A/N: First off, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long! Despite it being a filler, it's a highly-anticipated chapter, and I needed some extra time to get it just right, so thank you for being patient and bearing with me. Plus, the fact that my Internet has been terrible lately isn't helping.
I've just started watching My Hero Academia, and I have to say, it is awesome. It's definitely worth a watch if you have Crunchyroll. I would love for there to be a new Sonic anime with the high quality of My Hero Academia.
I've got a new favorite story: "Recursion Error" by Writer's Domino, which is set in the Pre-Super Genesis Wave comics. See what happens when a teen from Earth is quite literally pulled into a war against his will!
I'm closing the poll at the time of publishing. "Wrath of a Hero" won over "Frieza Reborn", so I'm going to write that before working on the next chapter. Or maybe I'll do both at the same time, I don't know. I'll work on "Frieza Reborn" after I finish the episode 26 rewrite.
I've finally managed to write a long chapter! The story alone totals over 18,000 words (a little under that amount, since FFN decides to label contractions as two separate words). And this chapter, before any of the previous ones are edited, is now the third-longest one I've made, behind only chapters 3 and 8.
Since this chapter is a scary one, I took measures to make the flow and wording equally creepy. You may even get a chill down your spine reading this! :P
But seriously, I'm issuing a WARNING for a brief violent scene toward the end of the chapter. I'll explain more about it in the ending notes.
I'm amazed at all the attention this story has been getting in just the last month alone! As of this writing, the previous chapter has 228 visitors. In comparison, the first chapter has 552 visitors, and no other chapter has more than 90 visitors. Thanks for checking it out!
I would like to thank TrimusicaDrag00n90, Ieju, RevTrickshot, Thesonicsuperstar, Lilytigerlover, pintobean1, AnimeOtakuErin, True Master, jozs001, FireFistPump, Triforce Dragons, theIrishWriter, and slejr.35 for their support of this story! Additionally, I would like to give a huge thank you to Leodragon678 for favoriting me! Check out his works if you can!
Without further ado, let's jump into the reviews and what matters most: the story!
kitsune
Perfect !
Thank you kindly! :)
SuperTailsFan0812
(repost truncated due to review length)
What can I say? Interludes tend to be short chapters. :) There will probably be two or three more of them during the course of this story.
I too love long reviews, but due to the fact that I received fourteen of them after the last chapter, I had to avoid reposting a couple of them due to their length. If only FFN had a "jump to story" option like AO3 does, so that other people might not get turned off by my review replying...
Actually, I based the illness that Amy and Cream had on the Mobian Flu from your stories, albeit much less severe than what Tails had. It's probably to make up for the fact that in my headcanon, Mobians are immune to the common cold.
I chose to rewrite this episode solely for the conversation that Tails and Chris had. In fact, I found it to be the only salvageable thing from the episode, as from a writer's standpoint, the rest of it didn't make sense. I'm glad I came up with a great explanation as to how they ended up in their situation.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it. In fact, I made it especially with you in mind, as I knew it was one of your favorite episodes. So thanks again for the feedback!
You can definitely expect more Tails and Chris scenes in the future. I don't know if I can always be able to add them, but if the episode calls for it, I'll see what I can do. ;)
GuardianDragon98
Hmmm... I'm intrigued. It seems that coming into contact with the Chaos Emeralds has given Chris the ability to have visions. We see Sonic in his Super Form and the portal back to Mobius. But that Metal Chris is new and could be a cause for alarm. And that voice warning Chris... could it have been Tikal?
So many questions... But, anyway, great chapter :)
The only reason Chris had a vision was because he had fallen asleep with a Chaos Emerald in his hand. Regardless, I still thought it would be fun to add that in, even if I already had a Chaos Emerald vision in the previous chapter.
So what is the interpretation of the dream? Only time will tell...
Animation Adventures
(chapter 16 [episode 17]; repost truncated due to review length)
I found Hawk to be quite a static character in the original episode, so I thought having him be part of the original gang would flesh him out a little bit. My only regret for that chapter is not having him talk about food enough, but I can always go back and touch up that chapter, plus he's going to appear again in the tournament arc, right?
I reused the name Kunoichi from the Japanese version, because Lady Ninja just won't cut it. Besides, Kunoichi basically means 'female ninja'. I didn't explain it, as Knuckles and Rouge wouldn't find out about it, but I imagine Eggman found out how to harness small amounts of Chaos energy within a module implemented into the robot, with just enough power to initiate Chaos Blast or Chaps Control - kind of like E-51 from episode 6.
This isn't the only time Rouge shows up without explanation. She does it all the time in scenes she shares with the President or even Knuckles. Regardless, they all need some explanation or another.
Only time will tell what Tikal's vision could mean...
Animation Adventures
(chapter 17 [episode 18]; repost truncated due to review length)
I chose to have Eggman launch a long-range attack because it wouldn't make sense to have him present in the episode. Otherwise, he would have been shot down and landed in a swamp, and then ended up back in the ocean still unable to start his engines.
I wanted to include the flashbacks, I really did. But I would have to interrupt a good part of the story flow to do so, and I figured that if Tails had been living with the Thorndykes for seven or so months, surely he would have already told everyone of how he met Sonic.
I really like your speculations on the dream. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the gang will get any easy answers any time soon. They'll just have to battle Eggman, get the seven Emeralds, and see what happens next.
Unfortunately, I will not be adapting Little Chao Lost in this story, mostly because it's a filler that doesn't seem to merit its own chapter here. Plus, I don't think it would be logical to have a Chao colony existing on earth before Sonic's arrival. I also won't be adapting Fast Friends here either. But I can, however, create a separate story of one-shots where I can adapt these episodes in a collection of moments from Sonic X that take place between episodes or something. That's also where I could add the part where Tails tells the others of his past. I just need to motivate myself to do something like that.
Guest
Will Chris's friends tag along for the Metarex Saga? (Since it could make things interesting)
I agree, it would definitely make things interesting. But I'm going to say now that they are not going to appear in the Metarex Saga. I'm toying with the idea of writing a story in which Danny, Frances, and Helen do end up on Sonic's world. I wouldn't know where to go with it from there.
thor94chapter
interesting dream, liked to see chris lhave a link to the emeralds, ask how knuckles will react about that.
I wouldn't exactly say Chris has a link to the Emeralds, as he isn't Chaos sensitive like Sonic or Knuckles. As to Knuckles' reaction, he would have to tell Knuckles first.
Angeloflight324
I love your story, probably the best sonic fanfic there is. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much! :D
Iejuchapter
This is great. Also, it seems that we got a little bit of Super Sonic there, eh? Also, I can't wait for SST. It gives me FNaF (and perhaps ) vibes, tho! Anyway, the story is great so, keep it up. As for Safari, I honestly didn't know what I was expecting.
It took me a little bit to decipher SST as Sonic's Scream Test. I honestly had a blast writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it.
The Green Seer
So sorry, I forgot to come back after reading. Well, to be fair, not much to say about this episode. I think I made my opinion known.
The vision was interesting. I read some other reviews when I checked to see if I left one and the message had some interesting interpretations. I'm not one to throw theories until I have all the pieces and I know the ending... BUT! I want to see how the story will develop. I'm not gonna think too much about it and just go with the flow.
I like how the emeralds are important from a mystic point of view and give people visions to tell them that SOMETHING'S WRONG! It gives more credence to their importance and history.
And yes! Ghosts, here we go! Amy and Chris gotta step up big time!
Even though it might not be official canon that the Emeralds could give ordinary people dreams, especially humans, I thought it might be interesting to add. It definitely makes them more mystical.
Stick around through the end of the season, and something interesting might happen around then...
Lilytigerlover
(chapter 6)
My guess with the math questions is that Y 10 and N 2. Also love the rewrited story so far! If you need any ideas for the Shadow Saga why not use or throw in Metal Sonic into the scene? You could even do a public battle so people of that world find out about Sonic's Metal copy! Anyways Love the story and I cannot wait for more.
Sorry to say, but you are incorrect on the first one. Y = 8, but great try, though!
The Shadow Saga will indeed be quite a bit different from the original, but I think I might be over the hump of difficulty now. The hardest part is the last episode, Showdown in Space, but I think I have something working for it as well. I still like your ideas, though!
D.J. Scales
Nice episode filler even though it does deviate from the main plot it does make total sense in this chapter. It's relaxing and straight to the point but how much longer till the Ancient Arkeyan Weapon Masters arrive or Eggman returns to fix his ship because there is no way that he'd leave his Egg Fort vulnerable.
I included this episode in the story because it was one of the actual episodes, though I heavily cut back on it because a lot of it didn't make sense.
To answer your questions:
One: The Arkeyan Weapon Masters will not appear because they are from your headcanon, drawing inspiration from Skylanders, and this story will not cross over with any other franchises. Two: Eggman never left his ship since he was shot down.
Franco Almiron
Huge fan of your story, so i want to know if you ever made a crossover story which one would be: Sonic the Hedgehog and Brand New Animal, Persona 5 and Beastars or Animal Crossing and Aggretsuko?
I've never heard of Brand New Animal, Beastars, or Aggretsuko; but if I had to choose, it would be Sonic and Brand New Animal. I mean, I'm familiar with Animal Crossing, but I'm not really invested enough to write a decent fanfiction of it, and Persona 5 I know about through memes.
snake screamer
Good test, ah yes boo. I hope you bring up the fact they exist in Sonic world too (And their just as creepy as hell).
PS send you a pic featuring ninja.
I can tell you that yes, there will be an explanation in this chapter.
I saw the picture, and I found it interesting that they listed Heavy Shinobi as being its own clan. I was even more intrigued at E-91's inclusion and its green color scheme.
Triforce Dragons
This was something great to read! I love the fact everything is different and I'm not going to read it until you update a couple more chapters. Who is your favorite character? The top ones for me are Silver, Shadow, Tails, and Sonic. Speaking of which, is Silver gonna appear? I know Shadow is, how I don't know, but Silver would be great. He's younger then Sonic, kinda immature at times, but I think he's a rival to Sonic but looks up to Sonic as well. Sorry for going off on a ramble, but I love Sonic and I can't wait to read more.
I do plan on going back and revising the earliest chapters, which I will do after I finish writing the first season, which should be finished... say late October-ish.
My favorite character? I can easily relate to Chris, but my top favorites are Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and Knuckles in that order. I'll also say Eggman's a lot of fun to read and write for.
Will Silver appear? Probably not in this story. He may have a chance of showing up somewhere in the Metarex Saga, but we'll see.
Disclaimer: 2 spoopy 4 u? TOO BAD, WALUIGI TIME.
Chapter 18
Episode 19
I Will Conquer My Fears! The Ghosts of the Haunted Movie Set
Under the Moon
Blair Castle, England – Sat March 12; 12:23 PM – Chris' POV
"Cut! That's a wrap!" Director Tim Shaw announced as the scene concluded. "Let's get the next scene ready."
He turned to the two lead actors who stepped off the set as the stagehands prepared for the next scene.
"Listen, this next scene is where the emotion comes in," the director told them. "Lindsey, you've been doing an excellent job so far. Just remember to focus on your emotions, and don't try to fake it with mere facial facades, yeah?"
To the other lead actor, Aaron Harding, he said, "Same goes with you, Aaron. Don't exaggerate any more than you did during rehearsal."
My friends and Ella and I had flown all the way out to England to see Mom at work filming her latest movie Valencia, a Victorian steampunk romance movie. It was an odd blend of genres, but Ella said the writers were confident they could make it work.
