Chapter 10: It Ends Here

Sonic raced at nearly the speed of light towards the HQ.

When Sonic arrived at the HQ, he saw Amy, Cream, and Cheese tied up in Tails' workshop.

"Malice! Show yourself, you coward!" yelled Sonic.

Malice creped out of the shadows and approached Sonic.

"How'd I know you show up?" Malice asked in a sarcastic, cold, and dark tone.

"Your reign of terror ends here. You will not take any more lives nor will you make anyone else your host."

"Sonic, Sonic. If I know you, and I do, you won't lay a finger on me. Not as long as my host is Knuckles. It would seem that you're in quite the conundrum."

"If Knuckles has to get hurt in the process in order to spare the world of your evil, so be it."

A surprised look made its way onto Malice's face. Nevertheless, he was expecting this.

"I wouldn't be too quick to fight, Sonic. You see, thanks to your friend's mastery of technology, I've made a bomb that I'll detonate unless you do what I say."

"None of my friends would be stupid enough to help you. And there's no way in Hell I'm gonna do what you say."

"Well, I'm afraid you would be wrong there. I guess your friend would be that stupid."

Malice grabbed a beaten and bruised Tails behind a tree and threw him in front of Sonic like a ragdoll (which is how he landed…like a ragdoll) as storm clouds formed and as it started to thunder. Sonic looked in horror as he saw his little brother lying unconscious in front of him.

"TAILS!"

Sonic kneeled down to see if he was okay.

"Come on buddy, speak to me. PLEASE!"

There was no response.

As Sonic slowly got up, his eyes glowed as red as Shadow's fur. Sonic clinched his fists as a red surge of electricity ran up and down his body.

"Now, let's not get too hasty. I'll do the same thing to your other friends if you don't submit to my rule. Your choice."

Sonic feel to the ground on his knees and bent over. Sonic's fingers slowly curled into a fist as an evil, sinister, and demonic smile formed on his face.

"My call…? My call..? Heh. Heh heh. Heh heh heh. Heh heh heh heh. Heh heh heh heh heh! Was it my call to die? Was it my call to have my friends suffer? Was it my call to kill Eggman? NO! Eggman was the one who injected that stuff in me. He poisoned me! He made me unable to think straight. He changed me. YOU changed me! NONE OF THIS HAS BEEN MY CAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!"

As Sonic screamed that last part, a red electric surge shot of the ground and entered the red hedgehog's body, turning him into a red, electrified, and enraged form of himself. As the electricity filled his body, he slowly ascended into the air until he was but a few feet off the ground. Sonic stared daggers into Malice's eyes while clinching his electrified fists.

"Was this what you wanted? Did you want to push me pass my breaking point? Well, you sure did succeed. You've pissed me off. Something no one should ever do. And since you were brave enough to do it, you will die. I don't care if I have to beat on you until the world ends. If it means you die, then so be it. You've done a lot of damage these past few days and today's the day you're gonna answer to your heinous crimes. There's only so much pain someone can take before they blow. Pissing me off just sealed your fate. Make peace now, because this will be your dying place. Prepare." Sonic said with his normal voice behind an incredibly demonic one.

"Finally, a true challenge."

As Sonic and Malice stared at each other, rain began to pour down, causing Sonic's red quills to sag (similar to his Darkspine form).

"It ends here, Malice."

"Indeed it does…for you."

(I am now an instrument of violence, I am a vessel of invincibility…..this determination is a vital part of me, surrender now or be counted with the endless masses that I will defeat)

Sonic and Malice charged at each other. Before the two hedgehogs could collide, they threw punches at each other, each one dodging the others'. Sonic flew toward Malice while having an electric whip out, which protracted from his hand. He swung the whip at Malice and caught his leg. He picked up the hedgehog and threw him through the nearest tree. Malice got up, with an enraged expression and performed chaos control, disappearing. Sonic looked around, trying to find him.

"COME OUT HERE, YOU COWARD! NOW!"

Malice suddenly appeared behind Sonic and punched him in the back of his head, with enough force to floor Knuckles. The punch didn't even move Sonic. All Sonic did was turn around and stare into Malice's eyes as he grabbed his hand and began to break it. Malice cringed at the sound of his bones breaking.

