Chapter 9: Teeming Dark

Eggman chortled at Rouge's fit of panic. "'Sorry' won't cut it anymore. You were sorry the day you selfishly spent the last continue token Team Dark had when I bailed you out."

The words seemed to echo in Shadow's head. He wasn't sure anymore. The voices made it difficult to focus. He was flashing between the conscious world and the gruesome images from within Pleasure Castle's crawling infestation.

"Tsk. Such gross inequity. Omega, why don't you show us how does it make you feel?"

Rouge fidgeted in Omega's tightening grasp, desperate to get out. Her struggles ended as she felt the cold metal claws slice into her clothes, about to do the same to her skin.

In Shadow's blurry vision, she resembled a white-headed maggot whose name slipped his mind. It probably wasn't important and he could drift further into a blissful sleep, away from machines forcing chemicals down his throat or sucking the blood from his limbs. The world he'd become a part of after retreating from this nightmare was a much better place. By letting it happen, Shadow would rise above his physical limitations; he wouldn't have to think, feel or breathe anymore. Everything holding him back would disappear to let him focus on the one thing that mattered, his garden of life.

Whimpers mixed with maniacal laughter did nothing to the process that began at the press of a button. The murmuring current that eroded Shadow, pulling his consciousness out of his body, told him to ignore and forget. He didn't need bridges to the outside world. He needed to feed the life in his garden with his blood.

He felt it streaming from his limbs through the veins that punctured the castle's walls. The Ultimate Life Form didn't waste a drop, his extensions as perfect as him. Though, he could still smell and hear crimson clotting outside. Somewhere, something had gone wrong. His perfect children were hungry and he couldn't let their food go to waste.

Shadow tracked the loss to a nearby vessel. It used to be a part of the garden, but was now wasting away on the floor. What startled him was that he couldn't salvage the body back inside. It was held in the air by an external force, a violent force squeezing the life out of the vessel.

"Help me," the blood begged him. The sadness its dying warmth contained shook the whole garden.

Then, Shadow remembered. He would take her back.

"What you say?!" Shadow threatened via the speaker.

Hearing his own voice distorted by the equipment attached to his stasis capsule disillusioned him. As long as Eggman had the remote, Shadow's threats would fall on deaf ears and he'd have a better chance trying to appease the doctor.

The defiant display amused Eggman. He glanced at the readings of Shadow's vitals before facing Rouge with a smug grin. He opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by a sorry cry.

"Please, no! I'll do anything."

Shadow stared at Rouge flabbergasted. Was this pathetic creature unwilling to look him in the eyes really his teammate? What changed her so drastically? The hedgehog was glad to be paralysed for once; he could hide his disappointment from Eggman, but that didn't do much to affect the doctor's arsenal of torture.

"In that case, you will betray your friend once again and pledge your allegiance to me," Eggman said. When Rouge failed to respond, he snapped his fingers, prompting Omega to clasp his claws together. "I insist."

The look in her eyes, pupils darting in terror until they met Shadow's own. For a heartbeat, they became amiable, familiar, and Shadow wished they could tell him more. More than her blood that Eggman was going to draw more of. Shadow didn't know what she was up to and he feared that neither did she.

When Omega put the squeeze on Rouge using both of his arms, Shadow realised that she was contemplating the unspeakable. The robot's brutality was Eggman's trump card supposed to force her to knuckle under. For Team Dark to die, every member had to break away and Eggman intended for Rouge to become the crown jewel of his victory. She was the leader who cemented the team, acting as the voice of reason to her unstable friends. By breaking her body and spirit in front of the others, he'd force them past the point of no return to be moulded into thoughtless machines, enforcers of Eggman's will.

It was why getting but a muffled scream out of the bat enraged him. She was supposed to proclaim her undying devotion to the Eggman Empire by now! The calculating pragmatist at her core should have seen that and thrown the fate of Team Dark to his mercy. Resistance was futile! Eggman had the overwhelming force to guarantee it.

But he didn't want to give rise to martyrdom. Hence, Omega took it slowly despite being able to crush the bat into fine paste. She'd give Eggman a reason to cheer. She had to! Or her ribs would crack while Omega squeezed her like a lemon.

Tears streamed down her face while she shook her head, mumbling incomprehensibly. Eggman's scowl gradually melted away. She was almost there, starting to see sense in his appeal and sacrifice her bond with Shadow. The look of acceptance in her eyes was unmistakeable. Eggman was going to win!

"We're listening, Rouge! Shadow wants to hear you loud and clear! Or should I tell Omega to motivate you with more gusto?"

The answer came in the form of red spilling from between her squeezed lips. Her face looked painfully swollen as if she was choking. Having X-rayed her, Omega paused and turned to Eggman for further orders, confused. Rouge's capture had unintended consequences.

Eggman didn't let up. "What's the matter? Bat got your tongue? Spit it out!"

