Hello guys~ Welcome to my very first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction. I'm pretty new to the games (don't ask me why, I have no idea how I managed to ignore them my entire life except for playing some Unleashed back when it released) and was lucky or unlucky enough – you decide – to be dragged in by Forces. Sigh, such a great concept but so lazily realized. It especially ticked me off we didn't learn anything about Sonic's six months in Eggman's hands, so here we are now. I'm still on the hunt for other Forces FFs about this topic, so feel free to let me know if you read any or are writing one yourself haha.
As I said, I'm very new to the fandom and don't know much of what happened in the games before Sonic '06 (god protect me) so I apologize if I can't dive that deep into the world. I hope I still managed to write an acceptable start. I'm probably going to continue this since the original idea was to present the kind of torture I imagined Sonic lived through, but I have a tendency to describe everything in detail so I got a bit hung up. Reviews are very appreciated. Hope you enjoy~

The first thing he noticed when he woke up was the unusual amount of uncomfortableness he felt. Groaning, he curled more into himself and searched for his blanket with one hand, only realising something was off when he couldn't find it and, after waking up a bit more, noticing the hard ground under him replacing his soft bed. Growling in annoyance – who'd dare interrupt his sleep?! – he sat up, immediately clutching his head and hissing through gritted teeth when it began pounding like crazy. What the…? Still disoriented from his sleepiness, he took in his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be… a cell?

Yup, definitely. Boring, gray metal walls and bars replacing one wall. How exactly did he end up here again? His memory was a bit fuzzy and it took him a while of staring blankly at the opposite wall until it finally came back to him.

Right… Shadow, Zavok, Chaos, Metal and… that guy, whoever he is, all came at me at once. He shook his still hurting head and decided to check the cell for any weak spots, not expecting to find much. He wasn't too panicked; it wasn't like it was the first time Eggman managed to catch him. However, the way he ended up in this situation in the first place bothered him a great deal…

After spin dashing against the bars multiple times without them showing even the slightest scratch, he reluctantly sat down on the only object in the entire cell; the uncomfortable metal platform he had woken up on earlier. He didn't like being idle, but he recognized when he just wasn't able to do anything about a particular situation. His best option would probably be to wait until Eggman or his robots showed up and then see what he could do to escape. To prevent falling completely into boredom, he tried to recall the details of his most recent battle.

That guy… a jackal, was it? He didn't know his name. He'd just call him Mask or something until he learned it. Simple and fitting. Anyway, Mask had moved way too quickly – how could he have kept up with him, the fastest being alive? Maybe he wasn't fast but just teleported. Yeah, he'd go with that. Still, it wasn't like he had never fought teleporting opponents before. Something about him had been completely off. Not to mention that he had all those bad guys supporting him. Why would Shadow of all people help someone like that? He didn't get it.

It really did irritate him how little he had been able to fight back. What would Tails think about him, being knocked around like a rag doll?! He huffed, trying to find a more comfortable position to sit in. His entire body hurt; it wasn't the worst pain he had ever experienced by far, he could handle this much, but it didn't make it any less annoying and distracting, especially when he had nothing else to do other than sitting around.

His ears perked up at the sound of footsteps. About time. He blinked and covered his eyes with one hand when suddenly, bright light filled the room. When his eyes had gotten used to the brightness, he felt a condescending smirk form on his face at the sight of Eggman grinning at him from the opposite side of the bars, two robots flanking him on both sides.

"'bout time you showed up, Egghead. I was getting pretty bored in here." The grin didn't disappear from the doctor's face at the insult. In fact, he looked very much like a little boy who had just seen Santa Claus in person.
"Sonic, my dear arch nemesis! So glad to see you've finally returned to the world of the living. I already thought the little beating my underlings gave you was too much for you." Sonic tried his best to not let the anger he felt at that statement show, instead settling for lazily crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back.

"Sorry, but I'm not so keen on leaving anytime soon." Especially not as long as you're around. He hoped Tails had managed to get away safely. Then again, he wasn't too worried about the fox. He knew how to take care of himself-

"That's splendid, because you definitely won't." He had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Eggman's obviously intentional misinterpretation of his words. "So. I'm sure you're wondering what happened during the time you were unconscious, and what I'm planning on doing with you, now that you are finally in my grasp… oh, saying that feels so wonderful!" Sonic yawned and looked around to find something more interesting to do than listening to Eggman's upcoming overlord speech. He only found his gave traveling back to the doctor when his voice took on a sinister undertone, making his spines stand up slightly.

"By the way, I wouldn't expect any of your little friends to show up and rescue you. Doubt they'd dare to do that when they believe you're dead." It was only for a second, but by the satisfied smirk on Eggman's face Sonic could tell he had seen the shock which had crossed his face at that statement. He quickly composed himself and leaned forwards.

"Sure thing. They wouldn't believe I'm dead just because I went missing for a few days." His annoyance rose to a dangerous level when the doctor snickered – seriously, there was only so much Sonic could take of this guy when he didn't have the upper hand (which obviously was the case most of the time) and he was nearing his limits. "What's so funny, Egghead?" Eggman clasped his hands together behind his back.

