Hi!

Apologies for the late update! I was aiming to get this out much, much sooner. Unfortunately, while on holiday last week I fell ill. Like, two days into the holiday. Fuck me, right? Whole week ruined. It also set back my writing, and I only started to feel better a few days ago. I'm a-ok now, but I just wanted to let you all know why this one hit a brief snag. Chapter Four has been started, and I'm aiming to get that out before I go back to University. If that doesn't happen, there might be a lot more of a slow down for a few months while I battle with my third year (wish me luck, I'm terrified).

Also, this is the first chapter that has taken direct inspiration from the original story. What was chapter five of the original has now been moved to chapter three (mostly due to the story change and longer chapter length). Some dialogue and descriptions from the original have been re-written and adapted to fit the newer narrative. I hope you all enjoy, and those of you who knew the old one… let me know if you like the changes. Hopefully I've improved, but I'd like to hear your thoughts!

~Fortune

Chapter Three

A pointed black ear listened absently to the muffled sounds coming from the next room over. Voices. One in the kitchen, one through a communicator. One smooth, one gruff. He couldn't make out what they were saying, and he didn't much care. Unless the world was being threatened, he couldn't care less what they were talking about. He could detect a worried tone in both voices though. That was the only reason he was even paying attention.

Shadow's red eyes narrowed, looking at the open book in front of him but taking in nothing from the page. He ran a gloved finger over the spine of the book. Rough leather with indented lettering. He traced each letter. Chaos Theory. He'd read it a thousand times. But he could not focus today; he was only seventeen pages in.

With a sigh, he closed the book, setting it aside. Shadow folded his arms over his chest and stared at the coffee table. His coffee had long since gone cold. The mug, a solid black on the outside and grey on the inside, was given to him by Rouge a few years back for Christmas. He didn't care much for the bothersome tradition. The mug was his favourite, however. It was plain, it was simple, and it did its job. Besides, all of Rouge's mugs were too flashy.

The voices in the kitchen stopped. Shadow listened to the tap of Rouge's heels on the hardwood floor as she entered the living room.

"Sonic's missing."

Shadow rose a brow and turned to face the white bat. Rouge's dark wings fluttered behind her. Shadow recognised the motion as a nervous tick. Her ears were bent slightly and she was frowning. Missing didn't exactly sound great, but this was Sonic they were talking about. Why did she care anyway?

"How long?" he asked indifferently.

"Five days," the bat replied.

Shadow huffed. Five days? Didn't that fool disappear for weeks sometimes? How did this qualify as missing? Shadow could often tell when Sonic was gone because he'd bug him less frequently. As far as he was concerned, Sonic being "missing" was a blessing. It just meant he'd have less headaches for a while.

"Five days? Seriously?" he said with an eyeroll. "And here I was thinking it was something serious."

"Shadow, this is serious," Rouge scolded, putting her hands on her hips. "Knuckles and Tails haven't been able to contact him at all."

Shadow gave her a deadpan look. "And?"

"And, they've asked us to keep an eye out."

Shadow's eyes drifted from the open kitchen door to the window beyond. Outside, the sky was cloudless and such a vibrant blue. He couldn't focus on reading, so perhaps he could get some fresh air instead. It was certainly a better idea than sitting here listening to Rouge prattle on about that blue fake.

Shadow shook his head dismissively. "That hedgehog disappears all the time. He'll come back."

He stood from the dark leather settee. The light cream rug in front of the settee was plush and he felt his shoes sink into the material. He never liked that rug.

Shadow stepped around Rouge. He started for the front door, the wood freshly painted in a light grey. Rouge stepped in his way. He glared at her but she would not be moved. Rouge knew him well. He would not hurt her, so his severe looks would not scare her.

"Apparently this is different," she said.

"Don't care."

He spun around on his heel and dashed to his room. The room was dark all over. Dark grey carpet, black painted walls, black curtains, black sheets. There was a wardrobe in the corner, despite there only being a solitary piece of clothing in there – a black jacket he never wore. There was a dark wooden bed covered over with a black quilt, a dark grey pillow at the head of the bed. A bedside table where a simple lamp with a black lampshade sat next to a softly glowing digital clock. There was also a small desk with a wooden chair, his laptop left closed on the tabletop. The curtains were drawn.

All in all, the room was perfect. Simple, dark, his.

He was already halfway out the window when he heard Rouge shout after him. He ignored her.

