Author's Note: Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry that the previous chapter wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, but as you can see, I'm on a roll and have posted the first chapter of 2021, and I'm not expecting things to be back to normal, I hope that this year will be a little bit better than last year.
So here's chapter 20! Oh, and fair warning: The ending is going to be quite dark.
I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. The franchise belongs to Sega. I only own Sun the Hedgehog and Kaiser the Myth Hunter, Keith and Master Koga.
Chapter 20: Origins are Painful.
Within the large cockpit of the Egg-Eagle Fortress that was similar to the cannon room where Sonic had fallen into Eggman's trap but bigger, Sun was being strapped to a table within a large glass dome, his wrists and ankles cuffed in the metal straps, preventing him from escaping even as the dark-blue hedgehog grunted and shifted to try and do so. High above him to his left was the obnoxious evil doctor who was on the higher control panel with screen monitors from here to there, three large laser-things pointing at him.
Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun and Orbot were typing down on some keyboards from left to right, doing something.
'Great. First I got arrested along with my friends, then Kaiser tried to kill us and if it weren't for Squirt, I'd be dead by now, now I'm stuck here. What is this, catch the amnesic hedgehog day?' Sun thought bitterly to himself, though he felt more than a little terrified but he tried to hide it from showing.
The fact that he was now in the clutches of the man who knew more about him than he was letting on, and attempted to absorb the darkness he had been inadvertently absorbing as a Werehog, which doing so with this machine would either cause the beast inside him to destroy his soul, or form as it's own being, it was doomsday coming.
Just like in his and Sonic's half-shared nightmares.
"Well, now. Feeling quite comfortable there, little hedgehog?" Eggman snickered evilly, gazing down at his captive.
"Oh yeah, it's like a luxary bed. The fact that I'm strapped with my arms and legs stuck and I can't move, it's fantastic." Sun replied sarcastically with a heated glare. "You should try it sometime, you big fat tub of lard."
"Good, because you're about to get even more comfortable." The evil scientist mocked, still grinning madly.
The dark-blue hedgehog gritted his teeth angrily.
"Now that you're here, I will be able to complete in absorbing the power of Dark Gaia to fuel and make my Egg Empire a reality, and no one, not even Sonic, will be able to stop me!" Eggman continued.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! How can you control something that's planet-sized? Didn't you learn your lesson from the other times Sonic stopped you? He told me the other day how you tried to control a giant water monster which ended up a bust, and he was the only one who could defeat that thing with the Chaos Emeralds." Sun said angrily.
"Oh, I learn from my mistakes, Little Shadow." Eggman said dismissively.
"My name is Sun!" Sun snapped, adding admittedly. "Even though it's not my real name, but it's still better than thing! Another thing, how did you know about me being a Werehog and that I had darkness within me? Besides the fur colour, you couldn't have known what Sonic, Chip and I have been doing apart from restoring the planet."
"That's quite a story there, and the word Sun may as well be your real name. I must admit, when you first appeared in my fortress the day Sonic failed to stop me from using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, it was quite terrifying. When I sent you two down to Mobius, I would've thought that either the fall would've killed him or you would." The evil scientist began.
"Tell me something I don't know, and by the way, the Werehog side of me has been pretty hungry for Sonic's blood, which I managed to hold off. But if I were in that form right now, I wouldn't hesitate on eating you for breakfast, lunch or dinner or even a midnight snack, so that way the world wouldn't have to worry about your ugly mug again." The dark-blue hedgehog scoffed and warned darkly.
That made Eggman flinch and cringe back a little in fright while the robots, even Orbot who would've blinked in shock, clinged onto each other in fear and shivered, with the evil doctor muttering a bit shakily. "Oh my...! The hedgehog I can understand, but why me? Why not anybody else?"
Sun rolled his eyes, "Besides you ruined my life, and I never thought once on eating anybody else and the few times I nearly lost control of myself and almost ate my friend, I felt guilty. Because I got to know him, and he's...he's my best friend, now. Along with Chip, and maybe even Tails. But it's thanks to you that the world's like this, and I'm stuck turning into a Werehog every single night, and that stupid hunter keeps calling me a Werewolf. Either way, you've also been on my Werehog side's list of being a meal."
He then grinned and added, "And while I hate being a Werehog and I want to be cured, I can now also grow into a giant and given the nightmare Sonic told me about the other day before we saw you again in Mazuri, I can easily swallow you whole if I wanted to. Digusting now, but it is kind of tempting."
"YOU WHAT!?" Eggman shouted in horror. That, he didn't anticipate. The power of the darkness of Dark Gaia was much stronger than he originally thought.
"Sonic's nightmare of seeing that happen to himself and possibly Dr. Eggman is going to give me nightmares." Decoe shivered in fear.
"It's a good thing robots are not tasty, at alone edible." Bocoe added.
"Like I said, even I'm terrified of that skill, but with you, I might consider it if given the chance." Sun continued, though he was half-joking about it. He did hope that it wouldn't come to that, but he wanted to make his kidnapper squirm a little.
"Well, erm...I-I see...Then it's a good thing I've strapped you now while you're not a Werehog then." Eggman muttered nervously, prodding his fingers together. He then snapped out of it and continued. "Anyway, when I saw you two again with that little pixie-mutt, whatever you call that little pest, I didn't recognize you and thought the colouring was a coincidence. But then I remembered the Gaia Manuscript and put the two and two together, and after a little research and my assistants Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun going through the audio and cameras, I have proof of how you appeared."
"That so?" The dark-blue hedgehog muttered, trying to hide the fact that he was even more horrified and believing that this could be a lie. But if Eggman did have proof, would that mean he knew how he ended up there? "And my memories?"
The mad doctor grinned evilly. "I knew you would ask that question, hedgehog. It is astonishing that you have quite a personality and everyday knowledge of life, but it must be Sonic's influence without either of you knowing. Not even your 'brother' knows of it. But the fact remains, you are not who you think you are, and as such...you have no memories of a past, because you don't have one!"
Sun's eyes couldn't help but widen, his purple orbs shrinking back and shaking. Could it be true? Did it really mean...he really is Sonic's clone? He shook his head in denial and grunted, failing to hide the fear in his voice. "You're lying!"
"I wouldn't lie over something like this, Sun the Hedgehog. It's a pity, since you're the second hedgehog that has grown in a matter of days, already having a personality and soul, much like everybody else including me." Eggman responded darkly.
"Liar!" Sun hissed, glaring hard once more. "I'm a Mobian! I just can't remember who I was before! And you tell nothing but lies! You tricked a lot of people, you trapped Sonic, and you split the planet apart! For what? Turning the world into a giant iron ball that would disintigrate once all life is gone because of your factories and machinary!? If you hate nature so much, why not go launch yourself onto an isolated planet and build you're stupid fantasy world there and leave everybody else alone?"
"Because I want to and because I am the most brilliant man in the world, that's why!" The evil scientist declared.
"That's it? Oh, give me a break. A little two-tailed fox is smarter than you, Ro-butt-nik." The dark-blue hedgehog scoffed. "Besides, where is this proof of yours that I'm not who I am?"
"I'll be glad to show it-" Eggman was cut off when the alarms went off, causing him and everybody else to look around in alarm, just as Decoe and Bocoe quickly checked the scanners before they both cried out in shock.
"Sonic and his friends are chasing after us, doctor!" Decoe announced worriedly.
