The Hedgecat made the same musical laughing sound as before, though now she knew what she was up against, it had a predatory edge, almost like a growl. The thing-that-was-very-much-not-Sonic dropped smoothly into a crouch, orange-tipped tail lashing.
Pretzel knew that pose. She leapt to the side, but wasn't anywhere near fast enough to dodge its spring. Yellow hands pinned her arms. She shrieked as her fur sizzled from its touch, then clamped her jaws shut and lashed out with her tail. The Hedgecat caught it mid-slash, laugh-growling again. Fortunately for Pretzel, that meant both its hands were occupied and its face was… close enough.
She bit it.
The Hedgecat shrieked, throwing Pretzel across the clearing as blood dripped from its muzzle. She slammed into a tree and got to her feet, head throbbing. No time for that. She scrambled up the tree, lunging into the sky with the Hedgecat's claws a heartbeat from her tail. She swung around in the sky to keep the Hedgecat in her sights. It smirked, and she felt her heart drop with dread. That's right. It had—
A sky blue bolt shot towards her, and with a shriek Pretzel folded her wings, dropping out of the way just in time. The Hedgecat turned far more sharply than she thought the laws of physics should allow, eyes fixed on its prey. Pretzel moved to dive again, but the thing was on her in a heartbeat, claws slashing at her wings with ferocious accuracy. She tumbled, screeching, to the dirt, and backed against the tree trunk, hissing and shaking. The Hedgecat landed gracefully. It gave her an almost apologetic smile as it approached with bloody claws, eyes bright and emotionless.
Claws slashed across her face, and she screamed, raising her wings in a protective shield. That lasted for all of five seconds before a practiced kick knocked her away from the trees and sent her sprawling in the sand.
Pain dripped from her wings and down her face and into her eyes. The sun beat relentlessly down on her, casting a halo around the approaching Hedgecat.
The ocean lapped at her back. Her shadow remained as black and impassive as ever.
Pretzel drew herself up.
The Hedgecat cast no shadow.
She swallowed. Closed her eyes.
"Where is Sonic?" She demanded, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
"Here," the Hedgecat answered smoothly, tapping its temple. Its voice was alien, yet frighteningly familiar in a way that told her run run run.
"No." Pretzel raised herself on shivering hind legs, glaring at the Hedegcat challengingly. "You've driven him away."
The Hedgecat shook its head, still smiling. It lashed out a hand, and Pretzel stumbled backwards. It caught her easily, holding her by the neck as it calmly scored its claws down her face. Slowly, slowly, it drew them down her ear, down her forehead and closer and closer to her eye.
"Are you afraid?" Pretzel choked out.
The Hedgecat stopped, taken aback. "Never."
"Is Sonic afraid?"
"...Not anymore."
"I thought I was the liar."
The Hedgecat hissed at her, tightening its grip. So that was what it cared about? Its stupid honor? Her fear was stilled by cold anger.
"Is Light Gaia your master?"
The Hedgecat started to answer, stopped, started again, snarled to itself. The hand holding her shook. Its aura rippled and flashed.
"Light Gaia is controlling you," Pretzel spat, and the Hedgecat snarled, shaking its head vigorously. Its claws tightened on her throat. Pretzel grit her teeth and called back to the cold and the dark and the wet. "That makes Light Gaia your enemy. You fight enemies. You don't obey them. You don't submit." She blinked away the drops of blood and glared at it, urging her gaze to pierce through the blackless eyes and find what they were hiding. "It's won. But you keep fighting. It's hopeless. But you keep fighting."
Slowly, the hand uncurled.
"I have no master," a voice whispered hoarsely.
For just a moment, she could see his aura.
Then it whipped around, snarling. Too late. A very heavy shoe hit it in the head, and a very pointy shoe pinned it to the ground. The Hedgecat snarled and thrashed once before its eyes rolled back and it collapsed limply on the ground.
Blaze winced, studying the creature pinned under her feet. "Are we sure that was necessary?"
"Absolutely." Shadow and Pretzel said in unison.
"He has suffered worse blows," Shadow assured her, slinging the Hedgecat over his shoulder with only a slight grimace to speak for his concussion. Fast healing. Where could Pretzel get that?
Blaze snorted. "Sooner or later, his thick skull is going to crack and I'm going to be the one who has to keep his brains in."
"We could take shifts," Pretzel offered, perching on Blaze's shoulder (the one farthest from the Hedgecat).
Blaze smiled, then winced as she saw Pretzel's face. "I am sorry we didn't find you sooner."
"So am I," Pretzel muttered, flicking out her tongue to try and wipe the blood away. Seeing Blaze's expression, she licked her, too. "I'll live. I'm surprised I have blood at all."
"Is that blood?" Shadow asked, stepping away from a keypad. (What was a keypad doing in the middle of… whatever this place was?) He swiped a finger over her face and sniffed at the dark, goopy substance. Then he licked it, earning a disgusted grimace from Blaze. "It doesn't smell or taste like blood."
"You've smelled and tasted blood before?" Blaze asked wryly.
"Yes. I have picked up several vampiric tendencies from Rouge." Shadow said with complete seriousness.
"Sonic's gonna regret missing that," Pretzel muttered as behind a cluster of bushes, a door slid open. Shadow ushered them inside, and the door slammed closed behind them. Fluorescent lights flickered on (much to Pretzel's irritation), illuminating a steel corridor.
"The deeper we can get, the better," Shadow said, handing the Hedgecat off to Blaze. He skated ahead, tapping at another keypad so the door was open by the time Blaze had arranged Sonic in her arms and caught up with the black hedgehog. Pretzel jumped to Shadow's shoulder, hanging on while he ran ahead again to tap at a screen. Oh joy, more maps.
Pretzel glanced back at Blaze just as the Hedgecat's aura flared. Pretzel tensed, watching it warily. Noticing her reaction, Blaze swiftly dropped the creature and removed her hair band again, binding its ankles together. She grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the ground. Shadow paused in his typing, and they all stayed perfectly still, staring at their prisoner.
Nothing.
"I think—" Pretzel started, then flung her wings over her ears as a screech reverberated through her skull. The cry of an eagle, sharp and vicious and out for blood. "Light Gaia knows," she finished in a small voice, lowering her wings. Blaze and Shadow seemed unaffected by the sound, but they didn't ask questions.
"Take him," Blaze told Shadow, releasing the Hedgecat's wrists and striding back the way they'd come. "I will stall Light Gaia."
"Are you sure? I could—" Blaze interrupted Shadow's argument with a raised hand.
"You know Eggman better. You know Sonic better. Find somewhere away from Light Gaia, and protect them." She glanced at Pretzel. "Both of them. This world needs them." She sprinted off before Shadow could argue further.
The door closed.
One down, some distant part of Pretzel observed. Two and a half to go.