Beginning of the End

The blue hedgehog found himself inside of a watery vault. Unable to breathe. He pushed and struggled against his bone-like ties until they snapped open and he was able to pull his arms, legs and neck out of the splintered remains. He awoke on the floor of a very familiar place. Where was the sword that splits the sea? Where was his ticket out of here? Was this another dream? A construction of Cyberspace? Or… or… could it be…?

"Home?" The hedgehog asked. The skies were a clear blue. Rhea Range was intact once more. Beaming out from the mountaintops were seven towers of indescribable size. Atop them, seven differently-colored gems. "They make miracles come to pass. I… need them…"

"Sonic?" Tails asked, bewildered, approaching Sonic. "Sonic, what did you do?! I'm back, I'm on the surface! I need to go back to the core!" Sonic clutched his own arm as it swarmed with RED-CODE. "Sonic! Are you even… breathing?" Tails reached for Sonic, only for his hand to phase through. "Oh no… what happened?" Tails frantically tried to make physical contact with Sonic, all the while looking at his own transparent arms. Just when he came to the conclusion that they were on two different planes of reality, his hand made contact with one of Sonic's RED-CODE mutations. The red, black, and blue patch of skin nipped at Tails' gloved hands like sharp ice crystals.

"Titan? No, no there's not. There's no such thing. They're all dead. We're okay," Sonic laughed, scanning the surroundings. "Threat unidentified." He turned to Tails. "Hang tight, companion. I'll have you back in no time." Sonic held his head, before shooting towards the towers like a stray bullet. Stumbling into and weaving around the trees.

"Be careful!" Tails shouted.

"Careful? Where's the fun in that?" Sonic called back.

Sonic, running on nothing but adrenaline and drive, leapt to the wall of Esse Tower and began to climb with his long, jagged fingernails piercing through the very scratches on the wall. He climbed, tirelessly and shakily. All the way to the top. He looked down, not fearing the drop at all. He was miles above the cold hard ground. "It would be so easy… I could become one with the rain as it splashes on the ground. Like a bolt of lightning, I'd be gone," he murmured, opening his arms to the clear blue sky above as he stood in front of the emerald. It shined down upon him with pure power and warmth. "But good things are seldom easy." Sonic snatched the emerald, gripping it in his hand as he tore it out from its protective orb of light. The Chaos Energy zapped his arm back to life. Esse Tower's whirring and droning frequencies became so quiet, they were overpowered by the harsh winds that had begun to form after the Chaos Emerald had been compromised. Before falling completely silent.

"Congratulations, Sonic," Sage said, standing next to him. "You got a Chaos Emerald! You're so close to becoming Super Sonic and ending this all. Remember who you're doing this for!"

"I'm doing this for… I'm doing this for…?" Sonic asked, looking down into the puddle. Not even deep enough to reflect the stormclouds above. He could only see three colorful, vague shapes smiling back at him, cheering him on. He smirked, dark blood seeping down his ragged, chapped fingers. He curled them into a fist as best he could, and began pounding them against his own head. "My friends. I'm doing this for my friends. All the people that followed me here… Remember them! REMEMBER THAT!"

Before he knew it, an hour had passed. He had conquered Dragon Tower. Standing at the precipice of greatness and glory, he grabbed the purple emerald. "You did it, Sonic!" Amy exclaimed from behind him. "I'm sensing that the next emerald is guarded by a bunch of evil robots. This is it! The big showdown!"

"That's okay, Amy. You always keep me running," Sonic replied, his peeled lips rolling back and revealing dry, yellow, bloodstained teeth. Amy smiled warmly, before whacking him with her hammer.

He remembered something. The four Titans in space, fighting an unknown threat. "No! There has to be another way!" She cried.

When he came to, he was halfway up Eldin Tower.

Sonic crawled his way up the tower's stairs. Enemies were coming from both sides. A Soldier tried to detain him, but he punched it in the eye and threw its now empty shell into the other Soldier. He then Spindrifted up the spiral staircase encircling Eldin Tower, taking out all the defenses that stood between him and his next emerald. He could only assume these towers were rigged by the Fallen Stars before their extinction. Why were they standing in his way? Why wouldn't they want him to leave this place alive with all his friends? They made the Titans… they constructed Cyberspace just to make him suffer. They were his…?

…?

"Enemies. They're obstacles to be torn down," Sonic murmured. Precisely.

Sonic reached the tip of the third tower. He reached for the emerald, but fell to his knees. A freezing feeling welled up in his stomach. He staggered to his feet, and gripped the emerald. It felt like someone was pulling it away from him.