"And they are catching up fast!" Bocoe added, pushing another button to reveal the Egg-Eagle's cameras on the back of it's body and true to the two robots' words, the Tornado 1 was spotted with Tails in the pilot seat, and Sonic on his usual spot of standing on top of the wings, and even from the distance, the blue hedgehog was livid.
Sun's eyes widened in shock, and no small amount of relief. He couldn't believe it. Sonic was here. He really did come. The blue hedgehog was keeping to his word and coming to rescue him.
"I won't let Eggman touch you, as best as I can. And if he does, I'll come for you. I promise."
"Sonic...You came for me..." Sun whispered, tears forming in his eyes before silently sliding free and began to softly cry. His friend really did care.
"Curse that hedgehog! Why won't he just quit!?" Eggman growled furiously. He then commanded angrily. "Don't just sit there like broken pieces of metal! Launch the Fly-Bots!"
"Right away, doctor!" Decoe saluted, pushing another button. "Engaging battle mode."
Sun gasped in shock when he heard this, before turning his gaze back to the monitor worriedly, thinking to himself. 'Sonic, guys...please be okay!'
"We're getting pretty close to the fortress, Sonic!" Tails announced, adding. "I'm gonna put us into battle mode, just in case."
"Knowing Eggman, that's a good idea. Ready when you are!" Sonic replied, while Chip held onto his seat as he sat in the middle, while Amy, feeling useless like this and unable to help even with her Hammer, held onto the sides of the plane, bracing herself.
"Activating Battle Mode!" The two-tailed fox declared, re-forming his plane into it's battle mode with the Tornado 1's machine laser-gun all set and the blue hedgehog almost immediately getting into the machine's seat and positioned himself, grasping the handles and buttons of the Laser-Cannon.
Just as they predicted, the Egg-Eagle turned around to the side before the side of it's body opened up to reveal a bunch of flying robots that came straight towards them. So far there were five in total, but Sonic and his two closest and oldest friends knew from experience, they would be a lot more. As the robots came flying towards them and firing shots at them, causing Chip to scream and duck in his seat, Tails quickly maneuvered away from the attacks.
"Eat this, bolt-heads!" Sonic shouted, as his little brother spun around while the blue hedgehog took aim at the enemies and at the two-tailed fox's signal, he open fired at the robots, taking each out by three hits each. Tails flew to the side while his friends held on tight, all four of them crying out in alarm as the surviving robots did the same and opened fire at them back, nearly hitting them.
"Tails, Sonic, be careful!" Amy cried out.
"Sorry!" The two brothers responded apologetically.
"Whoa! Eggman's really out for it!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, once again firing back at the other robots as he aimed carefully, taking them out with ease just as more appeared from the side of the giant Eagle-Robot Fortress.
"I hope Sun's okay!" Chip yelped, hanging for dear life and shivering.
Just then another robot appeared right beside the group's plane, causing them to yelp of shock and Sonic was unable to turn the Laser-Cannon since it was too close, and began to think that they were done for. Fortunately, the problem was quickly resolved.
"Hey! Back off, buddy!" Amy shouted, summoning her Hammer and with all her might, she tossed it which smashed the robot's head in and caused it to explode before it could even get close to the Tornado 1 while Tails maneuvered it to the opposite direction for safety.
"Thanks, Amy! Nice shot!" Sonic praised, looking over his shoulder as he gave his self-proclaimed girlfriend a thumbs up with a smirk, relieved that she had just saved them. This made the pink hedgehog blush on her muzzle, feeling giddy and overwhelmed by the compliment as she giggled, a little embarrassed.
"More incoming all around us!" Tails quickly informed, and true to his words, several more did appear in a total number of ten.
"Bring it on!" The blue hedgehog declared with a smirk, ready to take these things out, and opened more the moment they did, causing an explosion in between them and forcing the eight year old fox to move away just in case and fifteen year old repeated the process, maneuvering his seat from side to side as best as he could, taking out the robots.
"I've got your back, Sonic!" Amy called out, deciding to use her hammers to take out any surprise attacks.
"But how? You lost your hammer!" Chip pointed out, worriedly. "You tossed it at that robot!"
Sonic and Tails both smiled knowingly as Amy was just full of surprises.
"It appears to be Amy Rose is attempting to keep on fighting." Bocoe announced.
"Yet, that little hedgehog girl has lost her hammer. Ergo, a futile attempt on her part." Orbot pointed out.
"You're right. Let's see her try and get it back." Eggman grinned.
The only ones not surprised were Sonic and Tails, as Amy summoned another hammer, and when two more flying robots appeared, she switched hands with her new hammer in her left hand, and summoned a third one in her right, and with a battle cry, she tossed them both at the two unsuspecting robots who sweat dropped at this sight before being hit and exploding to their doom, while the blue hedgehog opened fire once more at the robots coming from the left and from the front and behind each and every time they attempted to ambush him and his friends.
"Wha-how-whoa!" Chip exclaimed, shocked to see the pink hedgehog do what she did.
In the Egg-Eagle, everyone onboard were just as shocked as they saw Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend do that, almost completely speechless with wide-eyes and sweat drops.
"She has more hammers than a hardware store!" Decoe exclaimed fearfully.
"Well, at least she wouldn't have to worry about running out or waste money just to buy new ones to fix things up or bash stuff." Sun commented, blinking in a little bit of fright. None the less, he was growing increasingly worried for his friends. 'Guys...hang in there.'
"Well, if that's how you want to play, Sonic, then I'll have to play even more dirty!" Eggman declared after a moment of shock.
As Sonic and his friends fought the flying robots and eventually dispatched most of them, they were about to move in to try and break into the Egg-Eagle when to their dismay, even more came out and to make things worse, cannons began to appear from the side of the giant massive robot as well. The blue hedgehog gritted his teeth while his friends looked on worriedly and fearfully.
"There's too many of them!" Tails screamed out. "And if we keep this up, we'll run out of fuel!"
"There's gotta be a way! I just need to bust into that thing and get Sun outta there!" Sonic grunted, refusing to give up on his friend. He had to save him, no matter what. But at the same time, he couldn't put the rest of his friends at risk.
Just as the robots made to fire, and Sonic's group could only try and dodge while hoping for the best, a familiar shout was heard from the left.
"CHAOS SPEAR!"
"Huh!?" Sonic and his friends gasped in surprise, turning just in time to see the familiar yellow arrows of chaos energy hit and destroy several of the robots and even a couple hit some of the cannons on the side of the Egg-Eagle, causing some explosion but not enough to sent the fortress out of control. They and everyone inside the fortress who screamed when they felt the impact and the ship shaking violently then saw another dark place fly towards them, with a familiar black hedgehog on top of it's wings, a white bat in the pilot seat and a red echidna in the back seat, hanging on for dear life.
"Typical. You always need to be saved." Shadow greeted with a scoff.
"Shadow! Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed in relief, waving at them and the third savior that came to the rescue.
"And Rouge too!" Tails added.
"Hey, it's that bat lady who tried to steal a Master Emerald shard from Knuckles!" Chip cried out, recognizing the bat thief from Apotos.
"Looks like you boys and gal needed some help. Don't worry, the chiviary's arrived." Rouge greeted.
"How about you focus on not making us crash!? You fly more recklessly than Tails!" Knuckles shouted, looking quite green in the face and pale in fear.
"What!? SHADOW!? And Knuckles!?" Eggman exclaimed, horrified to see the Ultimate Lifeform and the Guardian of the Master Emerald here along with Rouge.