She could barely hear his bark with the pain clouding her senses. Her mouth was full of blood, but she registered that only when Omega put his pincer-like fingers at the edges of her jawline and forced her lips apart. The robot was no gentle operator.

Rouge let out a feral scream, covering Eggman's suit in red spittle. This didn't seem to annoy him, as Eggman merely took a piece of cloth to clean his glasses and chuckled at what he saw. As long as Omega kept his claws there, it was impossible for her to close her mouth to end the humiliation.

"You bit off your own tongue?!" Eggman shouted boisterously.

Omega lowered her to the doctor's level. Rouge expected him to rage at her defiance. Seeing the contrary frightened her. It could only mean her part was far from over.

"That's hilarious! Bat got your tongue! Bwahahaha!"

Bitter tears mixed into the slobber dripping down her chin. Eggman turned her attempt at heroism into a joke that she didn't have the physical capacity to object to. Unwittingly, she had relinquished control of her suffering to Eggman. Without his say, she was no more than a wailing corpse.

"But that's not why I find it amusing," Eggman continued, rubbing his palms together while he walked around Omega to marvel at her capture in full. The power he now possessed excited him. "Since you've elected not to speak, you will listen…and obey. After all, you did say you'd do anything, which is fine; actions speak louder than words and you're going to get some action tonight! Any objections?"

Omega forced her mouth shut, making her unable to scream her lungs out at the way he twisted her conviction. Eggman put his palm to the side of his head as if listening closely and walked up to her. His grin widened with every passing second.

"Your silence means consent."

The doctor then turned to his second captive. Shadow has been watching the macabre scene with disgust, sickened by more than just Eggman's evil. Rouge had chosen silence over clearing her name and rid herself of the ability to reject Eggman. He failed to see the heroics in Rouge's self-mutilation.

"Ah, Shadow, my friend. I was going to reward your…associate – because it's difficult to call her a friend at this point – for her services with the emerald you have at your feet, so she could walk away while you shrivel up and die, but…" Eggman paused to relish the spike in Shadow's pulse, "she deserves so much more. Omega, if you please."

Shadow kept his eyes focused on Eggman, but he still registered what was going on with Rouge in his peripheral vision. Omega smashed her into the floor. A meaty cracking noise preceded her cries.

"Why?" the hedgehog asked Eggman.

He said nothing while Omega picked her up to repeat the action. This time, only laboured breathing could be heard.

"Answer me."

Eggman folded his arms in wait while Omega prepared for another blow. Shadow knew it would be the one to bring deafening silence. As much as he hated the idea, he wouldn't repeat Rouge's mistake.

"Please…no more."

"Ha-hah! And there's the magic word! Take five, Omega."

The brutality stopped. Omega held her up above the ground by the wings like a ragdoll. A ragdoll in dire need of repair.

"Rouge said she would do anything. What is your offer, hmm, Shadow?"

So those were the rules of his game. After everything Eggman had done to them, he still wanted more. Shadow didn't know a vehicle of expression strong enough to relay his hatred. It wasn't a matter of sedatives or other chemicals mixed into the stasis fluid he was floating in, no. Punishment, the severity of which would absolve the doctor from his misdeeds, simply did not exist. Burn as he might, Eggman's mark would remain, but that also meant Shadow didn't have to restrain himself in any way.

"I ceded control of my body to you. I let you decide what I see and feel, but you have no influence over the others."

Eggman perked up an eye ridge. "The others?"

The answer came in the form of an earthquake as all the other capsules glowed brighter. Muddy footprints started appearing on the floor even though there was no one there. The closer they got to Eggman, the quicker the pace was.

"INTRUDER ALERT."

Eggman paid no heed to Omega's warning. He waited for the footprints to reach him and, just as he had expected, they stopped in front of him without causing any harm, barely stirring the air. Eggman laughed.

"Is that all you've got?"

"That wasn't me. But this…will be all of us."

The nightmarish illusion that awaited Shadow was a small price to pay for the power it offered in return. As soon as Shadow closed his eyes, the blood circulating throughout the castle in hypertrofied veins became a part of his consciousness, one looking for expansion in revenge.

Blood vessels burst from the floor, trailing the footprints while growing in size as they approached Eggman. Rather than stop next to him, they coiled together, divided and merged until they resembled the throbbing shape of Nack the Weasel, whom he had tricked into succumbing to the castle's organic infestation.

Eggman retreated from what he saw, but for every step he took, the weasel made took two by tearing through the solid floor. Disoriented by the earth shaking, Eggman lost his balance and fell, looking up at the creature of blood and no flesh. This wasn't a part of the plan…

"What is this? What are you?" he asked, panic evident in his voice.

"A friend ready to return the favour," Shadow replied. His voice seemed to be coming from the monstrosity in front of Eggman rather than the speaker in his stasis pod.

