Meatbox

Amy rallies the team

S06 misses S91 but embraces his destiny nonetheless.

The klaxon sounded from Tails’ workstation, provoking them all to jump. The fox leapt from the couch, muffin crumbs tumbling from his lap as he pulled his hand away from Cream’s. He slid into his swivel chair and tapped his keyboard rapidly. Amy approached and gripped the back of Tails’ seat, her eyes scanning the information spraying all over Tails’ screens like a leak in a dam.

“Evacuation order?” She frowned, trying to piece together snippets as they flitted past.

Tails groaned. “Sage must have been withholding electronic communication. There’s hours of content all coming in at once.”

“Give us the short version.” Knuckles had his arms tightly crossed over his chest, still processing Rouge’s absence from the long-awaited meeting. Amy’s attempt to comfort the Echidna had been interrupted by the alarm. He had understood her need to address the crisis up north, but he was still very disappointed. Amy made a mental note to try again once this latest emergency had been reduced to a smolder.

“Central City is under attack.” Tails’ hands did not slow. “Apparently there was a warning issued before the attack but based on the ‘call for aid’ messages from the Resistance forces stationed there, the attack hit early.” He stood. “The Tornado is fueled up. Let’s go!”

“INCORRECT.” Omega held up a clawed hand and took a step forward from his usual place to the side. “THE ARCHITECT WILL NOT BE ENGAGING WITH THE LOATHSOME ENEMY.”

“I’m not your prisoner!” Tails bared his fangs, heckles raised. Amy’s hand went to his shoulder, gently squeezing, but he did not settle. His cheeks were looking fuller and white fuzz was returning to his abused tail, but the stress was still very apparent in the young fox’s features. Amy frowned. The anger disquieted her.

Amy felt a renewed vigor, a level of energy she hadn’t had in months, after her stolen moment with Barry. She should have taken the break long ago rather than let herself get so pent up. The frustration only found common cause with her anxiety and fatigue. Amy could sympathize with Tails. The drive to steal victory from the jaws of defeat often burned the self as fuel.

“We still need a ride, though.” Knuckles sighed. “The Resistance helicopters are fast, but we’ll waste time getting to the airfield from here.”

Amy approached the robot. “Omega, you can carry passengers, can’t you? Could you get us there quickly?” Amy had never flown with the robot, but there’s a first time for everything!

“NEGATIVE SLOWEST HEDGEHOG.” Amy’s brow furrowed at the nickname…he wasn’t wrong, but also, really? “I AM TO REMAIN WITH THE MECHANIC.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Knuckles shook his head. “We’re wasting time.”

Tails strode across the workshop towards the hanger, “I’m going to charge up the new thrusters. We can be there in half an hour!”

A loud whine filled the space as Omega’s hand retracted to reveal his railgun. He pointed it at Tails. Tails stopped and (bless his heart) flipped the robot off.

“Okay, okay, AND SCENE!” Amy rushed to place herself between Tails and Omega’s crosshairs. “There is a simple solution here. No need for friendly fire.” She smiled, trying not to let her (completely justified) anger at Omega for POINTING A GUN AT TAILS leak into her voice. The robot really needed to learn some bedside manners.

The gun lowered. “YOU MAY SPEAK.”

“Thank you.” She turned to look at Tails. The teenager was glaring daggers at Omega, but remained rooted. What had been going on between them? “We will all go. That way Omega can stay with Tails and we can defend Central City.”

“THE PLAN YOUR FEEBLE FLESHY BRAIN EXCRETED HAS AN OBVIOUS FLAW. ONCE IN MUNITIONS RANGE OF INFERIOR MECHANICAL LIFEFORMS, THERE EXISTS NO UNIVERISE IN WHICH I WILL NOT DISASSMBLE THEM WITH EXPLOSIVES.” Oh Omega, truly a poet.

“I can make sure he stays out of danger, Mr. Robot!” Cream stepped forward

“Cream!” Tails exclaimed, his voice cracking.

She rounded on him, her brown eyes set with conviction. “If you’re going, then I’m going too!”

“It’s too dangerous, Cream.” Tails waved his hand dismissively. Amy noted the glaze of desperation stretching Tails’ gaunt features. Awwwwww! She knew there’d been something there, but watching young love bloom in real time warmed her heart.