It was a good thing the private plane we had flown in had touch screens, as Sonic would have been bored out of his ever-loving mind otherwise. He kind of already was to begin with, since he couldn't really run across the entire ocean in one go. Other than that, he was pretty chill.
We had Ella to thank for the idea of this trip. I had been getting straight A's in school, and not because Tails occasionally stopped by to help me out with the more difficult parts of my homework. But anyway, Ella had surprised us by taking me and my friends out to England to watch Mom film (Of course, Ella made sure to tell her first).
My friends were all formally introduced to her. She had really wanted to meet them, all eventually, since she got to see them a lot in the news. Cream had apologized on behalf of the fact that Mom didn't get to see Matt and stay for the party, even though Amy had cautioned her to not bring it up. Nevertheless, Mom said it was fine; she was sure she would see him again sometime soon.
The movie was partially being shot on location at Blair Castle, and we got to learn a bunch about its history. Mom told us it dated back to the twelfth century, and survived a few historic battles. It had since become a well-frequented tourist location.
Now, all of us (except Mom) were sitting on a set of stone steps nearby, watching the stagehands move the cameras, boom mics, and lights. My thoughts drifted to Sonic. Knowing him, he was probably exploring around inside the castle or something. He always loved to check out new places.
The director's call of "Places, everyone!" rang across the filming location, and Mom and Aaron took their places. As cliche as he made it sound, the director initiated the next next take with "Lights… camera… action!"
Mom, who was dressed in a beautiful flowing gown that would not look out of place in Victorian England, approached Aaron. Already her emotion set on, and it was like she suddenly became another person entirely. It was quite fascinating to watch in person.
"Y-You're just going to leave me?" she exclaimed.
Aaron paused in his steps to look at her. He was dressed in a navy blue Victorian suit with steampunk highlights.
"I must," he stated.
"But… you can't go!" she begged, taking another step toward her character's lover. "Please… at least take me with you! We have a future together, I know it! Without you, I am nothing!"
Aaron sighed, gazing skyward. "You know I am a loner by nature," he said. "Don't get me wrong, I love you dearly… but time is running out for me. Where I go, you cannot follow." He turned away for her, and started walking forward. "And now… I must bid you adieu."
Lindsey watched as Aaron continued walking forward. I was told that after editing, it would look like Aaron uses a teleporter to vanish, hence the green screens set up.
Once Aaron had walked far enough, Lindsey broke down, falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands. I didn't know all the details of the plot, even though Mom told me the gist of it, but even if I did, I could be trusted to keep a secret.
"Cut!" the satisfied director announced. "Print it!"
Now that the cameras were no longer rolling, we could speak freely.
"Your mom is an amazing actress, Chris," Amy complimented. She beamed. "You know that, right?"
I smiled too. "I'm really glad she's my mom," I replied. Indeed I was; she was perhaps the best actress I knew.
"Y'know, it's kinda cool to go behind the scenes in movie making," Tails said. "You can end up seeing a lot of stuff you don't normally see in the actual movie."
"All right!" the director called, getting our attention. "We'll take a one-hour break for lunch, then resume filming."
With the break in effect, the actors and stagehands were free to disperse. Mom joined us a minute later as we got up to head to the lunch tables that were set up in a nearby field.
"Are you all having a good time?" she asked us, to which we all said we were.
Mom squinted as she scanned our group.
"Um, isn't there supposed to be one more of you, and a small blue pet?" she asked. I didn't think she knew that Cheese wasn't regarded as a pet by Mobians. Tails was right when he once said that humans were way too quick to jump to conclusions.
"Oh... Cream is missing," Ella remarked.
Oh no. How did I not think to check if Cream was still with us? As young and curious as she was, she had been pretty good lately about not wandering off on her own. Last time she did that, she had almost gotten herself lost in the mall last month.
"I hope they didn't get in the shot!" I blurted.
"I'll go look for her," Tails announced. He took off back the way he came, and Amy joined him. I decided to follow too; this was a full-team effort. Meanwhile, Mom and Ella began to catch up on life. I knew our maid had an awful lot to tell her.
We called for Cream and Cheese, hoping they would hear us and come bounding over. But I got distracted when I heard someone else say the small rabbit's name instead.
It was the director and one of the cameramen, who were reviewing the footage they had just shot. My stomach sank. A shot in a 60 million-dollar major motion picture had just been photobombed by aliens.
"…yeah, I can just edit them out in post," the cameraman said.
"I just got an idea," Director Shaw said. "Do that, but maybe we should also keep the original cut as a bonus feature for the DVD and Blu-ray release."
That was a relief. The film could still be salvaged. However, that didn't change the fact that I was still disappointed that Cream went off by herself.
"Cream, you shouldn't be going off like that... okay?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tails. I just wanted to see them better."
I turned to see Tails holding a crestfallen Cream's hand and leading her back to the others. Cheese flitted beside them.
I quickly moved to Tails' side. "She got in the shot," I quietly told him, trying not to let Cream hear, "but they said they can edit her out."
"That's good," the fox commented. "Now they don't have to redo that whole scene."
Amy soon rejoined us, and Tails told her that they found Cream and Cheese. But I hung back, distracted by the stagehands not far from me. They were discussing an object that seemed to be obstructing the next scene. The object in question was an hourglass-shaped stone resting atop a pedestal.
One of the stagehands lifted the stone, which looked heavy from my perspective, and set it down on the ground. He then tried to move the pedestal, but it wouldn't budge, even with three men all pushing from one end at the same time.
"Don't worry about it," the director called. "We can just shoot it at a different angle."
"Chris! Are you coming?" called Tails.
"Y-yeah, sorry!" I responded as I made my way back toward the others. My stomach rumbled. I hadn't realized I had been getting hungry, and it was a good thing lunch was about ready.
Blair Castle – Sat March 12, 12:30 PM – Sonic's POV
It was good to be able to finally stretch my legs after traveling in planes or waiting around in airports for just over sixteen hours. If it weren't for the Atlantic, I would have raced here and back thousands of times over.
During the flight, I had felt my claustrophobia start to kick in. I had it for as long as I could remember, and imprisonment during the war did nothing to help. In fact, Chris voiced his concern, and Amy had to chastise me, saying it would only be a few more hours. Waiting was never my expertise.
After we landed, we had to go through this thing called customs, which wasn't a thing back on Mobius. Humans always had a way of complicating things beyond necessity, even the humans back home.
But now that we made it to jolly old England, I could finally have a great run of the place. It was quite a bit different from the United States, yet in a way, it felt similar. It had a bunch of villages and rolling hills. I got to try these pastries called scones; they were actually pretty tasty.
Filming was now in session, and Chris had expressed a strong desire for us Mobians to stay out of the way of the filming, so I decided to check out the inside of the castle we were at. Apparently it was more than eight hundred years old, and the weathered stonework and various thick cobwebs everywhere proved it. It kind of reminded me of some mondo creepy places I went to, such as Hang Castle and Mystic Mansion. I shuddered at the thought.
I sneezed as a chill ran down my spine. Something was wrong. A sinking feeling was forming in the pit of my stomach. I had to find out what was amiss in this castle.
Blair Castle – Sat March 12; 10:42 PM – Chris' POV
After a long day, we were getting settled into our rooms inside the castle. My friends, Ella, and I chose to head to bed now while Mom and the film crew wrapped up shooting for the night.
We learned that the inside of the castle had been refurbished with modern amenities, such as full bathrooms and even a few electrical sockets, while still keeping its original charm. Two rooms had been set aside for us – a girls' room and a boys' room. We were told that people could sleep in the castle, but it would be costly. For some reason, Director Shaw thought it would be a great experience for us to sleep in an ancient castle, despite the fact that there was a motel less than two miles away.
Earlier today, the director decided to just go ahead and use the shot with Cream in it as a bonus feature. Additionally (and to my surprise), Cream gave her consent for this. That wasn't all; My friends and family and I all got to be specially interviewed for a behind-the-scenes shot as well. It was rather gentle, nothing like being on The Tonight Show or The Graham Norton Show or anything like that.
We didn't spend the entire time at the castle. Ella had driven us around the countryside to explore our surroundings, and we got to eat out at a local restaurant. It was quite neat to be in another country, even if I hadn't been to England in many years.
But now it was already bedtime.
I returned to my room, having just finished using the bathroom. Tails, the room's only other occupant, was currently lying on his stomach on the king-sized bed, reading a sci-fi novel.
I walked over to the open window, taking in the night air. "You know if Sonic's still outside?" I asked. I hadn't seen him since supper.
"I think so," he replied without looking up. "He seemed to be zoning out a bit last time I saw him, but he didn't say anything when I asked."
"That's not like him," I stated, slowly turning back to the bed.
"Not really," Tails countered. "I've known Sonic pretty much my whole life, and even then he can still be a mystery to me." He peered over the top of his book. "Um, is it normal for your mom to be filming this late at night?"
"Yeah, she films at all different times of the day," I replied, "except for the middle of the night."
"But isn't that stressful for her?" Tails asked. "I mean, she probably needs to take a break sometimes."
"Yeah..." I said. "But sometimes she does come by for a visit whenever she can."
That statement hung in the air for a while. I was thinking about the time she had to leave in the middle of the party, and I missed her leaving. I didn't want to bring it up again.
Eventually, it got quiet after that, and Tails returned to his book.
Mom had told me that she would wrap up filming for the night in about an hour. She and the director agreed that they could shoot a few of Mom's scenes inside the castle now that it was the right time of day.
After another moment at the window, I wandered back to the bed and flopped onto the surprisingly soft mattress, not bothering to remove my shoes. I lay there for a moment, feeling a slight shiver rippling across my skin. It was too bad the window didn't have glass; otherwise, I wouldn't have to worry about feeling chilly.
It didn't take long for Tails to note that I was a little cold. "You'll get used to it," he quietly assured.
"I don't know…" I doubted. "I don't exactly have fur like you. Besides… I've never been inside an actual medieval castle before. I've only seen them in my history books."
"Well, there's a first time for everything," Tails said as he turned the page. It was true. For some reason, there was an awful lot I wouldn't have been able to do without my friends.
I closed my eyes, starting to feel a wave of exhaustion… but the hair on my skin started to rise as I felt another shiver, and this time not from the cold. Something felt a little off about this place all of a sudden.
I quickly sat up, trying to dismiss whatever it was. Tails looked up.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I… I'm just… going to the bathroom," I fumbled as I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up.
"But I thought you just went," a confused Tails pointed out.
"I'm just getting some water," I explained as I headed toward the big wooden door. It wasn't a lie; besides, I wanted to just get my mind off of the odd feeling I got while lying on the bed.
I pulled the wooden door open, shivering a little at the audible groan the hinges made as it slid open. I left it open as I walked down the hallway to the bathroom. It was eerily quiet; the only sound was my sneakers on the stone floor.
Director Shaw's call of "Action!" rang through the halls in the distance. Out of curiosity, I paused in my tracks to listen to see if I could hear anything interesting. The film crew was several rooms away, but I didn't want to get any closer; I would probably get in the shot the way Cream did earlier if I did. So I settled to be content with eavesdropping from here.
A moment later, I heard another voice say something I couldn't pick up. They were either too quiet, or too far away. Either way, it sounded like it was concerned.
"Cut!" called the director. "Again?"
It sounded like the crew was experiencing a problem of some sort, and this wasn't the first time.
"Fine, you know what, we'll call it a night," announced the somewhat frustrated director. "We'll take it from the top first thing tomorrow." All was quiet again after that.
