Chapter Twenty-One: We Meet Again


The heroes had fallen.

The group of them that had tried to attack Sonic stared blankly into the distance, except for Tails, who stood beside him. None of them posed any threat to him anymore, and at this rate, it was going to be a cinch to fulfill his desires.

And yet, he was still dissatisfied with the results. Or, more accurately, Tails was.

"As good an idea as this may be in the long run, taking over this body now was a pretty stupid move," Tails said. "We have to share power equally, since we're clones of each other, more or less. And since I'm not much of a fighter, you've essentially just chopped your energy supply in half for no reason."

Sonic, to no one's surprise, was less than happy to hear that news. "And why couldn't you tell me that before I did this?"

"Part of that's because, once again, the two of us are functionally identical. Not having control of this body before is far more relevant, though," Tails added.

Sonic growled, then started muttering under his breath. "How does that have anything to do with anything?"

"Because," Tails said, "while we have shared abilities, we also gain the skills of whomever we possess, but they're exclusive to that single host. For example, just because you can run at a million miles an hour doesn't mean that I can. By that logic, I have much higher intelligence than you do. If I'd been the primary host, I would have been able to see the flaws in your plan."

"Well, good to know for next time, then," Sonic said. "On a related note, doesn't it feel weird to essentially be talking to yourself?"

"Based on all the knowledge I've gained, our definitions of 'weird' are pretty different, Sonic," Tails said. "I can keep calling you Sonic, right?"

"Obviously," Sonic said. "Now, let's get started before they try anything cute."

"Hold up," Tails said. "Is it just me, or do you have a massive headache right now? Because I feel like a marble's rolling around in my skull."

"No, it's just you. Probably coming from your mind trying to hold Tails down," Sonic said. "I can help with that, though. Remember the mind entry ray that they were talking about earlier? You can just transfer his consciousness into here-" he pointed to himself as he said this- "and I can subdue both of them."

Tails wasn't fully convinced. "You sure you can take on Tails as well?"

"I'll be fine," Sonic said. "Two can't be that much harder to deal with than one."

Sonic strode over to the others to get the mind entry ray. Eggman still limply clutched the device, but since he was incapacitated, it was child's play for Sonic to pry his fingers off of it, one by one, and then claim it as his own. The interface for it, luckily for him, wasn't too complex. The end it fired out of was clearly marked, and every button had an easy-to-read label. One read "SELECT YOUR TARGET," another, "SELECT ANALYSIS POINT OF FOCUS," and finally, the big red button at the back end of the device read, "UNDO LAST ACTION."

Sonic picked it up and examined the device, but before he could do anything else, Tails grabbed his arm to get his attention.

"Wait," Tails said. "I missed something. Since I'm in his head too, won't that mean I get transferred with him?"

"That would make sense," said Sonic. "My guess is that this takes everything in your head and puts it into mine, so it's just common sense that both things in there come along for the ride. Although, having the brains and the brawn in one place is probably a pretty good idea, don't you think?"

"There's a fifty-fifty shot," countered Tails. "Depending on how a couple of key factors play out, it could go either way."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Sonic said. "I'll watch the two of them and make sure they can't break free, and you control the body. I mean, honestly-" he gestured towards Tails- "That body doesn't seem like it can do much in a fight. I bet you'd love to take mine out for a test drive."

"Yes, I would," Tails said. "Now, let's get this show on the road."

With that, Sonic powered on the mind ray via a simple switch, and then (with some instructions given by Tails) managed to prepare himself to send Tails inside his head. Once that was finished, he pointed the device at himself, firing it at his head for good measure.

There was no beam of light, no violent flashing, no theatrics, no anything. One second, Tails' eyes were bright and full of malicious intelligence, and the next, they were empty. Shortly afterward, Sonic cradled his head as a sudden jolt of pain rocked it, followed by an even stronger wave of energy that stiffened his posture, erased his tiredness, and even sated his hunger. Once more, he had all the power that he'd ever need.

Suddenly, he heard a voice inside his head, probably belonging to his semi-clone. "I'm here, can you just take Tails off my hands? I don't want him breaking free in here."

"Will do," he said to no one. Then, he retreated inside his mind (or the one he'd taken over, anyway), and the world around him blurred and vanished.


Tails had been trapped inside his head. Literally.

He didn't quite know how this was even possible, but that wasn't the important part right now. What was important, however, was that he'd essentially been turned into a prisoner of war.

His legs had been bound together so he couldn't run, his tails were pinned behind his back so he couldn't take off, and he'd been blindfolded so he had no idea of where he was going. Somehow, the monsterthat had taken him prisoner was carrying him, presumably to lock him up somewhere.

"We'll be transferred soon," the creature hissed.