"Well, first of all, my dear little rodent, you didn't just 'go missing' – I personally prefer the term 'got captured' – for a few days. It's been two weeks", he looked way too smug for Sonic's tastes when said hedgehog gaped at him, this time obviously shocked, "and considering the way things look outside, it's honestly not very far-fetched to believe such a thing." At this, Sonic jumped up with a growl and stomped towards Eggman, grabbing the bars.

"What did you do?", he asked threateningly.

"Ooh, scary. So you believe me after all?"
"Hah! I don't believe a word out of your mouth without any proof, especially in a situation like this."

"You sure got angry just now if that's really the case." The doctor regarded him with a non-transparent face. Then he grinned. "Could it be you remember how easily you yourself were defeated by my underlings? Then know this, they were only a small part of my force. I-"

"That's not the point", Sonic growled. However, his mind rushed to order his thoughts. He really didn't believe anything Eggman said, it was way too unrealistic. So why did he get so worked up? His head started pounding again like a painful reminder. Maybe it also had to do with Tails not being able to get any data on that masked guy and the others. But still-

"Then what is? So sorry to tell you rodent, but-"

"Look here Egghead, we both know that I'm gonna be out of here in no time and whatever big thing you're planning this time around is bound to fail anyway. Don't you think this is just a waste of time?" He felt somewhat satisfied when Eggman didn't answer immediately, instead opting to stare at him in silence. He let go of the bars and chose to use the time to fix his gloves and dust off his sneakers, thinking he got his point across. What he wasn't prepared for was the bars disappearing with a swooshing sound, giving him room to roll over both Eggman and his stupid robots. Unfortunately, he was so stunned by this seemingly superiorly stupid move that the robots had more than enough time to rush over to him and grab him by his arms and legs. "H-hey!" He yelped when their grips tightened as Eggman turned his back on him.

"I guess it can't be helped. If I can't convince you with words I'll just have to show you." Something in the way the doctor said this made Sonic feel cold inside. He hissed when the robots started following their master, holding the hedgehog in place no matter how hard he tried to get away. After almost managing to free one foot, he winced when a weak electrical wave rushed through his entire system, momentarily stunning him yet again. It wasn't enough to really hurt, but strong enough to startle him and stop his struggling. Okay… calm down hedgehog. You won't be able to get away this way. Just play along for a bit. Maybe I can find out more about the situation outside and then sneak away. He sure hoped so. Not even a day had passed and he was already more than fed up with the doctor.

His vision went black and his head began to ring when the robots – accidently or intentionally he didn't know – let his head hit against some kind of metallic object. He groaned and closed his eyes, waiting for the dizziness to go away.

"Ah-ah-ah, be careful, will you. We wouldn't want the rodent to pass out again this soon. " His amused tone stood in harsh contrast to the actual words, causing Sonic to let out an annoyed growl.

"I'm touched. Are we there yet?"

"So impatient. But yes, we are." Sonic frowned when they reached a room with at least ten huge monitors, each showing a different scenery. Or well, he guessed that they did usually. As it was now…

His eyes widened involuntarily. His spines went up almost vertically and his ears folded back against his head in anger as he hissed through his teeth, not caring that he probably looked more like a feral animal than his usual civilized self right now. No way…

He could almost feel Eggman's triumphant grin from across the room at his extreme reaction. "Welcome to our new world, hedgehog. I actually planned to banish you into space right away when you got knocked out, but I just couldn't resist letting you watch together with me as everything you've ever known crumbles away right in front of you. Don't worry though; I still plan on getting rid of you once and for all once my plan is complete…"

Sonic barely listened to him. His entire attention was focused on the screens, all different sceneries dyed in the same colors and with the exact same special effects: Fire, giga robots destroying everything in sight, more fire, the crying of children, the screams of women or men crying for the loss of their significant other, parents shouting the names of their children in hopes of finding them in the chaos, the howl of sirens, the sheer agonizing sobs of so so many…

Normally he wouldn't take the bait this easily and be suspicious as of whether the material was edited, but all of this sounded so real, so touching, so full of sadness and fear that he knew not even Eggman could fake it.

He could only cause it.

He took in a shaky breath. "You… you've really gone and done it this time, Eggman", he pressed out through clenched teeth, finally tearing his gaze away from the screens to glare death upon the doctor. He was almost surprised at how low and threatening his voice sounded. The other, however, didn't seem to be very impressed; instead, his expression changed to a thoughtful one as he raised a hand and ran it through his moustache.

"I'm feeling some kind of déjà vu… I wonder why? Ah, right!" The grin returned to his face as he acted like he forgot about the day Sonic had last uttered this exact same phrase – one of the most painful days the hedgehog had ever experienced. Which was why he was sure the doctor hadn't forgotten about it either. "But do you know what the difference is this time around, rodent?"

Sonic braced himself and let his spines rise again on high alert to offer at least some protection when the human walked towards him. With the robots still restraining him, there wasn't much more he could do. Eggman stopped right in front of him and grabbed the softer fur on his head, making him hiss in pain against his will when he hit an especially bad bruise, forcing his head up and leaning in, way too close.

"This time, I've really done it. And this time, I won't be stupid enough to let you go until the very end. The planet's great hero won't be there to save it. Your world is going to burn, Sonic, and we're going to watch it go down together."