(Last time on In the Dark...
Sonic, Sally, and a select few of Freedom Fighters set out on a rescue mission to save Tails and Amy, who had been captured on a spy mission. Sally and Sonic infiltrated Dr. Eggman's main base and broke into the control room. Sally controlled the base while Sonic went after his friends. Unfortunately, upon finding them, Sonic was captured and forced to watch as Eggman set his robots on his friends, commanding them to open fire. Sonic broke free, but was too late. Tails was shot and collapsed, cold and dead.
How will the grief and anger-stricken Sonic react? Will he and Amy succumb to the same fate as their beloved comrade? Keep reading to find out, or look back at Chapter 1 – Tragedy Strikes for more details.)
Uncontrollable tremors ran through my entire body, and I was chilled to the bone. My breaths shook on the way in and out. I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself, and to keep from looking at Tails's dead body.
"S-Sonic…" Amy said shakily.
"Run, Amy," I said tensely. My voice even shook.
"But—"
"I said run!" I shouted angrily, whipping around to glare at her, my eyes flashing.
"O-Okay," she squeaked. Amy stood and ran out of the room.
I closed my eyes, but it was no use calming myself; I was already overcome with grief and anger. My whole body shook.
"Well, that was unprecedented," Eggman said over the speakers.
"I'll give you five seconds to run," I said, my voice now hard and angry. Anger boiled inside me upon hearing his voice. He killed my best friend. He killed my brother. He deserves to die.
Stop it, I told myself. Get a hold of yourself. But even that was drowned out.
"Like I'm afraid of a little hedgehog," he replied, growling.
I chuckled darkly. "Wanna bet?" At that, my rage finally overcame me; my fur turned a navy blue color, almost black, and a dark aura waved around my body. My 6 meticulously-styled quills lifted and my eyes flashed completely white and faintly glowing. I left Tails's side and charged at the glass wall, my fist smashing into it and shattering the entire pane. I landed on the floor on one knee, head down, fingertips touching the floor. I lifted my head and glared at Eggman, smirking a little at the fear on his mustachioed face.
"S-Sonic, I'm sorry!" he cried, standing back. "Please, don't hurt me!"
"Not so cool now, huh Eggy?" I smirked, standing up. "Why shouldn't I hurt you? Why shouldn't I kill you? You are the greatest threat to Mobius, and you're begging for mercy? Don't make me laugh." I drew back my hand and threw a bolt of dark energy hurtling toward him. He narrowly dodged it, the energy skimming and ripping the shoulder of his red leather jacket, and it smashed into a machine behind him, sending it on a sparking frenzy before it burst into flame. I frowned.
Eggman drew back even further. "Please…have mercy on me….I didn't mean to kill your friend!"
"Yes you did," I growled. "You had every intention to kill him." I advanced, and Eggman recoiled, pressing himself against a table in the center of the room. His had groped for a weapon, something to use against me, but the only thing on the table was a few blueprints and a ray gun that was out of reach, as well as some cartridges.
My comlink buzzed, but I silenced it with the push of a button.
"You have caused me so much pain, so much trouble, for twenty years," I hissed in his face, now upon him. "You have hurt my friends, destroyed most of Mobius, and done everything to warrant an execution under the law. You have no reason for me to let you live."
"Y-yes I do!" he cried desperately. He regained his hard-boiled composure. "You will have nothing to do once you get rid of me. Who will entertain you? Who will keep you busy? I know you, rodent, and there's nothing you like more than destroying my robots."
My hand – which I noticed had rips in the glove from shards of glass – closed around his throat. "You're wrong. That is merely a pass-time. Why do you think I do it?"
Eggman groped at my hand, choking.
I flung him against one of his machines hard, his weight combined with my force making the machine partially collapse. "Peace," I said, indifferent. "I have been striving for peace for years, and you have been standing in my way!" My voice rose to a yell. "Every beautiful place on Mobius destroyed, every citizen terrorized, and to what extent? Your unrealistic goals! People have died at your hands! You enslaved most of them! I'd be happy to have you gone! I could finally relax. I'm done with you, Eggman, I've let you live for too long, and you've finally broken me. I hope you're happy." A large sphere of dark energy, sparking with black lightning, formed between my two hands. It was tinted red and purple; the most lethal blast I had. Eggman shrunk back as I pulled my hands to my chest, ready to fling it where Eggman's heart would be…if he had one.
