Chapter 16: Crossing That Thin Line, One Bite At a Time.
Sally had sat through about 30 minutes worth of Sonic's explanations regarding why his fur had darkened, and to say she was horrified was a MONUMENTAL understatement.
Sally: YOU TWO GOT CURSED FOR LOVING EACH OTHER?!
Sonic: It's more my fault than anyone else's, but yeah.
Sally: Sonic, you were only trying to keep everyone safe!
Sonic: "One often meets their destiny on the road to avoid it."
Sally: … What?
Sonic: Taking steps to prevent a specific future will usually lead to the exact future you're trying to prevent. In my case, I was trying my damndest to stop me and Amy from being cursed, and in the end, both of us were.
Sally: Is there a way to fix it?
Sonic: Not that we know of, but we'll keep looking. Nice thing is Amy hasn't had many visions lately, save for when she uses her old Tarot Cards.
Sally: She still has those things? That's… Okay, that's actually cool.
Sonic: I know, right?
Sally: Wait, what?
Sonic: Let's just say that getting to know Amy was one of the best choices I made. I thought she was just some stalker fan girl, turns out she's VERY sweet, supportive, and knows how to make some damn good chili dogs when given the right stuff. That, and she's a badass.
Sally just smiles, then laughs.
Sally: I told you not to judge a book by their cover.
Sonic: Yeah, well, you were right. Just wish I could have told you sooner.
Sally: Yeah… On that note…
Ohhh boy. Sonic wasn't looking forward to this…
Sally: Sonic… You and I both said a lot of things back then. We both lost our cool, and both of us were…
Sonic: Selfish?
Sally: Yeah. But we were young, we were stupid, and in my case, I didn't want to lose you again. Both of us were right and wrong then. And… I spent the last decade wishing I could tell you this. I'm really, REALLY, sorry, Sonic.
Sonic was relieved and shocked. He was expecting her to say she was right the whole time, but he'll take this. He smiles at Sally.
Sonic: Apology accepted. Friends?
Sally smiles back.
Sally: Friends.
The two hug gently, then Sonic clears his throat.
Sonic: A-anyways. Um… Me and the others are here for the next couple days right? If so, we got time to catch up, and I have a LOT to tell you.
Sally: Seeing as today is a good day for me to get away from my duties as Queen, now is an excellent time to tell me.
Sonic smiles. His stomach then growls. Loudly.
Sonic: Ah crap…
Sally: Yeah, maybe some lunch might be good. Did you eat anything before you left to come here?
Sonic: Yeah, Amy made us some breakfast burritos, but you know how my metabolism is.
Sally: … I'm sorry, did you just say something SMART?
Sonic: Hey, just because I don't think often doesn't mean I'm a complete moron. Plus with Amy, she's been keeping me busy in my downtime reading and stuff. Tails helps with math.
Sally was stunned at that.
Sally: … Holy shit, you HAVE changed.
Sonic chuckles.
Sonic: In small ways, yeah. Character development. Ain't it great?
Sally punches him jokingly.
Sally: Way to break the 4th wall, Sonic.
Sonic bursts out laughing.
Sonic: Wasn't even trying to.
Sonic sighs as he walks with Sally. While they talked and caught up with one another, Amy, Tails and Knuckles were out in the castle gardens, seeing the sights. They all were still a bit down after Charles's death.
Amy: Charles had a good life. We should remember how he lived.
Tails: Yeah… Sonic would say he wouldn't want us to be down in the dumps.
Knuckles: He'd be right. I think I see why we brought formal wear now.
Amy: Yeah… I wonder how Sonic is doing. He took that hard.
Amy looks up and sighs, then sits on a nearby bench. Today was one of the most eventful ones by far. First she gets called in for a half shift at the Chao Market, then she meets a Haldarian, now Charles's death.
Amy: … Can this day get any weirder?
As if on cue, an alarm system went off. Knuckles and Tails turn their heads in the direction of where the alarm was coming from. Amy, however, turned her attention to beyond it. To what was approaching.
Having been with Sonic for a good while now, she could tune out other noises and focus on a specific one.
What she found was deafening silence, the sure fire sign that something was fast approaching.
Amy: … Oh no…
Tails: Amy?
Amy: It's Scourge!!
