Oh, GOODNESS, these chapters took forever to finish. This story is just getting harder and harder to write...

This is the part where we usually comment on reviews. Yeah, not today. Today mostly consists of this:

TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING

"Gee, Era and Halo, what kind of trigger warning?"

Well, for one thing, VIOLENCE. Nothing too graphic, but we show and allude to some pretty bad things. Like, really bad things.

There will be several mentions of blood and descriptions of injuries. Again, nothing too graphic (neither me nor Era are into gore), but this is not something you'll want to read on a full stomach.

So if you are not comfortable with that, then skip to the end where we have the very short summary of what went down. This chapter is definitely rated a capital 'T'. Like, PG-13 stuff. Don't read this to children. PLEASE.

Also once you start, I beg you: PLEASE DON'T STOP READING UNTIL THE END OF THE NEXT CHAPTER. NO REVIEWS UNTIL AFTER THAT.

Unless you just REALLY have to get something off your chest. In which case, feel free to PM me (Halo) to scream about it. Witnessing your pain is one of the best parts of being a writer!

Without further ado, the chapter Halo and I have been planning and cackling over since day one- aka, the one that is going to get us all killed by all y'all.

Enjoy!

Manic's POV:

Riding in the helicopter was the coolest thing about that day.

Five minutes out from our destination, I closed my eyes and tried to focus- which was even harder than usual. Even though the ride there was mostly silent, everyone's emotions were churning to the point where I could hardly hear myself think.

Sonia was flying the helicopter (for the first time in her life, I might add. Why couldn't I have gotten her abilities?), but she was watching the sunset. And let me tell ya, she wasn't admiring the beauty of it. It was more, 'The sun is setting on the day- wonder if it's setting on our lives'. Gee, thanks sis. Now is definitely the time for depressing poetry.

And Shadow- well, I'm not going to say. Let's just leave it at he wasn't much better than Sonia.

The other three were a distance away, but I had gotten a good read before we took off. Knuckles thought we were all going to die. There was no other way of saying it.

Out of everyone on this mission, Amy was the only one who wasn't allowing any negative thoughts into her head- she and Rin were instead arguing battle tactics. Deep down inside, I'm sure there were doubts, but if there were, she wasn't spending much time dwelling on them. I could respect that.

It was Tails that I was worried about; I wasn't getting any signal from him. It was like he had flipped the off switch in his head- no matter how close I got to him or how hard I focused, I wasn't getting much else besides a stray thought. This could mean one of two things. One: he was seriously depressed and his brain had completely shut down, or two: he was hiding something. Specifically from me.

I didn't like either option.

Off in the corner, Rouge was murmuring something under her breath that I couldn't quite catch. Her expression remained neutral, but her hands were shaking hard and her skin had turned an ashy gray. It didn't take a mind reader to tell that she was just as scared as I was. I'd… never seen her like this. She'd always been so calm and collected; a dangerous mission wouldn't spook her.

Unless this particular mission led to certain death.

Out of instinct- or maybe just impulse- I reached over and squeezed her hand lightly, resting my palm overtop her knuckles. Almost immediately, a tsunami of information rushed into my head, along with a rapid string of words in a language I didn't recognize. I listened curiously, but couldn't understand a word.

"Ak ma počujete, prosím odpustite mi, prosím, nie som pripravený zomrieť ... Mamička, Ocko, Je mi to veľmi ľúto, ospravedlňujem sa … Ach, to je nezmysel. Nemôžeš ma počuť. Si mŕtvy-Svätý Chaos- what is he- he's touching my hand. Sweet Chaos, he's touching my hand-"

I recoiled back, feeling my face grow hot. Geez, what was I thinking? Of course she'd be weirded out if I tried to hold her hand. Gaaah, stupid, stupid, stupid-

I almost flinched when I felt a soft hand once again grip mine; Rouge's turquoise eyes were alive with a nervous energy that I'd only ever seen in the mirror.

Rouge was smart. This wasn't her first time taking on a dangerous mission, but she knew what Dark was capable of- I knew what Dark of capable of. Even with all of us ganging up on him, we both knew we only stood a fraction of a chance- not even to win, but to survive.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought; I couldn't think about that. Not now. Besides… I was too distracted by how nice her hand felt, and how well it fit in mine.

"One minute until contact." Shadow barked over the radio. I stiffened; come on, Maniac, get psyched, get psyched...

Sonia glanced over from her seat, "What do I do with the chopper?"

Shadow held up a remote. "As soon as we jump, we detonate it. There is no time for us to land. Miles will lay cover fire on the ground to draw out Dark, then we strike as they land." Shadow stood up in his seat, coming around. "Forty-five seconds."

I raised an eyebrow, "Probably a stupid question, but how exactly are we gonna get back?"

"GUN troops will pick us up."

Okay, that isn't ominous at all. I turn around and only then realize something. "Wait, where are the parachutes?"

Rouge smirked at me, "What parachutes?"

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up-" I said, letting go of her hand. "Not sure if you've noticed, Angel, but you're the only one here who's got wings! What about the rest of us?"

"Twenty seconds."

Sonia fiddled around with the controls for a moment before climbing out of her seat. "Relax, brother dear. We'll be fine."

"Sonia, we're going to jump out of a kriffing helicopter with no chute! I mean, there's no way that any of us could survive that. ...right?"

"We have it covered."

"Um, how?"

"Ten seconds." Shadow grabbed the door handle and slid it open, letting the full sound of the propellers hit my ears and the wind snap at my face. I glanced down and saw The Tornado already diving down close to the ground, prepping for its attack. I barely made out the pink and red blobs on the wings and the yellow one in the cockpit.

