Day Three, Prompt: Solitary Confinement/Make It Stop
Sonic promised himself he wouldn't break. He wouldn't give Eggman or Infinite that satisfaction of seeing him break. However, a will as strong as his is bound to fold. Six months of endless torture could do just that.
He wasn't sure how he ended up here yet here he was. On the very bed, he thought he would never get to sleep on again. It felt uncomfortable.
Sonic found himself in his bedroom. His memory was a blur, everything was a blur. He wants to think he knows how he ended up here but he doesn't. Maybe it's because he really isn't. Maybe another one of Infinite's illusions but the covers beneath him and the cold setting in the room felt very real. It frustrated him.
He's thinking. That's all he's been doing. Just thinking. Being left to his thoughts at this point which might not seem a great idea. He might do something impulsive. How stupid of anyone to think he'd be okay being left with his own thoughts.
Sonic's too deep in his thoughts for the door of his bedroom to open to go unnoticed. A light disturbance in his pelt makes him almost punch the person next to him but his hand is caught before doing so.
A voice penetrates through the midst of his unease, "Relax, it's okay. It's just me."
Green eyes meet Red ones. He wants to panic because it's Shadow, the one who kept him pinned on the floor in that cell all the while Infinite did whatever he chose to him. The one who kept his head beneath a tub of water and wouldn't let him rise for air nearly drowning but pulled from the tub at the last second before his vision blackened. The one who only brought hell back during his time at the Death Egg.
He knew in his heart that Shadow was in fact not his Shadow but that didn't change the fact that Infinite's version stood, talked, acted, and fought just like the real one. He might as well have been a duplicate.
Shadow's hand lifted off his shoulder and Sonic's quick to retract his hand from Shadow's grasp. Ebony notices the gradual rise of quick breathing from Sonic and he tries to put a hand on his chest which turns out to be a mistake because Sonic's hand grasps around his wrist in a desperate attempt to prevent any kind of contact between them.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I won't touch you. Just breathe nice and slow alright? Like this."
Shadow tries to demonstrate however Sonic's grip on his wrist is firm and he's squeezing his wrist to the point where it's starting to hurt, "You can let go, I'm not going to hurt you."
Hurt, was Shadow sure about that?
Sonic doesn't want to let go but he does. He's scared, so scared that this is all an awful dream. His mind playing games, Infinite playing games with him. His hands fall to his lap, fingers interlacing with each other as a way to show he'd behave himself. Shadow was dreadfully close to him. He's nearly sitting on the bed himself but he doesn't. He thanks Gaia for the amount of space between them.
The door opens once again and it's Rouge who walks through. She briefly stands there, eyeing him. She notices his discomfort so she simply walks in and closes the door behind her, locking it. The click in itself is what makes him feel like the walls are closing in on him. He wants to run.
"Hey Blue, are you feeling any better? You were out of it for quite a while there darling."
The sweet sound of her voice makes him almost lose it right then and there, eyes watering at the seams. Rouge was always a friend he could confide his struggles and challenges so as not to worry about any judgment. She understood. Oh Chaos, how he missed her. This was only if this was in truth, his Rouge.
Sonic doesn't respond to her question but Rouge wasn't expecting him too. Her eyes grow soft and she's beaming because Chaos, he's not dead but Sonic doesn't seem to understand why she's getting so emotional over it.
Rouge is the one that sits on the corner of the bed but Sonic doesn't seem to be apprehensive as she does so. Shadow takes note of such.
"Are you hungry at all? I think Tails left some food for you in the kitchen so I can go grab it for you."
Now that he thought of it his stomach was angrily growling at him, almost wanting to eat itself. He hadn't eaten all that well in the six months he spent in space, notable by how skinny he had grown. All the muscle he had from his fights and runs atrophied. He nods.
Rouge gives a slim smile, "Well alright you just sit tight big blue, we'll be right back. Shadow..."
Rouge signals Shadow to walk out with her. He gives a quick glance to Sonic before he finds himself walking out with her.
The duo walk to the kitchen and Rouge pulls a container of soup from the fridge and places it in the microwave for three minutes.
"You okay darling? You look a bit pale."
Shadow nibbled at the edge of his fingers, "I don't know. Something's off."
Rouge scoffed, "Off? Shadow, Sonic's back after six months of literal solitary confinement with no one but Eggman and Infinite after we all thought he was dead. After all those two have put him through I don't blame him for acting like this. It's all trauma babe."
Shadow blinked, oblivious, "No, I know it's not that. I mean with me. He's fine around you but with me, he's just… off."
Rouge's head tilted, "You- you really don't know why don't you?"
Ebony shook his head.
"Darling, you've been gone for a while. When Sonic first was about to fight Eggman, before he was captured, before he could do so Chaos, Metal-Sonic, Zavok, and well you showed up and took him down allowing Eggman to take him prisoner. We didn't realize at the time they were illusions and you weren't actually there. I don't think Sonic realized that however and I heard some gruesome things that you apparently did to him."
"I- I didn't Rouge. I swear I had nothing to do with this."
"I know. I'm not accusing you I'm just saying, Sonic thought it was you the entire time so that mentality has stuck that you hurt him. So now that you're here, real and all, he might come around eventually to trust you again but for now, just give him time babe. He's been through a lot. Don't force it. I know it's hard."