"Shadow!"

His chest was on fire. He had to reach the surface.

Fuck. Where was the surface?!

He couldn't see through the thick miasma around him. His eyes stung. He flailed his arms wildly, hoping to feel one break through to the air. Was there any air? Was he drifting further down? Was he pushing himself further down? Shit, what if he was?

Suddenly, Sonic could move his fingers freely with little resistance. The surface!

He began to thrash harder with renewed fervour. Eventually, his head broke the surface and he took in big gulps of air. Sonic blinked his eyes hard, trying to clear them. He shook his head, finally clearing his eyes enough.

The first thing he saw was a crimson wave lurching above him.

His mouth was still open when it hit him. And it hit him hard. The force of the wave knocked him deep and for a moment he was dazed. He felt the thick liquid enter his mouth, force its way down his throat. The metallic tang made him gag. It coated the inside of his mouth and it was all he could taste. He tried to ignore it as he focused on finding the surface again.

How had this happened? A few minutes earlier he had been back in the Voidspace. Dark hadn't said a word, and this time he had been waiting for him as he awoke. He hadn't done that before; he must have wanted to get right into it this time. It had been three days since Dark had forced his hand through Sonic's chest. Every night Sonic awoke in the Voidspace. Every night, Dark subjected him to some fight. Every night Dark made vague threats.

Sonic was sure he was trying to take control again. Though he couldn't pinpoint exactly why he couldn't just… do it. Without Hyper here to help keep Dark at bay, surely he could just take control? Unless there was something else going on here.

Dark had just stood there in the Voidspace, glaring at him. He'd smirked and suddenly the floor beneath Sonic had turned red and he was falling. Falling through the air. Then crashing down into an ocean of blood.

An ocean of fucking blood.

This was… new. And not exactly Dark's thing.

Sonic found the surface again and he coughed. He tried wiping at his eyes to clear them, but he only succeeded in smearing more blood across them. Blood splashed in his mouth and he continued to pretend it wasn't happening.

Another wave took him down before he even cleared his eyes. At least he'd had his mouth closed this time.

Why had he turned down those swimming lessons from Amy?

Oh, right.

Because he couldn't even get within five metres of a large body of water. Because his legs quaked when he had to be anywhere near the ocean. Because he couldn't even take a bath without freaking out. Because sometimes even the rain made his skin crawl. Because he hated water.

More than hated it; he was terrified of it.

And right now he was in an ocean of blood. Actual honest-to-Chaos blood.

He didn't have time for his fear to take over. He could only flail, fight for the surface in order to stay alive.

No. Not alive. In order to stay sane.

He had to remind himself that he could not die here. No matter what Dark threw at him, he could not die.

So what was Dark's goal?

To get him to give up. That had to be it. He wanted Sonic to lose himself. He wanted him to go insane, to give in, to surrender.

If Sonic did give in to Dark's twisted torture, would his super form be free? Would he target his friends? Would he really do everything he threatened he would? Would Sonic even be able to fight his way back to his own body?

He couldn't let it get that far.

As he thought this, his hand connected with something hard. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was more determined than ever to find out. He broke the surface once more and launched himself at the object. As he was blinking blood from his eyes, he grasped it and felt along the top.

It was flat and mostly smooth.

And most importantly big.

When his eyes cleared, he recognised it as a piece of wood. He let out a shaky sigh of relief.

Sonic clambered up on top of the convenient driftwood. Why it was there, he didn't know, but he also didn't care. He kneeled on its surface, swaying with the waves. The rhythmic motion combined with the thick metallic scent in the air caused him to gag. He coughed and spluttered, expelling the blood he swallowed from his body. It stained the wood below him a gruesome red.

Sonic stared at his ruined gloves for a moment, trying to collect himself. He was done heaving for now, though the light bobbing of the waves did nothing to ease his stomach and his breathing was ragged. That's when he noticed that the ocean had calmed somewhat. He stared around at the much more gentle waves in confusion.

Then the fur on the back of his neck stood up and he whipped his head round.

And predictably, there was Dark.

He was sitting in the air, legs folded, arms folded across his chest. Dark's fur was completely spotless. So he hadn't been near the blood himself. And no wonder.

His expression was unreadable.

Sonic's throat felt raw from vomiting. When he spoke, his words came out quiet and rough, fighting around gasps for air.

"This… isn't typically… your style."