“I don’t care. I’m not going to just sit here while you keep destroying yourself and I’m certainly not going to sit and wait while you fly off into danger.” She approached Tails and took his hand in hers. “I care about you, Tails. If something happened to you, I’d-” She grimaced. “I don’t know what I’d do.”

Tails crumpled. His tails fell to the ground, his ears drooped, and his head hung. “Cream…”He sniffed. “I care for you, too.” His face tipped up and he firmly grasped her hands in his. “And that’s why you can’t come!”

A loud clap drew everyone’s attention. “Okay, kids. Sort the lovey dovey shit out later. We’re all going. Cream, keep an eye on Tails. Tails,” Knuckles strode towards the hanger, grabbing Tails by the shoulder as he passed. “stay out of trouble. And I mean that. We’ve got a city to save.”

Amy quickly jotted down a note before rushing after the others.

Shadow –

Emergency in Central City!

Please come help!

~Amy

---

The shade nest was huge.

The stony mucus had spread outwards for miles, covering everything green and sprouting those blocky spires the shades infested. At the center the warrens reached especially high and were coated with thick glass to protect them against any attempt by nature to reclaim the space. The dying light glinted off them, beautiful, but empty.

Even reinforced with steel bars, the structure of one of the spires crumbled under the might of S06 and his brothers. Curled and rotating at extreme rates, he barreled through support pillars, any resistance squashed with a little micro-vibration.

As S06 climbed out of the ruins of a fallen spire, he wondered at how few shades they had seen since the descent operation began. S91 could have probably handled this, he thought. S06 felt sad nothing. He missed 91’s chatter and general positive disposition. S06 hoped his taxed brother was recovering well after the aborted mission in that sandy place.

His ear pricked at an unexpected sound, and he pivoted.

S06 froze, his quills flaring, stimulants dumping into his systems.

A figure obscured in roiling clouds of darkness glared up at him with hungry red eyes. The lord and master of the murderous shades. The scourge of this once fertile land. The doom that striped the world from the humans: The Shadelord!

Curiously, the colored thread that S06 had tried to ignore was alight with a brilliant cobalt and leading from his chest, turning midway to a chartreuse, directly in the billowing cloud. Realization dawn. Of course! He understood what it was now! The thread led him to his destiny! All this time he’d denied its existence as just another hallucination, but here it was taking him right where he needed to be!

S91 would be so happy.

The monster spoke in its demonic language, its voice deep and resonant. “XXXXX!” Its dark tendrils flailed in the air, becoming thick and opaque before swirling away into dark, ethereal wisps. A flowing, living cloak of darkness. The black core of the thing remained.

“Be careful, Six.” Sage’s voice came through his earpiece. “It is very dangerous. Be on guard against the illusions it can summon. It will do anything to cause you to falter. I will be with you the whole way.” He would be on guard. He would be focused. He would fulfill S91’s wish.

The monster was still speaking, probably taunting them, condemning them to death. S06’s jaw clenched. He heard the minute movements of his brothers. They were waiting for him, as leader, to make the first move.

S06 moved.

In an instant, his foot pierced the cloud, a sharp heel aiming for the dark center. His quarry dodged! S06 felt something strange throughout his body. A shiver ran up his spine. Heat gathered in his abdomen. Sparks arced through his cranium and core. The muscles of his face contorted back, pulling the corners of his mouth upward. W-what was happening to him? It felt-! Was this real? So familiar…

S06’s foot struck the darkened artificial stone, cracking off large chunks, and he coiled, ready to spring towards the enemy. Something collided with the back of his head, and he was sent flying, ass over teakettle. As he somersaulted through the air, he heard the charged sounds of his brothers in their curled forms, barreling in to cover him.

Twisting before he impacted some sort of wheeled shade mech, S06 landed feet first and pushed off, leaving a dent in the mech’s side. He curled, revving in the air, and shot back into the fray. The rest of his squad was coordinating well, taking turns to rush the Shadelord, their forms charged cobalt blurs, never giving it a moment of rest or a chance to retaliate.

The air was getting filled with slowly falling bits of debris and rubble kicked up by the fight. The acceleration due to gravity slow as cold high viscosity lubricant in comparison to the speed at which S06 was operating.

