. With his nightmare the other night, he felt an extra special need to have her by his side. They wouldn’t even make it into the bedroom, he needed her too much. They ended up sharing his sofa instead, where they would fall asleep after their activities.

One minute, he was lying on the couch, holding his princess as he fell asleep, the next he was wandering about the grounds outside his mansion. He scratched his head, wondering how he’d gotten there and where was Sonia?
He looked around for any sign of her. As he looked, he could hear the sounds of what seemed to be outrage interwoven with weeping. Sonia. He ran about looking for the source of the sound. A gunshot, the same gunshot from the other morning, sounded right behind him.

The shot started him into wakefulness on the couch. Somehow, he had managed to keep from screaming. He looked down at his peacefully sleeping Sonia, her head on his bare furry chest. A few deep breaths calmed the man but his arms wrapped around her like a teddy bear, cherishing their closeness.
“Sonia,” he whispered to himself. “My Sonia...”

7 days later(after the first dream, 5 weeks prior)
The dreams would continue every night after that until Bartleby was frightened to go to sleep. Each dream was relatively the same and would end the same. He would either see Sonia and be unable to reach her, or he’d reach her and she’d disappear. He would her crying in each dream but wouldn’t be able to comfort her. And each dream would end with the gunshot. Sometimes he woke up before the gunshot but that didn’t stop it. He would still hear it echo in his room.
He sat on his sofa one morning trying to figure out what the dreams could mean. “Sonia...why are you so sad and why can’t I help you? What is that gunshot?” He asked his favorite photo of them. He traced the glass of the frame, tracing her figure. Just as he was about to stop pondering the problem for the time, the same gunshot echoed through the parlor startling him into dropping the picture frame. “AHH!” he looked around. “I’m going round the twist, I am.” He bent down to pick up the frame and stared with fear at the perfect crack going down the center, separating the lovers. Since when did glass crack in a perfectly straight line? Fear coursed through his veins as he pondered the meanings behind these strange things.

That night he didn’t want to sleep. He was scared of what he might see. Something was trying to tell him something, to warn him. He lay in his bed, fighting sleep but it was no use.

He was a dark forest this time at a fork in the road. A tall, black-cloaked man stood before him. “Who are you?” He asked trembling in fear.
“Bartleby Montclair, soon you will be given a choice...the life of the one you cherish most will depend on that choice,” the man told him. “You see before you two roads and you will have to take one of them soon. But I must warn you, choose wisely.”
The man vanished and Bartleby stood before the fork. Sounds emanated from both sides. From one, he could hear Sonic and Manic screaming for Sonia, a gunshot and then himself screaming in agony. From the second, he heard the same gunshot but following it was that same weeping he’d been hearing for a week.

He sat up in his bed, the air of confusion lifted from his mind. The message was all too clear. He shook as the sobs finally came. He understood what was coming. He understood why she wept and why he could not comfort her. “Sonia...Sonia...I won’t let it happen. I won’t let you die.” He reached for his phone, not caring that it was 2 in the morning. If this was going to happen, he had to be sure that she would taken care of.
After making the necessary appointments, he sat back. For the most part, it was a weight off his mind to finally know what was being said, but at the same time he felt a burden settle on his heart. Bartleby Montclair was not a brave man by any stretch of the imagination nor was he good at being strong-willed but let it never be said that he did not love Sonia Hedgehog. He thought about all the dreams he’d had of a life with his precious Sonia. He didn’t care if she was a princess, noble or street rat. If she had told him she wanted to live in a trash heap and be dirt poor, he would have thrown away his money and joined her. He loved her with every ounce of his being. Now, all their dreams would never come to pass. Knowing now what was coming, he buried his face in his hands to weep, mourning their dying dreams.
At last, he felt he had cried himself out and his mind felt a strange sort of peace settle over him. He wondered how it would happen. He wondered when it would happen. How he would know the time had come to make the choice he knew he had to make. Would she understand his choice? Would she be alright? He could only cover so many bases. How could he make sure that someone would be there to comfort her in his place? Sure, she would have her brothers but somehow it seemed inadequate. They would try to offer solace but they would not be enough.

