A/N: Hi readers! Here's chapter 1.:)

Be warned that there are a total of four deaths in this chapter (Two of the four being majors in the Sonic series, one being semi-major and the last having next to no value) and one of them is pretty gory, so if that kind of thing makes you squeemish, then it's probably best if you look for somthing else to read. Reviews are nice and highly appreciated, so if you can, please leave me one so I know where I can improve my writing. If the readers are happy then I'm ecstatic.:)

Now without further ado, please enjoy!


The Darkness Returns

Double Tragedy

One month later…

Afternoon

Soleanna Forest

"Sonic!"

The cobalt hedgehog turned at the sound of his name coming from a familiar voice and he grinned at the approaching figure. "Hey Tails! What's up?"

Tails skidded to a halt in front of his friend, panting and wheezing with an extremely worried look on his face. Sonic felt a chill go up his spine. Something was wrong, deathly wrong.

"S-Sonic… b-bad news…! Come back… to Soleanna! 's urgent!" the yellow twin tailed fox huffed out, looking like he was about to pass out at any given moment. Sonic nodded and dashed away full speed towards the seaside town, his feelings of unease growing.


As soon as he entered the town, Sonic noticed what seemed to be the entire of Soleanna's residents gathered in the town square. He speed walked towards the crowd, his ears noting the people's sobs and hushed murmurings the closer he came. One phrase in particular continually jumped out at him. She's dead. Princess Elise is dead.

Sonic stopped and his lower lip trembled. "No…" he whispered, eyes becoming moist. He ran a gloved hand over them, dislodging a few small teardrops, then began to edge his way to the front of the crowd. He caught sight of the Mayor of Soleanna and a huddle of servants weeping behind him atop the castle's stone steps. "What happened?" Sonic asked the mayor as he approached.

The old man blew his nose loudly with a white handkerchief and stared at the cobalt hedgehog with red tear filled eyes. "Princess Elise is dead." He sniffled, swiping his eyes on his suit sleeve. Sonic's fists clenched. So it was true.

"Show me." He whispered, restraining from crying. The mayor shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you quite sure?"

Sonic frowned, "Of course. Why?"

Again, the mayor shifted. "Because the manner in which she died was… horrific."

Sonic swallowed thickly. "Show me anyway."


"Not much longer."

Sonic silently trailed behind the mayor. She's dead. The princess is dead.

The townspeople's words echoed through his skull and he closed his eyes, willing them away like a nightmare.

"We're here."

Sonic reopened his eyes and stared at the beautiful white door with elegant swirls and fleur de lis' carved into its surface. The mayor stared down at Sonic, seeming to say that it was not too late to turn back. Sonic's brow furrowed and he placed a hand over the shiny golden doorknob. He refused to chicken out. He gave the mayor a quick glance, and then twisted the knob, opening the door. It silently swung open on well oiled hinges, revealing to Sonic the horror he had been warned about.

The formerly white walls at the back of Princess Elise's room had bright crimson messily sprayed all over them. At the very back wall was her four poster bed. From behind its gossamer curtain Sonic could make out more red. Hesitantly he entered the threshold of the room and made his way towards the bed. Something in the corner opposite Elise's bed caught his attention so he stopped and slowly turned to look at it.

He nearly vomited.

Sprawled in the corner was Elise's maid. The poor girl was an absolute mess. One of her legs was twisted at an odd angle, splintered bone peeking through her kneecap, her entrails were spilling from her stomach and pooling at her legs like a sick pile of spaghetti and her head was thrown back against the wall, the plaster around it cracked and some unnameable goo trailing from it. Her face was horribly scratched and one of her eyes was missing. She was completely drenched in blood.

Sonic quickly turned away from the mutilated maid and headed for the bed, determined to get this over with, despite his fear and disgust. With shaking hands, he pulled aside the drapes surrounding the bed, which had ragged claw marks through the middle of them, and saw what used to be Elise.

The limp figure lying before Sonic was drenched in her own blood, some of which still trickled, fresh from her wounds and onto the bed. All over her body, jagged, crystal like growths jutted out from her skin. One of them looked like it had been snapped off; this was jammed between her glazed, unseeing eyes. Sonic hastily backed away, feeling bile push its way up his throat.

"Isn't it terrible?" the mayor whispered behind him, sadly.

"W-what did… this?" Sonic choked out, terrified eyes flicking between Elise and her maid.