S06 barreled into the thick of things, his brothers peeling away to give him room. And he missed again! Something wasn’t right. The enemy was there one instant and gone the next. He uncurled, his eyes visual sensors darting around and his ears auditory sensors canting quickly, trying to ascertain from where the next attack would come.

He could make out noise from his earpiece, but the action was moving too quickly for him to perceive Sage’s drawn-out syllables. He flicked his ear, and she sped up her delivery and lowered the tone. “It can teleport.” Ah, that explains it. “Left!” She warned.

S06 ducked as a gloved fist shot into the space his head had just been occupying. He grabbed upwards, feeding energy into his hand until it buzzed so quickly the movement was imperceptible, but infinitely cutting. Finally making contact with something solid, his fingers, vibrating at an extremely high frequency, bit into a soft, furry(?) membrane and fluids sprayed forth.

“XXXX!” The Shadelord hissed.

Reality shifted with a bight flash of green. S06 stomach nutrition compartment clenched, pressure tubes in his head popped painfully, and his head swam accelerometer struggled to reorient. The arm was jerked out of S06’s grasp and he found himself in free fall, his eyes optical sensors rapidly hunting for some semblance of a landmark. “You’ve been teleported!” Sage stated the obvious. How far though? Oh, pretty far upwards. Yikes, that’s a drop.

S06’s heart core pounded, flooding his body with invigorating sparks. They gave him strength, allowed him to go faster, hit harder, but also brought on the hallucinations. Hallucinations such as the Shadelord, falling with him, transformed into a gloriously handsome dark furred hedgehog. Fluids were rushing to the space between his legs…what?

“Wake up!” It was still yelling, fangs bared.

A heavy blow struck S06 in the stomach, expelling air from his lungs oxygen processing sacs, and rocketing him downwards. “I will catch you.” Sage’s drones surged upwards, colliding with him at a measured speed, gently slowing his descent in a way that didn’t mash his flesh organic components to a viscous paste.

The drones flew close together and formed a curving ramp. S06 curled and launched forward, allowing Sage to guide him to his target. S06 tensed his quills and infused them with his excess energy. Sharp quills impacted invader flesh and carved through, coating him in dark dampness. He heard a haggard grunt.

The Shadelord plummeted, leaking a trail of its foul innards that shimmered in the dying light. The string between them throbbed and S06 shivered, something strange bubbling up inside him. Regret? Why was it punishing him for fulfilling his destiny?

Sage’s drones caught him once more and then formed another spiraling ramp through the air to help him accelerate. But S06 paused. He ran a hand through his quills. It came back slick with a dark purple blood substance. His gloves eagerly absorbed the fluid. Why did-? His heart core was beating pulsing at an alarming rate. This wasn’t-! He didn’t like-!

“Six?” Came Sage’s gentle prompt. Right. Focus.

He couldn’t falter. Couldn’t give into these…sensations? S91 was counting on him. 6 had to focus on that. This was it. This was the battle that he’d waited for, trained for, was made for. Kill the Shadelord. Liberate the planet.

And then? He didn’t know. He didn’t want…anything. But S91 did. S91 with his smile and his noise and his plans and his ambition and his dreams. And S06 could give him all of that. That would be more than enough, to know S91 got everything he ever dreamed of.

S06 dashed downwards, his legs blurring as he raced through Sage’s curves and loop-de-loops, thousands upon thousands of small spherical drones forming the path then scattering and forming again. His speed gathered. His perception of reality sped up and he outran the drones. He curled into a ball and shot downwards.

S06 wished S91 was here. He would have loved this.

Below, nearly lost in the cloud of slowly falling debris, his brothers engaged the enemy. S06 descended like a meteor, smashing into the hard fake stone and releasing a massive burst of blue energy before piercing into the hollowed-out earth below.

The sudden drop surprised him, and he lay in a daze for a moment in a pile of rubble. Standing, S06 found himself in complete darkness. He was not equipped with the necessary components to operate in the absence of light. Above him, he could dimly see the hole through which he fell some twenty or thirty feet up. His thread of destiny whipped rapidly through the air, following the enemy’s movements, the thrumming unpleasantness only growing more and more incessant.