Sonia grabbed my hand and gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry!" she shouted, hardly audible over the wind.

Shadow nodded to Rouge. "Go!"

The bat needed no further invitation as she dove out of the plane. I heard Shadow yell, "Stay close!" before he jumped too. I didn't even have time to protest as Sonia pushed me out and followed shortly behind.

I would like to say right here and now that, contrary to popular belief, I did not scream like a small child, no matter what Sonia may claim. I fell to my death in the calmest way possible and had complete trust that my crazy sister knew something that I didn't. That is exactly what happened. Yes.

Shut up.

As the wind whipped around me and the ground grew closer, I caught sight of Tails and his beautiful, beautiful biplane swoop down close to the ground and open fire. As Tails pulled the plane back up, Amy and Knuckles jumped off the plane's wings to the ground with such precision, they must have practiced it a thousand times.

Shadow grabbed hold of my wrist as we fell, and the next thing I saw was a flash of gold. Suddenly, I was standing on solid ground, feeling as though my stomach had turned inside out. Sonia didn't look phased at all (jerk) and Shadow was as stoic as ever. Amy and Knuckles were behind us, each standing ready to fight.

Dark was standing about twenty feet in front of us, looking very bored. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly, Shadow was nothing but a darkly-hued blur.

Something told me that Shadow had run through these tactics in his head about a hundred times before he had even got here. He zoomed forward in the blink of an eye, dodged Dark's attempts to punch him, then pinned him to the ground, pressing a full twenty-milliliter shot into the main vein on his left leg. Without even pausing to see if the shot was working, Shadow reloaded, ready to inject another shot at any second.

Unfortunately, a second was less than he had; Dark was ready this time. With a grunt, he shoved Shadow off of him and zipped off in a spin dash, grazing Shadow's shoulder against his blade-like quills. Dark ran until he was about twenty feet away before plucking the now empty syringe out of his leg. He seemed… calm. Too calm for comfort.

Dark fingered the syringe with an unsettling curiosity, a quizzical smirk appearing on his face. "Now, that wasn't very nice."

Shadow charged again, but Dark stepped out of his way, swinging around and landing a kick on the back of his head. Shadow hit the ground and Dark turned to the rest of us, calm as ever.

Knuckles and Amy let out a loud, fierce battle cry and the two charged, fists and hammer at the ready. Rouge flew to her partner, who was already on his feet and they began to tag team, taking turns striking at Dark once or twice before retreating to a safe distance. Dark dodged most of their blows, only seeming to be annoyed by the whole ordeal.

Sonia hung back, firing shots when she saw an opening. Most of them made contact, but it was impossible to tell if the entire shot had been injected before Dark ripped them out. I handed over my smaller shots to her before pulling out one of the large ones, ready to jump in when needed, using some nearby boulders as cover. Don't give me that look, these guys were a real team- they knew each other's styles so well, they could've been the mind readers. I'd just get in the way.

The Tornado's engines grew deafeningly loud again as Tails circled back around; his voice crackled in on the coms, loud and clear. "So do I lay more cover fire or break formation?."

Shadow fired one of his half-shots and managed to make full contact before pulling back to answer. "Activate autopilot and join us on the ground. The Tornado can provide extra distraction with the engine's noise."

"Roger that. Coming around now."

I peeked around the rock just in time to see Dark grab Amy by the throat and hurl her at least ten feet back. Knuckles growled and threw a right hook that landed squarely on Dark's jaw, Dark's eyes flashed for a split second before a wave of black, smoke-like energy burst from his fist, repelling everyone back. The Tornado plunged downwards from fifty feet up, the wind from its propellers knocking Dark off his feet.

Showtime. I grabbed Sonia's gun and loaded it with a vial of the cure. "Cover me."

Sonia hesitated for a second before nodding; I leaped out from behind the boulder and charged, darting around Dark and pulling the trigger before he caught sight of me. The syringe landed in Dark's upper shoulder, but ended up missing the main vein; I muttered a couple of choice words before diving behind a fallen tree trunk as Dark threw a volley of energy spears in my direction; my heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to pop out of my chest.

It was a moment before I realized that Dark's energy spears were no longer targeting me and that the sky above the forest was rapidly filling with black smoke. The Tornado, which had been circling around the clearing several hundred feet above us was spiraling downwards towards the entrance of the waterfall. The yellow dot in the cockpit of the plane climbed out of its seat and leaped off the burning wing, taking flight as the engine caught fire, exploding with a deafening bang and sending bits of shrapnel raining down over the forest.

If I had been standing up, it wouldn't have been for long, because the tremor that shook the ground at the moment of the crash was enough to bring down the tree next to me. Water and debris were scattered across the field, black smoke billowing out from the wreckage of The Tornado. I mustered up the courage to peek around the edge of the tree trunk and let out a sigh of relief; as far as I could see, there were no bodies.

I pressed my com, "Tails! Tails, you okay? Talk to me!"

There was a stretch of silence too long for my liking, then a soft crackle. "Yeah… yeah, I'm fi-" Tails' voice was cut off by a loud screeching noise that made me wince. Whatever that was, it didn't sound like just a bad signal.

I crept out from behind my hiding place and began to head towards the site of the crash, careful to keep my head down. Sonia and Amy must've had the same idea; I saw several flashes of pink fur darting between the trees.

