Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sonic.”

“Mm?” The hedgehog in question lay sprawled over multiple sheets of paper. Tails’   paper. As in, his blueprints, which the fox had planned to go over this afternoon.

Sonic really needed to not be in the workshop. However, that’s not why Tails, the fox with a growing migraine, decided to address his friend. Or, to be more precise, that’s not the first issue he was going to address. The mirror in the fox’s hand was a testament to that. He would be sure to gripe about the hedgehog’s poor choice in bedding later.

“I found this over by emerald coast,” Tails said, near shoving the mirror in Sonic’s face. He received a quirked brow from the hedgehog in response.

“Look, Tails, we all know I look amazing,” he started, nudging the offensive discovery to the side with his hand. “But I don’t see why you felt the need to point that out all of the sudden.”

The fox’s glare could melt glaciers. “Very funny, Sonic.”

“It’s a gift,” The hedgehog in question replied, a shrug his only acknowledgement to the fox’s frustration.

Oh, boy...

A massive sigh washed over Tails. “Well,  if you’ll actually let me explain now...”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sonic rolled off the blueprints (finally!) and into a sitting position. “I’m all ears.”

Tails, now satisfied that his spiked companion satiated his need for banter, leaned against a nearby desk. “I found this mirror on Emerald Coast. Perfect condition and everything.” He held it up to the light, inspecting the trim around the reflective plate. “It couldn’t have just washed up if it’s still this intact.”

The hedgehog’s ears perked. “So someone lost it?”

Tails nodded. “That’s what I thought, too, but when I asked around no one recognized it. I kinda just... put it back where I found it. I needed to stop by Angel Island that afternoon anyways.”

“That afternoon being...?”

“Yesterday,” the fox clarified.

Sonic hummed. “Got it. So you went to the island...?”

“Right.” Tails set aside the mirror on the desk behind him. “I told Knuckles about the emerald we found the other day, and he said he wanted to check it out. He mentioned something about meditation? I don’t know.” Strolling over to the window opposite of the artifact’s new resting place, he stroked his chin in thought. “But here’s where it gets weird. I met up with Knuckles and, while handing him the emerald, mentioned what I found on the beach.”

“And...?”

“He promptly flipped out. Completely lost it.” The fox’s voice dropped an octave as he pantomimed the echidna’s outburst. “‘I knew I dropped it somewhere! Tails, you have to find it, this could be dangerous for everyone if we don’t get that thing now!’ ”

The hedgehog winced. “So it’s some kind of magic mirror?” Then, after a pause, his eyes glinted with mischief. “Will it tell me who’s the fairest in all the land? Or contribute to my teenage self-esteem issues whenever I look at my reflection?”

“Sonic, you don’t have teenage self-esteem issues.”

“You don’t know that.”

A smirk tugged at the fox’s face. “Well, if you’re so eager to talk about it—”

“Tails we are not playing psychiatrist right now or so help me I’ll—”

“— After I got the mirror and returned to the island ,” the fox interjected, leaving his companion with a gaping mouth and a raised finger, “Knuckles started discussing the history of the artifact with me. Apparently, it’s been passed down for generations in the echidna line. For those in the tribe that couldn’t communicate directly with Chaos through the Master Emerald, they’d just send prayers through the mirror under the guidance of the Chief. Pretty nifty. Hasn’t been used in ages, though, according to Knuckles.” Tails sighed. “As it turns out, someone without an affinity for chaos might taint the potency of the mirror’s connection. Maybe outright anger Chaos.”

Sonic gulped. “Well.”

“Yeah,” Tails said. “Good thing I found it.”

“Wait, so why do you have it with you now?”

The fox glanced over at the mirror on the desk. “As long as I bring it back tomorrow morning, I can study it to see if it interacts at all with the emerald we have. Energy spikes, interference, something like that. Knuckles doesn’t actually know much about the it besides the heritage.”

Sonic hopped to his feet and strode over to the artifact. A low whistle followed. “Welp, can’t say it doesn’t look the part. Sure meets that ‘Mysterious Ancient Relic’ criteria.”

Tails wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard the hedgehog’s voice tremble a bit near the end.

——

Sonic may or may not have run off with the mirror.

Of course , Tails fumed, why didn’t I think of this? Sonic plus mysterious object equals theft.

Well, not theft, but curiosity killed the cat. Er, hedgehog.

Immediately after noticing the absence of the artifact—no less than five minutes after he finished explaining the ordeal to his friend—he scoured every inch of the Mystic Ruins, knowing full well that Sonic would want to check it out on his own. And, since he thought best on his feet, he’d spend the majority of his ponderings at mach five. Typical.

However, when that meager search proved fruitless, he hopped over to Station Square and  repeated the process, only to once again come up empty handed. He could only do this so many times at different locations. He needed help.

More importantly, he needed to alert a certain guardian to this mishap.

One flight courtesy of the Tornado and—

“Knuckles!”

The echidna’s whipped toward the voice. “Tails?”

Said fox blasted towards the guardian, twin tails a flurry of movement. Knuckles only had moment’s notice before a face full of fur greeted him, as Tails, in his panic, forgot to slow down upon spotting his friend. Both landed in a heap beside the shrine.

Silence followed for one, no, two seconds before the fox heard a voice rumble from beneath him. “Tails, you have five seconds.”

“Uh—”

“Four.”

The fox scrambled to his feet with a speed rivalling the blue blur himself. Knuckles, however, simply sat up, rubbing his sore head.

“Mind explaining why you decided to tackle me?”

A garble of words escaped the mechanic’s mouth with no rhyme or reason, hands flailing almost as much as his namesakes. “The mirror! Sonic! He ran off! He has it and I don’t know, uh, where he is, um—”

The echidna help up a hand, silencing his companion. “Calm down. You’re talking faster than Sonic on a sugar rush.” Noticing with no shortage of relief how the kit’s breathing slowed, he continued. “Could you repeat that? Something about the mirror...?”

“Sure, um,” the fox said, scratching his cheek. “I let Sonic know about the artifact, and, uh...”

“First mistake,” the echidna deadpanned.

Tails continued, sheepish. “Yeah, maybe not the best idea. He miiiight have run off with the mirror when I wasn’t looking?”

A beat passed.

“He what . ”

“In all fairness, I didn’t think he’d actually take it! It’s not like him to just swipe away stuff like that. He actually has common sense, contrary to popular belief,” the fox blurted, words stumbling over each other. The last statement addressed Knuckles’ accusatory glare.