Sun, surprised to see the welcoming committee, couldn't help but smirk as he muttered about Shadow. "Nice moves, old man."
"Great timing, Shads! We could use a bit more help." Sonic called out as Shadow's plane edged a bit closer.
"Let's save this for later. I take that Sun is inside that thing." Shadow responded, frowning.
The blue hedgehog normally would've commented on the older hedgehog's dry and edgy response, but decided to let it slide this and replied with a serious frown. "Yeah, Eggman surprised us just after Kaiser tried to kill us. I've gotta get inside that thing and save Sun!"
"Then we'll distract him. You get inside that fortress and rescue him." The black hedgehog instructed.
"Got it!" Sonic replied, before Tails and Rouge both maneuvered their planes to avoid more attacks as the latter opened fire once more and while Sonic did the same, Shadow unleashed another set of Chaos Spear to take down most of the robots which some of them dodged only to end up destroyed moments later, and Amy tossed more of her Hammers that smashed the robots that got too close and even saved Shadow's group a couple times. The two groups were forced to dodge the Egg-Eagle's missiles that were fired at them and exploded in the sky when the attacks missed.
"GET THEM!" Eggman screamed impatiently.
"Don't you get it, Fatso?" Sun spoke up, glaring up at the evil scientist who glared down at him. "You'll never beat Sonic, no matter how many times you try. It's been, what, four years since you guys met? People would've thought you'd retired by now."
"Silence, you brat!" The mad doctor growled, before commanding the robot minions. "Begin the preparations of the absorbing darkness!"
"Yes, doctor." Decoe, Bocoe and Orbot saluted, all setting things up and began powering up the machine that the dark-blue hedgehog was trapped in.
"But first, give him a little taste to shut him up." Eggman added, pushing a button on his control panel, which caused the table that Sun was trapped on to spark before it then began electrocuting him, much to the dark-blue hedgehog's horror before he began to scream in pain.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! NNGGGGGHHH!" Sun screamed in agony, feeling every part of his body being burned and electrocuted. All the while the evil doctor laughed manically.
"Once I've began absorbing all of that darkness, you're going to wish you had never been born." Eggman declared.
"N-No! AAAAH! Y-You can't...do this!" The dark-blue hedgehog grunted in pain, as he knew that this was the moment he had been fearing. He knew that if Eggman absorbed the darkness...then the Werehog will emerge, either taking over his body or become a separate living form and escape to terrorize the world.
"I can and I'm already doing it! Even if Sonic does barge in here, he won't like what he will learn and you belong to me now!" The evil doctor responded.
Sun continued screaming in pain, before the zapping part of the machine stopped and he was breathing heavily, hissing and wincing in pain. 'S-Sonic...hurry, please...!'
Back outside, Sonic could see an opening headquarters on the back of the giant robot, and knew there was only one thing left to do. As much as he hated to leave his friends behind to continue the fight without him, time was running out and he needed to save Sun before it was too late.
"Tails! I'm gonna jump onto that thing! Get us as high as you can and then keep these guys busy without crashing! I'll be back with Sun as soon as I can!" Sonic instructed.
"You got it!" Tails replied.
"Knuckles! I need you to take my place! Think you can handle it?" The blue hedgehog called out to the red echidna in the other plane.
"Leave it to me!" Knuckles replied, thankful to have an excuse to get out of the plane that Rouge was flying.
"Aw, and I was hoping you'd stay a bit longer." Rouge teased, smirking as she knew that her rival was terrified of her flying more than with Tails' piloting skills.
"Zip it!" The red echidna grunted, as he carefully stood up and made to jump.
Both planes flew up high towards the very top of the Egg-Eagle, avoiding more attacks, when Amy, Tails and Chip wished him luck and Sonic gave them a thumbs up, he jumped off of the Tornado 1 and Spin Dashed towards the back on top of the giant robot, taking out the machine guns that were placed there as well with his Homing Attack before dashing straight towards the doorway, smashing his way inside and into the hallway. Knuckles in the meantime jumped and landed onto the wing of Tails' plane before taking Sonic's place with the Laser-Gun, both planes flying back to avoid more attacks and continued the Air Battle.
"Sonic's just busted his way into the Egg-Eagle!" Decoe cried out worriedly.
"Do you propose we stop him before he reaches us, Dr. Eggman?" Bocoe suggested.
"It's our only hope and if that doesn't help, then the video cameras will!" Eggman growled, already setting up the security traps to stop intruders like Sonic.
Hearing the video camera part made Sun's heart stop for a moment. If what the evil scientist said is true, then...would Sonic really abandon him? The truth behind his past was edging closer, yet the dark-blue hedgehog, injured and trapped, still didn't want to believe it. He gazed low, becoming even more scared.
In the hallway of the Egg-Eagle, Sonic raced his way though and easily dodging the lasers from the ceiling that were close to his heels but he wasn't fazed for one second. He focused on his goal in finding the main control room and rescue one of his two new friends who needed him desperately. Despite that he was getting quite exhausted due to his fight against Kaiser, he wasn't going to give up now. He's handled situations that made him really injured before and this was no different.
As usual, Eggman had set up a bunch of traps to stop the blue hedgehog, because the floor opened up to reveal several spikes. But the fifteen year old smirked and ran along the wall on his right, easily avoiding the spikes, yet he found himself running along a topsy-turvy loop as more spikes emerged from the road behind him, attempting to turn him a blue swiss cheese. He took out more robots that appeared to stand in his way, dodging their attacks of lasers and razors, using his Homing Attack and Axe-Kicks before punching two more, smashing his way through another large one that was about at least 40 feet tall.
"Ha! You're gonna have to do better than that, Eggman!" Sonic laughed, running between the robot's legs and then turned around just to attack it's weak spot; on it's back, and smashed it into pieces with ease. The large robot exploded and the blue hedgehog stood up, clapping his hands as though he was dusting them off. "That thing might as well have a target sign on it's head. Now, to save Sun!"
He turned around to continue his way towards the main control room, and as he did, Sonic couldn't help but remember the last time he bust himself into an evil fortress; the time when his adventure began, and he had fallen into the evil man's trap despite having been suspicious. It was time when Sonic thought he'd beaten Eggman, but it had all been part of the doctor's trap; somehow, he had hoped that the blue hedgehog had the Chaos Emeralds with him, or at the very least without the teenager realizing it, he made the hunt for the Emeralds a lot easier and quicker than he anticipated.
'No. I can't think about that right now. Gotta focus! This time, I won't let it happen again.' The cobalt hero thought to himself, narrowing his eyes as he sped straight forward, determined to rescue Sun and maybe stop the evil doctor and put him out of commission which would make saving the world a lot easier without worrying about a final battle for once, and hopefully prevent Dark Gaia from fully awakening.
Finally after felt like forever, he saw the promising door and despite sensing there was a trap inside, Sonic knew he had to make it count and use his speed to get himself and his friend out of here. He Spin Dashed straight through the door, smashing it open and stood just in front of it, startling his enemies and his friend who, stunned to see him, sighed in relief.
"Oh, great." Eggman grumbled, angry and annoyed that his enemy has already arrived.
"What'd you expect, Eggman? You should know me better than that by now." Sonic muttered, before turning his attention to his friend trapped in the glass dome and cried out. "Sun! Are you okay?"
"Been a bit better." Sun sighed, still wincing in pain from being zapped. "Took your sweet time, though."