Tails might as well have been a rag doll with the range of motions he could make, but the thing hadn't gagged him, so he could still talk. "What the hell does that mean?"

His captor merely smirked. "You'll find out soon enough."

Before he could say anything else, the world around the two of them began shaking. It wasn't like an earthquake, though- if that was the case, it would have been noisy and filled with the sound of screaming. Here, it was devoid of noise, which somehow was even more unsettling.

Then, there were a few seconds of utter blackness, combined with the feeling of being launched forward at an impossible speed. Tails' eyes were forced shut, and it felt like something was going to rip off in the wind.

However, it stopped just as soon as it started, leaving them in a landscape not unlike the one they'd just left. The key difference here was that they weren't alone anymore. Here, another creature, this one resembling the ruined Sonic, stood nearby, smiling just like always.

"Well," it said, "It looks like the mind gun thingy worked like it was supposed to."

"Of course it did," Tails' captor replied. "And it's not called the 'mind gun thingy,' by the way. It's a mind analysis device, or at least it was supposed to be."

"Whatever." The creature extended his arms out. "Just give me what you came to drop off. I'll dump him in the holding chamber, you can take over the controls for the time being."

Tails was exchanged between the two of them, despite his best efforts to break loose, and Tails' former guard was grinning wider than Sonic at a chili dog festival. "Thanks for that. I'll get everything ready for you. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!" With that, he flew off, leaving the real Tails alone with the mockery of Sonic.

Neither of them said anything for a while after that. In between escape attempts, Tails took notice of his surroundings, in case he was somehow able to make a break for it later. There weren't many landmarks to go by, and the only real color present was red, but it wasn't just a barren landscape of nothingness. A handful of things that looked like wilted trees materialized as the two of them drew near and then disappeared as they passed. On occasion, stalagmites jutted out of the ground, twisted in such ways they looked like bizarre modern art sculptures. There was even something that once might have been a lake, but now it was nothing more than a huge crater.

Unfortunately for Tails, they arrived at their destination all too soon: something that looked like a gigantic block of concrete that had been painted crimson to match the ground. It had no windows, and the only way to get in or out was an impenetrable-looking black door. However, it opened as soon as the two of them got close, revealing the room inside. Sure, it was what Tails had expected- nothing more than a bare expanse of concrete with a single flickering light bulb dangling overhead. The room's contents, however, were far more surprising.

Sonic, and the real one this time, was chained to the wall, the thick metal links binding his arms, legs, chest, and neck, preventing him from moving more than a few feet away or even lying down. His eyes were dim and looked half-dead, and his only effort to escape seemed to be him feebly clawing for purchase with his right arm. Tails would have cried out after seeing his best friend in such a condition, but he knew that now was not the time.

"I'm back," Sonic's imitation said. "And looky here! I brought your friend this time!"

Sonic turned his head to look at Tails but otherwise showed no reaction.

"Come on! Don't be a buzzkill," the creature said. "Cry, start cursing at me, do something! It doesn't matter what!"

Sonic still didn't respond. Even his movement had stopped, and he'd begun to slump against the wall, a perfect image of perpetual misery.

"Okay, then. Be that way! It's not going to change anything," the creature hissed. Then, he got to work putting Tails in the same position as Sonic. The walls of the room had seven sets of chains, including the one that Sonic currently occupied. Thus, picking which one to use for Tails merely revolved around how to keep the two of them as far apart as possible. Thus, he picked the one in the opposite corner as Sonic and started fastening Tails in.

Just like Sonic, his arms, legs, chest, and neck were each bound separately. However, the creature also made sure to tie Tails' namesakes in a knot around the chain holding his left leg, just to make sure that was taken out of the equation. The knot felt fairly well-constructed, but Tails wanted to hold off on experimenting with that until they weren't being actively watched.

When the process was done, the creature turned to leave. "You'll be out of here soon. But by then, it'll already be too late. Enjoy the last few hours of your sanity!" The creature slammed the door behind him after that, cackling like a lunatic.

As soon as the laughter faded out, Sonic finally began to show a reaction. He stirred, pulled himself to a standing position, and turned his head to face Tails. "Tails? Is that really you?"

Tails sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Oh, no," Sonic said. "The virus got you, too?"

Tails could barely bring himself to answer, but he did anyway. "That's also a yes. I get that you aren't super excited to see me here."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you again," Sonic said. Then, he turned away, slumping against the wall once more.

"I just wish our reunion was under better circumstances than this."


Review Zone, Act XX:

-Linz2: Thanks, once again, for taking the time to leave a review! That's about the reaction I would have if I was reading this.

-Darkness-InA-Ninja: Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, and the compliment! In all honesty, those scenes you mentioned were two of the hardest ones to write, albeit for different reasons. And I'm glad to know I'm not the only one here who remembers Elise.