From the Inside Out:Part Eight

The cry came suddenly and with urgency from the edge of the Glade, and Knuckles jumped, and Shadow froze with wide eyes. That yell came from Sonic! Shadow and Knuckles took off towards the edge of the Glade where they last saw Sonic, and Cream and Cosmo, who had also heard the cry, followed them. Shadow was first out of the trees, but just by a few seconds. Knuckles nearly crashed into him after trying to stop. They looked ahead and saw Sonic on his knees with his back towards them, head hung as if he were limp. Knuckles gulped and ran over, and skidded to a stop next to Sonic as Cream and Cosmo also ran over.

Sonic looked panic stricken, his eyes were wide and his pupils shrunk to tiny dots. Sweat was dripping clear down his brow, and he was shaking. His hands were gripping something that lay on his knees, and it was red tipped, or just red from what Knuckles could tell.

“Sonic, what’s wrong?” Knuckles asked, shaking Sonic’s shoulder. Sonic just opened his hands, to reveal a red piece of cloth, one that looked strangely familiar. Cream gasped.

“That’s Amy’s headband!!” she cried. Knuckles looked at Cream, and then back at the headband… and his stomach churned when he realized the young rabbit was right. It was Amy’s.

“Sonic what happened?” Knuckles asked, but Sonic just sat there, looking like he had seen a horrid ghost or something. Knuckles looked at Shadow for help on getting a reaction out of the hedgehog, and Shadow snapped his fingers in front of Sonic’s face, but he received nothing, not even a blink. Shadow sighed in annoyance, and finally kicked Sonic over. Sonic let out a yelp and caught himself on the grass, finally breaking out of his trance as he looked up at Knuckles and Shadow.

“Th-Th-Thade… has… Amy…” Sonic gasped. Knuckles let out a gasp, and then slammed his fist into the ground, leaving a large dent.

“No! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“He wants the Emeralds… or Amy will…” Sonic tried standing, but he was shaking all over and nearly fell flat on his face again, but Shadow held him up, slightly shocked. He had never seen Sonic so terrified in all his life… It wasn’t like the hedgehog at all! And the girl, Amy… wasn’t she the one who chased him around all the time? Shadow bit his lip.

“What now?” he actually asked. Sonic was silent. Knuckles looked at Sonic, and then Shadow.

“We’ve got to think of some way to get her back! If we give Thade the last three Emeralds, this whole planet is screwed!” he said.

“I agree.” Shadow said with a nod as Sonic finally regained his strength and stood on his own two feet, but he seemed as if no one else were standing there around him, like he was in a black emptiness, still clutching Amy’s headband.

“Amy…” he thought. He couldn’t bring himself to think of what Thade could do to her… or the terror she could be going through… Thade could’ve grabbed any of his friends, even the ‘Faker’ here, and he would’ve been forced to give in… the thought of being without Amy… the thought of being without his friends…

Sonic bared his teeth and clenched his fists around Amy’s headband as tears came to his eyes. He looked down at the ground, and then at Knuckles, Shadow, Cream and Cosmo… before vanishing without them even looking back at him.
                                                                         >*<
Sonic threw the door to his room open and walked quickly inside over to a locked chest. Normally you would have to punch in a code, then give a voice sample, then use the key to get in, but Sonic knew a way to cheat, and that was to use Tails’ remote, which was kept under his pillow. Sonic grabbed the remote and pressed a button for the chest to open, and the lid flipped up, to reveal the white, purple, and yellow Chaos Emeralds, which Sonic shoved into the pouch he was holding. He hated having to do this… but it was the only way…

“Sonic?”

Sonic froze, and slowly turned around, his emerald green eyes meeting the blue of Tails the Fox. Sonic sighed and looked away, hiding the fact that he was about to cry.

“Sonic what’s the matter? What are you doing?” Tails asked. Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up, taking a deep breath. He turned around and walked over to Tails, suddenly kneeling down and hugging his little friend. Tails blinked at Sonic’s sudden gesture, and at the tears that slid down the hedgehog’s face and into his fur, but he returned the hug.