Something was very wrong, but S06 couldn’t even begin to fathom what it was.

A drone descended from the hole and began to glow brightly, illuminating the space. S06 blinked and looked around. He was in some sort of tunnel system. Several sets of parallel metal rails ran down the tunnels and, in the distance, he saw a raised platform. More importantly, there were plenty of support pillars off which he could bounce to gain height.

S06 dashed and jumped back and forth from pillar to pillar to reach the hole and climbed out. The fight had moved down one of the eerily flat valleys that ran between the hive towers. Shades seemed to favor sharp angles. He rushed to rejoin his brothers. They parted for him as he dove in to strike. The Shadelord rounded on him as he approached, its hateful red eyes narrowing. A sorrowful twang resonated through the thread connecting blue to black and S06~~’s heart clenched~~ errored.

The Lord of the Shades blipped from existence once again before S06’s strike could land. 6 skidded to a halt. “I’m relocating it.” Sage’s voice in his ear. The thread whipped upwards, and he reached out to lace it through his fingers. Under his touch, a pulse of bright blue ran along the length. It burned in his hand, but he held tightly. His eyes followed it, and, in the distance, he saw movement.

S06 took off at a sprint. “What are you doing, Six?” A cloud of her drones failed to keep up with him. He skidded around a corner and caught a fist to his face, sending him, once again, flailing backwards. 6 righted himself in the air and launched himself again the moment his shoes touched something solid.

He dove into the billow cloud of darkness, almost invisible in the quickly falling night, searching for the evil creature at its heart. His fist was blocked, but, with a pulse of energy, he broke flesh once more. The monster cried out and more of those noises spilled out of it. S06 ignored how strangely familiar the exchange felt and pressed, his body melting into a blur as he punched and kicked.

The Shadelord’s speed and strength were of a kind with his own and S06 found his heart core thrumming with an inconsistent cadence as feelings impulses bombarded him. The thrill of competition fulfilling his destiny, the frustration and disgust nothing issuing from the string between them, and the growing, pooling heat in his abdomen begging, needing, crying out for-! nothing else.

The errors were piling up in his system slowing S06 down. Was this the effect of the miasma? He had to resist, had to endure! For S91, for the world, for all the hopes and dreams that rested on his shoulders. He would break through the illusions, no matter the pain or discomfort. The drag on his resources that resistance required was becoming concerning, however.

A steely grip caught his fist and pulled S06 off his stance. But instead of striking him, the Shadelord growled, “Sonic! Get a grip!”, its bloody red eyes spearing him with- with- with-!

S06 flinched, sharp stabs carving into his skull cranium. The hand released him, and he doubled over, clutching his head. The pain! Why was this happening? Some type of shade poison? Was the black smoke toxic?

It was still talking, softer now. A hand touched his shoulder and everything changed.

The pressure was light and gentle, the feelings welling inside him warm and familiar. The pain eased, but in its place was a yawning void. Not frightening, just a lack, a missingness. He wasn’t all there. He needed the other piece and then everything would make sense. The hand could help. He needed it, even. But first he needed to apologize to-

A loud rumble shook the ground and the hand retracted. The sensations of reality rushed back in, breaking the hallucination. “Time to move, Six.” Sage ordered. S06 looked up.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

A massive spire was descending towards them quickly.

He needed to run, but the Shadelord would, too. But if he stayed-

The monster made a grab at him and S06 dodged (“Idiot!”), twisting to kick the dark shape in what looked like its stomach. His enemy grunted and recoiled, giving S06 the opening to tackle and pin it to the ground. The contact…feels nice is unimportant. The dark shadow of hundreds of tons of matter loomed above them. “Six, move!” Sage boomed in his ear, as distraught as he’d ever heard her. She always cared so much for him.

S06 didn’t know if this would work, but he decided to believe that it would, so his last thought would be of S91’s smile, having just learned that the whole beautiful world was his to explore. He closed his eyes.

Reality shifts and the equalizing vents in his ears audio sensors popping again. S06 eyes snapped open, his pupils dilating against the fading green light. He’s above the falling spire now, looking up at the red lights of Sage’s swarm of helpers. A gloved hand gripped the fur of his chest painfully and he was thrown downwards. S06’s back collided with a glass panel and it shattered. He continued down into the depths of the warren.

