#I LEGIT CRIED WHEN BELLE TALKED TO VECTOR AFTER BEING KIDNAPPED

[my-name-is-jefferooni]

G O D. Okay I really wanna talk about this real quick because this issue alone has a special place in both my heart and my home.

So this was around... Maybe mid-2020?? Yeah, I think that was the time. So this issue had already came out. I had just become a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, and I wanted a physical version of any issue from the IDW comic run, and so for Hanukkah, I was given this issue as a gift. I think I'd already read it before, and at the time it wasn't my most favorite, (It was literally the issue right after this one lmfao) but since I got it at all I was still happy.

Then I read it, and ohhhh boy. Lets just say that reading a physical version of a comic series you love hits different at 3AM.

I'd never really taken into consideration the weight severity of Vector's actions in this issue, as I was at the ripe young age of 13 years old and was at that point in my life where angst was the only medium I could physically enjoy. But when reading the physical version, something just clicked in my brain.

Charmy is family to the Chaotix. He is a brother/son to Espio. He is a son to Vector. The same can be said for Espio and Vector, as they are like brothers to each other. And as a whole, as a whole family unit, they are inseperable/unstoppable. These three have an undying love for each other that cannot be matched, as they are a found family and they just. Get each other.

When Vector came into the base with infected Charmy in tow, I was 100% on GemerL's side. As a robot who's current purpose was to keep the citizens in the bunker safe at all costs, to GemerL, this action was a direct opposition of everything he was trying to do in that moment, and as a reader, I sided with him. Sure, Charmy was contained, but there were many other flaws in Vector's plan that showed me that he went into this completely unprepared. Mans was risking every last survivor there just for one little bee! And... Why?

When it came time for Vector to sacrifice himself during my first reading, I was conflicted, but still felt as if he deserved such a fate. I mean, he said it himself, he caused this. And so, I watched as my favorite dad-coded alligator walked right into a horde of Zombots, smirked at his partner in crime, and said that exact line...

Without so much as batting an eye.

When reading the physical version, I was much more able to see the intent behind Vector's actions, and why Espio was so quick to defend him too. Like I said, they are a family, and as a unit, are unstoppable. Vector and Espio know this, and so they tried to keep them all together and get a chance to be happy again, in spite of, well, everything! Overall, they just wanted their son, their own child, back in their arms once more. And they were willing to do whatever it took to get there.

So! When reading that last scene with Vector one more time in the physical version, I thought I was gonna get a headache from how much I wanted to cry. (I didn't end up crying cuz I'm an emotionless fuck, but I really wanted to)

The way that Vector saw Charmy escaping and then immediately grabbed him then and there, then immediately walk into the horde of Zombots that he unintentionally created... It broke my heart. Vector had no idea what would become of himself after turning. He didn't know what he'd see or hear or feel afterwards, or if he'd even be able to! All he knew in that moment was that he was joining his son. He was making up for his mistakes. He was owning up to the consequences of his actions, but at least...

At least he wasn't alone.

Vector was able to deal with the reality of it all so quickly mostly because he was able to trust in Espio's competence and eagerness to get the job done, but mostly he did it because he got what he came here for. He had Charmy, and since he knew Espio could handle himself, he was content with his fate.

You know what they say. Like father, like son.

What mostly hurts me about this scene though is the aftermath. The assumed death of Vector really shakes everyone that watches, even the robot that hardly ever feels emotions! Amy is frozen, watching helplessly with her hands over her mouth and her eyes wide with panic. GemerL is left standing alone by the door, his empty metallic gaze staring at the spot where the gator once stood. And Espio...

He was on his knees, tears in his eyes, on the verge of a breakdown, every muscle in his body weakened from the scene.

Like I said, these three are a family. When Espio and Vector lost Charmy, they at least still had each other. Espio still had his slightly incompetent leader, and Vector still had his sharp and crafty ninja. They weren't unstoppable anymore, but at least they could manage until they found their kid again.

But now it was just Espio. And now they weren't even a family anymore, because it was just. One. Just him, the crafty ninja, the purple chameleon, the emotionless badboy of the group.

There was nothing left for him to live for, now that his family was gone.

Right in that moment, Espio's whole entire world crumbled and shattered as he could do nothing but watch as his family disappeared. He was broken, lost, and his lights had flickered out.

To me, that is the saddest thing to see in the IDW comics, at least until Belle's little talk with Vector later in the series.

this moment still makes me cry