I continued tiptoeing toward the bathroom, so as not to make too much noise in the already quiet castle. The whole time, I kept wondering what had gone wrong.
I walked into the bathroom, turned on the light, grabbed a nearby styrofoam cup, and filled it with water from the sink, grateful that whoever renovated the interior installed one.
I turned away from the mirror and began to drink my water. That's when I started to feel the hair on my skin standing on end again. I glanced at my arm, and saw goosebumps appearing, not to mention I felt more chills. This was the same feeling I felt in the bed, but stronger.
Something in my gut told me not to look in the mirror for some reason. I decided to listen to that gut feeling, though it wouldn't do anything to satisfy my curiosity, though that was probably for the better.
I finished my water, setting the styrofoam cup down on the counter, all the while being careful not to look in the mirror. I didn't want to know what was in it. I just didn't.
I turned off the light and walked out of the bathroom, wondering the whole time what kind of bullet I had just dodged.
As I passed by the girls' room, I said good night to Ella, Amy, Cream, and Cheese. Fortunately, they didn't seem to notice the goosebumps or anything that I was still feeling.
As I walked back to my room, I realized I was not alone. A figure had appeared at the end of the hall, and was walking toward me, its high heels clicking against the stone floor. Only when I recognized the familiar Victorian steampunk gown it was wearing did I realize I had been holding my breath.
"Mom!" I exclaimed. I didn't expect to see her here and now. Then again, filming had wrapped, and her bedroom was on the other side of the bathroom, so I probably shouldn't have been so surprised. But my nerves were up a little from my experience in the bathroom, and I couldn't let Mom know about it.
"Chris, honey, what are you doing up?" she asked as we drew near, and hugged
"I was just getting some water," I answered with as straight a face as I could manage. We broke the hug. "So what happened earlier?"
"The sound man kept picking up strange ultrasounds, but he couldn't find out what the problem was," Mom explained. "We finally had to call it a night."
"That's weird," I commented.
"I know," Mom said. "They're looking into it now. We're hoping they can fix the problem by morning. I need to go change and remove my makeup. You have a wonderful sleep now, Chris."
"You too, Mom," I said after she kissed my cheek. "Good night."
As Mom disappeared down the hall, I continued walking toward my room. This time I didn't tiptoe, as my room was right there. The room was already feeling familiar, even though it wasn't nearly as well-furnished as my bedroom back home.
Tails looked up from his book, his namesakes twitching slightly as he sensed my arrival.
"Did something happen?" he asked.
"No," I half-lied. "Wh-why?"
"You were gone for longer than I thought," he noted. "Also, did I hear you and your mom talking?"
"Yeah," I answered. "She said the film crew was detecting weird sounds or something?" I repeated uncertainly. "They just stopped for the night."
"Strange sounds…" mused Tails as he lowered his book.
"Yeah. They have no idea what's making them."
I crossed the room and lay back down on the bed as Tails thought for a moment.
"Well… Maybe I can take a look at their recording devices in the morning, and see what I can find if it persists," he reminded himself.
It was quiet after that… too quiet. Normally I could sleep in silence, but now I found myself wishing I had some soothing ambient background sound to sleep to. It was just too quiet.
For the longest time, I lay there, staring at the ceiling, eyes wide open. Now that I was left alone with my thoughts, the sensation I felt in the bathroom felt even stronger in hindsight than before. I didn't want to know what kind of thing was in the mirror, and why I somehow knew not to look into it. I was unable to shake that memory.
"Do you believe in ghosts?" I found myself asking Tails out of the blue nearly ten minutes later. The kit sat up a bit, taken aback by my sudden question.
"Ghosts...? Wh-why do you ask…?" he queried, sounding more uncertain than I had heard him sound lately.
"Well…" I honestly didn't know why I asked in the first place. "It's just… old castles like this one… could be haunted, I guess…"
Tails didn't answer right away. Instead, his bright blue eyes darted around the room, as if scanning it for any possible apparitions. At last he turned back to me with a smile that to me looked forced.
"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Chris," he told me, even though I was quite sure he was trying and failing to reassure himself. "Try and sleep if you can. You'll feel better in the morning."
However, despite finally crawling under the covers and closing my eyes, sleep did not come easily to me. I squeezed my eyes shut, but it was to no avail, not to mention the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach was still there, no matter how hard I tried to focus on anything else.
Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts… flying in the X-Tornado… helping out Tails in the lab… getting to see Mom at Blair Castle… the mirror in the bathroom…
No! Think happy thoughts! Anything but that!
After about fifteen minutes of this, I started to feel the sensation of sleep wash over me. At last, I settled on thoughts of going on adventures with Sonic. He was an amazing friend, unlike any other. He may have been an alien, but in so many ways, he was human. And to think that he was living with me of all people – I was truly lucky. And I also had Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Knuckles too. And they even vowed to protect me from–
A terrifying scream pierced the air, involuntarily making me bolt up in bed, before being muffled into a deafening silence. My heart pounded in my chest.
"That was Mom!" I barely managed to squeak.
Looking over, I saw that Tails was already sitting up in bed, his fur puffed out in fright. I hurriedly leaned over and grabbed my shoes, slipping them on. I hadn't even bothered untying the laces, so I was grateful I didn't have to waste any time with them.
Once they were on seconds later, I turned to the door, and saw that Tails was standing there waiting for me instead of running ahead. Maybe he could have gone ahead, but he was never the type of person to leave anyone behind.
I wordlessly bolted into a run toward the door, and threw it open before taking off down the hall. Tails followed right behind me. Even though I was able to naturally run faster than him, he used his namesakes to propel himself forward, even passing me. It wasn't a race, but that, combined with my one determination, spurred me on.
Find Mom.
Is she okay?
Just as I was about to pass by the girls' room, Amy emerged, quickly joining us as we made our way to Mom's room. Cream, Cheese, and Ella were next, but they quickly fell behind us.
When we arrived, I entered Mom's room first, scanning everywhere for any sign of Mom. Yet she was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the only sign of anything that could have gone wrong was a broken hand mirror on the floor.
"She's not here…" I lamented.
"Well, she's gotta be somewhere!" Amy declared. "She couldn't have just disappeared!"
"What happened?" Ella urgently asked as she and Cream entered. The little rabbit and Chao were hiding behind the maid's dress. Both were, to say the least, nervous.
"Mom is gone!" I exclaimed. I had no proof of it, as I was overcome by emotion.
"It's like she just vanished!" added Amy.
"And dropped the mirror?" speculated an uncertain Tails. If that were true, that would only succeed in adding more fuel to a fire that started feeling more and more real the more I thought about it.
"We need to call for her," Cream suggested, summoning up the bravery to advance into the room. She glanced down at the hundreds of shards of tiny glass that littered the stone floor.
"That's actually not a bad idea," Tails commented.
In the moments that followed, we all began to call for Mom. We walked further down the hall beyond Mom's room and the bathroom, our desperate voices reverberating throughout the corridor. But there was no sign of my mother after two minutes.
"Let's split up," Amy suggested. "We can cover more ground that way."
The girls regrouped and wandered back the way we came toward our room, while Tails and I continued down the hall. We didn't even need to discuss who would go with which group.
"I can't believe she's gone…" I said fearfully after a minute.
"I don't think she could have gone far," Tails whispered, looking around.
"It's not possible," I continued. "I mean… I just said good night to her; she was still removing her makeup…"
"Chris…" Tails looked at me, fear in his eyes, ears flattened, and gripped my arm for comfort. My heart would have gone out for him if I wasn't in the same position myself. "I don't know about you… b-but the g-ghost thing is starting to sound more r-real now…"
My lip started to quiver from the mounting fear of the unknown. "Wh-when I was in the b-bathroom… I felt goosebumps… I felt like… s-something told me not to l-look in the m-mirror…" I stopped on my tracks. "Tails… I th-think this place is haunted!"
Immediately after those words left my lips, another shrill scream ran through the air behind us, followed by even more caterwauling.
The girls.
Tails' namesakes once again puffed out in all directions to about twice their size in fright. I had to practically force my legs to turn in the opposite direction and move one of them in front of the other quickly to get back to the others. Tails was equally as scared.
It took us about twenty seconds to return to the others, though with the building adrenalin, it felt way longer. Additionally, at a glance, "others" was now reduced to a singular term.
Cream and Cheese were gone. The only sign of Ella was her muscular arm protruding from the stone wall. Amy and her unquenchable determination was the only thing preventing Ella from being pulled into the wall, however that was possible.
"Help me!" Amy urged before Tails could question what was going on.
Both of us instinctively ran over and took hold of what little of Ella's arm there was left. The force coming from the other side of the wall was incredibly powerful.
"Wh-what's going on?" I asked.
"It's ghosts!" Amy spoke, her voice sounding an octave higher than usual in her fright. "They already got Cream and Cheese!"
We pulled even harder. Unfortunately, Tails didn't have as firm a grip as me and Amy, and Ella's arm started being pulled into the wall even more.
"I hate to say this…" Tails spoke, grunting under the strain of the effort, "but they're too strong... We have to let her go, or else they're gonna take us too."
Amy looked up, ready to retort, but huffed in surrender instead. "You're right… Sorry, Ella..." she said, and reluctantly released her grasp.
The sudden release nearly pulled my hand into the wall, and I let go just in time, as did Tails. In fact, a few of my fingers literally moved through the part of the wall briefly as if there was nothing but air there.
Before we knew it, Sonic was on the scene. It didn't even take him a second to notice the panic-stricken looks on our faces.
"Did I hear screaming?" he asked as he skidded to a halt. "What's going on?"
"Sonic, it's haunted!" Amy exclaimed, sounding both scared and relieved that her crush had finally arrived. "A couple ghosts dragged Cream, Cheese, and Ella through that wall!" She pointed to the part of the wall where we had just seen Ella's hand. In retrospect, it was pretty ghastly.
"Pulled through a wall… For some reason, that kinda sounds familiar," he mused as he slowly walked over to Tails, who probably looked the most frightened out of all of us. He quietly asked Tails if he was okay, and the young fox slowly nodded. He was trying to be brave for his big brother.
"Where were you this whole time?" Amy asked.
"Just lookin' at something important out in the yard," he answered, "but priorities first." He stepped toward the wall and placed his hand on it. To my surprise, the wall looked solid once again. "Something tells me this kind of ghost isn't supposed to exist in this world, so how–"
The hedgehog was interrupted as several stones in the wall launched themselves out of place, clattering at our feet and causing us to jump back in fright. Where the rocks used to be, there was now an ethereal purple portal leading into the realm of the supernatural. From within came childlike laughter, albeit with a sinister undertone to it.
Almost immediately after we had processed what was happening, three long ghostly hands stretched out of the portal, blindly feeling for us in the dark corridor.
"Run!" ordered Sonic.
My heart beat a mile a minute as my friends and I took off running in no particular direction. But we had only made it a few steps when I heard Tails cry out in terror from right behind me. Turning around, I saw him being dragged back to the portal by two hands. One was clenching around his right arm, while the other firmly grasped his twin tails. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, and the pure fear on his face riveted me to the spot.
Immediately acting, Sonic tried to make a grab for the transparent hands, but he phased right through them. In the next split second, he grasped Tails' hands in his own with what looked like an iron grip of determination.
"I gotcha, buddy," he said through gritted teeth.
"S-Sonic…" Tails squeaked.
But the hedgehog maintained his footing. "I'm not letting go."
"B-B-But you have to!" Tails protested, his struggles visibly lessening against his supernatural captors. "O-otherwise… they'll take you too!"
