The ocean was cool and dark and bloody. Sonic shuddered at the feeling of it and swam on, chasing the flickering glow of the Moray. It was hard to tell, with the black water pressing on his eyes, whether he was following its actual light or its aura. Maybe there wasn't a difference.

He saw the temple, shimmering like a pearl despite its years, floating in the water like it was a plastic bag and not a truly massive, incredibly ancient stone structure. And wrapped around it was the glowing skeleton pattern of the Moray, flashing like a strobe light. He'd thought the water was hot before, but now it was fire, burning and choking on all sides. He hissed. Pressed on.

He swam towards the beast, hovered over it. One yellow eye focused on him. The beast hissed, jerked its gaze away, and wound tighter, the temple crumbling and cracking. Wonderful, now it was focused on its mission.

(But why would Light Gaia's minion be destroying Light Gaia's temple?)

(The gleam of metal on its skull…)

(A finger pressing on a button…)

Ah. Of course.

Furious light burned in the green.

This would not stand.

Bright blue danced through the water, hooked claws slicing at the Moray's head. More blood. It tried to swim away, releasing the temple in an effort to avoid the attacks. The blue didn't pause, darting around its head with relentless swipes. The Moray lunged, teeth snapping shut centimetres from the yellow tipped tail. Finally realizing it was fighting a losing battle, the Moray struck the temple with its tail one last time and swam rapidly away. A blue bolt shot after it, green eyes focused on the distant shine of the metal.

The Moray sped up, pattern flashing on and off irregularly. It swept its tail, trying to slice its pursuer with the sharp feathers. A thin trail of blood, bright red and warm, entered the water, but the chase did not stop.

An icy wall rose above them. The Moray slowed, circling uncertainly. Its pursuer stopped as well, hovering above it. Bright sunlight shone through the water and refracted in light green wings. Glinting green eyes focused on the metal contraption fixed to the Light Moray's head. This would be quick.

The Moray whipped around and rammed into the ice. The hunter moved in, slipping around its thrashing and reaching for the head…

A chunk of ice hit the water.

The hunter paused. Curious.

Bright yellow and orange flared in the ocean, and he whirled around. Before he could react, Blaze was grabbing his arm and dragging him to the surface. The Moray took the opportunity to resume ramming into the cliff. More cracks formed, massive pieces of ice and even a little rock tumbling into the water.

They broke into the air with matching gasps. Sonic tried to tug free, but she only gripped him harder, claws digging into his fur. He looked up. Yellow eyes met green in a burning glare. Sonic swallowed.

"H-hey, Blaze!" He tried for a grin. "What—"

"What were you thinking!?" She shoved him forcefully, sending waves batting at their muzzles. "What happened to the plan!? What happened to 'sticking together'!?" The exaggerated impression of him was not necessary.

"Well…" Sonic started to say, then yelped as she roughly dragged him out of the way of a falling piece of ice.

"Never mind that now! We need to get out of here!" She finally released him, leaving him to doggy paddle while she twisted around as if looking for something.

"We can't just leave!" Sonic argued. "We need to stop that thing!"

"You can stop it by defeating Light Gaia," she growled. "This isn't a battle you need to fight."

"Why not? It wouldn't take a min—"

"No! You need to focus on your mission, and I need to focus on mine. We've already wasted enough time here!"

"It's under Eggman's control!"

"Oh, and now you want to help it?"

Sonic scowled. Ice water lapped against his face as he and Blaze glared at each other. The moment dragged on for what felt like hours before he said, with finality, "Yes."

Blaze huffed, but seemed to read the stubbornness in his eyes and didn't argue. "Fine. How are you going to do it?"

"There's a device on its head," Sonic shrugged, which was hard to do while treading water. "All I have to do is get it off."

"Very well. I will draw its attention, and you will get the device off." Sonic grinned, but she cut him off before he could say anything. "And stick with the plan this time, won't you?" Without waiting for an answer, she dove under the water. Sonic took a deep breath and followed her.

The ocean was yet again lit with impossible fire, ribbons of red and orange and yellow flaring in an eye catching display. It lasted just long enough to catch the Moray's attention, and then Blaze was moving in. While the two dueled, Sonic swam up behind the Moray, eyes on the device.

Almost… His fingers brushed the cold metal, when suddenly the Moray lit up and whipped around. Sonic jerked back with a gasp, then clapped a hand over his mouth too late.

Blaze's eyes met his, and she nodded up at the surface. He stubbornly ignored the hint and the burning in his lungs, focusing on the device. He could work past the heat, he could end this—

The Moray whipped its body, catching his shoulder with its feathers. Spots filled his vision, but he could just make out the metal thing. Blaze slashed at the Moray's face, and it turned to her. Sonic reached out, reached for the silver… His fingers touched something unnaturally smooth, and he grasped, pulled. Almost—yes!

The device came free. For just a moment, everything was still.

And dark.

And cold.

Then the Moray lit up again. It was thrashing wildly, something strange yet familiar, wild and burning in its eyes. The light flared in response. The world alternated wildly between black and white and Sonic could almost hear music playing in the back of his head, music with a rapid, warning tempo that was getting faster and faster as his mind got slower and slower…

Something bright called, a different color than the light...

And then his head was breaking the surface and he was coughing and gasping for air. Black and white spots battled for control of his vision. Somewhere far away, someone was talking. Shouting? There was a challenge in the voice. It sounded familiar. A hand was digging into his arm, and an arm was keeping his head up, and a head was talking above him.

Air filled his lungs. At least some of the spots faded away, and he blinked the salt from his eyes. Sound was coming back.

"…hear me?" Ah. Blaze had saved him. Again. "…need to climb…" What?

Now she was shoving him away. He instinctively reached for the ice in front of him. Why was his shoulder burning? Why was everything burning? Why was it so hard to focus? What was Blaze doing?

He blinked furiously, willing his eyes to clear, and shook his head. He looked back, towards Blaze, and felt his stomach drop.

She was paddling in the water with practiced ease, eyes locked on the Moray's. The eel was hovering uncertainly in front of her, its wild light flickering.

"Blaze!" Sonic shouted.

She looked up at him and, shockingly, smiled. "Just climb, Sonic!"

He opened his mouth to argue… and the Moray lunged, grabbing Blaze in its jaws and diving into the water.

Sonic was pushing off the cliff before he had time to comprehend what had happened. At the last second he remembered his wings and opened them, but this time the light refused to guide his flight, and he fell into the ocean.

Stubbornly, he struck out, willing himself to swim. He moved, slowly, not fast enough. And to where? The Moray was nowhere in sight. The ocean spread around him, black and empty. No warm fire, no blinding light. Only vast ocean and echoing silence.

It was cold.