41 - IT'S HIM

Sonic blinked several times at the white space.

Shadow blinked several times at the white space.

Zhadow blinked several times at the white space.

Zector blinked several times at the white space.

Zepsio blinked several times at the...

...Why is this repeating?

...

Where, were they?

"Behold peasants!" A booming voice echoed to their brains, yet they couldn't see where it was coming from. "This, is the mind of your precious commander. The buried memories of Zonic's fragile sanity. Now watch with exuberance, gaze upon the horridly disorder that is his deception! Hohoho!" The familiar voice laughed. "Just watch..."

It was starting to fade away.

"...As he became one of the sole reasons as to why I became so fucked up."

Four years ago, in the Asylum of No Zone HQ

Damn he was such a screw up. He messed up another report, there were way too many grammar mistakes. Damn it, he'd have to fix it later. He couldn't give it to his superiors like this. He should have let that asshole Zhadow read it over like he advised. He warned him not to be overconfident, that it could cause a mistake. But Zonic didn't listen, he thought he could do it himself. A sigh, he should have just accepted the help. Besides, he was his apprentice at this point, it was his job to overlook his stuff. He really needed to stop being so stubborn.

Oh well. On the bright side, he wouldn't have to be bothered with police duties today. He could always hand in his report tomorrow. For now, he had something else he was interested in doing. Zonic was never cut out for the physical combat duties of a true No Zone solider, and it was never his purpose anyway. But since his ancestors wanted him to be here so he could have protection of the No Zone military, might as well take advantage of living here. So, instead of wasting his time doing line-ups or patrols, he settled on something different. Something he'd be working on for the next year. It was funny, Zhadow suggested he do this, but it actually sounded like a nice idea.

Being an inmate counselor.

No, he wouldn't be doing as much stuff as miss Zouge. After all, she was a professional who attended multiple prisoners in the building. Zonic wouldn't be doing that, and he'd only be attending one prisoner for the next twelve months. He was only a low-level private, and he didn't have any medical or psychological intelligence. But, there was one thing he was that no one else could be, and that was being an Overseer.

A Grand Overseer's job was to look over beings called Chaos Born. Basically, they had to make sure they were kept alive, prevent them from dying in unnatural circumstances, assist them in any rational task they may need their assistance in, and keep them safe and satisfied. Both physically, mentally and emotionally. He was the Big Brother of all Chaos Born, as it was his job to watch and look over them every single day to make sure nothing in the universe was out of balance. Today, he'd be meeting one of those Chaos Born, one of the very people he's supposed to watch over.

He was pretty nervous about this. Almost like an internship, Zonic was granted the ability to visit and talk with the Chaos Born that was now rotting in one of their prison cells. Why? Well, apparently they did something very horrible and landed themselves in the asylum ward of the underground prison. Zonic has seen this Chaos Born before through his monitors in the Room of Realities, but as far as he was concerned, the Chaos Born was doing fine up until now.

The Chaos Born's name was Prince Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog, heir to the throne of the main monarchy of Moebius. Apparently, he used to have siblings, but there was some kind of tragic accident that killed them both off. A sister and a brother, now dead. Thus making him the only one left to be the hair to the family crown. The only son left, the only child. His mother fell to an incurable mental disease, and ultimately killed herself. His father, no one knew about. Through his time of watching over Moebius, Zonic saw that the prince was actually doing a fine job at ruling and making their people happy. But, a lot of weird things didn't seem right within the world.

For one, the king, King Jules of Moebius, his father, never showed himself outside of the castle. It was as if the entire burden of ruling landed on the heir, the very person who was next in line to rule even though that was never supposed to be their responsibility yet. It was like he just sat in the castle and did nothing while his son did all the heavy lifting. The world of Moebius was also a very violent and terrible place to live in, but the prince turned everything around by suggesting something called The Great Peace. With some help from a local warm-hearted doctor, Dr. Kintobor, they helped turn everyone's lives around.

Soon, Moebius became the nicest place in the universe to live in.

...And then, The Tragedy happened.

