CHAPTER X – STYX

The most unholy of smells swirled around like an odorous hurricane. The warm, unnerving waste of millions ran beside him in a river headed for hell, a stark contrast given the cold streets above. All the while he could not escape its fetid wrath. The current was too strong, the odors too great, and not to mention his pained body and broken rib made getting to safety nigh impossible. It would only allow him to tread "water", to keep his head above the surface. But every time to he had to breath, the feces drew closer.

Energy began to come at a premium. Through survival instincts alone, he was managing to stay alive, no matter how much his chest screamed in agony, not to mention his psyche. He didn't have time to think about how his brother had sent him along this endless river of crap. He didn't have time to think about how Amy and Tails kept their mouths shut about Fiona. He didn't have time to think about how he'd die: drowning in a cesspool of raw sewage.

The dark tunnel made sight unmanageable. Next to no light, next to no hope no matter where he turned, especially with all this Mobian waste in his eyes. All there was his inevitable doom. Maybe he'd get eaten alive by a sewer gator so he could die a better death. Anything was better than this.

But he had to try and survive. And try he did. Whatever he had left was to make sure he got to the side. There was a walkway to his right given the ladder rungs to the surface that he could barely see. The way there was no picnic. The waste was too strong and deep to get decent footing, so he had to swim.

After one stroke, his midsection screamed again. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" he shrieked as moved the other arm. With each movement came another yell, further draining his energy. Fighting the pain was hard enough. Fighting through his surroundings? Barely manageable. But he creeped closer and closer despite his rib cage telling him, "No." One arm in front of the other. He tried to get his strong legs into the motion. About two feet away! Oh, he was so close! He could taste it! One foot away! There was a ladder that led into the fowl river coming up! All he had to do was grab it and pull himself up!

There was just one problem. The speed of the current was too great, and his hand slipped right off the rung.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

And as if his night wasn't horrendous enough, the stuff finally slipped into his mouth. His eyes shot up right away as an ungodly texture and taste hit his taste buds. Sonic began to vomit… violently. His midsection flaring up tenfold as he willed his body to expel the shit. Oh, this was a nightmare! He was running out of energy. He could barely see. He couldn't think straight. Sewage was in his mouth. How does diarrhea with a side of golden piss sound? All he could taste was that hellish concoction and the bile from his stomach.

He had come to the end. This was it. This was how Sonic the Hedgehog was going to die. Not in glorious battle or with some forced love interest in his arms but drowning in raw sewage thanks to Scourge.

Just as he was about to pass out from the exhaustion and aqueous, Mobian waste, he could have sworn he saw a light flickering as the river turned ever so slightly to the left. Wait! There were people! They had flashlights attached to their heads! The lights were looking his way. With everything he had left, he gathered all the energy left in his depleted body.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

When he had switched careers to work for the city, this wasn't the job he had in mind. He could have been one of the many workers decorating the giant Christmas tree by City Hall. He could have been a bell-ringer next to a little, red kettle at the local supermarket. Hell, he could have worked in a mundane, soul-draining post office, and it would still be better than this. The only good thing about working in the sewer was that the waste emitted heat, keeping him from freezing on the streets above with that roaring wind. It was disgusting and embarrassing that the only thing keeping him and his coworkers warm was a steaming, hot river of shit.

How had his life gone from a petroleum truck driver to this? Sure, thanks to Sonic, he'd gotten $7.5 million richer thanks to the cash they swiped from Eggman before torching the madman's money stockpile back in June. When Robotnik died, he came back with his family, who Sonic said he would protect. At least he could say was a millionaire because of the great hero and could easily pay for his kids' college tuition… all while being mere feet from the rushing waters of waste. Some life.

"You know you've been down here too long when you don't notice the smell of mierda anymore," Bernardo jested in his hazmat suit. Even if he had to take a dive in there, not a drop of the crap would get in his suit. Allegedly. He'd only heard it from his coworkers. The last thing he needed was to test the theory.

"No shit," his coworker replied through the walkie talkie in his suit as he rewired the fuse box slowly.

Bernardo sighed. "Aren't you done yet? I'm missing the Spectres game."

