This is a just a fun little story I thought of the other day. Hope you guys like it! All characters and settings belong to Sega as always.
It was a pretty normal day at Tail's workshop. Tails, Amy, Rouge, and Knuckles had just gotten back from the art festival in Spagonia and we're going to Tails's house to rest up.
Rouge had somehow convinced Knuckles to come to the festival since he was, as she said, 'grumpier than usual'. He had protested at first, not wanting to leave the Master Emerald alone, but Rouge assured him it would be fine for a few hours. After much deliberation, Knuckles finally cracked and agreed to come.
The trip had been a pretty fun for the most part. The gang met Sonic there, who was helping out Professor Pickle at one of the booths near the university. Various rides and carnival games were set up along the main strip of town, so everyone took full advantage of what the festival had to offer.
Halfway through the rides, they met up with the Chaotix and finished out the rest of their stay with them. After a few hours of walking around, Tail's suggested they call it a day and head back to the workshop for some dinner.
When they got back, Amy plopped down on the couch in the front room and sighed loudly. "Wow, what a day."
"I'm exhausted." Tails said as he walked into the kitchen. Rouge, Knuckles, and the Chaotix followed him inside and all sat at the table.
"I should probably head back up to Angel Island." Knuckles stated as he made himself a glass of water.
"Aww, come on Knuckie." Rouge said. "Just stay a bit longer? You're always up on the island by yourself and we never get to see you."
"...Fine." Knuckles answered. "But only for another hour or two. It'll be late soon."
"Good." Rouge said. She suddenly got up from the table and went towards the front door. "I have to check back with GUN for a few minutes but I'll be right back." She blinked an eye at Knuckles before continuing. "Don't go anywhere."
Knuckles blushed a little as she left. Seeing this, Tails smirked at him and Knuckles immediately tried to play it off like he was angry. "Why does that bat-girl want me to stay when she's leaving?"
"Aw, does someone miss Rouge already?" Amy teased from the front room. However, this only made Knuckles steam even more and he huffed at her. He heard Amy chuckle but she didn't say anything more.
However, as Tails was preparing them some food, a loud bang suddenly erupted from the workshop. Snapping their heads towards the noise, everyone ceased what they were doing and glanced in the direction of the noise. "...What was that?" Amy asked.
"Something probably fell in the workshop." Tails concluded. "I'll go check it out."
He then exited the room while everyone stared after him. Abruptly, the sky outside grew dark and gray storm clouds loomed in the distance. Amy rubbed her shoulders at the sight of them.
"AHHH!" Tails screamed from the back room as the group still stared in the direction. Not wasting a second, everyone flew up from wherever they were and dashed into the workshop.
"What's wrong Tails?" Knuckles asked as he entered the workshop with his fists held out in front of him.
Vector nearly tripped when he ran inside. Several machines and spare parts were scattered all over the floor. Nothing was on the shelf like it was supposed to be and things just piled onto the floor, making it look like a tornado ran through the place.
"How did this happen?!" Tails exclaimed. He looked enraged and Charmy flew back behind Vector when he glared at them.
"Tails!" Amy yelled. "I thought something bad happened to you. But you're just in here throwing a fit over your mess." She huffed and crossed her arms.
"What?!" Tails yelled back. "I didn't do this! Everything was in place when I left!" he gestured his arms around the room.
"Well, we didn't do it." Amy said to him. "You should really learn to calm down Tails." She continued to cross her arms as Tails stared at her, mouth wide open.
"Oooh, what's this?" Charmy piped as he held up what looked like to be a power saw. "It's shiny!"
"No, Charmy put that down!" Espio lectured him as he flew around the room with the object. Tails and Amy continued to argue with one another about how the mess came to be, Vector and Espio chased Charmy around the room, and Knuckles stood in silence in the chaos around around him. He balled his fists to his side and gritted his teeth in annoyance from the sound erupting in front of him.
Not being able to take much more, Knuckles suddenly exclaimed, "STOP!" As his voice echoed around the room, everyone froze and stared at him. He angrily glared at them before continuing. "I can't take your arguing anymore! Can't you guys be calm for two seconds?!"
