Chapter 7
The next morning Knuckles was relaxing on Angel Island as he polished the surface of the Master Emerald. He smiled at his own, green-tinted reflection with a content nod. He put away his polishing rag and sat down on the top of the alter steps. It was a lovely day; there was a slight breeze and there was a singing flock of Flickies flying overhead. Knuckles spotted someone, coming across the bridge that connected the island to Red Mountain and grabbed his binoculars. Through them he could see Miky walking slowly, her arms wrapped tightly around her. Knuckles waved and she feebly raised a hand to wave back. 'Something is wrong…' thought the guardian, 'Something is very wrong…'
When Miky finally arrived, it only confirmed his fears. Her eyes were red and watery as if she'd been crying and had a haunted look about them. They sat down next to Master Emerald as Knuckles asked warily, "Miky, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Miky replied in a strained, slightly hoarse voice, "Well… kind of… I thought I would come to you because… actually I don't know why… Tails is closer but I don't know… For some reason I just thought I should go to you…"
"Just spit it out, what happened?" said Knuckles, his worry growing by the minute. Never before had he seen Miky so shaken up.
"Ok… So after the whole lake thing, I went to Sonic's house to borrow this book and he-"
"He kissed you right?" interrupted Knuckles. "He told us all about it and we told him to go talk to you and work things out. Did he?"
Miky bit her lip and cast her eyes toward the ground, "Not… Not exactly… He did mention it and he apologized and he said he liked me. I said I like him too… then… then…" fresh tears sprung up in her eyes as she hugged herself tighter.
Knuckles scooted closer to her, his mind racing about what could possibly be wrong, "What is it? What happened?"
"I left the room to get some tea… When I came back, he was leaned against this mirror on my wall… He looked out of breath and kinda wide-eyed… But he said he was fine. So I go to put down the tea stuff and… and…" Miky stopped again, taking a deep breath and wiping her face on either shoulder, "He grabbed me and pulled me really close… His hands were so cold…" Knuckles waited for her to continue, struggling to keep his face neutral and not jump to any crazy conclusions. "He pushed me onto the couch… I kept telling him to stop but he didn't… he would just grin and whisper for me to stop fighting it… I was scared out my mind… there was something wrong about him… something off… I don't know… He ripped my shirt in half and that's when I just lost it… I threw him out with my telekinesis and I haven't seen him since…"
"Whoa…" said Knuckles quietly. "That's insane; why would Sonic-"
"Oh my Chaos he's coming!" Miky sudden squeaked as she pointed to the bridge. Sure enough, when Knuckles looked, he could see a blue figure reaching the plateau where the bridge was connecting and heading in their direction. The dread-sporting echidna's first reaction was anger; he couldn't wait for Sonic to reach this side so he could beat an explanation for his actions out of him.
However, he kept his cool as he said to Miky, "Hide somewhere; I'll handle this." With a small nod she dashed in the opposite direction and ran down the back stairs of the altar. When Sonic had crossed the bridge, Knuckles went down the front steps and met him at the foot of the altar.
"Hey there Knuckles." Greeted Sonic with a little smile, "How's it going?"
"It's going. What brings you here?" replied Knuckles as he kept his hands curled into loose fists at his sides. It was taking a lot of will not to throw a punch but he was becoming aware of something. He didn't know what though.
"Eh, just passing by and I figured you could use the company. Guarding that big rock must be all the time, huh Knux?"
The red guardian couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Its Knuckles. You know that. So how how'd your talk go with Miky?"
"I told her red-heads aren't my type. You know what they say about red-heads; they're all sluts. No offense, Knux." Shock crept ever so slightly onto Knuckles face before he forced his features to neutral again. Despite this, Beauty noticed and continued, "So Knux, if you're the guardian of that giant paperweight, why does it get stolen or broken all the time?"
"It does not! It's not a paperweight and stop calling me 'Knux'! Why are you being more obnoxious than usual? Hmm? And why did you do what you did to Miky!? She's terrified of you now!"
Beauty shrugged and Sonic's body followed suit, "Because that would be the only good thing that would come out of being with her."