The Tragedy, was the most vile and horrendous event in Moebian history that occurred only months after The Great Peace's success. Nobody knows what happened exactly, but something devastating occurred for the world to spiral into a blood-soaked planet of mass genocide. Apparently, widespread panic and rioting happened only moments after the revelation of their king being mysteriously murdered got out. Then, rumor has it that the prince went rogue and began the mass killings himself, convincing his entire kingdom to destroy everything and each other. First their kingdom fell, and the rest of the world turned to rot soon afterwards. Zonic had no choice but to alert the Warden, begging him to send out reinforcements to stop the prince and arrest him.

Strangely, he went without a fight, and even asked them to execute him the second his trial was over with. After his trial had finished, the Warden was indeed going to execute him, but he for some odd reason changed his mind at the flip of a coin. They then ruled his sentence to an eternity in the No Zone Asylum, prisoner number seventeen.

Technically, it was Zonic's fault he was in the asylum. He didn't make sure his mental state was in check, he could have prevented him from hurting others. If he was forced to rot here in this prison forever, the least he could do as his Overseer is make sure his state of mind wasn't crumbling. There was still a lot he didn't know or understand despite keeping tabs on Moebius responsibly, but he still needed to do his duty even with past failures. So with permission from the Warden himself, he walked down the asylum himself and made his way to the former prince's cell.

The polished white corridors were empty, with white doors and barred windows greeting him with every step he took. Numbers were printed on every single door in black. It was so quiet here, so white. Like nothing was here. No windows, no sunshine anywhere. Number fifteen, sixteen-Ah! Seventeen. Zonic stopped in front of the door, and looked over at the small black screen beside the door. He placed his hand on it, letting it scan his prints to allow him access inside. It beeped green, the door slowly sliding open to let Zonic in.

Before he stepped inside...

...He felt this, strange overwhelming feeling of fear.

He, he didn't know why but, he felt fear. Why fear? Why, why was he afraid? Was he afraid of the inmate? Afraid of the Chaos Born? What was he thinking? Ugh. He slapped his cheeks and shook his head. How was he supposed to be a No Zone soldier if he kept acting like a coward? No, he had to move forward. He straightened his posture and frowned with determination. He stepped inside the room, the white door behind him slowly shutting close.

It was really dark in here. The windows in this room was barred shut too, small peaks of sunlight were just barely shining through. There was a small table with two chairs sitting beside it. On the far right, was a soft white bed. Someone sat on the edge of it, rocking themselves back and forth. A white straight jacket was binding his torso as he mumbled to himself. He kept repeating to himself, "I had to do it, I had to do it, I had to do it...I had to...I had to...I..."

Zonic carefully weighed his situation out. This was a mental patient, who was his sole responsibility. They did some bad things, and they were insane. He had to tread cautiously with him around. He didn't want to upset him. He could easily call Zhadow with his transmitter on his hip at any time if there was trouble. So, Zonic cleared his throat to get the prince's attention.

"...!" They flinched, and hesitantly turned to Zonic's direction. "..."

He made an unsure smile back to him. Wow, he looked just like him. Blue fur, and green eyes. But, he looked a mess. His quills were snipped short so he couldn't use them as an attack. There were scars on his face, among other places on his body. Fur unkept, eyes bloodshot and shrunken, and his body was very skinny. He was probably starving himself, as he was told before coming here that he constantly kept refusing to eat or sleep. Maybe he could change that, this was his job after all. "Um," How should he begin? "H...Hi there." He gradually walked over to the table on the other side of the room, and pulled up a chair to sit down. This way, he gave him space. He wouldn't need to fear him if he was all the way over here. "Your name, your name is Ogilvie, right?"

The empty-looking hedgehog nodded in return, sharing a small uncertain gaze with Zonic.

"My name is Zonic, I'm your Overseer. Ah," He almost forgot that most Chaos Born are not aware of their Overseers, as it is not required knowledge for them. Some Chaos Born go through their entire lives without knowing who their Overseers are, what they are, or ever meeting them. Making acquaintances is not their job. All they needed to do is protect them, not bond with them. But, things were different in this case. "You don't know what that is, do you?"

A small swallow of anxiety left the rocking hedgehog on the bed. Slowly, the rocking came to a halt. "..." His lips twitched. How long has it been since he's talked to anyone? It's been a couple of months since his sentencing, he must have stayed to himself this entire time.

Zonic wanted to make sure he knew he was safe around him. He wouldn't hurt him. "Hey, it's alright." He said gently with a small smile. "I won't hurt you, you can tell me any-"

"Supreme Overseers, the sole guardians and protectors of all Chaos Born. That is your sworn duty, your purpose." The former prince whispered.