All was silent as they continued to stare at Knuckles. However, there was suddenly a loud boom heard from outside and all the lights black out. Charmy yelped and flew straight for Vector as a streak of lightning flashed from outside the windows.
"Just great." Knuckles complained while trying to navigate back to the front room. Parts were still all over the floor and made the workshop an obstacle course to get through.
"I should be able to fix the lights Knuckles." Tails assured him while flying in the dark over the mess. "The breaker box is in the back of the house though." He used his namesakes to enter the front room while everyone followed.
But, upon entering the room, they were all greeted with a nice surprise. Not a light shone through the room. It was pitch black and no one could see anything in front of them. Vector walked forward and collided with the couch, causing Charmy to fall onto it. Espio caught himself from the fall by grabbing onto the armrest.
"...I can't find the door." Tails said from the front of the room. Everyone heard him run his hands on the wall, trying to look for the front door. "I can't find the windows either..." he said confusedly.
"Wait, what?" Amy asked as she made her way over to him. After pushing past the Chaotix, she was able to reach him and helped him in his search. "I can't either!"
"Here let me help." Espio said as he pulled something out of his glove. A small light shone through the darkness and lit up where Amy and Tails stood. He moved the light back and forth across the front wall, but was unable to detect where the door and windows were. It was as if they had completely vanished!
"This is impossible!" Tails exclaimed. "They couldn't have just disappeared!" He glanced over at the others, all holding a confused face. Tails put a hand under his chin and thought to himself for a bit. "...Hold on."
"What?" Amy asked him.
"The workshop was a mess, " he mumbled. "And the lights went out. Now this.." he trailed off. Everyone stared at him, still confused over what he was getting at. "Wait! Now I know what's going on. Are you guys pulling a prank on me?"
"Don't look at us!" Amy said defensively. "We didn't do any of this!"
"Look guys, someone must be doing this. Doors and windows just don't vanish off the walls everyday." Tails continued with a smirk on his face. He thought he had figured out the prank and therefore no longer worried. "Come on, who did it?"
"Tails, none of us are doing this!" Vector replied. "How the heck would we even pull this off anyways?"
Espio and Charmy nodded in response. Tails glanced at them, still thinking everything was a prank. He looked over at Knuckles, who just stood still with a look of annoyance on his face. Amy stared at him, looking rather scared, and had her back against the wall. His confidence suddenly started to decline as he looked everyone over once more. They didn't seem to be lying.
"Y-you guys really aren't doing this then?" he asked with a shaky voice. "...Then what is-"
A scream screeched through the air, cutting Tails off from his train of thought. Charmy, Amy, and Tails all jump up and gasp loudly. Amy ran over to the Chaotix in fear and Tails just stared from the back of the room. Espio wildly swung the flashlight around the room, trying to find the source.
He suddenly stopped at the foot of the steps leading to the bedrooms when he spied something glowing above them. All eyes wandered over to where he stopped.
Floating right above the stairs looked to be a familiar figure. It had long spikes running down its back, tennis shoes on its feet, and had bright red eyes. Soft chuckling came from it as they all stood in horror at it.
Knuckles was the first to recover from his shock and angrily glared at the figure. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"
The being said nothing though and merely hovered in place. No one knew what this thing was but it was really freaky. The darkness around it made it look like some apparition out of a horror movie. Something dripped from it and pounded on the stairs below it. The drips looked red, indicating the figure was bleeding.
Knuckles took a step back when the figure lifted up its head. Upon seeing the face, everyone gasped in horror.
"S-Sonic?" Tails asked the figure fearfully. It indeed looked like Sonic, but his eyes were a deep red. The blood they saw from before was coming from his eyes, and his teeth were long spikes. It was nothing no one had ever seen before.
"Hello." he said. His voice sounded like Sonic's, but it seemed to be mixed with another as well, one that was a lot deeper sounding. "Do you want to play a game?"
No one said a word after he spoke, all still in shock over the fact that the thing sounded like their friend as well. Charmy held his hands over his eyes and stuck to Vector like glue. Espio stood stock still staring at the figure while still shining the flashlight. Amy had her mouth agape and grabbed onto to Vector. Knuckles still stood where he was and Tails just looked like he was ready to be sick.