Seeing that the fake weasel was about to lunge at Eggman, Omega took the initiative by opening fire. Nack's body offered no resistance to the bullets, letting them tear right through until it couldn't maintain its shape anymore. He disappeared in a burst of red, splashing all over the doctor.

"Ack! I've been contaminated," Eggman cried as he desperately tried to clean the blood off of his face. "Where's my remote…" He looked behind and saw a vein bursting through the floor. Another one, much thicker than before, rose up from where Nack used to stand.

They were encircling him and Omega didn't have the firepower to fend off the infestation. Eggman's genius was required to rein in the monster gone rogue by taking on its only weak spot, the heart.

"I have no time for games. Cease this foolishness or she will die!"

As his threat echoed around the hall, the veins stopped advancing, their movement reduced to a rhythmic pulse. This gave Eggman a window of opportunity.

"INTRUDER ALERT!"

Omega started firing everywhere at random. The stray bullets damaged occupied capsules, springing leaks, and agitated the blood vessels. Perhaps, Eggman had made a mistake by keeping Omega at his side. The control module on the robot's head made it possible to order Omega around, but the AI still acted unpredictably.

"Stand down!" Eggman shouted angrily. He saw the bulging red appendages dominate the walls and turned to Shadow, whose physical shell floated in stasis. "But if you behave…I'll heal her. I promise."

Gradually, the mass withdrew from the hall and the rumbling quieted down. Eggman had made the right move and got one in return. It was his turn again. As soon as he pulled the remote he sought after out of a pool of viscera, Eggman limped his way to Rouge while glancing at Shadow's vitals. The remote was damaged, so he couldn't risk upsetting the hedgehog.

"That's right. Pick her up, Omega. Gently. I know how to fix her up right away," he cooed. Omega did as instructed, making Eggman wish the remote behaved likewise. It took a good shake to get it working again. Eggman grinned.

Judging by Shadow's heartbeat, he was growing impatient. Thankfully, it was the worst he could do now that Eggman's machinery injected Shadow an elephant's dose of sedatives. Eggman wanted to immortalise the stupid look on Shadow's face when he would receive the coup de grace.

"You insolent hedgehog, you thought you could outsmart me," he sneered. "We'll have to put an end to this line of thought…and give you a whole new direction." As he fiddled with the remote, the lights dimmed down. "Rerouting all power to the Black Egg Obelisk. Activate."

A low-pitched boom that came from somewhere in Twinkle Park shook the castle's walls. It was strong enough for everyone to feel the vibrations in their lungs.

The surroundings kept getting darker still until Omega's eyes were the only source of light. Slithering could be heard in the shadows.

"I think it's high time for you to embrace a new reality, one I have reserved for all opposition, a never ending nightmare that will power my empire," Eggman's voice echoed whilst the slithering intensified.

When the lights returned, Shadow was mortified to see his reflection in the stasis pod's glass. He regretted being given a fleeting moment of clarity that allowed him to witness his horrors crawling into the real world. Eggman's machines no longer restrained him, but he couldn't move a muscle because alien veins cut into his flesh directly, replacing the needles.

The castle's infestation began consuming the hedgehog-like creatures in the other pods, turning them into bulging cancerous growths. They expanded in size to the point their capsules couldn't hold them in.

Shadow realised his own body was undergoing the same process. The tighter the blood vessels wrapped around his limbs, the more apparent it became that the infestation was going to consume him whole.

The crawling tension under his skin contorted his face while red glazed over his eyes from his blood vessels expanding inside. The last thing he saw was Pleasure Castle giving in to the infestation, rock being replaced by flesh, ready to spread outward.

Blind and breathless, he continued sensing the writhing advance inward from the formless mass that used to be his limbs. The voices coming from the other pods grew louder with every inch the mass swallowed. They encouraged him to fight, to struggle as violently as he could and feed the garden more adrenaline. His thoughts tangled up with theirs, making it difficult to discern where he was or what was happening to him. From the horror of powerlessness to the bliss of being shaped into a part of a greater whole, his consciousness cracked awash with alien sensations.

"But there is consolation for you, Shadow," Eggman quipped. "You are at the very core of this nightmare and you will experience everything first-hand. Every cry for help, every tear and memory of those devoured will be purged through you until the other Shadows mature. Then, I will have enough living catalysts for my Black Egg Obelisks to terraform reality of the whole world. Embrace this dream, Shadow, because you will be the world's sandman."

Eggman cackled at the sight of his enemy dissolving into an obedient tool of conquest. He owned Omega and Shadow, but his victory was incomplete. Rouge, the hopeless carcass twitching on the floor remained a threat. For them to permanently remain in his power, she had to vanish. The solution he came up with was so ingenious he couldn't help basking in its afterglow: have Rouge's ex-teammates do it for him.

"Starting with her… Omega, put her in the pod!"


Author's note: I like reviews. Put them in the pod~