With some shock, Zonic blinked a couple times. He knew more than he realized, odd. "O-Oh. So you already know about us. How come?"

The former prince licked his lips before moving his head to stare at the wall. "...The Chaos Born in Moebius, know everything. We know about our purpose, your purpose, and anything that has to do with the Divine Ones. We have books all about our history."

Interesting, they studied just like Zonic did. "I see, so you're all pretty knowledgable."

"Knowledge is what made me do it." He suddenly whispered. "I should have stayed ignorant, I should have kept my eyes closed, stay blind to it all..." His body trembled violently. "But now I know everything, and I can't look away...There's no going back, no turning back on reality..." The private became alarmed as his own brethren before him began repeating those same words again. "That's why I had to do it...I had to do it..."

In an almost frightened tone, Zonic gently asked what in the world was he talking about. "I-I don't understand, what did you do?"

The prince's eyes shook. "..."

With that silence, Zonic put two and two together. He remembered what this person was arrested for. He murdered people and caused others to engulf the world in destruction. He didn't outright say it or confess, but he didn't have to. He could feel he was ultimately responsible for everything that's happened to his world. But, why? What made him do such horrible things?

With a frown, Zonic tried to get more answers out of him. "Why did you do it?"

"Because," Ogilvie murmured. "They were going to make me, torture them. Make them my slaves, our slaves. Make me rule, everything and everyone. They were all doomed, all doomed...I just wanted to save them, I just wanted to be like him..."

Like, him? Who was 'him'? "Who?" Zonic asked.

"You should know him," Said the killer monarch. "The other blue one who looks like us, the perfect one." He scowled. "The most powerful one, the most important one there is."

The most important? Zonic wanted to think that no life of one Chaos Born was more valuable than another, but his ancestors did advise him to keep an extra careful eye on one particular Chaos Born. He was right, he looked just like them. And yes, he was important and was destined to be God-like. He was to protect that one with his very life, the future Champion of All Realities. At first, Zonic noticed Sonic never wanted to be a hero when he was a child, it just happened. He was only just learning to be happy with the fact that he was one.

After all, being a hero was not his purpose.

As for Ogilvie, it was not his purpose to be a hero either. Nor was it to be a criminal, this was all just an unfortunate turn of events. His purpose was to be a Chaos Born monarch and to do his duty, that's all. But from what it sounded like, him learning about Chaos Born and knowing the truth about his true purpose really screwed him up. But why this bad? A Chaos Born's true duty is to rule over their designated planet or reality, dictate anything inhabiting it like livestock and reproduce for the next generation. It was their purpose, just a way of life. What was so wrong with that? Who wouldn't want to have that kind of power? Zonic wished he could have that level of authority. No one would look down upon him, but he was just some Overseer who had to be hidden.

He was nothing compared to them.

With a small smile, Zonic chuckled. "Being a hero wasn't his role, I'm sure you know that much. Neither is yours, or mine. I'm only here to make sure you guys are okay, and you all only exist to keep pushing our bloodline forward. And you even get to rule at the top of the food chain above anyone else, so what's the problem?" The private shrugged. "I say embrace that role. After all, it's not like you'll stay here for long anyway. You're too important to be imprisoned." He tried reassuring the former prince. "I'm sure the deities will just do a quick little reboot to your world and give you your kingdom back like nothing ever happened-"

Ogilvie screamed.

"STOP IT!"

Zonic's eyes widened, his mouth silenced. "...!?"

"Y-You..." He shivered while pushing himself against the wall. "Y-You're just like the rest of them...You're heartless. How dare you? Acting like tyrants is not okay!" He exclaimed. "We're not Gods! We don't have the right to dictate people's lives like that, it isn't fair! Why should I be in power, hurting innocent people!? Do you have any idea how warped our race is? Do you? Or are you just too closed-minded to see that!? You monster!"

The private didn't know what to say to that. He, didn't understand the outrage. He thought this was normal. He truly thought thinking like this, was normal. For one, Zonic wasn't even meant to have emotions. It was quite easier to do his job as an Overseer by being, well, for lack of a better term, 'heartless'. He was raised not to waste his time with emotions or the well-fair of anything other than his Chaotic brethren. He was already failing that job by finding admiration in Sonic and now pity for Ogilvie, but he thought he could still operate his job being emotionless to anyone or anything else.