“Fuck!”

His shoulder slammed into a support beam and his vision visuals whited out, disorienting him. He tried to curl, but he’s not certain which way is up. His body responded only sluggishly. His forearm on the side of his damaged shoulder was grabbed tightly and S06’s lips pulled back as the pain rippled through him. The ground began claiming the falling structure and it eagerly rushed up to greet S06.

Reality shifted again. S06 was slammed into the ground. Desperately drawing in air, his vision began to clear, but the world was blurry. All the pain receptors in his head blazed angrily. In the distance, he could hear the falling spire colliding with another and starting a chain reaction.

The Shadelord loomed over him, menacingly. “Stay down!” Its deep voice continued to spew nonsense at him. S91 would have replied with a joke. Something witty and cutting. Something to cover up the pain and uncertainty. Something to quell the dread and anxiety.

His fingers scraped against the stony ground, clenching into fists. S06 would never give up. He lifted and a heavy boot slammed into his chest, forcing him back down and knocking the air from his lungs gas processing compartment. “Just stay down…please, Sonic…” The meaningless sounds seemed softer, almost pleading. He tried to focus on the monster, to at least see his death decommissioning coming.

The invader dug a hand into the mass of its head and produced a grey gemstone. “Shit! Not enough.” The rock was returned to its hiding place. Familiarity once again plagued S06. And the aggressive limb pushing him down sent confusing shivers down his spine to pool against his torso where the fleshy membrane had grown strangely tight hurt.

“I see you. Hold on.” It was really good that Sage was always looking out for him, given his bad habit of failing to look out for himself.

The demon’s head whipped around, and it growled, a deep, clicking noise. S06 saw a flash of movement and the weight disappeared from his chest. He scrambled to his feet, wincing as he used damaged parts. Two of his brothers, their azure fur deeply caked with grey dust, engaged the enemy in a hazy blur of violence.

Disorientation and nausea dominated S06’s senses. “Take a loop of the island, Six.” Sage instructed. “Go as fast as you can. That’ll repair your systems.” He didn’t want to run. The enemy was right there. He could still fight! Sage must have noticed his hesitation because she snapped, “That was an order.”

S06’s ears pinned back at her tone, but he turned and fled. Hitting speed was easy on the long flat plains of the shade colony. Their architecture was so monotonous and angular. Why did they build such structures when there were so few of them?

Exhilarating sparks radiated through S06 as his speed increased. The energy tingled down his limbs. Bruises faded. Cuts closed. Ligaments repaired. Vision cleared. His body forgot the previous battle and became eager for the next.

He ran the perimeter of the island that contained the tallest spires. The glow of flames could be seen in other parts of the hive. The other squads were busy holding back reinforcements. He needed to get back. Everyone was counting on him.

A terrified sound caught S06’s attention and his head jerked, his feet digging in to pull him to a stop. Across the river he saw a pair of shades fleeing from one of Mr. Tinker’s automated machines through a riverside park. Adrenaline spiked, pushing him to action.

Without thinking, S06 was running across the water and balling to strike…the mech? He ripped through the metal shell with ease and emerged on the other side. The mech exploded, spraying the park with shrapnel. S06 dodged the flaming bits with ease, but his senses sped up when he saw some heading for the shades. Again, his body moved before he could think.

Feet beat the ground. Arms curled around soft, fragile warmth. Danger was left in the dust. The sting of familiarity gripped him again, as if he’d done this countless times before.

His arms filled, S06 found himself far from the flaming wreckage. He gently lowered the shades(?) to the ground. He took a step back. Why’d he-? They were making noise and approaching him. He retreated. They were shades. He should have- He could still easily-

We don’t do that.

Right. S91 would be sad if he killed these shades. S06 frowned at the sudden contradiction. Shades were the enemy. He had to destroy the enemy. But S91 told him not to kill. But S91 also wanted him to kill the Shadelord. He had to kill the Shadelord for S91 to be happy. A heavy buzzing thickness was growing in his head.

Something touched him and he flinched. The shades were looking at him, trying to touch him. Their eyes bright and thankful, their mouths curved upwards. Why? Why didn’t they attack or run? Why were so many things not making sense? S06 swallowed. What was the right thing to do? He needed direction.