The answer to that question would come early the following morning.
Sleet pounded on the door. “Open up Burgleby!” He called.
Bartleby patted his face to try and get rid of the sleep-deprived look he knew he had before opening the door. “What do you ruffians want?”
Sleet looked the man over. “What happened to you? Did you get in a fight with a ghost and lose?”
Dingo laughed. “Yeah, you look terrible?”
Bartleby glared but he felt a light go on. Dingo had a crush on Sonia. Perhaps he was the one he needed. If he pushed the right buttons. “I assume you’re here for the tribute?” He asked. “Please come in.”
The Bounty Hunters followed Bartleby inside. “And he wants a double tribute this month.” Sleet commanded.
Bartleby plastered an acquiescent look on his face, where normally he would protest heavily. “If that’s what Lord Robotnik wants. I will go get a check.” He looked at Dingo. “You there. Why don’t you come with me. I have something I need to talk to you about.”
Dingo looked with confusion at an equally confused Sleet but shrugged. “Uh...sure...”
Inside his office, Dingo gazed with amazement at all the pictures of the beautiful Sonia. Bartleby grinned. He’d known this was the right room.
“Um, you wanted to talk to me?” Dingo asked.
“Yes, about Sonia,” he gestured to one of the pictures. “You like her don’t you?”
Dingo nodded as he gazed at the picture. “Yeah, what about it?”
“Dingo, I’m about to ask you a very large favor. It is a very important favor. But it is for Sonia’s sake that I ask it,” Bartleby began. “If something happens to me...no matter what it is...I will need someone to watch over Sonia in my place.”
“But...Robotnik wants...” Dingo protested.
“Heh, Robotnik. We both know you don’t like working for that overgrown slug, who could? And we both know you like Sonia, don’t we? That’s something we have in common,” Bartleby looked at the picture. “I’ll level with you, Dingo. I love Sonia. I love her with all of my heart. Nothing matters more to me than my Sonia. My money, my mansion, my nobility, even my own life is worthless by comparison. That’s why I need you to promise me Dingo. Man to man, as two men who both love a wonderful young woman. If something happens to me, you will be there for her, to comfort her and to watch over her, in my stead. Will you do this for me? For Sonia?”
Dingo blinked a couple times but seemed to register the desperation in Bartleby’s tone and eyes. For a short few minutes he dropped the stupid act he carried most of the time and nodded. “Yeah, Bartleby. If something happens, I’ll be there for her in your place. You have my word of honor, whatever that’s worth these days.”
Bartleby breathed sigh of relief and put the frame down on the desk, opening the top drawer for a check. He wrote out the amount. “Thank you Dingo. And you don’t have to tell Sleet. This is between we two and the walls.”
As Sleet and Dingo left, Sleet trying to get Dingo to spill why Bartleby wanted to talk to him with no luck, Bartleby breathed. Everything was in place, or they would be after his appointments that day. He cursed fate that it was necessary to do this, but if it was to happen, he would accept it with his head held high, as a true nobleman.