"Sonic, don't!"
I whipped around angrily and let the energy blast fizzle out in my hands. Sally stood outside the broken glass, looking slightly worried and scared. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eggman lunge for the ray, which had fallen off the table, and I used a minor blast to shove him back. Sally stomped into the room, her light blue boots crunching the broken glass, and she grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I snatched my arm away from her and glared at her.
"What are you doing?!" I cried angrily. "I was in the middle of something!"
"Sonic, it is not your place to decide what happens to Eggman!" Sally cried. "That is the King's decision."
"Well, I don't care, he's my enemy."
While we were fighting, Eggman had grabbed the ray and a purple-tinted cartridge and inserted it into the ray. Unfortunately, I didn't notice.
While my attention was on arguing with Sally, he pointed the ray at me and held his finger over the trigger. Instinct told me there was danger, and I whirled around, hand out, releasing a small blast of energy at Eggman. At the same time, he pulled the trigger, and the blasts from both the ray and my hand passed, traveling on parallel paths, hitting their targets. Eggman and I both recoiled, but Eggman coughed, blood splattering his already red suit and hung his head. I clutched my chest where the blast had hit me, a burning sensation spreading from my middle throughout my body. But almost as soon as it started, it stopped, and my anger – and my aura – flared. I lunged at the doctor, but didn't get far – Sally held me back, but barely.
"Sonic, calm down!"
"Why should I?" I shouted. "He killed Tails! He killed my brother!"
"I think you need to go outside and get some air. I can handle things here." She shoved me toward the broken pane of glass. I glared at her and raced off, picking up Tails's body as I passed.
A half hour later, I stood among a convoy of people milling around at Freedom Fighter Headquarters. I was still Dark Sonic, and most people didn't recognize me for it. Those who did steered clear. I leaned against a wall in a corner, watching the activity around me. Eggman was loaded into a prison van. He looked over his shoulder and glared at me. I waved and smirked. Then he disappeared behind the closed doors. I also watched as Tails's body was loaded into an ambulance. The funeral would be the next day. There would be a party later on celebrating the capture of Eggman. I wasn't sure if I would go.
Amy found me outside the crowd. She seemed to sense my mood. Gee, I wonder why.
She stood near me, leaning against the wall in silence. Glancing at her, I could tell she was being shy. After a few minutes though, she spoke up.
"Are you going to the party later?" Her voice was quiet.
"You think I would go to a party after all that's happened?" I replied, keeping my voice low. "My best friend's dead." Saying it now, when adrenaline wasn't pulsing through me, was like a heavy blow to the chest. I had to pause to catch my breath and regain my cool composure. "I don't think I could handle everyone being cheery over something that resulted in the death of a Freedom Fighter."
"They're going to honor him there, you know," Amy said. "It's not all going to be happy. There'll be a toast for him. And I think for you, too."
I glanced at her, my eyes now visible as I started to calm down. She met my gaze and I looked away.
"It doesn't matter, anyway," I said. "He's gone, it's not like he's going to see it." I looked down, fending off tears. I can't cry; I'm Mobius's hero. There can be no signs of weakness in public. Someday, keeping my grief inside will suffocate me. Tails had told me that.
"I know…" she looked down. "But you should still come. He'd want you to celebrate. Besides, you're the guest of honor."
I hesitated. "Why couldn't I save him…?" I said, mostly to myself, after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know," Amy replied. "Eggman's getting good. It just wasn't the right time or place, or situation for that matter, to be in." She glanced at me. "I'm sorry, Sonic." With that, she walked away. I stood there, thinking about what Amy had said. But my thoughts drifted back to how Tails died, how indifferent Eggman had been when my friend was shot, how helpless I had been to stop it, and how pitiful Eggman's attempts had been to defend himself.
No, not completely pitiful, I thought. He shot me. But with what? What was the purpose of shooting me?
My anger spiked again, and I raced off to calm myself down and to fend off the grief that was now gnawing at my heart.
(So that's the end of Chapter 2. Any tips on what could happen next? I have a general idea, but I want to hear from you. What do you think? What should I change? Stay tuned for Chapter 3, hopefully coming tomorrow! And remember to check out my other stories if you like my writing. Now my iPod died, so I'm out of music to listen to. BYE!)
~SonicTheHedgehog-Nerd