The closer we ran to towards the remains of The Tornado, the more the greenish hue of the forest morphed into violent shades of red and yellow flames, covered in a thick mist of black smoke; the wreck must've been way worse than I'd thought. Soon, it was too hot to move any closer, but I could see the outline of a silhouette flickering in the haze. No- two outlines.

I felt my blood run cold as I watched the taller of the two march up to the smaller one and, without any hesitation grabbing him roughly by the back of his neck and lifting him high in the air. I could see the silhouettes of Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow advancing from farther away, but they were either too afraid to come any closer or the heat from The Tornado was warding them off.

I got as close as I dared to without singeing off my eyebrows, close enough to make out snippets of Dark's voice and Tails' strangled cries. It wasn't much, but even without hearing them, I could feel the wave of emotions rolling off the fox; Fear. Desperation. Hate.

"You've been a thorn in my side for too long, Miles…" Dark crooned, his tone disgustingly casual. "Not very smart for a super-genius, don't you think?"

Shadow stepped forward, his voice forceful and commanding, "Let. Him. Go."

Dark either didn't notice or didn't care; if was as if Shadow didn't even exist. "Poor little Tails… I still have Sonic's memories, you know. He was really quite attached to you. I'd hate to break apart such a beautiful friendship… you in the mood for a family reunion?"

Quick as a flash, Dark slammed Tails' head against a nearby tree, twisting his neck until I heard a loud CRACK.

I felt like time had stopped.

Almost in slow motion, Dark released Tails from his grip, letting his limp, mangled body fall in a heap to the ground beside the base of the tree. A trickle of blood from where Dark had knocked him against the tree was forming a steadily growing pool around Tails' head- and he wasn't getting up.

I was only half-aware of myself sprinting over to his body; I felt the heat begin to encase me and the rivets of sweat dripping into my eyes, but I didn't care. Everything felt like a bad dream.

"Tails!" I shouted, dropping to my knees at his side. "Tails, buddy, get up! Come on, please, get up!"

"He'll find that rather difficult, I'm afraid."

I whipped around, realizing that Dark was still there. The world suddenly snapped back into focus; he had done this. He had done this.

Dark smirked. "Aw, sad about baby Einstein? That's sweet. But don't worry- you'll be joining him real soon."

Dark lunged forward before I could even react; suddenly, his confident expression contorted into one of pain; he howled, whipping around and tearing a syringe out from the small of his back. Hardly a second later, another one was fired into his thigh, giving me just enough time to scramble to my feet and duck behind a tree before Dark could recover.

Somehow, I worked up the courage to peek behind me and made the mistake of glancing over at Tails; his fur was matted with blood and singe marks from the crash and his neck was bent at a grotesque angle; his eyes were wide open and glassy, their usual glint of intelligence replaced by an unfamiliar blankness. I tried to steady my breathing, but felt like I had been punched in the gut; Tails was… he was-

"You're dead, Dark!"

Behind me, I saw Knuckles charging forward, landing a hard blow to Dark's head. He raised to fist to hit him again, but Dark was ready for him this time; quick as a flash, he grabbed hold of Knuckles' wrist and with a sickening crack, hurled him straight into the tree next to me. Knuckles crumpled to the ground, groaning in pain.

I couldn't move; my legs turned to rubber and I dropped to my knees, trying to remember how to breath. My vision was swimming and the noise sort of faded out; all I could hear was the roaring fire and Tails' deafening silence. The sounds of the fight and the guns going off faded into the background.

It was only when Amy screamed that everything snapped back into focus. My mind returned to my body and I found my footing. I stumbled, but somehow found myself standing next to Sonia and gently took her hand in mine. She didn't seem to notice, her eyes locked on the pink hedgehog who was desperately performing CPR on Tails' limp body.

I swallowed down hard on the vomit that threatened to rise up at any second. I pulled away from Sonia, knelt down and placed my shaking hands on Amy's. Her body was racked with silent sobs and I gently removed her hands from the body.

CPR wouldn't cure a snapped neck.

I gently pulled Amy into my arms, trying not to look too long at the kid who I had grown to care for in such a short time. It was only then I heard Shadow demanding a report over the coms. My voice didn't seem to work.

It was Sonia who finally spoke, in a tone so soft I almost missed it. "He's dead."

Shadow's voice finally responded, "Amy… stay with Miles. Sonia, Manic, I need you here, now."

I ripped my eyes from the body and steered Sonia away. She blinked a few times, still in shock. "He was his brother."

I clenched my jaw, turning away. "He was our brother."

Sonia didn't respond to that.

We hurried past the smoldering skeleton of the biplane towards the lake, following the sounds of thuds and crashes. Dark was looking almost bored as he dodged Shadow and Knuckles effortlessly. My blood boiled and I drew one of my combat knives, briefly fantasizing about running him through with it. "I'm gonna-"

Sonia grabbed my arm. "That is still Maurice. Tails wouldn't want you to kill him, even now."

I flinched at the name and yanked my arm away from her, saying nothing. The rational part of my brain whispered that she was right, that we were trying to cure Maurice, not kill him… but I didn't want to listen. I didn't care what skin Dark was hiding behind, he was history.

I was hardly aware of my movements as I jumped right into the fray, knives brandished like claws. When Dark caught sight of me, he sneered, summoning a dark spear of energy in his hand, "You shouldn't be playing with such big boys, kid. Someone might get hurt."

I growled in response, stabbing upward at his neck. He parried it easily and nearly gutted me with the tip of his spear, but I jumped back just in time. I dodged the next slash, ducking behind his back and slicing the blade deeply across his shoulder. Dark roared in pain, whipping around and piercing my arm in response, blood oozing from the gash. I hardly felt the sting, slashing outward in a wide arc. When Dark jumped back, I dropped the knife into my left hand, ducked his swipe, and hurled the blade straight towards his head.

