Anti-Sonic Series/A Room Lit With Red (2024)

A Room Lit With Red is an episodic spinpasta written by SheyGrell and the second entry in the Anti-Sonic series, releasing individual parts from December 8th, 2012 to December 27th, 2012. The story takes place on the night of Chris Laurence's disappearance when he has a dream like no other where he is trapped in a room with no escape, witnessing the in-game events of the original creepypasta as if they were actually happening through a monitor. Compared to its previous installment, it garnered less traction but was praised by its readers.

The Tale[]

Broken Tails[]

All that could be seen to start with was that it was dark. He was on the floor, as though he'd just woken up there. There was the tiny amount of light overhead, but it was so dull the source was barely even visible along with anything of where he was. He rose to his feet. "... What?" He could barely make out his own hands or the rest of him in that lighting. Just the silhouette of them. Feeling his way round until quickly finding the walls, he found that only those walls quite closely surrounded him. It was enclosed with all sides about 4 metres or less in length. Same for the height. Needless to say, it felt claustrophobic and ominous. Chris was no stranger to nightmares, but that still didn't make things any better. While he didn't yet know the reason for being there, the fact was that he was there.

The surroundings carried an unnatural tone. Not in sight but in atmosphere, as if the very nature of the place around him was beyond the skills of imagination. This wasn't Chris' dream, neither was he on familiar grounds. There was no visible way out & no one around to help. Whether it was a single being or just everything around him though, there was something. It was prowling & observing. Waiting. Above all, it felt in need of something... All of that could be felt just by the air he breathed. True hostility.

The analysis was interrupted by a sudden source of saturated red light coming from behind. It shed a considerable amount of illumination in the room, revealing the fact that things really weren't good. There was no door, no visible way out. The rusty metal walls were decayed & encrusted with what looked like very old streaks of blood spilled across it. It was like something had been torn up and thrown about.

Within a second, Chris' focus was pulled from the room itself to the shadow of a familiar figure right next to his own... He spun round as quickly as he could, the fringe of his long hair sliding over his left eye. Nothing there. Instead he was greeted by a projection on the wall, containing a number of objects in various grainy shades of washed out colour, but it was all heavily blurred & covered with a thin layer of red coloured interference that took the form of static.

He took a step forward then noticed there was the sound of white noise emerging in the background. Very faint, but it definitely wasn't there a couple of seconds ago. He stared back at the screen, getting a very limited sense of understanding from what little there was to go on. Cautiously, the other foot raised & moved forward. The volume increased, starting to feel like it was surrounding him. Upon looking more closely at the images a third time, it looked as though the projection was more in the form of a screen or monitor embedded in the wall.

There was the ever growing sense of being waited on to step into just the right place. This was supposed to be a dream. Chris was aware of it. He'd been through some serious nightmares on occasions of sleep. Because of that, not only did he gain awareness to some degree, but had also acquired some understanding with the whole spiritual side of controlling dreams. How was any of that going to help him now? It was a bad place he was in with no visible way out. There was no feeling of control, no matter how hard he tried. What choice was there? Stay put? Give up and give in? From how things looked, there was only one direction to go.

With another step across the short distance of the room, the volume crept up further. The screens static turned thicker, dominating the images with a grainy yet fierce red. It added to the tension already present.

It was just a dream, but everything down to the feel of the floor beneath his feet felt like it was actually there. For all Chris cared at that moment, it was there. He finished the last two steps towards the screen in a single action. For a split second the noise rose to a level that was almost painful to hear, taking away all traces of different color or even video footage then replacing it purely with red.

It continued for a second longer before like the flick of a switch, The screen sprung to life, no interference at all. Only now this screen behaved more like a window, allowing a view of all the scenery outside. The scene was almost instantly recognisable. Sort of.

It was nothing less than the famous Green Hill zone. Lush & unspoilt grounds stretched out towards an ocean, almost jagged in places with it's mixture of grassy hills. The land was consistently occupied by the occasional tall and proud tree, with plenty of strange yet unique looking flowers here and there.

There was just one thing though. This didn't look like any kind of game. It was indeed colorful, but had little to no feeling of a cartoon or CG.

Almost directly in front of him was a large cliff that looked like it stretched on for miles. The landscape along the side was mostly flat with another cliff in the distance, running parallel with Chris' side. Protruding from down below on both sides were several structures & formations of rock, naturally formed with assistance from the oceans work on it. Even the wind blowing through the rustling trees & grass could be heard. Strangely enough though, there were no animals. No birds or squirrels. Not even the sounds of chirping or squawking anywhere. The stillness sank in. It was unsettling.

The silence and tension was broken by the sound of footsteps mixed with some kind of acrobatics, approaching somewhere from down below to the left. Chris looked around, and recognised the source of it as soon as it came into view. Something he should have expected to see. But not in the way he saw it there.

It was none other than the bright eyed, orange furred little fox-cub with big pricky ears and a big bushy pair of tails. The thing that was most noticeable about him was the overall way he looked. This character looked just as real as the scenery around him. Or indeed, as real as the blonde haired, blue yet dull eyed individual with social problems, very little control or expression of emotions & a mean temper, trapped in a grimy room observing him. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

Frozen with fascination, Chris just stood there. The form of life he was seeing looked almost as tall as a human child with almost real & accurate proportions. His face still maintained the same general appearance of who he was, the rest of his body also holding the characteristics to be recognised as Tails. Just like the trees & grass rustling in the wind, his fur was behaving in the same manner. The only thing that made it look rather strange was his sky blue eyes. They were smaller than usual. Not much, but it looked better proportioned to suit the appearance. The whole thing did at first look a bit weird to Chris.

The energetic little fox was making his way up via platforms that were on the cliff face, baring a placement that meant they could be easily used as stepping stones. There was a look on his face that carried the intent of searching for something. Or indeed, someone. leaping up from one platform to the other, he made the last stretch by lunging himself into the air followed by whirling his two tails perpetually.The movement of his appendages were quick, making it near impossible to see clearly, but it worked. It probably shouldn't have in the real world, but they were spinning. He was flying. He ascended quickly onto the path and landed facing Chris' left. His pose upon impact bared a striking resemblance to that of a certain hero of his, followed by a look of being pleased with himself for the accomplishment. Chris couldn't help but let some kind of smile make it's way across his mouth. "Hm. Cute." His smile then faded as he slowly shook his head. "But you have still gotta be fucking kidding me."

Rising to his feet, the fox called out, his voice carrying an echo throughout the lifelessness surrounding him. "Sonic??" Chris' attention was immediately pulled towards the matter of just how that voice sounded as he heard it, lightly surpressed by the glass. That wasn't voice acting. That was real. He saw the way the mouth moved when speaking. This was the voice of an American child, probably the same age as that character. It was definitely the kind of tone that couldn't be imitated.

Tails turned while setting one foot halfway forward. "Son-i..." He stopped, staring at something further ahead, then completely froze up. His eyes slowly widened & quickly teared up from what looked like imagery beyond his mental capacity. His gloved hands & stalky legs started shaking uncontrollably. He was paralysed with fear.

Struggling to move forward, Tails managed to very slowly lift his right foot up. He cautiously lurched forward before picking up the pace over a few seconds. The look of fear was still in his eyes, but they were focused on what was ahead as he went from a fast walk to a light jog.

When he saw the character start moving, there was a brief sensation of panic in Chris' chest as the window moved alongside the scenery. It was like the room itself was acting as a camera, gliding smoothly alongside the scenery without the feeling of motion. Less than a minute later Tails slowed down & the rate of scenery passing decreased, showing what had gotten such a reaction. It sparked a reaction out of him, too.

It took a second for things to click, but when they did, it was all starting to make some sense, as much as a part of Chris wished it wouldn't. The grass was tainted with crimson patches of blood seeping into the soil where the first laid. A pool had formed underneath the second from the amount that was dripping off of it since being strapped to a tree. Corpses. Butchered & mangled bodies of animals were put up on display or thrown to the side. He knew what the scene was.

As the scenery passed there was more of the aftermath both people were seeing. Just like in the game, birds & squirrels that were gutted remained strung up in display across the trees. Rabbits were both broken & torn apart, piled up and and soaked with crimson from the blood that had spilled down to the ground. The further it went, the higher the body count.

Still trembling, Tails' eyes shifted around with what looked like reflexes of fear from a mind that shouldn't have seen such things. He tried looking in different directions to minimise the sight without success. Wherever he looked, there was another grisly spectacle to stare right back at him.

As expected, the trail of bodies just stopped. It was a stretch of normal looking scenery. Further down was an unhappy looking portrayal of Sonic, standing with his back towards his sidekick.

He too possessed all the elements of realism to his look, just like Tails. The few quills he had were more like thick, smooth & spiked dreads that covered his entire back. The ones attached to his head drooped down like normal. They waved around gently, behaving just as everything else the wind touched.

Appearing considerably taller than Tails, his height was still just a bit off from that of an average human. But he had the same kind of new proportions to his body, still maintaining the right amount to be recognised there & then as Sonic the Hedgehog.

Chris already knew what was coming, but couldn't do anything to stop it. And before knowing why, he wanted to stop it. This was supposed to be fiction. As each moment had passed though, it didn't feel like it was a dream, somehow. Whether it was or not, this was something he didn't want to watch.

He tried to get noticed by banging on the window & yelling to no avail. "Don't do it!! Just run!! Run you fucking idiot!!!" As the disturbed fox moved closer towards Sonic he spoke softly, stretching out his hand. "S-SS-Sonic?" Chris shifted from wanting to stop it to needing to stop it. He was feeling as though he wanted to do some good for once in his life, regardless of whether or not the whole matter would've been considered irrelevant.

