This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.
Chapter 3: And in the End… Darkness
For what seemed to take years more, Sonic eventually found himself back in Knothole. The village was an empty shell where no one lived, save for echoes and memories.
Like a haunting magnet was drawing him, he wandered into the woods behind the supply hut, and found himself in a clearing. There the ground was almost totally black; strips of brown interwoven between large empty spaces that disappeared deep into blackness. Sonic feared stepping near any of them, for fear of falling into perpetual nothingness; but still, it was here that he was drawn.
Walking down a lane of brown dirt, Sonic found that each hole was marked by a stone monument, usually no more than a slab with markings etched into them. Sonic tried to read them, but was unable to distinguish the warped characters that seemed to dance over the rock.
The hedgehog continued down the row, slowly skulking between the large holes and the stone monoliths, until he came to one unique plot. The ground was solid, with no vacuum into darkness, and the stone was cut into a deliberate shape, the only one that seemed to hold a solid form before his eyes.
The letters on the rock were not clear, but when he took his time, the words slowly formed for him.
but he fell in battle against our oppressor.
In his sacrifice, he saved one soul,
and we all thank him.
Our hero.
{Hero, some hero I am.}
Sonic looked at his lone grave, the lonely plot, a small hill of dirt that held in it the rotting flesh of what was once his solid form.
Looking around, he saw the black pits, the aura of death. Everyone he saw had a slight glow about them, but here, everything was shrouded in a void. Was it now his time; was he to go forth to leave nothing more than a black stain in the afterworld?
Part of him wanted to go back to Mobotropolis, to see Sally again, only to face the torment of never being able to feel her again, for her to not even see him, or for their son to never know him.
Was this then, his final stand?
"Hello."
Sonic didn't pay attention to the call at first.
"Hello?"
Sonic turned around to see there was only one other in the whole cemetery. Standing just before him was a woman, not at all old, but certainly all the youngest years were behind her. She seemed rather small, except for her stomach that showed signs of life beyond her own.
"Are you talking to me?"
"Of course I am, there's no one else here."
"You can see me?"
"I wouldn't say 'see' is the right word, but I can sense you. It is a sacred power that I was given called 'Forbidden Sight', it allows me to 'see' things that no one else can."
"So you're not scared of me then?"
"Why should I be scared of Sonic the Hedgehog?"
Sonic was quite startled that the woman knew him when he had never seen her before. "You know who I am?"
"Of course; you're a ghost hanging around a cemetery, whose tombstone would you likely hang around."
Sonic looked back to see the tombstone that clearly bore his name.
"Very nice, and you are?"
"I am Tikal, and I know of your story. You were killed over a year ago by some of Robotnik's robots that you stumbled on in the forest."
"Not bad."
"Not really, everyone knows that."
"I bet it's a real big joke. The great hero, gunned down in an accidental meeting with a bunch of rust buckets."
"No one says that. They all remember you quite fondly."
Sonic turned away from Tikal. "Yeah right, they couldn't care less about me."
"It's unfair to think that they would continue to lament for you to this day; that would destroy them, as it almost did Sally."
Sonic turned back very quickly. "Sally? What happened to her?"
"Her despair over losing you was slowly tearing her apart; if it were not for the birth of your son, Comet, she would have fallen to her doom."
"Comet" In the months he had been lost in the forest, Sonic had almost forgotten the name chosen by Sally. "When I saw him, he cried; then something went wrong. Mobotropolis turned into a nightmare, it was dark, and everyone had turned into weird specters; I couldn't stand it… I was scared."
"I do not know exactly what you have experienced, but I am guessing that what you saw was your despair. You are dead and cannot be a father to your son; you feel like you betrayed him, and that is why you could not stay in Mobotropolis." Tikal looked at Sonic, and could easily see that her words did ring with the hedgehog. "I'm sure you would have made a good father to him."
"Maybe, but I'm not going to get to be his father. Playing with him, watching him grow up; Hell, I'd even want to change his diapers, but don't tell anyone I said that."
Tikal grinned.
"What kind of father can I be now? Why am I even here? Shouldn't I be dead and in the ground?!"