"I got here as fast as I could. What did Eggman do to you!?" Sonic replied, shocked to see that his friend was hurt, but at least he wasn't bleeding, which was a good sign.
"Tried to cook me into a Roast-Hog." The dark-blue hedgehog replied sarcastically.
"Don't worry. I'm getting you outta here!" The blue hedgehog promised, before glaring up at his enemy who began laughing that annoying laugh of his, the teenager gritting his teeth and clutching his fist.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho! Oh ho ho ho ho! How cute. You're saving yourself twice." Eggman stated with a nasty, ugly grin.
"What's that supposed to mean? What'd you do to my friend!?" The blue hedgeog demanded, pointing at him accusingly.
"You fool! Did you ever to stop and think on where that Werehog has come from? I know who he really is, and you're wasting your time in coming here, hedgehog!" The evil scientist responded.
Sonic glared harder. "You're lying! Why should I believe you when 99 times out of 100 are nothing but lies?"
"Then you should consider this one of those rare times that I am telling the truth." Eggman stated.
"Yeah, right. Like your fake remorse back when you zapped me? After going through that, I'm never believing any of your remorseful lies ever again!" The blue hedgehog argued. "Let Sun go, or I'll make you!"
"Why don't we watch a little video and see if you don't change your mind about your 'friend'?" Eggman suggested, as Bokkun laughed while turning on the monitors connecting to the video recording, having already fast forward through everything else to just before Sonic had been trapped and pressed play.
The large screen to Eggman's left and Sonic's right was in slight static before it revealed a hidden camera in the corner that the blue hedgehog hadn't even noticed. To the teenager's horror, it was the moment where he had been trapped in Eggman's machine, while Sun gasped in horror, and for some reason it was zoomed him to get a better glimpse of the fifteen year old's pain. Sonic felt his heart shake, his eyes widened and even though it was all in the past now, to see his past-self in that machine brought back the haunting memory of how this mess all started. The painful electricity, the guilt, anger, fear and sorrow as he saw himself screaming and crying, and for a moment he could feel it all over again.
Sun looked just as horrified to see his friend in that much pain, having not known it was torture. The two hedgehogs gasped when they saw how Mobius was split even through the zoom, Sonic's agony. Dark Gaia half completed and awakening and emerging. But that wasn't what got their attention.
"I'd suggest you focus a bit more on your quills, Sonic." Eggman taunted evilly.
Sonic would've replied, but his emerald green eyes were glued to the screen, and that's where he and Sun both saw it: two or three threads of the blue hedgehog's quills, unknowingly to him at the time, had been slightly chipped off and caught by the electric force, having created a small ball that acted strangely. They watched as during the process of Dark Gaia's forced awakening, a single tear fell from Sonic's eyes and joined the ball, and as Sonic's past-self in the video dropped to his knees, injured and weak, the ball began to grow by the invisible threads of the darkness of the giant monster's power, forming and taking shape.
To both Sonic and Sun's horror, it began to grow into a familiar shape they both knew better of by now as the electricity focused on that after freeing the hero of Mobius. It grew large arms of dark-blue fur, pale gray-ish hands with claws, legs with Sun's Werehog shoes, and then finally...Sun the Werehog himself had been fully completed and emerged, tired and exhausted, disoriented and in a state of anger and hunger as well as confusion, with a light orb appearing almost completely invisible and merging into the Werehog's body.
"No..." Sonic whispered, in horror and disbelief. This had to be some sort of trick; Eggman just had to have edited the audio to make it convincing. He and the horrified and devastated Sun then saw their past-selves being thrown out of the Station and towards the broken Mobius along with the lifeless Chaos Emeralds before the video finally stopped.
It can't be true...It just can't! But the reality of everything he and his friends had learned; Sun and Shadow's theories, the Manuscript, the dark-blue hedgehog's lack of memories and the mystery of how he ended up there with Sonic as a Werehog...it came crushing down onto the blue hedgehog.
"As you can see, just like the legend says, a being born from the body sample of a human or a mobian or an animal of a pure heart along with tears, a great power that is drained and anger and sorrow will appear, both as a creature of darkness." Eggman grinned evilly.
"And heart-given new life form with a heart and mind of their own." Sun finished in heart-ache, tears forming as he lowered his gaze, shaking and horrified beyond belief, as everything made perfect sense now. Eggman was right. Shadow was right. Sun himself was right. "I...I..."
"Shadow was right...and so was Sun...he is my clone..." Sonic whispered, feeling heart-broken by this discovery. Even worse, as the legend says, Sun wouldn't be able to live much longer due to Dark Gaia going to sacrifice him, his clone, his friend...
His brother.
"Yes. Your so called friend you had been attempting to cure and regain the memories that he never lost has been you all this time, Sonic! He is Sonic the Hedgehog #2, your clone! Perfected by Dark Gaia, the power of the Chaos Emeralds, your quills and negative emotions, and by unexplainable knowledge, he has also been given everyday knowledge making him think he is like everybody else, in a confused state without a name until you gave him as such." Eggman explained in victory.
"It's not fair...Sun's nothing like me...How could this be?" Sonic trembled in sorrow and guilt, and when he ran his hand through his quills, he finally noticed that a few threads were missing, but not enough to make him go bald and can easily grow back.
"Maybe you should have paid more attention to your hair-cut, Sonic." Bokkun suggested teasingly.
Sun felt at complete loss. All this time, searching for answers of his past, trying to find lost memories that never existed. He never had memories until he was born as a Werehog; the beast also came from Sonic and Dark Gaia. "I really am a clone...I'm...I'm Sonic the Hedgehog...Sonic the Werehog...I'm...I'm not meant to exist..."
The dark-blue hedgehog, knowing now what his fate was to be, began to cry in sorrow and crushing defeat. Feeling like now he had no life, he decided to just lie here and die, fated to disappear and felt that it was best for Sonic to just leave him and hope that he could destroy him and the beast inside his body and as much as he didn't want to leave, he had no other choice. Unknowingly to the heart-broken new hedgehog, Sonic turned his gaze to his friend, his clone, his brother and his heart broke to see Sun cry.
At that moment all Sonic wanted to do was free him and hug him. It didn't feel right to regard Sun the Hedgehog as his clone, or to say that he loved himself more than loving others. They were both different in personality. They went through so much together along with Chip. Sun felt so...so real. He grew as his own person, his heart, mind and soul were his own and not Sonic's, because he already had his own heart, mind and soul. As did everybody else.
Like how Shadow had the same thing, despite having been created by Gerald Robotnik and Black Doom.
'A heart-given new life form with a heart and mind of their own. But they didn't mention anything about the soul too. That light...it wasn't just a heart or a mind. It was the two of them and a soul...Uncle Chuck told me once that a soul chooses it's vessel, in theory and normally it's for newborn infants. Well, it happened with Shadow and he wasn't a baby...so the same thing happened to Sun that day.' Sonic thought to himself.
No. Clone or not, Sun was himself, and Sonic was himself. They were different from each other.
"Well then, it's been a fun playtime, but I think it's time for you to get going before I take care of you later." Eggman suggested evilly.
"I'm not leaving without Sun." Sonic stubbornly declared, surprising his enemies, and his friend who, in middle of crying, tearfully looked up at him. "I promised I'd get him outta here and away from you, and I never break my promises. I'm not gonna start breaking them now!"
"Sonic?" Sun muttered, puzzled on why the blue hedgehog he originated from still wanted to save him. He was just a clone, another Sonic, given a new name to avoid confusion.
