Chapter 8: Darkness Reigns
"So weak, so pathetic. The fact that I can control your mind so easily only proves how much stronger I am compared to you, for no matter what you do or how hard you fight this, I will be in control of your mind very shortly, and we will see how easily you begin to deteriorate."
Sonic yelled as he felt darkness' cold embrace surrounded his thoughts and memories, replacing with sorrowing thoughts and images of the death of people he knew, especially Blaze. But just as The Ruler said, no matter what he tried to do to stop it, his mind would not let his own thoughts break through. Sonic's hold on his mind finally collapsed and The Ruler entered his mind and started to turn it over into his own mind.
"K-kill me. I'd rather die than be controlled by you"
"Oh I will kill you in time, but you are going to help me show how weak you all truly are, starting with your little friends and your precious Blaze. In fact, she will be the first to die"
"I swear, if you lay one finger on her I'll..."
"Do what exactly? You can do NOTHING while I control you, hedgehog, nothing but watch everything you hold dear fall to pieces, fall to ruin and ashes. Once that is all over and naught but faded memories remain, only then will you die at my hand. For now however, you will only watch.
The Ruler laughed and started to tear at Sonic's thoughts and replaced it with his own, which started to make Sonic's body change a bit as a result. His eyes turned red, his voice turned deeper to match The Ruler's and his spines drooped even further down the back of his head. The Ruler had replaced Sonic's form, with his mind all but destroyed.
Sonic's voice had disappeared now, being replaced by The Ruler's. He picked up his sword and the Sky Scepter, while looking at the stormy skies above him.
"Now, this world will know the day of its reckoning, the day that I rule over the skies. But I only need one last thing before I rule over them… Their extinction"
The Ruler walked toward the Sky Spire and filled the scepter with as much dark energy as he could, preparing himself for the final confrontation with Sonic's friends. The little part of Sonic's mind could only repeat one phrase.
"I failed…"
The Ruler entered the Spire and saw Sky and Trotsky looking over Blaze, who had just woken from her unconsciousness. They noticed The Ruler walk in and waved him over, not knowing that Sonic was not truly there.
Sky approached Sonic and smiled at his return. "Sonic, thank goodness you're alright. What happened to The Ruler? Is he gone?"
The Ruler coughed and tried to match Sonic's voice best he could.
"Yes, I have defeated him, but it was not without pain and suffering. He was indeed stronger and wiser than I but with luck I managed to stop his plans in time"
"Well, I am glad to hear it, but we all knew you could do it. Now if you could hand over the scepter so that I may return it to the Vaults"
The Ruler ignored Sky and walked past her to see the state of Blaze. He smiled at the suffering he caused her, but he still placed a hand on her shoulder to assure her that she will be okay.
"Sonic, t-this wound hurts quite much. Worse than any other encounter I have been in, but I should have been more cautious at The Ruler's abilities."
"Do not fret, my love. Your suffering will end soon I promise"
Sky pulled him away from Blaze and looked at each other, with Trotsky behind her.
"Sonic, I really must take the scepter. I do not want you to be harmed by its abilities."
Sky tried to take the scepter, but The Ruler pulled it away from her, making her fall to the ground.
"Well, perhaps I am not as weak as you all. Your inability to take on The Ruler is proof of that, for I could take him alone and not even the three of you could do anything to harm him. A true disappointment."
Blaze stood up and calmed him down before he could say anymore.
"Sonic, stop this. Why are you acting like this?"
"How am I acting differently exactly? I act as I wish and as I please, and do not need fools like you to tell me otherwise, so I suggest you shut your mouths and leave me be"
Blaze punched him in the face, leaving a huge mark on his face. Sonic felt this from within and his heart sank in grief at what The Ruler just said.
You bastard.
"How dare you speak to us, to me with such ignorance. I thought you cared about me, loved me. Is that not true?"
The Ruler laughed and only said, "How could I ever love someone as weak and pathetic as you, cat?"
Tears appeared in Blaze's eyes, but they were soon replaced by flames of fury rising from her hands. Her breathing turned heavier as she prepared a flaming aura around herself.
"You… will regret ever opening your mouth!"
The Ruler dropped the scepter and drew his black sword, preparing to fight Blaze.
Please don't make me do this.
Blaze attacked first, shooting a barrage of fireballs at The Ruler, which he dodged with Sonic's speed. The Ruler followed up with a charge of his sword, which nearly sliced Blaze's neck, but she moved quick enough to dodge and kick the sword out of his grasp.
As The Ruler and Blaze fought, Sky and Trotsky tried to calm them down, but was of no use. Trotsky then noticed the sword that Sonic was using and turned to Sky.
"Sky, does that sword look familiar to you?" Trotsky asked.
Sky looked at the black sword that Sonic was holding and remembered when The Ruler fought them with it.
"Yes, that's The Ruler's sword, but how does Sonic have it? It should have disappeared when The Ruler did."
