"Gear up, Shadow! We got an assignment!"

Rouge's only answer was a irritated growl as Shadow glared at her from behind the open book he was reading. Nevertheless, the female bat was anything but persistent, and she knew how to press the bio-engineered hedgehog's buttons to get the response she wanted.

"Get up, you lazy bump! You're getting worse than Blue!"

That did for Ultimate Lifeform, who hated being compared to his rival. Within a blink, the ebony warrior had placed the book he had been reading back where it belonged and was standing at the door, ready to leave. "...what's the mission?"

"You know those corpse GUN's been finding all over town?" Rouge grinned smugly at the scowling hedgehog before opening the door of the bio-engineered male's apartment, greeting the sight that was a bustling Acropolis with a pleased smirk. "Well, it seems that the police caught the thing that was the cause of this fiasco." She turned her head around to look at her glaring friend. "GUN tasked us to pick it up from the Western Station and bring it to the main base, so use those shoes for something else than racing Big Blue!" Stretching out her wings, the female leaped into the afternoon sky,.

Shadow's seething glare followed his flying comrade; with a grunt he leaped down the apartment's stairs and channelled Chaos Energy down his feet, causing the shoes to activate and flames to emerged from soles. He raced after the white bat, intent on getting there first. The ebony warrior's pride demanded it.

I wonder who can be that much of an moron to get caught by the common police force of all things...

xxxxxxxxx

Sonic greeted the world of living with a groan of agony and a formidable headache the size of Angel Island.

The young hedgehog's head throbbed, a pain that resembled the many, many times he got a concussion after being send flying into a wall headfirst by whatever villain decided to do a bid for world domination. With a bit of effort -for some reason, his arm felt heavier than normal- he managed to lift a hand to rub his aching head, intent of easing the throbs away by rubbing his sore cranium.

He could only to recoil as he felt several sharp objects dig into his cranium.

"Ow! Son of a...!" Sonic let the curse trail off as he opened his eyes, Jade eyes widening at the horrific sight that lay in front of him.

His hand.

There was no fabric, fur or skin; not even flesh or bone.

It was metal.

Fucking, honest to Chaos metal.

Metal as black as ebony that replaced where his fur and flesh had once been. Panicking and on the verge of hyperventilating, the young hero checked his left hand, only to sigh in relief as he realized that while his fur had turned pitch black, it was still organic.

That is, if you don't count the sharp, silver razors that had once been his nails.

My arm...it's just like when I killed that girl... He eyed the malformed limb warily as if he expected it to suddenly grow a pair of jaws and lunge at his throat. Remembering what the parasite had made him do last time he had been like this, Sonic realized a extra mouth wasn't outside the realm of possibilities, and a shiver travelled his spine as such.

His examination of the rest of his body left him even more horrified. He remembered what he felt the first time the creature had taken over, but actually seeing and controlling his body while it was in this state made him squeamish. This was his body, and it was covered in that not-metal stuff. He had a right to panic, especially when he knew the thing inside his head could use him like a puppet!

Focus. A part of him whispered. Stay calm. The Blue Blur wished he could. The azure speedster took a deep, shuddering breath as he tried unsuccessfully to ease his nerves.

For a moment he was almost there, but then everything went out the metaphorical window as he felt the parasitic cause of all this stir inside his mind.

Awake, are we?

This time, Sonic didn't even try to be nice. Where am I?!

You have been captured by mortals, I believe. The creature mumbled with obvious distaste. Our last hunt ended...badly. I miscalculated. A low snarl of displeasure; Sonic was wondering if he should ask what happened, since his memory went as far as his last confrontation with the creature, but decided otherwise. It felt pissed enough as it is, and the sapphire hero didn't want to accidentally send the beast into another mindless rampage.

Besides, he ended in worse places.

Is this prison cell?!

He looked around with a mix of horror and amazement, as he had never been on this side of the bars. Yes, it did look like a cell, but from the cacophony of sounds coming from outside -cars, conversations, vendors- this so called prison was in a city, which was absurd. This must be a detention cell in a police station.

That was quick. He tensed. I thought it would have taken you more time to figure it out.

Why the hell am I here?

Glad to see you're not panicking.