"Young one, heed my warning," a hulking, watery apparition told Sonic in a lost alien language. A language he understood at this point, more or less. "The trail you have blazed through this sacred frontier is one fraught with blood and selfish destruction." Sonic tried to pull the emerald away, but the Fallen Star now had his entire fist locked in their watery grasp. Sonic stepped back, the Fallen Star clenched tighter. Sonic's fist began to compress from the water pressure. "I know I cannot beat you, just as I could not beat the entity that guides you. But for the sake of all that exists, stop now." Sonic punched and kicked the Fallen Star to get it to release him. His hand was now nearly flat. All the while, visions of a planet similar to Erius being torn to shreds by some unseen force flashed through the thunderclouds as they released RED-CODE lightning. Just as Sonic's fist was about to explode, Sage appeared behind him. She wrapped her arms around him, and pulled. Sonic was released from the Fallen Star's grip. He then Spin Slashed into the old bastard's brain, cutting it in two. The alien fell apart, into a pathetic puddle of water. Then it evaporated as a red cloud. Sonic grunted through breaths of euphoria and pain. A wicked grin on his face as he fell to one knee and held his chest.

"Your RED-CODE corruption is accelerating," Sage hummed, her eyes glinting in tandem with the lightning. "How can you smile when you can barely stand?" Sonic looked straight ahead at the fourth tower. He took a breath, then Spin Dashed over to it.

Sonic landed atop Snake Tower, his heart racing and his head spinning in circles. It was right there. The Chaos Emerald. "Piece of cake." Sonic grabbed the emerald. He felt extraordinary. After all, he had gotten a Chaos Emerald with very little resistance. A rogue wind then sent him careening towards the edge. He was blown off the side of Snake Tower, and fell a long way to the ground. He splashed into the mud, raising his scraped, scowling face from the earthy filth he had been thrown back into. It was never going to be easy. Now, even the wind was trying to tell him which way to go. Gravity could still hold him down. But not for much longer. All he needed to do was get those last three emeralds. Then, he could fly…

… To the stars…

"All that just to end up back at square one?" Knuckles asked. Sonic looked over to him. "Worthless! Weak! I'd have gotten them all back by now! Get up, I'll race you to the next tower."

"That's the push I needed…" Sonic grumbled over the ringing in his ears. It sounded like the words…

"They're gone. It… killed them…"

"I'll get there first, Knux. Or my name isn't—!" He stopped in his tracks as soon as he realized that was a Cyber Ghost. He didn't know where he was on the island. His brain map wouldn't unfurl, he couldn't focus on it amidst the sensation of grave danger. "My name… what is my name?"

Sonic limped along, dragging his dead, gray leg along the mud towards the fifth tower. He only then realized something was following him. Following his trail of cold blood. He was surrounded, by Wolves with gnashing metal teeth and knifelike tails. One lunged at him, he was slashed. Another went rushing in towards him, he ran. It caught up in no time, so he was forced to grab its eyes and shove them deep into their sockets. Nobody was faster than him. If there was anything or anyone capable of threatening his place in the universe, they would be crushed like the rest. Sonic left the Wolf's body parts in the flower field as a warning to any more mechanical animals looking to take a bite of him.

Sonic climbed Tiger Tower, again with his fingernails. Then, he felt a gelatinous mass swallow him whole. He slipped back into his comfort zone. Playing out a pre-calculated script from memory. Reliving life experiences that weren't his own. The faces of his friends contorted into forced, pleasing smiles. It was a mere illusion meant to keep him happy. Content. Contained. Life after life, world after world. He tore them down one by one to escape their warm grasp. He then broke out of the Balloon robot, flopping onto the top of the tower as its Cyber Water splashed onto him. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts spilled out onto the floor. They weren't real. They couldn't have been. Right? He had slaughtered them all, watched their facades fall. Did the people in those dreams ever stop smiling? Did they ever stop loving him after all those years? How does one fake love to the bitter end? What made this world any more real than those ones? He crawled towards the fifth emerald. He snatched it from its resting place. He felt a presence behind him.

"Sonic, you have to listen to me, STOP," Tails muttered. "This isn't the hill to die on!"

"Is there a better hill to die on?" Sonic retorted. "I'm doing this to save you. I'm doing this to save Amy, and Knuckles, and…!"

"Are you sure that's ALL you're doing?" Tails asked. "I can't stop you. Not when I'm like this. I'm not even sure it's you anymore. The Sonic I know is too smart to—-"

"And I thought you were too smart to sacrifice your life for some prophetic nonsense!" Sonic shouted. "You're LITERALLY not you anymore! Just sit there and be grateful while I save you AGAIN… Two to go." Sonic clenched his teeth, and shot headfirst towards the sixth tower.

Another vision of a Fallen Star. "We can't let their sacrifice be in vain! They had a plan to seal that thing in Cyberspace! Let's do it!"