"We're all missing the game, Bernie. Besides, the Spectres are up 16 late in the third quarter."

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The two men stopped their idle chattering and looked up- and downriver with their helmet-mounted flashlights. That… That kind of sound wasn't normal there. Even the sound of rushing feces couldn't mask that sound. Was the source of it around the bend?

"Bernie, did you hear that?" the coworker asked half-heartedly.

"AHHHH! AH! AH! AH! AH!" Then there was a pause. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Just then, a distinctive splashing was seen and heard by the men as someone had rounded the turn. "¡Jesucristo!" Bernardo yelled as he ran toward the manhole opening. "We got a guy down here!"

The foreman walked over. "Couldn't hear you, Bernie. What's up?"

"There's a guy in the river! Get me a rope!"

Quickly the boss-man's face turned sour. "Get back to wor—."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

No mistaking that sound. The foreman whistled loudly to get the attention of the surface crew. "Rope! We need rope! … Doesn't fuckin' matter! Give it to me!"

"Boss, hurry!" Bernie pleaded as he glanced over to the flailing man. Oh, no! He was going too fast! The river was picking up speed. They were gonna miss him! Bernie quickly turned to his colleague. "When the rope comes, throw it at me!"

"What?" Bernie didn't stand around to reply as he backed up to the wall and leaped into the disgusting abyss.

SPLASH!

A little waste came in through the airholes of his suit's mask, but it was only urine (or so he hoped). But there was no time to worry about that as he swam through the clumpy waste, nearly throwing up from the stench alone. It was one thing to smell the stuff when he was on the shores of the sewage waterway, but being this up, close, and personal? Oh, Chaos this was awful! Bernie could feel the poop bouncing off his suit and body. The unnatural warmth was not helping either. But he still trudged on with his light shining at the perilous swimmer. Through the waste, he noticed how blue his quills—.

"FUCK! IT'S SONIC!" Bernie yelled as his mind was now obsessed with fighting through the crap and making it to him. One stroke in front of the other. Oh, man. Sonic wasn't looking good (in more ways than one). He was barely keeping his head above the surface and looking worse with each passing second. Bernardo glanced at his coworker who was hampering the guy coming down with something they could grab. He was about a yard or so away as he reached for the hero. Sonic saw what he was doing and reached out too from pure instinct alone.

With a mighty lunge, Bernardo grabbed him. "Sonic, I gotcha!" Sonic forced out a pained smile as Bernie looked toward the walkway. "I got him! Get us outta here!"

"Catch!" the foreman said as he hurled out a line of… well, it wasn't rope, but a large spool current-free wire would do.

Just then, Sonic's grip on Bernardo's arm started to faulter. Bernie immediately noticed it and pulled him closer and commanded him, "Arms around my neck! Don't! Let! Go!" The speedster nodded and quickly caught the neck, nearly taking Bernie under the surface and missing the wire. But Bernie didn't miss. With his left arm, he held Sonic tightly to him. With his right, he latched onto the wire for dear life. "PULL!" he screamed.

With the might of two men, they slowly dragged him to the walkway while fighting the river's power. It was no small feat, but slowly the two got closer and closer to the walkway. Only a few feet now. Now a few inches. Suddenly, more people flooded down the manhole and ran toward the group. They began to reach out for the two. With a nod, Bernardo let go of the wire and instantaneously grabbed another coworker's arm. Soon a few more of them grabbed onto Bernie's hazmat suit and started pulling him and the passenger up. Boy, were they surprised to find out who else they were fishing out!

"Is that Sonic?!" one of them yelled.

"PULL ME UP, GODDAMMIT!" Bernardo screamed.

"Sorry!" With a collective heist, they got them out onto the walkway. Bernie let go of Sonic when it was safe and was comforted by his heroic coworkers. Bernardo quickly got up and breathed heavily from the impromptu workout he had received.

But that didn't last long as he went back to check on Sonic. Chaos, he looked like… well, shit. Not to mention that it looked like he'd taken a beating on top of that. "Sonic, can you stand?" Sonic weakly offered a hand which Bernardo quickly grabbed to pull him to his feet. Bernie and foreman slung him around their shoulders and led him toward the manhole opening. "Remember me, Sonic?"

