~*Game Over*~

"If you leave your game, stay safe, stay alert, and whatever you do don't die-

because if you die outside of your own game, you won't regenerate EVER!

Game Over."

Over and over, again and again, he had spoken the same lines so many times. Bruises beneath his fur throbbed under the lights above that made him sweat profusely. He struggled to keep his iconic smile and carefree posture as the stone faced almost robotic animations known as "cogs" directed the procession with quiet authority.

To Sonic's dismay Felix the Cat had not returned to the cell and Oswald would no longer answer the hedgehogs questions on the matter. The following morning, both the rabbit and the cat were no where to be found. It was alarming to wake up alone and even moreso alarming to be "picked up" and beaten by Mortimer and Pete before shooting. Finally, Sonic was given what Disney constituted as a "break".

The hedgehog was shoved into a large warehouse-like room with a menagerie of different characters, all of which were chatting or silently waiting to be used once again. The room was completely bare of anything except for a large digital timer that counted down fifteen minutes. Squeezing past nameless digital representations of videogame characters Sonic began searching for Bowser and the Doctor only to come up short. He supposed Disney would make sure to keep him as far away from the others as they possibly could. Unknowingly, Sonic had caught quite a bit of attention from the various coded characters who were whispering and animatedly chatting. Annoyed at hearing bits and pieces of his name amongst the conversations the hedgehog simply waited near the exit.

The timer finally reached zero and the doors opened, the characters filtering to their prospective lanes, color coded to the "magic bands" each sported. The infamous cogs oversaw them and picked characters out from each lane to be filmed in separate rooms.

Sonic grimaced, making his way to the shortest line for the navy colored "magic band" users. The line consisted of who he instantly recognized as Pac-Man and a small orange creature whose name he could not place but somehow knew. A spark of unease shook Sonic as he realized that he was standing beside two former veteran game mascots who were technically washed up.

Just like he was, without Mario.

Oswald's words the other night shook him to his core. Here he was, once again being used by another company. Even though he instigated his own contract with Disney this time around, he was still proving what everyone had carefully implied to him up until that point.

Sonic... you are loosing your edge. You are no longer the titian you once were. One day you will be a has been like Pac-man.

The only videogame mascot that has risen above time has been...

Mario.

With that thought, the SEGA mascot walked on to the next stage in a daze.

It had been three days and not a word had come from either Disney or Sonic. The communicator that Tails had made for Sonic at the last minute hadn't been used and from what Tails could tell was still on Sonic's person.

The golden fox simply sat shivering with his namesakes curled over his lap. Within his gloved hands an identical communicator to Sonic's communicator gleamed. Princess Peach silently watched the small fox from her hallway. Since Sonic, Bowser, and the Doctor had left a cloud of sorrow settled over Nintendo and SEGA headquarters. Executives prayed that after the week was over the altercation with Disney would blow over. Mario had simply locked himself away in the Star Mansion and refused to speak to anyone other than the executives of Nintendo and SEGA.

While Mario had taken it the hardest initially, Tails was struggling the most. The "little brother" of the SEGA mascot shook and shivered as he fidgeted on Princess Peach's couch. Luigi had informed the princess of Tails' odd behavior after Sonic was taken. The little fox had simply curled up in bed for the first day in a fit of violent jerks.

Videogame characters do not get sick. What was going on?

It was up to the princess to find out. Fetching a glass of iced water Peach approached the kitsune carefully, watching his bloodshot blue eyes meet her own.

"Here" The princess offered the glass and watched as Tails took it. His hand still shook and she could see the water quivering in the glass as he held it.

"Th-Thanks " Taking a shaky sip Tails placed the small communicator in his lap to hold the glass with both hands. Looking down at the glass Tails sniffled and the princess gazed in awe as the small fox began to silently cry.

"Oh Tails..." Peach delicately sat beside him and calmly stroked his back. "He will be back soon, we will make sure of it." She confidently smiled at the fox but was shocked to find that Tails only shook his head.

"You - you don't understand. He is in pain. I-I can feel it." Tails bit his lip as another wave of fear and hurt washed over his body.

"I was made... to help him. They..." Tails gasped and grit his teeth, clenching the glass in his hand.

"They are hurting him."

Wreck- It Ralph- Apparently, It was the name of the movie they were filming. Sitting on the sidelines Sonic watched the procession in anger. A deep purple bruise had formed around his right eye. He had given a cog some sass and received it as a "gift".