Just then, something crashes into the outer walls, breaks them down, and then comes to a sudden stop just inside the gardens of the castle. Sure enough, it was Scourge, coated in green lightning. Upon seeing Amy, he grins, showing his razor sharp teeth.
Scourge: Hey pinkie. That body fat or something else?
Amy: None of your damn business!!
Scourge was about to say something but Knuckles came in, throwing punch after punch at high speed, which Scourge managed to dodge before getting hit by a taser from Tails! Knuckles lands a good hit on the green hedgehog, sending him into the wall. Once he got up, he growled.
Scourge: Knuckles and Tails… What, did Sonic not wanna get a better fanclub or some shit?
Tails: We aren't fans, you smelly bastard!
Scourge was shocked at that.
Scourge: Aren't you a little–
Tails: Oh spare me, I'm an adult now, I can swear like a sailor if I fucking want to.
Scourge: WOW. I kinda miss the little wimp you used to be.
Tails just smirks, then hits Scourge with a second taser shot by surprise, allowing Knuckles to grab him and throw him at Tails. The fox then smacked Scourge with his twin tails so hard, he got sent skyward before crashing next to Amy, who had her Piko Piko Hammer out.
Before Scourge could utter a word, he got bashed upside the head and sent straight into the castle. He breaks out of the rubble, head bleeding a bit but he pops his neck loudly…
Scourge: Well then… Guess time changed you gagglefucks too.
Knuckles: We don't need Sonic to beat your sorry, smelly ass, Scourge.
Scourge just grins, his body coated in green lightning again.
Scourge: But you need him to keep up with me!
Scourge laughed and took off, Knuckles gave chase. Tails took Amy's hand.
Tails: Safety, NOW. You can't put too much stress on yourself.
Amy: No need to tell me twice!
While Scourge ran through the castle halls, Knuckles was trying his damndest to keep up, going as fast as he could, but Scourge was steadily getting ahead. Until Sonic came in and kicked him in the jaw. Scourge skids to a stop, holding his jaw, then he glares at Sonic.
Sonic: You REALLY couldn't have picked a worse time…
Scourge: What, someone died?
Sonic: YES! Uncle Chuck did!
Scourge: Meh. He was just wasting oxygen if you ask me. About time he kicked the bucket.
Sonic's eyes instantly went from cool and collected to hostile and VERY irrational in seconds. Something even Scourge noticed right away, but didn't care.
He had no idea just how much shit he had dug himself into.
Sonic: … What did you say?
Scourge: You fucken heard me, the old geezer had to go! So how did he die?
Sonic didn't waste another minute as he had tackled Scourge, pinning him to the ground, shocking him. What was a bigger shock was the fact that, one, Sojic's fur had visibly darkened, two, his eyes were GLOWING, and three, Sonic had wrapped his hands around Scourge's neck to suffocate him!!
Sonic: SAY THAT AGAIN, I DARE YOU!!!!!
Scourge was shocked beyond words. He had seen Sonic lose his temper before.
But this? This was something else. This was IRRATIONAL RAGE. Scourge had never seen this before, and at first he had no idea how to respond as his lungs screamed for air that was being cut off.
Knuckles arrived shortly after, and managed to pull Sonic off of Scourge, before the green hedgehog's vision went fully dark. He coughed and wheezed, and while Knuckles was busy trying to calm Sonic down, Scourge's ears perked up.
He could hear the sounds of an infant crying… He smiled just as his stomach growled. Before Sonic and Knuckles had time to react, he had already zipped off.
Sonic and Knuckles were stopped midway through their pursuit when they heard the unhinged laughter of Scourge echo through the halls, followed by the sounds of flesh being torn, as well as bones being crunched, followed by a scream of terror from Sally. Then Scourge came zipping past them, laughing all the while.
Sonic and Knuckles then rushed to where Sally was, finding her in Francis's room.
Sonic was wide eyed in horror as he stared at Sally, who was kneeling in a pool of blood…
And in her hands, her blood stained hands, was the headless body of Francis.
Scourge ATE the head of a two year old baby.
This was the moment where Sonic knew above all one thing: Scourge was going to die by his hand the next time he saw him.
Once more, Sonic's fur had darkened.
/… Yeah, not proud of this one. Definitely went off the deep end here…