As if answering his prayers, Sage’s voice sounded in his earpiece. “Six, why have you left the island? Please return to the designated operational area, immediately.” Without looking back, S06 took off across the river. Back to the thicker, deserted part of the warren. Back to where things made a little more sense.

S06 quickly realized that he did not remember where he’d been last he’d seen his enemy. No matter. The glowing thread of destiny was leading him true no matter how much pain quivered through it directly into his heart core. Night had fully fallen and the dark valleys between the spires were littered with hazards. He nearly ran face first into one of the wheeled mechs. He stopped and scanned the sky. Smoke and dust had hidden any celestial light, but high above he spotted the red lights of a few of Sage’s drones.

The speedy soldier snapped his fingers and sprinted to the nearest intact spire. He ascended the spire by running around it in an upward spiral. Cresting the top with a great deal of inertia, S06 flew high into the air. Twisting as he rose, he carefully watched the thread. And it pointed to- Ah! There, far down the island, was a massive swarm of red lights. S06 would bet his favorite limb (a tie between his right and left leg) that Sage was where the action was.

Landing on the flat peak of the spire, S06 curled and revved. Thusly energized, he blasted across the gaps between the spires, one after another. His heart core pounded thrummed, his joints ached, and his muscles cried for rest. He leaned into the pain. There would be no rest anytime soon. Not when he was close to fulfilling Sage’s expectations and making S91’s dream come true. He could push through any obstacle or limitation. He would!

S06 entered a wide swath of collapsed spires and was forced to descend. The debris field was choked with dust, and he paused, frowning. The ground was uneven and the crumbled structures left a warren of caverns beneath their shattered corpses. Without light, his progress would be slow going.

“We’ve lost him in the wreckage.” Sage explained. S06 released a huff. His brother had been a little overzealous with their demolitions. A drone descended and began to glow, illuminating the dusty gloom. “Hold position until I establish visuals on the enemy.”

S06 hooked a finger over the blue thread, the only color in the grey night, and gave it a tug. The connection blazed to life and showed him exactly the direction to go. He moved and the drone followed him. “What are you doing, Six?” Sage didn’t need to be worried for him. He knew where he was going.

S06 climbed and dashed at a leisurely pace, allowing the drone to light his way. “What do you know that I do not?” Sage’s ignorance of S06’s thread of destiny concerned him. If it was a hallucination, why was it so consistently useful?

Eventually, the strand led downwards. S06 stopped and pointed. “Curious. Hold position.”

His brothers approached from different directions, dust coating their fur. Had they been looking for the Shadelord? Why had Sage asked him to hold position?

The five curled and began to circle, kicking up a mighty wind. Faster and faster, tighter and tighter. The circle blurred into a ring of blue. His brothers began to lower, drilling through the metal and glass and rock and whatever else lay below. The connection twitched. The enemy was on the move.

A new flavor of distress passed through the thread. One that shivered S06’s spine and turned his stomach nutrient processing compartment. He felt disquieted nothing. He needed to comfort, to reassure, to hug, to hold do nothing.

The drill broke through a layer and fell into a void, out of sight. “It’s in the subterranean tunnel system. Continue to hold position. I will flush it out.” The area was suddenly flooded with light as many of Sage’s drones lit. They flew down, swarming into the hole that had swallowed his brothers. S06 frowned. He watched as the thread swiftly move away from his brothers.

Soon he was alone with his personal light drone. He hated staying still. S06 began to tap his foot. Sage told him to hold position, twice. He couldn’t go running off after the thread again. The pace of his tapping increased. His brothers had probably already located the Shadelord and were in pursuit through the dark tunnels.

A thought struck S06, and he snapped his fingers. He could meet them when they emerged! Set up an ambush at the surface where they’d flush the dark creature out. S06 flicked his nose. Great idea! S06 raced off over the debris field, his light following him. “Six…” Sage sounded frustrated.

Picking through the wreckage was exhilarating. The uneven terrain twisted and fell away in places. Sharp shards of steel and jagged bits of crumbled rock added to the fun. S06 leapt and spun, sliding down one girder to fly up over a ridge of plexiglass. He almost lost sight of the thread.