"Is this what you wanted?"

(As I look upon you through the warrior's eyes now, I can see the fear that will ensure my victory)

Sonic then threw Malice on the ground and stomped on his stomach with one of his feet, causing him to cough up Knuckles' blood which mixed in the puddles of rain.

"Stronger…than I thought. No matter. That will not save you."

Sonic slammed both his feet on to Malice's stomach and grabbed his face.

"You keep thinking that."

Sonic grabbed Malice by the face and threw him into another tree. Sonic then began charging a red ball of electric energy in his right hand.

"Come on out, Malice. I wanna show you something."

Breaking the tree in half, Malice launched himself at Sonic, preparing to deal him a blow that would surly knock him off his feet. But before Malice could punch Sonic, Sonic launched the red ball of electric energy directly into Malice's face, sending him flying though the HQ. Sonic teleported inside the HQ, where the rain was now soaking the furniture. Sonic walked around the HQ, that's now beginning to fall apart, and looked for Malice. As Sonic was walking around, he saw a bloody knife on the ground. He picked it up to get a better look at it. It was then Sonic noticed that there was an engraving on it. There was an arrow pointing to the blood. Next to the arrow it said "The blood of your brother, Sonic. Enjoy". Sonic gripped the knife in his hand and broke it to shreds, fueled by more anger than he should ever have to hold. As Sonic looked in front of him, he saw Malice get from under a pile of gravel. As Malice picked himself up, Sonic saw that half of Malice's face was gone, revealing half of Knuckles' face. A little bit of Knuckles' flesh was gone, revealing his skull. As Malice walked toward Sonic, he began to speak.

"I see you found my message. I was going to give it to you later, to break your spirit completely. But, now's good. I didn't just beat him when I was done using him to my advantage. I also stabbed him…twice. Maybe the reason he wasn't responding to you was because he was…hmm…oh I don't know…dead?"

Sonic's heart couldn't take it anymore. Sonic collapsed to the ground, sitting on his knees as the rain poured on him. Sonic could feel his heart began to slow. He was getting weaker.

"I finally broke you, Sonic. I finally broke you."

Sonic's body started to twitch violently.

(I can feel the animal inside, my resolve is weakening)

Suddenly, Sonic lifted a few feet of the ground screaming into the heavens "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" while at the same time releasing a Chaos Blast that not only sent Malice flying, but also destroyed the HQ and leveled the next mile of terrain. Sonic descended back on the ground, and looked up into the sky. Sonic kneeled on the ground, put his hands in his lap, and closed his eyes. It was then the seven Chaos Emeralds appeared and starting moving around Sonic. As the Chaos Emeralds orbited around Sonic, they slowly began to turn black. Sonic's body began shaking ever more violently by the second (while he was ascending). Sonic finally released a powerful scream which sent a Sonic boom into the air. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

While Sonic was screaming in pain, his right foot turned black, along with the rest of the right side of his body, only leaving his white, blank eyes untouched. Malice picked himself up once again.

"This is impossible."

Malice used Chaos Control to teleport to Sonic's new position.

Sonic, with one half of his body being lit up by black electricity, and the other being lit up by red electricity, turned and faced Malice.

"What is this?!"

"Dark Havoc Sonic." Sonic said in the voice seeming like a monster from your worst nightmare.

(Run if you intend to survive, for the beast is coming to life…..Death approaches on this night)

Sonic electrified Malice with both his black and red electricity then picked him up with his electric whip and threw him up in the air. Sonic flew up in the air, chasing Malice, and punched him with enough force to send off a shock wave. Sonic then kicked Malice back down to the ground, sending him falling at a speed of 650 MPH. When Malice hit the ground, a huge crater was made. Malice crawled out of it, looked up, and saw Sonic stranding right above him. Sonic grabbed the top of Malice forehead and slowly began to crush it.

"Sonic! You can't! What about your friend? Would you kill your friend just to kill me?!"

"Hm."

Sonic released Malice and kicked mud in his face. Sonic then kneeled down and looked into the Malice's left eye (since one half of Malice's face was burned off). Sonic cracked his knuckles and put one of his palms on Malice's face.