"There are different ways one can panic." Sonic whispered to the creature as he walked up to a wall and ran his right fingers against the stone. He was perplexed to see the metallic claws that adorned his fingertips pierce through the asphalt like a hot knife against butter.

True. The parasite hesitated, musing if it should inform it's host who was in a already delicate situation. I made you too heavy for them to move you around. They dragged us in here and stuffed you full of drugs. Too bad their concoction is too weak for me. I burned it out of your system.

I'd say thank you, but you are the reason I'm here.

Hmm. The creature snorted, sounding like he had ruffled it's feathers. I'll be proactive for once; here you go, before you ask why you ended up here. For this occasion, Sonic was able to brace himself for the memories better than the last time. Sonic was quick to rack his brains for the ones that proceeded his blackout.

What he found surprised him greatly. Rather, it threw him off his feet; the cause was the memory of him grabbing the giant arachnid -how come he never saw something like that hanging around Acropolis before?!- and dragging it away from the humans before it could deliver a single blow to the helpless civilians.

You...saved them?

We saved them. The thing muttered defensively. I'm not one that likes prey eating each other without my consent. The quick response made the armored hedgehog smirk. Sure. He totally believed the creature, especially the way it responded so hastily.

His only answer for his cheeky thoughts was a sharp sting of pain that made his head hurt even more. Urgh, this was terrible. He felt as if his head was going to split open. Can you get rid of my headache? Sonic asked the parasite, wincing as he felt it look down that him haughtily.

Sure. The creature mocked, throwing his words back at him. Give me a moment.

Sonic let out a pained hiss as he felt the pounding headache being banished away by the parasite. Now able to think more clearly, the sapphire one turned around, looking for possible ways to exit the cell. The Blue Blur was quick to notice the old, small camera attached to a corner of the room, just above the door that lead towards the rest of the building. On the opposite wall of the reinforced door saw a lone, small window barely bigger than a Chao -one covered in bars to prevent escape.

Something told Sonic that he could snap those iron bars like dry twigs with this new form.

The thought made him queasy.

Can you turn me back?

Not yet. It would be an interesting show for those watching.

Watching?! Wait. The scarlet-quilled male glanced back at the camera. Oh. That could be a problem. He had to break it, somehow. Sonic eyed his feet, noticing the daggers sticking out of the tip of the smooth, not-metal carapace. He didn't think doing a Spindash would easy with those on. He looked back up at the device.

Well...

...damn. He hated being short.

He blamed Aleena for this. She had given all of her tall genes to his bother and sister. He got nothing. At least he didn't get the plump, squarish figure of his father. That would have been even worse.

I could break it for you. The creature muttered, gently bringing him out of his thoughts. Sonic sighed, relieved to know that the parasite was cooperating. If you say please. Darn. He spoke too soon. He and his big mouth.

Not like he had another choice, however. It was that or sit here until the police decided what to do with him -or even worse, throw him in GUN's lap. Swallowing back his pride, he whispered to the beast who had forcefully made a home inside his body, voice low in case they had a recording device hiding somewhere in the cell. "Please break the camera." There, happy?

Hmm, fair enough. To his horror, he felt something slither around against the back of his head; Sonic yelped as he saw a scarlet tendril that smelled suspiciously of blood shot out of his cranium and impacted the camera, blowing it to smithereens and beyond. Jumping back, the armored hedgehog watched as the tentacle lazily retracted back into his quills. Raising his organic hand, Sonic worked his way through the bird's nest that was the ruby red quills in search of a trace of the mysterious tendril. Nothing. It had vanished.

And it's smell...was that my blood?!

Yes. The parasite didn't even try to hide the fact. It's reply was dry and humorless, yet Sonic could sense it's amusement over his reaction of the tendril's appearance. It irked him, but the blue speedster decided to let go of his resentment for now. It wouldn't help with the situation.

Now change me back. He sighed in relief as he felt the not-metal that made up the parasite slowly glide off his fur, changing it from a smoke grey and scarlet red to a luscious sapphire and fawn pelt. The harder sections, the ones that made up the armor broke away, retracting beneath his flesh for further use.

Sonic gave his body a stretch, sighing once more in happiness as he felt no longer constricted. He eyed his right arm in distaste. It was still metallic, and his fingers had fused together into a empty cylinder, leaving a small space between them. If he didn't know better, he would say it had changed his arm into a small cannon.