He punched the window repeatedly with both fists, then tried kicking it a few times. His hearing was slowly being dominated by the return of white noise that was getting louder as Tails moved closer. Sonics eyelids flashed open, and for a split second the eyes could be seen just as they were in the game. Upon this, the window suddenly presented nothing but more red static. He gave the window one last punch. "Fuck!!" It was all that could be thought to say out of frustration. That anger quickly disappeared though when he froze at the feeling of something sharp poking the back of his neck. It slid down from top to bottom, feeling like a blade or a claw. There was then the whisper of another American, this time an adult.

"Hello."

He spun round out of sheer reflex. There was no one. That voice... Whoever it belonged to, it was of an incredibly deep tone. He remained facing where he'd turned, noticing that all noise was now gone. The room was still lit with that tense shade of red though. There was another whisper, once again behind him.

"Do you want to play with me?"

He didn't turn back round at first, expecting something like a hideous face pressed against the window ready to scare the hell out of him. But as he thought about this. the last few moments he saw of Tails ran through his mind, as well as unpleasant images of what could be happening. There was nothing he could do, but giving up just didn't feel like an option.

When turning back, he was presented with the scene of what looked to be the tropical environment that was Angel Island. The entire area was now washed over with fire. Trees & once lively jungle terrain was now being slowly reduced to a blinding mix of yellow, white, red and orange. Rare patches of blue & green were present throughout with a seemingly infinite number of embers, sparking wildly into every direction.

The room containing Chris was now suspended somewhere near the center of an immense crater with its entire surface covered in flames. They rose to almost ground level, except round the edges. They curled inwards as they shot up, making the whole area look like a giant bowl. A strange effect that gave the impression they were in some kind of prison. Or a trap.

However, from one side to the other was a single stone bridge that was thin yet sturdy. It seemed to have naturally formed across the top of the whole display. In the middle of that bridge stood Tails, darting his eyes from sight to sight in what looked like a state of both panic & disbelief. Whenever turning in Chris' general direction, he just looked straight past as if nothing was there. "Can you even- Hello?? Right here!! Come on!! Look at me you little bastard!!!" Once again banging on the window as well as waving his arms to try catching the little guy's attention, Chris was feeling the frustration rise.

No such luck. He was invisible to that outside world. After Chris took a deep breath, both of them were startled by a loud, enraged voice that called out from somewhere down amongst the flames. It had a resemblance to the voice that had spoken earlier, now sounding distorted and monstrous. Almost like it belonged to some kind of mythical creature of unbelievable size.

"Hide & seek!!!"

The words carried an echo across the landscape, over the sound of everything burning. There was a few seconds of silence afterwards. Tails had begun moving to the right from what looked like instinct, gradually moving faster until he was running as fast as he could. The window once again moved alongside him, but Chris was too distracted by looking around for something to appear that he hardly noticed.

He looked straight at Tails who was continuing to run for his life. Then out of nowhere was a loud thud as the demented & psychotic rendition of the hedgehog leapt up to the window, clinging to it. Chris flew back by a meter before shifting his eyes quickly to the remaining walls around him. No exit. He turned back just as fast.

The eyes gave a piercing stare with a blank expression & fresh stains of crimson running down his cheeks. There was grime mixed with small, faint streaks of blood riddled throughout the fur on his body. He stared for a few seconds at the unnerved individual, before giving a half smile on the right side of his face that partly revealed his bloodstained teeth.

Chris stood straight whilst trying to guess the next move, until Sonic took a deep breath then threw his head back whist letting out a hideous and deafening roar at the top of lungs. Even when his ears were covered, Chris still found it near deafening while he staggered back until hitting the wall behind him.

The creature finished growling then looked at Chris with a sinister looking smile across his face. He chuckled to himself before giving an almighty leap off the window, off to the left & out of view. There was then the sight of Tails with an expression of further disbelief, catching sight of his once best friend sailing through the air, out of the windows view. Chris moved back towards the window as the pursuit continued.

The ever-mortified fox ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Behind him though was the monster wearing the skin of Sonic, hovering a couple of inches above the ground, effortlessly catching up. He looked behind him for a brief second to see this before he panicked & used his flying capabilities to propel himself faster. His voice could be be heard, bearing the resemblance of a child stricken with absolute fear & confusion beyond his mental processing. Mostly delirious ranting with the occasional "No" and "Help".

Sonic was only a few metres away when he let out a demonic growl that quickly ascended in tone whilst raising his arms above his head. At the sound of this, Tails caught his foot on a rock that went unnoticed, causing him to come crashing down to the ground, where he rolled a few feet further. The pursuing monster caught up almost instantly, proceeding to strike.

As he swiped, his body instantly disintegrated into a cloud of blue dust that was carried off by the wind. Some of it clung to Tails as it washed over him, giving intermittent patches of blue across his body. Chris was completely focused on him, clearly seeing that this mere child in the guise of a fox had simply ran out of words and strength. Instead of running, the child simply dropped to his knees, rocking back and fourth with his face buried in his hands ranting to himself in hysterics. He was broken, his mind torn from the sights thrown in his face and the fear he had just endured. He was finished.

There was a pain in Chris' chest that quickly spread in waves to his throat. This wasn't a dream. If none of it was real, then why was he this powerless? Why was he so actively aware of everything that was happening, like he was fully awake? In the end, none of that mattered. Right then, there was a soul trapped outside that had unjust horrors inflicted on them, resulting in a complete mental wreck. It wasn't fair.

After a few seconds of the distressing sight, there was another cloud that slowly appeared in front of the far-gone mind still ranting to himself. It grew larger and more dense. The form of Sonic silently re-materialised as if all the dust blown away had returned. He remained unseen, and just stood there watching his work for a couple of seconds. He then spoke again, this time anger a blank & emotionless tone.

"You're too slow."

The tears suddenly stopped. There was no motion from Tails. For a second, he remained as motionless as a statue before slowly & shakily lowering his hands. His face was wet from the amount of tears that had streamed out. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was of unfathomable dread.

Chris felt his frustration reach a peak when he saw the creature raise his hand out sideways to his own eye level, before briefly chuckling to himself. With the last of the energy within, Tails screamed at the top of his lungs "Someone help me!!!" The hand came down with lightning speed. Chris struck the window with his palm as he witnessed. "No!!!"

At the moment of impact, the screen cut back to static. There were still sounds from outside though... The white noise would have been a godsend compared to what there was to listen to.

Chris' ears were pierced by the sound of Tails once again screaming at the top of his lungs. It was out of terror & unbearable pain, like he was being tortured. There were no sounds of him attacked though. No sounds of anything being sliced or severed. Just the screaming. He covered his ears, unable to shut out the child's horrific cries. It shortly had him feeling disturbed.

After a few moments, everything went silent. No screams or anything from the outside. Just Chris standing alone whilst facing the window he wished wasn't there, along with everything else around him. His hands were shaking and his breathing was heavy while contemplating on what he just saw. All of this was no longer on the basis of not being real. It was more like a living nightmare. What he just saw was a young life that was bright with potential, before seeing what was done to the residents of his home. He was brave enough to try and get an answer. Instead, all he got was suffering.

With all this & other factors rushing through Chris' mind, there was a liniment of tears forming at the bottom of his eyes as they sheened over. He stared forward, feeling drained by the summary of what he'd just seen. Torture on the innocent, all of it viewed in the vicariousness of a room lit with red.

The voice of Sonic came back, this time it sounding almost clean compared to all the other times. It was like he'd calmed down, or was pleased with himself.

"Want to try again?"

The sound of demonic laughter followed, uttered in the tone of knowing when a question is rhetorical & feeling joyful about it. The screen started to slowly dim & fade, taking away the illumination it gave. Chris felt a strong mixture of fear, anger & despair at war in his body. So many questions concerning the fate of that poor child & seeing it happen that came back to one word. Why. A single tear ran down his cheek that fell to the floor. If it made a noise, it wasn't heard. The light finished dissipating from the room, leaving only the overhead light. The peak of Chris' hair was a given a small shine from it, leaving the rest of his body as a silouhette. Still standing motionless & staring forward, he was waiting. It wasn't over yet.

"There should be no need of violence. But, you people always find excuses...

...What's that saying? You can run but you can't hide? Try pointing a gun or striking a fist against your past." -???

The Fourth Wall[]

The tension was still thick, remaining just as strong with every second of being in the darkened silence. Tails' last words kept echoing throughout Chris' mind, spoken in the screaming childs voice. His own mind joined in, whispering the same words over and over, like he himself was calling out for anybody. It kept going until it became nothing more than a mass of noise circling round. Slowly raising his hands, he buried his face in them as hard as he could, applying force with his palms to his eyesockets. In a moment of irrationality through anguish, it was like he was trying to push in his eyes as a desperate measure to take away the memories he'd been given.

He stopped, sliding his hands down his face & parting his fingers down the middle of both. It revealed an expression of anger that clouded most of the rational side trying to get through. Still standing in the dark, Chris just stared down & took a deep breath.

At the sight of static flashing onto the screen for a split second along with a blink of white noise, he regained some focus and lowered his hands. Every muscle in his body was tensing up in preperation of whatever was to be thrown his way next. There was another blink of red. Then another & another, like the screen was having trouble switching on.

After a few more random blinks & flashes, the screen sprung back to life. It refilled the entire room with it's fierce light of red, casting Chris' shadow across the wall behind him. He remained unphased, staring with more attention being undivided by the second. In the illumination though, one detail caught his eye & made him look away. He could have sworn he just saw the wall give something like a twitch...