When that look remained locked on the echidna’s face, Tails had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, he does think things through, and he wouldn’t flee with a potentially world-shattering object on a whim.”

Knuckles let out a sharp exhale. “Look, It’s not that I don’t trust him,” he began. ‘But in all honesty, I was worried he’d get a little too interested in that mirror, common sense or no.”

“But Station Square—! He saw what happened there! He’s still guilty about that, Knuckles, why would he do something that might aggravate Chaos?!”

The echidna’s solemn expression dropped the temperature by a few degrees, forcing a shiver up Tails’ spine.

“Tails, trust me when I say that Sonic has no right going anywhere near that mirror.”

—

Of all the places the hedgehog wandered to in his musings, he hadn’t expected to end up along Emerald Coast. It’s a strange thought, as the beach in question wasn’t exactly out of the way; still, to cart around an object and end up in the place of its discovery struck him as odd.

Sighing, he skid to a stop on the shore, sand kicked into massive plumes from the maneuver. His eyes dropped to the artifact by his side for the first time since his escape.

In the sunlight, its gleam hurt to look at, a brilliant shine that rivaled the sun itself in luminescence. The metal threatened to crush under his grip if he pressed too tightly; a flimsy thing, it was. He angled it above him, blocking the blazing orb in the sky from his view. He thought some light managed to pass through the material. In all likelihood, the artifact wasn’t metal at all.

Bringing the mirror down, he squinted at the swirls sliding around the edge of his reflection, delicate engravings that he felt the sudden urge to trace across with his finger. He did just that. He noted that the risen areas along the grooves packed an edge, and would’ve cut his skin without his gloves’ protection. Beautiful, sure, but deadly. The hedgehog wanted to snort; he sounded like some pretentious art critic.

If he didn’t roll his eyes at the thought, he’d say the mirror could very well bewitch someone.

Plopping down onto the sand with an unceremonious flumph , the hedgehog looked out into the deep abyss of ocean lapping at the shore, flinching every so often when the spray came just a bit too close. The sunshine warming his shoulders managed to quell any panic, though. He almost felt drowsy.

Soon he rolled from knees over onto his stomach, propping up his chin with one hand and holding the mirror out in front of him with the other. He let out a huff. Well, it might be some dangerous relic, but back at the workshop, some deeper part of himself said that he should still take the artifact for a spin.

You mean, the mirror told you to do that, some senile voice jeered in his head. He promptly squared it away, right in the don’t-think-about-that-or-it’ll-bother-you zone.

Looking into the depths of the artifact that first time spooked him, that’s for sure. When he stared at his reflection, it did something he wasn’t expecting. At all.

It smiled at him.

However, he wasn’t smiling back.

It annoyed the hedgehog how that small (well, maybe not small) detail bugged him. He’s been privy to stranger incidents; death eggs, giant water gods tearing down cities, some fifty year old experiment in his likeness—fast forwarding any length of time would lead to similarly absurd happenings, if getting sucked into a book two separate times supported the fact.

Perhaps the words of his two-tailed friend had something to do with it.

Someone without an affinity for chaos might taint the potency of the mirror’s connection. Maybe outright anger Chaos.

No, not those words. He’d just stay even further away from the mirror if his friend had stopped his infodump there.

He wracked his brain for any other points in the fox’s expositional speech that affected his judgement. Then, it struck him.

Knuckles doesn’t actually know much about the it besides the heritage.

That was it! So much uncertainty about a supposedly dangerous artifact had piqued his interest. He needed to figure out the mystery for himself. Plus, if he was the only one whose reflection changed, maybe that signified something the others weren’t noticing.

Deciding to test a theory of his—there should be no danger of “tainting the potency” with the strength of his affinity—he made eye contact with his reflection, just as he did back at the workshop.

“Hi,” he whispered. He hoped no one overheard him talking to a mirror , even if the empty beach around him undermined his concern.

To his surprise, his image smiled right back.

“Hello.”

Sonic, not expecting this, sputtered, eyes the size of dinner plates. This seemed to amuse the apparition.

“You’re awfully jumpy.”

“Um, well, yeah!” the hedgehog exclaimed, defensive. “My reflection is talking to me!”

It suddenly occurred to the hero that the mirror was supposed to facilitate prayers to Chaos. He added sheepishly, “Well, I mean, you look like me right now, so I don’t know if that’s how this thing works or...”

The hedgehog in the mirror cocked his head, eyes quizzical. “Look like you?”

“I, uh.” Sonic had to admit, he felt a little... creeped out? He was sure the reflection stared straight into his soul. Or, maybe he’s paranoid. Whatever.

Then the apparition burst into laughter. “Oh, of course! I should have noticed who I was talking to.” The smile returned, his hollow stare now even more out of place on the hedgehog’s visage. “Sonic, right?”

Sonic tried to smile back, though he imagined it manifested more as a grimace. “Yeah.”

The hedgehog was tempted to break eye contact with his reflection, but so far his theory held true, and as such looking away might sever the connection altogether. Sonic then realized that he might not be opposed to that.

Before entertaining the possibility further, his likeness spoke up, face once more neutral. “May I tell you something?”

“Uh,” was Sonic’s eloquent reply.

The hedgehog decided that, no, his reflection may not tell him something, finally resigning himself to look away. Only he couldn’t.

It was too late.

The apparition sounded almost giddy he whispered, only for the hedgehog to hear, “I was hoping you’d find me.”

—

“Why does Sonic have ‘no right’...?”

Knuckles broke eye contact with the fox at the point, gaze locked onto a clover leaf by his shoe. “I’m not actually sure. I just have a bad feeling.”

Tails set the echidna with a flat look. “Wow. I’m so compelled. The epitome of empirical evidence.”

“In my defense—” Knuckles started, but the fox cut him off.

“Hey, I trust you, but I want to get a second opinion, too.” Tails thus turned away and started his trek back to the Tornado.

“But...! Where?! Who else would know about this isolated and very obscure historical artifact?! ”

The fox stopped and turned around. “That’s what I was hoping you’d help me with.”

The echidna looked absolutely lost. “ How?!”

Then, for the first time in what felt like days, Tails smiled. No, smirked . “Mind helping me raid Eggman’s base? I bet you thirty rings he’s got something in his archives.”

—

Knuckles couldn’t believe this.

They should have been searching for Sonic, scouring every inch of the planet, looking under tables and interrogating every chili dog vendor they could find. They should have been regrouping at the shrine, maybe try to worm their way back into a temple in the deep jungles of the Mystic Ruins. Hell, they should have been gathering extra hands to allocate the hedgehog in the first place.

