Chapter Twenty-Two: Sparks of Fury
AUTHOR WARNING:
This chapter contains a scene that, while I don't think it's enough to merit pushing this work up to an M-rating, it really straddles the line. Just wanted to warn you, since in my opinion this is by far the most graphic scene up to this point. Buckle your seatbelts, folks...
It had taken a few hours, but Rouge had finally regained consciousness.
But where was she? From what she could see, it looked like she'd moved miles since she'd gone under. Instead of the destroyed huts and smoke on the horizon that she'd seen last, now they were in some other location, although how or why, she couldn't figure out yet.
The first thing she did was try to brush her face since it was itching like crazy and was coated with leaves and dirt from her fall.
But her arm refused to respond to her input. No matter how much she struggled, she was stuck in a standing position, and nothing she did caused any of her limbs to move even an inch.
She tried to say, "What's happening?" However, she couldn't move her mouth enough to enunciate anything clearly, so it just came out as a low moaning noise.
A chorus of other moans sounded alongside her. She couldn't turn her head to figure this out for sure, but it appeared that all her allies were in the same situation she was. Even Eggman's distinctive groaning (although she didn't want to know why she was able to single it out as being from him) was part of the noise.
As Rouge struggled to break out of her paralysis, Sonic strode into her field of view, dripping smugness from every pore. "Well," he said, "we're right back where we started."
He dashed over to her after that, physically turning her around a full 180 degrees, revealing the village- or what was left of it, anyway. Only a few scattered dwellings remained, and even those looked like poorly-crafted dollhouses: slapdashed together, leaning to one side and looking like they would fall apart at the slightest touch.
The villagers appeared to be gathered in a clump not twenty yards away, all of them staring lifelessly at the group of downed heroes. Nobody talked, or moved, or did much of anything, for that matter. Rouge noticed Amy among the masses, standing near the front, eyes wide open and empty just like everyone else's. She would have started shrieking with rage if her mouth could move more than a fraction of a millimeter in any direction.
All the others faced the same direction at this point, and while Rouge couldn't see their expressions, she knew they weren't going to be smiling. As Sonic stood between the two groups, waving his arms around and speaking with emphasis like he was about to perform a magic trick for his captive audience, Rouge began throwing herself (figuratively of course) as hard as she could against the invisible force keeping her in place, but to no avail.
"You're being a delightful audience," Sonic said. "To the fine young woman over there with the pink fur-" he pointed to Amy (leaning heavily on a stick), although she either couldn't or wouldn't respond- "I'm saving you for the closing act, and that'll be a showstopper. However, to everyone else, I'd like to call you up for my greatest trick!" Then, his signature sadistic smile worked its way onto his face. "I've given it the fitting name of 'Cutting the Strings.'"
Sonic effortlessly slipped into the crowd, emerging a few seconds later while dragging a random villager along with him. Except for being slightly overweight and having glasses, he didn't appear to have anything special about him- maybe that was why he'd been chosen to go first.
"I have my volunteer," Sonic said, "now, let's showcase our trick!"
Sonic snapped his fingers, which was a bit of an accomplishment in and of itself, considering that he was still wearing gloves. For a few seconds, nothing appeared to happen, but the villager suddenly began to vibrate in place. He let loose a strangled moan, then the lights in his eyes went out as he collapsed in the dirt.
Shadow held firm, but the others screamed in a potent combination of rage and terror. Rouge soon heard the sounds of grunting as the others straining to escape their bonds. However, Sonic merely laughed at their attempts. "Don't try and leave me yet! This show is far from finished! Trust me, that was only the first subject, many more are yet to come!"
Shadow spat something out that was probably supposed to be a long string of curse words. Sonic ignored him, however, relishing in the fear in the others' eyes and their futile escape efforts. He winked at the smaller group before turning back to the villagers, a terrible glee in his eyes.
"Now, who would like to volunteer for my next demonstration?"
Tails rarely saw the benefits of being small, but it was paying off here.
While the chains binding him and Sonic to the wall had proven themselves very difficult to break and even harder to tear out of the wall, there was also a critical oversight in their construction- they were all the same size. While they still worked fine in keeping Sonic pinned, since he was somewhere near the average for the village in terms of both weight and height, Tails was one of its smallest inhabitants. Thus, the cuffs keeping his arms and legs pinned were just a hair too large, which allowed him a degree of freedom that Sonic was denied.
Tails had been rocking back and forth for several minutes now, trying to figure out how he'd be able to exploit his only advantage and fast. While the fit of his cuffs wasn't as perfect as that of Sonic's, he still risked losing fingers or breaking something if he tried to free his hands wrong. So what was he going to do?