Chris moved to the corner, stretching his hand out while feeling a piece of his reasoning fall away from him. The tip of his middle finger ran down the crusty surface of blood to find all was still, the surface being as sturdy as ever. When taking his hand off the wall, he felt something. On the top of his finger was a stain of crimson, carrying the look & smell of fresh blood. Rubbing the finger against his thumb, there was a sensation of awareness. As if just by feeling it, he knew who it belonged to. It was Tails'...

Upon the sight of this, there was a high pitched whine that sounded like it was somewhere faraway. As he noticed, the sound grew within a split second like it rushed towards him. When it reached it's closest, Chris felt an immense pain instantly flare up inside his skull, blinding him as his vision turned to white. It came in waves, hitting him randomly yet in quick succession, one after the other. Staggering about the room from one wall to another, he clutched the sides of his head as tightly as possible.

With each wave, memories were flashing by from his past, going though his his vision with voices & sounds that he recognised but would have done anything to forget. He was being reminded of every last one of his failures, mistakes & regrets. All the times he let somebody down. All the things he'd said or done but wished he hadn't. The soul he couldn't save.

The deep-seated sense of hatred he had always managed to keep to himself was growing, fast out of control. The paranoia he had buried reminded him how much of a joke he was to people, despite any protests. The feelings of hopelessness came through in a voice of immense rage & resentment, constantly screaming about how pathetic he'd always been & why he should even bother. All past conditions & hinderances that had tortured him for years were coming back in their usual potent mixture, circling round to hit him wave after wave.

It was too much. Still squeezing as tightly as he could with increasing pressure on his skull, he screamed as loud as he could. Partly as an attempt to shut out the noises, but mostly because the waves & imagery gave him the urge to headbutt the wall until his skull cracked open.

After what felt like an eternity, both the memories & voices just stopped. As he let go of the tension in his body, he fell to his knees & shot both hands out to stop himself from landing face first. His eyesight eventually returned to staring at the red shining on him, as he remained on the floor in the middle of the room. Hunched over & hanging his head from fatigue, his breathing was both heavy & shaken up as he attempted to catch his breath. There was still a dull pain that lingered as he kept his head down, hiding his face from the light with his fringe.

Whilst recovering the sound of chuckling could be heard somewhere underneath him, softly travelling through the air. It was instantly recognisable. After hearing this, there was a strange sensation in Chris' eyes. It felt like they were welling up with tears. There was a dark red liniment at the bottom of his vision, followed by the feeling of something running out from both eyes & down his cheeks. He quickly and firmly ran his fingers along the right cheek & examined. There was nothing, nor was there any red lining. He frantically patted and dragged his hands against his face, constantly checking to confirm.

He got the small reassurance that even if there was something, it was gone. After rising to his feet again, Chris dusted himself down. When reaching his shins the screen suddenly made the same transition into a window, changing the lighting from red to a shade of something much darker. A kind of mauve like effect with a number of other shades. He stood straight, before cautiously making his way forward to examine the next scene. It wasn't anywhere from Sonics world that Chris recognised, but judging from what he'd already seen, he remembered what it depicted & knew what was next.

It was a setting that consisted of nothing more than a widened, bland looking & structurally impossible steel walkway, surrounded by dark & cloud ridden sky of which there were shades of colour from mauve to maroon. Past a certain point at either end, the walkway was obscured by the clouds that smothered it. It was thick & consistent with rivets along the edges, but held up by no visible support underneath. Stretching off and disappearing into the murky shroud, there was no way that entire thing should have been able to stay in the air. There was no sign of any ground level underneath, either. Just more of the clouds, like they were high up somewhere. Or maybe as if all this was merely created for a single purpose.

Along the side of the structure were pipes revealed with horizontal exposures, equally spaced & covered by diamond pattern grates. Through them, there was something flowing that looked all too similar to blood for any other conclusions to be drawn. It didn't phase Chris since by this point as he was desensitized towards something like that. Between the amount of horror themed interests over the years & the events he'd witnessed on this day, it wasn't much a shocking image. There was however a pause for thought, as he considered how many theoretical victims it would have taken to fill those up.

The train of thought was abruptly ended by the sound of clanking against the metal surface. It was coming from Chris' left, having a resemblance to footsteps. He gave a sigh of dread, briefly lowering his head at the thought of what he was about to witness again as the source of noise wandered out from the shroud. "Yep, here he is..."

The clanking came from a pair of red & yellow shoes with riveted tongues, belonging to the character with scarlet furred skin & thick dreads that gave slight movement of jilts & swaying from walking in the wind. His arms remained tensed up while clenching his fists with abnormally large & spiked knuckles attached to them. There was even the white crescent mark on his chest, just below the neck. It was him alright, making no exception to this realistic portrayal of these characters so far. With Knuckles though it wasn't just his purple eyes being smaller for the almost fully adult size of his body, but also that his hands were more suitably sized. Still somewhat chunky, but also a lot more fitting and a lot less cartoony.

As Knuckles fearlessly ventured further across the path, he stopped dead in his tracks as the whole platform started to resonate a strong vibration. The pumps underneath suddenly turned active, as if they were waking up up to someones nearby presense, making him back up whilst keeping an eye out for any cause other than himself. A steady rhythm of soft yet stern thumping was running through the walkway as the pumps went about their motion, alternating from one side to the other with each thump that sounded. There were varying pitches of some kind that went along with the rhythm, making some kind of twisted melody as if the machinery itself was distressed at what it was doing. The result off all this combined was an unsettling musical ambience...

The rhythm faded along with the melody. Knuckles was alert, his eyes scanning from left to right. He saw or heard nothing other than the sound of wind blowing across. Chris was also on the lookout, switching from left to right while expecting something to happen where Knuckles had come from.

Tilting his head back & looking round at his surroundings, Knuckles looked back down and Stright ahead of him. With an expression of all his senses concentrating, he cautiously moved to the side of the walkway in front of Chris & peered over the edge. Not a soul in sight. As his eyes moved back round again to examine the area, Chris stared through the window at the unafraid echidna. He then drifted off into deep thought, distracting from any happenings outside.

There was something that brought a largely dysfunctional being such as Chris to a place like this. It was something other than playing that game. Exploring this line of thought there were emotions that quickly spread throughout his very consciousness. Feelings that he'd wished he couldn't recognise as nostalgic.

During times when going through various troubles of the mind, there was always the feeling of belonging in the places he'd always landed in emotionally. With it came all the other familiar factors. The feeling of extreme bitterness & resentment towards everything down to the very air he breathed burned away at his mind. He felt himself running out of motivation to even think of words to express just how the situation made him feel. A sense of being down in the depths of a very dark & unforgiving place took hold. As the cold & spacious feeling sank in he began clenching his jaw, resisting the urge to strike himself over & over in a fit of irrational but still intentional punishment.

Most would call it self-pity, but the chances are those people would have more experience with that than what Chris had caged up inside him. Something of which there was always a fine line but a big difference. Self-loathing. There were never any questions as to why anything unfortunate happened to him. Only the common ritual of losing his temper, before realising what had become of the youth that was himself throughout the years & accepting he just deserved it. Every single time.

The feeling began to overwhelm him as the rage & bitterness turned to distress. He didn't want to be here or anywhere for that fact. But moving back and fourth was a feeling of belonging in this prison. Somewhere that meant he was just away from the world, where he could decay in what could be counted in some form as a kind of peace. The memories returned in the form of just voices, throwing at him all the comments that could conjured from his past. Before it could get too far out of hand, Chris' thoughts was overridden by the distraction of something. Why the hell was Knuckles looking straight at him with a very uneasy expression on his face?

"Hey! Hey!! Can you see me?!! Can you hear me??!" He repeatedly banged on the glass, resulting in a hollow thud with each hit. No response or any kind reaction. "Oh come on man, don't do this to me!!! Why are you staring?!!!" Out of breath from summoning as much volume as he could for the last sentence, he looked at Knuckles with the firm belief that guy saw him. This was quickly replaced with a feeling of dread mixed with a sense of cliche in Chris' chest, as he spotted traces of blue dust that started forming into a cloud, being carried down in the wind. It slowly grew into a thick cluster as it headed for the ground, behind Knuckles.

Just as stealthily as the last round, Sonic appeared behind the distracted echidna whilst remaining completely undetected. There was a loss of count with the amount of times Chris had seen this setup in horror films, quickly followed by disbelief that he was even thinking of that. His fists immediately flew forward at the screen as he once again repeatedly struck it with his palms & fists, trying to get Knuckles' attention.

While repeatedly striking, he saw Sonic levitating off the ground, stretching out his arms as he ever so slowly lurched forward to move in for his next kill. "He's behind you!!! He's right behind you, turn round!!!" As the murderous stalker moved in further, he stopped just out sight. With his arms still stretched out as if to embrace his victim, there was the sound of his voice, carrying that same lecturing tone as it did with Tails'. But it didn't come from outside. It was behind Chris.

"You can't run."

On one persons face was an expression of fearful realisation that mirrored the others, as if they both saw the same thing. At the sight of Knuckles' fist clenched up before spinning round with instant reflex, Chris matched this almost perfectly in sync with him. He was still the only sign of life contained within those walls.

He faced the window again to see Knuckles also turning back round. As the echidna turned though, he stopped at what looked to be something further off in the direction he was headed. "Hey!!" His voice was that of another American, this time around the same age as Chris. Just like with Tails. this voice was suiting for the person it belonged to. It sounded stern yet calm & collected, even when raised. Justifiably though, there was also the faintest trace of fear as well. After a few seconds of no response from anything other than the wind, he turned back to where Chris was situated, giving one last look around the general area before making a surprising decision.