What were they doing instead? Raiding one of Eggman’s bases. No big deal.

Except it was a huge deal and they were wasting time .

For what?

“I cannot believe this. Tails, I’m so disappointed right now. A second opinion, really?”

Shooting the echidna a sympathetic look from the cockpit,Tails grimaced. “As much as I want to look for Sonic right now, I think we need to get any info we can about the artifact. You admitted that you don’t know a whole lot yourself. Maybe Eggman did a little research on that area?”

“Tails. Obscure.”

“It’s better than going off of nothing!” exclaimed the fox. “Who knows? He digs up information on ancient deities all of the time. He might have a tidbit on the artifact.”

Knuckles huffed, crossing his arms but offering no further comments.

They flew in silence after that, the wind that blasted past them filling the lull in their conversation. Knuckles, for ease of communication with the pilot, situated himself in the extra seat behind the cockpit prior to takeoff. No seatbelts, he had noted; it appeared hardly anyone occupied this space. Only during their brief interlude in discussion did the echidna regret his choice in seating, if only because a ride on the wings meant less awkward silence.

At last, the fox spoke up once more. “I think the base is only a few minutes away by now. Mind helping me search for somewhere to land?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Gah—!”

Both occupants whipped their heads towards the source of the voice, only to see... Shadow.

Neither echidna nor fox got a word in edgewise before their hedgehog arrival plowed on, perched on one of the Tornado’s wings. “Turn around and head back. There’s something wrong with Sonic.”

Knuckles glowered at the ultimate lifeform. “We know that—”

Shadow, of course, cut him off. “If that’s the case, then you’re heading in the exact opposite direction of your desired location.”

“We won’t know how to de-escalate the situation if we know nothing about what’s going on,” objected Tails, eyes pointed straight ahead after the realization that they had started veering to the left. After all, he spent a little too long ogling the unexpected passenger. Geez, pay attention. You’re the pilot here. “Why not see if we can get some info on the mirror?”

“Because Sonic will be gone by the time you find anything.”

Tails huffed. “Well, he’s already gone—”

“No,” Shadow interrupted. “He’ll be gone, as in you’ll never see him again.”

“Let me finish—”

“Chaos will consume his soul if you don’t get that damn mirror away from him right now."

Chapter Text

“I was hoping you’d find me.”

It occurred to Sonic for the first time that maybe, just maybe , taking the mirror was the worst decision he’d ever made in his life.

This situation didn’t just spell trouble. No, it was a thirty-page thesis outlining the defining characteristics of trouble as it related to the hedgehog. If he didn’t distract the apparition—which, if it really was some weird manifestation of Chaos, he’d eat his own shoe—then... well, he’d be neck deep in that hypothetical, boring thesis.

There was the whole ‘oh-chaos-I-can’t-look-away’ issue, of course. At first he thought he’d just gotten a little caught up in the reflection’s weird mind games, but, no, turns out that the hero literally could not move . How the apparition managed to physically restrain him alluded the hero. He hoped the motive for doing so wasn’t as sinister as he suspected.

An idea struck the hedgehog, just as his little companion opened his (their? Do reflections have genders?) mouth to speak. “So,” the hero whispered, “you’ve been lonely, too?”

That stopped the awful thing in their tracks. “What?”

“‘You were hoping I’d find you’,” reiterated the hedgehog. “Knux said this mirror hasn’t been used in a while. No one to talk to, right? I’m happy to chat, y’know.”

Sonic didn’t think it was possible for the reflection to glare at him like that. When that glare turned into a full-out glower, he shot back a cheeky grin.

“...insolent. An absolute dunce,” the apparition finally grumbled under their breath, looking away. “And you’re supposed to be—”

“Sounds like a personal problem, dude,” Sonic cut off.

The hedgehog finally achieved his main goal: Get the apparition to break eye contact with him .

With that, he plunged the mirror “face” first into the sand, hopping to his feet and kicking a few extra clumps over the artifact. He whistled at how the mirror practically vibrated with rage.

“Well, full offense, but I’ve got better things to do,” said the hedgehog. He strolled away from the impromptu burial site, savoring those first few seconds of freedom. Still, even as he whistled on his merry way, it occurred him how screwed he could have been; what if his words failed back there? Whatever that freak was about to say would’ve kept him under lock and key for good, he was sure of it. Call it a gut feeling.

Seconds before he could actually break into a sprint, a finger tapped on his shoulder.

“What—?” Sonic whipped around immediately, only to come face-to-face with, well, no one. Only the sea salt permeating the air shared his companionship.

Okay, sure , he fumed, start going crazy when a magical mirror isn’t trying to... do whatever it was doing .

Their actions still puzzled him. Still, the confusion failed to negate his growing frustration at the whole ordeal. He pivoted back the way he came and started walking a little faster, pace brisk enough to kick up the sand behind him.

“Sonic?”

Ignore it, the hedgehog thought. He contemplated just booking it out of there as he almost did moments earlier.

That voice— his voice, he swore—called out once more, right in his ear. “Please turn around.”

“No,” was Sonic’s curt reply.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Well maybe stop the whole mirror thing then!” The hedgehog cried. “Some people don’t like talking to themselves all of the time.”

A pause filtered through before the voice returned, this time in a tone too patronizing for the hero to stand. “Oh, you poor thing. You still don’t get it.”

Sonic almost lost it right there. He clenched his hands into fists, stifling the snarl bubbling in his chest. Instead, he managed a clipped, “Shut it.”

The voice continued, heedless of the venom in the hedgehog’s words. “Your logic is flawed. Why would a god assume the form of a mortal for prayer?”

Sonic scoffed. “Gee, this sure doesn’t sound like my praying to your waterlogged butt!”

Okay, he was pretty sure that was going a bit too far but, after the absurdity of the two’s interaction, he couldn’t believe the mirror actually contacted Chaos; there’s no way that the ethereal being sounded like this—none, zilch, zero, nada.

If he had pockets, he’d shove his hands into them at this point. Instead, they fidgeted by his sides, itching to smack something, anything.

Sonic stopped. He, he—he couldn’t breathe.

His chest refused to expand, and whatever wrenched his airway shut had a vice grip. As the hedgehog clawed at his throat, hissing in a meager attempt to get air in as opposed to out, the strange, lilting version of his tenor boomed from both everywhere and nowhere at once.

“Do not disrespect me.”

The hedgehog dropped to his knees, fingers setting his windpipe ablaze at even the barest touch.