2 weeks prior
It was their night again and they had finished round one of their fun. He had made sure to take every available moment he could find to be with her, damn the risks. And her satisfaction topped his list of priorities on their nights together.
Recovering from their first round, they lay together in his bed, panting with a mix of lust, love, and contentment. He caressed her face, memorizing each facet of it. “Oh my Sonia...my Sonia...I love you so much.”
Sonia looked at him oddly as he took her in his arms. He had been strangely attentive the past few weeks, even sending gifts of various items to the rebel base for her. Flowers, chocolates, jewelry, pretty things he knew she would like. He would sometimes sneak his way to the base when he knew it was just her there, as though he just couldn’t stand being away from her a moment longer. She didn’t mind but it was odd.
“I love you too Bartleby, so much. Just think, when Robotnik is gone, we can be together like this all the time. We’ll finally get married,” she said dreaming of that day, hoping it would be soon.
He didn’t answer at first. “Sonia, have you wondered what would happen if...something happened to one of us.”
“What do you mean, Bartleby?” she asked him. More strange behavior.
“I mean, this is a war Sonia...one day, Robotnik might get tired of me...he does that sometimes...” he struggled. “Sonia...”
She frowned. “Bartleby, you’re being very weird...”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, am I? I can’t help it Sonia...I see you go back to the Resistance and I’ll be honest, I can’t help but worry that something will happen and I’ll lose you.” He clutched her to him. “It scares me to death. Or that something will happen to me and I won’t be able to be there for you when you need me.” Tears peaked his eyes and he buried his head in her shoulder, weeping. “Sonia, I love you so much. The last thing I want in the world is for you to cry. Your smile is what lights my life, gives me hope day after day. I don’t want that light to go out...”
She rubbed his back, pondering his strange words. “Bartleby...”
He looked at her. “Sonia, I want you to promise me, that no matter what happens, you’ll keep smiling. You’ll keep singing and be happy. No matter what happens.”
“Bartleby, you’re being ridiculous, nothing is going to happen,” she tried to reassure him.
“Promise me!” he pleaded desperately. “No matter what...”
She sighed and nodded, anything to bring him some peace of mind. “Okay Bartleby, I promise. No matter what happens, I’ll keep smiling for you...I promise...”
He sighed with relief to hear her promise but couldn’t force away the tears. He knew it was almost time. He could feel it. Soon he would leave her and he would have no way of knowing if the measures he had taken would be enough.
She fingered his soft blonde hair soothingly. “But I promise, nothing is going to happen. The Sonic Underground won’t let anything happen.”
Shaking, and knowing that whatever the Sonic Underground could do would not stop the hands of fate, the only response he could give her was quiet kisses against her cheek and lips and hair.

1 week and four days later
Bartleby was unable to sleep. Something told him that he should not go to sleep. Was today the day? He shook his head. No. Whenever it would happen, it wasn’t tonight. But it was close, so close, he could feel it in his heart.
To try and calm his nerves, the nobleman made a pot of his favorite tea, rosebud. He was just sitting down to enjoy it when he heard a pounding at the door. He looked towards the door. No one ever knocked or pounded at his door. Everyone used the bell. He chanced a glance at a nearby mirror, it was cracked in a circle around his head. So...maybe it wasn’t tonight but he realized that what was to happen was at least starting tonight. He swallowed. He would play his part in this opera.

He knew that as soon as Sonia knew of his imprisonment, she would come. He prayed he was wrong, that she would realize it was a trap and stay away.
His prayers would not be answered however. The night after his first day at “trial”, a Swat-Bot opened the door to his cell. “You have a visitor.”
He looked over to see her, carefully feigning confusion at the arrival of a stranger. “A visitor?”
“It’s your aunt Sophie,” the cloaked visitor faked an elderly voice rather well.
“But I don’t...” he said still playing dumb.
She pulled down her hood confident they were alone. “Bartleby!”
“Sonia! What are you doing here? If they catch you!” he tried to push to the door. “I don’t want you captured because of me.”
She put her arms around him. “And I can’t them roboticize you for something you didn’t to. Even if it’s something you should have been doing.”
He treasured her arms around him. “Oh Sonia...can you honestly say you’re happier in the Resistance?”
She pulled away. “I’m happy knowing that I’m making my life count for something!” She smiled reassuringly at him. “But don’t worry, the Sonic Underground is gonna bust you out of here. Tomorrow, I have a plan...” That was a lie, she didn’t have a plan but hell she’d wing it.
“No Sonia,” Bartleby protested. “No, you mustn’t come tomorrow. You must stay...far away from the courthouse.”
“But Bartleby,” she argued. “I won’t let them punish you for something you didn’t do. I won’t let them take you away from me.” She bit her lip. “It’s all my fault this is happening to you...”
“What?” Bartleby was startled at the idea.
“They’re punishing you because of your association with me,” she pointed out. “If we had never met...Robotnik wouldn’t be able to use you like this...”
Bartleby smiled gently at his lover. “Sonia...do you know what my life would have been like if we had never met? I might be safe in my big mansion with my money and trinkets, but Sonia, you’ve shown me that those things aren’t what makes a life worth living at all. If I never knew you, if I never felt this love, I would have no inkling of how precious life can be.” He pulled into a loving embrace. “If I never held you, I would never have a clue how at last I’d find in you the missing part of me. In this world so full of fear, full of rage and lies, I can see the truth so clear in your eyes,” he pulled her away and wiped away the tears from her cheek. “so dry your eyes. And I’m so grateful to you, I’d have lived my whole life through, lost forever if I never knew you.”
She turned away, looking up out of the only window in the room. “I thought our love would be so beautiful. Somehow we’d make the whole world right.” A touch on her shoulder made her spin around into his arms. “I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong, all they’d leave us were these whispers in the night. But still my heart is saying we were right. For if I never...”
His voice joined hers. “There’s no moment I regret since the moment that we met. If our time has gone too fast, I’ve lived at last...”
The sound of the door outside the cell had Sonia covering her hair and face as before. The Swat-Bot indicated visiting time was done. She looked at him. “I’ll save you Bartleby, I promise...”
“Sonia please, just stay away tomorrow, I beg of you,” he insisted. He wanted her as far from the danger as possible. He kissed her hands, not liking how she refused to agree to stay away.
She left and he was alone again. “And I’m so grateful to you, I’d have lived my whole life through; empty as the sky, never knowing why, lost forever if I never knew you.” He lay upon the lone bench, determined to get some sleep. He would need to be on his A-game the next day.
He dreamt again of the dark woods and the fork in the road. Only this time he felt ready to choose one of the roads.