Sonic weakly chuckled as his gag reflex went into overdrive, expelling god-knows what else was in his stomach. "Bernardo… this is the… *GAG* last place I'd find… *GAG* you."

"Likewise. What the fuck are you doing down here?!" Bernardo pleaded.

Sonic spat out another wad of unknown waste. "Beat… bad. Hu-Hurting. Broken… r-rib," he forced out.

"We'll get you an ambulance." Bernardo assured.

As they reached the manhole cover, something else had been lowered down. This time, it was a rope, although it was tied with a large loop. Bernie stopped Sonic and pulled down the lifeline. "Easy, Sonic." Bernardo then lifted the hero's arms up as the foreman pulled the looped rope down past his arms. Sonic's arms were gently let down. The loop was around his armpits and upper back snuggly. "We need you to hold on tight. They're gonna pull you up." Sonic nodded, prompting Bernie to give his boys up top the go-ahead.

The line went taut as Sonic slowly rose to the surface. When he was close enough, the workers grabbed his arm and got him out of there, though not without Sonic's body screaming in pain. "AHHH!" he yelled as they set him down gently.

Sonic labored through his breaths and tried his best to get some fresh air. Anything was better than down there. It was something that would give him nightmares later, but he was grateful to saved and plucked out of there.

With him now being alone for the time being, he surveyed the damages his swim had wrought. Royal blue fur with a tan belly were blackened by the ungodly waste from below. However, his eyes stung mightily from the crap in his eyes, making it hard to see. It wasn't hard to smell regrettably as blew out the crud from his nostrils, only to get a lethal dose of odors that could only be rivaled by rotting limburger on a hot summer's day. Worst of all, he still had an unholy lingering taste in his mouth. It, once again, sent his gag reflexes into overdrive as he heaved again, but was unable to project anything out since what he had thrown up was floating to the nearest water treatment plant.

His injuries? The big question was where to start. Physically or emotionally? His pride and body had been systematically, methodically annihilated for his friends, enemies, and fellow citizens to see. What a sight it must have been for those people.

And his friends? Pfft. Some friends. Amy and Tails… oh, Sonic's blood boiled at that moment. He wasn't happy. Not by a longshot. There was going to be a conversation to be had with Tails and Amy. Nobody was going to like it. Even if their potential excuses were valid, Sonic was not in a forgiving mood. When it would be time to talk, the kid gloves would be off.

That would have to wait as Sonic's mental stirring had momentarily distracted him from his aching body. Despite his conscience's advice, he dared touch his midsection in the—. "MMMMMMMM!" he muffled before letting go, mentally cursing himself in the aftermath. What a stupid thing to do. His goddamn curiosity got the better of him. It nearly made him convulse because he could feel his busted rib moving around like a loose tooth. He already could already hear the doctors say that he'd need to be sidelined until it healed, but that was time he didn't have. Not with Scourge and Fiona still out there.

That cold breeze began to circle around Mobotropolis's buildings. When the zephyr hit, Sonic's wet, shit-soaked body instantly felt ten times worse. "Encased… in-in a piss ice c-cube," he shivered.

Suddenly, something large but comforting blanketed around his disgusting body. It was… well, a fire blanket. Sonic pitied the pour soul who'd have to wash it later, but he was at least thankful that the piercing, late fall air couldn't do more significant damage. Looking up at who'd shown him mercy, Sonic found a familiar face, although he was shaking in head in hurt disbelief.

"I hoped we'd see each other again, but this wasn't what I had in mind," Bernie said as he knelt in front of the downed vigilante. Taking in a small breath made Bernie change his face to that of disgust. "Woof, you smell like a one-week-dead bisonte."

Sonic sighed. "Y-You kn-kn-know many week-dead bu-buffaloes, Bernardo?" He then briefly opened the covers to extend a hand. "I owe y-y-y-you."

Still rocking the hazmat (sans the mask), his rescuer shook Sonic's drenched hand, earning a grossed-out squirm. "Pretty sure I've already collected. Seven-and-a-half million times over," he referenced. "Fucking hell, Sonic. What happened to you? You break your rib, and you go swimming in this shit?"