Then the voice quieted, the following murmur a strange juxtaposition to the previous sea of rage. “You don’t think you deserve this, do you?”

Sonic shuddered.

“Let me propose a little trade, then.”

The iron grip around his neck loosened, leaving him so lightheaded from the relief that his surroundings blurred into one giant jumble of colors. The hedgehog could barely form coherent thoughts. For him, it was an experience just to be alive for the moment. Sinking down onto his elbows, he stared at the granules of sand shifting around his forearms.

“What...” the hero started, but paused, breathless after only a word. He hadn’t been strangled for that long, had he? “What trade?”

“Grab that mirror for me, please? I’ll stop hurting you.”

There lied possibly the least compelling bribe Sonic ever heard. Take an unnecessary risk just to avoid getting pushed around a little? “Yeah...” huff, puff. “Right...”

“I knew you’d say that.”

Goodbye, relief. Hello, lack of air.

Sonic’s elbows slipped from beneath him, his forehead pressed against the sand as he shook. It hurt, it hurt so bad , it was like a metal rod slammed into his windpipe, only for the pain to trickle down into his chest like magma into a roiling ocean. The hero couldn’t even hear himself think.

“I’m in control, and you know it,” crooned the voice. It came from behind him now, a whisper into his left ear.

Sonic tried to cut through the haze in his mind and figure out how in the world this even happened. Then the truth slammed into his gut. Of course. It really was the worst decision he’d ever made in his life.

He spoke to the mirror. He gave it a voice. He looked straight into the eyes of that apparition and asked for a response.

What better response than to leave the mirror and leap straight into his head?

—

Silence smothered the trio, all at a loss for words after the ultimate lifeform’s outburst.

Finally, the pilot spoke up. “Let’s say you’re right.” Tails glanced back at the new arrival’s perch for a moment, eyeing the hedgehog with suspicion. “Answer this, then.”

Shadow only rubbed at his temples, still trying to calm himself. “Sure. Whatever.”

“Why do you know about the artifact?”

To the fox’s surprise, his unwanted companion answered immediately. “Professor Gerald Robotnik’s research covered immortality. The legends passed down in the late echidna tribe intrigued him, as they extensively detailed the legend of an all-powerful creature.” The hedgehog leaned over the wing a bit towards the other occupants. “He dubbed the subject of the legend ‘the ultimate lifeform,’ a being able to wield the power of all seven chaos emeralds in order to enter an invincible, god-like form. The following projects aimed to replicate the attributes of such a state.”

Knuckles narrowed his eyes at the passenger behind—above?—him. “Are you saying that the mirror is connected to the legend?”

Shadow’s brows furrowed. “I assumed you would know about this.”

“Well, excuse me if no one bothered to tell their last guardian before disappearing!”

“Knuckles, calm down,” Tails interjected. Even though the pilot faced away from the group, he waved his hand toward the hedgehog. “Continue.”

The ultimate lifeform rolled his shoulders a bit before plowing on, loosening up muscular tension in an attempt to ease the social. “Much of echidnian folklore overlaps. When compared side-by-side, it’s inferred that a being such as the one of the legend contains some of Chaos itself within their soul, and, as such, they might lose their sense of self when in direct spiritual contact with the god.”

Knuckles sighed. “You’re implying Sonic’s the legendary being.” It wasn’t a question.

“Going by what Shadow described, he does fit the main criteria of the subject,” said Tails. A form with a ‘super-’ prefix came to mind. “He’s not an actual god, though, right? I’d have a little trouble believing that.” The legendary thing sounds fake, too, but okay.

“No, he’s not,” confirmed Shadow. “He’s about as much of a god as—”

“Yeah, yeah, so basically,” and Knuckles stared straight into the back of the fox’s head with these words, “we have our second opinion and don’t need to raid a heavily fortified base.”

Tails felt the accusation in the echidna’s eyes. “Guess not.”

“Not as though you’d gain anything from the venture,” Shadowed muttered. “The professor’s research is up on the ARK. You’d find nothing.”

The pilot considered flipping the plane over.

—

Another thought occurred to Sonic, this time an encouraging force instead of deterring.

His mental captor, seeming to sense the hedgehog’s question, released their hold on his throat, just a little. He used the opportunity to prop himself up on his elbows and shoot a look over his shoulder. That was the last position of the voice, after all.

“Why do you need the mirror if you’re already out of it?” Sonic rasped out.

In the ensuing pause, the grip around the hedgehog’s throat eased further, almost entirely gone by the time the voice responded. “Excellent question.”

“...And?”

Did the voice just laugh? “Why would I answer that? I don’t really care about your insight, rodent.”

“Excuse me?!” exclaimed the hedgehog, quills bristling at the all-too-familiar insult. “I’m not a rodent!” In his annoyance he failed to notice that that the apparition, too, was a hedgehog Why were they even using the ‘rodent’ card?

His mental captor said nothing. In fact, they did nothing for quite a while.

A minute of silence passed before the lack of action registered in the hedgehog’s brain. This was his chance!

Sonic climbed to his feet, chest and neck free of the constrictive force that haunted him only moments prior. Well, no time like the present. He knelt into a runner’s stance, only to shoot at least thirty meters from his spot in an instant.

“Well, if you must know...”

When the hedgehog blinked, he found himself back on the oceanfront, stock-still (what?) and a few feet away from the buried artifact (what?!) .

“I need to remove the both of us from the mirror’s realm.”

Sonic gasped when a hand—an actual hand —landed on his shoulder, fingers digging into the seam where blue and peach fur met.

“I’m not in your head,” they continued. “You’re in mine.”

Sonic looked down to where the digits clamped down, only see his own glove. A shiver wracked his body.

“Now, wouldn’t you like to get back to reality?” they said, voice uncomfortably close and, for the first time, from somewhere—some one —corporeal. “I won’t interfere, I promise. I just want to get out, too.”

Soon the hand on the shoulder became a desperate cling to the hero’s side, his strange double-but-not actually shaking. “I really am lonely.” They sounded so fragile; Sonic, if he weren’t the epitome of suspicious towards the apparition, would have felt a pang in his heart. “Please forgive me.”

The hedgehog wanted to shake his head. This is just more manipulation. You’re talking to a supposed god for Chaos’ sake! They’re not actually in here! Not to mention the fact that they attacked him maybe a minute ago. His neck was still sore from that.