Then again, he knew nothing about the creature: it could be able to spew out candies for all he knew. The lack of information made him uncomfortable. The one time he needed Tails and he couldn't speak, otherwise this thing would blow his brain like a firework show.

Ready to leave? I'll destroy the wall and you will run out of there as fast as you can.

Just...just give me a moment to process this.

While the parasite allowed the blue hedgehog a break, the universe thought otherwise by making this the exact moment that one of the cell's walls exploded inwards, rubble slamming into his body and burying him beneath mountains of remains.

xxxxxxxxx

If the Twilight Manacle hadn't been pissed before, it certainly was now. It had been trying to reassure it's poor host, and just when it had begun to form the connection it longed for a blasted immortal of all things decided it would be fun to destroy it's efforts within the span of a moment.

There was a reason I nearly eradicated both of their races. It eyed the newcomer through Ogilvie's wide, panicked eyes, snarling as the creature drew dangerously closer. Letting lose a few tendrils, it held off the creature with a swarm failing Blood Whips. The female immortal snarled, disappearing into the settling dust to avoid getting speared by the sharp-pointed tendrils. Well this was interesting.

It was actually smart and using the dust as cover. A would-be Gaia perhaps?

No. If it was a pretender to the title, it would be far bigger.

Pale eyes narrowed.

This was just someone above the common cannon-fodder it had to deal with up to now.

A Blood Whip finally made it's mark, blindly slicing into the immortal's side and drawing a pained snarl from the creature. If it could smirk, Twilight would have done it. The little female probably noticed the chunk of Negative Chaos it had stolen with that minuscule cut.

That warning should hold the beast back, at least for a short time. It had to focus on it's vessel. Ogilvie should be part of the action for once. It was tiring and shameful, to use the boy's body like a puppet. Twilight blamed it on the fact it had been cranky and deprived of food for several years when it had been in Black Doom's custody, and had needed substance right away. Ogilvie treating it like a parasitic monster and trying to come up ways to get rid of it -the nerve!- hadn't helped.

Time to put that aside.

Start moving, little one.

xxxxxxxx

Sonic never thought there would be a female scarier than Amy, but it seemed as if the universe had proven him wrong. He had barely caught the sight of glowing cyan and yellow eyes, snarling lips, gleaming fangs and massive, purple claws before the parasite inside his head shrieked like a banshee and send a swarm of those scarlet tendrils at her.

The clawed lady immediately darted to the right to avoid getting speared through like a salmon before scurrying away through the hole in his cell, disappearing into the cloud of falling dust. Sonic stared at her retreating form with a mix of horror in confusion. He didn't want to fight another of those things!

Start moving, little one.

He let a panicked shout as the not-metal was suddenly enveloping him again, ebony matter warping tighter around his right arm and stretching towards the rest of his body, throwing off the dust and rubble that had fallen on him in the wake of the explosion. What was happening?!

To make things worse, the strange girl was suddenly in front of him again, left claws ready to strive. Sonic scrambled back at the sudden appearance of the armor-clad being, eyes widening as he realized he wouldn't be able to get away quickly enough from the eleven-inch claws. Just when he thought he was done for, a pair of scarlet tentacles slammed into her stomach and send her flying back.

"Huh?!" That was all he managed to say as he watched the creature shriek in anger as she was forced to dodge another attack from the strange tendrils.

The Blood Whips aren't going to keep her at bay for long. Move.

As confused as he was of the situation, the blue hedgehog didn't need much encouragement. He darted through the cell's broken wall as if an angry Amy was hot on his heels, intent on getting as much distance between him and the rampaging female.

What was she anyway?!

I didn't expect the Gaias to act so quickly.

There, it said that name again. Gaias. Who are those? Are they connected to Black Doom? Sonic urged the creature to answer, but it shook it's metaphorical head and concentrated on their surroundings, not wanting the claw-wielding immortal to sneak attack it's host. They had ended up in another cell, one that had it's door opened wide open, looking as if it had been brutally maimed. It hung sadly on it's frame by strands of metal, threatening to fall over at any moment.

A loud crash made both Sonic and the parasite tense; the armored hedgehog looked back at his cell just in time to see the ceiling topple down like a pile of cards.

