This has been a challenging story to write. Many chapters, such as this one, test my creatvity. I hope the results prove enjoyable.

All characters owned by Service Games (SEGA).

Sonic awoke feeling groggy, disoriented, and like an idiot. Of course the chili dog was drugged. Why else would it be sitting on the counter? 'Fine. Note to self: Think before I act.' Shaking the cobwebs of shame from his head as best he could, he tried to make out where he was. His vision was blurry, but from what he could tell, he was back in the basement lab. More specifically, he was within a cage in the basement lab. To make matters worse, he was also tied up with rope in a way that prevented movement; his arms were at his sides and his legs were completely immobile. He wouldn't even be able to Super Spin in his condition.

This was as surreal for Sonic as it was humiliating, since he was usually the one rescuing kidnappers rather than being one himself. It seemed that this was going to be a day of milestones. Scoffing to himself, Sonic strained at his bindings. They were pretty tight, and he couldn't feel any sort of weakness in them. He started to get nervous. If there was one thing he hated, it was not being able to move. He felt weak, like a wuss. He felt-

"You feel powerless, don't you?"

His breath hitched upon hearing that voice. It was deeper than he remembered, but still held a tone of superiority and possessiveness, one Sonic would never, ever forget.

"You can't move, you can't run. You can't even curl up into that adorable little ball. Tsk, tsk, pobre cosita." He began twisting frantically out of fear and increasing rage. He was NOT going to let this happen. NOT here. NOT like this. In spite of his struggling, however, he remained stuck, even as his vision cleared enough to see to see a curvy silhouette sauntering towards him. While most men would welcome such a sight (even in a situation like this) Sonic wasn't one of them.

The memories hit him all at once like punches: the malfunctioning machinery, the flames rising ever so slowly, Professor Gazebo's corpse pinned to the wall, and in the middle of it all…was her.

"Ahhhn… This takes me back. Our most intimate moment together. You, me, and the destruction around us. So exciting, so dangerous so…romantic…" Sonic glared at the person approaching him and spat, "You wouldn't know romance if it was shoved up your-" He was cut off by a brief shock of what felt like electricity. His rings bounced to and fro, with most of them flying out of the cage. Thankfully, some fell right back upon him, ensuring that he'd be relatively safe from whatever else his captor would undoubtedly pull. "You have a lot of nerve speaking that way to someone who has you dead to rights, el amado. But, that attitude has always been your charm, so I'll let that one slide. After all, it has been ages since our last…date."

With a slow, confident stride, she stepped into the light. The first thing to draw Sonic's attention was the weapon she possessed in her left hand: a yellow scepter with a strange blue gem adorned upon it. He noticed that as his gaze drew upwards. She was an orange Mobian cat – a Manx breed, to be exact – with a body that rivaled Amy's current form. She wore red & white warrior flats, a red skirt that wouldn't be out of place in Flamenco Rush Zone, and a blue & red tube top. Her long brown hair was held in a ponytail by a tattered yellow bow, with bangs hanging in front of her right eye. The left eye, which was visible, looked to be a dulled out blue. That's what Sonic remembered about her the most…that lifeless stare. The look of someone who was broken on the inside and could not be fixed.

Sonic promised Professor Gazebo that he would try to help his daughter, but the Mobian before him was NOT Tiara. This woman was…something else.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you again, Nikki," Tiara said with a flirty tone that belied much danger. "I got so lonely, waiting for you. You never visited me in the hospital, and you left the orphanage without as much as a good bye! I thought we were friends! I thought we were destined to be-" The imprisoned hedgehog cut her off bitterly, "First off, MY NAME IS SONIC! Second, we were friends until you killed your dad and nearly killed me! And third, the only thing you're destined for is the nuthouse! Now quit screwing around and let me out of this thing!" Tiara said nothing at first. She stood stock still, watching Sonic closely. Then she lightly tapped her scepter to the ground, shocking him again and ridding him of more rings.

She sighed as a couple of rings found their way back to him. "Either you're as stubborn as ever or you've become a masochist, because you don't seem to understand your position here. I've missed you so much, Nikki. You have no idea how much I've wanted, no, needed to see you again. You've been on my mind for the past ten years. We're finally together again, and I intend to make up for lost time." Stepping closer to the cage and kneeling down, she reached forward and stroked his cheek. Growling, Sonic recoiled backwards, smacking his head onto the bars. Now on top of being restrained and trapped, his head hurt.

"Ooh, see? This is what happens when you resist. Remember our last tea party? I had to tie you up just to keep you from running away and still you insisted on struggling. You do remember, don't you?" Sonic rolled his eyes. "Of course I do. I dislocated my damn shoulder." Tiara nodded wistfully. "Yes, and for whatever reason, I got into trouble! I mean, you did promise to play with me, didn't you? But, no, the day before, you ran off, like you always did."