But, this was...Wrong?

Ogilvie continued to rant. "You're a private aren't you? Didn't they teach you to care about other people's lives if you're going to save them like a solider?"

Sure but, that wasn't Zonic's intentions for being here at all. "You misunderstand my purpose here. I am only being trained as a soldier so I can physically protect one of you if you're in danger. And I am only seeking to gain more power in this world on my own so I can have the dominance to use this world's military to my disposal, all for your sakes. Everything I'm doing is for you all." He tried smiling again. "Eventually, I'll be strong enough to become the General and the Warden. That way, I'll be able to keep you all safe for as long as I live. All I'd have to do next is find a mate to repro-"

"Disgusting."

"I...W-What?" Zonic stammered while blinking.

The prince growled as he glowered angrily towards Zonic. "You are nothing but their toy, another one of their puppets. And you talk so casually, using these innocent people like your playthings just to further your own agenda. For a race of monsters." His green eyes were jade fires of hell itself. "You call yourself our big brother, and yet you've already failed one of us by giving too much attention to another. I am now nothing but a shell of my former self, a broken toy who realized the truth. My madness was my punishment, but you? No, you wish to stay stupid so they can't hurt you, isn't that right?" Then, after he said that, his eyes slowly dilated. "No, it's worse. You know exactly what's going on. You just don't see anything wrong with it. You're the twisted one."

This Chaos Born, Ogilvie was broken.

"If you watched mass genocide right in front of you, would you step in to stop it? Even if it wasn't our own?"

Zonic hesitated before answering. "Well, that's currently my job in this world so-"

"I didn't ask you that, so I'll repeat it again." He retorted roughly. "If you watched, mass genocide happening right before your eyes, would you stop it? Not as a No Zone soldier, or an Overseer, just as a normal being."

"I...No." Zonic answered with a flimsy tone. "It is not my job to protect others, I must only protect and manage all of you."

The mad prince suddenly cackled. "Hahaha, treating us like packages. You vile creature." He insulted. "So, you wouldn't save a defenseless normal child? Maybe a pregnant woman? An infant? An elderly man with brittle bones? You'd just let them all become slaves to our every whim, letting us toy with their lives as we pleased? Letting the deities kill them whenever they wished to 'reboot'?"

Okay, he probably wouldn't just let a child die. Or a pregnant woman, or an old man. Even if it wasn't a Chaos Born but... "N-No, I-"

"Ah? What was that? Going against your 'purpose'?"

Zonic stood up and stomped his foot. "Please, that is enough!" He ordered. From then on, Ogilvie closed his lips. Zonic's words became even more frail. "I, I don't quite comprehend it myself. But please understand, this is all I know. All I was raised to acknowledge. I was to obey any order the deities or Chaos Born gave me, no matter what it was. I only live to serve and protect you, but," He sadly frowned and closed his eyes. "You are right, I did fail you. I did give my attention to the Champion, so I neglected the rest of you. But it seems you're the one who paid the ultimate price, and I am so sorry for that." He opened his eyes to the prisoner tucked against the wall of the bed on the other side of the room. "I don't know why you know so much information, but it doesn't matter. You can't act like this, you need to do what the deities say. After all," He attempted to survey his situation. "You don't want them to kill you, right?"

"Yes!" The prince suddenly said with a grin.

He was, he was smiling...?

"I want nothing more than death itself, that way I can't reproduce and repeat this all over again. If I'm sent back to my world, they'll make it so that everyone loves me regardless of anything I do. They'll make them forget all the atrocities I committed. I don't want that, I don't want them to be my slaves! I don't any of this! I don't want to be a Chaos Born, I want to die!" He pushed himself off of the bed and limped in Zonic's direction. "Kill me, kill me!" He said with a steadily widening smile. "An execution, an execution! I'm sure you can kill me, I'm an inmate anyway. I deserve the death penalty, I caused thousands if not millions of deaths! I've failed so many times at ending my life, but maybe I was doing something wrong. You do it!"

Zonic found himself shaking his head without words.

