Taken Chances?
It was dark at first.
I couldn't see anything. Not even my own hands.
…This sucked…
I'd have taken this like a duck would water, with all of my time of showing off my athletic ability with my eyes shut, but…
Where I am now… It felt a little unnerving to do just that. I mean, there wasn't much difference in whether you had your eyes open or not… blackness was… well… what was the word? …Infinite?
…
Yeah, that…
It didn't seem like a good idea to close them… it's a matter of comfort, see? And I could safely say that I'm not comfortable right now. At all. Not even enough to close my eyes.
"…Agh! …Damn…"
That was my leg. On a desk leg. Irony aside, I wish I could see… heck, I'd love a little Chaos Spear right now… Anything… Then again, I guess beggars can't really be choosers…
I sucked in my breath as a small amount of agony flowed up my body; every time my foot met with the floor, a glacier of throbbing pain would echo up it, right up to my thigh. I really hoped it'd wear off soon…
I stood in silence, before I felt around, trying to find a light switch or something to get me out of the dark… or any of this mess, to be honest. Maybe my eyes would eventually adjust to the darkness. My little buddy said that once… but I can't wait that long.
Creak… creak…
…Hell… now the FLOOR'S unnerving… Even when almost tip-toeing it knows how to freak you out.
…I need a light switch… something—
"AH!"
FLASH! FLASH!
…!
Lightning… and is that rain…? Maybe… maybe not… but the room just lit up for a second… now that I looked at it…
Rotting, grotesque, dilapidated desks… chipped, beyond-ruin floorboards… (better watch I don't trip on those…) fragility at its peak… A barren, well-aged chalkboard, shattered, ominous windows… the pattering of light rain… no, heavy rain…
H-hmm… h-heh…
Back to school, I guess. Wonder what happened to this place…
I scratched my ear thoughtfully.
Maybe renovations? …Nah… seems a little off for that… maybe I could ask someone around here…
"…Hello?" I called loudly, voice arrogant and somewhat obnoxious.
Nothing answered… at least, for a second.
"…Urggh…"
"Huh?" My ears abruptly pricked, twitching at the noise.
It sounded like someone was groanin—ah!
Something moved.
…Scratch that, something was movING.
I couldn't make it out… but it looked big… and it didn't look like furniture…
It moved significantly, now; it was slowly moving towards what appeared to be and upright stance, picking itself up off the floor…
"…Uuuhhh…" I trailed, speechless for a second, and then cautiously queried, "…Anyone… t-there?"
"D-dammit…"
I stopped.
"…Knux? That you?"
"…"
He didn't answer, and it wasn't until weak, purple eyes met mine that he decided to.
"…Sonic?"
I smiled widely in return. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Knucklehead."
A chuckle sounded at that point.
"Hee hee hee…
Hee hee hee…"
"Very funny," the echidna growled.
"That… wasn't me," my suddenly shaky voice responded.
"Don't screw around, Sonic," Knuckles snarled, dusting himself off as he paled.
"No, really! I mean—really! It wasn't me!"
"Knock it off…" he muttered, looking me like I'd stolen his big, shiny gem.
I sighed. There was just no convincing him.
Stubborn Knucklehead…
"… Okay, fine, fine!" I grumbled in a begrudging tone; for once, I'm not trying to screw with him... "It was me…"
"Tch. As if you could scare me with that stupid…" Knuckles paused momentarily, looking around and then at me with a blank expression. "Where are we?"
He looked a little on the wary side as he glanced around.
Late reaction, much…?
"I dunno," I responded with a skeptic shrug. I really, really didn't know. "Some sort of school."
"School?" he asked, incredulous, brow raised and purple eyes wide with surprise, nearing me so quickly that I blinked. "WHAT HAPPENED TO EGGMAN'S BASE?"
He'd shouted in my face; I couldn't help but do the same.
Folding my arms, I neared his own face, and then replied, "I DUNNO!" with narrowed eyes and irritation.