"I... I don't know if I saw you, but I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy." As Knuckles' eyes veered over to whatever he spotted, Chris' attention was undivided at the confirmation he'd just been given. The sheer spectacle that a fourth wall dividing them was broken if only for even a second was one of the last things Chris expected at this point, as much as he'd hoped for something along those lines. It was crazy to think that in front of him there was a non-human creature that was trying to communicate directly. It carried the same atmosphere that finding a new form of life would provide, but in that moment Chris also realised this could have been his best and maybe only shot. The hope there was a chance to stop this was calling out to Chris as he continued to focus.

Unsettled but still vigilent, Knuckles turned his attention back to Chris. "Judging from the looks of you smackin' at whatever kind of shield that is in front'aya, I gather ya' wanna talk. So let's talk." Chris took a glance at the edges of the window, looking for a weakness. He then took a step back & leapt forward, kicking at the window with all the strength he could muster. It felt as though the glass jilted, but just would not break. Not even a scratch. Feeling the futility of it finally sinking in, he refocussed his attention on Knuckles. "Listen, I dunno what's going on but then you need to ge-".

"I saw a friend'a mine... He was standin' behind you." Chris turned completely silent at what he was told.

It was clear that they couldn't hear one another, but from whatever glimpse was caught, there was someone that guy knew, standing in that room with Chris. It explained the voice that had plagued him since this beginning, but it was somehow worse knowing that. This creature had free reign & was willing to prove this world belonged to him.

Knuckles spoke again, this time with a trace of desperation. "Look, if somethin's happened to him, I need to know!" There was a new level added to Chris' frustration as he felt powerless. "God damnit!! Just- Just gimme a sign or somethin'!! Please!!" Having his rationality overpowered by anger, Chris backed up to the opposite side before charging shoulder first. He made a solid impact with still no effect.

If there was any pain, Chris was unaware of it. "Shit!! " He looked at Knuckles with desperation & anger from his face down to his posture. "Get away from here!! Please, just leave! Just don't let him catch you!!" There was a few more seconds of exchanged staring, before the screen suddenly cut to static & noise for a second. When it came back, Knuckles was now looking to the right again. There was an expression of disbelief and confusion on his face from whatever he saw. As he witnessed, Chris felt a very unpleasant kind of deja vu.

There was another flash of interference, followed by the room now gliding alongside Knuckles as he ran. Another flash & he was standing still again, looking at what was all over the walkway with his expression now amplified. Thick streaks and miniature pools of blood were spilled here and there across all sides, tarnishing a substantial amount of the steel platform. There was no sign of the pumps underneath breaking & no actual damage to the structure itself. This came from somewhere else...

He began to cautiously move forward whilst avoiding the stains & pools on the floor. Chris watched as the view continued with it's lock-on. Clenching his fists looking ready to strike anything in his way, Knuckles remained ever vigilant and calm. This was obviously a much stronger mind than that of Tails, but that was a child. This was an adult, more developed & capable of processing what he saw. He did look slightly afraid, but it didn't break him.

Keeping an eye out for another nasty surprise, Chris' expression immediately went to the dread he felt earlier, now increased as he saw Sonic appear from the dust that formed much quicker than before. Despite the futility, Chris tried to warn the unaware target. "Behind you!!!" Knuckles' line of vision suddenly shot to straight in front of him with wide eyes. "Wha-" Within a fraction of a second, he swung round with the form of a right hook. Sonic flew back clearing the echidnas reach by a few feet, before he lunged forward at Knuckles with his demonic growl. Knuckles just barely managed to avoid the attack, and now appeared shaken up. "...Sonic?!" After landing his leap the creature then turned his head to stare at Knuckles, making sure he got a good look at the eyes of something that was clearly beyond reasoning with. He produced a toothy grin, fully revealing the bloodstains that had encrusted into those teeth.

"Found you!"

There was some kind of barely contained glee in his voice, sounding just as monstrous as ever. While still focusing on his target, he turned his body then proceeded to make a second leap. He missed again, except he was able to inflict a light swipe across Knuckles' chest. There were four light gashes that started to slowly seep crimson. "What the hell, man?!" Waiting for the third strike, Knuckles readied his fists, slowly pacing back. Sonic lunged again, only he was countered by a spiked fist flying towards his face. It clothes-lined him, sending him flipping past the opposing echidna & faceplanting the ground with a small spatter of dark fluid from his fresh wound.

As Knuckles turned round to face the incapacitated creature, Chris palmstruck the window. Not out of anger, but with just how damn impressed he was. "Ye-heah!!! Th-" Upon his palm striking the glass, he heard something like a small crack. Removing his hands from where they were, he saw that his right palm had indeed made a notably sized fracture. At the sight of this, he stepped backed. "Yeah well, fuck you too Sonic!!" He raised his foot and brought it forward as fast as he could. No effect. "Oh come on!!!" As he yelled, out of the corner of his eye there was movement from the creature.

Sonic got back up, staring at Knuckles with a furious expression & highly aggressive posture. He was growling & showing his teeth like a wild animal. "Sonic, it's me!!! What's happened to you?! What the hell's with your-" Before he could finish there was yet another lunge, this time headed straight for him. From every direction in front came lightning fast swipes and punches accompanied by frantic growling & grunting. Every strike was avoided & blocked by the echidnas fists and palms as his defense remained strong with no clear weakness.

Not able to get in a single hit, Sonic jumped back by a few feet. Both opponents' eyes gave each other a piercing stare. If Knuckles could win, Chris had assumed the theory of this fourth wall being removed. He was watching while the tension roamed, silently cheering on the hero.

Straightening out his posture, Sonic once again levitated off the ground, visibly furthering Knuckles apparent sense of fear. "You have gotta be kiddin' me..." The monster smoothly charged through the air with his arm raised, letting out another growl. As soon as his hand went near however, Knuckles grabbed it and swung him round before sharply changing the momentums direction to fling his opponent. Sonic flew overhead & hit the ground with a crash that vibrated throughout the walkway.

Releasing his grip from his opponents arm, Knuckles shot his hand over to the tuft on Sonics chest to hoist him up. Raising the creature to his knees, Knuckles dug in with punch after sledgehammer like punch. More wounds were inflicted with an dark & oily substance spilling across the metal surface under their feet, before it evaporated with a kind of fizzing effect. As each hit was landed, Knuckles proceeded to start screaming a sentence in sync with his attacks. "What!!! The- Fuck!!! Have you- Done!!! With my- Friend!!?" There was no longer any of the level headed tone from earlier. It was unparalleled fury. With his gloves up to his arms coated in a thick mixture of black & purple fluid that dripped off his spikes, he stopped to look at the result of his anger.

The hedgehog's face was a mess with puncture marks across his forehead and cheeks. Purple mixed with black was oozing out of all wounds that ran over his eyes, mixing with the crimson on his shredded cheeks. With heavy breathing from the energy he'd exerted, Knuckles screamed as loud as he could at the creatures near mangled face. "You're not him!!!"

Despite being beaten to a pulp, the creature didn't appear to be in any kind of agony from it. He didn't respond with pain, but by looking at Knuckles then giving a sinister & open smile, letting more fluid run down his teeth. A second of silence came before there was an explosion of blue where Sonic kneeled, causing the worn out echidna to stumble backwards out of the dust cloud then drop to his knees.

Watching him frantically rubbing at his eyes, Chris felt the sense of hope from earlier as it began slipping away. There was another nostalgic sensation crawling through his mind as he closed his eyes & lowered his head. He had tried his best to do something, yet it wasn't good enough... He could already hear the laughter from his past & the memories coming back, even at a time like this. He couldn't focus while the urge to harm himself for being so useless overwhelmed his senses.

With each element of his disorders came the whole intricate web of problems, wrapping round him as he struck a number of solid blows from his fists on both sides of the skull. There was a white flash & a ringing sound from the concussion before he tightly clutched his head with both hands, screaming at the top of his lungs from the frustration of it all.

As he felt the pain reach it's peak then start to disappear, there was the voice of Knuckles with a shaky tone. "Hey mystery guest, still here?" Evidently getting his eyesight back, he was on his feet again while constantly turning & looking round in what looked like a combination of fear & readiness. He had an intermittent yet thick shade of blue over most of his front, with the exception of the occasional patch of scarlet still visible here and there. Chris removed his hands from his head. bringing it back up to look at Knuckles as he continued.

"Listen, uh- I'onno if that was your voice I heard, but um- I'm pretty sure it was." Chris folded his arms & turned his back, leaning against the window feeling more drained as time passed. "Yeah that was me. Just sorry you weren't stuck with someone who could do something other than just watch it happen..." He unfolded his arms & examined his own knuckles, only just noticing they had become as bruised as one another. Even when noticing, he still didn't feel pain. Just his hands slightly trembling.

A second of no response from either person passed, with only the wind to keep things from being completely still. The words uttered by Knuckles were by all means unexpected, especially to someone such as Chris. "I'onno if you can hear me, but uh... Thanks. Y'know, for the heads up... The warning." There was a moment of confusion before Chris responded by falling short on words, caught off guard by what he just heard. It wasn't like he'd constantly put up with remarks and abuse all his life, but he wasn't exactly used to someone using words like that either.

There was some kind of positive feeling that tried to make its way through the emotional web that had engulfed him so easily. It was a feeling of being able to contribute something. He had tried to stop two souls now from being dragged down to who knows where, but it wasn't over yet. No matter how slim it might be, there could yet be a chance...