"You and I both know I don't give up that easily," Sonic stated.
"I know you'll find a way to get us out!" Tails said, his voice getting weaker. "Sonic… you have to let go… There's no other way…"
It was a really tense moment, and I was unable to take my eyes off the scene. Amy too was speechless as Sonic debated on what to do. His next action would decide the fate of his long-time brother.
"Listen…" Sonic spoke, his voice strained under emotion I had never heard coming from him. "I hate to do this, and I hope I don't regret it, but… I'm coming back for you, okay?"
With that promise, he let go of Tails' hands, and Amy shouted the fox's name as he was quickly pulled into the purple portal. I was too scared to do anything. Too scared to cry, too scared to speak, too scared to–
"I told you to run!" shouted Sonic, right before the hands came back and grabbed him, wrapping themselves around his waist and pinning his right arm to his side. He visibly looked constricted.
"Sonic!" both Amy and I shouted at the same time.
The hedgehog threw a large stone object toward me, one that I didn't realize he had been holding onto this whole time. It fell short and landed on the floor, rolling to a stop at my feet.
It looked strangely familiar…
"That may have something to do with all this!" he urgently shouted. "Now go!"
Shaken from my trance, I took off running, completely forgetting to pick up the object Sonic had tossed to me. Amy quickly followed behind me.
Something grazed the back of my leg in the slightest. The ghost hands were much longer than I thought. It caused a weird tickling sensation, and I held back the urge to scream.
"Don't look back!" warned Amy.
Far behind us, we heard the sound of stones sliding together. I could not resist the urge and looked back anyway to see that the stones were levitating themselves off the floor and were resealing the portal. The laughter stopped, just like that. The hall was dead silent once again, as if nothing had ever happened.
Our adreanlin rush started to wear off, and my legs felt like jelly. My breathing was fast and shallow. I could feel my heart beating in my head. Only now did I realize what had just happened, and what I very nearly avoided.
While all I felt was fear, Amy was feeling a combination of sadness and anger boiling within her core. She whipped out her hammer, causing me to take a step back, and slammed it against the wall in blind emotion, each impact reverberating through the ancient hall.
I stood back and let Amy take out her emotions on the wall. Opting to check out the object Sonic had been holding on to. As I glanced down at it, I realized why it looked familiar.
It was the hourglass-shaped object from the castle's yard.
I picked it up – it was heavier than it looked – and examined both of its flat ends. On one side was a picture of the sun. On the other side was the moon. Both images were chiseled in great detail, and looked as they might back in colonial times.
After a minute, the hollow thuds of Amy's hammer ceased, and the pink hedgehog slowly put away her hammer. The tears that had been threatening to leak from her eyes finally gave way, and she broke down.
Now I had never been in a situation like this before. There were times that Cream had cried about something, but Amy or Sonic had always been there to comfort her. But I had never seen Amy, or Tails, or Sonic cry before, ever. Being alone with a Mobian who was emotionally distraught was new for me, especially when I was the only one there, so I didn't know what to do.
I approached Amy and bent down, slowly patting her back, hoping the soothing motion would eventually calm her. To my surprise, she turned and wrapped her arms tightly around me as she openly cried into my shoulder. This took me aback. I may have been a little uncomfortable, but that wasn't what I was thinking about. I gently hugged her back, and we remained like that for the next few minutes. In fact, I even shed a few tears myself.
The awful reality of our situation hit hard. It had been a peaceful night after a long day of filming. No one would have thought that Blair Castle was haunted. We had just witnessed all of our friends being abducted by supernatural beings. Now only me and Amy were left. We were now alone together in an ancient castle.
Blair Castle – Sat March 12; 11:39 PM – Third-person POV
Chris and Amy were sitting in silence in the former's room roughly ten minutes later.
They had been discovered by a few members of the film crew who happened to be passing through that part of the castle. Of course, their curiosity got the better of them, and they asked what happened. One explanation from Chris later, since Amy was an emotional wreck, they said they would call the police in the morning. Through her tears, Amy tried to tell them that it wasn't good enough, that they needed to save their friends now. The crew members apologized, saying there was nothing more they could do.
Minute after minute of anguish passed. Neither of them spoke. No words would come. Their friends were gone, taken away by some supernatural force, and there was nothing they could do to get them back.
Chris sat there on one side of the bed, absent-mindedly rubbing his hand on the smooth surface of the hourglass. It felt heavy on his lap, but he wasn't in the right mindset to care. Amy, on the other hand, was sitting on the adjacent side of the bed, with the corner between them. She had long removed what she had called her warrior feather. It was a relic from Mobius she had come upon by pure luck when it was her turn to fly around the world with Tails.
Chris finally broke the silence, his voice still wavering from his fright. "…Sonic said the ghosts were familiar…" he said quietly.
"They're called Boos…" Amy whispered without looking up. "Knuckles told me about them."
"So… they're from Mobius?"
"Yes… but I don't know how they got here."
"What if it was Chaos Control?"
Amy was silent for a moment as she pondered this possibility. "That sounds like the only logical explanation," she said. "Perhaps they were close enough to Eggman's base to be transported here."
The pink hedgehog finally looked up, and noticed the stone hourglass on Chris' lap. She reached over and lifted it off of Chris' lap. Chris wasn't expecting this, but he didn't react.
"This was outside…" Amy quietly remarked.
"Sonic said it had something to do with the ghosts…" Chris said, still staring blankly at where the hourglass rested on his lap. "That was before they got him."
Amy turned the stone over, examining it. "So it must be some kind of talisman, then," she commented.
"I guess…" replied Chris.
After another moment, Amy set the talisman down on the floor, then flopped onto the bed with a sigh.
"I'm never gonna sleep tonight," she groaned.
Deep down, as Chris made his way over to his own bed, he knew he wouldn't sleep either. He debated saying what came to his mind next.
"I… I think I almost saw them tonight…" he said. Amy sat up in interest.
"Wait, what...?" Amy replied quietly. Chris nodded.
"Yeah... I was getting some water from the bathroom, and for some reason… it felt like… something told me not to look in the mirror…" He shuddered at the memory. "I think there might have been ghosts in the mirror…"
"And you didn't tell us?" Amy questioned, now concerned.
"Well… i-it's just I was afraid you wouldn't believe me," Chris admitted. "Tails even said there was nothing to worry about."
"Tails is terrified of ghosts," explained Amy, adjusting her position against the pillows. "I think he was trying to be brave for you."
So that explains why he was nervous when I asked him if he believed in ghosts, thought Chris.
"Amy," Chris began, "is everyone going to be okay?"
"I honestly don't know…" Amy said, starting to feel depressed once again. "From what I know, the Boos aren't capable of creating portals the way they did."
The room was silent for another minute, until Chris spoke. "I can't even think about sleeping alone after tonight."
"Me neither…" Amy whispered. "Chris… c-can I sleep with you tonight?"
"Y-Yeah," granted Chris without hesitation. Normally there was a thing about boys and girls sleeping together, but Chris' mind was innocent, and besides, both of them were too scared to sleep alone.
They said their good nights to each other, and an eerie silence reigned again. Normally Chris would have probably gone on his phone to try to forget about everything, but this time, he just didn't feel like it. His eyes simply refused to close, even when he tried to force them shut, so he just lay there, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.
Amy could not get any sleep either. She glanced down at the talisman resting on the floor, her mind on her friends. Would Cream, Cheese, Ella, and Mrs. Thorndyke be okay. Most importantly, would Sonic be okay?
She inwardly smiled, even if it felt forced. Of course he would be fine; he had gotten out of even the toughest situations, with or without help. And this time, it seemed that her hero would need rescuing this time.
But would she and Chris be able to do it? These were ghosts, after all. She hoped they would be able to get to the bottom of this in the morning… this is, if either of them could get any sleep. A restless night was inevitable.
Blair Castle – Sun March 13; 10:23 AM – Chris' POV
It took us much longer than it should have to finish eating breakfast the next morning.
Director Shaw let us go first, since he and the film crew prioritized speaking with the police when they arrived. The officers asked us a few questions, but I didn't think they could do anything about it, since they didn't specialize in ghosts.
Amy and I only got three hours of sleep apiece, so naturally, we were very tired. I never bothered to change into my pajamas from last night, so I was still wearing yesterday's clothes. While I didn't mind eating outside at the picnic area that was still set up from the previous night, the only reason we ate outside was because neither the director nor the police wanted us being inside the castle for any reason, and I could understand why.
I absent-mindedly listened to the birds chirping in the trees surrounding the ancient castle, as if nothing wrong happened last night. I wished I could have enjoyed the scenery, but it was hard to think straight with a combination of exhaustion and shock. In fact, Amy and I hardly said anything to each other, though I was starting to suspect that Amy had a familiar determined look in her eye.
"Did you happen to bring the talisman down from our room?" she asked out of the blue after we finished eating.
The talisman… I had almost forgotten about it.
"What about it?" I asked.
"I wanted to see if it had some kind of connection with the pedestal it was sitting on," Amy explained.
"Oh, no, I didn't," I said. "Maybe I should have."
"It's okay, I'll go get it. Wait here," Amy instructed, turning toward the castle.
"But wait, no!" I countered, raising my hand to stop her, not that it would do any good. "They don't want you in there until the police check it out!"
"I'm only gonna be like five minutes!" Amy called behind her. I sighed. Once she got this determined, there was no stopping her.
As much as I loved to go on adventures with Sonic, no one brought quite as much spunk and determination to the field like Amy. As Sonic once said, she was "the glue that holds the team together." She was like an older sister to me by just a couple months, and an excellent source of encouragement.
Fortunately, I had not seen any other signs of ghost activity since Sonic was dragged into the portal. I found it to be both a good thing and a bad thing. It begged a few questions. Where was everyone taken? Would they be okay?
I was really grateful that not only was I not captured, but someone else wasn't either. If I was the only one not captured, I wouldn't know what to do besides mope. And there was no way I would want to find out firsthand what was on the other side of the portal.
"All right, I'm back!" called a voice from behind me. Turning, I saw Amy returning with the talisman; somehow, she made it look lighter than it really was. I noted that she was cheerier now than she was at breakfast.
"Did they see you?" I asked, astonished at how she wasn't caught.
A smug look crossed her features. "Nope," she stated matter-of-factly, emphasizing the P. "Anyway, now that I can think clearer, I just took a look at the symbols on this thing. I don't know your world's history too well, but they look pretty ancient from what I can tell."
"I think so too," I agreed. "They look like they could mean something, but I don't know what."
"Well, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Amy declared. "Now let's go check out that pedestal!"
Amy took off running across the yard, and I found that it took more energy than I thought I needed to match her pace. The stone talisman looked like it weighed next to nothing in her grasp. Then again, so did her hammer. She once let me hold it; it too was surprisingly heavy, but for some reason, I kept feeling like it could disappear at any time. Aside from that random nugget, it really reminded me of Thor's hammer.
Once we reached the pedestal nearly thirty seconds later, I marveled that it was larger than I thought. It was almost as tall as me, that was for sure. There was a circular slot where the talisman used to rest. At a glance, it looked pretty ordinary, being made of smooth stone on all five exposed sides, until I noticed something that didn't look completely smooth. There was ancient English text etched into the weathered stone.
"Hey Amy, come check this out!" I quietly called. The hedgehog quickly came to my side. About that time I made out the words. Apparently it was a riddle of some sort.
"Betwixt the earth and moonlit sky
Olden souls roam by and by
When pass the beacon o'er this land
King's reign ending is at hand"
"I don't get it," Amy commented after scanning it for the second time.