Shadow was taken aback. He certainly did not know about this fake counterpart of him. It all made sense.
A ding deems their conversation to be finished. Rouge takes the soup from the container and pours it into a bowl and makes her way back to Sonic's room with Shadow intending to follow but she stops him.
"Hey, maybe it's best I go in alone. Just for now and we get through some housekeeping? "
Shadow scoffs, "You were the one that just told me he doesn't trust me, if I'm not given the opportunity to try to get him to, how will he ever?"
Rouge sighs, "Shadow-"
"Look, I know that we have had our differences and all but that doesn't mean I would ever try to go as far as hurt him the way that he was when he was up there. That was never my intention after what I think we became friends. He's trusted me before. I just need him to try to again."
"Shadow, I understand where you're coming from. I do, but these things take time. I don't think today will fix all that pain."
"I'm not saying it will, this can be a start. Rouge, you know damn well that I've been through the exact same thing in the hands of G.U.N and my grandfather. I know what it's like to be a guinea pig, an assumed casualty. I know it all. Please. I'm not trying to rush things but this is as good as a start as ever."
Rouge bites her lips, he hates when he's right and she especially hates when she's proven wrong with logic.
"Fine. Come on now."
They return to Sonic's room however Sonic is no longer on the bed nor was it the way they had left it. The covers are pulled off and the way the sheets were where the covers had been dragged through suggests that they turn to the left and at the corner of the room, Sonic is wrapped in that very duvet and he is shaking like a leaf.
They lock the door once again, fearing he'd run out of the room. Rouge stands there frozen in place unsure of what to do. Shadow tries to close the space between him and Sonic. When he gets close enough he realizes Sonic's eyes are stuck in place as if mentally, he and Sonic were not in the same space.
Twenty
Nineteen
Eighteen
He's forgotten how many times he's practiced his goodbyes over and over again, playing in his head like a record player skipping.
Seventeen
Sixteen
Fifteen
Tails, Oh how he longed to see him grow. He'd be okay without him. He really wanted to believe so.
Fourteen
Thirteen
Twelve
Eleven
Water. His biggest fear. He couldn't hold his breath any longer and large bubbles formed when he instinctively opened all his airways.
Ten
Nine
Eight
His lungs were burning.
Seven
Six
Five
Water was filling those very lungs and going down his sore throat and he could only try to swallow.
Four
Three
Two
This is it, this is what being on the edge of death felt like. He thinks about all the times he thought he would die. It was not like this.
One
And he breathes. He's throwing up all that water back into its tub. His breathing was fast and heavy, afraid that his next breath would be the last. A hand told ahold at all his quills and it hurt to a point now that they have long gone numb. He was drenched and cold, the water was freezing.
"I take you like the water it seems. How about another dip Mmh?" a voice intervenes.
He tries to shake his head but that grip on his head is firm, "N-no. No no please. I-I'm sorry."
"Mmmh, too late for any sorrys now is it, hedgehog? I told you, trying to escape would only develop more consequences for you but knowing you, you didn't listen. So this is your punishment," Eggman, the voice behind it all.
"P-please. I-I'm sorry. I-I won't do it again. I-I Promise," Sonic, practically begging.
"Like I said, too late for the sorrys," He laughs.
"Dip him."
"NO-"
His head is pushed back in with no second thought.
Shadow was the one pushing his head back in the tub.
One-Hundred
Ninety-Nine
Ninety-Eight
Ninety-Seven…
Sonic finds himself gasping. He's back in his bedroom however he can't recall how all of a sudden he's in the corner of it. He realizes he's shaking and most importantly, no longer alone.
He looks up, first at Shadow and then at Rouge. He just freaked out right in front of them. Pathetic.
Big trails of tears run down his cheeks and he's hyperventilating. His head hits the back of the wall and he tries to remove any evidence of his crying with his hands as he hides behind them.
He feels mits wrap around his wrists pulling down his hands from his face and he's face to face with Shadow. He should be scared. He should want to beat the living crap out of him for what he did. But he can't because his Shadow had nothing to do with what happened. His Shadow cared.
He's not sure what possessed him to do so but he flings himself to Shadow's arms. Shadow briefly panics however is quick to wrap his arms around him, a hand petting down his anxious quills.
"Shhh, I got you. It's alright."
But it wasn't alright. He may be physically okay but his mind was in shambles beyond comprehension.
Sonic's crying hard in his pelt, soaking it, but he doesn't care. He feels another pair of arms wrap around him and he just sobs and wailing like no one could hear him. His heart is in his throat. Everything was falling apart.
"M-Make it stop, please. I-I'll do anything. I can't take it anymore," he whispers.
Shadow thinks he knows what he means. He's outta there but mentally he was still there.
"It will stop, I promise. In due time," Shadow promises.
"We promise, sweetheart," Rouge voices.
They stayed for what felt like all night but they didn't mind. Not one bit.
I wrote an original draft for this and then I was like nah, I hate it, let's do it again so this is the second time I'm writing for this prompt. BTW has anyone played the third update of Frontiers? OH MY GOODNESS bro I had to turn my difficulty from Hard to Easy and I still can't get through the Master Trial where you have to defeat all three bosses with only 400 rings Holy frick. I'll let y'all know if I defeat it.