"Most ghosts wander because they can't accept that they are dead, or because they have work left undone. But that's not the case with you, your work is done, you just don't understand why."
"But what did I do? Robotnik was defeated, but I died, long before that."
"It's written right there. In your death, you saved one soul."
"But what good is that?"
"It meant everything. Come, I'll show you the link that you are missing."
Tikal started to walk away.
"Please stay close. Non-corporeal beings tend to have loose ties with reality and get lost in the sea of time."
Sonic recalled the way he seemed to slip out for months into phases of sheer pain and horror before finding his way back to reality. Not wanting a repeat, he stayed very close.
The trip back to Mobotropolis was much better than his last few voyages, since it didn't cast him into a tortuous void for countless weeks at a time. This time he had a companion, a glowing figure that repulsed the darkness, and shone the way home.
The city was evolving nicely compared to his last visit; houses covered large parts of the city, trees were planted around carefully paved roads, and in the backdrop a new palace was under construction. Although the new royal home was only a partial frame of steel and stone and wood at this point, it was obvious that it would not be a grand castle like the one Sonic remembered, and whose ruins still partially remained. This time it would be more like a chateau, like some extra large ski resort he'd visited one winter.
Once inside the city, Tikal led the deceased to a park.
"Where are we going?"
"To find what you lost, over there."
Sonic looked to where Tikal was pointing and saw several people crowded around a chain link fence.
"What's going on?"
"I believe it is called a basketball game. Let's not get too close, or else someone might think I've gone totally mad talking to empty air."
Tikal sat on a bench in a small field just away from the court. With Tikal being the only one who could see him, Sonic sat down next to her, only to fall through the wooden seat; the echidna didn't pay him much attention.
"My husband is…" Tikal giggled at the comment. "Sorry, I'm still not quite used to that word. My husband Knuckles, is the red echidna in the cage. I believe his opponent is a friend of yours."
Sonic looked towards the court and saw Knuckles playing cover over one of the other players. Also on the field were a cheetah and a wolf, playing the same man-to-man that Knuckles was doing with the other; that other was starting to get very aggressive, trying hard to break free of the red one's guard.
Sonic moved closer to get a better look; mesmerized, almost captured by the image before him, like he knew that all his answers where right there. In a flash that shot before his eyes, it all came out; with one great push, Knuckles was thrust back by his adversary. For a brief second Sonic saw him, the nightmarish black fur, the sinister grin, and the vicious red eyes.
"Back off Red, I'll go through you if I have to."
"Tough talk, insect eating freak."
"Now I'll show you why I am the 'Master'."
If he was using his powers, Shadow could've easily outrun him, but all special powers were declared out of bounds. Needing skill over brute speed, Shadow made a break to his left, and Knuckles matched; but Shadow didn't take the ball with him, instead he let it bounce in it's old place. While making his escape, Shadow swung his right arm back to elbow the ball towards the cheetah that was moving into place. The cat snatched the ball and sprinted to the net, with a leap, he raised the ball and relayed it off the backboard and into the net.
To the side of the court, a small metal creature leapt up.
"Shadow 17 - Knuckles 16."
"Hey, ref!" Knuckles stormed over to Omochao. "Was that legal?"
"Of course it is, straight out of the Globetrotters play book too."
"Come on, elbowing the ball?"
"Listen here numb nuts; I'm the ref here, so what I say goes. Now take the frickin' ball."
Omochao hurled the orange sphere with such force it almost knocked Knuckles off the court.
"What in Mobius have you been teaching him?"
Shadow was taken aback, then acted all innocent. "Me? You're kidding, he teaches me crap."
Off the court, Sonic returned to Tikal. "What's he doing here?!"
"He lives here."
"That menace lives here?! What turned him into 'Mr. Nice Guy'?"
"I would hardly call him nice."
Sonic was looking at the crowd that was gathered to watch the match, most seemed to be there just for the game; but some of them stuck out, showing some favoritism for certain players. In the middle of the group, Sonic saw the telltale tails of his young friend. The young kitsune clearly had a favorite in the battle.
"C'mon Shadow, get him!"
"Tails? He's rooting for that jerk?!"
Sonic looked over more of the crowd, and found two more who were also boosting the black hedgehog.