Get out of the building. I think the bitch is trying to bury us alive.

That wasn't a happy thought. The panicking hedgehog dashed through the doorframe and into the hallway, hoping that it would lead to an exit. He didn't want to try to break through a wall like that claw-wielding girl had done, not when the building was unstable and shook every once in a while, not to mention the clouds of dust that fell from the ceiling like snow.

He didn't expect the sight that greeted him in the hallway.

The blood was everywhere, staining the ground, walls and ceiling like a morbid canvas. Broken bodies lay strewn across the asphalt floor, limbs twisted in unnatural angles and some even severed from their owners. The stench of death, stomach acid and decay was so strong he lost his sense of smell for the briefest of moments.

Sonic stared at the corpse thrown around the hallway in horror. He couldn't believe this. Not once in his career the young speedster had seen such carnage. What caused this wasn't a person.

She was a monster. That thing was a monster.

(He was starting to understand why the parasite wanted to kill it so badly.)

The transformed hero made his way through the hall, wincing as he stepped on one of the many pools of blood. The pools were so deep that when his armored feet stepped into them, they made small waves. His lips curled in disgust as he finally reached the end of the macabre hallway; his feet were drenched in the vile liquid, and more than once he nearly slipped on it, forcing him to lean against the dirty walls to provide himself some stability.

The result was disgusting; his hands, arms and legs were covered in splotches of blood. Sonic wished he wasn't going to encounter a mirror anytime soon. It was enough that he felt the sticky material calling on his limbs, drying as small, brown crumbs.

Stop being so weak. Get out of here, before we end up like the mortals!

Right. Sonic's lips twisted into a weak smile of determination. He had to get out of here. He had to survive. As he moved through the rooms of the station, he was greeted with the same sight over and over again. Corpse laying about at his feet like broken dolls, faces still twisted in expressions of pain and fear. Sheer will to live and the parasite's urging got him through the sight of the building's murdered inhabitants without throwing up.

The Blue Blur barely made it to the main entrance before the station collapsed, sending him flying forwards. The unfortunate hero landed on the road with a yelp, tumbling several times before coming to a stop on his belly. Sonic's sides ached, screaming in pain as he struggled to rise from his fallen position.

All attempts to right himself went out the window when he saw the aftermath of the building's collapse.

Sonic didn't know how long he stared at the pile of rubble that had once been a police station, mouth falling low as he gaped at the destruction stretched out in front of him. A building with people in it. Living, breathing people, that were all dead. They were all dead because they had been in the female murderer's way. The Blue Blur couldn't help staring, unable to comprehend how this could happen. Not even Eggman was this ruthless; his new opponent had crushed an entire building in a attempt to make it fall on top of him, killing countless people by doing so.

Sonic remained kneeling in front of the falling dust as the purple-skinned girl appeared in front of him, smirking smugly at his curled form. Her claws twitched, as if itching to dig into his flesh. The young hedgehog didn't care however. He emptily stared at the collapsed building in silence, horrified.

(To think that, a day ago, he had been partying with his friends and little brother without a care in the world.)

Finally seeing the truth, are we?

The mocking words of the parasite made his blood boil...yet the burning, scorching need for violence wasn't directed at the creature. Rather, the ebony hedgehog's head slowly rose, gold orbs meeting vibrant cyan. Bright, sun-like eyes glared up at the female, who took a step back, wary by the sudden change, taken off guard by the rage lighting the formerly dull golden orbs.

Don't let them rule you with fear.

Sonic gave the startled girl a feral roar, swiftly rising from his knees with a burst of speed. Scarlet energy crackled around him as his eyes began to glow brighter, gold briefly turning into red, not-metal stretching and whirling against his fur as it sharpened into points, hooks and blades. The purple girl's eyes widened, a hint of fear beginning to show itself in the cyan orbs.

He felt satisfied with that look.

She deserved to be afraid,

We are the hunter, they are the prey.

With a vengeful gleam in his eyes Sonic burst forwards, clawed hands poised towards the creature's heart.


Well Sonic is starting to have a change of heart now, guess what will happen! :D

I feel this chapter is a bit awkward, so I'll probably upgrade it once I get ideas on it. For now, I'll use it to replace the piece of crap that was the previous chapter that was here.