Sonic crash-landed at the top of Eremite Tower. He took a second to try and breathe, until he realized he couldn't. "I believe I have come to understand you… both of us will do anything it takes to protect that which is precious to us…" Sage mumbled next to him. "I know I must protect you after you set my heart free. You think you must protect your friends. Everything is going according to my calculations." Sage giggled sheepishly. "Maybe now you'll give up… and just stay with me?" Sonic ripped the emerald out of its tomb. He blacked out…

… And awoke at the top of the seventh tower, CRANE TOWER. "All these past memories, the visions of Cyberspace that have held you captive… everything has led up to this moment," Sage reminded Sonic. Sonic stepped towards the emerald, mouth agape in a mix of horror and awe. "Grab it." Sonic reached out to the emerald with his RED-CODE-covered hand, trembling and shaking. He could hardly reach the emerald. "YES! You're doing so well. Take the emerald, it's yours!" Sonic's fingers slipped off the emerald, leaving a streak of black blood on the before spotless gem. Sonic's grasp on reality blinked out for a second. "Take it…! NOW!" Sage giggled and squealed in delight. Sonic gripped the emerald. He then pulled it out. The sky flashed red. Sonic grunted, the emerald power coursing through his veins. Meeting with the RED-CODE and enhancing its spread across his vital organs! He began to ramble incoherently, reaching out to something! Anything! His head felt like it was going to explode. His body felt like it was about to collapse…! He screamed in agony. But he wouldn't go down. He wouldn't fall… He wouldn't… submit…!

And so he didn't.

Right then and there, Sonic's brain froze over with RED-CODE. Essentially, he died standing up.

Amy appeared on the tower, then Knuckles. Then Tails. Their bodies fully reformed all the way from bone to fur, they looked at each other in awe. And then they looked at Sonic. Frozen in place, in a standstill. Amy gasped. Knuckles yelled. Sonic's arm was outstretched. Had he been reaching for them?

"Sonic… NO!" Amy screamed, running up to him. She placed a hand on his cheek… It was so cold, as if he had been dead on that tower for years. Still perfectly preserved.

"Tails… it's you! What happened to him?" Knuckles asked, turning to Tails in hopes he had answers to how in the world SONIC met his demise.

"He took on so much Cyber Energy, it corrupted him…" Tails muttered, clenching his teeth. He couldn't say he was surprised. Amy shook, her hands covering her mouth.

"Where's that girl? Sage!" Amy asked, trying to remain calm through her shock. "She knows what's going on, right? I saw her with him, but I couldn't do anything. They've been together this whole time. Surely she—" Sage floated into view, above Sonic. Everybody spun around to face her, as she let out a deep, bellowing sound of pure gratification. Her purple hair covered her remaining eye as her limbs began to sprout and stretch out.

"Since time immemorial, I have languished here," Sage told them. Sonic's mouth twitched, as if trying to repeat her words. "The locks are broken. Now I shall tear down the walls between dimensions. And consume ALL." Sage rose her arms to the sky. A gargantuan Titan with a sniper rifle rose over the tower. Sage unleashed a surge of electricity, teleporting herself and the Titan to the other side of Kronos Island. The sky turned completely red, the planet shook.

From the other side of the island, Sage grew in height until she was towering over even the Titan. As she grew, her eyes shook until they split in half, revealing deep voids underneath. She then lunged forward and grabbed the TITAN; SUPREME by the throat. She threw her head back, her spine bending unnaturally as she gripped onto Sonic's old prison. Electricity shot out of Supreme's neck as she and it fused. Its wings opened, new arms sprouted in a mess of mechanical gore, Sage transferring her consciousness into the beast. Leaving her body as a shell. Able to join Sonic's in perfect stillness. As always, when things seemed dire, Sonic's friends all looked to him. They stared into his eyes, pleading, begging for him to wake up. But he couldn't. He couldn't hear them. He was already too far gone.

…

Cyber Realm.

Sweet Reminder for those starry-eyed of the past.

Digital Hell for those teary-eyed of the future.

I feel as if HE is stuck in between.

Spinning on an axle between boiling and freezing points, in a stagnant lake.

Running everywhere.

Running nowhere because time does not move forward within this space.

Places and memories flashing before him.

Those of joy and freedom, mixed and pasteurized into a bittersweet, pinkish mystery mush.

It's so happy he can't help but cry, it's so exciting he can't help but laugh. It's so

warm…

and SCALDING

he can't help but tear out his bones and flesh to let the warmth get to his very core.

Dear friends, once upon a lost time were dancing and playing in the jade island zone.

Now reflected in REDSPACE as a satanic, ritualistic waltz revolving around The One Who Dared To Remember.

At maybe five FPS.

He is drowning in the center of it all, curled up in a pool of his own frigid blood and tears. He's still splashing

Trying to swim out of this endless expanse of a cage.

Escapism is no sin.

But should you let it consume you, any normal behavior can become sinful. Criminal.

And thus, this is his prison.

A bastardized interpretation of moments he holds dear is his sentence.

Sacrificing respect for these memories just to have them back in his cold arms.

Slowly corrupting them as well.

His dearest loved ones watch upon him from Shining Heaven.

Their souls having escaped from the coiled mortal.

But they are disgusted, nauseated at the man they left behind.

Secreting green bile down their wooden bodies.

Forgo the sun.

For the sun is a new day.

And we do not like that, no.

Because a new day symbolizes change and loss.

So live in the dark, sleep forever. Dream forever.