Dark chuckled, coming to stand on the wood. It swayed dangerously under his weight and Sonic wobbled for a moment. Panic spiked through his chest at the thought of falling back under the waves.

"Let's say I got some inspiration from a friend," Dark said.

Sonic frowned, glancing up at Dark through his peripheral vision. His expression was still blank. Dark didn't know anyone else; he was stuck in his head. Who could Dark have-?

His eyes widened in horror. 'No…'

"B-but…" Sonic stuttered, then tried to clear his scratchy throat. "You and Fleet don't get along."

Dark smirked. "We do now."

Dark pushed the blue hedgehog's shoulder back with his foot, sending Sonic tumbling back into the ocean of blood. Sonic watched in dismay as the blurry shadow on the surface faded away. The driftwood was gone. He had to find another. Dark must have put another here somewhere. Why else would he have put one in to begin with?

The anxiety welling up inside him gave him no room to think about what he'd just learned.

Sonic started another relentless fight for air. His limbs were getting tired, making it harder to move through the thick liquid. He couldn't give up; he refused to. No matter what he had to keep fighting this.

It was honestly a miracle he kept finding the surface to begin with, considering his lack of swimming skills.

There was blood in his mouth again. He wanted to cry. Sonic was just glad he wasn't the sort of person to faint at the sight of blood. He wasn't exactly a fan of gore, but he wouldn't feel queasy if he saw it. Which, honestly, was great, because he got hurt a lot. He was no stranger to tasting blood either. A punch to the face would sometimes split his lip, or he'd end up biting the inside of his cheek or tongue by accident. Not to mention, getting thrown around a lot did nothing good for your insides. He'd coughed up blood more times than he could count.

But there was so much of it. Everywhere.

By some chance, he managed to thrash his way back to the surface again. He blinked and shook his head violently. He had to clear his vison so he had a chance to look around before a wave came to ruin everything. Thankfully, it seemed like Dark had left the sea calm for now. Sonic glanced around frantically for something, anything, that he could grab or climb on top of to stay away from the sea.

He caught sight of another piece of driftwood just before a wave dragged him back below the surface.

But all hope was not lost. He knew where it was now, and this time he had braced himself before the wave hit him. He knew where to go. The only problem now was how to get there.

Sonic waved his arms around, trying to mimic what he'd seen his friends doing in the ocean when they occasionally dragged him to the beach. He pushed down his terror and concentrated on the same repetitive movement. It wasn't perfect, but he was moving. At least, he was pretty sure he was moving. It sure felt like he was.

The wood wasn't too far. He could make it. He had to.

The longer he stayed below the surface, the tighter his chest became. That panic he was trying so hard to ignore was creeping up steadily. A little longer and he might miss his chance entirely. Damn it, where was this stupid driftwood?!

His hand hit the wood and he wasted no time in dragging his body up and onto it. He ended up on his side, coughing. Being careful not to fall off the driftwood, he rolled onto his back so that he could breathe. For a moment he just lay there, breathing deeply with his eyes closed, feeling the sway of the waves. His ears were clogged with blood, but he could still hear the crashing of the waves all around him.

Sonic became aware of light laughter near him not long after. He cracked an eye open and immediately closed it again when it started to sting. Huffing, he rolled back onto his front and pushed himself to his knees, blinking the blood out of his eyes for the hundredth time. He shook his head, clearing the blood from his ears, and realised the laughter was not light at all. It was mocking.

He opened an eye and glared up at Dark. He was sitting cross-legged in the air again. His hands were resting on his knees this time.

"You're… enjoying this… too much."

Dark quirked an eyebrow. "Is it that obvious? I should take ideas from Fleetway more often."

'Please don't,' Sonic thought, overcome with dread.

He didn't want to respond to the psychotic hedgehog next to him anymore, didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Fuck Dark and his fucked up games. He turned away from the super form, flattening his ears. He needed to find a way to wake up; surely there was a way to do that? He hadn't found a way yet, but there had to be some way, right?

It turned out ignoring Dark was the worst thing he could have done. The dark-furred super form grabbed a handful of his quills and yanked him to his feet. Sonic cried out as a sharp pain shot down his spine. He brought his hands up, weakly tugging at Dark's hands, trying to get him to let go. He tried flexing his quills, but Dark's grip was unyielding. Even when Sonic broke the skin on Dark's hands, the dark form didn't even flinch. Dark's patience was definitely starting to wear thin.