“Sonic?” Tails asked. Sonic didn’t answer, he just squeezed Tails tighter, letting a sob escape his throat and burying his face into Tails shoulder as tears entered his little bro’s eyes. Sonic lifted his head and his muzzle to Tails’ ear, tears still streaming down his face.

“Goodbye Tails…”

And the next thing Tails knew… Sonic was gone, and he was left standing alone in the room. Tails eyes widened in a sudden horror at what just happened, at what Sonic was going to do, and his lower lip started to quiver as he began to cry.

“Sonic, NO!!!”
                                                                                >*<
Sonic went faster than he had gone in a long time, so fast you couldn’t even see him, just a blue patch of light as he whizzed by. He knew he had to get to Amy, and get her away from Thade before it was too late. Thade had told him in the message on Amy’s headband to meet him in the Canyon Caves to the far north, but the caves were like a maze… and Sonic was arriving early.

He knew that if he got there early, and waited in the entrance to the cave, Thade couldn’t miss him, it would be like spotting a Q-ball. And now Sonic found himself running clean up the walls of the canyon to the cave entrance, and just as he predicted, Thade wasn’t there yet. Sonic sighed in relief and leaned against the wall in a shadowed corner of the cave, waiting for the monster to show up, and tapping his foot against the red, dusty earth.

Pebbles, falling down the sides of the canyon caught Sonic’s attention, and he looked towards the entrance. He pressed himself against the wall of the cave, sudden fear trickling across his senses and he froze. There was that strange chill again, and Sonic almost let out a whimper, but then Thade’s figure entered the cave. Sonic’s fear became overwhelmed by anger and he stepped out into the open.

“You’re late, slow-mo!” he growled loudly. Thade looked at Sonic with a slight start.

“Sonic. I didn’t expect you to be here so soon…” he said with a slight hiss.

“Shove it, now what did you do to Amy?!” Sonic demanded.

Thade grinned evilly and unfolded his strange wing like membranes on his arms, to reveal a petrified looking Amy, who was coiled up in the strange, black, living mane of the monster. Sonic felt the hair on his back rise, and his teeth clench together in rage. He cracked his knuckles as he tightened his fists, and he felt the Negative Chaos in the Emeralds begin to seep into his veins…

“Hold it right there…you transform… and she dies!” Thade hissed, and tightened the coils around Amy.

Amy let out a very scared whimper, and Sonic froze, but first growled in a rage. Thade just chuckled and liked his teeth.

“The Emeralds?” he asked. Sonic growled again and lifted the flap of the pouch he had on, and the three Emeralds floated out to hover above him. Thade’s eyes widened for a brief second, but then his grin widened and he snickered greedily. And then he looked at Sonic, his eyes narrowing, but his grin remaining on his face.

“And… The other half of the bargain??” he asked.

Thade looked Sonic in the eye…And Sonic stared back, a drop of icy sweat trickling down his brow and over his eyelid. Sonic felt his spine tingle in fear, his heart raced, his fists were clenched so tight they were aching, aching, aching… But then Sonic closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

A sigh of defeat…

Sonic’s fists unclenched and he fell to his knees, in submission, his head hanging over… in offering. Thade let out a greedy, pleased hiss and his wicked eyes glinted in evil joy. He suddenly threw Amy off to one side of the cave, and she hit the wall with a scream, and then rolled to the cave floor, but Sonic hardly moved a muscle.

“A bold decision Sonic…” Thade hissed, walking over to Sonic. “Now… Don’t move…”

Suddenly Thade lunged forward and sank his long, grim fangs into Sonic’s chest, near the heart. Sonic let out a scream of pain that was choked by the sudden loss of air from the sharp fangs piercing into his lungs. Sonic could feel his lungs collapse… his muscles grow weaker… and his heart begin to slow down… And he knew what was happening to him…

Sonic the Hedgehog… was dying.