As I suspected, he dodged, letting the knife breeze right past him. He smirked, shaking his head with a chuckle. "Really, kid, if you're gonna fight me, you could at least try to make it interes-AAGH!"

Dark doubled over, grabbing hold of the full shot I had pitched straight into his stomach (now empty). He yanked it out with a growl and shattered the glass in his hand, his anger practically radiating off of him in waves.

"You mad, bro?" I smirked, relishing his look of fury. "Guess you shouldn't have been playing with the big boys."

Dark snarled and lunged, but was quickly intercepted by Shadow, who was wielding a Chaos spear in each hand. I retreated back to Sonia, slightly out of breath but feeling a lot less murder-y than I had two minutes ago. She handed me a bandage for my arm and both of her two full shots. "You're gonna want these."

I smiled, taking them gladly. "Thanks, sis."

She nodded and fired her dart gun, hitting Dark in the lower leg. He seemed to be rather preoccupied with fighting Shadow, so he either didn't notice or didn't care.

Shadow was thrown to the ground and I heard a loud snap. Mister Ultimate Life-Form grunted, then kicked Dark back, jumping to his feet. I swore the hedgehog's right arm was broken; it was hanging at his side, limp and useless, but it hardly seemed to phase him.

Dark seemed impressed. "Fascinating… you'll be much more fun to break then the freak."

At first, I thought it was the blood in my head roaring in anger. Then Knuckles came out of friggin' nowhere and tackled Dark to the ground, punching him repeatedly in the face and practically screaming with rage. A big part of me was enjoying the show- but that tiny voice of rationality was mostly concerned that Knuckles was going to accidentally cave Sonic's head in. "Yo! Knucklehead! Your friend is still in there somewhere!"

Dark caught Knuckles' fist in his and squeezed. I heard the sound of bones cracking and twisting and Knuckles screamed again, this time in pain. Dark stood up, his face bruised and bleeding, eyes flickering with anger. "Well then… I suppose we can always let you go first."

Knuckles grimaced and raised his good fist to strike another blow. I had enough time to see Dark smirk before a flare of black energy flashed across his eyes and I had enough sense to look away.

It only took a few seconds, but it seemed so much longer. Sonia screamed and ducked down behind a boulder; I followed her lead, squeezing my eyes shut just as Dark curled into a spin dash and slammed into Knuckles.

I only wish I could forget the noises. A sound like a buzzsaw and one shrill, unearthly scream, then… silence. No. Not quite silence. Birds were chirping in the distance, practically deafening beside the echoes ringing in my ears. The air filled with the sharp, coppery scent of blood and… something else... it was all I could do not to gag. I didn't want to open my eyes.

To the left of me, someone was sobbing, growing louder with every second. Somehow, the noise snapped me back into reality; Sonia. Sonia was still here.

Hesitantly, I opened my eyes and grabbed her hand, leading her away until the smell was far off in the distance. I don't think I can remember ever running faster in my life. It was only when I was sure we were clear that I dropped to the ground, cradling Sonia as she cried into my shoulder.

Amy was yelling into the com, demanding to know what happened. "Look, if someone doesn't let me know what happened in the next ten seconds, I'm coming over-"

Shadow interrupted her, "No. Stay where you are, Rose."

"Then-what-happened?"

Rouge's voice crackled onto the com, sounding shaky like she was going to cry. "Red… Dark just… he just…" Her voice trailed off before the com dissolved into white noise.

Amy didn't seem to appreciate this, only growing more confused. "Guys, what happened to Knuckles? How badly is he hurt? Look, if you can grab him, maybe I can perform some emergency field patch-"

I felt a surge of vomit begin to rise up in my throat and forced myself to swallow it back down before choking out, "Amy, stop. He is dead and you can't possibly fix him."

Sonia managed to gap out, "I… I saw… saw it… before…" She burst into tears again and, for once in my life, I didn't feel jealous about her future sight. If we survived this, I was going to have nightmares. Nightmares of my neck snapping. Nightmares of getting cut in half.

I didn't think I would have been capable of even moving after what had happened to Knuckles, but oddly enough, I felt the familiar tingling of nervous energy return to my fingertips in a matter of seconds; I couldn't do this. We couldn't do this. I wasn't gonna let it end this way.

I tapped back into the com. "Shadow, where are you? What's the situa-"

"Busy."

A gunshot rang out. Shadow must have finally decided it was time to kill off Dark. And honestly, I'm not sure I blamed him. From this distance, I could see a white, winged figure swoop down over the trees and enter the fray; I pushed Sonia back, my hands placed firmly on her shoulders, forcing her to look me in the eyes. "Sonia, we have to leave. Right now."

She blinked several times and brushed the tears from her cheeks, "Wh-what?"

"Look, sis, if we stay here, we are going to die. Forget about curing Maurice, that ain't important no more- it might not even be possible at this point," I said, my voice cracking at the realization of what I'd just admitted. I motioned to the forest, "Maybe we can hide until Dark loses interest, or at least get a head start on the road. But we can't stay."

Sonia didn't seem to hear me, staring over my shoulder towards the sounds of gunshots and punches, her eyes glazed over with a faraway look.

"Sis!" I snapped, waving my hand in front of her face. "Wake up and smell reality! We don't got time for this, let's go!"

"I…" she whispered, barely audible. "I can't."