That feeling was brief at the sight of Knuckles turning & the appearance of dust to a cloud forming almost instantly into Sonic, where Knuckles had just turned away from.

Chris quickly landed both hands on the window. "Run!!!" Knuckles reacted again, but as he turned he was struck in the side of the face by his returning opponents fist. He was sent tumbling over to the right. The view maintained its lock-on, keeping sight of Knuckles as he got back up. Facing Sonic, his fists lowered as he watched the attacking creature closing the distance, with something happening to the creatures appearance. It was almost as if his body was being blurred or shrouded by a grey mist. There were the grating tones of crying that sounded warped, distorted & hideous. What those sounds were exactly was a mystery, but was of little relevance when Sonic started shooting forward in the blink of an eye at random intervals.

Knuckles turned & ran as fast as he could with a wide eyed look of panic, now ignoring the puddles under his feet. Sonics instantaneous movements became much more rapid, darting to every position around his victim. The view kept up alongside as Chris' sight alternated between him & the monster giving chase. It looked completely pointless of Knuckles to run, but he did anyway. What else could he have done? If he just glided away, where was he to go? Even then, his pursuer would still have caught him.

Appearing right on Knuckles' tail & remaining there, the pursuer was hovering & keeping up with no effort. The cries continued to sound, almost overpowering the panicked breathing from the increasingly afraid echidna. The shrouded demon raised his right hand and brought it down with tremendous force across his targets back, slicing through with ease. There were four deep wounds, sending out small spatters of blood in a plentiful fashion. Before the now fatally wounded victim could even hit the ground screaming, Sonic brought up his foot up and used an amount of force just as dangerous. It made lethal contact with the square centre of the spine. As he saw this, Chris felt the hope disappear from him within a second flat. "No!!!"

Giving an agonised scream, Knuckles went flying further ahead at increased speed then went skimming along the ground, tumbling to a complete stop. There wasn't a single movement from him afterwards. Not even a twitch. There were streaks of his blood spilled across the areas he had hit the ground, as well as pools that were spreading out around him from the vicious wounds on his back.

Mostly keeping up, the view stopped along with the bleeding out body of this new victim. "Oh my god..." There was a gurgling cough followed by a struggle for breath, before Knuckles raised his head, coughing up a small amount of his blood with trickles running down his chin. His face & body was broken with his face scratched & scuffed up, with a deep cut that ran down his cheek where it'd caught on something as he was tumbling.

He looked directly at Chris, this time not as if he had just noticed him, but like he actually was visible to him now. He slowly managed to move his arms out in front while clutching to whatever surface he could grab, crawling towards the window.

Chris' breathing turned heavier than ever from a mixture of adrenaline & despair as he watched this person trying to reach out for any kind of safety or even assistance that could be given. Another soul that he was unable to save. There was also the fact that the outside world could see him. The fourth wall had been dissolved. Not that it was much help now.

When reaching as close as he could, Knuckles stretched out his hand to Chris with tears running down his face from the pain he could no longer stand. "Help..." Chris' heartbeat went haywire when he felt nauseous at the sight of someone who at first he thought could be saved but was now laying trampled & begging. How strong he started out. How destroyed he ended up...

Within a few short moments the cloud of blue returned above Knuckles, materialising into the form of Sonic. He appeared joyful, ready to do harm. He lowered himself onto the ground next to Knuckles and quickly placed his hands on the sides of the crippled victims head. Bringing his own head down to ground level alongside Knuckles', he looked at Chris & grinned. "So many Souls to play with." He then jerked Knuckles head while turning his own to stare the terrified & tear ridden face in the eyes. "So little time."

The screen instantly cut back to red static, and just like before there was the sound of Knuckles having torturous pain inflicted on him. He was trying as hard as he could not to give the satisfaction of succumbing to this pain & screaming, but was rapidly failing. Miserably. After a few seconds of endurance, there was a scream that could barely be recognised as Knuckles' from the amount of pain ringing through it. Within a second it cut to complete silence, followed by the voice again.

"Would you agree?"

There was a bout of laughter at the result of his second work of insanity, but this time it sounded more calm and smug. Chris could no longer contain what he was suppressing when he heard that tone of being so pleased with himself. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he charged at the walls while punching and kicking them with all of his might. "What do you want?!!"

After using up the energy he had in that moment, he gave up & slumped against the wall. Sliding down it, he buried his face in his hands, letting his hair slide over his shoulders & face. He remained silent while thinking about what just happened. There was something that allowed him to break past that barrier between him and whatever twisted world he was in. Whether it was connected to something like his mindstate was uncertain, but needless to say Chris wasn't willing to test that. The more he saw & experienced of this place, the more it began to feel like its own reality.

In the back of his mind, Chris could feel that web of nostalgia hovering around as he realised the grip this place had on him. As the grim events played back through his mind, he could see the way it was playing with him. The way he was doing this, giving one vicious tug at his psyche after another. He'd used more than enough force, starting to undo the years Chris had put into keeping an entire realm of hatred and resentment that seethed away in his centre.

It had grown, feeling like it definitely had a larger & more dominant place than before. Upon that, there was a subtle change in the atmosphere of the room. It was like he could sense the walls were actually breathing with him. Like the room was being made a part of him. He questioned that being the case, or if it was a representation of something that was always there. Thinking about this brought with it a feeling that could only be described as fear of a losing fight, coming along at the realisation of what was happening. His mind was becoming unraveled.

As the feeling gnawed away at him, he lowered his hands then stopped to see they had now become slightly swollen. Letting them drop onto his lap, he allowed his head to tilt, landing it gently against the wall as the screens' light began fading. He may have been trapped in this cramped little cube since the beginning, but it was only now that he truly felt any sense of the claustrophobia it held.

Drained & haunted by the occurring events & now the whole other nightmare of reliving his past, falling into the routines that until now, he was putting behind him. He was dragged into yet another indulgence of his own demons. Whether it was being done by Chris himself or the one demon made flesh that tormented him, the issue he found more important was that while those around him suffered, he could do nothing. With a tiring feeling of disgust towards himself, He closed his eyes while staying where the light remaining could not reach him.

There were now two souls that would haunt him for many a day to come. Two cries for help that he couldn't answer. His mind was again calling out for someone to save him. This time though, there was the will that came out of sheer hatred to shut it straight out. He never asked for help, and he wasn't going to start now.

"What this place is should no longer matter to you. It's what can be done here that you should care about..." -???

Perspective[]

Silence. No words or even thoughts as Chris was huddled up to the side, his mind feeling as though it were fit to break. Raw & unbridled hatred flowed through as he recognising himself being caught in the position of knowing that something has to be done, if not for anyone else's sake then for his own. There was no energy for plans though. No ideas.

Without an expression of his anger even within the mind, anger quickly turned to despair & anxiety. Not knowing what to do, what to say or what to even think. What had been witnessed would have left a mark on many, and a mark it left indeed.

He had enough on his shoulders to live with one day at a time, but the repeated failure of saving someone's life? The saddest part was that no one would care for these events. What was there to explain? That he was mourning characters from a game that he had a dream about, in which their death was involved? That he tried to stop it, but was locked in a room and being taunted by a demonic anthropomorph? He briefly imagined peoples reactions the matter...

Chris exhaled an exhausted snicker at these thoughts before realising he was regaining some perspective. Momentarily forgetting where he was in all the retrospect, the dim & miniscule beacon of light on the ceiling served as a sharp reminder when it came into view. He let his head fall back, closing his eyes & letting out an irritated sigh. "Well hoo-fucking-ray."

Though his senses were more or less recovered, there was still a resonance of earlier. The same mixture of anger fueled by loss of direction. This time though his personalities stronger qualities were making their way to lend his reasoning a hand, including the part of him that was sick and tired of being sick & tired.

There was a brief reaction of gratitude & relief towards the moment of clarity he'd been given. It was then swept away at the sound & feel of something hideous & inhuman, exhaling a long deep breath over the back of his shoulders. At the sound of breathing followed a ripple sliding down the wall, pushing Chris forward. As he jumped to his feet in shock, there was a disturbing ambience of raw flesh being stretched, shredded & mushed.

Running to the opposite side, his hands landed on the wall only to come across that same motion, pushing his hands back as the surface warped. He snatched both hands away, looking to all sides of the room for somewhere that wasn't coming to life. As the sound of flesh got louder, the sound of exhaling continued relentlessly with each beginning overlaying the ending.

With nowhere safe in sight, he retreated to the centre of the room. Noticing the light above was jumping around, he looked up to see the rippling was now there too. His eyes darted straight down to see it was the same with the floor. All except for the exact spot he was standing in. Left untouched, it preserved the space he had left.

There was a blinding flash in his eyes, different from before. No indicating sound preceded its arrival. It also felt more like a solid punch to the face from his own fist, sending Chris recoiling off into the wavey surface of metal, blood & motion while still blinded. Made aware of this only by touch, he frantically scrambled to his feet with visibility obscured by an image burned into his vision. What it depicted made keeping focus & not succumbing to fear all the more difficult.

It was obviously from earlier, but was shown in first person. Tails, Kneeling on a bridge surrounded by fire & looking as broken as he did before. His widened eyes were half exposed, staring straight up at Chris. This wasn't Chris' memory and it was painfully obvious. Literally.

The picture eventually faded from his eyes, leaving a lingering pain. A few seconds passed & there was another flash that smacked him to his knees. It was knuckles, so up close it was impossible to avoid mental imprints of the blood flowing out from his cheek. Again it was as he remembered, only not through his eyes.