"Please, end my life already! I'm disobedient, I'm a rebel, just like the first Chaos Born! END MY LIFE!" He hollered with glee. "GIVE ME FREEDOM!"

"..."

What in the world could the private say to something like that?

The Warden happily obliged in attempting at killing the prince off.

Attempted being the operative word.

...They tried everything.

Burning alive, decapitation, stabbing, gunned down, mutilation and dismemberment, crushing, electrocution, being hit by a No Zone police van, strangulation, lethal injections, bludgeoned to death, pushed from large heights, drowning, air pollution, gassing, and not even his own malnutrition was killing him.

He just, wouldn't die.

Zobotnik got so frustrated, he just tossed the prince back in his cell. Zonic had witnessed every single failed attempt with horror growing in his heart every single time. He had never witnessed death before, but what he saw was torture. True, utter torture, from someone who begged to die. He couldn't even get that satisfaction. But he knew why, the deities wouldn't let him die without reproducing yet. The prince was stuck in limbo, until he obeyed them. All that pain, he just endured it all because he thought he was guaranteed the freedom of death. But he couldn't have that luxury. Perhaps that was his ultimate punishment for rebelling.

In three days of straight execution attempts, Zonic visited him alone, again.

He looked so depressed, he looked so drained. He didn't want this, he didn't want to live. He didn't want to be a Chaos Born, he didn't want to hurt innocent people. He didn't want to rule over them either, just to see their Gods destroy lives how ever they saw fit at any time.

"I just, I just want people to be happy because of me. I don't want them to be forced, or mind-controlled." He muttered in the silent dark room. Zonic didn't dare interrupt him. "I want people to be happy around me because they want to. I want them to like me because I'm a good person." He confessed. "I wanna be loved, but I don't want to be loved out of fear. Even if I wasn't royal blood, they'd bow to me anyway. I don't want that!" He suddenly yelled. "I want to be a king by earning my crown! I want to earn respect, I want to earn loyalty, I want to earn love. I don't want everything handed to me, especially not at the cost of someone else's happiness. Or their life."

The private watched him as he poured his heart out.

"They would have turned me into a tyrant anyway, make me forget my personality and my morality. Turn me into a monster. That's why I killed them all, so I could save them before it was too late. So they wouldn't suffer by my hand, or theirs." Tears dripped from his dried-out burning eyes. "I would have killed myself first, but they won't let me."

Zonic felt something weird.

He felt like, he wanted to embrace him. Hold him.

He wasn't supposed to feel this way.

Before he knew it, he was doing just that. Hugging and holding Ogilvie on his mattress. Telling him that everything would be okay, that it wasn't his fault. Every murder that was committed by the prince wasn't a sadistic kill. According to every victim, it was always usually one wound that ended it. He didn't want to make any of his victims suffer, simply because he didn't want to do this in the first place. He just wanted to end their lives so they wouldn't suffer from his hand anyway. He thought that by acting so rebellious, the deities would kill him off so he couldn't repeat the process, but they wouldn't. They were just letting him suffer like this.

"Ogilvie," Zonic said softly. "Even if you succeeded, they would have just started over with another Chaos Born in another world, with another new population of people. The process would repeat no matter what, with or without you. So," He tightened his hold. "Why did you do this to yourself anyway? I know you know this already."

A sniffle from the prince. "Because," He sniffed. "At least one generation wouldn't suffer. Those people still lived, those people were still normal. They weren't spawned in for a special purpose, they were just living their lives. I knew my kingdom's people personally thanks to the Great Peace. I know all their names and all their problems, one by one. I still remember...Every single one of them..." He shook against the private, as he couldn't embrace him back thanks to the straight jacket. "It was so hard to kill them, but I had to. They were going to become my slaves, mindless slaves. I didn't want that for them, I didn't..." He sobbed harder. "I'm so selfish."

"..."

It didn't excuse what he did. He still caused genocide and the destruction of his own world. He was still a killer, he still committed atrocities. His intentions were 'good' but, he still did something horrible.

And yet, Zonic felt sympathy for him.

From that day forward, Zonic tried his best to make Ogilvie's life here just a little easier. Sadly, nothing worked. He snuck him sweets, gave him some helpful medication from counselor Zouge, gave him a chess set to play with, and even tried talking to him as a friend. Unfortunately, everything was in vain. Ogilvie was too far gone. He liked Zonic's time there, and he even managed to make him smile sometimes. But in the end, none of it mattered to him. He was still trapped by the deities, who were making him suffer for his insolence. Sometimes, Zonic would even try to slip him some poison, an attempt at his life so the prince would no longer have to suffer anymore.