I groaned, "Alright, I get it, your boyfriend just died. The world has shattered and your heart is broken. But Knuckles would want you to run- he'd want you to live. Come on!" I stood up and tried to pull her to her feet, but she refused to budge. Great.

"Sonia, please!" I pleaded. "Please, I can't-if Dark tried to-" I trailed off, clenching my teeth and feeling my hands curling into fists. "Geez, Sonia, for once in your life, will you just listen to me? WE ARE GOING TO DIE!"

She looked up, those big purple eyes shining with determination. "Manic, we can't leave. We can't abandon them. They… they need us."

"No, they don't!" I burst out. "Sonia, we're talking about a team of professional do-gooders led by the friggin' Ultimate Lifeform, and they've all got guns full of magic science serum. I think they can handle themselves."

"That's not the point! We can't just-" she snapped, cutting herself off suddenly and taking a breath. "We've abandoned Maurice here not once, but twice. We're not doing it again. Leaving them now- when they need us the most- that's betraying the whole team! That's betraying Maurice!"

"WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?" I shouted. "If the cure isn't working by now, then that means Maurice is gone! We're fighting a losing battle here! You're what matters now, Sonia! You and me! If we stay, we're signing our death warrants!"

"Yeah? And what about afterwards?" she demanded, her cheeks flushing red from fury. "You really think that after Dark's finished with Team Sonic, he'll just call it quits? Uh, not likely! Even if we did run now, eventually, nowhere will be safe!"

"Sonia-"

"No." Sonia said sharply, staring at me with that look on her face, the one that meant there was no changing her mind. "Look, if you want to chicken out on us, fine. Run away. No one's stopping you. But don't expect me to follow your lead."

I blanched, glaring at her in disbelief. "There is no way I'm leaving without you."

"Well, I'm not leaving."

I felt my jaw tighten; I wanted to scream, to make her come with me, to get away from the sound of firing guns, why did it have to be so loud, why couldn't she just listen to me… I fell to my knees and covered my ears, desperately trying to blot out the sounds of gunshots and screams. We were dead, we were dead, if we didn't leave now, we'd die, she'd die… I swallowed back the tears threatening to escape my throat, hardly able to hear my croaky, pleading voice above the din. "Sis, I… I-I can't lose you too. Please."

Sonia stiffened for a moment before kneeling down next to me, taking my hand in hers. "Manic, I…" she said, refusing to look me in the eye. "You know I'd never be able to live with myself if I… I just can't. They're not just our teammates anymore, they're our friends- my friends. And like I said, Dark's not just going to stop. If we can help take him down, get him back to normal, then… well… some things are worth dying for."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out; I felt like someone had taken a hammer and knocked a hole right through me. But before I had time to process it any longer, someone behind us screamed. Any color left in Sonia's face immediately drained and my hand instinctively dropped to my other knife. We exchanged a glance before stealing a glance over the boulder.

And to think I assumed the situation couldn't get any worse.

Dark was standing over Shadow, who was lying on his stomach and struggling to move, lying in a pool of dark green blood that was only growing bigger. It was impossible to count the number of gunshot wounds, bruises, and cuts from energy spears that freckled his body like polka dots. Both arms were bent at sickening angles- obviously broken- and I think it was safe to assume that most of his ribs weren't much better. And based on my readings, even the Ultimate Lifeform was feeling the pain, no matter how stoic he tried to look.

Rouge was lying a short distance away, one of her wings hanging from an unnatural angle. Her forehead was bleeding heavily and she was panting hard, wincing at every movement; she tried to stagger forward, but could hardly take a step without needing to hold onto a tree for balance.

Dark definitely hadn't gone unscathed; across his left arm, all the fur had been singed off, revealing a deep, oozing cut that must've been from one of Shadow's energy spears; his back quills were ruffled and dripping with dark red blood that I had felt wasn't his; I counted at least four gunshot wounds, and despite the fact that he was walking with a limp now, he was on his feet, tapping his chin in amusement.

"Haven't we done this already?" he mused, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "We fight, I kill you? And yet you're still here!" His smile slid off his face to a calm, icy expression. "Let's see for how much longer."

"NO!"

Somehow, Rouge found the strength to leap forward and slam her elbow into Dark's forehead, knocking him off balance. Quick as a flash, she stabbed her last shot into Dark's thigh before he flung her off, sending her flying backward; before she even hit the ground, Dark picked up one of Shadow's guns, aimed and fired. The force sent the bullet barreling straight through her, pushing her back just an inch more before she hit the ground like a stone.

So this was what it felt like to be paralyzed.

I almost jumped out of my skin at the touch of Sonia's hand on my shoulder; only then did I realize that I'd been clenching my teeth so hard I was going cross-eyed.

For once, Sonia's expression was completely unreadable. She didn't look sad, or angry, or… anything. Detached. I wasn't picking up any signals from her, and I wasn't sure if that was because of her dislike of Rouge or the shock of watching her… watching Dark… he just… Rouge was gone. Dark took her away. Just like he took Knuckles… and Tails.

I could feel hot, sharp tears stinging the corners of my eyes but didn't have the energy to wipe them away. Every self-preserving instinct I had told me to run, to get out of there as quickly as possible and never look back, never come back, but my legs wouldn't listen to me. Sonia must've caught onto this somehow because her grip on my shoulder tightened; a wave of information flooded my senses, and I was able to pick up on just one emotion from her: crushing, petrifying fear.

At least we had one thing in common.

Shadow growled and rose up, slamming three half shots into Dark's leg point blank, only to receive a swift kick in the head that knocked him right back into the dirt. Dark sneered, tossing the gun from one hand to the other.