"Yes, and he fights a lot like The Ruler as well. Unless…"
They both yelled Blaze's name, but when she turned to them, The Ruler used this distraction to stab Blaze through the stomach. She then fell to the ground holding her bleeding wound.
NOOOO!
The inside and outside of Sonic's mind erupted in anger at Blaze being stabbed, but as Sonic cried on the inside, his anger started to give him strength over The Ruler's control. He used the opportunity to rip The Ruler's mind out of his own by using his anger to cast him out.
"G-GET OUT OF ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Sonic's voice started to return as he struggled to bring The Ruler out, but he would not give up so easily. Sonic then started hitting himself against the wall, making The Ruler feel dizzy. He then grabbed at his head and yelled as The Ruler slowly began being pulled out of Sonic's mind. Once he was fully expelled, Sonic quickly made a grab for the Sky Scepter and blasted The Ruler through the wall, and out into the storm, but The Ruler used the power of darkness to pull Sonic along with him.
The two wrestled in the air, trying to hit each other as much as possible. Sonic punched The Ruler in the face at fast speeds, but The Ruler started to strangle and punch him as much as he could. They were now flying past buildings, which The Ruler slammed Sonic into the side of. The force of sliding down the stone made Sonic's face burn, but once they reached the top of the building, he let go of The Ruler and jumped down onto the building, with The Ruler only ramming him off and into the wall of another building.
The Ruler flew next to Sonic and looked at the anger burning in his eyes.
"How do you resist? How on earth could you resist?" The Ruler asked.
"Because you are too weak to know what I feel for Blaze. Too weak to know friendship and love, and you don't deserve it. Whatever you are, whatever I will become, whatever I did to bring this pain upon myself, I truly am sorry for how I turn out. But I am not you, I will never be you. Why? Because I love my friends, I love my life, and most importantly, I love Blaze. And no matter what you do, no matter how much pain you cause me, you will NEVER take that love away from me."
"Is that what this all was about? Love for your little friends? Well, I am sure they will speak fondly of you at your funeral. If you ever get one that is"
Sonic was continuously slammed into the stone and The Ruler then threw him into the air and slammed him downwards, making him fall through three layers of concrete. He rolled out of the way of the debris and saw some of the cats standing next to him in a panic.
"All of you need to get out of here, now. Go to the Spire" The cats did as he said and ran out of the building quickly. Sonic saw The Ruler again and saw that he had retrieved the Sky Scepter once more. He used the power of the scepter to bring the walls crumbling down toward Sonic, but he managed to get out before it collapsed on him.
"Do you not see, hedgehog? You could have the power of the gods, yet you wear your friends like a shield on your back and think you fight the battles of war. I have seen the power, the future, and only one word can be summed up for it"
The Ruler held the scepter to the sky and a swirling vortex of wind spun out of it.
"Destruction!"
The Ruler unleashed the vortex and made it charge towards Sonic will blistering speed. Sonic was blown off of his feet and into the wind, but he could not see anything with all the wind around him. The debris inside the vortex hit Sonic multiple times, but he would not let himself be beat again. He regained his balance and started to create a counter vortex using his speed, which had overtaken The Ruler's and made it spiral out of control.
Sonic was thrown out of it and sent sliding across the ground but managed to stop himself before he fell over the edge. He then charged at The Ruler with a fist held out and slammed The Ruler into a wall. As The Ruler was removing himself from the wall, he looked to the beam of light coming out of the Sky Spire and heard a loud roar coming from it, which made him smile.
"Yes, yes! The time has finally come for me to conquer this world!" The Ruler blasted Sonic out of his way and looked towards Sonic one last time.
"This is the end of the skies, hedgehog. The end of hope. This is the end of YOU!"
The Ruler disappeared in a gust of wind, but Sonic could not stop him in time. He looked to the skies and heard more loud roars.
"What the hell is going on?" Sonic looked again and saw The Ruler floating above the Spire holding up the Sky Scepter, which shot out beams of lightning into the sky. Sonic then, for a moment, saw a giant clammy hand poke out of the clouds.
Sonic then dropped to his knees and looked to the sky in hopelessness.
"Is this the end?"
A/N: Sonic has been taken over by The Ruler, who uses the disguise of Sonic's body to fool his friends into thinking that he is a terrible person, with Blaze taking the greatest insult. The Ruler and Blaze fight, but once she is distracted, she receives a fatal wound from The Ruler. This tragedy allows Sonic to break The Ruler's control and regain his own mind once again, but this is not the end of their confrontation.
The Ruler and Sonic fight once more, with The Ruler questioning how Sonic broke free of control and used love as a reason. Before Sonic could defeat The Ruler, he prepares to finish his plans and leaves in the middle of the fight. The Ruler's army is almost prepared to return and no one, not even Sonic can stop them. With hope all but lost, is this indeed the end? Find out next time.
Question 8: How should Sonic react to Blaze's death?