"Are you nuts? He's you, for pete's sake!" The evil scientist asked incredulously.
"Maybe from my quills and my tears, but deep down he's himself." Sonic stated, glaring up at his enemy who frowned. "Clone or not, Sun is still my friend, and we've been through a lot together with Chip through out this journey. In case you haven't done your research properly, Egghead, the newly born clone is given a new heart and mind of their own, but there's one thing that the people who wrote that stupid Manuscript forgot about; a soul. Souls choose their vessels the day new life is born and while it's impossible to see it, I strongly believe it does happen and it's happening right now, every day, every hour and every second."
The teenage hedgehog paused, before continuing as he placed a hand to his chest. "More than anything, Sun shares my blood and that doesn't make him my clone at all. It makes him something much more special."
Sonic softly smiled as he stated. "He is...my new brother. Just like Tails and Chip. He has his own heart, mind and soul, and his own abilities and personality. Sometimes a body that isn't metal doesn't matter. I love him, and I'm still going to cure him and free him from being a Werehog, and stop that monster inside his body which you probably also ignored about."
Sun's eyes widened in shock, as his memories, the real memories he gained since the day he was unknowingly born with knowledge an average teenager like Sonic would know, formed in his mind.
"It's gonna be okay. And...well, even if you are my clone, there's no way I'd treat ya' any differently. Heck, I'd treat ya more like my new brother, just like I do with Tails and Chip." Sonic reassured with a warm smile.
"At first when we first met, I didn't like you because of your attitude and...and how you tried to eat me as a Werehog since none of us knew about the monster inside you at the time. But through out this adventure, I began to see how much you have a good heart, Sun. I got to know you better, and you had every right to be mad at me. It's thanks to Chip that we agreed to stick together, and I vowed to cure you from this curse, and like I said before, I never break my promises. Both of you guys became part of the team, and like Tails and Knuckles, you both are my best friends now, part of my family." The blue hedgehog continued.
"We're...your family like everybody else?" Chip asked as he hovered off from the teenager's head and hovered beside the two hedgehogs.
"Exactly. You can replace items that are made by man or Mobian like vases or tea cups that break easily, but you can never replace friends and family. There's only one of each of us, especially in our hearts." Sonic nodded, smiling warmly, gazing at both of his companions. "I love you, Chip, and Sun. And after this adventure's over...if you both want to go on with your lives, then I won't stop you, but I'll miss you. I'll be thinking about you every day and night until we meet up again with Tails, and go on more adventures."
While Sun also knew that the beast had been right all along, about both him and the monster coming from Sonic and Dark Gaia, as well as the Chaos Emeralds, everything Sonic had said proved that his original-no, his brother, was all true. Even with the truth now fully known, the blue hedgehog still refused to abandon him.
Sonic turned his gaze to Sun and added. "I made it this far, and there's no way I'd abandon him. Not now, not ever. He has every right to live his own life, and I'm going to fufill that wish. I can't help him regain memories from the past that never happened to him, but I'm still going to make sure he's cured, and figure out a way to make him live as a real Mobian, because deep inside, he is like us in his own way."
"Sonic..." Sun whispered, crying almost uncontrollably. He didn't care anymore if he was Sonic's shadow, the fact that his brother cared about him so much and treated him no differently than everybody else, and respected his feelings, it was almost too much that it healed his heart and began patching up his very own soul. "I...I love you, too..."
"Awwww..." Decoe and Bocoe both sighed emotionally, as, despite being loyal to Eggman due to him being their creator, they knew that Sonic was right. Unlike themselves, Bokkun and Orbot, Sun was organic, just like Shadow, meaning that the dark-blue hedgehog was much more alive and had his own heart and soul.
"Bleh! This is the worst kind of mushy stuff ever!" Bokkun groaned in disgust, then ended up tears a second later and began crying. "Oh, who am I kidding?"
Eggman however, furious and not believing in the beast part, growled. "That's so sweet, I'm about to barf! No matter, I will absorb that darkness and then I'll get rid of both of you, Sonic and Sonic the Second-hog!"
"His name is Sun the Hedgehog!" Sonic snapped, glaring back at the evil scientist, before adding with worry. "And you can't absorb the darkness! If you do, then the monster that's inside of him will either take over his body or it'll be set free and then terrorize the planet! You've gotta stop now!"
"You're being paranoid! That's just the Werehog side of him that isn't living! Stay out of my way, and observe!" Eggman declared, before commanding his robots. "Quit your blubbering, you artificial babies, and activate the Absorbing Machine!"
"I am not blubbering, Dr. Eggman, but I will do as you say." Orbot saluted, only to be shoved into his orb form by the irritated doctor.
"I wasn't talking to you, Orbot!" He grunted in sheer annoyance, as Decoe and Bocoe, snapping out of their crying trance and yet slightly hesitant, did as they commanded.
"NO!" Sonic screamed, immediately racing over towards the glass dome and Spin Dashed to break through, but to his and Sun's shock, there was a thin electrical force field on the glass itself, stopping the blue hedgehog's attack and sending him flying backwards as he screamed, hitting the wall behind him and slumped slightly, hissing in pain.
"Sonic, no!" Sun exclaimed in horror and worry, and renewed his attempts to break free, but the restrains were too tight and hard, while the three beams above him began to power up and spark with purple electricity and before Sonic, who grunted and sat up slightly and looking up, could do anything, the beams fired and began zapping him similar to the electricity that hurt the dark-blue hedgehog before.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sun screamed in agony once more, this time feeling the beams seep into his body, digging into his flesh, blood and veins, and somewhere deep inside him, searching and quickly finding the darkness he absorbed as a Werehog before zapping and absorbing them, making him scream even louder.
"SUN!" Sonic screamed in dismay, leaping to his feet and tried his Homing Attack to break through, but was met with the same result and sent back to the floor, even more injured. But he refused to give up, and, ignoring the pain, tried again and again despite being met with the same thing. By then, Eggman had called in reinforcements and mechanical claws emerged from the ceiling to try and capture the blue hedgehog.
Noticing this and growling, Sonic quickly kicked and punched the claws back and being forced to run all over the room while avoiding more traps that were similar to the one that he had been caught in, the blue hedgehog could only gaze helplessly as his new brother was being tortured, the darkness being absorbed from the dark-blue hedgehog's body and into a tube in the middle of the room that emerged from the floor and become filled with dark energy like liquid filling up glass.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! AH HA HA HA HA HA! Yes! This is the missing pieces of Dark Gaia energy I needed for my Eggmanland Empire! Once I get all of it from Sonic's new brother, Mobius will be mine!" Eggman laughed victoriously.
"STOP IT! Eggman, please! I'm begging you! Let him go!" Sonic screamed pleadingly, still fighting the Egg Security as more and more darkness was being absorbed from Sun who was still screaming in pain, looking more and more like he wouldn't be able to survive it. That, and his fear of the Werehog inside his brother's body was getting worse as well as the safety of the dark-blue hedgehog.
Sun paused his screaming for a moment to hiss in pain, trying to hold onto his soul as he was being tortured beyond belief, wishing for all of this to stop, and for a moment he heard the terrible monster inside his mind once more.
"Why are you still attached to him? We are him! Part of Dark Gaia! He is telling you lies! Kill him and then we will not be Sonic the Hedgehog or anyone else! We will be one, be ourselves!" The Werehog roared furiously.