Again, it did not work.

The private became desperate as time passed, even running to his superior for help. The very person whom he used to despise and envy, the very man who was responsible for training him as a just soldier, he begged him for advice. Zhadow the Hedgehog was no normal zone cop either. He was created artificially to be a useful soldier in No Zone, but when Zonic arrived here as a child, that role changed. He was then responsible for protecting him as his guardian. The old Overseers warned Zobotnik that great tragedy would befall their world if they did not keep Zonic safe, so he assigned Zhadow to keep an eye on the private for as long as he lived here in their grounds.

He always tried to be discreet, and tried his best not to form much of a relationship with him since that was not his job. Like Zonic, he was supposed to be emotionless. A soulless creature who was only supposed to carry out orders perfectly. And yet, he found himself feeling pity for the private. He was all alone, and was raised to isolation. He was raised to think that emotions were bad, and that the deities his people worshipped were never wrong. Zhadow always knew they were trouble. Zonic's life had no purpose except to watch over a race that did nothing but harm to everything they touched. That wasn't fair, he never asked for this life. So when the teenager ran up to him and asked him for assistance, he couldn't just refuse him outright. Besides, Zonic never willingly came to him for help like this, he was too stubborn. That meant this was serious.

"...You want me to what?"

"I said, I want you to help me find a way to kill Ogilvie permanently."

Zhadow narrowed his eyes at the request. "You, wish to murder him?" This was still a child he was talking to, why did he want to do such a callous thing?

Zonic shook his head. "No, I want to set him free. He's suffering in there!" He made a look of guilt. "And, it's partly my fault anyway. He's my responsibility and I need to fix what I did wrong."

"By ending his life?"

"Yes." He answered back gradually. "He doesn't want to live, and he's in constant pain thanks to the divine spirits. No one should be living like that."

Zhadow scowled. "Need I remind you that this Chaos Born of yours wreaked havoc on his entire reality? You cannot show sympathy to monsters, rookie. You're talking nothing but nonsense." He turned his back to him and started walking away back to his office. "Quit wasting your time with hopeless criminals, your training starts in an hour. We'll be hitting bullseyes again, so don't be late-"

"I'm the monster."

The blue hedgehog dropped to his knees and lowered his head towards the floor. His body quivered as tears freely dripped onto the glossy floor. Zhadow froze at the sound of his tears. Was he, was he crying? He wasn't made to do that, he shouldn't be able to do that. That sorrow...no it was more than that. That was despair, that was pure hopelessness. His voice was shattered, he sounded as if the entire world was falling down into oblivion. That the sky was breaking apart with it's pieces toppling over him.

"..." Zhadow didn't say anything yet.

Zonic sniffled as he never moved to get back up. "If I had realized how horrible of a race we were, I would...I would have never..." He covered his face with his fists. "Everything he said, he was right, and I wouldn't wake up to see the truth. Every single one of us, even the Champion himself...We're all nothing but monsters waiting to conquer the world and move onto the next. And me, I'm just helping them achieve that!" He looked up at Zhadow, his ears flattened with tears still dripping from his muzzle. "He was right, all of us should all die! We're nothing but a cancer to the universe!"

The elite whipped his head at his private. "You dare to speak more nonsense? What the hell are you even talking about?!" He yelled. "What are you, delirious or psychotic?" He said roughly. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? You're saying you'd rather die than live! How dare you so recklessly talk of suicide!?"

"Because it's better for everyone if we all just disappeared!" Zonic hollered.

Zhadow's eyes widened at that. The private slumped himself against the wall, sitting on the floor as he pathetically glared at the tiles.

"I thought us reproducing and ruling over our respective realities was just a simple way of life. I thought all the killing, the conquering, the tyranny, was okay. I mean, it was my job, our job. So, I was desensitized. I thought this was normal. And then, I looked back at my monitors and watched the realities carefully. I watched up to about, one thousand the other day." He gripped his fingers into his uniform pants. "And you know what I saw, first lieutenant Zhadow?"

The elite didn't respond, only listened.

