Sonic reached the surface seconds before the Moray bit off his tail. Shame no one was there to see him burst out of the water with a spray of sparkling droplets into the frosty arctic air, the Light Moray's sharp fangs clamping shut inches below him as the creature arched in a magnificent attempt to pursue him.
But there was nobody.
Just him.
Just him, laughing with delight.
The crisp air filled his lungs, and if he wasn't already on fire with energy, he would've been now. It was all around him, the fresh wind ruffling his quills and tugging at his tail and filling his… wings.
He was flying.
The realization struck him, and he laughed again. There was something exhilarating about flying without his super form. It was so much more… exciting when he wasn't invincible. He could feel every tug of the wind, fought it for control. Felt the strain in his untrained wings. He was driven by currents and updrafts, fighting them to keep his course, all the challenge and rush of running but with even more directions, up and down and all around. It was fantastic.
Down below, the Light Moray thrashed pointedly. Ah, yes. Better get back to that before it went for the temple again.
"Yo!" Sonic shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Fish-face!"
The Moray was disappointingly not insulted by the name calling, but it was focused on him. Or he was pretty sure it was focused on him. It was hard to tell with the fish eyes and gaping expression.
The light sparked, and he almost yelped at the energy shooting through him. His wings folded, and he dove towards the Moray with graceful ease. The light zapped and surged, new instincts burning into his mind. Tilt, flare, flap, hold. As natural as running.
He skimmed the ocean, waiting till the last second to dodge the Moray's lunge. He baited it until its glow (much less effective up here) had faded, then darted in to slash its skin. The Moray shrieked and dove under the water, reemerging half a minute later with blazing white patterns. Sonic swooped upwards, hovering smugly for a moment before curling into a ball. Tuck the wings. Fall. The heat of the Moray's skin barely registered, only his quills digging into it.
Sonic rebounded and opened his wings again. He glanced down, lurched in midair.
The water was full of blood. It was clear as ice, but he knew the scent, saw how it clouded the water, and the thick liquid on his spines was unmistakable. He'd made the Moray bleed.
That was the goal, something argued, but whether it was the practical part of him or the possessed part of him, he didn't know. The goal was to hurt.
The Moray's pained shriek pierced his ears. His wings faltered. He got one last glance at it, caught the gleam of metal on its skull, before it turned and dove underwater, leaving in its wake only a cloud of clear blood and the echoes of its scream, bouncing off the ice.
Sonic shivered.
It was cold up here.
He glanced up, towards the sun, flinched and looked away again. The light glared off the white snow and smooth ice, hash and without warmth. Warmth…
Blaze was still in the temple.
The Moray was going for the temple.
Sonic dove.
Pretzel hated the temple. It was bright, bright, bright. The walls shone, the floors shone, the windows shone. She was getting a headache. Or something worse than a headache. What was worse than a headache? Maybe a skullache. No, she decided, that was stupid.
Whatever Blaze might think, she was trying to accomplish something. The others may have forgotten—Sonic most definitely had—but there was an end goal here beyond beating up a mutant eel. They were gathering intel to defeat Light Gaia. And the more time she spent in this temple, the more she was all for defeating Light Gaia.
The temple had clearly been made by humans, and the little buggers absolutely adored the thing that was currently taking over the world. The walls were covered in images of… well, actually she wasn't sure if it was Light Gaia, but it was very shiny and decorated and had a halo, so it seemed likely. Judging by all the carvings of this shining figure erecting cities and vanquishing enemies and generally helping out the little cheering stick figures, they saw it as some sort of savior. No wonder it had such an easy time brainwashing the globe. People loved a shiny white hero, didn't they?
Pretzel's sense of the cold ocean outside faded the deeper into the temple she went. She wished she could hang out in the ice water all the time, but then, the water also had the giant, very Light Gaia-esque moray, so inside would suit her for now. And the deeper into the temple, the more information, right?
A door blocked her way.
Pretzel huffed. Considering what it had taken to open the door at the last temple, there was no way she was getting through that. Or maybe…
"CHAOS SPEAR!" Pretzel yelled, flaring her wings dramatically.
The door remained solid and unmovable.
She sighed and flopped to the ground. What a fantastic day this was turning out to be. Not that she had much to compare it to, but at least her first day alive there'd been less burning and more sneaking.
She squinted at the gap under the door. It was a pretty sizable gap, widened by water and time. She poked a hand through the gap, wriggling it around underneath. Maybe something would bite it off, wouldn't that be nice. Actually, it might be worth it just to see the look on Sonic's face. Assuming it didn't send him a blood frenzy or something. Hedgehogs were strange, unpredictable creatures.
Something moved under the door, and she jumped back with a hiss before recognizing her own shadow. She glanced up at the light source behind her with an irritated glare, then back under the door. She waved her wing, and her shadow moved. Well, if her shadow could do it…
Pretzel flattened herself to the ground and wriggled forward, calling upon all her non-existent snake instincts. For a moment she was stuck, for a moment too big, but she thought of shadows and water and somehow made it through. Perhaps she was part liquid.
Shaking out her wings, Pretzel stalked along the walls of the room. It was as well-lit as any part of this stupid temple, which meant way too well lit. The only thing that could make it worse was if it had those annoying fake lights that were all the rage these days.
There were more murals on the walls, carvings and paintings and even some moldy tapestries. She raked her claws through one and tore down another. It fell with a thud in a cloud of dust, which helped her headache a little. Something drew her eye to the fallen tapestry, an unusual patch of dark thread. Ears pricked, she moved slowly towards it, tail swishing warily. It did not attack. Emboldened, she poked it with her claws until it was spread out enough for her to see the picture.
Once again, a crowd of cheering stick figures. Once again, the haloed, bright figure. But this time, there was another side. Something all black and purple and serpentine. It was long, almost as tall as Light Gaia. She couldn't see any legs, just oily black water and lots of arms. And eyes. It had many eyes, and a really weird head, and were its teeth around its eyes?
It… looked kind of cool.
Its eyes were green.
Pretzel backed up, taking in the painting in full, and felt her heart shudder. Light Gaia's claws were dug into the dark thing, burning it, choking it.
Sonic-not-Sonic's claws digging into her dark fur, burning her, choking her.
The claws squeezed her chest tighter and tighter. She drew away, eyes darting over the other images on the walls. Surely there must be some sign, something telling her what the dark creature was.
Now she knew what she looking for, there were a few other pictures showing Light Gaia battling with the dark thing. It would cast the creature down, and the people would cheer. The creature would rise, and the people would run in fear. Once, the creature won, only for a little bit, and the people sneered and burned it and Light Gaia came back and the world was perfect and smiley again.
The dark creature's name, she did not know.
She felt again drawn to its eyes. Green and cold and sharp. Like snakes and ice and limes. Venomous and cold and bitter. Yet beneath them… yellow. Fear.
Maybe it was her.
Pretzel turned and ran, back into the shadows and away from the cold green eyes.