In fact, just as he exited the field, returning to the flat valleys, he realized the thread led behind him, back into the field. He turned and-

A hand shot out to grab him and S06 recoiled. Gathering energy into his hand he slashed out, striking something soft and cutting deeply. His attacker grunted and took a step back.

White hairs, floating like falling snow, interspersed by droplets of dark purple blood fluid. The sudden flash of white startled S06. It hurt badly to see it and he didn’t know why. S06 paused and looked at his hand. The polyfiber glove was eagerly soaking up the dark purple color.

A black hand reached out to him. “Sonic, please. I don’t know what the Doctor has done to you, but we can fix it!” The tone of the noise was soft, almost placating. S06 looked up. The dark form pressed a hand to its chest, dark fluid continuing to seep out. “Just come with me.” It took a step towards S06. “Please, Sonic. I can’t stand fighting you like this. It’s killing me!” Another step. S06 felt his quills flare. Alarm bells were ringing all though his systems. Why was he just standing there? Move. Attack. Run. Something! “Please?”

It was almost touching him. He couldn’t catch his breath. Something was in his eyes. He blinked and it fell away. S06 felt his face and it came back wet. He was…leaking? Leaking fluids even though he wasn’t injured? “Think about your friends. Tails, Amy, Knuckles. Think about how hard they’ve been fighting. How much danger they could be in. Don’t you want to protect them?”

S06 was broken. He couldn’t suck in enough oxygen nor slow the thurm up of his core. There wasn’t any other explanation. The monster had corrupted him. He was desynchronizing, tearing himself apart. He was a danger to himself and his brothers. He was a danger to S91. This demon had taken everything from him.

He retreated a step. It froze. It rotated its hand, reaching it out, palm up to him. “Listen to my voice. I know you’re in there. You don’t want to be doing this. Come with me and we can fix this!” It wouldn’t stop getting closer to him. The connection between him and the darkness burned. He hated it. Hated this. Hated how he was paralyzed. Hated because couldn’t feel sad nothing.

Suddenly, a loud bang interrupted the moment. Behind the monster, a hole in the hard black rock had burst open and one of his brothers emerged, followed by a flood of small spherical balls. The valley was awash with light. The demon turned and S06 took the distraction as an opportunity.

Gathering all his pain and uncertainty and confusion, he flashed forward and struck the Shadelord squarely in the chest. It tented over his fist and fluid spritzed across S06’s face. The force sent it flying, a loud crack issued from the air as it sped away nearly faster than the eye optical sensor could follow. It disappeared straight into the depths of one of the shade spires, tearing open a hole through a colorful façade.

S06 panted as his allies gathered around him. He licked his lips and rubbed his face. Wrong. This was all wrong. None of it made sense. Nothing added up anymore. He should…He could…He-

S06 gripped his quills, pulling, willing the pain to give him focus.

“Six,” Sage’s voice was flat in his ear, but tinged with disappointment, “you need to stop holding back.” S06’s grip eased and looked down at his scuffed shoes. “We may never get another chance like this to end the War.” His fists tightened. His bond of destiny throbbed with a rush of sharp heat. His ears pinned back. “Remember, you aren’t fighting just for yourself or for me. Think of all the lives threatened by this monster.” She was right. He’d been selfish, only thinking about 91…there was more at stake here.

S06 looked up at the cloud of drones.

S06 put his hand over his heart core.

For those silenced in this conflict.

For those who yet remain in its horror.

For those who will come after.

For the Glory of Mankind.

His brothers took up positions around him. Their bodies coiled like springs, ready to launch at his slightest indication. They all had weathered the demon’s blows far better than he, filthy but otherwise showing no damage at all.

From the depths of the hive spire, the Shadelord emerged, deepest darkness thrashing around the deadly core. Dark, malicious fluids flowed from wounds that quickly sealed. Its eyes glowed a bloody red, the color having burst the dams of its irises and expanded fully over its sclera. Long, sharp claws extended from its fingers. The illusion of its prior form was falling away, revealing it for the monster it truly was.

The monster roared, its voice dripping with a desperate venom, “If you won’t listen to reason, I’ll just beat it into you!” Its murderous gaze trained squarely on S06.

Sage: Lock in, Six!

Chat, what fight music do you think goes well with this divorced chapter?