Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fear ❯ Nightmares Come to Life ( Chapter 3 )

There were screams from everybody but Omega, Shadow, Knuckles, and Sonic. Sonic stood near the center of the room, staring in horror at the two hedgehogs. They looked terrible. Their skin was eaten away in some places and they were dripping water onto the floor from a seemingly endless invisible source. But the worst thing was the dark, empty sockets where their eyes used to be.

"Come join us, son," the female said, beckoning the blue hedgehog toward herself.

Sonic began backing up, but they blurred over to him and reached over to touch him. Knuckles was suddenly there, jerking Sonic back and standing in front of him. The corpses stared at him for a moment then they turned into a female echidna, light pink and delicate in appearance. A strange creature that looked like a giant black, spikey worm erupted from the floor. A spiked tentacle lunged down and speared the female through the middle. Blood exploded from her chest, and internal organs dropped to the floor as the creature worried her. Knuckles stared in shock as Tikal, for there was no doubt in his mind that was who it was, writhed and screamed. She was thrown toward him, but Sonic and Shadow pulled Knuckles back rapidly. She began crawling toward him, mouth open as she tried to speak past the pain.

"Sonic, what's going on?" Tails demanded.

"I-I don't know! Just don't touch them!" Sonic said, his voice tinged with panic.

Tikal's eyes settled on Shadow, who, even as he braced for the inevitable, lost his breath when Maria stood in front of him. She was whole and perfect. Two GUN soldiers formed from the black goop that coated the center of the floor. Maria looked directly at Shadow.

"Why didn't you save me, Shadow?" she asked then the gunshot sounded out.

Blood oozed out from the small hole in her chest. Shadow watched as she started falling, and he raced forward to catch her.

"Maria!" he cried.

Just as he caught her, Sonic and Knuckles grabbed him hard, but it was too late. They screamed as blackness engulfed them and they knew nothing for several seconds. Then came the memories. One after another, their lives were bared. Nothing was kept secret. Once the memories were spent, the nightmares came. Again and again, they drilled into them their kills, their shames, their pain. They knew what it was like to be each other, and it lasted forever…