"Me neither," I seconded.
"Well, it's definitely a riddle, that's for sure," said Amy. "Where there's a riddle, there's a mystery."
I glanced up at the castle. "For all we know, it doesn't have anything to do with ghosts."
"But Sonic found the talisman here," Amy pointed out. "He also said it may have something to do with the ghosts."
After studying the riddle again, I shook my head. "I never did believe in ghosts… well, at least not until last night. I don't think they're inside the castle anymore. The director said he searched the whole place top to bottom."
Amy set down the talisman on the grass. "Well, there has to be another way in, just in case."
The gears in my head began to turn. Another way in. There was the front door, which we used. There were also a few other doors around the perimeter of the fortification, but by now there would be police everywhere, so it would be too risky. And then–
"I just thought of something," I said out of the blue.
"What?" Amy became interested.
"What if this thing is hiding a secret entrance?"
Amy's eyes widened slightly. "That's a thought…" she mused. "You may be on to something there, Chris. Of course, there's only one way to find out." She materialized her hammer in her grasp. "Okay, stand back."
"Wait," I said, holding my hand out to stop her before she raised her weapon. "For all we know, this might not even be an entrance. But just to make sure, I wanna try something."
I squatted down and reached toward the base of the pedestal, feeling along the area where the stone pillar met the ground.
"Are you looking for an air current?" Amy asked, leaning on the handle of her hammer.
I looked up, confused. That wasn't quite what I had in mind.
"'Cuz if this pedestal really is hiding a tunnel, then there has to be a draft somewhere."
"A draft…" I repeated, before returning to what I was doing. "I was looking for a switch or something, but a draft sounds even better."
Amy set down her hammer and also bent down to help me find a current. I hadn't noticed any air on my hand from beneath, so what if there was no current? Then how else would we rescue our friends?
"I wouldn't expect to find a switch on something this ancient," Amy told me.
I nodded. "Yeah, I thought so. It was probably worth a try though."
I momentarily thought back to the riddle. I could see how it might have to do with ghosts, but at the same time, I couldn't quite seem to connect the dots. I didn't want to get up to look at it again yet.
At last my hand stopped over a bare part of the ground untouched by grass. There it was, the current we were searching for. Perhaps it was worth the grass stains my pants were probably getting.
"I think I found it? I'm not sure," I announced. Amy walked over and felt the same spot I had felt. A satisfied smile crossed her face.
"I think we just made our breakthrough," she declared.
I, on the other hand, was confused. "Wait, how can you feel a draft through your gloves?"
A shrug was the only answer I got, and I decided not to question further. Mobian logic racked my brain sometimes…
The pink hedgehog headed back and retrieved her hammer. "Okay, now stand back," she instructed. I did as she requested, and as she prepared the swing, I guessed it would take more than one hit for the ancient pedestal to budge.
I flinched as the hammer made a crushing impact on the side of the stone slab. Surprisingly, one blow was all it took. In spite of an impact zone on its otherwise flawless surface, the pedestal was completely moved aside. And that was why I thought it wise to never underestimate Amy Rose.
We were rewarded with a yawning abyss and a set of stairs leading into the unknown. I didn't think I would be excited to see something like that, but this was progress.
"Looks like our work paid off!" cheered Amy as we shared a high-five. "Now we're another step closer to rescuing everyone."
And that was when I thought of another problem we would inevitably face.
As she put away her hammer, Amy's expression changed to one of concern when she noticed that I was warily looking back in the direction of the castle.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I… I kinda feel weird about this," I admitted. "Shouldn't we maybe tell this to the police first? 'Cuz I don't think we'll ever hear the end of it if they found out two kids went down a dark tunnel on their watch, not to mention it might also be haunted."
"Well…" Amy seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment. "Normally that's a good idea. But Chris, the police don't know what they're getting into. These are literal ghosts from Mobius with more power than they can handle." She looked back at the hole we had unearthed. "We have to do this ourselves; it's the only way we can free everyone."
I opened my mouth to argue, but realized that she was right about all this, and not just because of her knowing smile.
"Of course, you don't have to come," Amy said in a somewhat teasing tone, "but you can't chicken out now, not when we came so far!" Then she added in a more assuring voice, "But seriously, if you're scared, you can always stay up here. I don't blame you."
Rubbing my arm, I took another uneasy glance down at the hole. If I had to listen to common sense, I wouldn't go down there if there was money on the line, not that we needed a lot more of it. Rather, my friends were on the line, and that was why I felt like I had to go.
"To be honest, I… feel like I would be more scared up here alone than if I had someone to be with down there. And… and if you get caught… I-I can't do anything to help!"
"Chris, it's okay," Amy told me, sounding not only reassuring, but also determined. "But you do make a fair point. In that case, we should stick together. And if anything happens, I can protect both of us."
"There's still one more problem, Amy," I realized. "How are we going to see when we go down there? It's not like we have flashlights or anything."
"Oh, yeah…" Amy sounded a little disappointed. "Oh, maybe you could use your phone?" she suggested. "Actually, I can use mine too just as well."
"I don't know if it's gonna work that well," I brought up.
"You don't have to doubt yourself!" she encouraged, extending her hand to me. "Just put your screen on max brightness, and tell yourself you're doing this for Sonic, for your mom!"
Even though I had no idea what to expect once we entered the realm of the unknown, I knew I could trust Amy to protect us and get us to safety if anything went wrong. Perhaps I could prove myself useful once again.
"Okay," I said quietly, taking Amy's offered hand in my own. "Let's do this."
I pulled out my phone and unlocked it; otherwise, I would only have to turn it on again after the sleep timer went off. Then I swiped down from the top of the screen and set the brightness to the highest setting, squinting at its suddenness. Turning, I saw that Amy had done the same.
I glanced over at the talisman still resting on the ground. "Wait, hold on," I said as I walked over to pick it up. Amy was confused at first, her mouth open to question what I was going, but nodded in understanding instead.
"That's a good idea," she said as I lifted the heavy stone. It was rather difficult to hold both it and my phone at the same time. In fact, I had to set my phone down and use both hands to lift the stone. "Sonic did say that thing has something to do with all this."
"It's actually pretty heavy," I commented. "I don't think I can carry my phone too."
"Then you carry that and I'll light the way, okay?"
"All right," I agreed. I set the talisman down to pocket my phone, then lifted it again and joined my friend at the top of the stairs. She pointed her phone down the passage, its light dancing off the ancient, grimy walls. She descended first, then me.
"Stay close to me," she cautioned. "It may get really dangerous really fast."
As we walked down the steps, which were surprisingly close together, I began to notice the air getting colder around us. In fact, if I had to guess, it must have been a good fifteen to twenty degrees colder. It wasn't quite chilly enough for me to need a jacket, but it was getting there.
As my eyes started to acclimate to the dark, I noticed the occasional patches of moss on the stone walls. I didn't know what this passage was used for back when the castle was settled, but it may have led to a cellar or hidden bunker where the castle's inhabitants would hide during a siege, or so I imagined.
I could clearly hear the sound of every step we took reverberating throughout the stairwell. It was quite eerie, but not as eerie as the amplified sound of our own breathing.
This whole time, I felt uneasy in my stomach. I kept nervously glancing around, half-expecting something to jump out at us at any second. All I wanted was my friends back. I didn't know that there were going to be ghosts at the castle when we landed here. Even Amy didn't know that they had inadvertently been sent here from Mobius, and that was scary in itself.
"So, uh…" I started, looking behind us for maybe the fourth time, "what can these ghosts do? Like... what are their powers?"
"I wish I knew," Amy replied. "It's been so long since Knuckles fought them that I can't remember what he said about them. All I know about them is that they're dangerous."
I was silent after that. At the same time, I both did and didn't want to know how dangerous they were. If they were capable of bodily dragging people through portals, then they had to be capable of other things as well. What exactly, I feared I would find out for myself.
Suddenly Amy shrieked from in front of me, causing my heart to leap out of my chest. I tightened my grasp on the talisman, and was surprised that Amy hadn't dropped her phone in her fright. We both paused for a moment to calm our racing hearts. All the while, I wondered what had scared her. I couldn't see anything after scanning the stairwell.
"S-Sorry," Amy spoke, voice quivering. "A drop of water fell on me." She paused for a second. "I guess my nerves are up more than I thought."
"Yeah," I whispered. "Maybe we should keep talking… then it won't be too quiet."
Amy silently nodded in agreement, and we continued downward.
"So…" the hedgehog started. "What do we want to talk about?"
"Uh…" I was just starting to think of something when Amy beat me to it.
"The other day, I thought, 'What if I open a diner somewhere in Station Square?'" she monologued. "I don't mind if it's small, but if I do open a diner, I can use all the skills Ella taught me."
I hummed in interest.
"Of course, it's just an idea," she finished. "Maybe I'll do it, maybe not, but it probably depends on how long we're all here."
"You know, Tails mentioned a job too," I commented. "Last month when I was with him during the world tour, he mentioned something about maybe opening a hardware store or something… or was it a repair shop? I don't remember."
"That sounds like something he might do," said Amy, already not sounding as scared of the unknown. "If he does do that, then we could all have businesses and make lots of money!"
"But…" I had just thought of a downside to all this. "Would that mean seeing a lot less of you, if you get an apartment or something…?"
"Oh no, it's not like I'm really moving out or anything!" Amy assured. "Besides, your grandpa told us about you, and how much you had been hurting for friends, so I'm not about to leave you now." She squeezed my hand in a comforting way. "I promise, we're gonna stay with you until it's time for us to go back home, okay?"
I already felt myself crawling into my skin at that prospect. Anything but that…
"Chris, you would still have your other friends. You know, Danny, Frances, Helen? You still have them."
"But they're not the same–"
I was interrupted by the sound of something from the other side of the darkness. There was no way to tell what it was, but if I had to guess, it was something falling to the floor, its impact reverberating off of the walls.
"What was that?" Amy questioned, her voice sounding a few tones higher than normal.
"I don't know," I breathed. "I don't know if I want to find out."
It didn't seem like I had a choice either way, as the sound happened again. It became clear that it was a clicking sound that repeated every second or so, with each click getting closer. Then we saw what was causing it. Rows of torches were lighting themselves along the walls of the chamber we had just entered now that we had finished descending the staircase.
Not only were we taken by surprise, but we were also forced to shield our eyes at the sudden purple light the torches were giving off. I didn't know why the flames were purple instead of orange, but it just made things creepier.
"Wha… how… how did that happen?" I stuttered.
Amy looked around us. The light illuminated an ancient wooden door in the distance - one of two I saw in the chamber.
"Your guess is as good as mine," she said. "But anyway, I guess I won't be needing this." She shut off her phone's screen and stored it back in Hammerspace. "I really hope this isn't a trap…"
Then I thought of something important, something I should have asked in hindsight.
"Amy, what do I do if we actually see the ghosts?"
"Well… try to stay calm, first of all," she said after a moment. "The one thing I just remembered about them is that they feed off their victims' fear. It makes them stronger." Amy shuddered as she said this.
I was in a state of disbelief. If they were literally capable of doing that, then we were done for. I wanted to question it, but all that came out was:
"Wh… They feed off of their victim's… That can't be real."
"But it is real, Chris," Amy said. "We need to face the facts. Just try to stay as calm as you can and hopefully they won't–"
Amy's voice died in her throat, and we both cried out as four shapes moved through the door ahead of us as if it wasn't there. The ghosts had arrived.
They were moving toward us very quickly, probably faster than I could run, all the while laughing the same way I had heard them laugh when the portal opened up last night.