'NO! I-I don't care if I'm-if I'm Sonic's clone! My heart, my mind, and my soul...they belong to me, and me alone! I...I'M SUN THE HEDGEHOG! I MAKE MY OWN CHOICES! NOT YOU, NOT EGGMAN, AND ESPECIALLY...NOT...DARK...GAIA!' Sun thought stubbornly, determined to be exactly what Sonic saw him as; his own being within his body that was artificially created, with blood and flesh. Blood he shared with Sonic...his brother.
"YOU ABOMINATIONAL FOOL! YOU ARE JUST FOLLOWING SONIC AS HIS SHADOW!" The Werehog roared.
'So what!? Following Sonic is-AH! Is a million times better than...following you! I am not a monster! YOU ARE! You're just like all the other monsters from that stupid giant thing! We're nothing alike! We're both separate and I won't let you...take my body, or get out of me! If I have to die...I'm taking you with me!' The dark-blue hedgehog hissed, before screaming in pain again as more and more of the darkness was absorbed from his body.
Eggman ignored Sonic's pleads and continued ordering his robots to keep absorbing Sun's darkness and machines to kill the fifteen year old hero who by then already smashed every single security system. Sonic turned his attention back to the glass dome and knew that breaking through with his attacks was hopeless, trying to figure out another way to get his brother out of it and save him before it was too late. He then eyed on the dome and then noticed that it wasn't quite attached to the floor.
Realizing what to do, Sonic narrowed his eyes before borrowing into the floor and tunneled his way towards the dome once more, much to the shock of Eggman and his robots, which quickly turned to dismay as the blue hedgehog emerged from the floor, now inside the dome and next to the table the dark-blue hedgehog was trapped in.
"OH NO! The force field is effective on the glass, but not when it's on the floor!" Eggman exclaimed in dismay, holding his hands to his head as he witnessed his worst enemy trying to save his brother.
"Sun!" Sonic shouted.
"S-Sonic!" Sun cried out, feeling weaker by the second.
"I'm right here! It's gonna be okay!" The blue hedgehog told him as comforting as he could sound, but failed to hide the guilt and sorrow in his voice. "Oh, Sun, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault!"
"No...It's not...your fault, Sonic...Maybe it's...better that you leave me...UGH! AAAAHHH! Leave me...behind!" The dark-blue hedgehog whimpered, tears falling freely. "Just...just forget about me...! I can't...bear the thought of...you dying!"
Sonic shook his head, screaming as he reached out to try and pull him free. "NO!"
But as he touched his friend's body that was being zapped, he was forced to yank his hand back as he screamed in pain, clutching his right arm that was zapped but not completely wounded. Ignoring the pain and determined to save him, Sonic tried again, this time shoving both hands through the electrical force and as he tried to ignore the agonizing beams, he managed to wrap his arms around Sun's body but was now quickly trapped within the absorbing beams which covered him and began zapping him like how his power and the Chaos Emeralds' power were drained away.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed in agony, but even as he was being electrocuted for the second time this month, he refused to stop and instead, as painfully as he was in, began to try and pull Sun free while unaware that the darkness that was inside his own body was then quickly absorbed which made the blue hedgehog wince in pain as he gasped sharply, and was soon filled into the tube along with the darkness from Sun's body.
"Doctor, there has been particles of Dark Gaia's darkness inside of Sonic's body too!" Decoe announced in shock.
"The machine has quickly absorbed it all and is now with the other dark energy." Bocoe added, his eyes wide in disbelief.
"Warning! Warning!" Orbot suddenly spoke up, as the energy being absorbed was starting to leak from the glass tube, and the electrical force-field starting to get out of control since Sonic entered the dome. "Over-absorbing is causing an unnatural forces to form!"
As the two hedgehogs were still trapped inside, one trying to pull the other free, Eggman noticed that Orbot, as well as Decoe and Bocoe, was right, and similar to what happened during Sun's birth, a new orb was being formed and to the evil doctor's horror, it was absorbing the leaking darkness from the tube...and from Sun the Hedgehog.
"Sonic...Sonic, run! G-get out of here!" Sun screamed.
"NO! I'm not leaving you behind, Sun!" Sonic argued, hissing in pain as he tried harder to pull his brother free. "You, Tails, and Chip are my best friends! You're my brothers! I love you, and I never leave, anybody, behind! Just-Just don't give up!"
As Sonic tried harder and harder to pull the dark-blue hedgehog free while both of them screamed and being zapped continuously, Sun began to tear up even more, then felt something much bigger begin to leave his body, something large and fuzzy and...very evil emerge and being sucked away. He then realized, to his horror as he could hear the monstrous growl, what was happening.
"If you refuse to obey me, Sun the Hedgehog...then I no longer need you. You and Sonic have failed...to keep me sealed! Soon. I. Will. Be. FREE! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" The Werehog laughed.
"Sonic...! The-The Werehog!" Sun shouted, but it was already too late, as he and Sonic both screamed louder when the beams began stronger, draining what seemed to be the last of the darkness the former had absorbed, something much darker-blue, mixed with purple and black, in an form of an orb, was sucked out from the dark-blue hedgehog's body and absorbed through the absorbing machine, but rather than entering the tube, it broke free and entered the electrical orb and began to form more quickly.
"Uh-oh...!" Decoe and Boce both gulped when they, Eggman, Bokkun and Orbot saw what just happened that all five of them became even more nervous.
"Uh...Dr. Eggman?" Bokkun asked, nervously.
"Oh no...Perhaps we should...turn the machine off now." Eggman muttered scaredly, leaning back in fear.
"AAAAHHHH! GGAAAAH!" Sonic screamed as he tried harder to pull Sun free, and then noticed the cuffs on his brother's arms and legs beginning to finally break. Narrowing his eyes with determination, he pulled harder and harder with most of his strength that he had left.
Finally, with the help of Sun who, feeling the pressure on his wrists and ankles weaken, the blue hedgehog pulled with a final tug and with a loud snap of metal breaking, Sonic pulled his brother free and the two stumbled back, falling onto the ground while amazingly breaking free from the absorbing beams which then stopped, not because of Eggman turning it off, but now they went out of control and when the two injured and exhausted hedgehogs looked up, they, the evil doctor and the robots all screamed as the beams broke the glass and exploded. Everyone braced themselves as the electrical beams then stopped absorbing the darkness as the tube sealed itself shut, but the darkness of the black orb now grew and formed.
It also began causing the Egg-Eagle to malfunction and begin to descend slowly, which was noticed by Tails, Amy, Chip, Knuckles, Shadow and Rouge who, just finishing up in defeating all of the flying robots that came with the giant fortress, all gasped in shock and worry as they saw what just happened.
"What's going on?" Chip asked, worriedly.
"Something's wrong! I think...I think Eggman's using a machine to absorb the darkness from Sun's body and Sonic's in big trouble!" Tails exclaimed fearfully, worried about his big brother and new friend.
"Oh no! That means...!" Knuckles trailed off in horror.
"Either the monster inside of Sun is taking over his body...or it's been set free!" Shadow finished, frowning in concern and even he felt fear strike into his heart.
"...I hope Sonic and Sun are okay." Rouge muttered, worriedly.
"SONIC!" Amy screamed in horror. "SUN!"
Back inside the fortress with alarm bells blaring, everyone had fallen, but miraculously survived, as they began to slowly sit up. Sonic and Sun, both injured, with the latter slightly on top of the former, hissed in pain but were no worse for wear.
"S-Sonic?" Sun muttered, weakly but more concerned about his brother than anything else.