Seriously, how should I know? If I did, I'd probably be bragging about how I know and Knux doesn't…
The echidna threw his hands up into the air exasperatedly, looking at me with a vaguely—no, nothing but irritated—expression. "Great. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere, in some creepy school building," he sarcastically quipped, "Nice job, Sonic."
Raising an eye ridge, I promptly yelled back, "Whaddaya mean, 'nice job'?! YOU'RE the one who suggested we charge in!"
"Like you wouldn't have done that anyway!" he snapped in response; tch, as if... I'd think first. Probably… "How was I supposed to know that the Chaos Emeralds were rigged?!"
"We didn't even get THEM!" my annoyed voice replied. Honestly, that was a sucky grab if I ever saw one…
"I know THAT…" Knuckles growled tetchily. "All I got was a crummy piece of paper!"
At this, I stopped. My voice lowered slightly, as I looked at him with a bewildered face. "…A what?"
"This."
My hot-headed rival immediately held up a ripped piece of paper, waving it ever so slightly in front of my face where I could see it. It was vaguely small, but I could make it out… it was straightly cut and ripped at the same time, edges both different and alike.
Blinking, I asked 'im, "…What's that?"
"I don't have any idea," Knuckles shrugged. "But I must've picked it up in Eggman's base… I don't think I picked it up here…"
"At any rate… we need to find the others. Seen 'em?"
"Sonic, I JUST wake up, and you're asking ME if I've seen them?!" he snapped, looking at me cantankerously—the usual. "I don't sleep with my eyes at the back of my head, you know!"
"The phrase is 'eyes wide open'…" I grumbled, facepalming.
"WHATEVER!" he bellowed, fists shaking as a spiteful glare was shot in my direction. "But asking me that—"
"Geez, geez, geez… I get it, I get it!" I raised my hands defensively, waving them dismissively at him with a sweatdrop. "Calm down already!"
Loosening his muscles, because he's Knuckles, he sighed and just shook his head.
There was an eerily long silence after that, and none of us dared to move or talk at all… at least, I think. Knuckles twitched a few times. Eye twitches…
The ceiling dripped invisible dust, creating sounds like that in an echoing cave.
Knuckles was the first to move; he seemed fed up already.
"Let's get going," his gruff voice grumbled. "We've been here long enough…"
I shrugged, and followed the red echidna as he exited the room…
But damn… my leg… hurts like Hell when I try to walk…
"Such a h-happy guy, ain't ya', Knux?" I asked with a pained smirk, arms behind my head in a relaxed position…
…Anything but that inside. This place gave me the creeps… and my limb wasn't helpin'.
I didn't wanna' drive attention to my leg… Knux would prey upon it with insults in like seconds… karma… I hate ya'.
But nonetheless, I went on… trying to hide the agony I was in with smirks and snarky comments...
"I mean, man, you sure know how to control that temperament in a place like this. I—"
THUD!
"AhhhhhHHH…!"
The sound of trickling filled the air, and I stared at my rival, before bringing my gaze down to his now-soaking wet foot.
"Huh?" He blinked for a second, before shaking his foot in a hysteric manner. "Ag—yuck!"
"What IS that?" I inquired in disgust.
…
A little moment of realization was all I needed…
A snigger—from me.
"Wrong place to go to the b-bathroom, Knux," I quipped with a wide, mocking grin.
Knuckles went furiously red at his cheeks, and then snarled in reply, "THAT'S what this is?!"
"You tell me. You're the one who couldn't w-wait to use the bathroom," I laughed scornfully, albeit a little weakly, but I didn't make it blatant... What can I say? The guy's a party to wind up. Heheh.
"It wasn't ME!" Knuckles yelled furiously in response, nothing helping his red muzzle. "It was this BUCKET! THIS BUCKET… RIGHT HERE!"
Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Suuuuuureeeeee—…heh?"