Still, it was also a possibility that he operated under the wrong assumptions. The hero objected to the idea of this reflection being the god at all, and Knuckles admitted himself his lack of knowledge about the artifact. For all he knew the mirror actually imprisoned this... god or sentient reflection or Chaos knows what.

(It sure felt like a prison if he had anything to say about it.)

Wanting to ask while the apparition still appeared somewhat sedate, perhaps even vulnerable, he opened his mouth to speak, only for the words to crumble into a simple “I, um.”

Well, Sonic might have been a little distracted by the hug from himself at the moment.

“You won’t even notice I’m there, you know,” the aforementioned lookalike mumbled. “If we leave, you’ll even forget about me. About this place. All of it. It’s a fair trade.”

Coercion or no, Sonic was feeling a little antsy standing on such an eerily quiet Emerald Coast. He wanted to leave just as much as the reflection did.

After a second of painful deliberation, the hero nodded. “Okay, I’ll grab the mirror.” When the embrace tightened, he added, in a rush, “Would you let go so that I can do that, please?

Later, Sonic would admit that his lookalike let go maybe a bit too quickly.

Still, in the moment the action transpired, he felt nothing but relief from his newfound freedom, ready to walk over and end what quickly became a living hell. He knelt in front of the lump and quickly pushed globs of sand aside, revealing the mirror in pristine condition. He picked it up without thinking on that last detail too much.

“Okay, what next?’ Sonic asked. He didn’t turn around if only because the thought of talking to himself in the flesh , face to face, made his skin crawl. Shadow was plenty in terms of doubles.

To his unending relief, the apparition stayed both far away from his person and within a reasonable volume range. “Just hold that for me, will you? I’ll come over and handle the rest.”

Scratch the ‘stay far away from his person’ part, actually.

“Um, can you do whatever you’re gonna do from there?” And never touch me again?

“Unfortunately, no—”

Oh, brother. “Then deal’s off. If I can do what you were gonna do instead, then I’m still up for this, but—” I need to keep control of the situation and I don’t trust you both came to mind and ultimately stayed there— “I can’t leave without knowing how to release other people trapped in evil ancient mirrors, yeah?” Lame excuse, but whatever.

At first, he thought the lack of response indicated contemplation. The second pair of hands that grasped the artifact’s handle a few seconds later shut down that theory.

“You make this too hard on yourself,” the voice chastised. “Close your eyes.”

“What the h—”

“I’ll close them for you if you don’t.”

His eyes never snapped shut so fast in his entire life.

You’re getting out of here it doesn’t matter if you’re being tricked you can do something about it as soon as you’re out just calm down Sonic —

The ground beneath them crumbled, and Sonic found himself in a freefall towards a black abyss.

—

“Where first?” asked the echidna when Station Square’s skyline came into view.

A piercing shriek answered that question.

“Emerald Coast!” cried Tails. “It came from there!” Indeed, just on the other side of the incoming city was the aforementioned oceanfront, and the scream definitely barrelled from that direction, the fox was sure. When he glanced back at the others, he saw agreement flash through their eyes.

A problem occurred to the pilot then. “Wait, we won’t be able to land close enough!” Their best bet was maybe a mile away from the city, meaning a rather arduous walk towards their destination. They’d be too late.

“The distance is non-consequential.”

When the fox shot the speaker, Shadow, a confused look, he simply pulled an emerald out of his quills in reply.

“...Oh.” Of course. Well, Shadow’s method of getting to the plane mid-flight sat right there in the hedgehog’s palm.

“Precisely. Land as soon as you can.”

—

Hng...

When Sonic opened his eyes, he was more than convinced that he was the lucky winner of  steamroller, only to get crushed by his own prize and left sans-rolling device. Of course, he had no idea why; he’d arrived on the beach just a moment ago, ready to try and start up a little chat with his new ‘friend.’

The hero wasn’t sure when he fell asleep but, given the proximity of the sun to the horizon, it appeared as though he conked out for quite a while.

After spending a good minute or two splayed out across the sand, Sonic raised his head; or, he tried to. The hedgehog plopped face-first back into the soft earth as soon as he managed to get up a few inches. He resigned himself to another second of recuperation. Not unwanted, given the whole steam-rolled situation he woke up to.

The hero still didn’t understand why he fell asleep in the first place.

Stupid sunshine and its stupid relaxing qualities on this stupidly beautiful ocean shore. Stupid.

A few seconds later found Sonic deciding to brave another attempt at getting up. This proved marginally successful, as pulling his hands under his shoulders and subsequently pushing into the sand seemed to do the trick in righting his upper body.

Sitting would do for now.

He took the opportunity to scan his surroundings. The last of the evening crowd already dissipated, it seemed, which didn’t surprise Sonic. The time of year meant that, beautiful sunset or no, sane individuals didn’t dare face the chill winds that blew in from the ocean. The hedgehog shivered a little himself as such an aforementioned breeze barrelled across the sand. Well, that was his cue to go, he supposed.

Enough of the steamroll-variety feeling eased up for the hedgehog to stumble to his feet. Not enough to avoid the dizziness that followed the action, though. Sonic leaned back on his heels and waited for the feeling to pass, eyes glued to the maroons and violets painting the sky.

Am I forgetting something? the hedgehog wondered. He opened and closed his hands a few times before his eyes widened in realization. He dropped the mirror. Then the question arose as to where .

Looking down, he spotted the artifact by his feet. Huh.

Sonic scooped it up without a second thought. Couldn’t lose it if he wanted to return it to Tails, after all. Oh, and the whole ‘Knuckles would murder me’ tidbit stuck a chord with him as well.

What to do, what to do.... The hedgehog still had a half an hour of daylight, and to go home right then sounded like a waste to him. Plus, if he was lucky, he might fit in some stargazing before returning to the workshop. Possibly get info out of the mirror in his grip. Tails could wait a little while longer, right?

On the other hand, Sonic lost the desire to be around the artifact at all. It was so... obnoxious, fragile. He should just get rid of—wait.

That didn’t sound right. When the hero glanced down at the artifact once more, the urge hit him, harder this time. To get rid of the mirror. What that meant alluded the hedgehog.

Return it? Leave it here? Break it?

Yes, break it , some voice in the back of his mind cheered. Shaking his head to clear the intrusive thought, Sonic tore his eyes from the artifact and back towards the horizon. The sun sank lower with each passing second. He was wasting time.

But, where to go remained a mystery. This uncertainty garnered more space for that same urge to cross his mind, a persistent break it, break it now that the hedgehog couldn’t identify.

Sonic noticed that the mirror rose to his eyes only when it blocked the sun from view.