"Let's play hide and seek." the being said. A loud screech echoed off the walls and a light flashed over the figure. Espio's flashlight turned itself off for a split second before coming back on, revealing nothing on the stairs.
Amy gasped and pulled out her hammer for protection. "W-where did it go?!"
"What the heck was that?" Knuckles asked the group. "That thing couldn't have been Sonic."
"Yea I agree." Amy responded, her body shaking. She glanced over at the others. "What should we...wait." She threw a hand over her mouth in surprise. "What happened to Tails?!"
"What?" Knuckles exclaimed. "Wasn't he right behind you Vector?"
"I didn't see him leave!" Vector bellowed to him. "Do you that thing got him?"
"We gotta save him then!" Amy yelled. She puts on a face full of confidence, trying to shake her fears away, and swings her hammer around. "We can't let that thing hurt him!"
Everyone agreed and decided to head upstairs, seeing as how the figure was on the steps. Espio slowly moved the light upwards and the group of mobians marched up them, no one sure what to expect.
XXX
Tails woke up in pitch black darkness. He wasn't sure what had happened just yet and rubbed his head gently as he sat up. Nothing stirred around him, and he could hear the soft thrumming of raindrops from outside.
He picked himself from the floor and managed to find a large object in the dark. He assumed it was the bed since he felt soft material on his fingers, but it could have been the couch for all he knew.
Not a light shone anywhere. All the darkness was really starting to freak Tails out. He thought how he even got himself in this situation. Everything was perfect earlier. Now he seemed to be in the middle of a horror movie with no warning whatsoever! It didn't make any sense to him.
Trudging along the floor, he was able to find one of the walls. Feeling for a light switch, he continued to slide against the walls.
"Hehehehe..." a soft laugh came from behind him. Tails froze mid step when he heard it and held his breath.
"W-who's there?" Tails feebly asked the darkness. Nothing was said and everything got even quieter, if that was even possible. He could no longer hear the rain outside and the room got colder all of a sudden.
Without any warning, though, orange light erupted from the corner of the room. Tails jumped up in surprise at the sudden light and squinted his eyes.
After getting adjusted to the light, Tails saw that he was in Sonic's room upstairs. The orange light reflected all over the room, almost looking like everything was on fire. He stared over at the source, but gasped loudly when he spied a figure standing directly beside it.
Not moving his eyes away from it, Tails recognized the figure from the one they saw on the stairs. He refused to call it Sonic, not believing for a second his best buddy would do anything like this.
The being said nothing as Tails looked him over. The orange light continued to dance across the room as the stare down commenced. Neither looked away from each other, Tails not trusting taking an eye off it, and the other simply copying him.
However, the game ended when the figure broke the silence. He spoke one simple statement, but the way it was said caused Tails to widen his eyes in pure terror. "Found you."
The next thing heard was Tails's screams echoing off the walls of the room.
XXX
Not even halfway up the steps, the rest of the terrified mobians trudged their way upwards. Everyone huddled together, no one wanting to get caught alone over the fear of getting captured by that awful creature.
A strong gust of wind hit the roof of the house when they reached the top of the stairs, making the pictures hanging on the walls rumble. Knuckles, who stood right behind Espio, froze on the top step, thinking he heard someone talking.
"Did you guys hear that?" he asked. His friends only stared at him, apparently not hearing a thing.
"I think you're hearing things Knuckles." Vector told him. He went to move past him but Knuckles blocked his path with his arm.
"No, listen." he insisted. The group stood still, trying to hear whatever had Knuckles concerned. But, again, they heard nothing.
"I don't hear anything." Amy stated. She stood right behind Vector, her hammer in her hand, waiting to be used.
"Come on, we should keep moving." Vector said as he tried to go past Knuckles once more.
"No!" Knuckles suddenly exclaimed. "I don't think we should head up here. There's something off about this..."
"Off?!" Amy exclaimed. "A weird looking ghost thing that looks like Sonic just captured Tails and you think something's off about this entire situation?!" She stated as if it was obvious. "Look if you wanna stay here and be scared, go ahead. But we're going to find Tails."