"What to do, what to do…" he crooned, examining the weapon with an unnerving level of interest. "I suppose I've played with my food long enough. Time to eat... Shame you won't be joining me, 'Ultimate Lifeform'," he added casually, turning the gun in his hands and pointing it directly at Shadow's head. "We could've been unstoppable."

Almost without thinking, I yanked Sonia back down behind the rock just as the deafening sound of the gunshot rang through the forest, echoing in my ears and making me see double. Out of instinct, I pulled her into a tight hug, hiding my tear-streaked face in her arms. A moment passed before she hugged me back, shaking so hard I thought she was going to topple over.

Dark was whistling some creepy tune, breaking the silence I hadn't been aware of a second ago. Sonia stiffened; Dark's whistling was getting louder… closer.

"All out of playmates…" he drolled between whistles, sounding bored. "Doesn't anyone want to play with me?"

Holy Chaos… holy frikkin' Chaos…

"Oh, I get it!" he laughed, sending an almost electric shiver down my spine. "You wanna play hide and seek! Well, ready or not… here I come."

We had to move, now, but why wouldn't my body listen to my brain? Why wouldn't my hands stop shaking? I didn't want to let go of Sonia. I might have been wrong about the others being able to hold their own against Dark, but at least I was right about one thing: she was all I had left. She was all that mattered now.

I pulled away, holding my switchblade at the ready. I took a deep, shuddery breath; alright man, keep it together. Get psyched, get psyched... "Okay, here's the plan: you start running now and find Amy. I'll jump out now to buy you a few minutes. Once the poison starts working-"

"Excuse me?"

"-once the poison starts working, I should be able to get away without dying too badly. We'll rendezvous by The Tornado once this all blows over."

"That's a load of bull, and you know it, Manic Hedgehog," she seethed. "If you think for one second that I'm just gonna play damsel in distress and leave you to die-"

"DANG IT, Sonia, there's a bigger picture here! I'm expendable!" I hissed, clenching the handle of my knife in one hand and my shot of poison in the other. "The cure isn't working and Dark is going to kill us! Maybe if I coat my blade with poison or something I can make it-"

"You are not killing Maurice, and you are not doing this alone!" she said stubbornly. "We can still save him, Manic! Have a little faith!"

I grabbed her by the shoulders and forced eye contact, "Sonia, he's already dead. Dark has consumed him. I'm sorry."

Sonia blinked, pursing her lips. "I refuse to believe that," she said, hefting her gun and loading it with her last shots of the cure.

My sister was too stubborn for her own good. I opened my mouth to say as much, but-

"Found you."

I whipped around in horror, only come face-to-face with Dark, who was crouching atop the boulder with a smug smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Looks like you're it, little siblings," he said, twirling Shadow's gun across his fingertips. "Better hide."

Sonia pushed me to the ground as Dark fired his gun, the bullets whistling past her head as she dodged. I scrambled to my feet and ducked behind the other side of the boulder, trying to climb up to the other side and get the jump on him, only to be met by a left hook to the jaw that sent me sprawling.

Luckily, this distracted him enough to work as the perfect opportunity for Sonia to strike from behind, firing a shot straight into the back of his neck. Dark snarled and tried to smack the gun out of her hands, but all it took was for Sonia to jump to the side and deliver a well-placed kick to the knees for him to be caught off balance.

Don't get me wrong, I knew Sonia was fast. I just didn't know she was this fast. Not like Sonic was, obviously, but she was hardly more than a pink blur as she and Dark duked it out on top of the boulder. For a few minutes, it was nearly impossible to keep up with the constant movement between them; eventually, though, it began to wind down somewhat. Dark seemed almost winded; his limp was becoming more pronounced now and his lip was cut and bleeding, but Sonia wasn't doing much better- she was heaving after having the wind knocked out of her, and looked absolutely exhausted. Endurance had never been her strong suit.

Showtime.

I grabbed my knife and hurled it forward, grinning as the blade stuck in the back of his thigh and he howled in rage. I lunged forward and tore it back out, wiping off the blood on my jeans (hey, they were pretty much ruined already).

Dark scowled at me, his eyes smoldering. He leaped off the boulder and would've kicked me in the head if Sonia hadn't fired another shot and knocked him off course. He recovered quickly, only giving me seconds to find a weak spot to stab at. Every signal I was picking up radiated pure fury, but with enough careful control that I knew I wouldn't be able to exploit it.

I slashed and dodged as Dark went to town on me, striking any vulnerable spot he could find. Spurts of blood spattered across the grass whenever I got a decent stab at him or he reopened a wound that had almost scabbed over; his limp (among other things) was definitely slowing him down, but I could feel myself tiring out. Everything, and I mean everything hurt. My head was throbbing and my vision was going spotty; I felt like my lungs were on fire. Luckily, Sonia was busy distracting him with her volley of half-shots. Until the shots stopped coming.

All it took was one glance to know that she'd run out.

Sonia vaulted over the boulder and landed a hard roundhouse kick to the side of his head, finishing up with a flurry of jabs to his gut before backing out. I dunno if she did it on purpose, but her thoughts were crystal clear; I could sense when she was going to jump in and out when I was supposed to fill in the gaps where she wasn't in the thick of the action.

I couldn't tell you how long we held on. Might've been a few minutes, might've been an hour. All I knew was I was panting, sweat pouring down my back, and bleeding out from places I knew I shouldn't be. Sonia didn't look much better, her breathing even more ragged and the blood streaming into her eyes from a nasty gash on her forehead.