Call it spite, or maybe some other form of attitude, but the hedgehog wanted to keep the mirror intact just to defy the irrational, sourceless nagging. Why he felt weary all of the sudden, he didn’t know. He got the impression that he dealt with a similar presence already that afternoon.

Break it, break it, shatter it —

“Shut up!” he cried, eyes squeezed shut and fists clenched so hard they shook. One such hand almost crumpled the handle with the force of its grip. Oh, gee, wouldn’t that satisfy those demands.

That voice wasn’t his. The revelation hit Sonic like a wall of bricks.

If he gave in, then what? Would it stop?

...

He really wanted it to stop.

—

“— control!”

One could learn a lot about the individuals hurtling from the portal by their landings alone. The hedgehog of the group, for starters, didn’t hurtle; he landed square on his feet below the rip in spacetime. His companions weren’t so lucky. Their fox component came within inches of slamming face first into a wall, were it not for the rescue of his namesakes. Then, of course, the echidna rammed his face into the very same wall the kid avoided.

All three slumped when they saw their location.

“Shadow, really?” Tails huffed. “We were supposed to go to the beach, not, um, where ever this is...?”

The ultimate lifeform looked no less disgruntled by their surroundings. “There must have been interference right before we reached the coast. That’s the only explanation I can think of.”

“Interference from what?” grumbled a sore and possibly furious Knuckles. “Another emerald? One of Eggman’s mechs? A starfish?”

“Listen here you—”

Tails rushed between the two before a brawl could start, which proved imminent when they started marching towards each other, Shadow’s finger poised in the direction of the echidna.

“Shut it!” the fox commanded. “We don’t have time for this. Shadow, do you have any idea where we are right now?”

The hedgehog closed his eyes for a moment. “Maybe fifty meters from our destination?” He finally answered. “Not far. We were released from the portal fairly late to be any significant distance away.”

“Good,” said Tails. He looked around their space for a moment, only then noticing the distinct lack of light. The fact that he could see his companions at all amazed him. Spying several crates and a few barrels, as well as the concrete beneath them, the fox deduced that they were in a storage area of some sort.

Decision made, Tails looked towards the others and motioned to their surroundings. “Let’s split and look for an exit. Give a shout when you do.”

Thus, the search began.

...and promptly ended a few seconds later, as the room was maybe a hundred square meters at best and the door turned out to be right next to where Knuckles landed post-jettison.

In Tails’ defense, the room looked a lot larger in the dark.

“Judging by the size of the door,” stated Tails, “this should take us directly outside, rather than into the one of the halls of the facility.”

“Well, let’s go then!” shouted an overeager Knuckles (he just wanted to get out of there, dammit. They’ve wasted so much time. Sonic’s in danger!) He was over to the door in seconds, winding up his arm for a punch in a few more, and Shadow’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Wait, don’t—” the hedgehog cried, but it was too late.

When the echidna’s fist hit the metal, it ricocheted right off, the force of the blowback sending him flying into the stack of crates behind the three with a loud crash! All of the room’s inhabitants noticed the flash of light upon knuckle-to-door impact.

“...touch that.”

There’s the interference.

—

The ‘voice’ only grew more persistent. Pleading, even. Bargaining?

Just break the mirror. It’s dangerous and nobody even uses it anymore. Break it. Break it.

Sonic drifted over to the ocean shore, numb to the spray at his feet as the water grew restless. It pulled in the direction of the artifact. This, of course, only added to the strangeness of the situation, and thus to the hedgehog’s unease.

Just —

“Break it, yeah, I get it you broken record,” Sonic grumbled under his breath. His shoulders tensed at the words. Something in his gut told him he shouldn’t have said that.

Nothing happened, though. He shrugged it off as stress.

His eyes scanned along the oceanfront, crawling across the strip for any sort of object to, well, bash things with. He’d just throw the artifact on the ground if he didn’t suspect the sand would soften the fall. The thing’s so fragile, why not just crush it, or...

Look on the back.

The back? Sonic flipped the mirror hesitantly and, sure enough, he saw just what he needed.

The small stone on the back of the mirror held the thing together via a ‘web’ of pillars connecting to the outer frame. If he could remove that somehow, the whole thing would fall apart. That should do the trick.

“Okay, voice in the back of my head, should I just pry the baby out or what?”

A small hum indicated the voice’s contentment.

“Well, let’s do it then!”

Chapter Text

A booming “What the hell?!” shot from the direction of the now demolished crates. Shadow, busying his palm with his face, sighed.

“There’s an energy field of some kind,” the hedgehog explained through gritted teeth. “ Punching it won’t do anything.”

Tails, ever the mediary, added on before actual steam erupted from Knuckles’ head. “It just needs to be neutralized somehow. After that we could use a punch to bust down the door.”

“...fine.”

As Knuckles scrambled his way out of the heap of splinters and illicit property damage, Shadow stared down Tails. He was going to wear a rut into the ground if he kept pacing like that. While all three itched to move on and get to the blue blur, it appeared that the blur’s own brother took the stress the hardest.

Shadow contemplated the best method of approach. Tails needed enough peace of mind to think clearly, Knuckles needed a moment to chill, and Shadow... well, he needed to find a way to get the three of them out of there. Fast.

“Let’s try an energy based attack,” he finally suggested.

To Shadow’s relief, Tails snapped from his frenzied reverie, eyes lighting up in response. “Maybe a chaos spear would work!”

A nod from Shadow acknowledged the proposition and, gesturing for Tails to back up, he tensed his fingers, palms tingling from the energy he sent towards them. When the pricks concentrated just above the flesh, he flung his hands forward, shoulders hiked, knees bent.

The following burst of light blinded the rest of the group. Shadow, meanwhile, simply blinked and straightened himself, a bored look on his face.

When the light dimmed, a vague sheen on the metal indicated the continued presence of the barrier.

Shadow groaned. “Damnit!”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Tails started, but Shadow already pivoted away from the door and stalked off. So much for that plan.

Tails sighed. Something wasn’t right about that outcome. When he turned around, his eyes caught the gem in the hedgehog’s palm. A thought occurred to him.

Knuckles, however, voiced the idea before Tails had a chance. “What can you do without the emerald?”

Shadow turned towards the other two and narrowed his eyes. “Emeralds enhance my abilities, not grant them.” An offended tone dusted his words. “Why?”

Knuckles shrugged, but he said nothing, fascinated with a spot on the far wall.