Sonic spat out another wad of… ugh, he'd rather not know. "Not my idea," he forced out. "Ah!" he squealed as he held his midsection.

"I heard about your brother on the news. Wait… don't tell me he threw you in?!"

"And b-busted my rib. And b-beat the hell out-t-t of me. And—Ow!—let a crime boss g-get away. Twice."

Bernardo sighed and shook his head. "You're lucky we found you."

Sonic nodded. "S-Speaking of which, w-why did I find you in a-a-a sewer?"

"Pot calling the kettle black," Bernardo shot back. "Ever since we torched that cash, I got a new job working maintenance for the city. I drew the short straw and had to spot my buddy as he was fixing some wiring down there."

"Your… your family doing okay? They safe?"

Bernie smiled. "Oh, yeah. Marianne's a pain, but at least she keeps it interesting if you catch my drift."

"Didn't n-need to know how she s-s-stimulates your marriage," Sonic jested before letting out another pained exhale amid the shivering.

Bernardo opened up the blanket to get a better look at his torso. Yep, he saw how a certain bone was not in its correct location. It was a small wonder how he could see it with all the swelling. "It hurt to breathe?"

"Breathe? How a-about swim?" Sonic shot back.

"Touché. You cough up any blood?"

Sonic shook his head. "A l-lot of disgusting th-things came outta my m-m-mouth, but b-blood-d-d wasn't one of th-them."

"Well, I suppose that's good. Means your lungs aren't damaged."

"Bernie!" a voice called. Looking over his shoulder, Bernardo's foreman said, "An ambulance will be here shortly for Sonic!"

"How long?"

"Two minutes."

"Thanks, boss!" Bernardo said as he turned back to Sonic.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "How d-do you know about this kind of stuff anyway?" Bernardo looked at him curiously. "I mean my i-injuries."

"Marianne's going back to school to get her nursing degree… which you helped pay for," Bernardo said with a smile. "Thanks for that, by the way. She's been nose-deep in her textbooks for the last few days. Man, the docs are gonna love looking at you. If they can get past the stench."

"If you s-aay so. Listen, Bernardo, I c-can't thank you enough for… for—."

"Sonic," he stopped, "You helped me settle a score and set up mi familia for life. If you need anything, just say it."

Sonic took in his friend's words and smiled. "I'll hold you t-to it. G-Gimme your kids' birthdays so I can come o-over and surprise them one of these d-d-days."

Bernardo scoffed. "In front of all their friends? Oh, that'd make them the most popular kids in school." The sound of a siren was coming in hot as were a set of flashing lights barreling down the street. "You'll be in good hands, Sonic."

"I know. Th-Thanks again, Bernie."

The loud vehicle stopped in front of the two and quickly turned around to back up. Then a pair of paramedics opened the back doors and caught Sonic's scent at full blast.

"You guys aren't gonna believe what happened," Bernardo began.

"Don't you blockheads have anything yet?!"

The officers on scene were justifiably scared out of their wits. They had their concessions about unholstering their sidearms if she terrified them any further. They believed getting on Rouge's bad side was the worst thing in the world. But Amy's? They would much rather deal with any of the other reporters at the scene than Amy-freaking-Rose.

"Miss Rose, we still don't have anything else to tell you!"

"What about the wetsuit teams in the sewers?!"

Her tone signified more than just reporting the vital information for the viewers she would be speaking to in a moment's time. Her voice sounded worried and distraught. For the last hour, there had been no word or update on Sonic's condition. All she had to go on was the limited intel from Tails, CREAM, and Rouge. It was sizable and serviceable enough for an on-the-scene story on the AMG Nightly News, but not enough for the heartache inside her.

"Miss Rose, you're on in thirty seconds."

Amy let out a pained sigh and turned back to her camera team. She kept her eyes closed for as long as she could with the earpiece giving her Sally's and Khan's reporting from the studio. Like any normal person, she let her diaphragm do the work. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In… out…. In… out…. In… out… in… out… in… out….