"Sun...You alright?" Sonic replied, panting but gently holding his brother in his arms.
"Think so." The dark-blue hedgehog nodded, wincing in pain. "Ugh...That was...worse than...turning into...a-a Werehog."
"Easy, bro. I gotcha." Said the blue hedgehog, holding him gently as he hugged the injured Mobian. "Come on. Let's get outta here."
"Why...why didn't you just leave me? I'm...I'm just a clone." Sun shook his head, tearing up as he leaned into Sonic's embrace.
Sonic smiled tearfully, holding him closer. "Because I love you. I told you that. So what if you came from my quills? You're still you, and I'm still me. We both have our own souls. We're brothers."
"Oh, Sonic..." Sun trembled, before he began to sob onto his brother's shoulder.
"Shhh...Don't cry, bro. I'm here." Sonic whispered, rubbing his friend's back to comfort him.
The two hedgehogs would've stayed like this for a little while, if the ominous sound of electricity, followed by an evil laughter that sounded loud and clear hadn't brought them and their enemies out of their recovering trances. Sonic, Sun, Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun and Orbot all turned to the forming orb, gasping in horror as it formed into a black ball of darkness.
"FEAR...HATE...GUILT...SORROW...POWER...DARKNESS...SOON...ALL...WILL...BE...DEVOURED!" The dark familiar voice, one that Sun heard for ages, and one that Sonic heard once in Chun-Nan, spoke evilly, and the two of them felt fear engulf them almost quickly, as the orb began to take shape into something very familiar that all of them recognized.
"No...it...it's..." Sun muttered, shakily.
"It can't be!" Sonic half-exclaimed in horror.
"Now I've done it...!" Eggman squeaked in fear, realizing his ultimate mistake and that Sonic and Sun had been right, and worse, he had unleashed the beast side of the Werehog, which was now forming as it's own being. It was all the scientist's fault, that he admitted almost immediately.
Dark Gaia, he was certain he can still control. But a Werehog that plotted to eat everything? That was uncontrollable and Eggman didn't even want to consider in controlling something that had a strong will of it's own.
As soon as the monster began to grow the form of a new Werehog in the same shape as Sun's Werehog form, to everyone's horror, it began to grow as well...into a giant.
"WEREHOG!" Sonic and Sun both screamed in terror, as they and the bad guys watched in horror, the newly freed Werehog-Beast growing and it's shadow looming over them, fear striking deep into their hearts as it laughed evilly.
"Um...Take the tube and let's go...now!" Eggman ordered his minions.
"Y-yes, doctor!" The robots said and, as carefully and quickly as possible, the panicking four robots lifted the heavy tube filled with Dark Gaia's missing power and hurried over to the evil scientist who immediately pushed a button and took his life with his minions as soon as they reached him.
Sonic and Sun, seeing this, felt they needed to leave as well, so the former stood up and scooped up his injured brother before racing out through the doorway and ran away back to where he came from as fast as he could. All the while in the control room, the newly freed beast began to form and grow bigger and bigger, crashing and smashing the Egg-Eagle from inside out and destroying it.
Back outside, the Egg-Eagle was beginning to explode from inside out, and as Tails and the others watched on worriedly, they noticed the side of the fotress open and saw a smaller aircraft flying away, with Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun and Orbot inside with the tube of absorbed darkness.
"It's Eggman!" Amy exclaimed.
"But where are Sonic and Sun?" Tails asked, worriedly.
"HEY! Eggman! Get back here! You coward!" Knuckles shouted furiously.
Suddenly the fortress began to fall, and still running through the hallway while trying to keep his balance, Sonic ran as fast as he could, leaping over the dangerous obstacles with Sun in his arms, and while he felt oddly lighter inside himself, he still felt the intense fear of the Werehog that was set free, chastising himself for not stopping Eggman from unleashing it. All he managed to do was rescue his friend, who in reality now, clone or not, was his brother.
But he forced down that guilt for the sake of getting the dark-blue hedgehog and himself out quickly, and finally the promising exit was seen. Leaping outside, Sonic hurried over to the edge of the falling fortress that was exploding rapidly. Their friends who had been anxiously waiting for them finally saw them and, seeing that they needed to get away, Tails flew in after telling Knuckles, Amy and Chip to hang on. As Chip moved over to sit on Tails' lap while hanging on, and Knuckles jumped off before landing back onto Shadow's plane with the black hedgehog grabbing him by the wrist to stop him from falling over, the two-tailed fox flew in just as Sonic, without second thoughts and telling Sun to hold on as well, made a daring leap off the exploding vessel.
Tails returned the Tornado 1 back into normal mode which made enough room for Sonic to land on it's wings safely, with Sun secured in his arms. Everyone felt relief as the eight year old fox then turned the plane around to get away from the exploding giant robot-fortress.
"Sonic! Sun! Are you okay?" Chip asked frantically.
"Well, it could've gone better. The good news, we're both okay." Sonic replied, before muttering in fear and guilt. "Bad news is, we're in deep trouble."
"Is Sun...?" Tails began, nervously.
"No, I'm still me." Sun replied, knowing what the two-tailed fox was going to ask, wincing in pain. "Just in pain, no thanks to Dr. Fatso. But that's not the problem, which again, is no thanks to him."
"Don't tell me he..." Amy trailed off, before the fortress exploded as the two planes flew away into the safe distance, but she and everyone else all winced while bracing themselves. But as they flew across the desert of Shamar and another region that was surprisingly still attached to it, everyone looked over their shoulders and all gasped in horror as the explosion was somehow absorbed...
By the falling figure of the now giant Werehog, 85 feet tall in the same height as Sun would be in as a Werehog with the new kind of power. The beast fell but landed safely on the ground which caused the earth to tremor for a moment of two, the darkness and explosion absorbed into it's new body, and vanishing to reveal it a bit more darker in colour, it's eyes blood red and it's teeth sharper than before. Sonic's eyes widened in horror, terrified beyond belief.
This was the beast from his nightmare; the monster that had been inside of his brother, one that wanted to eat him. The beast itself...the part-destroyer of Mobius.
The Werehog-Beast, as it's own being, reflexed it's claws as though to test them out before grinning evilly and began to laugh manically in a very dark and evil voice, and monstrous as well that sent fear into everyone, even into Shadow's own heart.
"AH HA HA HA HA...AH HA HA HA HA HA...AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! AT LAST! I AM FREE! FREE TO DEVOUR EVERY SINGLE LIVING BEING ON THIS PATHETIC LITTLE PLANET! MANY THANKS, DR. EGGMAN!" The Werehog-Beast laughed, it's arms stretched out, but then winced as the sunlight stung his eyes, before growling in sheer anger and annoyance as it was still early afternoon. "YET, I CANNOT FUNCTION PROPERLY UNTIL NIGHTFALL. I MUST WAIT."
"The beast..." Sun whispered in horror. "My Werehog side..."
"Oh no..." Sonic muttered in fear as he and his friends hovered in a safe distance, whispering. "Eggman...what've you done?"
In another safe distance in the sky in his aircraft, Eggman and his robots stared on in horror, unable to believe what just happened and even the evil doctor himself was horrified by his own actions. This wasn't what he intended. He just wanted to rule the world, and now, because he didn't listen to Sonic and Sun's warning or believed in the beast part of the Gaia Manuscript, the giant beast was unleashed.
"What have I done?" Eggman muttered in horror.
"I have feeling now's a good time to go home." Decoe suggested, worriedly.