Tails knew exactly what his friend was doing, of course. As he observed Shadow’s stalking back towards the barrier, he contemplated an idiosyncrasy that the hedgehog shared with his blue counterpart; both responded better to challenges than commands. For the former, this applied tenfold when he sported a bruised ego.

Indeed, a clink denoted the end of the gemstone’s journey from hand to floor, followed by a familiar static crackling in the air, a burnt smell tickling the noses of the room’s occupants.

A flash of white glove and ebony fur drove the spear into the barrier, this time without a bright flash following the act. All whipped towards the door as, miraculously, the glow sliding around the surface of the metal crumbled off.

“Huh,” was Knuckles’ eloquent response. “Didn’t think that would actually work.”

As the three approached the exit, Tails trailed back towards Knuckles, allowing Shadow to increase the distance between them. “Did you mean the barrier breaking or Shadow getting offended enough to show off?” the fox asked.

He shrugged. “Both.”

The two jumped when a voice barked from ahead of them. “Are you coming, or should I kick this door down myself?”

Tails eyed the exit for a second before deflating.

“Y’know, I forgot that we could probably just open it once we got rid of the interference...” he mumbled.

“Don’t sweat it,” said Knuckles, patting his friend’s shoulder as he passed the kit. “It’s probably locked, and we don’t have time to figure out how to unlock it.” Once near the door, he added, more to Shadow than Tails, “Now, if you don’t mind, let’s actually get out of here.”

Shadow stepped away from the exit, eyes narrowed, as Knuckles approached with a raised fist. It rocketed forward and slammed straight into the metal.

Not even a dent.

“What!?” Knuckles cried.

Shadow rolled his eyes. “You really expected to knock it down with that? ”

“Just, uh, try again maybe,” Tails cut in. He didn’t really know what to say; a punch from Knuckles should’ve knocked the door straight off of its hinges.

Knuckles, his frustration palpable, wound up his arm for another hit, only for Shadow to hold up a hand. He shot him a glare in response.

“Now what?”

“Since the barrier is gone, it won’t interfere with chaos control. Let’s try that instead.”

Tails’ brows furrowed. “But I don’t get it. Why was it there at all? It had to come from somewhere.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Shadow said. “Our priority is getting to Sonic. The source of our previous deterrent is inconsequential.”

“Or maybe it isn’t! Whatever— whoever —put up that energy field obviously doesn’t want us to get to Emerald Coast!” Tails marched over to the door and squinted, eyes inches from the metal. “The door isn’t even reinforced. The fact that Knuckles’ punch didn’t do anything is just weird .”

When the room’s other occupants continued their blank stares at the back of the his head, Tails sighed. “Looks like I’m right.” He pulled away from the door and turned around. “The charge is gone, but there’s enough of the field left over to absorb impact. We’re still stuck.”

Shadow shook his head, irritated. “Which is why if—”

“No, Shadow! We won’t get anywhere near Sonic if we try again.”

Even Knuckles seemed skeptical of that logic. “Why? You saying we’ll just end up in a another room?”

“ Yes, Knuckles. If it happened once, it could happen again, and if it does we’ll lose all of our progress.”

“Whatever.” Shadow hissed, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s just do something besides bicker. Any ideas?”

Tails glanced back at the door. He couldn’t spot a latch or knob of any kind, so a shove in the right direction would swing it open if they passed the field’s dispersion threshold.

“We just need to overwhelm the barrier,” Tails informed the group. I just don’t know how we’re going to do that. Their party’s strongest member barely halved that value, much less surpassed it.

Silence blanketed the room as the three considered their options.

—

What are you waiting for?

There stood Sonic, fingers poised over the smooth granite, water lapping at his sneakers. His will to continue evaporated moments before glove met stone.

For the first time, he started to remember what happened that afternoon.

His hand crawled from its position over the granite and, at a snail’s pace, returned to his side.

“You gave up that shtick fast, y’know.” Sonic twirled the artifact in his fingers, hip cocked and eyes locked on the sunset. “What happened to ‘won’t even notice I’m there’? Got bored?”

As the acknowledgement of a separate entity continued to solidify in Sonic’s mind, so did the weight of their presence, like a pool of water collecting in the back of his skull. He wondered what that meant for him if he didn’t figure out a way out of this mess soon. Still, Sonic couldn’t find it in himself to be scared. He was tired of being scared. He wanted to do something.

Until he discovered what that something would be, he settled on stalling for time.

The twirling morphed into a toss from hand to hand, a judgement of the artifact’s weight as it landed in each palm. Pretty hefty for such a fragile thing.

“So, I get why you hated being in there—” Sonic flinched when he felt the water crawl forward ever so slightly from that pool, but stopped only a moment, just long enough to will the feeling away. “—but you’re out dude. You did it. You won. Ten points for Gryffindor, buddy. What are you even doing now, trying to get rid of any souvenirs from Mirror Prison?”

The voice, of course, ignored him, occupied by another conundrum. Your vision should be fuzzy by now. I don’t get it.

“That’s a weird way of asking why I don’t wear glasses.”

What? Chaos, what a headache. The criteria for ‘creepy voice that’s probably an ancient spirit or something’ apparently didn’t include witty banter. Pretty much every other antagonist could do that.

Much to Sonic’s distress, their confusion failed to deter the spread of control. Vision’s great, sure, but his legs threatened to give out at any moment. Time for a different approach.

Giving the artifact one last toss—into his left hand, this time—Sonic held it up to no one in particular and asked, “So, you’re not gonna tell me why I need to break it?” He waggled the mirror for emphasis.

I can’t believe you can still talk.

Ignoring how utterly terrified the implications of that statement made him, Sonic shrugged. “If not, can I just throw it? That’d be swell.” He wound up, arm poised to lug the mirror a good thirty feet out into the ocean. “I’m gonna go ahead and do that.”

Turning a blind eye to his problems appeared to be the day’s central theme, as Sonic was about ninety-five percent sure that he’d fall flat on his face if he completed the maneuver. Weird voice didn’t need to know that, though.

As it turned out, that weird voice saved him the trouble, speaking up before his arm accelerated. You’re throwing away your only chance for survival.

“Oh ho, so that’s it~!” he sang. His feint worked, it actually worked! The smugness inside Sonic only increased when, to his delight, the presence was at a loss for words, all too aware of their blunder.

Using this as an opportunity, Sonic brought the mirror up to his face and tried desperately to remember how they got out.

The two of them grabbed the mirror—might be a little difficult to acquire both pairs of hands now—and Sonic closed his eyes, ending with... a caved-in Emerald Coast? Had to be symbolic. If they accomplished the feat mentally, then maybe thought would work just as well to send them back.

