Sonic folded his ears down when the scream had occurred, the sound hurting his ears. Instead of rushing out to meet his friends, the first thing he wanted to do was wait until his ears felt better. He didn't know why, but he almost zoned out his friends screams. They annoyed him slightly for some reason.

Realizing that the old Sonic wouldn't approve of his behavior, he sighed to himself and followed Chip and Vanilla outside of the house. Chip looked at him, confused as to why he was late, but then returned his gaze to what was happening, scared.

Sonic followed his gaze, and looked straight into the sorrowful eyes of Doctor Eggman. The doc had brought an army of Dark Gaia's minions.

Sonic frowned, and looked to where each of his friends were. Tails and Knuckles were working on freeing Amy from under an unconscious minion they had had to save her from. Cream and Cheese were standing in front of them, as though they were trying to protect them. A bit out of character if you asked Sonic.

He took a breath, and said strongly, "What do you want Eggman? I thought you were dead." Heads shot to look in his direction. Amy's scared and the other's confused.

Eggman inhaled, then raised his arms to gesture to the army around him. "Dark Gaia," he took a breath, "Is not one to…tolerate failure. I have come to take you Sonic, back to Dark Gaia."

Sonic frowned, "What exactly does Dark Gaia want with me?"

Eggman frowned, "You misunderstood me Sonic. Gaia wants you…as you used to be. Gaia wants to take the rest of your sanity from you."

Sonic narrowed his eyes, "You know what happened last time, with the Metorex. I thought you disapproved of that particular feeling?"

His friends stared at him, shocked. Tails stuttered out, "Y-you've gone in-insane before? Son-Sonic?"

Sonic ignored him, and so did Eggman. The Doctor said simply, "I don't have a choice." He suddenly smiled, his eyes darkening under Gaia's strong influence, "Have fun in hell, hedgehog!"

And the minions attacked. Sonic immediately pulled Vanilla and Chip behind him, shielding them from all attacks. He shouted to Chip, "Get Vanilla somewhere safe!"

Nodding, Chip pulled Vanilla out of sight into the woods. No one noticed their departure. Sighing in relief when the two had gone, Sonic turned to face the threat head on.

He growled violently, "Come and get it!" Stretching his arms, Sonic slashed at the minions, effectively killing multiple copies at once. Tails and Knuckles finally got the downed minion off of Amy, and turned to help Sonic, but found they could only stare.

Sonic growled as he violently killed the minions, the only thing on his mind being his friends safety. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friends standing there, watching him. They didn't notice the minion that had been on Amy getting up. Sonic's rage flared, and before the minion could even fully stand up, Sonic had killed him.

Tails and the others had only blinked before Sonic was on them, killing anything that went near them. He stood in front of them, so they couldn't see his face, but Eggman could, and a spark of his sanity returned.

"Sonic! Do not turn out like a certain other hedgehog!" and then the spark was gone again, replaced with the laughing insane Doctor. Hoping his words had reached Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Cream all looked up at the back of Sonic's head.

Their hopes were shattered when he turned his head to yell back. His eyes were pitch black, his irises turned a bright yellow with specks of black in them.

"You need to be quiet!" Sonic growled, and he was off again. Knocking aside minions to reach the Doctor. Peeking out from hiding in the woods, Chip gasped when he saw his friend. In a flash he flew up to where Eggman was, and right before Sonic reached him, he flew in front of the Doctor, shielding him.

"Sonic stop it!"

Amy and the others froze, staring at Sonic's back, fearing for their little friend whom they couldn't see. Vanilla looked from her hiding spot and stifled a gasp.

Sonic's claws were hovering not even a millimeter from Chip's face. His arm was shivering, and his eyes were misted over, as if he was lost, trying to find his way again.

Eggman growled and swatted Chip out of the way, causing the little sprite to cry out as he hit the ground.

All restraint Chip had given Sonic was gone.

Amy and the others watched, scared for their lives as Sonic violently attacked the Doctor, only to find himself being blocked as minion after minion sacrificed themselves to shield Eggman.

Eggman, not being a fool, realized he was going to loose, and fled, but not before Sonic grapped onto the chair he always flew around on, and brought their faces close.

He growled, "If you touch him again, you will die in the most inhumane way I can think of."

Snarling at the threat, Sonic released Eggman's seat, then when the possessed man was gone, his eyes seemed to clear, and he rushed over to his friend, who was staring at him.

Looking at each of his friends, Sonic saw only fear in their faces. But when he looked to Chip, he saw only curiosity, maybe concern, but no fear. It was the same with Vanilla.

"Sonic…" Amy whimpered out. Sonic growled and rolled his eyes, mentally thinking, 'I'm not going to deal with this right now. There's no way in hell.'

Keeping all of his attention on Chip and Vanilla, he asked caringly, "Are you two alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Vanilla shook her head, and Chip started to, but winced when one of his tiny wings brushed the ground. The pain sent small tremors through his body, and Sonic's eyes softened in understanding.

The little sprites wings were what brought him flight, and transported him most places. He liked to walk, but flying was always more comfortable for the small sprite. They were also the most fragile and sensitive part of his body.

Picking up Chip carefully, he set his 'brother' on his shoulder. Chip smiled at the gesture, before asking, "What about you Sonic? Are you alright?"

Sonic nodded briefly, and Vanilla was stunned to see that all the rage had completely vanished from his eyes. She looked at Chip, and realized something.

"You're the trigger…"

Not hearing her words, Sonic and Chip looked at the others, silently asking if they were alright.

When they didn't answer, Sonic took a step towards them, but froze when Knuckles suddenly growled. He took a step back and Knuckles stopped growling, surprised he had done so in the first place.

"Sonic I…I didn't mean to…" he tried to apologize, but the words wouldn't come out, as if he knew he was lying. His hands were shaking, and he glared at them. He was scared.

Everyone was scared.

Except the people that mattered.

Sonic watched as the fear swam in his friends eyes, and sighed quietly. If Vanilla and Chip feared him that badly, he would've lost his sanity a long time ago.

Tails finally gained the courage to speak. "What did Eggman mean? You lost your sanity before?"

Sonic sighed, before he pointed at Amy, "She and Cosmo were captured. They got hurt and I got pissed. I turned Dark. End of story."

Amy's eyes watered, stunned that she had been a reason of Sonic's previous insanity.

Sonic found himself chuckling at the memory, "Hehe, remembered how I acted. Was actually pretty fun now that I think about it." He grinned, his sharpened teeth glinting.

Knuckled stared at him, "You loose it yet? Cause you sure aren't acting like the Sonic we know."

Sonic just smiled at him, "You're right. I'm not acting like him. Because that Sonic wasn't real. This is the real Sonic. You don't like how I think, then get the hell away from me."

Vanilla stared at her son sadly, "Sonic…what happened to you to make you like this?"

"A story for another time." he looked at his friends, "Just so you know, I only became violent when you all were going to be hurt, so stop being so damn afraid. It's suffocating."

Chip stared at Sonic tiredly, 'So he's stopped acting has he? This'll be interesting.'