Suddenly, a possible solution hit him like a tidal wave. His tails were tied in a knot now, so they were completely useless. But if he was able to bend himself into a position where he could untie them, he might be able to use them as a lubricant to slide his hands free, or if he was really lucky, as a lockpick to open the rest of the chains. The odds of it working were nigh-nonexistent, but he didn't have time to lose or any better ideas.
He got to work right away. The chain around his neck made bending down excruciating, so he instead leaned back to let the one around his chest pick up the slack. It then proceeded to dig into his spine, but that was infinitely better than the alternative.
With trembling fingers, he began to blindly reach for his tails. He caught nothing but air on his first attempt when the pain stopped him from reaching any further. The second try fared a little better, ending in him grabbing the chain before the pain spiked again, leading him to try a different angle.
On his third try, he felt something furry. He didn't celebrate yet, knowing the hardest part was yet to come, but he smiled despite his position being less than comfortable.
The knot was too secure for merely pulling on it to do anything, but that was to be expected. After a few excruciating seconds, Tails had managed to contort himself into a position that allowed him to both start making progress on the knot and see what he was doing. He worked as quickly as possible, wanting to be done before one of the viruses decided to drop in.
It took an immense amount of effort, and Tails nearly dislocated his arm several times in the process. But eventually, he'd loosened the knot enough that he could untangle his namesakes without touching them any further.
Too bad that it was all for nothing.
Tails had just started trying to jam his namesakes in between his hands and the cuffs locking him in place when the door opened once more, revealing the imitation of Sonic that had taken him here. Even though he appeared to be simmering with rage on the outside, his demeanor could only be described as casual.
"You really think I didn't plan ahead for you trying to escape?" The creature said this like it couldn't care less. "Don't worry about that. This is my territory, you know- I have eyes everywhere."
Tails had to have known something like this was coming- with Eggman, maybe you could have expected him to make that big an oversight, but this thing was far too competent for that. It didn't stop him from being disappointed, however- his hopes had just vanished without a trace.
"Well, my friend seems to have everything under control," the monster hissed, "so it looks like we'll be alone for a little while. I might as well have some fun with you while I'm here." With that, he roughly grabbed Tails arm, eliciting a yelp.
Sonic, who hadn't even acknowledged that the virus had entered the room yet, stirred to life for a second. "Wait… what are you…"
"Something I've wanted to do for a long time," the creature chuckled. "This insolent little kid has been the bane of my existence ever since I was created. Why shouldn't I pass up an opportunity to return the favor?"
Tails blanched, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. Sonic stumbled to his feet, staring helplessly at what was about to occur. He hoped it wouldn't be anything too serious. He was wrong.
For a few seconds, it didn't seem like anything was actually happening. But that's when Tails' resolve broke again and he started screaming. When the creature pulled its hand away from Tails, it revealed singed and smoking fur, as well as burned skin where the fur had come off. There was definitely going to be a nasty welt there, but that was the least of Tails' problems at the moment.
"You see," the monster said, "this is why you don't cross me. Anyone who does- well, you'll find out soon enough now, won't you?"
Tails tried to move his limbs to places that the creature couldn't reach, but he was still chained up, so there was only so much he could do. And what he could do wasn't enough. With ease, Sonic's impostor seized a new limb, this time a leg, and repeated the same process. Tails kept screaming, even though no amount of reaction would change the suffering he was going through.
The real Sonic, however, wasn't taking this lying down. Instead of just watching, he was actively struggling, attempting to break the chains with every fiber of his being. Unfortunately, they were just too strong, and if Sonic attempted to run fast enough to actually rip them loose, he risked breaking his neck.
As Tails kept shrieking with everything he had in him, his tormentor started laughing, just as expected. The creature increased his torment in intensity, turning up the heat so high that not only had it burnt through the fur already and started on the flesh, a small fire had started and was quickly spreading up Tails' leg. Tails had lost all control of his body at this point, flailing in every direction at once as the torture continued.
After what felt like an eternity but was actually thirty seconds at most, Tails' leg was released. Not that it did much good, anyway. He would have been bleeding violently if the area hadn't already been cauterized. However, that could barely even be called a silver lining, since the area now resembled a piece of meat that'd just been taken off the grill.
Everything Tails saw was hazy now due to his pain, but he could still tell that his captor was enjoying this immensely. He licked his lips, eyes swirling with sadistic pleasure, before smirking and saying, "And now for that pretty face of yours!"
"No," Tails weakly whispered. "Please…"
His begging was ignored by the creature, who brushed Tails' arms aside before placing both hands on his cheeks, locking his head in place. Then, the lasers were turned back on again.
