Chapter Thirty-Six: The Side Effects
The worst part about being a prisoner of the Metarex is the waiting. Not because it means I'm standing still when I was built to run, which I'm sure is what the Metarex would think. It's the not knowing when the waiting is going to end. Trying to anticipate when it's going to end and being wrong.
The only thing worse that that is not anticipating and being called into action.
I'm settling into numbness and I hate it. But being present in the horrors I'm committing in the name of the Metarex is so much worse.
I'm just ranking terrible fates and knowing that in the meantime, the Metarex are winning the war.
Though Sonic considered waiting the worst part of being a prisoner, he wasn't currently trapped in his cell. Though that meant a different sort of waiting. Waiting to find out what state Cosmo would be in when he got back. Even if it wasn't the worst part, Sonic didn't particularly enjoy being in the shell of Metarex armor either. His vision was clouded by the visor, so even when he was aware, it was an awareness of a grayer, more blurry world. Bands of metal locked his wrists and ankles in place in Metarex limbs, as did additional bands of metal just beneath his shoulders and hips. Between each pair of metal bands were strung wires of all different colors and thicknesses. The Metarex plating at his chest pressed in tight on his sternum so that as long as he was in the Metarex shell, Sonic couldn't gather a full breath. It certainly made it easier for him to fade into a state of semi-consciousness.
It did make him a little taller, if he decided to reach for a positive.
It wasn't the strangling plating that scared Sonic the most about being in the Metarex armor. It was how many wires were attached to his scalp while he was in there. Sonic didn't know what a single one of those wires did. But Sonic had to lie still while a Metarex stood over him and pressed each one into a very particular place. Not that Sonic had control enough over his own body to do anything other than stay still.
Part of him was sure that computer chips had been implanted in his head. Recent history was an unreal blur and he couldn't be sure whether or not he'd lost consciousness long enough for that sort of surgical procedure. And while Cosmo tried to keep his blurry mind informed, a lack of control over his voice meant Sonic couldn't ask specific questions.
Now, Sonic trailed behind Silver Fir who prattled on about something or other. At least Sonic's slide-y consciousness meant he had no problem not listening. It wasn't like Silver Fir could quiz Sonic on what he had just said either, since Sonic had no control over his voice.
Small blessings.
As it was, Sonic could do with a little less feeling at the moment. He had just gotten back to the ship following a Metarex mission. He remembered little of what happened, but he was left with the aftermath. His skin felt scummy with salt deposits his sweat had left behind. His fur felt matted with it. But all he could do was stew in it as the Metarex shell made sure he continued on in the wake of Silver Fir.
Sonic had no idea why Silver Fir wanted him to follow. Maybe it was just a new brand of torture. Maybe, if he could, he should just ask to be left to Green Fichus for a bit instead. He might end up getting his ribs kicked in, but at least then he wouldn't be left with questions he couldn't answer.
The metal doors slid open ahead of them and Sonic followed Silver Fir through. To the sound of Shining Birch screaming.
Sonic tried to recoil at the sound but of course the Metarex shell prevented it. Silver Fir stepped to the side enough that Sonic gained a clear line of sight to Shining Birch. Just in time to watch Green Fichus rip off the Metarex's arm.
Again, Sonic tried to recoil. Nausea exploded in his core but remained in the pit of his stomach. He wished he could look away but he was prevented from doing so. Green Fichus dropped Shining Birch's arm on the ground, and Sonic's eyes focused in on it. Now he could see why Green Fichus had resorted to such extreme measures. The fingers on that arm were ruined, ripped and limp. Plus there was the gaping hole in the forearm. Even if the arm had still been attached, it was useless now. No point carrying the dead weight. Except the pain that might result.
Which Shining Birch was not avoiding, if his ragged breathing following his earlier screams were any indication.
"What happened here?" Silver Fir asked smoothly. He sounded utterly undisturbed by the scene before him, even with a literal limb lying on the floor.
"The Blue Typhoon," Shining Birch snarled in response. "Of course, what sort of foolish question is that?"
Silver Fir bowed in deference and took a step back. Sonic, however, sparked to a stronger consciousness than he had felt in weeks. He could offer no physical signs, but honestly that probably worked in his favor. Instead, his normally blurry vision sharpened. He felt the stickiness and grittiness and metal against his skin more than ever.
"They ended Rusted Maple, the fool," Shining Birch spat. "The full power of our Emerald copies was not available with that fox also pulling from them. Meanwhile, Rusted Maple continued to act as though this was a game. Does this look like a game?" Shining Birch shook the stub of his arm that remained at the both of them to emphasize the point.
Sonic could feel his heart beating against the chest plating and reverberating through the rest of the Metarex armor. Fox. Tails. Tails used the fake Chaos Emeralds? At least he was alive. Was he still alive?
"Rusted Maple was indeed a fool!" Green Fichus chuckled along beside Shining Birch. "It's a wonder he rose as high as your rank in Black Thorn's eyes."
A cord whipped out of Shining Birch's functional arm and slapped Green Fichus back. It was enough of a shock to Green Fichus that the cord knocked him off his feet.
Silver Fir sighed. "Rusted Maple merely grew intoxicated by the Chaos Emerald experiments he ran in our quest to create duplicates. The loss of a once great Metarex is still a loss."
Green Fichus climbed back to his feet but added nothing more. Shining Birch continued to simmer beside the Metarex.
"What is your command?" Silver Fir asked in the silence. His voice was like a purr. Or rather like an engine.
The one-armed Metarex turned from Green Fichus to Silver Fir and kept turning until it faced Sonic. Beneath Shining Birch's gaze, Sonic's skin within the shell of Metarex armor grew hot. "I have a plan," Shining Birch growled, "to end the crew of the Blue Typhoon and the threat they pose to the universe we seek. And to start it all, we hold the perfect insult."
Sonic ached to flee. As if he was under any illusion he could move while encased in this prison. Instead, Sonic had to stand utterly still and silent, aware and obedient, as he endured listening to the plan of the Metarex to use Sonic the Hedgehog to end the friends he held most dear.