Chapter 71

Sonic found himself in a sepia colored room. Again, an obscuring light filtered in from the windows. In the room, there was a table and a happy family sitting around it. There was a turkey on the table, and more than what the family could possibly eat. The family in question included Marilyssa, Sonja, and the ghastly girl from before. But she had eyes, and her hair wasn't quite as messy or long. Sonic only recognized now that this may have been the baby from when Marilyssa had kicked Tatters. Ramona. The ghastly girl was... Ramona?

"We give thanks to our great savior, Ivan the Holy for this gracious meal," Marilyssa prayed, as everyone else quickly prayed the same sentence as well. Sonic had never heard of an Ivan the Holy. The Sonja who had traveled back in time with him had her back turned to the scene. Sonic felt he shouldn't bother her. "Ivan the Holy will bring us peace, Ivan the Holy will bring us safety, Ivan the Holy will bring us to salvation." They all said, ritually.

"Ivan the Holy will save us all..." Everyone mumbled except Marilyssa. She was nearly shouting. Sonja and Ramona didn't like this. They looked at each other worriedly. Marilyssa, thankfully, didn't notice. Sonic knew how violent she could be. "Ivan the Holy has given us this meal... and we are ever so grateful."

"In life, death, and afterlife..." Everyone chanted. Everyone now looked like they were in a trance, staring up at the ceiling and clenching hands. "We will serve Ivan the Holy, worshipping him. He is our god, and we are but his angels."

The scene faded away before Sonic's very eyes. Nobody looked really happy to be there but Marilyssa. Another scene came into view, this one in grayscale. It looked like a test lab of some kind, machines littered the walls and floor. Cages full of blacked out, scribbly creatures banging on the bars demanding to be let out were stacked on top of each other, ready to fall at any moment.

Two people walked into the room. One, Marilyssa. The other, a woman Sonic didn't recognize. She had long, black hair. It fell to her ankles. "Okay, tell me..." The woman said in a voice that reminded Sonic of Rouge's. Marilyssa turned to face her. "How much is the pay for this experiment of yours?"

"You'll see," Marilyssa mumbled, ominously. She walked further into the room. Sonic and the others felt an unknown force bringing them forward. Not walking, just sliding on the ground. Like a fox in Casino Night.

Sonic felt an overcoming sensation of heat coming from another room. "Geez, it's getting hot in here..." The woman sighed. She started fanning her face with her hand.

"Well then..." Marilyssa said, opening a vault door to a scorched metal room with her hand and splashing some kind of formula with stars on the bottle on the woman with the other. Sonic couldn't help but think of an invincibility monitor from the stars on the bottle. "It's about to get a lot hotter..."

"Hey! What do you mean?!" The woman snapped. Her clothes were drenched by the contents of the bottle.

"This is a test of my new prototype 1 Invincible Tech," Marilyssa chuckled, a smile on her face. "You know, you really should read the fine print before signing up for mysterious experiments from strangers..." Marilyssa's eyes glinted as she laughed.

"So you get my clothes all wet and then you throw me into a scorched up room?!" The woman shouted. "What kind of experiment is that?!"

Marilyssa giggled and she, in one swift motion, wrapped both her arms around the woman's neck, holding tight. Marilyssa had the biggest grin on her face as the woman struggled and gasped for air. Marilyssa waited until she fainted, the woman's face a deep blue. The woman unconsciously gasped for air as Marilyssa untightened her grip on the woman, throwing her into the room.

Marilyssa slammed the vault door shut and walked over to a kind of big red button. "Sweet dreams, Christina," Marilyssa giggled softly, a slight smile making its way up her face. She smashed her fist down onto the red button. Instantly, the sound of a machine powering on, then flames crackling and popping filtered in from the other room.

Sonic was horrified. Confused. Bewildered. Disgusted. He felt like breaking down right then and there. He felt the need to vomit as this Christina was burnt alive behind the door. Everyone else shared the same sentiment. Pico couldn't contain this mixture of new, scary emotions as he upheaved the barren contents of his stomach onto the floor, where they disappeared. Pico cried and screamed like a banshee in Sonja's arms, continuously gagging through it all. Sonja herself looked ready to collapse. Marilyssa was cackling the whole time. Sonic tried to run forward to stop Marilyssa. But nothing came of it.

The gruesome sight went to black, and appeared anew. This time, Past Sonja and Ramona were huddled together amidst shackles in a cold, tight little stone room. Sonic heard noises outside, like bombs. This time, the scene was in full color. But there wasn't much color in the room to note. Past Sonja had on her dress that was familiar to Sonic. It always looked kind of like a wedding dress. Ramona was wearing a purple dress, not unlike her dulled one.

Sonic turned his head to the left, and saw... Marilyssa in a lab coat. A black and white aura surrounded her, like flames. Deep, booming clockwork could be heard as she approached. She had a sort of potion in her hand. It was red and had bubbles bursting from it. It had the face of a man oddly similar in appearance to Eggman on the bottle label.

Like an Eggman Monitor. One that hurts you instead of restoring life. Oh no... Sonic thought.

Past Sonja and Ramona looked bruised on the areas around their shackles, dirty, and like they hadn't eaten to the point that they were pushing what was humanly possible just to keep breathing. As soon as Marilyssa approached, Past Sonja and Real Sonja alike, with a raspy voice, and all their power, screamed. "MARILYSSA, STOP!"

Marilyssa, upon further inspection, had tears running down her face. She had a scowl. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Marilyssa whined. Her glasses were all fogged up, but underneath, Sonic could see big, emerald green eyes. Marilyssa looked away as she held up the potion. "I love you both... I love you more than nearly anything... But..." She breathed deeply. In and out. Then, broke out into a screaming fit. "I CAN'T LET THEM USE YOU FOR THE PRIMORDIALS! THEY'RE ALREADY HERE! I NEED TO KILL YOU SO THEY DON'T TAKE YOU FOR THEMSELVES!"

Marilyssa breathed again. She was having a panic attack unlike anything Sonic had ever seen. "I wish it didn't have to be like this... I wish I wasn't so stupid... What am I doing?" She asked. Sonja got up, but soon collapsed. Something sounded like it had crashed through the roof. "NO!"

Without thinking, Marilyssa splashed the formula onto Past Sonja and Ramona. Instantly, their skin began to melt. Their eyes watered, bled down their faces, and sunk back into their skulls. Sonja screamed with Past Sonja as Sonja dropped Pico. He screeched as he fell onto the ground and struggled to turn over onto his back. Sonic reached for him, but still couldn't move. Sonja put her hands to her ears and screamed long and hard. She had her eyes shut to avoid looking at this anymore. A freezing cold yet burning hot shockwave burst from the ground Sonja was hovering over, making everyone stumble in place.

Sonic could only watch as everything unfolded. When he looked back from Sonja, Marilyssa had disappeared. Past Sonja and Ramona had been reduced to bone. They were dead. An explosion sounded. Sonic was thrust into a white void. Sonja turned to him. She opened her eyes. All that he saw was the Yin and Yang.

Everything turned white, and clockwork could be heard in the distance.

Continue to Chapter 72