There were a pair of gloved hands planted firmly on the sides of the Echidnas head, forcing him to look at the desired angle. Chris already knew who he was seeing through the eyes of & that was just a needless confirmation. He was looking through the eyes of a demon.

All disturbing & dominating ambience stopped, as did everything else. The transition gave a jarring shift of atmosphere, but it also gave a chance to think again. Somehow, he was finally making sense of it all. Some part of him could see clearly, as if by some kind of instinct.He understood not just what the room was, but what it represented. The reason for all the resurfacing hatred & violence. Able to think back, he hadn't done anything like that in what felt like an age, whereas in actuality turned out to be a mere 5 months. Although his anxieties & resentments were a completely different matter.

While not being very social, when around others he always maintained an honest & upbeat persona of good intentions. Because of this, no one got to see what he unleashed on himself. There were a lot of routines consisting of pain & concussion, used more as a last resort that crudely stopped him reliving his regrets & self abuse.

Things like times he could have fought yet ran, resulting in years of belief that he was just a spineless & submissive wretch, no matter how hard he tried. With that & countless past events haunting him through any means of negative emotion, it all followed him wherever he went.

Because he couldn't let go of this past, it was always attached with metaphoric shackles. Because he ran out of the will to think after it drained him time & again, he told no one about it. He gave no one a reason to care, but more than likely to suspect.

It was just one of the near infinite cycles he found himself locked in, making him a very difficult individual to reason or deal with at the best of times. It was all just one of the many reasons he kept himself as far away as he could from anyone, torturing himself & silently destroying his mind while believing through every moment he deserved it.

It was a side to him that had slowly been quelled through both his reasoning & experience. He may have been a troubled soul, but he wasn't an idiot. With time came recognition of his cycles, as powerless as he was to stop it from happening. Put simply, he just learnt deal with it. Until that is, he found himself locked up & being toyed with.

This room was made for him, designed to bring out something he spent a great deal of his days fighting. The acceptance that he was far more than capable of being one evil & heartless monster if his own demons were ever given free roam.

Before his train of thought went any further, something began drawing Chris away from the distraction of his past. Something working its way into his mind, trying to get a sense of being in sync with him. As he listened there was the sound of a heartbeat in time with his own. It got louder with every beat until it started bouncing off the walls in a random pattern. Each side it bounce off gave a single twitch that pulled the wall inwards, before straightening back out.

With absence of fear he stood firm & stared forward, waiting with an expression of determination on his face. Carrying a tone of awareness about his person, it was like he'd found some sort of purpose. Slowly stepping forward, that strange instinct kicked in again, telling him the screen was there and about to switch back on.

Flickering then flooding the room with it's presence, the lights appearance didn't produce even a flinch from Chris. As he stared into the screens grainy yet hypnotic patterns, his arms raised & stretched out, reaching for the surrounding area in front. Running his fingers down the wall, he closed his eyes as instinct set in once again.

On one hand he recognised the presence of Tails, calling out for help in the dark. On the other was that of Knuckles, silently crying out just the same. Feeling the two minds running through his own, Chris opened his eyes with no change to his expression & still no sense of fear.

Upon lowering his hands, he then froze at the sound of glass under stress. His eyes darted to the damage he'd done to the screen. The cracks were expanding, getting louder as it gradually covered more of the screen. The fractures appeared heavier at a faster pace, making Chris back off in disbelief. He raised an arm across his face as the sound of something ramming the almost totaled pane repeated itself, buckling the glass between its fractures.

Within a few seconds it completely smashed, sending shards & splinters of glass flying across the room. A great deal flew past Chris, knocking him back as it ripped through his clothing & skin. Still on his feet, he checked to see there were a number of non-fatal yet deep & lengthy cuts across the sides of his arms, torso & legs, causing a harsh stinging sensation that ran through his whole body. When seeing the aftermath surrounding him though, the reality of how fortunate he was not to have been sliced up more was clear.

Looking up at where the window was, he saw what looked to be a darkened corridor with brick walls & a checkered floor. A single torch was visible, burning away while mounted to the wall & providing all the light there was.

He stepped forward, glass crunching under his boots. Stretching out his arm, he cautiously pushed forward & moved his hand over the threshold. There was now no barrier between him & and whatever was out there. At that moment though, there were also the sound of approaching footsteps.

Swiftly shifting to the side, Chris remained silent as whoever it was, they were getting close. It stopped in what sounded like proximity of the window, before moving in closer still with a severely decreased pace. A shadow appeared across the wall, depicting a large, bald man with what looked like lengthy facial hair protruding past his cheeks. His thick arms were hovering in hesitation, like he was curious but cautious.

As Chris remained hidden, the mysterious figure began to speak, sounding moderately gruff & fairly aged, like he was in his late fifties or further. It did however, carry a rather lively tone to it. "What the..." another step was made as the figure moved in closer. "... Hello?" There was another step followed by what looked like his arm stretching out, ready to place a hand on the side of the gaping hole. Before they could do so, Chris broke his silence by loosening his posture & stepping out into view. "That's close enough."

There was a moment of silence induced by inspecting who was standing in front of one another. Standing before Chris was a tall & overweight man dressed in a tailcoat that had a vermillion shade, with jet black trousers & buckled calf-high boots to match.

The suit had a stiff collar that reached just below his chin. From the base of the collars front down to the torsos middle were two metallic gold lines of a raised motif. They curved & narrowed to fine tipped points, resembling the design of a scimitars blade. Thick black strips ran along his broad shoulders, down his arms to the dark red cuffs with two metallic gold stripes wrapped round both of them.

On his face were thick, rounded spectacles perched tightly on the bridge of his widened nose, hiding the eyes & leaving his brows to do any expressing. On his upper lip was an unkempt moustache that stuck out like a thick set of wild whiskers, appearing bright auburn in the dim lighting. Thick wrinkles ran across his forehead, dominating the appearance of his face from the lack of hair on his smooth & almost egg-shaped scalp. There was an expression of intrigue on his face as he saw the look of unpleasant recognition in Chris' eyes.

There was visible hesitation from both people to break the ice, before the familiar individual got the first words in. "Well now, y-" He was interrupted by Chris raising his hand to put any conversation on hold. "Before anything, you might wanna take a step back." The mans expression instantly changed to one of expecting the unexpected as he nodded then complied. "I'm gonna take a step out of this thing." Upon hearing this, the mans expression changed to some relief, as well as a trace of disappointment.

Remaining still, the man simply watched with his arms crossed. As Chris moved forward He inspected the edges of the hole, Finding a patch without remnants of glass along the bottom, he placed his hands on it & hoisted himself over while keeping a low profile to avoid any shards above him. His feet then landed on the ground with a sturdy echoing clap.

His arms raised like he was trying to balance on a tightrope, he stared down at the floor whilst letting his surroundings soak in. "Well, holy shit." He heard the thoroughly puzzled and slightly patronising tone of his observers reply. "Yes, it's a floor. You're using your feet." Chris dropped all tension in his body & looked back up, unamused. "I've also been in there for a while, Robotnik."

There was no patience. No more games. Chris knew who was standing in front of him & there was no point in hiding it. This entire journey had been surreal enough for him to no longer care what was real, leaving the constant uncertainty left by world adapting towards his existence within it. It was all that mattered at this point. Stay focused. Fight.

Robotnik's face tightened with pride. "My reputation precedes me that much?" Chris raised an eyebrow at hearing the question as Robotnik continued. "... Or are you just in league with that little pin-cushion?" The eyebrow immediately dropped as a brief silence ensued, followed by a bout of uncontrollable laughter from Chris. "And just what's so funny, you little asshole?!" Still unable to control his laughter, Chris barely managed to respond. "Where do I even start!!"

The laughter almost immediately stopped soon after. Shifting from looking amused to what looked like a struggle to relive his memories, Chris tried to find the easiest way of putting things. "... How about the part where everyone else is... Well, gone." The wrinkles on Robotnik's head tightened as he processed what he heard. "What do you mean by go-"

"They're dead." The lack of patience became clear with Chris' voice. "The one responsible might be listening to this right now." Raising his hands, Robotnik prompted a slight pause & waved them around as he spoke. "Define everyone." With a blank tone, Chris stared down the corridor with a look of dark intent, not actually seeing what was ahead.

"Tails... Knuckles... A lot of innocent creatures. All because of a certain arch nemesis of yours being replaced by or changed into for lack of better words..." He turned back to face straight again. "... A complete fucking nightmare."

Robotnik's struggle with the mental processing was apparent. He began pacing back & fourth, running his palm along the side of his head. "This is- Are you high?!" There was a sudden outburst of anger from Chris at the response to his story. "This is not a joke!! I watched a child get curious, and that got him killed!!! I actually tried to help the echidna, but we were both toyed with!!!"

With no movement from either person, Robotnik focused on Chris while hanging off the edge of every word. "Seriously, how'd you yourself even get here?! D'you even know?!" There was silence induced by a clear loss of words, like something about those words were impossible to deny.

Chris took the opportunity to examine his surroundings more closely. The passage went on as far as could be seen, descending with stairs leading ever downward. It was all lit by a series of identical torches placed equal spaces apart, unable to cover anything other than the passage. Looking up, the ceiling was out of sight & was replaced with nothing but pitch black.

The floor was scuffed & grimy, covered with a layer of dust & dirt. The only disturbance to it were footprints from the two people present. Looking to the walls there were a mixture of old & new spatter patterns of blood, made in a fashion of someone being fatally wounded against it.

