Warning: this chapter contains corpses. Dead corpses. Two of them.
Sonic woke up in the cold and dark, which was a welcome change from the past few days. He moved to sit up, but his arms wouldn't cooperate. Wriggling, he braced himself against the wall and forced himself upright. He flicked his tail and grimaced. Great. He was still stuck as the… Hedgecat.
He tried again to get his arms to work, and felt a spark of panic when he realized they were trapped behind his back. He writhed, arching his back and flaring his back spines—no back spines. Just wings, stupid, useless wings.
Swallowing, Sonic wriggled around enough to see his hands. They were bound together by a golden ring, and his ankles were tied, too, by some sort of thick red band. It reminded him of…
His heart jumped and sank in one nauseating beat. Blaze. Had she tied him up, then? His eyes widened. Had she been brainwashed? Was she under Light Gaia's control right now!?
He glimpsed the strange tail again and sagged. Well, that would make two of them.
He tried to look at his hands again, see if he could use his claws—and his heart stopped altogether. His hands were covered in black stains. His mind, which hated him, immediately jumped back to the Moray, its pained screech echoing off the ice and blood clouding the water…
A pained scream echoing from far away as something like blood poured over his claws…
He shivered. That explained why he was tied up, at least. Good on them for being smart about this. Probably should have done it earlier.
Despite himself, he kicked out with his legs, and blinked as he recognized a golden glint on his ankles, above the red band. Limiter rings. That must be what was binding his wrists, too. At least Shadow was alive. Probably.
He waited a moment, hoping someone would come and at least explain what had happened. When that failed to happen, he peered into the darkness fruitlessly. "Hello? Anyone?"
His voice echoed back to him, hoarse and uncertain and unfamiliar.
His heart pounded in his ears like he was running for his life, not just sitting in a room. He should be glad he was in here, not out there endangering his friends. He should be glad.
His head hurt.
He tried to swallow around the tightness in his chest. He struggled again, reaching with his claws for the ring. He nicked himself instead and hissed in pain.
"HEY! Is anyone here!?"
No answer. His eyes darted around, seeking anything. He spotted a glimmer. A Chaos Emerald? His mind reach for it instinctively, and he jerked back in shock when it reached back, banging his head against the wall in the process. Fake fake fake. His stomach churned and he mentally tried to shove the thing away.
Something flicked against his side, and he yelped, jerking away. Fear beat a staccato rhythm against his ribs.
Footsteps clacked nearby. Light flooded the room, and Sonic winced at the sudden brightness. A familiar silhouette stepped in front of the light source.
"Relax. None of us are going to be here long." Shadow said, and tossed Tails' corpse at his feet.
What the heck what the heck what the heck what the heck
Sonic jerked his head away from—that thing, that wasn't Tails, that couldn't be Tails, Tails was in Spagonia with Pretzel but Pretzel was here and he'd killed her what was happening what was happening what had he done?
"It'll be quick," Shadow said, taking the wrong wrong wrong Emerald and setting it way too close to Sonic. Shadow kicked aside—ohhh that looked like Amy but it was most certainly not Amy because that wasn't right that wasn't right none of this was right. "Painful, judging by the way everyone else went out, but quick." Two more fake Chaos Emeralds, and now they surrounded Sonic in a semicircle. Trapped trapped trapped trapped was all his brain would provide. The room was spinning.
The bindings were gone. Sonic was standing and holding Shadow by the throat.
"Get it over with," Shadow said flatly.
No.
No.
No.
He reached. Scrabbled. He couldn't. He wouldn't. There had to be something.
Light Gaia can't win.
You can't let it win.
And when it wins
And it will win
You keep fighting.
He grasped for straws. Three answered him. Dusky purple light filled the night and watched impassively as he screamed. False fake wrong energy flooded him. A cold river washed away the white flames, drove the light from him and left him in the strange darkness.
He screamed, silently, as his body twisted and shifted. Blue fur darkened, darkened to his usual shade and darkened further. Tan and yellow faded to ashy grey. His quills turned up, lengthened and sharpened like forks of black lightning. Icy calm fell over him in a protective white film, distancing him from the pain and leaving only cold fury.
The world looked very far away indeed.