One was the female rabbit whom he first saw in his hut, hopping about, chanting in a very thick accent. "Get him, Shadow; show him who's boss!"
The other was another woman, the bat who paid Sally a visit when their son was born. "You'd better win, or I wouldn't be caught dead out with you in public again."
Sonic stepped back towards Tikal, but didn't go all the way to her. "Tails? I can't believe he's rooting for that guy. And those two girls, he's got a nice little fan club there; either of them his girlfriend?"
"Actually, both of them."
Sonic almost died, again. "You must be joking! I'm dead, and he's got two girlfriends?!"
"It's some kind of bet they have going: whoever gets pregnant first, gets him."
"What kind of sick twisted world is this?!"
"This is the world you left behind, and there is a very good reason why people like Shadow."
"And that is?"
"He defeated Dr. Robotnik."
"He what?"
"I believe that statement was quite clear. He defeated Robotnik, very simple and straight."
"So he's the big hero now, and I get nothing."
"That's not true, everyone remembers you, all that you see here is your doing."
"What did I do? All I did was get killed."
Sonic was pouting and pacing around in circles before going to sit down on the park bench, only to fall through it again.
"If you're going to stay as a ghost, you really have to learn how to use chairs."
Sonic got up through the wooden furniture and tried to position himself in place on the seat; this time, he tried to hover in place, even though his previous attempt at flight proved naught. This time, he tried to imagine that he wouldn't slip through the wooden planks again, and managed to sit in the chair properly.
"I'm going to haunt you."
"Oh grow up, being dead is no excuse for acting like an immature brat."
"Don't tell me how to act, you're not dead."
"I suppose not, but I get really frustrated by whiney ghosts."
Sonic just sat there, watching the game.
"You said this was my doing."
"That's right, everything you see here was the result of your life and consequent death."
Tikal turned away from Sonic, not looking in any particular direction; she started to dictate.
"A long time ago, there was a small boy who went on a journey to stop a great evil. To you it would probably be no more than a fading dream, but do you recall a demon named Void?"
"Void?"
"A dark creature in a distant land, a land bordering on the realm of dreams. Years before Ivo Robotnik brought his evil to this place, Void tried to conquer Maginaryworld; so a messenger came to retrieve a hero. She found a young boy who was pure and innocent, someone destined for greatness."
Sonic tried to remember, but it was so many years ago.
"That young boy helped restore the Preciousstone, a magical gem that preserved the beauty of Maginaryworld that Void had destroyed; being pure of heart, the Void's darkness could not infringe on him."
"Void was beaten, and for more than a decade has lamented his defeat. He then came up with a dubious plan: a copy of the one who dared to challenge him, warped to the void, and fused with a seed of hatred. He was to come and destroy you, to humiliate you, to make your life a living Hell; he was a dark and twisted double of you, a shadow of the worst kind."
"He came to challenge you, and after you managed to deflect his first try, he wanted to defeat you even more; he never had a chance."
Sonic was stooped down in the chair, looking up at the black hedgehog in the cage. "I know this part."
"But when he found you, dead, he totally snapped; in an instant, he became far fiercer than Void could have imagined. It was not what Void had planned; Shadow was not engulfed in hate, but an emptiness. He was left directionless, filled with a despair that was as deep as yours."
Tikal stopped talking out into the open and turned to Sonic. "You see; when you died, the seed of hate died too. Soon, he found a new purpose, a new reason for life. Slowly he grew, slowly he became a good person, and slowly he became a hero."
"Because of your life, he exists; and because of your death, he was freed of his hatred. The people of Mobotropolis owe him everything they now have, and he owes you everything that he now is."
Sonic didn't respond; it was still a lot to take in, but the pain was starting to subside as he finally understood what fate had dealt his friends after his demise.
"Are you feeling better?"
"A bit."
"Supernatural entities tend to have a direct link between emotional pain and physical pain."
"That explains a lot." Sonic paused, still contemplating everything that happened. "Tikal, I've seen Sally twice, and my son; can you tell them that I miss them."
"I can't do that; if I did, they'd think I was insane. They know how much you miss them; I've seen how much Sally misses you, so she knows. But if you really want to, you can tell her yourself."