I found myself cowering at the terrifying faces that immediately replaced their innocent cute ones. I was scared, and they were coming for us. For me in particular, I assumed; I was their best source of fear power.
I couldn't believe it. I was done for.
In a flash, Amy impulsively grabbed the talisman from me and held it over her head defensively, possibly offensively, although I didn't know how well it would work as a weapon.
But something happened. The laughing stopped. Just like that.
Now it sounded like the ghosts were whimpering. I dared to look up, and saw that they were hovering back the way they came at a decent clip, trying to get away from us. They floated through the door and out of sight, leaving us both relieved and confused.
I stood stock-still, allowing my racing heart to calm down, as Amy lowered the stone hourglass.
"What happened…?" I asked uncertainly. "Why didn't they… Did you do something…?"
Amy looked down at the talisman in awe. "This might have scared them off…" she mused. "If that's the case…" She looked up with that familiar glint of determination. "Then we've got ourselves a weapon. Now let's go!"
Spurred on by her inner drive, she tucked the talisman under one arm, took my hand, and bolted across the room. The fact that she was able to carry the heavy stone like that didn't surprise me as much as her being able to run quickly with said stone. In fact, I actually had trouble keeping up with her, and that was saying a lot because I always thought I could run faster than any of the Mobians I had met, except for Sonic, obviously, and Knuckles.
Once we reached the big wooden door, Amy let go of my hand and motioned for me to stop. She set down the talisman and grasped the door's handle. However, she paused, understandably hesitant to open it.
"I don't know if I want to do this," she admitted.
"But we have to," I persuaded. "I mean, this is where we saw the ghosts went."
"I know," said Amy. "We're gonna have to just grin and bear it." She returned her focus to the door. "Now let's see if this door still opens."
She pulled on the handle slowly, and we were rewarded with movement as the door pivoted on its hinges. As it did so, it emitted a loud and ominous groan that sent shivers down my spine. It probably hadn't been used in years. In fact, the two of us might have been the first people in the cellar in well over a hundred years. If that was the case, then it could have served as an excellent bomb shelter during World War II.
Amy peeked through the crack in the door, and I was afraid to look, just in case the ghosts were in there. I didn't like being scared, so the thought of something paranormal jumping out at me… perish the thought.
"Do you… see anything in there…?" I asked.
"Yes…" Amy said, before pulling back from the door to look at me. "The ghosts just went through another door." She leaned down to pick up the talisman once more. "I'll go first."
The door was ajar, but not enough for me to fit through. I took hold of it and pulled gently, wincing at the groans the hinges made. At least it wasn't a regrettable choice.
"If the ghosts could grab people like yesterday," I spoke once I finished with the door, "can you use your hammer on them?"
"Chris, these are ghosts we're dealing with," Amy said. "They can change their physical properties any time they want. Not even Sonic couldn't do anything to them yesterday, and if he can't do anything, neither can I."
By now we had cautiously entered the next room, and Amy was holding out the ancient stone hourglass like it was an object that could ward off the ghosts. This room was also lit by the purple torches, and there was a small set of steps leading down to the door Amy had pointed out moments before.
"Then how do we beat them?" I pressed.
"I don't know," replied Amy. "I mean, yeah, this thing is pretty helpful, but it can only do us so much good against a whole army of them."
We neared the door, and the pit in my stomach made itself more apparent. That was the feeling of dread I had unfortunately become familiar with over the course of the past twelve hours. Something told me our destination was behind this door. Our friends, and our potential fate.
We reached the door, which I noted was smaller than the door we had just come through. I hoped to myself it wouldn't squeak as loud as the other door. It was really unsettling.
"Are you ready for this…?" Amy asked me, unsure of her own readiness.
I started fidgeting. "…No…" I admitted. "I'm not…"
"Me neither," Amy quietly said. "I'm just as scared as you are. But it's too late to go back now; we're so close."
I made a move to open the door, but stopped. Did I really want to do this? I was scared, and Amy said she was too. But we had to do this. There was no other way we could all make it out alive.
With sweating hands, I pulled the door open. It too creaked, though not as loudly as the first door, which we hadn't bothered closing. I thought it was for the better, in case we had to make a quick getaway.
Behind the door was yet another room. Like the two rooms before it, it was bare-bones, and lit by purple torches. However, it didn't take us long to see that this room was different than the others. Notably, it had what looked like a large window, complete with a windowsill, but instead of glass or an open space, there was more of the stone wall that made up the rest of the room.
"Dead end," I audibly noted. "But… there's nowhere else for them to go."
"Then why would they lead us here?" Amy wondered. She shifted the talisman's position in her hands as she started to piece things together. "Unless–"
The door slammed shut behind us.
And locked itself.
Amy screamed as all the torches were simultaneously snuffed out, plunging us in total darkness.
I stood still, not daring to move. I knew Amy was next to me, but I couldn't tell how close or far away she was.
"I-I-I'll get my phone," I muttered as I reached for my pocket. But I found that I didn't need to, for in the next moment, an eerie purple light shone above us, filling the room. It was weird, but the soft glow it caused was strangely soothing if I had the mental capacity to think about it.
But it wasn't the light I was focused on. It was who was in it. Floating in the ethereal mist above us were the unconscious forms of Sonic, Tails, Cream, Cheese, Ella, and Mom!
Or so I thought Sonic was unconscious. He hadn't been moving this whole time, but it turned out he was awake, for he was now looking down at us in both relief and urgency.
"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed. "You said something about this stone having something to do with the ghosts?"
"Yeah, about that?" Sonic called, his voice sounding farther away than he really was. "I think I figured out what the riddle outside meant! You guys saw it too, right?"
"Yeah, we did," I responded. I was starting to get an idea of what it could have meant, but I decided to hear Sonic out on this one.
"Since we're kinda pressed for time here, I'll spare ya the details, but all you have to do…"
Then Sonic's voice became something more hideous and deep, which threw me. Furthermore, a few ripples spread through the void above us.
"…is insert the talisman into the slot on the windowsill with the moon side facing upward."
Even creepier, Sonic's mouth seemed to be moving differently than the words spoke, which meant Sonic must have been trying to say something else.
"Okay," Amy declared. "I'll do it."
I was stunned. Did she not just hear how Sonic sounded? I didn't know if the sun or moon sides of the stone meant anything, but I was able to figure out from "Sonic's" words that the moon side was bad.
"Amy, what are you doing?! That's not him!" I hissed as Amy started toward the windowsill.
"Relax, Chris," Amy told me. "Sonic knows what he's doing."
"But didn't you hear him?" I raised my voice, now irritated. "He didn't sound like Sonic."
"Don't be silly; of course he sounds like Sonic."
I was stunned at Amy's responses. Why was she going along with the ghosts' plan?! Didn't she know?
I cast a fearful glance at Sonic, who looked like he was desperately trying to tell Amy to stop, but the words he spoke didn't match.
"That's right, Amy. Have the moon side face upward. Then we shall be free again."
Just then, I noticed the ripples in the void fading away, and I could hear Sonic's normal voice again.
Those ripples are mind control indicators… I thought. I shook my head. Snap out of it! You gotta stop Amy!
"Don't do it, Amy!" Sonic desperately shouted as I bolted toward Amy. "The ghosts want you to– uh-oh…"
Just as I reached Amy, the talisman in her hands made contact with the slot it was apparently made for. Even worse, the moon side was showing.
And it was glowing.
When the glow died down seconds later, I started to hear a whooshing sound from above us. Turning, I gasped as I saw the purple portal spreading across the entire ceiling of the room. But it wasn't the portal that scared me as much as what came out of it.
Amy let out a shriek, for we were laying our eyes on the biggest ghost we had ever seen. It was about as big as the first door we had come through. The only part of it that wasn't unnerving was its rainbow-colored tongue that protruded from its giant mouth. This had to be the leader of the ghosts.
And it wasn't alone. It was flanked by at least a dozen Boos, or whatever Amy called them.
"Amy Rose, I thank you for releasing us into the realm of the living," it spoke. I was surprised to hear that its voice was exactly the same as the one I had heard Sonic – or rather, not Sonic – speaking in moments ago.
It seemed that Amy understood this ghost for what it was. She heard the voice it really used. She finally pieced it all together.
She had been tricked.
"What have I done…" whispered Amy, her hands already balling into fists. I glanced up at Sonic, who was trying to say something, but it came out muffled – probably an effect of the talisman.
From experience, I knew an event like this was the prelude to Amy's wrath, and I knew better than to get in her way when she was like this. I cautiously backed away as she glared daggers at the ghosts.
"You…" she growled, her voice rising. "You deceived me… You tricked me using my own Sonic!"
Out came her hammer, and with a passionate battle cry, she leaped into the air toward the giant ghost. However, it anticipated this move and faded away, causing the hedgehog to waste the energy she had put into a mighty swing. She struggled to maintain her balance upon landing, and almost toppled forward from the momentum.
The giant ghost reappeared a few feet behind her. With one swift move, he easily grabbed the unsuspecting Amy from behind, and she cried out as she was lifted into the air.
"Join me, my servant," the ghost beckoned as Amy struggled to no avail. I wanted so desperately to help, but knew I could do nothing at all.
One of the smaller ghosts entered her open mouth, and she immediately went limp. Once the pink hedgehog was still, the large ghost set her down surprisingly gently, then backed away and vanished along with the other ghosts.
I didn't move for a moment. I was afraid to. Were the ghosts really gone? Or were they up to something else? Either way, it didn't feel like it could get much worse than this.
"Chris?" I heard Sonic's voice from above me. "You okay down there, bud?"
I was surprised that I could hear him now. Earlier his voice sounded extremely muffled to the point where I couldn't make out any words. His voice was still slightly muffled, but it wasn't as bad anymore. Maybe it had something to do with the ghosts' presence in the room. In any case, I could hear him again.
"I-I…" I didn't know how to respond. Clearly it wasn't okay. Everyone, including Sonic was captured. Amy, the only one left who was capable of fending for themselves, was out cold. Now it was just me.
I gingerly tiptoed toward the unconscious form of Amy. I had to wake her up if we were to get out of here alive.
"Uh, Chris, I wouldn't get too close if I were you," warned Sonic.
I stopped, throwing an inquisitive glance up at Sonic. "Why?"
"Long story short, she just got possessed, and she could attack you without warning."
I shivered. What a ghastly thought.
"So, uh… You should probably flip the talisman back over. You're the only one who can do this. I believe in you," he said with a thumbs-up.
"O-okay," I said. "Just… flip it over…"
I slowly moved toward the window, casting a wary glance at Amy.
Her eyes snapped open.
I screamed.
She was downright terrifying. Amy was no longer the cute, energetic friend who had a crush on Sonic. She was now a living nightmare, her face twisted and distorted to look like the other ghosts. Her eyes penetrated deep into mine with their wrath. And the teeth… they looked like something out of an R-rated horror movie.
"Your soul will make an ideal sacrifice for King Boom Boo," she hissed in an unearthly (or un-Mobian) tone.
And then she produced her hammer.
"Chris, run!" Sonic shrieked as Amy started to bear down on me. She was only ten feet away, but she was bridging the gap fairly quickly. I had to force myself to move my legs, as I was rooted to the spot in fear.
I couldn't remember the last time my fight-or-flight was this bad. I was literally running for my life… from my own friend.
"Amy, stop!" I shouted, hoping that would do something.
"It's not gonna work!" Sonic exclaimed, before pointing to the window. "The hourglass! Flip the hourglass!"
