IMPORTANT NOTICE: CHAPTERS WILL NOW BE POSTED ON SATURDAYS INSTEAD OF FRIDAYS.

Ah, now that that's out of the way...

School has started, and I am already waiting for summer. It has started to become colder and darken earlier, which sucks. :P I miss our old principal, lunch is later in the day so I stare to death in music, and math is just as complicated as it has always been. On the plus side, however, I get to continue writing fanfiction for you guys! :D

Now, hope you enjoy the chappie! It's going to be a little dark, so just a warning!

Chapter 38

Snap

Ivy's P.O.V.

Everyone didn't look too happy once we walked in through the broken door with an unconscious Maroon hanging on our shoulders.

"Oh mah stars! Wut happened?!" Bunnie gasped as we hefted him through the doorway. Pan ran over and took the body from us and placed him on the couch in which Aly, Amy, and Azalea moved from.

"He almost went back into his dark form," Wendell grimaced.

"What? A dark form?" Poppy asked, curious.

"If he has the energy and feels an extreme anger, he can transform into his dark form and wreak havoc. Luckily, we stopped him before he exploded."

Mari blinked. "Umm…what? Exploded?"

"He can eventually reach a point where he channels his energy and can create a massive explosion with an estimated five-mile radius that completely desolates everything in its path."

The koala's eyes became wide as saucers, and she took a massive step away from him. "Oh," she squeaked.

"That's odd…" Tails wondered, looking at the sleep-mumbling Maroon. He glanced over at Sonic, who was in complete silence. Usually, he would've made a cocky remark by now, but instead, he was staring down at his shoes and wasn't moving up from his seated position on an armchair..

"What's odd?" I asked.

"Sonic, you've done that before, right?"

The cobalt hedgehog looked up, and everyone gawked at him, myself included. The only ones who weren't were him, Pan, and Sally.

"Yeah, I can," he muttered, squeezing his hands into fists.

"Hm, you and I are more alike than I thought," Pan added. Our eyes turned to where she was, leaning up against the kitchen table, watching the scene unfold.

"Really?" Aly pushed, curious to find out more.

"Pan is right. She's got quite a temper on her," Dodge agreed. "It only happened once, though. It was just after she broke into the room where I was about to be Robotcizied. Boy, she got pissed off; she ended up nearly murdering Snively."

"Whoa," Azalea exhaled.

"Yep, broke almost every bone in his body."

She shrugged. "Well, I only get really hacked off if one of my bros is hurt or something really bad happened to them because I wasn't able to save them. That's why I had a little…temper tantrum after Dodge almost died because I almost didn't save him." She cut off suddenly, meeting Dodge's eyes. He shifted uncomfortably.

The grim news hung like humidity in the air before Tails asked, "Um, is it OK if I tell them about what happened?"

He had aimed the question at the blue hedgehog, whose eyes closed and jaw was tightened. Wordlessly, he nodded. Tails cleared his throat. "It was around the time when Sally was kidnapped by Robotnik on a mission to rescue some captured Mobians. Everyone was saved, so most of us had to transport them away from the Empire's base unharmed. Robotnik captured her, so Sonic went after her. She was nearly Roboticized."

"I almost killed him," he whispered, finally moving his neck upward to stare at Sally. Tails nodded again. "Sally told us about it, and all of the gory details." The little fox shivered. "I didn't sleep for weeks."

"That's because no one touches my friends without feeling my wrath," Sonic spat suddenly, his expression shadowy.

"That seems a little dark for you, Sonic," Pan commented, dryly. "I thought I was the only one with anger management issues."

He smirked jokingly, the anger fading. "I suppose you aren't."

A moan came from Maroon, and we whipped our heads to stare at him. He opened his eyes slowly, and blinked a couple times. Woozily, he sat up, propping his elbow against one of the cushions.

"What the applesauce?" he mumbled. Wendell and I dashed past the others and knelt beside him. "The last thing I remember is feeling the urge to shove a bar of soap in my mouth…"

"Yeah, man, you didn't exactly keep a firm grip on your sailor's mouth," Wendell noted. Maroon shot up like a rocket, and noticed everyone around him, staring.

"Oh no… No, no, no, no. Did I turn into evil, pessimistic me? Because the last thing I remember completely was pushing Mobians out of the way to get a Power Ring."

"Apologies, Mar. We wish we could say you didn't."

His face paled. His eyes flickered to the others and he began to tremble. His face fell into his hands as waves of shivers traveled up and down his quills. "No… Make it stop…"

I attempted to comfort him by resting my hand on his. "Maroon-"

"NO!" he yelled, standing and slapping my hand from his. Wendell forced me to step back. "GET THIS THING OUTTA MY HEAD!"

"What is he talking about?" Amy gasped. I moved my right hand to my head, which was suddenly pounding in agony. I felt the mental connection between Maroon and I shatter like glass, his fragile mind finally snapping. Wendell and I shared a glance of knowing.

Bunnie and Pan ran over to restrain him from completely losing it, and we watched him in silence. I felt my heart break. "It hurts... oh god... SOMEONE! MAKE IT STOP!"

He was sobbing now, completely out of control. Bunnie fell back, and the only thing keeping him from going over the edge was Pan's grip around his waist. Over his tortured cries, I heard Sally cry, "Nicole, give me a tranquilizer!"

In five seconds, a hypodermic needle was inside Maroon's arm, and his eyes were glazed back as he crumpled onto the floor. Sally, Bunnie, and Pan were gasping for air, everyone looked quite alarmed, and Maroon was still. He was breathing, of course, but all previous signs of psychotic behavior had ceased to exist.

"Mar…" I choked on my words. Wendell embraced me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. I clutched them tightly before he whispered, "Do you think that he's...?" He let the thought trail off, watching my eyes turn glassy.

I paused, mouth open slightly. I knew what Wendell meant: Did I think that Maroon was broken? I bit my bottom lip, standing in the midst of my other companions' silence. I thought back to one of my private chats with Wendell while we were waiting for Maroon to be released from band. No one else was in the corridor, besides us, but the sound of a beating bass drum echoed from the room.

"How long will he last?" Wendell had asked from out of nowhere. Instantly, I knew what he meant. The drum roared in my ears as I instantly drew up an answer.

"He's like a glass jar, Keep filling it with more and more than it needs, and it'll break." That was my response.

Now I was starting to consider the truth of my statement. It had suddenly become a reality faster than I expected.

"No…" I gasped. My mind and body felt numb as Sonic quickly lifted the red, drugged hedgehog into his arms and sped off to the Tommy Turtle Memorial Hospital. Maroon was pale and quiet, his breathing labored, and arm tumbling out of Sonic's grip. His hand lay limply in the air as the cobalt hedgehog dashed away, taking our friend to get some long-needed help.

"Um, what just happened?" Bell wondered. I shook my head and swallowed.

"I'm gonna need some time alone," I whispered. I felt everyone's concerned eyes on me as Wendell let go of me and let me walk to my room. I needed some time to clear my head and calm down. Maroon was gonna need some levelheaded friends when he woke up.