"So you lied to her about having feelings? Than why did you bother ask me and Tails about it?" Knuckles' intuition was once again telling him that something was off and the feeling was getting stronger the more he talked to Sonic. He still didn't know what exactly and that combined with the hedgehog's behavior was making him extremely angry.
Sonic was standing in the dark, ears perked. He could hear arguing, it was faint but he could hear it. Wherever Beauty was there were no surfaces to cast a reflection on so he was basically blind. But he wasn't deaf. If he really focused, he could hear his own voice and Knuckles going at it. From the sound of things, Knuckles was starting to get pretty angry. While he often teased the echidna about various things and loved calling him 'Knux' just to see him get his dreads in a twist, their friendship was solid. As before, Sonic was hoping that Knuckles would see through Beauty's insults and tricks but after seeing her destroy the relationship he had with Tails in one conversation, he wasn't about to hold his breath.
'I might as well start thinking how I'm going to convince them to forgive me… If that's even possible…' thought Sonic as he struggled to make out the words of the argument. He could occasion hear Miky's name and this made him confused, "How did Knuckles know about Miky? Did Beauty mention it or did Miky tell him about it?" He was still thinking about it when he heard his own voice say something in a snarky tone but the only word he caught was Chaos. "Oh no, that's not good…"
"How dare you! Where do you get the nerve to come HERE and insult Chaos!?" growled Knuckles, his hands clenching up in fist so tight, it almost hurt. Any thoughts about what his intuition could be warning him about evaporated as he shot back, "You've battled Chaos before! You know his power and yet you dare to say something like that?!"
"Yeah, I do dare. If he's so big and powerful, how come he lives in a rock that has be constantly guarded. Since you suck at it anyways, he should just take care of himself." Retorted Beauty. She could see Knuckles was fuming and that was good. She could feel before that he was wary; almost as if he was trying to see past the façade she was putting up.
"Listen Sonic if you want to start something, you better be sure you can finish it!" threatened Knuckles as he cracked his namesakes.
The 'hero' scoffed and laughed, "Oh I am supposed to be scared or something? Please! How many times have I kicked your ass? How about a dozen? I can take you anytime, anywhere! You know why? Cause you're weak! That's why you suck as a guardian! You're weak!" Unable back his anger any longer, Knuckles swung his fist and hit Sonic square in the jaw. He stumbled and fell backwards onto the ground.
The enraged echidna grabbed him by the throat and looked him dead in the eyes. Suddenly his intuition was screaming at him again. There was something there, something that wasn't Sonic. He noticed that Sonic's skin was cold as ice and his mind involuntarily went back to the waters of Suicide Lake. The darkness staring back at him was not Sonic, it was something else entirely. Knuckles shoved 'Sonic' towards the bridge and said menacingly, "Get off my island. Don't even thinking about coming near me or Miky ever again." With a glare over his shoulder, 'Sonic' turned and crossed back over the bridge, rubbing his jaw.
Knuckles watched him go, feeling sick to his stomach as Miky peeked out from behind the altar and asked, "Is he gone?"
"Yes, but that's the problem." Replied Knuckles thoughtfully. "Sonic is gone."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Sonic is GONE. Something else is there and it's dark and evil…"
Miky's eyes went wide as she asked, "But, but how is that possible? How can he be gone and if so, how and what's inside him now? Why is it making him act like this?"
"I don't know. We need to go to Tails and see if he's had an encounter with 'Sonic'." Said Knuckles as he made quotes with his hands. "Because it looks like whatever is controlling him is hell bent on trashing his friendships. Let's go." With a nod, Knuckles and Miky ran off towards Tails' house.
Sonic was pacing back and forth in the dark, waiting for Beauty to appear. He knew he should be sitting down and saving his strength but he was nervous and figgetity. Somehow, Beauty had succeeded in making his three closest friends hate him. In a way it shook his whole being to the core that they would think he would ever do any of the things he did or say any of the hurtful things he said. "How they even think for a second that was me?" mumbled Sonic to himself. His legs suddenly became wobbly and as he tried to take another step he fell to his knees. "How could they believe I would do that?" he asked again as he knelt on the floor and fought back tears. "I just don't understand…"
"Maybe they weren't as good as friends as you thought they were." Suggested Beauty as she appeared in her usual cloud. Her hair was as healthy and full as any living being now and sported a light green, almost like grass. It was very curly and rested on her shoulders. Besides the gaping hole on the right side, her face was almost completely healed. She had very fair skin and was wearing bright red lipstick. Her good eye was a piercing, ice blue that seemed to run you through.