It felt so far away, mostly because I ran away from the window when I was forced to run. But now I had turned back toward it. I didn't know if I could make it in there, much less in one piece.
I had to jump to avoid a very close hammer swing, and I could almost feel the wind from her weapon inches from my back. My heart was pounding in overdrive. I didn't want to get a permanent spine dislocation coming out of this. I was too young to die.
"She's faster than me!" I shouted frantically. Sonic looked equally terrified for my safety.
"If you can't flip it, just knock it down!" Sonic urged. At this point, I had to. Amy was literally on top of me.
The talisman was finally within feet of me. I reached out to touch it…
…and then she struck.
Blair Castle - Cellar – Sun March 13; 10:52 PM – Sonic's POV
I squeezed my eyes shut the moment before the impact. I couldn't bring myself to see the inevitable. Right as it happened, I became aware of not one, but two objects landing on the stone floor.
The first I knew in my gut had to be Chris. Amy had actually knocked him out. There was no way he should have been conscious through that hit. I had seen the way Amy used that hammer; it left no Badnik survivors.
But Chris was not a Badnik.
The second object surprised me. It shouldn't have, but I figured Chris may have succeeded in removing the talisman from its resting place. If so, then it would no longer have control over the ghosts' realm. I looked up to see if I was right.
While Chris did indeed knock down the stone hourglass, my eyes were instead drawn to the unconscious Chris. Since I was still suspended about fifteen feet in the air thanks to the void, I couldn't tell where he was hurt, but I knew he would be–
No. I didn't want to think about it.
I could feel anger building within me. I wanted to avenge Chris for what the ghosts did to him. They used Amy against him, to prevent him from potentially stopping them. I couldn't be mad at Amy for that; it wasn't her fault.
The more I looked at the injured boy, the more I felt vengeance and retaliation building up. In fact, my fur began to darken ever so slightly. I had to suppress the negative Chaos energy that was beginning to spike within me.
I had given in to my negativity and become fully dark only once in my life, and that was during the war. In order to achieve such a state, I would have to be severely provoked with an event like a critical injury… or worse. And when I became Dark Sonic, I remembered that, while short-lasting, I gained powers that surpassed even my Super form. I became destructive and violent beyond my nature. And believe me, I hated every second of it.
I could feel a fraction of such awesome and terrifying power welling up in me already. And while I still had some sanity and control of my emotions, I figured I could put them to good use.
I had tried to spin-dash through the realm wall earlier, to no avail. But it was now weakened from the talisman being removed, and the emotional bolster I got was all I needed to shatter the barrier between me and Chris.
Although, I had to make the talisman my first priority. I had to prevent the ghosts from possibly coming back. Fortunately, the possessed Amy was no problem; she had backed away from me, clearly not expecting me to break out of my ghostly cell.
However, she recovered from her shock, and pulled out her hammer once more. She started toward me, but I was faster. I scooped up the talisman from next to Chris, and restored it in the window, double-checking to make sure the sun side was up.
The supernatural portal slowly faded away, and those still imprisoned inside were lowered gently to the ground. That was one problem out of the way. However, Amy was still possessed, but she was rooted to the spot due to the blinding yellow light the hourglass was emitting.
Next, I did something that I did the last time I dealt with Boos possessing people. I ran behind Amy, and karate-chopped the back of her neck to literally knock the ghost out of her. From experience, anyone who was priorly possessed would not feel the chop afterward.
The ghost flew out of her mouth and backed away from the light before fading away. Amy slumped over, and I caught her before she fell.
Her jade eyes slowly fluttered open, and already I felt my emerald eyes drawn to them–
No! Snap out of it! I reprimanded myself.
"Sonic…" she said quietly as I set her back on her feet. "You… You're free…"
I couldn't get a word in edgewise, because in the very next moment, she gasped at the sight of Chris' unconscious body.
"S-Sonic! What happened to him?!" she exclaimed, now starting to freak out. "Did… Did I do that?!"
In a flash, I was at Amy's side, comforting her before her emotions could carry her overboard.
"Hey, hey. It's not your fault, Ames," I soothed. "You didn't do it. It wasn't really you."
But Amy couldn't take her eyes off of Chris. She was now whimpering uncontrollably, about to break down. I was about to check on Chris, but my attention was diverted by several ghosts who were brave enough to rematerialize in the now brightly-lit room.
"We got company, Ames," I told her as calmly as I could. I smirked. "Go give 'em what for. You know you wanna."
Just like that, her emotions shifted from mourning to fury as she whipped out her hammer and turned to the ghosts. She leaped toward them without hesitation, her weapon being put to good use. I sure was grateful she was on my side… well, most of the time, anyway.
I figured that Chris would be okay by himself for a few moments, so I too leaped into the fray, using my fists and feet to take them out. It was amazing how they dropped like flies upon contact. In fact, it was almost like they weren't even putting up a fight.
However, that changed when the remaining four Boos backed away from us and regrouped. We watched as they merged together to form one large ghost, one I recognized as a Boom Boo.
"You don't intimidate me," Amy said. She brandished her hammer tighter, her voice rising a few tones. "I'll never forgive you for what you made me do to my friend!"
She went absolutely berserk on that ghost. I just stood there and let her do her thing. There was no holding her back.
With one final crushing hit, the Boom Boo was sent flying backward into the wall behind it. Even through her tears, Amy managed to spit out "Pathetic."
The ghosts were gone now, but that still left King Boom Boo. He was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was being a coward, hiding from the light the talisman was making.
"C'mon, let's go check on Chris," I gently told my distraught friend.
I slowly walked back in the direction of the unconscious human. Understandably, Amy hung back, not wanting to see the carnage she had inadvertently caused. I bent down next to Chris and inspected him for any visible injuries. I wasn't looking at the moment of the impact, so I had no clue where he was hit.
I started with his head. It looked okay so far, until I saw the front. I winced.
"He's got a nasty head wound for sure," I mused. I assumed he might have hit his head on the wall when falling from the impact. "Not too much blood, so that's a plus."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amy slowly approaching, having worked up the courage to do so. I continued checking Chris. I gently turned him onto his back, making sure his torso was okay. It was, but I noticed his legs didn't look right. I carefully felt his legs. Sure enough… That had to have been the impact zone.
"Is it bad…?" squeaked Amy.
"Well… uh…" I didn't know how to say it without making her more upset. "I think both his legs are fractured, his left one more so." I glanced down. "He's gonna need immediate hospital treatment."
Amy gingerly approached Chris, her tears flowing freely now, and collapsed next to him. "Chris… I'm so, so sorry…!" she sobbed.
I backed away to give her some space to let it out, and instead turned to the rest of the group who were collectively regaining consciousness. One face after another looked up, multiple pairs of eyes darting around the room in confusion.
"Wh… What happened…?" Lindsey groaned.
"Wh-where are we?" wondered Cream.
"H-Hey… good to see you're all awake," I said, trying to maintain my composure after what went down earlier. "I know you guys have questions, but for now, I just saved you from a bunch of ghosts that were haunting the castle we're staying at."
I was surprised at the blank faces I got in return.
"G-Ghosts?" Tails questioned, sounding a little nervous. I cocked a brow.
"You don't remember," I mused in surprise. I had forgotten that the ghosts were capable of wiping their victims' memories of their capture. I figured that was for the better, since last night was really scary, especially for Tails.
"Why is Amy crying…?" Cream wondered, her large floppy ears perking up. She sat up, and suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh my, what happened to Mr. Chris?!"
This immediately got everyone's attention. Ella, Lindsey, Tails, Cream and Cheese all got up and made their way over to Chris, gasps arising. I felt another twinge of darkness within me, the urge to avenge him kindling brightly. I had to hold it down. The others didn't need to know.
"My baby…" Lindsey whispered.
Since Amy was an emotional wreck, I decided to fill everyone in on what happened. As fast as possible, I explained the possession, the talisman, and the incident.
"You guys gotta get Chris out of here," I told them. "The king of the ghosts is still out there somewhere, and I still have to deal with him."
I clenched my fists. The darkness was still trying to escape me.
Ella and Tails reached Chris first and started to lift him up by the arms. They got additional help from Lindsey and Cream, who lifted his legs.
"His legs are broken," I cautioned with a wave of my hand, "so just… easy on him, okay?" It pained me to say that, it really did. "I gotta stay here and cover you guys." I gave an uneasy chuckle. "Take it slow, but not too slow. He's precious cargo."
Amy stuck close to Chris, her gaze never leaving him, while Lindsey was basically in a state of shock. As Tails, Ella, and Lindsey were already carrying the brunt of Chris, this allowed Cream to let go of him. She and Cheese made their way over to Amy to comfort her as everyone left the room.
Now that everyone was out, I turned to the center of the room, all cockiness now departed from me. Until now I had been struggling to suppress my level of negative Chaos energy, so as not to scare my friends. Of those formerly present in the room, only Tails and Amy had witnessed me at my worst.
Now I allowed my dark energy to surface, and my fur deepened to a navy blue. It wasn't enough to become fully dark, but just enough to pose a serious threat to anyone in my path, be it physical or, in this case, supernatural.
"I know you're here," I spoke, my voice lower and more menacing than I ever wanted it to be. "Come out where I can see you."
There was no reply. Perhaps it was to be expected.
"Look, I'm not playing around," I continued. "If you're going to come out, do it now."
Still nothing.
"I don't know if you're wise or cowardly to hide from me right now." I gave a dark chuckle. "I'd say cowardly. You showed your face to Knuckles back in your heyday, and yet you don't want to challenge me?"
I was practically listening to my own voice reverberating around the chamber at this point. I decided enough was enough.
"Fine, have it your way. I'm going to tend to a friend of mine. You know, the one who was hurt by your hand."
And with that, I swiped the talisman from its post, plunging the room into darkness once again, and dashed from the room. Once again I had to hold back the negativity, which was beginning to fade now that I had let off some steam.
It only took me two seconds to catch up with the others, who seemed to be having some difficulty carrying Chris up the stairs, what with the stairwell being pretty narrow.
"You might wanna step it up a bit," I warned. "The ghosts will probably be back any time now."
Crunching stones from behind us.
Speak of Devil Doom.
Deep within the cellar behind us, the sound of stones moving against each other filled our ears – it was quite creepy and unsettling. Time was of the essence.
"Here, Cream, take this," I told the rabbit before offering her the talisman. "Careful; it's mondo heavy."
Cream accepted the talisman, but its weight caused it to sag in her arms, so Cheese swooped over and helped to lift it. Next, I turned to Chris.
"Okay, I'll take Chris now. Just hand him over very carefully, okay?"
I put my arms under Chris and gently eased him out of Ella's and Tails' grasp. There wasn't much room for Lindsey to help, unfortunately.
"Be careful with my bambino," Ella cautioned.
"Always," I said, before rushing him to the surface and setting him down on the grass. Then I ran back to the others, who were now scrambling up the stairs as fast as they could go. Even though I could see King Boom Boo just a few yards behind them, I knew everyone would escape in time.
Tails and Cream were the first to emerge into daylight. They had to squint at how glary it was after being trapped in the dark for so long.
Next came Amy, whose mourning had been overcome by the adrenalin from escaping the king of the ghosts. I ran over and, taking their hands, helped Lindsey and Ella out of the prison. I then blew a raspberry at the giant ghost who was starting to slow down as he approached the daylight.
"Guess you were too slow, huh, big guy?" I taunted. "Well, better luck next time!"