Tails didn't even have the energy or will to scream anymore. All he could do was cry, but all his tears kept evaporating before they hit the ground. That didn't stop the mockery of Sonic from laughing like an absolute maniac. By now, though, Tails knew that it was all this thing could and would ever be.
"Nothing can stop me now!" The creature shouted this in Tails' face with glee before resuming his laughter and cranking up the temperature once more.
Suddenly, a loud, grating screech filled the room. Tails' captor shut off the heat in an instant, whipping his head around the room to try and figure out what was happening. It didn't take long.
While trying to get at the creature tormenting his best friend, Sonic had come up with one final, crazy idea to try and break free. He'd twisted himself into a nearly-impossible position, but that wasn't the most insane part of the plan.
He'd gotten his legs up to near top speed, even though he wasn't moving an inch. Instead, he was rubbing the cuffs on his legs at top speed against the one on his neck, trying to wear them down. And based on the shards of white-hot metal that began to fall off in sparking shavings, it appeared to be working.
"Oh, no you don't," the demon hissed, turning his attention to Sonic. Tails whimpered, curling into the closest thing to a ball he could achieve with the chains while cradling his burns the best he could.
Grinning ear to ear, the creature fired a laser at Sonic. Sonic started screaming as well, but his pace only got faster, and larger and larger pieces of mangled metal went flying as he kept making progress.
"Damn you!" Now the demented replica was firing from both hands, and his malevolent smirk had vanished. Sonic's screeching only grew louder and more frenzied, but still, he didn't stop, even as the fur on his neck and chest began to catch fire.
"I will not- be bested by- AAAAAHHHH!" The monster fired his lasers at their maximum power, desperate to stop Sonic as he lost the ability to form words, while Sonic screamed high and long as he gave it everything he had-
Then suddenly, he switched positions again. He held both his arm chains in front of opposite lasers, and they melted in a second. With his arms free and the neck and leg chains near useless, the only thing keeping him bound was the one around his chest. However, one burst of speed later, all that remained of his restraining device was a makeshift belt and what appeared to be some bracelets with jangly attachments. The flames on Sonic's fur died down in a hurry once he slapped a gloved hand over the raw, ugly wounds, but the ones in his eyes still burned with utter rage.
Before his imitator could say or do a single thing in response, Sonic had him on the ground, hands around his neck. "It looks like I need to set you straight, you monster. If you'd just been doing that to me, it wouldn't have been like this. I might not even have escaped."
Then, Sonic made a move like he was trying to strangle the creature, before throwing him against the wall with strength usually reserved for Knuckles. As the monster sprang to his feet, preparing for battle, Sonic's eyes lit up so brightly they almost seemed to be glowing.
"But no one," Sonic growled, "hurts Tails like that in front of me and gets away with it."
In one swift move, Sonic rammed into his replica before he could charge up the lasers again, sending him crumpling to the floor, unable to get up. However, instead of finishing him off, Sonic merely pinned him down, burning a hole through him with his stare.
"Tell me how to free Tails, now, or I'll make you wish you were dead," Sonic hissed.
Since Sonic was practically strangling him, it took a few seconds to respond, but eventually, he choked something out. "Keys… in shoe…" That was as far as he got before he went unconscious.
Sonic wasted no time, ripping off both his replica's shoes, shaking the key out of the left one. In a second, he'd begun popping open Tails' bonds, and six pops later, the two of them were together again.
Tails tried to wrap Sonic in a bone-crushing hug, but Sonic brushed him off. "Look, buddy, I'm all for having a sweet, sappy reunion, but can we save it for when our lives aren't in danger?"
"Good call," Tails said.
Not to mention, it appeared that they had a much bigger concern at the moment. Either Sonic's replica had regained consciousness in a hurry or he'd been faking it the whole time, but regardless of which, he was on his feet again. "This isn't over," he hissed, before dashing out of the room as fast as he could, leaving a Sonic-shaped hole in the wall in the process.
"Crap," Sonic said. "He's probably going to warn your version of the virus about what's happening. We have to move fast."
For once, Tails couldn't come up with an idea. "Well, what do we do now?"
"Easy," Sonic said. As soon as he'd revealed his idea, Tails nearly facepalmed about what an obvious idea he'd been missing.
"We need to call in some backup."
Author's Notes:
-To those of you who got through that scene, congratulations! You should be fine the rest of the way out- that's probably as bad as it gets. Hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway, and see you next chapter!
Review Zone, Act XXI:
-Darkness-InA-Ninja: Thanks, once more, for taking the time to leave a review! Tails' and Sonic's reunion definitely would have been much happier under better circumstances. However, I'm pretty confident they'd take what they could get at that point.
-Linz2: Thanks, once more, for taking the time to leave a review! However, it looks like Tails will be doing much more than just talking to Sonic now that he's free.