"Before we bring on our woman in the field, we must make an amendment to a report from a few nights ago. It was believed that the green hedgehog that attacked Sonic at Mitchell International Airport was a clone of Sonic's brother, Green. We were wrong. That was not a clone. It really was Sonic's brother who was thought to have died the night that Dr. Ivo Robotnik's Central Sea, OilOcean oil rig went up in flames last June. This next part came from Sonic himself, but Green is now calling himself 'Scourge,' and he is considered highly dangerous. Do not attempt to approach Scourge at any time. If he is seen, please notify the police as soon and as safely as possible.

"We now go live to Amy 'The Rascal' Rose at Times Square in Amusement Mile where Sonic and Scourge's fight ended… regrettably with Sonic's apparent defeat," Sally said in a likewise defeated tone. Amy mentally noted how one her closest friends was taking the news. Those were her godbrothers trying to kill each other under the bright lights of Times Square's neon lights. Hell, what were Max and Alicia thinking? How were they taking the news? Alicia had to be bawling her eyes out in the Green Room or her office with Max crying silently with her, consoling her and himself at this grizzly news. "Amy, what's the scene down there?"

The pink lady opened her eyes and looked right at the camera. Chaos, why was the act of composing herself so fucking difficult?

"Sally… everyone here was gathering for the Spectres game on the large screens here at Times Square," Amy began. "This was supposed to be a jovial night where the Spectres-faithful could cheer on their team from a neighborhood over. What it turned into was pure carnage. Sonic and the Mobotropolis Police Department were making their second run at taking down Fiona Fox's crime syndicate when, once again, Sonic's twin brother, Scourge, broke up the bust and fought Sonic across Amusement Mile from the construction site of the New Atlantis Brewery to this very spot where Sonic was… and I won't sugarcoat it… pummeled in front of these Spectres fans." Amy then gestured to her right where police tape had been set up around the manhole. "When Sonic was defeated, Scourge hurled Sonic into the sewer below where, as of this broadcast, he has not been found."

Sally could hear the heartbreak in her voice, but she was damn proud of Amy for being as poised as she was given her strong feelings for Sonic. This report must have been killing Amy to explain as much as it was for her.

"Has Commissioner Rouge given any further updates?"

Amy shook her head. "Other than the SWAT team is under the city trying to find Sonic, co Commissioner Rouge has not updated us. And before you ask if they're searching for a corpse, let me tell you and everyone at home that if the SWAT team doesn't find him, Sonic will have found a way out himself."

"So do you think he's out walking the streets right now?"

"Commissioner Rouge and her fellow officers are taking that possibility into account and are combing every square inch of Amusement Mile trying to find him. The mayor himself gave the police force the blueprints to the city's sewage lines to aid them in their search. And to answer your question, I wouldn't be shocked if he has found his way out. But if that's the case, he's going to be hurting."

Sally's cohost then took the helm. "Amy, it's Ken. By 'hurting,' do you mean emotionally because Sonic's had to fight his thought-to-be-dead brother?"

"I don't believe it's that simple, Ken. Having to fight with your family is hard enough if they don't give you any other option. I'm sure Sonic had no intention or idea he would fight Scourge tonight, but the circumstances didn't allow for that to happen. However, he's not just hurting emotionally. What can potentially… *GULP* hinder the search for Sonic are any potential injuries he may have suffered during the fight. Breathing where there's nothing but foul odors around would be a chore to anyone, much less Sonic."

"And what about Scourge and Fiona Fox?" Sally chimed in. "Any update on their whereabouts?"

"Fiona and Scourge are still at-large. It's believed Fox escaped while the hedgehogs fought. Scourge fled the scene here at Times Square shortly after throwing Sonic down the manhole. If anyone out there has any vital information regarding the two's locations, immediately contact the MPD and give them all the details."

"Amy, we know how close you have been with Sonic ever since he showed up. You're showing a lot of class keeping your composure considering what's happened."

"Thank you, Sally," Amy said with a pained smile and nod. "If I may go off-script for a moment, I know in my heart he's still alive. If I get any update, I'll notify you promptly."

"We look forward to that, Amy. Thank you."

"And we're out!" the cameramen said as Amy let herself fall onto the cold concrete. A cop saw that and rushed to her side, helping Amy up as she whimpered sadly.