Perplexed, I blinked at the ratty, old bucket on the floor, tipped over and leaking yellow fluid.
…
Joking aside…
"Yuck."
"Yeah, YUCK…" he growled at me irritably.
Heh-heh…
I'd felt somewhat awkward at this point.
"Eh… easy mistake to make, knowing how many of those pe—"
He immediately shot me a 'Shut-up!' glare.
"… Yeah, maybe you should pick that up?"
Grumbling incoherently, Knuckles had the nerve to walk past it begrudgingly. He was ignoring the bucket. And seething with a soaking-wet foot.
… Sweet.
Shrugging sheepishly, I jogged after him with a quaint grin and followed.
*~S~*
"…AHHHHHHHHH!"
"Knuckles!"
The ground had slipped beneath my friend's footing, and he'd immediately fallen through, letting out a manly yelp…
Yeah… manly…
Need clarification on that, thanks.
My hand gripped his tightly, and I tugged at his arm, wrenching him away from the bottomless darkness and the chipped, rotting floor; it surprised me how that wasn't falling through either….
"The floor here's gone…" he stated the obvious… tch...
"Yeah. Well done, Knucklehead," I replied with a subtle smirk, patting him on the back with fake pride. "Your grape diet really paid off."
"Shut. It…" Knuckles muttered; haha, one of these days, he's gonna' punch me in the face again… and he's gonna' miss!
"I kid, I kid. You alright?"
"Y-yeah… I'm fine," he bluntly responded: he was looking at me quite solemnly. Super serious. Whoa. "…We'll have to watch our steps from now on…"
"No crap," I snarkily shot back, folding my arms and peering into the hole.
For a moment, it took me that time to see how bad it was…
I whistled.
Looked pretty dark… deep… in an off kind of way, too.
Finding nothing of use here—and what would you find of use? A loose board? Yeah, sure—we turned to walk the other way.
"… … HHHHHHUH…?!"
"…Bakas..."
For a split second…
R-red…
…G-grey eyes…
…
…G-girl…?
"…What… what the H-HELL was that?!" Knuckles yelped, glancing around, paranoid probably. I could relate… He was paranoid…
Like I was…
"…"
No answer came out of my mouth to ask his question. Words couldn't. An' even if they could, I probably wouldn't be able to answer him.
Really… what was that…?
I gave a momentary shudder…
So… cold…
The air felt thick with some sort of sharp tension I never thought I'd feel. Something was rumbling in my stomach… but what was it…?
I couldn't be hungry… I'd eaten a while ago, but… I…
I couldn't describe it. I… was almost dreading future events to be honest…
Fear? Paranoia? Were those it? …I didn't wanna' stay here any longer and find out…
I side-glanced Knuckles.
He was tense, purple eyes becoming as they were; they had previously shrunk to a measure I'd never seen… he looked scared out of his wits. He didn't show it, like, because he was 'tougher than leather', but… that look before… with the shaking fists… it was freakin' obvious and I knew it.
I opened my mouth—
"Hey, Knu—"
And then, suddenly, I shut up, ears pricking and then my nerves set on their true end…
"…N-N…ao…miiii!
N-N-NAO…MI!
P-p-ple…ase...
S-stopppp…!"
Our heads erratically jerked back to the echoing corridor behind us.
"N-N-N-A…OMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIII! N-Na… S-STOP! NAOMI! NA-A-AOMIIIII!"
Panicked screams sounded all over, echoing indefinitely throughout our ears. The screams were evident no matter how much we tried to not hear… this was it… real thing…
I yelled in shock, taking a step forward to bolt, "…Someone's in BIG trouble!"
A male voice… fading…
"…Ahhh… AHHH… AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! YAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
My attention shot to the ever-wary Knuckles at his snapping glare.
"Stop pointing out the obvious and MOVE, SONIC!"
WHOOSH!
The echidna wasted no time, and was already rushing forward.