"How?"
"I don't know, I'm not a ghost; try putting a sheet over your head and saying 'boo'."
Sonic still wanted to tell Sally how he felt, but even without the message, Sonic was feeling at ease.
"YEEEAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!"
Sonic and Tikal looked towards the court. Screaming at the top of his lungs, Shadow was hanging off the hoop after scoring a big slam-dunk.
"Shadow 21 - Knuckles 19. Game!"
"Up yours, Red!"
Shadow strutted over to the cheetah and slapped him a high five. Sonic and Tikal made their way over to the cage while the combatants emerged in victory or defeat.
Shadow was dribbling the basketball. "Hey Knuckles, same time tomorrow? You know how I just love handing your ass to you on a silver platter."
"I'm busy tomorrow, but this weekend I'll give you a pounding you won't soon forget."
Shadow saw Tikal coming up the way. "Hey Tikal, you must be totally ashamed to be married to this loser."
Tikal didn't feel the shame that Shadow was implying, but Knuckles didn't like the rubbing in that Shadow was giving.
"Someone who flaunts two girls while showing no proper allegiance to either is truly shameful."
"This coming from someone who lived in a place where they didn't have marriage or monogamy. I think you're just jealous, or perhaps you miss the good old days. I bet you can just feel your manliness slipping away."
Knuckles wrapped his right arm around Tikal and patted her stomach with his left. "Oh yeah, if you're such a man, then how come you're firing blanks?"
"Oh, such a big boy, eh?" Shadow started to wave his free hand at Knuckles and Tikal. "I hereby curse you so that all your children will be girls. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha."
"Knock it off."
Knuckles swiped at Shadow; the hedgehog easily dodged, but dropped the ball. The small sun-like object bounced on the cement walkway and rolled to the end of the fence; it came to a stop just behind Sonic. The phantom reached down, but was unable to interact with it.
Shadow smirked at Knuckles' outrage. "Oh, that was mature."
Everyone knew how Shadow and Knuckles' arguments had a tendency of escalating to potentially violent levels, especially Tikal.
"Come on hun, let's head home." Tikal switched to a slightly more sultry tone, or at least however sultry she could sound. "I've been on my feet all day, and a massage would be real nice."
Shadow, Rouge, Bunnie, Omochao and Tails watched as Tikal escorted Knuckles away.
Tails noticed the big smile on the echidna's face. "Knuckles sure seems to like giving Tikal a massage, doesn't he?"
Shadow chuckled. "It can be a lot of fun, kid."
"How much fun?"
Shadow didn't want to answer. "Ask Omochao."
Rouge smacked him over the head. "Don't send him to that metal weirdo for info. Tails, when Tikal said she wanted a massage, she was talking about romantic, mushy stuff."
"Ew."
"There, problem solved."
Omochao blew his referee whistle. "When you are finished with your toys, you are supposed to put them away; that's a foul."
Everyone looked at the rogue ball.
Tails was about to fly over. "I'll get it."
Shadow looked at the ball, then abruptly stopped the fox. "Hold it kid, I got it."
Shadow raced over to the ball. Sonic stood there, looking close up at the black one as his hands rapped on the ball to get it bouncing. After getting one good jump, he grabbed it. The black one was about to walk away, when he stopped.
"One day…"
Shadow turned his head, not enough for Sonic to see all of his face, but enough to see a sliver of the glare in his ruby red eye.
"In this world or the next…"
Shadow smirked.
"We're gonna have that rematch."
Shadow spun away, then tossed the ball in a high arc over the fence towards the bin in the corner; it made one bounce on the pavement, then right into the bin with the other balls.
The black hedgehog headed away, then wrapped an arm around each waist of Rouge and Bunnie as they trotted away.
Sonic was alone again.
"I'll be waiting."
Omochao: "I hope you enjoyed this act, in the next act we'll going in a whole other direction with a brand new adventure. And check this out, this is cool."
Omochao: "BOOO!!!!"
Ghost of Sonic: "EEEEEKK!"
Omochao: "I can scare ghosts, isn't that cool?"
Shadow: "Heh, heh. Sonic squeals like a little girl."
