S.O.N.I.C

(Sapient Organisms Near Incredible Catastrophe)

An entire hour passed yet the remainder of the group continued to lash out into the air, all in the hopes of striking down the being that had already taken the lives of two of their teammates. Soon fatigue began to set in, and they slowly came to a stop as they noticed the absence of the punching ghost.

Shadow glanced around the room cautiously. "Is it gone? I think we scared it off."

"Showed that punk-ass ghost," Knuckles declared triumphantly. "Don't tangle with the Sonic crew, the baddest crew around."

"Hells yeah! Now let's run away!"

"Wait, what if it's not gone?" Tails stated fearfully.

"What do you mean?"

"It's invisible, right? What if it's in the room with us right now? In fact, for all we know, the ghost could've possessed someone in the group!"

That brought an awkward and bone-chilling silence to descend upon the room. Everyone exchanged glances of apprehension and suspicion, not daring to make a single move.

"That's a good point, Tails." Knuckles quickly whipped out his gun and shot Shadow full in the head, sending his body to the ground like a rag doll.

"Are you crazy?!" Tails gaped in horror at the large hole created in the fallen hedgehog's face. "What'd you do that for?!"

Knuckles grinned boldly. "It's like you said Tails, The ghost possessed one of us. Since it wouldn't tell us its plan, I knew you weren't possessed, and since I was positive I wasn't possessed, then logically it must've been Shadow."

"But it was just a guess!"

"Not really, I thought it through pretty carefully… Want me to go through it again?"

"No, I mean I was guessing!"

"Oh… Maybe you should've said that."

"I did!"

"I don't know, Tails. You sounded pretty confident to me."

"Look, let's just get out of here!" Tails ran for the exit. "Come on!"

Knuckles swiftly picked up the fox's pace and fell in right behind him.

The two dashed as fast as they could to the elevators, not giving a second thought to everything that had happened, nor bothering to look over their shoulders.

They made it into the hallway, jammed the first floor button into the wall, and flew into the lift as soon as the sliding doors opened.

When the doors closed and the elevator began its decent, the two took the time to calm their nerves.

Knuckles leaned against the back wall until his breath returned to him. "I can't believe we just left Sonic like that."

"Right, I forgot to tell you. He's dead."

Knuckles stared skeptically with a raised eyebrow. "It seems like you would've mention that earlier."

"When was I supposed to? When we were boxing the ghost, or when you were randomly killing people?"

Knuckles backed away to the opposite wall. "You seem to have a good understanding about everything that's going on..." He pulled out his gun and cocked it for use. "Tails."

Tails put his hands up pleadingly and backed away. "Listen Knuckles, you just need to calm down…" He clumsily pulled his gun out, only to have it shot right out of his hands.

"No, you listen. It's pretty convenient that a bunch of wild stuff started happening the day you showed up, and everyone seems to die when they're alone with you."

"Jet wasn't alone with me!" Tails tried to reason. "And you killed Shadow!"

"Only because you told me to."

"That was just a guess!"

Knuckles took a menacing step and aimed his gun directly at Tails's head. "Well you're not fooling me again, you crafty ghost. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on ghost."

"No!"

Tails dove to the ground just as Knuckles pulled the trigger. He threw his hands over his head to protect himself from debris, but he still waited for the second shot. When it didn't come, he gathered the courage to look up.

Knuckles had somehow been pinned on the ceiling with several sharp stakes protruding through his abdomen.

"What happened?!"

"It got me, Tails," Knuckles rasped out.

"Wow, I really have to start paying better attention."

"You want to help me down now? I think I can make it."

"I don' know, you look pretty messed up. Those spikes look like they go all the way through. You know, you're not really a doctor. I don't know if you're qualified to say who's going to make it or not."

Knuckles hacked out blood in a violent session of coughing. "You got a good point, Tails; I really should've stayed in school. I guess my mom was wrong."

"Wait, why don't I get a doctor and bring him back here?" Tails suggested. "Just hold on, we're about to make it back to the first floor."

"I… don't… think…" Knuckles groaned one last time before his head fell limply with his eyes closed.

"You know what? I think I'm just going to go." Tails readied himself to run just as the elevator reached its destination.

He was quickly halted in his steps when the elevator slid open to reveal a pale little girl in a red dress.

"… This is a bad day."

--

"This is Alpha Two; I've made it to the third floor with Alpha Three."

"Careful guys, we don't know what's up there."

The radio clicked off and the two GUN soldiers continued their mission to locate Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, who had gone missing for a week after entering this particular building.

"Hey, I found a survivor!" Alpha Three called out. Alpha Two rushed over to see Tails facing the wall in a fetal position. His fur was disheveled and his entire body shook slightly.

"Command, we've got one," Alpha Two radioed

"Where's the rest of your team?" Alpha Three asked.

Tails answered without turning around. "They're dead, they're all dead... it took their bodies."

Alpha Two turned to his teammate. "Prep him for evac, I'll keep looking," He rushed out of the room and down the hallway.

Alpha Three pulled out a medical kit and approached the young fox. "Miles Prower, can you move?"

"Yeah, but don't call me Miles." Tails slowly turned around to reveal glowing red eyes. "My name is... Tails." He said in a disturbingly deep voice.

"Hey kid, your eyes are kind of red. You want some eye drops?"

"That's okay."

"Your voice is kind of raspy too."

"I need some water."