"Let us get out of here first… then I shall tell you all that we know so far." The mayor suggested, placing a hand on Sonic's shoulder. The hedgehog nodded and hastily followed him out the door, eager to leave behind Elise and her butchered maid.


"This all started about a week ago, when the princess suddenly become ill." The mayor began, slowly stirring his tea. "Her temperature would skyrocket one minute, only to plummet down the next. She also suffered terrible coughing fits to the point that blood came out."

Sonic stared silently into the untouched glass of water he held in his hands.

"During that week, she had never opened her eyes once, so it was a great joy when she finally did." The mayor smiled slightly as he remembered the small moment of joy. His face quickly became sombre again as he continued his tale. "However, last night when Alyssa, Princess Elise's maid, came to check up on her… this tragedy began to unfold.

"The details of what happened next are a mystery but from what we know, the entire castle was woken by Alyssa's screams. Following the screams was a god awful crack… we believe that was when she died."

The image of Alyssa's mutilated body flashed through Sonic's mind and he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling sick again. The mayor continued, oblivious to the hedgehog's discomfort.

"We, that is, the servants and I, rushed to Princess Elise's aid, just as she herself began to scream. Upon entering her room, we were in time to see those… horrendous crystals ripping through her skin." The old man shuddered. "A couple of the servants went to check on Alyssa, while the rest of us rushed to the Princess. She… smirked up at us and… r-ripped of one of the crystals clean off. Before we realised what was happening, she had plunged it into her… head."

Sonic bowed his head, tears pattering silently from his eyes and into the glass of water. "Poor Elise…" he murmured, feeling disturbed. The hedgehog and the mayor sat in silence for a while, images of the Princess and her maid's death flashing through their heads until Sonic broke the silence. "So... have you got any other clues about… 'that'?" he asked, reluctant to say 'Elise's death'. The old man removed his glasses from his face, polishing them with his suit sleeve. "Well… there was… something odd."

Sonic leaned forward intently.

"When the Princess… smirked at us, her eyes were different."

"How so?" Sonic asked.

"They were a muddy green, and her pupils were nothing more than little slits."


Hours later…

Night

Streets of Soleanna

Sonic trudged down the lamp lit streets of Soleanna, arms crossed and head down. The events of the afternoon swirled like fog through his mind, causing him to flinch. She's dead. Princess Elise is dead. The villager's voices echoed dully in his head. "I know…" Sonic whispered to the stars. The shining spots in the sky sparkled back at him coldly, making him feel alone and insignificant.

Sighing, he continued on his way. When the princess … smirked at us, her eyes were different. They were a muddy green, and her pupils were nothing more than little slits. Sonic frowned. "Green eyes… slitted pupils…" he murmured to himself. When nothing clicked, he sighed irritably and ran a hand through his quills. The image of Elise with the dark crystals that had ripped through her skin flashed through Sonic's mind, making him stop. "Green eyes… slit pupils… dark crystals…" Again, nothing clicked. Frustrated, Sonic grit his teeth. "Damn it!" he yelled, pounding his fist against a building. He instantly regretted it when his hand throbbed painfully. He hissed and clutched it to his chest, a few tears falling. "Damn… it!" he sobbed, out of the pain of losing his friend, along with the agonising throb of his hand. As he sulked, he failed to notice the lurching figure that slowly approached him from the shadows.


Uneven footsteps and ragged breathing reached Sonic's ears, instantly jerking him into alertness. He looked up to see a young woman standing under a nearby streetlamp, her head down in what appeared to Sonic as sadness. He recognised her as one of the servants from the castle, but a chill down his spine told him of danger. Suddenly, the girl began to shudder uncontrollably. Seeing that something was wrong with her, Sonic threw all caution to the wind and approached the girl. "Hey! You ok?"

When he came within the lamp light, the girl suddenly threw her head back, eyes wide, and began to choke harshly. "Hey! Snap out of it!" Sonic cried, panicking at her pained spasms. The girl's eyes rolled up into her skull and blood began to ooze from her mouth and nose in thin trails. The feeling of danger screamed at Sonic to run, but he ignored it. This girl was in trouble and it wasn't in his nature to leave others suffering, so he rushed towards her. Sonic gripped her arms tightly, giving her a slight shake. "Hey! Get a grip!"