The next morning, he’d wanted to remind Dingo of his promise but didn’t want to risk the chance that the other man might be found out, thus ruining any chances of keeping his vow. So instead, he snapped at Dingo to do a better job at court today. When Dingo revealed Robotnik’s plan, he knew the day had come. He didn’t know if he would be roboticized or what but he knew it was time. He only prayed he could end the trial before Sonia could try and save him.
As he waited for people to file in, for Robotnik to arrive, he thought about a lot things but none more than Sonia. He thought that his preparations for this day would take some of the sting off. One would think that knowing when your time would come would be a load of your mind but what no one knew was that no matter how hard one could try to prepare, one is never really ready for the end. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. When he changed his plea, he didn’t know if he would prefer to be roboticized or straight-up death. He settled on death, if he were roboticized, Robotnik might try to make him hurt his Sonia. He wouldn’t put it past the tub of lard.
As Robotnik was about to deliver his sentence, he heard the sound of a battle nearing the courtroom. No. He had told her to stay away. However, he’d known asking her to stay away was as futile an exercise as asking her to leave the Underground.
When she threatened Robotnik, he knew it was doomed to failure. And when Robotnik delivered his ultimatum for Sonia, he knew the moment had arrived. When she started to accept his offer to save his life in exchange for her own, Bartleby took the only chance he had. Leaping on the desk before anyone could stop him and shouting what he thought of Robotnik for all to hear. He doubted anyone would do anything, they all knew those things about Robotnik and did nothing. But when he heard that gunshot, felt the hot burst of pain in chest followed by the sensation of blood pouring from the wound and into his lungs, he knew his objective had been fulfilled. He had no regrets as he fell from that desk.
Okay, that was a lie. Looking up at Sonia, as she held him, he had lots of regrets. Regrets that he would not be able to be there. Regrets that they would never have the wedding they dreamed of nor the life that follows.
“Sonia...my Sonia...” he said as he caressed her cheek with what remained of his strength as blood pooled in his mouth to block any other words. He wondered if he had told her enough how much he loved and cherished her. He wondered if she would understand that this moment, the last moments he would ever have, looking up into her eyes and knowing that in the end, his life had truly meant something...He wondered if she understood that she was what gave his life meaning.
Her tears ran down her face, over her hand and he wished he could stay and hold her and dry her tears. “I love you too Bartleby...I love you...”
Wanting to remind her of her promise to keep smiling, he gave a weak yet genuine smile of his own as the world started to fade.