Sonic growled and said, "Well, excuuuuuuuse me for being hungry!" Tiara growled back, clearly losing patience, "That's what the tea party was for!" She raised her staff to shock him again, but changed her mind at the last moment, taking a deep breath to compose herself. "Look, Nikki, I didn't bring you here to argue. I just want to catch up. I mean, you've been through so much already. Those constant fights with that evil scientist, your useless friends taking up so much of your time, that pink bitch hospitalizing you…"

"Wait, how did you know that?" Sonic asked. "How else, el Amado?" she answered playfully, "I've been watching you for a long time. Ever since those aliens invaded, I have been able to keep a very close eye on you, slowing biding my time. Everywhere you've been I've watched you. The EX World Grand Prix, the splitting of the Earth, the amusement park, the Lost Hex…EVERYWHERE." Tiara grinned as she spoke, unsettling her crush even further. "I've taken several notes of your speed, strength, skills, and your flaws, sweetie. But, most importantly, I've studied up on the worthless – pay attention, amor, this is crucial – worthless mutts you insist on calling friends."

Sonic shouted, "HEY! Who are you calling worthless?!" Tiara sighed and shocked him again, bringing his ring count down to one. "Who else? The sidekicks, the *spit* rivals, the random other filth that follow you around. They mean nothing to me, and should mean even less to you. You are the Fastest Thing Alive, the legendary hero who can do ANYTHING! You don't need them! You don't need anyone else…but me. And now that I have you, I'm going to make sure they can never bother us."

Now he was starting to freak out. None of Sonic's friends knew about Tiara, and unless she was bluffing (which was possible), they would be ill prepared to deal with her brand of crazy, which was worse than he remembered. He had to get out, but how? He couldn't run, he couldn't stand, and he certainly couldn't ball up, which meant that he couldn't spin.

Or could he…?

"Look, while you're busy being nutso, could you get me some water?" he asked flippantly. With a blank stare, she answered, "No. But I will be right back with some tea, which you will be drinking this time. After that, we will discuss our life together." With that, she stood up and left, taking her scepter with her. Once he was sure she was gone, Sonic put his plan into motion. From his prone position on the floor of his cage, he did a little jump, getting about 7 inches into the air. After doing this a few times, he tried spinning horizontally. He got 4 seconds of air time before falling back down.

This frustrated him to no end, but he knew Tiara would be back soon, so he forced himself to calm down and focus. He thought back to his Light Weight training, how much he had been slowed up, what he had learned from that short time. He tried to call upon the Ancient Light. To his surprise, it worked! The familiar energy surrounded him, making him feel like he was on air. Grinning deviously, Sonic horizontally spun again, this time rotating wildly. He kept going as quickly as he could, cutting the ropes that bound him little by little until…

'There!'

He was free! Sonic fell on his butt and, to his joy, he still had the Light energy upon him. He felt good, but there was no time to celebrate. Time for phase 2. He charged up a Spin Dash, gathering up ki and light energy for 5 seconds before stopping. Now for phase 3. 'Here goes nothing,' he thought to himself nervously and prepared his Super Peel-Out. The second he finished that, he released both his Light energy and ki. Just like before, his legs blurred out of vision completely.

It was time. Sonic took off, busting out of his cage and out of the laboratory altogether in a nanosecond. Laughing to himself, he kept on running across the sea, glad to be out in what looked to be the morning air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what looked to be Cream's house. Indeed it was, and there was Tails, chatting and eating breakfast with Cream, Cheese, Gemerl, and Omega in the backyard. Sonic was shocked that he had ran so far out and away from Christmas Island, but seeing Tails reminded him of the final phase of his escape plan. "Now is as good a time as any," Sonic said to himself, and he knew he wouldn't get another chance. Making a U-turn, he headed right back to the research lab and yanked the computer from its position. Thankfully, the force at which he was moving made up for his lack of physical strength. Holding it above his head for as long as he could, he took it directly to Cream's house and set it down in front of the group. Sonic then went back for the rest of the nanotech-based equipment, making multiple trips until Gazebo's lab was as bare as the day it was built.

The last thing he took was his childhood backpack, dropping it off at the orphanage. He did all of this in a matter of 7 seconds, and Tiara was none the wiser.

Tails was used to weirdness by now. The world he lived it was far from normal, and he had experienced much since meeting Sonic. Even so, there would still be the random events that surprised him. Such was the case when computer equipment appeared in front of him out of nowhere, with Sonic crashing into Cream's house a second later.

Tails stared at the new tech. Then at his friends. Then the tech. Then the new hedgehog sized hole in the house. Then the tech again.

"…What just happened?" he asked in confusion. Omega answered, "Unidentified technology delivered by Sonic the Hedgehog, who then proceeded to crash into Vanilla's residence." Tails nodded in recognition, adding, "She's not gonna be happy about that wall."

This was a VERY difficult chapter for me to write. Not only did I have trouble pinning down Tiara's new look, but I also ran into difficulty deciding on the right amount of yandere for her portrayal. As for why I have her like this? Well, two reasons. One, the Sonic series doesn't have a villainess; the closest we came to having one was Rouge, and that turned out to be a red herring. Two, I thought it'd be interesting (and a little funny) if a scrapped love interest for Sonic turned out to be obssessed with him and went crazy from being forgotten.

Anyway, I hope you guys like this one. This was supposed to be the finale of Thorns of Chaos, but I just couldn't decide on an ending. So, an epilogue is in the works. FYI, that chapter WILL reveal who the Calamity Baroness is. I promise.