Robotnik's pause continued as he tried to come up with an answer. Even when finally able, the struggle was still there. "It's been strange today. Voices, hallucinations, but I just... Haven't been alarmed by it." He lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose with the tips of his fingers & letting out a sigh. "Seems stupid now of course, but at the time that sort of thing didn't seem important... You see a lot of strange things in my line of work. As well as create your fair share."

He began pacing again as he carried on. "But, Tails? He was almost as agile as that little bastard of a friend he had. How could he..." The tone in his voice raised in a form of anger. "I mean, surely he had some kind of ace up his sleeve! Some kind of contraption that..." He threw his hands up with an aggressive shrug. "Well, something!!" As a paused ensued, Chris found both peoples rolls reversed, leaving Chris unable to say anything. The most he felt capable of in that moment was to keep listening.

"I would never have let him hear this. Not in any of our lifetimes... Possibly a mind who's creativity rivals-..." He was cut off by the gravity of the situation setting in. "Rivalled my own." As much as it should have amounted to bragging, there was something about the statement. Not any kind of pride but both a subtle sincerity & regret, almost like Robotnik was unaware of its display.

There was a definite trace of sadness in what he'd said, but then he gave the look of only just realising something. He suddenly placed an arm round his waist, supporting the other one as his hand grasped at his chin while whispering under breath. "Arch nemes..." He gave a pause before dropping both arms to his sides & slowly looking back to Chris with disbelief. "Oh you really cannot be serious."

Stepping forward, Chris looked at him with regret in his eyes. "You think I don't wish I wasn't serious?" With his mouth hanging slack jawed, Robotnik lowered his head & looked around while he came to terms with everything. "Knuckles as well, you said?"

There was the wordless response of a nod with his eyes closed, followed by more contemplation in silence before Chris looked up at the torch nearest to them. "Believe me, he did not go down without one hell of a fight..." He turned back. "I saw it happen." The whole explanation had eventually sank in, forcing a defeating sigh out of Robotnik. "Well, I always did say hell hath no fury like a furry scorned."

The vague attempt to lighten the mood was highly unexpected yet appreciated, getting a half smile & the smallest laugh out of Chris. His expression then changed back to an intense curiosity, before he looked back into Robotnik's shaded eyes. "Is that why you do what you do?" There was a reaction of confusion to the question, almost silently demanding that he explain. "Is there something like revenge on the table? Or is it some kind of hatred for their kind?"

After considering what to say, Robotnik gave an encore of surprise. "I won't even pretend that what I do is- Ethical in the least." He paced to the side and stopped again as he chose his next words. "There has been my common sense screaming at me for years to give up some of the things I do, but I suppose my ambition says otherwise."

He strolled to where he was before, folding an arm behind his back while slightly raising the other. "The discoveries that can be made from the courses plotted by research... Yes in earlier times it really was just a personal security force here & some contrived, sloppy doomsday device there, but as time goes on, so does understanding."

With a raised brow he turned his head to face Chris, followed by the rest of his body. There was a mirrored image of his facial expression in Chris'. "... And that just so happen to involve ruling over an entire planet." Despite his eyes being covered, it was clear Robotnik was shifting his eyes from left to right as if it were for deliberate comedic effect. "I prefer to think of it as an indefinitely extended loan, thank you very much."

"But, there's him." As he continued, the tone of Robotnik's voice turned bitter as each word. "He's always been there. A thorn in my side for all too long. I swear, it's always deal with that little fucker then get on with the task at hand. But it's always the same-"He stopped dead in his tracks, looking as though a saddening epiphany hit him like a ton bricks. "It's... Quite hard to keep track of how many machines I've built for the sole purpose of..." He suddenly looked to Chris is if he had all the answers. "Now that I think about it, what would there be after that? Besides the research..."

He trailed off with another realisation, before carrying a resentful tone. "Of which most of it was wasting time thinking up contrived ways of dispatching talking animals." The silence that followed was interrupted by Chris with an unmistakable sincerity. "Do you think you could handle that?"

Robotnik looked ready to protest but instead went slack, letting his head fall and hang in shame. Seeing this, it felt impossible to cast any kind of judgement. Whatever reason he had to be hated, all Chris saw before him was a man that had become obsessed without knowing for how long. Not only that, but it had also been without realising how much dependance there was on opposing sides to keep him going. He was supposed to be a villain, but that felt like no such thing at that single moment. Just another soul that was trapped & may have shared a few similarities with Chris' own.

Looking back up at Chris, there was a puzzled expression at the lack of response. "I'm surprised you're not laughing your ass off right now." To Robotnik's curiosity, Chris closed his eyes & shook his head. "No. It's easy to lose track of how much you have built up inside." Robotnik gave a snort before passing judgement on himself. "A mind that had an interest in scientific endeavors & what do I use it for?!Trying to capture or kill..."

His words trailed off as he went slack again with a jaded tone to his voice. "... As hard as it is to believe, I don't hate them..." His face momentarily scrunched up before he straightened his posture. "I really don't." Still carrying that jaded edge, his voice turned inquisitive. "What about you? I hear there's nasty judgement from those who've never seen an anthropomorph up close before."

Slightly tilting his head to the side, Chris stood at ease. At first he froze up with his mouth hanging open. There was an uncomfortable edge to his voice as his facial expressions shifted from to the other, trying to think of the best way to explain why that judgement was there. "... I've always been indifferent towards it. Y'know, let bygones be bygones & all that?" He then froze again, before raising his eyebrow in a suspecting manner. "Seeing as you use the term you did for these guys, I'm assuming you- somehow know any & all contexts."

Upon seeing Robotnik nod with no evidence to hint at having something to hide other than mild confusion, Chris shook off any & all awkward suspicions. At the thought of something that actually weighed on his mind regarding that topic, he then began his own round of pacing whilst sounding unimpressed. "There's already enough judgement cast into the world I live in. I watch hatred flung around like it's a way of life, which it is for some. As much as they'll deny it."

He gave a short laugh that gave the impression of being far from amused. "I mean, there are countless labels for these social orders that breed judgement & intolerance. The worst part is it's actively encouraged. How ridiculous is that?" His tone shifted to that of a hateful nature as he stopped pacing & straightened up.

"Hate this person because of how they dress, what they say & what they like. Personally, I couldn't give a shit what people are into 'cause I've got a brain. But some are happier to be told what their opinion is rather than have the decency to stop & form one themselves." He shifted to an almost defeated attitude as he released the tension in his body.

"Even after seeing what happened to these people, there are probably many that just wouldn't get with the program." His voice turned to that of a stern nature. "I'll tell you what I think. Human, animal or anthro, We all bleed the same. We all die the same."

The words sank in with understanding as Robotnik gave indications of trying to say something but falling short, until he finally managed to produce a somewhat impressed reaction. "I don't know why... But it's just clear you're not lying. I have no reason to trust you & yet, there's something about how you treat this situation we're in." His attention moved to the room with the broken pane, pointing at it & looking back at Chris. "And you were in that thing the whole time?"

Chris' head turned to look behind him. As he turned he could've sworn there was that breathing sound again that was coming faintly from somewhere up above. It sparked a paranoia that made him weary of speaking further. "Yeah." He turned back to Robotnik & clenched his fists. "But I'm not anymore."

Examining the injuries that were sustained across his body, Robotnik raised both eyebrows in surprise like he'd only just noticed Chris' physical state. "Huh. Looks like you had fun in there." Noticing the swollen knuckles, he pointed.

Looking down at them, Chris raised his hand while holding it with the other. only just realising how much punishment they'd taken. Both his hands were discoloured & intensely bruised, not to mention the joints on his fingers inflamed. He felt no pain though, as would anyone that would build up a tolerance to something they expose themselves to so much of.

At the sight of this, a repeat of the events passed ran through his mind. The looks on their faces, the sound of their screams & the feel of their presence always nearby afterwards. He looked back up at Robotnik with an almost brooding glare. "It's not nice to be caged up." His tone subtly shifted to something of a more calm & trusting manner as he lowered his hands. "And that's exactly what I don't intend to happen again."

A resemblance of an extremely faint smile appeared amongst the sheer perplexion Robotnik held towards this attitude. "What was your name again?" There was a feeling of amusement at the fact they'd held this level of conversation without introducing themselves. "Chris."

Extending his hand out to Robotnik in prompt of a handshake, Chris proceeded to take a step towards him. As soon as he inched forward, the sound of broken glass being violently thrown up from the ground erupted from behind him.

He turned as quickly as he could, but before he could see anything there was the feel of someone's arms quickly wrapping under his & round his neck to form a restraint. They dragged him back with violent force through the window where he grabbed the edges with all his strength. Before being pulled in, Chris' eyes darted back to Robotnik, his back against the wall & his eyes fixed on what was pulling Chris back. "Just Run!!"

Only catching a glimpse of Robotnik velcrowed to the wall in fearful surprise, Chris was hurled across the room, hitting the back wall with such force the impact left a wide dent. Before he hit the ground the glass instantly swept itself away, Dragging across the metal itself. He landed on all fours with a solid crash & scream of pain, his wounds stinging more than ever.

He looked up to see Sonic standing with his back turned, in front of the window that was in perfect condition again. He was fixed Robotnik, who remained frozen & staring back with a clear expression of that same terror everyone else had displayed.

There pain from his wounds was quickly bypassed at the sight of what was now sharing the small space with him. There was a stare of daggers from Chris with intense rage. "You!" With an according sound, the form in front of him exploded into a dust cloud that tainted everything. Recoiling & covering his face, he was covered in patches of blue from head to toe.