The dark woods of his last dreams loomed and he felt himself drawn to them. No longer was there a fork in the road for the choice had been made and there was no other path to be tread. The same dark figure stood at the entrance to the path.
“You have made your choice then,” the man stated. It was a not a question.
“Yes,” Bartleby answered. “But...tell me, she will be cared for? She will be happy and safe. I made the right decision?”
The figure held out his hands, in them formed a small globe. Bartleby saw a beautiful pink hedgehog surrounded by her brothers, her mother, Lady Wyndimere, two others, one of whom was a surprise, and three small ones, one of which bore a striking resemblance to him. He felt his heart clench as he realized what he would truly miss but took comfort that at least she would not alone and she looked happy.
The globe vanished and the man turned. “Now, Bartleby Montclair, it is time to move on. Paradise awaits you.”
Bartleby sighed, looking back for a brief moment. “Goodbye, my Sonia...my dear Sonia...”

AN: WHOO! Over 4,000 words and almost 9 pages. I think that must be a record but I had a lot to say. I know Bartleby is coming off a lot better than he did in canon, but the way I see it, he’s learned that either he or Sonia will die. He’s not going to let her die. She’s honestly the one thing he loves more than himself. So he knows that his days are numbered. I think one who knows that their last days are upon them would throw away his vices for the sake of making the best of the time he has left, especially when he has someone else to consider. I also know that this might come off a little anti-feminist since the man is worrying how the woman he loves will be provided for as if she couldn’t take care of herself. Here is why. Bartleby LOVES Sonia. I think I made that quite clear. He LOVES her. He knows he doesn’t have long left. Although he knows she could take care of herself, he’s still concerned for her, he wants to provide for her and make sure for himself she is taken care of. Moreover, he certainly doesn’t want Robotnik to get his estate, so there’s another very good reason. He also knows that Sonia will be hurt by his death; his dreams told him that much if not her love for him, so he wants to make sure that in her time of greatest grief, she has someone that HE knows will care for her as he did. He knows her brothers will do their best but will likely not understand the kind of care she needs at that time. He also wants to be sure that, if her grief clouds her judgment, there is someone there to bring her back to reality because that kind of mentality could get her killed or roboticized, making his sacrifice pointless. He used Dingo’s crush on her to get him to agree, instinct telling him right then that he could trust Dingo with that task, in spite of all that had gone before. He’s seeing more clearly than he ever has before.
I tried my best to communicate the array of emotions that one might go through when they know they are going to die. The heartbreak that one’s life is coming to an end, the concern over their loved ones, the stages of grief they might feel, and finally that sense of peace when they accept what must be, that calm when they decide to let fate do its job.
Who is the man? Is he important really? Really, he’s just a Guardian who was sadly given the job as Harbinger of Death. What’s a Guardian? Well, I’ll discuss that in later chapter. Basically, this guy was the one giving Bartleby those dreams, wanting to give him a chance at redemption for his past selfishness. Basically, Bartleby was fated to die that day, even if Robotnik hadn’t shot him there were a number of other ways he could have died. However, Bartleby doesn’t know that Sonia was actually supposed to die too. That will come up later but someone spoke for both Bartleby and Sonia in the Spirit World and asked to take one off the list but let Bartleby decide which one.
Hope this makes sense. It seems ideologically sensitive but really it isn’t. This is the Spirit World of Mobius. Naturally they would have a different religion, right? Christianity is serving Christ, who was on Earth. Islam worships Mohammed and Allah, again Earth. Buddhists serve Buddha, location Earth. Are we on the same page? I like to give alien worlds, like Mobius, a mythology or theology because that develops their culture.
Yes, I had them sing “If I Never Knew You.” Credit goes to Disney, Mel Gibson and Judy Kuhn. Again, since they are singing and this isn’t background lyrics, it’s dialogue, it doesn’t violate any rules. I was actually listening to Joseph King of Dreams “You Know Better Than I” for much of this chapter. It seemed to fit if you’re looking for a mood-maker song while reading this.
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Love's Resistance