Zonic's grimaced deepened. "I finally opened my eyes and saw ourselves for what we truly were." He whispered. "Reality number 786, the reality of switched genders. The 'Sonic' in that realm, a woman, easily took over the world with both her powers and her charm. She's still young, but it will only be a matter of time before she forces several men to give her the pregnancies she desires. All to reproduce and make more monsters." He spoke with disgust. "Reality number 2244, the reality of opposite roles. The 'Sonic' there is not the hero. He is the sidekick, while the counterpart to Miles prime is the true heroin. Little does he know, the Sonic in that world is waiting for the right chance to overthrow the fox of his reign, and take the world over for himself thanks to his intellect and chaotic power. He's willing to betray his own best friend just to get what's rightfully his." Zonic spoke through gritted teeth.

This is what they were bred to do. To conquer. To rule. To destroy and move on to the next.

"Reality number 57, the reality of knights. The Sonic in that realm is a medieval king who rules the majority of their world, with magic and powerful knights of our counterparts at his disposal. He's already become mad with power, and now he's destroying his world too. Killing the very people who bowed to his feet without hesitation." He raised his head to look at Zhadow. "Who's going to stop him? He's the king, and the single most powerful being in that reality. No one will be safe." He looked back down. "And the worst part is, it doesn't matter what gender you are. Male, female...None of that is a factor. All of us, can reproduce in some way shape or form. They will all make more..." He murmured. "More of us..."

Zhadow watched as his private weakly stood up on his own and stepped directly in front of him.

"Don't you understand?" Zonic asked. "We're a cancerous disease, a virus. Ogilvie was the only one who opened his eyes, he didn't want to hurt anyone or torture his people. If he ended the lives of the Moebians, no one would have to suffer at his hand. And that's why he wanted to die, so he could end his part in their game!"

The elite blinked. "Game?"

The private gripped his superior's forearms. "The divine ones' game, their sick game to play God with all of us!"

He looked frightened, he looked angry, and he looked as if he gave up. His private truly didn't know what to do, and the desperation in his voice was obvious. Zhadow softly placed his hands on top of Zonic's so he could let go of him. "I always knew the beings you looked up to were immoral, I just didn't realize it was this horrific. I never knew the details of what a Chaos Born's purpose was. If I knew it was this, I wouldn't have agreed to watch over you." He briefly looked down. "I've never seen you act this antsy before about anything, and you're no liar." He looked back into Zonic's eyes. "You know that they're wrong, so I suppose I don't mind staying your guardian. If you're going to do something reckless, I can't allow that to happen."

"But I have to do something, anything!" Zonic exclaimed.

"I will talk with the warden to see if something can be done with the former prince's death, but," He frowned. "What about the rest of you? Are you just going to try and kill yourself too?"

Zonic bit his lip and looked away. He was right, could he really just do that? He was made not to have fear but, Zonic did indeed fear death. Death was a concept he just couldn't understand, and no one knew what happened after death until it happened. He didn't want that. And even if he did have the balls to put a gun up to his head and blow his brains out, the deities could always just spawn up another Overseer. Sure it'd be harder to teach that one since all of Zonic's ancestors were now dead, but they would find a way. His death would mean nothing, and the same went for the rest of the other Chaos Born. The only one that couldn't be recycled was the Champion. But the others? They were disposable, they could be 'reset' at any time with a new generation who would surely act obedient the next time around.

What could he do about that?

...

That's when it hit him.

Zonic spent a lot of time watching over the future Champion, and thanks to that, he was able to grow up with a relatively good heart. He'd never know it was Zonic that kept him company throughout his entire childhood, but it didn't matter. It did the trick, and made Sonic feel happy and satisfied. His mental state was in check, and he was for the most part, normal. Zonic needed to do the same for the others who haven't fallen victim to the divine ones' ambitions. Yes, he wouldn't fail again, he'd fix his mistakes. A few bad apples wouldn't make the entire orchid rotten. All he had to do was be a real friend, not some emotionless foreman. He wouldn't let something like Ogilvie happen again, ever!

First, he'd find a way to end his suffering. Then, he could-

"My dear Grand Overseer, two thousand and twentieth generation, Zonic the Chaos Born."

A strange voice, that sounded as if it was right behind him.