At least Dark didn't look much better; his body was practically covered in deep, oozing scratches and cuts, and I didn't even bother to count the number of bullet wounds he had. His breath was short and raspy and he was slowing down, trembling unsteadily and glaring daggers.

Sonia jumped back to my side and for the briefest moment, we shared a glance; it was now or never.

Sonia zoomed forward and grabbed Dark by the arm, turning him over in a judo flip and narrowly avoiding being sliced to ribbons by the black Chaos spears materializing in his hands. The edge of one of the spears grazed her shoulder as she ducked into a roll, shooting Dark repeatedly with stun blasts. He shuddered under each impact and summoned another handful of Chaos spears, but had no chance to throw them once I had elbowed him in the small of his back, knocking the wind out of him. Dark fell forward onto his knees and I grinned; I couldn't ever remember being happier to kick someone while they were down. Sonia kept firing off stun blasts, and with one well-placed stomp to the side of his head, Dark fell limp.

It was like time had frozen in place. Sonia stood up, wheezing for breath, but with her gun fully loaded and ready to fire into his skull. I held my knife at the ready, my knuckles white from how tightly I was gripping the handle. One move, just one move, and Dark was history...

"Is… is he dead?" my sister asked, her voice shaking.

I frowned and tentatively reached out to check for a pulse. "...No. But I think he's unconscious."

Sonia lowered her gun, eyes widening and her jaw going slack. "Manic… do you see-?"

"I see it." My eyes were processing information faster than my brain could manage it. I hadn't been able to notice before, but now that he was still the progress was clear. All the entry points of the shots, every last one of them, were visibly lighter than the rest of his body. His black-blue quills were lightening into a brilliant blue and the sick gray tone of his skin was draining off into a brighter peach color. The progress was slow, but it was real.

Sonia glanced back at me, "Is… is Maurice…?"

"Not sure." I pulled out my last shot of the cure and carefully approached Dark; he still seemed down for the count, but I didn't want to take any chances. "How's your spidey-sense?"

"It's not-! Oh, nevermind," she grumbled, closing her eyes in concentration. "I'm not getting anything- I think the coast is clear."

I knelt down at Dark's side and very carefully poked him in the ribs. Nothing. Good.

I grabbed Dark's arm and moved to inject my last shot into the main vein. My fingers brushed over a lighter part of his arm and I stiffened; something was there. I could feel it.

My first instinct was to panic. I remembered what Tails had told me, that Dark had infested himself in my immune system and there was no way to truly be rid of him; could Dark be trying to re-infect me? Was that even possible? Oh Chaos… if he took control again… not again…

I shook the thought out of my mind; no. That wasn't going to happen. I'd rather shoot myself than let that happen.

I took a deep breath and pressed my fingers against a lighter patch of skin, focusing hard on the jolt rushing through my nervous system. Whatever I was feeling, it wasn't Dark- that much I was sure of. Dark was cold. He was the little voice in the back of your head that told you you were worthless and pathetic, that convinced you that you were waste of oxygen and could never amount to anything without him. Everything about Dark was hateful and repulsive, yet he still sucked you in like a black hole.

This was completely different. It was a soft, faint feeling, wisping in and out of consciousness. I couldn't pick up on any solid thoughts or emotions, but it was… warm. Not like Dark. The logical part of my brain insisted that whatever I was sensing was completely foreign, but something about it felt oddly familiar-

Sonia suddenly raised her gun, "Manic, heads up!"

I felt the impact before I could fully realize what was happening; Dark's fist slammed into the side of my forehead, sending me reeling backwards. Before I even had time to react, he had roughly grabbed me by the shirt collar and hurled me back at least eight feet. I tumbled to the ground with a thud, rolling until I collided with a tree trunk. If I didn't already have a concussion, I definitely had one now; even though I knew I was lying still, the world was spinning; everything had blurred out of focus and sounded so far away... muffled gunshots and Sonia's shouts of desperation started to register, but my body didn't want to move. Was she saying something? I think she was saying something, but none of her words were processing right… it just sounded like empty noise.

I watched her mouth moving as she continued to fire blast after blast at Dark, but it was a few seconds before her shrieks reached my ears. "MANIC! ANSWER ME!" she demanded, her voice cracking slightly. Okay… things were sounding normal-ish again… crap, where had Dark hit me that made things this bad?

I tried to pick myself up, but the dizziness was so intense I had to hold onto the tree trunk to keep from falling face-first into the ground. I wanted to close my eyes and just drift off- sleep sounded so good right now…

"MAN-GGH!"

I guess it was kind of ironic that the thing that got me moving wasn't Sonia's screams. It was the sudden silence. The clatter of her gun dropping to the ground echoed in my skull and my eyes snapped open; what happened? What had I missed?

Dark was standing up again, his expression so eerily calm I almost started to hyperventilate. He was standing by the rocks that we had been using as cover earlier, pressing Sonia against the craggy stone, his fist locked around her windpipe in a death grip.

I tried to run forward, but without the support of the tree trunk, I fell to my knees in a second. Everything was spinning- Dark had Sonia-had to stop him-why couldn't it stop spinning-

Sonia clawed at Dark's grip, gasping for breath, eyes bulging. He smirked and squeezed harder; her face was losing color and her attempts to break free were growing weaker.

I crawled forward on my stomach, clutching the grass like it was an anchor. "Leave… leave her alone!" I slurred out, beginning to panic.

Dark turned to me and smiled, his eyes cold and piercing. "Y'know, I had great plans for you, Manic," he said casually, chuckling as Sonia weakly tried to pry his fingers away. "And for her. But you let me down. So in a way, this is all your fault."