"… HEY!" I yelled after him… but I felt nothing in them… I couldn't move them… "WAIT UP!" I yelled, but I didn't give a reason to ask why until… "…There's a—!"
Knuckles leapt over an incoming hole, feet landing firmly on the creaking floorboards ahead with little difficulty ever thought possible. He really was rushing… he wasn't screwing around…
"KNUX—GAH…!"
That yelp. That yelp sounded when I hit the ground, my vision fading ever so slightly as I tried to get up, make a sense of my surroundings…
My leg… my foot… It hurt… it all hurt…
The ground was so merciless… uncaring… hard… brutal…
It f-freakin'… h-hurt…
But… why now? W-why…? When someone was in danger…?
"UGH…" I grunted, heaving my body to make it move. I had to—
"…AhhHHHHURK…!"
Mo…v…
*~S~*
Silence sounded on the second floor; it held solace and an unforgiving silence… one that anyone could grieve over…
Knuckles the Echidna had shot up the stairs in an instant, assuming his rival would follow…
But that silence only followed him… the only thing he could hear was his own footsteps…
Until…
"…N…a…o…mi…"
CREAK… BANG!
Knuckles' breath hitched, but was it out of sheer fear?
…Who was he kidding…
He was freaking out just as much as the next guy…
"…N…a…o…mi…"
CREAKKKK… BANG…
What… what sort of messed up thing is this?!
As he neared the peak of the stairs, he heard those mumbles and creaks and bangs once more…
In all his life, Knuckles had never been one for cowardice…
He wouldn't abandon someone out of his own damned fear… especially right after he denied it!
"…N…AO…MI…!"
CREAKKKK… BANG-BANG…
The noises continued, and that voice… sounded like it was choking.
…!
Regaining himself immediately, the echidna bolted like he hadn't before, noting this situation was definitely no laughing matter as Sonic made out most of their adventures to be.
He skidded, stopping at a door.
Lavatories… judging by the sign…
But which one…?
Gritting his teeth, he hesitantly listened again…
"Na…gggGLLKK… Kkk…"
The sound of a stall door slamming and opening once again…
CREAK-CREAK… BANG-BANG…
"…That one!" Knuckles declared to himself, and bolted for the second door.
As he did, his fur stood on end…
Like, dread…
Like, he wasn't meant to be there…
Like, this was… death…
But he braved this measure for a reason, and he would not leave it… not for anything.
"…H-hey… Anyone there…?" he called, fists instinctively raising…
"G-g…LLLKKK!"
That noise was his answer.
Shock passed over his features, and he dashed for the stalls, skidding to a complete and utter stop in front of a random door.
…One of them was moving… slamming and opening again… albeit a crack…
That didn't… sound too good…
Swallowing, Knuckles' whole body tensed, and he poked his head towards it, cautiously approaching it as if it were going to do him utter ill…
How right his instincts would be…
CREEEEAAAAAAAAKKKKKKK….!
Purple, speechless eyes widened in a complete democracy of terror as a human being hovered over thin air, being aided by a noose…
"N-Na…—Gllkkkk!"
In front of him, losing life and the spark in her eyes, was none other than Seiko Shinohara.
*~S~*
Yesh, new crossover! :"3
I've been planning this for a while… way more than two months, and now I've finally got it down!
I love these fandoms so much, so I decided to work with them. :D Blame my obsessions.
Corpse Party was a really fun and interesting game for me to play… because I'm an angsty person. :3 Sonic and Corpse Party would obviously make a crossover in my mind… they're both so aweshum! And I'm going to have a hell of a lot of fun writing this!
Oooo… To save Psycho Seiko or to not save her…? :3 I personally love her as a character… XD But hey, what can happen…? ;3
Anyway… I hope readers enjoy this! :3 It will be quite messed up, as Corpse Party is, so don't be too shocked… X)
I will appreciate every review I get… it will really motivate me! (: But favouriting and following will tell me someone's reading it too… still, the reviews be aweshum! :3