"And rearm yourself with a bigger robot to take out that thing." Bocoe added.
Feeling guilty for having created such an uncontrollable and evil monster, and knowing that it must be taken care of, the evil doctor nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Back to Eggmanland...!"
"Hey, isn't that the Myth Hunter guy down there?" Bokkun suddenly spoke up, looking down.
"Indeed, it is." Orbot replied, causing the other three to look down and saw, near the Oasis and having crashed his plane due to the impact of what was happening above, was Kaiser the Myth Hunter who was just recovering and saw, to his shock yet amazement, was the giant Werehog.
"What's that idiotic murderer doing here!?" Eggman demanded.
From where they were, at Rouge calling out to the others, Sonic and the others saw Kaiser as well and gasped in shock, seeing that the evil Cheetah was dangerously close to the giant evil monster who, noticing the Myth Hunter as well, gazed down and frowned before grinning in delight.
"It's Kaiser!" Sonic softly exclaimed and, while still angry with the evil Mobian who had killed Uncle Chuck, couldn't help but fear what was about to happen.
"The-The M-Myth Hunter?" Tails asked, shakily. Up until now, he never saw Kaiser, but has heard just how dangerous and evil the Cheetah really was.
"Can't that guy get a break?" Sun complained, despite that even he was worried despite that Kaiser didn't deserve any mercy.
The group were pretty far away and while Sonic, despite knowing how Kaiser had murdered so many people for years, including his beloved uncle, wanted to do something to save the Cheetah's life, he felt frozen and like in his nightmare that invovled the Werehog devouring Eggman, he couldn't move.
"Sonic...what do we do?" Amy asked, worriedly.
"I...I don't know. I'm sorry...I don't know...what to do." Sonic replied, shakily. "I can't just...let Kaiser...die."
"What? Seriously, you want to save the guy who murdered many people, including your uncle!? Have you lost your mind!?" Sun exclaimed in disbelief, though he felt that leaving Kaiser like this felt wrong as well, he had no sympathy for the monster.
"HE WHAT!?" Amy, Tails, and Knuckles all shouted in horror, while both Rouge and even Shadow, not having heard of Sonic's uncle, gasped in shock upon hearing this.
Realizing what he just said said, the dark-blue hedgehog lowered his gaze and quickly muttered to the blue hedgehog who just stared ahead. "Sorry. My bad. But still..."
Down below, Kaiser, having recovered and attempted to fly off to find Sonic's group, only for the explosion of robots from earlier hitting his plane and forcing him to make an emergancy landing, was walking along the desert when he saw what happened and stopped short in horror, then in awe while the giant Werehog-Beast noticed him and grinned in delight.
"So, the Werewolf has grown into a giant. This is surprising." Kaiser said, foolishly brave, even as the massive beast licked it's lips hungrily, sensing greed and darkness within him. "Hungry are we, my Werewolf? Well then, I'm afraid there won't be any meals for you, because your body will still be mine!"
He took out his whip and thrashed it at Werehog-Beast's arm, but his shock, it caught it single-handedly and easily yanked it out of the Myth Hunter's grip before tossing it aside. Bewildered, Kaiser then growled and made to attack by taking off his gloves and made to jump and slash at it. But was knocked back and hit the ground hard, still injured from his battle against Sonic, the surprise attacks from both Sun and Eggman. In the air, Sonic's group, fearing for the worst, were about to fly in to save him.
"Don't." Shadow told them firmly, causing everyone including the two pilots to glance at him in shock. "Orders are from GUN that Kaiser is to be either captured alive or end his life. As such, because of what he has done, his death sentence is already sealed."
"We're not just going to leave him, are we!?" Chip exclaimed. "I mean, he is a horrible Cheetah, but still...!"
"Sometimes...there's no helping it. Kaiser's beyond saving now." Rouge grudingly admitted, feeling uneasy as Kasier, standing up and making another attack, was easily knocked away once again.
As much as Sonic didn't want to leave another person's life behind, he knew, that deep down both Shadow and Rouge were right. Either way, the Myth Hunter's fate has been sealed, and as he and his friends looked back, they all gasped in horror, as did Eggman's group as the Werehog-Beast swiped it's arm down to the evil Cheetah, clasping him within it's grasp.
"UGH! Unhand me!" Kaiser grunted, struggling to wriggle free while he was being lifted towards the giant Werehog-Beast's mouth.
"MMMMMMM...SUCH DARKNESS, SUCH FEAR, SUCH ANGER, SUCH HATE, SUCH GREED...YOU ARE NOT SONIC OR SUN THE HEDGEHOGS OR DR. EGGMAN, BUT YOU WILL DO AS MY FIRST MEAL." The Werehog-Beast muttered, it's mouth watering as it opened it's jaws and began to draw the now horrified Cheetah.
For the first and very last time of his life, the Myth Hunter, for years having hunted and killed and searched...was now about to face his ultimely demise and felt absolute terror strike into his dark, black heart.
"NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Kaiser screamed as he was halfway into the mouth.
Sonic and his group, horrified, looked away while closing their eyes and tried to block out the dreaded sound and sight of what's yet to come, with Amy covering her eyes with her hands and screaming in fear. "OH NO!"
"GAH! Don't look!" Eggman screamed in horror as he and his robots looked away as well, unable to stand it anymore.
"I can't look!" Decoe wailed.
"Let's get outta here!" Bocoe screamed.
While everyone else couldn't bear to look, not even Shadow could look either, the Werehog-Beast could be heard chomping onto the evil Cheetah, chewing him and being gobbled up into the monster's mouth, slurping and gulping up the Myth Hunter's legs and moaned in pure delight before swallowing the remains of the now dead and eaten Mobian. It then howled evilly and when everyone else hesitantly looked, they were just as horrified when they saw blood on the giant beast's mouth and teeth...and some onto it's hand which it licked in delight, making them all nauseous.
"I'm gonna be sick..." Knuckles muttered shakily.
"Me too." Sonic agreed, horrified. He couldn't belive it. Kaiser the Myth Hunter...had been eaten alive and was now gone in a matter of minutes. Fearing for the worst now and feeling guilty for not being able to save even one of the most dangerous criminals, he quickly turned to Tails and told him urgently. "Let's get outta here! We'll worry about the Temple later and come up with a plan to-to beat this thing!"
"R-right!" Tails nodded, looking just as green and with tears in his eyes, steered the plane around back towards the city, with Rouge doing the same with Shadow's plane.
Eggman and his group, looking just as horrified as they saw the aftermath, flinched in fear before flying away from Shamar's continent and to his base.
All the while, Sonic and Sun could only look back as they were getting further away from the monster who, unaware of their escape at the time being and howling once more in the middle between the region of Shamar and another region, sat down and seemingly decided to rest while waiting for sunset.
The two hedgehogs shared a horrified glance, as they both knew one horrible thing; Their nightmares were starting to come true.
A/N: Thus the truth of Sun's origins has been revealed, Kaiser is dead(which I know his death is kind of rushed, but at least he's taken care of now), and now a giant Werehog-Beast has escaped and is a threat to Mobius! Will Sonic and his friends be able to defeat this thing and restore Shamar's Continent? More will be revealed in the next chapter.
Despite that I'm not usually the kind of person for dark moments, I've been wanting to write this part and another towards the end before the sixth continent for two years. Well, one year and one month, anyway. We're getting closer and closer to the ending now, but we're not out of the woods yet.
See you later!