Pulling out her hammer, Amy bashed the side of the pedestal into place, sealing the hole in the ground completely, and just in the nick of time. I noticed a second dent in it, probably from where she and Chris had entered to rescue us. I took the talisman back from Cream and set it down on the pedestal. I would have made a "sunny-side up" joke as I set it down with the correct side facing upward, but the moment was too tense.
Now that the nightmare had finally come to an end, everyone's attention returned to Chris, who still remained motionless on the grass. Cream and Lindsey started to shed a few tears, and Amy was trying her hardest to not completely lose it. I bent down next to him, slowly stroking his hair and face.
"Chris…" I whispered. "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you…" I rested my hand on his shoulder. "You'll pull through. I know you will. You're strong and always will be."
Tails bent down next to me, still visibly shaken and tears in his eyes as well. He placed two fingers on a certain spot on Chris' neck.
"He has a strong pulse," he stated, voice strained. "He's gonna be okay."
I became aware of voices in the distance. Looking up, I saw that Lindsey was no longer with us. She was running across the castle yard to tell the film crew and police what had happened.
"I can only hope the journalists don't report this story," Ella spoke. "That would be the last thing we need."
"Where are you going…?" Tails asked me as I stood up.
"Gotta arrange a hospital trip for Chris," I told him. "I could carry him there, but it's probably not as safe, not to mention I couldn't tell you where any hospitals are around here."
And with that, I took off, prepared to get Chris the help he needed.
A hospital – ?; ?:? PM – Chris' POV
The first thing I heard when I slowly opened my eyes was a soft beeping sound. Even though my vision was blurred and my memory was shot, I could tell that I was no longer where I was when I lost consciousness.
Besides the fact that I was in a hospital, so I deducted, I really didn't feel like myself. I was very groggy, even slightly sick. Perhaps the doctors had given me anesthesia to ease the pain I must have received, for I couldn't really feel much of anything. My mind was drawing blanks as to what happened that would have gotten me sent here.
I reached up to rub my eyes – they felt like they had been closed a really long time. That was when I noticed something attached to me – two somethings. One I recognized as a heart rate monitor. The other took a little time for me to think of what it was, but concluded that it was an IV needle.
I was definitely in the hospital.
I didn't need to reach up to know that my head was wrapped in something. I must have hit my head when passing out. Now that I was aware of it, I realized that I had a headache.
My gaze shifted to the foot of the bed, and I saw that both my legs were elevated above the level of my heart. It felt strange, not lying down completely flat, but if they had to raise my legs, that must have meant something happened to them.
Over the next five minutes, while a nurse checked my vital signs and progress of the healing, I racked my brain trying to think of how I wound up here. I couldn't remember much pain at all, which, in hindsight, was a good thing. Or was it?
The last thing I remembered seeing was a large, hourglass-shaped stone about the size of an encyclopedia.
And then it all came back to me.
Amy and I had gone down into the castle's cellar to find and rescue Sonic and the others, who had all been captured by ghosts. One of the ghosts had imitated Sonic's voice and caused her to set the talisman down with the moon side up. That must have given the ghosts the extra power they needed to break free of the void. Then one of them had possessed Amy, and she had knocked me out before I could reach the talisman to set everything right.
I had to be honest with myself; I didn't know if I could see Amy the same way again after that. While it was her that did it… it wasn't her at the same time. I couldn't have been her fault that I was in the hospital.
I looked around the room, now feeling very alone. My gaze shifted to the window on the other end of the room, and to the setting sun. If it was already evening, that meant I had been out cold for quite a while.
A chill ran through me as I had another thought. Was everyone okay? Did they make it out at all? I had to know the outcome of this adventure… that is, if I could even call it an adventure.
Soon the nurse announced that I had visitors, which I graciously accepted; granted, I had been getting quite lonely in the otherwise empty hospital room.
Sonic and Amy were the first to enter the room, followed closely by Cream and Cheese, Tails, Mom, and Ella. Ella was holding a bouquet of roses and other flowers, and, peering closely, it looked like Cream and Cheese had drawn a get-well-soon card.
I smiled weakly at them as they came closer. "Hi," I said.
Amy, who was already tear-stained, and had probably been crying for quite a while, broke away from the others and rushed over to me. She grasped onto my right arm with both hands gently yet firmly.
"Ch-Chris!" she wept. "I'm so sorry! I… I didn't do it, and… and…"
"Hey, hey," Sonic gently said, stepping in to guide Amy away from me before I could get more uncomfortable than I already was. "Easy on him, okay?"
Sniffling, Amy responded with a shaky nod.
"It's not your fault, Amy," I told her.
"I know…" she spoke. "But…"
Wordlessly, Sonic gently stroked her quills, which was something I rarely saw him doing.
"Here, Mr. Chris, me and Cheese made this for you," I heard Cream's voice from nearby. I turned to see them holding their card out to me.
It was a picture of me in the X-Tornado drawn in crayon, in a style not unlike young human children, and it also had the words 'get well soon Mr. Chris' written at the top in Cream's handwriting. She had accidentally spelled my name 'Cris', but I let it slide, as she was still young. Everyone else had written their names at the bottom right, to show that they were all rooting for a speedy recovery.
I couldn't help but smile at how thoughtful Cream and Cheese were.
"Thank you, Cream," I said as I carefully set the card down. I glanced up at the Chao that was floating above me. "You too, Cheese."
"You're welcome, Mr. Chris," Cream responded, beaming. She clasped her hands behind her back. "I'm sorry I couldn't add any glitter. They didn't have any."
"It's okay," I said as Cheese came to rest on my shoulder, snuggling against my cheek. "I still really like it." I looked around for a clock. The whole time I had been here, I hadn't noticed a clock anywhere. "What time is it?"
Mom checked her watch. "6:30," she said. As she made her way toward the edge of my bed, she too sounded like she had been crying for a while. "We came over as soon as we could to see you." She too bent down to hug me. "My poor baby…" she whispered.
I wasn't sure I cared for all the attention I was getting, even though everyone here was friends and family. This was a bit ironic, considering I was from a rich family. It wasn't even my birthday.
Tails approached me from the other side of the bed. "How are you feeling?" he quietly asked.
I took a moment to check myself. For some reason, I didn't feel as much pain as I probably should have felt, but there was still some pain.
"I can still feel some pain in my legs," I slowly said. "Also I have a massive headache."
A scary thought crossed my mind.
"Am… Am I gonna need a wheelchair?"
"Um… well…" Tails looked unsure at how to answer that, which made me even more concerned. "The doctors said you're going to be here for another day, then you're getting a wheelchair for about three weeks."
Oh no… Wheelchairs were going to be a new experience for me. That meant that I couldn't walk for three weeks. Some of my mobility would have to be assisted. I was too young for this.
"Three weeks…" I croaked.
"Hey, don't sweat it, Chris," came Sonic's voice from my right. "It's only three weeks. Then you'll be back to your normal self. Until then, we're gonna help you be as comfortable as we can."
"Oh… Okay, thanks," I said. I was never going to get used to being in a wheelchair. Then again, if it was only going to be three weeks, then I wouldn't have to.
These thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind as another question surfaced.
"But… how did you all escape?"
Sonic leaned against the railing of my bed. "It was all you, and you didn't even know it."
I blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I was kinda not looking when it happened, but the way I see it, when you got knocked out, your hand hit the stone off the windowsill. That weakened the void we were in, and I busted my way out and put the stone back with the sun side facing up."
"And the ghosts?"
"Oh, they didn't stand a ghost of a chance!" Sonic laughed. "The way they were cowering in the light, they couldn't even do anything to us."
That was good news. That meant everyone was able to escape the basement safely. Sonic had saved the day once again.
"So I take it you figured out what the riddle meant, right?" Sonic asked me after another moment.
"I… I don't think we ever did… I mean, did we even need to in the end?" I looked up. "But I'm guessing it had something to do with the ghosts?"
"It did," Amy interjected before Sonic could speak. She was already feeling better emotionally. "While we were in the waiting room, Sonic said it meant that the ghosts would appear when the stone hourglass displayed the moon, and disappear when it displayed the sun." Sonic nodded.
Oh yeah… It made a lot of sense now. Thinking back, "olden souls" meant ghosts. And here I thought it had meant dead people the whole time.
"But yeah, Chris, you made a great point just now," Sonic spoke with an easygoing smile. "I don't think you really needed the riddle to free us. You know that?"
I started to swell with pride – the good kind of pride. If it weren't for me being right near the talisman when I was knocked out, then I might have possibly bled out and died, and everyone would be trapped in the ghosts' realm forever. It was funny how things always eventually worked out in the end, like Sonic had always said.
But I was at the right spot at the right time, and as a result, the day was saved.
"Then I'm… I'm a hero…" I breathed in awe.
Sonic flashed a wink and thumbs-up in my direction. "Even if you didn't know it, you're definitely a hero in my book." He held Amy's hand and gave her an encouraging smile. "You too, Ames. You both totally kicked it today. Never doubt yourselves, and I'll bet you'll be way past amazed at how much you get done, yeah?"
I weakly smiled, holding back a yawn as more fatigue washed over me. We had all survived another adventure, all making it out in one piece – well, mostly, in my case.
It seemed all was forgiven with Amy. It may have been an accident, what she had done to me; but in the end, it wasn't really her that did it. It wasn't her fault. Her hammer still startled me, even if I was never on the receiving end of it, but now I had a healthy respect for it. I only hoped that I wouldn't be wary around her as a result of today.
I cuddled Cheese closer, glancing from face to face in the room. It was a relieving feeling, knowing that I was literally surrounded by loving, caring friends. They had gotten me through many daring, often scary adventures, and I knew they weren't about to let me down any time soon. Though there was still some pain on the outside, I felt great on the inside, knowing that I finally got to return the favor.
A/N: And that concludes Sonic's Scream Test! I didn't realize until writing the draft for this chapter that Tim Shaw, the name of the director in this story, also happens to coincidentally be the nickname of a prominent Doctor Who villain from Series 11.
As I was writing the extended take, which I'm glad I fleshed out, I realized how similar it is to the last scene in episode 26 if you swap out Lindsey for Chris and the other actor for Sonic.
I wanted to add some kind of prelude to everyone getting captured by the ghosts, and thought it would be interesting if I added the scene in the bathroom, which I did. Also, I felt like there should have been an extra scene after everyone's capture. So that's how the conversation in the bedroom started.
Let me know how I did with the character relationships between Chris and Amy. It felt really static and bland in the original, so I wanted to really flesh it out.
I remember racking my brain for a few hours coming up with a riddle that didn't sound plain. It was totally worth it, because "Appears under the moon; disappears under the sun" didn't cut it. That's also where I got the title of this chapter from.
I was originally going to have Amy become brainwashed into placing the moon side of the talisman on the windowsill, but decided against it, because the other dialogue I had for Amy would have contradicted it.
I included the injury scene because there was no way Chris would have been able to outrun Amy when she was possessed, not to mention she shouldn't have simply stopped in the original. Also, this ups this episode from filler to loose canon, so that the next episode can be made even better.
The hospital scene is new. I had it planned even before SuperTailsFan's hospital stories, but they helped with some knowledge I seemed to be missing.
I'm going to take another break after episode 26's rewrite, not only to expand the backlog, but to give the earlier chapters a much-needed facelift. In fact, I cringe a little looking at them. I'm currently revising chapter 6, and my goal is to revise through chapter 13. Of course, I will give updates on my profile page, just like the last time.
Next time is "Cruise Blues", where Sonic and the gang take a glacier cruise to relax and lift everyone's moods, but it seems a certain mastermind is returning to crash the party! Don't miss it!