Bruises on top of bruises, his whole body throbbed. So far, Disney had refused to heal him. All he had was his steadily dwindling stash of energy rings within him. With each beating he lost more. It was only the third day and he was down to 5 rings.

The set they were filming at was in a large apartment complex on the top floor. Props were set up to represent a party. One of the main "video game" characters that Disney created was being briefed on the scene. Sonic scoffed. The character looked faintly reminiscent of Mario. The monogramed cap, overalls, work shoes, and cheerful disposition all pointed to the plumber. But this character was supposedly a carpenter and had the power to create while his rival had the power to destroy.

The fact that Disney was so obviously referencing his rivals work through these pseudo characters really pissed him off.

A false videogame princess character approached him and he sat up recognizing her from a previous shoot. She was blonde and wore a long puffy yellow dress. Her crown was dull and her eyes looked tired as she moved close.

"Let me take care of that." She whispered softly as she touched a small paintbrush to the outer corner of his bruised eye. He watched as her eyes widened and she pressed the wet brush strands harder against his face.

"It's... not working!" The characters around him turned and stared at his face in awe.

A large gray cog appeared before them and loomed over the false princess.

"We must film. Fix the subject now." His tone was hollow and gravelly as he looked down at them in distain.

"I can't, it doesn't work on him!" The pseudo princess cried out. Flinching, the princess tensed and waited as if expecting a blow. Sure enough the cog stepped closer and raised a hand to strike her.

In a split second Sonic shoved the cog to the floor and the princess was whisked out of sight. Bolting back to his seat, Sonic stoically watched the cog struggle to stand up due to being top heavy. Standing up, Sonic watched multiple cogs surround him and felt the first warning buzz of the Disney magic band around his ankle. They descended upon him as he was shocked. With a yell he fell to the floor and felt steel tipped shoes colliding with his sides before he curled up into his signature ball and shivered with each shock. The sound of his last rings leaving him was faint between the shocks and his own cries.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was never so lucky. His creator was forced to abandon him due to legalities and he had become a slave of his younger brother. After a full night of experimentation he welcomed his flimsy blanket in his cell and had long since given up hope for anything better.

He wished he could forget everything. He actually wished that his brother would simply dip him and get it over with. But he knew he would never dispose of him.

Numb to everything around him, Oswald didn't typically care about anything anymore. He had accepted his life and was forced to accept the terrible conditions inflicted on Felix. Still, the young newcomer was interesting to him. Sonic was the first character to make him actually feel something besides his numbness. The young reckless character had a lot of life to him in comparison to everyone dead inside within Disney. He hoped the hedgehog kept that even after his stay, assuming his brother would actually keep his word.

Hearing the telltale sounds of the cell block opening, Oswald watched as Mortimer and Pete deposited his new cell block mate in Felix's cell, noting that they were actually being semi careful with him. Leaning up against the bars Oswald could make out the silhouette of Sonic curled up in a ball in the limited light.

Once the two henchmen had left Oswald called out.

"Ey! Dumbass!" The black rabbit barked out and watched with masked relief as Sonic slowly uncurled on the floor. Oswald winced as he was finally able to see the battered body and face of the other. Sonic's right eye had been swollen and closed, his left was bloodshot.

"Cog's really got ya. Surprised they didn't heal you at least a little bit." The rabbit mused as he watched the hedgehog slowly stand, noting that his natural coded light was dull.

"Tried...can't heal me." Sonic rasped out holding his side as he shuffled to the bottom bunk of the cell.

"They can't heal you..." Oswald repeated softly in awe. A grin broke out on the dated characters face. All that experimentation on him for that cursed game and his supposed brother had not achieved anything. He couldn't even heal legitimate video game characters, which meant he couldn't destroy them either. Sonic was technically invulnerable within Disney provided he could heal himself.

This young coded character didn't know how good he had it.

"Hey! Can you regenerate on your own?" The black rabbit asked, a foreign feeling of hope blooming within his chest. Ideas and plans began to materialize deep within his psyche as he began to entertain the idea of actively conspiring against his abusive slave driver brother.

He was met with silence.

The "cogs" referenced in this chapter are from what used to be Disney's Toontown Online. It has been rebooted since but never has had the amount of users it had in the early 2000's. The cogs are very representative of Disney's corporate mentality and actually represent why Toontown Online and Pixie Hollow or Disney Fairies online fell apart.

Anyway, this story will be finished in about 2-3 more chapters. I am going to be dedicating my summer to my two unfinished stories and will be submitting small 1 to 2 chapter drabbles in the future.