"No, they'll realize it soon when they stop and think about it. And when I explain everything they'll understand. You'll see." Replied Sonic as he forced himself to his feet, "Now give me back my body. Where is it anyway?"
Beauty rolled her eyes, "You could at least say please but fine." The Mist appeared once more and she was gone. Sonic looked around to see a large window piercing the darkness. He approached it and looked through his bedroom mirror to see himself lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His eyes were half-open but they were dull and blank. At first it looked like he wasn't breathing but upon closer inspection Sonic could see his own chest very slowly move up and down.
"Whoa, this really surreal and creepy…" As Sonic looked on, light suddenly filled his eyes and his body sat up right with a gasp. Beauty than walked his body over to the bedroom mirror.
When she spoke it was in his voice and it come through the mirror in with an echoey sound, "Ok, if you want your body back, put your hand to the barrier when I do." On the other side of the mirror, Beauty could see Sonic nod and raise his hand. She grinned as if she knew a dirty little secret and raised her hand as well, "Ready?"
"Ready." Replied Sonic. His physical body reached out its hand and Sonic followed suit. He figured it would feel the same as when Beauty sucked him out of his body and put him in this awful place but he was still in no way prepared for the sensation that struck him as he put his hand to the barrier. It was like a blot of electricity zapped through his body as his hand met the barrier at the same time Beauty put his physical hand there. He yelped in pain and resisted the urged to yank his hand away, grimacing as he felt his whole body go cold and numb. 'I just want my body back; I just want to be back inside my body.' Sonic thought to himself, his breathing becoming fast and shallow. He could already feel himself becoming light-headed and weak. He looked up to see his own face grinning evilly at him through the mirror. 'She's pushing against me. She not letting me in.' Biting his lip against the pain he managed to muster a grin a back, 'Fine, if she wants to play games, let's play.' Focusing his every thought on being back in control of his own body, Sonic pushed as hard as he could on the barrier. Much to his surprise, his hand disappeared up to his wrist.
He pushed harder and soon his arm was gone up to his elbow. 'I'm doing it! My arm is actually starting to feel warm!' he thought as he gathered his strength for another push. Taking a deep breath he thrust himself forward with all his might but he smashed his face into the barrier, "AHH! Dammit!" His free hand flew to his nose, which ached terribly and felt broken as his own laughter echoed at him. With a frustrated growl he shouted, "You said you would give me back my body so I could try and gain my friends' forgiveness! Why can't you just let me have it?"
"Because, I never said it would be easy. Besides, this is way more fun!" Beauty chuckled as she pushed back slightly, sending Sonic back so that only his hand and wrist were gone.
"ARRGH!" he cried in pain as he was forced back through. Sonic's knees were begin to quake and his feet were sliding backwards as his breathing turned into hyperventilating. Things were beginning to fade in and out as Beauty continued to laugh at his suffering. 'I'm running out of steam… I don't think I can do this… I'm… going to… LOSE…' As the possibility crept into his mind that this was one fight he wasn't going to walk away from, Sonic couldn't help but remember Miky's terror as Beauty had ripped open her shirt or Tails' anger as she had exploited his deepest insecurities about their friendship. He thought about the scorn with which Knuckles had cast him out. It still confused and hurt him that they had fallen for it and not stopped and considered that he would never do any of the things Beauty did but Sonic was still determined to regain control of his body and make things right.
Sonic summoned up every single ounce of energy he could and pulled back slightly before pushing forward with everything he had. Realizing too late that Beauty was probably expecting this, he felt her resistance fall away and he surged through the barrier, tumbling through what felt like a wind tunnel that blasted him into his body like a cannon ball into its target. Once again Sonic felt that punch in gut and the force of his reentry sent him stumbling backward. His feet tangled up amongst themselves and he hit the ground with a THUD! He wanted to get up but he could only lie there, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom and watching the blackness creep in from the corners as he passed out, a faint but cruel cackling ringing in his ears.