Dark growled deeply, energy flaring up around him for a moment. Sonic winced at the spiky feeling running along his skin as it made contact.

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Dark snapped.

He swung Sonic around like he was nothing but some empty bag. Dark grabbed a hold of his shoulders and before Sonic could react he was being forced under the surface of the blood sea again. But this time Dark was holding him. Terror surged through him and he began to thrash.

All logic went out the window the moment Sonic realised Dark wasn't letting go. Dark was stronger than him. No matter how hard he tried to escape that steely grasp, all he was achieving was wearing himself out. With the knowledge that he would only be let go when Dark was through with him, Sonic's resolve shattered. No matter how scared he really was, he couldn't let Dark win this. He was more petrified of the consequences of giving in than this messed up nightmare.

Only when his movements began to slow did Dark mercifully pull him back up. As he was coughing terribly, Dark growled again.

"Well?" he hissed.

Sonic spat some of the blood that had gotten in his mouth at Dark's face. The super form's quills bristled. Dark's eyes narrowed.

"Three words," Sonic growled between mouthfuls of air. "Go. Fuck. Yourself."

Something in Dark's eye flashed and Sonic was flung back below the waves.

But Sonic was prepared this time. This situation was anything but ideal, but he stayed stubborn. He couldn't let Dark win. He had to wake up.

He just had figure out how the hell to do that.

Why did it have to be an ocean? Dark knew him too well. That about freaked him out more than the ocean of blood itself. Fleetway's creative torture method was pushing it, definitely, but it would have honestly been just as bad if it had just been water. Dark must have known that. So why would he take a suggestion from Fleetway?

He shook off the thought. That was a question for later.

For now, he had a choice to make. And though he hated the thought, he made his decision.

He fought with all his might to stay under the surface, to push himself further down. He was caught between two of his greatest fears, and right now he figured he'd rather face drowning than Dark. Because at least he would be fine. Mentally… not so much, but his body, his real body, would be fine. Perhaps that was the way to wake up.

But Dark was far from pleased with his newfound interest in drowning himself. He dragged Sonic back up. The panic was overwhelming his senses at this point so Sonic lashed out in the only way that came to mind.

He bit down on Dark's arm.

He felt his canines sink in, tasted the blood that flowed from the wound. He'd never bitten anyone before. It was a low, primal move. He'd say he was ashamed, but he honestly didn't care in this moment.

Dark hissed in rage and flung him back at the driftwood. Sonic hit the wood so hard it cracked, but thankfully stayed together. He slipped halfway off though and he scrambled to stay on the wood as it swayed. When he managed to haul himself back up onto it, he could feel himself shaking. Every cell in his body was in flight mode, but he had nowhere to go. Nowhere.

A flare-up of Dark's energy engulfed his body. He felt the twisting, writhing energy wrap around his neck and clog his throat. He was suffocating. Sonic's eyes widened. He clawed at his throat frantically, only succeeding in scratching the delicate skin there. He couldn't even feel where the energy had him in its snare. But it was there alright. It was definitely there.

"D-Dark…" he coughed out, feeling his whole body tremble.

Dark had never done something like this before. Sonic hadn't even known that his super form could do this. He wasn't even anywhere near him for Chaos' sake! His energy was the thing strangling the life out of him right now.

His dark form's hand was balled up, but not all the way. Dark was shaking and his eyes were narrowed so far only a thin line of white was visible. Around him, his energy danced like it was alive. Purple-blue fire, coiling and curling and curving in a movement of no discernible pattern.

The fear was too much now. Sonic felt his quills flatten against his will. His ears were lowered and he began to whine. He tried saying Dark's name again but nothing came out. With wide, terrified eyes, he pleaded with his super form.

He received no sympathy.

"You're testing my patience, Maurice!" Dark snapped.

Sonic flinched at the name, letting out another whine. He struggled against the tendrils of energy winding around his throat uselessly. No matter what he tried, he couldn't pry free something that wasn't physically there. He let his hands fall away from his neck, digging them into the wood beneath him until his nails began to bleed.

His neck started to burn. Tears sprang to his eyes and he let them fall down his cheeks. All sense of pride was washed from him in that moment. Only the animalistic, primal terror remained.

Sonic reached his hand out towards his super form. Dark clenched his fist until his own claws were digging into the skin of his palms.

Sonic's vision went black in an instant.