Chapter 8: A Change Is As Good As Arrest

"I can't believe Sonic's guilty. We're the criminals keeping him locked up like this!" Sergeant Martin of Fernstone Police Station was probably considered the most roughest officer of the whole department. He was all bulk and muscles with a neatly cropped military haircut. His demeanour was rather fearsome if you were on the wrong side of the law yet he had a soft spot for the blue hero and wasn't too tough to show it right now.

Martin's partner, McLeod, shorter and less intimidating in appearance, shook his head, "If things weren't bad enough in the world, they bloody well got a whole lot worse now."

Both men stood in the corridor looking a bit forlornly at the floor.

"Just because he's a hero it doesn't give him the right to evade the law." Inspector Winters said matter of factly. He was on his way to arranging legal representation for the kid when he walked past, overhearing the conversation.

"You really think he did all those things, Sir?" Asked Martin.

The Inspector hesitated. In truth he hadn't wanted to believe it of the young hero at first but that cocky, stubborn attitude had got him irked and, for whatever reason, Sonic had tried to keep his alternate dark side from him. When it came down to it, in his job, evidence was all that mattered and he said as much to the younger men. "If we let him loose, there will be uproar from the public. There's already a lot of anger and mistrust in the air. We don't want people taking matters into their own hands…"

Martin and McLeod nodded grimly in reluctant agreement. Fernstone PD didn't need a bunch of vigilantes to deal with on top of everything else.

"Still…" Martin muttered, "…ain't right keeping him restrained that way."

Sonic tugged at his restraints though he knew it was pointless. Thick steel cuffs around his ankles and wrists were chained to the cold metal chair he was forced to sit on. The chair itself seemed to be bolted to the floor. He faced the door to the cel which was bare save for a toilet and sink fixed to the wall in one corner (though how he would use them while incapacitated like this was beyond him) and a window behind him high up in the wall. What was worse though, was that he was muzzled…

The captive hedgehog huffed, frustrated, humiliated. While grateful it actually wasn't an electric chair he was strapped to, he knew he was well and truly stuck right now. The chains were too short to allow him movement to reach them with his spines, which were usually famous for slicing through Dr Eggman's metal minions. He had to try and think of a way out…even if Tails was already working on a plan to bust him out. Thats if his best friend even knew he was locked up….he hadn't yet been allowed to make his one phone call.

The clicking of a key turning in a lock quickly brought Sonic away from his thoughts. The heavy metal door creaked open slowly and through it came a police officer rattling a tray of food. Quaking in his boots, the officer placed the tray down next to Sonic's feet and edged closer to the prisoner's face. Sonic eyed him suspiciously but it seemed he only wanted to remove the muzzle. However, in his haste to leave he had neglected to uncuff the captive's hands so he could actually eat.

As the door clanged shut, the aroma of something hot, spicy and familiar wafted up into Sonic's nostrils. Chilli-dogs! Sure enough, on the plate were two nicely browned sausages, enveloped in soft white buns and topped with a spicy sauce. How thoughtful they had taken the effort to bring his favourite food….

Trying to ignore the complaints from his stomach, Sonic wracked his brain trying to go over the events of the past few days. He remembered the Tornado-1 going down and then stumbling upon the outskirts of the town. He thought really hard and somewhere in his memories he recalled the feeling of marshy ground under his feet and long blades of grass tickling his shins. Then there was something else niggling at his mind, trying to remind him of something in the depths of his memory. But he just couldn't grasp it so he changed tactics of thinking and scrunched up his brow in concentration, letting out a long sigh.

"So I think someone tried to frame me," he deliberated, "and they succeeded…the only one who's ever done that is…"

Then a piece of his memory flickered into his minds eye….

"Tails…since when does Shadow have purple eyes?"

Sonic the Werehog stopped in his tracks, not taking his eyes off the figure before him, a familiar silhouette with unfamiliar eyes, glaring back at him.

"Sonic!" Chip fluttered up to his companion in a fluster, "I can't find-"

"Looking for this?" The Shadow-shaped figure barked out gruffly, holding up a camera and swinging it by it's strap. Their camera!

"Shadow, you-"

Sonic was cut off as the figure let out a growl. Then it shifted its form and grew bigger, bulkier, hairier and it the glow of it's eyes intensified to a bright violet, bordering on neon pink….

…but the fragment was fleeting and began to fade as quickly as it had appeared and then Sonic's train of thought was disturbed by the door opening again. He noticed the light had dimmed considerably in the room and realised the day must be almost at an end.

"Aw dammit, Jonesy, you were supposed to uncuff him you idiot!" The large frame of officer Martin stepped into the room.