"I'm not scared!" Knuckles protested. "I'm just trying to avoid us walking into a trap! We don't know what we're dealing with and-"
Their argument was cut off when a loud scream echoed down the hall to their right. "That was Tails!" Amy exclaimed. She pushed herself past the others and ran blindly in the direction of his cries, hammer poised above her head.
"Amy, wait!" Knuckles called after her but she ignored him and ran into the darkness, determined to save Tails. Knuckles took off after her with the Chaotix closely behind.
Since the upstairs of the house wasn't that big, they reached the last doorway in no time at all. Knuckles pushed open the door in front of him and burst into the room.
He froze, though, when he saw the Sonic look-a-alike floating in the middle of the room. Amy, who had came in just seconds before he did, was no where to be seen, and the being simply smirked when he saw Knuckles.
"Where's Amy and Tails?!" Knuckles demanded the figure. He refused to be intimidated by it, and held his fists up bravely at the figure.
"Shouldn't you be concerned about your other friends?" the thing asked him in the Sonic voice. Knuckles widened his eyes and snapped his body behind him. His eyes darted back and forth between the room and the hallway, finding them both void of the Chaotix.
Seeing as he now alone to take care of the ghost like creature, Knuckles sighed in annoyance and turned his attention back to the figure. But, the creature had now vanished!
"Hey, show yourself!" Knuckles yelled. But, all he got as a response was a very creepy sounded laugh. Everything around him started to rumble. Whether it was from the storm, though,, Knuckles wasn't sure.
'Now what am I going to do?' he thought to himself as he searched the room in the dark. He regretted not letting Espio lead the way after Amy, or else he still would have a flashlight to guide him. Not finding anything or interest in the room, he backtracked to the door and exited into the hall.
He didn't believe his friends were gone completely from the house. He figured they must have been captured and kept somewhere. Racking his brain for where they would be, though, proved to be harder than he thought. It didn't help that he had only been inside the workshop a few times before, and therefore wasn't very familiar with all the rooms in the house.
Eventually, he decided to explore the rest of the upstairs. An ominous laugh sounded all around him, making him speed up his search. He couldn't believe Amy had ran blindly into trouble, even after trying to explain to her the danger. It frustrated to him to no end that he seemed to be the only one around that thought before they acted. Even the Chaotix sometimes did so.
He scarcely noticed he had ended back up on the stairs and stopped at the top. His search was unsuccessful and this fact only made him more upset than he already was. He gripped the railing in frustration.
"Get a hold of yourself Knuckles.." he mumbled to himself. He placed a foot on the top step. "You just need to calm down."
A small crashing noise bounced its way up the stairs where Knuckles stood, snapping him out of his train of thought. Not wasting another second, he ran down the steps and raced into the kitchen, thinking that was where he heard the noise.
Spying someone laying on the ground, he let out a battle cry and pounced on top of it. The figure under him immediately yelled out and struggled against his grip.
"You're not going anywhere!" Knuckles declared triumphantly as he kept a hold of the thing under him. Hearing his voice, the being stopped struggling under his grip.
"Knux?" the being said. "What the heck are you doing?!" Knuckles loosened his grip when the figure replied in a familiar voice.
"Sonic?" he asked while letting go of him. Standing up, he glanced down at a very peeved looking Sonic with his arms crossed.
"Why did you attack me?" he asked him as he stood up.
"Are...are you the real Sonic?" he asked cautiously. Sonic, who had no idea what was going on, gave him a blank stare before replying.
"Of course I am!" Sonic insisted. "Knux, what is going on? All the doors and windows were blocked off when I came back. I was lucky I even got inside when I found one of the windows in the main workshop cracked."
"I..." Knuckles began. Sonic stared at him impatiently, waiting for a reply. "I'm not sure."
"Just tell me Knux." Sonic said. He could barely see Knuckles's face but he could tell he looked a little worried.
"Everyone's been captured Sonic." Knuckles started. He quickly explained what had happened when they came back from the festival and ending with the disappearance of their friends. He made himself remain calm and to not get frustrated with all of Sonic's interruptions. After he got up, the two companions only stared at each other in silence.
