Chapter 25

"Agh!" Sonic shouted, as the creature that had jumped him came into view. It seemed to be a Flicky, but upon further inspection it was too darkly colored to be a traditional Flicky. Its cheeks were bulbous chunks of see-through membrane as a blood red liquid splashed around inside of them. The best way it could be described is like a punch bowl during an earthquake. The eyes were angular and pitch black. Sonic could see his reflection in them. "Get off, get off!"

The creature, with its sharp beak, slammed its head down where Sonic's forehead was. Luckily, Sonic moved his head just in the nick of time. The sound of wood being pierced echoed through the library. There was a large hole in the floor. Sonic was just thankful it wasn't in his head. The creature's beak was stuck in the ground. Sonic took this opportunity to rev up a Spindash. As he spun, he heard the disgusting sound of meat and bones slicing as blood and guts flew onto the carpet, and stained Sonic's blue fur. As Sonic stood up, he screamed. He just killed something. Someone. He had ended a life. This wasn't the same as busting open a mindless robot or destroying a soulless Phantom Ruby illusion. This was all too real. He had killed violent monsters like this one before, including, as far as he knew, the likes of Dr. Eggman, but killing never got easier to live down for Sonic. It felt worse each time.

Sonic quickly turned to Sonja, blood dripping down from each individual quill. "Sonja! Hide!" He shouted. "These guys are dangero---" Sonja was gone. For a second, Sonic feared the worst had happened to her. But then, he felt a warm, comfortable, yet at the same time burning feeling come over him. Something had passed right through him. He watched as Sonja appeared by some sort of weird, monstrous Clucky that had similar eyes to the Flicky, and headbutted it into the fence. He couldn't help but notice a white, clear tail poking out from under her gown. The Clucky let out a supersonic scream, creating a shockwave in the air, but she avoided it and, picking up the Clucky, threw it over the fence and into the abyss. It shrieked an awful shriek as it fell, the distance eventually drowning out the sound.

Sonja turned to Sonic for a second, and smiled at him. But no sooner or later than a second later, she was hit in the face by what could only be described as a giant pig heart on pig legs that had been stripped of any skin, leaving only red flesh. It had ribs sharper than Sonic's spines. It was spewing blood everywhere and jumping around with no rhyme or reason as it squealed and shrieked like a pig being brutally mutilated, opening a cavity in itself to let the horrific sound like nails on a chalkboard out. The mouth had a circular row of large, individual teeth. Sonja tried to fight back against it, but she was too close to the fence. One more hit, and...

Sonic knew what he had to do. He rushed forward and instantly used a Flying Kick to knock the pig heart back. He shuddered upon touching it. It left behind a pinkish red goop on his shoes. Sonic, scraping the slime off on the floor, realized the pig heart had recovered. It was charging at him.

Sonic tried to jump, but failed. The pig heart had already gotten to him. He was knocked into the wall, cracking it upon impact. As Sonic ricocheted off the wall and landed on his face, the pig heart skidded to a stop. Then, it charged again. Sonic was ready this time. He got up, jumped into the air and performed a Somersault Kick, sending a shockwave of his own towards the pig heart. The pig heart was stunned for a short while, and then, Sonic threw another Flying Kick at it, knocking it into the cold, stone wall. Upon impact with the wall, the protective exoskeleton shattered and fell onto the floor in tiny bits.

Sonic, seeing the pig heart convulsing more than before, saw it was trying to form another exoskeleton. This was his chance. As the pig heart held still, focusing all its energy into repairing its broken bones, Sonic jumped on it and broke into a Spindash. His sharp quills carved into the pig heart, which itself was surprisingly hard. Sonja had to look away from the bloody and disgusting sight. Sonic continued to cut through it, finding himself lodged in the pig heart. He could only cut deeper. The sound of a pig in dying agony filled the room. Sonic, spinning even faster, made it all the way through the pig heart. He bounced on the floor and off the walls and landed on his feet. Luckily not into a hole or crack in the floor.

He looked to Sonja, who was looking at him back. She breathed heavily in and out. She seemed to be recovering from the shock of almost losing one's life. "Sonja!" Sonic gasped. He ran over. "Are you okay?" He may not have the best thoughts towards this woman, but he was a hero nonetheless.

"Fine..." Sonja sighed, looking into Sonic's eyes. "Are you?" She asked in return.

"I'm..." Sonic groaned, looking at the ground. "It doesn't matter." He smiled falsely as he held onto his tummy. It had taken a direct hit from hard bone.

"I guess... I guess you know now..." Sonja muttered, averting her eyes. "I didn't technically lie to you, I just kind of... didn't tell you the whole truth."

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, donning a softer expression.

"Sonic, I'm not exactly... alive..." Sonja said, grabbing onto a clump of hair and talking into it, slightly muffling her words at the end. "I'm a... ghost..."

To say "Why were you hiding it from me in the first place?" Go to Chapter 26

To say "It's okay. As long as you keep that tail tucked away," go to Chapter 27