Well, might as well try while he could still stand.

Grasping the handle with both hands, Sonic screwed his eyes shut, ears folded back as he willed the voice to go back.

That won’t work. You don’t have the mental capacity with me here.

“S-shut up,” he stammered, concentration tying his tongue. What, did he have to visualize a path for them? Head to neck, neck to shoulders, shoulders to hands, hands to gloves maybe, then into the metal they’d go. Sounded great.

...Nothing happened.

Are you daft? You’re not even going to be yourself in a moment.

Sonic shivered. “W-what, into oxymorons?”

You’ve served your purpose. Let me take over.

At this, he paused. Not in shock. Not in fear.

No, Sonic the hedgehog was pissed.

Sonic threw the mirror on the sand, not caring that he stumbled and almost lost his footing outright from the force of the throw. “Okay, enough of this destiny bull. What am I this time? Chosen one? Distant being from another world? A candlestick? Gimme something to work with besides ‘you’ve served your purpose,’ creep.”

The voice had this ‘speaking at sporadic intervals” theme at the moment that, unfortunately, meant a pointed lack of response to Sonic’s demand.

He rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable.”

Sonic realized only then the extent of his fatigue as, in the absence of conversation, his panting boomed in his ears. False confidence really tuckered a person out. Well, he’d deny any claim his confidence was false, but... he needed to know what was going on.

In a final attempt to get them to say something, Sonic sighed, shook his head, and added a strained “Please?”

A scoff tickled his ears. Finally, a modicum of respect from you .

“Well, what can I say? I haven’t been all that great a host to our little party.”

The voice opted not to acknowledge him. What a surprise. Instead, they switched into a brand new... ‘gently scolding’ mode...? Sit. You’re about to collapse.

Sonic wanted to object to yet another round of their commands, but his quaking knees told him how supremely bad of an idea that would be. So, he plopped down on the sand, heedless of the spray the altitude granted his face.

Where would you like me to start?

“Oh, we’re doing twenty questions now? Sure.” Sonic hummed as he rested a cheek on his palm. “What do you want?”

You.

“Maybe explain that in a way that doesn’t get you a visit from Chris Hansen?”

The voice ignored the jab (or didn’t understand it, who knows.) Years ago, you demonstrated for the first time an inherent mastery over the chaos emeralds.

Sonic blinked. “Uh, what?”

You performed a miracle that granted you immense power.

“...You mean I went super?”

He felt the voice’s weariness from the jargon. Yes, you... went super.

Digesting their words, Sonic scoured his memory for the specific event they referred to—a difficult feat, what with his so-called ‘lowered mental capacity.’

Time eater? Too recent. Ark? Not exactly the first time it happened. For a moment he considered Station Square, but a memory of a certain island nagged at him, suggesting a time before even Perfect Chaos that beheld his golden form.

At that point the tide crawled in far enough to wet the fur on Sonic’s knees. He scurried away. Too much salt. And water. Definitely too much water.

“West Side Island?” he finally asked, more to himself than to his companion. “That right?”

Correct .

“Aight. What’s so special then? Miracle this, mastery that. You’re invading my brain for pretty much no reason and I don’t like it.”

There’s a reason .

“Shoot.”

That miracle is only possible for a figure prophesied by the echidna tribe. When you transformed, you fulfilled the prophecy.

“...um, hold on. What?”

—

“This... isn’t working...!” grunted Tails, arms threatening to collapse under the strain. The door refused to budge.

“It was your idea!” Knuckles quipped back.

As it turned out, their best bet was to just push at the door all at once (“Constant application of force will add up to more than brief collisions,” Tails explained. Oh, how he regretted ever suggesting that. His arms killed him.)

Thirty more seconds of sheer agony ensued for the trio until, thank Chaos , the hinges creaked under the pressure, wanting to give.

“H-hey! Guys! I think it’ll—”

—

Sonic resisted the urge to groan. Prophecy. Great. He remained quiet for a moment, only to grumble a minute later, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

It is a prophecy foretelling —they continued, of course they just continued, why did he expect anything else— the emergence of a being whose soul has a trace of the god’s power in their depths. According to legend, the soul of the being is timeless, while their vessel appears periodically throughout history.

Actually a god somehow, check. Chosen one, probably check. The ‘vessel’ talk got a double check for sheer creepiness alone. All Sonic needed was one extra cryptic phrase and he had a recipe for a migraine.

Can you guess why we look alike now?

There it was.

“No, not really, and to be honest I don’t care enough to try.” Sonic flopped onto his back and glared up at the sky. Not the kind of stargazing he had in mind earlier. “I mean, isn’t your reflection...? Supposed to look like yourself...? That’s the whole point, right?”

Why would a god —

“If you say ‘assume the form of a mortal for prayer’ I’m going to bash my head in on a rock, just for you.”

Still, be it the revelation post-threat that he couldn’t sit back up, the water licking at the soles of his shoes, or really just the fact that Tails found the mirror at all, Sonic decided to play along, just for a while.

“Okay, fine,” he huffed. “Why would they?”

They wouldn’t.

“Actually explain that so help me I—”

You’ll what? You can’t even move.

Sonic’s eyes widened. “What?” The sitting up part, he was aware of, but...

He tried to twitch his fingers, flick an ear, Chaos, do anything , but remained still, body finally and totally catatonic.

“No.” Sonic started to shiver. “No no no no what—”

Your resistance led to this.

“What the hell are you doing to me?!”

—

The door swung out.

Thus, the line collapsed into a dogpile. Needless to say, Shadow was not pleased with his role as a glorified mattress for the other two.

Tails, with an odd sense of deja-vu, peered down at said glorified mattress. “Um.”

“...You have five seconds.”

—

That’s the question I was hoping you’d ask.

What Sonic said: “Shut up.”

What Sonic really meant: “I’ve connected the dots and realized that you’re actually, in the most literal sense, possessing me—like actually possessing me—and that’s probably one of the worst things that’s ever happened to me. Please, for the love of all that is good, maybe don’t do that.”

Whether or not the goddamn parasite understood the full sentiment of his words, Sonic didn’t know. He was a little preoccupied with the whole ‘I can’t move’ dilemma.

Think back to the legend. A timeless soul, appearing again and again through the reincarnation of a mortal... how does that apply to us?

His mouth refused to move. Probably just lost that, too.

Here’s a hint: I’m the timeless soul.

And then he sat up.

No, they sat up.