Sonic recognised him as the buff dude who blocked his escape from the interview room earlier. He closed the door behind him, pressed a switch on the wall to turn on the ceiling lights and kneeled gently beside the hedgehog.

"I'm sorry Sonic. This has got to be some kind of mistake, right? Anyone who knows you knows you ain't a baddun. Right, Sonic?"

There was no answer from the supposed felon so Martin looked up at Sonic's face as he finished removing the cuffs. The hedgehog was shaking, his eyes closed tightly, a low rumble coming from deep within his chest and throat.

"What the- Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog began to shift in his seat and his hands gripped tightly onto the metal arm rests in an attempt to steady himself. He knew what was coming. He was about to give his captors a first hand, up close and personal view of the so called monster that had supposedly been causing so much trouble. Perfect.

"Err…can you…like..refrain from doing that..please?" The policeman requested shakily, his eyes darting between the quivering hero and the only exit to the cell.

"C-can't…stop...it." Sonic said through ragged breaths. He glanced down at the tray of food on the floor and gave it a gentle shove underneath the chair. No need to ruin good food now is there?….On the plus side I can break through these cuffs on my legs and bust outta here.

The hero began to glow with an eerie violet light. Martin backed away, wide-eyed, mouth ready to catch flies.

"I need back up in cell seven!" He yelled into his radio.

There was a sudden kerfuffle from down the corridor outside the cell. But Sonic could pay little heed. He had lost control of his own body now, albeit only temporary, as Dark Gaia took hold of him.

The door burst open and three more police personnel were stopped in their tracks at the sight.

The illuminated hedgehog was forced to stand upright as the dark energy forced physical changes from deep within him. Chunks of broken metal chain were flung across the room. His lithe, athletic form was being skewed into something hulking and heavy as bones and tendons shifted and stretched. He had grown several inches in height and hadn't yet stopped. The glow around him was intensifying into a garish purple colour, like radioactive grape soda. His royal blue fur was deepening into the colour of midnight, growing thicker and coarser. Slim legs were giving up length to a longer torso, becoming thick and stocky. Once gloved hands were swelling, fingers lengthening into razor tipped talons at the end of long muscular arms. Canine teeth were sharpening into gleaming dagger-like fangs. All in all it was a pretty incredible, yet disturbing, display.

The little blue hedgehog was now an entire foot taller, twice as wide and completely free of his restraints. All jaws were promptly picked up after dropping to the floor at the realisation a potentially dangerous creature was now loose and looking very, very irate. Owners of said jaws scrambled in panic, unsure of whether they should try to recapture the transformed hedgehog or simply flee the scene, screaming.

A bit of both went on simultaneously and Sonic couldn't help but find the humans slightly amusing in their disarray. Two of them exchanged glances and gingerly attempted to guard the only exit, their arms spread wide and palms facing forward, while they slowly closed in on him, gently instructing him to remain calm and not move. Another had produced a stun gun from somewhere, his eyes flashing threateningly, daring Sonic to come at him. The fourth officer had fled the room and Sonic heard him already shouting for more backup two corridors away.

I'm outta here Sonic decided before turning away from the humans and launching a fist at the windowed wall. The pins from the stun gun hit him but he felt little more than a sharp buzzing irritation against his thicker skin and pelt. He growled in exasperation. Plaster and bricks cracked and crumbled as a second punch smashed right through the wall, leaving a hole big enough for him to clamber to freedom. But not before he could grab the food off the tray that lay undisturbed underneath the metal chair. Hey a werehog's gotta eat and Sonic hated seeing perfectly good chilli dogs go to waste!

"Shoot him! Shoot him!"

Click! Vipppp!

Sonic felt the pin prick in his backside. His hand grasped there in reflex and he pulled out the tranquilliser dart. Growling, he crushed it with ease between his fingers then continued to pound the ground with all fours, moving fast but nowhere near the speed he could master on just two legs during daylight hours.

"We got him! Shoot him again!"

The second dart hit him in almost exactly the same place. But Sonic didn't waste seconds removing the dart this time. He pumped his limbs harder, legs almost tripping over arms in his efforts to put some more distance between himself and his pursuers.

The hero didn't slow his pace until he came to the edge of a forest and the commotion of sirens and footsteps had faded behind him. He felt his legs go weak suddenly and he stumbled forwards. What the-?… He barely had time to realise the tranquilliser had taken effect before his face hit the dirt. Just before his eyes closed themselves, he thought some part of his brain just about recognised a familiar pair of air shoes step into his line of sight.