I managed to get to my feet without losing my balance and limped forward, "LET HER GO!"

Sonia's eyes were locked on me as her face began to turn blue. I didn't need to read her mind to know that she was terrified.

"DARK, PLEASE!" I shouted, my voice cracking in desperation. "You can do whatever you want to me, break me, possess me, kill me if you want! I DON'T CARE! Just, please… don't…" Not Sonia. Not Sonia, not Sonia, not Sonia...

Dark just smiled.

Then I heard the snap.

Almost in slow motion, Dark dropped her lifeless body to the ground and turned away without so much as a second glance. Her neck was bent at an unnatural angle and red with the marks of where his fingers had been; her violet eyes were glazed over and her mouth lay open, like she had been trying to say something before he… before he… he…

I hunched over into a ball, clutching my head between my knees; I knew I was wailing, but the sound seemed miles away and no tears had fallen. Why wasn't I crying? Sonia was… she… Sonia...

I felt a prodding at my side and jerked my head up; Dark was crouching down in front of me, grinning in satisfaction.

"So this is all it took to break you? Is that how weak you are?" he asked curiously, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "Fascinating. Perhaps then our separation was a blessing in disguise."

I was quivering, digging my fingernails into my skin; Dark sneered.

"Face it, Matthews- you never stood a chance. I know you- I've been you. I gave you every opportunity to become something more than a walking disappointment, and still you rejected me." He shook his head slowly, clucking his tongue. "Dear, dear… and after all I've done for you. I go and try and help a poor, good-for-nothing street thief make something of himself, and all he can do is snivel in the dirt. What would your sister say about you now?"

...my sister?

I glanced upwards at Dark, my mouth too dry to form words. A glimmer of sadistic glee danced in his cold, dark eyes as he reached over to pick up the fallen pistol, tossing it from hand to hand as if he were still deciding what to do with it. The part of me that could still function enough to think properly knew exactly what he could do with that gun.

My sister's gun.

My best friend's gun.

A thought formed in my mind; it wasn't a very smart one. But it was the only one I had left.

Quick as a flash, I whipped out my knife and slashed the blade outward in a wide arc; Dark dodged it easily like he'd been expecting it all along.

"Oh, Matthews…" he said in amusement, shaking his head. "Your kind are all alike. So predictable it's almost funny," He took a step forward, his finger resting on the trigger. "Really though, I assumed you had enough common sense to quit by now. I do expect a certain level of intelligence from my opponents, after al-AAGGH!"

I had tossed my knife to the side and lunged forward, grabbing his legs and tackling him to the ground. From my jacket pocket, I pulled out my final dose of the cure and plunged it into his thigh only seconds before Dark's kick to my gut launched me back at least three feet.

Despite the raging pain in my chest and head, I cracked a smile. "...y'know what the first rule of thieving is, Dark?" I wheezed, clutching my side and still struggling to maintain my balance. "Misdirection."

Dark yanked the now-empty syringe out of his leg and cast it aside, tightening his grasp on Sonia's gun. He stood up and dusted himself off, stomping on the glass syringe and shattering it beneath his heel.

"Clever," he sneered. "Always the joker, aren't you, Matthews? Pity that no one's laughing. Here," he smirked, aiming the gun at my chest. "Let's change the punchline."

I saw the flash of the shot; the bullet pierced through my flesh in a fraction of a second, its force rippling through me like a bolt of lightning. I wanted to scream, but no sound left my throat; I was hardly aware of the fact that I had collapsed from the force- the pain was so intense that everything else seemed to numb in comparison.

My vision was dotted with multicolored spots that were gradually growing bigger and darker, and while my lungs were screaming for air, it was all I could do to suck in just one shallow breath. I gagged as the sharp, metallic taste of blood rose up in my throat; it hurt to move. It hurt to breathe.

Dark stood over me, gun smoking. He was saying something, I think, but it was like someone had pressed the mute button on the whole world. My brain seemed to have given up on processing much of anything.

He was… was he laughing? Of course, he was, that chaos-cursed piece of-

A pink and red blur flew past my eyes and knocked him back, shouting something I couldn't hear.

...Amy.

Amy was still alive.

Almost forgot about her. And her crazy hammer of pain. Have fun with that, Dark.

I felt a grin tug at the corners of my mouth as the edges of my vision fuzzed away into darkness. Out of habit, or maybe just instinct, I began to whisper, so quiet that only the back of my mind could hear.

"The time has come, dear listeners, for our hero's adventures to come to an end..."

Amy's battle with Dark was getting harder and harder to follow. Why were my eyes so heavy...?

"The enemy has defeated him, but... at least he's gone down fighting."

The thought of Rouge and Tails and the rest of the team popped into my mind… maybe if I closed my eyes, I'd see them again...

"He never did save the world or do anything worth remembering. No one on Mobius was going to tell his story and he would fade, forgotten by time."

"But that's okay."

I'd see Mom and Dad again… and Sonia...

… I'd see Sonia...

"He doesn't need to be the hero anymore."

With the remaining bit of energy I had left, I cracked one last smile, shutting my eyes in relief. If this was dying… maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

...

...What are you still doing here?

Go home.

Show's over.

So here's the gist of what happened for all you squeamish folk out there:

-Dark kills Tails

-Dark kills Knuckles

-Dark kills Rouge and Shadow

-Dark kills Sonia and leaves Manic dying.

So… Amy! You're up!

READ THE NEXT CHAPTER, DON'T KILL US YET. I CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH HATE.