"Wha-wha-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Chaos…"

"No…"

"…Blast."

A red and black mile high and mile wide sphere engulfed the area, leaving behind nothing but fire. When the sphere subsided, it looked like Hell on Earth.

"If my trick worked, they should still be alive." Sonic said to himself.

Sonic ascended into the air and looked for Malice. He saw something moving under some rocks and debris and flew over. When Sonic arrived, he saw Malice barely able to stand. Sonic began charging a red electro ball and a black electro ball and headed over towards Malice. When Malice face was revealed, Sonic saw that one half of Knuckles' face was just his skull, and saw that Knuckles' shoes were leaking of blood while one of Knuckles' arms hung like it had been broken. Malice limped toward Sonic, putting his right hand over his stomach.

"I swear to you, Sonic, you will not stop me from acting out my plan. If you defeat me while I'm on this host, I'll just go to another. There are millions of people in this world. Millions of hosts."

Sonic charged up his electro balls to full power as a smirk appeared on his face.

"You're going straight to Hell."

Sonic blasted Malice as he [Malice] let out a scream of pain and defeat. When the smoke cleared, Sonic saw Knuckles on the ground, exactly the way he was before Sonic blasted Malice with the two electro balls, with Malice nowhere in sight.

Malice had been defeated.

Sonic kneeled down to Knuckles and put his hand on his back as he whispered "Chaos Regeneration". A green glow covered the echidna's body as his flesh grew back and his bones healed. As Knuckles was waking up, Sonic remembered Tails. Sonic teleported to where Tails was and performed Chaos Regeneration on him as well. When Sonic could see Tails was waking up, Sonic transformed out of his Dark Havoc form and back to his normal self. He then sat cross legged next to him with his hand on Tails' head.

"…Sonic…?"

"It's good to see ya, little bro. How ya doing?" Sonic said as he tousled the young fox's hair.

Tails chuckled.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired as all."

Sonic chuckled.

"Hey, what happened to Malice?" asked Tails.

"Who? That clown? You don't have to worry about him anymore. He's gone for good." Sonic said while giving a thumbs up.

"You defeated him?!" Said a surprised and shocked Tails

"Yup. Your big bro defeated the most ruthless villain ever! Pretty cool, huh?" Sonic said as a cocky look appeared on his face.

"WAY cool!"

Knuckles then came walking over, wondering what happened. Hesitant to, Sonic explained everything to Knuckles.

"So, I'm really sorry for beating on you, Knuckles. But I had to do it to get rid of Malice."

"Well…all I can say is…that's the last time I go into your room and touch something that doesn't belong to me."

Sonic laughed.

"Yeah-wait…what?"

"Oh, nothin'. I better get back to the Master Emerald. You know, seeing it's my job to protect it."

"Yeah, alright. Cya, Knuckles."

"Oh, and Sonic?"

"Ya?"

"…Thanks, buddy."

Knuckles walked away, heading for the Master Emerald. Sonic went over and untied Amy, Cream, and Cheese, who were all very thankful.

"So…where are we gonna live now?" asked Tails

"How about our HQ on Mobius?" Sonic said while walking over to Tails.

"The Freedom Fighters HQ?"

"Yeah. Thoughts?"

"Sure! I just need to get the shuttle ready for transport."

"Alright, Tails. I can wait." Sonic said while giving a thumbs up.

"I can wait too, Tails! It gives me and Sonic more time to spend together!" Amy said while running up to Sonic.

"Aaaannnnddd, that's my cue to go."

Sonic started running off as did Amy as Tails headed towards his workshop to get the shuttle ready for transport.

"Mr. Tails?" asked Cream

"Yeah, Cream?"

"Isn't Mr. Knuckles coming with us too?"

"Oh! We should tell him...but Knuckles isn't the type of person who likes tagging along. But, we're going back to Mobius and I'm sure Knuckles doesn't want to be left on Earth. I'll give him a call and let him know. Heh...he's not gonna like having to carry that Master Emerald around again."

Tails and Cream laughed as Cheese landed on Tails' head, laughing too.

Disclaimer: All rights to "Animal" and "Warrior" belong to Disturbed.

Author's note: There will be no epilogue. Sonic: Malice Unleashed ends here.