"Thank you," she squeaked out. She gave him the okay as he left her alone to start packing up her gear until she would need it again. She could hear a few other reporters from other networks trying to get… someone's attention. She didn't really know who. Maybe Amy herself? A cop who hadn't gotten an update either? Rouge? Maybe the mayor had showed up himself?

Just as Amy started putting her mic and wiring away for the time being, the mass of loud people got closer. Looking over her shoulder, Rouge was trying to weave through the mass of reporters all while they bombarded her with questions and flashed their annoying cameras.

"Give me some space!" Rouge ordered before running out of the crowd and up to Amy. She had about ten seconds to say this before the horde of reporters caught up to her. "A maintenance crew found him." Amy's eyes lit up. "He's in an ambulance."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Happy Friday, everyone! Yes, there is a reason for this coming out a day early, but I will get into that later, so bear with me in the meantime.

I'm not gonna lie, when I invited more of you to give me feedback on how the story is going, I said that there were three people that usually leave reviews at the end of each chapter. What's happened since then? One review... and it was honestly the funniest fucking thing that happened to me all week. I'm being legitimately serious when I say that too. Before I go further, shout-out to jurrassicdinodrew for leaving a review for chapter 9. Anyway, the one time I invite more of you to give me your input is the week I would get less feedback. I see it as it being tragically and ironically hilarious, and I mean that in the most non-passive-aggressive way possible. It was unexpectedly perfect, comedic timing by you guys, so thanks for giving me a good laugh in the meantime.

Next, let's talk about this chapter. This scene was inspired by a Disney movie called The Pacifier. Anyone ever hear of this movie? It's a Vin Diesel Disney movie, which alone is ridiculous to picture, let alone see in action. It's a hammy, mid 2000s comedy that I think deserves more love. Obscure Disney movies aside, Sonic has hit rock bottom. Not just because he hit rock bottom so hard that we went underground, but that was a punishment worse than death. Seriously, shove nails into my fingertips before sending me down a one-way river of crap. With all due respect to Eugene Levy, Sonic went down *PUTS ON SUNGLASSES* "Shit's Creek!" You are now permitted to boo me off the stage and chuck tomatoes at me for that pun. As for Bernardo, he's an O.C. I made specifically for this series and was introduced in SP1 (chapter ten) after Sonic's duel with the Iron King. If you want to think of him as a Stan Lee type of character that shows up in everything, go right ahead because that's the point. Finally... oh, boy Sonic will have a fun talk with Tails and Amy, won't he? Before we get to that, we have more brother-versus-brother fallout to get through first, so expect that next time when chapter 11 comes out on Star Wars Day/May 4th (and chapter 12 will be out 5/15).

Now, why is this chapter coming out a day early? It's not because I'll be too busy to upload tomorrow morning, but rather to say "thank you" to FlameShadoFireDragon. This past Wednesday, she published a fan-art of The Sonic Project 2 on her deviantArt page. For the record, it's the first time to my knowledge that anyone has done this for one of my stories. I read somewhere that the greatest honor a fan-fiction writer can get is fan-art of their fan-fiction. When I saw it, it came at the perfect time because I had a long, rough day at work, and seeing that notification made me feel like a million bucks. It was a much-needed shot in the arm that helped put a smile on my face. The fact that some of you are willing to take time out of your busy lives and read my stories, even leaving reviews and now art of my stories, it's one of the greatest feelings in the world. It tells me that people are actually enjoying what I write and are invested in it. I'm thankful to have loyal readers like you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. And thank FlameShadoFireDragon while you're at it. Take a look at her art on deviantArt for me. I'll leave a link to the art on the deviantArt version of this chapter below so you can check it out for yourself. I'd leave it on the fan-fiction-dot-net version, but the site doesn't do internet links.

flameshadofiredragon/art/The-Green-and-The-Blue-877109073

As always, the characters used in this story (with exception to Bernardo Juarez) are the property of SEGA, Sonic Team, and Archie Comics. Everything in the story is being used strictly for entertainment purposes. And as always, I will talk to y'all later.

And FlameShadoFireDragon? THANK YOU!