"That sure sounds like a pretty weird story Knuckles." Sonic finally stated. Knuckles didn't reply and only looked forward. "Look, whatever got them probably isn't a ghost though. Didn't you day it looked like me?"
"Yes, except it's eyes were red." Knuckles replied.
"Well, then it's probably just 'ole eggster trying something again." Sonic concluded. "It's probably a robot or something."
"You know, that never crossed my mind." Knuckles replied as he grabbed his chin. "But, wait, why would Eggman do something so weird like this? Doesn't seem like his style."
"Eggman's always coming up with strange plans. I wouldn't be surprised he would think of something like this, considering all those creepy bases we went through before." Sonic answered, referring to the time they went into Hang Castle, Mystic Mansion, and Cryptic Castle, all being places Eggman had occupied.
"You do have a point." Knuckles admitted. He focused his attention back to Sonic. "Hey, why were on the floor when I came in here?"
"Oh." Sonic said nervously. "Uh...well it was dark and I ran into the counter and knocked down a pan. I was trying to find it so I wouldn't trip on it when you attacked me." he smirked at Knuckles, who only rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I guess I should take my own advice.." Knuckles mumbled. Sonic gave him another blank look but he waved it off.
"Come on. We need to find out where everyone is." he told his friend. Sonic nodded and the two headed back into the front room.
"Have you checked the basement?" Sonic asked.
"You guys have a basement?" Knuckles replied. Sonic facepalmed at him.
"Well duh." Sonic answered. "Knux, you really need to come over here more often."
Making their way back into the workshop, the two carefully navigated the mess still on the floor. After a few unsuccessful attempts or trying to find the doorway downstairs, they finally made it and stared into the darkness awaiting them.
"Ready for this?" Sonic asked his friend. Knuckles nodded and took the first plunge downwards, Sonic closely following behind him.
The steps beneath them creaked as they walked down. Trying to be careful not to slip, Knuckles grabbed onto the railing as he went down. Not a word was spoken when they reached the bottom of the basement and the two looked around cautiously.
Sonic nudged Knuckles to keep moving forward. Walking further into the dark abyss, Knuckles held his fists in front of him. But, he stopped when I heard a soft whisper behind him.
"Sonic?" he asked, turning his head behind him. However, Sonic, who was just behind him, had disappeared much like his friends had before.
Alone once more, Knuckles spun around the room, trying to make anything out in the darkness. "You can't run..." an eerie voice sounded around him.
Jumping in surprise, he widened his eyes when the ghost figure appeared in front of him. Its eyes were still bleeding and the red liquid fell to the floor, making loud plopping noises as impacted the ground. It had its mouth open in a grin, showing it's razor sharp teeth once more. Its feet didn't touch the ground, and instead floated just above it.
"What did you to my friends?!" Knuckles yelled at it. The being said nothing and simply lifted its arms up. Knuckles heard footsteps around him and looked around wildly.
Other figures revealed themselves from the darkness and made Knuckles gasp out loud. "W-what.." his voice trailed off when Tails, Amy, Vector, Espio, Charmy,and Sonic all filed around him, their eyes now red like the figure. Sonic walked beside his look-a-alike and smiled menacingly.
"So many souls to play with, so little time. Wouldn't you agree?" both the figure and the real Sonic said in unison. Knuckles only stared in shock and didn't reply.
Without any warning, his now possessed friends moved closer to him, causing him to back away. They reached their hands in front of them, making them look like zombies, and moaned loudly. Knuckles, still in shock, continued to back away and ran into a wall.
He slid his back against it, his mind still frozen in complete terror. All rational thoughts he had before had left him and only fear stayed. There really was nowhere to run now.
"Ready for Round 2, Knuckles?" The two Sonic's asked him. His followers moved in for the kill and Knuckles widened his eyes.
"NO!" he yelled. "Stay back!" But, they ignored him as they continued to trudge towards him. Almost completely enveloped, Knuckles finally decided to accept his fate and closed his eyes. He awaited the inevitable, and held his hands over his face.
However, what he heard next caught him completely off guard. Expecting to be turned into one of those things in front of him, he instead heard laughter erupt in front of him. Snapping his eyes open, he saw all the lights come on and squinted his eyes.