A drop of blood pattered on his nose and he hastily shook his head to remove it. Once it was gone, he continued trying to get the girl to respond. "What's wrong? If you tell me then I may be able to help you!" he said, voice beginning to rise with fear. Suddenly the servant girl froze. Her head was thrown all the way back and she was rigid as a statue.

"A-are you ok?" Sonic asked, head ringing from the danger bell in his head that screamed at him to run. The girl shivered once and Sonic felt the tiniest bit relieved. "Are you ok?" he repeated, considerably calmer than the first time he'd asked her. Silence.

Sonic was beginning to worry if the girl had died on her feet when she croaked, "N-no… it… hurts."

Sonic sighed lightly, relieved that the girl was alive. "Ok, tell me where it hurts." He instructed.

"E…very…where…" she gasped, shuddering again. Sonic licked dry lips, making a quick decision. "Ok. I'll take you to a doctor." He began to grab her around the waist and under her knees when her hands suddenly wrapped around him like snakes. Sonic grunted in surprise and began to squirm fearfully, until he realised that she was just hugging him. "Thank… you…" she whispered in his ear. Sonic smiled and petted her back, "Eh, no prob-"

One of the girl's arms quickly unwrapped itself and plunged into his stomach.

"W-wha?" Sonic coughed. The girl began to chuckle darkly.

"Hey! What's the meaning of-AAAARGH!" Sonic screamed as the girl twisted her arm inside of him. "My, my… doesn't this bring back memories…" she hissed in a harsher sounding voice tinged with dark amusement. "What're you… ngh… talking about?" Sonic demanded weakly.

"Your death, of course." The girl said sweetly, pulling back from sonic enough for him to see her eyes. His own widened in shock. When the princess … smirked at us, her eyes were different. They were a muddy green, and her pupils were nothing more than slits.

"You… those eyes!" the hedgehog panted.

She smirked at him. "Yes. The very eyes Princess Elise of Soleanna possessed before her untimely demise."

Sonic shook with rage. "Why did you do that… to... Elise, you… monster? Isn't she your… Princess?"

The girl scoffed, "You actually think that I'm this lowly servant girl?" she asked, gesturing at herself. Sonic's eyes narrowed with confusion. What was she talking about?

The girl threw back her head and laughed heartily, "Oh, you are simply too stupid, hedgehog!"

She then ceased her laughter and leaned closer to him. "My name, my dear stupid hedgehog, is Mephiles the Dark. I was the one who killed you in front of the Princess exactly one month ago."

Sonic's brow creased in confusion. Mephiles? He was sure he'd heard that name somewhere…

And then it finally clicked. After beating Solaris, Elise and his friends had told him of a strange dark hedgehog that had temporarily killed him. Parts of the hedgehog's body had been encased in a sharp dark crystal, he had no mouth or nose, his eyes had been red where they should have been white and his irises were a muddy green with slitted pupils.

Mephiles noted Sonic's face melt from confusion into recognition and smirked wider. "Ah good. You remember me now…"

Sonic shook with rage, "You… killed Elise!"

"Indeed I did. And now, you're next!"


Amy Rose hummed merrily as she made her way through the darkened streets of Soleanna. She'd heard that Sonic had returned and was eager to find him and express her profound love for him. Unfortunately, she'd heard nothing of Elise's death and had arrived too late in the night to hear anything from the townspeople so she had no clue as to the events that had transpired.

Amy stopped humming and peered at a nearby street lamp. A young woman and a hedgehog were embracing each other under the light of the lamp. She blushed at how adorable it seemed to her and giggled. As she looked back at the pair, she couldn't help but notice that something looked wrong. Amy squinted at them. Her eyes then widened.

"Are those… spikes?" she gasped aloud, already running towards the pair. As she came closer, she made out the familiar blue fur of her love interest, stained deep crimson.

"SONIC!" she screamed, running faster and stretching one hand out towards him.

Just as her hand touched his shoulder, a giant crystallised spike shot out at her, impaling her through the stomach and making her squeal. "Son-"

Another crystal stabbed her in the head, killing her instantly.

Mephiles snickered at the pink hedgehog's stupidity and began to exit the servant's body in a dark cloud of mist. "One hedgehog down… two to go." His disembodied voice stated gleefully. "Now… which one should I kill next?" he pondered, as he began floating over the ocean, away from the kingdom of Soleanna. "Hm… how about…"


A/N: Heh. Mephy doesn't waste any time, does he?

If you liked this, have any writing advice or have any suggestions for later chapters then please review or P.M me. Thanks for reading!^O^