Looking up through the dust, the window looked miraculously untouched. He instantly knew the it was expected of him to see what would happen. Within a single movement, he jumped to his feet then lunged through the dust. Landing against the window he saw Robotnik was sliding along the wall, trying to fight his fear. He jumped at the sight of Chris landing both hands on the glass. "Go!!!"

Taking the breath to shout, he was barely able to get that one word out before uncontrollably choking. Unable to breath, the dusty air brought him down to his knees before it dissipated then gradually disappeared. Able to breath clearly again, Chris got back on his feet to see the room had actually retreated by a significant distance. Just enough to show a view of the entire corridor & stairs, with Robotnik running as fast as he could. For someone of his size, he moved surprisingly fast. "Heh, the wanders of adrenaline."

Robotnik reached the stairs, gracefully descending with extreme haste. Chris' eyes were fixed on him as he got ever closer to the bottom. "I'dunno whe-" He was cut off by the sight of something out of the corner of his eye as Robotnik left the moved out of site, only to come back into the same area with no change to his momentum. "... No."

He repeated the word as the same thing happened again. Running down the stairs & returning, like it was just a loop. Every time he came back into view though, there were always different movements & placement of the feet.

The sight of two red dots high above Robotnik came to Chris' attention. He noticed Sonic, Clinging to what could have been the ceiling with his head fully twisted round from his front. His attention was fixed on his prey, watching like his eyes were cameras. After watching Robotnik pass again, his head slid back round without any audible sound of bones getting twisted or cracked. It then tilted upwards to stare straight at Chris.

As he did, the colour of the torches' flames changed simultaneously to a bright shade of blue, completely changing the tone of the area as the walls reacted & changed to red. The whole change brought on a menacing grin from Sonic as he stared with dark intent, now more visible to Chris.

Wide eyed & feeling as powerless as he was, Chris gave a solid kick to the window with no result. He threw a punch before the pain shot through his entire arm & crippled his hand. Nothing was broken, but his knuckles had taken so much damage they were now useless. He cradled his hand tightly, watching the scene unfold.

Robotnik came into view yet again, seemingly unaware of the repeated ground he was covering as well as what was above him. The torches changed from blue to an impossible jet black, dimming the walls from red to a shade of rosewood & Robotnik to a silhouette. The illumination given was now more fluorescent, though greatly decreased. The shadowed form of Robotnik continued running while the eyes of Sonic were piercing through the dark, bold as brass to Chris.

Ventured down the stairs again at full speed, Robotnik once again returned. Before he could reach any further Sonic released his grip from the ceiling, flipping effortlessly & landing on his feet. Robotnik stopped in his tracks with a startled whimper, freezing up when he made eye contact.

Robotnik inched backwards then froze again at the sight of his stalker stretching back one of his legs, assuming a readiness to pounce. As sonic inched forward, the screen cut back to red with white noise, leaving Chris standing in front with his head down & his eyes closed. The failure sank in again but was quickly pushed aside by the voice of a child that whispering. "I..."

There was another whisper to follow, this time of a young man the same age as Chris. "Am..." Recognising the sentence, Chris stared forward at the screen feeling hypnotised by the static. There was now the voice of what was undeniably that of Robotnik, not so much whispering as speaking softly in a melancholy tone. "God."

Within a second the window was smashed open, sending chunks of glass flying across the room & just barely avoiding Chris. Through the glass lunged Sonic with a look of murderous glee & his demonic growl. He dived at Chris hands first & clinged to his shirt, sending them both flying across the room & landing against the wall with a an impact that further dented it.

Chris gave a short yet sharp yelp from the stinging of his wounds being constantly disturbed with such violent force, followed by a fit of coughing from the impact made on his back. Pinned down, his eyes were wide with both rage & panic as he stared the horrific creature eye to eye. "What the hell do you want from me?!"

With fierce eyes of red fixed on his target, Sonic slightly lowered his head and smiled with dark intent. "Hell is exactly what I want from you, Chris." Out of sheer confusion at the words uttered, Chris stuttered from the many questions he was thinking. "Wha... What??"

As Sonic continued, there was another voice alongside his own. The voice of Tails, sounding drained of emotion & will. "You have something that could be put to use." Chris fell silent, paralysed by what he was hearing. He couldn't absorb what was being said as he realised that personality was now being used against him.

The voices continued alongside a third. It was Knuckles, with exactly the same dull effect. "Of course, I can't actually help you with that while you're 'In limbo' as it were." There was finally a response from Chris that was screamed out from being tormented with confusion. "What the fuck are you saying!?! Just tell me!!!" Sonic remained still for a moment before his grip tightened pushing Chris further into the wall & causing him more pain.

Robotnik joined the trio of voices, making no exception to the melancholy tone. "You can pretend all you want when it comes to what you are, but it's always there. Always has been, always will be." Chris was once again rendered silent in fear, trying desperately to find the words and stopping before he could make a sound.

"You've nurtured this hatred for so long now. Years even." As the voice continued, the tone changed to something more aggressive as Sonic started growling. "You have nothing to gain over there! You keep yourself locked up like you're on some sort of quest to make sure that no future happens involving you!! What..."

Grabbed by the scruff of the neck with one hand & hoisted up, Chris was being choked as he clawed at Sonic's arm to break free. There was then a sharp twist of motion & Chris was flung to the side, slamming into the wall & just barely missing the shards strewn across the floor. "... A waste!!!"

There was no motion from Chris other than his breathing. His wounds seeped a few trickles of blood across his body, passing by the rips in his clothes. Sonic turned & pointed down, now looking mildly enraged. "This suffering that you see around you is part of who you are!! You can't run, you can't deny it!!!"

Chris suddenly gave a gasp as his eyes flashed open, then looked up & focused on his attacker. He was then picked by his sides & dragged to a more upright position. Knelt down to his eye level, Sonic placed his hands on the sides of Chris' head to make sure he was paying attention. He spoke again, only his tone had calmed down & reverted to how it was along with the other voices.

"And my diseased soul screams 'Will you be my walker of shadows'?" He increased his grin, as well as his grip. "Delight me with sinister sin, our funeral of euphoria will break Satan's black heart." Chris gave a look of total dismay from the pain & confusion. He was worn down & barely had the energy to talk, but barely managed. "W... Walker of shadows? Satan's black hea... The fuck're you talking about?!"

There was a disturbing chuckle from Sonic, joined by the others. "That at least proves you're listening. You'd be wise to remember that." Chris' head was released of Sonics grip followed by a hand placed on his cheek with a change to happiness from all voices. "And don't worry, It's just a euphemism!" The grip on his cheek tightened as he was firmly pulled in closer. "Now wake up!!!"

With a sharp jolt Chris shot upwards in a hurry to find himself in his cluttered up space that was his room on his own bed. Brisking himself down he found nothing on his body, but for some reason felt a stinging pain across his body & legs. The reason why was a blur as the images were quickly fading from his memory. He looked at his clock to see that barely an hour had passed.

He clambered over to the side with a lingering sense of mourning & anger that couldn't be understood. While doing so he found the spot he'd been lying on was still cold, like he hadn't been there at all. Slightly puzzled but distracted by his emotional state, he sat on the edge of his bed with one hand holding up his head, letting it fall forward with his hair covering his eyes from the image & light of his monitor.

As he tried to remember, there was a strange sense that suddenly distracted him. It felt like there was someone standing next to him, or at least within the same room. He very slowly turned his head to the side, greeted by an image like a screensaver. A moving one at that.

It was a rather grim portrayal of Sonic from the game Chris had played earlier, only he was of realistic proportions & size. It was like there was an actual person there, standing motionless & glaring. There was a red sky so dark, nearly everything was just shadows & shapes. In the background was what looked like some kind of mountain range that was twisted and warped, a few of them pulsating.

Moving around above were a number of highly disturbing figures of a lengthy design, shaped like a double helix. They danced & twisted about while sliding through the air like snakes, with what looked like various human limbs fused into it at random, twitching and writhing about as if they were trying to escape.

Next to Sonic was a wide canyon, partly obscured by mist that covered the ground & emitting a sound. When listened to more closely it was a combination of growls & hissing of some kind, coming from below.

At this sight, the memories came rushing back to Chris with the pain he'd felt in the room. There was the image Tails & Knuckles once again, their faces stricken with tears & terror. Then appeared a new image of Robotnik, looking paralysed with fear & trying to fight it.

Chris felt like he was being assaulted as each memory came back. The pain gradually subsided & was replaced by something in his mind, telling him that he needed to go somewhere. He needed to get to someone. To the one staring back at him with expectant eyes.

Before realising it, he was already moving toward the computer. There was nothing telling him of any possible danger though, but a feeling being compelled somehow. There was no fear. No regret. Only an interest in what lay ahead. As he pulled up the chair to his desk, the sounds increased to a level that was easily noticeable.

Chris did nothing but stare eye to eye for a moment or two, before the desktop came up but was still had that same image. The demons sight moved towards the bottom left corner. He was focused on the small picture of his own eyes dripping with blood & onto the scenery underneath.

The screen gave a flash of that same static & noise in the room, before it returned with the mouses cursor darting about from location to random location. A brief reminder of Knuckles' last few steps while being chased in that exact manner took hold for a second.

Another flash & the cursor was now still, landed right next to the icon. The message was clear enough. Staring at it, Chris remembered what he'd been told to keep in mind. Whatever it meant didn't seem to matter anymore. The voices washed any other thoughts away, leaving only him & the game of Sonic.exe.

A realm beyond understanding or comprehension was calling for his arrival. Without hesitation, his hands reached for the keyboard & mouse.

"We've seen what he is & what he's done... It's our turn." -???