"NO!" Sonic mocked. "Stay back!" Knuckled saw him double over in laughter, still dumbfounded on what had just happened. His other friends were taking off a mask off their faces, revealing their true eyes, and all giggled like maniacs.
"You.." Tails tried to say in between fits of laughter. "You should of saw your face!"
Everyone continued to laugh in front of him, and Knuckles suddenly stood up in anger. "What the heck is going on?!"
"Here's your payment boys." a deep female voice said behind the crowd. Amy and Tails moved forward to reveal a smirking Rouge behind them. She handed Vector a large sum of cash and Vector counted it excitedly.
"Rouge?!" Knuckles yelled out. The others were still laughing at him. He stared at them angrily.
"Calm down honey." Rouge told with a wink. "You wouldn't want to be red like that all the time." She teased him.
"Someone tell me what is going on!" he yelled once more. This only made everyone laugh even harder.
"This was one your best plans yet Rouge." Amy said, holding onto her stomach. She and Tails were leaning on each other for support. "I guess I did a good job on everyone's masks."
"Sorry Knuckles." Vector told him. "But, I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this." He held his cash in front of him, still marveling at it with wide eyes.
"I'll explain everything Knuckie." Rouge told him. "I just thought it would be fun to pull a little prank on you. No harm done, right?"
"What!" Knuckles yelled. "I can't even..."
"Although Sonic almost ruined it when he came back early." Rouge complained. Sonic, having heard his name, looked up at her with a nervous grin.
"Hey, I wasn't staying out in the rain the rest of the day. I can't believe you would leave me out of something like this!" Sonic exclaimed with his arms crossed.
"I didn't know anything about it until Rouge got to me either Sonic." Tails told him. "You guys nearly gave me a heart attack you know." Tails frowned slightly but a smile crept back onto his face when he glanced back over at Knuckles. "But, it was completely worth it to see this."
"It's a good thing I found that old robot copy of you Sonic or I wouldn't have been able to pull this off." Rouge said, still smirking at the now speechless Knuckles. His cheeks were glowing red and he had his fists still clenched to his sides. Rouge pulled on the now frozen robot of Sonic. It fell to the floor and revealed a string hanging behind one of it's quills.
"Hey, we did most of the work!" Vector bellowed to her. "Do you know how hard it was to block off all the windows and doors?"
"You're lucky I gave you the full amount with your poor job of keeping everyone in and out." Rouge replied. Vector ignored her though and stared at his cash.
"Ok, guys. I think that's enough making fun of Knuckles." Amy said to the group.
"Yea, sorry about that Knux, but man that was hilarious." Sonic told him with a grin. Knuckles said nothing, still standing still. Eventually everyone headed upstairs, Amy suggesting they make some cookies to snack on.
Leaving only Rouge and Knuckles in the basement, Rouge walked over to silently fuming echidna. "Aw, come on Knuckie. We we're just having some fun. You're not too mad are you?"
"I can't believe you managed to pull this off." Knuckles said to her. "I really thought you all were in trouble!" He screamed at her.
"Is that the only thing that's got you angry?" Rouge asked him slyly. "Or is it because the all mighty Knuckles can't admit he got scared?"
"I wasn't-"
"Oh, don't give me that." Rouge said. "You were scared. Just admit it." She put a hand on his shoulder. Knuckles snapped his body away from her, still pouting to himself. "Ok, fine. I'm sorry. You happy?"
Knuckles said nothing and turned away from her. Not getting another word from him, Rouge just sighed and headed past to him to the stairs. Reaching the foot of the steps, though, she heard footsteps follow behind her. She stopped before going up.
"Well, you going up?" Knuckles asked her, sounding less angry than before. "There won't be any cookies left if we waste more time down here."
Rouge smiled to herself and continued up the stairs, Knuckles following behind her. As they got to the top, Knuckles slowly pulled the door closed, but not all the away before Tails voice chimed from the doorway.
"Hey, I hope you guys know you're cleaning up this mess before you leave."
...And that's the end. After seeing some of my subscribers on youtube play sonic. exe , I figured I may as well and give my own spin on the story. ;)