Dread shot up his spine, making it tingle and tremor his entire skeletal structure. Zonic instantly began to sweat, and his own superior in front of him also began to look intimidated. Unlike Zonic, he could see who was breathing behind him. He could feel the burning raw sensation of power emanating from the person, it felt like a burning radiator. He could feel the heat waves of their chaos power. That voice, sounded similar to both his own and other Sonics from other realities. Only the difference is, it sounded as if it wasn't of this world. Like he almost couldn't understand what he was saying, only barely making out it's words. His voice was that of an archangel, a voice that could only truly be understood from angelic hymns. Speaking strange tongues.

A large shadow loomed over the private, it was devouring him. Zonic could see the reflection of the being's aura shine off the walls. It was a rainbow of colors, several at once that was slowly changing into another after a few seconds. That rainbow of colors could only mean one thing: It was him.

The light one.

He could feel his lips brush against his ear. "How disheartening. You do not approve of our methods, and now you wish to change the mentality of our other children? That is a treasonous act, Overseer."

Terror, was an understatement as of this moment.

Instantly, both Zhadow and Zonic fell to their knees, as their bodies were too weak to handle being around a God this closely. It felt like the very air was thinning, they were so terrified. And even still, Zonic wouldn't turn around to face him. He couldn't, that'd be too much.

The light one continued with a gentle tone. "Please, do not be so fearful of me. I do not wish to harm either of you. I only came to do one thing, make a...divine intervention." He chuckled at his own little joke. "I digress. Please, allow me to give you what you want." He said while placing his hand onto Zonic's shoulder. His hand, felt icy yet hot at the same time. "I understand that Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog, Sonic template 125, has seen the truth and no longer wants to be one of us. He'd rather die. I, sadly understand his plight." The being spoke rather seriously. "None of our children deserve to suffer like this, he's been through so much before he was even arrested. And you Overseer," He spoke to Zonic directly with a tender smile. "You were not meant to have emotions, and yet you've changed. You are better than any other Overseer thanks to that alone. You showed compassion and sympathy to someone who has done horrible things, as you wish to fix them so they can live a happier life."

...And then, that smile twisted.

"...That is not how reality works."

He leaned in closer to Zonic's ear, the being's leer growing with evil intentions. "All you're doing is rewarding a villain who murdered innocents, all for a 'bigger and better reason'. That sounds like the work of a blasphemous cult leader if you ask me, and you making him feel better about himself is only enabling that feeling tenfold." He suddenly said while tossing Zonic onto the floor beside Zhadow. "You think it's justified? Justified murder? Justified evil? What sacrilege is this?" He asked callously with a shrug. "So what if it was to stop us? It was still wrong. And you know what else is wrong, Overseer?" The being asked while bending down to their eye level. "You, getting in the way of my ambitions."

The being stood up and floated away from the both of them, their long spectrum-colored quills flowing in the air. Zonic began to panic, what was he going to do!? "W-Wait!" He weakly raised a hand out to him, as he could barely move from that toss. "Stop!"

"I will grant Ogilvie Maurice the mortality and eventual death he desires, but not before I get what I want."

Another demented grin.

"...More children to use for our revolution."

END - 41

A criminal should not be forgiven for what they did.

Well, for me, it depends on what they did. If they robbed someone but didn't kill or severely hurt anyone, I couldn't be too angry at them. But a murderer? An animal abuser? A rapist? A child predator? There is no forgiveness in the world. Now, I do like the idea of a vigilante. Say, a killer who only kills other killers to stop their reign of terror, I could maybe get behind that. MAYBE. (I watched Dexter, bite me.)

But as for Scourge/Ogilvie, he doesn't deserve to be forgiven. Not in my opinion. He's killed too many people. And while he tried to do this as painless as possible for a good intention, he still committed genocide. What did we talk about in the last chapter? Intentions mean jack shit. What matters is what you did. And genocide is a horrific crime. Now I'll also say this: While some criminals deserve the absolute worst torture imaginable, some criminals don't. I believe a petty thief doesn't deserve to be tortured or put on death row, but a child murderer could most definitely bite the dust. Slowly, and painfully.

As said before, I believe it all depends on what they did that validates certain punishments. The divine spirits feel the same way whenever someone disobeys them.

As for Scourge...

Well...

...Y'all may not like what happens next.