Flower: Yay! People like this! And I just found out something...I love writing dark fics! So expect nastiness. It gets worse. Sonic DOES hurt Tails...so watch out!

Chaos: Shadow isn't gone! I swear! He isn't! He's coming back! (watches people walking away) Aw, nerts. I'll have to write him in somewhere.

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The fox splashed through the damp caves, tripping several times. The hedgehog could almost smell the fear on him...then he hissed again and the fox ran faster. Behind him, Hedgehog slid along, avoiding the boulders and puddles with practised ease.

The fox was an intruder. It was his cave...his cave! Lizard lived in the next one...this one was HIS...and the fox had entered. The fox would die. But first...first he would hunt the fox. Like Lizard had hunted the rat...he would hunt the fox. He wondered briefly if foxes were good to eat.

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Tails ran desperately, one tail limp and splashing through the water behind him. It was all wrong...all wrong! Sonic lived...but Sonic was gone. This...this monster wasn't the Sonic he had known at all! He was oblivious to the tears running down his face, he knew only the horrid hissing of his pursuer.

Hedgehog grew bored of the game, of driving the fox in circles. Then he had an idea; he fell silent and slid in a different direction, inwardly hissing in delight. The game was fun!

Tails stumbled to a halt, listening for Sonic's hissing. He heard nothing and grew more and more worried. Above him, clinging tightly to a stalactite, a pair of green eyes glinted with laughter.

Tails was lured into the trap...perhaps he had lost Sonic...perhaps the hedgehog had gone to a different cave. He cradled his damaged tail miserably, wondering how to get out. The blue hedgehog pounced.

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The fox screamed as he was knocked down. Hedgehog hissed gleefully, and bounded back into the shadows. He listened with interest to the heaving, choking sounds the prey made...

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...Sobbing, Tails waited. He knew that running was useless; Sonic was playing with him. And not playing in the fun, hide-and-seek way he had used to.

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Hedgehog grew bored; the fox was spoiling the fun...he wasn't running. Oh well; there would be others. He dashed forward from behind, soundlessly. He pushed the fox and it tumbled forward, with a startled cry.

Its face landed in a puddle, and it pulled back quickly, coughing and choking. Hedgehog was intrigued; this was a new game! He pushed the fox's head back into the water, placing one foot on its back to stop it getting up.

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Tails struggled helplessly, sound muted by the stagnant water, eyes squeezed shut. Then suddenly he was pulled back, into fresh air. He sobbed and choked, and looked up. Sonic's green eyes, the same and yet so different, blinked down at him, filled with laughter.

He was enjoying this! This was truly not the Sonic he had known. This was some primal monster, taking fun from his pain...

At that point, Tails wanted only to die.

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Hedgehog pushed the fox's head back under, hissing joyfully. Then another being entered the cave, he could sense it. The fur on the back of his neck prickled, and he looked up quickly.

He could see nothing in the shadows, but...there was something there. He pulled the fox's head out; the game would have to wait till later. But the fox would get away...

His spikes drooped a little in disappointment, but then he remembered the rat, remembered how it had vainly tried to drag itself along, stuck in the mud. He remembered the sticky weeds on one side of the cave.

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Tails felt himself being dragged along, but he ceased to struggle. What was the point? Sonic...no, it wasn't Sonic...pulled him to the opposite side of the cave, and pushed him against the wall.

Something slimy suckered onto him, and he wriggled in fear and revulsion. Then the slimy tendrils were all around him, sticking him to the wall better than any amount of ropes. He was paralysed.

"Please...don't...Sonic, don't you remember? It's me...you said I was your friend...please stop...please..." His voice was strangled.

For a moment, the blue hedgehog paused, eyeing him with something different in his eyes, but then it fled. The hedgehog...he couldn't think of him as Sonic anymore...growled, a horrible, vicious sound that chilled him to the bone.

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The fox was making those noises again...what did they mean? He knew it was something...something important...he shook it away with a growl, concentrating on the situation. He could think about it later.

He looked again at the fox with the strange watering eyes, and realised something was wrong. But the intruder was getting closer...he had no time! What was it?! Then the fox made a small, choked sound, and he knew.

He grabbed another tendril by the very tip, where it wasn't sticky, and placed it almost delicately over his prey's mouth. Now...the trap was set. He faded back, into the darkness.

He crouched, dirty fur blending with the floor, making him invisible. He narrowed his eyes to slits, shutting away the gleam that gave him away. The scene froze. One minute...two...five...ten...

Then, a slight sound, by his prey. He looked over quickly, opening his eyes; was it...?

Then he realised his mistake. His green eyes glittered, in the gloom.

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Shadow, silent as always, dropped from the craggy ceiling. He landed directly beside the hedgehog, who had opened his eyes to see Tails better. He landed with the slightest thud.

It was enough; Sonic spun round...but not fast enough for once. Shadow punched him, hard, in the head, and he dropped, consciousness fading. The black hedgehog stepped back into the black shadows and was gone.

Five minutes later, he reappeared, standing impassively by one wall. Knuckles dashed into the cave and homed in on Tails. He quickly released the fox, who collapsed into his arms, sobbing.

Knuckles looked around for Shadow, but he was gone. Amy entered soon after, taking in the scene. She saw Sonic's motionless form, and ran towards him, but Knuckles stuck out an arm to stop her.

"Don't." He warned. His voice held such disgust that Amy stopped immediately. As Amy helped Tails from the cave, Knuckles slung the unconscious hedgehog over his shoulder.

Whether Sonic would recover, he didn't know. But he did know...that they couldn't leave him there to hurt someone.